#THE MOST ASPEC THEY HAVE EVER BEEN THANK YOU

[aroacesafeplaceforall]

Hello there!

Mod applications open

Mod team:

I’m Jamie but I also go by Jay! I’m gender queer and use any pronouns but I am masc leaning (he/him), don’t be afraid to ask! I’m aegosexual-pansexual and a romance repulsed aromantic! I am neurotypical and the OG owner of this blog!

Hey people, my names Noah and I use they/them pronouns :) I have a long list of labels cause I'm a complicated human being lol. I'm non binary, lesbian oriented aroace, with a handful of microlabels (quoiromantic, apothiromantic, aegoromantic, apothisexual and aegosexual). I also experience platonic, aesthetic and sensual attraction B) I have diagnosed adhd and I'm an infp :D

My name is Ray! I go by any pronouns and I’m a Agender Cogirl. I am cupioromantic and aegosexual (and many other things, just ask if you want to know!). I also have diagnosed autism and I’m an ISFP

Carl D, all pronouns, allergic to garlic, aroace

We’re here for all your Questions, Rants, Vents and Confessions!

Ask box is always open and we’re always here for your asks!

We are here to educate, explain and help with anyone who needs it!

Stay safe, remember you are valid and its your box!

LOVE U ALL U ARE VALID

Commonly asked questions!

Link to my Aro-spec post

Link to a post containing most Ace Spec identities

Asexual Wiki, Aromantic Wiki,

the Asexual Visibility and Education Network -Asexual resource

AUREA - the Aromantic-spectrum Union for Recognition, Education, and Advocacy

List of Aroace Spectrum resources

The Battle of the Phobics Link to link post

The comments section link to a helpful article on how to educate/beat the acephobes

This user acknowledges that the land they stand on always was and always will be aboriginal land. Sovereignty has never been ceded. This user recognises the past atrocities against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this land and that Australia was founded on the genocide and dispossession of First Nations people.

Recommend blogs

please feel free to ask me first, if I don’t provide a good answer or you want more you can ask again or go to one of these blogs! Please tag more blogs I should add to this list!!

@asexualadvice - asexual advice! (Read blog but helpful info!)

@aegosexual-moments - the aegosexual blog of all time (excluding myself /j)

@aromantic-diaries - Very cool aro person!

(Yes I know my profile pic is off center, suffer, its still off centre, suffer more)

(It’s seperate because aroace is unfortunately usually viewed as one identity, ace and aro are separated spectrums)

(If I hear one more complaint about my icon I’ll change it to what ever random piece of art crosses my dash next and you wouldn’t like that would you??) (i did that and got a new profile pic :D)

The Blogs

blogs that are kinda fan accounts???? wtf????

@aroaceplaceforsome they’re the neutral party here, they use pronouns

@throwawaysoiwontgeteatenbyjamie a whore

@jamies-a-great-person @aroaceappreciationplace -more whores (lovingly)

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO @la-creechura for drawing our profile pic!!!

Banner art by @pride-flag-planets

The forces:

A collection of multi member blogs dedicated to one country of aspecs… all against Denmark

@aussieaspecforces

@indianaspecforces

[lululawrence]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

HIIIII omg I love whoever started this going around so much and THANK YOU for sending this to me!!! I also got this from @haztobegood and @allwaswell16 so thank you to ALL OF YOU really! I love love love this kinda thing and hope I haven't missed all of your lists... i'll have to be sure to look for those here soon hehe

Anyway, in no particular order, here are my fav fics I've written... (I think... lol favorites are HARD):

I'm Praying (that you don't burn out or fade away) - This was my big bang for this year and man it was a JOURNEY to write. I first came up with the idea as almost a crack fic idea back when I first was listening to Satellite... you know... when it was first released. lol I just didn't have the time or energy or anything to write it but I held onto the idea for ages and had it mostly brainstormed and everything! And then the time came to write it and... I couldn't find my notes. Anywhere. No idea what happened to the fic idea or my ramblings about it so I just did what I could with recreating it from memory and I still didn't know where or how or when it would end exactly, I just knew their journey would be over when it was over, and they spoke to me. When their story was done, I knew. And I am still so fucking proud of how it turned out and @moon-sun-thyme made the most incredible and gorgeous art for it, truly. Just. Probably gonna forever be one of my favorite fics I've ever written.

What I Have With You (I don't want with anyone else) - ohhhhhhh THIS FIC OKAY. It's my aspec alpha babies fic. I wrote it as a collaboration with @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed for @1dreversebang a few years ago now and it is still so special to me. I got to really delve into the aspec identities by embodying both Louis and Harry with one of those identities (aro Harry, ace Louis) and then added some non-traditional omegaverse dynamics (alpha/alpha) AND one of my all time favorite tropes, FAKE DATING! It was also a journey to write this fic and I worked so hard to make sure I really felt like I was doing justice to our identities and trying to give good and valid and understandable representation to them, and I really think I was able to achieve that. Some of the comments have been the most thoughtful and humbling and just beautiful I've ever gotten as well, which is just the cherry on top, right? So yeah, this baby defo gets to be on this list for sure hehe

You Don't Care About Me (One More Night) - This fic is one of those instances where you write what you want to read, you know what I mean? I had been craving a fic like this one, and I'd read some similar ones but I wanted MORE. The more I thought about it, the more the idea shaped up, and before I knew it I had (I wish I was joking) something like SIX PAGES of brainstorming with the timing laid out and what would happen when to make sure it was slow burn enough but also character development at the right pace and also just... everything I wanted, you know? I've never outlined a fic to that level before and I probably never will again, but after outlining it like that, I then went and wrote this fic, which was the longest fic I'd ever written to that point, in less than a month. It just flowed from me every time I sat down at my computer. It turned out exactly as I had hoped, and it is one of the few fics of mine that I have gone back to read repeatedly. I've not actually read it all the way through repeatedly, there's usually just bits and pieces I'm craving at the moment, but that's still far more than I generally do with my own fics. So I'll take it hehe

a moon, a rainbow, and a carnation - Okay okay okay, there's a lot about this one that makes this one something I'm super proud of, even though it feels ridiculous because it was a fic I wrote for this year's @wordplayfics, but there's a lot of reasons why I really am proud of it lol For one, I'm still new to writing Oscar and Pedro, and I love them SO much but I've only written them in one fic previously (and it isn't even out yet lololol) but!!! Its only the second fic I've ever written with a decent amount of Spanish in it. The lovely @nouies has been so kind as to cheerlead me about the pairings as well as help me with the Spanish, and we have had SO much fun omg. She helped me SO MUCH with this fic, and I so appreciate it and am so happy with how it was able to turn out because of her help! I also tried a new footnotes thing with the translations that turned out to work even better than I anticipated, and that just makes it even better, right? So yeah. I'm proud of it because I did all of that AND ALL WITHIN A WEEK. YASSSS

'Cause What I Want Came True - Okay so once again this one is one that Lou indulged me on because who doesn't love Diego Luna, hmm? lol but I was struggling with Wordplay again and suddenly I came upon a few quotes and an entire soft and hazy idea presented itself that I just HAD to write. It is almost semi-stream of consciousness while also not being quite that way, and I just really REALLY love how it turned out. I've actually already gone back and reread this one and the previous one on this list since publishing, and they've only been out for a week or two at this point. That's impressive and very rare for me. So yeah, quite proud.

