i think for me platonic and romantic attraction often feel really similar, and if there is a meaningful difference between them in most situations i can’t really find them. relationships to me often feel like just that, relationships, and the main thing differentiating them is the level of closeness and agreed upon boundaries and such. like, the other day, i was catching up with someone i hadn’t talked to in a while, and we were clicking really nicely, and i had the urge to say “i love you” even though ostensibly we don’t know each other that well. is that romantic? platonic? a secret third thing?
for me a relationship with a special label like “girlfriend” or “moirail1” is like, something built on top of a particularly close relationship/friendship/whatever rather than something wholly separate. on some level it is just categorization, because the meat of it is the actual relationship itself. but the label is also important, because it’s a nice special thing to crystalize and elevate the bond and what it is in an extra meaningful way. i don’t think either of these things are necessarily mutually exclusive. does that make sense?
and at the same time like, there is a clear separation, because when around blood family i don’t feel a romantic/sexual2 angle at all. which makes whatever i do feel for the ones i like make even less sense, despite its clear presence. that said, besides those things being turned off, it can feel largely similar? besides a particularly strong and notable sense of familial love?
guh. brains make no sense. but they’re kinda cool and interesting, which is why i’m writing this. i’m also writing this in the hopes someone can relate, so yeah.
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nerdspeak for qpr. if you knew what this meant you’re not allowed to make fun of us for it
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this was the first point while writing this that i thought of this aspect because generally i’d be willing to fuck anyone that asks given they pass the harkness test. i’m honestly not even sure how i experience “sexual attraction” since it doesn’t necessarily factor into that? beyond that i know i do experience it in some form. besides that, i believe i’ve said this before, at the least implied it, but i firmly believe sexuality very much can, and i think in many cases should, just be an activity/interest people share and that it doesn’t always have to be A Whole Thing