A Turbo-Nerd

As a little kid in the ‘70s, I wondered if I was a changling. And yeah, whistle talking with birds, croaking with crows, I still do this. This story makes me smile!

P.S. I confronted my 80-something year old mom this year, asked her if I was autistic and she said yes. She was a special ed teacher in the ‘70s and worked to get kids out of institutions and into regular schools. She developed lots of learning and coping techniques for both kids and teachers, always testing them with me. I shoulda realized something was up. Anyways, she was always a teacher at each of the schools I went to (grade/middle/high school). Turns out she was making sure I wasn’t classified as austistic. Kinda angry about that. Her excuse was that with her help I was able to pass. *sigh*

ily, menswear guy

John Constantine, the Chimera Twin storyline. A fancomic about grief, and our reimagining of the Golden Boy arc from Hellblazer.

My mom decided to weigh in on this, on the side of the Italian boxer, thinking I'd allow her to repeat bullshit talking points for some reason (never have allowed that shit, especially not from someone who raised me not to tolerate racism or anything that ends with someone being put down)...I made her stay on the line until she admitted she was wrong.

I want to clarify, Angela Carini did not quit because she thought her opponent was trans, nor was she "forced" to quit. She quit because the first punch made her nose bleed and she couldn't breathe. She quit due to fear for bodily safety. She did cry and refuse to shake her opponents hand, but it had nothing to do with her gender, she was just upset she was injured and couldn't continue. She later admitted that she had shown poor sportsmanship in refusing to shake her opponents hand, and apologized to her and to everyone, and clarified it had nothing to do with gender, and if the Olympics said she can compete she can compete. Angela Carini is being used by terfs as a scapegoat and is not at fault for anything more than poor sportsmanship.

Dead on. Thanks for adding this. Here's a thread from Threads with more background on Carini.

Transphobia are falling for a false narrative about Khelif, and tumblrites are falling for a false narrative about Carini. Carini was not wrong to cry, and to claim she's "weaponising white woman tears" or that she's responsible for the hate Khelif faced is to blame a woman for the actions of people twisting her story in a way that she's repeatedly disavowed. These women are not against each other, and the problem here isn't which one is right. Neither of them did anything wrong (except Carini was a little rude after getting injured in front of the entire world)

From this article-

"All this controversy makes me sad," Carini told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I'm sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision."

Carini, also 25, said abandoning the fight had been a mature step to take, but she expressed regret at not shaking hands with Khelif afterwards.

"It wasn't something I intended to do," Carini said. "Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke."

She added that if she met Khelif again, she would "embrace her".

(it is absolutely horrible the way people have used ONE woman's pretty understandable response to attack ANOTHER woman, which is just a big mess of those people being all kinds of racist and transphobic. neither Imane Khelif nor Angela Carini did anything wrong)

clark reupload

edit: forgot the sweater comic

Can’t believe you forgot the Connecticut dog!!

Never pass up an opportunity to reblog Connecticut Clark.

Perfectly balanced, as a true Connecticutan should be

Original comic by Rasenth

Leelah Alcorn was a trans girl, a teenager, who sadly committed suicide nearly 10 years ago. I'm happy that her comic touches the hearts of so many people, years after her death.

I saved screenshots of her blog and last message to the world. Her parents had a lot of control over how she was perceived after her death, but it was also to prevent deletion by Tumblr itself. Even back then, Tumblr has been shadow banning trans women on this platform.

My heart goes out to all trans women who are struggling with society's expectations of who they are supposed to be and who they are allowed to be. May you find peace, growth, and respite from whatever you're going through. You deserve happiness, most of all. Thank you for living, thank you for being here with us.

source

Caption:

[[@else: I suppose it's time to tell my abortion story. Of the abortion that didn't happen, that led to me.

A lot of anti-abortion people put words & thoughts into the mouths of the unborn.

Well, I'm one that was recommended to stay unborn, who got born, and here's what I say.

My mother found our very early in her pregnancy that there was an extremely high risk to her if she continued.

Terminating the pregnancy was floated by one of the doctors. It would have been legal due to the risk to her, but heavily stigmatized.

Her family was deeply Catholic. She was deeply Catholic.

She did not terminate. The risk became a reality.

So I'm here, and she's not.

I'm glad to be here.

It is hard to put into words the gratitude you feel to a mother who sacrificed herself entirely for you, and I'm not going to try here.

Because I'm also very angry.

Without in any way taking away from the courage and selflessness with which she bore her situation and which she showed in all aspects of her life

I don't believe she ever really felt like she had a true choice.

The stigma, the religious dogma, the judgement - everything she'd ever known - told her she could not save her own life.

Her parents would have, however sadly, believed she'd go to hell. Her family and friends and community would have judged her.

Everyone she'd ever loved believed it was wrong. And so she believed it was wrong.

Needlessly.

I don't know what choice she would have made if it had been a true choice.

Maybe she would have chosen me anyway. Maybe she would have chosen to stay for her two already-existing children and for all those who loved her so deeply.

But she should have had a real, true choice.

Would I trade being here for that?

In a heartbeat. Without hesitation.

My siblings could have grown up with their mother.

My grandparents could have seen their beloved daughter live out her beautiful life, instead of mourning her every day until their deaths.

Her brothers and sisters would not still thirty years later feel the pain of losing the sistre they loved so much.

She could have continued to bring the light to the world that she had always brought, that I have heard so much about.

My father perhaps would not have descended into the grief & guilt that destroyed him, our relationship with him, the innocence of our childhoods.

Now, I think about how my young nieces & nephews will grow up without her, without the kind of grandmother I had. That pains me too.

I grew up in the devastation of her death.

I've watched the consequences of it play out for thirty years.

