#Also he's Jewish because I say so

[torchflies]

Hi TG Fandom! 

Okay so, I want us to imagine a world where Goose doesn't die, where the good luck that has followed Maverick his entire life is enough to save them both. 

Maverick, who has miraculously survived the craziest things over the years and continues to do so. He was soloing under a lucky star long before Ice became his guardian angel. 

Imagine they go through Ice’s jetwash the same as before and they go into a flat spin, Maverick is pinned down and can't get his hands free, Goose has to eject them, but his fingers are slipping, fumbling before he finally yanks down on the cords. The canopy gets sucked in too close to the body of the jet with the position they're in, it can't clear completely and Goose screams blindly because he knows he’s going to die. 

He knows he's going to collide with the canopy, but instead he feels like he's curled into a person. 

It’s too warm and all he sees is a flash of dark hair and scared green eyes in the chaos. Mav, what? He's horrified that Mav is somehow in his arms, did their chutes get tangled? He doesn't understand. But he fumbles his hand up, grabbing Mav’s tags just in time for the canopy to collide with Mav’s back. Goose screams until he’s suddenly in the water, he's lost time and there's something clutched in his hand. But Mav grabs him, drags him up on his chest. 

“We’re okay, Goose! We’re okay!”

And they are okay. 

They get out completely unscathed and it’s only when they're on deck, shivering like wet rats, that Goose finally opens his hand. It’s a pair of dog tags — kind of. They're old, and barnacles have grown on the metal and stuck both tags together. It doesn't make sense. 

Mav looks at him like he's lost his marbles when he mentions how their chutes tangled up. 

He feels like he's nuts. But when Goose shows the tags to Viper in the base hospital and tells him what happened, the hardened old man seems to crumple before his eyes. 

It’s only then that Goose notices a class ring, an USNA class ring dangling from that crusted chain. There’s no stone, but he would recognize it anywhere. Mav… Mav didn't go to the Academy. 

“Sir?” Goose asks. 

Viper just mutely shows him the tags, the barnacles peeled away to reveal a notch and the words: 

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late, especially after this past class.

This past class was about the Torah and Tanakh in general, and the way the rabbi talked about the commandments (specifically the ten commandments) has made me really reflect on how I interpret them, specifically the fifth commandment, or honoring your mother and father.

This is a commandment I have wrestled with for a long time - in fact, it brought me away from g-d at multiple times. I was severely abused when I was incredibly young by my mother, and I used to feel insulted at the implication that I were to honor her while she got to live a better life. It was hypocritical, in my eyes.

But this rabbi surmised that this particular commandment was because parenthood is an act of creation, something that is like the g-d from which we come from. My realization is this: I don't think we're necessarily meant to take even these commandments literally.

I this particular commandment is more of a call to honor creation - creation is a gift, and like any gift, many people simply will not like it and will discard it. The person who abused me created me, but she did not honor creation. She didn't honor me, but I can still honor it.

I have started to honor creation much more. I'm too young, too unstable, not mature enough to be a father (though I fantasize about it), but I create all the time. I create relationships, I create with my hands through crochet. I create memories, I create my world. And I can honor who I am and where I came from that made me who I am. I've been learning one of the mother tongues of my family (Italian, since part of my family originates there) and it was judaism that inspired me to do this.

I don't think g-d wants me to honor my abuser. I think He wants me to remember the Holy action of creation. When I am a father, that act of creation will be Holy, and indeed, I am already joyful about the thought.

I have seen many people struggle with this particular commandment, but I think this perspective helps me personally. I don't think I ever have to forgive my abusers (plural), and I don't think I am commanded to simply because they happened to be family. I am commanded to recognize the holy, to elevate the mundane. In doing so, I will remember g-d. Through creation, I honor g-d and everything he has done for us, for me, and for our collective people.

[slyandthefamilybook]

Once there was a boy who was a shepherd. He kept watch over a small flock of sheep in a pasture at the edge of town. He loved his sheep. He had been born to a shepherd from a family of shepherds, and had so grown up amongst his flock. He knew all of the sheep by name and would great them one-by-one each morning. "Hello Dolly," he would say. "Hello Steven and hello Betty."

