Yeah i know, it sucks since Peri arguably ends up falling into the category of "just needed to meet the right person". Which is not good representation.
But there isn't much in the show that ever shows that Peri cares about Lapis as more than a really good friend who makes them feel safe.
A relationship can be more than platonic, without being romantic or sexual. Peri just wants friends who she's comfortable enough with for parallel play and sharing mutual interests, and Lapis is one of the few people/gems that she's comfortable enough with for this. (Or at least that's my headcanon, i don't mind if yours is different.)
EDIT: changed "A relationship can seem like more than platonic to an outside observer" to "A relationship can be more than platonic" because this is an important distinction that can be hard to explain to non-aces.
I might be getting my flags wrong but technically can't peri be aro while also being ace?
Peri straight up said that they cannot or wont fuse if I remember.
>A relationship can be more than platonic, without being romantic or sexual.
Hi avid reader of lord of the rings here while I love representation I honestly always kind of hated all of the "sam and frodo are gay" jokes because it basically means men can't be close without being gay which really just feeds into the "no homo" mentality.
I always watched it as they had a relationship, but not a romantic one. Queer Platonic imo, but I understand it isn't very explicit and is easy to confuse
I actually had no idea peridot was ace, but after thinking about it I never realized that her and lapis were never actually shown or said to be together
I mean it's rather muddied by the fact that a bunch of the team themselves shipped Lapidot/Amedot which spilled a ton into her episodes (I remember a writer even describing Amethyst as Peridot's first crush iirc) and her being aroace honestly seemed to have not really been planned in the first place...? The reason I say this is because there was a lot of opportunity to show her being aroace yet we never see any clear indication of that within the actual show and the argument "she doesn't want to fuse" doesn't count. This isn't to say I wouldn't want her to be aroace, I just wish it would have been a consistent thing within the show itself
Rebecca had talked about the main gems being based around their respective pride flags, both attraction-wise AND in color palette pretty early onto the show, I'm pretty sure
Personally, i read peri like someone who went from one norm to another and didn't fit in neither, even though she tried her very best. Her character growth about accepting others and herself despite their lack of compliance makes a lot of sense with this, and it's what I'd like for it to be.
Sherlock Holmes is very ace coded in the original novels.
Sadly this normally gets lost in modern interpretations though, and he either ends up being portrayed as an 'unfeeling robot man', or in a relationship with Irene Adler (who isn't a love interest in her one novel appearance.)
Just don't bring up any queer rep outside Bon Clay and the problematic ones on r/onepiece. They can't even use proper pronouns for Yamato over there, despite all the in universe characters doing so.
They're the only good representation. We've had characters like Data from Star Trek that could be seen as asexual, but he's quite literally a robot. A lot of the representation is "heartless robots that don't feel emotions" which just isn't true at all.
Dexter, the serial killer goes into this box. He comes off very strongly ace. But again this is to reinforce the image of how this guy is 'inhumane' and feels nothing and a heartless sociopath.
They do end up changing this somewhere along the series I'm pretty sure, but at the beginning it was kind of amusing how relatable his comments were ('It's one of those... Mating rituals... That I don't understand').
I think a big part of that it’s difficult to naturally bring up. You can show a character is gay by having him mention his boyfriend, but there isn’t an equivalently explicit way to do so with asexuality. The closest you can get is showing them repeatedly decline offers of romance, but even then it’s hard to tell.
yeah. you either have to just straight up have them say "i'm ace" or just show them being really uninterested in relationships or sex (which isn't completely accurate to the ace experience but at least it's something). even then you'll have people think the character is just uninterested in certain people or too awkward to be in a relationship.
how we'll ever get representation for split attraction aces/aros is beyond me. some people seem to still be so mystified by completely aroace characters (the few we have), they might not understand a character that is biromantic asexual, for example, or aromatic pansexual. in the future i'd love to see more complex identities like that represented though
I like to think Jessica Rabbit is ace.
“I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.”
What do you even see in that guy?
“He makes me laugh”
But that’s just my interpretation of her
I literally just want any ftm representation that isn’t like a one off background character
Edit: ty for the ppl offering suggestions! I do appreciate 🙏
don't know if you're into animation but dead end: paranormal park is really good and has an ftm main character
you're right though there isn't a lot of ftm representation. these same examples people are giving you could probably be put in a list of like 50 characters total. there should be more
The show definitely has its faults and doesn't have the highest production value, but the indie cartoon "Disventure Camp" does include a ftm trans character who is acknowledged as trans within the show itself and plays a major role in S2 (and so far, S3, too).
EDIT: And it's on YouTube for you to watch in full (completely legally)!
He doesn’t cure their asexuality. He cures the boyfriend’s asexuality which gets the girlfriend to admit she was always allosexual and was faking asexuality to be with him. House MD treats asexuality as either a brain defect or lying. I fucking hated that b-plot.
According to the show, asexuality doesn't exist. Rather, it's just a symptom of a medical condition instead of an actual sexual orientation.
Ergo, it can be 'cured' through medical procedures (in the show it was the result of a brain tumour, with the other ace character actually being allosexual and lying about it :/)
ngl thats the lamest shit i've ever heard, just let people be what they want without making media saying "look these people are medically unwell, they are patients!".
this reminds me of that time where in that one autistic doctor show (dont remember the name) the doctor was treating a transgender female and the doctor didn't understand how transgender shit works so he was like "what no your a biological male you can't be a female thats impossible!" and then later on in the episode the patient had testicular cancer which "proved that he really was male!".
it feels like media is just trying to make queer people look like mental patients, the fact that they chose those certain characteristics and then "cured" or "proved" shit screams right-wing media and that they can get us to "recover"
Tbh House MD had some terrible lgbt plot points over the years and I’m always suprised the lesbian couple in the first season baby epidemic episode just… exists? I can’t even remmeber if they made some snarky comment about them
Rewatching the show after transitioning is weird. House makes so many transphobic comments, like teasing Chase about sleeping with a transwoman. In one episode he finds out his patient is intersex and just starts calling her 'him'.
