My roommate has been translating Gideon the Ninth into Biblical Hebrew (and including notes that people like me, who do not speak Biblical Hebrew, can also enjoy)! And if you happen to be a scholar of semitic linguistics, I can put you in touch 😊
Going to Target feels like I’m a woman in rural Maine in the 1700s and I can usually only get like cheese and shit from my own cows but then every month I go to The CityTM and get sweets and delicacies etc
Random linguistic worldbuilding: A language with six sets of pronouns, which are set by one's current state of existence. There's a separate pronoun for people who are alive, people who are dead, and potential future people who are yet to be born, and the ambiguous ones of "may or may not be alive or aleady dead", "may or may not have even been born yet", and the ultimate general/ambiguous all-covering one that covers all ambiguous states.
The culture has a specific defined term for that tragic span of time when a widow keeps accidentally referring to their spouse with living pronouns. New parents-to-be dropping the happy surprise news of a pregnancy by referring to their future child with the "is yet to be born" pronoun instead of a more ambiguous one and waiting for the "wait what did you just say?" reactions.
Someone jokingly referring to themselves with the dead person pronouns just to highlight how horrible their current hangover is. A notorious aspiring ladies' man who keeps trying to pursue women in their 20s despite of approaching middle age fails to notice the insult when someone asks him when he's planning to get married, and uses the pronoun that implies that his ideal future bride may not even be born yet.
A mother whose young adult child just moved away from home for the first time, who continues to dramatically refer to their child with "may or may not be already dead" until the aforementioned child replies to her on facebook like "ma stop telling people I'm dead" and having her respond with "well how could I possibly know that when you don't even write to us? >:,C"
Currently feeling feelings over Peter’s Denial
We now shift outside the high priest's house to an apostle in trouble. This is "Peter's Denial."
I've grown less self-conscious about repeating myself with recordings, so here again is the live Australian cast from 1973 with an interesting, string-laden, fast-paced take on this little scene.
You know the drill...
The Lyrics
MAID BY THE FIRE I THINK I'VE SEEN YOU SOMEWHERE I REMEMBER YOU WERE WITH THAT MAN THEY TOOK AWAY I RECOGNISE YOUR FACE
PETER YOU'VE GOT THE WRONG MAN LADY I DON'T KNOW HIM AND I WASN'T WHERE HE WAS TONIGHT NEVER NEAR THE PLACE
SOLDIER THAT'S STRANGE FOR I AM SURE I SAW YOU WITH HIM YOU WERE RIGHT BY HIS SIDE AND YET YOU DENIED
PETER I TELL YOU I WAS NEVER EVER WITH HIM
OLD MAN BUT I SAW YOU TOO IT LOOKED JUST LIKE YOU
PETER
(ad lib shout)
I DON'T KNOW HIM
MARY MAGDALENE PETER DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE SAID YOU'VE GONE AND CUT HIM DEAD
PETER I HAD TO DO IT DON'T YOU SEE OR ELSE THEY'D GO FOR ME
MARY MAGDALENE IT'S WHAT HE TOLD US YOU WOULD DO I WONDER HOW HE KNEW
The Plot
He ran away from the scene of the arrest, but he couldn't bear not knowing what was happening to his teacher. Small surprise, then, that Peter followed the arresting party to the house of Caiaphas. Unable to enter himself, he warmed up by a campfire outside.
Not the world's smartest decision. Three onlookers (a maid, a soldier, and an old man) all recognize Peter as one of the men who were with Jesus earlier. Each time he vehemently denies his association, just as Jesus said he would, to the dismay of Mary, who wonders how Jesus knew that would happen...
The Analysis
Aside from the soldier becoming a generic "Solo from the Mob" in the currently licensed score, everything has stayed the same in this scene, lyrically and dramatically, since 1970, so time to once again chart the recurring motifs musically.
We've got:
Peter denying Jesus three times (as predicted), to the main theme from "Strange Thing, Mystifying," which originally accompanied Judas' criticism of Jesus' relationship with Mary -- thereby connecting Peter musically with Judas, both of them now betrayers of Jesus, and...
...when Mary points out that Peter did as Jesus said he would, she sings this to the betrayal motif from the Last Supper, even further underscoring Peter's betrayal.
Let it never be said Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't have a purpose in choosing a cyclical nature for these melodies!
Mildly Unrelated Op.-Ed.
In marked contrast to how he's described in the Bible, Peter kind of gets the short end of the stick in JCS. He doesn't have a lot to do as a solo vocalist, aside from "Peter's Denial" and "Could We Start Again Please?" He's pretty much just "one of the boys" in any staging; it's usually hard to even identify who Peter is unless he's singled out from the start, until his big moments in the second act.
