#Hail to the King; Caesar

[bxd-kxrma]

“Whoa, so this is your bike?! So cool!”

“Yup, ain’t it something?”

“Can I-“

“No. Never. Don’t even think about it.”

“I didn’t even get to finish…”

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Another IDW comic, another King Caesar who's miles cooler than the film versions.

[roisdevivre]

love and craft || open rp

"And what sort of spell is it you're looking for, my dear? Don't be shy. I specialize in the eight branches of love, everything from Eros to Agape, but I assure you, we can feed or starve all sorts of appetites here..." Caesar gestured to the glittering stores of potions neatly arranged in crystal vials on shelves all around the room.

"Now... How can I help you?"

[ofallingstar]

List of books I read in 2023

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

Women Talking by Miriam Toews

L'homme semence by Violette Ailhaud

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

On Magic & The Occult by W.B. Yeats

Faithful Place by Tana French

The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

Opened Ground: Selected Poems 1966-1996 by Seamus Heaney

The Love Object by Edna O'Brien

Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Night by Elie Wiesel

In Between the Sheets by Ian McEwan

The Lost Days by Rob Reger & Jessica Gruner

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Parallax by Sinéad Morrissey

The Woman in the Strongbox by Maureen O'Hagan

Diaries, 1910-1923 by Franz Kafka

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Walking to Martha's Vineyard by Franz Wright

A Tale for the Time Being Ruth Ozeki

Mouthful of Forevers by Clementine von Radics

Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block

The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

Find Me by André Aciman

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

The Grace Year by Kim Ligget

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

Psycho by Robert Bloch

Classic Tales Of Vampires And Shapeshifters by Tig Thomas

Love Devours: Tales of Monstrous Adoration by Sarah Diemer

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Putney by Sofka Zinovieff

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

The Maid by Nita Prose

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

You can follow me or add me as a friend on Goodreads.

[whencyclopedia]

The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Veni, vidi, vici! This was the simple message the Roman commander Julius Caesar sent to the Senate in Rome after a resounding victory in the east against King Pharnaces of Pontus - a message that demonstrated both arrogance as well as great military competence. "I came, I saw, I conquered!" also represented his future as leader of the Roman Republic. Although praised at first for both his military skills and ability to lead, he gradually began to bring fear into the minds of many of those inside as well as outside the Senate. Finally, a plot arose; friends soon became enemies and a brutal death came to a dictator.

Military Success & Reforms

Gaius Julius Caesar had returned to Rome in triumph, hailed as a hero. During his time as a Roman general, he claimed to have killed almost two million people in fifty decisive battles. Although loved by the citizens of Rome, he caused, in many ways, worry among those in the Roman Senate - especially the old elite, the Optimates. The man who was soon to be hailed as dictator for life (dictator perpetuo) transferred his skill as a military commander into the ability to lead the Republic. Seeing the need and demonstrating that he truly loved the people of Rome, he decreed a number of significant and necessary reforms - reforms that further endeared him to the Roman citizenry. Always loyal to his army, one of his first endeavors was to offer land to seasoned veterans. Next, he gave grain to the urban poor and planned to move these same poor to the newly acquired colonies in Anatolia, Greece, and North Africa. He limited the terms of the provincial governors while increasing the size of the Senate. He created a new calendar (still in use today) and provided both gladiatorial games and banquets as entertainment. The city of Rome had suffered violence and corruption and was plagued by high unemployment. Caesar not only provided jobs through public work projects but also cleaned up the dangerous city streets. He even built a public library.

While these reforms made him popular among the commoners, they brought panic to many of his enemies and even some of his friends. To these men, their beloved republic no longer existed, especially after Caesar was named dictator for life in February 44 BCE - a completely unconstitutional act. They believed they no longer had a voice as Rome was quickly coming under the control of a would-be tyrant. Caesar's extreme arrogance and vanity (he was very self-conscious about his balding head, for example) offended many in the Roman Senate. This arrogance was most evident upon his victorious return to the city after the defeat of fellow Roman commander Gnaeus Pompey in Greece. Adorned in triumphant garments and a laurel crown - something many people saw as unnecessary - Caesar rode into the city. Wars in the east had been against foreigners, but his victory in Greece saw the deaths of what many considered as their own sons and daughters. One tribune Pontus Aquila even refused to rise as Caesar passed - something that angered the conquering hero.

Continue reading...

[sforzesco]

HAIL TO THE KING, BABY

it's like. the horror of war and bodies and the gore of power that demands people be brought violently under the heel. something else about renaissance discourses on tyranny, too. everything repeats itself. everything repeats itself. everything---

Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of Julius Caesar, Lionel Noel Royer, The siege of Florence, Stefano Ussi

Caesar and Genocide: Confronting the Dark Side of Caesar's Gallic Wars, K. Raaflaub, The Medici, Mary Hollingsworth

[blueiscoool]

Gold Coin Reveals Unknown British King

New light has been shed on a little-known part of British history thanks to the extraordinary discovery of a coin bearing the name of a forgotten Iron Age ruler in Hampshire, south-east England.

