Aeden Romeyn
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pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
Aeden Romeyn
@pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
100 followers 60 following 420 posts
Queer & Disabled Artist 🎨 Writer 📖 Purveyor of Hopeful Horrors 🫀
Read my work for free at
aedenromeyn.wordpress.com
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pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
“Girlhood is body horror” has gotta be my favorite horror trope of all time. Drop your favorite media that uses this trope in the comments so I can experience more of this cathartic kind of horror. Bonus points if it relates to the transmasc experience.

#writesky #booksky #horror #feminist #lgbtq
August 31, 2026 at 5:04 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
When designing the “tooth fairies,” I looked to noise-making bugs—cicadas, crickets, bees, all the critters that wake me up. I wanted their sound to pollute the story.

Like drones. Or data centers.

Part 1 “Diamonds, Debt, & Baby Teeth,” is free to read on Substack! #writesky #readsky #horrorsky
August 21, 2026 at 12:10 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
I miss scholastic book fairs … #booksky #writesky #reading
August 21, 2026 at 12:09 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
As an editor and marketer, I understand that short chapter lengths are preferable in the age of short attention spans.

As a writer and an artist, this fact entices me to claw my eyes out.

#writesky #writers #writing #editing #writingcommunity
August 19, 2026 at 9:02 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
When creatures from the garden exchange her daughter’s baby tooth for a diamond, a struggling mother sees a path to a better future 🦷💎 Part 1 of my horror short story “Diamonds, Debt, & Baby Teeth” is available now, free to read on my Substack!

#booksky #reading #shortstory #horror #writesky
Line art of a sketchbook page filled with concept art for my short story, sort of looks like tattoo flash. Includes teeth, diamonds, clove, fantasy bugs, and the monstrous tooth fairies from the story.
August 19, 2026 at 8:57 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
Hauntings are real. It’s just not always paranormal.

Read Dead Willow Diaries on my Substack for insights into the story, writing process, the real-life inspiration, research, and all I’ve learned writing this novel. Read on my Substack!

#writesky #writing #booksky #horror #reading #authors #WIPs
August 11, 2026 at 4:49 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
@bsky.app A longer character limit would do absolute wonders. I’m not built for this. #writing #writesky
August 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
“Here Lies and Inspiration,” a poem about expectations of performing wellness for the comfort of the able-bodied, is out on my Substack now!

open.substack.com/pub/pyrophob...

#disability #disabledpridemonth #chronicpain #neurodivergence #poetry #poetrysky #writesky #poems #writing #trauma
A sharpie doodle of a graveyard overlaid with words: “Here lies an inspiration: Trauma is only artful post-mortem: as a disabled person, every detail of my life is seen as trauma dumping.”
July 7, 2026 at 6:35 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
From one broke and overworked writer/artist to another … if you need a book cover or illustration for your project, but can’t afford to pay a fellow struggling artist, don’t resort AI. Try these instead!

