#and anyone who wants to try and be more organized!!

[yanderes-galore]

Doflamingo vs Crocodile from One Piece rivalry concept??

Yandere! Doflamingo vs Sir Crocodile Concept

Pairing: Romantic - Rivalry

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Possessive behavior, Violence, Kidnapping attempts, Ownership/Dehumanization, Attempted murder, Blood, Forced relationship(s).

OKAY, the cool thing about this rivalry is the fact these two are very similar to one another.

However, that doesn't mean they'd share.

They're both Warlords and pirates and aren't the sharing type.

Far from it, honestly.

The two tolerate each other due to their group and influence.

Or... Crocodile tolerates him... Doflamingo wants to partner with him.

But Crocodile often just feels Doflamingo is a pain... and Doflamingo finds messing with Crocodile amusing.

So... Doflamingo might share with Crocodile... Yet Crocodile is going to be the one adamantly against it.

Which Doflamingo takes as a challenge... Since he's also a possessive man.

Oh? His cohort doesn't wish to share the pretty little thing they both found?

Well... Doflamingo doesn't mind a bit of competition between Warlords.

These two are pretty brutal in canon.

They're both willing to sacrifice those who work for them.

Not only that, but I would not be surprised if the two had their own little war with one another.

Crocodile doesn't work with anyone or trust anyone on a personal level much.

You're probably the only one he's willing to have close to him.

Although your position will look a lot more like a lapdog than anything.

Crocodile prefers making you a pet.

Doflamingo, on the other hand, certainly prefers dolls.

With Doflamingo you're made into a toy... metaphorically.

The title or demeaning name doesn't matter though.

Both put you in the same position.

You're still a plaything... they just have a different name for it.

Their form of love is more ownership than anything.

Sure, they occasionally call you sweet words... give you affection... however...

Doflamingo will still drag you along like his personal puppet using his strings.

Crocodile himself is threatening with his organization, poison, and sand.

You can't get rid of either of them on your own.

With how One Piece heights work, they both tower over you.

They have loyal pirates at their side and I highly doubt they're willing to admit defeat in this competition.

I don't think your fate changes much between them either.

Which makes it hard to make alternate endings.

The two are different forms of one another, simply taking part on opposite sides of the timeskip after the Paramount War.

The difference is just if you're dragged to a desert and hidden underground... or if you're locked away in a palace.

They won't admit it, but they're practically two sides of the same coin.

It's rather unfortunate that these two were the ones you got the attention of.

Are there worse pirates? Yes.

But that doesn't mean these two aren't bad.

They are fully ready to kill one another if they are given the chance.

Suffocation, strangulation, poisoning...

They have their methods.

They may be Warlords, but that does not mean they like each other.

In fact, competition between Warlords is common.

Meetings rarely go well between them, as one of them will bring up you, leading to an argument.

I would not be surprised if they exchanged kidnap attempts.

You're trying to live your own life, now constantly in hiding because of the two Warlords.

What's worse is it's not like the Marines will help you.

Warlords work with the World Government.

So, essentially, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place... until your demise.

You'd be lucky if one of them got their Warlord status revoked and were incarcerated.

Although... You'll always have one to deal with.

If we want to stick to canon, you'd probably be stuck with Crocodile... Then get rescued once he's sent to Impel Down.

Although... you then deal with Doflamingo next...

Then Crocodile again when he's let out.

With this rivalry, you are not going to have a fun time.

Even if Crocodile said 'yes' to sharing, you'll still be taking constant sea trips with at least one of them.

In the end... you are no more than a plaything and trophy for them to fight over.

Between them you've seen violence... bloodshed, even....

It's worse if someone tries to help you out of the situation.

Not many are loyal to the Warlords, so there may be at least one soul who wants to help.

Yet... if they're ever found out and have no strength...

There's a good chance you'll witness them slaughtered like an animal, blood coating the grass or sands as one of your stalkers approaches you.

If you're lucky, maybe someone like Luffy will come to save you?

Other than that... well...

Feel free to pick how your new prison will look like... It's the same either way...

Are you a doll... or are you a pet?

