#hopeless I mean

[stil-lindigo]

an aro-ace's love letter to love.

(the title "Laozi's bowl" is in reference to the famous quote by Chinese philosopher Laozi who said "It is the empty space which makes the bowl useful.")

[malaierba]

So in the scenes below the context is Toshiro looking at Falin or interacting with her, right?

I will always find it absurdly cute that you can tell which of the characters around him feel the friendliest towards him lol AKA: Kabru and Namari.

So very cute how quick Kabru warmed up to Toshiro, and vice versa btw. That's a real smile PLUS a friendly shoulder pat. Which Toshiro is accepting!

And Namari auhhh. She KNEW that Toshiro wanted to propose. She brings it up to Laios, god, my kingdom in exchange of seeing how that conversation played off. I don't think Toshiro's often open like that, and definitely not with just anyone.

Oh Toshiro. You're going to miss so many things when you go back to Wa.

[riddlerosehearts]

i feel like a lot of people seem to forget that during idia's overblot flashback scene he says his life has been set in stone since he was born, and that it hurt how other kids would get asked what they want to be when they grow up but nobody would ever ask him that. and he says he always just wanted to be a normal kid, he just wanted to be a hero and go on adventures, he essentially just wanted to be free to be like everyone else. his trauma doesn't only come from ortho's death, it also comes from feeling completely and utterly trapped by STYX and the expectations his family's curse has placed on him for all of his life. from feeling like the things that he enjoys, the things he dreams of for his future, do not matter and never have. like he's all but completely alone in the world and the fictional media he loves is his only escape from it all. he literally wanted to go with the original ortho, to die, and his response upon being told that he loves the world too much to give up on it was along the lines of "who would ever love this rotten world?". ortho had to tell him that he still had a future ahead of him, because a very significant part of his issue is that he feels like he doesn't, or at least like he doesn't have the freedom to choose a future that he'll enjoy. with or without ortho, he's spent his whole life just feeling hopeless.

[adeleine-everyday]

day 104

abandon all hope...

[chez-cinnamon]

Ideas ideas ideas.................

After a while I've come to a realisation that I like poly Fionn and Cass......... so introducing a new OC for the Real World AU?? I will make a proper post for him but for now meet Hayden Palmer (or Mr. Palmer as he's most known) !!

He is a big bifailure !!!

[louroth]

Forget the IF, just wanted to check in and see if YOU were okay dear author? I hope everything is well. I know you have a process lol, but I miss seeing you on my TL from time to time.

oh, kjsdhfjskdf . how sweet<3 thank you for this! I am doing well, crafting ouro alongside some personal shifts and growth and setbacks and victories. it has been a godsend to take all this pressure off for this period and do things my way. though, I'll say: while it has taken and will probably take another while, this silence will be broken at some point. I'll avoid saying soon only because I'm staunchly sticking to my pace&process. however !! I finished the draft for the first book yesterday. !! I am currently doing some hefty edits, collecting art and testing coding (&learning something new a hundred times over, over, again, whether it be storycrafting, interactivity, ui design, social media, art, code ... the list goes on) and so for the most part, I'm having a good time, as long as we count the entire spectrum of the human condition as a mostly good time. pfft.

I miss hanging out here too! I genuinely can't wait to get back to online shenanigans once I feel ready for it; if you'll have me, of course. I can imagine that this type of secret development is frustrating and everyone has their limit. It means a lot that you sent this my way. Hope you're doing well too. <3

[claitea]

i've had these scenarios written down since volo's debut in pokemon masters and i just really wanted to scribble them down and finally release them

[ashipiko]

teehee

[mintaikk]

Venom after abandoning his entire species and planet for some sad wet white guy he's known for like a day

[dollypopup]

"Colin didn't do enough to earn/deserve Penelope!"

but that's the rub, isn't it? he didn't have to. that's why people are so mad. He didn't have to, and he never had to

Because what this season proves is that love isn't about what we deserve. That love cannot be earned. Viewing love in such light makes it conditional- a matter of transaction. That if we simply do enough, if we humble ourselves, if we are ground down to humility, surely we will be cared for. That love can be a matter of groveling, or suffering, is antithetical to what it truly is. It is such an incredibly puritanical, highly Catholic perspective on it. That Colin has fallen from grace with what he said at the end of Season 2, and thus must now repent. Must have adequate penance.

