#ours is due to our coordination issues

[luxdraconia]

As someone who relies on autocorrect and keyboard shortcuts, I get it. 🤝

yeahg 🤝

[lupismaris]

If anyone has a spare thought/fuck to give please toss it my way I'm treading the delicate path of sorting out the possible (absolutely likely) fuck ups of a former colleague and explaining to their supervisor that they allowed said fuck ups to continue for far longer than they needed to all for the sake of not wanting to ask questions

[thatrandombystander]

I've been at this office job for less than 2 weeks and I was already developing beef with the HR team, and now I've learnt that my whole team has beef with them

We had a team meeting and my boss gave me a task, my coworker went "isn't that something HR should do and should have already done?", to which my boss replied "Yes but I need it done well and soon so we're doing it ourselves"

Lmao get wrecked HR, the grad that's just started is better trusted to do good work than you are

[sayruq]

Dear Mark Zuckerberg and Leadership, This letter is a follow-up to the letter that was circulated internally on Dec 19, 2023 and deleted and dismissed due to our Community Engagement Expectations (CEE) on what can be discussed internally. Hence, we are sharing our concerns externally. We, Meta employees, wish to express our disappointment and astonishment at the lack of acknowledgement and care the leaders of this company have shown toward the Palestinian community and its allies. In private conversations, we hear from our Palestinian colleagues about family members they have lost in Gaza and family they are working tirelessly to find safety for. However, any open support for our Palestinian colleagues or the millions facing a humanitarian crisis in Palestine is met with internal censorship of employee concerns, biased leadership statements showing one-sided support, and external censorship that is raising public alarm and distrust of our platforms. Internally, we have called out the months of silencing within our workplace forums. While we loudly display “Your voice is valued”, CEE is used as a guise to delete dissenting opinions and silence employees that may simply be seeking solace from their coworkers or raising awareness about building safer products. While in other companies, employees within Employee Resource Groups (ERG) are allowed to connect and speak freely with each other, ERG’s such as Muslims@ and Palestinians@ have faced so much censorship that an employee proposed just deleting the ERG altogether instead of giving the illusion that we can freely build community at Meta. CEE claims to reduce disruptions in our workplace, yet censorship from CEE has caused many of us at Meta to feel disrupted, unheard, and unsafe to the point that several of our Metamates have decided to resign. In the words of our former colleague, any mention of Palestine is taken down - Even when the post was from a colleague expressing their grief. Even when the post was to celebrate the UN International day of support to the Palestinian people. Even when the post is a link to a fundraiser to help the Gazans. Even when asking questions about product bugs that affect Palestinian voices.

One of the original core values of Facebook was to “Be Open” and our current values claim that “We create a culture where we are straightforward and willing to have hard conversations with each other.” Employees have always been first responders to surface issues raised externally to those internally with the power and knowledge to fix them. However when over 450 colleagues came together to sign a letter similar to this one in December, CEE was used to delete the letter and restrict one of the writers from their work devices for over two months while the workplace, product, and policy concerns brought forth were completely ignored. Employees have attempted to raise product concerns related to the conflict only to have their posts and comments censored or dismissed throughout internal channels. Most recently, questions about investigative reports indicating the possibility of governments, ISPs, and coordinated bad actors using Whatsapp data for military targeting have been met with dismissive and insufficient responses or outright deleted throughout internal forums. Meta leaders have posted numerous strong statements of support for our Israeli colleagues along with condemnation of the attack on Israel on October 7th that took the lives of ~1,200 civilians, both on internal and external platforms. Mark stated on his public Facebook - “The terrorist attacks by Hamas are pure evil. There is never any justification for carrying out acts of terrorism against innocent people. The widespread suffering that has resulted is devastating. My focus remains on the safety of our employees and their families in Israel and the region.”

However, bias and inequity is painfully apparent when those same leaders do not similarly share support for our Palestinian colleagues and allies nor condemnation of the attacks on Palestine, which have now taken ~35,000 civilian lives and created a humanitarian crisis of displacement and starvation for ~2 million Palestinians. This has created a hostile and unsafe work environment for hundreds of our Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, anti-Zionist Jew, and anti-genocide colleagues at the company, who have felt consistently alienated and uncomfortable at work. Many have tried to articulate this through posts on Workplace only to be censored, rebuffed, and/or penalized. Feedback shared directly with leadership on Workplace Chat has been met with dismissiveness. Bias and inequity for the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also apparent when compared to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, after which there was an outpouring of leadership support on all fronts, including additional resourcing and investment through various social impact initiatives. The lights in the Dublin office were even painted with the colors of the Ukraine flag. Leadership must do better to achieve true equity and inclusion. Externally, when it comes to Palestine, the dismissive tone and lack of investment by Meta is not new and the company has consistently failed to thoroughly take action on years of evidence of suppression of Palestinian voices on our platforms worldwide. In 2024 the company is still slowly addressing the findings of an independent audit influenced by Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) 2021 letter to Meta on the Palestinian conflict 3 years ago. In the wake of October 7th, Meta has ignored reasonable requests for transparency on our content policies from Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers around the globe. Numerous civil rights organizations, some of whom are Meta partners, have been met with dismissal on the censorship concerns brought forth - leading to external petitions such as one against Meta’s proposed policy of treating “Zionist” as a proxy for "Jewish”, which collected over 52,000 signatures. While Meta denies any Palestinian censorship or bias to the public, internally groups of employee volunteers have found numerous product and policy issues with disparate impacts to Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab communities since October 7th. The few improvements that have been made were achieved only by appealing to isolated product teams, with minimal senior leadership support or resources. Furthermore, in the wake of global criticism of censorship and moderation, leading into the biggest year for democracy in history, Meta has updated its policy to no longer recommend ‘political content’ by default across Instagram and Threads without clear guidelines of how this would impact content originating from global conflict zones. Meta has continued to fail the Palestinian community through its policies and lack of investment.

“Meta.Metamate.Me.” We believe we are all Meta and are committed to respectfully working together to address the issues internally and externally, while holding firmly to the demands we have been echoing for months: We demand an end to censorship - stop deleting employee’s words internally in order to foster an inclusive environment where all communities feel seen, heard, and safe We demand acknowledgment - share internal acknowledgments of support for Palestinian colleagues and acknowledge the lives lost in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza to recognize our shared humanity We demand transparency and accountability - allocate dedicated resources to investigate issues of censorship and biases on our platforms and openly disclose findings to build trust among employees and the public We implore you to end the silence - issue a public statement urging for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza As tech workers, we have a tremendous privilege to work on products that serve the world, and with that comes tremendous responsibility. We have been proud to work at Meta – and want to continue believing in its mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

If you're a current or former Meta worker please sign the letter here

[thefirsthogokage]

I really need help on this one, especially because I created it so I'm going to have to be his biggest advocate.

Hi, I'm Riley, I'm from the US, and I'm creating this fundraiser for Mohammed Seyam - who is in Belgium - to help his brother, Dr. Ahmed Seyam, and Ahmed's family. This message is from Ahmed with some minor edits for clarity.

"Hello Dear,

I'm Dr. Ahmed and am a surgeon working in gaza. I'm married and I have 3 children, the oldest 7 years old and the youngest 2 years old.

Now, in this barbaric war, I leave my family several days in bad condition and bad sanitation in small tents in Rafah at south of Gaza Strip during my duty as a surgeon, but the situation become critical and the health status for my children become worse due to bad hygiene and the shortage of water.

Also my flat in the north of Gaza damaged badly.