I am missing some others that I would probably say are favorites, but you did limit me to five. lololol and These were the five I thought of off the top of my head haha so they will do for now hehe THANK YOU SO MUCH for asking and letting me ramble about my fics for a little bit!! sorry this got so looooong....

[amethystfairy1]

ASPEC CUUUUBBBBBB YEEAAAAHHHHHHHHHH

*ahem*

So most of my Katherine questions got answered in the newest chapter, and this one probably will in the next chapter but it is LATE and I am EXCITED so

How exactly does Katherine get through the glamour locks? Did Shelby manage to enchant something for her to open them or does she need to bring a glamour-capable friend?

On a scale of “no problems whatsoever” to “had to replace a bunch of doors at home/work so I could actually open them”, how much does not having glamour affect Katherine in the undercity? Does she get locked out of places? Do some people think it’s strange that her eyes never spark? What would happen if she got into a tight spot without glamour defenses, does she carry a weapon?

Can’t wait to see the boys finally meet in person! Zed’s gonna think Tango’s the coolest guy ever (he has *fire hair!*) and Tango’s gonna combust for real when that happens

I know everyone says it, but thank you for sharing your writing and giving us all Zedango fever! This series is cool as hell and so are you!!

I'm so glad you love ASPEC Cub!!! 👏

Ooooo Katherine questions!!!

That's a great question! Yeah, this is gonna come up later, but Katherine does actually have some trouble with being unable to use glamor in the under-city! Luckily for her she tends to travel through pretty busy areas during rush times, and the places she in particular goes don't tend to have a ton of glamor locks she needs to get through. But she most certainly has gotten locked out of places! The school she works at in the mid-levels is one example, she's had to bang on Bdubs classroom window for him to let her in after stepping out for a late lunch break before 😆

She doesn't receive too much suspicion from being a human! Considering the under-city has been open to travel between bedrock for as long as anyone can remember, it's nothing new for humans to live full-time down there. They're in the minority, sure, so people might be like 'oh would you look at that, a human!' but that's about as far as it goes.

She carries potion of harming in a spray bottle! One in her pocket, and one in her purse! It's basically mace. Glamor infused mace 👏

I'm so glad you're enjoying the Zedango fever!!! My plan to drag everyone into loving this ship with me is SUCCEEDING!

[nocompromise-noregrets]

make me work on my fics!

Thank you very much to @scary-grace and @mirkwood-hr-department for the tags!

Rules: Make a 24hr poll listing the titles of every WIP you want to work on. (It’s fine if you only have one, still make a poll for the vote count). Whichever WIP title gets the most votes, write 1 sentence for every vote received.

Going by the most recent WIP game post, I have fewer than I did, having finished some, and come to the conclusion that one or two others will not ever be done...anyway, here, have at it:

Go on, make me work on something! The insistent Italians are currently being quiet, so I should probably be putting in some work on any of the above... *eyedart*

Tagging anyone who sees this and wants to do it!

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 12: In Outer Space (Cool Places)

Oh boy, it's finally here!! Having been a Sparks fan for nearly a year by that point, I finally got to an album I just straight up don't like! I honestly forgot by then that this was even a possibility. But a world where I can enjoy everything in such a vast catalogue of a favourite band of mine would be too perfect. It would be pretty strange and unsettling even. Not to always make it about my other favourite band whenever I'm talking about the first, but with TMBG also I eventually got to that one studio album release that I just couldn't bring myself to like, no matter what. So I think I discovered a bit of a personal repeating pattern here.

Alright then. My verdict on this album, which already got a pretty mixed response from fans as far as I know, is that it's not very good, or at the very least, it's not for me. Even the songs I like here I mostly like in the sense of, well, this one I could listen to again outside of the album every once in a while, but they're nowhere near being an actual favourite (besides one song, or two, mayyyybe four if I'm feeling particularly generous).

So I think that my main problem here comes down to how the arrangements / instrumentals seem rather empty to me but not in a cool minimalistic way. And, dare I say, they're pretty damn uninteresting - very few elements of suprise or anticipation to be found here. This is the only Sparks album that just... doesn't feel Sparks to me. (And that's coming right after Angst, which might really just be one of the most Sparks-like of Sparks albums in a way). Something is TERRIBLY missing here and a couple catchy melodies and fun synth lines aren't enough to make up for that. It drags on quite a bit and is underwhelming to listen to as a whole. With only a couple moments of change and something more interesting and engaging. It's this sort of situation where I feel like the whole time I'm waiting for some kind of resolution that never happens ultimately. First instance of me putting on a new Sparks album and forcing myself to sit through the whole thing. And last one I hope! (and expect...? well, better not jinx it)

Ok, having said all that... This will be a historical event because I can't finish this post before I have my obligatory listen to the album of the day on its day. So, time for some real time documentation of my changing opinion, or lack thereof. Time to hear IOS in it's entirety for the first time since april!

...Ok, I'm glad that I didn't say all this in vain at least, LOL! Because I'm still underwhelmed! No major change here. Definitely still not something I'm going to return to more often than very occasionally and the "waiting for nothing" effect was very present and real once again. And it just dawned on be, but do most of these songs not have a bridge?? Maybe that could be part of why it all feels pretty predictable! But alright, as per tradition, let's look at some highlights anyway.

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

Cool Places: never felt in any strong way about it but repeated listens made it an enjoyable little ditty over time, lol. One of my first impressions here was how LOW Russell's voice is, this must be the lowest he's ever sung, right?? And oh, quick shoutout to the 21×21 version of it too

All You Ever Think About Is Sex: ok, this one's really cool and exactly what convinced me that the rest of the album would be enjoyable in the same way. Not for me unfortunately!!

Please, Baby, Please: my definitive fav here that I like a whole lot and that for whatever reason doesn't seem to have any of this album's problems that I described earlier. And I'll always be partial towards songs that I can interpret as being aspec-coded, thanks to my predisposition to do that as often as possible

I Wish I Looked A Little Better: very similar case to All You Ever Think About Is Sex

Dance Godammit: it's funny. It's fun to listen to sometimes

[luffy-is-aroace]

Do you have the source in which Luffy was confirmed aroace? I’m making a project on the ace and aro communities that includes a list of aro, ace, and aroace rep in media and I can’t find where it was confirmed, but I hear everyone say he is. Thank you.

luffy is very very much aroace coded but neither he nor the author have ever directly said the words "luffy is asexual" - one piece's canonical queer rep is limited to transgender characters

that being said, here's the relevant passages, and some context if its needed:

in chapter 516/episode 411, luffy stumbles across boa hancock, the worlds most beautiful woman, in the bath. she has an ability to turn people to stone when they feel some amount of "love, lust, or adoration" to her; ie. when they are attracted to her. heres how it goes:

this is the first time hancock meets a man who isnt affected by her power. it basically suggests that, by not turning to stone, hes not attracted to her at all.

eventually, she develops a crush on him, and she wants to marry him, which he outright rejects (chapter 598)

in regard to the "mero mero" moment, a fan noticed a discrepancy, and asked the author about it in the SBS corner from volume 54. luffy had previously responded to the naked body of a woman the way all the other guys did. oda decided to blame it on luffy imitating his friend

"That's not the Luffy we know." "When Luffy is alone, his reaction is what it was with Hancock. He's interested, but he's not entranced by her." Luffy acting in a certain way because Usopp does - going along with the mood of the moment, or performing, or however you want to say it - feels awfully aspec to me. It's definitely a common aspec experience to try and force yourself into amatonormative - or, in this case, I guess allonormative? - behavior.