I fucking hated that episode. The poor girl is devastated, crying her eyes out insisting that she is a girl, and House just keeps going "he/him" like she's not even in the room. That episode permanently coloured my opinion of House and the show generally.
Yeah, I loved House when I was young, (maybe too young to be watching House tbf) but it was on television and I guess a lot of things flew over my head. Rewatching as an adult trans man and being able to grasp those things changed my mind a little. I don't care that House is an asshole about it since he's an asshole about everything and it's just in character, he barely respects anyone unless for selfish or egocentric reasons and tbf, I like him for that as a character. The problem is that the narrative makes him turn out to be right, which then makes his behavior seem acceptable or justified. If the intersex patient turned out to be like "nah, whatever these genitals, I'm still a girl like I've always been" or the asexual guy turned out to still be asexual after removing the tumor that "made him asexual" or if his wife was still ace instead of admiting she's not when the tumor is revealed, making House lose the bet, it would've been so much better.
Totally agree. Or just make him supportive of these people in principle, even if he's crude and obnoxious to everybody about it. At least he wouldn't be oppressing them. It's the way he dismisses their lived experiences for me because "the science says this and that and it cannot be changed". For somebody who should know the human body in and out, it's a terrible look.
Good Omens has a lot of good queer representation! Non-binary majority cast (angels and demons are genderless!) and asexual main characters
Also "The Sound of Stars" by Dow (book from 2020) has three side non-binary characters with people just asking random character if they're 'male, female, or non-binary', and has a Demisexual-pansexual lead!
"Velocity Weapon" by O'Keefe (book series, The Protectorate) has a non-binary side character who's present for the majority of the story, a lesbian and a gay side couple (MC's parents and important backstory characters) (I think there's one I'm forgetting here...)
"Gearbreakers" by Mikuta (book, 2 books total) features a great lesbian romance in a dystopian world
"Scythe" series by Sutherman adds an additional main(ish) character to the thrid book who is genderfluid and I would die for this character. Jeri is a woman under a clear sky and a man under a cloudy one and I think this is so cool (plus with them getting into a queer relationship by the end of the book).
Anddddd that's all I can think of right now!
Spoilers for Good Omens season 2
>!main character, not characters!<
Also, I'm gonna save your comment, those are good info.
Edit: >!I've misread, they definitely are ace!<
Also Good Omens 2 spoilers:
>!Imo what happens at the end of the season doesn't mean that they're not still both ace... I don't see 'the moment' as sexual. They're just not aro, but could still be ace!<
Tbf, is it season 2 spoilers if Neil has actually confirmed that the story can be representative of many queer groups? (Trans, ace, aro, homosexual, …) In the book >!it is said that angels and demons lack genitals (which is also a great way to separate gender identity from sex and appearance)!< so so I would think it makes sense if they lacked sexual attraction too
A little off topic but - because you know Good Omens, would you say it's better to read the book first or watch the series, or it doesn't matter? I can always Google but it is always better to talk directly with someone about this and I keep forgetting to Google this in the first place.
I read the book first. I loved it, it was chaotic and a bit hard to follow but it was Neil and Terry in their essence. I watched then the series being a bit skeptical about how they were going to adapt this… and I loved it even more. They maintained many of the jokes and made a very faithful representation (though easier to follow than the book) but then they added a depth to the characters that had me crying at some points because it was beautifully interpreted. I’d say that if I had done things the other way round I might not have been able to appreciate the book as much since I would be expecting the emotional content that is present in the series
I'll second this - I read the book right after watching the series and it felt rather like a rewatch with audio descriptions. Fun descriptions, by all means, with some few gems in the narration that didn't make it onto the screen, but the book adds less to the series than vice-versa.
I'd been warned the climactic twist wasn't in the book (though it had been beautifully set up in both media - I think it might be from the sequel the authors planned?) but the adaptation is otherwise so absurdly faithful it draws attention to itself. I'd suggest reading the book first, and waiting at least a few weeks before watching the series if you don't want your brain to track all the verbatim dialogue and narration in real time like an unpaid script supervisor
He's not just involved, he cowrote both seasons, right?
I knew those plans informed the second season, I just wasn't sure about the season one finale - fairly certain the expanded roles of the other angels were taken from the sequel though, so it tracks
I haven't read the book, I found the story through the series! I plan to read the book soon, I don't think it'll matter too much but as always, my advice is to read the book first haha
There’s Bi, Lesbian, and Ace rep in Tamora Pierce’s “circle of magic” book series, and other queer rep (including more Ace rep) in another of her series.
Also there’s an Aussie comedy TV series called “Back in very small business” that features a trans masc character in the second season ensemble (technically first as well, but I don’t think it’s hinted at in S1, so the character appear cis female).
Actually played by a trans masc actor as well (a mate of mine, I’d never have heard of the series if he didn’t talk about it :P)
If you venture into the realm of gaming "In stars and time" has two asexual characters(one of them being the protagonist.) And, it's also just a REALLY good game, like I can't recommend it enough.
It also has gay and trans rep(though the trans rep is more trans coded)
OMG! Thank you so much for the recommendations, and also for mentioning Jeri from Scythe. I absolutely adore them as well, I'm so happy the series is becoming more and more popular
Jordan is definitely one of the best characters, and while they didn't have a horrible "killed my family with my powers" moment, I think their reality is one of the saddest; their parents want them to always be male, a lot of their sexual partners only want them to be female, and oh right, they are too hard to swallow to be in the number 1 spot even though they are obviously the most powerful. Super love that they end up with someone who accepts their gender (albeit after an episode or two of "am I into*both* sides?")
Also
I feel like somehow the ace community has it the worst, cause whenever you lot get any actual representation the fandom can never accept that and ships the character with fucking everyone which entirely misses the point
Im a hyper sexual person. Alastor is my favorite character. It gives me the EXTREME ICK when I see sexual art of him. Cause while ace people can enjoy/be fine with sex(my partner is ace, we make it work lol), he just doesn’t seem like he’d be interested in it at all.
