#aspec character

Colorpicking Aro/Ace flags from Jughead Adaptations Part three: 1st Asexual Flag

✅ narrator is probably demisexual, but hasn’t thought about it

✅ romance-repulsed aroallo deuteragonist

✅ a time mage who solves problems with knives

✅ an angel with suspiciously infernal abilities

✅ dragonfolk

✅ unintentional allegory for having grown up queer in a conservative household

Balances

When renegade Demonslayer Akieryon crashes to earth in front of a human, he doesn’t know what to expect. Getting taken home into the heart of not-a-sorcerer Tempest’s life only boggles his preconceptions more. For the first time in his long life, Akieryon has the freedom to do whatever he wants. He throws himself into political intrigue and petty concerns with equal abandon. Family is what you make of it, and Akieryon wants as much as he can get. He just won’t worry too much about that thing his new friend(?) Tempest obviously isn’t telling him.

Half cozy, half unhinged, and thoroughly queer, Balances is a story of coming home.

Available for preorder now

Yes of course! I love repulsed characters because I like making them dramatic

When They're Love Repulsed

"Absolutely not! We do not use such language in this household!" "I don't even live here!" "Doesn't matter. Honorary household members get time out too."

"I think love is very important. Especially for developing children." "Ew! Why would you expose those innocent children to such a thing?!"

"Isn't that couple so sweet? There so in love!" "And for a second I was willing to tolerate their nose touching. Now look what you did."

"I think I'm in love." "I think you hit your head." "Well when would I have done that?" "I don't know. Should I hit it again?"

Happily contributing to the conversation until someone brings up love. Then they slowly phase out. Going silent to slipping on their headphones to walking out of the room entirely

Being tempted to spray that one person who's in love with someone new every other week with a water hose to get them to stop talking

“I love you!” “Please stop.”

A friend comes over and suggests they watch a hallmark romance film. They briefly consider kicking them out for even thinking they would want to watch such a thing

Their friend suggested this song they claim to be obsessed with now while they go on a road trip. The second they heard the word love, they instantly cut it off. “Hey! I thought you were gonna give it a chance!” “I can’t take it.”

Feeling physically disgusted when someone starts talking about what being in love feels like before eventually saying “Can we please talk about something else?”

“You know, you don’t have to be like that about it…” “Right. And I don’t change my entire personality to be based around something that makes someone near me uncomfortable the second they’re within earshot of me.”

She comes out as aromantic in episode 65:

oh she sounds so cool oh my gosh i wish podcasts were easier for me to listen to but. Auditory processing disorder is mean. A PET SPIDER CALLED EDGAR <33333

Anyways thanks for the snippet. Very cute and sweet made me tear up 10/10 no notes.

I just absolutely love writing some fluff with our aroace king. So I really hope you enjoy this little image for him ^^

summary: dancing with Alastor is something not everyone can say they have done before.

The first time Alastor asked you to dance, it was a shock to be sure.

You weren't the best when it came to dancing, but Alastor was patient and waited for you to be comfortable in the position you'd dance in.

It was fun to say the least, even if you had accidentally stepped on his feet on more than one occasion. He wouldn't be mad, but would limp a little after the session.

Alastor always found it endearing how much you would try to learn the dances he would show you, and would try your hardest to not step on his feet. The latter part was harder said than done.

Sometimes, if he was in a good mood, he would cuddle up to you when you're dancing, with his head in your shoulder and arms wrapped around your shoulders.

He would never admit it, but these dancing sessions would remind him of his mother. You remind him of her, with how much you care for him and how much you show your love to him.

You had always seen Alastor as a son figure, he reminded you of when you were human and how much you wanted a child. You did get what you wanted, but it was in Hell that you felt you found the family you've always wanted.

Alastor thought it was sweet, that whenever he was down or showing signs of being aggressive, you'd always be there for him, and have always calmed him down, but would always respect his wishes to be left alone if he feels he's gonna snap.

The dances you and Alastor share, are memories the two of you would hold dear to each other for as long as you possibly can.

Heyo! Have you watched Koisenu Futari (恋せぬふたり, Two people who can't fall in love) yet? It's a great series, just 8 episodes long! I binged it in one day :) [smiley]

It focuses on two aromantic asexual people living together. This is a little appreciation post, containing some thoughts that it evoked in me as an aroace.

