Master doc that contains different resources and support for many countries including Palestine, Congo, Haiti, Hawai’i, etc ((op is underneath the link))
[ID: Tweet by Nanu's eyebrows 🇹🇹❤️🔱… @ Seaweedlagoon which reads: "I'd appreciate if you guys would spread around my master document that not only contains support for Palestine but other countries as well, I'm updating it with resources for Puerto Rico, Lebanon and Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow!" With a link to the above doc/End ID]
I’m begging you—please, do not scroll past this post. Mohammed, his family, and his young niece are in a desperate situation, and they need our help urgently.
The airstrike that shattered their lives has claimed the lives of everyone in his niece's family—leaving her completely alone. They have lost everything: their loved ones, their home, and their sense of security. 😢💔
Now, they are living in a tent, struggling daily with no fresh water and barely any food. To make matters worse, Mohammed’s brother is still missing. Their situation is critical and time is running out. 🚨
Mohammed is trying to escape to safety in Egypt, but the cost is staggering: $5,000 per person. Without these funds, their chance to flee their nightmare is slipping away. 😔💔
Here’s how you can make a REAL difference:
Donate: Every dollar counts. Your contribution can help cover the crossing fees and offer Mohammed and his family a glimmer of hope for a safer future. 🌟💪
Share: Spread their story. The more people who hear this, the closer we get to our goal. Your voice matters! 📢💬
Offer Support: If you have any resources, connections, or ideas to help, don’t hesitate to reach out. Every bit of assistance can change their lives. 🤝💖
Please, don't let this opportunity to help slip away. Their lives depend on our collective action. Your support can mean everything to them in this critical time.
My name is Mohammed Alwadiya. I’m a math teacher, I have a doctorate deg… mohammad alwadyeh needs your support for help me save my family fr
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness and support. Together, we can make a life-saving difference. 🙏✨
i hate that it's seen as a radical idea to think that disabled people deserve to live comfortably. not just bare bones survival, but comfortably. they deserve to thrive, even. deserve to live gluttonously if they so desire. everyone else gets at least bare minimum opportunities to spend their money on treats and special things - and disabled people live to indulge too if they so desire, without shaming them. expecting them to live with monetary scraps is evil and torturous. this doesn't even cover those who aren't financially supported, nor does it cover the reality that whatever monetary scraps they do get are able to be taken away at any point.
If you’re reading this… congratulations, you survived Ray Bradbury’s doomsday!
“‘Today is August 4, 2026,’ said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling…”
-Ray Bradbury, “There Will Come Soft Rains”
Today is August 4th, 2026–the day that Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” is based on. I have included the short story below for anyone desiring to read it. Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! Happy doomsday;)
Art credits: “House Fire” by beccastadtlander (Etsy)
The media blackout on Palestine coinciding with new bomb types dropped in a ceasefire tells its own story.
Nothing says "ceasefire" like a Thermobaric bomb. I guess "ceasefire" means something else down there than here... What pigs. They saw it as too hot and the temperature is too high, so they bombard us with heat generators. Damn them.
We are still being attacked so brutally and powerfully, and no one looks or stands beside us, please stop what you are doing now, stop playing, stop watching movies, stop reading, leave them even for a few minutes, and see what is happening to us. We are still bombing, killing, and the world is silent that my father's health will not last any longer if we do not provide him with treatment he will not be able to live Please, if you read my words, please don't ignore and help me even once, please
Guys I am so scared for my father his health is so difficult please help me and don't ignore me we really need your help so much please if you see this post you will share donate and help me please I'm crying from this tired life Please help me
batman the animated series will be like "the effects of mental illness, if left untreated, can cause even the most well-meaning man to hurt himself and others, and feel so helpless he turns to other methods to cope." and then the next episode is "what if the joker tried to copyright fish"
the lack of reaction about readcomiconline's death is the true indicator of how many people just do not read comics but participate in the comics fandom
You know what? I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to ramble about piracy.
"Piracy is bad, yada yada."
Alright. We can agree on that.
But—and I'm sorry if this comes across as offensive—that position often comes from a place of privilege.
And not just economic privilege.
