#metaphors for life

[applestruda]

And all these words are sweet and meaningless You can't trust a single thing I say

#this series is so metaphor #grian #grian fanart #secret life smp #traffic smp #trafficblr #secret life spoilers #life series spoilers #my art

[inkskinned]

something bad happened to you, and you died, and you came back wrong.

not wrong all the way. the little ways. you forget important dates, stopped going out with friends. it's harder to make you smile. you're apathetic towards things you used to love, afraid of places you used to go to cheer up. quieter. flinching. different.

you came back for love. you're still here for love. what pulled you back was a brightness so loud that even death couldn't outshout it. death heard the call and smiled at you and said okay. go home. somebody is waiting for you.

but you came back different. like lot's wife; you've turned into salt. you used to chirp through life in hops and skips; but now you lose skin just standing up. you have to move slower, skimming across this world without-touching-it. most things feel dull - until they're suddenly all-too-much. life, and being alive just rushes up and over you and you get hopelessly crushed.

you try to explain it to them: it is ugly, but this is what you are, now. the huge golden hoop of your halo now a little bronze ring. you are still watering your plants and wearing the same clothes. after all, you worked hard to come home. this life; so odd and off-color, now that you are wrong.

but they waited for you - it's just that they wanted the "you" that happened before this. the "you" that could sing in the show and hug people tight and look at a blade without breaking down to cry. the you with a smile in pictures. god, holyshit, it's like looking at a completely different person, isn't it. that other-you; the one they actually wanted.

you are the consolation prize. you are the body that forgot the ghost. you are the memory of the bad thing, and the death after; like you are wearing that memory as a banner. you are a fragment, an assembly. simulacrum. you don't make eye contact in mirrors, afraid the light will glance off and your true nature will flash back at you.

you hear them talk about it in their hushed, desperate whispers. sometimes they even admit it to your face; harsh and violent, acid thrown at christmas dinner. god, can you just fucking be normal again. you do not remember what normal is. you had to climb so far to get back here; you are far too exhausted. you want to open the glass door of your heart and show all the gears. can you help resolve whatever got messed up?

you try so, so hard. you came back for them. because you believed they would love you, even when you were so horribly broken. because you believed they would be patient. because you believed unconditional meant "without exception." you cannot do things the same way. you just get tired too quickly these days.

you want to put them on a couch and pour them the tea with hands that shake more than they remember. you want to line them up and draw them a map of where you have had to wander. you want to show every bruise in a backsplash; the little helpless ant of your soul carrying all that weight, over and over. you want to say: yes! it is different! but i did it for love!

you want to say: "i'm not the same, but i'm yours and i'm here. can that be enough?"

#this is very obviously about my battle with #ptsd #but i think it's also like a pretty apt metaphor for a lot of things like setting boundaries or going to therapy or choosing recovery #i was thinking about the 'comes back wrong' trope and i was like. oh no i have feelings about this bc i have mental illness #and once i stopped masking - i was WRONG. i was different #here's the good news: i am now INNUNDATED with love. fucking swimming in it. excelling at it. the people who stayed #learned my new self. my new different body and how i am different but i am trying. they have held me so tightly #and my life no longer feels quiet. it is not based in my suffering. it feels like i have been growing a tree in my chest #and now it is flowering. #it is so lovely to be surrounded by people who have said - oh! you cut off so many branches i was worried you weren't the same. but now... #... this is just a new you. and i love you. and i love that you're different and happy. #(but yeah also im nb so i was absolutely influenced by Trans things)

[cubbyyyy]

You know what makes me sit in silence everytime i think about it?

The fact that Andrew was attracted to every version of Neil.

He thought he was hot when he still had his brown eyes/brown hair

He thought he was hot when he had blue eyes/brown hair

He thought he was hot when he had blue eyes/auburn hair and the number 4 tattooed under his eye. ”you are a pipe dream“ , he said, looking at Neils bruised and most honest self.

Then Baltimore. Neil got tortured. Got bruised all over his skin, scars that’ll never be forgotten and what does Andrew do? He asks yes or no and kisses his hip.

