#Door orientation

[pikp0kcas3]

The Hazbin Hotel fandom’s issue with accepting aromanticism and asexuality

Now that it is officially Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, I want to talk about this!

I find that, as an aroace myself, I am constantly grasping at good representation and coming up empty— it usually ends up in one of two ways.

One: the character is portrayed as emotionless, cold, and robotic in nature. It’s the question aromantic and/or asexual people are often asked: “Are you heartless?” The answer is no, of course, but general media makes it out to be the opposite.

Or two: Their lack of attraction is seen as something to “fix” because they “haven’t found the right one yet”, and they end up with a partner as a “happy ending”.

It frustrates me greatly because of how little people actually see aromanticism or asexuality as a true part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

So when I watched Hazbin Hotel, and I found out about Alastor being aroace, I was over the moon. I was on cloud nine. I also saw how his voice actor has looked up the term as an attempt to learn about aroaces, which makes me OVERJOYED?? Amir is truly a blessing, and I love that he’s proud to embody a character that’s part of our community. It’s so beautiful to finally have a proper character, a fan favorite at that, who just so happens to be aroace— and that’s another thing I love about this.

It’s never explicitly stated in the show (though it is stated in interviews), but it’s rather clear when you’re watching, isn’t it? Alastor’s aversion to any sort of sexual advancement, coupled with Rosie’s blatant “I know you’re an ace in the hole” comment sort of spell out his asexuality pretty clearly, as well as what side of the spectrum he falls upon. In addition, his Valentine’s day card was strictly platonic, which caters to his aromantic side. It feels so validating to finally be represented, to finally have a character in media who shares the same lack of interest in romance and sex as I do.

When I entered the fandom to look for more content, I kind of expected to see the same respect for Alastor’s orientation there too. But that… wasn’t the case? I am fully aware that aromanticism and asexuality are both spectrums— of course, aromantic and/or asexual people can enter those kinds of relationships. I’m not denying that and they belong in the community as much as anyone else on the spectrum.

But, the more I see the same line again and again and again, the more it feels like an excuse to just ship what you want.

Usually I don’t mind shipping? I’m often a firm believer in people shipping what they like as long as it’s harmless and they don’t go crazy over it. I also know for a fact that Viv doesn’t have a problem with people shipping her characters. They are fictional, after all.

But in this case, people are ignoring the very thing that makes Alastor a part of the aroace community! People are ignoring his lack of romantic or sexual attraction!

Is this not the same as changing a gay character’s orientation to suit a straight ship? If not, how so? I’m told that we are a part of this community, so why aren’t we being treated like it? Why is it so hard to accept the people on the end of the spectrum who aren’t interested?

Something I’ve been noticing throughout my life is that society has not exactly progressed very much on the idea of accepting asexual or aromantic identities. Maybe we have, a little, since the old days— but hell, people in “the old days”, which in truth wasn’t very long ago, believed that asexuality was a medical condition to be “fixed” by taking the right medication or having sex. That’s a pretty low bar to clear. And on the romance side, you’re seen as a “late bloomer” or “boring” if you don’t express interest. These days, being friends with someone is treated like a gateway to them possibly becoming a lover. Not getting married, not going on dates, not wanting a partner— it’s all treated like a crime when it’s not.

Maybe I’m selfish, or sensitive, or I’m butthurt over nothing, or I’m making it all about me. Maybe I’m gatekeeping or whatever the term is. But please, please, please, I just want an aroace character like me who simply is not interested in sex or romance.

And I want fandom to respect that. I admire the creations that fans make— the art, the animatics, the writing and the character analysis. And I want people to keep creating because creation is indeed a beautiful thing.

But I really would like people to treat aroace identities like they’re important. Like it’s more than just a spectrum to get wiggle room to wrangle in another ship.

[vintagehomecollection]

Living with Folk Art: Ethnic Styles from Around the World, 1991

[7clubs]

think she needed more divorced programmer vibes

[demoncia2]

I couldn't stop thinking about him being a dork I HAD to go through the shorts and find my favorite clips of his goofy ass

[bowserphobia]

EDIT: Added some close up shots, thought it might behoove me to zoom in a little.

