More Of My Quirky Asexual and Aromantic Headcanons
 |
| Image description: A scene from the 2012 film adaptation of the musical Les Misérables. "Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of... quirky potentially asexual or aromantic characters?" It doesn't have quite the same ring to it as the original, but that's exactly what today's post is all about - and one of the characters pictured here is on today's list. As I did last year, I am once again taking a look at an eclectic group of characters that I believe have aspec tendencies. |
At the end of 2021, I did a post that I called “My Quirky Asexual and Aromantic Headcanons.” In short, it was a post full of characters
that I personally believe could be asexual, aromantic, or otherwise on those
spectrums, for a variety of reasons. Many of them were either characters that
are not widely known (such as James Hathaway from the British mystery show Lewis)
or who I didn’t really have enough material or examples on to cover in a
full-length post (like Prince Justin from Howl’s Moving Castle), which
is why I consider them “quirky.”
Although I didn’t have a lot of material on any of them, and
thus decided to group them together, I nevertheless have a lot of characters
who fall under this umbrella of “quirky aspec headcanons.” And, since I had a
lot of fun with the previous iteration of this post, I decided to do another
one. So today, I’m going to take a look at four more characters from a wide
range of media who I think could be aspec – or who, at the very least, have
some aspec tendencies. From movies to musicals, from books to video games, this
crew is full of characters as unique and varied as my media tastes. So
without further ado, here is my second crop of quirky aspec headcanons.
Legolas from
the The Lord of the Rings franchise
 |
| Image description: Legolas, as portrayed by Orlando Bloom in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings |
I’d like to start with the character on this list who is arguably the best well-known of the group – Legolas, the wise elf from The Lord of the Rings. Because Legolas is more mainstream than many of the other characters on this list, it may seem odd that I’ve chosen to include him with this “quirky” group, but I did so because I think Legolas is a bit of an interesting example, and some people may be wondering why I’ve included him at all. In fact, when many people think of Legolas in a fandom context, their minds likely turn to the fact that he is often shipped with characters like Aragorn or Gimli by the fandom – and in the case of Gimli, given the close relationship of the two characters, I can definitely see why some fans would go there. Additionally, as with many characters, Legolas is not necessary an air-tight example of aspec vibes when we look to adaptations of the work. This is largely because his return in The Hobbit film series adds in a plot point where he seems to have romantic feelings for the female elf Tauriel. All these things may seem like they point to Legolas not being aspec, but I believe he still can be.
In general, The Lord of the Rings is a bit light on
romance (something I can appreciate), but it’s still there for various
characters. As such, I think it can still be notable when a character isn’t in
a romance or when they seem largely uninterested in romance. There are a few
characters in the series who fit this description, but I feel like it applies
to Legolas especially. The elves are not automatically an aromantic and/or
asexual species, but it seems like Legolas is almost like a special case, and
goes his whole life caring only about nature and then his friends in the Fellowship.
I freely admit that – although The Lord of the Rings as a book series is
very dear to me and the movies are spectacular – I am no Tolkien scholar, and I
definitely don’t know nearly as much about the lore of his world as more
devoted fans do. Therefore, I can’t really speak about Legolas
definitively. However, other people can and often do, and I am surprised to
know I’m not alone in my analysis.
Other people make very compelling cases for Legolas being
aspec – some even believe that he’s an aromantic asexual or that his
relationship with Gimli is an example of a queerplatonic relationship rather
than a romance, which is a take I could get behind for sure. I'm not really
involved in fandom much these days, so I couldn’t tell you if these opinions
are welcome within the fandom or lambasted, but I find it extremely heartening
that they’re here at all. Additionally, I could have sworn that Orlando Bloom,
who plays Legolas in the film series, once said he too envisioned Legolas as being
asexual, and actually used the word. However, I’ve looked high and low for
that interview, and I’ve never been able to find it again, leading me to wonder
if somehow I misremembered or had a very elaborate dream one day, so take that
with a huge grain of salt. But regardless of that, I think Legolas could be an
amazing aspec character – and in general, I feel he may not be alone in the
series (but that’s a topic for another day).
