#here's pallas' version

[cream-and-tea]

yknow i talk a lot of shit about pallas but i WILL say that everything they add to the character relationship web is absolute GOLD truly no one is doing it like them. mutual dependence and obsession and maybe even tenderness forming w their narrative foil/fellow protagonist until their character arcs become inextricably linked. hamlet n hortatio dynamic w their deadbestfriend. You’re Just Like Me For Real (derogatory) gayass rivalry constantly happening in the background. You’re Just Like Me For Real (affectionate) tragic attempted mentorship also happening the background. they have mommy issues from a character that isn’t even technically related to them.

[lotussokka]

Tagged by @kittlyns (back in march lol) to share my lock screen, last song played, and last picture saved

it didnt specify how many people to tag so im going to tag 10 people bc kittlyn tagged me on my blog's 10th anniversary: @girlwwx @rudiecantfail @yokoyas @glitteratti @booksnbarricades @sonyachni @ettelwenailinon @smiliestboye @sisyphuslnabyss and @hopefulqueer

[love-and-deepspace-wiki]

Random Facts: Xavier

Xavier's Music Collection

We've all seen the intro sequence for the game. As always, the obscure details intrigued me. So, today, I'm going to talk about this particular scene. Shout out to Rachelcookie321 on X for the image and their CD identifications!

Collection List:

In order from the right side of the screen to the left side, here's what I could identify. But from what I discovered, Xavier is a big fan of Leonard Bernstein!

"Passando Per Laterra • Purple Dawn • The Seven Stages • Variation 10"

?

"Bernstein Conducts Beethoven"

?

?

"Two Step (...)"

"Symphonic Dances & Rumble • West Side Story"

"Üegar Stjornurnar Falla • Katie Mahan"

Another "Passando Per Laterra"

"Waiting For Nobody • Alone - The Forest Sings • Allegretto Leggerenete"

"Four Anniversaries: 3 • For David Diamond (July 9, 1915)"

Another "Üegar Stjornurnar Falla"

Another "Bernstein Conducts Beethoven"

?

"Blue Danube Waltz"

Another "Waiting For Nobody ��� Alone - The Forest Sings • Allegretto Leggerenete"

"Champions of Folly • Roy Harris, Bold Lovell"

Another "Passando Per Laterra"

"Hovhaness A.: Lousadzak / Shatakh / Achtamar / Tziakerk"

Collection Details:

Passando Per Laterra • Purple Dawn • The Seven Stages • Variation 10

"Passando Per Laterra" translates to "Passing Through The Earth". The words beyond that were identified by Rachelcookie123, but I've been unable to find any matches for this one.

Bernstein Conducts Beethoven

Album by: Leonard Bernstein

This is an album of Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic in Beethoven symphonies, recorded between 1958 and 1964.

Symphonic Dances & Rumble • West Side Story

Composer: Leonard Bernstein

This musical is a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, telling the story of star-crossed lovers in 1950s New York. The score is a mixture of jazz, Latin rhythms, and Broadway style.

Üegar Stjornurnar Palla • Katie Mahan

Composer or Performer: Katie Mahan

Katie Mahan is an American pianist. In Icelandic, this translates to "When The Stars Fall", but I've been unable to find a work/performance of hers by this name.

Waiting For Nobody • Alone ~ The Forest Sings • Allegretto Leggerenete

Composer: ?

This one stumped me. Couldn't find anything at all about it.

Four Anniversaries: 3 • For David Diamond (July 9, 1915)

Composer: Leonard Bernstein

Four Anniversaries is a piano composition written by Leonard Bernstein in 1948. It consists of four movements, each dedicated to a specific person in his life. Xavier has a CD of the third movement, written for David Leo Diamond. David Diamond was also an established composer and this movement reflected his unique style.

Blue Danube Waltz

Composer: Johann Strauss II

This is a consistently popular piece in any classical musicians repetoire.

Fun fact: Among other uses in popular culture, this is the song used in Netflix's show "Squid Game" to announce the start of arepertoire.

Champions of Folly • Roy Harris

Album by: Roy Harris

Roy Harris was a popular American composer in the 1940s. "Champions of Folly" is a specific album of his music and "The Saucy Bold Robber" is a piece from that album.

Hovhaness A.: Lousadzak / Shatakh / Achtamar / Tziakerk

Composer: Alan Hovhaness

This is a recording of pieces by Alan Hovhaness that includes: Lousadzak, Shatakh, Achtamar, and Tsiakerk. Alan Hovhaness was an American composer who was one of the most prolific of the 20th century. While his official catalog includes 67 symphonies and 493 opus numbers, a true tally of his total works comes in at more than 500 surviving works.

Bonus CD:

The subsequent part of the intro scene shows Xavier selecting one CD and putting it into a CD player. On the CD are the words "Deep Space Legend: Beyond the Universe".

[aliciavance4228]

Was Athena a Feminist or a Female Misogynist?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sychik]

ANCIENT ROMAN NECESSITIES. PART 3: LENGTHY WRAPS, JUST LIKE ON THOSE STATUES

WARNING: CLIPPING ISSUES. these are ACCESSORIES, so they don't have morphs and are prone to clipping through the body mesh. 1) I made them to fit the fat+pregnant morphs specifically. they might look too spacious on thinner frame in the front. 2) I have tried to reduce clipping to minimal amounts, so the issues aren't that annoying. I made these for myself, and just to be clear - I don't think they're really worth publishing. I can't promise I'll go fixing the clipping issues later, because at this point, they are a trade-off (I make one thing better and ruin the other). sitting, standing, walking, flailing arms a little bit should look fine, but download at your own risk!

toga for tm-em. we don't have a lot of variety here. ~1200 polys.

plain white is supposed to be toga virilis, white with purple borders - toga praetexta, purple with golden borders and pattern - toga picta (my best attempt at it, anyway), and dark one - toga pulla. toga praetexta is not available for teens: too old to be a child in need of protection, too young to be a senator.

clipping occasions:

DOWNLOAD (mediafire) | DOWNLOAD (SFS)

palla for tf-ef. it's rectangular and not quite as long. more variety here. 961 polys.

the morphs weirdness:

clipping occasions (older version, most still persist):

DOWNLOAD (SFS)

pallium for men, in cases toga is too formal or just doesn't fit the status. a little bit different from palla, both in terms of mesh and swatches. not perfectly happy with this one, but if you don't look closely enough, it'll do. 796 polys.

clipping occasions:

DOWNLOAD (mediafire) | DOWNLOAD (SFS)

enjoy if that's your cup of tea <3 and please, inform me if anything doesn't work as expected! accessories are a completely new territory for me.

[firinnie]

Athena and her bf(not)f - Pallas

Oooh a pair of young friends who definitely have nothing bad to look forward to, right? Just a happy ending! For both, riiight!?

