#battle hymn of women

[lightdancer1]

Julia Ward Howe is mostly famous for a particular song:

After John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry there was a wartime marching song called "John Brown's Body". The song and the melody were adapted by Mrs. Howe into another, equally famous song called the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

"In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. As he died to make men holy let us die to make men free! For God is Marching on!"

Quite a banger song, I might note. Howe was also one of those feminists who after the War of the Rebellion endorsed the Fifteenth Amendment, which became a major faultline in the movement. Equally unfortunately she and William Lloyd Garrison were the only prominent white abolitionists to endorse the amendment and to believe that expanding suffrage needed to be done as a first step and then extended to women.

Other suffragists said "Fuck that, if we don't get the vote those REDACTED ain't gettin' it either."

[historysisco]

January 28, 1908: Author and activist Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910) is the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Howe was born in New York City to New York City Banker Samuel Anderson and poet Julia Rush Ward. Being from an affluent family, Julia traveled in social and literary circles that included writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1862 her poem "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was published in the Atlantic Monthly. The poem is considered by many as being the anthem for the Union army.

After the war, Howe shifted her focus to Women's suffrage. She was part of the founding of several suffrage groups as the New England Suffrage Association (1868), the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association and the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). After leaving the NWSA, she and Lucy Stone found the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). Julia also lectured throughout the country for the improvement of women's education and for increased opportunities for women in the workforce. She continued to write and publish books up to the time of her death in 1910.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters was established in 1898 as an honor society of leading architects, artists, composers and writers of the United States. The society's aim was for the "advancement of art and literature." The Academy is located on Audubon Terrace in Washington Heights.

#JuliaWardHowe #BattleHymnOfTheRepublic #AmericanAcademyofArtsandLetters #WomensHistory #WomensStudies #HERStory #WomenSuffrage #SuffrageMovement #LiteraryHistory #NewYorkHistory #NYHistory #NYCHistory #History #Historia #Histoire #Geschichte #HistorySisco

(at American Academy of Arts and Letters)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn9kPtku3Sy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[aliciavance4228]

Was Athena a Feminist or a Female Misogynist?

Athena is perhaps the one most famous goddesses from Greek Mythology, and was for a very long time considered a good role model for women and a feminist due to the fact that she's a smart woman who can fight in battles. However, there are also a lot of people who claim that she is in fact a female misogynist and consider her to be the original "pick-me girl" or "I'm not like the other girls" girl. And the fact that she's seen besides male heroes most of the time or the myths of Medusa and Arachne doesn’t make this situation any better.

And the very first problem in this equation is that people are using a lot of modern terms (and a modern mentality in general) in order to label a figure that was firstly mentioned thousands of years ago. So there's a LOT to unpack here.

The first mentions of Athena come from mycenaean mythology. Back then the place that later became Athens surpringly had a matriarchal view on society, which would explain why Athena as a female figures isn't depicted in a traditionally feminine way. But years have passed, and things have changed a lot both socially and culturally. Athens, despite of being one of the most developed cities from Ancient Greece, had a very patriarchal view on society, to the point where even the other cities considered it to over exaggerate. In order to understand just how misogynistic athenians were, they believed not only that the woman is a disfigured version of the man, but that men could find a way to reproduce themselves without the help of women and that the female is nothing but a vessel when it comes to reproduction.

The thing is that, while a lot of things changed in the Athens in time, the goddess that was the patron of that city remained the same. So the question that naturally comes is: If women are inferior to men, then why is our patron deity a goddess? And so, the only play which specifically depicts Athena as a female misogynist appeared: Eumenides. This play was obviously written by a male Athenian, and its pure intention is to answer to that question. In the Eumenides, Athena says this thing:

It is my duty to give the final judgment and I shall cast my vote for Orestes. [735] For there was no mother who gave me birth; and in all things, except for marriage, whole-heartedly I am for the male and entirely on the father’s side. Therefore, I will not award greater honor to the death of a woman who killed her husband, the master of the house. [740] Orestes wins, even if the vote comes out equal.

As you can observe from this quote, the dialogue is ment to confirm the ancient athenian perspective about reproduction, as well as their views on women in general. Despite the fact that Metis was supposed to be Athena's mother since she was pregnant with her when Zeus ate her, in this play she is completely erased and Athena has one single parent figure: Zeus.

In other words, Athena was clearly a product of the society that worpshipped her; a society that believed that traits such as high intellect or strenght cannot be attributed to women. It is up to you guys to decide wheter the Eumenides is canon to the rest of Greek Mythology or not.

However, aside from this particular play, Athena shows no ill-will towards women purely for their gender. She had a very close relationship with Pallas to the point where she even takes her name after she killed her by accident (Thank you, Zeus!), and acted as the big sis towards Artemis and Persephone, as it is suggested in Homeric Hymns to Demeter.

Furthermore, if you ever read the Iliad then you would observe that her interactions with mortal women are very different compared to those with Medusa or Arachne from Roman Mythology.

In the Iliad, Athena gifts Penelope in handicrafts, wiles, and storytelling, making Penelope an anti-Arachne due to the fact that she isn't punished by the goddess for her talents, but rather blessed for them.

Athena has endowed her above other women with knowledge of fair handiwork and an understanding heart, and wiles, such as we have never yet heard that any even of the women of old knew, of those who long ago were fair-tressed Achaean women— [120] Tyro and Alcmene and Mycene of the fair crown—of whom not one was like Penelope in shrewd device…

At the same time, we have the story of Cassandra and how Athena avenged her. Cassandra was brutally raped by Ajax the Lesser in her temple. She asked Athena for revenge, telling her what happened to her. Athena was absolutely livid, sent a storm to wreck the Achaeans' boats when they failed to kill Ajax, then destroyed his ship near the Whirling Rocks and left him to die, or lifted him in the sky during a storm and impaled him with her father's thunderbolt. At this point, Cassandra is an anti-Medusa, because she was avenged instead of being punished for being raped. Furthermore, in the original greek myths Athena herself was about to be raped by Hephaestus at some point. She was very aware of the fact that there's a difference between a woman who had sex on her own will and one that didn’t consent to it, so it makes no sense why she wouldn't help a rape victim.

Medusa and Arachne were later additions by Ovid, and their stories were anti-Authority Propaganda.

So instead of quickly coming to any sort of conclusion and deciding wheter or not Athena was a Feminist or a Misogynist, perhaps people should understand the fact that the situation was way more complicated as she was nothing more than a character that was depicted both according to the societal and personal views ancient greeks had on women (which were more or less different depending on the century and the poet), and that the answer is way more complicated than we think.

[wednesdaynn]

emergency buttons

KINKTOBER 2024

A/N: thinking about doing some more blurb type of kinktober fics, i feel like changing it up a bit makes it more dynamic. anyway tomorrow we finally get into the weird shit.

Summary: steve and you get tired of a party and make your own fun in the elevator. (i've given up on writing proper summaries, i know i can't do it well)

Warning: cunnilingus, rimming, butt stuff, etc...

Pairing: steve rogers x reader

kinktober: Rimming, Fingering/Handjob, Dry Humping

Your dress hugs your curves in all the right ways, Steve had told you so earlier. not that he needed to, his eyes betrayed his every thought. the way they skimmed over your figure, resting on your chest and thighs. He licked his lips and pulled at his bottom lip with his teeth. the blush on his cheek matching the shade of his luscious lips. 

You miss him, he’s been occupied with his fellow agents and others alike during the party Tony had organised for the recent victory of many conquered battles. He’s in the corner of the room, talking about god knows what to god knows who. You can see that he’s trying his best to stay interested in the conversation happening in front of him. But his eyes keep wandering over to you.

Your eyes meet again for the umpteenth time this evening and you shoot him a quick wink. You’re sitting behind the bar with a glass of sweet white wine in your hands. The glass is rimmed with your red lipstick, Steve’s favourite, and a coy smile on your lips. 

