there is a love in which i will always know you, just incase you forget.
love elizabeth s.
almost home

if i look back, i am lost

shark vs the universe
KIROKAZE
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
TVSTRANGERTHINGS

occasionally subtle
Monterey Bay Aquarium

@theartofmadeline

Kaledo Art

Andulka
Jules of Nature

Product Placement
trying on a metaphor

#extradirty
Cosimo Galluzzi

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from Singapore

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Spain

seen from United States
seen from South Africa
seen from France

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from T1

seen from United States

seen from Netherlands
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from T1
@chipperskipper
there is a love in which i will always know you, just incase you forget.
love elizabeth s.

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
this is going to be difficult -> i am capable of doing difficult things -> i have done everything prior to this moment -> this difficulty will soon be proof of capability
this difficulty will soon be proof of capability.
Momoire
If I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.
-Hayao Miyazaki (x)
A poem by Hanna Yerushalmi.

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Butterfly Dragons // Marie-Claude Roch
starting a collection
attributed to Lily Tomlin; Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky; ilene_cecelia, reddit; Pratchett, Night Watch; Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky; Pirkei Avot 2:21; Ursula K. le Guin, Tehanu
““The gods have no hands in this world but ours. If we fail Them, where then can They turn?””
— The Hallowed Hunt (World of the Five Gods) by Lois McMaster Bujold
honeycrisp
if i can impart any one piece of wisdom to y’all, it’s to, whenever possible, assume good intentions
assume people are trying their best, want to be good and treat others well, and that when their behavior doesn’t align with those goals, it’s because of outside factors that are pushing them to their limit
it’s hard to do, it doesn’t always come naturally, but it’s worth it
before anyone jumps in with an “op has clearly never worked in the service industry,” i work in a public facing library job
i have a patron who is mean as a snake. won’t respond when you greet her, barks orders at you, and is generally nasty
i couldn’t stand her & dreaded the moment she walked in the door, until i stopped one day & went “wow, to walk around feeling unhappy enough to treat people so horribly every day. what a difficult way to live.”
and so my tactics changed. i made a point to be extra kind & friendly to her. she changed her hair color one day & when i complimented her on it, she was very caught off guard & said “oh, thank you. my whole life i’ve thought i was ugly.”
now we’re at the point where she shows me pictures of watercolor paintings she made & says hi when she walks in the door. she’s not my favorite patron, but she’s perfectly okay. most unpleasant people aren’t inherently rotten, they’re just unhappy & coping with it poorly
assume people are always doing their best, even if their best happens to fall a bit short. assume good intentions
why bother caring about the environment when 1. It’s so obviously a lost cause and 2. There’s definitely going to be a nuclear war?
And what are you doing about it Anon? Learn about ecological restoration or get out of my way.
If you read ecology books printed in the 70s and 80s, they were absolutely convinced that whales and tigers would not survive the century. There's a whole plot in Star Trek about how whales are extinct actually. Here in Argentina, we were sure that yaguaretés would have gone extinct. It was thought that rainforests would be forever lost, because there was no way that such complex ecosystems would be restored.
Now, you can go to Península Valdés and find that the whale population there is growing year after year, people can see them from their windows. In Iberá, where yaguaretés were extinct for over 70 years, there's now a population of 35 and growing, after being reintroduced just five years ago. As for rainforests?
We've becoming very, very good on restoring them. Natural environments, when given space and time to heal, can return to that they were. And after all, all natural enviroments are managed by human societies. It is up to us to implement a good management, un buen gobierno.
I firmly believe our children and grandchildren will see a restoration of Earth like never before.
