#I know that parts not canon but fellow aces... You know what I'm talking about! I just can't imagine Siffrin doesn't have at least one

[torchstelechos]

I love that In Stars and Time gives the nonconsensual kiss a proper horrified reaction, by the way. Most media where a character can kiss someone out of no where either make it a funny thing or the "romantic" thing, but here Siffrin kisses without permission out of no where and Isabeau reacts correctly! He pushed them away! Because thats surprising, and fucked up to do to someone with no lead up and no permission! Isabeau had no context, and at the time when the kiss happened, was under the impression that Siffrin didn't like touch which can have a variety of horrible reasons for it. Not only that but... We don't know what face Siffrin was pulling and I don't think it was a nice one. Which, again, means that we don't have all the context either! This is a horrible event that has horrible consequences and I love that it does. Because it's something that is horrible and objectively one of the worst things Siffrin did to one of the others in the loops, so I'm just!!! So excited it had bad consequences!!!

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

Controversial Character Tournament Round 2: Blaine Anderson from Glee vs Barok Van Zieks from The Great Ace Attorney

(remember that these characters are fictional and your fellow tumblr users are real. i will block you if you harass others in the notes, please consider sending your unhinged harassment to my inbox instead)

Propaganda under the cut, may contain spoilers:

Blaine Anderson:

LOVE: - "you know that post that's like "fandom will call a character evil and immature and then the character is just 15 yo" because that's what happens with blaine. he's just a sweet but socially inept kid with a lot of insecurities who's trying his best. compared to most glee characters he hasn't done anything wrong in his life. and yes he cheated on his boyfriend that one time, but he was super depressed afterwards (also this is glee literally every character has cheated and none have suffered as most as blaine because of it). in conclusion he's just a silly goose. my little princess <3"

HATE: (tumblr will not let me format this one bc its too long)

"A lot of people say he's the male Rachel Berry, and while I think that is absolutely a true statement, I actually don't mind his personality all that much. Literally everyone in Glee has a personality that ranges from inconsistent to downright horrendeus, so instead of talking about what he's like, here's some things he canonically does (buckle up, this'll be long): In season 2, when we first meet him, he's the leader of his school's showchoir. (redflag no.1/j) This gives him the freedom and authoritity to do a lot of stuff- not all bad, but he does serenade a closeted guy he doesn't know all that well, who works in costumer service AT HIS WORKPLACE, with a song about sex toys. (The guy in question ends up getting fired of course). He also gives some pretty hypocritical advice to his love interest, Kurt, about how he should try to blend in (hypocritical, cuz Blaine does the opposite and he's thriving under the attention), and he asks some insesitive questions, but those are all pretty excusable, or at least standard for Glee. In s3, him and Kurt are boyfriends, and he transitions school for him, which we could absolutely count as a decent thing, however it all kinda sours when he gets the part of Tony in the school's production of West side story. Why is this important? Kurt is a senior, and the performing arts university he's applying for is really competitive, so he needs all the extra curriculars and theatre experiance he can get. He asks Blaine to not aidition for Tony- which he agrees to- than promptly goes against that by singing one of Tony's songs at audition. He then gets offfered the role, doesn't turn it down, tells Kurt he should be happy for him, and honestly, BY GLEE STANDARDS, this is also pretty chill. Meanwhile: enter Sebastian Smythe, another contraversial character, who's now the new captain of Blaine's former showchoir, and who decides that either 1. Blaine is hot 2. Gonna use Blaine as an informat (His reasons are unclear tbh) Either way, he starts flirting with Blaine, who does end up rejecting his advances and telling him he's taken (though much later than it's probably ethical, idk tho, I'm aro). He (Blaine) really enjoys the attention though, so they end up keeping in touch. (Important for later.) Back to our main plot though; Blaime doesn't have sexual chemistry with his co-star, so the director tells him to lose his virginity (yes, you heared that right, it is fucked up). So he tries to sleep with Kurt, who of course, doesn't know that his boyfriend's sudden interest in him is due to directoral instructions. And then probably the most contraversial Blaine scene happens- see, Blaine, Kurt, and Sebastian (who Kurt hates with passion) end up going to this gaybar. Blaime gets drunk (though he only drinks one beer on screen, so we don't exactly know how drunk), and tries to sleep with Kurt in the parking lot. Kurt is visibly upset, and tells him no multiple times. Blaime doesn't oblige, and Kurt ends up shouting at him, which Blaine...doesn't take well, and blames Kurt, then leaves by foot. (They end up having sex by the end of this episode btw. No, Kurt still doesn't know about the directoral instructions. Whether he does it out of love or fear that Blaine will leave him is unclear) So we already know these two are not very good at boundries and communication, but the writers say they're "soulmates" so apperantly it's okay? Anyway, this all culminates in cheating incident no.1, where Kurt meets a guy whom he shares similar interests with, and who gives him some very cheesy compliements. They exchange numbers, and text a lot. Blaine doesn't like this. He checks their texts in secret, and then sings a song in front of the entire Glee club about how he's being cheated on, to humiliate Kurt.