I can see what might have been differently if she'd had a true choice and it snatches my breath away, to see the suffering that didn't have to be for the ones I love most.

I know that it is not my family, but it is also profoundly difficult to know that it is because of me.

Or to be more exact, because the world did not allow my mother her right to a true choice, and my being here is perhaps a result of that.

It's not a burden I'd wish on anyone

I wish that I could have told her. It's okay. Stay. Live. Be happy.

I wish I could know that she knew that that was more than ok.

Don't I want to be here? Don't I want to be alive, aren't I glad to live??

Now that I'm here, sure. But had I never been, what would I have lost? Nothing.

You can't miss what you never had. Can't lose anything when you never existed.

There's no pain or loss in not existing.

I didn't exist then, to want anything. I didn't exist to hope or wish or fear anything.

I didn't exist back then. Not me. There was a possibility. An idea, a hope maybe. Some cells, a process in her body. Not me, any more than a sperm was me or an egg was me.

*I" didn't become until much later. Til I was born.

My mother wouldn't have taken anything from me or cause me any pain by living for herself, because I didn't exist to lose anything.

There was so much pain, so much loss in losing her. Loss that will ripple down generations.

So I will say to my dying breath, as the person who only lives because she didn't abort, that whatever she thought or chose or did not chose, she should have had a real choice to abort.

That she should have felt that aborting me was valid and good a choice as not.

Everyone should feel that, and have real access to enact that choice without obstruction or shame or question.

Whether it is their actual life at risk, or not. A forced pregnancy can be the death of many things, not just the end of ther person's life.

Having me took away from the world everything that my mother could have given it.

Forcing someone to have a child against their will can take away what that person could be and bring if they had their choice, whether they live through the pregnancy or not.

Most of all it takes away their right - their inalienable right - to choose how they live their life in their own body.

A non-person, a hypothetical future event, the birth of someone who doesn't exist yet, doesn't have that right.

Other people, who claim to speak for the unborn do not have that right.

We all lose so much by it. It can cause such pain and suffering, for child-bearers, for children, for everyone.

Do not pretend to speak for the unborn.

Do not pretend to speak for the children born against their mother's will.

Do not pretend that you care for them while you hide misogyny behind dogma.

My mother deserved her right to a real choice.

Everyone does. Unconditionally.

As the child who could have been aborted, I tell you - to oppose that right, let alone work to criminalize it, is unforgivable.

I'd like to emphasize because I didn't say it loud enough in the original thread:

There doesn't need to be a tragic story or a threat to life to make abortion ok.

It can be simply because you don't want to have a child. That's all. You still have the right to a choice.

I told my sad story because:

a) it is important to me to counter the rhetoric of anti-choice folks, that claims that if the unborn could speak they would be anti-choice

b) forced pregnancies can really f*ck up lives in many ways and that needs to be recognized.

But:

There shouldn't have to be a tale of woe to justify bodily autonomy.

It's a right. An absolute right. It should be protected by law.

That's it. That's all.

Last thingL I want this point to be heard, but I don't particularly want to deal with blowing up on twitter.

I will probably lock my account down at some point, but I would like this still to be shared. Maybe use an unroll app and share from there if you would like to.]]

honestly nothing for me will top the energy of BTS photos/videos of horror movie monsters/demons/creatures/etc in full makeup just hanging out… like

energy….

I’ve got some favorites from Pan’s Labyrinth to add

And some misc ones

This was what I had shared previously; it is a LOT, and while it doesn't "matter" anymore with RT being gone, I think it is still sort of applicable with how situations like this keep happening, and how people keep being treated. The whole intent of my thoughts was to sift through all the horrible things, and hopefully find something motivations... (again, this is a LOT of text)

OK, one more addition, this time with some nicer thoughts (because all joking aside, I DO care about being nice)-

This is such a sad thing for all the people who enjoyed things created by RT, and the people who worked there. It really IS. This is something that has been around for more than 2 decades, a lot has happened, a lot of people shared what happened through all those years. I've seen people talk about how they grew up watching stuff RT made, and I've seen some of the people who work there talk about how they grew up being part of it. That's a big deal. If anything ever means something to you, even for a short amount of time, it is still important. If something was meaningful for an extended period of your life, that is pretty incredible.

People found friendships through being fans, they found creativity through inspiration, and they shared all that with each other. The people at RT who wrote, animated, voice-acted, composed music, and so much more- all wanted to share their creativity. The people who played games shared their effort, frustration in the failures, joy in the victories. It wasn't a waste of time working on all of that. It wasn't a waste of time enjoying all of that. It wasn't a waste of time being invested in all of the stories, and it wasn't a waste of time to make stories of your own. If nobody ever played around with ideas and shared them, the world would be a lot emptier. None of it is pointless, because it is all part of life. A lot of different people collectively shared 20+ years of their lives with others, for better and for worse, and the people who enjoyed it shared moments of their lives with each other.

It isn't fair that so many things that get built-up, struggle to succeed and continue to exist, just get thrown away. It isn't fair that some people out there decided that nothing needs to "last" anymore, studios get bought up, employees get fired, projects get shut down, media and content gets erased. It isn't fair that creative ideas get treated like dirt. It isn't fair that people who have dreams, ideas, and the motivation to work on them, get treated like trash. Stories should at least get the chance to be told, and people should be able to continue working on what they actually WANT to make.

I'm not one to ignore or brush-off any of the problems that happened there (which was the point of ALL THAT above), but I also am aware that, as others have pointed out, many of the people who had been hurt in some way while working at RT had been hurtful on occasion. That's what happens, people can be selfish, mean, rude, and hurtful. It gets worse if you never learn to see how much you hurt others, or keep feeling hurt yourself. It is very hard to live with yourself after something terrible happens, and it isn't easy to realize you've been acting terrible, but you still deserve to keep LIVING. You deserve to move on, enjoy your life, find a sense of safety and be comfortable. You deserve to be better, for yourself and the people in your life, not caring is easy, but CARING is hard, and it is worth it. I said that previously, but I'll keep saying it again- caring is worth it.

