#it also gives her all the context left that she needed to understand why hades is doing this

[akirakirxaa]

[ day 25 - ruin ]

This was the missing piece she had been searching for - what had happened to her beloved home. She had prayed that it had survived the years, perhaps in some distant corner of the star away from prying eyes and modern maps. But the painted flames told her more than a thousand words or a hundred maps.

Amaurot was gone.

[ masterpost ]

[the-horned-paladin]

Hello! I have read now some myths regarding Hades and Persephone (the hymn to Demeter) and I just , it just sits so wrong with me to think that he abducted her and it was unconsensual. Perhaps all the fiction had to influence me on that one , but still I just feel like their bond just give off love , although the historical sources do say otherwise. What do you think?

I think that we have to look at historical context to really understand their mythos. In Ancient Greece, the concept of consent from women is simply different from modern day consent. At the time the man interested would ask for the father's consent to wed, and if the father agreed the woman would be wed. Some interpretations say Zeus gave his consent before Hades took her. Some say he simply fell in love and took her. We also have to consider the fact that mythos has been changed and even bastardized by the demonization of pagan as well as non-christian religions by the spread of Christianity. Resources were destroyed en masse. There are God's whose stories have been lost to time because of this, i.e. Zagreus, and UPG from the scraps of information left are all we have. Further, these are deities. Humans have shared the stories they interpret of God's for centuries, but that doesn't mean we as humans know their whole story. For all we know, Hades abducting Persephone never actually happened, and was just a tale to explain why the seasons change. And just because two people love each other doesn't mean things are perfect between them. Persephone changed drastically as an entity when she became queen of the underworld. Ultimately, our current idea of consent is different than that of Ancient Greece, where these stories originate from. We also have a very faceted understanding of multifaceted spiritual beings whose stories may be changed, bastardized, lost to time, or simply lessons attempting to be taught. If we deny the parts of history we don't like, we ignore the parts of our gods that exist to teach us about life, true or not. I would suggest consulting Persephone and Hades in divination to determine what lessons you might personally want or need to take from the parts of their story that unsettle you. (Thats not to say I like it either, it's just a bit more complicated than we typically think)

[thecanadianowl]

Justice league Snydercut review

Wow talk about a long movie. Remember Mass Effect's 3 shit endings that were later improved (sorta) with DLCs. Well that is kinda how this movie is.

Before we start this, I just wanna say that I was very impartial throughout the whole snydercut movement. I wasn't part of it but I do see the good that they did in regards to some of their charities and with how the fandom itself has been painted in a negative light. So its good that they got what they have been demanding for quite some time. Snyder as director for me, I really am not the biggest fan of. His movies have some great cinematic moments that look amazing but the context around it is what muddles it for me.

Is it better than Whedon's JL? YES. To start I'll look at some of the things that I do like.

I do like how it was split into parts.  Gives it that miniseries/Comic book feel

Thank god they removed that stupid cringy flash landing on top of Diana's chest scene.

Darkseid looks good. I know some people have issues with it but I liked it. I mean looking at it first glance has me convinced its Darkseid. His voice isn't too bad either. Reminds me a bit of Injustice 2.

As much as I have issues with Darkseid being introduced so early I do like that he had a brief confrontation/glaredown with the League, foreshadowing a possible in person encounter and that the League needs to expand if they are going to fight against Darkseid.  

Steppenwolf's design has greatly improved and looks better than before.

Loved the scenes between Alfred and Diana.  Wish there was more of that.

I loved how the movie added Cyborg, Aquaman and Flash attempting to stop Superman from getting to Batman. I also liked how in this version,  Batman pleading to Clark's humanity telling him that world needs him and he needs to snap out of it.  Also bonus for taking out that scene of Batman on the ground groaning about how old he is getting.

Okay seeing Clark get the black suit and having the voiceovers of both his father's merge together works in terms of Clark's arc into becoming the person he was meant to be. Also like the use of Zimmerman's Ideal of Hope score wished they let it play out a little longer.  Probably my favourite moment in the film is where Superman just takes Steppenwolf's Axe like its nothing and freezes it.

Now to go into some of the more critical stuff that bugged me when watching.

For a movie that is 4 hours long, pacing issues were bound to happen. I think the first example of this can be found in the opening with the Superman scream wave (which started to get a bit hilarious when his screams could be heard every now and then) hitting all three mother boxes. they are shown individually reacting to it and it takes time, where it could have just showed them together or an compilation of each of the motherboxes waking up. I know it Snyder's thing but tone down on the slow mo. Like some instances its fine (like with bullet time or Flash's scenes) but other instances I'm just like alright I get it.

