This, and other thoughts

The tips are on ao3 now, and I’m Res but on tumblr.

Here are some recs for casual/feel-good f/f representation! All links are to my reviews.

Good Enough to Eat - super cute lesbian vampire rom-com

Promises, Promises - parody of LotR/D&D starring three lesbians on a quest for magical stuff

Everything Leads to You - Hollywood f/f YA about a young set designer who falls for a girl she meets under mysterious circumstances

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - ensemble-cast “crew of a spaceship” story. Mostly just random adventures, includes a f/f couple who survive the book.

Roller Girl - contemporary f/f romance about trans woman who joins a roller derby team

Not fluffy, but the angst is SFF-stress rather than “living under homophobia/biphobia” stress:

Ascension - queer disabled ladies fighting Big Pharma in space–you wanted space bi’s, come get your space bi’s (actually, if you want more space bi’s also check out the anthology Fierce Family.)

Chameleon Moon - review is of an earlier edition and I hear the new one has even more great representation. Trans woman superhero with two female partners living in a dystopian city that’s on lockdown from the government after everyone develops mutant powers in response to a wonderdrug.

Not Your Sidekick - in the future, what happens when your parents are superheroes but you never developed powers? You intern for the baddie, of course! MC is bi and ends up in a f/f relationship, and the sequel will star her trans bestie.

Gay Pride and Prejudice by Kate Christie - What it says on the tin. Elizabeth Bennett is a lesbian and the haughty Caroline Bingley is the last woman she could ever be prevailed upon to love.

Escape from B-Movie Hell by M.T. McGuire - Silly British sci-fi with a lesbian protagonist

Heart Trouble by Jae - A doctor gets shocked by a defibrillator while saving a woman’s life in the ER. Now they have a soul bond!

Finding Ms Write by Jae & Jove Belle - Collection of short stories about women who love women and also love books.

The Wind City by Summer Wigmore - Urban fantasy drawing on Maori mythology. Protagonist describes herself as “at least 60% gay” and falls in love with a monster girl.

Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon - Bi princess and lesbian bodyguard fall in love.

Beauty & Cruelty by Meredith Katz about the evil with falling in love with sleeping beauty (lesbian)

High & Mighty by S.S. Skye - a princess stuck in a tower who is decidely Not Amused about it (lesbian)

Humanity for Beginners by Faith Mudge - Two friends and a halfway house for lesbian werewolves (lesbian)

Hunting a Lady by Cari Z. and Caitlin Ricci - a woman who needs money goes to rescue a kidnapped lady for the reward (lesbian)

Lies & Reverie by Camilla Quinn - A shopkeeper’s daughter who loves to day dream, and the beautiful woman who runs the town (lesbian)

Love Rampage by Alex Powell - a girl in love with her best friend, and the unicorn who helps her (lesbian, trans)

Modern Serpents Talk Things Through by Jamie Brindle - a modern dragon who falls in love with the human who invades her cave (lesbian)

Prom and Other Hazards by Jamie Sullivan - super cute story about a girl, her best friend, and the prom (lesbian, bisexual)

Slaying Dragons by Sasha L. Miller - a frustrated mage, some dragons, and the lovely new partner she’s stuck with (lesbian)

The Broken Forest by Megan Derr - a Huntress, and the beautiful witch she meets dealing with a troublesome forest (lesbian, bisexual, trans)

The Mercenary by Annabelle Kitch - a peasant girl, the princess she loves, a quest to win her princess’s hand in marriage (lesbian)

The Persephone Star by Jamie Sullivan- a proper lady working in the post office, a notorious criminal set on revenge, and a bit of kidnapping (lesbian)

The Secret of Mermaid Cove by Megan Derr - an improper lady, an unwanted engagement, and an island full of secrets

Witch, Cat, and Cobb by J.K. Pendragon - a princess fleeing an arranged marriage, a witch, and a cat (lesbian, trans)

Zombies in the East End by Roxanne Dent - steampunk, zombies, and two tough ladies

California Skies by Kalya Bashe - bandits in the wild west, a hunt for jewels, stubborn people (bisexual, genderqueer)

It is, by any metric, a small country masquerading as a city.

It governs more lives and more wealth than most nations. If democratic socialism — housing reform, public banking, equitable taxation — functions here, it obliterates the myth that such governance can’t work at scale. The fear isn’t ideological. It’s empirical. Because if Mamdani can keep the lights on, reduce homelessness, and maintain economic growth without catering to Wall Street, then the capitalist gospel collapses under its own dead weight.

What terrifies the establishment isn’t failure. It’s feasibility.

If it works in New York, there’s no reason it can’t work in Nebraska. If it works in Queens, it can work in Kansas City. And once proof exists, belief becomes irrelevant. The ship of democracy, fully refitted, will keep sailing — and no one can claim it isn’t American."

Not only that, but the only reason the budget balanced this year is because they kicked the debt down the road. We’re looking at between a $6-9 billion deficit next year and the following.

So there’s two things - one is that NYC is much richer than Nebraska or wherever, and expecting Nebraska to do what NYC can is ridiculous. They don’t have the capital. Only the federal government can do the things even very rich states like CA, TX, and NY struggle with.

Two, PLEASE do not put all this on the mayor because the likelihood is he will fail at introducing almost anything of the things he said he wanted to do because he literally cannot do that without state action. And next year, the state is looking at massive federal cuts it will have to fill from Medicaid and SNAP, plus many others, so the likelihood they will be helping expansively isn’t as high. New taxes would most likely go to those cuts and not anything new in NYC.