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storiesfromgaza · 6 months

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"Mom, does it hurt when we get bombarded? Do we feel the pain, or do we just die at once?"

These are the questions that Reporter Youmna El Sayed began with in her interview conducted by the AJ+ network to document her struggles with her children and the suffering of all the people of Gaza

When my kids ask me, 'Mom, does it hurt when we get bombarded? Do we feel the pain, or do we just die at once?' and I have to tell them, 'No, don't worry. It's not going to hurt.' Their father reassures them, saying, 'Don't worry. It just happens once, and that's it.' In the past, we would comfort our children, saying, 'Don't worry. It's going to be okay. It's going to end soon. You'll be fine. We'll be fine.' Everything is shaking—constantly. But now, every night, we tell them, 'Don't worry. We're together, sticking together. If we die, we die together.' Death has become a looming reality since the Israeli army encircled Gaza city. The bombardments have been relentless—from the land, air, and sea. Our building is in a perpetual state of tremor. Three days ago, we awoke to the smoke of nearby fires filling our homes. We sought refuge in the basement, the best option with the least smoke, but it was still overwhelming. The kids were coughing, suffocating, and their eyes were itching. But when it comes to my children, it just hits me so hard, Dina, and I just feel that I can't control it anymore. I can't be that strong, brave woman who's able to control things or get things under control because they're my weak part. I feel a loss of control, unable to maintain the facade of strength and bravery. Judy, usually full of life, now appears quiet and terrified

She doesn't eat much. She doesn't feel like doing anything. I tried to speak to her about things, you know, bring back some happy memories, and I said, as usual, 'What would you like to do the first thing after this war ends?' She told me, 'Mommy, I don't want to do anything except for this war to end. I just want these bombardments to end, everything—the destruction, the despair, the loss.'

I think they tell you that now—we're just hearing news of people dying every now and then—people that we know, friends, colleagues, everyone around us. And it just, you know, really, like, 'May he rest in peace,' and that's it. I just—we just go on because we were just waiting for our turn. You mentioned to me that food is scarce and supplies are low. What is the water situation? We can starve, right? We can go on without food, even as adults. But without water, I'd rather die from bombardments than die from thirst. I don't want my kids at the end to die from thirst. Are you still thinking to move south, and what would that look like? The last attempt was a couple of days ago, and we found out that to move south, we need to walk for at least 6 to 7 km on foot and not carry anything at all with us—none of our belongings. Basically, walk this distance while we raise our hands to show that we surrender, just holding our IDs in one hand and raising the other. And I think that's just extremely humiliating. And it's not just that, you know?

You remember the massacre that everyone saw on TV screens for the civilians that were bombarded on the road? They're still lying there. Until this day, lying there in the streets, their bodies. The crows and the birds are eating from them, and no one has been able to pick them up. The Israeli army has not allowed anyone or ambulances or any medical teams to come to pick these people up and to bury them. How can I let my kids go through a street while they see other children and other people killed and thrown just like that, lying in the street like that, while birds are eating from them? I think that this is just inhumane and more cruel than anything. This is not to worry about fighting Hamas or Palestinian fighters. This war began by eliminating and wiping out the Palestinian people in Gaza. This isn't a war against Palestinian fighters nor Hamas; it's a genocide against Gaza.

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anamericangirl · 7 months

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Israel just bombed a UN ran school and a Baptist Hospital in Palestine killing more than 500 Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are children.

We actually don't know who blew up the hospital. Palestinian authorities say it was Israel but Israel is saying they had nothing to do with it and it most likely a failed rocket launch from Hamas, which, you know is incredibly likely because Hamas is literally launching their missiles from schools and hospitals to try to get Israel to kill civilians.

If Israel hits a school or hospital you can bet your ass it's because Hamas fired a missile from that location, using children and other innocent civilians as human shields so stupid ass people like you will look at the situation and say "Israel is so evil! Look they are killing innocent people!" when those people are dead because of Hamas who put them in the way of Israel's missiles because they want Israel to kill their civilians and they are counting on fools like you to eat up their propaganda and just ignore the reality that they are using Palestinians as human shields, which they're not even trying to hide. And they know they don't need to because you're dumb enough to fall for whatever they say, regardless of what the obvious truth is. You got anything to say about that??? Do you have anything to say about Hamas using children as human shields? Or is it Israel's fault they are doing that?

Israel is doing everything in their power to avoid civilian deaths. They warn Palestinians every time they are about to fire. They send texts, phone calls, leaflets, order them to evacuate the area, tell them where to go, exactly where they will be bombing, even send dud bombs to the locations so people will hear them and get out before they do anything and then Hamas tells the people to stay where they are specifically so they get killed and idiots like you will say "look what evil Israel just did!!!!!"

Are you aware that a few days ago there was a brutal terrorist attack in Israel perpetrated by Hamas that killed 1400 people? Including children? Are you aware Hamas beheaded babies, brutally raped children, killed family pets, murdered innocent people and took several children and elderly people hostage? Did you know they went there specifically to kill and torture innocent people? You got anything to say about that?? Huh? Or is morality suddenly subjective again?

Or is Israel the bad guy for trying to protect their civilians because Hamas is hiding behind their own?

#answered

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the-gentleman-pining · 6 months

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Righto party people, we had a good run, we got a beautiful S1 of OFMD unmarred by bullshit, which was the first time a lot of us had seen queer rep in that way. It meant a lot, it's been my hyperfixation for a couple years at this point! I even met Rhys, Vico, and Samson this weekend gone, which was unfortunately a bit soured by everything going on.

It boils down to this: how can I enjoy a show with themes of anti-colonialism and rising up against oppressive powers, knowing one of the biggest people behind its creation, Taika Waititi, is himself in signing letters in support of Israel as they occupy and mass slaughter Palestinians. The whole thing smacks of hypocrisy. As someone in the UK, I couldn't watch this recent season in a way that financially supported it anyway. But it's about more than that. I don't know how fans can continue to comfortably engage with it.

We had widespread abandonment and condemnation of JKR in queer circles after her TERF bullshit, and yes it took a while to catch on and for people to realise the smear campaign against an entire group of people wasn't worth them holding onto that piece of media. It's hard letting go of something that means so much. Or is it? I personally was never a huge HP fan, so I didn't share that struggle. But here? With OFMD? Yeah it's safe to say this show has been my life for a couple years. I'm heartbroken this is going down the way it has, and I don't mean that to have anything to do with the quality of the media in S2. It's not a relevant factor when its creator starring actor and co-creator is ADVOCATING GENOCIDE*. If that doesn't put you off, I don't really have more to say.

My conclusion? It's not hard to let go, you just don't think it's important.

I think, unless there is significant backtracking and work done to undo this damage, and even then probs not, this will be my last OFMD post.

Fuck you Taika, you betrayed your fans, but you also betrayed yourself by forgetting the things you used to stand for. Eat shit.