In the SBS for volume 88, oda was asked about why luffy called a woman a "beauty" at one point. The response:

Luffy understanding physical attractiveness as a classification, understanding it but not caring about it - that suggests he probably doesn't experience aesthetic attraction (appreciating someones appearance, disconnected from sexual/romantic attraction). this definitely speaks to my experience as an aroace individual.

also, this isnt necessarily evidence for luffy specifically, but moreso a general answer - in the SBS for volume 34, oda was asked if there would be romance between the main characters, and he brushed it off:

my impression, personally, is that Oda is generally fairly uninterested in pursuing any romantic relationships between his main characters.

in conclusion, I personally feel like the evidence here suggests that luffy is aroace, or at least aspec, given some of Oda's wording (which is probably a little up to interpretation, given it's been translated from japanese). His answer in volume 54 has always felt like a retcon to me, like Oda only came to a conclusion of sorts on this when Luffy met Hancock, and had to go back and find some reasoning for why Luffy would have responded that way. Luffy, more than anything, wants to have an adventure, and romance and sex aren't part of that for him.

I'm not gonna try to police how people view Luffy. it's not healthy for me to do that - luffy and his aroaceness is something that's very very personal to me and itd be way too messy. In addition, in the past I've had people point out that this evidence would only necessarily suggest luffy isnt attracted to women, and he could be gay; I personally don't see him that way, and I seriously doubt Oda would make that choice in canon, but people can do what they want. I think, however, it's pretty telling that a lot of aroace and aspec people see themselves in him.

This morphed into something of a modern take on my thesis here instead of just answering your question; sorry about that. I'd be interested to see your project when you're done, if you're able and willing to share!

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tags @honeybewrites @davycoquette and @kuebiko-writing!

Get to Know Me Tag :)

Rules: Answer the questions because I want to get to know you better :D

Do you have a pet?

Yes! I have three shithead cats, all orange and white, though only two are related to each other. MacKenzie is the oldest and not related to the brothers. He's very small, very curmudgeonly despite being five at most, and loves to sit at the table like a little person. He kinda just showed up one day and never left. Meemo (legal name Meatloaf) and Screamo (legal name Scream) are the brothers and total menaces. They're about a year old and I found them on the side of the road as kittens with the rest of their litter, who ended up getting adopted by other people. They bring me dead voles at least once a day, love to wrestle, and act more like dogs than anything else. Because I love them so much, here are pictures of the bothers and Mack :)

Comfort food?

There's this Mexican place near me that makes the most wonderful cheesy rice dish with chicken, beef, and shrimp, roasted peppers, and tomatoes. It's like a hug on the inside. As for a homecooked meal, peanut chickpea curry has got to be my number one comfort food.

How many languages do you speak?

Pretty much just English. I'm ok at reading and writing in Japanese, but my speaking isn't great. I'm only confident with basic greetings and karate terms.

Random fact about yourself.

I'm a wildlife research tech! If you see me post some pictures of snakes or birds, this is why. Basically everything about the job is shit, except for the nature stuff and my coworkers, but it'll look good on my resume, so I'm sticking it out. I have the most fucked up tanlines you've ever seen because of this job.

Something you're proud of?

I'm not a very emotionally open person, but I've been making an effort to work on that, and I had a good talk with my mom recently about being aspec. It's not easy for me to tell people I know irl about things that I'm worried about, but I think I've made a fair bit of progress recently.

I'll tag @rivenantiqnerd @fortunatetragedy @persnickety-peahen and anyone else who wants to share :)

[stars-n-spice]

Hi. Is it possible to find out how Hunter and Jung started their relationship? That is, when did they finally realize that they loved each other and started giving each other affectionate nicknames? Did Jung participate in the events of the third season? It seems to me that if he participated, then he definitely provided moral and physical support to the Hunter.

Hello! And of course!

Jung and Hunter actually meet during the 2nd season. I want to have my Silly Squad AU as close to canon as possible (aside from Tech's permanent death bit) so they actually meet when Echo and Hunter are out on their mission during the Riot Racing episode with the others. From there, they kinda stay in contact with each other and Hunter actually invites Jung to Pabu since Jung doesn't have anywhere else to really go.

So Jung does participate in the events of the third season in my mind! While I do want it to be as close to canon as possible, I think he would've gone with Hunter and Wrecker to look for Omega because he understands Hunter needs that kind of moral and physical support.

I actually have a whump one-shot I started to write a few weeks back about Jung and Hunter actually getting into a fight one day while looking for Omega. Hunter's stressed, Wrecker and Jung are trying to help, Hunter says some things he doesn't really mean and Jung kinda snaps.

As for when they finally realize that they loved each other:

Since they're in a queerplatonic relationship, I don't think they really actually like,, announce being together or anything. It just happens naturally for both of them, and they ease into the relationship without question over time. It's almost as if they've been together the entire time they've known each other, so they don't really acknowledge it or call attention to it, but they and everyone around them can tell just how much they care about each other.

I think if they ever do talk about it, it would be after the events of Tantiss in the finale of S3. They'd probably have a "Where do we go from here?" moment where they talk about it and decide they're going to stick by each other no matter what.

I mean, here and there I'm sure Hunter's brothers and Omega would pick up on his closeness with Jung and tease him about it, but since I really like the headcanon about Hunter being aroace, he does romantic feelings differently than they do. He knows there's something there, but it's not in a traditional sense and the two of them are more than okay with that :)

Idk, hope that answers it! I just really love the idea of Hunter being aroace and as someone who is aspec and probably most likely aroace, I thought it would be nice to have one queer platonic couple. There's not that much representation for that kind of relationship so I wanted to have one to showcase that kind of love as well 🩵💫

Have a little doodle :) Maybe one clone and his jedi can have their happy ending.

Thank you for the ask! 🩵🩵

[rolaplayor101]

So I've just read your post "A Silent Voice Aspec Analysis" and I am so happy but I wanted to ask is...how exactly is Shoya from OAA rep? Could you direct me to all instances which made you think that he is? Thank you in advance!

9/13/22

So it’s been a year and a half since I got this ask and I’m only now answering it— I think about this ask a lot, and it’s not that I don’t want to answer it, it’s that I was waiting for the right time. I wanted to answer it during either asexual awareness week or Arospec awareness week last year or even the year before, but either because I forgot or because I procrastinated it, I never got to it. Now it's ASAW 2024, and I have finally decided to lay down and write this essay, so here we go:

There’s a few points I want to discuss, but in respect for the reader’s time, I will lay them all out right here as a tl;dr before I write them all out thoroughly.

Shoya shows himself to be both repulsed by romance and sexuality as soon as it is pointed towards him. This presents itself in his dialogue, his facial expressions, and his thoughts throughout A Silent Voice.

Shoya often is seen blushing in most instances, whether he’s with Shoko or not, of if he’s embarrassed or upset or  neutral. With this point, I think it’s poignant to say he has rosacea. 

Shoya himself says multiple times that he is not interested in Shoko, who is his main concern for all of the manga. 

The way other characters in A Silent Voice show attraction is completely different from anything Shoya ever does. 

The movie changes certain aspects of the manga to get the overall point across and stick to the most important plot lines. One of the things that it changes is literally all the scenes where the other characters assume Shoya likes Shoko romantically, unless it specifically pertains to Shoko’s side of the story, the character who DOES have romantic feelings in this pair for the other. 

