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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
for-starch

So did anyone else notice the little flower on the cactus in the new title sequence around 17 seconds in? When Aziraphale walked by it bloomed brighter and when Crowley went by it died. First of all…rude. Second of all..if there is 1 thing that Crowley is actually good at it’s keeping plants alive 👀🌱 that flower better watch its back

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orpheusetude

My Good Omens Sexuality Rant

Friendly reminder that asexuality exists.

I feel the need to point this out because I saw something today that made me kinda angry.

People are already playing the queer baiting card on amazon due to the Azi/Crowley valentine card they put out. In the various comments about this I have seen two things stand out that really really bother me.

1. People who are angry about Neil saying that Aziraphale isn’t gay and using that angels are sexless as an excuse.

This is literally what the reality would be. I know I conflate them as being gay because they are general male in presentation but legitimately they don’t have to be male, they don’t even have to present as being same sex. It would be generally much more accurate to say they are pansexual placing any sexuality they may have somewhat outside of the concept or biological sex and gender.

And the thing that really made me decide to write this:

2. I saw someone suggest that it was ridiculous to present two male characters who had had nobody but each other for thousands of years as not being together and that it only happens to make the generally straight audience comfortable.

a) they are not male characters! At least not really. And assuming biological gender based on appearance is one of those things we really need to get better about.

b) we know that Az and Crowley crossed paths often but in the book we are lead very much to believe that the constant companionship in their relationship really forms out of the time the spend working on ‘raising’ Adam. I always got the impression that while the both have feelings for each other it wasn’t something that would have been acted upon until post apocowasn’t.

c) people can have deep feelings for each other without constant displays of overt affection. Just because you don’t seem them make out on screen, something that would be totally counter to the story being told, doesn’t mean they aren’t in love. I think Michael Sheen really does have it right that Aziraphale is desperate not to let Crowley see his feelings. If they haven’t admitted the feelings to each other, or even themselves, then it wouldn’t make sense to portray them as a full on couple.

d) people seem not to consider the fact that asexual people exist and our favorite angel and demon may very well be asexual. This falls perfectly in line with Neil’s statements regarding sex. The idea that angels have to ‘make an effort’ to not be sexless speaks very much to me as someone who identifies with being ace. The can be romantically involved without physicality just as much as they could be physical with each other without being in love. 

I just feel like these constant complaints about queer baiting 

a) ignore the existence of subtext as a thing that should not have to be textually authenticated

b) ignores the concept of them being in love but not yet together and then gets angry when a story, that is not about them getting together, doesn’t show them get together

c) ignores the feelings of us asexual folks that look at a relationship like Crowley and Aziraphale and put ourselves in those shoes, hoping someday we will find someone to love like that without the pressure of sexual intimacy or performative affection.

In short, they could really fuck things up in this show, but given the actor’s comments I think it will be ok.

I think we will get plenty of the little looks and pauses that show the beginnings of romantic interest without a blatant statement of their being together or being sexually involved. 

I dunno, sorry about ranting but for the first time ever I kind felt like the commentary I was seeing was literally discounting the possibilities of an ace reading or of alternate gender readings of the characters and it really bothered me that people being upset about representation would inadvertently devalue something like that.

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erudipitous

I know this is an unpopular opinion but

I respect Neil Gaiman’s declaration that Aziraphale and Crowley are genderless / sexless and not in a sexual relationship. I love that we get to see two male-presenting, nonbinary characters in a committed asexual relationship. They’re life partners, in a fashion that could be described as romantic even just looking at the books, and it sounds like the series is going to explore that even more (!!!!!). But they’re also nonhuman, and it doesn’t make sense to ascribe human sexuality and gender to them.

Idk. I totally agree that they’re not just straight male friends. But I don’t think Neil Gaiman’s declaration was a way of erasing or obscuring their queerness, and I didn’t see it as a disappointment at all. I’m gay and ace and nb, and their relationship is one of very few media portrayals that I can look at and go “hey, that’s me!”. I can see myself in that kind of relationship, and that’s really rare.

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flyingjemsaucer

Anonymous asked:

Hi! I was reading your Good Omens post about seeing Aziraphale and Crowley as a QPR and i wanted to ask... What is the difference about a BroTP and a QPR? Both are not sexual and not romantic, just platonic love, so I got a little lost when you differentiated between both. I hope it's ok to ask this, I'm just a little confused because I can't quess the difference... and I would like to know. Thanks.

Well, a BroTP is sorta like being besties, but as I understand it, a QPR would be something like a platonic partnership, where there is a deeper bond than what you would just describe as close friends, but without a romantic component.  It can include sex (not all aro people are ace), or domestic partnership, but is not necessarily monogamous (as is also the case with non aro-ace people).

