Still More Of My Quirky Asexual and Aromantic Headcanons
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| Image description: Lee Rang, one of the main characters from one of my favorite Korean Dramas, Tale of the Nine-Tailed. Not only does Rang have the distinction of being an awesome character and one of my favorite ever, but he has the unique distinction of being one of the only times I've headcanoned a K-Drama character as aspec, meaning he's part of my headcanon aspec characters list. Join me today as I discuss Rang as well as other characters that are part of that elite club. |
Whenever I
do posts that are based on a list of some kind – such as I did recently in my
second “Characters Who Aren’t Normal” post or when I do lists of aspec relationships I’d love to see more of – I tend to start small. Usually, I begin
with the actual list itself, slowly adding characters or topics to that list,
and then I slowly begin fleshing out the bones of the post from there. One of the
best examples of this always tends to be my list of quirky aspec headcanon
characters, so named because the characters on the list tend to have absolutely
nothing in common with one another, thus making them an eclectic mix.
As you can
probably guess (or know from the previous posts I did on the subject), these
are a diverse range of characters that I personally believe could be on the
asexual and/or aromantic spectrums or who seem to have the traits often
associated with these identities. I tend to slowly collect these headcanons
over a long span of time, hence why these posts start with a vague list and
grow from there. In some cases, these are headcanons I’ve had for a long time
and that I really want to discuss, but I really have no other place to talk
about the character or the media they’re in, and so I save them for these types
of posts. In other cases, something I see in other analysis makes me think
these characters are aspec, and I run with it, having fun analyzing what other
people have theorized.
When I began
fleshing out this list, I was surprised to realize that it’s been almost two
years since I last did one of these quirky lists, which makes me even more excited
to bring you today’s post and its very diverse trio of characters. They’re a
mix of characters from media that’s been a part of my life for a long time and
some that are from newer faves, as well as a mix of my own thoughts and the
thoughts of others, but for as different as they and the media they appear in
may be, they’re all amazing characters worthy of being discussed in depth. So,
without further ado, let’s get into yet another list of characters I think
could be interpreted as aspec, as well as discuss why this all matters.
Commander Chakotay from Star Trek:
Voyager
The original
poster points out that Chakotay almost never flirts with a woman he doesn’t
know well (compare this to some of the other men on the crew) and that, despite
fan headcanons, his romances always seem to be few and far between. They list
specific examples, all of which I find very compelling, and I believe there are
also several more general things about his personality that likewise fit this
interpretation. For example, Chakotay is often described as private, and while
of course this doesn’t have to have an ulterior meaning – after all, many
people are private about their private lives and it makes sense that
Chakotay would feel this way, given his background – I think this only adds to
the idea that he’s not exactly wearing romance on his sleeve.
I think this
is also relevant when we consider Voyager’s plight. At the beginning of
the series, the titular ship is thrown into the Delta Quadrant, an uncharted
and remote part of space that is decades away from Earth. Because it’s going to
take a very long time to return home, if indeed they ever can, it’s
acknowledged that some members of the crew may eventually pair off, meaning
that romance and being open with these things is more common on Voyager than it
might otherwise be on other ships. And yet, like I said, compared to other
members of the crew, Chakotay doesn’t seem to prioritize romantic and/or sexual
relationships much at all, with a few notable exceptions. However, I’d argue
that even these provide interesting fodder for this analysis.
One of
Chakotay’s major relationships at the beginning of the series is with Seska, one
of his former crewmates before Voyager. However, even this relationship
is shown to have been something that happened in the past rather than something
that is still ongoing, and he seems roundly uninterested in rekindling the
relationship, even though they’re stuck in the Delta Quadrant. Early in season
two, it’s revealed that Seska is actually a spy, who flees Voyager to
work with their enemies. The entire thing leaves Chakotay feeling deeply
humiliated, something which I think the show wants to portray as if he’s a
jilted lover or is dealing with wounded pride, but which I think becomes interesting
if you analyze it with this headcanon in mind. Rather than his embarrassment
over the issue being about feeling emasculated, it could instead be seen as shame
that he formed such a deep emotional attachment to someone who was lying to him
and manipulating him the entire time.
