Apathetic Echidna

I have a bit of trouble separating aesthetic, sensual and sexual attraction, and as they are sort of tied together for me I have started using the term aesthetic appreciation where most people use aesthetic attraction as I feel it fits my experience better. Whatever it is, it is very instantaneous. When I meet someone for the first time it is either there or it is not (I have only had it happen 3 times in my life so far out of the hundreds of people I have met). I don't really notice a sexual component at first, maybe because the other attractions overwhelm it for awhile or I experience responsive sexual attraction. Don't know, there are so few instances of it happening it is kindof insufficient data to produce conclusions.

still no luck?

The problem with that is that food and water are commercially and politically controlled. Global society would have to drastically change for the resources to be free flowing enough to support that many people. Anyone else remember that Indonesian (?) leader who stockpiled tons of rice to drive up costs then let it sit rotting in sheds? or the massive amounts of wheat (enough to feed 200 million people if I remember correctly) that was left to rot in India? actually how about all of India's export bans! (though India is not alone) Companies want open markets so they can make maximum profit from primary producers, then when stopped they tend to keep prices high selling to domestic markets so the poor remain poor and there are many more people hungry than needs to be. After WWII my grandfather predicted most of the wars of the future would be over water, and it seems we may be heading straight for those conflicts. @James it is generally argued that the largest freshwater source in N. America is actually the ice cover you get over winter, allowing a slow drain into water courses. Global warming is already messing that up. Most places are get a month or more less good snow every winter compared to 20 years ago, and storms are dumping snow in areas that normally would not see that amount and so much of it is naturally wasted, and winter rain can mess up the snow you get. You can only use water that fills your storage, and they can only hold so much at once. Not to mention that with global warming areas of tundra are melting like never before and scientists are finding viable bacteria from long ago diseases so I think it is only a matter of time until another epidemic starts. Good thing viruses aren't viable for years because there was a recent discovery of a mass grave of Spanish Flu victims recently defrosted. As you can probably tell from my rant I think most of our offspring will be doomed and I don't want to subject my bloodline to the horror of the future. Plus there are plenty of children already existing who have been abandoned or neglected that I would much prefer to spend time with rather than trying to make my own.

Hufflepuff!!! Erudite and Amity tied for first on the quiz, and the Percy Jackson quiz link from page 1 took all my answers and gave me a blank answer, so unknown? or I am the child of no one!

Cis Female Aro Heterogray-a here and my fingers are about the same, I don't think the science is worth me getting a ruler from across the room to get mm specific. One interesting study being done in India about fingers which seems amazingly awesome is identifying fingerprints of small children as they can help identify individuals who will have tooth issues. pretty much how most (biological) science is done.

eeGads! the Vashta Nerada and the Weeping Angels are the only things I found scary on Doctor Who, but they massively scared me! Sometimes I still check to see I only have one shadow. This movie traumatised me. I can't deal with it even now. I am generally not scared by movies much but every now and then something will get me. Like the movie Ravenous (1999), the compound fracture scene gets me every time. Into the Mirror (2003) (not to be confused with the American remake), the elevator mirror scene! and the car window!! I covered up all the mirrors in the house the night I watched that one. The Invisible (2002) worst situation to be in ever. More terrifyingly sad than scary, but still a nightmare inducing concept.

@James answer booklets were non-returnable (I assume because they must get drenched in wine as the markers slowly get drunk while marking)

sooo, that was .....interesting.... well it seems not to have identified me as asexual, which is what I though, and I have joined the camp of ambiguous unboxed people that this test labels as androgynous. I think what confused it was I gave directions like a 'woman' go to the shop with the green sign then turn at the giant red apple, yet admitted I can use a map like a 'man' SHOCK HORROR!!! btw I can never remember road names but I am good at visualising.

