#aro representation

**DISCLAIMER: I am not upset with the devs for doing this and I still think the vast majority of this game does a wonderful job with its (other) queer rep + supporting the game is a net positive for queer people, indonesians, and the coral reefs

on one hand I'm really happy about this, but on the other hand I'm super torn...

from the beginning, the devs heavily implied that the reason agung wouldn't be romanceable was because he wasn't interested in romance, period, and I'm really sad on behalf of my romance repulsed aro and sex repulsed ace siblings.

while I understand retconning one of your own character's personalities/backstories esp for a game like this, I wish they'd add more explicitly aro rep to the game. they are so many characters that they wouldn't even have to add new ones, they could just give olan (mercook), slammet (mer rancher), eddie (betty's off-island kid), or even senja and axel a little extra dialogue that explicitly references a lack of desire to date anyone.

(raina I totally get tho! people have wanted to "rescue" her from pufferfish from day one and I'm celebrating for the raina enjoyers<3)

and like. you gotta admit, this IS a game where one of the main objectives is to date people. obviously you don't HAVE to date any of the NPCs, but they wanted dating, marriage, and having kids to be core gameplay elements from the start. so I understand asking the fandom for characters they'd like to be dateable and listening to the ones they're the most interested in dating. it's a completely understandable move that the vast majority of the fandom will love, especially considering we used to have two romanceable mermaids but only one romanceable merman (semeru).

Personally my biggest issue with most (non oriented) aroace rep is how insincere or mystifying it feels. Sometimes it feels like the label aro/ace is js tossed on a character with no love interest but no indicator that they are aro/ace for the brownie points. There are characters either not being treated as aroace and crazy ship baited(or getting a partner bc “they js hadn’t found the right person yet”/ “aros can still date”) or being treated as unfeeling or an outcast bc they don’t experience romantic attraction. I’ve never seen an example of aro/ace rep that doesn’t fall into those pitfalls that really goes into what it’s like to be aromantic in a romantic world until I read Lanxi Zhen.

Maybe not to you. You probably don't notice. You probably don't think about it.

But reading queer fics or queer series with numerous queer people--mostly cis gay and bi men, of course, but the occasional lesbian, the occasional trans or non-binary person--when there are queer friend groups, when there are queer communities, and not a single person is ace or aro, it is obvious that people don't think of ace and aro people as part of the same communities as "real" queer people.

You don't have to write about ace or aro people. Of course not.

Even though I'm late, I had to make something since I am ace myself and its always so cool to see ace rep in media.

I made some fan art for the two chars from @thepenumbrapodcast Jet and Tal who are ace and aro. So, even tho its ace week specifically, I included the colors of both flags.

It's a collage made with cut paper, pen, and marker. :)