#riz the ball gukgak you have always been aroace to me

[ewwww-what]

Sometimes I try to talk about why I don’t like the idea of alloromantic Riz Gukgak but I make myself upset and end up needing to take a lap.

[anomaliex]

eughhhhh okay i'm caving i'm giving in this is it this is the qpr fabriz post i can no longer pretend that im normal abt them. This is just vaguely connected string of thoughts ft arospec headcanons. And very personal, I also often enjoy other people's more explicitly romantic interpretations of them but hey this is mine.

I've been fond of Fabriz ever since Riz offered to tear someone's eye out for Fabian because he was on a violent high and I jokingly said "woah that's romantic" but then it suddenly occurred to me that Fabian Aramais Seacaster, Son of Bill Seacaster the greatest pirate to have ever lived should actually think so too (even if he's like "what the fuck??" in the moment because Riz is ultimately, funnily enough, consistently more hardcore and violent than Fabian ((and honestly the rest of the party too 98% of the time))). There's something about "oh this guy took your eye? Want me to bite his out of his corpse for you?" that shows undeniable devotion and deep affection, be it because they're best friends or more.

After the second season it for me personally warped into more oh okay aroace king. (Oriented aroace. Because of Baron.) This isn't romantic it's just a deep emotional connection on a level that doesn't really fit into conventional terms but they're very important to each other and enjoy existing in the same space together but that's still Fabriz, just a different flavour, so y'know.

I think Fabian dates people and Riz stays at his side all the same. I think that if in the far future he and Mazey weren't together anymore because idk, Highschool romances don't often last forever, he would still be like hello potential romantic partner this is Riz The Ball Gukgak he is very important to me and my emotional support and also impulse control and whether you and I work out or not Riz will always occupy the space closest to me, it's about whether you're willing to share the space or not. He definitely is.

Riz doesn't have any romantic feelings but he's happy to be important enough to his dearest friend to be a priority even when relationships are involved. I think he's fine "sharing" affections because he's learned to feel secure in the fact he won't be abandoned. And he has his other friends who love him too (though not in the same way Fabian does, of course. And that's okay, he wouldn't want to occupy the role he occupies in Fabian's life in theirs. It's different) and he loves them and life is good, sometimes. He kind of just wants to be together forever without the implications or obligations a typical romantic relationship would bring? And there's a point where he's like "hey Fabian am I ruining dating people for you?" and he's. Worried. About that. But Fabian would assure him that it's fine, he's probably not all that compatible with people who are uncomfortable sharing anyway. I think a strictly monogamous partner wouldn't be all that happy with him, regardless of whether Riz is involved or not.

Fabian has a lot of love in his heart and feels it very strongly and it's kind of impossible to limit it to only one person? Polyamarous king. This is where I note that I do read Fabian as being aro-spec (allosexual though) but on a completely different level than Riz is. Fabian adores people so quickly and so strongly, and I think at some point he isn't able to differentiate whether that adoration is platonic or romantic or something in between? And that's a struggle at first, it'd be a struggle for any teenager, but I think as he'd get older he'd stop caring as much. No sense trying to label something that's so all over the place, he just goes with the flow? He calls it love and that's that, and he'll indulge in it.

Fabian says "I love you" a lot, Riz says it back. It doesn't necessarily mean the same thing, but it doesn't have to, that's fine. I think Fabian's love language is literally all of them (though giving gifts above all, maybe?) and Riz's is just quality time (acts of service is a close second), so a lot of their relationship is just hanging out like they would with other friends as well (and Fabian paying for as much stuff as he can get away with). I think Riz isn't opposed to physical affection but he's not a fan of pda, and while he likes sharing a blanket in the winter or sitting way too close in the back of the hangvan or pressing his face into Fabian's back when they're riding the hangman he'd probably not be that into hand holding. Its fine but it's probably more pleasant to maintain physical closeness in other ways with the height difference? And the claws, idk. There's also kissing. Riz would be cool with like, cheek or forehead kisses probably? (Unless he's having a day where he really doesn't want anyone to touch him period. Which I does think happens. Something something autism I don't think I can word this properly in detail) And Fabian would grab his face and smother him in those for fun. Or get dramatic and kiss his hand and act suave only to eat shit ten seconds later. I think being kissed on the mouth is a different story and kind of a fifty-fifty, depends on how touchy Riz is feeling that day. But in concept he's fine with it as long as it's just like, a peck on the lips, because he sees it as an expression of intimacy and affection and hey he doesn't have a problem with that that's cool. I definitely don't think he'd initiate them, though. It's more a "oh hey my partner likes this and I don't mind doing it for him" thing.

