merrodi - Tumblr blog

merrodi · 2 months

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pengin :)

pengy

#is this really true

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merrodi · 3 months

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hi do u take comms im so obsessed with ur style

you’re so so sweet, thank you! they’re not officially open as of right now but i always make a slot for people who ask ^^ so you can contact me on twitter or tumblr for whatever you’re thinking of!

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merrodi · 3 months

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What can the US do to deescalate the siege on Gaza unilaterally? It comes down to Netanyahu and his Gov at the end of the day, no? Would conditioning aid do anything? It honestly looks like they’re to ideologically committed to ethnic cleansing no matter what. The funding at least gets them a seat at the table in what Israel does

The Israeli government is deeply reliant on the US government in a way that gives the US a massive amount of leverage. Most people fail to understand just how far US foreign policy goes to support the Israeli government. Because the Israeli government's current activities would not be possible without US support, the US is the only world power with the ability to stop the Israeli siege on Gaza.

Here are various forms of US government support for the Israeli government which could be used to pressure them into a ceasefire:

Military aid. The US provides Israel with roughly $3.3 billion a year in military aid, equivalent to about 16% of the entire Israeli defense budget. While US military aid is normally required to be spent on US-made weapons, Israel has historically been allowed to use part of its aid on its own weapons industry (a subsidy for the Israeli military-industrial complex which the US is currently phasing out). This aid comes despite the fact that it violates the inconsistently-enforced Leahy Laws against providing US aid to known human rights abusers.

Arms exports. From 2018-2022, 79% of Israeli weapons imports came from the US, much of it funded by our military aid. This includes thousands of bombs and missiles, dozens of aircraft, and nearly 400 armored personnel carriers. The Israeli government also buys large amounts of US weapons directly from weapons companies through the Direct Commercial Sales process— $5.7 billion worth from 2018-2022.

Military ties. The US government has 12 active defense agreements with Israel and a memorandum of understanding on military aid lasting until 2028, has designated Israel as a Major Non-NATO Ally, meets with the Israeli government once every two years for planning and strategy discussions, and conducts regular training exercises with the Israeli military (Juniper Oak and Juniper Falcon).

Direct military support. The US uses its military power to support Israeli objectives, as the last couple of months have shown. The US Navy stationed an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea for several months to deter Hezbollah from getting involved in last year's violence, and is now involved in active hostilities against the Houthis in Yemen in response to their trade blockade.

Diplomatic support. The US votes in agreement with Israel at the United Nations more than any other country in the modern era. Israel's next three largest supporters at the UN are small island nations which are satellite states of the US. Many supporters of Israel do so only to curry favor with the US; without this, Israel would be even more isolated than it is now. The United States has used its veto power in the UN Security Council to defend Israel 34 times, most recently in October 2023. The US also has a policy of automatically defunding any UN agency which recognizes Palestine.

Trade Relations. The US has a free trade agreement with Israel and is one of its largest trading partners. In 2021, 27% of Israeli exports went to the US, and 9% of Israeli imports came from the US. Israel has a trade surplus with the US that helps to offset its overall trade deficit; if all trade with the US were to cease, the Israeli trade deficit would increase by 27%, with major repercussions for its entire economy.

US domestic politics. The US has adopted a handful of policies which tilt its internal political field in favor of the Israeli government: laws repressing the BDS movement, the refusal to hold the Israeli government accountable for surveillance campaigns in the US, etc., etc.

If the US government wanted to, it could deprive Israel of a large portion of its defense budget, cut off the flow of weapons and munitions which enable their attacks on Gaza, isolate it from its closest military ally, leave it defenseless against overwhelming diplomatic opposition around the world, severely upset its export-import economy, and expose the nation to increased scrutiny within the world's most powerful nation. If even a fraction of these moves were attempted, it would be enough to force the Israeli government to change course, and it would also likely be enough to topple Netanyahu's already-tenuous grasp on power.

Biden can't do most of this unilaterally— most of it would require congressional approval. But that doesn't mean he's powerless: foreign policy is the one area where the President has the most power to act without congress.

