#first all of them saying ‘oh just convert to Judaism so you can get an *b*rt**n!!!’
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Could you possibly do a Kyle Broflovski X catholic reader fluff? Where Readers parents don’t approve of the relationship because of religion and forbid the reader to see Kyle. However, They both still find a way to see each other. I know my writing is really confusing 😭 so no worries if you can’t do it.
Meeting the Parents
Note: I used to be Christian but was never Catholic so I’m sorry if I got anything wrong about being Catholic. You’re an adult so it's not like the parents can do much to forbid the reader from seeing someone, so I tried my best with it.
Warnings: parents disowning you
Gender: female
Relationship: established romantic
“I think I’m ready for you to meet my parents,” you say in a confident voice, but deep down you were scared of how your parents would react to you dating a Jewish boy. You know in their perfect world you would be dating a white, blonde, blue-eyed Catholic boy. “Awesome! I think I’m ready for you to meet mine as well,” you smile, you were excited to meet his parents, but also scared they wouldn’t approve either. You thought you needed to warn Kyle about your parents, knowing how they were. “My parents can be pretty scary, they are devout Catholics and I don’t know if they’ll approve of us dating… but we’re adults we can do what we want.”
“Oh, my parents are probably cool with us, if that makes you feel any better,” Kyle says, starting to stroke your back, “And if they do not approve of us, who cares, we’ll still see each other somehow.” You smile up at him, he was always so good at reassuring you that your worries won’t be as bad as you make them out to be. Kyle leans down and kisses you in the wooded area with a big rock you two claimed to be ‘your spot’. After he pulled away you two started texting your parents and set up good times to meet with them.
First, you and Kyle went to his parent’s house. You walked in and they greeted you with such kindness and then you all sat down and got to know each other. They were so happy Kyle had found a nice girl, they didn’t mind you two being different religions, especially because you weren’t too fond of yours. “Yeah, my parents were always super strict and I hated waking up early on Sundays to go to a mass that went on for what seemed like forever,” you said before they started telling you about Judaism. “Mom, it's not like she's gonna convert to it right now, or even ever, so she doesn’t need to know everything about it,” Kyle says starting to get a little embarrassed. “Oh, sorry honey, I didn’t mean to make it seem like I was trying to convert you,” Sheila says. “Oh no, no you’re fine,” you say not wanting her to feel bad.
Soon enough you had to get back home for your work tomorrow. Kyle excused you two from his parent’s house, but not leaving before Sheila gives you both of you hugs. You two got into Kyle’s car and Kyle turned on the car and started pulling out of the driveway. “So, that went really well, huh, Kyle,” “Yea, they really seemed to like you, so I don’t think they have any problems with us being together.” “It’s good we got the easy one out of the way first, I apologize in advance, but I really don’t know how my parents will be,” you say, preparing yourself for the worst with them.
Two days later you meet up with Kyle at his house. For the past two days, you had been extremely anxiety-ridden thinking of all the things that could go wrong when Kyle meets your parents. You knocked and Kyle answered the door, you went right in for a hug. Kyle hugs you back but you hold him so tight and say “No matter what my parents say, I want to stay with you, just so you know, they might not approve of us having different religions.” “I want to stay with you too, no matter what they say we’re adults and can make our own decisions to stay together,” Kyle says, petting your hair and giving you a kiss on your head.
You knock on your parent's door, hand a little shaky, Kyle notices and says “It’ll be fine, sweetie, we can get through this.” Your mom opens the door and greets you with “Y/N!” and a big hug. Your father, behind her, says “Hello you two, I’m Daniel and this is Jane, come on in.” Your mother lets go of your hug and you and Kyle walk in. You all start talking when you get to the topic of religion, “I presume you’re Catholic too, Kyle,” your father says starting to talk about your priest. “Oh, no-” Kyle interrupts him, “I’m actually Jewish.” Your father immediately shuts up and looks at you along with your mother. “Oh god, here we go,” you say in your mind. “y/n, a word please?” your mother says in a sweet tone as she starts to get up along with your father.
You get up, looking back at Kyle with an ‘I’m sorry’ look, and start walking with them to the Kitchen, leaving Kyle alone in the living room, twiddling his thumbs. “What in the h-e-double hockey sticks do you think you’re doing bringing someone like that in here young lady!” your mom quietly scolds you. “How many times have we told you that you are supposed to date and marry a Catholic boy?” your dad whisper yelling at you. “You have to break up with him right now. You are not allowed to see him again.” “Mom, Dad, I’m an adult, I can make my own choices,” your parents begin demanding you stop seeing him, and how you need to break up with him.
“Come on Kyle, let's get out of here,” you say angrily, picking up your coat and purse. Kyle assumed what had gone down in there was not good by your tone of voice. It was confirmed when your father shouts out “Don’t come back until you come to your senses!” as you walk out the door. You start quietly muttering about how they were so unfair and so ridiculous. You get in your car and start bawling your eyes out. Kyle gets in and starts rubbing your back, “It’s okay, y/n, they can’t control us.” “I have to find a new church, as long as I stay with you they don’t wanna see me at all, and I don’t want to leave you,” you look at him with doe eyes. “Oh, y/n, we’ll get through this,” Kyle says as he goes in to hug you. You appreciate the embrace, starting your car after. You speed out of your parent’s driveway and neighborhood. Instead of going home, you drive to the park where your guys’ spot was.
You two get to the rock in the middle of the woods, hop on, and lay down together looking at the stars and cuddling. You curl into Kyle’s side, still lightly crying, and hold him tight. You loved your parents, but you also loved Kyle, you were so mad that your parent’s just immediately frowned upon him just because he was Jewish. You also couldn’t go to the church you had gone to your entire life, you didn’t want to stop going to church though so that meant you had to look for a new one, which scared and intimidated you, but you knew that god would give you the courage to get through this.
You turned your head to the sky, closed your eyes, and started a prayer. You praised god before you thanked him for what you had, and how your parents cutting you off wouldn’t hurt you financially nowadays. You then explain your dilemma, how you were dating a Jewish man and there was nothing against it in the bible, but your parents disapproved of it and were getting you out of their lives as long as you were to stay with him. You asked for help being able to stay with Kyle and keep a relationship with your parents, or at least guidance in finding a new church and becoming completely independent. You finish with an amen and open your eyes looking up at all the bright, beautiful stars. You sniffle and look up to Kyle, “I love you so much I hope you know, I’m so sorry about my parents being so insensitive about your religion and how closed off they are,” you say. “I love you no matter what challenge life would give us.”
#south park x reader#south park x you#south park x y/n#kyle broflovski#kyle x reader#kyle broflovski x reader#kyle broflovski x y/n#kyle broflovski x you#green answers!#greens anons
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Nice Jewish Character Showdown 2023 - Round Two Eliminations
Another round has passed, one I'd liken to a bloodbath, and we're down to 8 competitors in the race for the NJCS 2023 title. Before the quarterfinal votes go live, let's check in with those disqualified contestants and discuss what makes them such Nice Jewish Characters.
Match One Elimination: Cristina Yang, Grey's Anatomy
Probably the most well-known Asian Jew in television, Cristina Yang is canonically Jewish, thanks to her step-father who raised her in it (her mother converted). Grey's has a weird relationship with Judaism, like a lot of medical dramas, but it definitely gets points for the rare and definitely appreciated look at how diverse the Jewish population is.
Match Two Elimination: Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof
It's the quintessential Jewish musical, it's one of the main reasons we've seen a shtetl-core resurgence, it's Fiddler! It was definitely the match-up of the dads this time around, and as much as I love this man, his success rate in reference to loving and supporting his daughters is, well... not a perfect score. Thank you Sholem Aleichem for the original stories, thank you Chaim Topol for your iconic portrayal in the movie, alongside Zero Mostel, Leonard Nimoy (yes, Nimoy played Tevye for a bit!), Alfred Molina, Harvey Fierstein, Danny Burstein, and many, many more. Nothing truly hits like being a Jew in the diaspora and watching Fiddler. Still bummed I haven't had a chance to see Yiddler, the Yiddish remount. (Oh, and Fiddler tends to be free on Youtube, so if you haven't seen it before -- or want to revisit Anatevka, treat yourself!)
Match Three Elimination: Rebecca Bunch, Crazy Ex Girlfriend
*hits top of a car* this baby can fit so many song titles from CEXG in it
When looking for representation, it can often feel like no one else is singing your song. Sure, there are the characters whose Judaism is restricted to reminding you that we've suffered, or who become props for some Christmas Special. But then we get a gem in the rough, a girl in love, a Jewish American Princess who moves across the country to follow a former summer camp crush. Crazy Ex Girlfriend was a rarity, and the four season run blessed us with a lot of quality television, and something even rarer -- a multidimensional Jewish lead. If you haven't had a chance to meet Rebecca, the entire show is available to stream on Netflix. And yes, when I realized how much she was losing this round, this song was on loop in my brain. Apologies to Rachel Bloom and the rest of the CEXG team, I seriously thought you'd sweep this thing. What a twisted fate.
