#New Messianic Version | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ellestra · 2 months

Text

The Voice from the Outer World

Dune is a story of failure. SPOILERS for Dune Part 2 below

Power corrupts and all of that. We all know this. So we would be able to avoid it, right? If you know what happens you can chose another option. You would be different.

And here's a story that shows that even when you know all of this and more and can literally see the future it's still not enough.

I get why people often think that to avoid this the person in power shouldn't want that power. That this would make them somehow immune. And this logic has multiple faults (like - how can you be good at doing something you hate?) and one of them is that just not wanting to abuse power doesn't mean you would do right things with it.

We are reminded multiple times in the film (and the books also aren't shy about it) that Fremen religious belief in a saviour is not something that arose naturally. It's a belief seeded by Bene Gesserit's Missionaria Protectiva. They seeded superstitions and myths in different cultures so they could use them in a future emergency. Everything Fremen believe about their Mahdi was created so their faith could be used by a Bene Gesserit in need. And both Jessica and Paul are aware of this even before they even set a foot on Arrakis.

It's specifically made for the saviour to be a foreign one (Lisan al-Gaib is The Voice from the Outer World) because the people who made and planned to use this prophecy were ones from an outsider culture. Paul doesn't hijack Fremen beliefs to insert himself as their white saviour. These beliefs was specifically created for someone like him to use.

It was made with purpose of hijacking Fremen religion into protecting the foreigners who know how this prophecy was constructed. This is a parasitic belief (cuckoo-like faith) and the truth doesn't set anyone free. We see why with Stilgar as he wants to believe so much that everything becomes a sign. Even when he's told this has been fabricated and he was manipulated he warps it into something that supports his beliefs not undermines them. I'm sure you've seen this in real life, in real politics if not religion.

Jessica and Chani got changed the most from their book versions. They've become opposite sides of the ideological divide. Not between religion and lack of it - Jessica obviously not a believer - but between using people and letting them decide their own future.

Book Jessica is more apprehensive of Paul's choices. She's often more worried he may not survive the trials than pushing for them for power. In here she becomes the driving force of using the messianic belief Bene Gesserit implanted for Paul's benefit. She makes sure Fremen believe he fits the story. She doesn't care about Paul's wishes to avoid this burden. She knows it doesn't matter when he tells the people the truth about Bene Gesserit, their abilities and their manipulation techniques. Belief is impervious to proof and confirmation bias makes you reject all evidence to the contrary.

But then, in the film, Jessica is kind of possessed. Stilgar warns Paul not to listen to the djinn but neither he nor his mother can stop listening to the voices. The film removes Alia's book doings but replaces them with foreshadowing of what she becomes. She whispers the truths about the future to her mother even before she is born. Funny how this change make her, not Paul, the first fully prescient Atreides. She is manipulating the events when Paul refuses to and that's foreshadowing too. When Jessica took the Water of Life while pregnant she did it for the power this new position among the Fremen would give her. Alia never stood a chance. She was pre-born into this.

The only one trying to stand in the way of succumbing to the power corruption is movie version of Chani. She was never believer in a saviour. She wants her people to save themselves. They already have a plan for a better future that doesn't involve killing worlds for the Empire they never wanted anything to do with. They were not supposed to be warriors of the prophet. She sees this for what it is - a way to control her people. She understands this is another form of enslavement. The only difference is that this one is embraced. No one listens to her when she tells them the truth. They only see what they want to see.

The power that comes from being close to the rule is just as blinding when you stand close to the throne as it is when you sit on it.

And the sad part is she knows she played a part in this happening to as she convinced Paul to give this a try. She didn't see the visions he saw so she hoped he can remain the person she fell in love with. When he submits to the way prescience shows him and takes over the faith we feel her heartbreak. She watches him becoming what he feared and everyone around him stops her from trying to save him (not just other Fremen or Jessica - Gurney puts atomic arsenal in Paul's hands).

Paul doesn't bring freedom. He just changes who holds the power but in the end the structures of power remain (the similarities between Saudarkar and Fremen are not accidental). And billions die so it can happen. But billions is a an abstract number. It's much easier to feel the consequences when they hit close and personal.

Everyone around Paul gets to gain something - Gurney gets revenge on Rabban, Jessica and Stilgar get to destroy Harkonnens and Emperor. They are on top now. The power corrupts even before you even hold it. Just the promise of power is enough.

This film version of Chani doesn't let us forget that this is what we watch. That what is happening is not a good thing. We as humans have tendency to gloss over big numbers of deaths when it's unseen people with whom we have no emotional connections. Through her eyes the loss is so much more personal. She loses her Usul to Paul Muad'Dib. And he takes her people and her planet too.

As Paul says - they are Harkonnens too. And they do what Harkonnens do too. The difference was always cosmetic.

And one more thing. A lot is said about Arabic and Muslim influences in Fremen culture and religion but they aren't the only ones. One other is the word used for the places where Fremen live - Sietch. It comes from Zaporozhian Cossack name for their fortified encampments - sich.

