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Today we talk Ace Rep in manga and web comics! For the first time we discuss She Love to Cook and She Loves to Eat, I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up, Dom & Mor, and Clinic of Horrors. Plus we also give an update on one of Royce's favorites, I Want to be a Wall.

Wouldn't it be great if this were the last time we ever had to pay any attention to the Heritage Foundation?

Who remembers back in 2022 when 83 religious, right-wing organizations condemned the Respect for Marriage Act while warning about the dangers of "platonic marriages"? WE DO. Well, coming off of their Project 2025 successes, here is the natural conclusion of that rhetoric.

Alastor is problematic asexual representation, not solely because he's evil. He's partially a problem because the rep is not obvious enough in the show itself for viewers who are not already entrenched in the fandom... But the biggest issue of all lies in the historically racist stereotyping that undertones his character.

Watching season 2 after a year of reflection following season 1, we have some more thoughts about how to interpret Alastor in terms of Asexual and/or Aromantic representation. But we've got even more points to make next week, so stay tuned!

Just a little light housekeeping to close out the year! What is the MarketplAce? And what isn't it? Should you visit it and shop there? (Hint: YES you should!)

We have an UPDATE on one of our favorite stories from r/AmITheAsshole Asexuality Edition. Plus, several new "best of" stories.

Are straight women concealing their boyfriends out of embarrassment on social media? According to a Vogue article, it's apparently either do that or feature them heavily in order to go viral and gain social clout, so...pick your poison.

Is Aro rep beating out Ace rep in picture books?? Today we talk about the flag-forward type of representation in children's books Under One Rainbow and Grandad's Pride.

Today we discuss a recent article about Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) from the New York Times. This is simply one recent example within an increasing wave of backlash against often life-saving medical care that reinforces its point by medicalizing sexuality and demonizing queer people.

The man who once said that Asexual men are the most dangerous people in the world and claimed that college protests are a result of students not having enough sex is on a press tour, hitting all of the major news outlets and podcasts, calling Asexual males "a new species". But in using this dehumanizing language against our community, he's ignoring one of the three pillars that make up his own framework for masculinity and failing to be a Protector.

GLAAD released their 2024-2025 "Where we are on TV" report. They cite only 2 asexual characters on TV this year (a decrease from last), but unfortunately ignore key details about them, making this report underdeveloped and poorly edited at best and inaccurate and dismissive at worst.

The final installment...for now.

OK. Phobia story time...

Royce is trying very hard to keep episodes around or under an hour, so here is episode 2 of...4? Maybe?