on second thought i dont really want ops notifs flooded w this so dont reply there if you must
Thank you! I don't want to clutter up OP either. My reply is somewhat long, so don't feel compelled to respond if you're not interested. But I wanted to get some of these thoughts off my chest.
So, to respond to your first point: "yeah but this is all operating under the assumption that they were ever intended to be ace rep, or rep for people who dont have sex. which is just an odd and very specific expectation to have for seemingly no reason, why them specifically? no one ever makes comments about het ships like this. all youre saying could be true but also could not be true. its just a really unecessary thing to insert into a post like this"
For one, Neil Gaiman has explicitly accepted the interpretation of Crowley & Aziraphale as ace and/or aro. He (and fans who HC A&C as ace) primarily bases this off of several lines in the book identifying angels and demons as "sexless." This has been interpreted by both Gaiman and fans as meaning that angels & demons are non-binary/agender (and rightfully so!). However, as Gaiman points out in his tweet, it is just as easy to interpret this as angels and demons literally not having an interest in sex.
So, if you're asking why some fans have latched onto A&C as ace rep, it's because (1) one of the authors of the book - and the creator and writer of the TV show - has explicitly identified asexuality as a possible interpretation, and (2) there is explicit textual evidence supporting such a reading. That doesn't seem like "seemingly no reason" to me.
As for it being unnecessary to go into ace discourse on such an innocuous post, I completely agree (so ty for sending this ask so it doesn't continue in OP's post). I understand my fellow ace fans' frustration or disappointment with the season 2 kiss, but it's unnecessary to be complaining about it in completely unrelated posts.
To your second point: "its kind of raining on someone elses parade when theyre excited abt azcrow just having been established as explicitly romantic in the show talking about their own interpretation of the two to make comments like that. the headcanons are fine on their own but read the room"
For the record, I ship Aziracrow in the TV show as romantic. I read them as romantic, I think they're explicitly canon as a romantic couple, and I think it's pretty difficult to deny that. I'm one of the people celebrating Aziracrow as canonically romantic! So I certainly hope that I'm not raining on my own parade. But just as you mentioned that "ace people can have sex," ace people can also be in romantic relationships. It's actually very common. It is completely valid - and moreover, compliant with TV canon - for fans to interpret Aziracrow as an asexual romantic relationship. And as I discussed above, there is Word of God and explicit textual support for this reading.
This is more tangential to your point, but I'd like to link this blog post by an ace GO fan and this post about GO non-binary rep. They both make the point that queer representation is not and has never been limited to two cis gay men in a romantic relationship. Relationships with non-binary people are queer. Ace relationships are queer. Queer-platonic relationships are, you guessed it!, queer. The relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley is inherently queer, regardless of how that relationship presents. This is true in the TV show, and it is true in the book, which was published over 30 years ago!
I am happy that Aziracrow kissed in season 2. I am happy with the direction the show is going. And yet, it's disappointing that some fans interpret the kiss as the "moment" that Aziracrow became romantically canon, or the "moment" that they became queer. Because for many fans - especially ace and non-binary/trans fans - they had been in a queer relationship all along! As that ace GO fan pointed out: "In our sex-steeped culture, the idea that deep, devoted love does not have to involve sex is unfathomable. It’s why the very existence of asexuality is questioned."
And if you HC Aziracrow as sexual beings, that's 100% valid! I'd be lying if I said I had never read Aziracrow smut. But I simply argue that an interpretation of Aziracrow as asexual is no more and no less valid.
