#they can still kiss if they're aroace

[mrbonsaibones]

hmmm....thinking about....maybe writing ace/aro caitvi for the first time....might be fun.....might help me figure some stuff out....hmmm......

[stopper-my-heart]

Nothing like Heartstopper S2E8 removing some of Taylor Swift's "seven" lyrics just so that the singing can specifically come back in at "Or hide in the closet" while Isaac is processing difficult emotions related to the book he's reading (i.e., Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen).

Did I mention "Or hide in the closet" hits just as the camera focus finishes shifting away from Isaac?

This is fine

[chaoticrei]

When people assume that a character who has never shown romantic attraction towards the opposite gender (actually not even the same one) is gay or a lesbian, it's so annoying, because they might be aro, aroace, aspec.

But at least they're not talking about someone else, I mean it's a fictional character, you can't ruin THEIR WHOLE LIFE. The problem is when a kid in school has never had a partner, and people say they're gay/lesbian and closeted, but maybe, and I said maybe, they still don't know their sexuality, or maybe, they know it and don't want to share it with you, because you're a judging idiot.

My point is, if someone either tells you they identity as something or they don't, you have no right to say they're anything that they haven't specifically told you (and told you, you can tell other people).

If someone told me "I'm a lesbian" and 1 minute later I saw them kissing a boy, they're still a lesbian for me, I may ask them later if they still identify as that, but until I know it for sure and hear it from them, they're a lesbian. And I will always say they're a lesbian if someone asks me. Same thing goes with straight people I see kissing people of the same gender, they're still straight to me.

You can assume what you want in your mind, but you are not allowed to say certain theories you have, because they are important to people, they're private, and they might ruin their life.

[cannibalbuffe]

hi! I've honestly been craving some qpr headcanons with Alastor as someone who's also aroace! The concept piques my curiosity so much considering most of the stuff with him is purely romantic (no offense to those writers, I just wanna see more qpr stuff! :])

Of course! But do forgive me, annon, I got so carried away with this 😅. I just really like Alastor a lot.

I ended up writing some backstory to your relationship first, but I highlighted the start of the proper qpr headcanons if you feel like skipping that.

Obligatory I'm sorry if this is ooc, I'm still getting used to writing about these characters. This is also all based on my own perception of him.

(Also, I am aware that qprs are very different from one another and there is no single mold for a qpr, I'm just going off of what I think it would be like with Alastor.)

Uhh, I also finished this at 1 AM, so forgive any mistakes. And I'm pretty sure I changed the verb conjugations(? Is this how you say that in English?) from present to past at some point. Sorry. Enough with the A/Ns now. Hope you enjoy!

Alastor queerplatonic relationship headcanons

(gender neutral reader, Alastor x reader)

‼️Trigger-warning‼️: mentions of cannibalism (not graphic), a single mention of tongue-kissing and making out (spoiler: he doesn't want either of those things in this work.) Usage of the word queer, but not as a slur. Alastor is a grandpa and you have to explain LGBTQ+ stuff to him, but he gets it.

› At first, before you were close, it's likely that he didn't see you as an equal.

› Truly, in his eyes, it seems not really is his equal. He is the most powerful overlord in hell and he knows it.

› Unless you are someone he holds in high regard (and this is mostly based on vibes, barely anything to do with power, as we can see by how he is with Lucifer of all people) before your first meeting, like Zestial, you won't be on equal footing at first.

› You only really start getting close when his perception of you shifts.

› You respect his boundaries, you are interesting, you and him share quite a few interests (or not really, but you're at least interested in hearing about his), and you're, surprisingly, pretty wise and mature.

› And caring. I personally believe he would be drawn to that in a way that he may not even understand fully- or realize it at all.

› Still, the point is. He respects you, and you respect him.

› (And not in the way some others do, where they're only "respectful" out of fear. You would act like this regardless of his power.)

› This, by the way, is important. You don't treat him like a superior, but as an equal.

› You'd think someone like him would love to be treated like a superior, and it's true. He very much does.

› But he has to admit to himself that it does feel nice whenever someone isn't shaking in their boots and can hold really good conversations with him while still not being pushy, annoying or just generally disrespectful.

› Anyways.

› Ever since you became friends (which took long), one could say, you just kept becoming closer and closer.

› You were the first one to be vulnerable with him, of course. It happened on accident, but you trusted him enough for that.

› You were also the first one to share any more intimate information with him. Something you wouldn't tell just anyone.

› Between this, your conversations, and maybe even helping each other around (honestly, he probably helps you more than you do him, but you always offer it and always in a sweet way, never condescending, and he appreciates that.)

› He eventually felt more comfortable sharing personal things with you too.

› (He may have distanced himself a bit when he realized this, but it was short-lived. You can't be without each other for so long, and you were pretty upset at his suddenly withdrawal. You may not have mentioned it to him, but he could tell, and as much as he hated to admit it, it hurt him to see you sad because of him.)

› This marks the beginning of the path toward your queerplatonic relationship.

› I mean, you didn't initially label it as such, but it definitely started there.

› Surprisingly, I feel like the first one to ever do any sort of affectionate gesture towards the other was him.

› You knew he didn't like to be touched, so you didn't.

› But! He just started getting more and more comfortable with touching you. At first it was hands on your shoulders, or putting his arm over them.

› I can even see a head pat or two, which he probably passed off as some sort of joke the first few times, but, if you liked them so much, just became a thing he does to you.

› And then one day you, completely absent-mindedly, intertwined your arm with his while walking around.

› When you noticed you had done it and he hadn't said anything, you questioned him about it.

› "Alastor, I'm sorry I didn't ask... is this alright?"

› "This?... Oh, you mean the arms? Ah, dear, don't worry, if it weren't I would have simply told you so!"

› From them on you only got more and more physically affectionate with each other. At first you would usually be the one to start it, but eventually you were both shockingly equal in doing so.

› (You still would always ask if you could touch him beforehand, but after a while he just gave you a free-pass.)

› Not a lot in public, though. Mostly just hand holding, or intertwining arms (if in public, that is.)

› Alastor also was so protective of you. You were the person he treasured most, after all.

› Well, demon.

› Even if you told him you were going to be okay, he would watch out nonetheless. He couldn't afford to lose you, not when he's never trusted and cared for a person this much.

› You two also cuddle a lot. You were the first one to ask, as usual, but now both of you feel weird sleeping alone.

› Alastor loves being the big spoon, if you're doing that.

› But he is also quite fond of occasionally being the little spoon, although he wouldn't be caught dead admitting it.

› A hobby you two do together is cooking. Cooking with Alastor is fun... especially if you're okay with cannibalism.

› But if you don't like that, he won't insist, of course.

› He's pretty good at cooking, though! If you're also good at it, then great. If not, he'll tease you about it (in a friendly way), but still teach you.

› On teasing, he teases you quite a bit, but never in a mean way. If you don't mind, of course.

› You also may tease him occasionally, but he doesn't appreciate you teasing him in public.

› The two of you also have a good amount of inside jokes that probably confuse the hell out of the others.

› Kissing... well. I don't really see Alastor as the type who would enjoy kissing on the lips too much.

› Tongue is out of question for him, as well as any sort of making out, but otherwise... if you like it, he can do that for you.

› He might actually like a peck or two. An acquired taste for him. Don't overdo it, though.

› Of course, him being from the 1930s and not very familiar with anything LGBTQ+ related, he would, at first, be somewhat confused by the request.

› You would probably have to explain to him that nothing is inherently romantic, especially not if you don't want it to be.

