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zathechaosgod · 3 years

Text

Favourite Stream Moments!

Streamed by Philza on Twitch on Sunday 10th of January

Dream smp

Time to (attempt to) revive wilbur!

eret has a plan but phil does not know what that plan is exactly

tommy is messaging him lmao

he does not appear to be aware that phil is streaming lol

phil both hates and loves the different pogchamps

there’s another enderman and a bunny in a boat now

RANBUN IS SO CUTE

lmao ranboo got that god-sword from tftsmp but it’s actually exactly the same as his usual sword

Lmao ghostbur keeps falling down the hole of l’manberg

phil is suggesting that the friend that died during doomsday, which was actually gifted by dream, might’ve been a fake friend lmao

“are you saying that the dream smp is full of unreliable narrators?”

phil is still figuring out the perfect angle to trident pearl to l’manberg

“is this friend?” *is a literal polar bear*

“cows are just like sheep but bad”

“you cant dye a chicken blue, and i’ve tried”

“i’m pretty good at opening cans! i bite them with my teeth”

(i’m not mentioning who is saying these but i bet yall can figure it out)

“swiss multitool wilbur”

“you just ram my face into a bottle and eventually it’ll open”

“can i go inside the prison?” “i don’t think you want to go inside the prison”

“i’ve never been inside the prison” “i have, it’s terrifying” mood ranboo

HOLY- I JUST REALISED THEYRE GONNA DO THIS IN THE BUTTON ROOM

rip wilbur never got a funeral, as opposed to schlatt

“not yet, phil, not yet” -after phil accidentally tridents wilbur

SALLY IS IN THE SHRINE AND GHOSTBUR DOES NOT RECOGNIZE HER

also there’s brewingstands and tnt

LMAO SALLY GLITCHED THROUGH THE FLOOR AND ALMOST DIED

ghostbur remembers his death really clearly and is suggesting reciting the exact same words

tommy is here rip

ghostbur assigned ranboo the role of tubbo, and eret is eret

wilbur can’t concentrate because tommy is here

“there’s a part here and sad-ist animated it”

oof the lines

chat is just all o7

ghostbur went from reciting his lines to coldplay lyrics back to his lines

rub it in that eret was the traitor will ya wilbur

ghostbur did not actually like the sword and is delaying it lol

tommy is only now finding out they’re resurrecting wilbur today lmao

CHAT IS SPAMMING WRONG SWORD

also ghostbur doesn’t want to go awww

now he’s asking tommy if he wants wilbur back

AHDHJFKLDFLK PHIL IS AT 133K VIEWERS RIGHT NOW WHAT

phil did it.

ghostbur is gone???

phil is only now mentioning the books that talk about totems

tommy is mad at phil now

ghostbur is back but he’s still ghostbur

tubbo is here now?

ranboo lost his role now aww

ghostbur is now gghostbur, aka double ghost, and is very mad at that

there were two people in the dark where gghostbur went before he came back???

(alivebur and schlatt?)

option b: totem of undying pog?

none of them have one

gghostbur is willing to go back to the void bc the people there are lovely apparently

techno has a totem :eyes:

SALMON IS GGHOSTBURS FAVOURTIE FOOD?

“i dont think i’ve ever seen a salmon and not eaten it” WILBUR NO

they’re looking for friend now before they’re gonna rob techno

ghostbur will just get another g at the front of his name every time he dies lol

phil is concerned about the people ghostbur saw

“when i see people it doesn’t go well, just in general” MOOD RANBOO

phil still really has no idea where anything is on the server lmao

wilbur just left the game???

they found friend!

ghostbur is still gone tho

phil complained about the ruins on the server and ranboo is just like “well one of those is your fault”

lets play the game called “is this pc-issues or actual roleplay” again

WILBUR CANONICALLY KICKED HIS ROUTER, HIS ROUTER HAD A CANON DEATH LMAO

uh oh fundy is asking what they’re doing

“wilbur’s router is now canon, it’s got to have it’s own wiki page, it’s got two canon lives left”

fundy is here now uh oh

tubbo is pillaging l’manhole for granite???

gghostbur is back!

it is indeed friend!!

time to speedrun murdering gghostbur and resurrecting wilbur

DUDUDUDU

gghostbur is now just butchering the “it was never meant to be” in all ways possible lmao

and now to not pull friend off a cliff

they don’t actually know if friend has infinite canon lives?

“but we’re all reliable narrators here”

fourth wall? what fourth wall

“im not even sure if the button works! strokey strokey~”

TECHNO IS IN CHAT LMAO HE SAID HE’S SEEN THIS EPISODE BEFORE

GLATT IS HERE WHAT

UH OH

he does not want to go back lmao

GLATT DOES NOT WANT TO BE NOT CANONICALLY DEAD

ranboo doesn’t actually know schlatt lmao

ah it’s ggghostbur rip

ggghostbur is sick and tired of this not working

they’re going for the totem option

tubbo suggested the outpost but it doesn’t actually work on easy

GGGHOSTBUR WANTS A CIGARETTE

AND WHISKEY AND PROTEIN POWER

GLATTBUR IS COMING YALL

glatt is still in vc lmaooo

ohhh glattbur is happening already lmao

ggghostbur blacks out when glatt speaks

they really need the totem

glatt is just occasionally popping in lmao

is it ggglattbur now?

now they’re theorising about who the third person is

TUBBO SUGGESTED MEXICAN DREAM LMAO

as does chat the entire time already lol

“a voice from the heavens?” tubbo isn’t physically here lmao, apparently he’s skyping eret

fundy thinks it might be alivebur

chat is now spamming MEXICAN GLATTBUR which, imagine those three locked in a room together

they’re gonna research some more now?

fundy is gonna get started on full metal alchemist lmaooo

fundy and ranboo are telling eret to hang up on tubbo lmaooo

fundy threw away eret’s “phone” lmaooo

rip tubbo

PHONE IS GONE CRAB RAVE

ranboo and phil are heading back, eret is following them, fundy is not following them

“just gonna head to the gas station real quick” “i’ll see you tomorrow?” “yeahhhhh”

ranboo is gonna get a map because he’s already been to the one techno went to, so it should give him a different one

420 SUBS POG

“i believe this is my first time here” “....how do you feel about government, eret?”

“what do you think is the best way to run a country? “uhh, mild anarchy” “aren’t you a king?” “uh yes, that’s why it’s mild.” “L E A V E. N O K I N G”

eret took his crown off but his sunglasses are gone as well and it’s actually just more creepy

chat is spamming eretbrine

“at least i can look at him for a longer time” you go lore boy

THERE’S ALMOST 140K VIEWERS STILL WHAT

SNOOP DOG WITH THIS MANY PLEASEEE

heavy plot is over now, but they’re still gonna get a totem today, then reschedule for a new attempt at resurrection pog

phil tried to play it dumb when meeting schlatt bc he’s not supposed to know him but he kept (almost) losing it lmaoooo

PURGE THE WEAK LETS GOOOO

he’s already lost 10k lol we havent even started yet

“yeah welcome to the stream guys”

he’s actually gonna email his partner manager again if it’s still allowed

only an additional 5k lost lmao

oh tubbo is in vc again

phil was like “my voices demanded something”and tubbo immediately went “IS IT BLEND W” lmao mood

rip tubbo is gone crab rave

oh there’s a new cowpen?

PHILCHAT IS NOW CANON POG

TECHNO JUST LOGGED ON!!

totem time??

he’s begging for someone to stream with him

IN THE GAME CHAT

phil is like just dm me dude

he logged off again but he’s in vc lol

“silence government”

“you guys found orphan’s parents” lmaooo

techno messaged dream “hey what's going on with the plot” and got left on read lmoa

he’s just gonna do his own arc and it’s not his problem if it doesn’t match with anyone else

phil is suggesting he join them today

techno is going “uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” and is not prepared to start streaming rn lol

the struggle of content vs not wanting to stream so last minute

“this is no peer pressure, chat is not manifesting a techno stream”

also it’d be like half a stream at this point

time to trade paper to unlock the map!

lol phil placed down water so he could trident and ranboo was so confused for a bit

three phones have canonically died so far

...why does phil have four buckets of water on him?

rip someone tried the 5,55 dono but alerts are muted bc talking to other people

chat is spamming technosupport because they don’t actually want to pressure him into streaming if he doesn’t want to awww

phil and ranboo talking about schlatt (glatt) and having to pretend they don’t actually know him

it’s a different mansion pog

time to take a portal on the netherroof and see where it pops them out again

lmaooo ranboo make a flint and steel with unbreaking and mending for the mr beast challenge

phil is losing his mind at that a lil bit

chat is spamming unus annus?

tubbo is blasting copyrighted music and making a “disaster basement”???

and is attempting to craft weakness potions

eret and tubbo have been attempting to get a map as well?

tubbo said to come to snowchester and phil and ranboo are like “bruh we’re gonna use nether travel”

tubbo thinks that’s very unfair, but ranboo has a good point in that he would probably died if they went over the overworld

ponk blew up a part of the nether before the mr beast challenge started and didn’t even stream while doing it lmao

tubbo is going on a villain arc this journey?

phil zooming in on his face lol

SUB ONLY POG there was too much spam lmao

tubbo is in a Mood lol

“the way this journey is going i might have my first canon kill” lmaooo ranboo is so done with tubbo already

jack manifold is online as well but they’re ignoring him because he’s too far away and they’re not going back again

tubbo asking if they could trident in the nether if their characters could pee

“this canon kill is just getting closer and closer”

phil is about to kick tubbo out the car

“chat are you seeing why tubbo got kicked out the car???”

first portal attempt

eret and tubbo went through first and ranboo immediately went “run phil run”

phil actually ran the wrong direction in an attempt to escape tubbo lmao

ranboo and tubbo need to save michael? who’s that

“he’s not a hostage, he’s an old friend” w h a t

how are they all faster than tubbo???

they’re making short jokes now lmao tubbo’s legs aren’t long enough

he’s falling even further behind

it’s far out, but still not as far as when tubbo and phil went to 69k

portal attempt number two

too far north, but that’s actually useful

eret gave tubbo some enderpearls aww

ad time because this is just running lmao

lol he actually got a bunch of primes out of that

oof apparently you can do sub only streams? which, did not go down well when twitch added it

lmao tubbo is dropping frames because he doesn’t have optifine lololol

EMPTY BRAIN MOMENT PHIL SWITCHED AROUND THE DIRT AND OBSIDIAN IN THE PORTAL

attempt number 3

ranboo threatening tubbo with two swords meanwhile phil is trying to figure out where the location is

tubbo just now figuring out that riptide uses durability and that his trident has mending, which is why he didn’t notice

TUBBO IS CANONICALLY SHORT

BADLANDS POG

tubbo complaining about phil’s latest video but it’s a 1/10 so phil won’t change it

hardened clay

phil is putting everyone who thought that was funny up for adoption

lmao tubbo punched ranboo but he has thorns so now tubbo is further behind again

they spend a lot of money on phones bc they keep dumping them in water lmao

still far away rip

eret lost them for a bit oof

tubbo isn’t allowed to go get snacks and phil is threatening to turn the car around if ranboo doesn’t share his gummy worms

ohhh ranboo could see the dot because phil was holding his map in the overworld?

chat is spamming “are we there yet”

tubbo has started as well

“alright that’s it canon kill come over here tubbo” RANBOO LMAOOOO

phil cleared it up: no canon deaths happened during doomsday (aside from like, l’manberg itself) none were written into the script.

they’ve found TWO badlands but still haven’t found the mansion lmaoo

why does ranboo have two five pounds bags of gummy bears and they’re all the same flavour?

they’re at the different corner of the map again?

they’re walking the rest of the road, with a checkpoint for tubbo now because he doesn’t have feather falling f

tubbo checkpoints!

pog the maps are synced up so ranboo can see where phil is

TUBBO IS GONE CRAB RAVE

server crash rip?

jack came to ask who he could blame for the server crash lmao

“hypixel time”

time to ping sam/dream (bad isn’t online)

or calalhan pog?

apparently unity saved tubbo’s stuff?

“i broke the car” lmaooo

SMP IS GONE CRAB RAVE

it’s back!

tubbo found his things!

ranboo found a tol boi mushroom pog

TUBBO DIED AGAIN

“there might be a problem but i’m not gonna say it until there’s an actual problem

ITS A THICC BOI

tubbo is still finding his stuff lmao

the rest are taking the mansion!

THERE ARE SO MANY VEXES

TUBBO DIED AGAIN WHYYY

tubbo’s stuff is like right outside the mansion at least

eret found his stuff!

phil yoinking the bookshelves now lmao

he’s got several totems, as do eret and ranboo?

sam came on to express his surprise that the server isn’t dead

jack manifold revived it just like he brought back himself

phil set the illager statue on fire lmaoo

chat is spamming ARSON

phil checking ceiling chests (which have a chance of spawning god apples)

lmao the rest have discovered the fire

phil is now just setting everything on fire

phil’s flint and steel ran out so now they’re just watching the mansion go up in flames

“we didn’t start the fire, except we did”

it’s actually kinda impressive how fast the mansion is just,,, gone

tubbo is wailing in despair now

eret loves how phil just laughs in the background sometimes

(same dude)

quick obs reset so the stream doesn’t lag anymore rip

dad is back pogchamp!

tubbo attempted to put him on fire in revenge

there’s a village just right next door lmao

they’re completely wiping out the mansion

ENCHANTED GOD APPLE AND DISC POG

lmaooo the god apple is going to dream because he still owes him one for the trident phil got from him

it’s still so funny bc fundy had to pay eleven netherite ingots that exact same moment meanwhile phil just had to give him a god apple if he ever came across one

the map just not shows all cobble lmaooo

“okay the village is gone, anyway…”

eret is just watching bunnies jumping to their death?

nobody noted down the coords form the portal lmaoooo

tubbo knows but won’t say bc he’s having a villain arc

“the forst nearby is just in flames” “yeah i wonder who that could’ve been, it can’t have been me” eret why lmao

it’s all tubbo’s fault now

#blametubbo

ohh imagine if techno had set up the stasis chamber with phil lmao

he would’ve been home by now

tubbo claims to have broken the portal and outsmarted all of them

ranboo is really looking forward to the canon kill lmao

phil found the portal!

tubbo is lagging lmao, he’s standing in lava and not burning

tubbo broke the portal on the netherroof lmao

TUBBO LAVACASTED THE PORTAL

they made it out lmao

it’s kinda awkward now

1000SUBS POGG

the map is so cursed now, it’s just cobble and some lines from the village roads

14K SUBS POGGG

MOMZA IS HERE FOR THE WIG

GIRLZA

HE’S WEARING A BRIGHT ORANGE WIG NOW

it actually looks frustratingly GOOD

phil used to have hair this length and it’s visible in the way he side sweeps it lmaoo

“wigs or we riot”

tubbo’s chat is constantly in riot

bonezone is enabled in phil’s chat!

it’s up there with catJam

tubbo almost said how many youtooz he sold but he’s not allowed to do that so he’s dm-ing phil now

tubbo is threatening to buy a ferrari

phil is remembering why he cut his hair lmao

15k subs long haired phil pics?

they’re back at the nether hub and want to go home but tubbo refuses to let them until they know how much a ferrari costs

chat is suggested maid dress lmao

...tubbo just asked them how old he is

phil’s screen is glitching out rip

it won’t go out from his full facecam

HE’S JUST GONE NOW

NO FACECAM ANYMORE

okay it’s fixed pog

phil is gonna round up his stream, ranboo is gonna go for another woodland mansion pog?

okay he figured out why it was scuffed

ANOTHER 420 TO PURGE SO PHIL CAN ACTUALLY RAID

THERE'S TOO MUCH VIEWERS FOR A RAID WTF POGGGG

“long hair, don’t care”

wilbur resurrection next stream pog?

he lost 30k poggg lets go raid ranboo!

