#aro!jackson

Jackson

cisgender bisexual aromantic, romance repulsed

Scott

cisgender pansexual quoiromantic, doesn't distinguish between romantic and platonic attraction

Allison

demigirl bisexual biromantic

.

What arospec identities do they have? (Can be as specific or vague as desired)

non-SAM aro

How proud of being arospec are they?

now? aggressively. he worked goddamn hard to accept and be okay with who he is and how he feels, so you can bet your ass he’s going to wave that flag as high as he can and fuck anyone who tries to shame him for it.

Do they prioritize their arospec identity over any others?

for Jackson, aro is his primary identity. it’s the one that’s had the most influence on who he is and the one that affects his life in the most ways. he doesn’t feel the need to separate out his sexual attraction or build an identity around that too. he is what he is, and what he is is aro, no matter who he likes to fuck.

Are they out? If so, how did they come out, and to whom?

he doesn’t feel the need to make a formal announcement or sit people down to have a heart to heart about it. once he’s made the decision to identify that way, he just treats it like a fact. if it comes up in conversation, he’ll say it openly. if people ask about it, he’ll tell them (unless they’re assholes who have no right to ask, in which case, fuck you is his go-to instead). the only time he volunteers it specifically is with his sexual partners because at least that way, if they try to change the nature of their relationship later and get offended or pissed or hurt when he breaks things off, they can’t say that he led them on.

How do they feel about romance? Romance-favorable? Romance-neutral? Romance-repulsed? Or does it fluctuate?

romance repulsed. no hugely so, but he spent too long forcing himself to perform romance that he doesn’t have the stomach for it anymore. he wanted to be perfect and he thought that being the perfect boyfriend was a required part of that. he still cares for Lydia and he doesn’t blame her for how much of a trash fire their relationship became or how much it fucked him up in the long run, but he’s not going to subject himself to something like that ever again.

he’s not repulsed, per se, by encountering romance around him. but he does get tired of it very quickly. he doesn’t have the patience to advise his alloro friends or listen to their bitching and whining. if they want dating advice, ask someone who cares about that shit.

Have they ever experienced arophobia? If so, how?

Jackson absolutely internalized the idea that romantic love is what makes us human. it wasn’t any one instance that did it, just being in the society we’re in, but somewhere in the back of Jackson’s mind is that insidious voice that says if he can’t fall in love romantically, then he can’t feel love at all, and if he can’t feel love, then he’s a monster. he spent his high school years giving in to that voice, trying to force himself to feel for Lydia the way that she felt for him, trying to prove to himself and everyone else that he was normal. 

it took a real low point of self-loathing to force him to break out of the mindset and reexamine himself. lately, he’s much more conscious of not letting that voice get to him and convince him that he’s not worth anything because he doesn’t experience that one specific type of attraction that society has deemed the holy grail of emotions. it’s bullshit and fuck that.

nowadays, the most common specific arophobia that he experiences is those people that accuse him of being a “player” because he still likes to have sex. they think that just because he has sex with people with no intention of dating them that he’s heartless and callous and misogynistic (regardless of the fact that he treats women and men the same fucking way) and clearly a terrible person. all of that is bullshit too.

How do they show their arospec pride?

he’s fairly lowkey about it. he’s not the type to have a bunch of pins on his backpack or befoul his precious expensive car with bumper stickers. he’s got a green scarf that Lydia got him for his birthday right after he started openly identifying, and if he wears it more than any of his other scarves, then so what, you wanna make something of it?

Do they actively try to combat amatonormativity in their daily lives or elsewhere? If so, how?

Jackson will call out anyone who talks shit. he is not gonna beat around the bush or hide behind pleasantries, anyone who has something to say can say it to his face and he will publicly rip apart every shitty flawed assumption that underlies their prejudice. he’s pre-law, okay, ripping apart people’s arguments is literally what he does and he’s very good at it.

Was it easy for them to label themselves arospec, or was there a long period of questioning? How many labels did they have to try before landing on the one they use now?

it was damn hard. Jackson spent so long internalizing that bias that it takes a hell of a lot of un-learning to convince himself that aromantic is something he’s allowed to be. it doesn’t make him a bad person, it doesn’t mean he and his life meaningless, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to die alone and unfulfilled, a failure for not meeting society’s golden standard or a wife and 2.1 kids behind a white picket fence.he claimed he was straight throughout high school. college saw him opening it up to bi. his eventual spiral and crash led to a really dark time, during which he started tentatively claiming bi aro. it wasn’t until (after some hardcore therapy) he got more comfortable with fully embracing his aromantic identity that he decided to drop the sexuality modifier. his aro-ness made him who he is. it’s all he needs now.

Would they be interested in a QPR? Why or why not?

he doesn’t really feel the need for it. he’s not completely opposed to the idea either. he tells himself that if it happens, then it happens, but a part of him worries that his occasional desire for a qpr is just more internalized arophobia rearing its head, clinging to the idea of a qpp as a placeholder so that he can still achieve the amatonormative goal of a life partner. then he tells that part of him to shut the hell up and leave him alone, he can live his life however he damn well pleases.

if it happens, then it happens.

Final thoughts?

i love aro!Jackson a lot and i will never stop

AAW - Aro Headcanon: Jackson Whittemore

Jackson doesn’t understand why he can’t seem to love Lydia back the way she loves him. He buys into the idea that if you can’t love romantically then you can’t love at all, that he’s broken.

He hates himself for his perceived failure and takes it out on everyone around him. He plays at being heartless because that’s better than admitting to deficiency. He’s terrified of being alone forever but equally scared of living a lie for the rest of his life.

Jackson clings to Danny because he’s the only person he seems to feel the right way about, and he’s so fucking jealous of people like Scott and Allison who make falling in love look quick and easy.

It takes a long time for Jackson to realize that platonic love is fucking important and he doesn’t need romance to be satisfied, but he manages eventually. Finding the term helps, and so does meeting people who identify that way. Other people who feel the same way.

Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV)

Relationships: Stackson, Sterek

Wordcount: ~7.5k

Additional Tags: AU - Human, Established Relationship, Polyamory, queerplatonic relationships, demisexual!Stiles, aromantic!Jackson, asexual!Derek, misunderstandings, jealousy, the friends don't really get it, but they try anyway, 5+1 Things

aromantic!Jackson who doesn’t understand why he can’t seem to love Lydia back the way she loves him

aromantic!Jackson who buys into the idea that if you can’t love romantically then you can’t love at all

aromantic!Jackson who thinks he’s broken

aromantic!Jackson who hates himself and takes it out on everyone around him

aromantic!Jackson who plays at being heartless because that’s better than admitting to brokenness

aromantic!Jackson who is terrified of being alone forever but equally scared of living a lie for the rest of his life

aromantic!Jackson clinging to Danny because he’s the only person he seems to feel the right way about

aromantic!Jackson being so fucking jealous of people like Scott and Allison who make falling in love look quick and easy

aromantic!Jackson finally realizing that platonic love is fucking important and he doesn’t need romance to be satisfied

aromantic!Jackson coming to terms with himself as an individual who doesn’t need a partner to be whole