#also having the character be ace but NOT aro means so much to me as an incredibly sappy ace spectrum reader?? i cry

[2mimikyute4u]

Still thinking about how a lot of asexual characters in media are like... aliens or robots or some other Non Human Entity™️ and how In The Lives Of Puppets by TJ Klune was like "actually fuck you the one human is the asexual one!! :)" like YESSSSS 🎉😭🥳

[aroaessidhe]

2025 reads / storygraph

Kiss Me, Maybe

contemporary romance

an ace lesbian has an accidental thirst trap go viral and uses the attention to talk about her experiences - which ends up developing into a silly idea to do a scavenger hunt where the winner gets to be her first kiss

she starts to plan it, with the bartender she’s had a crush on for years, and realises she’s starting to fall for said bartender - and as their relationship develops so does her understanding of her identity & connection towards her community

grey-ace lesbian MC

arc, out may 6!

[wackywatchdotcom]

i do think its funny that i like kinger so much. like pomnis my favorite but i have a soft spot for him and maybe its the bug thing or the loving his wife thing but at the end of the day like. he really feels like the type of older man character that, if ur a lesbian, ur like wow! i am taking you in as one of my own

[voidpunkpal]

i love how brennan so carefully described evan and sams relationship, making sure it was as open ended as possible, only describing it as romantic after danielle had first established that, so that she was just as involved in the life the two of them live in the future. it shows just how much he treasures her opinion irl, making sure her character gets agency whilst still being deeply cared about in world, that they get to make these decisions together

but also it meant a lot to me as someone whose aro ace, that it didn't Have to be a romantic relationship, that you can have a deep and meaningful relationship with someone without it being tied to societal norms. just because something gets perceived as romantic by others, doesn't inherently mean it Must be and that's final.

and danielle defining it as romantic doesn't throw that away. she chose the option she felt described them best. but the fact there were options in the first place, that these characters didn't Have to end up in a romantic relationship, that deep platonic relationships have been so woven into mismag between the pilot program.

it just means a lot to be seen

(for the record i personally i see sam and evan as being in a qpr (with each other and the other pilots in various spider webs and helpful diagrams), but thats the joy of headcannons. happy for evsam truthers, y'all enjoy and have a field day, and ill sit back here with my thoughts and watch c: )

[vibelladonna]

𝓊𝓅𝒹𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓈… 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃 ! ! 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓋𝒾𝓋𝒾

To start off, sorry I haven’t posted any fanfics lately.

Well, other than “Rizz the Wolf” April Fool reaction—look man I was really hyped and I couldn't help myself, I'd like to mention that I’ve got two exams this week and one more after that, so things have been kinda hectic for me as my spring semester is ending soon.

I’ll try to post something this weekend or later.  

Now, about the update on Geo… y’all really blew up my inbox. I was sitting in a chemistry lecture, taking notes on my iPad, when like 30 people inboxed me, saying overall ‘CHECK TWITTER!’ I was so confused, just staring a my screen like, "wtf is going on???" 😭 I legit thought something bad happened, so I checked Twitter all dramatically like I was about to read a scandal.  

First off, I just love seeing updates from @fantasia-kitt. And since y’all were MAYBE waiting for my "official statement"—because apparently, I’m the top writer that actually enjoys writing about Geo (which, fair, I do take almost every request I get)—here it is:  

I admire it ♡. Like deadass, omg.

Seeing Geo as Aroace just makes so much sense, like I already knew funny enough. It fits him perfectly—both personality-wise and character-wise. If there was ever a character who would straight-up say, "I literally do not have the time nor interest in a relationship,"

It’s literally him.

That being said… yeah, I guess this means almost everything I’ve written about Geo so far isn’t exactly accurate. Especially when it comes to writings like [ 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓀𝒾𝓃𝓀𝓈 ] or [ 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝒷𝒶𝓇𝒾 ]—to tell ya'll the truth, I was kinda hated writing those. 

I still lowkey head cannon him into Japanese bondage, Shibari—in a non sexual manner, like he just wanted to learn because he just happens to be interested in it.

Yes, I did a lot of research for them, but to keep it real, I only wrote them for my dearest readers because, at the time, there was barely any NSFW content for Geo, and everyone kept asking for it.

However, at the back of my brain, I already knew it didn’t fit his character, which was my original plan to never write it in the first place. If I’m being honest, I do feel a tiny bit disappointed—not at Geo being Aroace now.

Like, I’m actually hyped about that.

Sidenote—Do you know how rare perfectly written Aroace, aro, or even just ace representation is? 

HARDLY ANYWHERE.

It’s a constant battle trying to explain to people that this is who I am, and half the time, they just don’t get it because no one really talks about it.

So seeing a character like Geo, who actually fits the identity so well, is a huge win. It’s more about the fact that I knew I understood his character so well, but I kept holding myself back and writing him wrong—just to please everyone.

That’s on me, and I’ll never do it again.

So, this short update hits close to home.

Like Fantasia mentioned, "Geo has a special place in my heart since he reflects my own sexuality as well being an Aroace and I thinks this fits him more personality and character-wise." End quote.

And truthfully, same.

As mentioned, I’m asexual—like, if you’ve been on my blog for even five seconds, you’ve probably seen the spade symbols everywhere or my about me pinned post. It’s my way of repping my sexuality—hell, I even wear it as jewelry daily.

Also, a thought: I might be aro too, but I haven’t done a deep dive into that yet. Relationships have never really been my thing, and my priorities have always been my academics and career, so… maybe? Who knows.

Like, I’ll probably sit with it over the summer when I finally have some free time to contemplate my existence properly.

For those who don’t know me personally… let’s see…

if I had to sum up my personality, just picture Dr. Cristina Yang from Grey’s Anatomy or Kyoko Kirigiri from Danganronpa (btw, Kyoko is the only character in that game I care about). That should give you a pretty solid idea of how I operate.

That being said, I’m definitely still writing about Geo.

Don’t get it twisted—I was never gonna stop. I’ll just be going off my own thoughts now, and hopefully, everyone’s cool with that.

But please, for the love of all that is holy, do not ask me to write that Sol and Geo threesome. I was deadass joking in [ 𝒿𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓎 ]. Same with Hyugo and Geo x Reader request in a relationship—logically, it just doesn’t click for me to write something like that.

I enjoy writing about Geo—he’s one of my comfort characters (which, mind you, I only have like four on that list). And honestly?

Still my ideal type. I relate to him a lot. Not saying I’d date myself, but when I write him, I often think, "How would I react?"—except I dial up the arrogance, smugness, and overall asshole energy.

And before you ask, "Why the hell would you even want to date someone like that?"—leave me alone. 😭 

Again, dating isn’t exactly high on my priority list.

I just think about it sometimes—mostly because my parents won’t get off my ass about it. They keep saying, “Don’t waste your life just focusing on work,” but like… I genuinely don’t have any desire for it. I just want to enjoy life, make a decent living, and maybe—if anything—consider marriage way down the line.

But if I HAD to pick, it’ll be Geo.

Like in a best friends kind of way. Personally he’ll be so understanding because he too feel this way. I’ll annoy him so much.

The reason why, to me, relationships are just really close friendships with extra steps. If you’re dating someone, shouldn’t they also be your best friend? Deadass my friends call me weird for thinking that way, however I like to see it that way. 

