#The House Our Families Built

[awkward-teabag]

Love (cannot emphasis how much sarcasm there is in that word) that an official Canadian government response to high cellphone rates is to switch carriers.

Switch it to what? We basically have three companies since one was allowed to eat the forth (with the government saying it wasn't anti-competition and the company eating the other pinky promising they wouldn't jack rates up). Even the smaller companies have to rent infrastructure from the Big Three so there's only so much they can do if that rent costs an arm and a leg.

And that's not touching on how many "small companies" are actually just subsidiaries of the Big Three. You may save $5 but you're still with Telus/Rogers/Bell.

Or that the actual small companies tend to have shit coverage because they don't have the infrastructure available to them and are prevented from getting it. Or their traffic is throttled in favour of the Big Three's customers. Or both.

Or that they're extremely regional thus aren't an option for a huge chunk of Canada's population.

We have no true options and the government has shown time and again that they're fine with monopolies, in multiple industries, and don't care when said monopolies jack up prices to make shareholders and the c-suite more money at the expense of everyone else. At most there will be a verbal slap on the wrist and a giftcard for $25 that people have to register for, for a decade and a half of price gouging.

It's not talked a whole lot about outside the country from what I've seen and heard but Canada is a country of monopolies. A handful of companies own nearly everything, every province has a family or two that owns a hell of a lot (Nova Scotia is basically owned by one family at this point), and our government ignores it. Even the branch that is supposed to be against monopolies is fine with mergers and takeovers in most cases.

Because, you know, the company said it totally wouldn't use consumers' lack of options to increase prices.

#canada #so much of our infrastructure and critical construction such as housing #has been pawned off for decades to private companies #and i forgot to mention one (1) family owns the bridge that is a major international corridor between canada and the us #which is apparently fine even though they fought tooth and nail to stop a bridge they don't own from being built #like our housing crisis can be traced back to the government deciding to stop building public housing in the 90s #because they figured private developers would pick up the slack #affordable apartments don't bring in much money so we got decades of cheap-ass 'luxury condos' instead #and once airbnb became a thing we got entire buildings with units <300sqft #and of course when the party in charge rotates between conservatives and neolibs nothing changes and that can gets kicked down the road #and keeps getting kicked until something collapses and they see the chance to fully privatize an industry #something similar is happening to our healthcare system too #it has been left to languish for years/decades with funding freezes and cuts #and private companies are quick to jump in and get the government stamp of approval to do [thing] that the public system clearly can't do #when [thing] would absolutely be possible if it was actually funded and/or staffed #so many communities were cut off when greyhound closed up shop because there's no government inter-city transportation #we lost internet/banking/cell service/etc nation-wide because one of the big three decided to push an update to live without redundancies #and it bugged and took the entire company's network down #even the government agency that demands major companies have a backup on a different network was taken down because they ignored that #and they got a deal if they kept their backup with rogers while their main network was also rogers #so they couldn't even make an emergency statement or anything about it #half my province also lost all digital infrastructure because it's a private company and making a redundancy line would mean smaller bonuse #it's just so bad #joke all you want about how canada is nice and friendly #but you are wrong and it's hell if you actually live here #the only reason canada is seen as nice is because it's hard to not seem like the better option when the us is your neighbour #and because of decades of pr work to make canada seem friendly and nice and not at all problematic #in some countries you actually have to try to hide you're canadian because of how much we colonize and the damage we do to other countries #yes these tags have derailed from the post but ugh #i take major issue with people who insist canada is nice and has never done anything wrong

[dudethatsmyundeaduncle]

NGL feel like the Batfam would have a much better go at it if they weren't majority white.

