#freedom is a gift

[1-1-s1ay-2-2]

Anytime the great men of biblical times were freed, they were freed by God. They were hardly ever freed by other men.

#freedom is righteous that's why men don't give it freely but God does #explained #freedom is a gift #free will...the ultimate gift

[positivelyadhd]

i have been reading through the diary I kept from ages 14-17 and realising how helpful it can be to keep a record of how you're feeling at different moments.

not only is it helpful to write down and process how your feeling and give yourself time to truly think about it, it's nice to have something to look back on. to not just remember how you felt about a certain situation but to actually have yourself from that time tell you.

and also, from an adhd perspective, it's really lovely to have reminders of things I'd almost entirely forgotten. it's easy to think that your life right now isn't interesting, but in 5 years time? to know what songs you were listening to or book you were reading or even that Thing that you were so worried about but now you can't even remember the details. it's nice to have a physical reminder that time passes and things really can get better.

#i think part of whats makes it so special to me is that (like it is for a lot of people) those ages where so *much* #and i was so stuck in my head and socially anxious and i feel like those years of school rly shaped who i am now ect #but id kind of forgotten? its become a blur emotions over time and its nice to see it clearer #but also how i changed? and to read into it and see what i did or didn't write #im also a big fan of the inner child and doing things for your younger self and its a lovely gift to have her speaking to me directly #also if you want to journal i highly recommend doing it in a normal notebook rather than a pre planned one #it gives you the freedom for it to be whatever you want with none of the pressure #recovery #tips

[contemplatingoutlander]

On Billionaires and "Tyrannical Freedom"

Another excellent commentary by Jamelle Bouie. As such, this is a gift🎁link that anyone can use to read the entire article, even if they do not subscribe to The New York Times. Below are some excerpts:

This week in Texas Monthly, I read a troubling profile of Tim Dunn, a 68-year-old billionaire Texas oilman and lavish financier for right-wing extremists in the state. “In the past two years,” Russell Gold writes, “Dunn has become the largest individual source of campaign money in the state by far.” He has spent, through his political action committee, millions of dollars targeting Republicans who don’t meet his ideological litmus tests of opposition to public schools, opposition to renewable energy and support for tax cuts and draconian anti-abortion laws. A pastor who once said that only Christians should hold leadership positions in government, Dunn sees himself as someone who is on a religious mission of sorts and has devoted his time and wealth to imposing his ultraconservative politics and fundamentalist beliefs on as many Texans as possible. [...] I was disturbed. There is his wealth and influence, yes. But there is also his worldview, captured in the opening scene of the piece. Dunn makes an unfavorable comparison between human societies and bee hives:

By itself, this passage reads as fairly innocuous. But when read with Dunn in mind — a straightforward Christian nationalist whose allies in Texas politics are leading the charge to ban books, suppress the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. Texans and restrict reproductive health care — it takes on a more ominous cast. The passage, in that context, seems to capture the perspective of a man who does not believe in democratic freedom — a freedom rooted in political and social equality — as much as he believes in the freedom of the master, which is to say the freedom to rule and subordinate others. It’s a tyrannical freedom, one that rests on the idea that the world is nothing but a set of overlapping hierarchies, and that if you do not sit at the top of one, then you must be made to serve those who do. You’ll find freedom within your role, and nowhere else. This is not a new or foreign conception of freedom — it is...one of the more dissonant notes in our collective heritage. The issue, today, is twofold. First, we have a powerful political movement, led by Donald Trump, that defines itself in terms of this freedom. And second, we’ve allowed such a grotesque accumulation of wealth that figures like Dunn can wield tremendous influence over the political system. I’ve written before that the fight to save American democracy will involve more than beating Trump at the ballot box. Finding ways to radically limit the political reach of the super wealthy is part of what I mean. [emphasis added]

#right-wing billionaires #christian nationalists #tyrannical freedom #tim dunn #texas #jamelle bouie #the new york times #russell gold #texas monthly #gift link

[loopyarts]

Ta da @eeveeworlds Here’s your late Christmas Eve present for you. :3 Your fanfic freedom au version of Luffy with Nika. I hope you a lovely Christmas tomorrow Eevee.

Ps sorry it took so long to finish this drawing for you but hey it made for a nice early present for you, so that’s lovely coincidence. He he :3

#one piece #gift for eeveeworlds #monkey d. luffy #one piece luffy #alternate universe #One piece au fanart #gift for a friend #One piece freedom au #Based on one piece au fanfic #late night posting

[dustyfairywings]

So you know how Takayoshi gifted Akemi two songbirds in a cage together as a sincere apology for his mother?