But seriously, I really like this one myth about Athena having something like a childhood, but Zeus, as Zeus does, did not take responsibility for his child, so gave it to his nephew to raise. One of Triton's children was girl named Pallas, who was supposed to be Athena's childhood friend. In general, I wanted to make her quite unique here, not as a character with a mermaid tail (as Triton is often portrayed) but a human with elements of a sea creature. I added a bit of pearls, and young 'Thena also wears them, after all, she was raised as an equal.

Unfortunately, as in most myths, the ending is pure sad. During a friendly duel, Athena accidentally stab her friend with spear and Pallas died in front of her friend. In the full version of this myth that I managed to find, it was by Zeus's doing! He didn't want his daughter to lose so he distracted her rival, a second of inattention was enough for her not to dodge. And because of that Athena returned to Olympus.

Generally, I see in this story something for the beginning of this great quarrel between Athena and Poseidon, I'm not surprised that he would have a distaste for the girl who killed his granddaughter so dishonorably, right?

Additionally, my Athena as an adult has a very turquoise outfit, remember? Let's just say that she likes this color very much and values ​​it as a memento of Pallas.

[citrineandrosmarin]

🦉Athena Masterpost🦉

This masterpost will cover very basic information with links to further posts or resources (otherwise it’s super long) and may be updated in future with extra sections. Basic bibliography at the end. I welcome you to share your UPG and resources in the comments - I won’t differentiate between mine and others’ UPG.

UPG = Unverified Personal Gnosis, SPG = Shared Personal Gnosis, H = Historically Inspired association

Last updated: 5 Feb 2025, added my ko-fi

Love this post? Consider thanking me with a small donation to my ko-fi!

Overview

Athena is the Hellenic goddess associated most commonly with wisdom, war, weaving, and in modern times, education and knowledge. She was a goddess who occupied both masculine and feminine roles in a highly patriarchal society, standing outside the societal binary. She is a fascinatingly variable and nuanced deity who has adapted and persisted in the mind of western society until this day. This masterpost is in dedication to her.

“Through our investigation of [Athena’s] role within the pantheon, she has emerged as a power of technology and creativity who promotes creativity and order, but with another side to her power, that of the storm bringer and warmonger.” -Susan Deacy

Athena, Goddess of…

Metis (Cunning)

Skill

Crafts

Invention

War

Civilization

Hero Mentorship

Education and Knowledge [SPG]

🐍Find out More!🐍

Symbols, Colors & Tarot Cards

Traditional: Owls (Specifically the Little Owl, Athene noctua), Snakes, Horses, Gulls, Crows (In Messenia and Boeotia, though elsewhere she was not fond of them), Olive trees, the Aegis, the Gorgoneion, Spindle, Spear, Helmet (Particularly with gryphons and/or sphinxes on it).

Other symbols: Spiders [Roman & SPG], Books and Scrolls [SPG], Pens or Quills [UPG]

Colors: Saffron/Yellow/Orange/Gold [H], Murex Purple [H], Hyacinth Blue [H], Red [H?], Bronze [H], Green [UPG]

🐍Find out More!🐍

Tarot Cards (All UPG/SPG of course): The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Chariot, Strength, Justice, The World, Knight of Pentacles, Queen & King of Swords, Queen & King of Wands

Name & Epithets:

Athena has some variations in name. The Attic form was “Athenaia”, which was contracted to “Athena,” the Ionian form was “Athenaie,” the Doric form “Athana,” in Aeolic, “Athanaa,” and in epic she was “Athenaie,” shortened to “Athene.”

A few common epithets:

Areia - Warlike

Ergane - The Worker

Glaukôpis - Bright/owl-eyed.

Pallas - Refers either to the myth of Athena’s childhood friend Pallas, or of the giant named Pallas whom she slayed.

Parthenos - Maiden

Polias - Of the City

Polymetis - Cunning in many ways

🐍Find out More!🐍

Offerings and Devotional Acts

This section was super long! Only including a few here but check out the link!

Gemstones & Metals - Gold, Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, Iolite

Plants - Olive, Ivy, Thyme, Rosemary, Cypress, Peppermint, Orange

Incense and Fragrances - Frankincense, Thyme, Bay Laurel, Amber, Myrrh, Dragon’s Blood, Orange, Citrus, Cedarwood, Cinnamon, Cypress, Bergamot & Sage

Food & Drink - Olives and Olive Oil, Honey, Milk, Cheese, Cereal Grains, Diluted Wine, Bread, Baked Goods, Fish, Meat, Fruit/Fruit Juice, Water

🐍Find out More!🐍

Athenian Festivals

Athena’s main festivals were the Panathenaia, Khalkeia, Kallynteria and Plynteria. It is up to individuals to decide if and how to include these celebrations in their practice. 

Panathenaia: The biggest festival for Athena taking place annually, but with a bigger version every fourth year. Mainly a festival with athletic, poetry and musical competitions.

Kallynteria and Plynteria: Sacred days centered around cleaning.

Arrephoria: A mysterious festival that took place at night and is theorized to have been a fertility rite.

Khalkeia: The festival of artisans, which celebrated Athena and Hephaestus.

🐍Find out More!🐍

Family & Connections

Parents: Athena’s father was Zeus (Except in Libya, where she was known as Poseidon’s daughter) and her mother was the personification of wisdom, Metis. In some sources she was raised by Triton alongside his daughter, Pallas.

Children: Athena had no children as a virgin goddess but she did adopt and raise Erichthonius, who later became king of Athens.

Retinue: Athena was often associated closely with Nike (Victory), an example being the famed statue Athena Parthenos, which held Nike in its hand. The aegis which Athena wore also contained the personifications Phobos (Fear), Eris (Strife), Alke (Strength) and Ikoe (Panic) as noted in the Iliad.

Companions: Pallas is perhaps the most famous of Athene’s companions, as the two girls grew up together until Athena accidentally killed Pallas and afterwards took on her name as an epithet. However, in the Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter it is shown that Athena, Artemis and Persephone spent time together and were playing and collecting flowers before Persephone was abducted. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus claims they were also raised together.

Heroes: Athena was a mentor of Heroes and had a hand in assisting heroes such as Herakles, Odysseus and Diomedes, but also Achilles, Bellerophon, Perseus, Theseus, Kadmos and Tydeus.

