#Mod Talks

[a-student-out-of-time]

An Important Reminder In Trying Times

Hey everyone, Mod Bubbles here.

I know that I've said over and over that I don't like talking about politics on here, but I really feel the need to say this:

This Is Not The End.

I understand things probably seem really bleak right now. A lot of people are going to be hurt by this, and the sheer amount of fearmongering and worst case scenarios are inescapable. But the country and the world are not going to change overnight. To be honest, it may not change very much at all in the next four years. I'm not a political scientist, so I can't tell you that for sure. There's a lot to be concerned about.

What I can tell you, as a student of history, is this: not only have we survived this once, we have survived this every time.

Think about it this way: every single tyrant, every single right-wing representative, every single emperor and colonial power, every corporate scumbag and power-hungry lunatic. No matter how many of them have ever come to power, held onto power, and tried to make themselves seem invincible, not a single one has ever held back humanity's progress and not a single one has proven to be invincible.

There were countries throughout history, especially in the 20th century, that fell under brutal dictatorships and saw countless lives lost. Did the people just give up and accept it? Fuck no they didn't. They fought back. Many of them lived to see democracy restored to their lands in their lifetimes, or fought to see it restored in their children's.

From Europe to Latin America, while many countries still have their issues, they endured and their people have survived. Their governments were not invincible, just as none ever have been.

Regardless of the outcome of this election, the world will go on. People will not just roll over and accept whatever horrible things happen, the fight will continue and we will do everything in our power to carry on as we always have. We'll carry on to achieve bigger and better things.

Let me also be clear: if you feel the need to cry, please cry. If you're afraid, don't pretend you're not. If you're angry, allow yourself to feel that anger. But if you're seriously contemplating giving up or hurting yourself, please don't.

You may hear all this news and ask yourself, "Bubbles, what's the point? What can I do about all this?" I've felt that way too, I have for a long time. I understand completely. It's scary and overwhelming, but I'll tell you exactly what you can do to fight against that: you can be kind.

Do you want to know where the most tangible change in the world begins? It's never at the top. It begins with people like us on a communal level, where we reach out to help others. Whether that means we help our neighbors, our friends, or any strangers we can.

Going out of your way to start fights, looking for someone to blame based on the flimsiest justifications, and just being cruel because you're angry, those aren't how you change anything. Those just add to the problem.

Here's just some ideas on what you can do instead:

Get away from the news, stop doomscrolling, mute doomers, and turn the TV and news apps off. This will get you out of a negative feedback loop that'll make you feel worse and more powerless, which is what they're designed to do in order to maximize traffic.

Remember to eat, sleep, brush your teeth, take a shower, take your meds, and do everything else you need to do to stay healthy.

If you or someone else really feel like leaving the country for your own safety is best, you can still work do so. But please don't convince yourself that if you can't, it's over.

Give back to people as much as you can. Show the people in your life who support you that you care, and that all that they do for you matters.

Donate to good causes you believe in.

Stand up to bullshit whenever you see it.

Do not give up on your dreams and ambitions. One bad leader does not mean your future automatically ends. Stop worrying about any potential apocalypse in the future, because you can do that even on the best days, and instead work toward a future that you CAN achieve.

There's this pervasive and very inaccurate idea that it's only the president who gets to enforce policies on the country. This ignores governors, the House of Representatives, Congress, mayors, and the countless other leaders involved. And it ignores you.

You do not have to spend the next 3 years and 364 days doing nothing but feeling miserable. In fact, that's the last thing you should do. Fear and despair are the weapons they wield, and they only have as much power as you allow them to have over you.

If your view of politics is that you just have to vote for the "right one" and then everything will be utopian, or that if people vote for the wrong one" then we're headed for a terrible dystopian nightmare, I have to tell you that that is incredibly reductionist and also very dumb. I can also tell you from personal experience that it's not them who make the real changes where it's needed.

A friend sent me a video that really opened my eyes on this situation: Adam Conover, the guy behind Adam Ruins Everything, said he's not worried about all this. Why? Because he and some friends were able, through their own power, to make real positive changes in their community. They were able to bring homelessness down in their district by over 38% through their own efforts.

And he's right that, as a silver lining to all this, it made more Americans than ever take a stand against all the horrible shit they were seeing and get involved with solutions.

