#hades and Persephone haven’t been as interesting this season too

[wandamaximoffappreciationblog]

Even more of my thoughts on LO…

So, I read 227 and also read some spoilers for 228. And it seems like we’re going with the jealousy angle with Hera. I really do love Persephone and I just can’t stand seeing this be used this way? I’m really not just saying this as a shipper either. Some people have pointed out when Minthe was jealous and it’s demonized but it’s okay for Persephone to do it. I also do think it’s hypocritical of her when she went after Hades when he was dating Minthe, as toxic as she is and she offered a date to Ares. I know she was just trying to get him off her back but…still. It’s literally over a nickname with someone he’s known for literally thousands of years. I also just think it’s weird that this is happening and in the Aphrodite centered chapter there were small hinting’s of his feelings towards Hera there with the dog he made her. I want to still love Persephone but like this is really making me think she’s not really that mature. I loved everything with Psyche and Zeus though honestly. I just think all this stuff with Hera and Kronos and then like the stuff with Persephone is gonna lead to like Hera either just being used as a jealousy tool or like dying? I really hope not. I’m also kind of like Persephone was good in the beginning but Hera has more layers to me and it’s just weird that it’s like Persephone has to be like compared to other women to be propped up or something. I don’t care that him and Hera had something either if a partner is trying to control your friendships you already have, that’s just not a good sign to me. It’s also odd because Rachel had said in one of the bonus chapters she was told not to like center Hera on Hades but I’m like there’s still a lot of centering that’s going on? And for it to be utilized this way is just…cliche to me.Glasses Hades was cute tho.

[toasecretsanta]

The Winter Solstice

A/N: For @sierice [written by @sofia-not-sophie] and the prompt “Apollo’s relationship with the olympians.” I’m not sure how well this fills the prompt, but I’ve been sick and I haven’t written for a while so I’m glad to be back at it. I do think it’s an interesting slice of life type snippet with the Olympians though. Word count: 1057 Summary: A lot has changed since the last Winter Solstice council meeting Apollo attended. Most of that change being him.

“But he looks so cute like that.” Aphrodite whispered across the room, as if she had forgotten that Apollo could hear her.

“Well it’s unprofessional.” Dionysus huffed, “His punishment’s over. He should go back to looking normal, it’s only respectful to those of us still being punished.”

“Don’t you choose to look like that?” She asked.

Apollo rolled his eyes and went back to tuning his lyre. He was mortal sized and looked like Lester, which let him have the space to tuck his legs up and lounge on his throne. Lester’s skin had become more comfortable for him, at least when he was at either camp or was alone since become in a god again.

He was only wearing it in the throne room that day becasue whatever seasonal affective disorder sun gods get was at its worst. Luckily the part of him driving the sun could go curl up in bed after his shortest shift of the year listening to the new music his kids got him hooked onto the week before.

The rest of him was stuck at the meeting.

Dionysus was just putting on his usual stink, not that his little brother’s comments didn’t sting a little. Aphrodite’s cute comment was the best he would get in this form. She was pissed at him anyways because he hadn’t dated anyone in almost six months.

“Ignore him, you know D has been sober too long.” Artemis appeared, also human sized, across from him on the arm of his throne.

“You know I love you Artemis, but please get off my throne, you’re gonna stink it up with all your moon cooties.” He could feel her energy seeping into it and brushing up against his own in an uncomfortable way. He probably could have been nicer about it, but he was already feeling off from the solstice.

She hopped off the arm and went to her fifteen foot size. “Cooties aren’t real, brother.”

“I’m the god of medicine I could make them real.”

“That’d be fun, I’d definitely get more hunters that way.” She walked across the aisle to her throne and sat down.

Apollo strummed a chord on his lyre, the highest string was the tinniest bit sharp, the kind of thing Apollo was sure only he could hear, but it still bugged him. In the past he would usually tune with a wave of his hand, but ever since he had to painstakingly tune his ukulele every day as a mortal, he found comfort in the practice.

Hades stalked past followed by Demeter, they were arguing, as usual, “And you even cheated on her! She doesn’t deserved to be stuck down there with the likes of you and that son of yours.”

“Don’t talk about my son that way! And besides Persephone has grown quite fond of him, she’s planning a surprise birthday dinner for him next month.”

Demeter scowled.

“Nico’s actually a pretty nice kid Demeter.” Apollo said. Hades looked shocked, and a bit relieved.

“See even the sun and healing god, who am I most antithetical to likes my son.” Hades smirked and headed to his temporary seat.

“Oh. Apollo I didn’t see you there. Why are you mortal sized?” Demeter looked at him.

“More room in the chair.” Apollo shrugged, “And you shouldn’t pass judgement on demigod’s you’ve hardly even seen, let alone met. Although, I guess that would apply to your kids too. Meg’s still waiting on thirteen years of birthday presents.”

“Her birthday is not until next week. I planned on paying her a visit then, since it is not my busy season.” She frowned, as though she was considering going to harass Hades more, and then turned back to her throne.

Demeter had become much more wary of him since he returned, for good reason. He knew Meg probably wouldn’t talk to her even if she made an effort, but Meg also wanted to meet her. Apollo made a mental note to be with Meg on the whole day of her birthday, just in case he needed to tell Demeter to go home.

Apollo made an adjustment on his lyre and the chord rang out perfectly as he strummed it. He looked around the room to get a sense of when the meeting would start. Athena was calmly knitting, Artemis counting her arrows for what was probably the thousandth time, and Aphrodite was now sulking in her throne.

Apparently it was one of those years where both Hephaestus and Ares weren’t speaking to her since they looked like they were getting on better than normal. Ares was standing by Hephaestus’ throne and they were talking about something. Probably the world’s next new weapon of mass destruction, as if the mortals or demigods needed more of those.

Dionysus and Hermes were playing catch down at their end of the throne room. Only two years ago Apollo would have been a part of that game. The ball was almost the size of his current torso.

He could join the game, it wasn’t one of his bad routines as a god. The game helped him out of his darkest-day-of-the-year-induced slump. It had actually been a good way of bonding with his brothers. It was the twenty minutes of the year that at least a small part of Hermes wasn’t focused on messages in some way. The twenty minutes of the year Dionysus didn’t seem irritated with his punishment.

Sometimes they even got Artemis to join and she enjoyed showing off her trick shots.

A wave of air that smelled like rotting fish wafted over. If Poseidon had arrived, that meant Zeus’ fashionably late arrival, with Hera on his heels was soon.

Apollo should probably look more meeting presentable than a mortal sized teenager on a god sized throne.  He sighed and willed himself to be fifteen feet tall and to look like what the others expected Apollo to look like.

Dionysus had been right, his mortal look was unprofessional for a god.

Zeus appeared in a crack of thunder with Hera at his side and Apollo did his best not to flinch. He might not mind having human instincts still, but the Olympians surely would notice, and he’d rather if most of them didn’t.

“Alright settle down!” Zeus’ voice boomed, “Let us start this meeting.”

[where-theres-smoak-2]

10 Little Things I Missed in JATP The First Time Around.

So after binge watching Julie and the Phantoms in one day naturally the first thing I did was go back and watch it all over again and on the rewatches I noticed some things that I didn’t the first time around. Now I’m a few months late to the party so most of these are probably things that most people have already spotted but I figured I’d share them with you anyway just because I love how much detail they put into this show and I need to fangirl about it lol. Obviously there are spoilers. 

1) Missing Persons. In episode 1 when the boys are eating the hotdogs, behind luke you can see his missing person poster showing that his parents were looking for him and trying to get him to come home which is honestly just heartbreaking and tears at my soul. 

2) Signs, all the Signs. In episode 2 when they go to check on reggie’s parents and find the bike shop the name of the bike shop is ‘Petals on the Beach’. Julie’s mum was in a band named ‘Rose and the Petal Pushers.’ Then in episode 5 when we see Willie at the Hollywood Ghost Club we can see that he has a flower pin on his jacket. 

I don’t know for sure if it’s a dahlia or not but it does look like it is to me. Then in episode 6 when Luke goes to see his parents there is a vase of Dahlia’s on the counter behind them. Obviously these flowers link to Julie’s mum and I think it’s interesting that these three things are being linked to Julie’s mum. My theory is that these are connected to each of the boys unfinished business somehow and Rose is leaving hints for the boys. I also think their unfinished business might link back in someway to their parents. We know that they all left their parents on bad terms. Reggie’s parents were having troubles and were close to divorce, Alex’s weren’t accepting of his sexual orientation and Luke ran away leaving on bad terms. We’ve seen a little bit of resolution in Luke’s regard but the other two still haven’t had any. I also don’t think its any one thing that’s their unfinished business but more like a collection of milestones they need to resolve. 

3) Fire, Water and Leather Vests. In episode 6 when the band performs finally free Julie is wearing her mum’s vest, its the same one we see Rose wearing in episode 1 when she meets sunset curve. 

Since then either rose or julie has added doodles to it. One of the doodles looks like flames, fire is a symbol of rebirth or resurrection. Another of the doodles looks like waves/ water. Water is a symbol of both life and freedom which makes it kind of perfect for a song called ‘finally free’.  

There is more fire symbolism in Stand Tall with the special effects behind the band showing fire like imagery. Throughout the performance it shows glowing embers and fireworks. 

Which is also similar to the firery effect made by the lights in the background of their Finally Free performance. 

These along with other symbols of rebirth and resurrection is obviously connected to how the boys were brought back to ‘life’ again by Julie but also how they brought Julie back to life too. 

4) More Doodles. Again sticking with episode 6 when we see Julie drawing on her microphone she is drawing a birthday cake which is meant for Luke. We know that she only seems to draw things that are important to her on the microphone the other doodles include a rose and a dahlia obviously symbolic of her mother, the words double trouble which links her to Flynn, the words I’ve got the music and music notes, this is her connection to music. Then the final thing she draws on it is the birthday cake which shows how Luke is important to her. I also think its important that she does this right after learning more about him and seeing a deeper side to him, I do think this is when her feelings for him really deepened. 

5)  Braided Together. This is one that I think alot of people noticed but the braids in Julie’s hair in both I got the Music and Stand Tall are the colours of the three boys, red, blue and pink. Again showing how intertwined all of their souls are with each other and with music. I think it very much represents how the boys brought music back into her life.

6) The Power of Purple. Both Caleb and Julie have the rare power of being able to make ghosts visible to lifers and most likely have other mystical powers too if that last scene with the band glowing and being able to be touched by Julie is any indication. Both of them wear the colour purple. 

The colour purple symbolises magic, mystery and spirituality. I do feel like Julie and Caleb are the opposite sides of the same coin. They both posess similar powers but they are using them for very different reasons. I think they very much represent the living and the dead. Julie kind of brings people back to life whereas Caleb draws people to the otherside, the afterlife. 

7) Greek Mythology. Speaking of the afterlife, in episode 5 when at the Hollywood Ghost Club, Caleb encourages the boys to eat some food, on first watch this just came across as a kinda funny scene but when I rewatched it I realised something. I actually think this is a nod at the myth of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds. In greek mythology if you ate or drank anything in the underworld then you would be trapped there forever. Obviously we know not long after eating Caleb brands the boys with his club stamp forcing them to make the decision of joining his band for eternity or being destroyed by the jolts. He decieves them just as Hades decieves Persephone.  

8) Full Circle. Both the band’s first performance (Bright) and last (stand tall) starts with Julie on stage alone unknowing that the boys are going to show up. In the first performance she doesn’t know yet that they can be visible when on stage with her and in Stand tall she thinks they have been destroyed by the jolts already. It brings her journey full circle. 

9) Maternal Ties. The first time we see Luke perform and the last he has the same scarf tied around his arm.

He also has this same scarf in his back pocket during finally free both the performance and the episode as a whole. My theory is that the scarf belonged to his mother. During Unsaid Emily when you see him packing and arguing with his mother the scarf is in his back pocket. You can see it in his back pocket again during unsaid emily when he is singing as a ghost if that makes sense. 

It tends to show up, from what I can tell, either when Luke is having a big moment like the night that was suppose to be sunset curve’s big break at the Orpheum or Julie and the Phantoms performance at the Orpheum. Or when it has something to do with his mother like in episodes Finally Free and Unsaid Emily. I think he carries it as a good luck charm. 

10) Butterflies and Roses. In episode 7 during the edge of great performance the butterflies on julie’s top are the colours of the band. Red for Reggie, blue for Luke, pink for Alex and purple for Julie. Butterflies are a symbol of transformation and again another symbol of rebirth and resurrection. Also during the final performance Reggie has butterflies and flowers on his vest. Luke has roses on his guitar strap (also skulls but lets ignore that for now) and Alex has a rose in his suit jacket. 

Again the butterflies are symbolising the rebirth of the group but also could be to do with that transformation the boys go through at the end where they can now be touched. (I have soo many questions about that scene.) Also we have the roses which again shows the link to Rose and how she brought Julie and the boys together. 

Like I said I’m sure most of these are really obvious but I get excited about little details like these and the producers really did do an amazing job at weaving them throughout the show. I’m sure there are even more that I’ve missed so if you know of anymore please feel free to enlighten me. Still keeping my fingercrossed for a season 2.

 Edit: I found more fun little details and yes I am obsessed, part 2 can be read here if anyone is interested. 

[tanoraqui]

okay I have to do this today because even I wouldn’t do it after the godforsaken finale airs, and it’s basically my specialty and I did spend like an hour thinking about it last night while washing dishes. Definitely partly inspired by @words-writ-in-starlight​‘s insightful post on everything Supernatural did wrong, and apologies in advance to all the characters for dragging them into anything related to Christian mythology:

Wei Wuxian’s parents die in a house fire when he’s 6(? I refuse to look anything up) months old

Jiangs are a hunter family I guess? That whole disaster of a family dynamic, except WWX dips out at some point to be idk an environmental activist bc at the time, that seems like the larger threat to the whole world. “Mom and Dad went on a hunting trip and they haven’t come back”, “bitch” “jerk”, 2 brothers in a beat-up old car, you know the drill

Jins are also an old hunting family, but more Men of Letters energy - they have a fancy bunker and do research and avoid getting their actual hands dirty. Jiang Yanli ducked out of the active hunting life a few years ago to be happily married to her peacock and settled down with a baby and she’s fine. We’re not going to bother Yanli. She’s safe and happy and doesn’t need to involved in any of this

so, WWX is the demon blood child developing exciting new abilities like telekinesis, mind control, exorcising demons by sheer force of will...etc, and Jiang Cheng is the Righteous Man. Lucifer, Michael, etc.

s1-3 probably proceeds more or less as spn canon...which I more or less remember...by the time they find their parents at the end of s1, Jiang Fengmian is...ugh, we probably shouldn’t kill him offscreen, I mean, we should probably meet him before he dies. I guess. Madam Yu lasts longer because I’m way more interested in her. But we do know that both Jiang parents are totally inclined to fling the boys into a metaphorical or literal escape boat and go hold the line for as long as possible, so...that’s spn energy...

