#aside from (1) greek mythology question

[madefortherain]

pleased to let you all know that tonight i went to trivia with my work colleagues and aced every single astronomy related question and everyone was so impressed with me (they don’t know i only know these things from deep research for my dead gay wizard fanfics xx)

[aliciavance4228]

Rambling about Despoina, because I have a lot of questions about her and my brain is broken.

Despoina is probably one of the most obscure Goddesses from Greek Mythology. She's considered the Goddess of Arkadian Mysteries, yet at the same time people doubt wheter or not she's a stand-alone deity or just another epithet for another goddess (usually Persephone). To make things even more complicated now, her name isn't actually one. It's an epithet, and "her true name and function were revealed only to the intitiates". "Despoina" was also an epithet used for Demeter and Persephone as well.

Now, there have been made a lot of speculations and assumptions based on the few things that we know about her. The most common theory is that Despoina was in fact the Arcadian equivalent of Persephone, and that Mycenaean Poseidon later got divided into Poseidon and Hades. On short: many people believe that back in the Mycenaean Greece there were Two Goddesses worshipped together as the Two Queens, later refferred to as the Two Mistresses: Demeter and Despoina. It is very likely that both of them are two later versions of two pre-Greek Goddesses of Arcadia. At the same time we have Mycenaean Poseidon, who was not only the god of the sea, but had strong associations with the Underworld as well. He also seemed to be in close connection with the Two Queens and form some sort of a divine trio with them, since he was refferred to as the King. Later, Despoina slowly became Persephone, whereas some of the attributes that were initially associated with Poseidon were taken away from him and used in order to create another god, Hades, because ancient people considered that it's better to have two separate deities for these two different realms. Finally, we're reaching Classic Greek Mythology, where Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, Hades is her husband, and Poseidon is the only one of the Big Three who didn't bang her.

This theory is highly accepted because it seems the most plausible one (plus the fact that there aren't enough surviving sources from that time leaves an open door for whatever thoughts could cross people's minds), yet at the same time highly criticized for rightful reasons, such as the fact that there's a chance that Hades might've been an already existing deity in Mycenaean Mythology, but because there are no surviving written works about him from that time there's nothing certain. Another reason is because not everyone considered Despoina to be just an epithet or an older version of Persephone. And by "not everyone" I mean Pausanias:

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 25. 5 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :

"When Demeter was wandering in search of her daughter [Persephone], she was followed, it is said, by Poseidon, who lusted after her. So she turned, the story runs, into a mare, and grazed with the mares of Onkios (Oncius) [in Arkadia (Arcadia)]; realising that he was outwitted, Poseidon changed into a stallion and enjoyed Demeter. At first, they say, Demeter was angry at what had happened, but later on she laid aside her wrath and wished to bathe in the Ladon . . . Demeter, they say, had by Poseidon a daughter [Despoine (Despoena)], whose name they are not wont to divulge to the uninitiated, and a horse called Areion (Arion)."

According to him Despoina and Persephone aren’t the same goddess, but two different deities. On top of that, Despoina was conceived during the time when Demeter was searching for Persephone, being youger than her, and has a horse twin brother. Which is very weird, considering the fact that Pausanias wrote this about 800 years after Homeric Hymns to Demeter, and this is the only source that states that Despoina and Persephone are two different goddesses.

Here's another fragment:

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 - 8. 38. 2 :

Despoine the Arkadians worship more than any other god, declaring that she is a daughter of Poseidon and Demeter. Despoine (Mistress) is her surname among the many, just as they surname Demeter's daughter by Zeus Kore (Core, the Maid). But whereas the real name of Kore (the Maid) is Persephone, as Homer and Pamphos before him say in their poems, the real name of Despoine (the Mistress) I am afraid to write to the uninitiated.

Here he states that Despoina is her surname (just how Kore is a surname for Persephone). But while we do know that Kore is Persephone, Despoina's real name still remains a secret. What is really weird here is... why would they be afraid to say her real name in the first place? We know for a matter of fact that Ancient Greeks were usually scared of saying the real names of the Underworld deities. Hades for example is always refferred to by lots of epithets and euphemisms, because people believed that by saying or writing his real name they would arouse his wrath. In this case then Despoina could be a chtonic deity as well, yet her affiliations with the Underworld are unclear, if they really exist.

But then, if Despoina would be a chtonic goddess, and she isn't Persephone, then who else could she be?

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 - 8. 38. 2 :

"From Akakesion (Acacesium) [in Arkadia (Arcadia)] it is four stades to the sanctuary of Despoine (Despoena, the Mistress). First in this place is a temple of Artemis Hegemone (Leader) [probably Hekate (Hecate)], with a bronze image, holding torches, which I conjecture to be about six feet high. From this place there is an entrance into the sacred enclosure of Despoine.

[...]

Demeter carries a torch in her right hand; her other hand she has laid upon Despoine. Despoine has on her knees a staff and what is called the box, which she holds in her right hand. On both sides of the throne are images. By the side of Demeter stands Artemis [probably here identified with Hekate] wrapped in the skin of a deer, and carrying a quiver on her shoulders, while in one hand she holds a torch, in the other two serpents; by her side a bitch, of a breed suitable for hunting, is lying down.

Judging by these two experts, there is a small, vague chance that Despoina might be strongly identified with Hecate. Besides the fact that Despoina was one of Hecate's epithets as well, she was sometimes considered to be the daughter of Demeter. Hecate also plays a major role in Homeric Hymns to Demeter, and near the end of the myth she becomes Persephone's attendant and substitute queen. On top of that, Hecate shares some similarities with Poseidon, especially in Hesiod's Theogeny: ". . . and to those whose business is the in the gray discomfortable sea, and who pray to Hecate and the loud crashing Earth-Shaker, easily the glorious goddess gives great catch and easily she gives it away. . .”

Another possibility is that Despoina was supposed at one point to have a symbolic value above it all and/or to be a concept rather than a physical goddess, since "Despoina" literally means "Mistress", Persephone was refferred to as Kore ("Maiden") during her time with her mother, and while we don't know for sure what is "Demeter" supposed to mean, the "'-meter" part most probably means "mother". Which suggests that Persephone, Despoina and Demeter were probably supposed to be some sort of a Maiden/Mistress/Mother trio.

[taitavva]

yaldabaoth couldn't help but make his whole team overpowered huh ... how are the phantom thieves supposed to survive ?? "oh noo akechi ur so hot haha .. please don't kill me" brilliant strategy pego (entire ask under cut)

[ACTUALLY UR PUTFITS WERE SO ON POINT. I HAVE 2 OUTFIT IDEAS 4 HIFUMI & SHIHO (MINUS MASKS) & 1 mask idea for yuuki but idk what else. i was thinking for the leaders it would def be chaotic but goro has most metaverse experience so hes the leader. ken kinda acts like mona in giving useful tips abt personas etc and hifumi takes on the role of makoto where she gives out different strategies (her, ken, & goro debate over these tips & strategies but usually end up doing them anyway). I have an urge to show u these outfits omg. i can ramble abt these outfits & their personas for forever .. i chose jormungandr for yuuki, skadi for shiho hela for hifumi, and persephone for eiko. ik its not very in the literacy scene for them to all have deities as personas but... goro breaks it with loki anyway, so ..

explainations:: hela & jormungandr are 2/6 of loki's kids in norse mythology, aiding him in the ragnarok/end of the world, and hela is sentenced down to the underworld to be the goddess of that realm since she was born half alive half dead, and she's sentenced to it by odin (basically. kinda the zeus of norse mythology, like the "king" of all of them) because she's the daughter of loki & all this other stuff .. chose her for hifumi because hifumi's mom basically forces her to be a shoji star after hifumi's dad and yeah. jormungandr i chose because hes kinda just a sleepy little guy: in norse mythology he's known as "the World Serpent" and he wraps around the entire ocean with his tail in his mouth kind of in a constant sleep until the ragnarok (all of loki's kids --aside from 2, one being dead & the other being a gift to odin-- including loki himself, are kinda trapped somewhere before the ragnarok happens) and he's not talked about a lot but he aids in so much and he's important (like how yuuki is kind of ignored by the pts, the dialogue options being horrid, despite him aiding in them. also yuuki is the bm's navi in the au & he runs a "revenge site" like how Strega/takaya sakaki, jin shirato, & chidori yoshino do in p3-- strega also does death calling cards , mainly shown in the novels which is p cool.. first ppl to use mental shutdowns despite not beinf called that then either. i love strega sorry. they all agreed to it because shiho wanted to deal with more people like kamoshida, goro wanted to deal with more people like shido, hifumi wanted to deal w more people like her mom, etc).. i chose persephone for eiko because in greek mythology, persephone is (most commonly accepted form of the myth) kidnapped by hades and forced into marriage with him by eating a pomegranate out of the underworld .. point blank, persephone reminds me of eiko being trapped and persephone's shown to overcome it , ( honestly eventually making the underworld & hades her Bitch. she kills the goddess/nymph of mints and creates the mint plant because she got too handsy with hades).. also hifumi and eiko are a little gay for eachother so why not have their personas be, too? anyway. SHIHO!! i chose skadi for her because skadi , in norse mythology , is both jotunn (giant) and a god like how loki is, but she's an accepted form of it because she was given over to the gods as a peace treaty, and thats pretty important to norse mythology i'd say (like how rooftop scene is important to kamoshida arc), and skadi claws up the aesir (council of gods) thru both her marriage (ann? ann. hehe.) and her own sheer will (shiho's recovery and goro's ..... questionable aid.) and skadi just fits. the goddess of mountains and winter? sign me the FUCK UP.

Anyway . this was long I apologise]

[katsona-the-katsequel]

ALRIGHT, BREAK'S OVER. TIME FOR...

P3 Q&A (Part 1)

The epic world of Persona 3 is filled with mysteries that only lead to more mysteries. The familiar P3 characters will answer any questions you may have!

Shuji Ikutsuki (from now on "🤓") and...!

Aigis (from now on "🤖").

🤓: So, here we have me, the leading expert on shadow research and Chairman of Gekkoukan High and...

🤖: I am an anti-shadow suppression weapon, and we will answer all your questions. However, Ikutsuki-san...

🤓: Hmm? What is it, Aigis?

🤖: I believed you fell from the observatory and died.

🤓: Don't be rude, Aigis. This me is a commentator character for the Q&A, not the me in the main story. So anything can happen if I comes back to life, and my personality is a little different. I hope you don't worry too much about that.

🤖: Ah, our personalities are different... so, please stop making puns.

🤓: (Says a pun)

🤖: Ah.

🤓: Ah, Aigis...she wasn't the type of girl to click her tongue like that...

🤖: Ah, enough with the nonsense, let's get started. Otherwise, this 5-barreled Medusa will start breathing fire.

🤓: Hmm, if a bullet like that hits you, it's terrible, so it can't be helped, just kidding.

Well, let's ask a question!