It was Biden's choice to veto the UN resolution calling for a ceasefire, to send new Navy forces into the region, and to bypass congress for Israeli arms sales. Biden could chose to act differently in all of these areas, and he could also suspend joint military exercises, launch an investigation into whether US military aid violates Leahy Laws, etc. Even threatening to take these actions could be enough to convince the Israeli government to negotiate for a serious, lasting ceasefire.

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merrodi · 4 months

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#hashtag art school #my art #i thought i did more pieces this semester but i guess not!!!! my professor hated the last pic btw #ocs

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merrodi · 4 months

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this was for a pelican rescue organization

#my art #hashtag art school #birds

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merrodi · 4 months

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spoookyyy

#my art #hashtag art school #i think when i first started this pic i was trying to make it tie into my graveyard piece from last year #but i forgot about that all reallly quickly

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merrodi · 4 months

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#pokemon platinum #my art

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merrodi · 4 months

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#splatoon #agent 48 #agent 32 #i just remembered i have this giant project i need to get done and ive forgotten about it for days #last three images are commissions #my art #ocs

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merrodi · 5 months

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despite everything, actually it means a lot to see people who don't need to care posting for palestine. i often see zionists aghast that "some too-online white leftist in the united states thinks they understand the middle east" but i think this anger and panic and ensuing discourse has (deliberately) overshadowed how much of this solidarity has been clear, straight-forward and compassionate.

i think about how arab countries stood up for palestine first (not their governments, but their people) and how between 1948 and today the united states and israel have categorically and systematically destroyed our abilities to do so, destroyed our abilities to speak at all, destroyed our attempts at self-determination, destroyed our countries, and now antizionist jews, black people, queer people, indigenous people, immigrants and other minorities have taken up this mantle worldwide. and yeah, the too-online white leftists too.

i actually find it very touching to see how diverse pro-palestine protests are. i find it very touching to see someone articulate clearly that they understand what happened to palestinians despite 75 years of historical revisionism and propaganda. i find it very touching when people aren't intimidated by the middle east like it's some unknowable no-man's land full of terrorists and challenge that narrative.

i saw the video of that man who worked for the white house under obama, you probably know the one i'm talking about, taunting an egyptian man at a halal food cart in new york. he specifically taunts him about the mukhabrat, the egyptian secret service, and he says "i hope they take your father's fingernails out." he's openly gleeful to know the term, the access provided by the violence of the state department. i think about how suspicious i've always been of americans who speak arabic because they're usually here to spy on us, modern-day orientalists and arabists who see us as assets or threats.

i think about how these are the people who parrot "the middle east is so complicated" rhetoric—people who say it's complicated because they hate us, because they see us as savages, because they don't actually know anything about us and don't want anyone else to. this is what they're desperate to hold onto, this monopoly on 'expertise on the middle east' so that nobody can say, hey, they're just people. its not more or less complicated than anything else. it's only complicated because you're racist.

its easy to use platitudes like "i see all people equally" but it's more difficult to demonstrate it when it counts and even moreso when someone claims your bravery and compassion is actually hatred. thanks for doing it.

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merrodi · 5 months

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Is there anything I can do to help Palestinians besides call my representatives and beg them to stop killing people?

This is a great question. There are a few things you can do—just off the top of my head:

BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) https://bdsmovement.net/

Direct Action https://www.palestineaction.org/

Urge your University/School/Organization to put out a statement denouncing Israel

Organize a Protest/Participate in a local one

You might already be doing this but while calling your reps, tell them that as a voter, you're unwilling to support them in the upcoming election unless they urge the White House to take a stand against Israel and stop funding them

Share art/writing/films around Palestinian culture

If you're part of a union, ask them what they're doing to urge their industry leaders to take a stand against Israel + pressure the White House OR urge them to start a strike/walkout/etc if they're not doing anything already

Talk with your friends IRL about Palestine, whether in an activist capacity or watching a movie or literally anything

Reach out to a mosque to see if you can help them with anything

See if your city/state council has put out a statement in support of Gazans. If not, try to push them to do so.

