you need to live to be a weird funny old person whos weirdness was not broken by a rigidly formal world and to do that you must be a weird you now and not be broken despite it all
making a little “understanding war and the role of the west in middle eastern conflict” reading list bc while i am not an expert on anything i do read a lot of nonfiction and i think one thing we can all do in times of crisis is try to read and understand things better and not just rely on articles by randos and posting
linking to bookshop/other sources and not talking about piracy publicly but if you don’t know how to do that let me know and I’ll hook you up
books specifically about israel/palestine
“After Zionism: One State for Israel and Palestine” edited by Ahmed Moor and Anthony Loewenstein: Collection of essays about the path forward for a one-state solution. would recommend for people who are pretty new to the issue
“Method and Madness: The Hidden History of Israel’s Assaults on Gaza” by Norman G. Finkelstein: good history of conditions in gaza specifically
“Legacy of Empire: Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel” by Gardner Thompson: good history of the UK’s role in the creation of israel as a state
other books on related topics that i recommend
“Humane: How The United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War” by Samuel Moyn: tremendously thoughtful book about the role human rights frameworks and arguments for ethical combat have played in entrenching endless war in the post-9/11 era. really can’t recommend this one enough
“Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam” by Robert Dreyfuss: written in 2005 so a bit less up-to-date than most of this list, but profiles the history of US (and British and Israeli) collaboration with and support of fundamentalist groups to advance interests including anti-communism
“The Spoils of War: Power, Profit and the American War Machine” by Andrew Cockburn: making an exception here and listing one i’m still reading because i think it is deeply illuminating about the self-perpetuating nature of the US military and how much of a role money plays in our foreign policy. compilation of cockburn’s articles across a decade or so
“War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning” and “What Every Person Should Know About War” by Chris Hedges: two short books by a veteran war correspondent that are really unflinching looks at how military combat impacts individuals and society. everyone should read these
“The War Correspondent” by Greg McLaughlin: specifically about the role of war reporters, gets into how journalists’ perspectives are distorted by the pressures of the job and their relationships with militaries (link is to read for free on jstor)
“Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein and “Disaster Capitalism” by Anthony Loewenstein: getting into broader perspective here, but two very valuable reads about how conditions of disaster and destabilization are exploited by capital
“Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape” by Susan Brownmiller: list would feel incomplete without this book because of its incredibly incisive and disturbing section on the role of sexual violence in war. absolutely will change the way you think about armed conflict
i personally love aziraphale in the background during the scene where crowley is trying to fool shax and the other demons because he has no idea what crowley is talking about but he is standing behind him like "yep my clever and pretty husband knows what he is doing so i'll just roll with it"
When I tell you there's one line that plays in my head every damn day and contains every single feeling of season 2 within it, it's this:
It feels like a glimpse of what could be, a momentary insight into the intimacy and tenderness between these two. I mean honestly, it feels a bit like we shouldn't be there, hearing Aziraphale speaking like that to Crowley, Crowley not even flinching at the tone, the tenderness. It's just so damn soft and pure and familiar and safe.
It just occurred to me that it's not just the tenderness, it's the playfulness of it. We see them being tender with each other quite a few times ("you go too fast for me, crowley," "you could stay at my place, if you like," etc.), and see do see Crowley ribbing Aziraphale from time to time, but this is genuine, loving playfulness that we've never really seen, especially from Aziraphale who has always tried to keep some distance between them, for safety's sake. That was much truer in the earlier years, and then the "arrangement" helped at least create a facade that their relationship was a business one, so it rarely has had the chance to be a playful one.
But this. This is stripped of all of that. It's just him, sitting with Crowley, and for a second, he is really just in that moment, and he's so light and playful. He's not worrying about the words Crowley is saying and the usual big worries they're constantly trying to battle, he's just focussing on Crowley himself. He is, quite simply, very smitten. It's such a loving playfulness that we've never had a chance to see from him.
UPDATE because apparently not everyone has seen this yet the new and improved version of this is a MEGA folder: https://mega.nz/folder/kQBXHKwA#-osWRLNCXAsd62ln8wKa8w
hyperfixations are so crazy because you never know whether this next thing you like is going to be a short-term interest or if it's going to change your entire life forever
my favourite line delivery in the whole series is the way DT practically chokes on "he's just an angel... I know" when he's denying having a bit on the side
someone has to figure out how i am in every single one of these, yet my three careers/areas of study have been restaurant server, english literature, and lawyer.
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