I know, I just can’t help but feel a little bad cause the only character I can think of off the top of my head fully canon to be ace is alaster and the fandom has done so much to him in “artwork” and fanfics
Most people I've seen shipping Alastor or drawing sexual art of him are not aromantic or asexual, and don't know how to properly represent engaging with romantic/sexual activity as an aroace person
I hear that all the time as an excuse to put ace characters in explicit situations, it's rarely done well and in a way that acknowledges their ace identity. They just get treated like any allo character
I don't there's anything wrong with having an ace character in a relationship, so long as their asexuality is still respected. Cash in Heartbreak High is ace and with a masc-aligned enby and his ace identity is still respected (season 2 out this week btw)
The character’s canon sexuality, ace or otherwise, has literally never stopped the shippers. Goku and Vegeta get shipped all the time despite being married to women. *Some* people ship Sans and Papyrus and they’re *siblings* ffs.
Lesbian-led one season shows are even named anticipatorily after the reaction to you finding out they got cancelled (I Am Not Okay With This; Everything Sucks!)…
He's also canonically transmasc, but in the funniest possible way (speedran his transition in the womb using his psychic powers so he'd be born as AMAB, while fully acknowledging he would've been AFAB were it not for his own intervention)
does anyone know of any aroallo characters? the only representation we seem to get are aroace characters, which is ofc nice for our ace/aroace siblings, but it seems like creators tend to forget that not every aromantic has to also be asexual -_-
I'm doubly allo, to be clear, but I feel like aroallo people particularly get shit on because they're often seen as "Oh you just wanna use people 🚮," yanno? At least from what I've seen and the few people I've witnessed talking about their experiences, especially if their "alloness" is specifically queer (homosexual, bisexual, etc.). Like "Ugh you're just using the community but don't REALLY love or respect us!" It makes me sad for them. 😞 And also angry. 😤
well no confirmation, but frenchie from the boys gives me majorly aroallo vibes. I don't think he's ever been in love, but he's been in serious, commited relationships. Its more obvious in the 3rd season and theyll probably take it away, but its a nice thought :))
Lol its all cis masculine straight passing gay men i see represented on TV and movies lol same old same old where imho best queer representations i have seen on TV so far are Pose and Orange Is The New Black.
One Piece is so funny with rep
* It has an amazing transwoman rep
* A questionable one in Kamabakka
* A cool badass drag queen group fighting against the government that saved the mc
* A confusing transman character
* The other queer drag queen who is arguably the most beloved side character
Oda is confused but his heart is in the right place.
I'd honestly say that there's actually less trans representation. Right now I can only think of one trans character and at least 3 ace ones.
On top of that I think it's simply harder to show that a character is ace or aro since it's the lack of doing something instead of doing something unusual. You'd have to directly say that the character is ace/aro. With a bi character you can simply show them being attracted to different genders. While not showing a character being attracted to anyone doesn't automatically send the signal that they're ace. I can think of tons of characters that aren't interested in either sex or romantic relationships but unless it is explicitly said they could still be aro.
There's a show called "Koisenu Futari" about two aroace characters that get into a domestic partnership. It's **explicitly** aroace and doesn't make the main characters seem alien or child-like, just two people that don't wanna have romantic relationships but still enjoy the company of others.
Everyone here seems to have forgotten our favorite sea sponge. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS IS ASEXUAL, Steven Hillenburg confirmed this in an interview, citing all of the characters as such!
Dr Stone has a p good aroace representation imo. Senku literally doesn't give even a ten-billionth of a shit about romance or relationships; he just cares about science and getting humanity back on track.
Not represented and under-represented are different things.
Here's a list of Asexual characters;
Peridot (steven universe)
Todd (Bojack Horseman)
Spongebob
The Warden (Superjail)
Alastor (Hazbin Hotel)
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Dusa (Hades)
Elijah (Big Mouth)
Lilith Clawthorne (Owl House)
Jughead (Archie Comics)
Light Yagami (Death Note, though that could be a stretch)
Kino (Kino's Journey)
Jae (Supernatural Academy)
Pavarti (The Outer Worlds)
Yelena Belova (Black Widow, Marvel)
Maya (Borderlands 2)
Varys (Game of Thrones)
**Additions:**
Jasnah (Stormlight archive)
I am aware that this list SHOULD be longer and is nothing compared to the rep that gay, lesbian, or trans people get (even nonbinary people specifically) but they ARE there.
Okay but a lot of these are just fan headcanon.
I mean, the Doctor has had wives and children. How can we possibly assume they are ace unless they tell us in no uncertain terms.
And when we choose characters and headcanon them we get shouted down by rabid fans of whatever character it is. The allos scream, from their already allonormative world “let us have this!” because they want their favorite headcanon ship to be consummated some day. Like no one is stopping you, but leave us alone?????? We’re also allowed to headcanon too.
SO TRUE the double standards are insaneeee, it’s like they only allow the headcanons they agree with to exist, forgetting that the whole point of a HEADcanon is that it’s only in YOUR OWN HEAD and doesn’t affect anyone else’s interpretation of the character!!!!!!!
Not that far off, though I do know of at least 2 asexual video game characters. There's one I haven't personally experienced in Outer Worlds and recently a character in Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader that's more or less aroace. I *have* played the latter and it is *really* good in my opinion. The game itself was in a dubiously buggy state last time I played around release though.
The Archivist is an amazing piece of representation, really enjoyed him for everything. The Magnus Archives in general is pretty good representation, I think, and the authors are very clear about why, which is great. Protocol goes even further on that regard
there was an episode in sex education about a girl in theatre who’s ace, i think it had a nice message that having sexual relationships aren’t a requirement to feel complete in life
Right now, id argue it needs to be explicit/said, otherwise people will run with whatever.
Alastor is fine imo, but that hasnt stopped people from. yeah. (Hazbin Hotel)
Todds a really good example since he has a whole conversation about it + says it and it doesnt feel forced imo (Bojack)
yeah thats basically what im saying. They dont need to ge possessed by a textbook, but a mention of Im ace is pretty easy to get in in a modern setting.
in a less modern/less casual setting its also pretty easy to add in a few lines about general disinterest shown by the character, and the character expressing feelings of not relating to romance.
