#also if someone calls me a self hating jew over this

[satanstrousers]

Growing up, I always thought that the central calling of a Jew was to be good. Even when it was hard, always try to be good, and failing at that, try to be better.

There's a term, אור לגויים, meaning "light unto the nations". It's a weird phrasing, but I always understood it to mean "lead by example". People should see you, a Jewish person, as always choosing the moral, kind path, even at detriment to themselves, in a way that makes people want to emulate them and be better.

I've realized growing up that many Jews, especially those deeply entrenched in the religious or Zionist community, see that responsibility in an inverse way. WE set the standards for morality, so if we say it's ok, it's ok. Jewish people are inherently moral, and therefore all actions taken by Jews, in defense of Jews, must be just. In fact, it's actually anti-Semitic of you to assume there's another way we could be going about this.

This is not what Judaism is, this is not what we're here to do.

We are better than this.

We always have been, and we always will be.

[edenfenixblogs]

I respect your opinion that screenshotting is a normal part of discourse, however, that behavior is restricted to online communications and has only recently become normalized in certain communities, which does not mean that it is normal. I cannot understand that you think my comment about how Jews can function as white in certain contexts has led you to remark the following (forgive me if I mistake you): "I don’t hate you. But I am scared of you. I am scared that you hate me and my people, because so many people do and have shown that they do." Please reconsider your position on deleting both posts, and I offer you my promise that I will never speak to anyone on this site on any issue ever again, as I have very rarely ever used this site for that reason. I respect your feelings regarding virulent hate that you've received in comments, but I am a very private person, and I do not like having my blog name across parts of tumblr that I do not frequent. I only responded when your post came across my dash by chance because the statement that Jews are emphatically not white struck me as ludicrous insofar that it suggests that there is a kind of immutable Whiteness that *is* real. In the course of my response, I have been called an "ass" by your followers; a lifelong reader, my "reading comprehension" has been insulted by one excessively pleasant Jennifer; I was told that "race as a social construct is very much real" by someone in Germany, as if I don't know that after living my entire life as a woman of color in America. I have been, in short, utterly baffled and horrified by my communications with all of you. My comments were not intended to be a statement on antisemitism, or whether Jewish pain is real (of which I believe you accused me), or whether Jewish people can be considered "other" in this century or centuries past, but that is how they have been universally interpreted by you and your bullying, hectoring followers.

So there’s a lot going on here. And I’m not sure how I feel about all of it. So I’ll attempt to break it down.

1. I respect that you’re a private person. I will consider altering my post so that my commentary beneath it is removed on only your words as you wrote them will be visible. I will also delete your username from the screenshots. I may also delete the post entirely, but if I do that’s something I’ll need to mull over for a few hours to a few days. The reason I cannot outright commit to deleting the whole thing right now is because of the aforementioned need to archive comments that trigger trauma responses in Jewish communities.

2. I don’t want you to feel like you cannot speak on any issue. You can and should speak on issues if you’re passionate about them. But you should understand that when you’re speaking on communities of which you are not a part, you may be met with ire at the way you speak on things triggers issues you may previously have been unaware of. And not everyone will be patient or kind when you do so.

3. Name calling is not something I encourage or participate in. Followers, please don’t call people names on my behalf, although I very much appreciate your attempt to defend me. It is not necessary and doesn’t foster peace.

4. I don’t think you understand: your reading comprehension was poor in this case. This is not an indictment of your intelligence broadly speaking, nor is it an indictment of your general reading comprehension skills. The point of my post was to explain that the racial categorization of Jews is unfixed. Even white-passing Jews have to contend with uncertainty of how they are perceived with the ever present fear that this can change at any time. While some Jews may self-identify as white, most that I have met do not. Neither do many of us identify as POC. We are a liminal group in between.

There is a lot of discourse about Jewish whiteness these days, which I have discussed before on this blog. The main points here are that even white-passing Ashkenazi Jews with some ties to Europe are not white as a result of privilege and therefore our status as white cannot be associated with privilege (although we do of course benefit from white-passing privilege). White-passing Jews with historical ties to Europe are often white as a result of mass murder and sexual assault. Meaning: those of us who were too ethnic appearing for Europe were murdered. Those of us who looked “white enough” were sexually assaulted and forced to bear the whiter children of their rapists. This was done so thoroughly to Jews over the course of a few centuries in Europe that many of the surviving Jews with European ancestry today have whiter skin than many of our Sephardi or Mizrahi counterparts. And while other “white”peoples in Europe benefited from their European appearance during the previous few centuries, Jews did not. In most countries we were forced to live in ghettos, denied citizenship, only allowed to work certain jobs and then demonized as if we conspired to control those industries before finally being slaughtered in the millions by people who despised us specifically for being not white enough. In fact, Hitler described as an “Asiatic race.” American white supremacists consider us middle eastern usurpers, as do many European white supremacists. In the Middle East they call us white colonizers. And none of this has anything to do with how we look. It has everything to do with what those who condemn us hate most. Which is why I made my initial post in the first place.

Jewish white passing privilege in the United States is completely different than Irish or Italian white privileged, because of the historical circumstances surrounding our perception in Europe, America, and around the world.

And none of this even begins to touch on the infinitely nuanced experiences of black and brown Jews in America, Europe, and elsewhere. Nor does this address the loss of whiteness experienced by gerim (Jews by choice) who grew up with full white privilege and have experienced a distinct loss of that privilege after conversion.

Jews as a people predate the modern concepts and categorizations of race, religion, and ethnicity. These are words and concepts that came into existence long after Jews already existed. And as such, these terms often fail to account for our experiences in myriad ways.

To put it mildly, race as a concept is a very thorny topic for Jews.

5. If my statement struck you as ludicrous, a better course of action would have been to ask what I meant or to look into what I have already said on the subject in reblogs of that very post. But you didn’t. You came into a post by a Jewish person and imposed your understanding and definition of race onto us. As so often happens by non-Jews. And then you spoke down to us by calling us fools. That hurt. Not just emotionally. It hurt in that it causes harm to my community by thoughtlessly igniting cultural wounds. In future, if you see a cultural group of any kind talking about an experience that strikes you as ludicrous, seek understanding. Seek to understand why we feel that way.

6. I did not bully you. Nor did my followers, except those who chose to call you names. Which I do not endorse. We expressed anger at you, because we are angry. We have a right to both feel and express that anger. We are not bullies for having feelings and communicating them. While I always advocate for civility, we do not owe politeness to those who harm us. We should not meet harm with harm. But we don’t have to always be perfect and kind and sweet and understanding. Sometimes, we can be angry.

7. We have all agreed that race is a construct. You. Me. My followers. The German person who you mentioned. What we are having a miscommunication about is how the status of race as a construct uniquely affects Jews in ways that are different from the experiences of both white people in Europe and America as well as from the experiences of other racial and ethnic minority groups. We all know that whiteness is not immutable. What we are all trying to communicate to you is that whiteness as a concept does not now nor has it ever been fully applied to or embraced by Jews as a community.

I want to be very clear: I still don’t hate you. I’m upset about the whole situation—both our conflict here and the status and topic of Jewish ethnicity more broadly. I am trying very hard here to speak clearly and with understanding and compassion for you and your privacy while also remaining steadfast in communicating the feelings of my fellow Jews in hopes that you will understand how and why we have reacted to you in the way that we have. I am also terrified that you will walk away from this interaction feeling negatively about Jews in general and that this will be my fault. Because any less than perfectly sweet and emphatically kind behavior from us as a community so often held as evidence of our terrible [insert negative quality here] and used as an excuse to write us off.

I can tell that you don’t mean us harm as a group nor do you want to be perceived as antisemitic. But just like any systemic prejudice, it must be actively dismantled. Until it is examined and dismantled, its existence will continue to lead you to unintentionally harm us. Antisemitism is a deeply ingrained systemic prejudice. Literally everyone has it until they do the work to get rid of it. That is what I am asking of you. That is what my followers are asking of you. Even if we didn’t ask in the most perfectly polite and self-effacing way.

[nonegenderleftpain]

There are few things I hate more than "Jewish ally" anti-theists and atheists that spout complete bullshit about Judaism and our supposed beliefs as though they know better than we do what we believe. When we talk about cultural xtianity, this is the kind of shit we're talking about.