In the West the name Cossacks invokes the cruel Russian Imperial forces that tsars used to pacify conquered territories. But this is not what comes to my mind first. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth they were free people living in the borderlands of the Commonwealth on the territories often attacked by the Ottomans. The constant raids from Turks meant they were warriors and constantly moving. But this also allowed for a lot of freedom as there wasn't a lot of direct control over these territories for the same reason. This meant that they were often joined by anyone wishing to have that freedom - from peasants escaping indenture to nobles escaping the law.

The dissatisfaction with Polish rule eventually lead to uprising and this part of Ukraine joined Russian Empire. That Empire destroyed all the freedoms Cossacks had and those independent warriors became just another enforcers of conformity for the Empire. They've become exactly what they fought against. I often wondered if Herbert chose the name Sietch intentionally to invoke this turn of events.

#dune #paul atreides #jessica atreides #lady jessica #alia atreides #chani kynes #stilgar #fremen #bene gesserit #harkonnens #lisan al-gaib #muad'dib #usul #dune part 2 #dune part two #dune 2024 #dune part two spoilers #dune part 2 spoilers #arrakis

1K notes · View notes

neil-gaiman · 1 year

Note

Hi Mr Gaiman! What do you think of Good Omens being rewritten from a Jewish perspective instead of a Christian one? (not for profit or anything just a fun idea to explore the theological differences through a work I adore)

If by "a Jewish Perspective" you mean, not using any material from the New Testament, you'd need to tell a very alternate universe version in your version of the story. Demons (and dybbuks) would exist, although there are different Jewish traditions about what they are -- but the concept of Fallen Angels isn't ever part of the story, so the Crowley and Aziraphale story might be a little harder to pull off. You'd lose the Four Horsemen, of course.

Here's a lovely article on Demonology from a Jewish perspective over the centuries: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/demons-and-demonology

You still have the apocalypse, of course (lots of lovely apocalypses predicted) but they tend to tie in to messianism. So you'd probably have Crowley and Aziraphale working to stop the Messiah from turning up and ending the world.

(Here's a great set of essays on Jewish Apocalypses: https://www.associationforjewishstudies.org/docs/default-source/ajs-perspectives/ajsp12fa.pdf?sfvrsn=17fadb06_2)

It's not really theological differences, though. Both Good Omens and your hypothetically More Jewish version would primarily be leaning into cultural myths and stories and stuff that aren't anywhere in the Bible anyway.

(And the original Good Omens was at least half-written from a Jewish perspective: mine.)

5K notes · View notes

machinesonix · 2 months

Text

Dune 2 is out, and as a huge fan of the franchise I am in a semiferal state of hyperfixated fervor. I’ve been reading the book again as a coping mechanism, but it has been sort of difficult finding a social outlet for it. See, there is a lot of fascinating worldbuilding that isn’t in the movies and a lot of messianic philosophy that isn’t quite summed up by ‘well actually it turns out Duncan is the real Space Jesus.’ My wonderful girlfriend suggested this metablogging thing might be a better way to get my fix than stopping strangers on the street with a passion for science fiction easily mistakable for radical Islamic fundamentalism so HERE WE GO

One thing that kinda blows my mind reading through Dune is how both movies have given us radically different portrayals of Baron Harkonnen and how both of them are totally believable in the context of the original text. If you’re not familiar, the new sexy Dune gives us this raspy Kingpin type Baron that wades around in a bunch of unsettling fluids with this villainous gravitas like a fascist hippopotamus. In David Lynch’s 1984 Dune we are still dealing with a caricature of obese evil, but he’s just so goddamn jolly about it. He’s giggling and spitting and cavorting around in antigravity while Games Workshop writers take note about how everyone loves his boils. These depictions are so opposite to each other that seeing them both in the text is giving me this weird double vision.

I think the reason is this beautiful context we don’t really see in either version of the film, and that is the psychopath mentat Pieter DeVries serving absolute cunt with his exposition. It’s a worldbuilding thing. The Baron has a 15 year old Feyd-Rautha watching his uncle to learn a thing or two about statecraft. Pieter is a twisted mentat, which is like a human computer with an OS optimized for human rights violations and he is just having none of the Baron’s shit. He flaunts his expensive drug addiction, offers to dance, and repeatedly reminds the Baron that he was too stupid to have come up with this Snidely Whiplash shit by himself. Pieter correctly reasons that the Baron will have him dead as soon as he has outlived his usefulness and that his attitude isn’t going to be much of a determining factor. For now he is very confident that he remains useful.

So eventually Feyd is like ‘Uncle, I’m just watching you argue, I could be playing GameBoy right now’ because GameBoy is what Feyd-Rautha calls the guy with needles for teeth that he hunts through the steam tunnels. And the Baron goes ‘Ah, but you are learning something. See, one of the great things we lost during the robot jihad were Excel spreadsheets that weren’t little bitches.’ And that’s where it gets me. I can’t tell if this is an impatient mastermind flexing his general obesity or a plague-clown who invited his sassy laptop in to make everyone watch his sick burn. Maybe those aren't mutually exclusive. Maybe it’s not that weird and it’s just David Lynch brain poison leaving its indeliable mark.

