#like. i still feel that i do Not experience the construct of romance or romantic feelings. and i do not want to

[green-enby]

Heyo! Have you watched Koisenu Futari (恋せぬふたり, Two people who can't fall in love) yet? It's a great series, just 8 episodes long! I binged it in one day :) [smiley]

It focuses on two aromantic asexual people living together. This is a little appreciation post, containing some thoughts that it evoked in me as an aroace.

If you don't want spoilers, please don't read!

It's so relatable how Sakuko keeps blaming herself all throughout the show… Insecurity stemming from societal expectations that dictate romance is for everyone, and that people who don't date are somehow "failing" in life; I think this affects allos as well.

When I broke off my romantic relationship, I too felt like it had been my fault, for not having been a good enough partner, for not being able to love them in the same way they loved me.

To finally learn that you are not "defective", that there's other people like you…! I love how the two MCs don't grieve their lack of attraction; Sakuko is perfectly happy discovering she's aroace. She and Takahashi are living their "best life" together.

Sure, many aroaces do wish they were allo, and that needs to be represented too, but this series to me really shined a light over why they want that: it's because amatonormativity is rampant in the world, not because lacking attraction is inherently sad. The main conflicts in the series stem from the clash between allo society and the aroace experience, after all. I think that's neat! It gave me a good dose of aroace joy—while still showing the hurts that come with it, realistically—and I really needed it.

I didn't expect her to come out to her family so soon, but whoa, that was intense. Her mother's negative reaction is what all people who exclude a-spec people from the LGBTQIA+ community should see, to understand that we face the same issues they do.

I haven't come out to my parents as aroace yet, and watching this made me realize how awful it actually feels to be in the closet. I somehow hadn't realized I am. I've always felt safe coming out to them as other things, as bisexual back in the day, and as trans non-binary.

It might be because my confidence disappeared when they reacted badly both times, but this coming out feels almost impossible.

Comparing it to coming out as bi, it's really not that different: if you're bi, you're promiscuous and date too many people; if you're aroace, you're a prude and cold-hearted. If you break away from the status quo, you're wrong either way.

But at least, most people do eventually understand the bi experience, if they understand same-gender attraction, and fuse it with straightness, even though it's a flawed method.

With aros and aces, instead, it's such an alien concept for an allo, which makes it way harder to come out and have to explain to them how to deconstruct allo-amatonormativity. It's exhausting. Thankfully, there's people like Kazu who are actually willing to learn about us. That gives me hope.

I feel like it's super eye-opening to find out the concept of romance didn't even exist in the past. Pretty sure that in Europe, it originated during the Middle Ages from the ideal of chivalry. So it's really just a social construct, and opting out of it shouldn't be so controversial!

It's just a set of pointless, annoying rules like having to kiss eachother, having to say "I love you", and doing it all a set amount of times, otherwise it's not good enough. What if we don't want to? What if it doesn't come natural to us? If it's just a social construct, fuck it, I'm not adhering to that! We do whatever makes us happy!

Even in the series itself, Sakuko too goes through a heartbreak, even if it's not the romantic kind: she valued her friendship and future cohabitation with Chizuru above all else, but Chizuru abandoned her, because of romantic love. It's not true that aroaces have it easy.

Like our MC, we have to deal with fear that we'll come off flirty when we're just being friendly, confusion over concepts that we feel we should understand, shame over the fact that we're different, fear of loneliness, frustration and pain that we'll always come second to our friends' romantic partners, or even trauma from a relationship or sexual encounter that we didn't really want. I could go on and on.

These last scenes really got to me. Especially the second one… I admit that I cried, when she had to turn her down, and it seemed like her aromanticism had ruined their relationship. It hurts that the way I am could seriously harm someone I care about. It hurts that most people work differently and that they can't help it, and that we can't help it either. I don't like being put in that position, to cause someone a heartbreak. I have with my ex, and had to watch them spiral down… It was horrible.

Still, I wouldn't change my orientation for the world. I'm confident in my identity, I love being aroace.

In the end, we can all reach our full potential, reach a point where we feel fulfilled and that we're living our best life, find ourselves a family if it's what we want, have our dream job and house. Being aroace doesn't condemn us to a life of unhappiness. That's what this series left me with by the end; it gave me so much hope for my future.

(I'm aware I'm coming off as a bit toxically positive here haha, sorry if I'm striking a bad chord; I'm just in a really good period right now, and riding this wave for as long as I can! Hopefully I can rub it off someone else as well.)

That said, I really loved this j-drama, it was funny and relatable and emotional, I wished it had lasted longer! It seems like the author isn't even aroace herself, so I'm amazed at how good the representation was! So much thought and research has gone into it, and it shows; the result is amazing.

Thanks for reading my scattered thoughts about this! 🧡💛🤍🩵💙

#koisenu futari #aroace representation #aroace #aroace characters #aroace positivity #aphobia #amatonormativity #allonormativity #aspec #aspec character #aspec positivity #aromantic #asexual #aromantic asexual #lgbtqia+ #lgbtqia #queer #queer shows #queer representation #spoilers #canon aroace #aroace character #qpr #found family #coming out #jdrama #japanese series #japan #short series #sa mention

[genderkoolaid]

as an arospec person who has experienced romantic attraction before i want an opinion on posts that are about love being special but deliberately mention on the post itself that the love i'm talking about isn't about people. i find posts that say Loving Other People Is The Most Important Ever and cringe and feel weird but like. what if by love i mean i love the sky and water and my mom's cookies. are those types of posts also not it

To me the real problem is that most (specifically alloro) people have not deeply interrogated what "love" is & how it is constructed & used to control.

What's annoying about posts where people respond to criticisms of love-focus by saying "its not all about romance/people!!" is that they are still taking "love" as this like, platonic ideal which must really exist, instead of a concept we made up in response to emotions & relationships. And, ultimately, I think a lot of this focus on love as the Most Universally Important Thing Ever isn't anti-amatonormative, its just amatonormativity changing itself to avoid criticism, because it still carries the message of "you need to feel this specific emotion and have this specific kind of relationship with people/things or you're Bad."

Like. What do you (general you) mean by "love"? How are you constructing love? Why does it need to be called love at all- why is it so important that the word "love" and all its cultural associations is used here?

I'm very religious and very interested in mysticism, and "love" is used constantly in these areas, so I've had to grapple with this a lot. I don't think anything which praises "love" as important is de facto "not it," I just think that in the vast majority of cases "love" is going unanalyzed and taken as a reality instead of a construct. I think the core of those kinds of "love is all that matters" posts is the significance of being intimately connected with the world, as opposed to distancing yourself from it emotionally or physically. And this doesn't have to be based in physical emotions. But because the general concept of "love" is so heavily tied to feeling a certain way, a lot of people (like aromantics and aplatonics, but also many neurodivergent people) who just don't feel certain things have been alienated by the use of "love." We have been told we are less human, evil, or broken & in need of fixing because we don't experience a certain feeling. So even if there are constructions of love that do not focus on romance or on feelings at all, the word cannot be separated from amatonormative, aphobic constructions either, and its worth it to think about that when talking about love.

Basically the posts themselves (generally) aren't bad, you can make posts celebrating love and talking about its importance to you. But its important to understand love as a construct & why many people dislike the term, and also making sure you are not promoting the idea that you need to feel a certain way to be human, or be a good person, or live a good life.

#m. #ask box

[sweetbottletops]

Aya's horror movie reaction to love talk gets me every time. I'm going to need Chizuru and Kanna to meet at some point.

ch 77

Everyone inviting Chizuru into their romance issues when she seems to have zero first hand romance experience herself is one of the most realist high school things to date.

Highkey liking her taking it to Chizuru after Narita has usually gotten that role when it comes to Mitsuki matters. I don't particularly mind Narita, but you'd expect Chizuru to be Aya's first choice in most things.

It seems like Aya had completely moved on from"Onii-san" talk after the stuff with Mitsuki was sorted wayback. And Chizuru had noticed she was spending all her time with Mitsuki with the jealousy arc so where was the time for this mysterious shop guy anyway?

But now "Onii-san" talk is back and much more advanced from last Chizuru had been updated. If Aya gets her too curious in this advanced relationship she's going to want to meet "him" or at least see a picture.

Already likes her? It's far worse than that, Chizuru. Mitsuki is in a love triangle with her. Between herself, uhhh, her other self, and Aya.

"Do you truly like me?" Chizuru, you magician. Minus all of the existential stuff that's the issue.

We can see Aya has liked Mitsuki for 99% of the manga, and Mitsuki likes being liked by her, but she still can't believe Aya could mean those feelings to her and not some kind of "Onii-san" construct. (And it's not like she can overhear Aya's romantic feelings directly again like when she was Clark Kenting it at school.)

*flashback music number*

Mitsuki has a hard time believing she'd be her friend even when Aya has long been wanting to take up even more space in her life than that. Aya likes her to the point she feels guilty about it.

After getting hit with the "friend" word back then ("...totes embawkward!") she lost some momentum, but Aya has fought back and finally has someone saying maybe Mitsuki is acting this way because she likes her back.

Yo. A new Koga just dropped.

