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critter appreciation post 𓆤⭒𓆑⭒𓆣⭒𓆨⭒𓆦

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drawn traditionally in ink 🐛 but they kind of look digital here, that's neat!

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arborist

twitter/ insta/bluesky/ store

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Little digital drawing of this moth :33

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Old drawing I made of a caterpillar I saw.

I don't know why, but I added a tutu....

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Springtails By: Unknown photographer From: The Grolier Illustrated Encyclopedia of Animals 1994

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"San Juan" y "Cabrito del duraznero" ilustraciones sobre insectos de Chile

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the wildlife photographer of the year peoples choice award is always fun

there's a stoat hiding in that last one

source - go check out the rest of the awards too, they're really incredible

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Cupid missed

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After a long long time of questioning and overanalysing myself, I've come in terms that I am asexual.

It is something that has been in my mind for some years, and I was never sure of it. I'm still not. I can't help but think I'm forcing it, that I'm mixing things, that I don't understand what's going on with me.

Yet I never did I felt so joyful with a community before, never related so much with other people's experiences. Not all of them, and that adds to my doubts.

Maybe I'll identify with this label for the rest of my life, maybe someday I'll find out I'm not asexual. I really don't know. And I don't want to sit and wait for the answer to come to me.

I spoke for the first time out loud, alone in my room: "I'm asexual"

I felt a warmth

I'm happy :)

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This is exactly what I needed to hear, +

"I'm aroace until proven otherwise"

Trying to figure out if you’re ace or aro can be so goddamn hard because it’s like, trying to find the absence of something. Imagine you’re at a pond and you want to know if there are any turtles, or fish. Say you find a turtle and you’re like “great! Now I know there are turtles.” Or a fish, now you know for sure there are fish. Or you find both, and now you know for a fact there are both turtles and fish in the pond.

But like, if you don’t find any turtles it might be that there are no turtles or maybe you’re just really shitty at looking for turtles and maybe you THINK you saw a turtle over there or maybe it was just a stick. Maybe there are only a few turtles. Maybe you need to do something special to find the turtles. Maybe a bunch of these rocks are actually turtles but you couldn’t tell them apart. Maybe there are no turtles. You have no idea. Meanwhile some people are saying “Oh there have to be turtles! You’ll find them eventually ;)” or “How many turtles have you found in your pond?” or “Try planting some vegetables at the shore to attract the turtles.” Or “Oh no! What disaster happened to your pond that there are no turtles?” And you’re just standing there wet with an empty net and a tired expression.

But whatever because whether there are turtles or fish or not your pond’s ecology works just fine without them because that’s what eco-communities do they form a system around what they have. You aren’t missing anything if you don’t have turtles you just have a pond system without turtles. If someone tried to change you by pouring a bunch of turtles into your pond it would probably fuck something up.

So you don’t have to be entirely sure. You don’t have to search every inch of the damn pond before you can decide there are probably no turtles. If you want to take the aro or ace label because you think it fits go for it. And if you do find your turtles you can rename the pond. That’s fine.

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"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I fell asleep in my friends' arms. It was eleven at night, we were tired, curled up in a small pile on my tiny bed. I had my head buried in my roommate's side, and one of my closest friend's hand on my shoulder, steadying me. It was quiet and nothingness and peace and their heartbeats in my ears, my hands in their hair.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

We pack four people to that little bed, you know. Laps used as footrests, collarbones as pillows, little lights like moonlight in rustic yellow bathed on their faces. The TV plays an anime. The words are repeated by my dear friend on my shoulder, curled close. My legs are asleep; my roommate may be, too.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

The cat curls on top of our criss cross mess of legs and arms and heads on chests to absorb the warmth of us all. She purrs in contented peace. When my roommate and I are left alone in the quiet, she cries, and watches the door for our friends' return.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I will never kiss them but the top of their heads. I will never touch but the warmth of their arms. I will never take more than what's freely given, and in return I put my glasses on the bedside table fashioned from a guitar amp, and when I lean into their sides, I pick up my vulnerability and place it in their capable, tender hands.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I sing for them. I cry for them. I work and I run and I withstand the worst of the world for them, because some days I get to cradle their forehead on my shoulder and some days I get to see their shining eyes.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

Maybe to you. But look beyond explanation. I love them. With my heart in my unsteady hands, with my nose pressed to the side of their head, with the buzzing in my feet and the warmth all around Iike the sunset pushing into the window.

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

Is it enough to say I love them? With no strings attached? With reckless abandon and utter devotion and freedom and kindness and fear?

"there is no platonic explanation for this--"

I cannot explain it any clearer. I love my friends. There is no more to say.

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If it's not the same kind, I saw a wasp at least very similar to this one a while ago. They're so shiny! I put my phone's lantern on and it looked like it was covered with glitter ✨️

oil pastel of a wasp

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I called this engraved monoprint “Hymns of the Mantis.” I wanted to juxtapose two drastically different things.