#gentile disclaimer

[statisticalcats2]

Regardless of what you think of the morality of selling real estate in Israel, I think it shouldn't be too much to expect people to understand the fucking optics of hundreds of angry gentiles swarming into a Jewish neighborhood armed with bear mace and yelling.

Hundreds of years of history makes it completely fucking justified for Jews to see that happening and assume and treat it like it's a pogrom. It's completely justified for them to see you coming and treat you like a mob that wants to hurt or even kill them.

White American gentiles, in a black-and-white oppressor-and-oppressed dichotomy, you are the oppressor to Jews, not the other way around and you need to keep that in mind when you're deciding how to conduct yourself in Jewish spaces. (There are other more complicated overlaps and levels of discrimination and oppression too, but if you believe whole-heartedly in easily classifying groups as oppressed and oppressor and that's all that matters, this shouldn't be debatable.) It's completely understandable for Jews to be wary or frightened of angry gentiles marching into their spaces. This is such horrific fucking optics.

Do not make this into a debate about the real estate sale, Zionism, or Israel. If you do that or you try and make the case that Jews are an oppressor class to white American gentiles (or are functionally the same as white American gentiles) or that the hundreds of years of oppression and pogroms against Jews all around the world are a lie or a conspiracy, you're getting nothing but blocked.

[crackinwise]

My entire fyp: "OMG a famous person is a Holocaust denier! They hate Jewish people and would probably agree with hitler!"

me: "Shit, another person with a platform denied the Holocaust happened or that it wasn't as bad as historians and survivors say? [X] Lemme go see this mess."

Famous Person: *did not deny the Holocaust* *protested to someone saying they are supporting Nazi ideology with no sources* *called out antisemitic & homophobic people miscommunicating or rewriting history online that Nazis specifically targeted trans ppl first/mainly* (the vague context might have only intended to be about Dr. Hirschfield's clinic—targeted for being Jewish and gay—which still might be ignoring the clinic was for studying and advocating for sexual freedom, gay rights & safety, "transvestite" support & a few surgeries we don't know the outcome of, and women's equality, including birth control & abortion)

me: "uhhh?"

Hey guy? Real talk: It's so iffy to use a serious problem with an actual important meaning like "Holocaust Denial" [X again] without AT LEAST some ***astrix heavy explanation that you're not using it to mean what 99.9% of people know it to mean! It's so gross and dangerous to take that antisemitic meaning away and for non-Jewish people to compare their plight exactly with the plight of all Jewish, disabled, gay, and Roma peoples during the Holocaust.

Remember this is the "how dare you say we piss on the poor" website! This is the "if you cut a candy bar like this you get infinite candy" website. You KNOW what you're doing by deliberately withholding information and stretching a red flag term like that! Wtf is wrong with you?

[even-more-pro-fiction-jellicle]

I've already been on like... a decade's long journey of realizing how prevalent anti-semitism is, you always hear about it as being like this thing of the past, like society learned better, like it's one of the bigotries we actually managed to mostly move past.

But damn, "anti-semitism is wrong" really is the big hill I'm gonna die on with broken pedestals all around me, huh?

There's a lot of "failing an open book history test" going around. Including by the same type of people who would share that post thinking they could never be pulled into failing it too.

Be better.

[intern-seraph]

one of the most awful parts abt the Situation for me is seeing how many ppl that i like and trust are just out and out spouting antisemitic rhetoric without any question. i understand some of you are young and super attracted to Really Radical Violent Politics but please consider reading abt this rhetoric and actively avoiding it.

and accusing jews of "pulling the antisemitism card" to avoid culpability for your antisemitic rhetoric is not actually a progressive move. you are just being antisemitic.

[daggersandarrows]

ok so i rarely venture on twitter to begin with but i've popped in a couple times over the past few weeks, most recently because xbox live seems to be down, and i'm kinda fucking terrified at how grossly antisemitic everything is?? like doesn't matter what the tweet is, without fail i go to my news feed or whatever's trending and look underneath any tweet and people are saying the kind of shit that i would punch their lights out for unhesitatingly. like shockingly, violently, shamelessly antisemitic. anyone else?? the fuck did muskrat do?? like. this is uhhhhhh real fucking bad huh

[the-catboy-minyan]

why so many people don't recognize that their antizionism is antisemitic, in my opinion:

(disclaimer: this is not an educational post, it will not have sources for claims, and is not meant to be read as the objective truth. it is solely my observation and opinions. civil debate and criticism is encouraged in both the notes and reblogs, I will do my best to answer those and correct my post if necessary. edits will be highlighted in pink, if this is a reblog, press the original post to see the most updated version. English is not my first Language, I might have used the wrong words for some terms.)

The Meaning Of Zionism:

this section is meant to highlight the difference between

firstly, they falsely believe the term Zionism means supporting genocide or Netanyahu's government, when most Jews don't use the term Zionism that way. Zionism has many different meanings and subgroups, as Jews love to argue (/j but Judaism encourages debate and personal interpretation), but all meanings are built on the original idea of "Jewish self determination in their indigenous land/creating and maintaining a Jewish country somewhere in the world" (yes, technically believing giving Israelis land somewhere else to be Israel is a form of Zionism, I've seen that take). the methods for creating and maintaining the lands differ, so is the belief of what land should be considered Israel, but all forms of Zionism rely on that core belief. while Zionists may support those things, that is not an integral part for Zionism, and many Zionists oppose those ideas and condemn them.

in addition, they falsely believe Zionism is in favor of illegal occupation and apartheid, which only specific subgroups of Zionists (extremely right-wing Zionists) are in favor of. Zionism is, again, mostly about an end goal (establishing and maintaining a Jewish state (which currently means in Eretz Israel)), and people will have different opinions on how to achieve it, including extremist and racist opinions. all movements have people who hold extremist beliefs, and are usually condemned by other members of their movement, Zionism is no exception.

they don't see Zionism as Jewish. I mean, there are more Christian Zionists than there are Jews in the world! of course it's not Jewish! lets ignore the fact the movement started by a Jewish man, was widely popular in Jewish communities and is what led to the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state.

now, let's for a moment ignore the misinterpretation of the term and assume that by saying Zionists, they refer only to people who support Netanyahu, illegal occupation in places like the west bank, war crimes committed by the IDF, etc. regardless of the Zionist's religion/ethnicity/race. (keep in mind that while that's their assumed intentions, their antizionism will still ultimately include self-identified Jewish Zionists who are strongly against these things)

Antizionist Activism and Beliefs:

have you heard accusations of antisemitism and the response "I'm not antisemitic, just antizionist"? this section will highlight the reasons why many antizionist actions or claims are seen as antisemitic by many Jews.

