#source-look at reality

[masoncantthinkofaname]

The solution to all problems? Coffee

Can't shift? Drink more coffee🙏

[goodold-fashionedloverblog]

Me: *tries to see what the Queen fans on TikTok have to say*

*Jim hate*

*”facts” that may or not be actually true*

*”Freddie Mercury was bisexual-“*

*Using Barbara Valentin as evidence*

*thinking things that happened in the movie actually happened irl*

*general misinformation about everyone and everything*

Me: aaaaand back to Tumblr I go

(open tags at your own risk, there’s a whole essay in there)

[aseuki]

Had the honor and joy of participating in the Kirby 32nd anniversary collab alongside so many fantastic artists! My contribution was none other than the royal queen bee herself, Sectonia! Looking her absolute regal best for the selfie filter as she should 😤😤😤

also a fun lil bonus version under the cut 👇

[qoldenskies]

I was reading back through caged lungs and I realized just how many times Donnie got hit in the head during the last fight and how hard, no wonder Leo is concerned about brain damage.

Also, when Donnie goes to see April at the end of chapter 2, is he just dissociating really hard or is that an actual physical symptom from the…everything really!

not to mention the oxygen deprivation with raph throttling him! the last fight is so visceral and nasty and it was the final nail in the coffin when it came to donnie's issues physically and mentally, because although he would have been terrified of them regardless i dont think it wouldve been "inconsolable screaming heap at the sound of raph's voice" like it was in the early bit of CW.

and id mark that as dissociation personally. the second he registered as being in relative safety he kind of shut down because he wasn't able to process it, which had kind of been a running coping mechanism through the last month or so of CL. MIND YOU: IT IS NOT HELPED ALONG BY THE BRAIN FOG CAUSED BY HIS TIME IN ISOLATION, its a nasty concoction of problems. and also yeah physical exhaustion definitely doesnt help! he ran all the way to april's apartment while actively starving, after all.

although itll get better after [REDACTED PLOT THREAD] is handled, i think dissociation is gonna be something donnie will be dealing with for years, because spending four days in a quiet, enclosed dark space has some extremely messed up consequences for your brain and body. it was also in general something he used to cope under the abuse, so i could see him having issues with it when he's not in his right mind (sick or sleep-deprived, for example), i could see him regressing back to that old mindset when something like that happens. his perception of reality is permanently a little fucked :(

[pinktinselmonstrosity]

DNF'd my first book of the year 😔 i just can't read these fucking greek myth retellings anymore i think lol they're just not for me

[goozeghost]

Hands wip 🙏‼️

[confusion-est]

had a busy week

[fungh0u1]

hi im so interested in your ocs btw, if you ever needed encouragement to post about them then here's some from me !! but no pressure obv

I WOULD LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEM! I am so flattered that you're interested ^.^. I made you an illustrated compendium.

Mutagenesis Drive is a zombie apocalypse story centered around the relationship between Joan and Marnie, two college age girls who have been friends for a long time.

THE CHARACTERS:

JOAN (our perspective character) has always considered herself "emotionless". She struggles to understand her own feelings, preferences and sensations and has been going through her life before the apocalypse without caring about or wanting anything... as far as she can tell. She's very analytical and intuitive when it comes to survival, and finds herself the brain of her and Marnie's little caravan, despite not having much of a preference if they live or die (right?).

MARNIE is Joan's best (and only, really) friend. She's stoic, like Joan, but unlike Joan it's out of just a socially inept demeanor instead of some internal issue. She is freakishly obsessed with Joan and would do anything to keep Joan from leaving her behind. She doesn't express that at all outwardly, though, because she is prone to defeatism and feels that Joan could never return her feelings and that it would be best to not complicate their relationship by acting needy or affected. Their friendship is actually pretty surface level as neither of them really know how to relate to other people. Marnie is happy to leave her dysfunctional family home when the apocalypse starts so she can spend all of her time with Joan.

THE PARASITE:

The zombies (zombies-ish, demons) in MGD are highly mutated creatures with different specialized forms resembling different types of animals. The world is very sparsely populated with surviving humans as these demons are very effective hunters. (a/n Skip on to "Joan and Marnie's Developing Relationship/Story Summary" if you don't give a fuck about this, I really don;t mind.)