This is why the only piece I actually enjoyed writing was [ 𝓉𝓎𝓅𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝑜𝓎𝒻𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹 ]—ironic isn’t it? I just thought of Geo and me as best friends and converted that into something for whoever was reading.

I always saw it as experiencing romantic and sexual attraction differently than most people. Relationships aren’t one-size-fits-all—they take on different forms depending on the people involved.

With Geo, I was just being transparent about who he is, what his needs and boundaries are, and how that shapes his dynamics with others.

Same goes for real life—your needs, your expectations, their needs, their expectations… It all comes down to communication. 

That’s everything.

And like Geo isn’t heartless now. If you play “Rizz the Wolf”, it just proves how much Geo actually cares about his friends. Like dude, look at how he treats Crowe and Deryl. Sure, he was pissed at Deryl for touching him and just straight-up being goofy, but he still let him do it.

And Crowe? Crowe did so much for Geo. It’s literally in the game’s glossary that Crowe helped him after he got kicked out of high-class society. No wonder Geo wipes Crowe’s face with a napkin. 

Not gonna lie, kinda wish that was me.😗

What I’m getting at is—this all just clicks.

So yeah, Geo not doing romantic relationships?

Officially canon. He doesn’t see the point, doesn’t have the time, and honestly? This just gives me even more material to work with—so stay tuned for the next post ! !

I’ll catch y’all later—thanks for listening to my rambling, my dearest readers. ♤

[hazelfoureyes]

why smut with an ace character?

This person was a minor so I won’t reply directly. I would love to discuss sexual orientation and the wibbly wobbly nature of attraction and pleasure to someone who I think needs a space to discuss it but as an adult stranger? That’s not my place and I would be wildly uncomfortable doing so directly. But! For anyone who does see my blog and wonders why, I’ll have this set on my master list to save me time

Heheheheh MY TIME HAS COME

closing in on 5 months of being on tumblr and this is my first “BUT ACE!” Comment/inbox

so, why?

✦Alastor is canonically Ace! The aro aspect was mentioned by an important staffer but has been left off as a descriptor by Viv herself and no accepted as canon. She gave her explicit permission to write them as we are comfortable with.

✦Asexuals can and do fuck! 💦 (my source? My ace spec partner!)

✦Alastor’s ace spectrum is often times an important aspect of my stories!

I always have Alastor motivated into sexual situations for non-sexual reasons.

Closeness, intimacy, fulfilling a partner’s needs, a biological imperative, for power, for control, putting someone into a submissive to embarrassing position. It’s to see someone break and bend to his will (with consent).

But lets shift into asexuality now --- how I write him isn't a representation of all ace people! It’s just how I view his place on the spectrum. Being Ace doesn't mean you can't ever want sexual pleasure in any form, it doesn't mean you never think about sex or enjoy seeing it.

Letting people explore the range of being asexual is as important as with any other sexual orientation. If you feel people being non-sex repulsed and being Ace is making your own identification harder to make clear to strangers —- well then I wonder if the label itself is more important to you than the community we all desperately seek and need when we publicly acknowledge our sexuality. We publicly say we’re LGBTQIA+ because these labels are for self identification and signal to like minded people and allies we're here. This is how I love and how I want to be loved. Maybe one day a different word will exist to separate the spectrum but we’re living and working with what we have today and how we find each other now. “Why not call him grey ace?” It’s each individuals decision how they wanna identify!

Full circle. Why do I write SO much smut about an ace character? Of course I think that animated deer man’s personality is hot lmao but also because I love this character and identify with him a lot! Being ace doesn't mean he doesn't ever have sex or ever enjoy physical pleasures! Writing about someone seeking out pleasure for non-sexual reasons is very fun for me as someone who doesn't identify with the romantic aspect of sex many people put on it. Do ace people fuck for romantic reasons? Yes! Absolutely! Being Asexual doesn’t mean you’re Aromantic!

Why not write fluff or QPR? Because I'm aromantic and it's harder for me but I am trying and am getting better at it because I want to write more things that meet the needs and wants of many kinds of people. As for QPR, I'm still learning what those relationships look like and learning how to idenfity them in my own life!

And finally— it’s valid to write him as any form of Ace or even not Ace at all! I prefer to keep him Ace spec but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to make him not. He’s not real and the creator has given us permission to do so. 👌🏼

[celtrist]

Hazbin & Helluva Vs. Aromanticism

(Aka: I have a problem with the Spindlehorse team about this, not shippers.)

(Also this is mainly about Alastor but can go for Octavia and Mammon too.)

Alright, so I've cleaned up this uh... rant, to make things a little more clear hopefully. But to summarize here, this is about the team's lack of commitment when every other character is allowed full confirmation of their orientations but these (potentially) aromantic characters aren't.

While I have no beef with shippers (I think you can ship whoever with whoever you want, I ship Alastor too on occasion), there is some conversation about how the fandom might be a bit of a reason WHY they "can't" be confirmed as aro. But again, my main problem is more with the showrunners than the fandom at this point about this.

I'll also be getting into why it's "important" and the double standards against characters being aromantic.

This is not an attack, ship however way you wish (again, I do it myself). My intent isn't really to stop the shipping, that would be ridiculous. But more so to give my thoughts on why it's BS characters like Alastor can't be confirmed as aromantic when other characters are allowed confirmed orientations.

I will start off by saying I don't mind the shipping of Alastor. While it's NOBODY'S business but mine, I suppose it's important to clarify that I'm someone who does currently identify as aroace. I might be wrong but who cares, it's how I think of myself now at least to some degree (I do after all still have fictional crushes. Real-life romance is not an interest for me though, don't like 'em).

I'm gonna get what I don't think people talk about enough on both sides of being for and against shipping Alastor, and then I'll talk about the shippers as they're (I realized) not my main issue at this point.

A little history: So Alastor has been long time confirmed as an ace character. He hasn't been confirmed as being sex-repulsed or anything, but I can personally say I don't mind either flavor of him being repulsed or favorable (though I imagine the series will lean towards the former to counter everyone else's sex-favorable attitude and for jokes). This statement was initially taken VERY poorly by fans who, at the time, were shipping radiodust and radiobelle/charlastor, one more than the other. Care to take a guess which? The answer will not surprise you.

But then people realized "Oh, asexual doesn't mean he COULDN'T get with someone" and people even went further to "Being asexual doesn't mean he CAN'T have sex", both very true statements. So shipping was back on the menus boys! And his asexual was certainly blurred a bit (to the point where it wasn't even him being sex-favorable asexual as much as just not asexual, something that still happens but certainly not as bad). But overall, people were taking his canonicity as asexual with as much grace as a duck.

So here's where MY problem comes in. While I have some gripes with shippers, I had an epiphany that "Oh. It's not really the shippers I have a problem with. It's the people WRITING THE DAMN CHARACTER". Which, might I just say, is so much worst.

The shippers, while they got annoying at some points and certainly can be still, are just having fun. Because shipping just happens to be the way most people like to interact with characters in the media they're into. Hell, I am no different. I just have the misfortune of only really getting into rarepairs most of the time (curse you my bizarre tastes). I've even shipped with Alastor, I like AngelicSmile/radiojoy quite a bit.

