#it looks like it's only a hate crime because I hated it

[centrally-unplanned]

We have results of the "Denver Basic Income Project" targeted at homeless groups in the region, which from their lens must be quite disappointing:

Groups A and B are the experimental groups, receiving $1k a month for a year or the same amount as a lump sum. Group C got $50 a month, a "compliance" payment to make sure they show up for data collection essentially. Hilariously, the website is pretending Group C is not a control group, since they got the pennies they dug out of the sofa cushion, and saying this is all a success!

"Statistically significant across all groups" this is a hate crime against data science. But it is so laughable that it isn't really worth getting into; what else can you say?

More substantially, what you are observing in this data is that the homelessness population is a little bit bimodal between the chronic and the temporary. Not fully ofc, but it's normally evident in the data - the median person is homeless for ~12 months, but ~1/3rd are chronically homeless while another ~1/3rd are generally only homeless for a few months, and then the rest bleed out in the middle. With no UBI the results above are what you would expect - half the group found income sources, found housing, and returned to being poor-but-housed, that is the default. For the other group, homelessness is a combination of the "willing" homeless and the structurally excluded, from drug problems to actively violent behavior to track records of similar that disqualify them as too high risk, or those who simply loathe all bureaucratic systems and refuse to comply (mood).

$1000 a month is pretty substantial, you aren't realistically going to have UBI higher than that. And it is not like recipients were excluded from SNAP/food stamps or anything. Giving radically more could maybe shift things, sure, but I think you are seeing close to the "cap" here on what you can realistically shift with lump sums.

For a certain kind of UBI proponent I could see this being a failure, like "oh why did money not fix this". I sort of view it as the opposite? Why would I expect money to fix this in that way? UBI is a consumption subsidy, the entire point is that it's no-strings. If people want to spend their consumption differently than I would expect, good for them? UBI is about broad based income support; it is not targeted at specific social ills by design. I think it can have structural changes in the economy - UBI permanently shifts bargaining power between workers & employers a bit for example - but I wouldn't expect it to say close the educational achievement gap outside of marginally.

I do think this should be a check on a sort of naive "poverty" lens for social ills; ~50% of homelessness is about money churn. This paper actually does a bad job of showing that, because it tracks everyone at "time zero" when they are all homeless. If you look at other studies where housed and unhoused alike get UBI, you see that they are less likely to become homeless to begin with. And it is just one study of course - additionally 2021-2022 was a bad year for housing as temporary Covid eviction & rent control measures expired, and this pilot started in 2022, while meanwhile it was a *really* good time for the poor-but-working income-wise as low-end wages increased dramatically, so it was a big dip combined with big churn in the poverty rates. Still, with all those caveats poverty is probably not the lodestone for that other ~50%. If you want to address those social ills you are going to need more involved social programs - or be a libertarian about it and let them do as they wish. Your call, as long as the limits of "throw money" at a problem is understood.

[the-kr8tor]

Little potion request for your anniversary too!<3 Cardamon for Hobie with❣️ for some playful, competitive wrestling please! I always love a good playful wrestling- so don't be afraid to add in a few nips into the potion too ~ Signed by: 🐦‍⬛

Oooohh yessss I love this 😈😈😈 Thank you for requesting! Here's your potion 🩷

Pairing: Hobie Brown x fem! Reader/ Spider-Punk x fem! Reader

Tags: No use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, Fluff!

Katy's one year celebration! 🎉

“I'm going to bite you—!” Your warning falls on deaf ears as he tosses you on the bed. You giggle out, body bouncing up and down from the force.

Hobie stands above you, grinning widely, eyes full of mirth. “That's illegal y’know.”

“Biting?” You scoff, smiling through it all. He grabs the heavy blanket, bunching the fabric on his arms. “Since when are you an obedient citizen?”

“Wasn't talkin’ ‘bout laws and shit, love.” Flinging the fabric above you with finesse, it lands square on you, plunging you into darkness. Your laugh gets muffled by the cloth, he chuckles, thinking that you might get lonely being alone on the bed, so he puts his knee on the edge of the mattress and then plops himself over the blanket and above you. “I was talkin’ ‘bout wrestling rules!” You wiggle about, and he scoops you up in his arms, blanket and all.