"You might not believe in hell but most Jews do, my ex-xtian interpretation of your holy texts is correct despite thousands of years of information on the subject, here's a video telling you that you're wrong." Spent several posts calling non-religious people "freethinkers," and continuously dodged the question regarding the harm eliminating religion would do to so many cultures. Not to mention going from "I think the world is better without religion" to "you have an anti-xtian bias that I don't like" as though there's not a reason for that.

Ex-xtian atheists - you need to address and unlearn your xtian belief that your way is the only right way. That you are objectively correct and everyone else is just ignorant. That you know better than the religious minorities you are addressing. People like this want an excuse to talk down to religious minorities under the guise of polite language, and if you don't want to be associated with them, you have to put in the work to not be like this. I say this as an ex-Catholic, and a former anti-theist - do better.

If you are making objective assertions about someone else's religion that you have not studied and cannot answer basic questions about, you're not being critical of religion, you're being an atheist supremacist. If you pull a "gods are more harmful than helpful" like this person but cannot tell me the impact of Kali or Sàngó on their respective cultures, you are not being critical, you're ignorant and self-absorbed. If you have not studied religion, you do not know what you are talking about, and if you are only accepting xtian interpretations of other religions as true, even as a basis for hatred of religion, you're just a xtian with a new wallpaper.

If you are advocating for anti-theism, you are advocating for the cultural genocide of hundreds of different cultures around the world. If you are advocating for anti-theism, you are inherently anti-Jew. And if you are talking over Jews when they correct you on your blatant misunderstanding of our culture, only to call us *liars* when we counter your misconceptions, or call out your cherry-picked sources for why you know better than we do, you're not just an asshole, you're an Antisemite.

I took this conversation in good faith, hoping that the ignorance was born from misunderstanding instead of malice. I should not have been so kind. And if you're going to come onto this post and whine and cry about "not all atheists," or "cultural xtianity isn't real," save us both the time and block me. I'm done entertaining atheists that will not acknowledge that y'all don't know better than the religious minorities you are insulting by assuming we're all just blind sheep being lied to by some hierarchy that doesn't exist outside of certain religions. My partner is an atheist. I was for a long time, and I chose to return to religion on my own. I'm still an atheist, but I am also very religious. I'm the "smart Jew" that ex-xtians love to talk about; enlightened and no longer clinging to the supernatural. And I'm telling you that you're a fucking asshole and I associate more with the most spiritual Orthodox Jew than I ever would with someone who thinks atheism makes you superior.

[spot-the-antisemitism]

hear me out: I wouldn't be surprised if innocent-fandomite is the same person as stopantisemitism. first of all I went to check when stopantisemitism last posted something and I think they got nuked or maybe self-deleted? they're not showing up when I search there's probably smth I missed. but I think stopantisemitism was definitely someone larping as their own strawman zionist, probably wanting to "expose" people here in the jumblr space for agreeing with their insane kahanist rhetoric and stupid behaviour. when we fucking hated them and their strawman argument didn't get confirmed they decided to go mask-off. still racefaking as a jew because a. why would you admit to faking being jewish b. who would pass up the chance to be their own token jew? but yea seeing their blog is nowhere in sight now only further made me think this is attempt number 2 for whoever was behind stopantisemitism, this time acting even more childish and more extremely kahanist, also note that they decided to be an israeli this time. idk why they thought it'd work for them this time but given I have only seen them pop up now that stopantisemitism is gone and they're already crawling all over jumblr users trying to get attention I can't help but be suspicious.

but hey that's just a theory

Dear Lukas,

Thank you for your essay,

Loving our third philosemitic conspiracy theory so far.

"I wouldn't be surprised if innocent-fandomite is the same person as stopantisemitism. first of all I went to check when stopantisemitism last posted something and I think they got nuked or maybe self-deleted?"

More proof they blocked my main when I called them out on my STA-critical blog so they have stalked my tiny hate blog of them that I banned all their known accounts from. It's clearly them

"I think stopantisemitism was definitely someone larping as their own strawman zionist, probably wanting to "expose" people here in the jumblr space for agreeing with their insane kahanist rhetoric and stupid behaviour."

My theory was make us look bad but that makes MUCH more sense

"this time acting even more childish and more extremely kahanist, also note that they decided to be an israeli this time."

They're trying to ragebait us in order to speedrun their previous failure, methinks

"also note that they decided to be an israeli this time"

Hila listen to me, Lukas please listen to me. They claimed to be Israeli the FIRST TIME and just living in CT due to the Gaza war. They got called out extremely quickly by Israeli users.

"who would pass up the chance to be their own token jew?"

Look how well that went for Trisha Paytas or most JVP members so actually no this is an up that always comes down

Please keep me posted about my dumbest nemesis

Cecil

P.S. Jaxxon I KNOW you're reading this on your 15 block evades I mentioned you today, ain't that nice?

[wewebaggit]

I am already not paying for Netflix and will not support ST either, especially after Shawn Levy's open Zionist approach.

Look, no one is saying they cannot support their family in Israel. But what they are doing is basically sitting in the US and calling for an open ethnic cleansing against Palestinians, while cherry-picking their words and spreading false information. As we speak, Gaza is basically being bombed to death, an entire place has its water, electricity and basic resources being taken from them. It may be easy to post random shit on your accounts with millions of followers while living in rich houses. But the reality doesn't match that and both Levy and Noah should have been more sensible and learned better before posting dumb shit on your accounts.

You are free to hate whoever. N I'm not even gonna bother to defend them cuz it's not my job nor do I base my politics off of teen celebs. That being said I've read his statement that is just as passionate and devoid of the complete understanding of everything of it like other impassioned posts. That's what passionate posts do. They appeal to an emotion. I'm not sitting here expecting him or any other jewish celeb to say yaaaaaas Hamas. Nor am I gonna raise my brows if they speak for the Jewish side of things.

The statement that people read and ran with saying he's calling all Palestinians terrorists is as inaccurate as whatever false info y'all are accusing him of spreading. I do not blame him nor do I defend him and him is a placeholder for any Jew celeb, cuz I do not base my sense of right or wrong on what they're saying. I've never once felt the need to publicly anonymously denounce the people I don't agree with because I don't usually find myself overcompensating for anything.

Israel - Palestine conflict is not new. What's new is this one actor who everyone's expecting to say politically correct shit (which in his mind he might be doing just that 🤷‍♀️) and I believe that expecting this in and of itself is stupid and an easy way to pass the blame and do nothing at all to look good.

Palestinians right to self determination is not affected by what a nobody says. Nor is Israel's stance on continuing on with its policies of decades. The fact that people are busy harping on this one thing cuz apparently the only source of knowledge is insta and therefore maybe it seems like it's a must to react to whatever is seen on insta. Well, I cannot relate.

The fact that you or whoever if there are multiple anons find it necessary to approach me on anon so that I can be derisive towards him and that somehow it is the most important thing to discuss here - well, it is laughably easy to post while sitting in your home with food, water and power while others are wont to dangerously struggle for them. See how that works? My post is and has never been about Israel Palestine at all and was always in response to anon (and fandumb) who's been at it for a while.

Are we truly gonna say that he hasn't always be hated upon for things he's done and not done? Is there a comparable backlash against other celebs? That being said you now stop liking a celeb. Good for you. What does it achieve? Were you following them for their immense knowledge and wisdom of politics and geopolitical conflicts? Then I suggest you do not mourn the loss.

Also the fucking hypocrisy of everyone on this site to wake up like the Undertaker when it's israel/palestine (not even out of much real love for the people affected let me remind you as the argument is centered around fucking Noah schnapp/jewish celebs of all the people) and then no reaction to what happens in third world non-glamorous countries. (The glamorous here is Israel to be clear). And before you say well it's a reaction to what he said. Well there have been reactions based on what he should say or hasn't said, too. So like I'm judging y'all atp. Like what's the issue? Your heart bleeds for victims or does your mouth salivate over taking someone down with that pitchfork?

Why should I engage in an argument that's not based on what is says its about but the subject matter is celeb not the thing celeb is talking about. That being said I won't even be talking about the thing the celeb is talking about because there's shit happening in the world all the time and I have my opinions on all of them and I choose to keep them to myself lest people read what's not there and call me a genocidal dogwhister. There are 2 sides to a genocide. (And I'm not saying like 2 sides to a story. But a victim and a perpetrator) And the supporters of both sides will have unfortunate reading comprehension if it means they can take down a nobody in the business of nothing to make themselves feel morally superior.