*some people have pointed out that pro-Israeli support is not inherently advocating genocide, because Taika may be ignorant to what's really going on. This is possible, however, firstly, if you don't fully understand something, don't fucking advocate for it. Secondly, intentional or not, he has contributed to a pro-genocidal rhetoric, by signing a letter that one-sidedly condemned Hamas taking hostages without awareness that Israel has taken far more, and for someone in his position of influence, that amounts to the same impact. Obscuring nuance pushes a biased narrative. It's insidious and easily denied.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #taika waititi #ofmd critical #i/p #anti zionisim #palestine #free palestine

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fromgoy2joy · 2 months

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Here is the scene -

Shabbat dinner at a rabbi’s house with all the college kids from different schools in the area immersed in discussion. Spaghetti lines up high on each plate with a minimal serving of droopy artichoke. The rabbi made an announcement at the beginning of the meal that calories don’t work on Shabbat and we’re eating for two souls :

A girl I hadn’t met before- Dawn- was discussing the lawsuit set against her school for antisemitism. This is very common nowadays so I was nodding along, twirling noodle around my fork.

My friend , who we will call Duck, shook his head. “I’m lucky.” He stabbed a piece of artichoke. “My school is administratively failing, so that’s the focus. Not the world falling to crap.”

I nod along, eying the challah on the other side of the table.

“Joy, have you experienced anything?” Dawn asked, politely. I know she would’ve loved me to say “oh nothing! We’re actually beloved there!” But that wasn’t the case.

“Oh- uh! “ I jolted up. “No more than the usual.”

“Well,” Dawn peered at me. “What’s your ‘usual’?”

“Ah,” I took the moment to think. “Oh. Well. I started my conversion journey in October and all my freshman first semester friends cut me off because that made me complicit in genocide.”

Both of their eyes widened at me. “Oh G-d,” Dawn put down her fork. “I’m so sorry.”

“Oh don’t worry about it! You live, you learn.” I waved my hand. “Let’s see. Oh, oof, there was the time a Jewish kid got beat up and nearly thrown into traffic at a protest -“

“Really!?”

“Oh yeah,” I twirled spaghetti. “Our antisemitism teach in was canceled because we are “genocide colonizers” and it got dangerous to host. A professor made an entire class defend Hamas for a final paper,”

“No fucking way.” Duck breathed.

I shrugged. “Apparently, it was an 1800s philosophy class.” My two friends squawked before I continued. “We’ve got the cliche of ‘resistance is justified’ but I don’t think that’s anything unique-“

“You understand that’s still bad, right?” Dawn interrupted. I felt caught off guard, and answered slowly.

“Yeah of course. It’s just kinda lame. Lack of originality. There’s a bit more. Oh!” I snapped my fingers. “The Nazi thing!”

Dawn and Duck are both staring at me, in a daze. I felt like a commercial, head buzzing with so many examples that I wanted to say “but wait , there’s more!”

But instead of a free water bottle to go with whatever infomercial contraption there is, instead it was a long list of ways my life is passively and actively in danger.”

“I’m so sorry, Joy.” Duck began. Dawn nodded slightly. “I had no idea it was this bad. I was at a conference recently, and a lot of the talk was how bad your university has gotten. You guys might actually be the worst in the state.”

There are things I know logically. Like that I should eat more than 1.65 meals a day, that what I’ve been experiencing isn’t normal.

But it was Shabbat, my heart was as light as it could be, and I was here in my beloved community. I twisted my face into a grim smile. “Huh. Celebrity moment! Now, could you pass the challah?”

(I got like five extra pieces, so, you know! Perks to Jew hate!

Jokes, jokes.)

#fromgoy2joy thoughts #jumblr #jewish #jewish convert #jewblr #jewish tumblr #jewish conversion #antisemitism #tw antisemtism #jewish humor #dark Jewish humor #Jews by choice #jew by choice

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ravenbloodshot · 6 months

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Jude Bellingham (Soccer Player).... Personality Reading

He's very disciplined about his sexual needs/lust. It's like he has a high sex drive but he doesn't act irrational bc of it and knows how to keep himself under control (I doubt he's easily seduced).

He's no sore loser, very good at accepting defeat in a healthy way. Doesn't throw a temper tantrum and likely won't be one of those soccer players that act all dramatic, throwing themselves around, pretending to be hurt. He has a sort of class about him

I think he ignores his wants alot. Like if he wanted to eat a bunch of junk food or partake in sex, he ignores these desires.

He has this childlike innocence to him, it could be bc he's young, but his mind isn't very dirty/corrupt and he's quite naive. I feel like he's more naive socially than anything, I doubt he can read ppl well and just goes off what they say to him (which he could end up being deceived). He could still have a child's mindset so I think he will need mature support from other adults to guide him (like a wise mentor)

He has problems with holding himself responsible/accountable. And he's quite cynical and prone to depression. He's like the kind of person that believes in fate or 'the universe' but only to blame situations on that. it's as if he sometimes believes 'oh its fate doing, there's nothing I can do to fix this" or "it's God's will". This mindset holds him back from taking action to fix his problems instead he sits back, slumps his shoulders, hangs his head and says "I guess this is my fate".

Okay, so. Remember when I told you guys he's obsessive, well that's showing up again. He's possessive and obsessive in romantic relationships, controlling too. Doesn't want his partner out of his sight and texts/calls too much to the point of love bombing. Too clingy, too passionate, too intense, too much of a cancer lol (I love y'all cancers though ❤). He should be careful with who he marry (or should I say his partner should be careful marrying him). He can get into a nasty divorce. The guy also gives "if I can't have you, nobody can" vibes sooooooo........

I will admit, I said he's quite a disciplined guy but in relationships (especially when he falls in love), all that sexual/emotional/physical disciplinance goes out the window. He also can become obsessed with getting with a person that doesn't want him.

This guy's suffers from mental health problems and has abandonment issues, he feels alone and like a outcast a lot. I see some anxiety and panic attacks. He's constantly on an emotional rollercoaster, highs and lows.

He has feminine gentleness about him, can take on a caretaker role. He's quite fragile.

Ik he's mixed (European/African) but he could feel like he doesn't belong to neither his black side or his white side. Has some identity issues. But I see he has interest in exploring his roots for both sides (idky his energy gives off someone who was raised by a single parent).

Has some drinking problems and is surrounded by a lot of yes men (ppl constantly lying to him).

Has some interest in the wars happening rn, may or may not end up saying something about the Israel-Hamas situation on social media. Even if he doesn't, irl he has a grounded stance on the matter

Wicked Games by The Weekend is a song that fits this readings energy

#jude bellingham #soccer #football #jude bellingham tarot #cancer sun #spotify

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old-school-butch · 5 months

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What do they think Hamas wants? What do they think Israel is supposed to do? Do they seriously think Israel is supposed to be like sure here you go we are all going to leave Israel and you can have everything? Do they think that would bring about peace? I’m serious. Like really do they think there is anything Israel could do that would stop any of this? Do they think Israel should’ve done nothing and this situation would’ve just disappeared? Americans are the dumbest fucking people on the planet. Hamas wants compliance or death, that’s how terrorism works, that’s war.