[zmbiebrain]

Wayne and Kathy Harris

Wayne Nelson Harris was born in 1948, making him 77 years old in 2025, 51 years old in 1999, and 33 years old in 1981, when Eric was born.

He worked in the U.S Air Force in aircraft maintenance. Eric wrote about his family moving often, because of his father's job. They lived in Kansas, New York, Michigan, and Ohio before settling in Colorado in July of 1993. After he retired, he worked in civil aviation as a transport pilot for private companies.

Katherine "Kathy" Ann Harris (neé Poole) was born in 1950, making her 75 years old in 2025, 49 years old in 1999, and 31 years old in 1981, when Eric was born.

She worked as a homemaker for much of Eric's childhood, though in later years she worked in a food and catering service. She was described as social, organized and involved in her son's schooling.

Eric's older brother, Kevin Harris, was born in 1978, making him 47 years old in 2025, 21 years old in 1999, and 3 years old in 1981, when Eric was born.

Unlike Dylan's older brother, Byron Klebold, Kevin has never made public statements regarding Columbine. There are no known accounts or interviews from people who knew him personally.

The Harris family seems to have been structured and partly strict, likely influenced by Wayne's background. Wayne seemed to have been involved in the upbringing of his sons, spending time with them often. His mother was seen as relaxed, more emotional than his father.

In elementary school, his parents would show for parent-teacher conferences, and Kathy would help the class with events.

Kris Otten, a childhood friend of Eric's, would sleep over at their house, saying, "It was a real comforting house. Everything was neat and organized."

In April of 1993, while living in Plattsburgh, Eric was drafted for a little league team, and his coach thought he was talented. Wayne and Kathy would attend both games and practices.

Wayne was aware of Eric's troubled behaviour, having kept notes on him, most likely regarding his rebellious behaviour. Eric went to Ken Caryl Middle School, where he would later meet Dylan Klebold in the 7th grade.

During his early adolescence, he was prescribed a mood stabilizer called Luvox. He may have taken this for better management of thoughts and emotions. Before he was prescribed Luvox, he took Zoloft for a brief time period. Eric's medical records indicate, "possible depression, minimal depressive symptoms."

Luvox and Zoloft (Fluvoxamine and Sertraline) are both SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. After his first prescription in April 1998, it was upped just a month later, and upped again a month after that, in early July of the same year.

He stated in one of the tapes, "When I don't take my medication, it makes me angry. It's working."

Eric's entry on 4/21/98:

"My doctor wants to put me on medication to stop thinking about so many things and to stop getting angry. well, I think that anyone who doesn't think like me is just bullshitting themselves. try it sometime if you think you are worthy, which you probably will you little shits, drop all your beliefs and views and ideas that have been burned into your head and try to think about why your here. but I bet most of you fuckers cant even think that deep, so that is why you must die. how dare you think that I and you are part of the same species when we are sooooooo different. you aren't human you are a Robot. you don't take advantage of your capabilities given to you at birth. you just drop them and hop onto the boat and head down the stream of life with all the other fuckers of your type. well god damnit I wont be a part of it! I have thought to much, realized to much, found out to much, and I am to self aware to just stop what am thinking and go back to society because what I do and think isn't "right" or "morally accepted" NO, NO, NO, God Fucking damnit NO! I will sooner die than betray my own thoughts. but before I leave this worthless place, I will kill who ever I deem unfit."

Kathy Harris made a 9-1-1 call on the day of the shooting, the call is sealed and has never been released. Wayne and Kathy were sued by multiple families of the victims, but settled in 2003 under confidential terms.

[inkieflame]

now i; the lil angst goblin in your replys haz gotta know; what did the watchers do to scott after he failed to pass the sticker that resulted in him immitily getting skizz next time 👀

I’ll be worth more (Than all the silence left in my wake)

A Scott oneshot

Word count: 1500

Trigger warnings: psychological torture, detailed descriptions of sounds (may upset readers with misophonia or other sound-sensitive conditions)

Scott knew this was coming.

You can’t get away free. You can’t do things like this without punishment. We must make an example of you. We must make an example of you.

So Scott knew that Cleo and Pearl were on the other side of the camera when he entered the room. He has eyes on him, watching to see what he would do, waiting to see what would be done to him.