So should he (Shawn and Noah) be more responsible or considerate or whatever? Idk. They can be or they can choose to show their ass. My respect (if any) for them never did rest on what their political beliefs were because, at the risk of appearing repetitive, I don't care.

I do care about the proxy hatred being spewed under the guise of sloganeering though. I'm way too used to it. It happens on the daily where I come from. I'm not gonna pretend y'all are angels. I see this for what it is.

So good on you for not supporting ST and staying true to your beliefs and code. That is always a respectable position to take. Sometimes people are just not in your position. Like you might not be in theirs. As you so pointed out.

TLDR: I trust celebs to post dumb shit. Where have you been to have expected differently?

[myriadeyed]

⩝

This isn't just an essay about my archetrope identity; it's also the explanation for what it even is.

I've tried to narrow it down, I've tried to separate it, and I've tried to find convenient ways to define it. I explained it as having multiple distinct archetrope identities that were closely related—"wanderer," "mimic," "opportunist" "shapechanger"—but they aren't distinct. Most archetropes will say their archetypes are things like knight, or unreliable narrator—I don't think mine is inherently different or more internally complicated in any way, but the problem is that most archetypes and concepts have words that mean them. Everyone knows what a knight is. No matter where and how long I pored over the dictionary and Etymonline, I couldn’t find one single word that explains what I am. I had to realize that it's the very fact of what it is that makes an existing word or phrase impossible. So I made my own.

I call it Wayvariance. It's a portmanteau of sorts, between the words "wayfar" and "variant." A wayfarer is obviously a traveller or explorer, but the etymology of way (to mean the course by which something occurs) and fare (to mean to wander, to be/exist, or even simply just to go) implies a connotation of someone who doesn't just travel, but who's defined by it. Variance originally meant only the act of undergoing change. Its meaning of diversity, difference, came later; a result of inevitable change. The way evolution is a constant course of change, meaning inherently that it's also existence in infinities.

Wayvariance is being a wanderer. Not because I travel a lot, but ontologically. I always leave. I leave both physically and existentially. The wanderer grows bored with home, with comfort and familiarity. Not just bored. Sick. Sick to its stomach. Being in one place for too long creates a miasma. I could find something to hate about anywhere I end up. I've lived in enough places in a short enough amount of time to feel that anywhere I go next is implicitly not a place I'll stay for very long, and to feel like even just three years is a crazy long amount of time for me to spend living somewhere. A new city to become part of is my version of someone else’s return to a cozy childhood bedroom. But I never really am a part of them, I know by now. The homebody is a river carving canyons over eons. The traveller is always the fish.

"I would tell you about the ocean if I had a moment to stay and chat. But those other places call again and we will never see each other after this. I seem to be the only one who recognizes this. You say ‘keep in touch’ like I have hands and not fins."

I go where I go. It’s a matter of perspective whether it's freedom or being towed by an invisible rope to unknowable destinations, I guess. I choose to appreciate it, but only because I couldn't ever choose to stop it. To drift through existence. The word “plankton” etymologically traces back to the Greek for “wandering.” Plankton are defined as any creature which does not swim purposefully, but rather is carried by ocean currents. Am I purposeless? Rootless? Is this why so many people think their roots are their purpose? I never knew what it was like to have either. No wonder I'm anti-zionist as a Jew. Doikayt doesn’t just mean hereness to me, it means anywhereness. There is no soil or stone with my names already carved. There are no waters that whisper for me, only to. You get it.

Which is all to say: the difference between a wanderer and someone who is lost is only a matter of deciding that what you are is a conscious choice rather than being haplessly dragged along by the universe. Either way, there is no end and no source. I don’t even know what to say when people ask where I'm from. Whatever works, who’s asking?

Wayvariance is being a shapeshifter. One who changes. Not just their shape, too, but their whole self. Recreates the self. In fact, it’s my only constant. The one thing that will never change about me is that I will always change. I know that I'm trans because I seek radical physiological transformation more than any other reason. I cannot live a whole life without knowing what it feels like to be so drastically modified; not even out of a frenzied sense of curiosity, but out of an unavoidable instinct. I crave change, and I need it. The wanderer grows bored with home, with self, body, mind. It needs to leave. Stagnation kills me, like mosquitoes breed eggs in the still waters of my life. My name isn’t the same as it was 3 years ago and it won’t be the same three years from now. Even the way I write or draw is inconsistent. Even the way I type. An example: it wasn't a mistake to switch from digit to word when writing the same number just now. I felt like it—but I can't explain why.

Shapeshifter transforms the body and the mind remains intact. Wayvariant, on the other hand, becomes. Embodies. Change does not even have to be from the inside out. When I put something on myself—a name, an answer, an image, a character, a preference—it seeps into my epidermis like the ink of a tattoo until the only way to remove it is with the regular moulting of my feathers. I can't relate to stories of fictional shapeshifters because I can’t imagine turning into something physically but not becoming it in my entirety. What do the words mind, heart, body and soul mean? They are all equally mutable and impermanent. I have identified as otherkin for nearly eight years and I don’t have the same kintypes I did when I first realized, not because I was wrong about being a fox, but because I became a badger instead. Not even the same kintypes I did half that time ago, not because I was wrong about being a badger, but because I became a cladotherian instead. Queer, but never wanting to call myself “against labels” or “still questioning” just because I was aroace femme-presenting nonbinary and now I'm a butch bi man. You get it.

I used to relate to the phoenix. But there's no dramatic blaze of fire or victorious rising up from the embers for me. I don't need to burn to exist in the ashes of everything I used to be. Maybe someday a sapling will grow from them instead of a bird. If there was such thing as consistency, I would consistently be changing. But there isn’t. So when I grow into a tree, I certainly won’t be a bird anymore.

Wayvariance is adaptation, and by extension, survival. Sometimes Wayvariating is like being the last survivor of an apocalypse because you refused to die more like a cockroach than a hero, but that’s OK, you’re used to the loneliness. Sometimes it’s change that’s evolution at such a rapid pace it doesn’t need generations, only you and a certain willpower. Was there a reason the bird needed to suddenly be a tree in the first place? Sometimes Wayvariating is like chewing your leg off to get out of the trap. Backed into a corner snapping and hissing, it’s not very heroic either but I’ve always been more like a wild animal than that particular archetype allows for.

That also means Wayvariance is mimicry, inherently. Mimicry is survival. An adaptation. Some creatures will mimic a coloration of a poisonous species to deter predators. Some creatures will mimic the beats of a human interaction, perfectly memorized and choreographed to avoid being noticed. Some won’t even realize they are the only one in the room who’s having to pretend to be human. For a lifetime. They just know that snapping and hissing don’t protect them as well as dancing and laughing do. So I learned how to dance and laugh, but not because it's funny.

A terrifying concept for humans to think someone in the room might not be the same as them, but somehow smiles and speaks like them all the same. Like it has learned their behaviors, their patterns. A horror movie monster. One you don't notice right away, even speaking to it. What is it scheming? A great evil? To hunt, kill, devour? To make innocent humanity its victim?

Why would an animal have to pretend to be poisonous if it was the one who was bloodthirsty?

Wayvariance is opportunism. That’s also an adaptation. A Wayvariant is an animal that can survive on any diet, in any biome, because it takes what it can get while it can get it. That’s being a generalist. For a wild animal, at least. A sapient person's version I guess would be called eclecticism. My preferences are wide enough that I may as well not have any. Being a generalist means I say I “don’t play favorites” and I say I “have no taste” in things because I never know what to say when someone asks me my favorite type of movie, or game, favorite genre of music, what’s your dream job… where would you like to live? No answer, for me. Every answer. I could find something to love about anywhere I end up.

I also endeavor to diversify the self, too. Not just my options. It’s not just about differences. It’s about encompassments. It is difficult for me to make my self small because it naturally desires so many things. Therian, but struggling to whittle myself down to as socially acceptable a polytherianthropy as I can muster even if some people can only imagine I'm struggling to “maintain so many conflicting identities.” Autistic, and having special interests in topics some people find so impossibly broad like “art” that I have genuinely, not joking, had my disability fakeclaimed over it. Archetrope and having a 'type so conceptual and expansive as this that I need to make my own word for it. You get it.