Stage 1: The host is infected via blood to blood or saliva to blood contamination. Thousands of larva attack the host's immune system. There is an average 85% chance that the immune system will be overloaded and allow the parasite to progress. Symptoms begin ≈ 6 hours after initial infection. Fatigue. Fever.

Stage 2: The parasite implants in the host's frontal lobe and begins to spread its tendrils throughout the brain. The parasite can be removed surgically, but surgery is less viable the further it's progressed. Stage 2 is entered within 1-6 days. Confusion. Fatigue. Vertigo. Loss of motor control. Loss of higher thinking.

Stage 3: The host becomes aggressive, losing the ability to communicate. The host will instinctively begin to eat anything with nutritional value. The cells of the digestive system begin to be affected, causing the host's metabolism to increase and become more efficient. Within 8-12 days after the start of stage 2.

Stage 4: The structure of the host's body begins to mutate. Depending on the strain of parasite, it will begin to resemble different forms, some being adapted to swimming, flying, running, etc. After spending time hoarding and ingesting huge amounts of food and briefly hibernating, it retains its incredibly fast metabolism and begins to hunt, needing a lot of food to survive. Since it can reproduce by infecting others, it tries to infect any suitable hosts and return them to its nest until the parasitization reaches stage 4.

(^ Joan and Marnie fight a Harpy.)

JOAN AND MARNIE'S DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIP/STORY SUMMARY:

Joan and Marnie travel together in Marnie's van (Joan does not know how to drive). Joan is the "brains" of the operation, directing Marnie and herself as a tight unit to scavenge supplies. There's little room for error if they want to survive. Marnie is terrified of being left behind by Joan, knowing that she wouldn't be able to survive on her own but more than that just wanting to be around Joan (and to be her little dog).

Marnie often falls into maladaptive fantasies about Joan, though she's unable to convey her feelings in real life Marnie imagines Joan being a better person and having normal emotions. She has conflicting perceptions of Joan both as herself and as who Marnie wants her to be. However, these perceptions shift as time goes on.

Marnie grows increasingly resentful of Joan for making her do things she thinks are wrong. Marnie is wracked with guilt over these actions while Joan seems completely unaffected. It culminates with Joan telling Marnie to do something that will almost definitely cause the deaths of another group of survivors. Marnie does it but resolves to break things off with Joan. They come across a bustling research hospital that is willing to take them in. Their relationship is tense. They are quarantined together, then separately. Joan hasn't seen Marnie in days.

Joan is let out but finds that Marnie had tested positive for the parasite and is being treated. Through some series of events Joan realizes that Marnie, and many patients in the hospital, had been injected with the parasite to study its progression and treatment (Joan was overlooked because of her bad health).

Joan realizes that she wants to survive with Marnie and breaks them both out of the hospital, shooting and stabbing a good number of people to death. Upon leaving the building, the two of them see that the world outside of the hospital has been overrun by sprawling, terrifying, fleshy structures. It seems like their chances of survival are even worse than when they first entered the hospital. Still, they have each other. They find a vehicle and drive off into the sunset with hopeful dreams of the future.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

MGD is not, like, totally fleshed out in my mind but this is my best estimation of how I want it to be. I originally conceptualized it as a comic, I would love it as a point-and-click adventure... or maybe a visual novel or an rpg... but I'm not fully sure what medium I'd want it to be in... I don't know! I would like to do something with it eventually and flesh it out more. What I wrote here may be a little contradictory or disorganized.

Well, I tried to give the best overview I could concisely but I maybe wrote a little too much!! I hope it's what you wanted, June, seriously THANKSS for asking me about them. Clearly I love to talk. Please feel free to make any comments about it or ask any followup questions anyone out there I do love to hear it.

[katyspersonal]

Posting about it like 18 hours late after waking up, but I also had such a strange dream tonight?

In it two of my enemies that worked together against me in reality actually became enemies to one another, and for what reason they did..... One of them crafted some very intricate plan to trick me into thinking I'd get full help for my countless mental troubles, including financial, if I only signed certain papers I got, and the other one disrupted her plan by simply telling me to "trust no one" over a balcony of their.... "house"? Dreams that turn the online into "reality" make little sense but I feel like most people here have them sometimes so you get it probably?