🐍More of my Info Posts!🐍

Athena and Childbirth

Athena Hippia / Khalinitis

On The Nature of Metis - Excerpts from “Cunning Intelligence in Greek Culture and Society”

On the comparison of Athena and Ares

Athena and Herakles: Excerpt from Susan Deacy’s book

Myth of Athena's Birth

🐍Extra Links🐍

Prayers, Hymns and Poems

Homeric Hymn to Athena 11 [Tumblr - Mine]

Homeric Hymn to Athena 28 [Tumblr - Mine]

Poem for Athena [Tumblr - Mine]

Adaptation of the Orphic Hymn [Tumblr - wisdomweaver]

Ode to Athena: A Birth of Wisdom [Tumblr - panjackdaw]

Prayer to Athena [Tumblr - rue-with-the-tarot]

Hymn to Athena [Tumblr - entricacies]

Praise to Athena [Tumblr - piristephes]

Prayer for Clarity and Sound Intuition [Tumblr - crimsonsongbird]

Prayer for Athena [Tumblr - hisfleur]

Prayer for Athena [Tumblr - evilios]

Prayer to Athena [Tumblr - ranger5000]

Chin Up - A Message From Athena [Tumblr - crimsonsongbird]

Assortment of Prayers [Website - greekpagan.com]

Battle Armor Poem [Tumblr - crimsonsongbird]

A Prayer to the Wise Short Poem [Tumblr - crimsonsongbird]

Learning Short Poem [Tumblr - Mine]

Additional Links

Theoi.com [Website]

Iliad - Athena dons the Aegis [Tumblr - Mine]

Reconstruction of Athena Parthenos statue’s colors [Youtube - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]

Bathing of Athena in Argos [Tumblr - verdantlyviolet]

Subtle Athena Worship [Tumblr - khaire-traveler]

A response to the “Athena is a victim blamer and hates women” crowd [Tumblr - rightwheretheyleftme]

khaire-traveler on their snow leopard UPG [Tumblr]

Parthenon 3D Reconstruction [Youtube - Ancient Athens 3D]

Parthenon in AC: Odyssey [Youtube - Invicta]

Bibliography

Barber, E.J.W. - The peplos of Athena

Burkert, Walter - Greek Religion

Deacy, Susan - Athena

Deacy, Susan & Villing, Alexandra - Athena in the Classical World

Deacy, Susan & Villing, Alexandra - What was the colour of Athena's Aegis?

Detienne, Marcel & Vernant, Jean-Pierre - Cunning Intelligence in Greek Culture and Society

Drees, Ludwig - Olympia

Larson, Jennifer - Ancient Greek Cults

Mansfield, John Magruder - The Robe Of Athena And The Panathenaic "Peplos"

Maurizio, Lisa - Classical Mythology in Context

Mikalson, Jon D. - Ancient Greek Religion

Ogden, Daniel - A Companion to Greek Religion

Theoi.com

[insidemyrottenbrain]

Henry, meus cupitus - TSH

TW: gore, toxicity

Where do I even begin? I should start by mentioning that this little piece was inspired by multiple books including but not limited to: "The Meek One" by Dostoyevsky, "Lolita" by Nabokov, "American Psycho" by Bret Easton Ellis and "The Iliad" by the one and only Homer.

This is the toned-down version. I felt that the original was much too explicit to post, but nevertheless it will continue to live in my drafts. Keep in mind, that this version may still be incredibly violent for a part of the audience. Read at your own risk.

Henry, meus cupitus, the last season of the year. My sin, my soul. Henry Winter marching down the banks with his umbrella and books.

He was Henry when we spent our weekends at Francis’ country house, rowing on the lake, finding out about the moon landing. Henry Winter was him, spreading around campus like a dark November mist or in Julian’s attentive green eyes. But he was and still is Henry Marchbanks Winter ever since my ears listened to the convoluted story of the scar; ever since he started forgetting the Latin diary in my sight; ever since our ἕνωσις.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what right have you to judge me? No one should speak of love in the third person, for it is intangible, running so differently through our bones, that it mimics our soul’s very rhythm and so drowns each of us with unique scents, extorted from the desire for which we spill blood. And yet, here it is, my poor heart standing trial for its depth. Little lords and gentlewomen of the jury, I urge you to be magnanimous and instead ask yourself: how will I ever stay behind all on my own? 

We met at Hampden. Our fates intertwined unexpectedly, gloriously, under the pressure of Julian’s classes and consequently under his guiding gaze. We were each other’s equal, neither of us possessing the ability to surpass the other. Though our views on matters weren’t, generally speaking, that different we still somehow managed to find little details so insignificant that the vast majority forget. What I believed in he stood against. What he stated I debated. A continuous chase between cat and mouse, except neither of us hid in walls. Oh, please, listen, how beautifully we were at each other’s throat with winged words whispered by Pallas Athene herself! With every class, my desire to stomp on his toes, to cut out his tongue and compare it to mine, to reduce him to absolute submission grew. As I’m sure did his. My only wish, which Zeus who drives the storm clouds later granted me, was to have him under my despotism. It was sickly divine and it consumed my insides raw. 

Fate is funny in its own sadistic way. And so, despite everything, despite every warning that I’m sure his precious guts gave him, he fell in stride with me. Dangerous, obsessive me. Slowly, with every argument we lost ourselves in the other’s carefully crafted web, our souls moving to do their twisted dance. We couldn’t stop and certainly, we did not want to stop mixing that which made us two. The knot of selves was but a mere preamble to the waltz of unification we performed under the influence of all the gods above. 

Now, most esteemed jury, that you understand the extent of our strange relationship, I can begin to narrate the following events: his demise (and the attempt of mine). I’ll tell it as I myself see fit and understand. That’s the horror of it for me, that I understand everything.

On October 11th of a certain year which I fail to recall, we were sitting against each other on the couch in his apartment, talking, quietly laughing, wasting our minds with wine as one does during the exam period. Take note, that Henry is reserved while his usual self, however, alcohol slightly enables the more emotive side of him. Through our conversation, he grew serious. I didn’t have to ask I knew he was going to tell me.

“You ruin me. You must know since you keep doing it.” Henry mumbled under his breath.  “You lurk through the darkest depths of my mind,” I looked at him, his expression a mirror of mine “I wander dazed, like Hades’ dead undead, unable to form a single coherent thought.” He scoffed. “You are my worst nightmare.” 

I remember closing my eyes for a moment. Knowing he was suffering because of me filled me with bliss. I could see that he was terribly irritated with his emotions, but I wasn’t going to soften anything. Oh no, on the contrary, seeing him in such a state made me deliberately want to intensify it. And then I opened my eyes only to find him, him, holding a knife to my throat.

“This has to stop.” He said solemnly, yet my gaze fell on his shaky hand. “I don’t want to plague my rationality further with you.”

I knew that all he had was his mind. And so, when I felt the sharp metal press against my neck; when I saw his determined, icy gaze I knew I had to twirl around him again. To prove to him that we are far from equals, that I am the sublime.

“You don’t have to love me.” I started out almost desperately, though it was only a trick, I assure you.  “Don’t answer me anything, don’t take any notice of me at all, and only let me look at you from the corner, turn me into your thing, into your little dog..” I whispered.