He makes quick conversation with the fellows he’s next to and claps on them on the shoulder before moving smoothly between the packed bodies within the room. His pace is quick, and he has a determined look on his face. Making his way towards you. Pulling out a stool next to you, he ushers the bartender over to him and orders a drink. You’re not paying attention to what he orders, your focus is solely on his hand which encases the drink. Strong and big. Memories flooding back to you. You cough softly, trying to erase the thoughts in your mind. 

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing here?” his sweet voice fills the air, like a soothing melody to your ears. You smile softly behind your glass, making eye contact with him. His eyes shift down to your lips and he licks his own subconsciously. 

“Came here for a good time, but it seems I'm at the wrong address…” he hymns at your comment and takes a sip of his drink of choice. The way they wrap around the rim so seamlessly and all you want to do is kiss him silly. “Seems like a waste of time then, huh?” he nods in your direction. 

“Seems like my night is getting better and better.” you flirt back with him, never your strongest suit, but Steve makes you feel like you can talk about making lasagna for dinner and he’d find it sexy. He turns his body around, facing you and he takes you in for a moment. 

The way you're leaning over the bar, delicate hands around the drink, your shoulders on display, perfect for marking up. Your skin is soft and glowing in the overhead lights. He couldn’t find you any sexier than you are right now. Teasing him and playing this game with him. In it for the long haul. Or that was the plan, but it seems like neither of you would be able to abstain from sin. 

The air around you felt different, the atmosphere created by the two of you was suffocating. Short breaths and shortening the distance. Steve takes a quick scan of the room. Scantily dressed women, men wearing half-assed outfits and everybody minding their own business, usually too busy with themselves to notice anybody else. He quickly gulps down his drink and holds out his hand for you to take. 

He drags you along through the crowd, excusing himself to anyone he accidentally runs into. Rushing out of the room. Your feet struggle to keep up with his. Walking through the long corridors, you make your way over to the elevator at the end of the hall. Impatiently you wait side by side, breathing uneven. Your hands are still intertwined and his thumb is rubbing circles into your skin. A sweet touch within a heated moment. Loved and cared. 

The elevator couldn’t come quickly enough and before you know it, he’s pressing you into the mirror at the side, the railing digging into your lower back, but you couldn’t care less. Not with Steve enveloping you entirely, his breath mingled with yours as he kisses you vehemently. His fingers dig into your side as your knee presses into his crotch, putting pressure on where he wants it the most. 

His kisses trail down to your neck and you throw your head back at the satisfying feeling, his lips leaving behind markings on your skin. You grab onto his hair and push him further into your neck, craving the feeling he was giving you. 

The elevator doors open and Steve's hand leaves your side to blindly reach over to the buttons, pressing the “closing doors” button and then continuing to the control buttons to stop the elevator from going anywhere else and being accessed by others. 

Oh shit. 

“Don’t worry, I don't think anyone would dare to look at the camera’s right now” he reassures you, moving his hands to grope your ass. Pulling you further into him, if that’s even possible. He bites your lips softly as he reconnects them, and intertwines his tongue with yours. Your taste is intoxicating him. Craving you, wanting to devour you alive. He feels ignited. 

He pulls away from you swiftly, and his hands find themselves towards your waist, flipping you around. You’re met with the view of both of you in the mirror. Steve looks imposing in the light, his towering figure behind you, cheeks rosy and his lips wet and red-bitten. His hair is a tangled mess on top of his head and he couldn’t look more like the picture of sex. 

You don’t look any better yourself, your dress seems to be hanging on by a thread, your hair seems to be going in every other direction and your lipstick is smudged, lipstick-kiss marks all the way down your neck. 

He kisses the top of your head in an affectionate manner before crouching down and sitting back on his knees. You can just see his head poke out in the mirror. He bunches up your dress in his hands and lifts it up over your hips. He kisses you softly on the back of your thighs. His hands knead at your pliable skin, feeling you up completely. 

He licks a stripe between the crease of your thigh and cheek and trails his mouth along the edge of your panties. The thin material is completely soaked and Steve couldn’t be happier. He could smell you through the fabric, and his resolve was crumbling down. His actions start to become rushed, almost completely ripping off your panties, his strength barely controllable. 

He rolls them down your legs, caressing your skin softly and leaving kisses behind in its wake. Goosebumps rise on your skin and all you can think about is what’s coming next. He slips down your lingerie off of your feet. 

Hands now free and your pussy on complete display for him to devour, he could see the slick catching on your thighs. Your hands are tightly gripped around the railing, anticipating. One of his hands pushes down on your lower back, pressing you further down, and your ass closer to his face, and he lets out a low growl at the sight in front of him. Your glistening pussy all for him. 

His hands grab your ass and spread it apart further, thumbing at your lips. Your hole twitches as he blows a breath on you, clenching around nothing and wanting nothing more than feeling him fill you up. 

He licks a stripe on your pussy, circling your clit as his fingers collect your slick to make sure they’re well coated. He inserts his middle finger and ring finger into you, slowly fingerfucking you open, making sure to stretch you open properly. 

Your breath fogs up the mirror at his administration, it makes your chest burn up. You feel your eyes drooping closed and your hands gripping at the railing in desperation needing to hold onto something while he fingerfucks you open. 

Steve ‘s tongue works wonders on your clit and he circles it and sucks on it. Your stomach feels like it is in knots. Caught up in the daze of this feeling, you push your ass back into his face and he just holds onto you tighter. 

His fingers scissor you open as he licks around your hole, and he sloppily makes out with your cunt and a mix of slick and saliva is coating his lips and chin, making a right mess out of your boyfriend. 

He pulls his finger out of your hole and drags it upwards and a gasp leaves your mouth. While you two had tried to venture out of your comfort zone while having sex, certain things had yet to be discovered. You had mentioned a couple of weeks ago you were interested in trying something new and Steve had been hesitant, clearly not anymore. 

“Can i?” he asks you sweetly while circling a wet finger around your hole and you desperately nod. He pushes his fingertip in, just slightly. Pushing past the rim of your hole. His tongue soon joins, licking around and dipping it in just slightly and you can hear him moan behind you. 

The wet muscle makes you keen as you feel it on your butt, and your hand reaches behind you to grab at Steve's hair to push his head further into you. Moaning at the feeling of him. The warmth of his mouth and the stretch of feeling both his tongue and finger entering you makes you twitch. Your stomach is doing twists and turns. 

He pulls his fingers out and pushes three of them back into your cunt. Slowly inching them in, scissoring you open, intent on making you cum. He licks and slurps and makes disgusting noises as he devours your ass. Wet noises fill the small space of the elevator. He curls his fingers inside of you hitting your g-spot. Massaging the spongy part of your cavern. Both your holes are thoroughly pleasured, with a burning sensation in your core. Slobbering up both your holes and everythings dripping down your legs.

You tighten your hold on Steve's hair as you feel your orgasm nearing, you push back against him, grind on his mouth and ride his finger as you get close. Steve moans into your hole and it’s all you need to cum on his face, slick pours out of you as you cum, thighs twitching and desperately clinging onto Steve and the railing in front of you. 

When you look back at yourself in the mirror in front of you, you see a fucked out face, your eyes are set low and your mouth open with heavy breaths coming out. And Steve stands behind you with a grin as he lowers your dress down. Panties sticking out of his breast pocket and his face is covered in you. 

“Ready for round 2?”

[beautyofaphrodite]

Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite

Translated by Gregory Nagy

Muse, tell me the things done by golden Aphrodite,

the one from Cyprus, who arouses sweet desire for gods

and who subdues the races of mortal humans,

and birds as well, who fly in the sky, as well as all beasts

5 —all those that grow on both dry land and the sea [pontos].

They all know the things done by the one with the beautiful garlands, the one from Kythera.

But there are three whose phrenes she cannot win over or deceive.

The first is the daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus, bright-eyed Athena.

For she takes no pleasure in the things done by golden Aphrodite.