"Can I think Koga-san likes me? No, no way. No way, but still." Wow, her brain. She's been thinking about it but now she's VALIDATED. Thanks Chizuru.

Side note: Aya's Koga-vision she isn't exactly "Onii-san" which is interesting in the context of the conversation.

"What should I do to give (her) some attention?" I wonder if she will act on some Chizuru plan that is tailored to some imagined dude or if it will be Aya scheming on her own. Worst case is Chizuru asks about a romance update in front of Koga at school. Coming full circle.

*flashback*

She's upgraded from an emo fish to an emo puppy.

#the guy she was interested in wasn't a guy at all #arai sumiko #green manga #manga #yuri

[aroace-ventplace]

I don't know how to put this right. I really hate qprs, I hate how they're just pushed as "relationship for aspecs" not just in fandom but real life. I hate just the emphasis on lifelong friendships and alternative deep relationships. It drives me up a wall, this seeking out for relationships "equivelant" in depth and closeness to romantic partners without the romance or sex. Maybe this isn't me being aroace? Maybe I really am aplatonic also? But I can't stand the thought of suffering a relationship that suffocatingly close, that's how I knew I was aromantic and I feel like I'm going crazy every time I see other aros and aces lamenting and mourning never getting to have such a deep relationship. Familial relationshipd are the best, because they have a limit to their passive degredation. My cousin doesn't mind it's been 2 years since we talked she still invites me over to her house to see her and talk! Friends are already exhausting what on earth could possibly ever make someone want to deal with something even more than that! What's so appealing about it? What is it everyone even other aros see in these relationships that make them lament lacking them? I can't see anything but cons. It feels like when people get upset about a friendship ending, I'll never understand that drive. I've never felt expected to have a romance or sex life, but I've always felt expected to want an equivelant, to "not be alone" and I can't tell how much of it is subtler forms of amatonormativity and how much of it is just spectrum.... I don't even know what I'm ranting about anymore...

i definitely relate to a lot of what you’re saying. the a-spectrum is so wide that constructs that are really important to one part of the community (like qprs) can make other people (non-partnering aros like myself) feel alienated all over again. this is a bit of a messy subject to tackle, but personally, the idea of being in a qpr fills me with the same kind of revulsion i feel towards being in a more “traditional” relationship. i’m genuinely happy for the aspecs who feel comfortable in qprs—it’s just not something that’ll ever fit me, and that boundary can sometimes feel a bit isolating in general aspec spaces.

i… can’t really discuss aplatonicism/friendships without bringing up the fact that i’m autistic (as are many aspec people). to me, autism feels like being an alien that’s forced to pretend to be human. i don’t understand other people, and most of them don’t understand me, and trying to keep up with them is exhausting; it’s easier for me to just keep my distance. i do have people i consider friends, but what i define as a “friendship” looks very different from what society expects it to be. as an autistic person, most of my relationships are less… “intense,” i guess. prolonged social interaction just isn’t something i’m suited for, and that’s how my brain works, and it’s fine—just like it’s fine how i don’t experience “romance” in the societally expected way.

sorry for the rambling; if nothing else, i hope it at least helped you feel like there’s someone else out there who’s experiencing the same things as you. best of luck!!

#ask #anonymous #aromantic #asexual #aplatonic #autism #<- 6-hit ‘a’ combo… nice

[colorisbyshe]

It upsets me how asexuality became mainstream and accepted in a decade. I wish it didn't, but it does. Aces became a protected class in NY before trans people. In only a decade ace characters started popping on mainstream media. Asexuality became a topic of conversation in mainstream news and academia. It took centuries for LGBT people and we're still not seated at the table. Why? How did this happen? Is it bc the cissexist, heterosexist, ableist, white patriarchy isn't threatened by asexuality?

I don't know if I hate that it has become mainstream and accepted. I don't think that's the problem.

I think it is good for all types of experiences nad identities to be represented and I think it is good to push back romance and sex as the end all, be all of human experience and provide other perspectives. I think it's good to tighten up laws to avoid any prejudice, even if that prejudice isn't happening regularly. I think there are a lot of non-ace and non-aro peopel who ALSO benefit from a lot of these considerations--lots of romantic loveless, sexless people who are perpetually single or more interested in other things or whatever who also get rep.

This also does challenge the nuclear family construction. As more people forgo marriage or typical family units, showing more ways to live is ALWAYS good. Creating more legal considerations for say... people outside of romantic relationships who want to adopt or own property or rent or whaevr is great!

I just think the haste in which asexuality got acceptance (INCLUDING a lot of harmful elements of the ace community like the split attraction model and rhetoric that you can enjoy sex without attraction in a longterm relationship) just sort of highlights the point I have been making this entire time--asexuality is not discriminated against in any meaningful way.

And I think asexuality and aromanticism do tend to fit into the largely white, (culturally) christian societal norms.

We live in a society that shames sex, that wants sex to either sell shit (which isn't about the sexual object feeling atttraction, just having people being attracted to THEM) or for children (so, again, no sexual attraction required) or for outrage/shock (which... again no attraction needed). Throwing in sexless rep wasn't... a shift?

There are lots nad lots and LOTS of sexless characters in media and there always have been. We can now just slap a label on them and it counts as diverse rep. Which IS less threatening than having like... horny (or even textually sexless) gay rep. Or trans rep.

And legally... "protecting" ace people requires... almost zero shift in like... any behaviour. If there was no massive form of legal prejudice (and there asn't, there has been little to no documented LEGAL discrimination against asexuality), there's no... people to pushback against asexuals becoming a protected class.

Asexual representation--in media, in the law--is an easy slamdunk. Because... there is no powerful discriminatory class to say no.

And it's also because most discrimination people class as "aphobia" really has no basis in asexuality and is broader social concerns like... mostly misogyny. So, when you have these legal protects for the ace part, all the bad behaviour that aces are concerned about still gets to happen to everyone else and probably still quite a few aces.

No change is actually required.

#ive said it amny times #i think if the ace community teamed up with feminists #and like.. got over themselves #they'dbe a GREAT force to combat rape culture #unfortunately #aces would rather contribute to rape culture than fight it #w hich sucks but i'm not wrong #ace discourse

[dazedpuppydairies]

Sometimes I feel conversations surrounding ace-spec and aro-spec experiences are presented to monolithic. Of course I'm not referring to when people are specifically describing their own experience; however, when speaking about the communities as a whole I wish there was more emphasis on the diversity of experiences amongst ace and aro people. I'm not saying this is always an issue in ace and aro spaces, but it has negatively affected me personally. If this isn't something that you've noticed that's fair. Maybe this is a niche topic, not sure.

For example when people broadly say aromantic people don't date that generalization feels exclusionary to me. A lot of aromantic people myself included do date and even if most aromantic people don't date it doesn't make that generalization a good representation of the community as a whole. I have a similar issue when people broadly say asexuals don't have sex. My friend's old partner one time essentially harassed me in my own discord server for identifying as a sex favorable asexual because I was apparently misrepresenting the community. She also repeatedly told me it just sounded like I'm demisexual.

Though I don't personally identify as demisexual or demiromantic myself I do have the impression this issue is part of why demi people are often so othered. I've noticed this in the ace community especially, demisexuals are sometimes othered and seemingly seen as kind of separate from the ace community. I think this is also because demisexuality is a very misunderstood identity too. I just wanted to highlight demi erasure because I think it's a part of this conversation even though I'm not demi myself.

I think in conversations about asexuality and aromanticism it's sometimes forgotten the orientations describe having little or no sexual and/or romantic attraction. Having little or no attraction doesn't necessarily dictate your desires. Yes asexual and aromantic can also describe a disconnect from normative societal expectations, due to feeling repulsed by sex/romance, or being uninterested in sexual/romantic relationships, but they're not mutually exclusive. You can have little or no sexual attraction or romantic attraction and still be interested in sex and/or dating. You can want to participate in traditionally sexual coded and/or romantic coded things and still be asexual and/or aromantic. Both are valid experiences that should be equally represented while defining the community as a whole.

Rather than saying, "aromantic people don't date" if that person said, "a lot of aromantic people don't date" I feel simply including the "a lot of" part would make the statement so much more inclusive. I recognize that it's likely most asexuals don't engage in sex and it's likely most aromantics don't engage in romance as a part of their asexuality or aromanticism, but that doesn't change that there's still a chunk of ace and/or aro people who do.

I feel kinda bad making such a big deal of this, but again it is something that has genuinely negatively affected me. I understand do to amatonormativity not being interested in sex or romance can be an extremely alienating experience in our society and I want to respect that. I understand why it's so important emphasizing the validity of not being interested in a sexual or romantic relationship for example and I want to uplift aces and aros with that experience so I feel kind of shitty making a big deal out of this. I recognize because I do date for example in that way I fit more into amatonormative standards and I'm not trying to overlook that. At the same time as an aroace who does participate in sex, dates, etc I often feel like I don't exactly belong in either space which is very frustrating.

I just wanted to share my feelings on this and feel free to give constructive critique.

