i love you straight aromantics. i love you straight asexuals. i love you straight aroaces. i love you straight aroallos. i love you straight aspecs. i love you straight aspecs who are questioning if they’re aspec or not. i love you ‘straight passing’ aspecs. you are loved and you are included and i see your pain and your struggles. you will always always always be a part of our community.
for the asexuals who hate sex. the asexuals who love sex. the asexuals who couldnt care about sex any less if they tried. the trans and nonbinary asexuals. the asexuals with queer romantic leanings. the asexuals who are heteroromantic. neurodiverse and/or disabled asexuals. this ones for you *my first bullet enters jfk's back*
I need the asexual equivalent of the word “gaydar”. My favorite I’ve seen proposed is compACE (compass + ace). What about for aros?! My brain cannot rest until this is solved…
Note: Posted this on AO3 a few days ago but forgot to here. A little scene I made up in my head, the first night of Ariel and Eric’s first voyage. Can’t get these two out of my head and am considering starting a short multi-chapter AU fic of them, let me know if you’d be interested!
Still new at this writing stuff so would love any feedback and comments!
~~~~~
The sky exploded with light as the ship’s crew continued to set off fireworks, booming and dazzling against the darkness. The festivities had been going on for nearly an hour, fiddles providing joyous melodies while sailors danced the night away.
Ariel snuggled closer to Eric on the steps, her gaze still focused on the brilliant colors illuminating the sky. They’d danced for almost the whole hour, her new husband teaching her the steps of the many jigs and dances.
“Have you ever seen fireworks before?” Eric shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, placing it delicately around hers.
“Once,” a smile crept onto Ariel’s face at the memory. “When we first met.”
“Oh?”
Ariel giggled. “The night of the shipwreck.”
Eric took a moment to think. “Oh, right before, you mean. My twenty-first birthday.”
He paused again. “Wait…how did you…”
Ariel felt the blush rising in her cheeks, looking down nervously at her lap and picking at a loose thread on her dress.
“I heard you talking to Grimsby,” she explained, her voice barely above a whisper. “I saw the fireworks, and I followed the ship. And I heard you talking. I saw the crew dancing, it was the first time I’d ever seen anything like that.”
She felt his finger touch the underside of her chin, lifting it gently so their eyes met.
“And that’s how you were there to save me.”
“Yes.”
“I had no idea.”
Ariel shrugged, turning her head once again to look out at the dancing crew. It was a miracle they hadn’t all worn out their feet by now.
“You seemed so happy, singing and dancing with all of them. I saw it tonight, too. You’re happiest when you’re on the ship.”
Eric chuckled, his eyes following hers. The crew had gotten ahold of Grimsby, the old man somehow convinced to sway along to the music with Max by his side.
“I hope you like it here,” he said. “I know ship life isn’t for everyone, but whatever’s out there - I want to find it with you.”
“I do like it here,” Ariel said. She turned back to meet his gaze, eyes twinkling in the light. “Though, there is something you could help me with.”
“Anything.”
“What’s a starboard?”
Eric raised a brow. “Come again?”
“The crew, they keep saying starboard. Starboard side, starboard sails…”
“Oh,” Eric laughed, brushing a hand through his dark curls. “It’s right. Port and starboard, that’s what sailors call left and right.”
“Why not just call it left and right?”
Eric paused. “You know…I’m actually not sure. But sailors have lots of words for things no one else calls them by.”
“Like what?”
“Hmm…” Eric took a moment to think, his eyes scanning the ship.
He pointed to the very front of the ship. “The front there, that’s called the bow. And the very back is called the stern.”
“Bow and stern,” Ariel repeated.
“Yeah. Sometimes the stern is called aft, too.”
Ariel nodded.
“The wheel,” Eric pointed out.
“The one I used to kill Ursula.”
“Yes. That’s called the helm.”
Ariel nodded again. “Can I ask one more question?”
Eric drew her closer to him. “You can ask as many questions as you’d like.”
“Why do they call the ship a woman?”
“Oh,” he laughed. “That…it comes from an old sea story. You’d think it’s silly.”
She nudged him. “Tell me.”
“Sailors believe…” he shook his head. “They believe that the king of the seas would be more favorable to girls. So referring to a ship as a ‘she’…well, it’s to appease him.”
Ariel stared at him with wide eyes, before bursting into laughter.
“My father wouldn’t care whether or not the ship was a girl, Eric.”
“Well, yes, I can understand that now.”
“Humans are silly,” Ariel remarked. “But you’re not entirely wrong.”
“No?”
“I do have six sisters. No brothers. So you could say my father does favor girls.”
She straightened up a bit. “Can I practice using the terms?”
Eric tried his best not to smile too hard, at the risk of his new wife potentially mistaking his grin as laughing at her expense. “Of course.”
Ariel pointed to the front of the ship. “The bow.”
She gestured to the back. “Stern. Or aft.”
She pointed left, then right. “Port and starboard.”
The wheel was last. “The helm.”
She took a breath, her brows knitted in deep focus. “I used the helm to turn the ship port side so the bow of the ship drove into Ursula.”
She looked up at him again. “Was that right?”
Eric couldn’t help the beaming grin on his face as he reached in for a soft kiss.
“Perfect. You’re a natural-born sailor.”
He didn’t miss her giggle before the corners of his lips lifted into a slight smirk.
“You were wrong about something though.”
She looked into his eyes, warm brown meeting ocean blue.
the way Eric learns Ariel's name in the live action Little Mermaid was so insanely cute and romantic I literally cannot get over it like literally her name was written in the stars I- beautiful. I'm applauding whoever wrote that.
THEN when they're saying goodnight and he says "goodnight, ARIEL" 😭😭 like wow okay make me believe in love I guess like
i love sitcoms, even the "bad" ones, even the ones that get worse as it goes on, i just love them. i love all of the long running jokes, the slow burn romances, the impossible situations, the meaningless drama, i love having something comforting to watch. they make me so happy.