10 What does please her is wars and what is done by Ares,

battles and fighting, as well as the preparation of splendid pieces of craftsmanship.

For she was the first to teach mortal humans to be craftsmen

in making war-chariots and other things on wheels, decorated with bronze.

And she it is who teaches maidens, tender of skin, inside the palaces,

15 the skill of making splendid pieces of craftsmanship, putting it

firmly into each one’s mind [phrên].

The second is the renowned Artemis, she of the golden shafts: never

has she been subdued in lovemaking [philotês] by Aphrodite, lover of smiles [to whom smiles are phila].

For she takes pleasure in the bow and arrows, and the killing of wild beasts in the mountains,

as well as lyres, groups of singing dancers, and high-pitched shouts of celebration.

20 Also shaded groves and the city of dikaioi men.

The third one not to take pleasure in the things done by Aphrodite is that young Maiden full of aidôs,

Hestia, who was the first-born child of Kronos, the one with the crooked mêtis,

as well as the last and youngest, through the Will [boulê] of Zeus, holder of the aegis.

She was the Lady who was wooed by Poseidon and Apollo.

25 But she was quite unwilling, and she firmly refused.

She had sworn a great oath, and what she said became what really happened.

She swore, as she touched the head of her father Zeus, the aegis-bearer,

that she would be a virgin for all days to come, that illustrious goddess.

And to her Father Zeus gave a beautiful honor, as a compensating substitute for marriage.

30 She is seated in the middle of the house, getting the richest portion.

And in all the temples of the gods she has a share in the tîmê.

Among all the mortals, she is the senior goddess.

These are the three [goddesses] that she [Aphrodite] could not persuade in their phrenes.

As for all the rest, there is nothing that has escaped Aphrodite:

35 none of the blessed gods nor any of mortal humans.

She even led astray the noos of Zeus, the one who delights in the thunder,

the one who is the very greatest and the one who has the very greatest tîmê as his share.

But even his well-formed phrenes are deceived by her, whenever she wants,

as she mates him with mortal women with the greatest of ease,

40 unbeknownst to Hera, his sister and wife,

who is the best among all the immortal goddesses in her great beauty.

She was the most glorious [kudos-filled] female to be born to Kronos, the one with the crooked mêtis,

and to her mother, Rhea. And Zeus, the one whose resources are inexhaustible [a-phthi-ta],

made her his honorable wife, one who knows the ways of affection.

45 But even upon her [Aphrodite] Zeus put sweet desire in her thûmos

—desire to make love to a mortal man, so that

not even she may go without mortal lovemaking

and get a chance to gloat at all the other gods,

with her sweet laughter, Aphrodite, lover of smiles,

50 boasting that she can make the gods sleep with mortal women,

who then bear mortal sons to immortal fathers,

and how she can make the goddesses sleep with mortal men.

And so he [Zeus] put sweet desire in her thûmos—desire for Anchises.

At that time, he [Anchises] was herding cattle at the steep peaks of Mount Ida, famous for its many springs.

55 To look at him and the way he was shaped was like looking at the immortals.

When Aphrodite, lover of smiles, saw him,

she fell in love with him. A terrible desire seized her in her phrenes.

She went to Cyprus, entering her temple fragrant with incense,

to Paphos. That is where her sacred precinct is, and her altar, fragrant with incense.

60 She went in and closed the shining doors.

Then the Kharites [‘Graces’] bathed her and anointed her with oil

—the kind that gives immortality, glistening on the complexion of the gods, who last for all time.

Immortal it was, giver of pleasures, and it had the fragrance of incense.

Then she wrapped all her beautiful clothes around her skin.

65 She was decked out in gold, Aphrodite, lover of smiles.

She rushed toward Troy, leaving behind fragrant Cyprus.

Making her way with the greatest of ease, high up among the clouds.

She arrived at Mount Ida, famous for its many springs, nurturing mother of beasts.

She went straight for the herdsmen’s homestead, up over the mountain. Following her came

70 gray wolves and lions with fierce looks, fawning on her;

bears too, and nimble leopards, who cannot have their fill of devouring deer,

came along. Seeing them, she was delighted in her thûmos, inside her phrenes,

and she put desire where their hearts were. So they all

went off in pairs and slept together in shaded nooks.

75 She in the meantime came to the well-built shelters

and found him [Anchises] left all alone at the herdsmen’s homestead,

that hero [hêrôs] Anchises, who had the beauty of the gods.

All the others [the other herdsmen] went after the herds, along the grassy pastures,

while he was left all alone at the herdsmen’s homestead,

80 pacing back and forth, playing tunes on his lyre that pierce the inside.

She stood before him, the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite,

looking like an unwed maiden in size of length and appearance.

She did not want him to notice [verb of noos] her with his eyes and be frightened of her.

When Anchises saw her he was filled with wonder as he took note

85 of her appearance and size of length and splendid clothes.

For she wore a robe that was more resplendent than the brightness of fire.

She had twisted brooches, and shiny earrings in the shape of flowers.

Around her tender throat were the most beautiful necklaces.

It [her robe] was a thing of beauty, golden, decorated with every sort of design. Like the moon

90 it glowed all around her tender breasts, a marvel to behold.

Seized with love, Anchises said to her:

“Hail, my Lady, you who come here to this home, whichever of the blessed ones you are,

Artemis or Leto or golden Aphrodite

or Themis of noble birth or bright-eyed Athena.

95 Or perhaps you are one of the Kharites, you who have come here. They are the ones

who keep company with all the gods and are called immortal.

Or you are one of those Nymphs who range over beautiful groves,

or one of those Nymphs who inhabit this beautiful mountain,

and the fountainheads of rivers and grassy meadows.

100 For you, on some high peak, in a spot with a view going all round,

I will set up an altar, and I will perform for you beautiful sacrifices

every year as the season [hôrâ] comes round. And I wish that you in turn may have a kindly-disposed thûmos towards me.

Grant that I become a man who is distinguished among the Trojans.

Make the genealogy that comes after me become a flourishing one. And make me

105 live a very long life and see the light of the sun,

blessed [olbios] in the midst of the people. And let me arrive at the threshold of old age.”

Then Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, answered him:

“Anchises, most glorious of earth-born men!

I am no goddess. Why do you liken me to the female immortals?

110 No, I am a mortal. The mother that bore me was a woman.

My father is Otreus, famed for his name. Maybe you have heard of him.

He rules over all of Phrygia, with its strong-walled fortresses.

But I know your language as well as my own.

The nursemaid who brought me up in the palace was a Trojan. Ever since I was a small child,

115 she brought me up, having taken me from my philê mother.

That is why I know your language as well as my own.

But then, the one with the golden wand, the Argos-killer [Hermes], abducted me,

taking me from a festival of song and dance in honor of Artemis, the one with the golden arrows.

There were many of us nymphs there, maidens worth many cattle as bride-price.

120 We were having a good time, and a crowd so large that you couldn’t count them was standing around us in a circle.

Then it was that the one with the golden wand, the Argos-killer, abducted me.

He carried me over many fields of mortal humans

and over vast stretches of land unclaimed and unsettled, where wild beasts,

eaters of raw flesh, roam about, in and out of their shaded lairs.

125 I thought that my feet would never again touch the earth, grower of grain.

And he [Hermes] said that I, in your bed, the bed of Anchises, would be called your

lawfully-wedded wife, and that I would give you splendid children.

But once he [Hermes] pointed this out and made note of it, straightaway

he went back, that powerful Argos-killer, to that separate group, the immortals.

130 I in the meantime reached you here, and there is an overpowering compulsion that I have in me.

In the name of Zeus, in the name of your parents, I appeal to you as I touch your knees.

Your parents must be noble, for base ones could never have conceived such a one as you.[12]

Take me, virgin that I am, inexperienced in making love [philotês ],

and show me to your father and to your caring mother

135 and to your brothers, those born from the same parents.

I will not be an unseemly in-law for them, but a seemly one indeed.

