#RIZ IS CANONICALLY ACE

[mythoughtsarecabbages]

the internal struggle of wanting to respect riz’s seemingly ace/aro identity but also seeing the chemistry fabian and riz have…. idk man maybe i just want them to be in a queer platonic relationship and grow old together is that too much to ask

[artificergorgug]

im sorry why i am hearing the words 'riz is ace' spoken for the first (by like a person behind fh) in an episode of The Seven ADVENTURING PARTY

Image ID: A screenshot of Brennan Lee Mulligan in the Dimension 20 dome with the caption "because Riz is ace, is asexual"

[alaydbug]

realizing that, as someone who is aro/ace, i dont feel overjoyed when seeing confirmed aro/ace characters in media because of the inherit loneliness one may feel from this identity and not wanting characters I adore to have to feel such a way. love representation, very hard to face them when its a deep part of your own insecurity and it scares you.

[natjennie]

ok I have such a bad memory istg this is just because I don't remember but. is riz canonically aro/ace? I know his whole conversation with his dad was pointing there, but I only vaguely remember that it being "canon" came from.. an adventuring party? of the seven? I don't know if it was officially said somewhere other than that. and not to rain on anyone's parade! but brennan mentioning it out of game without murph even there kind of feels like. not canon. idk something about it always tickles my brain wrong when people talk about it, but I don't remember the specifics of the adventuring party. please someone refer me to more information.

[begaydodrughailsatan]

*epic rap battles of history voice*

My love and respect for asexuals and asexual characters, not wanting to undermine the few canon ace characters in media because asexuals are extremely under represented

VS

My unstoppable amounts of hornyness for said character

[andie-platonically]

not to make this a fandom thing but this is what people who say riz isnt canonically aroace sound like

"but the text never explicitly stated it!!!" hey, so that's actually what they tried to teach you in those english classes you barely passed 😁

[starful-emporium]

that finale made me so emotional. i cried at all of their scenes in Ankarna's realm. anyway, here's some bad kids senior year head canons.

Kristen: Her wish for a sister is filled by Bucky, crying in her room late at night and praying together. After talking to Jawbone they learn that there are grounds to remove Bricker and Cork from their parents' home. Kristen is the only one given the option of emancipation--instead, she asks Jawbone to adopt her as well.

She falls back onto old patterns with Tracker. But they're a little older and wiser, so they see it happening and take a step back. Not a break up, but a readjustment. With her academics finally not reliant on deadlines, Kristen dedicates herself to her pantheon. They work with Lucy to bring Ruvina back to her sister, and Kristen finds herself in awe of the dedication she sees.

Fig: She puts all her time into the Bottomless Pit, something it desperately needs. Often she tells Sandra-Lynn she's sleeping at Gilear's, and vice versa, and stays with Ayda instead. On her 18th birthday her parents sit her down and explain that she can live with Ayda officially, if she wants to. Just as long as she remembers she'll always have a room with both of them.

She brings Sandra-Lynn on Complicated Women, first to interview, and then as a permanent guest host. They talk about womanhood as something living and changing and queer and complicated. It's her mom who encourages her when Lola Embers drops Ruben. They rally all the rock-hating souls and cordon off part of the recording studio. Fig never goes in there, but from what she's heard, his music has gotten better in the absence of Kipperlilly's judgement.

Fabian: Somehow, he ends up being the one to train the new dog. The Hangman is jealous to a ridiculous degree, so he spends a lot of time managing that. He starts looking into a sea-worthy vessel for after graduation, spends hours at the Compass Points Library learning how to navigate. Learning sea shanties is part of all that, of course, and has nothing to do with the way his baby sibling stares at him while he practices.

Mazey teaches dance to kids while he finishes school. She's so kind it almost hurts, and Fabian has no choice but to learn to accept love. He "lets" Gorgug skip Bloodrush under the condition of weekly movie nights, which only sometimes are expanded to the rest of the Bad Kids. The radio in his room crackle to life sometimes, with little messages from Bill when he's close enough to the material plane.

Riz: Appointed as vice president, he quits all but the AV club. He makes a bedtime pact with Sklonda, and for the first time in a very long time, they are both getting enough sleep. Someone mentions ace and aro identities to him, and he's awake enough for it click.

