← words that resonate
Escape. Escape from what? To what? She had no idea.
"Because I want to be alone. Because I want to be free."

— Out, Natsuo Kirino


I'm listening to something sad on my headphones. Some love song. I've always related to love song lyrics in a different way, usually some kind of mourning of my relationship with myself, I don't know.

— The New Me, Halle Butler


I kept failing to remember the things that were said in conversations because I was so nervous in the moment.
I don't want to pretend I'm special, but I do want to be happy. I want to own my own life [...] to simply acknowledge the fact that I'm an independent individual.

— I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki, Baek Se-hee


— Aono-kun ni Sawaritai kara Shinitai, Umi Shiina


When you look at the bigger picture, you have it pretty good. Compared to other people in this world, you have a really good life. Maybe it's not what you think it should be but...you do. You have a good life.

— Shy Boys (28:17-28:35)


I don't care. it's not my job to make him happy.
— j_a, 2023
※ we went karaoking with mutuals of mutuals. this was her response to me when I asked if she noticed that someone in the group seemed like they weren't having a good time.

— Ase to Sekken, Kintetsu Yamada


"so what's up?"

— 2 random men on the subway, June. 16, 2018 @ 4:10PM


I know life can be so difficult and I want you to know that I'm proud of everything you accomplish even if it seems small.

— comment from someone named sunny on a random tiktok


"You live on, even if it sucks—what else?"
I don't want the duties that come with a collective, it's no fair that they make demands on me just because I belong here. I want to be like an anonymous consumer—pay for a service, get my money's worth, grab the receipt, then go home and be left alone to go to sleep. Talking with other people wears me out, so please, leave me alone, please, please, even if it means I die a solitary death.
— Mina, Kim Sagwa
※ I classify this as an "undesirable" quote; I want to be a person who doesn't resonate with it, but I've undeniably and truthfully have/had thoughts like this before. what I objectively know: individualism has mostly done harm, there's a comforting feeling of being around people (you like), and not percieving myself as an interloper before giving people the chance to get to know me has helped my self-image immensely. despite, the objective positives, it still sometimes feels so intense and troublesome that being alone seems easier. even when you know it makes you feel selfish and worst long term, it's familiar enough to be managed. if I were recruited in a cult, I would be kicked out for not wanting to interact with the members lol.

And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are.
I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. Maybe that is what makes people "participate".
And nobody felt sad as long as we could postpone tomorrow with nostalgia.

— The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky


clothes will always be there
— m_a, 2019
※ I like to read old texts. sometimes I have to guess who I'm talking to because I delete contacts when it's been too long. m_a is one of those friends where I wish we could be regular friends instead of friend-from-a-specific-time friends. I feel love for her even if we don't talk. we didn't end up ever going thrifting together but that's okay.

You wanna know what I do when I have a really bad, awful, terrible day? I imagine my great-great-great granddaughter in the future, talking to her class about me. She's poised, and funny, and tells people about me and how everything worked out in the end. And when I think about that, I think about how everything's going to work out, because how else could she tell people?

— Princess Carolyn, Bojack Horseman


There's a light on in the attic. Though the house is dark and shuttered, I can see a flickerin' flutter, And I know what it's about. There's a light on in the attic. I can see it from the outside, And I know you're on the inside...lookin' out.

— Shel Silverstein, A Light In The Attic


the next song is called "silence". so I'm gonna need silence from you guys.

— some guy performing at a jazz restaurant, b_a's birthday dinner 2024


— Kyuujitsu no Warumono-san, Yuu Morikawa


They're just not willing, and it's so frustrating cause I see myself when I wasn't willing.

— Wardrobe Stylist Interview - Cosmo (32:12-32:17)


It had dawned on me only very recently that the things I truly want to get across to others were actually few and far between, and they didn't have to be conveyed in a loud voice or even in words at all. I only wished I'd realized that sooner.

— So We Look to the Sky, Misumi Kubo


We were like ugly catfish, living on the bottom of a stagnant swamp. But in moments like this even catfish, ignorant of why they were born that way, manage to float to the water's surface to breathe in clean air and, in the light of the sun, witness the world as it is meant to be seen. Only during such moments were we able to be as normal people.

— Nan-Core, Mahokura Numata


my comfort zone is very different from your comfort zone, so you should respect that.
— 9/10 year old boy on the subway talking to his mom, May. 8, 2024 @ 5:47PM
※ how beautiful and amazing that he could express his boundaries so clearly. I've been thinking of his words to myself a lot.

I started to realize that nothing ever happens if you don't impose on people.

— Butter, Asako Yuzuki


Radically accepting your life for all it is.

— thank you tiktok comments for not always being a rotting pit, 2024


You move your body like everyone around you is an obstacle and you have to dodge them all. But you're not looking down on everyone, it's more...How should I put it?...It's like you're so focused on where you're going, and you want to get there fast. The way you walk, it's like...the opposite of cowardice.
I have no weak points. Yata's words stuck with me. That's not strength, though. It shows a certain seperation from life. It's closer to loneliness or despair.

— The Kingdom, Fuminori Nakamura


— Gunjo, Ching Nakamura
※ I found these while cleaning up my google drive files...they are terrible, low quality screenshots taken in 2016 from my old old tablet that doesn't turn on anymore. I loved reading manga on that thing. "don't despair" and "you can despair" have been mantras that have cradled and slapped me through tough times. I don't know if I could ever stomach re-reading this.

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