#I know this will get easier but I hate this. this is so scary

[whenlifeisscaryanddepressing]

A message to my American brothers and sisters whose candidate lost this election:

Firstly, I am neither American nor did I vote for your election so do take what I say with a grain of salt.

I’m writing to you guys because I know how you feel. I’ve been there.

During the 2020 Presidential election of the Philippines, I too supported a movement. Not a candidate—a movement. A female presidential candidate who raised hope, became a champion for marginalized communities whose only goal was to create opportunities to shift my country away from the vitriol that came from a previous president who strong armed my country into a bloody war on drugs that saw the death of thousands of poor people.

And like you, I lost.

With the spread of misinformation and lies, my country elected the son of a dictator who proved himself to be the ineffective, incompetent and dishonest leader we all secretly hoped he wouldn’t be.

Our hopes dimmed.

Tears were shed.

Resentment flowered in us like a storm.

It was difficult to swallow the results of an election that had so much at stake. You see, like your President-elect, our current President spent millions of pesos contesting a fair election that saw him losing out to the vice presidential position during the previous election.

Through bullying and intimidation, he sought to undermine a fair election that took him out of power.

And like your current President-elect, he still managed to win at the end.

It would have been easier to accept the results had it not been for the mocking of 31 million Filipinos who voted our current president into office.

We all heard them tell us, “You’re crying over an election? You need better things to worry about.”

I want you to know that it’s okay to cry.

Your frustrations and disappointment are valid.

It is rare to find a candidate you’re able to place so much hope in and to have that hope dashed away is a bitter pill that is difficult to swallow.

I know, you’re probably tired of hearing it.

“Turn the other cheek.”

“Accept it and move on.”

“It is what it is.”

“There’s nothing more to do.”

It’s okay. I’m tired of it too.

I know you’re probably scared and angry and so, so, so tired. Two years after our election and I am still all of these things.

I still think about the what if, the what could have beens. I think a lot about how better off we would have been if the right person won.

I want you to know that it’s okay. It’s okay to mourn those things.

You did your part. You voted and you campaigned and you fought hard. Sometimes, we just lose.

If there’s any advice I can impart, it’s that I hope you take your frustration, your sadness, you exhaustion, your anger, and turn it into righteous fury.

Take that fury and do something with it.

Because the movement cannot stop here. The moment we stop fighting, they win.

To lose hope means victory for the other side.

I get it. It’s easier to get mad at the people who voted for him. It’s even easier to spew the same vitriolic hate towards them when they start complaining about how things don’t change and how your country is worse off but theirs is the vote that put a wannabe-dictator in power.

Don’t do it.

Because that divide is precisely why they keep winning. It’s the same divide they sowed into my country and we are still struggling to fight that division everyday.

Losing this election is a step backwards but losing hope would be another step back.

Even to this day, my presidential candidate continues to inspire hope for change in my country.

I know yours will too.

It’s not the end.

I need you to remember to breathe.

Breathe in the hope you desperately fought for;

breathe through the hurt of the loss;

and breathe out the fear they so badly want you to feel.

The road is long and it’s scary.

But there’s about 50 or so million other people on that road with you. You might not be the majority but even David was small when he killed Goliath.

Cause if you voted for Kamala Harris, you already know you have the courage and righteous fury to fight for change and you cannot give up now that you’re so close.

You lost the battle but it’s not the end of the war.

So tonight, grieve. Cry. Hug your friends and family who are right there with you. Be sad and mourn the loss of what could have been.

Because tomorrow, when you wake, you will continue fighting for change.

Because no one else will.

[nagichi-boop]

I spent a day with Angela Giarratana felt lowkey therapeutic, so here’s some parts that I found particularly profound and/or comforting (with some minor tweaks to condense the quote)

(Putting under a cut cuz I realised there are too many good quotes and this got long)

— (Angela) “The reason why I have so much is because I lead with the word ‘yes.’ And I said yes to everything, which is why I think I have so many fun avenues to create and great groups of collaborators. But someone told me that ‘no’ is actually magnetic too, and that saying no will open up other things for you.”

— (Angela) “I can be enough and not be ridiculous. I can just sit and talk, and I’m not letting anyone down, it’s not boring. It’s hard for me not to have a joke lined every 5 seconds, like am I only making jokes so I don’t lose someone cuz I’m worried I’m getting boring? And it’s just sitting in that space going; ‘if I am boring, let’s just see - will everyone walk out? Will everyone hate me? I dunno, there’s only one way to find out.’”

— (Angela) “If we’re being really honest, I think somewhere deep down, I think I am boring and not interesting. As I grow older I notice it, and I then care less and less. I think the more I see people stick around for just who I am, it makes me feel more comfortable. As I’m getting older, I feel more and more vulnerable with just being myself.”