#lgbtq+ #queer #asexuality #aromanticism #aromantic #asexual #ace #aro #amatonormativity

[junosmindpalace]

I just saw the post and I'm going CRAZY!!!! 💕💕💕 This feels so accurate?! I was seriously impressed! and I loved how detailed senku thoughts and feelings towards the reader💗💗💗💗 god this was such a good job thank you!!!!!!👏👏👏👏 and honestly this is so good I want a part 2 to this but not now!! I know you have other requests to deal with so please when you're done with them and get the rest that you deserve I'd love to see a part 2 where after the war senku sees his crush is being courted and flirted with by non other than ryusui who has his eyes on them and probably won't give up any time soon😉 maybe this will force senku to finally admit his love to them???

((pls don't overwork yourself or anything just take this when your open for requests again! after a break or do whatever you want! I'm good with anything so it's your call and again thanks!! this was so good probably my favorite interpretation of senku being in love 😊))

THANK YOU for giving me an opportunity to indulge in a jealous senku concept. I'm an absolute sucker for jealousy tropes (when they arent. weird). and thank you so much for your kind words and patience!! i take special attention to writing the characters as accurately as i can because i know from experience that there are many instances where characters are soo extremely ooc and it takes away from the writing a bit. Im so glad you liked your request and i hope you enjoy this one as well!

please note that i struggled with writing the ending so pardon me if it seems rushed ;,)

wc: 2.9k

tw: none!

Constructive feedback is always welcome! I'm always looking to improve!

Senku feels humiliated by how much his illogical feelings are consuming his thoughts and controlling his behavior recently. He’s surprised that more people don’t take his insistence that romance is a burden to heart, because his romantic feelings are slowly starting to make his head spin. 

Ryusui’s arrogance and overwhelming personality were already bad enough, but Senku thinks that his interest in you is far worse.  

The (former?) billionaire goes from insufferable to almost intolerable as soon as Senku catches sight, or hell, even sound, of the two of you together. Ryusui constantly compliments you and makes you laugh, makes not so subtle physical contact and consults with you about everything. He frequently lavishes you with the wealth he was able to quickly reobtain in the stone world, and all the more frequently reminds you that he desires you in one way or another. 

His boisterous attitude and advances onto you make Senku’s blood boil.

The battle against Tsukasa had been won for good. Tsukasa had surrendered and Hyoga, defeated; one behind bars, the other in a deep frozen sleep. Tsukasa had sustained a fatal injury from Hyoga, and his only chance of survival was to be killed and freezed in a cryogenic chamber until means to revive him were available. Despite their battles, Tsukasa was still one of Senku’s first allies, and putting him in such a vulnerable state was emotionally tough on the scientist. Throughout it all, your presence was comforting, and so was the fact that there was no threat to hurriedly prepare to fight. Senku could finally begin unraveling the petrification mystery, and his plan included making a ship to travel to multiple destinations around the globe in. It was around this time that the reality of the situation really settled into Senku’s head: there was no threat, and his heart was still racing around you. 

It seemed that ever since Senku realized he was in love with you, his feelings have been growing more and more, despite him wanting the opposite to happen. He found his palms clamming up whenever he was around you, his head bowed just the slightest bit lower. He was becoming hyper aware of the way he acted toward and around you, and it embarrassed him to no end, struggling to stop himself from acting so out of character even if it was in the subtlest of ways. 

Senku did a lot of reflecting during this prepping period. Tsukasa was only one out of many challenges awaiting. With Senku’s plan to travel around the world, it was only logical for him to consider the prospect of more danger lying ahead. There was much to be done and a lot more responsibility to take on, and so maybe Senku, for the sake of your safety and the mission, should just continue to keep his feelings secret. 

And he was ready to commit to this decision until Ryusui’s revival. 

He tried so hard to not let his logic fly out the window every time he found himself annoyed at Ryusui. At first, he refused to let himself admit he’s jealous. It’s just illogical! Why would he be jealous of anything or anyone? You two aren’t dating and you’re entitled to making friends- hell, you’re entitled to dating whoever you please! Senku doesn’t have a say in your personal affairs and certainly has no valid reason to feel jealous of your relationship with the captain. Which is why he concludes that he isn’t. The persistent annoyance must just be Ryusui himself. Senku was caught off guard by him in their first meeting. 

And yet, subconsciously, he always has his eye on the two of you, straining to overhear conversations about you both. He can’t help himself. Senku continues to go about his work but he also trains himself to multitask when you’re in the vicinity. Any outsider would probably fall for Senku’s act, but his sly mentalist friend, Gen Asagiri, knows better. 

A short while after Senku’s realization, Gen figured out that the scientist had finally recognized his feelings. He hasn’t been loud about it for the most part, but just because Gen has the decency of not proclaiming Senku’s romantic affection for you outwardly doesn't mean the Kingdom of Science leader was immune to his smirks and side-eyes. Gen refused to leave Senku alone about his attempts at disguising his jealousy, immediately seeing through his act and relentlessly teasing and taunting him, his words resonating with Senku’s intrusive thoughts about you and Ryusui’s relationship. 

“If you don’t make a move before our charismatic Ryusui, dear Y/N may end up falling for his charm.” 

Senku scoffed. “Yeah, right. Like Y/N is the kind of person to fall for someone as demanding as Ryusui.” But Gen could see the flicker of emotion cross his face. The corners of his mouth turned downward, his eyes widened in alarm, all for a brief second before he composed himself again. The idea makes him nervous, Gen could tell that much, and deep down, Senku hated himself for finding it a little nauseating. 

And so it was that conversation with Gen that made Senku realize that he couldn’t deny his feelings of jealousy any longer. He did everything he could to bury his intrusive thoughts into the farthest parts of his brain, to snuff out the fire that blazed in his chest whenever he worked with you, exchanging witty comments with you, your laugh and your brilliant ideas. But no matter what, he’d find it next to impossible. His feelings for you were already illogical, and he so desperately wished that they would stop piling up on one another, especially during such a crucial time for the Kingdom of Science. 

Again, he cannot help himself. He wasn’t content with simply being by your side anymore. He wanted to be by your side as something more, but seemingly, so did Ryusui.

Poor dude had a million mental battles waging in his head because who cares if he isn’t content? His desperate attempt at pushing down these illogical thoughts and feelings, his refusal to confess- it was all for the sake of the future. Being in a romantic relationship, especially with the Kingdom of Science’s unique circumstances (“unique” as in “rebuilding civilization”), wouldn’t be easy. He wouldn’t want to put strain on you or on the team’s mission. 

Yet again, Senku’s illogical side would come out, but with this thought, it was disguised as logic. Maybe, just maybe, Senku’s feelings and desire to stay by your side as something more was worth a shot if he was even contemplating it. Yup, this was Senku’s logical side. That’s what Senku convinced himself of, anyway. 

-

To Senku’s despair, Ryusui hadn’t shown any sign of backing down from you.

He��d been hoping that the captain would eventually quit his antics, that’d he get busy with his tasks as one of the crew’s leaders, so that Senku’s uncomfortable feelings would also back down and leave him to focus on more important matters. Unfortunately , Ryusui wasn’t the type of person to give up on something. If anything, the two of you had only gotten closer. 

Your curiosity and passion for learning had led you to become intrigued by Ryusui, similarly to how you were interested in Senku’s science knowledge. You would peer at sprawls of maps and other gadgets over Ryusui’s shoulder and ask questions that he gladly welcomed, leaning his head toward yours as he talked to you about different locations on his map. You’d asked him about his life before the petrification, admittedly a little starstruck to be working with a former celebrity, and he’d tell you about Nanami Corp, growing up with his ambition and his desires. As upfront as Ryusui was, you had developed a good friendship with him.

You weren’t oblivious though; you could catch on to Ryusui’s flirting when it came up. Kohaku would nudge you with a smirk whenever she caught the two of you lost in conversation, as if the small act implied that the two of you were something more than friends. You’d only roll your eyes and shoo her away with a laugh, which, from Senku’s point of view, was confirmation that the two of you had mutual romantic feelings for one another. 

You were confronted one night during the crew's voyage to America. A ray of moonlight reflected into the sleeping quarters through open circular windows, small waves crashing against the side of the Perseus. You had been lying on your back in a small compartment with a creaky bed, hair sprawled on your pillow and your hands crossed over your stomach. Looking up, you saw the bottom of Chrome’s bed, a duplicate of yours with the exception that it was only centimeters higher. ‘Bunking with Chrome was a mistake’, you thought to yourself. His constant shifting and snores made it difficult for you to drift off to sleep yourself, and so you had settled with trying to focus your attention on the soothing rocking of the Perseus against the water. 

As you slowly started feeling yourself relax and letting your consciousness drift off for the night, a gentle knocking was heard beside you, forcing your eyes open. At the noise, Chrome murmured and once again turned, the bed creaking with his movement. You sighed and opened your eyes, slowly turning toward the sound. The remains of sleep slowly faded as your eyes  met Senku’s.

 “Senku? Why are you awake…?” 

He was leaning against the side of the wall closest to your lower bunker, alarmed red irises eyeing you up and down and shoulders raised to his ears. He must have moved out of bed and across the room when you had briefly dozed off. He let out a deep exhale and stuck his pinky finger in his ear. “Follow me, okay?”