Kurt insists it's not cheating, giving the example that Blaine's doing the same/used ro do the same with Sebastian. Blaine says "that's different" and they leave it at that. Kurt apologises via song. S4- Kurt moves to New York. Has to work a lot, since rebt is high, and also gets an internship at vague, so he's quite busy. Blaine feels ignored, so he cheats on him with some guy we only see the facebook profile of. They break up. S5- Blaine has a crush in this other guy, Sam. (He's been trying to get Kurt back, so him moving on is a big deal). Except gay marrige gets legalized, and Blaine decides to propose to Kurt. So he gets back together with him, then bot a week later he arranges a huge public proposal where it'd honestly just be plain emberassing to say no, but dontcha worry, because Kurt accepts. They move to New York together. Blaine becomes insecure, because Kurt gets ripped thanks to his fencing lessons, meanwhile he lrts go of himself a bit, enjoying all the fine food New York has to offer. His reaction to this is to try manipulating/tricking Kurt into eating copious amounts of food too. (To be fair, Kurt's reaction to the situation isn't perfect either, but this is not about him, their actions can co-exist without one of them necessarily having to be "the right one") S6- Kurt breaks up with Blaine. Blaine ends up going back to Ohio, and dating the guy who bullied, non-consensually kissed, than threatened to kill Kurt. (The guy did have a redemption arc, but I still dunno how to feel) You might be wondering- "wow, this was so lpng and extensive", and you'd be right but also this was mostly romantic relationship centric. There's also a lot of stuff Blaine says to his friends that make me question my sanity, but this is Glee, so that's every character in basically every episode. What makes me hate Blaine isn't even JUST all this- it's the fact that in universe, he almost never gets called-out, people take his side, it's as if the writers are condoning his actions, and I Don't Like That. I'm all for liking morally grey, or even morally dispicable characters, as long as their actions don't get excused. Hell, I started out just mildly disliking Blaine, but a lot of people paint him as innocent and pure, and that didn't feel right. Then I was ready to like him BECUASE of his questionable morality- but turns out, the guy doean't have much else going on besides this. His personality is almost the same as Rachel, except Rachel's more...full? If that makes sense? Blaine is just...bland. And inconsistent, and boring, and I just Do Not Like Him At All."

Baron Van Zieks:

LOVE: - "man's 6'4", british, looks like a vampire, took a mental health break for 5 years thanks to the dead bodies that cropped up after he lost in court, and is uhhhhhh kinda racist which is a key part of his character. the explanation for it is divisive but he does grow as a character eventually?? i think he's fun. there's a bonus case exclusive to the 3DS version of the games where he mentions he was almost poisoned in one of the first cases he ever handled. he objects with his leg. he brings wine into court but rarely drinks it. he has bats in his office. we have no idea where the scar on his face came from. his voice actor did a subway commercial. i think he wants to believe he is the sane one in the courtroom but that title belongs to the 16 year old judicial assistant for the defense." - "I love to hate him tbh!!! He's a complex interesting character tied up in things outside of his control and being used by the antagonist to hurt people, isolated due to his grief and rumors from the public. He also sucks SO fucking bad and I want to punch him. Lovingly. But I love him I promise."

[aroacesafeplaceforall]

Hi, I'm aroace. you "do not ship canon aroace char" is deeply misleading. I shouldn't explain it to you but aromanticism and asexuality are spectrums. Where Alastor falls on that spectrum depends on how who writes him. He can be comfortable with a particular "messed up" idea of "romance" that does not align with the normal concept of romance. He can be into kinks/fetishes without being into traditional sex - and he will still be ace. Hell, he's a serial killer, and guess how high is the percentage of sexual deviants among serial killers.

Grey aromanticism and grey asexuality are a fucking thing and it's genuinely a shame fellow aroaces try to shame those of us who are on the grey part of the spectrum into thinking that aroace characters cannot be shipped. Yes... they can. Just like aroace people can be in romantic and sexual relationships of non-traditional kind and still associate themselves with the labels.

Comparing homosexuality, often seen as non-spectral (though many people can argue and we should Not Be Like This About Labels), with spectrums of aromantic and/or asexual attraction is deeply misguided. It makes me wonder if you are fully aware what you're talking about.

*I've been in the fandom since the pilot and I never heard about Viv confirming his aromanticism, just his asexuality. If new information dropped, I'd love to hear it - but if he is just ace, you guys should now be assigning aromanticism to him just because. Romantic asexuals exist, it's normal.

Bestie… how about you check the post you’re quoting?

This is for all aroace characters. Not just some random ass demon (??) from a show I’ve never seen but people seem to be obsessed with…

Sure if they’re called aroace SPEC then go ahead and speculate… but if they’re called AROACE then well kinda different situations lol…

it’s also a different situation if someone is posting shit like “IF I EVER SEE YOU SHIP (canon gay man) WITH (women character) IM BLOCKING YOU SO HARD” and then turn around and say “AROACE IS A SPECTRUM IM NOT BUT OTHERS ARE AND I SAY THIS!!!”

I’ve also stated multiple times that I have far less of an issue with it then some of those posts might make you believe. I’m pretty sure I did a post somewhere about my “here’s how you don’t fuck up” rules.

I can’t quote it but I know some highlights:

-if your aspec you can ship, I know your not going to be gross about it (hopefully)

-acknowledgment of aspec identity in the fic no matter the contents

-if someone is written as sex-repulsed; don’t do the opposite. Same with romance-repulsed

Sincerely,

An aegosexual/aromantic pansexual, who’s been doing this shit for about 2 years now and known about aspec identity/advocated for, for far longer

[citrusotakutea]

Hey op just curious what makes you hate the new Hellsing fanbase. As a fellow Hellsing fan I was wondering if I’ve completely missed something strange going on lately.

