Awkwardly strolling through life

clara barton, a battlefield nurse for the union army and eventual founder of the american red cross, was dubbed the "angel of the battlefield" for her vital and timely assistance to soldiers and doctors alike. during the 1862 battle of antietam, barton discovered that one of the soldiers she was tending to happened to be a young woman -- mary galloway, who had disguised herself as a man, joined the war effort following her lover lieutenant harry barnard, and would later name her daughter clara after barton eventually reunited the couple

stetson kennedy helped take down the kkk by exposing their code words and secret rituals on a 1947 superman radio show

in 1777, sixteen-year-old sybil ludington rode forty miles to warn the local militia of an upcoming british attack. traveling twice the length of paul revere's journey, she roused around 400 men by banging on their doors with a large stick, and it's even said that she gained recognition from george washington himself

robert smalls, an enslaved man in south carolina, emancipated himself as well as fifteen others in 1861 by disguising himself as a confederate ship captain and sailing the css planter into the union territory (simultaneously providing another warship to the union). not only that, but in 1864, smalls purchased the former mansion of henry mckee -- the man who had once enslaved him

during the 1969 chicago seven conspiracy trial, abbie hoffman reportedly once came in wearing judicial robes with a chicago police uniform underneath, called judge julius hoffman "julie" several times, and raised his middle finger when being sworn in as a witness

after american troops arrived in france In 1917, they made a (mostly symbolic) march through paris, stopping at the grave of the marquis de lafayette to honor his immense contributions during the american revolutionary war. with the tomb at his feet, colonel c. e. stanton declared, "lafayette, we are here!" (over a century too late after the us decided not to aid the french during the revolution, but a cool statement nonetheless)

in 1930s america, a pro-nazi organization called the german american bund was active across america. however, another group was also gaining traction at around the same time: the minutemen. while those in new york were mostly made up of jewish mobsters and those in new jersey mainly consisted of jewish boxers, both had a common goal of breaking up bund meetings by beating the shit out of their members

between 1913 and 1915, there were at least seven instances of people mailing their children through the postal system, since it was cheaper to buy a stamp for your child and have them transported by a trusted mail carrier than purchasing a train ticket for them

the first minnesota volunteer infantry regiment captured a confederate flag from the twenty-eighth virginia infantry regiment in the 1863 battle of gettysburg, and the minnesota historical society still has it today, despite virginia requesting for its return in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2013. governor jesse ventura famously responded to the 2000 request with "why? i mean, we won"

although many members of various native american nations served as code talkers during the world wars, the most famous of which are probably the navajo code talkers. between 1942 and 1945, over four hundred navajo worked as code talkers for the marines, providing a system that even the most skilled code breakers couldn't crack -- largely due to the fact that navajo has no written alphabet and highly complex tonal qualities. for decades the contributions of these men went unrecognized, but in 1992 they were finally honored at the pentagon for their vital involvement in the allied war effort

founding fathers thomas jefferson and john adams both died on july forth, 1826, with adams allegedly declaring "jefferson still survives" on his deathbed, unaware that his former colleague was already dead

after woodrow wilson had a stroke in 1912, his wife edith wilson took over many of his presidential duties, making her the first female president in practice. she and physician cary grayson decided to keep her husband's condition hidden from the public, even staging several pictures of him to make it seem like he was hard at work in the white house

the youth international party (yippies) held a rally for their presidential nominee, a hundred and forty-five pound pig named pigasus, outside the democratic national convention in 1968. his acceptance speech was being read by jerry rubin when he and six other yippies were arrested along with pigasus and a sow apparently called "mrs pigasus"

after hitler banned bold makeup from public functions in 1933 because he deemed it improper for a good german woman, wearing red lipstick became a symbol of solidarity against fascism. allied militaries were quick to implement it as a part of their female uniforms and issue propaganda encouraging women to wear it. in 1941 elizabeth arden created a shade of lipstick called victory red for civilian women, and in 1942 the us women's marines corp adopted her shade montezuma red as a standard part of the uniform

harriet tubman was not only the most famous conductor of the underground railroad, but also a nurse, soldier, and spy for the union during the civil war. the first woman in american history to lead an armed military raid, in 1863 she commanded the combahee river raid, which included the liberation of over seven hundred and fifty enslaved people

in 1782, deborah sampson disguised herself a man, adopted the alias robert shurtleff, and joined the fourth masschusettes regiment. she managed to protect her true identity for over two years -- however, after she lost consciousness due to illness, her sex was discovered and was given an honorable discharge. after her death, her husband petitioned congress for pension as the spouse of a soldier, and surprisingly he was awarded the money

