#time for a break

[x3nshit]

i love giving myself breaks. oh, it’s raining? time for a break. my friend texted me? time for a break. i’m reminded of my favourite snack? time for a break. my hair is in my face? time for a break. my foot itches? time for a break! i love breaks. i wish my whole life was a break

[several-ravens]

turns out the scariest part of tma is not the horrors or the existentialism but it's jonathan screaming and taking out his frustration on someone who did nothing to deserve it

[sharpasanaro]

So as it turns out, spending the majority of my day on ao3 for days on end “as a little treat” and “for my mental health”, is in fact NOT helping me, and is actually quite detrimental to my mental state and social life

[praise-joko]

The rhythmic clacking of my keyboard as I mindlessly run Winter Wonderland provides a nice ambient background noise to the group call, according to my friends who don't play GW2 but know exactly what I'm doing just by the sound.

[sammysammer]

announcement?

I'm going to be on hiatus! school is coming up and I want to focus on my studies so I wont be posting😞also because of art block (I've been staring at a blank canvas for about half an hour lol)

BUT, my commissions are still open! only 5 slots are available :)

[superkickme]

made myself cry hard trying to write this breakup and now my brain is too dehydrated to keep writing smh

[sensitiveasscancer]

Sick of age discourse on tiktok

That app does its best to try to make you insecure about things you don’t even care about

[kleefkruid]

I wrote an entire updated CV and I should also write the cover letter so I can apply to this job but I have truly ran out positive and productive nouns for the day. I'll probably overshoot sounding enthousiastic and go into 'manic and slightly terrified' again.

[mxanigel]

Sunday productivity

✅ grocery shopping ✅ dishes ✅ deep cleaned kitchen counters ✅ cut spouse's hair ✅ swept the floors ✅ updated computer operating system (Linux) ✅ showered

this is now me:

[andromedaexists]

Life Update

Hey y'all, I just wanted to make a post letting you know what's going on.

After talking to Xochi (bless her soul) we came to the realization that I am in a state of burnout. I have been struggling to even exist as of late, it's part of the reason I have been posting a lot but not really about writing.

In light of this, I just wanted to let y'all know that I will be taking a break from writing.

I am saying this knowing that I will not be able to stop myself from at least trying to write, but it is not going to be my priority for a little bit. I'll still be around talking about god knows what about classics stuff and translations, but yeah

i might also just disappear for a bit, so if you're wondering where I am just know that i will be back once i can convince my brain that i exist again

[mrpicasso-face]

Last one,

Then we're done here.

I don't want to leave,

But time isn't stopping.

I'll make you a deal,

We'll share one last cigarette.

But then you have to kiss me goodbye,

I'm already quite late.

[vamprisms]

im that mood where i hate everything i draw

[residentdormouse]

Positively Pleasant ‘P’ Words Tag Game

Upon predicting the password to procure the pined after prose, I’m pondering the paradoxical feeling of pride and perturbation. Perhaps this puzzlement proves the philosophical predicament of whether perpetually pushing for pleasurable pursuits only pollutes our ability to perceive the peace provided from our passing progress. Maybe proportional precaution is needed to prolong preoccupation before its purpose pales against the prize.

(AKA, I found the word, but now there’s no other side quests to focus on. 😂)

My words: Past, Power, Present, Pull, Print

Your Words: Quick, Quiet, Quirky, Quaint, Quote

(@mrsmungus - Apologies if there are goose eggs; I tried to pick ones I could find myself, but it’s ‘q’ - we knew this time would come.)

Past

“I don’t understand. He’s smart, and funny, and has so much potential… Why is he making choices to sabotage himself, and… I just… ” she let out a frustrated shout, unable to put the rest of her thoughts to the adequate words.

They walked for a bit longer in silence until Nick stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He pulled back out his pad and wrote out another note, slower, more thought put into this message.

‘The world isn’t kind. You fight back against it or blend in until it becomes who you are too.’

She nodded with a sigh. The idea was insightful, and she couldn’t argue with it; it actually made a lot of sense the more she mulled it over. Harold had many times made the comment about his past, how he had been regarded, his treatment from peers and even family. Maybe that was who he became now too, but she truly hoped not.

Power

Further dream discussion took off. Were there drugs that could help? Could there be a way to block this? There were no answers, only another point nobody had touched yet, one which Glen felt a need to chime in on: did they want to?

"It seems to me, we're getting set up in a tug of war. Whether it's good vs evil, judgment day, powers higher than us playing a game, who's to say… What is clear to me: there's a protagonist and an antagonist forming, and these dreams, they’re giving us background. We take that away… well then, we're just opting to play the game blindfolded. Now, can’t speak for any of you, but personally I'd like to read the premise before making moves. Maybe, I don't know, maybe there’s something useful buried there."

