Yasmin Benoit is a British aroace activist and model. She is arguably the biggest aspec activist in the Western world right now. Because she is a Black woman who makes a living modelling, she has faced a lot of sexualization, being told she doesn’t “look asexual.” In response to this, she started the hashtag #thisiswhatasexuallookslike, to prove that asexuality doesn’t have a specific look.
There is a long history of Black people being hypersexualized in media, and many people have the attitude that asexuality is a “white thing.” Within the asexual community, Black aces are very often overlooked, excluded, and erased. As minimal as ace representation is, there is even less Black asexual representation, and what little does exist is often ignored even in the asexual community. Black asexuals deserve to see themselves represented and their identities uplifted, so for @creatingblackcharacters’s Black History Month event, I did some drawings of some of my Black asexual characters; however small my audience may be, I hope that for any Black asexuals who may (now or in the future) be part of it, you can see this part of yourselves reflected in Aros Against Fate.
I wanted to draw *all* the Black asexual characters from Aros Against Fate but I ran out of time, so apologies to Taehogh, Mkera, Yna, Wnahé, Abhaonai, and Kjotar, who were further down on the list and didn’t get drawn in time.
[ID: a drawing of Lí, a dark-skinned Black teenager with curly red hair. They are wearing a dark blue sweater-vest with yellow stars and using forearm crutches. /end ID]
Lí (they/them) is a main character and greyromantic asexual.
[ID: a drawing of Daanah, a Black girl with long locs pulled up in a bun. She has golden-brown skin and glasses. /end ID]
Daanah (she/her) is a main character and alloromantic aegosexual.
[ID: a drawing of Fiitsãn, a Black boy with rosy dark brown skin and a big pink Afro. /end ID]
Fiitsãn (he/him) is a main character and lithsexual.
[ID: a drawing of Līs, a Black teenager with blue braids and golden-brown skin . /end ID]
Līs (he/they/she/xe/fae) is a main character and demisexual.
[ID: a drawing of Maaziariitna, a young woman-man with hairy blue skin and her hair in microbraids. /end ID]
Maaziariitna (she/he) is a main character and lesbian asexual.
[ID: a drawing of Fiyavu Ozast, a young Black woman with dark skin and silver hair. /end ID]
Fiyavu Ozast (she/her) is Rovian and Daanah’s older sister and aromantic greysexual.
[ID: a drawing of Juraji, a Black teenager with long black locs. /end ID]
Juraji (xe/xem) is Halek’s queerplatonic partner and demisexual.
[ID: a drawing of Saafeera, a dark-skinned black woman with a very short Afro. /end ID]
Saafeera is Rovian and Daanah’s mother and recipromantic recipro-demisexual and sex-repulsed.
Honorable mentions:
Taehogh (he/him), Halek, Lí, and Maaziariitna’s grandfather, aroaceflux.
Wnahé (they/she), one of Halek and Lí’s parents, asexual.
Kjotar (he/they), teammate of Kaelía, Līs, and Zhe’ārani, lithromantic and listed in my notes as “probably acespec.”
Abhaonai (he/him), teammate of Kaelía, Līs, and Zhe’ārani, alloromantic aceflux.
Yna (she/her), princess seeking to marry Jue and later Sei, frayromantic asexual.
Mkera (she/her), betrothed to Jue, asexual.
One of my major goals in Aros Against Fate is to celebrate aspec experiences, and Black aspecs are so often left out in conversations around aspec experience. Here I have specifically asexual characters as it was inspired by #thisiswhatasexuallookslike, but (as the title implies) aromanticism is huge in AAF, and Black aros (and aplatonics, and afamilials, and all Black aspecs) of course equally deserve to see themselves recognized and uplifted. I hope that one day we have a vast amount of diverse aspec characters in media much more mainstream than my little unpublished, unfinished, tumblr-and-google-docs story, and that Black aspec stories by Black aspec authors can gain traction within and outside of our community.
content notices: platonic, familial, and undefinedly-close relationships; hair pulling; mild casual body horror; grief; touching; brief referenced transphobia
"Hey," Ausse said. "I just wanted to say goodbye to you before I head out."
"You're leaving?" Daanah said. "Like- For good?"
"This was always going to be a temporary alliance," Ausse said. "We no longer have a common cause."
"Oh."
"Aren't you going home, anyway?" Ausse said.
"For my coming of age," Daanah said. "I… I'd hoped you were coming."
"Well." Ausse leaned against the doorframe. "Do you want me to be there?"
Daanah shrugged listlessly. She really did, but she didn't want to come across as needy, or embarrass herself if Ausse didn't want to come.
"You're from Kulainestainer, right?" Ausse said.
"Yeah." Daanah pulled on one of her locs. "It's later this cycle. The thirty-third of Seshasai."
She had told Miwaanii-Shémelús she expected him to be there. Kéchawaedrii-Orl would probably be there too even though she hadn't asked hir and would honestly, given Miwaanii-Shémelús's recent revelations, rather ze not come. All of her friends and family. Her neighbours. Everyone was going to be there.