It is
implied that Chakotay and Seska’s relationship was likewise sexual in nature –
although admittedly in some of the context, Chakotay might just be saying this
to rile up the villain who is now involved with her instead. However, if their
relationship was also sexual, I think it only adds to the idea of Chakotay
being demisexual and now deeply unsettled by the fact that this entire
relationship was a lie, since it would mean he shared something deeply personal
with Seska and trusted her with a bond that was never actually real. Of course,
the episodes dealing with Seska’s betrayal and Chakotay’s reactions to it are
rarely this subtle – and in fact introduce some frankly eyebrow-raising plot
points and character traits for both characters. But I nevertheless think
Seska’s inclusion and the doomed relationship between her and Chakotay makes a
good case for the aspec vibes, especially since she is one of the only main
important romances we actually see fleshed out for him during the series’ run.
There are
other romances, most of which are one offs (like in the episode
“Unforgettable”) or which aren’t actually romances (such as when he has to play
the role of seducer in “In the Flesh”). In fact, I think it can be argued that
romance is so rare for Chakotay – as is romantic and/or sexual interest in
general – that when these episodes do crop up, it makes even more of a case for
him being demisexual and/or demiromantic simply because of how unusual they
are. Additionally, there are, of course, moments throughout the series that
tease romantic interest between Chakotay and Captain Kathryn Janeway, but even
these are fleeting, respectful, and focus more on the emotional bond between
the two than other things, further adding to this headcanon.
In Star
Trek: Voyager’s canon, though, Chakotay’s biggest canon relationship is his
romance with Seven of Nine, which occurs in the last few episodes of the show’s
final season. This relationship is not a popular or enduring one among Star
Trek fans (to the point that Star Trek: Picard pretty much retconned
it) and, for obvious reasons, I always tend to rant about the romance from the
standpoint of how it erases Seven’s aspec tendencies. However, this headcanon
also made me realize something – I think it can be argued that it’s doing just
as much of a disservice to Chakotay’s character in the process. Just like Seven
doesn’t need a romance to be complete, neither does Chakotay, and he’s able to
be a meaningful character and an important part of the crew without having to
be romantically linked to anyone. Even so, the fact that the romance doesn’t
develop until so much later in the story only adds to this headcanon, even if
the romance itself is not very good.
As Native American representation, Chakotay falls short for a lot of reasons, but there
are still elements of his personality that I think make him really special.
He’s spiritual and studious, proud and firm, but also committed to exploration
and discovery. He respects his crew and goes out of his way to help, providing
the perfect assistant to Captain Janeway. He has an interesting backstory and
is involved in several interesting plotlines as the show goes on, and none of
these have to be romance-related in order to be valid. Whether viewed as
aspec or not, I will always really appreciate that element of Chakotay’s
character, despite the way the series ends.
Lee Rang from Tale of the
Nine-Tailed
However,
there is one K-Drama character whom I firmly believe has many of the aspec
tendencies I’ve come to look for when I watch other pieces of media, and so it
would be remiss of me to not discuss him here. It just so happens that he’s
also from one of my favorite K-Dramas, the fantasy series Tale of the
Nine-Tailed, and that he himself is one of my favorite characters – not
just from this drama, not even just from K-Dramas in general, but possibly one
of my favorite characters ever.
Tale of
the Nine-Tailed
tells the story of Lee Yeon, a powerful nine-tailed fox and former mountain god.
Long ago, he fell in love with a human woman named A-eum, whom he tragically
lost in the battle against an evil being known as the serpent. Yeon breaks
several taboos in simply being with A-eum, and breaks several more in meddling
with her death, bestowing some of his protective power on her before she
crosses over into the afterlife in the hopes he will be able to recognize her
one day when she is eventually reborn. He then leaves his post as the mountain
god, leading to turmoil, especially for his young half-brother, Rang.
Lee Rang was
born from an affair between Yeon’s father and a human woman, who resents and
hates her child for his existence. So too do the people of their village hate
Rang and decry him as a monster and a half-breed, leading to a miserable and
frightening childhood that culminates in his mother abandoning him in a forest
of terrifying creatures in the hope of finally being rid of him. It is here
that Yeon finds him and, knowing who he is, gives him the choice of how he
wants to live his life. Despite his awful circumstances, young Rang happily
accepts living life with Yeon, accepting his identity as a half-fox and
learning a great deal from his big brother’s teachings until the day Yeon abdicates
his role as mountain god.
