You Are Allowed To Have Needs. You Are Allowed To Take Care Of Those Needs. You Are Allowed To Have Your

"Do you ever dream of land?" The whale asks the tuna.

"No." Says the tuna, "Do you?"

"I have never seen it." Says the whale, "but deep in my body, I remember it."

"Why do you care," says the tuna, "if you will never see it."

"There are bones in my body built to walk through the forests and the mountains." Says the whale.

"They will disappear." Says the tuna, "one day, your body will forget the forests and the mountains."

"Maybe I don't want to forget," Says the whale, "The forests were once my home."

"I have seen the forests." Whispers the salmon, almost to itself.

"Tell me what you have seen," says the whale.

"The forests spawned me." Says the salmon. "They sent me to the ocean to grow. When I am fat with the bounty of the ocean, I will bring it home."

"Why would the forests seek the bounty of the oceans?" Asks the whale. "They have bounty of their own."

"You forget," says the salmon, "That the oceans were once their home."

Finished, scanned, removed a lot of cat hair digitally~. Will add it to the print store soon too. :)

Alcohol markers and acrylics on bristol paper, A4.

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If you've been harmed by cbt, I see you. You're valid, and you do not deserve to be subjected to more clumsy attempts. Just because The System(TM) claims cbt is a magical perfect cure for all mental troubles doesn't mean that's true for you, in your current place and time. I wish you strength and patience in all things, but especially in finding a healing path that respects you as a person.

To all the Writers Suffering from Depression

It’s okay. Your desire to write will return. Your desire to do other things you love will come back, too. You’re not weak. You’re just having a hard time right now. Try not to add self-judgment on top of everything else. Depression is hard enough without blaming yourself for it.

We (in the US specifically) live in a productivity-obsessed, emotion-phobic culture which blames individuals for “failing” when they are anything but hyper-productive and relentlessly optimistic. This cultural narrative so pervasive that it’s difficult to see the high standards we set for ourselves for what they really are: Complete and total bullshit.

Despite the rampant cultural garbage that teaches us to interpret emotional ups and downs as an aberration, MANY writers and artists (and people in general!) struggle with depression and other mood “disorders.” It is not uncommon for us, among other things, to go through periods of hyperactivity followed by depressive episodes in which we get very little accomplished. I am not saying you shouldn’t try to alleviate your depression or work to find ways to minimize your suffering in the short or long term. I’m just saying there’s nothing wrong with you, and you aren’t alone.

I’m going to say that again:

If you’re having a hard time writing or enjoying writing right now because you’re depressed, you aren’t alone.

I wish I had some kind of magical answer. I don’t. But I do know that accepting your depression and loving yourself anyway beats the hell out of berating yourself for feeling like this. So, with that in mind, this might be all I have to offer:

I think you’re doing a great job. I’m sorry you feel like shit. I’m on your side whether you’re writing or not; whether you feel good or not; whether you’re being “productive” or not; whether you wanted to get out of bed this morning or not. You’re still a writer in my mind, even if you’re not writing right now. You don’t have to prove yourself to me or anyone else. And I hope you feel better soon.

I love stained glass windows.

And dragons.

The rest is obvious~.

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sending optional hugs to aromantics who has to deal with getting valentine’s day shoved down their throats, who has to deal with questions such as “why don’t you have a partner yet”, who has to deal with people telling them “you just haven’t found the right person yet!”, and even having to get told that “aros don’t belong in the queer community” by other queer people, which is absolutely disgusting.

y’all are good exactly the way you are. 🫂

[ID: four pictures of a heart symbol that has the aromantic flag colours painted on: dark green, light green, white, grey and black. The paint drips on the sides, making the heart look wet. The background is black. The second and third pictures each contain a white overlaying three-word text in three lines, one word per line. The second word is over the heart symbol. The text of the second picture says "you are worthy." The text of the third picture says "you are valid." Both texts are in lowercase letters and end with a period./end ID]

my blorbos dont deserve romantic relationships. they deserve relationships that are so complex and comfortable that they go beyond the terms romantic and platonic, deserve to be in a relationship thats ambiguous but still gives them the knowledge of where they stand with each other. they deserve to have their lives intertwined with others in a way that no words could ever begin to define it as. and they deserve to feel safe in it.

A dragon without kobolds is like a human without a taxes. We think. We don't actually know what a "taxes" is, we just hear humans bring them up all the time. We assume this is some kind of small creature.

today, pink icon for a pink month