Tumblings Of A Random Fangirl

Pronouns are she/her/hers. Mermaid princess, snarky sea witch, cat lover, queer as in "we gladly feast on those who would subdue us". Interests include Disney Princesses, The Haunted Mansion, Twilight, Mass Effect, Power Rangers, and more. Sometimes I write stuff. Themiscyra on AO3 and Wattpad, LoreleiLaCroix on FFN. Transphobes, homophobes, Nazis and white supremacists get blocked.

[themiscyra1983]

CW: pet death Sometime during the night of January 16th, 2021, my old tom Snookerdoodle passed away at the age of nineteen. I had been concerned about his recent lethargy, weight loss, and reduced appetite, and had planned to set up a vet visit, but unfortunately he passed too soon and too suddenly for that. Snookie was the last of my family pets. He came to us at around a year and a half year old, from a friend who could no longer keep him. He was scared and skittish from the start, and spent most of his first few weeks with us hiding in our hall closet, in a crawlspace at the back which extended under the stairs. My mom crawled in through the coats and boots, day after day, to bring him food and give him company. Eventually he emerged, proving to be a deeply loving creature, always desperate for attention. He was my mom’s cat first and foremost, until the progression of her illness forced her into full time care, but he adored people. As long as he had human company, and maybe some tuna treats, he was content. I confess I sometimes found it difficult in the last years of his life to give him the attention he craved, because his craving was without limit. But I tried to keep him safe and loved and happy. He is the longest-lived cat I ever cared for, and I can only hope his life was a happy one. It’s already eerie to experience such silence in the house. Sometimes I swear I can hear his claws clicking on the floor, or I half expect to find him in his favorite winter spot, curled up by the heating vent in the bathroom. Believing as I do in an afterlife of some kind, I hope above all that he has been restored to his health and youth, and reunited with my mother, similarly restored and able once again to look after him. I know that my memories of him will fade with time. But for now, they are fresh: his tiger stripes and golden eyes, his stubbornness, his persistence, his greed for affection, treats, sunlight and catnip. I’ll miss him. Rest in peace, old man. (at Medford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKSW3_nDpKO/?igshid=akvou6k7gsb2

[themiscyra1983]

It’s late night Snuggles and Star Trek with October Willow. Goodnight everybody. #octoberwillow #toby #tobygirl #cat #kitty #kittybutt #catsofinstagram (at Medford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKIsbsNDxiY/?igshid=167flqadtu9w6

[vampireapologist-archive-deacti]

the reason so many white teenage girls had the "let me speak to the manager" cut in like 2008-2012 is that we wanted to be edgier. We wanted a look that screamed, "I'm emo and questioning my sexuality," trust me. But we all went into our mom's hairdresser who'd been doing our cuts since we were toddlers and tried to express this desire and they said "gotcha, asymmetrical bob," and we said, "uh, sure?" because that was as good as it was gonna get.

[orchidvioletindigo]

Wanna see the Ethnic™ version of this?

What I wanted vs. what I got

[themiscyra1983]

Late night Doctor Who with the old man #doctorwho #revolutionofthedaleks #snookie #snookerdoodle #snookerton #snookaman #cat #kitty #kittybutts #catsofinstagram (at Medford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJhxQxwjGVK/?igshid=uorzrjqag7kx

[themiscyra1983]

Toby hopes your New Year’s Eve is purrfect. #OctoberWillow #tobygirl #cat #kitty #kittybutt #catsofinstagram (at Medford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJfO_F9jiCm/?igshid=iynx4u1eppqa

[themiscyra1983]

