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Except I cannot and literally would never consent, therefore, it wouldn't be sex or a romantic relationship. Sex and romantic relationships REQUIRE consent to be just that. I CAN'T have sex or a romantic relationship, because I don't WANT to. That's literally how that works. If you do not consent, then you can't. There is no nuance to a firm and sure no.

I challenge Apollo and her red dodgeball!

"Friends are forever!"

"Friends will never disobey you!"

Yeah man. Friendship is the greatest form of relationship.

Especially when they're one of the major source of disappointment,fear and abuse.

When no matter what you do, none of them ever calls you their "best friend" or when they do,it's not genuine & try to manipulate into changing instead.

Hearing from each of them how they'll never leave you, only to let you regret spending the time with them since they just ditched you off like it was nothing.

And when you reconcile with that you'll never be that person for anyone..

Once you mention you'd prefer to not be here, they suddenly tell you how they'd be lost w/no you & that you're their only true friend, you're reconsidering that someone finally thought of what you're doing for them..

They suddenly take a turn,replacing you and saying things as if you never mattered to them.. When you've always been there no matter what.

Bonus if they keep apologizing for being a shit person to you but the next thing they do is just doubling down on what they apologized for.

And then when you're considering ditching them,you realize you cannot since.. You have no other person on the same level as them since..they're irreplaceable.

Made these resources for the Ace group im apart of for Sydney Mardi Gras Fair Day which ended up being cancelled, so I figured I'd post them on here so at least someone can see them!!

Last year was really hard for me as an aroace person especially seeing the resurgence of a lot of the anti-ace and anti-aro rhetoric that was prevalent ten years ago when I first came out, so I wanted to add something positive to the world and maybe educate some people.

MASKING MYTHS BUSTED: “Masking = Acting NT.”

FALSE.

Autistic masking does not necessarily mean “pretending to be allistic/neurotypical," although you’d definitely be forgiven for thinking it does.

Non-autistic researchers have been referring to it as “camouflaging” for years, framing it as an intentional choice to suppress autistic traits and replace them with allistic ones in order to “blend in.” Doing an internet search on the term will return several similar results.

But now, Autistic researchers are in the game, and their take is much more nuanced and comprehensive than that. (Funny how that happens, isn’t it?)

They’ve found that:

- It CAN be intentional but is often subconscious and involuntary 

- It is a protective response to trauma and feeling unsafe 

- It is often about suppressing more than just autistic traits 

- It is about identity management and being able to predict how people will treat you, not just “blending in”

Some people will lean into being “the bad kid” because they know that’s what people expect of them. Some people will even act “more autistic” because they know that’s what people expect of them. Others still will do things to attract attention in controllable, more “acceptable” ways to avoid attracting attention in unsafe, more stigmatizing ways. Not because they WANT to be that way, but because it lets them predict people’s responses better, which feels safer.

Also, there are Autistic people who can’t “pass” for non-autistic no matter how hard they try. That doesn’t mean they’re not masking. They may actually be working hard to suppress A LOT, they just can’t do everything to neuronormative standards.

None of these people will be accused of “blending in,” yet they are still masking their hearts out. When we assume they are not, we miss all the harm that masking is causing them. But they are suppressing themselves and suffering the consequences of that just as much as any Autistic person whose mask successfully says, “Hey, I’m just like you!”