“I can't breathe!” He sees right through your plans. “Wrestling rules? You don't even read our flat rules!” And he whispers something about hating landlords. Your laughs are still muffled by the barrier, palms trying to push him and to get some leverage with your legs. But alas, his hold on you is tightly sealing you under the covers. So you go test out another plan, you slither a hand away from under him, inching closer to his sides. With a little wiggle of your fingers on his exposed skin, he guffaws, torso immediately leaning away from your tickling hand. His thighs are still cageing you in, hand holding your own to prevent another attack.

“You little—!” Hobie pulls the covers away from your face, he regrets it when he sees your amused face. Hair messed up, nose scrunched up from laughter, and eyes brighter than the warm lamp on the bedside table. It's the most beautiful sight. “You did an illegal move.” He tries his best to look intimidating but his soft eyes and lopsided grin betrays him.

“Guilty as charged!” You'd lift up your hands in surrender but he still has your hands pinned down, warm gentle fingers making patterns around your wrists. “Say ‘uncle?’” You tilt your head playfully, tone lilting, beaming up at him as the late afternoon sunlight filters through the thin red curtains that bathes him in the same passionate colour.

“I'll say uncle…” The bed creaks as he leans closer to you, a hair's width away from your nose. You bat your eyelashes, toying with him. “...If you admit that you're a stinkin’ cheater that cheats.” His breath fans your cheeks, you could only chortle at his choice of words because of him being so close. When you let out a giggle, he puckers his lips to press a quick kiss on the tip of your nose. It has you melting and admitting to your so called crimes.

You softly laugh, cheeks hot from the position you're in. “I'm a stinking cheater that cheats.” You lift your head, kissing his cheek, neck aching at the movement. “Only because my opponent has super abilities…” you peck the corner of his lip, “and I'm at a…” mirroring his affection, you kiss the tip of his pierced nose. “Disadvantage.”

Hobie blinks, frozen in place, pulse thrumming from your barrage of attacks. “That's also an illegal move.” He whispers like he's surprised even though he knew you'd do exactly that the moment you raised your head.

You duck, soft lips meeting the stubble of his jaw, and you swear you heard his breath stagger in his throat. “Even that one?” You say against his searing hot skin.

“Especially that one.” He sighs, eyes closing for a moment.

“Say ‘uncle,’ Hobie.”

“You're never lettin’ me win one, huh?”

“Nope, never, especially that you look so good like this.” You blow hot air on the shell of his ear before laying down. You've brought down the amazing Spiderman without even using your hands. “Losing to me.”

Hobie's head falls limp, chin laying on his clavicle. “Uncle.” He whispers, and you laugh victoriously.

Your victory is short lived as he flings the blanket away, hitching your shirt up to reveal your waist, long warm fingers tickling your sides. Hobie laughs like a villain for a minute before giving you reprieve and then finally resting his head on your chest like he has done the most grueling work in the world. You heave, laughing into the crown of his head as he embraces you, hand lifting yours up, intertwining his fingers with your own until you hear soft snores upon your chest, only then you join him in dreamland.

[eretzyisrael]

by Noah Pollack

How hard would it have been on Sunday, given the quantity of police on hand, to move the Hamas group a safe distance away from the entrance to the synagogue and ensure freedom of entry and exit? And it’s not just that this was entirely possible—it’s that this would have been the right thing to do, consistent with basic American values. We don’t do heckler’s vetoes here, or mob rule, and we don’t let masked thugs push around good citizens in broad daylight. Or at least that’s what I thought.

It was only in talking to people on the outskirts of the protest that I learned that the event was still on—you just had to find the alleyway behind the synagogue and knock on the right door, and there’d be an armed security guard who would let you in. So we did end up attending—but through the back door. 

In the midst of all this, my wife arrived, and also first tried to go in the front door. She was also stopped by the police and told “You’re not going in and you have to leave this area.”

