#not so easy to actually be the one putting in effort

[weiszklee]

The other problem with rent control is that it can incentivize weird shit like people holding onto leases on flats and subletting bc they can make money from the large arbitrage between the rent the market will bear and the rent they are paying (cf Berlin). Even where it’s dubiously legal it’s hard to enforce, and bc finding a flat is incredibly difficult (due in part to rent control) renters will still take that deal if they have to. You can try to ban that sort of thing, but as long as there’s a strong incentive toward it, bans are at best going to require costly enforcement efforts. In that way you can create a situation where renting is great if you’ve been living in the same flat for the last fifteen years but really bad if you need to move for some reason, and given that people will often need to move for various reasons (they have kids and need bigger space, they want to downsize or save and need less, they want to move closer to their job or to a specific neighborhood to be near an ailing relative etc) you’re just shifting the friction of the rental market from the Kaltmiete sticker price to spending months or years having to hunt for flats.

If you want to keep rents low or lower them, it’s much better to directly put downward pressure on rents by building extensively, than to enact awkward price control schemes that have lots of weird side effects from market distortions. As triv says, rent control isn’t a big deal if you pair it as a sop to renters along side good policy, but many cities treat rent control as sufficient. I think this is because enacting rent control is seen as “doing something” and relieves political pressure, even if it doesn’t on its own relieve scarcity. It would be better if rent control was off the table, so that if politicians wanted to be seen to be doing something, they were forced to look at other policies.

I suspect rent control is also better for property owners—it usually lapses when a new tenant takes over, or owners are allowed to increment the rent more, so rents can still rise in principle, keeping property values higher. Building more reduces the rate of rent rise in a more durable way (or, if you really go all out, lowers rents), which is terrific for renters but bad for existing property owners. Obviously it would be better for owners if there was no rent control, but if you had to choose between the value of your property rising more slowly and the value becoming stagnant or falling you would choose the first.

Okay yeah I agree that building more is better than rent control on its own, but that does not make rent control in general bad. Absent other options or, as in the discussed case, alongside other measures, rent control does indeed do something and isn't just for appearances.

To be fair, my personal experience with renting is only in flatshares. The one I am living in right now has existed for decades, with inhabitants slowly rotating in and out, thus keeping the GbR (which is the actual renting party) instact and keeping rent low. Of course this is not an option for families, but like ... every person who is helped by a policy is a win. That it isn't helping everyone is not an argument against it. (I realize this is easy to say when I am one of the people who are in fact benefitting.)

Subletting for profit defeats the purpose, of course, and should be restricted or at least heavily taxed. I am not like familiar with the matter, but intuitively this seems hard to hide from bureaucracies. Is this actually that big of a problem? I have never lived in Berlin.

and bc finding a flat is incredibly difficult (due in part to rent control)

Again here is the implication of a causation. How does rent control induce scarcity if it doesn't even apply to newly built houses? It should have no effect either way on incentives for building. It helps the people already living there, but that does not mean it screws over those who want to move to a city, it should just have no effect on them. Unless, I guess, you think people stay living in the city despite wanting to move away just because they are in a rent controlled flat, which I don't think is very common. Like, there will be a few people who this describes, but this should not make a significant dent in supply.

About politicians choosing to do rent control over incentivising building more just because it's easier, I have no idea how to evaluate if this is a big problem. Sure rent control might silence the nagging renters a little, but housing scarcity has a lot of detrimental effects besides making renters complain to politicians. Politicians should already want to solve this.

[halcyon-writings]

nav.

iasip style title card: His real name is Rafayel "attached at the hip" Deepspace. may the rafayel girlies pull the new myth in the least amount of pulls!

You know that the reason you're at this art show is because Rafayel had asked you to come with him. Several times, actually, in the span of the days that had come before it. You weren't usually a fan of such spaces, given the fact that the last time you went to one, it was only through the combined efforts of Thomas and Rafayel, that you didn't punch some critic for being far too rude.

"Pleaseeeeee," Rafayel had begged even. The artist had come over that morning with breakfast from the cafe you both liked to go to. The scent of hot cakes and the warm syrup had made your mouth water. But no... you must stay strong...

