Please stop seeing politics as an identity and start seeing it as a collective means for change
i do not pity israel. never have, and never will.
each night that gaza experiences is deadlier than the last, as idf soldiers record propaganda tiktoks, make rave parties and grwms and fit checks, gloat over having food and water, and film themselves deriving sadistic pleasure from torturing their hostages and victims and desecrating the dead.
Palestinians have to display their martyred before the camera for you to believe the atrocities that the zionist entity has subjected them to. they cannot even mourn in private. the apartheid entity murders them in cold blood, and you deliver the killing blow by doubting them.
babies whose families have been killed will never get to know their own name.
i can't reshare a tenth of the videos and photos that cross my timeline. i have seen more dead children in the past month than i have known death my entire life.
israeli settlers burn olive trees, bomb bakeries and fishing boats, shower white phosphorus and earthquake bombs on the captive civilians of gaza. you already know about the disastrous effects of white phosphorus, but earthquake bombs were last used during ww2 to wipe out entire cities.
how holy is the land that seeks to be built over the mass graves of thousands of children? is it holier than the miracle of a child being born in this hypocritical world?
all 11 universities in gaza have been bombed. academics should be agitating right now, especially those who call themselves "decolonial thinkers." destruction of universities is a sinisterly deliberate act to sabotage the Palestinians who will survive this great catastrophe.
the act of cleansing your hands before prayer is extremely important to muslims. no part of us can remotely comprehend the grief of the mother who refused to wash her hands from the blood of her children after losing them in a zionist airstrike over gaza. "I swear I won't wash them, I won't wash my hands, how else am I supposed to sleep near my kids."
it is only both moral and right when one side defends itself. the other side are the price of war, no better than insects and cattle and sheep left to die within the four walls of the slaughterhouse.
this situation should not be up for debate, but let me finish with one final thing : do your research about Palestine. HOWEVER. you do not need a degree in middle east studies to object to an ongoing genocide. if someone outwits you in a debate about historical details and every nuance of a subject, you were and will remain entirely correct in objecting to a genocide.
may those martyred rest in peace and be reunited again with their loved ones in heaven's eternal vastness.
DO NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE.
glory to Palestinian resistance. from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
okay so a ceasefire will happen soon, inshallah, but i just know the second it does, most of y'all will pack it up and go home. the world has proven time and time again that the second the violence "stops", then everyone forgets about us and then we just go back to suffering under the israeli occupation. you guys need to promise us, promise every single palestinian child in the world right now, that you will not stop fighting. that you will continue boycotting, you will continue protesting, you will continue disrupting the world until palestine is free. and then we'll do it again. and again and again and again and again. for sudan, for the congo, for everyone who is suffering right now.
you guys cant keep leaving us and forgetting about us once you've done "your part". it always happens, and we always go back to suffering. you need to stand with us until palestine is completely free. until we have our land back, until we can rebuild our homes, until we can drink clean water and breathe clean air, until our children grow up never having to face a horror like the nakba ever again. you need to stay fighting until we are all free forever.
I can't stop thinking about the news out of Palestine. Israel is sieging al Shifa hospital. Videos of people's limbs being severed off are haunting (graphic video tw). The hospital has ran out of fuel and 39 babies in incubators are fending for their lives by themselves, because Israel has stationed snipers around the hospital and is shooting all medical crew that walks into their sight.
First, the narrative was Israel would never bomb hospitals. Now, the hospitals are Hamas bases. Then, we respect journalists. Now, we have a fucking kill list of journalists because they are Hamas collaborators. First, we are not letting fuel in until the hostages are released. Now, we are not accepting the hostages back because that would stop our ground invasion and let Hamas win. And I could go on about every single lie they're making up. If you look up "Hamas rape" on google, the first link leads to Times of Israel saying Israel has found no forensic evidence of sexual violence, and only one eyewitness testimony out of 3.5k people attending the rave. If you Google "Hamas beheaded babies" the top links say they have no evidence for the claim besides word of mouth from extremist soldiers. Israeli extremists think about the ugliest goriest scene they can make out in their sick heads, tell that to a international journalist and they run away with it like it's gospel.
