#apollo (pressure)

[squeeblub]

trying to bake 4 ur bf but he came back from the infirmary early and now he wont leave u alone 💔

will is soft and fluffy like milk bread and nico is crunchy on the outside but jelly on the inside like one of those asmr crystal candies

[god-blog]

I’m starting a tag game!

People are always saying they need more witchy/pagan mutuals so I thought this would be a fun way to find them while getting to talk about your practice!

Who, if anyone, was the first deity(s) you worked with?

Hermes was the first deity that I made the conscious decision to worship though I had always been drawn to paganism. I made a tiny altar, devotional drawings, playlists, and a journal to him. I quickly added Athena and Apollo after that, but it became too overwhelming, and I got burnt out. I stopped practicing for about four years until I started again this year.

Who, if anyone, is the deity(s) you’re working with now?

Artemis was the one who reached out to me this time. She had been sending me a bunch of incredibly obvious signs that took me abt six months to finally notice (my bad lol) but I'm very happy with her now. Athena has also been more present, whereas she was more in the background the first time I tried Hellenism, and now she sits with me at work. Hermes dips in and out and Apollo's the one who's been more in the background. I would like to strengthen my relationship with them because I miss them.

What’s your favorite aspect of your practice? (Ex: doing tarot, celebrating holidays, casting spells, etc)

I like getting things for my altar. It makes me so happy knowing that my gods will like whatever I'm getting; I love getting presents for ppl I care abt. I haven't collected everything into one central altar yet but I'm very excited for when I do.

What’s something you want to get better at?

I want to get better at tarot. I've been doing it for a few years now but I'm still 100% reliant on the guidebook the cards came with and am not very good at making my own interpretations. I'm hoping I'll get better at it with time but it has been quite a while...

Tagging: @buriedpentacles @kore-siciliana @anne-the-witch-ish @serpent-among-vines @khaire-traveler @princesmeadow @hunters-moonlight-serenade @huntingkyrie

[aceattorneyrambles]

( Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice spoilers ahead! )

Trucy making the effort to ensure Apollo and Dhurke spend time together during the first part of Turnabout Revolution was a cute little goofy Trucy moment at the time but upon reflection it ends up being a little sad in context.

This is a girl whose father abandoned her for years, and that same father dies before they can meet again. Is it any wonder that Trucy sees Apollo and Dhurke’s situation and pushes for it to go better for them?

(How does it affect her, I wonder, to find out that Dhurke died before meeting Apollo again as well? What does she think of how Dhurke’s main desire upon getting a second chance was to see his left behind son one last time? Does she ever think that, if Zak got the same opportunity via spirit medium, he may have come to see her?)

[barnabyboppins]

Hopefully lukewarm take (i haven’t checked)

I recently finished reading the Heroes Of Olympus series (having read pjo immediately prior) and I think it’s pretty shitty that the worth of all of our good guy characters are, to a notable degree, measured by their ability to find and engage in romantic relationships and are then greatly defined by those relationships. (Disclaimer; I don’t think I’m in a justified position to discuss lots of the racial criticisms for HoO but I do agree with a lot of em and that aspect does factor into this topic)

7+ important recurring characters is quite a lot of people to balance, even in a five book series and all of the non-pjo characters suffered immensely for it. But one character arc I anticipated over and over again that never ended up happening was any one character finding fulfillment from the non-romantic relationships around them by de-prioritizing the idea of a perfect someone in favour of accepting the support of their friends/comrades/campers/family/etc. (Second disclaimer: I don’t expect a novel saga from 2010 to have characters declaring their orientations (or lack thereof) aloud but the idea of a character learning to define themself by or through something outside of romance isn’t a new one)

I think Percy and Annabeth are very cute and work well as a couple (are they the only white couple?) and I don’t really see any chemistry between Piper and Jason (I feel like they’re on very different paths from each other and Piper stagnates greatly in favour of supporting jasons development) but I think literally every other Good Guy character had the potential to not need romance in their arcs. Frank could have been raised to praetor by consensus and recognized by his peers and grandma, actively validating his growth rather than him achieving great feats and no one noticing or really caring except for Hazel. Hazel could’ve been shown learning about the modern day with Frank and Nico during downtime and reconciling her identity and trauma with the diversity of today while discovering a new freedom in acceptance (from the Seven) of who she is from back then and who she may yet want to be (and also not dated a 16 y/o at 13).

