hemogoblin

1000%!

It's totally possible for romantic feelings to change to queerplatonic! People all the time have platonic feelings for people that turn romantic and even back to platonic. Why couldn't queerplatonic feelings be a possibility, too? Figuring out the difference between platonic, romantic, and queerplatonic feelings can definitely be really confusing because I don't think many actions are inherently only/always platonic, romantic, or queerplatonic even for the same person. Sure, sharing your life with someone and being their Person(TM) can be romantic - but why does that mean it also can't be platonic or queerplatonic? I think what's important is how you categorize your own feelings. Yeah, wanting to live with her and share secrets with her and be each other's support system is BIG, but if you don't categorize those desires as romantic, then they're not romantic! You can totally want to live with your qpp and of course be important parts of each other's lives and support systems. Just because our amatonormative society typically treats those desires as romantic doesn't mean you have to automatically consider them romantic. =)

That is a super cute idea! I hope it works and goes well. <3

It is alright to use a label if: You want to use it OR You relate to it OR It helps you communicate your feelings to others OR It describes how you feel most of the time OR You connect with some experiences of others who use the term OR It makes you feel comfortable/happy/safe to use the term Remember, asexual and aromantic are not actions ("I did something the other day kinda allosexual-ish") you perform. They are descriptors of how you experience/relate to attraction, and you don't need permission to label your own identity. =)

You absolutely don't have to come out to him to say you don't want to date. "I'm not interested" is a perfectly acceptable (and honest) response! So would "I prefer our friendship", or "Thanks for telling me, but I don't feel the same way", etc. I would avoid anything that might seem wishy-washy or like there's a possibility for things to change in the future like "I just broke up with my boyfriend and I'm not ready to date", though. You don't need some big explanation - likely is he wouldn't/wouldn't want to hear one anyway. If he does push, just stay firm with "I'm not interested". "I don't have those feelings for you" is a complete sentence and reason. I hope this is a friend thing and not a date thing, but regardless I hope it goes well. I know how stressful and awkward these situations can be, but you got this!

Can you possibly be more specific or maybe write us a paragraph example of what you mean by tell you how we knew we were aro but as if we were a book character? Are you just meaning you want us to write in third person? Or something else? Generally, I want to say that people focus way too much on age. Our identities, who we are - these are not static things. People are dynamic! People change. We grow, we learn, we go through new experiences. New language is created and new ways to connect with people and share knowledge are created. Picking a label now doesn't mean it has to 100% be your forever label. It's okay if the term aromantic helps you out now but you decide to use a different label at any later point - in a few days, weeks, months, or years. You're not doing anything wrong by trying out different labels or using different labels at any point in your life. Also, if you are subconsciously trying to be aro (whatever that means - I'm genuinely unsure), maybe there's a reason for that? Maybe it's okay that you respect your feelings and whatever is causing you to feel this way? It's okay to identify as aromantic because you want to. That's all a part of questioning and exploration and figuring yourself out.

Hi, Adriano. I'm so sorry you're feeling lonely and left out! I know not all queer spaces may seem welcoming to catholics, but have you tried connecting to any queer religious groups? Of course nobody can really go out and meet up right now, but maybe try looking around meetup.com and contacting any organizers for meetups that interest you or reaching out to any local queer orgs and seeing if they know anyplace relevant for queer religious folk. A lot of people and groups that can't meet up right now are doing remote meetings. You might have better luck once we've got a better handle on current health events or you might find good luck with social media groups and such popping up now. There are definitely people who understand what you're feeling out there and who have similar experiences to you. Agreed that mid-late teens is a difficult time with people around you getting caught up in relationships and figuring out how to balance these new relationships with their friendships. Keep trucking - I have hope things will get better for you!

I identified as agender for a number of years, and I personally never heard aspec going around in agender circles or something that any agender person used on context of their (lack of) gender nor to refer to some agender community. It kinda sounds like "aspec = aro, ace, and agender" could be a confusion/misstatement of "the a in LGBTQIAPN+ stands for aro, ace, and agender" to me. But that's jmho and complete conjecture.

It's odd and interesting to me how our relationship with our identity can change how we interact with the world and our relationship with other aspects of how our identity presents. Like accepting being trans can often set off really bad rounds of dysphoria, it makes sense to me that accepting you're aro can change your relationship with romantic content, ideas, and actions. It can definitely be annoying to have that happen, though. I really understand missing something that used to be a part of you. Finding a new way to express yourself or interact with these storylines might help. For example, I do a lot of aro headcanoning now and thinking up what ifs and such behind unnecessary romantic subplots and that helps making media with that in it more interesting and less frustrating to consume for me.