Shoya shows his immense dislike for romance and sex a variety of times, as aforementioned, but does seem to enjoy physical, sensual touch, including holding hands, and, secondly, the only time he feels jealousy in reference to other people's relationships is not when he thinks Shoko is dating someone, but when he sees her getting closer platonically with other people(Sahara).

The entire story is about Shoya trying to redeem himself for past deeds, and learning what friendship is. Romance only ever ties in when it’s related to other people that aren’t him. 

This might have to be split into multiple posts because I have a lot of manga panels to use as reference. First, let’s start at the beginning. On the very first page of chapter one, we are immediately met by Shoya experiencing allonormativity and looking extremely annoyed. As soon as he hears the word “boyfriend” he is amiss, as is implied by the boldness of the word boyfriend. He immediately informs them that he’s not her boyfriend, with a sweating face, and balling in on himself, a thing he does multiple times to show he’s uncomfortable and anxious, while also always having the four little blush marks under his eyes as a character design choice, not a proof of attraction.

In fact, one of the first things we learn about Shoya is that he doesn’t like girls, next to the fact that he’s not supposed to jump into the River, he doesn’t like his mom’s nickname for him, and that he has a sister whose boyfriend sucks, because he can’t “play with them”. Crushing on one doesn’t even cross his mind, but it does for everyone else he interacts with in his class:  

“isn’t that great, Ishida?” Naoka asks in response to learning that the new transfer student is a girl.

“Huh? I don’t give a crap!!” He replies, his expression one of genuine confusion and annoyance, with his eyebrows furrowed downwards and his pupils small, mouth low on his face without a hint of a smile or blush.

Shortly after we have a montage of him bullying Shoko along with his friends, we are met with his first instance of romance repulsion at a young age:

Amongst being touched— holding hands with a girl— he does not blush or smile, neither does flowers appear around him in thematic fashion of romantic attraction; instead, he looks angry, his brows furrowing, even the lines of rosacea on his face  disappearing to show him paling in disgust. The next panel with his face shows him grimacing, a shadow falling over his eyes and bags appearing under his eyes with sweat pouring down his face. He is not enjoying the physical touch from her. Finally, as he whips his arm away, a blush appears on his face, but only as he hears his friends behind him laughing at him. He’s embarrassed and angry. We get the second bout of amatonormativity from his friends:

He’s blushing, but not from attraction, like his friends joke, but in embarrassment. The next scene shows Ishida saying a word that appears over and over from here on, and the dialogue is, “she’s creepin’ me out” as he walks away with Kazu and Hirose. We will get back to that. 

This is only the beginning of Shoya’s journey through navigating allonormativity and deconstructing what friendship means to him. His “friends” aren’t good ones, for sure, and this comes up as a theme throughout. In fact, the allonormativity keeps on even til the end, but I’ll expand on that later, as well. Skip only a 20 pages later, and you’ll see this little scene:

Here, Shoya actively reveals his repulsion towards romance once again by even just being around a place where people go on dates often, and gets angry and upset. Now, it is a common trope for children in tv to hate romance and be seen to grow out of it, as if it’s childish to see it as disgusting and unlikeable, but, in Shoya’s case, even as time passes, he continues to share these feelings, although more quietly, with his elementary school self. Even here, when he’s all scratched up, you can see the blush on his face when he notices Shoko seeing him, but again, this blush, in context, doesn’t seem to be one of attraction, but of embarrassment. In context, he’d just been pushed around by his ex-friends, and chastised by his mom, and has now been seen kicking a wall. There’s no romantic tension or reasoning to this scene for it to be a blush of romantic attraction on his face. 

Time skip to him in his teen years, senior year, in chapter 5:

He’s being a bit dramatic by the end, but even so, in the beginning, it’s obvious that his thoughts are his own. In the ten year anniversary edition, his dialogue is, “And you butt-ugly bastards, stop talking about dating. It makes me sick.” This change in dialogue leaves out the “it doesn’t suit you” which can change the connotation a little bit. It changes the meaning from, “You acting like you can date the way you are is creepy” to “just talking about romance at all is gross to me”. And then, sexually, it’s also the same. It’s not only romance, but sex that also creeps him out. “That goes for you too.” (These are also taken out of the movie, because it’s once again not relevant, and also makes Shoya more palpable as a character you can be sorry for. His comments here do sound a lot like endorsing rape culture in a victim blaming kind of way). Then there’s this little nugget a few pages after:

“Apparently, there are some things in this world you just can’t attain. The moment I realized that, my future became clear.” 

One of the noticeable things he “can’t attain” is a girl or boy to be in a relationship with in high school. That, or if you look at it in things he can’t be a part of, like, say, being in the class photo, or getting into college, or being In a group of friends, or having a full head of hair, etc., it’s also possible to view the scene of him walking past the couple as him not being able to  avoid seeing couples, as all the other things he is actively working towards or interacting with/looking at. As in, “I won’t be able to be in the class photo, I won’t be able to avoid couples, I won’t be able to go to college, I won’t be able to make friends”, or, “I won’t be able to be in a relationship” whether that being because no one wants him or because he himself doesn’t want to be in one despite everyone else in school wanting it so badly, due to the allonormativity he’s experienced convincing him that’s the case. 

After this scene, we are back in media rez, where he just denied being her boyfriend. In that context, he just the other day thought about romance being something he either can’t attain because he doesn’t want it, or can’t get it, and when these aunties call him Shoko’s boyfriend, he shows a rather plain disgust and discomfort with it, implying that it’s something he doesn’t want, instead of can’t get. 

Then we get this legendary scene: ”Nishimiya…could you…and me..be friends?”

He has a blush here that is unlike the usual four lines we see on his cheeks under his eyes; this one is further into his cheekbones, and it's not from anger or embarrassment, but rather from a shyness. And this shyness doesn’t come from romantic feelings, but for platonic feelings. His words inform the expression, that he wants a friendship with her. And then this happens:

His expression changes instantly. It’s not necessarily one of disgust, but of panic, of discomfort. He’s still blushing, but he’s sweating now, just like before, in elementary school, and he can also hear the ladies in the back making comments just like his friends from before. He’s not angry, as his brows are raised instead of furrowed, but he’s deeply unsettled. 

In this next set of panels, Shoko notices the ladies and pulls away, and Shoya’s face is a bit different and more comical. He’s still sweating and blushing, but his mouth is open wider as if to say something, and his hand is limp. When she pulls back. There’s a spark that’s closer to her than it is to him, which I think symbolizes a sudden awareness on her part rather than his. He also looks a bit happier that she let go, with only one sweat drop on his face instead of multiple. His brows are also more relaxed, and his mouth jaw is closing slightly. This is presumably how Shoko is seeing him in this moment.

 And when someone interrupts, presumably one of the women who were laughing at him, he gets all stiff again and his blush mostly disappears. Then the panels start being viewed from either Shoya’s side or from his perspective again. Fast forward to when they’re feeding bread to fish a few minutes later. 

He blushes at the thought that he’s having a normal friendly conversation with Shoko, the girl he used to hate, not just “a girl” or “a person my age that’s a girl for the first time since I hit puberty”. He’s not blushing at a romantic encounter or moment, but that he’s making a friend, he’s nervous that he has zits in his face, not because he thinks she’s pretty or something like that, that doesn’t even cross his mind, but that he can have a positive relationship with someone who isn't in his family or someone he works with. And someone he ruthlessly bullied five or six years ago.

