Aspec Stories

An accessible, inclusive, and positive aspec writing and community blog! ★ Click here to read our current weekly prompt! ★ App users: here are links to our static pages in post format! [Submission guidelines] [Our tags] [About the blog] [About the mods] Computer users: visit the full version of our blog for the most accessible user interface! [link to full blog] Please visit the "Our tags" page for a full list of current content warning tags. Please check out our "Submission guidelines" page before submitting something. Blog icon by @pocketsizedquasar and described on the "About the blog" page.

[astralaspecs]

#Aromantic - Sept. 14 & 15

I tried posting this earlier and Tumblr ate it instead. Anyways, many of you may remember that earlier this year the hashtag #asexual was trending on Tumblr. Back in April I tried to get #aromantic trending as well. Unfortunately, this first effort did not work, which was probably enlarged part because I only posted the effort the day of. People didn't have a chance to prepare or know about it. I'd really like to get #aromantic trending so here's round 2.

Who: Everyone! It doesn't matter if you are aromantic, a positivity blog, LGBTQ+, or anything. All are welcome to participate!

What: This is an effort to get #aromantic trending. You can contribute by creating posts and using #aromantic as well as reblogging other posts, especially from aro people!

These post can be a wide range of things, they can be positivity, art, pride edits, informative, memes, or other various things. As long as they are relevant to aromanticism and have the #aromantic, you're good!

*Please be sure all posts are relevant to aromanticism or the aro spectrum.

Where: Tumblr, but I'm sure posting stuff on other sites wouldn't hurt.

When: Sept. 14 & 15, 2019. (You can start scheduling posts now though!)

Why: There's a lot of reasons why, but one of the biggest is that quite honestly, we leave out aromantic people. They are spoken over, they do not receive the same recognition that asexual people do, I've seen both through my experiences and surveys that they are less likely to be included in the community. They have different stigmas attached to them.

There's also an issue of people posting things that are said to be "aspec" but only apply to aces or things tagged as #aromantic that only apply to ace people. We need to start giving recognition to aromantic people.

In addition to this visibility is extremely important. You might assume that this hashtag trending is a worthless endeavor. But in many ways it's not - it opens the door to learn about a term and learn about themselves. Just the other day I mentioned aromantic to someone, and after explaining it to them, they said "hey, that sounds like me." It starts a conversation that could be eye-opening for many people.

*This is by no means all that should be done for the aro community, but positivity never hurts.

So please, join me in posting on Sept. 14 & 15, and please reblog!

[aspec-stories-blog]

We’ll join in!

Please reblog to spread the word <3

[fuckyeahasexual]

Not an ask, but wanted to share: the first time I told someone I was an ace, it was to a guy hitting on me in the train. I told him that I didn't really date because I didn't feel sexual attraction to people, and he was super nice, curious, interested and respectful. We ended up having an hour long chat about sexual orientations and relationships. He was mind blown that we existed. Just wanted to report that there are still real good, open minded, non judgmental people out there ^^

Thank you for sharing!

- Fae

[aspec-stories-blog]

I love these little positive stories <3

[aspec-stories-blog]

Professional Third Wheel - The Innocent Friend

You have asked me to to be your professional third wheel.

My role is as the ‘Innocent Friend’.

My natural lack of understanding of 'flirting’, along with the odd way everyone sees me as someone to 'protect’; allows me to create a comfortable bubble where everything is platonic. I come along and sit between you and your not-date. I will talk to you about your passions and about work. I will be polite to your not-date but will mostly sit in silence - giving an aura of polite awkwardness.

I will make sure to comment on how nice it is to hang around with friends, emphasis on the friends. 

If you like, I can ask you with innocence if you have a romantic partner? Or if you want one? Allowing you the chance to tell your not-date that you aren’t interested, without risking yourself to do so.