Q: So, what is Nyx's true identity?

🤓: To explain, we must first tell a story. In the distant past, there was a gigantic, celestial-sized lifeform that was floating dormant in space. This lifeform, also known as the "star eater," one day crashed into Earth, where life had just begun to emerge. The probability of this happening must have been one in hundreds of millions, or even trillions. This was the first contact between life on Earth and Nyx.

🤖: Was Nyx born in space? How is it possible that the Earth would not have collapsed in that state?

🤓: The matter that makes up Nyx exists under different laws from the physical laws of Earth. However, the impact of the collision was still intense. The shock caused the pieces of the broken Earth to become the Moon, and Nyx's vibrational spirit resided on Earth, while her physical body resided on the Moon. The problem was with the spirit. The vibrations emitted by Nyx's spirit were enough to negate all life on Earth and nullify it. Naturally, the creatures on Earth, who instinctively desire life even though they were primitive, resisted the vibrations of death. As a result, the creatures on Earth evolved explosively and acquired weapons to fight against Nyx. This was the shared information domain of all life on Earth, commonly known in psychological terms as the "collective unconscious."

🤖: But... why would it be a weapon? Was it defeated by some kind of supernatural power?

🤓: No, no. Life on Earth had sealed the spirit of Nyx within its collective unconscious. The driving force behind this suppression is the power of "repression'' that comes from the fear of not wanting to die or being afraid of dying. There's no irony in the fact that life on Earth has evolved to the point where it has a complex mental structure thanks to Nyx, who is supposed to be the embodiment of death. People may have subconsciously known the truth based on the fact that Nyx in Greek mythology is depicted as a goddess, and in a sense, she is the mother of life.

🤖: It is very profound.

🤓: Come to think of it, it's also thanks to Nyx that I can make cool puns...

🤖: I will never forgive Nyx.

🤓: That's terrible, Aigis... But that aside, as long as living beings, especially humans with strong and complex mental structures, fear death, Nyx was meant to remain subconsciously sealed away. In the main story, it was a shame...oh, just when she was close to being revived to a dangerous point, she was resealed by the power of the Universe that the leader had obtained. Truly, it's a shame.

🤖: He's a man who never learns his lesson, even in death. By the way, what happened to Nyx's body?

🤓: After it merged with the moon, its body, which was damaged in the collision, continued to automatically repair itself. By the time of the main story, the repairs were probably almost complete. However, since it was just an empty shell, it was simply waiting idly until its mind was released from the seal. During the battle with the Nyx Avatar, she was called down to Earth. After she was resealed, she became a quiet moon again.

Q: What exactly was the end of the world that Nyx brought about?

🤖: What was it?

🤓: As I said before, Nyx's spirit, which had been sealed in the subconscious, will be released from its restraints and become free. Furthermore, it will re-fuse with its body, which has become the moon, and regain its true form. This will be the destruction and end of the Earth. In fact, this destruction has come close to happening many times in the history of Earth.

🤖: Is that so?

🤓: For example, when a major war breaks out or an epidemic spreads, apocalyptic thoughts begin to take root among people. People start to hate living. When this happens, the power that holds back Nyx, in other words the fear of death, weakens, and Nyx's release, or the end of the world, approaches. The "prophecies" that I mentioned in the main story are books that describe the end of various eras, and using them as a hint, I found a way to free Nyx. Amazing, right?

🤖: It's amazing, but it's no good.

🤓: (Sob, sob)

🤖: But... how did people in the past, when there was no SEES, stop the apocalypse?

🤓: Yes, that's a good question. In the first place, even if 100 or 1000 people wished for the end, it would only weaken the seal slightly. There are so many humans, after all. It's unlikely that all of them would want to die at once. Moreover, humans unconsciously created a conceptual entity to oppose Nyx, and used it to strengthen their own minds.

🤖: It's difficult.

🤓: To put it simply, that's what we call mythology. It usually depicts a good god defeating an evil god and preventing the destruction of the world, right? The existence of this god stabilized the repressed subconscious and played a part in strengthening the seal on Nyx. However, this has become less effective in modern times with the development of science and technology, and conversely, some people are turning to apocalyptic ideology due to religion. Especially in a society with advanced information technology, a movement towards the end of the world that should only be a local phenomenon, but which is only happening in a small area, can spread across the entire world in an instant. The end of the world in the main story was triggered by Kirijo's experiment, but even without that, the end may have come in the near future. Yes, the end is coming this weekend.

The end is...

🤖: …The Kiss of Athena in my right hand is breathing fire, see?

🤓: Uruuru, how cold. Shall I call Nyx again?

Q: What are shadows?

🤓: It's the road that cars drive on.

🤖: It is a roadway. (Bam!)

🤓: …That hurts, Aigis. Umm, in all seriousness, shadows are part of Nyx.

🤖: Are you sure you're not one of Nyx's minions or a child?

🤓: On the previous page, I explained that Nyx is hidden deep within the collective unconscious of all living things. This means that Nyx is located deep within the minds of all living things, even below the unconscious.

🤖: That's what happens.

🤓: So, imagine if a creature, say Iori, says, "I got a zero on the exam, I don't have the will to live anymore," and unconsciously stops resisting Nyx. What happens?

🤖: I'm sure Nyx will emerge from within Junpei's heart.

🤓: That's right. To be precise, a part of Nyx escapes from the subconscious. That part of Nyx's mind is actually a shadow.

🤖: For a member of Nyx, it's pretty pathetic, isn't it?

🤓: It's just a very small part of it. Other than having some special abilities and the fact that they are basically spiritual beings and normal attacks have no effect on them, they don't have all that much power. However, for the creatures that contain it, the existence of shadows is extremely important.

🤖: What do you mean?

🤓: First of all, because we are destined to carry shadows, fragments of Nyx, deep in our psyches, all life on Earth today has a "lifespan."

🤖: Normally, living things are thought to have a lifespan... aren't they?

🤓: That is common knowledge on the Earth today. The primordial life forms that existed on the ancient Earth. For example, something like an amoeba can multiply by repeating cell division, and will not die unless it is eaten by another organism. I explained earlier that Nyx promoted explosive evolution, but I guess lifespan is the compensation for that. Another important point is that the Shadow that is incorporated into the mind of a living being becomes an important part of its mental structure. The loss of this creature would be equivalent to losing a living being, especially a human being with an advanced mental structure, one's own spirit.

🤖: Ah, perhaps...?

🤓: Yes, the reason why Apathy Syndrome victims are also known as the Lost, is because they become like empty shells due to having lost the fragment of Nyx, or the Shadow, that was contained within their psyches.

🤖: I see.

Q. What exactly does it mean to be "devoured" by a shadow?

🤓: You can probably figure this out by now. In fact, shadows don't eat humans. Humans create shadows, and as a result, the empty shells of the Lost are created. However, as a phenomenon, humans are drawn into the Dark Hour → a Shadow is observed clinging to the person → the victim becomes apathetic. When you see this, it just seems like the Shadow is eating their mind. In the previous chapter, Yamagishi's best friend Natsuki hears something called the "shadow's call," but that is also the voice of the Shadow in her own mind. Those who forget the death that lurks within them and live vaguely will enter the Dark Hour as the Shadow in their mind desires and become an empty shell... it's scary. However, in her case, her experience in the Dark Hour made her prepared to fight death again, and so she was able to avoid becoming Lost, which is a special case. Although very rare, people like this do exist. Wow, humans are... wonderful!

🤖: ...Oh, is that done yet? Let's move on to the next question.

🤓: I'm going to take it back to the lab and disassemble it. Seriously... (tears)

Q. What is a shadow's purpose?

🤖: I can understand this too. They are aiming to revive Nyx. But, according to Ikutsuki's explanation, shadows are also Nyx itself, right?

🤓: That's right. To be precise, their first goal is to return to their original Nyx. As they become small new fragments of power, they first try to combine with other fragments, that is, other shadows. Each time a certain number of shadows combine with them, they gradually regain their original power as Nyx.

🤖: The large, powerful Shadows that appear during the full moon were, by the way, artificially gathered shadows and created in Kirijo's experiments.

🤓: That's right. Even if you don't force them together, if the world becomes filled with anxiety and thoughts of the end of the world spread, it will take some time, but a large Shadow will be born, and then it will gather together and Nyx will be resurrected. That's why they exist.

🤖: And it is in order to defeat these shadows that we exist. Ahem.

🤓: That's what's annoying to shadows. I said earlier that shadows don't eat humans, but there are exceptions, and they attack Persona Users. They have intelligence, and they know that Persona Users will prevent Nyx from being resurrected. Another exception is when a person who gets lost in the Dark Hour is attacked. This is because the person is trying to forcibly combine with the Shadow that is suppressed deep within that person's mind.

🤖: That's quite clever.

🤓: Right? When you think about it like that, don't shadows start to look cute?

🤖: Ikutsuki's eyes are blind.

Q. What do the different Shadow Arcana mean?

🤖: The Shadow Arcana classification refers to the Tarot cards from number 0, The Fool, to number 12, The Hanged Man.

🤓: I'm sure you all learned in class that the Tarot represents human growth, right? The Shadow Classification is similar, it represents the Shadow's mental tendencies.

🤖: The higher the number, the stronger it is, or something like that?

🤓: Hmm, maybe it's a little different? The higher the number, the more mature and advanced it is, but each one is an important aspect that makes up Nyx. When all the Shadows with tendencies from 0 to 12 combine, they transform into the 13th Arcana, Death. This Death Arcana is special, and as its nickname, the Herald of Doom, indicates that Nyx is ready to be resurrected.

🤖: You're talking about Ryoji-san. It's a bit of a shame that we've lost such a great person.

Did you call for me? (Ryoji Mochizuki, from now on "💀").

🤖: Megido Fire!

💀: Ouch, ouch, so hot! Heavy weapons don't suit a cute girl.

🤖: Just die quietly.

💀: Well, well, let me explain from here. The special thing about Death is that I share the will and powers with the spirit of Nyx. I am the incarnation of Nyx, that is, the Nyx Avatar. Now I am the Grim Reaper. I will summon a body that has been assimilated with the moon and become one with it, and then I will become a "star eater" that will cause destruction on a planetary scale, sadly. However, my friend used a trick called the Universe and I was once again sunk to the bottom of the collective unconscious. He is really impressive.

🤖: Are you happy that you managed to avoid destruction?

💀: Well, I guess I'll say nothing about that. See you later.

🤖: Ah, he's gone... He's a surprisingly nice guy. By the way, Ikutsuki-san, what happened?

🤓: (Sob sob sob sob sob) The best part has been explained...

Q. Tartarus, Dark Hour, potential, transmogrification, it's so difficult I don't understand it! Please tell me all about it!

🤓: That's a pretty rude question. It tells you something about the intelligence of the person asking it...

(Junpei Iori, from now on "🧢"): Sorry, I'm stupid! You're always making puns, so how could you possibly be so bold as to say something about other people's heads?

