Recently I got broken up with (womp womp) and I just didn't feel anything, and I don't believe I ever did. Not "I didn't feel anything" in the edgelord way, but I just never felt anything that people describe. I still enjoyed being in a relationship and doing the stuff people do together when they're dating. If you need more information then lmk, but does this match anything y'all feel?

Heya so this is something that has been weighing on my mind for a while and I wanted to get a second opinion on this.

TLDR: friend said he has feelings for me, we talked about it, the friendship is on the pause, what are your thoughts?

Storytime:
So, recently I was talking with my friend and he mentioned the dreaded thing of every aro, "OP, I have feelings for you". So of course I immediately shot that down because a) I have a partner, b) I am aro and c) I am simply not interested.

Thanfully, my friend is a normal person and we were able to have a peaceful and mature conversation about this, resulting into him taking some space from our firendship for the time being to get over his crush (his idea, not mine). I was very glad to hear this because I did have the misfortune of having to deal with people who didn't take rejection lightly (hence, we no longer talk).

And due to that I am now thinking about this debacle, because I have known people who waited for me to "change my mind" (which, of course, didn't happen because my partner is amazing and I didn't find them attractive).

But I also stayed friends with a guy from uni who shared that he finds me attractive. I told him that in no way is this appropriate and that I am uncomfortable with him just, telling me that? He apologised and completely understands how that might come across, we now talk regulary and he has never made a move on me or commented on my body.

My partner is not worried, I have told him everything for full transparency and gave him the ability to veto these friendships if he would ever feel diserspected. We both are adults and he knows that I have no problem setting boundaries and keeping them alive and well.
Storytime end

But I am interested in hearing what is YOUR stand on this. Do you stay friends with people who have found interest in you? Or do you back away from said friendship?

I made a post over in relationship advice hoping to get some help over being overly anxious about dating this girl that i've liked for years. I ended up confessing out of guilt because I cared for her as a friend and I felt like I was betraying our friendship. I FULLY expected her to reject me just so I could move on with my life but she ended up returning my feelings. It's hard to explain but even though I felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders the fact that she's actually showing interest in me is freaking me out. I'm not even happy about it anymore it irks me being called petnames when it's not ironic, i don't enjoy the thought of doing anything romantic anymore because it's no longer wishful daydreaming now it's a possibility- it's expected of me to want to do those things. This soon-to-be relationship is causing me a lot more stress which I thought i'd get over now that i'm an adult.

This isn't the first time this has happened. I used to "like" this kid in summercamp and when they asked me out i said yes because i hadn't experienced a relationship and a lot of my peers had. I always saw them so happy and obviously into the other person but I could never do that. I just start avoiding them the moment they like me back. I have no issues expressing care/love for my friends so why am I struggling to feel this way for someone I crushed on for years?! I don't understand it and it's driving me crazy.

edit: she's very dear to me and a wonderful friend. the last thing I want to do is hurt her because i'm feeling sick. I feel stuck and like I did this to myself. i feel guilty even saying I regret confessing at all because it would've saved me the trouble. idk if it even matters but I like writing romance stories and I most of my characters are in relationships but the issue is purely when it's me in a romantic situation- i just can't handle it.

so i'm not sure if this is just because i'm autistic or what but i kinda wish human relationships worked like cat relationships do. like cats can be really close friends and snuggle and bond for life, but there's still no expectation of exclusivity or special rituals. they just love each other and that's all that matters. i really long for the physical and emotional closeness of another person, but don't enjoy the expectations and rituals that come with a romantic relationship. the dynamic change when i have gotten in relationships before was not enjoyable, but that was also all in middle school and i'm 20 now. i just wish that i could be closer with my friends without them expecting or thinking i want more. i don't really know what to do with this information though. like if somebody i was close with wanted to get into a relationship with me, would i just specify how i view relationships and make sure they're chill with that? i feel like the only way i'd get the closeness i want is through a romantic relationship so i don't really feel comfortable identifying as aromantic, but idk. i listen to the way people talk about romance and it doesn't make any sense to me. it always just sounds like they're really good friends who might be physically attracted to each other (i have asexual friends so that's not always the case), or sometimes they don't even like each other as people and are just interacting for the sake of romance, which is SO weird and scary. i guess i just don't really understand the difference between romantic love and platonic love, but i've experienced a vibe shift in the interactions when i got into relationships and i did not like it. i just wanted my friend back while still being able to be close. sorry about the tangents, it's 3am and i am tired. just wanted to see if this aligns with other aromantic experiences or if i'm just alloromantic and weird because this has been haunting me. idk why, i don't even care about labels that much, but i guess i want to be prepared in case somebody i care about does randomly get a crush on me, because i don't want a repeat of middle school, but also don't want to be alone forever??

i've gotten myself into a situation. when i (female) was 17 i got dumped by my ex. im now in college and earlier this year i decided to try a dating app. i met a girl and we went on a lot of dates. i didn't really feel particularly attracted to her. since my ex i didn't feel attracted to anyone. i didn't get crushes or anything. I enjoyed spending time with her. she's not someone i would usually date, we have some overlapping interests but we are also very different. we talked over summer break and we made it official about a month ago.
since then it's been fine. i haven't really felt anything romantic. i've grown closer to her and i enjoy her presence and i like to cuddle with her, but i don't really feel anything. when we were talking we made out one time a little but now we don't at all. we kiss but it's just like a peck. i'm starting to think i don't like anyone.
i enjoy fictional characters, i like reading fanfic and i like self insert fics. i feel attracted to fictional characters but not real people? i feel like a loser for this. i enjoy being alone. i feel like maybe im just trying to isolate myself and if i broke up with my girlfriend id be ruining a perfectly good relationship i had. i don't really want anything physical with her, and sometimes when she comes over i want her to leave so i can be by myself. i like spending time with her a lot but i enjoy my alone time a lot. i'm really confused and i don't know how to go forward.
i felt romantic attraction in the past but in the last two years it's been like an off switch in my brain. nothing at all. my girlfriend says she likes me and enjoys being with me, but whenever i'm with her i feel so guilty and like im tricking her or something. i don't know how to move forward. this is also her first relationship, so I would feel like a horrible person if i broke up with her. and she's told basically all her friends about me. what do i do? am i just really really demisexual? or just asexual? or aromantic? i have no clue at this point.

Hi y'all! Long story "short", I met someone very cool online and we do like each other, I already knew they were aroace so I lowered my expectations from the get go and did not have romantic intentions, but with time they started being kind of affectionate in a way that looked a lot like flirting to me, sending kissing gifs, reacting with heart emojis, complimenting my voice... They didn't seem to mind when I "flirted" back, even

I started catching feelings so thankfully I asked directly yesterday if it was that and we cleared it up without ruining the friendship. They're just like that with very close friends (I'm a very close friend yay). Still I'm new to this so advice is needed ;w;

(they seem to be a little new to the concept as well but they identify with it)