I definitely do the same (for multiple reasons) and generally have trouble opening up to people and being emotional around folk. Perception bias does play into things: the few times where I felt like I let down my guard, men definitely took advantage of that and really crossed my boundaries and made me uncomfortable. It's sometimes hard to separate and remember that the men who are like that (not all men! just men like that! and people like that in general) will read into my actions as they want, regardless of how friendly or unfriendly I am because they don't really care about how I feel, just how they feel and what they want. It's hard not to feel like I need to be on guard to protect myself even when I remember that, though. But I've always struggled with displaying emotions, certain emotions in particular. This whole romantic pursuit and flirting thing just added a new layer to things. =x I think this is how I end up in a lot of teasingly/affectionately antagonistic relationships, which is not something I'm particularly happy with either, but I struggle to express myself and feel comfortable otherwise.

I'm so glad you don't feel broken anymore! Please feel free to chat with us around the forums more, too (although it'd personally be easier on my eyes if your posts weren't all in bold ;3 )!

So regarding arousal/physical pleasure: this is something largely connected your headspace, current emotions, mental state, etc. You're not the first person - asexual or otherwise - I've talked to who hasn't really felt anything through sexual simulation. Most of the time, it comes down to underlying anxiety and/or disinterest and/or distress and/or being too much in their head and/or putting too much pressure on themselves to feel a certain way and then panicking and having it be worse when they don't immediately feel that way. Folks can largely address such issues by doing something that I'm going to suggest overall for the issues I hear you discussing in your post: Coming to terms with your feelings and accepting them instead of trying to force them to be something you think they should be. For example, for those who were having trouble feeling sexual pleasure or even sexual simulation, that means doing a lot of work on re-connecting with their body and stop forcing sexual situations. Taking the time to get to know their body and what it likes through exercise, meditation, self-massage, and even plain exploration (like taking a shower in the dark and feeling their body with different pressures and movements) helped take pressure off and helped them learn to relax and learn their body. It also helped give them something to focus on and learning what they did feel as opposed what they they thought they should feel. Also often incorporating meditation and other types of mindfulness exercises helped them be able to better deal with their anxiety and unhealthy thoughts when in the moment. I see a lot of this attitude overall in your post, and I think that's what's really at the root of what's upsetting you and holding you back. For example, as nonmerci pointed out, you can be aro/ace and still want and even be in a romantic/sexual relationship. Yet, there seems to be something holding you back from allowing yourself to pursue this option, and I think it's possibly because you're fighting your feelings rather than accepting them. I get the feeling you have this idea you aren't allowed to have a romantic relationship because you don't experience attraction or romance like you believe you're supposed to. Yes, it's true - you may never experience the specific type of attraction you really want to. But this doesn't mean you can't deeply care for and love someone. It doesn't mean you can't be in a committed, romantic relationship. It doesn't mean you can't do romantic things. It'll be a tricky and likely frustrating path to walk to have to contend with being aromantic and wanting a relationship and finding a partner who understands and accepts this, but that doesn't mean it's impossible or out of reach or that you don't deserve to have what you want. I do really think you would be best served working through this with an aspec friendly therapist moreso than a forum post or two (and definitely not with a doctor who doesn't even know about the aro and ace spectrums!). Unfortunately, I don't know of an aro-focused resource like this, but here's a list of ace-friendly therapists who would hopefully be a good start to finding an aroace-friendly therapist, as well as ace resources to provide to a therapist. And here's a post on how to interview for a therapist who is best for your needs. I'm not sure who you work with for your anti-depressants, but that's all here in case you need! Access to services is really limited right now due to COVID19, but online and remote therapy exists and is available! Finally, I really do suggest taking stock of even the smallest things that are worth sticking around for. Do you have any plants you water and prune? How about any pets you take care of? How about an unfinished game with a friend you want to finish someday? Or the next season of a show you want to see? Or that music video from an musician you love that you still haven't seen? There is so much to life. Even people in romantic relationships who feel romantic attraction have other things to live for than their romantic partner. I hope you are able to be patient and kind with yourself and your feelings. < 3

