#romance indifferent aro culture

[aro-culture-is]

Romance indifferent aro culture is forgetting that romantic interactions even exist lol

.

#Anonymous #aro culture is #aro #aromantic #actually aro #actually aromantic #ask #mod alexander #romance indifferent aro culture

[aegoromantic-culture-is]

Could an Aegoromantic be romance-favorable or romance-indifferent?

I realized that most aego people I’ve seen online are often repulsed or averse to any form of real life romantically-coded activities, relationships, or affection directed at them and Only enjoy seeing it in media/happen to other people.

But even though I relate a lot to aegoromanticism, I’ve

Had “romantic relationships” when I was younger (I tended to mistake platonic attraction for romantic attraction but I was generally okay with the idea of “being in a relationship”- I didn’t actively seek it out but I liked the idea because I wanted closeness), and

Even though nowadays I recognize that I don’t necessarily desire a romantic relationship (I’d prefer a QPR), I like and even want some of the emotional and sensual things/affections that are often associated with romantic relationships which therefore could be seen as romantically-coded.

So, I was wondering if there are any aegoromantic people who actually enjoy romantic relationships/affections/activities in real life (even if they don’t have an active desire for it/don’t experience romantic attraction/have a preference for “romance” in fantasy or fictional scenarios)? OR at least just don’t mind it (neither uncomfortable/repulsed or enthusiastic)?

I'm sure there are some aegos who enjoy engaging in/are indifferent to romantic activities, it is a spectrum after all. But I think they may be harder to find because they seem to be a smaller part of the community.

#aegoromantic culture is #aro #aegoromantic #aromantic #actually aegoromantic #aegoromantic culture #romance favorable #romance indifferent

[qpr-culture-is]

romance repulsed (and indifferent) aro qpr culture is happily knowing you can have a close partnership without it being in anyway romantic

#qpr culture is #or maybe this is just me??? #im a little more on the repulsed side of things but qprs provide a way for me to have a close relationship without the romance #so yk #qpr #queer platonic relationship #queerplatonic #queer platonic partner #queer platonic attraction #queer platonic love #qpr positivity

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hi, Nora....My friend and I made a list of ace and aro characters from BL, and then we get to Love For Sale. We think Sieon is aro, based on he never regret his previous relationships until he is with Namwoo. And how he felt so indifferent about them. But what do you think? Also, do you have any BL characters that you think are ace or aro?

Great question! And thank you for giving me a chance to talk about Sieon. I'm always happy to do so. If you want the tl;dr answer, I don't consider him to be one. However, as is always the case on Wild Wild Web when you express a thought or preference, people take it as me condemning all the other thoughts/preferences. So here's a PSA: if you consider him Aro, good for you! You can interpret him however you like.

Also, lots and LOTS of spoilers for the uninitiated.

As for how I read his character. I think Sieon is hard to understand for a lot of people because they expect him to be either this or that and try to put him into categories he doesn't fully belong in. It's one of the reasons why I'm so enamored with Love for Sale as a whole, and Sieon in particular. Dal Hyeonji, even though this is their first commercial BL work, does an absolutely fantastic job in this character study.

Back to the point. When the story was still being released, I entertained a similar idea myself about him that, maybe he's demiromantic. Not a romance-aversed aromantic, but still a part of the spectrum. Then I kind of abandoned that as well.

We are a melting pot of our environments, cultural codes, family, and our characteristics. That's why most of the time, it's hard to make out whether you've become something due to some external force or you were that something before anything else. A very lame example would be, do I find red lipstick sexy because I find it arousing, or is it because it was marketed in such a way that I am conditioned to think it's sexy? Similarly, it's not always easy to tell apart whether your feelings are genuine, you feel like you have to feel certain ways towards certain people, or something impacted you in such a way that you don't feel a certain way anymore. I know I'm being vague but hopefully, it'll make more sense now.

Sieon, having to shoulder her mother's emotional well-being and their reversed parent-child roles, has found himself in a position where he seeks gratification through the things he can provide to his partners so he can feel 'needed'. The comfort he can provide for his partner becomes his purpose to be in that relationship. I was throwing him bombastic side-eyes very early into the story where he never expressed any type of preference and was very evasive whenever Namwoo tried to probe. Naturally, it was quite frustrating for Namwoo. As for me, it was as if Sieon was trying to erase himself from the relationship and be there for Namwoo as a combination of 'bank account + lips to kiss + a hand to hold' and blend into the ether as a person.

