#action messiahs

[kellyishikawa]

Darn-pour Bio minicomic

Download this Minicomic (PDF) for Your Collection!

[ludinusdaleth]

with the obligatory precursor statement of "the gods are not based on any earthen pantheon and thus cannot be drawn directly to any of our dieties, but downfall is heavily intentionally pulling from religious imagery": it is insane (in the best way) of nick marini to show up to critical role for his very first time and play pelor as the messiah shepherd giving food & shelter to poor refugees. whilst boarding a ship of regufees. to nuke the city that harbors them

[figurecollection]

Michael Blanc's VF-25G Super Messiah Valkyrie Action Figure by Bandai, from Macross Frontier

[demifiendrsa]

Legendary Pictures has confirmed that it is working with Denis Villeneuve to develop a third Dune film.

[daecaerys]

META , 𝑫𝑨𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑹𝒀𝑺' 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑰-𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑷𝑯𝑬𝑻, 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑰-𝑴𝑬𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑨𝑯, 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑼𝑴𝑨𝑵 𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑬𝑵: often talking with @ruingod and the tropes around characters, i realized how of an antithesis dany is to the common messianic trope ( unlike paul who absorbs himself in it to gain power ) and since recently there has been going on a discussion about it as if she's the same trope as his ( sigh ), i decided to come here and express my opinions ( which are just that, opinions and interpretations ). well, daenerys does not see herself as anything but a queen, a ruler, and she views it as a duty and not a priviledge. she sees ruling ad a responsability to protect those around her ( coming from the sense that she often wasn't protected ), and does not use their dependance on her and their views of her figure as means to create prophercies or even propaganda about her rule. she never sees herself as above her people, as their savior, but a member of their reality/society with the power of bringing change. daenerys did not conquer the free cities to gain numbers to battle, or to rule them with her iron first of ideals ( in fact, one of her issues is that she did not count with that part and is falling under creating her own ruling ). daenerys conquered the cities to free the slaved and their oppression. she had no need to do it either, with enough gold and ships to sail to westeros before doing so.

there's no questioning that daenerys is doing what she does because she believes in the good, not in vengeance, not out of need for power. she's there to serve the oppressed, and not the opposite. she's not their messiah. there's a reason why mhysa resonates with her: she's mother, she's freeing, amidst the fear of being the opposite due to her roots ( remember the valyrians were slavers themselves ). like dragons, there's no cruel inner nature. there's the singular thing: dany is good. intrisically. she struggles in understandig that good intentions do not make a good realm - it only, sometimes, makes it weak. and to be ruthless to protect those she swore to protect is what makes her shake in fear of becoming entirelly ruthless. losing herself. becoming what people believe dragons to be: monsters, and monsters only.

daenerys does not use speech to gain support. her actions did so, and she did not do them out of the selfish reason: yes, this will have me be their queen. i'll become their god. no, dany did it because she loathed to see such suffering. she acted out of her heart. when she freed the unsullied she did not do it knowing they would follow her afterwards, nor when she fred drogo's slaves. their freedom was theirs, just like hers was hers. they followed her because they saw it as just that, someone worth it, someone who did it because it was right, and not someone who used them.

her iron throne goal becomes secondary in her mind as she decides to stay in mereen to keep things under control. to not let those people back in chains and in even more pain before she met them. if she wanted just to control them, dany would become the tyrant that season 8 wants you to see her as. she'd burn her enemies, and make others follow her with the disguise of being their savior. make them cross the sea and fight in her name only. she'd be flawless before their eyes, she'd see herself as flawless, she'd see herself as righteous. daenerys does not do it, in any moment. she constantly does what sacrifice is needed to help others and not herself. staying in mereen is proof of that, still, we constantly read she's a selfish person who only does what she does out of greed. when speaking of paul, for example, and the parallels, it is just a mirror of different perspectives of similar situations. one leaning towards the opressed for power, and the other leaning towards power to help the opressed.

