#but i find interesting that even the flowers damon choses have a meaning behind them

[theraggedygirl11]

New analysis on the way. As soon as I saw the new Bojan's photo, I immediately searched for the flowers and their meanings, as the self-proclaimed flowers expert of this part of the fandom.

I'm pretty sure the flowers are hydrangeas/hortensias (like @anxious-witch already said in his analysis).

Hydrangeas symbolize so many things based on their colours, and the meanings may change even based on the country or the historic era!

So prepare yourself for a dive into hydrangeas meanings (everything is from the internet, I will link everything I've found)

It's a long analysis, I'm sorry

Also, this is my opinion on this specific photo, feel free to add anything you want

Brief history facts here and here. In these links you'll find also other facts about this flower, and its meanings too, which I'll summarize down here.

White Hydrangea

They symbolize purity, innocence and honour, but also arrogance, vanity and boasting (maybe from the Victoria era, when this flower carried a negative meaning since it was gifted from men to women who rejected them and it was a way to indicate women's frigidity). Besides, these flowers are well known to have a huge inflorescence but produce very few seeds.

Blue Hydrangea

In ancient Japan this flower is linked to apology and remorse (there's a legend about and emperor who neglected the woman he loved, so he gifted her these flowers as an apology), nowadays it also means serenity and gratitude.

Pink Hydrangea

It symbolizes thoughtfulness, grace and love. It's the perfect gift to express affection and admiration for someone special.

Purple Hydrangea

It represents the desire for deep understanding. The colour purple is usually associated with royalty, pride and gratefulness across many cultures.

Brief summary from this website:

Unfortunately the photo is in black and white, so we can't really know the colour(s) of the flowers in it, but we don't care.

Let's go through every colour and connect it to Bojan.

White has pretty conflicting meanings, for sure. This colour is linked to purity, but, as I said above, it may also mean boasting and vanity. Let's focus on this last meaning. Bojan never showed himself to be openly vain, except for one thing: his hair. He complained about his gray/white streak more than once (cue to Plastika "koža ni več sveža in sivijo mi lasje,/ pa triindvajset jih imam šele"-"my skin is no longer fresh and my hair is going grey/ and I'm only twenty-three", then corrected to twenty-five in Groningen), and I'm pretty sure he's used to dye his hair because the white streak sometimes magically disappears. Now, white/grey hairs are a sign of old age and it's not unsual for younger people to get them (I'm turning 27 this year and I too have some random white hairs). Bojan's complaints, even in a jokingly way, show though that he's in some way affected by this. Beauty is linked to vanity, both in art and in literature.

Blue hydrangeas carry/carried a specific meaning in Japan, as already stated, which is linked to apology and remorse. Is he sorry for not reaching some of his goals, like winning Eurovision? Is he apologizing to us, his fans? To Slovenia, the country he so proudly represented at Eurovision and failed to make it proud of his work with their lower position in the final chart? To someone else we don't know about? We also know that they became a phenomenon despite the fact that Eurovision was a "disaster". Slovenia became famous, now people want to visit this country or even moving there to live. People are learning a language that only about 2 million people speak (it's still a pretty big group of people, but compared to other European countries, like Germany, France or Italy, it's a small amount of speakers). Is he grateful for the huge opportunity that Eurovision gave them to let the world know that Slovenia exists and that it's a nice country that deserves to be known? Is he saying "thank you" for other things?

Pink is often linked to nice feelings and emotions. In this case the flower symbolizes true feelings and sincere emotions. Bojan is a lyricist, he pours what he experiences and feels into his lyrics, and thanks to this we have Padam, Novi Val, Vse Kar Vem, and so on. Is this a wish for him to be even more open and truer on what he writes? A wish for him to be more free to write what he wants and feels and not what the public wants him to write? Being true and honest with yourself has always been a focal point in so many artists and has affected their work thoughtout the centuries. They have to live thanks to their art, so what do you do? Do you listen to your heart or do you please the people who give you the money to live?

Purple is the last colour but not the least important. It's a royal colour, also linked to pride. Being proud can be a double edged sword: one can be proud of what he's doing and achieving, but the line between pride and arrogance is narrow and one can easily slip into arrogance. Personally, I've never seen Bojan as arrogant, but this colour might remind him to be proud of his work, also the future one he'll do, and to not let arrogance conquer his spirit, to stay humble like he is now.