The coin, which has the inscription “Esunertos,” was discovered by a metal detectorist in a field in Hampshire. Esunertos may have ruled as a king from the powerful Danebury Fort, according to experts’ speculation, and this find has been hailed as “one of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades.”

Leading Iron Age experts have studied the coin and deduced it to be struck by a pre-eminent male figure dubbed ‘IISVNIRTOS’ whose name translates as ‘Mighty as the God Esos’.

The coin was struck sometime between 50 and 30 BC, shortly after Julius Caesar’s first Roman raid of Britain in 55 BC.

The coin, which is thought to have been produced between 50 and 30 BC, was struck in conjunction with Julius Caesar’s first Roman raid on Britain in 55 BC when the Roman general and his 20,000 soldiers landed on the Kent coast. Despite a confrontation with Celtic warriors on the beach, the Romans encountered difficulties landing due to rough seas and eventually had to return home.

Gregory Edmund, Iron Age Coin Specialist at Spink Auctioneers said: “This fabulous piece of prehistoric artwork completes the mental image we have when we think of Iron Age Britain – the war horse and chariot.

“But it also surprises us with the appearance of classical languages like Latin.

Dr John Sills of the Celtic Coin Index at the Ashmolean Museum said: ‘It is one of the outstanding discoveries of recent decades in Celtic numismatics.’

Initially, it was anticipated that the gold coin would sell for around £4,000 ($5000) at auction. But contrary to all expectations, it broke a record at Spinks Auction by selling for an astounding £20,400 ($25,500).

The coin was found by Lewis Fudge, a metal detectorist who received permission to search a farmer’s field in March this year. Lewis Fudge expressed his elation, stating:

“I am over the moon. If it were not for people in the auction room, I would have jumped around. The collectors I spoke to are gobsmacked. I’m so glad I did not take them up on their private offers before the auction. To think my find has generated its own Wikipedia page is incredible.”

Spink Auctions describe the coin as a quarter slater with the obverse side of the coin bearing the name Esunertos in Latin, and with the worn head of Apollo formed of three interlocking rows of outward facing crescents, a seven-spoked wheel at center in lieu of the ear, and an eye of visage with radiating spike towards the neckline.

The reverse of the coin has a tripled-tailed horse, with a pincer-like mandible for face and linear ear, with pelleted mane, yoke or bucranium above the head, an 8-spoked wheel above spearing into the horse’s back, and double or triple ringed annulet below.

By Leman Altuntaş.

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Credit: pixiv.net/artworks/70581957

Motherfucker.

Hajime is Dr. Romani. This is going to connect with Izuru later. But still, of course Hajime is one of the dealy beloved human characters of Fgo.

Chiaki is Frankenstein's Monster (call her Fran). She looks great and all but besides the love of electricity and childlike mannerisms, not sure Chiaki fits Fran's animal like berserkness and tragic need for love.

Mahiru is Boudica. I can say for certainty this is solely due to Red hair and mother like qualities. Pretty sure we shouldn't compare Mahiru to someone whose entire purpose in Fgo is being that meme person who really hates the Roman Empire (ironically the founder of Rome is her best partner in battle), has big boobs, has a terrible skillset in battle, and is defined by her backstory of losing the war against the Roman Empire and had to watch her daughters be relentlessly raped by them before most likely being forced to join them which lead to her falling into despair and killing herself.

Ibuki is Nobunaga. This is solely cuz of the amount of fourth wall breaking chibi style comedic relief and crazy hijinks. (Nobu Nobu Nobu? Nobu Nobu Nobu Nobu Nobu! Nobu? Nobu Nobu! Nobu...)

Mikan is Skadi. I have no idea why. What does shy and clumsy as fuck Mikan have in common with a wise nordic giantess with insecurities about being single and unmarried?

Hiyoko is BB. BB and Hiyoko might both be detestable trollish pieces of shit who keep fucking people over and getting away with it, but comparing Hiyoko to essentially AI Junko Enoshima on crack is a bit too far.

Kazuichi is Nikola Tesla. Electricity. Master Inventor. Eccentric mofo. I approve.

Sonia is Marie Antoinette. Princess/Queen like character. I can see that. (Tho we should also try to look out for Marie Alter cuz that bitch is crazy as fuck and wants everyone to experience how it felt when the guillotine beheaded her). Tho Sonia wishes she was as much a cinnamon roll as Marie.

Gundham is Ozymandias/Rameses II. Boisterous mofos collide. I approve. (Sidenote: Ozy is voiced by Dio. KONO OZY DA!!!)

Izuru is of course Dr. Roman's true identity as King Solomon, King and Progenitor of All Magic. All magic apparently stems from him, motherfuckers. All hail the character we will never get and wish he would come back.

Nagito is Edmund Dantes. Only cuz of Memes based on similar looks. Nagito has nothing on Dantes's year long pursuit for revenge. Tho I guess they both were "saved" by the woman they loved most in the world.

Twogami is Julius Caesar. Only cuz they are chubby charismatic likeable people.

