Carnival of Aros: Stories
Feb. 1st, 2021 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arias_hollowThe prompt for January's Carnival of Aros was 'stories'. I only realized this about a day or two before the deadline, as is typical of me, but as I always have much to say about stories and storytelling, here I am coming in late anyways! xD
In terms of aromanticism, there's a lot I would like to see or create narrative wise. For what I want to see - more stories exploring the diversity of aromantic experiences, through different kinds of literary and genre references and different mediums. Books, video games, movies; realistic fciction, fantasy, mystery; all of those things exploring or including aromantic narratives of different sorts. Let's see romance-repulsed, indifferent, and favorable aros. Aros who want only close friends, aros who don't want to center their lives around any kind of relationship, aros who pursue their own kind of romantic relationships. Different types and patterns of attraction. Obviously not every story needs to cover every perspective, or even needs to make exploring these ideas the focus of the plot, but having these kinds of characters and narratives exist and be acknowledged more would be fantastic.
As for what I want to write myself - I'm a speculative fiction enthusiast and repulsed aroace, so most of what I enjoy creating is heavily influenced by that lens. I don't typically write stories exclusively centered on a character's orientation or day to day personal life, but many of my characters are aro-spec, and some do have that as one part of their character arc. I like writing characters who are still finding their way in the world and figuring out what kind of relationships they want, and that growth is generally informed by the fantastical struggles I put them against (and the way they interact with the other characters while working through them). I do like writing epic friendships and found families, but just as much it's important to me to write a character as being able to stand alone and not have every part of their development revolve around a certain other character.
I think stories are both an important way of communicating and of entertaining yourself, so I always keep both those elements in mind while writing and reading. So I would love to see more varied narratives come up, especially those that take less traditional views on relationships or simply de-centralize them, and I hope to write stories that at least somewhat diversify narratives as well. I do think media is slowly getting better at that as well, even if they are slow to acknowledge aromanticism in any real way - but it is easier now to find slightly different relationship portrayals now a days than it used to be, and I appreciate that.
In terms of aromanticism, there's a lot I would like to see or create narrative wise. For what I want to see - more stories exploring the diversity of aromantic experiences, through different kinds of literary and genre references and different mediums. Books, video games, movies; realistic fciction, fantasy, mystery; all of those things exploring or including aromantic narratives of different sorts. Let's see romance-repulsed, indifferent, and favorable aros. Aros who want only close friends, aros who don't want to center their lives around any kind of relationship, aros who pursue their own kind of romantic relationships. Different types and patterns of attraction. Obviously not every story needs to cover every perspective, or even needs to make exploring these ideas the focus of the plot, but having these kinds of characters and narratives exist and be acknowledged more would be fantastic.
As for what I want to write myself - I'm a speculative fiction enthusiast and repulsed aroace, so most of what I enjoy creating is heavily influenced by that lens. I don't typically write stories exclusively centered on a character's orientation or day to day personal life, but many of my characters are aro-spec, and some do have that as one part of their character arc. I like writing characters who are still finding their way in the world and figuring out what kind of relationships they want, and that growth is generally informed by the fantastical struggles I put them against (and the way they interact with the other characters while working through them). I do like writing epic friendships and found families, but just as much it's important to me to write a character as being able to stand alone and not have every part of their development revolve around a certain other character.
I think stories are both an important way of communicating and of entertaining yourself, so I always keep both those elements in mind while writing and reading. So I would love to see more varied narratives come up, especially those that take less traditional views on relationships or simply de-centralize them, and I hope to write stories that at least somewhat diversify narratives as well. I do think media is slowly getting better at that as well, even if they are slow to acknowledge aromanticism in any real way - but it is easier now to find slightly different relationship portrayals now a days than it used to be, and I appreciate that.