I guided her via text messages toward the alleyway entrance. It was only as we left the event that the street fighting really picked up in front of the synagogue and, later, in front of Jewish restaurants and establishments along Pico Boulevard. A friend of ours who owns a small kosher restaurant a block from Adas Torah texted us a picture that afternoon of her and her staff standing in front of their restaurant holding baseball bats and knives, ready to protect their business. I immediately thought of the rooftop Koreans during the L.A. riots. Why did it have to escalate like this? Because, as they have realized on elite college campuses and in blue cities across the country, anti-Israel activists understand that they enjoy something like immunity. They can’t murder or severely beat people, but pretty much all other criminality—vandalism, graffiti, trespassing, harassment—will go unpunished. It’s one thing to understand that from watching the news. It’s quite another to witness it—to have to rush your kids away from a synagogue because Hamas supporters are getting violent outside and the police are letting it happen.

The groups organizing and carrying out these regular campaigns of violence across the country are well known. They fundraise for and promote their criminal enterprise openly. They boast on social media about carrying out violence. Their assaults are documented on video from a dozen angles. They routinely break numerous state and federal civil rights and hate crime laws. They could be prosecuted under a half-dozen different statutes. But it never seems to happen. So it is very difficult to reach any other conclusion than this is all quite intentional.

If you think that’s unfair, just look at the statement released yesterday by Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. She pledged to take three actions in response to the Pico pogrom: convene meetings, increase coordination between the LAPD and Jewish institutions, and ask for more state money for security. Notice anything missing? The mayor of Los Angeles isn’t even pretending that she will ask law enforcement to prosecute criminals who target Jews.

[detectivekonan]

june 26 2024

this is going to sound like a very paranoid post, but i have reasons for it.

rape / sexual assault mentions (scroll down if you just want the basic gist at the end of this post. long post but its important to me)

so as I have been consistently posting about the past several days, the problems with my neighbors have escalated. for the past several months I had heard the same voices talk bad about me. No one around me IRL would believe me about it due to my schizophrenia, but it has escalated very badly. on wednesday june 19th i overheard them talk and discuss about murdering me, raping me, and framing it as a suicide. because I am schizophrenic with an old history of suicide attempts, people wouldnt listen to me when I told them in that moment what I heard them say. and then its gotten extremely dangerous for me where I live. and my mom refuses to leave the doors locked as I have posted before, I was raped on saturday june 22nd between midnight and when I woke up, which was about 1:59am. I suspect that this was the second time they broke in and raped me,but I couldnt "prove" the first time. I had slept very little after hearing their plans, and so when I have fallen asleep, its been really hard for me to wake up. I'm not getting into the details on what happened nor what happened for the rest of the weekend, but I had my broken phone recording audio when I went to bed on friday night, and caught the men in the act. I had a rape kit done on monday as my mom refused to believe me and take me to the ER. on saturday afternoon.

I believe they are currently stalking all of my social media, and thus they know i am androgynous transgender and into woman exclusively. but besides the possible hate crime,

i have filed a police report and given them the recording, and outing myself to the police since i do believe it played an important part in this. i do not have much hope in them getting caught nor any hope in the police due to the audio recording being bad and for the fact that ive never met any of my neighbors, among my personal feelings about law enforcement. the only neighbor i have met was the one that let me stay on her couch during homelessness last year, and thus cannot point them out.

in the early morning last night I heard them trying to break in, again, as I suspect they realized I was back home. when I got up this morning there was a foot print kick on the door, and more dents. I have very hard feelings that it was two of my male neighbors, with a woman that knew that this has happened. theyre either friends, or family members of each other. anyways. but i strongly believe that it was my neighbors, but cannot prove it. my mom is still treating me like im insane for being scared and begging her to lock the doors at night and during the day, as once again, i have a schizophrenia diagnosis. and as been discussed by people, those with schizophrenic spectrum disorders are more likely to be abused than to be the abusers, with people not believing them due to said diagnosis's. that has been my case. they know this, which is why they planned to make it look as a suicide.

i need help protecting myself and catching them, and I cannot do this by myself. I need cameras with audio and video that work and locks. If I can catch them on camera, I will be able to give it to the police to help my case. I cannot move out of my home due to being disabled and lack of housing around me, alongside that my mother controls my finances without my wishes. even if i want to move, which i do, i am essentially not allowed to. my mom did try kicking me out however when i told her about the rape, as she does not believe me that people would just "enter the house" when its unlocked 24/7 (its not unlocked this much anymore) .

i am scared to be in my room, and to be at home by myself or with my 4 year old sister, and I am terrified to walk anywhere. I have panic attacks multiple times a day, crying spells, and im still in pain from the events.