#like listen POC families have had intergenerational drama on lock for centuries #were just built to be bats #like yeah grandma hated me as a child and my aunts are all evil spies and my uncles are con artists and yet were all here enjoying christmas #like come on #the waynes are too white to have this kind of drama #like for all those people slinging jason todd is latinx headcannons if jason WAS latino #you damn well know u dont move out of ur parents house until ur married #sometimes not even then #so if he got under the red hooded immediately after all that shit he'd rock straight back up to the house #like hey im home wtf is for dinner #cuz its not bruces house baby its OUR HOUSE #Anyway #this is mostly a meme #dont take this seriously or ill ray gun u #DC #Batman #Batfam

[chimaerakitten]

The house you grew up in had secret passages?? 👀

technically only one was truly a secret passage, but I like to count the easily visible trapdoor-accessible loft anyway because unlike a typical trapdoor-accessible attic the loft was two parts on two sides of the house and the only way to the second half was an honest-to-god indoor wooden bridge.

The true secret passage was actually the door to the only bathroom, which was a sliding bookcase. It was a tiny house and when it was being built the options were "will we use this space for a bookcase, or a bathroom door?" and the answer was "yes"

#I grew up in a very strange and mildly illegal (nobody told the city it was being built) house #in later years everyone claimed it had been on the property since before the family bought it in the early 70s #in the winter we'd wrap the porch in canvas and use space heaters to turn it into another room #to host family banquets #we had a 26 person thanksgiving on that porch once #the backdoor of the house was also in the bathroom but we didn't use it because it was a straight four foot drop into stinging nettles #and the stairs has been removed years prior #the whole house was wood-heated #I have a lot of nostalgia for that house even though it was much too small for our family #and it was best we got a place with more than one bathroom #and that didn't have the bathtub in the pantry #ask #okayto

[love-songs-for-emma]

am i going to single-handedly create a fandom about jay holt from the video game "as dusk falls"? i just fuckin might

#i Cant stop thinking about him. ive literally been dreaming about him. i Need to help him. please #hes just a fuckin kid!!! (18?? 19??) hes a TEEN and his family is FUCKED and its not his FAULT #none of this was his fault. he deserves so much fuckin BETTER #also i thought i didnt care about vanessa but then shes got dead brother trauma hi hello hiiiiii #and now jay does too #fuck my LIFE #ive never been one for self-inserts but actually me jay and vanessa hang out regularly in a tree house we built #we laugh and shoot the shit and talk about what losing our brothers have done/are doing to our psyche #as dusk falls #jay holt #vanessa dorland #new hyperfix u say ? this one will be brief hopefully. bc the game is fucking. unfinished. stupid ass cliffhanger ass bjtch ass #plus im rewriting canon so jay has a good young life. no timeskip for MEEE #maria is literally just rambling. hi #.txt #the only fic ive ever written/outlined was about alana bloom from nbc's hannibal & she Deserved a rewrite #but maybe i need to indulge in writing jay holt's better reality TOO #theres a quote. hang on. a quote from a beloved piece of media. why cant i recall what its from rn #but theyre talking about different timelines n shish and one of them says ''maybe this *is* your best reality'' and its SO sad. fuck #is it hannibal. i feel like its always hanniba #no but also i feel like its not??? #its like ''this is your best life. youre not getting a better one'' #what the eff is that. im gonna be stuck on this forever #EDIT: IT IS FROM FUCKING HANNIBAL. BUT ITS GODDAMN FREDRICK CHILTON OF ALL PEOPLE WHO SAYS IT #''The optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears this is true. #This is your best possible world Will. Not getting a better one'' #fucking CHRIST chilton #lines that go HARD

[amerasdreams]

how even 140 acres in one family for 60 years can develop its own myths

The rumor of a baby buried somewhere in the woods

If you sing near the old lane of the farm that used to be on the hill, the mean old former owner will kill you because he hated singing.

The Haunted Tree, which has a chain embedded in it, hollow tree which keeps living for decades-- if you knock on the tree and listen to it 3 times, and don't hear anything the 3rd time, the tree will swallow you up.

And of course the stories from when mom was a kid on the farm, and stories from when we stayed on the farm with our cousins....