Millions of people are working on this. You can learn about it, perhaps even become one of them. Or be a pointless doomer in my ask box. Your choice.
if there are people who care, it's never a lost cause. at one point, kākāpō, a nocturnal flightless parrot species from aotearoa, were thought to be entirely extinct for decades. until 1977, where booming calls from males were heard on the small island of whenua hou. now, thanks to people who care so much they dedicated their lives to caring, kākāpō numbers are close to 300. despite the setbacks. despite the small gene pool causing infertility and health problems. people cared so fucking much that they survived. this is one of COUNTLESS, countless similar stories. I'm studying ecology so that I can go into conservation and all around me, every day, I see people who care enough to put years of their lives into learning about and solving environmental problems. I don't know man. hope isn't just some nebulous thing. it's tangible if you do something with it.
Tim Wong saw the decline of the pipeline swallowtail butterfly, and dedicated himself to providing habitat and raising babies, and it worked.
Spix's Macaws were extinct in the wild for 70 years, and now captive breeding and conservation groups have reintroduced a small population (with more on the way) and there are babies being successfully raised in the wild again.
And what else is there, but hope? We exist for the grace of hope. Those who have lost all hope don't stay here. If you are here to send an ask like this, it is not because you have given up, it's that you are hoping someone will show you that that hope is worth having.
It is!! It always is!!
There will be good things and if you cannot find them, make them! The time will pass anyway, you can choose what to do with it, and so many, many people are choosing to try to help.
The Lord Howe Island rodent eradication project never fails to make me cry, it’s so beautiful.
The population of an entire island working together to eradicate every last rat and mouse to save the native bird populations. They had to trap a bunch of the birds and keep them in captivity so they wouldn’t be hurt by the rodenticides, and released them after the rodents were gone. Normal residents helped by phoning in tips whenever they saw rodents. And they did it. Lord Howe Island, last I read, remains rodent free, and the native bird populations are rebounding!
Acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer, both of which were terrifying specters of my childhood, have been largely dealt with. Ecosystems devastated by acid rain are also recovering.
We are making a difference!
In 1979, an audacious, expensive conservation project was begun to try and breed california condors in captivity toward being released into the wild again. This was considered useless and hopeless by many people, but many more people said we had to at least TRY.
In 1991, the first captive-raised condors were re-introduced to Big Sur, Pinnacles, and Bitter Creek.
In 2006, three months before I turned eighteen, the first wild pair of condors was seen nesting in Big Sur in over a hundred years. A hundred years.
We did that. We fixed it.
How about another example.
When my mom was small, in the 1960s, there were many, many days of the year she was not allowed outside. Days and days they had recess indoors, because the air was so poisonous to breathe. Here's an article about it, with some good pictures.
My mom was 13 in the picture on the left. She was 50 in the picture on the right.
In 1987, there were 27 California Condors in the world, all captive.
In 2024, there were 566.
369 of them fly free.
That happened within my lifetime, and I'm not even 40 yet.
When you lose hope, think of our stories we're telling you. Recount them to yourself like a prayer. That's what I do.
There are 369 California Condors flying free in the sky right now.
There is no more acid rain.
There is an ozone.
There are wild tigers.
There are still birds on Lord Howe Island.
There are 369 California Condors flying free.
Black footed ferrets were considered completely extinct in 1979. Then we found a single den in Wyoming in 1981. In 1996 it was classified as extinct in the wild.
By 2013, there were approximately 1,200 living wild, across 18 dens. Their numbers increase regularly, and while the face challenges due to habitat loss, climate change, and their limited genetic diversity, they're in a much better place than they were.
Because people cared, and they worked, and they fought to make things better.
@hopepunk-humanity