I wasn’t going to put up a tree this year. Much as I like trees and stars and twinkly lights, much as I was relieved of the burden of running things past my roommates - after my dental surgery, especially, I couldn’t justify the cost. But then my friend Katie said she could give me her family’s old tree, and a couple strings of lights, and I was able to put one up after all. Like so many things this year, it was a comedy of errors. I couldn’t find the ribbons I’d taken off various ornaments I’d chosen to display on my shelves, so I had to use some strong nylon cord to hang them. I got the seven-pointed star I wanted - this being an important symbol in my own faith - but it proved to be too heavy to stay up top, so I had to put it on a lower branch and brace it. It was all perfectly imperfect. I haven’t been a Christian in a long time, and often I find myself resenting the cultural dominance of Christianity. But Christmas still appeals to me, and it feels only right to take the trappings back and make it my own. There is an allure in facing the darkest hour of the year and casting light, warmth, joy and kindness back into the world. We live in a universe that is, as Welcome to Night Vale has put it, mostly void, partially stars. For all my faith, I must admit that the vast emptiness, dotted here and there with flickering candles, is all we are truly guaranteed. Very well, then. If the world is dark, we must make light. If the world is cold, we must make warmth. If the world is unkind or unjust, we must try to create kindness and justice. If the world is devoid of meaning, we must make our own. This has been a very difficult year for all of us, and I admit my flame has guttered low. But there have still been those who brought me light and warmth in this dark and terrible time, and I am grateful for every bit of it. I hope it will soon be my turn, once again, to cast light and warmth for others. Happy holidays, my friends, and a very happy new year. 2021 may begin in darkness, but I pray we will find a way to make it end in light. (at Medford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJb_HoDj60I/?igshid=1142gvan29jh8

[themiscyra1983]

Belated solstice dinner, mostly actually made from scratch this year: a salad with crispy onions and jalapeños with homemade ranch dressing, filet mignon with garlic bread and deviled mashed potatoes, and for dessert, homemade chocolate picante mousse with sugar cookies courtesy of @mel_the_bardbarian (at Medford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJP0DpGDH0z/?igshid=1qgaq8g1kcgi3

[justcatposts]

The best channel on TV 

(Source)

[sosuperawesome]

Dice Sets

URWizards on Etsy

[porterr-robinson]

[tooiconic]

GOTTEM

[daco-broman]

this shit killed me wtf

[lotad]

#how wonderful to live on an earth where creatures understand us and want to have fun with us via @heartbeatemoji

[hymnsofheresy]

when christian artists change the line in hallelujah from “maybe there’s a God above” to “I know that there’s a God above” >:c

[covington-shenanigans]

#idk why i’m so unreasonably angry#maybe cuz it’s my fav line

it’s also because Leonard COHEN (!) was Jewish and this is a quintessentially Jewish line, and changing it to that level of Annoying Certainty is stripping it of its Jewish meaning and imbuing it with that particularly American smug evangelical Christian attitude that makes me tired, so very tired

[hymnsofheresy]

THAT IS EXACTLY WHY

[hachama]

I don’t think I’ve heard any cover artist sing my favorite verses You say I took the name in vain I don’t even know the name But if I did, well really, what’s it to you? There’s a blaze of light In every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though It all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

[hymnsofheresy]

um woah

[cutecreative]

I will always hit the reblog button so hard for Hallelujah but ESPECIALLY mentions of the elusive final verses which are just about my favorite lyrics ever. Why do people always omit the best part of the song??

[fromchaostocosmos]

In Yiddish

In Hebrew

[fromchaostocosmos]

In Ladino

[stoneandbloodandwater]

Yeah, I wonder why the verses that reference specific Jewish mystical and chassidic concepts that aren’t readily understood by American “I love Jews, you know, Jesus was Jewish!” Christians never get any airtime. Funny that.

You say I took the name in vain I don’t even know the name But if I did, well really, what’s it to you? There’s a blaze of light In every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah

These are specifically about Chassidic Jewish theories of the holy language, how each letter and combination of letters in Hebrew contains the essence of the divine spark and if used correctly, can unlock or uncover the divine spark in the mundane material word. And of course, there are secret names of God which, when spoken by any ordinary human would kill them, but if you are worthy and holy and righteous can be used to perform miracles or even to behold the glory of God face-to-face. The words themselves have power. Orthodox Jews often won’t even pronounce the word “hallelujah” in it’s entirety in conversation, because the “yah” sound at the end is a True Name of God (there are hundreds, supposedly) and thus too holy to say outside of prayer.

