the father fucker, son of a bitch, and holy shit

trans man/transmasc separatism is not the answer, transandrophobia can still be perpetrated by trans men/transmasc people and isolation can make you more vulnerable to abuse.

i originally wrote this for a creative writing class, and so the intended audience was a group of people who i assumed had never even heard of the word 'aromantic', much less thought about the experience. i anticipated runs of the poem that followed almost universally negative reactions to a still heart, and so it was very important to me that people always be redirected somewhere that holds aromanticism as something neutral, if not treasured; for people who had never considered being like me, it was very important to me that i did not give them an option to be hopeless. no matter what you choose, the answers will always, always lead you somewhere that tells you that you are not broken. that you are fine as you are. because aromanticism is not hopelessness to me.

it sounds silly. but i was so locked in on that intent that i sort of didn't consider that aromantic people would be going through this. and seeing the responses from all those beautiful aromantic people... i am more than overjoyed to have made something that resonates with people. that makes them feel seen. to be able to walk people through our shared experience together and know that what they are seeing at the end is affirmation, comfort... there are obviously so many valid things to express about aromanticism but i am so grateful to be able to create a vision of it that is woven through with reassurance and understanding. i am so grateful to give this over to an audience with people who go through a line of constant confident answers to an ending that i shared with its original audience expecting that nobody would ever see. it is really, sincerely touching to me.

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake!!! :)

them