#my heart and mind are so heavy

[thebirdandhersong]

What has been encouraging for you this week? What has made you feel brave? How have you seen God's hand at work in your life?

[b1mbodoll]

repeating “jealousy is a disease get well soon bitch” in my head every time i block rude anons and delete hatemail so i can try to brush it off but i am not ur strongest soldier so can you all stop being mean 🩷 please

[dimsilver]

❤️

[forgotten-daydreamer]

vent moment but my health is a bit worse than i let on, which is weird ik since it seems like complain about it all the time here, and apparently i also look sick, because two separate people in their 40s or 50s asked me, 24, if i needed their seat on the bus. kind of them. but humiliating nonetheless.

[dakrisart]

After spending time in a flat country, there is something so hauntingly beautiful about the grandeur of the alps

[soapcan18]

Here’s a chronological list of Kirby games no one asked for because I’m in a Kirby kick for some reason! I didn’t include spin-offs, also games that are remakes/remasters of each other are highlighted

1. Kirby’s Dream Land

2. Kirby’s Adventure

3. Kirby’s Dream Land 2

4. Kirby Super Star

5. Kirby’s Dream Land 3

6. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

7. Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land

8. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

9. Kirby: Canvas Curse

10. Kirby Squeak Squad

11. Kirby Super Star Ultra

12. Kirby’s Epic Yarn

13. Kirby Mass Attack

14. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

15. Kirby: Triple Deluxe

16. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

17. Kirby: Planet Robobot

18. Kirby Star Allies

19. Kirby and the Forgotten Land

20. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland Deluxe

[shrews-art]

I'm literally itching to draw something for arcane s2 but I'm completely buried under university stuff, man I wish we had 14 days a week 😭

[welivefast-dieyoung]

Kaia Gerber and Bella Hadid are the only Nepo babies who should be on a runway or in an editorial. Argue with the wall. I said what I said.

[whiteshipnightjar]

I’m still so happy

[veronicaphoenix]

When a book does things to me, I write reviews. I've decided to share them here, too, in case anyone is interested in the stuff I read, my thoughts, and ramblings.

Book review: Under Your Scars by Ariel. N. Anderson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Heavy topics mentioned below (listed in the first paragraph) ‼️

Where do I even begin? Perhaps with the trigger warnings I clearly overlooked before diving into this book. While I'll avoid direct spoilers (there’s one, sorry), it’s important to mention that this book contains extremely intense scenes, including graphic violence, drug use, graphic murder, toxic and abusive relationships, terminal illness, Stockholm Syndrome, self-harm, suicide, rape, and explicit sexual content with certain kinks. With all of that, you can imagine just how brutal this story is. And to top it off, it doesn’t have a happy ending. Yet, despite everything, I still ended up reading it. Don’t ask me why or how I found this book—I just did.

Normally, I’m quick to steer clear when I encounter even a few of these trigger warnings. I haven’t had the best experiences with the Dark Romance genre lately, mainly because the stories didn’t meet my expectations. After reading *Under Your Scars*, I’m beginning to question what "Dark Romance" even means. Everything I’ve read before pales in comparison to this novel. It’s undeniably dark and tragic, and while it does contain romance, that's not the first word I would use to describe this story.

I spent days rambling about this book to my boyfriend and my friend Sarah, who both know how profoundly it affected me. Now, a few days after finishing it, I’ve decided I wouldn’t recommend this book. I loved it, but I’m left feeling so empty that I don’t know how I’ll ever move on. I’m not even sure how to feel about Christian, the main male character. All I know is that I fell for him just like Elena did, loving every virtue and flaw he had. I think I fell down the same rabbit hole as Elena because, by the end, I was fully on Christian’s side.

I needed to take a break a few days after reading the first half of the novel. I can’t remember the last time a book made it difficult for me to fall asleep, but this one did after I read chapter 20. Little did I know that the following chapter and the entire second half of the story would be even worse. I can't fathom how the author managed to write so much tragedy.

The best part of this book was definitely the romance, which, in my opinion, was truly well-executed. Many stories with romance leave me unsatisfied because the characters often get together near the end, leaving little time to see them in love and interacting as an established couple. Anderson gave us so much time with Elena and Christian in love that I spent half of my reading time with hearts in my eyes (the other half was spent with tears and sobbing). Although it’s not a slow burn at all, the book's length allows the romance to develop, and I got most of what I always want in a love story. Christian is the perfect lover, and the sexually explicit scenes—aside from a couple that felt unnecessary at the beginning—were not disappointing because they always contributed to the plot’s progression. I guess this is one of the advantages of self-publishing: you aren’t limited to a set page count, giving you the space to develop a love story as you see fit.