With his thumb, he wiped away the wetness falling from my eyes (not tears). He was distracted and so I gripped his arm turning it away from my throat and towards his chest. He reacted and used his force to push it in my face. I stopped it with my free hand just before the tempting edge deflated my round eye and all the liquid from it spilled on my face. However, doing so, Henry did severe my ring finger. It ripped from the last jagged skin and juicy flesh that held it tied to my stained hand, fell on the sofa and rolled down onto Henry’s oriental rug with a barely audible thump, all while leaving dark red stains behind. I got up and used my body to push him to the ground. I step on my lost finger. It lets out a crack. He drops the knife due to the force and I get my greedy hands on it. He hurried to get up but I straddled his hips and kissed him, pushing my wet tongue into his warm mouth. I lost myself in it and I only snapped out of my daze when I felt his thick blood staining my skin. Drip, drop, little ladybugs everywhere. 

I opened my eyes only to find his, or rather my, icy eyes still staring at me. What was left of my finger I dipped in blood and licked it. The glorious taste of his fluids mixed with mine exploded on my tongue and a voice whispered. And I believed it blindly, madly, terribly.

You all whom you believe yourself above me, pitiless hermaphrodites, inquire endlessly about the location of his body. It is not good manners to insist. Settle down, brutes, I’ll give you a clue just so you’ll leave me alone to mourn.

I listened to the voice that sang so sweetly in my ear. That is where his body is, in eternity with me.

Pass judgment on me, for that is why you’re here. However, you all are witnesses to my ‘crimes’, so judge yourself too, with the guidance of the Gods, for every accusation that leaves your wretched lips is a cast of your own dark depths. Answer if you are without sin: is it wrong to prove yourself to the one you love?

[pmamtraveller]

PALLAS AND THE CENTAUR /1482/ by SANDRO BOTTICELLI

It is a painting of the dramatic interaction between Pallas Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, with a centaur—a representation of chaos and barbarism. Here, Pallas Athena holds the centaur by his hair to indicate her dominance over his feral instincts.

The centaur carrying a bow may appear aggressive, representing primal urges and sensuality. Pallas is shown with a halberd, possibly pointing to her warrior side; she radiates wisdom and chastity. The dynamism of the two highlights the theme of rationality triumphing over base desires.

On Pallas' garment, a version of the three-ring insignia of the Medici house appears, hence indicating that the work was quite likely commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, possibly as a wedding gift to his marriage in 1482. The composition is dated right after Botticelli's return from Rome, where he contributed to the Sistine Chapel.

There has always been a dispute over who the female figure is, often named as the goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athena, while other interpretations argue that she could also be Camilla, the virgin warrior from Virgil's Aeneid, hence the multifaceted nature of Botticelli's work. What do you think?

[sunshine-in-a-bottle]

what are your favourite designs for c!awesamdream (be it clothing, hair style, species or sth else?)

!!!! Squishes you. Hello friend<3

Sam is Puppycat you see. He's a creeptaur usually when I'm designing him. I actually made references a while back for different breeds of creeptaurs, because I very briefly went insane over the idea of making a whole host of lore and culture for creeper hybrids.

The main four types here are Chinese Mountain Cat, Lynx/Snow Leopard, Pallas, Tiger. Lynx/Snow Leopard is crossed here is because Lynx already came with a bobbed tail, so I used a snow leopard tail for the "long tailed" version.

Sam is a mix between the upper right and the lower left. Pallas/Lynx. He's got the Bigger Paws but he's Fluffier. He also has the bobtail. His mother was a longtail pallas and his father was a bobtail Lynx.

(This is a really old art reference so likely I'll go back and redo these with the added color palettes I have for different biomes. And likely add more cat types.)

Sam also has the ability to become bipedal with a special ring that a lot of hybrids purchase from Hypixel! You twist it left to assume a more human-shaped appearance, while twisting it right to assume your True Form. Not everything in the world is made to perfectly accommodate all shapes and sizes of hybrids (Foolish is like 20 ft tall) so the ring helps people who would like to be able to get through doorways without bonking their antlers or getting their wings caught.

(Punz has a similar ring and uses it to hide their bee features. While the ring was invented purely to be helpful to the general populace, it doesn't change the bigotry and xenophobia that still remains.)

Dream is a bit trickier. I usually picture him as a human when reading fics, but I don't always consider him to be Actually Human? I like to think of Admins as their own species, something that can often pass as human but is just A Little Off.

So he's a human-looking person with long, dark blonde hair that turns white-gold by the time prison happens. Its curly when its well taken care of; Dream does not take care of himself for a long time.

Sam's hair is short, dark green, and very fluffy, vs Dream's hair being silky. He's a head taller than Sam, but not as broad-shouldered as Sam. He has top scars, has gotten magical bottom surgery via XD,

He's absolutely covered in freckles, full-body, and they get fainter in the winter and darker in the summer. Sam has dark green spots under each eye. His skin is green, and fuzzy with fluff in certain places. Dream is missing a middle finger on his right hand and a pinkie finger on his left post-prison.

Depending on how I feel, sometimes I give him lava burn scarring that starts at his upper arm and creeps up to the left side of his face, around the upper jaw, ear, and forehead. Its usually very faint, a pinkish color.

Pre-prison he has a scar on the back of his hand from a manhunt where he cut it up on some rocks, and a slash across the nose from his duel with Techno.

Yellow and gold are big colors in Sam's wardrobe, followed by white/cream, brown, occasionally black, and hints of red. Dream's wardrobe is always primarily green and black, with ender eye blues and enderman purples. The only red he tends to wear is the friendship bracelet he has that represents Sapnap. And the blood of his enemies. Normal things like that.

Post-prison Dream eventually gets a netherite enchanted cane. It does about as much damage as a netherite shovel and when it hits someone it can set them on fire. Dream and Sapnap think its very funny to test on Sapnap (blazeborn and immune to fire damage.)

[grape-jucie-dog]

I'm going on a yap session about my Devil AU because 600 Strike actually gave me an idea. This is a long post so I apologize-

Ok so if you're new and aren't aware of the Devil AU, THAT'S TOTALLY FINE. I haven't posted much about it here on Tumblr, and I'm not a huge creator or anything, so of course not many people know of it.

The Devil AU is an AU where Athena plots to overthrow Zeus after the events of Epic the musical. This AU was inspired by Teagan's song, DEVIL, hence the name. There are two storylines with this AU: The canon version, where all of the Gods help her overthrow Zeus, and the non canon version, where the gods are against the idea, which makes Athena snap at them too. Originally it took place after God Games, but there's a fic I wrote that gave me a better idea and a better motive for Athena.