Leo, Reyna and Nico were the main ones I was thinking would forgo the need for a partner at least as a necessity for their growth/healing as all three have severe familial trauma, are distanced from other demigods socially somehow, and all were explicitly ousted from conventional romance in-writing.

Initially with Leo I had hoped he would confront his struggle being the “seventh wheel” by expressing how he was feeling overlooked as a friend (and as the ONLY shipwright) in favour of everyone’s romantic interests, which would lead into further emotional vulnerability in the party but, that never happened save for a few stoically non-communicative gestures of support to Frank and otherwise weird hang-ups on Hazel before he fucked off to Calypso, letting his friends think him dead for weeks. Leo lacked connection and felt inferior and less important than the rest of the Seven and the narrative validated that by only fulfilling him through an a Rapunzel-like hot babe trapped on an island who is physically dependent on his emotional dependence on her. That’s not a recipe for healthy relationship! I related to Leo initially as an aromantic person with 9 siblings, half of whom are already coupled so it was very disappointing when I realized by the third book that RR just didn’t take what was to me the most obvious arc for a character who is vitally important to a team but least noticed. Also the Hazel-Frank-Leo pseudo-love shape didn’t need to happen, at least in the way it did, and I think the Leo-Hazel-Sammy weird love thing was stupid.

I think Nico and Will are a very cute couple and I’m looking forward to reading their book when I come around to it but I felt unsatisfied that the thing that got Nico to stay at camp after 5 books was a guy who had little significant presence until the last book and not like, any of the other deeply important connections he made during his journeys? Nico’s been talking about never returning to either camp for a while and none of the Seven or Reyna (I think) thought to check in with him? I get that Will is supposed to be like the first person to insistently want Nico around but if Will really is the first then that’s kinda fucked up given the whole like, eight books worth of people he’s met. It’s a bit fucked up that after years of Nico’s presence, seemingly the first connection to anchor him down is an unspoken suggestion of a romance

Reyna’s character journey confuses me because I don’t if I missed or forgot it but I don’t remember her having a conclusion to her internal struggles. Aphrodite telling her she’s doomed to singledom gets brought up again and again and it’s mostly just to make you feel bad for her. She doesn’t tell anyone else. She doesn’t seek fulfillment in the platonic or familial connections she has. They visit her house, trauma dump about her abuse AND fakeout her sisters + the hunters + the amazons deaths just to have Reyna be even more hurt. Reyna and Nico come to understand each other while they’re travelling but by the conclusion of the series she’s just gone back to her isolating and stressful role as the praetor, but now with more work to do! Aphrodite’s words are never explained and their veracity is never tested and all it serves is to give Reyna more misery porn.

I guess what I’m saying is I think the story would have been better if The Seven & Co had a little more connection with each other and not just with their respective partners and if we could have seen some internal growth come from that.

[gingermintpepper]

hi I love your tags so so much! they were so sweet and so interesting and creative and the whole Aphrodite type of beauty thing sounds really interesting do you have any articles and recommendations to read further into it??

-hogoflight

Hello my fine feathered (I am assuming possession of feathers if you are, indeed, capable of flight) @hogoflight! I'm always always happy to hear that people appreciate my frenzied rambling in the tags :D! I have a lot of articles and recommendations :D!! Ancient Greek notions of beauty and representations of it in their art and sculptures is a pretty well studied topic! There isn't any way for us now to know definitively what the beauty standard was (it varied widely from region to region and culture to culture after all) but here are a couple of my favourite reads about Aphrodite and what her representations tell us about idealised beauty!