I live in a country where American comics are not always easy to find, and in many cases they're never translated or published at all.
Just to be clear, I'm not talking about some mythical "third-world country". I'm talking about a perfectly ordinary European country where the comics I like simply aren't considered profitable enough to distribute.
I remember digging through obscure websites back in 2006 just to get a glimpse of The New Teen Titans. It was a nightmare, but somehow I managed to read the whole thing anyway.
It took me seven years to get a legally published copy of Blackest Night: Titans. SEVEN. Thank God for piracy, because it gave me immediate access. Otherwise I would have been the only idiot trying to discuss Black Lanterns in 2016.
Why? Because Titans comics are considered niche here. Shops don't stock them. Publishers often don't translate them. And when they do, sometimes the translation is... let's politely call it "creative".
(I'm still trying to recover from the translated version of Last Will and Testaments...)
You wait years, pay more, and occasionally get a worse product. Wonderful.
The only reason Blackest Night: Titans was eventually published here, as far as I can tell, is that Blackest Night was such a massive crossover event that leaving out an entire tie-in would have created a noticeable hole in the collection.
And don't even get me started on the Wolfman/Pérez era. That only became legally accessible here in the 2010s.
So yes, this might come as a shock to some people, but piracy is not always about being cheap.
Sometimes it's about access—because access is not distributed equally.
If a comic is unavailable in your language, unavailable in your country, unavailable digitally, unavailable physically, and unavailable second-hand at anything resembling a reasonable price, then "just buy it" stops being a solution and starts being nothing more than a slogan.
And for many international readers, piracy is the reason they became comic fans in the first place.
Why is culture reserved to those of us of privilege? Can the poor and ignorant not learn? Can I not stop being ignorant. do I have to stop being poor to enjoy the simplicity of art?
im gonna hold some of yalls hand with a napkin in between when i say this but......a complete lack of black writers is what's to blame for a lot of what's wrong with this season
thinking again about how much I wish people who want to talk about anime analytically and in the greater cultural context of Japan would actually put their back into researching the economic and social context of literally anything but the atom bomb. because YES it was hugely influential on cultural anxieties and media and YES you can’t possibly understate its legacy but there’s also so many more things. defeat culture in the aftermath of the war. the fact that we’re currently a generation out from people who survived the war at all, and the distance of memory is a real and influential thing. the influence of the postwar treaty, the discourse surrounding it. the bubble economy. the lost decades even moreso. American-Japanese foreign relations. the sarin gas incident.
or if you want to look further back rather than looking immediately postwar—Japan’s legacy of colonization both internally (ryukyu kingdom) and externally. manchuria as a colonial construct. the meiji restoration following the last real civil war, western fever, the discourse about westernization in general. the treatment of communism and socialism as it evolved through the early part of the twentieth century. the hibiya park riots. there is soooo so much cultural context to the themes that anime grapples with but instead of engaging with any of it you get pretentious American teenagers on death note tumblr trying to argue that the modern Japanese legal code is enshrined in western religious principles. god
one of the really difficult things when talking about Japanese pop culture and the idea of “soft power” is that it’s largely mythical—the rise of anime’s popularity in the west and “thing japan good” hasn’t really correlated to significant economic or political gain on a national scale. but you do have to understand that this is a direct evolution of the malaise of the lost decades, which saw Japan’s economic dominance crash in favor of American economic interests; and you must also understand that while this was the result of poor Japanese financial policy decisions, America had a vested and Very Outspoken (racist) interest in tearing down Japan on a global stage.
and you must understand American influence in Japan is as controversial today as it was in the initial days of the surrender and the new treaty post WWII, but that there was a very interesting period where America and Japan were, in fact, strong allies; and that this allyship began to fail when Japan’s economic success outstripped America’s. so you must also view Japan as both a former colonial power with the terrible legacy to match but also a state subordinate to American cultural pollination and political influence. this isn’t even going into the extremely complex political landscape of east and Southeast Asia which also influences Japanese pop culture. lmao. there’s a lot!! and I don’t think that someone who just wants to talk about anime needs to know All of It but god I think that you should perhaps know Some.
