Time to read: 16 minutes
Now that we know the pressures and stigmas that lead to the displacement of aromanticism and asexuality in society, how do writers actually make aro/ace characters from the media they consume? For more on why people create these characters, go to Why Are We Writing Aro/Ace Characters?
| Generally, when writing aro/ace characters, how far removed from canon (or in-text representations) are your interpretations? | Count |
|---|---|
The canon sexuality of a character is already aro/ace | 8 |
| Canon heavily implies but does not explicitly state a character’s asexuality/aromanticism | 4 |
| Canon does not go into detail on the character’s sexuality so there is room for interpretation | 52 |
| I often have to change canon drastically | 4 |
| It depends | 32 |
When asked why how far removed from canon their aro/ace interpretations are, half the participants said that sexuality is unimportant in canon, so they have room to interpret their character’s sexuality as they please. Many also responded with “It depends” because more than one of the answer choices can be applied to their writing. They write multiple aro/ace characters from varying canons with different presentations of aromanticism and asexuality in their characters. For the other answer choices, the limited availability of canon and heavily coded aro/ace characters restricts participants’ abilities to write from these angles.
Saying the Word: Canonicity and Subtext
Of the 637 LGBTQ characters counted in this report, there are two asexual characters, one on HBO Max’s genera+ion, which has since been cancelled, and one on an upcoming streaming series.
(GLAAD, 2022, p. 8)
Canon aro/ace characters are not common, but they do exist. GLAAD’s “Where We Are On TV” report of the 2021-22 season shows the paucity of asexual (and aromantic) representation, at least for US primetime television (broadcast, cable, and streaming). To be counted in this report, the shows must have been either announced or confirmed by their networks to premiere between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. As for streaming, only shows with first run, exclusive US distribution rights were counted.
But US primetime television is only a small portion of fandoms. Books, movies, anime, musicals, sports, bands, and video games are also major contributors to the fandoms represented on AO3. Though data on aro/ace representation is beyond the scope of this project, it can be assumed that aro/ace characters exist in similar proportions across genres.
| Year | Name of Character/Program |
|---|---|
| 17-18 | Raphael Santiago (Freeform’s Shadowhunters) Todd Chavez (Netflix’s Bojack Horseman) |
| 18-19 | Raphael Santiago (Freeform’s Shadowhunters) Todd Chavez (Netflix’s Bojack Horseman) |
| 19-20 | Todd Chavez (Netflix’s Bojack Horseman) |
| 20-21 | Drea (Freeform’s Everything’s Gonna Be Okay) |
| 21-22 | Greta (HBO Max’s genera+ion) Florence (Netflix’s Sex Education) *under embargo at time of publication of GLAAD’s report* |
| 22-23 | * a speculative and likely incomplete list* Abbi Singh (Netflix’s The Imperfects) Douglas “Ca$h” Piggot (Netflix’s Heartbreak High) Elijah (Netflix’s Big Mouth) Isaac (Netflix’s Heartstopper) Jae (Peacock’s Supernatural Academy) |
So, if there are few canon aro/ace characters to write about, what characters are fanfic writers writing as aro/ace? First, the boundaries of canonicity must be delineated. While defining something as canon typically involves explicit statements and actions, or word-of-god confirmation from the producers of the text, there is still room for ambiguity. I’ll give two examples: Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory) and Cole (Dragon Age: Inquisition).
Sheldon Cooper is a weirdo and a genius. His eccentricities make it difficult to connect with other people, but he also doesn’t desire those relationships should they be romantic or sexual. He has not been confirmed to be aromantic or asexual, though there are references throughout the show to his lack of desire, behavior, and attraction to other people. His long-term relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, a character introduced in season 3, grows from mutual appreciation of their equal intellect and emotional intelligence.
In an experiment to find a match for Sheldon on an online dating website, a quest conducted by his friends without Sheldon’s permission (S3E23 “The Lunar Excitation”), Amy is brought into the show. His friends spend several moments convincing him saying that “even Spock had a date every seven years.” Eventually he agrees and the relationship between Sheldon and Amy, to a minor degree, romantic and sexual overtime. Though he could be conceived as demiromantic and demisexual, concern arises when the reasons behind this change in sexuality is examined.
For years, Sheldon was considered romantically and sexually defunct by his friends, but his relationship with Amy changes this. Could Sheldon then be considered demiromantic and demisexual? If he were, how intentional was this choice on the part of the show’s producers? Or most likely, was his aromanticism and asexuality killed off in the name of humanizing him through his pursuit of “coitus” with Amy? Though he has never said “I am aromantic and asexual,” his actions, and lack thereof, would certainly indicate that he is. However, there is also evidence for a demiromantic-demisexual Sheldon. Or one could even say that he was completely cured of his deviance! The multiple readings of his sexuality show that canon is not fixed nor is it obligated to define a character’s sexuality.
