#they are so painfully aroace

[athina-blaine]

I'd like to take a moment to point out to detractors of ships involving Laios who feel that "Laios wouldn't take any interest in people!" that he'd hyperfixated on Shuro so badly it was ruining the man's life lmao

[steampunk-tennis-ball]

Archie smiles at the nurse.

"Funny story, actually."

They watch intently as the nurse applies the salve. They stare in wonder as the action brings virtually no pain.

"I happened to be working a project that required some heat. I couldn't find my gloves, but I've worked on projects without them, so I assumed it wouldn't be an issue. Heat guns aren't the hardest thing to handle."

They shrug.

"It was going swimmingly, an amazing time, all things considered. Once I was done, I unplugged it from the wall to clean up. Before putting it away, however, I was sure to check its temperature."

They lean their head against their shoulder, grimacing at the memory.

"I suppose I should have thought before approaching. The damned thing must have had plans, as it decided to end our little rendezvous with a kiss to the palm."

Classy, really, but one must have some decorum and ask first. Not even power tools know proper romance these days. It's a miracle I don't get rid of it entirely.

Archie grabs a pair of gummies and shoves them thoughtlessly into his mouth the moment he finishes speaking.

Archie shoulders open the door to the infirmary. They're cradling their right hand to their chest.

Blasted machine. If only I didn't leave my gloves at her house.

"Hello?"

- @steampunk-tennis-ball

"Hello!"

The nurse smiles at Archie.

"Do you require assistance?"

[iridescentis]

having a conversation with my friends about dating just reminds me how i desperately need demi/aroace/lesbian friends bc wtf is this shit😭

looking at me like im the crazy one bc i don't want to approach an aesthetically pleasing girl to ask her out and instead want to form a devastatingly co-dependant and ambiguous relationship with her under the guise of being best friends like no you're the weird ones

[pixlmonkeys]

AAAUUGHH!!!!

[aroninshonour]

Iykyk

[syntheticspades]

i dunno if it's just me but i really don't like the gh irafi ship?? it rubs me the wrong way since, if both swords were created by hylia, they would be siblings. whether that's canon or not, it's a headcanon ive grown fond of.

[twomanyfandomshelp]

It also goes beyond queer identities. The same goes for if you take a character who is canonically a racial or religious minority and whitewash (what is the Christian equivalent of whitewashing?!) them. You’re going to get backlash and be called out, for good reason.

This is painful to read, but that’s because I know it’s true. And I hate it.

It’s just not fair.

We shouldn’t be asked to ignore erased representation, ESPECIALLY since we have such little representation! I can count on one hand the number of shows with a canonically aspec character that I’ve watched. And it’s just so frustrating that what little we have is constantly taken away and we’re expected to just deal with it and sit back and let the allos do whatever they want with characters who were made FOR US!!!!!

And don’t you ever apologize for standing up for your identity and pointing out the unfairness of fandom life and the mistreatment we endure all while people claim that we’re “basically straight” and “not repressed” or “don’t struggle the way other queer identities do”. There shouldn’t be a bar for how “queer” an identity is, and it ESPECIALLY shouldn’t be based on how much people who identify as said identity have to struggle.

THE GOAL IS FOR NO ONE TO HAVE TO STRUGGLE AND FOR EVERYONE TO BE EQUAL!!!!!!!

Just like you said, “Why is it on aspec people to not ruin allo people’s fun in fandom, but allo people are allowed to ruin ours? (The answer to all of the above is: aspec identities are viewed by other queer people as functionally straight and are treated as such).”

look. i'm sorry. really sorry for not just letting this die. but it bugs me. so suffer i guess.

If I saw a canonically trans character and said "well I prefer to write them as cis" people would be pissed at me, for good reason.

If I saw a canonical trans woman/man character and wrote them as a demigirl/boy and said "while the show just says she/he's trans, not that she/he's a trans woman/man" people would be pissed at me, also for good reason.

If a character was directly implied to be trans, and the creator confirmed later that they were meant to be trans, and I went "well it wasn't said explicitly in the show so it's not canon," people would be pissed at me, for good reason.

If the majority of a fandom did those things, we could collectively agree that the fandom is really transphobic.

You can sub this out for any queer identity with mainstream representation, and probably non-queer identities too.

So why is it considered acceptable to do these things to aspec characters?

Why are ships contrary to aspec identities the only ships against a character's canon queer identity that get popular?

Why are aspec people the only ones that get consistent ship discourse over our real identities?

Why are aspec people the only ones asked to sit back and take it?

Why is it on aspec people to not ruin allo people's fun in fandom, but allo people are allowed to ruin ours?