Another example of his Asexuality comes right after this, when they both jump into the water under the bridge to rescue Shoko’s old notebook. He accidentally looks up and sees her skirt lifted, but he immediately closes his eye and looks down again without a blush on his face, and immediately focuses back in on finding the notebook without even a moment to get his bearings. It doesn’t bother him at all.

sorry about the bad quality, i had to take this picture for the sake of time instead of finding it online. 

The next chapter features the biggest theme of the entire manga and anime besides redemption:

This is brought up again once Shoya meets Yuzuru, who wants to keep him away from Shoko. Yuzuru asks, “Are you really her friend?” And it brings about this entire thought process for Shoya, again and again, in the series. And then he meets Nagatsuka: 

This is an example of my second point: Shoya’s blushing. A lot of “evidence” people give for Shoya liking Shoko is that he blushes around her a lot. This is a false equivalence, for Shoya blushes all the time and for anyone and any reason. Here, Nagatsuka does something extraordinarily nice to him for no reason, and he blushes, his confusion evident in the furrow of his brow and him asking, “Why’d you do all that for me?” In the 10th anniversary edition. Nagatsuka’s friendship from here on causes him to blush just as much as Shoko, and it doesn’t stop there. Later in the series when he befriends Miki, he’s also seen blushing around her, and not only that, but there are symbols seen around characters all the time to forward the notion of different points of view within a panel.

Image 1: Blush blush blush~ all of this at the notion of friendship, a complete turn around from whenever anyone mentions romance or sex around him. He’s forming connections with people for the first time since middle school, or even elementary school, to further Point 7. His need for platonic relationships greatly overshadows any hint of romance that is ever brought up, especially with Shoko. 

Image 2: Miki sees herself as cute, which is why the bubbles appear around her, signaling a slight pov change. Shoya himself never shows any interest in Miki, nor Miki for him, and it especially shows in this scene with his expression and his thoughts not at all aiming towards her. And when Miki says Mashiba is handsome, a particularly aesthetic,  romantic, or sexual form of attraction, this is something Shoya doesn’t even notice; yet, when she says Mashiba wants to be his friend, his eyes go wide with sudden interest. His disinterest towards romance and sex also take into account men, as well. 

Image 3: once again, Miki has bubbles around her, but this is not Shoya’s pov until the next panel. This is a good example of background and environmental symbolism not necessarily reflecting on Shoya’s own thoughts and feelings, but those around him. 

If we go to the movie, in image 1, this scene is shown with Shoya and Nagatsuka doing a secret handshake, which has a lingering touch between them that doesn’t make Shoya uncomfortable like Shoko’s attempt at handshakes/handholding does, and it’s in the midst of a conversation about friendship, in contrast to how the ladies from sign class assumed it to be a romantic thing with Shoko and Shoya. And speaking of, shortly after image 1, we run into them again: 

Once again, the blush appears, but his brows furrow and he has a frown on his face that shows his discomfort, along with the sweat. He runs away because he’s embarrassed, not because there’s any truth to what they’re saying. This bring us again to point 3: Shoya points out multiple times that he does not like Shoko romantically. For the sake of convenience, I’ll add the rest of the times that he does this, and the chapters, to show that he doesn’t change his mind even by the end of the manga. 

chapter 15

Chapter 20 (genuine confusion, doesn’t see it as romantic in the slightest, regular rosacea blush on his face. Pure amatonormativity and relationship hierarchy)

chapter 21

chapter 40 (this one needs further explaining but I’ll do it in the next post)

chapter 41

chapter 61 (til the very end, the literal second to last chapter, his friend is being allonormative while he’s perfectly happy and blushing at his friendship with Shoko. His expression holds a seriousness that implies it’s not a joke on his part, as well as the excited look he has as he gets an answer to the question)

Since I can only post 30 picture at a time on tumblr, I’ll stop the post right here and finish on a reblog some day. Yes, I know about the interviews with the author, and yes, I’ll supply those in due time as well. 

[jaimebluesq]

Oooh, I just saw your prompts post. I have two prompts that you could combine or not: aspec and 3zun. IDK, I'm in the mood for more fic like that...

Thank you for the prompt! I was torn between writing a long diatribe about so many potential Aspec headcanons and how they are either reinforced or contradictory to the family messages/environment each member of 3zun had growing up... but instead I thought I’d go for a touch of humour and fluff :D

~ ~ ~

The Unclean Realm on an average night when Nie Mingjue’s ‘sworn brothers’ come for a visit:

Nie Huaisang walked through the corridors on his way to his room, looking at the walls around him. The fortress itself was constructed with thick external walls built to withstand considerable impact from rams and boulders slung from trebuchets, and it was rare that the sounds of wildlife from the surrounding areas were heard within. The internal walls, however, were much thinner – much much thinner, almost paper thin in some places – and tonight was one of many nights Nie Huaisang wished the internal walls had been built as thickly as the external ones.

“That’s it, right there Da-ge!” Lan Xichen’s moan filled the hallway.

He resisted the urge to stick his fingers in his ears as he tried to rush past his brother’s quarters.

“Just a little more, I’m almost there!” Nie Mingjue shouted.

A servant who had been lingering in the hallway jumped and blushed when she realized she wasn’t alone – Nie Huaisang shooed her off. Just because his brother couldn’t keep his activities silent, it didn’t give people the right to listen in.

“Perhaps if Da-ge is tired, this one could assist – your hands must be getting quite sore, and we may still have use for them yet,” Jin Guangyao teased.

With a pout and a groan, Nie Huaisang no longer resisted his previous urge – he clapped his hands over his ears and ran the rest of the way to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

That’s it! The next time Er-ge and San-ge come over, I’m going to stay in Yunmeng until neither I nor Jiang-xiong can walk anymore. It’s so unfair that Da-ge gets laid all the time but I have to wait!

Nie Mingjue’s quarters on an average night when his ‘sworn brothers’ come for a visit:

Lan Xichen sat awkwardly on his chair, his arms folded over the back of it as his sleeves hung down to the floor “That’s it, right there Da-ge!” he moaned as Nie Mingjue’s fingers dug into his back through the fabric of his inner robes, working at the knot in his muscles from the group training session they’d had earlier that evening.

“Just a little more,” Nie Mingjue insisted, feeling the knot finally loosen, “I’m almost there!”

The pain in Lan Xichen’s back suddenly became pure bliss as his tension was released. He let out a long, exhausted sigh, and was thankful when Nie Mingjue pulled away.

“Perhaps if Da-ge is tired, this one can assist.” Jin Guangyao picked up a pot of ointment and, taking Nie Mingjue’s hand in his, began rubbing some into his skin – Nie Mingjue gave the best massages, but his hands always cramped up afterwards. “Your hands must be getting quite sore, and we may still have use for them yet,” he teased with a straight face, but received a mock glare from Nie Mingjue for his efforts.

“You’re just saying that because you want me to do your legs tomorrow before you head home.”

“Well, it does make the journey by sword that much easier.”

Lan Xichen stood up and stretched himself out, a relaxed smile upon his face. “Thank you, A-Jue. Nobody’s hands are quite as skilled as yours – not that I would ever allow anyone else to touch me so intimately.”

“You know we are always at your service,” Jin Guangyao replied, letting go of Nie Mingjue’s hands. “Will you be staying the night?”

