voidpunk aro

sideblog for all things aro | 20s | they/him | arogender | leftist | lovepunk | queer as in radically inclusive/fuck you/etc.

[voidpunk-aro]

every aro comes prepackaged with an optional evil character arc and one of six mystery villain accessories!

[owlswithfins]

t-shirt that says “i came out as aro and all i got was this sinister-looking orb”

[finnlongman]

Love to write a book with an aroace protagonist and get reviews complaining that it didn't have a love interest :| 99.9%* of YA books have a romance plotline, can we not have 0.1% focused on other kinds of relationship?

Not every book is for everyone, sure, if you're looking for romantic YA then mine isn't for you. But there's a difference between "this book wasn't for me because I prefer romance" and "this book was flawed because it didn't contain romance" and boy, the latter hurts when your life doesn't either.

*Statistics absolutely pulled out of my arse here.

[finnlongman]

Oh boy, I was just venting and planned to delete this (in case anyone thought it was personal when it was actually about a recurring theme), and then I went offline for five hours to clean my house and came back to notes, wow.

I have been reading people's tags and to those who said this was something that put them off reading as a teenager or a reason they were reading MG long after they were "expected" to have moved onto YA... I feel you! This was something I felt so strongly as a teenager -- it seemed like I was being told that friendship was something you grew out of, and if I wanted books actually aimed at my age group, I could only have them with a ton of romance. (And, given that we're talking 10-15 years ago now, it was all straight. Which is at least something that has changed since I was a teenager.)

I started writing The Butterfly Assassin at eighteen with the explicit intention to write a dark, stabby upper YA book of the type I liked reading, but that didn't have romance. I wanted a protagonist who didn't get distracted by kissing in a life-or-death situation, or abandon their principles because somebody was hot. It took another eight years for it to be published, and in that time a lot of people told me I would have to add romance if I wanted to find a publisher, but I didn't, and I sold it, and it exists.

To those asking what books I'm referring to, it's my trilogy The Butterfly Assassin, The Hummingbird Killer and Moth to a Flame. They exist. If they sound like your thing, I'd be grateful if you could check them out, and share with your friends who like stabby complicated aroace girls being exploited by the arms industry.

[ashes2caches]

enough with the forcefem and the forcemasc, I’m trying out forcestrange

I’m gonna turn you into something unrecognizable and inhuman, and you’re gonna like it

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Petition: Do not stop transgender people from receiving care in mainstream hospital wards

The previous government proposed changes to the NHS constitution which would mean transgender hospital patients in England may not be treate

Well fucks? Get to it!

[trans-androgyne]

It doesn’t matter how you try to justify it, any amount of framing transfem transitions as a glow-up but transmasc transitions as a glow-down, even as a "joke,” hurts people. Stop saying things that discourage us from transitioning, it isn’t funny, progressive, or acceptable. If you say you find men and masculinity “boring” compared to women and femininity, A) skill issue, us queer and trans folks do some awesome shit with it, and B) so what, I’m transitioning to align with my gender, not to appeal to your interests. Feeling more comfortable in my body is an upgrade no matter what and also I look hot as hell doing it. And if you claim we can take it because we somehow already get privileged/rewarded for wanting to be men/masc, you’re just flat out wrong—transphobia and misogyny exist and already discourage us from embracing masculinity at every turn. Transmasc transitions are beautiful and radical. Show them the respect they deserve or get out.

