#The Aro and Ace characters and relationships I'm gonna be making stuff for in the future is going to be SO SICK

[sammy8d257]

Listening to "Ace" by Angela Chen (audiobook ver.) rn

and my whole shit is getting shifted

like I've known I'm Aromantic and Asexual since I was in high school

But this book feels like a part of me is being healed and its so incredibly validating to hear other experiences and learn more about my own communities

It also makes me mad because its just like,

"FUCK I wish I knew this stuff way earlier. I wish it could be normailized. I wish people knew about Asexuality and not just stereotypes. And I wish other ace people connected more with their history."

I HIGHLY reccommend it to literally anyone

Please please please read and or listen to this book

[theonescreencap]

i'm not embarrassed to admit that like half the reason i got into one piece is because i'm aroace and i'd heard that luffy is (arguably, sort of, word of god) aroace, and i love the hc but i'm also happy that it has so much basis in canon & stuff oda has said. it feels like an intrinsic part of him and it's always depicted as a positive trait! something that makes luffy himself and it's a good thing

like, protagonists never get to be aro or ace unless the story revolves around them discovering their identity. it's really nice to have a character so full of life who knows so clearly who he is, who also knows that dating/romance/etc is not part of it at all. one piece has its misogyny issues but i get to watch it knowing that luffy is never gonna "get the girl" as a prize for anything and that his relationships with like robin and nami especially will stay platonic and important without having to become something "more"

his lack of interest isn't a tragedy because he doesn't give a shit what other people think of him, and even when it is part of a gag (like in amazon lily) the humor isn't coming from making fun of luffy for not experiencing attraction. he's not broken he's immune and i think that's so fucking based and funny. and the whole story is about friendship and found family because that's what's important to him! the aroace hc feels so correct to me and i'm so happy that one of the most popular manga characters ever is such blatant arguable rep

[urautismdiagnosis-wistie]

Ships hehe

BOATS (ships)

OK SO I won't tolerate anyone trashing aro ace people or queer platonic relationships or invalidating them, THAT OUT OF THE WAY TIME FOR HEADCANONSSS

barnacles and kwazii 🐻‍❄️💛🐱: I originally shipped them when I was like 12 lol

To me they're going to become a QPR and they mean the world to me.

I need to start actually posting my stories to showcase what's gonna happen BUT CMON GUYS THEY HAD AN ENTIRE EPISODE ABOUT THEM BEING A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP?!

Like I'm gonna be so real they were octopod POD mates. (Their rooms in the same bubble lol)

Kwazii is his ✨first mate✨

They're a married couple that doesn't realize it yet!I'm going to trauma bond them and no one can stop me. Cuz I've already done it 😎👍✨

They deeply trust eachother! I'm going to make barnacles be horrified that he could've almost lost kwazii after kwazii nearly died! Barnacles loves this silly cat man! Kwazii loves to be appreciated and make barnacles proud! They emotionally support eachother! Kwazii is going to have nightmares about the captain dying in a horrific way that totally doesn't relate to the intens psychological trauma I've given him! Barnacles wants to be useful and have someone to love but also someone to tell him its ok and that he doesn't have to be perfect or brave all the time! Kwazii wants to not be alone and prove himself to someone who truly sees the worth in him while being able to trust that they'd always stay loyal together! They have so many inside jokes and shared moments of near death experiences! Accordian music and shanties!

anyways onto SHELLINGTON AND DASHI AY AY AY AYYYY

Uhhh so I haven't posted their designs and my headcanons but yes Shellington is autistic to me (totally not me projecting but yall see the username. Ill get into why I think he's autistic on my character design post for him) and yes I think yk what? Maybe he was a little lonely and weird as a kid and yk what also? Maybe he does have some chronic pain too I dont make the rules (yes I do)

Anyways like shellington, I'm giving my baby issues and fears relating to not being like part of the group lol. Subconsciously anyways. And yk he found his people, the octonauts who value him and his interests and dont blame him for messing up lol and he likes himself as a person

(BTW he wouls totally try to adopt a cryptid like creature (new species!) abomination and name it Steve I already have an entire plot)

Do yall remember when they were sent to spend several weeks alone together in the midnight zone cuz I do

Regardless i think dashi just casually asked him ayyo wanna date and then he bluescreened LOL

As for dashi well, I'll get into her headcanons when I post her character design as well, but regardless she needs someone who understands and supports her passions without judgement yk?

She is so incredible,like photography, computer specialist, apparently technically a scientist, a surfer, able to pilot deep marine vehicles, got swallowed by a whale, did a flip from the manta ray while diving FRKM SEVERAL METWRS IN THE AIR INTO WAYER THAT WAS ABOUT TO HAVE LAVA POUR INTO IT???, and is a whole pilot now apaprently???

Like holy-

Anyways yeah dashi thinks shellington is an amazing single father with so much kindness and emotional intelligence and many many charming qualities ��

Shellington thinks dashi is Like actually a really really awesome person??? Like they both like organizing things!! Shes funny and smart!! They can both talk about eachothers interests and he likes to make her happy!! She's really cool and kind and helps him with stuff and she's super intelligent and charming! He just thinks she's oh so very cool. She's so confident and has kind eyes 🥰

Anyways yes

Btw just wanna say that tweak is like if u were aro ace to the max lolll shes just content with her life and friends lol

now for the penguin(s) in the room

ok so shes gonna be a plot relevant character in a story I've got in the works (The Oil RIg) it'll be a fun ride dw, but we love medic x depressed woman its great and yes I do think peso could pull any gal just by existing like straight up fight me on this fight me fIGHT ME-

ok not fight I'm not like that but I will stand on this hill till I die

but fr tho it was a whole telenovellahow they met omg- I'm talking the drama- thelore- thesoftmoments and the heartbreaking goodbyes- not to worry tho they do meet again and are like long distance(with tons of visiting) lol they have a very healthy relationship tho considering that shes like idk, ig fresh out of a like, very unhealthy environment

i ain't gonna spoil anything rn tho lol but she Gon save his life and he gon save hers and its gonna be beautiful<3 <3 <#

[raavenb2619]

I enjoyed posting my reactions to Koisenu Futari, so I think I'm going to do that going forward with media I'm consuming as I feel like it. (These will tend to be more unpolished reactions and surface level analysis than polished essay deep dives.)

