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🚨EMERGENCY! PLEASE READ!🚨

Moataz @moatazart, Mariam, and baby Maria are set to make the dangerous journey from Gaza City in the north to Rafah in the south. From there, God willing, they will enter Egypt.

HOWEVER, the money they had allocated to procure shelter and food while in Egypt was utterly depleted by exploitative fees and hidden costs, which we break down in this post. Moataz speaks more on the situation in this post and on his own blog @moatazart, which we ask people to follow and boost. They have a fund going to raise the remaining money, but the fund only has a week and a half left before it closes! They are not even halfway to their goal!

Please share what you can with Moataz’s family so they can find safety and security in Egypt! They have no one in Egypt with whom they can stay and currently nowhere near enough money to secure shelter! After all they have survived, please don’t let this young family be left vulnerable! If they cannot procure food and shelter, they will be extremely vulnerable not only to the dangers of homelessness, but to groups and individuals who prey on refugees!

Safety for Gazan refugees does not end with leaving Gaza! If this campaign is not finished in LESS THAN 2 WEEKS, they will be homeless in Egypt! They are so close to a fresh start, please don’t let all the risks they are taking to find safety be for nothing!

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#q #music #video

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the "normal person: hey man hows it going" is such a game changer now i can just say that to myself when i see some dumb shit and i am instantly healed of the damage of reading it

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Hello, I am Hala, a mother of a child who has been living in Gaza under bombardment for more than three months. I was forced to leave my home and move to at least 7 areas in search of safety. We live a life devoid of the minimum necessities of life, with the struggle to obtain water, electricity, and food. My three-year-old daughter is unable to provide her with baby formula, Pampers, and even clothes. We have nothing. We left our home with nothing and cannot return to it. For a long period without work or any income, and with a lot of loss of life and money, my house was damaged, as was my husband’s wedding hall and his workplace. As A mother is unable to protect her daughter from hunger and death. I only want safety, and there is no safety in Gaza. We are forced to leave the country under these harsh conditions of displacement, killing and starvation. The image of my child crying for fear of death is still in my mind. I do not want to lose her soul in these massacres. But getting out of Gaza to save her, to keep her alive, requires a lot of money that we do not have. I started this campaign trying to get out of Gaza with my daughter and my husband across the Egyptian border, and if that fails, I will use this money to spend on my family and try to rebuild and compensate for the losses we suffered. We are extremely grateful for any assistance you can provide, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering our appeal for support during this difficult time.

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HELPGAZACHILDREN!!!!!

Med @fairuzfan’s blog got terminated by tumblr which is obviously unjust for all the people who rely on them for resources on Palestine, but it now leaves Hussam’s helpgazachildren donation drive without a point of communication, and has deleted all previous information Med had shared about the drive.

Please remember to keep donating to helpgazachildren as Hussam’s hard work getting resources to families in Gaza should not have to be hindered while Med is working on getting their blog back 🤍🇵🇸

INFO ABOUT HELPGAZACHILDREN

DONATE TO HELPGAZACHILDREN

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Hey guys, I have a priority fundraiser rotation for you:

Fadi & Shahed: 5,885 USD out of 62.5k

Sana'a & Sujood: 15,049 £ out of 50k

Mahmoud Qassas: 12,466$ out of 200k

Ezzideen Shehab: 11,075€ out of 32.5k.

Hussam Aburamadan: 17,657€ out of 148k.

Hamdi Hijazi: 6,614$ out of 25k.

Suheir Hojok: 17,557 AUD out of 70k.

Madleen Abu Jayyab: 33,808$ out of 70k.

Hani Al-Hajjar: 2,536€ out of 50k.

Little Yusuf: 664€ out of 85k.

Nael Helles: 255$ out of 50k.

Alia's family: 516€ out of 30k.

Hala's family: 350 CAD out of 50k.

Mohammed Al Shaer: 150£ out of 50k

Mona Abu Hamda: 75k out of 150k.

Sahar El Tibi: 15€ out of 30k.

I have personally verified every one of these campaigns listed here.

The invasion of Rafah grows nearer everyday. Please understand the urgency of this campaign.

Version date: April 29th 2024.