Which means Wayvariance is to contain multitudes. It is not a contradiction for me to contradict myself. It comes easily because I'm not just OK with being confused or confusing, I embrace it. I don’t understand how others would find being "your own opposite" hard to wrap the mind around. Asymmetry? A walking paradox? Maybe in the eyes of others. Multitude eyes see those variating evolutionary infinities behind themselves. You can be both the desert and ocean. You can be snow and fire. You can be the desert and the ocean but not both at once. You can be snow and fire, but neither snow nor fire. This is so normal to me that it’s tricky to explain. When I write or do art, a million projects open at once that I chip away at over time across the board works better for me than putting all focus into one; if I'm playing three games, or watching three shows or reading three books at once, I finish all three before I would have finished just one if it was the only one. Something about the variety keeps my attention better than hyperfocus ever could, even with the autism/adhd combo. I liked having a million thousand nested links on my blog because there’s something about labyrinthinely navigated lists that makes more sense to me, and something about having different sideblogs for different topics that doesn’t. And I'm plural. No need to expound upon that one. Plural in more than one way, even. Plural in different ways that don't stay consistent. If I expound anyway, it's because I can't help it. You get it.

Wayvariance is ambiguity. I revel in it. I love those stupid link labyrinths, but I also like having nothing in terms of information that's accessible at all, even difficultly, because obscurity is my nest, where I feel safe. Vague isn’t uncomfortable for me, if anything, it’s familiar. Uncertainty is like a lullaby and a confident answer to a question is like waking with a start from the sensation of falling; you know the feeling—jarring, sudden. I'm not insecure when things don't make sense, though I know others sometimes see it that way if I'm nonsensical too often. I never feel more secure than when things don’t make sense. If there was such thing as home, mine would be the strange and ephemeral, and the antichronology of dreams, and enigmas. But there isn’t. So I am always waking up somewhere time exists, and you know the feeling, jarring and sudden. Making myself understood sometimes is like a fool’s errand, especially because way too many people think being esoteric is always a choice. I make an entire new word to describe my archetrope identity and then write an entire essay trying to explain it, because (as the modern adage explains) “human language is like trying to nail down the ocean” and unlike some, I am not human, I am the fish called to seas and from river to river, never with the privilege of walking back onto dry land where words lie.

G-d, why the hell was I an English major.

Wayvariants are outsiders, foreigners wherever they go, from across oceans to their home towns to the inside of their own heads. I am, after all, a wanderer, and I always leave. I leave both physically and existentially. Because I always leave, I also always arrive. I am a stranger wherever I arrive. Both physically and existentially. And a journey inevitably always changes the traveller. If I ever were to come back home, I'd be a stranger there too.

But like I said. There is no such thing as home.

[synonymouswithanonymous]

☺

Thank you! this is a good article. And you're right, it's a different topic but it's overall message is spot on. If people are willing to dehumanize others over a celebrity Crush, then you can definitely see how it happens at a much larger scale (politics/religion etc). It's the same methods no matter the size of the scale. If it's so easy to dehumanize another over something as ridiculous as a celeb crush, then how would they act over something much more important that actually affects them. Not just haters but people at large.

Some choice and spot on quotes.

"Maiese defines dehumanization as “the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.” Dehumanizing often starts with creating an enemy image. As we take sides, lose trust, and get angrier and angrier, we not only solidify an idea of our enemy, but also start to lose our ability to listen, communicate, and practice even a modicum of empathy."

"They called Jews rats and depicted them as disease-carrying rodents in everything from military pamphlets to children’s books. Hutus involved in the Rwanda genocide called Tutsis cockroaches. Indigenous people are often referred to as savages. Serbs called Bosnians aliens. Slave owners throughout history considered slaves subhuman animals."****

Like calling someone a "worm/leech/flea/toxic etc etc etc

"Successful dehumanizing, however, creates moral exclusion. Groups targeted based on their identity—gender, ideology, skin color, ethnicity, religion, age—are depicted as “less than” or criminal or even evil. The targeted group eventually falls out of the scope of who is naturally protected by our moral code. This is moral exclusion, and dehumanization is at its core."

She has been repeatedly called less than, "not on his level" and her skins paleness, her hair color, her nipple color, someone even submitted her to a "saggy titties" website and then posted it (if they didn't put her on there I'm questioning their search habits). She's called "old looking" etc, bc she has laugh lines. Every part of her body attacked.

She's been called evil, whore, bitch, toxic, her eyes are "soulless" and "evil" just constant abuse towards someone bc she is the GF of their celeb crush. Even her eyebrows are somehow used to claim she's evil. They also make up lies about her and her life to sway the public to make her a villain, and if she's a villain it's totally ok by hater/dehumanizer logic to treat her how they do. From name calling to cyberbullying. Even posting information as to how to better cyberstalk and harass JM.

And then there's the self harm fantasies they indulge in, gleefully talking about how they imagine her committing acts of self harm. It's sick imo.

The article is right it begins with language, and then images. Like unicorns and gorillas, or redheaded chucky murderer dolls.

I'm glad you sent it. ☺☺☺ Very, very informative.

**** Another example is how people in the news refer to Palestinians as "rats" or "rabid" this is dehumanizing, and they say it to strip people, innocent people suffering, of their humanity. So stripped of it, they can then deny it ever existed at all and this is WRONG. They try to make it appear as though "they deserve it" and it doesn't matter their treatment bc they're "evil" or "brought it on themselves." Trying to justify behavior that isn't justifiable. People are people, and everyone deserves the preservation of their lives and dignity. Sorry for the rant but it's like we live in a culture that just wants to fuel hate any way they can, and it makes me sad.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Normally, I would not engage because I've already left it alone. But as it stands I'm a little bit annoyed. I keep seeing people effectively claim that I am just islamophobic or that I just believe Israeli propaganda or that I am a Zionist.

The issue however is that there are a lot of people who are on the anarchist far right and anarchist far left and just the far right and far left in general who have issues with States existing. Yet for some God forsaken reason or another most of their problem seems to be with a Jewish state. Often times you hear minimal to no discussion at all about what's happening to the uieger Muslims in China or literally any other country that's going through an actual genocide.

Genocide as a term means that it is either the actual completion of or the attempt of purging physically violently of a group of people with the intent to wipe them off the face of the Earth. The Nazis tried it that was definitely a genocide. My issue is the fact that they are people who are anarchist who very clearly hate Jews who pretend that they're just against Israel but want them to have no safe place to go. While leftist in the west are beating and harassing and threatening with death Jewish people who have nothing to do with Israel.

So effectively you want them to have no safe place to go. And to be called intellectually lazy is funny from people who just gag down to the nutsack on Hamas propaganda of whom we've now found out dozens of times that they've lied about the numbers of those who have died. It is not islamophobic to point out a fact that the Muslim religion does not like the Jewish religion on a fundamental level. It wouldn't be christophobic? To point out that Christians also at least to some degree not most but some also take issue with the Jewish faith. No my issue isn't the fact that I'm intellectually lazy it's that people in wartimes lie. And the number of people that Hamas killed unprovoked on October 7th mostly civilians is a testament to how evil they actually are.

No, you might say well oh well what about the Palestinians that Israelis should just lay down their weapons and leave Hamas alone because Hamas would never break ceasefires for the third fourth fifth sixth and 7th time in a row. No not at all it would never happen you must be crazy. No intellectual dishonesty and intellectual laziness is looking at Hamas and the propaganda that they've ingrained in the Palestinian people and thinking that there's no overlap. Civilians should not die I am 100% on board with that. The problem is Hamas is using Palestinians as human Shields so I guess what lay down their arms and just accept the bullets coming back at them? Yeah I know that sounds to me like you just want the Jewish people to f****** die.

So the only solution in my head that I can come to is that you just hate Jews. Because there's literally no other solution it could be. Because you seem to not care about any other Faith or country that is a state except broadly and the one that you seem to take the most issue with is literally just Israel. Which leads me to believe that it's more than just the country you have a problem with.

