whaaaaaaat

zmei, they/them | queer | POC

[good-fwiend-in-wome]

shoutout to flags that look like landscapes fr gotta be one of my favorite genders

[jonnystrebor]

Not to forget:

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post

[deadlevendule-deactivated202601]

just a friendly reminder to stop insisting that "the soviet union was anti-imperialist." that claim is nonsense and won't make you more interesting.

the soviet union wasn’t some radical departure from the russian empire. it was simply the same empire in a new uniform. red flags and marxist rhetoric instead orthodox crosses or symbols of tasrdom. the core goal always stayed the same: control the non-russian peoples by any means necessary.

on paper, the ussr was a “friendship of nations,” a voluntary union of 15 republics. in reality, it was a centralized empire run out of moscow. the republics had no real say in foreign policy, trade, or even their own leadership. step out of line? you’d face censorship, arrests, or worse. this is well documented and it's gross that people try to downplay this because it challenges the theory they've consumed.

the soviet regime cracked down on local languages, histories, and identities. flags were banned. historians and artists were persecuted. even alphabets were changed with non-russian scripts rewritten in cyrillic to sever cultural memory. it was pure russification.

ethnic cleansing was policy. in the 1940s, stalin deported entire nationalities: chechens, crimean tatars, kalmyks, and others. shoved into cattle cars, sent to siberia or central asia and many never made it. half of the deported crimean tatars died. scholars now call these acts what they were: crimes against humanity, even genocide. ukraine’s holodomor (1932–33) was another brutal example. millions died of famine caused by soviet grain policies, right as the regime was wiping out ukrainian culture and religious life.

the baltics suffered too. in 1941 and 1949, tens of thousands of estonians, latvians, and lithuanians were deported, targeting everyone from political leaders to schoolteachers. all while moscow insisted it was promoting “friendship.” and after wwii, the ussr exported this "model "friendship" to central eastern europe. poland, hungary, czechoslovakia, east germany, and others swapped nazi rule for soviet occupation. local revolts were crushed (hungary in ’56, czechoslovakia in ’68). sovereignty was tolerated only when it served moscow.

even economically, the ussr followed the imperial playbook. resources flowed to the center; local populations got pollution and poverty. ukraine powered soviet industry with coal and grain but saw little investment or infrastructural support. the baltic states were productive yet politically silenced.

kazakhstan? used for 456 nuclear tests without consent, leaving over a million exposed to radiation. uzbekistan and turkmenistan were turned into cotton monocultures, poisoning land and water for moscow’s benefit. sound familiar? it’s the same exploitative dynamic seen in british india or the congo.

and the legacy lives on. russia’s invasions of georgia (2008), crimea (2014), and ukraine (2022) aren’t accidents. they’re rooted in an old imperial belief that former soviet republics can’t exist without moscow’s blessing. the kremlin still pushes “russkiy mir”, this insane idea that russia has the right to “protect” russian speakers wherever they are. but this protection has meant war, occupation, and death, especially for russian-speaking ukrainians.

ukraine’s refusal to bow to this narrative is exactly why it’s under attack. the empire might’ve changed flags, but its logic never died. and the fight for true decolonization is far from over.

so please. speak to people who lived or whose families lived under this empire. stop romanticizing something because you think it makes you edgy or "not like the other leftists." it's embarrassing.

[brainscrems]

Just to add on something that wasn’t explicitly mentioned: Lenin initiated a cultural genocide against the jewish people that was only worsened under subsequent rulers. People like to act like everything was fine under lenin and only bad under stalin. No. Stalin was worse, but lenin did his fair share of evil shit too.

[rubyleaf]

Hi. I was gonna add my thoughts in the tags but honestly, this is way too much to say in the tags. OP, you've touched on a lot of my family history here. My mom was born and raised in Soviet Uzbekistan. My grandfather was Crimean Tatar. When I say we are personally affected by the things you said, I mean we're affected to this day.

My family were among the people who lost their home in the ethnic cleansing of Crimea. For years afterwards they weren't even allowed to visit their homeland. They never got their home back or managed to build a new home in Crimea even after they could finally live there again, although given what's happening in Crimea now maybe that's a blessing in disguise. My great-grandfather was imprisoned for six years (and sentenced to many more) for the mere crime of being the wrong ethnicity. My grandfather was left without a dad for years as a sickly little boy stuck in Siberia. Hell, years later, long after his father's release, when he was graduating top of his class his teachers had to petition for him to be allowed to graduate with the appropriate honors, because he was the son of a "traitor to the nation." He still wasn't fully granted the honors, despite having perfect grades.