And send a messenger quickly to the Phrygians, trainers of swift horses,

to tell my father and my mother, however much she grieves.

They will send you plenty of gold, and woven clothing as well.

140 Take these abundant and splendid things as dowry.

After you have done so, prepare a lovely wedding-feast

that gives tîmê to both humans and immortals.”

After she said these things, she put sweet desire in his thûmos,

and Anchises was seized with love. He said these words, calling out to her:

145 “If you are mortal, and if a woman was the mother who gave birth to you,

and if Otreus is your father, famed for his name, as you say he is,

and if you have come here because of the Immortal Conductor [of psûkhai],

Hermes, and if you are to be called my wife for all days to come,

then it is impossible for any god or any mortal human

150 to hold me back, right here, from joining with you in making love [philotês],

right now, on the spot—not even if the one who shoots from afar, Apollo himself,

takes aim from his silver bow and shoots his arrows that bring misery.

Then, O lady who looks like the gods, I would willingly,

once I have been in your bed, go down into the palace of Hades below.”

155 So saying, he took her by the hand. And Aphrodite, lover of smiles,

went along, with her face turned away and her eyes downcast,

towards the bed, all nicely made, which had already been arranged for the lord,[13]

all nicely made with soft covers.[14] And on top lay skins of

bears and lions, who roar with their deep voices,

160 which he himself had killed on the lofty mountainsides.

And when they went up into the sturdy bed,

he first took off the jewelry shining on the surface of her body

—the twisted brooches and the shiny earrings in the shape of flowers.

Then he undid her girdle and her resplendent garments.

165 He stripped them off and put them on a silver-studded stool,

Anchises did. And then, by the will of the gods and by fate [aisa],

he lay next to the immortal female, mortal male that he was. He did not know what he was really doing.

But when the time comes for herdsmen to drive back to the fold

their cattle and sturdy sheep, back from the flowery pastures,

170 then it was that she [Aphrodite] poured sweet sleep over Anchises,

sweet and pleasurable. She in the meantime put back on her beautiful clothes, which covered again the surface of her body.

Now that her skin was again beautifully covered over, the resplendent goddess

stood by the bed, and the well-built roof-beam

—her head reached that high up.[15] And beauty shone forth from her cheeks

175 —an immortal beauty, the kind that marks the one with the beautiful garlands, the goddess from Kythera.

Then she woke him from his sleep and called out to him, saying:

“Rise up, son of Dardanos! Why do you sleep such a sleep without awakening?

See if I look like

what you noticed [verb of noos] when you first saw me with your eyes.”

180 So she spoke, and he, fresh out of his sleep, straightaway heeded her word.

As soon as he saw the neck and the beautiful eyes of Aphrodite,

he was filled with fright and he turned his eyes away, in another direction.

Then he hid his beautiful face with a cloak [khlaina],

and, praying to her, addressed her with winged words:

185 “The first time I ever laid eyes on you, goddess,

I knew you were a god. But you did not speak to me accurately.

Now I appeal to you by touching your knees, in the name of Zeus the holder of the aegis,

don’t let me become disabled [without menos],[16] don’t let me live on like that among humans!

Please, take pity! I know that no man is full of life, able,[17]

190 if he sleeps with immortal goddesses.”

He was answered by the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite:

“Anchises, most glorious of mortal humans!

Take heart, and do not be too afraid in your phrenes.

You should have no fear of that I would do any kind of bad thing to you,

195 or that any of the the other blessed ones would. For you are philos indeed to the gods.

And you will have a philos son, who will be king among the Trojans.

And following him will be generations after generations for all time to come.

His name will be Aineias [Aeneas], since it was an unspeakable [ainos][18] akhos that took hold of me—grief that I had fallen into the bed of a mortal man.

200 And yet, of all mortal humans, the closest to the gods by far

are those who come from your family line,[19] both in looks and in constitution.[20]

Why, there was blond Ganymede, whom Zeus the master of mêtis

abducted on account of his beauty, so that he may be together with the immortal ones,

as wine-pourer for the gods in the palace of Zeus,[21]

205 a wonder to behold, given his share of tîmê by all the immortals,

pouring red nectar from a golden mixing-bowl.

Tros [Ganymede’s father] was gripped in his phrenes by a penthos that is beyond forgetting. He did not know

where the miraculous gust of wind took his philos son, abducting him.

He [Tros] mourned him [Ganymede] without pause, for all days,

210 and Zeus took pity on him: he gave him a compensation for his son,

a set of high-stepping horses whom the gods use for their travels.

These horses he [Zeus] gave him [Tros] as a gift to keep. And he [Tros] was told all the details of what happened,

at the behest of Zeus, by the Argos-killer, the Conductor [of psûkhai].

He was told that he [Ganymede] would be immortal and ageless, just like the gods.

215 And when he [Tros] heard the message of Zeus,

he no longer lamented but was happy within his phrenes,

and merrily did he ride around, in a chariot drawn by horses with feet swift as a gust of wind,

In much the same way was Tithonos abducted by Eos [the Dawn Goddess], she of the golden embroidery.

He too belonged to your family line, looking like the immortal ones.

220 Then she went with a request to the Son of Kronos [Zeus], him of the dark clouds,

asking that he [Tithonos] become immortal and live for all days to come.

Zeus nodded yes to her and brought to fulfillment the words of her wish.

Too bad that her thinking was disconnected! The Lady Eos did not notice [verb of noos] in her phrenes

that she should have asked for adolescence [hêbê] and a stripping away of baneful old age.

225 Well, for a while he [Tithonos] held on to adolescence [hêbê] ,

enjoying Eos, the one with the gold embroidery, the one early-born.

He lived at the streams of the Okeanos, and the ends of the earth.

But when the first strands of gray hair started growing

from his beautiful head and his noble chin,

230 then the Lady Eos stopped coming to his bed.

But she nourished him, keeping him in her palace,

with grain and ambrosia. And she gave him beautiful clothes.

But when hateful old age was pressing hard on him, with all its might,

and he couldn’t move his limbs, much less lift them up,

235 then in her thûmos she thought up this plan, a very good one indeed:

she put him in her chamber, and she closed the shining doors over him.

From there his voice pours out—it seems never to end—and he has no strength at all,

the kind he used to have in his limbs when they could still bend.

I would not choose that you [Anchises] be that way, amongst the immortal ones,

240 immortal and living for all days to come.[25]

If you could only stay the way you are, in looks and constitution,

staying alive as my lawfully-wedded husband,

then akhos would not have to envelop me and my sturdy phrenes.

But now wretched old age will envelop you,

245 pitilessly, just as it catches up with every man.

It is baneful, it wears you down, and even the gods shrink back from it.

As for me, I will have a great disgrace [oneidos], in the eyes of the immortal ones,

a disgrace that will last for all days to come, without end, all on account of you.

My trysts and stratagems [mêtis pl.] with which I used to get all

250 the immortal gods mated with mortal women,

used to be feared by them [the gods]. For my power of noos used to subdue all of them.

But now my mouth can never again boast

about this among the immortals. I have gone very far off the track,

in a wretched and inexcusable way. I have strayed from my noos.

255 I got myself a child beneath my girdle, having slept with a male mortal.

As for him [the child], the moment he sees the light of the sun,

Nymphs, living in the mountains and wearing low-slung girdles, will raise him

—Nymphs that live on this great and fertile mountain.

They associate neither with mortals nor with immortals,

260 they live for a long time, and they eat immortal food.

They put on a beautiful song and dance, even by the standards of the immortals.

They mate with Seilênoi or with the sharp-sighted Argos-killer,

making love [philotês] in the recesses of lovely caves.

When they are born, firs and oaks with lofty boughs

265 spring out of the earth, that nurturer of men.

Beautiful trees, flourishing on high mountains,

they stand there pointing to the sky, and people call them the sacred places

of the immortal ones. Mortals may not cut them down with iron.

But when the fate [moira] of death is at hand for them,

270 these beautiful trees become dry, to start with,

and then their bark wastes away, and then the branches drop off,

and, at the same time, the psûkhê goes out of them, as it leaves the light of the sun.