That's also why his relationships ended the way they did. He knew his mom wasn't happy, and even if he tried to alleviate her pain, it ultimately didn't work, thus, the one last good deed he could do for his mom was to let her go. To not be greedy. To not be selfish and say "I need you, don't go." This is the root of his letting go of his exes 'too easily', rather than him not 'loving' his partners.

Here's where things get tricky. Ideally, a romantic relationship requires you to be vulnerable, communicative, diplomatic, etc. Ideally. But none of us are exempt from carrying our baggage with us into the next relationship, no matter how big or small. In that sense, should we say that just because Sieon hasn't been perfectly vulnerable or has been avoiding conflict, he was never in a real relationship before? I don't think we can. 

One of the moments my heart ached for him was during his conversation with his close friend. He reiterates it later on when they're having the talk with Namwoo, but he desperately tries to convey that, no matter what his partners felt, whether they were satisfied on their own account or not, he was always genuine. Has always been. It may not fit the mold of grandiose, shouting-from-the-mountaintops, I'd-swallow-a-sword-for-you kind of love we are constantly sold in the romance genre, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of love either. On the contrary, I think he does look for romantic companionship, but he just doesn't know how not to intellectualize his feelings.

So, in my opinion, "he didn't love anyone else before Namwoo" is not exactly the correct way to read him. Up until Namwoo decided that he was going to hold onto Sieon and 'show him a selfish love' in Sieon's mom's words, their relationship was following the pretty much same direction as the others. At first, Namwoo is content with what Sieon provides, but then he develops feelings for him and expects Sieon to return them in a way he can't. The same old story that is bound to end with a break-up.

Emphasis on 'in a way he couldn't'. The way I read it, his way of loving is different from what others deem as 'romantic love', so he's convinced that he can't reciprocate others' feelings. If that's love, and his feelings don't look like that, then he must not be in love after all. And when Namwoo shows Sieon that it's okay to be needy and selfish at times, and it's okay to be vulnerable and honest, we see that was the wake-up call he needed all along. 

The verdict? If you consider his past partners through the "he wasn't able to genuinely love them" lens and interpret his "not being able to reciprocate romantic feelings" literally, you can think of him as an aromantic who's not really averse to dating. But as I've tried to elaborate, rather than not feeling romantic love, he does feel love and seek companionship but doesn't know how to handle conflict and can't break free from the behavioral patterns ingrained in him in childhood. 

About aro/ase characters in BL. There's only one work that comes to mind which, interestingly, makes asexuality/demisexuality one of the core themes it explores and that's This is Love by Ziki Masaya. I have reviewed it before (click me) and I highly recommend it! I can maybe mention Sangwoo from Semantic Error, but then again, I think he's just autistic and his approach to romantic love for another guy is different from his normie boyfriend Jongchan because of that. I can't really think of any other works with Aro/ace characters as there's always romance/sex involved. Or maybe I just haven't paid enough attention! Let me know about the list you two came up with ~

PSA: I added the intro because the original link needs you to login to Lezhin as it's a Mature title, but you know the drill. Read on the official platfrorms!

#allthefujoshiunite answers #love for sale #dal hyeonji #bl manhwa #yaoi manhwa #lezhiin #spoilers

[the-fear]

As an aro person, I’m not unfamiliar with the fact that canonically aspec characters are few and far between, but the way that some people regard people shipping arospec and acespec characters is kind of annoying.

Like you do realise that fanon shipping isn’t always going to reflect canon, right? Shippers aren’t erasing canonically aroace characters by shipping them with others. If characters are aroace in canon, they will most likely continue to be so* even if fans shipped them with other characters.

The way that some people regard aroace characters as “off-limits” from shipping when their orientations are confirmed in canon also ignores the fact that some (e.g. romance/sex favourable/indifferent, partnering, oriented, angled) aroace people do in fact choose to enter romantic/sexual relationships regardless of their orientation.

Also, fandom is pretty much built on non-canonical ships. Some of the largest early slash ships were between characters who were textually straight (or at least not textually percieved as non-straight). It didn’t matter if those ships didn’t become canon, because you can enjoy fanon/headcanons without wanting them to become canon!