The Murderbot Diaries, book 1: All Systems Red (spoilers under the cut)

Chapter 1

Murder, entertainment, and capitalism all in the first sentence

Failure at being a heartless killing machine is an interesting juxtaposition through an aro lens. Failure to meet societal expectations of normalcy versus failure to fulfill societal arophobic tropes

Getting the vibe this narrator is not gonna be the most reliable

PoV character is an android, so there’s likely to be themes of demihumanity and in-betweenness

Mensah is struggling against bureaucracy in the emergency, so bureaucracy is likely another theme, since it’s somewhat interchangeable with society. Could also lean more towards questions of power, agency, autonomy, as an aro/robot thing.

“It had three compartments: one big one in the middle for the human crew and two smaller ones to each side for cargo, supplies, and me.” Dehumanization/objectification

Cracked governor module as closeted aromantic, hmm.

Are HubSystem and MedSystem part of the PoV character, or external to them? Getting a little Ancillary Justice vibes, which I need to reread and then read the rest of the series.

The PoV character is having to tend to their wounds and healing on their own, which has nonpartnering vibes

Well, no, they’re just second priority.

Yep, unreliable narrator. You are nervous about your governor module. (Hm, very loose connection to Little Lost Robot by Isaac Asimov)

Demihumanity as valuable, because it has agency/free will that pure roboticism would lack

Casual polyamory. Nice.

A “glitch” in HubSystem? This definitely won’t be relevant to the plot later, lol

Chapter 2

Ah, capitalism.

Mm, yeah, autism.

Ah, surveillance capitalism and a lack of privacy. My favorite.

… I’m gonna need to make a relationship diagram to keep track of all that.

“It was a low-stress group, they didn’t argue much or antagonize each other for fun, and were fairly restful to be around, as long as they didn’t try to talk or interact with me in any way.” Lol

“She turned to me with one of those abrupt movements that I had taught myself not to react to.” Autism.

“I said, “I need to check the perimeter,” and managed to turn and leave the crew area in a totally normal way and not like I was fleeing from a bunch of giant hostiles.” XD

“I’d watched three episodes of Sanctuary Moon and was fast forwarding through a sex scene” XD. (Ace sex-repulsed robot can be an acephobic trope, but I’ve heard good things about this series so I’m expecting it won’t be)

“Though I think that even if I did have sex-related parts I would find them boring.)” Yeah okay there’s some ace robot nuance.

Chapter 3

Ah, buddy, you could probably use some therapy.

A second HubSystem glitch. Interesting. To what extent is HubSystem non-diegetically a person?

Chapter 4

“Imitative Human Bot Units are . . . partially constructed from cloned material.” Set up for identity crisis, and/or asexual reproduction jokes

It/its as probably dehumanizing, but could be reclaimed at some point

That’s a lot of combat in a very short amount of time

Hacking via data port ties to loss of autonomy

Chapter 5

So far, an aspec/robot reading of this feels…a little uninteresting? I don’t think it’s that it’s tasteless, it’s just…there’s lots of interesting stuff to say about Asimov’s writing, or DADoES, and about halfway through it doesn’t feel like there’s much to analyze or interpret. An aro robot on itself doesn’t have much room for nuance; the interesting parts of media analysis are usually what’s hidden under the surface, and so far it doesn’t feel like there’s much.

Interesting backstory with the hacked governor module

“I was still watching them through the camera, because it was easier than looking directly at them.” Autism

Good on you, Mensah

Chapter 6

“It’s wrong to think of a construct as half bot, half human. It makes it sound like the halves are discrete, like the bot half should want to obey orders and do its job and the human half should want to protect itself and get the hell out of here. As opposed to the reality, which was that I was one whole confused entity, with no idea what I wanted to do. What I should do. What I needed to do.” Mm. That’s giving thoughts, but I don’t know what they are yet.

Getting some more roboticism, but still feels a bit thin. I’m not sure, maybe that’s just me.

Too expensive to destroy. Interesting.

Chapter 7

Getting adopted/found family vibes, which I’m a fan of

Chapter 8

Yep.

“This was what I was supposed to want. This was what everything had always told me I was supposed to want.” Mm.

“I don’t know what I want. I said that at some point, I think. But it isn’t that, it’s that I don’t want anyone to tell me what I want, or to make decisions for me. That’s why I left you, Dr. Mensah, my favorite human. By the time you get this I’ll be leaving Corporation Rim. Out of inventory and out of sight.” Mm yeah. Yeah.

[alexandraisyes]

Give us thoughts on Moon x Ruin No rush!

Yeah so like they're canon trust

(My friend clipped this for me I'm sobbing. I haven't actually seen the episode yet)

OKAY SO YEAH THOUGHTS??? THOUGHTS???

I'm actually so fucking insane about them and have BEEN insane about them for MONTHS. @dragoncxv360 has been my partner in crime, we've been working on our first Moon/Ruin fic for the past month or so. I wanna make character cards/designs for it before we release it. And it's gonna be so fucking good grrrr. We have a second one planned too, but that one is going to be Moon/Ruin/Solar, so not quite the same.

ANYWAYS headcanons under the readmore

God I could rot about them forever. Ellery helped me drag some of our headcanons back up so I could answer this.

Ruin is super touchy feely and Moon initially is not and finds touch from most people uncomfortable (Sun and Lunar being exceptions) but he eventually finds that touch can be really comforting, so he'll spend the day curled up around Ruin, purring while he dozes.

Moon isn't a big fan of food but he enjoys baking for Ruin, because his rays always do a cute lil spin when he eats something he likes and Moon adores it

They also totally dance alone in the kitchen at 3 am when neither of them can sleep

Ruin sings a lot, has a really good voice for like broadway and stuff, which Moon enjoys a lot. But Ruin is always so ecstatic whenever he catches Moon singing to himself, he has such a soft voice for lullabies and getting children to sleep. But he's super shy and will only sing for the kids, he stops if any adults are around

However, Moon will hum lullabies for Ruin when he's having a migraine. (Ruin gets migraines from his sun and moon splitting every now and then. They're still a part of him and sometimes they try to peek out for one reason or another, although they're mostly dormant. It gives him really bad migraines.)