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

Unpopular opinion but I was actually kind of underwhelmed by Dune Messiah? Like I get that the whole intent behind writing it was to show that Paul was Wrong, but I was kind of expecting him to be worse? I think - for me at least - because we don't actually see any of the war and only the aftermath it just hits less. And I know all the guilt and moral struggle and "what have I done" - ness was technically there, it just didn't really resonate as hard as I'd hoped it would. I didn't *dislike* it, it's just funny because from what I've seen a lot of people did dislike it because it shows how dark Paul got, but for me I was like...I kind of wanted you to be worse my guy

[timetravellingkitty]

HI STRANGER

im looking for films to watch

please drop your contribution to this noble cause.

greetings stranger. may i interest you in the hit animated movie over the moon that has the chinese moon goddess spend her days on the moon as a kpop idol. or the hit animated movie wendell and wild which features a child with a boombox. or the hit animated movie the prince of egypt which has one of the greatest villain songs ever and tragic siblings. or-

[nthflower]

I am having thoughts about Xavier wtf?

[retrocgads]

UK 1985

[kellyishikawa]

Green Stone Worm Reel

https://collozenge.files.wordpress.com/2023/02/green-stone-exported-from-rush.mp4

[reanimatedgh0ul]

anyways here's some brainstorming i've had on the back burner for awhile

[coreofthebible]

Titles for God's people: Believers and Christians

Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring the topic of titles used to describe God’s people throughout the Bible, but primarily titles used for his first century people in the writings of the New Testament. These terms do indeed all have significance and definitions are important, which is why I am taking the time to break down biblical terms so we can have a better grasp of how to apply…

[eimearkuopio]

Yup. I love my parents. My parents love me. They gave me everything I should have needed to thrive in the world as they knew it; and I still barely survived the world as I know it. It took all my strength to keep my head above the water, while they watched from the deck of their boat and praised how well I could swim.

I nearly drowned. I've climbed aboard their boat for a rest. I'm not blaming them, because it's exactly like Hozier said: if I say that I'm drowning, you tell me I'm walking on water. I can't walk on water. My infinite self is closer to the sea; deep, dark, a source of life-giving nourishment and unstoppable destruction, changeable and powerful and beautiful like the moon and the tides. But because I've spent so much time "swimming" and being praised for it, I've noticed the leak in their boat. It's a slow leak. The boat's occupants might die naturally before it sinks completely. Heck, I might die naturally before then. But given that I've been promised this boat will be all mine someday (my brother chose a different inheritance), it would be really nice if we could fix the leak ASAP. I was only ever going to use the boat to rescue other people who were drowning. It's good that I can swim so well, because it means I can probably get them on board. But I think I've learned enough about swimming. I'd like to stop drowning now, please. And I'm pretty sure if you fish enough people out of the storm, you'll find a carpenter eventually. Probably in one of the places in the Middle East where the modern versions of Herod are engaging in a slaughter of the innocents.

i can't stop thinking about the results of that 65k income poll. i've spent my entire life straddling the poverty line so i understand feeling like even just another 10k would assuage my anxieties, but good fucking lord the ultra-wealthy are absolutely winning this class war if the economic policies they have influenced have convinced so many people that an income that can't even afford to own a home or raise a child is 'rich'.

i really, really hope the majority of those votes are from non-americans applying usd conversion rates to their own currency's purchasing power.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Controversial opinion among Dune book fans maybe, but I loved the changes they made to Chani's character. Making her a fedaykin who is already an experienced fighter before Paul arrives was a brilliant choice. Dune Part Two is a war movie, and this puts her at the center of the action, side by side with Paul, and gives her a much more active role than she has in the book.

We got a hint of where things were going in the beginning of Dune Part One. The first thing we ever know about movie Chani is that she's a fighter. She serves as a voice for the Fremen, telling us the story of their struggle from her point of view. I wrote here about the difference this change makes compared to other adaptations of Dune, what a perspective shift it is to have the world of Arrakis introduced not by an outsider, describing it as a dangerous but valuable colonial prize, but by one of its native inhabitants, who tells us before all else that it's beautiful, her home that she's fighting to liberate. I am so, so glad that the second movie followed up on this characterization.

