#BLESS SAPPHO

[ar-u-breathe]

I'm holding something for you.

It's a blessing, my dear.

It will follow you around

Till the end of the time

And keep you safe and sound

Until the day I die.

[marudeinusa]

> take 2 years of ancient greek in middle school

> join lesbianblr, everyone is reblogging Sappho's "sweet mother, I cannot weave, slender Aphrodite has overcome me with longing for a girl"

> check out the original scripture

> παῖς

[lilysnzfet]

when you are a lesbian with a snz kink 🏳️‍🌈

from "The Lavender Express : New Jersey's Lesbian Journal" 1979

[jessamine-rose]

One of my 2023 resolutions is to read all 32 books/ stories from my reading list—classics, recommendations, and titles which caught my attention ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Idk if I’ll accomplish it within the year, but I just finished Book 4 and I highly recommend “A Long Fatal Love Chase” by Louisa May Alcott :>

[toddbl4ck]

on dreams

the japanese house / phoebe bridgers / richard siken / richard sanderson / sappho / tyler, the creator / la dispute

[hiraya-sa-dilim]

fuck kiwi accents man i went to work today with Sappho and Judas and was like best centre ever!! turns out her name was Judith.

[duragdoll]

i have a date next week

[miutonium]

WAAAGHGAGSSJGSJAJ Thank you so much for commissioning mr and being so patient with me 😭😭😭💕💕 so so glad that you love it like I would do everything for both of you waaaa 😭😭💕💕

ive been meaning to share this absolute masterpiece I commissioned from @miutonium !! I honestly cannot thank enough 😭🫶🏽 they are absolutely ethereal here thank you sososo much miu for drawing us!!! T_T

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟨: 𝖢𝖺𝗉𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖥𝗅𝖺𝗀

the cast // series masterlist

chap. 1 || chap. 2 || chap. 3 || chap. 4 || chap. 5 || chap. 6 || chap. 7 || chap. 8

‼️  DISCLAIMER FOR THIS CHAPTER  ‼️ 

Adrianna & Reader are 💯 bestie goals, Funny Sibling Antics from Reader and Percy, Typical Daily Foreshadowing, Protective!Reader, Reader is a simp for Clarisse (rightfully so), #MuscularGirlsCanGetIt, Percy & Reader have a sibling emotional moment, Dealing with Grief and Loss, Doubts of being unable to protect loved ones, Slight Mentions of Death, Slight Sludge of Angst, Kinda Flirty!Reader x Kinda Flustered!Clarisse

Italics Alone are Reader’s Thoughts

Bold Italics are Other Various Character’s POV

word count: 5.1k+

tag list: @starless-nightz @starvviss @lov3rgiiirl @random-girls-loves @coolgirl458 @kjisbae17 @s0r0ws @a-fucking-sappho

author’s note: anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! please don’t be a silent reader and interact within the chapter.

🌊 🐚 ✘ 🔥🗡️

CHAPTER 6, EPISODE TWO

The following day was Capture the Flag, a day everyone seemed to love, filled with unsparked competitiveness and victories to win.

“You’re gonna love this. Camp-wide mock warfare, all glory to the victors,” Luke informs the siblings. You and Adrianna walked ahead of Luke and Percy as you all passed many campers practicing for a weekly game of Capture the Flag.

Your friend, Adrianna spotted a young teen out in the midst of campers. The young girl was brown-skinned, wearing braids, appearing to be the same age as Percy.

Then, it all suddenly clicked together, she was the other girl during your first night here in the infirmary.

“Annabeth’s the head counselor of the Athena cabin. She’s led our team to three straight wins, it’s been a long time since anyone won the fourth,” Your best friend stated.

“So she’s strategically smart, huh?” You asked, now intrigued.

“Like you wouldn’t believe, but being an Athena kid means you’re just blessed with intelligence.”

“She was there in the bathroom,” Percy recalls.

“Wait, what? Why was she in the bathroom with you?”

“I don’t know, Y/N, but she said she’d been waiting for it to happen,”

“Waiting for you to screw up?!” You raised an eyebrow.

“Haha, Y/N,” Percy replied dryly,

Annabeth stares at the sibling duo in the distance, maintaining her attention on Percy, while she slightly smiles at you. Smiling sweetly in response, you waved at the girl, and she refocused her attention on the practicing campers before her.

“Annabeth sees the world differently, always six steps ahead of everyone else,” Luke explains to your brother as he turns to the familiar girl.

“Whose side are you on, anyway?” Percy questions.

“Oh, hers, always, she’s my little sister,”

You stared at Percy in confusion, looking down at your brown skin and glancing back up at Luke’s skin. “Ain’t y’all got different parents on the whole? Unless it’s a non-blood type of sibling bond.”

“The second option,” Adrianna nods to you.

“Maybe I should back up,” Once Luke observed the cluelessness on the blonde boy’s face.

“Very,” You crossed your arms.

Back at the dining pavilion, the four of you sat down, breakfast already finished as Luke tells his arrival backstory to this camp.

“Before camp, I was on the road, me and a forbidden kid I met along the way. Her name was Thalia.” He smiles in remembrance.

“What’s a forbidden kid?” You whispered to your blonde friend.

“Children of the big three, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon,”

You nodded in understanding, returning your attention back to Luke.