🤓: H-how cruel, Junpei-kun... You don't have to deny me one of the few sources of entertainment in a world where I'm always tormented by emptiness...

🤖: That's right. Junpei is terrible.

🤓: Ah, Aigis~ (tears of joy)

🤖: My most important thing is to give a harsh remark to Ikutsuki-san. It's cruel to take someone else's turn.

🤓: Is that the point?!

🧢: Well, that's fine. Just tell me the details.

🤓: Well, let's get back to the point. (Cough) Some of the items I mentioned in the previous question are closely related to certain abilities of shadows. I'll explain them all together now.

🧢: Certain abilities?

🤓: That's right. It's an ability that can only be used when a certain number of shadows combine. It's the ability to interfere with space-time. As I've already explained, the shadows want to gather together and take back Nyx's power. However, unlike normal living beings, shadows are spiritual beings and cannot act normally in normal space. So they wanted a place where only they could move freely, and they used their space-time ability to create law in the gaps in normal time.

🧢: Is that the Dark Hour?

🤓: That's it! The Dark Hour created in this way is a special space-time that is not interfered with by normal space. Conversely, the shadows cannot interfere with things in normal space. So, this is an explanation of transmogrification, and it is thought to be a visualization of the phenomenon where people who are in a place outside of the Dark Hour are not interfered with at all. The hard metal-like appearance is a symbol of the fact that they cannot be harmed by shadows.

🧢: Hmm, it's difficult after all. So, what is different about people like us who can enter the Dark Hour?

🤓: I'm talking about potential. People with potential simply suppress the Shadow deep in their hearts and basically turn a blind eye to it. Of course, you don't want to be constantly thinking about death.

But there are some people who can face death head-on and yet not be obsessed with it. And among these people, there are some who are able to control the Shadow within themselves, even if unconsciously, and acquire that ability.

🤖: In other words, someone who has gained the power to interfere with space-time, just like shadows, has the potential, right?

🧢: So what about Tartarus? That's the one I don't understand the most.

🤓: Well, that's like an antenna, if you like. Tartarus is the landmark that Nyx's spirit uses to call her body on the moon. So all the shadows that escape from humans in the city gather at Tartarus and try to regain their power as spirits by repeatedly combining with them. As their power increases, Tartarus gets higher and higher, and eventually the body (the moon) descends to reach it, and when it has grown large enough, it merges with the spirit.

Q. Why are only some machines, like Mitsuru's bike and Aigis, able to move during the Dark Hour when time has stopped?

🤓: A certain mysterious substance plays a major role in this, a substance that does not actually exist on Earth: Plumes of Dusk.

🤖: That's the continue item when playing on easy mode, right?

🤓: That's right. In fact, that plume is a thin layer of Nyx's body that was peeled off after it was assimilated with the moon and fell to Earth. In other words, it is a part of Nyx's body. It is called the Plumes of Dusk because it looks like a bird's feather. It has an intermediate property between matter and information, and although it is a part of Nyx, the incarnation of death, it has a vibration closer to that of life. At the same time, it has the ability to interfere with space-time, just like shadows. Therefore, machines that have these Plumes of Dusk built into their core can operate even in the Dark Hour. Kirijo's bike and the Evokers that everyone uses all have these Plumes of Dusk built into them.

🤖: Then, maybe...

🤓: Of course, the Plumes of Dusk are also incorporated into the core of Aigis. In particular, the one inside Aigis is two feathers that have joined together to form an X shape like a butterfly, and is the largest of its kind, called a Papillon Heart. This also allows Aigis to have the same spirit as a human, and is also a source of power. However, it is inside a black box, and the detailed principles behind it have not been made clear.

🤖: It's kind of complicated.

🤓: To face a strong enemy, you need to be cunning enough to even use the enemy's powers.

Q. What was the purpose of the experiment that the Kirijo Group conducted 10 years ago? Tell us about Strega!

🤓: To begin with, the reason why the Kirijo Group started researching shadows was because Kouetsu Kirijo happened to get his hands on a Plume of Dusk, which I explained earlier.

🤖: Was that the case?

🤓: At first, he probably wanted to unravel the mysterious power of the plumes and use it for some purpose. However, as his research progressed, Kouetsu Kirijo became aware of Nyx's existence. This is also mentioned in the main story's scenario. Eventually, he became possessed by the idea of ​​the end of the world and carried out the work to bring Nyx down. That was the experiment that was carried out 10 years ago. To be specific, the destruction that would have required a large number of people to be possessed by the end of the world was supposed to be realized by artificially gathering shadows, forcibly combining them, and creating Death.

🤖: I resolved that issue in an undesirable way, by sealing Death within him.

🤓: Right. That's where I came in, even though I was just a low-level employee. By proactively taking on the task of cleaning up the failed experiments, I was able to raise my status within Kirijo and eventually become able to speak on an equal footing with Takeharu Kirijo. At the same time, I also worked hard to establish SEES in order to search for the lost Death, and even became the squad's Chairman. And then, finally, I found the man who would later become our leader.

🤖: It's absolutely awful. So how did the Strega members come about?

🤓: Oh well, let's just pretend that never happened.

Takaya (from now on "🤡"): It won't be enough to just pretend that it never happened.

Jin (from now on "💣"): Seriously! If you say something stupid, your molars will chatter!

🤓: Oh man, you guys...

🤡: Let me explain for you. In the research on shadows, the existence of Personas that could counter shadows had already been confirmed. However, it seems that the conditions for obtaining such powers were not fully understood. So Ikutsuki gathered children and repeatedly conducted inhumane experiments, trying to create artificial Persona Users. Of the dozens of samples, only a few, including us, survived...

🤖: Why did they bother to use children?

💣: I guess it's because the first Persona User Kirijo saw was that girl called Mitsuru. Anyway, we were failures who couldn't live without relying on medicine. Well, there are people like Aragaki who are unstable even when awakened naturally.

🤡: Anyway, we gave up on Kirijo and escaped with a large amount of the suppressants. The remaining test subjects that didn't escape were all lost during the first expedition to Tartarus. And so, all evidence of the plan to artificially create Persona Users was destroyed and sealed away. But I don't hold any grudges against them. Thanks to them, we were able to get closer to destruction.

🤖: It's truly tragic. As an apology, Ikutsuki-san will be taking care of you.

🤓: That's not true, Aigis...

● Next ->

[5and3nevermind]

Mini & Moni Album Exchange: Part 2 (and other thoughts)

Part 1

My plan was to write two posts about the album exchange. Summaries, more or less, with a few of my own thoughts. But this second post is going to also incorporate some of the things Jimin said during the jacket shoot that I think also shed some light on how the album should be viewed.

First of all, let’s appreciate Joon’s smile while listening to Who:

Jimin says about Who:

He goes on to explain:

So…here’s where things get a little difficult because we might have to agree to disagree.

If you want to take a literal view of Who, then it’s pretty simple: Jimin is single and looking for love. So are his friends. And that’s that.

However, I would argue that there might be more here to consider based on some other things that were said by Jimin during his jacket shoot.

If we opt for the literal view of the lyrics of Muse as a whole, Jimin writes about love and then says, basically, “Wait! Actually I’m single. Who is my heart waiting for?” There isn’t much to misunderstand or interpret or assume in that case. It is a linear storyline with a surprise/twist ending.

If that’s your reading of Muse, that’s fine. I’m not going to tell you how to interpret Jimin’s art.

However. Jimin himself seems to want there to be various theories and interpretations. He is the “tailor of chaos” (photo folio) after all! I’m not going to pretend that I have all of the answers or that this is easy. But I do believe there is more here beyond the surface-level interpretation.

When Jimin tells Joon that he and his friends all feel this way—“flat”—I think that this could mean a lack of inspiration or excitement or purpose. Let’s not forget: the name of the album is Muse!

The word “muse” is defined as 1. (in Greek and Roman mythology) each of nine goddesses, daughters of Zeus, who preside over the arts and sciences. 2. the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

As I said in part 1 of the album exchange, I think love is being used as an analogy for artistic inspiration.

Back to the album exchange…

Jimin talks about the way the rapline inspired him:

Jimin talks about vocal training and how often he spoke about vocals with Jk. He tells the story of having drinks with Jk and Yoongi, and stepping aside with Jk so that Jk could demonstrate something related to vocals. You can read a little more about that here. (This was of course separate from the other numerous times Jimin and Yoongi have gotten drinks together, just so there’s no confusion. They are drinking buddies after all! +)

Jimin and Joon discuss the military and the future. Joon says glowing things about Jimin to close out the album exchange.

To summarize, I feel like we learned a lot about Muse and its meaning. I do not think we were provided with clear answers to some of our questions, but that is by design.

Any thoughts you’d like to share about Muse or about the album exchange? I’d love to hear them!

[hiuythn]

Hello....If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them? Thanks....

this is such a delicious question ty for asking - i have a series made on ao3 here where i list all my 'recommendations' which is basically just the fics i enjoyed writing the most, or that i think stand on their own really well, besides the obvious fics that did really well (tnahp and president of krbk club).

reasons why i like those recommended fics specifically:

Reflex - the dialogue in this one just flowed out so easy when i was writing it. think i actually got possessed by the seijoh seniors here, they're so funny and i don't even think i can take credit for it, i legit think they possessed me to write 'a day in their life' fic

skin hunger - also think klance possessed me here, they're so funny and stupid in this i genuinely forget i wrote this and laugh at my own writing it's actually so egotistical 😅

katabasis - written when i was taking a greek mythology course and i got obsessed with the theme of katabasis 'journey to the underworld to retrieve what you lost' and also i was itching to write a proper angst kl death fic. really exercised my writing education here because for once i wasn't relying on surface-level jokes and was really trying to make it hurt. dunno if it succeeded but i had fun nevertheless!

tell me again, do you love me? - main reason why i love this fic is because of lance. he's so solid and grown in this fic, the way i always wanted him to evolve into, in the actual show. i love that i got to write a lance that was in love with keith, with his job, that would die for his team, and was just casual (if not slightly annoyed) by it all.

i can be needy (way too damn needy) - i just think bakugou deserves to relax and i think kirishima would be proud to be reliable enough to be a grounding rod/hero for the one gunning to be the number 1 hero

disarm me - i just think bakugou deserves to learn how to love and i think kirishima would combust to receive love from someone who's entire thing is Laser Focus Determination.

(jokes asides, i adore #5 and #6 for the exercise it gave me in trying to depict bakugou's complex emotions with inferiority, longing, desperation, and commitment, through his interactions with the people around him and specifically with kirishima)

7. make me your hero (surrender your crown) - this fic came out of left field. it's a video game fic, and so incredibly Not Serious. i was just getting tired of the harem!traveler fics and just wanted one where they were badass and frankly unnerving, instead. it's unlikely i'll finish it though - but it was super fun to write video game mechanics

and that's it! thank you for such a fun question, i had a great time answering these!! i welcome any and all questions about my fics

and obviously i like all the fics i post, otherwise i would not be posting them, but the above fics are cream of the crop for me personally

kind of interested to know if anyone has differing tastes - are there any of my fics that you guys think are particularly special to you personally? did any of the ones i listed surprise you?