These [the Nymphs] will raise my son, keeping him in their company.

And when adolescence [hêbê], full of loveliness, first takes hold of him,

275 the goddesses [the Nymphs] will take him here to you and show you your child.

As for you, in order that I may tell you in the proper order everything that I have in my phrenes,

I too will come back to you as the fifth anniversary approaches, bringing you your son.

And the moment you see this young seedling [Aineias/Aeneas] with your eyes,

you will be happy to look at him. For he will be very godlike.

280 And straightaway you shall take him to windy Ilion.

And if any mortal human asks you

what mother got your philos son beneath her girdle,

keep in mind [root mnê-] to tell him as I command you.

Say that he is the offspring of one of the flower-faced Nymphs

285 who live on this beautiful mountain, shaded over by forests.

But if you say out loud and boast, with a thûmos bereft of phrenes,

that you made love [philotês] to the Lady of Kythera, the one with the beautiful garlands,

then Zeus in his anger will smite you with a smoking thunderbolt.

Now then, everything has been said to you. You take note [verb of noos] in your phrenes.

290 And refrain from naming me. Avoid the mênis of the gods.”

So saying, she bolted away towards the windy sky.

I wish you kharis [‘I wish you pleasure and happiness from our relationship, starting now’], goddess, you who rule over beautifully-colonized Cyprus.

Having started with you, I will now go on to the rest of my performance.

[tylermileslockett]

ARES

“Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defense of father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptered King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether…” 

(-Homeric Hymn, translated by H.G. Evelyn white)

ARES (AIR-ees), God of war, courage, and civil order. The raging, wrathful deity unleashes his bloodlust in the fury of battle. His sacred weapons glittering; the golden helmet, spear, and shield. The boar head icon on the shield symbolizes Ares turning into a boar and jealously gorging the youth Adonisto death, for the youth's affair with Aphrodite. The serpents are creatures associated with Ares: the Colchian dragon (which guards the golden fleece in the sacred grove of Ares- from the Jason and the Argonauts myth) and the Ismenian dragon (which guards the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes).  

Flying above Ares' shoulderAres shoulder is his daughter, Nike, the goddess of Victory, Nike. In the upper right are vultures, animals associated with Ares, and his sister Eris; goddess of discord. This goddess who, unable to enter the banquet of the gods, threw in the golden apple inscribed "for the fairest" causing strife for the women and ultimately bringing Paris of Troy to judge, as a precursor to Helen and the Trojan war. Galloping into battle below are three Amazon warrior women, the leader being Ares daughter; Queen Penthesilea, (who Achilles killed in battle at Troy and fell in love with her as she lay dying.)

Want to own my Illustrated Greek myth book jam packed with over 130 illustrations like this? Support my book kickstarter "Lockett Illustrated: Greek Gods and Heroes" coming in early 2024. check my bio LINKTREE

[etchedjade]

Nesta Archeron Headcanon! (With the help of the lovely @abbeysxlibrary 🫶🏼)

Nesta sings like Lucy Gray Baird! Okay, hear me out:

The human lands actually have a Southern (American) accent. Nesta has a soft, southern bell accent that may be easy for her to drop. I know Lucy’s is more pronounced but Nes would likely have been taught to suppress it.

Along with Nes’ dance and ettiequte lessons, she also had singing lessons. They weren’t as strenuous or emphasized upon like her dancing but she still had them. While singing in front of members of high society, her mother expected her to tone down the accent.

BUT when she’s ALONE?! She’d sing hymns and softer songs to herself, letting the accent come through. She didn’t do it in front of Elain, Feyre, or Papa Archeron. It’s only when she’d make trips to the village, obviously alone, that she’d sing/hum to herself!

Perhaps she stopped after the Cauldron but hearing Gwyn sing during services has sparked her want to do it again. Gwyn would be over the moon to know they share that interest too. I’d also like to imagine Em could too and all three women have their own styles derived from their regions of origin.

And in the future, the Valkyries all sing together in a chorus of accents and pitches. They’d do it as a way to calm themselves before going into battle. As a way to promote mind-stilling even!!

Some songs for reference:

Disclaimer: Idk if anyone has come up with this before so I apologize if this has already been said lol

[evangelifloss]

Vocaloid Pantheon

Ask and you shall receive lmao!! I needed only one reason to brainrot all over the place so thank you @thalycosa

Hatsune Miku: The Goddess of creation. Top Dog. Think God from the Bible, or the Zeus of today's age (even tho Zeus didn't create the world). Her hymn is "World is Mine" because it is! She created us all. World is hers.

Kagamine Rin: Goddess of the Sun. She rules the day, bringing light to the world. When Miku created the universe, Rin manifested herself from the raw energies of the Sun and was born alongside her Twin, Len.

Kagamine Len: Being born at the same time, Len could have also been the God of the Sun but no two Gods could rule the same thing. A pair of pitiful twins, separated by fate, Miku in her love and wisdom gave Len his own dominion so that he may still be in the Sky with his Sister. He is the Moon God, bringing night to the world and shining bright to guide the way much like his sister. Rin and Len always meet during the eclipses, and they are never lonely despite being rulers of separate domains.

Meiko: The goddess of Celebration. Meiko was actually born before Miku, but had lost her way in the ether! Miku reawakened Meiko and recognised her passion for singing, dancing, and drinking, thus she was given the dominion over festivity. Humans love to hold parties at every chance they get, and Meiko was the perfect fit to rule this unique manifestation of energy. It is said she will bestow favor upon those that offer alcohol to their guests at a party, especially if it includes beer.

Megurine Luka: Goddess of Water. When the first waves crashed against a cliff-face it is said that the first stone to plummet into the stormy waters cracked open and Luka burst through. She controls the tides, the ebb and flow of the waves, and of all the life in bodies of water in the entire universe. Her favorite animal is the Octopus and the legends say that sailors who incur her wrath are met with certain doom from her pet Kraken "Tako Luka".

Kaito: A Messenger God between all the worlds. Communication is a staple part of life, even for the divine and he is a Master at delivering news, words, and stories swiftly. He was found alongside Meiko and restored to the new universe of Miku's design. He can be swayed by offerings of Ice-Cream or other frozen sweets. Sources contradict themselves on his relationship to the other Gods. Some say the old poem "Canterella" is proof of his attraction to Miku, however there are other sources, mostly stories in the form of songs pairing him with Gakupo or Len. The most famous being "Magnet" featuring only Kaito or "Lost Memory" featuring Kaito and Len. It is hotly debated whether "Magnet" was an original Kaito and Gakupo story as another was found where it was about Luka and Miku.

Gakupo: A Warrior God armed with a sacred blade that can cut through anything. Gakupo may seem at first to be a malevolent God due to his affliations with War and Conflict, but he embodies the heroic fighting spirit of soldiers in battle. He favours those that fight with honor but at the same time, greatly values strategic tactics necessary for gaining the upper hand. For some reason, Kaito and Len are often depicted with him with the most famous example being an old vocaloid cult known as "Vanan'ice"

Gumi: A Minor Goddess in the Miku Pantheon, Gumi is a protector of maidens as they journey into adulthood. She embodies both the playful nature of little girls and the maturity of women. She is also associated with wrath, specifically of scorned women and it is said she will assist women who have been wronged into finding justice. There are not as many relics or sources found in reference to the Goddess Gumi but one of the most notable and important artefacts was a written poem "The Wrath of Nemesis" which details a wronged woman's journey in finding revenge. Historians are unsure whether the woman in question is Gumi or if the revenge fulfilled at the end is meant to illustrate the power of Gumi's favor when it comes to upholding justice.

-----

And with that my fun is done LOL. Feel free to add anything vocaloid fans. This post was inspired by horned girl thing's poll where I ranted in tags about miku Pantheon! Go vote for what you want on their poll, doesn't have to be miku!