There is nothing left for me in this place. I want to flee with my family and find a safe country for them.

Help me. To leave, I need $30000 to do travel coordination.

This is my family:

And this is me doing my work:

The food actually ran out, and signs of fatigue and exhaustion appeared on our faces.

Weight loss has become evident on our bodies. Grains, flour, rice, fodder, and even animal feed ran out. There was nothing left.

Poverty, siege, killing, starvation, destruction, and cold. This is part of what we live in the southern of Gaza Strip. Children died, the milk of nursing mothers dried up, and we fell into a state of danger.

We issue the final warning: between life and death there are limited steps and hours."

Paying to get out through the Rafah gate costs from $7,000-$8,000 for adults and $2,000-$3,000 for children, and Ahmed is looking to evacuate his family of five. He will also need money for travel expenses.

Please help Dr. Ahmed and his family. Every donation - no matter how small - helps and can give hope.

[allaboutnalu]

The AllAboutNalu Gift Exchange is back for 2024! Even if you participated last year, please read the rules again as changes have been made.

Thank you to the ever talented @kaleilaart for this years banner!

Timeline: Sign ups open: September 20th to October 4th Assignments sent: October 6th Check ins: November 2nd and December 1st Gifts due and posted: December 20th

Sign up here!

Rules and FAQ under read more!

Rules

This is a Nalu based event. Everything created for this exchange must focus on Natsu and Lucy, whether platonic or romantic.

For administration purposes, you must have a Tumblr account to participate and you must have DMs on so that the organisers can contact you. This simply makes contact and coordination easier.

NSFW fanworks or requests are not allowed as part of this event

If you find yourself unable to complete your gift or you wish to withdraw from the event, you must contact one of the organisers to ensure that your recipient receives a gift from someone else. Failure to do so will get you barred from any future allaboutnalu hosted gift exchanges.

If you change your url between sign up and the end of the gift exchange you must contact us to ensure we can keep track of our participants.

AI, stolen, or traced works are not allowed as part of this exchange.

Use of official art must be transformative. Manga colourings, edits, or gifsets are allowed but must be transformative and not traced or unedited.

Until you reveal your gift, please do not disclose who your gift recipient is in any public capacity (i.e. on social media or in any discord server with a public invite).

All gifts must be new and created for the event. Dedicating a new chapter to an already existing fic does not count as a gift.

All gifts must be created to a standard that you would normally consider as “finished”.

Do not deliberately break your recipients DNW (do not want) guidelines.

All gifts must be posted to Tumblr with your gift recipient tagged.

Remember that this is an event that prioritises giving rather than receiving. While we will do our best to ensure everyone receives a high-quality gift that meets their standards, there is only so much we can do beyond ensuring that everyone gets a gift.

While we aim to accept as many people who sign up to the event, signing up does not guarantee acceptance into the exchange. If you were found in violation of any of the rules in the 2023 event, have your tumblr dms closed, or are otherwise non-contactable by the assignment period, you will be unable to participate in the exchange.

Please be sure to thank your gifter after you have received your gift.

Be respectful.

To ensure you have read and understood the rules, please write the code word aquarius in the notes section of the first page of the sign up form. This lets us know that you have read the rules in their entirety and forms submitted without this will be disregarded.

Have fun!

FAQ

I won’t be able to complete my gift/I need to withdraw/I have changed my url/I need to contact the organisers for any other reason. Who do I contact?

Please send a dm to @allaboutnalu or @tokkias to discuss your situation.

I’ve been allocated to create a gift for someone I don’t like, can this be changed?

Allaboutnalu aims to be a neutral zone and we encourage you to create a gift for your initially assigned recipient. If for some reason you feel you cannot create a gift to a high-quality standard for your allocated recipient, please reach out and we will try to reallocate you.

I was not given my assignment on the assignment date

While we aim to accept as many sign ups as possible, they do not guarantee participation in the event. Reasons for non-allocation are outlined in the rules. These are in place to ensure that administrative issues from the 2023 event are not repeated. If you think we have made a mistake then you are more than welcome to reach out via dms and we will see what we can do.

Is dark/violent content allowed?

Yes, but within reason. If your recipient has specified that they do not want to receive this type of content, please be mindful of that. Please also be mindful of tagging any potentially triggering content in your gifts.

What do I do if I need to contact my gift recipient before the gift reveal dates?

Please reach out to allaboutnalu through dms so we can contact your recipient on your behalf. Please do not contact your recipient via anonymous asks.

Can I give more than one gift?

One gift is the minimum. If you want to make more than one you are more than welcome. If you enjoy making gifts, we recommend you sign up as a pinch hitter.

My question wasn’t answered here

Send us an ask and we will do our best to answer and add to this page.

[itsawritblr]

Jenny Watson: "We can do it, so let's do it." Jenny outlines her plan for a female-only, lesbian space.

For my lesbian, bisexual women, and radfem Followers. Via Graham Linehan's Substack.

For many decades, London was considered the global capital for lesbian nightlife. But you’d never know it if you visited the UK today. It’s not for a lack of British lesbian culture: I’m a lesbian, I’m involved in our country’s lesbian social scene, and I can assure you, it’s alive and well. What we lack at the moment are our own dedicated spaces. I think the UK needs once more to have lesbian-run, female-only community spaces. 

I’ve got an idea about how to make one such space a reality. And I believe I'm in a position to make it happen.

Over the past seven years, I've had the privilege of organising a range of lesbian social events in London. Throughout this time, I've made many connections in our community, gained an increasing understanding of our needs, and created social spaces that I hope go some way to meeting them. 

And in those seven years working to coordinate part of the the UK’s lesbian social scene, I’ve come to see how badly we need a dedicated, strictly female-only event space — now more than ever. 

Men have been encroaching on the lesbian community, and the problem is only getting worse. There’s been a sense of inevitability, that this is just something we have to learn to live with.

But I’ve had it.

In June, I skipped London’s official Pride festivities and instead visited an alternative, independent event at the Hampstead Ponds. It was a female-only picnic. Hundreds of women of all ages were gathered, from their teens to their eighties. And the sublime joy that I felt that day led me to a eureka moment:

We need this. We deserve this. This is our right. As lesbians and bisexual women, we have a right to social spaces that are entirely our own.

So, earlier this year, I decided to implement a women-only policy at my events. Although this sparked controversy, we ultimately received recognition from the UK’s largest pub operator that it is legitimate to hold women-only lesbian events - a real victory!

And then it suddenly dawned on me: we need more and not only do we need this, I can do this. I feel I have a good sense of the UK market for lesbian social events. So I crunched some numbers and developed a business proposal. I gauged interest and studied feasibility. And I’m excited to tell you: I believe this can work.

My plan involves establishing a private members’ club and securing a prime physical space in London. By day, this space will operate as a versatile hybrid workspace, becoming a venue hosting various social events in the evenings and weekends. Alongside these, we'll provide online events, and collaborate with service providers for health and wellness advice, fitness guidance, group trips, and more. Revenue will come from the events, partnerships, as well as from membership dues.

To the lesbian and bisexual women reading this: you’re welcome to get in touch with me if you’d like to learn more. There's an opportunity to invest if you’re interested, too. I’ve got a pitch deck I would be happy to show you and a fully fleshed-out, 50-page business plan. And I’m happy to report that there are already investors who have given the thumbs up. 

Following my announcement and inspired by the community's heartwarming response, I decided to introduce an early-bird membership programme. This includes a personalised QR-coded membership card for exclusive updates and access to a members’ discussion space. Joining early also signifies your part in accelerating our community's launch. 