I need self defense items and cameras with motion sensors and audio and anything i can use to help my situation. i do not know what kind of security cameras that are usable without a stupid phone app. my phone is broken, and is one of the reasons the audio recording came out shitty. i am worried they will retaliate now that the police has the report. washington has a horrible history on rape kits going untested, and I fear that will happen to my case as well.

this is my amazon wishlist, if anyone has any advice on what equipment or cameras that are good or self defense items etc to add or if anyone wants to get me anything for help with this as well that isnt on the wishlist, i am OK giving out my post mail box address to those i can trust that arent my neighbors (and i dont know their names or social media, but i have heard them talk about things i have posted exclusively on here, like my gender and sexuality) or live where i live. this is sadly very urgent, and the reason i changed my url a few weeks ago. i may or may not change my url again soon, or remake my blog entirely, even though i have had this blog since like, 2017.

and anyways

TL;DR: I was raped and need help getting evidence of what they look like and help protecting myself, especially while i wait for the police to work on my case till they are caught or till they try to kill and/or harm me again. they live too close by to me. i have a wishlist for items, and am willing to send my post mail box address to those who want to help but dont see the items on my wishlist.

wishlist again

thank you for reading this, and more so if you look at my wishlist. please dont tag my posts with anything besides trigger warnings. please boost this post to reach people who can and want to help.

peace and love on planet earth xoxox

[hellsbellschime]

exactly. i hate how passive rhaenyra is being portrayed, but i get why they're writing her like that. i still think there was a way to do it where she wasn't responsible for blood & cheese, but she also wasn't left shocked by daemon's horrible act. like look at robert baratheon during the rebellion. he didn't murder elia and her children, but when he was presented with their corpses he was happy. when ned confronted him on it because they were innocent children robert replied with something like 'i see no innocents, only dragonspawn' - he wasn't the one who committed the crime, but he also saw the benefit of eliminating all the targaryens and didn't care their age.

imo rhaenyra should have been angry at daemon making the choice without her knowledge because he was undermining her authority and the consequences are now the public opinion has turned against her, but she shouldn't be upset over innocents dying when the endgame would have been the same. they're stripping her of her agency and making her softer because she's a woman when this wouldn't have been written like this if she were a man. the genius behind the source material imo is that GRRM makes it a point to get across that in war there are no good guys. morality is not something anyone has the luxury of holding onto. so for the tv show to still try and set up a good vs bad side of this war undermines the story imo. they're so desperate to have their girlboss moments for the blacks, but i feel like by stripping rhaenyra of her agency and writing her as more passive they're losing that anyway.

Well, and as I saw someone point out earlier, Rhaenyra specifically married Daemon because he's like this. She wanted someone who would basically scare people into submission, so it's not like these actions came out of nowhere or were completely unpredictable. She may not have wanted him to do this, but she married him because she wanted him to do things like this.

[laylajeffany]

Their Own Kind of Pride | Wenclair Microfic

Sitting in an airport experiencing an act of homophobia because Delta has delayed my flight FIVE TIMES and it's the only thing keeping me from kissing my girlfriend for the first time in seven weeks. DURING PRIDE MONTH? Actually - I've got really complicated feelings on that - so here's a 2.5k microfic that is set in the Murder, She Woe universe about six months into Wednesday and Enid's move to Grisly Cove. How I wrote this in the most overstimulating environment after an hour at the airport bar - I don't know. A pride miracle I guess.

Rated: G TW: Talk about complicated feelings surrounding pride

“Should we order a rainbow flag?”

Wednesday stared at her wife with unblinking eyes, trying to determine if she was serious or not. Enid cringed, glancing to the side. “I mean…it’s fine, we don’t have to do that!”

One – the clashing colors, two the display of pride…oh. Was that more of the problem, other than the colors? Wednesday took a brief look inward as she tried to determine which was more of a reflection of her feeling about such a flag. Generally – she was against any sort of show of patriotism or allegiance. She didn’t need anyone to know where she stood on anything by looks alone.

