#for ASAW2021

[lothiriel84]

Purple and Green

“Oh,” Douglas blinks, and he’s not quite sure why, but it does feel a bit like finding the missing piece of a puzzle several decades too late.

A Cabin Pressure ficlet. Aromantic!Douglas, asexual!Verity. 

“It means I’m romantically attracted to girls, but I’m not sexually attracted to anyone,” Verity explains, patiently, and he knows he should say something, anything at all to show that he respects her identity, it’s just that he’s not sure he understands how that’s supposed to work. He mulls over his own track record of failed marriages and short-lived romantic relationships, doesn’t seem to be able to pinpoint the difference between sexual attraction and – that other thing.

“You mean,” he frowns, still racking his own brain for any clearly definable instance of himself experiencing romantic attraction as a separate entity. “That you can, hmm, be in love with someone without desiring them as a sexual partner?”

“And the other way round, too. That’s called being aromantic, by the way.”

“Oh,” Douglas blinks, and he’s not quite sure why, but it does feel a bit like finding the missing piece of a puzzle several decades too late. He thinks back of all the times one of his wives had angrily thrown the accusation at him that he was incapable of truly reciprocating their feelings, and how he invariably dismissed it as completely unfair allegations, but now – he wonders if maybe there was some truth to it, though not in the way any of them intended.

As perceptive as ever, Verity narrows her eyes, considering. “We could always look up more about aromanticism, if you like?”

He pauses, hesitating, then slowly nods his head. “I think I would like that, yes. If you please.”

“Give me your phone,” she’s smiling now, and oh, he loves her so much it almost hurts.

“You’re a marvel,” he says with conviction, as he hands over his phone.

[chaotic-carnifex]

You know, if I had to describe my experience as an aromantic in one word, I think I’d go with “alienating”. Let me explain:

Imagine you’re aro and watching TV. There some kind of SciFi show on and they are debating the personhood of an AI.

The AI shows curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. They have desires. They have strengths and weaknesses. None of this convinces the doubters.

The AI makes friends. They take up hobbies. They talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. Surely this is enough to relate to them as a person? It’s not.

The AI is shown to fall in love. This is framed as the ultimate proof, the one thing that must humanize them even to the staunchest denier of their personhood or else that person is irredeemable.

You change the channel.

There’s a children’s cartoon on. “What is this?!” the villain cries, pointing at a couple. Their inability to understand the romantic love between those two is framed as stemming from the fact that somebody so deeply evil simply cannot understand something as pure and good as romantic love.

You change the channel.

There’s a sitcom on. Two characters are discussing a third character. “He’s really not that weird,” says one character. “He hasn’t been in a relationship for [x] years!” the other refutes. Cue the laugh track. The implication is clear: If he’s not in a relationship, it must be because he’s too weird.

You change the channel.

There’s a Christmas movie on. The main character is a successful businesswoman. She’s shown talking to her friends and family regularly. “You need a man,” her mother says as they bake together. The daughter denies this. The rest of the movie is all about proving the mother right, as suddenly her career, her friends and her family are framed as not being enough for her to lead a fulfilling life.

You change the channel.

It’s some show aimed at young teens and tweens. “Ew,” one character comments as the idea of them having a significant other one day is brought up. This is treated as a sign of their immaturity.

You turn off the TV.

Your experiences aren’t enough to humanize a non-human character. You’re the villain. You’re a weirdo. Your life is incomplete. You’re immature.

You’re tired.

There’s a reason it was an aro who coined the term voidpunk.

[chroma-imp-draws]

Aromantics aren’t broken, because romantic love doesn’t make us whole.

[arowitharrows]

Aromantic week is coming up and I hope aro allies will consider boosting aro voices and aro topics instead of making "aromanticism is valid" posts. Aros actually have a lot of interesting things to say about relationships of all kinds, about amatonormativity, about relationship anarchy, and spreading awareness for these topics helps us a lot more than just telling us we're valid and leaving it at that. I'm sure some alloromantic people would benefit from learning about these things as well.

[shmaroace]

shoutout to neurodivergent arospecs! you are amazing and an incredible part of the arospec community!

[belloves]

alina starkov + character profile (x)

[alinastarvko]

alina starkov week ◊ free choice  ↯ favorite hairstyles + details

[apollo-illustrations]

Happy Aromantic Spectrum Awarenees Week everybody! 💚🤍🖤 Drew Artemis and Athena with their aromantic flags (I didn’t include Hestia bc I got lazy, but I think she’s aroace too)

Aspec exclusionists DNI!!!

Twitter 💚 Instagram 💜

[pansexual-pied-piper]

Anatomically correct epoxy resin aro pride heart. Because fuck you, that's why.

Oh yeah, it also glows in the dark:

[rowersdelight]

Got some more for you guys

[aleksander-alina]

Alina Starkov Appreciation Week Day 1: Favorite Quote & Modern AU

[lothiriel84]

anything you want to be

Just turn yourself into anything you think that you could ever be

A Yonderland ficlet. Aroace!Ellis of Woolworth. Inspired by this post.

“...does this mean I’m supposed to flirt with boys, then?”

Debbie paused, considering. “You’re not supposed to do anything, Ellis. You just do you, okay?”

“I – don’t know what that is,” he admitted at length, his shoulders sagging as if in defeat. “Following in my brother’s footsteps was all I had, and now, I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

“You’re your own man – person, I mean,” she quickly corrected herself. It just felt wrong to be making any sort of assumptions. “You can be anything you want to be.”

“But what if I’m not – if I just don’t want to, with anyone?”

“That’s perfectly fine, too. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”

“Thank you, Debbie of Maddox,” he bowed, and brought her hand to his lips. “Farewell.”

“Well, that’s that,” she sighed to herself as they all watched Ellis, Marks, and Spencer march away to their new life. At her side, Elf swayed gently, only just catching himself using Nick as a – well, a walking stick, she supposed. “Let’s go home.”

[clonekiss]

YO HAPPY ARO WEEK (shot out to my fellow aroallos also) !! 💚🤍💛

[chroma-imp-draws]

Aromantic frogs 2: Electric Bugaloo (now in more arospec colours :3)

some are available as stickers here uwu

[arowitharrows]

[ID: A drawing of a green and black compass with the words "No direction but to follow what you know" written in a circle around the compass rose. The compass needle is an arrow, it's feathers have the aromantic flag colors of green, white, grey and black. End ID]

Sometimes being aro feels like having nothing: no set path to follow, no guidelines, no role models, no stories. I don't know what my future looks like, but I do know that despite what society tells me, it's not a sad or shameful one.

[ineffablyaro]

I am but a simple aro and wandavision watcher

inspired by one of @coralinejones posts

[click for better quality]