I can of course agree though that fandoms are on the whole extremely amatonormative/allonormative, especially with tropes like “everyone has a soulmate” or “Pair the Spares” or “more than friends”, so it can be annoying to see canonically aroace characters treated in that way. However, this is a wider issue not just acertaining to fandom but to pretty much all popular media, so it would be unwise to blame only shippers for the abysmal lack of aspec representation. Instead of focusing on what characters “should” and “should not” be shipped together, maybe the focus should be on creating fandom communities where shipping is not the only goal.

*(of course, there is the problem of aroace characters’ identities being erased in canon, for example Jughead Jones from the Archie comics, but this was an unfortunately terrible choice made by the producers of Riverdale, not by fans of the Archie comics. There is a very significant difference between characters’ identites being erased in canon and fans making alternate fanon versions of characters, and I hope you all can recognise which is worse for aspec representation and knowledge of aspec experiences within wider culture.)

#by aspec in this post I was mainly referring to arospec and acespec characters (but mostly arospec) #I know the label covers far more than that but I don’t really know that much about how other aspecs are treated by fandoms #so I won’t make the choice of speaking for them #I guess I’m just annoyed by what I’ve seen in the aro tag recently when people are talking about aroace characters #(or those percieved to be aroace by a majority of fans) #of course you can choose to ignore this because I’m just a random person on the internet but #fandom is a way to explore ideas that will not and most likely cannot be present in canon #it’s a sandbox to make your own creations using outlines and characters and plots from other media #of course fandom has its own merits but it is not really on the same scale as official media when it comes to representation #fandom #aro characters #ace characters #aroace characters #shipping #shipping discourse #anti anti #(<- does that last tag apply? I’m going to say it does) #long post

[thunder-pride]

Although aromanticism and asexuality are distinct orientations, they are similar in that both describe a lack of attraction and are both spectra with many flavours.

Aromantic people (or aro) experience a lack of romantic attraction in some way and asexual people (or ace) experience a lack of sexual attraction. Some people are aroace, while others are aromantic while experiencing sexual attraction, while others are asexual and still experience romantic attraction.

Some common varieties on the aro and ace spectra are listed below. In each case the description applies to romantic attraction for arospec and to sexual attraction for aspec.

Demi- : Someone who experiences attraction only once an emotional connection with another person is established.

Gray- : Someone who rarely experiences attraction

Litho- : Someone who may experience attraction but is either uncomfortable with its reciprocation or or loses their attraction if it is reciprocated

Cupio- : Someone who doesn’t experience attraction but still desires a relationship which incorporates this aspect

-flux/-fluid : Someone whose attraction fluctuates over time

Varieties are often known as “micro-labels” and are not used by everyone.

Ace and aro people also have varying levels of comfort with sex and romance itself. This is most commonly categorised into three broad groups:

(romance/sex) -favourable

(romance/sex) -indifferent

(romance/sex) -repulsion

These are distinct from the concepts of sex-positivity and sex-negativity, which are social and cultural perspectives that reflect on a wide range of sentiments like attitudes towards sex work or sex education. See more here.

Queerplatonic Relationships (QPRs)

QPRs are typically a deeply commited platonic relationship which typically involves at least one aro or ace partner, but can form between people of any romantic and sexual orientation. They can include physical intimacy, sharing assets and resources, even marriage if both partners want legal recognition of the relationship. QPRs are an important part of aro and ace culture and worth diving into to learn more about when writing an aro character. That being said, not all aro people have or want to be a part of a QPR so this is not a requirement.

Three Dos and Don’ts

DO

…celebrate the relationships the character chooses to form

…consider how the character chooses to showcase affection and love

…think about how the character’s experience is shaped by their lack of attraction

DON’T

…try to “fix” the character by giving them a partner contrary to their attraction and desires

…imply that platonic relationships are “less than” romantic relationships

…conflate sex-negative attitudes and sex-repulsion

Helpful links for further reading!

[Writing Ace and Aro Characters With Confidence] by J R Hart; 6-8 min reading time

[Going Over the Rainbow: Aromantic] by Bran Lindy Ayres; 3-5 min reading time

[Queerplatonic Relationships: A New Term for an Old Custom] by Stefani Goerlich for Psychology Today; 3-4 min reading time

And just for fun…

[50+ amazing asexual and aromantic reads for A-spec August] compiled by Ellie and Imi of Beyond a Bookshelf; 17-22 min reading time

#thunderpride info

[our-aspec-experience]

Hello. I'd like a bit of help with figuring out my position on the aro spectrum, could you give some insight?

