Jasnah's sexuality

[Ogo]

Am I the only one who thinks that maybe Jasnah is lesbian and doesn't even realize it? I am perfectly cool with her being ace, i love that there is ace representation in the media, but in a conservative world like Roshar, where gay relationshis are highly uncommon or hidden, wouldn't her line of thought be understandable for someone homosexual? On the other hand, we all assume that she is asexual heteroromantic because she is with Hoid, but don't non-heteros irl struggle to define their sexuality or romantic orientation some times? I am saying this as a bisexual person that had always 100% awareness of my bisexuality, so I don't know if what I am saying makes sense. 

[Harkain]

First off, straight dude speaking here so please take everything I say with a good dealing of salt and note I haven't really got personal experience with this sorta thing.

Jasnah has struck as a sorta character who deals in both a heavy dose of introspection and is someone who isn't afraid to be themselves in her society. I never really got the impression that she was unknowingly closeted as she struck me as the type of person who would both be aware of themselves having those feelings and and as someone able to shrug society telling them that they shouldn't have those feelings. Pretty much she strikes as a character who has self-actualised a good deal and as a character who has a very good idea of who they actually are and confidently holds to that.

If people with more direct experience could offer their take it would definitely be real informative imo and I at least would appreciate it a lot.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Harkain

[Ogo]

1 hour ago, Harkain said:

First off, straight dude speaking here so please take everything I say with a good dealing of salt and note I haven't really got personal experience with this sorta thing.

Jasnah has struck as a sorta character who deals in both a heavy dose of introspection and is someone who isn't afraid to be themselves in her society. I never really got the impression that she was unknowingly closeted as she struck me as the type of person who would both be aware of themselves having those feelings and and as someone able to shrug society telling them that they shouldn't have those feelings. Pretty much she strikes as a character who has self-actualised a good deal and as a character who has a very good idea of who they actually are and confidently holds to that.

If people with more direct experience could offer their take it would definitely be real informative imo and I at least would appreciate it a lot.

It is a very good point, but I believe that having a confident attitude with expressing their feelings and beliefs on one aspect of your life does not extrapolate to all aspects of your life. Also, I think that she gives the impression of being sure of herself a lot because we usually see her from other character's perspectives, but when we can actually hear her thoughts she is not as confident as she makes everyone believe. Also, this kind of things sometimes look way more obvious to the people seeing it from afar, than the one experiencing the situation. Again, I don't want to deny in any way that she is asexual, I just was not so sure when I read the passage.

[Comatose]

I think that readings of Jasnah's sexuality are somewhat complicated by Brandon's annotation on the subject.  I think that there is definitely textual evidence which supports a reading of her as a lesbian.  Its a head canon I really like.  I think she's a great character for queer women to identify with.

That being said, I hope people don't get their hopes up too much about her coming out now that Brandon has explicitly stated she's asexual and hetero-romantic.  Its definitely okay to think about what might have been, and discuss a wlw Jasnah reading, so long as people are managing their expectations, in light of Brandon's comments. 

I definitely agree that there is a lot about Jasnah that reads as having a complicated interior life, so I can definitely see her sorting through her orientation and how she interacts with gender internally despite her external confidence. 

I have a similar view of Adolin - so much of his expression of his heterosexuality is performative that I've often related his experience to my own before I realized I was gay.  I know that's not the direction Brandon seems to be taking with the character, but there's a lot there imo.  

[Greywatch]

Yeah... I'm SO supportive, Ogo, and I think a wlw!Jasnah reading makes so much sense. I'm also just incredibly deflated about Brandon's Word of God annotation saying she's heteroromantic, so it's hard to work up enthusiasm anymore. I was always pulling for sapphic/sapphic-ace Jasnah, so I'm with you.

[Slater]

Considering nobody in Bridge Four had any issues with Drehy's sexuality, I doubt Jasnah would feel the need to be closeted. Like where are you pulling that there hidden from? Drehy made no effort at all to hide his. Veil makes no effort to hide being attracted to woman either. From what we have seen Alethi society doesn't seem to place a ton of importance on it specifically.

Also, gotta say as somebody who has been in a relationship with an Ace/Heteromantic person before, having people talk about her sexuality not being lesbian as if its somehow "less" then it could have been is really disappointing. And is deeply uncomfortably similar to her experiences navigating real life spaces.

Like Ace people already get so much grief within LGBT spaces as is. Having a canon ace character being Heteromantic is not lesser then if she was Sapphic instead. She is still equally Ace regardless. Equally apart of the LGBT spectrum.

