[his-desert-rose]

[murallamuerta]

[october-dreams-november-gleams]

[vodolei]

[likearecordscratch]

“There’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear.”

[wh1lly]

Imagine if people applied the “outdoor cat” logic to dogs too. We’d have a bunch of dogs running outside freely, collecting parasites and diseases, getting hit by cars, harassing/killing any smaller animals and breeding like crazy. And when you told someone that they probably shouldn’t let their dog outside without a leash because it’s not exactly safe, they’d just be like “oh well you know he’s happier that way and all that stuff is just a normal part of a dog’s life lol what can ya do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”.

[achoirofcritters]

Honest to God, this is what living in the rural South is like.

Our neighbors have a dog that literally roams the neighborhood. She has been hit by cars twice. She’s been infested with mange. She shits in every yard but her own. The difference is that… like, most people would agree these people are shitty, irresponsible pet owners for allowing their dog to do this. We have leash laws, etc., for dogs, and if it was anywhere but Kentucky where animal welfare laws are shit, law enforcement would probably come make them keep their dog confined to their own property. If she bites someone, they’d sure as fuck be liable. But everyone jumps up in defense if it’s a cat living the exact same life because “oh he’s got freedom, he’s happy, he’s not as ‘domesticated’ as a dog!”

[nonbinary-axolotl]

Can I then apply dog logic to cats? Because something I’ve noticed is that cats don’t get socialized… like at all. The whole “Asshole cat” stigma? It’s because said cat was never socialized and desensitized to things! 

When I got Holly, I socialized her the same way I would have socialized a puppy. She got to meet a bunch of new people, she got taught how harnesses and leashes work, and she got exposed to a TON of ‘uncomfortable’ situations. Car rides? Exposure. Going with me to Petshmo? Exposure. Being around a large group of people? EXPOSURE! 

Wanna know the result? I now have a cat that’s perfectly comfortable going on walks, going on car rides, and actually prefers her leash to being in a carrier! She loves people, and she’s friendly and not shy or defensive even if the person approaching her is a total stranger. She likes going places, even the vets office, because those aren’t terrifying experiences to her anymore because she got used to a lot of the stimuli as a 5 month old kitten (which is how old she was when I adopted her from the shelter). Every person who meets her remarks about how friendly and confident she is. That’s directly a result of how I socialized her as a kitten.

My other two cats weren’t socialized this way and they’re skittish around other people, don’t really like going anywhere other than “home,” and would rather die than be on a leash. They fight going into their carriers (Holly sleeps in hers like it’s a bed), and going to the vet is a terrifying experience for them (I only take them places that I absolutely HAVE to). 

Socialize your cats! It’s not as common as socializing dogs, but it’s really important to do, your cats will be way more confident and adaptable.

[fastwalker]

the only reason why people keep saying that cats are low maintenance pets is because it’s so normalized to neglect them

[birthdaylobotomy]

im….real? my existence has… impacts? i touch things and they move, i breath in and out and the air buzzes around me? the sun rests on my skin…. grass is crushed under my toes… people see me and have an idea of who i am… my name is on papers….? im sorry this is… this is too much….  

[carharttlesbian]

sexual boundaries can never be immoral. not sorry. to say otherwise is rape rhetoric. 

[eubalaena]

this is literally about thinking trans women are just men

[kiefbowl]

pay attention and people will just tell on themselves

[renamonkalou]

Hiidenportti National Park 📷 Anna-Elina Lahti

[parkayquarts]

female clients on q eye: shes been the school principal and the book club presidnt and a preacher at the church and the literal mayor all at the same time for 80 years. she has literally never slept since she was 25. its time for her to finally take some time to herself.

male clients: he has no friends because he sits in his bathtub every day playing fortnite and eating nachos 3 meals a day. he doesnt know what a spatula is. he has never washed his dick and balls

[october-dreams-november-gleams]

[helloitsbees]

me: *shaves legs* hehhee i am slippry like dolphin

my brain:

me:..............slippry like dolphin

[inkskinned]

“Even angry she was beautiful”. Even tired. Even sick. Even one crazy night later. Even with two broken ribs. Even, even, even.

An eye hangs in front of me. Always watching. How silly for me to care about being pretty. But I care about being pretty.

Do men feel like this? Even alone sometimes I catch myself fixing, tidying. I cross windows no one can see in and I worry that someone will see in. I lock the bathroom door and have strange, unlikely thoughts about people who will sneak in and rip the curtain off the rod and see me naked. Sometimes, in the worst moments, I wonder: what if there’s a camera and people are seeing this ugliness.

My mother taught me to plan underwear in such a way that if they found your body you wouldn’t be embarrassed. It seems insane until you watch six seconds of television; where our dead bodies are almost always mostly naked, even beautiful in death. I worry I will die in an unflattering position.

“Who cares what they think?” I ask myself. I don’t even want the attention of men. Dressing for the attention of men on a daily basis is a dangerous thing and isn’t sustainable on the metro system. I want the attention of other women.

But I still look in the mirror and adjust things. I do this and don’t think about men. I wear makeup and it’s not for men. I sit pretty in traffic and it’s not for men. This eye, I guess. The “them”. It never blinks. Maybe I am the one who is watching.

The woman in the comic book has been kidnapped and tortured. We zoom in on her lips. Beautiful. Even then.

[prsephonies-deactivated20200815]

looking back on old photos of yourself is an act of mourning, always. how many times have you looked at pictures of yourself from even just a few months ago and thought “who is that? did i look like that? she’s beautiful” but fail to reconcile it with how you felt. that girl is me and that girl is beautiful but i have never been her, y’know? and the cycle is endless. i am always longing to be myself from two years ago, or six months ago, or last night. SHE was beautiful in ways i don’t know how to be now. i’m grieving for the death of my past selves, constantly, and grieving for the time they wasted mourning THEIR predecessors when they could’ve been feeling beautiful. in between disparaging remarks about the weight she holds around her midsection, my mother shows me photos from when she was younger and handles them gently; “i was kind of a looker back then, wasn’t i?” i wonder what i’ll be saying about this body in thirty years. i wonder if it’ll be kind

[maridelmars-deactivated20220329]

[karazrel]

insp

[hedgehogsdilemmas-deactivated20]

girls!!! we gotta fail more often!!! we’re so scared of failure and disappointing people and looking stupid that we don’t even TRY things! men?? men brush off failure like it’s nothing! if a man doesn’t get a job he wanted, it’s because they didn’t review his application fairly! it’s because the competition was tough this year! it’s because he just needs to try harder next time! men just DO things!!! and you know what DOING things builds?? confidence!!! even if you fail!! the more you fail, the more confident you are that you can fail and survive! women don’t even wanna try unless they are 100% certain that they’re qualified and competent and won’t disappoint anybody! but that is NONSENSE. men are out there getting positions they’re not even qualified for, while over-qualified but less-confident women are staying where it’s safe bc they’re afraid to rock the boat!!! DO. IT. apply for the thing! ask for the raise! enter the competition! get used to failing ALL the time! fail quickly and move on!!! if a cocky but mediocre man would do it, then for the love of god, GO DO THE DAMN THING. you are SO much more qualified than you think you are.

[peachyjude]

I LOVE YOU