#asexual representation

[asexualenjolras]

CA$H PIGGOTT.

I need to talk about Cash Piggott and how important his character is to the asexual community.

I absolutely adore the fact that Cash calls people out on their acephobia and never, ever apologises for who he is. He doesn't think he's broken.

In season one, we see Darren say "you know what, I think there's something really fucking wrong with you, Cash," and Cash immediately, with no hesitation, screams "well fuck you then".

In season two, we see Dusty say that he's being selfish asking Darren to give up sex and he immediately stands up and says "fuck this" because he knows he doesn't have to listen to people making him feel bad about his sexuality.

And when he's talking to his nan about it, Cash says "it's not fair, I would do anything, why does it have to be the one thing I can't change about myself?"

In every single one of these scenes, we never see Heartbreak High blame Cash for his sexuality. We never see him apologise to anyone for not feeling sexual attraction, and we never see him feel guilty about it, or try to change who he is.

CA$H recognises that his sexuality might be difficult for people to accept and understand, but he never lets other people make him feel like he's broken, or flawed. And that's so powerful to see.

Because asexual people are not broken. And we can't be fixed. And we are not being selfish for putting in boundaries.

I absolutely adore Douglas Piggott. He means the world to me, and this representation is so, so important.

[red-hibiscus]

They've captured the asexual experience.

Ace people clearly explaining they do desire some level of physical affection, but don't care/want sex. Then allo people too stuck in their own experiences to even try to accept and understand

[sparrow-the-tired-lesbian]

if I see one more “straight people on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrum don’t count” I will personally light shit on fire

If you’re heterosexual and aromantic, you’re valid. If you’re asexual and heteroromantic, fuck yeah, you’re valid too. You belong here, in LGBTQIA+ spaces, and I love and accept you here. You belong at the pride parade, you belong in the LGBTQIA+ clubs at your school or university, and you belong in the LGBTQIA+ community.

We love you. You belong. anyone who says otherwise can go fuck themselves.

[black-ace-culture-is]

Yasmin Benoit with other aspecs and queer people at the Ace of Clubs, a temporary asexual club in London created in collaboration with AVEN and Budweiser UK in 2019.

[bizarreaizen]

i will always dislike the stereotype that cisgender men are just beings who only think / care about sex, so my cis men out there who are asexual or just genuinely don't think sex is that important, you are seen and will always be valid :D /gen

[the-great-kraken]

if you see a male character kiss a male character, you assume they are gay.

if you see a female character kiss a female character, you assume they are a lesbian.

if you hear a character say they don't feel like their gender, you assume they are trans.

so why do a-spec characters have to jump through so many loops?

a character saying they've never had a crush or don't want a relationship or that they don't understand romantic love is so often ignored or used as fodder for other queer or autistic headcanons (reinforcing stereotypes that aroace people are secretly gay or always autistic)

why is it that our stories are always "up to interpretation"? why do we have to wait for the words aromantic or asexual to be said to be taken seriously? why is it that even when characters say they don't want relationships, fans will scream and cry about sex/romance favourable aspecs and qprs?

when it comes to gay and trans characters, even the likes of bisexual lighting is often treated as though it canonises their sexuality. for aroace characters, even the most explicit coding possible is swept under the rug in favour of other "interpretations"

i'm so tired of fighting for representation just to have it ignored and minimised by fans. let characters be aroace. please.

[just-your-average-aroace-bitch]

To all the idiots who think the “A” is for allies:

I hope you step on really sharp legos. Over. And. Over. And. Over. Again.

[thecommunalfoolboy]

It’s crazy how many people just don’t understand why a lot of aro and or ace people don’t like that Alaster gets shipped. It’s not that hard to understand we don’t have a lot to let ourselves lose. I mean can you name 10 asexual characters? 5? Can you name two aro characters. There’s the guy from Archie who they made have a sex scene in a movie version. There’s a few books. I think a background character in Heartstopper? Do you see the theme here??? You’re all queer people, do you not get it? How it feels to have nothing? Is it so wrong to be upset that there’s finally an outwardly aroace person in popular media and instead of people embracing that they’re fighting on the internet about why it’s ok to ignore it? And I will never in my fucking life have anything against the people who are aro and or ace and portray him in THEIR experiences, even if it is a romance or sex favorable experience, but it is obvious that way too many of you guys are allo and it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t even like him as a character that much, he isn’t even made by an aroace artist. The show isn’t even that fucking good, I just want to keep someone like me for once in my life. If there were a million other aroace characters I wouldn’t care, but it just hurts seeing erasure coming from my own community. It just sucks, man, I don’t know. It just sucks

[bloggingboutburgers]

Aaand it's still part of the best we can get, honestly

[latecomerfangirl]

"I said no, and now he's pissy, that's the tea!"