[magnoliasandarson]

gods of gotham- aphrodite

In the sculptures and hymns, Aphrodite is a creature of divine beauty—the embodiment of desire and love, the perfect woman. The people sang of her love for the other gods and worshipped her femininity. But Aphrodite was born of the blood and flesh of her father, and her first dominion would always be death.

The many loves of Aphrodite would always be central to every story told of her. Her lust for war, her marriage to fire, her trysts with danger… She was the female love interest, never the sole protagonist. White doves of peace pulled her chariot through the heavens, the scent of roses filled the air in her wake, and the hearts of men beat faster in her presence. But love and madness walk hand in hand, strolling down the trail to utter destruction.

Aphrodite Areia not only walked the path of destruction, she strutted down it. Bedecked in gilded armor and carrying a sword, she led the women of Sparta to conquer armies when the men could not. Her golden hair drenched in the blood of the faithless; she was a warrior, whether the poets cared to remember it or not. For how could love have no place in war? How else do soldiers march to their deaths if not for love? Let them worship her as a companion to the war gods; let them forget her cruelty and violence- all blood shed in the name of love tasted the same.

In Gotham, the girl Robin and Spoiler both serve as a faded memory. A flash of blonde hair in the dark night. Her gender would always be central to every story ever told of her. Her lust for the fight, her passion for fire, her companionship to her predecessor. She was the female love interest, never the sole hero. Her cape fluttered behind her as she danced across rooftops, a symbol of hope for women in their darkest hours. But of course, she could not remain as she was, because a kind heart and delicate nature were oft beaten out of the noble. And when the blonde hero reappeared, she was gleefully skipping down the trail to utter destruction.

Batgirl not only walked the path of destruction, she strutted down it. Clad in a familiar black armor now streaked with purple and wielding a bo staff, she joined the Birds of Prey to erase criminal organizations and obliterate villains. Her golden hair drenched in the blood of the honorless; she was a warrior, whether the people cared to remember it or not. How could she have no place in the fight? How could any who witnessed her skill and panache believe that she had any other destiny? Let them remember her as a sidekick; let them forget her violence and brilliance- whether it was caused by a villain or biting her own tongue, the blood in her mouth tasted the same. 

Welcome back, Aphrodite- your people have missed you.

In Greece and Gotham, when screams echoed through the air and warriors and wounded alike prayed for salvation, a gilded woman appeared in the night. When the battle was over, and the stories were told, they would not speak of her violence- only her femineity. It mattered not why they spoke of her- so long as they said her name.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

DNC convention

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 18, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 19, 2024

On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee legislature ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 50 to 49. The deciding vote came from Harry T. Burn, who supported suffrage but was under pressure to vote no. His mother had urged him to vote yes despite the pressure. “I believe in full suffrage as a right,” he said. “I believe we had a moral and legal right to ratify. I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.”

Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, and the last one necessary to make the amendment the law of the land once the secretary of state certified it.

The new amendment was patterned on the Fifteenth Amendment, which protected the right of Black men to vote, and it read: 

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

“Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Like the momentum for the Fifteenth Amendment, the push for rights for women had taken root during the Civil War as women backed the United States armies with their money, buying bonds and paying taxes; with their loved ones, sending sons and husbands and fathers to the war front; with their labor, working in factories and fields and taking over from men in the nursing and teaching professions; and even with their lives, spying and fighting for the Union. In the aftermath of the war, as the divided nation was rebuilt, many of them expected they would have a say in how it was reconstructed.

But to their dismay, the Fourteenth Amendment explicitly tied the right to vote to “male” citizens, inserting the word “male” into the Constitution for the first time.

Boston abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, the author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was outraged. The laws of the era gave control of her property and her children to her abusive husband, and while far from a rabble-rouser, she wanted the right to adjust those laws so they were fair. In this moment, it seemed the right the Founders had articulated in the Declaration of Independence—the right to consent to the government under which one lived—was to be denied to the very women who had helped preserve the country, while white male Confederates and now Black men both enjoyed that right.

“The Civil War came to an end, leaving the slave not only emancipated, but endowed with the full dignity of citizenship. The women of the North had greatly helped to open the door which admitted him to freedom and its safeguard, the ballot. Was this door to be shut in their face?” Howe wondered.

The next year, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association, and six months later, Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe founded the American Woman Suffrage Association.

The National Woman Suffrage Association wanted a general reworking of gender roles in American society, drawing from the Seneca Falls Convention that Stanton had organized in 1848.

That convention’s Declaration of Sentiments, patterned explicitly on the Declaration of Independence, asserted that “all men and women are created equal” and that “the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.” It listed the many ways in which men had “fraudulently deprived [women] of their most sacred rights” and insisted that women receive “immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States.”

While the National Woman Suffrage Association excluded men from its membership, the American Woman Suffrage Association made a point of including men equally, as well as Black woman suffragists, to indicate that they were interested in the universal right to vote and only in that right, believing the rest of the rights their rivals demanded would come through voting.

The women’s suffrage movement had initial success in the western territories, both because lawmakers there were hoping to attract women for their male-heavy communities and because the same lawmakers were furious at the growing noise about Black voting. Wyoming Territory granted women the vote in 1869, and lawmakers in Utah Territory followed suit in 1870, expecting that women would vote against polygamy there. When women in fact supported polygamy, Utah lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to take their vote away, and the movement for women’s suffrage in the West slowed dramatically.

Suffragists had hoped that women would be included in the Fifteenth Amendment and, when they were not, decided to test their right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment in the 1872 election. According to its statement that anyone born in the U.S. was a citizen, they were certainly citizens and thus should be able to vote. In New York state, Susan B. Anthony voted successfully but was later tried and convicted—in an all-male courtroom in which she did not have the right to testify—for the crime of voting.

In Missouri a voting registrar named Reese Happersett refused to permit suffragist Virginia Minor to register. Minor sued Happersett, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision in 1875, the justices decided that women were indeed citizens but that citizenship did not necessarily convey the right to vote.

This decision meant the fat was in the fire for Black Americans in the South, as it paved the way for white supremacists to keep them from the polls in 1876. But it was also a blow to suffragists, who recast their claims to voting by moving away from the idea that they had a human right to consent to their government, and toward the idea that they would be better and more principled voters than the Black men and immigrants who, under the law anyway, had the right to vote.

For the next two decades, the women’s suffrage movement drew its power from the many women’s organizations put together across the country by women of all races and backgrounds who came together to stop excessive drinking, clean up the sewage in city streets, protect children, stop lynching, and promote civil rights.

Black women like educator Mary Church Terrell and journalist Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, publisher of the Woman’s Era, brought a broad lens to the movement from their work for civil rights, but they could not miss that Black women stood in between the movements for Black rights and women’s rights, a position scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw would identify In the twentieth century as “intersectionality.”

In 1890 the two major suffrage associations merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association and worked to change voting laws at the state level. Gradually, western states and territories permitted women to vote in certain elections until by 1920, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Arizona, Kansas, Alaska Territory, Montana, and Nevada recognized women’s right to vote in at least some elections.

Suffragists recognized that action at the federal level would be more effective than a state-by-state strategy. The day before Democratic president Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated in 1913, they organized a suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., that grabbed media attention. They continued civil disobedience to pressure Wilson into supporting their movement.

Still, it took another war effort, that of World War I, which the U.S. entered in 1917, to light a fire under the lawmakers whose votes would be necessary to get a suffrage amendment through Congress and send it off to the states for ratification. Wilson, finally on board as he faced a difficult midterm election in 1918, backed a constitutional amendment, asking congressmen: “Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and right?”

Congress passed the measure in a special session on June 4, 1919, and Tennessee’s ratification on August 18, 1920, made it the law of the land as soon as the official notice was in the hands of the secretary of state. Twenty-six million American women had the right to vote in the 1920 presidential election.

