#well actually correction

[macandcheese-inhaler]

For aromantic awareness week, I'd like to share my pipeline of "I'm just ace" to "Uh-oh I'm aro too"

Back in 2020 (the first year I started actively questioning if I wasn't straight) whenever I heard asexual being mentioned, some form of a "they don't like dating" comment always followed.

It took several years for me to accept, but in the back of my mind I was always aware of my ace-ness. 1) because I am severely sex-repulsed & how different that made me became blatantly obvious whenever I hung around my friends. And 2) dating someone never was appealing. In fact, if I ever thought about what it would be like to date someone, I'd get bored or frustrated & quickly move on.

I tried to hang out in ace spaces online every so often, but it always felt... not right, I guess? I could never understand where the "(most) asexuals don't date" thing came from, b/c I never really saw that being reflected in actual ace spaces. Ever.

I felt disconnected b/c what I was feeling (or lack there of) didn't seem to be matching up with the "core" values of the ace communities. Sure, I agreed garlic bread was a million times better than sex, but I felt something other than just "ew sex." There was a disconnect between me & dating in general.

Funnily enough, the only reason I bothered to look into being aro was b/c an underclassman asked me if I was gay, I was freaking out about it in the group chat, and a friend of mine decided to point-blank ask if I've ever been attracted to anyone.

To which I replied, "Nope."

"You know there's a term for that, right?"

"Yeah..."

Now it was 2022. I wanted to finally find a term that matched up with my feelings, so I went to properly research the term "aromantic". I don't remember my first reaction to it well, but I remember thinking something like, "How can I know if I don't feel something if I don't know what that something feels like? What does it even mean to want to do romantic things with someone?" Which, I think should've been pretty telling, but ehhh, my closet's always been glass & back then I only drank water from Denial.

Being asexual was always obvious to me, mainly b/c of my repulsion. I knew I didn't feel sexual attraction b/c I felt like I was going to throw up any time sex was mentioned. My mind made it KNOWN that it wasn't my thing. Being aromantic wasn't as obvious b/c I'm more romance adverse than repulsed. On rare occasions I would somehow talk myself into a weird mindset of, "I wouldn't seek out a partner, but I think I could somewhat tolerate dating if I'd get to hold their hand."

My relationship with my aro and ace identities are different b/c they present themselves in different ways.

I've never been sexually attracted to someone, nor have I ever wanted to be. I've never wanted to date a specific person. However, I want to be wanted by someone. I so badly want to be someone's number one, the person they'll always put first, and in turn I want them to be my number one too. But how do I get that without being someone's romantic partner?

To wrap things up, in all honesty, even now there's a little voice in the back of my head that says, "You're not aro, you're just lying to yourself!" And who knows, maybe I am, but at the end of the day, I can tell you that I've never wanted to be romantically involved with someone. I thought thinking someone looked pretty was the same thing as a crush. I never understood why my friend's partners always took precedence over their friends. I've never understood how someone can obsess so, so much over someone they don't even know. I've never understood why my friends crave to be held, and why they are so determined to find their "other half." I've never understood why weddings are considered to be one of the most important days of your life. I've never understood why romantic love is the most valued type of love. I've never understood why someone would want to spend every waking hour of the day with their partner. And for the better or worse, there are plenty of other things I don't understand about romance, and I doubt I ever will.

If nothing else, I've found a place where I feel like I belong and that means everything to me :]

Happy aromantic awareness week! Party hard broskis <22

[inkskinned]

okay i almost never address the very small amount of internet fame i have. and sometimes yes it sucks. people often repost my work, or clip it out of context, or flat-out steal it. but like it can be very funny. once a follower dm'd me to say a guy on hinge was pretending to be "inkskinned", and actually had even started his own insta. when she said "i've followed her for years i don't think you're her", he said - actually r.i.d is like seven people, we just made those initials up. (rude). when i found his insta and messaged him, he begged me to just lie and say he was r.i.d because "it's hard for men to date."

once someone said she should be allowed to plagiarize my work because she was a body-positive influencer and that if i "made a big deal" about this and "got her cancelled", i would be doing damage to my own community and i was never "actually" an ally.

i bear these things with the aura of a martyr, the way my catholic father raised me to. i message privately. i handle things quietly and quickly. i do not complain because i am very, very, very, very blessed and i know that. mercy and gentleness literally pour out of me every morning when i wake up, and then i have to mop the floors for how very Good i am.

however today is the first time i have ever had a very specific problem that neither requires me to correct this person nor throw them to the dogs but is somehow worse than years of hatemail, reddit thread death threats, and pinterest reposts:

someone quoted me and just got it, like, a little wrong.