I mentioned I wasn't really aware of RT for the most part over the years; I saw RVB as a teenager, up to season 5, and then that was pretty much it for more than a decade. I was vaguely aware of RWBY, and saw a little of Gen:Lock, but didn't exactly connect it to what I already knew... then in 2021, I randomly remembered Red VS Blue was a thing, and decided to re-watch it, finally seeing all the episodes from seasons 1-5 in order. Sure, some of the jokes didn't age well, but for the most part it was good for a chuckle, and I genuinely enjoyed watching it! Then I noticed... there was a season 6, and a season 7, 8, 9... it went all the way to 18! So I kept watching, and I'm not going to lie; it was delightful, enthralling, and so wonderfully weird. Not only was it enjoyable just on my own, when I started interacting with people who shared fan art and writing, I suddenly found myself meeting so many people who were so nice! They were also smart and insightful, I loved hearing all their thoughts and feelings for this series and these characters. I learned things on a deeper level that I never would have been exposed to had I not re-watched the silly Halo Video Game Show Full of Swear Words. It is a rare thing to find a series in which you literally love ALL the characters, and while I may have some favorites, I really do enjoy each of them. I'm also not always much of a "shippy" person, but I think anybody who knows me is aware that two idiots in love took over my brain. I even started telling my coworkers about this series, people who ranged from teenagers to being in their 40s-50s, and y'know what? I'd come into work, and they would ask- "So, what did your funny red and blue internet guys do last night?", and so I'd tell them about another episode. All these thoughts were filling up my head, and I finally had to pour it all out into fan art and writing before I drowned. I made so MUCH, it surprised even me! I still want to make more, and see more from all my friends~

I so very much wish things could have been better at RT for all involved, and I wish it could have actually continued on, genuinely improved, and gotten better. So many people did so much, for a long time. So many people have loved sharing it all. The people there who cared about what they did and cared about each other- that is important. The people who cared about the things that made them happy- that is important. The people who struggled and were hurt- it is VERY important that they feel better, and are able to keep caring themselves.

narnia has actually way too many completely devastating concepts in it that are not explored At All

We talk a lot about how in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Pevensie children live full adult lives as kings and queens of narnia before stumbling out of the wardrobe by accident and being children again after like 15+ years. But I’ve never seen the same level of analysis devoted to how in Prince Caspian they return to Narnia and discover that over 1,000 years have passed in Narnia since their last visit.

Imagine undergoing the grief of losing an entire life you lived in another world, being forced back into the body of a child and to grow up all over again without the ability to even talk about what happened in the decades you lost. Every person you knew and loved, vanished, leaving no indication they were ever real and no guide for how to move on.

But returning to that world where you were a King or Queen and discovering that centuries have passed without you and that the people you lost are not only dead, but mostly aren’t even remembered? That’s almost worse.

That series is really something for “worldbuilding threads picked up and never touched again” too like

I LOVE the whole concept of Bism. Like Lewis really just said oh yeah there’s a whole world under Narnia where people live and jewels are alive too actually you wear dead ones in your jewellery and then no one ever spoke about it again, not even the fandom

No wonder this series infuriated Tolkien so much. Lewis just threw paint at a wall and jokingly asked the man who’d spent a decade on a single painting if he liked it.

Holy shit there is a lot about Narnia I don’t know.

something I thought of when I was a kid, and only knew the story of Lion/Witch/Wardrobe; Santa, or Father Christmas, definitely EXISTS, and he seems to exist in at least two different worlds... but maybe there is more than these two? Maybe there is a whole world where he was just a guy who was a toy maker/inventor, and he had his own adventure in which he discovered how to travel to other worlds, and so he just does that now, bringing people gifts (and weapons). If that were the situation, he didn't "originate" from our world (the world the Pevensie children are from), but he visited it, and so stories were told about him, and that's why we know who Santa/Father Christmas is. Later, when I read all the books and the Magician's Nephew, I realized this actually kinda WORKS

(also, when Jadis leaves behind the human world to be in Narnia as it is "born", a couple other things happen- a cab driver named Frank and his wife Helen also wind up in Narnia, where they become the first human king and queen. a lot of human traditions probably came from them. also, a broken chunk of a lamppost gets brought it during the moment Narnia is filled with the energy of new life, so it LITERALLY starts growing like a tree, and THAT is the lamppost Lucy eventually sees when she goes through the wardrobe. OH, and the nephew of the magician? his name is Digory, and he goes through a whole biblical story in Narnia as well, he goes to the Garden of Youth to find an APPLE, which will help protect the land from Jadis. after planting a new tree, Aslan lets Digory take some of the fruit back to London, and it heals his sick mother. he plants a seed from the apple, it grows into a big tree in the human world, and is eventually cut down and MADE INTO THE WARDROBE. that is why the thing is a portal, it came from Narnia. oh, and Digory is the old professor who lets the Pevensie children live with him. also-also, back to the Santa/Father Christmas thing- I think that is also how it works for Aslan. like, yes, he is the Allegory-Jesus-Lion, but he evidently came from another world into a "blank" one, where he breathed life into what became Narnia. I think maybe he goes into other worlds, and he is just continuously the equivalent of Jesus, if that applies or works wherever he is. he probably LOOKS different every time, but in Narnia, he is the Lion. if there is no variation of Christianity in a world Aslan visits, he's just some cool magic guy/animal, whatever... possibly not obviously "magical" even, since the rules of it seem to change in every world. anyway, yeah- this whole thing is BONKERS, but sure is delightfully interesting!)

