—eat, sleep, cry

nocturnalshoe: #ash is Tony Hawk #rocks up to the Kanto airport and the passport office guy is like "Ash Ketchum? like that famous trainer! haha' #and Ash is just like 'haha... yeah.

superb-wren: #ash ketchum is the tony hawk of pokemon

vivithedragon: #become the tony hawk cryptid #only recognized when he spins his cap back

Comic of Ash (wearing his iconic hat) and Pikachu (sitting on his shoulder) at a checkout. The cashier tells Ash “your total will be 500¥, sir,” as Ash reaches into his pocket for the money (“oh right”) the cashier thinks for a moment and asks “Has anyone ever told you, you look like Ash Ketchum?” Pikachu and Ash look mildly shocked, then Ash replies, “I guess not…?” with Pikachu chuckling.

We need more of this. Public shaming in front of their families. The nerve of the war-criminal: please don't tell my children I played a huge role in the mass-murder of children.

For more than two and a half years, you have stood by me through some of the hardest moments of my life. Your support, your words, and your kindness helped us keep going when we were close to breaking. Because of you, we were able to hold on, and I will never forget that.

But the truth is, our story is not over yet.

We have lost everything, our home, our source of income, and the stability we once had. It feels like we are not just starting from zero, but trying to rise from below it.

Now things are even harder with my father’s illness. He needs ongoing care and treatment, while we are facing a complete lack of income. Even covering our basic daily needs has become a real struggle.

We are doing everything we can to stay strong, but we cannot do it alone anymore.

I am not asking for much, just for you to stand by us as you always have. Any support, no matter how small, can make a real difference. It can help us cover my father’s treatment, provide our basic needs, and help us keep going.

And if you are unable to donate, simply sharing our story could help it reach someone who can.

Thank you for being there for us and for not leaving us alone.

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

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

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

what i'm asking:

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

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

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

we can still save her. but only loudly.