No Zionists Allowed: as in, excluding zionists from public, private, and online spaces. this tactic is used today to exclude many groups deemed problematic, "no [queer]phobes allowed", "no racists allowed", "no men misogynists allowed", etc. which is why on the surface, it doesn't seem antisemitic. yet this exclusion tactic is derivative from historical exclusion of ethnic groups, groups that were seen as evil/violent/sinners/subhuman were ostracised from society and denied access to public/private spaces. signs like "no blacks allowed", "no gays allowed", and, of course, "gentiles only".

Zionists Are Nazis: comparing any "evil" group to Nazis is common, they're so overly exposed to ww2 stories, especially ones that paint Nazi germany as pure evil cartoon villains, that they have no idea what the term Nazi actually means anymore. Nazism is based on race theory and antisemitism, it's the creator of the term antisemitism to make it sound more scientific instead of discriminatory, in Mein Kamph, Hitler wrote that almost every "issue" in the world is the fault of Jews. comparing the extremely antisemitic, supremacist, racist, homophobic, ableist, etc. ideology of Nazism to a Jewish movement for self determination is in fact antisemitic. (it is also wrong to throw the term Nazi around for any reason, but especially for a Jewish movement)

Zionists Control The Media/Government/etc: the belief that there's a secret organisation controlling the media is an old conspiracy theory, which comes from the genuine fear of your government feeding the people propaganda to sway their opinion in favor of the government to let it do what it wants. it's is good to believe the media is biased, as it's written by humans who are inherently biased, but to outright claim the entirety of media is untrustworthy when it's not hailed from a dictatorship is a harmful belief. this is what antivaxxers believed during the pandemic, what conspiracy theorists believed for centuries, and believe it or not, it's at least partially derived from the antisemitic belief of Jews controlling the banks and conspiracies like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Rid The World Of Zionists: again, there are many other activist groups that believe their enemy should be eradicated, that if they believe in or have done xyz, they deserve their rights to be taken away from them and to die. this is dehumanization, and an oppression tactic. the moment you say "this type of person doesn't deserve rights because they're evil", the moment people are gonna start getting falsely accused of falling into that type with the purpose of silencing them or getting their rights revoked. + the before point of political exclusion being derivative of ethnic/religious/racial exclusion. we've seen many people getting accused of being secretly Zionists for even mentioning the hostages.

Zionists Want Genocide/Are Bloodthirsty (a reminder that this is under the assumption that Zionists blindly support the current Israeli government and the IDF's war crimes): this is both straight up a variation of blood libel, and extremely hypocritical.

blood libel started as the antisemitic accusations that Jews kidnapped Christian children on Passover to creat Matzot, while no one beliefs are that extreme anymore, the underlying belief that Jews are violent and enjoy murder still exists, and was shifted to be about Israelis. the "it was self defense!" accusation that claims Israelis are just itching for their enemies to strike first to get the opportunity to respond violently and use self defense as an excuse, for example.

hypocritical as in, this goes hand in hand with the belief that Zionists should be killed. "Zionists support genocide so they should all die a violent and gruesome death" is a take I've seen MULTIPLE TIMES - and being said completely seriously, not in the comedic tumblr way of "my blorbo is cringe? wrong, killing you with hammers :3" - and is extra hypocritical when they very strongly oppose the idea of "Hamas are terrorists who committed atrocities therefore they should all die" (and ftr I don't claim they should support that).

there are people who believe that violence is necessary for an end goal, extreme violence even. that doesn't make them bloodthirsty or violent people, it makes them radicalized. there are some Zionists who believe the only way to maintain safety in Israel is to not only eradicate Hamas, but to eradicate Gaza, as they believe that all the people of Gaza are brainwashed to be violently against Israel and pro martyrdom (as in suicide attacks), and thus a threat to Israel's safety. there are some antizionists who believe the only way to free Palestine and bring safety to Gaza is to eradicate Zionists, as they believe that all Zionists are brainwashed to hate Palestinians and to be pro illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing, and are thus a threat to Palestine and their human rights. both of these beliefs are radical and false.

Zionist Blocklists: this is mostly an online problem, but Zionists have been doxxed IRL (and I don't mean individuals, massive lists of hundreds of alleged Zionists) for the same reasons those blocklists exists. people are gathering usernames of "Zionists" online to "warn other users" from interacting with them, with the disclaimer of "I'm not telling you to harass them, don't interact, just block". not only does it encourage to never hear the opposing side, thus pushing you further into an echo chamber of only voices that agree with you and never actually learning from the source what are the opinions you oppose, it ultimately creates a neat little list of people to harass because of the before mentioned dehumanizing belief that evil people deserve violence against them. suddenly sending death threats is easier than ever, and it's justified since these are allegedly evil people. you're not encouraged to double check if these people are actually Zionists, there's no explanation as to why they're on the list, you just have to trust the op.