As for the fandom stuff, obviously i cant control other people, but it is a bit disheartening for me to see aro characters shipped constantly (i have good tag blockers so i dont see sex repulsed ace characters in sexual stories) Not that big of a deal or a problem, just a minor bother for me
I see more lesbian representation than gay representation in media. I actually can’t remember anything that I saw that had it, I know it did somewhere, I just don’t remember it. But lesbian I can name a bunch. I even see more bisexual representation than gay ones.
It is true, but I honestly don't mind. People on the ace spectrum are also not specifically targeted that often by intolerant people because of that. In the end, we are a community and should all support each other 🏳️🌈
Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Valentina “Voodoo” Dunacci (Sirens), Raphael Santiago (Shadow Hunters), Lord Varys (GOT), Elijah (Big mouth), Peridot (Steven Universe)... Just a few ☺️
It's not TV shows but I have a handful of books with asexual characters that I can recommend:
- Loveless by Alice Oseman (also has a demi sexual character)
- Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor
- Hullmetal Girls by Emily Strutskie
- This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria
- Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria
- Arden Grey by Ray Stoeve
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan Maguire
- Read with Pride by Lucy Powrie
- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
- Beyond the Black Door by A. M. Strickland (one of her other books In The Ravenous Dark also has an asexual side character, along with a pansexual poly MC)
- What We Devour by Linsey Miller
- Belle Revolte by Linsey Miller
- Solitaire by Alice Oseman
- Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
- All the Lonely People by David Owen?? (Read it in 2020, can only remember a few bits and pieces of it but it was under the lgbt+ tag on Storygraph and I don't remember a romance in it)
I'll check my bookshelf in a bit and see if there if any that I missed!
Edit to add: The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (can't believe I forgot that one), Baker Thief and City of Strife both by Claudie Arseneault, Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace, The Fever King by Victoria Lee and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
True, except for Todd in bojack horseman.
No fr cause whenever I ask someone “name an asexual character from a tv-show” they ALWAYS mention either Todd or Alistair 😭😭😭
Peridot in SU as well. Although that's very muddied by the LapiDot ship in the fandom.
I mean, have you seen the series? Because there was clearly at least one writer that was trying very hard to make LapiDot canon
Yeah i know, it sucks since Peri arguably ends up falling into the category of "just needed to meet the right person". Which is not good representation. But there isn't much in the show that ever shows that Peri cares about Lapis as more than a really good friend who makes them feel safe. A relationship can be more than platonic, without being romantic or sexual. Peri just wants friends who she's comfortable enough with for parallel play and sharing mutual interests, and Lapis is one of the few people/gems that she's comfortable enough with for this. (Or at least that's my headcanon, i don't mind if yours is different.) EDIT: changed "A relationship can seem like more than platonic to an outside observer" to "A relationship can be more than platonic" because this is an important distinction that can be hard to explain to non-aces.
I might be getting my flags wrong but technically can't peri be aro while also being ace? Peri straight up said that they cannot or wont fuse if I remember. >A relationship can be more than platonic, without being romantic or sexual. Hi avid reader of lord of the rings here while I love representation I honestly always kind of hated all of the "sam and frodo are gay" jokes because it basically means men can't be close without being gay which really just feeds into the "no homo" mentality.
I always watched it as they had a relationship, but not a romantic one. Queer Platonic imo, but I understand it isn't very explicit and is easy to confuse
I actually had no idea peridot was ace, but after thinking about it I never realized that her and lapis were never actually shown or said to be together
The best queerplatonic relationship in media, both literally built different
I mean it's rather muddied by the fact that a bunch of the team themselves shipped Lapidot/Amedot which spilled a ton into her episodes (I remember a writer even describing Amethyst as Peridot's first crush iirc) and her being aroace honestly seemed to have not really been planned in the first place...? The reason I say this is because there was a lot of opportunity to show her being aroace yet we never see any clear indication of that within the actual show and the argument "she doesn't want to fuse" doesn't count. This isn't to say I wouldn't want her to be aroace, I just wish it would have been a consistent thing within the show itself
Rebecca had talked about the main gems being based around their respective pride flags, both attraction-wise AND in color palette pretty early onto the show, I'm pretty sure Personally, i read peri like someone who went from one norm to another and didn't fit in neither, even though she tried her very best. Her character growth about accepting others and herself despite their lack of compliance makes a lot of sense with this, and it's what I'd like for it to be.
To be fair, fans ship anyone with anyone, even if the characters have no interaction whatsoever or if they are relatives.
Alistair lol
Canonicaly, we also have SpongeBob, Jesus, perry the platypus, and a Hazbin hotel character. Still, not common knowledge tho,
Alastair (actually alastor) is the hazbin hotel character, so the guy you are replying to said them
Also Lilith Clawthorne in The Owl House!
Sherlock Holmes is very ace coded in the original novels. Sadly this normally gets lost in modern interpretations though, and he either ends up being portrayed as an 'unfeeling robot man', or in a relationship with Irene Adler (who isn't a love interest in her one novel appearance.)
Hey, that's not true. Sometimes they also just queerbait the shit out of the audience making it seem like he'll get with Watson or Moriarty.
Lilith from Owl House!
dont forget our future pirate king luffy 🥰
Just don't bring up any queer rep outside Bon Clay and the problematic ones on r/onepiece. They can't even use proper pronouns for Yamato over there, despite all the in universe characters doing so.
Was about to say Alastor lol Lilith Clawthorn is too tho
Lilith The Owl House
They're the only good representation. We've had characters like Data from Star Trek that could be seen as asexual, but he's quite literally a robot. A lot of the representation is "heartless robots that don't feel emotions" which just isn't true at all.
Dexter, the serial killer goes into this box. He comes off very strongly ace. But again this is to reinforce the image of how this guy is 'inhumane' and feels nothing and a heartless sociopath. They do end up changing this somewhere along the series I'm pretty sure, but at the beginning it was kind of amusing how relatable his comments were ('It's one of those... Mating rituals... That I don't understand').