Here's that big thing I've been working on! This is for the Paper Mario Zine, organized by @dooplissss, which you can download here!!! It's pay-what-you-want, proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.

I had already been working on something like this for a while and I'm really proud of myself for finishing this on time. I had fun the entire time I was working on this and I learned a lot.

I do have four more (smaller) pieces in this zine, which I won't post until after the game comes out, so if you wanna see them early, go download this thang.

[algu-sims]

[algu] oriental arch 1,2

arch (s) : 19 swatch

arch (m) : 17 swatch

Download (early)

[chemicalarospec]

It's been less than a decade of legal gay marriage in the US (2015) -- not even the majority of my life -- but it really feels so far in the past. I was reading a fanfic and was like "why is this so weird about gayness??" and then I remembered the source is set in the 2000s - the author was just being time period accurate. And like. Okay I remember gay marriage. I remember first hearing about it when I was 8 and it taking a couple years but becoming a thing and in 8th grade (I was 14) I had a teacher who was queer married but would never talk about it but in 7th grade some of my classmates had a younger teacher who would gush about her wife. I've heard again and again, "growing up, gay marriage wasn't legal. I didn't have hope for a happy future." I remember that post with the flower girl dog "a few years ago, this wouldn't have been legal" "and for a second I lived in a world where homophobia didn't exist." Just this idea that gay marriage being legal is the norm for me and young people in most of the West. It's not new anymore. We still hear news about gay marriage being legalized in other countries but it's just so normal here now. Kids today aren't growing up under the othering idea that gay people can't get married -- they're growing up in a world where they're going to meet happy gay married couples and they're going to know gay people get married not because they've had to wait for decades for it to be legal, but because they met and fell in love and got engaged afterwards. They can see their happy future. We're so lucky.

You know who has had gay marriage legal for the majority of their life? A 15 year old. Not that young. I'm so grateful for everyone who came before and made this happen. I'm usually such a downer about the state of the world but some things aren't so bad. Some things are quite nice after all.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

misc dragons from My Brain! + one from my lair. + a person.

[defensive-tactics]

Make sure you have the ability to observe, all around...

[coruscantsbookstore]

obi-wan: you rely on the force too much to get around, anakin

anakin: no i don't! i even did what you asked and didn't use the force once yesterday!

obi-wan: is that right? where's that bruise on your forehead from?

anakin: sparring with ahsoka

obi-wan: uh-huh. captain?

rex, trying not to laugh: he turned around and walked smack bang into a transparisteel door

[lifesver]

sometimes I think about dbd verses and how this kid is gonna throw his life down 24/7 without understanding the eventual impact of that. i think maybe his shoulder check would work as a perk if it maybe only works until he gets hooked the first time. I think he would maybe have something that lets him take two deep wound state hits if they’re protection hits. Idk what the last would be maybe another exhaustion perk that activates when ur death hook. teamwork focused perks that reward bold/risky plays

[vintagehomecollection]

French doors close off an office area from the master bedroom. The solution can offer the most private place to put a home office; in this instance, it allows a writer an escape from a young, active family.

The Not So Big House - A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live, 1998

[maretriarch]

i like to think im objective and not nostalgia based when it comes to like toy collecting and what i like but also I don't like. any boy toy brands. except for like, hot wheels and only when the designs are kooky. like when it looks like an inflatable duck. or a hot dog.

[exitpursuedbyavulcan]

Well, I feel like the worlds biggest idiot

Back to square one

[bitchfitch]

For all the teething I've been doing on Pavo and Esti i haven't been able to like, actually write any thing for them recently mostly because I've been Busy.

But also because I'm snapping between like 3 ideas for them at terminal velocity and haven't been able to actually get anything written for them and it's like having pumas bouncing around my skull at mach fuck as though theyre house cats at 2 am when you're trying to sleep,

[pudgy-planets]

When I’m stressing over something: “It’s not that stressful, don’t worry about about it, it’ll work itself out.”

When I’m not stressing over something important: “Why aren’t you being more serious about this? Where’s your sense of urgency?”