Boycotting Zionist Companies: The Idea of boycotting companies or other organisations that support unethical causes is also, again, not new. People boycott companies that donated to anti-lgbtq organisations or that relied on slavery for their product creation. and yet the companies who are being boycotted are

Israeli companies, which are not necessarily supporting the Israeli government, it would be like boycotting every Chinese company because of the Uyghur genocide.

companies which helped Israel in some way, like McDonald's, which donated meals to Israeli soldiers during the start of the war (this is again a reminder that the majority of McDonald's income is real estate). there are arguments to be made to justify these type of boycotts, as they're similar to other justifications for different causes, yet unless these companies have directly funded the IDF's weaponry, the arguments for boycotting is flimsy at best.

companies which mentioned the hostages, like Paramount, which ran an Israeli ad for the release of the hostages. mentioning the hostages is not the same as condoning war crimes, it's recognizing there are innocent Israelis wrapped up in this conflict, just as supporting a free Palestine is not the same as supporting Hamas.

organisations that allowed Israel to participate, like Eurovision. there's just no reason to disallow a country to participate in a songs competition due to being in a war.

events that happen "while Israel is bombing Gaza". American events like the Oscars that happen on a set date and have nothing to do with Israel have no reason to be boycotted just for happening on the same day a war is happening.

Starbucks. why is Starbucks being boycotted? it had done nothing in support of Israel, literally fucking none, it's being boycotted for supporting Palestine wrong, once, on October. it doesn't operate in Israel, it never said anything publicly in support of Israel, there's literally 0 reason to boycott it????????????

anyways. while there are different reasons and justifications for every company or event, there's this silly little thing that happened in Nazi Germany that was boycotting Jewish business, in response to the "anti-nazi boycott". the Jewish boycotts were unsuccessful on paper, but ingrained the Nazi idea of Jews being inferior.

The Harm It Does For The Jewish Community:

The Overlap: the majority of Jews are Zionists, not in the sense of supporting genocide, but in the Jewish meaning(s) of believing a Jewish state should exist or is in some way beneficial for Jewish safety. by excluding and silencing Zionists, the antizionist crowd are excluding and silencing the majority of jewish people. a Jewish person who wants to integrate back into their circles has to refute their Zionism in fear of being seen as a genocide supporter, a Jewish person who refuses to hide their beliefs will be labeled evil and be ostracized. actual right-wing zionists would stay away from these spaces anyways for being leftist/centrist spaces, thus the exclusion is effective only on leftist Jews who dare believe Israel should exist.

"Zionism Isn't Judaism": is a claim many antizionists make, yet time and time again we see synagogues, Jewish schools, and Jewish neighborhood get targeted by antizionist protests. Jewish spaces are being attacked, even if you claim it is by a minority, these are still actions that are largely ignored by the antizionist crowd and aren't being condemned. you know, by the people who believe that silence is violence?

Can't Have A Single Positive Opinion About Israel: you have an Israeli relative that enlisted to the IDF? they should have refused servitude and gone to jail, you're a genocide supporter. You've done a birthright trip and it was nice? ew, everyone knows every inch of Israel is full of illegal settlements and apartheid, genocide supporter. you talked about the hostages? propaganda, genocide supporter. Israel passed a pro lgbtq law? pinkwashing propaganda, genocide supporter. you don't think Israel is an occupying terrorist force that oppresses their own citizens and deserves to be burned to the ground? genocide supporter, from the river to the sea!!!

Eretz Israel (not the State of Israel) is an integral part of Judaism. most of our holidays are about Israel in some way, some our traditions require Israel as a place, we bury our dead with soil from Israel, we vow to never forget Jerusalem during our weddings, we celebrate our agriculture and our miracles which happened there, our ancient holy cites are there, so are our ancestors (for ethnic Jews). many Jews are going to have at least a single positive or even a neutral opinion about Israel, and see it as a Jewish land.

The Israeli Identity: since people see Israel as an illegal settlement, apartheid, genocidal, terrorist state, etc, they also see Israelis as complicit in those crimes. every Israeli they meet is going to immediately be a criminal, Israelis are not a "real Jews" (that makes half the Jewish population fake), in the case Israel is dismantled and Israelis are forced to "go back to where they came from", will those countries accept them with open arms? or will the boycotts continue? what about Mizrahi Jews which hailed from the Arab world? do you think they'll even be allowed to live after their country's crimes against Palestine? will the Houtis let them when their flag has "death to Israel" on it (most Mizrahis are Yemeni)? if citizens are the same as their government, would that mean every Russian immigrant is an evil spy who wants to murder Ukrainians? just some questions to think about.

in conclusion: I'm tired. I've been writing for 3 hours. bye.

[ghostieagere]

this is partially inspired by @tinymoon-beam's regressed french rain ficlet (as well as all her other french rain fics !!!) so please go check those out, she's a really incredible writer <3

also just a general disclaimer that french is not my first language, i am very much still learning !!! some of the weird grammar/spelling things are to mirror the way i write the english-speaking regressed ghouls, but if you spot any other mistakes then i welcome gentle corrections <3

cw: regressed rain, regressed aeon, caregiver dewdrop, french rain, language confusion, rain not understanding english, aeon not understanding french, multilingual dew, a few tears of frustration but it's all okay in the end

~

“Arrête!” (Stop!) Rain’s raised voice catches Dew’s attention. He looks up from his book to see Aeon giggling as they nudge their finger against Rain’s tower of blocks. The tower wobbles as Aeon nudges it again, threatening to fall.

“Arrête, arrête!” (Stop, stop!) Rain cries again, trying to push Aeon away and save his tower.

Dew puts his book down. “Aeon, bubs?” The little quintessence ghoul looks up at the sound of their name. “I don’t think Rainy likes you messing with his tower, okay? He’s telling you to stop.”

Aeon pouts. “If I don’ un’ers’and him, how ‘m I supposed to know?” Their question prompts the both of them to look over at the little water ghoul, his gaze shifting between them, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Je compren’ pas, Papa,” (I don't understand, papa) he says, voice small as tears well in his eyes.

Dew stands from the couch and makes his way over to the two little ghouls on the floor. He crouches in front of Rain and holds his hands out near his face, letting Rain lean into his touch on his own time. When he does, Dew smooths his thumbs over Rain’s cheeks, wiping away the single tear that fell in his confusion. “Ça va, mon cœur?” (Are you alright, my heart?)