› "A kiss on the lips? Well... we aren't courting, Y/n."

› "We can put our own meanings to things, though. Would you like this kiss to be romantic?"

› "Definitely not!"

› "Well, me neither. So it's not!"

› "... That is very sound logic! I can't believe I've never thought of this myself."

› Kisses on the rest of the face are something else, though. He does enjoy it whenever you kiss him on the cheek. He himself might occasionally kiss you on the forehead.

› But overall I don't think he's big on kissing.

› If you want to really solidify that you're in a queerplatonic relationship you'd also have to explain what that means to him, sorry.

› Again, he's old and not up to date with things.

› Thankfully he understands things easily.

› "I see... I suppose we do have quite the queer relationship, don't we? And it is certainly platonic. I don't see why not!"

› Going back to vulnerability. It will never feel fully natural for him to just be vulnerable with you — or anyone else, for the matter.

› (In case you couldn't tell, he's using the word queer as meaning odd (and doing a little pun. You know. Because it's a. Queerplatonic relationship. Queer. Hehehehe), as it defies the norm of what a platonic relationship usually looks like, despite being one.)

› But you know him well enough at this point to recognize whenever there's something going on with him.

› And if you show concern and give him enough time he will share whatever it is with you.

› If it's not anything too big he might even reach out to you first.

› He can also read you like a book and gives surprisingly good advice, and is also pretty good at comforting you.

› You are the only person allowed at his studio while he's live on the radio. You usually read as he speaks in the background, his voice is very relaxing. He enjoys having you around.

› He's also particularly gentlemanly to you, more than to the others. When you're with him you never have to open a single door yourself, for one. If it's raining, he'll hold the umbrella for the two of you. When walking together on the sidewalk, he's always on the side closest to the street instead of you.

› You two often go out for dinner. If you also fancy some cannibalism, he will definitely show you his favorite restaurants around. If not he will just pick the best non-cannibal places (but you know those are not his favorites, haha.)

› He just cares about you a lot, even if it took him long to admit (it may have seemed fast-paced during this, but Alastor is someone who really takes long to get close to.)

› And you care about him lot too!

› (And you're probably never going to be in a life-threatening situation again, at least not at the hands of most demons. Who would ever want trouble with Alastor?)

[kasdan]

gf headcanons

marvel masterlist | request rules | ko-fi

summary: gf headcanons with marvel women for pride month<3

characters: carol danvers, valkyrie, natasha romanoff, wanda maximoff, yelena belova, lady loki

reader: f!reader

warnings: yelena's part is bsf hcs instead of gf hcs since she's canonically aroace, there is a nsfw part for each (minus yelena) that will be marked, i think the sexualities are a mix of actual canon and my canon? idk but they're canon to me✌🏼,not proofread, the image of valkyrie should be straight up illegal ty and gn

a/n: happy pride everyone! i decided to celebrate by writing gf headcanons for some of my favorite marvel girls, and somehow i've turned just the sweet hcs they were supposed to be into them also being spicy so there's that lmao i hope you enjoy<33

𝒞𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓁 𝒟𝒶𝓃𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈

sexuality: bisexual

{SFW}

likes to go out on walks with you in the morning

even if you're not the biggest morning person, she's still dragging you out of bed in order to get outside

gives you piggy back rides back to the house after the walk when you're too tired to walk back

on the occasional occurrence that you're both up before sunrise, you'll sit on the roof together to watch the sun rise in the horizon

you both try camping once and it was going okay until a bear ate all your food in the middle of the night and it started raining shortly after so you had to pack up and go home

really likes the feel of your hand in hers

throughout the time you were in the woods, she wouldn't let go of your hand, even when you were sleeping

if you weren't the adventurous before her, you are when you're with her

keeps a blanket in the car for if you fall asleep while you're both out late

road trips are a must for her

she loves driving around not having a destination in mind and just going until you find something cool

will have dance parties in the living room and compete on who can put together the stupidest outfit

definitely has the drunk karaoke vibes, just saying

{NSFW}

she knows exactly what to do to get you riled up

walks around with tight crop tops and shorts

teases you for being 'needy' when she knows that she's making you that way

makes it her mission to make you so needy that you can't help but grind on her

loves watching you lose control on her

will grab your jaw to force you to look at her

if you try to keep quiet she'll force your mouth open so she can hear your moans

will sit back and watch you squirm around on her lap until you plead for her to help you

you regret saying anything when she looks at you with that smirk on her face moments before she completely wrecks you

kisses the tears away when they roll down your cheeks at how sensitive she's making you

encourages you that you'll be able to do "just one more"

it's never 'just one more'

never pushes you too far, only far enough to where she knows you can take it

loves having you sit on her face so she can feel your body writhe against her

will force your thighs down onto her when you're hesitant to release your entire weight onto her

knows all the right spots to lick and twist her tongue on to get all her favorite reactions out of you

you could suffocate her to death like this and she would die a happy woman

𝒱𝒶𝓁𝓀𝓎𝓇𝒾𝑒

sexuality: bisexual

{SFW}

will be the one to spoil you rotten and get you whatever you want

is a sucker for forehead kisses

whether it's you giving her one or her giving one to you, she just loves how you show affection that way

will fuck anyone up if they try to lay a finger on you

literally if she hears anyone breathe wrongly in your direction, they're getting their ass beat

likes to be the big spoon while cuddling so she can hold you

won't let you leave the bed if you try to get up from her grasp

will tighten the hold she has on you so you're physically not able to get up

you have to tell her that if she doesn't let you go that you will end up peeing on her

even then she's still reluctant to let go of you

all your showers are together

she claims it's to 'save water', but she just wants to be close to you

gives you random massages when she thinks you look like you need them

thinks it's hot if you want to spar with her

she obviously goes easy on you, finding your face cute when you're trying to focus on your moves

{NSFW}

don't be mistaken for you being spoiled to think you can go around and act like a brat though, because you have another thing coming

is the kind of type to be like 'don't ask for it if you can't take it'

once you allow her to be completely off her leash there is quite literally no going back

can and will be a brat tamer if she finds it to be necessary

probably one of the roughest women here on the list

while most of the others are just teases, valkyrie will scramble your brain so much you don't remember either of your names when she's finished

is prone to using a strap on when she plays with you

her all time favorite thing is to watch you take her cock down your throat on your knees while she fucks it into you

thinks you look so pretty on your knees with your mouth stuffed, just taking what she gives you

will push you back onto the wall, lift you up and immediately push her cock all the way into you

knows you'll be able to handle it when she starts pounding you into the wall

loves the way you can't speak at all when she's driving into you, just whimpering and making noises that sound like you're trying to say multiple words jumbled together at once

will make you put a vibrator in and then get ready for the day, just to see how quickly she can make you fall apart without even touching you

it's really not long at all

𝒩𝒶𝓉𝒶𝓈𝒽𝒶 𝑅𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝑜𝒻𝒻

sexuality: bisexual

{SFW}

will read to you if you can't fall asleep

her voice is just so soothing you end up falling asleep almost instantly every time

wants to be as close to you as possible while you're sleeping

you sometimes wake up to her laying directly on top of you

she can't help that she finds you extremely comfortable

has an entire list of pet names she likes to call you, some of them being completely stupid and unserious

likes to see your reaction when she calls you a new one that's completely horrendous

will have big movie marathons and see who will fall asleep first

loser has to cook breakfast for the winner and deliver it to them in bed in the morning

sometimes she'll feel bad and go help you cook in the morning when she purposely started talking a lot in the soothing tone that always puts you to sleep, ultimately causing you to lose the marathon competition

you'll find her sometimes just staring at you as she rubs her thumb across your cheek

if you ask her what's wrong she'll just shake her head and mutter something about being lucky to have you as she kisses you and cuddles into your arms

