I've been trying to figure out a way to sound cool about your addition to the forced romance post but uh. Idk man how are you in my brain walls and able to put things into words so well. You're able to write cannon 2p face so incredibly. I'm so cool about it I promise
I usually wouldn't fandom tag over here, but here's some Alans I don't feel like posting separately. The left is actually a fixed version of an older post, but I'm proud of the tiny improvements, lol. Thanks so much for giving me reason to actually finish something! I love yours too, and it's great motivation. Just ignore the right's dislocated hip. I'm sure he's fiiiiine
Thank you so much :D !! Before the Sealand interest kicked in, they were my focus for a good while. Now I pretty much treat the AU as a psych horror project. This is long AF since I kinda copy-pasted multiple related drafts together, so sorry ab that.
Role blurring and unconventional boundary issues are crack to me. With 2p FACE, every relationship has some sort of noncon, but it's not necessarily sexual. I love comparing types of boundary violations because they happen every day-- stuck for hours with a sucky coworker, face caught in a stranger's video, etc. Add in close, constant proximity and power imbalances and those little things add up quick!
With ukus, I don't actually see any romantic or sexual attraction from Oliver tbh. He still sees himself as a caretaker, and part of him resents the crush he knows Al developed over time. He doesn't want to be friends or equal partners; he wants to be the shepherd to his sheepdog. He's desperate to keep them together because he knows he's reliant on them to feel okay. So, they're going to stay whether they like it or not.
He keeps the babysitter vibe but doesn't enforce boundaries. He doesn't initiate, but he never turns down Valentine's gifts or trips obviously meant as dates. All the while he chastises him like a parent, withholds comfort as punishment, judges every choice, and constantly references colonial years. He blurs crush/caregiver to keep Al intertwined even when it makes himself uncomfortable (he calls it martyrdom). But they also spend time as friends, venting and gossiping and drinking like coworkers after meetings.
Al has no idea how friend/lover/parent differ. It's been 200+ years of enmeshment, and he's Fucked big time. Human relationships are too short to fix anything; Fran's backed into a corner he refuses to leave; Matthieu's got the world's worst Oldest Daughter Syndrome and isn't much better than Al. Leaving those two out rn because they're a whole other dilemma. They're in no shape to help, but he's America, so the world assumes everything is fine. He'd take action if something was wrong.
I plop Sea/Andrew here bc it's SO fun to compare to Oliver. Neither are attracted to him, but while Oliver has the power and experience to steer him, Andrew's inexperience makes any attention feel special. 1p SeaCan is a SLOW process. Drew's thrown in the deep end the moment he gets that growth spurt. Oliver sees an opportunity to give his dog a spiky sheep collar, and Al sees someone who's not quite England but looks and acts similar. Not the real thing but close enough. Kinda like when guys date their ex's twin??
Even better, he jumps at the chance to spend time with him! He's England without the mean bits (for now). Al splurges on everything he wishes he could do with Oli in a highschooler-esque lovebomb frenzy and assumes he has Oliver's maturity when he really, really doesn't. It isn't until Al starts parentifying him (what do you mean romance isn't submitting to an owner?) that Andrew starts to realize how gross it feels. He wants a friend, not a relationship, but Al's conditioned to ignore the difference, and now he's trapped for several reasons.
...Which turns into him copying Oliver's mannerisms because it's what Al's trained to respond to. By acting more like him, he reinforces the fixation and renews the cycle. The difference is Drew's able to physically fight back, but that 1) lets everyone further justify not monitoring him, and 2) makes it worse since Al associates threat and punishment with love.
With Andrew too unstable to be rebellious, Alan stuck in a perpetual England machine, and Matt and Fran isolated out of the way, Oliver's just chills and watches. None of them actually know each other, no one can tell who's a mature adult and who needs help, no on bothers to figure that out, and the high control structure keeps it that way.
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