Cole in Dragon Age: Inquisition is of interest when considering the extratextual nonconfirmation of his asexuality which contradicts his in-game behaviors. Dragon Age: Inquisition is a quasi-medieval style video game, and Cole, a non-playable character, is a spirit inhabiting a human body. David Gaider, the game’s writer, has said that he doesn’t know how to include asexuality in the game for two reasons. First, to include asexuality, or sexuality at all, it would have to be discussed by the characters; it must be explicitly told and not just shown. And thus, doing so would be difficult in the game’s setting because our contemporary understanding of sexuality would not translate.
Second, it is asexuality’s simplicity that makes it difficult to discuss. If the characters can’t say they’re asexual because that word doesn’t exist in their world, how do you communicate that they are? Clearly it can be done. Interestingly, Cole’s asexuality is also foregone on his path to humanity. In the cases of Sheldon and Cole, asexuality is but a stepping stone to normalcy. As Brown and Partridge (2021) point out, Cole’s asexuality is written all throughout his narrative, even without saying the word. And considering Gaider’s dismissal, Cole’s asexuality can be regarded as an unconscious depiction (p. 1006), one that borrows the facade of asexuality without labeling it as such. Even without a confirmation from the producer of the text, a character can still very much be asexual.
These were but two examples of how canon can be ambiguous. The boundaries of what is and is not canon are blurry at best. Canon is also allowed to change; this is especially relevant in media like comics where writers, and thus their characterization, change on a regular basis.
Explicit statements of “I am asexual” are clear, but what about heavy subtext and queer coding? Say there is a character that never has any romantic/sexual relationships and never indicates any interest in doing so. What is stopping this character from being canonically aro/ace? If it becomes necessary for a character to confirm their sexuality through words, then wouldn’t allo characters have to as well? These and many other questions remain in considering canon, but for now I will delve into how canon sometimes doesn’t matter at all for aro/ace fanfic writers.
When Canon is Irrelevant
When there are no canon aro/ace characters, or even aro/ace subtext, writers get creative. Not all media discusses or references the sexualities of its characters. Sometimes characters are completely nonsexual in the sense that sexuality is irrelevant to the events of the story. For example, in children’s media and genres like horror and sci fi, romance and sex are less likely to occur or be central to the plot. As such, any sexualities, aromanticism and asexuality included, are just as viable when fans construct headcanons.
As mentioned above, subtext can be explicit in its implication of a character’s aromanticism/asexuality. But it’s just as likely that the subtext is extremely subtle. And that subtext can be taken in multiple directions. A hypersexual character, one with many sexual partners, would not be considered aro/ace by most people (i.e., an overlap with allo people). But someone with an aro/ace perspective might question the correlation between behavior and orientation.
This act of reading is not entirely oppositional, it just may not align with expectations within the fandom or in canon. Because aromanticism and asexuality are spectrums, what might seem allo to one fan might be aro/ace to another. A character with many sexual relationships without romantic connections could be headcanoned as aromantic. Two characters in a romantic relationship could be demisexual. And because sexuality is fluid, a character can be anywhere between allo and aro/ace at various points in their life. What is shown in canon is often not enough to give a definitive label to a character’s sexuality.
One thing that might make Katarina [character in the anime My Next Life as a Villainess] seem asexual is her complete obliviousness (bordering on denial) towards other characters being interested in her romantically or sexually; she can be read as having no interest in sex but not knowing how to communicate that or acknowledge other people being interested in her. But she can also be read as being allo and clueless. Could go either way.
(Rex)
This ambiguity is a positive for most aro/ace writers. Where there is a lack of canonical representation, the ability to glean aro/ace readings from something that might not be intended that way is incredibly useful.
I’ll pick up on smaller things or themes that feel representative of something to me that might not necessarily be representative for others, or may not have been intended to look that way.
(Jade)
Jade is speaking of Dr. Cristina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy (2005-present). Her journey to become a surgeon is also dotted with relationships to fellow doctors. In her relationship to Dr. Preston Burke, she is pushed into taking those next steps in their relationship. And when they eventually plan to marry, she was left at the altar (S3E25 “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?”). She is cut out of her wedding dress in a sobbing breakdown saying “I’m free. Dammit.” After finally being ready to commit, she is torn between her newfound freedom and the life she had been expecting with Burke.
Her inability to show love the way her partners want her to be a recurring theme. Though this can be viewed as a general critique of the pressures of relationships and marriage, or one woman’s inability to express her emotions, it can also be read aromantically in which Cristina is unable to connect because she does not experience romantic attraction the same way others do.