(The answer to all of the above is: aspec identities are viewed by other queer people as functionally straight and are treated as such)

[laneastrum]

was twilight a good book? no

was it enjoyable to read? absolutely yes

did i also come up with an elaborate au for my own life in which i was an emo teen in 2007 in an american high school when this came out who loved mcr and i fell in love with the book and wanted to be bella so desperately? also yes

[felkithecreator]

(Full-Color Version under the cut!!)

I was inspired by @breannasfluff 's pride DTIYS!! But, well, why draw just Triple Threat when I could draw the entire Chain instead???

Is what I thought, when I started this over a month ago.

Reasons why I should've drawn only Triple Threat, rather than the entire Chain, is that this probably would've taken like, 3 or 4 weeks less than it actually did :D. (..that's not true, more like 2 weeks probably.) Ahaha

Still, I'm very happy with how this turned out!! :D

I'm still so so late though it's not even Pride Month anymore whoops.

The flags that I chose are my own personal head-canons for the Chain. But also I'll list some of my relationship headcanons too for fun.

Warriors: Gay, painfully single. 

Time: Ambiguously queer, for the purposes of this art I thought genderqueer fit well. Ofc he's married to Malon.

Wind: Queer/Gay (He and Tetra are queer platonic besties to me) I didn't really wanna assign too much to him though since he's like, 14, so he just got a rainbow.

Twilight: Pansexual. Used to have a crush on Midna, later develops a relationship with Shad?? Idk, he can do whatever he wants.

Sky: Bisexual, Polyamorous. Man is totally dating both Sun and Groose.

Four: I have no idea what Four is. Vio is gay, Shadow is gay, Blue and Green are not into romance, and Red is pan. Demiromantic I guess, for all of Four? But like Four would never date anyone cuz the colors. So I just went with a rainbow.

Legend: Transgender, gay, asexual. My headcanon says he's married to Ravio. (For tax reasons, ofc.)

Hyrule: Aroace!! (Aromantic asexual). I'm sorry but I cannot imagine this little fae dating anyone. Queer platonic relationships with the Zeldas though? I can see that.

Wild: Bigender. I also headcanon him as polysexual but I forgot that I headcanoned him as that until literally writing this bit so uh... I forgot to add it to the image. Oh well.

This took forever, literally I am dying, and now I can finally move onto drawing a different piece!! ...I still need to finish my Chain as mythical creatures series so maybe I'll get on that

Here's the full-color version:

[txicyuri]

since the umbrella academy is over…thought i’d drop my sexuality headcanons for them

LUTHER HARGREEVES

- cisgender and straight

- type of guy to get a bunch of ally merch

- the only cishet sibling

DIEGO HARGREEVES

- cisgender and bisexual

- definitely has a preference for women

ALLISON HARGREEVES

- cisgender and unlabelled

- ik a lot of ppl think she’s straight but honestly i could 💯 see her getting with a woman.

- probably has a preference for men though

KLAUS HARGREEVES

- non binary and pansexual

- well this is canon, so. not much else to say

FIVE HARGREEVES

- aromantic, asexual, and agender.

- triple a battery anyone

- idk wtf steve blackman was THINKING. five will always be aroace to me idk

BEN HARGREEVES

- genderfluid and pansexual

- i really see ben as the type to not have any preferences, just really will fall for anyone

- this goes for both umbrella and sparrow ben

VIKTOR HARGREEVES

- transgender man and straight

- my transhet king

- pretty sure this is just canon anyways

LILA PITTS

- cisgender and bisexual

- diegolila is so painfully bi4bi (im so sorry for what the writers did to you.)

- probably has a preference for women

[batri-jopa]

being asexual is a really weird experience because most of the time you feel sort of normal, like there isn't even anything different about you, but then you're randomly hit with the realization that there is essentially an entire part of most people's regular everyday lives that you're missing out on. it doesn't make me sad or anything, it's actually kind of cool. it makes me feel like i'm some sort of spy who gets to analyze "normal human behaviour" without taking part in it. people are fascinating.

[picnokinesis]

Thoughts on Different Types of Representation in Doctor Who (and how fandom responds to it)

So I watched Rogue last night and - okay first, oh my days, absolutely ADORED it, this is definitely my favourite episode of this season, it was just so much FUN and it hooked me right from the start. And then the queerness! I was actually thinking to myself whilst watching it how wonderful it was because it felt like a queer story in a way that wasn't like, showboating about how progressive it was? [editorial aside: this is not comparing it to anything in particular, just a general observation]. The characters were just queer, within this wild and wonderful sci-fi story, but also their queerness wasn't the Only Character Trait they had and their story didn't resolve around their queerness, but their queerness was crucial to the plot in a way that was just lovely to see - and as a writer myself, it's personally the way I love to see our stories being told.