The room is bare.

No operating table, no other Watchers, no psychological experiment that he could see. It was just empty. Just a ten-by-ten, bleach white room, with one camera in the top right corner.

Scott turns to the Watchers who led him here, “What-” he starts, but the door is shut on him.

He is alone.

Scott frowns, “weird.” He turns to the camera with a little wave and a smile, “Hey there.”

The camera gives no indication that anyone heard him. He sighs, and glances around the room, as though he might have missed something. But the room is just a bare as before.

Then he hears a click, like a microphone turning on.

“Uh, hey Scott.” Scar’s voice comes over the speakers, “welcome to the Quiet Room.”

Scott turns back to the camera, thinking that it’s probably polite to look at someone when they speak to you. Even if he couldn’t see Scar. Even if Scar was probably only pulled into doing this by the Watchers, as they train him for social work.

“There are a couple of rules here.” Scar continues. HIs voice is tight, and Scott wonders if he’s nervous. “First, after the first thirty minutes, you can leave whenever you want. The door will be unlocked. You can also stay longer if you’d like.”

Scott must have looked confused, because Scar hurries to continue.

“And! And you’ll want to stay because you’ll um. You’ll.” The speaker is muffled, and Scott can hear him conversing with someone distantly. “Every extra ten minutes you stay, you or someone of your choice can opted out of a rental. Or experiment. Uh, yeah.”

Oh. Well that was certainly an incentive. He could use it to get Jimmy out of a rental. That would be amazing.

“Rule two.” Scar says, “You must remain silent in the Quiet Room. It’s called the Quiet Room for a reason.” Scar let’s out a laugh, which he is audibly reprimanded for. He clears is throat, “uh. Failure to remain quiet will result in disqualification and further punishment.”

Scott frowns. He wonders what further punishment would be. This didn’t seem like much of a punishment at all, just a bit of quiet time alone.

“And rule three!” Scar concludes, “If, at any point, you feel increased anxiety, cerebral pressure, sudden dizziness, hear noises with no origin, or hear noises from your internal organs, please know that this is expected. This is good. Your time will not be alleviated due to these symptoms.”

There is a pause.

“Enjoy your time in the Quiet Room.” Scar says quickly, and the speakers click off.

Scott takes another long look around the room. Four white walls surround him. There is nothing to do, so he lets out a small sigh and sits down against one of the walls.

The first few minutes are fine. Boring, but fine. It’s just a little bit of alone time. He can do this. It’s easy.

And he could do an extra ten for Jimmy, and another ten for Pearl or Cleo. He wonders how long they would let him stay. Could he stay for hours? How many rentals could he prevent?

The silence begins to stretch.

Scott swears he can hear his heartbeat in his ears. Maybe he’s nervous. Maybe it’s just the room, messing with him.

This is expected, Scar had said. This is good.

He swallows nervously, trying to ignore the drumming. He can hear the way his throat works.

Anxiety is normal. Scar said anxiety is normal. He isn’t sure what the room is doing to him, but it’s uncomfortable. There is a pressure in his ears.

He tries to focus on his breathing. In and out, trying to calm himself. There’s no reason for his heart to beat so fast. In and out. Breathe.

He flinches at the sound. It’s wet and wheezing and sick.

Scott hates the sound of his breathing. It reminds him of how little he’s eaten this week. The rush of air, in and out. The way his ribs groan weakly as they rise and fall. The dripping in the back of his mouth.

It's fine. It’s fine!

It’s just silence, he’s fine.

Time crawls, or maybe it just walks, or maybe it sprints and gallops along, racing to get to the end. Scott can’t tell. He just sits against the wall, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, and his breathing, and the way his empty stomach turns, and the way his joints grind when he moves. He wishes he could break the silence, he aches and he aches.

Scott doesn’t know how long has passed. He feels like hours, and days, and it feels like a few minutes.

Footsteps cut across the silence, and Scott flinches upwards. He looks at the door. The footsteps pace around him, from nowhere specific, and then they vanish as soon as they came.

Did the Watchers unlock the door?

