#and no one has like commented on the greek symbols on it despite it getting way more eyes than i thought it would

[hotchipsauce]

psst pspspsps u should totally talk about grebbymints more ... i am enabling u......

AAAAAA bro….. my dude…. the thing is i always feel crazy talking about them together bc i think like they’ve only publicly interacted like 3 times? LOL (i have watched and documented every interview minty and grebby has appeared in for the leafs/marlies. it’s so bad. me being sick has actually helped me not be as weird about it since i had less screen time in general)

but even then me and @tufzy just constructed this whole separate reality in our heads for months about how like they prob got closer after getting called up and minty is the only familiar guy for grebby there due to being on the marlies together + no russian player on the leafs to fall back on for help so grebby is just sticking to minty’s side the whole time, and minty even tho he’s a lil popular with the leaf boys he still is looking out for his linemate. even when they get sent down they’re still drawn to each other out of habit. but i’m always like second guessing like wow this is pure delusion like maybe they don’t even fuck with each other like that it’s just coworker friendliness this rpf shit is truly a disease fr fr 🙏

and then the videos started dropping. they’re goofing off and pushing each other around during sewer ball. and then i see a single frame of minty next to grebs during the one rare tiktok that he shows up in. and the delusion starts anew

[katnissandpeetamellark]

Idk if people aren’t getting Why I’m hyped that the logo on the book cover is shaped like a lyre

But here is why I am SO thrilled about the TikTok commenters epiphany!

••••

I assume most people at least have come across the Lyre as a symbol of Greek & Roman mythology (thank you Greek/Roman phase we all had as a child lol!) BUT for this post let’s look at the lyre as a symbol of one god, Apollo.

Apollo is the god things such as: music and dance, truth and prophecy, poetry … sun and light. AND archery. (among other things… but these are the ones I want us to focus on)

Let’s connect these things to what we know from the previous books!!!!⭐️

- we can connect music & dance to the Covey & Lucy Gray (and music eventually to Katniss & the propos)

- truth to what really happened during the 10th hunger games. The hidden truth of how Snow cheated. The one we as readers know and citizens of Panem were forced to forget.

- prophecy to the line in TBOSAS about the Katniss (root) not being ready yet 👀 To Mockingjays and their connection to Katniss and the eventual symbol that haunts Snow to his grave. The connection between the 10th hunger games to the 74th and beyond.

- poetry again could be Lucy Gray and her songs that continue to persist in 12 despite Snow trying to destroy her and her memory. Ballads of course are poetry (or song) that tell a story. The Hanging Tree originally tells the story of the Arlo & Lil. The Ballad of Lucy Gray is about her failed romantic relationship and being sent to her grave in the games because she was betrayed. Poetry & Ballads are the way history “stays alive” in 12, even if the masses have forgotten.

- the sun and light are … of course the “sunrise” in the title. The beginning, the start. Apollo is the one who brings the light to the sky every day! Maybe this is Lucy Gray or maybe this is Haymitch. Personally I believe they are both Apollo here. Perhaps each child sent to their death in the games is a spark… a beginning to a brighter world where the games no longer happen? A reason to fight.

- another connection of Apollo to Haymitch is that Apollo is the patron of herds, flocks, crops. Haymitch is herding all these poor district 12 children after he wins the games. Unwillingly and unhappily but in a sick way he becomes a Shepard — and he also eventually has his geese. A peaceful Shepard at last.

NOW! Here’s another thing— Apollo has a twin!! Artemis!

Artemis is the goddess of the HUNT! Goddess of wilderness and child care (among other things)… she is also the goddess of ARCHERY!

Sound like anyone we know??

ANYWAYS! Feel free to add on any ideas, argue points (I just ask you please be respectful in reblogs & comments! I like to chat but I won’t engage with condescension or asshole-ry lol), or even speak on different aspects of the cover💜

[hozoro]

Rick's Americancentrism

(Just a personal opinion based on my experiences reading the book, I've also only read until "The hidden oracle" so I'm sorry if I get something wrong)

Rick's writing has a lot of flaws but this was the very first thing I noticed when I started reading his books so I felt like I needed to make a post about it.

It's in the first book, when Percy reaches camp, and Chiron lectures him about the greek gods and camp half-blood, the moment signs of Americancentrism start to show

(Page 74, The lighting thief, 2005, Hyperion books)

Ah yes, America, the power of the west, so great the gods decided to move there and leave their homeland Greece.

The first evident problem is the cultural appropiation, and I'd say it's the most important one actually, but I'm not greek, and despite my interest in the country's mythology, culture and so on, I feel like I don't have a real connection to it to properly comment on this topic, but if you're interested in my opinion I think that if Rick wanted to publish a book including religious figures, proper research had to be done (and by proper research I don't mean just READING the myths and "the gods drama" but actually understand and STUDY them).

The second problem, which I'd say is more personal to me is how the idea of the United states being considered the literal heart of western civilization, yes maybe the gods were in Europe before but— "now America is the most powerful symbol of western values and culture"...Apparently

Can we also talk about how there's no other camps for halfbloods around the world? (No, camp Jupiter doesn't count because it's also in America) I swear throughout the whole scene I mentioned earlier I was waiting for a small comment or note like "There's also other camps for young half-bloods in Europe, south America, Asia, Africa—" But no? It didn't occur to him that perhaps kids from other parts in the world would also want to feel included in his world full of powerful gods and thrilling adventures fighting with dangerous monsters? To at least feel what they're reading could also be real for them too despite where they live in?

Also there's Paolo Montes, a brazilian demigod who doesn't speak english at all but somehow manages to handle himself well at camp, so did he live in brazil and have to move to the USA to acutally have safe place where he wouldn't be chased around by monsters? Did his dad just get lucky and coincidentially move to the united states before he knew his son was a demigod? Did the goddess Hebe (Paolo's mom) decide to get involved with a man from other country that wasn't "The heart of western civilization" and then birth a son she'd knew would have to abandon his homecountry eventually?

I mean those are the only things I can guess given this is the only thing about his history in his wiki-page.

Maybe I deviated a bit from the main topic, and because I haven't interacted much with the pjo fandom, I just started doing it again lately, but maybe this doesn't bother other people as much as it bothers me, but I just wanted to share my personal opinion to be honest.

Thanks for reading :]

[stonesandswords]

Me: I am not comfortable with the entire concept of Jade as a symbol of writers that don’t understand how race impacts experience and think a lot of the way people discuss her is evidence of a very white fandom that thinks working in customer service is an excuse to be a jerk to someone that literally just asked politely for a table.

Also me, guiltily: The concept of Nate so longing for connection to someone that he’s delighted at someone sitting down to have some dessert with him and Jade being nice to someone who is clearly having a bad day is really sad and sweet.

Ugh!!!! I get this!!! Sorry if I kinda lost the plot with this answer. I was trying to be thoughtful and then got a bit carried away with my thoughts about the topic. But it's definitely a double-edged sword there, and I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about it!

On one hand, I’m so happy Nate finally feels seen, even just a little, for his completely wonderful but quirky, normal self. Like he was having a bad day, which seemed cumulative of a lot of things and really highlighted Nate's introvertedness and awkwardness as a person. He's come across Jade at her job a few different times now, that we've seen, at different stages of his career and social life. For so long, Nate has thought that social status was something he wanted to achieve and would finally gain him respect from people who aren't really his peers.

This scene made me think of when Nate and Keeley were having a conversation in Keeley's office at Richmond, talking about being rich and famous or whatnot, and Nate commented that he wouldn't mind the groupies, and Keeley laughed telling him that he wouldn't. Like Nate is getting all these high-status things he thought he wanted: a new fancy car from Rupert, invites to fancy events with other high-status folks, and dates with famous models and socialites.

Yet, despite this, Nate still set the date at A Taste of Athens (*Rebecca Welton voice* in Tooting!) simply because he likes it there! It's sentimental to him! His family has probably been going there for decades. It doesn't take much to impress Nate because he knows what he likes. I mean, look at how he still drove around his green mini cooper despite getting the manager job at West Ham.

It's just very interesting to see the difference between noticing the very simple and sentimental things that he clearly loves and enjoys, but not really realizing that that's just enough for him. Clearly, from what we've seen, what Nate craves most, is validation. He assumes living this high-profile, high-status life will give him that validation, but it's just not enough.

Because on the other hand, what we've seen from Nate's interactions with his parents and with Ted, what Nate truly craves is validation from the people who he admires, loves, and respects the most. He craves validation from people he looks up to, and I think that the scene with Jade and the baklava shows that, in comparison to Anastasia, Nate doesn't actually look up to or respect the people he's currently surrounded by. And honestly, I hope that Nate realizes this soon, for his own benefit.

But I agree there’s a lot to it about race and the general stereotype of customer service in general, throughout the whole show. Like Jade’s entire existence has been pretty … unreadable? Like we take a look at how the episode ended and I feel like I can retroactively be like “Oh I guess I can see maybe what the writers were trying to do here.” But realistically there’s not much continuity in how Jade seems to be presented during her job.

I can’t tell if her role is to try and humble Nate or something, but if so, why must it be a white hostess at a run-of-the-mill Greek restaurant in South London? Like she’s just so oddly rude to Nate, and listen I understand having an off day or long day, but she’s aloof and cold to Nate every time he comes in. IIRC, we don’t see her interact with any other customers enough to tell if she’s like this with all of them or just with Nate (I’m happy to stand corrected on this one). Even if it’s just Jade being unimpressed with Nate trying to flex his famous associations or his own high-profile job title, she doesn’t have to be so dismissive and get his name wrong on purpose (even when Nate continuously remembers hers and refers to her by her correct name), it’s bothersome for sure.

Also re: my point about Keeley being the one person to kind of hint to Nate that he wouldn’t like fame as much as he thinks he would? Like why is it that the two characters who ever really seem to side-eye Nate’s intentions are Keeley and Jade? Because that’s putting just as much pressure on them to get through to Nate as women, as it is on Nate as a man of color whose understanding of himself seems to be shifted onto the white women around him.

I’m hoping that this season sees Nate shaping up on his own, and having him remember the empathy of someone who was always kind of standoffish and unsympathetic toward him. That he can use this moment of kindness from Jade to reflect on his own relationships with others around him. Because in a way, the sharing of the baklava was the closest to an apology that we see Nate get from anyone in the series. I hope it was the fact that Jade overheard Nate talking the food and the restaurant up and totally altered her preconceived ideas of Nate, apologizing with a place of baklava.

[queengiuliettafirstlady]

Wish of Love

Wish of Love

Fandom: Ikemen Vampire

Pairing: Jean D’Arc X OC (Julia)

Prompt: Day 4  Mythology AU | Fantasy AU

Part of content creation challenge hosted by me and @xxsycamore

Tag: Fluff

Word Count: 2.210

Author’s Note: Inspired to a conversation with the lovely @atelieredux about how gorgeous Jean so much he could be a God of Beauty, so here it came that idea developed into a story I sincerely hope you will like I can not wait to hear your opinion. 😍

Inspired to greek mythology, a mythic story for love path is not always easy and smooth, for it cause weird emotion stirring things even in beings of divine nature, who had to find courage to reflect on love and its signifiance to make choice selflessly with both mind and heart in sync, with a little help from an unexpected coin with magical powers. 😉

Tag list

@kissmetwicekissmedeadly @aquagirl1978 

@william-rex

@writingwhimsey @fang-and-feather

@moonstruckmelancholic @lichtluv

@wistfulwanderingone @rjthirsty

@ike-garden2024 @jollibeeshappiness @starzyquee             

@maeko-kun @oda-princess @rkmaru

You can find me on AO3 as QueenJuliet 😊

Thank you for everyone who will like, reblog, or comment please be gentle with me english is not my first language so please do not leave rude comments I apologise for eventual errors I hope you will like it. 😊

Royaume du Soleil It was a sunny morning his bright rays bathed everything in sight with their warm colors, birds chirped happily on the trees occasionaly flying over the sky leaving rainbow feathers scatter all over the grass where little animals were dozing off lazily under the trees shadows and among the bushes.

Everyone looked blissfully busy to enjoy the beggining of the sunny season sleeping around, getting tanned or playing in the little lakes at the base of the waterfalls falling from the clouds, standing in a queit corner not reached by the sun stood a girl watching absently at them with a wistful gaze, her eyes lit up as she saw him, sighing dreamily she clutched an hand over her chest trying to tame the drumming of her racing heart at his sight, moving elegantly restless and unbothered among the crowd of girls and boys ogling at him with admiration and fervent adoration, much to his dismay, stood the only man her heart has ever yearned for so etehreally beautiful and mighty invincibile yet lonely, loved yet distant, cold like the moon yet shining like the sun, whom no one dared to approach for fear to disturb his mere exsistence drawing a frown on his delicate lips, apart from few privileged like Mozart God of Music and Napoleon God of Courage.

A divine name was bestowed upon him, underlying his moral nobilty no one could match

Jean was the God of Beauty, everyone could see it from afar despite the lonely aurea he carried over with him, he was Abel’s favourite whose presence elicited respect and authority well suited to his role as King of gods and God of the Sun. The eyepatch he wore on his right eye did ntohing but make an hero out of him, for the scar he received was but a symbol of glory from his protective and self sacrifing nature capable to bring peace to their Kingdom and stop the rageful war powerlust broke out.  He was strolling aimlessly through the garden as soon as she saw him walk toward her she fretted to hide behind a column, the least thing she wanted him to know was how desperatly madly in love she was with him, ironic it indeed how the Goddess of Love was the one most afraid of it herself, if only she would have been beautiful enough or had some sort of skills he could have noticed her she sighed heavily how many night she had dreamt of him keep awake by the deep rooted in her heart desires for her feelings to be reciprocated, but these were mere wishful thinking a dream destined to remain so, a pure utopia no matter her strong yearning for it to be real. Greatly acclaimed and wonderfully celebrated was the anniversary of the Machìa in which Vlad the Dark God was defeated by Jean whose mighty strength and brilliant cunning were enough to free Abel from the evil trap he fall into made up by his long friend turned enemy by his desire of power that lead him to attempt seizing the throne, successfully casted away and imprisoned on Earth by the almighty monarch himself.