“A long time ago, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades agreed their children were becoming too powerful, so they made a pact not to father anymore. It held for a long time, until Zeus broke that pact…until Thalia.”

“Long story short, a forbidden kid attracts trouble, monsters everywhere, it’s just a constant battle to stay alive,”

“But…forbidden kids are being more hunted than regular?”

“Yeah,” Adrianna hums.

“One day, we found this little girl hiding in an alley, Annabeth. We were worried about taking her in, exposing her to all that danger. Then we saw her fight…” The Castellan boy says, holding a small smile but it quickly disappears as he continues, “Thalia didn’t make it, but Annabeth and me…we did. We’ve been family ever since.”

“She’s been watching me since I got here. Why?”

“Someone’s high and mighty of themselves today,” You snorted.

“I’m not.” Percy deadpanned, “Everywhere I go, I always manage to see her, even catching a simple glimpse.”

“Annabeth is the strongest warrior in camp. The only way left to prove herself is to go on a quest,”

“But what does this have to do with me? What makes me so special?”

“Who told you those lies?” You chirped up.

Percy rolls his eyes at you, ignoring your remark.

“Chiron’s been promising her for years. One day, two demigods would arrive who were fated to go on a quest that even Chiron couldn’t prevent, and when that happened she could join it.”

“Every new arrival, Annabeth watches, looking for a sign they’re the one. Usually, she gives up after a day or two, but she’s still watching you,” Luke concludes, “the both of you,” he clarified, now shifting his eyes to you.

“Can you ask her to knock it off?”

“She’s not…like mentally deranged right?” You hesitantly asked.

“What, Y/N?” Adrianna asked incredulously, “No, she’s not, just observant, that’s all,”

“She could be hiding her deranged mentality from all of us, and we wouldn’t even know it. I really hope you don’t underestimate what Annabeth is capable of, she’s pretty impressive,”

“How can you make that assumption?” The Castellan boy asked.

“I just have a thing, I suppose,”

“A thing?” Adrianna was skeptical of your plain explanation.

Luke finishes off, “You’re not serious, are you?”

“Deadly, I never joke about my intuition with people, that’s why I’m mostly right.”

“Please, Y/N, focus on what’s important here,” Percy said. “Anyways, what’s the deal with Annabeth, does she think I’m special?”

“Yeah sure,” Luke tilts his head, “But what if she’s right?”

“Imagine that, if we managed to be forbidden kids too, oh that’d be absolutely ironic,” You joke, sipping on the last of your orange juice.

“Maybe you are,” Your blonde friend nudges you with a slight smirk.

“Wait…what?” You panicked, choking slightly on your drink. “I was just joking, can’t you guys take a joke in this camp?”

“Just screwing with you, Y/N,” she laughs.

Oh, okay! That’s good!

A swift noise in the air interrupts your conversation as Chiron smiles fondly.

“Heroes,” Chiron announced, glancing down at his pocket watch, “It’s time. The game begins.”

For some reason, an exciting feeling ran through your veins as you prepared in the mandatory armor with Adrianna. The blonde girl had to literally hold you still, trying to contain your buzzing excitement as a smile adorned her face at your enthusiasm while she redressed you in armor for the game.

Heading to the main campgrounds alongside Adrianna as you talked on the journey there, reaching upon a river that disperses into a waterfall, each two teams standing on a riverside that separated them.

Chiron stood up, front and center as he read the game rules from an old scroll. “The first team to retrieve the opposing flag and return it across the river shall be the victor,”

You stared over at the red team, your opposing team. The very same team that Clarisse happened to be leading.

Admiring the way she walked down, dressed in battlefield armor made your heart skip multiple beats at a time as your eyes remained focused solely on her.

“Isn’t she so pretty?” You muttered dreamily to yourself. Adrianna’s ears perked up at your murmurs, causing a perplexed look on her face.

“Aren’t you losing your mind?” Percy murmured, judging Clarisse. “You sure you weren’t dropped on the head when we were younger?”

“What the fuck is she talking about?” Adrianna shakes her head, chuckling when she realizes who your reference was about, and her face instantly hardens.

“Clarisse, well at least I think,”

“Don’t even think about it, Y/N!” She grits her teeth.

You broke your attention away from Clarisse and turned to look at Adrianna.

“What?! I wasn’t even thinking of anything,”

“You’re not an airhead, Y/N, that’s your brother.”

“Oh, right,”

“Hey!” Percy took offense to that jab directed at him.

“Sorry not sorry, blondie boy!”

The young demigod boy rolled his eyes, shuffling closer to Luke.

“Anyways, back to us, you can’t be serious,”

“I’ll just distract her for some time, how hard can it be?”

“Very much so.”

“Wow, you have no faith in your best friend,”

“I do have faith in you, just not in your fighting skills…well lack thereof,”

“That’s a minor issue,”

“Minor issue?! Clarisse is the best fighter in camp, she’s the most ruthless kid of Ares here, you’d be foolish to go against her,”

“I don’t have to go against her, silly Adri,” you chuckled, “I just have to get under her, keep her occupied until we win. Easy-peasy.”

“That’s the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard in my life,” She closes her eyes, frustration settling on her face.