{NSFW}

this girl is absolutely obsessed with your boobs

every time she has a chance, she's messing with them in some way

when she comes up behind you she's automatically going up to cup them

at times you have to physically push her away from you because of how sensitive she made them

she could be pounding into you with a strap, and she'll still find the time to lean down and take a nipple into her mouth

if you pull her hair when she goes down on you she'll go absolutely feral

you'll hear her growl into you before she starts sucking on your clit extra hard, and makes obscene noises when slurping up your juices

she likes it when you're loud so she can hear how she's making you feel

will pinch you if you're not making enough noise for her

you've gotten so many complaints from the neighbors this way

thinks your pussy is just the greatest thing in the world

once she starts she finds it hard to stop

it could be hours after she started and you already came a numerous amount of times, but she can't find it in herself to stop

she just thinks you taste so damn good

𝒲𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒶 𝑀𝒶𝓍𝒾𝓂𝑜𝒻𝒻

sexuality: bisexual/pansexual

{SFW}

she loves to cook with you

even if you're not the greatest cook she'll have you in the kitchen with her helping with the little things she needs

she just likes to spend time with you and enjoys your company

there are some days when it's relaxing in the kitchen with quiet music on in the background while you two talk

and then there are others when it's complete chaos and you don't know what's going on anymore

those are usually the days when she decides she wants to try a new recipe that she hasn't done before

she also loves to take baths with you

those relaxing moments she has with you where she can let all her stress and worries of the day float away while in a warm bath with you

she loves the feeling of your skin pressed against hers in warm water with bubbles floating next to you

she's content to just sitting there too, not washing yourselves just relaxing her body with the things she feels around her

half the time it ends up with you guys having to shower after anyway

she'll give you random kisses throughout the day, just wanting to let you know that she's there

a lot of the nights are spent cuddling and playing with her hair as you watch movies and late night tv

{NSFW}

most intimate moments between you two are usually unserious

it's filled with giggles and laughter

she just likes to make sure that you're having a good time

you'll have to encourage her to be more rough if you want her to

she's hesitant because she doesn't want to hurt you

she lets herself go slowly over time

she'll be hovering over you, fingers working in and out of you at a steady pace, and she'll place her hand over your throat for leverage

apologizes extensively when she realizes what she did

eyes darken when you tilt your head back and place her hand back over your throat

you learn the feeling of her hand around your throat and rings digging into your skin all too well after that

"you look so pretty wearing my hand like a necklace, baby"

says the filthiest things in your ear to see how much she can make you squirm

will pull you in for a kiss by the neck

you feel her smile into it when she hears you whimper

experiments with more and more things, and eventually you both have a collection of things that you love doing in the bedroom

𝐿𝒶𝒹𝓎 𝐿𝑜𝓀𝒾

sexuality: pansexual/genderfluid

{SFW}

is such a tease

will purposely put things on the highest shelf so you won't be able to reach them easily

comes to 'help' you reach them

lifts the item over her head and won't give it to you unless she gets a kiss for it

thinks it's cute when you pout

loves to distract you from anything you're doing

will hug you from behind and start to pull you back slowly from what you're doing

claims that she's "not doing anything" and feigns innocence when you turn around to give her a look

is a huge fan of PDA

always has an arm around you, or is holding your hand

she just likes to feel you next to her

sometimes you have to push her off you when she's getting a little out of hand in public

is also very protective of you

if someone so much as looks at you in a bad way, she's over there threatening them

you've had to drag her out of many places because of this

you love how she is though, and she knows that

you just hope that you'll be able to stop her from killing anyone

{NSFW}

if you thought she's a big tease normally, she's an even bigger one in the bedroom

has you squirming around desperate for her to do something

she can spend hours just playing with your body and watching how it reacts to things

by now she knows your body like the back of her hand

will have you begging her with tears falling down your face before she actually puts her mouth on you

her tongue is absolutely magical.

can and will spend hours sucking and licking your clit until it's puffy and so sensitive the slightest movement has you jumping away from her

you now have to beg her to stop, and that you can't take it anymore

"i thought you wanted me to do something, baby. now be a good girl and take it."

she doesn't let up easily, and won't stop until all your limbs feel like jelly and you don't know what's right or left anymore

has somewhat of an exhibition kink

will pull you into restaurant bathrooms and alley ways just to see how you behave

puts her hand over your mouth when you're making too much noise as her fingers plunge in and out of you at a rapid pace

"shh honey, don't want the whole restaurant to hear your pretty moans and how good you are for me, do you?"

𝒴𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒶 𝐵𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓋𝒶 {bsf headcanons}

sexuality: aromantic/asexual

you'll never find a dull moment around her

will come to you for the littlest and stupidest things

she called you at 2am once claiming it was an emergency and when you picked up the phone she needed to know if she was in the mood for hot or salty chips

why she needed to call you for that is beyond you

you'll both have sleepovers and stay up all night watching really bad tv and making fun of whenever something dumb happens

will most likely end up on the ground in laughter from anything remotely stupid happening

the entire night is actually just a giggle fest with her

goes to different stores to try on clothes that are definitely not appealing to either of you

makes the stupidest runway show out of it before you're both kicked out from the store

she makes you push her around the grocery store in a shopping cart

will start to grab random things and throw them in the cart with her every chance she gets

she once crashed into the side of an isle when you pushed her too hard causing the things to fall off the shelf and onto her

granted you're banned from your local grocery store, but she didn't seem to mind as she almost peed herself from laughter as we were escorted out of the store by security

she'll ask you the most random questions out of nowhere and half the time they don't even make sense

she's deadly serious about them too, and will wait for your answer every time

even when you're like what are you even talking about, she'll want you to still answer

you'll never find yourself bored with her as a best friend

it's like every day is a completely new adventure with her and you have to wait and see what she's going to bring you to do that day

buy me a coffee ♡

[narbevoguel]

I've always wondered why Aroace peeps feel excluded, when there's lots of cool friendships in media out there. But the more I interact with people across communities, I realize why they feel excluded, especially among their own LGBT peers. Two male characters are really good friends? They must be gay and kissing and doing naughty things! Two women spending time together? Must be lesbians! Two or more characters of any gender getting along just fine? Nope, must be all dating!

Like, I understand shipping characters is fun, I myself do it from time to time, but exploring characters' friendships I find much more appealing cause there's a charm to friendships that I believe romantic relationships ain't got. We gotta learn to appreciate the friends we have, for their unconditional platonic love is as strong as any romantic love, if not stronger.

That's why I will propose to myself a slight challenge: Aroaceptember. Sadly, I can't promise I will be able to draw something daily under this theme because I still gotta work to survive, but I'll try my best to, and in the days I can't, I can talk about my favorite friendship dynamics I've seen in media I've partaken in, or share fanfics/fanart of friendships that I've liked.

If you're interested in that, feel free to stick around, and if you wanna do it yourself, please, by all means. We gotta let our aroace folk know that they're also appreciated.