Mostly I think it’s a profound tragedy that we don’t have an on screen adaptation of Pieter DeVries going full fucking Starscream. Like yeah, we see some animosity but we as an audience have been robbed of seeing a dude who can do orbital physics calculations in his head acting like he just figured out nothing actually happens when mom finishes counting down from ten. As a millenial STEM graduate, I feel a deep sense of empathy for this human calculator vocalizing to his employer that he hopes his home burns down.

#dune #feyd rautha #baron harkonnen #dune meta #Pieter

41 notes · View notes

asoiafcanonjonsnow · 1 year

Text

JON SNOW || MAB DAROGAN

According to Welsh mythology, Mab Darogan or the "Son of Destiny" is a messianic figure that would force the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings out of Britain and reclaim it for the Celtic Britons.

In ASOIAF, Jon Snow is assassinated while he's about to rail against the Boltons who have usurped his family's castle and currently rule the North. It's possible that after his eventual resurrection, he will still want to fight against the Boltons and drive them out of his ancestral house. After he succeeds, the people of the North who have suffered under Bolton's rule will see him not only as their rightful ruler since he's the heir to their late King Robb Stark but also as a savior (aka a messianic figure).

Through the centuries various historical and mythological figures have been linked to Mab Darogan.

Jon Snow shares some parallels with two of those: the mythical King Arthur and the historical Henry VII of England.

Both Arthur and Jon are illegitimate kids of royalty. King Uther Pendragon fell in love with the married Igraine and either forced her to be with him or she also fell in love with him depending on the version of the story. Similarly, Prince and Heir to the throne Rhaegar Targaryen fell in love with Lyanna Stark, who was engaged to another man, and according to rumors in Westeros, he kidnapped her and raped her. However, it's more likely by various hints we get through the books that the affair between Rhaegar and Lyanna was consensual. Both affairs lead to wars and Uther and Rhaegar dying without meeting their sons.

It is worth noticing that in some tales, Uther and Igraine are married after her first husband's death so Arthur isn't illegitimate. In ASOIAF universe, Rhaegar could have possibly married Lyanna as Targaryen aren't against polygamy and thus making Jon his legitimate heir. Not that it actually matters, because just like Arthur is the true heir to his father even in the versions he's a bastard, similarly Jon Snow is the narrative heir of Rhaegar who can save the world regardless of his bastard status or lack of it.

Let's move to the similarities between Henry VII and Jon Snow. Martin has already shared that the War of Roses was a major inspiration for the book series. At the end of the War of Roses, it's neither House Lancaster (inspiration for House Lannister) nor House York (inspiration for House Stark) which emerges victorious but instead the new King is Henry Tudor who starts his own dynasty. The said King wasn't the most likely candidate to the throne as he wasn't closed related to any of the previous Kings, like Jon isn't related to either Tommen/Joffrey/Robert/Stannis/Renly. Instead he drew his claim through kinship to older generation Kings with whom he didn't share the same surname. Jon is also related with all Targaryen Kings despite not sharing their surname.

Henry's father died in battle before he was born, like Rhaegar died on Trident. Both Henry and Jon were raised by their uncles who shaped lot of their views. Henry spent a long time in exile hiding from his opponents and similarly Eddard Stark raised Jon Snow to the far north to keep him away from King Robert's wrath- in case he found out about Jon's existence. Besides, even after leaving Winterfell, Jon went to the Wall which counts as a sort of exile away from the rest of the Kingdom. Henry returned to England from exile and fought and won the english crown against King Richard III. Jon is dying as he tries to raise an army to fight Ramsay Bolton in order to reclaim Winterfell. When he's eventually resurrected, he's gonna continue his fight against Boltons and probably like Henry Tudor he will come out victorious. Could he also battle the possible King candidates of the South? That's something up to speculation.

Coat of Arms of King Henry VII of England.

Another interesting thing about Henry VII is that his coat of arms included a white dog and a red dragon, which is very similar to a possible Jon Snow's coat of arms (a red dragon for House Targaryen and a white direwolf for House Stark).

The famous badge of House Tudor (Henry VII's House) consists of the combination of the white rose (House York) and the red rose (House Lancaster). Could Jon Snow also combine both Targaryen and Stark colors on his own badge? Or maybe he'll adapt the blue rose which is significant to his parents'story?

Above is portrayed the rose of House Tudor while below there are those of House Lancaster and House York.

#asoiafcanonjonsnow #Jon Snow #Meta #valyrianscrolls #Parallels #King Arthur #Henry VII of England #Mab Darogan #Speculation #Politics and Rulership #R+L=J #CanonJonSnow #Winter Rose #ASOIAF #A Song of Ice and Fire #Original Post

101 notes · View notes

eightyonekilograms · 2 months

Text

Huh, yeah, the hype is legit, Dune Part 2 is actually really good, quite a bit better than the first one (which I also liked)

The thing about any film adaptation of Dune is that it pretty much has no choice but to cut out a lot of the scheming and politicking that goes on, because otherwise it would consist of loooong stretches of monologuing. But for the first half of the book, if you cut out the scheming and politicking, there's not a lot left, which is why the Lynch and Sci-Fi versions were hobbled by still having to have lots of infodumps. Part 1 had to get along as best it could replacing the scheming with Epic Tone Poem-ness, and it did a decent job, but in Part 2 they can actually replace the removed bits with something else: specifically, amping up the messianic narrative, which in the book exist on more-or-less equal footing with the politics but here takes front stage, mostly for the better considering the medium.

