#gray-asexual!Inej

[cosmxc-ars3hol3]

kaz brekker is ace to me.

and on a similar note, inej is grey asexual to me as well

[wolfes]

Asexual Kanej — another thesis by me @lgbtqcreators event 09 — dynamics and love @lgbtqcreators creator bingo — color palette

[Caption: 4 gifs of Inej and Kaz from Shadow and Bone. Each gif is color graded to be one part of the asexual flag: the first is black, the second is gray, the third is white, and the fourth is purple. 1: A blended gif of Inej and Kaz looking intently at one another. Text reads, “Intense, nonsexual eye contact.” 2: Kaz and Inej’s talk after they’ve left the Fold is blended with a scene of them walking. Text: “Intimacy... from a distance.” 3. Kaz holding Milo the goat and walking toward Inej is blended with a closer shot of her face in the same scene. Text: “Mind the gap.” 4: Kaz and Inej staring at each other is blended with her handing him her knife in the same scene. Text: “(Almost) never touch.” End caption.]

[emjenenla]

Kanej Headcanons (Six of Crows)

-The first thing you need to realize about Kaz and Inej is that they never have sex. It doesn’t matter how much time passes or how much progress they make on their respective traumas, it never happens. Period. This is partially because they both acknowledge that that would probably be pushing things, and partially because neither of them (Kaz especially) is particularly interested in that sort of thing.

-They do eventually get to a point where they can kiss, though that is the cumulation of years of patience. They don’t, however, ever surprise each other with kisses. They always ask something like, “Can I kiss you?” just to make sure the other person is ready for it/will be okay with it.

-All in all, they are never casual touchers. They aren’t the kind of couple that walks around holding hands and everything. Every touch is premeditated; when they touch it means something.

-They do eventually share a bed and sometimes cuddle, though they tend to just hold hands. They always make sure there’s enough room to pull apart in case someone gets overwhelmed.

-Kaz never completely abandons the gloves. Eventually, he no longer wears them when he’s not working, but when he goes out into the streets or deals with the Dregs he still wears them. This is partially for the extra protection from anything that might trigger a flashback and partially because the gloves are such a fundamental part of the Dirtyhands mythos that protects him.

-They do eventually get married, though it’s a considerable number of years after the duology (I’m thinking 10+). It’s also not the ridiculously romantic thing that most people think it is. Kaz just says one day, “You know we could get married.” And Inej is like, “Okay.” And then they just go and do it. The ceremony is presided over by the first Suli holy man they can find (they totally get married in a Suli religious ceremony; Inej is religious, she’d care), and literally no one they know sees it. This is partially just them being reckless, but mostly it’s a safety precaution, because they both have enemies who might use concrete evidence of their relationship against them.

-Jesper, Wylan, Nina and others don’t even know about the marriage for years. This is because while Inej obviously tells her family next time she goes back to Ravka, she figures she’ll let Kaz tell the Crows and relevant Dregs because he doesn’t have any living family of his own. Bad idea. Kaz just doesn’t ever mention it, and it takes Inej years to realize he never told them. (You can imagine how that conversation goes.)

-They do get wedding rings. Inej wears hers on a chain around her neck because she doesn’t want to be obviously married when doing her slaver hunting. Since Kaz wears the gloves when he’s working, he actually wears his ring. This of course means that he’s just as careful about no one seeing his bare hands as he was before, just for different reasons.

-Kaz plays with his wedding ring when he thinks by twisting it around and around his finger. How loose it is is one of the ways Inej judges his ever-fluctuating weight.

-The majority of Ketterdam does not realize they’re a couple. The Dregs close enough to them to notice learned that comments about Inej being “Brekker’s Girl” wouldn’t end well back when Per Haskell was still in charge, so they pretend nothing’s going on as well.

-Inej dedicates her life to bringing slavers to justice and rescuing people. She is often gone for long periods of time. Kaz keeps track of all the slavers he hears of and passes the information on to her. No one realizes that the Wraith is so dangerous on the seas because the Bastard of the Barrel is gathering information for her.

-They write long letters to each other in a ridiculously complicated code that they’re the only ones who really understand. This is important because (reoccurring theme) they’re paranoid and want to be sure they can talk freely without worrying about other people reading what they say. Like their entire relationship, these letters are not quite romantic and not quite conventional, but they display deep feeling and understanding which are pretty much the backbone of their entire relationship.

[mum-hen]

Asexual Book Recs

In honor of Ace Week, I wanted to share my favorite asexual characters in books! This is a bit of a repost from last year, but there are a lot of new additions to this list. Even now, it’s still pretty rate for books to have confirmed ace-spectrum characters, but it’s always a delight when I do find them. It’s so amazing to have representation, and a lot of these books helped me figure out my own sexuality. For all my fellow asexuals and other ace-spectrum folks, I hope you enjoy this list!

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. This was the first book I ever read that had some sort of asexual representation. One of the main characters, Aled, is homoromantic demisexual. Throughout the book, he slowly comes to terms with his demisexuality and his feelings for his friend Daniel. At the time I was reading this, I thought I might be demisexual, so having this representation was really important to me.

