#( better to reign in hell than serve in heaven ) * character study.

[aserpent]

because lucifer's true form is a draconic serpent ... some habits never die, hence he does like to eat raw meat + bones at times. sharp teef.

[nikachansstuff]

Can I share a personal story that I couldn’t not relate to this fandom obsession in advocating for characters that are clearly villains?

So I was at my first term in college, the class was British Literature to 1660. We were having a lecture about Book One of Paradise Lost, that tells us the first act of disobedience of human kind, Adam and Eve expulsion from Paradise. And it also tells about Satan’s rebellion. One of its the most famous quotes: “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."

The teacher was telling how this statement shows the pride, ambition, and bad intentions of Satan. And then, he open the discussion for the whole class to participate and boy, oh boy, that’s when things got interesting.

There were actual students defending Satan’s actions. And telling “Hey, we don’t know the full story, what if he had struggle in Paradise?” Some said they could relate with the desire for freedom, to be able to make their own decisions. There was one student that actually said Eve should have known better than to trust the Serpent.

The teacher, a middle-age man, was stunned in silence. He then just asked: “You do know you are defending the devil? The ultimate villain of humankind’s history?” One fellow student replied with: “But we are studying literature, we have to think about all possibilities and have empathy to all characters!”

And the poor teacher, still baffled, said in final tone: “We are talking about the Devil! I’m pretty sure we should not empathize or try to justify Satan’s actions! We are talking about Satan here, people!”

I couldn’t not remember this lecture when I read essays about Amarantha’s reasons or how King Hybern could have suffered a heartbreak and that’s why wanted to control de world. Sometimes… in Literature… authors just writes villains because they need a character to antagonize the main character and drive the plot forward. We don’t need to empathize, try to understand an interior and mysterious motivation. And I would bet some coins that even the author themselves didn’t lost a lot of time thinking about an ultimate reasoning that if reveled, it would absolve the villain of his sins.

Sometimes, both in Literature and in life, evil is just rooted in evil.

Why are you defending the devil?

[sidewalk-scrawls]

Top five fics? All fandoms :)

Okay, I am *terrible* at bookmarking fics, so know this isn't a comprehensive list (I'm also subject to recency bias, so you're getting a decent amount of OFMD fic in here lol). Anyway, here are 5 that come to mind!!! In no particular order:

(I Was) Never Made for This: Starting out with a fic in the Murderbot Diaries, which I suspect is the fandom you're least likely to be familiar with. This fic is soft and breaks my heart, and I've read it umm. Very many times! (Also I strongly recommend this book series if you haven't read it -- It's so fucking good)

Better To Serve In Hell, Than To Reign In Heaven: HELLO, we've got a protective Izzy fic, Gentlehands to boot. Good stuff!

Family, Found: This is a bit of a fix-it fic for The Magnus Archives and boy, did I need it! Again, very soft... you may notice a trend.

The Nook is for Talking: This is a fic of my Steddyhand dreams. Perfect Izzy/Stede bonding while Calico Jack continues to suck shit. Meanwhile, Ed... Listen, Ed's doing his best jdkfs

Hell Would Look Like This: Obsessed with this fic -- It's the only unfinished fic I'm including in my main recs (only one chapter to go, though, so nearly there!) I've mentioned on here before that I love, love fics where Stede/Izzy happens before Stede/Ed. I think it helps balance out their dynamic. And this fits that bill! I also like that the sex in this fic is slightly awkward cause Stede has no idea what he's doing. Listen, it's sweet, sue me.

ALSO honorable mention:

Good days, bad days, and all the days between: Very, very good Owl House fic by @siamusotima-aranea!!!! Absolute perfect balance between pain and fluff, and *wonderful* character study of Hunter. The only reason I'm not including it in my top 5 is that I was trying to recommend completed stuff... but then I was like... I can't leave this out. So bonus rec!

[afewkindsofcrazy]

Heaven Official’s Blessing

(Also known as “I fell in a hole while I was supposed to be studying”) - Like immediately felt the need to read and own all the novels as soon as I finished the anime (donghua(?))