I think those two birds are meant to symbolize both Akemi and Takayoshi. They are both marginalized in some way despite their privilege. Akemi as the daughter of a lord and Takayoshi as the disabled second son of the shogun are both denied agency in their roles despite their privilege. Takayoshi and Akemi both are song birds in a gilded cage. Two pawns to the political and social machinations of their parents. Akemi a victim to her father’s political aspirations and Takayoshi evidently a victim to his mother’s social manipulations.

(Aside: and possibly emotional abuse/neglect, with the way he was forbidden from speaking to women and who knows what actually happened to this first wife. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that it seems to me like this is all in service of maintaining a “respectable” image of the family, and cannot risk having people know he has a stutter. just spitballing here)

If I were to make a prediction for season 2, or a wish, it’s that I would like to see Akemi and Takayoshi form a genuine bond and alliance as two privileged-yet-marginalized individuals having to navigate a politically fraught and rigidly hierarchical society, and I think there’s at least some textual evidence to support this being a real possibility.

They demonstrate in the show Takayoshi is no fool and that he’s clearly an educated and well-read man. Take how he engages with Akemi’s poetry during sex compared to Taigen as an example. He simply has a disability and is somewhat submissive and subdued (likely due to being shamed or ridiculed for his stutter and getting little to no support as a child). They are capable of being intellectual equals. Any sort of power or control Akemi would gain over Takayoshi is by virtue of the kindness and empathy she is showing him, not because she’s outsmarting him. I believe Takayoshi is willingly surrendering himself to his wife and cognizant of this fact.

I think we may see a dynamic where Akemi will both advocate for her own political ends but also at times advocate for and try to protect her husband where she can where familial and interpersonal relationships are involved. I really really hope their union will be one that grows in political power through the healing power of love, compassion, and solidarity between two marginalized individuals.

They can acknowledge the humanity in each other and see each other as equals in their shared pain and victimization, and find empowerment through each other. If they cannot be their own masters at least they can be each other’s sole masters.

Takayoshi and Akemi may be two songbirds stuck in a gilded cage, stripped of their freedom and humanity. But they at least have each other and together they can harmonize.

#ramblogging #blue eye samurai #akemi blue eye samurai #takayoshi blue eye samurai #im convinced takayoshi’s gift of two birds is a symbol of his sincere willingess to build an emotional and political alliance with akemi #a recognition of their status as equals on some level #namely being marginalized #suddenly have the urge to draw akemi and takayoshi sitting together on a swing inside a bird cage #looking somber in bird-like kimono #i think people only see akemi as manipulating takayoshi #but tbh i think takayoshi might be a bit like her willing participant #well as willing as you can be when your choices are manipulative loving wife vs manipulative bitch mother #and akemi hasnt shown herself to be so utterly heartless that she would manipulate takayoshi against his own interests? #akemi has regularly shown concern and empathy for others #second to her freedom i think akemi wants nothing more but to genuinely connect with others #akemi would not be happy with herself nor would she be satisfied if her kindneds towards takayoshi were only skin deep #anyway that’s my 2 cents

[firecurls-27]

Summer time!

I watched a video about a 1950’s fashion show about swimsuits, and I just got inspired! And what better way to spread inspiration by giving it to others?

Summer ends for me in 2-3 weeks, so have some summer girls!

Credit:

Gala belongs to @nightmaretherabbit

Rosé belongs to me

Tea belongs to @marshmallow-biscuit-blog

Paris belongs to @sk3let00nz

Moonshine belongs to @trippin-chippin

Elise belongs to @purplemang0z

Ross belongs to @zibiscusloon

Video I watched:

#my art #my post #ask firecurls #cuphead #cuphead: ddwtd #the cuphead show #cuphead art #cuphead au #cuphead oc #demitasse family au #lost ones au #kitchen utensil family #art of freedom au #aof au #moonshine bailey #dad dice au #disaster utensils #Youtube #gift #tw bright colors

[drsonnet]

Palestinians leave their homes after increasing Israeli airstrikes in Rafah 08.05.2024

RAFAH, GAZA : Palestinians with their packed belongings, continue to depart from the eastern neighborhoods of the city due to ongoing Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on May 8, 2024. ( Ali Jadallah - Anadolu Agency)