#fuckai #writingcommunity #artcommunity #trading #writesky #artsky #booksky
From one broke and overworked writer to another … if you’re thinking about using AI for a book cover because you can’t afford to hire an artist, don’t! I’ve got you covered. There’s about a thousand other free options that don’t involve remixing other people’s art without their permission (and destroying the environment in the process). Here are some options you can try: Trade with an artist (many artists like myself are happy to trade art for other goods & services—money is not our only currency, and artists help each other) Befriend artists (friends also like to help each other) Photographs (they don’t even have to be good, you can use those plastic cameras and it can work): nature, still lifes of relevant objects, long-exposure photos, textures, photos of art, etc. Collages (with fair use images of course) Public domain paintings and photographs Go to a flea market, buy up a bunch of antique photos, use as you please Shitty doodles (seriously, this is actually a thing with some covers) Make a patterned cover using stamps, fabric, etc. Use a flat color and bold, eye-catching fonts (there are online resources for good font pairings, and free online lessons on simple graphic design) Use one of your other skills—Are you also a carpenter? An engineer? Do you knit? Are you photographer? Do you like bug pinning? Use your other skills to make a cover. Burn paper! 🔥🔥🔥 Cut paper! ✂️✂️✂️ Paint paper! Just for the texture and color! 🎨🎨🎨 ^^Do any of that to public domain images! Learn to use Canva or other free graphic software Learn to draw! (That’s what I did! If you really really really want that full original art for a cover, you’ll learn a new skill for it) Poverty is hard, I know, especially as a writer trying to make it. But it’s not an excuse to tear down other artists. It’s not an excuse to be an asshole. You have other options, and you have other artists to lean on. You just have to put in the effort. … From one broke and overworked writer to another … if you’re thinking about using AI for a book cover because you can’t afford to hire an artist, don’t! I’ve got you covered. There’s about a thousand other free options that don’t involve remixing other people’s art without their permission (and destroying the environment in the process). Here are some options you can try: Trade with an artist (many artists like myself are happy to trade art for other goods & services—money is not our only currency, and artists help each other) Befriend artists (friends also like to help each other) Photographs (they don’t even have to be good, you can use those plastic cameras and it can work): nature, still lifes of relevant objects, long-exposure photos, textures, photos of art, etc. Collages (with fair use images of course) Public domain paintings and photographs Go to a flea market, buy up a bunch of antique photos, use as you please Shitty doodles (seriously, this is actually a thing with some covers) Make a patterned cover using stamps, fabric, etc. Use a flat color and bold, eye-catching fonts (there are online resources for good font pairings, and free online lessons on simple graphic design) Use one of your other skills—Are you also a carpenter? An engineer? Do you knit? Are you photographer? Do you like bug pinning? Use your other skills to make a cover. Burn paper! 🔥🔥🔥 Cut paper! ✂️✂️✂️ Paint paper! Just for the texture and color! 🎨🎨🎨 ^^Do any of that to public domain images! Learn to use Canva or other free graphic software Learn to draw! (That’s what I did! If you really really really want that full original art for a cover, you’ll learn a new skill for it) Poverty is hard, I know, especially as a writer trying to make it. But it’s not an excuse to tear down other artists. It’s not an excuse to be an asshole. You have other options, and you have other artists to lean on. You just have to put in the effort. …
June 17, 2026 at 3:48 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
Well, my main character has been cut entirely, sooooo … yeah I’ve definitely slain a darling

#writesky #spoonieauthchat #writingcommunity
spoonieauthnet.bsky.social Spoonie Authors Network @spoonieauthnet.bsky.social · Jun 16
Spoonie Author Chat (for creatives who manage spoons), June 16, 2026:

Did you ever "kill your darlings," that is, delete pages or other parts from a WIP that you loved but felt they needed to go?

Please quote-post and add #SpoonieAuthChat to your replies!)
Banner image has wavy rainbow and three spoons that are connected at the base. Text is the same as the post.
June 16, 2026 at 6:39 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
A short and sweet, hopeful dystopian fairytale & a love letter to the Sonoran Desert, the only place I can call home.

New short story available on my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/pyrophob...

#writesky #shortstory #naturesky #booksky #southwest #sonorandesert #climatechange #climatecrisis
June 16, 2026 at 3:14 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
A poem I wrote about turning 26 and realizing you didn’t grow up too early—you just skipped key developments and now have to make up for lost lessons

#poetry #poetrycommunity #mentalhealth #writing #writingcommunity #writesky #poemsky #booksky
HAND-ME-DOWNS Thirteen yesterdays ago I thought I was grown I wore ripped jeans and open wounds Tearing at the seams from the Kind of wisdom and rage that Should only come with age I was desperate to escape That cage constructed from My skin and bones Thirteen tomorrows have passed Since then and now I’m twenty-six Still feeling like a little kid Wearing clothes far too big for me Stomping in my mother’s shredded shoes And my father’s cigarette-scented coat All this time, playing dress-up with ghosts I think I died thirteen years ago today And have only just begun to grieve All these fading hand-me-down scars No longer fit me like they used to
June 16, 2026 at 3:10 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
New Substack Article: Don’t Drag my Disabilities into AI Art Debate. Read at —> open.substack.com/pub/sacredhu...