Except Fiyavu Ozast.
"Well, you know," said Ausse. "I might happen to be in the area then."
"Okay."
"Can't believe you haven't even been of age this whole time," Ausse said.
Daanah shrugged. "I'm fifteen. My birthday is just a lot earlier. I actually turned fifteen ages ago, but in Kulainestainer we don't have the coming-of-age until almost the end of the year."
"Are there a lot of you this year?"
"About a dozen," Daanah said. "It's never very many. Kulainestainer's not very big."
"You Dalahe tend to have pretty small communities, don't you?" Ausse said. "Not like us." Ausse was Schwany Norve, like most of Sautgurotays.
Daanah nodded.
"Is my Dalac good enough?" Ausse said.
"There are a lot of cognates," said Daanah, who had been mostly speaking Dalac this whole time and had only realized several tensegs into their trip that Kéchawaedrii-Orl and Miwaanii-Shémelús were actually speaking Schwany and not just Dalac with a strong accent and occasional regional slang. She couldn't read Schwany fluently, but apparently she could understand it when spoken pretty well, and it seemed to go the other way too. "You'll be fine. I don't speak much Schwany."
Ausse raised her eyebrows. "Alright, then. I'll see you."
This would be Daanah's first time actually getting her hair cut more than a trim to keep it healthy. Her hair was a different texture than most other Norves, so Saafeera always took her to the Gathiya Na Theenan hair salon in the city. They'd had a consultation the other day about what Daanah wanted.
"It will take a while," Ghiyafee, the hairdresser who always did Daanah's, had said. "You have a lot of hair. I'll be gentle, but the combing will probably hurt your scalp somewhat."
So Daanah had brought the mystery she was reading and a second book in case she finished the first. She wasn't really one for chatting. Saafeera and Ghiyafee always talked while Daanah got her hair done.
"You said you want it short like your mama's?" Ghiyafee said.
Daanah nodded. She had the urge to pull at her hair. Dalahe Norves usually got their long childhood hair cut very short for their comings-of-age. It was symbolic of the transition into a new phase of life.
"How has the picking been lately?" Ghiyafee asked.
Daanah shrugged. "Reyal helps."
"Good, good." Ghiyafee pulled one of Daanah's long locs over her shoulder so she could see it in the mirror and pinched her fingers around it just above the height of her glasses. "I'm going to cut it here to begin with so there will be space to fine-tune the ends once it's all picked out."
Daanah nodded again and reminded herself that this was a good change.
Saafeera smiled at her encouragingly.
"This is my first real haircut," Daanah said quietly. "Like… ever."
"It's her coming-of-age soon," Saafeera said.
"That's certainly exciting," Ghiyafee said.
Daanah swallowed. "Yeah."
"You nervous?"
"…Yeah," she said. "A little."
In the mirror, Ghiyafee nodded. "Well, if I have anything to do with it, your hair will look perfect for it."
Ghiyafee had been right about the tugging hurting her scalp. She gritted her teeth and read as Ghiyafee cut- the change in weight as the locs fell to the ground one by one was disconcerting- and then combed and talked with Saafeera.
She had been right about it taking a while, too. Saafeera left and came back with lunch at one point and they took a break. Daanah nearly finished her book. She did her best not to look up, not wanting to see it until it was done.
She had worried about how expensive all that work would be, but Saafeera had told her that her coming-of-age was one of the most important days of her life and she wasn't going to let Daanah have anything less than what she wanted for it and that it was her aunt Chaariya's gift too.
Ghiyafee was especially careful working in the conditioner afterwards; she knew how sensitive Daanah's scalp always was. "You'll want to be gentle with it for a little while. It's fragile now; don't try to braid anything in. Let it rest."
Daanah made an affirmative noise.
"Alright," Ghiyafee said excitedly. "Take a look."
Daanah cautiously looked up at the mirror. "Oh!"
"Do you like it?"
Daanah touched her short, tight curls, careful not to let herself pull. "I… had forgotten what my hair looks like loose."
"It looks beautiful," Saafeera said.
"I think so," said Daanah. She mostly felt overwhelmed. It was very different and would take a bit of time for her to get used to, but she was sure she would like it a lot once she did.
The evening before Daanah's coming of age, Ailít tapped her on the shoulder and signed "I have something for you."
She pulled Daanah into her and Fiya's section of the starhouse. Fiya lay asleep in the middle of the bed, the baby monitor next to em paired with the vibrating one Ailít wore on a string around her neck.
Daanah looked at the lack of barriers around em anxiously.
"Ey doesn't roll yet, and your mum says it will be a good while before ey does, so I'm not worried about looking away for a couple minutes," Ailít signed. "I wouldn't do anything that wasn't safe."
Daanah nodded.
Ailít turned away for a moment to open her jewellery box while Daanah watched Fiya's tiny chest rise and fall.
Ailít put a handful of metal revaap pins with little beaded flowers on the ends into Daanah's hands. "These belonged to Fiyavu Ozast," she signed. "I want you to have them. I know Rovian wears her revaap more, but they're not really her style, and I thought you would like them for your coming-of-age."
