Mr Gaiman What Is Your Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?

Aroallos are often treated as inherently "more sexual" than other allosexuals. Here's why that assumption happens, and why it's bullshit.

Relationships are often treated as inherently hierarchical and strictly defined, due to amatonormativity and a-spec erasure. It usually goes something like this:

You can't have sex without romance. Sex is "dirty" and needs to be "balanced out" or "justified" with romance. Sex is exclusively physically stimulating, and therefore shallow, unless done in emotional service to romance.

Wanting to have sex with people outside of a romantic context is seen as "using" people, inherently. You're "using" them for their body, because you "don't care enough" to love them romantically. Your desires are deemed to be inherently predatory.

You can't have romance without sex. Romance needs to be "justified" with sex, otherwise it's "just platonic."

Wanting romance without sex is seen as "failing" your partner.

Sex and romance are to happen exclusively between two people.

Romantic relationships are more important than all other relationships, except for maybe family. And remember, sex is strictly confined to romance, which therefore means that sex is also more important than nonsexual/nonromantic connection.

Friendships are always less important than romance, and therefore, less important than sex as well. They exist at the bottom of the hierarchy. That's why we have phrases like "more than friends" to describe romance.

In other words, sex = romance, and sex/romance > friendship.

When you take away the romantic elements, you're left with this:

Romance is no longer there to "balance out/justify" the sex, making the sex apparently "more sexual" and "more dirty" and "less emotional" than it would be if it were romantic.

Your sexual desires are deemed inherently predatory.

Sex takes precedent over friendship and nonromantic emotional intimacy in the original hierarchy. Therefore, sex must take precedent over all forms of emotional connection if you're interested in sex without romance, and sex also cannot spark emotional stimulation or connection on its own.

Due to the previous points, you get reduced to a largely "physical" creature, with few or no emotional needs or desires. You are also assumed to disregard the emotional needs and desires of others.

Friendships are still less important than sex. So, even if your friends are the people you're having sex with, it's implied that you don't care about your friends, and you only value them for their bodies. Sex is an insult to your friendships.

Of course, this is bullshit. All of these "rules" are bullshit.

This is how it actually works:

You can have sex without romance. Sex is not "dirty" does not need to be "balanced out" or "justified" by romance. Sex can be emotionally stimulating and fulfilling without romance (though it doesn't have to be, and that's also fine).

There is nothing predatory about having sexual desires/intent without romantic desires/intent. There is nothing predatory about having sex outside of romance, so long as everyone consents.

You can have romance without sex. Romance does not need to be "justified" via sex.

You are not "failing" your partner by not wanting to have sex. You might be sexually incompatible if sex is something they want, but that is not "failure" on anyone's part.

Sex and romance can happen between as many people as you like, as long as everyone is on the same page about things.

Romantic relationships, as well as familial relationships, are not inherently more important than any other type of relationship.

Friendships are not inherently less important than other types of relationships. There is no inherent hierarchy.

Sex is not an insult to friendship. Having sex with your friends does not mean you only value them for their body.

Wanting sex without romance does not inherently mean that sex takes precedent over everything else. For some people, it does, and that's fine. But that's not usually the case, and it should not be assumed to be the case.

Quoting some stuff from myself and others:

People tend to assume that aroallos are always hypersexual, or always loveless, or always prioritize sex above all else when it comes to their relationships with people. And all of those things are valid experiences, but they don't apply to me personally. I've been trying to put it into words... People think that a lack of romantic attraction necessitates an amplified sexual attraction. Like just because I'm aro, I must be "more sexual" than other allosexual people. It seems like people think sexuality has to be "balanced out" with romance. But I'm not particularly sexual; I'm just not ace. [...] there's nothing wrong with prioritizing or emphasizing sexuality. But that's not an inherent aspect of being aroallo, and it doesn't describe me personally. The primary purpose of my relationships is emotional connection. Sex is just a cool thing that I may or may not do with people.

- Myself [Feb. 1, 2024]

I hate that when I announce that I'm aro, but not ace, people are like "yes fuck nasty I respect it 😏😏" like okay girl sure I do that but do you think I don't experience longing for human connection ? You heard non/aromantic and thought "wow, you must be so good with one night stands no emotional attachment whatsoever". Like no, I still (and you're not gonna believe this guys) care about the people I may or may not sleep with ?? Hello ??

- max-nicoxposts [June 4, 2024]

Alloaro culture is always being expected to either be asexual or hypersexual; nuance was something meant for others I suppose.

