hi. i made some images.

feel free to take them and use for whatever you may need them for. no credit required

ALT

Me, aroace: “Yeah I think these fictional characters are kinda hot”

Other people: “Oh you think they’re hot? Doesn’t that mean you’re not actually aroa-“

Me:

"aphobia doesn't exist"

bitch literally not that long ago an aroace youtuber animator was insulted by almost half of its community for being it

You can help an aroace this Valentine's day for the low low price of 1 billion dollars sent to me.

Aspec men deserve much more respect and recognition in the aspec community than they receive. They often face a different form of aphobia specific to them ("men are naturally sexual they can't be ace" "all men are unromantic that's not unique") this rhetoric is spouted by many, even members of our own community and I hope for a day where that is no longer the case. As an ace and demiro woman (demigirl but that's beside the point) I want to encourage folks to take the time to give the aspec men in their lives support and to the aspec men reading, you are who you say you are no matter what people say and you deserve the world. I'm sorry for the ways in which toxic masculinity has harmed you. You are a valued member of the aspec community and the queer community as a whole. No ace or aro person is broken and neither are you. I'm sorry if anyone has ever told you otherwise.

Bonus points when it’s characters that are part of a popular ship

[Image description: an edited meme reading: "I bring a sort of "I hc this character as aromantic" vibe to fandom spaces that Arophobes really don't like". End description.]

[ID: A meme from a TikTok of a man looking out pensively over a porch, with the caption edited to read: "I bring a sort of "communicate or breakup" Vibe to relationship advice that alloros don’t really like." End ID]

Even after all this time and awareness, it feels like asexuality is still not treated like a proper sexuality. Recently had a girl tell me that she was at a place where she ‘felt so asexual’ because all the other girls were so beautiful and guys were ignoring her because of it. She didn’t know I was asexual and I didn’t take offence (I know she didn't meant it in a malicious way) but it does feel uncomfortable that people are using ‘asexual’ in lieu of ‘unattractive' or 'lacking sexual appeal.' It's really giving 90's/early 2000's slang of using 'gay' to mean 'lame.' Even shows like Brooklyn 99 which took immense pride in being progressive with their comedy, had an episode where one of the characters says "Oh, and I'm sorry if we implied you're both asexual nerds who can only be friends with service animals."

I have mentioned this before also, when I talked about how I feel like people are more comfortable erasing the identities of canonical aro/ace characters in media but act like it's unacceptable with other sexualities... but it does feel like asexuality (and aromanticism tbh) are still not considered 'real' sexualities. In the case of shipping fictional characters, I understand there is nuance to that issue and so don't want to get into it, but it does kinda add to my point.

Why is it that people treat asexuality like it's not a sexuality? Why is it that when I come out to people I'm met with insistence that I'm wrong about my sexuality, that I'm 'self diagnosing' (it's not a medical condition), that I'm probably 'just inexperienced' or haven't 'met the right person' or have a hormone issue? Why can't people just accept that it's a sexuality like any other??

aphobia is so funny to me. like. you’re mad just bc i refuse to have some bitches and just wanna do my thing?

you can literally just be aromantic. it’s free and nobody’s stopping you :)

the MORE aphobia i see in fandoms, the more annoyingly in-your-face aroace i'm going to get. i aint gonna sit back and let aroace get erased, aphobia is literally just repackaged homophobia.

i know i attract more ace followers than anything else lmao so y'all better show up for this one

don't get me wrong, i love all the positivity around being aro, like "be proud of being aro!! love who you are!!", but we never talk about how hard it is to reach that spot. so here's to the aros who are still trying to understand themselves, who aren't proud of who they are yet, who are still coming to terms with their new identity.

Reminder that it's not your fault if someone gets a crush on you. It's not your fault that they like you like that. Especially if you don't like them back, are aromantic, asexual, or any other reason- even if you don't have a reason!

You aren't in the wrong for not liking them back

I promise

actually all the disney princesses who don’t have a romantic interest are aromantic. yeah yep all of them. elsa, merida, mirabel, so forth, all of them are aromantic. you cannot escape the aro beam