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jan & feb storygraph wrapups
reading everyday aliens by polenth blake and it’s sooooo scavengers reign creatures. i love weird little guys
guys i did too many cosplay photoshoots how am i supposed to choose and organise how to post all these photos
I was thinking the other day about the phenomenon of ‘character is probably aroace but grew up completely isolated/traumatised/only surrounded by relatives/no exposure to opportunities for attraction/romance/sex or even time to consider it, therefore we just can’t really explore that in the story’ because like…….there’s infinite examples of allo characters with similar upbringings that Do find ways for them to explore attraction/relationships/sexuality even within that narrative???? through media, or they met another person their age at a rest stop and had something for a few days, or they meet another person in the same situation as them and end up traveling together, or whatever.
like in the quiet at the end of the world, where there’s literally only 2 teens left, but the girl still figures out she’s bisexual though watching old tv shows etc. unless a character is literally never even exposed to the concept of relationships/sexuality in any form, then there’s gonna be opportunities for them to think about it? (and like…..I think there’s very few stories where a character would literally never be exposed to the concept)
anyway, not to say that I think every kind of story is obligated to do that - obviously i love archivist wasp, which goes the route of not acknowledging the concept of relationships/sexuality at all (beyond vague mentions of married background characters) - but the focus there IS the no-romance-at-all-platonic-friendships, not 'representation’. and obviously I have a whole separate database of books with no romance because that is also something I like as well as aspec books! but they’re two different things.
and I do think there is value in stories about aroace (etc) characters having adventures and barely thinking about their sexuality at all, but also like………there’s a lot of that, and sometimes it feels too surface level, I want more, personally? sometimes it feels like an excuse, ’oh I couldn’t mention/explore their sexuality because there’s just nowhere it would make sense to have come up :/’ okay but you’re making up the whole thing! you can make that happen though! If you just want the adventures with casually queer characters that don’t think about their sexuality that much, just say so! i know people want 'books about queer people going on adventures not just books about being queer’ but i want books about people going on adventures that are also About Being Queer, actually.
idk I want more in depth explorations of specific aro and/or ace experiences beyond just the basic figuring-it-out/coming out, or found-family/friendship-narratives-but-we-don’t-talk-about-how-that-relates-to-their-experiences-as-an-aroace-person-it’s-only-implied. (not to say that lots of stories with the more specific things don’t exist! I just want more always)
thinking of books that do play around with the concept a little: like the butterfly assassin is an interesting example of there-was-no-opportunity-to-bring-it-up in the first book (and her life before then), but then it does get explored a little in book 2, and in book 3 she goes on a very self destructive spiral involving hooking up with people despite knowing she doesn’t want to - and while it doesn’t quite have a sitting down and talking about aromanticism and asexuality clearly thing, it is deeply entwined with her whole journey. or in not even bones - nita & kovit both grew up very isolated from other teens or just too dangerous/in danger to ever consider any of that, but then they DO think their bond must be romantic from what they’ve seen in media or w/e. and kiss a bit while continuing to think of each other as best friends until adair is like 'being close doesn’t have to mean dating yaknow’ and they’re like oh yeah neither of us want this. lol (this one also doesn’t explicitly discuss aromanticism/asexuality - but it’s still more than not exploring it at all in the story)
tldr I guess my beef is with people saying that like it’s a valid reason/excuse to not explore a character’s (underrepresented - especially in nuance/complexity) identity rather than just saying they don’t want to write about that (which is fine!) (and I do realise when people say that they’re probably not thinking too hard about it)
(this is slightly incoherent but it’s been sitting in my drafts for months. let’s also post it during aro week i guess)
i do have thoughts about how so many of the books i’ve read with no romance (especially the ones not written by aspec authors) are like. books where the MC dies or is forever cut off from everyone they knew or it’s a villain arc (or combination of those) and like….to what extent was ‘they’re going to die or turn evil’ a factor in choosing to not give them a romance? (there are so many genres/types of narratives where having a romance subplot is default, it often feels like a choice to Not) is it conscious? like when I look at my list of books with no romance there’s a higher percentage or horror/villain arc/they-die-at-the-end books…. there’s plenty that aren’t, too, and of course there are plenty of those kind of books that Do have romances but yknow. it’s just something I notice? sometimes when I’m reading one of those books I can Feel the 'they don’t have a romantic love interest because x is going to happen’ and it’s like, oh, that’s the only reason why. not because romance is just not relevant to some people/narratives. this is not really a fully formed post I’m not sure where I’m going with it but just Aromantic Thoughts™ yknow
i am like sooo behind on adding books (+quotes/notes) to my database and also I have like 30+ of these tumblr posts in my drafts or as lists somewhere i just. need to sit down and sort out little details. i’ll get there one day….
skim reading tihylttw to find quotes for cosplay photo captions just becomes rereading it again
why did i start this random book I saw on QLL libby that had ace in the title and it’s literally set in wellington. there is no indication on the outside of this book it’s about an aussie in aotearoa?????
directing our this is how you lose the time war photoshoot like 👉👈 hey so can you pin me against the wall with your knife at my throat 👉👈
okay some 2024 reading stats (from my own spreadsheet) just 4 fun
total books: 361 (one more than last year..) (a couple aren’t in storygraph I guess)
identity / other misc tags
(in my spreadsheet this does usually include major side characters not just MCs)