I think some of the confusion lies in the fact that our society interprets physical/emotional closeness as automatically meaning there is a romantic tension there, but that is not always the case.  I can’t speak to how other aro’s feel about QPR’s, this is just my own POV.  I’m aro, but I also love cuddles, hand holding, etc.  I just don’t associate those things with romance or sex.  But honestly, it’s kind of difficult to describe if you aren’t aromantic.  I don’t want to get too personal, but although I’m aro, I am also married, and the bond I have with my spouse is *nothing* like the bond I have with other people.  It’s a completely different level, and a bit indescribable.  Hope that helps, but I may have just confused you further, LOL!

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ellenkushner this-is-not-jewish

How to Criticize Israel Without Being Anti-Semitic

this-is-not-jewish

If you’ve spent any time discussing or reading about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I guarantee you’ve heard some variation of this statement:

OMG, Jews think any criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic! 

In the interests of this post, I’m going to assume that the people who express such sentiments are acting in good faith and really don’t mean to cause pain to or problems for Diaspora Jewry.  For those good-faith people, I present some guidelines for staying on the good side of that admittedly murky line, along with the reasoning why the actions I list are problematic.  (And bad-faith people, you can no longer plead ignorance if you engage in any of these no-nos.  Consider yourselves warned.)  In no particular order:

  1. Don’t use the terms “bloodthirsty,” “lust for Palestinian blood,” or similar.  Historically, Jews have been massacred in the belief that we use the blood of non-Jews (particularly of children) in our religious rituals.  This belief still persists in large portions of the Arab world (largely because white Europeans deliberately spread the belief among Arabs) and even in parts of the Western world.  Murderous, inhumane, cruel, vicious–fine.  But blood…just don’t go there.  Depicting Israel/Israelis/Israeli leaders eating children is also a no-no, for the same reason.
  2. Don’t use crucifixion imagery. Another huge, driving motivation behind anti-Semitism historically has been the belief that the Jews, rather than the Romans, crucified Jesus.  As in #1, this belief still persists.  There are plenty of other ways to depict suffering that don’t call back to ancient libels.
  3. Don’t demand that Jews publicly repudiate the actions of settlers and extremists.  People who make this demand are assuming that Jews are terrible people or undeserving of being heard out unless they “prove” themselves acceptable by non-Jews’ standards.  (It’s not okay to demand Palestinians publicly repudiate the actions of Hamas in order to be accepted/trusted, either.)
  4. Don’t say “the Jews” when you mean Israel.  I think this should be pretty clear.  The people in power in Israel are Jews, but not all Jews are Israelis (let alone Israeli leaders).
  5. Don’t say “Zionists” when you mean Israel. Zionism is no more a dirty word than feminism.  It is simply the belief that the Jews should have a country in part of their ancestral homeland where they can take refuge from the anti-Semitism and persecution they face everywhere else.  It does not mean a belief that Jews have a right to grab land from others, a belief that Jews are superior to non-Jews, or any other such tripe, any more than feminism means hating men.  Unless you believe that Israel should entirely cease to exist, you are yourself Zionist.  Furthermore, using “Zionists” in place of “Israelis” is inaccurate and harmful.  The word “Zionists” includes Diasporan Jews as well (most of whom support a two-state solution and pretty much none of whom have any influence on Israel’s policies) and is used to justify anti-Semitic attacks outside Israel (i.e., they brought it on themselves by being Zionists).  And many of the Jews IN Israel who are most violent against Palestinians are actually anti-Zionist–they believe that the modern state of Israel is an offense against God because it isn’t governed by halakha (traditional Jewish religious law).  Be careful with the labels you use.
  6. Don’t call Jews you agree with “the good Jews.”  Imposing your values on another group is not okay.  Tokenizing is not okay.  Appointing yourself the judge of what other groups can or should believe is not okay.
  7. Don’t use your Jewish friends or Jews who agree with you as shields.  (AKA, “I can’t be anti-Semitic, I have Jewish friends!” or “Well, Jew X agrees with me, so you’re wrong.”)  Again, this behavior is tokenizing and essentially amounts to you as a non-Jew appointing yourself arbiter over what Jews can/should feel or believe.  You don’t get to do that.
  8. Don’t claim that Jews are ethnically European.  Jews come in many colors–white is only one.  Besides, the fact that many of us have some genetic mixing with the peoples who tried to force us to assimilate (be they German, Indian, Ethiopian, Italian…) doesn’t change the fact that all our common ancestral roots go back to Israel.
  9. Don’t claim that Jews “aren’t the TRUE/REAL Jews."  Enough said.
  10. Don’t claim that Jews have no real historical connection to Israel/the Temple Mount.  Archaeology and the historical record both establish that this is false.
  11. Don’t accuse Diasporan Jews of dual loyalties or treason.  This is another charge that historically has been used to justify persecution and murder of Jews.  Having a connection to our ancestral homeland is natural.  Having a connection to our co-religionists who live there is natural.  It is no more treasonous for a Jew to consider the well-being of Israel when casting a vote than for a Muslim to consider the well-being of Islamic countries when voting.  (Tangent: fuck drone strikes.  End tangent.)
  12. Don’t claim that the Jews control the media/banks/country that isn’t Israel.  Yet another historical anti-Semitic claim is that Jews as a group intend to control the world and try to achieve this aim through shadowy, sinister channels.  There are many prominent Jews in the media and in the banking industry, yes, but they aren’t engaged in any kind of organized conspiracy to take over those industries, they simply work in those industries.  The phrase "the Jews control” should never be heard in a debate/discussion of Israel.
  13. Don’t depict the Magen David (Star of David) as an equivalent to the Nazi swastika.  The Magen David represents all Jews–not just Israelis, not just people who are violent against Palestinians, ALL JEWS.  When you do this, you are painting all Jews as violent, genocidal racists.  DON’T.
  14. Don’t use the Holocaust/Nazism/Hitler as a rhetorical prop.  The Jews who were murdered didn’t set foot in what was then Palestine, let alone take part in Israeli politics or policies.  It is wrong and appropriative to try to use their deaths to score political points.  Genocide, racism, occupation, murder, extermination–go ahead and use those terms, but leave the Holocaust out of it.
  15. In visual depictions (i.e., political cartoons and such), don’t depict Israel/Israelis as Jewish stereotypes.  Don’t show them in Chassidic, black-hat garb.  Don’t show them with exaggerated noses or frizzled red hair or payus (earlocks).  Don’t show them with horns or depict them as the Devil.  Don’t show them cackling over/hoarding money.  Don’t show them drinking blood or eating children (see #1).  Don’t show them raping non-Jewish women.  The Nazis didn’t invent the tropes they used in their propaganda–all of these have been anti-Semitic tropes going back centuries.  (The red hair trope, for instance, goes back to early depictions of Judas Iscariot as a redhead, and the horns trope stems from the belief that Jews are the Devil’s children, sent to destroy the world as best we can for our “father.”)
  16. Don’t use the phrase “the chosen people” to deride or as proof of Jewish racism.  When Jews say we are the chosen people, we don’t mean that we are biologically superior to others or that God loves us more than other groups.  Judaism in fact teaches that everyone is capable of being a righteous, Godly person, that Jews have obligations to be ethical and decent to “the stranger in our midst,” and that non-Jews don’t get sent to some kind of damnation for believing in another faith.  When we say we’re the chosen people, we mean that, according to our faith, God gave us extra responsibilities and codes of behavior that other groups aren’t burdened with, in the form of the Torah.  That’s all it means.
  17. Don’t claim that anti-Semitism is eradicated or negligible.  It isn’t.  In fact, according to international watchdog groups, it’s sharply on the rise.  (Which sadly isn’t surprising–anti-Semitism historically surges during economic downturns, thanks to the belief that Jews control the banks.)  This sort of statement is extremely dismissive and accuses us of lying about our own experiences.
  18. Don’t say that since Palestinians are Semites, Jews/Israelis are anti-Semitic, too.  You do not get to redefine the oppressions of others, nor do you get to police how they refer to that oppression.  This also often ties into #8.  Don’t do it.  Anti-Semitism has exclusively meant anti-Jewish bigotry for a good century plus now.  Coin your own word for anti-Palestinian oppression, or just call it what it is: racism mixed with Islamophobia.
  19. Don’t blow off Jews telling you that what you’re saying is anti-Semitic with some variant of the statement at the top of this post.  Not all anti-Israel speech is anti-Semitic (a lot of it is valid, much-deserved criticism), but some certainly is.  Actually give the accusation your consideration and hear the accuser out.  If they fail to convince you, that’s fine.  But at least hear them out (without talking over them) before you decide that.