Moon likes to mess with Ruin's rays. It's kind of a stim for him that he'll do without thinking about it. Ruin doesn't mind

Ruin still uses his old battery pack even though he's in an upgraded body, so sometimes his battery will stutter out or get drained really easily, causing him to faint. The first time this happened Moon panicked and thought he just died on the spot and had the computer run diagnostics. Because Ruin had to be plugged in for the diagnostics tho he woke up (which also startled Moon)

I've always liked to headcanon Moon with lowgrade depressive schizoaffective disorder, which is a psychotic disorder, since he's admitted to experiencing long term psychosis, but he's clearly self aware about it and the symptoms are so severe that they keep him from functioning. After him and Ruin became friends, Ruin started helping him manage it so he wasn't alone with it. Even though Ruin doesn't have experience with the disorder, it reminds him of how his friends would act and how he would help them when the virus in his dimension started taking root.

Both Ruin and Moon struggle with making connections to others (especially Ruin who has ASPD), and they're both under the aro/ace umbrella, so even in aus where they are dating, they see each other more like close friends (with potential benefits) rather than lovers. Although they may use the term to distinguish their relationship from other relationships in their lives, even if they don't necessarily feel/have limited romantic attraction for each other.

Ruin deals with phantom pain (partially from his rusted battery which scrambles his internal sensors a bit bc it's not supposed to be there, but mostly psychological), and Moon helps him with it. Moon made him a cane for really bad days when Ruin's processors just won't do what they need to and he has trouble with balance and orientation.

When Moon was rebuilt Monty accidentally fucked up his optics, and so he had to wear glasses for a long time until he was able to get them fixed. After he got them fixed he just popped out the lenses and kept wearing them (partially because Ruin commented that they made him look more like *his* Moon, rather than Nexus or any other Moon out there. - "his" being possessive and not literally Ruin's moon that is part of him)

Ruin is constantly stealing Moon's clothes. They're way too big on him, but he will literally wear Moon's turtlenecks like a sweater dress. He doesn't give a fuck.

Ruin is still really into playing games of his own invention, even if he isn't having to pretend to be insane anymore. It was how he kept himself entertained in his own dimension, and so occasionally Moon finds himself going on a wild goose chase just to appease Ruin's sudden whimsy.

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

[cushfuddled]

Thank you so much for speaking up about Sherlock & Co because I very nearly got tricked by the "sooooooo canon!!" buzz. I guess it's been long enough for tumblr to get amnesia about TJLC. As Holmes-inspired stuff goes, back to my toxic yaoi House/Wilson rewatch I guess. That might be bait but what a tasty bucket of chum.

Thanks for the ask! Hope you don't mind a rant haha! This got me all fired up because AUGH, the memories!

I think the thing that frustrates me most is that from my brief stint in the Sherlock & Co tag, it looks like we're STILL at the point as a fandom (and a culture, I guess) where it's socially acceptable to claim it's MORE progressive for Sherlock and John to NOT be gay.

I was on the Sherlock BBC train by the winter of 2010, and I watched this argument evolve in real time from the don't-ask-don't-tell "being gay is fine but don't shove it in my face" fish into the faux-progressive "our culture is so oversexualized that modeling healthy, intimate male friendships is more important than canon gay rep" land mammal abomination. The fact that both these arguments land queer fans and creators in the same gilded cage kinda gives the game away: Queer relationships are fine...so long as they stay out of sight and out of mind. A gay side character can be forgiven, but the main characters must remain staunchly platonic lest the Gay Sex Stuff poison an otherwise pure, healthy, and culturally aspirational friendship.

Even queerplatonic relationships are seen as deviant. Other erroneous character details are sprinkled around for flavor, but any clarification on ace or aro relationships are treated as unnecessary at best and burdensome at worst—like a detour which would weigh down the story. It's the "ew gay cooties" fire poker approach in a utilitarian hat: If people can't label the queer content regressive in some way, then it's framed as extraneous to the narrative. Suddenly the plot becomes a perfect crystal, compounded and polished until all but the most vital story beats remain. Of course silly relationship details wouldn't penetrate this barrier of Pure Plot.

Except that's a total fabrication. These stories always make time for extraneous gags and flings and miscellaneous side quests. They nurture long-form friendships and rivalries under short-form plots. And creators are happy to play jump rope with the canon material right up until queerness enters the chat. They play it off like their hands are tied re: canonicity and relevance when really they just...don't want to make their characters queer. Which is perfectly fucking fine. I just wish more fans and creators were able to go "eh, I like these two as best friends and nothing else, so that's what I wrote" rather than make value judgements on people who WOULD prefer a canon queer relationship.

I haven't seen any kind of hand-wringing bullshit from the Sherlock and Co. creators as of yet, which gives me hope they'll just be honest about their preferences when the time comes (rather than try and spin their adaptation as something revolutionary in its platonic approach).

Like you said...It's also hard to watch a new round of fans rally their hopes around a Sherlock Holmes adaptation. My gut has absolutely led me astray before, but as far as I'm concerned, the Sherlock and Co. vibes are a world away from canon Jonklock. It's a great podcast and I'm sure it'll continue to accumulate fans. But it's not gonna be Gay. And I would loveeee to see people take that at face value I guess.

[spyroforlife]

not gonna reblog the actual post I saw because I don't feel like derailing and I will always just give people room to be haters on their own blogs, I understand the venting, I do. But it's always so funny to me when I see posts like "just let this ace/aro character be ace/aro you weird fuckin shippers!!"

because like

babes

they still are

they literally are whatever they are in canon. That is always gonna be the same. The representation is not being taken away from you in any way whatsoever because other fans are doing what fans do and making silly lil shipping drawings and fics, because they just personally find shipping fun and will do it to literally whoever they find interesting and want to imagine in situationships

The creator of your fav ace blorbo is not gonna go on Tumblr.com and look in the fandom tags and see a drawing of them making out with another character and go "hmm you know what. I dig that more actually. So asexuality retconned, he's gonna fuck (character) on screen now <3"

That doesn't happen. Can seeing the ship art be off-putting if you can't see the character being like that? Of course! Yes! Not denying it! But like. They're not changing anything about the character in canon. It's not some kind of problem in fandom that needs to be fixed. Shipping just happens, pretty sure it's a goddamn rule of the Internet.

