Koala School

What does it take to make African mythology real? Everything we had. Over 70% of our Kickstarter Backers came from Tumblr. Thank you. Now it's yours.

—

ICE Contractor Arrested After Shooting Protester Who Was Walking Away

What a wonderful phrase

Elfin Stigmata

Whether the paintings and tapestries of legendary events made by the city's denizens are accurate

Whether Glorfindel should be shown tapestries depicting his fall

Balrogs don't look like that

Whether Osgiliath really was as pretty as they say

Whether Osgiliath or Annuminas was prettier

Whether the Rohirrim resemble the house of Hador much

Whether Aredhel would have gotten on well with Eowyn (difficult question because on the one hand - gestures at everything - and on the other: Aredhel was a difficult person at times, had never met one of the secondborn and would likely have mortally offended the other within ten minutes)

Another Gondorian woman looking a bit like Lúthien

Why do Lúthien look-alikes turn up generations upon generations after Elros

Does Minas Tirith feature too many stone walls and too little greenery

Is there something wrong with the Noldor for not minding being cooped up within stone walls

There having still been far more greenery in Tirion last time the exiles had been there (7000 years ago)

Whether Tirion was much changed when Glorfindel last saw it (3000 years ago)

Whether Gondorians naming their children after Túrin of all people is taking things a bit too far

Whether an inkeeper should be informed his prized family heirloom is an elvish dinner knife

Whether a courtier should be informed his prized family heirloom had been made by Curufin because on the one hand he might consider it cool, and on the other hand - Curufin

Whether a certain type of cake should best be eaten hot or cold

"Until the stars go out": classic from Cuiviénen, never lost its charm.

"When Laurelin frosts": rapid decrease in popularity for obvious reasons.

"While Telperion has leaves": rapid decrease in popularity for obvious reasons.

"Unto world's end": used once and very rarely thereafter.

"When the sun freezes": nothing quite like a reprise. Rapid decrease in popularity for obvious reasons.

"Until day comes again": popular in Angband, with varying sincerity.

"While Gil-Estel shines": If a fuckhuge winged dragon couldn't stop it from shining, what could?

"Until the last ship sets sail into the West": 95%+ of uses were by the guy building the dang ship.

"When Fëanor apologizes": What exactly he is apologizing for is sometimes included, but largely deemed unnecessary.

After an IDF sniper from Chicago kills an unarmed civilian in Gaza, he then snipes and kills his unarmed younger brother trying to retrieve his brother's body. US-funded serial killer from Chicago says: "I mean, what was so important about that corpse?"

an attached screenshot reads: Daniel Raab shows no hesitation as he watches footage of 19-year-old Salem Doghmosh crumpling to the ground beside his brother in a street in northern Gaza. "That was my first elimination," he says. The video, shot by a drone, lasts just a few seconds. The Palestinian teenager appears to be unarmed when he is shot in the head. Raab, a former varsity basketball player from a Chicago suburb who became an Israeli sniper, concedes he knew that. He says he shot Salem simply because he tried to retrieve the body of his beloved older brother Mohammed. "It's hard for me to understand why he [did that] and it also doesn't really interest me," Raab says in a video interview posted on X. "I mean, what was so important about that corpse?"

"a former varsity basketball player from a Chicago suburb".

The man is openly laughing on TV about killing her entire family for shits and giggles.

He doesn’t care.

And now he wants to be a paediatrician. A doctor who helps children.

I see this comment fairly often. And probably somewhere around 99 times out of 100, the person saying it is a Culturally Christian Atheist who is trying to say that they view the Christian concepts of “belief in a higher power” and “faith in and submission to a specific deity” as abhorrent…

But what is actually communicated to non-Christians includes:

“I think that all other religions are just reskinned versions of Christianity with a different name plate on the Christ Figure.”

And:

“I hate your culture for no other reasons than displaced trauma and lack of education on my part.”

And I’ve recently been seeing this comment repeatedly on my “Missionaries Are Inherently Xenophobic” post, and basically just auto-blocking the people making the statement.