“he says it’s gonna be easy and not take long at all, d o u b t”

GARBAGE DAY

#dream smp #mcyt #philza #wilbur soot #ghostbur #tubbo #ranboo #ranboolive #technoblade #eret

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dwellordream · 3 years

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“...It stands to reason that a society which is ruled by its male senior citizens through the control of younger and less powerful men would instill reverence for the wisdom of advancing age in its male youth. The Romans, we might observe, referred to previous generations as maiores, greater individuals, and employed the adjective magnus, great, in the kinship terms for parents' close male and female ascendants (a practice the English language has adopted with its use of the adjective "great" for kin of earlier generations); such a practice testifies to the Roman equation of seniority with superiority, and to the inclusion of women among its superior seniors.

Thus it should come as no surprise that older women seem to command more respect, inspire more awe, and have (or be perceived as having) greater social and political influence than do younger ones. In addition, Roman women along in years were more likely to have young male relatives who were eager to prove themselves worthy of and to their elders, and who were mindful of the nurturance they had recently received from mothers and older kinswomen; such young men were under special pressure to manifest their respect and awe for their female maiores through publicly visible gestures.

We have already examined the idealization in Tacitus' Dialogus of the moral instruction and intellectual sustenance provided for an eternally indebted Roman male youth committed to a life of public service by his upstanding female relatives; this picture is far from unique in Roman writings. Such a vision of an older Roman matron's function, and of Roman mother-son relations, seems the parodic point of Plautus' Casina. The play, composed immediately before the playwright's death in 184 B.C., was popular enough to be revived in the next generation. In it, the materfamilias Cleostrata intimidates her elderly and socially powerful husband both through proving herself his moral superior and, as her son's ally and abettor, by ingeniously securing for this son the sexual favors of a slave girl his father also covets.

By cleverly rendering her presumably grateful son such services, attracting admiration for her capable handling of this complex affair, but nonetheless setting herself up as a moral example in the process, she evidently travesties the Roman concept of a wise, righteous, and exemplary mother. This same vision, however, is reproduced as part of a serious moral and political exemplum in Livy's narrative on the Bacchanalian scandal, an episode which profoundly shook Roman society shortly before the Casina was first performed. Livy's young male protagonist Aebutius and his reluctantly influential courtesan mistress Hispala Fecinia manage to bring the matter to the consul Postumius' attention, and Postumius proceeds to bring the malefactors to justice, solely through the aid of Aebutia, amita (father's sister), to Aebutius, and Postumius' venerable mother-in-law Sulpicia.

These two older women—depicted as virtuous, beneficent, sagacious, deserving of male reverence and hence, by Livy's implication, truly "maternal"—are contrasted with two, far less admirable, matronly counterparts: Aebutius' own mother Duronia, whose devotion to both her second husband and his interest in depriving Aebutius of his patrimony led her to seek her son's undoing by having him initiated into Bacchic worship; the Campanian priestess Paculla Annia, who began the Bacchic cult's corrupting influence by initiating its first men, her own sons.

Livy's account, at 39.nff., of Postumius' efforts to ascertain, through Sulpicia, the character of Aebutia, warrants special notice since here he treats these two nurturant and publicly influential mother figures in a sympathetic and sentimentalizing fashion: he refers to the former woman as dignified, a gravis (and later a gravissima) femina, to the latter as morally upright and of old-fashioned ways, probam et antiqui moris; he even describes Aebutia as moved to tears by, the dreadful treatment of her brother's son (filius eius fiatris), also morally upright (probus), by those who should have been the last to do so.

Another, doubtlessly romanticized, moralizing tale also attests to both the esteem in which a young Roman male was to hold his elder kinswomen's judgment and moral authority and to the public display and political impact of such esteem, namely the story of Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Set in the mid-fifth century B.C., the story achieved great popularity in the classical period: a lost book by Cicero's closest friend Titus Pomponius Atticus featured Coriolanus prominently; Livy, Valerius Maximus, and Plutarch all treat his tragedy. Coriolanus has recently been called the "Roman archetype" of the "perpetual mama's boy" in a provocative psychoanalytic study of the Roman mother-son relationship, and for good reason: he allegedly valued his widowed mother so highly that he abandoned a traitorous march on Rome at the head of an enemy force only after she demanded that he desist.

There are less dramatic, and probably somewhat more reliable, pieces of ancient Roman testimony to the reverential regard of young Roman men for the older, maternal female members of their families, to their—and others'—experience of these women as significant and influential individuals, and to the frequent exhibition of both this regard and this experience in a larger sociopolitical context. Several laudationes Junebres, orations delivered by aristocratic Roman men (and usually youthful ones) to honor a deceased relative of political distinction, belong in this category.

Cicero reports that the first such speech in commemoration of a woman was given in 102 B.C. by the consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus to honor his mother Popilia; no young woman received this same recognition until over thirty years later, when Julius Caesar's second wife, Cornelia, was buried amid her husband's public praises. That same year, however, Caesar made a more memorable, or at least better remembered, contribution to funeral oratory with his laudation of his father's sister Julia, wife of the military and political leader Marius. Caesar's words first proclaimed the glory of this aunt's, and hence his own father's, maternal ancestry: The maternal lineage of my paternal aunt Julia descended from kings, the paternal is connected with the immortal gods.

For the Marcii Reges go back to Ancus Marcius, Marcia being the name of her mother, and the Julii, to which clan our family belongs, are offspring of Venus. There is, therefore, in her lineage both the holiness of kings, who have the greatest power among humans, and the religious quality of gods, in whose power are the kings themselves. Perhaps not insignificantly, Ancus Marcius, the early king from whom Julia's maternal Marcii traced their lineage, supposedly inherited Rome's throne through his maternal grandfather; so, too, the divinity from whom her (and her nephew's) paternal Julii avowed their descent was Venus, mother of the Trojan hero Aeneas.

A later, and also elderly, Julia, Caesar's sister, was hailed in the funeral laudatio upon her death in 51 B.C. by the twelve-year-old Octavius, whose mother Atia was Julia's daughter; through this maternal grandmother Octavius, later the emperor Augustus, could claim descent by blood, as well as adoption, from Venus and the Julian clan. The laudatio delivered in 42 B.C. to honor the nonagenarian Caecilia by her son Atticus, a man whose attraction to the Coriolanus legend we have already noted, stirred comment as providing proof of Atticus' familial devotion (pietas): said to be sixty-seven at the time, he pointed out that he had never once needed to apologize to his mother, nor quarreled with his sister, who was almost the same age as he.

One might also consider in this context an inscription generally dated to the early empire, the laudatio of a noble matron Murdia. It is dedicated by a son of the woman's first marriage, despite the fact that her second husband seems to have been numbered among her survivors. She is, moreover, identified only with the words Murdiae L(ucii) F(iliae) Matris, "Murdia, Lucius' daughter and my mother"; she is acclaimed by this son as "most precious to me" (carissima mihi), although he says nothing about affection between her and either husband.

Along with citing her modesty (modestia), upright character (probitas, an attribute we have seen noted in Livy's Aebutia and Aebutius), chastity (pudicitia), compliant nature (opsequium), wool-spinning (lanificium), conscientiousness, and trustworthiness (diligentia and fides), he cites her wisdom (.sapientia); what is more, he accords her special praise for treating all of her sons equally in her will. Both mater and amita also figure prominently in another, fairly early and important source for the public reverence awarded and sociopolitical significance clearly and justifiably ascribed to older Roman women of the upper classes by their younger male relatives.

…It may help further to elucidate why other young Roman men of the upper classes regarded their elder female relations, their own and other men's mothers, so seriously, looking upon them as socially and politically powerful figures deserving publicly visible homage. Atticus' sister of sixty-odd, Aemilia, the dowager sister of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, and the matrons who were sisters of Aemilia's son Publius Cornelius Scipio (and hence enjoyed the magnanimity of his adoptive son) obviously rank among older women, whether by age or by relation to their devoted male kin. But the concern publicly evinced for other, younger, women of high birth by their brothers, such as that displayed by Scipio in his munificence to his sisters, indicates that sisters in Roman elite society were also highly, and publicly, esteemed by their brothers.

Evidence from Roman comedy merits special note in this context. A lengthy passage from Plautus' Aulularia generalizes on the feelings and duties of brothers and sisters to one another: it depicts Roman brothers and sisters as partaking of a close relationship, sharing the same concerns, and looking to one another for advice; it depicts one particular sister, moreover, as expecting her advice to be followed. At lines i2off. Eunomia speaks of her sincere commitment to her brother Megadorus' best interests as "befitting a sister of the same parents" While acknowledging that brothers find sisters bothersome, she points out their mutual obligation to counsel and admonish one another, and even demands that Megadorus do what she orders; she justifies these demands on the grounds that she is closest to him and he to her.

More importantly, both Roman legend and Roman historical writing concur in their depiction of this fraternal esteem for sisters, and fraternal compliance with sisters' wishes, as having a substantial public impact among the Roman elite. They suggest that a Roman sister, though likely to be regarded with respect rather than veneration, and subtly complimented rather than eulogized, by her brother, often exerted influence of a political nature both on and through him; they indicate that various sisters publicly reflected in—and often actually benefited from—their brothers' social and political prestige.”

- Judith P. Hallett, “Women of Elite Families and Roman Society.” in Fathers and Daughters in Roman Society: Women and the Elite Family

#judith p. hallett #history #ancient #roman #fathers and daughters in roman society

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bloodygodling · 3 years

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L'manburg; Finishing Wilbur's Unfinished Symphony

A Historical Essay-S2

L’manburg, the second oldest nation within the Dream SMP, has been blown up thrice, and betrayed many times more. Too many betrayals, and in this season, too many new nations and alliances formed. And all over that, the Crimson is creeping into our lives, and into the bodies of many others. In this essay, I will, to the best of my ability, explain and analyse every action that the members of the Dream SMP have done, and attempt to predict the future of the next season, as Wilbur’s unfinished symphony is finally completed by three people and an unexpected alliance.

One thing I did not mention in my last essay was the 3 lives system. If one SMP member dies 3 times, or their chosen amount of lives, they ‘permadeath’ in the game, dying as if in real life. However, the death only counts as a ‘canon’ death if it was important to the plotline, dividing the deaths into ‘canon deaths’ and ‘respawnable deaths’. The current death counter of the time of writing (17/1/2021) can be found at the end of the essay, and the current death counter can be found on the Dream SMP Wiki.

New L’manburg is the nation of Manburg. But, you may remember that Manburg was blown up by Wilbur Soot, with underground nukes and bombs. However, the presidency of Tubbo_, along with Quackity and many others repaired the nuked mess of Manburg to a new nation, and gave it a new shine and charm. TommyInnit also helped rebuild, although he was more for fun than helping.

New L’manburg was also the home of several new members. In fact, following the tradition of the war periods before, 6 new members had joined the server, just like every other period following the wars before.

The new members were Ph1lza Minecraft, ConnorEatsPants, CaptainPuffy, Vikkstar123, LazerBeam and Ranboo. Many of these members play an important part in the later storyline.

After Schlatt’s funeral, Quackity took the remains of Schlatt, eating his heart during the drunk party, but kept all 5 of the bones. With these items, Quackity believes he could revive Schlatt from the dead, as Schlatt still had 1 canon life left.

Tommy and Ranboo burnt down GeorgeNotFound’s house together, but when taken to trial by the government, Tommy covered for Ranboo, due to Ranboo forgetting the event because of endermen memory loss. Yet, this event gave Dream an excuse to manipulate Tubbo and Tommy, and by extension the people of L’manburg. He threatened New L’manburg’s freedom, building obsidian walls around New L’manburg, and only agreed to take the walls down if Tommy was exiled and banished from his nation once more, under the justification of ‘removing rebels from your (Tubbo’s) nation.’

Tubbo, for the sake of his nation’s independence and his people’s freedom, decided to exile Tommy, disuniting the clingy duo. Dream took Tommy in a boat to a new plains biome, that no one had been before, and Ghostbur followed along. You see, the terms of Tommy’s exile was to leave to somewhere that was nowhere near civilization at all.

During Tommy’s time of exile, Dream played the part of a ‘friend’. He would manipulate Tommy into thinking he had no friends other than Dream, and even planned a beach party with Tommy, only to destroy the invites afterwards. Dream also destroyed Tommy’s armor and tools after the dusk of everyday.

One day, Tommy stored some armor and tools in a secret base under his house. Dream, however, when destroying his stuff with TNT found the stash. At this point in history, Tommy had tried to suicide many times, as he only had one life remaining (see 3 Lives System) through jumping into lava in the nether. Dream, however, stopped him. We can consider the reasons and motives of why Dream, the puppeteer of the server, decided to stop him from dying.

One possible reason is that if Dream wanted to keep Tubbo and therefore the rest of the server not within the lands of The Greater SMP Nation. Dream has been cutting away at everything with meaning to him, as if cutting the strings and ropes that held him down.

Another important thing to remember is that Dream swapped sides just before the Manburg-Pogtopia war, because of something Schlatt gave Dream before his heart attack/stroke killed him. But, on the topic of Schlatt, he hasnt burnt through all his lives. The Manburg Festival firework death, and his heart attack/stroke leaves him with one life remaining, although we’ll talk more about this later.