[genderqueerdykes]

how do i try to put this for people who get confused about aromantic lesbians and gays. not every aro lesbian is like this so disclosure: i am talking about my experience as an aro lesbian, but i feel like it's still important to discuss. lesbians can be aromantic and asexual, and even both- i am on the ace spectrum, so i can be considered an aroace lesbian. the thing is, i still experience lesbian and sapphic attraction even if it's not necessary romantic.

the way i try to phrase it is i have a deep attraction toward all dykes: butches, studs, bulldykes, femmes, lesboys, transbians, non binary dykes, intersex dykes, transmasc, ftm & trans male dykes, transfem dykes, genderqueer dykes, male dykes, bigender dykes, genderfluid dykes, two-spirit dykes. and sapphic identifying women, men & people. i'm dyke oriented. i want to be around other dykes of any identity- i want to live in domestic environmnets with other lesbians & dykes, taking care of one another, making sure we're alright.

i want to be there for other dykes in my community. i want to come visit to check on how they're doing when they're sick. i wanna be there to listen to the stone butches when they feel estranged. i want to give them groceries that i didn't end up liking but i know they would. i want to laugh and joke and goof off with other dykes. i want to be there to listen when they have gender or identity dysphoria. i wanna go bowling with the butches. i wanna workout at the gym with the bulls. i wanna go clothes shopping with the lesboys & boydykes to find them clothes that make them feel like themselves. i want to give other dykes a place to stay when they're going through hard times. i want to befriend with the weird "crazy" "ugly" dykes who are freaky. i want to be there when something scary happens so i can provide comfort and support. i want to help give resources and aid to other poor dykes who need it.

there are a lot of ways to be a dyke, lesbian, or sapphic. whatever you want to call yourself under this umbrella, there are a tons of ways to express it. i don't have to want to cuddle, kiss or hug other dykes in a romantic fashion. maybe i like surrounding myself with other dykes. maybe i just really prefer the company of other dykes. it's not that hard to wrap one's brain around once you break it down like that. there's a million other ways to be in someone else's company and spend time together. i assure you there is more to adult relationships than sex and romance. those are wonderful things for the people who enjoy them, but for those of us who are aromantic and/or asexual, there are many other ways to enjoy the company of other folks in a very queer fashion.

happy pride to every aromantic spectrum lesbian, dyke & sapphic person, you deserve to be seen and heard just as much as every other dyke. you matter

[thatnerdyqueer]

People get so confused when I try to explain the type/s of attraction I feel. But let me put it like this: I "fall in love" with someone's character. I don't want their body - I want their presence. I don't lust after them - I admire them. I don't want a romantic relationship - I find them fascinating. Interesting. Fun. They challenge and compliment me. They're loyal. They're funny. They're not two-dimensional, they're a well rounded character. I fall in love with someone as a character, as an arc, as a person. As a friend. People seem to read this one of two ways - it's romantic, or it's just platonic and I haven't found the right person yet. *sigh* the definition of platonic is 'deeply affectionate but not romantic in nature'. So yeah, it's platonic. It's deep. It's affectionate. It's not romantic. It's just as good though, so can we stop saying 'just'?

Like, you know when people have gay panics? I want that, and frequently experience it, but in a platonic way. As in, wow what you did was really impressive/intersting I want to get to know you and spend time with you kind of way. Not in a wow I want to kiss you way. Someday I want to meet someone in a bookshop and 'flirt' with them or whatever allos seem to think it is, and get their phone number. And then, instead of asking them to see a movie as a date, I'll ask them to come and eat pop corn with my friends and watch a movie because I think they'll find it interesting.

Make no mistake - I'm aroace, but I still want my meet cute. I want a platonic meet cute where I find someone, who's character is so full and interesting and bursting with life that I get their number and send them memes and geek out with them, and get to know them and admire them until we feel comfortable around each other. I just want to live with someone. To read together, watch tv shows together, listen to music together, go to the theatre together, without them being considered 'dates'. Because I don't want them because I want their body. I want them in my life because I like their character.

And if you think about it, I'm very lucky in this way. Because, while not everyone has a super-model body, the vast majority of individuals are so bursting with life that I am very, very, likely to find people, many people, whose character I love. To be honest, I've already found plenty. But, ever the "optimist", I hope I find more :)

[lurkingshan]

Cherry Magic Episode 12

MY HEART IS FO FULL. This adaptation has exceeded my wildest expectations to become one of my favorite bls of all time. They really put their backs into it and gave us everything we could want for these characters, and I will always be grateful. This show managed to be a faithful manga adaptation, a loving homage to the jbl, and a fresh take on the story all at once. An amazing feat to pull off and this creative team deserves so much love and kudos.

The way Achi and Karan have grown together over the course of this show has been fantastic to witness. I love how seriously the show took their growth, and that we got to see them put in the work to improve their communication and become a great team. Meeting the parents was a big step for them, especially because they were uncertain how their respective families would react, but I loved that they were so open with each other throughout about how they were feeling. I loved, too, that we got a contrast, with Achi's mom being so warm and loving (but still managing to get a dig in on her son, lmao) and Karan's being more avoidant and passive aggressive and needing a talking to her from her eldest child to get her shit together. I love that the drama created space for things to not go perfectly with the parents, and to show us that people can be moved to acceptance.

We got a bit of a parallel with that message in Jinta and Min's story this week, with Min's fans initially attacking Jinta, but backing off once Min named him as his faen and asked them to respect his relationship. I like the choice to model positive fan behavior, and it felt a bit pointed from this production company. Both with Pai and now with this new group of fans, the show has said consistently that being a fan should be about love and support, not control. That you can admire your idols but you also need to give them privacy. That it's not your place to judge who they love. I just love that message.

Of course, I have to talk about the mutual proposal and the wedding. I am pretty sure Karan has been carrying that ring around in his pocket since the second day of dating, but it was such a welcome surprise to see that Achi had already made his own plans, too. The show really succeeded in taking this relationship from something that felt a little one-sided to a very mutual partnership I can believe in. I teared up when right along with Karan when Achi followed Karan's proposal with his own, and you could see how much it meant to him to know that Achi is really truly on the same page. Getting to see their wedding and the love surrounding them on their special day was the cherry (lol) on top of this fantastic love story. I also absolutely loved the wink to the jbl elevator non-kiss in the way they framed their final married couple kiss and then cut away from the bed.

Continuing the love fest, I also love the changes this version made to the side couple's story. Min getting to fulfill his dream, Jinta being an excellent supportive partner, their agreement that they will marry someday when they're ready--it was all just lovely. The nod to the jbl pen proposal was cute, and I love that they took it a step further by drawing rings on each other. The flip in the sexual relationships was also quite welcome, with that triumphant arc reserved for the main couple in this version. Jinta ended the show with his magical powers still intact, but it didn't seem like that would be the case for long.

As for Rock and Pai, I am happy with how the show handled their story. To the end, Pai stayed true to herself, and Rock came to know her better and understand what kind of romantic relationship he could reasonably expect from her. She will always have her head more on her ships than on her own love life, and he seems okay with it. I think you can still take an aroace read on this Pai if you choose, and I appreciate that the show made space for that. I like, too, that Pai helped Rock reconnect with his own passion for dancing and find a fun outlet for his creativity. They were another reinforcement of this show's overarching themes about the importance of kindness, support, and clear communication in relationships.

This show left me with such a warm feeling. I'm so glad they stuck the landing, that episode 8 never happened, and that we can rewatch and remember this Cherry Magic so fondly. I never expected Thailand to go so above and beyond the original live action drama, but they have undoubtedly delivered my favorite version of this story.

[capn-twitchery]

OC smash or pass!!