The scene involving Cyborg transferring money into that single mother's bank account. Is he gonna do this for all the people suffering just like her? or just for that one person? I mean if you can hack into the world monetary system, you can solve a lot of financial issues affecting  the majoirty and not just one person. Did I miss the scene but why did Cyborg go from helping one poor person, suggesting the potential good he can do to change the world for the better  to "Fuck the world". Seems a bit inconsistent in character. Especially since he knows who Diana is (from what he says)  and that Parademons are after the motherbox. Maybe her offering help, you should take it? idk Vic. Also the whole Auto defense system malfunction, would it not be better if this was established beforehand where we see Vic struggling to maintain his body's autonomy leading up to the Superman confrontation? Prior to that it seemed he had it under control and his biggest conflict throughout the movie seemed more to be with him coming to terms with his new body. With that being said, Cyborg's character here is much more interesting and better than it was originally. I can see why Ray Fisher is so pissed (well that and the abuse he faced).  I am glad this was improved and gave the character a lot more to do.

The movie still has the same issue as before in regards to the whole motherbox plot and how convenient it was that all three are located on earth. You would think that with the involvement of Darkseid/Steppenwolf that separating them to distinct locations across space would make it more difficult to collect them. I mean we know that the Green Lanterns exist (we saw one get chomped), you'd think that they or the guardians would take one and secure it on Oa. The pushback to this would be "well there was only one green lantern and he died, so how could they retrieve the box?" which begs my question, why send only one? I mean it has been established that Darkseid is a known conqueror of worlds, you'd think the Guardians would be smart enough to send more than one Lantern to aid Earth in their fight.  Did they not think it would be a good idea to have the corps be more involved/keep an eye on earth since it is the only planet that was able to repel Darkseid's forces?

Why is it that the best idea of security when it comes to humans is to bury it? Would it not be better in optics to look over it and know its location instead of dropping it somewhere on the off chance that someone might find it due to being  curious or the land changing/altering  making the box more easy to attain? A situation as dire/serious as this, you would think that the Amazons/Atlanteans would have been better prepped with armor/weapons for such an event. I mean you have the arrow of Artemis that shoots quite a distance to give Diana a message but not some kind of weapon that hurts/cripples Steppenwolf? Or better yet, how about the moment that the boxes started acting up after Superman's death, that Atlantis/Themiscarya would put aside any differences they had with one another and to the outside world to come together to secure the boxes?  How could Darkseid forget the name of the only planet that was able to force him to retreat? nor does he know that it harbors the anti life?

Did this movie break Aquaman's continuity? because from the dialogue between Mera and Arthur, its implied that Atlanna abandoned/left Arthur at Tom's doorsteps whereas in the movie,  we see Atlanna spend a couple of years with Tom and raising baby Arthur before she was forced to come back. You'd think Zack being a producer for the Aquaman  movie would have edited that line or made it more clear. Well that or James Wan F'ed up when making the movie.

"I've never seen a being as strong as Steppenwolf" Did Diana just forget Ares aka the god of war who killed the Greek Pantheon/Old gods and orchestrated the first World War? Hell from the looks of the flashback it seemed Ares (I'm assuming its Ares, if its Hades, my bad) was getting some good hits in on Darkseid, who is superior to Steppenwolf.  While we are on the topic of Diana, it's a bit odd that Snyder who  was a producer on WW84 where one of the biggest focuses on the movie that Patty Jenkins talked about was how Diana doesn't solve her problems with violence (even though her primary weapons in this movie are a sword and shield but okay. Then again New 52 hasn't done a good job in disproving that), yet in this movie we see her using her gauntlet smash to fucking kill the one remaining terorrist. Like sure you can argue that they were terrorists and deserve to die, but given how easy and quick it was for her to take out the previous guys, why do something that runs the risks of destroying the very building that you are in (with hostages). I mean from the look of the blast and how much debris fell from the building outside, and it was a miracle no one (but the terrorist) got hurt/killed.

Why did Steppenwolf  kidnap  them in the first place? Just use that mind extracting device you used on the Atlantean soldier to see if they know. Seems like a waste of time to collect them in one location only to interrogate them later.