Much to everyone delight the generousity of the King knew no boundaries and so on that day he decide to gift every deity something of extraordinary speciality, a coin forged with magic whose divine power granted realization to the deepest wish of one’s heart after being threwn in the fountain of his palace.

She had yet to throw hesr, like him she saw often wandering aimlessly around the lakes playing absently with that coin shining in the sun, mockingly teasing him to be threwn in the fountain carrying his deepest secret down in the depth of the water with him.

Long interminable days she had spent wondering about her wish, a part of her desired nothing more than to bind him to her under a spell called Love, yet the more she thought the less it seemed right to stuck him up with a nothingness like her, countless tears she had shed over it under the moonlight as only company and witness of her feelings, the mere idea of seeing him elope with another girl was enough to choke her throat tugging her heart in two but in the end she discovered that what she wanted all along was for him to be happy even at the cost of her own, becasue he deserved to smile to feel loved like he was worthy of in way she could not even fathom to think how much she would have not been able to.

She sighed again sniffling quietly as that afternoon memory flashed back in her mind, he chatting amably with the Goddess of Fertility, swooning over and flirting shamlessly with him, a sob escaped her lips at the sight of a feeble smile curling his graceful lips, feeling her heart breaking beyond repair she did her best to suppress tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as she fleed up the hill slamming the door of her home behind her back slumping on the floor clutching her chest frantically trying to keep all the pieces of her heart from falling miserably on the floor aroud her, tears streaming down her face as heavy sobs shake her body resonating in the air, caressing with trembling hands her white cat Eros trying to calm her nerves hugging her tightly to her chest nuzzling her face into her soft furs kissing her face softly until her breath get steady, slowly leaving the cat nuzzle and curl in her lap as she stroke it absently bracing herself that night in which she would have let all her dreams and hope sink down with her coin in the fountain.

Little did she know a deep blue eye has taken notice of her every move, giving his companion the cold shoulder ignoring her protests as he swiftly moved away, secluding himself in his home to sort out his feeling making up his mind and heart about the desire he wished to make that night with his coin. She clutched the coin to her chest feeling her heart clench painfully thinking of him with another yet there was nothing she could do but hope he would have been happy with whoever he would have chose to bless with his love, she sighed heavily kissing the coin with all the passion she felt for him  threwing it into the fountain feeling her heart burst with love as she clutched her hand tightly on its border, her eyes misty with tears locked to that coin watching up at her satisfied of her selfless choice

A single thought reasonate in her heart and mind as her fingers moved in their own accord, bringing her from the peek of bliss to the pit of despair as the coin splashed into the water Please let him be happy and loved as he deserve.

Slowly she begin to walk toward her home, sending a last melancholic gaze to the mountain before letting a forlron smile appear on her lips, sighing heavily she did not noticed a figure sat on a bench, his ethereal beauty bathed in the soft light of the full moon he was so longingly staring at, not desiring to bother him with her presence she tried to scamper away as swiftly and quietly as possible but fate has other plans.

Suddenly he turned to gaze at her, leaving her astonished and breathless at the tender expression she saw in his moonless eye once it settled on her as a soft smile curled his lips making her gawk in awe at his divine beauty like she has never seen before.

Shaking her head trying to reorder her thoughts scattered around from the furious beating of her heart so loud and deafening it was impossible to think straight, filling her with a desire beyond rationality to jump in his arms and kiss him on the lips making him aware of her feeling but she was far too shy for such a bold move and so she fretted over to whisper

��I-I am sory monsieur I beg to forgive me for I desire not to bother you any further I shall go.” his voice husky and low elciting authority and respect stirred something inside her she could not quite explain as a pleasant warmth begin to spread from her heart

“Please stay.” seeing in security flickering on her gaze he continued smiling reassuringly at her extending an hand toward her, persuading her to obey him

“Come here.” it sounded like an order yet it was not but she felt she could not deny her heart a wish she so long yearned for, gingerly she approached him sitting hesitantly on the bench held willing captive by his intense and alluring gaze, she looked up at him smiling shyly feeling heat begin to spread on her now scarlety cheeks.

Too shy to begin a conversation she had thousand times over in her head she kept fidgeting with her hand until his deep voice resonate in the frizzy still air of the night, locking her gaze with his seeing insecurity flickering in his gaze she slide nearer to him trying to reassure him, seeing him smiling tenderly at her she felt her heart swell and burst with happiness at being with him “Mademoiselle I have somethig to confess you.” slowly he took her hand in his, she gasped softly as her heart leap up in her chest while his calloused hand brushed over her  “Please I beg your pardon for the inconvenience and I hope you will not mock me. The truth of my word never doubt my plea only for you to listen my humble confession.” slowly he kneeled in front of her kissing her hand reverently as he looked into her eyes

“I love you Julia.” She thought of having misheard yet the lovestruck expression in his eye told a different story, her heart fluttered in her chest hoping so much to not be a mockery of sort yet at the sight of his smile fading away she fretted over to take his face in her hand whispering “I love you too Jean.”

A smile so shiny to put the sun itself to shame was enough to brush away doubts and insecurity from her heart as he tenderly take place near her on the bench taking her face into his hand melting his lips on hers in a slow sweet kiss, enough to melt their heart in a lovely bliss a dream come true as reward for their kind nature.

Gingerly he pulled away hugging her close to his chest, brushing his lips on her forehead murmuring tenderly few inches from her lips

“You are the most gorgeous Goddess of the whole world Julia, please never doubt.”

 she smiled soflty at him tentatively brushing her lips on his eyepatch

“You are the most wonderful God of them all Jean, no one could ever compare to you.”

He opened his mouth to protest “I am nothing but a monster.” he said leaving his loosened eyepatch slide from his eye on his lap

She took his face in her hands brushing her fingers on his lips

“Not for me.” slowly she planted a gentle kiss on the burnt scarred on his right eye

“You are the bravest hero in the whole world.” softly she brushed her lips on his before murmuring tenderly looking into his moonless eyes caressing his cheek “My hero.”

In the meanwhile a gilded figure was watching the scene smiling knowingly leaned onto a column, a satsified smile on his lips he pulled away directed to his room feeling his heart burst with happiness at the knowledge of having witnessed the first bud of love between two soulmates destined from the universe to be tied together for al eternity, sighing content at the succes of his plan ochestarted with the mere intent to push them in each other arms, along some more couple who needed the same help to make their buddy affection blossom into love.

Months went by bringing them celebrating their anniversary mirthfully all day before settling down in their now shared home where cuddled together she decided to satisfy a peculiar curiosity of hers

"What did you wished for with your coin ?" he smiled softly gazing at her with so much tenderness she felt her heart melt as she tried to hide her blush in his chest, nuzzling content into it     “Your happiness mon amour.” he confessed planting a slow reverent kiss on her forehead making her giggle I desired the same, slowly she looked up at him as he melted his lips on hers in a sweet kiss to convey all his love, reluctantly he pulled away whispering few inches from her lips

“I love you so much, ma petite. she sighed dreamily murmuring tenderly

“I love you too mon héros.” smiling he cradled her face in his hand brushing his lips on hers again and again with the full moon only witness to the passioante love they would have showed to one another until dawn, soulmates reunited to stick up to each other for all eternity. Machìa - Ancient Greek Battle

Eros – Ancient Greek God of erotic love know by Romans as Cupid

[freakingbellam]

Timeless (HP & HOO crossover x reader)

Synopsis: What would you say if I told you that Hogwarts and Camp Half-Blood are not so far apart? Yeah, Gale and Y/n would also say this is crazy. But these two girls are about to discover that even though they are far apart, the magic that surrounds them is the same. After all, what do a time travel, a fearful prophecy and a Titan about to resurrect, have in common? Certainly more than you can imagine.

Paring: Apollo x reader

Warnings: None, I guess.

Reader: Percy's step sister! reader

Word count: 1.7k

A / N: escreve o que quiser (notas da autora)

September 2010, New York - USA

Y/n would be lying if she said she didn’t cry like a baby when she saw Argo II return to Camp Half-Blood. She had been forbidden to help in the battle against the giants, but she was nevertheless not full at Camp. After the near invasion of Camp Jupiter and Reyna's visit, things got messed up there.

But the best part of the return of the other demigods was seeing Percy again. He looked extremely exhausted, but happy to be back in one piece. Y/n hugged him for so long that Percy almost fell asleep in her arms.

The boy was welcomed with all the frenzy he deserved, entitled to a hearty banquet and a visit from his father, along with a very tearful Sally and a relieved Paul.

Tyson had been absolutely thrilled to see his older brother talking to his friends by the fire, which glowed high and yellow, mirroring the emotion of the half-bloods.

Despite being as happy as the others, and maybe even more so, Y/n retired a little earlier that night. She didn't walk long before her absence was noticed.

‘Mingling with the shadows? I thought this was my own thing.” The girl smiled at Nico di Angelo, who walked over to her with his hands in the pockets of his aviator jacket, which was still too big for him.

“I'm going to sleep, Nico.” She explained, continuing her way to Cabin 3. “It was a day full of emotions, I'm tired.”

Nico nodded, walking beside her. Y/n always found it fun to be the same size as Nico, but now she realized that he was a few inches taller than she was.

“Are you okay?” she asked, bringing up the subject.

“I think so.” Nico replied, looking surprised by his own conclusion. “Maybe things get better for me from now on.”

“I'm sure it will.” Y/n opened an encouraging smile. Because he was the son of Hades, Nico suffered more than all the other demigods, which worried the girl. She hadn't seen him since the war of the Titans, but she talked to Percy during her mission and discovered things she didn't want to discover.

She looked at Nico. For the first time in his life, his face looked serene, as if his problems were gone. Y/n realized that it would be better not to go into details about the problems he went through. She did not want to end his joy.

“Di Angelo!” someone called, running up to them. Y/n turned to find Will Solace smiling like a ray of sunshine. “Hi Y/n!”

“Will.” She smiled. When looking at Nico, she noticed a pink tint on his cheeks and held her laugh. “Can you take care of Nico for me? I need to go to sleep but he doesn't want to leave.”

Will smiled, realizing what she meant. Nico looked at her with anger and indignation, but he didn't seem against the idea.

“Certainly.” The blonde took a step forward. “Have a good night!”

“You too.” She raised an eyebrow at Nico and walked back to her cabin.

She was still smiling when she passed Hecate's cabin, which looked darker than ever. Her smile wilted. She had always been a little afraid of the goddess's children since she found herself a half-blood and moved to camp. But that night, something seemed comforting in the hideous darkness of the cabin. Unable to contain the impulse that occurred to her, Y/n went up on the porch and went through the open door. None of the goddess's children were there, they were probably still at the stake celebrating, they always loved a good party.

Y/n didn't know exactly what she expected to find inside, but she certainly wasn't ready for what she saw. She had never entered the cabin since she had never been invited and it didn't feel right to enter without an invitation like she did now. But what she found was an absolute void. No bunk beds, bathroom, closet or chest. Nothing for the basic comfort of teenagers. All that was inside was a torch on the floor with a brown leather-bound notebook beside it.

“Take it” A whisper said, and Y/n knelt down to better analyze the notebook.

“Who...?” She started the question, but knew at the time that she had no need to finish it. Hecate was there. “Are you hiding in the shadows?”

There was a harsh laugh, but Y/n couldn't tell where it came from. It was as if the goddess moved in every particle of air around her.

“I heard that Poseidon's children were mocking, but seeing that feat face to face is much more fun. Ares definitely didn't say enough about it.”

“I don't think he has any reason to boast about it.” She commented, but her body was tense. Something about the goddess made her feel that bad things would happen any second.

“Take the notebook.” She asked, seeming to feel the girl's tension. “Take it and bring my girl back.”

“What does that mean?” Y/n asked, but never got an answer.

After several minutes, she finally let herself be overcome by curiosity, put the notebook under her arm and ran out of the cabin.

Y/n spent a few days without touching the notebook, which was comfortably resting on the small table in her cabin. Percy asked several times what the notebook was and why Y/n didn't move it, but the girl always answered the same thing. "It's just a silly notebook." She was afraid to open it and end up triggering something she couldn't control.

Percy and the others had just returned from a massacre battle with irreparable losses, she didn't want to leave anyone alarmed by something as stupid as a leather notebook.

Y/n tried to distract herself. She would swim in the lake, duel with Percy in the arena, ask Tyson to teach her something in the forges, help Chiron with pending camp, talk about the biggest zucchinis with Rachel, encourage Annabeth to talk nonstop about architecture, sometimes make her repeat everything he had said in Greek, but nothing seemed to get her thoughts out of the notebook. Instead of being distracted, she got some scars from the duels, burns from the forges and throbbing ears, but nothing erased the notebook.

Tired of trying, Y/n returned to the cabin and spent several minutes looking at the problem. She would get up a few times, making a move to pick it up, but soon she would go back to sitting on bed. When she finally thought she would be brave enough to end the trip, someone knocked on the door.

Changing her course, Y/n opened the door to the blond, smug figure.

Y/n and Apollo had spent a lot of time together a few months before, not that any of them had a chance to do the opposite. He had helped her save the Camp when everyone seemed too busy saving the world. Now she was no longer able to get rid of the sun god, who suddenly appeared in her cabin. At least now he had learned to knock on the door before entering.

“Good afternoon, beautiful lady.” He smiled, breaking into the cottage before Y/n had a chance to expel him. “What do you do locked in that cabin?”

“Apollo, seriously, now is not the best time.”