And children are being killed in the name of these lies. Thousands are being displaced in images that remind me of the pictures of Tantura 75 years ago, with their hands up so the tanks don't shoot them. Amputees are leaving the hospitals in wheelchairs hours after their surgeries because they are being shot at. Elders who survived the Nakba on 48 are having to walk towards Southern Gaza on foot (imagine walking from one end of your city to the other on foot), displaced again. People are cheering for the haunting images of white phosphorus bombs being dropped over Gaza. Gazan workers who were arrested in the West Bank are being thrust back into the bombings wearing numbered labels.
This is not normal. We are seeing the early stages of the settler colonial genocide of an indigenous population. Native leaders who have visited Gaza say its refugee camps look eerily like reservations. We can stop this. For the first time we are able to see wide scale accounts from the hands of the people suffering the genocide, and Israel is so scared of it they have cut all communications in Gaza.
This is our litmus test. I think we have never seen more clearly, with Palestine, Armenia, Congo and Sudan how colonialism has made our world a rotten place to live in.
The South African apartheid collapsed due to boycotts. We have to do everything in our power to stop Israel's hegemony. Even talking to a group of friends about Palestine changes the status quo. There's no world where we can live peacefully if Israel accomplishes their goals.
Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:
Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency, Mondoweiss
Boycott Divest Sanction Movement
Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing protests and direct action against weapons factories across the US
Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)
Muhammad Shehada (twitter)
Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza.
Hind Khudary - reporting directly from Gaza. Her husband and daughter moved South to run from the tanks but she stayed behind to record the genocide. The least we can do is not let her calls fall on deaf ears.
You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. BDS explicitly targets only a few brands which have bigger impact. You can stop consuming from as many brands as you want, though, and by all means feel free to give a 1 star review to McDonalds, Papa John, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting the following:
Carrefour, HP, Puma, Sabra, Sodastream, Ahava cosmetics, Israeli fruits and vegetables
Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)
If you can, participate in direct action or donate.
Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London.Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.
Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing direct actions to stop the shipping of wars to Israel. Follow them.
Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.
Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.
Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.
Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe. If you still believe in the two states solution, this book by an Israeli professor debunks it).
Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.
FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls, here's a document that autosends emails to your representatives and here's a toolkit by Ceasefire in Gaza NOW!
FOR PEOPLE IN EUROPE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace targeting the European Parliament and one specific for almost all countries in Europe, including Germany, Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Austria, Belgium Romania and Ukraine
FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails
FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine
FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada
Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:
Global calendar
Another global calendar (go to the instragram of the organizers to confirm your protest)
USA calendar
Australia calendar
Feel free to add more.
the men and boys are innocent too.
we cry "the innocent women and children" to appeal to the masses, to try and force their sympathy, but the men and boys are innocent too.
I have seen sons crying out for their mothers, their fathers, their siblings. I have seen them break down at the loss of their families. I have seen them cling to their dead and grieve.
I have seen fathers cradle their dead children, seen them kiss their faces and hold their little hands. I have seen them faint with grief when asked to identify the dead. I have seen them carry their sons and daughters. I have seen them fasting to provide what little they can for their families.
I have seen men and boys digging through the rubble with just their bare hands, I have seen them comforting strangers, playing with children, rocking them, hushing them, even if the face of such imminent danger. I have seen them cry, seen them grieve, seen them break down into each other's arms, seen them be selfless, beyond selfless, becoming something I don't have a word for.
I have seen the men who are doctors refuse to leave their patients, even when they have no medicine or supplies to give them, even when they're threatened with bombings. I have seen fathers who have lost all their children pick orphans up into their arms and proclaim them their child so they are not alone. I have seen men and boys digging pets out of the rubble.
the men are innocent too. the men and boys are being hurt and killed too. the men and boys are grieving too. the men and boys are scared too. the men and boys are fighting to save their people too. the men and boys deserve to be fought for too.