I never found Chani and Paul's love story in the book particularly convincing, because why would this woman, who already has a prominent and respected place in Fremen society, even give the time of day to her deposed would-be colonizer, let alone fall in love and have children with him? Without a compelling reason for Chani to love Paul, she ends up feeling like a prize to be won, and "indigenous culture personified as a woman to be wooed (or conquered) by the colonizing man" is a trope we've seen and don't need to repeat.

But as soon as you tell me it's a barricade romance I get it. Cool cool cool, I know exactly what this relationship is now and it makes sense. Movie Chani doesn't respect or even particularly like Paul when she first meets him, and she doesn't think he's the fulfillment of any prophecy. She comes to respect him, and eventually love him, through his actions. He's brave--sometimes recklessly so. He fights well. He's willing to stick his neck out on the front lines with the other Fremen fighters. He can (after a little help) hack surviving in the harsh desert environment. He's not too proud to learn from others. He seems to genuinely want to be her equal in a common political struggle. All these qualities make sense as things she values.

Fighting side by side as equals is just about the only way I can see movie Chani falling for Paul. And it fits perfectly with the film's pattern of reversals that Paul's capacity for violence would initially be one of the things Chani likes about him, only for her to be repelled later when she sees what he becomes.

And as for Paul, well, he's had people deferring to him his entire life. Someone who doesn't take any shit from him is probably refreshing. He seems to like people (Duncan, Gurney) who challenge him and engage in a little friendly teasing--and aren't afraid to go a few rounds in the sparring ring.

It's easy to speedrun a romance when you're spending all your time together in mortal danger fighting for a shared political cause. Especially if you then start winning in a war your people have been fighting for decades. Are you kidding me? That is the perfect environment for intense battle camaraderie to turn into romantic love, and lust.

It makes sense that this version of Chani never believes Paul is any kind of messiah. Of course a character like movie Chani wouldn't believe in or trust some outside savior to liberate them. She's been working to liberate her own people for years. The more Paul invokes the messianic myth, the more he starts sounding once again like someone who plans to rule over them, and the more uncomfortable Chani becomes. In this way she becomes a foil to Jessica, the two of them representing the choices Paul is pulled between. It's a great way of externalizing the political and philosophical debates that often happen within characters' heads in the book.

And of course this version of Chani would leave Paul at the end of the film. It's not just the personal, emotional betrayal--although that stings. What common cause does she have with someone who just declared himself emperor and is sending her own people off in a war of conquest against others? Given the important role she plays in Dune Messiah, I am super curious to see how they get her back into the story, but girl was so valid for being willing to just gtfo. Given that she has the last shot of the whole movie, I'm sure she'll be back somehow, and I can't wait to see what they do with her character in any future installments.

[bangpuddingmuffin]

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

Well, 15 years later I still don't like it, and I feel vindicated in that. The encounters are monotonous, often sending waves of the same enemies after you, and the exploration is just clunky enough that it's not particularly enjoyable.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMOeTsMoezKaD4MIlgTkUBbDjKT44H4Ta

[grayrazor]

So apparently on twitter there's a whole thing going on where anti-woke Warhammer fans performatively stormed out by declaring that they were going to play the horror-themed WWI wargame Trench Crusade instead, only to be mass-banned from its discord because the moderators didn't want a bunch of paleocon trolls stinking up the place.

The thing that blows my mind isn't just that they thought the thoroughly subversive Trench Crusade was positive Christian rep, but that they thought Warhammer 40,000 was. The setting where the messiah is explicitly dead and rotting and was an anti-religion crusader in life. Meanwhile Warhammer Fantasy's Sigmar is much more Thor than Jesus. A lot of conservative evangelicals and tradcaths seem to fall into liking straight up pagan gods if they have a sufficiently macho and traditionalist (western European) aesthetic.

Honestly, this is beyond media illiteracy, it's just straight-up blindness. Obliviousness beyond even the people who think Robocop and Starship Troopers are gung-ho pro-American action movies. Now I'm left to wonder how many fans of the Blasphemous game series are passionate reactionary Christians who get the happy feelings from the aesthetics and totally ignore the story and themes.

Still, I am glad to have learned about Trench Crusade through this, looks like a cool game. Aesthetic and themes kind of remind me of the Trench Foot/Countrycide mod for Doom (which, granted, started off as a Warhammer 40K mod...).