“Either way, I’m doing this with or without your support,” You quipped. “It’s a foolproof plan, really,”

“Fine,” she gave up, “Just be safe, okay! If you get hurt by her don’t say I didn’t warn you,”

“Safe is my middle name,”

“Reckless is your middle name!” She mutters under her breath.

“What was that, Adri?”

“I said reckless is your middle name so pay attention to the rules. End of discussion.”

You huff in annoyance at her demand, regardless continue to listen to Capture the Flag rules.

“As always, there will be no maiming and no killing. I trust these rules will be respected.”

Finally, Clarisse stops, settling down, right in the front, with an amazing view to politely observe her. God, you hoped you didn’t sound like a stalker when saying that.

“Any magical items you may possess are permitted as well.” You looked down at the regular pen in your hand, “Every camper who is not injured has to play.”

Luke noticed your uneasiness with your weapon, “It’s okay, let her rip,”

“Last time I ‘let her rip’ a Minotaur died by my hands,”

“I doubt you’re gonna kill a human,”

“You never know,”

“Oh, I’m certain.” He chuckles.

“Prisoners may be disarmed…but may not be bound or gagged.”

Bound or Gagged? Campers tried that before?! Are these campers into some kinky shit or something? Hold up, ain’t most of these kids under 15, nah that’s more concerning!

“I still don’t know what my job is, maybe a sword is useless to me.”

“Let the games begin,” Chiron finished. The boy beside him blows into the conch shell, initiating the start of the game, and earning a crowd yell from the red team, Clarisse included.

You were startled at the unexpected noise, “Oh hell nah, I’m not fighting them, I want everything on me to stay connected with me,” You began to unbuckle your breastplate, internally panicking at the mere thought of fighting the red team. You were definitely not losing a limb or more because of a mock game, you simply refused to! No doubt why the red team seemed so loud and ruthless, the entire Ares cabin was there, highly determined to gain glory from the losing teams.

“Leave your armor alone, Y/N,” Adrianna swatted your hand away from unbuckling your breastplate.

“Oh my god, we’re gonna die out there,” Percy groans in defeat.

“You got that right,”

The blue team stands at attention, hitting their sword against the ground and their shield, synchronizing a loud yell before divulging into their assigned locations.

Annabeth walked over to the four of you. “All right, we have 20 minutes before the second conch and game-on. You know what you’re doing?”

“Yes ma’am,” Luke smiles, motioning to leave with Adrianna.

“Hey.” Annabeth halts their movements. “Today feels like a winning kind of day to you?”

Luke contemplates answering her question, but ultimately decides to leave her in the dark, “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Company! Move out!” Adrianna yells, instructing the other team members, pointing straight ahead with her sword.

“Kleos!” They yelled and started to jog away.

Looking at Adrianna, sending a smile your way, you returned the kind gesture, ready to follow her but a familiar voice stopped you and Percy.

“Not you sunshine, you’re with me,” Annabeth confirms, getting a move on, “You too sunshine protector,”

Sharing a confused look with your younger brother, you shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, starting to follow after the Athena girl.

Looks like Annabeth had a pretty convincing plan, supposedly having a major plan involving the two Jackson-Matthews siblings.

Oh, this was definitely gonna be a fun adventure!

Throughout the trail of the walk, Annabeth was quiet and kept up her pace, continually peering at the Jackson-Matthews siblings.

All of a sudden, Percy stumbled on a fallen tree branch, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. You stifled a laugh, stretching out a hand to help him up, and he accepted it, standing on his two feet again.

Annabeth stops, facing the two siblings with a neutral expression.

“I’m fine, thanks. But I appreciate you, you know, standing there silently,”

The young girl raises an eyebrow, turning around and continuing her walk, picking up the pace even faster. You had already caught up to her and Percy speed walks towards the two girls, getting closer.

“Listen, I– I get it, okay. You’re better at this than me, but I need this to go well today,” Percy starts, “I can’t really get into it, but I need my father to see it go well,”

“Do we really need his attention? He’s been a shit dad so far, he’s not going to change just because we asked him to,”

“Anyways…” Your brother dismisses your comment, “So, if you’re gonna expect me to know how to do something I don’t know how to do and I end up falling flat on my face, I can’t really have that right now…”

Once again, Annabeth stops walking, facing Percy, staring at the boy, her eyes drifting to his armor. She leans in, firmly buckling the breastplate for his safety as Percy keeps his eyes trained on her actions.

Yeah, you definitely see something going on between these two. Because your brother’s a dumbass, they’re probably gonna be a slowburn too. Only could be your brother’s obliviousness to get himself in this predicament.

“You still didn’t get where you two fit into all this, do you?” She questioned, looking at the two siblings.

“I may have a theory, but I could be wrong,”

“Let’s hear it, then.”

“Umm okay,” you cleared your throat, “Maybe me and my brother are more powerful than necessary, which could benefit you in a way.” You snorted, “Or maybe, we’re forbidden demigods, that monsters desperately seek to kill,”

“You know, you should listen to your sister more often, she’s smarter than you realize.”

“Hey, thanks,” you grinned before recognizing the deeper meaning behind her words, “Was that a compliment or insult?”

“A compliment,”

A second conch shell blows, echoing around the forest, catching the trio’s attention.