Okay, I'm sorry but even in this cut I still don't like Miller's Barry Allen. He isn't as bad as he was in the theatrical cut but man does it stick out. When he is helping to escort the kidnapped civilians out, why doesn't he just grab them and transfer them to a safe distance? He even makes a comment about how slow they are going. Can I also just say how weird it is for Barry to take time saving Iris to caress her hair and look at her more creepily in slow mo? Like yeah its in slow mo but still I think your priority should be to get everyone to safety as quick as possible and check if anyone else could get hurt.  I will admit that Barry's speech as he is running so fast to reverse time at the end was really good. Tho the more I think about all the slow mo Flash scenes are good.

They still kept the "Let's use the mother box to bring back Superman plot". Why? This is a piece of tech that you don't fully understand how it works and you are going on the whims of someone you just met. Especially if they come back as a different person/mindset all together.  If Superman 's death was the reason that allowed for the Mother box to call to Steppenwolf/Darkseid, what the hell were they doing prior to Superman's arrival on earth? I mean we've seen how easy it was for Steppenwolf to attain the two boxes even if they were guarded, so why the wait ?. I get that Batman is going through an arc and trying to change from the person he was but how does go from "1% chance of absolute certainty" to "let's go on a whim and have faith" when it comes to resurrecting Superman? 

Its gonna be awkward as to how Clark will explain his sudden return from the grave around the same time Superman came back.

I was wondering when the Knightmare scene will play out. Jared leto's Joker isn't over with me, it seems way too try-hard to be edgy. Other than that yeah, not much I can say about it. Tho do we seriously need another iteration where Superman (or someone with Superman like powers) is evil?

I also love how nonchalant Bruce is about J'onn appearing in front him. However the revelation that J'onn was that army general all the time breaks so much of continuity (and just why now did you decide to show up and help and not idk the time Zod invaded and nearly  terraformed earth, HELL WHY TF DIDN'T SHOW UP TO HELP THE LEAGUE IF YOU KNEW ABOUT DARKSEID, I'M SORRY TO RAG ON BUT REALLY THIS CAMEO JUST OPENS UP SO MANY QUESTIONS, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE AN "PALPATINE WAS BEHIND THIS ALL ALONG" KIND OF THING ).

In terms of getting a sequel, I am not sure if WB is going to go through with it given that their current vision seems to be a different route than the one Snyder intended so who knows. Despite my criticisms I do believe this is Snyder's best DCEU film to date and probably one of his better films. You could tell that he put in a lot to make this. The movie itself does have issues mostly due to the plot surrounding the motherbox as well as pacing. I would say it's worth the watch at least once, though I think its best to watch it in doses rather than one sitting. Ultimately this is the version that we should have gotten and I can see why so many people who were supportive of Zack wanted or vouched for him to finish it. Regardless, I think the very least I am happy for Snyder. If you like Snyder's previous stuff, you will like this one, if you don't, your perception of the film won't change significantly other than some cool bits here and there.  

[kob131]

https://rwdestuffs.tumblr.com/post/625369121618640896/done-dirty-gods

I’d like to make the point that the light god, the dude who killed Oz repeatedly and abused Salem to the point that she became the villainous being that we know today, is somehow on the “Heroes Wiki.”

You know, not like she demanded special treatment, tried going behind his back and tried to destroy him and his brother all because she demanded that the cycle of death not apply to who she wants.

Because I guess abusers are heroes now.

Says the creator of the ‘Savivor Mom Raven’ series.

Oh, and also, I HAD TO USE GODDAMN SOUTH PARK AS PART OF MY OPENER!

Incorrectly might I add as both the Light and Dark gods are not portrayed as directly opposing each other. So you’re mad you ‘had’ to use a show’s meme...incorrectly.

Let’s get this out of the way for any of idiots out there: Salem was NOT responsible for Humanity 1.0′s death. She may have provoked these two asshats, but she wasn’t the one who

1: Loaded the gun.

2: Aimed the gun.

3: Fired the gun.

By the same logic, people say Yang murdered Adam. How does that go with you again?

What did Salem do?- She just stood up to them and, inadvertently, gave them a target. 

She directly lied to the first iteration of humanity after being punished for lying to the gods and being directly told she shouldn’t have done that all over demanding her husband be brought back to life even though God knows how many people die and aren’t brought back by the gods despite having just as much reason to want them back as Salem.

As far as I’m concerned, these gods were the villains of the story, and what I wouldn’t give to see Yang punch one of them in the face.

Probably because it’s a penis vs. vagina for you.