But then I made the mistake of going into the tag - always a foolish thing to do, because for some reason everyone loves to praise this era by criticising the previous era (as if it hasn't been criticised enough...like we know most of y'all hate Chris Chibnall for committing no worse crimes than Moffat and RTD before him...we know). And I found a couple of folks talking about how this episode alone did more for queer representation than the entirety of thirteen's era, whiiiiich at first really Peeved Me Off - like didn't these people understand how important Yaz's arc (especially Eve of the Daleks) was to a LOT of people? But then I was like 'well actually this is interesting', right? Because I think there's two very different kinds of representation going on here - and they're both very important in different ways, but one tends to get lauded as brilliant rep and one always gets put down as not good enough, or even bad rep. And what's the main difference? Whether the characters have a gay kiss or not.

So I just thought I'd share some of my thoughts and feelings on this, and why I think both these kinds of rep are equally important! To be clear from the get-go though - this is definitely not me ragging on anyone who likes more about one than the other (in fact, I think everyone likes one more than the other). This is merely a personal essay about it and the frustrations that comes when people in general do lift one up over the other. I'm gonna put it under the cut though, because it might get a bit long!

So, back when Eve of the Daleks aired, I remember having a lot of conversations about the representation in that episode - in particular with a very good friend of mine, who is a lesbian. And we realised that when it came to rep, we both actually wanted pretty different things. I'm aroace and genderfluid, and so a lot of what I saw in how thirteen was written - especially in terms of her gender (or lack thereof), and also her apparent lack of attraction (at least, in how I read it) was just incredibly affirming to me. I've never EVER seen a character on screen that I could see myself in both in terms of sexuality and gender. Whereas my friend saw things quite differently - thirteen was a lesbian, and they wanted to see that kiss between these two characters, because for them too, it was so rare to see that, and, in their words, they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. And we both realised that the reason that queer representation can feel so intense and important is, simply, because there isn't enough of it. We're all desperately reaching for the same small portion - and none of it is ever going to please everyone, or resonate with everyone. The stakes are too high.

So then, when there wasn't this dramatic romantic ending to Yaz's story, when there was no queer kiss, I was very sad for my friend, who didn't get that representation, but so painfully relieved for myself - because I got mine. So then it sucked a lot to see a lot of people getting really angry that this wasn't queer representation, that this was even homophobic - I even had someone tell me that aromantic representation in this regard was always going to be homophobic, because no-one would ever write it to be aro rep, and would instead only ever write it to avoid writing a gay kiss. And the thing that got me the most was that, REGARDLESS of whether they kissed or not, regardless of how you read either of the characters, there was one thing that was certain:

Yaz was queer. In text. Her emotional plotline centred around her realising that she was attracted to the Doctor (who was presenting as a woman - although, again, I don't think she really identified as such). The fact that she and the Doctor didn't get together by the end does not erase that fact.

They didn't kiss - but so what? Are queer people only queer when they're kissing someone of the same gender, or having gay sex? Are queer people not queer in their day to day lives, when they're not doing any of those things? Are queer people not queer when they're not dating? Are queer people not queer when they're trans, when they're ace, when they're aro, when their queerness doesn't resolve around attraction to the same gender?

And, to be honest, I think a lot of my feelings around this stem from the sort of exclusionist rhetoric that we saw a LOT of towards the ace/aro community back in 2012 that we still see now, that we're seeing towards the trans community now, that we're still seeing towards bi people, for pete's sake. It's this in-community infighting, pushing each other down to try and get up to the top, to keep all the "resources" for "the people who really need it", and it causes a serious amount of harm - but the truth is (and to bring this back to doctor who) that it all comes back to what me and my friend were discussing. We're all scared, all desperate to be seen - and when we are seen, it's the most incredible experience and the idea of losing that (or having someone else undermine it) feels inexpressibly awful. Having the thirteenth doctor...I suddenly realised this is what all the straight cis white dudes get all the time. She was like me, and that was indescribable. And then losing her - and having RTD not even be able to have a man wear her clothes because he was too worried about what the tabloids would say to be able to show a gnc person on tv...and then constantly described her as The Woman Doctor for the next entire episode - that hurt. A lot.

