Quote Originally Posted by Halivel View Post
That's precisely why all relationships are written through ambiguous subtext and subtlety.

Censorship doesn't mean these things cease to exist. They just get concealed through layers of vague talk. People in these communities, speaking from experience, are practically trained to read through subtext and allusions, because that's the only way you get to see that representation at all, and are often able to pick up on things that will seem unintuitive or a stretch to others.

Being vague gives writers and developers the ability to distribute their content in countries with strict regulations, while those who know what to lookout for will be able to read through hints. At the same time, to those who don't want to see any romance in their content, it gives the ability to completely ignore it.

The unfortunate side effect is that there will be forever the debate of "no one is openly stated to be in a relationship/be queer, so it's not happening" because, well, it will never be "official" for one reason or another.
I agree. People just need to level their expectations, this is never going to be more than that.