— (Anthony) “It’s tiring to wear a mask and be something because people want you to be this way. And there was a big period of time where I was afraid of people not liking me, so I was trying to be as broadly appealing as possible. ‘I want everyone to like me! There’s one commenter that didn’t like me? How can I change to make sure that person likes me too?’ But I’ve come to realise that actually, this is an awesome way to filter out sh—y people that I don’t even want to like me. If someone only likes me because I’m fake and I’m trying to be this person for them, actually I don’t want them to like me.”

— (Angela) “‘I want every single person to like me, because if every single person likes me, that means I’m valued, and that means I am of value and I’m not a piece of sh—.’ But then you go; ‘I don’t know if I’m genuinely connecting with anyone, cuz every single thing I’m doing is bullsh—, and I’m just emulating what I think this person wants so they can approve of me, and that’s just a lonely place to live.’”

— (Angela) “Sometimes when you’re around abusive friendships or relationships that might not be good for you is when you don’t feel like you can have an opinion - that’s when you know. Like something in you is thinking, ‘I’ll do whatever you want cuz it’ll be easier that way.’ That’s a safety mechanism that you don’t really need if you’re feeling fully supported.”

— (Anthony) “When you surround yourself with people that expect you to do whatever they want or they expect you not to have an opinion, in a sense it’s almost like you don’t necessarily respect yourself fully, so you are allowing people who don’t fully respect you into your life.”

— (Anthony) “With these transitional periods, there’s so much uncertainty, and I feel like that’s really scary when you’re used to knowing what you’re going to do. And sometimes you find peace in having that North Star that’s super obvious. But there’s actually so much freedom in this time of uncertainty. Cuz if someone says ‘what are you gonna do?’, you’re like ‘I dunno, I’ll figure it out as it comes; as my day progresses, as my life progresses, I’ll figure it out in the moment.’”

— (Anthony) “I feel like the more that you are comfortable being yourself and the less that you do worry about what people think of you, it’s actually the opposite effect. I feel like it’s natural to think that if you care about what people think of you that you’ll be more entertaining. But what’s interesting is it’s the opposite effect I’ve realised. The less you care about what they think about you, the more that it will actually attract them to be like, ‘wait, oh she’s just being herself,’ and it makes it so much more interesting. I think it’s the authenticity.”

— (Anthony) “I feel like our entire culture is centered around the outcome of everything that we do, and that’s why we’re so future oriented; we’re never in the present just enjoying it. It’s like turning on a song just to get to the end of it. It’s like doing a dance just to do the final pose. That’s not the point - it’s about the process.”

— (Anthony) “We all want what’s familiar, even if it’s hurtful, because it’s like; ‘I know I can deal with that pain. I know I can deal with that uncomfortable feeling. That’s a lot of discomfort, but I know I can handle that.’”

— (Anthony) “It’s preemptively feeling less than just in case you have to feel less than in the future.” (Angela) “Cuz I’d rather feel less than on my terms than someone making me do that cuz it hurts more.” (Anthony) “But when you do it on your terms, you almost invite because people will treat you and you will be treated in the way that you perceive yourself. And if you perceive yourself as less than because you preemptively want to feel that feeling, you are inviting that to happen.”

[apocalypselog]

I wish there was something out there comforting people who’ve just had bad post-exertional malaise and now they’ve lost some function

[toytulini]

me, stupidly and weirdly resistant to listening to audio books vs reading a physical book for no real reason: man i wish there was a way to like, read a book while i crochet like i do with tv shows and movies and podcasts

[glittering-under-the-glass]

Having a friend with mental health issues is actually terrible, because you have a normal, everyday conversation, and then they make a self-depricating joke or a joke about suicide. And they laugh, and you should laugh too, you know about coping with humor, but you can’t because you worry too much. You know them from a long time, and you remember the highs and you remember the lows, and your stomach gets tangled into a knot. You should laugh, but it’s too late, the mood is ruined now, they stop smiling and you hate yourself for making things awkward. So force a smile, but it’s fake, and they know you too much, and you actually just made the whole situation worse, and you hate yourself. You wish you could lie better or care less or just be different but this is how you are, and you had loved ones before struggling with this shit, and you are worried, and you don’t know how to give them what they need. You don’t even know what they need, you never understood people, and you want to, but it’s like there is a glass wall separating you. And you’re scared that you’re gonna let them down, and you try harder. It’s like walking on eggshells, but you don’t actually see the eggshells and you aren’t even sure there are any eggshells at all, because you’re overthink everything and this was supposed to be a normal conversation. You can’t have a normal conversation, because you overthink. So you try to be better, and next time you laugh, but still aren’t sure, if this is what they need, and your stomach is in a knot.

[wretchie]

,

[tamagotchikgs]

looking at the scar on my arm everyday feels like a reminder im never going to be ok, im never going to be human i ruined it after all the years i held myself back i finally severed the line i had at any chance of one day belonging

[binders-and-beanies]

.