Having said that I think that it is perfectly reasonable to criticize anything that Israel does wrong as well as any other country on earth. What I don't agree with is the idea that a hostile force will lay down their arms when the people who they pissed off stop. Same thing goes with self-defense generally speaking you don't pull a gun to disable someone you pull a gun to put them down. Gun training 101 you do not point your gun at anything unless you plan to destroy it. Unfortunately retaliation goes the exact same way because in some ways it is a form of self defense. Because on a fundamental level it is a do this again and there won't ever be and again. Except Hamas and other extremist groups have done stuff like this again and again and again. And Israel has seeded back some of that land over the years even from Middle Eastern countries who have tried to conquer them.

So you know what like and reblog every anarchist douchebag that you want to. Because I know that I'm not an islamophobe I know that there are plenty of Muslims out there that don't hate Jews but I also know that there are a lot more that do. It's called having a nuanced understanding of reality; try it sometime. Because I'm sure that Israel has done not good things but such is war. And while I don't want war I have to consistently post questions to people who keep calling for no war. Which is do you think self-defense is okay? Because if so this is a war of self-defense with two areas that are extremely close in proximity. Hamas will not stop. Hamas will never stop. If Israel does not cut them off at the neck they will kill more people constantly over and over and over again and you know what I'm going to point to you and be like, "Oh how's that ceasefire working out for you". But then I understand that you won't care because you pretend it's about the state when it's about the fact that you just hate Jews. Because I don't see you calling for the dissolution of anywhere else except Israel. Because assuming even for a moment that Israel was dissolved and the Jews were forced to go random other places in the world so they weren't f****** massacred overnight and they would be, the entirety of the Arab world would conquer that area and turn it into a new state calling it something that was s******* on Jewish people and they would know that they have won. So you know what continued to be a dumb b****. I don't care. Because this is the absolute last time I actually plan on engaging and I'm not going to even bother tagging. And it's not because I'm a coward. It's because I'm sick of c**** like you pretending that you give a s*** and that you're against tyranny when it's very clear that you're for anarco tyranny. Just keep pretending that Islam is just this bastion of peace religion with no Mass sects of genocidal lunatics. Nah. Nope just Israel who's evil, no one else right?

And here's the fun part. Normally I'm against stuff like this so I'll say it in a different way.

I hope the day never comes where somebody massacres half your family because then I'm going to come to you and tell you to just keep laying down your arms because war bad. Oh and if you try to get into a semantic argument about war being a numbers thing or a country's thing I am going to cut you down right there and be like you said violets is evil so why are you fighting back? Oh that's right because you don't actually have a moral foundation at all you just pretend to so you can ride that far right or far left cock that is Jewish hate. Spare me.

[falling-drops-of-ichor]

After a lot of recent encounters with people saying one of a number of actively harmful things, I feel like it's about time I sit down and chat. I am doing this through the exacerbated brainfog of a fever so this post may be edited for clarity or to make it more concise in the future.

"Source is everything that exists, and there is nothing to command or have power over - you can only have power WITH as everything plays out how it's wanted. The creator expressed itself through it's creations." [This person also tried to convince me that I wanted to be disabled when I incarnated: "You actually have it exactly how you want it."]

As a mostly hard polytheist (I believe some deities may share faces but ultimately believe each deity is an independent entity) the notion of a singular self-expressing source is completely out of line with my beliefs and experiences. You look at the number of ways someone can exist, whether that's method of incarnation or energetic typing or soul species (dragon/demon/etc), and that alone is why I refute a universal source. This person also believes in densities of consciousness, and the fact he couldn't even properly answer my questions about the variation in sentience and sapience in non-human animals even on earth speaks for me on how stupid that idea is. Especially by pinning angels up at the 13th density, while the highest example he gave for anything else was 6th. The whole thing just reeks of new age bullshit and probably could come across ableist if he was slightly less spiritual in his examples.

A different person tried to say the good humans are half alien and half Neanderthal. No real indication of what the others were but I can bet this was ancient astronaut theory in a fresh paint of coat given he was saying the Sumerian pantheon is an alien group, so that was just plain antisemitism. I am an admittedly uneducated gentile, but I hope to keep learning and make an effort to not just seem to hate Nazis (which I do) but to be able to be someone Jews can feel safe around.

Brief note here for the variety bag of other gentiles claiming Lilith has been their guardian since they were a child, etc etc, and how fucking stupid they sound. I've had one admit to me that Jews hate them for it, and he got pretty weird about me agreeing that he's being awful for legitimately believing Lilith is his guardian. (He also thought she is married to Lucifer Morningstar... I don't know enough to comment there but that doesn't sound right.)

This one I haven't personally seen in a while due to carefully curating my communities and Tumblr feed, but a recent discussion on the problem reminding me it's worth adding to this post while it's already long: a belief seeming to surge in popularity into the mainstream that deities don't get angry, can't be offended if you work with them, and won't be harmful intentionally OR on accident. I'm sorry, that's an entire deity, they are substantially threaded into reality itselves. They are huge, and they in my and friends' experiences typically put a nice face on a bit of themselves to talk to you. When my matron, She Who Reads Eulogies, first allowed me to more properly perceive her I almost thought I'd been being duped and just about banished her due to the sheer shock of the intensity and complexity of her presence alone. Hades called me his child and then left without a trace when I was like 16, and I've never so much as felt him since. And that hurt me! That hurt a lot! To have technically both of my fathers abandon me and become cold or abusive was traumatizing! I also have heard stories of deities manipulating people if not outright attacking them. And certain deities won't want to be associated - insisting on working with both of two deities at odds with each other may not end well for you or them. And, predominantly, if you're disrespectful while reaching out I wouldn't expect any beneficial attention in return. Deities are not big people in the sky you can turn into your uwu magic friends that protect you. They can protect you because of the way in which they are powerful enough to do so, and even then - I've seen deities have to turn back due to lines in politics amongst them that they won't cross. Respect what they do for you, and respect their no's... and respect them as beings. I've made awkward offerings and later found out I did it wrong, but I was respectful and acknowledged I might be fumbling so they paid attention regardless.

This is already probably four posts in one, so I'm going to leave this here and if anything else seems worth saying I'll srb or make a new post.

[archaeocommunologist]

"If you're not having fun, you're free to disengage. It's really, truly, no skin off my nose."

we could spend all day picking apart the fundamental problems with your assertions and arguments regarding the actual issue (as if you were ever willing to engage in a good faith discussion with someone who is, in fact, pro-Palestine) but honestly? i think this post of yours really encapsulates the actual "quiet part" with you.

you went from rape threats, stalking, and very rabid & violent forms of exclusionary rhetoric (which as far as i can tell you might still be engaging in) to this, here, now. you apologized for the rape threats/stalking and claim to have stopped. i am normally someone who genuinely believes in redemption and hates when past, apologized-for actions are hung over someone's head indefinitely. the problem is that you didn't just need to apologize; you needed to mean it. you needed to actually, truly examine the source of this disturbing, vicious rage and do some very serious deprogramming. and you BEYOND needed to step away from the harassment.

it is just not healthy that you can't stand up for something without suicide-baiting or tagging a call of "kill [x]" or insulting/baiting (for the record, i'm talking about the way you stole phrasing from the people you're attacking, too).

i am very passionately pro-Palestine and I'm sorry, but your absolute refusal to believe that spending our efforts humanely & strategically is a good thing, that it's better to avoid spreading misinformation, that Nazis are sometimes latching onto solidarity with Palestine to spread their poison, and that "Zionist" (more specifically "Zionist Occupied Government" but yes, sometimes just "Zionist") can be a Nazi dog whistle, is just batshit. none of those truths are in any way talking points against Palestinian liberation. The truth is just nuanced.

Of course you "find these liberal 'I’m-not-a-Zionist-but' American Jews' more despicable than the out-and-out settlers." They are accessible to you. Of course an American Jew questioning the best way to stop this genocide and liberate Palestine in the most humane way possible is, to you, worse than actual war criminals, rapists, and mass-murderers. They speak English just like you, have blogs on this platform, taggable usernames, and inboxes. They are a "great evil" YOU, personally, can hurt.

"If you're not having fun, feel free to disengage." What a sad thing this was to read. It all really is "fun" for you, isn't it? To you, "disengage" means surrender, surrender means you win, and that's what's actually important to you here, just like it always is every time you repeat this ghoulish cycle. You need to literally print out some of the shit you've written & done, take it to a good therapist, and have them help you do some serious self-examination and growth.