You blinked. Senku retrieving you in the dead of night while the rest of the crew was asleep was unusual, even for him. He would surely be alerting the ship if there was some sort of impending danger- his voice definitely wouldn’t be so low and airy- so you ruled it out as a possibility. He didn’t look scared, just tense, and you couldn’t figure out why. But you trusted him, and so all you replied with was, “okay”.

You rubbed your eyes as the two of you ascended up the stairs, Senku reminding you to keep a hand on the rail as he led you onto the docks. The late breeze made yours and Senku’s hair and clothing ripple through the air, but you shivered in satisfaction at the refresher. The sleeping quarters were stuffy and cramped, and it felt nice indulging in the coolness of the night. 

Senku didn’t intentionally pick this specific night to talk to you about his feelings, but even he could appreciate the peaceful and slightly romantic atmosphere. The docks were bathed in the full moon’s soft glow, illuminating your figures as if mimicking a stage light. The air was cool against his skin, blowing the hair out of your faces so as to properly gaze at the sparkling sea and into each other's faces. There was no bustling activity, no orders to be given, no plans to continue formulating. It was just the two of you, the twinkling stars above and the quiet splashing of water. This was it. 

After a couple moments of the two of you simply staring ahead, your scientist friend sighed and turned toward you. “So, I may as well make this to the point. You better be awake because I don’t want to repeat myself.” You looked puzzlingly at Senku, who stared at you with a small frown. He looked uncomfortable, and as if he were biting back something important. You searched each other's eyes before Senku suddenly closed his, bringing a hand to his face. “Heh, heh, heh…I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Huh? Doing what?”

He looked up at you and straightened his back, letting his hand fall down to his belt. “I’ve developed romantic feelings for you, Y/N.”

The previous silence fell between the two of you again. You stared at Senku with wide eyes and your mouth half open in shock, your tired brain slowly processing his words. He said it so casually that if you weren’t intrigued by his mysterious invitation, you would’ve missed it. Senku stiffened under your dumbfounded gaze and teared his eyes away from yours. “I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter what, my troublesome feelings pose an inconvenience. I could’ve kept my mouth shut, like I was planning to do, but if I let Ryusui continue with his antics, I might develop some sort of harsh feelings toward the two of you, hindering our abilities to work together.”

Ryusui? Ryusui’s antics? You reflected briefly before your eyes widened in knowing. Senku must’ve caught on to Ryusui’s flirting just as you had. Did that mean,-you could hardly wrap your head around the thought- that Senku was jealous of him?

“But my feelings are already a distraction for me, and a burden onto you. I’m sorry.” 

You couldn’t find the words, so you couldn’t help but continue silently staring at him. You were convinced that this unbelievable night was a weird dream, hardly believing that Senku Ishigami was admitting to having feelings for you.

“I’m…hoping that by telling you, it’ll get rid of these feelings so I can focus on more important things.”

“Why do you want to be rid of your feelings?”

Senku looked caught off guard. It was the first time you had spoken after his confession. “Like I said, they’re a distraction. I can’t focus with them nagging at me. I’m hoping that by confessing, my feelings will go away with the stress of having to keep them to myself lifted off my chest, and I can focus on the mission. I don’t have to be jealous of you and Ryusui, and can leave the two of you alone.” 

That’s right. His feelings will go away and you and Ryusui would be able to pursue your romantic interests in one another without his jealousy nagging at him. Ryusui was a great fit for you- more physically fit than he, and no idiot either. It would all work out. 

“Do you think I…have feelings for Ryusui?” Something about the tremble in your voice irritated him. You looked to be biting back a laugh, as if the question were absurd to even be asking. He was already embarrassed enough by your earlier dumbfounded gaze, but something about you finding him amusing was somehow worse. “Don’t you?” 

You could help but laugh at his deadpan expression and tone, but you quickly composed yourself when he gave you a pointed look. “I don’t have any feelings for Ryusui. He’s intriguing, definitely. Smart, funny, and not bad looking. But, to quote the two of you, I don’t desire him romantically one millimeter.” 

It wasn’t all that evident on his face, but Senku truly was surprised. From how much time you spent together (and how physically close the two of you could get), he was sure that the two of you had something going on. It wouldn’t be his first time falsely predicting someone’s intentions, though. 

“So um…you really want to get rid of your feelings? No exceptions?”

At this question, Senku was visibly surprised. “Exceptions such as?”

“Me liking you back?”

His eyes widened and he searched your face for any trace of it being hypothetical. Of course he considered the possibility of you reciprocating his feelings, but he found it unlikely. He expected rejection, maybe some anger and disgust, but instead you were hinting at the fact that-

“You have feelings for me?” 

“Yeah.”

-

A little into the afternoon the following day, Senku invited Ryusui to talk privately on the docks. He felt that he owed the captain an explanation, with him attempting to pursue you and all. He revealed to Ryusui what he revealed to you that night and what the two of you discussed. 

Senku’s plan was to confess with the intention of getting rid of his romantic feelings entirely, not just his jealousy. But when he found out that you reciprocated his feelings and wanted to try becoming something more than friends, his perspective on the matter shifted. Romance was never something that either of you were very experienced in or knowledgeable about. Sure, Senku could tell you the technicalities of it, but he never found himself longing for a romantic partner until his feelings of jealousy provoked him to think about his relationship with you. Senku’s fears still stood, but he wanted to cave into his illogical side, even if it meant taking some risks. So, the two of you came to an agreement that you wouldn’t officially label yourselves, but let see where your feelings and the journey ahead took the two of you. 

The entire time, Ryusui listened with drawn brows. When Senku finished, Ryusui could only look downward. The lines on his forehead creased together and he smiled a sad sort of smile, an almost knowing smile. After some silence, he spoke. “Above all, I desire Y/N’s happiness, and so if you can give them that, then that’s enough for me.” 

Senku mimicked his expression, keeping his eyes fixed on Ryusui. He straightened a bit when his friend finally met his eyes again. “I never want to see them frowning, you got that, Senku?” 

Senku chuckled. “Loud and clear.”

#dr stone oneshot #dr stone x reader #dr stone headcanons #dr stone hcs #dr stone fanfiction #senku headcanons #senku ishigami x reader #senku ishigami oneshot #senku x reader #senku x you #dr stone senku #dr stone #dr stone drabbles #senku ishigami headcanons

[dewphox]

I can’t believe people would use a being that is a homage to the late Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, as uwu-waifu bullshit.

So disrespectful.

I see where you're coming from, though I don't think that the way you are going about it is constructive or appropiate at all. Since you're on anon I can't say for sure if you're like 10 or 30, but I'm not mad either way.

So yeah I wanna give an honest answer to this, if anyone else feels the same way and maybe wants to have a discussion (though the whole anon thing feels like talking to a wall) you can really just talk to me. Ngl I am incredibly emotional and quick to get defensive, but the beauty of messages on the internet is is that I can give myself time to calm down and be rational and process these emotions before I respond. So Anon I hope that once you've hopefully seen my response that if you still feel a certain type of way about it that you can maybe give me the same courtesy. I just think that there's enough hate to hate communication on the internet already and I'd honestly truly appreciate the effort.

To start of I think it's ignorant to say that how I choose to enjoy my favourite media is ''uwuw-waifu bullshit''. People enjoy different things in many different ways. The way I do it is no different from D&D. There is a world with lore and characters that i adore and I love it so much that I want to experience it through something I've made. Making a character for a franchise is connected to so much research on the source material, as careful as it was crafted I take the time to think of many different ways to integrate a whole new person that hypothetically could fit like a DLC or you know, my player character (sometime it is more indepth than other times, but I always do research one way or the other).

Being put into Links shoes is a predetermined lens which i can enjoy as it's own story, but to me, I like to be a part of it either with a straight insert or an otherwise character of my own making. A tale of legend and heroic deeds is but one perspective and I love to see in what different ways this story or world can be enjoyed and looked at. And i don't think that this is wrong or something to look down upon. Just as is romance within that world and other bonds and relationships one will create and connect to their creation. Like how I made the windfish my OC's Father.

It is so much more than you make it out to be and I have had so many people throuought my art journey come to me and grief because they were bullied for simply having an oc be romantic with a canon character or god forbid a selfinsert or mary sue (and most of them were children, though I was more sad about the adults who's passion was taken from them before they could fully explore it). It is makebelief and hurts no one just because these people decided to share these scenarios with other people. I hope that in the future you can be less dismissive about that. I think it's important that we take the time to be kind, even if there's something we might disagree with and want to debate.

Now to the main point. To put it simply I think a character is allowed to be it's own entity regardless of intent, if ofcourse the intent isn't explicitly stated. (Like for example when they literally have Barack obama as a character in South park etc. Then that's not a refrence but a depicition) Which in this case it isn't actually. While researching what came up was filled with ''maybe'', ''possibly'', ''probably'' etc. More importantly though the game itself never states it and a game and franchise should always be able to be judged on it's contents alone wihtout outside remarks people may or may not have made.