He finds a new scholarship for Aguefort students, and it looks scam-y so he does some investigating. It easily traces right back to Seacaster gold and Fabian. He's thankful for the cover and accepts the money with an understanding that they won't talk about it. He doesn't check, but the scholarship is offered every year after that.

Adaine: She spends the summer with Aelwyn tracking down their mom. She doesn't need revenge, but she needs to know her mom will never hurt anyone ever again. She feels Ankarna in the hot sun and wonders if that's the difference between revenge and justice. They take the long way back to Solace, the Hand-van paddling across the ocean.

When school starts, she works with Kristen to turn her inheritance into resources. Student who can pay for some of their components still do, but everyone gets what they need to learn. On the first day of class, she's asked about her summer prophecies, and tells off Tiberia for relying on her for lessons.

Gorgug: His senior year MCAT is signed on the first day by Lydia, who's teaching barbarian classes for the year. She gives him permission for independent study, and Henry gives him a shop key so he can do classwork whenever he wants. The rest of his time is spent perfecting Barbificer skills and creating a program to run at Aguefort the next year.

Mary Ann offers her quokky pet skills to help remodel his homonculous. The result is much cuter and more functional than before. She still names her highest level pet Cloaca in honor of the original, much to Gorgug's chagrin.

After graduation, the Bad Kids move in trios and pairs, and they always reconvene on the Summer Solstice, the anniversary of Ankarna's resurrection.

Kristen splits her time between Solace and Fallinel and Mountains of Chaos, the places where temples to her pantheon stand. Adaine and Riz rent an apartment in Bastion City, where they both continue school. Gorgug stays in Elmville, teaching at Aguefort and working on the side to start his own school. Fabian takes to the sea, bringing Fig and Ayda and Mazey with him.

They save the world again, a few times, but only when they want to.

[deconstructthesoup]

Okay, now that all of the Bad Kids have their new art out... I can finally freak out/gush over/analyze it, because I didn't have the energy to do posts for every single one.

GUYS

Fig!!! My girl!!! The mismatched shoelaces! The bass guitar from Gorthalax! The phoenix feather earring for Ayda! The fishnet! The classic leather jacket/gray band shirt/red pleated skirt combo! The fingerless gloves! THE CHAIN WALLET!

KRISTEN IS BUTCH. Let me repeat that---KRISTEN! IS! BUTCH! And she's wearing the yellow jumpsuit that we saw in her figurine but she still has the purple in her backpack and her staff and her TIE-DIE SPORTS BRA! And she's got a new hairstyle! And a rainbow bracelet AND a lesbian bracelet! THE TEDDY BEAR! THE ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!

RIZ HAS AN UNDERCUT AND GLASSES AND HE KEPT HIS TATTOOS!!!! We've got the briefcase! We've got the angelic weapons! We've got the sword of shadows! We've got GADGETS! WE EVEN HAVE ARO/ACE RINGS! He looks so cool and nifty and crafty and BADASS! My boy has grown!

Gorgug. Oh my god, I can FEEL the "going into a worry" energy radiating from this. But he's got the axe! He's got artificer goggles and tools and a rucksack! He's FINALLY got the emo ripped jeans that he always deserved! He looks so sweet and huggable and perfect! AND HE HAS THE BIG HEADPHONES STILL!

ADAINE. My god. I love this girl so much and her art is perfect. She has patches on her jacket! We can see the cool design on her shirt! She's got high-fantasy boots and belts and she's got her new arcane sword! BOGGY IS THERE! And she looks so lovely and cool and her hair, oh my god, her hair is perfect! I'm so proud of her!

And lastly, the man, the myth, the LEGEND. Fabian looks perfect. Everything from the sword to the sheet to the expression to the tap shoes is spot-on. And his outfit? He's got harem pants! He's got a stylish shirt! He's got wraps around his hands! He's doing a dance move! Man-bun Fabian is now officially canon!