I’ve been wanting to do a thing like this for a while. Behold my amazing animu mongah skills there wow swoons

2016 rendition!

She finally has hands!

She’s on her way!

Wooshing that skirt a bit more!

Trying a softer approach!

Woosh that skirt some more

This year was stressful, and I redid the yellow dress girl twice before ending up with this!  I’m gonna end up with her feet in a couple years aren’t I

The sketch is something I love seeing in art - it shows progress and thought, it adds motion and detail, so in this year’s Yellow Dress Girl I’m keeping the sketch lines by choice!

what drugs were they on when they made this

Cab Calloway rotascoped!

Whoever thought of this was drinking absinthe

Thanks, Now I have nightmares

this was long before cartoons were ever thought of as ‘for kids’, the target audience of this one was roughly 20-40 betty boop cartoons featuring cab calloway singing, yes, but slang has changed so much you dont realize he was singing about opium, sugar daddies, death, weed, sex, booze, and gambling back when gambling was nearly as tabboo as sex and drugs. ‘minnie the moocher’ where cab calloway is a dancing walrus is specifically about someone who does literally everything on that list but die

most of the animation studios had their ‘thing’ to make their animation stand out, disney had fluid motion linked with quality music, warner brothers had top notch dialogue with carefully crafted facial expressions, MGM had comedic timing down to the individual frame that no live action comedian could dream of achieving, terrytoons had the budget of a ham sandwitch and a fistfull of nickels fleischer studios however had authentic jazz and heavy toned subject matter, often crossing the line of what we think of as ‘cartoon violence’ into realistic

idk why this is making me so emotional???

I love this. I’ve always had a love for cartoons

Cab Calloway, he was a legend performer and entertainer, although he’s listed as a jazz singer he did much more with his voice, his singing style and delivery was very unique. Cab (with his band) was the first black artist to sell over a million copies of a single record and he paved the way for many artists to come. Happy Black History Month.

sorry to make this long post longer, but I feel like it needed some actual photos of Cab Calloway, who is, in fact, the greatest

"The Good War on Terror" written by Christopher Hayes.

I will be producing a print 'zine of this in the coming months. Join my Monthly 'Zine Club to get the first copies automatically sent your way!

So, to start, I agree with the ultimate intent here. I like the intent. I don’t want to take away from the ultimate message, which is that contextualization and non-antisemitic exegesis is key to practicing a Christianity that is not deeply antisemitic.

I agree with all that.

But one of the points of this blog is to put things in historical context, and there’s an error contained here that is a favorite juice to sip on for progressive Christians, and it’s this:

It's important to realize that the Bible was written, edited, and redacted by Jewish people. What we are reading is an interfamilial fight that us Gentiles are not a part of and should not contribute to. Every time the text says something about "the Jews" we have to remember that the people writing those words were themselves Jewish people, so don't mean "every Jewish person," but rather "the specific group of people with whom I disagree."

This just isn’t an accurate representation of history, no matter how well-intended. Historical revisionism is not, I think, a good way to deal with Christianity’s antisemitism problem.

Some, and I do mean only some, of the Christian New Testament was authored by Jewish Christians. We do not know their names, or their identities, beyond educated guesses about where they lived and the type of Jewish education they did or didn’t have.

Again, some of the Christian New Testament was authored by those Jewish Christians. The rest wasn’t. Mark and Matthew’s anonymous authors have a solid likelihood of having been Jewish Christians. Luke’s author less so. John’s author even less so than that. Indeed, we can witness that shift from Matthew (who calls Jewish sectarian groups by name) to John (who just calls the enemies of the Jesus figure “the Jews”). And that’s just the gospels.

And there were both theological and political reasons to not demonize Rome or gentiles in those texts. Besides, nothing brings people together like a common enemy - Judea.

But even more importantly, Christian scripture was not redacted by Jews, whether Christian or not. The creation of an actual Christian canon began with the First Council at Nicaea in the 4th C CE, after Judaism and Christianity had pretty firmly split, at the behest of the “First Christian Emperor.” The Christian Canon was created at the prerogative of the Roman Emperor Constantine and his successors, to reduce intra-Christianity squabbles, standardize the religion, and separate Christians from heretics.

They were, as later schisms show, unsuccessful in the long term, but I digress.

The Christian Bible was redacted by Christians for Christians with the support and direction of, not in opposition to, the Roman Empire. It is not, in any form used since the 4th C CE, a record of disputes between Jewish sectarians. It is a set of texts that provides a very specific perspective - the perspective of Christian Rome.

Now, there are many arguments (in the academic sense, not a pejorative sense) to be had on the topics of what the anonymous authors intended, their backgrounds, whether calling the contents of the Christian New Testament antisemitic is anachronistic, and many other things. There are discussions to be had about the value and meaning that can be pulled from those early Christian texts not selected for canonization. But who edited, redacted, and canonized Christian Scripture is not really up for good-faith debate.

Please, do put the alleged events described in the Christian New Testament in their historical and cultural context. Please support exegesis that is not antisemitic on its face or in practice. But historical revisionism is not, in my opinion, the way to do that.

(Unrelated, there is something ironic in a darkly humorous way about reliance on St. Augustine to encourage Christians to be kind to Jews, but that would’ve been the case with almost any Church Father.)

I highly recommend the Jewish Annotated New Testament, which both is the basis of the original post and the response I'm going to give below. I'm responding because these kinds of inaccurate statements about biblical study often reinforce antisemitism, and I'm unwilling to allow the sins of my faith to continue without rebuttal.