Then there's also another character within the game. Botrick. His wiki also eludes to the fact that he might be a homage to Satoru. Wikis however are all written by fans and we can all just speculate even if the probability is very likely. The difference however is that Botrick shares a similar appearance with Satoru while the lord of the mountain has a similar name and I think both are tributes in their own right. Though Botrick may be a physical reference while Satori is a sort of spiritual tribute to him as a mentor and guardian figure. But it's still it's own character. Both of these characters aren't Satoru, the same as how actors aren't synonymous with the characters they play.

Also what if someone doesn't do deep dives into wikis and articles and forums? What if someone simply plays the game, enjoys it and make characters, contents AU's for it? What if had only read the genral wiki and not scrolled down to the trivia section where people first brought up it might be a tribute? I don't think that it should be neccessary to first get a bachelors degree in order to enjoy a game in fear of missing a detail that although never mentioned in the game was once maybe hinted at by someone. It feels like a roundabout and tiring way to enjoy a medium. And you should give people a fair chance and not come at them so aggressively, even if you're emotionally charged.

Having said all that, I was actually hesitant to make this idea I had using Satori for the same reason haha. Since I generally don't like characters that are meant to be real life people ( the same I don't like to ship with characters that are in canon relationships (hence i dropped Sidon UU ). With Satori however I felt it's removed enough that it's not an issue for me as explained above.

But I'm not opposed to the idea of changing a few things up! Names are changed in the blink of an eye and i am not uncreative enough to be incabalbe of thinking of different ways to incorporate my design into the lore. I could make it a blupee instead, or a descendant, or otherwise further removed entity with close ties to Satori. (My OC Dreem was close to being something like that before I thought of the windfish!) I simply adore these nature god archetypes like the forest god in princess mononoke and since in it's lore Satori was a sage before that died the idea of a humanoid version wasn't too far off for me.

So yeah, tell me what you think, I'm open for discussion and how other people see it as long as you give me the same courtesy and time that I did to formulate an appropiate response! I hope that we can all be kind to eachother and I wish you all a wonderful day!

#i actually wrote a different and longer answer #more detailed but it broke on me #it was so much omg I cry it was so good and nicely phrased #so sorry if this sounds less that #I wanted to answer and there's a lot that needed to be brought up #but like #it already took me hours the first time :')

[acacia-may]

Hey so... does anyone who has ever actually written a kiss scene before maybe want to take a look at this one from one of my pending wips, please?👉👈 🙈

I don't generally write romance, and I think I've only written a handful of kisses in my life. I usually just prefer to just say something like "and then they kissed" and leave it at that lol. 😂 However, my sister was teasing me about it a little recently saying that I can really only write one (1) kiss scene and just keep writing the same thing over and over 😅 So I was really trying to push myself this time...

I tried to include some of the buildup and a little bit of the aftermath in this snippet so it isn't completely out of context, but I'm mostly just concerned about the actual kissing part...😅 That said, I would really appreciate any constructive feedback (even if you’ve never written a kiss scene) since I've been struggling with this for a while. Thank you so much for taking a look at it! 💕

And yes, it is Kelbrey... They're probably my favorite pairing at the moment. I have written a kiss scene for them before, but this is a very different take...[but thankfully, in a post-good ending universe this time 😅]

(Warnings: arguing, French kissing, punching, brief mention of blood, brief mention of alcohol but they are aged-up here and therefore of legal drinking age)

“I’m done, okay?” she cut him off with biting words. “I’m not going to stand here and let you blame me for wasting your time and holding you back, when you’re the one who’s out here running after me. I never asked you to do any of that."

“I know you didn’t. That’s not what I’m—” Kel stopped abruptly, gripping his hands into frustrated fists. “Aubrey, you’re not listening to—”

“No, you’re not listening,” she interjected. “If you want something, go ahead, Kel. Go for it. Fight for it. I’m not stopping you.”

Aubrey huffed, standing on her toes and leaning towards him, so close he could feel her warm, huffy breath brushing against his skin. When she met his eyes, he could scarcely catch his own breath. It got caught in his chest as he watched her bite down hard on her lip. His trembling hands were slick with sweat, and he swallowed hard, desperately trying to clear that dryness from his mouth. He considered trying to stumble over his words again, but when he opened his mouth, he choked on anything he could possibly say, overwhelmed by how close she was. If he wanted, he could reach out and touch her—stroke her cheek, run her hair through his fingers, even kiss…

“What is it that you even want, Kel? Do you even know?” Her voice, shaky but insistent, cut through his thoughts. “Huh? What do you want?"

It happened too quickly for Kel to even process what he was doing. He grabbed her face in his hands and leapt forward—his mouth crashing against hers, frantic yet effortless. It was almost as if his body was moving on its own, finally snapping under the pressure of her forceful questions, argumentative taunts, and the pent-up romantic frustration he had been carrying around for far too long. At that moment, his head was empty apart from the desperation to answer her question and the knowledge he had already tripped over his words enough. He could only hope that the fervid yearning of his kiss screamed “You! I want to be with you!” far louder than any words.

He felt her jerk backwards in surprise, but she didn’t break their kiss. Instead, she gripped the collar of his shirt and—could he even bring himself to believe it—pulled him closer to her. When she was finally flush against his chest, he tangled his hand in her hair. That ardent longing clawed at the ache in his chest as his heart raced. He could feel the softness of her cheek, the brush of the side of her nose. He could smell that faint watermelon of her shampoo in her hair, could taste that lingering rum and cola on her lips, but it still somehow felt like an out of body experience—almost like it was all happening to someone else while he could only just stand there awestruck and completely overwhelmed by her.  

She sighed against his mouth—her lips finally parting enough to allow his tongue to dart between them. A strangled yelp got caught in the back of her throat mingling with the sound of distant thunder and skidding tires on the street. Almost immediately, she pushed him away with a forceful shove, and before he could even think of what to say, of how to even begin to apologize or explain, her fist collided with his nose.

"Ow!" Kel struggled to catch his breath as he groaned in pain, cursing under his breath and reaching up to instinctively grab his throbbing nose. What had just happened? Had he really…had he finally kissed Aubrey? Had she kissed him back? And then…had she broken his nose? That last part made sense at least.

“What the hell was that, Kel?” she snapped between heavy, gasping breaths.

“I don’t—I don’t know. I can’t—” he stopped abruptly gripping his throbbing nose with his hand. He couldn’t think—too distracted by his pounding heartbeat, swirling head, and aching nose to even begin to process what had happened. He wiped a thin stream of blood onto the back of his hand. “You—you punched me in the nose!”

“You stuck your tongue in my mouth,” she snapped at him, and he flushed red, though he was sure his face must have been crimson already.

“Yeah…” he sheepishly admitted. She seemed far more upset about that than he was expecting. Was he just a terrible kisser? Truthfully, he didn’t have much—he cleared his throat—any experience, but that was usually how people kissed in movies, wasn’t it? And when she had finally opened her mouth, it had just felt right, had felt incredible to… He stopped and swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I…I won’t do it again.”

“Why did you do it now?” Aubrey demanded. Her eyes were wide, and her face was flushed red. Was she really that angry? Kel shuffled his feet and shrugged his shoulders.

“I dunno…” he mumbled. “Look, Aubrey…I’m sorry. Can we just…take it back—pretend it never happened?”

“This isn’t something you can just take back, Kel. You just French kissed me in the middle of the street!”

“Actually, this is a sidewalk," he teased in an attempt to lighten the mood though he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

#honestly this could be terrible #send help #kelbrey #omori baseball #omori baseball bat #kissing #the roughest draft #will probably delete this #wip snippet #fic snippet #my writing

[pocketweiss]

RWBY Characters’ Favorite Taylor Swift Albums!

In honor of the release of Speak Now TV, I present to you my long-awaited thoughts on which Taylor Swift albums would be the RWBY characters’ favorites! I tried to pick at least one character for each album (except evermore bc I just haven’t listened to it enough I’m so sorry evermore I’ll get to u I promise) RWBY also has a million characters so there are several who I have not (yet) given an album to.

(I also WILL be taking constructive criticism; I want to know if y’all disagree with my choices and/or which albums you think other characters would like!)

Ruby: Red (Taylor’s Version)

I know it’s *so* on the nose, but I couldn’t not choose it. Besides, I do genuinely believe that Ruby would love this album. This is an album she can appreciate all throughout her character arc. She loves to jam to the upbeat songs during the early volumes, and then in the later volumes when she’s in her Mental Illness Era, she gains a new appreciation for the sadder songs.

Favorite Song: At first her favorite is Stay Stay Stay, but around v8-9, she’s listening to Nothing New on repeat.

(Also, NO ONE let Taiyang get his hands on All Too Well ten minute version. He will never recover.)

Weiss: folklore

Folklore is for the depressed girlies, the burnt-out gifted kids, the perfectionists, and those who feel out of place. Weiss can certainly relate, so songs like this is me trying resonate strongly with her. And the last great american dynasty?? That one hits a little too close to home as well.

Favorite Song: mirrorball. I mean, come on. Any song that has mirror imagery/symbolism is so Weiss-coded. And the song as a whole is so her.

Blake: also folklore

Blake loves folklore for entirely different reasons than Weiss does. Blake is both a hopeless romantic and a lover of stories, so the trilogy of betty, august, and cardigan are right up her alley. (Those three songs also somewhat fit the v4-6 perspectives of Blake, Sun, and Yang, respectively. Just think about it.)

