"The Not-Gays is a theory created by Mike Stoklasa in which filmmakers shove in a pointless romantic interest out of needless fear the audience will otherwise think the protagonist is gay."

In the case of boys' adventure stories, this wasn't always the case. Below is an example of what I'm talking about - a simple scene where two young boys, Corentin and Kim share the same bed and sleep together casually naked.

Does this scene need a qualifier? Can the reader understand using previous context from the narrative of the Corentin comic that sharing the same bed doesn't imply anything about sexuality? Rather, it should be understood that these two boys trust, love, and care for each other so much that occupying the same bed, letting their personal space coalesce, having their naked bodies and sensitive parts be seen and touched - is just another normal expression of their friendship. In art, literature, and historical periods where collective agency was built through male camaraderie - it was generally understood that men needed to rely on each other. In an anthropological or philosophical context - the ancient concept of the "soul sibling" or "blood brother" (as was used in certain rituals) meant that boys were bound to each other not in a sexual way, but in a higher, more passionate form of love that is more enduring and lasting than carnal desire - fraternal love. To be a boy and to kiss your soul sibling, to bathe with your soul sibling, to be naked with your soul sibling, was to be with the other who made you whole. 

What the "Not Gays" has done is remove this special type of intimacy between our boys. At a certain point in time, this intimate bond between our boys was either lost or distorted to mean something much more perverse than what it initially meant. In the case of literature and film, boys can't express any vulnerability or affection for each other - now they must either be the alpha-male or womanizer; from the toxic masculinity of Jack Merridew from The Lord of the Flies to the female-gaze-oriented, hypermasculine Jacob Black from the Twilight series. Essentially, if you're a boy and straight - you must prove your sexuality at an incredibly vulnerable age. Doesn't this seem weird to anyone else? Once again, I must reiterate that this is a relatively new societal problem. I've talked in another post about how Martin and Keith sharing the same sleeping bag would've been considered normal (even healthy) a century ago. Communal sleep ("bedsharing") was the natural way of sleeping for families and friends, as personal space and personal privacy really wouldn't have been been considered as everything from food, shelter, and other resources had to be shared. Along with this, central heating had not been invented and beds were a luxury for the wealthy until 16-17th century. 

Think of all the paintings you've seen from Joaquín Sorolla or Norman Rockwell of boys just being boys. The "Not Gays" puts an end to what little freedom boys have by stifling what comes natural to them. Roughplay, casual nakedness, playful competition through games and sports, and a sense of curiosity are the essence of boyhood, and this essence comes in various boyhood rituals, be it wrestling, playful banter, bathing together, etc. Putting these expressions to an end puts an end to boyhood, thus we see the modern boy alone and isolated in his bedroom watching streamers on the Internet to get the smallest crumb of friendship he can get instead of forming real, meaningful friendships. 

https://mega.nz/folder/dWcVRCYB#gZbidbFJ5INV7mAieuEwGA

Anyways I saw a post here talking about continuing or doing a spin off of Niklas and Friends, possibly with some more intense themes, and figured I'd mention KIDDOS as maybe a point of reference along that line.

Technically Ness (The black haired boy) is a silent protagonist but he always felt brave and ready to jump into action judging from the things that happen in the game. Lucas (The Blond one) on the other hand is more timid having experienced traumatic loss in his life, but builds up exceptional courage when he's surrounded by supportive figures. Ness is one of the chosen ones who has to save the world from a cosmic evil, but his compassion for a friend who turned traitorous is what causes Lucas to have to clean up the mess afterward. So it's fun to think about how they would have interacted together. 

A lot of art is really game stylized which isn't my favorite, but I've been hoarding some of my favorite artwork from across the Internet. I know I have a lot more still, but I'll hold off from going too crazy unless someone here wants more of these two. 

Posted by dick12376 on DeviantArt

Why Boxer & Rice? The name play on words for their names in the show follow that, Trunks is Bulma Brief's son, Bulma's name herself being a play on the word "Bloomers" and of course Briefs, Trunks Briefs = Boxers. Basically. And the word Gohan is Japanese for a rice dinner. So the community that was very serious about this pairing called themselves Boxer & Rice.

Growing up with DBZ, I feel like my friends liked the show because it had lots of fighting and action, and for the most part the story was easy to follow. Fighting people get stronger and fight even stronger people.

For me though the show was all about Gohan. He was so different from the rest of the cast especially when he was younger.

He never enjoyed fighting like his father, but he was always willing to fight like hell to protect anyone he cared about. Combine that with how smart he is and I always felt like he was by far the most in depth character with the most potential in the entire series. What makes me sad is that I feel like his character never got the development he deserved and a lot of the time he got made fun of for being a "nerd" by fans simply because he lacked relatability within the show. Unlike Goten and Younger Trunks who had each other to bounce off of, Gohan was basically alone in his experiences (Piccolo might have been his mentor, but Krillin was really his only "Friend" when he was a kid even though Krillin is older than his dad) until Mirai (Future) Trunks entered the picture.

Trunks had been raised and trained by an older future Gohan and had suffered the heaviest sense of loss out of any character in the series, especially after the death of his future Gohan. 

Though the actual series showed very little of their interaction, it was always great to imagine that Trunks would have seen the younger Gohan as a chance to reconnect with someone who was very dear to him and be especially involved in his life.

Though Trunks isn't in it, I've been working on a fanfic story for a long time about how things in DBZ could have been different for Gohan if he just had a few friends his own age. No pressure at all, but if anyone is a fan of DBZ and interested in it I'll post a link here: 

Dragon Ball Legend - School DAZE - on Fanfiction.net

There's a lot so I'm going to break them up in multiple posts.