Peko is Tomoe. FUCK YEAH I APPROVE. Peko would totally be Tomoe. Why do you think I made Tomoe her Persona in my headcanon. It fits her SO MUCH TO A T.

Fuyuhiko is Rama. Why? What does Fuyu have in common with a guy who kills demon kings with an army of monkeys cuz they stole his wife yet was also cursed to die whenever him and his wife would ever meet? (Poor Rama in fgo, all he wants is to be with his wife again but destiny keeps screwing him over by killing him seconds before his wife reaches where he is).

Nekomaru is Iskandar/Alexander the Great. Solely due to being super muscular likeable badass motivators of living a great life. Nekomaru clearly doesn't want to conquer lands and rule the world.

Akane is Francis Drake. Only cuz of giant cleavage window alone. Akane ain't no pirate queen with literal flying sea ships with giant laser cannons.

And Teruteru is Fergus. Only because both of them are a super perverts with mindsets primarily filled only about banging women and having sex. Teru is no ripped Chad with a drill sword that shoots rainbow lasers from the ground. (Sidenote: Fergus's drill sword, Caladbolg, translates to "Hard Blade". Yes it's a dick joke.")

//I mean they look good?

-Mod

[blogthebooklover]

KOTPOTA Theme Songs/Bands

I got bored, and I wanted to share some theme songs/bands I think would be perfect for the characters in Kingdom and the POTA reboot trilogy. And just going by my own personal preferences from the playlists I made. Feel free to add more.

Proximus Caesar

Theme Band: Disturbed

Theme Song: Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold

Noa

Theme Band: Linkin Park

Theme Song: Strangers Like Me by Phil Collins

Mae

Theme Band/Singer: AURORA

Theme Song: Eva by Nightwish

Koba

Theme Band: Breaking Benjamin or Three Days Grace

Theme Song: Riot by Three Days Grace

Caesar

Theme Band/Singer: Gladiator Soundtrack, Hans Zimmer

Theme Song: Kings of the Past from The Lion King

Raka

Theme Band: Avatar 2009 soundtrack, James Horner

Theme Song: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story from Hamilton

Soona

Theme Band/Singer:

Theme Song: Sally's Song by Danny Elfman, Catherine O'Hara

Anaya

Theme Band/Singer:

Theme Song: Friend Like Me by Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, and Robin Williams

[fitsofgloom]

Akemi Negishi dancing in veneration before the inebriated island god who's just delivered her and her son from the deadly coils of the octopus in "King King vs. Godzilla." I've always been drawn to Toho's Showa Era conceit of revering select Kaiju as gods. Godzilla, King Kong, Mothra, and King Caesar were all hailed as divinities invoked or activated at various turns by the calls of shamans and priestesses. The current Legendary series has run with this, casting its roster of monsters as old gods and elementals who still have adherants in the world and gain new ones through acts of heroism.

[stvlti]

linger like a sandwalk - a playlist for Dune Part Two

I'm back 💃 after 2 years of not posting new playlists for my fandoms 💃 this new Dune movie is living in my head rent free 😮‍💨 of course I had to make fanmix for this one to try and consolidate my thoughts.

Tracks ⏏️

Bloodline -- Gabriels  //  No Church in the Wild -- Jay-Z & Kanye West  //  Mary Magdalene -- FKA Twigs  //  Pink Matter  -- Frank Ocean  //  Smother -- Daughter  //  Say You'll Go -- Janelle Monáe  //  A Time of Quiet Between Storms (Dune Part Two OST) -- Hans Zimmer  //  Your Blood -- Nothing But Thieves  //  The River -- Kero Kero Bonito  //  Bad Religion -- Frank Ocean  //  Telekinesis -- Travis Scott ft. SZA & Future  //  Transform -- Daniel Caesar ft. Charlotte Day Wilson

Meta ⏏️

An explanation of the song choices & related thoughts on the film *

(*) I still have not read the book *lies down* As soon as life slows down I swear I will. The 2 Denis Villeneuve films combined already make for a rich narrative and storyworld however, and this playlist is very much based on that.

▶️ Bloodline -- Gabriels

It's the bloodline This thing came before you Bloodline

I wanted to open this playlist on something that gets right at (one of) the core themes of Villeneuve's Dune, and to me that is the idea of bloodlines, legacies and self-fulfilling prophecies.

Birth rights can be stole Truth is you were always alone Tears in your hands Seems you lost before you began Your ancestors' blood fed the soil and the sand

I think a point that many filmgoers miss - and is also a point I missed on my first viewing of Part Two - is that the Lisan Al Gaib prophecy and Paul's claim to it is wholly manufactured. Upon rewatch, several lines in the 2 films jumped out to me: 'On Arrakis, a path has been laid' (Mother Mohiam in Part One), and first Paul (during his first meal in Sietch Tabr) and then Lady Jessica's declaration that they must persuade the non-believers that he is the Lisan Al Gaib so as to ensure their continued survival among the Fremen. Irulan's later commentary, 'these are our religious patterns', cemented this fact for me. We are reminded that The Bene Gesserit has sent missionaries to the Fremen over decades and centuries, creating the religious circumstances for Paul to consolidate power among the natives. He has as much a claim to the title of the Mahdi / Lisan Al Gaib as any other outerworlder from the Houses of the Imperium - that is to say, he isn't really the Chosen One. 'Birth rights can be stole', and this is a birth right he stole.

