#Romantic Orientations

[larkspur777]

Why aroace Wednesday matters

I would be so unbelievably ecstatic if Wednesday turns out to be aroace. I mean, when was the last time we had an aroace main character in a popular show? Or any show, for that matter? (SpongeBob is ace at least.)

Either we have shows like Riverdale that erased Jughead's asexuality or we have shows like Heartstopper where Isaac is a "glorified background extra." (According to this video. I haven't watched either of these shows.)

Anyways, I just think it'd be a huge step to have an aroace main character in a fairly well-known piece of media.

[burning-thistles-bt]

Pride icon anon again, would you mind making a (no/minimal spoilers) list of the identities? I'll definitely do the suggested characters, but I'd love to do more than them. That even included the bad characters (including the likes of Thistlestar himself)

Here you go! This is ripped straight from our spreadsheet of the characters. No spoiler characters though!:

Firestar Bisexual

Sandstorm Bisexual

Lightningfur AroAce-spec Lesbian

Fury Lesbian

Copperleaf Demiromantic Panromantic

Dawncloud Graysexual

Creekflower Heterosexual

Oliver Heterosexual

Longtail Heterosexual

Airleap Transmasc Intersex Queer-Questioning

Cinderpelt Bisexual

Lizardflight Lesbian

Elderpaw Transfem Demigirl Lesbian

Mistlepaw Butch Lesbian

Cliffpaw Polyamorus Omnisexual

Snowpaw Heterosexual

Onewhisker Omnisexual

Frostfur (Comp) Omnisexual

Redtail Gay

Runningwind Gay

Lionheart Pansexual

Tigerstar Bisexual

Whitestorm Heterosexual

Brindleface Aromantic

Swiftbreeze Aromantic

Adderfang (Closeted) Femboy Heterosexual

Spottedleaf (Closeted) Lesbian

Thistlestar (Comp) Bisexual

Grasswhisker (Closeted) Asexual

Bubbles Genderfluid Trixic

Rocket Nonbinary Demiboy

Opal Nonbinary Demigirl

Oat Gay/Aromantic

Sootkit Transmasc

Ravenwing Demiromantic Gay

Barley Gay

Feathercloud Gay

Brackenfur Heterosexual

Sorrelkit Bisexual

Stormpaw Bisexual

Rowanpaw Trans Masc

Tawnypaw Heterosexual

Bramblepaw Demiromantic Demisexual

Tulippaw Gay

Missingheart Pansexual

Blossomtail Gay

Badgerfang Gay

Swampfur Bisexual

Lynxpaw Demiromantic Asexual

Cherryfur Abrosexual

Darkstripe Gay Bi-Curious Femboy

Graystripe Heterosexual/Gynesexual

Silverstream Heterosexual

Gremlin Bisexual Nonbinary She-cat

Scraps Pansexual

Night Pansexual

Storm Asexual Gay

Scourge Aromantic Nonbinary Tom

Tallpoppy Polyamorus Pansexual

[clanofjones]

Warning: Rant Ahead

OK.

I'm aceflux (meaning I jump around on the asexual spectrum) so it is time that I give my own TedTalk to y'all.

I really, really, really (infinetly) hate having to explain asexuality, demisexuality, greysexuality, and being aceflux to virtually everyone but my IRL friends.

But you have all probably read a Tumblr rant on this already.

So I'll rant about the underappreciation of people who are homoromantic, biromantic, panromantic, omniromantic, aromantic, and just about all the other romance-oriented sexualities under the sun.

Lots of people don't know they exist. Hell, I didn't know these orientations existed until I did an art challenge last June for Pride. I did a little digging after the fact and discovered that there were all these romantic orientations that existed.

I was shell-shocked. At the time, I identified as strictly asexual, but within a few weeks (and a buttload of self-discovery) I felt that the labels of aromantic and asexual applied to me.

Over time, I realized that this was a midway point for me, and I am aceflux and omniromantic.

(If you already know what Omniromantic means, you can skip the bit in purple)

Omniromantic meaning I am romantically attracted to all genders, but gender plays a role in attraction, wheras with panromanticism, you are attracted to all genders without gender playing a role in your attraction to them.

This was still a very important period of my life and self-discovery journey in general because I was very new to the LGBTQIA+ community, and wasn't half as aware of other orientations as I am now. However, this is an example of how underappreciated and underrepresented these romantic orientations are.