“Every hour is the best time for Apollo!” He smiled at her and Y/n found herself unable to say no to him. The god had that effect on her, but she couldn't explain why. She just went back to bed and sighed.

“What happened, Sunshine?” he asked, now more serious.

Y/n pointed to the notebook, like a child pointing out the bully who was mistreating her. Pausing to think, it was almost the same.

Apollo's gaze followed Y/n 's finger until it stopped at the Hecate symbol on the cover of the notebook, and he froze.

“What's it?”

“That notebook.” He got up and picked up it, playing with it in his hands. “I saw Hecate with another of his once many years ago. I asked her what they were, but she cast a spell on me that prevented me from speaking for two months. Where did you find it?”

“I found him at her cabin.” The girl admitted, unable to lie to the closest friend she had at the camp until that moment. “I heard Hecate ask me to take him away. I didn't understand what she expects me to do.”

“Write.” He suggested, after long minutes of silence.

“I’m sorry?” Y/n looked at him, confused. “What if something bad happens, Apollo? I don't know if I want to find out.”

The god smiled gently, taking the book to the girl and handing it over, along with a blue ballpoint pen. Y/n hesitated for a few seconds before picking up the pen and opening the notebook. But she didn't do much more than that, as the words “Owned by G. J. W.” they magically appeared on the first leaf, in a strange black ink.

Y/n looked at Apollo for help, but he just shrugged and encouraged her to write something below. "G. J. W.? This notebook is mine, and my name has none of those letters!”

Before she had a chance to tell Apollo how ridiculous it was, the notebook replied.

G: "Who are you?"

Y: “Y/n Y/l/n, are you?”

G: "Gale Wright"

Y: “How the hell am I talking to you through my notebook? Where you are from?"

G: “England. I'm a student at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, how about you? What school of magic do you belong to? ”

Y: "I'm not going to any magic school, I'm from New York, there's no such thing here!"

G: "I thought the United States school of magic was Ilvermorny"

Y: "I am not a witch!"

G: "Oh by Merlin, are you a muggle?"

Y: "Look, I may not be a witch but you don't have to curse me!"

G: “Muggle is a term for non-wizards ... But if you are not a witch, how can you talk to me? This notebook is bewitched, only those who have contact with magic could see it ”

Y: "I didn't know that the notebook was enchanted until now ... I didn't even know about the existence of a school of magic, wizards, yes, now schools? No, things are very different here"

G: "Different how?"

Y: "I am a camper at Camp Half-Blood"

G: "And what would that be?"

Y: "Well, a camp for demigods, of course!"

Y/n waited, but nothing else happened. She looked up at Apollo, who looked as upset as she was.

“School of Magic and Witchcraft of... Hogwarts?” She asked, hoping that Apollo would say something to her.

“I've heard of that school. Hecate loves to talk about how she has an entire chain of schools that teach children to do what she does. She is very proud of it.” He explained, taking the notebook from Y/n and examining the last conversation. “I just didn't think it was real at all. All the gods think it's Hecate's invention, but no one has ever tried to prove it.”

“Well, I think we just did that.” Y/n joked, but was far from feeling the fun of the situation, because, there in front of her, there was a problem. Perhaps a much bigger problem than she imagined.

[popsicle-parfait]

Proteas In my Garden

Everything Is Simple;

A/N: The reader lowkey sounds evil but trust me he gets better as the story goes on. Let me know what you think about the prologue! Please do leave comments if you have any, I appreciate the feedback! Also if the time comes I do accept things like fanart if anyone wants to share any. This story is also cross-posted on Ao3 @Rye_Reaper

Tw: Slight angst(?), internal conflict with family is hinted at, same with financial struggles

Protea: Among the oldest families of flowers on earth, dating back 300 million years, Greek legend tells us that protea was named after Proteus, the son of Poseidon. A sea god who had the power to know all things past, present, and future, Proteus was defiant and preferred to nap on the island of Pharos rather than prophesize. To deter those seeking his insights, he would change his shape at will, and it's said that the protea flower was named after him because it, too, presents itself in an astounding variety of shapes, sizes, hues, and textures to make up more than 1,400 varieties. With its mythological associations to change and transformation, it’s not surprising that in the language of flowers, protea symbolizes diversity and courage.

This excerpt was from;

My family and I always moved a lot so we never stayed in one place for too long. One day I could be sleeping in a stranger’s house and the next thing I know I’m at my aunt’s with the weird-themed school across the street. I never really knew when it was okay to make friends and when not to due to the fear of having to say goodbye the next day, but one thing I do know is that I always made the best of the times that I shared with those new friends. Sometimes I imagine that those acquaintances will remember me and maybe even try to stay in contact like in those movies and shows I’d seen on the small screen of our Tv, but deep inside a part of me knew I wouldn’t have the chance to see them again; not in this cruel world. My brother, on the other hand, was too young at the time to understand our situation; all he saw was a new friend to play with every day.

As time went on I eventually got used to it, tired of trying to hold on to the precious memories that held meaning to me. But then…everything stopped. My parents decided that staying in Kyoto would be a nice place to settle down in despite the heavy financial situation we were in. I was excited for a new start, a chance to make friends and have sleepovers like in all of the media I’ve seen around me…but then anxiety sunk in. I was scared of making friends, scared of leaving my parents, scared that maybe if I closed my eyes and reopened them this would all be a crazy dream. But it wasn’t and I was getting a home, a place where time would stop and I could just live in the moment as I took in every molecular structure that is the world we live in. I was finally given a moment of peace even if the walls are a little bit dirty and the floor has a weird texture to it, I was still happy. As the day slowly turned into the darkness that is the night, I dreamed of chocolates so big I had to tilt my neck just to see the edge of them; but when I woke up I couldn’t remember a thing.

A few days have passed since then; my mom enrolled me in a new primary school and just a few minutes of a walk away was my brother’s small box of a kindergarten. Things were going smoothly as nothing was ever too interesting for a child at the time. I had an Italian class, but that was gone halfway through the year. Yet there were small moments of importance to me, like the time our teacher had the class grow a bean into a sprout just to see the process of how nature grows within a small garden.

I can also vividly remember my peers and their mothers bringing over sweets like cupcakes and donuts to the classroom to celebrate their day of becoming older than everyone else. Within that very moment a new rule was set into place; “whoever befriended the celebrant would be the elite among the class”. It was an unspoken rule but we all knew what that meant for the rest of us; we can be cool, we can be popular, we can be better than everyone else.

We were too young to understand the words that corresponded with our competitiveness but we do now. We became hungry, another word for greed along with another important statement; we became selfish. It is a sin to be predatory as is a sin to be prideful, but humanity always had a hierarchy; we were just too young to understand it.

If you were to ask the old me why I had the same incentive as everyone else, I’d tell you one thing; because that’s what other people were doing. As children we are impressionable and simple-minded; if things got too complicated for us we would question why and move on before doing our own thing the next day. If you had told us directions we would be confused as to why we couldn’t do things our way, why we had to follow rules that someone else made? We were simple-minded and that was what made things so easy in life as we practically accepted whatever went in our way with no questions asked.

I was like everyone else too, so obedient, so fragile, so simple… so naive. All it took was for us to see one cicada and scream out of happiness or one small puddle to jump into with euphoria before the teacher had to scold us for messing up our uniforms and hauled us all back inside. But as I was saying, people were simple just like our lives at the time. Everyone knew each other with good impressions and all humans were the same; mama shares stories with the other ladies and papa worked for the betterment of the family.

Our school was simple too, it was fairly small but had just enough room for all the kids to play and laugh in; this was normal for a school in Japan. One thing that always had me laughing was the children next to me having trouble putting on their indoor shoes, I was an independent kid so I didn’t think too much of it when I switched out my shoes on my own. No one cared what you did during playtime or class time, whether it be catching frogs or studying multiplication before everyone else. No one bothered to pay attention to you so in return I did the same because of course everyone else was doing it.

I was simple and so was every other person and their pet in my neighborhood; until we weren’t…Until my second to last years of primary school. 

[ctropus]

                                 𝓷𝓸 𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱, 𝓷𝓸 𝓻𝓾𝓲𝓷, 𝓷𝓸 𝓼𝓲𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝓷𝓸 𝓰𝓸𝓵𝓭, 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓯𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓶𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵

STATS ➜ MALLORY

full name: mallory devlin. nicknames: mal, devil. age: thirty-three. sex & gender: cis female but questioning agender. pronouns: she/they. sexuality: pansexual, greyromantic. relationship status: single. pet: a black rat snake named midnight. neighbourhood: rock rose park. occupation: photographer for the oracle. originally from: cork, ireland. arrived to magnetic island: thirteen years ago. birthday: february 13th, 1989. astrological signs: ☼ aquarius, ☾ taurus, ↑ scorpio. languages: english, some greek and latin. memory of who she is: some. powers: an increased indication of who she is, little knowledge of the barrier separating the deities from their mortal selves, the ability to counteract abilities that influence others, hear faint whispers of the dead on a new moon and has prophetic dreams about deaths yet to come.

STATS ➜ ATROPUS

reincarnation: atropus, the oldest of the three fates, the one who cuts the thread of life. known as: aisa, she who cannot be turned, the inflexible one. deity: fate goddess, olympian. symbols: scales, a sundial, shears, scissors.  associated with: death, the inevitable, fate. animals: snake. full ability: power to end a life that has reached its conclusion and choose the manner of death,  knows when someone's time is up, can look into someone's fate by studying their thread, can see and hear the dead and can withstand any influence by the powers of others.

PHYSICAL 

hair colour: naturally light brown, she often dyes it blonde and red. eye colour: green. height: 162 cm / 5'3 ft. marks: light freckles across her cheeks and above her upper lip, a dark birthmark under her left ear, a scar in their right eyebrow. tattoos: a giant black rat snake coming out the eyes of a skull across her entire back, a pair of scales on their write wrist, a combined sun and moon on her left wrist, a triangle on their left ankle, a green slightly faded shamrock on the back of her right hand. nails: always long black-painted nails, often with chipped nail polish. make-up: it is rare for mallory to wear make-up, if she does then it will either just be mascara, concealer and some powder. however, at a party they might be found with dark smoky eyes and dark red lips.

PERSONALITY

myers-briggs type indicator: the inspector (istj). enneagram: type five. alignment: true neutral leaning towards lawful evil.

˃ it is possible to know mallory for many years without knowing her at all. most people see her as the village freak, they get unnerved by her tendency to lurk in shadows, by their fondness of quietly observing before contributing with a sarcastic comment and her unsettling smile. sometimes mal can get in a state where her eyes go blank and when she looks at you, it is almost as if she’s looking through you or is seeing someone else. some call her devil as a fond nickname, others call them devil as an insult - and it does not seem to bother mallory either way.  

˃ if mal had to describe herself with one word, they would choose ‘odd’ as the best way to encompass all she is. she can be kind, she can be cruel. above all, they are neutral. mallory would say it is fate that is cruel, the world that is evil, not her. she believes none of it matters, that life is a cycle that will simply repeat after death. despite this dim worldview, they find meaning in taking pictures. mallory is a skilled photographer, she is drawn to ordinary life and all its lows and highs, to the joy of childbirth and the sorrow of death. memories may fade once they begin anew but her snaps will not. 

˃ you can befriend mallory if you are willing to try hard enough. like everyone else, some people she will bond with and make an effort to befriend. most people she has no particular feelings towards and will remain her sarcastic self. and then there are some that she will instinctively not like, and to them they can be an absolute nightmare... if they wish to be. if you wish to get on mallory’s good side then a good place to start is with the supernatural, to show you are thinking of what is beyond what can be seen with the naked eye. the more in tune you are with yourself and the things you know are weird but cannot quite explain, the more interesting you become to mal. 

FAMILY

➜ father: unknown. ➜ mother: caoimhe devlin, a shop-keeper.

i am definitely open to making clotho and lachesis their biological sisters, but this is entirely left up to the muns of those muses!

˃ she was conceived during some wild years for her mum, who had a tendency to drink and smoke too much, and therefore they have no idea who her father is. caoimhe does not even recall the possible names, and so mallory accepted quite early in her life that she would never have a father - especially since their mum had a knack for picking the worst boyfriends, which always ended in a break-up before it ever got too serious. 

˃ her mum always said she was a strange child. she rarely cried as a baby, she would lay in her cot for hours on end and just stare up at the stars mobile above it. as mallory grew, she was quiet but with a seething wit, which was noticed in her large irish family with a dozen cousins, all very loud and chatty. they preferred to play by herself, wanting to read and watch telly rather than go socialist with other children, most of which she found boring. because her single mother had to earn money to keep food on the table, mallory was a latchkey kid, which suited her quite well.

BACKGROUND

˃ mallory was born in cork, ireland, to a ‘reborn’ catholic mum, who had strayed from her religion but returned when she discovered that she was pregnant, and her entire family helped raise mal. she had a pretty untroubled childhood, but when mallory was thirteen years old, her mum did actually find a pretty decent bloke, someone mal could accept would be in their lives. but one day teenage mal woke up covered in cold sweat while battling the flu, they woke up their mum and told her that her boyfriend would soon die in a car accident. she was sent back to bed by caoimhe, who believed it to be a fever dream, only to be woken hours later by her mum’s screaming and crying. the boyfriend had died in a car accident only a mile down the road. after that, caoimhe started to view her daughter in a different light, not helped by the fact mal was beginning to dress like a goth. she warned mallory of witchcraft and being a conduit of bad luck, she even went so far to call the priest who came by to have a serious talk with mal about dark magic and satan’s power. mal became an outcast in her community who started to call her “devil” because rumours spread, and with the surname devlin, mal was an easy target. however, the bullies soon grew tired of actively trying to bother them because they genuinely did not care. 