Which brings me to another issue, and it’s a big part of the reason I’m writing this now: online critics. There’s a small but vocal group of people online who’ve been saying some pretty nasty and completely unfounded things about me. This group of people have taken to personal insults, and accusations that I’m a fraudster and a grifter.

I’m not entirely surprised to encounter pushback, but at the same time, the level of vitriol has been eye-opening.

But I try to put it in a bigger context: Lesbians have faced so much abuse, and for so long we’ve had to settle for having social spaces conditionally, on terms set by men. There’s a climate of distrust and fear looming over the lesbian community as a result. So much so that today the idea of even having one single space fully dedicated to lesbian and bisexual women seems so radical, some people’s initial reaction is that there’s got to be a catch.

I completely understand that a good dose of scrutiny, of tempering optimism with some degree of caution, is reasonable. It’s healthy. And it’s entirely welcome.

But personal insults and unfounded accusations are not. I know that emotions are running high, and we as a community are feeling beleaguered right now. But that’s no excuse to target my Irishness in personal attacks, for example. Or to target my business supporters with lies about me.

I'm not here to push or persuade anyone who doesn't feel the spark for this project. However, for those who do, our project investors' safety and security are crucial — capital funds are securely placed in escrow and I've teamed up with a business consultant who's right here supporting us until opening day. We’ve put together a solid business plan.

If anything, the tenor of some of the criticism I’ve faced only hardens my resolve: it just highlights how badly women need a space to unite us, to heal us in this difficult time.

It’s been upsetting to endure the smear campaign that a small online group has thrown at me… but my mind keeps going back to that Edenic afternoon at the Hampstead Ponds, where hundreds of women were gathered in serenity and harmony.

This will heal us. This will unite us. And it will make us all stronger. Lesbian strength comes through unity.

There are various ways you can help, but the most crucial one is spreading the word - our message is the most important part of this project. 

Other than that, as I mentioned earlier, if you are a lesbian/bi woman, there is the option to join as an early-bird member (however, this is not compulsory; you can wait until our opening). Additionally, there's the opportunity for investment or donation. I've prepared a comprehensive 50-page business plan and pitch deck available for those who are interested.

For a deeper understanding of the project, feel free to visit our website or you can email me at contact@lcommunity.co.uk 

Any form of support you can offer is immensely appreciated as we work towards making this a reality.  

We can do this. So let’s do it!

[slotmachines-fearofgod]

babby ahsoka + twins

Please enjoy this not proofread not edited not ready WIP! we need more baby ahsoka & clones in the world

---

For the first time in his (relatively short) life Rex was at a loss. 

They were investigating some temple on behalf of the Jedi. Anakin had been sent because of his intense attunement to the Force and the 501st had happily followed his lead. Rex hadn’t gotten much out of the man, just that the Jedi would know what to do and all he needed to worry about was following their lead. 

Rex was going to kill him. 

When they first landed and entered nothing had seemed off. It was an old, crumbling structure built by neither Jedi nor Sith millenia ago. The Jedi wanted it investigated due to the strange flow of energy around it, an energy that had steadily been increasing over the past month until the signal reached Coruscant itself. Rex had braced himself for mental games or mind tricks but there had been nothing. 

In fact, there had been so little sign of anything that Anakin decided it would be best for them to split up. Coming as a surprise to no one Ahsoka took Fives, Echo, and Rex along with her down the side passageways, leading them through a winding maze Rex wasn’t sure he’d be able to figure out on his own. 

Which was what led them here. 

Rex stared down at the three children in front of him and felt the vague urge to cry.

Fives blinked up at him, his big eyes full of curiosity as he looked at Rex’s armor. Rex, still frozen from where he’d busted through the door that had trapped his compatriots, watched as his second waddled up to him and grabbed his kama. 

“Fives?” Rex croaked, incredibly out of his depth. 

Fives laughed brightly, “See Echo! I told you it would catch on.”

Echo, now half his original size, scowled, “No fair. Why do you get the fun name?”

Ahsoka, his little commander, his almost-sister, his charge, stuck her finger in her mouth and immediately jammed it into Echo’s ear. 

Echo yelped, scurrying away from the girl who was grinning with her fangs out, “Ew!”

“What’s your name?” Ahsoka asked, seemingly innocent. 

Echo grumbled quietly so they couldn’t hear, still trying to wipe the spit out of his ear. 

Fives ran over to him, laughing all the way, “It’s Echo! It’s ‘cause he only repeats what the trainers say!”

“Shut up!” Echo’s face lit up red as he smacked his brother, “I do not!”

“Ow!” Fives whined, rearing up to hit Echo back, “Don’t be such a tubie!”

“I hate you,” Echo growled, “Stop being so mean.”

“I’m Ahsoka!”

Both clone cadets momentarily paused to look at the togruta girl. 

“I’m a Jedi!”

And with that their feud was forgotten. Rex sighed and walked over, accepting that this was his life now, as Echo launched question after question at a giggling Ahsoka. Fives was trying to bodily drag her away to see her do “cool Force shit,” leaving Rex to wade in between the pack to pick up the little padawan. 

“Hey,” Fives complained, “Give her back.”

“Hush,” Rex fixed him with a look, “Give me a sitrep cadet.”

Fives rolled his eyes, a move that would’ve gotten him another hour of training at the least on Kamino, while Echo stiffened into a less than perfect parade rest. 

“Sir!” Echo started, his voice just a little too loud in the echoing chamber, “Myself and CT-5555 were enjoying our downtime in the bunks. We were taking the allotted rest period to sleep and woke up here in this…where are we? Sir.”

Rex sighed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand, “We are on the planet Erot in the Outer Rim. As for the name of this place, I was not granted access to that information.”

All three kids' eyes widened. 

“Outer Rim?” Ahsoka asked, “That’s so cool!”

Rex shifted her onto his hip so she’d be easier to carry. If he had to guess, they were all about five or six standard years. They could speak plainly and fluently and had little coordination issues, but they were much younger then they’d been a mere five minutes ago. 

“Ahsoka,” Rex started, “Do you remember what you were doing in this room?”

Ahsoka shook her head, now looking around the space, “No. I was in the creche with Uzaa and we were going to class with Master Che. I was late.” Ahsoka looked down sheepishly, a blush of her own on her face. 

Rex smiled weakly, “It’s alright. We’ll work it out.”

“Who are you?” Fives piped up, never content with being silent too long. 

“I’m Rex,” he could answer that at least, “Captain Rex.”

“Captain?” Echo looked up at him with something like admiration, “Wow. Does that mean the war has started?”

“What war?” Ahsoka asked, now alarmedly squirming in Rex’s arms, “Why do you all look the same?”

Rex winced, “It…may be best if we regroup before we talk about everything,” he said apologetically, “But I’ll explain.”

Ahsoka frowned, wiggling so much that Rex gave up and just set her down, “Okay. Are we going back home?”

That was a good question. Right now Rex wasn’t sure what to do with his sort-of soldiers. And there was no way he was getting back through the tunnel system without a guide to help. 

Rex looked around the room, searching for clues or hints of what did this to them. There were strange carvings on the floor in the center and metal piping running along the ceiling, but other than that the place seemed empty. Devoid of anything and everything except for the group of four at the door. 

Rex pinched his nose as he pulled up his comm, already dreading this call. 

“Skywalker here, what’s your status Rex?”

“Uh,” Rex looked down at three innocent and eager faces, “I need a rendezvous at my position ASAP.”