Facts go this way:

Never was in a romantic relationship. Never recall having romantic feelings for a real person. (Am a young adult now) Was ridiculed/alienated for it as a teen, at some point during teen years tried to "find someone I'd like" (common aro experience under social pressure apparently) but it didn't go further than basic appreciation to them for being a nice person.

Am indifferent to seeing other real people doing typical romantic behaviors (like kissing). Don't mind it, don't look at them much and don't feel any special emotions about it.

Am relatively indifferent to the shipping culture, would ship only what is a couple in the story with an admirable level of mental connection. The shipping in this case manifests as warm emotions, drawings and song associations but not fics, I have no idea how to write romance. Am often annoyed/uncomfortable with fandom culture tendency to turn any more or less meaningful relationship romantic and/or sexual (and uncomfortable with amatonormativity in general)

I experience occasionally "crushes" on fictional characters. This happens mostly when I find them an interesting character, but goes with an additional emotional layer that makes it differ from characters I have a clearly non-romantic connection with. It has apparently some typical features of romantic: starts quickly and unexpected, having a silly smile when thinking about this character, paranoid about people seeing/laughing at my emotions for this character to the point of being shy to say their name, sometimes idealizing them (am trying to keep this in check), also if I recall right it happened only with young male characters. But I don't actually imagine them as a potential love interest like people crushing on fictional characters apparently tend to do, and don't create any romantic content about them if they aren't in a canonical happy lovestory. (I do tend to create/imagine platonic or familial comforting scenarios for them)

i think the romance-indifferent label may help you out!

i'm not sure how to label your last paragraph- the closest i can find is fictoromantic, but it's fully up to you if you feel it describes you.

i hope this helps! if you ever need more help, feel free to consult my inbox again!

#aspec #our aspec experience #arospec #our arospec experience #romance-indifferent #fictoromantic

[rataltouille]

LITTLE BY LITTLE

HI IM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS SILLY LITTLE STORY. it is:

a feel good lighthearted story about a bunch of kids in high school 👍

one half enemies to lovers romance, other half queerplatonic coming of age 🤨

dual storyline following two annoying siblings who will die for each other 🤱

set in chennai because i want to draw the city i grew up in and have a crisis over not having seen it enough 🤯

me deciding to compensate for my non existent final years of high school via fiction because who needs therapy tbh 🤔

BLURB

It’s Sameera’s last year of high school, and everything’s going her way: she’s a student council head, the captain of the girl’s Kho-Kho team, and she’s liked by almost everyone in her grade. Almost. Frigid, uptight Kayalvizhi, fellow council head, is the lone exception. Their first interaction was a nightmare, and while Sameera is told that Kayalvizhi’s just indifferent to everyone around her, she still feels personally attacked. So when the two of them are paired up as the cultural leaders for their school’s end-of-year ceremony, she’s more than thrilled to prove Kayal wrong by outshining her in everything. Too bad the latter’s determined to shut Sameera up by competing just as fiercely. What neither of them expects, though, is to find common ground, or to realise that the other person isn't who they thought they were, or, god forbid, actually start to enjoy each other’s company.

Anbu is a reserved kid, Sameera’s younger sibling by two years and the apple of every teacher’s eyes. Still just getting used to adolescence, Anbu is, to say the least, a bit disoriented. They’re exploring their confusing world, trying out new hobbies, grappling with their gender identity and pushing the limits of the life they’ve led so far. But right when they think they’ve got it all figured out, change hits them between the eyes in the name of Tamizh—their cool, mysterious neighbour who’s come back from Mumbai years after moving away. Anbu and Tamizh were childhood best friends, but that's childhood, and they know better than anyone else that adolescence upends everything with a rage. As the two’s rekindled friendship begins to deepen, Anbu is left questioning whether they see him as a friend, a crush, or something else entirely.

At least one thing’s certain for them all: this will be an unforgettable year.

CHARACTERS

SAMEERA. she/her, bi. annoying ass extroverted jock mf. everyones fave gremlin. needs constant love and validation or else she will perish

ANBU. they/them, trans. former sweetheart now saddled with a growing bloodthirst. going through too much all at once and is on the verge of emotional burnout.

KAYALVIZHI. she/her, trans, lesbian. moody ass introverted nerd mf. hates every single person to ever grace this planet and i love her so much actually

TAMIZH. he/him, aro. Resident Cool Kid™ except he feels very uncool and very unchill, ball of nerves just barely keeping it together. is unlearning a lot of toxic beliefs on gender and he’s doing it with style.

