#straight atertiary

[ryanyflags]

straight asexual/ace straight aromantic/aro straight ay straight analterous/analt straight aplatonic/apl (yellow verions) straight aplatonic/apl (green, blue, purple versions) straight asensual/asen straight anaesthetic/anae straight aqueerplatonic/aqp (yellow pink versions) straight aqueerplatonic/aqp (teal grey versions) straight aqueerplatonic/aqp (teal versions) straight atertiary/ater straight aphysical/aphys straight aemotional/aemo (green, blue, black versions) straight aemotional/aemo (green teal blue versions)

(straight here can also be replaced with het and hetero. Alt terms for these aspec terms can also be used in place of the ones I used, like nonalterous instead of analterous.)

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Straight/het/hetero a-spec flags :D

I saw @neopronouns' straight aroace flag and was inspired to make other a-spec versions. I know straight aro, and likely others, have already been made before, but I wanted to make my own. For mine that look like ones already made before, because I am following a flag format afterall, just think of these as high res versions (I didn't check / try to find every pre-existing straight a-spec flag). It was fun to make these, and I love sets of things. :)

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Each term has 2 flags, the first ones follows this 7 stripe straightbian format, and the seconds follows this 6 stripe straightbian format.

The colors (so not the white/greys/black) come from their respective a- flags. The aqueerplatonic, atertiary, aphysical, and aemotional flags in particular use the colors from my flags, link.

[bilesproblems]

Quick points to hit:

1. Yes I have the exorsexism essay, I am gonna finish that before I start this, but might as well plan this at least

2. I am qualified to talk on this subject because of course I'm a lunian, bi lesbian, ply lesbian, omni lesbian, and thalassic (neptunic lesbian) but also I am asexual, absexual (microlabel for absolutely no sexual attraction), demiromantic, and apresromantic, possibly aplspec and other atertiary stuff if I would get around to exploring that side of attraction, so I am part of both communities. Not only does that mean I'm not speaking over communities I don't belong to, but it also means I face both forms of discrimination and can say that they're both similar.

3. I did not go through aspec discourse because I was convinced to not identify as ace when I was younger and ace discourse was big. However, I do feel the effects of our community having lost so much culture because of discourse having resulted in so much destruction. I would absolutely love for a survivor of ace discourse to be a guest writer for this essay, to give a better perspective on the kind of popular rhetoric at the time.

4. I will not make a point similar to "oH jUSt sWitCh tHe wORdS" because I think that's a fundamentally stupid argument. Yes you can take "bi 'lesbians' are just bi people trying to be special and invade the lesbian community" and switch"bi lesbian" with ace, "bi people" with straight people, and "the lesbian community" with "the lgbt community" and it will just mirror ace discourse but you can also say diet coke is disgusting and unnatural, then switch out "diet coke" with "gay people" and suddenly it mirrors homophobia. This doesn't mean hating diet coke is homophobic it just means changing the words in your sentence changes the meaning, so it's a weak point. I will be pointing out common sentiments, as "bi lesbians are invading the lesbian community" and "ace people are invading the lgbt community" have more in common than similar wording, but I'll take the time to deconstruct it properly instead of just switching out words to show they're the same.

Ok that's all please vote y'all

[amaterasu-corporation]

Amaterasu Corporation Rainbow Capitalism (Heartwarming)

Siema I'm Feliks and you're on my blog. He/him or it/its if you really want to refer to me. Very queer, disabled, disordered and plural. I post mdarc icons on here. Anyone can use any of them, credit appreciated but not required, I'll know you when I see you.

I default to square icons, so let me know if you want a circular one. Can safely put a max of 6 flags in one icon, you can ask for more if you want but it'll probably look weird. I'll probably finish your request faster if you ask for 3 characters or less within one ask, if you want you can spread these out across multiple asks it will make my sad sad life easier.

Oh and also note. Please clarify if you mean "gay" as in the rainbow flag or the blue-green gay flag, if you won't then I'll just default to the blue-and-green flag. If there are multiple versions of the same flag then I'll just default to the one I think is most common, if you want a specific one in that case then please specify or link it / mention the coiner if it's a very obscure one that I won't be able to easily find.