“Game on,” She smirks, putting a cap over her head, instantly shielding and making herself invisible.

You gasped in bewilderment at the sudden action, not believing your own eyes.

“Wait, what?”

Annabeth appears again, removing the cap from her head, and smiling down at the item, “Gift from my mom. Don’t worry you two will do great.”

“Do great? Do what great?” Percy persistently asked.

Of course, to keep your brother guessing, she placed her cap on, becoming invisible again, and walked off. The deft footsteps signified her departure, only further increasing your boredom with this game overall.

“Well, I quit,” you started unbuckling your breastplate.

Sitting on a big rock on top of a hill, the armory discarded across the dirty ground as you talked with Percy. Capture The Flag was long forgotten in your minds as you both quit mid-game.

“I can’t believe everything that happened in the last few days. This was all so crazy.”

“Should we talk about it?” Percy was hesitant. You stared at him in question but instantly knew by the spark in his eye where this conversation was heading.

You knew this talk was coming. You just didn’t expect it to be this soon. Something in you was telling you to avoid this conversation, but you had to manage through this, at least for Percy’s sake.

“What do you mean?”

“About our moms, Y/N.” He deeply sighs.

“Don’t, Percy…” you quickly dismiss him, closing your eyes momentarily, “I can’t talk about it, not right now.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N…” He breathes out.

“Can everyone please stop saying sorry, it doesn’t lessen the pain anymore. Saying sorry is just a go-to card expressing sympathy and sometimes not actually mean it. But not you, or Sally or Grover should feel obliged to say it, you were there, experienced it too. You deserve to mourn too, she is— was your mom too. If anything I should be asking you, how are you dealing with our parents’ losses?”

“Wait, are we talking about your mom or my mom?” His cluelessness brought a small smile to your face.

“Both, dummy.”

You pulled him into a hug, gripping onto his shirt, anything to ease the heavy burden in your heart. You wanted to feel safe and Percy wanted to be safe.

“Promise me something…” You start, the tears already forming in your eyes.

“Yeah, anything, sis,” he mumbles into your shirt.

“Promise me you won’t do any stupid shit to get you killed.”

“Y/N…”

“Promise me! I can’t afford to lose another family member, you’re my baby brother, I’m supposed to protect you from dangers, and can’t bear to lose you too as well.”

He didn’t want nor need a protector, in fact, he was sick of people trying to protect him. At this point, he was scared of people protecting him, all because they’d end up in danger. Or even worse, risk their lives and unfortunately take their last breath at Percy’s expense. All he needed right now was you. He didn’t want a protector but he needed his older sister, the last person of family in his life.

He just wanted his sister to be with him. Only his sister, not another demigod, just his older sister.

Percy noticed the urgency and desperation plastered on your face and nodded against you. “I promise.”

“Thank you,”

However, your sibling moment was short-lived when Percy glimpses at Clarisse walking up the hill, alongside two other Ares kids. You stood up, at their sudden presence, steadily shielding Percy away from them.

“The flag’s that way, it’s not here.” You gulped at the trio as Clarisse discarded her helmet.

“We know...” her voice was sultry, indulging more than she should have let on.

Her intense stare lingered on you as you gulped down the slight fear….and possibly something else, leaning towards fluster.

Clarisse shifted her eyes onto Percy, nothing but malicious intent in her eyes.

“Yeah glory’s fine, but revenge is more fine,” She states and slams her spear against the ground, watching it flicker on, an electric spear, her eyes sparkled in admiration.

That was kinda…no definitely hot!

“What did you do, Percy?” you glared at your brother.

He stares at you in bewilderment, “What did I do? There was a toilet, and Clarisse and her sisters were preparing to shove my head into the toilet, and the next thing I knew the water exploded at them. Which also broke the nearby bathroom stalls by the way. If anything, this is all her fault.”

“What? How does this—“

Clarisse interrupted, “It’s not about what he did or how he did it. This is about whether you two can fight to save your own asses.”

Percy’s eyes widened as he turned back at Clarisse.

“It was just a harmless thing, I- I didn’t even know I could do that.” Percy was quick to defend himself.

“And a few days ago, you didn’t know you were Poseidon’s latest mystery son.” The Ares girl rebuts back, clearly dismissing his reasoning, “Some things tend to change overnight, your powers being one of them.”

“Hold up, you mean to tell me that you’re getting revenge on my brother because he humiliated you? You threatened to shove his head into a toilet, insisting that he lied about killing the minotaur and now you’re furious that he defended himself.” you stared at her in astonishment, “Oh, that’s really sad and pathetic.”

The Ares girl huffs impatiently and blatantly ignores your whole statement, precisely focusing on her insight into the situation.

“No maiming it’s like the one rule, right?” Percy stumbles to grab his armor, and hurriedly puts it on.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll lose dessert privileges for a while.” She seems as if she is reconsidering her consequences, “I’ll live.” she concludes with a neutral expression. “Besides everyone at this camp truly knows you killed the Minotaur single-handedly, don’t let your brother get all the credit.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You two take the punk,” Clarisse commands her two sisters, looking at Percy. Her head cranes to you with a mysterious grin as you hold strong eye contact, “The pretty girl is all mine.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You’ll see..” Clarisse darkly chuckles.