Back on track. Now, what do I mean by my main problem being with the writers more than the fans with this? Well, queue this darling of a clip about the topic (this is the only clip I've found of the live stream, feel free to watch the whole video but just wanted the clip here).

This. Single. Clip. Infuriates me.

Vivzi, while I'm sure not meant to, pretty much implied "Alastor being aromantic and 'non-shippable' would ruin people's fun". I'm sure she meant it as a way to keep others from policing shippers (which didn't work, it still happens), it really just reads as "a character being aromantic is not a fun character". Like there's something wrong with being aro.

Not to mention some other things that would contradict this statement:

Viv in the past said "fans are allowed to ship outside character orientations", so... what makes that so different here with confirming Alastor as aromantic?

It being confirmed is not relevant to the plot. Great, so is every other orientation not relevant. Why can't Alastor be confirmed as aromantic but Vaggie can be confirmed as a lesbian or Vox bi? What does Vox being bisexual have to do with the plot? Neither is relevant to the plot, but one can be confirmed but not the other?

People were gonna ship him ANYWAY. Like, there's really no point in pretending. They were going to anyway because of the first point I already mentioned, but also people ship against canon orientations ALL THE TIME. It's just gonna happen and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.

You've kind of just implied it's canon by not wanting to say specifically him being aromantic is canon or not. If Viv had just said "I don't wanna confirm his romantic orientation because...", then this statement would be fine and fair I suppose. But she had to call out him being aromantic specifically. And I mean, he COULD be something else (he was slated to be a couple with Mimzy originally after all), but the context doesn't seem like that would be the case. Plus, would she really feel the need to hold back from saying "Alastor is homoromantic" or biromantic or heteroroman- actually yes for that last one probably.

So riddle me this, with these points, why the FUCK would it be so wrong to confirm Alastor as a canonically aromantic icon and help get MORE REP for this very very very VERY underrepresented orientation? And I've thought of a few reasons to this, one of which being to avoid the same backlash that they got for Alastor being ace. Which, DID HAPPEN WHEN THE VOICE ACTOR AND SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SHOW CONFIRMED ALASTOR AS AROMANTIC BUT BACKTRACKED ON THE STATEMENT.

To which, fine. THAT'S on the fans (especially as no one would've complained if he was confirmed as homoromantic, which is a double standard VERY PRESENT in this fandom, but also many others quite honestly). But I can see another reason is to avoid others policing shippers about it.

Which, if that's the case, shit luck it's happening anyway.

To cower away from this orientation because of fans being upset says a lot, both about the fans and the creators. There is a whisper of "Alastor isn't allowed to be aromantic". That "being aro isn't allowed or appreciated".

We live in a world that at this point has a lot more lgbtq+ characters than ever before. At this point, there's just a lot of gay/lesbian and bi characters, and that's wonderful. But, there's barely a handful of aroace characters. And when they are, nobody wants to pay attention to that part of the character. So why can't the deer man be aromantic? I would imagine it would honestly make things a little better ship wise because ship wars wouldn't occur seeing as, well, there's no ship to be fought for. None of them could be canon.

So you might see where I'm leading into this, but I can only really think of one real reason Alastor being aromantic just "can't be confirmed" where as everyone else's orientations can be.

His popularity. Like, that's weird but walk with me here. Alastor is the most popular character in the fandom. There's honestly no denying it, he just is. And what do people do with the most popular character?

THEY SHIP THEM OFF IN A LOVEBOAT.

But wait, if he's aromantic, he can't be on a love boat. THIS IS BS-

And then... the outcry. And we HAVE seen this happen. I mentioned before, he was stated to be aromantic on two occasions by two people who work on the show, one of which is his voice actor (which I'll be fair, I personally don't think VAs always know the characters they play the best, that's the writers). But they had to backpedal because people DID complain. People WERE upset. So it's kind of shown just aromantism isn't really welcomed, at the very least not for a character like Alastor.

And that's the key: "Not for a character like Alastor". But if it were say, Niffty or Mimzy who are either overlooked or just not very popular, THEN it's probably more than okay for a character to be aromantic. Because no one wants to ship with them much, so they can be aromantic all they want.

AKA. The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.

At this point, you've probably noticed I switched gears from the creators to the fans because I DO think they could be a reason why Alastor "can't" be confirmed as Aromantic. I'll give credit, I'm pretty sure it's mainly on twitter and wouldn't be surprised if it was a "loud minority" thing going on, but the people have spoken. They vehemently cannot STAND the idea of Alastor being aromantic.

But I don't have a problem with these people quite honestly- I mean I kinda do, but my main issue is the lack of commitment when the other characters are allowed confirmed orientations. Why can't aromantic people get confirmed rep? Because "it'll ruin people's fun?" That's such a crappy reason because it's just saying being aro is bad on some level or isn't okay. Why can't the aromantic community get the dinner this ONE TIME? It's one character in a pool of many others that are canonically gay or bi, so why can't the aro community have this ONE popular character?

I'm not even asking for people to stop shipping him, I think that's perfectly FINE. It wouldn't change the canon. I'd appreciate more LOVE given to the aromantic identity (and I'm talking about the far end of it, so absolutely NO interest in romance as many have used aro Alastor but it still comes off as just normal shipping, but that's just me). There's such a double standard to the treatment of aromantic characters to the other characters in these shows (because Octavia and Mammon are in the same boat here), and the reasons given are so crappy that they sound more like off-hand excuses.

Again, I don't MIND people shipping Alastor, or Octavia, or Mammon who is randomly shipped with Adam the most. Let me repeat:

YOU. ARE. ALLOWED. TO. SHIP. THESE. CHARACTER.

But what I have a problem with is that these characters aren't allowed to be OFFICIALLY aromantic. How would it feel if this was a gay character? That they didn't want to confirm it but there's been indications with past statements and even in-universe stuff indicating so? I WANT Viv and her team to STICK with what route they were gonna go with.

And some might argue "what's so bad with nothing being confirmed?" Other than the fact every other character's orientations are allowed confirmation and Viv's crappy way of putting it in not confirming anything. There's, by all technicalities, nothing wrong.

However, if I may pose a counter, why is it fair for people to demand or ask for gay representation or confirmation but not aromantic? Because it's "not ruining anything"? If that's the case, I'm inclined to say that may be a bit aphobic. Because how is it that a character being aromantic can "ruin" the character or something, but a character being gay DOESN'T "ruin" the character. It's a double standard that I don't think most people realize or want to say because you don't want to be dissing on gay stuff.

But WAKE UP SHEEPLE. The gay stuff has PLENTY of things by this point. Whether through fan works or official media, it is growing and it is growing rapidly. And we should be HAPPY about that. But alternatively, Aromantic (and asexual) rep BARELY gets any attention in either fan works or official media. People would be UPSET if a ship like Angel Dust X Vaggie or Stolas X Verosika got into one of the top most popular ships. But Alastor? Nah, it's fine.

Again, while I don't mind the shipping itself, hopefully, you can understand how it might feel to see one of the most popular ships involve a character that goes against their orientation and it's YOUR orientation. It doesn't. Feel. Great.