Xue Yang is the one who’s like “fuck yeah, demon powers” and opens the gates of Hell, because I want him to have nice* things

*nice for Xue Yang

from characterization rather than memory, I’m 90% sure that Dean tried to hide his crossroads deal from Sam, but Jiang Cheng does it...better. I think it does come out, though. Right before the hellhounds do.

here’s where it starts to go farther off from spn canon. Jiang Cheng crawls his way out of the grave, gets stalked by a menacing presence that explodes windows for an episode, incidentally can’t find WWX...*Lan Wangji voice* “I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition” (a baller line then and a baller line now)...and then the next episode starts with them all awkwardly standing around, and JC is like, “ok well let’s go find my brother then”, and you think there’s going to be an mdzs-riffing JC+LWJ Roadtrip To Find WWX...and they’re immediately attacked by like a dozen demons

in fact, the first time we see WWX in s4 is here, wherein he goes toe to toe with an angel and...holds his own. that’s new and terrifying! also is leading a squad of demons??

because here’s the thing: for the last 3(?) months, there’s been war in hell

because unlike Some People Mooses, upon finding out that his brother’s soul was legally nearly-owned by a crossroads demon, heir-apparent-to-Satan!WWX went, “actually fuck that” and kicked open the door of Hell (metaphorically, not loosing any demons this time) and was like, “who do I have to beat the shit out of to get a specific crossroads contract around here”

this did not work, obv. He didn’t know until it was too late, Lilith had already snapped up the contract, etc. etc.

obviously he also tried to offer himself instead, and got rejected for some reason

Since Jiang Cheng died, however, there’s been a war for control of Hell. Leading one side, Lilith, the Original Babe, who wants to break all 666(?) seals keeping Lucifer bound and in the meantime, break the Righteous Man so Heaven won’t even have Michael’s destined host ready for the Final Battle. Leading the other side, Wei Wuxian, infamous upstart, who wants to rescue the Righteous Man and restore him to life, tear Lilith’s guts out through her nose, and also stop her from doing the Lucifer thing because Wen Qing explained that yes, that’s a Thing, and it’s Bad.

Wen Qing! I’ve decided to combine Bela and Ruby’s roles and let WQ be both the cool badass example of how demon deals can go Bad and the demon deliberately leading our heroes astray for most of s3-4. Wen Qing is a very new demon; she used to be some sort of herbalist/witch but then she sold her soul in a crossroads deal to cure her brother of some lingering illness. 10 years of happiness and then boom, hellhounds. WQ is so obviously competent, though, that they (Lilith, I guess?) immediately offers her a job, with the promise threat that gee, that’s a nice brother you’ve got there, even with his Designated Chronic Health Condition getting all relapse-y. It’d be such a shame if something were to...happen to him...

we find this out at some point in last s3 I guess? some Monster of the Week case involves WN as a witness or something, or possible next victim, and WQ shows up to be A Normal Amount Of Invested In This, while desperately trying to avoid actually interacting with her brother (who thinks she’s dead). YES, the truth comes out; YES there’s a tearful reunion

now in s4, Wen Ning is fine actually, health-wise, bc he maybe made a crossroads deal with Wei Wuxian personally, and Wen Qing may or may not have admitted that she’s supposed to be working for Lilith to get WWX ready to host Lucifer? Or potentially that comes out later, idk. Either way, she’s 100% his top lieutenant in this exciting Hell War they’re waging

[insert whatever the hell (ha) happened plot-wise in s4 of supernatural]

we obviously mix up the relationships, too, bc it’s like, *LWJ internal monologue* I’m too young to remember my brother Lucifer as he was before he Fell, but surely Wei Wuxian is his Heir and Destined Vessel in truth, for he is Charismatic and Charming and Makes Me Feel Things, with his Clearly Feigned Righteous Drive and Compassion for All God’s Creatures and - why does heat keep pooling in the lower abdomen of my vessel when I look at his lips, which I am definitely doing a Normal and Not-Weird Amount - I’m just keeping an eye out for the famed Silver Tongue, and not in any way wondering how it would feel in my own mouth -

it’s actually DEFINITELY plausible for Lucifer to still be released even if our designated Heir Apparent is using his demon powers to his full potential and no one’s lying to each other about their motives. You just need to let Lilith be more scary too, and especially bc by “no one” I mostly mean Wen Qing; the angels are still totally hiding the fact that they, too, want to jumpstart the shit out of this apocalypse.  LWJ decides at the last minute that that’s a bad idea actually, gets himself discorporated to send JC to intercept WWX because he accidentally releases Lucifer, etc. etc. Oh yeah, the boys were def fighting before this, bc JC has actually fairly reasonable concerns about the sort of things WWX is getting up to in his quest to become King of Hell...

SO

...I neither know nor care what happens in s5

it does end with both Lucifer and Michael locked in the cage probably, bc I rather liked that solution. Fuck both of ‘em, basically.

I was toying with the idea that WWX also found Madam Yu in whatever hellish torment she was suffering after making a deal so her idiot son(s) would survive, and she was leading forces for him in the war against Lilith as well. If she came back to life somehow, body and all, it’d probably be compelling if she offered her own body to Michael - bc it’s her lineage! - and we’re all led to believe that she’s, uh, being a bitch and actually wants to risk destroying the world in order to destroy all demons...but then she seizes back control and flings herself/Michael and Lucifer into the Pit, because she’s just That Hardcore?

which means we’d actually have had her around and having characterization for most of s4-5, too, which would be fun

More importantly, it ends with newly crowned King of Hell Wei Wuxian appointing Wen Qing as Queen-Regent and ditching to go on an indefinite honeymoon with his new angel boyfriend (they’re going to fuck for like three weeks straight, then roll up their sleeves and go conquer Heaven in the name of free will), and Jiang Cheng gets to live out his hitherto-unknown-to-himself life’s ambition to be the sugar baby of the Queen of Hell. It’s very Hades/Persephone, except he goes back down to the underworld at least once a month. He gets his own demon squad whom he trains up in all the hunting techniques and it’s gr9. Wen Qing is reforming the crossroads deal process to make it more fair to the humans.

the end

Addenda:

it should go without saying but Jiang Yanli is definitely a recurring character, like, at least once a season there’s a filler episode where they go to Jiang Yanli’s for dinner and have to get along as a family, and also do the much easier job of defeating some sort of terrible demon that gets loose in the bunker and turns the evening into a horror movie. She’s their main research/emotional check-in person, a la Bobby, more often appearing in later seasons when there’s, uhhh, more to emotionally check in about.

Jin Zixuan is actually a perfectly competent hunter; he’s just a priss and we don’t Like him

we like Mianmian, though. Oh, I guess the official Hunter’s Guild or w/e tries to declare WWX a public enemy on account of the whole “King of Hell” thing and she’s like “actually what if you’re morons and assholes?” and joins hte team in s4 or 5? Yeah.

idk how the 3zun disaster happens in this ‘verse but I do encourage it to be happening in slow motion as a recurring subplot for several seasons. NMJ is a hunter, LXC is obv an angel, and JGY is...I wanna say one of the more human monsters, like a vampire? Or, you know, something that could be born from JGS sleeping with someone/something he shouldn’t have

[skylights2000]

Ooh, that sounds so cool! I’m glad you have something that really makes you happy! I love art, but I’m not very good at it. The only thing I’m really good with is watercolors. I knew a girl in my last year of high school that was super good at nearly every form of art. The only thing she couldn’t do was watercolor stuff, so she used to ask me for help while she was learning. She’s way better than me now, and I’m really proud of her. She told me that watercolor art suits me because she said it’s such a chaotically beautiful form of art. Since so much water is involved, you don’t really have full control over it. I think it’s really fun, but I’ve met a lot of people that say it’s too stressful for them. So, I guess comparing me to watercolors could be taken as a compliment or an insult.

I’ll definitely be more watchful over my flowers now so they don’t get harmed. My pansies are purple, yellow, and white. They’re really beautiful, and they’re such resilient flowers. They spread so quickly, so we’ve got some growing in the yard now too!

Autumn has such nice weather. It’s chilly but not freezing. I wish I lived somewhere where the leaves actually turned different colors. Here they just turn brown immediately, so it’s not as fun. There’s something weirdly beautiful about Autumn though. Excuse the incoming philosophical rant. Even though it’s seen as a dying season, Autumn also has this sense of comfort, for me at least, because it gives way to this feeling of hope almost. Autumn has always been an introspective time for me because, like you said, everything is dying, and it gives this kind of closure for me. It’s like everything that’s been worrying me is dying too, and it just leaves me feeling so hopeful for what’s coming next when nature, and metaphorically my life, blooms again. Ah, that’s the end of my rant. Sorry for rambling! 😅

I can’t say anything on the vampire front because it’s been so unbearably hot here, and I haven’t left the house more than absolutely necessary. I used to tan a lot when I was young, so my family always jokes that I wouldn’t be so pale if I ever went outside.

I really like the story of Hades and Persephone even though it’s kind of sad. It’s a really interesting myth! Your idea of proposing with a pomegranate is actually really sweet! I think that would be a really wonderful meaning behind it.

I get what you mean. Horror novels aren’t for everyone, but I’m glad you had a few stories that you did like! As for Percy Jackson, once I get my books unpacked, I want to reread the whole series. It was so incredible, and the storyline and character development was so well written.

I’m so excited to start learning to make games! Some of my all time favorites were Undertale, Detroit: Become Human, Angels of Death, All the Danganronpa games, The Ace Attorney games, Pokémon, The Sims 4, Fnaf, Donut County, Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, and I’ll stop there, or I’ll keep going all day 😅

I hope you’ve had a really nice day! You deserve it!

~Madison (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

[anncanta]

Hierogamy: Dracula BBC and the myth about Kora-Persephone

Today I would like to talk about the mythological drama in the series Dracula and some of its aspects, without which, it seems to me, the perception of this text will remain incomplete, and the understanding will not be as deep as it deserves.

But first, perhaps, it is worth saying a few words about why it seems to me that it is so significant to consider the mythological drama in a work of fiction in general and in Dracula in particular. Isn't it enough just to look or read, perceiving the text as it is, and not going into the study of some complex deep layers? Sometimes it's enough. But more often – no, it isn't. The answer to the question of why so lies in the very nature of a story and the art of storytelling.

The mythological drama is never fully developed in the text at the formal level, although there is where it precisely can be seen. This seems to be a contradiction just at first glance: the drama (in its original ancient Greek meaning) is a kind of ‘deep development’ underlying all events and scenes. It is like a labyrinth, a skeleton, a matrix on which the rest is built and grows.

That is, why is it important to look ‘from here’? For the same reason that it was important for Jonathan Harker in the film to find a map: in order, firstly, to understand how the castle is arranged (and therefore Dracula himself), to relate himself to it in a certain way – and to get out of its boundaries, that is, to include the castle in a wider context, which will allow the character to find freedom.

Finding freedom, in this case, should be understood quite literally – as going beyond the limits of restrictions and, as Dracula and Jonathan each correctly note in their own way, – a look from above.

This view has many advantages, but the main thing is the ability to perceive what was seen in its integrity.

Because in a good story, ‘how’ is always ‘about what’, so if you don't understand ‘how’ or ‘for what’, or even ‘what it was’ in general, most likely you haven't read the text, and it remained for you something like a set of colored spots on the wall, beautiful or annoying, but – as researchers of the brain and psyche never tire of reminding, – in the absence of a ‘key’ such thing does not exist as the story itself.

It is not at all necessary, by the way, should be a mythological or psychological, archetypal, or fairy-tale ‘key’. Or all at once. At one stage or another in life, each viewer and reader needs their own set of the ‘keys’ or a specific one. First of all, it is the literal sense of the story at the plot level. But without a ‘key’ at all – there is no text. At least because the text itself, as a phenomenon consisting of – whether linguistic, pictorial, or auditory – signs, is a key – to our ability to imagine things that do not exist ‘in reality’, and to ideas, images, and meanings.

But back to the text.

In Dracula, the mythological drama is present at all levels, and there are no parts, ideas, or interactions between characters in any moment of the film where it would not be important in one way or another.

We will not consider all aspects in which the mythological context directly manifested itself, as it will take too much time. Let's see just one – the one that is the main motive of the film and somehow creates the main plot collision, and with it – the metaphor and essence of the story itself.

And this is the motive of hierogamy.

Hierogamy as a concept can be considered in two aspects. The first is mythological, in which it represents the name, description, and modeling in the ritual a sacred marriage (from the Greek ιερός γάμος, Latin hieros gamos) of the god and goddess, and the second is alchemical (archetypal), denoting the combination of male and female principles in the process of creating a philosopher's stone.

Hierogamy in one way or another includes a sexual context, in the sense that it puts at the center of the event and experiences ‘connection’ and ‘dissolution of boundaries’ to create a single one that will be greater than the sum of its parts.

In Dracula, both of these aspects are present and can be recognized from the very first minutes.

We will not go into details, just list a few examples.

The most obvious and conspicuous is Dracula's castle as the fruit of love between Petruvio and his wife (whose portraits hang side by side on one of the floors and, as we learn later, are the ‘entrance’ to the mystery of the castle and its structure, and at the same time – the ‘exit’ to the outside world), Jonathan as the bride of Dracula, thanks to the interaction with which the Count is able to leave his ‘prison without locks’, the connection of Mina and the remnants of Jonathan on the verge of space separated by the sacred bread, allowing Dracula to penetrate inside and give rise to a new interaction of the male and female, and so on.

But the fun begins to happen in the second episode.

Given as a prototype, a form and a plot configuration, the mythological drama of hierogamy has so far been satisfied with literal images of heroes and disclosure at the level of the plot. It was difficult to suspect something more in it than a direct (allegorical) depiction of mental and emotional processes. But in the second episode, a new layer appears in this story. Or rather, it stops hiding.

It's so simple, so obvious and so cheeky frank that when you watch it for the first time, you miss it in an attempt to follow the plot. And only by the end of the episode you do guess that you should follow something else.

Yes, we do not yet know – and we have nowhere to find out – that the action of the prologue of the second episode takes place on the same ship, which will become the stage for the internal and external drama, but the style and images, the very structure of the situation, gradually suggest what will be discussed here.

And it will be the drama of Kora-Persephone.

Let me briefly recall the content of the underlying ancient Greek myth about Kora, Hades, and Demeter.

The daughter of the goddess of fertility Demeter, Kora, attracted the attention of the ruler of the underworld, the god Hades, and he kidnapped her, taking her to him, to the lands of the dead. There Kora spent some time, communicating quite closely with Hades, after which she begged him to let her go to the ‘upper world’ for a while so that she could see her mother, whom she was terribly longing for. Hades fulfilled Kora's request, but on the condition that she would return, and gave the girl several pomegranate seeds for the journey. During her stay in the kingdom of Hades, Kora refused to eat anything, so by the time she received the gift she was very hungry, and therefore, soon after she found herself on earth, she ate the seeds. And since the pomegranate is the fruit of Hades and the symbol of marriage, this made her return to Hades a must. Meanwhile, in the ‘upper world’ fields and plants ceased to bear fruit, and eternal winter came, as Kora's mother, Demeter, mad with grief and longing for her daughter, turned away from people and nature. Zeus found a solution to the problem. He decreed that Persephone (that was the name of the goddess who had ceased to be a girl) should spend six months on Olympus, that is, with her mother, and six months – in the kingdom of Hades, now her husband.

Thus, the myth, on the one hand, describes in the language of an archaic worldview the logic of the changing seasons (Persephone on Olympus – Demeter rejoices, spring and summer come on earth, Persephone in the kingdom of Hades – Demeter suffers, autumn and winter come on earth), and from the other, represents the mystery cycle of successive transformations of a girl into a woman and the unification of male and female in sacred marriage.

Let's see how this mystery cycle unfolds in the film – on a formal and substantive level.

The ship on which Dracula sails to England is called Demeter. In the center of the plot of the episode are the abduction of a virgin (a nun is by definition a virgin, if not physically, then symbolically) and the interaction of the hero with her on a ‘lower’, deep level. Lower, in the sense – detached from the everyday, visible to everyone, taking place in the light of universal attention and perception.

