Mai

(I ship both, not attacking and no bias)

Ooo this is actually something I have wanted to talk about previously, this might get just a little bit long....

To answer simply, as a 10 to 11-year-old child watching MCD as it premiered, my dislike for both Aarmau and Aaron as a whole was definitely that petty "he sunk my ship" and as a child with child to early teen level media literacy I honestly did not see any of the small clues and hints that Aphmau included for Aarmau in MCD, felt like it came out of nowhere.

Nonetheless, now that I am a 20-year-old adult, my reasoning has shifted more than slightly.

To be perfectly clear, even as a garmau shipper, I do not hold the opinion that Garroth was entitled to Aphmau's love because of all he has done for her. If I am being honest, he did have a his fair share of less-than-flattering moments. I am not in the belief that anyone should be obligated to return feelings for someone just because they are kind/helpful.

With that being said, my current reason for disliking MCD Aarmau now is honestly not that deep—MYS Aarmau is a whole other thing though—but I digress, my current dislike of Aarmau is simply due to the fact that I see no point in building up these other ships—Garmau and Larmau—and setting them up as these main two rival ships from the beginning, only for early mid-way to season 2 start building up an entirely new ship. Not to mention, I did not like the moments that would start to push Garroth and Laurence into more out-of-character actions to fit the purpose of showing why Aaron is the better choice, like the moment of Garroth going off on Aphmau for being pregnant basically saying "I did all this for you and this is what I get in return" which Jess herself has admitted was out of character for him and she only wrote it in as retaliation due to the backlash she was receiving for Aarmau. Laurance—well, he was just a mess tbh, I get the whole "calling" plotline—if you can even call it a plotline since it's only ever mentioned in passing conversations—but he didn't just become angrier or meaner, he blatantly disrespected Aphmau and her boundaries which imo S1 and early S2 Laurance would never do, I do believe we could’ve seen an angrier and bitter version of Laurence without all that bs he pulled on Aphmau—thats just my opinion tho. NOT TO MENTION THE HIMBOFICATION OF GARROTH AND DISAPPEARANCE OF LAURANCE IN MYS-

Anyways, I also simply would have liked a longer drag out of the conversations around Aaron's story before he met Aphmau. Now, as an adult, I can see the beauty in the tragedy that was MCD Aaron's backstory. I would have loved more angst, yearning, MOURNING FOR HIS DEAD WIFE. I simply believe we don't see enough of it but it's not one of my largest grievances.

Now on the topic of MYS, I will not go into much detail because theres not much to say, just one simple reason.

Aaron was 18, Aphmau was 14.

I know Jess has cleared up any misunderstandings about her and Jason's relationship, that is their private life and none of my or anyone's but their business, BUT Aaron was fully aware of Aphmau's age bc he obviously knew she was a freshman, and he developed feelings for her despite the clear knowledge she was a child.

When he and Aphmau meet, it is the very first day of her freshman year and of his senior year. We know that Aphmau was born in October and Aaron in December, which would leave their ages from episode 1 at about 13 and 17—this is based on my knowledge of how they separate ages in school, to set an example let's use my birth year 2005: my classmates born between September and November were 13 and only turned 14 during the semester. By the time senior year rolled around it was the same, they turned 17 throughout the semester, BUT it is a different case for the December kids normally December kids will be in the grade that corresponds with classmates bellow their birth year, for me all the December kids were born in 2004 which meant that come December while the rest of us 2005 kids would be ending the semester at 17 they would be turning 18. Using this knowledge, we know that by the time we reach their first kiss, and they are at the end of the school year, they are now 14 and 18.

Yeaaaa, no, that whole thing was a big no for me. I like MYS Aarmau's dynamic in the later series/seasons when they're adults, but I simply cannot get over that part from PDH. If they had simply made them friends and not have Aaron in particular have any romantic feelings for Aphmau while she was a minor, I would have been more on board. In the beginning of PDH, I was completely on board with the whole enemies-to-friends thing because it is actually not that rare for freshmen and seniors to be friends, and honestly children having more trusted adults they can go to when they need someone to talk to is not a bad thing BUT when that adult starts seeing the child in a romantic light...well—yikes.

I honestly do not believe Jess had any ill intent when she wrote PDH and set Aarmau's age gap—which I was probably thinking way too deeply into when I calculated their ages through their birthdays tbh—but that doesn't change that it's still weird.