#of loneliness. isolation. connection. communication.

[theplotwizard]

I want to Learn. Because Learning is Understanding. And Understanding is Loving.

[boof-chamber]

suggesting services is not a substitute for genuine social connection. we are systematically deprived of social connection and the real meaning of community. we are taught that we are not “qualified” to care for one another. we are taught that caring is a job that someone else is paid to do for us, someone with the right credentials. we are taught that the expectation that we should give a shit about anyone we are not legally obligated to is an unfair burden, a chore, “unpaid labor.”

we are taught this because genuine community is a threat to the current order of things.

[outstanding-quotes]

I had left myself no one to confide in, no one who would feel any sympathy for what I’d done

Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends

[anotheruntitledsong]

i did like the hidden palace but (SPOILER if anyone hasn't read it?) i'm genuinely so annoyed at how Arbeely is handled like... I wish i could be sad but i'm just fucking irritated. I was overly invested in him and that's def why but i just feel like they did him dirty

[alphalesbian]

.

[multlizka]

It's a strange paradox: focusing solely on work, career, or a solitary lifestyle often leads to depression, despite the seeming independence. 🤔

While everyone's different, the irony is that many find solace in games with social interaction, or in comics featuring human connection.

We're social creatures, and that's part of what makes life wonderful. The joy of friendship and community is a powerful antidote to isolation.

Forcing someone into socializing, however, is counterproductive; genuine connection can't be manufactured.

[compassionmattersmost]

Finding Peace in Solitude: A Journey Through Chronic Fatigue

Navigating Loss and Connection While Embracing Spiritual Growth Amidst Life’s Transitions Dear Diary, Today, I find myself reflecting on my journey with chronic fatigue syndrome, a path often marked by feelings of isolation and longing. In the quiet moments, I feel a nostalgia for the connections that once filled my life, now distant and faded. This solitude reminds me of the loss and grief I…

[wickedzeevyln]

The Shape of Words

Disquieting.Triggering.Disturbing. These words are kin to darkness. Alone, they weigh heavy, but placed in a different light, they shape-shift. Not so funny until you’re caught in the crossfire of something you wish you hadn’t seen. Like walking in on your parents—stark, unfiltered reality that leaves you frozen, and all your father can offer is a dry, unapologetic, “Eureka! Today marks an…

[helenwhiteart-blog]

Finding a happy medium (or, when your ideal doesn't turn out to be so idyllic)

For months…years…I longed with all my might to live somewhere utterly quiet but that’s a classic case of “be careful what you wish for” because, it turns out, a place can be too quiet! In fact, the place where we are currently renting a house until we can, finally, move into the house that is proving so very slow to purchase, is so very quiet that the quiet itself has its own sound and is almost…

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Relationship Infrastructure for Stronger Neighbourhoods: The Roles of Government and Social Leaders

[semperardens-juli]

Invisiblity and speechlessness, ice and glass: the classic imagery of loneliness, of being cut off.

The Lonely City, Olivia Laing (x)

[bebsi-cola]

i'm not sure how well people know just how much isolation and loneliness is an issue for disabled people. sometimes i see adverts talking about the loneliness epidemic with the elderly. but you know when you have a society that explicitly or implicitly excludes you, then usually you end up being lonely. how many events are accessible, transport routes, venues, even coffee shops? how many people have someone to accompany them outside whenever they need or want even if that's a necessary step to being able to leave the house? being able to connect with people online is nice but it doesn't really fix any of the root problems that keep disabled people isolated. and it's not possible for every disabled person to access online community either

[pedgito]

↝ FOR THE WORK (10k+ words) — Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Using your neighbors address for deliveries doesn’t seem like the worst idea until you find yourself with a world of dilemmas and a burgeoning crush on the single dad who lives there. [Pre-Outbreak]