adolf hitler had a nephew who fought for the united states navy during world war ii. born william patrick hitler, in 1933, he declined his uncle's request to denounce his british citizenship, earning himself the nickname "my loathsome nephew." after his 1939 lecture tour of the united states where he warned americans about the nazi threat, he enlisted in the us military because he wasn't allowed in the british forces. he eventually became a us citizen in 1946 and legally changed his name to william patrick stuart-houston

in 1970, richard nixon signed the poison prevention packaging act, which required all prescription and over-the-counter drugs to have childproof packaging. stephen bull, a former presidential aide, recalled that he was once asked by the president to open his allergy medicine, and the childproof cap had numerous teeth marks on it from nixon's apparent attempts to gnaw it open

the elephant became the mascot of the republican party to demonstrate union war strength (as "seeing the elephant" was slang for experiencing combat). the donkey became the democratic mascot because people frequently called andrew jackson a jackass

Some points of interest:

Corporate profits are soaring. After taxes, they now take 12.3 percent of national output, far above their postwar average of 7.3 percent.

Adjusted for inflation, hourly wages have risen 3 percent since the end of 2019, Ip noted. Corporate profits over the same period have risen 50 percent.

The Economic Policy Institute calculates that since 1979 the productivity of American workers has grown 90 percent while the pay of the typical worker has grown 33 percent. Had wages tracked output, the average worker would earn $16.40 more an hour today.

The profits are concentrated among the largest corporations. Earnings at the 500 biggest US firms rose 28 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2021, and their profit margins reached 14.8 percent. The seven technology giants known as the “Magnificent 7”—Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Tesla—grew their profits 63 percent.

⬇️ Vetted ⬇️

some  info:

The country they are currently immigrated to does not allow mutual aid, so this will be our only opportunity to crowdfund. S’ brother, L, is returning home for a week to arrange paperwork for their mother. Once he leaves, I will remove this fundraiser for S and her brother’s safety. Thank you so, so much.

Hello everyone, I am posting this on behalf of my three cousins, who are requesting mutual aid from the people online in more fortunate circumstances. They are three immigrant workers from the global south and medical refugees in a country in West Asia. Currently, my cousin S is fighting stage 4 breast cancer, and due to a deeply upsetting and misogynistic situation, she, alongside her brother and sister, all working class, were forced out of the home they were staying at. 

My aunt recently had the opportunity to come and help S with her illness; Unfortunately, while there, she suffered two heart attacks. I am gathering funds to support S in three ways. First is to extend our aunt's visa as she is in no condition to return home. Second is to alleviate their food and housing insecurity, as their combined income is eaten away by S’ cancer treatments and rent. Third is to pad their emergency funds, as S’ chemotherapy is unavailable in our home country and only available in where they are currently immigrated to.  Again, we are so grateful beyond words for all the help!!

Visa: 1,000 usd

Rent and food alleviation: 500 usd

Emergency funds: 200 usd, anything extra we receive.

everyone needs to hear about the situation in india right now. the youth of this nation are going through hell and back to protect the foundations that our country was built on in the first place, while the adults who are supposed to actually be in charge try to silence our voices.

NEET, which is an exam taken by millions of students per year and is the ONLY gateway for medical admissions across the country, had its papers leaked. so many took their lives because this exam meant everything for their future. and NTA, the agency who conducts this exam, was not held accountable.

there was national backlash. cockroach janta party (initially a satirical political party formed by abhijeet dipke in retaliation to the remarks of the chief justice of india calling the youth "cockroaches" and "parasites of society") started protests at jantar mantar, demanding the resignation of the union education minister, dharmendra pradhan. the movement also asked for ten million inr (~100,000 usd) in compensation for the families of students who died by suicide and wanted NTA be held accountable.

sonam wangchuk, a climate activist and education reformer, also went on a hunger strike at jantar mantar to protest against this corruption in india's higher education system. his fast began on june 28, demanding the resignation of the union education minister. his fast lasted for 20 days until delhi police FORCIBLY removed him and admitted him to safdarjung hospital on july 18.

because of this, cockroach janta party announced "chalo sansad," a march to the parliament beginning on june 20th, 9:00 am ist. but the police seems to be responding with water cannons, mobile jammers, and baton charge. all of this, because of a peaceful protest led by people no older than 30.

The government is doing everything it can except for actually having an honest dialogue with the protestors.

It’s important to note that despite all the police brutality, despite how the government has had extra forces airlifted to Delhi to help quash the protest, this has deterred no one.