I’m sure this isn’t a comprehensive list, but it covers all the hard-and-fast rules I can think of.  (I welcome input for improving it.)

But wait!  Why should I care about any of this?  I’m standing up for people who are suffering!

You should care because nonsense like the above makes Jews sympathetic to the Palestinian plight wary and afraid of joining your cause.  You should care because, unfortunately, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has correlated to an uptick in anti-Semitic attacks around the world, attacks on Jews who have no say in Israeli politics, and this kind of behavior merely aggravates that, whether you intend it to or not. 

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a real minefield in that it’s a clash between oppressed people of color and an ethnoreligious group that is dominant in Israel but marginalized and brutalized elsewhere (often nowadays on the exact grounds that they share ethnoreligious ties with the people of Israel), so it’s damned hard to toe the line of being socially aware and sensitive to both groups.  I get that.  But I think it is possible to toe that line, and I hope this post helps with that.  (And if a Palestinian makes a similar list of problematic arguments they hear targeted at them, I’d be happy to reblog it, too.)

So, TL;DR version:

  1. Do go ahead and criticize Israel.
  2. Don’t use anti-Semitic stereotypes or tropes.
  3. Don’t use overly expansive language that covers Jews as a whole and not just Israel.
  4. Don’t use lies to boost your claims.
  5. Do engage Jews in conversation on the issues of Israel and of anti-Semitism, rather than simply shutting them down for disagreeing.
  6. Do try to be sensitive to the fact that, fair or not, many people take verbal or violent revenge for the actions of Israelis on Diasporan Jews, and Diasporan Jews are understandably frightened and upset by this.

May there be peace in our days.

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