Match Four Elimination: Lily Moscovitz, The Princess Diaries
Oh, Lily, I think the internet misunderstands you more often than not these days. But to ignore your Jewishness is an absolute faux pas, whether you're looking at the movies or the much more blatantly Jewish representation you get in the books. Seriously though, I can think of at least a handful of Jewish girls I grew up with who remind me of the headstrong public access host. Side note -- to all the girlies who grew up hating their curly hair because of the nightmare of a makeover Mia got, I'm right there with you, and we'll get through this together. Honestly, I think there's something to be said about Jew-coding's relationship with makeover scenes, but we don't have the time for that right now.
Match Five Elimination: Francine Frensky, Arthur
I've mentioned before how I grew up on public access television, so is it any surprise when I say that Francine was (probably) the first time I saw myself on television? Even if it didn't come up a lot outside of holiday episodes (at least in the seasons that aired when I watched), Francine's Judaism felt recognizable. Plus, if you told her she was just token representation, she'd probably sock you in the face. Oh, and something I found while researching -- THE GOLEM IS A PLOT POINT IN A HALLOWEEN EPISODE?! Seriously, props to PBS.
Match Six Elimination: Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Finding good representation in any 80's movie is going to be an uphill battle, considering well. The 80's-ness of it all. So when looking for a good Jewish character, it's much easier to default back to the transitive property of Jewish media (art made by Jews being Jewish by way of their perspective being translated into the text). Since Matthew Broderick, Ferris himself, is Jewish, who's to say the most beloved delinquent of his era isn't too? Plus, he's a stock standard rebel against restrictive institutions. Listen, I have the original Footloose on my coded Jewish representation Letterboxd list, I have no room to judge. *Points to Ferris* That's a NJB right there.
Match Seven Elimination: Truman Burbank, The Truman Show
Speaking of my coded Jewish representation Letterboxd list, this movie SCREAMS Judaism to me. Come on -- it's so critical of Christianity that it almost falls backwards into Judaism. Free will in spite of a higher power? Disagreeing with authority so much that you flee your home, your world, your reality? Helps that his hometown is so heavily designed after post-war 50's suburbia, which has its own relationship with being Jewish. So is Truman Jewish? I think he can be -- watch the movie and make the call for yourself. It's a classic for a reason, and I won't rob you of the experience.
Match Eight Elimination: Wall-E, Wall-E
Wall-E, my robot blorbo, the most Guy of any Pixar protagonist -- what makes him Jewish? He loves Barbra Streisand, collects tcotchkes, and is relentlessly working to make the world better, even if he's the only one still doing it (tikkun olam has NEVER seen a cuter mascot).
#post round analysis#nice jewish character showdown round two#nice jewish character showdown 2023#nice jewish character showdown
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I watched my first horror movie tonight since i was a teenager in the 90's. Back then i mostly giggled through Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer with friends. Then life happened and i sort-of stopped watching things in general. Anyway, I'm now finding myself on months of bedrest and am watching things to pass the time and decided I'd watch a movie tonight and picked horror just to see if i even like horror. I caught The Pope's Exorcist and actually really enjoyed it, which is delightful! It kept me on the edge of my seat and in suspense and i know my heart was racing at times. So I figure enjoying that one gives me a starting point in the genre, and i was wondering if you might be able to suggest others based off my liking that one? I picked it based off rotton tomato critic and audience ratings. Not because i care heavily about such things, but it made it a logical place to start of what's new. I'm not catholic so i don't care about religion based horror but I'm not opposed to it. I don't like jumpscares. Learned that from Sixth Sense and 12 years on tumblr. Oh! I've also recently seen Renfield, though none of the dracula movies that follow the books. I don't really count Renfield as horror in this regard because it's comedy horror and more funny than scary. Kind of like how i found 90's horror. Though that might have been just as much me being a punk ass kid trying to look brave with my friends. Who knows. It was a long time ago. Anyway, do you have any suggestions? Old or new doesn't matter. I'm bored and mostly stuck in bed. Thank you for your time!
I haven't seen The Pope's Exorcist so I had to search it up - exorcism movies don't do a lot for me, but The Taking of Deborah Logan and Daniel Isn't Real are perennial recommendations which I think would sync up with possession movies. Deborah Logan is kind of divisive with how it treats Alzheimer's and dementia - for me it resonated with my experiences and felt like a sensitive exploration of the topic for horror, but it can also reas the opposite way.
Hellbender and The Deeper You Dig are some fantastic work by a team of independent filmmakers who are also a family. They all act and direct and write together in upstate New York and have astonishing talent. A magnificent illustration of why seeking work by independent artists is such a good idea.
I just watched Ghost Crew, a weird little low budget Scottish movie that I won't say too much about except that it starts out as slightly cringe-comedy faux documentary and grows into a lot more. Zombie For Sale is an adorable Korean romantic comedy zombie movie I had a fun time watching. The Dark (2018) also very intriguing movie, basically victims of abuse getting revenge but one of them is a revenant.
Jamie Marks Is Dead is a queer ghost story that made me cry, everyone should watch it. Also in the sweet romantic category is Attachement, a Jewish and queer horror. It's written and directed by a Jewish person and to my experience felt very true to life. My personal reading of it was a kind of metaphor about how Judaism can be carried forward in different ways everywhere from generational to academically to people who convert. It's another one that I think could be read different, but the positive reading works better for me.
A Wounded Fawn is just bonkers surreal, I can't describe it exactly but it's about a serial killer who gets in deep with some very hallucinatory shit. Related, but Vicious Fun is exactly what it says on the tin. Very fun silly stuff. He's Watching is imho one of the most terrifying found footage movies ever. All found footage movies use a lot of pretty common and consistent tricks of limited light and limited perspective, but He's Watching fucks with the sense of reality by constantly obfuscating who or what is recording, where the line between real and film is blurred.
Babysitter Wanted is also a fun twist on the satanic panic trope. Also similar in that vein, Anything For Jackson is pretty neat. And while I'm thinking about Shudder, The Mortuary Collection is pure spooky fun, a delightful anthology movie with Clancy Brown getting to chew up some scenery. Also for the movie that has everything, Saloum. It's a kind of revenge crossed with magic crossed with evil spirits centered around a bad ass team of mercenaries for hire.
Also check out my horror movie tag.
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Sorry if this is a too heavy question or not the right place to ask, but I feel really lost right now.
I'm an Asian Jew and one of the only POC in my congregation. Even though my mother is Jewish and I was raised Jewish, I often made to feel inferior to the other white Jews. Often people assume I'm a new convert or know less than them and they over-explain things I already know about. I've been a practicing Jew all my life and Judaism is really important to me, so it hurts to be viewed as an outsider or treated like a child. I hold a leadership position but I can't help but feel like I'm being constantly judged for how "Jewish" I really am, and any mistake I make proves them right. Like I wonder if everyone thinks "oh, why is she leading us? is she qualified to?" Whenever I'm excluded or ignored I can't help but wonder if it's because I'm one the only people of color there. It makes it hard for me to feel like I have a community here, and in part I know I am being paranoid and anxious but it makes me dread going to services and I get stage fright whenever I have to lead by myself, which is something I've never felt before while performing.
Do you have any thoughts/advice/words of wisdom?
Hello ❤ I'm sorry it took me so long to get to this because I've been very spoon deficient this week.
I'm very white so I can't speak to what it's like to be a POC in a Jewish space, but I can 100% assure that you belong. People's biases can really suck but it has no effect on the truth. JOC are everywhere, all over the world and of every different race and ethnicity. Seeking out the experiences, stories, and art from other JOC, especially Asian Jews might help close that gap. ^^
As for stage fright, I'm not the best at giving advice for it lol. I'd say that at least while you're leading services just remember you earned that spot for a reason: because the congregation trusts you! You probably know more about how to run things than half the people in the audience. I know it's not as easy to just Think That and believe it but practice makes anything easier, even if you have to fake-believe it at first ^^
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for the fic asks - any or all of 3, 7, 10, 45?
kissing you on the mouth for sending this anon (sorry. that comes on strong. i am giving you a respectful and firm handshake)
(asks are here by the way)
3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?
OOH i think about this fairly often! i think you can see a lot of what i'm interested in through my fics. i definitely tend to go for fluff, i love disabling my characters, i like quietly complicated emotions, i like touch... oh you know what? my characters are in doctors' offices/med bays all the time. it's actually really annoying i always want them to have medical tests or whatever and then i have to write ANOTHER med bay scene 🙄 oh also at this point mitski i will should probably be considered a trope.
7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?
