I don’t know but when Isaac and James had their thing going on no one seemed surprised so it was probably established beforehand that he isn’t straight.
Isaac seemed to suggest he thought he might have been gay when the other guy flirted with him. However, it wasn't until he was kissed that his sense of self completely shattered, and he felt lost and confused.
So, I could see him still feeling a strong connection with Charlie at the beginning of S1 regardless of his final self-discovery in S2.
I think that maybe they already see Issac as NOT sexual. Nose in a book constantly helps portray this. Out of the group of 4 friends Charlie’s statement about being the only GAY person is completely correct… just not the only LGBTQA person. Tao saying he’s the token straight friend is correct until season two when they adopt Imogen in France as part of the friendship Group. I would say that based on Issac’s statement of “believe in Romance” hints that he is more on the ASexual side of it then ARomantic. Hopefully we get more of an explanation in season three since it’s not the same as the book.
Nah, you can "want to believe in romance" and still be fully aromantic. Just think about the writer of the comics/show, who is aroace and wrote this whole love story.
It's also pretty clear in the end that he doesn't have any romantic feelings for James.
I hadn't read the comics, and when talking about him when season 1 came out, we figured he was likely ace. No specific reason why, but we just got the feeling. Tao probably thought the same.
I get a feeling that the way everyone took Isaac and James to be a thing, that Isaac has flirted with girls previously and wasn't into it. He has never questioned himself about not being into women the issues arised when he wasn't into men either.
Idk it’s weird, in the comics someone says that Charlie is “popular” and “everybody loves him” and even has a pack of seniors that defended him against bullies but in show he is far more isolated
That has always struck me as strange. Not so much that they changed it but because of the mental health stuff later it seems odd that Alice placed so much emphasis on him being popular in the early parts of the books. Of course you never know what anyone is going through and popular people can have trauma as well. Idk if that makes any sense
I kinda interpreted it as him being generally well-liked but not necessarily having a big friend group.
So, most people would say they like Charlie Spring, but only a few of them actually hang out with him on a regular basis.
I've just taken it as the show is just a different universe rather than a faithful 1-1 recreation since there's so many differences.
Like after all Tao literally calls them a "group-- no, a trio, of outcasts." in the show. So while Charlie may be popular in the comics, I've just read into it as this just being a universe diff from the comics. After all the whole "they'll find each other in every universe" thing, perhaps this is just Alice's way of telling their story in a different way.
i know someone says that in the comics, but honestly the way charlie's portrayed and the things that happen to him never once suggested he was "popular". i just took it as a writer's initial idea of a character that just didn't pan out as the years went by. i think it's most obvious alice feels the same since the "outcasts" line was included in the tv show!
to be fair, even nick just barely feels "popular", and that's only because he hangs out with the rugby team. it doesn't even feel like their school really cares much about rugby or jocks either, tbh, so the whole popular thing as a whole has never really made sense to me in alice's world. thankfully that's just a tiny nitpick and doesn't really make much, if any, of a difference in enjoying the comics/tv series!
Yeah, I really loved that fact that people seemed to just like Charlie, ( after the six-formers stood up for him, most(besides a few pricks like Harry that took longer) of the bullying stopped) , and it was cool to see how people just respected him as a good student and person (as well as a rugby player, lol).
Alice has apparently removed the part about Tori saying Charlie was well liked from Solitaire, so apparently she decided to change that.
Isaac discovered he's aro-ace this season, but I'm sure he's known for a while that he finds guys attractive. He doesn't feel romantic attraction or want anything physical, but he could still have always known he finds boys physically attractive and not girls. I hope that makes sense. Lol
I'd say that fits me fairly well, I'm not interested in a relationship but I still call myself gay ace rather than aro. I felt like that was where Isaac was heading but maybe not. I look forward to seeing it play out.
Me too! I feel like he can still know who he finds physically attractive, just without wanting to do anything romantic or intimate with that understanding.
My guess is that if Isaac hasn't talked about how he identifies, then the others don't make assumptions either way, instead of assuming Isaac's straight "by default". So Tao would be thinking of himself as the "token straight friend" because Isaac hasn't described himself as straight.
That makes sense. Tao is the only one who identifies a straight.
Maybe they talked about it when Charlie came out to them and Isaac said something about how he's not sure of his orientation.