Daanah burst into tears.
All of Kulainestainer was here- and then some.
"This is exciting for you," said Talí, sounding semi-confident.
Daanah nodded. "Yes." She fiddled with one of the pins Ailít had given her and added, "I wish Fiyavu Ozast were here."
Talí held her hand in an attempt at comfort that Daanah appreciated.
She spotted Miwaanii-Shémelús at the edge of the village square, looking very lost, so she pulled Talí in that direction, away from her cluster of friends and family. "I want to introduce you."
"Miwaanii-Shémelús, this is my best friend Talí," said Daanah. "Talí, Miwaanii-Shémelús."
She didn't try to define her relationship with Miwaanii-Shémelús for other people anymore. She could barely define it for herself. He mattered to her, and that was enough.
Talí's eyes landed on Miwaanii-Shémelús's pair of ribbon-wrapped braids and they started speaking to him in Kelétsowif.
Miwaanii-Shémelús's whole body perked up as (to Daanah's limited understanding) he asked if they were Se-Naskan and they responded in the affirmative.
Ausse found her then, nowhere to be seen one moment and beside her the next, shadowed by Ptoled and Ffeira.
"You made it," Daanah said. She hadn't been sure they would.
"We were in the area."
Kéchawaedrii-Orl was here.
Daanah was not able to stop her displeasure showing on her face.
"I would like to officiate your coming-of-age," ze said.
"No," Daanah said.
Kéchawaedrii-Orl raised hir eyebrows.
"I've known Curain my whole life," Daanah said. Ze was Kulainestainer's senior priest- though Kéchawaedrii-Orl might not know hir name; Daanah's estimation of hir respect for other people had plummeted drastically and she no longer assumed ze would. "I want to do it like everyone else. This is how we do it. If you've ever respected me as a person-" She knew ze hadn't- "and if you want me to keep working with you, you won't interfere."
"You sound very defensive," said Kéchawaedrii-Orl.
"I want Curain to do it," said Daanah flatly.
The thirteen of them were lined up based on birthday order, which meant Daanah was fourth.
A very small stage had been erected in the village square, about a foot off the ground- a ramp, then space for the senior priest and one other person to stand comfortably, then a ramp back down, and that was it. Daanah had been on a lot of stages recently, but this was the one she had always anticipated. This was, in some ways, the most important one.
She winced slightly as she accidentally ripped a hair out of her arm. Reyal was with her family, but maybe Daanah should have kept her with her to help her stay calm. She didn't want to freeze.
"Your turn, Daanah," the girl behind her whispered, and Daanah almost panicked at the realization that she had lost touch with the now.
Butterfly wings on her bare arms, butterfly wings uncomfortable under her clothes.
She stepped forward.
"Child of Maidallis Leykin and Saafeera Riwazee," Curain said. "What is your name now?"
Daanah tried to speak and failed. She swallowed and tried again. "Daanah Chaariya Addeyn Leykin Riwazee."
She heard Saafeera cheer, and blushed with equal parts embarrassment and pride.
"What gender do you want to live as, Daanah Chaariya Addeyn Leykin Riwazee?"
Curain hadn't approved of her initially, but ze had become a strong ally with time, never tolerating anyone being disrespectful. Everyone in Kulainestainer was pretty much used to it by now, even the most traditional of them. No one who came to their village to see the Scribe of the South got very far if they didn't treat her right.
"I'm a woman," Daanah said. The butterfly wings split into a different shape, belying her anxiety. She reassured herself that even if some people had probably expected her to just grow out of it, no one here would disrupt the ceremony over it.
Curain informed her of her rights and responsibilities as a Dalahe Norve adult.
"When you are next upon the ground," ze said, "you will be an adult of our community."
Empires Always Fall Chapter Forty-nine: Halek: Blow It All Up
content notices: discussion of recreational drug use, technically they’re doing domestic terrorism I think but nobody dies, bomb/explosion
"You ready?"
Misa nodded, patting his shoulder bag firmly.
"Misa and I are going out!" Halek called. "We'll probably be back late. Don't worry or wait up!"
Officially they were going to a free concert on the Twsogh Ðíúntdhà, which was on the way to the Industrial Quarter, so they would be seen travelling in the right direction.
Ailít, having just given birth, was not coming with them. Nor was Juni; ze would be too obvious a suspect. Just the two of them and Saafeera.
Halek and Misa both had priority seating cards for the train, so people shuffled around or stood up and made space for them on the accessible benches, but they were both fat enough and the benches crowded enough that it was a very tight fit. The other three people on their bench were someone who was visibly pregnant, a kid with a broken foot, and an elderly person with a priority seating card of their own visible on a lanyard around their neck, so Halek obviously wasn't going to ask any of them to move. He just tucked himself awkwardly between Misa and the guardrail at the end of the bench and hoped the trip would go by quickly.
Misa worried at the strap of his bag with one hand, the other laid protectively over the bag of carefully packed chemicals resting on his lap.