And not everyone who ships Alastor even would LIKE him to end up with who they ship. Some people just like it staying in fanon. I have met SO MANY nice people who ship Alastor with characters that I personally don't really like him shipped with. But it's clear that I don't think THEY'D mind if he was confirmed aromantic because it doesn't change their life. They'll still keep shipping him because that's fun for them and that's FINE. People explore themselves through characters with confirmed orientations and they don't always line up with canon, and that's FINE. I don't think people should be policed on shipping with the deer man, they're just having fun. Would I appreciate a little more love for the aro identity? Sure (I mean just look at Alastor's ship weeks activeness vs. his aro week activeness), but if that's not how people have fun they shouldn't be forced to do stuff with it.

But Alastor being seemingly "not allowed" to be confirmed as aro has set a precedent that there's something wrong with being aromantic. And personally, it makes me feel a tad unwelcomed sometimes.

It's the precedents. Again, why is every other character's orientation allowed to be confirmed but Alastor's isn't? What is so wrong with him being aromantic? Hell, he might not even BE aromantic. But at least I'd KNOW instead of floundering around hoping upon a star for some aromantic representation.

It's okay to be gay but- WHOA HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A PAUSE IN THAT ARO BUSINESS YOU GOT THERE.

A character's worth is in how shippable they are. And if they're aromantic, they're not shippable. And unfortunately, there are just enough people to throw a hissy fit about it that Viv doesn't want to confirm it.

Because apparently being aromantic would "ruin" things.

[catnippackets]

disclaimer: as a sex-repulsed aroace person myself--

on one hand, there is definitely a bit of a double standard when it comes to handling canonically queer characters like, from what I've seen in the circles that I frequent (if you've had different experiences then great but I'm just telling it how I see it). for example, you're morally reprehensible if you ship a canon lesbian with a man or refer to a canon bi character as a lesbian. people will be so angry with you. and it's understandable, since there's so little queer rep in comparison to cishet rep that when there IS a rare actual queer character, the unofficial rule is "don't take that away from them when you add more headcanons to them". like, respect that this one is REAL and NOT just a headcanon. I think it makes perfect sense to feel upset when people take that away, even if it is just fiction and not even canon to the original source. and yet, whenever there exists a canon asexual character suddenly it's all "oh well asexual people can still have sex so it's fine if we headcanon THIS canon sexuality as something different". it makes me feel so genuinely heartache-y and depressed to see ppl ignoring that aspect of a character.

and by "canon" I'm also including characters that were never specifically referred to with a label but are very obviously coded as something, because those characters will still get the "even if it's not stated it's pretty obvious!!" treatment when it comes to showing attraction to the same gender, but not when they DON'T show attraction to any gender. like aro and/or ace coding just doesn't count. I understand that it's kind of hard to represent an absence of something, especially when you're only implying it and not even directly showing it, but it's not impossible. there's a lot of characters that you could argue are aroace coded the same way you could argue a character is gay coded. obviously to a degree every queer identity gets disrespected in fandom and it's something you just kinda have to deal with, but it's easier to notice when it's something you personally relate to. I don't think it would bother me as much if we didn't have that unofficial "respect the canon" rule and everyone just went wild with whatever, but the double standard does genuinely hurt me, especially when I see people I thought were cool about this stuff participating in it. so whenever I see someone fiercely defending an asexual character it really makes me feel good, like I'M being defended, not a random fictional character that I might not even recognize the name of. I feel safe, like that person will respect ME.

THAT BEING SAID,

AS a sex-repulsed aroace person who enjoys thinking about the entire spectrum of intimacy and where a character may fall exactly on that spectrum, ALSO as a person who is aware that "asexual" simply means "does not experience sexual attraction" and not necessarily "is violently repulsed by anything sexual", sometimes I DO want to play out scenarios for my own enjoyment. sometimes I DO want to think hm I wonder where this ace character's line is, compared to a different ace character. I wonder if there is anyone who would be an exception for them, and how they could go about dealing with that exception. I wonder if they're favourable, neutral, or repulsed. if those aspects of their character aren't explicitly stated then what's to stop me from playing around with them and working through my own issues in a controlled and non-canon environment? if they have the same identity as me, I am way more likely to want to play around with them like a doll and perhaps play out scenarios that I might have thought about before but don't actually want to do for real. I'm not taking away their identity, after all; I'm just, in this scenario, imagining this ace character as an ace that might have sex on at least one occasion for whatever reason. either just to try it, or because they do have someone they'd make an exception for, or if they got bored enough, whatever the reason. it isn't quite disrespecting their truth unless it's explicitly stated either in canon or by word of god that it's something they're uncomfortable with. and to be honest, if I see another asexual creator headcanoning a character as somewhere on the asexual spectrum and depicting them in sexual situations, it makes me almost happy, to know that they're still acknowledging that character's canon identity and accepting and exploring the nuance that could come with it, even if I personally believe that this specific character would be repulsed instead of neutral or favourable. there's this understanding of "I'm doing a character study exploration thing", and not "I don't care I just wanna sexualize this character"

but I literally feel GUILTY when I want to write what is essentially a thinkpiece disguised as a fanfiction or original story on asexuality and take an asexual character (canon or coded) and involve them in sexual situations to explore different avenues of the spectrum. I feel like I'm betraying everyone who's like me and is frustrated with how aroace characters are treated within fandom. I'm like "am I being just as bad as those other people who will disrespect a character's canon sexuality just because they think that character is hot and want to ship them with someone? do they do the same thing with other types of queer characters? how does this reflect that person's view of people, if they're explicitly told someone feels a certain way and decides to ignore it for their own amusement? or is it just because they're fictional and not real people and I'm being really sensitive and thinking way too much into it? am I not doing the exact same thing? do I have more credence to explore scenarios like this because I am aroace and sex-repulsed myself and therefore have a pass to do whatever I want and it won't come off as a little weird the way it might if someone who's allosexual did it?"

and these two opinions are at war in my mind constantly. like both of them can and do co-exist but I still struggle to accept that lol

[allastoredeer]

Hello, don't mind me, I just need to vent for a second.

First off, I just wanna say, as an aroace person on the ace-spectrum, feel free to ship Alastor all you want. Ship him with anyone. Have fun with it. Sex repulsed. Non-sex repulsed. Grey-ace. Demisexual. Pure unadulterated smut. Whatever, have at it. I love that shit.

Just please do it without infantilizing ace-aro people.

The amount of art, fics, and takes I've come across that's so patronizing to Alastor and his sexuality. Thing's like Alastor venting to Rosie about his feelings for a character with the caption "Alastor feeling love for the first time." Or Alastor wanting to have sex with a character and having feelings about that, and someone commenting "That's called a boner, sweetheart. That means you like them 🤭"

Like??? Like do ya'll not see how patronizing that sounds? Being ace-aro doesn't mean you don't know your own body. It doesn't mean you don't understand the functions of your body.

It doesn't mean you've never experienced intense emotions. It doesn't mean you've never experienced love before.

And, look, I know these are meant to be jokes. I know. People are joking. I laughed at the first few I came across, too. It's not meant to be harmful or condescending; no one means it that way. But there's been so much with such...bad takes recently, and I don't know about any other ace-spec people (I don't speak for all ace-specs. Hell, there are probably other ace-spec's who don't mind, enjoy it, or are making content like it themselves. I just speak for myself) but GOD it's getting uncomfortable.

