no longer romance neutral. i crave violence

Here’s an old aro meme from 2011, which was before the rise of the “Ace Discourse” around 2015 (which may have started out as backlash in response to The Trevor Project deciding to include asexual people around that time). This meme format uses an aardvark to represent aromantic people. At the time, axolotls were often used in similar memes to represent asexuals, so the aromantic aardvark was chosen as the aromantic equivalent of the asexual axolotl. Aardvarks were considered to be somewhat of a mascot for the aromantic community for some time, though they have become less popular as a symbol in recent years.

This reads like a museum guide showing one of the most prestigious pieces in an exhibit

your blorbos don't have to be romantic to love each other (#platonic love wins) but also they don't have to love each other to be romantic. ship those characters as a loveless marriage. make their feelings tragically one-sided with no hope of change. put them in a dead end relationship that they both know needs to end but neither are willing to admit it yet. more bad ships forever. its enrichment for me.

Oh you're aroace? You should watch Blimpus and Jumbie it has an aroace character! Their name is Splonky and they're introduced in season 3 they're in six episodes, have a total 25 minutes of screentime and an average of three lines per episode. They're absolutely groundbreaking aroace representation, the show's creator confirmed it on twitter when he posted a doodle of Splonky holding an asexual flag. Oh that's not your cup of tea? Here's a list of aroace books they're all about high schoolers discovering that they're aroace after trying to find a significant other and it ends with the message that you can just make up for being a terminal virgin by third wheeling the gay couple you're friends with

You go into the splonky blimpus and jumbie tag and there's like a handful of cute fanart and appreciation for Splonky, and then every other post is people drawing Splonky making out with a variety of other characters from the show and the rest is people writing mini-essays yelling at people who ship Splonky with anyone as if that killed their grandma

What is Blimpus and Jumbie even about? Who the fuck cares? There's an aroace character who was introduced in season 3, is in six episodes, has a total 25 minutes of screen time and an average of three lines per episode, the creator confirmed it on twitter when he posted a doodle of them holding an asexual flag! You're aroace, you'll love Blimpus and Jumbie, it has aroace representation! Btw the target demographic for Blimpus and Jumbie is 10-14 year olds.

can we all just sit and think about aromanticism together for a second. okay. okay awesome thank you i feel better :)

similarly to how you should never trust gamers with a nonbinary character i feel like you can also never trust a fandom with an aroace character. whether it's explicitly canon or implied it just ends up the same

every time an allo person wants to ship an aroace spec coded character they should write an essay with MLA format citations on how this serves the themes of the story and is necessary for the character and how their ship is any different than the relationships said character already has and they should also send $500 dollars minimum to at least one aroace person in their fandom

"but people can do whatever they want!!!" i don't caaaaaare go examine your biases and cry about it or i'm blowing both of us up

sex ed needs to mention aromanticism and asexuality in depth or else it sucks as sex ed

no one off mentions. i mean IN DEPTH. discuss amatonormativity, compulsory sexuality, non romantic and non sexual intimacy, love being morally neutral

stop giving kids sex and romance as their only possible way to be social and intimate as well as assuming they all want and prioritize only that, these babies are too lonely for that

sometimes finding aromanticism in media isn’t literally about aromanticism… sometimes it’s about the deconstruction of love as a concept and the subversion of its perception as inherently humanising. it’s about the decentering of romance as a driving force in the narrative. and also sometimes it’s about love being central to the narrative but in a way that defies all traditional categorisations of romantic / platonic / anything else. it is the secret third thing yet so much more and less at once. the point is aromanticism is everywhere for those with eyes to see

me and the no one i pulled by doing nothing

@funnier-when-aromantic

proposing a new genre of fiction called an anti-romance where u r presented w a couple at the start & the story is about their emotional journey towards a catastrophic break up

your blorbos don't have to be romantic to love each other (#platonic love wins) but also they don't have to love each other to be romantic. ship those characters as a loveless marriage. make their feelings tragically one-sided with no hope of change. put them in a dead end relationship that they both know needs to end but neither are willing to admit it yet. more bad ships forever. its enrichment for me.

unreliable narrator but it's just an aromantic writing romance

redstonedust AND biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist are aromantic??? are all the famous tumblrinas aromantic??

hi aromantics and asexuals and aroaces. I love you.

also everyone who's anywhere else on the aspectrum and everyone who's questioning if they're aspec. hi I love you too.

i desperately need more people to understand that you can want to have sex with a person and not be sexually attracted to them. you can love a person and not feel romantically attracted to them. you can want relationships, sexual and romantic, and still be ace, aro or aroace.

I think there's some medias that you just cannot meaningfully engage with if your main priority is shipping

(Tired aroace voice, metaphorical cigarette in hand) You don't have to make them kiss... they don't always have to kiss...