He rested his head on Halek's shoulder, putting his mouth right next to Halek's hearing aid. "I hope I gave Saafeera the right instructions for the chloroform. I did my best with the average body mass of adults in Moghrlai Gurodstadit and then added a bit extra on the assumption that nighttime security guards in a military-owned facility would be big enough to effectively deter any casual thieves and hold their own in a brawl, but if I messed something up- or if she comes across someone a lot smaller- or anything else goes wrong- I could end up having killed someone."
Halek patted Misa's arm, which he hoped was comforting and not just weird. The way they were squeezed into the space made it hard to move and he was sure the angle and force distribution of the reassuring pat had been really awkward.
Misa had barely stopped talking when he started again. "I can't seem too sober when I get home. It's a huge outdoor concert. They're definitely going to be selling stuff. I'm old enough to buy the legal stuff and people selling the illegal stuff won't care enough to check my ID as long as I don't look twelve. Everyone knows you don't do that stuff anymore but that's even more reason I would, having a guaranteed sober friend to look out for me. There will be smoke everywhere even if I didn't. I hope no one will be awake when I get home but I need to smell like something and seem hungover in the morning."
"We'll go to a cannabis store on the way back and you can smoke a bit to get the smell in your clothes," said Halek. A lot of those were open all hours of the day. "We'll get some glow sticks at a dollar store."
He wished they actually were going to the concert. He wouldn't consider himself a fan of any of the bands playing, but he liked them well enough when their songs came on the radio, and his friend Neesa was a big fan of one of them. He wished he'd been able to say yes when she'd asked if he wanted to go together. It would have been so much simpler. The kind of thing a normal teenager would do.
But he had a job to do, and there was no way he was letting Misa do it without him. There would be other concerts, and other times to see Neesa, but if Halek wasn't there to look after him and things went wrong, there wouldn't be another Misa.
They got off at just before the river crossing, at the same stop they would if they were actually going to the concert. Most of the other people on their train got off there too. At this time of day, trains that went through the Industrial Quarter were infrequent and wouldn't be crowded enough to blend in on, so they would be walking the rest of the way. Halek had thought about taking the carpet but decided against it; it was best to be seen travelling to the concert and it would have been too awkward and noticeable to lug it along with them on the train.
In the crummy train station bathroom, they changed clothes. Misa and Halek were close to the same size, so Misa's spare janitors' coveralls fit with only minimal discomfort. The uniforms would hardly be visible under all their winter gear anyway, but it was best to be thorough and look like they had reason to be in the Industrial Quarter after hours.
They crossed the river on the pedestrian side of the long bridge. "Are you sure of your plan?" Halek asked.
Misa nodded. "I have a nice long fuse so we can get good and far away before it starts. I'm hoping once my smaller explosion gets going, it will cause a chain reaction with all the gunpowder and flammable airship gases and engine fuel in there. Even if it doesn't all blow, it'll be very on fire. Saafeera will find us to confirm the immediate surrounding area is cleared, and then as soon as I light it, we start running."
Even after-hours, the district was practically swarming with police cars. Halek had expected that, but it still made a deep uneasiness settle in his gut.
He pushed it away, pulling freezing breaths in through his mouth. Misa needed him to navigate across the district, so he had to stay calm and attentive.
Even though the streetlights made it harder to be stealthy, Halek was glad of their presence. There had been a noticeable decline in his ability to see in the dark recently. He was starting to worry about cataracts.
He linked his free arm through Misa's, quietly leading him through the near-empty streets.
He almost seized up when they had to creep right past one of the stationary cars, but the cop inside never looked up from the magazine they were reading.
They finally made it to the military airship hangar.
"Keep watch while I set up," Misa said in a low voice.
The Industrial District was unnervingly quiet in the off hours. Halek flinched at every sound, certain he would turn around and that would be the end- of this mission, of his career as a revolutionary, of his freedom, maybe of his life.
Hypervigilance, he thought. He was always on edge.
But he needed to be hypervigilant, doing this. Missing anything could doom Misa and himself and their operation.
He almost screamed when snow crunched nearby, slapping his arm over his mouth to muffle the yelp, but it was just Saafeera.
"Clear?" he whispered.
She nodded. "Clear."
Misa started walking backwards, unspooling a long fuse. Halek and Saafeera followed him. It had to be three metres long at least.
"Start running for the nearest bridge out of the district as soon as I light this," said Misa. "Fast as you can."
"I'll light it," said Halek. A few more seconds for Misa to get away from the explosion. "It'll be easier for me, since I can see it better."
It was a weak argument. Misa would be able to see the burning brightness of a flame in the dark. They both knew that.
"No." Saafeera took the lighter. "I will light it, because I'm the adult here, and a faster runner. We'll want to split up as soon as possible anyway, and the two of you will need each other's support to get out. Misa, put the fuse on the ground, then the two of you start running."
"Okay." Misa set the end of the fuse down and Saafeera clicked the lighter on.
Halek and Misa linked arms and took off running. A second later Saafeera was behind them.
