#maskelessmark

I personally never thought about Mark and William as a couple because I'm content with their friendship and their romantic relationships with Rick and Eve. I also am just not interested in the childhood/best friends to lovers trope as a basis for a relationship. I don't think it's a bad trope,it alone just doesn't float my rootbeer. (I'm not using it as a filter on AO3, but I'm also not excluding it).

However, an altMark that had a friends to lovers romance with a William but lost him because of Sinclair, collateral damage, Omni Man, or killing him himself, is angsty and intrigues me. I also think them having a gay relationship has potential for interesting ideas. I read one of the few altMark/Will fics that's published right now,

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63656068

and its altMark mentioned that reproduction was important to Viltrumites. The fic didn't elaborate, but it turned the gears in my brain. Would Viltrumites be allowed to have gay "pets" as long as they reproduce with another "pet" of the opposite gender? I feel like Viltrum wouldn't see same sex relationships as amoral, but would see them as inferior due to not producing offspring that could grow into warriors for the Viltrum empire.

All I know is that there's a ton of angst with altMark/William and the few fics and fanart I've consumed tickle my pickle.

I still don't ship Mark and William for now because I'm specifically interested in altMark's story with William, but all it takes is some good fanfiction to reconsider pairings I don't ship. Also, to all the WillMark? MarkWill? Shippers that were into this pairing before "I miss William", thank you for your fics and art. I headcannon the pre "I miss William" WillMark content as what their relationship was like in altMarks' dimension before shit hit the fan.

Also, I think it's clear that maskless Mark had romantic feelings for William. That does not undervalue platonic male friendships. ffs, it's cannon that Mark and Will have a great friendship, so altMark being gay does not take away from that. It's valid to interpret altMark's William line as platonic (logic 101: an argument can be valid even if it's not true, it's fact that alt Mark being gay has been confirmed) but it's not ok to use that as an excuse to stomp on people's romantic readings of the scene. "Why can't straight guys just be friends/stop under-valuing platonic male friendship" has been used as an excuse to shit on gay relationships way too much even when when the gayness is canon. In my experience, the people who use this argument never use it as criticism against poorly written straight couples. Unfortunately, a lot of people's media literacy goes out the window as soon as a gay storyline appears. If altMark said "I miss Kate" or any other female character, there would be zero pushback to romantic interpretations.