@DeltaV uhhh, it has been about a year since I last watched Cube but I saw the connections as care and reliance, certainly not the flirty interactions and obviousness of the relationship in Speed for example Just had a brain wave, Signs and Lady in the Water don't have romance do they? unless a death scene can be romantic? Back again! How about Kung Fu Hustle (2004)? whenever there seems to possibly be romance there is a flashback to childhood, or they turn into children! Then there is also Resident Evil: Afterlife and Resident Evil: Retribution (tbh, just watch these for the soundtracks)

@NullVector and @Mark this is turning out good. but maybe I am bias

I think I am fairly tolerant of most things, mostly I find romance boring or pointless or I am happy it makes someone I like happy (like if your friend's favourite animal is a blobfish, and they finally get one for their aquarium. Yay! I am happy that you are happy, but I don't really want to see it or be around you fawning over it). But I have limits. That thing when one of them does a high pitched bad grammar affectionate baby talk to the other one can make me physically ill. Also similar is when they mention anything like incest roleplay, like calling their SO Daddy or Mommy. Hells no. I'm leaving the vicinity. PDA is pretty bad but fairly easy to ignore, but if there is a couple feeding each other in public I will be put off my food as well as being hella creeped out. I can't even watch romantic feeding behaviour in movies/TV or read about it. Far too disturbing. Princess Mononoke is about the limit of feeding another person I can deal with before I get repulsed.

I am this oblivious too! Knowing how they feel makes me feel like ants are crawling under my skin when I am around them Surprise bad consent practices are the worst, especially if the romance quickly degrades into sex acts with no clear consents. At least if there is a warning that the story is noncon I can expect it and also have the knowledge that the author has the smarts to identify the thing that happens is not a good acceptable thing and should be warned against. So, I was raised to see most of this as acts of consideration. Holding and pushing in chairs is something that is done for all the older members of my family when we sit down to food and it can actually be handy when you are wearing stupidly large heels. I hold doorway doors for strangers and friends all the time, car doors I don't understand unless it is a chauffeur thing. But I guess specifically what you are talking about is when they rush or fight to be the one to do the thing and become all annoyed if you dare to do it to them as it undermines their perceived image of themselves as a provider/protector or some bull.

I chose sometimes to every question, here is why 1. Do you like hugs? hugs are mostly a comfort thing so I actively seek them out when I am upset or sick (spread the disease!), or a greeting/goodbye to someone I am close to and think they deserve more than a handshake. Otherwise it is a don't trap me in your arms scenario. 2. Do you like kisses? goodnight kisses are a thing in my family so sometimes it feels like I am missing out on something if I go to bed without one, but otherwise it is a bit iffy. 3. Do you like cuddling? When I am cold I have been known to seek out the warmest friend in the room, but I would much prefer to cuddle a hot water bottle or a dog. I have been told I cuddle a lot in bed when I am asleep but I think that is my heat seeking nature as those comments have only ever popped up in winter. Otherwise I find it quite awkward and I get twitchy and want to run.

yeah, this is much better. By nice I should have said shallow nice, though it can be truly nice. I just remember being with a friend and their partner and the conversation turned to driving and my friend goes "I remember driving you (the partner) everywhere you wanted the first week we started dating because I wanted you to think I was nice so you would like me as much as I like you"

it is too late at night and I should be sleeping but I have been staring at this topic so I feel I must post something. 28 Days Later, but I may just be logic-ing away any romantic overtones Daybreakers, a good vampire movie that focuses on the differing opinions which have caused a dysfunctional relationship between 2 brothers Cube, people be too scared for their lives to romance the anime Juuni Kokuki (The Twelve Kingdoms) I don't remember it having obvious romance, there is probably some minor side character stuff but it mostly focuses on how differing personalities perceive and interact with their world. Youko might as well be aro. How come no one has mentioned Hot Fuzz? after the crime scene break up there is only minor side character stuff and the Romeo + Juliet scene is ridiculously laughable

Looking back I could have probably labelled myself as aromantic at 12 or 13, but I probably would have also used asexual as well (mostly because I was surrounded by sex interested 12 and 13 year olds and I wasn't particularly bothered). But then the ace thing would have been dashed to pieces when I turned 16 which might have messed up my sense of identity along with the inevitable false hope of possibly actually being like most other people. So I guess what I am saying is identify yourself as young as you want but don't let it become integral to your identity too early as you may grow to discover new things about yourself which may affect how you identify yourself.