You can chalk it up to my seemingly one-track mind, but it's also due to the apparent static-ness that I was aware of. I thought that if you were asexual, you were either aromantic or heteroromantic. (I think that's the term)

I wasn't aware of the aceflux orientation until about two-three months ago. I was only made aware of it when I saw it on a social media account, I googled it, and I had a big-brain idea moment. Aside from that euphoria you get when you identify with an orientation, I also wondered, "If aceflux exists, then there has to be more romantic-specific orientation as well, right?"

Obviously, I was successful, but I also want to raise awareness of the existence of these orientations in case it helps anyone else :>

If you read this all the way through, you deserve this:

Dang. Ron Swanson's proud. Noice.

This has been my TedTalk.

[larkspur777]

THIS NEEDED TO HAPPEN I'm so disappointed 😞 I would've loved to've seen Sam with some female friends (or, to be honest, I think they would've also been interesting as a bi x bi, girly x goth romance.)

Fuck we never got our “Paulina and Sam have to team up for an entire episode and end up respecting each other a little bit by the end” episode, did we

[larkspur777]

Alternative queer options for Monster High G3?

G1 set up so many possibilities for queer characters and couples.  What they could’ve done instead for G3:

Have Kiyomi's unrequited crush on Draculaura stated at some point, and then have her find love with another ghoul like Vandala or anyone single.

Have Cleo (Deuce too?) confirmed as bi but still together.  (You don’t have to have dated both genders to know you’re bi.  Cleo can still be bi while in a happy relationship with Deuce.)

Howleen and Twyla as girlfriends.  (Although I personally see Twyla being more on the aroace spectrum, but I think her and Howleen would be a great pairing too, maybe even a queer-platonic relationship.)

Clawdeen as a lesbian.  I’ve heard that she and Toralei have good chemistry in G3, and Toralei was never in a relationship, so that could’ve worked nicely.  (Toralei did seem to like one of the vampire actors in Frights Camera though so I’m guessing she would probably be bi.)

Have Lagoona be bi and give her a friends to enemies to lovers romance with Kala.  (Although Lagoona x Gil shippers would not be too happy, so this probably wouldn't be the best option, but I still think it would've made more sense than pairing Frankie with Cleo.)

[larkspur777]

I always saw Gru and Lucy as being ace so to be honest I'm really disappointed with the direction they went in for the 4th movie with Gru Jr., I'd rather they'd focused on Margo, Edith, and Agnes instead.

[larkspur777]

The Librarians: Romantic Orientations

Eve – pan or bi Cassandra – confirmed pan/bi in both the show and this interview Jake – it’s complicated (see my other post: Is Jake Stone from The Librarians queer?) Ezekiel – at first I was getting aroace spectrum vibes from him but it seems he has a thing for pixie-like women with short hair such as Sylalandria and Cindy

In conclusion, everyone is pan/bi except Ezekiel who could still be on the aroace spectrum.

[larkspur777]

Is Jake Stone from The Librarians queer?

This isn’t something I’ve seen anyone else mention but that whole arc about him having to hide a part of himself from his dad felt a lot like a queer metaphor to me. His interest in women seems genuine but I think it’s possible he could be pan/bi. There was also that interesting speech in Rule of Three about how no one beat him up for liking poetry because he wore his “costume.” So who knows, maybe this is a case of comp het. Jake grew up in a southern state (Oklahoma) where there was probably a lot of homophobia.

Jake’s dad: “Unless they’re handing out degrees for digging holes and chasing women, you ain’t much of an expert on anything, son.” And also. “Only thing he could wrap his head around is a football playbook.”

That’s the version of Jake that his dad knows. The version that digs holes and chases women and likes football. But that’s not the real Jake, or at least, not all of him. Jake didn’t want anyone back home to know the side of him that likes art and poetry and literature. Dead Poets Society has been thought to have a queer metaphor in a similar sense. JAKE EVEN MAKES A DPS REFERENCE IN SEASON 3.

There’s also THIS quote that Jake said. Which was about something else but I just think it’s funny he was talking about metaphors.

[heartless-aro]

The thing is, I don’t care that much about the actual act of someone shipping aromantic characters nearly as much as I care about the biases and amatanormative beliefs that underlie so many people’s decision to do so. The problem isn’t that individual people ship aromantic characters sometimes. It’s the fact that shipping aromantic characters or expressing disappointment that a character is aromantic and thus “can’t be shipped” almost seems to be the default in fandom spaces. Aromantic representation, especially nonpartnering aromantic representation, is treated as something that will “ruin people’s fun” (see: the Hazbin Hotel creator explaining why she won’t say whether or not Alastor is aromantic).