Not only is the protest in Delhi going strong, the government closed down every metro station in Central Delhi in an effort to stop them and it still hasn’t.

There’s protests in most major cities in India in solidarity. Palakkad, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, and probably more besides. There has been a protest in the UK as well in solidarity.

People who aren’t at the protest are donating so much food that the organisers have had to ask them to stop doing so because there’s more than enough. In lieu of that people are donating money for medicine, lawyers, cleanup, and umbrellas.

Most crucially, hopes aren’t broken. Spirits aren’t broken. People with bruises and broken bones are still showing up. People are showing up cosplaying as freedom fighters and super heroes and a dinosaur. People are doxxing goons who show up trying to incite violence. People are making reels. People in Mumbai literally opened a moving police detainment van to allow arrested students to escape.

This post talks about a new DM feature in youtube. What it fails to mention is that as part of this new feature is that when you send someone a link to a video, and they open it in the youtube app, they will see who sent them the link. Specifically, your channel name.

If your google account name is your real name, so is your channel name by default.

This means the new default behavior is that everyone you send a youtube link to will see your full name if they open it in the mobile app.

To turn this off:

Go to your youtube app settings

Go to Privacy

Turn off "Channel visibility for shared links"

If you don't already know you have issues doing so, squat down real quick. Bend your knees all the way and touch the floor. Just make sure you can do it. Okay? For me? And then stand up all the way and make sure you can balance on one foot.

If there was ever a tumblr post worth sending to your mom, it's this one.

(The author of this work does not support the use of this or any other of their works in any AI shit-machine.)

Anna doesn’t know much about werewolves. Correction: She doesn’t know much about raising werewolves. But the two positive lines on the pregnancy test are telling her she’s going to have to learn. Fast.

It’s not like they haven’t been trying—they have. Maybe not lately, noth the last few months, but they’ve tried. For two years, in fact. And every time, it hasn’t worked. They’ve used every concievable type of spell, gone to every doctor, mundane and magical, even resorted to superstition in order to acheive some kind of success. They could build a crib out of all the negative tests. And the precious one positive test that did come about didn’t last nearly long enough.

No, it’s more so that they had reached the conclusion that it simply wasn’t going to happen this way. And it’s been… Well, not okay, per se. Anna would be lying if she said she was completely okay with missing out on this path to motherhood. They wouldn’t love an adopted child any less, of course—neither Anna nor Gabriel are of the mind that blood is the only way to make a family. The notion itself is preposterous. Yet, Anna mourned the lack of the experience. Hearing that first heartbeat through the ultrasound, seeing their development, feeling those fluttering kicks against her belly, even if she knows she’d curse them once the little one decided to use her bladder as a trampoline. Because at least that meant the baby was there.

Conception between a mortal and a demihuman isn’t impossible. It’s happened alll over the world, throughout thousands of years, across all cultures and classes. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy, either. Let alone whether or not the child survives.

She knows, rationally, that it isn’t a punishment. That difficulty conceiving happens to everyone, in any relationship. Human, supernatural, or otherwise. That, when she hears the voice of her mother in the back of her mind, telling her that it’s a sign from God that her union with ‘that beast’ is surely damned, it’s not true. That it isn’t her fault. She isn’t off the right path. She’s not a heretic. She’s not a little meshugeh and just needs to ‘come back home and get right’.

Anna knows that. She does. And Gabriel does all he can to remind her of it. It’s just hard not to feel, in that deep, dark part of her mind, that they might be right. Maybe she is being punished. Maybe.

She sits on the edge of the tub, and stares at the positive pregnancy test in her trembling hand, running all the numbers over in her mind, all the graphs and articles.

Anna knows the statistics. She can recount them as easily as she can count the tiles on the bathroom floor, like she’s doing right now. Like she did the first time those two blessed lines appeared. There’s comfort in numbers. Certainty.

Successful conception is 33.3%. Chances of completing the first trimester is 20%, the second is 14.2%, and the third is—

Anna’s stomach roils. She swallows the bile. She doesn’t want to think about it. But it’s already starting, her inner voice not caring what she wants, and it isn’t lost on Anna that it sounds like her mother.

Even when the pregnancy is viable, the chances of being born blind or deaf are—Anna shuts her eyes, She ignores the number as it forms in her mind, sizzling in her memory like a fresh brand. Too high, she settles. Even more with a family history. Not to mention the risk of congenital heart defects, which is anywhere from two to eighteen percent, and even if that’s the same risk as it is with mortal children, it’s still an uncomfortably high range.

Anna bounces her leg, turning the test over and over. Her eyes sting. The world is blurry and hot. Lying down on the cold tile does absolutely nothing to help.

