balestiche

thanks! right now i have 5 albino corydoras and 3 amano shrimp in a 10g. hoping to upgrade in the future so i can put together a more diverse community tank.

i've been back together with my long distance partner for a few months after a year long break. we stayed friends during that time, but i wasn't able to commit myself to a relationship. i fell for my partner again pretty hard towards the tail end of 2023, and we started dating again in february after committing ourselves to better communication. the trouble is ... he loves me a lot. more than i ever could fathom, honestly. and as someone who circling the drain around considering myself a loveless aro, thats really overwhelming! i often confuse feelings of attraction which makes it difficult to determine what kind of relationship i want to pursue with someone, platonic or romantic or otherwise. with my partner, i loved the friendship we had but i don't love the changes in our relationship since we started dating, both times. many allos (i am not out to) ive sought advice from have just told me to break up with him, citing me not being attracted to him/not desiring a romantic relationship but ... its complicated. and its a difficult feeling to communicate as well. i still desire him, and the kind of emotional closeness of a romantic relationship, but differently! ugh! phrasing! semantics! amatonormativity rears its ugly head!!! my partner knows im aromantic and considers it a win to have an aromantic person "fall in love" with him. (sounds worse than i thought lol) he means well and i thought nothing of it initially, but it does rub me the wrong way. i have made it clear to him its not possible for me to love him the way he loves me...and he's said he's satisfied with that, and that he cherishes me nonetheless. it still troubles me, and i still feel like i'm failing him as a partner. i'd love to hear some advice, or maybe just similar experiences if anyone has any theyd like to share. thanks for reading

welcome welcome!!

hi all! long time listener first time caller. i've floated around the aro community online for a while, and i really want to engage more. i've only recently (within the past year or so..?) accepted my aromanticism and i still have a long way to go to figure things out...! i've been feeling quite alienated and talking to more aro people would just be awesome lol. i'm a 21 yr old transmasc from the east coast! i love horror, art, and fishkeeping. and im finishing up my english degree! not sure what else to write about...but im happy to be here!