The scholarly consensus is that the New Testament is a thoroughly Jewish text written by Jewish authors.(1) The only New Testament author whose Jewish identity is up for debate is Luke, the author of Luke-Acts.(2) I tend to think Luke was probably a hellenized Jew, like a growing number of scholars.(3) Luke is thoroughly steeped in the Old Testament, Talmudic literature, and some tinges of the revolutionary sect of Jewish radicals.(4) All of the books of the New Testament were written by Jewish authors with a deep and intimate knowledge of interfamilial contexts that most readers do not have as a part of their context.

There is very little evidence that the Bible was thoroughly redacted during the 4th century in the interest of the imperial court, based on textual criticism, which seeks the earliest possible manuscripts.(5) The best proof of this is the book of Revelation, a screed against the Roman Empire.(6) The canon existed long before Constantine, and there was not an actual declaration of a finalized canon until after the Protestant Reformation.(7) The Council of Nicaea certainly didn't get to it in any historical record we have, a myth popularized by Dan Brown.(8) You're right that there isn't much good-faith debate to be had on the redaction of the Bible, because we have full manuscripts of every New Testament book by the year 200 CE.(5,7,8) We can't dismiss the entire field of textual criticism by waving a "I can't be disagree with," at it. The text, from long before the influence of the Roman Empire on Christianity, reflected a growing rift between two growing and thoroughly Jewish religious movements.

St. Augustine should have used his own advice. He was a huge antisemite and he was wrong about many things, especially his perception of Jewish people. We can take what he said that was right and use it as an indictment on what he said that was wrong. Only by recognizing the historical reality that much of the New Testament largely reflects a debate Gentiles are not privy to and do not belong in the midst of can we indict our forebears and correct the ship in order to love our Jewish siblings.

Antisemitism is too serious an issue within Christian history to misunderstand Christian history. It is really important that the scholarly consensus tells us the authors of the New Testament were Jewish or thoroughly steeped in Jewish thought. It is critical to understand that the New Testament developed into a final form before the Roman Empire got its grubby mits onto it, but that the Roman Empire deliberately misunderstand those interfamilial fights to demonize Jewish people. And it is key to call out historical Church fathers who did not live up to their own ideals so that we can do better. Antisemitism will only be corrected in the church by using the best of our scholarly knowledge, rather than the kind of myths on the internet that cause so much antisemitism today.

Sources below.

So, I was excited to continue this conversation when I saw your reply. I love nerding out on this stuff with someone who will also nerd out. And I see a lot of value in those conversations, even where we disagree.

I was drafting a response in word, to have something to do while my kid took a nap and I took my breather (along with many of my fellow Jumblr-ites) because there’s only so much violent antisemitism one can ask oneself to endure and we are (unsurprisingly) in a massive uptick of that online at the moment. I was pumped, I was pulling out old notes and books…I was gonna have a Time.

And then I went to check something on your blog, for reference, and found blatant misinformation. Not in areas of opinion or areas where there is room to disagree or the record is complex or unclear, but incorrect basic facts. Disprovable in under 5 minutes for anyone with access to the internet, and that’s not an exaggeration. One of said incorrect facts actually cuts against your stated theological aims - placing Christian NT texts in context.

So that gave me pause. Folks that interact with me regularly know that I have a presumption of good faith on this blog - sometimes to my own detriment - and so I will presume good faith unless I have receipts for why it should be doubted.

I can’t say if you’re acting in good faith. I’d like to think you are. You largely seem to be a reasonable person who cares about people and is thoughtful. But I don’t know you, and all I can judge off of is what’s before me.

I can say that either you spread misinformation negligently, which is troubling, or that you are willing to knowingly rely on false information to support a preferred viewpoint or conclusion. I’m hoping it’s the former, that in your rush to speak on current events you reblogged something with little to no review, which would be reckless indeed although not intentional, but again…I don’t actually know you.

In light of that, at this point, I don’t see much value in continuing this discussion - the information I had, the stuff I was working on, that I can save for a standalone post some other time. To have a conversation of any value (even one where our conclusions diverge) we would have to be in agreement that facts matter. I can’t trust that that’s the case, regardless of why it may not be the case.

I appreciate what you’ve added to the discussion here, hence the reblog and explanation rather than silence in order to share it with the folks that follow me. And readers I hope you check out the resources provided if you’re interested, because many of them are quite good even if I disagree with @wiseoldllamaenby’s conclusions. But I’m going to shelve this otherwise.

(P.S. And yes, the Jewish Annotated New Testament is an excellent resource, one I’ve recommended to folks before as well, so add that to the resource list any folks that are interested.)

Uhh, hi. My name's Holly. Yeah, I know, it's so... Christmasy. But unlike the plastics in the school dance committee, I'm not exactly feeling warm and jolly about the winter formal. My boyfriend Darren dumped me like a stocking full of coal over Thanksgiving Break to go out with my ex-best friend, and my new crush is super-hottie football star Nicholas Mistletoe. He doesn't even know I'm alive, and if he did, why would he want to go out with me--the daughter of Krampus? I guess it's true what they say--holidays are Hell. *Fall Out Boy's "Yule Shoot Your Eye Out" plays*

Holly, into her Blackberry phone: And they scheduled the winter formal for Christmas Eve. My dad expects me to hang out with him all evening at his job. What am I supposed to do?

Her quirky best friend, Chrissy Claus, on the other end of the line: Have you ever considered, like... talking to your dad about this stuff?

Holly: Your dad is literally the jolliest man alive. Mine is straight from the Fifth Circle of the underworld. Connect the dots?

Chrissy: Yeah, yeah. Look, it's not all sugarplums and candy canes here, either. Dad gets suuuper stressed. He doesn't even have time to listen to the carols I write. Hey, you're still going to perform with me, right?

*Holly collides with Nick. The hot cocoa she's carrying flies back in her face.*

Chrissy: ...Holly?