Enjolras from
the book/musical/film Les Misérables
 |
| Image description: Enjolras, as portrayed by Aaron Tveit in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables |
Moving on, we go from Legolas to Enjolras, the leader of the student revolutionaries in Les Misérables. Now, I must confess that I actually do not know much about Les Mis outside of the basics – predominantly, my experience with it comes from the 2012 film. I saw it performed only once (in a high school production I saw years ago to support my friends, some of whom were in the main cast), and I’ve never read the novel. Therefore, a large majority of the things I’ll be saying about the character of Enjolras will be limited to his role in the film, and anything I say about his portrayal in the musical and/or the book will come from other sources, which I’ll clearly link as I go.
Another thing I’d like to say as I analyze Enjolras’s
character is that there has been speculation for a long time about the
character’s sexuality. In the original novel by Victor Hugo, there is a line
about Enjolras that states “he did not seem to know that there was on the earth
a being called woman,” which has led many over the years to speculate that he
is supposed to be what TV Tropes would call “Ambiguously Gay.” Much like when I
discussed the character of Will Byers from Stranger Things, I am in no
way, shape, or form attempting to trample on these interpretations of
Enjolras’s character when I headcanon him as aspec. Much like I said for Will
in that post, it is even entirely possible that Enjolras could be both
identities at once or that these things could go hand-in-hand. In fact, on the
TV Tropes page for the character, the other trope that seems to commonly
describe him is “Celibate Hero” and, although I’ve made my feelings
on “celibacy” versus asexuality clear in other posts, this trope does seem
to fit my own personal headcanoning for the character pretty well. The fact
that the original source material was written in the late 1800’s makes it that
actually confirming his identity in any capacity is impossible, but I did want
to point out the belief many people have that Enjolras is gay, and the evidence
they have to support it, which is definitely compelling. It is not my intention
to erase or discredit any of the elements of Enjolras that may be important for
other identities’ representation.
With all that being said, I’d like to examine Enjolras a
little more and discuss why I personally get aspec vibes from him. The
character of Enjolras is a revolutionary student who seeks more rights for the
poor and oppressed in France, and this goal is one he values above all else. In
the movie, this is especially pronounced and shown in contrast to his good
friend Marius, who falls in love during the revolution. When Marius begins
talking about his newfound love, Enjolras… doesn’t care. While Enjolras speaks
with passion for the revolution and its ideals, Marius likewise goes on
poetically about his emotions while Enjolras looks completely unimpressed. He
even goes on to say, “Who cares about your lonely soul? We strive towards a
larger goal,” and I’m sorry, I can’t help but find this line absolutely
hilarious.
Also interestingly – whether Enjolras has aspec vibes or not
– is that he completely sidesteps the notion of “non-sexual/non-romantic
character = childish.” In fact, in Enjolras’s eyes, Marius is the childish one
for not seeing the importance of their goals. While that is certainly
indicative of Enjolras’s single-mindedness for his ideals, especially since he
claims their own lives don’t matter as they strive for this higher purpose, it
nevertheless strikes me as a noteworthy and somewhat unexpected reversal. I’m
unfortunately used to non-sexual/non-romantic characters who sacrifice
everything for a goal being treated as fools who are in the wrong. True enough,
Enjolras’s efforts are ultimately ill-fated and disastrous, but rather than
frame them as misguided, the entire point is that they are noble and even
heroic, despite their tragic outcome. We are meant to see Enjolras as brave
despite his loss, and to feel for him when he meets his end.
I think this is meant to extend not just to his efforts, but
to those non-sexual/non-romantic elements of his personality. In the book, it
is said “he chastely dropped his eyes before everything which was not the
Republic,” and to me this seems to be a thing to recommend him, rather than a
thing to use against him. While I don’t think those types of markers should be
used to distinguish non-sexual or non-romantic characters as “better” than
other characters within a work, I find it noteworthy primarily because being
chaste is not usually an admirable quality in modern media. In general, I find
all these combinations of motives, moments, and personality make for an
extremely interesting character. Whether Enjolras is Ambiguously Gay, a Chaste
Hero, a singularly focused revolutionary, or has aspec vibes – or maybe even
all of the above – I know he’ll always be a personal favorite of mine.