Ironically, I trusted them, and seeing how I clearly was welcomed all of a sudden, went to their place wanting elaboration. (Their house looked exactly like if their blog became a house and it was hysterical) Turned out the other one's plan was to actually not only take all money meant to support my sorry existence away from me forever, but also keep me unemployable since legally I was "helped" or mad shit like that (basically slow, hungry death). And this person turned against their long term "ally" in MY favor because, I quote, "genocide of disabled people is not a joke" gfhtjgugjj We even continued talking a lot about world and people and all other things the other one tried, all while avoiding to as much as address our own grudge.

I really don't know why I'd have a dream like this, it felt so random? It doesn't feel like wishful thinking either. 😕 But it better not be a sign that I've misdiagnosed which one of those two became more malicious in the end, or so help me

[thehappyvet]

Colleen Hoover is Gen Z's Stephanie Meyer and you can't change my mind

[b0kksu-gone]

Do you think Gojo would like flavored chapstick? If so, what flavor? Also, do you think he could palm someone's head? Ooh, if he had a choice between waffles and French toast, which would he choose? Does he have a skin care routine?

        Yes!! I actually do have a headcanon he’s really into flavored lip balms && recently, lip oils. Mostly, he prefers cherry for a tint of red or lychee flavor that is considered a rare, mint if he doesn’t feel like being fancy && vanilla when craving sweetness.

       That’s a good question considering he made Megumi bleed with a little flick, Satoru most likely keeps himself away from others unless they are his students, then they are often privileged to his touch - usually in jest or in training (throwing them is required even if he is careful). French toast! He’s usually cautious though considering his vegan diet, he prefers it with coconut flavor, strawberries, or any types of berries && heaping servings of syrup. As for his skincare routine, if he isn’t on assignments, Satoru tends to stick with more natural organic products. The Gojo estate tends to brew their own products, be it skincare, wines, perfumes, all of them with exceptionally expensive ingredients that are sourced from the region.

        They try to rely solely on themselves without the assistance of outsiders, although, since Satoru is a modern day sorcerer the decadence of such luxuries are not lost on him. The secret to his flawless skin? Rose hip oil && tsubaki oil, both for cleansing along with moisture. Though, he does spend an ungodly amount for treatments when in the city just for fun. There is no preservation of trying to reduce aging as it’s a great status symbol within the family, death is common at a young age since the heir of the Six Eyes is the catalyst, to wear a few wrinkles is strikingly beautiful.

     They’re gathered at the corner of his eyes && in the lines of his dimples, giving him a wonderful composition when he flashes that cocky grin. His skin is delicate, it tends to bruise easily when Infinity is down && turns bright red when his blood is rushing, other than the blue hues he often wears - crimson is a color that fits him since it contrasts against the marble fragility of his flesh. One would be surprised to find the brown bottles labeled with different ingredients, the knowledge that they were made with his nature in mind, even to the perfumed oils that he dabs between the clavicle, wrist && nape; strongly scented in ginseng, candied ginger, along with a deep musk.

[1introvertedsage]

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.

~Marcus Aurelius~

[tyrantisterror]

When I was 3 years old I went to a preschool that had this little green crocheted crocodile finger puppet that was my absolute favorite toy to play with of all time. I named her Chelsea, because Chelsea starts with C and crocodile starts with C and more often than not wild animals in fiction aimed at kids have names that start with the same first letter as their species. I played with Chelsea every day, because she was my favorite toy, and because the other kids weren't really interested in her, and also because I eventually started to hide her in a special secret spot in the room so no one else would find her before I did. She was so beloved by me that when I graduated from preschool, my teachers gave Chelsea to me permanently, because it was clear no one else would ever love that little crochet crocodile as much as me anyway (in part because I hid her). They waited a few weeks after I graduated before doing it, too, and sent Chelsea with some post cards as if the crocodile had been on a whirlwind "travel the world" vacation before deciding to come live with me.

And Chelsea remained my favorite toy all through my childhood. There were others I loved nearly as much, like my Imperial Godzilla and the big red T.rex from the first Jurassic Park toy line and my tiny knockoff plush Charmander, but Chelsea always held the place of honor in my heart. She was my absolute favorite toy.

I kept a lot of my favorite toys through adolescence, even if social pressure eventually got me to give away a lot of them (and some, y'know, broke). That's obviously not surprising to you if you've followed my blog, since I still collect toys into my adulthood. But it's important to note because while I know I made a conscious effort to never throw out Chelsea every time I pared down my collection... at some point, she went missing.