Who determines what would have been enough, in such circumstances? What would be enough from such a puritanical viewpoint to garner forgiveness? When Colin had history of being soft and tender with Penelope- writing her letters, complimenting her, finding her in ballrooms, laughing at her jokes and making her laugh in turn, defending her- would it truly appease us to have the shape of their lovestory form around the skin of suffering? Of coming to hands and knees in a plead for mercy?

No.

Penelope informs that she's hurt by his comments, and Colin sought to soothe that pain without her demanding it of him. That is love. Penelope reveals the ache of being unwanted and how it affects her self worth, and Colin says 'I will help you see yourself the way I see you', because he has always found her wonderful. That is love. Colin comes to Penelope and reveals that he appreciates her, that he does not want to lose her, and requests a chance to prove that, and she not only accepts, but finds relief in doing so. That's love. Penelope feels braver because Colin thinks she already is. That's love. Colin feels unseen but Penelope sees him. That's love. Penelope asks Colin to kiss her with no expectations of more, and he tenderly touches her face and dreams and dreams and dreams of that moment where she put her heart in his hands. That's love. Colin runs after her carriage and has no idea she harbors affection for him when he spills his own heart open, asking her to choose him, and when she says they're friends, he backs off. That's love. Penelope says she wants to be more than friends, and they fall headfirst into each other. That's love. Colin asks Penelope for her permission to provide pleasure for her, and in doing so, finds pleasure himself. That's love, that's love, that's love.

It has never been about 'deserving'. It has only ever been about opening themselves up to the possibility. Colin and Penelope said: I know you're scared, I know it's scary, but it's worth it. I adore you. Take my hand. Stand with me in corners and have a good time. Crack silly jokes with me. Let's eat cake. Walk with me. Talk to me of matters so foolish, it would make you blush to do so with someone else, I want to listen. I accept you. I see you. Love is not owed, earned- but given. Shared freely. Without expectation. Without condition. With an open hand and heart.

They said: You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Nicola was right. Season 3 is about romance.

[tacagen]

one of the things that fascinate me about thawne: yes, he CAN be normal with kids! surprisingly normal!

((not at all times, though. his mental illness still spills through and as usual he, in trying to manipulate or hurt others, spits out at them the exact stuff that would hurt him (or have in his childhood/barry's rejection interpretation) the most in the first place lmao))

but at the same time. his like second instinct when doing his bullshit is FUCK THEM (as) KIDS

(and, well. whatever this classifies as)

[quinn-pop]

mtdd week day 3 - gifts

the sentimental type

[flyingcakeee]

YOU POSTED CRINGE WHY ARE YOU MY FAVORITE F3 DRIVER 😖😖😖😖 CRINGE DAD AND CRINGE SON WHY MUST I ADORE YOU BOTH???

[starks-anthony]

Vanity Fair First Look at Our Flag Means Death Season 2

[marzipanandminutiae]

one hard part about being a single thirtysomething who wants kids is that you want everything to have happened five years ago

dating? getting to know someone? building up a relationship from square one? torture when you're already on "I want to be someone's wife and have a baby" in terms of life stages

if I had my way- and please nobody take this in a tradwife sense; I'm a left-wing lesbian who loves her career field -I'd be married and pregnant with my first child right now. instead I'm almost 31 and facing down two years, MINIMUM, of dating someone before I can even think about that sort of thing. and that's IF I get into a relationship like tomorrow, which is unlikely

"there's no hurry" okay and I get that, but my mother had me at 39 and now I'm having to think about all the attendant issues of parents in their 70s a decade or more earlier than most people. AND my parents are relatively healthy. what if I or my future wife aren't so lucky? can I saddle a hypothetical child with that in their early 30s or sooner?

I just. can I get a time machine or a soulmate AU over here, please?