But I promise you, there is still gonna be a variety of fans who would MUCH RATHER actually focus on that asexuality and/or aromanticism and discuss that, and portray it in their works. You can follow those people specifically, and join in their discussions! And who knows, it might get more people talking about it, so you'll see more of what you actually wanna see with the character.

It's just like. Idk. I get complaining but I just start feeling itchy as soon as it takes a turn into any sort of "so other people SHOULDN'T do x/y/z with blorbo actually" because okay hit the brakes, fandom is just for fun, it's a hobby, shipping is just playing around in imagination land and who cares if people do dumb or impossible things. You can dislike it, you can want to avoid it, but trying to tell other people what they can and can't do with fictional characters??

idk man. just rubs me the wrong way I guess. And in the end I'm just ALSO bitching about a fandom thing on my own blog and this ultimately doesn't matter too much to me because I DO have a job and fandom is just a hobby for me.

But I guess I just really don't see people shipping aroace characters as a big deal, because let's be real shipping has ALWAYS been about ignoring canon sexualities, this is nothing new. People will literally just smash together whoever they find hottest, or the most fascinating, or the most fucked up, or whatever tickles their fancy. And what's happening in some weird lil corner of fandom just isn't gonna have any impact on what actually happens with the canon character relationships, and it was never about that anyway, so. who cares and let people have fun. I promise when you go back to whatever media your blorbo is from, they're still gonna be their cool asexual/aromantic selves, because canon isn't fanon

signed, an asexual who gets amusement from dumb ships because I know I personally would never do this stuff but it's fun living it through random fictional characters <3

[oscconfessions]

Sigh... I'm gonna add my two cents about the Balloon arospec drama(I'm AroAce BTW) and by my two cents I mean I'll mention it two times and just talk about something else related. I'll also be providing some knowledge about AroAceness and all that.

For those of you who don't know,

Aro: Aromantic - Little to no romantic attraction.

Ace: Asexual - Little to no sexual attraction.

Aro+Ace are spectrums and aren't just "every Aro person doesn't feel any kind of romantic attraction" or "every Ace person can't feel sexual attraction." I feel as tbough people forget that all the time so I wanted to remind you lot haha.

I'm noticed this kind of drama a few times, where people argue about a character on where they are on the AroAce spectrum. It's difficult for me to put what I think into words here, but if a character(either canon AroAce or not) doesn't have a canon placement on the spectrum then whatever, go wild.

To help with my previous statement, I'll use SakiK from... SaikiK. People generally agree he's AroAce, yet people argue about where he is on that spectrum(mainly the Aromantic part). Since it's not ever stated where he is on that spectrum(or even if he is AroAce but SHHHSHSHHSH 🤫🤫), everyone has their own interpretation of it.

I believe it should be the same for Balloon, unless Balloon comes on screen and says "I am *insert very specific thing here* " as he points to a picture of the Aro spectrum then its to to you. Obviously, don't make him a sex crazed fiend or constantly searching for love, you eejit, but it should be up to interpretation.

A little off-topic here, sorry, but I wanted to bring up umbrella terms in both the Aro and Ace spectrums(I'm included ace because eh why not! This is for my people who HC Balloon as Aro AND Ace 🙏🙏)

Here are some terms under both the aro and ace spectrums. I feel as though you guys and many, MANY others tend to forget that there are umberlla terms for AroAce. I'll define them below:

Ace umbrella:

Aceflux: someone whose sexual orientation fluctuates but generally stays on the asexual spectrum

Greysexual: only experience sexual attraction some of the time, and sometimes not at all.

Demisexual: An individual who does not experience sexual attraction until after a close emotional bond has been formed.

Aro umbrella:

Aroflux: someone whose romantic orientation fluctuates but generally stays on the aromantic spectrum

Greyromantic: Some may feel a strong emotional connection with others but do not desire romantic relationships, while others may feel a weak romantic attraction to some people but not all.

Demiromantic: An individual who does not experience romantic attraction until after a close emotional bond has been formed.

Now, there are MANY more, feel free to add in the replies or the reblogs (o: !

Also, my apologies that this post was very long! Also also, my personal opinion on Balloons arospec thing? Idfk, lmao. TBH, this was kinda an excuse to just talk about stuff I like and am interested in so... 👍I've seen the tweet where one of the people who worked on II said yes, Balloon is meant to be Aro, but I couldn't tell you if they went into specifics about it. Sorry for constantly saying AroAce instead of just aro for Balloon, I felt like it was still important to include all my asexuals out there and educate others about it.

(BTW! Any inaccurate info, PLEASE, PLEASE correct in the replies)

Anyway!

TL;DR:

If a character who is just stated to be AroAce(not demi, grey, flux ETC) and never has their place on the spectrum explained whatsoever, it's okay to have a little fun experimenting with it IYKWIM. As I've stated, we all have our own interpretation of the AroAce character and there's no point arguing about it and getting mad because that's fucking stupid, unless they start actively getting rid of the AroAce rep then burn them to the stakes! /j

I know how wild you mother fuckers can be, so don't shank me please. If you disagree, take a deep breath and remain calm because getting all pissy about this isn't gonna do shit. Try to go about it calmly and reasonably. <3

I'd love to see others' opinions on this, remember to be respectful! 🩵

.

