#asexual!cas

[python-nebula]

I don’t think allo people understand: you get everyone else. Almost every single fictional character is allo. Every character that exists is allo until proven aro/ace/aroace. So on that rare occasion when we actually get representation, and when it’s genuinely good representation, please just let us have it. Many allo people are respectful, and I thank them for that, but it’s impossible to ignore the massive problem in fandom culture of downplaying the importance of, or even downright erasing, an aro/ace/aroace characters’ identities. Aro characters are shipped all the time, which is fine if you understand the nuances of the identity and see that it is a complex thing to be aromantic, but I see a lot of people who don’t, and think that they can say ‘oh but aro people can date’ as an excuse to ship a character. This happens with ace characters too, they are sexualised in fandom all the time (I’m not talking about any characters specifically, but I’ll tag a few who come to mind). Again, this is understandable if you understand, but if you are sexualising an asexual character just because you find them hot or just for the sake of it, surely you understand why we are upset. This is not me trying to pick a fight, I’m just an aroace who is frustrated. 

You guys get everyone else. Just let us have the few who we see ourselves in. 

[salemontrial]

I'm sorry but I feel like non-Australians just will not be able to 100% get Ca$h's character, like I don know if you can understand how impactful it is unless you know eshay culture and how harmful it is. Like I know Chooks, they went to my schools, they take my busses, literally every time I go outside I'm scared of them. Literally as I'm typing this there's a group of them on the bus behind me and it's making me anxious. Ca$h trying to tear himself away from his eshay group in order to protect his friend and safely be with his black nonbinary partner and their alt friend group is like. A massive deal I can't imagine the eshay types I've been close with ever doing that for me

Edit: Not to even MENTION having the eshay character be unapologetically queer and asexual like that is CRAZY. Like there's a reason Darren was so surprised if you're queer and an eshay most of the time you do NOT say it and to have it being portrayed so beautifully is. Gods.

[asexualenjolras]

It is SO important to me that there are separate characters in Heartbreak High that are openly celibate alongside an openly asexual character. Because being asexual does not mean you are celibate. It is a sexual orientation, not a choice.

Cash Piggott was already the best asexual representation I've ever seen, but season two has really solidified that.

Thank you Netflix. It's such a minor detail but it meant the world.

[morningshush]

ca$h wearing ace colours to the formal 😭🥹

[demisexualnathanvuornos]

Canon Aces 206/?: Douglas 'Ca$h' Piggott (Will McDonald) +ace

in Heartbreak High 2x7 The Grapes of Voss (2024)

[imchoccy]

Darren: Not outing people is just basic human decency

Also Darren: *outs Ca$h as ace to Dusty*

[fics-n-stuff]

Today on my dash I have been seeing alot of posts about Spider being demisexual, which yes I agree, but I just saw some comments about a little overlap in storylines between him and Ca$h and OH MY GOD I NEED IT!!

Picture the scene: season 3 Spider on a journey of self improvement and self discovery, offhandedly hears something about the asexuality spectrum and actually takes in that information for the first time and what that might mean for him. All this time he's been feeling "betrayed by [his] dick" (the note he buried in the feelings pit) but now he realises that maybe he just doesn't understand. So he goes to the only acespec person he knows: Ca$h.

Imagine the two of them engaging in this deep, probably quite awkward, conversation about sexual attraction vs romantic attraction, libido/sex drive, the social stigma of being acespec and internalised acephobia. I mean, this could be a mutually beneficial exchange too because Ca$h, despite being accepting of his own sexuality, is going through a really rough time reckoning with what that really means for him in terms of a relationship - specifically with Darren - and he has a lot to unpack and work through there and being able to talk it through with someone could really help. They might even finally say the word asexual.

I just feel like there's so much potential here. I have faith in the HBH writers that the demisexual coding of Spider was intentional (and even if it wasn't at first that they will hopefully seize the opportunity to make it intentional) and I think there are so many cool ways this could go in terms of character development.