Halek navigated, and Misa let Halek lean on him to run faster and hurt his knee less. They were nearly to the Ðíúnttwsogh when the first explosion went off.
Every bone in Halek's body wanted to throw himself and Misa to the ground and take cover, but he forced himself to keep running. It was best they be completely gone by the time all those police cars converged on the hangar.
By the time they'd crossed the bridge, Misa's chain reaction hopes had paid off.
This side of the rivers, while legally still Moghrlai Gurodstadit, wasn't really part of the city. It was a lot of forest, with the Gharan commune somewhere in the woods closer to the Ðíúntmoghr and Kulainestainer even further downriver, and beyond that the municipal garbage dump and the prisons.
Easy terrain to disappear into, but not really anywhere to go. The nearest train stop outside of the Industrial Quarter was in Kulainestainer, as was the nearest bridge back into the city proper. A boat down the river was out of the question if they wanted to be hard to trace.
The Gharan commune. Zhe'ārani might let them in for a bit, and no one there would be talking to the police. It was still a walk, but not as far as to Kulainestainer, and Halek needed to rest his legs for a while after that run. It would be a good place to take a break- if they could find it.
He hoped they would come across it eventually if they just followed the river. It was secluded, but it wasn't meant to be impossible to find, just away enough from the city to be left alone.
It was very late when he finally got home. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he closed and locked the front door. He didn't want to wake anyone up.
"Halek."
Halek stifled a scream.
"Shh. It's only me." Juni sat in an armchair in the dim halo of a small lamp. "I wanted to make sure you got home safely. Did you have fun at the concert?"
Did everything go according to plan?
Halek nodded. "Yeah," he said, trying to keep his voice down.
"Good. Nobody got hurt?"
"Nobody got hurt," Halek confirmed. "I strained my knee a bit, but we were fine other than that. I kept an eye on Misa and no one started any fights near us."
"You're going to have nightmares tonight," Juni said. It wasn't a question.
Halek's face flushed uncomfortably. Juni understood his nightmares the best out of anyone. It made him feel exposed. "Yeah. Probably."
"You can stay in my room with me if you need to," ze said.
"No," said Halek. "Thank you, but I'll be okay." It was irrational, but having other people witness the direct aftermath of his nightmares made him feel like they could see right through him and know everything in his mind. He preferred to handle them privately.
me and my lists. okay. you all know about me and my lists by now lol
since it's Face Equality Week (finished this JUST IN TIME YAY), this is A List TM of characters with facial differences in Aros Against Fate (mostly in book 1, Empires Always Fall, because that's what I'm currently working on and have all/most of the necessary supporting characters made for)
Halek (he/him): a main character. Halek has a big scar on his face from falling into a sharp corner as a young child and has cystic acne.
Rovian (she/her): a main character. Rovian has a unilateral complete cleft lip (and a cleft palate) and a purplish birthmark on almost half of her face.
Sei (she/her or o-mē/o-mēn): a main character. Sei has Fragile X Syndrome.
Kaelía* (she/it or o-nai/o-nain): a main character. Kaelía has burn scars on the side of its face and neck/around, below, and on its ear (*subject to change due to her more antiheroic nature) and, visible close-up, dermatillomania scars and wounds (hiiii dermatillomania twins with me lol).
Zhe'ārani (she/her) or Ši Arrokhai Kjú (they/them or o-nai/o-nain): main character. Zhe’ārani has vitiligo and achondroplasia.
Jue (ze/hir or o-hā/o-hān): Main character. Jue has Down Syndrome, a burn scar on hir forehead, and a faint scar from a surgically-closed cleft lip.
Āvolú (they/them): supporting character (Zhe’ārani’s friend). Āvolú has severe burn scars and skin grafts on most of their body, including their face.
Aedrii-Nú (she/her): supporting character (Halek’s little cousin who lives with him). Aedrii-Nú has Treacher-Collins Syndrome and a fairly recent scar from a closed cleft lip, as well as a tracheostomy tube. (If readers ever see her mother Délas on the page directly, which doesn’t happen in this draft and I don’t have a plan for in the next draft but might occur when she comes to pick Aedrii-Nú up at some point, Délas also has Treacher-Collins Syndrome.)
Taidan (he/him): minor supporting character (Halek’s mother’s boyfriend, host of a rebel radio station). Taidan has Crouzon Syndrome.
Maidallis (she/her): supporting character (Rovian’s mother). Maidallis has a cleft lip (and palate).
Rokhesh (he/him): supporting character (Zhe’ārani’s father and Rovian’s biological father). Rokhesh has a burn scar around his mouth and nose and had part of the outside of his nose amputated.
Saafeera* (she/her): supporting character (Rovian’s mother). *Saafeera has burn scars in various places on her body and I’m still deciding exactly the angle of the explosion relative to her; especially if I get rid of Kaelía’s burns Saafeera will have some on the side of her face, and regardless probably in some spots on the back of her neck and head.