This does mean that characters have to get moved around to fit their new narrative roles. I'm a bit bummed that Feyd-Rautha is now a Hollywood Serial Killer with Slightly Problematic Autistic Coding, rather then the more-articulate-than-you-expected jock he always came across to me as in the book, but since he's not trading barbs with the Baron as he learns the ropes of power politics anymore, I'm not sure there was anything else they could've done with him, and it mostly works. On the other hand, the big character change everyone's talking about, which is kind of a spoiler, I think is a pure positive, and is actually a straightforward improvement over the book. Which I didn't think I'd say about anybody, going into it.

So, sure, I'm on board for Dune Messiah. Let's do it.

16 notes · View notes

buggie-hagen · 4 months

Text

Books I've read in 2023:

On First Principles by Origen. Translated by John Behr.

Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself) by David Zahl

Luther's Outlaw God, vol. 1: Hiddenness, Evil, and Predestination by Steven Paulson

Luther's Works, vol. 23: Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Chapters 6-8

Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land by Taylor Brorby

Theology is for Proclamation by Gerhard O. Forde

Luther's Outlaw God, vol. 2: Hidden in the Cross by Steven Paulson

The Annotated Luther, vol. 4: Pastoral Writings ed. by Mary Jane Haemig

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and to Break Bad Ones by James Clear

Who is the Church?: An Ecclesiology for the Twenth-first Century by Cheryl M. Peterson

Messianic Exegesis: Christological Interpretation of the Old Testament in Early Christianity by Donald Juel

Luther's Outlaw God, vol. 3: Sacraments and God's Attack on the Promise by Steven Paulson

Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted by Gretchen Ronnevik

The Early Versions of the New Testament: their origin, transmission, and limitations by Bruce Metzger

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Confessing Jesus: The Heart of Being a Lutheran by Molly Lackey

Adamantius: Dialogue on the True Faith in God translated by Robert A. Pretty

The Annotated Luther, vol. 5: Christian Life in the World, edited by Hans Hillerbrand

The End is Music: A Companion to Robert W. Jenson's Theology by Chris E. W. Green

Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melodie Beattie

The Church Unknown: Reflections of a Millenial Pastor by Seth Green

Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley

A Guide to Pentecostal Movements for Lutherans by Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

Daily Grace: The Mockingbird Devotional, vol. 2

--------------------------------------------------------

Not listed are some books that I chose not to finish and some books that I have yet to finish.

#books #reading #theology #fun #gay #serious #2023 #booklist

11 notes · View notes

bracketsoffear · 11 months

Text

Diana Christensen (Network) "Diana Christensen is, without a doubt, one of THE girlbosses of all time. She is the young vice president of programming for the fictional television network UBS and the way she got there is through cold-hearted ambition and ruthlessness. She has one drive and that is ratings. Throughout the film, she manipulates and exploits whoever and whatever she can, from the rage of the discontent American vox populi to a leftist militia to Howard Beale, the film’s protagonist, an unstable aging news anchor. When he threatens to kill himself on air, she sees a possibility for a rating spike. The population has gone cynical, they want anger, they want blood, they want someone who will tell them that the world is awful, and she knows that he’s her man. She exploits his breakdown for profit, his rantings raking in more and more viewers. She turns his show into a spectacle, getting it moved from the news division to her division: entertainment. Because that’s all it is now, entertainment. The circus in bread and circuses.

She is credited with restoring the network, winning awards, and being the decorated guest at industry galas, but she stays impersonal no matter her charm. She marketed Howard to the higher-ups as “a latter-day prophet, a magnificent messianic figure”, yet she doesn’t seem to believe what he says. To her, his worth is limited to that as defined by HUT and Nielsen.

But she knows audiences believe it. She doesn’t care about how this man is cracking, how his directionless angry, cynical message could affect the viewers, feeding into the country’s already unstable climate. No, it’s about the numbers. UBS is the only thing that exists in her world.

When planning for next season’s offerings, she sees potential in a communist guerilla group (think the Weather Underground meets the Symbionese Liberation Army) as an asset, a way to harness the leftist counterculture for capitalist gains. And she succeeds. She offers the group the ability to air their message for profit, tempting them into becoming just another of her capitalist puppets, and by the end of the meeting, they’re pouring over paperwork and ratings, and arguing distribution costs and audience shares with the network representatives. Just like that, the once-Marxist militia became another cog in the capitalist media machine, another asset for Diana to sell.

And when Howard’s show finally loses its novelty and the ratings slip, she decides to seize the moment to debut this new show with one sentence: “Let’s kill the son of a bitch.”