[17illiteratebees]

diversity win! your drug dealer is an asexual child of an addict and self harmer

[acearchivist359]

it’s ace week so i wanted to bring back this drawing because i was working on this drawing while i was working some things out about my asexuality and it’s very personal to me

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

Do you not want to have sex with anyone, or just me?  Anyone

Douglas "Cash" Piggott on his "figuring out he's ace" journey

[palehottubchild]

i know we all joke about the best ace rep and our favourite character being an eshay (and tbf im european that word means nothing to me) but imo thats one of my favourite things about his characterisation: the fact that he is not something an allo audience would mecessarily expect or imagine to be ace.

small disclaimer, im happy with any ace rep we get in the first place and if you do like what im about to describe more power to you, this is just my personal opinion.

That being said, i love that cash is kind of an 'unconventional' ace character, for lack of a better word. all too often ace characters fall into one of two stereotypes, either the heartless cold robot that is already kind of weird or other in itself and does not care about your or anyone elses feelings (this also includes nd coded characters), or the innocent sweetheart who is so pure and cute and has (most likely) one singular character trait (somehow almost always books). again, there is nothing inherently wrong with this since these people exist in real life, but they do push yhe aspec community further into the little boxes that allos have already put us in.

Now what i love so much about cash is that he is one of the most clearly genuinely kind people in the show. Despite him being surrounded by bad company, he is constantly shown to be gentle and sweet with his grandma and is obviously uncomfortable with the whole harper situation the entire time (not saying he handled this perfectly but thats not what this post is about). He is shown to clearly care about people deeply and he is not afraid to show this, except for when he is in bad company.

However, him having and showing emotions does not push him into the pure innocent cinnamon roll part either. He goes out to parties, does engage in enough sexual activities to end up the map, openly flirts with darren and is totally rocking his mardi gras outfit (including thong on head) without hesitating once. He is also stereotypically a 'tough guy', which is also not a type of guy too often represented as any sort of queer in popular media afaik. all in all the way cash is portrayed as an eshay to me makes him being aspec so much more valuable to me and while i understand the eshay posts are mostly jokes i did want to talk about it

[your-blorbos-are-queer]

douglas "ca$h" piggott from hearbreak high is asexual (canon)

submitted by @bitchlessbychoice

[asexualenjolras]

I've just finished Heartbreak High (delayed, I know) and I was so excited about the asexual representation we were given ... just to jump on here and find that a lot of people are saying that Cash's asexuality story was handled poorly because he doesn't explicitly say he's on the asexuality spectrum, or because Darren didn't respond very well but I disagree with everything that's being said.

I think Heartbreak High handled this storyline in the most authentic way and let me explain why:

Firstly, I think it's important to remember that Cash is an eshay. He's grown up around a very bigoted group of young people, who - you can assume - hold very extreme, neagtive opinions about the LGBTQA+ community. Despite this, we see him accept his love for Darren in a very real way. He's not afraid to be seen with them in public but he does panic a little when his fellow eshays see him with them - even going so far as to say that Darren is a "customer" when asked who they are. We see at the Mardis Gras that he panics when he sees his eshay friend dealing. He isn't afraid of being out, he's afraid of their opinions of him being out. He's afraid of the eshays, not of being queer.

If you think that Cash and his eshay friends would have a deep understanding of sexuality - let alone asexuality - then you're very mistaken.

Not only that, but asexuality is massively misunderstood anyway. People on the asexuality spectrum can go years without finding a label that fits them. I was 18 when I discovered the spectrum. I spent 18 years of my life thinking I was broken.

We see that Cash has accepted this part of himself - he doesn't worry about him being broken or a disappointment, he just worries that he will lose Darren because of it. That's actually really advanced, considering he doesn't even know what asexuality is.

-

Secondly, Darren is a non-binary, queer person. They have a good understanding of the community and different sexuality but one thing that they don't understand - or even know about - is asexuality. This is common in the community. Asexuality is massively unrepresented and there is a lot of false information out there about it.

From Darren's perspective, their partner didn't want to have sex with them. They've grown up feeling like they were unlovable, it's a very authentic reaction for someone to have. And it's a barrier that a lot of asexual people have to overcome in relationships because their partners just don't get that it isn't personal.