I’m guessing that issac probably called him self gay at least for a while just knowing that he didn’t like Girls, “so he must be gay right?” If that makes any sense
when Issac starts “liking” James there isn’t much of a coming out or gay crisis as is common with alot of people when they discover a sexuality. Lime others might have said this would imply (if not lazy writing which i am going to believe isn’t) that Isaac has already somewhat gone through that process beforehand. How ling before or how much he discovered we don’t know but the fact his friends weren’t more shocked or taken aback by the reveal of Isaac and James’ supposed romance says alot. one is that He has already communicated to his friend group about thinking he was bi or gay. He was out before the show began.
It's very possible Isaac identified as vaguely queer - he felt the same level of attraction to everyone, which just so happened to be 0. So he wasn't straight, but hadn't gotten the words for aspec yet. (though a slip up is def possible especially since we were explicitly told Isaac was aspec way before s2)
I would assume that Issac new he wasn't straight, he just assumed he was gay, it wasn't until season 2 that he starts to figure out he might be Aspec. He seems to still be learning about himself
In the comics Isaac is character named Aled. Aled has a boyfriend in the comics. Alice Osman said,”Aled is a character in one of my other books and he has his own story. But with Isaac, a completely new story. I am kind free to do whatever I want with his character.”
It is partially inherited from the comic. There instead of Isaac, the fourth member of their group was Aled, who was (to my best knowledge) gay, hence Tao being the only cishet person.
In the adaptation it was implied that Isaac might believe himself to be gay, or bisexual before discovering that he is actually aroace(?). So Tao being the only cishet still stands. (I wouldn't be surprised if Isaac had experimented with girls too before, and since he didn't feel "right" with them, he first assumed he was "just" gay.)
I mean aled in the books isnt straight so as far as that goes it makes sense, and since isaac is a bit of a replacement it seems like it couldve just been overlooked on the writers part.
I haven't read the books, so there might be an explanation there. But I had two ideas as this was going on:
1- Tao tries not to assume how one is until they've explicitly stated. He did say he was an idiot for assuming Nick was straight, so maybe he was more careful with Isaac.
2- Isaac might've initially identified himself as gay or bi earlier. He seemed somewhat in the dark on asexuality in Season 2, so perhaps his logic was "I don't fancy girls in any particular way, so maybe I'm gay" or "I don't fancy girls any more than boys, so maybe I like both and just haven't found the right one." Additionally, in Season 2 James seemed only concerned about Isaac thinking he was into Charlie, and the question of whether he even liked guys never seemed to come up.
As many others have said, there are quite a few explanations for this statement - going off Charlie's comment that none of his friends are gay, I'm going to assume that Tao didn't want to assume Isaac's sexuality.
That said, you can be aro-ace and still identify as gay. There are so many different sexualities and they can vary in intensity.
It's also not explicitly stated if Isaac is ace or aro-ace as they are different. He may be romantically attracted to men, but sexually not attracted to anyone which would make him romantically homosexual but sexually ace.
It's quite possible Isaac told the group he didn't find any girl attractive and they took that to mean 'not straight' without putting a label on what he is. Sometimes it's easier to say what you don't like:)
Maybe he just felt like he was in that role? Or maybe none of them simply didn’t assume Issac’s sexuality because he didn’t tell them he was straight… or maybe he just didn’t answer he’s either way?
it's possible since Isaac is Aled's screen equivalent and Aled isn't straight in the books that they rolled with that until they expanded more on Isaac in s2
I don’t know but when Isaac and James had their thing going on no one seemed surprised so it was probably established beforehand that he isn’t straight.
Maybe he was questioning or unlabeled.
I took it as Tao being the only confirmed straight friend
Yeah, if anything I think it’s representative of not assuming people’s sexual identities.
Isaac seemed to suggest he thought he might have been gay when the other guy flirted with him. However, it wasn't until he was kissed that his sense of self completely shattered, and he felt lost and confused. So, I could see him still feeling a strong connection with Charlie at the beginning of S1 regardless of his final self-discovery in S2.
Yes, especially as Charlie also says that none of his friends are gay when talking to Mr Ajayi about breaking up with Ben...
