Collie

sleepy

Same! I miss forums being popular, they always felt more homey. Anyways. I'm almost 29.

I'm out as asexual and "not interested in dating", but people are always asking me if I have a boyfriend. Had a hard time explaining that I'm not interested in dating to my bio dad. My boss always asks me if I have a boyfriend or girlfriend yet. (At least she's somewhat progressive?)

Gonna be 29 this summer

Reengo is the name of one of my characters (not pictured in my current avatar)

satisfied

I don't like touching other people in general. I will cuddle with pets or stuffed animals, but that's it.

It does sound like social anxiety disorder to me. I also suffer from this, and have found help through therapy and learning healthy coping mechanisms. I went from being anxious around most people to being able to converse without feeling nervous most of the time. I do still experience social anxiety, sometimes severely, at work and I have meds I take when that happens. But anymore that's about the only place I still experience social anxiety. There should be therapists available in college you can talk to, and they can point you to an official diagnosis if you need or want one.

I was homeschooled and they didn't have programs for older kids and teens until I was almost done with high school, so most of my peer friends were online. But a lot of my online friends were in relationships and stuff, and talked about celebrity crushes and imagining themselves in a relationship with them. At the time I thought I was straight, but I just figured I'd wait until I was 22 to start dating. And then I never got interested.

Hi, and welcome! Is it possible your past crushes were actually squishes? A squish is a platonic attachment to someone, you basically want to be best friends. In my experience squishes can feel very very similar to a crush, in that the person may be on your mind a lot and your day brightens by a lot when they acknowledge you. At least, that's my experience, others may experience squishes a little differently. But suffice to say, with a squish you don't want to be in a romantic relationship with the person; you just admire them greatly. Even if they were crushes, if you experience crushes rarely or only under certain circumstances (like needing a very very strong bond first), you could still be on the aromantic spectrum! Don't worry about figuring it all out straight away. It takes time to figure these things out.

Primary romantic attraction is what most people feel. I think crushes could count as primary romantic attraction, someone could develop a crush right away or after spending some time with someone. Secondary would be, imo, the deeper love that comes later on in a relationship, after you know someone on a deep, deep level. So most people experience both primary and secondary romantic attraction, imo. A demiromantic person wouldn't have that initial crush, but would develop that deeper love that comes from knowing someone on a deep level.

Hi, welcome!

IzuOcha (Izuku and Ochako from MHA) is a ship that I would like to headcanon as a QPR. I just keep thinking I don't really want their ship to be romantic or sexual.

I think that's why I usually prefer romance in anime over romance in USA Hollywood. The latter is usually forced, while anime does a lot of development more often than not.

Hello! Welcome to the world of asexuality and aromanticism. Hope you enjoy the journey!

I was never huge on shipping (imagining fictional characters to be in a relationship), but I did have a few ships and OTPs that I loved and enjoyed thinking about. But now that I identify as aromantic I have far less interest in that. I still have some ships I like and even an OTP, but I just prefer to assume characters are aromantic tbh.

I have kinda the same thing going on, in that what labels I use personally and what labels I use publicly are slightly different. I'm grey-aromantic, and have had crushes on both sexes. But try explaining the grey area to the general public, you'll be met with disbelief and arguments. So my public label is probably going to be biromantic once I come out as that (if ever), even though that isn't entirely accurate and even though I don't intend on dating, ever. (I am already out publicly as asexual.)

I think it's hard to know for sure. But you don't have to be bound to a label forever. If you want to call yourself aromantic and feel the label fits you, use it. If your experience changes in the future, you can just change the label that easily. I've gone through a few label changes myself: from demirose (demisexual + demiromantic) to aroace was my most recent change.

I like cats as an aro pride animal. They show love, just in different ways that are unconventional to humans or dogs.

Am Christian and was raised Christian. I don't see any conflict. My mom never pushed the idea that everyone has to marry, either.

As an almost aro almost ace (basically aroace, tbh, just some very very mild inconsistencies), I tend to think being aroallo would be a rather different experience. Society tends to look down on FWB type relationships, or people wanting sexual stuff without wanting romantic commitment.

My advice? If you don't think they would necessarily accept the "aromantic" label, you don't have to use the word "aromantic". You can just say "I'm not interested in dating or romantic stuff", or however best sums up your aromanticism for you. Or, you could lead with that and say "the term for that is 'aromantic'"

I freakin love stim toys. They are useful for my anxiety and ADHD, and even aside from those conditions they just make me happy. -three fidget spinners -tangle -fidget cube (fav) -pop-it -peas in a pod -click-and-snap - blocks on a string -chill pill (magnetic stim toy, also fav) -chew necklace

Mkay, so as someone who recently questioned if I was agender and concluded in the end that I'm cis after all, here's what I discovered: I do, after all, have this very, very vague feeling that I'm a woman. Calling myself agender, after a few days, just didn't feel "right". "Cis woman" feels right. It's hard to explain beyond that. I imagine that if your internal sense of gender doesn't line up w/ your biological sex, then it's a much stronger feeling. But even me, as a cis person, still discovered that I have a sense of gender.

I have soooo much aro and ace and aroace merch :D