independence1776

[independence1776]

Neither romantic nor sexual nor platonic but a secret fourth thing (bonded like stray cats who cannot be adopted separately)

#yes please #fandom #queue

[independence1776]

Typography Tuesday: Passover Edition

This Haggadah is color coded to indicate the age of various parts of the text, creating a visually striking historical commentary.

Haggadah.   Polychrome historical Haggadah for Passover. [Hagadah Meʹir ʹenayim] With a commentary, interpretative translation, introd., notes, references, and bibliography, by Jacob Freedman. Illus. in color from rare medieval Haggadah mss.  Springfield, Mass., Jacob Freedman Liturgy Research Foundation, 1974.

#i want this and it is out of print but i saw it in-person once because my rabbi emeritus has a copy #jewish #passover #queue

[independence1776]

Weekly Kudos Thanks

Thank you to ladyredraven, bioticboogies, TeaCupTree, AndromedaStar, AnHellica, Brie_45_always, HarukaDunois, Quest2somewhere, Twisted_Foxlore, and one anon for leaving kudos on my fics last week.

#kudos thanks

[independence1776]

I don’t know if I will ever get over how incredible the Obi-Wan Kenobi show was at threading the needle of using mostly established characters, adding new characters that played into the themes that were already established, while also making it feel like it opened up a whole new world of stories to be told. Would a story about Obi-Wan and Luke have been as meaningful, if well told? It’s very possible that it could have been!  But using this opportunity to focus on Leia instead, to take two characters who never really interacted beyond a few lines said about each other, and developing an entire dynamic there, while also tying it directly to the heart of the Obi-Wan & Anakin dynamic, balancing that these two saw each other as themselves just as much as they had a connection because of the other people in their lives, I really can’t get over it. And I can’t get over the inclusion of Reva as a Jedi youngling, she’s not just a fleshed out Inquisitor there to fill up the space, she’s vital to the story being told, she is a face and a voice of the younglings that Anakin slaughtered, she is a character with a journey that is her own path to walk and she will make her own choices, but she is also a reflection of the central Star Wars character (as all characters connected to the heart of the story should be to a degree, in my opinion) in that her choice to not become like Vader illustrates Anakin’s choices all the more. Just as the Obi-Wan & Leia dynamic is a story unto itself, so is Reva’s story, but they are also part of the bigger theme of Anakin Skywalker’s legacy, they are both at the same time, just as Obi-Wan Kenobi is himself, his character is an extension of Anakin’s character on a narrative level, and later an extension of Luke’s character, that is his function in the bigger narrative, but that doesn’t mean his own story within that structure can’t be important and meaningful. The show has Anakin Skywalker’s presence looming over everything in this series, he’s not even actually in that many scenes, but I feel his ghost in almost every single frame of the story, and I’m just never getting over how good that was. I cannot comprehend how well done the character work in this show is, how the characters are serving the themes that George Lucas established, but they’re also telling a story that I was invested in.  I wanted so desperately to see that hug when Obi-Wan and Leia reunited.  I wanted so desperately to see Obi-Wan and Anakin meet one more time, to tear each other apart one more time.  I wanted so desperately to know how Reva’s story would end, how this would affect Leia going forward, how it was a love letter to the prequels movies, how it was connective tissue, the story of how they got from Point A to Point B, but also was a journey worth taking on its own, because I got to see Reva’s face crumple when she asked if she’d become him, I got to see Obi-Wan fix Leia’s droid and teach her a little about the Force, I got to see Owen come to a gentler understanding of Obi-Wan and ask if he wanted to meet Luke, I got to see Anakin absolve Obi-Wan of guilt while still trying desperately to hold onto him. I just cannot get over how it walked the fine line of established characters and something new, that I want approximately a hundred fics about Obi-Wan and Anakin’s conversations in this show, I want another hundred fics of Obi-Wan and Leia, I want a hundred fics about the life Reva could have had in a better world or where she goes from here or how she survived up to this point. I CANNOT GET OVER HOW DEFT THIS SERIES WAS AT GIVING ME THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.

#star wars #queue

[independence1776]

Every single fic update there is an author trying frantically to find the right balance between a nonchalant aside of "leave a comment if you enjoyed =)" and clinging desperately to the coat tails of a random stranger, dragging along behind them on the street wailing "Please, please! I have to know what you thought! I'm desperate to talk to people about this! Ask me about the alliterative repetition! Ask me about the symbolism!"