When making these “Godly” characters, it’s okay to give them flaws. In fact, that’s what makes the Greek Gods, Norse Gods, Japanese Gods, and Egyptian Gods so interesting. They have flaws, weaknesses, and more relatable personality aspects that makes it seem like we could have the guy responsible for the ocean’s tides as our next door neighbor, or the adorable little dog across the street as the one responsible for the sun coming up… and beating up a fish in a giant mech suit. Goddamn, I want to play Okami again.

I got off-topic. The point is, is that it’s okay for these Gods to give flawed advice… Provided that they gave advice at all.

See, Light God was insensitive to Salem’s plight, and in all likelihood, used the same rhetoric that her father used to lock her up in that tower as an excuse to just brush her off.

Salem: (falling to her knees) Please... Please, bring him back to me.

God of Light: I understand your pain, but you demand of me that which I cannot make so. Life and death are part of a delicate balance.

Such terrible rhetoric.

BTW, funny how you mention the Greek Gods. You want to know what the role of most Greek Gods are in their home myths?

Living Embodiments of Punishing Pride.

Helena Of Troy’s mother, Narcassist and Echo, Odysseus, Arachne, Midas-

Most of the targets of the gods were people who dared to act arrogant and like they were better/deserved more with the Gods smiting them for their fatal sin. Even the Gods themselves weren’t exempt from this, as many of them fell prey to their own pride and arrogance with the few (mostly) unscathed Gods being that way because they were significantly less prideful. Fuck, the Greek Gods came to be because Chronos was so cocky he could just eat his kids that it never occurred to him that his wife Rhea would trick him.

In fact, an always noteworthy story I remember was the tale of Orpheus and Euradyice, where a man traveled to the Underworld using his musical talents and demanded to have his wife brought back to life. It ALMOST didn’t work but he was just able to convince Hades on the condition that he not turn back on his way home. Spoiler Alert, he did out of a lack of faith in Hades, his wife WAS following him but he lost her because of it.

I bring this up because the Greek Gods were the INSPIRATION for the Brothers and I’d bet dollars to donuts that Orpheus’ tale was the inspiration for Salem and Ozma. You try to act like you know something about these things but completely ignore that hubris, the thing that fucked Salem over, was a running theme in the source of her backstory.

So when Salem goes to Dark God, and he does fulfill her request, it’s honestly like Salem is now picking a side. Except, it turns out that Dark God actually has to answer to the Light God.

God of Light: I know we have our differences, but I have not come here with the aim to control you. The same, however, cannot said for her. This woman came to you only after I denied her pleas – pleas that would have disrupted the balance that you and I created. Together.

The younger brother ponders this revelation.

God of Darkness: Then it seems I owe you an apology. Allow me to correct my mistake.

No he doesn’t. But nice cut context.

Does the relationship between the gods seem… manipulative to anyone? Like… The Light God (Fuck it, let’s call him “Lumin” for now, I’m not typing out that whole thing) is abusive to his brother?

Considering what I quoted above- Nope.

Acording to… I think it was Qrow, possibly in a WOR, the Dark God (Let’s call him “Ebon” because that’s a badass name, and I’m honestly not in the mood for “Light = Good, Dark = Evil” to be the underlying theme here) made his creations first. then Lumin was all “I can make something too!” and made humans to one-up his brother.

RWBY Volume 4 Episode 8 “A Much Needed Talk”

Qrow: They were two brothers. The older sibling, the God of Light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the God of Darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go. The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the God of Darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life. Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something - something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything.

Ruby: The creatures of Grimm.

Qrow: You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation... together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow - the path of light or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be.

You misrepresent the show AND got it backwards. The God of Light created things first, then The God of Darkness and Humanity was a joint project.

Why should we consider you at all reliable, especially given how easy it would be to research this?

Like… Does that at all seem healthy to you?

No in fact, The God of Darkness is kind of a jackass. But nice job portraying your delusions as the exact opposite dumbass.

But regardless of that relationship, Lumin basically acted like that one abusive parent who destroys all of the child’s toys just because they went to the other parent to do something that the first parent was callous in denying them to do. Sorry if that brought up any bad memories for people.

More like they took the toy away when the child tricked the other parent into buying it even though the first said no.

Not to mention the relics. Outside of their purpose to resummon the gods, they don’t really do much. But these are literal artifacts left behind by said gods.

Plus, Lumin give Oz an impossible task of uniting humanity. It’s like he wants Oz to fail because he just wants an excuse to wipe them all out again.

How is it impossible when Humanity was united BEFORE SALEM?

Lumin treats humankind as an “experiment gone wrong” as if he’s just playing with peoples’ lives for his own amusement. If anything, Ebon is more sympathetic because he actually listens to their problems and wants to help them out.