Rain nods. “Ouais, ça va.” (Yeah, i'm okay) He sniffles as he speaks, but with Dew’s warm hands on his face wicking away the sadness, he seems to be feeling a lot better.

Across the other side of the block tower, Aeon whines. “I don’ un’ers’and, Dada.” Dew has to bite back a smile at how similar Rain and Aeon are, even if neither of them are quite aware of it at the moment.

He walks around to the other side of the tower and sits next to Aeon, holding out his hand for the little quintessence ghoul to take a hold of if they want. “You don’t have to understand, little star,” he reminds them. “You just have to–”

“I jus’ have to be kiiiiiiind,” they finish for him, drawing out the ‘i’ in ‘kind’ as they struggle to pronounce it.

Dew smiles widely. “That’s exactly right, Ae! Such a good memory you’ve got there, bub. Well done.”

Aeon grins back up at Dew, beginning to rock side to side in happiness from the praise as they turn their attention away from Dew and Rain and back to their own pile of blocks in front of them.

Once Dew is sure Aeon is completely absorbed in their play, he turns back to Rain, finding the water ghoul looking completely lost by the lack of French all over again. “Rain, t’as compris?” (Rain, did you understand?)

Rain looks over at Dew and shakes his head. “Non, j’ai pas compris. Desolé…” (No, I didn't understand. Sorry...) He looks back down at the ground, embarrassed.

“Non, non, mon cœur,” (No, no, my heart) Dew consoles him, holding his arms out in an offer for Rain to crawl over to him and be held. “C’est pas grave.” (It's not serious) They both hum happily as Rain settles himself in Dew’s lap, rubbing his cheek against the fire ghoul’s shirt and purring contentedly at the warmth of Dew’s body heat. “J’ai dit à Aeon qu’iel devait être gentil avec tu et ton tour,” (I told Aeon that they needed to be kind with you and your tower) he explains, smiling when he feels Rain smile against him as he understands the words Dew is saying. Dew continues to explain what he said to Aeon about understanding and being kind, and when he asks the same question of Rain, he gets a very enthusiastic “Je dois être gentiiiiiiil” (I need to be kiiiiiiiind) in response, the little water ghoul dragging out the ‘i’ in the exact same way as Aeon did.

“Très bien, Rainy,” (Very good, Rainy) Dew encourages. “C’était parfait!’ (That was perfect!)

Rain giggles softly and claps his hands as well as he can while he’s squished up against Dew’s chest.

“Est-ce que tu veux jouer avec Aeon maintenant? Ou tu veux rester là pour le moment?” (Do you want to play with Aeon now? Or do you want to stay here for the moment?)

Rain hums while he thinks through his choices. Dew can practically guess what the little water ghoul is thinking. If he plays with Aeon, they can make more block towers together and it’ll be tricky to understand each other, but it will still be so much fun. Or if he stays with Dew, he’ll be comfy and cosy with his Papa, but he won’t get to play with his friend. After a long while, Rain buries his face further into Dew’s shirt. “Là,” (Here) he says, voice muffled in the fabric.

“Tu restes là?” (You want to stay here?)

Rain nods.

“D’accord, bon choix, mon petit chou.” (Okay, good choice, my little darling) Dew rubs Rain’s back comfortingly as he speaks, watching Aeon over the little water ghoul’s head. They seem more than happy playing with their block and chatting away to themselves for the moment, but regardless, Dew’s glad Rain’s made the choice to stay with him because it means he’ll be able to interact with Aeon much more easily if they come to ask him something.

“Et– Et– Et après,” (And– And– And after) Rain starts, looking up at Dew with big, hopeful eyes. “Après, p– peut-être que je peux jouer avec Aeon?” (After, m– maybe I can play with Aeon?)

Dew nods down at them enthusiastically and feels his smile widen at the idea of his two little ones playing together without conflict. “Ouais, bien sûr, Rain.” (Yeah, of course, Rain)

The little water ghoul wriggles happily in his lap, letting out a very, very quiet “Youpi!” (Yippee!)

At the quiet celebration, Aeon looks up from their stack of blocks. “Wha’s happening, Dada? Why Rainy so happy?” They ask earnestly.

Dew redirects his attention to Aeon and quickly gives them a recap of the conversation in English. “Rain is going to stay here in my lap for a bit, and afterwards, he thinks he might come and play with you and the blocks again, okay?”

Aeon gasps, mouth wide open and eyes practically shining in excitement when they hear their playmate might be joining them again soon. “Rainy gonna come an’ pray again?”

“Yeah, bubba!” Dew responds, grinning. “Rainy might come and play with you soon!”

“Yippee!” Aeon shouts, giggling and smiling widely. “I like prayin’ wif Rainy.”

Dew watches them play for a few more moments before turning back down to the little water ghoul in his lap. “Tu as entendu ça, Rainy?” (Did you hear that, Rainy?) Dew asks, leaning down to talk directly into Rain’s ear. “Iel aime bien jouer avec toi.” (They really like playing with you)

It takes a while for Rain to reply, which makes Dew think he might be close to falling asleep if he hasn’t already, but eventually, Rain responds very quietly, his sleep-laced words muffled against Dew’s shirt. “J'aime bien jouer avec toi aussi, Aeon…” (I really like playing with you too, Aeon...)

[gaysindistress]

This is definitely not canon at all but yall are gonna let me have this😭

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on google/Pinterest

Astarion x gn!reader

masterlist

So Star Boy, our sweet Astarion, was a magistrate and grew up wealthy, if not nobility in some way. Based on how sarcastic and cunning he can be in the game, I’d bet my left big toe that he used a little shit when he was younger. I’m talking switching the side of the road he’s walking on if he saw a beggar and turning his nose up if they talked to him. We also know that this is somewhat true given how he ended up becoming a vampire. I’m imagining him being very similar to Cressida from Bridgerton; just someone who is miserable and craves feeling important/valued. He needs to make others feel small because he felt worthless growing up and doesn’t know how to cope with the weight of his family’s expectations.