Here's the thing: if you don't communicate these feelings to her or ask her what she thinks about being in a qpp, you'll never know what she thinks about it. And the best way to know what she thinks will be to talk to her about it. Communicating your feelings and asking a question about if someone wants the same type of relationship as you isn't being pushy or pressuring someone or crossing a line or being inappropriate. It would be pushy to expect that she feel 100% the same as you or bully/harass/coerce/force her into a qpp without sincerely listening and respecting to her answer to your question. It would be inappropriate to tell her how to feel. But simply communicating how you feel is taking an active part in a healthy relationship that includes open and honest communication. Asking someone to enter into a newly/differently defined stage of the relationship is scary, but it's just a question! Even if she says no, the relationship only has to end if one of you wants it to end. Plenty of people continue friendships after one asks for a romantic relationship and the other says no and the same can be true for qpps. It only depends on if the both of you still want that friendship and are willing to work on it and continue it. Being in a qpp does not preclude being a romantic relationship, just as being in a romantic relationship doesn't preclude someone from having platonic relationships. I agree with sajastar that you did a great job of communicating your feelings here! This is scary, but I think you can do a great job doing it. Good luck!

Re-watching Gravity Falls and I forgot just how aro Soos is! Never dated (until Melody) Never really tried to date Never talks about dating Only tries to date because his grandma asks him to Doesn't know how to flirt (outright admits it) Uncomfortable and scared in situations where he's supposed to be romantic Is more comfortable with a computer game "girlfriend" Completely happy to have a long distance relationship, in fact more comfortable than hanging out in person The first time I watched GF, I remember how creepy and upsetting I found the computer girlfriend (Giffany) episode. It stood out to me as one that really didn't fit in with other episodes and didn't belong. It felt forced and heteronormative and amatonormative. This time around, watching Soos through a different lens and realizing how aro all his actions come off as, I reacted a lot differently to the episode. It still does ring of heteronormative and amatonormative, but I realize how Soos is just kinda going with the flow and trying to make his grandma happy more than seriously pursuing dating for himself.

I'm so sorry for how you've been treated, Korbin! That's awful. < / 3 You didn't do anything wrong exploring and discovering your identity. You didn't do anything wrong in changing your labels. I hope you know that people who treat you that way haven't earned a place in your life. It's okay to take space from people like that. It's okay to not share everything about yourself with people like that. It's okay to keep people like that at arm's length. It's okay to do what you need to protect yourself and your mental health and your physical safety. And most of all, it is okay to be you and experience your sexuality how you experience it.

Was your friend also drunk? Because I struggle to even understand what that comment means, so it sounds kinda like poorly thought out drunken rambling. However, if you're hurt/upset by what was said, you're allowed to be! Your feelings are valid. Is this something you might want to have a conversation about with this friend?

I completely understand. I had my own years-long, self-hating, difficult time struggling with exclusionism and coming to terms with myself all over again. Really tough stuff to work through, no matter where/how it's hitting you. I hope you're feeling better and feeling safe in the spaces you've re-entered!

I've only been loosely following along because I don't have the attention span for more, so I could have easily missed something (I have not clicked on any links! I realize this takes away a lot of context), but where exactly did you see someone claim that in this thread? I identify as both aromantic and asexual specifically because I see the two as separate, distinct, and different (which is not a knock on any non-sam aspecs who experience their aspecness differently than me, it's jme). And I certainly think aromanticism deserves its own community and its own place. But I am aromantic, and I also belong in aromantic spaces!!! Yeah, even though I'm asexual. I support more aromantic visibility and education and inclusion. I support the aromantic community taking on its own identity. I also support any non-ace aros wanting specific spaces for them and to talk about being aromantic and being sexual and/or having sexual attraction. That's valid and that's a space they should get to have. I have nothing to say regarding those experiences, so it's not something I need to be included in. But as far as my understanding... that's also not what we're talking about in this thread. We're talking about aroaces feeling generally excluded from their own community. I have seen fellow aroaces get bullied out of the aromantic tag for making posts about aromanticism that also include their asexual experiences and/or are of course also wrapped up in their asexual experiences to the point where I'm afraid to not only post in the aromantic tag but to even acknowledge my asexuality at all in aromantic spaces. I am an aroace person here telling you that I feel alienated by some beliefs that have become prevalent enough in aromantic spaces. There have been points where, even though at this point in my life my aromanticism is a bigger part of my identity, I have felt like I need to stop identifying as aromantic at all because I'm just a nuisance and a problem. Do my experiences and feelings here not matter? Perception is differing from intent here, and that is a problem. I agreed the tag was a problem a couple months there and everything was just cross-posted stuff from the asexual tag (even like pride posts that contained the ace flag but not the aro flag), but that's not even what's in the tag anymore. The tag is successfully an aromantic-focused space now where aromantic people are getting policed for the slightest little personal post about their own personal experiences or a post not being 100% laser focused on non-ace aros. The policing needs to stop because we are causing people to fear posting aromantic content in case it's not some arbitrary standard of "aromantic enough", and that shouldn't be what we want. . It's been extremely hard and anxiety inducing for me to gather any thoughts at all regarding this subject because I've been scared of talking about it because I've been made to feel that acknowledging this equates to silencing and dismissing the problems and issues that non-ace aros face, which I absolutely don't want to do. I fully recognize that I don't experience all those same issues, and I have my own things to unlearn regarding supporting my fellow aros in a better and more educated manner. Multiple issues can coexist without us having to dismiss one to gain visibility for the other, though, and the fact that other people have been feeling the same way as me makes me sad that I've been avoiding talking about it.

