My Aromantic Fantasy-World
The following is a collection of reader submitted narratives. We asked how aromantics would envision an aromantic fantasy-world. Their answers detail personal opinions, thoughts, and feelings. Apart from general grammar edits, these submissions have been published as submitted, and as such be aware of discussion of sex, relationships, and love.
Word count: 1439
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
In my fantasy world, I wouldn't want hard and fast rules (hard magic systems, if you will). I would prefer a softer kind of magic, something that people can harness if they get a feeling for it, but without hard and fast rules. Magic that is fueled from wonder and curiosity and experiments. A lot of fantasy worlds talk about destiny, but I don't like that part. I think what is appealing about fantasy is being able to settle into a quiet but magical life (like the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings) or travel the world looking for adventures if you prefer (like in DnD). People are free to do as they please, without expecting that they will settle down somewhere - or fall in love, or marry. My fantasy world is people who are free to do as they please, to pursue their interests, without the bounds of amatonormativity or the expectations around love, where someone who wants sex without romance can have it, and someone who wants neither sex nor love is free to live that way too.
Ali
Magic is something personal, but it comes from the world around you. It's a natural thing, even if it's scary and strange to the people that don't have the ability to use it. The magic users are outcasts because those who can't use it think they're evil, so they band together and make vast, tight-knit communities that value everyone no matter what magic or form they have. And as long as someone is part of the community of magic users, it doesn't matter how they choose to interact as long as they aren't hurting anyone. Solidarity and community are valued over any specific relationship type.
Mirror System
Magic is more of a petition to the universe. Spells are incredibly ritual-based, and the first, typically longest, part of the ritual is explaining why you should be able to do the thing. The universe accepts several kinds of logic, but there must be a consistent logical argument to explain why a spell is possible. Society becomes very logic-based and praises debate skills. People often work alone, as the casters are often the most unpredictable variables in the spell.
Blurry
I would still assume there are partnerships that include children, but it's not the norm to be in a monogamous relationship (if in one at all) and not a lot of people have kids either. So powers come from parents? But also the land is magical too, so a lot of it comes from personality and species. So like part personality, part genetic. Also, I think sentient trees are pretty awesome. Like trees are already really intelligent, but i want MORE (/hj). Also I think gay communism for the organisation of society.
Li
A world where magic comes from the world itself, where life breathes magic. Where life is magic, and magic is life. Where simply existing is enough to be able to wield magic. It would be a high-fantasy world, with Lords and Ladies who are elected not born into power. A world where magic and growth are one and the same. Where magic is studied and treated as a science, but also as something as natural as breathing.
Xylos
Shapeshifting? With the whole wolf hierarchy. The healthy members do take care of the sick, and people respect the older because they are the wiser. The necessary elements will be the importance of the pack, the closeness between pack members and their bonds, which are not romantic, more like brother/sisterhood and family bonds. Also, mating for life is not mandatory/required therefore just some of them do it.
Waru
Read Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology - I want whatever they've got going on, especially the werewolf one.
Anon
It depends on how one defines "aromantic fantasy world". If by that one is referring to a fantasy world that is inclusive of aromantics, the solution is straightforward enough--include characters who are aromantic within the world and respectfully portray how their experiences inform and shape their interactions with the events, cultures, and world around them. If the setting has romantic conventions, how do aromantic characters react, cope, or overcome these, or how are they harmed by them? If certain magics or powers are tied to love, how does that take aromanticism into account, if at all?
But if we were to push the definition of "aromantic fantasy world" further to mean using aromanticism itself as a foundation for a fantasy world, then one would have to reconsider and deconstruct how love and relationships themselves are perceived, formed, and handled within an aromantic world, and how that might trickle down to smaller aspects of worldbuilding. In real life, relationships are a hugely influential factor in the development of culture; marriage, for instance, has always been a key aspect in political affairs, but also a way of securing lifelong companionship for oneself and typically one partner, in a romantic and sexual relationship. Love and relationships are often the central focus of art, cultural customs, politics, music, philosophy, and more.
In an aromantic-centric world, the concept of the amatonormative, heteronormative, monogamy-centered nuclear family that shapes much of our culture would not be as influential. Other types of bonds, such as platonic, familial, companionate/queerplatonic, polyamorous, sexual, or even relationships based on other emotions entirely besides love would rise to prominence instead. Some examples off the top of my head: purely sexual relationships having spiritual connotations, polyamorous individuals and communal family groups forming powerful clans and creating tangled webs of political intrigue, companionate/platonic/queerplatonic relationships having an established and meaningful place in society and all that entails for a culture’s values and traditions (especially when magic and the like are taken into account—perhaps something akin to Pacific Rim’s drift compatibility, or Steven Universe’s fusion concept), or healthy rivalries based on mutual respect being the stuff of legend—something most people aspire to have in their lives, for some reason. There are many unexplored possibilities when it comes to aromantic-centric worldbuilding.
G. Mont
Powers, like other human traits, are contained in several genes, so it's hard for scientists to pinpoint/change it. magic comes from the life force of any living creature(animals, plants, fungi, etc), and people with the right genes to manipulate that can cast spells/craft potions. society used to be org based purely on magical power, but brutal suppression caused many of the "lower classes" to rebel, and many democracies and republics developed instead of monarchies.
Anon
Honestly, my aro fantasy world would be a lot like magical girl shows, lol. Like powers come from friendship and stuff like like, just not limited to afab people like in most magical girl series. I'd like to think that in most places the whole town or city block works together to raise kids. While yes, romantic love does exist in this world, it wouldn't be placed as high of a pedestal as our world, more like a different flavor of life you live if you wanted to.
Anon
I imagine main character doesn’t have “love interest” as a primary motivation. I also expect stories that unite the races/clans/etc. (e.g. elf-human couple) not to be written as romance. Authors sometimes make them romantic as if trying to say “hey, romantic love is the strongest feeling and THIS is what united the [nations, races, families, etc.] at crisis and helped to miraculously solve all the problems”. I want strong platonic relationships in world’s lore, and stop this “ultimate magic of love”.
Julia
Well first off no love potions/spells/magic, not only does it have arophobic undertones but it also can be very toxic very fast so unless that's the "focus" or a major subplot of the story it just doesn't quite work in my personal mind. Next the way laws + culture is setup are more inclusive of other family dynamics + single people than the stereotypical western world irl is. Then I personally also make sure my polytheistic religions have at least one arospec deity/religious figures because why wouldn't I?? /rt /lh
Anon
I don't think it looks any different from regular fantasy worlds. I don't think romantic attraction is so integral that removing it or even opening the world to aro characters/experiences would drastically change things. It's just not that important!
Anon