˃ despite not caring about being associated with the devil, mal struggled with her mental health throughout her childhood and teenage years. the dreams of death, of knowing things without really knowing, without being able to explain herself. it took a toll on their mental health, and she would sometimes experience manic and depressive episodes. caoimhe never involved any doctors, she always called the priest who then attempted to heal mal, to “drive the demons out of her” but thankfully for her, it never ended in exorcisms. but they did not get the support they needed during those episodes, which ended up driving mother and daughter further apart and made it easy for mallory to leave ireland when she was able. 

˃ she arrived on magnetic island when she was only twenty years with little money and no plan, all they knew was that they were finally in the right place. mal had known throughout most of her life that she was not meant to be in ireland, and although they still have a soft spot for the ireland of their early childhood before they all turned on her, she knew that she would never return. she started as a waitress and began to develop an interest for photography, they slowly upped their skill until they were offered a position at the oracle, the local news source for magnetic island. astrology has been a life-long interest and passion of mal’s, and she supplies her income with selling readings of birth charts and horoscopes. they also find it fun to do tarot readings despite not believing the cards can actually tell the future, but mallory find it interesting to see how people react to what she is saying, they find others belief in fate and destiny fascinating. 

˃ at some point during her twenties, mallory became more aware of everything, their powers, who they were and sometimes they even imagined others to be different too. what mal thought was unstable mental health has slowly morphed into something different, a knowing that is hard to put into words, answers that she know deep down but refuse to surface, so she can put them into words. they are still searching for concrete answers, so they merely observe, they await others beginning to notice too.

˃ not many know of mallory’s background, most only know she is irish because of the accent that has slowly started to fade a bit, so some people don’t even know that. she shares very little of her past, which has earned her the reputation of being mysterious.

HEADCANONS

˃ mal owns a tiny, rundown house with two bedrooms. they leave halloween decorations up year round.

˃ her irish accent can still be detected by native english-speakers, especially australians and brits, but not all americans can pick up on it.

˃ because one of her passive abilities is to counteract abilities that can influence others, some reincarnated deities might find that people act differently around them when mallory is there, so for some she might be considered a bad luck charm, for those with unfortunate abilities that influence others, she might be considered good luck.

i will add to this as stuff pops up.

[sunnysaylorboy]

my opinion on/a surprisingly passionate defense of Mulan (2020) (SPOILERS)

I’ve seen a lot of ppl ragging on the new Mulan for so many reasons, so I will go over why these (mostly) are stupid reasons and why I love the new movie.

1. Liu Yifei supporting the Hong Kong police. Now this is not a stupid reason, this is valid. I am an East Asian studies major, and as much as I love Disney, when I first heard the news I knew I could not watch Mulan (2020) in good conscience. It went against everything I have learned in my studies, and everything I believe. However, now I am almost positive Liu Yifei was forced to make those comments- I've seen several sources saying so recently. You can look for these sources on your own, because this isn’t the whole point of my post, but I think it's true. A movie about a woman defying her government and social expectations of the time? Hong Kong citizens could absolutely use her as a symbol for protesting against China. It makes sense that the government would take preventative measures before this could happen. But anyways, I was not planning on watching Mulan (2020) until I found out that what she said was most likely fake/forced.

2. The removal of Mushu. Yes, I too miss Mushu but I completely understand why they did that. A lot of ppl make these sort of complaints about the live action remakes not using humor in the same way as the original, but that’s bc it doesn’t translate well. Humor in animated movies is exaggerated or silly, and it works in that medium but if you do the exact same in a live action film, it will come off as too slapstick. Think Will Ferrell in Elf (still a good movie). Mushu’s whole character is based off of this humor that appeals more to kids, and it would have really made the dialogue with him super cringey. and I know if they made him a more serious supportive character people would've complained about that too, so I understand why they did it.

3. The removal of Li Shang. I miss our bisexual boy too, but I actually think they did a really great job with the new guy Honghui. The directors removed Li Shang because he is in a sense, Mulan’s boss, and they felt that it was too much like the #MeToo movement, which I applaud. At first I was upset that supposedly this new character would be a jerk to Mulan until he found out she was a girl, but that's not what happened in the film fortunately. Honghui and Mulan start off on the wrong foot but they grow as comrades and sort-of friends, and Honghui is the first to stick by Mulan’s side when she reveals who she is. Even if there aren’t as many signals of him being bi, I think they progressed their relationship nicely. (I was sorta hoping for a kiss at the end though).

4. Mulan’s “chi.” Apparently people do not like that Mulan already has a sort of warrior streak inside of her already, as opposed to the 1998 version where she struggles to get used to the army. I think this is an overgeneralization. Mulan does struggle to become a soldier, as we can see in the training montage. Similar to the pole and the arrow at the top, she cannot reach the top of the mountain carrying the buckets with her arms outstretched like everyone else at first- then when she manages to do it, she knows she has proven herself. Plus, I like that they gave her more character. We don’t see any of Mulan’s childhood years in the original, so it is a little hard to understand why she is such an outcast. She only had one incident with the matchmaker and suddenly she is questioning her identity. But the 2020 version establishes that Mulan has been different from the start and everyone has known it since then. It makes it more believable that she brings dishonor on her family so easily. And just because she has strong chi doesn’t necessarily mean she is already a warrior. She is told to hide her chi as a child, and she does not tap into it easily- her commanding officers can sense something is holding her back. She is special, yes, but she isn’t “the chosen one.” She still works hard and she still relies a lot on her strategy instead of brute force just like in the animated version.

5. Lack of musical numbers. I do miss the musical numbers. But they did well with incorporating the musical themes from the original into the movie. The little “Honor to Us All” theme playing while she gets ready for the matchmaker? Perfect. The bit of “Reflection” playing when she reaches the top of mountain? Beautiful. And “Reflection” playing at the end when she is recognized as a hero? I was bawling. Also, this isn’t the first remake that Disney hasn’t made as a musical- the 2015 Cinderella did not include “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” (except in the credits like Mulan did), or “Bibbidi-Bobbido-Boo,” or “So This is Love.” I know that Cinderella is an older movie and may not be as beloved to this generation as Mulan, but those song are still incredibly iconic to the Disney brand and I didn't see anyone complaining about those songs being removed. Idk, I don’t think it’s a big enough deal to be upset over it, especially because they included instrumentals of the songs for the live-action version.

6. The addition of the witch. I can’t believe people are complaining about the personification of the hawk from the first movie- seriously, watch the remake and you’ll see how great Xian Liang’s character is. I love the parallels drawn between her and Mulan. Despite fighting for opposite sides, she sees herself in Mulan, and Mulan sees how she might end up if she had chosen the route of evil. I think they did it wonderfully and I’m definitely not gay for Gong Li...

7. The cost. This one, I understand. $30 is a lot to pay for a movie, but I get it because they’re losing money from not going to theaters for a few months. I paid the $30 because I felt like I had waited long enough to see it, I was foaming at the mouth the night of its release, and I had $30 I was willing to spend on it. Ofc Disney is a multi-million dollar company, so I don’t begrudge anyone pirating it bc screw capitalism.

I just had to get this off my chest because so many criticisms of this film seem so unjustified, weak, or deliberately negative. I swear, not just with Mulan, I see so many people who hate the live-action remakes- it’s like they’re trying to find things to hate about them, and I'm frankly getting sick of it. Like damn bitch why you gotta be so negative about everything?? The acting is great, the music is phenomenal and timeless, the costumes are so extravagant, the action sequences make you hold your breath in anticipation... y'all will find anything to whine about and I'm TIRED. And it seems like some of y'all are purposefully ignoring WHY they made these changes. These changes were made to adhere to the Legend of Mulan more closely, to make up for some of the racial insensitivity/cultural inaccuracies in the original, and to appeal to their Asian audience. the 1998 version is a VERY Americanized way to tell they story- so stop complaining, you got “your version” that appeals to you.

Some things I loved were

1. Mulan’s sister. It’s not often we see Disney princesses with siblings. Even though she didn’t have much screen time, I loved Xiu and the relationship she had with Mulan.

2. The phoenix symbolism. In Mulan (1998), there is heavy dragon symbolism as Mulan is preparing to run away to the army. This insinuates that Mulan is the dragon, the protector of the family, and that is why the Great Stone Dragon doesn’t awaken later. In this version, she is instead guarded and represented by a phoenix. In Chinese mythology (correct me if I'm wrong), the phoenix stands for yin and yang, harmony and is often the female counterpart to the dragon. The wings specifically represent duty, which is why the wings of the phoenix spread behind Mulan when she saves the emperor singlehandedly. Though I don’t know if they intended this, in Greek mythology the phoenix is a symbol of death and rebirth. Mulan is reborn again as Hua Jun, but ultimately in this version she is not discovered as a girl, she chooses to fight as one. The moment she does, “Hua Jun died, and Mulan was born again,” as she sees the phoenix once more. Mulan is the phoenix, and she brings harmony after defeating the Rourans. It’s beautiful.

3. The avalanche scene. A lot of the battle scene was different, but I loved that they kept in the avalanche from the original. Mulan’s planning in this one shows how big her brain is, and how well her strategy works.

4. Xian Liang and Honghui. As I already mentioned, I really loved how they portrayed these characters.

5. The fight scenes. God they really got the perfect actress to play Mulan. Liu Yifei leaning back to avoid an arrow from a Rouran? Impeccable. Mulan’s display of her techniques when she and Honghui get into it when they’re supposed to be practicing? So cool. 

All in all, I loved this movie just like I love all of the other Disney princess live-action remakes. Disney obviously spent a lot of money on the action sequences, the costumes, the backgrounds, the historical accuracies, the casting, the storyline, everything is amazing. I will definitely be watching again.

[whack-ed]

TIMELESS (INTERACTIVE HP & HOO CROSSOVER)

Synopsis: Alex finds Hecate's notebook and discovers about the wizarding world and about Y/n.

Paring: In the beginning it's platonic!fred & george x reader, but I promise that in the end it is fred x reader.

Warnings: None, I guess.

Reader: Slytherin!Female

Word count: 1.9k

A/N: In this chapter, Y/n appears little, but it is extremely important.

September 2010, New York - USA

Alexa would be lying if she said she didn’t cry like a baby when she saw Argo II return to Camp Half-Blood. She had been forbidden to help in the battle against the giants, but she was nevertheless not full at Camp. After the near invasion of Camp Jupiter and Reyna's visit, things got messed up there.

But the best part of the return of the other demigods was seeing Percy again. He looked extremely exhausted, but happy to be back in one piece. Alex hugged him for so long that Percy almost fell asleep in her arms.

The boy was welcomed with all the frenzy he deserved, entitled to a hearty banquet and a visit from his father, along with a very tearful Sally and a relieved Paul. Tyson had been absolutely thrilled to see his older brother talking to his friends by the fire, which glowed high and yellow, mirroring the emotion of the half-bloods.

Despite being as happy as the others, and maybe even more so, Alex retired a little earlier that night. She didn't walk long before her absence was noticed.

‘Mingling with the shadows? I thought this was my own thing.” The girl smiled at Nico di Angelo, who walked over to her with his hands in the pockets of his aviator jacket, which was still too big for him.

“I'm going to sleep, Nico.” She explained, continuing her way to Cabin 3. “It was a day full of emotions, I'm tired.”

Nico nodded, walking beside her. Alex always found it fun to be the same size as Nico, but now she realized that he was a few inches taller than she was.

“Are you okay?” she asked, bringing up the subject.

“I think so.” Nico replied, looking surprised by his own conclusion. “Maybe things get better for me from now on.

“I'm sure it will.” Alexa opened an encouraging smile. Because he was the son of Hades, Nico suffered more than all the other demigods, which worried the girl. She hadn't seen him since the war of the Titans, but she talked to Percy during her mission and discovered things she didn't want to discover.

She looked at Nico. For the first time in his life, his face looked serene, as if his problems were gone. Alex realized that it would be better not to go into details about the problems he went through. She did not want to end his joy.

“Di Angelo!” someone called, running up to them. Alex turned to find Will Solace smiling like a ray of sunshine. “Hi Alex!”

“Will.” She smiled. When looking at Nico, she noticed a pink tint on his cheeks and held her laugh. “Can you take care of Nico for me? I need to go to sleep but he doesn't want to leave.”

Will smiled, realizing what she meant. Nico looked at her with anger and indignation, but he didn't seem against the idea.

“Certainly.” The blonde took a step forward. “Have a good night!”

“You too.” She raised an eyebrow at Nico and walked back to her cabin.

She was still smiling when she passed Hecate's cabin, which looked darker than ever. Her smile wilted. She had always been a little afraid of the goddess's children since she found herself a half-blood and moved to camp. But that night, something seemed comforting in the hideous darkness of the cabin. Unable to contain the impulse that occurred to her, Alexa went up on the porch and went through the open door. None of the goddess's children were there, they were probably still at the stake celebrating, they always loved a good party.

Alexa didn't know exactly what she expected to find inside, but she certainly wasn't ready for what she saw. She had never entered the cabin since she had never been invited and it didn't feel right to enter without an invitation like she did now. But what she found was an absolute void. No bunk beds, bathroom, closet or chest. Nothing for the basic comfort of teenagers. All that was inside was a torch on the floor with a brown leather-bound notebook beside it.

“Take it” A whisper said, and Alex knelt down to better analyze the notebook.

“Who...?” She started the question, but knew at the time that she had no need to finish it. Hecate was there. “Are you hiding in the shadows?”

There was a harsh laugh, but Alex couldn't tell where it came from. It was as if the goddess moved in every particle of air around her.

“I heard that Poseidon's children were mocking, but seeing that feat face to face is much more fun. Ares definitely didn't say enough about it.”

“I don't think he has any reason to boast about it.” She commented, but her body was tense. Something about the goddess made her feel that bad things would happen any second.

“Take the notebook.” She asked, seeming to feel the girl's tension. “Take it and bring my girl back.”

“What does that mean?” Alex asked, but never got an answer.