Rules: pretty self explanatory. include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc).

tagged by: @esteemed-excellency & @the-dye-stained-socialite (sorry double tag)

ok grace's turn 🫡 (is it cheating to use the arctic explorer art bc he looks cooler in it? i'm gonna anyway)

name: lieutenant edward grace

age: mid 30s somewhere

gender: just a guy

sexuality: aroace but he doesn't know that

🌨 pros:

will be so niceys to you. and everyone else. you can bring him home to your grandma and she will approve of him bc he is very polite

courteous, chivalrous, wants to help in any way he can. ridiculously eager to please

surprisingly romantic!! but old fashioned about it. hand kisses, love letters, little gifts, that angle. you will be getting pride & prejudice-ass letters if you're with him long enough

flexible, but usually a service top. his letter signoff is "your obedient servant",,,,, you get the picture

that one "i like kissing polar explorers they kiss like they're hungry" post that lives in my head 24/7

fine military carriage the Tits™

❓❓vague mystery class zone

needs to be wined and dined first, sorry, he is shy & too much of a gentleman. but it should be a nice enough date

shy. takes a bit to warm up to people before he stops being a stuffy victorian era stereotype

mutton chops

🌨cons:

he's awkward. he is trying his best but he's still awkward. :( negative persuasive modifier. sorry grace

haunted by the horrors 24/7. nightmares 8. anxietyx10000. melancholy 100. terrible sleep. his ass needs to be in the royal beth. no he won't talk about it tho (he's fine!)

self confidence does not exist. eaten by guilt

people pleaser to the level he entirely forgets about himself

stands like a pigeon (it does mean he wears a corset tho. silver lining!)

[furst1ded]

Thoughts on Shipping Alastor from an AroAce person

(this entire thing is copy and pasted excerpts from a Discord rant so if the grammar is funky, that's why, I just felt like giving my 2 cents on the topic)

Aroace people can still participate in romantic and sexual interactions. All being aro/ace/aroace means is you don't feel romantic/sexual attraction upon seeing other people. You can feel it later on or in waves or could never feel that attraction but still can participate and love others in a fulfilling way. Some aroace people are fine performing intimacy onto others but dislike reciprocation, others are the opposite where they're fine receiving but not giving. It's a spectrum.

The nuances of asexuality and aromanticism aside, you can be in a relationship without being in a relationship. Platonic relationships beyond friendship are a thing (QPRs for example). But like, I get it. Not everyone who ships Alastor keeps it confined to a QPR. And his character seems pretty sex-repulsed and romance-averse. But here's the other thing. He's fictional. As long as his character remains aroace in canon, fans taking the silly radio man and making him kiss the devil isn't taking away from aroace representation.

This next bit is coming from me as an AroAce person myself. I ship Alastor. I write/read him kissing people and fucking and acting romantic. And guess what? It's related to expressing my sexuality. Alastor is one of my favorite characters in anything ever and I love that there's a character that represents a facet of myself in a popular media. I relate to him so goddamn much and that's why I ship him. He's a fictional character I like that I project onto, so I use him as a way to navigate and explore romantic/sexual relationships that I'm never going to participate in myself. He's not real so I just puppet him around to live through vicariously in the scenarios I don't want to be a part of myself but find super interesting. It's not anything new, I do the same with my own characters in the stories I write them in, it's part of storytelling, I just use him for a specific type of story for a specfic part of myself.

It's not like we're hurting anybody by shipping him. We're not drastically effecting canon and making him an alloromantic. I've seen plenty of fics that ship him that either make it a QPR or they thoroughly explore the nuances of his asexuality and what subtype of sexuality he is and how he navigates it and I love those fics because they speak to me on a spiritual level. Grayromantic Alastor, demisexual alastor, sex-repulsed but romance-favorable Alastor, sex-repulsed and romance-averse Alastor in a one-sided ship fic, etc they're all so important to me because it helps me live out my own sexuality and romantic orientation and explore myself.

I get it. Not everyone is respectful. Not everyone feels the way I do and use characters in this way. It can suck seeing people just ignore his sexuality when asexuals and aromantics don't get much in terms of screen-time. But you can't control everybody and what work they put out. And trying to censor stuff like that does more harm than good. I just explained why fics involving Alastor are so important to me. They normalize QPRs and aroaces being in relationships. That's probably what pisses me off the fucking most. If we're not allowed to write about aroaces being in relationships or romantic/sexual situations, you put aroaces into a box. A box where every aroace is perceived as sexless and loveless, which just isn't true. A box where aroaces are prudes or infants who can't handle hearing the word "sex". It's just so frustrating. You can be mad at fics that expressly rewrite or stomp on his sexuality, sure. You can't stop them, but you can disapprove of them. But let the rest of us have our fun making the literal devil and TV head man have the hots for a man whose teeth are yellower than the sun, Jesus Christ.

TL;DR: asexuality is a spectrum, I'm aroace and use shipping as a way to explore and express myself and I know I'm not the only one, trying to suppress works where an Aroace character is seen participating in romance or sex can actually be harmful in that it promotes only one idea of what being aroace is, and at the end of the day the character I'm talking about doesn't even exist.

[catnippackets]

as someone who’s coming to terms w their own aroace identity, what does queerplatonic mean to you? you have a handful of characters in those relationships, so i just assume you understand the concept since you write it. sorry if this sounds strange, english is not my first language! 🧡💛🤍🩵💙

this doesn't sound strange at all! your english is great :)

well first off, from what I've learned over the years, everybody has their own little definition of what queerplatonic means to them, so my explanation of what it means to me might not be the same as what it means to other people. it's sort of a nebulous concept that can mean whatever you want it to mean, kinda like how nonbinary can mean whatever you want it to mean and just because you strongly disagree with how someone else is using it doesn't mean either of you are wrong

I also wanna say that I've written a few qprs in my day and they're all different! there is no single consistent portrayal of what I think a queerplatonic relationship is, bc each qpr I write will look slightly different and involve different things. but at the base of it all, to me, a qpr is a relationship that isn't romantic but that is still more intimate than a platonic friendship would be. usually I say that to mean physical intimacy, like cuddling or whatnot, but it includes emotional intimacy as well. I also like to imagine it as sort of the aroace version of being in a relationship, but you DON'T have to be aro or ace to be in a qpr, anyone can have one if that's what your feelings are

sometimes I like to imagine a qpr as sort of the halfway point between platonic and romantic; you're not in love but maybe you snuggle or even occasionally kiss like you are, but there is no romance there, you're just close in a special way that you aren't with your friends. sometimes qprs will even involve sex, and from an outsider perspective, look like you're just in regular love. sometimes qprs barely look intimate at all and from an outside perspective, you just look like regular friends. all of these examples are still qprs! because it all depends on how the people involved are labelling it, and different people have different standards for their own attraction. if someone regularly kisses and cuddles with all their platonic friends and that's normal for them, then a queerplatonic relationship might look really different for them, but for me, if I had a friend who I felt comfortable kissing and cuddling with, that would DEFINITELY be a qpr for me bc I would never even dream of doing that with a platonic friend. but also I wouldn't label it as a qpr either, even though it would technically be one by definition, because I wouldn't be comfortable being in a relationship if it had a label and I would prefer to just be somebody's person and know that we've committed to each other without being "partners" or whatnot. I know that's probably kind of confusing but I can't think of any other way to explain it haha

basically at the end of the day if you feel like your feelings of attraction can't be defined as strictly platonic or romantic but they're still definitely there, that would make them queerplatonic, but of course you don't have to use any labels at all if you don't want to. I hope that was helpful in some way lol

[antimony-medusa]

"They're honestly so sibling-coded."