I have sympathy for people hoping for her to be gay, but the discussion around it in many places, even this thread a little have fallen squarely into that old problem of treating Lesbian/Gay as better and more valid then other Queer expression and boy do I not appreciate it. Not that I think anyone here is doing it on purpose. But its something to keep in mind.

[Greywatch]

Just now, Slater said:

Considering nobody in Bridge Four had any issues with Drehy's sexuality, I doubt Jasnah would feel the need to be closeted. Like where are you pulling that there hidden from? Drehy made no effort at all to hide his. Veil makes no effort to hide being attracted to woman either. From what we have seen Alethi society doesn't seem to place a ton of importance on it specifically.

Also, gotta say as somebody who has been in a relationship with an Ace/Heteromantic person before, having people talk about her sexuality not being lesbian as if its somehow "less" then it could have been is really disappointing. And is deeply uncomfortably similar to her experiences navigating real life spaces.

Like Ace people already get so much grief within LGBT spaces as is. Having a canon ace character being Heteromantic is not lesser then if she was Sapphic instead. She is still equally Ace regardless. Equally apart of the LGBT spectrum.

I have sympathy for people hoping for her to be gay, but the discussion around it in many places, even this thread a little have fallen squarely into that old problem of treating Lesbian/Gay as better and more valid then other Queer expression and boy do I not appreciate it. Not that I think anyone here is doing it on purpose. But its something to keep in mind.

Sorry, I'm bi and ace - this is not me being aphobic. I understand your point, but I disagree that disappointment with Jasnah not being sapphic is in any way inappropriate.

[Comatose]

Definitely good to keep in mind, thanks.  I know I definitely did not to mean to imply her canon ace orientation was in any way less than a wlw reading - sorry if it came across that way.  For the record I think ace Jasnah is great, like the OP said.  I just also get the disappointment from people after she was revealed to be heteroromantic I guess.  

To your first point, speaking as someone who did not figure out his sexuality until adulthood despite living in a very accepting household with an accepting circle of friends, while Alethi society might be less overtly prejudiced, I think that the strict gender roles in Alethi culture would create implicit or subversive prejudices for same sex couples, and a storyline about a closeted individual definitely would still work, especially for a public figure in the ruling family.  People stay in the closet (even from themselves) for lots of reasons.  Its not just about protection from overt Homophobia.  

[+Bliev]

Although I know BS may have “canonized” ace+heteroromantic for Jasnah, it doesn’t seem unlikely to me that her intellectual attraction wouldn’t also extend to a woman, in a biromantic way, at least as I read her in text. If there were a woman who stimulated her intellect in a similar way, it seems likely to me that she would approach that relationship as her one with Wit. 

Edit: which is to say, I’m proceeding with my own head canon on this. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by Bliev

[Ogo]

3 hours ago, Slater said:

Considering nobody in Bridge Four had any issues with Drehy's sexuality, I doubt Jasnah would feel the need to be closeted. Like where are you pulling that there hidden from? Drehy made no effort at all to hide his. Veil makes no effort to hide being attracted to woman either. From what we have seen Alethi society doesn't seem to place a ton of importance on it specifically.

Also, gotta say as somebody who has been in a relationship with an Ace/Heteromantic person before, having people talk about her sexuality not being lesbian as if its somehow "less" then it could have been is really disappointing. And is deeply uncomfortably similar to her experiences navigating real life spaces.

Like Ace people already get so much grief within LGBT spaces as is. Having a canon ace character being Heteromantic is not lesser then if she was Sapphic instead. She is still equally Ace regardless. Equally apart of the LGBT spectrum.

I have sympathy for people hoping for her to be gay, but the discussion around it in many places, even this thread a little have fallen squarely into that old problem of treating Lesbian/Gay as better and more valid then other Queer expression and boy do I not appreciate it. Not that I think anyone here is doing it on purpose. But its something to keep in mind.

I did not mean in any way that it was less, I am really sorry if I expressed myself badly. If I felt dissappointed (although that is still too strong of a word for it) is because of what expected her to be, not because one thing or another is worse o better than the other. I also celebrate ace visibility in a book, specially one as popular as ROW. 

I do not like their relationship because I did not feel like she had romantic feelings towards Hoid, she openly doesn't even trust him, I just don't buy the relationship, but that is another matter 

[Comatose]

55 minutes ago, Ogo said:

I do not like their relationship because I did not feel like she had romantic feelings towards Hoid, she openly doesn't even trust him, I just don't buy the relationship, but that is another matter 

I agree Ogo - sexuality aside, I did not feel any form of romantic chemistry between them at all.  I know some people dig the ship, and I can see some of the appeal, but it came way out of left field for me.  I was firmly of the belief that the rumors of Jasnah and Hoid were just that, and were kind of a fun trolling moment, and I was really shocked when they were true.  I am not sure who else I would ship Jasnah with, but Hoid definitely would not be high on the list of characters I thought of as possible romantic partners for her.  

[Realmatic Shadow]

I think a lot of the disappointment people are expressing regarding this is about their headcanons and beliefs about Jasnah not turning out to be how Brandon wishes the character to be taken, and that seems very much expected in my opinion. I was hard onto the belief that Jasnah could be lesbian reading through WoK and WoR, but understood that we hadn't really seen into her mind properly in regards to that, or had any overt actions that would give us an idea of it. Because I was so strongly clinging to that belief, I had a little trouble adapting to the idea that she was ace-heteroromantic, but overall felt that it was in line with her character, though not the first interpretation I would've had.

Coming into RoW, Brandon has said that he finally wanted to sit down and consider whether he wanted to take her character in that direction, as many readers had interpreted her that way, or if he felt that was not true to who she was. I think that many readers, especially here on the Shard, took that as an almost confirmation that she would go down that route in her character, and were surprised to find Brandon disagreed with them. Brandon has every right to take the character as he sees fit, and I am really happy that he took into consideration the way many readers had interpreted her character until this point, and like that he didn't just cave into those expectations in deciding her character.

The disappointment (though I don't think that is really the right word for this, I don't know anything that would work better) that many readers here had about that will probably pass as Brandon releases his next book, as it isn't so much people disappointed in how Brandon has written and taken their character, but that their expectations and hopes were not correct, and people will understand and accept that I would think, even if they need a little time.

[Vailima]

Sex neutral ace lesbian here - just a little perspective from my personal experiences (which obviously are not indicative of any of the communities I'm a part of as a whole, just a representation of myself). I had sex with a bunch of men while I was trying to figure myself out, but never entered into any sort of emotional relationship with a man. The idea of it just wasn't appealing - I just couldn't feel all romance-y for a guy, even though it complicated my familial life to no end lol. 

This is my way of saying, it was easier for me personally to "fake" sexuality than it was to fake romance - I read Jasnah as being genuinely fond of Wit and into the relationship. I liked the representation, it felt quite similar to my own feelings, I excitedly told my partner about it when I reached that part and we had a good yarn

[+Aletus]

I can't help but really enjoy whatever form of chemistry that exists between Jasnah and Hoid. From the moment she poofed back in WoR's epilogue, they've fascinated me. 

Now I can't say that I believe it's going to go much if any further than it has, but he's kind of her person. He is an interesting puzzle for her, and he can talk to her like as close to an equal as he's going to find on Roshar (without wanting to kill him, ya know, as basically every other cosmere-aware person does)

[GroundPetrel]

On 11/26/2020 at 0:48 PM, Slater said:

Drehy made no effort at all to hide his.

The absolute best part of that entire little plot thread was Sigzil going "hey, Kaladin, has he filled out the forms so the bureaucracy knows he's gay?" and Kaladin briefly going protective papa wolf before he figured out that it was a cultural quirk and not homophobia he was dealing with.  I laughed so hard I cried.  THAT is how you do comedy about somebody's sexuality in a non-harmful manner.  

On 11/26/2020 at 0:06 PM, Comatose said:

I think that readings of Jasnah's sexuality are somewhat complicated by Brandon's annotation on the subject.  I think that there is definitely textual evidence which supports a reading of her as a lesbian.  Its a head canon I really like.  I think she's a great character for queer women to identify with.

That being said, I hope people don't get their hopes up too much about her coming out now that Brandon has explicitly stated she's asexual and hetero-romantic.  Its definitely okay to think about what might have been, and discuss a wlw Jasnah reading, so long as people are managing their expectations, in light of Brandon's comments. 

I definitely agree that there is a lot about Jasnah that reads as having a complicated interior life, so I can definitely see her sorting through her orientation and how she interacts with gender internally despite her external confidence. 

I have a similar view of Adolin - so much of his expression of his heterosexuality is performative that I've often related his experience to my own before I realized I was gay.  I know that's not the direction Brandon seems to be taking with the character, but there's a lot there imo.  

I definitely read Jasnah as a lesbian initially, but that's largely colored by my own preconceptions of what a medieval-fantasy society would look like before BS got into the worldbuilding and it became clear that homosexuality is much more tolerated on Roshar than on Earth.  

I don't have anything against her being ace and heteroromantic, but I've never really been as much into Jasnah as a character anyway for some reason (much prefer Navani the Science Mom, I'm a sucker for unusual romances like "two world-weary older people come together" anyway), so I obviously can't speak to the disappointment of those who are much more invested in her.  

Adolin meanwhile (since you brought him up) reads to me as obviously bisexual and lowkey into Kaladin.  His fascination with Kaladin in WOR doesn't read as 100% "my grade-A chull-dung detector went off to a truly historic degree when you said you walked off a fight with the Assassin in White", it reads more as "this annoying frustrating bossy hot guy waltzed into my life and my dad likes him and he's acting in a way that I do not regularly experience with respect to me (just like that awesome Shallan chick who wants to know how I crap in my magic armor!) and he's brave to a fault and his men love him and he's competent and a total badass and I find myself thinking about him a lot and why is he so irritating it's not like I'm in love with the guy!"

But maybe that's just because I read too much tropey fanfic, lol.  

[Aleph-Naught]

My impression (mostly from the latter chapter where she's interacting with Wit) is that Jasnah isn't necessarily homosexual but pansexual/sapiosexual, or maybe even asexual.

[Kingsdaughter613]

1 hour ago, Aleph-Naught said:

My impression (mostly from the latter chapter where she's interacting with Wit) is that Jasnah isn't necessarily homosexual but pansexual/sapiosexual, or maybe even asexual.

She’s ace/heteromantic 

[Toaster Retribution]

1 hour ago, Aleph-Naught said:

My impression (mostly from the latter chapter where she's interacting with Wit) is that Jasnah isn't necessarily homosexual but pansexual/sapiosexual, or maybe even asexual.

Brandon has spoken about this. I'll put the quote under a spoiler tag for lenght: 

Spoiler

As I was working on the annotation for last week’s chapter, I realized it was touching on something I wanted to talk about in a more substantive way. So I decided to put that annotation off and make a separate, longer and more in-depth, post about it. This WILL have some small spoilers for the book, specifically some things to do with Jasnah and her sexual identity. If you’d rather just read it as it comes up in the story, then I’d suggest you head away now--and you can come back to this in a month or two after you’ve read Rhythm of War.

However, good communication with fans--particularly when it comes to expectations--is something I consider a foundational principle of my career. During the beta read, I had the chance to get a glimpse of how readers might respond to some aspects of Jasnah, and at that time I determined I’d do a post like this before the book came out.

So, here’s the problem: through the course of the series, people have been asking me about Jasnah’s sexuality. Gay, Bi, Straight, other? I usually answer with some variation of the following: “Jasnah would prefer you focus on other aspects of her identity, rather than her sexuality.”

I said this for various reasons. First, I felt it is in line with the character, and what she would want. Second, I’ve avoided talking too much about Jasnah as a general rule, since I plan her to be a major (perhaps the major) character of the back five books, and so it’s best to keep focus off her for now. There will be plenty of time for discussions about her later. Third, I generally don’t force relationships upon my characters as I write. It depends on the character, of course. (Navani/Dalinar, for example, had a romance planned as a main part of their storyline.) But for many characters, I give myself wiggle room to see what I feel works best as the story develops.

The end result of me being vague on this, however, was that I seem to have led a lot of people to think I was playing the Brandon game of: “If he won’t say anything about a topic, it must be mysterious, and therefore something we should theorize on a ton!” This is, obviously, my own fault.

I’ve heard a lot of different things via email and in person from people that have made me realize that a lot of people are wanting some mutually exclusive things from the character in this regard. As I started work on this novel, I decided I should say something in the book in order to pull back the shroud on the mystery a little, as I never intended it to get as big as it did.

I tried a few different things to see what worked and was most genuine for the character. In the end, I settled on what I felt was best and most in-line with how I view Jasnah. For those who want to know, and I’ll put this next part behind extra spoilers. Jasnah is asexual, and currently heteroromantic. Her feelings on physical intimacy are very neutral, not something she's interested in for its own sake, but also not something she's opposed to doing for someone she cares about. I tried several different things with the character, and this is what really clicked with me--after getting some advice, suggestions, and help from some asexual readers.

One of the reasons I wanted to make this post is because I wanted to address some of the people who are going to be disappointed as I worry that I (by making her a blank slate in this regard) accidentally led a lot of people to theorize and attach ideas they wanted to her--and so I’ll inevitably disappoint these people. (Though, hopefully, others will find the depiction I ended up with in line with the characterization and with Jasnah’s overall character mode.)

For the main body of the annotation, I wanted to talk about how Jasnah came about, and my inspirations. So if you’ll forgive me for a moment, I want to walk you down that path--and I think it might explain some of why I ended up making the decision that I did.

When I was first working on the Stormlight Archive back in 2002, I decided early on that I wanted a character like Jasnah in the books, as I was dealing with some gender politics and social structures. (I actually pitched Jasnah to myself as “The woman Serene thinks she is.” No offense to Serene, she’s just young--and I wanted to take a stab at a true scholar and master of politics.)

This decision made, I dove into reading a lot of work from feminist authors--and made certain to talk to some of my feminist friends in depth about how to accomplish an accurate depiction. A lot of times, when I’m developing a character, one or two things will leap out at me from readings, and I’ll start to use that to make up the core of the personality. (Much like the idea of Kaladin came from the idea of a surgeon, trained to save people, being sent to war and being trained to kill.)

Jasnah’s atheism was one of these things--specifically I wanted a rationalist humanist character as a counterpoint to the very mythological setting I was developing with the Heralds. I was extremely excited by the opportunity to have a character who could offer the in-world scientific reasons why the things that are happening are happening.

At the same time, one key takeaway I got from these studies was this: several authors and friends be frustrated with the idea that often in media and discussion, people pretended that a feminist couldn’t also be feminine. As it was explained to me, “Saying you shouldn’t have to play into society’s rules for women shouldn’t also mean no women should ever decide to play into some of society’s rules for women.” It was about choice, and letting women decide--rather than letting society pressure them. This was central to my creation of Jasnah.

And so, fundamental to my view of the character is the need for me to not force her down any path, no matter how much some fans may want that path to be the right one. Jasnah being as I’ve written her was just RIGHT. I’ve always viewed her as sharing some aspects with myself, and one of those is the clinical way I approach some things that others approach emotionally. While I wouldn’t say I identify in the same way as her, this part of me is part of a seed for who she is and how she acts. And with help from betas, I think I found her true voice.

All of that said, the people I’m most sad to disappoint here are those who I know were hoping for Jasnah to be gay. Out of respect for these readers, and to be certain, I did try writing the character that way in this book--and I felt it didn’t quite fit. Obviously, this is a character, and not an actual person--and so it’s all a fabrication anyway. I could absolutely write Jasnah as gay, and it wouldn’t undermine any sense of choice for a real woman.

However, it didn’t feel authentic to me. Plus, now that Way of Kings Prime is out, you all can know that a relationship with a man (Taln) was a plot point to her initial characterization. (I can’t say that I’ll stick with this, to be honest. It will depend on a ton of factors.)

When I discussed all this all with a good friend of mine who is far more involved in feminist discourse and the LGBTQIA+ community, she suggested that I make Jasnah bisexual or biromantic. I resisted this because I knew the only planned relationship I had for her was with a man, and it felt disingenuous to try to imply this is how I see her. (Though, in your head canon, there’s certainly great arguments for this.) The problem is that Shallan is leaning very bi as I’ve written her more, but she’s in a relationship with a man. I don’t know if this is a big issue in fiction, but it would feel somehow wrong to for me to write a bunch of bisexual characters who all only engaged in relationships with people of the opposite gender. It feels I could do more damage than good by trying to pretend I’m being inclusive in this way, without actually giving true representation.

This all might beg another question: will there be other characters in the Stormlight Archive (or cosmere) who are LGBTQIA+. Yes. (Including major viewpoint characters.) However, I worry that by talking too much about that here, I would imply a tone where I’m trying too hard to deflect. (One person I chatted with about this warned me not to send the “wrong message that queer characters are like representation tokens that we can exchange for each other for equal credit.” I found that a very astute piece of advice.)

I am quite happy with Jasnah’s depiction in this book, and while I’m sorry she can’t be everything everyone wanted, I’m excited for her development as a character in the back five books. My promise to you remains the same: to make the Cosmere a place where I explore all aspects of the human experience. And a place that represents not just me, but as many different types of peoples and beliefs as I can--depicted the best I can as vibrant, dynamic characters.

Many thanks to those in the LGBTQIA+ community who have written to me with suggestions, criticisms, and support. And thanks to everyone for being patient with me, and this series, as I continue to shape it.

 

[+Aletus]

That was very well written, thanks Brandon!

[Tari]

On 11/26/2020 at 9:46 AM, Harkain said:

First off, straight dude speaking here so please take everything I say with a good dealing of salt and note I haven't really got personal experience with this sorta thing.

Jasnah has struck as a sorta character who deals in both a heavy dose of introspection and is someone who isn't afraid to be themselves in her society. I never really got the impression that she was unknowingly closeted as she struck me as the type of person who would both be aware of themselves having those feelings and and as someone able to shrug society telling them that they shouldn't have those feelings. Pretty much she strikes as a character who has self-actualised a good deal and as a character who has a very good idea of who they actually are and confidently holds to that.

If people with more direct experience could offer their take it would definitely be real informative imo and I at least would appreciate it a lot.

I'm queer and I completely agree. Jasnah knows herself really well. If she was attracted to women she'd know. Especially since, based off the reaction to Drehy coming out, Alethi know that lgbt (or at least lgb) people exist

[Honorless]

That's a good point. We don't know anything about how Vorin people might look at different gender identities, the WoB only went over homosexuality iirc. Looking at gender based segregation in their society, realistically, probably not very well. I've always suspected that the apparently egalitarian attitude towards homosexuality from the Vorin people is a holdover from Tanavast, Yolen was probably a lot more well-developed.

As someone from a conservative culture, Jasnah appeared very familiar to me. She's a lot like some women I know, so I saw her as heterosexual, independent and just not interested in & frankly tired of listening to the idea of getting tied down with a relationship. I didn't really like the Jasnah and Hoid ship much at first but I think it kinda works. They're not lovestruck birds but just two adults working to have a relationship. They respect each other and are working to establish trust and are reasonably fond of one another. They don't have insta chemistry but they could work, if they work for it. I could see this relationship going any number of ways, so I'm quite satisfied with how it was written and quite excited to see where it might go.

Jasnah being asexual or aromantic didn't really occur to me but I think the former fits, and the latter could've fit too. Her being lesbian though, I didn't really see it. She seems to be quite a monumental figure, an immovable monolith, a near mythical figure, expected to be perfect because of who she is from birth and who she's chosen to be, so that is what she became. Even members of her own family, as we saw with Navani & Adolin thinking about her in RoW, think of her like that. Someone like her would have to have been aware, I think.

What the OP describes could've happened to a young, gay Jasnah. After all, a society not being hostile to gay people and a society accepting of gay people are two different things, I would know. I really don't see Vorin society being the latter. The one moment of acceptance we see, Drehy & Bridge 4, I would irl interpret as a textbook example of accepting, protective friends being defensive of their gay mate in a very heteronormative, masculine environment. Vorinism's acceptance of homosexuality looks very much like authorial fiat to me. I can't imagine that society being very gay friendly. Knowing gay people exist and someone you know telling you that they're gay would be very different. So young Jasnah could've internalized that part of her and buried it deep inside her because it would've been easier, more convenient, less potentially hurtful. I'm kinda sad for the Jasnah that could've been now. Regardless, given everything else Jasnah has since become, most prominently among them, an atheist, I think she would've self-examined herself and been capable of accepting herself at the point in her life where we and Shallan meet her.

Also, I gotta say, I love the fact that Jasnah is such a monumental figure to so many readers as well, it mirrors her character in-world quite nicely.

Yeah, I've seen a few LGBT people looking at ace people as having it easier. People underestimate how intrinsically woven the idea of romantic companionship is in our societal structure, and how hard it is to go against that. Wanting companionship and not wanting a sexual or romantic relationship would be an alien idea to them. It's kinda sad, they should know better. Hope being in the head of more ace people in literature and the arts help people understand this better.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Honorless

[Draginon]

When I had read that Jasnah was asexual I felt a closer kinship to her since I am asexual like her. I don’t really pay that much attention to relationships in fiction nor do I go for shipping but when thinking about it Jasnah is for sure asexual.

However for the romance side it could go anywhere. Brandon did say she was heteroromantic for now in the annotations so it’s currently in flux. Heck she might not even know herself since I don’t really know what my romantic side is now. I used to think I was heteroromantic but lately I’ve been reevaluating that and think I’m closer to panromantic or demiromantic but neither sounds completely right to me. Going off how I’m still exploring that side of myself she might as well at this point and could still end up with a woman if that turns out to be the right fit for her.