SO WHATS THE DEAL HERE

idk what happened in the last two years but i’ve gone from being a prose hoe to a webcomic bitch and it has been working out great for me. comics are such a brilliant format for someone who’s equal parts artist and writer and recently all my important all-consuming story ideas have been webcomic ideas and im so excited to get to make them!!

there are two parts to this story, two parallel arcs, one for each sibling: sameera’s enemies to lovers story with kayal and anbu’s queerplatonic coming of age thing with tamizh. i think the main inspiration behind this was a) bridgerton season two which was the first time i actually ENJOYED an enemies-to-lovers romance and which made me go hmm yanno what. i’m going to do the same but without british people. b) me realising that as much as i love romance and writing romantic relationships i also would like to write a queerplatonic relationship please and thank you [it is endlessly amusing to me that my favourite genre is romance despite me being aromantic lmao] and i esp wanted to try writing a qpr from the pov of the non-aromantic character, just for that extra spice!

in the very short time ive had these four they’ve taken over my brain completely and i love it so much!! im currently working to on getting the basic prep work done [character turnarounds, uniform designs, bg models etc etc] and i’ll post updates on progress whenever i feel like lmao

#i am unable to end sentences on normal punctuation #a random ass emoji is now my full stop 🥵 #i am anbu and kayal on all levels but physical #webcomic #little by little

[ettaseverythingelse]

not to kick the hornets nest being someone who's usual opinion on marvel ranges from "indifferent" to "mass-produced junk food" and from a clueless aro-ace prudish catholic who lives under a rock, but I'm genuinely confused here

what about Thor: Love and Thunder was gay????

I saw it with some people from work as a weekend activity and from the cultural osmosis of tumblr, ppl seemed to be fawning over it as some LGBT hallmark in the MCU because it's directed by Taika Waiti but I'm so confused, the entire plot of the movie was dedicated to a straight exes-to-lovers romance that was more second-hand embarrassment than it was romance and was just a 3 hour spectacle in the Fridging Your Wives Trope.

What?

[aro-culture-is]

Aroflux culture is having 3 distinct moods

1. Why am I on the arospec? Romance is great! Love and kisses 😚🥰

2. Romance is like chill I guess. Like sure, why not. 👉👉

3. EWWWWW no romo no thank you! Queerplatonic is chill tho 🤮😎

.

#clementine-isfruity #aro culture is #aro #aromantic #actually aro #actually aromantic #ask #mod axel #aroflux culture #romance favorable aro culture #romance indifferent aro culture #romance repulsed aro culture #emetophobia tw #not gonna lie i am. majorly grossed out by the puking emoji

[journeysfable]

for the ask game - 4 and 5!

Ty for the ask!

4-what moments make you go "well I'm definitely aro"

Too many moments like that. People actually fantasize about a life with someone they probably don't even know? Like why not fantasize about slaying dragons or smth lol. I just draw a lot of blanks about things like type, marriage, dates, I feel like I think completely differently to alloros

5-Are you romance favorable, romance repulsed, or indifferent

I'm very romance repulsed. I avoid romantic stuff whenever I can. Even when I was a kid I hated romance, one time I even had a tantrum over a kissing scene. Some things make me go "aww" but most of the time romance just makes my skin crawl. Idk if it's because the culture of where I live has ruined it, or if romance on its own just makes me uncomfy

#ask game

[romo-repulsed-aro-culture-is]

Romance-indifferent with repulsed leaning culture is not feeling very comfortable watching people kiss (IRL or in fiction) and covering your eyes, both conciously and as a reflex.

If someone were to hit on me, or if I were to suspect something, I'd have a bad feeling in my stomach.

Romo repulsed culture!

#sameee #when i watch something and they start kissing or when i read it i'm like so weirded out 😳 #romance repulsed culture #romance repulsed #romance indifferent #aromantic #aro

[aroaceconfessions]

Being aromantic and in fandoms can be hard beacuse shipping is a huge part of Fandom culture and alot of content revoles around it. Im romance neutral, I find romance boring and it can be really hard to find good fanfics becase so many of them revole around romance.