After several minutes, she finally let herself be overcome by curiosity, put the notebook under her arm and ran out of the cabin.

Alexa spent a few days without touching the notebook, which was comfortably resting on the small table in her cabin. Percy asked several times what the notebook was and why Alex didn't move it, but the girl always answered the same thing. "It's just a silly notebook." She was afraid to open it and end up triggering something she couldn't control.

Percy and the others had just returned from a massacre battle with irreparable losses, she didn't want to leave anyone alarmed by something as stupid as a leather notebook.

Alex tried to distract herself. She would swim in the lake, duel with Percy in the arena, ask Tyson to teach her something in the forges, help Chiron with pending camp, talk about the biggest zucchinis with Rachel, encourage Annabeth to talk nonstop about architecture, sometimes make her repeat everything he had said in Greek, but nothing seemed to get her thoughts out of the notebook. Instead of being distracted, she got some scars from the duels, burns from the forges and throbbing ears, but nothing erased the notebook.

Tired of trying, Alex returned to the cabin and spent several minutes looking at the problem. She would get up a few times, making a move to pick it up, but soon she would go back to sitting on bed. When she finally thought she would be brave enough to end the trip, someone knocked on the door.

Changing her course, Alex opened the door to the blond, smug figure.

Alexa and Apollo had spent a lot of time together a few months before, not that any of them had a chance to do the opposite. He had helped her save the Camp when everyone seemed too busy saving the world. Now she was no longer able to get rid of the sun god, who suddenly appeared in her cabin. At least now he had learned to knock on the door before entering.

“Good afternoon, beautiful lady.” He smiled, breaking into the cottage before Alex had a chance to expel him. “What do you do locked in that cabin?”

“Apollo, seriously, now is not the best time.”

“Every hour is the best time for Apollo!” He smiled at her and Alex found herself unable to say no to him. The god had that effect on her, but she couldn't explain why. She just went back to bed and sighed.

“What happened, Sunshine?” he asked, now more serious.

Alexa pointed to the notebook, like a child pointing out the bully who was mistreating her. Pausing to think, it was almost the same.

Apollo's gaze followed Alexa's finger until it stopped at the Hecate symbol on the cover of the notebook, and he froze.

“What's it?”

“That notebook.” He got up and picked up it, playing with it in his hands. “I saw Hecate with another of his once many years ago. I asked her what they were, but she cast a spell on me that prevented me from speaking for two months. Where did you find it?”

“I found him at her cabin.” The girl admitted, unable to lie to the closest friend she had at the camp until that moment. “I heard Hecate ask me to take him away. I didn't understand what she expects me to do.”

“Write.” He suggested, after long minutes of silence.

“I’m sorry?” Alex looked at him, confused. “What if something bad happens, Apollo? I don't know if I want to find out.”

The god smiled gently, taking the book to the girl and handing it over, along with a blue ballpoint pen. Alexa hesitated for a few seconds before picking up the pen and opening the notebook. But she didn't do much more than that, as the words “Owned by (your initials) ” they magically appeared on the first leaf, in a strange black ink.

Alex looked at Apollo for help, but he just shrugged and encouraged her to write something below. "(your initials)? This notebook is mine, and my name has none of those letters!”

Before she had a chance to tell Apollo how ridiculous it was, the notebook replied.

Y: "Who are you?"

A: “Alexa Pearson, you?”

Y: "Y/n Y/L/N"

A: “How the hell am I talking to you through my notebook? Where you are from?"

Y: “England. I'm a student at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, how about you? What school of magic do you belong to? ”

A: "I'm not going to any magic school, I'm from New York, there's no such thing here!"

Y: "I thought the United States school of magic was Ilvermorny"

A: "I am not a witch!"

Y: "Oh by Merlin, are you a muggle?"

A: "Look, I may not be a witch but you don't have to curse me!"

Y: “Muggle is a term for non-wizards ... But if you are not a witch, how can you talk to me? This notebook is bewitched, only those who have contact with magic could see it ”

A: "I didn't know that the notebook was enchanted until now ... I didn't even know about the existence of a school of magic, wizards, yes, now schools? No, things are very different here"

Y: "Different how?"

A: "I am a camper at Camp Half-Blood"

Y: "And what would that be?"

A: "A camp for demigods of course!"

Alexa waited, but nothing else happened. She looked up at Apollo, who looked as upset as she was.

“School of Magic and Witchcraft of... Hogwarts?” She asked, hoping that Apollo would say something to her.

“I've heard of that school. Hecate loves to talk about how she has an entire chain of schools that teach children to do what she does. She is very proud of it.” He explained, taking the notebook from Alex and examining the last conversation. “I just didn't think it was real at all. All the gods think it's Hecate's invention, but no one has ever tried to prove it.”

“Well, I think we just did that.” Alex joked, but was far from feeling the fun of the situation, because, there in front of her, there was a problem. Perhaps a much bigger problem than she imagined.

tagging mutuals: @nebulablakemurphy ​​ @jamilelucato ​​ @inglourious-imagines ​​​​ @clarissaxpearce ​​ @beiahadid ​ @idontknowwhatthisisfam ​ @kpopgirlbtssvt ​ @shinydragoness @snitches-at-dawn @freddieweasleyswife

[plasticflowering]

A Unifying Theory of Loreography (Lore + Choreography)

(2/3/21) HELLO to all new folks finding this post! It is also now a YouTube Video, and I’m pretty happy with it so if you’d rather get your lore analysis visually please check it out! 

Preface: I don’t think it’s just coincidence that we got full choreography for an intro called “Devil is in the detail”, and I’ve made it my mission since 반박불가 dropped to pull apart the threads that might link everything, lore-wise. This morning I believe I had an epiphany about it, so here are my thoughts.

If this flops I will feel my soul exiting my body so please validate me.

Notes: In forming this theory I mostly considered the events of the storyline MVs and teasers as well as the choreography, but a very important part of my epiphanies came when considering the post-MV stingers for TBONTB and 반박불가. It’s using these stingers that I feel like I can better understand the thesis statements in the choreo. 

Part One: Now then, where were we? 

At the end of TBONTB, the monarchs are approaching monumental, pitch-black gates made of skulls and desperate, reaching hands. 

I can’t not interpret this as the gates of Tartarus, considering the Greek mythology in the canon lore already. Tartarus, however, is at the lowest depths of the underworld, and so my interpretation is that, while they reclaimed their souls from the necklace, they awoke physically in a realm beyond the underworld, and now have to make their way out of this psychological nightmare to breathe free the air, as it were. Through Tartarus, through Hell, this is not because I played 80 hours of Hades in the last three months but it might have a little to do with that. Stay with me. (Though if anyone is wondering, YES Leedo would be Zagreus, but that’s not why we’re here today)

Part Two: Devil is in the Detail 

What an opening formation. The imagery is not 100% clear to me, but I feel as if this entire opening formation sequence is dual-wielding imagery of a crown (much like the killing part of TBONTB), but also the gates of Tartarus. 

Look at this transition once Hwanwoong ascends to the top of the formation, and how the hands all come out, similar to the gates above. I’ll be damned if this is supposed to invoke anything else.

Rewinding a bit, this framing of Seoho being resuscitated and borne by their hands is stunning. Seoho’s journey in the TBONTB choreography merits its own post entirely, because there are a lot of moments that seem to be telling a story for him particularly, and this is just a continuation of that. 

Ravn and Leedo being separated for the rap line part seems like an obvious utilitarian choice, and I agree that it is. However, before we prepare to dismiss all “pairings” as serving the progression of the song itself, I have another theory that ties together a lot of the inciting moments of choreo. I promise you this is going to sound like A Reach, but that’s just how my mind works and if you enjoy it I’m glad.

Leedo, Hwanwoong, and Xion are the monarchs who have absolved themselves by the events of 반박불가, and fully reclaimed their souls as well as their conscience. Seoho and Ravn, not so much. They have a lot of work to do to free their conscience - especially Seoho. Oh, lord, especially Seoho. Keonhee is an extremely interesting case, as he seems to have a foot firmly in both sides, More on that later. 

For further paranoid conspiracy theorist proof of this, please note that their outfits in the choreography videos symbolically reflect this:

Light, Light, Light/Dark, Dark, Dark/Lightish, Light

If you need more convincing, may I point out that Leedo, Hwanwoong, and Xion are the only members who got those wonderful “all clothed in white” shots in the back half of the 반박불가 MV? I tried to make a gif, and I did make a gif, but Tumblr doesn’t want to post it in this text post.

(you rn)

The most interesting moments of loreography in DiitD are the following: 

1. These lotus hands. Again, the imagery, I die!! Keonhee is coming into his own, his character is blooming, expanding his consciousness, going sicko mode with the realization that he has power in the underworld. 

2. Directly following this, Seoho offers a hand to Keonhee and literally drags him down (again, the light/dark dichotomy of Keonhee), while the two good good boys Hwanwoong and Xion are back there just trying to maintain balance so they can get through this Hell/Tartarus thing. 

3. Good ol’ ONEUS Summoning Circle, but wait this time I think it’s actually meaningful beyond the imagery. Seoho is at the center because he has the vocal line, yeah obviously, but he stays there much longer than is objectively necessary without a formation change. This isn’t common in ONEUS choreography. As much as they love their Summoning Circles, they tend to move on to other formations quickly. This one has meat on its bones, and I think what’s happening here, loreography wise, are the other monarchs banding together in an attempt to save Seoho from the darkness. But Seoho is powerfully dark, y’all, even going so far as to overpower them in the moment above. 

4. This is flame imagery. Seoho has been engulfed in flames despite everyone’s best efforts. 

5. At the last minute, he gets yeeted via backflip back into Hell/Tartarus

6. Keonhee takes the initiative in going back for him...

7. We’re back in Hell, that’s just great. Thanks, Seoho. You’re lucky we love you and your extremely disturbed conscience. 

With this in mind, you can probably get way ahead of me, here. 

Part Three: 반박불가 

Perhaps not remarkably, the title track doesn’t have nearly as many loreography beats as DiitD. However, we know it’s part of the lore, and this was made abundantly clear simply with that opening move...

This is where we left off TBONTB, but not exactly. There is a slightly different formation of dancers here, which suggests it’s not picking up exactly where TBONTB left off, but rather that this is a cue to let casual fans know, explicitly: yes, this is a continuation of the TBONTB story. 

Some moments don’t have choreography allusions, but they are loud in the MV, such as:

- “Youngjo, would you stop playing with flowers, our lead vocalist is going to Hell.” Ravn, who barely scraped out of Hell last time, ostensibly with Leedo’s help according to the rap line break in the choreography, has a rough time of it in the 반박불가 MV, but Hwanwoong isn’t going to let him fall back into toxic behaviors and lose himself to that psychological prison again. Hwanwoong drags Ravn back out of Hell, but not before Ravn successfully makes contact with Seoho. Obviously, Ravn would be the one to make contact, because Ravn’s still a little on edge about his own conscience and can easily backslide if he wants to. Who does he find down there? Seoho.

- Keonhee, who led the charge to return to Hell, is staying on task but seems to be the chief of operations to Hwanwoong’s chief of intelligence here, exercising his newfound sicko mode. Those two are certainly working hardest at keeping the servants of darkness in check down in the depths so they can make a quick break for it. 

- Leedo’s actually having a grand time fighting his own demons - or rather, smirking at them and realizing that nah, he’s good. He can use his guilt and regret to motivate him towrd good things now. 

- Xion is literally just above all of this and can move between Hell and Earth with ease, so he’s just waiting to see if he has to pull any Fallen God-Prince cards here to save his friends. 

Now, for the key loregraphy moments. It’s obvious that 1Million was choreographing for a new direction in the ONEUS style, here, so it’s nearly bereft of the usual lyricism and formations, but they’re definitely there. Unsurprisingly they almost all deal with Seoho. 

1. God, this moment whips. They’re all working to free Seoho and lock the gates behind them, with Keonhee giving Seoho one final push. That’s not a normal choreography move. That is storytelling and it sticks out like a beautiful sore thumb with an entire sonnet written on it. 

2. With Seoho on lock, now Ravn may break out. He does so rather easily, but it’s not without Hwanwoong’s help. Please notice that Keonhee and Seoho are the two BEHIND him, and what that symbolizes. 

3. This fucking bridge. It’s amazing with the loreography. First of all we have Keonhee, and the Summoning Circle is using the same imagery/texture that was formerly used to represent engulfing fire. Uh-oh.

4. Keonhee reaches out...

... but gets dragged under.

5. (excited football commentator voice) but who’s that on the outside making it to the surface, literally with the support of the other monarchs? IT’S SEOHO (cheers)!!

And Seoho finishes things out in the center, as well he should because he got us into this mess.

Part Four: What just happened to Keonhee

I’m so angry at this post-MV stinger. It took me forever to wrap my brain around what is being suggested here, because I thought “hey wait, the red lighting represents darkness/hell, doesn’t it?? DOESN’T IT?? RBW???? I thought we just GOT OUT OF HELL????

So I leave the final interpretation in everyone's individual hands, but the thought that occurred to me today was: 

What if this entire scenario was a test of resolve and camaraderie, an illusion, a trick by the Devil (or that donger Helios, whatever). What if Keonhee was the only one who saw through this, and the only one who genuinely made it to Earth at the moment he appeared to have been dragged back to Hell? Because, as we know, Keonhee is a tactical genius, a monarch among the monarchs, and all his visual imagery in the MV suggested a sort of power cabal. 

What if he realized that they weren’t all strong enough to face the challenge of breaking this cycle, so he schemed to leave them behind, but leave them safe in the illusion, while he struck out with the power of God and anime on his side.

I... I think Keonhee is about to go kill and dethrone a God, y’all. 

[365days365movies]

March 12, 2021: Jason and the Argonauts (1963) (Part Two)

Probably shouldn’t have talked so much in the first part...