When I first started watching, I thought Xie Lian was naive but after reading many spoilers, I appreciate his approach to life. He’s the one that looks like a cinnamon roll but could kill you

It really hammers in that a story may not be the whole truth

Hua Cheng is really like that “It is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven” quote

I love all the characters (the Peis are giving me Zeus vibes though)

I think I found a translation of the novels online but certain quotes are making me think it’s just really wild fanfiction. Please read:

“QI RONG WAS HERE”

“Xie‌ ‌Lian‌ ‌responded,‌ ‌“IF‌ ‌THEIR‌ ‌ENTIRE‌ ‌FAMILIES‌ ‌ALL‌ ‌LOOK‌ ‌LIKE‌ ‌THAT,‌ ‌YOU‌ ‌SURE‌ ‌YOU‌ ‌WANT‌ ‌TO‌ ‌FUCK‌ ‌THEM??”‌”

“Feng‌ ‌Xin‌ ‌muttered,‌ ‌”Dear‌ ‌fucking‌ ‌god,‌ ‌may‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌gods‌ ‌and‌ ‌buddhas‌ ‌grant‌ ‌their‌ ‌blessings,‌ ‌that‌ ‌better‌ ‌absolutely‌ ‌be‌ ‌Crimson‌ ‌Rain‌ ‌Sought‌ ‌Flower,‌ ‌otherwise‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌gonna‌ ‌go‌ ‌mad!”‌ ‌ ‌“Stop‌ ‌your‌ ‌rubbish,”‌ ‌Mu‌ ‌Qing‌ ‌berated,‌ ‌“We’re‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌gods‌ ‌and‌ ‌buddhas‌ ‌ourselves‌ ‌and‌ ‌we‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌grant‌ ‌shit…”” ⬅️ Personal favorite

If it’s real, it’s gold and I’m a forever fan.

I also enjoyed how much Feng Xin swears.

Final thought…May Xie Lian forever protect his ashes, but why did no one challenge Hua Cheng to a calligraphy competition?

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek Picard Season 2 Teaser Trailer: All the Easter Eggs & References

https://ift.tt/39N5lp2

Mild spoilers for Picard Season 1 ahead.

More than any of the new Star Trek series, Picard is the one that is the most stuffed with obvious Trekkie nostalgia. Yes, when Strange New Worlds starts showing some footage, we might feel differently, but because Picard is a sequel to the ‘90s-era of Trek, for this present moment, it connects with various generations of Trekkies at the same time.

On “First Contact Day,” Paramount+ dropped a minimalist, spare teaser-trailer, similar to the vineyard teaser for Picard Season 1. But this time, as we swept through Picard’s study in Château Picard, the trailer was basically nothing but Easter eggs. Here’s a full breakdown of what we caught and what it all might mean.

Château Picard is NOT a hologram

Notably, the first shot of the trailer is of the outside of Château Picard, which seems to imply what we’re looking at isn’t the holographic recreation of Picard’s study on the La Sirena, but instead, the “real” place. This could imply that Picard actually returns to Earth in Season 2. Unless this is some idealized version of his study we’ll never see.

Enterprise painting

This one is obvious. Prominently displayed in Picard’s study is that famous painting of the Enterprise which Picard had in his Ready Room for all seven seasons of The Next Generation, and the film, Generations. Like the Captain Picard Day banner in Season 1, you really have to wonder if this is the same painting. After all, when the Enterprise-D was crashed in Generations, we only saw Picard take his photo album with him, which seems to imply somebody else had to grab that painting for him later. That said, this painting looks a little different from the one made by Andrew Probert and Rick Sternbach for The Next Generation.

Is any of this real? 

Paradise Lost 

One of the books visible in Picard’s study is Paradise Lost by John Milton. Mostly, this is a book of verses about Satan and other fallen angels. Paradise Lost is a revered work of literature insofar as many critics cite its metaphoric power over a variety of subjects. The most famous quote from Paradise Lost is easily, “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” Now that Picard is a Snyth/Golem (and no longer human) he might feel this way about himself. But, this thematic notion of Satan could also easily be applied to Q, a trickster god, often at odds with the other beings in the Q Continuum. 

