Strange looking fellow on the side of a crosswalk button
please specify if you want ID!
a wheel bug, Arilus cristatus
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because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.
you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.
you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.
don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.
if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.
you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:
how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!
aren't you happy yet?
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what’s an identity card
its a colonial documentation system that states our palestinian identity and determines our residency and what places we can / cannot go.
there are 5 ID systems enforced by israel:
1. Gaza Strip ID: if ur a palestinian who holds this ID, you can’t live anywhere in palestine except gaza (i believe this has been in effect since 2007)
2. West Bank ID: if u hold this you can’t live anywhere but 40% of the West Bank due to military checkpoints and settlements (i have this ID)
3. East Jerusalem ID: if u hold this u can have access to most areas in palestine but israel can revoke ur access whenever they want if you live outside of jerusalem
4. israeli ID but held by palestinians: can access “israeli-only” cities but still cannot reside in most towns in israel
5. jewish/israeli ID: if u hold this ur free to live anywhere throughout “israel” . u can even live on the palestinian territories (60% of the West Bank) as a settler
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Hey! I saw these in my garden a few days ago, all hanging out and vibing together. Do you know what these are/if i should be worried? 😫 in upstate NY
these are Sehirus cinctus! they are relatives of stinkbugs, and feed on seeds of plants in the mint family and various other plant sap as adults. BugGuide says they are not liable to damage any ornamental plants, so I would not worry unless you are a mint nutlet.
in fact, you should probably be swooning in adoration, since this might be a scene of a caring mother and her offspring! stinkbugs et al. are a group in which parental care is relatively common, but these bugs go the extra step of gathering food for their young. mother Sehirus pick up mint seeds and carry them home to feed the kids.
excellent documentation of Sehirus families here:
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can angels wear knight armour?
sure, but i imagine it'd be even more exhausting for them to wear than clothes.
call that a shining knight in armor [sic]
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Im usually much too shy to send asks but you gotta be the change you want to see, and i agree that asks need to stay so: would you rather right 1 horse sized rat, or 100 rat sized horses?
ah yikes... so my knee jerk reaction is "the 100 rat-sized horses, certainly, as those can be picked off one at a time." however the risk of my conscience catching up to me by the 30th or 40th horse is too great. how much death could I inflict upon these rat-sized horses before I vow to see death no more? even if pure survival instinct drives me through all 100, what of the aftermath? surrounded by the carnage of 100 tiny horses with only my own wet breath among 100 still chests? inconceivable. war is hell.
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I imagine arti’s pups were as fluffy as a sea otter pup when they were smaller (sort of like this https://youtu.be/Yl6zZEHBHwE?si=7J1iMqCuy3_B23hW)
Yes, they were very very fluffy! In these they are supposed to be just a few days old, small and defenseless squeaking cotton balls...
Newborn pups would stay in a shelter until strong enough to latch onto their parents, who would guard the surroundings and stay close until then, which is probably a lot easier when you're not a single parent...
Below I put a newborn pup in the height chart right next to Arti, the second scug in the line is also one of her pups, but older, and the first scug is an average slugpup of the same age.
Also that is the cutest video I've seen this year oh my god...
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