[gaypolls]

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there is a limit of 12 answers for polls, and on this blog one of those answers will always be 'show results,' to allow for people that the poll doesn't apply to to see without skewing data. so in reality you have a maximum of 11.

there's also an 80-character limit on the options

SO, if you go over those limits, know that I will take it into my own hands to decide which answers to omit and/or how to re-word it to fit the limit.

even otherwise, expect that the wording of your submission may be slightly altered in order to be more inclusive (when it doesn't affect the data), or because i think you missed an option that you probably meant to include, or just to make it sound less clunky. if you have an issue with any changes upon posting, i'm happy to hear you out.

currently there is no wait time, but if things go as expected, soon enough it'll likely be about a 4-5 day wait between the time you submit and the time it gets posted

if your poll is addressing a very small group, don't be surprised or angry when the 'see results' poll is the biggest. that needs to be there to keep data from being skewed by anyone's curiosity.

Base Guidelines For Submitting:

poll must be related to gayness in some way. it doesn't have to be directed exclusively at gay people, but it should center same-gender attraction. if you have a poll in mind to direct specifically at bisexuals, there's @mspecpolls

it CAN be a general LGBT poll, but if it's specific to something that has nothing to do with gay attraction, you're better off submitting to another blog. there's @transgenderpolls for trans stuff and @aspecpolls for ace/aro stuff.

it CAN be directed at a specific type of gay person, such as gay men, lesbians, specifically trans lesbians, nonbinary mlm, gay poc, disabled wlw, etc - literally you can address any specific gay group you want, just make sure to say so.

...this DOES include 'cis gay men/women/people' but tbqh you're gonna have to provide a good reason to be excluding trans people from the poll

in general if you want to explicitly exclude people who have a nonconforming relationship with gender, you better explicitly say so AND have a good reason. otherwise it'll be assumed that all sorts are included and if your options don't reflect that, i will change them or reject the poll.

it CAN relate to sex (i expect many polls here will be), just try to be tasteful about it. like, as long as it sounds like you're trying to collect data rather than arouse people lol

What would make me NOT post a submission:

as mentioned previously, if it's excluding subgroups without a good reason

if it's an opinion poll about the validity of any particular type of gay person. "validity" is a moot topic and i'm not going to encourage it, and in any case i'd like the focus of this blog to be about recording experiences (real, undeniable, forever in stone) rather than opinions (always changing, meaningless)

pride discourse polls, lol

anything that tries to pit issues against each other. no "which intercommunity issue is more important to you? ableism? racism?" like cmon

if it's just way too niche and would make a pointless poll. if a poll is "who's your favorite lgbt character" and then you've got 11 options from different TV shows, you gotta know that most of the ppl who see that poll will NOT have seen ALL those shows, so they'll really just be voting for the show that they know. it's just dumb.

if it's something like "gay people: do you like pineapple on pizza?" or some other question that doesn't actually have anything to do with being gay. if you wanna send something like this, make your case for why it's relevant that the poll is directed at gay people.

if it's some other obviously offensive shit, obviously. no racism or whatnot here.

FAQ:

Who counts as gay?

Like most of these guidelines I'll continue the same sentiment from the trans polls blog: We self-define here. But I will stress answering in good faith and understanding what any given poll is asking and what definitions they're using. If you're, say, nonbinary and bisexual in a way that makes all your attraction gay, or you're gay in a very specific way (like nb4nb), or you call yourself gay bc you're mostly gay but you're technically bisexual, or you're definitely homosexual but don't actually like to call yourself gay, etc, it'll likely just depend on the poll. It's totally up to you to decide if it includes you or not, or you can always ask if you want to be sure.

Though if it's not explicitly stated that the poll excludes transmasc lesbians or transfem gays, or other trans/nonbinary gay people, you should still for sure assume it includes you.

Why isn't there an option for X?/You missed an option.

Sometimes I may genuinely miss an option, but 9 times out of 10 the lack of the option is either due to the poll limits on tumblr, or because it goes against the point of the poll. For example, if the question begins with "If you're in a relationship," then "i'm not in a relationship" isn't going to be an option. If the prerequisite of the poll doesn't apply to you, then what you click is "see results." If it's something a little less concrete, polls will usually include some kind of "other" option anyway.

Can you make more polls for X type of gay person?

*I* make polls based off what I'm personally curious about. If you're curious about something, submit it!

Do you know that some people are gay in very unconventional ways that your polls aren't accounting for?

Yes, I know. When there's room on the poll, I try to be inclusive, but often there's not, and that's really the main thing there. However, I will admit that a secondary reason is that when a poll is addressing exclusively gay people, the fact that they're only attracted to one gender is relevant, regardless of whether or not it would still be gay of them to be attracted to more.

Can you get rid of the 'see results' button? Or can you not include it on this particular poll? I only want X people to respond. This poll is ONLY for X people.

If a poll is on this blog, it's for everyone, questioning and simply curious people included. It's also not going to stop curious people from clicking if there's no 'see results' button. It ensures that the data doesn't get skewed, and gathering data is what polls are for. It doesn't hurt you to see a big see results bar. The data is still there. If the bar does wind up obscuring more significant data, that means the poll was addressing too small of a group to begin with. And that's NOT the end of the world. This blog is far from the only place where you can get information about other gay people's experiences.

[thebiggestvillianslairfan]

Lil update on my RC9GN fic, My acc will be accepted on the 25th, I have most of the plot points figured out and I'm working on the prologue (Not really sure how to format it so it delivers all that you should expect without shoving it down your troath)

And if any of yall like body horror, Yall are gonna L♡VE Adriel Sandoval...

Other changes I've made that I can share without spoilers are:

- Wu Fāng (Formerly known as Vicky if you saw my comment on the first post) Has had a total character change (Her old self was too boring for me) To give you an idea, She was inspired by Yun Jin from Genshin Impact, Both for her character and backstory

- added another OC! (For clarification, As of writing this, There will be 3 main oc characters, Though I might add one-shot characters for fun in certain chapters, Mostly for world-building purposes) Her names Toru, She's a fox in a human body, and she'll serve as a mentor character (It'll make more sense when you know Wu's backstory why she'd need a mentor) Her main role from a writing stand point is to give an idea how the witch society is and other witch stuff

- Romance wise, Julian x Randy will happen! It's gonna be a slow burn though, But in the sense that they slowly grow closer and closer until they (hopefully) naturally enter a romantic relationship near the end-ish (I will definitely write them being romantic dw!) As for Theresa, I'm planning as of currently to make her crush on Randy more of a "Inlove with the idea of him" But I do plan on making them good friends! As for my ocs, Wu is Aro/Ace, Adriel is too preoccupied with...Things. And Toru *would* hit on the first Ninja if she ever meet him but...I'll see if I ever cross that bridge.