Whoever is running the information warfare at Hamas is truly brilliant. The ideology of Islamists has been run through some kind of autotuner so it sounds like it came from a chapter in Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Western liberals are eating it up. While liberals are still catching up on which river and which sea the chant refers to, they still don't grasp that the end goal here is the elimination of the state of Israel entirely. And while 20% of Israelis are Arab Muslims, there are zero Jews in Gaza. The PR people are saying Zionist these days instead of Jews, so maybe it doesn't sound too bad when they say Kill All Zionists but that's just the English translation. Zionism is the creation of a Jewish state. Hamas will call it the 'Zionist entity' because they don't recognize it as a state. They don't recognize it because all states should be Muslim. Israel is occupying territory that should be Muslim. When they say 'end the occupation' it sounds like a call for liberation of an oppressed people, instead of the desire to destroy Israel, kill or expel the Jews and create a Muslim state in its place.

Yemen's Houthi rebels (who are currently attacking Israel) have a slogan "God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, A Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam" and I think it says a lot that they take the time to double down on how much they hate Jews/Israel instead of a single 'Houthis are great!' thrown into their own slogan.

The Islamists have noted the 'anti-colonial' rhetoric in Western universities and capitalized on it by positioning Israel as a proxy for the West and thus a scapegoat for the West's sins of imperialism. It does rely on some very old anti-Semitic tricks - because Jews assimilate fairly well (because they don't have an evangelical aspect to the faith) they are both within a culture and othered from the culture - the perfect scapegoat. Many liberals shrugged when the Nazis marching in Charlottesville chanted "Jews will not replace us" but the suspicion that Jews control the media, capitalism, also socialism, Hollywood (and any other center of power you can imagine) runs very deep in Western cultural anxiety. Imagining Israel as a prowerful villian is all too easy when you're primed to believe that.

A wild example of this is how Westerners view Israel as a colonialist power rather than a gathering point for religious refugees. The reality that Jews originated from the land of JUDEA should not be hard to grasp, but is conveniently ignored. The fact that they've negotiated with colonial powers like Britain and the UN is viewed as a sign of political power, even though the main goal of those colonial powers was to prevent Jewish refugees from flooding their own countries. And the memory that the post WW2 boost in political heft came at the price of the Holocaust in Europe, seems to have been lost. The reality that most Israelis are Jewish refugees expelled from Muslim countries, is conveniently ignored. There are enough white faces and dual citizens in Israel for guilty Westerners to find a convenient scapegoat to do all that decolonizing and let themselves be destroyed for our sins. Not that anyone is thinking that hard about it, it just feels right, because it's safe and convenient to accept blame and then shift it to someone else - no matter how many land acknowledgements they crank out.

I guess Westerners think colonizing is something only white people do, and they are blissfully unaware of the size and scope of the Arab Islamic Empires of the past. And also apparently unaware that Islamists explicitly say they want to recreate that empire. Zionists want a single state - and I have a lot of issues with the idea of a religious state at all, but no one can accuse Jews of ever having or wanting to create an Empire. Israel might be criticized for not having a more liberal democractic state, but Hamas isn't even trying to create one. It wants a single Muslim state occupying their entire region, where Jews are killed or expelled and Islamists can consolidate regional power - that's their goal. But the slogan is 'end the occupation' which sounds way nicer than 'end the occupation of land of Israel by Jews so we can make an Islamic state in its place and kill all the Jews who don't run away fast enough.'

Maybe it's that most Westerners don't live in a theocracy, and have no sense of just how controlling and energetic theocratic societies can be, that they can't grasp the idea of global jihad and what that really means. "The Caliphate is the answer" is written in Arabic on protest signs, flying under the radar of English-speakers and certainly not seen as hate speech, but when people tell you they want to establish a global world order under Islamic rule, and are actively coordinating their efforts between states and regions - you should believe them. Moderation is apostasy, punishable by death. Anyone negotiating with Israel faces opposition from more radical Islamists ready to take their place. This is why Islamists spend most of their time attacking more moderate Islamic states and leaders. And by 'moderate' I mean the Taliban, which can barely set up a state in Afghanistan - because it means diverting resources from expanding and conquering other areas. A group called ISIS-K is trying to overturn the Taliban to bring back the glory days of the Khorason, an entity so sprawling it would involve invading China, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, which would undoubtedly spark a global conflict. That doesn't phase them. Hamas can barely control the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which rejects any peace accords with Israel including the Oslo accord. Dying as a martyr is the highest achivement - eternal war is not a problem. The Islamic world is failing to contain radical movements it created and supported for its own interests.

The Palestinians are a good microcosm of this. When Israel declared independence in 1948, the region was invaded by its neighbors. The war ended with Jordan occupying the West Bank and Egypt occupying Gaza and normally the people living there would have been absorbed into these countries, or created a self-governed state. Instead Palestinians, as a group, were created as a stateless people. They didn't want to form a state within the boundaries determined by the war, but instead remain as refugees from a war and promised the 'right of return' i.e. that Israel would be returned to them. Importantly, the war didn't have a declared end. It's still happening, which is how they are still refugees 75 years later. And they live in 'refugee camps', otherwise known as buildings and towns, but it's all temporary in this narrative. Does no one wonder why the pro-Palestinian rallies call for a ceasefire and not for peace? Peace is not desired, just a pause in fighting until they can regroup and try again.

A separate reality was created where the 1948 war is still happening, Israel is not real, it's a 'Zionist entity' occupying the land and that refugees includes everyone displaced by the 'ongoing' war, and all their descendants are refugees too because they have nowhere to live - because where they are living is just temporary. And ‘all they want is to go home’ (but not their current home for 3 generations, the home back in Israel ofc). In this world, they all have to right to live in the region that the zionist entity is occupying, where their duty is to establish a Muslim state. The purpose of this fiction is to create a perpetual problem for Israel, a stateless population whose entire existence is focused on them eventually overthrowing Israel. But it's had unexpected effects.

Palestinian refugees have been more than willing to bring violence to any country that has taken them in as immigrants. Their nationalists have a long list of assassinations of anyone who supports a peace treaty with Israel, including the King of Jordan, the former prime minister of Lebanon, Robert F Kennedy and more. They've also started a civil war in Jordan until they were expelled to Lebanon, where they hijacked a series of international flights and started a civil war there that lasted for 15 years. Palestinians living as refugees in Kuwait aided Saddam Hussein's invading army until they were expelled when his regime fell. These are the reasons none of Israel's neighbor's will accept any more Palestinian refugees, but the Islamist problem remains for any country in its path. What I have found most disturbing among feminists on Tumblr, however, is the complete wilful ignorance about Islamist ideology and its relationship to women. You think you’re ok with the Quran? Read it. There aren't many religions founded by a conqueror who wanted to rule the world. Read what it says about conquest, murder, torture, raping and enslaving non-Muslim women. Arab slave traders castrated men and bred female slaves who were kept as captive wives. Using sexual violence as a tool of war and as a reward for Islamic fighters is long documented and continues today. The birth rate in Gaza is about 5 children per woman and frequently exhorted to be higher. Why? Arafat said it most clearly ‘the womb of the Palestinian woman is the weapon that will defeat Israel.' Population and fertility are part of the political landscape and Islamist strategy. It's how Lebanon went from being a Christian majority country to a Muslim majority country today. There is no reason whatsoever that feminists - who have not shied away from criticizing the sexism of Christianity or Judaism - should mince words when it comes to criticizing Islam in the strongest possible terms. Islamists - who combine Islam with a goal for global dominance - should ring every alarm bell we have.