Scott gets to his feet, wincing at the sound off all his bones moving and grinding. He grabs doorknob, and hesitates.

He wants to wait, to save someone from their punishments. So he sits down again, back against the door, and he waits some more.

The footsteps come back, briefly, before fading again. Scott glances around, wondering if he imagined it.

He listens for it again.

He doesn’t move, he doesn’t breathe, he just listens.

Nothing.

But he can hear the way his blood moves in his veins, heart thumping and squishing wetly in his chest.

If, at any point, you feel increased anxiety, Scar has said. Cerebral pressure, sudden dizziness, hear noises with no origin, or hear noises from your internal organs, please know that this is expected. This is good.

This is expected, this is good.

And time keeps going, and keeps going and going.

Scott presses his fingers to the cold floor, trying to distract himself. Everything is so loud. He thinks he might be insane for thinking it.

It looks up at the camera. People watch him. Pearl and Cleo, and maybe others. Maybe Jimmy, maybe Martyn or Grian. He wonders if they know what the room is doing to him. He wonders if they are watching him lose his grip on reality.

And time keeps going, minutes and hours and days and weeks. Time keeps going until Scott shatters apart, and he loses himself in those smooth white walls. Time keeps going until Scott is terrified that the pressure in his head might make him explode.

He can’t stand upright. He’s so awful, so dizzy, nothing is right. He groans under the strain.

How long has it been. How long, how long, how long, how long.

He grabs for the door handle, giving in. It’s too much. It’s too long. It’s too quiet. He can heard how his bones and muscles move when he squeezes the metal handle.

And he tries to turn it.

Stuck.

His heartbeat jumps. He swallows his panic, a sick, wet noise.

No, it. It can’t.

Scott pushes at the door again.

No. No, no, no, no. He can’t. This can’t. It’s been so long. So long, so long. And Scott can’t stand another moment of this sound.

Surely it’s been thirty minutes! It’s been ages! Hours at least, if not days and days and days of crushing, never-ending silence.

Scott falls back against the floor, dizzy and uncoordinated. The breath that escapes his lungs is terribly, terribly loud. He’s going to scream. He’s sure he would throw up if there was anything in his stomach.

He wraps his arms around himself, nails digging into his skin as he tries to distract himself from the noise.

And time keeps on.

…

Scott has the honor of receiving the first boogeyman sticker of the new SMP. The watchers slip it to him with a quick reminder of the last sticker they gave him.

He has not been quick to forget the incident.

The thirty agonizing minutes spent in the Quiet Room, and the days of recovery he spent afterwards. Even now, he swears everything is louder than it had been before. He has not forgotten the sound of his own heart pumping.

He had gotten to reward for it. He barely made it the full thirty minutes, he doubts he would have survived any longer.

And he is sure he will never defy the Watchers like that again, not as long as he’s in one of their labs.

So it is stuck on the first convenient person.

[girlyassumes]

Everyone is You Pushed Out (EIYPO) - Part 3

I'm still so fascinated by Everyone is You Pushed Out. So, I want to talk about it more. It deserves another post.

What do you keep expecting from others?

I keep noticing that this is something I trip up on. When you've had certain expectations of people or of a certain person for a long period of time, it can feel difficult to think that they can change. For example, my boyfriend is known for being really shy. So, every time I see him, I don't expect him to talk my ear off or open up much about things going on in his personal life. I've only ever seen the version of him in my 3D that's more reserved, so that's what I expect every time.

Additionally, with people you don't know, it can either feel really easy or really challenging to change your expectations of them. Let's say you always expect bad things from the US president (not trying to get political, this is just a good example). Then, you'll keep hearing the bad things he's doing every time you turn on the news or talk to friends who feel worried, too. But, of course, this seems like a very big expectation to change, especially since he is someone who's well-known and highly valued by a lot of people, so please don't put yourself down for having negative expectations.

But, considering everyone reflects us in some way, it is very much possible to change our expectations of someone else, which will then change how they are. Having negative expectations or ones that won't benefit our circumstances/situation can make manifesting someone feel more challenging. With that being said, we have to figure out how we can change those expectations when we want to turn a situation around.