Donate to Palestine Legal or Direct Action if you have some money to spare

KEEP TALKING ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know some of these don't feel like they have as big of an impact on helping Palestinians, but we do need to make an effort not to forget their humanity in the face of continued erasure and the media's sensationalist rhetoric.

Talking on social media and posting—while not seeming like a lot—does SO much. I know in USAmerica, it's like yelling into a void, but political analysts are saying that most of the "Global South" has completely lost any amount of goodwill it may have had the past few years. Hopefully, countries will start to put sanctions and embargoes en masse on the US and Israel soon.

Our goals here are BOTH short-term and long-term. We hope for the life and liberation of the Palestinian people, so anything that you can think of might help at some point in the future is encouraged to at least try.

If anyone else has any more ideas, feel free to reblog and add on. Thank you for asking, and here is to a liberated Palestine where Palestinians can live and thrive without fear.

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merrodi · 6 months

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prsk oc sketches ft. detective miku & phantom thief una

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merrodi · 6 months

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sparkling, sparkling and ...

#my otp bungmi

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merrodi · 9 months

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are you the music person

just the drawing and squid translation person

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merrodi · 9 months

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☆ Chapter 3 below!

This chapter is New Years themed.

☆ Happy New Year ☆

Mimi: Ah, Andrew, HNY! Mumu: Let’s get along, Andrew!!

Ando: Stop shortening everything you say! It’s irritating! Ando: Say your New Year’s greetings without abbreviating them!

Mimi: Happy New Years, Andrew Nosuke. Mumu: Let us get along this year too, Andrew nosuke.

Ando: n-no, Andrew is fine being called just Andrew. Choco: (He called himself Andrew….)

☆ Kimono ☆

Choco: Yep, being Japanese sure is about the kimonos! Mimi: Wouldn’t it be great if they were also the school uniform?

Choco: in that case, you wouldn’t want it to get in the way during class, so it’d be good to make the sleeves thinner.

Mimi: Since the bottom part would make it hard to move around, let’s cut it to about knee length! Choco: if you wanna make it even easier to wear, we should cut the sash out of the design!

Mimi: It’s perfect! Mumu: That’s not even a kimono anymore, it’s just a regular dress!

☆ Fortune Slip ☆

Aoi: Jin-kun, what did you get for your fortune slip? Jin: I got “luck”. Jin: How good is it comparatively?

Aoi: The best is “excellent luck”. Aoi: Second best is probably “moderately good luck?” Jin: So the one after that is “luck”? Aoi: I don’t know which is better, “luck” or “slightly good luck”… Jin: Then… what’s “good luck to come?”

Jin: Whatever! It’s okay if we don’t know any of the rankings other than “bad luck”! Jin: “Bad luck” is hell, and the rest of them are heaven! How about that?! Jin: Aoi-chan, what did you get?

Aoi: “Bad luck”… Jin: Then “bad luck” can be heaven too!

☆ Excellent Luck ☆

Mimi: I got excellent luck! Hurray! Mumu: oh, a fortune slip? Show me what you got.

Mimi: Don’t get any ketchup on my slip, okay? Mumu: I know, I know…….. Mumu: Ah.

Mimi: You got some on there! Jeez! Mumu: Fat…luck?

Mumu: You got fat luck! Mumu: Let’s go, miss fat luck! Aha! Mimi: Of course during New Years, I’d end up getting a nickname like a chubby person!

(note: 大 = big, great. 太 = fat, thick.)

☆ Nape ☆

Mumu: Girls dressed up in kimonos sure are nice, huh. Especially the nape area! Jin: Unaji? (nape in jp)

[Unaji… what is unaji..unaji…] [The unagi’s jiji? What?] *(unagi=eel, jiji = gramps)

Jin: ah.. that’s pretty funny.. Mumu: Huh? Nah, it’s not funny, it’s sexy! Ya brat!

[The sexy… eel grandpa…..]

☆ Money Offering ☆

Mimi: What’ll I do if I mess up my throw and hit someone with my offering by accident? Badump Choco: Ahaha!