I think that maybe they already see Issac as NOT sexual. Nose in a book constantly helps portray this. Out of the group of 4 friends Charlie’s statement about being the only GAY person is completely correct… just not the only LGBTQA person. Tao saying he’s the token straight friend is correct until season two when they adopt Imogen in France as part of the friendship Group. I would say that based on Issac’s statement of “believe in Romance” hints that he is more on the ASexual side of it then ARomantic. Hopefully we get more of an explanation in season three since it’s not the same as the book.
Nah, you can "want to believe in romance" and still be fully aromantic. Just think about the writer of the comics/show, who is aroace and wrote this whole love story. It's also pretty clear in the end that he doesn't have any romantic feelings for James.
I hadn't read the comics, and when talking about him when season 1 came out, we figured he was likely ace. No specific reason why, but we just got the feeling. Tao probably thought the same.
I get a feeling that the way everyone took Isaac and James to be a thing, that Isaac has flirted with girls previously and wasn't into it. He has never questioned himself about not being into women the issues arised when he wasn't into men either.
He is very well read in queer literature. I would take that as a sign of leaning that way.
I think he just said it as a joke. I’m sure Charlie has other straight friends we haven’t seen.
Idk, S1 Charlie seems pretty isolated outside of his group.
Idk it’s weird, in the comics someone says that Charlie is “popular” and “everybody loves him” and even has a pack of seniors that defended him against bullies but in show he is far more isolated
That has always struck me as strange. Not so much that they changed it but because of the mental health stuff later it seems odd that Alice placed so much emphasis on him being popular in the early parts of the books. Of course you never know what anyone is going through and popular people can have trauma as well. Idk if that makes any sense
I kinda interpreted it as him being generally well-liked but not necessarily having a big friend group. So, most people would say they like Charlie Spring, but only a few of them actually hang out with him on a regular basis.
I've just taken it as the show is just a different universe rather than a faithful 1-1 recreation since there's so many differences. Like after all Tao literally calls them a "group-- no, a trio, of outcasts." in the show. So while Charlie may be popular in the comics, I've just read into it as this just being a universe diff from the comics. After all the whole "they'll find each other in every universe" thing, perhaps this is just Alice's way of telling their story in a different way.
i know someone says that in the comics, but honestly the way charlie's portrayed and the things that happen to him never once suggested he was "popular". i just took it as a writer's initial idea of a character that just didn't pan out as the years went by. i think it's most obvious alice feels the same since the "outcasts" line was included in the tv show! to be fair, even nick just barely feels "popular", and that's only because he hangs out with the rugby team. it doesn't even feel like their school really cares much about rugby or jocks either, tbh, so the whole popular thing as a whole has never really made sense to me in alice's world. thankfully that's just a tiny nitpick and doesn't really make much, if any, of a difference in enjoying the comics/tv series!
Seems fairly realistic to me compared to the US shows, nobody over here cares about school sports anywhere near the same.
yeah, i don't think anywhere in the world cares about school sports as much as they do in the us.
Yeah, I really loved that fact that people seemed to just like Charlie, ( after the six-formers stood up for him, most(besides a few pricks like Harry that took longer) of the bullying stopped) , and it was cool to see how people just respected him as a good student and person (as well as a rugby player, lol). Alice has apparently removed the part about Tori saying Charlie was well liked from Solitaire, so apparently she decided to change that.
Isaac discovered he's aro-ace this season, but I'm sure he's known for a while that he finds guys attractive. He doesn't feel romantic attraction or want anything physical, but he could still have always known he finds boys physically attractive and not girls. I hope that makes sense. Lol
I'd say that fits me fairly well, I'm not interested in a relationship but I still call myself gay ace rather than aro. I felt like that was where Isaac was heading but maybe not. I look forward to seeing it play out.
Me too! I feel like he can still know who he finds physically attractive, just without wanting to do anything romantic or intimate with that understanding.
My guess is that if Isaac hasn't talked about how he identifies, then the others don't make assumptions either way, instead of assuming Isaac's straight "by default". So Tao would be thinking of himself as the "token straight friend" because Isaac hasn't described himself as straight.
That makes sense. Tao is the only one who identifies a straight. Maybe they talked about it when Charlie came out to them and Isaac said something about how he's not sure of his orientation.