Yeah-

The God of Darkness created the Grimm that make Remnant such a horrible place to live and was the one that killed all of humanity.

God of Darkness: My own gift to them... used against me.

The God of Light looks away in disappointment as the God of Darkness squeezes the sphere within his hand, creating a massive shockwave that envelops the world, smiting everything and everyone in its path. Humanity has been turned to dust, only Salem remains due to her immortality.

How is he more sympathetic?

Meanwhile Lumin is all “Sucks that your man died. Now get out.” at best.

We get it- You’re delusional.

Let’s take a look at another set of flawed gods in the form of The Norse Pantheon. Namely, Odin, Loki, and Thor. In myth, these guys were all given tasks that were basically impossible. Thor was tasked with drinking the ocean, and failed. Odin wrestled with time, and was brought down. And Loki lost an eating contest to fire. These flaws and weaknesses in regards to their hubris are part of them.

Meanwhile, Apollo lost a love to Eros because he said that he couldn’t shoot as well as him but I guess you’d assume Eros was the bad guy.

I mentioned this briefly in my “Done dirty: Oz” post, but Oz was basically brought back to cause conflict. Because… I guess Lumin was bored?

Or you know- a second chance to have the gifts of the Brothers again.

But the narrative wants people to see that Lumin and Ebon are “All good. All caring. And all knowing.”

Which is a load of bullshit. The narrative tries to paint Salem as some unsympathetic witch who couldn’t let go. When…

1: The woman was abused and locked in a tower until Oz came to rescue her.

2: She was willing to fight God to get him back. If anything, that shows true love. If you want my opinion, if you’re not willing to deck a deity in the nose for your loved one, then you don’t care about them (Take that, Abraham. Willing to sacrificing your own son just because your God told you to. Bet you wouldn’t see that from Amaterasu).

1. Doesn’t matter. There have to be people living just as bad if not WORSE than Salem and lost loved ones- it’s literally the rules EVERYONE has to abide by.

2. No, she tried to fight two gods because she was pissy. She never tried to fight them until AFTER lying to the God of Darkness and lead people to their deaths. All in the name of a legendary HERO, someone who WOULDN’T want to be brought back after all this death.

What I’m saying is that these gods are detached. Which would be an interesting aspect if the narrative had bothered to show that as being a bad thing.

So were the Greek Gods. Not the point of either one.

Then again, this is all being told by Jinn, a creation of the Gods (Namely Lumin). So maybe there’s some bias in there where they’re trying to make Salem out to be irredeemable while the gods are the undisputed good guys- and holy SHIT!- Jinn’s in on the gaslighting. 

i mean… I still want everyone to eventually realize that Salem was gaslighted into being the villain of the story. because that sounds way better than the “Abused woman lashes out and becomes evil” angle that they seem to be going at.

Yeah and Adam was branded. Guess that means you think Adam was in right to chop off Yang’s arm then.

Funny thing there- You literally can’t redeem Adam OR Salem and keep the other evil without looking hypocritical because they committed the SAME FUCKING SINS.

But given the writers’ ability to handle racism (or lack thereof), I don’t exactly have a lot of confidence in this.

Way to reference the plotline with the walking counter example in it.

Then again, the did call her Salem…

… But also again, they did write the WF plot as that horrible mess…

But they also looked into a lot of fairy tale aspects for their characters…

While you didn’t do a lick of research or else you’d know the shit about the Greek Gods.

Then again, you couldn’t even be bothered to confirm the shit about the Brothers even as you openly say ‘I don’t remember this clearly.’ So what really should I expect?

[bigprincess-energy]

Prompt: a fic that gives context and description to that textpost where Seph is drunk and trying to pet Cerberus and goes "I don't have enough hands!"

So that text post is a piece of comedy but what if we made it hurt instead?

—-

Hadestown represented everything the Queen of the Underworld detested. The rhythmic clanging of pickaxes hitting a never ending quarry of stone, machines turning and clanking producing a dark smoke filling one’s lungs until gasping and choking. Once this place had represented mystery and allure, the sunshine goddess intoxicated by the darkness and charm of the king of the night. Perhaps centuries ago this place meant freedom, but now this factory weighed on her like shackles. Hades had told her time and time again that all of this was for her, to prove to her his love and adoration, to think of the walls, which each stone growing taller, as his embrace.