Quinni says it the best, she says that "Cash might just be wired differently", and that's what makes Darren a little more understanding - that and speaking with their dad about their trauma from their parents' divorce. They finally understand that Cash didn't have bad experiences with sex but doesn't have that attraction or urge to sleep with someone. They have a lot of unresolved trauma from their childhood, and hypersexuality can be linked to that.

-

Thirdly, it is so beautiful that Heartbreak High have explored the asexuality spectrum in the way they have; usually, ace characters in shows and movies don't have a love interest while they figure out what they feel about or want out of relationships. In Heartbreak High, we see Cash understand that he is attracted to Darren romantically - he actively says he has loved them since he was in Year 8 - and not be afraid of that.

He also knows he is repulsed by sex and doesn't feel anything towards it. He knows it isn't anything to do with the other person and tries his best to communicate that to Darren. And then we see Darren accept Cash's boundaries and we seem them really try to support him through this development.

-

Additionally, we don't see Cash label his sexuality at all. He doesn't say "I'm bisexual but don't like sex", or "I think I'm gay but sex isn't for me". This is really important because it gives room for the show to explore his sexuality in further detail later on. We can still get him discovering the word, and we can still see him finding a term to identify with (if he wants to, some people don't need a term to understand themselves).

There is so much room to talk about the difference between sexual attraction and romantic attraction, and room for the show to explore where Cash lies in that bracket of identification. We don't know if he's homoromantic, greyromantic, demiromantic, biromantic etc, and I really hope we get to see him explore that. Because it's a challenging thing to have to try to understand after coming to terms with being on the ace spectrum.

There is so much pressure to label yourself at that young age. I think it's rather positive that we have a character that understands his preferences and knows how he feels about sex without having that pressure so early on.

Sure, he likely doesn't know what asexuality is but it will be really interesting to see where the show takes this in future.

As I said, I didn't find the word to describe my sexuality until I was 18. Some people don't until they're middle aged. There's still time for Cash to discover the term and identify with the asexuality spectrum.

-

We see that Cash has tried sex and didn't enjoy it. He doesn't have that urge to go further, and when he does he doesn't enjoy it. That's such good bloody representation. I can't get over it. Despite being shown to be quite anxious about how he feels around sex, he isn't shown to be ashamed of it. That's so healthy and so important.

He doesn't get it and he is still having those confusing problems with his sexuality but he isn't ashamed of it.

-

Finally, I just want to reiterate that Cash not explicitly saying he's asexual does NOT mean that he isn't asexual. The writers and directors of the show have expressly said that he is asexual representation. This pressure to label yourself when you're still trying to figure things out - as Cash says directly - is really dehumanising.

Cash is a human being. He's a young person that is really confused about why he isn't like everyone else. He's having an internal struggle with his preferences and he doesn't understand why he feels the way he does, why he's "wired differently", why he doesn't "feel the same shit" as Darren and other people his age.

It's a really confusing time when you are growing up ace. It makes no sense until you find the community and you find that you're not alone.

Cash Piggott is canonically asexual and it's even more raw that he doesn't label himself so early on because that is the ace experience for so many people.

-

I love Cash. I love him so much. And I hope the show explores his asexuality in more detail in the future. I think the show did this so well.

Cash's experience isn't every asexual person's experience - it's his experience. The ace experience is a very personal thing and to see it brought to life on screen in such a raw way is SO IMPORTANT.

I LOVE DOUGLAS PIGGOTT WITH MY WHOLE ACE HEART.

[rapidhighway]

i will always be a s4 cas lover. i will always cherish the straight out of heaven don't know anything yet guy. he's just there to kill some demons man his life's so simple and he's at the same time the most innocent and the worst criminal ever i love him he's a babygirl, he's a cookie chip, he's a little guy he waves a blade around and does light shows and just spawns in front of people and doesnt care for anything i love himmbb

[agrebel18]

diversity win!! the eshay giving you food and drugs is asexual!!

[martwy-basen]

daily reminder that i love ca$h from heartbreak high. my beloved son. my fav asexual fella