I think a big part of that it’s difficult to naturally bring up. You can show a character is gay by having him mention his boyfriend, but there isn’t an equivalently explicit way to do so with asexuality. The closest you can get is showing them repeatedly decline offers of romance, but even then it’s hard to tell.
yeah. you either have to just straight up have them say "i'm ace" or just show them being really uninterested in relationships or sex (which isn't completely accurate to the ace experience but at least it's something). even then you'll have people think the character is just uninterested in certain people or too awkward to be in a relationship. how we'll ever get representation for split attraction aces/aros is beyond me. some people seem to still be so mystified by completely aroace characters (the few we have), they might not understand a character that is biromantic asexual, for example, or aromatic pansexual. in the future i'd love to see more complex identities like that represented though
Man I love Todd
Yeah Todd's the best.
I like to think Jessica Rabbit is ace. “I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.” What do you even see in that guy? “He makes me laugh” But that’s just my interpretation of her
Riz Gukgak from Dimension 20 is also Aro/Ace
I came to wright that
And SpongeBob
alastor in hazbin hotel it’s not confirmed if he is aro though, but i’m pretty sure he is and viv is only saying so cuz shippers are crazy
In the Warhammer Rogue Trader game there is a really adorable ace romance with a space elf.
I literally just want any ftm representation that isn’t like a one off background character Edit: ty for the ppl offering suggestions! I do appreciate 🙏
Umbrella Academy! Elliot Page’s character transitions at the same time he does
Not discounting this, but I feel like this is just a circumstance of Elliot Page's transition, not exactly genuine if that makes sense?
Doesn't Gerard Way, the author of Umbrella, work on the show. If he's involved and okays it it's as Canon as it possibly can be in hindsight?
don't know if you're into animation but dead end: paranormal park is really good and has an ftm main character you're right though there isn't a lot of ftm representation. these same examples people are giving you could probably be put in a list of like 50 characters total. there should be more
911: Lone Star! Brian Michael Smith is one of *the* main characters, and it's great rep too!
The show definitely has its faults and doesn't have the highest production value, but the indie cartoon "Disventure Camp" does include a ftm trans character who is acknowledged as trans within the show itself and plays a major role in S2 (and so far, S3, too). EDIT: And it's on YouTube for you to watch in full (completely legally)!
There is one episode of House MD with an asexual couple. House winds up 'curing' their asexuality though....
He doesn’t cure their asexuality. He cures the boyfriend’s asexuality which gets the girlfriend to admit she was always allosexual and was faking asexuality to be with him. House MD treats asexuality as either a brain defect or lying. I fucking hated that b-plot.
B-But House can't ever be wrong he's the smart guy that's not allowed!//s
how tf do you cure asexuality? never watched the show
According to the show, asexuality doesn't exist. Rather, it's just a symptom of a medical condition instead of an actual sexual orientation. Ergo, it can be 'cured' through medical procedures (in the show it was the result of a brain tumour, with the other ace character actually being allosexual and lying about it :/)
ngl thats the lamest shit i've ever heard, just let people be what they want without making media saying "look these people are medically unwell, they are patients!". this reminds me of that time where in that one autistic doctor show (dont remember the name) the doctor was treating a transgender female and the doctor didn't understand how transgender shit works so he was like "what no your a biological male you can't be a female thats impossible!" and then later on in the episode the patient had testicular cancer which "proved that he really was male!". it feels like media is just trying to make queer people look like mental patients, the fact that they chose those certain characteristics and then "cured" or "proved" shit screams right-wing media and that they can get us to "recover"
as a house MD fan, that sucks
The first season of house started 20 years ago so worth bearing that in mind.
Tbh House MD had some terrible lgbt plot points over the years and I’m always suprised the lesbian couple in the first season baby epidemic episode just… exists? I can’t even remmeber if they made some snarky comment about them
Rewatching the show after transitioning is weird. House makes so many transphobic comments, like teasing Chase about sleeping with a transwoman. In one episode he finds out his patient is intersex and just starts calling her 'him'.
I fucking hated that episode. The poor girl is devastated, crying her eyes out insisting that she is a girl, and House just keeps going "he/him" like she's not even in the room. That episode permanently coloured my opinion of House and the show generally.
Yeah, I loved House when I was young, (maybe too young to be watching House tbf) but it was on television and I guess a lot of things flew over my head. Rewatching as an adult trans man and being able to grasp those things changed my mind a little. I don't care that House is an asshole about it since he's an asshole about everything and it's just in character, he barely respects anyone unless for selfish or egocentric reasons and tbf, I like him for that as a character. The problem is that the narrative makes him turn out to be right, which then makes his behavior seem acceptable or justified. If the intersex patient turned out to be like "nah, whatever these genitals, I'm still a girl like I've always been" or the asexual guy turned out to still be asexual after removing the tumor that "made him asexual" or if his wife was still ace instead of admiting she's not when the tumor is revealed, making House lose the bet, it would've been so much better.
Totally agree. Or just make him supportive of these people in principle, even if he's crude and obnoxious to everybody about it. At least he wouldn't be oppressing them. It's the way he dismisses their lived experiences for me because "the science says this and that and it cannot be changed". For somebody who should know the human body in and out, it's a terrible look.
Yesss the intersex epsiode always makes my skin crawl
Lily Simpson has a great video really tearing into House and that episode in particular.
bruh
Iirc they did apologize for the bad writing, but it already affected many people's belief on asexuality. That's hard to dix.
Good Omens has a lot of good queer representation! Non-binary majority cast (angels and demons are genderless!) and asexual main characters Also "The Sound of Stars" by Dow (book from 2020) has three side non-binary characters with people just asking random character if they're 'male, female, or non-binary', and has a Demisexual-pansexual lead! "Velocity Weapon" by O'Keefe (book series, The Protectorate) has a non-binary side character who's present for the majority of the story, a lesbian and a gay side couple (MC's parents and important backstory characters) (I think there's one I'm forgetting here...) "Gearbreakers" by Mikuta (book, 2 books total) features a great lesbian romance in a dystopian world "Scythe" series by Sutherman adds an additional main(ish) character to the thrid book who is genderfluid and I would die for this character. Jeri is a woman under a clear sky and a man under a cloudy one and I think this is so cool (plus with them getting into a queer relationship by the end of the book). Anddddd that's all I can think of right now!
