i've been questioning if im arospec for a few months now and its driving me a bit nuts just doing it on my own so-
- I used to think i had crushes but when i look back at them it was just aesthetic attraction
- I love imagining myself in a romantic relationship but whenever someone suggests it irl my gut just goes "oh hell no fuck off". especially when someone says i "need" one
- I only realized recently that the people asking me to prom were in fact, legitimately asking me to prom and not trying to make fun of me. i didnt want to go to prom anyway, the thought of it made me uncomfy and im not sure whether that was anxiety or the romantic part of it
- I didn't realize people actually felt romantic attraction in like, less than a few months of knowing someone. I always thought that it took longer and people who got into relationships in less time than that were just desperate (which is a pretty rude thought of course, i know better now, but i still dont get it yknow?)
I think neurodivergence is definitely affecting my romantic attraction too and i know i could just go unlabeled but im struggling rn
so unfortunately i think i can only provide suggestions for some parts of your ask. i'm not entirely sure about much for the prom bit.
I used to think i had crushes but when i look back at them it was just aesthetic attraction
I didn't realize people actually felt romantic attraction in like, less than a few months of knowing someone
these are both not uncommon experiences in the aro community!! i know i experienced both lmao (or something similar). i know the second one is especially common within the demiromantic community, i believe (do not quote me on this dfjkdf). demiromantic is an orientation where you only feel romantic attraction after forming an emotional bond first.
I love imagining myself in a romantic relationship but whenever someone suggests it irl my gut just goes "oh hell no fuck off"
i think aegromantic might be something you'll want to look into! it's an orientation where you enjoy the idea of romance, but don't want to actually have one. i once heard its sexual counterpart, aegosexual, described as 'in the head, not in the bed', and i think that's a very good description!!
I think neurodivergence is definitely affecting my romantic attraction
there are microlabels for that!! the only one i know of is nebularomantic, which is where your neurodivergence makes it difficult for you to distinguish between romantic and platonic attraction.