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anexperimentallife · 3 months

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Anyone who believes anything Israel says at this point is an imbecile. Every time they cry wolf, it gets exposed as a lie, but the US press eats up the next lie anyway and repeats it as fact.

"40 beheaded babies! Okay, we made that up. But mass rapes! Okay, we made that up, too. But THIS time, we're TOTALLY telling the truth, guys! Honest! Pinky swear! And stop calling it genocide/ethnic cleansing just because we publicly said that was our intent and because what we're doing literally fits those definitions! Everyone who doesn't support our genocide is Hamas!"

But you know, evangelicals will defend Israel because they're fucking crazy, and Big Politicians will defend them because they're the one majority white state in the Middle East and serve US military and economic interests there, and because Israel supporters have zero critical thinking skills or anything approximating a moral compass.

If they had critical thinking skills, they'd stop falling for Israeli propaganda. If they had a moral compass, they'd oppose genocide, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and the entire brutal colonialist settler state.

#palestine #israel #rob gets political

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prodigal-explorer · 2 months

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You say that both Palestine and Israel are in the right and wrong, which first of all is the most bullshit I've ever heard.

Stop saying that you're "staying neutral" when it's fucked up, sick headed people like you that the government leeches off of. Its your ignorance that they profit off of, your privilege to lay in bed, to watch a fun movie, to hang out with friends and eat your full plate. That is a privilege that Palestines dream of.

Little kids dreams of Palestine dream of watch TV. They dream of playing outside without the fear of their lives on the line. They dream of going to school, having families, growing old, yet Israel kills them for no reason. This is genocide of innocent civilians.

And don't say "BuT hAmAs!!" As if that's your supporting argument. Nothing, and I mean nothing in the world can justify the genocide happening in Palestine right now. The numbers don't lie, Annie. The 30,000+ people didn't deserve it.

I hope you enjoy riding Israel dick and I hope the true guilt you feel once you finally see past your comfort zone hurts you so bad.

Genuinely, for all of us. Delete your pathetic excuse of an account and never post a thing ever again.

hey!

first of all, i never said that i’m staying neutral. wanting peace isn’t the same as staying neutral. i’m not encouraging the genocide just because i’m holding empathy for both sides and wanting both sides to have peace.

your cruel words are just a further example of all the hate that social media is spreading that isn’t helping anyone. i’m spreading information about charities to SUPPORT PALESTINE. i’m spreading information to uplift the voices of israeli and palestinian people who have LOST FAMILY MEMBERS due to this conflict, and trying to uplift the things THEY are saying. if i deleted my account, all of that stuff would be gone. the stuff that’s helping palestine. so you want palestine to have less help? that’s so woke of you. /s

i never said that israel should be bombing innocent people. i’m not supporting that and i never ever did. i never justified the genocide one single time and the fact that you think i did only goes to show that you didn’t read my posts. you just wanted to get angry and righteous and you chose me to attack, but it’s not going to work. i will apologize for saying that both sides are in the wrong because that is a bit of a bold statement which could easily be taken as excusing the actions of the israeli government, which was not my intention. palestine didn’t do anything to deserve this attack. the actions of hamas do not represent palestine as a whole.

for the record, if i had to choose a side, i would choose palestine. the way that the israeli government is using the money america is feeding them is horrible and disgusting. too many people have died in this conflict. but it is unfair to paint israel as a whole in a light that suggests that they are trying to wipe out the palestinian race because that’s not what’s happening. did you know that in israel, citizens are required BY LAW to serve in the military? they’re sacrificing their lives and being forced to do things they don’t agree with because the government is forcing them. israeli people don’t enjoy doing this. if you’re going to point fingers at someone, point at the 0.01% of israeli government officials who are making these decisions. not at an entire race, an entire population of people who are just doing what they are forced to do. it’s hypocritical to get mad at people for addressing hamas while also accusing all of israel of terrorism when the only real decision makers are the government. it’s the same thing, blaming an entire population for something that only a small group of people are responsible for. neither should be encouraged.

i don’t agree with what the israeli government is doing whatsoever. but that is not an excuse to wish death upon the people who didn’t even make any of these choices. these people were born in israel and they have to follow the laws. you can’t stand here while you’re privileged and on your phone typing angry little paragraphs that you wouldn’t do the same to keep yourself and your family safe.

so many people are using this issue as an excuse to be antisemitic. that is what i’m addressing in these posts. people like you are so fucking performative that you can’t see what the real issue is.

i know both israeli and palestinian people whose families have died. who’s YOUNG family members have died due to this conflict. and you know what they are telling me?

they aren’t telling me to go on social media and attack random people. they aren’t telling me to post about how all israelis/palestinians are awful people who deserve to die. they are telling me that the only way to stop all these innocent children and people as a whole from dying is to promote PEACE. and guess what. it isn’t just palestinian people saying this to me. ITS ISRAELI PEOPLE TOO.

THATS WHAT IM ADDRESSING IN MY POSTS. promoting PEACE is how we can do more for these poor children than just getting angry on social media. when we pick sides and polarize, we create more of a divide between two beautiful nations who deserve to live in peace and harmony. we further remove the chances of there being a reconciliation.

what do you suggest we do? kill all the israeli children? what will that accomplish??? this is so much more complicated than petty revenge. what feeds a war is the possibility of winning. and creating sides and pretending that the other side are full of evil heartless monsters who are doing this for no reason is only making the war WORSE because it fabricated the possibility of one side winning MORE.

so if you think you’re helping anybody with this bullshit, you’re not. your mindset is a prime example of the horrible performative activism that america is doing in order to pretend to be helpful while thousands of innocent children are dying.

maybe put some of this righteous energy into donating, or listening to israeli and palestinian voices instead of talking over them and speaking for them. that’s what would really be helpful in a time like this.