The main motives are:

The death of Pallas. I know there's a few people who don't believe Pallas and Athena were lovers, but I like to think at the VERY least it was one-sided love or a QPR. Whatever the relationship was (friends, one sided, lovers, family even), this really shook Athena. I like to think Zeus truly didn't mean to harm Pallas, but in this AU he was extremely dismissive about her death, which greatly upset Athena.

God Games of course. In Greek Mythology, it's said that Athena is Zeus' favorite child, and she does basically whatever he orders her to do. And the one time she asks him for something, he strikes her with lightning that leaves her with scars and seizures? I'd be pissed too.

The death of the royal family. In this AU, Zeus kills Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus as a punishment, believing Athena was "getting too soft". This of course REALLY shakes Athena up, and it's her final straw before she completely snaps.

Now, I know this AU will take A LOT of time in the story. There needs to be enough time for Athena to heal more from her injuries, and plotting to kill the king of gods and your own father would definitely take a lot of time to do. I don't have a confident timeline just yet, BUT, I do have weapons.

Athena has two new weapons. Well, technically one, but we'll get to that in a second. I gave her these metal claws to represent talons, mostly because I thought it was cool, and also because the vivid image of Athena scratching one of Zeus' eyes out lives rent free in my head. The other thing is an upgrade to her spear, which doubles as a Scythe as well now. In the main/official storyline, Hephaestus gives these to her. In the no canon version of the AU, Athena basically steals them.

Now for the idea 600 Strike ended up giving me

Originally, I was gonna have Athena fight Zeus alone. She gets pretty battered, but she ends up defeating him by slicing him in half with her scythe (after getting her arm snapped by Zeus-). I'm probably going to keep this for the non canon story tbh, anyways-

600 strike made me picture Athena and the other gods all fighting Zeus (I'm tempted to throw Ody in the fight because of Hades being like "lol let's piss him off more by bringing Odysseus). Zeus laughs in their faces, being all like "You're too weak to stop me" and Athena goes "Oh really?" and uses her Scythe to slice off his limbs. Then it turns back into a spear, and she stabs him repeatedly. And after that she uses her claws to dig into him further before resulting to just punching the absolutely daylights out of him. Eventually Ares pulls her away from Zeus (who's definitely knocked TF out after all of that), and Athena finally gets her revenge for everything Zeus has done.

That's basically it. I'm still kind of developing this AU and trying to fill in the plot holes, BUT LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK! And feel free to ask me questions or give me suggestions :3

And I'm so sorry this post is so long-

[a-d-nox]

can you please make more synastry observations and asteroid ones too pleaseee? i miss you they were soo entertaining to read

working well together in synastry and composite

i'm going to work off of what i already have posted (no asteroids discussed after this post will be included or added after the fact). finally, i would like to state that NO TWO CHARTS ARE THE SAME. what i am about to list out does not mean you will for sure need these exact things (or all of these things) to be shy, nervous, and/or anxious around one another. if you don't understand my thought process, feel free to dm me with questions!

libra (7°, 19°) or aquarius (11°, 23°) venus/mars and/or 7h libra (7°, 19°) or aquarius (11°, 23°)

these two can be partners in crime and great colleagues; very little gets in the way of them accomplishing a task. they have a sort of dance they do when working together - they don't need to communicate to get the work done.

7h venus

this is great if you guys work together long term - it is like having a co-ownership at a business or partnership at the same firm. venus person loves 7h person and 7h person looks at venus person as if they are their true equal.

11h libra (7°, 19°) or aquarius (11°, 23°)

this is just very easy alliance and partnership. these two cooperate well with one another.

11h venus

these are allies - it is a ride-or-die connection that these two have it is very rare that either person will turn against each other. venus person will treat 11h person as their only friend, while 11h person will be extremely loyal and wishes to help the venus person to be the best version of themselves possible.

11h neptune

this is one of those unlikely alliances that just end up working well together. neptune person sees 11h person's vision and wants to help them come true, while 11h person sees the beauty in idealist and optimistic neptune person.

11h uranus

these people are unstoppable; they will do whatever it takes to make it happen. 11h person see eye to eye with innovative uranus person. uranus person likes that 11h person is great at having the connections it takes to move their projects forward.

armstrong (asteroid 6469) positively aspecting aldrin (asteroid 6470)

these two can go where no one has before - they are willing to do what people have never attempted before. armstrong person relies on aldrin person to be the brains of the operation, while aldrin person relies on the armstrong person to do the heavily lifting. together they are comfortable trying new and improbable things.

donar (2176) / thora (299) positively aspecting loke (4862)

these two will attempt to fool the world around them. donor/thora person is often talked into something silly/foolish by loke person. loke person is the mastermind of the project, while donor/thora person is the muscle power to make it happen.

prometheus (1809) positively aspecting athene (881) / pallas (2)

together these two can create something amazing. prometheus person creates the bare bones of their project, while athene/pallas person breaths life into it and gives it character.

vergilius (asteroid 2798) positively aspecting dante (asteroid 2999)

vergilius person will protect dante person at all costs. vergilius person is a sort of guide, confidant, and sage for dante person. dante person looks up to and greatly appreciates vergilius person. together they can traverse even the most difficult terrains.

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© a-d-nox 2024 all rights reserved

[likethexan]

for you, what to you think is the birth order for the 12 Titans? Love to have you back and your reasonings are fun :)

thank you nonnie 🧡 there’s nothing I love more than making lore out of crumbs we have, so here’s my interpretation!

In Hesiod’s Theogony, we get this birth order: "She [Gaia, Earth] lay with Ouranos (Uranus, Sky) and bare deep-swirling

1. Okeanos (Oceanus), 2. Koios (Coeus) 3. Krios (Crius) and 4. Hyperion and 5. Iapetos (Iapetus), 6. Theia and 7. Rhea, 8. Themis and 9. Mnemosyne and gold-crowned 10. Phoibe (Phoebe) and lovely 11. Tethys. After them was born 12. Kronos (Cronus)."

EDIT: I missed two more accounts, one from the Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheca (who listed Dione as a Titaness):

"Ouranos (Uranus, Sky) . . . fathered other sons on Ge (Gaea, Earth), namely the Titanes (Titans) :

1. Okeanos (Oceanus), 2. Koios (Coeus), 3. Hyperion, 4. Krios (Crius), 5. Iapetos, and 6. Kronos (Cronus) the youngest; also daughters called Titanides (Titanesses) : 1. Tethys, 2. Rhea, 3. Themis, 4. Mnemosyne, 5. Phoibe (Phoebe), Dione, and Theia."

and another from the Diodorus Siculus' Library of History (which sites Cronus as the oldest and forgets Theia)

The males were 1. Kronos (Cronus), 2. Hyperion, 3. Koios (Coeus), 4. Iapetos, 5. Krios (Crius) and 6. Okeanos (Oceanus) , and their sisters were 7. Rhea 8. Themis, 9. Mnemosyne, 10. Phoibe (Phoebe) and 11. Tethys. Each one of them was the discover of things of benefit to mankind, and because of the benefaction they conferred upon all men they were accorded honors and everlasting fame."