Writers can also draw aro/ace headcanons from their own experiences rather than from canon. Though a character can have aro/ace traits/stereotypes, writers might see themselves in that character and thus project their own sexuality onto them. There’s a common sentiment among participants of “I write what I am.” They write aro/ace characters as a form of self-discovery, exploration, and vicarious projecting. Since most participants fall on the aro/ace spectrums, there is a sort of inevitability that their characters will also be aro/ace; they have a predisposition to their own aro/ace experiences. Because they have an aro/ace perspective, their writing is filtered through that lens, and so characters become aro/ace simply because the writer is also aro/ace.
For me, fanfiction is a way of exploring my own aroace identity through characters that I like or admire. I was writing in-depth aroace fanfics before I even knew that I was aromantic myself, and I feel that writing these fics helped me come to terms with my own identity in a safe environment.
(Participant 550)
I very much use my comfort characters to explore my relation to sexuality. I have written two porn things, both for a set of comfort characters and exploring what might be good in a context far removed from myself.
(Participant 298)
Both participants use fanfic to explore their sexualities. Fanfic provides a certain safety of distance from oneself that cannot be granted in something like journaling. By writing about your questions and issues through a character, there is less confrontation with how uncomfortable those topics may be. This writing can occur before you even realize what’s happening as with Participant 550; writing aro/ace fanfic helped them discover their aromanticism. And for Participant 298, aro/ace fanfic is a guide through their aro/ace journey.
And even for allo writers of aro/ace fanfic, the joy of merely exploring a character’s sexuality cannot go unmentioned. What is presented in canon becomes secondary to the desire to puzzle together relationships and dynamics between the characters when aromanticism and asexuality are present. In writing a crossover between K-pop group BigBang and Netflix’s Sense8 (2015-18),Rachel describes writing their fic from a queer perspective rather than necessarily an aro/ace perspective.
Fanfiction is a way of engaging with and expressing my queerness, not necessarily my bisexuality. It’s more about queerness as a lens with which to view society. And queerness is really about re-examining that, deconstructing it, and reconstructing it. For me, the act of writing fanfic is explicitly a queer experience.
I liked the show Sense8, and I really wanted to write my favorite [K-pop] group as sensates, as people that are telepathically and intimately connected. As a bisexual, I was really excited by the characters being pansexual, but then realized that it felt like just another box to be put into. That the answer to straightness is not bisexuality, because then that’s still presupposing that everyone is sexual.
I just had a feeling, or an idea: What if one of the characters is asexual? I wanted it to be part of their connection but still take into account that not everybody is sexual, and not everyone has to be for the connections between them to be important, intimate, and powerful. My fic asked how to navigate that buffer and elevate the asexual character and their experience to be on par with the sexual experience that everybody else was having. Also, it was important that I not make the story about asexuality because I’m not asexual. I wanted them to be part of a larger plot.
(Rachel)
The writer’s understanding of aromanticism and asexuality is just as important, if not more so, than what is presented in canon. Regardless of their sexuality, the writer can still write aro/ace characters. Writing them from a queer perspective is one way, but it’s also satisfying to just ask “what if?” without an underlying political notion. This attitude of just messing around or writing something “interesting” requires more curiosity than perhaps support from canon.
Throwing Canon and Fanon Out the Window
While some writers have a casual disregard for canon by preferring their own lens, others willingly break the mold and disrupt both canon and fanon interpretations of their characters.
The Alternate Universe is one such path. Fanfic writers can absolutely demolish any and all canonicity in the name of place characters in a new setting or world. Everything down to and including their names can be stripped and picked apart. Why does a character have to stay allo if you’re already removing them from their universe and putting them in a Fantasy/Harry Potter/Twilight AU? See more commonly tagged Alternate Universes here.
Rachel’s BigBang x Sense 8 crossover also fits within this notion. Real Person Fic (RPF) draws from the lives of real people: musicians, vloggers/streamers, and other media personalities. RPF is a contentious topic with contingents against and in support of writing fanfic based on a real person. Some view the canon of RPF more as their celebrity persona rather than the person behind the celebrity. In discussion popslash, boy band slashfic, Busse (2017) says “They manipulate public information to question and undermine the very media images that form the framework and source text for their stories… they complicate notions of reality and performance…” (p. 42). Again, canon is blurry and RPF writers borrow what they want and leave the rest, even if it goes against what other writers borrow and leave.
The entertainment industry/K-pop relies on, to some degree, the commodification of group members’ sexuality and sensuality. By writing ace BTS characters it feels like I’m helping to create a counter discourse that says: no, I don’t only like you because of your sexual [possibility], so much so that I’ve written you as ace.
(Participant 985)
With the sexualization of K-pop group members, both from the industry and fanfic writers, writing them as aro/ace can be counteractive. However, it goes without saying that these aro/ace interpretations are not the most popular and a writer isn’t going to garner much fandom-wide notoriety.
Aromanticism & Asexuality in Fanfiction Writing 