Now in the
modern day, Rang and Yeon are understandably at odds, with Rang despising and
resenting the brother he once loved due to what he feels is his abandonment. As
such, he begins the show as a villain, causing chaos where he can, especially
at the expense of humans. However, it’s clear that he still carries the trauma
of what he suffered at the hands of humans in the past and that Yeon leaving
the mountain without him is a deep wound that never properly healed. For this
reason, the show spends a lot of time beautifully fleshing out Rang as a
complex character, slowly evolving him from an antagonist into a deeply
sympathetic and eventually even heroic character.
Naturally,
due to his complexities, I would love Rang even if he didn’t code as aspec.
However, I do think there are some elements about Rang that are unique and that
jump out at me as an aspec person, making me love him even more. Not only is
his story very deliberately and very intensely not about romance, his entire
arc is actually about friendship, family, and non-romantic love in ways that I
find deeply moving. This doesn’t just apply to his relationship with his
brother, although this is of course massively important to not only his arc,
but to the entire arc of the show, but rather extends to several other
relationships.
One of the
best relationships in the entire show, in my opinion, is Rang’s friendship with
Yu-ri, another nine-tailed fox who acts as his sort of right-hand woman. Yu-ri
eventually ends up in a relationship with Shin-ju, Yeon’s right-hand man, but
she insists that she and Rang are something of a packaged deal, meaning that
Rang essentially gains Shin-ju as a brother-in-law of sorts. Meanwhile, another
important relationship both in Rang’s present and in his past is the bond of
love he shared with his dog, a gift from Yeon when Rang was a child. In the
present day, Rang learns that his dog has been reincarnated as a little boy stuck
in an abusive family, so naturally Rang saves him from this bad situation.
In the
latter half of the show, Rang, the little boy, Yu-ri, and Shin-ju form an
unusual and adorable little family, and the love he feels for this family
becomes an important part of his life, not to mention the thing that gives his
life meaning. His entire story arc is about finding the family he never had and
becoming an important part of their lives, rather than anything related to
romance, and the fact that this family is described as the thing that gives
Rang’s life meaning is extremely special. It’s not only proof that getting to
choose one’s own family is important and meaningful, but it beautifully allows
for his character to find meaning in something non-romantic, something which
the show really excels at, even when it is otherwise showcasing romances too.
Unfortunately,
all the things that make it so easy for Rang to have a non-romantic storyline
in the first season are the same things that make it almost inevitable that he
gets one in the second season. The show’s second season, known as Tale of
the Nine-Tailed 1938, is a completely different story in and of itself, in
which Yeon and Shin-ju are tasked with going back to the year 1938 to retrieve
a magical artifact. Of course, the plan goes awry, and they find themselves
stuck there for a while with a cast of delightful characters, including a past
version of Rang, who in 1938 is the leader of a ragtag group of bandits. He
eventually comes to the city with Yeon and Shin-ju, where he meets Yeo-hee, a
half-mermaid who sets her sights on him and doesn’t rest until she’s won him
over.
Admittedly,
I’m not entirely sure why Rang was given a romance in this season. I can only
imagine that there was a desire to have a romantic storyline as a side plot
this season, given that there was plenty of romance in the first season; in
fact, since Yeon was, for obvious plot reasons, separated from his love
interest for the whole season, I feel like maybe a new romance was included in
this season specifically to make up for the fact that the two previous pairings
wouldn’t be given any screen time. Because both Yeon and Shin-ju are in
committed romantic relationships back in the present day, naturally the only
other familiar character who can be in a romance is Rang himself.
However,
ironically enough, this season and the romance plot actually give me even more
reasons to see Rang as an aspec character. Before, I found myself headcanoning
Rang as aspec because of the marked lack of romance in his character’s
storyline, but it’s entirely possible to just assume that romance wasn’t being
shown for him because there were other plotlines going on, rather than linking
this to any type of aspec tendencies. However, when there is ample reason to
discuss these things in season two, we actually get confirmation that Rang’s
lack of romance in season one wasn’t an exception but the rule. For instance,
Yeon and Shin-ju confirm that Rang never had a romance in his hundreds of years
of life, noting that he’s a virgin who has never expressed any interest in
women or even held one’s hand.