Now these sheep were undoubtedly useful: the townspeople would eat their meat and weave their wool and gnaw on their bones as they worked the fields. But these sheep were also alive. They had a glittering intelligence in their black eyes, and they would commune every so often to discuss the harvest, and the shepherd boy, and the townspeople. The sheep loved the shepherd boy and they loved the town and the townspeople, and the people loved them back. They were good sheep.

Now one day the shepherd boy overheard one of the townspeople talking about his flock. The man said he thought the sheep were ugly, and that they smelled bad. This upset the shepherd boy, because he loved his sheep, and he thought the people loved his sheep as well. The shepherd boy, being no more than 12 years old at the time, wanted to remind the people of how much his sheep mattered to them. So one night as the moon hid behind the clouds the shepherd boy stood on a stone in his pasture and cried out: "Help! Help! A wolf!"

Out came a crowd of people, blinking the sleep from their eyes and carrying torches and pitchforks and shovels and ladels. They stood in the pasture and looked about, but they could see no wolf. The townspeople became angry and shook their fists at the shepherd boy. "This is a serious matter!" they cried. The shepherd boy had to admit that his ploy was juvenile, but he was still a child, and so the people forgave him. And they continued to love the shepherd boy and his sheep, and the shepherd boy and his sheep loved them back, for the townspeople had proved that night how much they cared.

Five years later, when the shepherd boy was now a teen, he stood amongst his flock in the pasture and he said "good night, Dolly. Good night, Steven and good night, Betty." But as the clouds passed over the moon the shepherd teen saw a shape in the distance, and out of fear for his flock he cried out: "Help! Help! A wolf!"

Again came the great crashing crowd with their knives and their swords and axes and bows. They stood in the pasture and looked about, but they could see no wolf. The townspeople once again became angry, and they shook their fists at the shepherd teen. "This is a serious matter!" they cried. "We love you and we love your sheep, but you must learn to not be so frightened!" With great grumbling the townspeople returned to their homes, and the shepherd teen sensed that something had changed.

Five more years passed, and the shepherd teen was now a shepherd. He still passed through his flock every morning and said, "Good morning, Dolly. Good morning, Steven and good morning, Betty." And the sheep loved the shepherd and he loved them. But in his age he had grown cautious. The shepherd had learned from the townspeople that perhaps the wolves were not so great a threat as he had thought. And so at night when he would see their red eyes prowling at the edges of his pasture, he would stay silent and wait.

One night, as the clouds began to cover the moon, a wolf appeared. The wolf approached Dolly the sheep and snarled, its lips wet. "Away!" cried the shepherd. "Away with you!" But the wolf showed its fangs and said, "I want your sheep." "Why?" cried the boy. "Why must you take my sheep? You have your food in the forest!" But the wolf laughed. "I want your sheep because I am a wolf and they are sheep. That is how it is done." And the wolf parted its terrible jaws and snatched up Dolly the sheep and dragged her into the deep woods. And the shepherd remained silent.

The next night two wolves appeared, their eyes red and their tongues hungry. The wolves approached Steven the sheep who was with his family. "Away with you!" cried the shepherd. "Why do you hate my sheep so?" The wolves cackled and said with the same voice, "we hate your sheep because it is the thing for sheep to be hated. All wolves hate sheep, and they cannot all be wrong. Even the birds and rabbits of the forest will come around." And the wolves each took a leg from Steven the sheep and hauled him into the dark woods. And still the shepherd held his tongue.

The next night as the moon was new the shepherd saw a sea of red eyes at the edge of the forest. The wolves marched toward his sheep, their heads held high. And the shepherd saw that indeed the birds and rabbits of the forest were among them, their eyes bleeding and their teeth sharp. They approached Betty the sheep who cried out in terror. The shepherd stood on a rock in his pasture and called out with a loud voice: "Help! Help! The wolves have come, and all the birds and rabbits of the forest!"

But this time no one came. You see, although the boy had cried wolf before, his fear was now justified. But the townspeople had grown tired of him. Every time the flock was threatened they felt compelled to act, and that compulsion drained them. And they no longer liked the shepherd. He had spent too much time with his sheep, and they had begun to see that same glittering black intelligence in his eyes. Sheep are frightened of everything and cannot be expected to know when they are truly in danger.

What had the shepherd done for them? He kept his sheep mostly to himself these days. Perhaps the shepherd was the one really in control, and he had used his cries of wolf to bend the townspeople to his will. Anyone whose flock was threatened that often must be doing something wrong.