[bluegekk0]

🦀

i was going to take this one literally and talk about fpk digging for crabs at the beach, or something of that sort. but then i remembered the "why does everything evolve into crabs" question and i felt inspired to talk about some worldbuilding. veeery loosely based on the emoji, so sorry if this isn't what you were hoping for haha

so i've mentioned before that wyrms in the au aren't god-like creatures and instead are the closest thing this universe had to dinosaurs. their ancestors were small, but they evolved to grow into massive sizes and slowly took over the planet. of all the gigantic species that once roamed the world, wyrms were the last, all thanks to their strange ability to stop aging. the lack of sufficient food drove them to intense intraspecies competition and cannibalism, and so they eventually all died out (with the exception of fpk, who found a way to adapt)

so if wyrms and other giant creatures were the dinosaurs, then i guess that makes the lesser creatures the mammal equivalents here. they outlived their ancient contemporaries and became the dominant group, as they evolved into all the different species that can be found today. the whole group is most commonly referred to as bugs, but many of them do not resemble our world's insects at all. funnily enough, many would likely be classified under vertebrate thanks to the presence of skeletal structures that allow them to reach larger sizes and bipedal body plan. not to mention, the bleed red in the au, so their inner systems are also different to those of insects

but where do the gods come into this? they are present after all. the way i imagine them in the au, their most accurate title would be "guardians". with some exceptions, like the radiance and unn, they are not creators of life forms. instead, they guide the mortals, leaving clues in form of lore tablets, and they each have their own domain they are responsible for watching over (like dreams for the radiance, and nightmares for grimm). as for where they came from, i'm not quite sure. perhaps the first god was a strange mutation, or an extraterrestrial being. i referred to grimm and wl as the youngest generation of gods, so perhaps they're like greek gods in this area, as if, they have children that then join the pantheon of gods. though i imagine the dream realm itself to be a bit more like asgard from norse mythology - it's a realm for all the gods to reside in, and each of them has their own "hall" - this case, their individual sub-realms. for example, grimm's nightmare realm was one of them, it was once part of the dream realm, but was separated from it following his banishment - he can only enter the nightmare realm and is unable to visit the shared dream realm

i'm still brainstorming how much that impacts their influence in the regions they haven't originated from. for example, i think grimm and the radiance came from the territory that is now hallownest and the neighboring regions, and i guess that would mean they hold the most power here, which makes sense. but since grimm can collect nightmare essence outside of hallownest, then it can't be limited to just this territory. i'll figure something out eventually, i think there are many directions to go in with this. and i like the idea of different regions having different "dominant" gods, so i'd love to explore and experiment with that

this is definitely in the confusing rambling territory but i've always enjoyed thinking of the world in the au in this kind of context. magic is interesting, but i've always been more drawn to, i don't know, i guess a speculative evolution/biology kind of direction? it's still in the fantasy territory since it doesn't match reality 1:1, but i guess i just enjoy having a slightly more grounded approach. well, aside from the gods hahaha

[banrionceallach]

There are on Audible a series (series is not exactly the correct term but whatevs) called The Great Courses and they are basically recordings of university course lectures by various different academics. Different series of lectures dealing with different topics are all available for 1 credit or €x.99 per 'course'/book. You know how audible works.

(Putting aside whether you should use audible at all if you can find these same recordings elsewhere, because audible is amazon and we all know what amazon is), I want talk about the ones narrated by Prof. Elizabeth Vandiver. The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid of Virgil and Classical Mythology.

These courses are discussions of Greek & Roman mythology (there being a lot in common or similar but with a twist, given the Roman habit of borrowing ideas from the Greeks (and lets face it, everyone else) and squashing/stretching them into a shape that suits Roman culture and ideals.

So, the first three are twelve thirty-minute lectures each, with each lecture being a discussion on an aspect(s) of the ancient poem with emphasis on how it would have been received by it's ancient greek/roman audience and explanations on why modern reactions are informed by our culture and can be wrong-headed, because we are judging certain scenes while partially or completely lacking the context that would have been almost innate to an ancient greek/roman listener.

For example, I was vaguely aware of the major beats of the iliad from cultural osmosis i.e. Achilles argues with Agamemnon, throws a strop over his concubine being taken away, refuses to fight which results in things going badly for the Greeks. Odysseus, Ajax and some other guy try to talk him into fighting again, but they can't. Things continue to go badly for the Greeks, Patroklus manages to convince Achilles to lend him Achilles' armour after which things briefly go well for the Greeks before Hector enters the field and things go extremely badly for Patroklus. Achilles subsequently goes absolutely berserk with grief and things go horribly for Hector in particular. Achilles indulges in horrible desecration of human remains until Hector's father Priam begs for the return of his son's corpse. Achilles relents. Hector gets a funeral. End of poem.

I did not truly comprehend until listening to the lectures on the iliad, why Achilles is not just 'throwing a strop'. He's not just being a sulking jerk. The explanation Prof. Vandiver gives of the ancient concept of Kleos illustrated that Agamemnon has actually not only grievously insulted Achilles, he has called into question much of the motivation for fighting in the first place.

Anyway, to move on and tldr this a bit, the same thing occurred repeatedly as I listened to the lectures on the Odyssey and the Aeneid. I learned so much I didn't previously know about ancient greek and roman cultures and their particularly important cultural concepts which cast the events in the poems/stories in much more tragic light and the actions of the characters were much more relatable given the added understanding I gained from learning the greater context. It also added humour because once you have correct context it turns out that Homer and Virgil like a joke as much as anyone else.

I am currently listening to the 'Classical Mythology' set of lectures which deals with a selection of different stories/myths rather than one long epic poem in particular like the first three.

To tldr this again: If you were even vaguely interested in Greek and Roman mythology as a kid, these lectures are fascinating. Having listened to the first three I am now trying to find translations of the actual poems to read/listen to myself.

[seikilos-stele]

What’s in a Name?

I’m not sure that I ever titled one of my asks before, but after pondering this particular topic, I think that I will start incorporating titles much like we do fics.

For about a year, I had the orphaned title of a fic, A Thing of Beauty stuck in my head. It was an orphan due to the fact that the title was so suggestive for a horror fic, that I could not due it justice. The title stole the thunder of the fic that never was. (Actually, I did eventually write/publish the fic as part of a group challenge, but its best that it remain lost to time 🤣) It set me to thinking about just how important naming a fic really is, so this brings me to the master of fic namers, @seikilos-stele . More familiarly known as Drac.

Welcome back to the Askers Studio™️ Drac, it’s that time again to rummage my brain and pick yours 🤣! Last night, when we were discussing ideas for a new fic, you almost halted mid-sentence and declared that once a name was chosen for this fic, it would practically write itself (which turned out to be true) Now, over the last few months, I have had a sneak peak at the process by which you go about choosing fic names & I have also experienced the gob-smacking significance of those names at varying points in your fics.

I am going to list three of the most profoundly named fics of yours below, and I would like you to tell us at what point they were named, whether the fic induced the name or the other way around. Or anything else you would like to add. I will add that either you have a repository of Shakespeare, poems, and Latin tucked away, or you have incredible recall abilities.

1. The Ferryman

This title was very subtle It does not occur to the reader until the very end, and then it becomes shockingly obvious. Since I had to make an illustrated map of Greek mythology, it was all to apparent who/what we were talking about: Charon. So many questions plagued me about this title/end!! Did you construct a whole fic around this poignantly connected title/ending?? This ranks in my top 5 of your fics, it is by no small part due to the title-end connection.

2. Out of the Woods

Welcome to my all-time favorite fic by Drac. Now, this title sneaks up on you fairly quickly. In fact, @coruscantiscribbler and I were reading it at the same time, and I gave my very elaborate geusstimation of what I thought was going on, and it turned out to be correct. But folks, my very clinical x-section of the plot did not due justice to the beauty & passion that was the fic, itself. The title is a phrase that I use all the time at work. I didn’t have to overthink it…the scenario was dire enough to remove all doubt

3. Requiscant

And here it is: the masterpiece of the Art of Hunger franchise (I seriously think this group of fics deserve their own category in your catalogue) Requiscant in Pace. One does not have to be altogether familiar with Latin to know this one. Stroll by any grave in an Italian cemetery and one will see it on all the stones. So, this was on my mind as I read this fic. A certain anxiety was boiling over as I read chapter to chapter. Finally, I blurted out the truth as I saw it, in the comments. Nadia assured me that I was correct. This revelation is like like cold claws scratching you from the inside. I want to know the genesis of naming this fic in particular, because the title holds the key to everything about this fic. Joint decision? You? Nadia?

It has been a pure joy ruminating about this topic since last night. I cannot wait to read your long, in-depth answer.

As an aside, I would love for other fic writers to pitch in with their own experiences in naming their fics!

Welcome back, Drac.

It’s good to see you again!!

…so this brings me to the master of fic namers, @seikilos-stele . More familiarly known as Drac.

🥺💙

Last night, when we were discussing ideas for a new fic, you almost halted mid-sentence and decided that once a name was chosen for this fic, it would practically write itself (which turned out to be true).

Yes!! Actually, the fic is called “And Thou No Breath At All”, and it’s done now! You can read it here. It’s a dark parasitic horror for Legends Thrawn.

Okay, let’s see. I really wish I’d kept notes on how I came up with titles now 💀 A lot of the time, I just write a oneshot and pull the title out of my ass when it’s complete, or if I’m writing from a prompt list, I just lazily slap the prompt itself on as a title, no matter how bad it is. But keeping in mind that two of these fics are a few years old, I’ll try to answer.

For “The Ferryman”, (yes, after Charon) when I named the document I was working on, I chose this title as filler. I knew my story would involve Ascendancy-era Thrawn receiving mysterious photographs of his childhood, and that he would visit Rentor with Ar’alani, Thalias, Samakro, and Che’ri to figure out where these photographs came from and who was sending them. I knew that the photos would eventually be revealed as coming from Thrass, and that the fic would explore Thrawn’s grief for his brother.

The rest wasn’t planned yet. It’s one of those stories where everything unfolds as you’re writing it. So the title definitely informed the rest of the fic. Because the WIP had “THE FERRYMAN” written on the header in big bold letters, whenever I finished a scene and wondered, “What should I do next?” I would glance up and start brainstorming about death. That’s how I got to the worldbuilding about Rentor’s local sea otters that ferry the souls of the dead across the sea; and that’s how Ar’alani and Thrawn end up in his childhood home, examining the little carvings that Thrawn’s dead father made of his children … and now Thrawn is the only survivor. That’s also how we came to see the shroud ceremony on the ice and finally the family fishing weights that were released into the sea in memory of Thrass.