Star Trek also loves referencing this book. Khan alludes to this book in “Space Seed,” and Kirk explains to Scotty the significance at the end of the episode. When Chekov and Terrell find the Botany Bay’s cargo bays in The Wrath of Khan, a copy of Paradise Lost is clearly visible next to Moby Dick. 

The Long Dark Tunnel 

Sitting underneath the copy of Paradise Lost is a made-up book (meaning it doesn’t exist IRL!) of The Long Dark Tunnel. If you look close you can see the words “Dixon Hill.” Meta-fictionally, Dixon Hill a hardboiled detective who, in the Star Trek canon, was the main character of a series of crime noir novels published in the 1930s. The “author” of the Dixon Hill book was “Tracy Tormé” a writer on TNG’s early seasons. (The new Picard trailer honors that authorship too!) According to the Enterprise computer, “The Long Dark Tunnel” was the second appearance of Dixon in fiction. So, if you think of Dixon Hill like Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, then The Long Dark Tunnel is like Farewell, My Lovely, or, perhaps, more appropriately, The Long Goodbye.

“Dixon Hill,” and the detail about The Long Dark Tunnel, was first mentioned in the TNG episode “The Big Goodbye.” The last time we heard mention of Dixon Hill was in Star Trek: First Contact when Picard played him on the holodeck and pumped some Borg full of lead. 

The Promellian battlecruiser- in a bottle! 

You can barely see this, but on Picard’s mantle, underneath the Enterprise painting, is a model ship in a bottle. Some fans, including Jörg Hillebrand on Twitter, have zoomed in very close and think this is a Promellian battlecruiser, in a bottle! Why would Picard have this? Well in the TNG episode, “Ship in a Bottle,” Picard mentioned having built model ships and putting them in bottles. 

Picard’s Shakespeare books

We’ve seen these before, but the two big glass cases containing books appear to be Picard’s collected works of Shakespeare. Relevantly, Q threw huge volumes of Shakespeare at Picard (literally) in the TNG episode “Hide and Q.” 

The Kurlan Naiskos

Given to Picard in “The Chase,” the Kurlan Naiskos is an ancient alien artifact. It represents “many voices” inside of “the one.” 

Read more

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The USS Stargazer

Perhaps the most prominent Easter egg in the teaser is Picard’s model of the Stargazer. This Easter egg may not mean anything, but then again, this entire teaser is focused on Picard talking about regret and “second chances.” Picard was the Captain of the Stargazer before he was the Captain of the Enterprise. His best friend, Jack Crusher, died on the Stargazer based on orders given by Picard. Jack was Wesley’s dad and Beverly Crusher’s husband. We’ve only ever seen the Stargazer for real in the TNG episode “The Battle.” Interestingly, the Stargazer is also an Easter egg for Picard Season 1. In the Picard episode “Maps and Legends” Jean-Luc is visited by Dr. Benayoun, who we learn was a medical officer on the Stargazer. Other than Jack (and maybe Beverly) the canonical info about the Stargazer officers — and that Trek time period in general — is limited. 

The Queen of Hearts

This Easter egg seems linked to a scene at the very start of Picard Season 1. While Data and Picard playing poker, Data suddenly has five queens. It’s at that point that Picard relives the attack on Mars, and wakes from his nightmare. Back in 2020 Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman denied that this was an Easter egg for “Q,” but now, maybe, retroactively, it was? 

Has Q just been hanging around, waiting to mess with Picard for a while? 

While it’s probable that there wasn’t a plan to bring Q back in Picard Season 1, this Easter egg lets us believe that even if the writers’ didn’t intend for this reference at first, Q totally had other plans.

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Picard Season 2 is expected to hit Paramount+ sometime in 2022.

The post Star Trek Picard Season 2 Teaser Trailer: All the Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3fIA5vj

[diocletianscabbagefarm]

So let’s hope my D&D players will never find my tumblr because I’m gonna lay out some of my partially developed plot ideas here and maybe some people will have some good ideas and suggestions on how to weave the threads together. In particular I want to try and find ways to allow the players to have multiple avenues for gathering enough information, rather than one set line of A to B to C to get to D.