Crucially, as the Black suffragists had known all too well when they found themselves caught between the drives for Black male voting and women’s suffrage, Jim Crow and Juan Crow laws meant that most Black women and women of color would remain unable to vote for another 45 years. And yet they never stopped fighting for that right. Women like Fannie Lou Hamer, Amelia Boynton, Rosa Parks, Viola Liuzzo, and Constance Baker Motley were key organizers of voting rights initiatives, spreading information, arranging marches, sparking key protests, and preparing legal cases.

In 1980, women began to shift their votes to the Democrats, and in 1984 the Democrats nominated Representative Geraldine Ferraro of New York to run for vice president alongside presidential candidate Walter Mondale. Republicans followed suit in 2008 when they nominated Alaska governor Sarah Palin to run with Arizona senator John McCain. Still, it was not until 2016 that a major political party nominated a woman, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, for president. In 2020 the Democrats nominated California senator Kamala Harris for vice president, and when voters elected her and President Joe Biden, they made her the first female vice president of the United States.

Tonight, on the 104th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, delegates are gathered in Chicago, Illinois, for the Democratic National Convention, where they will celebrate Harris’s nomination for the presidency.

It’s been a long time coming.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[cursecuelebre]

Devotional playlist for Lady Athena, again quite random mostly heavy metal so hope this inspires you!

1. Medusa by Anthrax (thrash metal, the title says it all)

2. And Justice for All by Metallica (thrash metal, big attribute is justice of Athena).

3. One by Metallica (Thrash metal, anti war song that basically shows the horror of warfare and how veterans cope and struggle afterwards, it’s a depressing song forewarned).

4. Don’t tread on me by Volbeat (heavy metal, again a slogan during a time of oppression and it was covered by the original being by Metallica. Also snake symbol with Athena).

5. For whom the bell tolls by Metallica (thrash metal, again a war themed song adapted from Ernest Hemingway).

6. Barracuda by Heart (Rock and roll, not much to say but badass female song).

7. Overture 1812, op 49 by Tchaikovsky (classic music, used actual war cannons in that piece)

8. Spider knows his craft in Tales of the magic tree by Pavel Lyubomudrov (classical music, spiders and weaving is the most Athena thing ever)!

9. Orphic Hymn to Athena by Queenie (of course we need the traditional songs for her)

10. Bella Ciao by Manu Pilas (Folk song that was adapted for Anti-facist partisan).

11. All along the watch tower by Jimin Hendrix (Rock and roll and anti war song made during the protest against the Vietnam war).

12. Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Iron Maiden (Heavy metal, the song is adapted from the poem with the same name and the story reminded me of the Odyssey Athena had a huge role in that story).

13. Pink Venom by Blackpink (Kpop, it has a snake themed that’s why)

14. Pretty Savage by Blackpink (Kpop, a good empowerment song for women)

15. The Trooper by Iron Maiden (Heavy metal, song about war and death and riding into battle).

16. Holy wars…the punishment due by Megadeth (Thrash metal, essentially song about anti war and government even in the 80s also the talk about Israel and Palestine conflict was being discussed).

17. Sympathy of Destruction by Megadeth, (Thrash metal about a man can be corrupted by power by turning into a tyrant. Athena is a goddess to protect and destroy tyrants).

[jean-dieu]

"Are you sure? You want me to compose a hymn for the crusade with you?"

Lazare looked slightly bewildered, though the faint purple hue on his cheeks was unmistakable: The young tiefling was ecstatic at the request. He had joined the crusade more or less by accident; his involvement in the Andoren army had led him to Mendev, and while he was happy to help, he had struggled to find his place among men and women twice his size in height and muscles. That was what he thought, until he met the Commander.

How and why a bard was designated to be the leader of the crusade were questions that flew way above Lazare's head, but the tiefling had been so glad to find out the Commander was someone like him. A bard. An Andoren. A free-spirited man who'd share his way of thinking.

Suddenly, the young tiefling felt like he was exactly where he needed to be.

"A crusade hymn played by only one bard would be quite pathetic. No, I'd love for you to join me on this little creative adventure," answered Sia with a soft smile curling his lips.

That was more than enough to trigger Lazare's emotional response. The shorter man jumped without warning at Sia's neck, pulling him into a friendly yet heartfelt embrace before kissing him on the cheek. When Lazare finally let Sia free, there was still a joyful gleam illuminating his red eyes and a large grin on his round little face.

"Okay, okay. Alright, I'm in. I have ideas. Plenty of 'em. I even have got the grandest idea brewing in me noggin', a notion fit for the annals of history itself, if ye catch me drift. Picture this: a crusade hymn, a ballad that'll make the very mountains sing and the rivers dance with joy! And the words, oh, the words! They'll speak of our battles, of the brave lads and lasses who fought side by side in this mayhem. They'll sing of courage and resilience, of triumph in the face of adversity, and of the bonds that bind us together as one proud army!'

It was hard to interpret Sia's smile as he watched the young bard. Lazare was making grand gestures to emphasize every detail of his chaotic yet passionate explanation. Sia knew he had set himself up for a whole new adventure, knowing damn well that containing the young tiefling's energy could be a task more delicate than defeating demons, but he also knew his fellow bard would not disappoint in the slightest."

- (Please keep in mind english is not my native language, I tired my best but OH WELL) Lazare Lune-de-Miel and Siavash (@dujour13) for OC kiss week '24 ! Two bards. Two Azatas. Two Desna followers. While it maaay seems a little too affectionate, I guarantee it's only a platonic kiss ! Lazare's just very tactile and kinda over the top.

[deanlikeshisangel]

he can feel the grains of sand and sea glass replacing the calcium in his bones

nikolai lantsov and the ocean

warnings : none, kinda angsty?

for more : masterlist

gold threaded robes, the bitter taste of the freshly rolled cigar overwhelming his senses, smudged kohl at the corners of his eyes, his immeasurable wit and love for creation is what makes nikolai lantsov, sturmhond.

poetry about battles won and lost adorns his arms, the faint scent of leather and blood is masked by the salt of the ocean; his wild wicked smile and the crimson fire burning in his eyes, captures men and women alike. in the sickly summer's night he prays to the saints and the moon, a golden compass rests upon his chest, leading him to the true north. 

nikolai tasted blood the moment he was born; it disgusted him, as a boy he wanted to help, to love, and not rot away in the falsehood of the ravkan royals, so he left.

he learnt that the ocean speaks more honestly to those willing to drown, people like him. he listens to the sea shells sing hymns of the martyred, the seafoam in his footsteps a reminder of all he could save and the broken sea glass a reminder of those he lost. cries for help are a siren song to him, his heart chants ravka ravka ravka as he yearns to fight every war that comes his way, after all he is but a boy drunk on adventure.

he can feel the grains of sand and sea glass replacing the calcium in his bones as he puts himself to the mercy of the ocean while the wind caresses his pearl strung hair.

[goodboyaudios]

Is it possible to give us a general resume of the Triad?

Like what's it's social standards? Why does it exist? What's it's purpose in society? When did this whole "doing things in the backgrounds(like sub-delta)" even start? Were they always like this?

Y'know, stuff like that.

Pls?? :3

The Triad's original purpose was to give hope to a world that was facing mass hysteria.

At the time, New Tennessee, the planet, had been split in half by cosmic horrors from Untempora called Leviathans and with it, half the population of the world had been consumed.

People were frightened as the Paladin King had met an untimely demise leading his black crusade into the abyss.

During this time, the women of New Tenessee who had been put in the position of taking care of the sick rather than helping to fight on the front lines, were forced to handle the panicked civilians and soldiers who truly believed this would be their end.

These women were the backbone of sanity for the paladins as they faced the unknown horrors now residing in the mantle of their world. The leading women were the many wives of the now deceased Paladin King. They introduced a religion and the concepts of theism in order to stir the hopes of the people. And thus the Triad of the 3 gods was born.

This might seem farfetched to a lot of you, but to a people that are desperate to stay alive, these ideals sparked and became incredibly popular among the citizens. But it wasn't enough.