Wednesday tilted her head, wanting more information before outright rejecting Enid. “Tell me what your thoughts are in wanting to hang a flag that represents the LGBTQIA+ community in front of our home.”

“Um…we’re gay?” Enid offered, then let out a giggle. “And June is like – somehow, only three days away. This year is slipping between my fingers, I swear – if I had like, fully realized summer was this close, I would have been making very different choices in my workout routine -”

“Say a negative comment about your body and I’m going to take you to the bedroom and write poetry over every part. And not in the kinky way you want,” Wednesday said, pulling a dip pen out of seemingly nowhere. Enid pouted. “You have a body, and you’re going to put a bikini on it – therefore, you have a bikini body. I want to see you in your little triangles, barely covering you with your little silly strings holding them together. Don’t you dare take that away from me.”

Enid flushed.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Wednesday glanced up from the piece of steak she had been neatly slicing into which she’d seared to rare perfection for her wife – medium-well for herself. “Why would you want to display a pride flag?”

“It feels like the right thing to do,” Enid replied as she looked to the side. “I mean…we’ve never…done any pride stuff, together. I obviously never dated any girls before you – so, it’s not like I did any on my own. Now that we finally have our own place, I thought maybe…but we don’t have to. For real, I just – was…putting it into the universe.”

Wednesday bit her lip. Pride in the strange, touristy-town they’d moved into six months prior was about to be A Big Deal. She had seen the advertisements, on her occasional trip into town – and Enid was already working overtime at the establishment she’d secured a gig in, which was absolutely rainbow-inspired. Sighing, she wondered, “Are you anticipating participating in any of the downtown events?”

“I mean…I don’t know – when I say that I just realized it was about to be June, I’m totally not just saying that.” Enid sighed, trying not to inhale her food as she spoke. Wednesday twitched – she always waited too long to eat…especially so close to a full moon…she wished her wife would take better care of herself –

“Are you expected to participate in the parade, of all things, with your workplace?” Wednesday wondered, unable to keep a disgusted sort of grimace off her face.

Enid rolled her eyes. “We’re not required to…but…” She bit her lip. “I kind of…I kind of want to.”

“You already work at a gay bar, Enid.” Wednesday could barely comprehend what was going on during their dinner hour (four o’clock in the afternoon, that Thursday – Enid had to work). “Do you want to be made a spectacle of?”

“Well – that’s…kind of what I’m hoping, generally, Wednesday – you know I love it there, you know I want to…maybe be in the show someday, I don’t know how, I mean…it’s not like I have an act, but…yeah, I’d like to be in the parade with my work friends.”

Friends…right. Enid had made a host of those.

“Okay,” Wednesday said and then could’ve practically gulped as she wondered, “Do you…want me to…watch?”

Enid managed to smile again and shook her head. “No, you don’t have to take yourself to a parade, Wednesday. Though it does feel like the optimal time for someone to be unsuspectingly pick-pocketed. Maybe you could go and observe petty crime and get some inspiration for your novel.”

“I have plenty of inspiration,” She said, somehow – avoiding a massive subject.

“So, I’ll take it – that’s a ‘you do you’ on the parade, and a hard ‘no’ on the flag?” Enid asked after a full minute of quiet.

“Enid,” Wednesday placed her knife and fork down, deciding she was going to make a very bold decision in that moment. “I have never felt like I belonged in any community. This community – you and I…maybe with the addition of some of our old outcast friends from school…that’s all the community I’ve ever needed.” Enid nodded her head – going along with whatever Wednesday wanted…

…but that was not what Wednesday wanted.

“I said I…not we,” She cautioned, leaning forward a little bit, wishing she hadn’t tossed her hair in braids that morning – so she’d have looked more…mature, when delivering such an assured monologue. “You have always enjoyed belonging. It’s always been important to you to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself.” Enid swallowed and looked to the side – her eyes were visibly misting over. Hardly able to stand it, Wednesday reached for her hand. “That is not a bad thing. That is a normal thing. That is what people are supposed to want – to be part of life with other people.” Wednesday rolled her eyes a little, squeezing her hand instead of withdrawing her own like she wanted to. “I wish I wanted to be part of life with other people,” She said in almost a whisper. “Just because I need to hide in the shadows doesn’t mean you shouldn’t let the sun shine on you. If you want to order a rainbow flag, we will hang it on the front porch. Perhaps we should get two – to hang one from the back for the boats that enjoy riding around the cape to see as well.”