Speaking from my own experiences as well, when Hurricane Helene devastated my area, it wasn't the politicians who came and repaired roads and power lines, it wasn't them who brought in food and supplies to everyone, and it wasn't them who worked tirelessly to save people still in need. It was everyone in our local communities.

The people at the top have never really cared about anything more than your money and your vote, but the people around you care more than you may believe they would. Hell, even strangers on the internet care more than you'd believe.

Now, even if you've made it this far, you may be wondering "What about when he starts outlawing and banning things?" To that, I say look at Prohibition and see how well that went. Politicians have only ever operated under the idea that banning something will make it go away, and it always does the exact opposite. And if you're still worried, you can get involved with organizations that fight to support these things being available and regulated.

But by now, you may also be wondering "What if I can't get involved? What if I'm too young or I don't have the money, or my parents won't let me?"

Then just be kind.

Stop looking for enemies to blame. Don't martyr yourself for some nebulous cause or the idea that your suffering increasing means the rest of the suffering in the world will go down. Don't torture yourself by telling yourself that you didn't do enough.

Show compassion, show support, show love and genuine care toward people who need it, including yourself.

"But there's so many shitty people in this country and the world, why should I-" Stop thinking that way. This isn't about them, this is about you and how you can make a difference. There will probably always be shitheads and power-hungry morons, but that does not negate the fact that you can choose to be different. You can choose to be kind.

Kindness is a sword that you have to learn how to wield. Wield it responsibly and use it to help others. No matter how small or insignificant it may be, YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

I say all this as a 29-year-old who spent most of his life feeling scared and miserable about so many current events, convincing myself I'm useless and selfish because I was worried about so much and I hated myself for all of it. And I've decide I'm not going to do that anymore.

During the last right-wing era, I managed to help build a whole community out of my love for Danganronpa. I created friendships, relationships, and there are people alive right now because I chose to do so. Because I chose to use that community for kindness. I want to keep building from there by going into streaming and reaching out to more people.

I won't lie to you and say that I'm not scared, because I am. But I'm also not going to let fear change who I am. I want us all to be better to ourselves and others, because that is how you defeat hate. It starts with you.

And if you're still concerned, let me share with you a quote from The Great Dictator, a movie made in 1940, when World War II wasn't even at its height yet:

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…

Please take care of yourselves out there, everyone. We'll get through this, just as we always have.

[quillpokebiology]

//Okay, ooc post.

I try my BEST not to be political on here, but me and my character being people of color, me and my character being openly queer, me reblogging posts about Palestine, etc. You can probably tell my stance on these things.

I just want everyone to stay safe. Ik everything kinda sucks ass right now. But, please, if you disabled, a person of color, an immigrant, have a uterus, or queer, please try your best and stay safe. Please don't kill yourself. I know a lot of people don't have the funds to move, and that's okay. We're all worried. I'm fucking terrified that half the people I know will be deported or that my friends and family are going to be harmed. But, the best we can do right now is be angry.

Worrying gives us the feeling of powerlessness, and the worst we can do right now is feel like we have no power. Instead, turn that worry into anger. Be angry at the fact that a racist piece of shit one. Be angry that your friends, family, colleagues, etc, could be harmed in all of this. Be angry that our country is continuing with a genocide. Because if we're angry, we can have the power back. We can take a stance if we're angry. If you have to go down, might as well go down kicking and screaming.

And remember. PLEASE stay safe. PLEASE find support. My school has an LGBT club, Latino leaders club, and Black History club for people who want to feel safe. Please find a space like that. It's the best we can do right now.

[selfship-confession-box]

heya guys

bet you can guess what this is about

i will be going on a hiatus. not sure for how long, but i am stressed and scared due to recent events and i do not have it in me to queue confessions at the moment. feel free to continue sending confessions in if youu'd like, however. they just wont be queued for a bit.

if you are a trump supporter, or if you voted trump, fuck off or i will block you myself.

[creation-help]

This is an encouraging reminder to go look at art you enjoy. Can't think of any? Go find it!