However, everything else felt quite rushed. I believe this story would have been better as a duology. The novella written after the novel could have served as an epilogue for a second book, especially considering that the first and second halves of *Under Your Scars* are quite different. The first part focuses on Elena’s life and job, her involvement in the drama with her boss, Christian, and her being stalked by a serial killer called The Silencer. The second part is more focused on Elena and Christian’s relationship and Elena’s traumas, set mostly away from the office. Two separate books would have also given readers a break to recover from all the horrors in this story.

I won’t rate a book based on its trigger warnings. Trigger warnings are there to help you decide if this book is for you or not. The plot is incredible—disturbing but amazing. Christian’s character is one worth exploring in depth because, my god, the complexity of this man is staggering, whether for good or bad. The love story between him and Elena is as tragic as it gets, but their love was honestly the only thing that drove the plot and kept its foundations together. Of course, Elena is gaslit, manipulated, and emotionally abused, and she falls into a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome. But she’s aware of it. In fact—**SPOILER ALERT**—it’s Christian who tells her. As twisted as it may be, the thing that kept me reading was their love and how they acknowledged how messed up they were individually and together.

The reason I lowered my rating for this book is mainly because of how the heavy topics were handled in the narration. At the beginning of the story, there’s a heavy scene of sexual assault described in just four or five paragraphs. I’m not saying we need these scenes to be written in detail—I don’t think I could stomach that—but there are better ways to portray such events than just summarizing something that, in real life, would leave anyone scarred and traumatized for life in a brief paragraph that feels cold and detached. However, Elena’s recovery after what happens to her in chapter 21 felt very realistic, and I was pleased with how the author approached it and how she portrayed Christian during this time. It was a crucial part for me, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Other aspects that could be improved are the way chapters are divided. There’s a chapter towards the end where something significant happens to Christian, and the situation is resolved within the same chapter, even though the event is too heavy to be wrapped up in just ten pages. (Again, the second half of the novel felt rushed.) Another issue is the manuscript of the hardcopy of the book. I understand this is a self-published novel, but that’s all the more reason to ensure that the story is presented in a readable format. The margins on the pages are slightly off, and the font size and line spacing are poor. This book could easily be 700-800 pages, but they squeezed it all into 400.

The most unrealistic aspect of the story, among many smaller details we have to overlook, is Caroline’s adoption. Even though the author acknowledged that it was implausible given Elena’s and especially Christian’s mental states, it really bothered me. I loved seeing them as parents, and Caroline was adorable—I’m glad I got to know her—but considering how little time Elena and Christian had been together and everything they’d been through, they are the last people who should be adopting a four-year-old.

As for the writing, it wasn’t particularly remarkable. It felt too generic at times, with some sentences that seemed straight out of a Wattpad story, which occasionally made it hard for me to stay engaged with the characters. But I won’t dwell too much on that and turn into a nitpicky literary critic because the storyline almost makes up for these shortcomings.

And as for the ending… I just refuse to accept it, so I'm not going to talk about it.

[beastsovrevelation]

The Ch1 of my First Omen fic has been such a drag... Because it's so intricate, I guess.

[cosmojjong]

my other grandpa passed away about an hour ago and one thing specifically hits harder now :( just a few days ago he'd open his eyes and say there was a small mouse on his night table. i'd look around and tell him i'd make it go away. he'd close his eyes and sleep. then he'd wake up and say the mouse is there again, so i needed to reassure him i'd make it go away. i was expecting him to pass seeing these hallucinations but, i didn't know it'd be so fast.

[moonlit-orchid]

Normal people: vent about their feelings in a diary or blog post

Me: makes a whole ass zine at nearly midnight

[shorlinesorrows]

I’m recertified for my job and have also never hated it more

[rottiens]

I found this song again and immediately started imagining the scenario that you mentioned related to this song, which was us breaking up with Gojo in parking lot while the rain is pouring. I just know that man looked gorgeous while you broke up with him or he broke up with you. His lips looked more inviting than ever

https://youtu.be/QzWLK6oKeIo?si=zUc3OP9olodiY2PS

…………………….

[merevide]

i love music so much i love discovering new songs i love listening to albums i can’t live without music. this song is sogood it makes wanna die wowww