That special something was a written book. But, Dream said that the book didn't contain any ‘war” information. So, what could have that book contained? We know it wasn't a simple joke, as Dream isn't playing around and wouldn't give up his position on the winning side for a joke; this is evident in him cutting all attachment to him, removing his friends, and ignoring the leather of his dead horse Spirit.

It couldn't be a hint to the third disk in Tommy’s possession; everyone knows it is in his enderchest, safe. I believe it was a book of information(see Schlatt’s book), causing Dream to become self-aware. Dream’s motives were always evil, but self-awareness could have made him more cautious, or be able to carry out these plans more efficiently. Self-awareness did not make Dream evil though, as he was aiming to destroy the people of L’manburg from the start, a tyrant like the ones Technoblade swears to destroy.

Back to Tommy, his last stint at Logstedshire, the plains biome, named by Ghostbur, Tommy tried to kill himself again, after Dream blowing his stuff up again, this time from jumping off a height that would surely kill him. However, he changed his mind half jump, and landed in a pool of water, breaking his fall. The tall one-block wide tower, however, remained.

Tommy left Logstedshire, and ran his way, over many days, to his old ally, Technoblade’s house. He lived there, stealing from Techno for food and supplies.

During this time where most fans focused on Tommy and Dream’s exile shenanigans, BadBoyHalo, Antfrost, Skeppy and CaptainPuffy discovered an egg in Bad’s statue room. The egg was red and crimson in colour, and gained the nickname of The Crimson. Some ‘vines’ composed of red blocks also spread from the egg. Bad showed Dream and Awsamdude the egg, and told them to touch it, saying that it would make them feel good. Dream and Sam seemed repulsed to the egg, however.

The egg has been proven to be able to corrupt minds, as when Puffy touched it later, she became more greedy and self-centred. The egg can also control certain minds, such as Skeppy’s, to become protective or attached to the egg. Ponz found a small piece of red vine in his base, and became attached to it, calling it ‘Lil Red’. Bad protected the egg, and Skeppy just wanted to stay with it, even after knowing the risks.

Bad and Ant, both manipulated by the egg, spread the vines to different parts of the server through placing crimson nylium, which would pass on the crimson vines. But, those affected by crimson and the crimson itself had a couple of weaknesses. Holy water from Church Prime(also see Twitch Prime) would remove the corruption from the corrupted and controlled, and kill the crimson it was put on. Soul flames, similar to the fires lit on soul sand or soul soil, would burn the crimson vines. However regular fires do not work. Also, the uniforms from Church Prime acts similar to hazmat suits when examining the egg.

After Sam removed the corruption from Bad, Ant and Puffy, he explained the above weaknesses to the group. Sam had been researching the crimson this whole time. Skeppy, however, due to prolonged contact with the egg, was not able to be ‘cleansed’ of the egg’s corruption.

Philza was put under house arrest after the government discovered him helping a fugitive: Technoblade. A compass leading to Techno’s house was discovered in a chest of Philza’s house, and a branch of the government named The Butcher Army decided to take one of Technoblade’s canon lives, although Techno had decided not to be destructive or make any threats towards New L’manburg.

The Butcher Army ventured to the tundra, and told Technoblade he was under trial. Of course, Techno refused to be arrested, and he fought off the army until Quackity took Techno’s horse, Carl and threatened Carl’s life. Techno then agreed to go to trial, as long as his horse didn't get hurt.

When they returned to New L’manburg, it was revealed that it was not a trial, but an execution for Techno’s previous war crimes of spawning withers. However, Technoblade managed to escape with Dream and Punz’s help (Punz being hired as hitman by Dream), and Techno now owes Dream a favor.

Technoblade discovered Tommy living in his house after a couple of days, and offered him an ultimatum: either side with him, or die in the freezing cold of the snow tundra. Tommy chose the former, and the alliance between the two was formed, only because Tommy desired to get back his disks to stop the conflict.

Tubbo once ventured to Logstedshire, and saw Tommy’s tower, and believed that Tommy had killed himself, and was dead. But, this next point of conflict will end the sadness around Tubbo’s death, and start a new bout of angst.

The two ventured to L’manburg a couple of times, but the main focus of these travels was the final trip together. They were confronted by 20 people at the blown up community house, with no knowledge of what was going on.

It turns out, Dream found out that the oldest structure on the server, the community house, was blown up by ‘Tommy’. To everyone’s knowledge, no one else would do it other than Tommy, yet Tommy had no motive to do so. So everyone believed Dream, until Tommy and Techno showed up. Dream was building back up the obsidian walls to prevent L’manburg from having freedom. Tubbo and the other members of the cabinet were protesting, but Dream being the powerful entity, ignored them.

Techno was willing to fight all 20+ people at the meeting, but Tommy turned sides and joined Tubbo and the government in uniting L’manburg, ignoring the disks. Techno, Philza, who had left his house, and Dream decided to unite and destroy the government; and not just setting bombs under L’manburg, they wanted to make it so that nothing could rise up again.

On the final day(6/1/2021), Technoblade, Dream and Philza bombed L’manburg with TNT droppers from the sky, and destroyed the whole country. Many people see L’manburg as running out of canon lives (see L’manburg in the glossary). Niki, against the government but not necessarily an Anarchist, burnt down the L’manburg Tree, also known as the L’mantree or the L’tree. She then said one of the main lines, ‘It was never meant to be.’

Technoblade spawned in approximately 11 withers, and blew up the Bee House first. His hound army also helped with thinning out the crowd. However, none of the deaths counted as canon during this time.

Yet, there is one thing to remember: Dream didn't call in his favor from Technoblade, which will be important in the plot of season 3.

Without any information from season 3 leaking in, I believe that the favor Technoblade owes Dream will be used very well, and I hope that no one starts a new government, otherwise the Arctic Anarchists will come back to shut it down.

#dream smp #my writing #skye writes #how do i tag #someone tell me tags to add to this

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blackswaneuroparedux · 4 years

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Anonymous asked: I always think of you as Kristin Scott Thomas’ character Fiona in Four Weddings and a Funeral as a beautiful woman who is scarily clever and classy. So with my upcoming wedding (next year!) and especially wedding music I thought of you. I really would appreciate your advice on Mendelssohn or Wagner as they seem to be the traditional choices of music to play at a traditional church wedding. My fiancé isn’t bothered what music we play but I can’t decide. Please do help as I value your unvarnished truth.

Thank you for the flattering words which while well intentioned are nevertheless entirely misplaced.

Swiftly moving on, a sincere congratulations on your forthcoming wedding. I can only imagine how stressful it must be running around like a headless chicken trying to desperately organise everything. And desperate you certainly must be - perhaps even certifiably insane - if you’re turning to me on Tumblr for advice!

I’m not married....yet ( oops! better get that caveat in before I am chastised by those who really know me) but I am a wedding veteran - some would even say, a jaded one (thank you, mummy).

Every season there is a string of wedding invitations that I can’t turn down and I feel obligated to attend. While great fun, one wedding starts to blur into another especially when the champagne starts to copiously flow. I have my own thoughts on the good, the bad, and the tacky about wedding etiquette but I don’t want to disappear down that rabbit hole. Instead let’s talk about Mendelssohn and Wagner.

Both music pieces have traditionally struck a chord (pardon the pun) and have become a staple of traditional weddings since time immemorial.

Mendelssohn's ‘Wedding March’ was originally composed in 1842. He got there first.

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Wagner's ‘Bridal Chorus’ came later in 1848. The ‘Bridal Chorus’ became a popularised piece to play at weddings around Europe after it was most memorably used as the processional at the wedding of Victoria, the Princess Royal to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858. Nowadays - certainly in Britain and the US - it is generally known as "Here Comes the Bride”.

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I suppose the straight forward answer is that it doesn’t have to be Wagner vs. Mendelssohn. Why not both? Wagner’s ‘Bridal Chorus’ can be used for the entrance processional of the bride walking down the aisle and the Mendelssohn ‘Wedding March’ for the recessional walk out of the church.

But you did say you wanted my ‘unvarnished truth’ so allow me the small luxury of an arm chair rant from the Coronavirus self-isolation of my Paris apartment.

Of the two I would definitely ditch the Wagner piece. Please don’t misunderstood me. I am a huge fan of Wagner’s music - like any true Wagnerian I have taken more than one pilgrimage to Beyreuth - but in this case playing Wagner’s music would show a frightful ignorance of the meaning behind the ‘Bridal Chorus’ piece.

I don’t know why more people haven’t picked up on this but I’ve always found it a terribly odd piece to play at a wedding especially as it originates from Wagner’s masterful opera, Lohengrin.

Wagner came upon the opera's inspiration around 1845 when he took interest in the legend of the Holy Grail through the poems of Wolfram von Eschenbach and the anonymous epic of Lohengrin. Composed by 1848, Lohengrin features "Bridal Chorus" as the prelude to a very short-lived, doomed marriage between Elsa and Lohengrin.

The famous ‘Bridal Chorus’ is lustily sung by women of the bridal party serenading Elsa to the bridal suite after the wedding in Act III. Elsa is not allowed to know her true knight’s true name and identity. But this is a romantic German opera and so of course Lohengrin is found out with dire consequences for all. A sad Lohengrin ends up revealing that he is in fact a knight of the Grail and son of King Parsifal, sent to protect an unjustly accused woman. The laws of the Holy Grail say that Knights of the Grail must remain anonymous. If their identity is revealed, they must return home. Lohengrin is lead back to the castle of the Holy Grail. Elsa is grief stricken at being left behind. Poor Elsa (naturally) collapses and dies with a broken heart.

Charming.

To say it’s not the happiest of allusions of looking forward to a long life of wedded bliss would be an understatement.

However my objections against Wagner’s ‘Bridal Chorus’ goes beyond this. For one thing I find it rather too sombre - Oh dear God! Is marriage really like this?!

My main ire is that it overly used and therefore boring to listen to. And when one is bored the mind wanders.

In my case, without sounding malicious, my mind just drifts to whispering mischievous lyrics under my breath that go like, “here comes the bride, big fat and wide, here comes the groom, skinny as a broom.” Try as I might I can never get those words out of my silly mind whenever I hear the organ music playing “Here come’s the bride.” Not my finest hour.

Now Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March’ is different beast entirely. Beast being the operative word as we are dealing with Pagan deities.

Typically used in church wedding recessionals, the ‘Wedding March’ piece has sparked controversy due to its literary origins. The Prussian monarch Friedrich Wilhelm IV commissioned Mendelssohn to compose incidental music for many pieces that were based upon Greek mythology and tragedy in order to revive the genre of literature and performance. Among his commissions, in 1843 Mendelssohn composed a setting for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream; the setting comprises twelve musical numbers and a finale. The plot of Shakespeare's play focuses on a pagan god and goddess and is filled with fairies, magic, and fantasy. Due to the piece's pagan, fantastic inspirations, some puritanical leaders and musicians - particularly in Roman Catholic churches - have found the piece to be inappropriate for a Christian religious ceremony. In its defence at least Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream was a comedy with a happy ending.

If you’re feeling traditional rather than puritanical then the joyous Mendelssohn ‘Wedding March’ might still be a great option either as a processional or recessional.

If you’re looking for options outside of either Wagner and Mendelssohn then it’s really a matter of exercising good taste alongside what suits the personal tone of your wedding.

Off the top of my head I keep coming back to Johann Sebastian Bach.

Bach’s many cantatas and fugues seem to tick all the boxes. In particular there is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (derived from the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, "Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life”). There is also the Toccata and Fugue in D minor ‘Dorian’ BWV 538 and the Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540. Arioso in A flat for solo piano from Cantata No. 156 "Ich steh`mit einem Fuss im Grabe is softly elegant. A particular favourite piece of mine is Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202, the ‘Wedding Cantata’. Of course many would point out that Bach’s Ave Maria would be perfect for a processional but I would think twice about that. As beautiful as the piece is it is about the Virgin Mary after all and you may invite unwanted speculation from your guests if you are (cough) chaste.

Trumpet Tune in D by Jeremiah Clarke is a little more festive. Or consider his more famous Trumpet Voluntary ‘The Prince of Denmark's March’.

Charles-Marie Widor was a fine composer and his Toccata (from Symphony for Organ No. 5) is spiritually intense for traditional organ music.

Eugène Gigout's famous Grand Chœur Dialogué might appeal to you as well.

G.F. Handel’s Water Music Suite - Air has a graceful and calming tone. The Arrival of The Queen of Sheba (Solomon) HWV 67 is upbeat and was made for a processional.

Beethoven’s Für Elise is perfect to calm last minute panic attacks before you go up the aisle.

And how can one forget Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?

The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 or more commonly known as Eine kleine Nachtmusik KV. 525 - II. Romanze: Andante is a beautiful melody familiar to many and sets a soothing tone. Ave verum corpus, K.618 is profoundly spiritual and lifts your hearts up to the angels. ‘Alleluia’ from ‘Exsultate, jubilate’ is wonderful if you can get your hands on a competent soprano. If you are feeling more adventurous then the Spanish Wedding March from The Marriage of Figaro which might be to your taste.

Elgar’s Salut d'Amour, Op. 12 is soft, inviting and makes one feel you’re in some 19th Century romance novel set at court.

Elgar finished the piece in July 1888, when he was romantically involved with Caroline Alice Roberts, and he called it Liebesgruss ('Love's Greeting') because of Miss Roberts' fluency in German. When he returned home to London on 22 September from a holiday at the house of his friend Dr. Charles Buck, in Settle, he presented it to her as an engagement present. The dedication was in French: à Carice. 'Carice' was a combination of his wife's names Caroline Alice, and was the name to be given to their daughter born two years later.

Edvard Grieg’s Wedding Day at Troldhauen, Op. 65, no. 6 is magnificently playful.

Jean-Joseph Mouret’s Rondeau from Sinfonie de Fanfares is a beautiful Baroque piece. What’s a wedding without trumpets that could be heard all the way into the heavens?

Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits from his Orfeo et Euridice can be an elegant choice to do a recessional. Perfect for sensitive souls.

Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane, Op. 50 is sublime. I can never get tired of listening to it. Would make a worthy piece as a processional.

I would also throw into the mix Gaetano Donizetti’s ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ (A furtive tear) is the romanza from Act II of his delightful opera L'elisir d'amore.

