response to ur edit: ah yeah I have heard much abt the fabled situationship. dodged one with a colleague I was close with recently-ish when it was clear we were on different pages in terms of what we wanted...still wonder sometimes if it was the right call. could have been even more confusing and hurtful and resulted in things ending even worse if it went on, but eh, things ending the way they did made our job like 10x shittier and nuked our friendship. i'm brand new to modern dating cuz i was practically married for almost 9 years, so idk, this shit is all alien to me still.

but ya honestly, while often difficult, I feel like staying friends is nice when possible. like this person was once/still is a special connection & human to you, if it's not too painful for both parties its ideal to be able to sustain that, even in a transformed form. but idk, i get why it can be too hard sometimes. life can indeed be a wild trip my friend. i hope whatever arrangement ya'll land on ends up being for the best, in any case. love is a wonderful thing and it sucks major ass when it dies. probably healthy to take things one day at a time and listen to ur intuitions/emotions and to let things fall where they will. or not, idk, im just a fuckin idiot lmao