And also get this. Leave a nice comment even. You could even reblog. But the main thing is go enjoy art. Go enhance your understanding of things people create. Go look

[incorrect-tolkien-quotes]

PSA: I, the owner of this blog, am a gay jewish trans man, and if you voted or support people who voted for donald trump, I want you to unfollow me right tf now.

and also I hope you die <3

[bg3womenconfessions]

Hey friends, just wanted to say we love you. May this be a place of lightheardtedness and escapism for you 💙

[project-sekai-facts]

You're a student aren't you? So how do you manage to keep the balance between your studies and this enormous knowledge of all the game’s lore ??? Especially knowing that you’re in higher education

i dont know

[shadowfoxsilver]

There's this really cool thing that a handful of diaspora Palestinians have committed a lot of time and effort to called vetting (maybe you've heard of it?) in which they speak directly with a fundraiser holder face-to-face or over phone/video call to verify all portions of a fundraiser. There are so many posts [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] that talk about the details of this process to verify that a fundraiser organizer, recipient, and the details are correct by verifying legal documents like proof of residence, photo ID, fluency in Palestinian-Dialect Arabic, family tree constructions, etc.

These vetters have been posting about Palestinian/Gaza/Arab culture/Islam/etc. for a really long time, [1] [2] [3] (these are Wayback machine links to the tumblr accounts of 90-ghost, el-shab-hussein, & nabulsi before you start crying "but, you can post backdate on tumblr!") [4] (moayesh's Instagram because his tumblr is fairly new) meaning that they didn't just pop up after Oct 2023 to start posing as a qualified individual. They are real diaspora Palestinians with stories to tell and culture to share.

GFM also has strict requirements for withdrawing money, needing evidence of a bank account from a country they service and a solid way to transfer funds from that bank account to the recipient's bank account. If the funds are withheld from the intended recipient, that can be reported to and resolved by GFM.

If you're too overwhelmed by trying to distinguish between scams and real fundraisers, then whatever. That's your problem, not everyone else's. You don't need to publicly announce to everyone that you're too busy/tired/incompetent/ignorant to properly investigate fundraisers, so everyone else should stop supporting them as well. There are plenty of vetters and scam-busting blogs dedicated to helping people distinguish between real and fake.

Donating to established nonprofit aid organizations is absolutely a good deed and is much more straightforward, but it's not the only way to help. Especially with the repeated aid blockages, sometimes Ghazan families need a more direct flow of money to pay for the ridiculously inflated cost necessities (I recently received a video from Farah wherein she states that a bottle of dish soap cost $50. $50!!!!) as well as save up for evacuation costs once the Egyptian border crossing opens. (Thousands of dollars!)

With a few minor parts removed, here is a copy/pasted text that was originally in a reblog but now in its own post since the original account is gone. Links that didn’t work anymore have been left out. I figured it’d be useful for anyone who needs it.

[a-roguish-gambit]

X men evolution: *has Kurt kiss Bobby on accident, turn into a girl, repeatedly get put into girls cloathing, etc etc etc*

Me: this is a 2000s show he's not actually queer if anything they are probs just making gay jokes

X men evolution interview: yeah we wanted to make Kurt gay but the execs wouldn't let us so we named his girlfriend Amanda cause he'd date "a MAN duh!"

Me:.....OH NVM he is queer! Lovely!!!!

[ultimatepinkgirl]

i've seen some more debate on what makes a pink girl and I feel like this is the best way to describe it. these all count btw

[solzare]

Inescapable Rain

Antique || Phthalo || Overcast

Chrysocolla || Flair || Koi

[pokemonranch]

//Hey! I'm talking a small hiatus because I'm finally getting my top surgery! No asks/posts for about a week or so untill I feel better; but I've queued a bunch of wonderful art of other Pokémon artists on the meantime.

Adoption Sundays are still up, but no guarantee there will be one this week or the next (probably next!)

See ya!!

[weekly-eons]

Out of curiosity, are folks allowed to take inspiration from your eons designs to make characters? It’s totally okay if not, the designs of some of these are beautiful!!

Hi! Thanks for asking! I am glad you like my silly designs ^^ I don't have any problems of people taking inspiration! Just don't copy the design and call it your own.

Let's take for example the Angel themed eons. I am okey with anyone making their own angel eon! What I am not okey with is just copy the design and making small changes.

Just be creative! Of course, you can take design elements or use colours I use, I don't own any concept or colour combo's. Just don't make a carbon copy.

[creation-help]

STOP BEING SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT YOUR CREATIONS STOP SECOND GUESSING WHAT YOU REALLY WANNA DO STOP DEBATING IT'S WORTH. LET YOUR ART SERVE YOU INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND

[rpfshippingpolls]

got a few submissions with him and frankly im not sure where to go with this one

[memeclassheroes]

I'm getting kittens!!

The second one is screaming because I described taxes to them.