(Also, I'm never gonna shut up about how the Bad Kids are now all spellcasters, and almost all of them are different than how they were in freshman year because that's how growing up works! Fig's ditched College of Whispers as she learns to be truer to herself and has claimed the coolness of College of Lore, and she's got some warlock action to be closer to her dad! Kristen's a Twilight Domain cleric instead of the Life Domain, and I remember being so excited when that became official because that domain is so freaking cool! Riz is an Arcane Trickster, just! Like! Penny! Gorgug's an artificer as well as a barbarian, which is one of my favorite classes, and it looks like he's leaning even further into it! And we can't forget Fabian double-classing as a College of Swords bard! It's so beautiful! It's amazing! Maybe we'll get Adaine doing a martial multiclass to round out the "we're doing different things!" ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE!)

[kitsu-katsu]

Riz's whole arc with Baron starting from him lying about dating somebody to fit in and then transforming into Baron being a representation of Riz's fear of being left alone and behind, never more important than a hypothetical lover to his friends he's trying his damndest to keep together, working himself to the bone to keep them afloat and prove himself valuable to them because at his core he feels once everyone's found a lover he'll be left in the dust, an intrinsically visceral aro fear, all about not being accepted or not being understood for not wanting or not being able to feel that kind of connection the way everybody else seems to. He lied about dating. He's afraid they'll leave him behind for lovers like he will never have. That he won't compare to a romantic partner in his friends' eyes one day. It's all about the lack of romantic partnership

Some people with zero media literacy: He's not aro because Brennan actually said he's ace, so nothing's confirmed! He's just ace. His arc is about being ace actually because Brennan said so. Brennan said he doesn't have a romantic partner because he's ace. There's no way this is a thing about people always confusing the term aro for ace. Nope. He's just canonically not aro. Just ace

[ellesdoodles]

Love that Riz is canonically super attractive but his ace swag is so big that the only person that ever crushed on him was the very creepy mirror person that he made up that held him accountable for his lies and instantly kidnapped him!

[dropoutconfessions]

It makes me incredibly angry when people say "Riz is canonically aro/ace" and act like you're a horrible person if you ship him with people. Like. Nowhere in the show is it ever stated that he's aro/ace. The conversation people reference as him being "canonically" aro/ace is just him expressing his lack of very specifically sexual attraction, and even then the response from his dad (and by extension Brennan and the show as a whole) is that it's okay, and that it's specifically unclear whether he's ace or whether it's just not something that's happened for him in specific yet. It is intentionally vague as to whether he is ace or not, and there's genuinely zero indication in the show that he's aro other than that he doesn't have a love interest which could be completely unrelated.

Right so I'd like to share my opinion on this for a brief moment. I am still fully here to give people a voice, but this is just, an issue that kinda hits close to home since I'm demiaro.

The most annoying thing in a lot of media is when representation is shoehorned in as a list of labels and buzzwords we're given. Queer people should not have to turn to the screen and say their full identity in order for them to be canonically queer. That's what subtext is for. That's what good writing does. Is not spell it out for you when it's not necessary to do so. They do not need it to be spelt out for it to be very clear that he's ace/aro.

I am going to assume ignorance here instead of assuming malicious intent. The idea that the reason he isn't ace, is because "it's not something that's happened for him in specific yet", is an extremely common thought process behind asexual erasure. I'm sure that's not what you intended, but that is something to reflect on in general.

Both Adaine and Riz have yet to have relationships or display crushes (not counting junior year since most of the evidence comes from sophomore year) . Adaine hasn't gotten an entire nightmare sequence / arc around dealing with here friends all finding partners and leaving them alone. Adaine hasn't expressed or had conversations about any lack of sexual or romantic feels to the extent Riz has. Adaine is headcanoned as ace/aro by some people. Riz is more than that. Riz is very much canonically ace/aro if you do the slightest bit of character analysis. There's accidental coding and then there's Riz Gukgak.