#israel #palestine #israel palestine tensions #israel palestine conflict #israel palestine war #palestine deserves to be free #free israel from hamas #free israel from terrorism #free palestine #free israel #PRO PEACE

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girlswhosmell100000 · 2 months

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ig im screaming into the void atp but after being on twt it really feels like niche little corners on the internet made for various minority groups that used to go unbothered for years are now being found by conservative stonetoss andrew tate types and shaking up the community by causing infighting and other horrible shit. i miss when i wasnt seing ai generated pics of fat black rainbow haired strawmen. i miss when people were a little more sensitive to suicide and the fact that a lot of us are wrongfully taken from this world too soon, either by the hands or the words of people who seek to totally eliminate us and laugh at us the rest of the way. nex benedict should be alive. trans and nonbinary communities both online and in person should be safe. i should be able to enjoy black edits without seeing a massive influx of racists reminding me that i am a racial minority hated by many, many people, and that people who do these edits are hypocrites or whatever that deserve to have their black edits whitewashed. i miss when eating disordered people didnt have extremely public and popular communities that just consist of hurting themselves in a cute way or ruining fat peoples lives. i hate that more boys are growing up and making rape jokes and normalizing pedophilia, and more boys are growing up hating women and anything feminine. i hate that there are proud racist crossdressers and proud racist trans communities. i hate "LGB without the T". i hate that an entire country is being controlled by self identified terfs. i miss when the most liked reply to a picture of dead child with their legs blown off wasnt "if only oct 7 didnt happen" and, "was it worth it, hamas?" and "pallywood propaganda". i miss when human life used to be more valued.

i miss being invisible instead of the center of attention. 1st world problems i know. maybe it was because i was extremely naive and held a firm mindset that everything will be ok in the end, that evil would never win as long as there is good. maybe things really were better than they are now. maybe its because im getting older and opening my eyes, or maybe because the algorithm is just making me painfully aware of every horrible belief ever. maybe nothings changed. i dont know. its ok if you think im privileged for saying these things or that im whining. i understand. i hate life so much right now. im sorry. i miss feeling like i knew the world was gonna get its shit together before id die. i miss being confident in the thought that somebody would swoop in and stop it all. im sorry. this is a very selfish post and im sorry

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ultfreakme · 6 months

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The phrase "israel has the right to defend itself" is such an insidious statement because it is always said in tandem with "do you condemn Hamas?".

The words 'defend itself' is less about Israel and more about those two words. Because you can't say an entity doesn't have the right to defend itself, you'll come off as someone allowing violence to occur because the act of 'defense' assumes the presence of an attacking force.

By saying that phrase you are making the respondent agree with a presupposition, i.e., the presence of an attacking force that NEEDS a shielding against. The moment you say "yes Israel can defend itself" you ALSO agree to the existence of a violent threat. Not just any violent threat, but the kind that needs urgent defense against something as big as the propaganda figurehead of Hamas.

They first spread the agenda equating Hamas to Palestine to convince the fascists and give them an argument for approving the genocide. It's always 'Hamas', to the point they never say Palestine. This goes in two ways; a) they justify the war by saying all these attacks are against a terrorist organization. b) they use 'Hamas' as synonymous with 'Palestine' which in turn dehumanizes them and invalidates the very existence of Palestine as a country. If you say 'Palestine' then you recontextualize who and what you're fighting against.

Palestine is scattered in terms of governmental power, what little it even has. The last election was held in 2006. The Palestinian Authority which was formed as a product of the Oslo Accords(which has been absolutely wrecked btw) has no real power. They don't have a military.

If you stop saying 'Palestine', the state of the country is ignored. Its culture and history is put to the back burner. All indications of its true existence as an independent country is ignored.

If you say 'Hamas' you've got yourself a boogeyman. You even have an over-exposed and over-reported incidence of violence to point to in order to justify EVERYTHING. They inflate the threat of Hamas to disproportionate extents, especially using October 7.

You have dehumanized Palestine and made them a caricature of violence.

With just these two statements and the lack of opportunity and freedom to examine them and dissect them, you are bound to lose that argument. Because the people asking that questions have made assumptions and rules upon reality that we are forced into complying. Those two statements are hallmark of power, of privilege, of how those in power control the narrative.

Israel isn't defending itself. Their attack are not defense by any stretch of the margin because the entirety of this war is taking place IN PALESTINE. You always hear about bombs in Gaza, tanks in West Bank, there's even advances of Jerusalem, attacks on Lebanon. Defense assumes that you're protecting something. How is Israel protecting itself by attacking countries it has no relation with?

Israel also CAN'T defend itself. Because defense means protecting a country, protecting and safeguarding what is present with yourself. All of Israel is stolen Palestinian land. Any kind of action in Palestine by Israel is an offense, an attack.

Israel is doing fine, those under its citizenship are living lavish lives.

Palestinians are holding up corpses of children to beg Israel and other complicit nations fuellng this to stop. I saw a video of a boy crying that he had to carry a headless body. They don't have water or food or shelter or power or anything. Saw tweet saying starving dogs are eating bodies. There's a video of an aid truck with water bottles getting bombed. Half the hospitals in Gaza are not operational.

Who really needs defense? Who's the attacking force?

#palestine #free palestine #gaza #gaza strip #gaza genocide

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orbleglorb · 5 months

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vent/rant about judaism, why i chose judaism and palestine below. probably very disjointed. it's late and im tired but tbis feeling is eating me alive

as someone converting to judaism during israel's genocide on gaza, i'm just really... disheartened? discouraged? neither of those words are strong enough.

i studied judaism a lot. i read a ton of mission statements, core tenets, etc. i had to make sure this was right for me. i was drawn to reform judaism because of it's dedication to activism and the ability to decide for yourself what practices felt right for you (like kosher). i loved that judaism saw every life, truly every life, as a whole world. as something worth saving. and yet, life did not begin at conception, and the life of the pregnant person comes first. the dedication to donating to charity and just improving your community. something else i really liked (and what really sold me on it) was that reform judaism sees the world as israel, or even every jew makes up israel, instead of an actual physical place. zionism wasn't necessary and was often disagreed with. when i read the prayers and texts, i interpreted "israel" as "your people." like a name for the community. hell, i asked a rabbi about this, and he said that zionism does not match reform jewish ideology. and now he's on facebook, saying there can't be a genocide because gaza has a big growth rate.

what happened? i deliberately chose judaism because i liked that every life was precious, every soul was worth keeping alive, everyone is their own world or universe that you can get to know. on top of that, we're supposed to ask questions. challenge authority. and it just feels like all of that is gone.

it seems a lot of jews have forgotten everything that drew me to judaism and it's making me feel like i'm losing my mind a little, even though i KNOW i spent so much time reading reform judaism websites and books about judaism and learning whatever i could because it felt right. it felt right but i needed to prove to myself that it was right, because converting is a big deal. i finally feel comfortable enough to go to a shabbat service. and it was great! it's hard to describe the experience as anything besides spiritual. it felt like coming home.

the next day was october 7.

no one else seems to think that palestine deserves freedom. that they can suffer for all they care because hamas dared fight back. what happened to a religion centered around helping others against oppression? a religion that believed all life was sacred and should be remembered? it's all gone the minute the person in question is palestinian. it's infuriating!! why are you all ignoring the things that drew me to judaism in the first place?? for convenience?? what the fuck?? how can you genuinely think israel is the victim here??

#rant #vent #palestine judaism rant #<- so i can find it later if need be #you can rb this if u want btw! just don't be mean #but i trust my mutuals #i'd love to hear more jewish opinions on this

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verrescent · 2 months

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But Timothee not only made Hamas jokes on SNL but is literally dating and fucking a zionist in Kylie Jenner I mean even Justin Bieber is pro Israel

just curious but what do you want me to do about that? (Not said in a 'not my problem lol STREAM DUNE 2' way) I've always disliked timothee since he started in call me by your name and Kylie Jenner because... she's just a shit person even if she didn't support Israel. Also Justin Bieber is literally just a hollowed out puppet of an industry plant, so it's not at all surprising that he goes w what makes him the most money from his investors.