That's all for now, If you have any questions, Pls lemme know!

[chenanigans]

Finished watching Gravity Falls all the way through. I'm gonna talk about spoilers for this 12 year old show now.

Also it came out on June 15th so basically this show is a gift to ME!!!!!!!!

First of all, that person was right; y'all couldn't handle Mabel. That

This comic is fucking accurate.

My favourite character is Mabel because I see herself a lot in me. She's just so full of joy, love, and whimsy and reminds me a lot of 12 year old me. She loves art and cute stuff and is weird and silly and I just love everything about her. When she has her moments, they really resonated with me. 🥰

The story was really sweet. I really enjoyed the themes of family, found family, loss, trust, and just everything. Sibling bond shit gets me because of how much I love my sister and how Dipper and Mabel interact makes me think of me and Nella and how silly and real we get with each other. Stan and Ford's relationship was really tragic and seeing how some things made sense for how each other acted really got to me too. 😭

The show is also just really, really fucking funny. I laughed so much about stuff in that show. Grunkle Stan and Mabel were so fucking funny. I love how the two of them just fucking punch shit. Also just saying whatever comes to their mind is just like me fr fr. Mabel and Stan just remind me of my ADHD ass whether it be hyperfocusing on specific shit or just struggling to live up to some standards while it feels like others are zooming ahead. 🥺

The villains all sucked so much! I liked them! Gideon was very ugh for me because Mabel basically being forced into a relationship she didn't want. 😑 Pacifica also just being mean to her for being weird sucked a lot because I was a weird girl and people used to be mean to me like that! 🥺 Bill sucked ass and my ass still can't understand the fuckability of him. I think I'm too ace/aro and sapphic to understand. 😅

Not enough black people in the show but I also learned from my American friend that not a lotta black people are in Oregon and also white supremacists love it there so maybe for the best. X'D

Also I don't care how gay they are, I do NOT respect the cops! ACAB!!!!!

🐸🐸🐸/5 on the frog rating scale because the only frogs I can remember were in Mabel's bubble prison and they were actually fucked up and evil after they were cute.

[erigold13261]

you are a wise person, and i have a question. how exactly do you describe asexuality and aromanticism? what makes it different?

I don't think I'm that wise, but I guess that is something about yourself that is hard to gauge without an outsider's perspective. (also this is probably gonna be a mess of a post and a bit all over the place because I kinda just woke up and have work soon, sorry lol)

Just by labels alone, asexuality is little to no SEXUAL attraction to others, while aromanticism is little to no ROMANTIC attraction to others. Technically you can still have some attraction (sexual or romantic) and still be aro and/or ace.

Though if you can't tell the difference from sexual and romantic attraction then those definitions don't really help all that much. I've seen plenty of posts and even heard people IRL say stuff like a marriage without sex is a loveless marriage or how once the fun in the sheets dies then the relationship is over.

Which can be a pretty big problem for aro/ace people who show love in different ways that might not be sexual (there are still aro/ace people who have sex either because of high libido, wanting to please their partners, or just liking sex without the attraction part which is another thing that other labels and non-queer people sometimes have a hard time understanding).

This is why, for me, it is hard to explain the difference between aromanticism and asexuality, because not everyone knows/cares about the difference between sex and romance.

I don't know if my lack of wanting to be touched by others is an asexual thing, an autistic thing, or a trauma response. Same with my lack of romantic interest being aromantic or autistic or an introvert thing. To me, these identities are really hard to define or even realize you are part of because it is the LACK of attraction.

I very much thought I was pansexual or bisexual for a very long time because I had that "I feel the same way to everyone" idea, only to later find out I just don't have any feelings and it's a 0+0=0 deal.

I'm pretty sure it was actually a microlabel that made me realize I was actually asexual! (which is why I am a defender of microlabels because I needed to know the specific way I felt was included under an umbrella term before I realized I was actually under that term. I still struggle calling myself trans even though genderfluid is under the trans umbrella).

But yea! I'm Aegosexual, meaning "individuals on the asexual spectrum who feel disconnected from the subject of arousal." You can have sexual desires but not related to you, or have no interest in being a part of the sexual fantasy you have yourself.

I only EVER had sexual desires for fictional characters and never had any kind of desire to be with a real life human at all (which I think is because of my touch aversion). And even with those characters, I never had fully detailed desires or fantasies. Nothing ever went all the way and it's mostly just cuddles and make out sessions.

Really I just put all these pieces together, found a microlabel that worked for me, and then worked backwards because my specific situation fit that label and got me to the Asexual label.

I basically knew by that point I was not sexually interested in others at all. So it wasn't a true surprise that I realized I was asexual. I was able to disconnect sex and romance pretty well so I thought I was homoromantic asexual (or biromantic, again, I didn't realize I was aromantic at the time so I was again doing the 0+0=0 thing but for romance this time lol).

I only recently started identifying as aromantic because I just realized I was okay in never having a relationship with another person. The only person I ever saw myself getting into a relationship with is my best friend and I think THAT was only because of heteronormitivity being pushed onto me that I very much got over.

It doesn't help that most of the time if I don't see a friend (or family member) in front of me/in my life for a while, I just sort of push them out of my mind and forget about them. It's an object permanence kind of situation I have where I just don't connect people to me unless I can see them/interact with them. Which probably helped me realize I wouldn't be good in a relationship as I would be distant and sucky as a partner.

That realization I would be a shit partner as well as only feeling compelled to be in a relationship because of heteronormitivity or because I didn't want to say no to a friend that asked really ended up sealing the deal for me later on that I was aromantic.

Okay, sorry for the personal analogies and stuff. But that is the best way I can describe aromanticism and asexuality. I know I kinda skated around the topics, but to me these labels are feelings, or lack of feelings, that I had to come to terms to and realize what they meant for me.