Nesyue (she/her or o-nai/o-nain): supporting character (Kaelía’s sister). Nesyue has Treacher-Collins Syndrome. (In the original draft this was meant to be a bonding point between her and Aedrii-Nú as their relationship developed but they no longer spend time living together or probably even meet in this draft. Alas.)
Guodei (she/her or ai-nai/ai-nain): supporting character (Kaelía’s sister). Guodei has a ~three-lined scar on one cheek.
Līs (he/they/she/xe/fae or o-nai/o-nain): supporting character (Kaelía and Zhe’ārani’s close friend). Līs has a scar on his face from an incident with a tree branch.
Miwaanii-Shémelús (all of them; there’s at least three of them in there but they all use the same name and vague pronouns) (he/him but honestly it’s whatever): supporting character (main character Daanah’s… partner…? of some sort). Miwaanii-Shémelús has dermatillomania scars and nystagmus (and likely some degree of strabismus when he takes his glasses off).
Juraji (xe/xem): supporting character (Halek’s queerplatonic partner). Juraji has Bell’s palsy.
Diihse (he/him): supporting character (Halek’s close friend). Diihse has Down Syndrome and hemifacial microsomia with a prosthetic eye.
Ãgbii (she/her): minor supporting character (Halek’s friend/part of the group as Diihse’s twin sister and Juraji’s girlfriend). Ãgbii has Down Syndrome and a scar from a surgically-closed cleft lip.
Niimféo-Elús (she/her): supporting character (Halek’s grandmother who lives with him). Niimféo-Elús has some facial paralysis from a stroke.
Chiishé-Faindh (he/him): supporting character (Halek’s uncle who lives with him, Aedrii-Nú’s father). Chiishé-Faindh has Down Syndrome and a cleft lip.
Misa (he/him): supporting character (Halek’s cousin and friend). Misa has chemical burns on and around his eyes from a workplace accident.
Qatriong (she/her or o-nai/o-nain): supporting character (Zhe’ārani and Kaelía’s close friend). After [spoiler], Qatriong has some facial paralysis.
Ailít (she/her): supporting character (Rovian and Halek’s friend, Rovian’s sister’s partner). Ailít has Waardenburg Syndrome.
Fiya (ey/em): minor supporting character (Rovian’s newborn nibling). Fiya has a large birthmark on eir face in a similar position to Rovian’s (possibly mirrored) and Waardenburg Syndrome.
Suinak (she/her or o-pā/o-pān): supporting character (candidate to be betrothed to Jue or Sei, later part of Sei and Yna’s court). Suinak has vitiligo and acne scars.
Mkera (she/her or o-mē/o-mēn): supporting character (candidate to be betrothed to Jue). Mkera has hyperpigmentation spots, including on her face.
Jiremau (she/her or o-mē/o-mēn): supporting character (candidate to be betrothed to Jue or Sei, later part of Sei and Yna’s court). Jiremau has occulocutaneos albinism.
Ynesalinau/Yna (she/her or o-mē/o-mēn): supporting character (candidate to be betrothed to Jue or Sei, later Sei’s wife). Yna has a prominent underbite.
Méríw (he/they/she): supporting character (Rovian’s friend and coworker). Méríw has facial tumours, alopecia areata, and vitiligo.
Fiitsãn (he/him or ū-rū/ū-rūn): supporting character (Jue’s best friend). Fiitsãn has a scar roughly the size of a quarter (though not an even, round shape) on the side of his forehead from hitting his head hard on a window in a bus crash.
Trais (ze/hir or she/her): minor supporting character (Daanah’s colleague). Trais has alopecia areata.
Ngionah (she/her or ē-ziu/ē-ziun): supporting character (Jue’s guard). Ngionah has alopecia universalis.
Linoxa (she/her or iao-rū/iao-rūn): possible minor supporting character (Fiitsãn’s sister). Linoxa has a severe overbite and ptosis, and possibly other facial differences.
Qaidiao (he/him or ē-mē/ē-mēn): supporting character (Sei’s father, Jue’s uncle). Qaidiao has Fragile X Syndrome.
Jaision (she/her or o-mē/o-mēn): supporting character (Sei’s sister). Jaision has Fragile X Syndrome.
Jēn-Tajanē (she/they/he or iao-mē/iao-mēn): supporting character (Sei’s sibling). Jēn-Tajanē has Fragile X Syndrome.
[The Gharan doctor] (she/her): minor supporting character (Zhe’ārani’s doctor). She has a “Glasgow/Chelsea Smile” (which is a kind of scar around the mouth that kind of looks like a very wide grin).
[The waiter in the restaurant in Moghrlai Gurodstadit] (unknown): one-off character. Has Down Syndrome (remarked upon internally by Jue because ze has never seen someone else with Down Syndrome in real life before (which is bad! Raiqiongshē et al are shitty ableist parental figures! Which is a Big Thing in-text)).