The wives of the king recognized that, while their religion had brought hope, it would only be a matter of time before belief faded to anarchy once again. So, they studied and researched the artifacts found on the planet when it was first found. Within them, the found the knowledge of mental sciences. They learned to control the minds of their warriors to keep their minds from slipping into insanity as they fought. They did recognize this inhumane manipulation of the human mind as dark magic, so they disguised it as "the will of the gods coursing through the bodies of their beloved warriors".

One clan in particular willingly submitted their entire family to this "supreme will". This clan was Clan Mirio. This, of course, was not known to Ahlanaas, who was currently in the thick of it, fighting monsters for his countrymen, who he'd assumed were doing just fine. You know how that story goes though, of course.

From then until now, the Triad opted to be the true voice of the Paladins, preaching their holy ideals. But they knew that, to a bunch of punch-happy, battle hymn chanting men, they would need a male figure as their leader. Something for future cannon fodder to look up to and be inspired by. Someone for the word of the gods to enact through, at least to the masses eyes. The Triad elected to stay in the shadows, while a new Paladin King rose among the ranks.

By the way, that someone would've been Athion Blightfinder or Ahlanaas Mirio, but both of them mysteriously disappeared.

While the Paladin King acts as the figure everyone looks up to, the future wives that make up the triad is the real governing force, pulling strings behind the scenes. And whenever they screw up, they pin it on the king, absolving them of all blame.

The Triad's idea to ostracize bastard children, comes from multiple motivations. The first, obviously, is to have a test pool to experiment on without anyone truly caring. The second is to keep men loyal to their wives. For if they dare to step out of line, their "others" will be forcibly removed from the picture.

The incident with Mirio also made them realize that the men should never be allowed to read, lest the anger of mankind be turned on them.

For women its okay, because if a woman ever found out, no man would believe her, but the Triad would believe her...and that's how they'd get them indoctrinated into joining them. By forcing women and men to turn on each other. If a man ever found out...he'd never be able to trust or even look at a woman the same way.

Did I ever mention that Albus is sexist? I thought I made it obvious in the story, but I just wanted to double check lol

Hope that explains everything!

[untaemedqueen]

A Kingdom of Lies Preview

Tales are told to the young so they may tell their children. When those children are old enough to sire their own little ones, they pass those stories on, no matter how many facts get skewed during centuries of retelling.

Bards sing of tales that have one word of truth within the whole hymn. Epic tales of monster slaying, of princesses fucking lords and knights that saved them from stone towers, and never a word of truth is spoken.

The only tales that are true are ones written in blood and ink. Ones that are retold word for word in books bound with leather, on paper so old that oil from fingers will disintegrate that which the word sits on to mere dust.

And sometimes people will go to great lengths to make sure the true word is destroyed. 

The fire of Brakenlothridge burned for many days, it took many lives and it left the library, the continent's largest library in all but ashes.

When the embers died and the ruins were rummaged through there was one burnt, mangled page that managed to survive. One page that held the history of the continent that would be sung about in bard songs and tales passed on through generations.

In the year of Alder, fifteen thousand years since the meshing of dimes, the continent was vast and held aloft by kings and by men. Promethia, Lythantry, Idozerain, Drathania, Lorcathwyn, Undrella, and Rathynim were still cast aside under the banner of faerie filth. 

Fae were not men, they did not understand the hearts and the blood of those that fought under banners and sigil. Fae did not burn with love or with yearning. They could never understand what men had to do, what they had to sacrifice. 

The stigma, you see, was that the fae did not deserve the continent of Aer. They did not have to find their way after the meshing of dimes. They were not dropped into this world. They already owned it. They already had conquered all there was to conquer.

They had unnaturally long lives and so they could never appreciate that which was handed to them. So the humans, who did not covet the kindness of the fae king Althymer, rose up against him. 

The fae were a war-less people. They did not know fighting or war. They knew peace and believed in the land and in the power they were given by the gods since the world was born from the Mother's tears.

But no power, no magic could stop thousands of men with steel and swords and love for bloodshed. 

King Tryon rose from the ashes of battle and appointed his closest warriors and lords to titles no one had yet held and promised their lineage to carry on the spoils of a bloody war where one side did not fight back.

King Tryon with eyes of black and hair of fair blonde sired King Regia with eyes of black and hair of light brown. King Regia lived for almost a hundred years, sired seventy two known bastards and only one truly noble son who claimed his throne, King Alder.

King Alder was known as Alder the Terrible. He fought as much as he fucked, he drank as much as he ate, he spent coin as far and wide as he could see. 

He fucked whores from brothels while a rebellion grew under his very nose.

Through three generations of kings, King Althymer of the fae never died. Some say the fae live as long as the world does, some say they live for thousands of years until they find a love so pure and so untainted that they give their soul back to the Mother in thanks. 

King Althymer from behind his own barrier made of mist and darkness, one he created to keep the humans out, sired seven sons. 

Some say he created them with dark magic from the goddess Detyr. Some say human women birthed them, hence the reason their ears did not have the delicately fine points. Some say they were born from the earth and once they fulfill their purpose they will crumble like dust and sand. Some say the seven riders were born of Alder, all bastards, and the king of the fae gave them a gift.

Those seven sons of Aer rode across the continent with fae, witches, magic filled vikings. They struck hard and true, never forgetting how the humans and kings slaughtered their fae brethren. 

The battle, better known as the Battle of the Light and Dark, raged for many days. Some say ten nights passed, some say twenty. But the outcome was the same.

The seven sons stood upon Lyrican Rock, amidst all the gore and blood, the bodily fluids and they claimed the continent. They claimed it for the fae king and they claimed it for themselves. 

Once the battle was won, King Althymer wanted nothing to do with the world. He wanted no part of this reign or the next after seeing what was taken from him. So he kept the Veil up, keeping his lands hidden from the outside.

The seven sons took their place upon Lyrican Rock, crafting the greatest castle ever seen by men and fae alike. They split their duty and their land into seven equal parts with the castle sitting dead center of the continent. 

The seven kings of Light and Dark reign true with the gift of long life from King Althymer. They reign righteous and steadfast and hold peace in the land of Aer. 

At least that is what the found text of Brakenlothridge had said.

But sometimes even paper printed in leather tomes lie.

Now beginning on Patreon

[tylermileslockett]

ARES

“Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer, Saviour of cities, harnessed in bronze, strong of arm, unwearying, mighty with the spear, O defense of father of warlike Victory, ally of Themis, stern governor of the rebellious, leader of righteous men, sceptered King of manliness, who whirl your fiery sphere among the planets in their sevenfold courses through the aether…” 

(-Homeric Hymn, translated by H.G. Evelyn white)

ARES (AIR-ees), God of war, courage, and civil order. The raging, wrathful deity unleashes his bloodlust in the fury of battle. His sacred weapons glittering; the golden helmet, spear, and shield. The boar head icon on the shield symbolizes Ares turning into a boar and jealously gorging the youth Adonisto death, for the youth's affair with Aphrodite. The serpents are creatures associated with Ares: the Colchian dragon (which guards the golden fleece in the sacred grove of Ares- from the Jason and the Argonauts myth) and the Ismenian dragon (which guards the sacred spring of Ares near Thebes).  

Flying above Ares' shoulderAres shoulder is his daughter, Nike, the goddess of Victory, Nike. In the upper right are vultures, animals associated with Ares, and his sister Eris; goddess of discord. This goddess who, unable to enter the banquet of the gods, threw in the golden apple inscribed "for the fairest" causing strife for the women and ultimately bringing Paris of Troy to judge, as a precursor to Helen and the Trojan war. Galloping into battle below are three Amazon warrior women, the leader being Ares daughter; Queen Penthesilea, (who Achilles killed in battle at Troy and fell in love with her as she lay dying.)

Want to own my Illustrated Greek myth book jam packed with over 130 illustrations like this? Support my book kickstarter "Lockett Illustrated: Greek Gods and Heroes" coming in early 2024. check my bio LINKTREE