A Single Wildflower @asinglewildflower - Tumblr Blog

Happy pride month specifically to folks on the asexual and aromantic spectrum who oftentimes feel isolated and left out of the conversation. You belong here as much as the rest of us and I hope that you are all loved in a way that is comforting to you.

orteil42

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

aheartofgold

I can’t stop thinking about Shane telling Ilya he’s eating empty calories in The Long Game, and how their diets are just a heartbreaking mirror of how they’re feeling about still keeping their secret.

Shane has his dietician recommended, nutritionally balanced diet that isn't what he wants - god he wants a burger so bad - but he knows that the regime he has will sustain him. It will keep him strong and at the top of his hockey game and it doesn't matter that it's not satisfying or indulgent or joyful because within the confines of his life it's enough. It has to be enough, it has to sustain him.

Shane uses his time with Ilya to sustain him for all the time he's not with Ilya right? He gets these beautiful moments with the love of his life, more than he could have dreamt of for the first 8 years they were together. He's trying so hard to make the best of what they have when they’re together so he can retain some of that feeling of joy when they’re apart. So what he has with Ilya is like. It's not perfect, he knows it's not perfect. But it can keep him going. It gives him what he needs and he can't ask any more of it because within the confines of his life it's all he can ask for. It has to sustain him.

But with Ilya, it’s like every second he is with Shane he is absolutely gorging on him. He’s trying to get his fill of that fleeting feeling of adoring and being adored from the second their eyes meet to the second the door closes behind Shane. He gets to live in this sweet, fantasy world when he’s with Shane, but the second he’s alone he’s left hollow and unsatisfied.

Empty calories.

toastedrivalry

If I may add, not only is this spot on analysis, but there's another beautiful layer to this. Because not only do their eating habits reflect how their relationship fulfills them, but it also reflects their choices in regards to each other and what they bring to their relationship.

Ilya meets Shane halfway with Shane's eating (disorder) habits and goes out of his way to find food that can bring Shane pleasure without breaking his rules. Meanwhile, he's unable to find much structure in his own life, and flounders when it comes to healthily processing information. We've seen him lash out, close up, and withhold information time and time again. He's happiest when he makes impulsive decisions that result in the natural introduction of more structure: getting serious with Shane, impulsively adopting a dog (arguably his best decision), and even going to therapy. Ilya is a man who thrives on and attempts to bring joy wherever he goes. This is likely a big part of why he gets along so well with children. Ilya is the little treat—something Shane usually doesn't let himself have. He is indulgence, he is pleasure, and he is living in the moment.

Little treats, friendly reminder, are critical to maintaining mental health. Too little and you have nothing to get you from place to place. Too much and you'll lack the structure to move at all.

Shane, meanwhile, is all structure. And he brings structure to Ilya's life, as well. He comes up with the Ottawa plan; the charity; the shift in publicity that covers their public relationship. But the moment he loses any small amount of that structure, he melts down. Total collapse of the Shane Ecosystem. There's no padding to support between the structure; no alternative way he has to keep afloat. He is the equivalent of a starving man getting injured. Since his needs are being met the the point of having nothing to sustain him, he just doesn't have any of that excess you need to heal. He's all work and no play, and his only escape from the stressors of daily life at this point is through Ilya—through the steps Ilya takes to inject joy into his life. Shane had issues bouncing back from small setbacks. He needs everything to be perfect. But that's unrealistic.

It's also very damaging, long term. Not just for the people doing it, but the people around them.

But, most importantly, it makes him blind to the parts of the plan that are going well on paper, but not in reality.

Ilya can tell when the pleasure is gone, but Shane can't. Shane only has the plan.

Shane can build the skeleton of their lives, and Ilya will do his darndest to meet him halfway, but he has to learn the hard way that excess and joy, things that a skeleton alone does not consist of, are needed to feed flesh and muscle and organs enough not just to be maintained, but to grow.

Alternatively, they are building a life and home around them, and Shane knows how to build the frame, and Ilya knows how to install the insulation, but someone has to set the drywall.

