My Aarmau rant as promised! (This is kind of the part 1 of a big LOOONG rant)
A huge part of why I love Aphmau and Aaron’s relationship is how hush-hush they kept it. Secretive just like Shad and Irene’s relationship. It fell perfectly under the radar but poked up more as it progressed. We the viewers see when their friendship/relationship gets more serious (though, a lot of people in the fandom choose to ignore it because they’re still holding on hope for Laurmau or Garmau).
There are details that highligh the progression of their relationship that I think are BRILLIANT, even without them explicitly saying anything! There are little things right up to the night before Aaron leaves on a suicide mission to get Garroth out of the Irene Dimension unbeknownst to Aphmau. One example of a small detail to look back on later is how their beds are pushed together when they were clearly apart an episode or 2 prior. From the dialogue, we could infer that they were already together by that point, but a staple in the minecraft community is pushing yours and your SO’s beds together! Cute! They’d begun truly building a life together.
There’s something so beautiful about how we don’t see every romantic action in their relationship because their relationship is more focused on learning about themselves and growing as people together. They were both placed in some TERRIBLE situations but found comfort in each other so they could remain proficient in building their new island of peace rather than bottling everything up until they exploded on their unsuspecting friends. Unlike Aphmau’s relationship with Laurance and Garroth where it’s very upfront in the episodes (ex: she’s forced to pick between the two of them while still figuring out who she is), Aphmau and Aaron prioritized the settings/people around them but still maintain a healthy relationship where they talk about everything and love each other regardless of what they say in their deep conversations. Their love isn’t about showing each other off to the rest of the world and claiming eachother! Aaron never fights with Laurance and Garroth to prove how he loves Aphmau, he just DOES.
They also have a playful, friendly front to their relationship which kept people wondering about them for so long. Yes, Laurance and Aphmau also had this friendly aspect to their relationship but a lot of it (from my best recollection) was Laurance’s failed attempts at picking up Aphmau </3 Aphmau teases Aaron about his quiet/mysterious nature and he teases her right back because of her overly friendly/to stubborn to let people help her attitude. This shows as Aaron starts joining the group on long journeys (ex: The journey to find Lucinda; they were at Isabella’s campsite and Aaron let Aphmau know that there were some strange figures lurking about in the camp. She retorted playfully that they’d probably say the same thing about him and he flusteredly shuffled away)(Another example I love is one the Alliance Island when Laurance, Aaron, and Aphmau are exploring, Laurance falls down the hole to the wyvern cave, and Aphmau and Aaron are deciding how they’re going to get down to him. Aaron offers to jump down first and catch her but stops himself, saying “Though knowing you—“ referring to how she’d rather get down by herself and show everyone that she’s capable of doing anything everyone else can do).
Laurance and Garroth’s relationship with Aphmau was highly based on them protecting her, which is only natural because they were her faithful guards. It was attractive but on that same hand, they couldn’t relate to Aphmau’s issues on the personal level that Aaron could, given that he was a lord himself, and one who faced incredible emotional turmoil no less.
Their plot obviously thickens once Lilith is added into the mix because now Aaron has promised to take care of her and Aphmau. They named Lilith Garnet after people they cared for and lost while still making her her own person. If they weren’t close before, they were DEFINITELY closer when they began co-parenting. They just wanted to give their daughter the best life, building an empire around her, going on family picnics, etc.
There are so many other reasons I love Aarmau and I LOVE rewatching MCD and catching the little pieces of dialogue that help set up for the big reveal. It’s so upsetting how they never got their happy ending in any universe (except maybe Mermaid Tales)
So I decided to post all of them together! I had so much fun with this series! I think my favorite part was getting to do all the lighting. I haven’t done portraits like this in a while, I feel like iv learned a lot doing these. If there is anyone else ya’ll would like to see let me know!