It also doesn't help that people have different ideas of what sex and romance are. What could be seen as a romantic dinner date between two people could end up just being a casual hang out between two friends. Or sex is just a fun past time instead of a super intimate moment between two people.

If you don't see stuff like hand holding or sex as intimate actions, or have any romance or sexual desires behind them, then you could be aromantic and/or asexual but others would think you aren't.

I know my sister thinks if you have sex you can't be asexual even though I've told her countless times that you can have a high libido, just like the action, or want to make your partner happy all without actually being sexually attracted to them and yet she still says if you have sex you can't be asexual.

It really is hard to define these labels (and other labels too honestly) because everyone has a different idea of what counts as sex or romance. But if you can disconnect sex and romance, and realize you have one or the other (or neither), then you have a better chance of realizing if you are or aren't asexual/aromantic.

For me it was thinking of my future and wondering if I would ever be okay marrying, having a relationship, having sex, doing all the stereotypical "loving" things, and I realized that no. I would not be able to do that.

I will admit, I am a selfish person. I have a hard time caring about other people, but when I do I care deeply about them. But even then, if they are not near me, or if they have something I can't relate to, I end up not actually caring. Though I do still try to be there for friends and family, and act like I do care, but I honestly don't.

I think that kind of mindset also helped me realize I was aroace. As I can't care enough to be a good partner or even try to get a partner, and I know I wouldn't care enough to put their needs over mine (or compromise on sex/romance/touching) at all.

Basically I felt an ick thinking of being in a relationship (whether it was a sexless one, a romanceless one, both, or a "normal" one, I just couldn't do it in my head) and let that help me decide if I was aromantic and asexual.

Probably not the best way to do it, and this was probably not the best explanation at all (because my two sides are highly technical definition or very personal stories when it comes to explanations apparently), but this is how I differentiate the two for others, even though to me they are a connected label of aroace.

[ficto-confessions]

I find it so weird and exhausting how people act like being ficto is a choice. Like if you watch reaction videos on people who talk about being in love with fictional characters, it's barely ever a positive reaction. It's all "go outside", "get fresh air", "go get a real partner". And I've heard similar sentiments from the aroace spaces too. I get it, ficto identities are currently very small and not many people know about them. But I feel like a lot of people say things like "the aromantic/asexual spectrum is completely valid! Every aroace identity is valid and should be respected!" then when a ficto person comes in all of a sudden it's 'everyone's valid and acceptable except you'. They might not use the same words, but they're just as exclusionist at times.

It's just... they don't treat ficto identities like LGBTQ labels, like it's an attraction that people can't control and are born with like ever other identity. I didn't choose to not find real people attractive, I didn't choose for my fictional crushes to not be lighthearted little jokes. I didn't choose to spend months at a time stressing and second-guessing myself because I didn't want to hear those exact words of unacceptance. I tried to like real people, I honestly did! I put a lot of thought and focus into planning for my future real partner. But at the end of the day the label caught up with me, and I ended up finally accepting that part of myself. So to go through so much struggle and then hear "go get a real partner"... it really really stings. I can't drop my fiction partners, I love them very deeply and they bring me so so much comfort and joy and make me feel so loved. And I couldn't like real people even when I tried.

I feel like I have so much more I want to say but that's basically it. Ficto stuff is usually all put under the "you can't get an irl partner so you're gonna be a basement creep who dates pictures of fake characters" stigma. And as someone who struggled with my ficto-ness a lot, it really hurts to see people acting like I can just choose to get a "real partner" anytime and acting like I'm just someone who got rejected too many times (never have, I've never even asked anyone out, I've never liked people like that). It's.. well.. a part of my identity. It's who I am. Not something I can just suddenly drop and then magically find an irl partner to be with. It's not a choice, a fad, a recuperation from rejection, or a "basement dweller" thing. It's an identity on the aro/ace spectrums that needs to be respected as much as the more well-known labels are

Yeah.

I think they're rather jealous,cuz whats nice of having an irl partner that u have to get by basically manipulating them to like u, relationships aren't forever plus they're capable of horrible things or that nowadays ppl don't even have standards in dating & just take anyone or think that being w someone w common sense is the most important trait?.. Like no shit,u wouldn't want to be w someone that hurts you & they way ppl describe dating makes me cringe since what they often describe is basically just friendship w extra steps.

And average relationship lasts for a few years, so whats the point of doing the same scenario w someone when u know it's gonna end anyways? Also irls are disgusting when it comes to anatomy & overly boring, so.

You can also count victim blaming. Cuz what if you went through abuse? According to them you're supposed to go through partners & just decide to pretend like it never happen & never give up on this vile species despite them not deserving any of it. And it goes w other types of relationships as well.

They want fictos to suffer cuz they want them to experience the unknown of not knowing how the relationship's gonna go and end. They call this shut exciting, but its more like a torture,why would u make a dumbass of urself just to get someone to like you? And especially if you socially struggle,its hard to get someone to urself and by that logic, you'd need to have zero standards if u wanted to get at least w someone.

W being ficto,you can have high standards & have thousands of different kinds of f/os. Like do u like anime characters? There are thousands of animes. Do you like cartoon characters? There are hundreds of cartoons. Or just any nonhuman characters, like in fantasy games,movies,series etc. Or just create ocs that fit your standards. You also know how they act so you know what you might be dealing w. And its not the same w irls.You get basically "same" looking millions of copies of several races or nationalities & characteristics with face structures. Are they pleasing to look at? No. Do you know what they're capable of? Also no.

Like why the hell would I change my f/os, that not only are amazing looking facewise, but they're also nice & chill to be around, or just having pleasing voices, that would never do the same damage irl ppl did/ would do to me, to a mf that might hurt me, wouldn't fit my standards & I would have zero choices in choosing? It's illogical. But I also personally never found ppl hot or something.

It's just the victim blaming and overwhelming jealousy & the desire to see others to have the same struggles in finding relationships since how dare u not to live the same way they do.

[starrabbitmedia]

Normally I don't post about this kind of stuff here, but I saw it and it struck a little too close to home, and I feel like some of ya'll might need this validation.