Yet, he does undoubtedly hail from his mother's Bene Gesserit lineage and, through consuming the Water of Life, inherit the ancestral memories of both his masculine and feminine forebearers from both the royal bloodlines and the Fremen lineage of Reverend Mothers. (We see this during the montage after he takes the WoL, falling through a super cut of the faces of the Fremen Reverend Mothers who came before him before eventually finding a vision of Alia on the sand dunes.) His 'ancestors' blood fed the soil and the sand' on which he now stands as the (false) prophet that will lead his Fremen tribe to ruin...

It's the bloodline Don't let it destroy you Bloodline

... and in ascending to the title of the Mahdi, he will undoubtedly lose everything that made him Paul the individual in the first place. Greater prophecies, plans and conspiracies will eclipse his humanity. This is the real bloodline that drives him to war and genocide. 'Don't let it destroy you' - but maybe it's already too late.

▶️ No Church in the Wild -- Jay-Z & Kanye West

I mean, come on, this song choice is just too obvious isn't it?

Human beings in a mob What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a God? What's a God to a non-believer who don't believe in anything? Will he make it out alive? Alright, alright No church in the wild

'Mob' = the Fremen and their Fedaykin guerilla troops. 'King' = Rabban, and later Feyd-Rautha, and the Harkonnen regime. 'God' = Paul as Mahdi and Muad'dib, the desert terrorist. 'Non-believer' = Chani and her brethren among the Northern skeptics.

But the sonical landscape of this song also played a huge part in my inclusion of the song on this list. I'm a lover of words before all else, but something about Dune made me want to curate a sonically coherent playlist that accompanies the story in lyrics as much as it does in sound. The grueling, forward momentum of this song's iconic beat lends itself to the raids the Fedaykin warriors launched against the Harkonnen-controlled spice fields.

▶️ Mary Magdalene -- FKA Twigs

In my head I call this the quintessential Bene Gesserit song. Listen, and read the lyrics:

A woman's work A woman's prerogative

The song makes it clear from the very first lines that it's about the woman's birthright and sovereignty. Most of the Bene Gesserit ladies we see in this film have roots in the royal bloodlines themselves. In that, they have a claim to a particular prerogative. Yet they also actively govern the domain of procreation, descendancy, succession, and survival of royal bloodlines. That is the nature of 'a woman's work' in this storyworld.

A woman's touch, a sacred geometry I know where you start, where you end How to please, how to curse Yes, I learnt you needed me Yes, I'm here to open you Yes, I know that your heart is blue (So cold)

FKA Twigs' darkly seductive vocals paired with this particular verse really evokes that entire Lady Fenring/Feyd-Rautha sequence.

I fear before the fire True as Mary Magdalene Creature of desire Come just a little bit closer to me Step just a little bit closer to me

The seduction continues here, but there's power inherent in the 'creature of desire' Mary Magdalene represents. Her story and her iconography bears a heavy resemblance to the Bene Gesserit sisters and their relationships with the men of the Imperium and its court.

I can lift you higher I do it like Mary Magdalene I want you to say it Come just a little bit closer 'til we collide

A woman's hands So dark and provocative A nurturing breath that could stroke Your divine confidence

I really fuck with the Mary Magdalene allegory in this song, and the chorus nails the mythos and authority she commands in modern reimaginings of her figure in relation to Jesus' mythos. Yet there's something softer in the latter half of the chorus - the devotion she shows to her partner is on equal footing, less of manipulation and more of the muse she can be for him to realise his full potential. With the arrival of the second verse we truly see how important she is to a man's dominion. 'A nurturing breath that could stroke [His] divine confidence': that is the power of Lady's Jessica's love for and devotion to Leto Atreides.

A woman's war Unoccupied history True nature won't search to destroy If it doesn't make sense

Of course, it would be remiss of me not to point out that certain parts of the Bene Gesserit's characterisation functions as a manifestation and perpetuation of Frank Herbert's very of-its-time misogynistic, gender essentialist ideas of a woman's station and the (only) avenue through which she derives her power in the material world - her womb. (Miss me with that radical feminist bs.) But we also see, in the film, Princess Irulan's character: a female historian whom the film suggests would have been happier free from the trappings of the Bene Gesserit programme and her Imperial lineage. 'A woman's war; unoccupied history': Mary Magdalene is a prime example of how for most of history, women are often anonymous (as that Virginia Woolf saying goes), their histories are often erased and deemed as unimportant; Irulan's inner thoughts and history are also cast aside and given no voice in the Dune narrative, but in an ironic twist, she dedicates her life to documenting the history of others.