told a friend yesterday about how 03 makes roy the one who kills winry's parents instead of scar and she was mind blown by how much better it was. which is objectively true. one of the greatest changes to a canon ever made frankly
ok it should be self evident but let me explain in detail WHY i find this a much more interesting change overall:
mangahood's read on scar is that for all he is a victim of genocide, he's also really really bad for killing these poor two white doctors who did nothing wrong! the narrative never lets him forget it, he's supposed to have a whole redemption arc about it, in his last scene he's sobbing that he's a monster for having killed them. he's the one character who has to face this amount of self reflection for past harm, despite being by far the greatest victim! the manga takes it for granted that roy and co have done their self reflection and are redeemed or on the path to it! it's suchhhh shitty liberal politics all the way round
it also changes the way he relates to a number of characters and completely alienates him from them, especially the elrics. the winry trying to kill scar scene and saying she won't forgive him later, (really rubbing it in that scar is Just As Bad bc his crimes against her while the massacres against ishbalans are like. well the poor little soldiers :///) but also ed just fucking hates him and the elrics never get to build a rapport with him or come to understand him and this is seen as normal and cool, so whatever action he and his merry band do is near always separate from the elrics and his own arc suffers even more strongly as a result
now let's see how the change affects everyone in 03: for one, mustang is suddenly a MUCH murkier character than how he is portrayed in mangahood, where despite all the war crimes he is constantly portrayed as intensely sympathetic and doing the right things for the right reasons and just having made a mistake by uh. participating in genocide. the war crimes by themselves should have been enough tbh and already 03 is definitely more condemning of him in that regard, but his crime against the rockbells really underline how cowardly he's been. he wasn't a poor little guy who just had no choice in the army, he knew and he suffered such guilt from it that he is half a dead man for the entire show!
while i know in mangahood kimblee was supposed to kill them, i think the act of showing an army general flat out ordering their deaths by gun (as opposed to fire, reserved for the dehumanized ishbalans) and condemn their humanity as a danger to soldiers makes the military's own horror that much more apparent, and its members' participation in the war being obviously more willing, callous rather than a secret conspiracy that everyone was suffering from. it's part of the whole reframing of the war that very same episode as NOT a tragedy for everyone involved with a lot of empathy for the perpetrators (compared to the victims who get a lot.... less empathy) but wilful, horrid atrocities committed by people who yes, are often ordinary and thought they could obey orders and are emotionally affected, but in no way does that excuse their actions! when roy is suicidal as a result he looks defeated. pathetic. he almost kills himself and you understand why: he HAS committed utterly unforgivable acts. he lied to himself and he can no longer do so, and neither can the audience. the military members are just as culpable as the top brass. it's how marco's point gets made: it wasn't a war, it was a massacre, we all deserve to die for our part in it
and by extension, having the flashback of this moment and change happen when scar is attacking the state alchemists makes his attack a thousand times more sympathetic, as opposed to how ominous and horrific his first appearance is in the manga/brotherhood and how he seems more like a monstrous angel of death. here we as an audience are well disposed to think, well. the military DOES suck ass. we've seen it with the reframing of the nina chimera and how the military was using shou, with how they push ed to continue the research no matter how ghastly it is, with the savage attack on liore happening at the very same time. and it's a continuation! scar's attack is still intimidating but it pushes the idea that ed and al are on the wrong side entirely.