Well, it’s all good. Epic-length Recap for a movie about an epic tale! Greek mythology, man, what can I say? Other than, of course, let’s keep going! Part One of the Recap is right here!

Recap (2/2)

OK, so where were we? OH RIGHT, Heracles fucked up!

See, Talos is a bronze giant with various origins. In one case, like in the movie, he was built by Hephaestus. He was built with a single vein, which ran from his neck to his ankle, and contained a golden ichor that sustained him like blood. Said vein was protected by a nail in his ankle, and he would bleed out and fall to the ground useless if it were removed.

So, sure, I could talk about the fact that Talos only encountered the Argo on the return journey, after they’d gotten the Fleece already, and that all he did was throw rocks at them as they passed the island of Crete (which he protected), only for...somebody who’s coming in later...to put him to sleep, allowing the group to pass. But, uh...

Yeah, that’s cool as shit. Which the Argo basically FUCKED for now, Jason speaks with the figurehead of Hera, and asks for some advice. She simply says to look to his ankles. I like where this is going. She also tells him that this is Heracles’ fault, which I’m sure pissed her off even more, given their history. That’s confirmed when Jason and the remaining Argonauts make it to shore, and Heracles is still holding the staff, the great idjit. 

Jason quickly formulates a plan, and the Argonauts keep Talos’ attention while he gets close to observe his ankles. He notices a large stopper in the back, and sneaks up behind him to remove it. And once he does, the ichor releases itself. And it looks...awesome? Holy shit, it looks awesome.

And Talos falls to the ground, broken and dead, but at a cost. He falls on top of the frail Hylas, almost certainly killing him. Damn, poor dude. They repair the ship, and also try to find Hylas amongst the rubble and on the beach. An extremely guilty Heracles pledges not to leave the island until he finds Hylas, alive or dead.

The rest of the Argonauts aren’t happy about this, and refuse to sail without the guy who’s inarguably the most powerful amongst them all. Jason decides to burn his last bit of help from Hera, who informs ALL of the Argonauts that Hylas is dead, and that Heracles is not fated to accompany them any further. Which, yeah, is similar to how that plays out in the myths. And so, off they go to find a blinded man named Phineus, on Hera’s command.

Phineus (Patrick Troughton), meanwhile, isn’t having the best time in the world. On the island of Thrace, the seer Phineus is being attacked by the vicious Harpies, pictured here as demonic women with the wings of bats. Phineus, see, was punished by Zeus or revealing the future to mankind, and was both blinded and beset upon by the Harpies for all of his days.

The Argonauts save him from the Harpies’ recent torment, and Phineus agrees to help them IF Jason can permanently free him from the Harpies. Jason agrees, although Zeus is seemingly pissed off by this promise. The deed is accomplished by having Phineus serve as bait to the admittedly badly composited Harpies, and the Argonauts capture them by using nets to trap them.

And no, that’s not how it goes down in the original myth. But, since the Wind Brothers aren’t in here, there’s not an option for an aerial chase between them and the Harpies, which...holy shit, I NEED this to be in a modern movie, can we remake this? Please? PLEASE??

Now that they’ve completed their side of the bargain, Phineus feasts and gives them directions to Colchis: go through the Clashing Rocks, and head from there to Colchis. Without the protection of the gods at this point, Phineus offers them a clay token of some kind, and they part ways. The Argonauts make their way to the Clashing Rocks, which seem totally fine. But Argos is suspecious of this, not trusting Poseidon and other gods of the sea. They observe another ship coming through the Rocks. And it initially seems fine...until...

The rocks tear the other ship apart, and also cause the deaths of one of the Argonauts as well. The other ship sinks, but Jason insists on going through despite this. He says that the gods want their entertainment. Zeus overhears that, and says that he’s going to far with that comment. However, and unhappy Hera agrees with Jason, that the gods themselves are going to fair with this gambit.

In their little game in Olympus, Hera is left with only one movie, which she enacts as Jason throws the clay token into the sea. And from it...

Holy shit, it’s Triton (Bill Gudgeon)! A merman (and eventual father of a Little Mermaid), Triton was the son of Poseidon and the sea goddess Amphitrite. A messenger for his father, Triton is one of the most prominent symbols of the sea gods, which aren’t limited to Poseidon. And while he had absolutely nothing to do with the Clashing Rocks, he did encounter the Argonauts on their journey back. But yeah, not much to his appearance there that warrants mention.

What DOES warrant mention is what happens afterwards. See, the Argonauts row like hell, and they make it through with Triton’s help. But Jason sees a survivor of the other ship’s destruction. That survivor is...Medea (Nancy Kovack).

WHAT

Um...no. Medea, see, is the daughter of the King of Colchis, Aeëtes. She’s the head priestess of Hecate, and a powerful sorceress in her own right. She meets Jason on Colchis, and definitely had no ability to leave the island on her own, or even with other people in general. Once meeting Jason on Colchis, she quickly fell in love with him, and agreed to show him to the Fleece IF he pledged to get her off of the island. He agrees, and the two get married.

But Jason DEFINITELY doesn’t rescue Medea from a shipwreck, that’s for goddamn sure. Still, OK, I’ll deal with it. Jason and Medea introduce themselves, and the group heads towards Colchis. In the process, Jason decides to scout on the island alone, to the anger of Acastus. However, Jason’s now learned exactly who Acastus and his father are, and accuses him of trying to kill him. A fight ensues, and Acastus is thrown overboard. Son of Poseidon Euphemus (Doug Robinson), is sent after him, but the traitorous Acastus kills him, and disappears beneath the ocean waves.

On Colchis soon after, Medea heals Jason’s wounds with the nectar of a native flower, then invites him and the Argonauts to the performance of a ritual to Hecate, goddess of sorcery and magic. Also attending this ritual is Medea’s father, King Aeëtes (Jack Gwillim). There, he waits to meet with Jason, whom he invites to dine with them that evening, along with the Argonauts.

Jason is a bit caught off-guard by this, but they accept. At dinner, Aeëtes reveals that he knows he’s come for the Fleece, to take or steal it from Colchis. He’s been warned of this not by Medea, but of Acastus, who managed to make his way to the island after all. Dick. Jason and the Argonauts are imprisoned by Aeëtes and his men.

That night, Medea goes to pray to Hecate, the goddess of darkness who gave her the gift of foresight. In love with Jason, she decides to betray both Colchis and Hecate’s will in order to save Jason and his Argonauts. And as she goes to free Jason, this is a great time to talk briefly about one of the most complicated characters in Greek mythology: Medea. This is gonna be a little long, so you can skip it if you wanna just get back to the movie.

See, here’s the thing about worshipping a chaotic evil Greek goddess: you've gotta be a little chaotic evil yourself. And Medea...oh boy, Medea. In order to escape her dad, Medea distracts him by killing her brother. Yeah. She made amends for that act with the gods, and then helped to heal Atalanta, and defeat Talos. She also helped Jason’s dad, and Jason eventually fell in love with him, with some...help from Hera. That help resulted in Medea helping to kill Pelias, then fleeing to Corinth with Medea, where they married.

But 10 years of being married, Jason decided it would be a good idea to cheat on the terrifying chaotic evil sorceress for a younger woman. Which is when Hera, the GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, finally abandoned Jason. Medea, meanwhile, LOST it. She gave Jason’s new fiancée a poisoned wedding dress. She killed the bride AND her father in one fell shot when she hugged him. In front of him, she KILLED THEIR TWO SONS, then took the FUCK OFF FOREVER, leaving Jason a broken fucking husk, partially because of his own stupidity.

So, you can see why this little union here is a...mixed bag of emotions.

Medea pleads with Jason to flee with his men, without the Fleece in hand. Seeing that she can’t convince him away from it, she forces him to bring her along, and she will help him steal the Fleece from the tree where it rests. Jason and Medea free the Argonauts, and Medea tells the how to escape. They then head out to obtain the Fleece.

However, Aeëtes figures out pretty quick that Medea’s betrayed him and Colchis, and sends his men after them. Acastus, meanwhile, has headed out to get the Fleece for himself. Dick. And unfortunately, he finds it before Jason and Medea get to it.

And yet...when Jason arrives there to get it, the Fleece is still intact. And that’s because Acastus wasn’t able to take it, having been killed by the Fleece’s guardian...the Lernaean Hydra?

Um...wow. That’s a few hundred miles out of its natural distribution. Also, it’s alive? How? Hercules killed the SHIT out of it, a long-ass time ago! And in case you weren’t sure, no, this isn’t in the original myth. However, it’s a dragon guarding the Fleece instead, so...I guess they made a compromise? Shame, too, because the Colchian Dragon has the ability to create soldiers when its teeth are buried in the earth, similar to the Ismenian Dragon that was used by Cadmus.

...Sorry, went a little overboard. Anyway, Jason kills the Hydra (with no help from Medea, by the way), the Argonauts arrive to help him grab the Fleece, and Aeëtes and the Colchians follow after them, pissed off. Aeëtes prays to Hecate to deliver...the Hydra’s teeth. Interesting. If this is going where I think it’s going, then I will be VERY happy.

Aeëtes and his men collect the Hydra’s teeth, and set off after the Argonauts. They catch up, and they shoot Medea with an arrow, KILLING HER? WHAT? But then, Jason uses the Fleece to heal her wounds, and brings her back to life. OK, fine, fine, you can give the Fleece that bullshit superpower if Medea gets to live. Just then, Aeëtes shows up, bearing the Hydra’s teeth. He preys to Hecate once again, and throws the teeth onto the ground. And...

HELL YEAH, IT’S THE SPARTOI, BABY!

These undead soldiers created from the Dragon’s Teeth were originally sown by Cadmus, on command by Athena. He made them defeat each other, and therefore escaped their wrath. The Dragon itself was sacred to Ares, so this whole thing had some other implications.

In the Jason myth, Aeëtes made him sow the teeth in order to win the Fleece, and he did. Jason also defeated them in the same way that Cadmus did: he threw a stone amongst them, confusing them enough that they fought each other to figure out who threw the rock. But in this movie...in the movie, they’re just fighting. And I love it.

Look, I can never claim that Harryhause’s effects aged particularly gracefully, but this shit is still pretty goddamn awesome. Honestly, I’m having a ball watching this climactic fight between the skeletons and Jason’s crew. And this fight has consequences! The Spartoi here actually do kill some of Jason’s men, and end up forcing Jason himself off of a cliff into the water!

He escapes, and makes his way to the ship, just as Hera tells Zeus that the game is now over. He claims that it isn’t at all, and Hera looks on as Jason and Medea reunite on the ship. He gives the a reprieve, and...

WAIT WHAT??? That’s IT? It ended so...abruptly! We don’t even properly get a resolution, or see Jason return to Thessaly, or...THAT’S IT” ARE YOU GODDAMN KIDDING ME? WHAT THE HELL?

...See you in the Review, I guess. Damn.

[aion-rsa]

Money Heist: What to Know About the International TV Phenomenon

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If you haven’t tuned into Money Heist yet, you’ve been missing one of the hottest series on Netflix right now. It’s sexy, absurdist fun, an action soap opera like no other, so addictively bingeable that it has stolen the hearts of a worldwide audience. But it’s more than escapist fare. Money Heist has also become a rallying cry of resistance that is changing the world. 

It almost didn’t happen. Netflix picked up Money Heist entirely by chance. If they hadn’t, the original series might have easily vanished into obscurity for English-speaking audiences. Once Netflix got it, it blew up and became their most watched non-English series.

Money Heist was originally broadcast on Spain’s Antena 3 channel in 2017 under its native title La Casa de Papel (The House of Paper). The first season was 15 episodes, told in two parts. The initial part garnered a healthy 45 million viewers but viewership plummeted when the second part was broadcast. With only half the audience remaining and the story complete, the show seemed at its end. Netflix acquired the series as part of an international catalog of titles, re-edited it into 22 shorter episodes, re-released it internationally later that year. The streamer didn’t even bother to promote it when they added to their queue. Nevertheless, it found a huge audience outside of Spain and viewership skyrocketed.

Season 1 is about a meticulously planned heist of the Royal Mint of Spain. The Professor (Álvaro Morte) is a criminal mastermind who assembles a gang of thieves. Each thief adopts the name of a city to conceal their true identities from each other, akin to the robbers in Reservoir Dogs. The story is told from the perspective of Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), a brazen spitfire femme fatale who steals every scene she’s in. The thieves capture the Mint, taking dozens of hostages. Their plan is to print millions in unmarked bills. Meanwhile, the Professor plays a cat-and-mouse game with Inspector Murillo (Itziar Ituño) who is hot on his trail. 

Don’t Fall in Love During a Heist

Through Tokyo’s narration and copious flashbacks to the planning of the crime, Money Heist tells a gripping story of the ultimate anti-heroes. As tensions mount, the gang is at one another’s throats while navigating the Professor’s deceptive instructions. The Mint is surrounded by cops and time is running out. Gratuitous shots of ticking clocks increase the pressure, the same device deployed by original Mission: Impossible TV series to heighten suspense. Stockholm syndrome takes hold as the hostages fall for their captors. In classic Money Heist style, the main hostage who joins the gang adopts the name “Stockholm (Esther Acebo)”. The Professor and the Inspector engage in a deliciously dysfunctional romance. It’s all exceedingly sexy with the beautiful actors often scantily clad, and has a subversively sharp sense of humor. 

Despite its ludicrousness, Money Heist is so addictive in many ways. First off, it masters the cliffhanger. The suspense is relentlessly palpable and no matter how ridiculous some of the deus ex machina resolutions are, they’re still great fun to watch. Just like Game of Thrones, this show is merciless. Beloved main characters die in shockingly poignant death scenes. This keeps the suspense very real. You never know if your favorite character is going to make it. Of the seven thieves that enter the Mint with Tokyo – Berlin (Pedro Alonso), Denver (Jaime Lorente), Helsinki (Darko Perić), Moscow (Paco Tous), Nairobi (Alba Flores), Oslo (Roberto Garcia Ruiz) and Rio (Miguel Herrán) – three don’t make it out. 