“Oh this is just great.” you shrug your shoulders, “We’re not even here for a week yet we have bullies on our asses.”

“Don’t get me confused, pretty girl, I’m not a bully. I just like to set people straight, especially the newbies, so no hard feelings right?”

“No hard feelings,” you agree, scoffing. What exactly was this girl’s thought process?

“I know you’d understand…” Sending you a half-lipped smile, “There was always something about you that I always liked.”

Right now, you have two instinctive choices, which are flight or fight. Long story short, you chose the easier way, relying on your adrenaline to save you this one time. Without much thought, you chose flight and god, you only hoped it would be your rescue.

Slowly backing away from the trio of girls stalked closer to you, shielding your brother away from the teenage girls.

“Percy,” you whisper to him, attention on the three girls unwavering in the slightest, “Get ready to run.”

“What?” He breathlessly exclaimed.

You quickly grab his arm, turn on your heel, and immediately run away in the other direction. Aiming towards the woods, the two siblings sprinted off, hoping to lose the Ares trio of trouble. In the midst of many trees and bushes, the wilderness provided you with endless possibilities but very few solutions.

How the hell are you going to get out of this mess now? You hardly know anything about this camp, much less about the vicinity of those woods. The bottom line is that you’re so fucked.

“I always loved a good hide and seek,” She speaks to herself, a playful smirk resting on her face. Oh, Clarisse was loving you already, feisty and frightful, a wicked combination. A combination that Clarisse certainly loved to cherish…or demolish, depending on the other person. But you were different, you were the first to stand up to her; you were her challenge and she was determined to put you in your place.

“Stop,” she puts a handout, halting her sisters’ movements, “We’ll give them a head start, they’ll probably need it.”

At her statement, her younger sisters chuckle in agreement, urging their boastful ego. A few seconds passed, and Clarisse’s patience was running very thin.

After a while of running away from the trio of girls, you lost Percy during it and groaned in annoyance upon realization.

You became exhausted from running, and the next best thing was to hide and pray that Clarisse wouldn’t find you or just give up and leave.

Her pride and unnatural stability wouldn’t allow you to escape from her clutches so easily. Oh, who are you kidding? Clarisse was the daughter of Ares, a literal war god who possibly killed for fun. If she was anything like her father, she possibly is, then she’d be extremely persistent and dedicated to ending this childish game, and declaring her victory. She seemed entitled to her glory, the ultimate root of her reputation at this camp.

Tired and out of breath, the adrenaline is still pumping in your blood as your eyes frantically dart everywhere for a decent hiding space. Using your last amount of energy, you stumbled towards a huge green bush and stayed in a crouched position without any movement. Just a slight movement might get your cover blown and you didn’t want that.

Soon enough, she makes her presence known and your heart sped up at the sound of her voice.

“You can run but you can’t hide forever, pretty girl.” Clarisse taunted you, light on her footsteps and she surveyed her surroundings. “I’m gonna find you eventually, so don’t make this harder for yourself and just come out.”

Her chuckle was not so much terrifying as it was hot. You rolled your eyes, internally panicking as her voice grew closer.

Truth be told, you thought of a plan. Now was the plan a brilliant or well-thought-out plan, no, it certainly was not, you weren’t secretly Athena’s daughter. Guess it has to be one of those; figuring it out along the way type of plan.

Spotting the curly-haired girl, her back was turned to you and her stealthy movements made you nervous. Would it really be that easy for you? No, but you decided to deceive the possibilities and just seized the moment in its unawareness.

Without any second thoughts, adrenaline pumped through your veins as you sprinted towards her, not stopping until you tackled her, possibly knocking the breath out of her. You both landed on the ground with a hard thud, the dirt smearing onto your clothes and you staggered to get back up.

As Clarisse is still recovering from the strong hit, you took the opportunity to straddle her, taking her by surprise as you kept her trapped underneath you. Her spear landed a few feet away from both of you, making immediate eye contact, seemingly knowing the other’s movement, as you both scurried to retrieve the spear, you beat her to it.

The spear felt weird in your hand and you analyzed the supposed weapon.

“Be careful with that,” Clarisse demands with a sharp tone.

“Relax, I’m not gonna break it or anything,” You reassured her. Catching her by surprise, you aimed the spear at her neck, pressing the cold metal there.

“Leave me and my brother alone, that’s all I ask.” you breathed heavily, inching the spear closer to her neck. The girl below you barely flinched, staring into your eyes, and lifted her neck upward, as if she was challenging you to puncture her neck.

Were Ares’ kids really this fearless? Never revealing their vulnerability, even when getting injured, they remained so cold and brutal to others. You understood why no other campers truly messed with Ares’ children, they were all so terrifying in a way. You assumed they were all psychotic, and you were beginning to believe it, maybe Clarisse’s psychotic tendencies made you attracted to her.

“Is that all you got, pretty girl?” she whispers hoarsely, gazing into your eyes, “It’s gonna take more than that to convince me.”

She had that menacing look, a dangerous fire dancing around in her eyes. Her thick eyelashes flutter at you almost innocently as her eyes pierce at yours.

You lean closer to her face, merely inches from your lips touching, discarding her spear away, hearing the metal clink against the forest floor. Clarisse felt flustered, her eyes widened as the unfamiliar butterflies swarmed around immensely in her stomach.