First off, I wanted to thank you for this message. Despite what people say about me, I really appreciate this kind of feedback and I am very open to conversation and criticism. That said, the fact that you are an anonymous and hostile stranger does undermine what you're saying. Also, the fact that I am open to criticism doesn't mean I value all of it. Like it says in the Big Book, we grovel before no one, and that includes you.

Second: I don't think you understand that this is a two-way conversation, that I have my own perspective, and that I am under no obligation to accept your framing of events. I know exactly where that "disturbing, vicious rage" came from: the multi-year harassment campaign I was subjected to, first by radfems and later by a loose group of (mostly) women on Tumblr. I was sent death threats, rape threats, and suicide bait. I was told that I deserved the sexual assault I've experienced. I was denigrated in every conceivable way, compared to a plague rat and a rabid dog. I was told over and over again that everyone I know would be happier if I were dead, and that I was a dangerous threat to everyone around me.

So forgive me if I'm not interested in whatever "deprogramming" you think is appropriate. If you're still confused as to why I was angry, and why I lashed out the way I did, you are welcome to review my old blog at sobercommunist.tumblr.com.

Third: If you're going to assume I'm a liar, you should expect the same in return. I don't believe that you "genuinely believe in redemption," with me as an unfortunate and grotesque exception. I don't believe that you are "passionately pro-Palestine" either. You've even misrepresented my positions in this ask, whether intentionally or not: I never said that "Zionist" couldn't be a Nazi dogwhistle, nor have I ever supported spreading misinformation.

Finally: when I wrote "settlers," I meant something more like "settlers and the Zionists who support them." The latter definitely speak English and have blogs on this platform, because they're in tributary's notes.

Hope this was helpful! Have fun out there.

[congregamus]

Someone asked Joe Biden, "What's the chance of a #ceasefire?", and he answered, "None" — and on the one hand… I aim to hold him as responsible as I can for his refusal to listen to the majority of his democratic base, who favor the same. But let's be honest. He's not the government of Israel. He doesn't get to say what they're going to do or not do. So, on the other hand: he's just telling the truth.

Netanyahu et al — NOT the same thing as Jews- and Israeli citizens-in-general, it must be reiterated — have no intention of stopping this operation until enough Palestinians have been eliminated or relocated that the annex of Gaza can be re-narrated as a successful "liberation."

But GP!, how can you say that‽!

Because 1) I have sense organs and a memory. And 2) As much as these are my thoughts, they do also happen to align with human rights organizations the world over.

What is clear to me, as an American who has read the history of their own country, is that as much as this is a genocide-spun-as-self-defense, this is also a land grab.

Joe Biden is happy — along with a shocking number of the people I call friends and neighbors — to assist and fund a military operation that is contrary to human rights, common decency, and respect for life itself. I don't like to talk about sin, but this collective sin we may not avoid discussing.

To be an American not drunk on propaganda right now is to bear a heavy burden.

If you follow here, you are surely old enough to roll your eyes with me at the oft-invoked "If-Then" of the early aughts: "But if … [fill in], then the terrorists have already won."

If you're an organization willing to target hospitals, ambulances, UN workers, and journalists — I DON'T CARE your justification! — I hate to tell you, but not only have the terrorists won: you are indistinguishable from them.

[christian-zelda]

I am sorry that your church taught you God was hateful. Mine does not preach that. I do not believe he would condemn people for loving unconventionally. I am also gay, so I don’t appreciate you saying that my lifestyle dooms me to hell.  Additionally, it is ridiculous to claim that Israel is only acting in self defense when their soldiers literally film themselves looting peoples houses and stealing their belongings, and they receive no repercussions from their superiors for this behavior, to name one of many crimes. I am sorry that your church taught you love was a sin and genocide wasn’t. I hope you can see that your beliefs are hurting people and be the person god would want you to be: someone accepting, who stands up for the oppressed and shuns the oppressor.

Change your heart.

I literally said I believe he loves everyone. However, he doesn't love their sin. Also, my church didn't teach me that. I have learned what a Christians opinion on matter such as homosexuality are supposed to be: we are supposed to love them like we would anyone else. And we should love people by calling them out when they are doing something wrong, while still caring about them as a person. I'm sorry that you don't appreciate the truth.

I literally stated in one of the answers that I acknowledge that Israel has horrible things too. I do wish this war wasn't necessary, but unfortunately, it is. Hamas will continue to kill the Jews, until there are no Jews left, unless Hamas is defeated.

Again, my church never taught me either of those things. I follow what the Bible says, and homosexuality is a sin in both the new and old testament. And also, if the Jews were trying to genocide the people of Palestine, why don't they just bomb the whole place and get it over with?

Once again, thank you for keeping your ask polite and respectful, and I pray that you understand the truth. God bless you. I do not wish to continue this conversation, because I am not in the right mental state to be debating anyone, and I doubt either of will be changing our position anytime soon.

[royalberryriku]

As a transgender person, the way the media talks about Jews and Palestinians since October 7th really rubs me the wrong way.

I don't know if I'm wording this very well, I'm really emotional over how these methods being used against people like me and have been used against so many marginalised communities are being used again. I know I sound like some conspiracy theorist but the truth is that history shows a long list of evidence pointing towards the west being at fault for this and for starting this colonial hate filled bullshit.

But yeah.

So, when I i get shit for being trans, it's often because people assume my existence threatens someone else's, said people who, by the way, they turn around and give shit when they think we don't realise. Cis lesbians, for example. We will get shit for calling non transgender people the word for being non transgender "cis", but said people who get angry will ignore cisgender men who corrective rape lesbians and then also advocate for the rights of lesbians to be taken away on a state and federal level.

What really sticks out to me is how the media talks about antisemetism exactly to the same extent they talk about lesbiphobia; whenever it suits an agenda while ignoring the actual issues that actually affect Jews. All the while, blaming another minority for their own bullshit. White supremacy has been perpetuated by white nationalists who often appropriate nordic symbols and say they are superior for their nordic bloodlines. Which is also total bullshit, but they seem to believe it enough to call for the death of Jews, deface graves and shoot up synagogues. Yet, when far right extremists online are given a platform or make stories with obvious dog whistles, the media say absolutely nothing. The only time the media seems to suddenly "care" is when it's to target another minority.

As a trans guy who really likes knowing about history, let me tell you a very damning observation of mine; lesbians and gays get treated worse the more trans people are legislated against, because it's means rolling back rights for other minorities. It means starting a process that targets more and more "undesirables".

The Nazis used the exact same frame work and the western leaders at the time applauded him for it. And yes, they still use the exact same methods. We know that once one group are dehumanised, it's only a matter of time before the next group are targeted immediately afterwards. So when I say "when they're through with Palestinians, Jews are next on the list" that's not hyperbole.

I'm not saying Israelis are victims either, the is a huge issue of indoctrinated far right metrology and idealism that stems from colonial European bullshit passed on. I am however saying that, in the west's mins, when Palestinians are out of the picture, who else do you think would be next in line so that the west gain more land? Who else is "in the way"? Who else do white nationalists despise? We've seen how this shit is done; how hate is methodically done.

"Hamas are terrorists and hide amongst civilians" have to considered that this narrative was born because Hamas were civilians who were targeted and bombed before October 7th? No, I'm not saying this justifies anything, but if you can recognise at least that it was by law self defence, then you can realise that Israel's actions are, by law, terrorism since before last year and every year since 1948.

So, when you Pro Zionist/ Pro Israel people come on here and try to claim that "Hamas are terrorists and anyone pro Palestine is antisemetic" please know that you're repeating the same exact narrative created by white nationalists that is supposed to isolate you and make you easier for THEM to kill. You're next, not by arabic people or brown skinned people but by white nationalists who are cheering at the fact that Islamophobia is on the rise and that antisemetism will rise with it because hate gives way to hate, as it always has. And those who profit will pretend to be sheep while waiting for a chance to kill you, that's how historically the far right have operated and are operating amidst this. It's a red flag and we need to stop ignoring it.