Favorite Song: betty. Again, just think about it.

Yang: 1989

Yang is absolutely an enjoyer of upbeat pop music. It’s great music to work out to, and in general gets her pumped up and makes her feel hot and powerful. Plus, even a lot of the sad songs on this album are less melancholic and more intense. She can easily channel any anger she has into these songs. Even when she’s in her angstiest moments, Yang still wants to be able to jam out.

Favorite Song: Bad Blood (though v4-5 Yang has a special appreciation for All You Had To Do Was Stay. Just think about it.)

Jaune: Debut

I feel like if anyone is going to listen to cheesy country music for teenage girls, it would be Jaune. It doesn’t help that he has that stupid guitar. He definitely tries to learn several of the songs from this album, but can’t get the hang of most of them.

Favorite Song: Teardrops On My Guitar. He *does* manage to learn this one on guitar, and he plays it *constantly* after Weiss rejects him.

Nora (and Ren): Lover

Nora is a lover of bubbly upbeat music and sappy love songs!! She’s SUCH a romantic, and she loves singing and dancing around to these songs. This album is also Ren’s favorite because it’s Nora’s favorite. He loves nothing more than to watch her sing and dance. They’re both such absolute saps, it’s adorable.

Nora’s Favorite Song: Paper Rings

Ren’s Favorite Song: Lover

Pyrrha: Fearless (Taylor’s Version)

Fearless is an album about girlhood, romance, and fantasy. With all of the pressure of being in the public eye and living up to expectations. Pyrrha wants nothing more than to be a normal girl and enjoy all of the classic teen experiences like everyone else. Gods know she’s also a hopeless romantic, and her idea of romance is very sweet and fairytale-like, which is very Fearless.

Favorite Song: You Belong With Me. It’s LITERALLY her pining for Jaune. Just think about it.

Sun and Neptune: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)!!

To me, Sun and Neptune are the epitome of the true and pure definition of ‘boys will be boys’. They have this very endearing chaotic energy, and they’re not afraid to get excited about silly things. So I think they’d absolutely blast some ‘girly’ music in the car and scream-sing it with conviction.

Neptune’s Favorite Song: Haunted. This is the boys’ favorite song to blast in the car and sing along to. All of SSSN gets in on this.

Sun’s Favorite Song: Foolish One. This is less of a ‘scream in the car song’ for him and more of a ‘listen on late nights when you’re yearning for the girl who doesn’t love you back’ song. ):

Roman: reputation

The thing about reputation is, yes, it’s about revenge and spite and resonates with every girl who claims—whether accurately or not—to be a ‘bad bitch’. This alone fits the bill for Roman, but it’s important to note that reputation is ALSO an album full of powerful love songs. This makes it absolutely perfect for Roman, as he is so deeply in love with Neo. He loves to serenade her with songs like Don’t Blame Me or Dress, and he’s always so dramatic about it. Neo doesn’t really listen to Taylor herself, but she does adore it when Roman sings to her.

Favorite Song: King of My Heart. Idk it just feels right. Honorable mention to Getaway Car, which he always likes to put on when he hijacks an airship.

Cinder: Midnights

You’d think that Cinder would also be a rep girlie, and on paper she absolutely is. But something kept drawing me to Midnights for her. And for the longest time I didn’t understand why these Vibes were so strong. And then I realized. It’s the fucking Cinderella connection, innit. Meet me at midnight indeed.

Favorite Song: Vigilante Shit. reputation is for girlies who think they’re bad bitches but really aren’t, and Vigilante Shit is that same energy but cranked up to 11. I love her, but she thinks she’s so much cooler and more badass than anyone else thinks she is XD

Those are all of my thoughts for now! Let me know what you think, and feel free to add your suggestions as well (:

#this is my magnum opus tbh #i spent more time and effort on this than anyone should #venn diagram of hyperfixations make brain go brrrrr #rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #lie ren #nora valkyrie #roman torchwick #sun wukong #neptune vasilias #cinder fall #RWBY meme #taylor swift #speak now taylor’s version #speak now #taylor’s version #sntv #swifties #pocketweiss originals

[amaurotine]

pre-sundering hyth is absolutely convinced that nobody could possibly be in love with him or desire him and will friendzone the absolute shit out of himself. one of the profound ironies of his character is that although his soulsight allows him to see the effects of love upon someone’s soul, meaning that if he observes the soul of someone who is in love, he’ll be able to make that distinction pretty easily – the caveat being that he cannot read minds, and doesn’t know who that love is directed at, and due to his low self-esteem, he will almost always assume that it isn’t for him. as someone who innately enjoys making others happy, he’ll even go so far as to try and play matchmaker between others and do little things to facilitate budding relationships. he loves the idea of love, or rather, the soft, pure, and idealized vision of love that he’s constructed for himself in his mind. however, on some level, he is also aware of his own naivety and inexperience, and he’s aware (observing, at least to some extent, relationships like lahabrea and athena, for example), that real love is generally a hell of a lot scarier and messier than what he imagines. real love bites, real love hurts, and he’s more than happy to stay in the little naive safety zone he’s constructed for himself, so to speak. also, i don’t think he knows the diffrence between love and lust, because the way he specifically experiences attraction dictates feeling both simeltaneously; certain very deep, profound friendships can gradually escalate into feelings of profound desire, both romantic and sexual. he’s also viscerally afraid of disappointing partners with his own neediness and his flaws, of which he constantly reminding himself and constantly trying to improve or work around. however, much of what he does even in non-romantic friendships entails giving others the sort of love, attention, and affection that he once desired, but has long since dismissed as shelved as nothing more than a selfish and impossible wish on his part. he’s grown and matured as a person from that, largely thanks to his falling-out with macarenses, who grew tired of how weak and clingy he was at tht time (the twins’ relationship probably also deserves its own post too lmao.) at times, i would say that he even has difficulty distinguishing between extreme friendship and romantic feelings, and he’s not always fully aware of when he’s crossed the demarcation line between maximum strength platonic love and “oh shit, i want to kiss them lmao.”

post-ew hyth is. a little more receptive to love, perhaps, although he still has the above neuroses, with the added concerns wrt azem muses that. they’re not really the same person and they’re therefore not obligated to care about him in return, even if he cares for them (presumably as a friend, depending on the azem/wol muses in question. his feelings wrt azem and the wol are an absolute nightmare of complexity and vary, again, depending on muse and verse.)

on some level (regardless of whether its post-ew hyth or pre-sundering hyth), i think he permanently suffers from the “im uncool, weak, and undesirable and must therefore be a one-way repository of love and never recieve it” mentality. he doesnt expect to be loved in turn and feels guilty whenever he has occasional romantic/sexual thoughts abt others (although this will vary depending on verse and the relationship btwn the character in question and hyth.) ergo, he will generally not be the one to initiate romance, and will just sort of awkwardly go 👉🏽👈🏽 and silently pray that the feelings go away so that he can resume the friendship vibe normally.

#❀ — 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝒹𝒸𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓈 .

[scaredgirlsilly]

I'm aroace and coming up on my 1 year anniversary of engagement to my lovely fiance who is not aro or ace and I do not use the term qpp. I have the type of relationship that tends to cause a lot of arguments so when irl people or strangers ask I just say I'm straight. (There's also an added layer of confusion from some people since I'm an ace guy and that seems to be a hot button topic rn)

I tend not to share this because people who know that I'm aroace think that I was previously going through a phase when I say I love my partner. I do love my partner but I'm still aroace and it looks different and this is the first time I've ever felt so secure with another person and what we were able to create is beautiful because I stopped listening to people tell me what a relationship is or should be. And we work amazingly together.

-a fellow aro mutual still too nervous to talk about being aroace with my actual unsername (but wanted to show solidarity)

omg hiiiiiiii!!!! ::3

ok first off CONGRATS ON ALMOST A YEAR OH EM GEE!!!!!!!! thats awesome im glad you found someone you can be yourself with ^u^

and uh. the rest of this is gonna be gibberish sorry jfkshdksj i was literally walking around my kitchen last night when i first got this ask trying to figure out how to word what i want to say for like an hour or 2 😭😭

but like. i think alot of people dont understand just how *open* the terms aro and ace can really be. like. idk at least to me its kinda like nonbinary. like nonbinary is anything that doest strictyly fit into the gender binary. and thats. uh. A Fuck Ton Of Things jfkshdjsj. like im aro but i might honestly feel romantic attraction. but for me its my strong dislike of the idea of being in a relationship, along with like. almost being disillusioned with the very concept of romantic attraction. (and being sorta kinda poly??)

this is the part that is gonna be incomprehensible jfksjsks. but the way i think about it is almost like. idk a diagnosis jfkshdks (NOT to be the weirdos that are like "romance is an illness" i just want to describe the fact that the borders and definitions of these attractions are socially constructed)

like romantic attraction has a bunch of "symptoms" (again value neutral i canmot stress enough that im not like anti people who like romance hfkshdjsj) like yk liking someone a bunch or butterflies in their stomach or like. yk whatever doesnt matter you get what i mean. the different thoughts and feelings and experiences that typically come up when someone is romantically attracted to someone. what im saying is i dont think there is *actually* a single Romantic Feeling people get, i think a lot of people just have a very similar experience, and so it sort of becomes a seperate thing yk. there isnt actually a Romantic Emotion but its a combo of a bunch of stuff that alot of people experience close enough to each others experiences that it is helpful for it to be named something.