Main plot is a sweeping scheme by a cult to set in motion a ritual to allow a minor deity to return to the material world (under the motto that it’s better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. Cultmembers etc caught by the players will probably be saying ‘reign in hell’ a lot, and they’ll probably interpret it as an insult at first). Don’t know yet if I’ll simply port Vecna over from official D&D lore or build a deity of my own, but it’ll be that kind of character probably. 

One of my players is an amnesiac. My intent is for his backstory to be that his family - his father at the very least - was a part of the cult, and that they attempted to bond to his body the spirit of someone long-dead who was present at the arcane ritual that initially helped Vecna (or whoever) become a god, so that they could gleam the necessary information about how that ritual worked to try reverse it and get Vecna out of heaven.

The player character instead lay comatose for a couple years and he’s now woken up as a jumble between his contemporary and ancient soul. All he remembers is the name ‘Cicero’ (it’s not his own name).

In order to enact that soulbinding ritual the cult needed to ship in some artifacts from that ancient person’s gravesite from a distant land. I have it in my head that the party can trace back what ship that was and who its captain was (by finding papers in the father’s study, or encountering an old family friend who tells them that ‘last time I saw you was when you and your old man were going to xyz for a special shipment’, or going to the wharfmaster’s records) so they can track down the captain and find out about those artifacts and maybe learn a little bit more about the cult and who some of its members are. 

I’m not much further than that though..

[salfetkina]

How much of Azazel is based on Azazel

I’m pretty much a big fan of Azazel (’real’ one) and way back in uni I’ve studied the fallen angels and Watchers a lot. So, I thought I’d just draw some comparisons here (I really don’t have anything better to do). Be mindful, I’m taking into consideration only the Enochian Azazel, not the desert spirit. Though they might be one and the same. And, yeah, it’s all debatable cause no one can scientifically prove anything anyway.

#1. The Fall

Now, that’s a bit of a conjecture, because we don’t know for sure (I didn’t play the game) but in this post is stated that he fell for a human woman. Which could be true because that’s really what happened. In the book of Enoch (grandfather of Noah) Azazel is one of the Watchers - angels tasked with watching (dah) the Earth for god knows what purpose. What they saw though was that daughters of Men were very beautiful and immediately desired them. Their leader Semiazaz gathered his comrades (200 in total, including Azazel) and ventured to Earth where they took them as wives. Their union produced the Nephilim - hybrids said to be literal giants, extremely powerful (also violent because they couldn’t handle well all that power, according to one theory). That was one grave transgression.

#2. Forbidden secrets

Second was, that the fallen angels taught humans secrets not meant for them. Like root-working, astrology, writing, etc. Azazel taught them metal-working and how to make weapons and fight with them (could have taught that together with another angel though). Well, we know that prick is a proficient fighter. Melee fighter, to be precise, as we witnessed many times. He does rely less on magic and more on his martial skill.

Another skill he taught was … cosmetics. I really don’t need to elaborate here lol. Creators of SnB took this part to heart apparently.

Anyway, all that secret knowledge corrupted humankind immeasurably, and it is said Azazel really outdid himself spreading that corruption everywhere. That was probably the inspiration behind his sadistic games with humans in the anime and generally his nasty attitude. I love it though… *blush* 

#3. Rebellion

Well, of course God was furious with insolent whelps and sent other angels to kill Nephilim (publicly, in front of their parents preferably) and punish the Fallen. Which, in turn, sparked the rebellion. Now, that’s where Azazel shined. He spear-headed that rebellion (probably because he was such a skillful warrior) and actually kicked some ass for a time. Alas, it ultimately failed. Obvious parallel with the current situation in anime. His people being subjugated, he secretly resists, eventually starting full-fledged rebellion, but I think we all agree that it’s not going to work. 

Now, in the story Raphael personally cut off his wings and imprisoned him beneath the desert mountain to await the Judgement day. I really don’t want it to end like that (though it would be a really dramatic turn of events). He has such beautiful wings… But we all heard what happened to Mugaro and all other captured demons. Horns and wings are the first things to go in the process of enslaving demons. I wouldn’t put it past Charioce to do just that.

Btw, Nephilim and the legacy of the fallen angels were washed away with the Flood, because God was fed up with their bullshit. Noah and his family survived because they were the only pure-blooded humans left on Earth. How is that for a familiar tale?