She should be happy. And terrible thing is that she is. Despite her best efforts, she is so, so happy. Her stomach did flips the moment that second line appeared. Pure elation burnt a hole in her chest, sent her limbs numb and shaking, pushed her feet to run for the phone. She’d barely lifted it off the receiver before she stopped.

She’s done this before. She’s made that call, teary-eyed and hyperventilating, jumping Gabriel as he practically tore their front door of its hinges in his haste. And she made the other call. Numb and distant all the way from her OB’s office, only to completely shatter when Gabriel’s voice reached her ears. She couldn’t even get the words out. She didn’t need to. The quiet, wordless sob told Gabriel everything he needed to know.

She needs to be realistic. She can’t get their hopes up. Not again. The probability is too great, too all-consuming. She knows where this is going to go, because it’s already gone there, and it hurts far less to follow this conclusion than to think that maybe, maybe this time it might work.

Her eyes flit between the test and the phone. She puts it back. The chordless phone thunks back into place, the sound of it unnervingly loud in the silence of the house, more akin to the cold chk-chk of a shotgun at the ready. Anna steps back. Turns around. She gets halfway to the bathroom before turning back around, picking up the phone again, and putting it down once more.

She can’t bring herself to call. But she can’t not tell him, either. Even if this time ends in tragedy, just like before, Anna still has to tell him. He has a right to know. He’s her husband. More than that—most importantly—he’s her best friend. She tells him everything. He’s the one she knows she can call and he’ll always, always be there.

And now she’s here, lying on the bathroom floor, the phone in one hand and the test in the other.

She has to make a choice. Break both their hearts now, or later?

Anna counts the bathroom tiles. Over and over. All one-hundred-and-eighteen.

She runs the statistics over and over in her mind. She counts. One by one. Again and again, until the sunlight slants through the window, amber gold. Like Gabriel’s eyes.

Five. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.

Whose eyes would the baby have, she wonders?

Would they even open this time?

Thirty-five. Forty. Forty-five.

Fifty-fifty. Half of her and half of him.

He’s the better half, Anna thinks. He’s got the nicest smile. His fangs are cute. She knows he’d argue the same against her; Gabriel has always adored the gap between her front teeth.

Do baby werewolves get their teeth early, like wolf pups, or do they come in the same time as humans?

Are they ever going to find out?

Seventy-five. Eighty. Eighty-five.

“Eighty-five percent of people who miscarry go on to have successful pregnancies,”said Dr. Avesta. “I know it’s cold comfort now. But it’s something to keep in mind, if you decide to try again.”

They stopped trying. Gabriel promised they’d start again only if Anna wanted to. She hasn’t told him that she’s been looking every so often. Just in case.

In case God—Him or any of the others, really, Anna’s not picky—decided He still loved her. In case her mother was wrong. In case, against all odds, it worked, no matter what the numbers said.

Ninety. Ninety-five. One-hundred.

There’s no such thing as a true statistical certainty. There’s always an exception, a variable that goes uncounted.

One-hundred-five. One-hundred-ten. One-hundred fifteen.

Her stomach feels like it’s been turned inside out. Anxiety eats holes in the lining, and the bile is back in her mouth. She’s barely able to crawl over to the toilet in time.

It’s not morning sickness, not yet. Just the result of mounting anxiety. Still, it’s not a pleasant experience, especially when she hasn’t even had breakfast yet. Or lunch, for that matter.

Is she really going to have to handle this every morning in the first trimester?

Oh, gods, yes, she realizes. Every morning. Early, too, knowing her luck. And she can’t even drink coffee during it, so she’ll have to push through the day without caffeine, unbearably sick, for thirteen weeks—

One-hundred-sixteen. One-hundred-seventeen. One-hundred-eighteen.

Anna sniffs, stomach acid coating her tongue, and pushes the stopper down. She almost doesn’t hear the front door open.

Gabriel’s keys jingle as he sets them in the catch-all dish.

“I’m home,”he announces, and Anna’s heart clenches.

The house is dark, which wouldn’t be so strange, were it not for the fact that Anna’s car is outside, and her house key is in the catch-all dish. She’s home. But there’s not sight nor sound of her.

Gabriel moves further into the living room, trying again, louder this time, “Moonbeam? Darlin’, you here?”

Anna opens her mouth to call out, throat dry and tongue sticking to her teeth. Her voice, when she finds it, is small and strained.

“Gabriel?” Her pitch stumbles, breaking on his name like waves on the shore. “Can you come here, please?”