Massive fuck you to everyone who is talking about Palestinians as if we’re already all dead and sharing more solidarity with our corpses than us living. “We will never forget the beautiful Palestinian people-“ how about you stop “making peace” with Palestinian extermination. My people are not going to be forgotten because we are going to live. Palestinians have already survived one genocide and have been surviving one ever since.
Do not ever let the idea that all Palestinians are going to die exist in your mind. Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.
it’s weird if fat people don’t exist in your art
Israel spokesman just announced that they are going to storm Al Shifa Hospital
15 November 2023
THIS IS GENOCIDE, FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸
unempathetic positivity post! reblog if you:
have low/no empathy
support people who have low/no empathy
have ever gone to the zoo and stood on one leg while looking at flamingos
we should kill and eat people who make 'discord mod' jokes
fun fact (not fun at all fact actually) :
aromanticism and asexuality are still treated as issues to be fixed in most therapy settings, at least in the western psychiatric institution. i cannot fucking mention my aromanticism or asexuality to a therapist or it’ll immediately become their primary concern and goal to fix. whether or not i have a partner/am trying to have a partner is actively being used as an indicator of my wellness, regardless of if i WANT one. i cannot have access to needed mental health ressources because of fear of conversion therapy. aro and/or ace conversion therapy is the norm in most psychiatric institutions and we are getting told by the rest of the queer community that our oppression isnt real and that there is no link between our struggles and theirs.
for the love of god, write all the self-indulgent scenes you want. be utterly shameless about including every last fantasy. i know everyone likes to share quotes and quips about how miserably hard writing is, but please please try thinking of it as a joyful act where you get to be a messy human who makes art rather than some pain filled quest for icy perfection.
gaza has just been completely cut off from the world.
after increased intensity of israeli aistrikes tonight, the last cable providing communications was destroyed. telecommunications have been completely cut off. they cannot reach one another. they cannot reach paramedics. the red crescent society has completely lost contact with their branch in gaza. nobody inside can reach anyone inside, and especially not outside of gaza to tell us what is going on. this is a complete atrocity.
with tumblr suppressing the palestine tag and pushing pro-zionist propaganda through their ads, the least people here can do is disable their checkmarks/badges and stop buying more
Deer season is upon us.
1.) Wear your seatbelt.
2.) If your choice is swerve at high speed or hit the deer you plow Bambis mom like you’re an IT specialist with a secret Twitter account and it’s anthrocon weekend.
Deer are softer than trees. Deer are softer than rolling your car 8 times.
cis women if you call yourself a trans ally but the concept of trans people with uteri disappears from your mind the second you start talking about reproductive autonomy your trans allyship is bullshit and so is your intersectionality. you have no fucking clue how terrifying it is to be trans with a uterus right now. you have no idea how many trans people suffer and die because of trans erasure in healthcare language. we see you talking about respecting pronouns while talking about "women's bodies" and "but if MEN could get pregnant–" either put the words "people who can get pregnant" and "reproductive transphobia" on your tongue or shut the fuck up.
I just updated my tablet to the newest version of the tumblr app for iOS and it completely broke screen reader access for both VoiceOver and Spoken Content. This has happened in the past already, so I will file a support ticket and copy-paste my text from last time, but this really sucks. I sincerely hope this doesn’t affect all screen reader users, but I’m unsure how they could program this bug in a way it only affects me. If you rely on a screen reader to use the tumblr app, I’d advice to not get the latest update to be on the safe side.
When I say “completely broke access”, what I mean is that no posts on my dash or on individual blogs get read or recognized at all. No plain text, alt text, tags, etc. Note count and buttons still work though.
If you also run into this bug, here’s my advice. If anyone has something more useful, please tell me
File a support ticket and report this bug
Use the browser web version, which still works for me
Interestingly, if you save a post to your drafts and click on “edit” the post text seems to get read correctly. This might be a work-around for some people.