OOH well first of all turning the bad wolf thing into a disability at all i think is like. really fun in that regard, like... i enjoy taking a common bit of fanon and going "okay but surely this wouldn't just be fun time powers right." and like i've said before it's really good because it gives space for both projection and wish fulfillment
i also like. haven't gotten to put a lot of penny's backstory into tattoo au (when i run away (you're who i run to) is the official title i just only ever call it tattoo au) yet because it's not like she would volunteer the information, and it's not like donna would say anything either but adapting the doctor's backstory for a human is something i really enjoyed. it's a really intense backstory but like so is the doctor's! basically she was adopted by a medical researcher who found out that she had a gene mutation that gave her increased immunity to various diseases (i'm like 80% sure this is a real thing but please don't fact check me thank you <3) and used that as a reason to like. exploit her to research the gene mutation etc-- all that is an adaptation of the timeless child. her chronic illness is because over the course of this experimentation she contracted a virus she wasn't immune to and it was just her luck that it happened to give her chronic fatigue-- this is an attempt at adapting the way regeneration goes wrong for the doctor, i realized i headcanon them as having trouble with regeneration because of all that trauma/experimentation.
also she's trans which is mostly separate from all that except her past experiences have informed her physical transition and it's meaningful to her to be able to make changes to her body that are completely under her control and explicitly positive (but she will not inject hrt, she has to do pills and/or gel, and she is an absolute terror every time she has to do a blood test). and getting tattooed is similar for her, it's like... a positive change that's under her control. she got to donna by running away from her adoptive mum when she was like sixteen and winding up in london trying to do a-levels at donna's school, and donna befriended her. she didn't have the name penny yet and she was sixteen and a bit of a dork so she went by "the doctor," penny comes from going over to donna's and having donna's mum go "it's the bad penny again!" because she's like. always there (because she kind of doesn't have anywhere else) and wilf turns it into an inside joke and starts calling her penny affectionately and then she's like. yeah okay sure. that'll be my name. ALSO donna is the one who introduced her to judaism, she wasn't raised with much religion but as she became part of donna's family etc she started to enjoy/appreciate judaism more and more and eventually converted. which is meaningful to her both because the religion itself resonates but also because it connects her to the people she actually considers family. (her last name is also noble, legally.) the funny thing about this au was realizing that literally all my characters except donna had run away from their families in some capacity as a teenager but like what do you expect from doctor who
also she has finley L word hair. as is the natural way of things. (but s1-2 hair when finley's still blond)
SORRY FOR THE WALL OF TEXT I'VE BEEN RESISTING DUMPING ALL OF THIS ON THE PUBLIC FOR MONTHS NOW IS THE THING.
10. How do you decide what to write?
OUGH I ROTATE THINGS IN MY MIND AND THEN THEY'RE ON THE PAGE. sometimes there's a prompt challenge or exchange or something but mostly i have really unhinged conversations with my friends and by the end of it i have a new wip. or i just start thinking a little too hard about a character or dynamic or whatever. but pretty much anything i write is just like. something i'm feeling things about in the moment.
45. What’s something you’ve improved on since you started writing fic?
ooh i'm so much more detailed now! a lot of my fics used to read as like. almost as scripts? like mostly dialogue, not a lot of description. which makes sense, i come from the theater, but like. it's not the vibe i want! i've gotten better at pushing myself to imagine the little nuances of a scene, like the body language/expressions and stuff, and i've gotten better at describing emotional experiences too. i feel like in general i've just matured a lot as a person too and with that has come added depth and perspective to my fics. like i started posting to ao3 when i was fourteen and now i'm 23. and i think it's really interesting to look at my old fics and see how i've grown since i wrote them!
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We learned a lot about each of Jesus's followers from episode 3. A lot of what's been beautifully displayed/shown for us had a chance to be articulated and told to us here (in a natural way--great storytelling!). So let's break it down in a meta longer than what any of you asked for:
John - the themes explored in S2E1, which are very present in his gospel, are here again! He expresses awe at the fact that he--"a nobody"--is not only alive at the time of the Messiah, and not only sees Him, but travels with Him and is close with Him. That wonder at the personal, loving relationship we can have with God--that defines both John and his writings. But, we also see him give in to pride (setting up James to be better than the others, and his comment to "ask Matthew") and anger (accusing Simon, even if ostensibly in Matthew's defense, showed both anger and pride (a "you're no better than the rest of us!" mentality)).
Big James - we learn that he loves to study and has more theological/Torah knowledge than almost all of the group. He's a rule-follower, who loves the law and its structure (a foreshadowing of his eventual reluctance to accept Gentile converts who did not first convert to Judaism). More importantly, we see him acting as a moderating influence on the group. He comforts Mary when she expresses her insecurities about her past, and tries to get Simon to stop attacking Matthew. But, we also see how quickly he can become indignant and proud (telling Simon to sit down, instead of simply sitting down himself--"someone else must give in first, not me").
Simon - finally finally FINALLY we get to understand why exactly he's so mad and spiteful towards Matthew. He comes off as kind of a jerk half the time, but this moment (although heart-wrenching for Matthew's sake) helps to humanize Simon too. We get to see the roots of that protective, communal nature that will eventually make him such a good leader, and we see how deeply and passionately he cares for Israel. But we also see that he still struggles to accept those who are unlike him, and this will be a theme for the rest of his life, as he is called to minister to the Gentiles and told that all foods are clean. "Different" is something it takes Simon a long time to get used to. Additionally, his refusal to forgive Matthew is setting up his conversation with Jesus where he asks, "If my brother sins against me, how many times must I forgive him? Seven times?" (This was two-and-a-half times more than the required amount, so he probably thought he was going above and beyond.) I can just see Jesus knowing who Simon is thinking of and telling him, "No, you must forgive your brother seventy times seven times!"
Little James - we get to know a little about him! I just threw him on here since previously we haven't seen much of him and now we understand him a little more. We get to see him bond with Thomas, who's the first person we see really reach out to him, and we see his insecurity and his worry that Jesus will think less of him or change His mind about him. (What a relatable struggle!)
Thomas - what we learn about Thomas surprises us! We're told earlier that "being methodical is his thing" (S2E1), and he seems fairly shy at points, so we assume he must be like Matthew, or Philip. But he's not! He doesn't like the rules. He's somebody who questions things. (Shocker--he questions Jesus's resurrection too! Great set-up and character-building there.) He even says "I'd like to ask Him about that" (referencing Jesus losing His father, but showing that Thomas is someone who naturally asks and seeks). His innate drive to search out the truth is an asset, similar to Nathanael, but also similar is his hesitancy (and at times, flat refusal) to accept the truth because it seems hard to believe. It can also make him combative with those who have more faith, or more respect for the rules (there is some brief tension between him and Big James when discussing Torah, for example).
Mary - we learn that she is eager to learn the Scriptures, something that she as a woman was never allowed to do--and also that she feels she needs to relearn her Jewish-ness. She is ashamed of who she was before and felt that she turned her back on her true identity...sound similar to anyone?? It's no small wonder that she's sympathetic toward Matthew. Simon's outburst directly paralleled them (and Mary did not seem pleased that he used her past in that way). Mary feels that she has a lot to make up for, and has no expectations that Jesus will give her special honors or power--she is humble, and this is why she is more receptive to and understanding of His teaching, despite her lack of knowledge, than the other disciples are.
Ramah - she, too, is eager to learn; for her, this stems mostly from a feeling of never having been allowed to be anything but a dutiful daughter. Her worth was limited and defined by the men in her life. Now she is beginning to explore the possibilities of being defined by God instead, which is a distinctly counter-cultural move. This is why it's so important that she goes with Jesus despite her father's reluctance--she is showing she's willing to be someone other than who she's told to be. Instead, she'll be who she's called to be. But she is still insecure about her lack of knowledge and her inability to take initiative; she is more passive by nature, and even when recounting her imaginings of the Messiah, she doesn't imagine helping Him, just being rescued by Him. This sets her up as someone more able to be used by Him, as, like Mary, she has no delusions of grandeur, but she is still unsure of her role in the group.
Andrew - (this has been more "professional" so far but oh my gosh BABY boy I love him) we learn that he is considerate of others' needs and doesn't want to be a burden (through the "sorry" stories). He likes the rules and is comfortable in order, and things like apologies are meaningful to him because they show respect and consideration for the other person. This is why Andrew gets hung up on the fact that Matthew never apologized for his past and putting them in such a predicament--but John has a point when he stands up for Matthew. Although Andrew is doing it in a nicer way than Simon, both men are setting themselves up as someone who can forgive sin, ignoring the fact that Jesus has already forgiven Matthew (edit: what I mean by this is Simon is loudly excluding Matthew from the group because he's valuing his refusal to forgive over the grace Jesus extended Matthew. Andrew is nowhere near as extreme in this, and is justified in wanting an apology (naturally) but in jumping onto Simon's comments, he seems to indicate that he agrees with Simon's overall attitude--if you don't apologize, we won't accept you). It shows that despite his sensitive nature, Andrew is still proud, and feels that the respect he shows is also what he deserves. He will have to learn, throughout his time with Jesus, that the beauty of grace is that we don't get what we deserve. We are called to forgive those who persecute us, even if they don't ask for forgiveness.