I also offer disbelief

*If I am with you I will 'receive a text’ that will make me burst out laughing (may get a real friend to actually send me the text for 'proof’). If I am meeting you I will rush in already bursting with laughter. I will tell you both that so-and-so just asked me if you two were dating. The idea is so unbelievable it makes me laugh for ages, and I have to share it with you because you will find it hilarious as well*.

I will apologise for laughing and be sure to comment on how both are wonderful people, but I just do not see you as dating. All you need to do is genuinely react.

If you need someone to not realise you might be on a date, and to help make it obvious you aren’t interested in a romantic relationship, I, your Innocent Friend can help.

* Based on real events. At the after-party of a Children’s’ Play, one of the young actors (14) asked me if the director (female, 20) and a mutual friend (male, 23) were dating. I gave a confused no before the question sunk in and it was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help bursting out into laughter.

I had to rush up stairs to where the director and a few friends (including the guy) were hanging out, and told them what had happened through my laughter. Both were horrified because neither of them like the other in way (which is why it was so hilarious to be asked), and then both laughed along. It still makes me laugh to this day.*     

- - -

by @imaginationphoenix

[kitkatt0430]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Flash (TV 2014), DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Mick Rory & Leonard Snart, Barry Allen/Eddie Thawne/Iris West, Sara Lance/Kendra Saunders, Carter Hall/Kendra Saunders Characters: Mick Rory, Iris West, Barry Allen, Eddie Thawne, Tony Woodward, Sara Lance, Kendra Saunders, Charlie (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Carter Hall, Leonard Snart Additional Tags: Professional Third Wheel Mick Rory, or at least the start of how Mick Rory became a Professional Third Wheel, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Aromantic, Aromantic Character, Aromantic Mick Rory, Protective Mick Rory, Coffee Shops, Firefighter Mick Rory Series: Part 5 of DCTv Gen Bingo 2019 Summary:

The story of how Mick Rory became a professional third wheel, when he’s not being a firefighter that is.

Keep reading

[aspec-stories-blog]

This is GREAT.  Lol I’ve never seen either show but I still really enjoyed this! <3

- - -

Here are our blog’s content warnings for the fic, in case any followers want them:  abuse (mention), alcohol (mention), alcohol consumption, food (mention), homophobia (mention), nonconsensual physical contact (nonsexual/not intimate), physical harm (implied), police, q word, romance (mention), sexual activity (mention), stalking, swearing, transphobia (mention), violence (mention)

[creative-aces]

Unburied Fables enlisted talent around the world. From students to seasoned professionals, these writers came together to raise awareness and reinvent classic stories. While they showcase a wide variety of origins, styles, and endings, all the tales in this anthology have one classic element in common: a happily ever after.

50% of the proceeds are donated to @thetrevorproject!

👑

[selffagellation]

EVERYONE GO READ THIS

[aspec-stories-blog]

[id:  A photo of the cover of the book “Unburied Fables”.  It shows a young woman with pale skin and long, blonde hair wearing a deep red cloak and standing in a dim, misty forest.  At the top of the cover is white text that reads “A collection of fairy tales and people who refuse to have their stories forgotten,” and at the bottom is more text that reads “Compiled and edited by Creative Aces Publishing”.  The cover is edited to look like it’s taped onto a scrapbook page, surrounded by a photo of pine trees, a scrap of a page from a book, and doodles of a spiral and a crown.  End id]

I’ve seen this around a few times and it seems awesome!  Anyone have a review to share?

[arowrimo]

Still taking suggestions on prompts/themes!

Needing themes in particular - people seem to want to see submissions split into categories, so we’ll need a diverse range. They will be voted on by you starting the 10th October.

If anyone’s uncertain on what that means - the idea is a theme would be a central idea explored throughout the work(s), so they’ll ideally be relatively broad. Whereas a prompt is an idea to include, just as inspiration to get started - it can have as little or as much importance overall as you want to give it. Since we’ll be likely splitting categories, it’d be great to have themes that work well for different forms of writing too.