The hero who kidnapped the virgin (by the way, we have no doubt that he kidnapped her, from the very beginning – just do not know how exactly it happened; and therefore our desire to follow them closely is so intense) does not completely belong to the world of the living, although he does not belong to the world of the dead either. He seems to live on the border, not being part of either of these two realities. So that no one has any doubts about who he represents, let us recall that Hades was not always associated with death among the Greeks, and was never considered the master of hell and a synonym for death and destruction. He created a kingdom for himself, which he called by his name, in order to live away from everyone. And only later did he become the ruler of the world of the dead.

Obviously, the description of Dracula's life in the castle refers to the reality of Hades in the underworld, largely parodying it. Because, although Hades is the king of shadows, he is still a king, and his kingdom is real. Whereas Dracula lives, in fact, in a dump filled with bad memories and rotting broken dolls, locked in the boxes.

But Hades also kidnapped Persephone, not on great terms.

Both stories, the mythological one, and the story told in the film, lead us to the fact that the hero (the masculinity, the organizing principle) for completeness and development lacks a partner, another view of the same world, a beloved-opposite.

Dracula finds her at the gates of the convent and, according to the logic of the mythological drama, drags her to him. There is an interesting moment: hardly, having captured Agatha, Dracula went with her immediately to the ship. Most likely, he first brought her to his home, that is, to the castle, and only after that, when the time came, he sent her to Demeter. So, their interaction began in the castle, in the literal realm of the dead, and continued on a ship in the middle of the sea, in a transitional space, in a space of changes. This fully corresponds to the myth of the transformation of Hades, who has gone from voluntary loneliness to becoming a king in the world of the dead, where everything is indefinite, mobile, unsteady and although it does not change in the sense in which it happens on earth, it represents the idea of ​​change as it is.

Everything is possible in the space of changes, therefore, here the most important thing for the whole film takes place, and that will give the story an impulse to move forward and being resolved in the form, which we see in the third episode.

Let's turn now to Agatha's story.

On the ship, she travels in the role of Kora – at first, abducted and held in the ‘underworld’ and not realizing her position (Hades, let me remind you, having kidnapped Kora, did not immediately make her his wife, and she was sort of his guest – until the moment when she persuaded him to let her go to earth to see her mother), and then – in fact, the mistress of this very kingdom.

Why mistress? It is rather difficult to answer this question. But there are details in the text that give hints and, on close examination, leave no room for double interpretation.

The simplest and most obvious is the physical location of the characters in the frame. They are on an equal footing, both in the center, and although Agatha is shorter than Dracula, she is as ‘in her place’ as he is and feels just as confident.

The second is how they communicate. In addition to the fact that the dialogue, the beginning of which we see in the prologue of the episode, is quite friendly and mutual (no one hangs over anyone, does not threaten anyone, and does not try to pressure – for those who have forgotten what it looks like, there is the final conversation in the convent), Agatha's position is read from the phrases thrown by Dracula in passing, but very eloquent. Such as ‘You choose’ – in response to the question of who will play black and who will play white. And this is only the upper layer of interaction, there are more of them, and on each one, it is acutely felt that here Agatha is not a prisoner, but a partner.

You might say, – of course, this is all part of an insidious plan to keep Agatha in the dark, and no real courtesy (not to mention real respect and closeness) is out of the question. Dracula is just playing with his victim. But this is the essence of the story and what happens on Demeter, as well as in the space of the original drama. Hades kidnaps Persephone as something alien, beautiful, and unfamiliar, something that attracted his attention in the distant upper world and that, like a fruitful grain, fell into his dark hermetic kingdom and ignited the spark of life in it.

Hierogamy and everything that precedes it is a mutual process, otherwise it makes no sense.

But then a moment comes in the story, which in the mythological drama corresponds to the stage of the earth, empty due to the grief of Demeter and the despair of Kora, yearning for the upper world.

On the ship, which has lost most of the passengers and half of the crew, because of Dracula's appetite, tension grows, and in the same way, it grows inside Agatha, who despite her quite comfortable position, begins to realize that something is wrong here.

Internal and external tensions converge at one point – on both sides of the doors of cabin number nine. And when the doors open, the mythological drama comes to the surface.

Interestingly, the story here does not even try to hide what it really is – from a detective in Agatha Christie's style, turning into a mystery action. Moreover, it directly admits it – when Dracula invites passengers and crew members of the ship to cabin number nine and brings them to Agatha's bed, he opens the curtain.

But what is going to happen here?

Let's see what the situation is in terms of structure.

The hero, who for a long period of time keeps a woman abducted by him from the ‘upper’ world, alien to him, experiences the invasion of this very world and is forced to present this woman to those around him and somehow explain her presence in this place and their relationship. Let us recall that the relationship between Kora and Hades also remained ‘unnoticed’ for the time being, or rather, until the moment when its uncertainty began to create problems.

Let's forget for a while about the individual needs and questions of passengers and crew – the important thing here is that all the ‘inhabitants’ of the ship demand to explain what is happening and to open cabin number nine.

Demeter demands Kora to her. She does not agree to put up with the current situation and calls Hades to account.

What remains for the hero? He, as in the Greek myth, acts with cunning: in this case, in the film, he tells the story that the woman lying in (his) bed is a murderer, the terrible eater of people whom passengers and crew have been unsuccessfully looking for throughout travels.

Dracula is trying to explain Agatha's presence here and now, on this ship and in these circumstances – not only to deflect suspicions from himself, but also to structure the situation in which they find themselves – not so much because he wants it, but because that he has no other choice.

What happens on deck is a logical consequence of his decision. Brought to light Kora is no longer the same as before – having visited the kingdom of Hades and entered into a close relationship with him, she can no longer remain a girl and just a daughter of her mother. Her innocence is left in the arms of the lord of the underworld. And since he really does not intend to let her go, all that remains for him is to make their relationship ‘legal’.

The hanging scene, entirely built on the interaction of Agatha, Dracula, and the ‘choir’ consisting of the crew of the ship and passengers, looks like another erotic at the same time (after the first scene in the convent), in which Agatha again from above and again largely dictates conditions, – and as a kind of coronation scene.

But not only the one.

There are so many meanings in this scene, and they are so closely intertwined and interconnected, that in order to see them all, you should carefully examine it – slowly, gradually.

First, Agatha is placed on a barrel and a noose is thrown around her neck, intending to execute her.

It would seem, what does Hades' marriage to Persephone have to do with it?

According to ancient pagan beliefs, the remnants of which are also preserved in Christianity, the bride, who left her home and married the fiancé, was considered dying for her previous life and being born for a new one.

Not everyone on the ship agrees that an unfamiliar and barely breathing woman is indeed guilty of the murders on the Demeter, and a dispute erupts between the judges hungry for justice. Among others, the captain speaks out and says that the woman standing on the barrel is the wife of the mysterious Mr. Balaur, who paid generously for her transportation in cabin number nine, without attracting unnecessary attention.

The word ‘wife’ is important. Firstly, because Dracula (Hades) still knows more than Agatha (Kora), even if he did not fully formulate it for himself. And secondly, because in the mythological reality in which the characters undoubtedly are, words matter. Let us recall that events still take place in a transitional space in the midst of changing and constantly moving waters. In this reality, what is not uttered is not defined. What is not shown does not exist. (I don't think I need to explain to anyone that cabin number nine is Schrödinger's box.) Thus, the one who utters the word determines this reality.

In the noise that arose after the recognition of the captain, most of the spoken words are lost, but two of them are heard clearly and turn out to be the main ones. This is the word ‘bride’, declared as a negation, and ‘wife’ disputed by no one.

At the plot level, this is just a confusion, a skirmish of frightened and distrustful people, but at the symbolic level, everything is clear and logical.

First, the bride announced that she is not the one (‘I'm not Balaur's bride!’).

Second, another person declared publicly that she was the wife of Mr. Balaur. Who, in turn, is nothing more than a mask, a pseudonym for Dracula. This is not enough for marriage, you say. Yes, sure. At the plot level, no doubt. But the characters are in symbolic space. And here, in this space, it is important who utters these words.

The captain pronounces them – a person who, by his position, is the master on the ship, who has the right to judge and resolve disputes, the right to execute and pardon, and – to seal marriages.

But this is not enough either. There are almost no coincidences in such texts. It was not in vain that I mentioned that the word ‘wife’ was not disputed. A mythological drama is being played out before us, but it is being played out in a nineteenth-century setting. Therefore, for a legal marriage, another formula becomes significant.

‘And if there is anyone among us who knows the reason why this marriage should not be contracted, let's tell now or be silent forever.’

Then one final touch is missing to complete the ceremony.

The moment when Agatha asks who has the courage to knock over the barrel and hears Dracula's answer: ‘Me,’ on a metaphorical level, ‘closes’ the frame of the ritual action.

The fiancé approaches the bride and makes a movement to ‘end the game’ – literally to kill Agatha, and symbolically, to complete her transition from bride status to wife status. Here even blood is present as an attribute of the loss of virginity, even though, in this case, the bride has long since said goodbye to it. But we are talking about the symbolic aspect of what is happening.

Let's not forget, however, that the lord of the underworld kidnapped Kora-Persephone and involved her in marriage without her direct and informed consent (more on this later). Therefore, Agatha's actions, when she spits blood in Dracula's face, literally designed to reveal his vampire nature for everyone, symbolically signify the resistance of Kora-Persephone and the desire to escape from her husband. But some things, having started, are quite difficult to stop, so Dracula still knocks over the barrel. Having successfully landed surrounded by ‘guests’ at the wedding, Agatha survives. But on a symbolic level, her death was not the goal. The goal was to physically separate one part of her life from another. This is exactly what happened.

Thus, we can conclude that after the end of the second episode, we are no longer facing Kora, but Persephone – the queen of the underworld.

But, as in the myth, Persephone at this stage is still the point of intersection of the conflicts of several characters. This is Hades, who wants her to return to him from the upper world, Demeter, who does not think to retreat, and... Persephone, who needs to deal with herself and who she is now, and how she will continue to be.

At the mythological level, it is the conflict that will become central in the third episode.

In the myth, at the request of Persephone and Demeter, Hades released Persephone to the upper world, giving her (some sources say – forcing to eat, but this is unlikely since it does not correspond to the function of that types of objects in myths and fairy tales) several pomegranate seeds... It was because of this that Persephone, having eaten them already on earth, was forced to return back to the underworld.

Do you remember what happens in the third episode?

Zoe van Helsing (a doctor, who, by profession, every day deals with the reality of both the ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ worlds, and exists and works on their border) – who can be considered a kind of ‘earthly’ incarnation of Agatha, Persephone from ‘upper world’, meets Dracula, whom she did not think to meet. By her own admission, she never really believed that Dracula would be found. And Dracula, seeing that his ‘wife’ does not remember him and does not want to return, gives her his blood and offers to ‘read’ it – if Zoe guesses how to do it.

That is, you understand – he does not directly offer her to drink his blood. He only gives her what she wants. Just like in the myth.

Zoe is a researcher, and besides the fact that she may have hoped that Dracula's blood would somehow help her recover from a fatal disease, she probably really wanted to know the secret of vampire blood, as any real scientist, inquisitive and hungry for knowledge.

Now let's turn to myth again. Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds that Hades gave her because she was hungry because she refused food all the time she was with him.

By the way, these seeds originated from drops of Dionysus blood.

The connection of Dionysian ecstasy, wine, blood, intoxication, and the processes occurring at the level of the ‘lower world’ – the world of the corporeal and the unconscious, is spoken directly in the text several times, but I think there is no need to dwell on this here.

After that, it is not surprising that the symbolism of the field appears here, – in the middle of which Zoe finds herself after drinking Dracula's blood. If in the second episode Demeter was present as a ship, a womb, a mother, carrying the potential of the future and protecting her child, then in the third she appears before us as a fertile layer, a bed, giving Agatha-Zoe-Persephone her blessing and, thus, the opportunity to complete the transformation and become a full-fledged spouse of her husband, at the same time, keeping the connection with the mother on a new level.

All this allows the story to unfold in the finale in a mysterious – alchemical context.

The fact is that the cult of fertility, the cult of Kora-Persephone, presumably formed the basis of the Eleusinian mysteries, mythology, and philosophy of which greatly influenced the views of medieval Western European alchemists. From here comes the similarity and continuity of images, ideas, and descriptions of processes, a close, often inherited metaphor, and, in a certain sense, an underlying common myth.

As the screenwriters themselves remind in one of the interviews, Dracula is a story of resurrection. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that in the finale of the third episode and the entire film, the mythological motive of Kora-Persephone and the alchemical one – coniunctio oppositorum* – are combined in one hierogamy.

This is openly stated in the text as well. In one of the last scenes of the series, Dracula says, addressing everyone present at once, and indirectly to the viewer: ‘Journey's end. Lovers meeting.’ This is a literal description of the alchemical stage of the union of the masculine and feminine principles.

Therefore, in the final scene, he and Agatha are making love – at the level of the plot, this is due to the development of their relationship as individuals, as a man and a woman, but at the symbolic level this is because the opposites they represent have reached a state where they can merge to give the beginning of a new one.

It is important to remember here what the story is constantly showing visually: there is what is happening on the ‘outer’ plane and what is on the ‘inner’ plane. The space of the film is constantly divided into two levels-states: Dracula's castle and the monastery, the monastery and the area in front of the monastery gates; what is happening in Agatha's workshop and the same thing – recorded in Dracula's blood and played in Zoe's head, Dracula and Agatha, lying on the table in Dracula's apartment, and Dracula and Agatha together in a golden light.

Let me remind you again: a real myth, an archetypal drama, very rarely unfolds in front of the viewer or reader directly, told in literal, poster language. Most often they turn out to be ‘wrapped’, embedded in the shell of a legend, parable, or fairy tale. In this sense, nothing has changed since the time of the ancient Greeks. The basic narrative structures are the same. How, perhaps, we all remained the same. Therefore, stories like this work. Therefore, they are important.

And also – because they are all-conquering beautiful.

* Сoniunctio oppositorum (Latin) – the combination of opposites. One of the key stages of alchemical Work.

P. S. In conclusion, I would like to show a few symbolic images from alchemical treatises. I will not show the corresponding scenes from the film – I think you yourself will recognize them. The first two illustrations are prints from the Splendor Solis, the third – from the Rosarium philosophorum.

[paladinwife]

I'm sure you're already gonna get some but just to be sure, all of the mythology asks for Raiden :> (both of them or either, your choice <3)

Me blasting Rules of Nature as I answer this

Also because this is a lot this will just be Metal Gear Raiden! Baal will have to be separate

Zeus: How did you first meet your f/o(s)? How did you feel about each other at first?

So I’m still working through this, but: my theory is that the people that hurt and nearly killed Elise were involved with the Patriots (not that she knew), and so her pursuing revenge resulted in her basically accidentally walking in on the plot of MGS2. She and Raiden run into each other this way some time shortly after the whole incident with Rose (where, in this timeline, he won’t forgive her and refuses to take her back). After their chance meeting they actually start bonding and see each other more and more.

Hera: How did you first start your romantic relationship with your f/o(s)? How did the way you feel about each other evolve to get to that point?

And this jumps off perfectly from the last question! Like I said, after their meeting, they start getting closer and spending some actual time together. At some point, Raiden realizes he’s following Elise like a puppy, but he’s nervous considering how badly his last romantic relationship went. Eventually, though, his feelings win out and he does approach her about dating, and Elise is happy to accept.