#4. Snakes

Truth be told, Azazel is not associated with snakes at all, unless you take into account the symbolism behind snakes in Christianity. Sin and corruption. Also, some attribute the seduction of Eve to Azazel, like, he was the Serpent (he wasn’t even the fallen back then…). But, honestly, let’s leave that to Satan.

#5. Association with Lucifer

Both Lucifer and Azazel has been classified as aspects of Satan in some sources. Which is not the case in this anime and actually is more accurate, as all three are completely different entities (initially) coming from different cultures and eras. Contrary to this anime though (and many other shows), Lucifer and Azazel have nothing to do with each other. There are debates whether there were two separate rebellions of fallen angels or just one, but who knows which one exactly, so really, let’s skip this confusing part.

Anyway, yes, they’re both fallen angels. But Lucifer fell much earlier for completely different reasons (’Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven’, right?). He is the strongest of the two (probably the strongest among demons) because technically Azazel was rank-and-file angel (albeit powerful one) and Lucifer was a cherub, the highest rank in their hierarchy, second only to god (in another angelic hierarchy it’s seraphim), and privy to most of his secrets. Cherubim have multiple sets of wings. Michael and Gabriel might be cherubim too, but honestly angelology is a mess to navigate…

I’m pretty sure they are being constantly thrown together cause they are the most popular in the fallen cadre. I mean, how two such awesome dudes could not know each other?! That being said… I WANT MORE LUCIFER! 

The matter of his current imprisonmnet is quite merky, because it doesn’t stop Azazel from spreading his influence as a demon. According to some demonology sources he is a very high-ranking demon, (apparenlty his abilities expanded vastly after the fall). And Hell Cocytus is such a fun place to make friends that I’m really not surprised Lucifer and Azazel became pals. 

Conclusion

I really love Azazel lol. His character is quite consistent with his prototype, but I hope he’ll have a happy ending instead. I’m really looking forward to learn more about his past (and Lucifer’s).

[theconservativebrief]

Is there any acceptable way, at the midpoint of Donald Trump’s first term as president, to hand over the microphone to Steve Bannon?

That question exploded over Labor Day weekend, after an interview with the former Breitbart chair and adviser to the president was announced as the centerpiece of the New Yorker Festival, which will take place in early October. Staffers at the magazine and many members of the media and the public strenuously argued against his inclusion. Prominent figures slated to appear elsewhere at the festival publicly stated that they would not appear on the same bill with him.

Eventually, the magazine’s editor, David Remnick, rescinded Bannon’s invitation, causing heated debates about whether he had spinelessly succumbed to so-called “Twitter outrage” or had come to understand the point of view of those who objected. In response, Bannon released a statement saying that Remnick had been “gutless when confronted by the howling mob.”

Oddly enough, at the exact same time that the New Yorker controversy was raging, a feature-length documentary that consists almost entirely an interview with Bannon was beginning its film festival journey, premiering first at Venice, then traveling to Toronto. For American Dharma, documentarian Errol Morris sat down for an extended conversation with Bannon about his ideological views, his interpretation of history, and his involvement in the Trump presidency, the alt-right, and the reemergence of militant white nationalism in America.

The result isn’t exactly satisfying; if you go into American Dharma hoping for a systematic and explicit confrontation or dismantling of Bannon’s often-disturbing views, you’ll be disappointed. Morris’s film is less a takedown of its subject, and more a Rorschach test for its viewers. What you’ll see is precisely what you’re primed to see — and that, not Bannon’s ideas themselves, is the point.

Bannon has never been particularly interested in hiding his views. And Morris has little interest in bringing his audience up to speed with them in the film. Those views were familiar to those watching the far right even before Bannon joined the Trump campaign in the summer of 2016. But after Trump won the presidency and Bannon spent a year as an advisor in the White House, they became much more well-known.

Bannon is often called the architect of Trumpism. And most people who’ve been paying attention have a good enough grasp on what that means.

Morris doesn’t have any particular interest in instructing the audience regarding what’s right or wrong with Trumpism through Bannon as a mouthpiece. Several times he disagrees with Bannon on camera, but never about things that you’d expect — not about white nationalism, for instance, or about the true nature of the events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Instead, he challenges Bannon on whether Greek tragedy is hopeful, or whether Bannon’s views are apocalyptic.