#writesky #writingcommunity #disability #fuckai #opinion #chronicillness #accessibility #substack #article
“DON’T DRAG MY DISABILITIES INTO AI ART DEBATE” in bolded yellow on a photograph of the Lascaux Cave Paintings, depicting aurochs. “DON’T DRAG MY DISABILITIES INTO AI ART DEBATE” from the Sacred Hurts Crip Lit Zine. Photograph of the Lascaux Cave Paintings, depicting aurochs.
May 26, 2026 at 3:44 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
The hazard of converting your trauma into fiction is that sometimes the nonsense you’ve internalized appears in your characters and you have to address that both as an artist and with your therapist. #writesky #writingcommunity #mentalhealth
May 25, 2026 at 6:42 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
Edward Elric & Toph Beifong were formative for me (recently rewatched fma and atla, still rips). When I became disabled, I saw myself in characters like Kaz Brekker & Viktor (arcane) since I related to them more, but Ed & Toph still reign supreme in my mind #WeeknightWriters #writesky #fma #atla
weeknightwriters.bsky.social Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · May 21
Q2: Today we’re talking disabled characters in fiction! Who are some of your favourite disabled characters & why do you love them? #WeeknightWriters
Notepad that says "#WeeknightWriters - Who are some of your favourite disabled characters & why do you love them?"
May 22, 2026 at 2:14 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
I’m a #disabled author & nearly all of the characters in my WIP have one or more disabilities! I’m writing a southern gothic horror that deals with intersectional poverty rural areas, so most of the characters are disabled. #WeeknightWriters #writesky
weeknightwriters.bsky.social Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · May 21
Q3: Are there any disabled characters in your current WIP? Tell us a bit about them & their disabilities! #WeeknightWriters
Notepad that says "#WeeknightWriters - Are there any disabled characters in your current WIP? Tell us a bit about them and their disabilities!"
May 22, 2026 at 1:59 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
For legal reasons, everything I write is fiction and not based on any experience I’ve ever had at all. In fact, I’ve never experienced anything. My personal history is a dull and sun-bleached wasteland inhabited only by dust bunnies… #writesky #booksky #writing #writers
May 21, 2026 at 3:13 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
I have written short stories about my own book characters and one day, when the stars align and time is right, I will post them on ao3 and you will never know which stories are mine. #WriteSky #Fanfiction #BookSky
May 19, 2026 at 4:03 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
To the fanfic writer that both made and ruined my night and also got edelweiss stuck in my head for several hours—I adore and abhor you, you wretched thing
May 18, 2026 at 5:59 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
Trying to romanticize life but the depression/chronic illness clutter pile on my bedroom floor is gaining sentience
May 13, 2026 at 8:04 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
Wish I could be cool and calm and enjoy things casually but unfortunately I can only enjoy things obsessively and that thing my entire personality for 1, my apologies
May 11, 2026 at 4:59 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
For nearly six years, I could feel the rain coming before the sky so much as darkened. I wrote this poem from my porch on a rainy day about four and a half months after beginning a quarterly treatment for migraine.

Available on my Substack!

#WriteSky #writesky #poetry #disability #migraine
A rainy day through a window
May 4, 2026 at 5:41 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
I really want to get off Instagram, so I’m trying out Substack! If you like my work and want to see more of it, check me out at substack.com/@pyrophobicp... There’s nothing there yet, but there will be soon! #writesky #booksky #poetrysky
Aeden Romeyn | Substack
Wielding a pen against the darkness. Just trying to make sense of monsters through fiction, poetry, and art.
substack.com
April 6, 2026 at 6:44 AM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
A blackout poem using Executive Order 14160. Birthright citizenship is not a right we’re willing to lose. #politics #protestpoetry #immigration #blackoutpoetry #politicalpoetry #donaldtrump #supremecourt #trumpvbarbara #humanrights
A blackout poem: BIRTHRIGHT Executive Order 14160–Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship By the authority of State Purpose a priceless and profound gift is repudiated solely based on race. The United States has always excluded from birthright persons born not subject to the privilege of a white father or mother. Under the auspices of the State it is policy that no government shall recognize … true children of the Homeland. All agencies consistent with this order disrespect the public. Definitions mean nothing to the authority of the people United. By Aeden Romeyn @pyrophobicpoet
April 1, 2026 at 6:54 PM
pyrophobicpoet.bsky.social
My new short story zine “Ornithology of the End Times” sold out at Zine Fest—and in just three hours! I truly didn’t think anyone would read it, I compile books of poetry to be more consumable, and just try to convince people to read my short stories. This is incredible. #writesky #WritingCommunity
A black and white zine cover for “Ornithology of the End Times” by Aeden Romeyn. A heavily detailed bird (raven-like with a swallows tail) carries a luminescent ring in its beak. It flies past a rubble wall of stone and rebar. Black smoke billows in the background.
March 30, 2026 at 4:38 AM