“What?” Skywalker’s voice changed, now startled and anxious instead of cool and collected, “What happened to Ahsoka? She can’t lead you?”

Ahsoka gasped, “He knows me?”

“...What was that?”

“That is my predicament sir,” Rex sighed again, “I believe your padawan activated something. ARC troopers Fives and Echo are down along with Tano.”

“ARC trooper?!” Fives cried in excitement, now bouncing on his toes, “We make ARC troopers?”

Rex gave all three of them a scolding look and pressed a finger to his lips. They all looked down at their feet, adequately shamed. 

“Riiight,” Skywalker drawled, “Sounds like I should see this myself. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Bring Kix please,” Rex tiredly requested.

“Of course,” Skywalker sounded less upset now. It helped soothe some of Rex’s own nerves as he mentally cussed out stupid Force shit in every language he knew. “I look forward to seeing what this is about.”

Rex let out a breath of relief as the call ended. He sat heavily next to the kids, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. 

At least until Echo rounded in front of him. 

“Captain?” Echo asked in a small voice.

“Yeah?” 

“Are we in trouble?”

Rex softened a bit and shook his head, “No. It’s just been a long day.”

Echo hummed, “So is it true? Has the war started?”

Ah yes. The great war. The one they used to dream about as kids. Their strange light at the end of the tunnel. 

“Yeah,” Rex said hoarsely, staring into Echo’s eyes and suddenly being hit with the realization that this Echo’s brothers were still alive, “It’s started.”

Echo frowned, “But you’re not an A clone. Why are you deployed?”

Rex shook his head, “It’s complicated. We’ll explain later, I promise.”

Echo seemed unhappy with that answer, but he didn’t get another word in before Fives was bullying his way into Rex’s line of sight. 

“You said we’re ARC troopers,” Fives accused, “But we haven’t even graduated our base combat modules!”

Rex laughed softly, “You’ll get there someday. Trust me.”

Fives scowled, unsatisfied with Rex’s half answer but Rex wasn’t really sure how much to tell them. Telling them everything - Rishi, their batch’s destruction, their missions with Torrent - seemed unwise. They were still kids. They deserved to be kids. Just for a little bit. 

Rex startled as he felt a weight lean into his side, briefly reaching for his blaster before looking over and realizing it was Ahsoka. 

She looked up, her usually large eyes now seeming comically huge on her face, “‘M cold.”

Right. Togrutas were warm blooded. And she hadn’t gotten as lucky as Fives and Echo, whose blacks shrunk with them. She was still stuck with her skirt and stupid tube top. Rex wanted to rip that thing to shreds and replace it with armor. He’d had the instinct many times before but now…

Rex just opened his arms, allowing the girl to crawl into his lap with a happy sigh.

He glanced at Echo and Fives, unsurprised to find them bickering quietly off to the side. 

“Boys,” he called, his voice booming around the chamber, “Cut it out.”

Fives made a frustrated noise and stomped his foot, going off to sulk in the corner, while Echo stared after him with an angry look. Eventually the younger of the two made it over, subtly checking out of Ahsoka had left any room in Rex’s lap. 

Rex scooted backward against the wall so the three of them could sit more comfortably before he called out, “Fives. Come here.”

Fives turned around, stuck his tongue out, and turned back to the corner. 

“CT-5555,” Rex put a little more authority into his voice, “Now.”

Fives hesitated, fighting with himself a little bit, before groaning and stomping over. Rex gave him an appraising once over, finding nothing wrong with him other than the attitude. 

“What’s this about?” Rex tried his best to go for strict older brother but he was pretty sure the image was ruined by the two kids in his lap. 

“Don’t wanna be here,” Fives mumbled, crossing his arms and looking down, “I miss 4040.”

Ah. Cutup. Fives’ favorite of his old batch. 

Rex relaxed a bit, crooking his finger at Fives and watching the kid tentatively step toward him, “It’ll be alright. We’ll get you three fixed up in no time.”

“Fixed?” Echo craned his neck to look up at Rex. 

Rex winced, knowing where Echo probably jumped to, “Back home, I mean.”

Echo nodded, slumping against Rex as Fives tried, and mostly succeeded, to fit himself between his brother and his future commander. Rex held the three of them in his arms and tried to remember to breathe. 

He didn’t know what to do with this. They couldn’t fight and there was no way in hell Kamino would take Fives and Echo back. He didn’t have the first clue what to do with Ahsoka, hell he didn’t even know if they’d allow her back at the temple after this. Were the Jedi as strict as the Kaminoans? Certainly not except for the exceptional cases. The issue was this was most certainly an acceptable case. 

They sat in a tight anxious silence for the next few minutes. Rex was shielding as best he could, but his skills were rudimentary at best and he knew it was getting to Ahsoka. Adding on to that Fives and Echo kept poking each other and making faces when they thought Rex wasn’t looking. Eventually one of them was going to hit Ahsoka and he just knew that would start an all out war. 

Ahsoka perked up before the rest of them, her eyes going wide and her figure stilling. Rex let out a sigh of relief, well aware of what that meant by now. 

Sure enough, a few moments later they heard hurried footsteps and a few calls between troopers. Rex had them all stand, drawing his blasters and putting on his helmet as he walked to the door. 

Skywalker was the first in line, his face curious but not alarmed. Rex let the blasters fall when he saw him, nodding respectfully to his general. 

“Rex,” Anakin greeted him, “Mind showing me what this is about?”

Rex nodded, peeking over his shoulder to see Jesse, Kix, and Hardcase. That was good. The boys would love Hardcase. 

“Yeah,” Rex stepped aside and pointed at the trio of children, “Feel free to take a look.”

Anakin, it seemed, had the same reaction to children as Rex did. Which was freeze. 

Kix nudged him aside easily, sparing a curious glance at his general, before he too paused in the doorway. 

“Hi!” Ahsoka waved cheerily, one of her hands in Echo’s, “I’m Ahsoka!”

[magz]

Palestine summary for March 16 to March 28, 2024. (From "Lets Talk Palestine" broadcast channel). Quote.

March 16, 2024.

Day 162

• 1st aid shipment departing Cyprus arrived in Gaza yesterday carrying 200 tons of food, marking 1st Gaza sea shipment since 2005 + planned 2nd ship coordinated by US, UAE, Spain & Japan; but unclear on distribution of aid across Gaza

• Massacre in central Gaza as Israel destroys home, killing 36 Palestinians, incl. kids & pregnant women

🔻 Senior Hamas & Houthi officials hold rare meeting to discuss coordinated action against an Israeli Rafah ground invasion

• Israeli settlers attack homes in Nablus (West Bank), throwing stones & shooting the air + 20 Palestinians abducted in West Bank, incl. some released in Nov. hostage exchange deal

•⁠ ⁠Palestinian Authority (PA) president Abbas accuses Hamas of causing “return of Israeli occupation of Gaza”, essentially blaming Hamas for the ongoing genocide. Was prompted by Hamas criticism of ‘unilateral’ appointment of new PM of the PA (see our last broadcast)

• 63 Palestinians killed, 112 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

March 17, 2024.