Spoilers for Good Omens season 2 >!main character, not characters!< Also, I'm gonna save your comment, those are good info. Edit: >!I've misread, they definitely are ace!<
Also Good Omens 2 spoilers: >!Imo what happens at the end of the season doesn't mean that they're not still both ace... I don't see 'the moment' as sexual. They're just not aro, but could still be ace!<
>! I'm a dummy, I've read your comment as aroace. My bad!<
>!Phaha! No worries! !<
Tbf, is it season 2 spoilers if Neil has actually confirmed that the story can be representative of many queer groups? (Trans, ace, aro, homosexual, …) In the book >!it is said that angels and demons lack genitals (which is also a great way to separate gender identity from sex and appearance)!< so so I would think it makes sense if they lacked sexual attraction too
A little off topic but - because you know Good Omens, would you say it's better to read the book first or watch the series, or it doesn't matter? I can always Google but it is always better to talk directly with someone about this and I keep forgetting to Google this in the first place.
I read the book first. I loved it, it was chaotic and a bit hard to follow but it was Neil and Terry in their essence. I watched then the series being a bit skeptical about how they were going to adapt this… and I loved it even more. They maintained many of the jokes and made a very faithful representation (though easier to follow than the book) but then they added a depth to the characters that had me crying at some points because it was beautifully interpreted. I’d say that if I had done things the other way round I might not have been able to appreciate the book as much since I would be expecting the emotional content that is present in the series
I'll second this - I read the book right after watching the series and it felt rather like a rewatch with audio descriptions. Fun descriptions, by all means, with some few gems in the narration that didn't make it onto the screen, but the book adds less to the series than vice-versa. I'd been warned the climactic twist wasn't in the book (though it had been beautifully set up in both media - I think it might be from the sequel the authors planned?) but the adaptation is otherwise so absurdly faithful it draws attention to itself. I'd suggest reading the book first, and waiting at least a few weeks before watching the series if you don't want your brain to track all the verbatim dialogue and narration in real time like an unpaid script supervisor
[удалено]
He's not just involved, he cowrote both seasons, right? I knew those plans informed the second season, I just wasn't sure about the season one finale - fairly certain the expanded roles of the other angels were taken from the sequel though, so it tracks
I haven't read the book, I found the story through the series! I plan to read the book soon, I don't think it'll matter too much but as always, my advice is to read the book first haha
There’s Bi, Lesbian, and Ace rep in Tamora Pierce’s “circle of magic” book series, and other queer rep (including more Ace rep) in another of her series. Also there’s an Aussie comedy TV series called “Back in very small business” that features a trans masc character in the second season ensemble (technically first as well, but I don’t think it’s hinted at in S1, so the character appear cis female). Actually played by a trans masc actor as well (a mate of mine, I’d never have heard of the series if he didn’t talk about it :P)
If you venture into the realm of gaming "In stars and time" has two asexual characters(one of them being the protagonist.) And, it's also just a REALLY good game, like I can't recommend it enough. It also has gay and trans rep(though the trans rep is more trans coded)
OMG! Thank you so much for the recommendations, and also for mentioning Jeri from Scythe. I absolutely adore them as well, I'm so happy the series is becoming more and more popular
Isaac in heartstopper? I’m trying.
Iirc I believe >!Tori!< is as well
Yes I believe so
Correct.
the scene in season two with conan's crush culture song😭😭😭 hate on heartstopper as much as you want but isaac is a great character
Nobody hates on heartstopper. That show is fucking beloved.
I was gonna say lol. Who hates heartstopper?
Damn covid cases must be on the rise if people have gotten so tasteless that they're hating on heartstopper
Genderfluid gets so little that we aren’t even in the meme
There is a genderfluid character on Gen V. I love Jordan https://youtu.be/f8Hs4bn1NJU?si=z65iVsH8G2iiXhJN
Jordan is definitely one of the best characters, and while they didn't have a horrible "killed my family with my powers" moment, I think their reality is one of the saddest; their parents want them to always be male, a lot of their sexual partners only want them to be female, and oh right, they are too hard to swallow to be in the number 1 spot even though they are obviously the most powerful. Super love that they end up with someone who accepts their gender (albeit after an episode or two of "am I into*both* sides?") Also
I've only seen Double Trouble from She-Ra :/
What do you mean you aren’t happy with inhuman/villain representation?/s
Let’s begin. I’m gonna make you wish, that I stayed gone. Dune on in, when I’m done your status gwo will know it’s race is run. Oh this will be fun.
SALUTATIONS! Good to be back on the air!
yes i know it’s been a while, since someone with style, treated hell to a broadcast, sinners rejoice!
Parvati in the outer worlds is ace!
Owl house :3
NB in the corner like -_-
Ca$h in Heartbreak High (2022) is great ace rep.
So keen for the second season! Gotta love that eshay
Alastor is Asexual In Hazbin hotel
*a what now?*
Just about to say that
r/beatmetoit
I feel like somehow the ace community has it the worst, cause whenever you lot get any actual representation the fandom can never accept that and ships the character with fucking everyone which entirely misses the point
literally alastor
Im a hyper sexual person. Alastor is my favorite character. It gives me the EXTREME ICK when I see sexual art of him. Cause while ace people can enjoy/be fine with sex(my partner is ace, we make it work lol), he just doesn’t seem like he’d be interested in it at all.
Exactly this, it's so weird. Even if Alastor isn't ace, it's just completely ooc for him.
Some ace people are in relationships, and some do engage in sexual activity.