Of the three accounts mentioned I've noticed some similarities:

All three accounts have the pattern Rhea-Themis-Mnemosyne-Phoebe consistently

Two accounts have Oceanus as the oldest child and one as the youngest brother

Two accounts have Tethys as the youngest daughter and one as the oldest daughter

Iapetus is the closest in age to Cronus in two accounts and the second closest in the other

Koios is often the second or third son

Now, just because I've noticed these doesn't necessarily mean I will follow these "rules" in making my own birth order, especially considering many narrative issues regarding Styx/Pallas and Atlas/Pleione being second-generation Titans with fully grown children during the war (as well as well, who I think would fit more into the role of older/younger).

So, here is my own version (sprinkled in with headcanon):

BIRTH ORDER OF THE TWELVE OTHYRIANS:

1-2. Oceanus and Tethys (eldest son and daughter) - So Oceanus is described by Hera as where “all gods have risen” in the Iliad, and in the same breath describes Tethys as “our mother” and in another account by Homer- “Okeanos (Oceanus) the origin of the gods, and Tethys their mother.” They are also identified with Ophion and Eurynome, the supposed first King and Queen of the Heavens before Cronus and Rhea had them overthrown. Because of that, and because Tethys is often described as a loving mother/nurse, I like to think of O&T as a unit (Oceanus still as the older one but Tethys following shortly after) who once took care of their younger siblings especially when Gaia and Uranus were constantly fighting and fell in love in the process, vowing to have many kids of their own when they got married. Oceanus abstaining from the castration can be because of many reasons, but I believe it had to do with his kind nature, being a father and not wanting to set a bad example towards them (thus disappointing Gaia and prompting Cronus to take action)

3. Crius (second brother)- EDIT: making Crius the second oldest as one of his sons, Pallas, later marries Styx, Oceanus, and Tethys' oldest daughter, and unless they were older woman/younger man I prefer that they were closer in age (and I guess narratively it would Make Sense for Oceanus' oldest to be betrothed to the child of the sibling who came after him). As for loyalty, his sons Pallas and Perses are vaguely dutiful to the Titans during the war.

4. Iapetus (third brother) - As much as I like Cronus and Iapetus being closest in age for brothers, Iapetus being older makes more sense to me. Atlas is his eldest son (with a wife and children) and Cronus’ right hand, rather than Iapetus himself, so I believe that Iapetus thinks Atlas would do a much better, youthful job at it. Cronus could see Iapetus as everything Oceanus should’ve been, the reliable older brother (even if his traitorous other nephew Prometheus joined the opposite side)

5. Hyperion (fourth brother) - no particular reason for this one besides being close to Theia’s age and his children being close to Hestia-Zeus' age.

6-7. Theia & Rhea (second and third sister) - TWINS TIME BABYYY. This is all purely headcanon be warned. As I’ve mentioned before, in my ficverse Theia and Rhea were born as twins destined to have favorable children. Theia eventually becomes close with Hyperion, marrying him and leaving Rhea jealous but happy to see little Eos, Helios, and Selene grow up. Rhea begins sticking closer to Themis, Phoebe, and Cronus after Theia’s wedding. Theia and Rhea’s relationship is still close as they once joked about their firstborns being fire starters (Helios and Hestia) in the short time frame before Cronus devoured Hestia.

8. Themis (fourth sister) - besides the constant of Themis being younger than Rhea, my main reasoning with this is simply that Zeus marrying his aunt who is younger than his mom is more palatable than marrying an aunt older than her (then again both Titanesses are older than his father but Zeus isn’t close to his dad anyways). Narratively her getting the oracle makes much sense too as her older sisters have their roles (Tethys is the mother of the ocean deities, and Theia and Rhea are destined to have favorable kids), it would make sense for Gaia to give her the Oracle and become her prophetic successor (before giving it to her younger sister Phoebe as she establishes herself as the goddess of divine law)

9. Phoebe (fifth daughter) - being the younger to Themis, she gets the Oracle of Delphi from her and is the third goddess to hold it before giving it to her grandson Apollo (Aeschylus, Eumenides 1 ff). Besides that, she’s renowned thanks to her grandchildren. I still want her to be older than Mnemosyne as I imagine her kind of mature while Mnemosyne more youthful.

9. Mnemoysne (Melete, Aiode, Thelixonoe, Arche, Mneme) (sixth-tenth daughter) - OKAY so I had this idea when reading about the Elder Muses, who were said to be daughters of Ge/Gaia according to Mimnermus. There are two accounts, one with four muses (Thelixonoe, Aode, Arche, and Melete) and one with three (Melete, Aiode, and Mneme). Mneme is said most likely to be Mnemosyne as her name means “Memory” but honestly, what if they were all Mnemosyne? What if Mnemosyne was like Garnet in Steven Universe, a combination of close Muse sisters to make up an entire deity? Seems cooler than just forgetting about these Muses. Making Mnemosyne the younger makes sense too since Muses are said to be youthful/have the least amount of responsibility.

10. Dione (eleventh daughter) - yeah actually why not make Dione a Titaness too? Most have her as a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys but there are accounts of her being the child of Gaia and Uranus, also I like the little headcanon of him and Phorcys being Titans as Plato wanted. (Albeit in most canon Phorcys is cited as a son of Gaia and Pontos which is. close enough!)

11-12. Coeus and Cronus (fifth and sixth brother) - I still wanted Coeus and Cronus to be twins/close the age gap, mainly because alliterative names are cool and should be highlighted. Coeus is allegedly the Titan of Intellect, so To Me as an older brother who gives advice and not really proactively fights like their older brothers (also, I like to think Asteria and Hestia are within the same age group), and Cronus’ birth order is fixed as the youngest.

EDIT: Aside from their main family tree, they also have the three Cyclopes and three Hecatoncheires, the Pontus-Gaia family tree of Eurybia (Crius' wife), Thaumas (Iris and Arke's father), Ceto (The Gorgon's mother), Nereus (father of the Nereids), Aegaeon (ally to the Titans), Phorcys (Ceto's mate) and the four Telchines who invented metalwork and made Cronus' infamous sickle.

[thegodcyclecomic]

ares/athena headcanons (some N$FW):

• Athena is the only one who can understand his caveman language

• Ares always unintentionally turns Athena on and is so fucking clueless when she acts needy

• Athena is goth mommy

• "You're killing my tough guy personality" "Who's a good kitten?" "meeee :3"

• Ares has problems because of his daddy issues (control freak, goes insane if he doesn't win, doesn't shower sometimes)

• Athena is VERY clingy when sleeping but will never admit it if you confront her

• If Ares asked for no pickles and got pickles, Athena will be on that employee's ass

that's it, NOW YOUR TURNNN!!!