Day 163

🇺🇸⁠ NBC: Biden frustrated over drop in poll numbers in swing states Michigan & Georgia due to his handling of Gaza genocide. Shouting and swearing in a White House meeting, saying he’s doing what is right

•⁠ 19 aid trucks arrive in north Gaza — first convoys to reach the north without incident in 4 months. But aid remains scarce as Israel keeps blocking entry of aid as trucks pile outside Rafah crossing + rate of malnutrition among children under 2 in north doubles in past month

•⁠ 14th Palestinian dies since Oct 7 in Israeli prison following multiple allegations of extreme abusive conditions for Palestinian hostages

🇪🇺⁠ ⁠EU President condemns an Israeli Rafah invasion, joining countless nations to do so like the US & Arab countries

•⁠ Israeli forces abduct 25 Palestinians, incl. a woman with cancer from Gaza & a child in overnight raids in West Bank

•⁠ ⁠92 Palestinians killed, 130 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

(No specific summary for March 18)

March 19, 2024.

Day 165

🇨🇦⁠ Canada to halt all further arms exports to Israel in support of ceasefire and 2-state “solution”, recognizing ICJ ruling. This came after a non-binding parliamentary resolution which called for ending arms sales. But resolution’s language was watered down during amendment, denoting Hamas as a “terror organization” + removing call to sanction Israeli officials

• 93 Palestinians killed, 142 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

• Israel escalates attacks across Gaza with 1 attack on Rafah killing 14 Palestinians + ongoing raid of al-Shifa hospital killed & injured dozens

• Israel issued 100,000 new gun licenses to Israeli’s since Oct 7 out of the 299,354 applications

• Israel massacred aid distribution committee at Kuwaiti roundabout (north Gaza), killing at least 23 people

•⁠ ⁠Israeli settlers, w/ ongoing genocide as a distraction, accelerated building of 18 new illegal roads + 15 outposts (unauthorized settlement illegal under Israeli law) in West Bank since Oct

March 20, 2024.

Day 166

•⁠ 104 Palestinians killed, 162 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

🇺🇸 Reuters:⁠ US Congress & White House reach deal on funding bill that includes blocking UNRWA donations until March 2025, based on Israel’s unverified allegations

🏥 IOF siege on al-Shifa hospital enters 3rd day, as forces surround the complex trapping hundreds inside & block rescue efforts

•⁠ 8 Israeli attacks kill 100+ aid workers in 1 week + IOF massacred 23 aid seekers in north Gaza

🚢 Israel Hayom: Israel plans to buy port in Cyprus amid fears of Haifa port closure from Hezbollah strikes, hindering military & commercial imports

⚓️ ⁠Israel’s Eilat port will fire half its employees due to Red Sea blockade

•⁠ Israeli High Court approves demolition of a Palestinian’s home for carrying out a non-lethal resistance operation in West Bank; marking first authorized home demolition by court for an operation without fatalities — an escalation in Israeli repression

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia pledges $40m to UNRWA

March 21, 2024.

Day 167

• As Arabs celebrate Mother's Day today, we remember that on average 37 mothers are exterminated everyday in Gaza, meanwhile mothers from Gaza make up 28 of the 67 female detainees in Israeli prisons

• 65 Palestinians killed, 92 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

🏥 Israel continues 4th day siege on al-Shifa Hospital, killing 140+ Palestinians & abducted 600 people, incl. medical staff. 13 patients killed as Israel cut off electricity, depriving oxygen, medicine & food

• 18-year-old Ubai Abu Maria abducted by Israeli forces in West Bank for 7th time, impeding treatment for bullet wound requiring surgery

•⁠ Poll finds 71% of Palestinians in Gaza & West Bank support Hamas's Oct 7 resistance operation; compared to poll 3 months ago, support among West Bank residents dropped by 11% but amongst Gazans rose by 14%

• Israel ordered 25 patients receiving care in West Bank to return to Gaza. They're among the 400 patients from Gaza who were left stranded in West Bank after Oct 7

March 22, 2024.

🚨Russia & China veto US UN Security Council ceasefire resolution

The resolution showed a shift: US had vetoed every ceasefire proposal, most recently Algeria’s as the US opposed language of “immediate” ceasefire, preferring “humanitarian pause”. But now the US draft states “the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire”.

The problem? It’d last only 6 weeks, is conditional on release of Israeli hostages, and condemns both Hamas’ op & the Houthi naval blockade. The wording of “determines the imperative” is also weak, implying the importance of a ceasefire, not demanding one.

The result? It wouldn’t obligate Israel to end the genocide + let it continue on the pretext that there’s no “acceptable” hostage deal.

It was vetoed by 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳 who said it’d let Israel continue attacks & invade Rafah. Algeria also voted against it.

10 states are planning alternative resolution calling for Ramadan ceasefire, including but not conditioned on release of Israeli hostages. US likely to veto.

Day 168 - IMPORTANT

•⁠ Gaza death toll surpasses 32,000 not including the thousands buried under rubble

‼️ Israel seized 1,977 acres of West Bank land for settlements, the largest land theft since 1993

🇺🇸 Congress passes bill that bans funding to UNRWA until 2025; expected for Senate to pass before midnight deadline

🏥 Israel’s siege on Shifa Hospital enters 5th day as they bomb & demolish buildings with bulldozers; abducting 240+ patients & 10 medical staff from radiology unit. IOF forces ordered trapped patients to surrender despite continuous heavy gunfire

•⁠ 50 Palestinians abducted incl. 4 kids during 60+ Israeli military raids across West Bank in 2 days. Marking March 20 “one of the deadliest nights recorded to date” in 2024 in West Bank w/ 7+ Palestinians killed. Israeli settlers also took over 20+ Palestinian residential structures

•⁠ UN aid mission to north Gaza for 7,500 people was denied by Israel

🇫🇮 Finland to resume UNRWA funding

March 24, 2024.

Day 170

🚨 Israeli forces lay siege to 3 hospitals, surrounding al-Amal Hospital forcing Palestinians to strip naked & leave; currently carpet bombing near Nasser Hospital & sniping anyone moving, while continuing aggressive 7-day seige on al-Shifa

• 84 Palestinians killed, 106 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours

• Israel denied thousands of Christians from West Bank entry to Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday, heightening military checkpoints. Israel’s apartheid system discriminates Palestinians’ freedom of movement, requiring permits for West Bank residents to enter, which is rarely granted. More info on Israeli apartheid: https://rb.gy/vjocrd + checkpoints: https://rb.gy/rabxt6;

• Israel to deny all UNRWA aid convoys to north Gaza, despite 70% of population subject to “catastrophic starvation”

• BDS launches boycott of tech company Intel due to its $25bn investment in new factory in Israel, the “largest investment ever”; on top of Intel’s $50bn+ investments in Israel in past 50 years

March 25, 2024.

UNSC CEASEFIRE MOTION PASSES

For the 1st time the Security Council managed to pass a ceasefire resolution. The US abstained while all 14 others voted yes

The US planned to veto if it didn’t mention the hostages so it “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”

But it doesn’t condition the ceasefire on a hostage swap the way done by the US draft that got vetoed by 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳

It doesn’t condemn Hamas explicitly as the US wanted but it “deplores” all attacks against civilians & “all acts of terrorism” noting that it’s illegal to take hostages under int’l law. So it’s indirect condemnation

It expresses deep concern “about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” calling for more efforts for more aid & to protect civilians. This is weak language

Better than nothing but not enough as people are slaughtered & raped.