I became aware of it when I graduated from high school. I was feeling really emotional about leaving that stage of my life and, y'know, becoming an adult and shit, and in that state I decided to find Chelsea to reassure myself that I hadn't entirely left childhood behind. But Chelsea wasn't there. No matter how hard I looked, I could not find Chelsea anywhere.

And that was, like, devastating, because the only explanation was that somehow, at some point, I had accidentally tossed her out with some other "childhood junk" while trying to grow up and be responsible in my teen years. I had literally thrown away my childhood in a careless attempt to be more grown up.

Of course I knew she was just a toy - nothing more than some yarn twisted together in the loose shape of a crocodile, lifeless and soul-less and more or less worthless in the objective light of day. But she was also Chelsea, my best friend since i was three, my stalwart little pal, a source of comfort for most of my life at that point, and I had just... tossed her out! Like garbage! What kind of person was I becoming if I could do that to my best friend?

I was very visibly distraught, and my mom noticed. Being very crafty, she tried to find the pattern for Chelsea so she could crochet me a new one. The problem is, she had no idea where to find said pattern. She checked all her books of crochet patterns, and when that failed she tried the internet, but no matter how hard she looked, she found nothing.

So my mom found the next best thing.

The original Chelsea was a tiny finger puppet, and I had "met" her when I was three. Well, I was eighteen now - shouldn't Chelsea have grown too? And as has been established, this crocodile was fond of whirlwind vacations. My mom found a pattern that looked as much like Chelsea as possible while also being a much bigger crocodile, and gifted her to me before I left for college - to show that while we can't stop the flow of time or how it changes us, that doesn't mean we have to leave it behind.

And yeah, I decided to believe it. That's Chelsea now. Yeah, I know that in reality it's a completely different set of yarn made by my mom rather than... whoever it was that crocheted the original Chelsea, but then, Chelsea was never really the yarn. She was the feelings I put into the yarn, you know? So that's Chelsea, all grown up, and still my most prized toy.

...

Flash forward... Jesus, eighteen years, holy shit. A few weeks ago I saw a post trying to identify a different crochet crocodile pattern, and thinking it was cute, I decided to try and look for it on ebay and etsy, just to see if maybe I could find it. I didn't, but do you know what I found instead?

A very familiar crochet crocodile finger puppet. An intensely familiar one, you might say. Of course I bought it. And of course I asked the seller if, perhaps, they might have the pattern for it or know where it came from (they did not, alas). And after a few days, she showed up at my house.

She's not Chelsea, obviously. For one thing, she's far too clean and fresh looking - Chelsea was very well loved, and looked the part, while this crocodile finger puppet has definitely not endured years upon years of a child's affection. And, more importantly, she's not Chelsea because we've already established that Chelsea grew up into a bigger crochet crocodile. This has to be Chelsea's younger sister, Cici.

And if I could find another of Chelsea's kind after all these years, then maybe, with a bit of luck, I might find the pattern for her, and be able to make more of them. Fill the world with Chelseas.

[medicinemane]

Then again I kinda don't think a lot of people (including various people I like) are really capable of changing their minds

I think you could present them with perfect knowledge of a situation, a truly objective truth of supernatural proportions where they unquestionably see the state of the world and right and wrong... and... they'd dig their heels in cause it's not what they already thought and no matter how perfect the new information they must always have been right

I wonder how guilty of that I am, how often I don't change my mind not because I'm looking at the new information and saying "this doesn't add up, it's not changing my mind", but because I didn't already believe it

I'd like to think my thoughts add up "russia bombs hospitals, it is bad to bomb hospitals, therefore it is bad that russia bombs hospitals, and so I don't think I like russia very much"... I feel like that's a reasonable line of thoughts... I feel like "trans people ain't doing shit to me by existing, and I don't have a right to do shit to them" makes a fair bit of sense but... if I'm gonna complain about other people never changing their minds, I have to allow for the fact that maybe I'm a stubborn mule on something I shouldn't be

Especially when I know a lot of the places I'm frustrated with people and think they're straight up being harmful in the thoughts they hold, I also know it's coming from a place of compassion