The new Hellsing fandom honestly irks me because of the surface level probing of the source material*. Yes, to most it's a hard core, dark, violent, mad and bad-ass anime but, like I've said so often, for so long on this dumb blog, it has the BEST female characters I've ever seen, recently rivaled by Arcane. Incredible depiction of platonic relationships and morally grey characters. To me, it's primarily a found family story, among other things.

The side characters are incredible, Yumi and Heinkel are the most underrated of the show. I mean come on priest and nun lesbians (lesbian used liberally). Heinkel is confirmed by the author to be an INTERSEX HUMAN. Alucard shapeshifts into a female (which, looking at the Devilman fandom, everyone took for an obvious trans metaphor, why not here?). The source material is as homoerotic as it can get between a lot of the characters (the tension between Sir Integra and Seras during the blood scene). Let's not forget Rip van Winkle, Pip, Walter, and Alexander. Alucard's teasing, Seras' naivety and subsequent maturity, Pip's endurance and playful wittiness. These characters and relationships are stuck in my head forever, they're all incredibly unique, fleshed out and worth remembering, no matter how short a time they spent on screen. And the character designs? As a long-time vampyr and catholic guilt fan, can I just say. Rawr. This show shaped how I dress like irl and my own shitty characters, as well.

Sir Integra is my favorite character of the show and one of all time. Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Like, an actually good depiction of a no-nonsense, androgynous as hell, unabashedly commanding (dare I say) woman? And it's played completely straight? No "Whaaa that's a woman?" every 2 seconds or "heh, you will listen to me despite my womanhood" from her. Powerful in her own right despite being the few "magic"-less humans of the series. 0 sexualized Ultimate scenes (sorry Seras and the "hot down there" comment doesn't count, that was banter). She was fucking knighted by the Queen of England before she was even 25, hence Sir Integra. Canonically bi-racial and South-Asian. I'm not even going to go into her character's willpower and values but. Hellloooo??? 

Not to mention, something noteworthy about the series, but Hellsing works because Hirano made time for silly moments. I mean, hell, one of the scenes I remember most vivdly was the gag of Heinkel lighting Sir Integra's cigar and being mega-pissed about it during the final battle, it's funny yet in character, despite many fans saying the humor throws you out of the "reality" of the show.

Oh no, but what do the new fandom gremlins talk about? "Alufart rails Y/A" "OMG VLADCARD'S BARA HAIRY TIDDIES I WANNA RUB MY FACE AGAINST THEM" (you know who you are) “I drew the most fucked up version of Alucard I could think of in my twisted mind”

and my personal "favorite":

"omg 🥺 what if intewa and alucard kisswdd", it's almost as bad as Seras x Alucard.

Unfortunately, I am a part of the ship police, so I'm gonna say right now that these two are my most hated ships:

1) Sir Integra and Alucard's relationship goes beyond romance to me. Since none of the new fans know the lore, Sir Integra is and will die a virgin (canon), it's literally plot relevant because by having sex, if she gets bit she will become a zombie slave (obvious but apparently needed to be said) and, taking a note from the 2001 anime, gone is any chance to continue the Hellsing mission. If she was bitten, plot armor aside, she'd have to off herself instead of becoming a vampire. (and for you freaks out there/pos, dare I say… ace representation? you can argue about desire and subtext later)

2) Seras and Alucard's relationship was specifically noted by the author to be a father/daughter dynamic, which is kind of obvious in the show. Like I said, fundamentally a found family series. Yeah, you don't need to treat found family like family family but I gen can't stand this ship.

I know that people will ship characters who've never been in a room together before. I can't stop people from shipping them and these two ships have ALWAYS been popular in the fandom. I typically ignore this and, yes, "don't like, don't interact" is my main rule. However, new fans ONLY talk about this stuff. None of the rest of the show seems to matter, just Alucard's hairy mustached tig bitties and him fucking one of the two women in the main cast. Or someone's self insert.

((tangent but personally my favorite ships are Alexander x Alucard (obviously in an enemies to enemies way), Heinkel x Yumi, and a romance only Seras x s.Integra. Like, you want old women yuri??? There ya go! They were in a mansion for like 30 years (I forgot) together, probably going missions alone and sharing their grief over Alucard and their unique experience/history. Like I said, I can't help who people ship, I'm not trying to say the source material is in favor of my ships or "how dare people interpret these obviously gay characters as straight". like no, that's not why I'm upset and ik alucard and alexander weren't yaoi-ing it up but like. alucard and s.integra shippers dni /j))

Not to mention, I couldn't help but notice, despite this information being readily available to my middle school self, no one knows the fckn lore or background of this show?? I honest to god saw someone comment that Hellsing Ultimate™ was a bad “remake” because it diverged from the original anime.

Here's SOME fun facts:

-the 2001 version of the show has a different ending than the manga because it wasn't finished yet (duh). Hellsing Ultimate is "soooo short" because production took almost a decade and it was trying to be a faithful, well-animated (that takes time bruv) adaptation. Oh, and a bunch of directional changes that I won't get into.

-there are multiple OVAs following Walter's youth in WW2 (Hellsing: The Dawn). Young Walter's design honestly was one of my favorites from the series so. Walter enjoyers. Check it out.

-there is a bonus book explaining a lot about the characters and process of creating Hellsing written by Hirano himself. whenever I got a hold of it, though (8+ years ago) there was no English translation.