Day 171 — Attacks on 3 hospitals

🚨 Israel escalates attacks on “safe zone” Rafah killing 30+, including women and children amid threats of looming ground invasion

• 107 Palestinians killed, 176 injured in past 24 hours

🏥 22,000 displaced Palestinians face worsening conditions in the European Hospital, one of the last functioning in Gaza, overcrowded with patients awaiting critical care

🏥 Israeli forces lay siege to further hospitals in Khan Younis forcing critically ill patients to evacuate the premises surrounded by complete destruction

🏥 Israeli forces open fire on medical staff forced to evacuate al-Amal Hospital amid continuous attacks on the premise leaving patients in critical condition, deprived of medical supervision

• Netanyahu cancels Israeli delegation trip to US over its abstention in today’s UNSC vote, calling it a departure from their long-standing support of Israel. Biden called the move “disappointing”

• Israeli assaults targeting homes in central Gaza kill 18

(No march 26 summary)

March 27, 2024

Day 172

🚨 Gaza Gov’t Media Office demands end to aerial aid drops after one today killed 6 & caused 12 to drown in north Gaza

• 81 Palestinians killed, 93 injured in the last 24 hours

🇯🇴 100+ protesters arrested & teargassed outside Jordan’s Israeli embassy amid demands to end Jordan’s military & economic ties with Israel

🇧🇪 Brussels City Council passes motion to ban council purchases of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank on the basis of international law violations

• Israel bombs residential building in Rafah, killing 15+ displaced Palestinians incl. 4 kids. Analysts say the Rafah bombings mark the start of a “silent” invasion

🏥 Ongoing Israeli attacks on Shifa Hospital kill 30+ people incl. a family living in a residential building near the besieged complex

• IOF abducts 30 Palestinians in overnight raids in West Bank cities

🇱🇧 Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon kills 2 people, an escalation as the bombing was far from south Lebanon, the usual battleground

March 28, 2024.

Day 173

🇮🇪 Ireland to follow Nicaragua and join South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel

•⁠ ⁠Israeli attacks on residential homes in Rafah kill 25 displaced Palestinians, incl. multiple children

•⁠ ⁠76 Palestinians killed, 102 injured in the last 24 hours

•⁠ ⁠IOF kills 4 in central Gaza, forcefully burying them by bulldozers

🇺🇸 ⁠US state department report claims Israel is complying with international law, as US reviewed Israeli usage of US weapons in order to validate future arms exports

🇱🇧 Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon residencies kill 12 in past 24 hours with many still trapped under the rubble

•⁠ ⁠Two aid seekers remain in critical condition as Israeli snipers target the Kuwait Roundabout aid distribution point

🇺🇸 Poll: 55% of Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza — a 10% increase from November’s poll

•⁠ ⁠Israeli drone attack kills 8 in West Bank; IOF abducts 20 Palestinians in overnight raids

[cheritzteam]

[Mystic Messenger] iOS Purchase issues for v1.20.6

Hello, this is Cheritz.

Currently, some coordinators who’ve updated Mystic Messenger to v1.20.6 on iOS devices are experiencing an issue where they do not receive in-game items even after a successful transaction.

Our development team is now working on this issue, and we ask coordinators using iOS devices to refrain from purchasing in-game items or updating to v1.20.6 before the issue is resolved and a related announcement is made.

For coordinators who’ve already experienced the issue, please follow the instructions below.

1. To make a refund request

Due to restrictions made by Apple’s privacy policy, we are unable to handle refund requests directly. Please inquire through Apple’s support team to make a refund request. Refunds typically take 1-5 business days to be processed.

To go Apple Support page: https://getsupport.apple.com

2. To receive in-game items

For us to assist you better, please include the following information within your ticket via our Mystic Messenger Support Center(https://helpdesk.qroad.net/?n=mysmeEN).

Mystic Messenger ID(email address)

Date and time of purchase

Country(to check timezone)

Screenshot of your receipt showing a successful transaction

*How to check iOS receipts: https://support.apple.com/HT204088  

As responses may be delayed due to the high volume of tickets, we ask for your kind understanding and patience.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and will work diligently to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Cheritz

[myarmytinyzen]

How you comfort Hongjoong during the NYC concert delay

I decided to inspire this off of the recent issues with the most recent concert delay due to the weather issue during the NYC Towards the Light: Will to Power concert date. Hope you enjoy.

Warnings: None

Genre: Angst, Comfort, Fluff

Pairing: Hongjoong x GN!Reader

When you noticed the first strike of lightening, you immediately thought of the delay that was about to occur due to bad weather. You quickly went from the side of the stage over to the green room to encounter many sullen faces of Ateez.

When you look around, you notice someone missing. It registers that your boyfriend of two years Hongjoong is missing from the room. After communicating to with many of the members, you find him communicating with the venue coordinators to see what they can do and if the concert is even going to continue based on the constant pelting of rain at the moment.

You walk up into the middle of the conversation:

Hongjoong: "Do we have any of the forecast on how long this weather is going to last? We have many fans out there waiting for us to give them a show.

Venue Coordinator: " We are looking to see how long it will be, but it could be up to an hour or more before we are able to safely let you out there to start the concert. Not to mention that we will be cutting into our allotted time for this concert.

Hongjoong; "Well we can't just not continue, that would not be fair to not only the fans, but we have been waiting to see every area of the fans that are in North America".

This conversation continues on for a few more minuets with the same outcome that they started at. They all know at this point that the delay is inevitable but it is still painful because of how everything is now not going to plan and them wanting to give ATINY the best at all times. You walk up and wrap your arms around Hongjoong's waist just to let him know that you are here and give him some type of comfort. He turns in your arms to wrap his around your shoulders and put his head in your neck. You brought him back to the room with the other members so that he can relay the information to them.

They were all very worried and rightfully so, but there is nothing they can do about the weather and the season the concert is happening in. You puled up a stop on one of the couches and had Hongjoong lay his head down on your lap while he waited for confirmation to start the concert. You sit there running your hands through his hair and constantly give him reassuring words while the time ticked passed.

After about an hour and a half they were informed that they can start getting ready because of the slowing of the thunder, and to go ahead and begin the concert. It wasn't the easiest process and they had to cut the concert a little short but they tried to make it worth while throughout the whole thing for ATINY. The one thing you mainly remember is how passionate he looked in the middle of his guitar solo and how that probably translated wonderfully to the crowd for days to come.

Once the concert finished, you made your way to the green room for the last time tonight in citifield and saw all the happy faces of the members except one in particular. Hongjoong was still feeling quite bothered by the night's events but decided not to voice it out loud.

You: Hongjoong, you shouldn't beat yourself up about this. You know there is nothing you could do to change this but you and I know that the fans enjoyed it no matter what. They would watch you stand up there and talk for three hours and still love to see you all.

Hongjoong: I know they loved what they saw, but I still wish I could have given them everything that they deserved. The deserved the whole concert, not just a shortened version of it.

San walks over and pats him on the shoulder : You should listen to them. They were a fan way before they got with you. They understand how ATINY thinks. We did amazing and atiny loved every second of it.

He finally starts to calm down a little and relaxes into your lap. We chill there for a bit longer and then we head to the hotel so that you can relax him completely in the best way you know how. ;)

>>>>>> Please let me know if there is anything I can improve on. I know it is probably not the best but I am just starting out. Thank you for reading my first one. >>>>>>>

>>>>>>> POPCORN

[technicianlearner]

Kirbtober 2023 Day 24: AU

i love accidentally posting this on the AU blog instead of my main F^CK

"Yesterday, Kirby made this machine that was supposedly able to bring us to Civis Cosmosis without the help of Elfilin or the Lor Starcutter... He did leave us a way to access the machine and enter the exact coordinates to pick him up, since he's scared that it would fail and cause him to get trapped to wherever he got sent in... And since he's been missing for a few hours and not coming back, we assumed he got lost, and we managed to enter the place... but apparently we found ourselves in a world familiar to ours, and it looks like Popstar years later after our escapades... I heard Kirby here became a king from the pedestrians living there, which is weird... but we keep trying to find our Kirby, until we bump into this strange knight. He looks a lot like me, but with a different armor and looking pretty somber and intimidating, and for some reason, I feel a weird gut feeling that he looks the way he is because of something tragic... ...not going to lie, from the looks of it, he seems to have gotten himself in a messy situation before. I have a feeling that this is related to his Kirby somehow and I don't know why. ...is this what I'll probably act like if I didn't stop him during...?!"