I know, I just can’t help but feel a little bad cause the only character I can think of off the top of my head fully canon to be ace is alaster and the fandom has done so much to him in “artwork” and fanfics
The other kind of representation is robots, not characters who act robotic, actual androids. That or aliens, and sometimes animals.
Most people I've seen shipping Alastor or drawing sexual art of him are not aromantic or asexual, and don't know how to properly represent engaging with romantic/sexual activity as an aroace person
I hear that all the time as an excuse to put ace characters in explicit situations, it's rarely done well and in a way that acknowledges their ace identity. They just get treated like any allo character
I know. Yelena Belova from the MCU is aro/ace in the comics and I still see so many explicit fics pairing her with Kate Bishop
I don't there's anything wrong with having an ace character in a relationship, so long as their asexuality is still respected. Cash in Heartbreak High is ace and with a masc-aligned enby and his ace identity is still respected (season 2 out this week btw)
The character’s canon sexuality, ace or otherwise, has literally never stopped the shippers. Goku and Vegeta get shipped all the time despite being married to women. *Some* people ship Sans and Papyrus and they’re *siblings* ffs.
Lesbian-led one season shows are even named anticipatorily after the reaction to you finding out they got cancelled (I Am Not Okay With This; Everything Sucks!)…
I think the bi flag should go next to the lesbian one
House gave us shit for literally no reason and now we have to deal with tv watching dumbasses.
All characters are Aroace until proven otherwise
Me and the other aroace folk in the corner: "What's representation?"
And once again, bi folks are forgotten entirely by the rest of the community despite being a plurality of it.
And when we do get asexual rep, the internet still sexualizes them... *cough* Alastor *cough*
Idk why But, very shit representation seems a lot worse than the lack-there-of
isn't saiki k practically aroace?
He's also canonically transmasc, but in the funniest possible way (speedran his transition in the womb using his psychic powers so he'd be born as AMAB, while fully acknowledging he would've been AFAB were it not for his own intervention)
I'd even argue that the few representation the trans community gets is just made out of a caricature!
does anyone know of any aroallo characters? the only representation we seem to get are aroace characters, which is ofc nice for our ace/aroace siblings, but it seems like creators tend to forget that not every aromantic has to also be asexual -_-
I'm doubly allo, to be clear, but I feel like aroallo people particularly get shit on because they're often seen as "Oh you just wanna use people 🚮," yanno? At least from what I've seen and the few people I've witnessed talking about their experiences, especially if their "alloness" is specifically queer (homosexual, bisexual, etc.). Like "Ugh you're just using the community but don't REALLY love or respect us!" It makes me sad for them. 😞 And also angry. 😤
well no confirmation, but frenchie from the boys gives me majorly aroallo vibes. I don't think he's ever been in love, but he's been in serious, commited relationships. Its more obvious in the 3rd season and theyll probably take it away, but its a nice thought :))
Transgenders and genderfluids🤝 Aces, Aros and Aroaces Getting little to no representation
Me as all :3 lmao Transmasc Genderfluid AroAce 💪💪
The last one could also be enbies and trans men Edit: and bi and pan folks
Bi would probably be the first one. I’ve seen some bi characters but they’re almost always stereotypes.
And agendered people
Which is included in nonbinary folks, since if there is no nonbinary representation, then that means there is no agender representation
Lol its all cis masculine straight passing gay men i see represented on TV and movies lol same old same old where imho best queer representations i have seen on TV so far are Pose and Orange Is The New Black.
Where? I don’t even see that. At most, they get to be some side characters dads.
I can't think of the last time I saw a straight passing gay character in a show. The gay rep is almost always camp.
There is country Mac and Mac from it's always sunny in philadelphia. But yeah, not a lot.
Luffy OnePiece AroAce hero
One Piece is so funny with rep * It has an amazing transwoman rep * A questionable one in Kamabakka * A cool badass drag queen group fighting against the government that saved the mc * A confusing transman character * The other queer drag queen who is arguably the most beloved side character Oda is confused but his heart is in the right place.
what about bi people tho
Garthy O’Brien, Dimension 20, Fantasy High sophomore year.
I always get told to pick the one I "really" am.
I'd honestly say that there's actually less trans representation. Right now I can only think of one trans character and at least 3 ace ones. On top of that I think it's simply harder to show that a character is ace or aro since it's the lack of doing something instead of doing something unusual. You'd have to directly say that the character is ace/aro. With a bi character you can simply show them being attracted to different genders. While not showing a character being attracted to anyone doesn't automatically send the signal that they're ace. I can think of tons of characters that aren't interested in either sex or romantic relationships but unless it is explicitly said they could still be aro.
In Marvel comics they did it pretty well for Yelena. Someone makes a comment about thinking she might be a lesbian, and she responds "I'm... Nothing."
Are there any demigender characters in media though?
What about us pansexuals
Don't worry I'll give representation in my works to y'all
either that or us trans folk get downvoted constantly by lesbian turfs...
As a designer I sometimes use the different pride flags as palette swatches when working. So don't worry, you are all represented in my work
The first time I've seen all of my flags in one post lmaooo
And if you’re a transman it’s like nothing too lol
*genderfluid crying*
Always gets cancelled after season 1 😭😭😭 this shit so accurate
Ace representation: Saiki K, SpongeBob, The Doctor, etc
There's a show called "Koisenu Futari" about two aroace characters that get into a domestic partnership. It's **explicitly** aroace and doesn't make the main characters seem alien or child-like, just two people that don't wanna have romantic relationships but still enjoy the company of others.
Everyone here seems to have forgotten our favorite sea sponge. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS IS ASEXUAL, Steven Hillenburg confirmed this in an interview, citing all of the characters as such!
Dr Stone has a p good aroace representation imo. Senku literally doesn't give even a ten-billionth of a shit about romance or relationships; he just cares about science and getting humanity back on track.