It sure af wasn’t love at first sight but the fact that his initial attraction never faded gives you a hint about what Neil is for Andrew.

(Not to mention how the versions of Neil changed the more Andrew learned about Neil as well. First he was Neil. Then he was Abram. Then he was Nathaniel. Until he finally became Neil Abram Josten.

All the lies. All the truths. It all came together and Andrew was there during all of it).

and if I start talking about Neil falling for Andrew the more he learned about him and the role he took over-

(Neil is there to protect the one who protects them all)

#andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #aftg #they are in love sir #don’t get me started on Neil fr #or how this is a metaphor about life #andrew will stay no matter what #seeing the ugly and still be in love #life is ugly #but they have each other #so it’s okay #in love with nora for writing them #nora sakavic #thank you #you were amazing #don’t make the Neil though

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

The Holdovers (Alexander Payne, 2023)

#The Holdovers #Alexander Payne #Paul Giamatti #2023 #quote #Dominic Sessa #destiny #metaphor #life #freedom #philosophy

[justl-12]

"I've gotten good at leaning on metaphors I've gotten good at living on someone else's page I cut my teeth on second-hand sentiments You can't trust a single thing I say"

this was originally going to be personal art but i liked how it turned out so here ya go

#pearlescentmoon #my art #trafficblr #secret life #pearlescentmoon fanart #was listening to metaphor on loop when doing this

[theminecraftbee]

Etho and Grian are back at base, hysterically laughing over their achievement. Cleo sits inside, staring, as the two of them talk about getting a wither and a warden to fight, and tries to figure out what she feels about it.

In some ways it's not their fault. Task made them do it and all that. Plus--

Well, it's not like she and Etho are losing hearts anytime soon. They've both done a damn good job keeping themselves from dying. A benefit, Cleo thinks, of deciding to team with Etho this time. Between the two of them, they'll largely only do chaos they can recover from. Maybe this is their game. Maybe this time, Cleo manages to stick with someone until the very end. It looks like it. It looks like...

Grian, of course, is the confounding factor.

She wasn't going to turn him away. He needed allies. They needed someone a bit better at actually doing damage than herself or Etho. It's mutually beneficial. And, besides, he's weirdly lovable, in an inherently kind of dangerous way. A little like loving a bobcat someone had accidentally raised as a pet cat until it got a bit too big and stinky and murdery for them. Like, yeah, he shouldn't be domesticated and he's not, really, in any sense of the word, but it's a bit sad to watch him try to survive on his own now, right?

Hah. Maybe that's what Scar managed to do to him. Would explain a lot, really.

Anyway, he's her bobcat now, which is the problem.

See the thing is: Cleo understands Etho. It's why finally deciding to be partners for once felt... right. They're similar flavors of people. Scared, mostly. Survivors, but not in the 'will stab anyone' way that like, Martyn is. Loyal, although Cleo has no delusions that Etho is as loyal as she. And scared. Has she already said that? Scared. It's important to the kinds of things she and Etho are. Like... mountain lions, maybe. Mountain lions that have been around just enough people to know how dangerous they are. Like that.

God, she's only doing cat metaphors. Bdubs really is turning them all into furries.

Anyway, the point is, Grian isn't scared.

And that... terrifies her.

That's scarier than anything else. Because, see, Cleo wants to survive. But more than that, she wants her partners to survive. And she and Etho, the two of them are doing well. Better than most people. They're green and they have so many hearts.

But Grian? Grian's yellow and not afraid and goading Etho into not being afraid too. It's not their fault, exactly, Cleo thinks. They both had hard tasks. They didn't have a choice, Cleo thinks.

But. But.

She doesn't know what to do, if Etho gets convinced the humans down the mountain aren't scary. She doesn't know what to do if he gets too close. She doesn't know what to do if he gets hurt.

Because she--she doesn't think she can learn to stop being scared, anymore.

But she also doesn't know how many times her heart can stand to lose someone.

Did you know--wild cats are social? They have a reputation for being loners, but mountain lions, they're social. They don't do well being alone. They don't actually hunt solely alone. That's the important bit here. They seem independent, sure, but actually...