It is sung by Nemorino (a tenor) when it appears that the love potion he bought to win the heart of his dream lady, Adina, works. Nemorino is in love with Adina, but she is not interested in a relationship with an innocent, rustic man. To win her heart, Nemorino buys a love potion with all the money he has in his pocket. That love potion is actually a cheap red wine sold by a traveling quack doctor, but when he sees Adina weeping, he knows that she has fallen in love with him, and he is sure that the "elixir" has worked. It may not fit your idea of a processional but I would try and use it some where in your wedding - perhaps at the reception.

I feel guilty about trashing on Wagner and Mendelssohn so I will leave you with two final thoughts. Reconsider Wagner’s opera Lohengrin. Forget the Bridal Chorus but instead listen to the chorus ‘Gesegnet soll sie schreiten’ in Act II. The various horns give this chorus a dreamlike quality and you feel like you are floating on air. Mendelssohn’s On Wings of Song is a powerful and poignant piano piece and quite suitable to play as your guests away your arrival in church.

I am sure there are other great classical music pieces that I have neglected to mention but others reading this might give their thoughts in the comments below.

If knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, then wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. So give careful and considered thought to what music you throw together into the mix as your church wedding processional and recessional.

Congratulations again and I hope it’s a special day for both of you and your families and friends.

Thanks for your question.

#question #wedding #music #wedding music #classical #tradition #church wedding #processional #recessional #personal #bio

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angelofthequeers · 4 years

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Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 49

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Thank you SO much to everyone that’s stuck with this fic and read it to the very end!

@smolplantmum tagged as requested :)

Chapter 48 | AO3 link

“Selfish! Selfish!”

“Don’t you love me anymore, Adrien? Don’t you love your mother? All it takes is a wish –”

Cold, numb, frozen, not Adrien, not Chat Noir, no one, he’s no one, can’t feel, can’t see, can’t breathe, help, help, someone help –

Adrien gasps and jolts when the underground garden vanishes before his eyes and is instead replaced with a dark room, with unsynced breathing and warm weight all around him. Oh. Oh. Right. He’s not trapped underground with Hawkmoth and his dying zompire mother, her skin grey and black and wizened in the nightmare that haunts him every night. He’s in Marinette’s room, in the middle of a gigantic blanket pile on the floor, with Marinette snoring into his hair, Luka clinging to his left arm for dear life, and Kagami appearing to have an arm slung around Marinette’s waist, from what he can make out in the darkness.

He’s safe. He’s safe. But every time he closes his eyes, he can’t escape: from the comatose mother who couldn’t be revived due to the degree of Miraculous damage from the Peacock, whose funeral had apparently been earlier that week, though he remembers absolutely none of it; from the father who’d been sentenced to life in prison only yesterday in possibly the quickest trial ever held, the universe stripping him of both parents in the span of two weeks, and even Nathalie, who’s taken up damage control for the company but who’s never at the mansion anymore; from the chill, the freezing cold emptiness that plagues him when he least expects it, remnants of the akumatisation that he can’t remember. Have the last two weeks even happened? Or has he just been stuck in one, long, disjointed dream, to wake up before he becomes Phantom and to realise that he has to go through this all over again?

“Are you okay, Mr Adrien?” whispers a small voice. Something small snuggles into the crook of his neck, and Adrien’s breath catches in his chest until he reaches up to feel the softness of fairy wings and realises that it’s Nooroo.

“Sorry I woke you,” Adrien murmurs. Thank god none of the others had awoken, because they’ve been jerked awake enough times lately from his nightmares and there’s no sense in them being as miserably bone-tired as he’s been since Hawkmoth’s defeat.

“You didn’t wake me,” Nooroo says. “I can feel your emotional pain, so I’ve been staying awake to keep watch over you.”

“You don’t have to –”

“I do, Mr Adrien. I’m…I’m the reason why…”

Adrien shakes his head. Careful not to wake his partners, he untangles himself from Marinette and Luka’s grips and then tiptoes over to Marinette’s bed to climb out onto the balcony through the hatch. The Parisian night air is cool but not freezing, thank god, because staying in the cold for too long now makes Adrien’s heart race for reasons he can only assume are akuma-related.

“It wasn’t your fault, Nooroo,” Adrien finally says once Nooroo’s snuggling in under his shirt. There’s a flash of black and green out of the corner of his eye and then Plagg’s joining them, wriggling in on Adrien’s other side and purring against Adrien’s collar. Adrien slumps in his seat and hugs his knees to his chest, shivering when the cool breeze brushes over his bare feet.

“But it was my akuma, Mr Adrien. If it wasn’t for me –”

“Could you help it? Could you stop Father from transforming and akumatising people?”

“N-No…I tried to sway him, to push him away from evil, but he wouldn’t listen. And we kwamis are bound to obey our masters.”

“Then how is it your fault?” Adrien reaches up to cup Nooroo with one hand, then hugs Plagg with his other hand so that his own kwami isn’t left out. “You did all you could. He’s the one who chose to do that. He’s the one who went that far to get Mother back instead of moving on like a normal person. He’s…I feel like the worst son ever for even thinking this, but I’m glad he’s gone. I’m glad I don’t ever have to see him again. And then I remind myself that he was doing the best he could –”

“Nah,” Plagg says. “He really wasn’t. If he was, he wouldn’t’ve grabbed Nooroo in the first place. And you’re not a bad person for feeling that way, kid. He akumatised you. You can play pretend all you want, but you know how violating it is to be akumatised like that. The Butterfly’s meant to empower you, not do…that. And every other friend of yours can back you up, except for Pigtails and Guitar Boy, and Hawkdick didn’t go tormenting everyone else like he did with you.”

“Plagg –”

“Adrien. Kid.” Plagg wriggles free of Adrien’s hand so that he can float up in front of Adrien’s face, his bright green eyes holding Adrien’s gaze captive. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help. You tried to deal with Lila’s touchy crap by yourself and look where that got you till you listened to your friends. I get your dad’s a massive pile of dicks and taught you that you can’t speak up when you don’t like something or when you need help, but he was wrong. You got those amazing partners down there and you got friends that’ll have your back through thick and thin. Lean on ‘em, kid. They’re there to take some of the weight.”

“But…” Adrien blinks rapidly to try and quell the stinging in his eyes, but it just causes the tears to well up faster. “If I admit I need help…Plagg, I won’t ever stop asking. What if it gets too much? What if they can’t handle me? I don’t think I could bear to lose them.”

“They won’t, Mr Adrien,” Nooroo says, still snuggling against Adrien. “I’ve felt their emotions since I bonded with Master Luka. They all care so much for you and all they want to do is help. And you’ll be there to help them in return when they need help. That’s what makes you partners and best friends.”

“Okay, but even if I said you were right – which you’re not – it’s, like, one in the morning,” Adrien says. “I can’t wake them up just for my angst.”

“Why not? You’d insist they wake you if the roles were reversed,” Plagg drawls. “And the fact that you’re calling trauma angst really says a lot about your daddy dearest.” Then he phases through the floor before Adrien can even begin to process that.

“Plagg!” Adrien hisses. “No – don’t you dare – I swear –” He groans and crosses his arms. “Stupid cat. Sometimes, I wish he’d just do what I tell him to do.”

“Trust me, you don’t want that at all,” Nooroo whispers. It only takes a moment of frowning down at the kwami for Adrien to realise the implications of what he’d just said.

“Oh, no, no!” Adrien reaches up to cup Nooroo again. “No, Nooroo, I don’t mean – it’s just something I say when I’m frustrated. God, I’d never…I could never treat him like that.”

“I know, Mr Adrien. I suppose I was just…reminded of unpleasant memories.”

“Adrien?” The hatch door creaks open and a mess of black hair pokes out, accompanied by bleary grey eyes, and holy crap, how can Marinette be so beautiful even when she’s half-asleep? “Plagg said you needed us?”

“I don’t need you,” Adrien snaps. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean – goddammit, Plagg!”

Marinette’s face softens and she holds out a hand. “Come back to bed, kitty,” she says. “Even if you don’t need us, it’s okay to want us.”

“But –”

“Adrien Agreste, if you’re trying to be a martyr, I give Marinette full permission to throw you off the balcony,” calls Kagami’s voice from inside the room. Adrien can’t hold back his snort at that, and that’s the opening that Marinette needs to climb half-out of her room and latch onto his ankle.

“I’ll stay here all night if I have to,” she says. A pair of arms rise out of the hatch to slip around her waist.

“Tell us when to start pulling,” Luka’s voice says. “We’ll get this cat on a leash one way or another.”

A burst of laughter splutters out of Adrien. He fails to hold back another one, then he’s devolving into such a hysterical fit of laughter that he slides out of his seat and ends up on his back on the cool concrete. Somewhere in the middle of his breakdown, his laughter turns to choked sobs, then the dam bursts and tears start streaming down his cheeks for the first time since before his mother had disappeared.

“Shh,” murmurs a voice, enveloping him in warmth, along with arms and skin and rustling clothes all around him. “It’s okay, Adrien. Let it out.”

He’s not sure which one of his partners had said that. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Not when they’re all there for him, each one supporting him all the same but bringing different warmth, different light waves, to him. Luka’s a vivid indigo, somehow both freezing and scorching at the same time, but not the kind of freezing that threatens to pitch him into unwanted flashbacks. Kagami’s a warm gold, fiery and brilliant but also subdued enough to dim herself when needed, to avoid overload. And Marinette’s a deep scarlet, hot and full of passion, throwing herself into life with everything she has no matter her guise, much more a crackling wildfire than a hurricane now that he knows her so much better. And maybe that’s why he loves them so much.

“We can’t thank you enough, Chloé,” Luka says once they’ve left Le Grand Paris to head back to Marinette’s place, with the Gorilla driving closely behind them. “I’m sure Adrien’s aunt is a wonderful person –”

“No need for pleasantries,” Chloé scoffs. “Wonderful person or not, no way is Adrichat going to live with that aunt and cousin of his. As if anyone’s going to let Chat Noir move to England, especially when I’m the daughter of the mayor of Paris…”

Honestly, most of what Chloé’s saying is going in one ear and out the other for Marinette. All she can focus on is the disturbing mix of both overwhelming emotion and suffocating numbness radiating off Adrien, easily detectable even without the empathetic abilities that Luka has or the little purple brooch that’s fastened to his jacket, disguised among other pins. But Marinette doesn’t have a clue what to do. How are you supposed to help someone who’s mourning their mother for a second time and whose father tortured them and now won’t ever see them again?

“The Gorilla’s cool,” Adrien says with a weak smile. “He knows I’ll be at Marinette’s or Luka’s or Kagami’s a lot of the time.”

“Or at my hotel,” Chloé supplies.

“Yeah, that. He doesn’t really care where I am so long as, well…he knows I’m okay, I guess. Physically,” Adrien adds just as Luka opens his mouth. “Thanks for helping him get custody, Chlo.”

“Hmph. Of course.” Chloé flips her ponytail. “I’ve known him for as long as I’ve known you. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to take care of you, Adrichat.”

“Sometimes, I wonder if Gorilla and Nathalie are the only two adults who ever cared about me.” Adrien’s shoulders slump. “Mother can’t have cared that much if – if she kept using the Peacock –”

“Hey.” Marinette stops and grabs Adrien’s hand. Kagami grabs his other hand and Luka, being the tallest, just wraps all three of them in a hug on the spot. There’s a little huff from Chloé, but she doesn’t complain about being left out like she might have just a few months ago.

“You don’t have to forgive her,” Luka says. “You don’t ever have to be okay with what happened.”

“Just so long as you don’t try to be a martyr and push us away,” Kagami says. “You’re so annoyingly self-sacrificing.”

“Yep, that’s Adrikins to a tee,” Chloé drawls. “Okay, like, can I have my best friend back?”

After a few moments, Marinette, Luka, and Kagami release Adrien to let him gulp in shuddering breaths. Chloé jumps onto his back, just like when she used to tackle and cling to him, except that this time, Adrien’s arms fly back to grab Chloé and hold her securely as she wraps her legs around his waist and clings to him like a monkey.

“Are you…giving her a piggyback?” Marinette splutters. Chloé flips her off.

“Buzz off, Dupain-Cheng. Adrien and I used to do this all the time as kids.”

“I just don’t think any of us imagined that Chloé Bourgeois would enjoy piggyback rides,” Kagami drawls. Chloé pokes her tongue out in response.

“If I never see my mother again and cop her “ridiculously childish” lectures, it’ll be too soon,” Chloé says. “Thank god she fucked off back to New York. I’ve never felt this light in years, and I didn’t even realise till now.”

“Last time I gave Chlo a piggyback was when we were nine,” Adrien says, nearly tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. Chloé shrieks and tightens her arms and legs so much that he chokes until she loosens her grip. “Then she sniffed at me and said that only babies did that, but she was a young lady.”

“Are you sure that you’re –” Marinette begins.

“The only reason I won’t deck you if you finish that sentence is because you’re Ladybug,” Chloé says without even looking at Marinette. Marinette’s pretty sure that it’s more to do with not wanting to upset Adrien by attempting to murder one of his girlfriends, but she manages to hold her tongue. Just.

“Please don’t kill my lady,” Adrien jokes, but the twitch of his lips is weak. Marinette and Chloé exchange looks, then come to an unspoken truce.

“Look, Adrikins, you’re not gonna be alone, alright?” Chloé says with an uncharacteristically soft look. “It’s not just me and your fucked-up father anymore.”

“You were nowhere near as bad as him,” Adrien says. Chloé just shrugs.

“Well, you’ve also got those three. And you’ve also got the Ladyblogger and DJ Tupac. I’m not gonna pretend I know how you’re feeling, but I do know what it’s like to have a parent put you through hell. As if I’d let you be alone.”

Adrien’s lips twitch and he stops outside the bakery and sets Chloé down so that he can hug her. “Thanks, Chlo,” he murmurs into her hair.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, enough with the mush!” Chloé protests, though she contradicts herself by moving her hands to his back to hug him. “I so don’t have time for this. Unlike you, I have places to be.”

“Really? Like where?” Kagami says. Chloé raises a perfect eyebrow.

“I…may be hanging out with Kubdel,” she mutters. Kagami tilts her head with an innocent smile.

“I didn’t hear you. Could you speak up?”

“I’m hanging out with Alix Kubdel because I’ve been thinking about her since the Sanguisuga thing, okay?” Chloé shrieks. With a huff, she crosses her arms and stalks off.

“Did I do something wrong?” Kagami says as Marinette holds the bakery doors open so that they can slip inside and head on upstairs. “I was only trying to tease her as a friend.”

“I guess it just wasn’t the right time?” Marinette says. Kagami sighs and looks down.