Shaking his head, Lan Xichen reached for his outer robes. “I’m afraid this was the most intimacy this one could withstand in one day, and I will be most comfortable sleeping alone. My apologies-”

“What did I tell you about apologizing?” Nie Mingjue grimaced. “Never apologize for telling us what you need.”

Jin Guangyao faced Lan Xichen with a fond smile. “We love our A-Huan, and would do so even if you asked to never again embrace us or hold our hands.”

Lan Xichen nodded – he did trust these two men he adored, but at times he felt the need for reassurance that he was not placing undue demands upon them. “I do not know what your plans were tonight, but... if I may, I would like to remain until the both of you have prepared for bed.”

His words prompted a lifted eyebrow from Jin Guangyao. “In other words, you simply wish to watch A-Jue disrobe – you and the majority of the cultivation world, I imagine.” Logically, he could understand the aesthetic appeal, but the sight of naked bodies had never really done that much for him.

Nie Mingjue, however, smirked as he began pulling off his belt.

Soon enough, Nie Mingjue was naked – as he preferred to sleep, particularly since his body ran so hot – and Jin Guangyao had changed into another full set of sleeping robes. Lan Xichen wished them goodnight before retiring to his guest room.

“What do you need tonight?” Nie Mingjue asked as he blew out the lantern and slipped under the sheets with Jin Guangyao.

“It’s been a rough few weeks,” Jin Guangyao admitted. It was still difficult for him at times to verbalize what he wanted, so used was he to pushing down his own needs in favour to catering to someone else’s. But no matter his occasional issues with Nie Mingjue, few respected his word more than he did. “I just need to be held tonight.”

“That I can do.” Nie Mingjue pulled Jin Guangyao into his arms and held him tightly. In truth, he had very few needs of his own, other than to be allowed to show his affection to those he loved in some way. It didn’t matter if it was a word of affirmation for Lan Xichen or physical affection for Jin Guangyao – who usually just needed to be held, but on rare occasions needed the passion of sexual intimacy to reinforce their relationship. They were his family as much as his brother was, and he was more than happy to do what he could for them. “Night, A-Yao.”

“Goodnight,” Jin Guangyao muttered, his mind for once at ease as he settled into Nie Mingjue’s embrace.

[lady-loveluck]

grace hcs since i’m writing/portraying her:

- despite her love for theology, she has a huge passion for the hatchetfield folklore and paranormal. you are gonna tell me that this girl who knew everything about the waylon place isn’t absolutely in love with it?

- the waylon place, she wanted to be her own place at some point. she was hoping mark ( mr chastity ) never would sell it so she could take it for herself.

- bi!grace and trying to juggle internalized biphobia and also she is demi. i do not care, she is on the aspec, she told me HERSELF!!!!!

- her favorite color has always been blue, specifically baby blue. she’s enjoyed it her whole life and as much as she didn’t like the color coded shirts at camp idonwannabang, she wore the pink ones regardless.

- she likes experimenting with hair styles. she has so, so many hairclips because of this.

- she doesn’t like makeup on herself; the most she’s ever done was a glittery clear nailpolish or a faint baby pink polish. she would give lipgloss a try but the texture is GROSS!

- audhd but undiagnosed because the chastity’s believed she didn’t have anything wrong with her.

— 💌🐚

OH I love that she's fan of paranormal stuff here! I can see that, is very her! She tries to justify herself that she likes it in a "for research purposes" way and not a "satanic" way.

I love Grace sm thanks for these hcs

[cryiling]

Hi, crow! How are you doing? 😁

for the ship ask game: revalink (hehe), botw/totk zelink, and miphlink (i think that’s the correct ship name??)

(ask game from here)

omg hi iri!!! I'm doing well hru? imyy thank you for the ask 🥺🫶

revalink - ship

what made you ship it?

last february i was going through my zelda phase again and i was looking for fics to read. previously i had read a lot of sidlink fics so I was looking for something new, and I decided to check out revalink fics and. oh em gee. i got hooked 😭

I remember insisting I only liked it ironically but 💀 look where I am now. #1 revalink shipper oopsies 🤭 their dynamic really stood out to me, I've shipped a lot of rivals to lovers before so I guess once I started to consider it revalink just made sense to me. also revalink fics are devastatingly good, like there's a couple that I reread religiously 😫

what are your favorite things about the ship?

omg I LOVE THIS QUESTIONNN. saurr many things like. I mentioned it already but I love their dynamic, especially when you start to analyze it beyond the surface level. I love headcanons about why revali lashes out at link in the first place, especially in relation to the champion's ballad dlc and how revali's diary reveals that he's just really insecure about himself. I think they're such good character foils to each other and that makes their interactions, both as rivals and as lovers, so much richer than some of the other ships in the game. their relationship is so open to interpretation and that makes it one of the most satisfying ships to make content for SHFJDBF

is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

hmm not that I can think of! i post a lot of headcanons and stuff but I don't think they've ever been unpopular, maybe just unique. like my all the president's men au 💀 i still think abt that sometimes LOL

botw/totk zelink - don't ship

why don't you ship it?

aghhh ok ok hear me out. i don't ship them romantically BUT i do think they are peak queerplatonic vibes. it's just, the idea of knight x princess already feels like a weird dynamic to me, like I'm not a huge fan idk? ughh idk how to explain it. to me I've always preferred them to have more of a sibling dynamic. urgh I know I said hear me out but I'm not explaining it well. the voices told me not to ship it idk

what would have made you like it?

ok tbh I think zelink is cute in like every other game! just not these two 😭 so I guess if you put the two characters in literally any other game I would like them? aghhhh idk what it is about this one that makes me not want to ship it!! maybe in this game if they had a different backstory I would have shipped it. but tee bee ache link was so unhappy as a knight that I'm rooting for him to leave the whole royalty system behind and go live in the woods with his bird boyfriend idk 😭

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I literally think zelink makes the most sense as a ship, they're soulmates and they would go to the ends of the earth for each other, I'm sorry I feel so bad for not shipping them 😭 BUT on the other hand, I think all that can be true without having to be romantic yk? that's why I think they're a really good queerplatonic couple, they understand each other like no one else could, they always look out for each other and they can't imagine not being in the other's life. it's just not romantic. aughh I think they have such a good relationship but just not romantically 😣 maybe it's bc I'm also aspec

miphlink - don't ship

why don't you ship it?

I feel really bad but like mipha's crush was so clearly one-sided 😭 it's weird bc my absolute favorite trope is childhood friends to lovers, and they check the childhood friends box, but the ship just feels too vanilla/basic to me. I do think they're besties tho, because since they grew up together they'll be super close and know each other very well. but imo link doesn't see her like that and mipha eventually moves on

what would have made you like it?

I think a.) mipha's character should have been fleshed out more because she felt so one-dimensional and it kind of bothered me, her character had so much more potential and I love seeing fanon version of her where she actually has a personality. and b.) if there was a little more pining on both link's and mipha's parts. the best part of childhood friends to lovers is the pining!!

despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

I love mipha and I love link and I think they'll always look out for each other and be besties forever!! the end 😽

[ayotamacheck]

Theo, Pablo, Raf and Kenny with an asexual farmer? Also, same group with a sick farmer? So happy you're taking requests again!! 🩷

sorry some of these are a little short!! wanted to get all of it in and it was quite a lot to write haha. hope you enjoy!!

i actually talked about pablo, rafael, and kenny here but ill add more cuz it's been a while😌

post under the cut :)

Asexual Farmer

Theo

okso i headcanon lily as being asexual right orr at least somewhat aspec. and if that is the case then theo already sort of understands it even before you tell him

literally nothing changes!! the relationship is the exact same LMAO. he's the most chivalrous guy around–of course nothing is going to change. he still serenades you and takes you out on his boat and loves you like nothing else in the world.

