Since I haven't had the time/energy to do something big for Aro-Spec Awareness Week like I would like to, I thought I'd at least do a little something and talk about some Aro-Spec Head Canons that I enjoy. So let's get started!
Lt. Commander Data and Geordi La Forge (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - Data and Geordi have always been two of my favorite characters from TNG. They both have such likeable personalities and a lot of great moments/episodes. Data also is as close to a canonically aromantic character as you could get from the 80s/90s I feel like? He and Geordi are, prominently, best friends. Data states that the desire for companionship is not one of the Human Things he finds confusing. But the only time Data attempts romance it's obvious he doesn't get it, far more than he doesn't get other Typical Human Things, and the end conclusion is him deciding to just Not Do romance because there is no 'real him' he can give to a romantic relationship specifically. And that never changes! Not even when he gets a Human Emotion Chip! So even he's not quite canonically aro, I feel like he also slightly is. xD He's also just a major fave, so I enjoy him being aro-coded A Lot.
As for Geordi, there's not really any canon 'evidence' as such other than 'I like him a lot and his main relationships with the crew are all platonic'. He has a few one-shot romances, but they're all so intensely awkward. In part because one-shot romances tend to be awkward and I think the writers sometimes didn't know what to do with Geordi in episodes centered on him. But I enjoy thinking it's partly because he just doesn't realize he's alloaro. xD Maybe gray-aro, I'm not sure. But aro-spec in some kind of way.
Aziraphale and Crowley (Good Omens) - These two notoriously aren't canonically anything. And it's probably best it stay that way. xD But the first time I watched the show (knowing very little about the book other than the fact it existed, and knowing a similar amount about the fandom), I was pleasantly surprised by how much these two resonated with me, both individually and as a pair.
Nothing they do is inherently romantic, and aside from the whole 'our superiors would kill us if they find out about us being friends' bit, a lot of what they do together seems like the kind of thing I really enjoy in close relationships. They go out to eat, they spend long hours discussing the arts and various other things, they go on walks/feed ducks, and they're always excited to see each other (sans the whole 'this could get us killed' anxiety stuff again lol). And that's it! Their happy ending as far as we see is them just being able to do those things freely and without guilt or fear anymore, it's not really implied anywhere they want 'more' from the relationship, just to be able to experience more of it, and safely/without having to come up with excuses to meet.
And then just individually, neither of them really show interest in specifically romance either. And also I like them both and just enjoy the thought of them both being aroace, it's nice to be able to connect with characters you like a lot. X)
Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin (The Lord of the Rings) - Look, The Lord of the Rings, in particular the book, just has aro vibes. xD None of these characters have a love interest other than Sam having a very minor one (I call grey-aro) that isn't emphasized anywhere near the way he friendship with Frodo is. It's a friendship-heavy book in general, and only one of the end couples actually got screentime or development (Eowyn and Faramir were also written in a way that they're one of a small group of romantic pairings I actually quite like?) compared to all the Fellowship friendships getting heavily centered.
I don't even know where on the aro spectrum to put all of these fellas, but I feel like they have a lot of potential to cover a number of bases? (Gandalf didn't have a romance either actually, I'm claiming him too. Why not. xD) Merry randomly strikes me as aroflux for no particular reason. Pippin I could see as frayromantic? I'd have to think more on the specifics for the others, but case in point: LotR is a great book/film series and most of the characters can be read as arospec in some kind of way so I'm just gonna go ahead and do that. xD
(Gimli is especially a childhood favorite though, so. Him and Legolas get top tier from me lol)
Sherlock Holmes (Various iterations? But especially ACD and Granada?) - Holmes just is a big mood in general, but also an aro mood. xD And while being aro on its own isn't about being reclusive or anti-social or constantly raising your brow at how others do relationships, these are things I associate with my own experience of aromanticism for just me, and I relate to some of that in Holmes as well, which makes the headcanon extra appealing. He is also an eccentric and I enjoy that a lot because he just so much isn't trying to be 'normal', he just does his detective thing and I love it.
Also, while I'm not as dead set on it. I do like Watson as aro-spec too! He did seem to genuinely find Mary attractive, but marriage clearly didn't suit him (and I wonder if he didn't do it in part because he did try to seem 'normal' even though he's also frankly weird), since he ultimately returned to just living with Holmes and was happy with it.
James (Team Rocket/Pokemon) - This is a head canon that both stems from 'James is a long time favorite of mine so I want him to be aro Just Because' and 'he actually has very strong romance-repulsed vibes in canon'. His backstory involves him running away from home to escape an (admittedly toxic) arranged marriage, every time a one-shot character expresses romantic interest in him he's horrified (unless there's some kind of mystical thing involved), and he was completely appalled at the suggestion he and Jesse could be together romantically despite them unambiguously being best friends and/or partners for life (he said he'd rather DIE, which yes was for comedy/exaggeration, but he so consistently has this kind of reaction to romance aimed at him).
Elsa (Frozen) - There's been plenty of discussion on this one before, but just. Elsa has the biggest aro moods in both films (she's also genuinely content being a bit more solitary at the end of the second one, staying in close contact with her family but living alone/single, which is pretty great). She's also just very relatable in general, which adds to the head canon appeal. And her being aro while Anna is super into romance, the possibilities of them learning to navigate that together? Big fan.
Moana (Moana) - This is another case of 'there wasn't a romantic interest and I adore the character, so to the aro bin you GO'. xD Her whole 'I am Moana' song being her Big Moment is powerful in general, but I really like how the movie centers on her individual growth, and how she has this big moment while she's alone and That's Okay.
Noe (Vanitas no Carte) - I know Noe is, in general, oblivious. But he's just SO oblivious to the most overt crushes on him (and there are more than one), doesn't get what 'love' is (which just, makes me think of all the conversations trying to define romance in the aro community that are very thought provoking but don't really get anywhere as far as a 'proper answer' goes xD), and just does not seem romantically interested in anyone. I also just like him a lot lol.
Sonic, Blaze, and Rouge (Sonic the Hedgehog) - Sonic is just never truly interested in romance, and even when he 'is', it doesn't feel like very...allo romance on his end? And that only happened one or twice anyways. Mostly, he's annoyed or repulsed or exasperated with Amy's crush on him and doesn't seem interested in others. And he's always described as a 'free spirit', which doesn't mean anything technically, but the way it's done here has prominent 'single for life' vibes, and he's very happy with his free spirit life style!
Blaze I fully admit the hc is just 'she's cool and doesn't have a canon love interest' lol. Because she is cool and should really be in the games more, and she doesn't have a canon love interest, so why the heck not?
Rouge I just enjoy the the thought of her being aro. She flirts and stuff, but sometimes just as a 'tactic', and sometimes just I think for fun, but that doesn't necessarily mean she has real crushes or wants a romantic relationship. Another case of 'hey why not, it's fun!'
Bow and Glimmer (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) - I am like 98% sure the writers were trying to make these two an end game couple. But they gave such IMMENSELY POWERFUL platonic vibes from the very beginning, and kept it that way the whole show as far as I'm concerned, so I read them as platonic all the way to the end. And I loved that about them! Both are such fun and cool characters in their own respect, and they got to have an epic friendship that was given time and weight! Also I am so so into platonic m/f epic duos. They feel so rare, and they make my brain so happy. xD
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