List of every single Riz trait that is hella ace/aro coded

A lack of sexual and romantic attraction to other people (I'm not counting the time where he said he was kinda into Sexy Rat, that whole scene was a bit, and absolutely insane)

Making up a partner/crush in order to fit in (I have 1000% done that and so have a lot of acespec and arospec people)

A fear of being left behind by his friends because of a belief that they will find partners and move on from him, largely caused by alloromantic culture's insane emphasis on how the most important relationship is a romantic one

The fact that almost every other fantasy high pc has been in a relationship or a crush (kristen had tracker and gertie, gorgug had zelda, unit, and mary ann, fabian had aelwyn, ivy, and mazey, adaine had oisin and possibly zayn depends on your interpretation, and fig has had ayda and a string of professionals in a variety of fields across seasons 1 and 2) with only riz as a single character

The fact his sophomore year arc was entirely about his lack of sexual/romantic attraction and fear of being left alone because of it

Like not even a joke, it was that and his dad, that was the whole arc

His junior year arc was also about his obsession to stay together as a friend group, which like I mentioned above, is very clearly based in his asexuality and aromanticism

I am not going to stop people from shipping characters ever. If you want to rewrite character sexualities, that's fine by me, I'm a big believer in "Don't Like, Don't Read". I am not gonna pretend like characters are not their sexuality in canon so that people feel justified in writing their stories. People who rewrite character sexuality can do so without making everyone else assuage their guilt for them. I know I'm on the "piss on the poor" reading comprehension website, but it's not hard to tell Riz is ace/aro in canon, and pretending otherwise doesn't help your case.

[rellsingsovern]

In my notes during this whole season I’ve kept track of loose ends and just other plot points I think could make for a great senior year (which now seems likely that we will get down the line in the future) and this finale gave me almost everything I wanted and more so here’s what I think we’re gonna see (plus things that I just rly want to see lol)

-first and foremost, BARON IS STILL IN RIZ’S BRIEFCASE!!! the spectral mordred manor probably is not there as that was a haven sent out by cassandra during all the divine interventions in falinell and the bad kids dove in as a last second decision, but baron is still definitely there. ‘I am somewhere always close to Riz Gukgak’ and while everyone’s journey with their sexuality happens on their own time and Riz shouldn’t have to come out if he doesn’t want to yet, now that he’s coming to terms that his friends might not always be together in the way he wants to I think it would be healing for him to fully confront and accept his aro aceness and have support with that and realize that even if they can’t be physically together his friends won’t leave him for other relationships

-Fabian is getting a new baby sibling, but that is not the only sibling he’s ever had. James Whitlaw made references to his half siblings from Bill that he killed and ate, I am POSITIVE that at least one is still out there and probably has it out for Fabian (as Bill married Hallariel, raised Fabian, and dragged his ship into solace to give him a new life) and an arc where Fabian has to defend himself against an older sibling while growing to love his younger would be amazing to see

-kalina, bakarath, bobby, and buddy ofc, I’ve been wondering where kalina has been this whole time, and I want to see more of bobby getting what he deserves. Cassandra’s been through a fucking lot this season but her familiar apparently might be a big bad along with arianwen again so sorry cass but the cat’s gotta go. she still directly got pok killed riz deserves to hunt her down and avenge him a second time

-speaking of, Arianwens been making moves in sylvaire! Adaine and aelwyn will surely kill her but from the looks of it even though she got her magic taken away she may have some sort of power. Cant wait for these sisters to be able to live immortal lives without their parents looming over them

-BUCKY APPLEBEES!! bucky, a paladin of cassandra, gathering the courage to ask Kristin for help getting bricker and cork out of the Applebees residence, maybe moving into mordred and everyone immediately being enamored with these cute little boys who honestly might turn out to be mumple instead of wanting to attend the adventuring academy and Kristin being so happy they aren’t being raised in a pressure cooker anymore and affected like she and bucky were affected, happy that they can be normal kids (and in being around Kristin’s other sisters, adaine and fig, Kristin ends up getting that sister she always wanted in bucky too)

-I’m so happy Fig is getting what she wants and realizing she doesn’t want to finish Aguefort, and it would be awesome if she got a new character and the bad kids took on a new party member for the year played by Emily so all the intrepid heroes are still together, but Fig could be hanging out between mordred and Seacaster and leviathan and Hell, writing music and helping Kristin spread word of the cassandra/Ankarna pantheon through it, and since in sophomore year we saw Penelope dayne daybreak and Johnny spells all kicking it in hell maybe Jace (who ik was a minion mostly but hey he could be evil on his own) is down there with some other bad kid nemeses