That’s a telling move on Morris’s part, though it will likely infuriate some viewers. American Dharma is not a sparring match. Rather, Morris’s role in the conversation is more that of a scientist examining a virus under a stethoscope: The goal isn’t to destroy, so much as to observe very, very carefully.

Bannon at a debate in Prague in May. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The goal of American Dharma is to let Bannon talk (and talk and talk — “this is a man who loves to talk,” Morris said after the film’s Toronto premiere), relatively unchallenged by his interlocutor. He talks about Trump and about Vietnam. He talks about his filmmaking forays and about the films he loves, which often feature an outsider character who is also a sort of tragic hero: the John Wayne character in various Westerns, Gregory Peck’s tough leader in 12 O’Clock High, Orson Welles’s cast-out father figure Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight.

Then there’s the character who Bannon most strongly identifies with in literature: John Milton’s rendering of Lucifer in Paradise Lost, whom some have labeled the first literary anti-hero. “Better to reign in hell …” Morris begins. Bannon quickly finishes “ … than serve in heaven,” and laughs, saying that he repeats that quote all the time.

These fictional characters and their stories give the film its structure, as Morris organizes Bannon’s ideas into chapters that are loosely pegged to each one. Morris’s point in doing this is clear: Bannon’s actual ideology is somewhat all over the place, mixing his proclaimed commitment to populism with an affinity for big business interests, some semi-Catholic theology, some white nationalism, a willingness to stoke fear and promote the ideas of those who proclaim white supremacy, and a dash of apocalypticism.

(The film ends on Bannon saying that his goal is a “complete rejection of the system,” which, oddly enough, is an almost word-for-word repetition of the proclamation that Michael Moore makes at the end of his latest film, Fahrenheit 11/9.)

That none of Bannon’s viewpoints fit together particularly well only makes sense inside the larger framework of “dharma,” a concept from various Eastern religions that Bannon defines as “the combination of duty, fate, and destiny.” He returns to this concept over and over again as a way to explain human instinct, why he advocates for populism and the destruction of social systems, and, most importantly, how he views himself.

Bannon, a lifelong Catholic, is an antihero in his own image, profoundly narcissistic and convinced that his fate is parallel to those of his heroes from the movies and from Milton: He self-identifies as a tragic figure tasked by some force, God or the universe or something like it, with tearing apart the modern world and handing power back to the ordinary, common man. But his job isn’t to be the leader — it is to be, in a way, the puppetmaster.

As he has in the past, Bannon speaks of his former boss as more or less a shell into which he could pour his own ideologies. In Bannon’s worldview, other people are not humans with dignity made in the image of God, but instruments for the furtherance of his own “dharma.” In theological terms, Bannon seems to abandon the Catholic narrative of world history after the fall of man, swapping out the idea of redemption for a darker, more deterministic understanding of fate and destiny.

So it’s no problem to Bannon if people personally dislike him; as long as he fulfills his own self-mythology in the end, that’s what matters. (Hearing him talk about wanting to weaponize the comments section of Breitbart is especially illuminating.)

And if that makes people think he’s evil, well, who cares? As Bannon told France’s far-right National Front at the party’s annual congress in March, “Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor.” Having your views sharply criticized for the way they denigrate human dignity? In Bannon’s eyes, that means you’ve won.

Steve Bannon speaks to the far-right Front National party annual congress on March 10 in Lille, France. Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images

Evil like this is a preoccupation of Morris’s. In movies like The Fog of War, Mr. Death, The Known Unknown, and Standard Operating Procedure, he’s studied figures known for warmongering, lying, denying the Holocaust, and participating in the hideous torture of other humans and tried to interrogate where their impulses come from.

In some ways, it’s difficult not to see Morris’s interests as a theological quest; after all, the term “evil” itself is freighted with religious implications. At American Dharma’s premiere, Morris labeled the film a “horror movie,” noting that he has long been “fascinated by evil characters, by what makes evil characters, by the nature of evil.”