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Israel is setting up a complex system of checkpoints that will prevent men of “military age” from fleeing Rafah in preparation for its offensive on the southern Gaza border city, a senior western official familiar with Israel’s plans has told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity. The checkpoints are designed to allow some women and children to leave Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli offensive, but unarmed, civilian Palestinian men will likely be separated from their families and remain trapped in Rafah during an expected Israeli assault. The previously unreported disclosure of Israel’s construction of a ring of checkpoints around Rafah underscores how Israel is pushing ahead with plans to attack the city where over one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering in tents and makeshift camps. The creation of gender-based checkpoints around Rafah would put a spotlight back on Israel’s practice of stripping and forcibly detaining male Palestinian men and children, as it faces rising scrutiny in the West of its conduct in the war. The rounding up of Palestinian males in Gaza and photographing them stripped to their underwear drew condemnation in December, with the US calling the images “deeply disturbing”. Relatives of many of the men photographed recognised them and said they had nothing to do with Hamas. Israel's military was later accused of staging footage of men surrounding weapons. “Israel considers every male a Hamas fighter until proven otherwise,” Abbas Dahouk, a former senior military advisor at the State Department and military attache in the Middle East told Middle East Eye. “It’s not a sound move. Cordoning Rafah is a daunting task and good luck separating fathers and sons from their families.”

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This campaign is relatively new but I have it on very good authority that it is legitimate.

Hussam needs to evacuate 13 of his family members from Gaza, including his sister who gave birth in February and now has an infant to care for as well as a young daughter. He’s already lost more than 18 of his family members, and now his remaining family are spread out in refugee camps across southern Gaza.

Any donation makes a difference. Sincerely, if everyone who sees this gives $5 that’s already a great step forward.

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Ramadan Kareem to all those who observe, may Allah accept our fasts and duaa and allow us growth and harmony over the course of the next month. May Allah ease the suffering of those in Gaza and across Falasteen, Sudan, Congo, Yemen, Tigray, Kashmir, West Papau, and all those who are oppressed around the world. May He grant them shifa, tranquility, steadfastness, and sabr. May He grant us the strength and ability to fight injustice wherever we see it, and victory over our oppressors.

Here is a list of resources for Gaza and Falasteen. Here is an even bigger list. Here’s a much smaller one. Here is one with resources for both Gaza and Sudan.

Here is the link to a GFM that is very important to me. Here is the link to a GFM for a family in urgent need of evacuation out of Gaza.

Here is a way to help out Sudan. Here are links for donations, Sudanese businesses to support, and brief education about Sudan. Here is a post with resources for education and updates about what's happening in Sudan.

Here is a post with resources for Tigray.

Here is a post with important information on boycotting for Congo. Here is a post with links to support Congo.

Here is a list of resources for education on various issues around the world, including but not limited to West Papau, Hawai'i, Kashmir, and Armenia.

You can check my resources tag for more. I know tumblr's searching system isn't the best, though, so I tried to put as many as I could from that tag here.

Ramadan Kareem. May every action we take towards justice bring us lasting freedom and tranquility 🌙

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"Let's Have a Talk, First"- Stereotypes, pt 1

Come sit down. You and I, before we get into any of the things I'm sure you're impatient to know: we need to have a come to Jesus talk, first.

There are some things that I've been asked and seen that strengthens my belief that we need to have a reframing of the conversation on stereotypes in media away from something as simple as "how do I find the checklist of stereotypes to avoid". Because race- and therefore racial stereotypes- is a complex construct! Stands to reason then, that seeing, understanding, and avoiding it won't be that simple! I'm going to give you a couple pointers to (hopefully) help you rethink your approach to this topic, and therefore how to apply it when you're writing Black characters- and even when thinking about Black people!

Point #1: DEVELOP THE CHARACTER!! WRITE!!

Excuse my crude language, but let me be blunt: Black people- and therefore Black characters- will get angry at things, and occasionally make bad choices in the heat of the moment. Some of us like to fuck real nasty, some might be dominant in the bedroom, they may even be incredibly experienced! Others of us succumb to circumstance and make poor decisions that lead to crime.

None of those things inherently makes any of us angry Black women and threatening Black men, Jezebels and BBC Mandingos, and gangsters and thugs!

Black people are PEOPLE! Write us as such!

If all Black characters ever did was go outside, say "hi neighbor!" and walk back in the house, we'd be as boring as racist fans often accuse.

