I. BASICS
II. LIFE
III. WASTELAND
IV. FACTIONS
What do they think about…
hi traincat, so this entire time i thought peter being jewish was a unanimous consensus… apparently today i realized that was not the case 😭😭
i saw a whole debate on whether hes christian or jewish and so obviously i thought i went to you and ask ur of ur opinion :)
him being from forest hills was a glaring sign i assumed, but then people started saying he wasnt given a clear religious denomination and now im like… confused??
I think the only thing Spider-Man fandom feels unanimous about is that Peter Parker was bit by a radioactive spider. And we can probably still find a few outliers. But no, no, this one is definitely not a unanimous conclusion -- a lot of people hate this idea. But I don't find that particularly surprising from the fandom that keeps coming up with reasons why hardline canonically Jewish characters like Magneto shouldn't be Jewish in movies.
So, I mean, first things first is that Peter is not hardline canonically Jewish, in that Marvel themselves, as a company, has not declared it canon. That doesn't stop a lot of creators from outright saying he's Jewish, and it doesn't have any bearing on the decades of heavy Jewish subtext. But it is a fact, and it has to be taken into consideration in the conversation. This is the same thing I talk about when I say Johnny isn't hardline canonically queer; Marvel the company says he isn't, no matter what individual creators have done. In longrunning canons where corporate makes the rules, we do have to have some kind of distinction for the sake of conversation. Doesn't mean we can't cover the grey areas. I can't say Peter is canonically-according-to-Marvel-the-company Jewish, because that's just not true, but I can say he is heavily implied to be Jewish, because of all those decades of subtext and dancing around the subject and Forest Hills and Yiddishisms and the way Peter conceptualizes his relationship with God and, again, all of the creators who have said he's Jewish and written him as Jewish.
The problem with the Jewish vs Protestant Peter argument is that Peter being Jewish informs his character in a way that him being Protestant does not. (I have seen people argue that he's Catholic, but that's so. lol. lmfao. listen my dad's family is Catholic and: no.) I've talked a little bit before about how "with great power comes great responsibility" is just a reframing of tikkun olam, healing the world, but it's more than that. It's in the way he doesn't recognize basic tenets of Christianity, the way in which he speaks directly to (and has a somewhat antagonistic relationship with) God, the way he interacts with the world and with his world, with New York. (I have also seen people argue that Peter is neither, because he's an atheist -- we have no proof he's an atheist, although I could see him being agnostic, but none of this matters because you can be Jewish and an atheist. Like I need people to realize that's a thing. Judaism and Christianity do not work on a 1:1 comparison but with different winter holidays.)
But there's a problem here wherein, even if people are open to the idea of Peter being Jewish, it requires readers to have enough passing familiarity with Jewishness and Jewish coding to recognize that subtext is there. To you and me, Forest Hills is a very clear "oh, he's Jewish" flashing alarm, but I wouldn't expect someone who isn't from New York, let alone from the USA, and isn't Jewish to recognize that. I wouldn't expect someone who isn't familiar to see those echoes of healing the world in "with great power, comes great responsibility." I wouldn't expect someone to grasp the finer details of Peter calling it Shavuos and not Shavuot when they don't even know what Shavuos is. I don't expect them to look at his parents and see at-the-time attitudes surrounding the Rosenberg trial. I don't expect people to see Jewishness where we don't say it directly, not understanding how Jewish it is by that very act of not saying it directly. And you can explain it to people, sure, but the problem with Peter's Jewish coding, and what makes it feel so especially authentic to me, is how it isn't said, how it lurks in the margins, even when it doesn't. (Take a shot of Manischewitz every time he says "oy." Red or purple?) He stepped on a glass at his wedding in Into the Spider-verse, but how much of that is because there are people who don't know what that means?
I will say he doesn't have a "clear religious denomination" if that is something you need said directly and with words right to your face. If you're comfortable reading between the lines -- I mean, come on. But I will also say he is never depicted as anything more hardline than a casual Christmas celebrator in terms of Christianity. So if we're going to split hairs here, then I guess we're all going to have to stand on our own sides of the religion gym and stare at each other in awkward silence. There is more evidence for him being Jewish than him being Christian. But since Christian is considered the default, it's assumed anyway. People have to choose what matters to them in readings of a character when a specific identity is implicit and not explicit. You can have all the evidence in the world and it still won't be good enough for everyone.
There are a few Peters I do consider hardline canonically Jewish, because they come from extenuating circumstances. Ultimate Peter, because Brian Michael Bendis wrote him the whole way through, and BMB is a very vocal Jewish Peter supporter. Noir Peter, because of his whole deal. And TASM!Peter, because Andrew Garfield didn't get a third movie so the least we can do is give him his Jewish bisexual Spider-Man headcanon. Thank you for your service, Andrew ITSV!Peter B. Parker was clearly envisioned as Jewish. And 616 Parker gets to hang there on the outside of the web, calling himself Jewish, speaking Yiddish, growing up in Forest Hills, but not, strictly, allowed to actually say he's Jewish. So we get to have this debate until Marvel admits some stuff.