Poseidon: Do you and your f/o(s) like to travel? If so, where do you like to go? Is there anywhere you’d like to go that you haven’t yet?

Raiden and Elise travel a lot for their careers, but I think they really want to travel together. First priority is to go somewhere with a nice beach and just have a relaxing time, I think. But there are so many countries they want to see together when they have the chance.

Demeter: What’s your favorite season, and how do you like to spend that season together?

Elise loves autumn - not only is it her birth month, but the weather is lovely, and she loves to have some tea and enjoy the leaves changing color. Raiden doesn’t have particularly strong feelings on any season, but he appreciates how happy autumn makes his wife, and also that’s it’s Wife Birthday Time. Besides, he has some unfortunate memories associated with spring.

Athena: Are your f/o(s) interested in any particular hobby or interest of yours? Have you taught them about it, or let them watch you, or anything similar?

Elise, particularly after getting some cyborg augmentation in her arms and hands, starts getting really interested in visual art, especially painting. Raiden doesn’t know shit about art, but he knows that what his wife creates is super cool and he’s so proud. Also, Elise is a bit of a fitness buff to try to keep the human parts of her body strong and healthy, and Raiden is more than happy to watch if not join her just for the fun and moral support.

Apollo: What do you like best about your f/o(s)? What does your f/o(s) like best about you?

Ask this question to either of them and their first response will be “everything”. They adore each other. If Elise had to pick one, it would be his strength - not physical (though she is impressed with what he can achieve there), but the fact that he just keeps going despite everything. She had a lot of admiration for him in that regard and does her best to stay strong too. If Raiden had to just choose one, he would choose her heart. Not only is she the first person to treat him kindly and let him just exist as himself, but he sees the kind and gentle way she handles other people. She has a lot of love in her heart for others, and he doesn’t see a lot of that, so he thinks it’s beautiful. Also, he’s quick to add, she’s smart as hell and he admires that so much.

Artemis: Do you have any LGBT+ headcanons for you f/o(s)? Do you share these identities? Feel free to share anything else special about your LGBT+ identities.

They’re both bi as hell. I’m aware that most of Metal Gear is very bi, but Elise and Raiden are both extremely bisexual and love each other in an extremely bisexual way.

Ares: Are you ever protective of your f/o(s)? Are they ever protective of you?

Oh, both. Mutual protectiveness. Raiden being protective of her is obvious, but at any given time Elise is ready to fuck up anyone that would dare hurt him any more. Also they’re both more than ready to fight each other’s shitty exes.

Hephaestus: Do you and your f/o(s) ever like to get gifts for one another? What kind of gifts?

Yes! I’ve previously addressed Raiden’s tendency to get Elise cheesy souvenirs when he travels - he likes getting her little things like that. He also likes picking up things that remind him of her. Elise is also aware of Raiden’s tendency to not get things for himself, but one time she bought him something nice that she thought he’d like and he has treasured it ever since. It’s not about the actual thing, but more about the fact she loves him, right? She also apparently gets him t shirts that say silly things because he loves them.

Aphrodite: How do you and your f/o(s) like to show love to each other? Feel free to include your love languages, if you find that helpful.

Raiden kind of struggles to figure out his own love language and shows love in multiple different ways. I think, though, his primary one is quality time, and he very much appreciates just being around Elise. Second is physical touch, as he ends up really loving giving physical affection to her and the warm feeling of her skin. Elise likewise dabbles in all of them to a degree, but she tends towards acts of service - she will constantly go out of her way for him in a way that isn’t lost on him. She also does have quite the way with words that makes him feel all warm and fuzzy.

Hermes: Was it love at first sight? Slow burn with lots of pining? How fast did your relationship progress?

Raiden fell very very fast. He was like a puppy following her around. In spite of his trauma, or maybe because of it, he melted at her kindness and care right away and couldn’t get enough. Elise was a little slower, but I feel like she was surprised at how fast she fell. They were both careful in progressing the relationship, given their trauma, but it’s hardly a slow burn.

Hestia: What makes you and your f/o(s) feel at home? 

Raiden’s answer is Elise herself. Before he met her he didn’t have anything that strongly felt like a home - recall that Rose got mad at him for having a mostly empty bedroom because he didn’t come back to it often. It was Elise being there that made him want to come home more often. It’s less about the location and more about coming back to her, you know? Elise’s answer is actually similar - she’s not from where they live now and has moved around a lot in her life. Her attachment is more with him than to the place.

Dionysus: What do you like to do with your f/o(s) for fun? Is there anything fun you’d like to try with them?

Actually? Watching movies together at home. Raiden has a strong interest in that kind of thing, and watching them at home means he doesn’t have to try to pretend to be “normal” around others, whatever that means. It’s kind of been their thing since their first date. They certainly try lots of fun things together, but that one is special.

Hades: Would you ever consider a pet with your f/o(s)? What kind of pet? If you already have one, what is the pet like?

Honestly he deserves a dog. Again I’m leaning towards a bigger dog, but I think he’d love any dog. Just give this man a dog and he’ll dote on it. I’m particularly fond of a GSD for him because he kind of reminds me of one.

Persephone: How different are you and your f/o(s)? How do you deal with each other’s differences?

Honestly, more similar than you’d think. Aside from some shared trauma, they’re both very strong and persistent, and they’re full of compassion for others. I just think their strengths lie in different places. Really the similarities helped them bond quicker.

Nyx: Do you have any children with your f/o(s)? Would you ever consider children (biological or adopted)?

Well, I’d consider John (normally mothered by Rose, but now mothered by Elise herself) their son. I also made the mistake of referencing “children” to Justice, implying more than one, so uh. Watch this space.

(Thanatos answered here!)

Hypnos: Do you like to sleep together or share a bed with your f/o(s)? If so, what position do you sleep in? Does anyone hog the blankets, or have a stuffed animal, or have nightmares and need the other for comfort? Anything else along those lines?

Anyone who has played MGS2 knows Raiden is not naturally comfortable sleeping with other people. It takes him a while, but he does get to that point with Elise. Even better is that he finds that Elise soothes his insomnia and troubles with nightmares a lot. They tend to sleep hugging each other, by Elise’s request but with his enthusiastic consent.

The Erinyes: How does your f/o (or f/os) respond to someone mistreating you? Do they confront the person? Do they comfort you? 

Raiden. Gets. Furious. He can’t stand the thought of someone mistreating his wife. He would fight them if necessary. But at the same time, Elise isn’t that different: hell hath no fury like Elise pissed off that you’re mistreating her husband, who has been through enough.

The Moirai: What is your “happy ending” for your ship? How do you end up? What kind of life do you want together?

It’s for them both to finally be at peace. They’ve been through so much, and now that they have someone that they can truly trust, they can finally let their guards down and just exist peacefully. I think that’s the happy ending for them, regardless of everything else about how they end up.

(Calliope answered here!)

Thalia: Discuss any fluff ideas you have for your ship. What kind of affectionate or sweet scenarios do you like best for this ship?

Raiden really likes holding hands with Elise. Not only is he tickled by how tiny her hands are, but he finds it very soothing. Sometimes it’s hard for him to pretend for the public to be a completely normal un-traumatized person, but her touch and her hand put him at ease. He asks to hold hands with her a lot.

Melpomene: Here’s your dedicated angst question: discuss any angsty or hurt/comfort ideas you have for your ship.

This is hard, since I see this as such a happy ship. But the one thing is: when it comes to their first child, instead of faking a relationship and devastating Raiden, Elise probably tells him what’s going on and goes into hiding to protect her and their child. She probably had to have his first child alone and desperately hope that he would come back to her alive, and that’s a pretty painful thought.

Euterpe: What song(s) suit your ship best? Any particular lyrics that fit well?

From Take My Breath Away, the titular song for the ship:

That’s pretty painful but also very fitting.

Erato: Does any canon ship remind you of your ship (if you like those)? What tropes or ship dynamics apply to your ship?

Remember the girlboss/malewife pair from FMA and how iconic that was? That’s them for sure.

Terpsichore: Have you and your f/o(s) ever danced together? What kind of dancing? Formal dress or completely informal jamming out in your home?

Oh definitely they would. Elise is the only one with formal dance training, but Raiden is a romantic at heart and wants a dance with her, formal or not. I can see them just slow dancing in their house, so happy they’re in love.

[happyhearthooligan]

Master List Oct Edition 2019

(2/2)

This half contains the Yandere Month Special, Classic Undertale headcanons, Multiple AU asks, other headcanons that didn’t quite fit the first half, and franstastic-ideas’ other posts

The first half contains AU-centric headcanons excluding Classic Undertale

franstastic-ideas - October Content (Continued)

------------------------------------------------------

Yandere Month

Oct 3

Frisk is on an ambassador trip?

Mafia Yandere hcs on both our sweet Frans ♡

Yandere King Sans and his Lady Ambassador!

Cryptozoologist Frans but… yandere~

More yandere for me please! have you heard of Echofell?

What about Murder Frans (Murder Sans x Frisk)

Ink x Draw? (InkSans x InkFrisk) but yandere???

Yandere Error x Core?

Horrortale brothers in the least to most nuttiest yandere spectrum?

These are my questions about the yandere skeletons…

Oct 4

Yandere version of the Convergence AU?

Any headcanons for yandere Storyshift bros?

Yandere lamia??

Oct 6 - How about a yandere Frister?

Oct 9

Haven’t really seen much yandere!G!Sans. Could you do that?

Yandere Headcanons on Nightmare and Dream?

If a female touched his lady as a platonic gesture? (Yandere!G)

If G!Frisk somehow found out how Yandere G can be

Oct 10 - Yandere Outertale?

Oct 22

Yandere cuddles with the Swap brothers

What would Yandere Dance be like

Oct 23

So what about a yandere Dusttale story

What would Yandere WraithTale Sans do with Rosalyn

Killing is extremely rare and saved for severe occasions

Oct 24 - If Chara escaped and Papyrus was unable to find her?

Oct 27 - "He wouldn’t sleep until she was found"

Classic Undertale

Oct 1

Imagine Sans never confessing

Frisk & Chara hear a lot of puns and knock-knock jokes from Toriel

Why does UT Chara hate humanity?

Does Frisk or Chara have a backstory

Thoughts on Asgore and Toriel coming back together

Oct 2 - Canon fact or a fan theory, Frisk fell 100 years, after Chara

Oct 3

Some Papyrus x Chara x Asriel hcs

Chasriel and Frans double date?

Oct 4

Frisk and Sans reconcile after getting into an argument?

How about some Gaster x Frisk x Sans hijinks?

Accidentally ripping your pants in front of your S/O

Oct 5

Other than losing Frisk, what does Sans fear?

Is Chara a tsundere?

Oct 6 - Why did UT Frisk climb the mountain?

Oct 8 - Sans’s Reaction to Papara In a Nutshell

Oct 9 - If Frisk did a genocide run and she had to kill Sans?

Oct 10

Frisk can flirt with Goat Mom and canonically flirts with Papyrus

Why Sans was creeping around before introducing himself?

Oct 11 - What are Frisk and Sans’ favorite seasons

Oct 12

UT Frisk as someone who flirts with pretty much everyone

Is UT Sans was a bit more eccentric and wild about his work?

Would Pap ask Chara about letting him in the Royal Guard?

Oct 14

What does Papyrus think of Grillby himself?

Do the Charas like to play with their Asriel's ears?

Asriel will state that Chara "wasn't the greatest person’

How do you think Asriel and Papyrus feel about each other overall?

"Prone to random bouts of stupidity when Chara is involved."

"And they have to share". Do you mean Chara or that one braincell?

When Asriel and Papyrus are competing, how does Chara react?

Chara's reaction to Sans’ secretly trolling Pap online would be?

Oct 21 - Do the skeletons have peeves that their human lover does?

Oct 22

How would Gaster and Sans respond to a third rival

How Frisk/Chara felt about Alphys’ crush on Toriel and Asgore?

Undertale cuddles? o3o I want more of those!

How you think Frans would spend a rainy day

How about surprise kisses? Chara initiating their first kiss?

Would Chara be the one to tell Papyrus about his cooking?

Has Sans or Papyrus seen natural disasters while on the surface?

Would Chara tell Pap Undyne’s feelings of him and the Royal Guard

Oct 23

Can we have some of that Frister cuddles?

What would Sans and Mettaton's relationship be?

In Undyne and Alphys' wedding. Frisk caught the bouquet!

Frisk/Chara receive X-rays. How do their boyfriends see it?

Papyrus with a human anatomy book of undeniable proof

Oct 26 - If Frisk put herself on a near death state to save someone?

Oct 27 - Paps has told a skele-ton of puns in the game

Oct 28

"Papyrus thinks his jokes are better than Sans’s." Does Sans agree?

Do you think that Chara met Dr. Gaster?

Perhaps Sans and Flowey aren’t the only ones aware of the resets

How do you think Chara behaved at first towards the Dreemurrs?

Papyrus' reaction was when he found out that MK was a fan of his?

Oct 29

When you check the family photo, Chara's response would be "..."

Do you think that Chara cuddled with Asriel?

Oct 30 - "Papyrus feels the need to inspect them… just in case."

Multiple AU Headcanons

Oct 1 - More Gpapara headcanons please! Child of the ruins too?

Oct 2 - Frans AUs reacts to Frisk suddenly dying and not resetting?

Oct 6 - Is Gaster Sans' older brother in these AUs or something else

Oct 8

In order from least to most, who are the ten biggest tsunderes

UT Frisk and US Chara when bfs are telling puns to other women?

Minus HT Sans, who are the most protective/possessive?

Oct 9

Skelebros react to someone very openly checking out their ladies?

Soft UT Papara, soft househusband Green, and soft UF Papara

With each Papara and Frans couple, who kissed who first?

Oct 10

Skelehusbands favorite places to kiss on their wives?

What would Older/Married Skelehusbands give to Younger selves?

Seeing his favorite human trying on his scarf

How do the Sanses react once Frisk starts aging...

What would their skeleton lovers react to "that time of the month"?

Oct 11

How do the Sanses feel if Frisk had a previous love interest...

UF, US, and SF Sans and Frisk are pregnant but the girls don't know

Would Soul sensing be the same in reverse?

Aww, man. I was hoping for them to freak out or something

Where do their wives like to kiss their favorite skeleton?

Lol, I can only imagine how freaked out they'd get. :3

If “previous love interest” caused Frisk to have a negative reaction?

Oct 12

Do the Frisks squish their Sans' faces?

What if the first kisses where started by the cutiebones’ lovers?

Do any of the Frans/Papara couples get into arguments

Is there a human that likes the Gaster AUs?

How did each version of Sans and Papyrus go about soulmates

When did the Sanses realize that they were in love with their Frisk?

Chara had to deal with their ex-lover. Papyrus' response??

Oct 13 - Most Papyri refer to themselves as "the Great Papyrus”…

Oct 22 - Frisk/Chara with whom they refer to as a "boy friend"?

Oct 27 - Have the Sanses/Swap Papyruses always liked bad jokes?

Oct 29

Do UT Chara/US Frisk have doubts that the Royal Family loved them?

Frans/Papara confessions where Frisk/Chara confess?

Chara responds to receiving a bouquet of flowers/chocolate

Other Headcanons

Oct 1

Monster Hunter Chara and Monster Papyrus?

Can I ask for FellGFrans? or FellGPap?

Persephone/hades-esque headcanons for both Frans and Papara

Would HT Frisk ever fall in love despite him keeping her captive?