And I would like to suggest that the moment Shane finally learns this is the snickers bar. When he gives in to pleasure. When he lets the unsupported structure he'd built independent of Ilya (career with the Metros) fall like a deck of cards around him.

When he allows himself to seek pleasure and comfort outside of Ilya.

Ilya, meanwhile, learns this bit by bit, but it becomes Real to him in a big way after he talks to his therapist about the fight with Shane about the party invitation.

(I also like how David and Yuna very clearly have a similar relationship, and how Ilya gets along so well with David, who plays the same role he does.)

Okay, I'm done. Thanks for joining me in hell.

#heated rivalry #heated rivalry meta #aheartofgold #toastedrivalry

mariacallous

The candidate's team keeps telling us to ignore his rough edges. These are more than rough edges.

vaspider

But it is insulting to be told that a candidate’s private conduct is irrelevant to his political ambitions. In a candidate’s personal life, beneath the curated character he presents to the public, we see a clearer picture of who he is, which holds clues to how he’ll act in office. Is he guided by consistent principles or by the whims of the moment? Is he willing to make sacrifices for the long-term good, or is he susceptible to the pull of short-term gratification? Is he honest, dependable, hardworking, compassionate, prudent? If he is voted into office, will he embarrass himself with some new offense right before his next election, putting the fate of his party—and, more importantly, its policy aims—in jeopardy?

#us politics #us news #graham platner

just-the-salt

Didn't think that I'd have to post this exact comparison again, didn't even think I'd have to post it once, and yet I stand disappointed again.

On the left: a sign in German on a street in Bavaria, reading: "Jews are unwanted here." Photo taken by an American in 1937.

On the right: a message from a hotel in Bavaria, Zum Hirschen, sent to Israelis who tried to book a stay, reading: "Sorry, there are no Jews allowed in our hotel." June 2026.

Again, the incident has been "handled": Booking.com took the hotel off its platform and the hotel itself was contacted by the Israeli consulate in Munich. The hotel at first denied sending the message, but later stated that it was indeed one of its employees that sent it. It is yet unclear if the case will lead to formal proceedings.

Let me point out that one small detail. They didn't said Israelis weren't allowed, they didn't say Zionists weren't allowed. They said Jews. Now Bavarians aren't new at the scene of antisemitism, in fact they are very experienced, but nowadays, we don't say Jews when we're being discriminatory, no, we say something else. You're not supposed to say the quiet part out loud! (For those in my comments who don't understand sarcasm, that was it.)

This joins many concerning cases across Europe and the UK (not to mention the US!) that reenact the nostalgic scenes of the 1930s and 1940s. (Again, sarcasm). I haven't yet made a post about the spa in Spain that refused a Jewish woman on entry on account of her Magen David necklace. And here Europe strikes again, in the very place the Nazi party rose to power. All those woke westerners that are so proud to chant about punching Nazis, and where are you now? Aren't you ashamed? Wouldn't even recognize one if it was saluting in your face.

asinglewildflower

The Hotel zum Hirschen in Lam, Bavaria, has now been removed from the booking.com website, with local authorities investigating the incident

#antisemitism #news

dailyclassicart

Vincent van Gogh - "Field with Poppies" (1889)

#artists #van gogh #vincent van gogh

littlegoythings

'Are we back in the 1930s?' asks Israeli consul general, sharing message sent by Hotel zum Hirschen in Lam, Bavaria; booking site removes ho

#antisemitism #news

mxsadlad

Collage pride flags! These were so fun to make. I'm going to have them all together in a zine and available separately as prints.

#pride

bsaka7

excerpts from erin in the morning's article on the ioc's ban on transgender women and sex testing policy

#transphobia

sentrysvoid

Little Women dir. Greta Gerwig | 2019

#little women

spencerthespacer-deactivated202

captaincobaltblr

Hey wait a second, why did cats evolve to attack invisible things?

spencerthespacer-deactivated202

They were domesticated in Fertile Crescent and Egypt so probably an evolutionary advantage for snakes and scorpions that are hidden in sand and are more noticed by their movement than being seen directly