If you don't want spoilers, please don't read!

It's so relatable how Sakuko keeps blaming herself all throughout the show… Insecurity stemming from societal expectations that dictate romance is for everyone, and that people who don't date are somehow "failing" in life; I think this affects allos as well.

When I broke off my romantic relationship, I too felt like it had been my fault, for not having been a good enough partner, for not being able to love them in the same way they loved me.

To finally learn that you are not "defective", that there's other people like you…! I love how the two MCs don't grieve their lack of attraction; Sakuko is perfectly happy discovering she's aroace. She and Takahashi are living their "best life" together.

Sure, many aroaces do wish they were allo, and that needs to be represented too, but this series to me really shined a light over why they want that: it's because amatonormativity is rampant in the world, not because lacking attraction is inherently sad. The main conflicts in the series stem from the clash between allo society and the aroace experience, after all. I think that's neat! It gave me a good dose of aroace joy—while still showing the hurts that come with it, realistically—and I really needed it.

I didn't expect her to come out to her family so soon, but whoa, that was intense. Her mother's negative reaction is what all people who exclude a-spec people from the LGBTQIA+ community should see, to understand that we face the same issues they do.

I haven't come out to my parents as aroace yet, and watching this made me realize how awful it actually feels to be in the closet. I somehow hadn't realized I am. I've always felt safe coming out to them as other things, as bisexual back in the day, and as trans non-binary.

It might be because my confidence disappeared when they reacted badly both times, but this coming out feels almost impossible.

Comparing it to coming out as bi, it's really not that different: if you're bi, you're promiscuous and date too many people; if you're aroace, you're a prude and cold-hearted. If you break away from the status quo, you're wrong either way.

But at least, most people do eventually understand the bi experience, if they understand same-gender attraction, and fuse it with straightness, even though it's a flawed method.

With aros and aces, instead, it's such an alien concept for an allo, which makes it way harder to come out and have to explain to them how to deconstruct allo-amatonormativity. It's exhausting. Thankfully, there's people like Kazu who are actually willing to learn about us. That gives me hope.

I feel like it's super eye-opening to find out the concept of romance didn't even exist in the past. Pretty sure that in Europe, it originated during the Middle Ages from the ideal of chivalry. So it's really just a social construct, and opting out of it shouldn't be so controversial!

It's just a set of pointless, annoying rules like having to kiss eachother, having to say "I love you", and doing it all a set amount of times, otherwise it's not good enough. What if we don't want to? What if it doesn't come natural to us? If it's just a social construct, fuck it, I'm not adhering to that! We do whatever makes us happy!

Even in the series itself, Sakuko too goes through a heartbreak, even if it's not the romantic kind: she valued her friendship and future cohabitation with Chizuru above all else, but Chizuru abandoned her, because of romantic love. It's not true that aroaces have it easy.

Like our MC, we have to deal with fear that we'll come off flirty when we're just being friendly, confusion over concepts that we feel we should understand, shame over the fact that we're different, fear of loneliness, frustration and pain that we'll always come second to our friends' romantic partners, or even trauma from a relationship or sexual encounter that we didn't really want. I could go on and on.

These last scenes really got to me. Especially the second one… I admit that I cried, when she had to turn her down, and it seemed like her aromanticism had ruined their relationship. It hurts that the way I am could seriously harm someone I care about. It hurts that most people work differently and that they can't help it, and that we can't help it either. I don't like being put in that position, to cause someone a heartbreak. I have with my ex, and had to watch them spiral down… It was horrible.

Still, I wouldn't change my orientation for the world. I'm confident in my identity, I love being aroace.

In the end, we can all reach our full potential, reach a point where we feel fulfilled and that we're living our best life, find ourselves a family if it's what we want, have our dream job and house. Being aroace doesn't condemn us to a life of unhappiness. That's what this series left me with by the end; it gave me so much hope for my future.

(I'm aware I'm coming off as a bit toxically positive here haha, sorry if I'm striking a bad chord; I'm just in a really good period right now, and riding this wave for as long as I can! Hopefully I can rub it off someone else as well.)

That said, I really loved this j-drama, it was funny and relatable and emotional, I wished it had lasted longer! It seems like the author isn't even aroace herself, so I'm amazed at how good the representation was! So much thought and research has gone into it, and it shows; the result is amazing.