#so once hes unlearned all that and hes still ace? that shits cool and nuanced

[glorified-red]

Red I wanna hear your rant about Damian having more rizz than anyone in DC. I need to hear it for science please! ❤️

Welp, here it goes

(CW: discussing Ace!/Aro! Damian)

Damian was introduced as a preteen in the comics and even the movies. He had no need to be forming romantic connects at that age and he had no interest in it.

Which brings me to the main contender for this rant:

Damian has no interest in romantic connects right now because of how he was raised.

That and he's fucking 12, 14 at best. He doesn't need a relationship right now. What he needs is to find himself first. If he can't figure out who he is, how can have an emotional connection to someone?

The entire Robin (2021) run was centered around Damian struggling to figure out who he is aside from his father and grandfather. If he's not a demon or a detective then who tf is he?? He's being told everything he knew growing up was wrong or mean so he's having to completely rewire his brain to fit into the new standard with the Batfam.

This is definitely not the time for relationships.

He has platonic connects with people who help him step into who he is because those friends are there as a solid ground for him to lean on as he's evolving and growing.

Preteens and teens go through so many transformations during their formative years and Damian has all of this on top of that? I'm surprised he isn't imploding with how much the world around him has shifted on its axis.

So when fanon comes in and puts Damian into romantic relationships it feels clunky and under developed because Damian still doesn't know who he is. That's why fanon works where Damian is properly aged up and found himself work the best with romantic interests, that why I write the fics that I do.

Because Damian cannot and will not develop romantic attraction until he unlearns all the toxicity Ra's imposed onto him.

Damian was raised to view vulnerability and emotions as a weakness, so of fucking course he's gonna struggle romantically. But once he unlearns all of that??? He'll grow into the charisma he's learned from those around him and pursue romantic interest when the time comes.

This is also why Ace! or Aro! Damian Headcanons are so interesting to me. Because they're not wrong and they have plenty of evidence to back it up. I'm just curious as to why we give Damian of all people that label.

He's a preteen. Barely a teenager. He's incredibly traumatized and views no need for romantic partnerships because of imposed beliefs and a lack of stable sense of self. He's also never been in a position to properly develop attraction of any capacity because of his childhood.

And again, he's a minor, he shouldn't be in a position where sex is a thing anyway. But when people label him it makes it seem like all Aces have to be traumatized into their label or feel absolutely nothing towards emotional connections when that's not true at all. Aces can also be in romantic relationships, they can enjoy romantic relationships.

They can partake in sex and enjoy sex. My issue with labeling Damian as AroAce is because fanon likes to believe Aces only come in one flavor: sex repulsed and no attraction.

When that's not the case??? At all???

If Damian is aged up and still falls into the Ace category I fucking love that shit because it's developed and nuanced. But because he's a minor, there's a huge gray area because duh, he shouldn't be having sex anyway and duh, he's so busy figuring himself out that he doesn't have time for romance.

But once he's grown? And matured? Then we can start to deep dive into the Ace Headcanons properly. And then we can start to see where he falls on the spectrum---and sometimes where he falls can change and shift! Because people's labels aren't constant.

Id like to see more content like that in fanon instead of taking the one Minor and dubbing him Ace. I'd like to see a sex-favorable Dick Grayson because I've talked about that on my blog. Even Jason.

But since I only ever see it with Damian, it leaves me curious as to why.

#fixed #yes i know minors can be ace #im aware #but with damian its hard to decipher if hes ace or still unlearning toxcitiy #so once hes unlearned all that and hes still ace? that shits cool and nuanced #but we have to recognize that damian had a lot to unlearn #because then we fall into the hole of Aces just being traumatized or needing to be #when thats not the case at all #asks