#aspec fandom

[mossy-aro]

[canonically47]

“there is no straight explanation for this” neither is there a gay one. there is however an aromantic one

[cepheusgalaxy]

Wish more people understood the difference between "shipping this aro character because i want to explore their aromanticism and where they stand in the spectrum" and "shipping this aro character because i don't care about their orientation".

[the-great-kraken]

if you see a male character kiss a male character, you assume they are gay.

if you see a female character kiss a female character, you assume they are a lesbian.

if you hear a character say they don't feel like their gender, you assume they are trans.

so why do a-spec characters have to jump through so many loops?

a character saying they've never had a crush or don't want a relationship or that they don't understand romantic love is so often ignored or used as fodder for other queer or autistic headcanons (reinforcing stereotypes that aroace people are secretly gay or always autistic)

why is it that our stories are always "up to interpretation"? why do we have to wait for the words aromantic or asexual to be said to be taken seriously? why is it that even when characters say they don't want relationships, fans will scream and cry about sex/romance favourable aspecs and qprs?

when it comes to gay and trans characters, even the likes of bisexual lighting is often treated as though it canonises their sexuality. for aroace characters, even the most explicit coding possible is swept under the rug in favour of other "interpretations"

i'm so tired of fighting for representation just to have it ignored and minimised by fans. let characters be aroace. please.

[meowyjean]

friendly reminder to fandoms: you don't have to pair up every single character with someone. people can be appreciated as themselves without being romantically/sexually attached. thank you.

[archivomeow]

can we just all collectively agree that it is okay for aroace characters not to date or have sex if they clearly show no interest in it or repulsion?

can we respect that and not ship them?

or are yall too deep into amatonormativity…???

[shmaroace]

"that character isn't aromantic" actually they are because i'm aromantic and i said that they are. hope this helps

[cordwaner]

Did you know? Being Ace actually kinda rules!

[kiwinatorwaffles]

i’m not gonna lie fandom alwaysoften feels like an actively hostile environment towards aromanticism. even if it’s not intentional most of the time. like the way everyone jumps towards romantic ships and prioritizes those relationships over everything else and stripping aro coded characters of their aromanticism to be like “normal people”. maybe everyone just needs to slip away just this once from the amanormativity whispering in their ears to kick aros to the curb

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[canonically47]

“can you people just let friends be friends!!” i shout into the mic. the crowd boos and throws tomatoes at me. “why, are you homophobic?” they accuse. i shoot everyone dead with my aromantic beam.

[hilacopter]

normalize liking platonic dynamics just as much as romantic dynamics. normalize being insane over characters as friends and not as a ship. normalize wanting characters to be closer platonically just as you would want them to be closer romantically (I call it platonic shipping). normalize not having characters fall in love for no reason when they were already great and compelling platonically. normalize characters doing things that are usually seen as romantic but in a platonic context. normalize writing platonic fanfiction and drawing platonic fanart. "I am insane about their friendship" can and should be common actually. amatonormativity BEGONE!

[itty-bitty-sunshine]

Happy pride from the oldest queer alive!

(I tried to mix the colors of the aroace flag and the nonbinary flag into one outfit)

[aroaceqoutes]

Yes they're my favorite character, no I don't think about their genitals. (They're all barbies and kens in my mind, just plain ol nothing down there)

[redysetdare]

Fandoms can be so blatantly aphobic and the moment any aspec person points this out it's "stop ruining our fun!"

Fandom erasing an aspec character and it's "The character didn't have a canon sexuality" "People have different headcanons!" "let people have fun!"

Fandom ships an aro/aroace character and erasing their aromanticism and it's "some aro people date!" "it's actually a QPR (lie)" "You're homophobic!" "Who cares? let people have fun!" "It's not hurting anyone!!!" "You're just hating on my ship!!! you're starting ship discourse!!!" "It's just a ship it's not real!!!"

Fandom will purposefully make characters they dont like "Heartless" "Unlovable" "they dont feel love" and justify it with "They're awful and terrible and evil" and "no it's not aphobic! you're aphobic actually for assuming these are connected to aspec people at all uwu"

Fandom will create soulmate AUs and when aspec people express how aphobic those AUs tend to be they throw a fit and say "it's just fiction! it doesn't hurt anyone!" "Platonic soulmates exist!!!" "You're just a hater!!!"

it's always "Stop ruining OUR fun" ignoring the fact that the are actively hurting aspec communities by consistently pushing and normalizing aphobia and amatonormativity within fandom spaces. Because aphobia is their fun. They don't want us in their spaces unless we conform to their comforts.

[xx-slug-xx]

“Your fantasies equal your real life desires”

I’m fucking asexual? I have no desire to do anything I fantasize about irl. Same with a shit ton of other people who are aspec?

Tbh, I think it’s just queerphobic, specifically aphobic but other shit too, to say “your fantasies are what you want irl.

It’s not just aspecs either. I know a fuck ton of lesbians who fantasize about fictional men. They are not any less lesbians because of their fantasies though.

I could go on with more about how it’s a stupid argument, and even how it’s ableist in certain contexts, but I’ll save that for other posts lmao