↝ PATROLS (17k+ words) — Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: A story of how things began, where they ended up, and where they might go. A collection of patrols over the course of several months is forcing you closer to Joel than you ever imagined, tense circumstances leading to hasty decisions and one bad choice after the next.[Set Post S1]

↝ SOFT & SWEET (5k+ words) — Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Based around Work Song by Hozier. A comfort fic with lots of angst and fluffy goodness. Content Warnings: mentions of violence/blood/fighting (nothing graphic), joel being in a state of shock, sex for comfort/coping, no heavy sex warning it’s just v intimate, psuedo love confessions bc joel is bad with words

↝ MEET ME IN THE WOODS (50k words) | (Finished Series) — Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Taking a much needed vacation for the holiday, you aren't aware your cabin has been double-booked until you're face to face with the other guest the night you arrive, left with a big decision to make and the possibility of a month with a man you know nothing about. But, through communication and isolation, you learn that you and him might not be that different after all. Consumed by your shared loneliness, you find company in the unlikeliest of place—a stranger named Joel, in the middle of the woods. [No Outbreak] (6 chapters)

↝ MET THE DEVIL LAST NIGHT (6k words) — (AU) Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: 18+ Demon!Joel, Virgin!Reader, this was little plot and mostly smut lol.

↝ THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR RIDING (3k words) — Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Joel doesn't like gifts, you gift him new boots.

↝ HANDSOME, DIRTY, RICH (12k words) — BFD!Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: The rich father of your bestfriend, Sarah — Joel Miller, was a mystery to you until one day he isn't and you quickly find that your interest in him isn't one-sided. ↝ RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW (2.7k words) Summary: joel is celebrating your one year anniversary with a few surprises.

↝ MILLER'S GIRL (24k+ words) | (Finished Series) — (AU) Professor!Joel Miller

Summary: A sudden infatuation with your professor yields strange, unnerving results and Joel Miller, in his first semester at a new job finds himself in an unlikely position with a student that hides their intentions behind innocence.

↝ MOONLIGHT (8k words) — No Outbreak!Joel Miller

Summary: a series of nights spent with a neighbor you find an unlikely connection with, sharing a similar interest to pass the time, it forms into something much more intense and suddenly, neither of you can deny it anymore.

↝ STICKY SWEET (3.2k words) — dbf!Joel Miller x reader

Summary: You're stranded, you need help—of course, Joel Miller is your savior.

↝ DIRTY LAUNDRY (5.6k words) — Joel Miller x reader

Summary: You've got an issue and joel's willing to solve it. After all, what are neighbors for?

↝ ANYWHERE BUT HERE (1.8k words) — Joel Miller x reader

Summary: A poor damsel in distress, saved by the most unlikely of man.

↝ ABSOLUTION (Ongoing Series, last updated 7/18) — Joel Miller x reader

Summary: Moving in with your soon-to-be stepfather under the roof of his brother, Joel, ends up being a turning point of change in your life.

REMORSE FOR REMEDY (Ongoing Series, last updated 8/21) — Joel Miller x reader

Summary: Alone, the Miller's brothers seem like your only hope. The outbreak is still fresh, weeks after the fall and all that matters is survival and the unlikely comfort that comes along with a man who wants nothing to do with you.

BONUS (+ other characters):

TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE (9k words) — Tommy x Reader x Joel

Summary: Both the Miller brothers have a thing for you and you have a thing for them. They give you an ultimatum and you don’t like that. So, instead of one, you choose both.

BITTER, TASTE. (14k words) — Joel x Reader x Tommy

Summary: A moment of desperation and a kind gesture leads you down an inescapable path alongside two brothers and a town with a nasty secret. (mini series masterlist found here)

MOUTHFUL (2k words)

Summary: Joel finds the perfect way to keep you quiet while he showers you with compliments.

UPDATED: 12/31/2024

[heather-riggins-found-diary]

"The Loneliness Epidemic: Why We Need to Talk About It"

Days go by way to fast, to be or feel alone. You are important, you have a funny fun side, that negative loneliness has covered it up. So put your foot down and say NOT ANYMORE!!!

Loneliness is a feeling that almost everyone has experienced at some point in their lives. It’s that feeling of being disconnected, isolated, and misunderstood. But what happens when that feeling of loneliness becomes chronic? Loneliness is a growing epidemic, especially in our digitally connected world. It’s estimated that 60 million people in the United States alone suffer from chronic…

[thcdoomed]

She thinks the worst of it is that she's never even allowed herself the chance to grieve. When her parents died of illness, there was time to process it, she went back to work almost immediately, but she allowed herself the grace to grieve, to break down and cry. But when Caius died, when every family and neighbor she had grown up with, when all the rest of her adventuring party, had been brutally and viciously killed, she had no chance to grieve. She had nothing but Jalen's kindness and a mission to avenge them. But not grief, not the time to properly grieve. She carried their names in her heart like a makeshift graveyard, their souls weighing down mighty shoulders enough that sometimes even her drawing arm trembles. And even if her turning didn't fully kick in until they were in these Shadow Cursed Lands, she had felt a wrongness in her since she woke that morning among the wreckage.

Only now did she have a name for it.

Everyone here carried something with them, they were all doomed in some awful way, weren't they? It couldn't have just been fate that they all converged. They had to become each others' strength. A shoulder to lean on when they could no longer stand. And while all of them had different struggles, there was overlap. Astarion and Gale both understood her hunger in their own ways, in a strange way, it is nice not to be alone in that, even if she wouldn't wish it on anyone.

They were all in this together.

"I know, I know, but please, I would never try to insult you on purpose. It's not in my nature." She barely even had an insult to throw at their enemies. Threats, sure, but not insults. She was no bard, she would save the witty insults for her funnier friends. Astarion and Karlach seemed quite good at it. Shadowheart as well. Her eyes wander the camp, maybe out of fear that they were talking about her, about her fall from grace. And yet none seem afraid of her, more worried than anything. And yet sharp as her senses now be, she can't quite focus on anything they're saying, a din of voices muddling together to an incomprehensible clutter of noise. "I have to. It's all I know, Gale. I've rarely rested on my laurels. Especially now, especially with so much at stake." But he's read her like some dusty old tome. He's right. She will work herself to the bone and then down to the marrow until she can go no deeper. Anything to get away from her own problems.

Maybe she's a coward when it comes to reflecting on herself. Dealing with everyone else's problems is easier, she can remove herself from her own problems until they are distant thoughts. And yet, every so often her problems force their way to the surface, the visages of death dancing behind her eyelids whenever she closed them, sinking their fangs into her throat and tearing until the entire thing is in shreds. One day, perhaps she will reveal the full extent of the story, beyond the horrific visions. All everyone knew of her previously was the quaint life she lived out in the countryside, learning to hunt alongside her father, a life truly lived off the land in a quiet village. Something so painfully normal and modest. Were a bard recalling their tales at the beginning, little mind would be paid to her story, she suspects. Never mind that her family were known for centuries to be some of the most renowned spider hunters in Faerun. But they all had something remarkable about them, after all. They were all survivors of something, bound together in their turmoil. "Good. I don't think I could bear to part with any of you any time soon." There is a dread in knowing that by the time this is over, she may not see most of them for some time, if ever again.

As Dronia eyes the heated bath, she removes her leather armor until she is in something far more suited for the warm bath, something far less likely to shrink under the heat. "One day, maybe I will. I haven't allowed myself a chance to grieve, no sooner did I reach the city was I thrown into all this, I've been so busy trying to make sure we survive that..." She draws in a deep breath, her voice shaking, "I didn't keep all my heart though. Part of it died that night. The man you saw... his name was Caius, he was my fiance. We were to be wed two weeks after that night. I would..." she doesn't finish the thought. She's here now, nothing would ever bring him back, her mind flits back to Mayrina and how when they got the wand and she asked her to bring Connor back, she excused herself. It was too much, the first crack showing. She snaps herself back to the present. "You're too kind to me, Gale." The scents of the oils and soaps manage to override the blood that still clung so stubbornly to her face. "Do I smell lavender in there?"

He knows how to keep a secret. As well, too, Gale's felt that blistering urgency to veil his scars. Few would grant them their kindness, and few would lend them their words, and fewer still, cruelly few, would temper their ruin when their hearts half-trembling would near their break. This renders it theirs, their blistering horrors like some burdensome tomb. Yet, Gale knows her conviction, that quavering desire to nurse pain alone, for none, he has thought, should blister in his name. None here alive should heft this coffin. He's a danger, a monster lurking ugly in his bones, and none who draws breath would deserve its teeth and clawing. None should be a pallbearer, not for his hurts.

But then, don't they deserve it, a passing glimmer of sympathy? He knows what it's like, her presence felt as he charms the water with a quaint heating spell. It isn't sustainable, truly, to clamor on stubbornly with a box for the dead. His knees are trembling and his muscles yowl, and soon enough, his spirit would surrender like the turning of the seasons. They aren't made to suffer, but they surely seem resigned to.

...even if their souls so crave connection.

 (Bury it, they tell themselves. Ensure that it's the concern of nobody else.)

"A valiant effort, certainly, but lest you forget, you're in the company of one Gale of Waterdeep. You'd have to do a great deal better than that to pull a fast one on me. I could believe that attempt an insult...but I'll take it in stride." How generous. Distantly, the rest of the party has begun to prepare themselves for slumber. Karlach's chattering could be heard, and mingled in there, Astarion is muttering, something blasé, dramatic, but utterly casual. There's worry on Wyll's part, and a staple pragmaticism on their darling Sharran, but as far as Gale's concerned, the whole of their party sounds relatively normal--a bit stunned, perhaps, but nothing so egregious. Lae'zel says something, and Gale picks up a vial as she does so. He catches Dronia in the glass, rotating it a touch to catch her face, and despite the blood and her glowing, gleaming eyes, she, stood there, seems so small. "With as much flattery as I can muster, you work yourself not unlike a rothé. You could set out and accomplish everything that would ever need doing, and by the end of it, you'll go scouring for more with which to lose yourself in. No rest for the wicked, so goes the saying. Or in your case, anyway, for those not quite."

Like an escape, perhaps. Ah. He wonders if that's partly what it's become to her. The harder she works, perhaps the farther from reality she can place herself. She hardly wants sleep, deigns to rest when he himself would buckle to his knees, and now knowing what she is, he can't honestly blame her. Imagine: the nightmares she must see. And the memory of turning. He hasn't her story in much the same manner that she hasn't his own, but between them both, something great and integral feels to shift. Like? Another chapter in their friendship. A bond of greater profundity. "Much happens in a month. Far be it from me to assume the desires of our wayward party, but I wager we're in no rush to be lost to you either." Right. They're all rather stuck. Survival, even doomed as he so feels, is what brings them together, cording them up tighter than he knows. Gale's gentle, facing Dronia as the heated water wafts behind him. It's glistening, cajoling her into its comforting depths. He invites her to take it, his smile layered and patient. "It's humbling, losing all that which was so difficult in the obtaining. Few prospects are more daunting than to stand there so profoundly bare. All the same, it's with certainty that I declare myself all the more approving of the image before me. I'm inclined to agree. You have kept your heart regardless of your story. One day soon, I should like you to see yourself in the way that I would. You have glimpsed beyond my hungers, and you would accept me regardless." He breathes, orb pulsing a twinge beneath his skin. "It gives me no small amount of joy to show you the same. We all need someone. Now. I do believe it's time for you take a well deserved respite. You've your choice among my soaps and oils. It's a luxury I reserve for an exclusive few."