“I wish I could “read the room” better, as most people say. Now I have to go and apologise to her.”

“You can’t exactly help not being able to read the atmosphere sometimes.” Marinette waits until they’re in her bedroom to grab one of Kagami’s hands and squeeze, and Adrien takes her other arm and pulls her close. “What matters is that you realised you messed up and you need to apologise.”

“What Mari said.” Adrien leans down to kiss the top of Kagami’s head. Her cheeks pinken and she leans into his touch with a soft smile. “It did make me want to laugh, if that makes you feel better.”

“…A little, yes. We should –”

Whatever Kagami’s going to say is cut off by a colossal roar from outside that shakes the building and nearly sends them crashing to the floor. What the heck? An akuma? But that’s not possible! Luka and Nooroo are right here!

“It’s…a lava monster?” Luka says once all four of them have scrambled up onto Marinette’s balcony and are leaning over the railing to find the source of the sound a few streets away. “But how? I haven’t even tried to create any champions!”

“Oh.” Nooroo’s wings droop as he’s joined by Tikki, Plagg, and Longg. “It’s not an akuma. It’s a sentimonster.”

Marinette’s mouth dries until it’s more arid than a desert. “A sentimonster?” she croaks. “But that’s – the Peacock creates sentimonsters, and it’s not broken anymore since Master Fu got back from Tibet –”

“Indeed,” Longg sighs. “It seems that whoever has stolen Duusu and Roaar is Hawkmoth’s ally after all. It’s possible that we will also encounter a Tiger wielder, if this Peacock has an ally of their own.”

“Just when I thought it was all over,” Adrien groans.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Marinette takes his hand and runs her thumb over the back of it.

“I mean, I was kind of expecting it. I guess I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop since the Peacock and Tiger were stolen. But we’ve got something that the Peacock and Tiger wielders don’t have.” Adrien takes Marinette and Kagami’s hands, and Luka grabs Marinette’s free hand. “We’ve got each other.”

“That,” Marinette says, “was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’m so exposing you in the group chat tonight.”

“But milady!” Adrien pouts. Marinette absolutely refuses to acknowledge the way her stomach flips and shivers at those kitty eyes, because there’s no way in hell she’s handing Adrien that victory. “I thought you loved me!”

“Oh my god, can you guys hurry the hell up?” Honeybee’s standing on the roof behind them with crossed arms, tapping her foot, as the four of them whirl around. “That thing’s not gonna ice itself! Shut up!” she splutters when Adrien grins at her for her joke.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” A slim figure with magenta-tipped brown hair and a tight magenta suit lands on the building next to the lava sentimonster. From this distance, the only details Marinette can make out are that her long hair is bunched near the end and her angular face is framed by two thick locks of brown hair. “Come out and give your Miraculouses up, or Mayura’s sentimonster and I, Felina, will destroy Paris! Where are you, Adrien?”

Adrien immediately throws himself to the ground in case the magenta girl – Felina, obviously the wielder of the Tiger Miraculous – happens to look his way.

“Looks like it’s time to introduce Morpho to the world, then,” Luka sighs. “Not that anyone will trust me. I’m pretty sure the sight of an akuma’s going to make them run the other way.”

“We did mention in our press conference that the Butterfly was in good hands now instead of evil,” Marinette says. “But yeah, I think Hawkmoth’s wounds are too deep to heal overnight. It can’t hurt to try, though.”

“We should transform before Honeybee Venoms us and throws us at the sentimonster,” Kagami says. Honeybee’s eye twitches.

“Don’t give me ideas. I’ll meet you losers there.”

Marinette grins at her partners as Honeybee leaps away. “Ready, guys?”

“But of course, bugaboo,” Adrien says from the balcony ground. “Plagg, claws out!”

“Always. Longg, bring the storm!”

“I’ll always have your backs. Nooroo, wings rise!”

Marinette’s grin widens at the sight of Chat Noir, Ryuuko, and Morpho before her. Morpho’s outfit is less formal and stuffy than Hawkmoth’s had been; his rich purple blazer is open over a button-down shirt that’s silver with black butterflies and artfully undone a few buttons down from his throat. The sleeves of both his blazer and shirt are rolled to his elbows and the lapels flare out like butterfly wings, and he also has a pair of black fingerless gloves and silver boots that rise halfway up his calves, over his tight indigo pants. His teal tips have turned the same rich purple as his blazer and, in contrast to his distressed formal outfit, his mask looks airy and delicate, with silver butterfly wings arching from the sides of his face, a silver butterfly body and antennae over his nose and forehead, and pale purple detailing that blends with the silver. The Butterfly Miraculous, now with four thin lilac spikes like wings, rests on his left breast.

“Not bad, Morpho,” Chat Noir says with his usual roguish wink. “I don’t know why you didn’t let us see this until now.”

“I was trying to get used to the fact that I had the same magic jewel as the major supervillain,” Morpho says dryly. “And it’s only the second time I’ve transformed.”

“Well, it suits you. A lot,” Marinette says. “It’s perfect for kicking sentimonster butt. Speaking of which…Tikki, spots on!”

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acelez · 4 years

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50 songs that remind me of Supernatural (or give off SPN vibes)

Renegade - Styx

Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd

Bones into Dust - Fred Haring

Down in the Valley - The Head and the Heart

Lost in my Mind - The Head and the Heart

When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Cat's in the Cradle - Harry Chapin

It's My Life - Bon Jovi

Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi

Baba O'Riley - The Who

In My Time of Dying - Led Zeppelin

Kashmir - Led Zeppelin

Heat of the Moment - Asia

Creep - Radiohead

Hang On To Your Life - The Guess Who

Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison

What Is and What Should Never Be - Led Zeppelin

Black Dog - Led Zeppelin

Nothing Else Matters - Metallica

Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers

Lean on Me - Bill Withers

California (Cast Iron Soul) - Jamestown Revival

Dream On - Aerosmith

See the Funny Little Clown - Bobby Goldsboro

On the Turning Away - Pink Floyd

S.O.B. - Nathaniel Rateliff

The Reason - Hoobastank

How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty

First Class - Rainbow Kitten Surprise

So Far Away - Staind

Run Boy Run - Woodkid

Glitter and Gold - Barns Courtney

Intro III - NF

Funeral Beds - The Districts

Livin' On a Prayer - Bon Jovi

'74-'75 - The Connels

Highway to Hell - AC/DC

Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Never Say Die - Black Sabbath

Good Times Bad Times - Led Zeppelin

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin

Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Song Remains the Same - Led Zeppelin

Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan

Bonus

51. Wake Up Little Susie - The Everly Brothers

This song was used in episode 7.17, "The Born-Again Identity" in which Sam was hit by a car and then institutionalized due to his psychotic break. The song starts playing when Sam is just about to drift off and Hallucifer suddenly begins throwing firecrackers, interrupting his near-slumber.

#spn #spnfandom #song recommendation #supernatural #sam and dean #sam winchester #dean winchester #queue #castiel #lucifer #rock music #music

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allgirlsareprincesses · 5 years

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Still More Search for the Lost Husband: The Revival of the Prince in Star Wars

Yes, there’s more! Though I covered this to an extent in my original folktale post, I felt a deeper look into the resurrection motif of The Search for the Lost Husband was necessary, especially in light of the new Hux comic. As the lovely @corseque has pointed out (have I tagged her in every post I’ve made so far? I hope so, because I stand on the shoulders of giants….), Ben Solo is clearly presented as the Sleeping Prince, metaphorically dead just like Anakin Skywalker. I’d love to delve a bit into the actual folktales that are the basis of this motif, how it appears as a pattern in Star Wars, and what that means for Ben Solo’s redemption and likely resurrection in The Rise of Skywalker.

In many versions of ATU-425, the lost husband is deathly ill, in a deep sleep, imprisoned, cursed, pretending to be dead, or some combination of the above. As with the flight of the fairy bride, this princely suitor is metaphorically dead, and in rare cases literally dead. After their separation, this is how the searching wife finds him when she comes to his rescue, and she may use any number of means to revive him: Sometimes she makes a blood sacrifice, others she might need to make him a special concoction, and often all that is needed is a declaration of love. Interestingly, the famous kiss of life doesn’t often appear in these tales as it does in the revival of the fairy wife, though sometimes Beauty kisses the Beast when she tearfully agrees to be his wife. Sometimes, the prince does not immediately recognize his wife after his revival, and she must complete another task or put on her royal raiment for him to know her as his true bride.

The most obvious place that this tale appears in Star Wars (before the Sequel Trilogy) is in the rescue of Han Solo in Return of the Jedi. Frozen in carbonite “in perfect hibernation,” Han is asleep, enchanted, imprisoned, and nearly dead when the princess creeps into Jabba’s throne room (in a palace of evil on a dead planet, no less) to rescue him. When she frees him from the carbonite, he falls to the floor as if dead, and then wakes to find that he is blind. I intend to cover this in a future post, but blindness in mythology is often used as a metaphor for death (which by the way is a pretty insidious form of historic ableism, but I digress). As Leia’s mask distorts her voice, he does not recognize her at first, but knows her immediately at her declaration of love and subsequent kiss of life. This one scene effectively crams nearly every revival motif from the Search for the Lost Husband into just a couple minutes of screen time.

The other obvious “sleeping prince” in the Skywalker Saga before the sequels is Anakin, although sadly we never see him revived by his bride. This is because his story ends tragically, as the Quest for the Lost Bride tales tend to do. That leaves only one more candidate for the classic rescue and happy ending of the Search for the Lost Husband, and that is our dear Ben Solo. Certainly it’s clear that Ben is in many ways metaphorically dead in the first two films of the final trilogy, but in the recent Hux comic, Lucasfilm has gone out of their way to show him sleeping, mask off, while Hux and another character discuss how much like his princess mother he is.

Given that the Lucasfilm Story Group is apparently being about as subtle as a sledgehammer at this point, what might we expect for Prince Ben in The Rise of Skywalker? Well, let’s review several ATU-425 revival stories to see the possibilities:

In East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon, the lassie arrives at the castle after her travels to find her prince imprisoned by an evil family of trolls. He is now betrothed to the troll princess, and will marry her in a matter of days. Using gifts given to her by those she met on her journey, the lassie buys the right to spend the night in the prince’s room. However, the cruel trolls make him a sleeping draught, and no matter what the girl tries to wake him, he sleeps on. The lassie tries a second night to wake the prince, but the same thing happens. However, this night, other prisoners hear her weeping and calling to the prince, and tell him when he wakes the next day what they heard. Realizing what has happened, he slyly pours the drink out instead of drinking it, and the third night is awake when the lassie is allowed into his room. They spend the night embracing and planning the defeat of the trolls the next day (achieved by the lassie washing a black shirt to pure white). Check out this stunning illustration by PJ Lynch, inspired by Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss:

**Trigger Warning for some dark and gruesome imagery in the following paragraphs, especially about blood**

In Pajaro Verde, the prince becomes deathly ill when shards of broken glass become embedded in his body, and flees to his father’s house. In her search for him, the princess comes across little birds who tell her that she must give them a sleeping potion, cut their throats while they sleep, and fill a bottle with their blood. Then, she must cover the prince with the birds’ blood, and the glass will be drawn out of him and cure him. The princess does as they say, and when she arrives at the palace, soaks a sheet in the blood and covers the prince with it. Immediately, he begins to recover, but he does not recognize his wife, and is instead pledged to another. On his wedding day to the false bride, the princess approaches him in all her royal attire and crown, and the prince suddenly remembers her, declaring her his true wife and love. The Enchanted Snake is an almost identical Italian tale, in which a blood sacrifice is again the cure for the ailing prince.

There is also, of course, the classic Beauty and the Beast, in which the neglected Beast lies dying in his garden when Beauty comes upon him after the visit to her family. Realizing her true feelings for him, Beauty calls out to her Beast, kissing him and accepting his offer of marriage. At her confession of love, he transforms into a handsome prince, and he and Beauty live happily ever after.

In The Ninth Captain’s Tale, the fair Sittukhan is the first to fall into a deathlike sleep and is revived by a sultan’s son, but is then abandoned by him. Sittukhan enchants herself into a rich and beautiful princess to entice her wayward lover, and failing to recognize her, he begs for her hand. To win her, she tells him, he must wrap himself in burial clothes as if dead and be carried in a funeral procession to a place of rest. This he does, and when they are alone, Sittukhan unwraps her lover’s burial shroud, revealing both him and herself. After teasing him for the lengths he would go to for a bride, she consents to be his wife and they marry. In this story, it is remarkable that the imagery clearly shows her raising her bridegroom from the dead, rather tenderly if somewhat macabre.

From these stories, we may perhaps assume that Ben Solo will indeed die, and that the keys to his resurrection may be a blood sacrifice of some kind and a declaration of love by his true bride. You could even argue that he’s already been baptized with blood in the imagery of cleansing salt in the red wound of Crait. However, few of these stories feature a notable villain comparable to the diabolical Palpatine who will be returning to menace our heroes in The Rise of Skywalker. Given what we know from the trailers, does the Emperor have a clear role in this part of the myth? Does Dark Rey have a part to play?

WOULD YOU BELIEVE I actually found in my collection a story that until now, I didn’t realize contained this motif? This is The Blood-Drawing Ghost (the version I have is simply called Kate Culhane: A Ghost Story), an Irish folktale over a hundred years old. In the story, a deceitful young man leaves a fine blackthorn stick on the freshly-dug grave of an old man. Kate, a young woman whom he is courting, offers to retrieve it, but when her hand touches the blackthorn stick, a ghostly voice tells her to open the tomb. Though she tries to resist, Kate is compelled by magic to obey, and she is forced to pull the gruesome corpse from his grave and carry him on her back. Though her burden is heavy and painful, she must carry the dead man a great distance until they reach a house in the village that is unprotected by holy water. Inside, the corpse searches for something to eat, but Kate can find only oatmeal. Upstairs, they find that the wealthy family has three sons, and the dead man forces poor Kate to hold a bowl under their hands as he drains the blood from each one in turn. He then has her mix the blood with the oatmeal and eats it, instructing her to eat it as well, but she cleverly hides the food in a handkerchief instead.