If you have the latest version but your screen reader didn’t break, also please tell me! I would be fascinated to know if this bug is only affecting some people
Hey, you are not an embarrassment for not knowing how to do certain household chores/basic self-care. They do not come naturally to us. A lot of it takes practice! Maybe you had a neglectful guardian. Maybe you had one that was very coddling and never thought to teach you. Maybe you haven't lived in a place where these things were available to you or needed. Doesn't matter. It's okay to not know and far more common than you might realise.
That said, this website provides very simple instructions on how to do everyday tasks such as making your bed, using a washing machine, cooking different foods, washing dishes, taking a shower, etc. All you have to do is use the search bar to find the task you're struggling with, and it'll come up with what you need + other related how-to's:)
If you're having trouble navigating it, let me provide you with some examples:
How to clean dishes by hand
How to make your bed (with visual demonstrations of each step!)
How to fold clothes (with visual demonstrations of each step!)
How to take a shower & dry yourself off (also provides ways to shave beards, armpits, legs and genitals)
How to shave legs, armpits, beards, pubic areas, etc. (a more in-depth guide)
How to mop the floor
How to sweep the floor
How to swallow pills
How to make small talk
How to make eye contact in different situations (or how to avoid it while still looking natural)
It's also perfectly okay if these don't help or aren't appealing to you. Unfortunately, nothing helps everyone.
Gentle reminder that often creativity decides to hibernate for a bit.
It’s okay. You’re not broken, you’re resting, and much like spring, creativity comes back.
Saw a post about the reading order of a beloved author and how their early books are a bit rocky and mediocre. Imagine if we created a writing environment that believed in and supported people, so that they could start with a slightly dumb story, and be given the connection/resources/validation/support to grow over the course of a lifetime. They wouldn’t have to hit the ground running with a splendidly workshopped series, an mfa, and an audience of TikTok followers who have promised to buy it, so that all a gatekeeper needs to do is collect the money. They could just be a chicken shed cleaner, or a mediocre small-town journalist writing one column a week (which is a job that people used to have and support an entire family - imagine writing 500 words a week and having that be your whole day job lmao) with a bad book, and forty years later they’d be a Great.
I’d like to live in a world with more Greats. There are a lot of chicken shed cleaners who are Greats and we’ll never know them.
I do not want it to be like “back in the old days” where it was only men (with housekeeper wives) writing mediocre books. I want secure material circumstances for people, and I want time for them to do something that may never “pay off.”
it's so funny when ppl"s defence of no fat characters existing in video games is "uh they wouldn't be able to physically do the things the character does" like damn i hate to break it to you but skinny bitches can't physically cast a fireball in real life either but nobody has a problem with that
the thing about israel and palestine is that only one side has the power to end the conflict. israel could end the occupation, end the blockade, stop the settlements, stop the apartheid, and let palestinians return to their stolen homes. an end to israeli violence--to israeli occupation of palestine--would mean an end to the conflict. an end to palestinian violence, on the other hand, would see the bombings and evictions and ethnic cleansing continue unabated. so when someone calls for "an end to violence on both sides" remember that only one side can end 'the violence'--all the other can do is roll over and die.
don't fall for the propaganda. the media in the west is going to be awful, rancid, and WILL try downplaying what happened to the palestinians while spotlighting israel. it's always been this way, don't fall for it now, don't fall for it ever. from the river to the sea 🇵🇸
Israel has been committing unspeakable war crimes, crimes against humanity, and illegal collective punishment against Palestinians in Gaza for 15 years. 15 years. Any comment or analysis that doesn’t take this fact into consideration today is hollow, immoral, and dehumanizing.
I love calling out aphobia. Genuinely. We don't call out aphobia enough, passive or explicit.
Examples of passive aphobia and amato/allonormativity, for anyone wondering:
Implying someone needs a partner or that everyone wants a partner.
Saying "something more" and "more than friends" in reference to getting together. Boy oh boy, do I see this all the time in fanfic. (Other things you can say are "something else", "something different", "other than friends", "in addition to". This way, we're not unintentionally enforcing relationship hierarchies.)