And finally, I leave you with a quote from Max Schumacher (Howard’s best friend, her short-lived paramour, and the president of the news division whose job she rendered useless) about her:

“I'm not sure she's capable of any real feelings. She's the television generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny. The only reality she knows is what comes over her teevee set. She has devised a variety of scenarios for us all to play, as if it were a Movie of the Week. And, my God!, look at us, Louise. Here we are going through the obligatory middle-of-Act-Two scorned wife throws peccant husband out scene. But, no fear, I'll come back home in the end. All her plot outlines have me leaving her and returning to you because the audience won't buy a rejection of the happy American family. She does have one script in which I kill myself, an adapted for television version of Anna Karenina in which she's Count Vronsky and I'm Anna.”

This description has been edited for length. Here is the link to Diana's full description"

Hama (Avatar: The Last Airbender) "The episode she's introduced in is literally titled 'The Puppetmaster'. She describes bloodbending, the power she developed, as "controlling water in another body; enforcing your own will over theirs', and that anyone who perfects bloodbending can "control anything or anyone". Before her fight with Katara, she suggests that bloodbending is not a choice to be seeked, but something already existing. She also enforces her teachings on Katara, wanting her to be a successor even if it goes against Katara's morals"

#web poll #the magnus archives #the web #poll #network #avatar #the last airbender #atla

30 notes · View notes

coochiequeens · 11 months

Text

So here you have something there's never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I've heard of, and now all of a sudden we can't do it because it'll offend people. What is one supposed to make of that?

Actors warned John Cleese that his Life of Brian stage show should not include a scene about a man wanting to be a woman and have a baby, the comedian has said.

The Monty Python star is working on a stage production of the troupe’s 1979 comedy film, The Life of Brian, which parodies the Messianic message of the New Testament.

In the film version, a character named Stan explains that he wants to be a woman called Loretta and “have babies”, before being told by Cleese’s character Reg that this was impossible.

This exchange reportedly met with opposition from actors in a readthrough of the script for the planned stage show because it could “offend people”, raising doubt as to its inclusion in the final production.

'You can't do that stuff nowadays'

Cleese said performers involved in the readthrough told him: “We love the script, but you can't do that stuff about Loretta nowadays.”

Speaking to the audience for his one-man show, he added: "So here you have something there's never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I've heard of, and now all of a sudden we can't do it because it'll offend people. What is one supposed to make of that?

“But I think there were a lot of things that were actually, in some strange way, predictive of what was actually going to happen later."

youtube

The potentially offensive scene features Eric Idle as Stan telling his fellow members of the People's Front of Judea “I want to be a woman”, and adding “from now on, I want you all to call me Loretta”.

He explains that this is because he wants to have babies, and explains that “it's every man's right to have babies if he wants them”.

'You haven't got a womb'

Cleese’s character Reg explains “you haven’t got a womb”, but the People’s Front decide that they will champion Stan’s right to have babies, as it is "it is symbolic of our struggle against oppression”.

Cleese revealed the concerns with the script amid a growing debate about gender ideology, which purports that people born female who identify as male are men, and could give birth to children as men.

This idea has been reflected in the NHS, with the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust recently employing the phrase “birthing people” instead of mothers in an announcement about perinatal mental health care.

In 2021, Brighton and Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust unveiled “gender inclusive” phrases to be used as best practice by medical staff, advising that “birthing parent” was the more appropriate term. The word “breastmilk” was replaced with “chestmilk”.

'I've changed some things'

While it remains to be seen if Cleese’s script will include Stan’s wish to be a woman, the star has said that audiences can expect some differences between the stage show and the film.

Cleese said: "I think Life Of Brian is our best film. We are going to do it in London in the second half of next year and I've changed certain things."

According to the Daily Mail, he said: "There is a new character - Fiona Pilate, Pilate's wife - who falls in love with Brian. And, spoiler alert, Brian does not get crucified. But rest assured he will still sing Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life."

The film was accused of being blasphemous when it was first released, and was banned in Ireland as part of a clerical backlash against the comedy, often cited as the greatest of all time.

#Free Speech Friday #Life of Brian stage show #John Cleese #monty python #Reg was just telling the truth #Loretta scene #Youtube

19 notes · View notes

petr1kov · 1 year

Note

I just wanna thank you for your post on the Mandela Effect as a South African! I get the whole effect people are trying to describe but calling it specifically that out of all the weird collective-memory incidents is weird af because that wasn’t even a global thing like the berenstain bears seems to be (I get that ‘cause my childhood memories are berenstein too) + it wasn’t even a phenomena in the region concerned + the people who coinedthat term didn’t seem to have actual exposure/connection/proximity to the events surrounding it.

No one who was actually in or near South Africa remembers him dying because the whole movement to free him was such a big deal it was truly inescapable. You’d have to live under several rocks of wilful ignorance to not know about it. There were a few Black freedom fighters, peers of his, that did die in jail or under police custody, notably Steve Biko, that were publicised during that same time period. I honestly do wonder often if American/European people just heard news of some notable Black anti-apartheid activist in Africa dying in jail and assumed it was him because they’d mashed all those guys together in their minds? Was it a news report about events in a far away country with bad information?

it’s could very well be because of their status as Black activists that got arrested; people in the western world often talk about Mandela as a MLK-esque figure who single-handedly ended apartheid and its flattens the whole history into a narrative about a messianic figure - the sheer determination of a special individual - when in reality he worked with a collective with many Black people and ANC members who did the same acts of resistance and even went to the same prison as him. He actively did try to push back against this narrow, individualistic idea of his role in history when he was alive. Many of these freedom fighters and political figures often get written out of history when the story is told internationally because of this, and their contributions to the movements (along with possibly one of their deaths) may have been subconsciously misattributed to Mandela.