[shepscapades]

Contrary to popular belief etho and bdubs are not divorced and in this essay I will

[hinamie]

shows up a day early with a nobara birthday tribute

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

hope you feel better soon!

I am riddled with ailments, but I stay silly!

[ch1zzie]

Julie💔

With no words or dootels

Dootels

Words

[brenatto-apothecary]

I am a very vocal hater of the whole "the game is just for the cast you can't criticize it ever!!" mentality, to the extent that even when it's in response to a take I think is awful, it will always bother me more than the original take. After some reflection, I've broken it down to five key reasons why it upsets me so much.

1) The obvious one is that the idea that the show is only being made for the cast is false. If they didn't intend to make a piece of entertainment, they wouldn't have posted it online. A lot of creative works are made with the creators enjoyment as the highest priority. That does not mean that's all it was made for.

2) The way these posts commonly focus on how the cast isn't obligated to do what other people want is a fundamental misunderstanding of what criticism is and why we make it. I assure you the vast majority of people do not think their complaints should be met with the cast personally kneeling before them.

3) It implies that something being made with love automatically makes disliking any element of it wrong. Which is a belief that is impossible to hold without becoming a hypocrite. There is no way in hell you have never disliked a piece that the creator(s) had fun making. I'm writing this post for my personal enjoyment. Have fun with that paradox.

4) There's this weird belief that all complaints are about specific desires that weren't met. There are actually a whole lot of posts about whether the story succeeded in doing what it intended to do, but I guess I can't expect people to read things.

5) This is my big one. Art deserves to be criticized. It's one of if not the most important way of interacting with a work. I don't believe saying actual play is uniquely exempt from critique is respectful of the medium. You are treating it as though it shouldn't be engaged with in the way we engage with all other art and is, therefore, lesser.

[effervescent-fool]

can u guys be normal about hozier and his girlfriend

[unclewaynemunson]

Eddie loves calling Steve all kinds of Hebrew pet names. In the beginning, Steve doesn't understand what any of them mean, but the love in the way Eddie pronounces the words is so clear that it makes him melt every single time. As he starts learning more Hebrew, he starts using Hebrew pet names for Eddie too.

While Eddie loves using a wide variety of pet names, his favorite will always be neshama sheli (נשמה שלי), which literally translates to "my soul." He loves it because of how poetic it is, and it's a safe way to tell Steve how much he loves him when it's still too scary to say those things in English. Because it rolls off his tongue so beautifully, it soon evolves into something natural to call Steve.

Steve, on the other hand, starts out sticking to a simple ahuvi (אהובי - my love). Learning the language doesn't come easy to him, but as he grows more confident incorporating some Hebrew words and phrases in his vocabulary, he starts to love calling Eddie ugiya sheli (עוגייה שלי - my cookie). He learned that one from Wayne as a joke; Eddie pretends to hate it, but Steve and Wayne both know better.

[meamiki]

mira !!! :]

[lunarin64art]

That feeling when he can't stand to see you that way, no matter what you do, no matter what you say😩😭💔

[momentomori24]

Reading the comments on Manly's TCOAAL playthrough made me remember how much I hate the fandom sometimes when it comes to Andrew and Ashley's characters. I side eye people who write off Andrew as purely a victim and completely excusing his own abuse and manipulation of both his sister and Julia while downplaying the abuse and neglect Ashley experienced her whole life and acting like she's purely evil soooooo hard 😒

[radaverse]

hello pizza tower fandom it's me radaverse do you remember me (... what do you mean you don't... WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T)

I have a messy tower of mistakes au sketch look usual peppino and gustavo dynamic

peppino being a jerk just to hide his vulnerability and stuff, when he actually shows his sweet side and starts thanking guavo we get anything (a mf for example) that interrupts them

[oceanwithouthermoon]

not to be a bitch but its funny to me when saiki k posts go viral outside of the fandom and people start regurgitating the same surface level popular takes i've been trying to get away from for years

[geckosteak]

WE ARE THE HAPPY LANDFILL! ALRIGHT!

[soapcan18]

The fact that Michael only appears in six episodes, and only speaks in FOUR of them, yet still became the fan favorite is hilarious. No one can resist the charms of silly spiral man