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Latest Posts by shv2 - Page 2
yeah, but you do mean 'loveless' like 'romanceless' right? Just cause you're not interested in a romantic partnership, and you're never attracted to anyone romantically, that doesn't mean you can't love your family and your friends. Am I understanding wrong? I feel like it's a widely accepted concept that 'love' isn't just romantic, it's about caring about someone, no matter if they're your family or platonic friend or your pet.
No, "loveless" means love-less. Another anon also asked me to explain as well so:
"Lovelessness" in the aro context comes from the essay I Am Not Voldemort by K.A Cook. The essay confronts normative ideas on love, its inherent positivity and what it means to not love. From the introduction, which brings up the question of non-romantic love:
This June, I saw an increasing number of positivity and support posts for the aromantic and a-spec communities discussing the amatonormativity of “everyone falls in love”. I agree: the idea that romantic love is something everyone experiences, and is therefore a marker of human worth, needs deconstruction. Unfortunately, a majority of these posts are replacing the shackles of amatonormativity with restrictive lines like “everyone loves, just not always romantically”, referencing the importance of loving friends, QPPs, family members and pets. Sometimes it moves away from people to encompass love for hobbies, experiences, occupations and ourselves. The what and how tends to vary from post to post, but the idea that we do and must love someone or something, and this love redeems us as human and renders us undeserving of hatred, is being pushed to the point where I don’t feel safe or welcome in my own aromantic community. Even in the posts meant to be challenging the more obvious amatonormativity, it is presumed that aros must, in some way, love. I’ve spent weeks watching my a-spec and aro communities throw neurodiverse and survivor aros under the bus in order to do what the aromantic community oft accuses alloromantic aces of doing: using their ability to love as a defence of their humanity. Because I love, they say, I also don’t deserve to be a target of hatred, aggression and abuse. But what if I don’t love? What if love itself has been the mechanism of the hatred and violence I have endured? Why am I, an aro, neurodiverse survivor of abuse and bullying, still acceptable collateral damage?
The author criticizes the idea of "true love" that is incapable of harm. Ze questions why we construct love in that way, and how it ignores and simplifies the experiences of victims of abuse ("It’s comforting to think that a love that wounds isn’t real love, but it denies the complexity of experience and feeling had by survivors. It denies the complexity of experience and feeling that makes it harder for us to identify abuse and escape its claws. It denies the validity of survivors who look at love and feel an honest doubt about its worth, as a word or a concept, in our own interactions and experiences.") Ze talks about being forced to say "I love you" to transphobic, abusive parents whose feelings of love was the justification for their abuse.
The core of what "loveless" as an concept is about is summed up in this quote:
There is no substantial difference between saying “I’m human because I fall in love”, “I’m human because I love my friends” and “I’m human because I love calligraphy”. All three statements make human worth contingent on certain behaviours, feelings and experiences. Expanding the definition of what kinds of love make us human does nothing but save some aros from abuse and antagonism … while telling survivor and neurodiverse aros, who are more likely to have complex relationships to love as a concept or are unable to perform it in ways recognised by others, that we’re still not worthy.
Lovelessness is against any kind of statement which quantifies humanity (and implicitly, human worth) in the ability to feel or act or experience certain things. Humans are human by virtue of being human, and nothing else. And, it is socially constructed! "Love" has no natural definition! Some people are not comfortable using "love" to describe positive feelings and relationships, and some people do not feel those positive feelings in general. And those people deserve the right to define their own experiences and their own relationship to the social construct of love.
In essence, lovelessness is both a personal as well as (in my opinion) a political identity, born from aro and mad experiences that challenges not just amatonormativity but all ideas that associate personhood and worth with the ability to feel certain things.
& as a note, there is also the term "lovequeer" which describes using the term "love" in ways which contradict mainstream understandings of what it means to love, and which kinds of love are considered worthwhile.
Kith and kin.
Sometimes peace doesn't mean a lover's embrace, it means, well, peace.
Love loses! Happy aromantic week!! To me, to you and the whole cast of Avantris characters that have not shown any sign of romantic attraction, adore you.
EDIT: Since Richie asked for Art notes, here they are:
thanks for coming to my aro-talk.