She began to internally panic at the new position and you were aware, reveling in some joy. For a girl who was convinced of being ruthless and cold by others, your presence made her timid, and vulnerable….an unusual feeling for her. Of course, Clarisse was overwhelmed with her emotions, something she was taught to control by her father, and she stared at you, dark-chocolate eyes twinkled, not filled with malicious intent, but rather an observant curiosity.

It came as a surprise to Clarisse, being left speechless, unable to make a snarky remark on the spot. Usually, she was the one with the last word, yet, her thoughts were all hazy by the image of you, everything regarding you. It was all about you, you, you. As always, Clarisse’s mind was consumed by other priorities such as finding ways to impress her father or practicing her fighting skills to remain the most victorious Ares kid at this camp. For once, Clarisse wasn’t upset by this revelation but more confused…or was it frustration?! Clarisse was clueless and it scared her, unaware of how to handle this situation but with your lingering gaze and gentle touches, you made it impossible for her.

So much for her being a bully. You found her reaction to this entire interaction quite entertaining, inclined to provoke her even further.

You made Clarisse La Rue blush. You made her nervous. You made her feel vulnerable, and you loved every ounce of it, you practically relished the exciting feeling.

Still, you decided to tease her further, just to see how much she’d allow herself to take.

“Would a kiss suffice?” you meekly ask, refusing to come onto her too strong. Yes, you had the upper hand but you still had morals and respect, it’s common decency. Some people really ought to learn that.

By now her eyes were as wide as saucers and her eyebrows furrowed in shock.

“W-what?”

“You heard me, La Rue,” you chuckled, settling some distance between you two. The Ares girl hated how she missed your proximity, your scent enticed her in ways beyond her imagination.

You got her, right where you wanted so now all there was to keep her there for the time being. Just like you said, a foolproof plan…as long as Clarisse doesn’t catch on. Going off purely based upon the hope that Clarisse is too enamored with you to realize the distraction from her hurting your brother.

likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated!

© asvterias, 2024. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works onto any other platforms without my permission.

[beatingdrumspouringwine]

Personal Dionysian Ritual

This is the ritual form I use for my Sunday worship (or, in this case, first-day-of-Anthesteria worship). I think this may hit closer to Catholic or Christian formats than historic Greek pagan ritual formats, at least if the book Hellenic Polytheism - Household Worship is to be believed. But this format is just a bit easier on me in terms of supplies, time, and ability to keep it semi-covert. I don't have the ability to light fires in my current space, but when I do, I usually include a prayer to Hestia at the beginning and end.

Dionysian Ritual (for Sundays) (Usually) (It's not set in stone)

Approach the altar or worship space. With you, there must be:

A bowl or other vessel filled with water (can be small).

Optionally, you may have:

Wine

Barley

Sea salt

Divination tools (I prefer tarot, or Sappho/Homeromanteions when I can get my hands on it).

A candle or other source of heat/light/incense (smells, basically)

Place the bowl of water either in front of your statue of Dionysos, or, if no statue is available, in a central spot in your space of worship. The wine and extra supplies may be placed anywhere else. Begin:

Orphic Hymn to Dionysos (Apostolos N. Athanassakis translation) I call upon loud-roaring and reveling Dionysos, primeval, two-natured, Thrice-born, Bacchic Lord, savage, ineffable, two-horned and two-shaped. Ivy-covered, bull-faced, warlike, howling, pure, You take raw flesh, You have triennial feasts, wrapped in foliage, decked in grape clusters. Resourceful Eubouleus, immortal God sired by Zeus when He mated with Persephone in unspeakable union, Harken to my voice, O blessed one, and with your fair-girdled nurses, Breathe on me in spirit of perfect kindness.

After the Orphic hymn, consecrate the bowl of water to make khernips. You may add salt if desired.

Dionysian Khernips Prayer (In between each verse of the Khernips Prayer, I move from just having the bowl on the altar, to holding the sides of the bowl, to holding the bowl up for the last verse.)

After the Khernips Prayer, I pray to Hagios as I actually ritually wash myself with the newly made khernips.

Hagios (For every verse of Hagios, I start with washing my face, then move to washing my hands, and finally sprinkle khernips on my feet, especially if I'm planning on dancing. This isn't actual washing, but more like lightly splashing water on the different parts of me that I wash.)

After Hagios, if there is wine, then I consecrate that, which I'll link my prayer for below. If there isn't, then I libate clean water (will be writing a prayer for that at some point soon), and move on to the next part of the ritual.

Wine Consecration to Dionysos (From the part where I say "This is the gift that..." through to "on the slopes of Mount Kithairon", I raise the wine towards my statue Dionysos as though toasting Him, which is inspired by art showing Maenads serving Dionysos wine.)