There will be a theme per category, and two prompts per week through February. It’s not mandatory to use both or either, but they’ll be in place to help inspire and encourage - and hopefully generate some interesting takes on the same themes/prompts.

[aspec-stories-blog]

Boosting this!

[aro-disaster]

It gets better

It does. As you realise amatonormativity’s poisonous tendrils get everywhere and start the work of peeling them away from your self, the space left behind can flourish.

Your garden might not look like the ones in the magazines, the ones you were told you’d want, but one day you’ll step back and look at it and see its beauty.

🌱

[aspecyellingintothevoid]

Hey y’all, I’m making this post because I feel it’s a very important thing to say! I’d like to let the lovely aplatonic people in our community know that you’re a valuable and essential part of this community! Aplatonic voices are important aspec voices!!

-Mod June

[aspec-stories-blog]

This is so true💛💚💙💜

[aspec-stories-blog]

Happy aspec Satursundayyy!!!☀️✨

This one’s great, we’re big fans of this one:

“You’ve been hired as a professional third wheel to derail your client’s uncomfortable date (or meetup with an old acquaintance or family gathering). How do you perform your craft?”

It’s inspired by this post, which is very long but absolutely worth reading: [link] (please message us if you’d like any content warnings for it)

You are the platonic buffer zone we’ve all wished we’ve had at some point in time. Please use these powers for good💪🔥

[rivalwrites]

I think the best piece of character design advice I ever received was actually from a band leadership camp I attended in june of 2017. 

the speaker there gave lots of advice for leaders—obviously, it was a leadership camp—but his saying about personality flaws struck me as useful for writers too. 

he said to us all “your curses are your blessings and your blessings are your curses” and went on to explain how because he was such a great speaker, it made him a terrible listener. he could give speeches for hours on end and inspire thousands of people, but as soon as someone wanted to talk to him one on one or vent to him, he struggled with it. 

he had us write down our greatest weakness and relate it to our biggest strength (mine being that I am far too emotional, but I’m gentle with others because I can understand their emotions), and the whole time people are sharing theirs, my mind was running wild with all my characters and their flaws.

previously, I had added flaws as an after thought, as in “this character seems too perfect. how can I make them not-like-that?” but that’s not how people or personalities work. for every human alive, their flaws and their strengths are directly related to each other. you can’t have one without the other.

is your character strong-willed? that can easily turn into stubbornness. is your character compassionate? maybe they give too many chances. are they loyal? then they’ll destroy the world for the people they love.

it works the other way around too: maybe your villain only hates the protagonist’s people because they love their own and just have a twisted sense of how to protect them. maybe your antagonist is arrogant, but they’ll be confident in everything they do.

tl;dr “your curses are your blessings, and your blessings are your curses” there is no such thing as a character flaw, just a strength that has been stretched too far.

[mareebrittenford]

This is such a fabulous flip side of what I’ve always known about villians. That their biggest weakness is that they always assume their own motivations are the motives of others.

[bookishdiplodocus]

Such a good tip for writing realistic characters.

[aspec-stories-blog]

This is FANTASTIC writing advice

[fuckyeahasexual]

I came out to my family as a homoromantic asexual a month ago. My mum opened a bottle of sparkling wine and started looking for Pride flags which she'd bought just for fun some time ago. She also asked, "should we put a mark on the day so we can celebrate your anniversary next year". It was all kind of hilarious and a tad embarrassing but very encouraging at the same time. So remember, if someone doesn't accept you as you are, there are lots of people who'll be just as excited as my mum was.

[aspec-stories-blog]

[id: A gif of Stephen Colbert crying on The Late Show, mascara streaked down his face. He says “I just feel like my heart is going to burst because it’s full of rainbows”. End id]

[aromanticsongs]

Cavetown

Cavetown is an aromantic song artist– he’s made songs like Lemon Boy and This Is Home. He’s definitely a very cool artist, and you should definitely check them out!