Holly, strangled: Uhm... TTYL?

Holly: Nick... are you sure it's cool if I keep your jacket during lunch like this?

Nick: Hey, yeah. Listen, I totally wasn't looking where I was going. I don't want you to have to walk around with a messed-up shirt all day.

Holly: No, I mean... would it be cool with your girlfriend?

Nick: Oh, Crystal? I'm sure she'd be fine with it. She's not so scary, when you get to know her. *He sounds unsure of himself.*

V.O.: That had about as much chance of being true as a snowball had of staying frozen in Miami, but Nick made it somehow... believable. Ugh. I'm in way too deep.

Nick: Hey, do you want to maybe have lunch with us? You know, just if you're not, like, busy or anything.

Holly: Wait, seriously? I mean...

*She tucks a strand of hair behind her horns and looks at the popular kids' table.* *Several beautiful girls sit there, reapplying lip gloss.*

Holly: I'd... well...

*Holly looks back toward her previously-established friend group consisting of Chrissy Claus, an obligatory flamboyant gay guy, and a nerd to show that they're the misfit crowd.* *Chrissy gives her a thumbs-up and a smile.*

Holly: I'd love to!! Uh, I mean... sounds cool, yeah. Whatever. *Britney Spears' "My Only Wish This Year" plays*

*Holly finishes washing her face in the school bathroom and looks up.* *Crystal and her obligatory posse of popular girls stand behind her*

V.O.: At that moment, I stopped caring about Nicholas, my dad's freaky job, and how messed up my life was. Mostly because I was too busy watching that life flash in front of my eyes.

Holly: Okay, listen, if this is about lunch, I--

Crystal, cheerily: Hi! I'm Crystal. I feel like we didn't really get to know each other earlier, so me and the girls thought you could come with us to the mall.

Holly: ...come again?

Snow Angel 1: It's just... you have great skin, and you don't even look that weird right now. Which says something. Crystal's dad gave her his credit card, and we could totally get you something to replace the mom jeans.

Holly, anxious: I don't know about this.

Snow Angel 2: Oh, and we're going to Nick's place after the mall, if you want to come.

Holly: Yes! I mean--

Crystal: Great! But first, I have a sweater in my car that could replace... that.

Holly: What I'm wearing now? But Chrissy bought this for me last year.

Crystal: Aww, she's so sweet. But come on. I mean, black and red? Goths went extinct in the 90's, honey. Let me take care of that.

Holly: I--

Crystal: We'll get you something cute for Nick's party today. Trust me.

*She examines Holly's face with a critical eye and a perfectly lip-glossed smile.*

Holly: ...okay. Sure. It's old, anyway, right?

Crystal: Oh, sweetie, of course it is. Follow us.

*Aly and AJ's "Greatest Time of Year" plays* *Montage of Holly hanging out with the popular girls at the mall, school, and parties* *Minimum of three shots of Holly's friends looking lonely are included* *Shot #4 is of sad Chrissy on the eve of the school's winter talent show*

Chrissy: Come on, come on, pick up...

Gay best friend Jesse Cross: Oh, honey, she's not coming.

Chrissy, tearfully: But I can't perform our duet without her!

Jesse: There's always next year?

Chrissy: That's not true...

Jesse: I know, girl. Let's tell the MC you can't go on tonight. I'll buy you cocoa and give Holly a piece of my damn mind tomorrow.

Chrissy: I'll just try to call her, one more time...

*Holly is at Crystal's house* *Her phone rings on the table* *Crystal snags it and shuts it off before Holly notices*

Holly: Did you hear something?

Crystal: Some nobody.

Holly: Come again?

Crystal, brightly: Nope. Nothing. Hey, I'm bored--let's take my dad's cruiser out. It even has enough room for your... *She indicates Holly's horn situation vaguely*

Holly, hesitant, as though she's forgetting something: Uhh... sure.

Holly: You let me miss the talent show... on purpose?

Crystal, leaning against the gym wall with her posse: Uh, yeah. Thought that was obvious, Morticia.

Snow Angel 1: Is there a legit reason you're being a total b-word right now, or...?

Holly: Are you freaking kidding me? Chrissy is my friend. My BEST friend. Something you three wouldn't understand.

Crystal: I understand that you're a whiny, ungrateful weirdo who would rather cry about missing a talent show than hang out with the only people in school anyone cares about. Yeah. I get it.

Holly: Seriously?!

Snow Angel 2: Listen, charity case. If you think we were being such sweethearts to you for any reason other than to look good in front of Nick, you're out of your mind.

Crystal: Read my lips, sugarplum: you're a freak who knows she's a freak, and before we pulled you out of the depths of loserville, you hung out with freaks.

Holly: I... I...

Nick: ...Crystal?

*Crystal startles* *The Snow Angels' mouths drop open in unison*

Crystal: Um... hi, sweetie!

Nick: No. Don't do that. We're not doing that. Why were you saying that terrible stuff to Holly?

Crystal: W-we were just... *She looks for support from her squad* *They look the other way* Why are you even here?

Nick: I don't know. I got a text from a hidden number telling me to come to the gym after school..? Whatever. Doesn't matter. Crystal, I should have done this a while ago. We're done.

Crystal: WHAT?!

Nick: Holly, do you... need a ride home?

*Crystal is too horrified and furious to speak* *Holly wipes a tear, then blushes*

*Outside the gym, Jesse Cross listens in, satisfied*

*He looks at his screen, where an anonymously-sent text to Nick sits*

Jesse: The Lord works in mysterious ways, bitch. *"8 Days of Christmas" by Destiny's Child plays*

Nick: Holly! Wait!

Holly: Nick?

*Nick skids to a stop with his hockey skills; he is on every sports team*

Nick: Listen, I still feel really bad about what happened. You know I don't think that about you, right?