I think one thing the queer community in general has had a hard time separating and recognizing is the coexisting ideas of 1) different queer sexualities don't necessarily oppress each other and different queer genders don't necessarily oppress each other - ie, cis/het are the oppressive systems here, and 2) people can act crappily and with prejudice without specifically being an oppressor. Cis/heterosexism and cis/heteronormativity impact us in different ways, but that doesn't necessarily make us privileged over each other or oppressive towards each other as a result of that. (Of course being queer doesn't erase but in fact interplays with other factors like race, disability, weight, etc.) And I've definitely seen behaviors that make me feel that the aro and ace communities have fallen victim to this as well. I've sometimes been made to feel like I, as an aroace, made some specific and active choice to somehow oppress and erase alloaros and non-sam aros from aromanticism simply by the fact that I'm aroace (and that if I want to participate in aro spaces, then I need to disregard my asexuality). Which is decidedly untrue. The lack of visibility and acceptance for these aros is an issue for sure, but it's not one that I specifically created just by existing or being asexual and I shouldn't have to abandon my asexuality to be valid as aro or to have my aro experiences treated as accepted and valuable.

Absolutely, yes! This! Sorry for the resounding silence. I, for one, am interested, but I just don't know how much I could really contribute. I've never done writing on wiki or even a wikia, so a lot of the formatting (from the minor amounts of edits I've participated in on wikia's) is overwhelming. As well, while I feel I could help write up and/or proofread sections, I don't think I could really provide the sources that wiki requires, so in the end, my participation could just end up creating more work on others! I think this is a great idea, and an aromantic page on wiki would be great, but I've been silent because I just don't think I have anything I can actually add to help the effort. =x