and thus it also means that scar's own entire arc is reframed! here in this very episode, but also set up for the rest of the show: scar is RIGHT. however horrific his murders may be, they're entirely justified. even his killing nina was reframed to be intensely more empathetic, with him feeling so lost and her running to him in pain, and him acting in a way that is clearly meant to be empathy even if the results are horrible. there is no "but you killed the rockbells, you monster!" argument to be shot at him every five pages to remind you the audience that he is a bad person for ever wanting revenge
as a result he also ends up being able to relate to the elrics in much more meaningful, interesting ways that the manga set up but never followed through. scar and his brother, the arm so obviously set up to be parallels to the elrics but in mangahood it never feels earned bc ed cannot spend two pages with scar without going YOURE EVIL YOU KILLED MY GIRLFRIENDS PARENTS. meanwhile here ed is forced to progressively realize he HAS fucked up, that scar's reasons are not wrong. even in all the time he dislikes scar and disagrees with him, even in how the narrative obviously makes it clear that ed is being stubborn and that scar is right, they actually forge a far more interesting bond with direct comparisons to scar's brother. and likewise with al! al and scar in 03 are in the top 5 most interesting dynamic in the entire show (there are so many good dynamics in general): they can empathize with each other without a constant WELL YOU KILLED BLAH BLAH flown in the middle, the parallel between the brother pairs is pursued far more extensively, and al's genuine understanding of scar and later care for him (and vice versa, scar's burgeoning devotion for al that leads him to make al into the stone to save his life) feel free to breathe and develop in such a gorgeous natural way
so all the strongest aspects of 03's changes are reinforced: the biting attack on the military and parallels to the war on iraq, ed being a more flawed and wrong protagonist, al's dynamic with scar fleshing him out much more, mustang being a more compelling/ murky and fucked up guy who can't just be "redeemed" usually, the clarification that the genocide was truly unjustifiable with no "both sides", and scar's entire arc being free to take a complete other direction without his violence being flat out condemned because something something it's just as bad to fight back
there is something to be said about how however winry's arc in regards to mustang feels.... dropped partway through (probably bc of lack of time) and how i do feel like it deserved a much stronger resolution for her. but i found her initial reaction and the way it changed her dynamic with the military, as well as recontextualizing the scene in the train where she asks riza if she's kill before, really fascinating and strengthening her character until that thread is abruptly ended. her realizing maes, the man who was so kind to her, was best friends and helped push to the top the same person who murdered her parents it suchhhh a heartwrenching scene. the realization that the military is full of these "good people" who have committed untold horrors. again i feel like the thread WAS abruptly cut short and didn't have the resolution it truly deserved through. i still find it far more interesting than the original version
Aizen has surprisingly many instances in which he stabs, slashes, or orders the killing of a female character.
Scenes involving his violence toward female characters feel a little different than his violence toward male characters - less like a fight, and more like an act of resentment.
Let's look at examples:
Rukia - he orchestrates her execution so he wouldn't have to kill her himself, yet this plan fails, and he has to extract the Hogyoku from her literally with his own hands. But it is not the way he ruins her self-confidence (starting years earlier with the tragedy he brought upon Kaien and his wife), not even about how he pierces Rukia through the chest to get his hands on the Hogyoku. The most striking scene is when he carelessly and disrespectfully grabs her by the collar, like Rukia had no will on her own. He drags her around, as though she were his property. He keeps conversing with Ichigo, not with Rukia while treating her like an object. And when the Hogyoku is extracted, he orders Gin to kill her. He still refuses to make an effort to kill her himself. That's how little he cares about Rukia's life.
Momo - here the scene borders on intimate as Aizen deliberately cultivated the fake trust between them. He lures Momo close, stabs her while thanking her, keeping his facade of kind Captain Aizen till the very end. However, his initial plan was for Hitsugaya to kill her. He, again, didn't want to kill Momo himself. He didn't find her worthy of his sword. Of his truth. But when he does finally stab her, he claims this is mercy. He doesn't believe that Momo would be able to go on without him. Also, again (like with Rukia) he speaks of chopping Momo's body into pieces in front of someone who cares about Momo - in front of her friend Hitsugaya. So he not only discards Momo as a pawn he used, he additionally uses her as a trigger for another character.
And then comes the second time he tries to repeat the same model. During Fake Karakura Town fight, Aizen orchestrates everything the way that Hitsugaya stabs Hinamori (as Aizen initially wanted him to). So this says two things: Aizen still doesn't see Hinamori as a person who might have grown stronger after the suffering he caused her, he sees Hitsugaya that way - that is why he mentally tortures him. And he still uses Hinamori much like a mindless puppet. Even worse in this case, because here Hinamori isn't just brainwashed by him, she is basically injured and unconscious so he probably has to physically place her in his place for Hitsugaya to stab her. That is very similar to dragging Rukia around like a ragdoll. Also, it solidifies how Aizen has absolutely no sentiment for his ex-subordinate (unlike Gin or Kaname).