but like. then people assume the Thing is actually real. or not that it isnt real but like. that the Thing came first and is law. when really its just a bunch of components that commonly make up the thing. and so when you share alot of those components of the Thing (saying i love you or being in a relationship that isnt a qpr with an allo person), people will say that you feel the Thing. but *you* know that you dont.

i dont really know where im going with this other than like. i wish people didnt see aro and ace people (specifically aro people jfksjsjs) as like. either you feel the Thing or you Dont. like 1. the Thing (romantic attraction) is something allo people cant even define comprehensibly and 2. the human experience is so varied that like. every single person is different and its v frustrating when people shit on others for not fitting into their idea of what that type of person is (shitting on aro people for not being what they think aro people are).

god this is nonsense im sorry but hopefully you understand what i mean. tl;dr everyone is different and everyones experiences of queer labels are different, id argue *especially* aro and ace people, and if you shit on aro and ace people for acting or feeling in a way you didnt expect or like, im killing you with a chainsaw

hopefully you can find other people who are not weird about your aroace-ness and if you ever need to talk about it id be down ^u^

#ask

[kyndaris]

Oh! Bento, My Bento!

After a slew of interactions with less than stellar individuals on Hinge, I started to despair whether or not dating was for me and if I ought to put an end to this strange experiment of mine to find a significant other. In fact, after having someone just talk at me about how great Japanese light novels were in comparison to 'western literature,' I changed my dating preferences to women only.

Why, you may ask?

Well, I was exhausted by men. And two, because for a while I've been questioning whether or not if I wanted a man in my life.

Confession time.

During high school and even at university, I never had crushes on anyone. In Year 8, I was told that another classmate might have had a crush on me, but while I tried to suss out their interest because I was flattered by the fact (although I thought I was toad in terms of the looks department - and I honestly still think I am), I never did get a proper read of his interests and began to doubt the claims made by my friends.

In fact, for a lot of my life, I've been told by others whether or not I've 'crushed' on others. But when I try to explore my own feelings on the matter, I've not thought of them as romantic. In fact, romance is a thing I've struggled to understand.

How DO you know if you like someone in that way? I've certainly never wanted to jump anyone's bones and the mere thought of engaging in those acts turns me off.

It's why I've often wondered if I was asexual. After watching a video where a YouTuber explained their own personal experience, I'm starting to think I truly do sit on that asexual spectrum.

But men, women or anything in between, that hasn't precluded me from romancing fictional characters. And in fact, I've enjoyed my time with many a great digital construct be that Garrus Vakkarian or Riku or Morrigan. Then, of course, there's the fact that I ship any and all types of relationships although some of my favourites in recent history has been Imogen Temult x Laudna, Catra x Adora, Kaz xInej, Arenza x Grey and Tifa Lockhart x Cloud Strife (although, I wouldn't mind Tifa and Aerith somehow becoming a pair in Remake). Of course, I also read some very questionable ships like Jacob Seed x Female Deputy...so take what I enjoy reading with a grain of salt - particularly if it has anything to do with AO3. There's a lot of messed up stuff on there.

So, don't read it!

You've been warned, dear readers.

Still, it was the trip that I went on in March this year that solidified that perhaps my interests were a little bit fruity. Despite the fact that the woman was married, there was something magnetic about her personality and I wanted to be around her. Sure, I wasn't going to immediately jump her bones but I did want to know as much as I could about her.

And when I think about a few of the interactions in the past, it's been the same. I might not have admitted it to myself but during a trip to China camp back in 2008, there was another girl that I really wanted to get to know better. It was somewhat disappointing to know that she was also popular with the boys too, but a part of me wished that we would be best friends.

Did it mean I wanted to be romantically entangled with her?

Who knows. I was unsure of my actual feelings at the time though I knew there was a strange sort of obsession on my part to be a really good friend to them.

But the wider implications passed me by.

I didn't know if that made me gay or not. In fact, I never truly pondered that question properly until now. Especially when in high school, a friend pretended (or at least I thought they were pretending) to be overly amorous with me and I never felt inclined to return it.

Heterosexuality had always defined my understanding of romance and I never much challenged it until more recently.

In any case, back to my dating!

Before I was unceremoniously kidnapped by a group of my friends for an impromptu road trip down to Canberra for Oz Comic-Con (and thereby proving White Coat correct that maybe I do go to a lot of conventions), I met up with another hopeful at a small cafe in Chippendale called Something for Jess before we toured the Oh!Bento exhibit at the Japanese Foundation.

This man, from a purely objective standpoint, was probably one of the better candidates that I'd met. Dikotter (my code name for him) had a good job as a software engineer, was always intent on self-improvement and had his own interests that didn't become his entire personality. There was a maturity to Dikotter that I appreciated and found common ground with - especially when it came to our discussions after we toured the Oh! Bento exhibit and Fortress and were sitting at a dessert bar for nigh on two hours.

Dikotter was a man that didn't just talk at me about his latest hyperfixation or how strange it was that he had such 'normie' work colleagues that didn't understand video games. Rather, he was much more introspective and was able to provide more thought-provoking questions than I'd expected.

In fact, I probably came off as the less intelligent of the pair of us as he asked what I might do if I had access to a billion dollars.

He also respected that I didn't feel comfortable talking about my job and we somehow ended up on a semi-serious conversation about dictators and the echoes of current China with Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution.

Hence the codename.

We had both read Frank Dikotter's work on modern Chinese history. And that's not something I ever thought I would share with anyone I've met on any of my dates. Most of the time, I've had the same discourse on favourite video games as men try to think of something interesting to talk about without realising how quickly they limit themselves by making these things the dominant subject.

So, yes, meeting a fellow intellectual and one that knew how to dress well (or at least not in an unironed shirt and cargo pants) and was good at making conversation/ a lively debate on the pitfalls of socialism/ communism was something I most definitely appreciated even though I wasn't sure if we had any romantic chemistry.

Does this mean there might be hope for Dikotter? Maybe.

As yet, I'm still unsure where I swing when it comes to pursuing a relationship. Do I actually fancy the fairer sex? I, honestly, don't know. But I'm also hesitant to commit to Dikotter in saying that we'd be endgame.

A part of that may come from my ambivalence in terms of romantic relationships but I think that if we do become friends, it will definitely be a much more interesting partnership than I've known with most except on the odd occasion when I chat with individuals much older than I am and who have a wealth of life experience to draw on for their thoughts and opinions.

#personal blog #dating #hinge #being asexual and trying to find a companion #frank dikotter #modern history

[scorpionwins]

hi, I just wanted to ask something. This has been bugging me for a while, but how come you're not as mad as Archie as you are at Betty? it takes TWO people to kiss...

Why hello!! I'm more than happy to rant about this because it's been on my BRAIN, just sitting there, so thanks for giving me an opportunity :D

So, I'm going to assume you're asking why I don't hold Betty and Archie to the same standard when it comes to bringing up the b*ghead break up/the infamous double judas kiss that started it all. To be as frank as possible; It's very much favoritism. But the justified kind, so lower your pitchforks.

Just by a quick scroll to my blog, I think it's unmistakably evident I like Archie over Betty; Like a red dot in a white room. You can't miss it. It's there. And as third party viewers, our individual feelings, opinion, and attachments we form towards these characters motivate the moral standards we set for them.

Take a generous majority of Betty stans, for example; Despite being united by the same romantic relationship in the show, they have a direct connection in strongly disliking the male half of said relationship; Jughead.

Betty is very much the golden child of B*gheads, so I figured it was fair game. Arguably, you can say some of them maintain some objectivism, but not enough for me to consider it valuable.

Now, am I saying Archie's a perfect angel who could do no wrong? That because he's the fandom's ' haha, big himbo Boi golden retriever stupid wholesome jock' means all guilt and responsibility should be absorbed from his part? No! Absolutely not.

I don't think there's anyone in this fandom who hates the " Archie is a perfect angel and our annoying but beloved protagonist " narrative more than I do;

Fuck. No. Archie is a violent, careless, emotionally inept douchebag, who wouldn't know what a non-dysfunctional relationship was if it spit in his eye. But here's a thing, Archie isn't the protagonist; He's the antagonist.

Arguably speaking, Archie's the most morally ambiguous/morally grey character on the show, in my opinion. Not because he struggles with separating dark from light, but because he chooses both.

I can't really look at a kiss and all that other shit he's done and be like ' oh YEA, kissing was definetly worse!' the same logic can apply to Betty, but here's ANOTHER thing; Archie didn't owe Jughead loyalty.

Archie wasn't his boyfriend; Archie wasn't the one promising he won't do it again; Archie wasn't the one who went behind his back. He's the mistress in this scenario, and mistresses aren't morally indebted to anyone.

Betty was. She was Jughead's girlfriend. She was the one who sang " you're the only man for me" and yet does the opposite, on quite clear multiple times. (There's accounts of consecutive emotional cheating as well) and she's the one who's actions hurt Jughead the most because SHE was dating him.

