#kore of the eternal forest

[korereapers]

Title: Fated Encounters

Rating: T?

Fandom: Original, Dungeons and Dragons

Characters: Ohmrom von Allmen, Kore of the Eternal Forest. Background characters (Velia, Barkilara, Minthe)

Relationships: This is not a shippy fic, woa!

AO3

Kore sighs, her legs cramping a little after the long walk.

The Citadel is not too big, but it's always busy, so incredibly noisy that her ears hurt after years of having lived in the Eternal Forest. A perfect place to bury oneself among people, to hide oneself in plain sight. A tree in a forest, she guesses. Even someone like her doesn't attract anyone's attention, everyone being so used to each and every kind of being.

A tiefling is old news, apparently, when there's an anthropomorphic moth going around. Not that she is anyone to judge.

But she has no time to overthink. Thinking too much usually leaves her drained, and she has a tendency to remember what she shouldn't, and to dwell on it. Today, she is on a mission, she cannot afford to forget that. She cannot allow herself, the sounds and smells making it easy to lose herself to it all, her mind going back and forth towards her memories.

Minthe would like it here. She would really love it here. She should have been the one to represent the elves from the Eternal Forest, not her. A paladin of the forest, not just a cleric of death.

Kore keeps walking, trying to ignore her thoughts. It never really works.

The man she is supposed to meet is… apparently very conventional. The typical male human that would come to mind. The Citadel is also full of these, so she has to ask around a little. Trying to discern exactly which human she is looking for.

Chestnut hair, amber eyes. A beard that is a little bit too uneven, dark bags under his eyes, a perpetually worried expression. A blue armor, with a golden symbol on his shield.

Some people grimace when she describes him. A faint discomfort in their features that Kore doesn't quite understand. She was told the man was helpful, and nice enough. Visibly anxious, but genuinely sweet.

She is told that he can easily be found, both at the biggest pub in town, or at one of the different altars in the middle of the city. He is a man of faith, after all. Faith in both his god, and the mystical power of alcohol, apparently.

Kore is not a stranger to either of those. She may not be a heavy drinker, but running from your problems is an issue she knows well. They always seem to catch her, dragging her along, but she embraces the feeling eagerly. It's her fault after all. She wasn't there when her people needed her. When Minthe needed her.

It's only a matter of time before everyone leaves and she is alone. Shouldn't it have to be like that from the very beginning?

Dark eyes without pupils blink slowly, because she is on the verge of tears, and she cannot afford it. It makes her mad, really, how fucking useless and weak she feels.

She starts looking by the local pub, and the noise makes her tense immediately. One would have to be terribly drunk to zone out from the high decibels, so she takes a quick look and leaves.

She looks down to a piece of paper, the man's symbol drawn in it, an oval that has been broken and opened up. An omega , as someone from her people had called it. She recognizes the symbol, but she guesses it comes from a language she doesn't understand.

Maybe if he looks for the symbol on the many altars…

A very nice lady approaches her, luckily enough. She has six arms, and wings, and Kore mistakes her for a butterfly at first, but she realizes that the woman is, in fact, a moth lady. She reminds her of her own mother, genuinely nice and helpful, a little bit too nice for a place like this.

When Kore asks about the man she is looking for, the moth woman perks up a little, her wings buzzing a little. It's almost cute, in a way.

"Oh, I know him. I have seen him around, actually," she smiles awkwardly, pointing to one particular direction with one of her limbs. "He seemed particularly gloomy today. No way you'll miss his anxious energy."

Okay, that's weird. But her people say he is a man that can be trusted, and that's all that Kore needs. For now.

Indeed, the moth lady is right. She finds an altar with a very visible omega in one of those improvised temples, and in front of it, there is a human kneeling. His hair is a little dirty, eyes lost somewhere, as if he were having a very deep and intense talk with himself. He is not small by any means, bigger than any elf she has seen, broad shoulders and strong body, but he looks tiny like that, as if trying not to attract attention to himself, and failing miserably.

She knows a haunted person when she sees one.