Secondly, it’s about those characters. The ensemble cast delivers great performances across the board. Every role is rich, complex, and well-developed. Everyone has his or her strengths, weaknesses, and back stories and their emotional journeys resonate deeply. No one is entirely innocent. You can’t help yourself from rooting for them, even the villains. 

And third, Money Heist has style. Its passionate soundtrack has captured the ears of the world. The use of color, particularly red against darkly composed frames, is exquisitely captivating. Money Heist is a thrilling roller coaster ride that just has to be experienced. 

Enjoy It Until the Party is Over

The global following shocked the cast and crew. After season 1 wrapped, the show seemed finished. As the cast watched their social media following grow exponentially (an experience catalogued in Netflix’s documentary, Money Heist: The Phenomenon), they knew something was up. By 2018, Money Heist garnered several nominations and wins across the European awards circuit and even won the coveted Best Drama Series at the 46th International Emmys.

Consequently, Netflix reassembled the cast and crew for a second season, this time with a much bigger budget. Even though season 1 was self-contained, the show’s creator Álex Pina dreamed up a second season, one that was on a much grander scale, thanks to Netflix’s backing.

The second heist is in four parts. That may sound confusing because the upcoming season 5 will be split into two parts as well. Season 5 is actually parts 3 and 4 of the second heist story arc. “Heist 2” is already 16 episodes deep and it’s only the halfway point. 

For the second heist, the gang must reassemble to rescue one of their own after Tokyo makes another grievous mistake. And that rescue hinges upon robbing the Bank of Spain. New gang members join the survivors of the first robbery, and another more ruthless adversary, the pregnant Inspector Sierra (Najwa Nimri). Sierra is a more ruthless opponent than Murillo was for the first heist. When it comes to the Professor’s psychological chess game, Sierra flips the chess board upside down. Season 3 (Part 1 of the Bank of Spain heist) debuted exclusively on Netflix in the summer of 2019. Season 4 (Part 2) was released almost a year later in April 2020, and it was seen by 65 million households. That’s a million more viewers than watched Tiger King when it ran around the same time. 

Realizing they had a bankable hit, Netflix released Money Heist: The Phenomenon. The documentary showcases the astonishment of the cast and crew as they navigate their new found popularity from a show they thought was done. A season 2 opening scene, filmed in front of the historic Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, Italy, was almost ruined when rabid fans rushed the crew. However, do not watch Money Heist: The Phenomenon before seeing the show because it drops some major spoilers. 

We Are Dali

To hide their identities, the gang wears masks based on the famous Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali, replete with a red hooded jumpsuit. They force their hostages to wear the same costume to confuse the police. This Dali mask has become a new symbol of international rebellion, supplanting the Guy Fawkes mask from V for Vendetta on a global scale. Beyond Comic-Con cosplaying, the Dali mask has been appearing on protestors and in effigies around the world. Footage from these real life demonstrations appear in the show. 

Money Heist has had a profound effect on international football (“soccer” for we Yanks). Massive displays of Dali mask banners appeared at Saudi Arabia soccer stadiums. At the Karaiskaki Stadium, Greek soccer fans unfurled a huge Dali banner too. After their team won, they rushed the field wearing Money Heist costumes. Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar de Silva even makes a cameo in season 3 as a monk who wryly comments about his disdain for soccer. Silva claims Money Heist is his favorite show.  

There were even real life copycat heists. France fell victim to a shop hold-up and a hotel robbery where the perpetrators wore Dali masks. A 2019 daylight heist of the Mexican Mint was thought to have been inspired by the show. Perhaps the best one was when Justin Bieber’s five-billion-view music video ‘Despacito’ was hacked on YouTube. The hackers replaced it with an image of Money Heist in full Dali regalia with guns pointing out, accompanied by a call to ‘Free Palestine.’ 

Consequently, there has been some backlash. Cyprus banned Dali costumes for Carnival. Turkish journalists and politicians have admonished the show, describing it as rebel propaganda. The Professor describes it best in season 3. “The mask has become a symbol throughout the world of resistance, of indignations, of skepticism. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that it has inspired many people.” 

Ironically, Money Heist pilfered Dali’s image. The Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation never gave the show its blessing for the use of the artist’s likeness. There’s no doubt that Dali is spinning in his grave for not getting paid royalties, but he must appreciate the surrealism here. 

Bella Ciao!

Beyond the now iconic Dali mask, Money Heist also revived a rebel ballad, the Italian protest song Bella Ciao. Bella Ciao means ‘Goodbye Beautiful’ and it was the anthem of anti-fascists of the Italian Resistance during WWII. Originally about toiling in rice fields under an oppressive boss, the lyrics evolved to describe the Resistance’s commitment to the cause with their lives. When translated from Italian, the lyrics end with “This is the flower of the partisan who died for freedom.” 

The Professor’s grandfather fought in the Italian resistance so he sings it with Berlin, his older brother, and teaches it to the gang. The song is frequently reprised throughout the series, most tellingly during the season 1 part 1 finale end credits. A montage of black-and-white footage decrying the evils of money fades to red as Bella Ciao plays.

Since Money Heist, over a dozen new versions of Bella Ciao have climbed the charts across Europe, with the Professor’s rendition placing first in Austria, second in Germany, and in the top twenty in Belgium, France, and Switzerland. It’s been covered by several EDM DJs like Steve Aoki and Hardwell. Bella Ciao has become a common chant at soccer matches, and was heard at the 2019 World Cup. When Open Arms rescued a boatload of fleeing immigrants docked in Lampedusa, the refugees sang Bella Ciao to celebrate their newfound freedom. 

The Last Times are Beyond Comparison

What might the finale hold? When we last left the gang, they were reunited in the Bank of Spain and determined to win ‘the war’ in honor of their latest fallen comrade. But Inspector Sierra got the drop on the Professor. With a gun to his head, she declared “Checkmate, son of a bitch.” Anyone who knows the show understands that it is volatile and unpredictable so it’s anyone’s guess what happens next. 

It’s clear that this is the end. When production wrapped on May 14th, Netflix tweeted “Thank you to all the fans for being part of La Resistencia! We can’t wait to show you how this story ends.”  However, Netflix is never one to kill a goose that lays golden eggs. 

Money Heist creator Álex Pina already launched another Netflix series, Sky Rojo. Season 1 premiered back in March 2021 and season 2 is slated for July. It’s the story of three women on the run, somewhat reminiscent of Thelma and Louise, only the threesome are prostitutes. It’s stylish and sexy, and received some critical acclaim. But it has nowhere near the impact of Money Heist. 

A Korean adaptation of Money Heist is in the works with Kim Hong-sun directing. Cast as the Professor is Yoo Ji Tae, who is most remembered for his mastermind role in Oldboy, and also had a part in a Korean TV adaptation of The Good Wife. Playing Tokyo will be Jeon Jong Seo, aka Rachel Jun, a newcomer with two feature films under her belt. 

This summer, an immersive event “Money Heist: The Experience” is set to tour London, Miami, Mexico City, New York, and Paris. Each city will get a different version of the experience, adapted to the venue, and the venues won’t be announced until just prior to the events open. This is another collaboration between Netflix and Fever, who previously staged “Stranger Things: The Drive Into Experience” in Los Angeles. 

Most of the cast of Money Heist were too engaged with filming the final season under pandemic restrictions to take on any new projects. The notable exception of Úrsula Corberó. Corberó is cast as the Baroness in the upcoming G.I. Joe Origins film, Snake Eyes. 

Money Heist held the title of Netflix’s most watched non-English series until a French show, ironically also about a heist, stole the crown. Lupin robbed Money Heist of the title in January 2021 racking up 76 million views. Lupin Part 2 debuted on June 11. When Money Heist returns, will it steal back Netflix’s most watched non-English series crown? Hopefully so. For Nairobi!

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Money Heist, Parts 1-4, are available on Netflix now. Season 5 Volume 1 debuts on September 3, Volume 2 arrives on December 3, 2021. 

The post Money Heist: What to Know About the International TV Phenomenon appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[alectology-archive]

SJ/M’s unacceptable and lazy usages of real world places/cultures

I’m aiming to make this the most comprehensive list of SJ/M stealing bits and pieces of world history and pretending like she came up with them. Feel free to comment down below or send an ask if you can think of anything.

The addition of adaptation of names from some real-world places is included either because of insensitivity (Hybern and Prythian) or mostly because SJ/M doesn’t try to represent any of the cultures she takes from.

Note that this post will keep getting updated as I discover more evidences of unacceptable usages of cultures. Also note that there is every possibility that some resemblances are purely accidental and/or unintentional. So take it with a grain of salt.

T/HRONE OF GLASS

- Most of the cultural activities mentioned in Tower of Dawn are rip-offs of Mongolian culture and seem to resemble the Dothraki from Game of Thrones very closely.

- Pagan holidays mentioned in the books:

Yulemas* is celebrated in Erilea despite there already existing an established religion consisting of 12 gods and goddesses.

Samhain* is a festival celebrated by Irish and Scottish people.

Beltane* is a festival celebrated historically in Ireland and Scotland.

- Nehemia is probably derived from the Jewish leader Nehemiah who helped rebuild Jerusalem. Instead of trying to work that into Nehemia’s narrative, SJ/M killed off Nehemia to serve a white woman’s narrative.

- Mycenae is a historical site in Greece.

- Illium is an actual Greek city as well.

- Ravi in KoA is named after a Hindi word which means “sun”.

- Strangely enough Ravi’s brother is named Sol after the Roman god of the sun.

- Suria, where Ravi is from, is also a synonym for sun in Hindi.

- Mab is from the story of “Queen Mab”.

- Maeve is a sexual goddess in Irish mythology who was actually raped. So making Maeve a rapist in the books was hurtful.

A/COTAR

- Nagas belong to Hindu/Indian mythology included in a book that’s clearly a very western fantasy and has little to no PoC representation. 

- Illyrians were an actual indo-european tribe with close relations to modern day Albanians. S/JM is not the first person to feature them in her work but other authors have used versions of the name like “Illyria” by Shakespeare, “Ilirea” by Paolini, “Valyria” by GRRM etc. which are acceptable.

- Calan Mai is actually a celebration of spring in Welsh culture. As @gemorsedd put it so eloquently, SJ/M turned it into a festival about Tamlin being unable to control his hormones.

- Hybern is derived from the classic latin name of Ireland which is “Hibernia”. 

- Prythian is a modified version of the ancient name of Britain “Prydain”. COINCIDENTALLY, Prythian VERY closely resembles the UK. It’s also possible that she plagiarised the name from Anne Bishop’s Daughter of Blood.

Note for further reading: Read @blakeseptember’s about why SJ/M was especially insensitive in including Prythia and Hybern in the ways she did: https://blakeseptember.tumblr.com/post/187088853587/hybern-as-ireland

- Bharat is actually the Hindi name for India which is mentioned in ACO/TAR. Not only is it mentioned that Feyre’s father was sailing to Bharat to trade in cloth and spices (which was exactly what British colonialists and traders did when they sailed to India), it’s also said, quite clearly, that Feyre’s mother died of Typhus while her cousin died of Malaria (IN BHARAT). By doing so SJ/M is blatantly promoting a very colonialist view of India. 

The Malaria mention: “My mind was void, a blank mess of uselessness. Could it be some sort of disease? My mother had died of typhus and her cousin had died of malaria after going to Bharat. But none of those symptoms seemed to match a riddle. Was it a person?”

The Trade of cloth and spices: “I swallowed. ‘Eight years ago he amassed our wealth on three ships to sail to Bharat for invaluable spices and cloth.’”

- Myrmidons feature in A/COWAR. The Myrmidons is actually a nation from Ancient Greek mythology (led by Achilles in the siege of Troy). 

- Harem pants which are worn in parts of South and Middle-east Asia feature in the books where they’re introduced into a court consisting of white people only.

- F/eyre’s floral tattoos are very reminiscent of mehendis which are very important to Indian, Arabic and North African cultures but it’s a trait given to a white woman here. Read this post.

C/RESCENT CITY

- Danaan is from Tuatha de Danaan (celtic mythology) / Danaans is another name for Greece in the Iliad, used interchangeably with “Argives” and “Achaeans”.

- Avallen is Avalon (the legend of King Arthur). Ruhn’s story also bears a very close resemblance to the legend.

- 6 point star = Star of David

- Lehabah = a word in Hebrew meaning "a flame" (להבה)

- Mount Hermon = an actual mountain place in the northern part of Israel.  In Hebrew: הר החרמון.

- SPQM’s full form is Senatus Populusque Midgard. Which is awfully close to the SPQR of the ancient Roman empire which is Senatus Populusque Romanus

- The river Tiber mentioned in CC is actually a Roman river.

- Midgard, in Norse mythology, is the home of mankind. In Norse mythology.

- Sandriel: Comes from the angel Sadriel, the angel of order. S/JM added an “n.”

- Orion “Hunt” A/thalar: First name is pretty obvious, Orion as in the hunter which is where his name “Hunt” comes from. Probably from the god Attar called Athtar in Southern Arabia. Attar is sometimes considered a storm god explaining his lightning powers, but also linked to the Morningstar aka Lucifer. No explanations are given regarding as to how the constellations of our world are the same as that of SJ/M’s fantasy AU.

- Shahar Daystar: From the dawn deity Shahar. Also linked to Lucifer.

- Jesiba Roga: A Croatian respelling of Baba Yaga. Jesiba Roga, is quite literally just a combination of Ježibaba (a figure closely related to Baba Yaga in West Slavic folklore) and Baba Roga (the Croatian version of of Baba Yaga). 