For this fic, the title definitely informed and influenced the story itself. If I’d given it a temporary name like “Thrawn visits Rentor” or “Chiss family vacation” it would be a much shorter story, though it would still have a sad Thrass-related ending. I bet it would only be about 1K, and it wouldn’t particularly stand out from my other short angst fics. But also, “The Ferryman” was only meant to be temporary! I didn’t personally like it, and I always feel like I’m cheating when someone mentions it. Like I turned in an assignment where I spelled my name wrong XD

2. Out of the Woods

I really like this fic too! I knew what this one would be called as soon as the plot-bunny popped into my head. And yeah, it definitely informed the story again. This was another long oneshot, so the whole time I was writing, I had “OUT OF THE WOODS” in the header, and that helped me form the theme: it’s not just a cute cottagecore Thrawn/Pellaeon fic where they’re retired; it’s not just a spooky horror story; it’s got to be a story of recovery and escape. 

So naturally, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Thrawn and Pellaeon are living in a false world of some sort, and slowly you uncover clues that one or both of them is trapped in a dream … or a neuromodulator … and all the pieces come together, and you realize this is a story about trauma and accepting help when you need it. Plus, with a pithy title like this, it makes it very easy to solidify your ending early on: Thrawn and Pellaeon will eventually leave their cottage behind and go out of the woods together. 

(I had “into the woods and out of the woods and home before dark” stuck in my head the whole time I was writing this)

3. Requiescat

This is my favorite AoH too! And my favorite title on this list! And the lamest story about how I picked it!

I asked Nadia to be sure, and she confirmed my memory. The story behind this one is:

Nadia: “Have you thought of a title?” Me: “I was thinking Requiescat. How does that sound?” Nadia: “Yes, good title!”

The sad thing is, I’m certain there’s more to it. I know I had a whole other title picked out initially. And I know I was reading something, and stumbled across a passage somewhere that made me think of this… but as you know there was a lot going on in my life when I was writing Requiescat, so I don’t remember the details.

(Unfortunately, this title had no bearing on the fic whatsoever. Nadia and I had already hashed out the whole plot in detail more than a year before I selected it to write because I was bored and it just felt right at the time.)

I did find this early version of the fic that might interest you. I think all of this got cut and rewritten when I sent it to Nadia. It involves a Leia who’s not tied up, and a simple cave instead of a kings’ tomb. 

****

Requiescat - a prayer for the repose of the dead

There was no light. 

When the Noghri pushed her inside, Leia fell to her knees. The harsh slate floor tore through her fine linen robes like they were nothing; in the darkness she could feel flecks of stone embedded in her skin, the hot sting of blood, but she couldn’t see it. Not yet. 

Behind her, a slab of stone slid into place, blocking off the last pale rays of sunlight. Shadow swallowed Leia whole. Strands of sweat-damp hair clung to her cheek; her own breathing was harsh in her ears. 

“Fitting, I suppose,” said a voice in the dark. 

Leia turned away. She placed her scraped palms against the makeshift door and pushed with all her might. It didn’t budge; it just left her shoulders sore and her elbows clicking. Straightening up she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She forced her emotion to swell and then dissipate: outrage, betrayal, a spark of fear, all of it faded away. In the emptiness that followed, there should have been the Force. 

There wasn’t. 

“Rukh is unusually intelligent for a Noghri,” said the voice in the dark: calm, cultured, bored. “And of course he’s been at my side for many years now. He was positioned perfectly both to understand the usefulness of my ysalamiri and to foresee a time when they might come in handy.”

The ysalamiri. Leia shifted until her back was against the stone slab. “He didn’t tell me he took an ysalamir with him,” she said. 

“Why would he?” Thrawn asked. “Who do you suppose he planned to use them against?”

His voice broke a little. Not from emotion. He was hoarse, ragged, barely audible. That was only to be expected. For the past twelve hours he’d had nothing to eat or drink. While Leia sat on the sidelines on Thrawn’s old throne, the Noghri saw to her every need, plying her with local delicacies, all their most-edible foods and pleasing beverages. And just meters away, at the same time, Thrawn’s naked body hung on the makeshift gallows, his arms and legs tied to wooden posts, the sounds of torture and rape filling Leia’s ears. 

He was supposed to be buried in here, or better yet, left on Honoghr’s poisoned plains for the birds to pick at his corpse. Leia wasn’t supposed to be in this stone tomb at all. 

“You’re awfully calm about this mess,” Leia spat.

Thrawn hummed from the shadows. “I’ve had twelve hours to come to terms with death,” he said neutrally. “You’ve had forty-five minutes. Give it time.”

In her mind’s eye, Leia could see the pale sun glinting off Rukh’s knife as he cut Thrawn’s gag. The rules of Honoghran execution were clear. First came public humiliation --— for someone like Thrawn, who’d poisoned Honoghr and deceived his loyal soldiers for so long, that meant rape. Twelve executioners took their turns. Next came torture. On some planets it was called death by a thousand cuts. The Noghri were a bit too bloody for that term. They used knives, teeth, claws. They tore flesh from the bone, cauterized the wounds to stop the prisoner from bleeding, paused whenever he lost consciousness to ensure he felt every blow. 

They left certain areas intact. His jugular. His genitals. His eyes, nose, lips, tongue. Those were saved for last. Those would be taken only when the dirt beneath him was so soaked with blood that it had become a muddy river. 

But when Rukh cut Thrawn’s gag and placed his knife blade at the root of Thrawn’s tongue, the Grand Admiral spoke.

Vader poisoned Honoghr, he said. Not me.

And the Noghri could smell the honesty in his blood.

With a low growl, Leia smacked the stone wall. On the other side, there was a scrabble of claws and a reptilian hiss. Ysalamiri. Deeper in the walls, crawling through the tunnels, there was something else: small local animals burrowing through the stone. Leia whispered a curse.

“Be calm,” Thrawn advised. Her eyes were adjusting now, and Leia could just make him out. The Noghri had laid his broken body out on a horizontal slab of stone. 

“Help me push,” Leia said. “If we work together…”

In the dark, two red slits appeared. Thrawn had opened his eyes.

“Help you push?” he repeated, a smile in his voice. “Come closer.”

Leia almost didn’t obey. But what did she have to lose? She pushed to her feet and crossed the cramped tomb slowly, careful not to trip over the uneven floor. Thrawn’s eyes put off a dim glow, but it wasn’t much use to her --— not until she was so close that every breath filled her lungs with the thick reek of blood and charred flesh. Thrawn’s eyes met hers, but his head didn’t move.

“This is all I can manage,” he said. “My lips. My eyes. Nothing else.”

Leia looked down at his body. It was wrapped tight in a linen shroud now, his wounds hidden from sight, but Leia knew what lurked just beneath the stained cloth. Massive strips of muscle had been stripped from his shoulders, his legs, his torso. There was hardly anything left on his arms or chest. Beneath the scent of copper and smoke there was something else, cloying and green and artificial. 

“I thought they treated you,” Leia said, her voice coming out hushed. “When they took you away.”

Thrawn’s eyelids dipped. It was the closest to a nod that he could manage. “Rukh did,” he said. “He fed me an analgesic for the pain. He washed my wounds.” He met her eyes again. “What else can he do for me?” he asked. 

There was no self-pity in his voice. His tone was matter-of-fact and unbothered. But a cold shadow swooped up from Leia’s stomach and enveloped her heart at the words. She walked backwards, blind, until her back hit the door and she slid once more to the rough ground. She would die here. Thrawn would die first; he would succumb to his injuries. Then what would she do? Would she eat his body to stay alive, to buy whatever short moments she could grasp? How long would it take her to die of thirst?

Leia let out a long slow breath. She buried her face against her scraped knees and tasted blood.

“Peace,” Thrawn said, like it was an order. “You won’t be here long.”

Leia laughed to herself. “You have a rescue team coming?” she asked.

Surely he did. It wouldn’t take the Imperials long to reach Honoghr. A few days, at most. But Thrawn didn’t bother to answer the question directly; perhaps he realized that Imperial capture for her wouldn’t be much better than being entombed.

“You have a rescue team coming,” he said. “Your brother will be here before the Chimaera arrives.”

“Excellent,” Leia said sharply. “So the Noghri can strip the Force away from him and throw him in here to die as well.”

Thrawn was silent for so long that it made her feel silly. She sniffed and raised her head, peering through the dark at him. Red light cast strange shadows over his face, but he didn’t look frightened, didn’t look irritated. His features were relaxed, eyes hooded. He looked thoughtful, composed … and suddenly Leia was aware of the way her lips were twisting, the ugly pinch of her eyebrows. She smoothed her face into a politician’s mask.

“The Noghri have no quarrel with your brother,” said Thrawn softly.

Leia swallowed another dark laugh. “He’s Vader’s blood, too.”

“But he did not lie to them,” said Thrawn. His eyes shifted away. Red light bounced off the tomb’s stone walls. “To the Noghri, Vader was a god. A god is permitted to be capricious, temperamental. If he poisoned Honoghr, then that was his right, and the Noghri will rationalize that they must have deserved it.”

Leia frowned. It made a certain amount of sense to her. There were old gods on Alderaan who tortured the mortals at will, cursed them with painful disfigurements, turned them into wretched animals. But…

“But then why would they punish you?” asked Thrawn, reading her mind. “Because in Noghri tradition, the gods do not lie. You lied to them; therefore, despite your divine blood, you cannot be a god.”

Leia wrapped her arms around her knees. “You lied to them,” she murmured.

“So I did. And here I am.” A quiet huff escaped from Thrawn’s lips. Maybe it was his version of a laugh; Leia couldn’t tell. “Besides,” he said softly, “I only sat on their throne. I was never their god.”

A damp chill rustled through the tomb. Leia swallowed, her throat so dry it clicked. The seam where the slab met the wall was near her left ear, but as hard as she listened, she still couldn’t hear anything outside. She wanted to hear the scream of a Y-wing’s engines, the shouts of frightened Noghri, the hum of a lightsaber. But everything outside was still and calm. 

“Are you…” she started. 

Red lights blinked on and off in the dark.

“Are you in pain?” Leia asked, her voice stilted. 

She listened for his breathing, but she couldn’t hear it. Too quiet. 

“No,” Thrawn said finally. He sounded younger now, less sure of himself. Like the show of concern put him on the back foot. Overhead, a pebble fell from the ceiling and there was a snuffling noise as a small, unintelligent animal poked its nose through a hole in the stone.

Would the air run out before they died of thirst? No, there was a breeze coming from the very top of the tomb. No light, but at least a little air. Leia shifted in her spot and kneaded her temples. Water dripped from the damp stones overhead, with one study droplet landing close to Thrawn’s ear. He couldn’t move his head away from the puddle that formed, and Leia couldn’t bring herself to help him; her limbs were heavy, her tongue frozen. 

