“affinity flag

affinity (excerpt from original post) – “affinity is any connection, desire for connection, or feeling of closeness that doesn’t feel like it fits under attraction, or that an individual does not feel comfortable describing as attraction”

affinity is an intentionally vague concept, so please read the full explanation post (link) by @/aropearl for a better explanation! hopefully ey also think this flag does the concept justice

requested and made with help by @transmourning because this term is really important to both of us :]

as for the asterism symbol in the middle that mors came up with, this is what hy had to say for the symbolism (paraphrased):

⁂ (the asterism symbol) in astronomy represents a group of stars, from which you can derive a metaphor of a bond as parts of a whole that take on a new meaning when they’re together.

also, asterism in gemology is a star-shaped concentration of light reflected/refracted from a gemstone, which can represent a web of connections to other people with its shape.

the symbol itself comes from the typographic definition (more information at the wikipedia article (link)), and its usage as marking something as untitled/title withheld connects to the idea of not describing a connection as attraction.”

Posted by rammgender on August 8, 2023.

Post from aropearl on May 13, 2023:

“Affinity

I talk about affinity a lot both here and on @trustedcompanionship, but I’ve never really defined it. That’s partially because I’m very resistant to defining it– it’s a lived experience and a feeling first, and a piece of terminology second. It’s inherently resistant to the tendency to divide up queer experiences into easily compartmentalized boxes that resemble DSM-V diagnostic criteria more than they do descriptions of the way an individual person sees themself and the world. Affinity as a term and as a paradigm for describing connections is inherently fluid.

That being said, affinity is any connection, desire for connection, or feeling of closeness that doesn’t feel like it fits under attraction, or that an individual does not feel comfortable describing as attraction. “It’s easy to talk to you” is affinity. “We have so much in common” is affinity. “I would follow you anywhere” is affinity. “I want to explore different kinds of intimacy with you” is affinity. Many other things can be affinity as well.

I do not want to be the arbiter of what counts or does not count as affinity. I didn’t invent this feeling and do not have the right to control how others experience it. Please respect my boundaries and do not ask me if what you’re feeling “counts” as affinity– only you can figure that out. If you don’t feel comfortable or right calling something attraction, you are welcome to use affinity as a shorthand to describe what you feel.”