#yep #fandom #queue

[independence1776]

This is my go-to made-from-scratch cake recipe. It's even easy to make chocolate; just add half a cup of cocoa powder and use a heaping cup of sugar instead of a regular cup. (I don't like raspberries, so I use other frosting.)

#food

[independence1776]

So I just saw a post by a random personal blog that said “don’t follow me if we never even had a conversation before” and?????? Not to be rude but literally what the fuck??????????

I’ve had people (non-pornbots) try to strike conversation out of nowhere in my DMs recently, and now I’m wondering if they were doing that because they wanted to follow me and thought they needed to interact first. I feel compelled to say, just in case, that it’s totally okay to follow this blog (or my side blog, for that matter) even if we’ve never talked before.

Also, I’m legit confused. Is this how follow culture works right now? It was worded like it’s common sense but is that really a thing?

#this #tumblr

[independence1776]

Oh my god, once again reminding people that Jews in the SWANA region being scared of being murdered if Israel is dismantled are not comparable to white Americans and Canadians being scared of indigenous sovereignty. The entire world, and that includes Muslim countries, has a very very long history of violently expelling and brutally murdering its Jewish communities; Israel itself has many, many refugees and descendents of refugees from other countries in Asia and Africa, countries that do not want those people back.

The comparison to white North Americans is absurd, cruel, and ahistorical; the claim that Jewish people lived in happiness and peace and safety in SWANA countries before Israel's founding is a complete fabrication and blatant victim blaming. Many of the countries surrounding Israel and throughout the SWANA region have Jewish populations that can literally be counted on one hand and that isn't because people just abandoned their homes and friends and communities to move to Israel for funsies, it's because many of them were brutally murdered or expelled from their homes, with the rest fleeing out of fear for when they would be next.

I am saying this as a Native person who is 100% in favor of indigenous sovereignty in my home country and who is fully against the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government. If you cannot acknowledge how antisemitism is still very much alive and an active danger to Jewish people all across the world and how many people fled to Israel specifically to escape violence, then you really cannot have any sort of meaningful conversation about Israel.

#antisemitism #queue

[independence1776]

This is my go-to made-from-scratch cake recipe. It's even easy to make chocolate; just add half a cup of cocoa powder and use a heaping cup of sugar instead of a regular cup. (I don't like raspberries, so I use other frosting.)

#food

[independence1776]

Depa is quickly becoming my favourite jedi that isn't a main character in the shows/movies

#depa billaba #star wars #queue

[independence1776]

Chai Pride Icons

lgbtqia+ jumblr: made you guys a present

+ bonus [pride] playlist

icons: bi | lesbian | trans | pan | lgbtq+ | nonbinary | agender | intersex | ace | genderfluid

#jewish #queue

[independence1776]

i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

#things to remember #queue

[independence1776]

online communities are so strange because people slip away so easily. you can be on here for years, folding people you've never met into the fabric of your daily life, and then they disappear, leaving only ghost posts scattered across tumblr behind. or their blog stays dormant, for weeks, months, years, until you're only still following them because you remember that they love sunflowers or they were kind to you when they didn't have to be or the last thing they posted was sad and raw and you still worry about them sometimes.

and sometimes they come back when you least expect it, years later, even, and there's this sudden rush of relief like there you are, there you are, even though you barely knew each other.

there's a strange kind of love to it. i don't know you and i want to hold your hand across miles and time zones and oceans. i can still see the imprint of you in this community you left. you don't think anyone will notice or care when you're gone, but we notice and we care and we wish you well.

i hope you're all okay out there. i hope the sun is shining on your face and you are breathing deeply. i miss you.

#100% truth

[independence1776]

"Luke Skywalker isn’t like the old Jedi. He saves Vader with his attachments!”

Wrong!

Luke Skywalker, at the end of Return of the Jedi, after his confrontation with the Emperor drags Darth Vader through the destructing Death Star. He’s desperate, knuckles white under the heavy weight of his father’s body, a little boy dragging his dad to safety. He sets Vader down for a moment, to catch his breath or maybe to get a better grip. He goes to grab Vader again, but Vader, uncomfortable and in pain, asks Luke to take off the mask. He wants to see Luke through his eyes instead of the eyes Palpatine built for him. Luke refuses, says that removing the mask is a sure way for Vader to die. Luke doesn’t want Vader dead, he wants Vader alive. Not to hold him accountable for his many evil acts, but for the same reason why Luke Skywalker can’t kill Darth Vader; Vader is his father and Luke loves him.