Some Gravity Falls Stuff I Found
A lot of this could already be known, but I'm having fun and its a way to keep track. All is from thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com
So for computer passwords:
Dipper- a letter from Bill (his handwriting + he calls him Pine Tree) telling dipper to stare into the sun
Mabel- Places stickers all over the lab until the screen says "lab fully Mabelized"
Stanford/Sixer- Gives a Medical report on Ford's hand taken at 18, the report censors the mention of kidnapping him for cloning
Stanley- eBay for brass knuckles
MatPat- a video of MatPat saying "hello internet, this time, you're on your own"
Cipher/Bill Cipher- Eye of Providence Wiki
Bill- Sesame Street Video
Wendy- A letter from Wendy saying that she wrote a way to ward off evil triangles at the bottom right of the book (I have two ideas for what this could be), also a 👌 drawn in the bottom right corner upside down.
Blind Eye- A seeing eye test that repeats the letters WKHBOOVHH (anagram maybe?) with a colour code at the bottom (I'll include this later in this post)
Robbie- Shows messenger messages between Robbie and Thompson. Thompson seems to be getting real tired of the bullying (He wrote out "If you keep insulting me one of these days I-" and then highlights it as if he's about to delete it, followed by Yea :(). They discuss going to a site to see Bill, and later freak out about seeing him and knowing how they both die (Thompson gets mistaken for luggage and Robbie chokes on a mini skateboard). The end is this photo with Bill in the background:
Pacifica- A letter from Pacifica herself warning against Bill, saying that she dumped old Tapestries with triangles on it off a yacht with an unnamed friend. She seems to be super uncomfy about mentioning who the friend is (Dipper maybe?). She ends the letter saying that you should follow her on Platinum Paz
Platinum Paz: Details a story of Pacifica having a nightmare about blood being on her hands and everywhere. She then has a conversation with a statue of Nathaniel NW, who asks about her anger. She tells him everything was better before the Pines' came to town, and he says he will help her if she does something for him: go to the Pines' place and grab a small snowglobe that's new (the rift). He is about to shake her hand before she stops and wakes up. She then adds Dipper's number to her phone and sleeps well. Most likely what leads to the tapestries being thrown off a yacht.
Oneeyedking: a hypnosis tape where there is morse code in the background while Bill says "you want to sell your soul to Bill Cipher" three times. I didn't do this but the morse code gives a series of letters (explained below)
If you spam Stanley: you are a taken to something called “the Wheel of Shame” and it is Bill explaining that he knows all of Stan’s shames since he was in his head. They are listed as follows: Ex Wives, Fears, Secret Shames, Unreported Crimes, Stan’s Failed Products, Lowest Moments, Darkest Thought (pin all crimes on Soos), and How Stan Beat Me (He didn’t! I’M STILL HERE SUCKER)
Now for Codes:
When you click on the book of Bill, there is a letter from Ford to Dipper warning against the book. On the last page at the bottom right corner, this code is seen (this is what I thought Wendy might mean):
I tried all the existing codexes, but they didn't work. Until I typed MASON into the compuer (Dipper's acc name), which gives a sheet where Dipper talks about learning how to make codes. Ford's writing comes in at the end, and the words CRYPTOGRAM CODEX are capitalized at the end. When that was input into the computer, a folder file was downloaded and gave me multiple codes.
I used CypherFontA and flipped the message on the Vertical Axis and reversed the message to get: PER ASPERA AD ASTRA, which means "through suffering to the stars" in Latin
There is another hidden code on the candle, visible through the lightning, and it uses the Runes codex, translating to CURSED. When input into the computer, you get this "Just Say No" campaign poster against drawing triangles (RAD), the words Cool and Parties are both randomly capitalized in this speech bubble from Nancy Reagan (not applicable to the passwords tho)
Carved into the wall (visible when lightling strikes) on the left is the Latin phrase "VALLIS CINERIS", which translates to "valley of ashes", you get this image and a creepy voice that says "why did you do it?" (a reference to bill destroying his home dimension)
The morse code spells out NAITSUAF, and when input to the computer, gives an offer to sell your soul. At the bottom is a button that asks are you ready, when you click on it, it shows a contract that has the following code on it
This is also a codex given in the previously mentioned codex file, and it is the theraprism file. It states: "YOU ARE NOW TWENTY ONE GRAMS LIGHTER"
Below the theraprism is more CipherFontA code, which I have not fully completed but seems to list out the terms of the contract. However, I noticed these rectangles near the words and am wondering if it means to take the letter closest to it or if it is a period. I am too lazy to work it all out rn so feel free to lmk what that all says :)
When you sign the contract, it says "pleasure doing business with you" and the flame on the candle is now blue. When you mess with the toggle on the computer, you get a backwards audio message in the same creepy voice as the Vallis Cineris code. When reversed, the audio says: " Someone help, the murderer’s name is Bill”
The prism that sits beside the computer has a code with the following symbols: #?&&!, which reads out as SORRY (this code is in the Book of Bill). When you input that into the computer, you get an image of college Ford and McGucket :(
That’s all I have for now! Feel free to reblog with anything else you might have found! I know of a ton more but I didn’t include them since this post would NEVER end.