Of course,
this just makes me dislike the fact that Rang was given a romance all the more,
but it’s nice to have confirmation of this fact all the same. More than that,
however, the idea that Rang as far as Yeon and Shin-ju knew him in the modern
day never had a romance makes the plotline in 1938 all the more confusing. Don’t
get me wrong, I absolutely love both seasons of the show, but one thing I find baffling
about the second season is whether or not these plot points are meant to stick.
Early in season two, Yeon is told that he is just a “traveler” to that era, and
that the things he does won’t stick, and yet the show has Yeon at the center of
many important plotlines – both for the characters and for the world around
them – so I’m uncertain what is actually to be believed. For instance, a scene
that occurs after Yeon returns to the present day shows Rang still with Yeo-hee,
implying that they still end up together even when Yeon returns; however, if
Yeon’s actions in 1938 actually had an impact, it would significantly ruin the
timeline of the show’s first season, in which Yeon and Rang were adversarial.
For that
reason (and many others, of course), I personally choose to look at season two
of the show as if it were alternate universe fanfiction, rather than an actual
portrayal of events. In that case, if we treat the timeline as if Yeon never
came back to 1938, than Rang would have had no reason to quit the bandit life
and return to the city, meaning he and Yeo-hee would have never met and he
would continue to live his life as, as Shin-ju puts it, the virgin who never
even held a woman’s hand, which perfectly suits my aspec headcanon. Despite the
issues in his portrayal in season two, I still believe Rang is an extremely
well-written, fantastically portrayed, and wonderfully complex character, and I
believe the importance of family is still a valuable part of his story. The elements
of his character that prove he never had a romance before and the way his
family gives his life meaning brings him about as close to a canonically aspec
character as I’m likely to get, both in K-Dramas and beyond, and that’s perfectly
fine by me.
Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger
Game series
(plus a note for allosexual fans)
When Katniss
Everdeen’s younger sister Prim is chosen to represent District 12, Katniss does
the unthinkable – she steps up to volunteer to enter the games in her sister’s
place. What follows is a chain of events wherein Katniss becomes a symbol of
hope to the other districts as she tries to first survive the brutal games and
then the machinations of the Capitol and others, finding herself at the center
of a rebellion against the brutal President Snow. As all of this is going on,
she must attempt to protect her family as well as her newfound allies, such as
her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta, with whom she begins a highly public
romance that begins as a strategy before deepening into something real.
I’ve
mentioned The Hunger Games before, almost always in the context of this
romance, which I admit is unfair. The series is so much more than the romance
between Katniss and Peeta or the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale;
however, from my own personal standpoint, it’s hard to overlook these elements
of the plot and, especially when I was a teenager, I had no desire to have
romance as a central part of the otherwise dark and intriguing story. As an
adult who can appreciate romance more, I can definitely appreciate the nuances of
the romance more, but to this day it does remain one of my least favorite
elements of Katniss’s story for numerous reasons. Could one of those reasons be
because Katniss actually codes to me as aspec?
Admittedly,
I think the romance in The Hunger Games doesn’t resonate with me for reasons
that have very little to do with me thinking Katniss is an aspec character,
although I do think there are compelling reasons why you can view her through
that lens. During the early part of the story, Katniss seems to understand
romance very little and seems to almost entirely misunderstand Peeta’s feelings
until later. However, as an introvert as well as an aspec person, I’ve always
felt some of Katniss’s social awkwardness in these and other situations codes
more as the former than the latter, giving us the impression that she lacks
social skills.
But I do
believe it is valid to see her as an example of both social awkwardness and aspec
tendencies, especially for people who experience both of these things, and I
believe there are many compelling reasons to see her as aspec. While some
people would likely be quick to point out that she does end up in a romance
with Peeta – and the epilogue of the story even reveals they have children
together – I don’t think these things even necessarily invalidate the reading
that Katniss is aspec, as aspec people can still have romantic relationships,
get married, and have children without this changing the fact that they don’t
experience romantic and/or sexual attraction. However, it’s not easy to have
these conversations in fandom, despite the validity of those experiences. This,
in fact, is the main reason why I included Katniss in this list, because I
think there’s a bigger issue we need to discuss when it comes to headcanon
aspec characters, and Katniss represents this issue quite well.
