I'm bored and stuck waiting and happened to remember that on my old blog I had made this statement:
Since I have a minute, I figured I'd finally drop the list with some brief explanations:
1. By Way Of Sorrow - Coyote Grace version
This song and its lyrics, especially as sung by a queer/trans bluegrass band, could not be more Jew-ish in vibe. I am aware this is a cover, but I have only ever heard their version and that's the one that matters to me. I love love love this song, so much, and it perfectly captures how I feel about having been welcomed into the Jewish people after years of exclusion and othering from numerous other quarters. Am Yisrael has taken me in, treated me like family, connected me to the Divine, healed my wounds, and helped me feel as whole as one can in a broken and unredeemed world - while giving me the tools to join the work of tikkun olam myself.
2. The Farthest Field - The Lumber Jills version
This is the best version I could find; the original I was shown I can't find but will link if I do. This song was actually introduced to me by one of my orthodox rabbis, and I agree with him that it can be understood as a beautiful image of geulah.
3. Hallelujah - Coyote Grace & Girlyman
This one just makes me happy, and the words, message, and themes are very on-brand for Jewish vibes as well in my opinion.
4. Be Thou My Vision - old Irish Hymn (this version and this version are my favorites)
This one is very obviously a hymn and therefore decidedly Not Jewish. On the other hand, the words aren't so explicitly Christian that it rules out use by Jews (in my opinion) and especially if you translate the words into Hebrew, it sounds just like a traditional piyyut. (@springstarfangirl if you want to add your beautiful translation, please feel free!)
5. Down to the River to Pray - Alison Krauss
This is one where I do think the lyrics are a lot closer to being Christian specific, but it makes the list for a couple reasons: first, I've encountered it in Jewish-specific contexts without modification (one of our rabbis actually had us sing it like a regular song during zemirot), and second, there's a modified version by Nefesh Mountain that's quite enjoyable.
6. Whither Thou Goest - traditional
Yes, this one is a hymn too, but the words are directly quoting the Book of Ruth - her famous vows to Naomi, and to the Jewish people - and so it's already practically a Jewish song. It also has a special place of pride for me as a ger, and also because I used it as my wedding song in both the English (as heard in this version) and I also transliterated the Hebrew for our singer to do as well. It works nicely in both languages!
7. Roll the Ol' Chariot - David Coffin
This one I think is a little less direct, but I love it and included it for two reasons: first, it's a song of getting through it and surviving and thriving under tough circumstances, and second, you could very easily put liturgy to this melody instead.
8. For the Autumn Sky - traditional
Ignoring the last verse, this hymn could be very easily adapted into a beautiful Sukkot melody. For the last verse, I'd either simply leave it out, or one could write a Sukkot or Tu Bishvat themed verse to distinguish it. Incidentally, this was one of my favorite hymns growing up.
9. Sanctuary - Shaker melody
The video for this one is obviously mega-Christian, but it's on the list because we actually sing it all the time in shul and it has a special place in my memory from going to camp as a kid. Our shul is definitely not the only one who uses it in a Jewish context, either: this version by Cantor Julia Cadrain is really lovely.
10. Genesis 3:23 - The Mountain Goats
Where are my fellow Mountain Goats fans?? I know you're out there, lol. Look, I know that John Darnielle is coming at this from a Christian perspective, but two things: first of all, TMG has a number of Jewish fans I think at least in part because the lyrics speak deeply to the specific feelings around life (and other people) being horrible to you, surviving, and thriving even in the wake of deep trauma. Second of all, I think this one in particular brings up a number of interesting ideas about the meaning of home, of homecoming, of returning to a home that no longer really exists in the same way, and of exile and redemption. What would it look like to return to Gan Eden? Is this what geulah is supposed to look like, at least in some interpretations? What does it mean if not?
Anyway, this is it for now, but I may add to this list later, because there are definitely a few more! Please also feel free to add your own in the notes!
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do you think plurality will become widely accepted any time soon? i fear that my plurality will have to be hidden from most people my whole life. i wish i could tell our parents but i feel like they would immediately take me to a mental hospital..
i wish plural education could move faster lol
Widely accepted? I wouldn't count on it anytime soon. Sorry.
As Ghandi never said: "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
While the quote isn't from Ghandi, it is still a pretty accurate one for how movements tend to go. And the problem is, we're still in the ignoring stage with a side of mockery.