Pablo

“what's that”

KIDDING but yeah he's pretty unfamiliar with it. he's a little confused at first but he's totally respectful about it–maybe the two of you sit down and he asks a few questions so that he can make sure that he understands

when he does understand, you're a little worried that he will have some sort of problem with it. pablo is known for being a romantic, after all, and he's not exactly shy about intimacy. but you'd be wrong! he doesn't have a problem with it at all. maybe it's an adjustment to his mindset at first, but at the end of the day he treats it the same as he would treat any other boundary. if you tell him that you're not interested, then he won't ever even dream of pushing

if anything, he's a little concerned if he's ever overstepprd by accident. he's definitely relieved if you tell him he hasn't

besides, he loves you for more than your body. sure he thinks you're attractive–i mean, he literally introduces himself alongside calling you cute. but as he's gotten to know you, he loves so much more than that. he loves your mind and your sense of humor and your wit–he loves the smile on your face when you tell him about something you like, he loves the sound of your voice. you're one of the best things to ever happen to him. why would it matter to him if sex is off the table, so long as he gets to keep you in his life?

Rafael

literally as soon as you tell him he just pulls you into a hug like “thank you for trusting me enough to tell me”

he's a little emotional about you trusting to tell him, and he asks a few questions just to make sure he understands everything alright. he's totally fine with it when you get into a relationship, though! he would never dream of initiating anything sexual without explicit interest on both sides, anyway, and he has no interest in pushing you into anything you're not comfortable with. i mean, this guy probably takes ages to even get comfortable /hugging/ you without having to triple check that you're cool with it–he’s not gonna have a problem here lol

he's much happier just laying in bed reading together anyway

overall relationship is the same, just as sweet as ever <3

Kenny

he could not care less!!

to be clear, he's totally respectful of your preferences and your boundaries. if you aren't into sex, then that's fine by him. he's attracted to you for more than that–he loves being around you, he loves talking to you, he loves surprising each other with gifts or spending afternoons tending the animals together or dining by the lake. he wouldn't ever even dream about pressuring you into sleeping together anyway, so if you tell him that you're asexual, that won't change anything.

to be honest, i also headcanon kenny as ace or at least aspec, so to a degree he also just understands how you feel!

really, nothing will change in how you guys are. the only difference is that now he knows. he still just as sweet and affectionate as ever :)

Sick Farmer

Theo

theo gives me the vibes of someone who would have some weird family remedy for every sickness that he swears by even if it's the strangest thing. so he's definitely going to show up at your house like “listen farmer i know this sounds crazy but i swear it works–”

nine times out of ten it does not work

but it's the thought that counts <3

he isn't afraid of getting sick since he's got a rock solid immune system, so he's definitely coming over to spend time with you. he makes you fresh food, he cuddles with you, the whole nine yards.

PLUS he'll serenade you. 100% he's serenading you. who needs spotify, you've got this guy hanging around your house willing to play you whatever you want at a moment’s notice

he's the kind of guy that's gonna get nervous every time you cough too hard though, so you better believe he's keeping you medicine stocked and probably crashing at your place at least a few nights out of the time you're sick. you've gotta chase him out with a broom to get him to stop worrying about you

Pablo

ok as ive said before pablo is the best at taking care of loved ones when he's sick

he's had tons of practice being an older brother, after all! especially because he is the one who gets other people sick 99% of the time since he refuses to rest or stop his daily activities when he's sick lol

he will definitely insist that /you/ rest, though. he'll get rafael to cover the shop for him and he'll come over to spend the day at the farm with you. he's kind of clueless at agriculture but yk he'll do his best to get some chores done for you so that you aren't stressing. he will pretty much force you to stay in bed or at least off your feet, so if he has to gather some vegetables or feed a few animals to get you to relax then he'll do it

he cannot cook to save his life so unfortunately you're just getting microwaveable chicken soup, but it's the thought that counts

he has no fear of getting sick so he'll probably insist on spending the day cuddling and watching reruns of your favorite shows

he's definitely catching whatever you have though, and you're gonna have to return the favor to him in a week lmao

Rafael

he's very good at recognizing when people are sick–he lives with pablo after all, and pablo is the king of denial when he's sick–so he probably notices you're coming down with something before you do.

he's straight to mother hen mode. bedrest and blankets, checking your temperature, making you homemade soup–the whole nine yards. he'll get pablo to run the shop for a little while so that he can come down and hang out with you. he'll show up with an armful of his favorite old horror movies to show you, plus a few books the two of you can read. being as introverted as he is he's perfectly content to come up with stuff that the two of you can do without putting any strain on you.

he gives me the vibes of someone who is very good when it comes to sick food. he's always got something warm waiting for you when you get hungry! soup or cookies or whatever. and if you're like stomach sick then he's more than happy to buy you all the crackers and ginger ale you could eat

he's also perfectly happy to let you sleep, whether that means going out to run errands for you or just getting housework done for you

he'll probably cave and let you cuddle with him, even if he really doesn't want to get sick lol. if he does catch it, he's a good sport about it though

Kenny

ok he's both the best and also the worst when you're sick

he's bummed for you because he knows how much /he/ hates being sick–it takes him away from everything that he enjoys and makes him miserable every time. he's also bummed that he has no company for his time outside every day

so while he does feel sorry for you, he does /not/ want to risk catching whatever you've got. and you don't want to give it to him, considering how miserable he gets whenever he has so much as a cold. suffice to say no sick cuddles with him lol

he'll definitely come by the farm every day and handle your chores. this guy grew up on a ranch; how different can farming be? your animals are definitely getting spoiled by him for as long as you're sick, and even a little after, though that's nothing new. he also handles all of the planting, the harvesting, the watering, the shipping–whatever you need done! you crack your window and chat with him while he works. he definitely won't let you come out to help, but he's happy to talk and keep you company even if it's from outside

he'll also bring you food :) and probably other little treats too, because he feels bad not being able to be affectionate with you

[raayllum]

I remember starting the show because my friend told me about Callum and Rayla and how cute they were together. But after binge watching all 5 seasons, I just feel like the writers don’t really give a damn about them, in many ways, compared to other couples. But, to be fair, I have lots of issue with the writing. But, to me, the primary idea was to make Callum and Claudia a couple (no, I don’t ship them together), because they actually have a background, development, even chemistry too. So, I don’t understand why the writers changed their minds on this (please, tell me if they ever addressed this issue). I just think that him moving on from a childhood love, like that, out of nowhere to Raylla was again a bit odd and out of nowhere. Because nothing indicated that in the first 2 seasons. Same goes to Rayla too. And, in S5 they have acted more as friends than anything else. It’s just weird. What’s your opinion about this? And again, I don’t ship Callum with Claudia, it’s just my opinion after watching all seasons.

