#and i think theres something in the water with aces and fic

How about a positive thing?

So, I’m going to stay anonymous here, but I write fanfic. I am also asexual, and though I never described myself as asexual or any of the characters in my fic as asexual, I somehow wound up with a pretty fair-sized ace following for one fic. Can people recognize their own kind through my writing? Is it just because I’m writing what I want to see [emphasis on romantic and platonic relationships rather than sexual ones] and it attracts people with similar desires? I don’t know. Regardless, like I said, decent-sized ace following.

I noticed that two of my most, for want of a better word, loyal readers had become friends through the fic, and I was like, “Hey, that’s cool. Maybe I can introduce more people each other with my fic, spark more friendships,” so I made a Discord server for my readers.

And within the first week or two of the Discord being up, someone nervously came out as ace.

And almost everyone else online at the time raised their hands and said, “Same here.” And one person said, “I’m not asexual, but I’m dating someone who is, and we’ve been happy together for years.”

And, I just went back to make sure, the woman who came out started crying. She wasn’t expecting that level of support, and she certainly wasn’t expecting a whole group of people–masculine, feminine, nonbinary, cis, trans, different races, different countries, different romantic orientations [including aro], ages ranging from early teens to late twenties, hell, even people who didn’t ship the couple from the fic and were just there because they liked the idea behind the story–to be just as asexual as she was. She was so goddamn happy. It was an incredibly beautiful moment, and I was so fucking floored by the realization that I’d helped facilitate that.

So amidst all the hate and the bullshit, don’t lose hope. Don’t think of yourself as less valid. Don’t forget that you can find happiness. Pride month is all about accepting and embracing who you are. And anyone who spouts that same bullshit rhetoric that has been used in biphobic and transphobic and even anti-lesbian arguments throughout history? Well, they’re missing the point entirely.

We’re here. We’re QUEER. Get FUCKING used to it.

And for the love of all life on Earth, please support each other. Don’t put down your fellow queers. There are more than enough people outside of the community who do that already.