-more Galicea and Sol. Sol canonically was all for bringing Ankarna into the pantheon of himself, his sister galicea, his other sister cassandra, and his son helio. It was Sol’s followers who saw Ankarna brought in as another god of the sun and brought about the ruin and corruption of Ankarna alongside the house of sunstone in order to get more power for themselves with just the one solar deity existing. Both Sol and Galicea (and maybe helio) have been hardcore shaped by their followers, Galiceas wolfish side being repressed by the high elf state of falinell and being brought back through wolfsong, and Sol with the human clerics of highcourt scheming to make him the only god with a sun domain despite him officiating and welcoming Ankarna as his sister in law through the marriage. Plus if we get galicea arcs we defo get Kristin and tracker messy lesbians arcs

-Gorgug perfecting his new subclass he invented and Kristin enjoying being student body president! She deserves it, I hc that the only academic sort of thing Kristin cared about before this year was the lgbtq+ club and now she’s extending that energy into everything with the help of Riz, who cannot get off of coffee someone help this poor boy. And since Ragh and shellford have graduated I want more Torek Railgrinder, she’s so cool let’s flesh her out more. Gorgug thinking about how to teach other multiclass barbarian/artificers and perfecting all his awesome inventions (and dating both Unit and Mary Ann bc it’s what his poly ass deserves)

Basically the potential plot I see for senior year is almost a mirror of sophomore year: baron getting out and fighting Riz and the bad kids defeating him for good, the bad kids heading to leviathan after hearing rumors of a pirate calling themselves a child of Bill Seacaster looking for Fabian, heading to falinell to see what’s new with wolfsong and tracker and maybe seeing some changes in Galicea or Sol, heading to hell and meeting up with Fig for a portion (she doesn’t go to their school anymore! she ain’t gotta go on this senior year spring break quest!) who’s been hanging out in hell, tracking Jace and other enemies, establishing her power as an archdevil of the first layer of hell, writing awesome music, and finally back to sylvaire to figure out what the fuck is up with kalina and arianwen and this weird new god buddy has and they all graduate and head their separate ways but they still love each other and see each other all the time they’re family and they’re badass and they’re perfect

[sillybillytime]

Riz is canonically ace, Murph said it in a bonus content interview (Extra Credit). Personally I think that he only said asexual bc most allos view aroace as one thing that always goes together. Plus asexuality is more widely known and doesn’t require acknowledgment of the split attraction model and all its complexities. The implication was that Riz was uninterested in both romantic and sexual relationships.

Disagree with your post about Riz on two fronts. First, he's no more canon ace than he is canon aro. The word of god statement from someone who doesn't even control the character isn't a definitive statement of canon. That's not how fiction works. If it's not in the text, they could justifiably walk it back at any time. Second, if anything, it's more accurate to call Riz canon aro because of his coding. A character doesn't have to say "I'm gay" to be canon gay. All they have to do is explicitly express interest exclusively in people of the same gender expression to be acknowledged as gay. Why does an aro character have to explicitly state their identity in order for it to count when that's not an expectation for allo queer people anymore? And has never been an expectation for straight people?

I agree no one should be harassing anyone, though. I'm with you there

I assumed that he talked to Murph before saying anything, but I'd hope that if someone just lied about his character, Murph would clarify. But we have no evidence either way. I would still say that someone on the team confirming it is more canon than anything implied, tho. And yep, he shows the signs, but that doesn't make it canon. He does not have a label in canon, we can say how he thinks and feels about relationships and how he reacts to those things as facts, but we cannot factually state one way or the other what his sexuality is (in the romantic sense). Anything implied is up to interpretation, which makes it unreliable. Subtext is fun, but it's like two people debating whether the color red in a painting represents love or rage, no one really wins. It's simply two different interpretations, neither is right or wrong until the artist confirms one way or another.

Something isn't canon unless it's clarified onscreen or stated to be canon by someone behind its creation. Anything else is up to interpretation.