Generally, people don't know about stuff like that bcuz the media doesn't talk about it. Like it's surprising how many people get their info from propaganda spiked news channels. You really think it's a coincidence that rafah was bombed right as the Super Bowl was airing? No. All mainstream media is, is a coverup for all the fucked up shit governments do which from what many people have shown, doesn't even matter because people are so in love with being so utterly fucked with no way of being able to make a change in this society that favors money and white people.

like at the point, in all actuality, it's not that enough people are with Gaza, millions are, it's just that of all those people, there's not a single (white) person with enough financial and economical power to slow/stop the flow of money towards these big companies like Disney for billionaires who are so money hungry they don't even eat actual food to listen to anything we say. Which is why a lot of people are starting to be more open about absolutely HATING Taylor swift. Why? Because one tweet of 'free Gaza. Free Palestine 🇵🇸.' Will quite literally, free Palestine. Why? Because of the amount of Starbucks drinking Stanley cup owning white women who lick dirt from her shoes. People don't care about Palestine because it's not trendy to.

ranty, sorry.

TLDR: free Palestine, fuck Taylor swift, there's no such thing as an ethical billionaire, Hollywood is just one big pyramid scheme to manipulate the masses, very choppy, written quickly without proofreading, and FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸

#free congo #free gaza #fuck hollywood #fuck taylor swift #no such thing as an ethical billionaire #all eyes on rafah #fuck the superbowl

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82mitsu · 23 hours

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{18Trip} The 18 Questions Corner - Kitakawa Raito

This is a translation for the 18 questions interview uploaded on the official Youtube channel. I suggest to read this translation alongside it!

Note: P stands for "Player", this series has a voiced male & female character for the player. The interviews are conducted by the male player in this case.

TL note:

The lost continent of Mu is something akin to Atlantis. There’s a connection with pseudoscience & conspiracy theories, unlike Atlantis who was a fictional element from the get go.

P: 18 questions for the Tourism Ward Mayors! We look forward to your cooperation!

Raito: Okay, let’s give it a shot.

What’s your name?

I’m Kitakata Raito.

How old are you?

25 years old.

Tell us about your occupation!

I managed several companies and such… well, just all sorts of things.

What’s the first thing you do when waking up in the morning?

I’m a mess in the morning… Kinari has been waking me up lately.

Anything you’re particular about with lunch?

On days where you can eat ramen, the answer is without a doubt ramen.

What pops up in your mind when it comes to “evening”?

Let me see… currently, a certain coast comes to mind.

What’s your routine before bed?

Reading a book. I’ve been hooked onto A new light on the three hidden treasures of the lost continent of Mu recently. I recommend it.

Where do you start with washing your body?

Hmmm…. my neck, I guess?

What’s essential when leaving for a trip?

Just myself is more than enough.

What do you check before traveling somewhere?

If there’s festivals. Many of them have fascinating origins.

What’s your favorite method of transportation for traveling?

I like going by motorbike.

What’s one item you’d bring to a deserted island?

I don’t really need anything in particular. Being on the island will be more of a blast when you’re empty-handed.

Please give us some fanservice!

✧・ﾟ: *Let us revel in our fleeting time on earth together*:・ﾟ✧ ...wasn’t that the same as usual though?

Who’s someone you’d lean on for support?

I simply don’t think about what ails me to begin with…

Who would you swap bodies with for a day?

Anyone would be an interesting pick, but perhaps Night Squad’s Netaro.

What would you want to do as them?

Run his business, I’d like to experience managing such an unconventional restaurant.

Pass on a message to your roommates!

Kinari, I must be quite the handful each morning for you, aren’t I. Kuguri, it’s fine to do as you like, but don’t make me worry too much now.

Tell us from the heart, what’s a “journey” to you?

Good question… An act done to search out possibilities, I’d say.

P: Thank you, those were all 18 questions!

Kinari: Thank you for your hard work. Was that good enough?

Raito: I’m HAMA’s 10th Ward Mayor, Raito Kitakata. I promise to use every waking moment of my life to devote myself to this job. Pleased to meet you.

#18trip #ev3ns #kitakata raito #18qs #823_tl #eveningsquad

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lunarsilkscreen · 6 months

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TW: Anxiety and Depression

People in *situations* like to talk about "of course you're anxious" or "of course you're depressed". The system keeping you down, worried about tomorrow, discrimination, student loans you'll never pay off, worried about what your kid is going to eat tomorrow. Worried about the Hamas in the Gaza strip doing another 9/11. You know, the usual.

There's even an industry built around tackling those feelings caused by external factors. Life isn't a great feeling when you have no choice but to gamble. Or when it constantly feels like you're under attack for no reason but trying to get home.

It's why people look at these things like a disease of affluence. But I'm telling you; poor people experience these things too.

Those external factors, pundents constantly claim, once you have a steady income stream, shelter, one single album by Jimi Hendrix, and the feelings go away.

And then other pundents claim that after 72k$ income they come back because you've constantly got rich people problems.

Those are not Anxiety and Depression.

Scientific studies show that being in situations for extended periods of time (approx 6 months) can cause *those* symptoms to become *permanent* that, is one form of anxiety or depression.

I say them like this: "anxiety and depression" because "mental illness" sounds like you just got put in Arkham by Batman. Like it's this thing only supervillains have. Like they'd be fine if they just stopped stealing expensive art from rich people.

The baseline for Anxiety and Depression and other mental irregularities like PTSD, puts you into a permanent state of a doctor would say "arousal" but that sounds like you just took too many Viagra. A scientist might say "to excitation" but that sounds like the same thing.

Anxiety is a low grade fear, constantly in the background, even when you've got nothing going on, no bills. After being put into a situation, those background levels skyrocket, and you never can recover in order to really get out of that situation.

So you just kinda get stuck tuning it out, and trying to keep on.

Depression is this low grade sadness, like. Imagine somebody just laying into you everyday, but they're not funny about it, nobody is having fun, they're doing it to keep you down. And everybody else just says "well you deserve it."

Except, unlike Trump, there's nobody there doing that. But you feel like somebody is.

Personally, I can get through a lot when people aren't messing with me. But when they start playing around, it becomes difficult to do basic tasks. I'm talking about basic things like getting out of bed to go pee. On a day where you have nothing going on, no reason to not want to chill and play video games, or even just scroll on your phone while eating cereal.

Just, don't even want to do things on your relaxing day off to relax.

And that's why this ignorance of what anxiety and depression really is, is dangerous.

Like, "man, if you just ate a snickers, you won't have those shellshock flashbacks anymore."

Imagine, being so depressed that you don't even want to get high.

Now imagine being so anxious you can't take your pills that'll help you go-to work everyday. That's not a good example.

Imagine you have a job you enjoy, and are excited everyday to go-to work and get paid. But you had a situation that lasted 6-18months, like hospital bills, or legal issues. Or somebody stole your car or something.