Oh speaking of the word partner that's the word they'd use, I think. Not boyfriends, just partners, and they're not dating but they're together. It's not, like, a thing they're particular about it's just the words I think they'd feel inclined to use. They probably don't talk about any of this stuff in that much depth, Fabian isn't that introspective anyway. It's kind of just a state of being. And what's a nicer state to exist in than close to your best friend?

Idk, I don't usually get involved with fandoms where a character seems so aromantic in a way I can relate to or a pairing feels so queerplatonic to me, but these two sure do and that's so delightful that I think about them all the time.

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

I'm not like you guys

Here's my Aromantic Riz story like I promised, just in time for Aromantic Awareness Week. It's set after Spring Break but probably before summer and the events of Junior Year (which I haven't started watching yet so no spoilers)

Enjoy!

Riz Gukgak had prepared an entire PowerPoint presentation to tell his mom about spring break but for some reason, he hadn't been able to plan out what he was going to say now, with his friends. 

“Hey, guys, can I talk to you about something I figured out on the trip?”

He knew his friends loved him and accepted him. He knew that he didn't need a whole strategy just to talk to them. He just had to trust them and trust himself. 

“Of course, The Ball. What's up? Is there another angle of the mystery that we missed?” Fabian asked.

“No, uh, no I don't think so. It's kind of about a different mystery. The mystery that is myself.” The words felt dorky as he was saying them but he refused to let his fears get in the way again.

“You can tell us anything,” Kristen said.

“I think… I think I'm not like you guys.”

“What? No, you're just as cool and important as all of us,” Fig said quickly in her “I'm placating” tone that she usually saved for Gilear. 

“Yeah, I know. I know I'm an important part of this group. This isn't really about that.”

“What is it about?” Gorgug asked, used to not always understanding what Riz was talking about. Unfortunately, this time Riz also seemed like he didn't know what he was talking about. 

Riz let out a frustrated sigh, not upset with any of his friends, mostly just upset with himself for not being able to verbalize this.

“Do you want to hold Boggy?” Adaine asked gently.

“Actually, yeah, that might help.” He cupped Boggy in his hands and let the happy little frog settle his nerves and frustration. 

“Okay, here it is. I'm not like you guys. I'm not trying to get my kisses in.”

That seemed like a pretty good way to explain it, but the rest of the Bad Kids seemed perplexed. 

“What?” Gorgug asked.

Riz sighed.

“Do you guys remember Baron?”

“You mean your fake romance partner?” Fabian asked.

“Yes, well, I only invented him because I felt awkward that you guys seemed so interested in hooking up and I just wasn't. For a while, I thought maybe I was just too invested in my cases, but confronting Baron in the Nightmare Forest made me realize that I'm simply not interested in having a romantic or physical relationship with anyone.”

The party took a moment to digest that information before nodding.

“Very cool, The Ball,” Fabian said.

“Yeah, you'll always be the one people want but can never have,” Fig said, her eyes sparkling as a new idea for a song was born 

“I always thought that Adaine would be the asexual one,” Kristen said, which made Adaine give her a look.

Riz slapped his hands down on the table, Boggy hopping back to Adaine at the sudden movement. 

“There's a term for it?!?”

“Yeah if you don't experience sexual attraction you're asexual and if you don't experience romantic attraction you're aromantic. And if you're both I think they call that being aroace.”

The look on Riz's face was radiant, the look of someone who finally had all the clues slide into place. He didn't say anything for a long time, just relished his newfound answers. 

Then the words were falling out of his mouth like a dam that had burst. “In the Nightmare Forest, my second greatest fear was that you would all find love and stop caring about me, that you would all move on and I'd be stuck and alone. But everything we've been through proves that I was wrong. And knowing that there are other people like me proves that I will never be alone.”

“We're never going to stop caring about you,” Fabian promised, with murmured agreement from the rest of the group.

Then Gorgug asked, “What was your first greatest fear?” 

Riz no longer felt awkward about his identity but he did feel awkward admitting this, “Sleeping on the job.”

The Bad Kids groaned and rolled their eyes, teasing him about his lame fears and workaholic persona, but even as they teased him Riz knew that they loved and accepted him and that that wasn't going to change.