Enid blinked out twin tears that she could clearly not avoid. Wednesday’s internal guilt meter (that only ever activated when Enid was involved) intensified. “Enid,” She sternly called for her to explain when a full minute of silence passed. Her wife almost never stopped talking – and she was going to choose then to be quiet? “What are you thinking?”

“Just…that…I’m…really happy, that you think it would be okay to hang that flag.”

Defying her body’s urge to drop her shoulders in a most dramatic sigh, Wednesday gave a curt nod. She waited, for more…and when none came, she decided to finish cutting her steak.

They ate in not uncomfortable quiet, but…there was obviously more to say. As Wednesday took Enid’s plate upon finishing, she felt her grip her wrist. “Um…I’m going to…I need…” Enid let out a near whimper. “Can we go talk, for a minute?”

Wednesday swallowed a lump in her throat that was far from unexpected, though that didn’t mean she could tolerate it. She made sure her face didn’t betray her and stiffly followed Enid to the living room, where their new-ish sofa looked way too comfortable for the discomfort that Wednesday had swirling in her gut.

She sat on the edge of an ottoman and Enid paced for a bit in front of her, clearly working up nerve and courage. After so much time passed that Wednesday thought she was going to get motion sick from watching her turn and pace and turn and pace, Wednesday gripped her wrist, forcing Enid to suck in a breath. “Don’t be afraid to tell me what’s on your mind. I want to hear it. Even if I disagree – I’m not going to rebuke you, Enid.”

Enid collapsed into a puddle of tears beside her. Fully unsure why, Wednesday tapped into the part of her brain that was responsible for demonstrating her very limited scope of affection, almost all of which was reserved for her wife. Curling an arm around her and tucking her close, she let Enid get her shirt collar all wet as she unexpectedly heaved another sob. Wednesday almost felt a flutter of fear in her chest as she waited for Enid to clam enough to express what the tears were all about.

It was some time – a long time. Whatever Enid had been holding in, related to that damn rainbow flag…she’d been holding it in for a long time.

Finally, after her heart was about to hammer right out of her chest in anticipation of what her wife would say, Wednesday tried not to look relieved when she started speaking.

“When my mother rejected me…” Enid sniffed. “I knew – it wasn’t…just because of this. It was just…maybe…” She shivered – her face so blotchy and red, Wednesday really…just – surprisingly, almost wanted to take her to bed and…cuddle and hug her until it cleared.

Enid tried talking again, but her words got stuck in her throat. She practically choked as she tried to speak. “Enid, come here,” Wednesday insisted, scooting back into the corner of the sofa and opening her arms. Enid nodded, crawling onto the cushions and into them, the sigh she released like a deflating balloon. Wednesday rubbed a hand up and down her back, kissing her temple three times. Enid let out a near coo, then, nuzzling her face into Wednesday’s neck. “Do you want me to call your jerk of a boss?” She whispered, “Tell him you’re not well?”

“No,” She muttered. “I want to go to work. I like work. I just…want to tell you about why this is so important to me, first, okay? And – we can totally cuddle until then, I’ll find a drag queen to coverup any hives left on my face when I get there.”

Rubbing her back again, Wednesday nodded, kissing her one last time. Enid shifted, so she could look up at her, practically cradled in her hug. “Finding out that I loved you was the nail in the coffin, for my relationship with my mom, for my standing in my old pack. You know that.” Wednesday tried not to think about it – that she was the ultimate reason that Enid’s mother had cast her only daughter aside… “For so long…I felt like…this part of me, the…interested in girls part of me was…was…like a curse, almost. There wasn’t a single thing I’d ever done to meet my mom’s expectations – and then…I went and defied gender norms and expectations, too.”