“I have a message for you to deliver,” said Thrawn. 

A laugh bubbled into Leia’s throat. She closed her lips tight against it, but still, when she spoke, she could hear it in her own voice, harsh and ugly. “Last words for a lover?” she asked. 

“In a sense.”

Leia’s stomach rolled. When she blinked she saw Han’s soft smile, felt his callused hands against her skin. She could hear her children crying for her from a galaxy away and suddenly there was a sour gush of bile on her tongue. “Tell me,” she said. “I’ll memorize it.”

Red eyes bored into her through the shadows. What kind of family did Thrawn have? She didn’t think of Imperials as family men, certainly not high-ranking officers like him, but of course she’d danced with them at balls, shaken hands with their children, probed their wives for intel over tea. She imagined Thrawn with a child in his arms, and just an hour ago she would have laughed at the image, but now it made her feel sick. 

“For Voss Parck on Nirauan,” Thrawn said. “Tell him you come with my approval. Ask him about the Far Outsiders.”

Him. Leia sat up a little straighter, her eyes sharpening. The tightness in her throat faded away.

“Voss Parck,” she said. “A military colleague?”

“Yes,” said Thrawn. “An old friend. And a valuable ally in the coming war. You will need his assistance, his resources, if you wish to survive.”

The coming war, he said. Slowly, Leia got to her feet. She wove toward the glowing red lights of Thrawn’s eyes like she was in a daydream, and when she reached his side, she loomed over his body, her fingers clenched tight in the folds of her robes.

“What do you mean, the coming war?” she asked, her voice low. By instinct, she called to the Force, begging it to help her read him — but it didn’t answer. In the darkness, near the shell of Thrawn’s ear, something shifted — a glint of light shining off a carapace, a cave beetle scratching at his skin. It wasn’t the only one. His hair moved gently, subtly, as insect legs picked across his scalp. “You didn’t say anything,” said Leia in a murmur, biting back her horror. She brushed the beetles from his face, tried not to think about how futile it was, how many other creatures were waiting in the dark to feast on him while he lay paralyzed. A drop of cold water plopped down from the ceiling and splattered on the stone slab right next to Thrawn’s head. Dim, dull eyes stared up at her, expressionless: not wincing from the beetles, not thanking her for chasing them away. 

“There are forces in this galaxy -- outside this galaxy -- that could destroy entire systems in one sweep,” Thrawn said, his voice soft. Leia combed her fingers through his hair and then left them there, curled in Thrawn’s black, blood-matted locks. Her thumb stroked against his temple: cold skin, scraped and sore. “Forces that would destroy us, gladly,” Thrawn went on. “My people know of them. They’ve consumed everything there is to consume in their own galaxy; some years ago, they made their way across the border, into ours. I’ve seen the destruction firsthand.”

His voice fractured. His words folded in on themselves. His eyes closed, all light fading. 

“Work with the Empire,” he said in the darkness. “Find Voss Parck. He has resources you’ll need. Allies. Information.”

[megashadowdragon]

problems with athena in pjo

www . reddit . com/r/camphalfblood/comments/xztbi8/my_many_problems_with_athena_general/

Okay, part 4 of this series, because the gods have cursed me for my hubris and my work is never finished. This time, I’ll be explaining the problems I have with Athena’s portrayal in the books. , I simply don’t like the way Riordan chose to depict the goddess of wisdom.

In Greek mythology, my three favorite gods are Hades, Hestia and Athena, so to say I was disappointed with Riordan’s version of the goddess would be an understatement. To explain why, I will be comparing the book version with her mythological counterpart quite a bit. Let’s do this then, here are my problems with Athena in Percy Jackson:

1) She is unhelpful

In Greek mythology, Athena is considered the patron of heroes. While most gods have helped heroes from time to time (especially Hermes), Athena is the one who is truly dedicated to it. As the goddess of wisdom, she would often give advice to heroes, bless them or give them items.

A good example of Athena’s generosity is the story of Perseus 1.0. When Perseus is sent on a quest to slay Medusa by king Polydectes, Athena and Hermes give him gifts that will help on the mission. Hermes gives him a sword and winged sandals, while Athena gives him a reflective shield so that Perseus doesn’t have to look directly at Medusa. Without their help, he would have failed.

Another example of Athena being helpful can be found in the myth of the Trojan War, in a hilarious way. In the story, she blesses Diomedes and helps him see the gods fighting on the battlefield. She tells him to avoid all of the gods, except Aphrodite, who pretty much caused the war single-handedly. Athena basically put a target on Aphrodite’s back and left. It worked, too. Aphrodite was injured and had to leave the battlefield.

Besides Perseus and Diomedes, Athena has helped Heracles, Bellerophon, Jason 1.0, Cadmus and Odysseus. In The Odyssey, she’s actually the most important god.

Riordan’s Athena, on the other hand, doesn’t do much to help heroes. I recall her helping exactly twice, though calling the first example help is a stretch: when she disguises herself as a tour guide in Titan’s Curse and when she asks Hermes to tell Percy about the rivers and Annabeth about plan 23 in The Last Olympian. Here are the scenes in question:

The doors opened.

"Go right ahead, folks," the tour guide told us. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor."

I didn't have much choice but to go out with the group.

"And young man," the tour guide called. I looked back. She'd taken off her glasses. Her eyes were startlingly gray, like storm clouds. "There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."

The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving me alone.

"Bah," Hermes said. "Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn't know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I'm not sure."

"Anything else?" Annabeth asked.

"She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant."

Annabeth's face paled. Obviously she knew what it meant, and she didn't like it. "Go on."

"Last thing." Hermes looked at me. "She said to tell Percy: 'Remember the rivers.' And, um, something about staying away from her daughter."

I honestly agree with Hermes here, but more on that later. I hesitate to count Athena’s appearance in Titan’s Curse as help. Riordan made it look like she was helpful, but she really wasn’t. She didn’t tell Percy about the flying statues, she just fed him a useless platitude and left. The second time, though, she was actually useful, for the first time in five books.

I understand that Athena and Poseidon don’t get along and that Percy is his son, but you’d think the goddess of wisdom would be able to put that aside to help heroes save the world. Until book five, however, she is content doing nothing.

I also have to mention the many kids she has sacrificed to try to get the Athena Parthenos back. In Greek mythology, Athena had one son when Hephaestus tried and failed to assault her. Even with the horrifying origin of his birth, she adopted the child, yet Riordan's Athena has no problems sending her children to their deaths, one after the other.

2) She is petty

This might come as a shock to some of you, as Greek mythology is full of horrible stories, but Athena is a genuinely good goddess in the myths. The best example I can give to show how different she was from gods like Zeus and Aphrodite is the story of Arachne.

In Mark of Athena, Arachne tells Annabeth that Athena cursed her to be a spider out of envy. This version of the story, however, was told by Ovid, author of the Metamorphoses, who, bitter about being exiled by Augustus, rewrote already existing myths to paint the gods as more irrational and unfair.

In another version, when Arachne begins to say she is a better weaver than Athena, the goddess reacts by disguising herself as an old lady to talk to her. Arachne, not realizing she was talking to the goddess, continues to boast and says she’d challenge Athena to a contest if she could.

Athena reveals herself and accepts the challenge. The goddess creates a tapestry depicting the gods on Mount Olympus, while Arachne chooses to depict the gods at their worst, including the stories about Zeus and Poseidon. You know which ones. Offended by the subject, Athena destroys Arachne’s tapestry. The latter reacts by becoming depressed and attempting suicide. Athena saves her life by turning her into a spider, so she could still weave.

Gods like Zeus or Hera wouldn’t have bothered with any of this. They would have simply cursed Arachne on the spot. Not Athena. She gave Arachne every chance to learn humility, and only when she didn’t learn and tried to kill herself did she turn her into a spider.

Riordan’s Athena is not like this. She does a good job of disguising her pettiness as cold logic, but reason has nothing to do with her decisions. Killing Percy in Titan’s Curse was the wrong decision, both morally and strategically, for reasons I’ll explain in my next point, yet she still tried to get him killed, because he was a son of Poseidon who had become friendly with her daughter, and she couldn’t accept that. She does this right after he saved Annabeth, too.

She shows her pettiness once again in The Last Olympian, when she bothered to include “stay away from my daughter” in the message to Percy in the middle of a war. You’d think she’d have other priorities, but you'd be wrong.

I also have to talk about her hatred for the Romans. This one is understandable, but still wrong. Athena wanted Annabeth to genocide the Romans in MoA. Granted, she was unstable then, but I’m counting it, because I saw this scene not as Athena not being herself, but as her losing the ability to lie and keep her composure. Considering everything I saw of her before that moment, that was Athena at her most honest.

A goddess of wisdom should be able to overcome prejudices and see the bigger picture, but Riordan’s Athena is completely incapable of doing so. She is guided by hatred and contempt, which she disguises as cold logic and wise counsel. Riordan turned the goddess of strategy into a disingenuous Nemesis.

3) She is not smart, wise, logical or strategic

For a goddess of wisdom, Athena is wrong a remarkable number of times in the story. In fact, she's wrong more often than she is right.

I mentioned that killing Percy in Titan's Curse was, strategically, the wrong choice. Here is the logic I used to reach that conclusion: it is said in the books that fewer and fewer campers show up each year. Some disappear, some join Luke and some die. By Titan's Curse, there aren't that many left. If the gods had killed a demigod right after he helped save an Olympian, it would have been game over for them. Any shred of loyalty and goodwill Camp Half-Blood still had for them would have been destroyed. If Percy is left alive, they might lose. If Percy is killed, they definitely lose.

Athena must have known this would happen. She has enough foresight for that. She did it anyway, since her goal wasn't to save Olympus, but to spite Poseidon. Naturally, she condescendingly talks to Percy after the audience and defeats him in an argument. Impressive, isn't she? Somehow, she managed to beat a 14 year old in a debate. What an astonishing display of eloquence and knowledge.

Athena was also wrong in trying to prevent Percy and Annabeth's relationship. Not only would they not have survived without each other, Luke and Kronos could not have been defeated if Percy didn't love her so much , since that’s the only reason he stopped attacking Luke in TLO. Athena was so focused on Percy being a son of Poseidon that she didn't judge him on his own merits, like the real Athena would have done.

I must also mention the Romans. If Annabeth had listened to Athena and encouraged war, Gaea would have won and both camps would have been destroyed.

One cannot be wise and prejudiced at the same time. By putting her vendettas before the good of Olympus, the world and her children, Athena shows us that "goddess of wisdom" is just a title. Someone who actually shows wisdom in the books is Hestia. She talks to Percy without arrogance and calmly tries to nudge him into making the right choice in the end. Riordan's Athena doesn't seem to realize that it doesn't matter how right or smart you are. If you treat people poorly, they won't want to listen to you.