Protests in Kenya
Hey guys, I'm not sure if you've heard, but there are protests happening in Kenya. As someone living in Kenya, I want to keep you updated and inform of what happening, preferably as soon as possible (I've already delayed like a week) before the internet cuts become more serious (which hopefully it doesn't, but you never know. Or there might be national blackout)
Okay, let's start with some context. So I believe it was last Sunday, June 16th was when the Finance Bill was introduced. The Finance Bill basically goes over the budget for the government, and the measures the government is going to take to finance the budget. This bill was widely unpopular because of the amount of taxes introduced on basic necessities, such as bread, feminine hygiene products (pads and stuff), diapers, cars (not buying a new car, but literally just having one on the road), vegetable oil, fuel, and sugar. They even taxed medical treatments, such as cancer treatments and Mpesa, which is a mobile money service that so many across the country use to send and receive money, as well as pay for anything.
This is coupled by the fact that the government doesn't really do all too much for the average Kenyan, so all these extra taxes will not come back to the people. Just in the past month, our president, William Ruto, was going from country to country on our tax dollars. Just in this year alone he has done 20 international visits, and the year is only about halfway done. A lot of the tax dollars go to 'confidential expenditures', which is just whatever the officials want it to be. All of this money being spent by top government officials, but our public school system is not good, we still get frequent power outages (unless you live near State House (where the president lives)), water isn't guaranteed (my family once had no municipal water for months, and had to buy a water tank and supply our own water), youth unemployment is high, healthcare is lacking, the roads are not well built, the cost of living is higher than it's ever been, the shilling is doing badly (especially against the dollar) among many other issues.
So, fed up with all of this excessive taxation, and the corruption of the politicians, many people, especially young people have taken into the streets to protest. If you read Kenyan news, you may hear the word 'maandamano' being used to describe it, just know that it means protests, basically. Starting in Nairobi City Center (or Town, as it's locally called), the protests have spread across the country to almost every major city. Of course with protests comes police pushback.
Teargas has been used against the crowds, although some protestors are brave enough to just through it back to the police. Water cannons have been used, and recently guns. At least 5 people have died in the protests, with a couple hundred injured.
Amidst all of this, the government has decided to amend some parts of the bill, getting rid of some taxes, such as the taxes on cars and Mpesa, or changing some, such as now only imported feminine hygiene products and diapers will be taxed; domestic ones will not. This happened late last week, I believe Friday June 21st or so, and is expected to go into effect July 1st. However, this is still not enough, as the protestors were calling for the bill to be rejected completely, and led to more protests happening yesterday, Tuesday, June 25th, and more planned for tomorrow (Thursday, June 27th). Yesterdays protests were a lot more intense, with the parliment building being breached and set on fire (it didn't burn down in it's entirety), and the crowds being larger than usual.
This led to Safaricom, one of the biggest internet and cell service providers to basically disconnect us yesterday afternoon. As someone who has a Safaricom sim card and home internet, I can confirm that the internet was unbearably slow. Some social media sites, such as Youtube or Pinterest worked, although many things didn't load. Snapchat and Whatsapp worked as well, faster than the first two, but still noticeably slower. I could not get into Tumblr at all yesterday, which is what prompted me to write this long text post. If I disappear for a couple of days, you know what happens. There's also the possibility of a national blackout, but that's kinda not new. Sometimes, Kenya Power is just 'silly' and there's no power in the entire country. It's happened at least once in the past year.
So, what can you do? Personally, I think just being aware and speaking about this is probably one of the best things to do for now. Other than a national blackout, I don't see this situation devolving into full-scale violence, and I'm hoping really hard that it doesn't. If you have any friends or relative in Kenya, perhaps reach out to them and make sure that they're okay. In addition, as you keep the situation of Kenya in mind, be sure to also keep in mind what's happening in other parts of the world, such as Palestine, Congo, and Sudan. We're not free until everyone is free.
Anyways, thanks for reading, I'll drop links for further info below.
PS. I forgot to mention that firstly, we've sent police to Haiti, even though I'm fairly sure that we're not allowed to do that. Secondly, the government has threatened to shut down KTN, a major news broadcasting service in response to this.
PPS. I forgot to mention that this isn't the first time that there were protests against him. It happened around summertime last year as well, although those protests were organized by his main opposition, Raila Odinga, who was basically pulling a Trump. I believe the national blackout happened in the midst of all of that, so my fear for a national blackout is not unfounded.
Update (27/6/24) : So, the finance bill has passed in Parliament, but Ruto has refused to sign it, which you might consider a win, right? Well, not really. Since Parliament has already passed it, if they don't rescind it, it will become law in 21 days. All he's done is kinda bought himself time to oppress the protestors since if Parliament doesn't' rescind it, it'll go into effect later than July 1st.
I'm trying to see if I can find what the government has allocated funds to in order to paint a picture of how the government is misuing our tax money, but I can't seem to find a credible source, just things put on social media. A starting point, for sure. I'll be back this afternoon to continue looking
Also, I'm okay! I'm safe, and will most likely be for the time being! There are some protests near my house but I personally have not physically been at the protests. Today is another scheduled day for protests, so we'll see what comes out of this (hopefully no violence, but I did talk to a guy who went Tuesday, and he said that someone got shot right next to him, so... yikes.)
Okay, I'm back, and here's what I found. This article from the Nation, a Kenyan news source, goes over the budget for the deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua. These figures seemed to be the source of what many on social media are quoting, so I'll link the article here.
As well as this video from Tiktok that goes over what the article is saying:
I will list the prices in the infochart from the Tiktok in USD so you can get a sense of how much money this is. Keep in mind that this is just for DP Gachagua alone. Conversion rate is 100 shillings to 0.77 dollars.
Karen Home Renovation (For context, Karen is a wealthy residential area in Nairobi where the deputy president lives): $5,106,382.97 (5.1 million)
Harambee Annex Office (His office) Refurbishment: $3,558,994.19 (3.56 million)
Confidential Expenditure (Whatever he wants it to be without reporting what exactly it was): $6,808,510.63 (6.8 million)
Drug Abuse Fight*: $1,934,235.98 (1.9 million)
Medals: $1,934,235.98 (1.9 million)
Motor Vehicles: $1,547,388.78 (1.5 million)
Household Appliances: $19,342.36
Office Furniture: $290,135.40
Educational Aids*: $15,473.89
Laundry: $16,247.58
Internet Connection: $77,369.44
Accomodation: $704,061.89
Gas: 4,023.21
*The reason the person in the video laughed at this is because politicians here have a history of allocating funds to public works but the money gets taken. That's why a lot of roads are half finished, some official took the money that was meant to finish the road.
Also, to give a sense of the purchasing power of the Kenyan shilling, my daily commute costs about 160 ksh. A six pack of hot dog rolls is 120. Snickers is like 224. I got oatmeal and chia seeds for 789. Some Sony Bluetooth headphones are going for about 7,000. So please let that sink it how much money that is, and why we're so mad and insistent on not paying any more taxes.
(7/24/7: Reblogged this with more updates.)
http://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2024-05/Finance%20Bill%2C%202024_0.pdf
A short reminder that Russia is imperialist, has been imperialist for a long time, and there’s no way around that fact.
Sections of the Western left have developed a narrative according to which Russia has been gradually surrounded by NATO and that supposedly “provoked” Putin. It’s increasingly difficult to sustain the notion that Russia is simply “defending itself” after 24 February 2022, but the thing is - the invasion did not come out of the blue. One needs a different narrative to understand what Russia actually is: an aggressive imperialist power alongside other imperialisms.
So, a different narrative:
- 1994: Russia, with US support, acquires Ukrainian nuclear arsenal in exchange for the assurances to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity
- 1997: Russia acquires the Sevastopol naval base and almost all of the ships (82%, to be exact)… in exchange for the assurances to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity!
- 2004: Russia meddles in Ukrainian presidential elections, fighting hard to force an undemocratic fraudulent outcome, but fails
- Mid-to-late 2000s: As punishment for Ukraine electing Yushchenko, Russia uses energy blackmail, a form of economic coercion not very different from the IMF and World Bank lending and conditionality
- 2008: NATO refuses to adopt a roadmap towards Ukraine’s membership and in effect postpones the decision indefinitely. Ukraine’s security is in no way guaranteed, while Russia has already demonstrated the propensity to use coercion to force Ukraine to do its bidding
- 2009: Dmitry Medvedev, then president, writes to Yushchenko that “Russia does not pose and cannot pose any kind of threat to Ukraine”, so seeking NATO membership is stupid. Yea, sure
- 2014: Russia, which “does not pose and cannot pose a threat to Ukraine”… annexes Crimea. Really, Dima?? I thought you were for real??
Of course, by annexing Crimea Russia not only makes all the previous statements that it “can never pose a threat to Ukraine” a ridiculous lie, but also breaks the 1994 memorandum and 1997 treaty. “We are the Kremlin. Our word is worth nothing”
- Crimea’s annexation provokes armed separatism in Donbas that Russia supports and coordinates, including direct military command and control, and then completely subordinates Donbas “authorities”, in effect occupying the region
- Ukraine’s still not in NATO, its security is still in no way guaranteed, and the supplies of US weapons only begin in 2018. They are kept to a minimum… out of fear of provoking Russia!
- Nevertheless, on 24 February 2022 Russia launches a full-scale invasion to establish 100% control over all of Ukraine in one way or another. There is literally no military development on the ground that could have provoked the invasion. On Russia’s part, it’s a war of choice in exactly the same way the invasion of Iraq was a war of choice for the US in 2003.
Now, this is only the general outline. One should add Russia’s drowning of Ukraine with spies and agents of influence, money to corrupt Ukrainian politicians and massive acquisition of Ukrainian assets to impose economic and political dependency.
These are well-known facts, but so many on the left refuse to see the story behind them. It’s a story of decades of imperialist aggression, culminating in a war that cost 150,000 lives in 2022 alone. Any discussion of left-wing internationalism should begin with recognizing the reality of what Russia is and what it did.
Slight book of Bill spoilers!
Him being a pathetic ex was not on my 2024 bingo card....
If you want to support Ukrainians, DO NOT donate to Red Cross. Can't speak about their work in other countries, but they're useless in Ukraine. The only trustworthy international organisation I can think of is World Central Kitchen.
Donate to World Central Kitchen
And it's even better to donate directly to Ukrainian organisations. Here are a few good legit places:
hospitallers.life - "Hospitallers", Ukrainian paramedics on the frontlines
savelife.in.ua - "Come Back Alive", assistance to the army
prytulafoundation.org - "Prytula Foundation", assistance to the army, humanitarian causes
starenki.com.ua - "Starenki", helping elderly people
everybodycan.com.ua - "Everybody Can", helping disabled children, elders and hospitals
uanimals.org - "UAnimals", saving animals
Palestinian girls and women are forced to use tents as pads. People boost. Donate if you can
ICJ has ruled that Israel’s settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territories is in breach of international law.
The "transfer by Israel of settlers to the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as Israel's maintenance of their presence" is "contrary to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention", a panel of 15 judges from around the world said.
The court said Israel must end the construction of settlements immediately - acts which render "Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful".
Israel's continued presence is "illegal" and should be ended as "rapidly as possible", the ICJ added.
Long post, any commentary welcome
Okay confession time: I disliked Wander for years and now I'm realising that the only problem I have with him is that he is not called out on his bullshit/mistakes when it's really important.
I just feel like he is only shown as being in the wrong about small things. "He wants to help too much, even if people don't want it! He ignores his health to help others!"
But these are laughably small. Remindes me of when a person makes a character but they don't want to gives them any actual flaws so it's just "They are too kind/smart/etc".
Main problem (for me) is that Wander actually has big, intresting flaws with his character. But they are not explored. I cannot treat the episode about him trying to help people that are fine when. Everything else. I'm going to give 2 main examples that give me the most discomfort. You can skip if you understand.
1. Constant invasion of boundaries, to the point where "when he is a villain he deserves it" doesn't personally work for me. The entire fremergency episode.. Also the one where he and hater sang on stage. Why is he so weird about unconsious/not fully there Hater. He immediately makes him do/say things (in public or even on camera) that he would not say usually. Imagine someone you know is drunk so you take them in a public place to act like you are close while your buddy is filming that. I get Hater is a villain but damn... I'm not asking for a big callout or anything, can we at least not do the "it's so sad that he has to return :(" thing in the end.. Wander overstepping everyone's boundaries is so consistent it's a character trait, but it's mostly played for laughs/ignored/endorsed. It's not only villains... I remember this one animatic (scrapped/after credit scene, don't remember) where he pets Sylvia and his hand goes down to her tail so she has to physically stop him. Also a lot of other minor stuff, but.. I feel like this is more glaring than "oh he's just too sweet and kind".
2. The entire dominator.. Thing. Wander sees a trolley problem with the entire galaxy vs dominator (+hater stops being a villain), and decides he wants to save everyone. No matter how right you think he was, he did not achieve what he wanted. Dominator did not change. Hater did, but not complitely. But innocent people died. We can't just ignore that Hater has the power to stop Dominator, and one of the main reasons he didn't was because Wander was helping him out with Dominator. Look at Hater's face when Dominator laughs at his confession. He's not even surprised. He would 100% give up sooner if Wander wasn't hyping him up so much. Wander actually made sure that the only person capable of defeating Dominator was peaceful towards her for as long as he could. How many people lost their homes/died while him and Hater were busy with their crap? Again, I know this is a children's show. And yes, Wander is presented as being wrong, but un a really weird way. It's more about Dominator than her victims. It's more "Not everyone wants to change/be your friend/some people are just enemies" etc. The show shows (haha) that Wander was wrong, but the consequences are not in the picture. There are 2 elements to what happened: "Wander made the wrong call and many wrong decisions, AND many people died/lost their homes because of his decisions". The show only talks about the first part. It almost makes it look like if Dominator actually agreed to become friends, everything else would become okay.
Every time I rewatched the show I was thinking "Oh, yeah, this guy let countless people die because he wanted to solve the situation 100% ethically and gets away with it. Oh, he is very touchy without consent. Oh, he doesn't listen to his best friend and almost gets her killed. Oh, oh. Fuck this guy".
Now I think that it would be fine if it was adressed. There is no need to reduce/ignore his mistakes. Half of the main cast are villains (I personally consider (Wander, Sylvia, Hater and Peepers the main 4, people still love them. I love them! Not only that, we have Brad Starlight that satirises traditional heroes. Why doesn't the show apply at least some critical thinking towards Wander? Also, Sylvia is a hero too! She was a bounty hunter, she has anger management problems (where she is implied to hurt people in the way that a family friendly show can show (ep about the race)), she often "learns her lesson" if Wander is right.
Another thing.
Episodes where Wander is wrong are weirdly disconnected from the rest of the show in my opinion. At least it feels like it. It feels like tonal whiplash. One episode, Wander does something wrong - it's fine/haha funny. Other episode, Wander is W R O N G and needs to learn his lesson, also everything is extremely more on the nose. Try watching "The Fremergency Fronfract" right after "The Helper". Throughout 8 years I saw several people that had an opinion that these episodes felt really out of character for Wander, and I can understand where they are coming from. In my opinion, it's not Wander as a character, it's the lens through which we see him. Swapping from uncritical acceptance to critique feels unnatural to me.
Thinking of alternative scenarios/fanfiction makes me like Wander so much more. I think I can actually appreciate the guy so much more now. Everything I wrote was prompted by RWBY (+rewritten), because main team has the same problems Wander has times 1000.
I do hope that in season 3 they planned to explore Wander more (I remember seeing some tweets about it being the case), but I think that there is no way to adress this in season 3 without making it disconnect in many ways in some way from season 1 and 2.
The bankroller of the Gaza Genocide, Joe Biden, has tested positive for COVID-19. Here are a few Palestinians you can support in celebration of his misery.
Wafaa @wafa-nahll: A grandmother working tirelessly across three platforms (Instagram, Tiktok, Tumblr) to raise money for her family. Her last tumblr account was shadowbanned. Her goal is €50k.
@journalsforpalestine is running a raffle for Wafaa.
Siraj @siraj2024: A father of three young children who lost their home and now have to live in what he describes as a "convection oven". His family has narrowly survived two massacres in the past week. Help them rebuild their home. His campaign has been moving at a glacial pace recently. His short term goal is $10K USD, he ultimately needs $60k USD.
Shahed @shahednhall: A college student and photographer. She lost her friend and their entire family, and her sister, like many Gazan children, has contracted hepatitis. Her urgent short term goal is $30k USD and she is far from it.
@journalsforpalestine is running a raffle for Shahed.
Khaled @khaled_1995__b on Instagram: A young father who has experienced unimaginable tragedy over the past several months. He and his pregnant wife left to Egypt for Mecca shortly before the Oct 7. After giving birth to their baby, Kamal, she passed away. Now, their two year old son, Majd, along with his grandmother and the rest of their family, are stuck in North Gaza. Majd is facing malnutrition. Their goal is $35k USD.
Motasem @motasem1256 on Instagram: A young father from North Gaza whose son was born in the genocide. Every day he updates his followers on new destruction and misery he encounters. He frequently posts about wanting to die. His goal is currently $20k USD but will likely increase as things change.
art by the.gauntlets
Dr. Huda Abu Khater's Instagram
gofundme to help them
for people who don’t know what’s happening in congo, here is a good thread explaining the abuse people of congo are experiencing daily.
https://x.com/nightowlnikk/status/1802830952940380545?s=46
if you care about palestine’s genocide, i believe you should care about congo’s genocide too.
since the thread is gone i’d recommend reading this instead: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/11/rwanda-militias-drc-goma
thank you msilverstar!
this as well: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/a-guide-to-the-decades-long-conflict-in-dr-congo
I have not seen anything on Tumblr about the other anti genocide protest that went on at Harvard in the past few weeks.
On April 20, 2024 two Taiwanese-American and two Tibetan students working with the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP and Students for a Free Tibet interrupted a talk by Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng. They were calling attention to the Genocides of the Tibetans, Uyghurs in Eastern Turkestan, the subjugation of Hong Kong and Amb. Xie's specific part in it, as well as military threats to Taiwan.
Help Wafaa's Children and Grandchildren Evacuate
hi everyone, I checked in with Wafaa @hebsnhel yesterday and as you can also read from her latest updates on her blog (please follow her for her family's story and updates on the campaign!), her 5 year old granddaughter is extremely sick with Hepatitis, and has been in a high fever for the past 5 days. The recent surge in Hepatitis cases in Gaza is because of the lack of access to clean water and food, as well as the total lack of access to medication. Hepatitis, if left untreated, is extremely painful with frequent abdominal pain and high fevers, symptoms can last for months.
Wafaa has raised her campaign goal slightly because she is the sole financial provider for her family (of three generations, including 15 members) and not only does she have to pay for her own food and lodging, but also buy milk, food, water, diapers for her newborn grandson, and pay land rent for the tents.
Please please continue to support Wafaa in her continued hope to reunite with her family, her beloved children and her grandchildren.
€12,107 raised of €50,000 goal as of Jun 18 morning, let's try to get at least €400 in donations today, every single day without traction for Wafaa's family means more disease and more danger!!
You should be furious that people trying to escape genocide in Gaza, Sudan, Congo all need raise an absurd amount of money just to survive
You should be furious at how these people went through atrocity after atrocity and still need raise tens of thousands of dollars to get away
You should be furious at this insidious thing that completely encapsulates how capitalism feeds off of blood
Remember, the STRIKE FOR PALESTINE DID NOT END! 🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉
For ANY DONATION (even the smallest one possible on the website), I will send you a doodle of a character:
-In color
-humanization - portrait size, originals - full body
Or I can write a short 1-2 page drabble about 4 or less core characters just for you (I won't link examples here, but I can send you one if you are interested in this)
If you donate ≥ 3 dollars/euro:
+ 1 character OR full body humanization
For ≥ 5 dollars/euro you can pick both :)
(No NSFW, gore etc. Keep it family friendly)
Please message me first and donate if I approve the idea
Also, I know there are a lot of russian people in this fandom, talk to me if you are interested but can't use a european credit card, I might figure out what to do
Links (click on the names):
UNRWA
PCRF
Gazafunds
Anything from this post
ART PRINT FUNDRAISER FOR PALESTINE
MAKE A SMALL DONATION, GET ART IN EXCHANGE
So far, I have raised £82 from sales of this print, and I have you all to thank. I am endlessly grateful, but there is more to be done.
Please if you are able to, order some print/s and make your donations directly. If not, please share and reblog this post wherever you can! I ask you please to think of these people, who are not only being bombed, but being starved, denied medical aid, shelter, and the many chronically ill people who have gone so long without their medications and supplies. Thank you all, your donations and shares mean more than can be expressed.
You can buy my prints here, or donate directly on the links below:
Gazafunds (verified GoFundMes that you can contribute to - everything helps!)
PCRF (Palestinian Childrens Relief Fund)
Anera.org (Aid organisation working to get medical supplies into Gaza)
my website (sillydogshop.bigcartel.com)
Day two of the week long strike for a free Palestine and I thought I’d share my recent painting with some tips for those looking for ways to get involved that can’t attend an in person event.
🍉Disrupt- Call/ email your representatives. Jam the phone lines with demands for an immediate ceasefire, aid to be allowed into Gaza, and an end to the occupation.
🍉With your money- do not spend this week. If you find yourself in dire need of something, try to buy it locally instead of from a corporation and absolutely no spending on non-necessities. Look into mutual aid programs near you. Beyond the strike, keep the boycotts going. Look for Palestinian businesses to support. Shop local over corporate as much as you can. Research your bank, see where they invest. If you find your money going to oppressors, move your money out of there and close the account. Send e-sims to Gaza. Look into Project Olive Branch.
🍉 Social Media: boost Palestinian voices and refrain from engaging with unrelated content. Share information. Engage with pro-Palestinian content to help fight the algorithms. This week, refuse to post or engage with any content that is not about Gaza.
Remember: these are just a few ways of getting involved if you can’t attend an in person event. You do not have to do all of them!!
Edit~ I’ve seen some truly disturbing reblogs to this painting and I just want to say that being anti-genocide should not be a controversial thing and if you feel it is, you’re on the wrong side of history. To all the lovely people just doing what you can to help, sending yall love!! I’m also just a person in a country whose reps are disappointing me greatly, looking for ways to be helpful.
hiiiii so guess what I’ve been working on a WATCHDOG PICREW! It’s my first picrew so it’s a little buggy and limited but I’ll probably continue to work on it :-] i hope you all enjoy and explore! 🫶
concept: human!watchdogs wear electronic masks
homogenizes them and minimizes their individuality
leans into the original concept of them being at least somewhat mechanical
looks cool
Vetted fundraiser masterpost-masterpost
TRY MY NEW DONATION ASK GAME!!! (COMING SOON)
This is a collection of links to various posts concerning fundraisers I've vetted and instructions on how to submit fundraisers to me. These are primarily ones for Ghazzan families although some fundraisers for Sudanese families are also listed (I'm more familiar with my own country's politics and dialect and am more capable of vetting fundraisers for Palestinians as a result). Each post will have a time stamp indicating the latest date of update. And fundraisers will have colour-coded disclaimers according to the particularities of their case.
I know that people do not like clicking on links or navigating between posts, but please actually look through these posts and choose a fundraiser to donate to. Please.
Instructions on how to submit a fundraiser. (for those not Ghazzan) تعليمات لتقديم طلب توثيق و نشر حملات التبرعات الخاصة بالغزاويين و عائلاتهم (للغزاويين فقط)
ملاحظة خاصة نشر الحملات.
List of fundraisers for my direct contacts from Ghazzah & Sudan. - PRIORITY.
Vetted family evacuation fundraisers list 1. - Particularities Listed.
Vetted family evacuation fundraisers list 2. - Particularities Listed.
Unvetted but highly likely legitimate fundraisers.
Additional fundraisers for various purposes.
I've said it before but for newcomers, I will say it again. I fully stand with Palestine and Palestinians. If you're neutral, or you don't care, or you support Israel or you're "free everyone", unfollow me right now. This is not a political topic. Tons of innocent people dying is not a political topic.
Everyone's always saying that they're for making a change but I don't see any change in an account that doesn't stand for humanitarian crisis. Swifties, I'm sorry but y'all post millions of things about Taylor Swift's albums and various tours but can't be bothered to reblog posts about people dying.
1000 is a big number and we know that. Now imagine, 36050+ people dead, 15000+ are children, 80,643 injured, and 10,000 missing.
We all know what to do when genocides happen, it's in the history books. This is going to make it in history books. Stop being ignorant.
Free Palestine and all eyes on Rafah.
Please Donate and Help This Family.
If you want to support Ukrainians, DO NOT donate to Red Cross. Can't speak about their work in other countries, but they're useless in Ukraine. The only trustworthy international organisation I can think of is World Central Kitchen.
Donate to World Central Kitchen
And it's even better to donate directly to Ukrainian organisations. Here are a few good legit places:
hospitallers.life - "Hospitallers", Ukrainian paramedics on the frontlines
savelife.in.ua - "Come Back Alive", assistance to the army
prytulafoundation.org - "Prytula Foundation", assistance to the army, humanitarian causes
starenki.com.ua - "Starenki", helping elderly people
everybodycan.com.ua - "Everybody Can", helping disabled children, elders and hospitals
uanimals.org - "UAnimals", saving animals