Loveless by Alice Oseman. This is probably one of my favorite books! It’s another one by Alice Oseman, who is aro-ace just like the main character Georgia. Georgia is a college freshman who has never been in love or had a crush, but desperately wants a fanfic-level romance. Just for the hell of it, she joins the Pride Society at her university and is sort of mentored by the society president, who is gay-ace. Eventually she comes to terms with her sexuality and realizes that platonic love can be just as wonderful and all-encompassing as romantic and sexual love. I feel like with ace representation in books, not many of them actually focus on the actual coming out/realization phase. Not that there’s a problem with that (your sexuality doesn’t define you), but it is nice to have that token coming out story like so many other parts of the LGBTQ+ community have. This book was incredibly important to me, and actually helped me realize that I’m aro-ace! 

Vicious and Vengeful by Victoria Schwab. Romance is a minimal part of these books, and it turns out that it’s because the main character, Victor Vale, is asexual. When mentioning a girl he knew in college, he says something along the lines of wanting her attention, and even her love, but not her sex. So definitely asexual, probably heteroromantic or biromantic. These are two of my favorite books of all time, just because of how amazing the plot and the characters are, and knowing that Victor is ace just makes me love them even more.

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray. Another one of my favorite books of all time! Abel, one of the main characters, is on the ace spectrum. In the first book, he alludes to being somewhere on the ace spectrum. He falls in love with the other main character, Noemi, but since he is a robot his programming only allows him to experience sexual desire after his feelings are reciprocated. In the third book, he is confirmed to be demi-panromantic.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. I read this over the summer and it blew me away! I could write a novel about how amazing this book is, but that’s for another post. It’s about a girl during the Ming Dynasty who disguises herself as her dead brother in order to fulfil his destiny of becoming great. The main character, Zhu Chongba, is genderqueer and asexual. I appreciated that even though she’s very clearly asexual, she still has a loving, sexual relationship with her girlfriend Ma. They’re really great about setting boundaries and communicating their different needs with each other. This book gave me a lot of asexual feels and Gender Thoughts (tm), so definitely give it a read!

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. This is a bit of a controversial one, since Kaz Brekker’s sexuality is kind of up for debate. His PTSD and trauma give him a strong aversion to touch, and he’s sex repulsed in most cases. However, there are specific instances where he’s able to feel sexual attraction (see: Inej and Imogen). Therefore, I view Kaz as demisexual, but I think he’s definately somewhere on the grey-ace spectrum. 

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The two main characters, Aziraphale and Crowley, do not have any confirmed sexual or gender identity, and Neil Gaiman has said it’s completely open to interpretation. I, personally, interpreted them as asexual, and a lot of the ace community has claimed them as well. We love our asexual ineffable husbands! 

Dread Nation and Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland. I read this last year and really enjoyed it! In the beginning of the story, I was definitely getting queer vibes from one of the main characters, Katherine, and she turned out to be ace! I have not read the sequel, so I don’t know how much it’s talked about there, but it’s still nice to have that rep. The point of view character for the book, Jane, is also bisexual.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I read this at the beginning of quarantine and immediately fell in love with it. It is a pretty big book, so just make sure you’re fully committed before you decide to read this one! The author has confirmed not one, but two of the main characters to be on the ace spectrum: Tane and Loth. Tane is asexual, and she says that Loth is probably greysexual, but she isn’t 100% sure yet. This book in general is just full of queer characters and was a delight to read, so if you’re looking for queer fantasy characters I would totally recommend it.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. I have not read this book yet, but it’s on my TBR. I started it after reading Priory, but I was too busy to finish it. The main character, Paige, is confirmed to be demisexual, and I think the author said this would be explored more in the following books. Another character, Jaxon, is also asexual.

While I was making this list, I realized that a lot of my favorite books coincidentally have characters on the ace spectrum. Looking back, I can’t believe it took me so long to realize I was ace. I think that’s why it’s so important to have ace rep in books - so people can educate themselves about this and potentially come to terms with their own sexuality.

To all my fellow ace-spectrum folks out there: you are not broken. You are allowed to be proud of who you are. You deserve loving relationships, no matter the forms those relationships may take. Happy ace week to all, and to all a good night!