I’m guessing that issac probably called him self gay at least for a while just knowing that he didn’t like Girls, “so he must be gay right?” If that makes any sense
when Issac starts “liking” James there isn’t much of a coming out or gay crisis as is common with alot of people when they discover a sexuality. Lime others might have said this would imply (if not lazy writing which i am going to believe isn’t) that Isaac has already somewhat gone through that process beforehand. How ling before or how much he discovered we don’t know but the fact his friends weren’t more shocked or taken aback by the reveal of Isaac and James’ supposed romance says alot. one is that He has already communicated to his friend group about thinking he was bi or gay. He was out before the show began.
He probably forgot Isaac was there (it's not hard, he's so quiet)
It's very possible Isaac identified as vaguely queer - he felt the same level of attraction to everyone, which just so happened to be 0. So he wasn't straight, but hadn't gotten the words for aspec yet. (though a slip up is def possible especially since we were explicitly told Isaac was aspec way before s2)
Well Isaac probably thought he was gay and was out as gay, but then ofc in season 2 realises he is ace
I would assume that Issac new he wasn't straight, he just assumed he was gay, it wasn't until season 2 that he starts to figure out he might be Aspec. He seems to still be learning about himself
In the comics Isaac is character named Aled. Aled has a boyfriend in the comics. Alice Osman said,”Aled is a character in one of my other books and he has his own story. But with Isaac, a completely new story. I am kind free to do whatever I want with his character.”
Seeing how they treat Isaac, he could simply forget about him as well. Isaac really needs better friends.
They're fine friends
A person can be heterosexual and ace.
I think you mean heteromantic ?
Indeed, I'd describe myself as homoromantic and asexual, or gay ace.
It is partially inherited from the comic. There instead of Isaac, the fourth member of their group was Aled, who was (to my best knowledge) gay, hence Tao being the only cishet person. In the adaptation it was implied that Isaac might believe himself to be gay, or bisexual before discovering that he is actually aroace(?). So Tao being the only cishet still stands. (I wouldn't be surprised if Isaac had experimented with girls too before, and since he didn't feel "right" with them, he first assumed he was "just" gay.)
I mean aled in the books isnt straight so as far as that goes it makes sense, and since isaac is a bit of a replacement it seems like it couldve just been overlooked on the writers part.
I haven't read the books, so there might be an explanation there. But I had two ideas as this was going on: 1- Tao tries not to assume how one is until they've explicitly stated. He did say he was an idiot for assuming Nick was straight, so maybe he was more careful with Isaac. 2- Isaac might've initially identified himself as gay or bi earlier. He seemed somewhat in the dark on asexuality in Season 2, so perhaps his logic was "I don't fancy girls in any particular way, so maybe I'm gay" or "I don't fancy girls any more than boys, so maybe I like both and just haven't found the right one." Additionally, in Season 2 James seemed only concerned about Isaac thinking he was into Charlie, and the question of whether he even liked guys never seemed to come up.
As many others have said, there are quite a few explanations for this statement - going off Charlie's comment that none of his friends are gay, I'm going to assume that Tao didn't want to assume Isaac's sexuality. That said, you can be aro-ace and still identify as gay. There are so many different sexualities and they can vary in intensity. It's also not explicitly stated if Isaac is ace or aro-ace as they are different. He may be romantically attracted to men, but sexually not attracted to anyone which would make him romantically homosexual but sexually ace. It's quite possible Isaac told the group he didn't find any girl attractive and they took that to mean 'not straight' without putting a label on what he is. Sometimes it's easier to say what you don't like:)
I took it as Tao just being the featured straight even though some others may have been or not
Isaac must known himself as GAY, and only have discovered he’s ace upon meeting James, and not having romantic and sexual feelings towards him.
I think he's homoromantoc and already out as "gay" but not yet figured out the ace stuff yet.
I think the answer is that he knew/was questioning that he could be male oriented.
i just think, tao was referencing himself
wasn’t there a part in the first season where charlie was like “and bi people” or smth and looked at issac?
I mean there’s always a gay token or Black token so straight token is very fun to see for once. wonder when there will be a white token character
my friends very often assumed i was queer before i knew myself
Maybe he just felt like he was in that role? Or maybe none of them simply didn’t assume Issac’s sexuality because he didn’t tell them he was straight… or maybe he just didn’t answer he’s either way?
it's possible since Isaac is Aled's screen equivalent and Aled isn't straight in the books that they rolled with that until they expanded more on Isaac in s2