Alastor is in his late 30's-early 40's in human years. That is the established age range we have for him. Do you really think that he'd go that long without ever experiencing "love?" He went through puberty just like everyone else, do you think he doesn't understand his own body???

Being asexual, or sex-repulsed, or touch-repulsed doesn't mean you automatically don't explore these parts of yourself. It doesn't mean he's never, once in his life, touched his own dick, or pussy, or whatever genitalia you're giving him. He can still very well be a "virgin" (which in and of itself is a social construct) while also knowing his body and confidently handling any "sexual needs" he has.

Do you really think he doesn't know what a boner is? That in all the years he's been alive and dead (on Earth and in Hell), he wouldn't have experienced these things once? (And you know what? Maybe he hasn't! Perhaps there are ace's out there like that! But you're telling me he doesn't KNOW what that is??? Really???)

Ah, no, it's all because he just hasn't found the right person yet, right? It's not until Lucifer/Angel Dust/Vox, whoever found him, and they gave him these feelings, and oh no, poor Bambi is feeling twitterpated and horny for the first time, isn't that romantic!

Honestly, not really. It just sounds like the same, stupid shit ace-aro people hear from family, friends, and acquaintances about their sexuality. You know, the tried and true: "Oh, you just haven't found the right person yet. You'll want all that eventually, you'll see😊"

Do you not see how frustrating that is?

Look, I am all down for Alastor exploring parts of himself. I want him to navigate different relationships, feel them out, figure out what kind of relationship he wants and what he's okay and not okay with doing. But there are ways to do that without treating him like a little UwU silly baby boy who doesn't know his own body, or his own emotions, or his own relationships with other characters. Like he needs someone to teach him about himself.

How about instead, he finds someone he feels comfortable exploring these elements with? Instead of them "teaching" him how to fuck, or masturbate, or whatever the hell you want to call it, they're giving him the room and safe-space to explore it at his own pace??!!

It comes across as someone who isn't on the ace-spectrum "teaching" an ace-spec character about their own sexuality which puts such a gross taste in my mouth. Or, at least, that's how it comes across to me.

And the thing is, I know people aren't going to stop. I know they're going to keep infantilizing Alastor and his aro-ace identity, and I wasn't originally going to make this post, because you can't control what people do in fandom.

So this is mostly just a post to say: HEY! Hello! Ace-aro person here! I hope you all are having fun and I love that you're exploring Alastor's asexual/aromantic identity! Especially those who may not be in the ace-spectrum themselves, as you're learning about us and our experiences! That's awesome! Can we just do that while also treating Alastor like the adult he is? Can we do that without being infantilizing and patronizing about his sexual identity? Please?"

That's all I really wanted to say. I just needed to get this off my chest instead of letting it fester. This isn't an attack on anyone, this is just the perspective of an Alastor multi-shipper who loves exploring his relationships with other characters (sexually and non-sexually) and deep-diving into the dynamics of the show.

Thanks for reading.

[a-sparrows-melody]

Things I Would Change About PJO

(I might write a fanfic based on these points):

The whole Hunters-Of-Artemis thing. Like what do you mean Artemis hates all men. What about Orion and all the rest. What do you mean she hates Apollo. She loves him so much. Stop already. That whole thing was just erroneous interpretation of Greek Mythology and it felt really weird and toxic.

Annabeth and Percy's trauma bond. Annabeth is pretty toxic in a relationship, especially in the HoO books when she and Percy get together. Love their relationship as a concept but the way Rick writes it is just... not it. To show Annabeth as a "strong woman" he continuously makes her put Percy down - and not only in COTG and WOTTG. She literally judo-flips him when they met after that long traumatic period where Percy was suffering from amnesia and being killed so many times. I would love to see more of their dynamic as friends and make it a longer, healthier, equal-footed relationship.

Thalia Grace joining the Hunters and never leaving. What the hell. She only joined to escape the Great Prophecy 1. She can leave right after the Battle of Manhattan and take Percy's place in Great Prophecy 2.

Bianca being alive, only "lost" (never specified dead!). It's a pretty big plot-point for Nico and I think it would probably have a bigger impact on him to lose his only care-giver and watch her come back into his life after he's grieving greatly and he's in the process of learning how to live life without her. It would truly change up their entire systems and I would love to see Nico and Bianca coming to a point where they realize it's time to live their own lives. ALSO STOP TREATING BIANCA LIKE A PLOT-DEVICE FOR NICO. COME ON. DO BETTER.

Make Nico better. In general. The character has so much potential but is just reduced to "sunshine character's grumpy emo goth boyfriend" or "kid whose type is NOT PERCY HAHAHAHA SO FUNNY". Give him some more development.

LUKE WAS A GROOMER AND ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU JUST FORGIVE HIM AND NOT OCTAVIAN, WHO WAS LITERALLY BULLIED AND MANIPULATED INTO DOING THE SHIT HE DID. If you want to hate Luke, hate Octavian too. If you want to forgive him, forgive Octavian too. Stop hating complex characters.

CALEO. OH MY GOD CALEO. LIKE ACTUALLY DIE. THAT IS SO HORRIBLE.

Piper does not need to be gay.

Jason does not need to die.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN GROVER DID NOT USE HIS EMPATHY LINK TO SEARCH FOR PERCY IN TARTARUS. SMH.

Percy should NOT have become Praetor.

Reyna should not be aro/ace or she's just horrible representation of both those things. STOP PUTTING EVERY ARO/ACE CHARACTER IN THE HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS.

Why would Nico search for Bianca and bring Hazel back? That thing makes no sense. His whole arc in TLO was to accept the loss of his sister. Instead, bring out Ethan Nakamura who is still angry and jealous and wants to bring balance to the world. He comes out on his own, BTW.

The whole "Wilderness school" plotline thing. OF COURSE monsters would come for Pipes and Leo. They're really damn powerful and really damn young. What the hell do you mean by they never knew anything till Jason? smh.

SOLANGELO. CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SAYING THIS BUT IT'S OUT THERE. Will is just a blank character to show that Nico's gay and prove he's over Percy (STOP WITH THE "NOT MY TYPE" JOKES OH MY GOD GET OVER IT ALREADY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU). If you're doing this, at least give me a good, long slow-burn. Or don't show it at all. Nico decides to live in normal life after being shunned and confused all his life in the magical world. Now he finds a mortal boyfriend and is actually thriving. His character is so beautiful like stop ruining him and using him as a goddamn plot-device all the time. Ugh.

CHANGE NICO'S COMING OUT SCENE! LITERALLY WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT.

Jason and Piper breaking up was such a good plot point because not everyone falls in love but you need to make it heart-wrenching. Jason doesn't know what's going on. He's just dating Piper because that's what he's being told, that's what he did his whole life. MAKE IT HAPPEN IN HOO.

NO FRAZEL AND LEO LOVE TRIANGLE. ALSO JUST NO FRAZEL IN GENERAL. STOP WITH THE FRAZEL. THAT'S SO UNHEALTHY.