Oct 2

Your pacifist horrortale...but swapped?

Reaper and Frisk as Hades and Persephone X3

Oct 3 - I was wondering if you’ve heard of an AU called Farmtale

Oct 4

A modern war AU where Sans is a spy and so is Frisk

Any HorrorFrans/Papara hcs you could share with us?

About that Lamia AU... what would be the next step to courting

Horrorswap Papara please

Oct 6

Is Gaster Sans' older brother in these aus or something else

Snippets from Feeling Bonely without you?

Wild West AU love triangle between Grillby, Chara and Papyrus.

Skeleton bachelors in the HarvestTale/FarmTale soul events

Oct 10 - Horrorswap Papara proposal

Oct 12 - In Outertale, Sans shows Frisk where shooting stars fly by

Oct 13 - What is Henri's relationship with Frisk?

Oct 20 - What's your ideas about Core! Frisk and Error?

Oct 21

Headcanons for semisolidmind’s Aslyumswap

Narrator-Chara AU headcanons?

“The Villain I Appear To Be,” does Frisk feel remorse for hurting Sans

Oct 22

Swapfell Papara/Frans cuddles?

If the Convergence AU was a Papara reverse harem?

Oct 23

More cuddles! Outertale Papara/Frans?

AUs where Chara and Frisk are "joined at the soul” explanation

Oct 28 - "Chara and Frisk are attached via soul", an alternate view…

Other types of posts

Oct 1

Written Horrortale, Gastertale, or Underlust Papara?

Punctuation

Is this Reapertale? Or maybe it’s Greektale…?

Can we take one of your prompts and write a fic of it too?

How to be you???

Written HCs on love confessions or marriage proposals?

A recount of my AUs:

Your thoughts of HCs for the Six-Bones AU?

Oct 2

Have you read  “Sooner Or Later You’re Gonna Be Mine”

How’d you do that?

Reading through your posts about Crypto!Frisk, and I wanna say…

Oct 3 - Is Frister a ship exclusive to Cryptozoologist au?

Oct 4 - Opinion about the Papyton (Papyrus x Mettaton) ship?

Oct 5 - Just imagine Flowey having the voice of Lil Gideon.

Oct 8 - Good news! My application’s been accepted

Oct 10

Would you ever be willing to write a Papyrus x Frisk fic?

Would it be okay if you could write about yandere Flowerfell?

Oct 12

I heard Flowerfell was based off of the writer and his partner

If you were to choose between Frans and Papara

Oct 21

Welcome back friend! how was your break?

HEY! It's been a while how are you doing?

Welcome back! Hope things have been well! :3

Are all AUs accepted here?

Oct 22

How do you feel with Monster Kid x Frisk?

Why do you like the idea of Chara being evil? (no hate)

Thoughts on Friskriel?

Rosalyn makes me think you don't like tsundere characters

Oct 23

When a tsundere character becomes abusive

I actually have the same feelings about Tsundere

‘I hate all tsunderes and everyone that likes the trope’, is not true.

Opinion of the AUs where Chara and Frisk are joined at the soul?

I don’t have many headcanons about the characters of Deltarune

Oct 24 - About the Author

Oct 26 - Status Update 10/26

Oct 27

Why you should share your ideas with the world

Do you know Ragnartale by @naomyart ?

Oct 28

I have a phobia of injections

Well, it’s over and done with, until next year at least.

All the stories I wrote in the past, I still have them

Oct 29 - I think one of the most insulting responses you can get

Oct 30

Hey there! Where can I read your stories?

Sometimes my mother will ask about how my writing’s going

------------------------------------------------------

November's list is going to be of a similar size to this, so expect the next one being split into two as well!

[franstastic-ideas]

Master List Oct Edition (2/2)

This half contains Yandere Month Special, Classic Undertale Headcanons, Multiple AU asks, other headcanons that didn’t quite fit the first half, and Franstastic-Ideas’ more personal posts

The first half contains AU-centric headcanons excluding UT

Yandere Month—————————————

Oct 3

Frisk is on an ambassador trip?

Mafia Yandare hcs on both our sweet frans ♡

yandare King Sans and his Lady Ambassador!

cryptozoologist frans but ... yandare~

more yandare for me please! have you heard of echofell?

what about Murder Frans (Murder Sans x Frisk)

Ink x Draw? (InkSans x InkFrisk) but yandare???

Yandare Error x Core?

Where do the Horrortale brothers fall in the least to most nuttiest yandere spectrum?

These are my questions about the yandere skeletons [1. reasonability, 2. saying No, etc]

Oct 4 

yandere version of the convergence AU?

Any headcanons for yandere storyshift bros.?

yandare lamia??.

Oct 6 - How about a yandare frister?

Oct 9

Haven’t really seen much yandere!G!Sans. Could you do that?

Yandere Headcannons on Nightmare and Dream right?

But, what if a female touched his lady as a platonic gesture? (Yandere!G)

If G!Frisk would somehow found out how Yandere G can be if needed to

Oct 10 - yandere outertale?

Oct 22

yandare cuddles with the swap brothers 

What would Yandere Dance be like

Oct 23

So what about a yandere Dusttale sotry

What would Yandere WraithTale Sans do with Rosalyn

Killing is extremely rare and saved for severe occasions in my yandere-verse

Oct 24 - If Chara escaped and Papyrus was unable to find her?

Oct 27 - "he wouldn’t sleep until she was found"

Classic Undertale————————————

Oct 1

imagine Sans never confessing 

Frisk and Chara hear a lot of puns and knock-knock jokes from Toriel

why does UT Chara hate humanity?

Does Frisk or Chara have a backstory

thoughts on Asgore and Toriel coming back together

Oct 2 - canon fact or a fan theory, Frisk fell 100 years, after Chara

Oct 3

some papyrus x chara x asriel hcs

chasriel and frans double date?

Oct 4

Frisk and Sans reconcile after getting into an argument?

how about some gaster x frisk x sans hijinks?

Accidentally ripping your pants in front of your S/O

Oct 5

Other than losing Frisk, what does Sans fear?

Is Chara a tsundare?

Oct 6 - Why did UT Frisk climb the mountain?

Oct 8 - Sans’s Reaction to Papara In a Nutshell

Oct 9 - If Frisk did a genocide run and she had to kill Sans?

Oct 10

Frisk can flirt with Goat Mom and canonically flirts with Papyrus

why Sans was creeping around before introducing himself?

Oct 11 - What are frisk and sans’ favorite seasons

Oct 12

UT Frisk as someone who flirts with pretty much everyone

Is UT Sans was a bit more eccentric and wild about his work?

Would Pap ask Chara about letting him in the Royal Guard?

Oct 14

What does Papyrus think of Grillby himself?

Do you think that the Charas liked to play with their Asriel's ears?

Ariel will state that Chara "wasn't the greatest person’

How do you think Asriel and Papyrus feel about each other overall?

"prone to random bouts of stupidity when Chara is involved."

"And they have to share". Do you mean Chara or that one braincell?

When Asriel and Papyrus are competing, how does Chara react?

Chara's reaction to Sans’ secretly trolling Pap online would be?

Oct 21 - do the skeletons have peeves that their human lover does?

Oct 22

How would Gaster and Sans respond to a third rival

How Frisk/Chara felt about Alphys’ crush on Toriel and Asgore?

Undertale cuddles? o3o i want more of those!

How you think frans would spend a rainy day

How about surprise kisses? Chara initiating their first kiss?

Would Chara be the one to tell Papyrus about his cooking?

Has Sans or Papyrus seen natural disasters while on the surface?

Would Chara tell Pap Undyne’s feelings of him and the Royal Guard

Oct 23

can we some of that Frister cuddles?

What would Sans and Mettaton's relationship be?

in Undyne and Alphys' wedding. Frisk caught the bouquet!

Frisk/Chara receive x-rays. How do their boyfriends see it?

Papyrus with a human anatomy book of undeniable proof

Oct 26 - If frisk put herself on a near death state to save someone?

Oct 27 - Paps has told a skele-ton of puns in the game

Oct 28

"Papyrus thinks his jokes are better than Sans’s." Does Sans agree?

Do you think that Chara met Dr. Gaster?

Perhaps Sans and Flowey aren’t the only ones aware of the resets

How do you think Chara behaved at first towards the Dreemurrs?

Papyrus' reaction was when he found out that MK was a fan of his?

Oct 29

When you check the family photo, Chara's response would be "..."

Do you think that Chara cuddled with Asriel?

Oct 30 - "Papyrus feels the need to inspect them… just in case."

Multiple AU Headcanons—————————

Oct 1 - More gpapara headcanons please! child of the ruins hcs too?

Oct 2 - Frans aus reacts to Frisk suddenly dying and not resetting?

Oct 6 - Is Gaster Sans' older brother in these aus or something else

Oct 8

In order from least to most, who are the ten biggest tsundere

UT Frisk and US Chara when bfs are telling puns to other women?

Minus HT Sans, who are the most protective/possessive?

Oct 9

skelebros react to someone very openly checking out their ladies?

soft UT papara, soft househusband green, and soft UF papara

With each Papara and Frans couple, who kissed who first?

Oct 10

skelehusbands favorite places to kiss on their wives?

What would Older/Married Skelehusbands give to Younger selves?

how sanses react once frisk starts aging and eventually pass away?

what would their skeleton lovers react to "that time of the month"?

Oct 11

How the sanses feel if frisk had a previous love interest that broke off

UF, US, and SF Sans and Frisk are pregnant but the girls don't know

would Soul sensing be the same in reverse? 

Aww, man. I was hoping for them to freak out or something

Where to their wives like to kiss their favorite skeleton?

Lol, I can only imagine how freaked out they'd get. :3

If “previous love interest” caused Frisk to have a negative reaction?

Oct 12

Do the Frisks squish their Sans' faces?

what if the first kisses where started by the cutiebones’ lovers?

Do any of the Frans/Papara couples get into arguments

Is there a human that likes the Gaster AUs? 

How did each version of Sans and Papyrus go about soulmates

When did the Sanses realize that they were in love with their Frisk?

Chara had to deal with their ex-lover. How each Papyrus respond?

Oct 13 - Most Papyri refer themselves as "the great Papyrus”…

Oct 22 - Frisk/Chara with whom they refer to as a "boy friend"? 

Oct 27 - Have the Sanses/Swap Papyruses always liked bad jokes?

Oct 29

Do UT Chara/US Frisk had doubts that the Royal Family loved them?

Frans/Papara confessions where Frisk/Chara confess?

Chara responds to receiving a bouquet of flowers/chocolate

Other Headcanons————————————

Oct 1

Monster Hunter Chara and Monster Papyrus?

can I ask for FellGFrans? or FellGPap?

Persephone/hades-esque headcanons for both frans and papara 

Would HT Frisk ever fall in love despite him keeping her captive?

Oct 2

your pacifist horrortale...but swapped?

Reaper and Frisk as Hades and Persephone X3

Oct 3 - I was wondering if you’ve heard of an AU called Farmtale

Oct 4

a modern war AU where Sans is a spy and so is Frisk

any horrorfrans/papara hcs you could share with us?

About that Lamia AU... what would be the next step to courting

Horrorswap Papara please

Oct 6

Is Gaster Sans' older brother in these aus or something else

snippets from Feeling Bonely without you?

Your wild west au love triangle between Grillby, Chara and Papyrus.

skeleton bachelors in the HarvestTale/FarmTale soul events

Oct 12 - In outertale, sans shows frisk where shooting stars fly by

Oct  20 - What's your ideas about Core! Frisk and Error? 

Oct 21

Headcanons for semisolidmind’s Aslyumswap

Narrator-Chara AU head cannons?

“The Villain I Appear To Be,” does Frisk feel remorse for hurting sans

Oct 22

Swapfell papara/frans cuddles?

If the Convergence AU was a Papara reverse harem?

Oct 23

more cuddles! outertale papara/frans?

In the AUs where Chara and Frisk are "joined at the soul” explanation

Oct 28 - "Chara and Frisk are attached via soul", an alternate view…

Personal Thoughts————————————

Oct 1

Written Horrortale, Gastertale, or Underlust Papara?

Punctuation

Is this Reapertale? Or maybe it’s Greektale…?

can we take one of your prompts and write a fic of it too?

how to be you???

written HCs on love confessions or marriage proposals?

A recount of my AUs:

Your thoughts of HCs for the Six-Bones AU?

Oct 2

Have you read  “Sooner Or Later You’re Gonna Be Mine”

Reading through your posts about Crypto!Frisk, and I wanna say…

Oct 3 - Is Frister a ship exclusive to Cryptozoologist au?

Oct 4 - Opinion about the Papyton (Papyrus x Mettaton) ship?

Oct 5 - Just imagine Flowey having the voice of Lil Gideon.

Oct 8 - Good news! My application’s been accepted

Oct 10

Would you ever be willing to write a Papyrus x Frisk fic?

Would it be okay if you could write about yandere Flowerfell?

Oct 12

I heard Flowerfell was based off of the writer and his romantic parter

if you were to choose between Frans and Papara

Oct 21

welcome back friend! how was your break?

HEY! It's been a while how are you doing?

Welcome back! Hope things have been well! :3

Are all AUs accepted here?

Oct 22

How do you feel with Monster kid x Frisk?

why do you like the idea of chara being evil? (no hate)

Thoughts on Friskriel?

Rosalyn makes me think you dont like tsundere characters

Oct 23

When a thunder character becomes abusive

I actually have the same feelings about Tsundere

‘I hate all tsunderes and everyone that likes the trope’, is not true.

Opinion of the AU's where Chara and Frisk are joined at the soul?

I don’t have too many headcanons about the characters of Deltarune

Oct 24 - About the Author

Oct 26 - Status Update 10/26

Oct 27

Why you should share your ideas with the world

Do you know Ragnartale by @naomyart ?

Oct 28

I have a phobia of injections

Well, it’s over and done with, until next year at least.

All the stories I wrote in the past, I still have them

Oct 29 - I think one of the most insulting responses you can get

Oct 30

Hey there! Where can I read your stories?

Sometimes my mother will ask about how my writing’s going

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holy... Cow! This took a while. But, November's list looks like it's going to be of a similar size to this, so expect the next one being split into 2 as well!

[thehistoricalgods]

Demeter: More Than Just An Overbearing Mother

So, I don't know what's up with this new trend of Demeter being portrayed as an overbearing, overprotective helicopter mom, and nothing else. I suppose in a way I see how it happened—the rape of Persephone is one of the more pervasive myths that essentially everybody knows, and with more modern retellings, they like to cast Demeter as the bad guy, rather than acknowledging ancient Greece was a different culture, that myths aren't meant to be taken entirely seriously—that though they tell us a lot, they're primary purpose was worship and entertainment—and that there's no real "bad guy" to this story. And because it's a more popular myth, not much else is attributed to Demeter.

So this is going to be a really long post, debunking the popular beliefs about Demeter, and sort of bringing more of her actual character to light, with a special focus on the abduction of Persephone, as the modern world is really, ah, let's say ignorant, to the actual connotations of that story.

Demeter was an agricultural goddess, associated with grain and bread, which was a staple food for the ancient Greeks. She was also, by contrast, the goddess of starvation and hunger. So she could bless your drops to flourish, or your crops would fail and hunger would quickly follow. Because of this alone, she was majorly important to the Greeks, but it also wasn't her only role. Like many gods, Demeter was very multifaceted and held many different roles throughout Greek society.

