Collie Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 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. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nix Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 Yeah very relatable, I guess I participated in shipping for the same reasons that I invented crushes on people: To try and fit in. But since I found out I don’t ‘fit’, I lost all interest in shipping. Whenever there is a possible queer couple I will still root for them, but usually I just look at fictional characters and think ‘these would make GREAT friends’. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 (edited) Yeah, the same thing happened to me. I think that, before I knew I was aromantic, I was more interested in romantic stories and ships since I thought it was something I had to like to be normal. After I figured out I was aro and became a little more comfortable with being aro, I didn't really feel the need to do that anymore. Edited April 4, 2022 by queer_kaleidoscope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roboticanary Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 I was never that interested, and thankfully being a bloke I was not expected to be interested in romantic fiction. What I have found though is that my attitude towards bad or unnecesary romance in fiction has became a lot less tolerant. So before if a story would have a romantic subplot that added nothing much to the main story I wouldn't really care because of course romance was there, its what everyone wants. Now I am a lot more observant about the fact that it doesn't need to be there. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristoph Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 No, I didn't. I have the same way of thinking about romance in fiction as I had before realizing I'm aro. Ok, I'm a shipper but I really don't enjoy when there is lot of romance in canon. I always preferred when plot has something more to show than it. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewy Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) I still enjoy my fair share of romantic fiction, as long as it's done well and not just shoved into the plot for the sake of having romance. Edited April 5, 2022 by bat typo 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collie Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 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. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinadinu Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 Oddly enough, I've found myself going deeper into shipping ever since I realized I'm aroace, LMAO. Though I have to say that I'm much more invested in character interactions in its purest form than anything else, and I tend to just eat up any content I find of them, haha. But with the content that I make myself, I have found that I tend to stay very far away from making things that are explicitly romantic. I kinda just leave the romanticism up to interpretation (because I'm non-confrontational and hate arguing with pushy allos), and have it as a personal headcanon that all the characters I write are a-spec and ships I write are QPRs. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlindfluorite Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 I have definitely lost my patience for what I consider to be 'lazy' romance - instalove, pairing off characters for all round hea etc. - but I don't mind a well done one. I certainly appreciate friendship/found family tropes a whole lot more though. I stay away from romance-first stories in general. Unless it's a hallmark christmas movie because those are a hilarious drinking game! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellishfish Posted April 12, 2022 Share Posted April 12, 2022 I was reading The Name of The Wind and in that series there is a romantic relationship between two characters that never begins. As in they come so close to falling in love so many times yet something would always interrupt them or they would decide to stop. I found myself deeply invested in their relationship regardless of my own aromantacism. I was able to be invested because that romance took place outside of me. It was akin to desperately wishing the horse I bet on to run faster in the final lap. So yeah, I still enjoy romantic relationships in books. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YokaiDisarray Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Not really. I still get all fanboy-y about fictional romance, even if I can't really relate to it. It's sorta comparable to like, liking weapons in videogames and hating weapons irl. I am not the biggest fan when it comes to me in real life but damn do I like watching it in a story (if its good lol). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaAro Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 On 4/4/2022 at 5:39 PM, Reengo said: 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. My interest in romance in fiction before identifying as aromantic: 0% My interest in romance in fiction after identifying as aromantic: 0% 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren-Ae Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Yeah I was often doing a lot of things to seem normal; I thought I had to prove I was bisexual enough so I read from every orientation as if it was really what I experienced and when I realized I was aroace, it made more sense. I see the characters in my ships as my own friends if anything other than book characters but I will definitely not try to fit into the rabid-itty of fandom r Moore like trying to be as diverse as possible. I still enjoy a lot of ships but I will probably focus on them. I was before scared that I didn't have a ship from every gender identity or orientation you know? Because I was struggling with mine. I basically appreciate every story for what it is not my orientation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picklethewickle Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I've never liked romance, but being aromantic makes me feel a bit better about not having a One True Pairing in fanfiction. Having an OTP feels obligatory, and I got a free pass card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekaterina Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I don't think it changed for me. I have always been pretty picky at what fictional pairings I get invested in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost_bean Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Sort of. For me it felt like I was more repelled by actual romance, but I still enjoy reading romance and shipping characters. Sometimes I can’t stand romance and other times I enjoy it, it really depends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
organs and bone Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 1 hour ago, ghost_bean said: Sort of. For me it felt like I was more repelled by actual romance, but I still enjoy reading romance and shipping characters. Sometimes I can’t stand romance and other times I enjoy it, it really depends. I have to agree. it’s strange for me - I quite enjoy queer romance but am repulsed (in most situations) by hetero romo I have no idea lmao 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Newest Fabled Creature Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I don't think me romantically shipping characters has changed that much, but now that I know about QPRs and about other kinds of non-normative relationships (and tertiary attractions), I can see and interpret some fictional relationships as such. I do seek romance books less now after realizing that I'm aromantic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allhailtheglowcloud Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 (edited) On 6/9/2024 at 9:55 AM, organs and bone said: I have to agree. it’s strange for me - I quite enjoy queer romance but am repulsed (in most situations) by hetero romo I have no idea lmao I feel like it's the same for me. In my opinion, queer romance feels more intentional, whereas a significant proportion of (especially young adult) hetero romance seems to me like the author 'wrote themselves into a corner' for lack of a better phrase, and then decided to use the excuse of convenient romantic interest to write themselves back out. Edited June 11 by allhailtheglowcloud 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonmerci Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 Yeah, I realize I like it less than before. Probably cause I see the amatonormativity behind it now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Hawk Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 I was never interested in romance in the first place, especially when I found out that my interest in BL is due to gender envy, not because I want to read about the romance. But I would've never figured it out if I didn't learn about aromanticism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wombat Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 (edited) Well I've always hated romantic books and films a lot, especially if the romance feels like it's been stuck in randomly as an afterthought, without having an actual point of being there. I actually realised I was aroace through fanfiction, because I was kind of repulsed by the way that nearly all writers focused especially on shipping and relationships and not on the plot, which would make the story awful. I still hate romantic scenes in books, films, TV series, fanfiction just as much as before, so no difference really Edited June 17 by Wombat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kira- Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 i hv a general distain for all romance in media, except for a few special cases. the only thing that changed after i realized i was aroace was an understanding of why i didn’t care Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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