[honestgrins]

The Floral Stench of Death || Klaroline

Klaroline AU Week Day Five: Mythology and Creatures

The old gods had fallen into mere myth, relegated to a muted life among the mortals. Sometimes, one needs a reminder of what it means to rule the Underworld. (Hades and Persephone AU, with an American Gods bent)

Klaus was busy with the books when a ringing bell broke the austere silence of his funeral home. His eyebrow raised at the interruption; few bothered to cross his threshold anymore, not without a corpse to visit. Only his closest family made the effort, which was why he was surprised to find a great nephew loitering in the foyer.

“Anteros,” he greeted with suspicion. “I’d thought you long forgotten, unlike your arse of a brother.”

The gods of old were a scattered bunch, but a few of the Greeks had managed to remain a part of human knowledge. Eros made an annoying resurgence every February, his name invoked too often for Klaus’s liking; the popularity made him cocky. But sexual attraction was an easy thing to celebrate, and Anteros encouraged a deeper love meant to be requited in full. Klaus always found that to be more interesting.

Shuffling uncomfortably, the younger brother even seemed to hold a proper respect for the power Klaus still held in the world. “I go by Stefan,” he explained carefully, knowing the importance of names among their kind.

His real name had been rendered unusable by unfriendly myths and ridiculous cartoons, an unfortunate problem that irked Klaus to no end. Persephone chose well for its replacement, but he missed the reverence of those terrified of Hades himself. This Stefan was a delightful memory of eons past. “Why are you here, Stefan? Not many would dare to ask favors of the Underworld.”

“Eros- Damon,” Stefan cleared his throat, concern furrowing his brow. “My brother has gone missing.”

Lips pulling into a smirk, Klaus’s head canted to the side as the boy squirmed. “I fail to see why that is my problem,” he responded cheerfully. “These days, I’m a simple estate lawyer who happens to run a successful business providing mortuary services.”

Stefan bristled. “You’re the god of death,” he accused, though his voice was strained with the effort to sound polite. “I would hardly belittle your influence in this world, and I think you know what happened to him.”

“He hasn’t fallen under my purview, if that’s what you’re asking.” Klaus shrugged, taking great pleasure in the obvious irritation Stefan poorly hid. “Perhaps it is for the best. Your brother’s not a favorite among the old guard, I doubt many would miss him.”

“My wife is worried, as am I,” he countered, ignoring the gleefully curious look on the god before him. “Certain friends directed me here, loathe as I am to discover why. Have you seen him?”

Klaus dragged his tongue across his lips, hands folded behind his back as he stepped into Stefan’s space. “It was my duty to take stock of a man’s life,” he all but purred, a thrill of power firing through his veins. “To lay judgment for his actions and to decide the course of his eternity in the Underworld.”

Hazel eyes wide with a lack of guile, Stefan fought not to lean back from Klaus’s intrusion. “So?”

“So,” Klaus mocked, “there are no secrets that can be kept from me. I see it all. Your wife, Stefan, does she love your brother?”

Fists curling in his Henley, Klaus smiled, a ferocious thing as Stefan shoved him against a wall. “Where is he?”

Chuckling, Klaus easily broke the finger that held a shiny silver ring, forcing Stefan to release him. “A human, too.” He clucked his tongue in faux remorse. “Imagine Aphrodite’s sons, torn between the same woman. She loves you, but she lusts for him. Think of the stories that would be told.” But his smile turned wicked, a hand reaching up to grip the boy’s throat. “If we weren’t dying out, that is.”

Stefan squeezed his eyes shut, muttering a silent goodbye to Elena, only for them to fly open as the god of death released him from his fate.

“Try next door,” Klaus dismissed with a wave. “You can buy your wife some pretty flowers, so she can properly mourn your brother.” Without bothering to watch Stefan leave, he went back to his work. Some luck, and he might not be late for his evening plans.

“And you’re going to grow deep,” Caroline whispered to the rose cactus, “just be sure to remain moist.” She ran a finger along one of the plant’s spines, coating it with the viscous blood that ran from the man’s thigh it pierced. “I want the pain to last.”

There were days that Caroline missed the simple life of tending her mother’s garden, but Persephone’s botanical prowess still thrived as a florist in the modern world. What lacked were the opportunities to punish those who wronged her, with their behavior, their attitude, their disregard for her position.