Hiyori - during Pendulum Arc Hiyori is getting Hollowfied alongside Kensei, Shinji, and the others. Hollowfication itself, in her case, is an unfortunate coincidence (Urahara ordered her to go there) but what happens during Aizen's conversation with Shinji is, again, the same pattern we have already seen. Aizen knows Hiyori is Shinji's friend. So to trigger Shinji, or perhaps to emotionally hurt him, Aizen orders Kaname to attack Hiyori. He doesn't do it himself. Of course not. That would be below Aizen. And he doesn't do it because Hiyori poses any danger, he does that after she speaks Shinji's name. While Hiyori is cut down, Aizen pays her no attention. He casually speaks to Shinji. And his provocation works.
Later, in Fake Karakura Town Arc this provocation is repeated by Aizen. Hiyori is targeted by Gin, however, Aizen comments on Shinji's reaction to her getting bisected. So it is not about Hiyori. Her bond with Shinji is used to get to Shinji before his fight against Aizen even starts. But Shinji manages to collect himself emotionally, probably knowing what Aizen intended.
Harribel - the only female Espada at the time of Arrancar Saga, and also the only Espada Aizen strikes down with his own sword. Not because she disobeyed him or betrayed him. No. Because she disappointed him. Bored him. Couldn't finish her fight fast enough. The fact that Aizen cuts her down himself might look like respect. He likes to tell his opponent that even drawing his sword against them IS a form of respect. However, the way he goes about it is totally disrespectful. Using hypnosis on her to stab her in the back. Telling her: "Don't make me swing my sword twice at someone like you." There is no respect in his words, and the treatment she got for her loyalty. The disrespect in this case might originate from multiple factors, not purely for her being a female warrior. Aizen is generally disappointed with Arrancars as lesser beings than himself, coming from Hollows. Aizen also doesn't accept reliance, and Harribel, sharing trust and respect with her three Fracción, represents trust, teamwork, support - things Aizen does not appreciate.
Orihime - she seems like an exception at first, as Aizen expresses interest in her power, almost appreciating what she is capable of. However, this quickly got dismissed by Aizen himself. He is not using Orihime's powers for any of his plans, and he treats her as a bait to lure Ichigo into Las Noches so he can further pushes his progress. So the moment Aizen realizes a female could be exceptionally powerful, he keeps her at a distance. Locks her up in her room. Allows potential harm to be directed her way (Loly and Menoly), and leaves her in a position of damsel to be saved. Telling her than a girl like her only needs to smile, which reads like an attempt to diminish her contribution to the war.
I am not counting in Lisa, Mashiro, and Soi-fon into this because in these cases the fight doesn't seem to vary from Aizen's encounter with male characters.
Yoruichi is an honorable mention, not because she gets attacked by him in any particularly cruel or personal way, but because during their 3 vs 1 battle it is Yoruichi who gets the most ignored verbally by Aizen. He has a dialogue exchange with Urahara, he comments on Ishin's Getsuga, but Yoruichi's comment about her legs (which is jokingly flirtatious on purpose to defuse Aizen's god-level ego at that moment) is met with a wall of Aizen's emotionless, flat reaction. Also, during the same encounter, Urahara is the one who gets the most of Aizen's attention, while Yoruichi is being clearly ignored conversation-wise. I think this is telling. It shows whom Aizen would rather treat as a conversation partner.
From these examples we see that female characters often work as extensions or emotional access/weaknesses of male characters he interacts with. He recognizes the connection, and uses it. He rarely engages in a longer conversation with a female character. He doesn't seem to see them as worthy or likely to progress after challenging them, he rather discards them when not useful anymore.
At the same time, there is no significant female character in Aizen's circle of closest subordinates. He is often accompanied by Gin and Tosen after they leave Soul Society. The Espada has only one female member. And his Arrancar maids - Loly and Menoly - get no attention from him, and are treated rather coldly, and strictly.
Interesting fact is that his two closest followers - Gin and Tosen, both have strong bonds with female characters. Kaname's whole philosophy of justice is inspired by his friend - Kakyō, and his need for revenge is a reaction to her getting brutally murdered.
