I would also like to introduce the concept of touch ARFID. You finally get out of touch starvation but actually it's only okay if it's like. One person specifically. Perhaps two, or five, but any person not on your safe touch list and you will get nauseous, you will get so revoltingly sick, and you know you have to expand your palate and just "not be bothered" by the occasional shoulder tap of an unsafe touch person because normal people are fine with it why can't you be? but it makes you so violently sick to your stomach and you curl up and do anything to make that touch go away, it wasn't meant to affect you but here you are
It took you so long to get accustomed to each new person you integrated into your safe persons list. It was agonizing at first but it was something you were willing to do because of all you'd been through together, the two of you, and you trust them to the end of the earth, and over time their touch became as dear to you as their presence.
But any of these other "normal" people? Forget it
touch-starvation needs to be written with emphasis on the starving part. you are hungry to be touched. so hungry that even the very taste of it makes you nauseous. it has been long since anything has ever touched you, ever fed you - that your body has grown more used to that gnawing emptiness more than anything else. it's better for you to be held, to eat but it makes you sick to try. you know
keep a little mail under my pillow for the 🎵mailmannn🎵
like God knows us inside and out, yeah? He knows the things we love and the character traits we have and the weird things we do and whatnot? and so maybe you're hopping on leaves playing the floor is lava secretly even though you're a grown adult and if people knew what you were doing they'd like, scoff, but God is watching and He's smiling!!! He's going "aww I'm so glad they're enjoying those leaves and this nice weather and they're so cute when they do that"!!!!
and like. how amazing is it that we little pebbles down here are cared about so much by GOD that the little things we little pebbles do make Him smile and light up and be so glad He made us :)
isn't it amazing how we can bring God joy?
Hm I might be reblogging more these days BUT I HAVE A STORY!
tl;dr #8 on the aforementioned list is fantastic and *NOT just for flirting*
Last year (actually around this time of year) I was in a store looking for plantains (disappointed in what I could find but hey, the store was in Nevada) and while in the checkout line this old man approaches me just a little too fast and goes
"Do you always look like..." and boy howdy I was ready for some awkward way to avoid the conversation BUT THEN HE GOES "...you're up to something?"
And fellas it's been a long day you have no idea how far I drove and how long I'd been in stores that day
and I just
staring dead-eyed at this random old stranger
say
"Yes."
Feeling stuck trying to give your characters a good flirty one-liner that doesn't sound cringe/overdone? Here are 20 ideas/dialogue prompts for you (that I may or may not have stolen from my own books):
“I must warn you: you have a dangerous effect on my heart rate.” / "You have no idea what you're doing to my heart right now."
"If I said I wasn’t thinking about you, I’d be lying. And I’m a terrible liar."
"You know, I could get lost in those eyes, but I'd probably trip over my words trying to find my way back." (could also double as description/inner monologue).
“I can’t tell if you’re really charming or if I’m just easily charmed.”
“You have a knack for making me forget what I was going to say. It’s kind of impressive/infuriating.”
“I think you owe me a drink. When I saw you, I dropped mine.”
“I’ve been trying to find the perfect excuse to hang out, but I keep forgetting everything when I’m around you.”
“I bet you get away with a lot of trouble with that smile.”
“You must be a magician because every time you walk in, everyone else disappears.” (The right character could pull it off I swear)
"I’ve been trying to think of something clever to say, but all my brain can come up with is how much I want to (kiss) you."
"I saw that little glance—you’re not as sneaky as you think."
"How do you manage to make even the most mundane things sound exciting?"
"You do this cute thing with your hands when you’re nervous, you know?"
“One more word, and I might just have to kiss you.”
"Finally, there's that pretty smile of yours. I've been waiting for it all day."
"You keep staring—should I be flattered?" / "Keep looking at me like that and I might start thinking you have a crush on me."
"Do you have any idea how fun it is to watch you try to keep a straight face?"
"I’m pretty sure you could charm the socks off anyone, but I’d like to keep mine on for now."
"If laughter is the best medicine, then I’m pretty sure you’re my favorite doctor."
"Is it bad that I kind of like the way you’re trying to mess with me?"
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akshfhwjfjahejfjnf thank you for sharing this!!
“I should be distressed that I drop off to sleep during my prayers and during my thanksgiving after Holy Communion. But I don’t feel at all distressed. I know that children are just as dear to their parents whether they are asleep or awake and I know that doctors put their patients to sleep before they operate. So I just think that God ‘knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.'”
St. Therese of Lisieux
can confirm! this is the 3706th writing tip of all time!
write the first word, then the last word, then the second word, then the second to last word, then keep going until you meet in the middle
"And... what do I do with the other two wishes?" the genie asks, looking... uncomfortable?
You thumb through the book in your hand, watching the genie flicker like stop motion as you look between her and the book's pages. The deal is done. You close the book and set it aside.
"Well, you could just give them to the next person, right?"
"No, each person gets three. You, the next person, the next. They can't have four or five."
"But I can have just one, right?"
"Honestly... I don't know? From what I know it's more transitory; you can have one wish under the premise that you will eventually have your second and third."
There are things you could wish for. Maybe you could apply the same principle to writing. Or you could as for a nice honey and lemon drink, something to just get the wishes out of the way. But something inside you just... doesn't want that.
"What about you?" you find yourself asking, eyes lowered to the ground. Ashamed? "Does it... does it ever get tiring?"
She heaves a sigh. "If you're thinking about wishing for my freedom, hoping to leverage a friend out of the deal, I prefer to remain in my genie state. (And they patched that bug years ago.)"
"Of course they did," you muse, not giving that part too much thought. You were asking a different question. "But what I meant was, the magic. Do you ever get tired?"
She's quiet for a moment. "What do you mean?" she asks, voice a little whisperier than before.
"Is that a yes?"
Quiet.
"You could - you could stay here. Or everywhere. Wherever. You don't have to not be a genie, you just don't have to grant wishes for a while either. I'm still thinking of my last two wishes." Your heart is beating way harder than you feel is justified. You pick up the book again and open it to some page in the beginning middle, staring down the words until your racing heart slows down.
You close the book to find the genie lost in thought.
She looks at you with a half smile. "I gave you that power, you know. I'm something of exempt from the time-pausing."
You redden a bit. "Sorry."
"It gave me time to think," she says.
You both stand there for a minute.
"And did you-"
"Keep your wishes," she blurts. "Don't use them."
You're both trembling, you because of what you might have just done, her probably for similar reasons.
"Do you want a hug?"
She engulfs you in a huge embrace, still shaking like a leaf. "I'll be back one day," she says.
Then the hug ends, and she turns and goes. Out the door and gone.
You retire to the couch to scrunch up in a corner and process everything that just happened. Time would pass, and...
Well, you had work in the morning. You pick up a book. No matter what you read, it all comes out reminding you of her.
She'd be back one day.
"YOU HAVE THREE WISHES," the genie says grandly. "Oh no, that's fine I don't need all three. I just wanted one." The genie raises an eyebrow. "So what is your 'one' wish?" "I wish for time to stop every time I pick up and read a book—and start again when I put it down, so I always have time to read."
ALRIGHT
ALRIGHT,
current mood im experiencing
here to explore (you can call me music, pronouns I'll leave up to you!)
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