And I think if a character explicitly shows interest in the same gender but never says they aren't attracted the other, they could be gay or bisexual. Maybe someone would get mad if you called them bi, but I wouldn't because they're just two different interpretations of the same thing.

Headcanons are valid, as long as you remember that no one is forced to have the same interpretation of media as you do. That's the great thing about media analysis. You can't be right or wrong because it's all just your interpretation.

So, in the end, Riz is not canonically Aromantic because coding doesn't equal representation and because what you see as coding could be read differently by someone with different life experiences from you.

[little-doggy-boy-kisserstraight]

Thought i'd collect canon bad kids sexualities cause why not

these are just the ones that have been said outright by the cast!

riz- ace (bleem during the seven)

adaine- ace (siobhan, but said it could change as adaine ages)

kristen- lesbian (obviously)

gorgug- bi (for pride)

i think fabians weird thing he has going on constitutes as his own sexuality-

(im assuming fig is bi/pan but i dont know if emily has confirmed it anywhere so leaving this here)

[rrat-king]

Fantasy High Fandom Gothic

fabian is dating riz. actually he is dating ragh. fabian is gay and masculinity is dead. actually he is bi and dating adaine, but also riz, they are poly now. he’s dating gorgug. him and the sexy rat have a thing on the side. who is aelwyn. who is mazey.

found family is the name of the game. who will adaine be adopted by next? how many dads can fig accumulate? fabian moves into mordred. the applebees siblings move into mordred. all of the rat grinders have been redeemed and move into mordred. except for kipperlilly. or especially kipperlilly. the fandom is in a civil war over the inherent nature of kipperlilly copperkettle.

gorgug is 14. gorgug is 18. it's always the first day of school. or the summer before junior year. or senior year. the bad kids will perpeutally be in highschool. gorgug is stuck in a time loop and will be 16 forever. adaine is also in the time loop. it's baron's fault. it's kalina's fault. she's been here the whole time.

everyone is trans. in what way? everyway. fig is transfemme except when he's transmasc. fabian is a magical girl. kristen lost her gender several deaths ago. riz has a secret goblin gender that no one can get to. he's also transmasc.

adaine is a werewolf. fabian is a vampire. riz is an angel. who is tracker o'shaughnessey?

the bad kids are vigilantes. they are planning a heist. they are at summer camp. they are at school but different. they are in a band. they are in school but differnt and also in a band. they are pirates. they play hockey. kalina is also there.

the house is divided between the masses and the rat grumblrs. the rat grundlers. the ring gingers. rungle.

there is no canon. everything is canon. legends fortell of the game master uttering prophetic words in campaigns adjacent to our own that riz is ace. the artist we all know and love for her canon masterpeices is said to have drawn coded rings. the top pairing on ao3 is fabriz. the fandom is in tatters.

[spooky-dice]

there’s nothing wrong w hc’ing riz as alloromantic from a canonical perspective and i’m largely a live-and-let person, but some posts make me feel like some of you should inspect why you feel aromanticism makes a character less compelling, less relatable, or less sympathetic.

does a character not being shippable make them less connected or interesting or has amatonormitivity convinced you that romance makes a person more whole and that platonic relationships are inherently less valuable or complex than romantic?

technically speaking, riz has never been explicitly confirmed aro. there is however, a good amount of canonical coding that implies he is. coding is sort of a tricky thing to determine if it is canonical or not, depending on whether it was intentional or not, and historically speaking, intentional queercoding was usually outright noncanonical and contradictory. given d20’s MO when it comes to queer characters it is likely the coding is deliberate, but it is not confirmed within text.

personally, i think the text does not require an explicit canonization to be aro representation. i would like it! but to me, riz’s story is already an aro story and it means a lot to me because it is one of the ONLY ones i can think of and the ways it explores aromantic loneliness. aro/ace representation in public media is still in its infancy, and despite recent pushes for queer rep, there is still an all-time total of zero (0) aro main characters and >10 side characters in film and television.

also, i think people should be mindful about levying phrases like “he’ll grow out of it” “it doesn’t matter” etc, because even if your intention is to talk about riz, real aro fans can inadvertently catch strays, and the safety of real queer people should take priority above all else