▶️  Pink Matter -- Frank Ocean

What do you think my brain is made for? Is it just a container for the mind? This great, grey matter Sensei replied, "What is your woman? Is she just a container for the child?" That soft, pink matter

This song provides more of a male - or at least, androgynous - perspective on the question of the Bene Gesserit breeding programme ('Is she just a container for the child?' / 'My God, she's giving me pleasure'). But it gets right at the core of the question of whether the women in this universe, and the avenue through which they gain power, is truly confined to being 'just a container for the child'. I also really liked the direct parallels Frank Ocean's lyrics draw between the womb (pink matter) and the mind (grey matter), as the other main source of power Jessica drives from is through her mind and the prescience becoming the Reverend Mother has afforded her.

▶️ Smother -- Daughter

In my head I call this Lady Jessica's song.

I want all that is not mine I want him, but we're not right In the darkness, I will meet my creators And they will all agree that I'm a suffocator

I think it's more intimate than either of the 2 songs that come before this one, and centres Jessica squarely in her role as a mother before her place as a Bene Gesserit sister. She knows she will meet her creators - the generations of mothers and Bene Gesserit sisters who came before her - and she knows they will disapprove of the path she has manipulated to suit her ends, first for Duke Leto (in bearing him a son) and then for her son's survival (in spreading propaganda of him as the Lisan Al Gaib among the Fremen tribes). Now I know that the films sort of reduce her to a one-dimensional villain in Part Two, but I've heard that she is a lot less gungho about their little homegrown personality cult of Paul as the Lisan Al Gaib / Mahdi in the book. In fact, his accelerated transformation into a religious figurehead and his willingness to exploit the Fremen for that, at the cost of his own humanity, seems to be an unintended outcome that she regrets. She has unwittingly become a 'suffocator', in that regard - a mother killing her own child's humanity in his metaphorical cradle as soon as she exposed him to tales of the prophecy.

Oh love I'm sorry if I smothered you I sometimes wish I'd stayed inside My mother

▶️  Say You'll Go -- Janelle Monáe

Say you'll go to Nirvana Will you leave Samsara? Or in the words of Dhammapada, "Who will lead? Who will follow?" Our love will sail in this ark The world could end outside our window Let's find forever And write our name in fire on each others' hearts

Something about Janelle's crooning vocals against the symphonic strings and melodies just makes this a timeless love song. I love including it in for my ships 🥺 and I think it rather fits PaulChani, the star-crossed lovers that they are. 'Let's find forever' is my 'I will love you as long as I breathe'.

But of course, the question of whether Paul will go south looms over their heads like the Sword of Damocles. 'Will you leave Samsara? ... Who will lead? Who will follow?'

▶️  A Time of Quiet Between Storms (Dune Part Two OST)

Among the Dune OST, this song holds a higher and special place in my heart because of the way it celebrates their first on-screen kiss, but is also used as a reprise of sorts at the end of the film as Chani walks out on Paul. It's a bittersweet track. And it's lived in my mind rent free much the same way that last shot of Chani, with her quivering lips and angry eyes, has.

This brings me to the name of the playlist: the PaulChani tragedy, and just, the film as a whole, has definitely lingered in my mind. It has dragged against my thoughts gently, but persistently like the rhythm of a sandwalk.

I also chose to place it in the middle of playlist to sever it into 2 parts, much the same way the film is severed into 2 parts: before Paul undergoes the Water of Life ritual, when he is still an idealistic boy who actively rejects the title of the Mahdi for fear of the wartorn future he's foreseen, and afterwards, when he claims the mantle of the Mahdi.

▶️  Your Blood -- Nothing But Thieves

You know it's your blood that I bleed Tell me that there's some way that I'll get through the night I carry your moral disease I don't wanna be something I'm not to stay alive

You guys don't know how long I've wanted to put this song on a fanmix!! I've called this Joey Wilson/Jericho's song from the moment I heard it 😂 but I think the same themes can be found in Paul's story too, specifically his first scene right after recovering from the Water of Life ritual. 'We're Harkonnens.' And his realisation that that's how they'll survive: by becoming Harkonnens. It's the Baron's blood that he bleeds, and conflicted as he is about that, eventually he'll come to realise that he has to 'be something I'm not to stay alive'.

▶️  The River -- Kero Kero Bonito

Holy mother Receive our hearts in your arms And let our souls pass The day the rain returns again

These 4 lines are repeated throughout the song, almost like a prayer. It reminds me of the way Stilgar holds onto those same 4 words, 'As it was written', throughout the film as an affirmation of his religious convictions - the belief that the true Mahdi will bring paradise one day and with it, the rain.

When Earth is submerging And heaven is open The river will carry all of us to Where we belong ... Then a torrent crashes down Releasing the jungle swelling in the ground And as was foretold our time is out

▶️  Bad Religion -- Frank Ocean

If it brings me to my knees It's a bad religion This unrequited love To me, it's nothing but a one-man cult And cyanide in my styrofoam cup I can never make him love me Never make him love me

This song places us in Chani's pov. To her, Paul's meteoric rise of notoriety among the Fremen is 'nohting but a one-man cult'. She loved him as he was - an outsider who stayed humble and learnt her ways, and earned a place among her Fedaykin brethren. But as a power-tripping outerworlder claiming to be the Mahdi - she doesn't recognise him, and she 'can never make him love [her]' again, not as the man he has become.