Because it’s so ignorant. It ties into the Christian worldview that “Culture” and “Religion” are two distinct things that are almost modular, in that you can swap out the “Religion” module with any other and have no effects on the Culture. (9 times out of 10, these types also insist that Culturally Christian holidays are also secular…)

So, sure. Let’s take this statement and run with it, just to demonstrate what it actually says to those of us who aren’t Christian.

~~~

I hate all religions equally.

So, yes, I do hate Judaism just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that means I’m in ideological agreement with Nazis, I hate this ethnoreligion which has never done me personal harm, and has been persecuted for thousands of years. To me, Judaism is Just A Religion, and I don’t understand, and don’t WANT to understand that it is also a persecuted minority whose culture gets routinely outlawed by people like me. Since I don’t understand that, seeing a visibly Jewish person on the street with their modest garb and hearing their foreign language, I am revolted. I hate Judaism, and I hate JEWS, just as much as I hate every other religion, equally.

So, yes, I hate Sikhism just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that I’ve almost certainly never met a Sikh, and I don’t know that they don’t seek converts, so they’re also an ethnic group, the mere fact that they have a Religion that comes with that ethnic group means that I hate them. Their religious beliefs with which they’re raised as part of their culture–honesty, equality, fidelity, standing up to oppression–are Evil because it’s a religion, and need to be wiped out. Seeing a Sikh man, with his Religious turban and beard, as they give out free food to everyone in need at a Langar… well, it fills me with disgust and rage, and I wish to rid the world of this Religious Practice, observed by people who are different than me. I hate Sikhism and I hate Sikhs, just as much as I hate every other religion, equally.

So, yes, I hate Shintoism just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that my understanding of Shintoism is almost certainly bastardized by my Western conceptions, their beliefs in venerating nature and respecting their ancestors are Religious and therefore Evil, and need to be wiped out. Seeing a Shintoist leave an offering to the Kami, engaging in ritual cleanliness, and marking major life events with solemnity fills me with disgust and rage. I hate Shintoism and I hate Shintoists, just as much as I hate every other religion, equally.

So, yes, I hate the Druze faith just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that they are a small ethnic group who are prohibited from proselytism from their founding; I don’t care. To me, they’re Just Another Abrahamic Religion and I Hate Abrahamic Religions, even if there are so few of them. They have a Religion, and I Hate All Religions Equally.

So, yes, I hate the many and myriad beliefs of the First Nations, just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that they were persecuted and marginalized by Christianity, which tried to wipe out their beliefs, way of life, and identities, I hate their Religions, even if those religions are tied to their ways of life. Nevermind that the residential schools, which had the stated goal of “Kill the Indian in the Child,” have mass graves of children. I refuse to recognize that this puts me in ideological agreement with Christian missionaries. After all, I Hate All Religions Equally, and if mass graves of children is the price to pay for a world with one fewer Religion in it, then so be it.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN A POST ABOUT THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR CROSSES YOUR DASH AND YOU WANT TO REBLOG IT:

Does this post link to a source?

If the post does link to a source, is it a credible one?

If the post does not link to a source, is there one screenshotted in the post that you can find? If so, please search out that source and read the entire thing in context. And make sure the source is credible. Ideally, if you decide to reblog it, add a link to the source.

Is the post just screenshots of tweets? If so, you probably should not reblog this. Posts that are just screenshots of tweets are a massive red flag. Do not believe something because it's a twitter screenshot. Frankly this rule is for everyone about everything all the time.

What is the tone of the post? Does it make you angry? If yes, this is a red flag. Exercise caution reblogging.

Does the post frame Israel as a uniquely evil country in need of destruction? Does the post treat Israel with different standards than those that are applied to every other country that has done horrible, horrible things, such as Russia, the UK, or United States? This is a red flag. If the government of Israel falls without some sort of transition plan, there will be Jewish genocide. Anyone advocating for a one-state solution either way is advocating for one group to get genocided. A two-state solution is the only possible peaceful end to this conflict (technically my opinion but I feel comfy stating it as fact).

Does the post treat Hamas as anything other than a terrorist organization? Do not reblog.

Is the post promoting Jewish Voice for Peace/JVP? Do not reblog. That organization is not Jewish and is antisemitic.

What is the focus of the content of the post? Is the post discussing reasonable paths to a ceasefire/peace? Is the post criticizing Israel's actions without using antisemitic stereotypes? Netanyahu is a disgusting fascist who I hate, but even though he is a terrible person you are not allowed to portray him as an antisemitic caricature. Similar to how you don't get to misgender shitty trans people, you don't get to be antisemitic towards shitty Jewish people (even if he's really, really shitty).