Her staff gently hits the ground, trying to get his attention without disrupting him too badly. She actually sees fear on his features, oddly defensive for a man that is almost twice her size. As if he had seen a ghost. She realizes then that his armor is not very well kept, rust and blood making it look older than it probably is. The kind of dirt that never goes away no matter how much you try to get rid of it.

What makes her feel nervous are, in fact, his eyes. He does seem… stressed, no matter how much he tries to smile, a charming smile that is too shy and awkward to belong to a warrior like that. His eyes, his eyes feel strange when they are on her, because even if they are friendly, she feels… observed. Not in a creepy way, just… seen.

"Ah, sorry, did you want to pray, too?" He asks, and she realizes that his knees are trembling. It reminds her of herself, of when Minthe died, how she kept asking her lady Wee-jas for guidance, feeling guilty of even having the thought of having her wife back.

Death is nothing but life's counterpart, after all. A part of the cycle. That thought has never been enough to ease her sadness.

"I was looking for you, actually," she answers, and immediately feels the air tensing, anxiety on his features.

He smells of blood and sweat, and the presence she feels behind his eyes becomes even stronger. Both burning and chilling at the same time.

"What… did I… did I do something wrong?"

Spineless, and yet so dangerous. She can see indentations on his armor and shield, hits that should have killed almost anyone, and yet this man is still alive and breathing.

So she does the only rational thing.

"Are you stupid? Who would even think something like that? I come from the Eternal Forest, I'm your freaking contact. For the gods' sake"

The man blinks, slowly. Like a big puppy, his expression so guilty it makes her recoil from the emotional whiplash.

"Ah… sorry. Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me for my rudeness, I didn't expect-"

Kore raises her eyebrows, her skin even pinker in anger.

"Yeah, of course. You expected an elf. You get me, though. Deal with it."

He gulps, visibly intimidated by a woman that can barely reach his chin with her horns.

When he speaks again, her eyes widen, because she recognizes the language, but it's definitely not Common.

"I swear. I apologize. I harbor no kind of hatred towards your kind. You just… reminded me of someone I used to know."

That's in Infernal. A perfect Infernal, if she is being honest with herself. Humans don't usually know Infernal, even less such a pious man.

"What the hell," she states plainly, in Common, a little bit calmer when he actually chuckles, and behind all of that stressed energy, behind the sweat and the blood, he is actually kind of cute. 

She almost smiles at him, his aura suddenly devoid of any kind of threat. There is still something she cannot place, the feeling that they are not alone, but she doesn't really see anything out of place.

"It's a long story. A pretty boring one, too," he excuses himself, and Kore cannot really tell if he is lying. "But yeah! You seem to be a little tired from the trip. Do you mind if we chat while we grab some beer?"

Kore blinks at him, judging him silently. The man scratches the back of his neck, his smile nervous.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologizes too darn much. "Tea, then? And cookies?"

Kore does smile a little at that, her long eyelashes framing her pitch black eyes, her smile genuine, the kind that reaches her whole face.

The guy is just trying so hard to be nice.

"Just, don't think anything weird of it. I like women."

The human blinks at that.

"Ah, that's good. I like men."

Kore does let out a chuckle at that, and the man just smiles, a friendly smile that makes her forget about his whole unsettling aura. She will dig into that sooner or later.

He offers her his arm, such an old fashioned and chivalrous gesture it makes her roll her eyes.

"Care to join me, then? I'll answer all of your questions. Or most of them. You know."

Kore doesn't really know, to be honest.

"I'm good, I can walk by myself. But also, you haven't told me your name."

The man blinks, his face a little red from embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm so stupid. Sorry. It's Ohmrom," he pauses, as if giving it a thought. "Von Allmen. Ohmrom von Allmen."

He is not lying, and yet… there is something unsaid about that name. Kore shrugs. She wants to know if she can fully trust the guy, but she doesn't really give a flying fuck about his personal issues.

"Kore. Of the Eternal Forest."

Ohmrom's smile is genuinely friendly, and it reaches his eyes, but she feels something subtle behind them, a whisper, something she cannot quite reach. Something that doesn't fit a man who is, by all means, not just pretending to be nice to her.