I grew up in a conservative, rural area where people got married young. It was not uncommon to see marraiges happen when the people involved were 19, 20, 21, and there was this sort of expectation that any relationship you were in in your teen years had like a 70% chance of leading to marriage. More, if you were especially religious. This attitude was so pervasive that if a woman was friends with a man, or even hung out together, there was this automatic societal assumption that you were early relationship, which led into late relationship, which led into where you were going to get married, which led into babies and a family.

And I hated it. I hated it because I was aroace and didn't know it yet, but even just as a baby feminist feeling out what it meant to be a woman and how I was perceived in the world, I hated the assumption that all my m/f relationships were only worth something if they were leading to romance and marriage (and babies). The idea that men and women couldn't be friends, because men only thought about women in a romantic/sexual way, was actively taught me by everyone from pastors to helpful older coworkers. I even got told that f/f friendships were basically killing time until you got into a romantic m/f relationship, which is where you'd find actual fullfilment and happiness. It sucked.

And then I moved away, and I got out of the conservative religious circles, and then in my 20s, people kept saying the same thing. At least it wasn't saying "god made you for relationships (and babies)," but it was still saying that y'know, men are only interested in one thing, and it's cruel to lead them on, and so on, and so forth. Half of the world is going to only think of you in terms of what you're good for in relation to their relationship status, and the other half of the world is going to tell you to suck it up and deal with it.

This is still the background radiation of much of the world, still. I am getting this less in my 20s because many of my male friends are married, (or gay), but still, as soon as I meet someone new the interested looks start to pile in. As a person who doesn't plan on getting into a romantic relationship, I do not love this.

Immediately seeing a m/f friendship and going "ooooo they're KISSING" is not respectful of the guy's ability to have friendships with people he's not having sex with, but let's look at what it messages about the girl in this scenario.

A) women are only worth talking about in terms of what they can do to for men, what they are in connection with men B) friendship is unimportant and not real, women only exist to be romance options

So I feel strongly about allowing women to be percieved as their own beings and have cross-gender friendships without turning it into romance.

This is not an uncommon take on the internet! I see a lot of people talking about allowing people to be friends without defaulting to shipping.

But I don't know how to tell you that seeing a m/f relationship and saying "Oh they're siblings", when we're talking about celebrities/streamers is still sending a lot of the same messages. The core thing you're communicating is still the same. It's falling into the same traps.

I get the sense that a lot of people see a relationship they want to sort of celebrate and enjoy, and they know that shipping is bad, so they just shunt the "oh they're special to each other" to the left into a family dynamic. I will just say they're siblings, that way nobody can accuse me of shipping, and I'm good!

But what this does is still messages a) woman are reduced down to their relationship with a man, into what they can do for the man, and b) friendship is unimportant and not real, women only exist to be non-romanceable family and the rest of them, the romance options.

If the only way you can conceive of a woman as being important to a man is either being romantic/sexual with him or by saying that they're related, that's still bad. If you literally have to put one of the strongest relationship taboos in our culture in the way or you'll just default into kissing I guess, that's still messaging some really concerning things about how you're portrating women.

And once inside the family dynamics, jesus fuck, you guys. Family dynamics have such a trend to slot women into nurturing and protective roles, where the "older sister" "is the one with the brain cell" and "will take care of him" and will be there suborned to his story to be a surrogate mother figure that takes care of him. This, frankly, sucks.

I am an older sister as a fairly important part of my identity. I love being an older sister. But the way this fandom treats older sisters as tiny non-sexual mothering machines with no interiority or autonomy is not good at all, when it comes to actively respecting women as people.

Honestly, I don't like either option, but when you look at how women get treated when sisterified in fanon (older responsible figure who will take care of our precious baby boy) and how women get treated when shipped (mothering options still exist here but also sometimes they dom him), I might prefer the shipping. And I just did a whole multi paragraph about how much the shipping sucks!

I'm not even going to get into what happens when women get actively assigned mom in a family dynamic. All the worst parts of shipping with none of the fun smut.

I am aware I am talking about the worst excesses of family dynamic here, because this fandom offers lots to choose from, and there are ways to do family dynamic in a good way. Some of the most important relationships in my life are familial, and when actually delved into, you can absolutely still portray a full and nuanced portrayal within a family dynamic. This is a possibility. But god, when I look at the fandom trends and what rises to the top of my dash, oof.

And like, there's a larger trend in this fandom where people seem to be incapable of thinking of friendships as valuable and worthy, if you see them as important to each other it must be familial, but when you do it with women, damn.

Can we give seeing women as full autonomous being who are capable of their own opinions and desires a shot? See them as more than just romance options or [illegal to romance] options? Just let them be friends? Please?

[genericpuff]

Just saw your response to someone asking about plot points you hate. Can I ask why you don't like Athena/Hestia? From what I remember (take this with a grain of salt because while I've read the whole comic it's more in a junk food, read and forget til next time kind of thing)

From what I remember it's not a huge plot point? Like its just kinda.. there? It doesn't really impact much of the story at large.

Also I agree with the hades/thanatos thing, that's kinda odd and it doesn't make hades any better or more sympathetic of a protagonist. If I remember right, doesn't he abandon thanatos or push him away?

I have issues with the Hestia x Athena plotline the same way I have issues with the Hera x Echo plotline. It all feels shoehorned in for the sake of seeming 'inclusive' towards gay relationships, but gets next to no actual development or screentime aside from the odd lip service meant to benefit Rachel.

Especially when Hestia and Athena were already embraced as LGBTQ+ icons to begin with and didn't need to be shipped together to make it possible. Rachel has a really hard time comprehending aroace identities and this is present even back in her Tumblr days-

If Hestia and Athena are still supposed to be at least ace in LO then we haven't seen any indication of that. So it just makes them look hypocritical as fuck for running the "virgins only club" that is TGOEM (and even going so far as to punish Persephone for being around Hades by confiscating his gift to her) and that unfortunately makes them look like really terrible people which isn't a great look for the only lesbian couple in the story (at least until Eros and Hera were established but whether or not they're an actual couple now or if that was just a one time kiss scene remains to be seen). Like even the reveal that they're together is Artemis figuring it out and then being pissed that she's the "only one following the rules", not them coming out about it on their own terms.

Also no, the Hestia x Athena plotline wasn't as big as the other plotlines, but it was one of the ones that felt so out of left field and forced when it was first established. Plus I'd just love for them to be aroace rep again, there are characters who are legitimate gay icons that got erased so that Rachel could retroactively shove it into other characters without any reasoning or relevance to the plot.

I honestly wouldn't have been so salty about the Hestia x Athena plotline if it were just written better (and if it didn't reek of aroace erasure) and that goes for a lot of the queer relationships in LO, because so many of them are only given the tiniest ounces of screentime, enough for Rachel to take credit for being "inclusive" but not enough for her to actually have a diverse cast. Morpheus is the most consistently present character we've gotten for LGBTQ+ rep and now even she's been fridged :/

Anyways, as for Hades and Thanatos, yeah, the retcon that Hades was a 'father figure' to Thanatos the whole time seems like it was purely written in to make Thanatos look like a hypocrite for having very reasonable concerns regarding the special treatment being given to Persephone at work. But then Rachel had to actually resolve that plotline so in S3 she had Hades approach Thanatos in search of his brother just for them to have a weak 'heart to heart' where Thanatos took the blame for being a 'handful' and Hades trauma dumped and never really took accountability for everything. The fact that we're supposed to believe they have a father-son dynamic really makes the first season gross to read because the whole time Hades is legitimately treating Thanatos like scum. It absolutely does NOT make Hades more likeable, even with the attempt to 'redeem' him which really just made him look like an even bigger asshole u.u

[dianneking]

On The Seashore (Brienne x Reader)

Hi all! For my weekly fic challenge, @scream-queenlover suggested this prompt (#2584) @promptsforthestrugglingauthor :

"I'm tired of adventures. How about we just get married and stay home?" "I'm sorry…did you just fucking propose?”