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Winter Solitude (2025) by Akbar Ulan
Sum creechurs :3
Appreciate a Dragon Day!
Today is Appreciate a Dragon Day, a time to show our love for all things dragon-related. Dragons enjoy a long history of appearances in everything from ancient mythology to artwork and jewelry, and of course in modern fantasy books and films as well. There are even some real "dragons," such as Komodo dragons and bearded dragons. They carry various symbolisms and meanings in different cultures, but one thing is clear... dragons aren't going anywhere!
Here at the headquarters of the Roots & 'Shrooms Gang, we absolutely adore dragons! Some of the rootlings wanted to share with you their dragon collections and favorite type in the spirit of the holiday! Cousin Halfred loves soft, poofy, fuzzy, dragon plushies. They're great for hugging, taking naps with, and generally just appreciating their softness. Plus, they're super cute too.
Master Marshmallow loves elaborately painted high fantasy figurines. He thinks they look totally epic and regal, straight out of the storybooks. His favorites are ones that are white with silver or gold accents, though he also does appreciate ones that are classic green and colorful too. The pride and joy of his collection is his white emperor dragon, which is taller than he is!
Sweet Miss Morley collects whimsical dragon figurines, like these little cuties. She doesn't think there's anything better than a bunch of sweet little black beady eyes staring back at her, with joyous and playful smiles to match. They capture the playful side of life, for sure!
And finally, Silky Dan tends to love specific dragon characters from books and movies. His number one favorite is the luckdragon Falkor from The Neverending Story. He was even lucky enough to get him to make a guest appearance just for this photoshoot! Silky Dan was extremely honored.
And there you have it! We hope you enjoy Appreciate a Dragon Day, and can give the dragons in your life some love and attention today to celebrate! =)
All of my light bulbasaurs in one place :)
"Social anxiety is often triggered by the distance between our inner worlds and the world everyone else is in. People who’ve sought safety and peace by retreating into themselves can unknowingly develop external affects that alienate others. They may look bored or far away. They may fail to make eye contact, or speak in vague circles. Most of the time they’d prefer to go unnoticed. Ironically, the resulting furtiveness can make them even more conspicuous. The ways we indicate being present to others is often through gestures that aren’t second nature if you don’t feel confident, or they appear inelegant when attempted by someone unpracticed in them. Confidence comes out of a feeling of belonging. I wonder how often, if ever, you’ve felt a sense of belonging. When the only place we experience welcome or care is our own minds it can be difficult to nurture the ability to feel at home anywhere else.
The fear of being noticed, of somehow being caught and kicked out—punished for who you are the same way you might’ve been earlier in life informs what we commonly call social anxiety. It can be the expectation of rejection or the very real wariness of how other people can cause harm. The stress of failing the tests of casual conversation, or being on edge around people you should be relaxed with—like your partner or friends—may be rooted in the idea you could be found to be lacking and subsequently rejected. Anxiety over whose, and how much, attention you’re drawing as the only person like you in your workplace or school, or as a woman walking home alone at night, are also types of social anxiety—albeit different than the kind you’ve asked me about. All are connected to how available to us we feel the rights that come from belonging are.
It’s no wonder that the people who are often anxious or awkward are also perceptively different in other ways; marked by race, gender presentation, ability, family background, a personality that wasn’t popular, tastes that weren’t shared, experiences that aren’t visible to others but were so formative to them they feel marked—truly any number of factors. And those with the most confidence are those who’ve rarely had to question their place, who can take for granted their welcome. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but generally speaking you’ll notice that pattern to be true.
Some of the confidence you need can be accessed by identifying where and when you learned you didn’t totally belong. Find that moment (or moments) and reject what it taught you. We all belong, some of us may have to insist on that ourselves. But I promise you there are people who’ll agree.
The awkwardness you describe also sounds like the strain of someone waiting on a permission to be that hasn’t yet been offered. A lot of us are raised in environments that demand we suppress ourselves and exist in increments with permission. All of us were born children in a world of adults, raised not with our autonomy affirmed but with our inherent smallness told to be smaller—more receptive to authority. It creates a society populated by people who don’t know how to be themselves once they have the agency to be. Some reach adulthood with a streak of cruelty in rebellion of that initial imposition. And then there are those who reach adulthood with a practiced timidity, just as wounded, but still waiting on permission. We may not see it that way as adults, but if you’re living as if people’s acceptance of you is conditional—upon how you talk, what clothes you wear, who you associate with, what struggles you face or don’t face—then you’re living in fear of your permission to exist as yourself being revoked. Of course it’s stressful, if not ourselves, who can we be?
To feel known and appreciated is a fundamental human need. Rather than risk the shame of rejection, people try to grow used to their own loneliness. There is only one way to be lonely. There are many ways to be known. And that’s what requires our attention and practice—not our capacity for becoming used to a loneliness we assume we can’t change—but our ability to make ourselves known."
"Patterns of how people respond to us can sometimes have nothing to do with us and everything to do with their bias or insecurities. Or those patterns can have everything to do with us and our behavior. Isn’t that frustrating? But we have more control than we realize. Any given interaction is the product of a mutual dynamic. You’re in charge of what you contribute to it.
My recommendation to you is not to analyze yourself more than you already must be. Instead, I suggest you survey how others around you are experiencing a situation. I’ve found making sure others feel accepted and welcome not only allows me to remain present rather than aloof, it encourages everyone (myself included) to relax too.
Is someone being left out of the conversation? Does someone else require the subject to be changed? Who looks nervous and could use a smile and show of interest? Treat others with a curiosity and openness that allows, and even welcomes, whatever quirks or awkwardness they may possess. People may not know how to respond to everything about you, but they know the safety of sincere warmth when they feel it. Offering it to others brings it to every space you’re in.
You know how rare such treatment is. It can change the entire temperature of a space. When you don’t know how to respond more fully to people’s questions, ask them some of your own. You know what a lot of people like more than listening to someone talk? Talking. Especially about themselves. It may sound counterintuitive to ask someone who feels socially awkward to play host, but this will give you a guidance system and specific tasks that will pull you out of yourself. It also deflects the pressure you may feel when you sense others are focused on you.
That stiffness you mention will dissolve once you bridge the gap between your inner experience and external reality. Show up as a good listener. Show up period. Ground yourself by focusing on the details of the space you’re in. Don’t wonder if the way you’re holding your body looks awkward to others. Describe the space to yourself. What colors dominate, can you smell people’s perfumes? Food? How does the ground feel to walk on? If you were to describe the occasion to someone what would you say? This will force you to be more present in a way that’ll take care of 90% of the issue here, it will distract your body from the assumptions causing it to tense up by connecting you more deeply to how little there is to be tense about.
I want you to feel empowered to navigate social interactions. I want you to increase your ability to make a good impression and reduce anxiety over how you’re coming across. I also want you to know that you don’t have to impress anyone. But if you’d like to, paying attention will. Do that and you’ll find yourself feeling ease through creating it, and be relieved of the impossible task of performing it."
Ayesha Siddiqi, Advice: "I've been told I'm awkward. How can I relax around people?"