As Eros - or Damon, as he preferred to be called, the douche - had committed all three wrongs, she delighted in the angry hiss that came from her favorite plant box.

“I already apologized,” Damon spat, though breathless with contained agony as a stinging nettle wound around his neck. “You were just a cute blonde at the bar, how was I supposed to know who you were?”

Smiling, she urged the hemlock away from his lips. “You were just to keep him still,” she scolded the poisonous plant. “Any more, and it will be too quick.” Her fingers ran lovingly through the soil half covering his naked, prostrate form.

The chime hanging over her door sang out, jauntily clashing with the pop music playing in her shop. “Just a minute,” she called, clearing her hands of dirt. Standing, she rolled her eyes as Damon greedily tracked her sundress up the line of her leg.

This was just one reason why he was going to rot for as long as it took him to die.

Leaving the refrigerated storage room, Caroline found a pretty young man among her more exotic lilies. “You have good taste,” she greeted approvingly. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so.”

She frowned at the hesitant, almost fearful tone of his voice. Hardly anyone would fear Persephone at first sight, let alone her persona of Caroline Forbes. While she enjoyed the reminiscence of her old reputation, the suddenness of it all put her on edge. Her head canted to the side as recognition hit. “I know you.”

Stefan nodded, not bothering to deny the Olympic blood that tied them together. “I suspect you know my brother as well,” he answered instead. “Klaus sent me here. Do you have Damon?”

“He’s asked for you.” Determination in every step, Caroline walked through the aisles of her shop, plucking cut flowers and greenery to some unknown rhythm. “Well, he asked for Elena, but your name was sprinkled in there, too,” she explained, nonchalant.

Sighing, Stefan ran a hand across his face. “Dare I ask what he did to offend you, your grace?”

She positively preened at the use of her former title. To reward his manners, Caroline decided to grant him peace of mind. “I happened to run into your brother last night while having drinks with a friend,” she explained. “He seemed to think a pleasant conversation was an invitation to drug my margarita.”

Like a light had been extinguished, his shoulders sagged in resignation. “Please, I know he doesn’t deserve mercy,” Stefan begged, “but-”

Caroline held up a quelling hand, her glare deceptively friendly. “And when informed of his mistake in attempting to take advantage of the queen of the underworld, he laughed.” Her expression hardened, making Stefan wince. “In my face.” But as quickly as it came, the stern frown left and a bright smile was in its place. “You seem nice,” she told the young god, bouncing on her toes as she went about wrapping the bouquet she had gathered. “I’ll let you say goodbye.”

Before Stefan could follow her nod to the back room, though, her eyebrows raised in warning. “If you try to free him, you’ll pray my plants kill you before I do.”

With an audible swallow, he left her alone. She set the bouquet in a lovely crystal vase, and she was busy arranging it for perfect balance when her door chimed again. Glancing up to the clock on her wall, she shook her head. Even with a cheerful smile on her face, Caroline’s voice fell flat with disappointment. “You’re late.”

“My apologies, love,” Klaus answered lightly, careful not to brush the vines slithered up the doorway on his way in. Leaning on the countertop, he watched her murmur encouragement to a too small flower until it grew to her satisfaction. “I’m afraid I suffered the same distraction of Stefan’s brotherly woes.”

Caroline shrugged, fondly patting the display before setting it aside, just outside his reach. Reaching across the counter, she welcomed her husband with a kiss. “Unfortunately, it takes more than a few growing buds to sap a god of his energy,” she sighed, brushing through Klaus’s brassy curls. “But I hope a few months in my planters will teach young Damon a lesson he won’t soon forget.”

Turning into her touch, Klaus pressed a kiss to her wrist. “I wish you would let me take care of him.”

“And I wish you would let me enjoy hunting him down over the centuries when he surely does this again,” she sighed, adopting what she called his patronizing tone.

Klaus knew better than to keep up the fight, so he held out his hand. “Shall we?”

Happily, she let him lead her toward the door. “Oh, Stefan,” she called. The god returned obediently, looking worse for the wear. “Mythic Florist is closed for a standing dinner date, but that arrangement is yours, on the house.” Caroline winked at his utter bemusement. “It should go where Elena sleeps. Hyacinth to promote her grieving process for your brother, hyssop for the sacrifice you both make for his foolishness, and forget-me-nots to remind her of the true love she still has in you.” She leaned into Klaus, her own love that had sustained her through the ages. “Rot and ruin like Damon is only as good as the healing it can provoke.”