Perhaps less importantly, due to the nature of wheat in ancient societies, Demeter also presided over fruits and vegetables, with only some exceptions. Olives, as those were Athena's; grapes, as Dionysos already presided over those; pomegranates, as those were sort of her daughter's thing; and beans, which for whatever reason, was seen as impure by the Greeks. She also had some association with flowers, especially with the fruit-bearing variety, but not enough for me to say that it's her "domain."

Porridge, another staple food, was also something she had dominion over, and it was used ritually in her Mysteries and cults across Greece.

Thoughout Greece, Demeter had been worshipped as "Law-Giver," or Thesmophoros, was regarded as the goddess who instructed mankind in law.

She also came to be associated with the Afterlife, as she apparently had taught the Mysteries how to get a good deal on the Afterlife through worship and rites. It's unknown what those rites were, but in case you're curious, I'll give you some advice—don't disrespect Persephone, ever.

Either way, Demeter was majorly important to the Greeks, who saw her as a stern, doughty woman, mature, but still quite beautiful, of course.

So, that's all well and good, but you probably already knew Demeter was an agricultural goddess, often associated and appropriated to Isis, and you haven't really learned anything to contradict your opinion of her, except that she was actually one of the most important goddesses there were.

So let's talk about her mythos and her personality for a bit. Who was Demeter, exactly?

She was among the six children of Kronos and Rhea, and is the second oldest child. After being released from Kronos, she was mostly fostered in by Okeanos and Tethys, along with Hera.

During the war of the giants, she most likely either bore a golden sword and a shield, which was an epithet of hers—the Lady of the Golden Sword—or a torch and spear. Either way, she was an active participant in the war against the giants.

So...the abduction of Persephone, her daughter. First, you need some background. And not just some, but a lot, because setting the stage is sort of important here.

So, before Persephone was born, or even conceived, according to most myth, Demeter was being pursued by Zeus. She transformed into a snake to hide, but that didn't work so well. So, that was Persephone's conception story. Not so fun.

Because of this, Demeter sort of wanted to protect her daughter, because the gods were very ravenous, to say the least. And she was right—in some myths, both Apollo and Hermes asked for Persephone's hand, which Demeter outright refused. However, there's not a ton of information on Persephone as a young goddess, so there's not a ton to go off of. We know Demeter trusted her around her sisters, Athena and Artemis, otherwise known as two-thirds of the maiden goddesses, and nymphs.

But, again, we don't know a lot of Persephone's childhood, or how Demeter mothered her. We just knew, that when Persephone was kidnapped, she was gathering flowers with Athena and Artemis. Only some myths say she was hidden away from other gods. It appears the really wasn't though, just that Demeter wasn't too keen on her getting married.

So Persephone's taken to the Underworld. Now what?

Well, firstly, Demeter had no idea what had happened to Persephone. The only people to witness her kidnapping, was Helios and Hekate. So when Demeter came to find her gone, she tore off her cloak and her head-covering, as was pretty customary for grieving in the ancient times, and immediately went looking for her. No one told her the truth of what happened, I imagine because they were afraid of her wrath, as Demeter was known to be a wrathful goddess in general. So for around ten days, she went searching for Persephone, and on the tenth, Hekate pointed her to Helios, who saw everything. We also learn here that seasons already existed and that Demeter was responsible for changing them.

Anyway, Helios told her what happened and that's when Demeter exiled herself, feeling incredibly betrayed and angry with Zeus, and completely grief-stricken.

Not because she thought Hades was unfitting or because she wasn't ready to let Persephone go—because no one, god or otherwise, except Hermes, could travel between realms, at the time, and Zeus had given Hades permission, which meant the marriage was valid, but Greek standards at the time, so there was no reason to get her. Essentially, Persephone died and Demeter would never see her beloved daughter again.

She became an old woman, and sat next to a well in Eleusis, and greived. When asked, she told people she came from Crete and had been kidnapped by pirates. Eventually, she became a nanny of sorts, caring for the King of Eleusis's son, as if he were her own, and fed him ambrosia and necter, in order to make him immortal. Long story short, it didn't work out because the mother ruined her process, and so, enraged, she left, but not before revealing her true form and cursing the woman.

The obvious message here is, she was trying to replace Persephone with a new child, to fill that void in her heart.

She continued to hide away in her temple in Eleusis for one year, causing a huge famine and many mortals would strange to death in this time, before Zeus sent Iris to go talk to Demeter. She told Iris she wouldn't do anything until she could see Persephone with her own two eyes.

So Hermes goes to get her, and she returns, though only after Hades promised she could return to the Underworld and be his queen, mind you.

It was decided she'd stay for one half of the year in the Underworld, fall and winter, and then in summer and spring with her mother.

(Also during her search for Persephone, she was pursued by Poseidon. That's not super important, but just so you know.)

In case it wasn't obvious, the whole myth is an allegory for a grieving mother after losing her child—not even just to death, though that's the more relevant take away in modern times, but in marriage, because a daughter essentially left her family when she got a husband, unless she was divorced. It's got three sides sides, that myth—a mother-daughter story, for Persephone, a coming-of-age and for Hades, a love story.

Obviously, there's a whole lot more about Demeter that I implore you to read, because she's honestly a really interesting goddess, but yeah. Here's my short summary of why she's more than an overbearing mom and why that interpretation really isn't all that accurate and why she deserves better.

[floralgothpersephone]

Top Fave Fandoms

@akai-vampire tagged me in one of these fun little tag games. Thanks darlin! <3 <3 <3 I appreciate the thought! 

Rules:  Name your top 10 fav character from 10 different fandoms (and tag 10 people).  

Most people are putting in .gifs for each fandom... but I wrote a ... well a paragraph about my experience in each fandom instead because I am feeling some deep sort of nostalgia these days and felt like reflecting... so its all under a read more tag if you are interested in my ramblings. 

In order of my own discovery, and not importance! 

Twilight: Team Edward. don’t @ me, it was my first fandom experience and I wrote SO MUCH fanfiction before I knew it was even a thing. I published it on DeviantART thinking I was so clever, and finding fanfic dot net was WILD. My interest in that fandom was immediately crushed dead the day after Breaking Dawn was officially released and I realized I had read better fanfiction then what cannon gave me. I never even saw the movies because my interest was just gone. *shrugs* But the re-emergence of Twilight recently is giving me life. 

Teen Titans: BBRae... Then RobRae.... then RaeX.... then StarRae... then CyRae... listen.... Raven deserves all the love and attention??? Also, I was in this fandom back when the original series was being released and was in complete denial when it got canceled. And for years I was just reading fanfiction that had been completely abandoned as fanfiction authors just kinda disappeared one by one? It was like, interacting of pieces of history left behind in a void. I was still deep in the Teen Titan fandom when Teen Titans GO! Got released. So during that very very long time of zero new content, I got to re-evaluate all of my fanfiction standards and completely read most every single Teen Titan fic ever written in my thirst for more. Suddenly ships didn’t matter as much to me, I’d take anything and everything. So when Teen Titans GO! Came out, I LIKED IT AND STILL DO. I still think the years and years and years of being in the Teen Titans fandom and being pretty damn isolated from social interaction kinda ruined me for fandoms that are still alive. Social fandom interaction??? hahahahaha, whats that??? 

Akagami no Shirayukihime: Obiyuki... this was a complete accident and I only fell into this fandom because my fave Teen Titans fandom author was writing for it, and I was reading the fanfiction without ever seeing the show, and like, kinda loved these characters a TON??? Oh no??? Real talk, I read most of the fanfiction published by the fandom before ever actually watching the actual tv show or reading the actual manga. But the fanfiction was so good and so engaging and I was learning all about these characters through this mystery game of putting all the parts together by all the different authors??? I loved learning about these characters through the people who love them the most, and it was magical. But then that became my dirty dark secret as I was suddenly welcomed into one of the most kindest and generous online communities I have ever met??? I have nothing but absolute love for the Obiyuki fandom and family. I had never experienced that kind of community before and looking back on it I still don’t think it was real, stuff like that you can only dream of sometimes. I sat down and actually read that manga and Fiona sat with me so that I watched the tv series so that I could properly engage with them because I liked the people so much. And when life hit me square in the face and I had a complete mental breakdown in grad school, and socializing with people online would give me complete anxiety attacks... and I had to step away from it. But I still mourn loosing that, and I keep trying every so often to see if I can interact again but I fear some chapters just close, and I hold the time I had with it, and the memories from then very lovingly. I will finish those fanfictions though. Even though I have no idea what has happen in the manga anymore I want to at least finish those stories like what they deserve. 

Miraculous Ladybug: Love Square. Sooo much love square. All the love square. Only the softest, gentlest, most innocent fluff to cope with the world and all my anxieties, and this stupid show gave me all of that. Plus, there was so much fanfiction to choose from that I was actually able to use tags and warnings to be able to navigate finding things that were safe and not feeling like my options were limited? It was so good to me. I also had never actually watched this show, and was only reading fanfiction of it for... honestly a full year. And when I did actually watch the first 2 seasons... I still didn’t watch the new episodes when they got released, because I much prefer watching the fandom loose their collective mind and getting to play the mystery game of what the hell happened in the show according to the little spoilers and the things people were screaming about. It was fun spectating, and putting it all together. Then reading the fix-it fanfiction and being like “whoa wait, hold up CANON DID WHAT???” ... Honestly I am pretty certain I still haven’t seen at least 10 episodes. But I know everything that happened now! Have I mentioned that I have an insane amount of anxiety of actually watching tv shows on my own? I must have company or else it will never happen. Shout out to Fiona for sitting down and watching Ladybug episodes with me while I screamed into a pillow. And for the record, I did start writing a fanfiction for this one. But I learned my lesson and decided not to post anything until it was finished so I didn’t have to live with the guilt of yet another unfinished story to my name. It was a little mermaid AU, and Adrien is the mermaid princess obviously, while Marinette is a badass pirate. It was fun to outline and write like, 3 chapters but i doubt I will ever actually finish it. 

Greek Mythology: Hades/Persephone. Yoooo this is my current thing. I am living for the walking contradiction of the powerful stern Lord of the Underworld falling for a little tiny goddess of Spring... and then finding out the little tiny ray of sunshine is really a complete force of nature to be reckoned with and he just crowned her Queen of the Dead. Beautiful. Poetry. *chefs kiss*  Also. I DON”T HAVE TO WATCH ANYTHING. AND ALSO. ITS AN ANCIENT STORY SO LIKE, NO SPOILERS TO NAVIGATE. lol. But honestly this is just a re-awakening of little middle school Becca who was obsessed with the Odyssey and was learning how to throw pottery so that she could actually date her pots, to help out the archaeologists in the future. (honest to god, that one of my main motivations as a little 6th grader making her first pots on wheel) And she was making these super shitty small greek pots and giving them to her English teacher because her English teacher loved the Odessey too. And then Greece had a complete economic collapse and crushed all of baby-Becca’s dreams to get to travel to Greece and see the greek pottery. And she delt with that heartbreak by pretending it didn’t matter and went and found other cool pottery to fall in love with instead. But now its back with a vengeance and once again Becca’s plans to go to Greece got destroyed by yet another economic collapse but this one is just Pandemic style. I am going to get to Greece so help me gods.  And yes, I have written fanficiton for this one too, and its honestly like, pretty fleshed out and written down heavily in my notes. I just have to like, type it all out and polish it. But, we will see. I am not allowed to have nice things until I finish the stories that are already posted. :[ 

Hadestown: Hades and Persephone, love that made the world go round. This gets its own bullet because its a different category because its a Musical even if its also a Greek Myth. And talk about reading all the fanfiction before seeing the source material. But isn’t that the case with most Broadway musicals? LOL. But its okay, I actually went and SAW the musical for this one, and once again, Fiona joined me. I’m starting to wonder if my Fiona is just my fandom anxiety buddy. Also shout out to the Rona for canceling my plans to see it again, not once, but twice now. (I have to go back because I didn’t get to see Amber Gray perform the first time, and hello I am obsessed with Persephone she is my favorite and I really really really just need to hear Amber growl in person okay???) I do have nightmares that she has left the show for good and I will never see her perform Persephone. Like legitimately have had that nightmare multiple times this week. I am just recently trying to navigate the Hadestown fandom on tumblr and still fumbling around with that. No fanfiction for this one yet, but I am making fan-pottery so like. That counts. 

Aaaaand you only get 6 fandoms because these are the only 6 that truly matter. Anything else I have been interested in has only been a passing fancy and never one of the true hyperfixations. Also if you got this far and actually read everything, well done, I am impressed. Thanks for taking interest in my ramblings.  <3 

If I am tagging you its cause I want to play the game, don’t feel pressured if you don’t want to play. <3

@bookloverfio @ruleofexception @wingsofgossamer @claudeng80 @puns-are-funs65 @ourladyoftheundcrground @peachdoxie 

[raendown]

My piece for a private ShikaSaku exchange, prompt from @chinarai. I had a small panic a few days ago when I realized I had finished this and then promptly forgotten it for about a month. xD That’s what happens when you work on too many things at once!

Pairing: ShikamaruSakura Word count: 5582 Rated: T+ Summary: A retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth in which tales depicting the beauty of Spring have spread even to the underworld where they catch the attention of one who rules in the shadows.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Equinox Absconding

i.

He’s hiding up in the branches of an apple tree covered in reluctant blossoms when they meet for the first time. Sakura isn’t sure what it is about the blossoms on the tree that put her in mind of reluctance, perhaps the way most of the petals have only half opened with many trying to curl back in to slumber, but it seems appropriate considering the sulking expression on the young god looking down at her. The shadows at her feet twist and snap with the desire to reach for the trunk but she holds them back for fear of withering even such a sleepy tree.

“Abed at noon,” she notes. “Except you appear to have misplaced your bed.”

“It’s my garden, I can sleep wherever I want.” The young god watches her from one eye, allowing the other to fall shut as though he intends to take half a nap.

Sakura whispers to her shadows to soothe them as she tilts her chin up to get a better look at this young man’s face. The God of Spring if she isn’t mistaken. Rumors rarely make their way to her in the underworld where she reigns but this man, this young god with his beautiful face and lazy flowers growing in his hair, she has heard of him more than once. They say he is divine to behold and that much is true, she thinks. But they also say that he is lazy and Sakura thinks with no small amount of amusement that rumors are always grounded in at least some truth. Nothing she has heard of this man has proved unfounded.

Under the looseness of his muscles where he lays draped between the branches, however, the one half-lidded eye that watches her is sharp with an intelligence that doesn’t just pique her interest – it holds her captive in the most wonderful of ways. She’s always appreciated a man with a proper head on his shoulders.

Mortal men are always such predictable disappointments in that area, feeble minds saturated with undeserved pride and always falling prey to one vice or another.

“Have I your permission to enter this garden?” Sakura asks. Being polite is as foreign and awkward as any other social interaction after the long seasons of being sequestered away with only the dead for company but even she knows that manners will get her farther than demands or flexing her muscles. It’s a disappointment to see one of his eyebrows quirk ever so slightly in a forbidding manner.

“No. Entertaining company is bothersome and all I want to do right now is take a nice long nap. The gardens are closed today.” With that he closes his second eye with a deliberateness that speaks to dismissal and Sakura is left gaping up at him.

“As you wish,” she murmurs.

It’s more shock than anything else that he could deny her so easily and for such a flimsy reason that has her bowing and turning away. To disrespect a fellow god in their own territory where their powers are strongest would not be the wisest course of action. Sakura isn’t stupid by half and she knows the tactical advantages in a well-timed retreat, how to use that time given to regroup and make new plans.

 ii.