How does the post use the word "zionist?" Does the word have any coherent meaning in the post besides "person (often Jew) that I hate?" Does it treat zionists as a group of people who are disgusting and deserve to be murdered and/or raped? Does the use of the word "zionist" completely dehumanize the person/people the label is applied to into nothing more than evil that the Earth must be rid of? This is antisemitic. Do not reblog.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN YOU'RE AT A PRO-PALESTINE PROTEST:

Are people chanting antisemitic slogans such as "globalize the intifada" and/or "from the river to the sea" (these are both antisemitic you cannot remove the antisemitic meaning from them, they are both advocating for the murder of Jewish people, sorry, stop using them.)?

Are people comparing themselves to Palestinians in Gaza? (this is not a joke, I saw a video of a Columbia student who compared Columbia sending out fliers to leave or be suspended to the IDF dropping flyers in Gaza saying "the army is coming in 24 hours.") If so, they care more about fetishizing Palestinian pain and making themselves feel like noble victims than the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Are people harassing Jews? This includes: preventing them from getting to class, yelling things at them like "go back to Poland," and/or physically assaulting them.

Are people defacing Jewish property/monuments? Are people defacing synagogues? Businesses with known Jewish owners? Statues and/or memorials of/for Jews?

What is the purpose of this protest? Would you feel comfortable sharing opinions that differ from the majority? Would you feel comfortable engaging in a conversation about this issue with fellow protesters? Are any of you actually educated on the complicated and lengthy history of the Israel-Palestine conflict? Is the protest about a peaceful solution, or is it just making you angrier and/or more upset? Does the protest/your fellow protestors care more about freeing Palestine so that Palestinians and Israelis can live in peace, or about hating Israel and treating it like a uniquely evil country?

If people are chanting antisemitic slogans, harassing Jews, and/or defacing Jewish things, then this is an antisemitic protest. Do you want to be associated with these people and this protest? If your answer is yes, you are an antisemite-sympathizer, which is basically an antisemite.

MORAL OF THE STORY: antisemitism is all over this issue and it's easy to get more antisemitic and spread antisemitism because bad actors use this issue to indoctrinate people who start off just genuinely caring about the issue but are not educated at all about it or what antisemitism actually looks like. BE CAREFUL. All Jews want, all we've ever wanted, is to be left alone to do our thing. Random Jews are not at fault for the horrific actions taken by the Israeli government since the terrorist attack on October 7th. We support the existence of Israel, but we do not support all of the current government's actions. We are just trying to live. We want there to be a ceasefire now. If you actually read this whole thing, thank you. It means a lot to be listened to.

For those of you that made it to the end, I'll offer one last reminder and one last gentle suggestion.

My last reminder is: "it is not your job to finish the work by neither are you free to ignore it" is a Jewish passage I really like. I think in times like these, it is important to focus on the first half. It is not your job to finish the work. The fate of Palestine does not rest on your shoulders. It's ok. Take time to decompress and log off.

That isn’t fair. It isn’t just. But it is reality. If Otto Frank had let this be included in the published version, there’s a large chance the homophobic backlash would have prevented the book from reaching the audience it did and spreading the message it needed to. It was NINETEEN. FORTY. SEVEN. The Holocaust had ended TWO YEARS AGO. The acceptance of LGBT identities was basically nonexistent. Otto Frank made a decision based on the time and place he was living in, about what the world at that time was and wasn’t ready to accept. 

Let me say this as bluntly as I can - I am a bisexual Jewish girl and I would have made the same decision Otto Frank did. Making sure Anne Frank was unambiguously seen as sympathic and heroic was more important. Making sure people weren’t sidetracked from the main issue of the Holocaust was more important. He shouldn’t have had to make that decision, without doubt. Anne Frank’s sexuality (however she would have identified in modern terms) shouldn’t be considered relevant to her status as a hero or a sympathetic victim. But in 1947, it undoubtedly would have been.

im bisexual and i had experiences like that, kissing other girls at sleepovers specifically, and it not only took me another half a decade to start identifying as bi, but all the girls i did that with grew up to be straight women.

It’s not about us. It’s not about us. It’s not about us.

Seeing queers get angry because the Jews “get” to have the Holocaust, as if the generational trauma of 6 million genocided human beings and the overwhelming loss of memory and culture is somehow a privilege.

Yes, queer people have historically, and continue to face extreme oppression and violence around the world. Yes, we should talk about and commemorate our dead and fight for our living.