"Nice to meet you, Kore. Something tells me you're going to love it here."

Kore doubts that, but she cannot really say no to tea and cookies, can she?

"We'll see… Now, about that tea…"

[lovely--lori]

REDESIGN AND REWRITE OF PERSEPHONE!!

————————————————————————————————————

FULL NAME: Persephone "Kore" Floros

MIDDLE NAME: KORE

LAST NAME: FLOROS (From Greek φλώρος (floros) meaning "greenfinch", derived from classical Greek χλωρός (chloros) meaning "green" - Taken from Behind the Surname website)

NICKNAMES: Olive Branch, Olive, The mascot, Kore.

AGE: 29,00 (29 years old in human age.)

Personality: Kore is still a bubbly adult but now incredibly tired as well, Kore loves animals, baking, nature and is extremely friendly and outgoing still. She can be best described as an optimist, always seeing things for what they could be and ironically she dislikes pomegranates, Kore doesn't want Demeter to stress because she saw how much Demeter was stressed with taking care of nature and Kore at once when Kore was a child. So she is taking more of the burden of keeping nature in balance to keep Demeter happy and not stressed as much.

APPEARANCE: Kore is 5'7 feet fall and somewhat muscular but still chubby, Kore has short dusty olive greenish hair and dusty olive greenish skin as well. Kore has natural freckles all over her body and Kore is suffering from stress spots (the dark brown spots on her, you can barely see it but it's there.) because she is overworking herself to keep nature in balance back in the mortal realm. She has dark brown eyes like Demeter!

THE DAY DEMETER MADE HER: March, 1st (I don't what year but centuries ago.)

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

INFORMATION ABOUT THIS REWRITE OF MINE!!

• The ages (I don't know how to explain it properly so I hope you understand my explanation in my rewrite ) - So supernatural deities ages are different than humans, for example a adult 30 year old woman would be just 30 but in deities it would be 30,00. Deities age quicker than humans basically but until their physical forms stop aging, their physical forms will match their ages!!

• Kore stopped aging at 27 years old and not at 19 years old (I always get the ick when I remember that fact in the OG webtoon!)

• Kore is friends with Artemis and lived with her in the God's forest when Demeter allowed her to go to the God's realm for her college, Kore did join The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood (or TGOEM for short) but she realized it wasn't for her and left it. Demeter did freak out about that and Kore went no contact for three years until Demeter agreed to go to counseling which Demeter agreed to cause she did realize her behavior was wrong.

• Hades is 40 years old (He ain't a Humbert Humbert clone in my rewrite!!) and Kore married him at the age of 27 years old, they have been together for 2 years and Hades has replased!!

• In my rewrite Hades is a severely depressed man with commitment issues and constantly cheating on his partners not a clone of Humbert Humbert, Persephone meets Hades when she's in her late twenties and stupidly falls in love with Hades who is complete crap. Hades goes to counseling for his issues after realizing that he actually cares for Persephone and becomes healthy/sober but something or someone makes him relapses into his cheating ways again!!

• Demeter and Kore are in counseling because Demeter's behavior and over-sheltering. Demeter was overprotective of Kore for good reasons but it became toxic and unbearing that Kore ran away at 14 which is when she met Artemis her best friend. Demeter didn't want Kore to marry Hades cause he's Zeus's brother but mostly because she knows how Hades is and his issues, Demeter created winter out of grief because she knew Hades will be horrible for Kore and she doesn't want her daughter to deal with a shit man. But she did hide her grief to help Kore and did attend Kore's wedding (she gave Hades the side eye every moment of the wedding when Kore wasn't looking.)

• Kore does have a sever mental breakdown when she finds about Hades relapsing/cheating and she accidentally changed the season to winter killing all the corps of humans which is killing them. Kore's and Demeter's emotions can be overwhelm them which causes their powers to go out of control.

• Kore is going to counseling to stop her workaholic behavior and is allowing Demeter to help her with nature but she is still stressed about the burden of nature and Hades's distant behavior (reminder he cheating now but she doesn't know yet.)