Sebastian Vael
from Dragon Age II
Usually when I talk about aspec tendencies in the video game series Dragon Age, I’m focusing mainly on characters in the third game, from Cole to Josephine and even a bit of Cullen Rutherford. But I think the second game gives us an interesting albeit complicated example to analyze. And so, keeping with the theme of shining hero-type boys – in this case, literally shining, thanks to his shiny white armor – we have Sebastian Vael, a prince-turned-priest from Dragon Age II. Sebastian is the prince of a nation called Starkhaven, who was actually quite a wild thing when he was younger, so much so that his family essentially forced him into religious life in the Chantry, the main religious institution of the game’s world. Eventually, however, he came to realize he genuinely wanted to be there, even preparing to take vows of poverty and chastity to become a brother of the faith. But when Sebastian’s family is murdered, things change and he’s drawn into the world of Hawke, Dragon Age II’s protagonist, as a potential ally and even a potential love interest.
In my view, I believe that Sebastian could be demisexual
and/or demiromantic, and although that seems at odds with his wild past, I
believe it could actually be quite keeping with his personality and story.
Sebastian was the youngest of three sons in a royal family. As neither the
“heir” nor the “spare,” he was the odd one out in his family and as such, was
largely ignored. Although this is never expressly described in dialogue or
anything, I don’t think it’s too much of a leap to imagine that a lot of
Sebastian’s youthful debauchery was more him being desperate for attention or
even purpose than anything else. Furthermore, while it could be said that he wants to take Chantry vows in order to give up the temptations that his
past represents, I personally feel it’s less that and more that Sebastian has
found truer happiness there. He even mentions that when he thinks of being
Prince of Starkhaven, he feels a level of horror, but feels peace when he thinks
of staying in the Chantry. Celibacy and being aspec are in no way mutually
exclusive and one doesn’t lead to the other, but I feel like for some characters, they do go hand in hand.
But of course, because Sebastian is a romance option, that
also plays a big factor in these things, and his romance is a rather unique one
in Dragon Age II. While the other four romance options can be romanced
by either a male or female player character, Sebastian may only be romanced by
a female character. Additionally, there are quite a few more requisites to
romance Sebastian than in many of the other romances. Some of these requisites
are plot related, and it’s possible that some of them are even related to the
development of the game, but some of them feel like they add to Seb being a
potentially aspec character – for instance, the fact that you cannot romance
Seb if you’ve even flirted with another character, and you can only romance him
if you’ve completely maxed out your relationship with him. That latter element –
combined with the fact that Sebastian’s romance is pretty much completely
devoid of any public displays of affection – is part of why I feel like Seb
could be demisexual and/or demiromantic. Of course, the fact that he’s in the
Chantry, a religious institution, for most of the game probably contributes to
that, but in general it seems like perhaps Sebastian only gets romantic
feelings for Hawke after really getting to know her.
Sadly, I have to admit that Sebastian’s romance as it’s
written is not my favorite, but not for the reason why most fans tend to dislike his
romance. While many fans seem to find Sebastian’s romance boring (and it’s
certainly less lively than some other options like Fenris or Isabela), I
personally don’t love it because I find it hits a few tropes that I dislike. In my post about the mistakes people make in drawing parallels between celibacy
and asexuality, I mentioned the trope of the classical hero whose
fate it is to either resist temptation or fall prey to it; in my view, a lot of
Hawke’s romance dialogue unfortunately has that “tempting the pure boy” vibe.
This is a bummer, because the game then lets you enter into a chaste marriage
with Sebastian, which is actually a unique and interesting plot point that I
can’t ever remember seeing anywhere else. But it feels starkly (no pun
intended) at odds with many of the interactions Hawke and Sebastian have had up
to that point.
Additionally, it’s sad (but not at all surprising) that many
fans – and even the game itself – view the chaste marriage option as absurd.
Dialogue with Hawke’s siblings reveals this quite clearly if Hawke is of the
“humorous variety”; when speaking with your sister Bethany about your marriage, the word marriage
is in quotes, while speaking with your brother Carver likewise has chaste
marriage in quotes and leads to Carver almost venomously asserting that
Sebastian invented the concept. Hawke replies to Carver by saying “Aww, would
you feel better if I slept with him? Because I totally would.” While this is
probably done largely to make Carver uncomfortable (and it works), I still find
the entire exchange extremely disappointing – but again, not surprising. I’ve
even seen fans saying they wished that “corrupting the Chantry boy” had been an
option rather than the chaste marriage choice, which entirely fits the trope I mentioned
above.