And I'm sure I missed some (I can't even find the energy to cover Jesus's mother Mary, but I loved how they handled her as well) but even with just these we can see how the showrunners are taking such care to develop these characters in a way that their eventual interactions and growth in the later portions of the gospels make sense! They feel so genuinely real, and you can see in them the seeds of who they will become--seeds that Jesus had seen all along. Excellent, excellent work, and an even better witness to the transformative power of Christ!
#the chosen tv series#the chosen#it's so long that it took me like. a day and a half to finish this post#meta#my meta posts#quality meta seal of approval#not to hype my own post up i just put that on all meta posts so that i can find them#kay can i just catch my breath for a second#christianity#my christianity
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Sirius and Jewish!Remus headcanons
Because I headcanon Remus as Jewish and I will die on this hill.
Sirius didn’t grow up with exposure to different cultures - rather, his parents were very close-minded - so when he meets Remus, Judaism is very new to him.
Of course he’s interested about learning more about it, but he just doesn’t know where to start
He’s afraid of coming off as rude if he were to ask Remus why he doesn’t eat certain foods, why he wears that cap on his head, what exactly are the phrases he says before each meal.
But the antisemitism at Hogwarts eventually gets very very bad and although Sirius doesn’t understand where all the prejudice comes from, he gets angry. Really angry. He begins to ask Remus what he can do to help, because this is all so infuriating.
Remus says that it’s fine, he’s used to it. He’s used to people calling him a terrorist when they see him writing letters to his mom in Hebrew or saying prayers in the same language. He’s used to people making jokes about his nose or him being the devil or how rich he is, even though most of the jokes are rooted in fiction and hatred for people like him.
When Sirius goes back home for the holidays, his family’s antisemitism suddenly grows obvious. Such tangents like “Jews shouldn’t be allowed at Hogwarts” or “I’ll never understand why they don’t just convert” are more common than he previously realised. Sirius becomes angry at these, and often speaks up agains it. It always results in punishment, but it’s worth it.
When third year finally arrives and it’s time for their first Hogsmeade trip, it lands on a Saturday and Remus can’t go. It’s customary for Jews to use Saturday as a “rest day” and certain activities such as using money and writing isn’t allowed. He brushes it off and acts like it’s no big deal - he does this every Saturday anyway - but the rest of the marauders are sad that he’s going to miss out on their first Hogsmeade trip. They apologise, promise help do his homework like they always did on Saturdays, promise to get him something. Sirius, however, is determined to work something out.
He comes back that day with so many things for Remus that he could barely carry some of them, not sure what Remus can or can’t eat or can or can’t have.
And he insists on finding a way for Hogsmeade to work for Remus, because most times, their trips fall on Saturdays. They eventually decide that they can walk to Hogsmeade instead of taking the carriages - as walking is allowed. And Remus won’t pay for anything but will pay the marauders back the day after, and they’ll make sure to only get kosher food on those trips too.
And Sirius, like he always had, insists on learning more about Judaism so he can help accommodate Remus and the religion. So far, things had been fine, but it was beginning to be more difficult to leave Remus out of things as they grew older.
It happens on Saturdays more often than not, when Remus doesn’t particularly feel like going to Hogsmeade and Sirius offers to stay and help with his homework. Each time, Sirius brings up some topic he’s interested in - such as the holidays or why Jews eat kosher or the history behind the Hebrew language or the prayers - and Remus is more than happy to explain. There’s barely any resources on Judaism in the wizarding world anyway, and the few that do exist are so obviously antisemitic that they do more harm than good.
Remus begins to feel more comfortable being Jewish, and even the rest of the marauders follow suit and learn about it too.
Friday nights are always Sirius’ favourite because he gets to hear Remus saying the special prayers meant especially for Friday nights and welcoming in the Shabbat (Shabbat is Saturday in Hebrew, and is also a big deal religiously). They’re calming and sometimes he even falls asleep to them.
And holidays are so much fun and Sirius uses his newfound knowledge to good use whenever someone asks what they’re celebrating. “Oh, it’s Hannukah today. Yeah, Remus is cool. He gets EIGHT days of presents, do you?” “You can’t complain about it being Passover today, you get a holiday to celebrate your freedom and come back to me.”
Remus was always open about being Jewish, don’t get him wrong. He just felt like he had to be more subtle about it.
So of course he appreciates Sirius and what he’s doing.
And by fourth year, he’s comfortable enough to be not-so-subtle about it.
#remus lupin#sirius black#wolfstar#remus lupin headcanon#sirius black headcanon#the marauders#marauders headcanon#James potter#lily evans#Peter pettigrew#harry potter#Harry Potter headcanon#hogwarts
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five years in and I’ve been officially Called Out, sadly it’s a real mess of a job to the point that I almost feel compelled to improve it:
https://bigenderbeastmaster.tumblr.com/post/611721689062047744/get-em-while-theyre-hot
obviously I don’t delete posts (unless I accidentally reblog something that someone would prefer that I didn’t, in which case just ask) and all of the archived posts are still accessible, so let’s go through them!
agreeing that judaism is not an ethnoreligion and jews should not be respected wrt self determination on this matter (nazi tw for the link)
this post involved three other people discussing a topic and me adding the comment that “so many religions want to be ethnicities though, insisting on conversion before allowing intermarriage, for example, or shunning apostates” which is factually correct.
saying that jews proselytize (we literally religiously are not allowed to.)
actually this was saying that someone else was saying that you can convert to Judaism, which is also factually correct (just gotta ask three times first); the someone else in question is an evil fascist nazi though so if anything I should be called out for that.
mocking religious food rules (not just kosher but halal and the hindu restriction on beef)
this was me calling a (hypothetical) taboo on eating chickens stupid, the person who brought up kosher and halal and hindu restrictions was... Jewish.
whatever in the good fuck this is
this is me asking some questions about Judaism and receiving some answers from Jewish people, which is apparently illegal now.
repeatedly calling xtianity “judaism but w/ jesus”. considering xtians were the originators of antisemitism and the basis of the ghettoization of jewish communities was that we were “christians too stubborn to accept jesus,” it’s a little fucked up for a goy to be joking about the other side of the coin. not his place maybe.
I think the fact that Jesus (whether historical or mythical) was a Jewish man who lived in Judea is a defensible point to make, and yes the Roman religion that he ended up inspiring spent two thousand years committing atrocities against the Jewish population of Europe, and that undoubtedly sucks.
characterizing HaShem as a “sneaky bastard” and judaism as a religion of “euphoric redditors” (who are almost unilaterally white supremacists)
I’m sorry but Redditors are “almost unilaterally” white supremacists?? the euphoric term is a reference to an oft-quoted thread on atheism, and as I understand it god did indeed cheat at wrestling because he’s sneaky like that.
again. i dont know how to characterize this but it stinks like hell
this is an anon relating a story about a weird experience they had with someone who probably has weird beliefs, although as I asked the belief in being god’s chosen people is I think actually canon?
calling judaism’s rich theological history, which barely survived countless genocides, “irresistible nerdbait”
oh come on, this is describing nerds who find it irresistible discussion fodder! and it mentions Catholicism in the same sentence, is this anti-Catholic too because Catholics faced oppression in Britain or is it not factual to point out that some people like the nerdish aspects of what the Jesuits get up to?
I stand by this assessment.
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The Old Guard Holiday Special
Nile had been told she had a lot of emotional intelligence. Sometimes, she thought bleakly, curled in a ball on her bedroom floor, it even extended to her own emotions.
That was probably why she had waited to play Christmas music until she was alone in the house. She knew it was going to hurt.
More below the cut due to length. Or a link on ao3 for those who prefer here.
She still didn’t expect the little cry that came clawing up her throat when Silent Night came up on shuffle.
So she breathed out and squared her shoulders. Then she walked into her room, shut the door, and wept in time to her playlist.
There was a knock sometime later. “Nile?” Nicky asked. “We are going to order takeout. What would you like?”
“Um. I’d like...” Fuck. Her voice sounded terrible.
“Nile? Are you okay?”
“I’m --” Nile couldn’t say what possessed her to open the door, maybe she was just tired of being stoic and sick of feeling alone. “I don’t know.”
“Can I come in?” Nicky asked. When she nodded he smiled a little and joined her on the floor.
“Sorry,” Nile sniffed. “This is silly and now I’m thinking of some way to make a joke about my Christmas plans revolving around crying to Veni, Veni Emanuel.”