Which leads to me my impossible canon; what if he had a betrothed before he was turned?

What if he was awful to them because he didn’t know how to be kind?

I don’t think he has the ability to be truly awful but I do think he would ignore them, keep a distance, and probably be very short with the poor soul. He’d be dismissive and constantly give them looks because he’s just so angry to be engaged to them. It’s not that they’ve done anything; it’s the fact that he’s being forced to marry someone he didn’t pick himself. Once more his family has taken away his freedom and has forced him to play the part of a noble son.

This betrothal has been in the works for years, maybe even since birth but they haven’t been allowed interact until recently. Sure he’s known that it was some second born of a distant family ally and he’s seen a handful of paintings but that’s all. He’s never spoken to them or truly ever seen them.

It feels like the sky is crumbling around him when he does finally meet his betrothed. Sun breaks through the stained glass windows of the church as astarion stares at the mocking portraits around him. They seem to mock his situation with their out stretched arms that promise freedom and salvation. His boots make sharp and impatient noises as he taps his foot out of frustration. His parents, ever the stunning and elegant figures that they are, whisper as they critique every aspect of their son. Just when he’s about to huff and demand that they leave, the doors swing open and a small crowd of people waltz in. A man and a woman who foil Astarion’s parents stride up to them, murmuring half hearted apologies and excuses. Behind them trails a few servants and the other half of this unwilling couple.

Astarion rolls his eyes at the shy demeanor of his betrothed, cursing any god listening for this entire thing. His mom snaps her fingers and beckons him to her side to make the official introduction.

“Astarion darling, this is your betrothed,” she tells him as the servants fall away and reveal the single most beautiful creature that Astarion has ever laid eyes upon.

“Oh what a pretty little thing,” his father says before Astarion can speak and adds, “it’s shame they’re rather dull minded.”

The look that flashes across his betrothed’s face is one of immense disgust but it’s schooled into one of cool collection. They settle their warm eyes on Astarion and give him a gentile smile as they murmur their greeting.

“What a pretty little thing indeed.” Astarion finds himself saying without realizing it.

When this small spark of admiration bursts into distain is yet to be revealed but rather quickly it does and even the mention of his upcoming wedding makes him ill. Astarion avoids it at all costs and morphs into a bitter husk of himself as it draws closer.

That is until he’s turned.

A part of him is grateful that he’s dead to the world but there’s also a part that feels guilty. The sweet smile didn’t deserve his cruel and cold behavior but then again he didn’t deserve to lose his freedom like that.

Over the years, I’d think he would forget about that part of his life or rather he would lock that memory away. It’s useless to dwell on a ‘what if’ like that when Caz-cunt is alive.

So his pretty little betrothed is scrubbed from his mind and whatever he felt for them is forgotten as well.

Fast forward to when he’s adventuring with Tav. They’ve started what it appears to be a budding relationship (more like a few artfully crafted seductions but that’s not the point). Astartion finds himself falling for Tav and caring for them in a way he never thought possible. There’s a sting in his chest whenever he looks at them but it feels deeper, older than their relationship. It nags at him to remember but to remember what? It feels like it’s always on the tip of his tongue, just out of reach.

His fingers grasp at the tracers of a memory so forbidden that he doesn’t think he could even touch it. At night after hunting, Astarion finds himself staring up at the moon, trying to pick apart his own mind to figure it all out. By morning he’s exhausted and starving again.

During one of his many fruitless nights, he drifts to sleep and wakes up to someone pressing a dagger to his throat.

“Where is your camp?” The shadowy figure demands in a low voice as they gently press the blade against his neck.

“I don’t have one,” he replies, confused by his own quickness to protect his unfortunate companions.

“Lies, where is it?” The blade kisses and lavishes his neck as a prick of blood beads out.

“If you want to keep that hand, I suggest you get off of him and back way,” Tav’s authoritative voice calls out. Astarion can’t see much around the mass that looms over him but he can see that every one of his companions is there with weapons drawn.

The figure makes a disgruntled noise before quickly getting up and backing away with raised hands. They give some bullshit excuse that no one truly believes but Tav is more focused on Astarion to further question them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” the figure lets slip and earns the full attention of everyone, Tav especially. They position themselves between their lover and this thief, leveling them with a harsh look of judgment.

“Who are you?” Tav demands.

The figure chuckles to themselves as they push their hood off to reveal themselves. A collective shock rings through the group when they finally see the person that got the under hand on Astarion.

“Who I am is unimportant. Why I am here is the question you should be asking.”

Tav shifts from foot to foot, ready to attack as they pose the ‘correct’ question.

The newcomer’s face breaks in an eerily familiar smile as they inform the group that Raphael sent them. They survey the band of ragtag adventurers before them, their eyes quickly scanning over each person but settle on one pale elf.

Chaos seems to erupt in the form of hushed conversations and sharp words but it all falls on deaf ears for Astarion.

All he sees is that perfect facade of a smile and warm eyes that he’s been searching for the 200 years.

“What a pretty little thing you are,” his formerly betrothed murmurs to him and him alone.

[thatdogmagic]

Disclaimer: I am a gentile, raised Evangelical. I know the Evangelical side of this very intimately, from direct experience or from listening to other ppl who fled the religion. None of what I'm about to say is questionable or weird to them. I also do not in any way support the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and never will.

With that out of the way: the kind of violent antisemitism we're seeing expressed on various social media sites -- not just from Elon, but from 'well meaning' leftists - is what Christian Zionists are hoping for as part of their Rapture fanfiction. It's why they're pushing so hard to wed Zionism to Judiasm in US Congress (which in itself is an act of pretty violent antisemitism), when in reality, the majority of ppl who support Zionism are Christians.

Part of the Apocalypse is quite literally the world turning against Israel and the antichrist eradicating Jews. They see an opportunity here to usher it along, and always have. And yes it really is that cynical and straightforward. So good job if you fell for it: you're doing the fundies' work for them.

Israeli government =/= Jewish people as a whole Exactly like Hamas =/= Palestinians as a whole.