#Farm #Land #Legend #Myth #It wasn't a working farm #Grandpa had Projects #Like the apple trees #Some cows sometimes #Now we rarely go there #It's different #Now my aunt and uncle live there #Now my aunt from NY built a house on the hill #Where Mr Vetikin lived #Good our family has it #By hill I mean a slight rise in the land #Another part of the joke #Sayings #Terms we still use from gramma farm in IL #"Eli bread #Grammas horses names from the 1930s

[nowendil]

this year really kicked off with grief huh

#nowe talks #cw animal death #as some of you may remember my sweet old lady dog pulmu died last month #and yesterday our family's other dog Milli had to be put to sleep too. less than a month after Pulmu #i'm just so heartbroken. like it will be okay and i knew it was going to happen someday because Milli was old too (13) but it was so sudden #i wasnt prepared for her to go already #the house is so empty without them. #Milli's death was a bigger blow for my mother than me because she was her dog. like Her Dog. Milli loved her so so so much. #like they were best friends. and my mom had so many routines built around Milli (and Pulmu too) #i know she can tale care of herself but i still worry #and i grieve and i grieve and i grieve #it's 5 am and i have been awake flr like an hour crying about it. i habe had it up to here with grief #i just hope she's alright wherever she is. i hope both of them are #good night sweet angel <3 thank you for everything

[abimee]

there really is no living like trailer house living especially when your neighbor's house catches fire and they just up and take the house off the cement basement its placed on top and for like 2 months you just walk by a huge concrete triangle in the ground as they try bringing in another house

#i never understood media that made concrete basements out to be uninviting or creepy #vefore remembering regular houses typically have a small concrete basement for like bare storage #while with a trailer house the concrete basement is like 50% of the house. we played wii sports downstairs #the family computer was down there alongside an island bar lesbiansd built before us there #and our fake fire that was just gasoline run but the flames were real #and the bathroom we had to use caudse the upstairs bathroom was occupied by a cat litter box bathtub #and the boiler room that always flooded #that damn pilot light

[sharkfish]

yo did ryan reynolds come into OUR HOUSE the day before OUR HIGHEST OF HOLY DAYS and hasn't acknowledged it??

#november 5 #the house that destiel built #i will allow celebs to visit tumblr #but only if they are respectful!!! #shoes off at the door #pray to our destiel altar(s) hourly #etc #(neil gaiman is family and can do whatever he wants) #(my snacks are your snacks mr gaiman)

[donghuamuqing]

I have so much experience with loud family gatherings consisting of many people who love to talk i NEED to write the byers hopper thanksgiving dinner extended version

#my post #i say extended version but murray and enzo live there in the inlaws suite out back #its nothing fabulous its literally a glorified shack hopper and enzo built on the property #jonathan calls it the out house #my family gatherings arent very chaotic theyre jusy loud and bustling be we all have somewhat small houses #i think a byers hopper family dinner would actually have someone accidentally set something on fire #when ur family is jewish italian mixed with ppl who love to talk about themselves and ask questions about you #there r currently 10 ppl in our dining room/kitchen area which is not as big as ur imagining i can guarantee

[sarahsupastar]

I so, so desperately want to move into a big beautiful Victorian house with a handful of friends. I'm honestly having a bit of a depression about the fact that it feels like a fucking pipe dream because 1) my circle of friends is very small these days, & 2) amatanormativity means everyone else is planning their future around a romantic partner, while I'm stuck trying to forge a future alone.

#i want the stability and the ownership and tbh the aesthetic beauty of a house of my own #but fuck if i can afford anything around here with just 1 person's salary #and i know from past experience that living alone is a depression trigger for me #and even though everyone loves to talk about how awesome it would be to live in a big house with all their friends #it really truly feels like literally none of them actually mean it #cause at the end of the day they inevitably seek out long-term romantic partners and plan their futures as a couple #and I'm just here on my own #desperately wanting that same stability and companionship #but kept on the outskirts because our whole fucking society is built around nuclear families and even people who recognize that's a problem #still use it as the default framework for their own lives #sarah talks at the internet #tag rant #i had to drive through the rich part of town to get to the bookstore today #seeing all those GORGEOUS Victorians and knowing that i can't realistically even DAYDREAM about some day having one has put me in a mood

[shoverse]

man sho is such a good one

#ok so basically #for some chinese families #ur name is built like say 黃河月 #so its like last name | name #for my family we have this like generation thing where the second character of any person born in that gen has to be that #its engraved in a wall in one of our houses in shanghai #so like.two thirds of my name was made wayyy before i was bon #*born #and i got #守 which imo is saurrrr cute #shoyu; 吸我鳩

[ketchuppee]

During the 2008 recession, my aunt lost her job. Her, her partner, and my three cousins moved across the country to stay with us while they got back on their feet. My house turned from a family of four to a family of nine overnight, complete with three dogs and five cats between us.