Audition notices, no doubt building on what scripture makes him out to be, tend to describe him in terms like "gentle" or phrases along the lines of "slow to find his strength, but when he does, he becomes a stabilizing force among the apostles." But I gotta tell ya... I don't see it. There's not enough material there on paper to cover that ground.
When I've contemplated directing the show over the years, I've begun to pay special attention to the roles of Simon Zealotes and Peter. Simon's sole major appearance is in Act I, and Peter's couple of big scenes are in Act II, both without set-up or real follow-through. Can you see where I'm going with this?
Taking my cue from the recent European tour featuring Ted Neeley, I've thought of casting one performer to play both parts, billed separately due to contractual obligation but essentially a single role. It cuts costs (remember, I'm a producer first and foremost), creates a useful character arc out of two thankless ones without changing a word or note, and as long as there are twelve bodies (and one Jesus) around the table in Act II, those in the audience versed in the source can simply infer that Simon became Peter over the show's course, just like the notoriously temperamental Peter was originally called Simon in the Bible.
Let me go back to that second thing for a moment: "creates a useful character arc out of two thankless ones without changing a word or note." I want to unpack that to further sell my point.
What is Simon, really? He's exuberant, he's militant, someone who clearly jumps in before he really understands what's going on. He calls on his master to overthrow the Romans, only to be told he doesn't get the picture. Maybe, like Judas in The Last Temptation of Christ ("...only you understand it? Well, you'd better make me understand it too!"), he decides to wrestle with that, but he's not quite there yet. When the cops break up the scene, he reverts to form, only to be told, "Dude, not only are you wrong, it is way past the time what you're offering would be helpful. Don't quit your day job." How do you react to that? Maybe you discover you're not the Zealot you thought you were, and when the chips are down, out of both frustration and self-preservation, you deny you even know the guy when cornered by the opposition. And you still cling to the faint hope that this will change: "Alright, you've made your point. Time to unleash the fury, right? ...RIGHT???" Very powerful, fully-realized character there.
It's worth a thought, anyway...
Coming Up Next:
They said "take him to Pilate," and that's where he's headed for a showdown: "Pilate and Christ."
Ahh he’s a terrible person who’s done terrible things but like??? He keeps people around for what they do, not what society says they should do???
Now I can’t stop thinking about my sweet child going through the entire journey to Fjerda not telling Kaz about how the leverage aspect of the plan won’t work. I know it was incredibly difficult and terrifying for Wylan to tell him in the first place (especially now that Kaz is being extra terrifying with him focusing on Inej’s injuries) but he had to go on the entire first part of the journey worrying about how he could be the weak link in this plan! Not only does he have to worry about his secret getting out, but he has to worry about Kaz possibly dismembering him or something equally horrible for not being the leverage they need!
And in the end Kaz is just like “nah it’s cool”
You know the Grimm version of Snow White makes more sense than most versions if only because in that version Snow White was like 7 years old.
the next time you think you’re lonely, just remember you have about 25 billion white blood cells in your body protecting your sorry little ass with their life. you have 25 billion friends who would die for you. no need for tears.
mount Rushmore redesign on the house
yes 2020 has sucked like a ravenous kirby but in november we finally get to vote that hateful orange turd out of office so eyes on the prize ya’lls
The I Claudius fandom has like a total of three people, without counting me, and I love imagining what it would look like if suddenly this old book/series would get the popularity of GOT/HOTD or something like that.
So here are my theories:
Tiberius would have a fanbase and would be considered a “poor little meow meow”
People would make girlboss fancams for Livia
Messalina apologists
Herod would be the fandom bicycle
Herod/Castor would be one of the top 10 ships on AO3
Herod/Claudius would also be up there on the top 10 ships.
Some people would also ship Agripina/Tiberius and they would be deemed as problematic
Agripina/Germanicus Girlboss/Malewife
Edits of Antonia and her children to “I bet on losing dogs” and other Mitski songs
Fan casts for all book characters that didn't make it to the show.
YouTube compilations of “Caligula being a mood”, “Caligula being Caligula”, “Caligula being a menace”, etc.
Hi :) This is my little intro post
I'm Anne (not my real name, just the one I use online). I'm a Conservative Jew (raised Reform) currently getting a degree in Judaic studies.
I'm also getting a degree in medieval studies, and if anyone wants to scream about how amazing Julian of Norwich is, I will be more than happy to hit reblog.
My username is from a Tedx Talk given by Tyler Dunning entitled "A Field Guide to Losing Your Friends;" "the middle of nowhere is always the beginning of somewhere."
So that's it. Welcome to my Tumblr. Hope you enjoy your stay.
she/her, 🩷🧡🤍, ✡️, student of medieval & judaic studies
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