Nicky inclined his head seriously, as though he had not foreseen the need for this, but was willing to adjust his plans to include it. “Are you having any luck with the joke?”
Nile sniffed again. “Not really.”
“No, I can see that. It’s a tall order. You kids and your modern music. I don’t understand the appeal.”
Nile laughed wetly in spite of herself, glad Nicky was refraining from his usual gentleness. She was sure that would have made her break down sobbing again.
“It’s my family’s first holiday without me,” she managed. “My brother converted to Judaism three years ago. So we started celebrating Hanukkah with him, too. And my mom is all about Christmas. Now somehow more holidays make it hurt more -- more holidays where I’m not there and they are mourning me. And I’m missing them.”
“Oh, Nile. Can I give you a hug?”
“Yeah. I might get snot and tears on your shirt, though.”
“That’s okay,” Nicky assured her, wrapping her in his arms and letting her cry into his shoulder. “We don’t want to replace your family, Nile. But if there are traditions you want to observe and you would like company, we would gladly observe them with you.”
“Observing traditions,” Nile laughed. “You make cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning sound very formal.”
Nicky laughed with her. “We don’t really do too many holiday traditions. But we could do one tonight if you like? Andy loves the Star Wars Holiday Special. And she loves throwing popcorn at the screen. Would you like to join us?”
“Yeah,” Nile smiled. “I think I’d like that.”
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why do you say the big kaylors with sources were wrong
well, first of all, the level of insane detail they would give is just.. unrealistic. me and my friends have spoken with enough people who have had “tea” on celebs and the “tea” is never some super crazy, scandalous shit. like it’s little things, ya know? and this is coming from people who like. are trustworthy. where they are not some anonymous source. more like friends and friends of friends who know small ass details that they just want to try and understand, too.
the only way someone, imo, would’ve realistically would have had the level of detail about taylor and karlie and their so-called relationship would be for them to be legit a close, personal friend, family member, or immediate team member of taylor and/or karlie. what kind of real friend or employee is going to spill crazy details to random teenage tumblr bloggers?
i’m by no means someone who has all the celeb tea or anything, but i’ve never heard of anyone having explicit or legit tea on taylor. small, unimportant things? sure. but something as detailed as her having a full blown secret relationship with karlie kloss? no... definitely not. there are people who have TRIED to get tea on taylor and they just really can’t.
plus think: when were ANY of those bloggers EVER right? were they ever? not that i know of tbh. i think, personally, it’s more realistic to say someone could’ve potentially gotten some info on karlie bc she is a bit less protective/secure when it comes to her personal life and business. but if we simply look at public info, we can see that the joshlie relationship is very, very likely to be real and genuine. we also know karlie began to convert to judaism in 2015, attended NYU, started kwk likely to get in josh’s family’s good graces. they didn’t approve of their relationship. why would a beard do that?
so if someone connected to karlie and proved that connection said, “oh. i’ve heard karlie and taylor hooked up a few times.” would that be believable? yeah, maybe. but if someone is telling you that they were in a monogamous, long-term, secret relationship for years, that josh is gay and a beard, that toe/jaylor/swiftwyn is fake, etc. the public facts and info just. don’t back that up?
all in all, they were probably being trolled and/or making up stories themselves. i’m sure the big blogs did get good info every once in a while, but good *legit* info would not be in the way of a detailed explanation on kaylor.
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Andrew finding religion post-The King’s Men
Part 2 of the most self-indulgent headcanon I’ve ever written (Part 1 is here). tl;dr: Neil found religion and converted to Judaism after TKM and now it’s Andrew’s turn. Details under the cut
Neil has of course talked about the implications of his conversion but he never really got into theology with Andrew
At one point Neil invites Andrew to a function to invite him into this new community he’s been getting to know
(in my head it’s a Shabbat dinner but also: inviting Andrew to Purim is a good concept)
Neil is secretly terrified about bringing his boyfriend to the synagogue but aside from a few side-eyes from a group of old people Neil didn’t like anyway, they both feel totally welcome
Andrew is really quiet and keeps looking around at the building the whole time, which Neil assumes is him wanting to leave but every time he checks in Andrew says he wants to stay
Andrew goes to the bathroom at one point and when he comes back Neil sees him start talking to Rabbi Hannah and Neil keeps nervously glancing at them
He’s convinced this is gonna go so badly
But later when he mentions Andrew to the Rabbi her eyes light up and she goes “oh! Andrew is lovely! You two are a wonderful couple”
Neil is FLOORED
He knows she’s nice but no one is that nice what happened
Neil doesn’t think Andrew had a good time so next week he starts getting ready to go without saying anything
Andrew walks up and starts putting his boots on
“Where are you going, Drew?”
“Aren’t we going to dinner?”
Neil always walks to shul and having Andrew with him makes it feel like no time at all
Andrew is always relatively quiet, but the people who know Neil are very receptive to Andrew and they all really like him somehow
Neil is so confused
Since when does a group of people all naturally like Andrew like this
Every time he splits off and talks to Rabbi Hannah for a bit just out of earshot of Neil
One day when Neil is getting ready for shul, Andrew shows up at the door, ready to leave
Neil doesn’t have to ask where he’s going this time
Andrew doesn’t put on a kippa but Neil remembers his own reaction the first time he wore one and doesn’t say anything about it
At this point Neil knows a bit of the prayers and can follow the services almost seamlessly
Andrew makes no effort to grab a Siddur but when Neil opens his, Andrew peeks over his shoulder and his eyes scan feverishly over the Hebrew in a way that almost makes Neil think he can read it
But when the chanting starts, Andrew has his eyes on Neil’s lips the entire time
He goes back the next week and watches Neil’s mouth as he sings again
Eventually he starts whispering along, mostly incorrectly but Neil can tell he’s trying to follow
Next service Neil holds his siddur where Andrew can see it
Eventually Andrew asks Neil if he has time to talk to Rabbi Hannah with him and Neil says yes
He doesn’t pry but assumes it’s something about services
They show up and Rabbi Hannah greets Andrew with warmth that Neil doesn’t usually associate with people greeting Andrew
Turns out he’s been talking about Judaism (among more casual things) with Rabbi Hannah at the weekly dinners and they both have been talking for a while about Andrew’s conversion
Andrew wanted to meet with Neil before he committed fully to converting
Neil is stunned
They had never talked about this and Neil asks him why, since Andrew doesn’t seem like the most pious man
Andrew shrugs
“I’d put money on having the same reasons as you,” he says
Neil remembers the childhood nagging that he had never felt safe enough to explore, the comfort in the idea of something intangible and eternal holding everything in the world together, the call to action, the sense of his community that he couldn’t put into words, and the deep, resonant feeling of love and safety
Andrew’s hand was resting on his chest after scratching his shoulder
“It fills something up in here” he says and taps his first two fingers on his breastbone
Neil has never heard Andrew talk about emotion and spirituality like this before
He doesn’t know where it came from
He doesn’t think Andrew knows either
The two just know that both of them converting feels so right in a way that they can’t imagine living without
The Foxes, again, are all supportive (they do think it’s kind of weird and funny that Andrew of all people is religious now, but they know how much he and Neil went through, so they know they’re in no place to judge)
When Renee finds out she practically foams at the mouth
The three of them still have fun zombie apocalypse scenario debates at practice, as theology would be too involved for casual mid-practice chats, but now Renee can have theological debates with two people? She’s in heaven (no pun intended)
Andrew is muuuch more cutthroat about it than Neil
He will cut straight to the point about fallacies in Christianity
Neil thinks this will be the thing that splits Andrew and Renee up but thank G-d Renee has thick skin from Andrew by now and isn’t afraid to fire back
She’s gentler with Neil because they both are more softly religious, but when Andrew starts his conversion studies he is not afraid to use them at full power
Neil teaches Andrew what he knows and they both work with Rabbi Hannah, sometimes together and sometimes alone
Being together on this path brings both of them so much joy
Book discussions by the light of a single lamp in hushed tones while people sleep in neighboring rooms, sleepy pillow talk bleeding into awe of and love for Hashem, asking the tough questions and knowing they won’t get answers and that that’s not only okay, but encouraged
Andreil keeping a kosher kitchen
Andreil baking challah together
Andreil going to Shabbat dinners and celebrating holidays together
Andreil getting married under a chuppah
Andreil finally able to find some sort of peace through religion
Andrew finally able to find peace
#thats it thats the hc#if any of yall start saying some antisemetic garbage in the notes I will lost it#aftg#all for the game#the foxhole court#tfc#nora sakavic#the kings men#headcanon#hc#aftg headcanon#aftg hc#tfc hc#tfc headcanon#jewish headcanon#jewish andrew#jewish andrew minyard#jewish hc
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My Turn To Talk About VioletVineyard, MVCreates, and the Glaring Problems of Power Imbalances.