[dreamingofcrows]

Top Five Ships + Fav Ao3 Fics

My Top Five Favourite Ships + My Favourite of the their Fics I’ve found on Ao3 

in no particular order: 

1. Adam Parrish/Ronan Lynch + Man of Masks 

Man of Masks by EtoileGarden 

Rape/Non-Con, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish, Joseph Kavinsky/Ronan Lynch, Ronan Lynch, Adam Parrish, Joseph Kavinsky, Richard Gansey III, AU Aged Up, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, dubious bdsm practices, Under-negotiated Kink, D/s, the catholic church does be traumatising, Guilt Dom Ada,m adam is not the one involved in the non-con jsyk, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Not Actually Unrequited, Love, Sex, explicit - Freeform, Joseph Kavinsky is His Own Warning, People are Assholes, Anal Sex ,Fingering ,Discussion of sexual assault, role-play

I have no idea what I love so much about this fic. Probably the 10/10 pining, Adam’s quasi- nonchalance about the whole affair and Ronan healing. I also want to shoutout my own pynch fic, bc it’s also one of my favourites

2. Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck + The Face Behind the Phone 

The Face Behind the Phone by Feriku

No Archive Warnings Apply, Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey, Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jan Van Eck, Colm Fahey, Alys Van Eck, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - High School, Texting, Dyslexia, Panic Attacks, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Self-Esteem Issues, Trust Issues, Hurt/Comfort, Jan Van Eck is awful, wesper

This fic is so good for so many reasons including but not limited to the fluff, how Wylan uses texting w/ his dyslexia, there’s no trying to ‘fix’ Wylan’s dyslexia just making accomodations for it, the mistaken/ hidden identity is *chefs kiss* and the way the author used Jan Van Eck against himself, which gave me the idea of how to stop Van Eck in my own fic

3. Magnus Bane/ Alec Lightwood + darling, your love is worth its weight in gold

darling, your love is worth its weight in gold by rebel_ren

No Archive Warnings Apply, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Max Lightwood-Bane, The Lightwood-Banes, Established Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood,  Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood,  Human AU,  Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Fluff, Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Parents Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood First Meet, Mundane Magnus Bane/Mundane Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane Loves Alec Lightwood, Alec Lightwood Loves Magnus Bane, Lightwood-Banes Being a Family, Cute, Max Lightwood-Bane 

just a fluffy slice of life fic, one of the best integrations of song into a fic I’ve seen 

4. Crowley/Aziraphale + Free Trial Boyfriend

Free Trial Boyfriend by angelsnuffbox

Friends to Lovers, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe – Human, Pining Crowley (Good Omens), I mean seriously crowley has it BAD, Swimmer Crowley, Demisexual Aziraphale (Good Omens), Slow Burn, Oblivious Aziraphale (Good Omens), Experienced Crowley (Good Omens), Best Friends to LoversL, ove Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor ,Romcom feels, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Human AU, Getting Together  

I am an absolute slag for demisexual/asexual/ gender nonconforming Crowley/Aziraphale so I loved this au fic making that a huge part of it. Crowley as a swimmer is also great.

5. Percy Jackson/ Annabeth Chase + The Roommate Agreement 

The Roommate Agreement by Knuffled 

Friends With Benefits, Smut, Shameless Smut, Percabeth , smut, percy jackson – Freeform, Annabeth Chase – Freeform, Percy/Annabeth – Freeform, Heavy Angst, Character Death

Entirely just because I love slow burns and friends with benefits situation, the angst is real

Honourable mentions: Richard Gansey III /Blue Sargent/Henry Cheng,  Carmen Farooq-Lane/Liliana, Will Solace/Nico Di Angelo,  Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro,  Will Herondale/Tessa Gray,  Hearthstone/Blitz, Renya/Lester

[joy-girl]

I was tagged by @fortheglare to answer 20 question and tag 20 other followers. Thanks for tagging me btw! :)

Name: Gaia 

Nickname: I don’t think I have one 

 Zodiac Sign: Virgo

 Height: 5'4" 

Ethnicity: Italian (I don’t know if I can consider it an ethnicity?), Caucasian 

 Orientation: bi and gray asexual 

 Favourite Fruit(s): bananas, apricots, peaches and melon 

Favourite Season: autumn 

Favourite Book(s): Throne of Glass series, The Raven Cycle, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, ASOIAF (A Feast for Crows specially because of Dorne’s storylines), Treasure Island and I’m sure there are others I can’t remember now

 Favourite Flower(s): lilac

Favourite Animal(s): ravens, cats and foxes 

 Favourite Beverage: tea 

Average Hours of Sleep: uhm I honestly don’t know 

Favourite Fictional Characters: way too many ahah Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Dinah Lance, Jefferson Jackson, Shadow Moon, Sana Bakkoush, Yolanda Kipling, Ra Ra Kipling, Max from Black Sails, Michaela Pratt, Hugh Apiston, Millard Nullings, Arianne Martell and the Sand Snakes, Nehemia Ytger, Manon Blackbeak and Dorian Havilliard, ecc.. 

 Number of Blankets You Sleep with: one 

Dream Trip: visiting England in autumn and Canada in Spring 

 Blog Created: june 2012 

 Number of Followers: 150

I tag @dwhaleymint , @bisexual-inej , @thesoundofeaesoul , @eat-readsleep , @thatawesomefreakk , @alittle-bifurious , @damianwanyes and I don’t know I’ll just tag random followers if they want to do it! @thisisbitti , @glitterslime , @the-telltale-heart , @johnrichardpapen , @renemontsom , @companionsami  , @liaschroeder , @the-family-queer , @luthorspeachtea and @prokrik