Only a month passes before Sakura finds herself once more standing at the entrance to the gardens brought forth by Yoshino, the Goddess of the Harvest and Fertility, to keep her son pleased and encourage him never to leave her side. Such strong maternal love isn’t something Sakura experienced for herself but she can imagine from the way the God of Spring gazes longingly in to the distance that it must be a heavy and suffocating burden to bear. Oh the things she would do to lift the burden from those drooping shoulders.

And the many more things she would do to keep those piercing eyes fixed on her and nothing else.

“I see that today is not a day for idling in the treetops,” she notes upon finding him spread out on a rock with his face tilted up to feel the sun’s warmth. Something in the languid lines of his body reminds her of a coiled spring. How fitting.

“Broke one of the branches,” he admits. “Mom was furious. She won’t let me back up there until the tree has healed and it’s way too troublesome to fight with her.”

“Are you often at odds with your matriarch?”

Instead of answering the young god sits up, sending a thrill down Sakura’s spine to have his full attention seemingly so easily, but then he frowns and cocks his head to one side in curiosity. “Your speech is ancient. No one talks like that anymore, you know that right? It makes you sound really stuffy.”

“You will find, I think, that I am not nearly so stuffy as you have judged me.”

Injured pride ripples through her and demands that she protest harder, prove herself to this young stripling that insults her so easily, but Sakura only breathes deeply and holds her temper with great effort. She can tell he’s aware of the blow he struck by the quirk of his lips. Anger aside, it is a triumph to have made him smile even if doing so was at her own expense. With his dark hair and all the secrets hiding behind that shadowed smile Sakura cannot help but think that he was born to follow her in to the underworld. Born or molded; it’s hard to tell with all the shenanigans that go on when the other members of the pantheon start mucking about with each other, a madness she prefers to stay well away from.

“Who said I was judging you? All I said was that it makes you sound stuffy. It was advice, just in case you make a regular habit of going around and chatting up whatever men you find stuck in trees.” He arches one eyebrow and Sakura can feel the still heart in her chest crash painfully against her ribs. His face is all angles and each one of them is more beautiful than the last.

“Have I your permission to enter this garden?” she asks, feeling much more confident of his good will this time. Which is what makes it such a shock to once more see him closing his eyes and laying back down with a shake of his head.

“Nope. I really do just want to nap. This place is so boring.”

Sakura thinks she could make any plane of any world less boring for him if only he would let her try but she is the queen of the dead; despite her temper she is well aware the benefits to be found in patience.

“As you wish,” is all she says as her shadows twist and reach – and she is gone from the gardens a moment later.

 iii.

They meet.

 iv.

And they meet.

 v.

And they meet again, always in the garden where he denies her entrance. By the third time she suspects that it is for no reason but his own amusement and by the fifth time she knows from the smile in his eyes as he catches sight of her yet again. Sakura thinks to herself that she would act all kinds of a fool to have that smile catch her in its light.

Today she is asked for no foolery but instead is greeted with a bit of laughter as the young god leans back against the branch he has settled himself on.

“You don’t give up, do you?” he calls down.

“I have been called tenacious by many,” she admits. Then with a teasing smile she adds, “Hardheaded by many others.”

“Troublesome.”

Laughter in his voice tells her that, although he may declare her troublesome, that does not mean he finds her unworthy of his company. As evidenced by the way he seems to pause and wait for the question she has asked him several times before. Sakura wonders why he appears eager to send her away so quickly this time but it is not for her to ask such things, only for her to say the words he so clearly expects.

“Have I your permissions to enter this garden?”

“Sure.”

Sakura blinks, a momentary pause that she recovers from quite nicely, in her opinion. Within seconds she is at his side as he heaves himself up like the effort will cost him a millennia of his life span and then they are walking. Each footstep touching upon the earth deliberate and slow. Sakura thrills to be so close to the one who has captured her interest so thoroughly.

“My name is Shikamaru,” he offers and it isn’t until he does that she first realizes she’s been avoiding using his name even in her thoughts.

“And mine is Sakura, queen of the damned, keeper of the gates to Tartarus and goddess of the underworld, tasked with guiding dead souls who have crossed the river Styx. It is my infinite pleasure to make your acquaintance.” For a moment she considers bowing but there is only one to whom she has ever bowed and, despite being the ruler of Olympus, Kakashi mostly doesn’t care for that sort of thing anyway.

“I already knew all that,” Shikamaru points out.

“Permit me this one chance to brag,” Sakura jests. “I so rarely meet any of the living that I haven’t before.”

For whatever reason her companion seems to find this incredibly amusing, poking gentle fun at her for being boring and a shut-in as they wander through the trees and the flowers that make up the garden where he spends his time. Sakura gives in after several minutes and points out that he counts as the same, no matter that his domain is infinitely prettier than her own. The brief wrinkling of his nose is enough to tell her that his stationary habits are less of his own desire and more due to outside restrictions.

She doesn’t think she is very far off the mark for guessing his mother as the cause.

Together they wander among the gardens, talking as easily as though they have known each other for eons, and Sakura makes careful note of every reaction to every mention of Yoshino. It wouldn’t do to act before she is sure – but by the time she leaves the garden she is more than sure.

And she is already making plans. It simply won’t do to allow Shikamaru to continue on in this stifled existence.

 vi.

With a knowing look on her face Sakura looks Shikamaru directly in the eye as she steps in to his garden without asking permission. He shakes his head and turns away but she catches sight of the smile on his face and that is all the confidence she needs to stride boldly forward where she now knows she is more than welcome. Shikamaru gives off a rather ostentatious sigh and mumbles just loud enough for her to hear about bothersome guests and all the trouble it would be to evict them.

Sakura draws her shadows in close as she bends to admire some of the flowers growing near her, wisteria of the softest purples she has ever seen, and does her best to project a casual air when she speaks.

“I have often thought that my domain could use such colors but alas, I’ve no talent for growing myself. The touch of Death affects all mortal things.” And oh how she is grateful not to have given her heart away to a mortal. Too many times she has greeted the victims of that chaos at the gates of the underworld to ever become embroiled in the same idiocies.

“Are you trying to be subtle?” Shikamaru asks. “Because it’s not working.”

“Has my lack of subtlety affected your answer in any way?”

“Well I feel a bit more like laughing at you.” He grins and reaches close to her to pluck a gardenia close to the blossoms she had been admiring. It twirls between his fingers like spring on spring, growth in the hands of growth, and Sakura admires the petals’ dance while picturing the two of them dancing the same.

How ethereal he would look with that long hair of his let down to flow around his shoulders, a crown of bones to match her own all woven through with the flowers and fruits he holds such a deep connection to. Even her own hair, an ironic pink that stands out so stark against the darkness of her domain, cannot hope to hold a candle to the delicate shades of red that splash over Shikamaru’s cheeks when he catches her watching him so closely, hanging on his every word with genuine interest. His mind is as beautiful as the solid lines of his body and his conversation is as riveting as the depths of his deep, dark eyes.

Sakura looks upon her chosen and thinks to herself that he has eyes that were made for the underworld.

“You are not happy here,” she guesses. Shikamaru huffs.

“Mother’s always on about ‘do this’ and ‘do that’ or ‘you’ll never make a proper god unless you work hard at it’. It’s all so boring.”

Daring to brush his fingers with her own, Sakura holds her palm just out of reach of the delicate flower in his grasp. “If you would allow me to, nothing would please me more than bringing you to a place where I believe you could be happy.”

“Sell me on it,” Shikamaru laughs.

“You need be nothing but what you already are – for who can improve upon perfection?” He laughs again when she winks playfully, one of her shadows coming up to tickle his chin. “A garden for your very own to make of it what you will, a palace of bone and fertile earth for you to grow and fill and call your home. A place at my side. Imagine, sweet Spring, the many eons you can spend dozing to your heart’s content in the warmth of the underworld with your head pillowed on my lap.” There are other things she has to give yet not many that she thinks might impress him. A greedy human, perhaps, might have been taken in by the endless riches she has collected over the millennia but Shikamaru is different from them – he possesses an actual brain in his head.

“Hm, is that all? I have a place to grow here, you know. Maybe not a palace but I make due.” He is only teasing, she can see that he has already been won over. Still she turns her body to face him and steps a little closer until her diminutive size demands that she tilt her chin to look up at him through her lashes.

“Books,” she whispers. “Entire civilizations that have risen only to fall, knowledge lost to all who walk the surface of the earth, tomes no mortal eyes have ever gazed upon. All of these I have read before and would be most happy to discuss with you once you have devoured them for yourself.”

No beast or creatures, no man or woman or god of any pantheon, none have ever looked at her quite like Shikamaru looks at her then, with joy in his eyes and the rapture of finding home.

Sakura finds that the feelings under her breast are so large that she cannot contain them without some form of expression. She delights in the look of wonder Shikamaru gives her as she turns and crashes her fist in to the earth, cracking it open until a great chasm stretches out before them. When she rights herself again she delicately brushes the dirt from her knuckles before turning to offer her hand to the god she is sure in the deepest reaches of her heart is meant for her and her alone.

“Come with me,” is her siren call.

His fingers slide in to hers with a mischievous smile and she is falling in love all over again.

 vii.

Shikamaru glows in the darkness of her lair. For all that his hair is as black as the earth around him Sakura cannot help but think that he brings light in to every room he wanders through, breathing life in to the afterworld in a way that leaves her desperate for more. Never in her memory has she craved the company of another quite like she does with Shikamaru.

His eyes are curious and for the first time since they met his body in anything but languorous as he wanders from one end of her palace to the other. His fingers test the soil where she has promised he may grow his garden and his pulse jumps in his throat to find the library, seemingly endless rows of priceless tomes, all of them just waiting for his eager mind. When he comes to a door that is plain and unremarkable he notes the anomaly and reaches to open it – only for Sakura to gently lay a hand over his and shake her head.

“Unless you wish to greet the souls of the dead I would advise another path.”

“Don’t want me to know every part of your life?” he asks. “And here I thought you trusted me.” The words are playful but the tone running under his voice is steel, coiled in a spring and ready to burst, ready to leave if he decides that she is not quite what he thought of her after all. The thought rankles and Sakura wrinkles her nose at him with little dignity.

“I thought only to spare you but if you are so determined to gaze in to the void then be it on your own head. Know, however, that if madness touches you it will be my head your godly mother seeks vengeance from.”

“Oh come on, she won’t hurt you. I mean she would try, obviously, but I don’t think she’d get much of a hit in on you.” Without so much as breaking expression his eyes drift down to openly admire her biceps. Sakura looks away and pretends not to be affected, hoping the warmth in her cheeks doesn’t show.

Completely contrary to what she expects, it turns out that she has worried herself over nothing. The door opens and Shikamaru steps through the door to see the truth of her rule stretching out before him, pits and towers and endless fields of eternal souls despairing and rejoicing and holding tightly to the memories of their transient lives, an intricate tableau of the mortal experience that no one but Sakura has ever truly appreciated before.

All it takes is one look at him face to know that Shikamaru appreciates it. There is a beauty to be found in such raw emotion and as his entire being lights up with wonder Sakura feels her chest swelling with pride, with joy, with so many emotions she cannot hope to name them all. Finally she is not alone. At last she is not the singular freak set apart from all the rest, the only one to see what the rest of the world refuses to even consider. So many humans have asked the question of life after death and yet the heroes that come pounding against her gates thinking themselves clever and brave look only once before recoiling and Sakura knows that they don’t see. They look upon death and think it an end.

Death is only the beginning.

Shikamaru’s fingers reach for hers as though unaware of their own movements and his flesh is warm when he gently guides her against him.

“I can say you’re not a liar,” he admits and Sakura tilts her head in question.

“While that is true I must admit that I do not see the relevance.”

“You said you would show me a place where I could be happy.” He turns to meet her eyes and the world itself falls away from her feet at the depth in those dark irises. “Well you were right. I could be very happy here.”

Daring to reach further, Sakura lifts her other hand to caress the side of his jaw. “Will you stay?”

She can see his answer in the way he bends down to meet her, the way he presses his body against her own. In his voice she finds the only nirvana she has ever thought to dream for.

“Yes,” he whispers. “I will stay.”

Happiness is having her very own dream come true press a kiss against her lips that tastes like freedom.

 viii.

“Will you be missed?” she asks him after several days have passed. Shikamaru gives a lazy shrug and buries his nose deeper within the book he’s been engrossed in for the past several hours.

“My mom’s probably looking for me.”

“Should I worry?” Sakura asks, her fingers in his hair and her mind’s eye fixed on visions of a future where she and Shikamaru languish side by side for all of eternity.

Turning another page, her companion shrugs again. “Dunno. If she never thinks to look for me here then we’ll be fine.”

“Ah. Good fortune, then, that I was careful never to visit with the threat of witnesses hanging about.”

Sakura smiles to herself with a smug air and plucks a grape from the plate at her side. After much taste-testing of her own she can vouch that they are juicy and ripe, perfect for temptingly pressing one against Shikamaru’s lips until they part with a smile to accept her gift.

The feeling of his lips lingering on her fingertips is enough of a distraction that the issue is put out of her mind then and there in favor of more interesting thoughts.

 ix.

“I don’t see what this has to do with me.”

Yoshino watches the god before her lift his proud chin and it takes everything in her not to snap, not to show this petty child the true meaning of rage. She needs the answers only he can give her and it simply won’t do to anger him. Not yet.

“You are the All-Seeing,” she says. “What boon you would have of me I will freely grant you in return for your wisdom. Turn your all seeing eyes to the earth, I beg you, oh God of the Sun. I seek no more than the location of my most beloved son.” Pretty words and a promise she has no intention of keeping but Yoshino will let worst pass her lips to find her missing child. Shikamaru belongs to her and her alone.

“Any favor at all?” Neji turns the offer over in his mind. His lavender eyes turn towards the earth but his expression is thoughtful still as though he has yet to decide.

“Whatever your heart desires.”

She does not expect him to snort derisively. “You have the power to grant nothing that my heart desires – but I would very much enjoy knowing that you owe me, petty Goddess of the Harvest.”

It takes almost more effort than she is capable of giving to grind her teeth and remain silent, bowing her head as though humble and willing to serve in whatever small way he asks. For Yoshino is certain that the god of the sun can think of only small things. Surely his mind cannot be anywhere near as sharp as her own and therefore must be small and dull in comparison. It truly is a shame that she, of all the gods, was graced with the most intelligence on top of the most beautiful child. What would the world be like if she weren’t so alone in all her glory?

Neji interrupts her musings with a flat look that makes her think he is more than aware of what occupies her mind.  

“Your son is not on earth.” When Yoshino protests he rolls his all-seeing eyes and interrupts her once more. “He is, by means unknown, currently deep in the underworld with the Goddess of Death at his side. And with that I have fulfilled my end of this bargain. Remember that you owe me a favor, which I will collect at my leisure.”

“How am I to remove him from the underworld!?” Yoshino demands. Anywhere on earth would have been preferable but the domain of the dead is not in her purview. Her flowers and vines and growing things cannot reach for Shikamaru there to pull him back to the place where he belongs and she knows very well that such a stubborn boy will need a good deal of pulling.

“That is not my problem,” Neji reminds her. Then the sun god turns away and snaps the reins of his chariot to continue on his journey across the sky.