The old man then forces Kate to again take him upon her back and carry him back to his grave. On the way, she asks if there is any cure for the dead young men whose blood was drained. The old corpse tells her that if only a bit of the oatmeal mixture had been saved, just a bite in each man’s mouth would bring him back to life, and they would never know of their deaths. At the graveyard, the dead man tells Kate that as she has eaten his food, he will pull her into the grave with him before the cock crows three times. In my version, he does actually try to drag her into the grave, but thankfully dawn breaks and the brave girl is able to escape. She makes her way to the house of the three dead sons, where the family has discovered them and is lamenting their misfortune. She tells the family that she can revive the young men if only they will give her the eldest as her husband. They agree, and she feeds the sons the bloody oatmeal she had saved in the handkerchief, reviving them immediately. Kate marries the eldest son and they live happily for all their days.

Call me crazy, but this looks like a great plot outline for The Rise of Skywalker based on what we know so far. First, there is the brave girl who goes to retrieve a special stick, or in this case the legacy lightsaber, as Rey did in The Force Awakens. When she touches it, she is drawn into a dark struggle between good and evil, life and death. If Rey becomes a target for the risen spirit of the Emperor (who resembles nothing so much as a corpse) as many suspect, then he may attempt to use her to do his dark bidding, or convince her to become his apprentice/alcolyte. At least, this is what is suggested by the appearance of Dark Rey and some of the links she has to Palpatine in her musical theme and backstory on Jakku. Further, the Emperor has already tried to drain two sons of the Skywalker line (Anakin and Luke), and now it seems he may attempt to drain a third (Ben). There’s certainly been a lot of talk about Ben Solo’s bloodline, at least.

Just as Psyche was instructed not to eat the food of the Underworld lest she be forced to remain there forever, Kate has the sense not to share in the bloody feast of her deathly captor. Since we know Rey will likely have a “dark night of the soul” in Episode IX in which she is sorely tempted by the Dark Side, I take this as the model for her resisting that temptation to taste the fruits of death. And finally, just as the corpse attempted to drag Kate into his grave with him, Darth Sidious will make one last effort to entrap or destroy our heroine, but she will escape him. Unfortunately, it is still too late for Ben, the third son whose life he drained away. Or is it? Perhaps Rey, in her brush with the Dark Side, will have learned the cure to rouse her beloved from his deathly slumber. Perhaps it will be the sacrifice of Ben’s own blood that saves him, along with the love of a clever girl.

Hope you all enjoyed this latest installment! Let me know if there are any specific folklore topics you’d like me to explore in Star Wars. This has been a great way to pass the time during the agonizing wait for TROS!

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doomedandstoned · 4 years

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Top 10 Albums Of The 2010′s

~By Calvin Lampert~

I think it is safe to say that underground metal has enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth and popularity in the last 10 years. But when I am saying this I am not only thinking about the heavy underground; those adherents of the Sabbath sound and this whole new wave of doom metal bands. I am thinking of the fact that (underground) metal has undergone a change in image, too.

Though frequently maligned as hipster bands (or metal for people who don't like metal), acts like Deafheaven have brought metal to a whole new audience and raised awareness of the genre as a genuine form of art that does not just exist for its own sake; that metal fans only go for gore, beer and self-referential horn-throwing. Not that Neurosis and Godflesh haven’t been ambassadors of this mindset for more than three decades already, but it feels that the understanding of metal as art seems to have finally broken through to an audience outside of the traditional metal subculture in the past decade.

I think it is in no small part thanks to some of the bands on this list I have assembled (though I may have forgone obvious picks like Alcest and Deafheaven for more personal choices). And in retrospect, it should’ve been a list of bands rather than records, as most of the artists on this list would’ve have had a claim to a spot on here, with any record they put out. Take that as a hurray for consistency. So, without further ado, my picks for the best and most remarkable records of the decade.

10. Akhlys – 'The Dreaming I' (Debemur Morti - 2015)

The Dreaming I by Akhlys

I can’t help but wonder if Naas Alcameth of AKHLYS (also of Nightbringer, Aoratos and Bestia Arcana) set out with the express intent to create what is essentially a nigh perfect atmospheric black metal record when he started working on The Dreaming I. It damn sure feels like, each strum, syllable, and beat sits at the right place; the pieces of this nightmarish puzzle fit with an unsettling ease.

Photograph by by Kuba Leszko

The sound really does justice to the underlying concept of dreams and nightmares, as you’ll rarely find a record with such an impenetrable atmosphere. Once you hit play you’re soon enveloped by countless layers of swirling guitars, all at the command of Naas Alcameth, and he seems hellbent on suffocating you with them. The Dreaming I is about as close as you can get sleep paralysis-made-music. If you put off black metal as spooky noise made by a bunch hooded esoteric nerds you might’ve found your match in Akhlys. They are just that, they’re dead serious, and the results are impressive.

9. Elephant Tree – 'Elephant Tree' (Magnetic Eye Records - 2016)

Elephant Tree by Elephant Tree

I’ve observed myself growing increasingly apart from most stoner rock as of late, sometimes even antagonizing the genre. I’m afraid I’m just burned out on it and grown embittered, so a record from those genres ending up on my Albums of the Decade list should give you a hint of just how special it really is.

That is not to say that there haven’t been some real stoner rock heavy hitters this decade, such as Gozus Revival, Valley of the Suns Sayings of the Seers or Lo-Pans Salvador, but there’s something to ELEPHANT TREE's self-titled record that just so narrowly sets it apart from the others.

Photograph by Phil Smithies

What that is I am still not quite sure, and I had my fair share of relistens. Maybe it is the tasteful balance act of the production that makes this record so wonderfully ethereal but also ridiculously crushing. Or the sleek as all hell songwriting where every hook fires but the flow remains impeccable. Or the gorgeous harmonic interplay of Jack Townley and Pete Hollands vocals. Or maybe really just the sum of it all.

Whatever it is, Elephant Tree get it so very right and it is a true joy to behold such a well-written and fine-tuned record in a genre that has become all too prone to shoddiness and idle Kyuss worship. If there is any justice in the world, Elephant Tree will be looked back as a classic of the genre.

8. Oranssi Pazuzu – 'Värähtelijä' (Svart Records/20 Buck Spin - 2016)

Värähtelijä by Oranssi Pazuzu

So many have tried to do it. Countless chonged out Hendrix worshippers. Australian neo-psych darlings. But they all failed. Turns out the holy grail of psychedelia was dug up by a bunch of dudes in the frozen wastes of Finland when they decided to throw together black metal and almost every imaginable psych rock permutation under the firmament. Absolute insanity inducing balls-to-the-wall trippiness ensues.

ORANSSI PAZUZU is their name, ego-death squared in hyperspace is their game and Värähtelijä is the latest in a slew of attempts to smear your brain across the event horizon, and their most accomplished one so far. Think Hawkwind trying to interpret the soundtrack of Interstellar with a guy being spaghettified by a black hole screaming on top of it. Huge, plodding riffs and spacey synth fuckery abound.

Film by Shelby Kray

This madness extends to their live shows, yours truly (being completely sober) suffered a sensory overload when they launched into the crescendo of the album opener "Saturaatio" at Roadburn 2016. This band is taking things to the next level, and something tells me that Värähtelijä is just another chapter in an increasingly maddening venture.

7. Conan – 'Blood Eagle' (Napalm Records - 2014)

You can’t really draw a picture of the doom scene in the '10s without CONAN. And I do mean that in quite the literal sense, as seemingly every self-respecting doom fan seems to own at least one Conan shirt and you can’t really go to a gig without seeing one.

By all accounts the band probably could’ve retired years ago and just live off those rad merch designs. But Conan knows no rest -- always writing, always touring, always scheming. Thus the band has fed a steady stream of releases to a cult-like following over the years and narrowing down the output of such an important band to just one record is no small task. My choice eventually fell on the fan favorite, 2014's Blood Eagle.

Photograph by Sally Townsend

Conan had already pretty much established themselves as the emergent sludge-doom act of the decade at that time, but as we know they’re not one to rest on their laurels and Blood Eagle was just them driving the point home and the stake deeper, solidifying a grasp on the scene that hasn’t waned ever since, and they did it oh so righteously, by the primordial might of tonal displacement and drop F glory.

Conan might have the closest thing to a universal doom appeal because they speak to your baser instincts. Songs like "Foehammer" or "Total Conquest" seem like trebuchets aimed at the synapses of your reptilian brain, and I can’t help but admire these noble DIY barbarians, who so deservedly have carved out their place in the canon of the genre.

6. SubRosa – 'More Constant than the Gods' (Profound Lore - 2013)

More Constant Than The Gods by SubRosa

SUBROSA was one of a kind. If one band calling it quits this decade broke my heart, it was them. But before doing so they gifted us three outstanding post-metal records, whose folk and chamber music flourishes felt completely unique, intimate, and anachronistic in a genre dominated by more vast and spacious narratives. They reached inward rather than outward and did so with a no-parts-wasted mentality.

In a world rife with one-trick bands, SubRosa's employ of multiple vocalists and two electric violins felt natural and unabashedly non-gimmicky, and they would reveal the true potential of their sound on 2013's harrowingly beautiful More Constant than the Gods.

Photograph by Alyssa Herrman

More Constant is remarkable for its elegant and restrained way of instilling dread. Hardly any harsh vocals, the tempo never goes beyond a steady stride, just those horrific and yet also beautiful violins, plodding guitars, and downright poetic lyrics. And SubRosa seem to feel right at home on either terrain, be it the skin-crawling lead guitar line of "Affliction" or the grandiose outro section of "Fat of the Ram." One can only hope that SubRosa will return one day. A band that was truly novel, and not just a novelty.

5. Tchornobog – 'Tchornobog' (Fallen Empire / I, Voidhanger - 2017)

TCHORNOBOG is many things. Among others, a dark, ancient Slavic deity. In the world of music, a monolithic amalgamation of extreme metal, some Eldritch chimera of cavernous black, death, and doom metal. And the beast of one Markov Soroka, though him stating that the Tchornobog inhabits his head begs the question who might really be in charge?

Photograph by Nona Limmen

Soroka does indeed seem to be guided by spirits since he started the project at the age 14, and eight years of gestation and arduous work culminated in one of the most engrossing, all-consuming records I have come across this decade. Far be it from me to reduce Tchornobog’s remarkability down to the young age of its creator, but Sorokas ambition and execution of those ambitions could run circles around a lot of veteran extreme metal bands. The man is just flat out talented. And that is not even taking his various other projects (Drown, Aureole, Krukh) into account, or his curation work through his own label, Vigor Deconstruct.

As such, Tchornobog ultimately is, among many other things, a bright spotlight shining on a young man who has all the makings of being the next big underground metal mastermind. I’m sure you’ll be inclined to agree as soon as Soroka brings out the grand piano and saxophone on "III: Non-Existence’s Warmth (Infinite Natality Psychosis)" to perform what I’d like to call Lovecraftian Lounge Music. He must have a thing for Demilich too, judging from those song titles.

4. Hell – 'III' (Lower Your Head / Pesanta Urfolk - 2012)

Hell III by Hell

There is a subtle power in melodies, particularly melancholic and sad ones. Doom, and more specifically funeral doom, have long since sought to harness the power of the melody, but I think nobody has been quite as effective or moved me so profoundly with a simple plucked melody as MSW, the singular mind of HELL.

Just one minute into Mourn, the opening (and penultimate) track of Hell III), I am already instilled with a deep sense of melancholy, but also foreboding doom. However, few songs can just thrive from having a good riff or lead -- and there’s 17 minutes yet to go. I’ll spoil you and say that in this time Hell shifts between doom, black metal, neoclassical music, and dark ambient. That’s a lot of territory to cover and it becomes apparent that for how meticulously well crafted its individual parts are, MSW never loses sight of the bigger picture and the transitions between these different sounds are seamless.

Film by Billy Goate

At the danger of sounding like a huge fucking nerd, I really am more inclined to refer to "Mourn" and its follow up "Decedere" as movements rather than songs and if the songwriting doesn’t clue you in you’ll be persuaded by the time Decedere breaks out the operatic vocals and a flute accompanied by a string ensemble. And no matter if he’s performing a contemplative acoustic piece or pounding you in the ground with some absolutely hellish (the band name is apt as can be) blackened doom, MSW always manages to maintain an aura of grandeur. MSW is not just a great songwriter, he’s a veritable composer, and III is his magnum opus.

3. Mizmor – 'Yodh' (Gilead Media - 2016)

Yodh by מזמור

If whatever has come before was bleak, then Yodh is pitch fucking black. This decade hasn’t lacked in dark records (not even taking metal into account -- Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me, Nick Cave’s Skeleton Tree, or The Caretakers Everywhere at the End of Time), but taking on existential dread specifically (and thereby becoming a vessel for it) MIZMOR's Yodh remains unsurpassed in its sheer effectiveness to instill said dread in the listener and is possibly the most harrowing record of the last 10 years.

Photo by Kento Woolery

As befits the theme, Yodh genuinely sounds like the work of a broken man. A miserable slab of glacial funeral doom and grimy black metal, but delivered with a brute strength and conviction that really suggests more defiance than self-pity. I’d be remiss to not point out ALN's incredibly varied vocal performance, ranging from wretched snarls and air-starved bellows to what I can only describe as pterodactyl shrieks, all carrying the same biting vitriol as the instrumentals.

Film by Shelby Kray

Yet for all its doom and gloom, Yodh surprises with occasional moments of tenderness and outright (if melancholic) beauty, too, such as the acoustic intro of "II: A Semblance Waning" or the massive main riff of "III: The Serpent Eats Its Tail" that feels like the sort of thing Pallbearer would’ve come up with if they had been more into Mournful Congregation than Warning.

All these things combined with thoughtful, introspective lyrics make Yodh into an incredibly powerful and downright visceral record, and if for you the main draw of doom metal lies its emotional potency (as it does for me) then Yodh is an essential listen. Let ALN shout down the very pillars that uphold your personal beliefs of life’s meaning.

2. Pallbearer – 'Sorrow and Extinction' (Profound Lore - 2012)

Sorrow And Extinction by Pallbearer

Warning was the first band to try to bridge the gap between traditional and modern doom metal, and while Watching from a Distance might have a fair claim to be one of the saddest metal records out there, in my eyes it was PALLBEARER who took that formula even further and perfected it with their 2011 debut Sorrow and Extinction. To me, it’s a classic record in both senses. A landmark of post-millennium doom and a throwback to the days of yore, when Saint Vitus and Candlemass were in charge of bumming everyone out; while still maintaining the larger-than-life-feel and sonic heft of modern doom championed by bands like Yob or Neurosis.