It took a few years for them to get a place of their own, but after a few rentals and apartments, they now own a split level ranch in a town nearby. I’ve lost track of how many coworkers and friends have stayed with them when they were in a tight spot. A mother and son getting out of an abusive relationship, a divorcee trying to stay local for his kids while they work out a custody agreement, you name it. My aunt and uncle knew first hand what that kindness meant, and always find space for someone who needed it, the way my parents had for them.

That same aunt and uncle visited me in [redacted] city last year. They are prolific drinkers, so we spent most of the day bar hopping. As we wandered the city, any time we passed a homeless person, my uncle would pull out a fresh cigarette and ask them if they had a light. Regardless of if they had a lighter on hand or not, he offered them a few bucks in exchange, which he explained to me after was because he felt it would be easier for them to accept in exchange for a service, no matter how small.

I work for a company that produces a lot of fabric waste. Every few weeks, I bring two big black trash bags full of discarded material over to a woman who works down the hall. She distributes them to local churches, quilting clubs, and teachers who can use them for crafts. She’s currently in the process of working with our building to set up a recycling program for the smaller pieces of fabric that are harder to find use for.

One of my best friends gives monthly donations to four or five local organizations. She’s fortunate enough to have a tech job that gives her a good salary, and she knows that a recurring donation is more valuable to a non-profit because they can rely on that money month after month, and can plan ways to stretch that dollar for maximum impact. One of those organizations is a native plant trust, and once she’s out of her apartment complex and in a home with a yard, she has plans to convert it into a haven of local flora.

My partner works for a company that is working to help regulate crypto and hold the current bad actors in the space accountable for their actions. We unfortunately live in a time where technology develops far too fast for bureaucracy to keep up with, but just because people use a technology for ill gain doesn’t mean the technology itself is bad. The blockchain is something that she finds fascinating and powerful, and she is using her degree and her expertise to turn it into a tool for good.

I knew someone who always had a bag of treats in their purse, on the odd chance they came across a stray cat or dog, they had something to offer them.

I follow artists who post about every local election they know of, because they know their platform gives them more reach than the average person, and that they can leverage that platform to encourage people to vote in elections that get less attention, but in many ways have more impact on the direction our country is going to go.

All of this to say, there’s more than one way to do good in the world. Social media leads us to believe that the loudest, the most vocal, the most prolific poster is the most virtuous, but they are only a piece of the puzzle. (And if virtue for virtues sake is your end goal, you’ve already lost, but that’s a different post). Community is built of people leveraging their privileges to help those without them. We need people doing all of those things and more, because no individual can or should do all of it. You would be stretched too thin, your efforts valiant, but less effective in your ambition.

None of this is to encourage inaction. Identify your unique strengths, skills, and privileges, and put them to use. Determine what causes are important to you, and commit to doing what you can to help them. Collective action is how change is made, but don’t forget that we need diversity in actions taken.

#long post #some thoughts I’ve been having

[dudethatsmyundeaduncle]

NGL feel like the Batfam would have a much better go at it if they weren't majority white.