Alright!! Here are mine in return:

For some reason, Athena thinks Ares is the funniest man alive. Even when he is being serious, occasionally. His ridiculous antics are amusing to her.

Ares most often calls Athena "Theeny" as a term of endearment. Unless he's angry, then he'll call her "Athena". If he's seriously pissed off he calls her "Pallas".

Ares often worries Athena is not eating enough (she is just an incredibly picky eater) and will offer her more food unprompted-- sometimes going to incredible lengths to accommodate her particular palate.

Ares keeps both himself and his dwellings clean and free of clutter. When all is said and done, he washes the blood and grime away and forgets about everything he just did. Athena keeps tokens and trinkets of anything she finds interesting, but also despises others going through her possessions. As a result, her room is cluttered and messy.

As a hobby, Athena makes plush toy animal versions of the Olympians to keep in her room. The one below is of Ares. When she is in a good mood, Plush!Ares gets to sit on her bed. But if she's cross with Real!Ares then she angrily throws Plush!Ares on the ground.

When the two are corresponding between their respective departments, Athena will sometimes draw cartoon owls on the margin of the letter to further emphasize her point. Ares finds these cute and keeps them all in a drawer (Athena is unaware of this).

[aliciavance4228]

I've came across this Typhon×Echidna VS. Zeus×Hera comparison many times. Basically, people are talking about how the monstrosity who tried to overthrow Zeus and scared the shit out of all Olympians has a more stable, unproblematic relationship with Echidna than Zeus has with Hera, and that he would never cheat on her. Which is an unnecessary over exaggeration.

There's one version of the myth of Typhon (specifically in the one where he's Gaia's son, not Hera's) where he starts telling Zeus about all he's gonna do after he'll overthrow him. Here are some of the lovely things listed by him:

I will keep the chains of Iapetos (Iapetus) for Poseidon; and the soaring round Kaukasos (Caucasus), another and better eagle shall tear the bleeding liver, growing for ever anew, of Hephaistos the fiery: since fire was the for which Prometheus has been suffering the ravages of his self-growing liver. I will take a shape the counterpart of the sons [the Aloadai giants] of Iphimedeia, and I will shut up the intriguing son of Maia [Hermes] in a brazen jar, prisoned with galling bonds, that people may say, "Hermes freed Ares from prison, and he was put in prison himself!" Let Artemis break the untouched seal of her maidenhood, and become enforced consort of [the giant] Orion; Leto shall spread her old bedding for [the giant] Tityos, dragged to wedlock by force. I will strip murderous Ares of his ragged bucklers, I will bind the lord of battle, and carry him off, and make the Killer the Gentle; I will carry off Pallas [Athena] and join her to [the giant] Ephialtes, married at last; that I may see Ares a slave, and Athena a mother. ‘Kronion [Zeus] also shall lift the spinning heavens of Atlas, and bear the load on weary shoulders--there shall he stand, and hear the song at my wedding, and hide his jealousy when I shall be Hera's bridegroom. Torches shall not lack at my wedding. Bright lightning shall come of itself to be selfmade torch of the bride-chamber; Phaethon [Helios the Sun] himself instead of pine-brands, kindled at the light of his own flames, shall put his radiance at the service of Typhoeus the Bridegroom; the stars shall sprinkle their bridal sparks over Olympos as lamps to my loves, the stars lights of evening! My servant Selene (the Moon), Endymion's bed-fellow, along with Aphrodite the friend of marriage, shall lay my bed; and if I want a bath, I will bathe in the waters of starry Eridanos.

Chaining up Poseidon with the same chains that Iapetus is bound by (this one is justified, but still horrible).

Sending a bigger, stronger eagle to peck out Hephaestus' liver to avenge Prometheus (again; justified but still horrible).

Trapping Hermes in a jar forever.

Enslaving Ares, Selene, Aphrodite and Apollo (Selene and Aphrodite would've been his sex slaves).

Forcibly marrying off Artemis, Leto and Athena and letting their husbands rape them.

Forcing Hera to marry him (Typhon) specifically.

Etc.

And yet people are really going to claim that Typhon is faithful to Echidna just so that they could make the relationship between Zeus and Hera seem more problematic than it already was. Speaking about "problematic", both Typhon and his offspring could definitely be described like that. The reason why not all of them are terrible monsters is because the gods realized that the best decision is to make good use of them instead of letting them free.

[my-name-is-apollo]

Two things! 1. Thanks for reporting on Apollo, he is my favorite god by far!! 😭

2. In an old post where you talked about the type of relationship that the main gods had with each other you said that there was a lot to talk about the relationship between Zeus AND Apollo!! Can you take advantage and tell it?

I can definitely talk about Apollo and Zeus!

Basically, Apollo is Zeus' favorite, his pride and joy. I know a lot of people believe Athena is the favorite, but I say Apollo is just as beloved, if not more and I'll tell you why I think so. I'll start by putting together various myths that surround both of them.

1) Zeus' protectiveness

Starting with Apollo's (and Artemis') birth, even though Zeus didn't directly help Leto, in one version, he asked Zephyrus to carry Leto away to Poseidon, so that Poseidon could protect her. He also managed to calm down Hera by the time the twins were born.

And when later Apollo killed Python, according to Pindar, Gaia wanted to send him to tartarus. But obviously that didn't happen and we can assume that it was because Zeus intervened on his son's behalf.

In Euripides' play, there's a particularly cute segment where Apollo, as a little boy, went to Zeus, wrapped his arms around him and supplicated him to deal with Gaia who has been interfering with his oracular business. And of course Zeus agrees and makes Gaia lose her prophetic influence on mortals.

There's also a version of Coronis' tale where Ischys, the guy with whom Coronis had cheated on Apollo with, got killed by Zeus.

In the satires written by Lucian, Zeus got defensive when Momos made fun of Apollo.

Lastly, this is just my interpretation, but in stories where Zeus intervenes in a couple of fights - the Apollo vs Heracles , Apollo vs Idas - makes me feel like Zeus did it because he was overly protective of Apollo (just like did with Athena - Pallas)

2) The way Zeus appreciates Apollo

In Iphigenis in Tauris, when Apollo killed Python and took over the delphic oracle for himself, Zeus is shown to have been proud that Apollo has started serious business at such a young age.

The opening of Homer's hymn to Pythian Apollo shows us Zeus welcoming Apollo and personally pouring a drink to his son. How sweet is that :3

In another scene where Apollo is entertaining the gods, Zeus and Leto together are shown proudly watching their son (Hera is absent oop-).