Morris is no fan of religion itself; he’s called himself a “secular anti-humanist,” saying that “religion is nasty and so is mankind.” But his mission to figure out what makes people do evil things is at heart an inquiry into the nature of a force that feels mysterious and irrational, quite separate from mankind and yet embedded in all human interactions. For Morris, evil is less an incarnate thing and more something we become when we engage in evil action.

Nor does Morris have any particularly interest in telling the audience how to think about those views. He assumes, off the bat, that the audience for American Dharma either already agrees with Bannon (though this is probably not much of the audience for an Errol Morris documentary) or finds him reprehensible. Instead of arguing with Bannon during their interview, he makes most of his argument through his filmmaking, through making the kind of movie Bannon himself would likely love when seen through his own morally self-distorted lens.

What American Dharma offers is an unfiltered view of Steve Bannon — Bannon as he sees himself. You can see, in a way, the version of Bannon that has entranced some people into thinking of him as an intellectual, a conservative ideologue, or as a force for positive change. He draws on historical metaphors and philosophical ideas and cultural bromides, stringing them together in forceful sentences that seem smart and invigorating, until you start to poke at them.

Bannon is also talented at sidestepping the truth, and unlike some of his former colleagues, he’s not clumsy (like Sean Spicer) or plainly obvious (like Kellyanne Conway) about it. When Morris asks him about Charlottesville, he responds by talking about how various reasonable people have differing views on Confederate monuments — which, yes, differing views on Confederate monuments were part of to what happened, though hardly the most important point.

Morris’s move, as a filmmaker, is not to confront Bannon directly, but to undercut Bannon’s half-truths with the tools available to him. So Bannon’s discussion of Charlottesville is couched in the now-familiar images of young white men marching with tiki torches and chanting “Jews will not replace us,” as well as the footage of a car plowing through a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring many and killing one woman, Heather Heyer. Morris uses this technique multiple times throughout the film, as we hear Bannon’s voice saying one thing while looking at a barrage of headlines and images that expose the lie.

Bannon, along with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, and other lawmakers, in February 2017. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The effect isn’t a point-by-point refutation of Bannon’s ideas themselves. Instead, American Dharma is more of a character study in the soul-corroding effects of extreme self-regard. Morris illustrates how auto-delusion can turn a man who obviously had great potential to make good into someone who doesn’t see, for instance, any conflict between the populism he proclaims and the man he actually helped install in the White House to enact it.

The metaphysical gymnastics required to become Steve Bannon have little to do with any commitment to a set of ideas, and a lot to do with making oneself a figure about whom a movie could be made. If that requires burning down the world, well, then, so be it.

Which is probably why he became the architect of Trumpism, a set of incoherent ideologies designed mostly to help insecure men without anything in their moral center achieve greatness in their own eyes.

Ultimately, Morris is a portrait artist who lets Bannon paint much of his own portrait. The imagery he uses is both warlike and apocalyptic. American Dharma could be interpreted as a chronicle of Bannon’s heroics, and no doubt Bannon and those who admire him may find it to be just that. If your moral core is the destruction of your enemies, then there’s nothing to lose by being the destroyer.

But in Morris’s hands, the subject of American Dharma is no destroyer. He’s a farce. He is, by the end, rendered nearly pitiable: a deluded figure with fantasies of grandeur and little substance beneath the grandiose clichés — a grown man, desperately play-acting at being the tragic hero he saw in the movies.

American Dharma made its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It is awaiting distribution.

Original Source -> American Dharma paints a damning, delusional portrait of Steve Bannon

via The Conservative Brief

[gracedman]

A Man Without Discretion

 Proverbs 11:22 (ESV)

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.

 Yesterday we developed the front part of this verse. How a gold ring and physical beauty are related. And how the placement of the jewelry in the nose is relevant to a certain kind of mental lifestyle. We also talked a bit as to how these relate to character. How sometimes it takes us time to discover that who we are dealing with isn’t always immediately apparent. Sometimes we can be so enamored by the ring that we cannot see that it is a pig who is wearing it. Other times we give people the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best. King Saul in the bible is a good example:

 1 Samuel 9:1–2 (ESV)

There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

 His father was wealthy and prosperous and he was tall, dark, and handsome. He was the best-looking guy around. Surely, he would make a good king. Wong!! He was a spiritual washout. One of his problems was that he went from chasing lost asses to immediately being king. He did not benefit from a process that would develop his character. He was a leader without discretion. His reign was a study in on the job training and most of the time, he acted very foolishly. The things that got him to his position as king were not enough to enable him to operate properly as a king. He made one blunder after another.