How good self concept can help change others

What things do you value in yourself or in others? Do you know? It's really good to have an idea of what qualities you value in yourself and what ones you'd like to see in others. Understanding that and affirming what you want to see is what will help change your own mindset as well as how others act.

This is why one of the methods that's encouraged for romantic SPs is coming up with a list of qualities and traits you want to see in them. Having a well-drawn up, organized list of qualities is what gives us a clear idea of what we're looking for and can make it super easy to manifest someone. This can also be done for anyone in your life. Like, what qualities make someone a good boss? What qualities make someone a good friend?

When you better your self concept, you'll change who you interact with, too. Speaking from my own experience, when I realized I don't need to complain and seek validation from others, I didn't want that quality in my best friend. My (now ex) best friend was that exact type of person because they reflected me. But now they're out of my life because I realized I don't like that quality about myself and stopped giving that person the validation they were expecting from me.

Yes, I know I said in my first post that you don't need good self concept to change others. I still stand by that. It is not needed. But, it can help when you do. Having a clearer idea of what you value and what you love about yourself can create better expectations of and experiences with others.

Focus on having good expectations, not negative ones

Going back to what I said in my last section, keep the good qualities in mind, not the bad ones. I'll give an example. After dealing with some bad past relationships with men, you might expect that "all (or most) men are bad." You'll hear a lot of people say it, too. Then, whenever a new crush comes into your life, there will be at least one bad quality in him that creates a poor relationship or makes you lose romantic feelings for him.

This is when you should view your life as if it's an algorithm (because it pretty much is). If you perceive yourself as someone who's single and thinks badly of men, then you will keep having undesirable men flirt with you and keep hearing other single women talk about how bad men are. It's like when you're scrolling through TikTok and "like" the videos of women ranting about their bad dates with men. TikTok processes that this is the type of content you enjoy watching and will keep showing you more videos of women talking about their horrible dates. Life itself works the very same way.

Imagine your subconscious as TikTok or YouTube. What you like and what you feed it (what you keep watching and favoriting/liking) is what it'll keep producing into your reality. You see where I'm coming from?

[emo-and-confused]

make lists, dude. any time you know you have to do something later, make a to-do list of getting ready. it makes things so much easier and you don’t have to freak out about what you need to get done. you know what you need to do, in the order you should do it.

when making the list, add a “anything else that needs to be done immediately” at the end, just in case you couldn’t think of anything.

add a nice note for yourself like, “don’t stress!” “you’re doing good!” “it’ll be okay!” “it’s not the end of the world if you forget something!” to keep your future self calm.

make a separate list for anything not a necessity and that’s okay if you don’t get done; keep your main list simple and just the things you have to do.

put anything on the list, even if you think it’s self explanatory like, “eat something before you leave” “take medication” “brush your teeth” “get dressed” “charge your phone” “put shoes on”.

if you don’t set out your clothes, be specific about what you want to wear, “blue button down that’s hanging in the closet” “black jeans that you forgot to fold after the wash”.

if you have to tell someone something but want to wait till the next day to, write down what you want to say to who you want to say it to.

this list is for you, so don’t beat yourself up for what you write.

write anything on that list that you know will help you! write it the night before you know you have things to do the next day! add to it every time you think of something new that you’ll have to do when getting ready!

[puppppppppy]

learning abt friendship decay and "not reaching out to your friends for months at a time unprompted is not neurotypical behaviour" has me feeling a certain way

[camelspit]

Keeper Sexymen 2025: Artist Portrait Signups

The Sexyman Contest is back for its 3rd year! Each year, artists sign up to make portraits of all of the men for the Keeper Sexymen Contest. This form will be open from Nov 21 - Nov 29, and I'll release the portrait assignments on the 30th. You will have until Feb 9 to complete the portraits and turn them in!

(alphabetized) List of men + Info about portrait submissions and rules below the cut! If you have any questions, feel free to message me :).