4) The brain children

This one is just personal preference. If you like the concept of brain children, that's fine, but I think it's needlessly complicated. The way I see it, all Riordan had to do to have children of Athena in the story was to have her children be adopted. Basically the same thing Artemis does with her Hunters, but without the oath of servitude and immortality.

Riordan had a precedent for this in the story I mentioned about Athena and Hephaestus, and it would have worked out perfectly. Athena could have simply adopted children she saw potential in. This would also explain why her children respect her so much.

As it stands, though, Athena creates magic brain children by having cool conversations with mortals, who she then forces to accept the children. I highly doubt every single mortal parent was on board with the idea of raising a demigod. Annabeth herself says that her father didn't want to, though that might have been her insecurity talking.

Riordan seems to have forgotten adoption is a thing. Artemis can adopt kids, so why shouldn't Athena, Hestia and Hera be able to? Their cabins don't have to be empty just because they don't get frisky with mortals.

The way Riordan portrayed Athena in the books was pretty shocking to me. Aphrodite and Apollo were depicted as good deities, despite their myths being full of examples of them being cruel, so why did Hades and Athena get portrayed as selfish, stupid and petty? They are two of the best gods in Greek mythology and Riordan ruined them for no reason. It’s a shame people didn’t get to see how awesome Athena is because of these problems.

So yeah, another essay done. Hope you liked it.

This post is sponsored by Poseidon. Get your very own pegasus by dissing Athena in the comment section.

One of the issues in the Book Series is that I think the whole Athena's mind-children should't existed. First, it's really mess up with the mortal parent never wanting children in the first place and having to deal with the responsibilities. Second, it didn't matched Athena's personality from Mythology (She is the Patron of Heroes). I think it would be better if Athena adopted children and turned them into Demigod of hers like the Familia idea from Danmachi. I think Athena might the Character from Mythology that Rick Riordan did the worst with portraying in Book Series considering he soften Poseidon a lot. Fun Fact: Poseidon actually have more Demigod and other Children compared to Zeus, have a bad temper compared to being light back and Zeus is actually more reasonable than Poseidon in the Mythology (Like the time where Poseidon and Apollo wanted to married Hestia).

[1] The whole mind-children in the Book Series, which is questionable since it's doubtful that every single mortal parent was on board and they might already be in a relationship. Athena could have simply adopted children she saw potential in. This would also explain why her children respect her so much.

[2] Her whole treatment of Percy, with her voting in the Council to killed him. I agreed that Athena could have a bad reactionship with Poseidon, but that didn't extend to his children. Like her Foster Father is Trition, Best Friend is Pallas, Theseus is a Divine Hero of Athens and many other cases.

[3] Medusa = The Author seem choose the version, which portrayed Poseidon in the best light, while Athena is still in the bad light. I think it would be cool if he went with the version that she is a Goddess that have to deal with her modern common portrayed. Then, there is a version of the Myth where she was always a monster in the first place.

[4] Arachne = The version of the Myth that I read from School is that she committed suicide and Athena saves her life by turning her into a spider, so she could still weave.

[5] Sending her many children to their death on that Quest. Athena is super helpful to Heroes and there is way too many times to listed out (Will be here all day). She handles out a lot of magical gifts in the Mythology.

[6] The whole Roman thing, Minerva is part of the Capitoline Triad (Big Three) in Roman Mythology, which is an upgraded. Her domains are also far more impressive than Athena's. She is the Goddess of Wisdom, War, Poetry, Medicine, Weaving, Crafts, Justice, Law, Victory, Art, Schools, Strategy, Science, Trade/Commerce and Magic.

[7] Minerva, her Roman Counterpart is still a War Goddess and is highly respected. Pompey Magnus even erected a temple to Minerva in Rome using the spoils of war from his conquest in the east and dedicating those spoils to the Goddess."

Athena canonically instigated every single civil war and rebellion in western history (yeah...that is a thing) because of her statue being stolen by the Romans. It definitely wasn't a test.

"

"Athena is a bitch in myths but when she wants to get things done, she gets it done. See Athena loading Perseus with so many weapons, loading Diomedes with weapons and fighting by his side when Ares tried to kill him, saving Heracles as a baby, helping him in half of his labors and his various side quests, arguing on Odysseus's behalf to Zeus to stop Poseidon from torturing Odysseus, giving Asclepius the ingredient for his death cure, etc.

By contrast, Athena's aid to her children to get her statue back consists of nothing but tossing a coin at them for over two thousand years.

"TOA confirmed that there isn't any restriction, just the gods don't give a shit. And even with the restrictions we see in canon, the gods could and have made the quests a lot easier. Ares gave Clarisse a frickin battleship (with celestial bronze ammunition and undead zombie crew to boot) and Posiedon gave Percy magic teleporting pearls that apparently even Hades in his own domain can't stop."

Zeus breaking his oath which never happened in myths and is one of the few consistent characterizations about him. Then there is the end of The Lightning Thief where Ares, proudly states in broad daylight that he's the one that planned out the entire Olympian Civil War...and yet Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades didn't just teleport right there and beat the immortal crap out of him for daring to steal their weapons (we know at least Hades should know since his Furies were watching the whole thing).

The Sea of Monsters has Zeus blamed Chiron, whom Zeus trusted enough to personally bring back to life to train his children, of all people for poisoning the pine tree which is something that I can't see Zeus from Greek myths doing. Then there is fucking TANTALUS being raised from the dead to replace him...you know the guy that is universally despised by the Olympians for being a child-killing cannibal.

"

[pixies-and-poets]

I have some SPM questions for you 🥰❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💟🖤

1. Who is your favorite Pixel, why?

2. Who is your favorite Ancient? (Merlumina, Merloo, Merlight, etc.)

3. Favorite level?

4. Why would you live in Flopside rather than Flipside? Would you ever visit me in Flipside if you found out about the Flip-floppery? 🤣

5. If you could visit any level, which level, and why?

6. Who in the game do you think would be your bestie?

I have a zillion more, but I'll save for another day 😘

1. Ok so, aside from Tippi because that's too easy lol (she's actually an important role model character for me!) I'd have to say I really like Thudley. It's silly but I just love his face, and the whole girth obsession gets me laughing every time (especially if you're playing as Bowser). I think of him every time I read or hear (or write) the word "girth".

I mean look at this guy, how can you not love him.

2. If we're only talking about actual Ancients and not their still-living descendants, then... Merlumina's unnamed sister who delivered the pure heart to the first King Sammer and fell in love with him. They had 100 kids which is presumably why the king now keeps 100 guardian warriors traditionally. And I mean damn girl!!! (I actually love Sammer's Kingdom and even the whole silly challenge, and the Sammer Guys and all their names, so... thanks to her)

3. Probably the Underwhere; I enjoy Greek mythology and love the concept of the Mario world having an underworld like this. The aesthetics and music are amazing and evocative, the "family trees" in the background in particular. Technically 3-4 (Fort Francis) is my favorite level for its humor and references, but the Underwhere is the best location.

4. Flopside just fits my vibes better... It's a more melancholy and laid-back place, and it feels like Flopside residents are usually the less successful ones, or the ones that have had a somewhat harder life, between them and their Flipside counterparts. I always feel like I am a less "successful" version of the person I could have been if I'd made different choices or magically didn't have to deal with my Brain Problems or the heart condition I was born with which robs me of a lot of energy. Nevertheless, I am pretty happy with my own life these days, even if the Flipside version of me (Yentruoc) went on to be a famous author and children's book illustrator like I once dreamed about. (I do like Flipside too though so of course I'd visit!)

5. I would visit Castle Bleck if that was an option; I want to see what it would feel like to exist in such an oppressively dark and colorless place, but I do think it's aesthetically fascinating and beautiful in its own way as well. Since I love the Bleck crew, their existence in the castle has captured my imagination for almost 16 years now! So I would love to see what it's actually like where they dwelt, and how accurate my imaginings were. I've doubtless thought about it more than any other place in the game so it would be mind-blowing to actually go there. But if that's not an option.... Well, I love Sammer's Kingdom like I said before, and it seems fun lol

6. I like to think I'd get along with Nastasia and we could commiserate on secretary type stuff.... Honestly I feel like Squirps captures the chaotic energy of myself and a lot of my friends but he's also a kid so it would be weird if he was my actual bestie lol. But I would happily babysit him any time. If he kept a similar personality into adulthood, we would totally hang out and yell excitedly about things and eat chocolate and give things weird names. Ok what I'm figuring out is that I may just have the personality of a kid LOL

[bookswordsworlds]

REVIEW - Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Writers: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Artists: Phil Jimenez (#1), Gene Ha (#2), Nicola Scott with Annette Kwok (#3)

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  -  A beautiful journey into mythology. 

I picked up this series when it was first published in November of 2021, and it has sadly sat on my shelf since then. Why I foolishly waited so long to read this limited series is beyond me, but I’m glad I had the foresight to buy it. 

At the time, I was trying to scoop up as much of DC’s Black Label as I could. Black Label allowed DC to reprint issues that had been published under other imprints (like the discontinued Vertigo imprint), but it also allowed DC to publish stories with its cannon of superheroes and villains aimed at mature audiences. 

Aside from the sometimes naked goddess Aphrodite and a little violence, the mature label on Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons stems more from the fact that this is a very different comic story. Ultimately, this is a reimagining of the formation of the Amazons and Hyppolyta’s ascension to the role of Queen of the Amazons. 

Those looking for Wonder Woman will be sorely disappointed - she doesn’t show until the final pages of the final issue - as this isn’t Diana’s story but rather that of Hyppolyta and the Amazons. 

For those looking for Diana’s story, there is a DC Black Label book called Wonder Woman: Diana’s Daughter that may focus a little more on Diana. It’s got a TBD publishing date though. Ultimately, nothing is likely to top Wonder Woman: Dead Earth by Daniel Warren Johnson, published under Black Label in 2019. 

While there is little in Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons to satisfy the traditional comic fan, this is a magnificent book that everyone should read. Some have criticized it for being an overly feminist presentation of the story, but I have to question what those people are doing reading Wonder Woman in the first place. 

The story does get a little thick at times - there is a whole pantheon of gods, goddesses, and Amazonian tribes to keep track of - but it is a masterful story, and the art is something I’ve rarely seen in a comic. It looks more like an illuminated mythological text than anything. My only real criticism is that I wanted more, and it seemed like DeConnick probably could have fleshed this out to at least double the length. 

Favourite Moment? Hyppolyta’s journey as the very human heart of a story of gods and goddesses. 

Who Should Read It? Anyone interested in Greek mythology. Comic fans looking for work pushing the boundaries of the medium. 

Rating & Content Concerns? 14A. As noted, Aphrodite often appears naked or in a state of undress, and there is a fair amount of violence (including one complete dismemberment). There is some discussion of sexual slavery but nothing detailed. This goes a little beyond what 14A might be on TV or in film but not by much. 

Would I Read the Next Installment? I would kill for a follow-up. I’ll definitely take a closer look at DeConnick’s work when I have the chance. 