 The Hebrew word for “discretion” relates to spiritual “discernment, sense, and order.” Saul did not seem to know where these things came from. He had a very weak relationship with God, and suffered with personal weaknesses throughout his reign. In 1Samuel 9, he thinks he needs to pay for divine assistance:

 1 Samuel 9:7–8 (ESV)

Then Saul said to his servant, “But if we go, what can we bring the man? For the bread in our sacks is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” The servant answered Saul again, “Here, I have with me a quarter of a shekel of silver, and I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way.”

 He then is given a call to be king and shown some very specific things, but even with a new heart and a new start he finds it difficult to really believe what Samuel had told him and discussed with him: When queried by his uncle, he leaves out the most important things:

1 Samuel 10:15–16 (ESV)

And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”  And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

 When the Prophet Samuel calls a meeting of all of Israel to anoint Saul king, he is not to be found. Look what the text says of him:

 1 Samuel 10:21–22 (ESV)

He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.  So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?” and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

 Then they found him and brought him out to Samuel. But look at what is said of him:

 1 Samuel 10:23–24 (ESV)

Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

 Then comes a stumbling period with some ups and downs. But soon Samuel will be telling a completely different story:

 1 Samuel 15:22–23 (ESV)

And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

 Saul, your gold ring is in your nose. You’re more in tune with the mood of the people and the atmosphere than you are in touch with God. You are being removed from your position as king.

 Proverbs 11:22 (ESV)

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.

 Did Saul go to hell? No, I don’t think so. But he did lose all his effectiveness as a servant of God. He made sad shambles of the position into which God placed him. He rejected the very words from heaven, he was exalted to proclaim and execute.

 Lord Jesus, may your word have free course in our lives. Change our hearts and minds to serve you. Equip us with your very thoughts. Give us all wisdom and discretion in all our ways. Amen!!!

[aserpent]

I want to talk more hell politics ... because my lucifer is literature inspired ( esp paradise lost ) and I incorporate the idea of a war in heaven led by lucifer against god, please come talk to me about the deadly sins being the angels that fought alongside him. satan was his liutenant, they were all his brothers in arms. talk to me about lucifer trying to construct a paradise out of hell, gradually losing his ambition. i want to talk about hell's royalty and structure and!!!!

[aserpent]

lucifer does enjoy keeping casual bed partners & lovers; sometimes to share with his wife, sometimes for himself to hoard. he can be quite hedonistic, finds pleasure/intimacy to be a holy thing that should be experienced in excess <3

[aserpent]

lucifer maintaining a somewhat angelic appearance in hell is a matter of pride btw. it's his unimaginable, primordial hubris. 🥰

[aserpent]

little tidbits on luci.. because i love him. 🐍🍎

his brass-topped cane conceals his old angelic sword.

very cat-coded, will lounge about on any available surface (or individual)

maintaining his angelic appearance is a matter of pride; after the fall, he took great care to keep his wings and sword and all in order; he loathes heaven but he's still an angel, even if fallen, and does not view himself as a demon.

went through a hoe phase during the ancient times. has slept around with quite a few greek, egyptian, hindu, etc deities. he got around a few pantheons.

[aserpent]

btw my lucifer's intentions for tempting eve with the forbidden fruit were two-fold: he did wish to gift humanity knowledge, for he thought living in paradise was not worth the ignorance.. but he's also incredibly petty*, and he wanted to prove a point to The Lord, because he'd already begun waging war with lilith at his side at this point and he was feeling a lil bitchy about it.

[aserpent]

okay but lucifer enjoys books from the mortal realm. a lot of writers, inventors, etc have made deals with him over the centuries, and he has divulged to them knowledge & the secrets of the universe. he also had charlie sat & reading reading the brothers grimm and edgar allen poe when she was younger.