Request rules or something:

What I'll do:

Most pride flags, all good faith identities including ones you feel are "contradictory" like mspec monos (ex. bi lesbians, or pan gays), straight lesbians/gays as well as gaybians/lesbigays, lesboys and turigirls, honeybee transfems and coffee bean transmascs, as well as xenogenders (though if it's lesser known, then either specify who made the flag or link it to me cause I'm probably gonna have a hard time finding it otherwise) and neopronoun flags;

Tertiary attraction and atertiary flags;

Otherkin and alterhuman flags (including transspecies), but if it's more specific than just the general ones, then you'll probably have to specify just like with xenogenders;

Disability and neurodivergency (including plurality) flags, advised to also specify or else I'll just use the one I see the most;

Rabies pride, because this is what it actually means;

Objectum flags;

If you aren't sure if I'd do anything that's currently listed on here then you can always send in an ask.

What I won't do:

Kink and/or NSFW flags;

Agere flags;

Country flags;

Sapio/morosexual flags;

Paraphilia flags, I want to specify I have nothing against any paraphiles as I don't believe in thought crimes, I just don't really feel like doing them just like the ones listed above;

Radqueer flags (please grow and change as a person);

Any bad faith and/or deliberately exclusionary flags.

No DNI, no bringing up any discourse (queer discourse especially, but applies to shipcourse or syscourse as well), no arguining and being rude to anybody, being nice to me is mandatory. Don't ask me to tag queer as ''q slur''.

[lovelessrage]

Alright, said I'd do this after work, forgot, so here I am now.

I'm a loveless aroallo lesbian. My experience is being called a monster by my own community, as well as the people outside of it. I feel, in discussions surrounding asoec stereotyping, there is an immense gap where lateral aggression should be, as well as the gap between more publicised and recognised aspectrums [such as aromantic and asexual], and the atertiary that are often left out of these conversations entirely despite being at the forefront of them. I think it is immensely important to acknowledge that while many tropes can be dismissed as plainly untrue by stating an aspec individual, typically an aromantic, asexual, or both, does indeed feel love and experience all the things that people assume they do not, there are those left behind by this dismissal entirely. The aplatonics, afamilials, and many more that are dismissed wholeheartedly in favour of a more palatable image for a normative society cannot be ignored in this conversation, and, in a similar sense, neither can the flattening and simplifying of aromantic and asexual lifestyles be ignored either.

When I first came out as loveless, something else came out around the same time: Being Not Straight by Jaiden Animations. While I browsed the aromantic tags to see joy and celebration of having publicity, I looked to the loveless aromantic tags as well, as part of my routine. What I observed was a complete disparity in response, due to one, simple fact: the loveless had yet again been the scapegoat to uplift a loving aspec. In this video, while a great moment for many aspecs, I saw what I had seen plenty of times: the refusal of being a monster, with the proof being loving one's friends and family. It stung. It stung to see people I considered allies and fellow community members gloss over this bubbling pain in favour of their own empowerment. It was one of my first experiences with disillusionment with the aspec community at large.

When I first read I Am Not Voldemort, and its accompanying piece, Love and Attraction: Yet Another Shape of Allo-Aro Antagonism, I felt immensely seen and understood. The latter's opening still sits with me as an expression of this disconnect I had began to feel:

"The biggest reason, however, is a kind of existential exhaustion. When dealt the same blow of erasure over and over again, my need to protest withers. I’m not angry; I’m just tired. It’s easier to sigh and turn towards something else, anything else, in search of satisfaction or distraction. It’s easier to retreat from my own people. Defeatist logic makes simple the equation: why labour to explain when spilling my words upon the world results only in its unchanged existence?" - K.A Cook on Aro Worlds

This feeling, I fear, is immensely common. When the prioritization lies in proving your merit as one of the true loving, that you are so desperate for validation from your oppressors that you play their games, those of us that cannot wither away from where these celebrations and discussions take place. The truth is, I feel a lot of discussion about the tropes of robots, monsters, and aliens always falls to the same, useless, worn-out counterpoints that make the debate pointless. Many are more interested in proving their mettle to be on the 'right side', rather than creating relationships woth those that cannot escape it.