Hell, Archie and Jughead were barely even friends; I'll even argue to say a constant theme in the show is the constant construction and reconstruction of Jarchie's friendship. How they fail to be friends but still choose eachother, over and over again, because they're held together by memories and nostalgia.

Of course I can't hold the same bitterness for Archie when his involvement and presence in Jughead's life doesn't hold the same impact as Betty's. Archie never promised him anything. Betty did.

At best, Archie owes Jughead an apology, but his real target of compensation should be his actual partner. Veronica. Archie owes her remorse.

I'll even go ahead and say it - the varchie break up hurt more because their relationship was build on actual meaningful, mature grounds.

b*ughead is a middle schooler's relationship goals. Which is to be expected because they were 16, teenagers, yet! Archie and Veronica happen to be characters with more experience in romance, both by direct and indirect contact. (From multiple partners to their own parents separating respectively)

I don't necessarily like comparing emotional damage; I do my best not to cherry pick. However, I don't think I owe cheaters the courtesy of fair thinking.

There's no good reason to cheat. It's a destructive, cruel, abusive act of disrespect towards your partner, and I'm not at all moved by Betty's performative remorse, especially because she clearly doesn't feel it as much as the fandom pushes it.

But I'll say it once and I'll say it for as long as I can; If anti Barchies dislike barchie because they like Betty, I dislike b*ghead because I love Jughead.

#i hope this doesn't come across as ' if your partner cheats on you with your friend - just forgive the friend' #like no obviously. they're BOTH culpable but there's a different standard for them from an emotional standpoint #riverdale #riverdale negativity #kinda #anti betty cooper #anti bughead #jughead jones #meta #archie andrews #veronica lodge #asks #i'd also go as far as to say i'm easier on archie bc he takes actual accountability for what he's done #he's not betty - he can't wear apathy disguised as remorse so he just doesn't find excuses for himself #when jughead confronts him (if you can even call it that) he doesn’t defend himself; he doesn’t expect jughead to just forget this happened #he especially doesn’t expect their relationship to ever be the same after. but like i mentioned - #archie and jughead have different maturity levels when it comes to relationships. betty is Jughead's first girlfriend #and of course he holds a strong attachment to her. in his mind he and betty will stay together forever #and re write their dark destinies with the power of love. archie - who had multiple partners with very different and distinct personalities #knows that's very much not the case. there's a certain realism archie has when it comes to romantic relationships that jughead #doesn't possess until later sessons

[solariscress]

This is more of a post that I’m writing for myself, but I wanted to get it out there:

I have a tenuous relationship with my romantic orientation. I know I am panromantic, yet I’ve struggled to find satisfaction in solely using that label to describe the way I interact with people romantically. I love all genders, that is possibly the least uncomplicated fact about my sexuality. I love men, I love women, I love non-binary people, I love all other kinds of people whose gender is described by one or more of these words, or by other words entirely.

And I love romance. I’m not obsessed with romance to the point of desiring a romantic relationship over all else, but I still yearn for the stuff of romance fiction. Despite agreeing with a lot of thoughts posed by aromantic folks, and with the ideas of relationship anarchy, I still find myself drawn to monoamorous romantic relationships, with the typical signs of romance. Though I understand that the lines between romantic and platonic are socially constructed and arbitrary, I still hold those boundaries.

I’ve convinced myself a few times that I’m alloromantic, because I don’t 100% relate to aro spaces, but I also share experiences with a lot of aro people. Crushing has never been natural to me as it seems to have been for other people; it’s like I had to “learn” to crush on others, to notice them in different ways. Part of that learning process was learning to embrace my personal identity, but another part of that was because I didn’t have crushes when I was young.

I’ve felt out of places, in terms of romantic milestones like first partner, first date, first kisses, etc. because I’ve never had those experiences before, though I yearn for them. And even knowing about amatonormaitivity and being aware of social pressures, I still want all of those things.

I want romance… sometimes. I see friendships as equally, sometimes more, fulfilling than romance at the same time. There’s this person who I love so dearly much, and my heart is full of the purest form of platonic love for them. It’s as intense as a romantic crush, but it isn’t romantic in the slightest. And that’s what I do value about the friendship.

There are instances when I’m almost desperate for more romance, and moments when I’m indifferent to the concept. Moments when the highs of romantic attraction are felt to its most vivid degree, and moments when all I can feel is a dull question mark about whether I experienced those emotions at all.

Basically, I think I’m aroflux. And I think it’s time that I’ve come to terms with that.

#aroflux #queer #arospec

[dangerous-panda-37]

So this helped me figure out that I'm on the aromantic spectrum. Sharing for arospec week. Hope it helps someone else.

here’s what it says if the link doesn’t work:

How do you know if you are a romantic?

Figuring out whether you’re aromantic is very difficult, far more so than whether you’re asexual. The longer you’ve lived, the easier it is to be sure that you’re not just a “late bloomer”, but it’s still fundamentally difficult to figure out whether you lack something that you yourself don’t understand.

So I guess a good first rule of thumb is: If you’re not sure if you’re aromantic, you probably are.

Romance and falling in love are so fundamental for most people, that if you haven’t had the experience by the time you’re of an age to be questioning, you’re probably on the aromantic spectrum.

To be more complete, there was a great list of questions made by Anagnori that really helped me when I was questioning. The idea behind these questions (or statement, really) is that you don’t need to check every box (some are actually contradictory), but the more points that you identify with, the more likely it is that you’re aromantic.

I’ll present some (but not all) of the questions here, and added a couple of my own.

The idea of being “aromantic” makes you feel relieved, happy, or more free to be yourself.

You have trouble telling the difference between romantic and friendly feelings.

Finding the concept of a “squish” (a non-romantic crush) made things make way more sense for you.

You’ve never had a crush on someone, or fallen in love.

You’re not sure if you’ve ever had a crush on someone, or fallen in love.

You have trouble telling telling the difference between a crush and a squish, or between romantic attraction and aesthetic/sexual/sensual attraction.

You have doubted whether crushes and romantic love are real, or if they’re just social constructs.

You find romance in media boring, annoying, or upsetting, even if it’s written well.

You once thought having a crush on someone meant that you admired them or really wanted to be their friend.

You thought crushes were something you consciously decided to have.

You forgot which acquaintance or celebrity you were supposed to have a crush on.

A “friends with benefits” arrangement seems ideal to you (if not asexual).

Falling in love doesn’t seem exciting to you.

You don’t understand why people make such a big deal out of crushes or falling in love.

You don’t understand why people do ridiculous, irrational, or over-the-top things in the name of love.

You don’t understand why finding someone sexually/aesthetically attractive would lead you to want a committed relationship with them.

Alternatively, for 14–16, you understand it on an intellectual level, but can’t really relate to it at all.

You have never had a romantic relationship - not because you couldn’t get one, but just because you never tried.

When a romantic relationship gets serious, it makes you feel cold, distant, or uncomfortable.

Getting a romantic partner feels more like something you’re supposed to do, rather than something you’re really enthusiastic about.

If someone likable expresses interest in a romantic relationship, you’re just indifferent to it - which other people probably find odd, or accuse you of giving off “mixed messages”.

When your last romantic relationship ended, you felt more relieved than sad - even if the other person broke it off.

You’re more excited by the idea of making a new best friend than of falling in love.

You wouldn’t mind marrying your best friend and living with them, even though you’re not in love with them.

You’d rather spend Friday night at a sleepover with your friends than out on a date.

You enjoy being single more than being in a relationship.

It’s not the idea of being single forever that bothers you, so much as being alone or unwanted.

You are oblivious to other people flirting with you.

You feel uncomfortable or threatened when other people try to flirt with you.

You are sometimes perceived as flirtatious when just trying to be friendly.

You live in a large community and see or meet hundreds of people around your age every year, but none of them have ever stirred romantic feelings in you.

You recognize whether something is romantic or not by comparing it to the gestures, words, or signals your culture has taught you are romantic, rather than feeling it intuitively.

When thinking about what kind of person you’d want to date, the criteria are the same as your criteria for a best friend.

The main benefit(s) you get from a romantic relationship is platonic, sexual, and/or emotional closeness; the romantic aspect is okay, but not what you’re there for.

You have difficulty imagining romantic activities you’d enjoy, unless they’re something you would enjoy on a platonic or intellectual level, as well.

You would rather be huggy, cuddly, or emotionally close to all your friends, instead of reserving it for one person.

While single, you don’t feel like you’re missing anything in your life; having a romantic partner might be nice, but you don’t need it or seek it out.

You’ve never understood why people fantasize about having weddings, starting a family, or other “romantic” activities.

You don’t understand why every movie has to have a romance plot forced into it.

You’ve always had some excuse as to why you weren’t dating, even if you had plenty of free time.

Personally, I score 27/40 on the above list. If you only check a couple boxes, it could go either way. If you check like 10, you’re probably aromantic. If you check 20 or more, it’s very, very probable that you’re aromantic.

I hope this helps others, as I know it helped me.

#Aro #Aromantic #Arospec #Info #arospec week #questioning #aromantic spectrum week