-Alucard didn't just transform into a girl that one time, he was in his girl form the entire time during WW2 (hence why when people mention his possible affair with the Queen it might've been a sapphic thing but I think that mostly stems from the abridged series. the queen thing not the girl thing)

-Hirano used to be a Hentai mangaka and actually designed many of Hellsing's characters in said hentai or in short stories (such as Crossfire, it's basically extra, non-canonical Hellsing content) beforehand. Which, this used to be the most popular "fun fact" but has been lost to the sands of time now, so prepare for a lot of people rediscovering this.

-personal lore is I almost named myself Rip van Winkle bc of this show (quirked up Portal, Grell Sutcliff, queer-coded, rifle-wielding shawty)

Anyway, to sum it up, I hate when people don't interpret characters in the same way I do. Yes, I am a bad “fandom elder”, idgaf I am fundamentally a hater.

*I keep seeing this happen with old shows that resurface. Unlike newer or more popular shows where every scene gets scoured, characters who showed up for one scene get analyzed, and endless cafe AUs are made- older shows mostly get fan art of the main charas and the ships of the two hottest characters and that's it. Discussion of lore and themes are completely off the table. So I'm not surprised, just disappointed.

[fictionkinfessions]

Guys not every kinfession with a wording that you dont quite like needs to get paragraphs of education. God forbid someone send in something quickly instead of writing an essay of backstory.

MPC choosing to say asexual isnt fucking hurting anyone. Yes theres often confusion between the aro and ace communities for ppl who arent in them, but a single kinfession being mad ppl r shipping your kin is NOT the time to pull out the education glasses. Go educate people trying to actually equate the two, not some random anonymous person on a kinfession blog.

Leave mpc alone ffs.

~A fellow asexual who ALSO knows the pain of ppl shipping ur canotically ace and implied aro kin in favor of ignoring canon (sorry ur dealing w/ that mpc fr ppl suck sometimes.)

They [collectively] aren't wrong about wanting terms to be used correctly and I do support that and understand the frustration. But like. I am intentionally excluding a lot of information out and what I have included is not incorrect according to my canon and source.

My brief vent confession is perfectly valid from my pov because I'm familiar with all the nuance involved with my many friendships and relationships in my source. I centered on my asexuality because that's the main point that the fandom disregards. It is not the only part.

Please, I know what I'm talking about. Let me be upset without expounding on every detail. We would be here all day and I'd rather get on with my life.

Tones used in ths post: amused / a little exasperated / polite / neutral / mostly calm / kind of embarrassed to argue about my canon, still.

[teecupangel]

Heeey long time no see, thoghts on whats going on in the comic?

Heeeeeey, and even longer time no answer, sorry TTATT

Anyway… first of all.

Here’s the tag for all my reactions and analysis to this webtoon.

This does mean I will be talking about Chapters 12 to 18 in this one and, ooohhh boy, let’s get this started XD

Okay, so this might get a bit disjointed in some places so uuuhh… bear with me?

First of all: I remembered reading that Birch was supposed to a business partner or something of Edward but I can’t find where I read that. It was never truly stated what Edward’s ‘front’ was (and I highly doubt he let it be ‘the trophy husband of a rich woman’) so Edward forming an alliance with Madam Lee might turn to him and Madam Lee having a business ‘alliance’ later, maybe Edward being the person in charge of Madam Lee’s business endeavors in London (maybe even Europe?). This would be a good place to set that up but, if it’s not, well… I also won’t be surprised considering the last few chapters XD

Sudden Ezio appearance!

Not surprising though since Ezio is the ancestor of the Kenways so, yeah, Noa having him in his genes is spot on.

However…

Excuse Me???

Bitch, if you trying to take over our baby boi Desmond Miles’ place, there will be… well… not riots but there will be some strong words being thrown around in this tumblr, that’s for damn sure!

BTW, love this game mechanics shoutout XD

(And yes, I do love these more than that Hitman coin toss thing in Chapter 11)

Also…

I know this is meant to be a visual ‘aid’ of some sort of the Italian Brotherhood around AC Brotherhood (Ezio and his recruits), but that’s Evie right there.

That’s Evie. XD

And finally...

Oh my heart… TTATT

Overall: Edward's parts are interesting and it does feel a lot like an AC game with lots of side objectives before tackling the main objective.

The flashbacks help show how Edward became the person who he is in this webtoon and his conflict with Madam Lee even with their alliance is also pretty interesting.

Refusing to call it opium and just calling it 'devil's powder' is funny though, ngl. I don't know if it's against webtoon's terms and services or not but calling it 'Devil's Powder' is the kind of dramatics that Edward would sometimes have. XD

On the other side though, honestly? I don't know if I would ever like Noa, especially with the way the webtoon is comparing him to Desmond Miles.

(I'm going to sound like a broken record)

Again, if the plot twist is he's Desmond's half-brother or son (super highly improbable), I'm out.

If the plot twist is he just so happened to have the same bloodline as Desmond (with Altaïr's bloodline included) but not closely related, I'm out. (For one, Altaïr's bloodline came from his mother's side and is not part of the Auditore-Kenway side. For another... siiigghhh... here's the post where we talk about how weird the percentages of Noa's 'bloodline' is)

The problem with his connection with Desmond is that it comes with doing disservice to an already existing underutilized character: Elijah.