There's a lot of "shoulds" here that I don't think are necessarily true! Should you be able to crush on people you consider family? Nah. Just because other people do it doesn't mean you're obligated. Maybe they never thought of each other as family. Maybe they were sitting on those feelings a while. Maybe, maybe, maybe a lot of things! Should having a crush blind you to people's very real (and very harmful) qualities? Nope! Certainly not. In fact, it's very reasonable to notice those qualities and to react to them! Do people (usually in long-term, committed relationships) sometimes downplay those qualities or major relationship disagreements (such as differences in where you want to live, if you want kids, etc.) in a misled belief that "it can't be that bad" or "they'll change their mind"? Yeah! Sadly, all the time. But I strongly believe that's less a quality of "having a crush" than it is of cisheteronormative amatonormativity, like being told overly romanticized messages of how "love means you can work out literally ANY difference: it'll just somehow magically be okay in the end" as seen in so many shows and movies and read in so many books. And sometimes people may use a crush as an excuse to overlook such disgusting qualities such as racism or homophobia - but that says far more about what they actually believe (if they're willing to excuse racism or homophobia, it's likely because they agree with those beliefs, regardless of what they verbally claim) than what a crush is. Should crushes be long-term? Nah! Some might be, but they certainly don't have to be. Should a crush feel like "butterflies in your stomach"? Nope, not at all! For a lot of people, that sensation is actually anxiety and nerves (which definitely can go along with being around a crush for some people!). And people experience emotions in so many different ways. I've experienced and heard crushes described as magnetism, wanting to be with someone often, finding people funny even when they're not, being unable to stop looking at or thinking about the crush, etc. I've actually rarely heard a real life person really describe their crush experience as butterflies. Should you understand "love at first sight" if you're not aromantic? Nope! This is a common media trope, but I've never known any real life couple that would claim love at first sight. Lust at first sight, sure. Crush at first sight - possible. But love? Probably a trope because it seems really romantic and people like being swept up by that, but also because it cuts out a lot of time and character development otherwise needed to explain two characters getting together, lol. Should you not want a romantic relationship if you're aro? Nope! Aromantic means "lack of or low amount of romantic attraction". Many aros don't want a romantic relationship, true. But some do! In fact, enough do that they have a specific term for being aromantic and wanting a romantic relationship regardless: cupioromantic. Now, after all those "shoulds or shouldn'ts" you might find my next piece of advice kind of confusing, but bear with me. You could very well be aromantic (including being somehow aro spectrum)! The thing is, none of us can determine that for you. I can tell you that a lot of your experiences are ones that probably many arospec people can relate to. I can tell you that I think you may be interested in learning more about the aromantic spectrum. You might also be particularly interested in neuro-based identities. For example, there's a cavusgender for someone who's gender is impacted by their depression - you might play around with how you feel about cavusromantic for someone who's romantic attraction is tied up in/impacted by their depression. Demiromantic is also leaping out to me as something you might be interested in judging by many of the things you said. You might start with AUREA or the aromantic wikia just for some 101 intro definitions (and from there, you can decide if there's anything you want to know about more in depth, for which you can search around and also ask here). But the most important questions to ask yourself when debating using a label are the following: - Do I want to use [label]? - Does [label] help me communicate how I feel to others? - Does using [label] make me feel happier? More comfortable? More positive about how I feel? - Does using [label] help me connect to a community of people with similar experiences? If you answered yes to any single one of those questions, then that's a good reason to use [label]! Remember, identity is not something you have to prove. It's not something that can be tested or diagnosed or calculated. Identity is extremely personal and the labels we use are for personal and social purposes. Identity or even labeling ourselves isn't about solid, well-defined categories that we can be wrong about. It's about exploring and coming to terms with how we feel and what this means for us personally. Humans like labels because it makes it easier for us to process and understand information, but identity labels are not predetermined and you don't need permission to try out or use a label. No one is a better judge of how you feel than you are. If you feel like you don't experience romantic attraction or aren't experiencing it like everyone around you seems to be experiencing it, then you can simply trust those feelings. You don't have to convince anybody else of that.

Hi, Zephyr! I must preface this by saying that no one but you can define your own identity! Identity isn't some math equation where you can plug in a couple variables and get a for sure, absolutely correct answer, nor is it a medical issue where you can take a simple test and be diagnosed with x or y identity. Identity is something very person and is personally defined. We don't choose our labels because we know with absolute certainty that we are, objectively, that label. We choose them because we relate to them. We choose them because we want to label in that way. We choose them because they help us communicate our feelings to others in some manner. We choose them because we have similar experiences to other people who've also chosen that label. We choose them because we feel somehow more comfortable or safer or included or happier when we label that way. That being said, I do have some thoughts that I hope may help you! First of which is that you do not need to police yourself from labeling in a way because of a few experiences in your past - especially not some experience from when you were 10!!! : o Age can certainly impact our identity. I did have what I would consider kid crushes when I was a kid (like K - 3rd grade for me). When I hit middle school, my peers all started developing sexual attraction and exploring their sexual identity. I started realizing I did not feel the same way as my peers when they gushed over celebrities in magazines and crushes went from schoolyard chases to some spy-like game of flirting and passing notes between friends. I didn't know the term for it, but this was the beginning of me realizing and coming to terms with my asexuality. I felt nothing crush-like or crush-wise until the middle of HS when I was around 16 or so. I still didn't know about asexuality, but I started having a really confusing series of feelings towards others. I knew they weren't the same crushes my friends had, though, because there was still something different between how I was feeling these feelings and how my friends seemed to. I still didn't find my crushes "hot" or anything like that! But once I came across asexuality and realized I could be asexual but still experience romantic attraction, I realized those feelings had been romantic attraction towards others, something I had definitely not felt until I was 16 or so. I don't know why the gap! Perhaps my asexuality was so strongly different from how I knew my peers that it overtook any potential romantic attraction I had. Perhaps my romantic attraction was low or I really was a "late bloomer" in that aspect. Perhaps, if other circumstances had not happened that lead to me becoming caedromantic, I would have eventually come to identify as gray-aromantic or arospike. Perhaps it really was just due to age and exploring my feelings and learning who I was and that was just my journey. So your past does not have to define your whole self now or in the future! It's fine to just label based on how you feel now. It's possible that those past experiences were just blips that you may consider exceptions. It's possible that you don't know how to categorize those past experiences and decide to leave them as past experiences that maybe fed who you are now but don't necessarily define who you are now. It's possible that you're someone who enjoys romance in theory but not in practice. This is a valid aro experience! Maybe you are aro/arospec and bi. Maybe you're even gray-aromantic (maybe a low level of romantic attraction or wavering romantic attraction or you have romantic attraction but no motivation/drive to act upon it). Maybe you're frayromantic (experience romantic attraction until a bond is formed or maybe experience romantic attraction until it's a real possibility, then it disappears/fades). Maybe you're alloromantic or arospec but romance repulsed (as you may know from your touch repulsion, repulsion doesn't have to be a 100% intensity towards all things all the time - you can enjoy things in theory but be repulsed by practice or you can have people who are exceptions to your repulsion, etc.) and not really interested in a relationship. Maybe you'll even relate to the idea of schroromantic (Schrödinger's attraction - where there's a possibility you are aromantic and/or alloromantic; some may choose this label because they aren't sure and feel they could be either, some may choose this label because they don't know how to or can't or don't want to quantify the attraction they experience, etc.). I don't know which experience you relate to most or which label you're most drawn to or what it is you want to label as, though. That's something that only you can determine! And whatever you choose is valid! Because labels and identity are personal. You don't have to pass some test to be valid or be able to identify as a label. You just need to, in some way, want to label that way and/or relate to that label in some way. I know, I know. It would be so much easier if someone else could tell you what you are. But we just don't work that way. You could have 1000 people here telling you whatever you wanted to hear, but at the end of the day, the only way you're going to believe and accept that you're valid however you identify is to believe that for yourself. And that starts by you being the one to define your own identity and feelings. = )