So being from here, everyone I’ve talked to thinks it’s the weirdest thing it’s called the Mandela effect because it seems more like people living far off not taking in the news properly more than a true mass misremembering or… case of collective inter-dimensional travelling.

yes, exactly! this is what truly bothers me about the mandela effect being called that. regardless of whether or not people use it to mean the silly parallel dimensions theory or simply to refer to the mass misremembering of something (as most people tend to do today), which i do find kind of fun and interesting on it's own, still keeping it named after mandela is just incredibly tone-deaf.

no matter which version you look, every definition of this term is based around the fact that those supposed changes in people's memory vs reality are always small, mundane and inconsequential enough as to go unnoticed by someone not paying attention, and like. mandela dying during the apartheid in the 80s is the absolute OPPOSITE of an inconsequential or unimportant event that nobody would pay attention to for years. it's the sort of thing that would bring massive consequences to the history of an entire country, which in turn would also affect the world at large in different ways, most obviously when it comes to black liberation movements.

seeing this term get used to refer to actual silly and inconsequential things such as the berenstain bears misspelling or pikachu's tail not having a black tip is just crazy to me. it's hard not to see it as a dismissal of mandela, as if he is some sort of fictional character from a fictional country, whose impact in real life is on-par with monopoly's mascot not wearing a monocle. and i just know that nobody would so easily accept such a ridiculous conspiracy/concept getting thrown around like this if it were about an US or european president 🤷‍♀️

#ask #and it's not like i'm an expert on south african politics or anything like that. it's just that this reeks of americentrism to me #not to mention racism of course. it's as if world history that's outside of america and europe is as real as a fictional bear to them #long post

33 notes · View notes

officialyourdailyinspiration · 1 year

Text

The Glory of the LORD

And He said, My presence shall go [with you], and I will give you rest. — Exodus 33:14 | New Messianic Version Bible (NMV) The New Messianic Version Bible by Tov Rose © 2012. All Rights Reserved. Cross References: Exodus 3:12; Deuteronomy 4:37; Deuteronomy 12:10; Deuteronomy 25:19; Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 21:44; Joshua 22:4

#God #God's presence #safety #rest #Exodus 33:14 #Book of Exodus #Old Testament #NMV #New Messianic Version #Holy Bible

4 notes · View notes

this-world-of-beautiful-monsters · 27 days

Text

not to faithpost on main when I should be asleep, but the ep is very clearly about Daniel being pushed into the messianic role, and yet Sean is the one whose arc actually reflects the Jesus story, or at least a distorted version of it. Like, there's the sheer amount of Suffering, but more specifically there's the period of death/long sleep he emerges from, the seemingly miraculous escape, the permanent injury (socket = stigmata; a hole is hole is a hole), the wandering in the wilderness, even a Judas betrayal depending on how you frame Jacob (my beloved) taking Sean's money and bringing Daniel to Haven's Point.

And of course you've got the scene of Sean kneeling in a church and begging his brother-god-lover for mercy, for understanding, for Sean not to be sacrificed on the altar of a hungry new faith, to let this cup of rejection pass from him before it's too late. Only here, instead of letting Sean be rubbed out with nails or bullets, Daniel chooses to save him, to slip just that little bit out of the divine role so he can save his brother's life and they can passionately declare their love in the middle of a church like they're the fucking winchesters. Sean gets brutality and resurrection on the same afternoon.

When they leave the church, however that happens, the brothers are matching halves of messiah and martyr, both of them escapees from their "proper" narrative. And it fucks so hard and I will never, ever be normal about it.

#easter #daniel diaz #sean diaz #life is strange meta #lis verse #life is strange 2 #diazcest #we are the wolves #ep 4 faith.#anyway. happy easter #monsters talks life is strange

3 notes · View notes

unbidden-yidden · 1 year

Text

This Chanukah, I came across a [new to me] Chanukah song, באנו חושך לגרש and was excited to look it up to see if I liked it, and for some reason could not find a single normal version of it on YouTube??

(Yes, I searched using both Hebrew and English transliteration.)

Friends, this is what I found:

Lots of kid-themed ones, most of which were genuinely horrifying, saccharine, or both, like this version.

Several uploads of this dramatic macho version.

Wispy, folksy versions that gave me a contact high

Whatever this is

Messianics (like a lot of them, more than average)

Does anyone have a good version they can recommend? From what I can tell, I'd like the underlying tune, but this was a bit much.