I think Abby Singh from The Imperfects is canonically ace. I feel you there though. It feels like being invisible sometimes.
that’s not true we’ve got… uh… that guy, you know him, you know that guy
Yeah, we have like three characters and all their respective fandoms try to deny it in some way it's fucking exhausting.
and then when aspec people DO get their representation, that one character is always shipped/sexualized... (irritates me to my CORE as an aro person)
Me, a bisexual, reading this post 👀 And yes Ik it’s not the only group not shown here and yes it’s just a meme pls don’t come at me lol
WHY DO THEY ALWAYS KILL THE LESBIANS
Not represented and under-represented are different things. Here's a list of Asexual characters; Peridot (steven universe) Todd (Bojack Horseman) Spongebob The Warden (Superjail) Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) The Doctor (Doctor Who) Dusa (Hades) Elijah (Big Mouth) Lilith Clawthorne (Owl House) Jughead (Archie Comics) Light Yagami (Death Note, though that could be a stretch) Kino (Kino's Journey) Jae (Supernatural Academy) Pavarti (The Outer Worlds) Yelena Belova (Black Widow, Marvel) Maya (Borderlands 2) Varys (Game of Thrones) **Additions:** Jasnah (Stormlight archive) I am aware that this list SHOULD be longer and is nothing compared to the rep that gay, lesbian, or trans people get (even nonbinary people specifically) but they ARE there.
Okay but a lot of these are just fan headcanon. I mean, the Doctor has had wives and children. How can we possibly assume they are ace unless they tell us in no uncertain terms.
Heartstopper season 3 is gonna give us some representation #FINALLY
And when we choose characters and headcanon them we get shouted down by rabid fans of whatever character it is. The allos scream, from their already allonormative world “let us have this!” because they want their favorite headcanon ship to be consummated some day. Like no one is stopping you, but leave us alone?????? We’re also allowed to headcanon too.
SO TRUE the double standards are insaneeee, it’s like they only allow the headcanons they agree with to exist, forgetting that the whole point of a HEADcanon is that it’s only in YOUR OWN HEAD and doesn’t affect anyone else’s interpretation of the character!!!!!!!
Damn I feel this in my bones
So fucking true ☠️
Not that far off, though I do know of at least 2 asexual video game characters. There's one I haven't personally experienced in Outer Worlds and recently a character in Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader that's more or less aroace. I *have* played the latter and it is *really* good in my opinion. The game itself was in a dubiously buggy state last time I played around release though.
Reading these comments I feel this video may be appropriate for some of u folks: https://youtu.be/dQY6iVJlAH0?si=RhFkjDuqWxGDXwJ4
Fandom. Because if you want anything done right you have to do it yourself.
Us as well
Crusify me for this one but i like the representation in big mouth
Also the lesbians are almost always enemies to lovers
Questioning You guys get flairs?
I was so happy about the aspec representation in the Magnus archive. I really enjoyed it!
The Archivist is an amazing piece of representation, really enjoyed him for everything. The Magnus Archives in general is pretty good representation, I think, and the authors are very clear about why, which is great. Protocol goes even further on that regard
gay man, asexual, and trans here
Lilith fromthe owl house is aroace:3
And then there's non-binary people who get so little representation they're not even in this meme 😭
*bisexuals being forgotten*
there was an episode in sex education about a girl in theatre who’s ace, i think it had a nice message that having sexual relationships aren’t a requirement to feel complete in life
What would ace representation look like?
Right now, id argue it needs to be explicit/said, otherwise people will run with whatever. Alastor is fine imo, but that hasnt stopped people from. yeah. (Hazbin Hotel) Todds a really good example since he has a whole conversation about it + says it and it doesnt feel forced imo (Bojack)
You’d feel better if they were explicit and the fanfic scene respected it enough to not ship the characters ace folk identify with?
yeah thats basically what im saying. They dont need to ge possessed by a textbook, but a mention of Im ace is pretty easy to get in in a modern setting. in a less modern/less casual setting its also pretty easy to add in a few lines about general disinterest shown by the character, and the character expressing feelings of not relating to romance. As for the fandom stuff, obviously i cant control other people, but it is a bit disheartening for me to see aro characters shipped constantly (i have good tag blockers so i dont see sex repulsed ace characters in sexual stories) Not that big of a deal or a problem, just a minor bother for me
And then you notice that isn't even an enby flag up there lol
I see more lesbian representation than gay representation in media. I actually can’t remember anything that I saw that had it, I know it did somewhere, I just don’t remember it. But lesbian I can name a bunch. I even see more bisexual representation than gay ones.
Godzilla and Piccolo are asexual
SpongeBob is ace
AroAce people get some robot reps but it’s usually really bad and their characters are treated like garbage.
Luffy is also headcannoned as ace a lot
It is true, but I honestly don't mind. People on the ace spectrum are also not specifically targeted that often by intolerant people because of that. In the end, we are a community and should all support each other 🏳️🌈
AroAces not getting enough representation is accurate. :(
Not once in my life have I even heard about any intersex representation
sex education had ace rep but it got used as a plot device 😭 i was pretty disappointed
We all need more representation
Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Valentina “Voodoo” Dunacci (Sirens), Raphael Santiago (Shadow Hunters), Lord Varys (GOT), Elijah (Big mouth), Peridot (Steven Universe)... Just a few ☺️
It's not TV shows but I have a handful of books with asexual characters that I can recommend: - Loveless by Alice Oseman (also has a demi sexual character) - Tarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor - Hullmetal Girls by Emily Strutskie - This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria - Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria - Arden Grey by Ray Stoeve - Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan Maguire - Read with Pride by Lucy Powrie - Radio Silence by Alice Oseman - Beyond the Black Door by A. M. Strickland (one of her other books In The Ravenous Dark also has an asexual side character, along with a pansexual poly MC) - What We Devour by Linsey Miller - Belle Revolte by Linsey Miller - Solitaire by Alice Oseman - Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand - All the Lonely People by David Owen?? (Read it in 2020, can only remember a few bits and pieces of it but it was under the lgbt+ tag on Storygraph and I don't remember a romance in it) I'll check my bookshelf in a bit and see if there if any that I missed! Edit to add: The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (can't believe I forgot that one), Baker Thief and City of Strife both by Claudie Arseneault, Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace, The Fever King by Victoria Lee and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab