So by now I have written characters that feel naturally ace, characters that counter ace-related tropes, and a lot of smaller incidental ace characters that are fun and remind me I exist everywhere.
But.
What I have yet to do is properly reclaim some of the nastiest tropes. Or, well, it would be more accurate to say I have not yet any villains canon ace or aro. I have always loved villains, both mine and those in other stories, but for a long time it felt wrong to say “yes, this shitty main antagonist is aromantic and asexual.” I just didn’t want to contribute to that, you know? And while I wish allo writers would stop writing villains as aroace, they won’t stop anytime soon.
But well, one of the oldest trick to writing queer villains is to make sure you balance it out with heroes of the same ID, and that their villainy stays untied to their queerness. If there’s one thing Isandor doesn’t lack, it’s aro and ace people as heroes! So. F that, as they say, She also doesn’t fit some of the most frequent aro-ace villain stereotypes—she has no link to death, she perfectly understands what sex and romance is (and how it moves people and how it can be used against them) (no, but really, it always bugs me when the villain’s big weakness is that he doesn’t understand the power of love. LOOKING AT YOU, HARRY POTTER), and she’s not looking to impose that aroaceness on anyone, or to take revenge for some related trauma long-since past. She’s an asshole who loves control and knows what she wants, and all that aro-aceness just happens to also be a part of her.
Brune is going to be the aro ace villain I’ve always wanted. One with a bad French joke as a name (it means brown, which she wears all the time). She is the Dungeon Master in me, the schemer who knows all. And like me, sometimes she gets too attached to her tools, or picks the wrong allies. Besides, she has just the right balance of careful planning and ruthlessness to get far, with a weird way of caring about some things and people. She gets more time in City of Exile and I’m looking forward to that. Writing someone who knows so much and has her hands in everything is way too fun. She’s a fully-fleshed, 3D character, and I claim the right to make her the trashy aro-ace of the story.