#aroace joy!

[our-aroace-experience]

hey, aro and/or ace people

garlic bread!!!

[starrycosme]

Yesterday I went to the pride parade in the city I'm studying in and it was so great! I saw lots of people with ace and aro flags and went to say hi to every one of them. Like 6 or 7 different people took pictures of the banner I made, and a group of people with aroace flags gave me the Instagram to a meetup group for aspec people here. Another really nice person gifted me three stickers with ace and aroace flags in them. Overall, I had a really nice time and everyone was so great ^^

I'm always really glad to see aspec people at such big events and see for myself that our community doesn't just exist online. We're here to stay!!

[our-aroace-experience]

My mom is approaching 70 and is in what I can only describe as a Queer Platonic Relationship. My whole life my mom has been ambivalent about romance, and I suspect that if she were young today she’d describe herself as aro. She and my dad were happily married before he passed away, but even so, I don’t really have memories of them being over romantic. Their friends and and family didn’t believe them at first when they announced their marriage (when she was 36!) bc they “didn’t act like a couple”. They worked well as partners and both wanted kids, but there was always something different about their relationship compared to the relationships of my friends’ parents. Since my dad’s death she has shown zero interest in getting remarried and has been happily single for more than a decade.

My mom has an incredibly full life. She’s got lots of friends of all ages, fulfilling hobbies, and a shitty little dog that she loves to pieces. I never worry about her being bored and lonely.

She has this neighbor in her apartment building. They help each other out the way couples do with tasks like grocery shopping, attending family events together, and they co parent the shitty little dog, but she swears up and down that there’s nothing romantic between them. They help each other with medication, hospital visits, and navigating the scary changes of getting old together. She and my grandpa used to argue about her getting remarried to this neighbor bc he didn’t want her to be “lonely”. My mom insisted that she’s not lonely and the relationship was not romantic. There’s love and companionship, but it’s “not like that”.

Back when I started to show interest in dating as a teen my mom was so confused. “You actually want to go on dates? My mom used to force me to date and I hated it.” When I came out as gay as an adult she was like “That’s cool. I still don’t get why you wanna date people.”

My dad once told me a story about how early in their marriage, my mom once accidentally “dated” a different man without realizing that he was taking her out on dates. From her perspective she just was having fun outings with a friend. When the guy “came clean” and told my dad “I’m dating your wife” he just laughed because my mom had been excitedly telling him all about their “dates”. She missed every single clue that this guy had been laying down for her that he was interested. “He invited me to have breakfast on his boat! I’m so excited for the birdwatching that time of day!” (My mom also might be a little autistic but that’s neither here nor there). She just is not a romantically inclined thinker.

I love my mom very much and I’m so lucky to have her as a role model. She’s taught me that happiness is extremely versatile. You don’t have to follow a traditional set route for a complete life with meaningful relationships. Romance is a social construct as much as anything, and you are free to engage with it on your own terms. Don’t be afraid to live and love the way you want to. Your life will be fuller and happier for it.

I’m so happy you’ve had a positive experience, and your mum sounds lovely!

[our-aroace-experience]

aroace experience is when youre first getting introduced to LGBT you assume youre bi first because you think having "potential" attraction to everyone means youre bi but actually the "potential" attraction is just attraction you dont have and youre aroace as fuck

the bi to aroace pipeline is real

[our-aroace-experience]

being aroace is noticing when people say "if you get married" instead of "when you get married" and being happy for the rest of the day

i always love it when people say things like that!

[our-aroace-experience]

i genuinely find it so funny when people hear i’m ace and respond with “wow, you must be so productive with all the extra time!” you’d think so, but it turns out that even a human with no desire for sex will waste as much time as possible <3 it’s a beautiful part of the human spirit :)

as an aroace and a horrible procrastinator, i think we waste even more time lol

[our-aroace-experience]

can i just share the irony me, someone extremely aromantic and asexual, being born on FEBRUARY 15TH. the universe decided to pull some absolute bullshit on me LMFAO

it works out perfectly, that’s the day all the valentines chocolate goes on sale, so you can have all the chocolates you want! happy almost birthday!

[our-aroace-experience]

my aroace experience is disliking romance but practically only consuming romance-based media lmao

romantic love in real life? ew. in fiction? sign me up!!!

nice!