I am glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was very mercenary as my only fear is never owning my own house. Renting is ridiculously unstable and I hate change, plus I have heaps of stuff which makes moving VERY painful. My dream would to be building my dream house, but all I see are the piles of money needed for that and I have never seen a single person build a house and not be buried under a pile of debt. The housing market is so depressing anyway.......I need to win the lottery, either finding a sugar daddy happy with me or winning the actual lotto.

I guess I am another shining example of Australian drinking culture. The recent euro-migrant side of the family had me drinking wine with dinner early in my life to combat their perceived bad Australian attitudes to drinking and the Australian side were slyly encouraging me with beer and cocktails. Well you can't really escape it when you have cocktail Christmas every year. I can be proud to say I have never binge drinked (fund-raising pub crawls don't count. they are for charity!)

This is kinda the safest option! because the one time I decided to try something different I accidentally started a rant on how bad his personality was and that the last few weeks had been full of emotional manipulation on his part and I had been so proud of her when she broke up with him a week ago and why was she sad about finding out about his cheating if she had already dumped him? it did not go over well. Now I just offer icecream and hugs. I thought I was the only one to do this! I confess that the first time I heard my best friend do 'baby talk' as an endearment to their partner I excused myself to throw up I was so revolted. Still makes my skin crawl and I have to leave the room.

I agree with romantic attraction being desire and intent rather than actions. I hold hands, kiss, hug, share a bed with other people for weeks at a time without feeling romantic towards them. as I understand romantic attraction, in the most general way, from my David Attenborough-like observations of couples: An attraction fixated on another person with the desire to become a partnered unit and have the bonding union acknowledged by others. When the attraction is returned and the relationship persued, the individuals involved are especially nice to each other and focus their attention on each other to the possible detriment of other previously established relationships. (I find that last bit is not something that happens with new friendships) extra points if you read this in your head with David Attenborough's voice!

I chose musicians I liked the music of because I was less likely to forget who I supposedly had a crush on. Though that kind of backfired on me when Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) album came out, friends freaked when they thought my crush was Marilyn Manson. I picked more generic looking singers for the next 10 years. sigh. 10 years of being asked who my crush was.....did my friends never notice I never asked them? probably because they couldn't compute that I didn't care...and teens are self-absorbed. I just found out I have the first 2 of his trilogy, though I only remember reading 1. I am really loving the premise as I re-read them at the moment! as for early signs of being aro...I guess the first time I was asked out I must have been 12 or something, I startled, said no, then preceded to freak out, terrified of being attacked by other offers for dates. I have mellowed, but back then being asked out felt like an attack or a threat.

yay! colour with a u is winning! Colour is my favourite colour of all!

Dear Apathetic Echidna of 2003 Soon you will see a poster on the way to the airport of a band that will be touring soon. They are called Blink-182. You will love them. You in 14 years will still love them. So do us a favour and beg everyone in the family for a ticket. This is the only chance you will ever have to see them live. EVER! You will eventually become allergic to figs, so enjoy them while you can. Also watermelon juice is an interesting and easy thing to bring to summer parties, it also makes a pretty decent mixer. You have another 8 years with your pet. Enjoy every day. Forever yours, Apathetic Echidna of 2017 PS. Pay attention to bushfire back-burning strategies in your environmental conservation course, it will be 20% of the final exam and the marker will not be amused by your rendition of the Mona Lisa as a bilby if you can't remember.

um, maybe ew? I don't like cordials eggplant