Of course, such a thing is easier said than done when you hear your stomach growl rather loudly. You had gotten home pretty late last night, so dinner wasn't on your mind as much as falling into bed and immediately passing out was.

Rafayel's pleading expression becomes smug. But he slides over a latte, and you know that your fate is sealed as the scent of coffee floats towards your nostrils. You don't even playfully swat at him when he presses a kiss to your cheek, thanking you with a melodic like laugh that once again proves how much you let him get away with.

"I'll make sure you have everything ready for later, you don't have to worry about a thing," You can't help but squint as he lists off what you'll need. An outfit (one that is matching his, obviously), accessories to match said outfit, and just registry into the guest list. Given who Rafayel was, all of that was easy to acquire.

The gallery's venue was the rented out rooftop of some restaurant, one whose waiting list was both impressive and intimidating. Another part of you found it ridiculous when you looked up their menu out of curiosity and saw the portion size.

Thomas, looking relieved that Rafayel appeared at all, is quick to greet you too, bringing you some of the appetizers that were catered, that you gratefully accept.

"Finally made it?" A familiar voice asks behind you, sneaking a piece from your plate as Rafayel's eyes twinkle with mirth.

You hum, chewing thoughtfully, "Of course, I was invited by the gallery's star of the show."

Rafayel laughs, a sound that makes you smile as well.

"Come on," A familiar touch of his hand rests at the small of your back, his palm is warm. You'd almost think he was a completely different person with the charming smiles he gives, when you think about the past instances of Rafayel not wishing to attend galas or events, where Thomas had to all but drag him along.

Even when guests wanted to speak to him in regards to work and what not, somehow, someway Rafayel always managed to turn the conversation towards something else. Before excusing both him and yourself to a more secluded part of the upper floor.

His arm was now wrapped around your waist, keeping you at his side.

"You know, Thomas is going to get on you for not mingling," You sing-song quietly, bringing your glass to your lips as you drink some water. "He's probably looking for you right now."

Rafayel huffs, but doesn't let go, instead, somehow you think he found a way to stand even closer within your personal space. "He'll be fine, I already mingled enough. I would rather spend my evening with you, then be around these snobs."

You shrug, but your own hand rests against his leg, giving his hip a small pat in comfort. "You poor, poor thing," The faux comfort isn't lost on him, but Rafayel plays it up anyway. He nods along, sniffing at the "indignity" of it all.

"But you will have to let go eventually, I can't save you from an irate Thomas if he gets to that point." You say, watching as Rafayel puts a hand to his heart, blinking.

"Oh, you hate me, cutie." He bemoans. "To be apart from you is like asking a man to stop breathing."

This time you do laugh. Which makes his gasp of mock outrage even funnier.

"Oh, hello Thomas!" You chirp, just to watch Rafayel jump, hiding behind you, only to peer over your shoulder to find... nothing.

He squints at you. You wink at him. He's quick to forgive after a kiss on the cheek, or a couple.

[kings-highway]

37 and any couple you really like but don't write often!

Oh, Mx. Murder, you know this means I had to go with OiDai. A N Y excuse to write them. Except, of course, actually writing for them. One day, one day... Until then... Hehe...

(enjoy my guilty pleasure ship that takes up 1000% of my brainpower yet I've never actually written a full story for 🥲)

They’re a little bit frazzled. Daichi had, for a second, allowed himself to become complacent and forget how much of a mess Oikawa could be. It was so easy to believe him when he said he was in control of everything, and Daichi had always been susceptible to good persuasion. But, then, of course, something like this happens, and Oikawa is all fumbles and sprinting around the room. 

“Just stay the night-”

“I know my phone is somewhere, I can grab it and still make the last train-”

“Just stay the-”

“I can totally make it to the station, everything is under control-”

“Just-”

“Aha! There, now I’ll-”

Daichi grabs him by the arm, forcibly turning him around to face him, stalling the frantic rushing around as Oikawa tucks his phone into his pocket, and throws his jacket over his arm. 

“What? I gotta go, the last train leaves in like six minutes-”

“Hey,” Daichi says, lifting his hands up to take him by the shoulders. “Just stay the night.” 

Oikawa blinks at him, before laughing a little awkwardly. “Really? I mean, I don’t want to be an imposition, and I don’t have any stuff, and-”

“I know,” Daichi says. “It’s okay - and, come on, it’s almost midnight, you don’t want to go sprinting out into the dark, I’d worry. So just… stay.”