And even leaving aside the highly questionable practice of equating an entire diaspora of people to a single region or government: how many Americans reading this have quickly had to state 'he's not my President' about Trump when they're traveling overseas? And were quick to tell their international friends that they never supported Bush during the 9/11 era?

...Yeah, exactly.

Don't make assumptions about the Israeli people, much less Jewish folks who have never once even seen the place themselves. Wrt to my own demos: Americans, and the American left, of all people, ought to fucking know better. Shame on you.

Also PS there is no such thing as a 'Christian Jew.' Because anyone who says that is just a Christian. Period.

[bakuliwrites]

Mirror, Story 4: Blood

Disclaimer: Post-Game Spoilers!!!!!!

Previous Story, Next Story

Rating: 18+ (MINORS DNI) for the fic as a whole

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Relationship: Astarion x Tav (OC)

Chapter Summary: Astarion wakes from a familiar nightmare, but finds comfort in the knowledge that he is not alone.

An anthology of short, post-game stories featuring Astarion and my Tav, Orlando.

Chapter Tags: BG3 SPOILERS, ACT 3 SPOILERS, blood, fluff, angst, hurt, comfort, snuggling

Read here in this post or over on my AO3.

Astarion feels his lungs fill with dirt and ash, clogging his chest. It stifles him, fuzzy moss growing on the surface of his organs, filling the empty space between bone and flesh. He tastes peat on his lips, lips that seep dark ichor with each scrape against the sharpened edges of his fangs. Fangs that rip and shred and taste of iron and death. The sleek muscle of his tongue grazes fibrous scraps of blood clots, trapped in the spaces between his teeth. He tries to move his limbs, but the earth piling on top of him is too heavy, too crushing. Astarion is small and insignificant, a tiny pebble amongst the mountain of dirt surrounding him. A figure lords over the elf, smiling coldly. Cazador’s wicked, gleaming eyes glint as he lets out a low, mocking laugh before shrouding Astarion in endless darkness.

But as the shadows engulf him, Astarion gasps for air and, thankfully, manages to fill his lungs. Gone is the stuffy moss, the clumps of choking dirt. A tender hush, a gentle caress pulls him from this familiar nightmare. 

“Shhh,” Orlando’s voice reaches out, anchoring him to reality, “It’s okay, Astarion. You’re safe. You’re here with me and you’re safe. You’re home and you’re safe.” 

His eyes search blindly, the remnants of his night terror a near impenetrable fog. He seeks her through scent, jasmine and musk, the metal of her blood blooming in his nose, near and warm. He does not need sight to know his beloved, grasping desperately at her form before the room has a chance to swim back into his vision. His surroundings are plush, soft, and comforting. Deeply, gratefully familiar. He focuses on the sound of the crackling fire in the hearth, the gentle rush of the waves just outside the cottage windows.

Home, Astarion repeats in his mind, over and over like a mantra, I’m home. I’m home and I’m safe. We’re home. Together. And we’re safe.

Orlando’s gentility engulfs him, arms holding his shuddering form close, the thrum of her heart pounding in his ears. 

“You’re safe, my love,” she repeats, over and over in whispered reassurance, rocking Astarion back and forth. His fingers dig into her nightgown, his grasp on her desperate, fearful that if he lets go, Cazador might crawl out from the shadows and drag him away. 

“He’s gone,” Orlando gently reminds, her breath fanning through his hair, voice low and calm, “He’s gone and he’s never coming back. You’re safe.” 

It’s not been long enough for Astarion to believe this. There’s some piece of him that still thinks he’ll never be free of Cazador. Never be free of his tyranny. In a sense, he never will be. He will never feel the sun on his skin again. Never gaze upon himself in any reflective surfaces. His hunger will always be sanguine. Darkness will forever be his home. Maybe, overtime, he will learn to accept these things. Maybe, he will learn to cope. But for now, Astarion allows himself to sob into the crook of his beloved’s neck, his tears soaking the collar of her nightclothes. He lets Orlando litter tiny kisses amongst the snowy curls atop his head and rub small circles into his scarred back. He lets himself be comforted knowing that he is not alone in the world. Not anymore. And perhaps that’s all he can ask for for now. 

A/N: A short chapter to get back into the swing of things with this fic :) It's been a while since I last updated. I'm thinking I'll have the next chapter of this one out relatively soon, though. Most of it is written, it just needs to go through some editing on my end. I hope you are all doing well and that life is treating you well! Lots of love <3

[statisticalcats2]

Sending lots of love to all the Jewish people considering or planning on moving to Israel because of everything that's going on. It shouldn't be like this but I just wanna say I see you, you're loved, and you're not bad or evil. You deserve to be safe.

[shiraglassman]

Hey, I know this is kind of a dumb question, but I came across a TikTok about a month ago suggesting that dragons (the western, fire breathing, princess snatching, treasure hoarding ones) were rooted in antisemitic in the same way something like goblins are. I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not, and it kind of sent me into a tailspin, since I’ve always loved dragons (I read the WoF series ONCE and wouldn’t shut up about it for 3 years), and I was worried that I would have to drop them entirely for fear of offending someone. I can definitely see the similarities between common antisemitic tropes and dragon tropes, but I’ve always heard that the origins of the western dragon were that it was just a scalier of the devil and not meant to represent any marginalized community. However, I am not Jewish in any way, and I’m aware it’s not my place to dictate what is and isn’t harmful, so I was curious as to what you thought. (Sorry about how long this is TuT)

I held on to this ask for a few weeks to try to make sure my response made sense, so here goes. Disclaimer that I'm just one Jewish woman who loves dragons, and I claim no expertise or position of authority. I can't guarantee that someone won't look at your special interests and judge you unfairly. I also can't guarantee that you'll be hyperaware enough and careful enough to catch dogwhistles if they're subtle, compared with ordinary fictional dragons. What I can guarantee is that your average Jewish person is not going to assume you are more unsafe to be around than other unknown gentiles just because you like dragons, but fandom spaces and Tumblr spaces sometimes represent a skewed or specific cross-section of the population and may react differently. I can't make any of those calls. I don't want to tell you to start tuning out marginalized people when we speak about our issues including bad representation, but I also don't think "every Western dragon" is a problem the same way the entire perception of Halloween witches is, for example. For "some reason" (antisemitism) we've decided that big hooked noses are a thing you strap to your face to fake being a witch, or the way witches look in clip art. This is an issue because it takes a simple, neutral feature that some of us have and exaggerates it to the point of looking nonhuman. "Ha ha," says the trope. "Wouldn't it be funny if this trait that these Others have was so different and so jarring in appearance that they looked as different as they truly are, from us, the In Group?"