I've spoken to other friends who felt so seen in the character of Yaz - those people who realised they were queer later in life, those who fall in love with people and it doesn't end up going anywhere, those who don't get the whirlwind queer romances that people often call 'good representation'. Myself and many of my aspec friends have felt so seen in thirteen's almost entirely romance-less arc, and myself and my trans/genderqueer friends felt very seen in the way that thirteen's character would have been exactly the same if she'd been a man - the only difference was how the other characters around her interacted with her. Gender was something that happened to her. And when I watch episodes like Rogue, even though I don't relate to that representation, I just feel overwhelmed with joy because I know how important it will be to others that I care about. I think my sadness then comes from the fact that the way Thirteen and Yaz were written are just as important to me and many people that I know, but because they didn't kiss, it's not considered queer enough. Am I not queer enough, then? Are my friends not queer enough?

We need more episodes like Rogue, like The Parting of Ways, like Praxeus, like The Doctor Falls, because they are unquestionably and unapologetically queer, in a way that can't be avoided. We also need more episodes like Eve of the Daleks, like The Haunting of the Villa Diodati, like the rest of thirteen's era where the representation is an undercurrent throughout the whole story - but also undeniable, in a way that Yaz's story arc is, even if it doesn't end in a kiss, even if it doesn't end neatly and happily. Personally, I definitely would love to see more stories focused on aromanticism and on transness (especially ones that are written by trans people for trans people, rather than by cis people for cis people), but that's probably going to be down to people like me and other writers that I know actually getting into the script writing industry - and that depends on the people who are already there letting us in. One thing that I've always appreciated about Chibnall is that, after leaving Doctor Who, he began a programme for training up new showrunners with ITV, because: "showrunners are the gatekeepers and too many of the gatekeepers look like me."

Anyway, I probably have more thoughts that I've forgotten, but that's generally the gist of it. I think the more we fight over whether rep is 'good' or 'bad', relating to whether we see ourselves in it or not (rather than 'is this genuinely harmful or unhelpful', which I think is a more crucial question) the more the waters get muddied. We have different needs and wants, and no single episode is going to represent every facet of our community. But each episode, each story like this is a step in the right direction - and even rep that isn't perfect (I have thoughts about The Star Beast, for example) is still extremely positive and important, and definitely something that should be celebrated, even as we keep looking to the future for what we would like to see done differently, done better. And some day, I hope, there'll be so much queer rep, it'll be so normal, that those stakes won't feel so high anymore. It won't feel like everything hangs on how a certain show or storyline or episode is written. We'll all be seen. And that will be absolutely fantastic.

[abyss-is-lame]

ZZZ headcanons part TWO: ships, sexualities, and pronouns edition

if you're just interacting to hate, dni with this post! (also there might already be canon ships, i have not finished the game yet) - Belle X Nicole: hear me out okay- 'barely hanging on business' owner x a girl in a bunch of debt, what could go wrong amirite? /ot These goobers are so painfully gay and trying to keep their relationship a secret, but literally EVERYONE knows they're together, and when they reveal the 'surprise' that they're dating, everyone's just like "whoa thats crazy i didn't know." Also they cause so much chaos - Anby X Nekomata: These little shits are my entire life force. Anby will go out of her way to make time in her schedule so she can go get food a sea food restaurant to give to Nekomata if Nekomata's hungry, no hesitation, will get anything her girlfriend desires. and Nekomata will pay her back by curling up on her lap and sleeping - Ellen {adult} X Rina: Ellen has anger issues and the only way to control her is Rina physically holding her back to stop her from starting fights lmao. Rina treats Corin like her daughter because of how fragile Corin is, and so Ellen has decided she's Corin's other mom. Why? idk - Wise: something about Wise radiates either violently gay, or aroace and i honestly can't tell. He/They - Belle: Omnisexual, loves everyone with a slight fem lean, is the kind of person to see a pretty person walking down the street and falling in love instantly. She/Xer - Billy: Gay. Just violently, violently gay. He/It - Anby: Questioning, can't tell if she likes women, men, both, or every gender, confused as hell. She/They/Xem - Nicole: Lesbian, average woman enjoyer and we stan cyber so very much. She/It/Cyber -Nekomata: Pan! she also hits people with pans if she so desires. She/They/It -Grace: Lesbian, also radiates insane girl energy and we love her for that She/Her -Koleda: Biromatic asexual, has absolutely 0 relationship experience. She/Claw -Ben: Aroace, doesn't really care about relationships much and isn't interested in having one. He/It -Anton: *jumps down from a counter* "I'M GAY" He/Him -Ellen: Disaster gynesexual. That's it. lmao- She/Fin -Rina: A bi ✨queen✨ fr She/Her -Corin: Questioning, is just trying to function like a proper human and doesn't have the ability to think about it too hard She/Her -Lycaon: Demisexual, is pretty cautious by nature and doesn't trust easily, likes every gender tho He/They/It -Soldier 11: Lesbian demisexual, has the fear instilled in her that dating without knowing someone very well will lead to betrayal. She/Her -Soukaku: Aroace, doesn't care about relationships just wants food. She/It