[trickstersaint]

an aromantic person is someone who (fill in the blank here) // april 10 2024

[mossy-aro]

sometimes finding aromanticism in media isn’t literally about aromanticism… sometimes it’s about the deconstruction of love as a concept and the subversion of its perception as inherently humanising. it’s about the decentering of romance as a driving force in the narrative. and also sometimes it’s about love being central to the narrative but in a way that defies all traditional categorisations of romantic / platonic / anything else. it is the secret third thing yet so much more and less at once. the point is aromanticism is everywhere for those with eyes to see

[dengswei]

Konya Sukiyaki Dayo (2023) episode three

+bonus: for every aromantic person who needs to hear it

[aromantic-diaries]

[world's most aromantic guy ever voice] yeah no I can't be aro I've definetly had a crush before I just didn't wanna admit it because the thought of it being a crush made me want to hurl

[mossy-aro]

love as religion; am i doomed? / on aromanticism

all highlighted sections from ‘aromanticism’ by moses sumney - the album notes // other excerpts in order: ‘doomed’ - moses sumney / quote by Naïmah Janse / earthlings - sayaka murata / ‘sun bleached flies’ - ethel cain / unknown / ‘doomed’ - final verse

[robyn-i-guess]

liking someone platonically is so embarrassing like. yeah i admire you. yeah i think about you all the time. yeah i look forward to every time i see you even if it's only for a minute. yeah it's all platonic and yeah i couldn't explain this because it'd sound romantic. fucking hell

[polyamorousmood]

It really says something that a lot of monogamous people consider polyamorous and aromantic to be "opposites" but every polyam person I know took one look at aromantics and said "they're just like me for real"

[silosworld]

Poly folks x aro folks in the sense that "alloromantic heterosexual monogamous people view love and sex as an entirely different entity than me, and that makes life kinda strange"

[arowitharrows]

I think it's important to understand that discussions around amatonormativity usually aren't (or shouldn't be) asking people to see their individual romantic relationships as less important, because wanting a long-term monogamous romantic relationship isn't inherently amatonormative.

Amatonormativity is about the bigger picture of how society treats romantic relationships. It's about placing romantic relationships at the top of a hierarchy and then claiming that most meaningful close and intimate connections to other humans are only accessable through them. Amatonormativity is the assumption that everyone wants to end up in a monogamous long-term romantic relationship and then decrying anyone who wants a relationship that doesn't fit into that very narrow category.

Every individual person has to figure out for themselves which types of relationships they desire or don't desire and how much importance they want to give them. Amatonormativity criticizes the fact that that's not a question you are normally asked in the first place, because the answer is always assumed.

I think if in the end someone decides to prioritize their romantic relationships, they will still have defied amatonormativity simply through consciously making that decision, and through not assuming the same for everyone else. To me, dismantling amatonormativity is about deconstructing the assumed hierarchy of relationships, giving people the chance to actually think about what they truly want, and opening the pathways for those possibilities.

[adhd-hippie]

In case people don't realize everyday things that are amatonormative

This is not a comprehensive list, just some examples.

Making fun of people who've been married multiple times.

Giving preferential treatment (first choice on holidays, no overtime requirements) to married persons or people in long term relationships.

Expecting people to bring romantic partners to functions for work, social groups etc. rather than a person who would enjoy the event best.

People respecting "I'm seeing someone" more than "I'm not interested".

Asking new co-workers, strangers, etc. about their marital status, which assumes 3rd parties have a right to such info (they don't) and that everyone has an interest in marriage.

Laws that prevent non family from supporting single friends but allow spouses and romantic partners to do so in times of crisis.

Laws that give financial benefits to the married for no reason other than they're married.

Laws against poly marriages and relationships even if all parties involved are happy in the relationship and want to get married.

Single people not being permitted to carry friends on their insurance while married people can carry their whole families (this essentially creates a pay gap as the married person is getting more benefits than their single co-workers are permitted)

Discrimination against single people in the rental and housing markets.

And things that are not amatonormative

You being in a romantic relationship with one other person and being happy and prioritizing that relationship in your life.

[canonically47]

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

[trickstersaint]

i want to introduce you all to a project that is very close to my heart... or lack of one. anyway. for anyone who has ever wanted to play a poem. i'd like you to meet aromanticism

(link opens itch.io - she'll run on html in your browser! please be nice to her!)

[v2isfuckingdead]

"emotionless robot feels for the first time" trope but instead of it being because of love or compassion its hatred.

[bubblegum-gf]

*failing to understand the concept of dating* they made rpf in real life?