I say this because I feel I've seen advice that I feel makes people think writing a Black character that… Emotes negatively, or gets hurt by life and circumstance, or really enjoys hard sex, or really any scenario where they might "look bad" is the issue. I can tell many people think "well if I write that, then it's a stereotype" and to avoid the difficulty, they'll probably end up writing a flat Black character or not writing them at all. Or- and I've seen this too- they'll overcompensate in the other direction, which reveals that they 'wrote a different sort of Black person!' and it comes off just as awkwardly because it means you think that the Black people that do these things are 'bad'. And I hate that, because we're capable of depth, nuance, good, evil, adventure, world domination, all of it!

My point is, if you write your character like the human being they are, while taking care to recognize that you as the writer are not buying into stereotypes with your OWN messaging, you're fine. We have emotions, we have motivations and goals, we make decisions, and we make mistakes, just like anybody else. Write that! Develop your character!

POINT #2: YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE READERS!!

Okay. You can write the GREATEST Black character ever, full of depth, love, nuance, emotional range, all those things…. And people are still going to be racist about them. Sorry. There is absolutely nothing you can do to control a reader coming from that place of bias you sought to avoid. If it's not there, TRUST AND BELIEVE, it'll be projected onto them.

That passionate young Black woman who told the MC to get her head out of her ass? Yeah she's an angry Black bitch now, and bully to the sweet white MC. Maybe a lesbian mommy figure if they like her enough to "redeem" her. That Black gay male lead that treats his partner like he worships the ground he walks on? Yeah he's an abusive thug that needs to die now because he disagreed One Time with his white partner. That Black trans woman who happened to be competing against the white MC, in a story where the white MC makes comparable choices? Ohhhh they're gonna be VILE about that poor woman.

It really hurts- most especially as a Black fan and writer- knowing that you have something amazing to offer (as a person and creative) and people are gonna spit on that and call it "preference". That they can project themselves onto white characters no matter what, but if you project your experiences onto black characters, it's "pandering", "self insert", "woke", "annoying", "boring", and other foul things we've all gotten comments of.

But expect that it's gonna happen when you write a Black character, again, especially if you're a Black writer. If you're not Black, it won't hurt as personally, but it will probably come as a shock when you put so much effort in to create a lovely character and people are just ass about them. Unfortunately, that is the climate of fandom we currently exist in.

My favorite example is of Louis De Pointe Du Lac from AMC's Interview With The Vampire. Louis is actually one of the best depictions of the existential horror that is being Black in a racist White world I have ever seen written by mostly nonblack people. It was timeless; I related to every single source of racist pain he experienced.

People were HORRIFIC about Louis.

It didn't matter that he was well written and what he symbolized; many white viewers did NOT LIKE this man. There's a level of empathy and understanding that Black characters in particular don't receive in comparison to white counterparts, and that's due to many of those stereotypes and systemic biases I'm going to talk about.

My point is, recognize that while yes, you as the author have a duty to write a character thoughtfully as you can, it's not going to stop the response of the ignorant. Writing seeking to get everyone to understand what you were trying to do… Sisyphean effort. It's better to focus on knowing that YOU wrote something good, that YOU did not write the stereotype that those people are determined to see.

POINT #3: WHY is something a stereotype?

While there are lists of stereotypes against Black people in media and life that can be found, I would appreciate if people stopped approaching it as just a list of things you can check off to avoid. You can know what the stereotypes are, sure, but if you don't understand WHY they're a problem and how they play into perception of us, you'll either end up writing a flat character trying to avoid that list, or you're going to write other things related to that stereotype because "oh its not item #1"... and it'll still be racist.

For example: if you wrote a "sassy Black woman" that does a z formation neck rotation just because a store manager asked her something… that's probably stereotype. If you thought of a character that needed to be "loudmouthed", "sassy", and "strong" and a dark-skinned black woman was automatically what fit the profile in your mind, ding ding ding! THAT'S where you need to catch your racist biases.

But a dark-skinned Black woman character cursing out a store manager because she's had a really bad, stressful day and their attitude towards her pushed her over the edge may be in the wrong, but she's not an "angry Black woman". She's a Black woman that's angry! And if you wrote the day she had to be as bad as would drive anyone to overstimulation and anxiety, the blow up will make sense! The development and writing behind her led to this logical point (which connects to point #1!)