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Tiffany couldn't quite work out how Miss Level got paid. Certainly the basket she carried filled up more than it emptied. They'd walk past a cottage and a woman would come scurrying out with a fresh-baked loaf or a jar of pickles, even though Miss Level hadn't stopped there. But they'd spend an hour somewhere else, stitching up the leg of a farmer who'd been careless with an axe, and get a cup of tea and a stale biscuit.
It didn't seem fair.
“Oh, it evens out,” said Miss Level, as they walked on through the woods.
“You do what you can. People give what they can, when they can. Old Slapwick there, with the leg, he's as mean as a cat, but there'll be a big cut of beef on my doorstep before the week's end, you can bet on it. His wife will see to it. And pretty soon people will be killing their pigs for the winter, and I'll get more brawn, ham, bacon and sausages turning up than a family could eat in a year.”
“You do? What do you do with all that food?”
“Store it,” said Miss Level.
“But you-”
“I store it in other people. It's amazing what you can store in other people.” Miss Level laughed at Tiffany's expression. “I mean, I take what I don't need round to those who don't have a pig, or who're going through a bad patch, or who don't have anyone to remember them.”
“But that means they'll owe you a favour!”
“Right! And so it just keeps on going round. It all works out.”
“I bet some people are too mean to pay-”
“Not pay,” said Miss Level, severely. “A witch never expects payment and never asks for it and just hopes she never needs to. But, sadly, you are right.”
“And then what happens?"
“What do you mean?”
“You stop helping them, do you?”
“Oh, no,” said Miss Level, genuinely shocked. “You can't not help people just because they're stupid or forgetful or unpleasant. Everyone's poor round here. If I don't help them, who will?”
"A Hat full of Sky" - Terry Pratchett
Republicans have regressed to become the tyrants and enemies of the country. MAGA can't govern in a democracy. We need to honor the original text and write a new Constitution.
Hey, remember back when he blew a gasket during his first term over NPR doing their annual reading of the Declaration of independence because he assumed it was about him?
'Cause I remember that.