[rebeccahlamford]

Black asexuals of tumblr (from the UK and Ireland), I need you...

to fill out a questionnaire about asexual tv/media representations, what you think about them, and what they could be doing better. Almost all questions are optional, so you can come and say as little or as much as you'd like!

Please help a fellow ace out, and help me make this research not be just another look at white asexuals...

Go to https://tinyurl.com/acetvquestions or the link in my bio

Please share, even if you don't wanna do the questionnaire, many thanks!

EDIT: this questionnaire is now closed!

[asexualenjolras]

I can't stop thinking about the friendship between Quinni and Cash in Heartbreak High. I really hope we get more scenes between them in future seasons.

I can't stop thinking about Cash's face when Quinni is having her meltdown because he knows he can relate on some level. He's listening to her every word, and he is feeling so deeply for her.

His face when she says she doesn't want to be a burden made me sob. He looks so sad.

Quinni's words must have held some resonance with Cash, and I can't stop thinking about it.

Because he doesn't want to be a burden either, and he is trying so hard in his relationship with Darren and it still isn't enough.

Quinni says: "And then I find this thing, this one thing that I can control, that I can share with you all and participate in, one thing that I'm useful for, and I'm told I'm doing that wrong too. It's just not fair."

Cash knows how that feels. He's doing absolutely everything in his relationship with Darren, but he still feels like it's not enough. He's really letting her words sink in.

Quinni needs someone that can understand what she's feeling, and Cash can (in a different way).

I love that we saw Cash pick up on how upset Quinni was at the zoo. She needs someone that notices her, and Cash did.

Anyway, I love the scenes with Quinni and Cash together. And I hope we get more of their friendship in future. Because I think they understand each other on a very personal level. But maybe that's just my autistic, asexual self hoping they can find some solace in each other.

I resonate with Cash just as much as I resonate with Quinni, and I'm not saying that Cash is also possibly autistic but it's possible with his stimming, his mental health history, his deep empathy for living things and his struggles communicating how he feels. I'm running with this headcanon.

[your-local-crypt1d]

Oh so when a priest takes an oath of celibacy he's "a man of faith", but when I say I'm Ace and sex-repulsed I'll "change my mind" and "haven't found the right person yet" 🙄

[leikeliscomet]

Let's look for asexual representation on Netflix!

*Aroace East Asian girl who runs a sex therapy clinic who was co-written by a Black aroace activist has half her scenes scrapped and is made the antagonist of the white main character* Aw dangit!

*Ace teen girl comes out and creates one of the most popular scenes in the show then is never heard from ever again* Aw dangit!

*South Asian ace lesbian main character's show gets cancelled* Aw dangit!

*Ace girl has her coming out scene scrapped for next season* Aw dangit!

*Aroace teen boy has his coming out scene one season behind every other main character, left out of the promotional materials and is left out of his friend group's storylines* Aw dangit!

*Gay demi character doesn't even make it to screen* Aw dangit!

*Black gay demi character never gets to come out and his show is cancelled* Aw dangit!

*Disabled mixed aroace who's one of the antagonists gets a crumb of character development then gets killed off* Aw dangit!

*Disabled gay man called asexual because the writer didn't like him getting shipped and he becomes the show's literal reincarnation of the Anti Christ himself and is wiped from existence* Aw dangit!

[black-ace-culture-is]

Black ace culture is wishing the ace community cared about Selah Summers being the first aromantic-asexual Black girl in TV/Film history

[bizarreaizen]

aromantic and asexual cis men seriously need more recognition, they've been told that being a virgin above the age of 18 is weird and that all cis men are p0rn brained and they've seen that romance and sex is very important to a man and you need to have it or you're confirmed "lame" "boring" and a "virgin loser" /gen