Anadolu Images on X: "Palestinians with their packed belongings, continue to depart from the eastern neighborhoods of the city due to ongoing Israeli attacks in Rafah https://t.co/QlALy4WTlg 📸: Ali Jadallah https://t.co/MCahslQadZ" / X (twitter.com)

ALT

View on Twitter

#palestine#gaza#rafah#genocide#free palestine#news#all eyes on rafah#save rafah#Deir al-Balah

#genocide #gaza #save rafah #rafah #all eyes on rafah #save the children #palestine #freedom #news #save palestine #free palestine #save gaza #crimes against humanity #gaza genocide #bafta awards #aurora borealis #jacob anderson #mothers day #unique gifts #david tennant #baftas #bafta 2024 #eurovision #c4news #bethlehem #ethnic cleansing #doctor who

[rainbow-baby-one]

Read Banned Books Sweatshirt!

#banned #free speech #freedom of speech #first amendment #librarian #sweatshirt #gifts #gift #books and libraries #teacher #bookish

[goshyesvintageads]

United States Brewers Foundation, 1954

#beer #ad #1954 #mid-century #Haddon Sundblom #illustration #advertisement #Christmas #gift wrapping #freedom #post war #midcentury #1950s #Home Life in America #series #art #ale #vintage #postwar #mid century

[newrelationshipgoals]

If we’re dating, you can have your freedom… You’re not my prisoner. Just stay loyal and be honest. That’s all I ask.

#If we’re dating #you can have your freedom… You’re not my prisoner. Just stay loyal and be honest. That’s all I ask. #quotes #couples #relationship #love #thoughts #relationship goals #relationship quotes #long distance relationship #ldr #long distance #valentines day gift #valentines day #valentine's day #valentines day wish #happy valentines #valentines aesthetic

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

I noticed the more mainstream fandom either hates buggy or they think he represents the lost potential. Do you agree with that statement? Why? And if so do you think narrative points out to him finally rising?

ah, mainstream fandom, who needs 'em!

that said, i do think there's something to the "lost potential" concept, though i wouldn't phrase it that way myself. rather, i'd say buggy represents another way of looking at the concept of freedom—because when individual choice is sacrosanct, that includes bad choices.

if people have true freedom, that includes the freedom to self-sabotage, to make choices not in your best interest. that includes the freedom to choose greed over friendship, or even safety over freedom.

so i guess you could consider buggy making those decisions a sort of lost/squandered potential, but idk, something about that phrasing rubs me the wrong way. who are we to claim we know the kind of man buggy could have been? the person who raised you doesn't determine the kind of person you'll become.

anyway, idk about the lost potential perspective leading to a buggy Good Ending, but i think my freedom of choice take certainly allows for it. all buggy has to do is be brave enough to make the harder, better choice. and then the harder, better choice that comes after that, and the one after that, and… you get the idea.

#asked and answered #one piece #buggy #i realized halfway through drafting this what my issue with that phrase is. 'lost potential' gives me gifted kid™️ flashbacks! lmao #what did any teacher know of the person i'd become? who are they to say i've failed them by not being the woman they imagined i would be? #i'm not beholden to them and buggy isn't beholden to boring op fans #*endgame speculation #*true freedom #*buggy’s bad choices

[lost-carcosa]

#UK politics #brexit #european union #freedom of movement #daily fail #brexit - the gift that keeps on giving

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is a seminal opinion column by Jamelle Bouie. Consequently, the above link is a gift 🎁 link, so anyone can read the article in full, even if they do not subscribe to The New York Times. Here are some excerpts from the article:

In his 1941 State of the Union address, Franklin Roosevelt said there was “nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy” and that he, along with the nation, looked forward to “a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.” Famously, those freedoms were the “freedom of speech and expression,” the “freedom of every person to worship God in his own way,” the “freedom from want” and the “freedom from fear.” Those freedoms were the guiding lights of his New Deal, and they remained the guiding lights of his administration through the trials of World War II.

There are, I think, four freedoms we can glean from the Republican program.

There is the freedom to control — to restrict the bodily autonomy of women and repress the existence of anyone who does not conform to traditional gender roles.

There is the freedom to exploit — to allow the owners of business and capital to weaken labor and take advantage of workers as they see fit.

There is the freedom to censor — to suppress ideas that challenge and threaten the ideologies of the ruling class.

And there is the freedom to menace — to carry weapons wherever you please, to brandish them in public, to turn the right of self-defense into a right to threaten other people.

Roosevelt’s four freedoms were the building blocks of a humane society — a social democratic aspiration for egalitarians then and now. These Republican freedoms are also building blocks not of a humane society but of a rigid and hierarchical one, in which you can either dominate or be dominated.