Saying/Implying someone hasn't met the right person yet.
Implying all aros are heartless/don't love (this diminishes platonic attraction/relationships).
Implying all aros feel love (this excludes loveless and aplatonic aros).
Saying aroallos are all sluts.
Implying sex is a milestone people reach.
Implying a first kiss is a milestone to reach.
Enforcing relationships hierarchies, intentionally or otherwise. (This looks like the example above, as well as pitting different types of relationships against each other or saying a certain type of relationship is more important than another.) (Yes, this goes for saying platonic relationships are more important than romantic ones. That excludes aplatonics.)
The only aspec rep in media being the villains/non-human characters/etc. (Disclaimer: Us reclaiming those things is different. I personally love seeing aro rep in non-human characters, but that's just me. Non-human characters being the only aspec rep is the problem.)
Implying all aces are aro.
Implying all aros are ace.
Implying all aros experience platonic attraction.
And much more. The aspec community isn't black and white--that's why it's the a-spectrum.
DISCLAIMER: I am only one loveless aplatonic aromantic and do not speak for the entire aspec community.
It has been hard for me to talk about how what is going on with Israel and Palestine is affecting me personally, but I grew up in Gaza and most of my family still lives there. My father did not survive the bombings last week and I have not been able to contact my younger sister in days. I am try to being understanding that most people do not have personal connections to what is happening and therefore are justifying their silence, but is heartbreaking to see this misinformation being spread. What’s happening there is a genocide, not a war. It is not antisemitic to support Palestine, it’s not even antiemetic to criticise Israel. There is no grey area or neutrality regarding this, and it is so easy to find resources that will educate you on the subject. It is my people and my home being destroyed so I will never be silent about this, but I please urge everyone to get informed and start speaking up and finding ways they can help.
decolonizepalestine has tons of information on Palestine’s history/propaganda that has been spread throughout the years
UK citizens can email their MP asking for a ceasefire
US citizens can call/email their local government officials asking for a ceasefire
Jewish Voice for Peace also has many resources for ways for US citizens to get involved, including protests
Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
Donate to Medical Aid for Palestine
Donate to help get food and hygiene kits to Gaza
(sorry for the long post)
The same Astarion artwork continues to be stolen time and time again by unscrupulous shops (I've filed over 20 complaints, just on Etsy alone). One particular independent shop refuses to remove the items using my artwork, ignores my messages, and deletes all my comments warning buyers.
Here's the specific artwork, my original fanart, and the low-quality and insolent modification to turn it into a shoddy sweatshirt and t-shirt design. Which is promoted on TikTok !
This has to stop.
Sharing your work on the internet, or even just sharing your passion, has become a nightmare for artists and creators. We already have enough to deal with in the face of AI threats and platforms like Aliexpress; now we have to manage a surge in theft as well.
Here are the screenshots :
I'm seeking your help in identifying the authors of these artworks so that I can notify them.
I'm also currently in contact with a specialized attorney because I've had enough.
The cup is full, and I want to be able to showcase my drawings without enriching thieves. It's particularly painful during this period of economic crisis, where, like many others, I'm struggling to make ends meet, to feed my two young kids.
melodyprints.com
The website says the shop is located in 217 S Parramore Ave, Orlando, FL 32805, United States
TikTok account of melodyprints is spookymelodyprints
Instagram account of melodyprints is _melodyprints
Also, Ghosttraveler on TikTok has made a callout video to help, here is the link, if you can share it as well : https://www.tiktok.com/@ghosttraveler/video/7291769599530454314
Thank you so much for reading this, and for your help.
its been rly heartening to see big tumblr accounts with a specific theme (or bit) take a moment to raise awareness for palestine. in many ways being vocally pro-palestine is far, far more important than donations right now. palestinians have said so too. if it weren't it wouldn't be so risky for people to speak out. its a war on human life but it's also a war on the very memory, culture and history of the palestinian people. we can help them fight the second one just by posting. solidarity matters more than anything in this moment.