- Danika Fendyr: Danika is a Slavic dawn deity. Fendyr comes from Fenrir a wolf in Norse mythology. 

- Isaiah: Taken from Isaiah 14:12-15 which details the fall of Lucifer. It’s also easily accessible from Shahar’s Wikipedia page (which may imply that SJ/M uses Wikipedia for research and just steals/lazily incorporates whatever she finds along the way.)

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,

O [a]Lucifer, son of the morning!

How you are cut down to the ground,

You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart:

‘I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High.’

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,

To the [b]lowest depths of the Pit.

- Fury Axtar: Hunt is likely related to Attar or maybe even Ishtar or Ashtaroth. It’s unclear right now. Ishtar is sometimes linked to Lucifer as well. It’s possible that she’s named after the Furies in Greek mythology, deities of vengeance.

- Micah Domitus: Micah is a prophet in Judaism.

- Syrinx: A chimera in this book, a nymph known for her devotion to Artemis.

- Urd: The god of flame and shadow possibly the name comes from Urðr one of the three Norns in Norse mythology.

- Luna: A Roman moon goddess

- Cthona: “Chthonic”, in English, describes deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in Ancient Greek religion.

- Vanir: The Vanir are actually group of Norse gods.

- Asphodel Meadows: A section of the ancient Greek underworld where ordinary souls were sent to live after death.

- Hel: Hel is a goddess but also a location in Norse Mythology for the dead. Depictions of Hel depend on the source of the information. It’s strange that Hel and Asphodel Meadows belong in the same place, translating to lazy world building on SJ/M’s part.

- Midgard: In Norse Mythology basically the plane of existence of humans.

- Laconic Mountains: Named after Laconia the administrative capital of Sparta.

- Nidaros: Where Bryce grew up. It’s the ancient name of Norway’s capital when the Christian kings ruled. It’s now called Trondheim.

- Istros River: Taken from Istros of Ancient Greece

- Valbara: Taken from the super continent Vaalbara

- Pangera: probably Pangea, the huge supercontinent on which dinosaurs lived

- Crown of Thorns: In reality it’s a symbol of Jesus but in the book it’s branded onto the foreheads of angels who rebelled in a war some decades ago.

- Keres: Phillip Briggs’s terrorist gang is named after the Keres who are “goddesses who personified violent death and who were drawn to bloody deaths on battle fields.”

- Sailing: A Norse funeral custom for Vikings as seen in movies like How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Thor: The Dark World. Here’s more information on it, but it seems SJ/M got it wrong. Most Vikings were usually cremated and it was mostly used for Kings and Chieftains (Danika might fall into the Chieftain category).

- 33rd Imperial Legion: Could be a reference again to Jesus who was 33 at his death.

- The Ophian rebels (of which the the Keres rebels are a subgroup of) are named after Ophian, and elder Titan in Greek mythology.

Sources I’ve derived some facts from so far:

- Sapir Englard on Goodreads via @spaceshipkat’s tumblr post using Hebrew in CCity.

- @bittenwrath for basically everything in crescent city. 

- @blakeseptember’s tumblr about Hybern’s origins.

- An anon dropped by with “Hel”

- @chenmighty and @tavithelibrarian pointed out the Illyrians.

- @sylphene and @omourningstar for Prydain

- @ok-boomer pointed out that Yulemas, Samhain and Beltain are all pagan holidays.

- @gemorsedd For pointing out Calan Mai

- An anon pointed out the Norns, Danaan and Avalon.

- @mimiofthemalfoys for the Bharat, malaria, typhus, spices and cloth mention.

- @kryingkardashianz for Danaans being another name of Greece and Myrmidions.

- an anon pointed out Nidaros

- @shurislut for mehendi and harem pants

- @sanktaalinaa for Jesiba Roga

- @croissantcitysucks for the Ophian Rebels

[ineloqueent]

mutuals as famous scientists/mathematicians

i put way too much thought into this, so it took me a while. but now i’m here (look around, around, around, around, around)

also, if you’re not on here, please don’t think i don’t appreciate you!! the people on this list are simply those i’ve interacted enough with… to place a judgement upon… mwahaha :)

@archaicmusings : hypatia of alexandria, mathematician and astronomer. now, this may just be the time period talking. hypatia of alexandria made great contributions to the preservation of greek heritage, in terms of both astronomy and mathematics, and as i associate cal with greek literature and mythology, this seemed a natural connection to make. also, during her lifetime, hypatia was sort of the most accomplished mathematician and astronomer around, and that’s kinda badarse, really. cal’s kinda badarse too. and by ‘kinda’ i mean that she’s so cool and amazes me with all the things she’s done and continues to do so, and deserves the world.

@brianmays-hair : g.h. hardy, mathematician. interestingly enough, hardy had a great dislike for applied mathematics. i know for a fact that jess does not like maths, so there you go. in addition to that fun fact, hardy co-authored something like 300 papers, and more than 10 books, and if anyone here has published a lot of writing, it’s jess. in conclusion, hardy’s work is still widely appreciated within the science community of today, and i know for a fact that if jess keeps going with this writing thing, her work will also still be revered decades and decades beyond the peak of her career.

@deacyblues​ : ada lovelace, mathematician. ada lovelace is considered to be the first computer programmer, and was said to do everything with great determination and the utmost care. pearl strikes me as the sort of person with an appreciation for detail, and for the little things. furthermore, despite being primarily a mathematician, i think that lovelace should be recognised for her poetic tendencies— she said that the machine she created to analyse numbers “weaves algebraic patterns, just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.” and i very much find pearl to be a poet.

@drivenbybri : isaac newton, physicist and mathematician. now, newton was the absolute icon of being well-read. and he read books constantly. aristotle sounds cool but his works aren’t in the university curriculum? read it anyway! your mum tells you to watch the cattle? sit down under an apple tree and read a book instead— quite literally, read until the cows come home. sofie seems to me both to like reading and to be very well-read, and has a multitude of talents in a number of different fields, the same of which could be said for newton. and! newton developed a theory of colours through his studies in optics, and sofie’s edits are nothing if not a study in optics— they’re beautiful!

@joemazzmatazz : marie curie, physicist. marie curie is known for how driven she was; she never let anything get between her and her research. but she also loved her family immensely. i therefore liken reagan to marie curie because regan also seems like the type of person to persevere beyond anything, in order to achieve that which she is working toward. curie very much also did not take any shit from anybody, and i don’t think regan would either. plus, the way regan’s characters manifest in her stories make me believe in love, so there you go.

@doing-albri : galileo galilei, astronomer and mathematician. vi just makes me think of stars. i think it’s probably our shared love for them that does it, and the fact that lots of her edits involve stars. also, galileo here literally taught himself to make his own telescopes (?!), and that reminds me of vi’s edits— there’s a metaphor here… through telescopes such as galileo’s, we may see the beauty of the stars, and through art such as vi’s, we may see the beauty in the details of the world, that we may otherwise have missed. vi is just also a star, really, so i think it’s quite fair that i think of galileo for her!

@imcompletelylost : stephen hawking, theoretical physicist. hear me out. first of all, stephen hawking loved a good joke and a good bet, and libby makes me laugh (seriously. read her tags). secondly, stephen hawking worked ridiculously hard to accomplish all of the groundbreaking things he did, and libby seems to me a very hard-working person. finally, hawking generally had a very charismatic persona, and libby is utterly charming, from her wit to her overall aesthetic :)

@aprilaady : leonhard euler, mathematician. pretty sure dor will know why i’ve picked euler before i even explain it, but here we go. dor once commented on a fic of mine, “you are as important to me as euler’s number is to a natural logarithm,” and that has stuck in my head ever since. literally, i’m having a bad day? it pops into my head. I’m staring at my calculator and thinking, ‘damn, i’m gonna fucking fail this test,’ but then i see that happy little e and i’m well on my way to passing that assessment with flying colours. also, dor is so nice, it’s unreal. one might say she’s the symbol i. and therefore as important to me as the symbol i is to imaginary numbers.

[and-damntheconsequences]

Merlin Astrology — Part 2: The Zodiac of the Celtic Druids

No one asked for it. You're getting it anyway.

So, in the other post, I've made up birthdays for both Merlin and Arthur in the other post, and gave them sun, moon, and rising signs according to how I viewed them and what fit that best. The zodiac I used there is (I think) western tropical astrology, the greek/roman based zodiac that most people are familiar with in the modern western world.

However, that wasn't the only type of astrology I looked at. And given that the calendar they were using in Merlin is heavily influenced by the celtic traditions, and druids are actually in the show, using the Druidic Zodiac seemed to make a lot of sense. I decided that Merlin's birthday would be December 23rd almost solely on the meaning that holds in this zodiac, and I used it a lot for Arthurs sun sign too.

If you know how the Druidic Zodiac works, or just really don't care at all, scroll down for a bit — until you see the bigger text and names — and I've written what I think their signs would be and the explanation. If not, I'll give some brief context and a little education first.

***

The main difference between the Celtic calender and the modern calendar is the number of months — and therefore the number of signs within the zodiac. In modern western astrology, there are 12 zodiacs, and the sun (main sign) lasts for a month in each one.

((Side note: sun signs aren't actually exactly decided by the placements of the actual constellations they're named after, it's generally more to do with the beginnings, middles, and ends, of the four seasons, but that's besides the point.))

Anyways, in the Druidic Zodiac, there are 13 months of 28 days, for the 13 moon cycles that happen in a year (plus one extra day — I'll come back to that). This means that while meanings overlap heavily between the Druidic Zodiac and the astrology we're most familiar with today, the signs do cross, and and the meanings are changed.

The Druidic Zodiac signs are named after trees, and have their own symbols (usually animals, but one of them is a chalice... so not always). The festivals near to a child's birth are also linked heavily to these signs, as the festivals would have spiritual significance.

It's also probably worth noting that the actual legends of King Arthur ARE mentioned within some of these traditions and the original characters of King Arthur and Merlin are supposedly linked to certain signs — but I've completely disregarded that here because these are characters in a show only based on those legends, and that's not at all the same thing.

***

Okay let's go

*

Arthur Pendragon

Birthday: July 28th

Druidic Zodiac: Holly

The eighth sign of this zodiac, the Holly Tree might seem an odd tree to represent some of the hottest months in the year, but this is because it falls just after the summer solstice. It is the first month of the waning year as summer comes towards its end. Within this month falls the first festival of harvest — Lughnasadh (or Lammas), where the fruits of the earth would begin to be collected, and feasts would be held.

Represented by the unicorn, the Holly zodiac is one of royalty and nobility, and their horn was likened to a spiralling spear of fire, a symbol of the sun's power in the days of summer. Those born under this sign will move through life in a confident and powerful manner, which can sometimes appear arrogant or snobbish if left unchecked. However, past that appearance, they are truly kind hearted and generous people, who act as both inspirations and leaders when they are called upon in times of crisis.

They are also often energetic and athletic, with great physical stamina and sporty capabilities. As well as this, they can be incredibly competitive and ambitious, though not to the ruthlessness that others may show. They likely won't take kindly to personal criticism or being told what to do, and can be impulsive and rash in defending themselves and their pride. However, their sincerity and loyalty is unparalleled in the zodiac, and their dedication to those they are about never goes underappreciated.

Holly also has an important meaning in the wheel of the year, which is the basis on which the celtic calendar was set as it went between seasons. In some pagan stories and traditions, an ongoing battle was always being fought between the Oak King and the Holly King. On the winter solstice (longest night of the year), the Oak King would win, and bring the earth away from winter and into summer. On the summer solstice, the Holly King would win again, and start to return the earth to winter. This is only my personal interpretation, but I would take that to mean that those born under the sign of the Holly are blessed with power and success. They are the new rulers, the strong, the winners, who in time will continue to grow and improve themselves. They are the true Kings and Queens of the zodiac, with the potential to do many great things.

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Merlin (Emrys)

Birthday: December 23rd

Druidic Zodiac: Mistletoe

Yes, mistletoe isn't one of the 13 zodiacs, but hear me out it works I promise. December 23rd was the last day of the Celtic calendar, and as such has special significance — it doesn't exactly fall under the Elder Tree sign. A year of 365 days can divide 13 times into months of 28 days, but there will be one day left over — the Nameless Day. People born on this day don't quite fall within the zodiac, and as such are given the symbol of Mistletoe, represented by the spiralling tail of the dragon constellation Draco, that was never fully visible.

Mistletoe people share most of their characteristics and nature with that of Elder Tree people, but this day also represents great potential that continues to evolve. There is a sense of destiny or fate that surrounds them, and they may find themselves as outcasts in life, or with questions surrounding their ancestors and origins.

For the most part however, they are considered to be partially within the Elder Tree zodiac, and share those traits — so I'll talk about that too.

Elder Tree people are represented by the black colt, and greatly value their freedom to learn about and explore life. They are born at the end of the year, as darkness is spreading across the land and nights are at their shortest, and therefore come into the world with their eyes fixed on the faded light in the sky. They may spend their lives, metaphorically, constantly searching to find that light, and will often be seeking to make the world a brighter place. They know the darkness well, but remain optimistic in spite of it.

They are naturally intuitive and sharp, and likely to have a deep connection to the outdoors and natural world in some way. Though they have a kind and considerate heart, they may also be a little too quick-witted, and prone to upsetting or offending people with their strong views or blunt honesty — especially if the humour of their comments isn't picked up on.

As their symbol would suggest, they can be something of a "black horse", which can make them outsiders, and destined to seek out their own path as a conventional lifestyle may not suit them best. But despite the doubts of others, they will see many great personal victories. They have a keen sense of justice and morality, and will strive to do what is right, even if its unpopular.

There's not much more to say on these, at least that I know of, but I might do another post talking about other characters, if anyone has a character they'd like me to do.

Here are the dates for the zodiacs if anyone's interested: