#remember to love yourself first

[thejourneyoflifewords]

[diagnosed-crazy]

AroAce

Here is a fun story about how I found out I was asexual and why I believe myself to be aromantic.

tl:dr I knew that I was aromantic and asexual because I never felt any type of attraction towards anyone.

When I was in late middle school years, I overheard two of my female classmates (I am also female) talking about how they felt when they looked at someone they thought was “hot”. One of the was like, “Yeah, when I see him, its like a waterfall.”

At the time, I had no idea what the fuck that meant, and not because I was some sheltered child who had never heard a bad word or watched an R rated movie (my family did not care what I watched and I used to play drinking games with my parents and older siblings while drinking a juice box. I was not sheltered). I just could not relate to that experience.

It stuck with me. It was something that I noticed more and more as more of my classmates got into relationship and would share their experiences. I never felt like that, and it wasn’t until I came across the term Asexual that things started to make sense. I wasn’t just a weird kid who hadn’t talked to enough people or looked at enough attractive people or gotten emotionally close enough with someone to feel that way. I just didn’t feel it and there were other people like me.

I came out to my friends junior year of high school because we were at speech practice and someone said something about the not being asexual because they like women too much and I was like “I am.” and that was it.

As for why I suspected I am aromantic, that took me a little bit longer to understand. I considered and accepted that I was aromantic towards the end of my senior year of high school. I hadn’t ever felt romantically attracted to anyone ever. I hadn’t been in any serious relationships. I wasn’t ever interested in anyone, but I kept making excuses of: “Oh, I just don’t talk to many people who aren’t my friends.” or “If I wanted to date someone, I could start talking to someone and I could develop romantic feelings.”

It came down to me thinking about the past relationships that I had been in, and the previous “crush” that I had. The fact that I had only ever had one “crush” should have probably been a factor already, but after I realized I was ace, I started thinking about why I said I had a crush on someone. A close friend at the time was always pressuring me to say something. “Who do you like? Why do you like them?” so finally I gave them a name. A boy with really pretty eyes who was involved in the same things I was, but who I was not friends with or in any of the close circles around me. He was just close enough to not be strange to like, but not close enough that I would ever be asked to socialize with him. (Also I say pretty eyes from an artistic perspective. They were a really cool color and I always wanted to try and paint them.)

I had a hard time accepting that for a while though. I didn’t like the idea of being alone in my life, and while I thought being asexual would make it hard to find someone who would want to be with me, being aromantic to me meant that I was doomed to be alone forever and left behind by all the people around me. I know that this was a stupid thought, but it was how I felt for a while. When I first starting thinking about it, being aromantic to me meant a concrete black and white state of not feeling attracted to anyone or having life partners. That is just not the case. Like everything, being aromantic is also a spectrum, and I have come to feel very comfortable in this little aroace range I am occupying.

I learned that I could still feel romantic attraction, it could just not happen very often (haven’t had it happen yet, but your never know). I learned that even if I never feel romantic attraction, I could still be in healthy and loving romantic relationships. I learned that if I didn’t want a romantic relationship, I could still have a platonic partner.

But most of all, I learned that I am okay with being the crazy mountain lady living alone in the woods that I will probably turn out to be. And I have come to greatly appreciate the fact that I have yet to feel the warm fuzzies because my friends all feel them and it seems like a bunch of unnecessary bullshit. Love triangles and cheating and heartbreak. Granted not all of them have the greatest taste in partners, but I’m good. I don’t want to deal with that first hand. Second hand was more than enough.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji goes to Lotus Pier (No relation to the AU of the same name)

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[demaparbat-hp]

In your Spitfire AU, since Zuko is looking after Lu Ten II, what happened to Ursa?

Zuko is slightly older in the Spitfire AU. He was banished at fifteen, his head a little clearer and denial a little weaker than in canon. After his first look through the Air Temples, Zuko decides that if he can't find a myth, he might as well search for the next best thing.

Finding Ursa isn't easy, but in time he makes it to a secluded house in a near-forgotten part of the world. His mom is there, older and stronger and alive.

But she isn't alone.

And Zuko, as it turns out, didn't keep the best company during his search.

When Ursa is discovered and her secrets are laid bare for assassins (for Ozai) to find, she begs Zuko to take his little brother and run. She'll do anything it takes to protect her children, even if that means leaving them behind to keep a target off their back. Ursa diverts attention from them and allows Lu Ten's ancestry to be kept a secret. She orders Zuko not to follow her again, and disappears.

Zuko is left with a little three-year-old brother to raise and a mother he cannot hold onto.

[mokadevs]

irene 🤍⚔️

[mintjeru]

companionship and understanding happy pride from my beloveds!!

open for better quality | no reposts

[willyhoos]

metamy is insane. like.

what if i was the hero you loved gone wrong. defeated and destroyed. rebuilt as my own greatest enemy. what if i lost everything. what if i had been reprogrammed to despise all i had once fought for. what if i couldn't even remember why i had fought at all.

and what if you were made of roses. what if you represented every beautiful thing i once died trying to protect. what if you wore flowers in your hair and cared for small creatures and had eyes the color of the forests i used to call my home. what if you were everything i once loved.

those memories are just out of my reach. infuriatingly. maddeningly. but if anyone knows who i am (who i used to be) it's you. if anyone can make me feel like who i used to be (who i really am) it's you. i can't speak, i can't breathe, i can't remember anything (but you).

you are the world i have been ordered to burn. i am the weapon you have chosen to resist. i was (am) the hero that you loved.

you are my only memory.

[riiviir]

well would you look at that I finally made a ref

Random note: the color of the shirt is white, it's only off-white because I didn't wanna do pure white, which is for the glasses only

[myokk]

“Class, today we’re going to repot the baby mandrakes because they’re getting a bit too big for their current homes! Aren’t they cute?”