Alden Vacker

Alvar Vacker

Barth the Reaper

Behnam Aria

Blur

Boobrie Dude

Coach Bora

Bo

Brant [REDACTED]

Councillor Bronte

Bullhorn

Cadfael

Cassius Sencen

Councillor Darek

King Dimitar

Durand Redek

Elwin Heslege

Councillor Emery

King Enki

Ethan Benedict Wright II

Fallon Vacker

Fintan Pyren

Gethen Ondsinn

Grady Ruewen

Greyfell

Iggy

Jurek

Councillor Kenric

Kesler Dizznee

Marty

Mr Forkle

Mr Snuggles

Mr Sweeney

Councillor Noland

Prentice Endal

Quan Song

Quinlin Sonden

Ruy Ignis

Sandor

Councillor Terik

Tiergan Alenefar

Timkin Heks

Trix

Watson

William Foster

Woltzer

Wraith

Yuri

When you finish your portraits, you can post them and tag me in them and/or message them directly to me! The choice is yours <3 as long as I get them sometime before or on Feb 9. If you think your submission might be late or you need to drop out, please message me as soon as possible!

RULES:

I dont care how big it is but please use a SQUARE canvas. This makes the posts a lot easier to format <3

Portrait is a broad term- you can draw however much of the man you want in whatever post you want, whether it be full body or just the head

It does not have to be entirely canon accurate! You can add your own hcs (ex. poc vackers), it just has to be identifiable as the character

Have fun!!!

[wormchaser]

you are complaining about complaining too much while complaining about the fact that maybe people dont like you because you complain too much while complaining about being alone. just stop complaining and do something about it. talk to people. reach out. dont just wait for someone to come to you first.

i have tried reaching out to different people in the past year or so but it never works. i understand its my own fault for letting relationships decay because of my own insecurities and issues but that doesn't mean i can just will myself to think or believe different things about myself. it's a self fulfilling prophecy ; i think people don't like me so i don't reach out so people don't like me etc . i am sure you do not want to hear me list all the things i want to say in response so i will put them in the tags.

[neverendingford]

.

[daincrediblegg]

Nothing wrong with me

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

making a sorta wip/unfinished compilation video thing for all the vsynth projects ive sorta lost interest in/abandoned sounds like it'd be fun to do and help me clear up some space on this got damn computer but im always like uouguhhh but what if it fucking sucks :( when it comes to like actual cover stuff 😔✌️ like mannn

[bipherpol]

Nice songs! I like the way you think! I wish Kaku can rejoin Galley-La in the future, provided he apologizes, and Galley-La forgives him, of course. Who realizes that Franky and Lucci are going to be in-laws first? I just realized that I sent the Alice in Chains songs twice, so you get six songs this time! "Pictures of You" by The Cure, "One Thing" by Finger Eleven, "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver, "Whirring" by The Joy Formidable, "Tongue Tied" by Grouplove, and "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men.

oh kaku is absolutely joining galley-la. they try to make him stay after enies lobby and he's like "no let's go be proper government traitors and give everything we know to the revs and then i'll consider it" this argument ends with the other six deciding that they'll do that and then promptly dump kaku on the next ship to water 7 regardless of whether or not he agrees. if necessary, they are not above tying him up to get him there. if that doesn't work, they could always ask kuma.

(kaku absolutely wants to go back but he also, y'know, doesn't want to just ditch the rest of them. meanwhile, the rest of them are like "oh my god please just ditch us and go. live ur childhood dream. pls. at least one of us gets to.")

honestly, the first one to realize the in-laws is probably one of cp9. or nami. actually no wait it's probably nami. she catches onto the whole franky/robin thing quick and then just kind of has a moment where she just mentally points between them and starts laughing her ass off because oh god. it's funny on so many levels, at least partially because the former government assassin is going to be in-laws with the head of water seven's big gang.

songs!! a: i love "pictures of you" it's so good. (the emo kid loves the cure, who's surprised) also oh god "tongue tied" i haven't heard that song since glee. (it is a good song though)

"toxic" by britney spears (who saw that one coming), "don't hold your breath" by nicole scherzinger aaand "unkind" by sloan

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also quite the illustration in wags being like "'not asking permission' - wags" and plowing through someone expressing a physical boundary but he was already intending to use physical violence & violation & assumed corresponding distress as a tool to get his way....amidst the typicality, "correctness," permissibility of all that around here like five times an hour

