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Happy Birthday Ian McDiarmid

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protect him

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UBI needs to happen. via antiwork

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Drarry be like:

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sweetest post ever??? 😭

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🟢 You are still a writer even when you haven't written in a while.

🟢 You are still a writer even when you feel like you aren't writing enough.

🟢 You are still a writer when you feel like your work isn't good.

🟢 You are still a writer when other people don't like your work.

🟢 You are still a writer when you aren't published.

🟢 You are still a writer when you only have works in progress.

🟢 You are still a writer if all you write is fanfiction.

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The Voice from the Outer World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Well folks, it happened.

Today I had the talk.

With my therapist.

About Good Omens.

Did I get any advice on how to manage my hyperfixation that has taken over my life to the point that it has become a problem?

No.

Did he pull out his phone and Google "Good Omens" and say "Oh, Neat. There's a lot of famous people in this. Oh, Neil Gaiman! I'll have to watch this."

Why yes, yes he did.

Me:

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anyone want to see a fucking trainwreck of an ai article

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"people show their true colours in life threatening situations" no, they show you what they act like when they're mortally terrified, an emotion notorious for literally turning your entire brain off to the point where people who go into those situations as a profession need to be literally trained on how to not have that happen

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Sometimes I think about how Wowaka wrote Unhappy Refrain because as much as he liked making Vocaloid music, he wanted to be appreciated as the creator, rather than being entirely overshadowed by the voicebank.

And then I think about the Wowaka tribute during Magical Mirai 2019. And how when the crowd realized what it was, they started chanting his name. Not Miku's. His.

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Translation of wowaka’s statement regarding his newly released song, “Unknown Mother Goose”.

Afficher davantage

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Fic Ideas

Snames: James keep thinking about Severus after Hogwarts and regrets everything. So when he sees the other guy in Diagon Alley he wants to talk to him, he never thought it would be so hard to keep himself away from someone.

Sniddle: One day Severus finds a black notebook placed in his dorm bed and things just gets stranger. Someone replies to him whenever he writes down and he slowly falls in love with this mysterious person.

Snarcissia: Narcissa, who has made a political marriage, is not at all satisfied with her relationship with Lucius. After a while, she meets Snape, a working-class man, and falls in love with him.

Snirius/Snames:  Severus goes to a blind date (by force) and meets with a man. He is cocky, arrogant and annoying and Severus wants nothing more to just leave. (Sirius/James on the other hand is planning a second date.)

Snames: Severus works at a library and the same person comes to get a new book everday. It is clear that he isn’t reading it at all because no way someone can read to whole The Hunchback of Notre Dame in one day.

Snirius: Severus becomes a penpal with a criminal, Sirius Black. Everything is fine until Black is released from prison. 

Snupin:  Severus has germophobia (OCD) and decides to go to a therapist.

Snames: James falls in love with a melancholic ghost that lives in his house.

Snames/Snirius: Sirius Black is adored by everyone, everyone except one person. Severus Snape. And he was pretty sure if he did try, even the greasy git would fall for his charm eventually.So, how far was he willing to go to win a bet?

Snupin: Its Care of Magical Creatures class. Suprisingly, animals love Snape and he loves them. Hagrid(or whoever the teacher is) brings a unicorn and doesn’t let anyone aproach. Sev tries it and the Unicorn let him. Everyone is shocked. Remus is very interested in him after this. Because, maybe he can also approach his wolf and can calm him so he doesn’t get so much hurt?

Snirius: After Sirius uses a dark spell to stop his magic as a ‘prank’ Severus has to stay with the Blacks until they find a way to solve this problem (The ministry forces them, if not Sirius’ll get punished.)

Severus has to stay at a dorm and to his shock, he has to stay with three jocks -James,Sirius,Remus. He is not happy about it.

Severus shares a apartment with Sirius/James. He isn’t exactly friends with this guy but hey, he is rich and he isn’t going to complain. 

• Coffee Shop AU. Severus just wanted to get some coffee but the damn barista was more interested in annoying him then doing his job, goddamnit. (Snack/Snames)

Severus  lives in a shitty town and works at just as shitty work. But one day when a Mafia group decides to claim their town things just gets worse. (Marauders/Snape)

(Snupin) Severus gets a new apartment for college. But what is that? There’s a ghost living there! Well, he isn’t going to leave, the rent is really cheap so he has to learn to live with him.

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bitches be like “this is the best piece of literature i have ever read” and it’s either a book that took them six weeks to finish or a fanfic they read at 3 AM

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Do you think you could put it back together? :)

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