Tense with anger, Stefan moved to throw the vase. Klaus, however, laughed. “My wife is a generous soul,” he said, kissing her temple. But turning back to Stefan, his smirk turned dangerous. “Don’t test it.”

As Stefan stalked out of the shop, still clutching the vase and powerless to challenge them, Caroline laced her fingers with Klaus’s. “He’ll be back.”

Klaus smiled, squeezing her hand. It had been so long since their status had been recognized, even mere acknowledgement a powerful taste of addictive belief. “We can only hope.”

Links: FFnet and AO3

[sensitivefern]

In Colonial times and in the early days of independence, women... voted – in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. But by 1807, all four of those states had rescinded that right. The issue lay dormant until a women’s suffrage movement emerged from the anti-slavery movement, most notably in July 1848, when... Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed equal suffrage at the first Women’s Rights Convention.

[1920]

===

And now Jacob would leave Laban – but not with much. By another sly deception, he separates the good cattle from the scrubs and steals away in the night. Jacob was a thief and his wife was no better. She stole her father’s gods, or images, and carried them away to another land. And when Laban, in his effort to recover them, caught up with her, she ‘put them in the camels’ furniture and sat on them. And Laban searched all the tent but found them not’ (31:34). No wonder the young Joseph made good in Egypt; with such a parentage, how could he fail? [...] And now we find that Jacob is a coward also. On learning that Esau is coming against him, he divides his flock and also his family and servants. The latter, he puts in front as a shield, his wives and children next, while he stays behind to pray for safety. And this is the man whom God chose to father his ‘chosen people’. Not in all pagan mythology can you find so despicable a character; only Joshua’s God outdoes him.

[Deceptions and Myths of the Bible]

===

When Fitz got back to the United States in 1927 he spent some time traveling about the country and then settled down at Edgemoor, Delaware... on the Delaware river... I never visited there, for soon after... I began to hear that both were drinking excessively, and that the place was a madhouse. Even Ernest Boyd, himself one of the heaviest drinkers of modern times, came back from a visit with the report that the place was too hot for him. Zelda was the worst housekeeper ever heard of, and as a result all the household arrangements were in chaos. To summon the maid at meals she affixed an old Ford horn to the edge of the dinner-table, and frequently gave it a squeeze. Once Joseph Hergesheimer, who lived at West Chester... invited the two to spend a weekend there. What happened at the party he never told me precisely, but I gathered from him that Fitz got violently drunk, made a great deal of uproar, and went about the house naked, or nearly so.

[H.L. Mencken]

===

‘Where does one start when discussing salvias?... Well, sir, ‘all salvias have four-sided stems, opposite leaves, and a whorled arrangement of flowers. Most have a “sagey” smell, some more so than others... and by the ease with which the corolla is pulled away from the calyx. Try it, you will see’...

Canadian burnet | Sanguisorba canadensis They prefer bog life, but will sigh and bravely try to survive in your non-bog garden... zones 2-6... full sun... cold-stratify seeds in your cold frame over the winter; softwood cuttings with at least 2 nodes in early summer...

lizard’s tail | Saururus cernuus Can be planted in waterways without ‘guilt’... the foliage is far from ugly, and the spikes interesting in that they lack petals and sepals; the long stamens provide the beauty and the fragrance... ‘well, I’m hooked’... plant them in a pond or a bog, or do not plant them... they are rhizomatous... zones 3-8... will colonize your local wet area in a nice way... stratify seeds, then plant in a warm situation; divide rhizomes in spring...

[Armitage’s Native Plants]

===

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As the internet continues to limp toward better security, sites have increasingly embraced HTTPS encryption. You’ve seen it around, including here on WIRED; it’s that little green padlock in the upper lefthand corner, and it keeps outside eyes from snooping on the details of your time online. Today, the biggest porn site on the planet announced that it’s joining those secured ranks. Pornhub’s locking it down, and that’s a bigger deal than you’d think. On April 4, both Pornhub and its sister site, YouPorn, will turn on HTTPS by default across the entirety of both sites. By doing so, they’ll make not just adult online entertainment more secure, but a sizable chunk of the internet itself.