Victor Vale is really important to me as asexual rep.
The only person he ever had a crush on was the girl that fit his specific definitions of perfect. Smart, likeable, nice to him. In order to stay within that “top of the class” role he’d been thrown into, she was a naturally obvious choice.
But she was taken by someone better.
Taken by Eli. Unwaveringly full of a million defensive layers yet still Victor finds common ground, a kindred spirit. In his friendship and eventual obsession with Eli lies something far deeper than simply desire- it’s the corrupting need to understand.
There’s no big reveal about Victors sexuality, it isn’t really discussed. Yet as an ace person, something resonates. Indifference to physical action doesn’t mean a complete lack of feeling. A meaningless action can be rendered priceless for the moments in between. Glances, whispered words, the sensation of touch.
It all comes back to that soul crushing yearning for mutual understanding. To find someone just like him, that’s what Victor wants. Someone to know his faults and his desires, to share in them.
This is an extremely nuanced reading but as someone that struggles to find media representation of my emotional processing, it’s a comfort to see a kindred want expressed. I yearn for more ace rep with individual depth. To love deeply is not always so straightforward.