None of this is to mention how David’s sin in sleeping with Batshevah (the subject of much of the song, with a brief deviation to Shimshon and Delilah) is considered the turning point in the Tanach that ultimately dooms the Davidic line at the cosmological level and thus dooms Jewish sovereignty and independence altogether. From a Christian perspective this led to Jesus, the King of Kings, and that’s all very well and good for them, but for the Jews, the Davidic line never returned and is the central tragedy of the total arc of the Torah. Like, our Bible doesn’t have a happy ending? And that’s what this song is about? There’s no Grace - you just have to sit with the sin and its consequence.

Of course, Cohen is referencing all of this ironically, and personalizing these very high-level religious concepts. Like the point of this song is that Cohen, the songwriter, is identifying with David, the psalmist, and identifying his own sins with David’s. The ache that you hear in this song is that the two thousand year exile that resulted from one wrong night of passion and Cohen feels that the pain he has caused to his lover is of equally monumental infamy. Basically, in a certain light, the whole of Psalms is a vain effort for David to atone for his sin and I think Cohen was writing this song in wonderment that David could eternally praise the God who would not forgive him and would force him and his people into exile. But he ultimately gets how you have to surrender to the inexorable force of God in the face of your own inadequacies and how to surrender is to worship and to worship is to praise - hence, Hallelujah. You can either do the right thing and worship God from the start, or you can fuck up, be punished, and thus be forced to beg for His forgiveness. It’s the terrible inevitability of praise that’s driving him mad.

Like honestly, I identify with this song so strongly as an off-the-derech Jew, I sometimes wonder what Christians can possibly hear in this song, as it speaks so specifically to the sadomasochistic relationship that a lapsed Jew has with their God. It’s such a different song from a Christian theological perspective it’s almost unrecognizable, man. This song continues to be a wonder of postmodern Jewish theology and sexuality from start to finish. Don’t let anyone give you any “Judeo-Christian” narishkeit. This is a Jewish song.

(Sorry about the wild tangent it’s just 2AM and I love this song so dang much, you guys.)

[hymnsofheresy]

holy shit. woah.

[dduane]

This.

[dispatchrabbi]

That last bit from @stoneandbloodandwater, that’s a great articulation of the well of feeling, memory, storytelling, and culture packed into one of the most Jewish songs ever to get real famous. The song is both surrender and defiance, and that those are actually a single path together, not two opposite choices.

[jewishnursey]

[wetwareproblem]

A small addition: This song is such a deeply resonant Jewish touchstone that every synagogue I have ever attended uses its melody in services from time to time.

It is so important, so powerful, so spiritually resonant that we use it in prayer.

[prismatic-bell]

If memory serves me, the cover we most often hear came about specifically because Jeff Buckley was like “man, this song is badass but I don’t know that I can do its concepts justice” and Leonard Cohen was like “you need different verses? Here, I wrote over eighty of the fuckers, pick what you want to use” and so Buckley put together verses that spoke to him as a non-Jew about sexuality and this idea of a failed relationship.

Which wouldn’t be an issue if Christians didn’t then take his adaptation (done, I emphasize again, with Cohen’s blessing) and rewrite it in ways THAT DO NOT COME FROM THE ORIGINAL VERSES.

[poetry-protest-pornography]

Yes, this.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Guys do centaurs have to eat both horse food and human food?

[what-even-is-thiss]

Centaur, eating out of a burlap sack of hay like it’s potato chips: So do you guys wanna get Chipotle later?

[what-even-is-thiss]

Centaur: *kneeling on the ground, ripping up bits of grass and eating it*

Nearby horse: *neighs*

Centaur: Well it’s easy for you to bend over, isn’t it?

Horse: *snorts*

Centaur: *through a mouthful of grass* Well goody goody for you, but some of us have two spines.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Human: Hey does somebody want the rest of my burger?

Centaur: Oh I’ll have it. I am starving.

Human: Didn’t you just eat like an entire barrel of hay?

Centaur: *snatches the burger* That was for the horse stomach not the human one. Don’t be racist, Carl.

[fangirltothefullest]

DON’T BE RACIST CARL

[conversationswithamillennial]

That spine comment made me reevaluate my life

[what-even-is-thiss]

Two spines, two ribcages, and six limbs baby! And a tail! Four shoulders!

