One of my most despised tropes is undesired wingmanning. By that I mean the trope where the character's best friends forcibly push them to be romantically involved with someone when said character has explicitly said they have 0 romantic interest in them.

I say this because I've personally experienced it myself.

I'm aroace, but closeted. My ex-friends used to looveeeee "shipping" me with whom they assume my crush is. And I... literally do not give a shit about that person???? I thought they'd be fun to talk to from time to time because we shared some interests but somehow that's some "proof" that I'm romantically interested in them?? Bitch, I don't give a shit. I don't find anyone attractive.

And so they kept pushing and pushing and pushing me and them together and it's so frustrating because it's not even a case of unestablished boundaries. I explicitly told them, "I don't have a crush on that person. I have literally never had a crush on my life."

Then they go and tell me, "That's impossible! Everyone has a crush. It's impossible to have never been romantically interested in someone." and thanks for invalidating my entire life so far, I guess. No wonder we're no longer friends.

So, whenever I see in media those annoying friends who keep forcing their romantic narrative on someone who has explicitly said they're not interested, I always just get flashbacks and it annoys me so much how so many people think that it's fun? It's not. It's not fun. It's invalidating of your own personal boundaries and basically feels like yelling at a brick wall because they. just. won't. listen. It also feels so manipulative of them when you say "I'm not interested" and they consistently throw back "Uh, nope lol you definitely are." Like, I know my preferences??? And even if the character is indeed interested, just dense, i still am of the opinion that that does not warrant the invasion of boundaries by doing shit they did not want you to do.

And so, I hate it whenever those stories end up with the characters ending up together because it just "proves them right". God, what I would give for a story where the character tell off their friends' shit for forcing their agenda.

Also just, assuming someone's sexuality by assuming they're romantically and/or sexually attracted to someone is ehhh. It makes it so hard to make friends when every single time I interact with someone of the opposite sex, they immediately go "ohmygod they have a crush on each other." Yay let's go 2 in 1 amatonormativity and heteronormativity! Winning combo, really.

Me and my friends (who know im aroace... and also not attracted to people of my gender lol) have been assumed to be romantically together and it's genuinely uncomfortable that we actually didn't interact for a few days just so we could quell the rumors. The whole matchmaking stuff that people promote irl is just not "tee hee they're so cute together" innocent shit like some people make it out to be. It affects real people's lives and relationships.

Lastly, a side note / disclaimer: I do enjoy wingman characters... only if the character explicitly says they do have a romantic interest and would like help. In real life, I have wingmanned for a friend before and I only did that when they explicitly told me to help.

Don't be a wingman without consent, is all I say.