[thejourneyoflifewords]

[jurassic-cunt]

the absolute dog shit takes I've seen on here about Nosferatu. a horny kid can't be raped? a victim can't be a hero? please be serious

[darabeatha]

/ A reminder to never expect me to be fully updated on lore and know all the minuscule 9487548957894 details of a character's story and their surroundings, I'm empty as men came to this world and can only vouch for my muses through love (also bc I cannot remember things rip)

[starlightswordfight]

UHH REMINDER ALSO SINCE I HAVE BEEN SHARING A LOT MORE NEGATIVE THINGS LATELY that amid literally everything that's been going on, there are still things that you can do to retain control in your life in at least some areas!! not everyone can actively protest right now, not everyone has the means and that is OKAY! do what you can when you can!!

this post is a wall of text of me rambling about things you can do Right Now in your community or to keep yourself happy and motivated and going. it's a long one so it's going under read more. I also talk a lot more in the tags

i also use terms like Current Events a lot so I also apologize for the vagueness in some places!! I do not know if this will get flagged if I get more specific and my account has tried to go down twice now

#1: BONDING WITH YOUR COMMUNITY (WITH PERSONAL SAFETY IN MIND)

getting involved in your local community is a big big big thing I've seen talked about lately and I agree with that entirely!! the #1 best thing I feel like anyone can do right now is either volunteering at local support groups or getting involved in local activism

if you have a local community you can connect with for whatever reason then that's absolutely a good idea for both practical and emotional reasons. it can be for anything really, actually. reach out to friends, reach out to family, keep talking to people if you have the energy! it really does make a difference!

^ related to the above, if you can involve yourself in volunteer work, or mutual aid, or just helping others out in some other way, then absolutely do that! you can start with asking around, or searching up aid or other groups that may need extra help in your area, and go from there!!

I see a lot of people have been saying for months to organize and then absolutely no one ever explains how to organize, and if you don't plan on starting something up Yourself that is how you get involved. you find like minded people and you lend your hands. I just looked up "volunteers needed/mutual aid [insert town here]" and went off of that

and there are a lot of different places people might need assistance for. one example being food banks, pantries, are basically always accepting new donations -- if you have produce, not all of them will accept it due to safety regulations, but a local community garden might! libraries also will exchange more than books, and protecting libraries by showing involvement and interest in them is important now more than ever

local businesses, emergency aid if you have the certification, environmental work and disaster cleanup, assisted living areas, shelters, a lot of other specific areas I can't name right now. if you are physically able to seek out support and give back in turn (and if you aren't able to do one or both of these that's also okay!!) i highly highly recommend it. mutual aid especially goes both ways. do not be afraid to reach out for help, that is what they're there for

speaking of libraries!

#2: KEEP INFORMED

this can refer to a lot of different things, but on a federal and local level it is never ever ever a bad thing to keep up to date with what's going on. anyone trying to do bad things on a government level is relying on you not noticing or staying uninformed in the invent that you do notice. keep track of what's going on in your area and plan accordingly!!

keeping up with the news (and fact checking, always, because journalism isn't always ethically practiced), finding where your local city hall or equivalent is and staying up to date on local legislation, has always been important for safety and especially is right now. know how to determine a reliable source from an unreliable one, and know how to pick apart the difference between fact and misconstrued ideas spoken as fact. I'll probably make a post on that too at some point and link it here when I'm done

it is overwhelming to hear just how much is getting worse so quickly, but it's crucial that you don't allow yourself to become unaware, because that makes you easier to lie to. you do not have to work yourself to burnout or to a breakdown, please take breaks whenever you need to and put your own health first!!

but don't do yourself the disservice of not knowing what's happening around you. I want everyone to be as safe as they can, and to be safe you have to be informed

#3: FIND SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO (AND ALSO KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE EVEN IF IT'S IN SMALL WAYS)

staying up to date on current events has been overwhelming for me, but it also has helped me to maintain a sense of control in my life. and there are a lot of other ways to do that, too, and also give you sources of happiness and things to still look forward to! I'm listing what works for me but I'm sure there's infinitely more ways to pull that off

taking up or getting back into hobbies or interests is a very effective way to keep joy in your life, and this goes double if you're sort of stuck in your house like I am most days. you should get to do things that make you happy!! you deserve to still have things to look forward to!!!

I've also been personally using my interests to try to learn how to do more practical things that might help me and the people I live with; I'm a gardener so I've been working on trying to grow food, starting with sweet peppers. don't know if I'll end up needing that one day (or if my neighbors might, but as the economy completely fucks itself it could get very useful very fast), but having the knowledge and the means helps me feel more in control of what happens in my personal life, and it really has made me feel better and have a source of hope

I really hope that everyone who sees this is doing as well as they're able right now. saying all of this because I don't want to contribute to any ideas of complete hopelessness, if that makes sense. there are things worth getting up in the morning for and every one of you matters and you deserve to be happy. and I love you /p

even if you aren't utilizing your hobbies in that way (again, PERFECTLY fine, do what you need to forever), something like that might be useful for you, too! you can learn new skills or read up on all those things you already wanted to look into but kept putting off, you can carve out a little space in your world for Joy and for Whimsy if you don't have one already! it's good for you!! it's incredible in fact!!

[sometimesanequine]

reminder that my askbox is open and empty and that if you want a silly horse to cheer you up send something and I'll draw you something funny

[lorelune]

me realizing how if i don’t gatcha game cosplay i can breathe LOL

[lilcathsmith]

Greg in every episode of CSI (151/328) • Big Shots (pt2) •