You and Brienne have been adventuring together for years, and while you enjoy the friendship and camaraderie that the two of you share, you can't help but wish for more, maybe…but is it in the cards?

Tags: Brienne x Reader, AU - Canon Divergence, Swearing, Brienne is an adventurer, Aroace spectrum, Brienne is on the aroace spectrum,  Friendly Banter, Dialogue-Heavy, Queerplatonic Vibes, Second Person POV, Reader is a woman.

I am not sure how it turned into a queerplatonic fic with a Brienne on the aro/ace spectrum but hey, happy belated aro/ace week. Link to AO3 in the title below:

On The Seashore

“I swear, if I have to shake sand from my boots one more time, I'll snap.” You grumbled, pulling once again your weathered traveling boots on your feet. 

“Might I remind you that getting this close to the coastline was your idea, milady?” 

“Brienne, it's been three years we're on the road together, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me by my name?” 

You could see her lips slightly tilting upwards and you knew her dry wit was about to come out to play once more.

“One more time, milady.”

You snorted. “One more time, my ass. I haven't been a lady since we took to the road. Just a common adventurer, that's all.”

“There's absolutely nothing common about you, milady, and if anyone dares to even imply anything of the sort, I'd be ready to duel them.” 

“Yeah we've learned that in Sandstone with that one guy who was a little bit too friendly…”

“He grabbed your arm!” 

“I know but we were trying to keep a low profile and you beating him up didn't really…”

“He insulted your honor! And mine too!”

You sighed. “Yes I know. Let's try not to beat anyone up in this village though. I'd like to lay low for a while.” 

“Well we still have half a day of walking in front of us before we get there, that is, if Your Grace doesn't keep stopping every ten minutes to shake sand off your precious feet.”

“Well excuse me for not wanting the whole beach in my boots.” 

The two of you kept going towards the village, bickering as you had become accustomed to over the time spent together. 

“This must be heaven!” You kicked your feet up, forgetting your previous adversity for the sand, your boots next to your wicker seat in the cool shade of the palm trees. 

“You have pretty low standards for the afterlife, milady, if all you require is a seat in the shade.” 

“Brienne! Was your mission successful?” 

You looked up at her silhouette, the sun behind her transforming her short hair in a golden halo. She looked even more like a goddess than usual.

“I have drinks and I have work opportunities so yes, I'd say my mission was indeed successful. And no duels yet, so you can rest easily.”

She handed you a tankard, keeping the second one in her hand. 

You lost no time chugging down the first half in a long sip.

“Ahhhhhh now that's something that was sorely missing in my heaven. A drink! I could kiss you right now, Brienne!”

She did not reply, taking a sip of her own tankard, but as she sat down in the wicker chair next to your own, you noticed her ears were slightly pinker. How had she managed to get sunburned in such a short time? Oh well, she was very fair-skinned so it probably took very little. That might be why she always had her hood or her helmet on most days. But the Dornian heat and the quiet reputation of this village had convinced even the uptight Brienne of Tarth to lighten her kit. 

“So you were talking about work?” 

She swallowed her drink and replied, her voice uncharacteristically flustered:

“Yes. Hmm, well, they're looking for night guards for their granary. They've had quite the bountiful harvest and they want to keep it safe until the village fair.”

“Are there actual threats to the granary?” 

“Not really. Seems to be mostly a precaution.”

“So a cushy gig. How's the pay?” 

“Not great, but they'd let us stay here at this cottage on the beach for free and add one golden coin each per week.”

“Sunshine, the seaside, free lodging and decent pay? Sign me up for life!”

“What about your beloved adventures? What about being a free spirit and roaming the world?”

"I'm tired of adventures. How about we just get married and stay here?"

The silence that followed alerted you that something was wrong. You turned to your companion.

“Brienne?”

She was looking at you as if you had sprouted a second head. 

"I'm sorry...did you just fucking propose?”

Woah. Brienne of Tarth, swearing? That was almost unheard of from your very proper companion, and only in very serious situations. 

Not that you’d mind. Marrying her, that is. Quite the contrary. The past three years had easily been the happiest of your life, and you knew it had to do with her. Her constant presence by your side, her dry humor, her unwavering support and loyalty…she had become a column you hadn’t even realized how much you were leaning against until you took a step back and allowed yourself to admire her. And she was beautiful. Gods, was she beautiful. 

You set your tankard down beside your chair, and turned to her, lifting your chin, fixing your eyes in hers with equal parts trepidation and boldness. 

“What if I did?” 

“This is not a subject for jesting, milady!”

“Who said I was jesting? And for all the Gods, stop calling me milady like I am some sort of court princess.”

“But you cannot...We wouldn’t…We’re two women!” 

“Believe me, I noticed.” You smirked up at her, letting your eyes roam her tall figure, allowing her to see the appreciation in your eyes. She spluttered, her face turning a bright red that had no correlation with her previous sun exposure. (Had her reddened ears from before also been…oh. Well. Who’d have known. You might even have a chance then.)

“Milady! I…That’s not appropriate! The law doesn’t-”

“Brienne. For once, this is not about the law, religion, traditions, nor customs.” You stood up, and placed your hands on the armrests of her seat, boxing her in. Tall as she was, her head was level with yours. You had never been so close to her. You could see beads of perspiration crowning her forehead, you could drown in the blueness of her eyes, wide open in shock, both at your boldness and at your closeness.

She hadn’t pushed you away though. That had to count for something.

“Brienne?”

“Y-yes?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, hesitant and softer than you’d ever heard before. This was not Brienne the warrior speaking. She was Brienne the woman. 

The woman you’d fallen for. 

“I am going to tell you something. You just say the word, and we won’t have to talk about this again. We’ll go back to our adventuring as it was before and nothing will have changed. But I don’t want you to think this is some sort of joke. I am serious.”

She nodded, and you could see her lower lip quivering slightly, and her eyes widening even more. 

“There’s nobody else in the whole world I would like to spend the rest of my life with. Nobody else I would gladly take an arrow for, nobody else I want to guard my back as I guard theirs. If there’s anything that the past three years have taught me is that my days of lonely wandering are done, as long as I can have you by my side. Would…would you consider becoming more than just traveling companions?”

She bit her lip, and let her gaze drop to her knees, as if unable to look you in the eyes anymore.

Oh. 

The silence stretched for what felt like ages. The usually pleasant sounds of waves crashing against the seashore and seagulls crying out to each other felt like a dissonant song to your ears, when all you wanted to hear was her voice.

But you guessed her silence was telling you all there was to know. 

“Very well.” You tried to keep the disappointment out of your voice as you straightened up, hands detaching from the wicker armrests, setting your companion free once again. “I’ll just… go check the water’s temperature. Be back in a bit.” 

You almost scoffed at yourself. Sure. Check the water temperature. Like you gave a damn about the ocean right now. It could all dry up for all you cared. 

