Asxtrxl - Per Aspera Ad Astra

it really hurts me to see so many gazans asking us for help, though that's through no fault of their own. they've been forced to use a social media site that they're probably not familiar with (because tumblr has kind of faded out of popular consciousness), to interact with us in a second language, to distinguish themselves from the scammers who are taking advantage of genocide, and to ask strangers for help. i don't think there are any cultures where it's easy to ask for help like this, but i'm intimately familiar with how humiliating it can be in arab culture. please be kind, gracious and helpful to the gazans in your inbox. this is a desperate time for them, and in addition to the physical danger inflicted by "israel", the prices of basic resources in gaza are extremely high due to scarcity, and those that manage to escape to egypt are financially exploited by landlords there and have an extremely difficult time finding work due to their unofficial status as refugees. these families will continue to need our help and i hope we can all continue to provide it to the best of our ability.

Pay me.

- Sincerely! A black woman from Georgia!

Accepting Cashapp: Ria0592

had to be said

A well needed Reminder, for a few of you in particular

full version of this piece!

Reading Hilda Furacão, the novel (I'll post my general impressions here once I'm done), and confirming an impression I had about the show and the general opinion of those who watched it, particularly non-Brazilians who are not used to our way of doing telenovelas. Basically, the consensus (?) that the story should focus more on Hilda and Malthus and even ignore some of the other storylines is based on a misconception surrounding what the story is actually about. Drummond's novel, as well as Perez's screenplays, is not about a forbidden romance, though the romance is part of the story, but a chronicle of a city - maybe even a whole state - during a certain period of time. The title is Hilda Furacão because her character is central to that city and that time, she kind of embodies the zeitgeist if you will, but she's not exactly a protagonist, but simply another player in an immense group of people that embody a clash of ideologies, a certain sense of religiousness, an obliviousness to what's to come. In that sense, she and Malthus are, in the end, as important as Roberto or Dorinha or Loló Ventura or even fucking Tunico Mendes, and it makes sense for the plot to not focus so much on them. Of course, whether you like it or not is another matter entirely, but this is not a bug, it's a feature.

The spy