Before we can get widespread acceptance, we need widespread awareness. And when we get widespread awareness, the biggest roadblock we'll encounter is direct opposition. Because then we'll be a threat. We'll be trying to change things. We'll be demanding our headmates be acknowledged as individuals and called by their names, and that's going to make certain people, especially on the Right, extremely uncomfortable. I'm sorry to say that they will lash out.
When Tulpamancers are being smeared not by randos on Tumblr or r/systemscringe, but by Sean Hannity, that's when you can know that the real fight for plural acceptance has started. And everything we've gone through before that has just been a prelude.
And then it will probably drag out for years after that.
But while that prospect is scary, I think it will be necessary for getting to where we need to be.
...
But just because society isn't there yet and won't be for a while, that doesn't mean your parents won't be. Plenty of people have come out to their parents successfully. Others came out unsuccessfully, and then their parents warmed up to the idea later.
I would advise waiting until you're an adult if you aren't already, because parents have a lot of power over minors in their care, and things could go very badly. Best not come out, if you think they would react badly, while they have power over you. Additionally, I don't know if your system is traumagenic or not, but if it is, coming out to parents who may have been involved in that is probably a bad idea. Caution is advised.
...
One more thing, while that quote wasn't from Gandhi, I really love the speech it's believed to have originated from.
Plural acceptance may not come quick! It may not come easy! But it will come, and we are all a part of it just by being here and being ourselves!
The future is plural!
No matter how far off that future may seem!
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Let's talk about Maxie and Archie.
They're live in my brain rent free right now. I can't.
I can't stop thinking about how they're just.. Almost like created for each other. It's incredible. And it's makes my head ache so hard but like slash pos.
I love them. I love how they're the trope about Red Dude and Blue Dude, but at the same time 1) in manga it's the classic: the red one is more chaotic, while blue one is calm and collected, but 2) then there is oras. And now it's red dude is being collected and cool (but he is such a dork sometimes! Look at him! He is on a verge of breakdown) and blue one being emotional and lively
I love how oras just walks in and makes THEM. That's the one of rare pokemon games when the choose of your game version is actually MAKES DIFFERENCE more than just some exclusively pokemon and etc. You play Omega Ruby, and you're being like, woah, Maxie, dude, what the fuck. Dude what the fuck. And here is Archie, who first to realize their final goals are bullshit, and tries to stop Maxie from the fatal error. But then, out of curiosity, you're playing Alpha Sapphire. And it's slaps differently. Now, everything is opposite. And you're sitting here like woah almost entire plot is DIFFERENT. Like, okay, the «bones» of the plot is the same - but «meat», the insides of plot is different. It tastes different. It vibes different.
I love how oras makes them rethink everything. Oras makes them realize that their both positions are correct - just like everything in the Hoenn lives in harmony and balance, their positions can live together, and only in balance between them lies truth.
I think it's hits hard, because Hoenn is the region of duality and balance - different pokemon that makes duos, you're exploring water deeps just like you're walking on ground, even the double battles are first encountered in Hoenn. And then you have two seperate evil teams, and they're represents different things that IS IN Hoenn in balance. Of course it will hit hard when their leaders realizes that their conflict was silly and ridiculous. Of course it will hit hard when they're, two different men, will come to understand that everything here is living in harmony, and they're not exception.
It's hits hard already in Omega Ruby - this gentle feeling, the «coexistence», the «I suppose you may be right», after all that time they spend in conflict between each other. Perfect. (Maxie is just being a bit of tsundere lol)
But I think it hits even harder in Alpha Sapphire.
Because in Alpha Sapphire, Archie just straight forwardly agrees with Maxie - and i think it's something really beautiful. As if it is the point where they're finally ends their conflict and accept each other as they are.
Fucking perfect. Perfect.
(I'm also absolutely in love with this small bits of them calling each other by their names. I feel so much warmth and gentleness in these «Archie.. » and «Maxie..»)
And then there is manga. God fucking DAMN IT here is manga.
I love how they're interacting in the beginning - evil teams, different goals, etc etc.
But then something happens.
And this is the beginning of the end.
They're cooperate for a moment.
It's so fucking funny in retrospective - imagine best person in your life it's the man, which was your enemy once? It's so fucking funny. They're cooperate for moment - and then it hits them both. They're work perfectly together.
«We joined forces once, and we were successful»
It's an important quote for them in manga, I'm sure of it. It's important thing which will hit different once we will be in oras part of manga. It's an important thing for them, because it's the moment, when them, two enemies, realize, that they're work so fucking perfectly together.
And then, in ORAS, here is the moment when this quote hits again - again, it was perfect and good for them, when they're worked together. Again, their cooperation makes best results for both of them.