And you realize; there's no reason to be happy anymore. So you just kind of give up. Because why do anything, even if you particularly enjoy it if that serotonin hit just isn't a thing anymore.

*oh my TikTok went viral. Guess it's time to never do tiktoks again*

It's hard to explain to people, because most people have their own issues like "ye. Life is SAD AND SCARY. AND WE ALL JUST DEAL WITH IT."

"Well I was also dealing with it, until this thing made it impossible to deal with it anymore."

It *sounds* like burnout too, because it's a similar thing. But you can recover from burnout with a long enough vacation. (If you can afford a vacation.)

"The hardest part about going to work, is going to work, and then after you get started it's fine."

Ok, now imagine after that, and your morning coffee, and you're just mentally checked out all day everyday. Sure you get work done, and the pay means you don't starve or end up homeless.

But you're never actually there. Not like *watching cat videos in the bathroom* not there, or *constantly imagining yourself at the bahamas, working on your vision board* not there.

Just. Not. There. The lights are on, but nobody is home.

Physically you're there, but you're like a robot that's had all its dreams about the future sucked out.

You can't dream you can't think, you can't get aroused or excited. (I mean, sure you jerk off at home, but that's not what I meant).

I'd say Sui* Ideation, but that isn't even on the table. It is when you take the advice of the gurus who say "just learn to get passed fear". Because that's what happens when you're in a constant state of depression and no longer fear the one thing keeping you on the planet.

And all it takes is six months, unless you're not a betac*, then it could be years. But you still end up in the same place.

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 2 years

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Old Bones Aflame (Part 45)

snow whips into her face, it would probably leave her face stinging if that sort of thing registered with her these days. Still it leaves her cheeks rosy and her nose red.

She still isn't used to the little flakes on her lashes. Isn't used to having them land on her tongue. They're mesmerizing really and if she hadn't any matters to attend, she might stare up at them and watch their powdery shower.

“I’m glad that you decided to let me take you to the Spirit Oasis” Aang smiles.

“Yeah, sure, Avatar.” She mutters.

“What made you change your mind?”

“I’d like to be able to eat and sleep again.”

“Even if it means that you’ll be able to feel physical pain again.”

Azula burrows into her parka. “That might not be a bad thing. I keep forgetting my glove and Hama is worried that I’m going to get frostbite because I can’t tell when my hand is getting too cold.”

“That’s a good point.” Aang agrees.

She finds that there isn't much to do on a sky bison other than make small talk. And she isn't good at that. She wishes that she had Hama but the woman gets woefully airsick as they had come to find when they first took off. Not that she would have been fond of listening to the woman bicker with Katara the whole way there.

Hama doesn’t hold her tongue quite as well as Azula and she can’t imagine that Katara would hold back.

“Are they going to let me in?” Azula asks. “Whoever is in charge of guarding the Spirit Oasis, I mean.”

“There’s no one guarding it.” Aang replies. “It’s a secret place and the chief could take us there.”

“But will they take me there?”

“They will if I ask them to.” Aang assures. “I think that have a bigger problem with Zuko considering that he’s the one who caused a bit of a stir in the Northern Tribe.”

Azula sniffs indignantly. “That’s an understatement. I heard that it was chaos between he and Zhao.” She folds her arms across her chest.

“Yeah, it kind of was.” Aang admits.

“Why is it that he destroys villages but I’m the public enemy?”

“Because he did the right thing in the end.” Katara says.

“As far as the general public knows.” Azula shrugs. “And ‘end’ isn't the right term, he hasn’t met his yet. He did the right thing once. Right by your standards anyhow. By Fire Nation standards he’s a traitor and he cost us everything…” She shakes her head. There’s no point. She doesn’t particularly want to be the hero anyhow.

“He’s made good choices and bad…” Aang starts.

“But the only ones that anyone ever sees are his good choices. And the only choices of mine people see…” She shakes her head again. “They see me through his eyes. The people of Honoki don’t.”

“That’s because Honoki is a Fire Nation town.” Katara says.

“The Southern Tribe doesn’t seem to mind me.” So far. She doesn’t plan on doing anything to make them resent her.

Katara opens her mouth but Aang speaks first. “Then I’m sure that the north will warm up to you and the Earth Kingdom too.”

At this Azula laughs. “Ba Sing Se hates me and they have every reason to.” She shrugs. “It’s alright, I suppose that people don’t have to like me…”

“If they can learn to like Zuko they can learn to like you.” Aang tries.

Azula shrugs. “Perhaps.” Not that she is going to put the effort in though. If they take well to her eventually then they take well to her. If not then she has Hama, the jungle, and Honoki. She leans back in the saddle and watches the clouds drift along. “I guess that it doesn’t make a difference to me. I am what I am whether they like it or not. Nobody has to.”

“I like you.” Aang flashes another one of his big ridiculous grins.

“That’s your own risk.”

.oOo.

“She isn’t so bad.” Aang swears. “It’s like I’ve been telling you, she just wants to find her peace.”

“If you say so, Aang.”

“She hasn’t said anything awful to us. She could if she wants to. I think that she just wants to be healed so she can go back to talking with Hama and her new friends.”

“I guess.” Katara agrees. “I just…I don’t like those two together.”

“If they were going to hurt us they would have done it already.” Aang sighs. Sometimes he feels like he is talking in circles. “If I can’t convince you to give her a chance, how am I supposed to convince Arnook and his wife?”

“They don’t have any personal problems with her.”

“Well, wish me luck.” He spares a glance back at Azula. Azula who has already struck up a conversation. His stomach sinks when the man turns his head and he sees a familiar face. Aang gives the man an awkward wave.

“Good evening, Avatar.” Arnook greets.

“Good evening. How have you been?”

“As well as I can be. I still miss my daughter dearly.” The man replies. “I was just telling your friend…”

“We’re not friends.”’ Azula mutters unhelpfully.

“...About my Yue. Apparently she has some strong feelings about the Moon Slayer.”

Azula snorts. “Moon Slayer? That’s what he called himself. How ridiculous.”

Arnook chuckles. “No more ridiculous than trying to slay the moon in the first place.”

“Indeed. The Fire Nation needs the moon too.”

“Chief Arnook, this is Azula.” Aang introduces carefully, almost flinchingly. “Princess Azula.”

The man falters, Aang thinks that his posture has gone that much more rigid. “I have heard about you.” He mentions. “You aren’t exactly what I imagined.”

Azula tilts her head. “Indulge me. What did you imagine?”

“Someone a lot older.” He replies simply. “Older and less approachable. I didn’t realize that you keep company with the Avatar.”

She shrugs. “We aren’t close. I need to get to the Spirit Oasis, he volunteered to take me there.”

He bristles a second time. “What do you need with the Oasis?”

She lifts her parka and flashes the scars on her belly. “I died.” She states plainly. “And then I came back but I don’t think that all of me came back. I’d either like to have the rest of me or I’d like to rest completely if you understand what I mean.”

“She doesn’t mean to be so blunt…” Aang begins.