Meanwhile, the cotton monocultures in Uzbekistan? Those weren't just poisoning the environment, they were poisoning school children. Every year school students would be sent to work on the field and help with the harvest, exposing them to the pesticides that lay over the fields like a thick haze. My grandmother would get horrible allergic reactions from it, but it was still next to impossible to be freed from this duty. If I get my story straight, eventually she managed. I don't know from what age they would send kids to work, or when they stopped doing that. From what I know my mom didn't have to pick cotton anymore, but she still remembers the pesticides.

And those are just the larger crimes. You know why my grandfather's family eventually moved from Siberia to Uzbekistan? Racism. People would call them names and insult their appearance. My grandfather would have girls from the school years above him running up to him during breaks just to look at his dark eyelashes, like he was some kind of zoo animal. In Uzbekistan, at least, people looked like them and were Muslim like them, even if religious expression was still heavily stifled in public settings.

All of this happened in living memory. People have taken long-term health damage. People have lost language and culture, not only through the horrible crimes against humanity, but also through the pressure to assimilate to (white) Russian language and culture. Crimean Tatar is an endangered language. Nearly all of my maternal relatives have a Tatar name and a Russian name, because I guess even simple Turkic names are too "difficult." Very early on, people had to change their surnames to something Russian sounding. To my mom and her brother, Russian is their native language. I don't even speak either of my family's Tatar languages anymore. It's all getting lost.

So, yeah. Don't fall for the propaganda. It's not a "friendship of nations" if it's forced on you under one nation's rule.

[thestuckylibrary]

#and that's not even getting into my unrelated beef with soviet russia. specifically the grooming schoolkids to become willing cannon fodder#my mom never unlearned it fully i think. she talked about all the books they'd read in school about the glory of dying for your country#not to mention the BLATANT ableism that came with this!#mom says the propaganda would shame even glasses wearers claiming they weren't trying hard enough to be ''''healthy''''#okay i'm getting down from my soapbox now. all of this just had to be said

[sweaterkittensahoy]

OH HEY I JUST READ A BRICK OF A BOOK ABOUT THE SOVIET UNION THAT MAKES ALL THESE POINTS AND EVEN MORE THAN THAT.

It's called Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar and I recommend it. The author handles the unending awfulness of Stalin mass-murdering people by keeping chapters short and also taking time to look at the full group of fucksticks who helped him do it.

[karlyuchka]

The way westerners view the language situation in Ukraine baffles me. No, Ukrainians aren't some magical bilingual nation, which is bilingual just because.

There is no difference between a Ukrainian not being able to speak Ukrainian and an Irish person not being able to speak Irish. Both are the result of imperialism and oppression.

But for some reason people are upset at the fact that English is dominant in Ireland, but dislike derussification (restoration of national identity after centuries of russian imperialism, oppression and genocide).

Why? Because while imperialism is evil, its definition is obviously "evil western europeans with boats". Also, how can Russia be evil when it has bears, snow, vodka and balalaikas?

Decolonisation is good, unless it's in Ukraine (or any other victim of russian terror, but people dislike Ukraine the most for some fucking reason)

[kisses-in-the-void]

1) The Ukrainian language was repeatedly banned through the centuries. 2) People in occupied areas of Ukraine are literally being killed by russians for speaking Ukrainian today.

Anyone who reads these two sentences and still wants to whine "ohhh but what about the rights of russian speakers" is an idiot and a clown and I despise and disrespect them.

[shithowdy]

american blackbirds are icterids but european blackbirds are thrushes but american robins are thrushes but european robins are flycatchers and they are named robin because (checks notes) brits in the 1400s called them "robert" on account of they are just some familiar guy who shows up in your yard. hold on post canceled is that really why they are called that? what the fuck. they did this with jackdaws and magpies too? i can't even be annoyed. how human. "who's that? that's bob." fuck dude it sure is.

[holly-warbs]

Sketchbook drawing from a moment in Verőce, Hungary.

[fuckthisshit-ugh]

please read this even if you're not indian. especially if you're not indian.

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

reblog. share. don't scroll past.

[magicmooshka]

my comic for terrible comic day 2026

[beckysquiltingagain]

The second time I quilted Joan of Ark.

This one just got first place at the Utah State Fair

[headspace-hotel]

STOP SCROLLING ITS A QUILT

[urgetocreate]

Anatolii Korobkin (b.1974), Florentine Cat, 2017, Oil on canvas

[dorywhynot]

"Iorek Byrnison" Watercolor on paper, 11x14", 2026.

For "Bibliophilia," opening April 8 at Quirky Fox Gallery

[morphine-jq]

[alagaisia]

Hey. Why isn’t the moon landing a national holiday in the US. Isn’t that fucked up? Does anyone else think that’s absurd?

[alagaisia]

It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!

[alagaisia]

It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.

