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one thing that does often actually genuinely break my heart about aromanticism is that it opens so many ontological pathways to methodologies that would unilaterally improve people's lives but most people can't even be bothered to learn about aromanticism much less apply those lessons to themselves

being aromantic (and being aspec in general) prompts you to unlearn the thought that a romantic relationship is going to fulfill you in a way that nothing else can. to unlearn that your worth is tied to your desirability. to unlearn that your life is defined by love. it prompts you to restructure your relationships. to reevaluate the ways in which the people around you contribute to your life and the ways in which you want to engage with them. it shows you that everything we know about relationships is defined by social constructs that don't need to be heeded. it opens you to a life of such blissful freedom and i feel such a sense of grief for the way that this information never seems to get beyond us

i know this is probably the iveneverhadarelationship talking but it will forever be so crazy to me you can be someone's best friend for like a decade and then a random man shows up and makes her cry a bunch and then 5 months later he's the most important person in her life ever and you've been relegated to second place. and everyone thinks this is not just normal but expected

I loved when “Drift Compatible” entered pop lexicon cause we were in DESPERATE need for a way to platonically express “one of us to the other is as a limb to a body; we are a left and right feet of a dancer; we do not need to speak because any one word inspires an exchange of unspoken words that conveys a full conversation in which a mutual conclusion is determined in an instant”. Huge win for the QPRs out here

I also really love that the movie explicitly shows that drift compatibility can be any form of relationship. Two brothers, three brothers, husband and wife, father and son, two friends who have lost everything to the same enemy. It isn’t about the way you connect, it’s about the connection itself. And of course, that connection lets you put boots to asses and kill alien monsters together. Because the power of human connection can change the world or something.

Ooooooooh you wanna interpret that fictional character as aromantic because there is subtext that would actually back that up and aromanticism would also add another layer to their character and would make so much more sense oooooooooooooooooh🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥🍥

Aromanticism is actually a very interesting topic to explore in fiction and can add a lot of nuance to a character if you don't write it off as "this just means they don't have a love interest"

“Why are you scared of dating” I’m not scared of dating, I just haven’t found anyone’s company to be more enjoyable than my own. And also I don’t care

I just don't want anyone to steal my very cursed amulet

Also the amulet

being on the aro spectrum would be a lot easier if being single wasn't made to feel like a literal death sentence

it's all very well to say "friends are just as important as romantic partners" but in practice this simply is not the case lmao. you can share a flat with a friend but it's expected that sooner or later that friend will meet someone and will move out to go live with that person instead. if you're hanging out with friends you can bring your partner along but your friends can't come on a date night with you because that's third-wheeling and it's weird. you can know somebody for most of your life and still be second-best to some guy they met on tinder 6 months ago. you're meant to just accept without question the fact that your friends will prioritise time with their partners over time with you. being single is treated like a problem that needs to be fixed. we casually use expressions like "just friends" or "more than friends". everything we read and watch reinforces the idea that romantic love is what gives life meaning and therefore your life is meaningless without it. i try to keep my chin up but my god it is bleak out there

the idea that people have romantic attraction to people who aren’t their friends is so weird to me. i dont even know if i like you as like a person why would i want to play boyfriends with you

Never coming out to my mom as aroace but telling her I don't like cake is just about the same experience

Anyways I told my mom I don't want cake for my next birthday

That part is unrelated to my sexual orientation

the fear surrounding platonic intimacy and the insistence on trying to segment expressions of love between friends | family | romantic partners is actually so sad and harmful and no queer people specifically really want to address or talk about it because doing so would require needing to confront and combat amatonormativity but it's sooooo fucking bad out there guys. "is it normal to think about my friend all the time? 🥺" "should friends be allowed to kiss / have sex?" "i love my friends so much i could literally cry, is that normal??" hello. what the fuck. say it with me: love does not come from a finite source and the only people who can define your relationship is you and the people you have dynamics with. everyone's like "be more queer" and y'all can't even handle adult friends loving in each other in a way that goes against what you've always been taught. i'm SICK !!!!!!!!!!!!

you see there's nuance between the generic valentine's day hater (is single and distressed by this, unaware of what amatonormativity is, resents the holiday for making them confront their perceived lack of worth, spends the day miserable) and the enlightened valentine's day hater (probably arospec, knows what amatonormativity is, sees the holiday as an opportunity to raise awareness and community, spends the day in joyous defiance)

as an asexual who likes to imagine sex but doesnt actually like having sex, sometimes it just feels like sex isnt real but i wish it was. and post