I'm not going to provide a truly exhaustive list of Black stereotypes in media because that would ACTUALLY be worth a college credited class and I do this for free lmao. But I am going to provide some classic examples that can get y'all started on your own research.

POINT #4: WATCH BLACK NARRATIVES!

As always, I'm gonna push supporting Black creators, because that's the best way to see the range of what you'd like. You want to see Black villains? We got those! Black heroes? Black antiheroes? Assholes, lovers, comedians, depressed, criminals, kings, and more? They exist! You can get inspired by watching those movies and reading those books, see how WE depict us!

I've seen mixed reviews on it, BUT- I personally really enjoyed Swarm, because it was one of the first times I'd ever seen that "unhinged obsessed murderous Black fan girl" concept. Tumblr usually loves that shit lmao. Even the "bites you bites you bites you [thing I love]" thing was there. And she liked girls, too. Just saying. I thought it was a fun idea that I'd love to see more of. Y'all gotta give us a chance to be in these roles, to tell these tales. We can do it too, and you'd enjoy it if you tried to understand it!

POINT#5: You are NOT Black!

This is obvious lmao, but if you're not Black, there's no need to pretend. There's no need to think "oh well I have to get a 100% perfect depiction of the Black person's mind". That's… That's gonna look cringe, at its best. You don't have to do that in order to avoid stereotypes. You're not going to be able to catch every nuance because it's not your lived experience, nor is it the societally enforced culture. Just… Do what you can, and if you feel like it's coming off hokey… Maybe consider if you want to continue this way lol. If you know of any Black beta readers or sensitivity reviewers, that'd be a good time to check in!

For example, if your Black character is talking about "what's good my homie" and there's absolutely no reason for him to be speaking that way other than to indicate that he's Black… 😬 I can't stop you but… Are you sure?

An egregious example of a TERRIBLE way to write a Black character is the "What If: Miles Morales/Thor" comic. I want to emphasize the lack of good Black character design involved in some of these PROFESSIONAL art spaces, because that MARVEL comic PASSED QA!! That comic went past NUMEROUS sets of eyes and was APPROVED!! IT GOT RELEASED!! NO ONE STOPPED IT!!

I'm sorry, it was just so racist-ly bad that it was hilarious. Like you couldn't make that shit up.

Anyway, unfortunately that's how some of y'all sound trying to write AAVE. I promise that we speak the Queen's English too lmao. If you're worried you won't get it right, just use the standard form of English. It's fine! Personally, I'd much rather you do that than try to 'decode AAVE' if you don't know how to use it.

My point is, if you're actively "forcing" yourself to "think Black"… maybe you need to stand down and reconsider your approach lmao. This is why understanding the stereotypes and social environment behind them will help you write better, because you can incorporate that Blackness- without having to verbally "emphasize how Black this is"- into their character, motivations, and actions.

Conclusion

We need to reconsider how we approach the concepts of stereotypes when writing our Black characters. The goal is not to cross off a checklist of things to avoid per se, but to understand WHY we have to develop our Black characters well enough to avoid incorporating them into our writing. Give your Black characters substance- we're human beings! We have motivations and fears and desires! We're not perfect, but we're not inherently flawed because of our race. That's what makes the difference!

And as always, and really in particular for this topic, it's the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

#q

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i like how she tries to be manipulative and sucks really bad at it

#its wprking but not the way she thinks #i am endeared and charmed by her pathetic swag #i forgot how different she is in the second game but i guess i'll remember soon since i plan on replayinh that too

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obsessed with the way she talks

also

glados in portal 1 is so great..

#all of her dialogue for the escape part is so good #idk i love all of her dialogue #shes such a good character. to me #when i replay portal 2 i'll probably look up even more voice lines that i like #also the first screenshot and the wheeee aren't from the escape part i just like them

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glados in portal 1 is so great..

#in portal 2 as well #i just love how before her voice changes it manages to stay #monotonous but with an increasing sense of panic as you escape #like idk the way she talks and the things she says its so good #love the writing in these games

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ice cream is so awesomer

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itso good

man i forgot how good the song that plays at the end of portal is

#go ahead and leave me i think i prefer to stay inside maybe you'll find someone else to help you ← i like that part a lot

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man i forgot how good the song that plays at the end of portal is