As time passed and walls grew the goddess’ luggage became heavier and heavier with each trip down under, a bottle of wine intended for sharing developed into a crate, then a train car full for hoarding. When she was a young girl his love left her drunk, now his neon lights and mechanical symphony left her hung over. The only option it seemed was to wrap her fingers around the neck of a green bottle and tip it back until she was put out of her misery.

Tonight was no different. Hades had left her alone in their palace, to preoccupied expanding his kingdom under the guise of romance to spend a moment with her. For a man so concerned about making sure she couldn’t fly away, he presented as if he couldn’t imagine anything worse than spending a moment with her. Once upon a time he couldn’t get enough, drinking her in like sweet summer wine, his hands craving the sensation of her skin, glowing from the sun’s kisses. Now only on the rarest of evenings he would leave his office to join her in their wedding bed, which at that point Persephone was left questioning if she even wanted his presence there.

Pouring herself another glass of wine, the goddess sat in the parlor in front of a coal burning fire with Cerberus at her feet. “At least you enjoy my company,” Persephone sighed into the glass before raising it to her lips and taking a long drink. The three headed beast raised his eyes at her, then slumped his heads over his paws, releasing a breath deep enough to ruffle the fabric of her dress.

“Daddy ignores you too, huh?” Persephone asked as she gracefully descended from her seat on the sofa to the grand carpet on the floor, curling her body around the massive dog. She reached out her free hand and stroked the soft fur of Cerberus’ left most head.

“Are we pathetic, pining for him? Remember when he used to adore us, when we were new, special, and shiny? I suppose just like his machines, we too tarnish.” Cerberus responded with another heavy sigh, leaning his head into the goddess’ touch.

Persephone continued to stroke the dog, the warmth and steady rise and fall of his breathing reminding her that she wasn’t the only thing left alive in this hellhole. Finishing her glass, she placed the glass on the floor, discarded until she needed to forget again. How long had it been, since he laid here with them, since she rested on his chest while his fingers tangled in her hair. The logic of kings and the laws of his underworld made no sense to her, despite how desperately she tried to understand, to understand him. With her newly freed hand Persephone reached out and began to pet Cerberus’ second head, stroking in time with his heartbeat.

Tears began to build in the corner of the goddess’ eyes as she sat crumpled against Cerberus. Perhaps it was the alcohol, perhaps it was the fact that she still continued to glance at the door, part of her heart aching for the nob to turn and her lover to walk in. Of course that would never happen. It had never happened before, why would tonight be any different.

She envisioned Hades in his office, strong and broad shoulders hunched over as he worked, or worse yet, as he sat and waited until he heard her bedroom door click close for the evening. Spite and anger over took her as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. Was she a failure? Had she failed as a wife? And had her failure as a wife then failed those up on top? Every day that passed where she stayed in Hadestown the harvest died and people suffered. Was she to blame for this, could she have prevented her husband’s actions? The tears stung as they fell, salty and hot, an elixir of rage masking over her sadness. Persephone looked down at her hands. In the light of the fire her wedding band glinted. She may be a goddess but she also only had two hands. Would he see them if she reached them out to him, would he take them?

Cerberus raised his heads, turning to look at her as if to ask why she had stopped petting him. Looking up from her palms, Persephone was met with pity in the dog’s sad, tired eyes. “Oh Cerberus,” she sobbed, the sound coming deep from within her chest as she hid her face in her hands. “I only have two hands, and you have three heads.

[whichwitchami]

My Personal Deities Post: Hades

SAll right, Hades, my wonderful little shit. 

I first started working with Hades because he is the greek god of the underworld. I am terrified of death, what comes after, and being abandoned. From a young age I internalized loved ones dying as them giving up on life and abandoning those they love. Can’t tell you exactly why my brain took death this way, but it did. Every time I’m faced with the death of a loved one, I have a really hard time. This fear of abandonment has translated into fear of losing friendships too. So I wanted to work with a deity that could help me overcome, or at least lessen, the fear of death and abandonment. 

I turned to Hades initially because I was already working with a few other Greek Gods, and I hadn’t started exploring other Pantheons yet. Ultimately this was a good choice, because Hades has stuck by me no matter what and really been there for me. Whenever there’s a new threat of loss, he’s right there, waiting, knowing, a little irritated that I’m ignoring him. He won’t leave until I talk to him and finally face my feelings. I always feel better after wards. 

