#see see see

[phantombs]

@shrapnelsong asked: As she makes her way out of the airport and people's eyes fall upon the beautiful bouquet in her arms, they give her charmed smiles. Alice can see the stories being written behind their romantic gazes. Who was the gentlemen who gifted it to her? Was it a tearful goodbye at the gates? Perhaps a heartfelt welcome home right after she landed.

The truth of it is that the bouquet is an apology. She's had no time to craft a beautiful dessert to share with the person who inhabits her heart on the day commercially dedicated to such people. Of course, the actual date matters not to either of them, but still, it feels lovely to make the effort, and she does feel the need to apologize for being unable to. So, right before her flight back home, she goes to the gardens and plucks away. With no thoughts of meaning, she lays a few fully bloomed camellias in a bed of different textures of greens, surrounding them with cyclamens and finishing the bouquet off with little pockets of kalanchoes here and there.

She heads straight to the store, sighing softly at the welcoming chime of the little bell atop the door. The familiar sight of Cường sets her heart at ease and she leaves her suitcase behind, moving forward with just the flowers, offering them almost impatiently because she wants her hands free to hold him. "Happy Valentine's day." She greets him with the simple, appropriate words for the day, but they sound like I love you, like I missed you, like I'm home.

It’s been a while. Even so, Cường, nursing a potted branch of plum blossom, hasn't marked the days. Instead, he'd only counted moons, the winding of the seasons, and as fall in its glory had wandered toward the springtime, there’ve been six waxing gibbons since he’s seen her last.

Six waxing gibbons... Six whole months. Half a year ago, right now, this branch had been a lotus!

His store’s bells twinkle, and how time flies.

Outside, life – Hanoi, loud shouts and honking mopeds abound – had went on without her. Valentine’s has come, its popularity soaring of late, and out his open window, he hears girls giggle here, hears wrapping come apart, and smells chocolate dipped fruit. The city’s gone merry, drenched in romance like sap and syrup, and it taunts him a little, asks him where’s Alice?

“Valentine’s Day. You know, I never knew how special this day was before. To think it’d make a woman catch a plane just so she give a man a gift.” He’s teasing. It’s calmly stated, steady like the lazy sweep of an ocean tide, but my word, is it, god bless her heart, familiar. He turns in greeting, not a pinch of fanfare to him, but his air does soften as his eyes peer wider — yes, boasting fondness, surprise, and shimmering stars. Cường walks up to her, taking her luggage off her hands. He lowers down a little, smells the dazzling bouquet, then leans further, leans closer to nose her hair. Jasmine and honey and the sun at travel... “And I guess this bouquet of flowers, too.”

It sounds like welcome home. I love you. Missed you.

[elbiotipo]

I think one big reason why we don't consider the stars as important as before (not even pop-astrology anymore cares about the stars or the sky on itself, just the signs deprived of context) is because of light pollution.

For most of human history the sky looked between 1-3, 4 at most. And then all of a sudden with electrification it was gone (I'm lucky if I get 6 in my small city). The first time I saw the Milky Way fully as a kid was a spiritual experience, I was almost scared on how BRIGHT it was, it felt like someone was looking back at me. You don't get that at all with modern light pollution.

When most people talk about stargazing nowadays they think about watching about a couple of bright dots. The stars are really, really not like that. The unpolluted night sky is a festival of fireworks. There is nothing like it.

[noodles-and-tea]

Haha… yeah… that’d be crazy…

[mysteriouseggsbenedict]

I love Matilda because it's a story about a child who sees injustice around her and gets mad about it and questions why things aren't fair, and instead of the ending being that she learns how the world works and that life isn't fair, she catapults one of the adults who abused her out of a building with her mind

[tododeku-or-bust]

Shout out to all the Black ppl that can no longer participate directly in the fandom they love because of the stresses of racism 👍🏾 you contain multitudes of value and I'm sorry that the color of your skin and the power of your voice makes people not want to acknowledge that.

[cartoonsinthemorning]

Since you guys liked Marcille as Kermit that much, it seems fitting to thank you for my 12k milestone with MORE Kercille. And this time, Miss Falin is also here.

Thank you so much again everybody! MWAH 💗

[dionysus-complex]

funniest Kamala Harris VP picks go

[nikrei]

I keep seeing people use this image as a reaction to people's original posts:

Which I think is really incorrect, because with an original post they haven't come up to ur window, u've come up to their window.

So I made this, as a more accurate reaction for original posts:

[girldraki]

[amartworks]

had a fun experience on the subway the other day

[rafterdarkr]

why are all these modern aus for the Odyssey set in a high school. where's the retelling where Odysseus is just a guy lost in an airport who keeps missing his connecting flights home due to a comical series of delays and disgruntled airline employees

[werewolf-transgenderism]

just watched a video of a wildlife rehabber tube-feeding the teeny tiniest orphaned baby opossum and the comments are fucking KILLING me

baby opossum (too teeny, hasn’t finished cooking in the marsupial pouch like it ought to have done, doesn’t even look like it should exist):

the comments:

[unforth]

Y'all I know that when so-called AI generates ridiculous results it's hilarious and I find it as funny as the next guy but I NEED y'all to remember that every single time an AI answer is generated it uses 5x as much energy as a conventional websearch and burns through 10 ml of water. FOR EVERY ANSWER. Each big llm is equal to 300,000 kiligrams of carbon dioxide emissions.

LLMs are killing the environment, and when we generate answers for the lolz we're still contributing to it.

Stop using it. Stop using it for a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. We need to kill it.

Sources:

[hellishqueer]

we ask that the defense not say "me when i lie" while the witness testifies

[canonkiller]

I just think everyone should take a moment to consider the question "what is your visual shorthand for cruelty?" and then follow it up with a critical "and who taught you that?"

specific examples include but are not limited to

why is an evil timeline character design disabled? (why do the heroes go through equally punishing battles and never lose an arm, a leg, an eye?)

why are the futuristic scifi terrorists uniformly darker skinned? (why are the heroes so much lighter?)

why is the greedy boss fat? (why are the heroes skinny?)

why is the criminal mastermind heavily scarred? (why is the brooding, traumatized hero unscathed?)

why is the predatory creep a bearded person in a dress and makeup? (why are none of the heroes trans women?)

who taught you that this is how things are?

how long do you plan on repeating it?

[buttercuparry]

Palestinian men should not have to repeatedly hold up pictures of their family struggling through a genocide, for us to care about them. Fundraisers conducted by/for Palestinian men, should not have to repeatedly refer to their mothers, sisters, wives and children, to make us realize their humanity, their vulnerability. Enough. Isn't it enough after so many months? Hadn't it always been enough?