Photo by Sally Townsend

But Sorrow and Extinction isn’t just some roided up epic doom sans the operatic vocals, Pallbearer are far too clever to suffer such a pitfall. Granted, Sorrow sounds huge, and while there’s plenty of the heavy stuff to go around what makes Sorrow so great is how catchy it is. There is no weak song on this record (admittedly there’s only five), and while most bands could only hope to one day write a riff as good as "Devoid of Redemption's" main theme, it seems like Pallbearer just comes up with them on a whim, and their ability to do so doesn’t seem to have faded three records into their career -- not even to speak of Brett Campbell's soulful lyrics and passionate delivery.

Film by Billy Goate

Then, of course, there’s the amazing guitar interplay between Campbell and Devin Holt, chiefly on the casket closer "Given to the Grave," whose second half essentially boils down to them constantly trading dramatic leads with each other like the world's most woeful ping pong game.

Sorrow and Extinction is not only a deeply moving yet utterly anthemic record, but also one that successfully marries the past and the present of doom. In that regard, it is a preciously rare and so far unsurpassed record.

1. YOB – 'Clearing the Path to Ascend' (Neurot Records - 2014)

Clearing The Path To Ascend by YOB

Writing about metal without resorting to superlatives is hard. Try to practice restraint in the presence of something whose very nature lacks restraint. I am definitely guilty of that lack of restraint; one has only got to scroll up again to confirm it. But luckily some records are so very superlative that I do not have to take that editorial high road and can fire all the “mosts” and “-ests” at will. In fact, they almost require you to use them. Clearing the Path to Ascend by YOB is one such record. Even among all these preceding superlative records it stands above and beyond.

Photo by Angelique Le Marchand

Clearing the Path to Ascend is so vast, it feels singular. It is one and it is all. When I think larger-than-life sound, Clearing comes to mind first. It has become the very benchmark with which I measure other records. Yob's big and beautiful only consists of four tracks, but they made each feel like a distinct part of a greater journey. "In Our Blood" opens with a recording of Alan Watts telling you it is "time to wake up," before the song slowly rises into a stretched-out draw and crash, eventually unfurling into a manic guitar line.

"Nothing to Win" feels like Yob's own take on Neurosis’ Through Silver in Blood. It is an unrelenting, steady 11-minute march down a highway of broken glass, utterly windswept and viciously hopeless. "Unmask the Spectre" seems to tread similarly bitter paths but manages to wrestle itself free into two grandiose spiraling crescendos.

Film by Billy Goate

The death knell of an album closer that is "Marrow" shouldn’t really need much of an introduction at this point. It still feels like I’ll see a link, post or share of it every other day. It has become an omnipresence in the doom scene, and deservingly so. Yob dials back on the gloom and shines all the brighter. "Marrow" is not just hopeful; it is downright ecstatic and by the time Mike Scheidt launches into the grand solo of the track (so very gracefully accompanied by a Hammond organ played by producer Billy Barnett) has ascended to a genuine sermon.

Though Clearing had its fair share of dark moments "Marrow" closes the record on a remarkably conciliatory note and I really think that speaks of Yob as a (metal) band. Call it a big move to offer closure -- a fitting end to such a big record. One that suits the title of ‘Album of the Decade,’ and embodies the spirit of metal that wants to be just more.

Calvin's Choice: 100 Best of the Decade

YOB - Clearing the Path to Ascend

Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction

Mizmor - Yodh

Hell - Hell III

Tchornobog - Tchornobog

SubRosa - More Constant Than The Gods

Conan - Blood Eagle

Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä

Elephant Tree - Elephant Tree

Akhlys - The Dreaming I

Clutch - Earth Rocker

Merkstave - Merkstave

Gozu - Revival

Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty

Valley of the Sun - The Sayings of the Seers

Inter Arma - Paradise Gallows

Thou - Heathen

Om - Advaitic Songs

Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

All Them Witches - Dying Surfer Meets His Maker

Horn of the Rhino - Weight of Coronation

Boss Keloid - Melted on the Inch

KALEIKR - Heart Of Lead

Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus - Spirit Knife

Woman is the Earth - Torch of Our Final Night

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

LINGUA IGNOTA - Caligula

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Messa - Feast for Water

Anna von Hausswolff - Dead Magic

Mamiffer - The World Unseen

Samothrace - Reverence to Stone

Primitive Man - Scorn

Fórn - The Departure of Consciousness

Khemmis - Absolution

Bongripper - Miserable

High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis

UN - Sentiment

Cult of Luna - Mariner

Slomatics - Future Echo Returns

MISTHYRMING - Söngvar elds og óreiðu

Dvne - Asheran

Earth - Primitive and Deadly

Mars Red Sky - Apex III (Praise For The Burning Soul)

The Midnight Ghost Train - Cypress Ave.

Panopticon - Panopticon - Roads to the North

Mare Cognitum - Phobos Monolith

Sólstafir - Ótta

Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World

Furia - Księżyc Milczy Luty

Tardigrada - Emotionale Ödnis

Yellow Eyes - Immersion Trench Reverie

Stoned Jesus - Seven Thunders Roar

Höstblod - Mörkrets Intåg

Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Zola Jesus - Okovi

Funereal Presence - Achatius

Wormlust - The Feral Wisdom

Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want

L'Acephale - L'Acéphale

40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room

Vilkacis - Beyond the Mortal Gate

Bossk - Audio Noir

Carpenter Brut - Trilogy

Sumac - What One Becomes

Death Grips - Exmilitary

Red Fang - Murder the Mountains

Lo-Pan - Salvador

Whores. - Gold

Truckfighters - Universe

Greenleaf - Trails & Passes

Bölzer - Aura

Monolord - Vaenir

Dead to a Dying World - Elegy

The Body - I Shall Die Here

Mutoid Man - War Moans

Neurosis - Fires Within Fires

Opeth - Pale Communion

Planning for Burial - Below the House

Triptykon - Melana Chasmata

Graveyard - Hisingen Blues

Saor - Aura

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Egypt - Endless Flight

Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked For Death

Deafheaven - Sunbather

Kadavar - Kadavar

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Vanum - Ageless Fire

Dai-Ichi - Dai-Ichi

Lord Mantis - Pervertor

Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I

Loss - Horizonless

Tome of the Unreplenished - Innerstanding

Elder - Lore

Witch Mountain - Cauldron of the Wild

Ahab - The Giant

Alcest - Kodama

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Dissociation

Sleep - The Sciences

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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basicsofislam · 4 years

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ISLAM 101: ISLAM AND OTHER RELIGIONS: DIALOGUE: Part 4

What are the examples of dialogue during the time of our Prophet (PBUH) and his tolerance towards the followers of other religions?: Part 1

Interreligious dialogue is not something invented but something revived. That is, it is not something completely new, it is like taking the water out of the wells which dried; it is to revive something that became unfamiliar to us because we didn't use it for a long time, which was regarded as nonexistent but actually existed. Yes, tolerance, interreligious dialogue, respect to everybody, the idea of accepting everyone as they are and to apply it are not things that emerged during this century. If the Madinah Document is examined through this point of view, it will be seen that our Prophet (PBUH) declared every human being, no matter what his religion, race, and nationality is, had the right to practice his religion, to live, to travel, to trade and to have property. It is stated in the document that these rights are inviolable and holy. The same truth is repeated in the Farewell Sermon with different words, style, and manner. There are about ten years between the Madinah Document and the Farewell Sermon. So there is no change in the line during these ten years; on the contrary, there is reminding and confirmation. These ideas were not only mentioned in the Madinah Document and the Farewell Sermon, but they were also applied. Our Prophet (PBUH) applied them, so did the Four Caliphs and those who followed them and so on. During the conquests, Muslims did not pull down synagogues and churches, did not interfere with the rights of the minorities and did not limit the freedom of consciousness. The minorities that lived under the protection of Muslims in history understood what Muslims had granted them only after other invaders confiscated these rights. However, we should also admit that these principles were not always applied as sensitively as our Prophet (PBUH) and the Four Caliphs did during the fifteen-century Islamic history. They were applied because some people who did not understand the essence of Islam became administrators, and worldly thoughts that cannot be associated with Islam came into prominence. Love of holding office, feeling of interest, tribal fanaticism and a lot of similar negativeness emerged. Accordingly, sometimes definite orders of Islam were interpreted differently. Sometimes these different interpretations were applied. So a lot of rudeness was committed in the name of Islam. However, the rudeness did not actually belong to Islam but to the people who did not understand the essence of Islam. Since Islam assigns its followers the tasks of tolerance, dialogue with the followers of other religions, respect to everybody and the idea of accepting everyone as they are and the application of all these, nobody can ascribe these principles and this process to themselves. Yes, it is not a product of the compassion and mercy of anybody. On the contrary, it is the compassion and mercy of Islam.

As our Prophet (PBUH) is a guide for Muslims in every issue, he is also a guide in the issue of dialogue with the other religions and their followers. The life of our Prophet (PBUH) is based on forgiveness and tolerance. He always treated the followers of other religions with love and tolerance. The source of tolerance and interreligious dialogue is the Quran, which is also the source of our religion and this thought comes down to us like an overflowing river through the communicator of the Quran, our Prophet (PBUH). From this point of view, tolerance and dialogue are the natural ethics of a Muslim since it depends on the Quran and the Sunnah. Our Prophet (PBUH), who had boundless tolerance, lived together with the People of the Book in Madina and found common agreement points even with the people who say they are Muslims but cause conflicts and with the seditious souls who want to play people with clean consciousness off against each other almost everywhere and showed tolerance to them. He even gave his shirt as a shroud for Abdullah b. Ubay b. Salul, who acted as an enemy towards him throughout his life, when he died and upon request, our Prophet agreed to perform the janazah (death) prayer for him. Thereupon Hazrat Umar reminded him that Ibn Salul was a hypocritical person by listing the evils he had committed against the Prophet throughout his life that it was not appropriate to perform the prayer and pray for him. Our Prophet (PBUH) pointed out the 80th verse of Chapter at-Taubah (Whether thou ask for their forgiveness or not, (their sin is unforgivable): if thou ask seventy times for their forgiveness, Allah will not forgive them) and said my Lord let me free about this issue. Therefore if it is necessary, I will ask more than seventy times for his forgiveness. Then the 84th verse of Chapter at-Taubah was sent down by Allah and the definite judgment was made: Nor do thou ever pray for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave. Therefore there is no being similar to him nor any message presented to humanity similar to his. Therefore it is impossible for those who try to follow this Guide of Salvation, who is the best example, to think differently. The Prophet (PBUH) esteemed every human being whether Muslim, Christian or Jew because of the good manners given to him by his Lord. One day the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) stands up when the funeral of a Jew passes. One of his companions (sahabas) says O Messenger of Allah! He is a Jew. Without changing his attitude and his face lines our Prophet gives the following wonderful answer: “But he is a human being”. The ears of his followers who do not know him like this and the advocates of human rights who live without knowing the universal messages he brought for humanity should burn! There is nothing to add to this statement, and if we are from the ummah of this prophet who uttered these words, it is impossible for us to think in a different way.

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slashertalks · 5 years

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Pumpkinhead, And Thoughts On Unnecessary Sequels

(I’m writing this as I watch the movie, so the review may be a little all over the place- bear with me, please)

Pumpkinhead is a movie that achieves a rare sort of perfection: it does everything it wants to within the confines of its run time. There are no loose ends, no glaring plot holes, no setup for another movie. It’s a film that needs no continuation; it demands nothing of us beyond itself. Why, then, does Pumpkinhead have three sequels?

I can’t imagine many fans clamoring for a continuation of this film- it’s niche enough as it is, and the majority of people I’ve seen who are fans of similarly niche-yet-fantastic movies want the films to remain relatively untouched. There’s too much of a risk that any additional installments will ruin the film’s magic. You expect a myriad of sequels from big hits, so you can steel yourself for low quality schlock, but for those of us who love smaller (and older) films the announcement of a sequel is both exciting and enraging. More likely than not we’ll be disappointed, but damn it, it’s hard to keep ourselves from being at least a little excited.

Pumpkinhead is a movie about a man and his son, and grief. The film establishes its world before showing us our main characters; there is so much genuine love between Ed Harley and Billy, we really feel deeply for these two even if we’ve only seen them for around five minutes. Lance Henriksen is an excellent actor, and his talent shines in this film- the boy who plays his son seems to have real fun acting as well, and it shows. When we meet the teenagers, only two of them are really bearable. There’s the asshole character (Joel) and his brother Steve (he would be fine, but at no point does he stand up to Joel), and Joel’s girlfriend Kim (who also does nothing until late in the film). We have a third girl, Maggie, who does nothing, and our two tolerable teenagers. The blond guy, Chris, who’s actually willing to stick up to our asshole teen, and the girl with the camera, Tracy- our final girl, who is genuinely good-natured and very kind to Billy when they first meet.

Finally, we meet Bunt Wallace, who provides another introduction for our monster in the form of a rhyme, and also establishes more solidly that Ed Harley is the young boy from the very opening. This leads into a scene where Ed has to go and pick up some feed for Bunt’s grandfather, leaving Billy alone at the store. Which, in turn, sets up the catalyst for everything else in the movie. Gypsy, Billy’s dog runs outside, which makes Billy run outside where Joel and Chris are riding their dirt bikes- Maggie tries to stop him but trips, which is when Steve crashes to avoid Billy. We think everything is fine, until Joel comes sailing over the hill and hits Billy. While everyone else tries to help, Joel forces Kim to leave with the dirt bikes.

This scene is longer than we’d normally get, of the four teens alone trying desperately to help Billy while Ed is gone- what could easily be only a minute of debate is three or four. The point? To give us our real introductions to the teens- Joel is exactly who we thought he was, but the others, who’d seemed like your standard, flat fare for a horror film are shown to be genuine people who are horrified at what’s happened and desperately do their best to help. Steve stays behind while the others leave to wait for Ed. Ed arrives to find his dying son and Steve, a boy he knows had been on a dirt bike. We see Lance Henriksen give one of the most gut-wrenching glares ever put to film.

While Joel is off being one of the biggest teenaged-to-early-20s shitstains I’ve seen in a movie to date, we get to watch Ed futilely console Billy only for his son to die in his arms. At this point in the film, half an hour has passed and we still haven’t seen the title monster. The only film I can think of that’s similar is Alien, but I’m unsure if it even takes that long for some form of the Xenomorph to appear- half an hour is an awfully long time for a monster movie to take to introduce its monster. However, Pumpkinhead isn’t really a monster movie, at least not in the traditional sense. Pumkinhead (the monster) is an extension of Ed Harley, his grief, his rage, and his desire for vengeance (hence the alternate title, Vengeance The Demon that appears on some merchandise). This movie isn’t about Pumpkinhead killing people, it’s about our own twisted emotions and clouded judgement getting the better of us and turning us into a monster.

