Related Recs

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sudden friends to lovers fairytale arc

now i am a very lucky person because i am in love with some who was once one of my best friends. (sadly this rec probably isn’t universally applicable but contains good lessons i hope!) i’d met him during the first week of freshman year of college, and we immediately became close. hung out a ton and related on a lot of issues/values but our interactions were always platonic. by wintertime we were being seen together around campus a ton, to the point that our acquaintances started asking whether we were a couple. we’d laugh at the idea, even joking about it ourselves. oh how oblivious we were. spring rolled around and i suddenly caught feelings. for a couple weeks i tried to convince myself i didn’t like him because i was so afraid of losing our beautiful friendship. i thought it impossible that he would feel the same as me. yes, pretty torturous!! alas, my Emotional Suppression didn’t work. thank god, because one night when we were hanging out in my room he finally kissed me. i had been so afraid but instantly i knew it was right. the risk was worth it. we’ve now been together for almost two years and he is truly the love of my life. he is the best risk I’ve ever taken. yes this is so platitudinous, but sometimes love comes when you least expect it and appears in odd places! more generally, i think - looking for people whose values align with yours is a wonderful place to start establishing intimate and long-lasting relationships, both platonic and romantic. - it’s never worthwhile to force something to work out if your gut tells you it’s wrong — you’re worth more than that. love doesn’t thrive when it’s fed by obligation and pressure. - don’t be afraid to present yourself in your full authenticity to others. if someone else has a problem with You in your Grandest Expression, they’re not worth your energy. love is meant to affirm and expand who you are, not place boundaries on it. - go on self dates and explore what it means to have a loving relationship with yourself! you, as a singular self, are already whole and enough without having a partner. you are complete as a baseline regardless of your relationship status; a partner is meant to complement and embrace this wholeness!! love is ridiculous and hard and beautiful; trust it when you feel it!!

@antifabricated

Nov 10, 2024

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letting people love you the way they want to

Sometimes I get caught up chasing ideals of love. Growing up with immigrant parents in the US, I wished my parents showed me love the way my friends' parents did. My parents seemed cold in comparison to the affection I saw my friends receiving. I fell for best friends who did love me but never enough and never in the ways I wanted them to. Nowadays I have grown to appreciate the ways in which my parents do show me love -- when they ask if I've eaten or when I dye my mom's hair as she peels me oranges. Friendship to me no longer needs to be tied up in such rigid binaries. It's not the label of a relationship I'm after but rather just the intimacy of knowing other people. I try not to focus so much on how I wish to be loved by other people and instead pay attention to all the different ways I am loved. Acting with a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity. And in that way, everything feels enough. Disclaimer: Establishing boundaries is paramount. Love that is corrosive or manipulative is not love.

@ave

Feb 1, 2024

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hopeless romantic + realist

i’m definitely a hopeless romantic but i think i have a good sense of realistic expectations in (romantic) love. so obviously i hope i find someone that’s like the loml but i understand how rare that is! and i find it much more important to spend time appreciating love for yourself and others and nature and so on. all loves are important and abundant when you embrace them! maybe related — i know it’s the generational norm but dating apps feel way too unnatural to me. i also think when we talk about “love of your life” it’s always finite; i believe it’s more normal/realistic to have someone be the love of your life at a specific point in your life, and later you maybe part ways when you realize your lives and selves have separately evolved from that time. but i know so many people who define their lives/future over being in their specific relationship (regardless if it’s monogamous or not!) and i have found that is unhealthy and unsustainable. i think you can get so deep into a relationship that you drown in it!

@marxinista

May 14, 2024

Top Recs from @moonbeam

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paris is burning (1990)

not much to say that hasn’t been said. will make you cry especially hard after some wine, speaking from much experience…

@moonbeam

Mar 20, 2024

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keeping up with the moon

she’s the one who keeps our emotions and hydration levels in check. i dunno about anyone else but i’ve been crazy dehydrated lately — there’s a full moon tomorrow PLUS “daylight saving time” begins... this is also a new moon in pisces sooo i could be fully delusional. as with most things, only time can tell!

@moonbeam

Mar 9, 2024

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ramen raijin

in mid december i had the absolute pleasure of enjoying this spicy miso ramen before spending some time at the royal ontario museum (like i do every third tuesday of the month), half-baked ogling at the rocks and minerals exhibit on the third floor. this spot is by no means some hidden gem, but it’s rare for me to experience a restaurant that lives up to its praise (looking at you two, fresca and craig's cookies) and i was also pleasantly surprised to see cocktails for under $10! in a cave of mediocre food spots in the yonge/wellesley area, ramen raijin is shiny treasure. they don’t do reservations and the atmosphere discourages campers at tables so operations run smoothly; everything from the demeanour of their staff to the quality of the food radiates excellence… i will be returning and tipping generously <3

@moonbeam

Jan 27, 2024