Holly: Of course I do.

Nick: I think you're really cool. And, um... if you're not doing anything on Christmas Eve... I want you to come to the dance with me.

*Small gasp from the other students waiting to be picked up after school*

Holly: Nick, I... I'd love to.

*The crowd cheers* *Chrissy smiles from the crowd, happy for Holly* *Nick goes to hug Holly, then freezes*

Off-screen ominous voice: ℌ𝔢𝔶, 𝔫𝔬𝔴. 𝔜𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔫'𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔰𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔢?

*Holly whirls around* *Her dad stands on the curb behind her*

V.O.: You know that feeling you get when you wake up from a nightmare, and everything's okay? Yeah. Try the opposite of that.

Holly: D-dad, please, it's actually important to me this year. My friends, Chrissy, Nick, they're all going--

Krampus: 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔞𝔡𝔶. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔪𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔩.

Nick: Mr. Nacht, I think you should consider what she's saying.

Krampus: ℑ'𝔳𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔧𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔱. 𝔖𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔰𝔣𝔦𝔢𝔡? *He extends a hand to Holly* ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔢, 𝔫𝔬𝔴. ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶-𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔯𝔡. 𝔓𝔯𝔢𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔬𝔯𝔡𝔢𝔯.

Holly, sadly taking her father's hand: I'll... see you next year, Nick.

Chrissy: Mr. Nacht, we won't let you--

*A whirl of hellfire erupts around Holly and her father* *They vanish*

Chrissy: --do this.

Krampus: 𝔖𝔬 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔞𝔫𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔦𝔳𝔞𝔩, 𝔞𝔫𝔡... 𝔦𝔱 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔪 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫.

Holly: Gosh, Dad, don't know why I wouldn't be paying attention when you took me away from my friends to help you scare children into behaving.

Krampus: ℑ'𝔳𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔱𝔲𝔡𝔢, 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔞𝔡𝔶. 𝔒𝔲𝔯 𝔧𝔬𝔟 𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔲𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔰--

*A red Volkswagen Beetle rolls up at top speed and screeches to a halt* *It's blasting NSYNC's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"*

Holly: Chrissy? Jesse?!

Krampus: 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱.

Chrissy: Holly, you're coming with us.

Holly, tearing up: I... guys, I'm sorry, I can't.

Chrissy: Oh, for Jesse's dad's sake... *She exits the car and slams the door* Mr. Nacht, your daughter's coming with us.

Krampus: 𝔒𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫. 𝔏𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢, ℭ𝔩𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔡𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔯--

Chrissy: No, you listen to me! It's Christmas Eve, and your daughter has a chance to be the happiest she's ever been. You may be from the Fifth Circle, but you can't convince me you've never understood what being in love is like.

*Krampus pauses, then looks at a photo he keeps in his wallet* *It's a picture of Satan, whom he's gay married to*

Krampus: ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔰𝔥, 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢𝔫'𝔱 ℑ, ℌ𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔶?

Holly: ...maybe a little?

Krampus: ℑ 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔶 𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤. 𝔊𝔬 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 "𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔞𝔩" 𝔦𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔬 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔦𝔱. 𝔊𝔬𝔬𝔡-𝔟𝔶𝔢.

*Holly tears up and hugs her father* *She then runs and hugs Chrissy, who squeaks in surprise and then laughs*

Jesse: Let's go, bitches! The night is young! And I still have to get you a dress, honey. You're not rolling up to the formal in combat boots.

Holly: Oh, ah, right! *She and Chrissy snap apart, then pile into the car*

Chrissy: There he is!

*Nick stands in the middle of a crowd of dancers, but has no one to dance with... until he sees Holly*

Holly: Oh my god. Do I look okay?

Chrissy: Gorgeous. Go get him, tiger.

*Holly moves toward him* *Chrissy watches her go* *Jesse puts a hand on Chrissy's arm and snaps her out of it*

Nick: Holly! I thought you couldn't come!

Holly: Hey, Christmas miracle, I guess. Come on. *She smiles, tucks a strand of hair behind her horns, and begins to dance with him* *Toni Braxton's "Snowflakes of Love" plays*

*All eyes are on the couple* *Nick spins Holly, then pulls her into a kiss* *They pull apart, but there's something missing--a spark* *Both of them look lost*

Holly: I'm... I have to go pee. Uh. Now.

Nick: Uh... yeah, sure. Go ahead.

*Holly runs to the bathroom* *She bursts in and washes her face, shaking her head*

V.O.: I'd won. I had everything I wanted: Nick, right in front of me, gorgeous and single and everything. And my stupid brain wouldn't let the night feel normal.

Attractive Girl in Scene Fashion: You look lost.

V.O.: ...or maybe it had just been trying to send me gut signals that something was seriously up.

*Holly looks at the attractive girl* *Recognition dawns*

Holly: ...Crystal?!

Crystal: So... I wanted to say sorry. About being a jerk.

Holly: Who are you and where's Crystal?

Crystal: Uh... surprise! I am Crystal. I know it's hard to believe, but it's me.

Holly: What happened?!

Crystal: After Nick dumped me, I lost my squad and spiraled pretty hard. It took a lot of soul-searching bullshit to realize that I had been living my life the way my dad expected me to: dating the popular guy, wearing Prada to freaking high school.

Holly: Always thought that was weird.

Crystal: It wasn't me. And I was... miserable. So, even though I'm still sad about everything I did... I think I'm going to be a lot happier now. I dunno. How's your night with Nick?

Holly, hesitant: Um...

Crystal: What's wrong?

*Holly pauses*

Holly: I... I don't know. I've been hoping for this for so long, and now that it's here, I don't feel right. Nick's nice, and he's cute, but... I...

Crystal: I think we were in the same boat.

Holly: How?