Oikawa smiles slightly, before all the innocent sweetness is gone from his expression, and he lifts a hand to walk his fingers up Daichi’s arm. “Well, if I’m staying-”

Daichi swats his hand away, but is ultimately swayed by the pouting, offended look he receives and rises up onto his toes to take his face in his hands and kiss him. He tries kiss him, at least, until he feels Oikawa grinning back, barely able to return the kiss. 

He pulls away. “What is the smirk for?”

“It’s not a smirk, it’s a jovial and lovely smile.” 

Daichi raises an eye, as Oikawa wraps his arms around his shoulders, pulling him in. 

“You’re just cute when you have to go on your toes like that,” Oikawa says, swaying them both side to side. 

“Oh, shut up-” Daichi laughed, shoving weakly at him, but not putting in any effort to break the hold. “So you’ll stay?” 

Oikawa presses a kiss down against Daichi’s hair, before letting go so the now rather ruffled man could pretend like he had dignity left, smoothing his clothes down. 

“Yes, I will stay,” Oikawa confirms. 

[paramountinplace]

Thoughts on how they’d act at bedtime? Here are some of mine, I’d love to hear yours

Van would be the most hard to put down when she was feeling small I think because she’d hate being bored and have so much energy. She’d try to distract Tai for as long as possible and insist she needs some colder water in her sippy cup, some goldfish please (and pinch her fingers to show she needs a little bit). She’d also insist she needs to go to the bathroom at least 3 times even if she doesn’t actually have to. Van would sometimes ask for a pull up if she was worried about having an accident, or Tai would give her one so she’d stop getting up to try going. She wouldn’t be able to fall asleep without someone rubbing her back. Tai sometimes gives her a teether or a paci to calm her down.

Mel would be easy to get down usually, unless the “sweet spot” was missed and she got overtired. Sometimes this happens when she joins Van in acting up at night. When she is overtired then she gets super teary and fussy, refusing to brush her teeth and just sit on the floor because she doesn’t want to go to bed, getting mad when Tai picked out a pull up for her and didn’t let her do it herself, after Tai put her hair in two braids she’d cry because she just wanted one, etc. cg Shauna would be good at dealing with her when she got like this, picking her up and rubbing her back till she fell asleep.

Mari would be fine as long as everybody was being quiet and she was read at least 2 stories by Gen or Tai and she got enough snuggles. All her stuffed animals would have to be tucked in too, and her fairy lights on, etc. I can see her wearing pull ups at night too. As long as nobody made a big deal out of it she would be fine. She’d also like having a bottle as she falls asleep.

Jackie would be very particular about her sleeping conditions, kinda like Mari. She’d need her sippy cup and her stuffed animals in hand, her blankets to be “fluffed up” by Shauna, her calico critters all put away, and of course lots of cuddling.

-🐨

Getting Van to bed would definitely be a bit of a chore that Tai's best suited for. If she's not home, bedtime for Van is generally whenever she finally passes out from sheer exhaustion after multiple people have tried getting her down. She just needs something to do that's not just lying there, so having her back rubbed or getting a teether or a soother make perfect sense. Anytime Van does have an accident, she'll be a bit paranoid about having another one for a few days because it really bugs her when it happens. I think she'd actually sleep quite compact as opposed to sprawling out across half the bed. She picked up a habit of curling up on her good side and shielding her face with her arms to get to sleep after the wolf attack and never quite shook it off.

Akilah puts herself to bed half of the time, which sometimes means that she can get overlooked, so Tai really makes an effort to come sit at the edge of her bed and talk softly about the day tomorrow or tell her a story or something. If she can't make it in to say goodnight, whoever's putting Mari down will fill in for her. Akilah doesn't usually ask for someone specific unless she's had a rough day, in which case she'll beg for Tai or sometimes Lottie.

Your thoughts on Mel are great! Not sure I have much to tack on there besides her habit to ask right before bedtime if she can have a sleepover with Van or Shauna or Mari, which the answer to is almost always no. She doesn't usually put up a fuss about it, but sometimes she'll get real upset and has to be gently guided away from the idea of a sleepover.

Loud nights are a nightmare for Mari. If people are going up and down the hall for the restroom or she can hear the television going downstairs, she's simply not sleeping. She has ear defenders but they're kind of bulky to sleep in. It's not uncommon to find a cg dozing in Mari's bed during bedtime because they gave up on trying to talk her into sleeping and decided to just wait it out.

Jackie will sometimes insist on getting up so she can check in on everyone else to see that they're okay. After a couple times of this, they stop trying to talk her out of it and just let her make her rounds because she usually falls asleep way easier after.

Gen's not too fussed about bedtime. She'll pretend to sleep if Mari's really putting up a fight and Tai asks her to just play along, but a lot of the time, she's allowed to read under the covers with her penlight until she gets sleepy. She doesn't get quite so cranky when she's tired as some of the others and her internal clock is strong enough that she usually gets to bed at an alright time.

Laura Lee is an unsung bedtime hero. She's got some kind of magic touch. If someone's struggling badly to get to sleep, Laura Lee gets called in and most of the time, she'll get them on their way to sleep or at least calm enough not to pitch a fit without too much hassle. She's very good at having that extra bit of patience that some of the littles need when they're overtired or fighting sleep and haven't quite worked out why yet.

[wobbledogian]

one day people will realize all the "stupid" things you see in museums actually have a mountain of meaning and symbolism. like sorry if you don't get it but it's not really the artist's fault.

[aquamarineprncss]

heard someone else say this and haven’t stopped thinking about it, but in regards to learned helplessness people love to say “i tried my best” or “i am trying!” then sink back into their couch, on their computer, not making any effort beyond saying they’re trying. these are also the same people who are enablers in the name of “you’re trying your best!” when frankly, you know and they know you’re not.

do you know how damaging it is to tell someone they’re doing their best when they are bed rotting, or too depressed to brush their teeth or shower regularly, or wanting to kill themselves? tough love IS love, let people feel what they need to, but then show up for them by telling them to try harder. it might make you a villain in their eyes, they might talk shit on you, but when they actually do get up and start living again… they will look back and appreciate that you were pushing them to be better.

in my own personal experience there are two types of people you can befriend. people who enable you to continue to be depressed, miserable, upset, tell you how everyone is SO mean and judgmental and out to get you. then there is the person who will tell you they love and support you always and forever, but you need to do something, anything, other than what you are currently doing.

[maishairbuns]

i've been getting ATLA video essays and stuff in my youtube feed, but i cannot take most of them seriously (or even want to watch them, tbh) because they use the AI generated pictures of the ATLA girls that pop up when you google their names. literally how hard is it to use official art or at least double check that the picture you're using doesn't have poor Yue's boobs hanging out of the front of her shirt??

[lovinggreeniehours]

i forgot. how exhausting playlist making is. damn. sorry about the tags i have so much to say about playlist making lol

[sydmarch]

no interest in any of my hobbies next to no concerts going on all summer feeling abandoned by the majority of the few irls I still have no idea where to meet new people to replace them now that I'm not part of the highly social hard partying sales culture I spent basically all of my post college life in anymore literally what reason is there to keep trying

[vault81]

cannot be arsed building a house atm so ig maccready is just gonna live inside a capsule for now

[mimiyanna]

[ridiculously-over-obsessed]

I swear, this is the last ever New Year that I ring in with people who don't value me or my time and efforts. This is the last year that I spend the holidays etc feeling utterly despondant and miserable. This is the last time I spend the 2 weeks that encompass Christmas, New Years, and my birthday with my cunt of a mother and sister. They have had almost 25 of them in some way or another, and this is their last. I'm done.

[dandyshucks]

trying to tell other ppl about OCs is so hard and embarrassing, like yeah here's my automaton guy that I've been calling Empty Mask, yeah I nearly cried over the thought of him collecting broken porcelain dolls the other day, yeah he sounds kind of stupid but he's actually kind of a tragic character if u get to know his story,,,,,,

[chiistarri]

chat how do u make someone txt u back...

[ourceliumnetwork]

finally tackled the absolute mountain of laundry in various states of cleanliness around my room. now all of it is sorted and put into its respective zones of "away".

[youjustwaitsunshine]

someone is doing burnouts on the street outside