Introduction
I have been on the fence about talking about my experiences, on one hand, because one of her mods and I are or maybe were (?) friends, and I valued their friendship but in recent light, I don’t know and because I want my main to be a safe place for other writeblrs and because I am afraid.
I was in VioletVineyard at the beginning of it -- and being in it did not feel good for reasons I could never put my finger on.
Let's talk about me and who I am first without giving myself away:
I have a disorder that makes expressing myself difficult, this is due to childhood trauma and a form of self preservation. My wording will be clunky because only recently, with the help of amazing friends, I'm learning the right verbage.
Now. Some of you will know who I am. Hello. Please keep me anonymous. Some of you might have a guess. Hello. Surprised? Maybe you're wrong. I don't know, I'm not in your head just as you're not in mine.
I have screenshots for some stuff and none for others. These are all personal experiences.
I will not be sharing the screenshots of those who were victims to respect their privacy.
Please bear with me. I know this will be long and rambly, but it’s how I make sense of my thoughts and brain.
VioletVineyard: Questionable Reality
I joined VV at the start of it, although it was already pretty big. I was excited! I admired many writeblrs who were in there and wanted to be friends with many of them. They were all so welcoming. And I felt, for a hot minute, like I belonged.
It was sprint of my freshman semester as a journalism major, and Mina reached out to me in the general chat, saying that if I needed help or wanted an In at some journalism company, to let her know because she knows people.
Great! Cool. A little odd but that was nice of her -- and.
That's how it starts.
A side: my friend has a theory that if people only present how perfect and amazingly nice they are, they likely are rotting on the inside. Nobody is ever perfect and always super nice, do not trust them. I do not subscribe to this but it is a thought in my mind now.
It took a week of me being there for the not right feeling set in.
First:
There was drama.
She would start it. She'd vague in the vent about someone and then outright state who she was talking about. And it would be about someone whose opinions she disagreed with. People would go and send anons or they'd bitch about whoever was the victim in the vent channel.
I don't remember if I participated but if I did, I am truly and genuinely sorry.
I think I got stressed two weeks in. I was already ill from invisible physical problems. The server felt horribly unmoderated.
I remember saying something because Mina was doing it again and being told,
"Then support in here."
Mostly innocent right? You support your friends, right?
It wouldn't have been a problem if:
The victim did something wrong.
Mina and this person weren't in their goddamn 30s or near that. They have a child, by the way.
The person was at least under 20.
From my scattered memory, the issue was OP either slightly vagued abt Mina or she just disgreed with OP.
Lots of red flags, right?
"But OP why did you stay?"
Emotional masochism? Fear? Because she, either knowingly or unknowingly cultivated this sort of atmosphere? I cannot speak for anyone else, but that's the reasoning for me.
There was, also, in the beginning, a hope that maybe things would change. Varying personalities, you know? And a desperate need for validation.
So, so wrong.
MVCreates & OP
So, get to the point OP. What happened to you?
A vague threat.
Mina....had Opinions. And opinions are just that, opinions but for her, they were fact. After all, she has her own reality and own story that helped form hers but some of hers were odd. Maybe not to most people who aren’t paying attention or didn’t notice the red flags ( “through rose colored glasses, all red flags just look like flags”) but they were definitely something.
She, for awhile, talked an awful lot about writeblr positivity. I could never really make sense of it -- she either supported it or was against it, from what I remember. (keep in mind, this was a little over a year ago and visually, I can see the gaudy green - red - yellow colors for pronoun preferences).
And I made a vague post about it and her. A few times. I was in the wrong for vaguing about her instead of just saying something up front.
Her response was, and I will paraphrase,
“Do you ever screenshot people vaguing about you just in case they enter a political career?”
I wish I had taken a screenshot. I’m sorry now that I did not. Maybe someone saw that, maybe they brushed it off. I don’t know.
From then on, I kept quiet about my thoughts and opinions because I did have plans to go into a political career -- but jokes on her, I plan on being a human rights officer for the United Nations lmao
Another incident (we’re almost done, I promise):
I was -- venting about gender dysphoria. I was Peak Suicidal at this point in time, just knowing what I was born with brought me to tears frequently. Mina had jumped into in the conversation and started talking about something vaguely related. She started talking about trans BIPOC experiences, which is great! Their experiences are things that need to be talked about because they are often thrown to the side for trans white people’s experiences and that is not okay.
I forget the middle part, it’s been over a year. It went from BIPOC experiences to something else, a conversation about gender? I don’t know. Maybe there’s someone out there who remembers. I doubt it though.
I remember saying, “I wish I would have been born with testicles and everything else because [I’m in hell?]” and she answered with,
“That would [mean / cause / ???? ] privilege.”
This person who has claimed she is non binary, claimed to be a trans ally and part of the trans community, said that to someone in the height of dysphoria and was suicidal.
You do not say that to someone who is experiencing gender dysphoria. To say that is transphobia. And yes, trans & non binary people can be transphobic. You are not exempt.
Violet Vineyard & Reprehensible Behaviors
Before I start this section, and I promise this is almost done, I just want to thank:
@radley-writes, @gingerly-writing, @lilquill, @sapiencenotes @rrrawrf-writes & many more who have come forward about their experiences, whether publicly and in private. It’s admirable and brave of you to do something I could not. @nuwuhorizons & @time-to-write-and-suffer have amazing documentation as well.
There isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said and documented, but I can corroborate the bullying Mina and the mods engaged in -- the stuff Radley spoke about I did not know about -- and that makes me ill. I’m glad they owned up to what they did, and for that, thank you Radley. It shows you are a much bigger and better person.
I will not lie, however -- I was hurt and felt a bit ill when you talked about what the mods did. And it made me question and second guess a friendship I have (had?) with another mod. But I think that helped put some pieces of the puzzle together.
An incident that stands out to me (and honestly bothers me, so a few people have heard about this often and I’m sorry), very clearly and I have screenshots for but will not share to protect their privacy, was when they dogpiled someone who had been asking about writing a Jewish character. While they were falling into somewhat harmful stereotypes, VV was handling it.
Not well.
The person was a minor, for one -- teenagers make mistakes, they make them more if they’re not exposed to varying cultures and beliefs. And the person who was on the receiving end of this dogpile looked to be coming more and more unstable and all I could do is just. Grab screenshots of what I could.
And if you’re reading this, you know who you are, I am so sorry I didn’t say anything. That wasn’t right, the entire situation wasn’t okay. You shouldn’t have gone through that. I hope you find healing and peace.
A quick disclaimer: Violet Vineyard, as far as I know, didn’t have a lot of Jewish members. I know a mod was converting (but hadn’t yet) and I think I saw one or two people with the Star of David in their name or icon. That said, my paternal grandmother was Jewish and had been one of the few survivors of her family from the Holocaust. I cannot speak for the entire Jewish population, and I do not consider myself Jewish in religion but trust me when I say this:
YHWH would be disappointed in their (VV’s) behavior -- and if the moderator who is working on converting is genuine about converting, then I need them to think long and hard about what is happening. This isn’t what Judaism teaches. And if you’re reading this, ask yourself, would G-d condone the actions of your fellow ex mods?
Final Words
Oof, this was long, wasn’t it? Must have been hard to sit through because I ramble! So. What’s left for me to say?
Not a whole lot but still, a lot but the stuff I want to say are not my lived experiences. It is not my place to speak on behalf of anyone else involved in all of this. And that is okay.
But to the people who were involved with the recent drama and dogpiled a trans teenager and to those who helped bully many people in this community on behalf of the oh so great Mina,
my question is why?
What was a thirty year old woman, WHO HAS A CHILD, bullying a nineteen year old? Why was an almost thirty year old person with a toddler and one on the way involved in this as well?
Most or a decent handful of you were adults, some with children, some expecting.
And Mina,
You used your age and position to manipulate people and for that, I find you the most reprehensible. Castor did not deserve what happened, neither did the victim mentioned above. Nobody did.
I hope, in the end, you finally find happiness without having to lie about your talent and without having to manipulate people.
Thank you for listening and sticking around if you made it this far and didn’t bounce in the beginning.
I’ve said my part. If anyone wants to engage in constructive discussion or share their experiences, feel free to do so.
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All Vows
A/N: Given that this is the second year in a row I’ve been inspired (compelled?) to write a Good Omens fic on Yom Kippur, I’m inclined to think there’s something to it. But who knows.
See below for more info and author’s notes. L’shana tova, everyone.
All Vows, A03
It's Yom Kippur again, and Crowley can't stop watching you tube videos of the Kol Nidrei service. It's hard to know where he fits, but Aziraphale is there to help.
Crowley hit pause on the video he was watching and shifted on the couch, pulling out his earbuds when it became clear that Aziraphale was talking to him (he could hear him either way, of course, but Aziraphale said it was rude to keep them in during a conversation).