Remember, all the memories Noa is reliving are Edward's memories before he had Haytham. So this means that Sample 17 could have been used to find these memories. They don't need Noa to do this.

And even if they need a 'living descendant' or what not.

ELIJAH IS STILL ALIVE in canon and would have the same memories.

"Oh, but Elijah is in hiding". Uh-huh. And it's not like Abstergo finding him or him creating his own modified Animus to find these memories would be anything out of the realm of possibility.

Which is why I am still advocating that 'Shimazu' Sei and her fellow kidnappers are doing this without Abstergo's approval and/or knowledge.

I detailed why I came to this conclusion here.

[onewomancitadel]

Searching for Cinder's Suitor

Everyone knows the R/WBY ships are full of opposite elements stuff. You've heard enough from me about it, and lots of other smarter and cleverer people have talked about Ruby's magical silver eyes to Oscar's magical gold eyes, Blake's dark to Yang's light, so on and so forth. Like them, the person she should be paired romantically with should be something opposite of her element. It's contextually sensitive to her, like yin/yang is to Blake/Yang.

There are a couple of things we could use to narrow down Cinder's romantic suitor. Today, I'm going to focus on water, for the following reasons: a) it's not Jung for once, or it only sort of is b) since fire is such a major element for her, finding someone water-themed and obvious should be easy, and finally, c) because water is just one part of the opposite pairs, it'll be very handy to narrow down our competitors.

The reason I don't say ice is because fire/ice is more of an aggressive pair, and in R/WBY I don't think Cinder is going to end up with someone who is icy/symbolically represents Atlas (cold, snowy) or is Atlesian because of the obvious. At the very least, I don't think reconciliation with her past will be represented through that - it's room for another post (especially with how she projects onto the Schnees). When I personally think of fire/ice, I'm thinking of the Robert Frost poem, about - glibly - whether world ending in fire or ice is better.

Your first objection might be that Yang has the fire to her - so there's 'already one' - but in her case that's more to do with her solar theming and light theming to Blake's dark. It is also part of symbolically connecting Yang to Cinder, since Cinder carries a lot of composite elements to the characters.

But because I think most of us can agree fire is Cinder's thing, so then Cinder needs water.

This season of The Fall Maiden Wants a Spouse is going to be very interesting.

Winter - no

Ice-themed. Cinder targets her because she represents her suffering (directly calls her Atlesian elite). Fellow Maiden who uses lightning (which mimics Cinder's torture with the collar) when used against Cinder. No water element.

Watts - no

We've barely started and this is already making me laugh.

Tyrian - no

He's a scorpion Faunus. Causes trouble and loves it. Would be inappropriate even if water-themed.

Hazel - no

Unable to attend the wedding in person. Uses a myriad of Dust, no particular one to pick out as an element.

Salem - no

Stop it.

Emerald - no

Emerald is not water-themed, and might just be emerald-themed, like Ruby is... ruby.

Mercury - no

'Quicksilver'. Probably mercury-themed. Quicksilver might be a bit like Ruby and potentially Cinder's metallic element, but silver is not what we're looking for here in a suitor.

Neo - no

I think she's icecream-themed. Cinder kicked her off a bridge; I think she might be communicating something to us.

Roman - no

No.

Raven - no

A fellow Maiden and antagonist to Cinder, Raven is not water-themed. Raven-themed. Might be Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr themed. Also would be weird considering Yang and the age bracket difference wouldn't work for R/WBY. (Cinder has to pass as a student and is like twenty-four at most. Don't make me start this here).

Penny - no

Penny was the Winter Maiden, probably copper-themed, and when she used the Maiden powers, her powers eventually evolved into like what Winter uses with the green thunder/lightning (and borrowed Cinder's weapon idea). No water here, and I think her magic was intentionally meant to be a bit inorganic/liminal.

Skipping over the Ace-ops, none of them are it.

Ironwood - no

Probably tin, but nothing else to see here.

Qrow - no

Crow-themed. Probably would say no even if offered the narrative opportunity.

Tai - no

RWBY Chibi is not canon. Dad of other fire girl. Would make things weird. The story is not THAT Freudian.

Summer Rose - no

I told you, it's not Freud (Cinder is too much like Ruby). Anyway, no water to be seen here yet, but seems unlikely. Might share a Grimm curse.

Ilia - no

Lunar-themed but no water association by extension. Electric-themed? Rainbow-themed? Electric whip would not go down well with Cinder, probably.

Adam - no

Wilting rose, dying without water/under a curse - big no. I don't want him near her anyway. Also she killed a camp of his followers with Emerald and Mercury. Not the best first impression a bride could make. Also he's dead.

Sun - no

He's solar and a bit fiery, but has a watery best friend.

Neptune - maybe!!!

Water-themed, but has a tragic past related to water and is afraid of it. Literally the only candidate so far, but has never once interacted with Cinder. Most likely paired with Sun symbolically already, and I don't think these types of pairs double-up. Will consider nevertheless, because we need it. Also named for the Roman god of the sea.

Sage - no

Watery friend, but proxmity isn't enough, as you'll see...

Scarlet - no

... the pirate-theming might bring him near the water, but it's not enough for Cinder.

Team CFVY - no.

None of them are water-themed. Chanel doesn't cut it here.

Well, so far I think I can say that's pretty exhausting, but I am being very thorough. At certain points I included ridiculous options, however ones like Lionheart have been excluded just because. She needs a more dedicated partner anyway. I'm not ruling out characters being introduced, and I obviously can't account for them (and I apologise if I missed anyone), but it doesn't seem likely. There's no romantic motivation to her villainy (and none needed), and someone involved in her redemption should be someone major.