#aromantic #aro #fandoms #fandom #shipping #fandom culture #fan culture #romance neutral #romance indifferent #fanfiction #fanfic #Anonymous

[miraculouscontent]

Anonymous submitted and said:

Being asexual myself, I admit that I’ve often struggled with whether or not I identify as aromantic as well, or if it’s more that… I’m repelled by how romance is so often depicted in media as… well, this. *gestures vaguely to the whole mess that is Adrien ‘Entitlement’ Agreste*

There’s just… so much about the culture surrounding romance that I don’t get.  Like the whole hoary concept of ‘I hate my spouse’ or 'marriage is like prison’/'henpecked husband’/'constantly exhausted and exasperated wife’ and… all those sorts of cliches.  If you don’t get along with somebody, then what’s the point?  How can there be 'sparks’ if you don’t LIKE somebody…?

I find myself much more receptive to the idea of romance as it’s depicted with Luka.  With how people like you write it, focusing on the support and comfort and all their myriad love languages.  So I’m left wondering whether the aroace label truly applies to me, or if it’s less romance I’m indifferent towards and more romance as it’s been presented to me.

(With all that said, I also wonder whether my asexuality and disinterest in 'typical’ depictions of romance also makes it easier for me to identify such unhealthy dynamics.  Since as far back as I can recall, I’ve always been leery and side-eyeing the idea of the 'troubled but cute’ love interest, or possessive and jealous behavior, or the dreaded 'boys will be boys’/'he’s teasing you because he likes you’, as if that would somehow make me more receptive to it rather than just going 'Well, that’s a stupid way of showing it, 'cause I sure don’t like him’… Always seemed rather self-defeating on their part, honestly.)

Oof. I mean, firstly, I’m glad the way I write romance is so appealing for you!

But yeah, the portrayal of romance in media where “conflict = good” so if the endgame ship/established couple isn’t constantly a mess then it’s not “““entertaining,”““ it’s so bad.

Even an old friend of mine, who isn’t aro/ace, got turned off of all romance in media because of all the garbage happening in anything with the romance genre. It felt like the genre wasn’t really about romance but about all the things that media has made up about it.

#submission #category: salt #salt: love square #other: killed by kindness #other: ask and answer #salt: adrien agreste #salt: chat noir

[just-a-trans-allo-aro]

10 Questions for Aros

1. How do you fit in the aro-spec community? And what labels do you use for your romantic attraction?

2. What labels (if any) do you use for any non-romantic attraction? (Eg, sexual attraction.) What attraction types do you feel?

3. What is your favourite and least thing about being aro?

4. Do you have any aro headcanons? If so, who?

5. What is your favourite song that gives you aro vibes?

6. What is something which you have claimed as being 'aro culture'?

7. Are you out to anyone as aro? Would you like to be out as aro? If so, how do you plan on telling people?

8. Do you see yourself ever being in any type of relationship?

9. What is your view on romance? (Favourable, indifferent, repulsed...)

10. Do you know any aros? In person or online?

*please make sure you only answer things you are comfortable answering

#aro #aromantic #aromanticism #actually aromantic #actually aro #aro questions

[thegyusorcerer]

A bit of a rant ahead so feel free to skip if you'd like. I know I may ramble about queerplatonic relationships and how I'd love to have a partner and be emotionally close to someone even if it's not romantic bc of my romance aversion/indifference & generally bring awareness to partnering aros or qprs, and don't get me wrong- I totally daydream about it bc it sounds like a perfect description of a relationship/life partner I'd long to have.... but being completely honest with you, I don't think I'll ever get that. And I know what many of you can say, "don't lose hope, one day you can have a qpr" and I truly appreciate the positivity but being clear cut: I most probably won't have this because of the culture I live in and the homophobic environment around me. I know, deep down, that I'd only comitt to a long term relationship with a female partner and that would be totally unacceptable here... maybe when I'm older and move out of this country. Either way, regardless of what happens in the future, I've grown to love, cherish and appreciate my own company and the idea of living by myself with my cats and having my own space 🥰 or even moving in with my group of best friends and spending a portion of our lives together. They're both a future that brings me happiness 💚. I've come to understand that a life without romance or without any partnership likewise, is not a miserable life. But rather a freeing one and makes me optimistic of a future I can write for myself.

I guess I'm sharing this to conclude that, regardless of what happens in the future or what may be in store for you: learn to accept every path and build a strong relationship with yourself before engaging in any other kind of connections that may or may not arrive. Regardless, you're whole on your own! 💓

#rant #aromantic #aro #aroace #arospec #aro pride #aro thoughts #aromantic positivity #aromanticism #queer #pride #lgbtqia+