In looking for more information and to see how others who identified this way thought of the identity, I actually found an older Arocalypse thread speculating on shromantic that may be of interest. I know overall a lot of members here have many legitimate issues with AVEN (warning - the following link goes to AVEN), but I did find this post by arden_jay interesting: I actually never got my hands on swankivy's book. Is this the only part of the book that goes over schromantic? (Because there don't seem to be many more other places out there where people have specifically talked about what schromantic means to them.) From limited information, it does sound like ambiguity is an important part of this identity (and interesting how many people seem to have come to Schrödinger's identity individually, just judging the by results I got when searching!), though it's not consistently defined this way in the resources I found. What seems to have become the standard definition you find upon searching the term, "describes a person who is aromantic and alloromantic at the same time, or some mix of the two", doesn't really express or imply an inherent ambiguity to me, and I can see how people who find that and relate to it would have quite a variety of different interpretations and experiences as to what this means to them and why they came to labeling as such.

There's a site, coparents.com, that's for the purpose of advertising for coparents. I don't know how active it is. If I wanted to parent and was looking for a coparent to help me, I'd personally want someone I'd known a while, knew how they handled stress and stressful emotions, and got along with. So I'd probably start by looking around my friend group to see if anybody else wanted to coparent with a non-romantic partner. I would probably also get more involved in whatever local queer orgs, meetups, and activities were around me, as it seems like there may be a slightly greater than average chance of meeting more people a) open to 'non-traditional' familial systems, and b) who might feel similarly to me. Honestly, I think I wouldn't immediately discount dating apps either. I would just be very open and clear about the fact that I was searching for a non-romantic partner to coparent (down the line) with. I do imagine you wouldn't get many hits, but I think a lot of people turn to dating apps for a variety of social needs simply due to their popularity and that they are one of the most obvious ways to try and meet people, no matter what sort of relationship you're looking for. I would also look into communal living options. Communal living tends to promote and foster truly interconnected communities of neighbors that all pitch in to keep things going smoothly, including being involved with each other's children. Finally, I would remember that whether you single parent or coparent, any parent should be helping foster and encourage other relationships with their child beyond them. That could include your family, your friends, their teachers, their sports/extracurricular coaches/leaders, musical teachers, a nanny, relationships through community service, etc. Of course the support system for you may look and feel pretty different if you coparent or single parent, but either way, your kid(s) should have a variety of other relationships and people they can depend on regardless. Good luck!

Someone just interacted with my post on tumblr and reminded me - Anyone else watch Everything's Gonna Be Okay? (Mild SPOILER WARNING) I think it was two week's ago episode that Nicholas told his boyfriend that no, he didn't always love him at every moment, and he didn't want to say he did if he didn't feel it in that moment. Just felt hugely arospec to me, especially compared to his boyfriend, Alex, who could not understand that feeling.