Thank you for sharing your feelings, I definitely have been in fandoms where the Big Ship (canon or fanon, in show or in fandom) have just not been things I could click or with or understand, so you have my sympathies. The crew has gone on record saying that Callum and Rayla being a couple was not originally the plan (we don't know if there were any endgames being considered for either of them as alternatives, but I lean toward no) with Janaya and Ruthari presumably being the main couples. This changed in 2x04 with the lightning flash and moment the two share on the boat, "everyone in the room saw it" (legit quote from showrunner) and they began to write and develop it. It is unknown if they went back to add or shift anything in S1 (we know the crew works on seasons simultaneously) but it wouldn't surprise me given the vibes

I definitely can't promise to change your mind (I'm obviously a big Rayllum shipper and I have been since S1, so I'm clearly coming at it from a different perspective) but I do have some metas that do address what you've brought up, I'm gonna link them below and then do a quick summary in case you understandably don't wanna read all that!

Rayllum and Loneliness (Post S3): a meta about how it is likely (now confirmed in supplementary material) that Rayla grew up pretty friendless and a deeper dive into how Rayla is/was the first person Callum had who was unequivocally his peer and his friend (as Soren bullied and Callum's crush - as well as other things - made him and Claudia have a fair amount of distance.)

Callum and Claudia: You Already Did (Post S3): On what appeal the ship has, why it may not appeal to others, and why I don't think Callum and Claudia were actually that close pre-S1, the various factors why, and why they were doomed to fall apart since 1x02.

How/Why Callum's feelings for Claudia and Rayla Were Overlapping (Post-S3): Exactly what it says on the tin, mostly because he is obsessed with Rayla lowkey in S1 (trying to get her to laugh three times in 1x05, taking a flirty tone with her when they aren't arguing in 1x06, etc) and then outright devoted in S2, trusting her over Claudia in 2x03.

Rebuttals to Rayllum Reservations (Claudia, Pacing, Etc) Post-S3: Pacing, emotional intimacy, platonic development and romantic feelings, etc. Probably the simplest meta and the most on brand for what you're (presumably) looking for, but the other metas I think uh do contribute nicely to explaining why Rayllum is what it is and som of the reasons it appeals to people.

It's also honestly not surprising to me that in S5 they just feel like Friends (hopefully best friends) given that a decent chunk of the Rayllum fandom, myself included, are on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrums, and don't really care if they're Romantic as long as they're Life Partners. (Aspec Rayllum tag here) Callum and Ezran are two of the, if not the, most important people in Rayla's life, and Rayla and Ezran are two of the most important people in Callum's life. To me, romance / devotion / whatever you want to call it intermingling makes sense. One of the things I've loved most about S4-S5 is the fact that whatever they are, they have each other's backs, and they care for and protect each other, no romance required, which hits different since they do both also have romantic feelings for each other. It's just not a pre-requisite for them and a lack of it is never something they'd hold against one another. In other words:

Chemistry is also something that's hard to pin down sometimes - like all shipping preferences are subjective, but evaluations of chemistry tend to be in particular (for example, I don't really think Callum and Claudia have chemistry in that way, but that doesn't mean that they can't or they don't).

That said: platonic Rayllum tag here and foils Rayllum tag here, and I hope whatever parts of the show you do enjoy, well, give you joy.

[badpoliticaltakes]

Hi! Quick questions, what do you think of LGBT+ people and some of the stuff the conservative party says about them? Also, what was the thing/event that made you start leaning more conservative? Thanks!

i've had to cut this down so it isn't like, a 50,000 word essay, but the tldr is i'm not staunchly against LGBTQ+ folks.

I, myself, am bisexual, and am probably far more lenient than most of my conservative peers (likely due to the fact I'm not Christian tbh). There are, as with all things, extreme versions of LGBTQ ideas that I thoroughly disagree with (see rabies-sexual, and auti-gender for example), a sort of middle ground where I don't agree logically but I can deeply empathise with the experience (aspec community, anything outside the gender binary), and then the ideas I have no issue with (gay marriage, binary transition when done by adults). I can go deeply into each of these and my reasons why if anyone would like!

As regards for the conservative party's words (I'm assuming you mean the UK tories btw). I agree with their response to the Cass report (see here), but not with the huge number of tories who were against gay marriage in 2013 (source). Being LGBT+ and conservative are not mutually exclusive, despite what some thing (see here!).

This is actually deeply related to what made me conservative - I identified as transgender (specifically genderqueer) during my teenage years as well as asexual and panromantic, I campaigned hard for LGBT+ rights. I was so frustrated all the time, and so so very scared. I identified this way when I was 12, and built my school's support group, marched in pride events every year, and held so many young queer people when they felt so terrified by the world. I lost friends to this, and I almost killed myself over how so terrified I was, so ashamed and alone even though I was out very visibly. People spat on me, and refused to sit next to me, and assaulted my (also queer) friends.

And then, when I became an adult, my hormones levelled out, and I started getting to know people who viewed the world differently. I stumbled across an interview between Jordan Peterson and Abigail Shrirer, and realised that my emotions had been played on by the media. I was a young, autistic girl, who felt different. And that very normal feeling ended up becoming something I nearly ended my own life over, because I was convinced that the government (and my friends and family) wanted to hurt me.

I spoke to my mother, who had refused to view me as non-binary, and found that I wasn't met with a woman who hated her daughter and wished her dead, but a mother who cried herself to sleep when I asked her if I could have top surgery. A mother who was worried I was being manipulated as a child, and wanted to protect her daughter. (I still disagree with my mother on a number of political issues, but even then she is still the kindest woman I have ever known.)

There are obviously people for whom that feeling isn't just teenage hormones, and they have my deepest empathy because it was such an awful, awful experience, but I firmly believe that there are many young people for whom, like me, the feeling of wanting to rip your breasts off with your bare hands will pass. I know it sounds dismissive, and invalidating, and teen-me would have seethed with rage at who I am now, but I'm truly the happiest I have ever been.

I'm not saying everyone should be conservative, but when you feel like I did, with so much rage, its worth thinking about who's stoking that fire and why.

[bloggingboutburgers]

Hey I just wanted to say I love your comics and I think they do a great job connecting ace experiences to the rest of the LGBTQ+ community. I feel like there's a sort of divide because aces and allo LGBTQ+ don't always understand each other, but your comics describe ace experiences in a respectful and non-judgemental kind of way that opens discussion. It's so cool seeing allos reblog and relate to your comics because it shows that we have more in common than we might have thought. Thank you and please keep being awesome.

Hey and sorry I'm replying so late!!

Thank you so so much for this, honestly, that's absolutely what I strive for! TwT Some of my comics definitely are more vent-art-y gut reactions, but I tend to think a lot about how I can present an idea in a way that points fingers as little as possible, most of the time... I can't always avoid it, but I think it's still best to avoid it as much as possible if we all want to understand each other or at least get along as much as possible, and honestly, that's the goal ultimately, right? At least not damage each other more than we're already being damaged.

...Also I wanna be funny. I like drawing funny stuff. I don't think I really have the potential to make people laugh but I hope I can at least make them smile, I also think there's no better way to encourage people to think about something.

Having such positive responses not only from aspec people but also allo people is super encouraging, so I wanna keep doing my best on that, because it's been so much fun so far. Hopefully I'll make something a bit more concrete out of these comics someday, if I even ever dare, or manage. Building confidence is hard TwT So... Yeah this helps, and I hope the whole thing doesn't just help ME, even though it's really really self-serving for me ultimately 🙈

(...But also literally though, we're all in this together, aren't we? If one non-hetero non-conformist orientation or identity gets threatened it's only a matter of time before the others do, too. I don't see how we could manage any other way than by trying to connect and stand by each other at least as much as we can.)