(Also, can we talk about how in ORAS manga they're talking to each other as if they're was partners all their lifes? As if they're best friends for all of their lifes? As if they're old married couple??? God fucking damn it. Holy shit.)
(And how in «that» world two of them became one? How them, the villains of arc and region which are build up on balance, duality and coexistence, fusion in one thing, while the beginning they was opposing each other? Isn't it funny? Isnt it fucking slaps reader's mind? Holy fucking shit.)
But manga doesn't calm down.
I don't have words for it.
Remember all these pieces with «join forces»? Here. It's the moment when it hits harder than anything anything else.
Imagine dying, and asking this. And it's even worse with that Archie doesn't even finish his sentence - but Maxie understand him without it. And OF COURSE he is going to agree. Because how he can not, when their bond became so strong? How Maxie can say «no» to this question, after everything?
It hits so hard. It hits so hard. They're get through such a chaotic path of life, and now, dying, they're both agree on one thing - that if they're will alive again some day, they need to work together again. They want to work together again.
It's such a beautiful thing. It's so different from the first join forces quote. It's just so... Wow. It's such a funny thing that the duo of enemies in the end becames the most powerful duo with such deep connection to each other. As if it was meant to be this way from the beginning. They're so fucking loving. They're funny. They're sad. They're so.. I don't know. Gentle? Caring? I don't have WORDS for these two. Holy shit
That's so fucking much going on for just «some villains for that GBA game with colorful pets lol»
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[At the Bellaschnees]
Winter: Coffee or tea, Belladonna. *Glaring daggers at her*
Blake: Ah. Uh… Tea, please.
Winter: Wrong. *Pours her a cup* It’s coffee.
[Later]
Blake: *Cold cup of coffee in front of her* Uuugh.
Weiss: Is that… Coffee?
Blake: Winter… made that for me.
Weiss: She WHAT.
Blake: I know, right? I don’t even like coffee.
Weiss: No. You don’t understand... *Mumbling* She's really trying, huh.
Weiss: I-I’ll talk to her, don’t worry.
[Later]
Winter: *Grabbing at her face, embarrassed* She doesn’t like coffee?!
Weiss: She prefers tea.
Winter: Ugh. *Putting on her jacket*
Weiss: Are you going to...
Winter: Spend my entire paycheck on tea? Yes. *Leaves*
Weiss: *Cooing* She's trying so hard!
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FEEL YOUR SKIN
One-shot comic from the past year about my experiences coping with gender dysphoria and assigned binary roles.
Feat my birdsona Maggie and Acantho (early design, changed a bit since then).
… practically I'm baring my heart and brain here; also my views are not facts, I know talking about these themes in public can help others to realize and reflect on their own views. Something I find pleasant and one of my main objectives when sharing my comics!
From my side: I always felt uneasy about my gender because, since my teenage days, I saw how different girls were treated than boys. Because I was a "girl" I needed to look like this or that to be treated like one and UGH.
I felt sad and angry with myself for not falling properly into my assigned label so I practically rejected all of it to the point of hating everything "femme" coded… I was so wrong.
It wasn't the fault of the label, the clothes, aesthetics, colors, etc, or even the roles but of society for imposing them without any flexibility or room to question and reinvent them.
The script for this comic is from October 2022 during a time when I was questioning if I was non-binary and--.
I thought: if someday I wish to use that label, first I need to make peace with this other part of me. And in the next months, that's what I tried to do and I found I didn't hate it as I used to do.
That doesn't mean I will go back to it by default just that now I understand and cherish its existence as another option for me to choose when I feel like it! And even… I want to let some traits of it be part of my new gender expression in the future.
And to keep admiring and loving people that surround me and identify with it.
And because I have gotta admit: IT FEELS SO GOOD TO JUST BE SEXY FOR YOURSELF.
Feel your skin: make it yours from the inside out!
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klopp on meeting pep in the future
"he has told me that when we are not in charge of any club anymore we will sit together and have a glass of wine, even though i am not a big wine drinker. we could do that, while i'm working and he's off, i would visit him. we could have that talk no problem" (x)
"i know one hundred percent if we meet in the future, we definitely will sit down, so that's actually a nice thing to think about" (x)
"after we both finish [our] careers, we might meet somewhere and sit there together for hours and hours and hours, and just speak about the different things, what we thought before this game and that game and this game. it would be interesting" (x)
"i think pep is pretty inspiring ... i think we could talk about different things, not only football" (x)
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