#'whaaat? Two men? Are they just friends or brothers? They're homosexuals? But what does that mean???' | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ineffable-kelpie · 1 year ago

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Adding on a few of my fics where Aziraphale and Crowley are on the aro or ace spectrum, and it’s discussed explicitly without quoting the dictionary definition of “asexual” and “aromantic”:

A Demon’s Guide to Love and Curses (11K, rated G) - Both are aroace and aware of it

On Metaphorical Butterflies (3K, rated G) - Both are ace and trying to figure out what romance is and whether they feel it (ok this one does quote the dictionary definition of "aromantic," but only to point out how unhelpful it is)

Velocity (1.8K, rated G) - Aziraphale is aroace, Crowley is ace and alloromantic, they’re both just now realizing this about each other

I wish I liked aro and/or ace fanfictions, but most of the ones I found are just... not written naturally. So many of them make the cold, emotionless character be the aro/ace one, and they'll inevitably have a scene that goes "Tabitha, you know that as an aromatic and/or asexual, I do not have attraction towards other people. However I desire a relationship for social connection." Why must it sound so clinical each time? The character doesn't talk like that in canon???

Submitted June 14, 2023

#OP this exact issue kept me from writing ace and aro characters for years #I didn't want to 'interrupt the story' to explain what asexuality means #but I only thought I had to do that because I was assuming the reader was allo and might not understand that ace people exist #now I've established ace fanfic as part of my brand and I know a lot of my followers are ace so I don't feel the need to do that anymore #and it turns out I CAN write explicitly ace and aro characters without an asexuality/aromanticism 101 class in the middle #I'm blaming this one on lack of awareness about ace and aro identities #because yeah mainstream rep (where it exists) is either super clinical or people ignore it #and when that's the only kind of rep you've seen you assume that's the only way it can be done #I'm happy to say that's not the case and there are so many brilliant aspec and arospec writers out there who are doing it well #fic recs #ace #aro #cyankelpie rambles #I mean imagine if for every fictional gay couple the surrounding characters had to put everything on pause and go #'whaaat? Two men? Are they just friends or brothers? They're homosexuals? But what does that mean???'#instead of just showing too men holding hands and assuming the audience will get it #that's basically the stage ace rep is at right now #hopefully someday we can have a character just say 'Hey I really like you but can we not kiss?' and audiences will get it #but the mainstream is not there yet

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