Loveless

Rooney is Georgia’s roommate at Durham University, who restarts the school’s Shakespeare Society. When she and Georgia meet, Georgia is impressed by her sexual nature. Rooney enjoys parties and casual sex, insisting she’s not looking for a serious relationship. However, though she doesn’t consider herself bisexual or pansexual, she develops feelings for Pip. She doesn’t know how to deal with her feelings, and this struggle exacerbated by her past with an ex-boyfriend, who was emotionally abusive and caused her to develop low self-esteem. Rooney genuinely believes she’s unworthy of love, which explains her use of flings to detach from her emotions. Georgia helps her out of her depression, and the two eventually voice their platonic love for each other. Their friendship gives Rooney the courage to enter a romantic relationship with Pip.

Pip is one of Georgia’s friends from high school. She is confident in being gay, but because she and Georgia grew up in a small town, she never had the opportunity to be part of a queer community. She desires a relationship and internalizes her lack of one as something being wrong with her. Pip worries she’s annoying and is frustrated by her record of falling in love with straight girls. She repeats this cycle of shame when she meets Rooney. She assumes yet another girl she likes is straight, so she acts confrontational to avoid her feelings. Like Rooney, Pip refuses to confront difficult feelings—but the two eventually open up and enter a romantic relationship.

Jason is one of Georgia’s friends from high school. He is a straight boy who still feels the weight of a past relationship—thus, he is careful with his feelings and hesitant when it comes to new relationships. He is in love with Georgia, which is why her dating him for an experiment hurts. The pair have an easy friendship, in which they share their feelings and interests. Jason is empathetic and eventually forgives Georgia for using him, having pieced together her aroace identity. He dedicates the Shakespeare Society’s performance to Georgia because he appreciates her being the “glue” that keeps their friendships together.