▶️  Telekinesis -- Travis Scott ft. SZA & Future

I could've took the pain and I could've went out sad Streets stepped in and raised me, but I ain't have my daddy

So I'm gonna be honest: this is actually the track that started this entire project for me 🙈 But you see it, right? Travis Scott as Paul's voice, and SZA as Chani's...

I can see the future, it's lookin' like we level through the sky I can't wait to live in glory in eternal lastin' life

The fact that 'I can see the future' is the refrain of this song. In its original context I'm almost certain that Travis meant it less literally, and more in the realm of being able to guess the trajectory of his career as he continues to top the charts as a hip hop superstar. But it lends well to the context of Paul's religious myth-making as well. 'Eternal lasting life' and all that.

How can I sleep when you're out catchin' bodies? I still wanna be with you, trust me, I know that's insane ... We both ain't shit and it's workin' for me Workin' for me, yeah I can see the future, I can see the future

The thing that breaks my heart about the ending of the film is that you can see Chani still loves Paul, but not who he has become. I also like that the song flips the refrain around and has SZA sing it too. Except when she says, 'I can see the future', she says it self-deprecatingly. It's a future of more heartbreak and betrayal (by way of mutual infidelity) and ruin.

▶️  Transform -- Daniel Caesar ft. Charlotte Day Wilson

If a leopard never changes its spots How can I change what I've got? Transform, transform, transform, transform We don't punish the tiger for catching its prey So how am I the one to blame? If it's in my nature Transform, transform, transform, transform

One thing rewatching these films has made me realise is that Paul's 'sudden flip' to becoming a coloniser exploiting the Fremen's religion for his own gains in Imperial politics after drinking the Water of Life is actually less of a plot twist and more of an inevitability that has been advertised since Part One. Towards the end of the first film, he says to Liet Kynes that he intends to marry one of the Emperor's daughters and make a play for the throne. In Part Two, during his first meal at Sietch Tabr, he says to his mother that he must convince the non-believers that he is the Lisan Al Gaib. He may not have intended to bear the mantle of the Mahdi, perhaps he was foolishly, idealistically looking for a different path towards revenge and the throne, but he has never been above playing the game and utilising court politics to secure his 'victory', so to speak. He was born of royal blood and forged in those politics. It's in his nature.

It's never over until life ends Lay down beside me, do it again

These 2 lines reminds me again of that promise Paul and Chani exchanged: 'I will love you as long as I breathe'. (And if I remember correctly, Chani said something to the effect of 'I will be here for you as long as you stay who you are' as well.) I didn't want to end this playlist on a downer ending, hence this song choice.

If you've made it this far into my meta-commentary, thank you! Hope you've enjoyed this playlist ♡

[bxd-kxrma]

“Will you at least take me out on a ride??”

“I guess, but you’ll be riding bitch.”

“The fuck you just call me???”

She taps her seat right behind her and motions for Karma to hop on.

“You’re forgiven.”

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Three tremendous Easter eggs in this panel:

The battle between Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and King Caesar was so earth-shattering it brought back Godzilland! Caesar never showed up in the merch or anime, so that's especially nice to see.

The RC Godzilla is a dead ringer for a toy from the Godzilland merch line.

Bear with me on this one... the monster in the last thumbnail looks like a Skeleturtle given flesh, based on the pose from this t-shirt. The closest thing it has to an official name is "Mystery Bones of Infant Island," and the only word visible is definitely "Mystery."

[roisdevivre]

the necromancer || open rp

"How far are you prepared to go?" The warlock's dark eyes glittered, something like a smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he leaned back in his seat, surveying his visitor. "To bring them back. How much are you prepared to give?"

[victusinveritas]

The Republic Is Dead, Long Live The Republic

(by Jim Wright, original blog entry found here)

Poor man wanna be rich

Rich man wanna be king

And a king ain't satisfied

'till he rules everything

-- Bruce Springsteen, Badlands

Thus ends The Republic.

Hail! Mr. President.

It should never have come to this,

But, hey, at least democracy was fun while it lasted.

I made a pithy comment.

A couple of them actually, as is my wont.

Well, maybe not so much pithy as bitterly sardonic observations on yesterday's Supreme Court Ruling.

Here's one:

I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not sure how this works, but basically Biden is President For Life now, right? So, does Biden just "officially" cancel the election or do we have to break some windows and beat up cops first?

Sarcasm, right?

Obviously a reference to January 6th, 2021 and the violent actions of the then president and his howling rabble. A reference to that president's impeachment and the legal troubles he finds himself in (for now).

Right? Obviously.

Meta, the platform behind Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, removed it.

"It looks like you shared or sent something that could encourage violence and lead to risk of physical harm, or a direct threat to public safety."

I beg your pardon? I did what now?

"This goes against our Community Guidelines on violence and incitement."

Community guidelines on violence and incitement, you say?

I literally laughed out loud.

Literally laughed loud enough to scare the dog out of a sound sleep.