-repulsed and -averse characters in and around Aros Against Fate
Jue (ze/hir): extremely romance and sex repulsed (textually very important), somewhat touch averse in most circumstances
Fiitsãn (he/him): sex (or, extrapolating from his experience of kissing) favourable in theory but suddenly becomes averse when the attraction is reciprocated. I think he kind of freaked out the first time this happened because it was very confusing
Halek (he/him): usually fairly sex favourable but becomes very averse sometimes, generally tied to his emotional state to some extent. Romance ambivalent with some aspects of aversion. Sometimes touch averse when the PTSD acts up
Kaelía (she/it): sex and romance averse (doesn’t know that yet)
Guodei (she/her): sex, romance, and touch repulsed, possibly plato averse
Līs (he/they/she/xe/fae): sex averse, often touch averse for sensory reasons
Zhe’ārani (she/her, they/them): leaning touch averse (with varying intensity) for sensory reasons, usually romance indifferent-leaning-averse and sometimes romance repulsed
Saafeera (she/her): sex repulsed
Wnahé (they/she): sex averse
Qatriong (she/her): romance and sex repulsed
Miwaanii-Shémelús 1 (he/him): plato repulsed, sex and romance averse
Sei (they/them, she/her): becomes more and more romance averse the longer she’s in a relationship/the closer she becomes with the object of her attraction. Finds this frustrating
Trais (she/her, ze/hir): touch averse
Luivo (varies, they/he/she): touch averse
Itheo (they/she): romance repulsed
Qeirana (ze/hir, he/him): romance and plato averse
Gwimwyl (she/her): extremely touch-averse except with Ffwyn for magical reasons that let her body actually register Ffwyn as safe in a way she can’t with anyone else despite wanting to
Do I have the next chapter, no. But I do have a bonus scene with Zhe’ārani and Saafeera set earlier in the book :)
content notices for severe (recent) past abuse and grief
Zhe’ārani stayed in bed for a long time. A world without Qatriong wasn’t worth getting up for.
One of Rovian’s mothers came to see her at some point. The one with the darker skin. Zhe’ārani was staying in her home but she couldn’t process things properly right now and didn’t remember her name.
Zhe’ārani contemplated rolling over to face away from her, but she didn’t have the energy.
“You have a lot of blood on you,” Rovian’s mother signed, and Zhe’ārani became very aware of how true that was.
It was a very, very bad feeling on her skin, and it was worse when she remembered who it belonged to.
“Do you want a shower?” Rovian’s mother asked. “Or a bath?”
Zhe’ārani stared.
She didn’t like showers because standing on the hard bottom made her back especially sore. She didn’t like baths because she was sitting in her own filth and the stagnant water felt bad on her skin.
In her mind, she conveyed this to Rovian’s mother, but in real life her hands just kind of twitched meaninglessly.
“Shower?” Rovian’s mother asked, seeming to recognize that Zhe’ārani couldn’t talk right now. “Nod for yes or shake your head for no.”
Effortfully, Zhe’ārani nodded.
“Okay. Would you like me to help you?”
Zhe’ārani nodded again. She couldn’t do very many things herself right now.
“Okay. Up you get.”
Rovian’s mother brought her to the bathroom and found a stool to help her step over the edge of the tub.
She helped Zhe’ārani take off her dirty, hated Temple robes and underclothes. “Maidallis picked up some clothes for you yesterday,” she signed. “I had to guess at your size. When you’re feeling well enough, you can tell us what you like and we can get some more.”
Zhe’ārani didn’t remember the last time she’d gotten to choose her own clothes. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle it.
Rovian’s mother turned on the water. “Put your hand under the tap and let me know when it’s warm enough, and I’ll turn the shower head on.”
Zhe’ārani put her hand under and let the water pour over her skin and between her fingers.
Rovian’s mother didn’t stop her, so she only nodded when it was almost hot enough to burn. She hadn’t had a hot shower in a long time. The Temple thought cold showers were healthier and more efficient.
She flinched when the spray first hit her, but then- then it was nice, the warmth enveloping her.
Her hips hurt. She kept shifting, but she couldn’t find any position that didn’t.
Stand up straight.
She hugged herself. Even Guodei had known that with her lordosis, Zhe’ārani’s posture was a lost cause. She would only ever give her a subtle pinch in reminder unless their superiors noticed and ordered her to chain Zhe’ārani up for slouching.
“You can sit down, if you want,” Rovian’s mother signed.
Zhe’ārani didn’t have it in her to figure out if it was a trap. Or to keep standing. She sat, bending forwards around her knees.
In the corner of her vision, Rovian’s mother paused while reaching for a washcloth.
Zhe’ārani’s wings closed over her back. She’d forgotten about the scars. She didn’t want Rovian’s mother to ask, because then she would have to explain what she’d done.
Rovian’s mother didn’t say anything about the scars, just reached questioningly for one of Zhe’ārani’s hands, and when she nodded, scrubbed off the spots of blood that had somehow gotten in the wrinkles of her skin, rust red giving way to walnut brown.
Rovian’s mother set down the washcloth and made sure Zhe’ārani was watching her hands. “Ši Arroakhai Kjú.”
Zhe’ārani nodded listlessly.
“I want you to know that we will never hurt you. I’m making you a promise, okay? We will never hurt you.”