And what was this about the birds and rabbits of the forest? They were peaceful! They could never be convinced to join with those who preyed upon them. Flocks of sheep are old and backwards and they are a drain on the town, the people thought. If the birds and rabbits hate the sheep they must have good reason to do so.

Again the shepherd called out, but the townspeople rolled over in their beds and stuffed their ears with sheep's wool. The shepherd's cries of wolf had made them feel guilty, and so they had found reasons for why they did not have to listen. And besides, the townspeople thought as they pulled their wolf skins over their heads and their eyes glowed red, the sheep really were delicious...

[crippled-peeper]

I feel weird admitting this but I picked the female neurosurgeon out of the 5 other men they suggested because I feel like there’s a bigger chance she’ll actually listen to me and talk to me like a human person and not just an academic oddity

[majorbaby]

Interview with Larry Gelbart on Charlie Rose, 1998

[plantb0t]

WAIT. FRENCH? FRENCH??? THEY MADE TAAKO FRENCH????

[cheesebearger]

full on begging anti-civ people to explain just a little bit more what they mean by "destroy society" and "everything means nothing" and "civilization must end and all products of civilization" i desperately need you to clarify what you mean. those are intricate concepts that encompass vast swaths of the lived experiences of all people on earth, and it is deeply confusing.

instead of slapping down every possible idea for living more sustainably as a species, i would genuinely like to see some alternatives suggested. what do you want the future to look like? what does the "end of society" mean to you? because i feel as though the primary issue among anarchists is that no one can quite agree on what they mean by that, and what they want to see happen in the future. i struggle with it myself!

i just don't think defeatist rhetoric is very actionable, and i also think many anti-civ bloggers tend towards using nihilism to avoid engaging with the practicalities of what their philosophy is asking for - to the point where it gets rather confusing trying to figure out what, exactly, they believe the world should become in the aftermath of the destruction of civilization.

[shoutsindwarvish]

two different rabbis directly to me + multiple places online: jewish imposter syndrome is real and is (to varying degrees) almost a universal experience in one way or another

me, who has been actively practicing for over nine months and taken multiple classes while also being halachically jewish by birth: i am the exception and am an imposter in jewish spaces and should feel bad about it. no i will not elaborate on why i believe this is true of me and no one else.

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

not my online friend trying to have the "not all zionists" conversation with me rn

[thetransintransgenic]

.

[grim-echoes]

what *is* cryptofash?

it's short for cryptofascist, it's a term used for someone who covertly supports fascist sentiments or ideas adjacent to them without explicitly signaling it. someone who's cryptofash might closely associate with people who are more openly alt-right, express sympathy for fascist talking points, and voice certain statements/ideas common in fascist circles that, while not always strictly fascist ideas in isolation, can imply alt-right thinking when in tandem with other common fascist sentiments. in essence it's that guy you've always been suspicious of but you can't say for certain if they're just under-educated, reactionary, or a genuine nazi until you discover screenshots of them asking the jewish question in a discord server

[cankersaurus]

Little nitpick on the dream nd Nicholas cantu video

When nick said "im like this cuz i got autism, adhd yknow nuerodivergent" nd then dream said "i have adhd too" BRO

Having adhd nd having adhd AND autism r too wildly different experiences

Nd the fucking tone he had like "i have adhd nd i dont act like you so you have no right to say wut ur saying" GRRRRR

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Ugh, I got to talk with my rabbi again and getting to talk about Psalms and then g-d and why g-d decided to leave His nature open-ended and then about how I feel about am yisrael and how I now can't stop thinking, "these are my people" and why I have such a complex relationship with yisrael was honestly kind of healing. I also told him what my hebrew name will be and now two people in the world know it, and there's something special about that, too. There also isn't a word limit for the questions my beit din will ask because I was so scared that I would go over any word count tenfold (there's a questionnaire portion and I might have to write in some answers)

Give it up for my rabbi for being a champ for two hours straight while I was yapping away 😭

[arsenicflame]

seeing family for the first time since my dad died on Friday. and its rosh hashanah so this is gonna be. full of feelings. fun.

[mx-paint]

.

[roastedinmarch]

i keep thinking i’m done with kevin but i miss his videos sm. i can never go back to watching him, im so disappointed in his apology and i will never feel safe in his community again, but i love his content, i wish the whole thing just never happened.