Probably the most empirically extensive one I can list is Krönström's thesis which compares statues of Aphrodite and literary text referring to both the goddess and mortal women to determine physical ideals for women in five specific eras of Grecian antiquity. Including measurements of the statues there are many descriptions of Aphrodite as 'curvy' with a 'voluptuous figure' and with 'ample buttocks and bosom'.

"When the beauty traits are described in the texts, they are never extreme or anything that could not be found in normal people just that they are more beautiful in every aspect. Furthermore, the sculptures’ physical forms look healthy, they are tall and have distinct curves. Great examples of this are the Knida sculpture and de Milo (the Melian) sculpture."

Of course, these images are still idealised, and there was still a concept such as 'too fat' or 'too skinny' found in written records (and this thesis even includes analysis of pornographic writings and descriptions of the fashion and stylings of pubic hair of women from different regions!!) but from an interpretational standpoint? There is absolutely no reason why these can't refer to a fuller figure. Height was also a very important factor after all and over the course of many eras, it seems like being well proportioned in addition to the length and appearance of one's hair were the most important factors (and, like Apollo, greater beauty was given to those with curlier hair)

Mireille M. Lee's 'Other Ways of Seeing' essay which talks about the forgotten female viewers of Knidian Aphrodite which is also extremely illuminating on how Aphroditic sexuality and sensuality was perceived totally differently from the well documented male voyeuristic gaze (which was overly preoccupied with the statue's nakedness and therefore over-sensationalised the statue's physical appearance) vs women's perspective on the statue which is more centered on the beauty of simplicity in Aphrodite's garment and decoration and in her power and ability to captivate both in her finery and without it. I think it's especially useful in exploring the importance of finery, jewellry and adornment in representations of Aphroditic beauty.

"Some of the small-scale copies are heavily jeweled, especially those from the eastern Mediterranean, for example the Hellenistic gilded terracotta statuette in the Çanakkale Museum (Fig. 5) in which the goddess wears, in addition to the armband on her (right) arm, the following: a necklace with multiple pendants; cross-bands extending over both shoulders and hips, with a cascading pendant in the center; a coiled snake armband on the left arm and another snake on her left thigh, and a twisted anklet on her right leg. (The left leg has been restored, and might also have featured an anklet.)"

"Jewelry is especially associated with Aphrodite in Greek literature. As seen above, in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess adorns herself with gold jewelry, dress-pins, and earrings in the shape of flowers (162–3)..."

Finally, and to me, the most important one in the argument for an interpretation of Hyacinthus as fat, beautiful and fundamentally Aphroditic comes from Brilmayer's brilliant brilliant thesis done on Aphrodite's work and influence in Archaic Greek Poetry which does away with all of that masculine preoccupation with physical proportion, measurement and bodily ideals for a focus on a Sapphic Aphroditic ideal centered in clothing, ornamentation and, most importantly cunning as symbols of Aphrodite and ultimately a feminine idealised form of beauty. This paper also discusses Pandora and Helen in these terms and it is just kind of a wonderful read tbh.

"Combining Homeric and Hesiodic elements with her own ideas, she [Sappho] alters the way female beauty is viewed. For example, the Homeric war chariot – a symbol of male, military prowess - comes to symbolise the totality of Aphrodite’s power uniting in itself male and female qualities. Having addressed the concept of beauty directly, Sappho then concludes that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. With the help of Helen of Troy and her beloved Anaktoria, Sappho sets out to reinvent the concept of female beauty as a godlike, subjective quality that may be expressed in many ways, yet remains inspired by Aphrodite."

The conclusion to all of this of course is that Aphroditic ideal beauty is much more fluid compared to its stricter Apolline masculine standard. The nuances and understandings of both are of course, constantly being studied, analysed and scrutinised but really, if Dionysus who was both bearded and clean shorn, effeminate, birthed and rebirthed (and twice gestated!) and strongly associated with vegetation can be popularly portrayed as fat and handsome, why can't Hyacinthus?!