And yet, after a moment, Luke removes Vader’s mask. He doesn’t want to, he hesitates, but he removes the mask with enough slowness to allow Vader to take it back. In that moment, Luke sets aside his desire for Vader in his life, sets aside his desire to see him live, and sets aside his entire mission, the reason he was even on the Death Star in the place. In his compassion for his father, Luke stays with Vader until he dies. It is this moment where we see him be the best damn Jedi he can be. I’d even argue that this moment is the greatest example of non-attached love we see. Because Luke lets Vader go! He lets his father die, and in some ways, by removing the mask, he too kills Vader, he stays with him until his last moment, gives him the kindness of granting his last wish and finally chooses Vader.

And Luke doesn’t have to do this. If Luke Skywalker’s love for his father was an attachment, he would ignore Vader and continue dragging him to the escape pod, put his desire for a father as his central focus and ignore Vader’s wants and discomfort. Maybe he would even save him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches as Vader dies.

He builds a Jedi burial for his father and watches it burn the remnants of Vader and Anakin Skywalker away. He mourns Vader, he mourns what they could’ve had as father and son, considers what ifs and maybe-if-I-did-this. Vader/ Anakin is released from his mortal body, from his ‘crude matter’ and Luke lets him go. He says one final goodbye to Anakin. Then, he joins Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and the rest of the Rebels and celebrates their victory. He lives in the present and celebrates what he has instead of what he lost.

Luke Skywalker is THE Jedi. Everything about Luke Skywalker serves as the foundational cornerstone of the Jedi, everything about the Jedi as a culture and philosophy is reflected in his character. Luke’s desire for the New Jedi Order isn’t to throw away the values of the old Order, but to vitalise them, breathe life back into dying lungs, and rebuild a path that people set out on their way to destroy. (Yes, his Order is different from the Old, but that’s because it has to be. He doesn’t have the resources or the safety of the Old Order.) The philosophies of the Jedi are difficult and they aren’t for everyone, and like the perfect Jedi that Luke is, he struggles and stumbles and sometimes he even rejects it. But, no matter how far he falls, it is a way of life he chooses again and again and again. It is a way of life that welcomes him back each time

#this is my luke #star wars #queue

[independence1776]

Debunk here.

One of the best shot of Total Solar Eclipse from 08-04-2024.

Via @nasa-official

#this is FAKE #debunk

[independence1776]

Weekly Kudos Thanks

Thank you to TallShorty, Elenaji, FratBoyInTraining, nataliaromanovaswife, OoBooksAreLifeoO, Drakling, iris_in_verse, Dick_slutsky, Beth_Mac, Potter629, Random_persononthe_internet, elrhiarhodan, and two anons for leaving kudos on my fics last week.

#kudos thanks

[independence1776]

If you are a Christian that wants to host a Passover seder this year:

1) Don’t. It’s appropriative and gross.

2) Still don’t.

3) Jesus never participated in the type of seder that Jews have today. He lived (if he existed as described in your Christian holy books) during the Second Temple Era of Judaism, when worship was Temple-focused and ritual sacrifice was a key facet of the holiday. The modern seder takes most of its traditions from rabbinic Judaism, which was not the Judaism of Jesus.

4) Don’t do it. Don’t. No, there is no good reason for you to do it.

5) Given the Christian antisemitic violence traditionally inflicted on the Jews during this time of year (the lead up to Easter), it is EXTRA awful for Christians to try and appropriate our traditions related to Passover.

6) Don’t. Pesach is our holiday, and our religion is a semi-closed practice. Don’t appropriate our stuff. Don’t make our stuff about Jesus.

7) There are no exceptions to the rule that Christians should not host Passover seders.

Hope this helps.

#i know of one church in my area who held theirs before easter #and the person who told me about was claiming it was respectful and a rabbi was leading it (on a friday night so i have my doubts esp. #because i didn't recognize the rabbi's name) #i wasn't really able to convince anyone it was disrespectful and a diff participant in said convo later asked me if we call jesus 'yeshuah' #i said we call him irrelevant #it doubly irks me bc i recced months ago when the latter asked for a judaism 101 book rec that she read 'to life' and she clearly didn't #antisemitism #jewish