As you can see, there's only one viable option so far - and that's Neptune. I'm feeling pretty bad for Cinder now. I have to be honest with you, I don't think they would get along very well.

Let's get the main teams out of the way:

Ruby - no

Ruby has silver eyes, but there's nothing here that's water, despite - again - the lunar association.

Weiss - no

Weiss is ice-themed, but employs fire in her arsenal. Could represent melted ice i.e. water, but that's a stretch. Character whom Cinder targets because she represents her suffering.

Blake - no

A white shadow, lunar-themed but no water to see here. Kind of the same person, would be awkward.

Yang - no

Already has a girlfriend.

Pyrrha - no

Cinder killed her. Name means flame-coloured. These two clashed for a reason, but don't seem set up romantically in any way.

Nora - no

Lightning is more her speed, and as seen with Winter, definitely not Cinder's thing.

Ren - no

The lotus flower thrives in mud, but that's not watery enough for us.

Ok, I think we might just be out of luck.

Neptune's probably already symbolically paired with Sun, and is inappropriate in other ways. If they met in the next couple of volumes, maybe it might work? He's probably going to be involved with Sun when the Vacuo arc begins, though, and he doesn't really have any stakes involved with Cinder. Also, given the future character arc for him, I don't see Cinder being involved, but at least Sun. The sun and the sea might be their thing, or at least a folk hero/god pairing (like Ren/Nora and Emerald/Mercury).

Perhaps Cinder isn't going to get a romantic interest at all, since she's just an antagonist. Or would it not matter? Given that it's R/WBY, no, it almost definitely matters. Maybe it could be ice instead? Winter seeks Cinder for revenge, but they develop respect or care for each other instead. I'm not sure how to get Cinder there, since she never lets anyone in, least of all an Atlesian Special Operative (or at least ex) and someone with the Maiden power she so desperately wants and would have to kill for. I still don't think this is the case, though, but let's revisit the question of romance at all.

Let's say if her redemption is a thing, and you know, since she's part of the main cast, she should get a romance, right? Everybody else is already paired up - and these aren't my opinions, this is what I think is being set up, rather - Blake/Yang, Ren/Nora, Ruby/Oscar, Emerald/Mercury... I don't think Weiss is getting a romance, since her arc is mostly related to the familial, and her Summon is already her knight-in-shining armour...

But who's missing?????? I must be forgetting SOMEONE.

Oh, I didn't list Oscar, that's who it is. I highly doubt Cinder would be interested in Oscar, especially since they're sort of, respectively, Salem and Ozma's children. That would also be weird. There are so many options here that are weird.

Is it appropriate that she gets a romance? Not every character necessarily needs it. Weiss is a great example, and someone like Qrow - who is Weiss' STRQ analogue - definitely isn't getting one, since both of their arcs are related to family. Character need isn't just about our own tastes though, it's about what's thematically and narratively appropriate.

Cinder has never been loved, unconditionally and fully, without compromise and without reservation, against duty, and maybe even for changing duty to stop injustice happening. If there's one character whom I think a romance would be appropriate for, with one character in the story intimately intertwined with her character - especially if she has a redemption arc - it's her.

The power of friendship doesn't 'save' her in V8. That's not enough. But she's not too far gone. Compared to the other redemption arcs already involving friendship and family, we can liddle a romance, as a treat.

Is there a main character I'm forgetting who hasn't had their endgame romance yet?? Maybe it's time to end the post. Maybe I should admit defeat.

Lol.

Jaune's Semblance is related to Aura. Apparently it's not Aura-amping, but might be something else, but for the sake of this post, Aura, Aura-amping, Aura-bridging, Aura-touching is his super special Semblance. It's in his soul. That's his thing. Like Cinder's fire is like her own Semblance and she expresses it through the Maiden power.

The visual effect over Aura is like the reflection of light from water.

Using alchemy as a reference - since that's the whole elements thing and everything it's grounded in - we can derive a few more things about Aura. I'm not explaining alchemy, there are other people who know it better, but for the purposes of this post, let me just say that red, white, black and yellow comes from the stages of alcemical transformation, that's what the show is grounded in.

Aura itself is like the mercurial waters of life,

Uh oh.

Cinder killed Pyrrha, so again: not the best impression a bride could make, but it did attract his attention, since they did have that whole confrontation in Haven over it. (Very strange and illegal courting rituals).

Pyrrha symbolically representing her misdeeds probably would do a lot for forgiveness in her redemption arc... nevermind, here's the Knightfall masterpost, I'm not going to waste your time with any more expansion on the ship. I admit my bias here, but I'm going to tell you the truth, this is one of the first things I noticed about the ship. This is just my formal analysis.

Neptune may have interested Weiss and been a source of competitive romantic angst in Beacon for Jaune, but he's not it here, not at all. Nope. In fact, I might go so far as to suggest this is the organic, ironic consequence of that arc in V2.

This is what Jaune's cut out for. He's water-themed and his Semblance emerged because Cinder put a spear through Weiss.

If that's not true love I don't know what it is. (Probably need to hop on that redemption arc and make do, especially for said spear, but let's not get ahead of ourselves).

Anyway, the water-theming is down. I've talked about the other ship patterns and themes, but this is one of Cinder's special things, so it's important. The reverse of this post is equally true: there's no one else who is fire to Jaune's water. His Semblance (and subsequent water theming) doesn't present itself until after Pyrrha (fire-haired) passes in the story, and like Neptune, I would dismiss. But there's no one else. I'm not making another post that's the inverse of this.

She's fire, he's water. Found her suitor.

Jaune - yes.

[autistic-beshelar]

Hello, fellow aspec critter here!

I saw your post about Ashton being alloaro (100% agree btw) and in the tags you said you hc Molly as nebularomantic and I was just wondering, what does that mean? (I've also considered aro-spec Molly but I'm not committed to a specific hc yet)

Also, I get what you mean about sg in the "Enough-tp" post. I might just be biased 'cause it's not my fav ship but still. Also I know it's not canon but I low-key hc Caleb as ace-spec so that adds to it when it comes to sex-related stuff, be it sg or not. Like you said, it's not a bad thing, I just don't see it that way personally. I don't want to play into the "asexuality is caused by trauma" thing though.

Anyways sorry for rambling lol

hi aspec critter!! thank you for the ask and do not apologise for rambling it is NOTHING compared to this answer lmao

on molly:

nebularomantic is an orientation on the aromantic spectrum! likely it comes from the term 'nebulous', meaning cloud like, or ill-defined. it's when you have trouble differentiating between platonic and romantic feelings, due (in part or entirely) to being neurodivergent. so, it's solely a label for neurodivergent people! i headcanon molly as having a tbi, adhd, and npd, and i hc that he's a little bit in love with all his friends, but has trouble telling if it's in a platonic or romantic way, or somewhere inbetween or outside of that.

molly i think feels a lot, but has a lot of trouble working out what it is exactly he's feeling. he's the same with gender - pinpointing what it is is impossible, he just knows he's feeling a lot of it. he's more focused on just doing whatever makes him happy - if he wants to wear a dress one day he will, if he wants to sleep with someone and they want to sleep with him, he will, if he wants to give yasha 500 forehead kisses a day he will

on caleb:

as for caleb, yes i headcanon him as aspec as well, although i actually do think it's due to trauma for him! he gave me such strong asexual vibes in the beginning of the campaign, and i think he's slowly becoming more comfortable with it. especially with essek being demi, and caleb being somewhere on the bi ace spectrum (i feel like it probably goes up and down, depending on how he's doing mentally, i think he probably uses bisexual and asexual interchangeably), i think they're a great match for each other as they'll both be very understanding

(cw for sexual assault/trauma mention)

i can totally understand feeling uncomfortable with headcanoning him as ace-due-to-trauma, esp since there's such a harmful stereotype that people are only asexual because they're broken, or because we're mentally ill or have some kind of deficit. but sexuality is fluid, and mental illness and trauma can change so much about a person, so while the stereotype is bullshit, sometimes that really can be a person's experience. i think it would make a lot of sense if caleb was aspec bc of his sexual and relationship trauma from being a volstrucker and with astrid and wulf. i've talked to aces who are ace due to trauma like that, who just lose sexual attraction because of what happened to them. they might not have been 'born' that way, but their experience is still an asexual one, yknow?

especially when there's such great aro and ace rep in cr who AREN'T that way because of trauma - like caduceus, who is so kind and loving and very content with being aroace, like essek who, while traumatised, his being demisexual seems to have nothing to with that. there are so many different aspec experiences and it's nice to see that diversity portrayed.

honestly i have a long list of queer and neurodivergent headcanons for everyone (i have thoughts on cr1 as well, but i'm still early campaign for that)

also HELL YEAH aroallo ashton fanclub

[kyanitedragon]

Canon Aspecs:

Koisenu Futari is a J-Drama featuring two canonly aroace characters, and entirely centers about being aroace and navigating an amatonormative society. It hits SO MANY themes of being aroace, covering so much each episode, and surprisingly (and unlike most aroace rep I've seen) discusses the aromantic part of being aroace much more than the asexual part, which was very refreshing and relatable to me an a non-sam aro who is technically aroace. (How to watch here!)

Cherry Magic is also a J-Drama, with the same screenwriter as Koisenu Futari. It's her previous work, and she actually pushed for an aroace character that the manga writer then okay-ed! I haven't seen it yet, but I'm pretty sure Cherry Magic is mostly a romance so it might not be great for romance-repulsed aros. And I'm not sure how much, if any, sex is in the series. But Fujisaki is word of god canonly aroace and quite relatable in the show!

I know nothing else about it, but a character from Friend Zone 2 Dangerous Area is canonly asexual!

And Run On also has an (alloromantic) asexual character? (The first 3 screenshots in this post) Again I don't know anything more about it.

Bojack Horseman is great asexual representation! Todd, one of the main characters, discovers he's asexual across a few seasons, and the series goes surprisingly deep in explaining it and showing what its like to be ace. It's a bit confusing because Todd is initially described as aroace (not understanding crushes, saying he's "nothing" in regards to orientation, etc) but then it changes to seemingly describe him as an alloromantic asexual, showing him desiring to and dating a few fellow asexual people and never again mentioning his disconnect with romance. It doesn't necesarily rule out that he could be arospec, since aros can be romance-favorable and date or experience conditional romantic attraction, but knowing the show was written by allos, I personally always found the sudden change odd (and a bit invalidating as an aroace tbh) and I consider him an allo-ace character and allo-ace representation. My minor issues aside, the series really does a great job on asexual rep! The series does have sex scenes and sex jokes, though, so it may not be the best for sex-repulsed asexuals. (Although I'm sex-repulsed and I surprisingly had no issue with it. The sex scenes are much more about the plot than ~being sexy~ so I think that helped, as well as not objectifying the female characters unless it was the show calling that out. But still, look into it or watch with care if you're sex-repulsed!)

Legends of Tommorow just recently confirmed that Spooner is asexual! I haven't seen this far into the series, nor do I know if she's aroace or alloace, but they use the word asexual in the series! And since I haven't seen much, I don't know how friendly this series is for romance- and sex- repusled aspecs, sorry.

Sex Education also has an canon allo-ace character, and the word asexual explained on-screen! I haven't seen it so I can't say any more than this, nor how friendly the series is for sex-repulsed aces.

It's a video game, but Parvati from The Outer Worlds is canonly wlw asexual, and she mentions this in-game! Additionally, you have the option to mention to her that you as also asexual, and then further also mention your romantic orientation, including telling her that you are also aromantic. Regardless of whether you tell her you're allo-ace or aro-ace, she's very happy to have a fellow asexual to talk and relate to. (I'm not sure if you can tell her you're allo-aro, but I would assume not :/ )

Lilith Clawthorne from The Owl House was just recently confirmed as aro! It's been a while since I watched it, but I don't remember any in-show evidence of her being aro. And the series does have a pretty big focus on the main wlw romance as well as another minor wlnb romance. Hunter from S2 is also quite often headcanoned as aro by the fandom, although its not confirmed.

Peridot from Steven Universe is canonly aroace! Again, the show has quite a bit of romance in it, although a lot of it is pretty good LGBT+ rep. And Peridot has a few moments of being aroace-coded, not wanting to fuse and (minor spoilers) never fusing in the entire run of the series. (Fusion is the series' metaphor for relationships - all kinds but usually romantic, thus possibly making Peridot aplatonic as well?)

Liv from Emmerdale is canonly (aro?)ace and actually says the word asexual!

Luffy from One Piece is canonly aroace! I'm pretty sure the entire series is romance-free, although I'm not sure how much of it discusses his disinterest in relationships.

Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead is word of god asexual, and what what I've heard comes across as very aroace.

It's unclear whether Yelena Belova is canonly aroace in the MCU like she is in the comics. However! She does have some relatable scenes in the MCU. Like, when discussing their hypothetical if-nothing-went-wrong futures, she imagines her sister with the perfect nuclear family. But herself? Just a dog. :) So far, she's shown no romantic interest in any of her appearances, although going forward I honestly wouldn't doubt it if they erased her aromanticism, so I would keep that in mind.

The book ShadowHunters has an aroace character, and the tv series unfortunetly partially straight-washed him to be a heteromantic asexual. But, its still asexual rep, I guess?

Miraculous Ladybug is a romance series, but! The minor(?) character Alix has been confirmed as aro, and Max as ace!

It has been canonly said that Mina from My Hero Academia "has never had a crush on anyone, but wishes she could be in love", possibly making her canonly aromantic and cupioromantic depending on what kinds of confirmation you consider things "canon". To my knowledge the writer has never used the word and confirmed this, and this little fun fact I think was kind of a bullet point in the manga? Anyway, the anime series is pretty romance-free and I've seen a lot of aros in the fandom and a lot of further aspec headcanons.

Not-Confirmed-Canon Aspecs:

Yoite from Nabari no Ou / King of Nabari is canonly intersex and mlm, and implied asexual and nonbinary. And the manga author is nonbinary and asexual themself! The anime itself is sort of a slow-burn romantic tragedy. (The manga author Yuhki Kamatani also wrote the manga Shimanami Tasogare / Dreams at Dusk that you may recognize, which has asexual, mlm, and wlw rep. Unlike Nabari no Ou, it doesn't have an anime adaptation, though, unfortunetly.)

I'm not sure how much, if any, is confirmed canon, but I've heard that Bloom Into You has a few characters that seem arospec.

Saiki Kusuo from Saiki Kusuo no PSI nan / The Disastorous Life of Saiki Kusuo might as well be canonly aroace. He doesn't understand romance nor sex, mentions this a lot, and the whole series is a comedy about him avoiding romantic advances towards him. It's not only incredibly relatable, but also just generally hilarious.

I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard that Ishigami Senkuu from Dr. Stone is similar, also seeming incredibly aroace despite not being canon, and having plots that show that he is uninterested in romance.

It's a romance anime, but the reoccuring character Sunakawa from My Love Story / Ore Monogatari is uninterested in romance. ("When I think about what I’d have to do if I dated anyone, it makes me tired.” What a mood.)

Similarly, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard has a reocurring character that seems very aromantic.

I've heard that Jo from Little Women (2019) seems very aromantic and resonates a lot with aros. She doesn't understand romance nor want to get married, but feels a lot of pressure to do so being a woman in the 19th century.

It generally falls into the "they get into a romance by the end of the series" category, but many of the Star Trek series have characters that seem aro and are relatable, like Data from The Next Generation, Odo from Deep Space Nine, and Seven of Nine from Voyager.

I'm tired of trying to find aro and ace representation and only getting recommended books

It's great that there is rep in books, but I'm dyslexic and sometimes I don't want to put effort in to trying to see people like me, I just want to turn on the television and relax