Jue (ze/hir or o-hā/o-hān): aroace, romance repulsed, sex repulsed, nonpartnering, likely demisensual, touch averse with most people. Main character in book 1
Halek (he/him+): platoniromantic, romance ambivalent, partnering. Main character in book 1 and probably 3
Daanah (she/her): aegosexual, nonaesthetic. Main character in books 1, 2, and 3
Zhe’ārani (she/her) or Ši Arroakhai Kjú (they/them): aromantic, romance indifferent-leaning-averse and occasionally repulsed, loveless, nonpartnering. Main character in books 1, 2, and 3
Rovian (she/her): greyromantic, burstromantic, demisexual, partnering. Main character in books 1 and 2
Sei (they/them, she/her or o-mē/o-mēn): frayromantic, aplvague. Main character in books 2 and 3
Kaelía (she/it or o-nai/o-nain): demiromantic, demisexual, demiplatonic, demisensual, demifamilial, etc. Main character in books 2 and 3
Talí (they/them+): greyromantic, cupioromantic, asexual, aplatonic, cupioplatonic, (theoretically) favourable. Halek's sibling, Daanah's best friend, and Jue's new friend
Fiitsãn (he/him or o-rū/o-rūn): lithsexual. Jue's best friend
Miwaanii-Shémelús (main one present in AAF) (he/him): quoiromantic, plato-repulsed, nonpartnering. Some kind of queerplatonic situationship thing going on with Daanah
Miwaanii-Shémelús (the rest of them) (he/him): quoiromantic. Two of them are minor characters Daanah ends up meeting
Līs (he/they/she/xe/fae or o-nai/o-nain): demisexual, sex averse. Kaelía's and Zhe’ārani's close friend
Qatriong (she/he or o-nai/o-nain): acoromantic, caedsexual, romance repulsed, sex repulsed, loveless. Zhe’ārani's best friend
Guodei (she/her or ai-nai/ai-nain): aromantic, aplatonic, experiences no emotional attraction, romance repulsed, sex repulsed, touch repulsed. Kaelía's sister, Kaelía and Zhe’ārani's cohort-sister
Retmiq (he/him or o-nai/o-nain): nebularomantic, romance favourable. Kaelía and Zhe’ārani's cohort-brother
Abhaonai (he/she or o-nai/o-nain): aceflux. Kaelía and Zhe’ārani's cohort-sisterbrother
Nesyue (she/her or o-nai/o-nain): acespec. Kaelía and Zhe’ārani's cohort-sister
Kjotar (he/they or ia-nai/ia-nain): lithromantic, acespec. Kaelía and Zhe’ārani's cohort-brother
Gētnyx (she/her or ei-nai/ei-nain): aroace. Head of Kaelía’s Temple and a major antagonist.
Fiyavu Ozast (she/her): aroace. Daanah and Rovian’s sister
And tbh probably a lot of other side characters too that I made more recently and/or haven’t thought much about and/or need to make to fill out the edges of the next draft.
on the other hand! Apart from Kaelía*, some characters with burn scars in Empires Always Fall include:
Jue: (new development!) Jue has a burn scar on hir forehead from when ze was very young. This means that the usual familial scarification has to instead be painted on every day which frustrates hir because that’s what they do for children under 12 and it feels like yet another way ze can’t grow up.
Misa: has scars from chemical burns on and around his eyes from a workplace incident.
Āvolú: has severe and extensive burn scars covering most of their body with several skin grafts & possibly some amputations. This happened a couple years ago when the commune burned down.
Rokhesh: saved Āvolú’s life and badly burned his hands and forearms in the process; he has also had some parts of some of his fingers amputated because of this. He also has a much older burn scar around his mouth and nose (and is missing part of his nose) from an accident when he was little.
Saafeera: has several patches of burn scarring mostly on the back side of her body + probably her arms from an explosion in the Gathiya Na Theenan civil war when she was a teenager or young adult. If I get rid of Kaelía’s, maybe I’ll adjust the angle of the explosion slightly and Saafeera will have a similar scar pattern on the side of her face to what Kaelía currently has.
Míúren: has a fairly small chemical burn scar on her arm/wrist from an accident in a chemistry lab in university. Usually she was (and is) very careful with chemicals and wears all the proper protective gear but she was waiting on important personal news and I think she got distracted and spilled something up her sleeve.
Halek: has a bunch of very small chemical burns on his hand and the end of his other arm from working with caustic dyes without proper protective equipment. May or may not keep this. Honestly I’d forgotten about it until I looked. Depends on keep the dye thing. However he also cooks a lot and is not especially coordinated so it’s likely he has a bunch of minor cooking burns.
Ffwyn: not specified but visible on her wrists and possibly her neck and/or chest. “Locked in an eternal war with the Fire Queen of the Fairies” etc.
*under reconsideration at the moment (the issue being that Kaelía is more of an antihero kind of character). Not sure if this will carry over into the next draft or be replaced by a different injury that causes difficulty with one of its shoulders