Hilarious.

Absolutely fucking hilarious.

Meta removed a number of similar posts from my various timelines. And it just kept getting funnier to me.

Funny ha ha, but also funny ironic.

You see, Mark Zuckerberg has higher standards against incitement of violence and threats to the public safety than the Supreme Court.

Mark Zuckerberg. That Mark Zuckerberg. That Facebook. That Meta.

Hilarious.

And what's even funnier is that I've now faced more consequences for allegedly inciting violence against the Republic than Donald Trump has or ever will -- because he's now officially immune from the consequences of his own actions and I as a mere plebe of the Imperium am most assuredly not.

Quod Erat Demonstrandum and Hail! Caesar.

Somewhere right now, up there in Republican heaven, Richard Milhous Nixon is swearing bitterly and staring down in utter disbelief at those who called John Roberts a "moderate conservative."

And, yeah, while that's probably hyperbole, the truth of the matter is the Roberts Court would have let Tricky Dick get away with it.

And the really ironic part here is that this Republican Supreme Court hasn't just sounded the death knell of The Republic by making the president Caesar, immune from the law and from the consequences of his own actions, but the Court has effectively killed itself.

I mean, what's the point of a Legislative or Judicial Branch when the Executive has unlimited power and absolute immunity?

The checks and balances of the American government are now effectively null and void, because with absolute executive immunity comes absolute immunity from both the Court and from Congress.

And that's exactly what this ruling does.

But then again, what would you expect from a Court that has no enforceable ethical code of conduct and refuses to even consider one?

The majority opinion, penned by Roberts himself alleges the founders of this country, the Framers of the Constitution, those men who'd just fought a bloody war of rebellion to free themselves from a monarch utterly immune from accountability and the law, actually envisioned an Executive who would likewise be immune from the law and accountability but is also somehow not a king.

Ur?

Never mind, he's rollin'

The opinion uses words like “vigorous,” “energetic," "decisive," and "speedy execution” of the president's duty to "faithfully execute" the law -- something the president has been able to do for 248 years, through multiple wars and myriad national emergencies, somehow without having absolute immunity.

But today in this new age, apparently the law cannot be executed vigorously, energetically, decisively, or in a speedy fashion if the president actually has to obey the law he's "faithfully" executing.

Explain to me how the guy charged with enforcing the law should be immune from it.

Explain it to me like I'm not a lawyer. Go ahead.

Why does this only apply to Presidents? Why shouldn't attorney generals be likewise immune from the law, or the police, or Supreme Court Justices ... okay, those are bad examples but I think I've made my point here.

The President must have “absolute immunity” for any “official act within his exclusive sphere of constitutional authority," reasons the Chief Justice.

Now, again, I'm not a lawyer, but I noticed that the Chief Justice and his conservative Trump-appointed coconspirators on the Court didn't bother to define "official acts." That seems a strange omission, doesn't it? If they didn't define official acts, who does? The president? And Republicans don't see this as problematic?

But of course they wouldn't, would they?

But wait, there's more.

The opinion also offers up something called “presumptive immunity.”

Now, you'd think "absolute immunity" would cover it. If you have absolute immunity, how much more immunity do you need? That's pretty much what "absolute" mean, isn't it?

Ha ha. No.

According to John Roberts, the President also gets "presumptive immunity" for any action that falls outside his "official" duties, but within “the outer perimeter of his official responsibility.”

So there's official official and then there's also some other sort of official that's less official but also still official.

See? That's why I'm not a lawyer.

Anyway, this presidenting gig sounds like good work if you can get it.

As in the above decision regarding absolute immunity for official acts, the court doesn't provide any definition of "outer perimeter of official responsibility" or what non-official official duties might fall into it.

Confused?

It gets better, because Roberts goes on to say that this presumptive immunity for acts taken in the outer perimeter of officialdom might actually be absolute immunity after all, but “we need not decide that question today.”

So, we've determined there are official acts that get absolute immunity and there are less official acts that get presumptive immunity, but those less official acts might actually be official acts and entitled to absolute immunity instead of presumptive immunity but we don't have to actually spell out what any of those acts actually are today because something something gazpacho and the lower courts will just figure it out. Probably.

I'll pause for a minute so you can wipe at the blood which is no doubt running from you ear about now.

Unofficial acts, says Roberts, are not entitled to immunity, presumptive or absolute.

Oh, well, that's good.

We can hold the President accountable for unofficial acts.

Unofficial acts.

Unofficial.

The president can be held accountable for unofficial acts.

Heh heh. Riiiight.

When the president does it, that means it is not illegal!

-- Richard Nixon, 1977

Guess what? Turns out, Nixon was right.

If absolute immunity is only for official acts, then immunity is always going to be absolute because you can bet that when the president does it, whatever it is, it's always -- always -- going to be "official."

Bet on it.

You know why? Because the same court who made this decision, will make that one too.

And thus, the president can't be indicted and he can't be impeached.

There is no longer any Constitutional or governmental method of restraining a president.

