You Dont Have To Answer This If You Dont Want To, But I Was Wondering How Your Could Be Aroace And Bi?

Does anyone else on the arospec feel incredibly isolated from almost everyone? I don’t mean in a, “they can bond over same-sex relationships/being trans” way, I mean in a, “I no longer see things through an amatonormative lens but almost everyone I talk to does” way. 

The entire concept of love has been shifted drastically for me, but for other people, it’s rigid, inflexible, set in stone; romance is romance, friends are friends, there’s a line, it’s absolute, it’s simply the way things are. 

But so much of that confuses me, now. How can something be inherently romantic? How is teasing and complimenting people considered flirting, which is considered being romantically interested in someone? How is acting or looking at someone in a certain way somehow different between friends, lovers, family? How is platonic intimacy considered simply a stepping stone to romance? How is being emotional with people a sign of attraction? How?

I just don’t understand. And not being able to understand these things leaves me isolated from others, sometimes entirely, and it can be so exhausting sometimes. It’s exhausting to always have to justify why you don’t see things the same way they do, because the way they see things is “right” and “that’s just the way things are”, because “it’s a part of being human”. 

And, unfortunately, a lot of that comes from the LGBTQ+ community, especially when it comes fandom spaces. If you speak up about a same-sex/gender couple perhaps not being romantically interested, or you headcanon someone as aro, it’s always, “why does this happen when it’s a sapphic/mlm couple/lesbian/gay headcanon?” 

The implication that we are homophobic because we don’t see love in the same way others do hurts. The way that so many people see fans who want aromantic representation as simply not supporting gay people. Or when we speak up about people continuing to ship a confirmed/implied/coded aromantic character in romantic relationships, and we’re told to “stop taking it so seriously”. 

Arophobia is isolating, and unfortunately, it’s everywhere. The way society has regulated people’s lives, telling us how to be happy, who to be happy with, the rules of happiness, has long-since ingrained internalized arophobia into everyday life, and it’s so hard when you’re aware of it, but can’t do anything about it because no one wants to step away from their easy, comfortable ideals.

HAPPY FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL AROMANTIC VISIBILITY DAY

So, you wanna wear your cool pants with your cool shoes.

Your pants have a super cool print and you wanna wear em with some bitchin boots, but the problem is, even though they fit fine, they do this with the boots:

So you’re like, okay, cool, I’ll just cuff them, but then you realize you can’t because they look like this on the inside:

So now you’re like aw man what do I do?? I want the cuff to match the pants but they won’t :(

Step 1! Fold the hem up about to here, make sure the fold is crisp and clean all the way around:

Step 2! Fold the white part up again so it’s the same width as the original hem, keeping it crispy:

Step 3! Fold that original hem down and over, and you guessed it, crispy again:

You have now created a cuff that matches the rest of your pants! Now go, wear your stompy boots with funky pants and be gay

top ten iconic duos of the decade

A DTIYS for @/obsessedfish on insta. I thought I'd post it here as I don't post my own stuff much often. (click on it for better quality ig)

“they” (1 word) is shorter than “he or she” (3 words)

“they” is more inclusive than “he/she”

“themself” flows more naturally than “him or herself”

“they” is less clunky than “(s)he”

it’s time to replace the awkward “she or he”

Talentswap requests on twitter 👌

MEET THE MODS!

& a brief reminder that applications are open!