MAKE LEO ARO/ACE GODDAMN. He has so much potential. Like he always feels loveless? Like a failure? Feels a need to have a partner to prove his worth? DIE. MAKE HIM ARO/ACE. MAKE HIM DEAL WITH ALL THAT.

Actually valgrace is a pretty good plot point as well. valdangelo as well.

WHY AREN'T THERE ANY POLY SHIPS IN PJO? SMH. SERIOUSLY. SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

Don't kill me but... perachel is pretty good. I've written a small post about it here.

Welp this is officially too long. Anyway. I wanted to add more but this has been sitting in my drafts and collecting dust a long time so here you go.

[blossomthepinkbunny]

I've talked before about queer representation in Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel, but there are some points I wanted to add, that I haven't really mentioned previously. These are just some things I noticed, that make the LGBTQIA+ representation more shallow than before. Especially after the pride artwork came out for Helluva Boss. (Just my opinion, if you feel represented by these shows, great, all the more power to you)

1. As far as the audience is aware, there are almost no characters that have secondary identities. The only exceptions are Sally Mae (who is Trans and Lesbian) and Alastor (who is Aromantic and Asexual). Everyone else either has one sexuality (Gay, Pansexual, Bisexual etc.) or very rarely is simply Asexual. This kinda fits to more heteronormative thinking, that a person is either one thing or the other. There are no other characters that are genderqueer and have a sexual identity, no characters that are Ace/Aro and have another identity. This also leads into my second point.

(Quick correction, someone pointed out to me, that Alastor is canonically actually only Asexual, not Aro. I lost the question however, so I'll just add that here. That means that Sally Mae is actually the only character with a secondary identity and that there is not a single Aro character in either show. So not an improvement at all really.)

2. There are almost no characters who are genderqueer. Sally Mae as the exception again and some background imps I guess. Sally Mae is the only real character however, in both shows at that (and she just barely passes as a character). No Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Non-binary, Intersex, Bigender, Agender, Pangender, Demigirl/boy character or anything like that. I'm not saying all of these should be represented in the main cast or something, but there is no effort at all to include them in any way. Not even in the pride artwork that has a bunch of background imps present. I'm actually kinda confused by one thing. I remember that when the Hazbin pilot first came out, Angel Dust was mostly considered to be pangender or at least also use female pronouns too. I'm not sure if that's something that was changed over time or if I'm just remembering stuff wrong, however it would be kinda disappointing if they erased that part of his character to make him more appealing to general viewers. The trans umbrella is such an important part of the queer community, it's really bothering me that there is not a single (atleast slightly) relevant character in either HB or HH (that isn't Sally Mae).

3. The lack of Sapphic representation is so annoying. Before any of you start to point at Chaggie immediately, I recognise them as a sapphic couple and actually started to quite enjoy them in the past time. That's mostly just my headcannon version of them though. In the actual show they are really undermined and don't have nearly enough content to be considered a stand out pair or the main relationship. I'm actually really excited for the next season, since it has been revealed that they will have a smexy song and some more romantic content. But now onto the rest of queer women in these shows. Martha and Mayberry don't really count to me. They were pretty much just fanservice and only appeared as a couple in one quick scene. Apart from those two examples (one example if you don't consider the minimal presence of Martha and Mayberry). Most of the queer women in the show aren't allowed to be in relationships with other women. Either they are with a man (which of course isn't wrong in theory) or just single. Barbie Wire, Verosika, Sally Mae, Beelzebub and Loona are all confirmed to be queer, but none of them have a girlfriend/partner. When comparing this to the queer male characters that are present in these shows, these almost always have a relationship or end up in one. Also Vaggie and Sally Mae are the only Lesbians and that's just kinda embarrassing. None of these women even get to show affection towards other women. The closest we get (if I remember correctly) is Millie calling Verosika hot or something and Millie is literally the only main cast character that was confirmed to be straight by the pride artwork. As a queer woman I just wish there was more representation for us. This topic is also heavily tied into some of the underlying sexism present in the shows, but that's a topic for another day.

4. A lot of the queer/kink/fetish scene is used as shock humor rather than genuine representation. It's often something to laugh at or be shocked by, because hell is just so raunchy and crazy and wild or something. The episode Ozzie's is a good example for that. Millie and Moxxie go to a sex club in the lust ring that is owned by the one and only ruling sex demon in all of hell. Yet they are put off by the people there wanting them to be lustful and Ozzie and his staff are presented as deviants, who also bully the main couples in the show. It's good that in the end these sex crazed deviants are defeated through a song of real love. In Hazbin Hotel this is a lot more prevalent too, with Charlie almost always being uncomfortable around anything sexual. Her and Vaggie have a really chaste relationship too. They don't make out or even really cuddle (I'm aware that this will change in season two if the leaked information holds up). If I recall correctly, any sexual scene in the first season is either to make the audience see how perverted and unconventional the inhabitants of hell are (like the club scene where Sir Pentious is literally assaulted) or to show Angel Dust being abused. It is rarely ever a positive thing.

5. Maybe I should change that statement though, because it can be a positive thing, but only for couples that are monogamous and fit more heteronormative ideals. I know this point will maybe be a little complicated to make because there is no problem of course with queer relationships that fit a more traditional view of a relationship. There are a bunch of couples in real life where one person is more effeminate and another more masculine, that also have clearer roles (like with HuskerDust, Stolitz, Moxxie/Chaz, Fizz/Asmodeus). But I feel like what I mean can be best illustrated by the fact that firstly, pretty much every couple that is happy is either married/working towards getting married and also strictly monogamous. I'm thinking of Asmodeus and Fizzarolli, who just make no sense to be a monogamous couple. Asmodeus is the literal sin of lust and you expect me to believe he isn't polyamorous or that they have an open relationship at least. But that is never mentioned and in the pride artwork there is no polyamorous flag to be seen, even though it would only make sense with them. And secondly, just have a look at two background characters. Josh and Ace, who started off as a part of Verosika's Gang of succubi and later on would be confirmed to have gotten married. If you don't get what I'm saying with the show catering to more heteronormative ideals, just look at how these two were drawn before they became a married couple:

and then after:

The change in height, frame and facial features for one of them (don't know who's who tbh) is astounding.

That's all I had to say for now. There's a lot I could add to these points, but I wanted to keep it shorter for now, especially with Tumblr's word limit. I will probably also upload an edit of the pride artwork with my personal headcannons sometime, I just haven't gotten around to finishing it.

I need to see more sapphic couples in these shows, I beg of you Viv. My life will be yours if Leviathan has a girlfriend or Loona gets one in season three. (⁠╯⁠°⁠□⁠°⁠）⁠╯⁠︵⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

[the-meme-monarch]

if friendship test came out in like 2015 instead of undertale it would’ve changed my life like undertale did but it would have also saved my life i think. in the most light hearted way i can possibly muster, it wouldve made me realize so much sooner that my dad is abusive and i didn’t need to justify it. and that siblings and I don’t deserve it. that just because he loves us doesn’t mean we somehow Can be better children for him. that just because he loves us doesn’t mean he’s a good dad. i would’ve realized a lot sooner that I don’t love my dad or even my mom and there’s nothing actually wrong about that. even if they weren’t horrible.