29 notes · View notes

megashadowdragon · 11 months

Video

youtube

Analysing The Chilling Parallels Between Aerith/Sephiroth

youtube comments

And don't forget that Aerith possesses the White Materia and Sephiroth eventually gains the Black Materia They were originally siblings but even in the full game they fulfill opposing themes and outlooks. And have similar origins as cross-species of Gast’s “devising”. Which is why I think the plot point that Sephiroth thought he was an Ancient is in the game— reinforces how he responds to his inhumanness differently from Aerith. Sephiroth represents consumption, fire, sky, and might making right while Aerith represents sacrifice, water, earth, and mercy. It’s borderline Old vs New Testament. Sephiroth even being a weird esoteric looking angel by the end and Aerith being a triumphant martyr.Show less

Great video. I think my favorite is the parallel between Gast and Hojo as well since they are their respective biological fathers.

Also their names; Sephiroth is the tree of life in Jewish mysticism in the Sepher Yetzirat. Each aspect of divine manifestation through evocation of the angel in each Sephirat, and becoming closer to the divine. Aerith evokes earth, the physical realm, humanity and frailty. Yet the irony is that through her humanity and her contact with the earth, she achieved oness with the divine while Sephiroth became a corrupt version of the divine. Satan so to speak, while aerith is a Messianic godlike figure. One point, the Cetra are human though, I don't know why the distinction. The Cetra are the original humans while the rest were Cetra that left and lost connection with the planet.Show less

#ff7 #final fantasy 7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii #ff 7 #ff7 remake #ffvii remake #Sephiroth #aerith gainsborough #ff7 aerith

11 notes · View notes

theboywhocan11 · 1 year

Text

My Thoughts on Children of Dune Novel by Frank Herbert

Novel Title: Children of Dune Author: Frank Herbert Date Published: 1976 Edition: Ace premium edition / June 2019 (as shown above) Pages: 477 This would be my first time in returning to read the Children of Dune book since the last time I read it back during my high school years in the early 2000s. At that time, my mind was not fully developed enough to understand the intricate details that were presented in the book. Fast forward to April 2023, I finally picked up the Ace premium edition of the said novel from my local, public library and I can now finally say that I’ve completed my reading journey of all 6 Dune novels written by Frank Herbert and the the Dune 7 duology books (Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson) with Children of Dune being my last.

In the next several paragraphs, after clicking the “Keep reading” demarcation line below, will cover my thoughts about the Children of Dune book (Ace premium edition of June 2019), the Children of Dune Mini-series adaptation, and the list of the details in highlighting the differences between the book and the adapted TV mini-series that aired on the then Sci-Fi Channel of Children of Dune.

When I watched the Children of Dune mini-series on the then Sci-Fi Channel so many years ago, it helped me in having a visual reference when reading the Children of Dune novel recently, this year. The mini-series in my opinion did a great job in being concise and getting the point of what the Children of Dune’s main points are about. That is, every revolution in overthrowing the previous, corrupt government / regime, gets replaced with a newly corrupted one that’s led by a new ruling class of entrenched bureaucrats and corrupt institutions that brought great harm to many people. Furthermore, Children of Dune mini-series (which covers both Dune Messiah (2nd book) and Children of Dune (3rd book) also does a great job in showing the consequences of how people’s over fanaticism of worshipping Messianic hero-leaders, too, can lead to harm to many people along with its effects on the breakdown of the various customs and traditions of a society. In this case, the transformation of Arrakis as a planet that led to the degradation of the Fremen culture, beliefs, and customs.

After finishing the book, I say that Children of Dune (the novel) has more intrigue and more political maneuvering involved by various characters and their factions in one upping the other in their goal to have greater control of the Imperium of humankind. This ranges from Alia Atreides plotting an abduction on her mother, Lady Jessica Atreides and blame it on House Corrino. Then, there’s House Corrino being led by Wensicia Corrino and later her son, Farad’n Corrino trying to find a weakness in the Atreides Imperial government to exploit and initiate their takeover it. Then, there are various Fremen groups who are neutral and do not want to do anything with Alia’s led government and there are rebel Fremen factions who are totally against the mediocrity of the Muad’Dib religion (Paul Atreides worshipping) that’s embodied in the current government of the Atreides Empire on Dune and how it’s corrupting the Fremen culture and customs. This includes how Fremen no longer possess high quality stillsuits to survive in the deserts to how Fremen relied more on advance technology outside of Planet Arrakis and thus forgetting the old ways of how their forebears used to live. In addition, various Fremen groups are also concerned and even opposed the transformation of the deserts of Arrakis into a lush, paradise, which can potentially end all spice production that could bring about a demise to the entire human human civilization in the Dune universe.

With that mind, the following list below highlights some differences between the book version and the adapted Sci-Fi channel’s TV mini-series version of Children of Dune in showcasing how much the adapted TV mini-series condensed and simplify several details from the book in order for it to be presentable to a television audience

In the novel, the Atreides twins, Leto II and Ghanima are 9-year old children with heightened mental faculties in remembering the genetic memories of their ancestors and how it affects their behavior towards others.

In the mini-series, Leto II and Ghanima were made to look like they’re in their late teens / early adult years.

In the novel, there are way more minor characters who do not show in the mini-series. This includes Muriz, Sabiha, Assan Tariq and others.