She doesn’t think she sounds particularly rattled—then again, she’s not really paying attention to herself as a whole right now—but Gabriel comes flying up the stairs, brown eyes reflecting gold in the dimness. The second he appears, silhouette tall and sure and real, does Anna feel for the first time that things might really be okay.

He’s kneeling at her side in seconds, turning on the overhead light. Whether it’s for himself or her, she’s not sure, but she appreciates it anyway.

Calloused hands check her for injuries, meticulous and gentle. She lets him. It gives her time to try and piece the words together. Find a way to voice all the things, good and bad, that she doesn’t know how to say, while his touch grounds her back into her body. Meanwhile, Gabriel gingerly pushes her hair back, taking in her red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

“What happened, darlin’?” He asks as he feels along her temple and crown, only satisfied when he doesn’t find any blood or bruising.

She tries to tell him. Words that threatened to some spilling out over the phone, to drown her where she sat on the bathroom floor, are suddenly shy now, hiding in her throat, behind her teeth. Gabriel is patient. His hand moves back and forth across the small ov her back. Silent. Steady.

No matter how hard Anna tries, the only thing that escapes her is shuddering breath. Frustrated, she scrubs her eyes.

It’s not that hard! Just say it!

But the words refuse to come. There’s so much, too much, too soon. Cotton in her mouth and static in her ears. Finally fed up with her useless silence, Anna takes Gabriel’s hands and places the test in them, curling his fingers around it, and desperately shoves it towards his chest. She squeezes tightly. Maybe, if she tries hard enough, she can send every emotion, every worry, every unsaid word down the length of her arms and into her palms where they press the backs of Gabriel’s, and he’ll know.

She lets go. Anna watches as he slowly holds the stick out to see it, cradled in his wide hands like an injured bird. He holds his breath. As if one errant sigh would be enough to crumble the white plastic, or blow away the second line.

Nothing happens.

Including him breathing.

When he looks like he’s about to pass out, leaning weakly against the cupboards under the sink, Anna reaches over to pat his chest. She feels his lungs expand under her hands. And she breathes, too.

Dazed, he finds her gaze, absently moving to hold her hand.

“Yeah?” He manages eloquently, voice small.

Anna nods.

Inhale. Exhale. Count the bathroom tiles by tens.

“Do… Do you want to…?” Gabriel tries, wary, unsure how to say it, just like he wasn’t sure the last time. “Last time… It hurt you. It hurt me, too, but it hurt you more. I don’t want you to force yourself. And we don’t need to make a decision right now if—”

“I do.”

She feels like she’s going to throw up. Again. But she’s sure. Completely.

“Okay.”

Gabriel twists around, setting the test on the marble counter with all the delicateness of defusing a bomb.

“Okay,”he says again, relieved and scared all at once. “Then we’ll do it.”

Gabriel wraps his arms around her, Anna practically climbing into his lap. And they cry.

They cry. Then they laugh. Cry again. They flip back and forth between the two, and then both at the same time.

Anna fiddles with her wedding ring.

“I’m scared,”she admits, eyes downcast, staring at the grout lines, stuck on tile twenty-three. “I’m happy. But I’m scared.”

“That’s alright. That’s normal.”

Anna swallows, throat stinging like she’s eaten glass.

“I don’t know what to do.”

Gabriel kisses her temple, rocking them both back and forth.

“We don’t have to do anything right now,”he comforts, oak-steady voice warm in her ear, despite the way Anna can feel him trembling.

Anna thinks, numbly, in a part of her brain far removed from the current situation, that she’s hungry. And tired. She’s spent almost the entire day in here, and she’s starting to get sick of looking at the earthy reddish-orange and white color scheme and diamond-patterened tiles and—

“I want to remodel the bathroom,”she sniffs, and Gabriel barks a laugh. “And to call your parents. They’re awake, right?”

“Even if they’re not, they’ll still answer.”

He tears a chuck of toilet paper off the roll, offering it to Anna to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

“We can make an appointment with Dr. Avesta in the morning. I think she’ll be glad to see us again.” He’s quiet for a moment, then adds, “What color do you want the bathroom to be?”

Anna thinks for a moment. She knows what he’s doing. Calming her down by giving her a project, something she can control. She wishes she could marry him again.

“Green,”she finally says. “Dark green. With mosaic tiles on the floor.”

With an approving sound, Gabriel cranes his head to look her in the eye.

“What else?”

Anna’s hands settle on her stomach, which has picked the perfect time to start growling. Or maybe it’s been doing that, and she hasn’t noticed.

“I want pasta,”she replies, “And I want the nursery to be green, too.”

Let’s play the biggest game of kick the can on the internet.