I don’t remember when i realized i was nonbinary and aroace but i know i thought i was demi-girl(felt that bc I still had to contend with being perceived as a girl that it had to be reflected in my gender label) and “celibate”(literally only bc I did not know aro/ace were Words That Existed. ‘well I don’t want to, that’s the same as Abstaining right’) and with friendship test i think i wouldve just skipped right to nonbinary and aroace like i use now. I’m not sure it would’ve made me realize i was aplatonic though. I’m still coming to grips with that(positive).

also i would’ve been really really annoying about nick. dni banner type shit. complaining online about people who have him as their favorite character type shit. i didn’t feel this way/do any of this about any undertale characters but i know i would have been this way with hypothetical 2015 friendship test bc i would’ve been like 12 or 13 and i would’ve been on fucking drawcast and god knows i was absolutely insufferable that period of my life

[elexuscal]

Bi-Ace Laurence and Aro Roland

Okay so a few weeks ago I made a comment about viewing Jane Roland/Laurence as queer, and @sere-allwehaveisnowasked me to dig into it. This is a slightly cleaned up version of the ramble I gave on the Temeraire discord, just on the off-chance folks from the broader fandom might find it interesting!

So I can see how that description of Laurence/Roland might seem surprising at a first glance! They're an M/F pair, and obviously that lends itself to a very traditional heterosexual reading. But that's not the only possible reading, at all!

"Queer" is a catchall term and an umbrella term, which means there has been a lot of quibbling over what exactly 'counts' is queer. "Is X queer?" is a Discourse repeated ad nauseam; replace X with 'ace people', 'aro people', 'polyamorous people', 'kinksters', 'furries', etc.... It gets really hard to draw firm lines. Which is why I generally subscribe to te definition of queer as "anything which transgresses the social norms in the broadly overlapping space of sexuality, romance, and gender" So on a base level, you have the fact that in the time and setting of the Temeraire series, Jane Roland is breaking So Many gender norms. She's a soldier, masculine, heavier set and with facial scarring. Under some more flexible definitions of queer, almost any sexual and/or romantic relationship she entered into would be inherently queer due to how she transgresses the boundaries. That said, while I do find something compelling there, that alone isn't really why I see Jane/Will as queer, since while Roland might be transgression within the text, to the average 21st century reader, she's not nearly so shocking.

For me, it's much more about how Laurence/Roland fits much much more into broader queer readings of both their characters, notably the bi (and to a lesser extent, ace) experience for Laurence, and the aromantic reading for Roland.

I very much do read Laurence as a bisexual guy who never really realised he was bisexual, partly because his attraction genders were fairly equal, and both fairly low. In book one, he doesn't really seem personally that attracted to the idea of a traditional marriage-- it's just sort of What One Does, and he does like the idea of the companionship a marriage with offer. He's friends with Edith, their engagement makes sense, and he doesn't have any other option that's more appealing, so... Why not? But equally, while he's disappointing to lose that future, he's not heartbroken either.

Specifically, I think what attracts Laurence is military competence. (Or maybe not quite military per say, but certainly something adjacent. Being in the field, getting your hands dirty). And he'd never really twigged to that because... All the women he had met until then were Society Ladies(tm). They were divorced from that entire sphere. And sure, Laurence saw it in men, but he didn't read it as sexual attraction, he just read it as admiration. (It can be hard to untangle the difference!)

But then he meets Jane. Who is feminine while also masculine. A woman who displays all these elements of military competence that Laurence is foremost drawn to. And I really do think that's the Rosetta stone for realising his attraction to men.

I also think there's a really great ace reading of him getting back together with Jane for LoD? Not just that he apparently hadn't had any sex for the previous 3.5 books; that could equally be attributed to his depression and social isolation. But it's the way that encounter has less to do with him craving sex specifically, or craving romance, as him feeling the joy and relief of having regained Jane's trust.

As for Roland... Man I read her as aro, so bad. I can absolutely see the reading where she isn't inherently/naturally disinclined to romance, but basically taught herself to repress her desire for the sake of her career. And that's definitely compelling. But I see so much of someone who just doesn't really care about romance, doesn't really get what everyone else sees in it, and is just going to carry on without it.

And I just love that Roland/Laurence continues throughout the entire series, but doesn't end with them getting married and having kids or anything like that. They have this great fiends with benefits situation which is genuinely SO refreshing.

All of this I think dovetails deeper into my feelings about queerness in the Temeraire series as a whole. These books were published in a time where there was a huge push for greater gay representation (one we're still living through now), and I believe that was a big part of the analysis. And indeed, I think it's fair to examine and ask why there wasn't more of an explicit M/M representation in the story. But at the same time, a question I often grapple with as an a-spec person, is how do you depict the more 'subtle' queer identities? Especially ones like asexuality and aromanticism, which are defined by a lack of something? Especially in historical fiction, where it would be deeply weird to have the characters use modern terminology and bust out some pride flags. And I don't know if any of this was Novik's intentions or not; to a large extent, I don't care. But I do think there's a lot of stuff in this narrative that resonates with a lot of bi, asexual, and aromantic experiences, and that's really interesting to analyse.

[matchbet-allofthetime]

Jayvik Rambles + Arcane Babbling:

As an aro/ace queer...

I will NEVER see Viktor as strictly asexual. I can't, and I refuse to. I won't.

Lemme tell you why.

He is written in with quips and little moments and jokes that heavily imply sexuality, even if he prefers to brush it to the side in lieu of his work.

NOTHING about what he did with Jayce was ever, at any point (even the damn day they met), platonic or lacking tension.

As an aro/ace, I can ALSO say that even if he WAS asexual, almost every asexual has an exception at some point or another. Asexuality is not linear or specific, it simply means little to no sexual attraction.

Which means there is a firm chance that Viktor didn't give a damn about getting with much of anyone UNTIL Jayce.

That aside, I think it's important to note that they ARE romantically involved, they ARE sexually involved (see: Viktor literally picking Jayce up by the throat multiple times, stroking Jayce's lip, purposefully making their "fight" a dance on his end, a tease.)

I'm sick and tired— AS AN ARO/ACE DISABLED PERSON— of seeing characters like Viktor immediately thought to be aro/ace. Because he's just clearly... Not.

I'm all for people having HCs, but trying to say it's canon (regardless of what the creators have to say, bc clearly the producers didn't see jack shit that the animators and voice actors were getting up to, that shit is FRUITY) is absolutely just... Not right.

They're partners. Cosmically intertwined soulmates. They're destined to always find one another, always love one another, always protect one another. They live and die for one another. They parallel one another in more capacities than any other two people in the entire series (even Mel and Viktor don't have quite as many, and they've got several bc of how those two relationships correlate to Jayce.)

Jayce saying "he's like a brother to me" in S1 was absolutely him trying to convince himself that's all he felt. Convince himself he wasn't falling in love with his best friend, his other half.

And while I'm here, thinking about it, I want to say this:

Mel and Jayce found comfort in one another when they fucked. They found comfort, and they loved the IDEA of the other.

Jayce was a way for Mel to rebel, to be herself, to push back at something and have it give beneath her fingers while also pushing back in turn.

Mel was an idea for Jayce, what could be, what he could have. Not power, not money— but a purpose, and a place, and a pride worth keeping.

