asexuality and SW
Well, that might be putting it broadly. This isn't a proper ace manifesto, but it is about why ace!Luke makes me happy, and how I can see him that way.
Going back, it started when I got to thinking about how interpreting any character as asexual is treated as an inherently resistant reading, and how irritating that is, and how it almost made me want to write fic arguing that the main character in every single one of my fandoms is ace. I went so far as to go "Harry? Biaesthetic heteroromantic ace. Luke, easy. Anakin - demi with Padmé. From the age of nine. Faramir could be heteroromantic and just ... panaesthetic. Elizabeth? Ummm no, but Darcy - ha, I'm practically writing that already!"
So I thought of ace!Luke in passing, but that's all. Then, I got my grades back and was celebrating by going on a vid binge, and I ran across this one, which doubles as (1) a very effective antidepressant, and (2) the Leia/Han/Luke OT3 manifesto. (Seriously, I cannot begin to express my love for it.) Leia/Han/Luke is for me what I expect things like Harry/Draco were for some HP shippers - I don't "really" see it happening, but I enjoy the idea of it and the subtext goes through the roof. Well, as I was watching, Luke's reactions struck me as especially ... aceish, I guess, and it was totally happy sexual/sexual/asexual polyamorous fluff in my head.
Huh, thought I, and went to check on the #asexuality tag, where I found sciatrix 's excellent post on what she'd like to see in media representation of aromantics. And that made me think about all the reasons why aromantic!ace!Luke is actually kind of wonderful, even if he's a guy. So, inspired about equally by the OT3 vid and asexuality meta, here we go:
Ten Reasons Why I Like to Imagine Luke Skywalker As an Aromantic Asexual
(10) By the time that Luke discovers the woman he loves is his sister, they’ve been best friends for around three years. In that time, he has apparently never even considered taking their relationship in any direction other than BFFs - even though his feelings for her are very strong and she’s almost certainly the most important person in his life.
The little sexual contact between them is invariably initiated by Leia. Luke does not reciprocate and his immediate reaction seems to always be ... this:
(9) He expresses no romantic or sexual interest in anyone, ever, with only the very debatable exception of Leia. Now Star Wars isn’t exactly overflowing with sex, but they're not exactly subtle about it when it's there.
(8) After Luke discovers he and Leia are twins, he doesn’t respond with horror, dismay or even disappointment. His reaction is essentially “so that’s what that was!” and he’s pleased.
That’s right. Apparently, his feelings have been platonic all along and he just can’t tell the difference.
(7) He’s an affectionate and loyal person who easily forms close ties to others. There is nothing in his personality to prevent him from expressing romantic or sexual attraction - he just doesn’t. His life is instead dominated by intense platonic relationships, mostly to his family members.
(6) He's human. I mean that literally -- he isn't an alien. This is rarer than you might think.
(5) He’s also not a sociopath. Luke has issues, but he’s not coded as inhuman in any way. He’s kind, loving, and personable. He just doesn’t seem to be sexually or romantically attracted to other humans.
(4) He’s not doomed to be ~tragically alone~ because (as far as we see) he doesn’t fall in love with people. The powerful three-way Nakama between Han, Leia and Luke comprises friendly, familial and romantic/sexual love in apparently equal degrees - each relationship (Han and Luke as BFFs, Luke and Leia as twins, and Leia and Han as a romantic couple) seems about as intense and committed and loving as any other one.
(3) Going a little further with that, Luke’s relationships are in no way seen as less important than other people's romantic or sexual ones. On the contrary - the bond between Luke and Anakin Skywalker is quite possibly the most important relationship in the entire series.
(2) Apparently, in George Lucas’ headcanon, Luke never gets married.
I’m generally very Death of the Author (especially with Star Wars), but as we see him in the movies, this makes perfect sense to me. If he’s not interested in sex or romance, as seems to be the case, why would he?
(1) The end of Luke’s arc.
Does he “get the girl?” No. Does he end up romantically involved with anyone? No. Is he remotely bothered by this?
No.