I don’t believe in the Greek version of the afterlife, but that’s never bothered Hades. He understands that my views are much more universal than tied to one particular pantheon. He still sits there and comforts me and helps me process when things are tough and death is imminent (I’m only 26 and already all my grandparents have passed, I’ve lost multiple uncles, my aunt is currently very ill, suicide is a real big trigger, and cancer is the literal devil for my family) so death is on my mind frequently. He knows when to be gentle and when to be annoying af in as much as sitting there and pestering me because I’ve been avoiding my feelings for too long. In the time that I’ve been working with him, I’ve felt a lot of my anxieties about death ease up. I still have a long way to go, but he’s with me every step of this journey. 

He’s also a little shit. I say so in the most loving and respectful way possible. Think Hades from the Disney movie. Incredibly sassy, slightly irritating, but somewhat lovable anyway. Hades is the reason I had to create personal boundary rules with all my spirits. He loves to just show up directly behind me as if he’s peering over my shoulder. When I was new to this it scared the shit out of me. So I created a rule about personal space. He responded by making his presence known through standing outside and staring up at my window in the most creepy way possible. OR just somehow floating outside the window staring in. Had to create a rule about that. It’s all in jest, he’s never creepy and he does ultimately follow the rules. 

One funny story, my first roommate in graduate school knew I was pagan. I was pretty upfront with her about it and she didn’t seem too upset, but she made it clear she didn’t want spirits hanging out near her. She didn’t care if they were in my room, but needed to leave her alone. We were having a similar conversation to this one time where I assured her they won’t bother her. suddenly I sense Hades. He’s just sitting on the chair, fingers tented in front of him, eyebrow raised in an “Oh won’t I?” smirk. He never did, but that’s his energy. He also refuses to claim an oracle deck. I speak to many of my deities through oracle readings, and most of them have a deck they’ve claimed that they’ll pull me towards when they want to talk. Hades hasn’t claimed one, he frequently insists that I only speak to him using the spirit board. Just to be a lovable pain. He’s also quiet or very demanding. I know when Hades wants something like a new stone as an offering. He’ll be very loud about it. 

So yeah, I work a lot with Hades to overcome my fears of death and abandonment, and to have some fun every once in a while when he’s being a real pain. As I said in Persephone’s post, I do worship him separately as well as in the context of his marriage. I think he’s one of the few, if not the only Greek God who is actually loyal to his wife, who loves her, is devoted to her etc. I think they’re the ultimate power couple and are couple goals. 

Offerings to Hades include walking around in cemeteries, paying attention to abandoned graves, leaving coins on the premises, etc. When a girl in my hometown was killed in a hit and run accident, I left daffodils for him on her little pop up memorial. (almost blew that cos I spent 90% of the time I was there praying to Mani, and then Hades was all loud and obnoxious until i remembered this was an act to him). I’ll buy daffodils just to have in the house every once in a while when its their time. He really likes them, but not mint. He fessed up to killing my mint plant a few years ago. 

My favorite offering that was ultimately to both him and Persephone: My ex bought me flowers for valentines day. It was the first time anyone had bought me flowers in a romantic context. Most flowers I’ve had have been bought by myself, or given to me by family/ friends in the context of illness or for dance recitals. I dried the bouquet once it started to die so that I could have it either as a keepsake or for something else. When the relationship went to shit I didn’t really know what to do with the bouquet. I didn’t want to toss it out, thought maybe I’d use it for a spell or something. Finally one day it hit me, I could give it to Hades and Persephone, ask them to take away some of my pain and help me move forward so that I could find a better relationship. 

Well, I took the bouquet, vase and all, to my favorite cemetery, left it tucked in the roots of a huge tree there, as an offering to both of them. They really seemed to appreciate it and it felt like the most appropriate way to release some of the lingering energy from that relationship.  

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: The Nocturnal Worlds of Katherine Bradford

Katherine Bradford, “Moon Jumper” (2016), acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches (all photographs by Jason Mandella, courtesy the artist and CANADA, New York)

For the legions of Katherine Bradford enthusiasts — of which I am one— this exhibition of eight paintings might seem to hold few surprises, especially if you think of bathers frolicking in the sea as one of her enduring themes. But if you go looking for that one thing, you might miss what is going on under the surface in Katherine Bradford at Sperone Westwater (January 7 – February 11, 2017).

In a review of her last show, Fear of Waves, which was her debut at CANADA (January 9–February 14, 2016) almost exactly a year ago, I wrote:

Bradford has transformed the whimsical into the catastrophic, its polar opposite, without losing her offhand humor.