Anyway. This is Bdubs's fault. For making her a furry, apparently.

She watches Grian and Etho scheme together and sits back and breathes and tells herself that Etho isn't going to stop being afraid anytime soon. That if push came to shove, he, at least, would retreat back, and that maybe the two of them could convince Grian to retreat too. Safe from hunters. Safe from red.

Maybe safe from hurting each other, too.

(She's not so sure about that part.)

#secret life smp #secret life spoilers #zombiecleo #a bee fic #staring in. cleo and the fact she seems to consider dying before or at the same time as her allies as her happy ending #staring in. cleo and the fact that the thing she and etho have most in common is CAUTION. #and then staring at grian. #hm. well. hopefully that ends better than it seems like it might. #ALSO SHOUTOUT TO ME HAVING THE BRITISH PERSON USE METAPHORS USING EXCLUSIVELY AMERICAN WILDCATS #in my defense they're the ones i'm actually familiar with

[lover-of-mine]

"Buck is attached to this symbolism of couches being related to relationships, and that's not something that's actually going away anytime soon."

#911 #911 fox #911 on fox #911edit #buddieedit #buddie #evan buckley #my edit #otp: you don't need to pretend with me #look im the first to admit im reaching at any point in time #but COME ON #you cant establish the couch as a metaphor and just do stuff like this and expect me to just be normal about it #you have him run to eddie then just throw himself on eddies couch and fall asleep in seconds and just expect me to move on with my life #i am going absolutely feral #1k #2k #3k #4k

[liauditore]

do NOT watch "x-life" whatever you do do NOT watch "x-life"

#x life smp #flower husbands #jimmy solidarity #joel smallishbeans #scott smajor #lizzie ldshadowlady #cw horror #<- for lizzie lol jic #what a fever dream of a watchthrough jesus christ. #come to my essay next week for my jeremyism being a metaphor for relationships #my art

[fuckingwhateverdude]

@nosebleedclub / jan. #24

#lied slightly ab my hiatus bc i wanted to write this so bad #dog metaphors r taking over my life fr #my writing #my writing tag #original poem #dog motif #dogs #dog metaphor #dog poem #canine #metaphor #nosebleedclub #nosebleed club #poetry #spilled ink #vent writing #mental illness #social isolation #anger issues #trust issues #animal motif

[weaponizedducks]

If bbc merlin wasn't gay then tell me why my middle aged, agressively heterosexual father that thought neil and todd were straight just turned to me and told me magic was an allegory for queerness. fucking riddle me that

#like actually HOW did the writers not realise what they were writing #i don't think i've ever been this shellshocked #he just said it outta nowhere and i fully froze in horror #he was like do you realise what magic is a metaphor for #meanwhile i'm having a heart attack #i fully said no and denied it was even gay #fighting for my fucking life #merlin #bbc merlin #merthur #blue rewatches merlin

[thankstothe]

The real plot of season 7

#house md #james wilson #lisa cuddy #screencap #s07e01 “Now What?” #s07e05 “Unplanned Parenthood” #s07e017 “Fall from Grace” #he was trying to cheer cuddy up but im 100% sure hes also serious #this mf sees a window goes “is anyone going to climb through that?” and doesnt wait for an answer #girl that is always aware of the exit points #or entrance #multifunctional! #escape artiste #theres metaphor in here somewhere #something about wilson still finding a way into houses life even when front door is closed and even if it in unconventional manner

[adriancatrin]

soulmark au sketches. the idea of sokka in proven ‘soulmates are real’ universes consistently intrigues me—how would that impact his skepticism/interpretation of fate/destiny/free will? personally i think he’d be very angry for a very long time and probably not even understand why