Crystal: More into the idea of Nick than the actual guy. I mean, seriously, how much do you know about him?

Holly: ...he likes sports?

Crystal: Listen, Holly, love isn't about thinking someone's hot and nothing else. It's more than that. Love's about... showing up when someone needs you, sharing everything, being there no matter what. God, this is lame of me. Sorry.

Holly, realizing something: Huh. I... wow. You put that surprisingly well.

Crystal: Something else on your mind?

Holly: Yeah. There's someone I need to find. *She rushes out*

Jesse: Listen, trust me, I get it.

Chrissy: Yeah, I know, and I really am happy for her. It's just... kinda hard.

*Holly runs out of the dance* *She sees Chrissy and Jesse* *Jesse notices her first*

Jesse: Hey, Chrissy, I just realized that I totally forgot my shoes in the gym.

Chrissy: But you're wearing--

*Jesse takes off his heels and chucks them into the dance* *He runs in after them*

Holly: Chrissy?

Chrissy: Oh! Hey, Holly! What are you doing here? Where's Nick?

Holly: Uh, he's... he's at the dance...

Chrissy: Then shouldn't you be..?

Holly: Chrissy, I like Nick, but that's it. Sure, he's hot, and he's great with a hockey stick, but the connection's not there.

Chrissy: What are you saying?

Holly: I'm saying that... here goes... there's someone else I want to go to the dance with.

*Chrissy blinks, then realizes*

Chrissy: Really?

Holly: Really. Like, really really. Chrissy, you're the most amazing person I know, and you're really freaking pretty, and...

*Chrissy cups Holly's face, grinning* *Holly blushes and shuts up*

*They kiss* *Holly's tail waves* *Christina Aguilera's "This Christmas" swells in the background*

Chrissy: That was--

Holly: Uh, a Christmas miracle?

Chrissy: Okay, yeah, but I wouldn't have expected you to say something that cheesy.

Holly: Miracle's not over. You know the DJ, Aurora? She owes me a favor.

*Smash cut to Krampus reading a text from Holly* *It reads "SKIP THE BOREALIS HOUSE PLS THX <3 U DAD"* *He huffs, but smiles*

Chrissy, hand over her mouth: Do you mean..?

Holly: I wasn't there for you during the talent show, but I'm going to be here for you from now on. How about a duet?

*Chrissy takes her hand* *They re-enter the gym for the dance* *The song they perform is, you're goddamn right, "All I Want for Christmas is You"*

*During the performance, Jesse, who is going wild with support, trips* *Nick catches him in his arms for the sequel tease*

V.O.: So, yeah. My name's Holly. It's Christmasy, and I'm... cool with that. I'm not the most popular girl in school, and I didn't get a prince charming, but I got something more important: the coolest girlfriend in the world. Someone amazing enough to make me believe--ugh, here goes--that holidays might not be Hell. So au revoir, sayonara, good night, and Happy Holidays from me and Chrissy.

*Fade to black* *Credits sequence is set to "Deck the Halls" by Relient K and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by the Barenaked Ladies ft. Sarah McLachlan*

Happy anniversary to the greatest Christmas movie ever created exclusively through tumblr posts!

You mean like slavery?

Image Description.

Facebook post from Matt Norris.

Post reads like a conversation between 2 people:

Prison labor is a problem we need to address soon.

Convicts in prison should have to work like the rest of us.

No, we’re giving them 3 meals and a bed, at our expense, while they just sit around and watch TV. They should have to work!

Right. Like slavery.

It’s not like slavery!

Can they leave?

No.

Can they refuse work?

No.

So how exactly isn’t this slavery?

We DO pay them!

Do we pay in accordance with labor laws?

No. We pay them between 33 cents and $1.41/hour with a maximum daily wage below $5, then take up to half of that as room&board fees and victim compensation.

Right. So like slavery.

BUT.

No.

Image then links to this url.

Below URL image reads “fun bonus fact: enough of our labor market currently relies on labor at these depressed rates, that it has a substantial downward pressure on both wages and job availability in low-skilled sectors. Immigrants aren’t taking your jobs. Slavery is.

End description.

I’d also like to add it’s not just private prisons. It’s also private detention centers where ICE keeps the immigrants.

-fae

The constitution even acknowledges that it’s still slavery

a hefty chunk of items with that ‘made in america’ sticker are in fact made by prison labor at the very least anything that is a product of prison labor should be required to have a similar sticker to inform consumers they are taking part of this system, which is difficult to track because prison made manufactured goods include almost the entire uniform of a US soldier, road construction in most southern states, and agricultural goods sold in most stores

this…. looks familliar

Prison is just covert slavery and that’s why they wanna keep so many black people in there for the smallest offences.

This is insane

(Just to clarify, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just giving you more information because you’re right, and I like your blog, and I want you to have sources in case you need them.)

It’s not even covert. It’s blatant and overt. It’s even called slavery in the constitution.

“Slavery is illegal except as punishment for a crime.”

People just don’t care because they think it’s all murderers and rapists, despite the fact that the number of violent criminals in jail is so small it might as well be negligible.

It’s literally slavery, just dumbass racists and capitalists don’t care enough to figure out why we’re calling it that.

-fae

Actually, no, I got something to add and it’s this video by Knowing Better on Youtube:

Slavery is baked into the US American system so much more firmly than anyone ever really acknowledges.

There’s a very good and very hard-hitting documentary about it on Netflix

Also… even if someone has committed a violent crime, enslaving them is… ya know… still a fucked up thing to do? How is that even in question?

The whole discourse of “well they’re not even all violent offenders” has this weird undertone of ‘if they’re good people they shouldn’t have to be slaves’ that horrifies me. Even if 100% of them were violent, Slavery. Is. Wrong. All humans have rights.

Late night thoughts