And there is now no accountability to the American people whatsoever, not even voting if a president choses to "officially" ignore an unfavorable election and order his VP to change the results. That is exactly what the Supreme Court just said. This is quite literally the crux of this entire argument. That's what started all of this, a president who refused to accept the results of the election and who attempted to nullify those results through violence in order to seize power. Those are now official acts and immune from the law.

Up above I said I'd made a number of comments on social media that were later removed.

Here's another one:

When they line us up in front of that ditch they made us dig in the field outside the concentration camp gates, just before one of Supreme General Mike Flynn's Hauptsturmführers gives the order to fire, I'll be the guy who smacks you in the back of the head and snarls "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO."

The post got several hundred responses.

-- You won't get the chance, I won't be there. I'm going for their throats with my bare teeth when they show up to "detain me for reeducation". They're going to have to shoot in the street in front of my own house in front of everybody.

-- I won't get there. I will take a few with me first.

-- Before that happens, I'm going to take out as many of those single helix mutant pieces of shit neckbeards as possible. You're welcome to join me. I will not go quietly.

-- Im not going down without taking a few of them with me.. jfs

-- I’ll be the girl who turns around and storms the bad guys. They may kill me, but I’ll go down fighting.

There were many, many more in the same spirit, I was in the process of recording them when Threads took the post down and I lost access to the feed.

We'll go down fighting!

Yeah. Great. Cool. I admire your spirit. War is fun. You're gonna love it. But the thing is, we wouldn't have to die fighting -- if you all showed the same grit at the ballot box.

Now, I'm not saying that those who shouted defiance up above didn't themselves vote. They follow me, they likely did.

But a lot of Americans didn't.

And they won't this time either -- despite their promise to go down fighting.

It should never have come to this and where does that leave us?

If the president does it, it's official. And if it's official then the president can't be impeached and he can't be indicted and he can't be convicted and he can't be held accountable to the people. He is, de facto, Caesar.

Or Vladimir Putin. Pick you poison.

That is literally Trump's entire argument.

Everything he did in office is official. He can't be impeached for it, he can't be prosecuted for it, and he fully intends to do it again, until he really is Caesar, or Putin.

And the Court said, Okay.

I'm not a lawyer, don't take my word for it. Instead listen to what Justice Sotomayor said:

The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. … When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be.

That is the majority’s message today.

Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.

We probably could have avoided a lot of trouble and been much further ahead if we'd just paid our taxes, drank our tea, and knuckled under to King George III.

If nothing else, at least we'd have universal healthcare today.

So, where does that leave us?

Beyond guillotines and the Second Amendment, I mean.

November.

That's where it leaves us.

We have one chance to fix this without bloody war and revolution, and even that is a dicey proposition.

I lied up above. War isn't fun. Killing people is terrible. It's dirty and it's ugly and it's fucking horrifying and if you survive you'll never ever get the smell of death out of your brain. Ever. We're out of options. You don't get the luxury of sitting this one out or throwing away your vote because you don't like the choices. And bluntly, if you don't have what it takes to show up and vote, you probably don't have what it takes to pick up a gun and fight tyranny on the battlefield either.

It should never have come to this.

You want want a better nation, you're going to have to be better citizens.

With fear for our democracy, I dissent.

-- Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

By Jim Wright

[scotianostra]

On September 30th 1921 Hollywood film star Deborah Kerr was born in Glasgow.

She spent the first three years of her life in the nearby town of Helensburgh, where her parents lived with Deborah’s grandparents in a house on West King Street. The town hail her as one of their own. Kerr had a younger brother, Edmund (“Teddy”), who became a journalist. He was killed in a road rage incident in 2004.

Deborah was a ballet dancer, appearing at Sadler’s Wells no less, before switching to acting when she became too tall. The theatre would become her first love, despite her enormous movie success, and she returned to it time and again.

Despite numerous nominations Kerr was to spend her career with only one major honour (a Golden Globe) from the various ceremonies she attended, 6 Academy Award Nominations, 4 BAFTA Award Nominations, and 1 Primetime Emmy Award Nomination, her credits would include some fantastic films including, from here to Eternity, King Solomon’s Mines, Separate Tables and Julius Caesar, her costars read like a who’s who of Hollywood greats, Marlon Brando, Spencer Tracy, James Grainger, Hayley Mills and Cary Grant amongst many others.

For me there are two films that stand out for Deborah, the first, From here to Eternity and THAT beach scene with Burt Lancaster, where they were said to have had an affair, and one of my mums favourite films, The King and I, it’s a pity she didn’t have the voice to sing in the film, they were dubbed over, but the chemistry between Kerr and Yul Bymer was a joy to watch, he won best actor, Kerr had to make do with a Golden Globe, her only award in her career.

Deborah Kerr has been described as “an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance.” and in 1994, having already received honorary awards from the Cannes Film Festival and BAFTA she would finally get her hands on a coveted Oscar, albeit an honorary one.

Deborah Kerr passed away October 16th 2007 in Suffolk after suffering Scott Disease, an extremely rare, mild to moderate bleeding disorder, her husband of 47 years, Peter Viertel died of cancer less than three weeks later.