#my art #it’s just a ‘important moments in your soulmates life show up on u through kinda vague occasionally metaphorical marks #fuck i love soulmate aus lol #the clothes lean a lil fire nation/earth kingdomy i think but i was just riding the high of drawing #knowing if i stopped to do research i might just. stop entirely #so i just winged it #wung it. u could even say #anyways #sokka #avatar the last airbender #zukka #soulmate au #i imagine that in this au sokka zuko and probably aang all get matching ‘avatar beam of light!’ soulmarks #just giant white-blue beams all the way up their arm or leg or torso or somethin #cuz like. life changing moment for each of them lol #katara would get like. her own eyes or something representing her eye color for the moment aang wakes up and sees her #lol just saw i forgot to color his mouth in the first sketch lol

[kourota]

being a writer is just thinking that anything and everything is great writing material. people watching while you wait for your bus? writing material. experiencing something that's gonna scar you for life? writing material. getting chased by chickens and running for your life? writing material.

#one time in the middle of an anxiety attack i was like #“hey thats a new feeling i should use this metaphor in my next chapter” #and ngl that helped me calm down bc i was so focused on trying to describe my pain that i forgot about it lmao #ive also lived a chaotic life and gotten into a lot of hilarious situations so yee #writing #writing memes #memes #funny #writers on tumblr #writers on ao3 #anything can be writing material if you try hard enough #myrambles

[guqin-and-flute]

Something about the fact that these shots are all grouped together, one after another, visually giving them equal weight just gets me. The narrative knows what's going to happen between JGY and Huaisang at this point, knows how it's going to treat JGY at the end of everything. And it still takes time to show Meng Yao instinctively and immediately going in front of Huaisang and Huaisang instinctively and immediately hiding behind him. It takes the time--literally, showed it in the background and focused on it with the same general amount of time as the other shots--to show that this act of protection and trust are just as real and true as Jiang Cheng defending his sister, as Wen Qing defending her younger brother.

Like, I dunno! There are other Nie juniors there! They have swords and shit! Huaisang could have gone and hid behind the wall, but he hid behind Meng Yao! And Meng Yao could have moved back with Huaisang, but he steps directly in front of him!

There's a lot CQL did to JGY's character and narrative that I don't like and that flatten or just straight up erase his full complexity. But I really appreciate the lengths that it went to in Episode 4 to explicitly tell us that he does not hesitate to protect Huaisang, even though at this point he does not have a sword and definitely does not have anywhere near the same cultivation power (if any) as any of the rest of the people in the room.

Right now, after being publicly humiliated, unarmed and definitely outclassed, he is brave. Along with the rest of the characters, he's allowed to be uncomplicatedly young and loyal and just as innocent as any of the other students there.

#Besides Wen Chao fuck u bud #Honestly I think that along with Xichen Huaisang is the other person he legitimately never considered hurting #(In the same way that he didn't consider killing Mingjue hurting them but I digress) #With Xichen I think there were plenty of times were he came to the conclusion that fucking him over or overtly manipulating him #in a disadvantageous way would benefit himself and he actively decided that he would not do that #Whereas with Huaisang I just get the impression that it never occurred to him to do that #And I'm not saying that was ALWAYS out of the goodness of his heart #I think he genuinely didn't think he would get anything out of taking advantage of Huaisang personally or politically #Which is not the most ringing of endorsement next to 'I knew I could and chose not to' #But it wasn't ALWAYS that #for a man who has to constantly be on guard and look for leverage in every single interaction and aspect of his life #I think it's pretty significant that he let Huaisang in so close that he was shocked when he found a metaphorical sword in his chest #along with the physical one #Because in never trying to hurt him he never felt he had to defend against him #He loved him. They both loved each other :( #Also him finding Huaisang's bird antics so genuinely amusing in the background of this ep is just 😭 #jgy #nhs #my stuff #jgy meta #nhs meta #text

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)

#My Own Private Idaho #Gus Van Sant #River Phoenix #quote #world #road #roads #metaphor #final scene sleep #1991 #end #ending #life

[ysabellious]

“It’s true I can block out the pain. I don't feel any pain anymore!”

#sayaka miki moment #sayaka miki #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #ysart #art #fighting for my life in the metaphorical trenches of my brain so a silly doodle became a 2h procrastination scheme #I have a test in 10h I have not began studying #cw blood