[dykesynthezoid]

Fantasy High Junior Year Predictions:

- Verbal confirmation for aromantic Riz and other further aroace Riz stuff

- Gilear growing a bit of a spine (only a bit. baby steps) but also continuing to face misfortune bc it’s Gilear

- Fig realizing being an archdevil actually comes with responsibilities. Whoops

- Fig and Ayda!!! They’ll probably face some wrinkles in their relationship but are able to communicate disgustingly well about it and come out even stronger

- Flipside: Kristen and Tracker break up

- Tracker is still around all the time though bc she and Ragh are so close now

- Kristen trying to reintroduce a once major world religion and also dealing with being a literal Saint and Prophet

- Ragh boyfriend era. Bonus points if Fabian decides he doesn’t like said boyfriend for some reason

- Aelwyn trying to make amends. Awkwardly and painfully

- More Gorgug and Zelda relationship troubles

- Adaine either gets an LI or has the opportunity to get one but decides to stay single

- Also! Multiclasser Adaine

- Parent polycule, much to their children’s chagrin

- Discussions and tension over what they’ll do once they all graduate, similar to The Seven

[pacifistcowboy]

aroace king that has to deal with the burden of letting down easy so many damn people

she is blushing.

[starzgaze]

imagine aroace!darling is so sick of Hae-In's and Jinwoo's bullshit that they straight up just say "is Beru and option?" when the the two ask which one they prefer.

also, unrelated; i'm pretty sure i just dreamt of a Beru x Reader fanfic and i started looking for it right when i woke up, only for it to not be real. the brainrot is getting to me..

omfg i had this idea too like a few days ago and it's funny to think about cz just imagine you're just some low profile worker within the association that is trying your very best to live a peaceful life. just a normal person you know?? like no big ambitions nor had any notable achievements except the random ones you would get back then in your school days but yet!

you still caught two of the s-ranks 's hearts in the country, really baffling actually.

whenever you're in the room with the two you can't even ignore the obvious deadly tension the two had even if you tried to, you can't imagine how people in the news assume they're in love with eachother when hae-in looked like she's about to pull jinwoo's head off his body and jinwoo is about to gut the blonde on the spot.

like is it really about you at this point? just get a room oh my god and what's worse you... you don't even see them as anything more than friends it's insane.

even if hae-in would bashfully gift you things and listen to your rants or tries to hint that she has feelings for you, every one of these things you would dodge like it was the plague

and it was the same with jinwoo! everytime the man saves you from some magical beast that was suspiciously near your place even if there was no gate that broke in your area, jinwoo would be there to save you like some shining knight in armor and it would play like some romantic scene except you would be there to painfully remind him that it's nothing more than a moment with a truthful "ahaha thanks a lot jinwoo, you're such a great friend!" which was definitely on purpose.

but the only problem was even if you dropped sooo many instances that you were not interested with the two, the damn duo was so persistent that it's genuinely tiring you out like what was it with you that was intriguing?? you're literally a low profile office worker within the association that showed the two a semblance of human decency are they that deprived of love?

like at some point you were (forcibly) hanging out with the two and they were bantering once again over you before they both turned their heads to your direction which honestly creeped you out then finally asking who did you prefer.

"[y.name]! please tell me you prefer a girl like me and not this awfully depressing dressed up loser!" hae-in glared at jinwoo while barking out her words that was definitely an attack to jinwoo's way of fashion

"wha— the hell? my fashion isn't that bad you asshole- oh whatever ignore her [y.name] I'm obviously more desirable" jinwoo deadpanned as he ignored hae-in's glare.

you looked at the two with tired eyes, dreadfully done with their bullshit before declaring your answer

"oh I'd choose neither... actually is beru is an option? i think that ant is more acceptable at this point"

the reaction they had was priceless, especially jinwoo's. you prefer the damned ant?? the ant that bodied hae-in the moment it popped out of nowhere or the same ant that jinwoo obliterated with a punch...? are you serious..

if you squint closely you can notice a wisp of black shadow on jinwoo's person that had a tint of pink blush that awfully looked like an ant. you didn't know if you were seeing things but you swore that it was beru blushing over your decision.

anyway wow i went on a tangent LMFAOOL I CANT BELIEVE I WROTE ALL THAT??? HELLO ANYWAY THIS IS INSANE I LOVE THIS also u dont know j mean... maybe it did exist and the author just got beamed off the internet