#and then you hit post

[joaquinaraya]

𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐒, 𝐌𝐈𝐃-𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐘, 𝟐𝟎𝟒𝟒. 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 @cordiiceps​.​​

It is in this way that Quino makes himself useful — hunched over the garden beds, fingernails caked in a fine sheen of topsoil, mulch; picking, preening. It is in this way that Quino — even still, surrounded by this decaying world, and it’s deteriorating people — feels normal. Feels at peace. He is grateful, in his own way, that Alexei allows him this luxury. To be of purpose in a way the can also evoke such a personal joy. But, he does not gloat of these little joys nestled between the roots, and scattered across the leaves. Never, and especially not in front of his cruelty. 

Were he alone, he’d be humming by now. Filling the silence left behind by the birds, by society. He would prefer the real thing, he thinks, but Quino never dared to bring his walkman to the gardens. Never once had he encountered infected on the clock, but he knew his own luck. Knew the day he did, plugged in and tuned out while attending to the garden, would be the day that changed. The thought makes him exhale, hard, through his nose, smiling silently to himself.

He looks up, meets Nik’s eyes, and offers this smile to him. He breaks the silence, just as he would in his solitude. But this time, with words. “Just like that.” He demonstrates, tearing leaf after leaf of lettuce from the stem, leaving enough distance from the root to encourage a recurring growth. “I use my hands, cause I know what I’m doin’. Been at this for a while now. But uhm -” He discards his example in the collections basket to be later washed, delivered elsewhere, before reaching for a pair of scissors. They are an old thing, once a pretty paisley, he imagined. Now, faded, and struggling at it’s hinges. “You can use these, if it makes you feel more in control.” He takes them by the blade, offers the handles to Nik. “But, I trust you either way.”

He has expressed it before, once, in passing; just how much Quino appreciated Nik’s company. He appreciated any company received in the gardens, help included or not. But Nik’s company was always friendly, always good. Goodness being in short supply, it was something he had come to value. Greatly. But Nik? Nik was good people. Whether he himself believed it or not. 

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[sangled]

shipping win! they have different but equally terrible coping mechanisms

[akkpipitphattana]

the amount of ways we have to qualify the geoncide in gaza in order to get people to care is actually sickening to me. “it’s a feminist issue!” “it’s a disabilities issue!” “it’s an environmental issue!” like i’m sorry but even if this was happening solely to able bodied men and was causing no harm to the environment, it would still be wrong because it’s a genocide and these people are being bombed and killed and starved every fucking day. you shouldn’t need an extra label to give you a reason to care about people that are dying.

[cataclysmcrows]

big fan of when grief drives characters to do fucked up things that are ultimately pointless and do more harm than good rather than just like. going to therapy

[eldritchsquared]

doctor voice hello yes im here returning your call about scheduling! ^_^ so the next appointment we have is tomorrow at 4am. after that the earliest we can get you in is december 2025... either of those sound good to you?

[kottkrig]

People liking your personal OCs is still such a crazy feeling, I've been doing this for years and ppl asking about them still fills my entire heart with warmth and idk how to handle it

You enjoy this fictional guy I made up for fun?? Whose only content is random artwork or writing made by me and a handful of other artists at most? They have no show/book/game with a large fandom, it's just one person with an art blog?? I love u

[hallwriteblr]

to you, it's a shitty sentence. to some random bitch 500 miles away, it's a fire line that'll haunt them for the next 17 years.

you don't know how impactful your writing is because it's been in your brain for far too long now. you've stared at it for hours and repeated "this sucks" over and over again to the point that you killed your capacity to feel anything about your work.

but trust me, once you get your shit out there, someone's gonna go over that paragraph you hate and go "jesus fucking christ" and put the book down to have an existential crisis.

[adriles]

when we’re done with our overwhelming grief we’ll eat i guess

[oof-i-did-it-agaaiiin]

Beautiful from Ordinary Days

[nedlittle]

it drives me bonkers the way people don't know how to read classic books in context anymore. i just read a review of the picture of dorian gray that said "it pains me that the homosexual subtext is just that, a subtext, rather than a fully explored part of the narrative." and now i fully want to put my head through a table. first of all, we are so lucky in the 21st century to have an entire category of books that are able to loudly and lovingly declare their queerness that we've become blind to the idea that queerness can exist in a different language than our contemporary mode of communication. second it IS a fully explored part of the narrative! dorian gray IS a textually queer story, even removed from the context of its writing. it's the story of toxic queer relationships and attraction and dangerous scandals and the intertwining of late 19th century "uranianism" and misogyny. second of all, i'm sorry that oscar wilde didn't include 15k words of graphic gay sex with ao3-style tags in his 1890 novel that was literally used to convict him of indecent behaviour. get well soon, i guess...

[spooksier]

me when the emotionally repressed character is revealed to have had something happen in their childhood that was completely out of their control but changed them in a way they can never come back from

[adobe-outdesign]

guy on the street corner looking like he's about to sell you drugs but instead he opens his trenchcoat and pulls one of these bad boys out

[lycanthrology]

parents when they watch a film that isnt shot 100% linearly with every single scene being fully explained with a literal meaning

[grenadineghost]

*stumbles out of the haunted house covered in hickies*

[cataclysmcrows]

GETS ME EVERY TIME