Harold scoffed at the idea. "So you're saying what? Our dreams are relaying vital information so we can, what, fight for God or the Devil?"

"I'm saying I don't know. But I’d like to.” Harold scrunched up his face, still not giving it any real consideration. Glen took a couple more puffs from his vape, and pressed on with a light chuckle, "I think I know what your problem is, Harold."

"Glen…" Stu tried to give a warning to not poke the bear. Glen never knew how to listen to that instinct however.

Present

(Possible gore tag, but I had to. It not only has Present, but Past and Pull too.)

Maybe Hayden did have a history in medicine; as she stated, there was no way to know. But to do an invasive surgery without even remembering those past experiences? That wasn’t even touching the fact there was only a small possibility it was there in the first place.

That was just the basic facts. The little things, the barely visible shimmer of light in the cavity, the way muscles and skin seemed to move away or pull together on their own milliseconds before Hayden’s hands got there, how these events coincided with a distinct drain to her... If he wasn’t already looking for irregular things, these would have been dismissed. Tricks of light. But they were too far into the unknown to turn back now, and his eyes were open.

He wanted to ask her about everything. Not necessarily the past; she would only give him the same sad smile and shrug as she always did. But her thoughts at the time… Did she see what he did? Did she know?

The ordeal was clearly taxing on her, so he was fine to leave it on the back burner for now, but he couldn’t unsee what he saw. By the tree earlier, she wasn’t completely present. His mind equated it to a dimmer switch and she was set to low. If she wasn’t actively on his mind, he would have completely overlooked her sitting there. The differences between the girl he met on the trail that first day, and the one sitting by that tree; he couldn't explain it, but he would certainly not forget it.

No, she was a puzzle with too many missing pieces, but he was good at filling in blanks.

Pull

(I had a decent excerpt from earlier in Chapter 9 - one of my personal favorites for reasons - but then I went down a little further and noticed there are FOUR uses of Pull in this Harold dream. FOUR! I feel I need to now post this in shame for my lack of variance.)

Harold pushed himself up off the pavement. Blood lingered in his mouth, and he spit it off to the side of the road. The asshole with a beard threw a punch, but Harold felt a pull backwards.

Beard tried to steady himself as a gun appeared in Harold's hand. He held it up and pulled the trigger. One threat down. Scruffy douche bag to his right was an easy target. Another neutralized. One more to go.

A shot rang in his ears, but it missed by a mile. He spun and quickly pulled the trigger on the third assailant; three for three.

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

Harold nodded. Moving to hand the gun back to Flagg, he noticed the man's expression had changed, eyes adopting a red glow and his smile widening. His hand now moved over Harold’s own, taking aim for him. The movement was quick, fluid, and when the dark man pulled back, Harold’s aim was now set on Redman. "Keep it."

Looking back one last time, Harold could now longer see the denim clad figure, but he could still hear his voice. "You may find a use for it."

Harold went to tighten his grip on the item, but his hand closed further into a fist. The gun was gone, but as he slowly relinquished his grasp, a black stone with an unnatural shine revealed itself in his palm. A real smile found its way onto Harold’s face.

Print

(I was decently worried about this one. There are only two times this has showed up, and one was literally the last section of Spiral, so guess this is all I got…)

Sitting at the desk, she made herself comfortable and grabbed a pen. Nobody could really miss one blank book in a cottage full of hundreds, and she felt like doodling. But this one was not longer blank. Quickly scanning the pages, she noticed it was all observations she had. Specifically about Glen.

When she closed the book and turned it over, she noticed his name beautifully written along the spine. Standing in a rush, she began to scan the room again. Another book lay next to Glen's; 'Stuart Redman' was written in bright lettering.

She backed away and noticed the previously blank canvas on the wall was now an acrylic painting of Kojak; the signature H.F. was printed in the bottom corner. Another hastily done paper sketch of her, Glen, and Kojak was pinned next to it.

Turning to her left, she stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the dark painting sitting on the floor by the door. Blacks, grays, and two bright red eyes. 'Flagg' scrawled across the bottom in blood red calligraphy.

[reliand]

I recorded a chapter, wrapped some presents, and redrew the 2 background characters that disappeared after my program crash the other night! Today has been productive and it’s only been 4 hours

[destiel-news-network]

(Source)

"The Tech Guild is asking readers to honor the digital picket line and not play popular NYT Games such as Wordle and Connections as well as not use the NYT Cooking app."

[calamitys-child]

What's everyone's favourite flowers that aren't like. The normal ones. Like everyone's a fan of roses and sunflowers what's a more niche one. One you don't get in gift sets. Mine's sweet peas