Yoshino is left alone with a coldness in her chest she has never felt before and a realization. Always has she taken it for granted that her child will be with her, her perfect progeny, and always has she assumed that she knows what is best for his happiness. Shikamaru is her son. He is her flesh and blood. It has always seemed immutable to her that there can be no place where he is happier than by her side and the very thought that she may be wrong in as inconceivable as the notion that she, an immortal being, may one day see the ravages of aging.

It is with practiced ease that she dismisses such unwanted thoughts. They do not make her happy and thus she feels no need to think on them any further, not when there are many more important things to consider.

Such as how to lure her son away from that dark and dismal hole where the God of Spring can never belong.

 x.

Months have passed before the messenger of the gods appears to bring Sakura out of the haze of ecstasy that is Shikamaru. Long months filled with happiness no matter that she struggles to find a balance between attending to her duties and attending the one who captures her heart more and more with every day. Much as she is fond of Olympus’s messenger, Lee is still an unwelcome sight. He can only be here with purpose and whatever that purpose is by necessity must take her away from Shikamaru’s side.

Lee hasn’t even the grace to look ashamed of interrupting their calm revelry and so Sakura doesn’t bother to grant him the courtesy of rising from where she is lounging against her companion’s chest while he absently runs fingers through her hair, tracing the petals of a flower he invented specifically for her. The moonflower grows only in the garden she gifted to him.

“Who sent you?” she calls lazily across the room. Lee grants her a beaming smile, ever full of more energy than anyone else around him.

“Kakashi!” he cries. A favorite of all, Lee has never known formality in his life.

“And what news has the father of us all to share?”

“No news! A plea!” Clearing his throat, Lee strikes a pose. “The ruler of Olympus begs pardon for interrupting your leisure and beseeches you to please do something about the crazy goddess who set eternal winter upon the land!”

Both Sakura and Shikamaru are sitting upright in an instant with dual cries of “What!?”

“Yosh! The Goddess of the Harvest has declared eternal winter in the throes of agony at being separated from her beloved child! In his wisdom, Kakashi asks that you return Shikamaru to his rightful place!”

“His rightful place,” Sakura snarls, “is wherever he is most happy.”

Rather than argue with her, Lee strikes yet another pose and presents her with two thumbs up. “I have fulfilled my duty!”

With that he turns and races out of the building with a burst of inhuman speed. The divine couple watches him go with no small amount of exasperation and, despite her shock at the news just delivered, Sakura finds a moment to shake her head in mild disbelief.

“Gifted with winged sandals and still he insists on running everywhere.”

“I have to go back to the surface.”

Sakura’s head snaps around to stare at her companion with wide eyes. “You have to do nothing but that which pleases you!”

“And it would please me if the earth wasn’t dark with winter the whole year round.” With a sigh Shikamaru leans closer and touches his forehead to hers. “I want to stay here. You know I want nothing more than to stay here with you. But I am Spring and I can’t sit by knowing that she’s denying the purpose I was created for. I would survive but what kind of existence would it be to see my purpose fulfilled? What if you never guided another lost soul in to the afterlife?”

“Yes, I see your point,” she admits reluctantly. Her eyes close for a moment before she opens them again, greedy for one more chance to memorize his beloved features. “If you must go then know that I will think of you always.”

“Well I never said I was leaving forever.”

Shikamaru winks and Sakura realizes with weighty relief that he has a plan. Never has she been happier that she fell in love with one who carries more than two brain cells to rub together.

 ∞.

The garden is familiar yet not nearly as warm as she remembers, not with Yoshino’s eyes watching her with heavy suspicions. Sakura wonders whether her fellow goddess thinks herself unseen or if she believes her mere presence to be a deterrence against any untoward behavior. Thinking about her certainly gives Sakura a few untoward urges but this isn’t the time for that.

Shikamaru is steady and solid against her, arms wrapped about her shoulders to hold her close, a cocoon of belonging just for the two of them. His heartbeat thrums under her ear. Soft breathing ruffles the top of her hair. If she had her way in things this moment would stretch on in to eternity and they would never have to part but alas, Yoshino has outsmarted them both – surprising as that is. Perhaps Sakura needs to spend more time relearning the patterns of other living creatures if someone like Yoshino can outmaneuver her on the first try.

“It’s not forever,” Shikamaru murmurs, bending to whisper his words directly against the shell of her ear.

“Already it feels like forever has passed and you have not even left my arms.” Although Sakura is more than aware she is pouting she still does not appreciate the laughter that rumbles through her partner’s chest.

“You’ll see me again in the fall. Less than one year, that’s barely a blink for our kind.”

“Every moment without you is too long.”

Now Shikamaru is outright laughing, which she appreciates even less. “Quit being so dramatic. This is the only deal she would accept and if this is what it takes for us to be together”-he pulls away to meet her eyes-“then I will follow this agreement to the letter. Anything to go back to where I belong.”

From several feet away they can both hear the poorly hidden Yoshino grumbling to herself that this garden is where her son belongs but they ignore her easily.

“I love you,” Sakura whispers. Incredibly, Yoshino falls silent.

“I love you too. And I’ll miss you. I’d say you can visit but we should probably wait a few millennia before we ask for any concessions like that.”

Her pouting lip protrudes a little further but it does her no good. Shikamaru is still pulling away ever so gently and although she understands the necessity of it, understands the pain of having one’s very purpose suppressed across the entire world in punishment until the wayward son returns to his mother’s side, that makes it no easier to separate her from the other half of herself she has only just discovered. Shikamaru is the light she never knew she needed in her world of darkness until she saw him for the first time and her very heart itself lit up with joy. Leaning in close now she can taste a hint of that first joy on his lips.

“When the first leaves fall,” she warns him, “I will come for you.” Shikamaru does his best to look unaffected.

“Troublesome. I hate deadlines.”

“How fortuitous that I shall be the one watching the calendar go by, then.” As soon as Sakura leans forward to close the gap between them and steal a kiss they are pulled apart by insistent hands and Yoshino sends her a look filled with venom.

The Goddess of the Harvest and Fertility huffs as she draws her son against her own side instead and pretends not to see the rolling of his eyes. Entirely uncaring of her reaction Sakura blows the kiss she has been denied in Shikamaru’s direction and gathers her darkest shadows around her in preparation to leave this place. As per the agreement, she will stay in her domain until the winter comes and she may be reunited with her love once more.

“Until it is your turn to rest, oh beautiful Spring,” she calls.

And with that she is gone in a twist of darkness, to return for that which belongs to her when the time is right, and an endless cycle begins.

[colescorner]

11 Questions Tag

Thank you @neverlendabook for tagging me!

Rule: answer the questions at the end of this post, then come up with more of your own and tag more people.

1. If you could pick a fictional world to live in, which would it be and why?

I feel like this is such a typical answer, but I would pick the Wizarding World! I would pick this world because of all the possibilities the world holds. I would get a wand, be able to attend a magical school, and be able to fly (which has been a dream of mine since I was little).

2. What book character would you want to be BFFs with?

I think I would like to be BFFs with Simon Lewis from the Shadowhunter Chronicles. He is a loyal best friend, funny, and into music and I look for someone who I can trust, is loyal, has a good sense of humor, and shares some similar interests with me and Simon hits all those marks on my list!

3. What character from a book you’ve read deserved better?

Johnny Cade from The Outsiders because he had such a rough life and a crappy hand dealt to him. He came from an abusive and even though he found a sort of safety in the Greasers, he never really had stability in his short life...and I hated that he died and think he deserved so much better!

4. Who are favorite villians? (and why)

Voldemort and Sebastian Morgenstern. I feel these villains are truly evil in the sense that they will kill anyone who gets in their way and feels no remorse for anything they do. These are villains you love to hate and when they are finally defeated, you feel a sense of relief.

5. What fictional pet would you like to have?

Probably a Pegasus from the PJO universe.

6. What’s your favorite mythology tale?

The Greek tale about how we got seasons involving Demeter and her daughter Persephone and Hades.

7. What would be your ideal job?

I think I would either love to work in a bookstore or a library so that I would be able to share my love of books with others and be able to help children and teenagers find books they’ll love and help them become readers.

8. What makes decide to buy a book?

If the book is a part of a series I already have or if the synopsis sounds interesting and is up to my (sometimes unreasonable) high standards of the book being in good or excellent condition.

9. What’s your favorite type of cookie?

My favorite cookie is the no bake cookie because it doesn’t require going into the oven and it just tastes delicious.

10. What are your favorite fairy tales?

I love The Little Mermaid, the Disney version, but I appreciate the original too. I also really love Beauty and the Beast because of the message the tale carries.

11. Which authors do you trust enough to read anything by them?

At the moment just Cassandra Clare because she is the author that captivated me with her story that made me a reader and I have loved everything she has written so far and even though she has mainly written shadowhunter books, I feel she has developed enough as an author to know her audience and to give her readers stories they will devour. I also feel I could read mostly anything by J.K. Rowling because I have loved all the Harry Potter books so far, but I haven’t read any of her other books yet but I have her Coroman Striker novels and they sound so good and I’ve been wanting some good mystery novels.

This was such a fun tag to participate in! Here is the list of my 11 questions:

1. What book turned you into a reader?

2. What was the first book that made you cry?

3. Is there a movie adaptation you prefer over the book? And why?

4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

5. What movie takes you back to your childhood?

6. What book or series do you like to reread?

7. Have you ever gotten a non-reading friend or family member into reading? What was the book that they read?

8. What author would you like to meet in-person and what is one question you would ask them?

9. Where are some of the places you’d like to travel to? (real places)

10. Name a book or series you read before it got hyped?

11. What medium do you prefer to consume books? And why? (Print, digital, audiobook)

I’m tagging @youthbookreview, @fall-out-book-nerd, @biblioshark, @bookisms, @bookishgr, @bookaddict24-7, @lost-in-a-story 

P.S. to those I tagged, I am not sure if you’ve done this tag already, if you have then you don’t have to do it again but if you haven’t then give it a try :) 

[vorcotec]

so i read a lovely and interesting post on my personal dashboard just now about feminist revisionism of the hades/persephone narrative, and how the author dislikes the way it’s talked about because, from their perspective, it forces too much of the literal onto a figurative story. because the original myth is one dealing with archetypes in order to tell a specific story about the ideas of a culture, trying to rework it to be morally acceptable according to modern, highly specific ideas of acceptability essentially derails its essential theme. the author argues for the hades-as-problematic-antagonist role being important because of what the original myth was meant to illustrate about the culture of its time.

this got me really thinking about what i want for the hades/persephone (that is, the aides/persephone) story i’d eventually like to tell. i’ve been blessed with a lot of interest in my version of hades, but a consistently active persephone hasn’t been a part of that yet. that’s not a dig at those persephones i have written with, because i love them--it’s just to say that i haven’t had a chance to like, sit down and hammer out a whole story with another person, with a complete arc of character development. while i’ve had some thoughts about it, until pretty much Right Now i wasn’t giving a lot of focused thought to how i see that arc going.

the original hades/persephone myth had Shit To Say about gender and relationships. from my perspective, it is a story about male control of women’s lives, and the ways in which male desire and power interrupt girlhood and force young girls to become women, perhaps before their time. (it’s also about the seasons, and about growth/fertility, and all that stuff--but this dynamic of power is the thing that jumps out to me the most, especially when i have to begin thinking about hades and persephone, zeus and demeter, on the character level.) it provides a mythological pattern on which real-world marriages are meant to be (if very loosely) based--the father agrees to give away his daughter, whether her mother (or the daughter herself) likes it or not, and then she is the husband’s to take, with the expectation that she will live in his house as his family, now, no longer a member of her own.

what changes about that story, when it stars aides instead of hades? what does it mean for persephone to be taken from or to leave her family then? what role does zeus play? or demeter? and does aides necessarily take the antagonist role, when the fact that she is a woman dramatically alters the gender dynamic at play?

i began to talk about this in the tags here, but in short: the aides/persephone story is one in which persephone--a divine daughter of childbearing age, a highly valuable and desirable resource--is removed from male control, partners herself exclusively with another woman, and comes to live in and preside over a domain which is absolutely female-ruled. rather than being a story of the inescapability of patriarchal power and desire, it becomes, in essence, a lesbian fairy tale: a story about choosing oneself, and choosing extra-patriarchal freedom, and the wide-ranging consequences that that can have for one’s life, family, and happiness. (especially since, at first glance, demeter’s reaction to the loss of persephone seems like a mother’s pain, rage, and rejection in response to her daughter’s coming-out.)

in light of the discussion that sparked this post, what role, then, does antagonism have to play in the aides/persephone relationship? in perhaps the most well-known lesbian retelling of the story, the dark wife, hades is not an antagonist at all--an outcast from olympus, yes, but a solely positive figure in persephone’s emotional life. in that version, hades also represents freedom from male control, and in many ways the story reflects the powerful sense of rightness which can come with a flowering of one’s lesbian identity and a discovery of the possibility of life beyond patriarchal norms. but if the story were about aides, would it feel the same way?

i believe that fear and antagonism have their roles to play in the aides/persephone story, and that to totally put them aside would be a bit dishonest of me. i can see multiple reasons for fear in particular to enter in, but the biggest one is this: persephone is the daughter of an agricultural goddess and her worldview would almost inevitably center around the value of flourishing life. aides represents the exact opposite of that: she is the ruler of an underground domain where there is no sunlight or plant growth, the goddess and keeper of the dead who ensures that once life is over, it is over. she embodies the antithesis of the most basic values of life.

following from that, aides also represents the antithesis of the most basic patriarchal values. again: she is a woman ruling her own domain, separate from that of her brothers. she is unmarried and has never and would never partner with a man for any reason. in both of these ways she represents a life outside the value systems which persephone would have been taught to hold dear. i don’t want to say that aides represents a perfect/total rejection of those value systems, because as an individual, she’s still internalized them and so forth... but in many ways? hell yes she has rejected them.

what wouldn’t be scary about that? why shouldn’t persephone be afraid of what’s offered to her? while i highly value the narrative of feeling-rightness told in the dark wife i think that fear and anxiety also play a big role in the experiences of women who love women. and i think that they would play a big role in this version of the story because the relationship persephone and aides share is not the kind of female-female partnership which can be ignored/dismissed/made palatable by patriarchy. in many ways, there’s no justifying their relationship to a patriarchal value system. it is a flagrant rejection of such.

and what about antagonism? i don’t believe that aides would ever play the part of the active antagonist to persephone--she highly values consent and mutual respect, such that she would never take part in an abduction. but i do believe that aides, her desire, her way of life, could present a form of passive or psychological antagonism to persephone. aides is a kind of inversion of The Way Things Are Supposed To Be: she presides over death in a world where life is the greatest pride; she rules alone as a woman over her own domain in the same way men, her brothers, rule over their own domains aboveground. simply by existing she is an antagonist--you only have to look at descriptions of “pitiless of heart,” “cruel,” “tyrannical” hades to know that.

in this way, i think a different perspective can be brought to bear on the hades/persephone retelling. it can be used to dramatize/allegorize a different aspect of the experiences of women who love women--not just the feeling of rightness we often experience when we come into our own, but also our feelings of isolation, loneliness, fear, and pain when we consider what we have lost and what we have chosen to reject.

disclaimer: i’m always super super nervous to talk about how other characters feel/react to things, so please don’t take this as me saying This Is How It Goes And No Other Way! because. roleplay is collaborative and i don’t want to be a dictator ghsdhgkslghsldknbdfm so like, i’m not trying to lay down gospel for how i see things going, how persephone feels, how demeter feels, etc. but just to work through some of my thoughts about how i see the aides/persephone story working, and what i hope it could mean if written all the way through.