They didn't even really mean to fall into bed together— the idea of the other just appealed, and that's where it ended.

It ended the second Jayce left Mel's bed to find Viktor. Because she was important, but Viktor was so much moreso.

[nastasya--filippovna]

Crush Culture; Conan Gray x Beatrice and Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing 2011)

For me these two will always be ace icons. Thank you Shakespeare for writing Ace characters that can and do fall in love.

There's this general misunderstanding that just 'cause you're Ace ergo you're also Aro. Aro and Ace are two separate identities. Some people on the spectrum identify a both Aro and ace hence they're Aroace (simple really!)

And I think that's the same misunderstanding these two have internalized. They've been told that just because you don't like someone "like that" also means that you are not capable of loving.... that love is just "not for you".

So here's to all the Ace people who have those who will find their love, their soulmate, and whoever matches their freak. I love you all!

[demonslayerunhinged]

hello! your post about Giyuu's and Sanemi's emotional needs in a romantic relationship is incredibly good and accurate! I would really appreciate it if you did a similar investigation on Rengoku. if you're interested.

Aw shucks, ☺️ thank so much!! I'm going to disappoint you though, Aside from Inosuke and Haganezuka, Rengoku is the only character that I can't see in a relationship of any kind. I truly believe that he's 100% aro/ace, and I think I know why.

Delusional, bullshit theory incoming!

What I'm about to yap may seem controversial, but I think I can talk about it since I too am neurodivergent, but I strongly believe that Rengoku is intellectually disabled, I'm not sure which flavor of disability, but the kind that makes him have the mind of a child.

I have an autistic family member - Let's call him Leo, that acts similarly, although he's not as loud as Rengoku, but the similarities are there. Here are some things that I noticed that led me to this theory.

His straightforward and literal type of thinking. His inability to clock complex speech patterns like sarcasm and such, which could come across as him being thick, as noted by other characters. I mean, blud didn't even realize that Akaza was straight up flirting with him 😭

His has a fixation with food, Rika's words and becoming a Hashira.

His wide-eyed, one thousand, almost catatonic stare.

His lack of interest in romantic or sexual relationships.

His direct fighting style which doesn't really have any strategy other than just spamming his breathing style attacks, at least compared to the other Hashira's like Tengen, Sanemi, Shinobu, and Mitsuri. Notice how we don't get to really hear his thought process while he fights. Even in the Gaiden, his solution to defeating that demon was to deafen his ears, it's so straightforward like; sound = ears = bad so, sound = ears = no bad.

His cracked core. That part of the story always confused me because if anything Kyojuro has one of the strongest of spirits, then I figured that the core doesn't just represent his soul but his mind as well. So it was cracked not because his soul was fragile or weak, but because his mind was.

But what really cemented my theory is his relationship with Rika and Shinjuro - I think they both knew that Rengoku was special.

For Rika, I clocked it from the way she spoke to him. It was slow and very...deliberate, as if she wanted to make sure he properly understood what she was saying.

Even the tears that she shed, it was like she knew that life was going to be difficult for them, especially for Kyojuro because we all know that the world isn't kind to people who are different, but she trusted him to be strong, and she believed in him regardless.

For Shinjuro, his animosity towards his son's could be read as him being embarrassed by them, Senjuro that has a weak body and Kyojuro that has a weak mind. That's probably the reason why he made these statements when Tanjiro came to their household.

That's probably also why he didn't want Rengoku to join the Corps because he was worried that he wouldn't be able to cope, and I think he didn't want the Corps to know that the new Flame Hashira was simple-minded. Think about it, The Rengoku's are a legacy family, they existed even before Yorichii joined the Corps and taught them the breathing techniques.

I'm sure that aside from demon slaying, they are an actual Samurai clan, which would explain Rengoku's 'UMAI' thing and how his actions and beliefs mirror those of the Samurai.

I think Shinjuro's pride as a Rengoku came before his duty as a father, and after Rika died, he just couldn't cope. I'm sure the thoughts of what others would think and how they would mock him overwhelmed him, 'Look at him, a descendant of the great Rengoku clan who lost his wife and is left with two sons that aren't normal.' I think Kyojuro and Senjuro know this too, they are aware of their shortcomings and how it embarrasses their father. Which is what makes Kyojuro's words to Senjuro even more heartbreaking.

So he turned to alcoholism to cope because it's better to be drunk than to face the painful reality that he failed as a Rengoku, a husband, a father and a man. I believe he actually loved his sons, but his pride and his fears about other people's opinions clouded his mind. For all his hostility, Rengoku and Senjuro were still taken care of; he didn't chase them away, or neglect them (physically anyway), which tells me that he cared for them in some way and that's why they couldn't hate him and why Rengoku loved him till the very end.

Even their last interaction reads like Shinjuro can't face Rengoku because when he looks at his son all he sees a literal spitting image of himself but a failed image, and it will especially hurt because Rengoku is the first son, like in my home country firstborn sons are a big deal in some tribes, and it's hard when the son happens to be different in some way, especially when the son is disabled. My family friend is treated the same way by his dad, sadly.

After Rengoku's death, he tried to drown himself in alcohol to numb the pain and instead focused on his Rengoku pride he probably thought 'that stupid boy, his dumbass got himself killed' but Tanjiro's visit and hearing Kyojuro's last words from Senjuro brought him back to reality. He lost a child, weak-minded or not, that was his baby boy.

That's when he decides to put down the bottle and face reality that he failed his first son and if he doesn't clean up soon he'll lose the second one. This might seem controversial, but I love that Gotogue-sensei shows us that parents are people too. They have their hopes, dreams, struggles and demons, and they are just as complex as any one of us. And I say this as a child abuse survivor, it's not easy to see it when you live with them, but when you're safely far away you can in a way sympathize with them as fellow human beings.

Sorry for the yap, just had to get this out of my system. I'm sorry I don't have any relationship analysis of Rengoku, but I will say this:

Rengoku's disability is what makes his character so brilliant, in other media characters with similar disabilities are often relegated to the sidelines and are only focused on for the audience and other characters to mock them but to make an intellectually disabled man the most impactful character in the story after the great Yorichii is nothing short of masterful on Gotogue-sensei's part. Rengoku was the heart of the Corps, he was THE Pillar of the Pillars, which was why his death was so impactful and why we can still feel his influence even up to the latest season.

Even though he's well-loved within the fandom, I still see some people who think Rengoku is overrated because he's a simple, straightforward character, but here's the thing - that's what makes him so great. The beauty of his character IS in his simplicity. He could have allowed the treatment by his dad to turn a bitter edge lord, but he didn't, instead he worked hard and tried his best to be a mentor, role model and a beacon of light people could look to when it gets dark.

I also love the fact that despite his cheerful demeanor, you could still see that Shinjuro's words still hurt him.

But despite his pain, he always put on a brave and cheery face with everyone, especially his brother, and worked hard to give Senjuro the encouragement and love that he never got. I don't think he knew how loved he was, which was probably why he was surprised by Tanjiros words at Akaza.

Even though I mourn his death, I'm glad that he died knowing that he made his colleagues, his friends and most of all his mother proud and got the validation needed and rightly deserved.

tldr: Kyojuro don't need no hoes! 🙏🏼