- Anon [May 28, 2024]

Aroalo culture is someone assuming I'm ace when I say I'm aro, and when I say I'm actually aro and bi they react with "so you're just a predator"

- Anon [May 27, 2024]

there's nothing wrong with being a man and wanting to sleep with men and not date them. it doesn't make you proof queer men are sex-crazed. there's nothing wrong with being a woman and wanting to sleep with women and not date them. it doesn't make you proof queer women are predatory. being alloaro doesn't make you a derogatory stereotype. you deserve respect, no matter what

- pansyboybloom [Jan. 16, 2024]

So much of the arophobia directed towards aromantic heterosexual men seems to be rooted in willful ignorance about what aromanticism actually is and how allosexual aromanticism differs from sexual objectification. Aromanticism is experiencing little to no romantic attraction towards others. That’s it. It isn’t the same as sending unsolicited dick picks to strangers or reducing women to their bodies. When a misogynistic man disregards a woman’s personhood in favor of treating her as a sexual object, it isn’t because he doesn’t experience romantic attraction to women. It’s because he chooses not to value women as people.

- heartless-aro [Dec. 30, 2023] [I highly recommend reading the full post. I only included one section here due to length.]

and if you're aromantic, you also have to be asexual. because sex without romance is immoral and dirty and abusive. and every aroallo is an invader who's trying to destroy your perfect, pure, sex-negative aspec community. if an aromantic is not asexual, they are not a valid aromantic. if you've ever found yourself wondering why aplatonics and aroallos alike have their own small communities instead of just being a part of the wider aspec community, this is why. you drove us away. and your acceptence of aromanticism is still entirely conditional.

- thermodynamic-comedian [May 29, 2024] [also recommend reading the full post]

it's like. okay. imagine you're a little lonely kid, because you don't have any friends, because day care and preschool is expensive, and your parents didn't beat teen pregnancy so they're always working crazy hours and leaving you alone with an elderly neighbor. and then one day you meet a best friend right. you and this girl are immediately ride or die for each other. cannot be separated for more than a few hours without crying. she's everything you want to be and you're everything she wants to be. and you're with each other for everything- she's there when your brother is born, you're there when her dad leaves. you start school together. gripping each other's hands the entire time. she comes over every day because her mom works even more than your parents do. and you love that! more time with your favorite person! and your parents adore her, too. and you love that! everyone you love fits at the little picnic table in the kitchen that your dad dragged in when he found it on the side of the street one day. she comes with you to visit your grandparents and goes on family vacations with you, she goes shopping with you, she goes to all the little kiddie activities with you- dancing, t-ball, art, singing, soccer, cheerleading, you're always together. and everyone knows you're a package deal. and so, naturally, people start comparing the two of you often. and you don't mind! they don't mean it in a mean way, the two of you can just be very different sometimes! light and dark, rain and sun, that sort of thing. it makes sense that you'd have different strengths. except you start getting older, and you start noticing it's a little different. like, you're good at things, but you aren't anything special at anything. you have straight a's, but you're not considered smart enough for the nerds. people like you, but you aren't popular. no one ever seems to know if you're joking or if you're just stupid. people start telling you they like you- but in smaller doses. you're pretty, but you aren't beautiful. but your best friend is beautiful, and your best friend is cool, and she's smart, and she's talented at everything she tries. and it's- it's different. her mom works a lot and doesn't get to spend enough time with her, and that's a tragedy. but your mom works a lot and doesn't spend a lot of time with you, and that's normal, and you shouldn't complain, because you have it better than her. people tell you that all the time. her life is harder than yours and you have to be gentle with her feelings- and they didn't even need to tell you that, you would never want to make her feel bad! and you give her everything you can, a space in your home, half your food, half your parents attention, and you know she hears people compare the two of you and it makes her feel bad, too (you don't understand why, when she's always the one they prefer), but so you start making sure she has things that are JUST hers. like, you were good at art before, but she's incredible at it, so you give up and just mess around in class, to the point where no one would even bother comparing you there. it's all for her. you would drop anything for her in a heartbeat and you'd never complain about it. and you know she'd do the same for you, just, you haven't found anything that you need to be all yours yet! and that's fine! except one day you meet this boy, right? and he's charming and tall and the way he smiles at you makes you wanna faint a little. he rides a horse through the school for you. he tells you he wants to kiss you. he tells you you bring out the best in him. when he looks at you you feel like you're the only person in the room, and you've never felt like that before. you've always felt your best friend connected at your hip and getting half the attention. you think this is it, this blooming romance, that's your thing, your one thing that is all yours, and you love it! it's exciting, it's relieving, not being compared to your best friend for once, and now you know why she needs art like air. everything is great.

except- except. as you get older, you notice somethings get more stark, right? like, your mom, she loves you, and you know she's busy, but you can't help but notice how she'll drop anything for your brother, or your dad, or your best friend, or your brother's best friend, but whenever you need her for something she brushes you off onto the first person she can. and your dad would do anything for you, drop anything, so it's fine, really it is, but sometimes when you're in a bad mood, you can't help but think about how you have your dad but your best friend has her mom and both your parents. you don't think her mom even likes you- she made fun of you when you were upset about being bullied. you think it's weird that a grown woman would do that, but your mom laughed along with her, so maybe you're being dramatic. people tell you you're dramatic a lot, so that would make sense. hell, maybe you weren't even getting bullied, maybe you took the class saying they 'liked you, but didn't care who played you' the wrong way! wouldn't be the first time! maybe it's like how your friends never want you to be sad- they do this thing where they try and hide things from you, and mostly you think it's dumb and just play along, because when you're in a bad mood they feel bad- so, maybe the rest of the class just meant it like that? not that they didn't care about you, just that they needed someone like you! and it's always nice being needed, right? you have to stop being surprised when people like your best friend more than you. YOU like her more than you like yourself. it's not a big deal.

