#aspec characters

You wanna ship canonically aspec characters because “aro/ace people can still date/have sex”? Okay, then. LET’S DO IT.  I wanna see an aromantic character with an alloromantic love interest. I wanna see that confession of undying love and the moment when the aro character says they will never feel the same way—not romantically.

I wanna see the asexual character with their allosexual partner. I wanna see that moment when the ace characters tries sex with their partner for the first time because they want to make them happy only to realize that they are 100% sex repulsed.

I wanna see the two demiromantics who don’t even know if what they feel is romantic attraction, but they adore each other and just want to make healthy snacks together and destroy each other at Mario Kart.

I wanna see the two aces who love sensual affection and are figuring out what they define as sexual or not.

I wanna see the romance + sex neutral aroace who happily and consensually does whatever makes their partner happy…but their partner still struggles with feeling undesired. 

Sister Carpenter

From The Silt Verses

Canonically aspec, generally accepted as aroace

[Image Description: black text on white. I think I told him, “Thanks.”

I probably could’ve said, ‘I know that I’m smart. I know I’m all of these things and more. What does that have to do with you, or you and I?’ 

I could have made it extremely clear that I had known in my heart, since adolescence and self-awareness came bearing down upon me like a flood, that I didn’t want the same things he wanted, and that if I was certain of any part of myself, I could say right now that I never would want them. 

But I wasn’t certain about myself back then, and I still believed there must be something wrong with me, and even if I had been confident or articulate enough to explain who I was, what I did and didn’t want from other people…

…I still don’t think I owed him that.]

Jonathan Sims

From The Magnus Archives

Canonically asexual 

and

if an underrepresented group asks you to be respectful about a character’s identity, you should respect that character’s identity

Do you want to read some queer fantasy literary fiction?

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 isn’t telling him.

Angels! (One angel.) Demons! (A few.) An aro time mage! An unintentional allegory for having grown up queer in a conservative household!

Who is this book for?

People who like books with low-to-medium stakes and a moderate pace

People who enjoy Frankenstein (book), Twelfth Night, and The Hands of the Emperor

People who want more aspec characters in stories that aren’t about being aspec

People who like unusual angels

Me, honestly

AVAILABLE NOW!

ebook for purchase or on Kobo Plus

paperback via Bookshop dot org

Or! Request it from your local library! (May not be possible in all regions, alas, but it’s worth trying: I deliberately chose to publish with Kobo and Ingram Spark so libraries could get it.)