Prompts by @paintpanic and @peachsupremeart Fused list compiled by @desultory-novice (click here for the list!) Nextgen AU created by @itsquakey

HOLY F^CK FUTURE CONTENT + LORE????? IN A KIRBTOBER ENTRY??? AND A CROSSOVER???? WOW??? WHAT'S GOING ON???

Well, I haven't revealed this yet, but by the time of Season 3 (aka the future version of the kiddos, you can see their design here), Bandana is considering the career choice of being a knight. Well, guess which AU also has Bandana as a knight, and also angsty?

...okay maybe not that angsty but Quakey did have an sorta ongoing comic that seems to rear into that category so uh here's obligatory ad for that one

This was a continuation of sorts to an old art trade I had with him, which I haven't posted - I wanted to save it for the next art trade compendium, where I post all my art trades at once (you can see the first and currently only one here)... and I wanted one more AU creator to trade on with me, so we can form the trilogy of "Tech tests an interdimensional travel gadget, gets lost, and finds himself in other universes where his career goes differently than expected" collection. Issue is... I haven't gotten time or space to figure out who I will trade with. There's so little AU creators that want to do so, I'm afraid... but ONE DAY!

Speaking of... what incident is at the final panel, and why is Bandana so terrified that he will be as somber as Pike Knight here? Well, it was the one time our beloved Kirby finally SNAPS due to something that he discovered. Apparently it got terrible to the point he killed someone, and the team barely could contain his rage... No wonder Bandana's so wary regarding Kirby, huh...?

It has been coded by the team as 'the incident'(TM), and remembering it gives everyone chills... But what incident is it anyway? we'll never know unless I somehow get to that point F^CKS SAKE LEARNER DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR DOO DOO AU

...I guess this is making Bandee reconsidering his potential job career... if this comic's even canon... i doubt it will be anyways since crossovers and stuff. i usually like keeping my stuff crossover-free

Here's the full, blurry version, down below:

[girlactionfigure]

🟠 SOLDIERS HAVE FALLEN  - AFTER SHABBAT NEWS 

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

✡️ Shavua Tov, may we have a good and blessed week, safety and peace, success for our soldiers, and the safe and healthy return of our hostages.  And a really bad week for our enemies.

▪️4 HERO SOLDIERS HAVE FALLEN.. in battle in Gaza:

Evyatar Atuar, 24, from Rosh HaAyin.  

Daniel Pacheniuk, 26, from Bat Yam

Nitai Mitodi, 23, from Ashkelon

Yang Yitchok Oren, 35, from Ein Gedi

May their families be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may G-d avenge their blood!

SHABBAT NEWS SUMMARY

🔷 LEBANON - IDF performed multiple targeted eliminations of several Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon and Syria, attacked Iranian backed militias in Syria on Shabbat day, and bombed Lebanon extensively.

Over 100 ROCKETS fired by HEZBOLLAH at northern Israel towns.  This seems to be the new Hezbollah pattern, less targets but MORE rockets - a barrage every time (mean 10-40 rockets per launch).  Several hits and homes burned in Kiryat Shmona.

🔶 DEAL SUMMARY -> Hamas is not negotiating but IS sending a team to the negotiations.  (No, I can’t figure that out either.)  They insist on no changes from the past US submitted terms of May or July, that they didn’t agree to and neither did Israel.  Israel has supposedly offered to reduce presence on the Egypt border and on the Gaza splitting corridor (Philadelphi and Netzar), but the PMO has denied. 

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardaoui:   "The arrival of the Hamas delegation in Cairo does not mean that we have entered into a round of talks. The delegation will receive updates from the Egyptians."  (Meaning the Egyptian “mediators” are now negotiating FOR Hamas, not as a coordinating proxy but as the negotiators.)

And Israeli hostage families continue to blame the Prime Minister for not accepting survival threatening terms.  (In other words, a normal week.)

🔷 GAZA -> IDF continues heavy battles and destruction of sites used for military attacks, and those too close to the border or split corridor.  Every time Hamas fires a rocket, the IDF is now evacuating the area of civilians and then clearing it and destroying the launch site, which Hamas claims has reduced humanitarian areas from 230 square kilometers to 35.  

Another kilometer long tunnel blow up in Rafah.

🔷 JUDEA-SAMARIA -> again accusations of local Israeli civilians rioting, this time said to be stone throwing - which usually comes about when the Arabs have been stone throwing at the road and the local Jews get sick of it when there is insufficient official response.  The IDF says they ran them off quickly.

Defense Minister Galant issued administrative arrest warrants against 4 Israelis living in Judea-Samaria.  That’s detention without trial, without presenting evidence, without judicial review - due to risk of terrorism.

🔷 FRANCE -> Synagogue attacked, bomb at the Beth Yaacov synagogue in La Grande Motte.  Police guarding the synagogue injured, fire started, 2 cars burned - one likely being the source of the explosion.  The potential suspect seen in CCTV footage was brandishing a Palestinian flag and armed.

[joyfulunknownbeard]

Hi, I'm Riley, and I'm creating this fundraiser for Mohammed Seyam - who is in Belgium - to help his brother, Dr. Ahmed Seyam, and Ahmed's family. This message is from Ahmed with some minor edits for clarity.

"Hello Dear,

I'm Dr. Ahmed and am a surgeon working in gaza. I'm married and I have 3 children, the oldest 7 years old and the youngest 2 years old.

Now, in this barbaric war, I leave my family several days in bad condition and bad sanitation in small tents in Rafah at south of Gaza Strip during my duty as a surgeon, but the situation become critical and the health status for my children become worse due to bad hygiene and the shortage of water.

Also my flat in the north of Gaza damaged badly.

There is nothing left for me in this place. I want to flee with my family and find a safe country for them.

Help me. To leave, I need $30000 to do travel coordination.

This is my family:

food actually ran out, and signs of fatigue and exhaustion appeared on our faces.

Weight loss has become evident on our bodies. Grains, flour, rice, fodder, and even animal feed ran out. There was nothing left.

Poverty, siege, killing, starvation, destruction, and cold. This is part of what we live in the southern of Gaza Strip. Children died, the milk of nursing mothers dried up, and we fell into a state of danger.

We issue the final warning: between life and death there are limited steps and hours."

This is what I do

Paying to get out through the Rafah gate costs from $7,000-$8,000 for adults and $2,000-$3,000 for children, and Ahmed is looking to evacuate his family of five. He will also need money for travel expenses.

Please help Dr. Ahmed and his family. Every donation - no matter how small - helps and can give hope.

CLICK TO DONATE

[portraitoftheoddity]

Don't Drink The Paint Water

Ok, the title is a little misleading since a lot of the paint I'm gonna talk about in this post would have been tempera or oil, and not water-based acrylic, so there would be no paint water. But as someone who worked in acrylic and definitely accidentally drank their paint water more than once, the warning is what rings in my mind every time I think of this topic.

Art is great for the soul. Art supplies, however, are not always great for the body.