And yes, SOME aromantic people can still date or have non-romantic partners. But the fact that some people are so vehemently against the idea of fictional characters being nonpartnering is still something to be questioned.

Because, really, that’s the crux of the issue. It’s perfectly fine if people like the idea of an aromantic character being partnering or romance favorable. In fact, it would be wonderful to see more characters written as partnering and/or romance favorable aromantics. But when someone ONLY shows interest in characters being partnering or favorable aros in response to those same characters being interpreted as nonpartnering, it often comes across less as a desire to have representation for partnering and favorable aros and more as an opposition to having representation for nonpartnering aros.

[larkspur777]

The Bad Guys: Romantic Orientations

Just finished Book 20 an hour or two ago.  It kind of threw a monkey wrench at some of my romantic orientation headcanons but here they are.

Wolf – panromantic Snake* – homoromantic (gay), greyromantic (only ever liked Wolf) Emmylou – biromantic Pam – homoromantic (lesbian) Rhonda – aromantic Shark – aromantic Rupert – homoromantic (gay) Ellen – supportive straight ally who defends all her friends (likes Wolf) Pepe – supportive straight ally who defends all his friends (likes Emmylou) Spoilers ahead for Book 20!!! -*Not too sure about Snake anymore since he watches those rom com movies with Joy . . . but up until Book 20, that was my headcanon for him. -Are Pam and Emmylou canon!?!?!? -Alternatively, Ellen could also be biromantic.  Up until Book 20, I liked the thought of Ellen x Pam.

[larkspur777]

Andi Mack: Amber Confusion

I've always wondered: How did so many people get to seeing Amber as a lesbian instead of bi? I thought her interest in Jonah seemed genuine . . .

I mean, yeah, lesbian rep in the show would've been cool, but a bi x bi ship with Amber and Andi would've been just as great. (Or in Andi's case, pan.)

I feel like bi x bi ships are actually pretty rare, at least with the shows I'm familiar with. It's more often bi x gay, or gay x gay, when it comes to queer couples.

[genderqueerdykes]

is bullying, abusing and chasing aromantic and asexual people out of the community actually helping anyone? is it helping trans people get binders or breastforms, or find surgeons, or connect with other trans people? is it helping mspec people figure out that being attracted to multiple genders is normal and okay? is it helping lesbians and gays find each other? is it helping intersex people learn more about their conditions?

it's not. it's not helping anyone else get the resources, support and help they need. all it's doing is denying a huge chunk of the community their right to have the same things we have and want. it's not helping a single soul. it's not making it easier for anyone else to get what they need by removing these groups of people, because as queers, we all have different needs. we are here to help each other. the point of community is to help.

if you refuse to help one or two specific types of members of your own community, you are prejudiced and you are the one being disruptive to the unity and functionality of the queer community. you are the one causing problems- not the aromantics, asexuals and other aspectrum people.

[radiomogai]

[PT: Sherbet Queerplatonic. End PT]

@daybreakthing

Sherbet Queerplatonic

I made this flag a long time ago and posted it on my old account (maisy-the-trans-mouse, it still exists but I don’t use it at all) but since I’ve updated the meaning behind it a little bit with the help of some really cool peeps in a server I want to post it again.

Sherbet Queerplatonic(relationship) is a soft type of queerplatonic attraction/relantionship, like an aspec version of being in love (specifically for arospecs). A sherbet qpr is when you love and adore your qpp(s) so much and you’re just so soft when you think about your them!! It’s very intimate in an emotional way and it’s just overall very sweet! 

A sherbet aro could also refer to an aromantic/demiromantic/greyromantic person who wants to be in a (possibly committed & long-term) romantic relationship. 

~~~~

Colour meanings;

pastel reddish orange - that warm feeling you get when you talk/spend time with your qpp(s) 

 pastel yellow - soft platonic love 

 white - unfiltered and pure admiration for your qpp(s) pastel

 turquoise -  friendship, emotional balance and serenity

[lonelyzarquon]

[areyouthisidentity-polls]

Are you...

A-spec, or the a spectrum, is an umbrella term that encompasses both the asexual and aromantic spectrums and the many sexual and romantic orientations that are part of them.

[avenpt]

Romantic Orienations

We realize there are an infinite number of romantic orientations, so we apologize if we've left yours off! Please select Other and let us know how you identify. :)