“Are you still listening to Kol Nidrei services?” Aziraphale asked. “I don’t think you’re actually required to do it multiple times.” There was a soft smile tugging at his face, but Crowley didn’t mind the gentle teasing. He knew he was being a little, well, obsessive.
“I’m not required to do it at all,” he reminded Aziraphale. Demons didn’t need to go to temple. Crowley was aiming for a casual tone, but he kind of ruined it by swiping at his eyes, which were leaking rather annoyingly. Traitors.
“Being able to remotely watch Yom Kippur services from all over the world is a silver-”
“Do not say that again, Aziraphale,” Crowley grumbled, returning to more familiar territory. Aziraphale continued to find the “silver lining” in the COVID disaster in everything from less crowded roads to the months and months he’d had to try out different variations on his macaron recipe (Crowley had drawn the line at lobster maracons with buttercream and crabmeat filling), and every time, it grated on his nerves. No “rain bow” was going to make up for this disaster.
“I’m sorry, dear,” Aziraphale said, sliding over and taking Crowley’s hand. “I don’t mean to downplay your concern. But it is long past sundown here, and presumably in…” Aziraphale craned his neck to see what Crowley had been watching on his tablet, “New York City, and I think you can take a break now.”
Crowley let out a long breath, and laid his head on Aziraphale’s shoulder. “Kol Nidrei means ‘all vows’ in Aramaic,” he said.
“Hmm, yes,” Aziraphale agreed.
“Do you remember, then – when it got started… medieval times, all those persecuted Jews, forced to convert to other religions, wanted to return to their own community.” …”
“But they were worried that the oath they had sworn to God to follow another religion would get in the way. So the congregations developed the Kol Nidrei prayer to absolve them of the oaths they had made.”
Crowley digs his chin into Aziraphale’s warm shoulder, and Aziraphale gives his hand a squeeze. Of course Aziraphale knows all about it, they were both there, bearing witness to the many ways humans have wronged each other year after year in the name of religion. But something about this particular religious ritual, a legal formula recited every fall to address each person’s own relationship with their god, has hit him hard tonight.
“D’ya think it worksss for me?” Crowley asked quietly, his voice rebelling against him as surely as his eyes had earlier. “Can I be forgiven, for the vows I sssshouldn’t have made? Or does it not work, since She threw me out in the first place?” Was it still a vow against God if God pretty much forced him into it?
“Oh, Crowley,” Aziraphale said, unclasping his hand from Crowley’s and enveloping him in a tight hug instead. “It works for everyone. Vah-yoe-mare Adonai, sah-lach-tee kid’vorecha.”
“And Adonai said, ‘I have pardoned them as you have asked,’” Crowley repeated, roughly translating the end of the prayer he had heard so many times.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Aziraphale adjusting his hold on Crowley to something more comfortable. Crowley snuggled against Aziraphale’s chest, rubbing his cheek along the worn velvet of Aziraphale’s waistcoat, a feeling of safety and warmth spreading through his body.
“So, which one was your favorite?” Aziraphale asked after a while, shifting so that he could reclaim his tea from where he had abandoned it at the other end of the couch. It was still at the perfect temperature, of course, despite the fact that he hadn’t taken a sip of it for quite a while.
“My favorite…?”
“Your favorite service. You must have watched a dozen of them tonight.”
It had been more than that, actually, if you counted all of the ones Crowley just checked out on you tube for a few minutes and then noped out of if it wasn’t particularly interesting.
“I always found that fancy congregation in Manhattan a bit too stuffy,” Aziraphale said, referring to the last one Crowley had viewed, and Crowley huffed out a laugh. Anything too stuffy for Aziraphale was, let’s say, more than a bit behind the times.
“Newt and Anathema had a good service in their backyard, actually,” Crowley said, grabbing his phone and swiping around until he found what he was looking for, then playing a snippet of the recording for Aziraphale. There were less traditional instruments playing along with the traditional prayers, and Aziraphale smiled as they heard what sounded like a ukulele.
“Anathema will really do anything for Newt, won’t she?” Aziraphale murmured approvingly. Anathema wasn’t Jewish, at least not by birth.
“Well, she thinks the cantor might be under some sort of spell, given how long she can hold out those high notes without breathing, so she’s taking a professional interest.”
Crowley showed Aziraphale a few pictures Anathema had sent him that afternoon, of Newt and Anathema’s yard, set up for a small group of neighbors with chairs spread out at least six feet apart. Their guests were all bringing their own prayer books, or using their phones to access the texts. Even some communities who usually wouldn’t allow the use of technology on the holidays had made exceptions for a variety of practices given the need to stay safe during the pandemic, although Crowley was pretty sure Newt and Anathema weren’t so conservative in their observance anyway.
“Things really are different this year,” Aziraphale said.
Crowley nodded. “Yup. Tomorrow someone is coming by to play the shofar for them. Apparently the guy is just going to go from house to house, if you want him to come play it for you, you just have to let him know and he’ll stop by. Home-delivery shofar blowing. But,” Crowley broke off, swiping until he found another photograph, and then turning his phone so Aziraphale could see the image of the long, curved ram’s horn with a mask somehow attached to the end, “it has to wear a mask too. It could be a super-spreader.”
Aziraphale stared at the photo of the shofar with a mask on it and started to giggle. Crowley harrumphed, but then Aziraphale did that little wiggle that meant he was truly endeared, and Crowley started giggling too.
“Humans are endlessly creative,” Aziraphale said into Crowley’s neck, when the giggles had subsided and they were once more curled up around each other. “They will rise to this challenge, as they have before.”
“Do you really think so, angel?” Crowley asked.
“I do, Crowley. I really do. And we’ll be here to watch them.”
“Together,” Crowley said shyly, hiding his blush in the soft fluff of Aziraphale’s hair. Because no matter what vows Crowley had made, no matter what heaven or hell had required of him, somehow, Aziraphale was still here.
“Yes, of course, dear boy,” Aziraphale replied, nuzzling a delicate kiss into the spot just behind Crowley’s ear, fond and steady and true. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
_____
Note: Here I am again, for some crazy reason, writing another Yom Kippur fic. Yom Kippur is the traditional Jewish day of atonement, and the Kol Nidrei prayer is thought to have originated as a result of Jews being forced to convert to Christianity or Islam upon pain of death. Afterwards, many of the forced converts wanted to return to Judaism, but this was complicated by the fact that they had been forced to swear vows to another religion. The Kol Nidrei legal formula was developed to enable them to return, and is recited each year at the beginning of Yom Kippur to absolve them of their vows to God made under duress. The melody of the Kol Nidrei prayer, which became standardized in the 1800’s, is particularly haunting. To hear and see the Kol Nidrei sung by Cantor Angela Buchdahl, the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi and cantor and an amazing person, go here.
Jewish communities around the world, large and small, have been conducting remotely accessible services this year, and finding numerous ways to allow people to come together for high holiday observance in one form or another while still following social distancing guidelines and keeping each other safe. As just one of many examples, Temple Emanu-El of New York has made its high holiday services available online to everyone; you can find the Kol Nidrei service here. (As described on Wikipedia,Temple Emanu-El is the first Reform Jewish congregation in New York City and, because of its size and prominence, has served as a flagship congregation in the Reform branch of Judaism since its founding in 1845. Its landmark Romanesque Revival building on Fifth Avenue is one of the largest synagogues in the world. I was there once for a wedding - it blew me away, and honestly, most Jewish synagogues don’t look anything like it, but it is a very lovely place to have visited).
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6, 8, 17
6.are you religious/spiritual?
That’s...... idk. My mother and her family were very religious, raised catholic then converted presbyterian and both sets of my grandparents went on many international mission trips trough the 70s and 80s (which is a whole seperate topic but ohhhhhh my god the ethical faults of international mission trips has me so fucking🔪), several of my cousins are now frequently on mission trips, one of them married a youth pastor, so many of my family members have been on their church’s praise and worship teams for ages, the primary socializing my high school boyfriend and I did was at youth group. My junior year I read the Bible back to front three times.
And I can very clearly remember sitting with my grandmother the summer I turned 16 and her telling me that god cured her allergies. The allergies she’d suffered from for the 30 years they lived in california were miraculously healed when they moved to arizona. I was like “well and yeah moving among entirely different plants probably had a lot to do with it haha” and she shook her head. “No,” she insisted “it was God healing me.”
That was when I realized god wasn’t some in-joke we were all in on. Maybe phrased poorly, but I mean.... that was the first time it occurred to me that we weren’t all pretending to believe in christianity the same way I pretend to believe in Tolkien’s middle earth or the magic involved in The Secret Garden. The way I still pretend to believe in The Twilight Zone. That unquestioning faith was something that some people /genuinely/ had
Culturally my upbringing is inexplicable from christian influence. But like ,, I’m also influenced by being raised on Harry Potter and I don’t think that hogwarts is a real thing, y’know? It’s not the same thing as..... belief. Or faith. Or whatever
Does The Prince of Egypt make we weep? Does veggietales live rent free in my mind? Are the best episodes of rugrats the Hanukkah and Passover episodes? Oh yes!