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Writers: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Artists: Phil Jimenez (#1), Gene Ha (#2), Nicola Scott with Annette Kwok (#3)

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐  -  A beautiful journey into mythology. 

[roosterbox]

Tagged by the always fabulous @lolahardy

Vielen Dank, meine Freund

1. Are you named after anyone?:

For my birth name, not that I know of. For my chosen name… kind of? I based it of a game i played when I was a youngster.

2. When was the last time you cried?:

Uhhhhh last month, when one of my birds died. Didn’t cry too overmuch, but it counts.

3. Do you use sarcasm?:

Occasionally, though I was a real lil shit about it when I was a teenager. Nowadays, I can at least sometimes read the room.

4. What's the first thing you notice about people?:

Physically, eyes or legs. Non-physically, their kindness.

5. What's your eye color?:

Brown. Just kinda generically brown.

6. Scary movie or happy ending?:

oooooh tough one. Can I get a scary movie with a happy ending? I love both so. Eh, between the two, scary movie i guess…

7. Any special talents?:

Aside from the fact that I absorb random facts like a sponge? I have a decent memory for faces. Like if you show me some rando actor I might not be able to tell you his name, but I CAN tell you that he was in an episode of Law & Order in the early 2000s. Just give me a minute or two to scroll through my massive mental rolodex, lol. Also, procrastination. “But that’s not a talent!” I hear you say. Well when you’re as good at it as I am…

8. Where were you born?:

The USA. Washington state, specifically.

9. What are your hobbies?:

Reading, Writing, Videogames

10. Do you have any pets?:

Two; a Bird (sun conure), and a dog (Border mix)

11. What sports do you play/have played?:

If you knew me, you’d know what a silly question this is, lol. I am very soft, in more ways than one.

12. How tall are you?:

5 feet 6 inches; last i checked, i was 169 cm (nice!)

13. What was your favorite subject in school?:

History, easy. Also took a Greek Mythology class for my senior year, and that was awesome.

14. Dream job?:

Something that could comfortably sustain me while being fun and enjoyable, and also no dealing with the public. That really narrows it down.

Tagging… @mister-eames @niniblack @a-swarm-of-crabs @ikeracity @5ftjewishcactus

If y’all want to, of course. No pressure ❤️

[wokeuptraveledstraightintothesun]

started this in the tags but it got too long so post time it is !!

my BELOVED science teacher is like this, he runs the class like a DnD game and makes it fun !!! When you’re a freshman he puts on characters every other week to teach you about the newest unit, he does voices, it’s SO cool, and you get to make your own characters, get xp, gold, items, etc etc etc

(hiding the rest behind a keep reading because it turns into personal anecdotes and it’s long)

(He’s still doing that no matter what grade you’re in but i don’t know if some freshmen got to him or something but he doesn’t do characters anymore :( still does silly voices and accents whenever he wants to emphasize something though !! Also unrelated he can do a perfect squirrel impression he’s so cool)

However what he also has, aside from mob battles, is guilds. We have like 5 in our class i think ?? The only names I remember are “Five recently released guys” “gyatt” (showing my age) and “the final braincell” which is the one i’m part of :3

and sometimes, he has events in which the losing guild has to give up a member to the winning guild, which has caused two (2) guilds to disband due to a lack of people

and at the end of a unit, we have two options, do a packet, or do a thing called dungeon delving

And my completely definitely 100 percent neurotypical group always chooses dungeon delving . Because. Of course we do. and we ALWAYS go for the highest level whenever we can, because hubris demands it. My Greek mythology friend even named her character Hero because of it (I forgot what i named mine but it was very silly) and because i have a better weapon than her, i would always charge right into the orcs and goblins ahead of her, leading her way and encouraging her hubris while the rest of the guild would be smart and stay back. I will always remember one game where literally everyone took damage except for me and it was wonderful

the way this actually pertains to actually reviewing and learning things is that we always have to answer questions to get action points :) we can give each other action points if we want to, so one day, seeing as i had the best weapon, i had an amazing thought. Every 3 APs would give me two rolls of d6 damage (1 AP was 1 roll and 3(?) movement, 2 was 6 movement), so you know what that means. Everyone pools their APs to me, giving me 9 AP it was gonna be amazing, six rolls of d6, and then suddenly my teacher goes ‘what’re you guys doing here why are you rolling so much‘ and i laid out my brilliant plan, already knowing something was wrong with it a you could tell because i was laughing like an idiot and then he tells us we can’t roll damage more than twice :(

don’t worry we pulled through that and i now have a health potion for it and someone else also has a weapon of my level so we don’t have to rely on me to do all the damage :D

Also he uses emoticons like ^_^ and peace and love on planet earth i wish i could post the document where he keeps his rules because he has a list of past guilds and one of them is just The Communism Guild and it’s . Amazing. shrek gives you advice on how to dungeon delve. He has an mspaint style genie version of him on there somewhere. Terraria Taxman is leading the Capitalist guild. dr pepper also gives advice on dungeon delving.

my prof just explained on the syllabus that he’s included more pionts in the class than we needed to pass, so we could skip up like?? 20 small assignments/quizzes/participation!! and still get a very high grade!!

the idea was that we could focus on assignments that played to our strengths - only do the participation stuff if we like to talk out loud - only do the quizzes/readings if we want to do the class remotely - only do online discussions if we like to talk and share opinions but struggle with anxiety in class ect.

and that’s cool enough but then he pulled up DnD character sheets with drawings he’d done of these hypothetical student player classes and how our various accessibility needs could be gamified to ‘max out’ different aspects of the class to get high grades and like!!!!!

hell yeah!!!! let’s treat accessibility in higher education not just as a necessity but as the fun, engaging, and creative aspect of learning that it is!!! I love this!!

[audiothoughtsandmisc]

There are on Audible a series (series is not exactly the correct term but whatevs) called The Great Courses and they are basically recordings of university course lectures by various different academics. Different series of lectures dealing with different topics are all available for 1 credit or €x.99 per 'course'/book. You know how audible works.

(Putting aside whether you should use audible at all if you can find these same recordings elsewhere, because audible is amazon and we all know what amazon is), I want talk about the ones narrated by Prof. Elizabeth Vandiver. The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid of Virgil and Classical Mythology.

These courses are discussions of Greek & Roman mythology (there being a lot in common or similar but with a twist, given the Roman habit of borrowing ideas from the Greeks (and lets face it, everyone else) and squashing/stretching them into a shape that suits Roman culture and ideals.

So, the first three are twelve thirty-minute lectures each, with each lecture being a discussion on an aspect(s) of the ancient poem with emphasis on how it would have been received by it's ancient greek/roman audience and explanations on why modern reactions are informed by our culture and can be wrong-headed, because we are judging certain scenes while partially or completely lacking the context that would have been almost innate to an ancient greek/roman listener.

For example, I was vaguely aware of the major beats of the iliad from cultural osmosis i.e. Achilles argues with Agamemnon, throws a strop over his concubine being taken away, refuses to fight which results in things going badly for the Greeks. Odysseus, Ajax and some other guy try to talk him into fighting again, but they can't. Things continue to go badly for the Greeks, Patroklus manages to convince Achilles to lend him Achilles' armour after which things briefly go well for the Greeks before Hector enters the field and things go extremely badly for Patroklus. Achilles subsequently goes absolutely berserk with grief and things go horribly for Hector in particular. Achilles indulges in horrible desecration of human remains until Hector's father Priam begs for the return of his son's corpse. Achilles relents. Hector gets a funeral. End of poem.

I did not truly comprehend until listening to the lectures on the iliad, why Achilles is not just 'throwing a strop'. He's not just being a sulking jerk. The explanation Prof. Vandiver gives of the ancient concept of Kleos illustrated that Agamemnon has actually not only grievously insulted Achilles, he has called into question much of the motivation for fighting in the first place.

Anyway, to move on and tldr this a bit, the same thing occurred repeatedly as I listened to the lectures on the Odyssey and the Aeneid. I learned so much I didn't previously know about ancient greek and roman cultures and their particularly important cultural concepts which cast the events in the poems/stories in much more tragic light and the actions of the characters were much more relatable given the added understanding I gained from learning the greater context. It also added humour because once you have correct context it turns out that Homer and Virgil like a joke as much as anyone else.

I am currently listening to the 'Classical Mythology' set of lectures which deals with a selection of different stories/myths rather than one long epic poem in particular like the first three.

To tldr this again: If you were even vaguely interested in Greek and Roman mythology as a kid, these lectures are fascinating. Having listened to the first three I am now trying to find translations of the actual poems to read/listen to myself.

[classicslesbianopinions]

Okay, I have read through the blog and tried to grasp it, but I still don’t quite get it, so I’m going to try to rephrase my question so I get a better response this time.

What exactly do you take issue with in the modern use of Greek myth? Like definition of fandom aside, what do you wish people would stop doing? Because just generally seeming famdomification as bad is so broad. Give examples if that would help. (Yes I’ve read pretty far down on this blog, i don’t have time to read the whole blog, but if there’s a post I’m missing could you tag it in the response this time please?)

thank you for reading through the blog a bit, i do appreciate it. if i sound short in other replies it's just because the internet can be exhausting and i am fundamentally an exhausted person to begin with. i think i understand your question better now though.

so, a specific example and the place this all started would be hades and persephone. people take specifically the myth of hades capturing persephone and try to turn it into something romantic, despite the fact that the earliest sources for the myth portray it as explicitly nonconsensual. i remember back in my early days on tumblr, there were a lot of posts about how hades was the best god because he just kind of hung out in the underworld and left everyone alone, or posts joking about hades and persephone's relationship in a very cutesy kind of way. and today we have retellings like lore olympus, that explicitly romanticize the dynamic of an older man and a younger women (unless i'm misremembering).

in these examples, people took the bit of the myth that was light or easy to understand and made it into their full understanding of the myth. and then people who hadn't engaged with the myth outside of tumblr thought they knew how it went, and would talk about it authoritatively. but this is concerning because the myth itself is actually pretty heavy, and engages with traumatic subject matter, and erasing that from the story is erasing a major part of the culture and time it's from.

the other thing is, people start to treat greek mythology like it's a fandom with just one original "canon." this isn't how mythology/oral tradition works, nor is it how the greeks would have conceptualized their religion. and then again people start saying that their version is "correct" when 1. they've gotten it from other people on the internet and 2. there is literally not one "correct" version of any myth, even if their interpretation is rooted in a primary source.

generally speaking, i think people need to meet myths on their terms-- like, it's important to think about how these stories would have been told and received in ancient times and how that compares to how they're told and received today. we need to read old stories with the intent of understanding them before we read them with the intent of transforming them. and i think fandom often looks for ways to transform works before it looks for understanding why works are the way they are to begin with. (which i just say from personal experience.)

i hope that's a little clearer! it's also worth noting that the original post was, like, a one-line semi-joke, but like. i do stand by it obviously