Halfway into the the novel, Farad’n Corrino took more leading role in the internal affairs of his House along with his loyal, Sardaukar officer, Tyekanik. This occurred during his meeting with Duncan Idaho and Lady Jessica where he ordered his mother to step aside and have him take over.

In the mini-series, all plotting and masterminding of House Corrino’s attempted return to power on Arrakis were all done by Weniscia Corrino, Farad’n’s mother. This includes a scene where House Corrino abducts a giant sandworm from Arrakis. In the book, however, there’s mentioned of a rumor of a giant sandworm being captured and being grown off-planet, but it’s not explicitly illustrated.

In the novel, there are two sietches that are part of Leto Atreides II’s arc. The first sietch being Jacurutu / Fondak where he was tested by Gurney Halleck to undergo a spice trance in order to uncover the memories of his ancestors as per Lady Jessica Atreides’ orders. Then, later, Leto II will go to another sietch called Shuloch where he placed the sandtrout on his body that begins his transformation in becoming the God Emperor and rule the Imperium for the next 4,000 years.

In the mini-series, the above named sietches were combined as one. However, only the plot point about Leto having sandtrout living skin on his body was used.

In the novel, Leto Atreides II remembered his ancestor, Harum who was a cruel and autocratic leader whose leadership style help maintain the safety of his people. The novel does not provide further details of this Harum, but it’s implied he was a ruler from ancient Earth. Harum’s leadership style would become the basis on how God Emperor Leto II would rule the Imperium before his demise at the end of the 4th Dune novel, “God Emperor of Dune.”

In the mini-series, Harum did not get shown.

In the novel, Alia Atreides heard the voice of her ancestor, Agamemnon. The novel also does not reveal whether this is Agamemnon of ancient Greece on Earth or the Agamemnon from the Butlerian Jihad books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

In the mini-series, Agamemnon did not make an appearance.

In the novel, there’s a scene where Ghanima, after she gets captured and returned to the hands of her aunt, Alia Atreides, Ghanima got into this big argument with Irulan Corrino and Alia Atreides about her marriage to Farad’n Corrino. Ghani is totally against the marriage, but she agreed to a compromise with her aunt that she’ll marry Farad’n on the condition that she gets the chance to end his life as a way to exact revenge of the death of her twin brother, Leto II. However, the memory of her brother’s death was a false memory that was implanted in her mind.

In the mini-series, this specific plot point is not shown.

In the novel, Paul Atreides as The Preacher got assassinated by one of Alia’s priests.

In the mini-series, Paul’s life was ended by a rogue Fremen.

In the novel, Alia’s demise is where she committed auto defenestration, the act of propelling oneself off the building. This happened after Leto bust open a window and two options were presented to Alia: the Trial of Possession or auto defenestration.

In the mini-series, Alia ended her knife by using Leto II’s given crysknife and stabbing herself. Thus, freeing her from the control of her ego-memory of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. In her final words, Alia told her mother that “I [she] want her brother,” which is a call back to the same line in the Frank Herbert’s Dune mini-series also aired on the Sci-Fi channel. In my opinion, this is a better scene of Alia’s demise because it provided emotional closure and mourning from the other characters who are closed to her and pity her when she fell into a state of “abomination” where she’s controlled by the memories of her ancestors.

In the novel, Stilgar was offended, but reluctantly agreed to Leto II’s plan to ensure the survival of humankind for the next thousands. The plan includes the potential end of the Fremen culture.

In the mini-series, this above mentioned scene did not get shown. What we did have instead that’s somewhat from the book is the scene where Leto II gave the watery remains of Alia to Stilgar to be poured over the desert sands of Arrakis. Then, there are lines of dialogue where Leto II told Stilgar that all leaders are human and they too make mistakes. Thus, solidifying the end to stop defying hero leaders and putting them on a pedestal.

In the novel, at the very end, Farad’n Corrino was given the name Harq Al-Ada and he, like Stilgar, got taken back about the idea of what’s going to happened to the Sardaukar. That is, they’re given over to the command of God Emperor Leto II, which will ultimately lead to their demise. In God Emperor of Dune (the 4th book), both the Fremen and Sardaukar no longer exists as actual groups in the Dune universe. Instead, there’s an emergence of the Fremen and Sardaukar warriors where their descendants become the Fish Speakers, an all-Female army of God Emperor Leto II. However, at the very end of Children of Dune (book), Farad’n caved in and told Leto II to take the Sardaukar away from him.

In the mini-series, we don’t have the above mentioned scene. All we got instead is where Ghanima and Farad’n had a brief one-on-one dialogue about how Farad’n will never be made husband to Ghani, but there will be a time for love between the two where they will sire a line of descendants that will live on for the next thousands of years.

Overall, the Children of Dune novel has so much events going on that I think an individual with a much more analytical mind and patience can get through the myriad of details in the text. After finishing the novel, I say that I have much more appreciation to what Frank Herbert wrote for this 3rd installment of the Dune series in showing the rise and fall of Muad’Dib. The same appreciation goes for the Sci-Fi Channel’s TV adaptation in bringing a more understandable version of the story on the silver screen.

10 notes · View notes