[roccinan]

@blorbosexterminator @the--sound--of--rain (Not sure if you've come across this yet, but you might be interested in boosting!)

in light of israel's looming invasion on rafah, south africa implored the icj to call for the protection of palestinians with new preliminary orders. the icj denied this request, insisting that its january orders would be sufficient in ensuring the safety of people residing in rafah.

we have all seen how israel responded to the icj verdict earlier this month. they have all but intensified their attacks on palestinians, their favorite of whom seem to be children. this will end in a bloodbath. palestinians, already malnourished and living in literal tents, will be bombarded, they will be shot, they will be slaughtered. and when i say palestinians, a lot of them are actual toddlers. the videos coming out of this are proof enough.

at this point, it has been made amply clear that palestinians will never experience safety in their own homeland. a lot of the families in gaza are trying to raise funds to get out of it, because there's nowhere left to go.

there is nowhere left to go. if these people don't get the funds necessary to escape, they will die.

it's vital that you go to operation olive branch's spreadsheet, choose a family that resonates with you, and donate as much as you can to their gofundme. every last dollar counts. one dollar could be the difference between life and death for a family. please don't fall victim to the bystander effect. your contribution matters, however little it may be. and whether you're able to donate or not, spread this to as many people as you can. each second we stay silent is a second an entire family is brutally massacred.

[schoolhater]

answering a couple questions i got on this post since i realized ppl genuinely wanna know:

tl;dr:

israel lets very, very little aid get into gaza. even the UN can't get in as much as they want to. funding individual families, gazan led initiatives, and mutual aid collectives operating out of gaza ensures gazans can provide for themselves and pay for the extremely expensive aid that is available.

with all the civil infrastructure destroyed by israel, the situation on the ground has devolved into unrestricted capitalism, driving up the price of aid (that should be free!). this makes it more urgent for people to have funding for daily survival.

the post linked above has examples of how donating to individual families can help a lot. if you want to help more than one family at a time, there are many gazan-led initiatives focusing on rebuilding their infrastructure and distributing aid fairly that are worth donating to instead of large charities that already get the majority of donations.

as i mentioned in the last post: @/careforgaza on twitter is a nonprofit started by gazans, it's been endorsed by multiple palestinian journalists.

the sameer project is a collective organized by diaspora palestinians offering emergency shelter to gazans.

ele elna elak is a project aiming to bring water, food, shelter, etc. to gazans and has been promoted by bisan owda.

and the municipality of gaza itself is fundraising to rebuild water infrastructure.

all of these organizations are active inside gaza right now and are being run by gazans. if anyone knows of other gazan-led mutual aid projects, nonprofits or charities feel free to link them in the notes! hope this helped!

long answers under the cut!

if you wanna donate to a charity that's absolutely fine, but the thing is most charities (and even the UN!) are unable to make it into gaza in the first place, leaving aid rotting at the egyptian side of the border or subject to israeli settler attacks

not to mention, charities and nonprofits also maintain a paternalistic colonial relationship with the indigenous people they are trying to help, determining what aid they need for them instead of returning power to them and letting them make their own choices

i'm not here to say that one option is better than the other, just that they achieve different things and are equally legitimate. there's an attitude among people who question the legitimacy of these gofundme campaigns that somehow the people promoting them are telling them not to donate to charities. nobody is stopping you from donating to charities. we are just asking that you do not dehumanize the very real gazans in your inbox just because their method of asking for aid is more direct and risky.

unfortunately that's exactly what has happened. because israel destroyed all of gaza's more formalized infrastructure, it seems that organized crime and rampant inflation has taken its place. aid is supposed to be free, but in order to save for evacuation or the cost of living, people have started selling them at an inflated price. and aid that is truly free attracts intense, large crowds that are dangerous to navigate.

this was posted on abc a few days ago

it's pure, unrestrained capitalism. i've had multiple palestinians describe this situation to me confidence. that's why everything's so expensive now. why people have to rent out tiny plots of land for their tents to sit on, why my friend @siraj2024 still has to buy tarps to cover the broken windows of the overpriced bombed out apartment he rented, and why a bag of flour can cost a thousand bucks in the north.