#like listen POC families have had intergenerational drama on lock for centuries #were just built to be bats #like yeah grandma hated me as a child and my aunts are all evil spies and my uncles are con artists and yet were all here enjoying christmas #like come on #the waynes are too white to have this kind of drama #like for all those people slinging jason todd is latinx headcannons if jason WAS latino #you damn well know u dont move out of ur parents house until ur married #sometimes not even then #so if he got under the red hooded immediately after all that shit he'd rock straight back up to the house #like hey im home wtf is for dinner #cuz its not bruces house baby its OUR HOUSE #Anyway #this is mostly a meme #dont take this seriously or ill ray gun u #DC #Batman #Batfam

[nope-body]

.

tw- mentions of animal death (dog, cat) and death of a member of my extended family

#I feel like I am surrounded with death and it’s sort of overwhelming just because of how much in the past few days #like unrelated to world events #first my friend’s dog died while I was staying at their house for break (on the last day we were there) #then I get back from break and finish unpacking (so the day after their dog died) and I get a call from my mom saying #my great aunt Susan has died and that there probably won’t be a ceremony/funeral but that in a couple weeks there’ll be a family gathering #at a restaurant to share stories about her life (as is our tradition but usually we also do a burial and funeral) #and today I get an email from my Black English and Voice professor saying that tomorrow’s class is going to be over zoom because her cat #(who we knew wasn’t doing so well and was older) has died/is going to be put down very soon #I met this dog twice (but for extended periods of time both times- I was staying over) #and while he was very stinky he was also very sweet and somehow happy despite having multiple tumors and different kinds of cancers #and having to have an eye removed and I think a bunch of other health issues #still a very happy and cuddly dog! also built like a brick. I think people could tell that his time was coming #my friend actually said a few days before he died that he wasn’t allowed to die while they were there #(they didn’t want to have to deal with everyone around them being sad which is understandable) #and their mom responded that ‘I don’t think Louie will die before Saturday’ but he did. he died on Friday #apparently my great aunt Susan was moved into hospice care a week ago and my mom just didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to ruin break #but also that means that being told she died hit really hard and unexpectedly #I didn’t know her all that well but she’s family #she’s family that I care about regardless of how close I was to her #and anyway by the end she didn’t want to see many people anyway #at the end of the school year last year I went to visit her in the hospital while I was in new york for my great aunt June’s funeral #(she’s actually a cousin of some sort but I’ve always called her great aunt June) #and she was willing to see my mom but was too tired to see anyone else so I never actually saw her then #and now she’s gone #that was a late night call that I got yesterday #and today is the email about my professor’s cat Tea Cake #I know my professor. I don’t know her cat. but it’s still another death that I don’t have many degrees of separation from #my professor would talk about her cat before class started sometimes so it’s also not this abstract entity. it’s one I know about #it’s just. a lot? #and it doesn’t feel like it should be as overwhelming as it is

[homo-house]

hey uh so I haven't seen anyone talking about this here yet, but

the amazon river, like the biggest river in the fucking world, in the middle of the amazon fucking rainforest, is currently going through its worst drought since the records began 121 years ago

picture from Folha PE

there's a lot going on but I haven't seen much international buzz around this like there was when the forest was on fire (maybe because it's harder to shift the narrative to blame brazil exclusively as if the rest of the world didn't have fault in this) so I wanted to bring this to tumblr's attention

I don't know too many details as I live in the other side of the country and we are suffering from the exact opposite (at least three cyclones this year, honestly have stopped counting - it's unusual for us to get hit by even one - floods, landslides, we have a death toll, people are losing everything to the water), but like, I as a brazilian have literally never seen pictures of the river like this before. every single city in the amazonas state is in a state of emergency as of november 1st.

pictures by Adriano Liziero (ig: geopanoramas)

we are used to seeing images of rio negro and solimões, the two main amazon river affluents, in all their grandiose and beauty and seeing these pictures is really fucking chilling. some of our news outlets are saying the solimões has turned to a sand desert... can you imagine this watery sight turning into a desert in the span of a year?

while down south we are seeing amounts of rain and hailstorms the likes of which our infrastructure is simply not built to deal with, up north people who have built everything around the river are at a loss of what to do.

the houses there that are built to float are just on the ground, people who depend on fishing for a living have to walk kilometers to find any fish that are still alive at all, the biodiversity there is at risk, and on an economic level it's hard to grasp how people from the northern states are getting by at all - the main means of transport for ANYTHING in that region is via the river water. this will impact the region for months to come. it doesnt make a lot of sense to build a lot of roads bc it's just better to use the waterway system, everything is built around or floats on the river after all. and like, the water level is so incomprehensibly low the boats are just STUCK. people are having a hard time getting from one place to another - keep in mind the widest parts of the river are over 10 km apart!!

this shit is really serious and i am trying not to think about it because we have a different kind of problem to worry about down south but it's really terrifying when I stop to think about it. you already know the climate crisis is real and the effects are beyond preventable now (we're past global warming, get used to calling it "global boiling"). we'll be switching strategies to damage control from now on and like, this is what it's come to.