Warped compassion from my point of view, but compassion none the less

Still... they're fucking wrong and I wish I could shake their empathy and humanity and decency and sense loose but... I'm really afraid I can't

[subculture-deep-dive]

to add to this: I often see people saying "poverty makes you fat," and you could make the case that this is the other way around.

there are a number of studies showing fat people are judged as less competent and less hireable.

you are fat. you don't get certain jobs due to the biases of the interviewer. you make less money due to not getting those jobs. you are more poor because you are fat

there's that post going around that's a short twit thread talking about "the obesity epidemic" as a result of economic oppression and everyone's snapping their little fingers for it but like. you guys know that we achieved socialist utopia tomorrow there would still be fat people right. you guys know that genetics play a bigger role in that than anything else and that some people will just be fat regardless of every other factor in their life right. you guys know that's fine right.

like idk I don't think it comes from a purposefully fatphobic place and like yes it sucks a lot that the demands of capitalism deny people a lot of opportunities to cook or learn to cook and be more engaged and intentional about their food. but it has this flavor of "poverty is bad because it makes people fat," which only holds up as an argument if you agree that being fat is a terrible thing that happens to people rather than being a completely neutral reality about some people's bodies.

anyone pulling any fatphobia on this post is getting blocked on sight I'm not playing.

[gaza-giving-tree]

Imagine waking up to the deafening roar of explosions, your tent shaking violently as the earth trembles beneath you. In an instant, everything is chaos—your children scream in terror, clutching onto you as you scramble to escape. The sky is filled with smoke and falling debris, the air thick with dust and panic. There is no time to think, no time to gather what little you have left. You run—barefoot, desperate, carrying your baby in your arms—praying that you will make it out alive.

Images: Hossam sent us images of what his family's tent looks like today after violent airstrikes in Gaza last night (03/17/2025).

Video: to further prove the validity of Hossam's story, we have included an Al Jazeera news report that Hossam sent to us, in which he briefly appears (at the 0:48 mark)

@bashar-qazaz

@hane-qazaz

@hanon-qazaz

Story written by @rumiandroses

For Hossam Al-Qazzaz and his family, this nightmare became reality LAST NIGHT (03/17/2025) when an airstrike obliterated their tent—their last refuge after losing their home, a casualty of the war in Gaza. With no shelter, no safety, and nowhere left to run, they are once again plunged into unimaginable uncertainty as the ceasefire in Gaza collapses and war reignites around them.

Hossam, a dedicated father of four, has already lost his home, his job, and his peace of mind due to the relentless bombardments in Gaza in the 15 months preceding the now,-collapsed ceasefire. Now, with nothing but debris around them, he, his wife Hanan, and their four children—Bashar (9), Hani (8), Diana (4), and 5-month-old Habiba—are now struggling to survive with no roof over their heads.

The suffering extends beyond Hossam, his wife, and his children. Hossam is also the sole caretaker of his elderly parents, aged 75 and 72, both in fragile health. His father is suffering from severe burns and urgently needs medical care, while his mother battles high blood pressure and requires constant attention. But with no home, no stable source of income, and skyrocketing prices for essentials like rice and cooking gas—driven by the border closures and the ban on goods entering Gaza—Hossam is trapped in an incredibly difficult and stressful situation.

Despite these unbearable challenges, Hossam is not asking for much—only the money needed to survive, and to be able to evacuate to safety when the border crossing opens again.

"All we want is to live in dignity," Hossam pleads.

This is where you can make a difference. Every small donation—no matter how modest—can help provide food, clothing, and medical care for Hossam, Hanan, their children, and elderly parents. It can help ensure that Habiba gets the milk and diapers she desperately needs and that his family is not left out in the open with nowhere to turn.

Please, if you can, donate or share Hossam’s story today. Your support can be the difference between survival and despair.

Please consider donating to the Al-Qazzaz family’s original fundraiser to help them buy food and essentials and rebuild their tent:

Our founder, Bethany-Grace ( @rumiandroses ) is also sponsoring a fundraising campaign to help Hossam, Hanan and their entire family evacuate to safety. If everyone donates a little, we might be able to get them to safety the moment the border crossing opens again:

Together, we can ensure that Hossam's family does not just survive—but begins to rebuild a life of safety, stability, and hope.

Hossam’s campaign has been vetted by @gazavetters, and (#287) on their list of verified campaigns.