He redeemed his father. He’s reunited with his sister and his best friend. And for Luke Skywalker, that's the ultimate happy ending.
<3
Going back, it started when I got to thinking about how interpreting any character as asexual is treated as an inherently resistant reading, and how irritating that is, and how it almost made me want to write fic arguing that the main character in every single one of my fandoms is ace. I went so far as to go "Harry? Biaesthetic heteroromantic ace. Luke, easy. Anakin - demi with Padmé. From the age of nine. Faramir could be heteroromantic and just ... panaesthetic. Elizabeth? Ummm no, but Darcy - ha, I'm practically writing that already!"
So I thought of ace!Luke in passing, but that's all. Then, I got my grades back and was celebrating by going on a vid binge, and I ran across this one, which doubles as (1) a very effective antidepressant, and (2) the Leia/Han/Luke OT3 manifesto. (Seriously, I cannot begin to express my love for it.) Leia/Han/Luke is for me what I expect things like Harry/Draco were for some HP shippers - I don't "really" see it happening, but I enjoy the idea of it and the subtext goes through the roof. Well, as I was watching, Luke's reactions struck me as especially ... aceish, I guess, and it was totally happy sexual/sexual/asexual polyamorous fluff in my head.
Huh, thought I, and went to check on the #asexuality tag, where I found sciatrix 's excellent post on what she'd like to see in media representation of aromantics. And that made me think about all the reasons why aromantic!ace!Luke is actually kind of wonderful, even if he's a guy. So, inspired about equally by the OT3 vid and asexuality meta, here we go:
Ten Reasons Why I Like to Imagine Luke Skywalker As an Aromantic Asexual
(10) By the time that Luke discovers the woman he loves is his sister, they’ve been best friends for around three years. In that time, he has apparently never even considered taking their relationship in any direction other than BFFs - even though his feelings for her are very strong and she’s almost certainly the most important person in his life.
The little sexual contact between them is invariably initiated by Leia. Luke does not reciprocate and his immediate reaction seems to always be ... this:
(9) He expresses no romantic or sexual interest in anyone, ever, with only the very debatable exception of Leia. Now Star Wars isn’t exactly overflowing with sex, but they're not exactly subtle about it when it's there.
(8) After Luke discovers he and Leia are twins, he doesn’t respond with horror, dismay or even disappointment. His reaction is essentially “so that’s what that was!” and he’s pleased.
That’s right. Apparently, his feelings have been platonic all along and he just can’t tell the difference.
(7) He’s an affectionate and loyal person who easily forms close ties to others. There is nothing in his personality to prevent him from expressing romantic or sexual attraction - he just doesn’t. His life is instead dominated by intense platonic relationships, mostly to his family members.
(6) He's human. I mean that literally -- he isn't an alien. This is rarer than you might think.
(5) He’s also not a sociopath. Luke has issues, but he’s not coded as inhuman in any way. He’s kind, loving, and personable. He just doesn’t seem to be sexually or romantically attracted to other humans.
(4) He’s not doomed to be ~tragically alone~ because (as far as we see) he doesn’t fall in love with people. The powerful three-way Nakama between Han, Leia and Luke comprises friendly, familial and romantic/sexual love in apparently equal degrees - each relationship (Han and Luke as BFFs, Luke and Leia as twins, and Leia and Han as a romantic couple) seems about as intense and committed and loving as any other one.
(3) Going a little further with that, Luke’s relationships are in no way seen as less important than other people's romantic or sexual ones. On the contrary - the bond between Luke and Anakin Skywalker is quite possibly the most important relationship in the entire series.
(2) Apparently, in George Lucas’ headcanon, Luke never gets married.
I’m generally very Death of the Author (especially with Star Wars), but as we see him in the movies, this makes perfect sense to me. If he’s not interested in sex or romance, as seems to be the case, why would he?
(1) The end of Luke’s arc.
Does he “get the girl?” No. Does he end up romantically involved with anyone? No. Is he remotely bothered by this?
No.
He redeemed his father. He’s reunited with his sister and his best friend. And for Luke Skywalker, that's the ultimate happy ending.
<3