Similarly, Gin's motivation began with Rangiku getting hurt by Aizen's lackeys. He is following Aizen for revenge, just like Kaname, and this revenge would be irrelevant if the bond with a female character had never existed. Aizen gets a glimpse into a power of that bond when Rangiku's cries over Gin's mutilated body. And what is Aizen's response to that scene? He tightens his grip on his sword, ready to strike her down. Just like he did to Gin.
As we see, Aizen not only targets multiple female characters, he also tends to target male characters who has a strong, personal connection to females. His main opponent are:
Ichigo - who inherited his protectiveness from his deep bond with his mother, and who also shares respectful and loving bonds with both Rukia and Orihime (both targeted by Aizen).
Urahara - who has a strong partnership with Yoruichi, and who also tried his best to befriend Hiyori during the pendulum arc.
These two characters, thanks to their connections (including, but not limited to, women) defeat Aizen in the Arrancar Saga.
Other characters, to whom Aizen seems to be particularly cruel toward are Hitsugaya, and Shinji. And again, both of them share strong, mutual bonds with female friends (Momo, and Hiyori). I already covered Kaname and Gin, I just want to add that in both cases Aizen kill them personally, as if punishing them for choosing the connection over his goal.
All the instances mentioned above, can suggest some sort of resentment or jealousy that Aizen carries toward other male characters who share emotional closeness with female characters. Or who perhaps are simply able to create meaningful, deep bonds with an aspect opposite to their own.
This resentment could be interpreted in a philosophical way, rather than as a simple misogyny. What he attacks is what the female characters symbolize.
Femininity in Bleach is connected with connection, care, attachment, protection of others and sacrificing oneself for the others (Masaki is an example, and how she defeats White by letting him bite her). Emotional intelligence represented by Orihime is another meaningful theme connected to femininity. With this comes compassion, empathy, supporting others and letting others rely on you emotionally (again, Orihime shows this, but also Ikumi, and Kukaku). And we already briefly touched on sisterhood, teamwork, motherhood and camaraderie represented by characters who are able to bring others together (Harribel, Matsumoto when supporting Orihime, Rukia training with Orihime). This places femininity as an important factor in creating community, and bonding people together, not by force, but by support and understanding.
Naturally, Aizen despises and lacks all these aspects, and they might be threatening to his belief in extreme individualism and self-sufficiency, his hate of dependency and reliance, refusal of being understood and connecting with others. What female characters represent in Bleach conflicts directly with Aizen's self-construct.
This could hint at Aizen's lack of internal balance between female and male aspects of self (anima and animus in Jungian interpretation, or yin and yang in thaois).
Yang - in taoism is a male aspect, the light (Aizen is compared to being like the Sun), white color (Aizen's color for the most of the Arrancar Saga), expansion, active energy, progress, strength. These are all aspects that Aizen clearly shows through the series.
Yin - the female aspect associated with the black (Shinigami color), the night, the moon, the stillness, passiveness, acceptance, introversion, the energy directed inward, intuition, treachery. Aizen exhibits only some of these aspects.
However, his power and his sword strongly resonate with Yin aspect (illusions, moon, secrecy), which makes me believe that Kyoka Suigetsu embodies Aizen's anima (female aspect), which he never fully accepted, internalized, or embraced. This creates an interesting contradiction: the power that defines him originates from aspects of himself that he appears unwilling to consciously acknowledge. Perhaps this is why we never see his Bankai.
Psychologically, this lack of acceptance of his own Yin/female aspect is self-destructive and keeps him from connecting.
The imbalance within Aizen may be caused by the absence of a maternal figure in his formative days, however this is speculative.
Whatever the reason, Aizen in multiple instances exhibits a dismissive attitude or violent rejection toward characters who are connected with female characters naturally, or toward female representation themselves, suggesting that he externalizes the rejection of a part of his own nature. But he also seems to envy what he dismisses because it makes him incomplete. Hollow. As three hollow holes he carries within himself after his final transformation.
Aizen's internal conflict is becoming the most visible right after his defeat, when his power is starting to fade instead of evolving again. This clearly shows his lack of self-understanding. And if we interprt Kyoka Suigetsu as the manifestation of his anima then his sword crumbling down gets the new meaning.