Wanting to rebuttal, but holding her tongue, Wednesday let Enid finish. “And…I don’t know – I never felt, like…ashamed or anything, because I am attracted to women, because I love you – I literally would tell anyone that we’re married. Sometimes against your will,” Enid giggled a little, obviously thinking back to their honeymoon when she managed to get them free drinks everywhere they went for her inability to keep the news to herself. “But…I’ve also never celebrated it. I’ve never taken the time to think about the fact that – hey, a lot of people struggled for us to be able to legally do this – to be together, to be in love – that…so many people worked for so long to make marriages like ours legal. And there’s so much more to it – I’m learning so much at my new job…but – Wednesday, I think…I think I’m just…I’m proud of myself, for the first time, in this way.”

Nodding, Wednesday was proud of her for being proud of herself. She might not share the sentiment - but, she could celebrate her wife.

“I want to walk in the parade, because I’m not ashamed of who I am and who I love. But I also don’t want you to feel like – you are, because you’re not interested in participating? I don’t know, now this all feels complicated and kind of icky…”

Cupping her cheek, Wednesday tilted her own head. “Look at me, dead in the eye. Not for one single second do I feel…icky,” She parroted her own word back to her, “Because you want to march in a gay pride parade. I don’t feel embarrassed, and I don’t feel shame.”

Enid bit her lip, looking conflicted. “But…I know it’s hard – can you tell me what do you feel about it, Wednesday?”

She gave a genuine shrug. “I don’t feel anything about it. If it will make you happy, if this is how you want to express yourself, then I want you to do it!” She almost shouted the ending and Enid blinked a few times in apparent surprise at the tone she was using. “I just…I just…”

Enid took a turn to put a hand on her face, clearly making sure her eyes didn’t wander to the side, but stayed locked on hers. “Tell me.”

“I…don’t know, Enid. You know that rainbows are never going to be my thing. There is just not a universe where I can put a rainbow flag in my fist and go walking down the street with it. That’s not me. I don’t experience pride in that way.”

“But…you are proud, aren’t you?”

“I’m proud of myself,” Wednesday declared, “For opening myself up to love, to the person who deserves love more than anyone else I have ever known.”

At that, Enid’s eyes welled up again.

“I’m not interested in a parade. I’m indifferent to a flag on the house. But I am proud, every time I walk out of the door with you – Enid,” She almost smiled. “I’m proud of being behind these doors with you. I’m proud of everything that happens on this couch – I’m proud of being able to snuggle with you like this, and all the things that I’ve allowed myself to engage in in our bedroom…Enid,” She did smile then. “I do have pride. It might not be the corporate, parade-going, deals-at-the-bar while Lady BlahBlah or whoever plays way too loud kind of pride. But – I’m proud of myself, for being open to love with you.”

Enid attacked her in a kiss as she straddled her suddenly, then held onto her so tight – it was almost difficult to breathe. Wednesday gripped her just as tightly back, hoping that she’d successfully conveyed what she needed to.

When Enid pulled back for another kiss, much sweeter that time, and rubbed a hand along her collar bone, she let out a breath of relief. They’d both understood one another, keenly. They both had pride, in their own way. “Enid, I will come to the parade to watch you. So long as you don’t expect me to wave a flag or dance. But when it’s over, I’ll be there to kiss you, and tell you about how I disassociated a vivid scene for my book about a horrible act taking place at such a function.”

Giving a full laugh and a very proud smile, Enid kissed the side of her cheek. “Maybe we just hang one flag on the house instead of two. That might be overkill.”

“One flag sounds acceptable,” Wednesday agreed, squeezing her hip – thinking…if Enid really worked her over – perhaps she’d even show up for a single night in June at her club…a Tuesday though - not a weekend, and not during that ridiculous show. The only way she’d ever drag herself to such an event would be if Enid were the shining star of it – and since she didn’t even have an act, Wednesday was sure, she’d never find herself spending more time at the club than she wanted to.

[poisonousquinzel]

"a dude in Texas legally changed his name to "Literally Anyone Else" and he's attempting to run for President against Biden & Trump" [source]

okay, but putting aside the comedic aspect of this, it is concerning the amount of people who are prompted to vote for candidates just because it's funny. I'm not the biggest fan of how his policy about the boarder sounds [Site], but I do implore anyone who is able to vote in the 2024 US election to please research other candidates.

The media is only going to continue pushing the idea it's inevitably going to be Trump vs Biden 2.0 and we have no other options, that we have to vote for Biden again because of Project 2025. Is that whole thing terrifying?