In the Iliad, whenever he commands Apollo to do something, he calls him "Dear Phoebus" (I've also seen it translated as "friend Phoebus) which is very sweet and shows that Zeus is quite fond of Apollo.

And in Lucian's work, he also appreciated Apollo by telling Momos how much work his son has to do everyday, and how difficult the job is for him.

3) Zeus grants a lot of Apollo's requests

even when he's personally offended. Take the story of king Periphas, whose reputation had personally offended Zeus and he wanted to destroy the king and his entire kingdom, but when Apollo asked Zeus to not do that, he ceased from killing them. In the case of Prometheus too, Zeus agreed to free the Titan when Apollo begged for it.

When Apollo appointed Hermes as the messenger god, Zeus approved that.

He also resurrected Asclepius on Apollo's request, in spite of Apollo killing the cyclops .

And here is what sealed my belief that Apollo is no less of a favorite than Athena: once Athena was using mantic dice to give out prophecies, and Apollo was unhappy with this. He complained to Zeus about it and Zeus made dice divination inferior (and Athena just threw away the dice lol)

Now this is again my opinion, but the whole thing with "Apollo tricking the Fates into postponing Admetus' death" is quite a serious offense, but surprisingly Apollo does not get punished for that. I like to think that that's because Zeus gave him the permission for that (maybe not openly, but more discreetly).

4) Apollo has some favorite child privileges.

He is said to be sitting on the immediate right of Zeus (according to Callimachus), he gets to use Zeus' lightning bolts and the aegis too (like Athena does), and he is the only one allowed to read the will/mind of Zeus.

5) Apollo acts as Zeus' right hand man

Now this could be said of Hermes and Athena also too, but I'm pointing this out because people tend to easily forget it. In the Iliad, Zeus sent Apollo to help the Trojans, since he was secretly rooting for Troy ,in spite of taking a neutral stance, and Athena was fighting against them. He also entrusted his son Sarpedon's body to Apollo and asked him to clean it up and hand it over to Thanatos and Hypnos.

In Orphic theogony, a similar responsibility is given to Apollo - he is asked by Zeus to bury the remains of Zagreus.

In the account given by Plato on soulmates, after Zeus tore apart the humans, he tasked Apollo with stitching them and bringing them back to life.

And of course the whole deal with Apollo's oracles is to pass on the will of Zeus to the mortals. Apollo is basically serving as an extension of Zeus. Arguably, that is one of the most important responsibilities and Apollo was the one Zeus trusted it with. He also actively prevents other gods from taking away this role from Apollo.

6) Apollo's rebellious nature and how Zeus deals with it.

In Alcaeus' hymn, when Apollo is born, Zeus adorns him with a golden headband, gives him a golden chariot driven by swans and asks him to go to Delphi to establish his laws. But Apollo instead just takes the chariot and flies away to Hyperborea and stays there for a whole year (rebellious from the get go XD) Of course, Zeus doesn't punish Apollo for this.

(I'm not bringing up Apollo and Poseidon's servitude under Laomedon because even though it is believed to have been a result of Apollo and Poseidon rebelling against Zeus, we don't really have evidence to say that that was the case. I only vaguely remember there being evidence of it in some scholia but I'm not able to find it at the moment so. Also in the Iliad especially, the coup - whose participants are Hera, Athena and Poseidon- and the servitude under Laomedon are clearly two separate, unrelated events)

But when Apollo killed Cyclopes in retaliation for Zeus killing Asclepius, Zeus intended to throw him into tartarus. This was an instance where he was clearly very upset with his son, and probably felt betrayed too. Even so, he changed his mind thanks to Leto, which makes me feel like he did not fully intend to carry out that punishment, and it was more a decision made in the spur of the moment. And as the alternate punishment, he made Apollo serve a slave and spend time on the Earth. This is in contrast with say, Hera - who was tied and dangled above tartarus. Zeus could have done something similar with Apollo because while one could argue that exiling and making Apollo a slave is pretty humiliating, it's still not as bad as being hung over tartarus. Besides, Zeus made Apollo serve under a very kind hearted king (and by the looks of it, Apollo actually enjoyed his time there, being in love with Admetus and all). So I think even after all that had happened, Zeus still forgave Apollo and went easy on him and even agreed to grant godhood to Asclepius on Apollo's request.

7) Apollo as Zeus' eldest son

Apollo is Zeus' first son in Hesoid's Theogony (born after 19 daughters). Putting it in the context of ancient Greek society, that would make Apollo quite important for Zeus in a way that no other child can be. And while Homer doesn't explicitly say that Apollo is the first son, it is quite evident in his works (Homeric hymn to Apollo, the Iliad) that Apollo's image is that of a first born son, - he is the only one who has access to Zeus' will, all the gods except Zeus trembled when he entered Olympus, Zeus often turned to him for help during the trojan war.

("Apollo" by Fritz Graf)

Of course, Zeus is never going to give away his throne to anyone and Apollo has no serious intent of overthrowing his father, but some scholars share the view that Homer paints Apollo as a potential usurper of Zeus, but also emphasizes how Apollo is very much on Zeus' side, using his powers for Zeus and not against him.

(^Source for this bit: "The Homeric Hymns: Interpretative Essays" by Andrew Faulkner & "Nursemaid to a Monster: Typhon and Pytho in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo" by Kelly E. Shannon)

Moreover, Apollo being Zeus' first son and sort of an unofficial crown prince would neatly explain all the ways in which Zeus favors Apollo over his other children.

Lastly, this is my take on them: They both obviously have a strong bond founded on love and respect for each other. The road wasn't and isn't always smooth for them. I like to think that Apollo held some bitterness towards Zeus for not helping Leto (before eventually letting it go), but he still wants his father's attention and approval. In return, Zeus has complete trust in Apollo, which is why he entrusts a lot of important duties to him. After all, he knows very well of Apollo's struggles and his efforts to rise to power. Zeus might sometimes be more stern on Apollo than he is on the others, but that's because he doesn't want anyone saying anything unpleasant about his son. I also think he doesn't entirely understand or approve of Apollo's extreme attachment to some humans, but he is ready to turn a blind eye as long as nothing drastic is happening (not without his permission at least lol). It's easy for some people to call Zeus a bad father, but we should also remember that despite being knowledgeable and wise, Apollo can be a difficult child to deal with - he is haughty, reckless. Messes with primordial deities and cosmic order, wears his heart on his sleeve, forgets his duties when he falls in love. It's like he is a perpetual teenager not only in appearance, but also at his heart lol and Zeus does try his best to deal with it in the best way possible :') But they do get along well most of the times and no matter how bad their once in a while conflicts can get, I think nothing is irreconcilable :)

(Here's a post where I've linked sources for a lot of the myths I've mentioned. If there's anything you want to know the source for, let me know)