[watermelon-converse]

Hey. Hey. Tumblr. Ides of March ppl. We can do this

[emi--rose]

Hell yeah moon holiday

[hello-delicious-tea]

Ooh coming up we should celebrate

[ariaste]

PITCH: We call it Moon Day, and then every 7 years when it falls on a Monday, that's an even BIGGER deal and we call that Moon Day Monday and go absolutely apeshit about it (the next Moon Day Monday is in 2026 so we have a couple trial runs first)

[sarostheghostcat]

MOON DAY MOON DAY MOON DAY

[wafflebloggies]

moon day is 20th July!!!

[silly-jellyghoty]

Scheduling this a day earlier to remind you all and myself about the Moon Day tomorow!

[sashaforthewin]

Happy moon day to all who celebrate

[kitsuneofthemist]

This is your reminder to prep for Moon Day on July 20th.

[cambriancrew]

HAPPY MOON DAY MONDAY Y'ALL!

[hautencold]

“Internet friendship is not real”

Reblog if you have made amazing friends on the internet

[insanityinablog]

my cousin just said simcoe is the type of person to crash out over literally nothing

oh, it rained unexpectedly today? his life is OVER

his pen broke? he might as well be DEAD

[lokihiddleston]

KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989)

[judykuhns-deactivated20181108]

davidkorins: Tfw you wanna sit w the cool kids for lunch but they won’t let you.

[doberbutts]

“trans men don’t experience misogyny because they’re men thus cannot experience women’s oppression”

I hate to tell you this but even cis men experience misogyny if they step a toe over the line of what our incredibly sexist society sees as “proper” for a man. You really don’t think that a man with interests or expression the world sees as “female” aren’t treated with violence?

[doberbutts]

“would you say that of other privileged groups? do you think white people experience racism?”

I mean sometimes they do yeah. I know a white guy with monolid eyes and zero known Asian ancestors and he absolutely experiences anti-Asian racism on a fairly regular basis because people think he’s mixed Asian/white. I know a woman who was told throughout her life that she was Native as an adoptee with no known history or background who experienced incredibly violent amounts of anti-Native racism until she discovered as an adult through DNA test that she is 100% white. I know white people who tan incredibly dark in the summer comparatively that are constantly accused of being mixed race and experiencing racism due to that, usually anti-Mexican racism perpetrated against white people with Greek or Italian ancestors.

Their ability to make it stop by saying “hey, I’m white actually” only goes as far as the person enacting violence on them is willing to believe them. They still have to live with the trauma and physical scars from the altercations. We live in a racist world and thus there will be violent people who force all others to pass a whiteness test and eliminating or harming the rest.

[doberbutts]

Got an ask that I just block/deleted but it was basically “so you think cis people experience transphobia!?!?!?!?” and uh

If you think cis butches don’t experience both transphobia and misogyny and homophobia for daring to be women who break gender roles while still holding onto their womanhood you’ve sorely misunderstood just how bad butches have it in this world sorry. If you don’t think cis queens experience transphobia and homophobia and misogyny for daring to be men who break gender roles while being loud and proud about it and still holding onto their manhood then you’ve sorely mistaken just how bad they have it in this world as well.

Not to mention all of the cis men who wear dresses and skirts and makeup and nail polish and heels simply because they like them who experience all of these things. All of the cis straight women who simply just exist but something about them doesn’t pass society’s “woman enough” test, leading to them being caught in bathroom bills and sporting rules and being attacked by people who mistake them for being transgender or gay.

Just like how straight people experience homophobia to such a degree that they literally beat their children out of any potential deviance from rigidly upheld gender roles and let politicians make jokes on national TV about how they’d drown their pre-teen kids if they came out as LGBT. Do you really think a straight kid still figuring themselves out hears that and doesn’t internalize that homophobia? Doesn’t rigidly hold themselves to some impossible standard so that no one could ever possibly think they’re gay? You don’t think straight teenage boys who maybe don’t pass some bully’s straightness test are getting the shit kicked out of them for “being gay” when, surprise, they aren’t? You don’t think all those kids being attacked by their priests and coaches and teachers are being told “this wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t gay” when they’re literally not gay? Do you know how many straight kids had close calls at my school that famously expels all gay kids, because someone made up a believable enough rumor? Do you know how many of them still got their shit kicked in even though administration ultimately decided to let them stay?

All bigotry is violent and all bigotry catches people it doesn’t “intend” to and hurts them as well. It doesn’t matter what someone’s label is, or if they even have one. It matters if the person enacting the violence is doing it because their victim didn’t pass whatever “acceptable enough” test they didn’t know they were being subjected to.

Everyone is at risk. Oppression doesn’t care what your label is. Some people are more visible targets than others, and as a result those people are the more common targets. That doesn’t mean no one else experiences it.

[doberbutts]

My first post to reach 2k without people clowning in the notes I feel so proud

[sophie-baybey]