At his core, Ed Harley is a good man. He’s a hard worker and a loving father who would have and did give everything for his boy, but much like how he tried to wash Billy’s face to comfort him, it was futile. He was desperate, hurting, and made a horrible decision that cost him his life, and did nothing to revive his son. I remember an interview where Lance Henriksen said that the scene that stuck with him the most reading the script is the one where, after summoning Pumpkinhead, Billy’s corpse sat up in the seat of Ed’s truck and asked him what he’s doing: “What’d you do, daddy?” By then it’s too late to go back; even Billy’s warning is futile. The film is an exercise in futility and the pointlessness of our actions when we’ve allowed ourselves to become a monster, but at the same time, the film is never tedious to watch. It’s not painful to sit through, I’m wholeheartedly engaged in every moment of the film, because even at his worst I can empathize with Ed Harley.

Later in the movie, particularly when Ed confronts Haggis the witch, there’s a particular kind of overacting to Lance Henriksen’s portrayal, but I don’t feel like it’s out of place, or particularly cheesy. How many of us can actually say we don’t look and sound stupid when we’re upset? Ed comes across as a petulant child, demanding someone else fix the problems he caused, and it’s perfect. He’s a good man, so how could he have done this? How could he have caused all this pain when all he wanted was to make right the wrong he was done? Pumpkinhead is a monster of payment in kind, though, and Ed had no real target- it was always “those city folk” to him. Not Joel or Steve, but the whole group, and so Pumpkinhead is bound to all of the teens, even the ones who tried to help Billy, and he expects their blood for Billy’s. It’s particularly ironic that Steve, the one who did the most to help Billy, is the one who dies first.

There is a wonderful little touch given to the Pumpkinhead monster throughout the movie, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it transition as the beast’s face slowly takes on Lance Henriksen’s features. It’s subtle, I definitely missed it on my first viewing, but the effect is a perfect little touch. We know that whenever Pumpkinhead kills, Ed can see it, and the additional sign of their further-solidifying connection is a detail not often seen. If you ever get the chance to, I’d recommend looking up behind the scenes footage of the creation of the costume- even unpainted and segmented, the costume is haunting.

Bunt returns to the core group of characters later in the film- much like young Ed, he’s told to go to bed when Chris and Tracy come banging on the Wallace family’s door. However, unlike young Ed, Bunt is old enough to help. He sneaks out of the house, putting himself in grave danger to try to save the teens, giving them a lot of good insight in the process. This is important because of the third film and how it portrays Bunt, but that’ll get touched on in a moment.

There’s a haunting moment where, in a half-built, abandoned church, Pumpkinhead pauses at the doorway before stepping through (Bunt had thought it might be safe there because it’s a holy place). The moment really drives home the point that while Pumpkinhead may be demonic, it’s truly a beast of man. If Ed Harley can step into a church, so can Pumpkinhead. The finale of the movie comes when Ed tracks down Bunt and Tracy, doing his absolute best to save them- like everything else in the film, however, it is a futile gesture. Until Ed Harley is dead or vengeance has run its course, Pumpkinhead is tied to the earth and bound to do its duty. As a final exercise in futility, Ed Harley tried to kill himself- to shoot himself in the head. This fails, and it’s Tracy who has to destroy the monster. A final act of both kindness and cruelty, she ends the destructive path of Ed Harley’s corrupted grief, only for Haggis to collect the gnarled and withered corpse. I’d stated at the beginning there’s no call for a sequel, so why this moment? Because it shows us that Ed Harley is not a special case- he’s simply human, and we are all susceptible to this if the right conditions arise. When the next desperate, rage-filled and heartbroken person wanders her way, Haggis will summon up Pumpkinhead again, and Ed Harley’s twisted remains will become its flesh.

I began this review by talking about sequels, though, and I’m going to close it the same way. Pumpkinhead, a film that presents is message perfectly to us within the span of an hour and 27 minutes, has three sequels. The second of which is supposedly an alright film, abandoning the setting of the original and focusing entirely on a new set of characters, which is just fine. I would argue, in fact, that that kind of departure from the original was necessary to create the film in such a way that it could stand on its own as a decent film (without using the original as a crutch). I haven’t seen the second one and I don’t particularly intend to, but I bring it up here because it’s important to the sequel(s) I do intend to talk about.

In 2006 and 2007, SyFy released two installments in the franchise. I forced myself to sit through the third, but couldn’t bear to trudge through the ocean of garbage the fourth would inevitably bring. In the third movie, we see a funeral director who dumps bodies in the river instead of cremating them. Bunt is his assistant, and had been doing the dumping, but Ed Harley’s ghost appears and tells him he’s doing wrong. Somehow, Pumpkinhead is summoned and everybody dies, while Ed Harley’s ghost keeps appearing to Bunt. Now, this’d be alright, if it was just Ed Harley’s ghost- when they finally destroy Pumpkinhead, it turns back into Ed and disappears in a puff of white CGI bullshit.

It’s one thing if you want to ignore a sequel, but please, for the love of god, make it CLEAR that you are ignoring a sequel. Pumpkinhead 3: Ashes to Ashes does not do this, therefore leading viewers to believe that the second Pumpkinhead film is still valid within canon, which means Ed Harley is no longer Pumpkinhead. If the person who summons Pumpkinhead becomes the next conduit, then Pumpkinhead should’ve turned back into whoever the hell summoned him in the second film. Why does this bother me so much? Because while the makers claimed they had passion for the original, it doesn’t show in the slightest. Bunt is treated as a stereotypical “hillbilly” idiot with none of his charm or intelligence from the original. Lance Henriksen seems bored the whole time. The Pumpkinhead monster looks ugly as shit (which would be excusable considering the film’s low budget IF there had been an ounce of care put into the rest of the movie). At this current moment, I’m watching a featurette about the making of the original and the creators are still so clearly passionate about the film, even after all these years. It’s deeply unfortunate that the third film, supposedly a return to form, was instead so horribly disappointing.

The fourth film was filmed back to back with the third, entitled Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud. The film is about the Hatfields and McCoys, but in the “modern” (for 2007) day. It’s also a play on Romeo and Juliet. For some reason, instead of moving on to the afterlife to be with his wife and Billy, Ed is still a ghost who hangs around and talks to Haggis. Don’t ask me why. It has received mediocre reviews; again, don’t ask me why. Disconnected from the original, it may be decent, but it’s still a shitty sequel. For a film to work as a great installment while also requiring a disconnection from the original, it needs to have a fantastic message and an environment that fits near-perfectly. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation fits this description; it is both a terrible Texas Chainsaw installment AND an excellent film with a lot to say about complacent viewership. Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud? It’s nothing of the sort. There’s no grand message, the idea is... somehow both nonsensical and overdone. It is a deeply, deeply unnecessary film that has no reason to exist within the continuity of Pumpkinhead.

Horror sequels for niche/cult horror films have to match the passion of the original film if they want to be taken even remotely seriously. I saw something, once, some article, where the thought that maybe, if the budget hadn’t been split into two films, Pumpkinhead 3 could’ve been great was put forward. I’m not sure if I agree, but it would be interesting to see. Yes, SyFy films are notoriously bad, but I’d point attention to Fear Clinic: based on a miniseries on FEARnet (which was absorbed into SyFy/Chiller after being acquired by Comcast), the film continues the story of the series while also being greatly original and is, in my humble opinion, a very interesting film. Is it the best ever? No, but Fear Clinic is fun and interesting. A film with a relatively small budget that makes use of CGI and is a passion project for its creators and cast can be great and can make fans who are passionate about the source very happy.

Even sequels that can be considered bad, can at the same time be obviously fun. I consider Escape from LA one of the absolute worst movies I’ve ever seen. I love Escape from New York, but I can’t express how much I despise EFLA. Yet, the team behind EFLA clearly had worlds of fun making it! The third and fourth Pumpkinhead movies could’ve easily fallen into this category- even if I still despised them, they could’ve had the redeeming quality of having actual, genuine passion behind them, but they fail at even that simple step. Why do so many small horror films get such bad sequels, though? If the original doesn’t have a huge following/hadn’t seen great success initially, why the follow-ups? Were there really that many fans clamoring for two subsequent Pumpkinhead films, especially ones from SyFy? I highly, highly doubt it. Maybe it really was a passion project, but why then did the films turn out so shoddy? People can make low budgets work, as clearly evidenced by films like The Evil Dead, so there’s no reason for that to make the film fail. Lance Henriksen certainly didn’t seem overjoyed to be there, so he wasn’t demanding a sequel either, even though he’s said he enjoyed working on the original and liked his character.

This phenomena of unwanted, poor quality, yet seemingly fan-demanded sequels absolutely boggles my mind, trying to decipher why they come to be. The horror genre has such an interesting core of fans who come to legitimately care for the villains of these movies. There’s a feeling that these iconic, terrifying monsters and madmen should be honored by their sequels- evolution is a natural part of the process, but they shouldn’t devolve into pure schlock and silliness. With smaller films, this feeling is doubled- we treasure what little is given to us and dread the almost inevitability of terrible continuations if the movie isn’t completely forgotten. I think I’m going to lose my mind if I continue to try to solve this conundrum, to grant reason to the completely unreasonable and almost completely profit-driven (ridiculously so, because of the niche market, but which also explains the low budgets) decisions to continue films that do not need sequels. I think this is the longest piece I’ve ever written, and outside of the actual review of the film I haven’t come to much of a conclusion- I’ve got to apologize for that.

There’s news of a remake of the original Pumpkinhead on the way, though, and I am truly filled with exasperation, dread, and a little spark of hope. Hope, because maybe it will introduce more people to the original, or spark more merchandise. Dread, because it will likely be terrible and spawn more negative thoughts than nostalgia for the original. Exasperation, because really? We’re going through this again? Why? I don’t think I’ll ever know.

#pumpkinhead #long post

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empereurtime · 5 years

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For the Queen A-Z asks: KRISTIE (going the basic route and using my name)

Killer Queen or Another One Bites The Dust?

KILLER QUEEN IS MY CLASSY BITCH JAM

Roger in the 70s or Roger in the 80s?

I am a 70s whore, ooof who doesnt love that long hair and fashion style

Is there any Queen song thats YOUR song?

I WANT TO BREAK FREEE, play that song @ my funeral and I’ll immediately be revived in drag and start dancing

Sheer Heart Attack or News of the World?

Sheer Heart Attack!!!

The best part of BoRhap?

Oooooooo mm... Everything,

Probably the ending “Nothing really matters” and that 3 seconds guitars dramatic melody; it never fails to make me cry tbh but also the operatic part and the piano part,,, how did he manage to compose a song thats perfect from beginning to end,

Is there any Queen song thats YOUR song?

Lily of the Valley, Good Ol Fashioned Lover Boy, My Melancholy Blues,,, COOL CAT TOO HOLY SHIT

Ever freaked out in public because you saw/heard something queen related?

-I’ve started legit sobbing in art class after hearing aaayoh at the beginning of Live Aid which was playing in music class next to ours; ended up sneaking into music class and watched the live aid concert while crying my eyes out in my friends lap also at the same time singing with my crying voice because it was Monday after the 24th November and I was way too shaken

- I cried in a massive basketball stadium because I was sad that day and the moment I’ve stepped into the arena A Kind of Magic and then Under Pressure started playing, and it hit me like a truck,

Ive also screamed and cried for a lot of things but I really am quite the emotional mess I guess- They just mean the whole world to me and I wish I could express myself better than this but theres really no way

THANK YOU FOR SENDING MY FUNKY LIL DISCO MAN

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god-whispers · 2 years

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feb 5

"because His compassions fail not. they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." lam 3:22-23 that's the scripture He gave me this morning and how true it is.

yes, we like israel, are a rebellious people. "I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts" isa 65:2 indeed the whole world is full of those walking according to their own thoughts.

it was augustine who said, "You have made us for yourself, o Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You". and what does the Lord admonish us? "stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls" jer 6:16

i was watching my joni table talk yesterday and they had the trumpet player phil dricoll on. i don't know how many of you saw the funeral service for marcus lamb, but he played there also. anyway, he was saying he could never play something the exact same way more than once. (at least not without much study.) that's because his music is led by the Holy Spirit and just like the Holy Spirit, it flows where ever it will.

he said when he was playing, he wasn't a trumpet player. he was the trumpet. he was allowing God to play him. and in the same way, we are not the praiser. we are the praise. when it is done correctly, God is playing us. i was so touched by all that explanation. we all become an instrument of God when we allow Him to move in us and through us.

just a moment ago, i was interrupted in writing this with a need from someone reaching out. i responded and i hope i allowed God to play me. i hope my words were the needed ones and God planted them in their heart. there's no better satisfaction someone can have than feeling they are in the center of God's will. we must bend and bow to the leading of the Holy Spirit. if we don't, His mighty wind will topple us over.

i think of the forces of the hurricanes and tornadoes. they are destructive forces and can be very powerful. can you imagine the force of the wind of the Holy Spirit? suffice it to say, i feel sorry for anyone moving against it and not with it. i always think back to the powerful revival in florida several years ago. they kept singing a song called "the mercy seat". it said to come running to the mercy seat and come running they did; heathen, backsliders, atheists and all. the hopeful and the hopeless.

the Spirit of God is the power of God in this world. if we connect with Him, we can have that power flowing through us. that will be what is required in these days. these last days. the early church was birthed in that power. it was not just belief because one had heard. it was belief because one had seen. "believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." john 14:11 Jesus told His disciples to tarry until "until you are endued with power from on high. luke 24:49 that was two thousand years ago. the Holy Spirit has come.

do we all just need a fresh anointing? "did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" john 11:40 or do we just need to walk in that confident faith peter had. "then peter said, silver and gold have i none; but such as i have give i thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of nazareth rise up and walk." acts 3:6 peter did not have the power, but he had the Holy Spirit. or maybe the Holy Spirit had him. either way, the glory of God was manifested.

Jesus repeatedly chastised the disciples for being "of little faith". when He calmed the sea. when He fed the multitude. then and other times when He performed the seemingly impossible. we know that nothing is impossible with God. and the faith needed for it? "assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." matt 17:20

the time is now. God is ready for a people who will dare to believe. dare to believe Him for more. more than just a nice warm feeling or a tongue talking smug believer, thinking he has it all. there is no "all" of God. when we get to our end, He will still be there and beyond. He is enough for all who will dare to believe. do you have that faith to believe? do i? Lord, increase our faith.

linda

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