Just wanna say (shocking i know) that seeing positive discourse about Neil Josten's sexuality makes me very happy. Demisexuality is not a fancier word for homosexuality and it's great that more people are talking about how us, the acespecs in this fandom feel about the erasure.
It's pretty certain finding a character that represents demisexuality in a realistic and relatable way is not something that happens often, and that's probably why more and more of the fans in this fandom identify as demisexuals now that its grown a bigger audience. I personally found the books over 5 years ago, through a lucky coincidence, not knowing then what I was stepping into, but less than 50 pages in I was hooked. Not because I could smell the found family trope like a shark smells blood, not because sports and mafia tropes excited me. Nah, many books have that, although maybe not like that, you know. No, I was hooked and losing my sleep on the last few days i had before my high school final exams because of Neil's character, who was so fresh, original and yet so painfully familiar.
Identity means a lot. To you, personally, to how you are perceived, to the rights other people let you have in a society, to how you will shape the world around you. We all care deeply about finding who we are, and who that is, we have to learn. Let us learn, when the umbrella terms don't quite fit, what it is, that lies underneath them. Humanity is obsessed with naming things, always was, wasn't it, so if my language can have over 20 variations of saying the number 2, why can't I and kids who are in a similiar place where I once was, have someone, even if imaginary, who reflects this crucial part of what our identity is?