I don't like to be alarmist but it's hard not to be alarmed. I'm sorry that I can't end this post with very clear intructions on how people overseas can help, there really isn't much to do except hope the water level rises soon, maybe pray if you believe in something. in that regard we just have to keep pressing for change at a global level; local conditions only would not, COULD NOT be causing this - the amazon river is a CONTINENTAL body of water, it spans across multiple countries. so my advice is spread the word, let your representatives know that you're worried and you want change towards sustainability, degrowth and reduced carbon emissions, support your local NGOs, maybe join a cause, I don't know? I recommend reading on ecological and feminist economics though

however, I know you can help the affected riverine families by donating to organizations dedicated to helping the region. keep in mind a single US dollar, pound or euro is worth over 5x more in our currency so anything you donate at all will certainly help those affected.

FAS - Sustainable Amazon Fundation

Idesam - Sustainable Developent and Preservation Institute of Amazonas

Greenpeace Brasil - I know Greenpeace isn't the best but they're one of the few options I can think of that have a bridge to the international world and they are helping directly

There are a lot of other smaller/local NGOs but I'm not sure how you could donate to them from overseas, I'll leave some of them here anyway:

Projeto Gari

Caritás Brasileira

If you know any other organizations please link them, I'll be sure to reblog though my reach isn't a lot

thank you so much for reading this to the end, don't feel obligated to share but please do if you can! even if you just read up to here it means a lot to me that someone out there knows

also as an afterthought, I wanted to expand on why I think this hasn't made big news yet: because unlike the case of the 2020 forest fires, other countries have to hold themselves accountable when looking at this situation. while in 2020 it was easier to pretend the fires were all our fault and people were talking about taking the amazon away from us like they wouldn't do much worse. global superpowers have no more forests to speak of so I guess they've been eyeing what latin america still has. so like this bit of the post is just to say if you're thinking of saying anything of the sort, maybe think of what your own country has done to contribute to this instead of blaming brazil exclusively and saying the amazon should be protected by force or whatever

#solarpunk #sustainability #environmentalism #climate change #climate crisis #global warming #amazon rainforest #amazon river #geography #brazil #degrowth #punk #global boiling #ecopunk #anti capitalism #climate action #climate activism #the world does not die on my watch #i saw someone use that tag and uh i like it we should make it a thing #long post #:/ sorry i know no one likes lengthy bad news posts on their dashes but i've been thinking about this quite a bit #and i don't really know what to do to help bc i don't have money to donate and i am 10 thousand km away #i think i could be doing more to help but i am already trying my best #again dont feel obligated to share or read this but it would be nice and i would love you forever #have removed lbv from the post

[northgazaupdates]

21 y/o journalist Hossam Shabat is often cited by numerous media outlets, social media accounts, and this blog. He has spent the last 150+ days documenting the genocide while also organizing relief efforts and food drives that have fed thousands of people in north Gaza. Today he is asking for help for his family, whose home was destroyed because of his journalism. He writes,

I have decided to launch a personal fundraiser to help my family. Initially, I decided to first help my people and community, and have been supporting them in North Gaza for months. However, this campaign is dedicated to helping my family, who lost everything due to my profession. The Israeli forces contacted me directly, threatening me, and then bombed the house, of my family and built this house with our blood and sweat. Now, my family, consisting of 13 members, finds themselves living in a tent. Thus, I am launching this campaign to seek assistance for myself and my family during these challenging times.

Please consider donating and/or share

https://gofund.me/5bc4d041

#actions #hossam shabat #north gaza #gaza #gaza genocide #gaza strip #gaza under attack #free gaza #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #palestinian genocide #gaza journalists #link #text