If the same group of folks who had anxiety about us coexisting alongside them created the witch aesthetic as created the Western dragon lore, and indeed much of old-fashioned European fantasy, it's easy to see how their feelings about us an other marginalized groups (disabled people etc.) creep into the stories. HOWEVER, it's also incredibly easy for dragons to not be us. Or have anything to do with us. If you're nervous when writing your own stories that someone is going to mistake your greedy characters for Jewish-coded, try to establish that real (human or otherwise) Jewish characters coexist with the greedy dragon or whatever to show that you're not using the dragon as a subconscious Jewish reference. But if you're talking about just "can I continue to buy dragon merch from creators who draw cute art", the only thing I can tell you is that there's an intense diversity of opinion among the Jewish people and even though I'm saying it's fine and probably most people at my temple would say it's fine, I can't account for strangers on apps I don't even have. Personally, I think you're safe as long as you avoid dragon things that evoke the trope directly. And many MANY dragons don't even evoke the trope these days, because so many millennials and younger grew up adoring dragons so we launched media where dragons are good. And don't even always hoard wealth. Much of modern dragon media seems to ignore the greedy and/or hoarding tropes entirely or have replaced greed as a motivator for the collections with "this dragon has a special interest", which is cute and doesn't evoke antisemitic tropes at all. You'll probably be able to make good judgments about what does the trope and what doesn't, but for some additional help here is a post Meir and I did on @writingwithcolor, which is where we'd prefer these questions be directed (yes, I know we're closed currently but we're reopening soon.) P.S. If this was sent to my personal specifically to avoid the WWC ask box being closed, please don't — that's an amount of volunteer work I simply can't take on. But I also know that it's possible and likely that you didn't know about WWC at all, so now you do — feel free to peruse our vast archives of past posts. @im-tired1124

[sofya-fanfics]

Au premier regard

Fandom : Ranma 1/2

Relationship : Ranma x Akane

Voici ma participation pour le Rankane Week 2024 pour le prompt : Au premier regard.

J’espère que ça vous plaira.

Résumé : Même si Ranma ne l'avouerait jamais à personne, c'était le jour de leur rencontre qu'il était tombé amoureux d'Akane. Il avait découvert ce que voulait dire l'amour au premier regard.

Disclaimer : Ranma 1/2 appartient à Rumiko Takahashi.

@rankaneweek

AO3 / FF.NET

La première rencontre de Ranma et Akane était peu conventionnelle. Lui était changé en fille, son père en panda et il venait d'apprendre que Genma l'avait fiancé avec la fille d'un de ses amis. Akane aussi venait d'apprendre qu'elle ou une de ses sœurs étaient fiancées.

Il n'avait pas sa véritable apparence, Soun s'était évanoui en voyant que le fils de son ami était une fille, Kasumi était calme, Nabiki était furieuse, mais Akane, elle, lui souriait, le défendant contre sa sœur qui lui en voulait d'être une fille et non un garçon.

Ranma regarda Akane timidement. Il avait beau être toujours sûr de lui, cette situation le mettait mal à l'aise. Mais étrangement, alors qu'il venait de la rencontrer, la présence d'Akane le rassurait. Elle était jolie. Bien plus jolie que les filles qu'il avait rencontré durant ses voyages avec son père. Et elle avait été gentille avec lui. Il n'avait pas l'habitude que quelqu'un lui montre de la gentillesse. Pas même son propre père.

Puis, elle lui avait proposé de s'entraîner avec elle dans leur dojo. Il avait accepté avec un grand sourire. Les arts martiaux étaient toute sa vie et il ne perdait jamais une occasion de s'entraîner. Il avait pu voir son niveau. Même si elle se défendait bien, il était beaucoup plus fort qu'elle. Le seul problème, c'est qu'elle lui avait avoué qu'elle l'aurait mal pris s'il avait été un garçon.

Ranma souriait, mal à l'aise. Qu'est-ce qu'il se passerait si elle découvrait la vérité ? Il savait qu'il ne pouvait pas la lui cacher bien longtemps. Bien sûr, ce qui devait arriver arriva. Akane avait découvert qu'il était un garçon de la façon la plus embarrassante qui soit. Elle avait crié, l'avait insulté, frappé, puis il avait été décidé qu'elle serait sa fiancée.

C'est ainsi que leur histoire avait commencé et même si Ranma ne l'avouerait jamais à personne, c'était le jour de leur rencontre qu'il était tombé amoureux. Il avait découvert ce que voulait dire l'amour au premier regard. À cause de sa fierté, il ne l'avouera à Akane que des années plus tard. Et elle lui avait répondu qu'elle aussi était tombée amoureuse au premier regard.

Fin

[doingproblematicmedia]

I touched real grass today* and am still annoyed about this, so here we go:

We cannot pretend Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t exist.

I have seen so many posts saying that “if you talk about this, you cannot be a real ally. Playing and talking about this game will do real harm to real people. Do not support Hogwarts Legacy.”

And why does this make me angry? Because it’s reductive and doesn’t acknowledge the real world we live in.

Let’s start with the basics: paying for the game financially supports WB and JKR. A boycott aims to harm someone financially, and I believe that not paying for this game is a good goal, with some real measurable results. 

But I’ve seen as many posts condemning someone who would pirate the game. Pirating, which WB Media will count as a loss, doesn’t put money in JKR’s pocket, and therefore accomplishes the goal of a boycott: to hurt someone financially.