Which maybe explains the panic I have every 5-8months for the last decade when I question if I would find spiritual fulfillment in Judaism or if I think that only as some cheat for the way I was brought up or if I truly find comfort in the fact that unlike Christianity which encourages blind faith, Judaism actively encourages questioning and argument with the deity. If I convert am I appreciating or appropriating? And am I being selfish for wanting a religion at all when I am constantly conscious of the fact that religions are man made? Do they have to lose value because of that, or do I just think they do?
Do I simply want a religion to want me? The way Christianity did before I knew I was gay, before I was chronically ill, before I was greedy and contrarian and understood that denying a child a life-saving blood transfusion because you’re counting on an omniscient being to fix them is actual cruelty?
8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?
I drained myself with that overly involved answer above that Nobody asked for aksnfks so I’ll keep this one quick and just say Hayley Williams from paramore ;__; will go into detail later if you really want lmao
17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?
Mmmmmm in some ways, yes. Like compared to me irl living w my right wing family due to necessity and therefore being closeted, any views I can state online are more genuine than the tongue-biting and eyes-down I have to do at dinner. But also my blogs feature far more chaotic optimism, and in that way is a better version of the “real me” who I feel I am always on guard against. Like ,, I feel my existence is constant self-policing against the “real me” who would be selfish and lazy and cold if only I “””let””” her get away with it :/
#ask#answered#anon#ask meme#religion tw#this got messy I hope I made sense my brain is static today aksjdjs
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The thing that is between Asia and Egypt is called the Middle East. During the 11th century it was filled with Europeans because of the Crusades. Aside from the Europeans, the Middle East was an empire of Muslims so Valak (or Vadik) probably was either a muslim, jew or a christian. All of them were present there at the same time, in the same place because of war. So to say that he had never seen a white guy before is wrong. And he knew something of the three different religions.
Hi there! This is @machonachos, creator of Valak. I figured I'd answer this one because I'm the one who is working on writing the book about these characters.
I'm glad you think you're the only person that knows the words 'Middle East' and 'Scandinavia'. Almost as if we left their exact areas of origin and religions purposefully vague because singling out one specific culture in a story that deals heavily with subjective perceptions of Good and Evil can be needlessly inflammatory in an already reactionary internet climate. Not only that, it's completely unnecessary to be overly specific about a period that does not even take place within the timeframe of the main story outside of flashbacks. We covered it in the video for exposition purposes, to give a glimpse into our characters as humans. But if you want to get into the nitty-gritty, let's fucking do it.
That part of their story does take place in the 11th century. The Crusades begin during the 11th century as well. Evangelos and Vadik are both dead by the year 1083. The First Crusade? It takes place in 1095 :) In Jerusalem :)) Otherwise known as nowhere fucking near Vadik.
Vadik lived in an village within the area controlled by the Abbasid Caliphate, and that's as specific as I'm going to be about that. While the Abbasid Caliphate was Muslim, they had flexibility when it came to the lands under their rule and did not impose conversion on the people of said lands, allowing them to continue practicing non-Muslim religions as dhimmis. Did you know that there are more religions out there than just Islam, Christianity and Judaism? Because at the time, the area had thriving communities of people that practiced Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Paganism, Mithraism, Hinduism, Buddhism and a great many smaller religions, all under the Abbasid Caliphate. Vadik's exact religious affiliation is not integral to the story-- all you need to know as a reader is that he was not Christian.
Oh, and also: proximity means nothing in terms of shared knowledge. Even in modern times, where information on all topics can be found via the internet, a rural community may not be as informed about the practices outside of their community simply because of lack of exposure. There is no logical backing to the statement that he would "know something of the three different religions" because if he has not been exposed to those groups, then he would obviously know nothing about them. Just because my neighbors are Polish doesn't mean I know how to make pierogi.
Not sure why you brought up Scandinavia and the Vikings, but if it was to imply that they were pagan at the time, most of Norway had been fully converted to Christianity by the 11th century because they were receptive to outside cultures and quickly converted to the customs of the lands they settled in. (I don't understand why you would challenge my ability to research when you don't even know that Scandinavia is not a country, it's a region.)
How did they communicate? That's really what you're hung up on? In a story with angels and demons and other fantastical elements? They communicate the same way that people communicate in Pocahontas. The same way people communicate in Gladiator. The same way people communicate in Stargate.
This is a fictitious story. I'm not sure if you know, but there's an unspoken rule when reading fiction that readers are supposed to suspend their disbelief. If you want to read something with 100% historical accuracy, read nonfiction. Assuming shit about strangers on the internet -- in this case, that we haven't done research when I've literally been working on this story for about a year -- is insulting as all fuck and I recommend you keep that shit to yourself next time and spare yourself a verbal beatdown.
In short: Eat My Entire Cock.
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Myosotis scorpioides (a Myosotis sylvatica story 3/3)
Notes: Last but not least, it is time for Blaine’s dad. Man, I have been into the ‘angsty Anderson family’ trope since ‘papa Anderson in het meertje’ all the way back in 2011.
Anyway, Blaine’s dad is a dick.
AO3
Read Myosotis sylvatica here.
--
Contrary to popular belief, John does not hate his son. They just don’t talk. Blaine’s made it pretty clear that he’s reluctant to keep in touch and John doesn’t feel to need to fight him. Blaine’s not a bad kid.
Was he a disappointing kid? Sure.
Was he a bad kid? No.
They just never really got along. John didn’t understand Blaine’s dreams and wishes. And on top of that, John didn’t understand why he likes men when women are right there. Now, many years later, John has outgrown some of his older views, but that still doesn’t take away that John and Blaine are just not compatible.
When Pam left him over a decade ago, so did Blaine in a way. John gives him some money during the holidays and if necessary, they call to discuss business, but that is it. Honestly, if it were up to John, his new wife Michelle didn’t even have to know about Blaine’s existence.
It’s not that John wants to actively erase Blaine from his life, but let’s be honest, he’s just not a part of it anymore and they’re both fine with that.
Michelle doesn’t seem to agree.
John and Michelle married ten years ago and for some reason, Michelle is obsessed with Cooper and Blaine. Cooper is understandable, but why Blaine? Michelle never had children of her own, despite wanting to be a mother, so that is why. But she also doesn’t understand that it isn’t working. She still has the belief of ‘children and parents must always love each other’, but that whole idea is fake. John doesn’t love Blaine. Blaine doesn’t love John. It is how it is.
So Michelle is more invested in Blaine’s life than John. In the beginning of their marriage, Michelle even put a lot of effort in getting to know Blaine and Cooper. She wanted family Christmases (or ‘holidays’ after Cooper’s weird choice to convert to Judaism). She sent them gifts on their birthdays. She called them occasionally.
John made her stop after a while, which probably broke Michelle’s heart, but John knows what’s best.
Still, Michelle hasn’t completely let go. It’s not surprising that she keeps tabs on the social media accounts of the children. She reads Kurt’s newest Firmspring post aloud and for the first time in many years, John wonders if he should call Blaine.
But what to say? What can he do anyway? Blaine has a life and he probably has it under control.
“Johnny, this is terrible!” Michelle says and John can’t believe it when she wipes away a tear.
“Michelle…”
“Really, Johnny! We need to do something.”
“Like what, Michelle? If Blaine wanted us to do something, he would’ve reached out. He knows that we can’t do anything for him.”
John feels for Blaine. Truly. He does not hate his son. John is not heartless. There’s just nothing to do here. John is pretty sure that calling Blaine to offer ‘support’ might make Blaine laugh. He wonders if Cooper knows, but Cooper hasn’t mentioned anything.
See, if Blaine hasn’t even told Cooper, then there’s no reason to believe that Blaine wants John to reach out.
Michelle pushes the phone in John’s hand. “Here, read it yourself. It is terribly heartbreaking!”
John reads the post again and Michelle is right. It is terribly heartbreaking. Yet, there’s nothing substantial that John can do. He leaves a ‘like’ on the post to show them that he’s read it and if they want to talk, then Blaine can call.
The ‘like’ immediately gets buried by the many other ‘likes’.
Well, you can’t say that John did nothing.
--
End notes: This chapter truly is just John going ‘I am not a bad dad’ and then listing the reasons why he’s a bad dad.
Oh, and I used the name ‘John’ on a whim, but the name ‘Michelle’ is another Dalton reference, which accidentally made ‘John’ a Dalton reference as well. A shit dad named John marrying a younger woman named Michelle who cares more about John’s kids than John? That’s Dalton!
ETA: Learn more about Michelle here!
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