Humans love smearing ourselves and our stuff with pretty colors made of shit that will kill us. Lead facepaint in Queen Elizabeth's court; Arsenic Green Wallpaper in Victorian parlors; uranium in glassware and wristwatches. And of course, all kinds of heavy metals in paints.

I talked in my post about Caravaggio about how a lot of his balls-to-the-wall batshit insane behavior may have been a result of chronic poisoning from his paints. Many artists through that whole era of history suffered from lead poisoning, to the point that "Painter's Colic" was a term for the intestinal constipation caused by chronic lead poisoning.

Now let's talk about that a little, and the various toxins that some of your favorite historical painters may have had in their systems from the creation and application of their paints...

White Paint: Lead

Lead white has been used as far back at the 4th century B.C.E. by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and was THE white pigment in western art up through the nineteenth century (and also appeared in works from China and Japan). It's important to note that through much of history, you didn't just go to the store and buy a tube of paint -- you made your own by grinding up pigment and adding it to a medium such as oil. To make lead white paint, artists would grind a block of lead into powder, releasing toxic dust particles into the air. The pigment's popularity largely stemmed from how thick and opaque it was, allowing for dense applications of radiant, warm white.

Lead poisoning resultantly affected a great many artists who worked extensively with lead white paint, with gastrointestinal, neuromuscular, and neurological symptoms. Chronic lead poisoning resulted in abdominal pain, nausea and constipation, as well as neuromuscular issues such as tremor, loss of coordination and numbness. Neurologically, sufferers could experience loss of short-term memory or concentration, depression, fatigue, headaches, stupor, slurred speech, and difficulty with emotional regulation, which may have contributed to the enduring stereotype of artists as erratic tortured geniuses.

Lead white would eventually be replaced by zinc white and titanium white.

Vermilion Paint: Cinnabar (Mercury-Sulfide)

Cinnabar is a form of mercury sulfide (HgS) that can range in color from bright scarlet to brick-red. It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury-- and from both its mined form and creation via synthetic alchemy was used to create a range of red 'vermilion' pigments. Cinnabar was used decoratively dating back to antiquity due to its color, appearing in fine craftsmanship and artworks ranging from China to South America, and was the primary source of red pigment in European painting from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

And of course; it came with the fun fun experience of mercury poisoning! While ingesting cinnabar isn't nearly as toxic as other forms of mercury since the chemical composition is less reactive, cutting and grinding cinnabar to create paint pigment would lead to inhalation of particles, and the more it was ground, the brighter the red it would produce. Plus, heating cinnabar would result in the release of highly toxic mercury vapor which would damage the lungs. Long term cinnabar use would lead to renal failure, and likely other symptoms of mercury poisoning such as damage to the brain and nervous system.

Vermilion would eventually be replaced with the less-toxic cadmium red.

Naples Yellow Paint: Lead + Antimony

Here's a two-for-one poisoning deal! Naples yellow -- a saturated, thick yellow that could range from pinkish orange to an almost green lemon-yellow -- is derived from lead antimonate. Inorganic and synthetically created, the pigment itself dates back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, making it one of the oldest synthetic pigments (it was predated by the Egyptians' use of the yellow pigment 'Orpiment' which was made with arsenic, for even more fun!) It was first referred to as Naples Yellow in the 17th century, and became particularly popular in European painting from the mid 1700s to mid 1800s, used by artists such as Délacroix, Jacques-Louis David, and Goya.

In addition to the joys of lead as discussed above, Antimony can cause vomiting, headache, dizziness, and sleeplessness, with effects similar to arsenic poisoning.

While there were a number of holdout artists who continued to use Naples Yellow up to the 20th century, Naples Yellow was largely replaced by Chrome Yellow and Cadmium Yellow by the late 19th century.

--

These are just a few of the more popular culprits in western art history -- and not counting fabric dyes such as Scheele's Green which experienced brief and deadly popularity in the Victorian era (made with Arsenic), or Uranium Yellow pigment used in ceramics and glass, which... I think you can guess where the problem with that lay.

All of which is to say, Art Was Hazardous, and a lot of artists through history quite literally died for the dyes, sacrificing their health, sanity, and years off their lives, knowingly or not, for the colors in their masterworks.

[dissociacrip]

this is okay to rb i think, especially if you have anything to add or any insight. idk. i'm tagging this the way that i am because i'm seeking community/connection(tm) or something

hypotonia is not like. a rare thing. not really. but i do remember my OT googling what it was.

low muscle tone/hypotonia may technically be a symptom rather than a diagnosis (barring benign congenital hypotonia, which afaik is controversial) but it's the closest thing to a "diagnosis" i've been given for some of this stuff because the potential cause of it hasn't been investigated and i guess it's not exactly urgent since my particular case isn't severe and doesn't seem progressive (hypotonia can be progressive & is involved in some progressive and degenerative conditions.)

but i wish it was talked about more and i wish more was known about it works and how it affects bodily function and i wish what we DO know about it was more accessible to the public when it comes to those who suffer from it. it's also kinda hard whether to KNOW you have it or not since its "signs" have so much overlap with other conditions that aren't related to muscle tone. it ranges a lot in severity too. and there's two different types (central and peripheral.) it's linked to dozens of diagnoses too which is why i say it's not uncommon.

but also i guess due to the complexity of how it affects the body and its lack of distinctiveness with most of its symptoms makes it kinda...hard to talk about? and i imagine w/ some people it's hard to distinguish the effects of hypotonia vs. their other problems. issues with chewing, writing, breathing, speaking, posture, coordination, etc. can be due to so many different things ranging from mental to physical. but it's not always something that can be lumped together w/ those other things because there's "my muscles don't work" in a terms of chronic muscular pain vs. "my muscles don't work" in terms of, like, they lack the ability to adequately support the body and bodily movement. if that makes any sense.

which ranges from someone like me where having to hold myself up sucks + mild motor skill/coordination impairments and mild developmental milestone delays, but others never meet those milestones or need assistance with things like breathing and ingesting food.

it's not a diagnosis but it can affect the body in complex ways like muscle shortening and stiffness due to our bodies having to compensate in weird ways for the lack of adequate tone (esp those of us who grew up with it), tibial torsion and femoral anteversion, flatfoot and knock-knees, reduced cervical lordosis sometimes leading to bruxism and occipital headaches, etc. PT centered around muscle strengthening to correct my "improper" movement and stuff.

and there's other stuff that can come with it that people like to consider """gross""" like drooling, constipation and other gastric, and pelvic floor dysfunction which can result in incontinence/problems with bladder control. muscles are involved in a lot of things. wild.

i'm rambling but i just wish more people talked about it. all i really have is that one interview that surestep did with meagan veracha, who has hypotonic cerebral palsy, about living with hypotonia as an adult.

maybe i wouldn't care all that much if i had a diagnosis that would "explain it" but "i might have gHSD/hEDS" doesn't rly do that for me because ppl in those communities obviously focus a lot on the joint dysfunction aspect (because those 2 conditions center around hypermobile joints so that's just natural, it's not a bad thing per-se, barring other problems that those communities have) but for me my case of symptomatic generalized hypermobility is secondary in how it impacts me vs. my muscles being bad at their job and my hypermobility might even be secondary to my hypotonia anyway.

dyspraxia/DCD (some people with it have hypotonia but not all - i thought i had it before i was told i was identified as having hypotonia when i was a kid...over two decades late) is another guess but again that centers more around coordination than things like "anything other than lying in bed is hard on me because my muscles don't support my body like they're supposed to."

maybe muscle tone is a complex medical concept that shouldn't really enter the public lexicon but i have no other language for it.