[emphasis added]

[edited]

#the four freedoms #democrats vs republicans #franklin roosevelt #jamelle bouie #the new york times #gift link #my charts

[firecurls-27]

Just cause it’s my birthday, it doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to give OTHERS gifts! Soooo

I made some of my closest mutual’s new cuphead oc’s!!

@queenkittycat123

Sixer D. Jasper

(Voice claim)

He/they, July 7th, pansexual, isle 2

King Dice’s weird cousin no one really talks about. No one even knows how old he is, not even himself. 20 sided dice with multiple eyes. He’s very friendly, just incredibly odd so no one really likes hanging out with him. He’s really good at babysitting and does a better job than most parents! He loves hanging out at the carnival, he feels like he belongs there.

@hey-imma-fangirl

Mother Nature

(Voice claim)

Goes by any pronouns but mostly uses she, January 1st, a million yo, demisexual, isle 4

Very calm and fun to talk to. She loves hearing mortals explain how they see the world. And yes, she’s VERY familiar with Lucifer, it was if he (or she, in fangirl’s au) was her own child. They haven’t talked in centuries but would love to see her lu-lu again.. every now and then an Angel from heaven comes to see her, but it’s not the same.

@marshmallow-biscuit-blog

Selene the selkie

(Voice claim)

She/they, May 17th, 12yo, lesbian, demigirl, isle 3

A selkie who loves to hang out around the docks and mess with sailor ships. Very energetic and will talk for HOURS. She’s actually very nice if she’s comfortable around you. Can and will eat an entire bucket of tuna if you let her. She’s got a crush on Cora (the pirate NPC) and before you ask, her seal skin is her dress sash she tied into a bow.

@zibiscusloon

Pappy (papaya) Sugarsap the fruit bat

(Voice claim)

They/them, October 29th, 39 yo, bisexual (leans towards men) isle 4

A librarian with insane insomnia. The only bat in their family who stays up day and night. They love to read books for children during “story time” and rarely ever takes a break. Very patient with kids, not adults. They hate vessel the most (they have a crush on him) but only tolerates him cause Mugman is pappy’s best customer, Mugman has his own personal reading nook at the library. Honestly pappy rarely ever shows joy in interacting with adults. They hope they can adopt children of their own one day, but they just have to wait..

DO NOT REBLOG/REPOST UNLESS YOU’RE THE PERSON WHO RECEIVED THE OC

If you do not like how your new oc looks/sounds, you are free to change their look/voice. The oc is yours now, have fun with them.

If you do not like your new oc, you’re free to give them away to someone else.

Other than that, I hope you guys like them! Thank you all for the kindness you’ve given me today!^^

#my art #ask firecurls #my post #cuphead #cuphead: ddwtd #the cuphead show #cuphead art #cuphead au #cuphead oc #demitasse family au #dad dice au #art of freedom au #aof au #welcome back to the casino au #kitchen utensil family #disaster utensils #gift #happy birthday #tw multiple eyes #tw face horror

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Tfw you realize if we getting old discourse back with Percy Jackson show, then that means if Titans Curse gets adapted, people are gonna get mad at an actual twelve year old for not wanting to be a mother to her younger brother.

#yes im referring to how people reacted to bianca choosing to join the hunters of artemis #and therefore leave nico at camp #because apparently people back then didn't understand a child isnt a mother #she is a child at the end of the day herself #and literally had unknowingly been stuck in that hotel for years with nico #having to look after him the whole time #and given she believes nico will be safe at the camp #and that artemis told her she can still visit her brother #its clear bianca believed everything would be okay when joining the hunters #just desperate for some freedom #plus her last act that led to her death was her literally getting a gift for nico #but the way people reacted you'd think she just abandoned him completely #when it was not like that at all #granted maybe fandom has mellowed out and new fans wont be as bad #but given some fandoms are still iffy when female characters breath #i wouldnt be surprised if the discourse comes back a little at least

[sweetpumpkinmouse]

I want to HUG Ortensia!

This Ortensia design belongs to @sunny-fnaf123.

This is from their AU: @disney-mystical-au

#ortensia the cat #fanart #ortensia whiskers #digital art #cartoons #au #alternate universe #magic au #gift art #I’m going to punch her ex— #/hj #Definitely is giving off Meg from Hercules vibes ngl #In the sense that their exes were jerks after they SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES AND FREEDOMS FOR THEM #Dicks! #Anyways #Check out the au