[nerdy-as-heck]

This picture makes my intellectual half happy but also causes me great pain

[dragon-in-a-fez]

is your intellectual half the horse half or the human half

[beowulf22121]

Head, Abdomen, Thorax. 6 limbs. Insect.

[would-we-be-friends-if-i]

That last comment hit me so hard I felt like Plato when Diogenes plopped a plucked chicken down and declared it a man

[heathyr]

people with sufficient lid space for winged liner piss me off. fuck you

[heathyr]

[assiraphales]

absolutely obsessed with the way Fahrenheit is legitimately a superior temperature measurements for day to day life than celsius (more precise, accessible, and understandable) but ppl refuse to admit to it bc they’re so caught up with the “silly americans refuse to convert to metric” gag

[assiraphales]

fun little info graph I found

[mylordshesacactus]

[id: three identical number lines with 0 at one and and 100 at the other, labelled “Fahrenheit” “Celsius” and “Kelvin”. The ends are labelled, respectively:

Fahrenheit: Really cold outside - Really hot outside Celsius: Fairly cold outside - Dead Kelvin: Dead - Dead]

[luimnigh]

OP, it's only more useful for Americans because you're not regularly boiling water.

0° Celsius gets you ice. 100° Celsius gets you tea.

It's a very simple system.

[mylordshesacactus]

Genuinely fascinated by this world in which Americans don’t boil water on a regular basis and a thermometer is necessary to know whether water is frozen or boiling.

[themiscyra1983]

I’m American and I make pasta quite often and I promise I have never used a thermometer of ANY KIND

[memeclassheroes]

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

[themiscyra1983]

Suddenly I’m quite relieved that, every time *I* see Odin checking up on me, he’s just a car with a busted headlight

[shadow27]

[witchofprose-deactivated2020041]

This is the FUNNIEST SHIT I HAVE EVER SEEN

[weavemama]

DO NOT SUPPORT SALVATION ARMY 

[jackharknessday]

I can back this up. It isn’t only their shelters.

I have a family friend who worked at our local Salvation Army headquarters as a a secretary. This particular office took all the Christmas donations for children in need, put them in a warehouse, and on a designated day the staff and their friends picked through them all, taking whatever they wanted. She saw people hauling away bikes donated for specific families. Some local children had hundreds of dollars of gifts donated in their name, and on Christmas they received three cheap things, items likely not even from the person who sponsored them.

My friend quit, and I’ve not given them a dime of my money since then.

Do not give to the Salvation Army.

[gayfeatherfiend]

Do Not. Give. To. Salvation. Army

[rab-it-deactivated20231030]

My turn.

I’m a wildfire and disaster logistics specialist.

I deal with a lot of agencies who provide disaster relief.

I used to say the Salvation Army’s disaster services were the one (literally the ONE) good thing they did.

They would come in, set up a canteen trailer, make and pass out hot coffee and donated food in a disaster, usually being one of the first agencies to get there and the last to leave.

Then I found out.

Every time they did this, regardless of if they were actually invited or deployed by the agency in charge (usually FEMA, sometimes others) they would SELF-DEPLOY. Meanjng they would just show up. Ok. That’s not TOO bad, sometimes agencies have to take initiative and get there before the red tape is sorted out. BUT. They, after they left at the end of the incident, they would send FEMA or the host agency a BILL. They used one or two paid employees (usually the driver of the truck and a supervisor); and many VOLUNTEERS, but they would bill for EVERYONE’s Labor at standard federal rates. They would bill for the food they distributed even though it was all donated by another agency or private parties. They would bill for the coffee they made and the supplies. Except they would use electricity from the shelter location, water from donations or from the shelter, and in many cases, they would get the coffee and industrial filters DONATED, but bill for them at retail prices.

Don’t FUCKING give to the Salvation Army.

[knight-of-vengeance-deactivated]

The Salvation Army is also ass to the workers. A good number of people join it, naively thinking that it’s doing good, and end up leaving cynical and beaten down. The management is hostile, if not outright abusive, and demand some ridiculous hours of it lower to mid-level staff. Don’t support these people.