[dokjaism]

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[bunnihearted]

.

[kurtmustdie]

me staring at spider fangs for 10 minutes (im researching how they work so i can draw a fictional character more realistically):

[leatherbookmark]

hopping around different blogs is fun.

a post on blog 1: i find it a little weird that -- don't get me wrong, the barbie movie looks great with all the doll-like details, i bet the actors had great fun and i'd like to see it myself, but -- people are getting excited about marketing of this movie. they're acting as though mattel's 3985* deals with 837* different companies are something new, exciting and creative instead of... 3985 deals with 837 companies spanning many different areas! this movie is a commercial for a doll! isn't this kinda weird?

*numbers made up

a post on blog 2: i don't think any sane adult doesn't realize that this is a toy commercial! it's rather obvious.

a post on blog 3: boo hoo 'the barbie movie is capitalist propaganda' i don't give a SHIT marx won't fuck you. did you do this for transformers too? do you think only stupid girls who like pink need the reminder?

like, oooooh! things are happening!

[snapcracklepop-myjoints]

wow haha you* think this large area of land is uninhabitable and empty ? wow thats so funny that sounds so much like this fucked up terra nullius thing but surely you arent all mindlessly peddling that colonial narrative of australian land as uninhabited and therefore free for the taking, right ? that would be silly.

and its not like there's a common law doctrine that was only legally discredited in the last 30 years that literally refers to "desert and uncultivated" land as a justification for taking land that is inhabited but is deemed to not have "settled" inhabitants or "settled law" according to colonial standards, right ?

because if there was then it would obviously be super fucking racist to continue to legitimise and perpetuate the erasure of indigenous presence by reaffirming the conception of large swathes of land as desert and uncultivated empty and uninhabitable.

and obviously it would be not only racist but factually incorrect to identify an area as "uninhabitable" purely on the basis that that it was deemed less compatible with colonialist + capitalist agricultural and settler projects and practices, (putting aside the fact that nonnegligible areas are, in fact, settled and used as such) because that would not only continue the erasure of a diverse array of indigenous ways of life, but would also continue to give legitimacy to the idea that presence on land must be identifiable by colonial signifiers thereof, otherwise it is not real and does not count. so obviously you would not do that, yeah ? good talk <3

*"you" as in the ppl in screenshots/ppl who are saying this shit, not op. Just to clarify.

[nbclover]

teehee

[peapod20001]

When I love a song, I’ll love it forever

[sunniepoo]

How about a kook!reader being terrified of storms even though they live in hurricane central. So, in fear, she cuddles up to JJ tightly, and things get a little heated after a while...? Idk I hope that makes sense!

~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~

you’ve always hated storms- loud, unpredictable, violent and most of all you hated the darkness that painted the sky as they occurred, you couldn’t think of anything worse

it was easier to manage back in figure 8, you could cuddle up in the comfort of your home and know you would be fine when you wake up, falling fast asleep before the storm hit its peak

things were much different in the cut, the storms were a genuine risk yet the people put on a brave face and continued working fearlessly right until the storm started causing you to keep to yourself about your silly fear

the sound of the pogues laughing and chuckling were only a faint noise in your ears, the overarching sound of the tree branches clashing against the windows filled your ears - increasing your fear at each passing moment

“you k’ay” jj murmured in the side of your ear- subtly raking his fingers through the ends of your hair, the troublemaker blonde was underneath you leaving you placed in the middle of his lap

“m’fine… just tired, wanna call it a night” you reply, waiting for this hell,horror of a night to be over as soon as possible- sinking further into his warmth

murmurs of ‘goodnight’ and ‘byes’ were said as everyone went into their own personal spaces in the chateau, leaving you and jj on the pullout sofa

your head lays buried in the crook of the blondes neck as his hand loosely runs up and down your body giving some warmth- you can’t help but clutch onto the midst of his shirt tightly as the sound of the raging storm increases

“what’s wrong sweetcheeks?”he queries breaking your thoughts from the ongoing commotion outside

“jus’ the storm, its so loud and scary… don’t wanna hear it anymore”

“can’t get you from in here gorgeous” he replies carefully treading through the lengths of your hair,placing soft kisses to the tops of your head, soothing you down and just as your eyes feel like their about to shut

BAM!

a soft whimper leaves your mouth as you jolt against the blonde, clutching into the his shirt again- leaving you just muttering a string of apologies

“you need a distraction missy”

his hands trail down your torso to the waistband of your shorts, slowly playing with the hem as his fingers graze the skin that lays beneath them

“jay we can’t..they’ll hear” you whisper, anticipating his next move - a damp spot already forming in your panties

“then keep quiet”

the storm was long forgotten as he worked the length of his fingers knuckle deep inside of you- your own moans overshadowing the clashing of the trees outside

~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~🩷~🩰~