Personally I’ve always viewed Peter as an ethnic Jew and agnostic. I didn’t realize there were people anti-Jewish Peter.
Original Post: Keith Porter was tragically taken from us by an off-duty ice agent, and his family is seeking justice during this difficult time. Every donation can help support their fight for truth and accountability. Please consider clicking the link below to contribute or share it with others who might want to help. Thank you for your support! https://gofund.me/530afb61e
For coming up with character names:
Behind the name (my absolute fav)
Allows you to choose the origin of where you want the name to be from, whether you want a more feminine vs masculine vs androgenous name (as voted by users), random surname generator, and clicking on the name gives you important info like if there are any famous people with the same name, where it’s from, how common it is, and how people tend to see it, etc.
You can also search their name database by letter or meaning or origin, so if you know you want a character who has a name/surname that starts with an A from Ireland, there’s a whole list for you to choose from.
Census sites
Especially useful if you’re looking for a name from a specific place and/or time period. Just search “(country) census (year)” and you’ll find a database of real people who lived in that place at that time. No one can ever call your names unrealistic again.
For coming up with place names:
This site can basically come up with any name for any person, place, or thing you might ever need. There are also specific generators for different fandoms if you’re looking to make an OC in an established world.
For finding that one word on the tip of your tongue:
This is my go-to. Not only can you find synonyms like a regular thesaurus, but you can also describe words like “unhappy smile” or “quiet laugh” to find the more specific word you’re looking for.
For coming up with ideas:
When I need to inspire a new idea, I write down all the things I’m interested in (hauntings, academia, lesbians, etc.) and put them into a word cloud to shuffle them next to each other. Sometimes seeing a concept in a new context can spark new ideas!
This is my discord channel (shameless plug) for when you need to brainstorm off other people but don’t have anyone irl to talk to. We’re also happy to read and give feedback on writing, answer writing questions, or just chat!
For visualizing places and characters:
Pinterest can at times be a bit too sterile for my tastes, but if you use the right words, you can find more realistic photos of places. For example, adding “aesthetic” after basically any word will bring up a more broad collection of photos to help you flesh out places.
This is also a great way to find photos of people and fashion to help visualize characters. I’m bad at describing clothes, so I usually collect photos of outfits to help me know what my characters are wearing. Searching up “character inspiration” will collect more interesting photos and drawings of people who might not exactly be of our world.
(However, to make Pinterest not show you AI results, you have to go into your settings and check the “reduce AI” box. Luckily, it does mostly work.)
Like pinterest but completely AI free (hooray!) Only drawback is that you have to pay a monthly subscription (about $20 CAD).
Very similar to pinterest but slightly more "artsy". I'm not super familiar with this one but I believe all the photos are human and you can save them and create collections with a free account.
Royalty-free stock image site with very Pinterest-core photos!
Minecraft
If you haven’t built your entire fictional city in Minecraft instead of writing, why not? It’s fun.
The Sims
This one is dual purpose because you can not only create your characters in Create a Sim, but you can design their houses. If you really want to go for it, you can bulldoze all the lots in your town and build your world from scratch.
For checking grammar:
Easy to follow definitions and examples, and if you learn better by listening, every article comes with a podcast to follow along with instead.
This one is my favourite for checking grammar rules because there’s tons of examples in graphics that helps for any situation.
Among other things, reedsy can connect you to professional editors within your budget.
For writing advice:
This one was recommended from my discord channel and has all sorts of tutorials and resources for the writing craft.
Another shameless plug, but if you need writing advice on something specific, you can search through my directory to see if it’s there. If it isn’t, you can always send me an ask about it!
For an alternative to Google Docs:
Think google docs but without AI. Yay!
(will update this list with any more suggestions or resources I discover 😊)
I didn't know Mr. Parker knew the Human Torch
For @stag-nite as part of @marveltrumpshate, thank you for donating !
it sucks that we have to do this all the time but here’s the gofundme page for the family of the woman who was murdered by ice(is) in minneapolis today.
She was a mother of a 6yo child whose father passed away in 2023. Renee was remarried to a woman - so, to put it bluntly, not only has a child been orphaned by both biological parents, but the possible ramifications of a same-sex stepparent keeping custody amidst all the scrutiny and awful, virulent rhetoric to come makes me nauseous just to think about. Not only will Renee's wife and child need support for therapy and other immediate financial impacts of such a traumatic loss, an ample legal fund may be needed as well. I hope I'm wrong. But in case I'm not, please consider giving as and how you're able.