If you were
to Google “Katniss Everdeen asexual” or any similar variation on that theme,
you will find people explaining their headcanons, certainly. You will even find
the director of the film series describing her as being “almost asexual.” But
you will also immediately find dozens of people pushing back against the idea,
often in colorful ways. The common clapback they have is
their belief (often phrased rather crudely) that Katniss had bigger things on
her mind than sex, and that this is the reason why she is the way she is,
rather than any kind of aspec identity.
This is
actually a somewhat ridiculous clapback, in my opinion, since there are plenty
of pieces of media where characters should have bigger things on their mind
than sex and/or romance and yet nevertheless engage in these things, so trying
to wave away aspec headcanons through this answer is massively reductive and
completely misses the point. In a similar vein, people will also point out how
young she is and say that the fact that she is young and living in a dystopia makes
it understandable that romance isn’t overwhelmingly on her mind. However, this
seems to completely ignore the fact that teen dystopian romances are an entire
genre in and of themselves, not to mention her canon romance.
So by their
logic, she’s too young to be asexual and the instances in which she doesn’t
think about romance can just be attributed to her age and the circumstances of
her life rather than an actual identity. But when she engages in a typical
heterosexual romance – despite her age and circumstances being exactly the same
– that seems to be considered perfectly acceptable and understandable? And yes,
they are right that being a stoic or introverted person who isn’t interested in
sex or romance at their young age doesn’t automatically point to an aspec
identity, but to invalidate a headcanon because of these things is extremely
frustrating.
However, it
also doesn’t surprise me, as aspec headcanons are often met with this level of
dismissiveness. To me, it seems like the people responding to these aspec
headcanons aren’t actually concerned with logic or even with the story itself; instead,
these fans seem to simply be offended by the mere suggestion that Katniss might
be aspec in any way and are unwilling to allow any alternate interpretations of
her character, instead choosing to shut down these notions in ways that are
often close-minded and rude, even if that wasn’t their intention.
To be clear,
I’m not saying that the headcanon of Katniss being aspec is somehow the
“correct” headcanon, nor that it should be accepted by everyone. The problem
here is not that some fans don’t buy into the headcanon – as I said, even I am
on the fence about it myself. Rather, this is a larger issue I’ve seen
throughout various fandoms, wherein allosexual fans are quick to dismiss the
contributions of aspec fans and view aspec opinions as unwelcome. There is
really no reason why aspec fans can’t choose to headcanon Katniss as aspec and,
as I said before, there are ways to do so that are still canon compliant. So
why then are allosexual fans so quick to not only dismiss these headcanons out
of hand but to be insulting or flippant about it?
While there
will, of course, always be fans who bring a level of closed-mindedness to their
fandoms, I think many fans want their fandoms to be diverse, accepting,
tolerant places. But I also think that some allosexual fans forget that aspec
people are allowed to have a place in fandom too, even if their opinions aren’t
as popular or the things they esteem aren’t as fun to imagine. Diversity,
tolerance, acceptance, and coexistence only work when people of all identities
are involved in it, and that includes aspec people too. So, when aspec folks
share headcanons such as these, I hope allosexual fans stop to consider why
these headcanons exist and are important, even if they may not agree with them.
I know the end of this post got a little dramatic rather than the usual lighthearted fare that I try to bring in these posts, but this felt like a good opportunity to discuss what I feel is an underrepresented topic while also looking at some amazing characters. The tendency to erase aspec vibes in characters is an extremely frustrating element of the fandom experience that happens both in media and in fandoms themselves, and I think it is only by discussing these things that we can maybe see it happen with less frequency. I hope allosexual fans can come to realize that there’s nothing wrong with aspec people identifying with a character and choosing to see them and their experiences as having aspec tendencies.
Until the
day when we get more canon aspec representation, headcanons are the way aspec
people are able to safely interact with their favorite pieces of media, and I
believe allowing people to do that will lead to better fandom experiences for
all. We can’t have canon aspec representation until we have headcanons, and
people can’t learn about aspec identities unless we let these conversations
happen without prejudice and judgment. And who knows? By allowing these
conversations to exist in fandom spaces, you may find a new favorite piece of
media or favorite character, and isn’t that a net positive for everyone?
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