Yeah, fucking absolutely.

But voting for Biden will not solidify our safety from that. Biden is exactly like the rest of them. He always has been. You can't make the lesser of two evils argument when they're both just plain evil.

You cannot say that Biden is even mildly a better choice than Trump when he is currently directly involved in a genocide. That is not some little fucking thing. That in and of itself disqualifies him as a lesser evil. Biden is just as bad as him and he will not save us because he doesn't fucking care.

Cornel West [Site] is an Independent candidate running for President in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia [Site] are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

There are options.

There are people trying to change the corrupt foundation our system is built on, but we have to help amplify them because the mainstream media will not.

[ilivelikeimtrying]

Nimona AU where Ballister is a villain but like, he's not even really that evil, like, at all. He's just, really bad at being a Villain.

And him and his "Nemesis" have the worst relationship, meaning that they have a great relationship because they don't even actually hate each other like Nemesis' are supposed to.

V!Ballister, doing an 'evil' monologue: Well well well, sir Goldenloin, it has been quite some time since we've last- What's wrong?

Ambrosius, whose face was scrunched a bit: Huh? Oh, it's nothing, these ropes on my wrists are just- they're burning and itching is all- you can keep-

V!Ballister, panicking and running over: Really?! Oh Ambrosius you've been here for hours! Why didn't you say anything sooner?! Are they too tight? Is it this new brand? I told Nimona not to get these ones but no-

*cue to Ambrosius staring fondly at Ballister as he continues to ramble about never buying this specific set of ropes again*

Half the time Ambrosius doesn't even know why he's fighting the guy, like, The Director is all "He's the personification of an Evil Villain" at Ballister and Ambrosius is staring at the same guy seeing him help a little girl get her kitten out of a tree and give a good bit of the money he stole to people in need and points at him like "Really????? "

[nudibutch]

had to quietly square off with two men 4x my size for 20 min at the club last night w my sister and cousin bc they were big mad i was guarding drinks and clocked them as predators immediately and i just really need a femme to hold me right now bc i am so tired after my adrenal response kicked in for what felt like half an hour after and didnt get back home till 1am and got shit sleep

[scarlct-vvitch]

just learned that the crack fic i wrote when i was 16 has almost 10k more hits than my favorite fic of all time. why was teenage me so powerful. how am i supposed to live with this information this is a CRIME

[themidnightcircusshow]

@heartofstanding tagged me in this meme months ago and unfortunately it took me this long to get to it because I had a mild crisis over how long it's been since I've read a novel, let alone one that I loved 😅 so this is nine of my favourite novels (not books, because if I included manga/short stories/comics/etc this would be giant)

0The Picture of Dorian Gray -- Oscar Wilde// Pyrrhus-- Mark Merlis//The Scarecrow--Ronald Hugh Morrieson//Unnatural History--Kate Osman//Tunnels of Blood--Darren Shan//The Coffin Dancer--Jeffery Deaver//Hero--Perry Moore//Frankenstein--Mary Shelley//One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-- Ken Kasey

[churchydragon]

V2 vocalizes ass the angry sass and frustration that V1 internalizes in the co-op au because V1 can't.

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

Wanting to look at true crime stuff to learn about psychology and criminal investigation but only finding a bunch of people who idolize and “uwu-ify” serial killers and school shooters 😬 fucking YIKES

[asteria-argo]

Some people are allergic to nuance in fiction and insist on making that my problem by being very confidently wrong in public

[paopuofhearts]

it's almost like the only option is dividing things further black and white then just going hardcore to an extreme.

like.

i spent all day yesterday cutting off friends and blogs of people i love in my native community because of the excessive call for violence as the answer to decolonization, maintaining nuance but only for one side and saying fuck all to everything and everyone else.

but then today.

the number of jewish friends and blogs i've had to unfollow because people are doubling down on "hamas bombed a fucking hospital" when there's clear evidence that isn't true and it's propaganda to perpetuate cycles of violence?

fucking horrifying.

[lucy-ghoul]

I just realized what's wrong with the Targaryen wigs in HotD: they don't look like Targaryen hair, they look like they were stolen from the Malfoys. They all share one (1) or at best two wigs in toto and it makes them look like freaking Lucius Malfoy clones