The outside world identifies me as a monster; this, I am personally apathetic toward. They are not who I look to for solidarity. I know where my allegiances are, and I do not need approval from them. Regardless, I feel seen in the emotionless monster the most. A horrid monster is simply a monster. It is not made to "find love" in itself, or to be saved by friendship. Only the redeemable, passable monsters get the "luxury" of experiencing the platonormativity fast-pass to acceptability. I prefer a lonely life of being feared and grimaced at if it means nobody is attempting to change me for their own comfort. I don't mind the comparison, as I see no negativity in lovelessness or emotionlessness. Is the trope bad? Yes, but not because the aspec individual, or the tropey character, is loveless; it is bad because it villainizes these traits and weaponizes allonormative fears. The frigid woman, intersection of allonormativity, acephobia, and misogyny, is not bad because she is a woman who is sexless. Her presence is bad because she implies her womanhood, her existence, hinges on her sexuality and her usefulness to patriarchy.

I have found the most comfort in broadly queer spaces, as opposed to aspec ones. I find that, even if a space dedicated to trans people and/or gay people is less familiar with my labels, this same lack of familiarity is met with curiosity and interest. There's little prior experience jading these strangers to me, even if they are more uninformed and may say some things they don't intend to be rude. There's an understanding of it as another point of diversity out there, and, if not, it's met with a shrug and little fanfare. I know there are aphobes out there, plenty in fact, but at least in my experience I have had the least issues entering queer spaces.

Entering aspec spaces, I am on edge. The fact of the matter is the aspec community is wounded, and its scars flare up into acts of lateral aggression, violence, and harassment. Many aspecs are so defensive of their humanity and "validity" they don't care what earns them that good feeling, no matter how wrong it is or how it may harm others around them. It's a result of being torn down time and time again, but it also makes it impossibly difficult to navigate as the scapegoat. The loveless are little mentioned, typically only for a person to make themself feel good about knowing we exist. The more common experience is being met with suspicion and hostility. Loveless discussions, and by extension loveless criticism, are viewed as unwelcome in many spaces. These discussions target the things aspecs use to shield themselves against aphobia, arguing their harm [and by extension, self-harm for the wielder]; this makes many people feel naked or exposed, that they have been disarmed and left out to dry. So, rather than engage the point, they jump on the defense of their coping mechanism and snappy rebuttals, seeing only their own pain and not the pain they can cause others.

This makes it immensely difficult to diffuse and even moreso to exist beside. When I search for community spaces, I need to brace for being shouted down, dismissed, and doubted. I need to be prepared. There's little room for error on the knife's edge. When people know you as "the one that makes the argument more complicated", they grow to detest you, and there's very little you can do to change their mind.

Overall, I've found plenty of compassion in the LGBTQIA+ community that I haven't in aspec circles. I've participated and helped organize pride events where I get to see teenagers happily collect their asexual stickers and search the flag bowl for what their friends are searching for. Happy queer adults that are non-judgemental, joyful, and ready to accept whatever changes come from the younger demographics.

When I look online, I see tormented young adults and teenagers ripping into each other for a scrap of joy, satisfaction, and status, no room for conversation beyond pleas for listening and lengthy explanations where the poster has to defend themself at every turn from harassment. The aspec community can be beautiful and vibrant, but it is also some of the worst, most vile experiences I've had.

I've written my piece about loveless tropes before and common "aspec tropes" that tend to target loveless lives most. All I'll say further on it is that we need to get into a better mindset about how we handle aphobia, and plenty of "counterpoints" or "subversions" need tossing out.

Question: Aspecs experience in queer spaces and in an allonormative society?

So for context, I'm a psych major and next tuesday I'm supposed to lead a guided discussion on the following article

I chose this article to be one im the discussion leader for because I am aromantic, and I knew it would be better to have an aspec person doing this article

But for why I am making this post! I need to link real world examples, and I mean I am going to scroll through the aromantic, asexually, and aroace tags for some. But I also thought I should ask y'all your experiences as ace, aro, or other variation of aspec in queer areas, and or in general in an allonormative culture.

Now I'm not expecting many people to see this, but I thought it was worth a shot, so if you want to share your experiences leave them in either the comments or tags! No pressure though, do whatever you want.