#the latter is more fun but i dont wanna ruin the reader experience for anyone

[moondirti]

If i started a lil comic series of random moments between miguel and wraith that don’t make it into the main fic, would y’all be interested

[bloody-wonder]

I kinda have a take and just wanna clarify its not @ u. (This is Part 1) So lots of ppl rlly like Aaron and that's fine ofc I cant tell anyone who to like and who not to but ppl that do tend to try and say that hes not actually homophobic in canon which is simply not true. Or they try to justify it somehow. Aarons homophobia honestly ruined any chance I had of liking him (same with seth) and ppl sometimes say that if u dont like Aaron for that then u cant like Neil or Wymack cuz they're ableist

(Part 2) and have they used ableist language? Yes. But is there actual evidence to suggest they hold prejudices against disabled/neurodivergent ppl? I dont think so. Neil only uses this language once and its clearly to rile Kevin up, theres so much evidence that he admires Kevin and I dont see Neil looking down on him for his disability at all. Wymack-he uses ableist slurs more but he still signs neurodivergent players and I cant say I genuinely believe he thinks any less of them for it.

that’s an interesting ask!

first of all, ofc no one can tell you which character to like and which to dislike. everyone chooses their faves for personal reasons and no one owes anybody explanation for why they like or dislike them. however if you want to explain why you dislike aaron as opposed to neil you’ll have to come up with different arguments bcs so far it looks like you have double standards. 

it’s true that aaron is homophobic. you say there’s no justifying it or explaining it away and i agree but aren’t you at the same time trying to justify neil’s and wymack’s use of ableist language, to discard it as unimportant and not worthy of calling out or being a reason for disliking someone?

has aaron used homophobic slurs? yes once, if you count “flamer”. how many times have neil and wymack and other characters called andrew crazy, psycho or retarded? i don’t know exactly but more than once. now you say that it doesn’t count bcs they don’t seem to hold any prejudice against disabled people. well by that logic any straight ally can use the f-word freely bcs it’s just a word after all. but it’s not just a word, it’s a slur and if you call somebody like that it won’t be a good look no matter how many lgbt people you know and how many fictional gays you ship. and the only difference between homophobic and ableist slurs is that the former ones at this point are taboo in a civilized conversation bcs we’ve learned to interpret them as signs of bigotry whereas the latter ones still aren’t even registered as slurs by most people.

when neil called kevin a cripple - what does it matter if he generally has no prejudice against disabled people? he specifically used an ableist slur with an intention to hurt. let’s imagine that kevin’s gay - would neil use an f-word in the very same situation to hurt him? probably not. but it speaks not so much of neil’s character as about how normalized ableist slurs are. for if neil has ever used an f-word it would be much harder for him to become a fan favorite, however words like “cripple” and “psychotic” directed at a disabled person and a person who probably struggles with mental disorders we just let slide. did he want to hurt them? he did. does he generally have any prejudice against disabled people? well idk the only ones he interacted with in canon are kevin and andrew and he totally used slurs against them with ill intention.

does aaron really have prejudice against gay people? it seems he does but if we continue this thought experiment then the only gays he interacted with in canon would be nicky, andrew and neil. when he called neil a flamer - this is the very same situation as neil vs kevin. aaron wanted to hurt and used the slur he thought would accomplish it. aaron never called nicky anything like that and all the rudes comments he made against him that are usually interpreted as homophobic are partly call outs for being inappropriate and partly expressions of discomfort at his relative graphically describing his sexual desires. 

if neil calling kevin and andrew, who he at that point perceived as dangerous, ableist slurs isn’t a sufficient indication of his prejudice than why is aaron calling neil, who he perceived as dangerous, a homophobic slur a sufficient indication of his?

i believe that disliking aaron has more to do with how the story is told from neil’s perspective - not only bcs they hate each other but also bcs aaron gets very little screen time. all that he is and does behind the scenes is surmised by the reader and so he either becomes a homophobic jerk who uses slurs in his head frequently (just like neil uses ableist language) or he becomes an angry misunderstood boy who’s constantly made uncomfortable by his cousin. there’s room for interpretation and only you decide which way it goes.

all aftg characters have done problematic things which range from making fun of each other’s grief and trauma to harassment to armed assault. if we put homophobia and ableism into this perspective the would be roughly on the same level of “badness“ in my opinion. the differences between them would lie not in which character holds more prejudice or uses more slurs objectively but in what type of bigotry you subjectively think is more unforgivable and likely to ruin a character for you. you will never like aaron bcs he’s homophobic, those other people will dislike neil bcs of ableist language and i will forever be angry at nicky and his rapey comments and actions. we all have double standards and we don’t like these characters for their “goodness“ and lack of problematic character traits bcs they all have some. we like them bcs something in their personalities speaks to us and in that we either acknowledge their flaws or ignore them. 

i personally think acknowledging is a better way.

tl;dr you certainly aren’t obliged to like aaron just bcs you like neil but explaining neil’s ableism away isn’t an efficient way to rationalize it. maybe there’s no way to rationalize it at all so you just say yes i dislike aaron bcs he’s homophobic and i just can’t ignore or forgive that and at the same time i like neil although he’s ableist without ignoring or justifying it. basically just acknowledge that your fave’s problematic and move on🤷