I can’t say I fault them when it seems like that’s what the
game is leading you towards before suddenly changing gears, and so like many
things, it’s an interesting concept played very oddly. The chaste marriage
option is not, however, the only route that Sebastian’s romance can go. If
certain choices are undertaken – and, of course, if Seb is set on the path to
go back to Starkhaven rather than stay as a Chantry brother – the endgame of
the romance is framed instead as a powerful political marriage, rather than a
chaste marriage. This version of the romance seems like it would be the more
traditional route of producing heirs, and thus it seems like many players
prefer it because it means sleeping with him is not off the table.
These odd discrepancies in Sebastian’s romance makes me ask
a general question – why is Seb a romance option at all? Unfortunately for
Sebastian, I believe he falls under the umbrella of characters who are
attractive and are therefore seen as needing to be sexual and/or
romantic. I want to be clear that there’s no problem with finding Seb
attractive or wanting to romance him. In general, I can’t even say I blame
people for making heart-eyes at him – from his Starkhaven accent (which by real
world standards is a Scottish accent) to his piercing blue eyes, Heaven knows
I’ve certainly made heart-eyes at him myself. Rather, the problem is deciding
that him being conventionally attractive means that he is required to be a
sexual romance, and I don’t really think the game does anything but encourage
this attitude.
Although the chaste
marriage option is there, it feels like the developers assumed that very few
people would actually want it. This to me is a disappointing gap in Sebastian’s
character and romance, but I don’t think this gap means he can’t be aspec. On
the contrary, despite the way he’s written and how his romance is portrayed, I
think there is some compelling evidence for imagining Seb as on the spectrum.
Despite the fact that it doesn’t bear out well in the game, I think players
like me can still appreciate the moments he does have and, even though he is
less popular in the fandom than some other characters from the same game, I’ll
always be a fan of Sebastian Vael, potentially demisexual/demiromantic Chantry
boy.
Ezekiel Jones
from the television series The Librarians
Last but certainly not least, we shift from clear-cut hero types to a loveable rogue to look at the young thief Ezekiel Jones. Ezekiel was one of the titular Librarians in the TV series, The Librarians, which was a spin-off of the series of movies known by the singular title The Librarian. I admit that I never saw the movies, but the premise follows the adventures of Flynn Carson who protects a magical place known as the Library (which you could probably guess), which is full of incredible artifacts with equally incredible powers. The TV series continues in that world, introducing three new Librarians and their new guardian. Ezekiel, in addition to being one of those new Librarians, is a skilled hacker and criminal with a sharp wit and a heavy awareness of his own talents, but who also harbors a hidden heart of gold.
The Librarians is admittedly a little corny, but it's a lot of fun, and the characters are great. Something I say time and again
is that I love it when an odd assortment of mismatched characters come together
and become a team that actually cares about one another and has each other’s
backs. That’s the three Librarians to a tee. They couldn’t be more different,
and yet their dynamic works so well, and it leads to amazing growth for all of
them, especially Ezekiel. Although he acts like a bad guy and sometimes the
other characters treat him like that, the show demonstrates very clearly that
he’s not bad; in fact, he wouldn’t be one of the Librarians if he was truly
bad. Something I love about Ezekiel’s character is that his growth is less
about becoming a “good guy”, rather, it’s embracing the fact that he already is
and getting others to see it too. Ezekiel is a thief, sure, but it’s eventually
revealed that he steals because he’s good at it and enjoys it – that it’s an
art and he’s an artist – not because he wants the money that comes with it. Rather,
when he steals something, he makes sure good can be done because of it.
You may not know this, but sassy characters with hearts of
gold are always faves of mine. But I have a personal policy that I don’t
headcanon a character as aspec just because I like them. So what about Ezekiel
makes me think he could be aspec? A few things, actually – and alas, one of those
things comes in an episode whose title I can’t remember (I know, me not being
able to find sources is a common theme of this post today; past me didn’t know
that I’d one day need these things for a blog, so blame her). Because I can’t
remember the episode, I unfortunately can’t remember specifics with crystal
clarity, but if my memory serves me at all, there’s a very small scene where the
gang is talking about loving things and wanting to protect them. What does
Ezekiel glance at when this speech is happening, smiling to himself a little?