After the wine consecration, I pour out a libation of wine to Dionysos while praying my prayer to Dionysos Theoinos:

Theoinos

After the prayer to Theoinos, whatever happens next is up to you. If I'm doing any divination, I'll say a prayer to Dionysos Mantis before going ahead with it. Otherwise, I may dance, or talk about my day, or simply do prayer after prayer after prayer until I've kind of exhausted my talking point. Since most of my rituals are done at night, however, the consistent part is frequently the end, which is my second prayer to Dionysos Nyktelios:

Nyktelios II

And there you have it! I definitely finished this a bit later than I was planning, but that's okay - I got it out, and that's all that matters! I hope everyone has a good night and a beautiful Anthesteria, and that this was helpful to some degree :)

[samwisethewitch]

Pagan Wedding Flowers (and other plants) Cheat Sheet

Flowers have been associated with weddings for almost as long as humans have been getting married. In fact, the use of flowers in ritual may actually be older than humans! Neanderthal graves in Iraq suggest that Neanderthals buried their dead with flowers. There are mentions of flowers in our earliest recorded accounts of weddings, such as in Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

Historically, couples would have used whatever flowers were available to them. While some cultures had flowers they preferred for weddings because of their symbolism, couples would have been limited by what grew in their area and by what was in bloom at the time of their ceremony. To be truly as historically accurate as possible, consider using flowers you grew or foraged yourself. Bonus points for native blooms!

For those who aren't into growing or gathering your own wedding flowers, modern florists and greenhouses allow us to choose from a wide range of flowers, many of which aren't native to our homes. This makes it much easier to choose flowers based on their symbolism, history, or cultural meaning.

Historic Wedding Flowers + Plants

Roses have been the flower of choice for Western weddings pretty much forever, and with good reason. The rose is associated with several ancient goddesses of sex, fertility, and/or romance, such as Inanna, Ishtar, Aphrodite, and Venus. (Later, medieval Christians would also associate this flower with the Virgin Mary.) Including the goddess's flowers in a wedding may have been a way of invoking her blessing on the union. Sappho called rose "Queen of the Flowers."

Roses are held in a high regard in pretty much every culture with access to them. They're strongly associated not only with love, but also with beauty, wholeness, blessings, and even spirituality.

Rose was included in wedding celebrations in Ancient Hellos (Greece) and Rome. It is associated with the planet Venus and the water element.

Wheat was also a popular inclusion in weddings in ancient Greece and Rome. Hellenic brides would carry sheaths of wheat or another grain to invoke fertility and good fortune. Wheat was strongly associated with agrarian goddesses like Demeter, Persephone, Ceres, and Proserpina. Carrying wheat may also have been a way of expressing a wish for the marriage to produce many children. Pliny the Elder explicitly says in his Natural History that wheat was included in weddings to honor Ceres.

In modern occult systems, wheat is associated with fertility, the conception of children, and wealth. It is associated with the planet Venus and the element of earth.

Olive branches also featured in Hellenic weddings. Olive was an important crop in the ancient Mediterranean, and olive branches were a symbol of peace and friendship. Olive was also used in the victors' crowns in the Olympic Games. In Athens, the olive tree was a symbol of Athena. It was also carried by worshipers of Apollo when they visited the Oracle at Delphi. Olive was also important to the Romans, who associated it with Mars in his aspect as a protector of peace.

In modern magic traditions, olive is associated with beauty, healing, stamina, wealth, fertility, protection and of course, peace. It is associated with the sun and the fire element.

Orange blossoms were included in Hellenic weddings as a sign of happiness. These strongly scented white flowers also sometimes appeared in Roman weddings. Thousands of years later, Queen Victoria wore a crown of orange blossoms at her wedding, but for her they were a symbol of chastity.

In modern systems, orange is associated with joy, partnership, sweetness, and good luck. It is associated with the sun and the fire element.

Hawthorn appeared in weddings in ancient Rome. Pliny the Elder said that Roman bridal processions included a hawthorn torch dedicated to the goddess Ceres. In Rome, hawthorn was more generally associated with love and good luck.

In Celtic cultures, especially Ireland, hawthorn was believed to be a fairy tree. For this reason, cutting a hawthorn tree or bringing hawthorn branches inside was considered bad luck.

The blooming of hawthorn trees was used to determine the date of Bealtaine, and hawthorn boughs were often decorated with flowers, ribbons, and egg shells to make a May bush, which was placed by the front door for good luck. In Britain, hawthorn wood was used to carve maypoles. Hawthorn flowers may be especially appropriate for a May wedding or handfasting.

In modern occultism, hawthorn is associated with protection, healing (especially healing the heart), romantic love, fertility, granting wishes, and happiness. It is still strongly associated with weddings and marriage. It is associated with the planet Mars and the fire element.

Lotus may have featured in ancient Kemetic (Egyptian) weddings. The lotus was an important symbol in Kemetic religion, and was associated with the sun, rebirth, and the creation of the world. Lotus flowers featured in festivals to honor Hapi, the androgynous god of the Nile. The lotus is used in art to represent Upper Egypt. An Egyptian poem from 1100 BCE connects the lotus to marriage.

Lotus flowers were also popular in ancient Chinese weddings, and they're still used by some Chinese couples today. In Chinese culture, lotus represents purity, honor, and long life.

In modern traditions, lotus is associated with protection, spirituality, and blessings. It is associated with the moon and the water element.

