There are a wide variety of aro experiences, and there are many aro fans who enjoy reading shippy and/or romance-focused fanworks.
All in Personal
A Letter to M
I’m in love with you. And you don’t have to be alarmed at me saying this because you know what I mean.
Seven Steps
You are excited, you tell yourself, because you're in love.
growing up aromantic
i don’t get it. logically, conceptually, i understand it.
To reclaim simplicity
I didn’t make it complicated, someone else decided that simple things did not include me.
"love with no body"
And yet, at the same time, wanting it didn’t involve my body. No physical desire to speak of. It was never a necessary component. I just wanted to be close.
Leaving Manhood
However, since I lacked the language to explain my desires, I felt shame for not having those experiences. Because having sexual and romantic relationships proves one’s masculinity to others, I never felt accomplished as a person.
Untitled
“I’m going to count backwards from ten …”
I drift into a trance before she hits the count of 1.
You Need To Talk To Yourself
Since coming out as asexual, I’ve learned a lot more about what my kink means to me, and what it doesn’t. While there’s no doubt that I seek out tickling when I’m turned on, it’s not a turn on in itself.
And
I get to choose whether I want something to happen, how much, when, who is doing it, and, most importantly, I get to choose when to stop.
Aro-Ace Desire
There’s also the issues of fucked up desirability politics and racism. I enjoy fetishes, but to be fetishized is to be dehumanized.
We Are Whole
Thanks to discovering asexuality, I see “no” as whole because we are whole.
asexual education is important because:
I didn’t know there was a word for people like me, so I never looked for one.
Thanks for the Invalidation
Where my identity as an asexual is seen as a choice hastily made, as if I only need a little persuasion, as if I just one day decided to stop being sexually attracted to others.
On Running and Asexual Embodiment
Before I could name it, I felt my asexuality as truly as my feet felt every step of a run. I now claim it as fully as I claim my body.
Seven of Wands
This card is my life. I am always engaged in combat.
Finding Identity
But for now, I’m holding on. Because there’s nothing wrong with me. And there never was.
A
And there is a label for people like me: asexuality. But how do I condense myself into the ‘a’ in ‘asexuality’? That ‘a’ means ‘not.’ That ‘a’ means ‘lacking.’
The Tightrope
Coming to terms with being aromantic asexual offered an opportunity to pursue what I wanted for myself. To reject the premise that my existence is centered on my appeal to men.