[aspec-stories-blog]

Happy aspec Satursundayyy!!!☀️✨

This one’s great, we’re big fans of this one:

“You’ve been hired as a professional third wheel to derail your client’s uncomfortable date (or meetup with an old acquaintance or family gathering). How do you perform your craft?”

It’s inspired by this post, which is very long but absolutely worth reading: [link] (please message us if you’d like any content warnings for it)

You are the platonic buffer zone we’ve all wished we’ve had at some point in time. Please use these powers for good💪🔥

[aspec-stories-blog]

Happy aspec Satursundayyy!!!☀️✨

This one’s great, we’re big fans of this one:

“You’ve been hired as a professional third wheel to derail your client’s uncomfortable date (or meetup with an old acquaintance or family gathering). How do you perform your craft?”

It’s inspired by this post, which is very long but absolutely worth reading: [link] (please message us if you’d like any content warnings for it)

You are the platonic buffer zone we’ve all wished we’ve had at some point in time. Please use these powers for good💪🔥

[redbeardace]

As long as we’re together, what does it matter?

They did it.

Seven years.  And they pulled it off.

One year in, I wanted to say something, but was it just a tease?

Two years in, I wanted to say something, but would they Mulder and Scully it?

Three years in, I wanted to say something, but would they Sara and Grissom it?

Four years in, I wanted to say something, but would they Bones it?

Five years in, I wanted to say something, but I didn’t trust them.

Six years in, I wanted to say something, I really really wanted to say something after that scene, but I knew it was coming back for another year, and I knew that they would ruin it.

But seven years in.

Seven years in and now it’s over.

And they did it.

So now I can say something.

If you’re asexual…

If you’re aromantic…

If you’re looking for the essence of a QPR and all of it’s what-are-we-anyway-we-love-each-other-but-don’t-love-each-other-and-we’re-so-much-more-than-friends-and-we’re-not-together-but-we-can’t-be-apart…

Elementary.

At the start, it was so obvious what would happen.

Gender swap Watson so there can be network-approved heteronormative sexytimes.

You know the pattern.  Ignore it for season one.  Tease it in season two.  Make it almost happen in season three.  It’s canon in the season four cliffhanger.  Then it’s all downhill from there.

But no.  Not Elementary.  They didn’t go there.

They didn’t tease it.  They didn’t make up some reason why it couldn’t be.

It just wasn’t.  Because it doesn’t have to be.  It would have been grit in a sensitive instrument, a crack in a lens, it would have placed them in a false position.

Yes, there was romance.  Yes, there was sex.

But they never romanced or sexed each other.

For seven full seasons.

And they ended up together in a relationship that can’t be described, but it works for them.

Well done, Elementary.

[aspec-stories-blog]

Oh??

(( I haven’t seen it but I’m pretty sure it’s got lots of triggering stuff??  But also!  It’s got them!! ))

[aspec-stories-blog]

One more boost for our current prompt!

Check it out [here] or come read the submissions we’ve collected from it on our blog!  The tag is “weekly prompt 4 (September 2019)”

All the best! <3

[accessible-aspec-positive]

Shout out to some of my favorite aspec/lgbtqia+ positivity blogs!

@aspecpplarebeautiful

@a-spec-asexual

@ace-and-aro-wlw-positivity

@floral-bi

@actuallyfuckamatonormativity

@dailyaspecpositive

I’m slowly but surely working on adding descriptions to aspec positivity posts that I find and collecting them here—I’ve just started getting a queue running and I’m hoping to keep it consistent!

I think it’d be really rad if you reblogged these accessible posts for people, or just spread the word about my blog😊 And if you ever find an aspec-inclusive positivity post that could use a description, please tag accessible-aspec-positive and I’ll do my best to add one asap🤟🏻

Y’all rock—you inspired me to start this project! Thank you for helping make this world a more positive and inclusive place💜💚

~Linz (@human-sans-instructions)

[aspec-stories-blog]

Reblogging my own thing because why not XD