[jowiszsmasher]

I love multiverse posts

[ot4riida3]

PIRATE PERCY JACKSON!!!!!!!!!

boycott disney!!! cancel your disney+ subscription!!!! disney gave $2,000,000,000 to israel. disney is one of the 3 biggest boycott targets. rick riordan has also used his platform to make a VERY dangerous “neutral” statement on the palestinian genocide. disney is banking on this show bring in massive money. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY. i don’t want to see anyone who says free palestine continuing to legally watch this show.

i’ve been waiting for this show since i was in middle school. pjo has been a major hyperfixation and one of my special interests for years. i adore it so much. and as much as i love the actors, i will no longer be promoting the show in any way. i don’t want anything to encourage people to give disney money. peoples lives and freedom are obviously far more important than a tv show.

[nicohate]

the thought of apollo finding out abt the kids is making me fuck up my lungs

[seefasters]

thinking about it, apollo might be the only defense attorney in the ace attorney franchise who became a lawyer to actually be a lawyer, which explains a lot about him

[crazymanicherelmao]

Phighting oc and other characters!

[jinxedshapeshifter]

I thought about Trucy's reaction to every time Apollo greets Klavier with "Uh hiya." and decided she'd just be staring at him like "I know what you are" so I decided to draw deer Apollo and jackalope Trucy based on that idea (it will be completely lined and colored too).

[worlds-oldest-teenager]

For that poor baby Apollo being abused thing I'm drawing, idk what has possessed me but I'm suddenly getting all this insane imagery. Like Apollo plus his kids as little dolls on display and they're all held in place gently with holders while Apollo has been stabbed with pincushions and stapled in place.

And another one where a his hands are covering his kids from falling ichor and it pools into Zeus's hands that pour it straight onto him.

Does this make sense? Do you guys see the vision?

[bruh240p-blog]

Made a silly insta for AA shenanigans should anyone be interested. Gonna hopefully be doing some AA voice acting projects in the near future.

[hamletshoeratio]

What if Chris doesn't show up at Clarisse's house pre botl? What if he's guided (maybe by Hermes) to Connor and Travis' instead?

Chris, who is to me at least implied to be unclaimed as yet in the show, who is suffering severely mentally as a result of what he endured alone in the labyrinth, shows up on Connor and Travis' doorstep. They haven't seen him in years now, not since he ditched camp to follow Luke to Kronos. He's clearly unwell and barely recognises them. They worry it's a trick, and that's when Chris is claimed by Hermes. The Stolls decide to take the risk, well Connor mainly does; Connor has more faith in Hermes than Travis ever did. They bring Chris to camp, where they and Clarisse try to help him, to keep him going until Mr D returns. Mr D does save the day, Chris' mind is restored, but then there's the hard part. The initial distrust, the slow and painful path to reconciliation and redemption. If done right, it could be a banger of an arc.

It gives a reason a better reason for why Katie accuses Travis of being the spy in tlo; "you brought your brother - who wasn't claimed until recently and only you and Connor saw it - to camp after he showed up apparently randomly at your doorstep? After he joined Luke - your other brother - and Kronos? After he went on a mission to try and use the labyrinth to destroy camp?" Travis, of course, wasn't the spy, but at least there's a reason for suspicion on the others' parts outside of 'he's Luke's brother' (which is the general consensus and interpretation from the fandom, which never really made sense to me as Luke had left camp four years before tlo and there's a high chance Katie wasn't even at camp at that point).

They've already started by introducing Chris so early, but I hope they expand his story and the Stolls' roles, especially in botl and tlo. Let them have complicated feelings about Luke. Let them mourn him, and let them hate him. Let the angst hit.

[sabertoothwalrus]

You're one of my favorite artists on this site, just when I was getting back into ace attorney you posted art for it!! I feel blessed, the stars have aligned :) I just wanted to send a message letting you know I love your art and the way you draw so many of the characters I love! <33

AWWWWW THANK YOU THIS IS SO SWEET 😭🥺

[eucharist-eulogy]

Pick your oc shitpost of the day (hi lupi)