Day 2: Sail/Soar

⚓ Dredge style-inspired Gem and her s10 base :D

Read Palestine Week

🇵🇸 Good morning, my beautiful bookish bats. Can I start by saying a huge THANK YOU for sharing my Queer Palestinian Book post? Seriously, thank you so much. Let's keep that momentum by observing Read Palestine Week (Nov 29 - Dec 5). I've compiled a list of books to help you, along with a list of upcoming events and resources you can use this week and beyond.

🇵🇸 A collective of over 350 global publishers and individuals issued a public statement expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. Publishers for Palestine have organized an international #ReadPalestine week, starting today (International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People).

🇵🇸 These publishers have made many resources and e-books available for free (with more to come). A few include award-winning fiction and poetry by Palestinian and Palestinian diaspora authors. You'll also find non-fiction books about Palestinian history, politics, arts, culture, and “books about organizing, resistance, and solidarity for a Free Palestine.” You can visit publishersforpalestine.org to download some of the books they have available.

POETRY 🌙 Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha 🌙 Affiliation by Mira Mattar 🌙 Enemy of the Sun by Samih al-Qasim 🌙 I Saw Ramallah by Mourid Barghouti 🌙 A Mountainous Journey by Fadwa Tuqan 🌙 So What by Taha Muhammad Ali 🌙 The Butterfly’s Burden by Mahmoud Darwish 🌙 To All the Yellow Flowers by Raya Tuffaha

FICTION 🌙 Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury 🌙 Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales 🌙 Men in the Sun by Ghassan Kanafani 🌙 Morning in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa 🌙 Gaze Writes Back by Young Writers in Gaze 🌙 Palestine +100:Stories from a Century after the Nakba 🌙 Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh 🌙 Out of Time by Samira Azzam

🌙 The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher 🌙 You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat 🌙 A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum 🌙 Salt Houses by Hala Alyan 🌙 A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar 🌙 Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa 🌙 Minor Detail by Adania Shibli 🌙 The Woman From Tantoura by Radwa Ashour

NON-FICTION 🌙 Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour 🌙 Strangers in the House: Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine by Raja Shehadeh 🌙 Palestinian Art, 1850–2005 by Kamal Boullata 🌙 Palestine by Joe Sacco 🌙 The Hour of Sunlight: One Palestinian’s Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker by Sami Al Jundi & Jen Marlowe 🌙 Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History by Nur Masalha 🌙 Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat 🌙 The Words of My Father: Love and Pain in Palestine by Yousef Khalil Bashir

🌙 Traditional Palestinian Costume: Origins and Evolution by Hanan Karaman Munayyer 🌙 Mountain against the Sea: Essays on Palestinian Society and Culture by Salim Tamari 🌙 This Is Not a Border: Reportage and Reflection from the Palestine Festival of Literature 🌙 We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir, by Raja Shehadeh 🌙 Les échos de la mémoire. Une enfance palestinienne à Jérusalem, by Issa J. Boullata 🌙 A Party For Thaera: Palestinian Women Write Life In Prison 🌙 Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, 🌙 Voices of the Nakba: A Living History of Palestine

Cracked open

“Did you choose to ignore the fact that it was you, or-

Did you not recognise yourself?”

From the latest Guess The Build video

That line just went crazy for some reason, felt like it needed to be used in some way

sometimes i think about how absolutely BANGER Gem's villain aesthetic was in Secret Life. Like, she's got this whole vibe of infection and disease around her and it slaps so hard. First you got the End portal stuff with her arm and eye when she goes Yellow (alongside the implication of her ripping out her own eye to use for the End Portal) and later you have her as Patient Zero for the boogeyman/zombie outbreak. And she kills just as indiscriminately as an epidemic would, including her own allies when they offer themselves to her. Hell, she kills Scott TWICE and technically kills Impulse twice too, once by her own hands and once when Bdubs kills him right in front of her to continue the spread of the curse.

And then you combine all this with the idea of her being a deer and it just gets better. Not only are deer prone to uncanny valley vibes, but they're also extremely susceptible to Chronic Wasting Disease, aka Zombie Deer Disease. Which is scary as shit, like all prion diseases. It literally eats away at the brain and leaves the animal a husk. And it's completely incurable, 100% fatal, and spreads easily (not to humans though, thank fuck.)

Now imagine this diseased horned prey creature hunting and killing whatever gets in its way while infections far beyond its ability to comprehend ravage its body and mind. And everything it kills comes back just as screwed up and terrifying. Very few can fight back against it, let alone slay it. No one is safe, the ones who survive either do so because they're Something Not Human (Grian the Watcher), Already Biologically Dead (ZOMBIECleo) or just got lucky and never got caught (Scott). However, there is one last piece of horror unaccounted for. The carrier, no matter how thin, no matter how much drool leaks from her mouth, no matter how erratic and unholy her behavior, is still aware. Still in control.

There's an independent will behind the spread.

✨ Gem and the Scotts ✨

Inspired by The Hesitant Fiancé by Auguste Toulemouche

I'm Nour Alanqar, and reaching out to you during a time of unimaginable hardship. I am 26 years old, married to Ashraf Ismail, who is 32, and together we have three beautiful children: Hussein, 6, Rajaa, 5, and Youssef, just 10 months old. Our lives have been turned upside down by the devastating war in Gaza, and we desperately need your help.

My daughter Rajaa is a radiant beam of sunshine, bringing boundless joy, warmth, and love to everyone she meets.

On a dark night at the beginning of the war, our area was subjected to massive bombing. The explosions reached our home, forcing us to flee into the night, running amidst periodic explosions and searching for survival. We made our way to southern Gaza by morning, seeking refuge in Rafah.

This is our home, filled with our memories and moments of joy and happiness, now reduced to rubble. Its destruction shattered our hearts.

In Rafah, we found shelter in a crowded warehouse filled with strangers, all of us struggling to find basic necessities like food, water, safety, and cleanliness. Despite these challenges, we were again hit by direct bombardment. My husband was injured in the shoulder, and the scene around us was filled with blood and corpses. The cries of my children in those moments still echo in my head.

A fragment of what it once was, and now, what it has become.

We moved several times to places described as safe, only to face new tragedies. During this period, my precious daughter Raja contracted hepatitis, adding to our suffering.

It was incredibly difficult for me to endure these disasters, especially as I was in the process of giving birth. Youssef was deprived of proper breastfeeding and the necessary nutrition for his age. Hussein's right to education and a safe childhood have been cruelly taken from him.

My baby Youssef, whom I clung to throughout the war, running with him through the rubble of shattered homes to escape.

At an age when Hussein should have been enjoying his childhood, all his rights were taken away from him.

Our situation is dire, and we need your support to rebuild our lives and provide a future for our children. Your kindness and generosity can make a profound difference. Your contributions will help us secure safe shelter, access to medical care, and the basic necessities of life.

Please, consider helping us during this critical time. Every donation, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to safety, stability, and a chance to rebuild our lives.

gofundme.com

Donate to Rebuilding Live: A Mother's Plea for Hope and Safety in Gaza, organized by Nour Alanqar

Hello, I'm Nour Alanqar, and reaching out to you during a… Nour Alanqar needs your support for Rebuilding Live: A Mother's Plea for Hope

snail mail :D

young artist posting your work online, heed my warning. im holding your face so gently in my hands, you have to stop caring about numbers right now and start caring about making the weirdest and most self-indulgent art you possibly can