Yellow flowers were used in pre-Christian Ireland for blessings and protection. The exact flower used for these rituals is not specified, so it seems like the color was what mattered. Modern pagans looking to carry on this tradition have lots of yellow flowers to choose from. Some popular choices include yellow roses (see above), yellow amaryllis (associated with creativity, playfulness, and joy), chrysanthemum (associated with long life, optimism, and protection), marigold (associated with happiness, rebirth, and vitality), and/or daffodils (associated with love, fertility, and luck).

Modern Wedding Flowers

We've gone over some of the flowers that were popular in historic pagan weddings, but it's also easy to pagan-ify the flowers that are most popular in modern weddings. Here's a quick rundown of some popular wedding blooms and their neopagan and occult symbolism:

Peony is associated with purification, healing, prosperity, and success. In ancient Rome, peony was believed to be sacred to Mars. It is associated with the sun and the fire element.

Dahlia is associated with mystery, occult wisdom, and transformation. It is associated with the moon and the water element.

Lilac is associated with balance, peace, romance, protection from evil, and attracting friendly spirits. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Sweet Pea is associated with comfort, charm, and sweetness. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Hydrangea is associated with healthy boundaries, breaking negative patterns, hex breaking, and protection. It is associated with water and with both the moon and Neptune.

Tulip is associated with beauty, desire, gratitude, love, prosperity, and simplicity. It is associated with Venus and the earth element.

Orchid is associated with beauty, elegance, sexuality, fertility, and romance. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Lily is associated with spirituality, beauty, harmony, and protection from the evil eye. It is associated with Venus and the water element.

Carnation is associated with beauty, love, rebirth, strength, and healing. Carnations are associated with same-gender love and especially love between men because of Oscar Wilde's fondness for them. They are associated with the sun and the fire element.

Gardenia is associated with love, peace, healing, and spirituality. It is associated with the moon and the water element.

Resources:

"New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar Cave," Cambridge University Press

"History of Wedding Flowers" by Benna Crawford

The Roman Wedding by Karen K. Hersch

"The Olive in the Ancient Mediterranean" by Mark Cartwright

"The History, Mythology, and Offerings of Hawthorn" by Meghan Pivarnik

Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler

Temple of the Cosmos by Jeremy Naydler

The Magic of Flowers by Tess Whitehurst

The Magic of Trees by Tess Whitehurst (see my disclaimer about Whitehurst's books, but these are some of her better ones)

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham

[thewritealiceblogs]

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[petaltexturedskies]

bind your hair with lovely crowns, tying stems of anise together in your soft hands. For the blesses Graces prefer to look on one who wears flowers and turn away from those without a crown.

Sappho, from If Not Winter: Fragments of Sappho (tr. by Anne Carson)

[erose-this-name]

Paganism held a lot more social roles than monotheism ever can.

The priesthoods of each God's cults often acted as like-minded communities for certain Queer/neurodivergent people.

Transfem? Joining the all eunuch priesthood of Cybele was a great excuse to rid yourself of testosterone and wear makeup and woman's clothing.

Gay? No one cares, that's not a sin in most pagan religions, it's not even taboo. But, you'll never beat Apollo's record of tragic ex-boyfriends or be more of a twink than Dionysus. No one can out-gay the gods! Pagan myth has a lot of good roll models actually, did you know that myth-accurate Loki is a gender fluid shape shifter and has gotten pregnant multiple times??? He's not really "evil", either, just a lovable scamp who accidentally and causes Ragnarok in a horrible prank gone wrong

Lesbian / asexual? Become a Vestel virgin, now it's literally illegal for men to have sex with you! (Sadly not as easy to be openly lesbian back then as gay, but Sappho pulled it off)

Butch? Join the cult of Artemis, it has the same perk as previous except you can also go hunting and "act the bear" and shit. (I'd imagine these convents of "virgin" women probably had a lot of secret yuri going on)

Intersex? Um, you are literally the physical embodiment of Hermaphroditus and are sacred and also probably magic.

Schizophrenic? Those aren't 'hallucinations', you've been blessed by Apollo with the ability to see the future and talk to dead people! People will pay you to tell them whatever and they'll just believe it and get closure!

Autistic? Hyperfixate on mythology and/or history, being a walking encyclopedia is actually extremely useful for being a storyteller / oral historian.

Don't like civilization? Join the cult of Pan, god of wildness and nature, all his shrines are out in the middle of the woods somewhere.

Just wanna fuckin' get really drunk and high? The cult of Dionysus throws the best parties, talk to them.

You don't need to justify any of these alternative lifestyles to allo cis hetero neurotypicals if you can just threaten divine retribution if they try to fuck with you. (Granted, the fact you have to give up any other career options still sucks, but it's something. It still helps to normalize it.)

In a lot of cases, this benefited everyone because all these different cults were uniquely able to fulfill different social roles because they didn't have to suppress their diversity.

Nearly all of these kinds of communities and social roles are gone under Abrahamic faiths. Now neurodivergence and transness are fuckin' "demonic possessions". Being gay is sin. I guess if you want an excuse to not have sex you can still be a monk or a nun??

[uiuishii]

Btw I dunno how to call it (rainbow detection syndrome, lesbian super saiyan power ?) but everytime I join a CR live randomly there is a gay (rn imodna) moment. I litteraly arrived before the line "i'm dating the dead one" 😎. I feel blessed by Sappho herself 🌈

[sappho-of-suburbia]

your dash has been blessed by sappho's tits