even before israel closed and then bombed the rafah crossing, the egyptian hala travel agency was only allowing people to cross the border if they paid a hefty $5000 USD per adult / $2500 USD per child bribe. it denies doing this, but the hundreds of stories from palestinians say otherwise.

with regard to the economy, here in america we saw something similar happen in the wake of hurricane helene and milton. the podcaster margaret killjoy describes how she saw dual economies rise after asheville was fully cut off from the rest of the country - some people offered each other supplies for free in a sort of mutual aid honor system, and some people required payment when they lent supplies because they themselves needed to buy stuff for their families. these dual economies exist in gaza too. and this means they all still need money to survive.

[sturionic]

Activism is not cold-calling.

Activism is not cold-calling, and this is critically important to understand.

I'm seeing a lot of posts on here about 'building bridges' and 'finding community,' and then (extremely valid) response posts saying "BUT HOW??" And I'm going to explain something that can be very counter-intuitive: there is strategy involved in community.

As a longtime volunteer labour organizer, I’ve taken and taught many trainings on the strategy of talking. Something that surprises a lot of people is the very first thing you do in a union campaign. You sit down with your organizing committee, take out pen and paper, and literally map it out. You draw a physical map of the workplace: where are the entrances, exits, break rooms, supervisor offices. Essentially, ‘where is it safe to have a union conversation.’ Then you draw another physical chart of your coworkers. You sort out who is union-friendly, openly hostile to unions, or somewhere in the middle, and then you plan out very deliberately and carefully who talks to whom and in what order.

Consider: If Vocally Leftist Jane walks up to Conservative David and says "hey what do you think about unions," David is going to shut down immediately. He's not inclined to listen to Jane. But if Jane talks to Moderate Jason and brings him into the fold, then Jason is a far more effective strategic choice to talk to David, and David may actually hear him out without an instant reaction.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: If Conservative David turns out to be Alt-Right David, and could be dangerous to follow organizers, we write him off. We are not trying to reach Alt-Right David. We are trying to reach Conservative David, who may actually be persuaded to find solidarity with other employees as fellow workers. Jason is a safe scout to find out which one he is. It does no one any good if Leftist Jane (or even Moderate Jane who is a visible minority) talks to Alt-Right David and puts herself on his radar. Not only has she done nothing to convince Alt-Right David to join a union - she's probably actively turned him against the idea - but now she's also in danger and the entire campaign is at risk. NOBODY WANTS THIS. Jane was NOT a hero for doing this. The organizing committee was foolish and enacted a terrible strategy to everyone's detriment.

Where you can make a difference is with people who will listen to you. You having a conversation with your well-meaning but clueless Centrist Democrat Auntie, and maybe gently helping her understand some things the media has been glossing over, is way more strategically useful than you marching up to MAGA Neighbour You've Met Once and trying to "build community" or "understand" them. They don't care. They're impervious, dangerous, and cruel. But maybe your beloved auntie will think about what you said, and then talk to her friend Anna who IDs as "fiscally conservative" but didn't vote because she can't bring herself to get on board with Trump. Then perhaps Anna talks to her brother Nic who has MAGA leanings but isn't all the way there yet. Proto-MAGA Nic would not have listened to you, nor would he have listened to Centrist Democrat Auntie, but he might absorb some of what his sister is saying.

This is not a cop-out or an echo chamber. This is you spending your time and energy strategically and safely. You are not a useful activist to anyone if you’re dead. Anyone who is telling you to hurl yourself directly at MAGA assholes like cannon fodder has no understanding of the strategy behind community building, and you should feel comfortable writing them off.

Last point: If you are tired, emotionally devastated, and/or in danger: take a break. This post is for people who would feel better jumping into action, not for people who are too overwhelmed to even think about it right now. You are worth so much even if you’re not actively Doing Activism, and your rest is worth more than “a break period so you can recharge and Do More Activism.” We all deserve the individual dignity of being worthy of comfort, rest & safety just on the basis of being human, outside of whatever we're doing for others' benefit. To deny ourselves that dignity is to devalue ourselves, and that’s the absolute last thing any of us should be doing right now.