What is the goal of convincing people not to pirate the game? To make sure that people don’t play it? To make sure that people don’t talk about it?

I cannot condone this. Because Hogwarts Legacy will not go away, and it is important to talk about it.

Hogwarts Legacy is going to be one of the biggest games of the year, if not the biggest. Presales are through the roof. Millions of people are going to be playing this thing. It is not a commercial failure. It is not going to go away.

By silencing talk about Hogwarts legacy, we are silencing ourselves.

It is important to have a voice in this conversation. By trying to silence all talk about this game, we are shutting down critical discourse. Can a person effectively criticize a piece of media without engaging with it? Because a person plays this game, does that mean they are disqualified from bringing meaningful critical dialogue to the table?

If meaningful critique about this game is not offered, how can we expect to reach people? How can someone expand their thinking if the tools to expand it are not there?

There is so much talk about how engaging with Hogwarts Legacy will bring harm to real people. It is important to think about how our actions can do harm.

But critical engagement is not harmful.

And right now, the gaming press is not providing it.

As I write this (Feb 7 2023), the major outlets (at least the ones willing to touch it) have dropped their reviews. They almost all add some sort of sidebar disclaimer: We do not support JKR’s views on trans people. We support human rights and support people speaking with their wallets. Etc. 

Cool, ok. Are they talking about the plot of the game? The thing that Jews are worried is going to be “Blood Libel Simulator 2023″? No they are not. How are we Jews going to push back on antisemitic content in this game if we don’t even know what’s in it? We need to be able to address what this game is going to be implying about us. Antisemitism is on the rise globally. I am scared for my Jewish family. I had to listen to a Gentile relative tell me over Christmas that Kanye was a ‘genius’. 

Again, millions of people are going to be playing this. Not talking about any antisemitic tropes in it is only going to help them go unchallenged.

Critical works on Harry Potter are valuable. 

Over the past few years, there has been an exceptional body of work put out that returns to Harry Potter. Takes a look at the books with a new eye, an eye that is more attuned to the casual cruelty JKR wields. Examines elements that we brushed over as children. Contextualizes Harry Potter in its British Neoliberal context, and points out the moral failings of JKR’s allegories. Realizes how Harry Potter does not call for true revolution, but merely a comfortable status quo.

Critical works like these have helped so many reevaluate Harry Potter with a more mature view. By looking at JKR’s output, we are better able to understand her current bigotry and call her on her views. Trans analyses of the books have highlighted transphobic material that went unremarked upon in the 2000s.

Why stop here?

Is it because talking about the game supports JKR? Or is it because people are condemning anyone who even thinks about talking about the game?

I know I’ve seen a million posts on my dash along these lines. “I don’t trust you if you play this game. I will block you if you talk about this game. You are not an ally if you talk about this game.”

And this, this makes me angry.

Because I know you’re trying to reach people who will pay for the game without thinking about who that money goes to. People who will not acknowledge the real terror JKR is inflicting on trans people. People who will say “let me enjoy the thing.”

But you’re not just reaching them. You’re also saying, in effect, “any talk about this game will get you shunned, blacklisted, harassed. Engaging with this game means that you are not a good person. Good people don’t talk about Harry Potter anymore.”

Aren’t we always banging on against online purity culture? Saying that media consumption is not activism, and that you don’t get to be a good person just by consuming the “right” media? Because right now, you’re saying the opposite. That media consumption is activism. That you are a good person because you don’t consume the bad media. That any talk about this does real harm to people.

And to be clear, I’m not talking about personal blocklists. Curating your online space and blocking stuff that you don’t want to see is not the problem here. The problem is the rather explicit statement that anyone who talks about Hogwarts Legacy is immoral. 

And as a media critic, and a Jewish queer, I cannot accept this.

We must talk about the things that hurt us. We must continue pushing back against the bigotry of the Wizarding World. We must have a voice at the table, because no one is going to do it for us. Not the gaming press, not the suits at WB, and certainly not the world that produced millions of preorders for this game.

Once again, we cannot pretend Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t exist. The real question is: how will we talk about it? 

Because if we’re not talking about it, someone else will be. 

*A feat in a New England winter. Said grass was in a greenhouse.

[gay-jewish-bucky]

tags i wanted to add to this post but removed bc i didnt want to derail re: conflation of 'antizionism' with 'pro-palestine placing jewish and palestinian liberation as inherently at odds

someone in the tags [on the post of a fucking holocaust memorial dedicated to gentile women who save their jewish husbands and families being vandalized] is using this to grandstand about how 'the antizionist movement is the only peaceful path forward' which is quite the statement on a post like this, especially if like them, you don't bother explain what that means in practice, but this is not the place for it in the first-place good g-d

seriously can none of you ever just say this kind of thing is bad? can you not read the room? can none of you condemn antisemitism without the disclaimer?

also i need you to actually understand how many of the 90% of jewish people who are zionists genuinely care about palestinians and how much important work pro-palestinian zionists do

the answer isn't on either extreme, it's somewhere in the middle and is open to differing perspectives and multipe truths as long as it respects both peoples inalienable rights in their indigenous homeland

non-jews should be focused on being pro-palestine and building that movement to advocate for peace

zionism is a jewish intracommunity issue and it's not just going to disappear, so you're going to have to work with and compromise with zionists if you really want lasting peace,

you're allowed to hold your views on jewish liberation and the other 90% of the community are allowed to do the same

[stellae-de-baphometis]

Progressive Daemonolatry Discord Server

Hey y'all!

So we had some issues with our previous Daemonolatry server, and it ended up getting deleted. But we've created a new one! Come join the new server by clicking the link down below.

Disclaimer: This is an 18+ server. No minors please.

Note: This server is against cultural appropriation. We don't want anyone who appropriates closed practices joining our server. i.e. Gentiles appropriating Lilith and other Jewish demons.

We hope to see you there!

~ Mod Korv

+ . . . Divider Credit . . . +