In this exhibition, it struck me that what Bradford keeps getting better at is incoherence: she can meld divergent details without coming across as contrived or arbitrary. As a result, her best paintings possess an awful if inexplicable logic. It is the unfathomable that holds our attention, makes us look again. The thing that Bradford understands in a deep and profound way is that you cannot be programmatic in your search for the incomprehensible. In fact, I am not so sure you can even approach it. Instead, you have to be open to it — you have to let the inexplicable present itself, and then be ready to seize that moment. This is what Bradford is able to do.

Bradford paints in acrylic, using thin coats. She is not afraid to paint over whatever she has on her canvas in order to get somewhere else. She might also apply a final, semi-transparent layer, changing the meaning of the entire scene. All eight paintings are dark, with many having deep blue, nearly black grounds. The sun has set on this world and shows no signs of returning. People are swimming in the dark.

Katherine Bradford, “Geyser Gowns” (2016), acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches

In “Geyser Gowns” (2016), three women have been lifted into the air on whitish-blue, scumbled forms that swell like hoop skirts or crinoline. Two of the women have been raised to about the same height, which seems slightly higher than they would be if they were standing in their bare feet, but the third woman towers over the other two. She is cropped by the right side of the canvas, suggesting an incompleteness that adds more mystery to this scene. In this pared down setting of dark blue water and darker blue sky populated by a smattering of stars, Bradford offers neither explanation, nor anything else as a key to the painting. Adding to this mystery is the orange band running along the top and bottom edge, and the bit of green rising from the bottom along the right side. This is all that is left of the composition that preceded this one, which Bradford covered over. The ragged strips of orange and green might evoke a brighter world, but that is gone now, covered over by a night that — in this domain, at least — is permanent. What cotillion are these women on their way to? What happens when the geyser stops spouting? We have no idea what will happen next.

In “Moon Jumper” (2016) a figure seems about to leap free of three wide, brushy bands in different hues of violet stacked on top of each other. A full moon floats above and to the left of the long-legged, featureless figure, who is holding what could be a wand or a giant pencil. Again, Bradford adds nothing to explain the painting, or even tries to give it a context. We feel as unmoored as the jumper.

Katherine Bradford, “Storm at Sea” (2016), acrylic on canvas, 80 x 68 inches

In “Storm at Sea” (2016), five dowdy, white-haired figures (or are they wearing bathing caps?) in flesh-colored bathing suits are standing in the bottom half of the composition. They are facing a series of scratched lines and agitated brushstrokes above them, seemingly unable to decide what to do next. There are at least six reflections for the five figures, with the one on the far left unattached to any body.

In each of the three paintings I have described, Bradford has depicted figures and abstract elements, giving each equal weight. Is the figure jumping toward the moon the artist’s expression of a desire for freedom, or an awareness of how the individual can achieve such leaps only through magic (the wand)? By inviting viewers to complete a story that cannot be completed, she suspends us in a pictorial never-never land, between arrival and falling. The moon jumper inverts the story of Daedalus and Icarus. There is no sun to fly too close to. Wings did not lift this figure through layers of clouds to the cold air above the earth — a wand seems to have done it. Where does one find such a thing? Perhaps it can only be found in a painting.

Katherine Bradford, “Pond Swimmers” (2016), acrylic on canvas. 68 x 80 inches

When Bradford crops the head of the man lying along the bottom edge of “Pond Swimmers” (2016), she introduces a note of unexpected and unexplained violence. Who lies sunbathing at night? The woman floating on the water in the middle of the painting is unaware of anything or anyone else: she is literally and metaphorically in her own world, as is the figure above her, facing away and approaching the upper right-hand corner, with only his head and a part of his back visible above the dark blue water.

What about the body arched just below the water in “Shell Seeker, Large Night” (2016)? That arched pose recalls that moment in sci-fi films when the characters are transported onto the alien spacecraft hovering above.

Katherine Bradford, “Bonfire” (2016), acrylic on canvas, 80 x 68 inches

Looking at the appropriately titled ‘Bonfire” (2016), you would most likely ask why all those dark-haired men in suits and long black coats are circling a huge bonfire? Each of paintings evokes a nocturnal world (a kind of Hades for swimmers), where death, violence, and disaster seem to be inseparable from the circumstances. Despite the casualness with which everything appears to be painted, I was reminded of these lines from William Butler Yeats’ poem “Easter 1916”

What is it but nightfall? No, no, not night but death; Was it needless death after all?

Need I remind you how the poem ends: “A terrible beauty is born.”

Katherine Bradford continues at Sperone Westwater (257 Bowery, Bowery, Manhattan) through February 11.

The post The Nocturnal Worlds of Katherine Bradford appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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