[And then that person...] ?: Who was that? Someone hit my head with a five yen coin! [is like that…]

?: What... thank you to the gods for showing me such a cute girl! ?: The fact that a mere five yen brought us together like this…amazing…

Mimi: …That kind of thing might end up happening, so I have to aim well! Where’s my prince at?! Choco: Wait a second... Make sure you’re aiming at the box with your money offering…

☆ A Loud Voice ☆

Mimi: When you’re asking the gods for wishes, why is it a bad thing to say it out loud? Choco: Huh?

Mimi: A ton of people are saying their prayers at once, right? Mimi: If that’s the case, shouldn’t a louder voice make it easier for the gods to hear what you want? Mimi: Then why do we have to say it inside our hearts instead?

Choco: the reason for that is definitely— Mumu: IF EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD PAMPERED ME, IT’D MAKE ME REALLY HAPPYYYY!!!!! Choco: —because people tend to have this thing called humility in them. Normal people, that is.

☆ Charm ☆

Mimi: I wonder if I should buy a love charm to have a wonderful romance… Bambi: Ooh, I might buy one too.

Mimi: Eh? Bambi-chan, you too?! What kind of lover would you want?! Bambi: A form beholding attractiveness, a clear-headed mind.

Mimi: A form behol…? A clear-headed….? Bambi: ………

(The sign says charms) Bambi: Excuse me, do you have any brain tissue charms for her?

((Bambi recited two Yojijukugos, which are four character idiomatic phrases in Japanese.))

new years themed fashion! mimi’s going with a kimono!

[Don’t leave me.] [I can’t say that, because I’m not a kid anymore.]

Sentimental Boundary

Mimi: …. Sigh….

Mumu: what the heck do you keep sighing for? Don’t be so gloomy. Mimi: Sigh… Do you know what Choco wished for just a bit ago? I asked her, and...

Choco: It’s a secret ♡ [is what she said, and…] Mimi: There you go again… I bet it has something to do with Andrew ♡ [When I replied same as always…]

Choco: Noooope. I wouldn’t pray to the gods for something concerning me and Ando.

Mimi: -is what she said! How did she sound so adult without even trying? Mimi: And y’know, then it felt like the two of them were in a world I didn’t understand, and Choco felt so distant to me, and i got so lonely! Mumu: ……..so annoying.

Mimi: Somehow, it’s like … a boundary line has been drawn between kids and adults…

Mimi: What could make me feel closer to Choco again? Mumu: That’s simple, isn’t it?

Mimi: Hwueh...! Mumu: All you have to do is jump over the boundary and become an adult too.

Mumu: Shall I pull you along with me?

Mimi: You, Mumu? Mimi: What do you mean by that? Mumu: You’re a real moron, huh? I meant—

Mumu: We could be like those two and go ou… Choco: Ah! Mimi, there you are!

Mumu: Ch-choco…. your timing... Choco: What are the two of you doing? Choco: I was looking everywhere for you—

Mimi: NO!! Choco, you can’t cross this line! Mimi: I hope that you and Andrew had a good time together. Choco: Huh? This line? Choco: Oh, yeah… I had a fun time with ando, but…

Choco: It’d be even more fun with everyone together. so come back? Mimi: Cho… Mimi: Choco~~~~ Mumu: AH! she crossed the line!

Mumu: What the heck… Choco: there’s a shop over there with stuff you’d like in it, Mimi. Mimi: Really? Let’s go! Mumu: More fun with everyone than alone with each other?… Mumu: They’re all just kids. tsk

BONUS END PANEL Mumu: Choco said that she has more fun with everyone than she does with you, Andrew! Mumu: I bet you haven’t even been putting in any effort, huh? Mumu: have you tried making it a bit fun for her? You haven’t, have you? What a no effort person! Mumu: I mean, if you’re from Kansai, shouldn’t you being doing a ton of stuff like studying comedy? Well, how about it? Ando: …why is he mad at me?

☆ Chocomimi Volume 6 English Translation / Chapter 1

Translated through phone scans and my limited knowledge of Japanese! I appreciate any and all corrections.

This series was a big part of my childhood but localization had stopped after volume five, so I’ve decided to translate as much as I can for fun. I hope someone out there enjoys!

link to purchase this book (japanese only)

Keep reading

#chocomimi #translation

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merrodi · 11 months

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