The slice of pizza he’s eating. Although loving food over people is a bit of a
trope, it always makes me laugh – and, as an AroAce who also would do anything
to protect pizza, it really made me wonder if perhaps Ezekiel was AroAce too.
For a large majority of the series, Ezekiel shows almost
none (or at least very little) interest in other people. On a personal level,
sure, this can be chalked up to his narcissistic tendencies, and that would not
be ideal for an aspec character for reasons that I discuss in my post on
whether or not aspec villains are good representation. But as I said, the show
also gives Ezekiel moments where we can see how much he cares, so he’s not a
bad guy. When it comes to showing an interest in people in a romantic or even
sexual sense, the lack of these for Ezekiel could also be chalked up to his
age, given he is clearly the youngest of all the Librarians. But even so, he’s
not so young that these relationships would be off the table, so I think it’s
interesting that he really doesn’t express these kinds of interests, especially
when his fellow Librarians occasionally do.
Now, there is one episode especially that pokes holes in my “Ezekiel is
AroAce” theory, but in my opinion, it still leaves it open to interpretation as
to whether he fits somewhere on the spectrums. In the season three episode
“…And the Curse of Cindy,” the team encounters the titular young woman Cindy
Kroger, a generally plain and unassuming girl who has a legion of cult-like
fans worshipping her. The team realizes that these people are under the control
of a love potion Cindy herself has concocted, which even the male members of
the team are affected by, all except Ezekiel. On the face of it, this would
almost seem to confirm my suspicions (although the rest of the team just
assumes it’s because Ezekiel’s own egotism outweighs any affect the potion
would have on him); however, later in the episode, it’s postulated that Ezekiel
wasn’t affected by the love potion because he was already in love with Cindy.
While the temptation does exist for me to fall back on my
usual lamentation of “inconsistent writing” – and that’s certainly possible – I
don’t necessary think this erases the possibility of Ezekiel being asexual,
demisexual, demiromantic, or anything else. Although I personally find the
notion of Ezekiel being in love with Cindy to be an unnecessary addition, it’s
admittedly kind of a cute one, in large part because it is so pure. Much of
Cindy’s motivation for creating the love potions in the first place is that she
was once humiliated on a reality show, and this is apparently when Ezekiel got
feelings for her, which is actually kind of sweet if we take it at face value.
But I think the most extraordinary thing for me is that it
doesn’t seem like we’re required to take it at face value. First off, although Cindy
and Ezekiel do share a kiss, it seems more like Cindy is the one who initiates
said kiss than Ezekiel; in fact, when he kisses her in return, it’s a sweet
peck to her forehead. Furthermore, it surprises me to see that many of the
reviews and comments surrounding the episode still see it as open-ended whether
Ezekiel was really immune to the love potion because he already loved her. In
fact, far more people seem to point out that Ezekiel trying to convince Cindy
that knowing her own value is more important than having people follow and love
her is far and away better than any love plot. I’m not often used to seeing
that type of positive interpretation for a plot like that, so I have to admit
I’m very pleased.
Although The Librarians has been off the air now for
several years and thus Ezekiel is probably a bit of an obscure character to
headcanon as aspec, it’s also nice to think that maybe that door is not
completely closed. In general, I really enjoy his character and the way he’s
portrayed, whether aspec or not, but imagining him as aspec makes him extra
special. I’d like to think that a magical place like the Library would find
value in someone like me – aspec, snarky, and secretly a big softy – and I’d
like to think that’s exactly what we see with Ezekiel (even though he’d
probably hate that I called him a softy… but we all know he is).
------------------------
Any one of these characters would be, in my opinion, pretty
good representation if they were allowed to be aspec – whether in their actual
media or just in the headcanons and works of people like me. If all of them
were aspec, it would be an example of how diverse and varied the asexual and aromantic
spectrums are. Headcanons like these excite me because they make me imagine a
world where we can have heroes and rogues alike be good representation, or
where different stories and types of people can still find commonality in their
identity. We’re probably still a long way off from these types of stories being
mainstream rather than quirky, but for now, my quirky headcanons are enough to
give me a little joy.
Comments
Post a Comment