First they came for socialists, the communists, the Romani, the Jews. History repeats when we ignore how this shit works; it doesn't start and end with one group. So yes, from a historical perspective, if you're not pro Palestine, you're anti Jew; you're going on the side that wants both of these nationalities gone. I know that's an strong statement, but when I look at history and I look at now? I see a very clear picture of how methodically the guillotine is being raised, one by one, until there are no Semites left, Arab or Jew. And isolating each other is how the far right have always done this exact thing. So remember the real enemy for fucks sake; and it's isn't Palestinians who are at fault for existing, the ones doing this are the ones cheering at the death and profiting off of it. It's always been the west, not those who want to live with equal rights and resist violance done to them.

You want to end antisemetism? Start by protecting EVERY SINGLE Semite. Palestinians must be free for Jews to thrive, trans rights just be upheld to protect the rights of us all, and every single human life must be valued.

[benevolentbirdgal]

Purim: a Jewish holiday and wild ride from start to finish

So let me tell you about the absolute soap opera that is the Jewish holiday of Purim. The scene is set in ancient (appx. 4th century B.C.E.) Persia during the first Jewish Diaspora, in the city of Shushan (typically identified in secular sources as Susa, a now-abandoned ancient city in what is now Iran). I’m telling you, as a work of literature (even beyond theological implications for Jewish people), this book has everything: love, drama, royalty, intrigue, ego, plots, irony, mystery, and a strong female lead. 

[some non-slur swearing below]

Ahasuerus, party-loving king of Persia executed or exiled (translations argue) his wife Vashti, and had to find a new queen. Why did he do this, you ask? Well, it really starts with an 180-day party across his kingdom for all his subjects to celebrate the third year of his reign. After that absolute rager, party-bro KA has another one immediately after for a week, this time just for the capital city of Shushan. Vashti was having a woman’s party in her quarters, presumably living her best life, when party-bro sends his top seven yes-men to deliver a message to Vashti. This sleaze-ball wants her to appear at his party in front of everyone, wearing her crown, with the clear implication being only her crown. Vashti more or less tells him to pound sand (I mean, not the literal translation, but that’s the sentiment). 

KA’s advisors convince him that this is not only an offense against the king but also against all the men in the country (ah, the joys of ancient patriarchy and toxic af masculinity). KA writes a degree that women must respect their husbands so he has an official reason to get rid of Vashti. Vashti is soon thereafter out of the picture and the king is short a queen. Whether she was a Wise Lady With A Point Who Got Screwed Over or a Vicious Jew-Hating Adulteress Who Had It Coming has been a matter of furious debate for over two millennia (the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud vociferously disagree on her). In any case, KA regrets it pretty quick and wants a new queen. 

At the behest of his advisors (you know, since their last advice worked out soooooo well), KA had a big contest/forcible gathering of young women from around his kingdom and a Jewish woman, Hadassah, was the winner.  Hadassah was an orphan raised by her cousin Mordechai in the city of Shushan. Hadassah is more commonly known as Esther, because she changed her name to hide her identity as a Jew (at the behest of Mordechai). In any case, KA decided he liked Esther best and she became queen (it’s specifically mentioned both that he loved her most and that the palace staff liked her because she was nice to them-it’s unclear how much of an influence the latter was). 

Concurrently, a wicked man named Haman was the top advisor to the king and the king would basically rubber-stamp whatever Haman wanted. Haman was a raging Jew-hater-this will be relevant later. 

Some time into Esther’s reign as queen, Mordechai, who has taken to hanging around the gates of the palace to keep in touch with Esther, overhears a plot by two guards, Bigthan and Teresh, to kill the king. Mordechai alerts his cousin, and she tells the king. It’s recorded in the book of deeds and life keeps moving. 

Some time later, Haman decides (after a promotion to head lackey) that he wants all to bow to him as he passes. Mordechai refused to bow to Haman every single day (citing that as a Jew he bowed to no man), and that did not sit well with Haman. So despite being prime minister and presumably having more important things to do, “genocide the Jews” made it to the top of to-do list. He didn’t like them before, and Mordechai refusing to treat him like a special snowflake was something he took really, really personally (totally can’t think of any modern politicians like that, nope). He told KA, who frankly doesn’t seem to ask enough questions, that there was a people disrespecting the king and his laws throughout the land, and could he pretty-please exterminate them. As a bonus, Haman would “donate” 10,000 silver kikar to the royal treasury (modern conversion vary, but all agree this an absurd amount on money). 

KA handed him the royal seal to do so. Haman was feeling lucky I guess so he decided the best course of action was to draw lots to pick the day for the massacre. [Purim is lots in Hebrew, so that’s where the name of the holiday came from]. The message went out to all the provinces that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, that they citizens and leaders should murder all of the Jews, young and old, man, woman, and child, rich and poor and take their possessions as spoils. 

As this wasn’t exactly a state secret, the Jews knew and were quite distressed. The planned slaughter was like a year out, but what the actual fuck were they supposed to do? If you lived in Persia at that point that, the empire was functionally your entire world, unless you were fabulously/ridiculously wealthy and well-connected. Having several months notice the other locals and your rules were going to slaughter you and take your stuff isn’t particularly useful when there’s really nowhere to go. 

In Shushan, Mordechai (who, although not explicitly in text, is in oral/Talmudic tradition a leader of the Jewish community) goes into mourning. He dresses in sackcloth and ashes, he weeps, and he fasts at the gates of the palace, as Jews throughout shushan and the kingdom are doing. Esther hears of her cousin’s mourning behavior and tries to send along nice clothes through a messenger, which he refuses. It is then that she learns of the decree. Mordechai (through the messenger) implores her to go ask the king if the Jews not getting murdered could be a thing. Esther explains that she could be killed for approaching the king unsummoned. Mordechai stresses the severity of the situation. Esther agrees to ask the king and tells Mordechai to have the Shushan Jewish community fast day and night (as opposed to just day as prior) for three days, and she and her handmaidens will fast too (no word on what the handmaidens thought of this).

On the third day, Esther bravely approached the king, asked him if she could request something. He said anything, up to half his kingdom (which implies to me that homedude, for all his flaws, was actually into her). Esther invited him to a party, where he and Haman would be the only guests. At the party she asks if she can another request. KA is open to it and she invites him to another party the next night. Party-bro king is obviously down and Haman is tickled to death at this second invitation. 

He goes home to brag to his wife, Zeresh, about the invite and also to bitch about how angsty he is Mordechai is still alive (this angst reignited by passing him on the way home). Zeresh suggests he have fifty-foot gallows built to make Mordechai an example on, with the king’s permission, ASAP. Haman orders the building of the gallows, feeling secure in the knowledge that his bestie the king will execute Mordechai on them. 

Back at the castle KA can’t sleep. He demands a bedtime story from the his records, because those will presumably put him to sleep. The story that gets read, ~coincidentally~, is of Mordechai saving KA’s life. Haman had sidled on up to the castle to speak to the king about killing Mordechai, and the king called him in. KA asks Haman, if he were to honor someone, what should he do? Haman is thinking “this is obvi about me” and tells the king that the honoree should be donned in royal clothing, and ride through the streets on a fancy horse with people someone shouting how great he is. KA is like great, love it, perf, go do that for Mordechai. Haman is not a happy camper but does the thing. After that, he goes home and tells Zeresh about it, who warns him that this is a very bad sign. 

Finally, that night is the night of Esther’s second soiree. Haman and KA attend. The latter offers to Esther anything she wants, up to half of his kingdom. Esther asks that her life, and the life of her people be spared. KA is like “whomst” and Esther revealed it was Haman. At this point Ahasuerus.exe stops working and he takes a walk to the gardens. He comes back to see Haman begging Esther for his life, and KA thinks Haman is assaulting her. Haman was seized by nearby guards.

One of the chamberlains is then like, hey, KA, coincidentally there’s these super high gallows Haman just had built. Why not take care of the problem that way? (The fact that the random nearby chamberlain was like yup, that dude, hang ‘em in the morning, probably says a lot about how Haman treated most people around him, even more than forcing all to bow to him). KA orders it be done. 