“I very much intend to be as blunt as I am being.” She holds her chin up. “Although Hama says that I should probably stop that in some situations…”

“It’s a learning process.” He mumbles to Arnook. “The Spirit Oasis water helped me and I was really hoping that we could try to help Azula. She’s not a bad person and she doesn’t deserve to be only partially alive. I wouldn’t even do that to Ozai.”

“It is a cruel fate.” Arnook agrees. “And she has been an…interesting conversationalist. I’ll trust your judgment, Avatar.”

.oOo.

The spirit Oasis is nothing like she had expected it to be. She had pictured towering mountains of snow and columns of glinting, ancient icicles. She expected a frozen pool that they would have to crack and shatter before she gets in.

Instead they bring her to a patch of deep, lush green with a flowing waterfall backdrop. It is a little shrine tucked away in front of a large grove of budding bushes and bamboo, surrounded on all four sides by massive walls of ice.

“It’s smaller than I thought it would be.” Azula remarks.

“Pretty though, isn’t it?”

Azula nods. The moon casts an enthralling reflection on the surface of the pool. “Do the Water Sages need to be here or something?”

“Water Sages?” Katara asks.

“Yes, in the Fire Nation we have Fire Sages and they attend most all of our rituals. Don’t the tribes have something of the sort?”

“No one else needs to be here.” Aang replies. “This is a personal thing anyways.”

“Yes, I suppose that it is…” Azula circles the pool, staring at her reflection on its surface. She realizes that it has been quite some time since she has seen her own face. She supposes that it doesn’t look all that different from when she’d last looked at it. A touch more angular and defined perhaps but mostly it looks the same. At least some part of her does. She holds left arm to her abdomen.

She wonders if the pool can heal the scars. If it can bring her hand back…

“You ready?” Aang asks.

Azula looks up from the pool. “I think that I am, yes.” She lets her parka slide down her arms and halts. “Do I need to…”

“I would recommend taking it off, yes.” Katara says. “Just so we can see the scars better.”

“The pool can fix those?”

“I’ve never actually tried to use it for that.” Katara answers.

“Mine is still here.” Aang points out and Azula’s face falls. “It isn’t a big deal.”

“Not a big deal. You have one scar and it doesn’t cover your whole body.” She mutters.

“I don’t think that anyone is going to pay attention to your scars, Azula.”

“Right, they’ll be staring at my lack of hand instead.” She casts her parka aside, silently thankful that she can’t feel the cold’s piercing bite. But she does feel a sting in her heart when she finds herself once again staring at the lightning scars covering her legs, arms, and torso. The ones that probably decorate her back as well. And that hideous scar from the infection…

“I don’t think that you should be ashamed of those, you got them trying to protect someone you love. And that says something.”

Azula shrugs. “I suppose.” At least they aren’t a coward’s scars.

“Normally I’d bring the water to you and heal your wounds in patches but it will probably be more efficient to just have you enter the pool.” Katara speaks.

Azula quirks a brow. “It won’t…disrupt the fish? They seem to have this…routine going on.” It’s almost dizzying watching them swim in their circles.

“As long as you don’t try to stab one of them to destroy the moon, they probably won’t pay much attention to you.” Aang laughs.

“Zhao isn’t the smartest man…” Azula trails off as she slips herself into the pool. “Is it cold, Avatar. How long should I stay in here?”

“I’ll be quick.” Katara replies.

“Alright. Let's get on with this then.”

“Dip your head please.” Katara instructs. “Eventually I’m probably going to have to have you fully submerged.”

Azula’s tummy tightens. “I do not want that.”

“It’ll be fine, Azula. We’re not in battle. We’re here to help you, not hurt you.” Aang smiles.

Azula shifts. “Right, you’d have pushed me off of the bison a while back if you wanted me dead.” The thought isn’t comforting enough though. She clears her throat. “Very well then.” She closes her eyes and dips her head back.

“Alright, I’m going to start the healing process. It’s probably going to feel strange. It shouldn’t hurt though because the wounds aren’t fresh.”

Azula nods and the water shifts around her. She finds herself eyeing the fish who seem wholly indifferent to having to occupy the same waters as she. The water around her has a glow to it–something ethereal that Hama would have loved to see. It accentuates her frame like a soft, bubbly halo.

“Try to relax.” Katara instructs and Azula takes a deep breath.

“You’re doing great.” Aang encourages.

“I’m not doing anything at all.”

“Exactly, no screaming or freaking out…”

“Do I look like the sort of person who would?” She asks. She stares at her arm but the scars aren’t fading. The glow intensifies and in it there is a strange sort of warmth that is both hot and cold all at once. The water seems to seep into her pores, it tickles and tingles as it does so. It isn’t exactly pleasant but she supposes that it isn’t much of a bother either. And then the glow fades. “Is that it? Are you done?” She looks down at her belly and legs–the scarring there is just as prominent and defined as it had been before.

“Not yet, I’m going to need you to go underwater and hold your breath.” Katara is peeling off her own clothes. “Give my hand a tug if you need air.” She lowers herself into the pool.

“Alright.” Replies Azula reluctantly.

“Go on.” Aang urges.

Azula closes her eyes once more and lets her body sink beneath the surface. Her hair drifts out around her and her last breath comes out in a small piller of bubbles. She doesn’t trust Katara, not even slightly. If it weren’t for all of the guilt she had been oozing, Azula would almost think that the girl would drown her right then and there.

Instead she feels that bizarre heated chill, feels that hum of energy dancing over and prodding at her chi points. She feels almost dizzy, like the world has gone upside down. She feels as though she is suspended–she supposes that she is to some degree–but her suspension runs deeper than just physics as water applies them. No it is something she feels mostly within, something in her own mind.

Something in her own body.

And then she is falling, falling, falling…

When she opens her eyes it is dark.

And for a moment she thinks that the waterbender has chosen to kill her after all–that sneaky…

And then it slams into her; coldness. Fridgidness at an intensity that she has never felt before. The sort that creeps into her bones and stings her cheeks and lips and fingers. The kind that has her shivering all over.

And her lungs, they are burning too.

She had forgotten to tug on Katara’s hand, she hadn’t known, not until now, that she needed to. And now that she needs to, she can’t find the hand.

She is going to drown, she gives a sturdy kick. And then hands come under her shoulders and lift her out of the pool. She lies there, gasping, freezing with her locks clinging to her forehead. She gives several wet coughs and rolls onto her side.

“Are you alright, Azula?” Aang’s voice has an echo to it.

“I’m cold, Avatar.” She manages quietly. She is cold! Very cold and she can feel it nipping at her exposed skin. And then she feels fur. Fur as Katara helps her sit up and Aang bundles her, as best as he can, into her parka.

“Better?”

“A little.” She replies.

Katara bends the rest of the water off of her. She wraps her arms around herself and shivers.

“That’s a good sign.” Aang grins. “That you can feel the cold.”

Azula nods and for the first time in ages, her stomach rumbles. “Avatar, I’m hungry.”

And she’s tired.

So very tired.

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Azula #Hama #Found Family #Fanfiction

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