Some of you know this, some of you don't, but I'm on the Aro/Ace spectrum.

I go REALLY long spans of time without feeling attraction to anyone, and then it can sometimes happen in little bursts, but otherwise it's just... not present for me. I guess you could say I'm both Demi-romantic, and demi-sexual.

A lot of my friends are in the same boat. (Not all of them. Got a couple of allosexuals, but for the most part a LOT of my friends are in the aro/ace umbrella).

A lot of people get confused by this because we do tease each other in a NSFW manner a lot. But we do that because we know the other person is safe. We know the other person isn't gonna make it weird, and will never take it too far.

Out in the rest of the world, however? It is a very different stories. I can't tell you how many coworkers and family members have treated me like there was something wrong with me or taken a joke WAY too far and made me super uncomfortable. How many have said: "No, you just need to find the right person to work you through it."

Heck, in a livestream once, I said I was single and didn't mind it/was happy with it, and immediately someone said: "I can fix that, Calen."

It's not something that needs to be fixed.

I don't need to be fixed.

You don't need to be fixed.

You can have your relationships however you need them to be in order to be healthy for you. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Not wanting to be in a relationship doesn't make you broken. Not wanting to sleep with someone doesn't make you broken.

Heck, having a romantic/sexual interest in characters but not actual people also doesn't make you broken. There's a certain safety in that that a lot of people don't understand.

You are valid. Just know that.

You.

Are.

Valid.

fun fact (not fun at all fact actually) :

aromanticism and asexuality are still treated as issues to be fixed in most therapy settings, at least in the western psychiatric institution. i cannot fucking mention my aromanticism or asexuality to a therapist or it’ll immediately become their primary concern and goal to fix. whether or not i have a partner/am trying to have a partner is actively being used as an indicator of my wellness, regardless of if i WANT one. i cannot have access to needed mental health ressources because of fear of conversion therapy. aro and/or ace conversion therapy is the norm in most psychiatric institutions and we are getting told by the rest of the queer community that our oppression isnt real and that there is no link between our struggles and theirs.

more thoughts on the medicalization of asexuality and/or aromanticism

answers to common notes

aplatonic perspective

ressources

background information

tips to avoid aro and/or ace conversion therapy

[caramelmochacrow]

🏳️‍🌈 + Photon Maiden and Happy Around

took a bit for me to answer cause I got busy w an essay and getting data for my stats test lol--

doing it by their unit order and starting w hapiara!!

rinku is a cis lesbian, don't really have much gender/sexuality headcanons for her but she IS polyamorous w hapiara. all of them are. I don't think they all got together during high school but in a nutshell: Rinku first dated Muni, realized she liked maho and rei during university, talked it out w them and boom!!!! they're all dating! yayyyyy

muni hmmmmm..... p much the same w Rinku but I like to think it takes her a little bit to fall for people (example: maho and rei) but not enough for me to say demi-romantic, she's not against it/not interested, you just gotta make sure (for Muni) that u compliment her lots and know her boundaries. first crush was Rinku and she realized she was gay when she was playing an fps and saw a cute girl character. yep!!! it took her a bit to be ok w dating maho and rei too but she warmed up to them after a while.

mahoooo!!! demi girl she/they lesbian. she hasn't told her family but has told hapiara. think she figured out she was a demigirl when she met aoi lol. kinda just knew she was gay ever since she was a kid. had a crush on Rinku when she first met her but she decided to wait and wait until it was "too late". maho was a little sad she couldn't, y'know, confess anymore and thought she moved on from those feelings (she did not). eventually, in her first year of uni, she realizes she likes rei (oh NOOOOO) and that makes her conflicted, then oh NOOOOO muni's rlly cute too SHIIIIIT then yeah.

rei is the same w muni and rinky dink buuut it took her a WHILE to realize she was gay. pretty sure her first "crush" was esora but that died out when they didn't meet for a while. next one was rinku but she realized this pretty late, like, in the middle of hapiara's 3rd year. rinku was already w muni at the time so she was trying to make THOSE feelings die (they didn't) and then when they were gonna graduate realized she like maho and muni. she kept these feelings to herself until university when they talked it out and stuff yayyyyy.

thats enough of hapiara, onto photon!!!

saki my aroace sweetheart <3333 I think she might use some neopronouns relating to space like star/stars !! (maybe more but I don't use neos nor do I know a lot of them) I think she's not interested in having a romantic relationship at all, which saddened noa at first but now she's ok w it. I like to think saki is similar to maki from bloom into you in the sense she is interested in watching romances bloom, but not with herself, yk? she likes making sure everyone is truthful w their feelings toward each other, be it romantic or platonic. (especially since she can see them w her synesthesia) let's just say it was a little difficult for her to change w all of hapiara in their senior years.....

ibuki is aro (maybe ace, not sure yet) and CIS!!! her ass is cis. she would rather work on her muscles than date!!!! joke. to be serious, ibuki has never been interested in romance ever since she was younger, which confused her peers a lot. there were a few times in middle school where she tried to find guys hot but she just. couldn't. she thought she was gay for a bit though (can you blame her w the amount of gay people she knows?) but when she was shown...... Something by noa she realized she wasn't gay either. she realized at the end of her graduation she's aro lol.

towa..... towa...... she gives me trans girl vibes but I'm not sure. shes a lesbian for sure. her first crush was this cute actress she saw once in a movie (it was karen aijou shhhhh) and she never questioned herself until she got introduced to idols. noa is the first person she ever (genuinely) fell for (HARD) and wanted to confess first but noa beat her to it. I like to think they got engaged in their third year. towa proposed first to one-up noa ofc. she asked all the other units to help her out.

noa I feel likes fem-presenting people. a guy? sure! a girl? sure! anything else in between or more? sure! she doesn't have an exact word for it but she's queer. I like to think shes trans too depending on my mood (t4t towanoa mayhaps?). anmyway. noa confessed first and it was a whole 30 minute play. at the end she confesses to towa and it's rlly cute and towa cried. everyone else in the yoba units helped out w this.