Not that Haman was around to be sad about it, but what happened next would have massively pissed him off, as his old job then went to Mordechai. Esther then implored of the king that the degree to allow the massacre of the Jews be reversed. The king couldn’t Cntrl+Z the order to murder-all-the-Jews, but he could issue an order that they could fight back. The proclamation was sent throughout the land, and the Jews were able to prepare. Since the royal decree had been amended, the governments (princes, governors, satraps) largely reformulated their plans accordingly, but plenty of Jew-haters still wanted to use the opportunity. The ability to self-defend meant that the communities weren’t massacred. In most of the kingdom, the Jews were now safe. Outside of Shushan, the fourteenth of Adar became a feast day. 

Shushan was still not safe though. Antisemites were still out and mad (and apparently had not learned from the previous day), so Esther asked the Jews of Shushan to be allowed to defend themselves once more. Her wish was granted, and the Shushan Jews were able to defend themselves once more (so Purim is celebrated a day later in walled cities). 

The story ends with the decision to write it down, and although there some debate on authorship, it is traditionally attributed to Esther herself cowriting with Mordechai. 

Nowhere in the book is God mentioned. Nowhere is there divine intervention (at least not explicitly). Just Jews sticking up for themselves, being brave in the face of mortal peril, and a metric fucktown of chutzpah. 

[shiinayumi]

I'm back with another unpopular opinion! This is a rant so like..it's long I guess. I am Jewish and also for what it's worth Native American so I have two majors parts of who I am that have faced or continue to face genocidal actions. And I am begging people, Stop. Saying. Attack. On. Titan. Is. Antisemitic. It's not antisemitic or supporting fascism. I can't believe I have to explain this but here we are. Most people who make this claim or support it haven't read the manga which just finished like 2 months ago, and only rely on bad summary or little snippets of shit and all of this started from one person here on tumblr who apparently isn't even Jewish that made the claim it's antisemitic and it blew up and continues to do so. Stop it. I'm not going into full details because plenty of other more eloquent people than me have and shocker, a lot of them are Jewish too. Go to Google, look it up and look on YouTube. Polygon picked the shit up and ran with it for clicks and it hasn't died since. Plenty of other Jewish people have tried to bring this up to be ignored and the other Jews I've seen go along with this idea haven't even friggen read it or not the whole thing. You find out any instance of Marleyns saying the Eldians are responsible for bad things is *gasp* propaganda! Amazing. The story is complex as shit and Isayama shows bad things to get people to understand, war and genocide no matter the reason is fucking bad, Eran is a bad person people admit he's a mentally disturbed pos in the end of the fucking story etc. This isn't a story you can just look at with broadstrokes and hope to completely understand it. It requires understanding of nuance and critical thinking. There are a lot of red herrings and fake outs in the story and a lot of that comes off as attempts to show the story as being like people and people at war, which is that we're super fucking complex and war fucks all of us up. The story has a large overarching message of anti fascism and the actual heros are the "Jews" in the story.

Since it ended I have read through the God damn thing 3 times to make sure of my stances here because hey we all miss shit. It hasn't changed. Also please don't do the "but Jewish caricature Titan cause big nose!" Yea a couple have big noses, becoming a Titan fucks up your body in weird ass ways, so all ways are ok AS LONG AS THE NOSE ISNT TOUCHED? That's ridiculous. Everything else on their body can because weird as fuck except the nose because otherwise Isayama is CLEARLY shitting on us Jews 🙄. Also I stg if anyone calls me a bootlicker or self hating Jew I will reach through the computer and throw moldy Matza at you.

This is a case of people wanting to be the most woke and "helping" minorities that yall are causing more damage than anything. Most people I see lifting this are usually not raising up anything else antisemitic, just this because it's easy and that is performative allyship. This is a hard truth that I had to learn and so do other people, and yall need to hear this, performative alleyship hurts us. Latching yourself onto false shit without thinking hurts us. We don't want it. Latching onto and spreading information without actually looking into things or asking more informed Jewish people, as an example, hurts us. Ignoring us who've read the shit and are trying to tell you that it's wrong hurts us. You're basically crying wolf about a topic but people don't see you crying wolf, they assume us Jews are doing it, and when something actually antisemitic comes up (or any other form of racism for that matter) people fucking ignore us because of this. If you aren't Jewish and you see shit that says it's antisemitic, listen to it, but be willing to listen to all Jews, and unless we ask you to lift us ourselves, stay out of it and stay in your lane. Helping minorities doesn't mean getting out in front of us and speaking OVER us, it means making other listen to US OURSELVES, including you listening to us.

Isayama was also accused of other horrible shit largley starting because someone found a Twitter, assumed it was his with no proof and no real name attachment and because of all of this? He's received horrible death threats and other threats of violence for shit that isn't true and because people jumped the gun.

Too my fellow Jews, I understand why it's scary to see and hear that something is awful and I don't blame you for not reading it because why would we be want to read something and force ourselves too look at a work of fiction that so closely resembles our past, but I am begging you to not listen to random people on the internet spreading false narratives. It's hurting us. This hurts us in so many ways. I'm not asking you to read the manga or watch the anime, I'm just asking that you look at perspectives of other Jews, those of us who have read the material, and our concerns with spreading false narratives of antisemitism, a narrative that I have seen many actual antisemitics latch onto to use against us largley in the way of Jews "being too sensitive and full of shit and we're trying to censor the world blah blah fucking blah".

Please, going forward think critically about the claims you see online. Where are they coming from? Who's saying them? What other motives could they have for doing a thing? Not all motives are pure and in the spirit of raising awareness of actual issues of things like racism and antisemitism, but are to get more sales or views or followers etc. Stop assuming everything you see online to be the gospel truth and that everyone has good intentions. Research research research.

[justbing]

I owned your house 2000 years ago. It's OK if I kick you out and throw you in jail or beat you for protesting, right? I mean, you've only owned it for 50 years! Sure, I wasn't living in my home for 2000 years, but it's the principle of the thing! I have the right to commit genocide because I once lived in that house. You and your native arguments can GFY.

My first hate comment, I mean you just deciced I said something else than what I did than attacked me for it. That’s not what I said. I explained why you shouldn’t call jews “colonizers” and “westerns”. You look at things just from 1948 and then tell a story. All the interenet talks about colonization of the west. Jews are not “the west”. Jews were colonized and treated like shit throught the world because of their ethnicity. I get you want people to know about Palestine, but stop earsing Jewish history to fit into your narrative. Jews are not white, it’s a religion but also etnicity just as much as other ethnicities it has it’s own cultures and tradition that were carried all through the many exciles. That’s why dissmising it is a form of antisemism and even if you want to critisize someone you can, but don’t desmiss the history of my people.

Also your analogy is wrong. You owned the house, you were kicked out of it (exciled) then you came to a different place, you were beaten there, your property was robbed and stolen. Then you came back to your homeland after 2000 years to settle. I never owned the house, I lived in the house, I paid the rent of the house but I never had sovernity of “the house” I owned the kitchen on it. You bought land, legally, from the owner, and there was even an agreement with the locals (Faisal–Weizmann Agreement).  The land was bought legally, between a willing seller and buyer (yes, arabs sold land to jews, we didn’t just popped out of nowhere and took it!). Then years after you lived there too, you got attacked and robbed and killed (e.g. The Disturbances of August 1929). By attacked I mean tried to kill all of you. Then we reach 1947 and the partition plan. With the conflict already present, why violence is cool then? There was no genocide or attacks from the Jewish side twards the Arab side, the ooposite.

By your analogy, I will say my family came to attack and beat you because they disagreed with the way the landlord (britian) decided to scatter his property and he gave more to you than me. My extended family started the war, trying to kill all of your family. You conquered land from them land, land that was supposed to go to me if they haven’t tried to take all of your land. My house was on that land, I escaped\was told to leave. Then the war was over and you asked if I and my family will recognize you, we said we don’t, so you kept the land. My cousin also seized some of my land but he never gave it to me, yet that never bothered me. I only hate you (edit: if anyone did not understand I went with asker analogy where I’m palestinian-arab and he is the jew). Also I never tagged the post, so if you saw it cause you are my follower, be my guest and unfollow instead of telling me gtf, cause I will not accept casual antisemitism in 2021. Goodbye.

edit: also who let you decide what is native? i didn’t know my nativity expired and Palestinians are now native because they conquered it centuries later??  why do you not fight for the natives of the Sahara desert or og Egyptians? want to advocate for Palestinians self determination? do it without erasing my heritage, learn the history or say you don’t really know but don’t tell Jews what they are or just ignore historical facts to support your point