You resisted the urge to kick at the sand in anger and frustration though. Mainly because you knew Brienne could be watching you, and you wanted to keep what little decorum you could. How could you be so stupid? To think that she might return your feelings, that you might have a chance with her. Ha. Clearly the blazing sun of Dorne had burnt off your common sense. 

You let the cool seawater lap at your bare feet, forcing yourself to look at the horizon and take a deep breath of salty breeze. 

It was okay. You’d gone through heartbreak before. You’d move on. 

Another deep intake of breath.

You would not allow those tears that you felt prickling at your eyelids to fall. You were a grown woman. An adventurer. Not a silly girl with a crush. 

A third breath. You closed your eyes, focusing on the sounds of seagulls, trying to shove all the feelings back in the little blackened and beaten container you called heart. 

“Nobody has ever told me that.”

“HOLY SH- Brienne, you almost gave me a heart attack!” You twirled towards her, a hand on your chest as you tried to get your breathing back in control. How a woman of her size had managed to sneak behind you without you noticing was a testament both to her athleticism and to how out of it you were.

She pinned you with her gaze, hard and unflinching. The soft, blushing Brienne was gone. This was Brienne the warrior, once again. You realized you had fallen for her, too. 

“Nobody has ever…wanted me.” She said that as if it was part question, part accusation. You didn’t know what to make of it. You shrugged.

“Well, apparently they’re all dumb as rocks and with no functioning eyes.”

She snorted. An inelegant sound that you found as endearing as the rest of her. 

“Seriously, Brienne. You probably have a lot of people that admire you from afar. I’m just the one with the least amount of self-preservation instincts of them all.”

“You seem to have been doing pretty well so far.”

“Well, if you don’t smite me for daring to punch above my weight, I should live to see another day!” You smiled up at her, cheekily, trying to lighten up the mood. You weren’t going to give up on the friendship and camaraderie you two had built together just because your advances had been turned down. A fool, you might be, but not an utter imbecile. 

You could see her lips pull up at the corners in a tiny but unmistakable smile at your antics.

“There it is! The smile of mercy! I shall live somewhat longer! Yay!”

She shook her head and gave you a small shove, almost throwing you completely off-balance. 

“You’re impossible, you know that?”

“I’ll take impossible as a title over milady anytime, so yep, that’s who I am! Also, please don’t throw me into the ocean, I can’t swim.”

“You can’t?”

“Nope! I’m a land rat, not a sea rat. Can you?”

“Of course! Everyone on Tarth learns how to.”

“Well, you’ll have to teach me at some point, but throwing me in is not how I’d like to go about it, thank you very much.”

Her hand landed on your shoulder, gripping it strongly, and you looked up to see that the smile had gone, and her expression was now closed off, and serious. 

“I…wouldn’t be opposed to it.” She ground out, as if it was physically difficult for her to even say it. 

“To teaching me how to swim?”

“No, to a… relationship. I…I like to spend time with you.” She looked like she was telling the truth but also like she was extremely uncomfortable doing so. You felt your heart break again, this time for her.

“As do I, but we can still have that. This is not an ultimatum, Brienne, I would never put you in that position.” Just the thought she would be willing to start a relationship she clearly wasn’t keen on not to lose your company was…both horrifying and heartwarming, to be honest. 

“It’s not that. I…I am not good with…romance. It doesn’t come as easy to me as it seems to be for other people. I don’t know how to go about it.”

You put your own hand on top of hers, on your shoulder, trying to find the right words.

“Hey. There is no right or wrong way. And there is no hurry. We can give it a try and see where it goes. If not, we’ll just be good friends that adventure together, alright?”

She seemed to ponder this, her eyes on your hand covering her own. You gave her the time to do so. 

“I would like that.”

You smiled tenderly up at her. This was so hard for her, always used to be the paradigm of perfection, of valor, of morals. The fact that she was able to challenge herself enough to go out on a limb with a relationship for you, of all people, made your heart skip a beat in your chest. 

“We will take things as slowly as you’d like, and you feel free to tell me at any time if you’re uncomfortable, okay?”

You could see the tension leave her eyes, and her face opened up in a hopeful smile. 

“You’d do that…for me?”

“But of course! We have all the time in the world, milady!” You smirked, throwing the title back at her and seeing her resigned grimace at the nickname.

“No more miladys, alright?” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years! Now. That drink is getting warm and that’s not something we can allow. Shall we?”

You gallantly offered her your hand to hold in a very bad imitation of a nobleman asking a woman at court to dance.  She shook her head, but accepted your hand, and you both turned your back to the sun, looking at your conjoined shadows on the sand in front of you with a look of incredulous joy on both of your faces. 

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[stiffyck]

I’ve been having a bit of a headache dealing with family giving me shit for being aro ace lol. If you have any qpr/aroace headcanons - desert duo or elven duo - it would rlly make my day, if you want! Feel free to answer this or not

Oh absolutely.

Desert duo:

Scar would realise he's aroace after he started dating Grian. He's always thought you sort of "pick" your crush. He'd see someone good looking and ask himself:

"Does this person give me butterflies in my stomach? Do I want to date them? Do I want to kiss them?" And he'd never really know the answer. The idea of dating the person usually didn't seem appealing and kissing them even less so. And he never knew what the butterflies in his stomach means. How would that feel like? How would he know that's what he's feeling?

So when he meets Grian and they become friends Scar thinks he might have a crush on him. He thinks that he's very close with Grian and that this is the closest feeling to what the others described as a crush.

So they start dating. But Scar doesn't really like that. He likes cuddling and holding hands but he doesn't like all the other romantic stuff.

They talk. Grian suggests Scar looks into what being aromantic and asexual means.

Maybe they stop dating, maybe they don't. That's honestly up to you!

Grian is fine with just cheek kisses and hand holding and cuddles. He doesn't need more from Scar. So they could still happily stay as partners.

-

I think Scar would love being on hermitcraft because the hermits value platonic relationships just as much as they do romantic ones.

Grian loves that too. Grian can be aroace too, depends on how you wanna see it.

-

QPP desert duo would hold hands and cuddle a lot. Scar is clingy.

Grian is usually stubborn and does not want to admit that hes clingy too. He likes when Scar randomly comes over and just hugs him from behind maybe or if hes sitting Scar will sit on his lap or lay across him. Scar just likes to spend time with Grian even if they dont talk- he'll just watch Grian work in silence. And if he can hold Grians hand or hug him or somehow cuddle him while he works? even better.

Grian loves playing with Scars hair.

Grian also loves to read-

he will lie on his bed with Scar holding onto his middle while he reads. if Scar is awake, Grian will read out loud to him.

Grian loves when Scar presses kisses in his hair. Scar loves when Grian kisses his nose or his cheeks.

Elven duo:

they love gossipping while doing each others hair. Gem loves braiding Scars hair and Scar loves adding all sorts of accesories to Gems hair.

One of them will stop by the others base to ramble about one thing or another while the other listens and continues with their work.

They're not very keen on handholding but they will absolutely lean on one another and hug.

They like to fight! Scar might not be the best at pvp but he's getting better and fighting with Gem is awlays fun.

They both like to dress up together. Scar has plenty of fancy suits and dresses and he lets Gem raid his dresser occasionally so they can both dress up just for fun.

That also usually leads to them dancing. Scar constantly trips over his feet but is otherwise a great dancer. Gem finds it sweet.

They love watching movies all cuddled up together in a pile of blankets with Jellie. They comment on the stupid stuff that happens in the movie. They love complaining!

Okay thats all i got rn! I hope your family gets their heads out of their asses and i hope you survive the rest of the holidays!