except. well. you start noticing something between her and your boyfriend. looks, small comments, nothing major! they're friends too, they have to be, because they love you, and you tell yourself not to be dramatic about it, because she would never! you would never do that to her and she would never do that to you- but then she tells you she has feelings for him, that she wants him, and. well. you always give her what she wants. you'd give up anything for her. so you pretend it's not a big deal, even though you feel a little shattered inside, because if he wants her than he was never yours anyway. if he was yours in the first place then she never would have wanted him. why bother! but then you're forced to bother, because they're told you still have feelings for him, and- why does that matter. they didn't care about hurting your feelings when they were flirting in front of you, did they? why would your feelings stop them from dating? did they think you could just turn your heart off like a light switch? but he's insisting he doesn't want to end things with you. and he still makes you feel lightheaded. and...you still want him to be yours. in spite of your best friend's feelings. everyone around the three of you act like this love triangle is your fault, that you're the one holding onto him with claws, that you inserted yourself, but you tried. you tried to back out and leave them be and they wouldn't let you. having the boy who made you feel like your own person compare you to your other half is your absolute nightmare. you understand why he loves her. you understand why she loves him. you don't understand why they're dragging you along, kicking and screaming, why they can't just put you out of your misery. but your heart still hurts, and you were raised by hopeless romantics, so as long as there's a chance, you can't let yourself leave. your mom tells you there was a girl in the mountains one time- maybe this is just that. maybe he's still yours.

but as you get older, it gets- worse. you had to ask your best friend for permission to redecorate your own bedroom. she had a meltdown. everyone sided with her. you tried to make the cheerleading team- everyone comforted her, when you were the one sad about it. the two of you stay in the hole the first day of high school- but everyone is only mad at you about it. you don't even know what about that upset everyone. just that no one was mad at her. no one's ever mad at her, no matter how dumb her emotional outbursts are. she gets one good grade and people parade around her like a toddler taking it's first steps, you get one bad grade and everyone tells you you aren't trying hard enough. she says she's in a destructive move and ends up graffitiing a playground and damn near gets a medal from the mayor, but when you were in a bad mood and ate another friend's cookie everyone acted like you killed someone. all of your friends start acting like its such a chore to be around you, your mother starts getting more short and demanding with you, only getting involved in your life when you don't want her to, your dad starts acting disappointed in you and only knows how to speak in historical references he never explains. you tell your boyfriend that you want him to call you his girlfriend, and then your best friend says she wants to be called his 'girlfriend, equally as much', and you manage not to scream, because she already has more than an equal share of EVERYTHING in your life. he was your boyfriend first and people STILL look at you as if this stupid triangle is your fault, when she's the one who couldn't put her feelings aside for you like you've been doing for her your whole life. everyone sees how this situation is affecting her, she's quieter, her spark is dimmed, and it makes you wanna sob seeing her like that, but why won't anyone notice how bad it's affecting you? why are her feelings always more important? why are you the asshole for not wanting to share your boyfriend with her? she's the one who injected herself into the relationship. and then when he finally, finally, nearly a YEAR LATER announces he's picked you, he loves you, he wants to be with you and only you...he admits that he had to weigh scales to pick between you and your best friend. it was never down to feelings, he didn't have some huge epiphany about how much you mean to him, about how special you are, there was just one extra jellybean in the stupid bag. your friend immediately acts like she's over it, like her crush on him is gone, and you're sure she's lying but. at this point you don't care about her feelings anymore! you are so blindly disappointed in her and your boyfriend but you accept that stupid jellybean because otherwise you just went through a year of hell for nothing, and you can't let that be the case. this is the only fucking time someone has ever picked you over her. and you are going to relish in it if it kills you. no matter how underwhelming it is, someone likes you better than her. a feat even you couldn't accomplish. even if it's just an extra jellybean.

I'm SORRY for girl meets world posting in 2024 I just really believe Riley Matthews deserved to throw a few punches.

Pride month may be over but gay tragedy is forever!!!

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How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) (Edit from the future: I answered an ask with more explanation on how I use Notion for non-linear writing here.) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)

Happy Caesar Was Stabbed Day, Neil!

Will you be stabbing anyone in today's rituals?

Um. Butter Pecan, or any fresh fruit gelato.

due to inflation you must answer my riddles five

Hiiiii!! I’m new to tumblr, but seeing as the Fairy Tail fandom (specially Nalu 🤭) is quite active here, I wanted to post some of my fanart, hope y’all like it!!

Lonely aro culture is pretending you have a crush so you finally have something interesting to say to friends

(some advice in tags)