• Why is she greenish olive? - Because Demeter's color palette dusty green and dusty brown in my rewrite but also in the rewrite of mine Demeter made Kore from a flower's root and tree root.

• I made two playlists! One for Persephone and second for Hades and Kore! In the second photo she's confronting Hades about his affair!

• I am sorry if I got anything wrong and disrespected anyone or the culture!! Please inform me if I was wrong and I will take everything down!!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

[gardenofkore]

Lake Pergusa is a major wet zone in central Sicily and an important resting and wintering spot for migratory birds from all over the Mediterranean. The lake is the most important area in Sicily for the wintering of ducks and coots, and it hosts swans, herons, flamingos, cranes, and many other water species. Today, Lake Pergusa faces an environmental threat from an autorace track that has been built around its entire three-mile perimeter. The twentieth-century discovery of the archaeological site known as Cozzo  Matrice, a plateau situated less than a quarter mile from the lake, whose name means "hill of the Mother," has provided abundant evidence that Lake Pergusa was once the location of an important religious center dedicated to female deities. Ceramic material found there dates to as early as 4000 BCE, and remains of circular and elliptical huts overlooking the lake date to 2500 BCE. The presence of circular enclosures, which in Paleolithic and Neolithic Europe symbolized the "womb" of the female divinity, suggests that this site was probably sacred to a goddess or goddesses from very early times. An important archaeological layer has been found dating to the fifth century BCE that reveals the joint influence of the indigenous Sicilians (or Sicels) and the Greeks who began colonizing the island in the eighth century BCE. This layer contains the stone remains of a sanctuary and statuettes of either  Demeter or Persephone (or both), as well as related sacred objects. At other villages near the lake -Zagaria, Juculia, and Jacobo- statuettes representing Demeter and/or Persephone dating from the sixth to third centuries BCE have also been found. Perhaps most significant, Lake Pergusa was closely connected with Enna, a nearby twin-peaked or double-breasted mountain town that was a celebrated religious center dedicated primarily to Demeter. Archaeologists generally agree that the Greeks easily superimposed their religion of Demeter and Persephone over the indigenous Sicilian cult at Lake Pergusa and Enna because it strongly resembled the earlier tradition; thus, these two goddesses or their precursors were associated with the lake going back as far as the Bronze Age, if not earlier. Ross Holloway notes that even the Greek cult at Pergusa retained indigenous Sicelian, rather than Greek, characteristics.'? With the commencement of Roman occupation of the island in the late third century BCE, the goddesses came to be known by their Roman names, Ceres and Proserpine, but their cult at Enna and Lake Pergusa continued. Women served as important, and sometimes primary, leaders and ministrants of the religion both at Enna-Pergusa and throughout the island. A funerary plaque dedicated to a "priestess of Ceres" found on one of the mountain peaks of Enna indicates the prominence of women in religious leadership, as do the writings of historian Diodorus Siculus and Roman orator Cicero.

Diodorus and Cicero attest that the religion dedicated to Demeter and Persephone at Enna-Pergusa was characterized by elaborate festivals celebrating Sicily's agricultural cycle, particularly as it related to the production of wheat and barley, as well as rites centering on the human seasons of birth, growth, and death. It will become significant to this discussion that one of those rites was the Thesmophoria, an all-female rite honoring Demeter and Persephone that was also conducted in Greece. In Sicily, as elsewhere, Demeter was the goddess of growth and abundance, and Persephone was a goddess of both budding spring and death, or the underworld. Several ancient literary renderings name Enna or its environs as the location of Persephone's abduction into the underworld by Hades. Key to this discussion is the fact that Roman poet Ovid names Lake Pergusa specifically as the precise spot where this took place. Ovid further describes the lake as a remarkable environment filled with forests, waterbirds, and wildly blooming flowers. [...]

The flower motif is also important because it may help us date the religious center at Lake Pergusa. Sicilian scholar Giuseppe Martorana believes that the ancient descriptions of Enna and/or Lake Pergusa as places where "flowers continually bloom" and "spring smiles eternally" refer to the preagricultural, hunter-gatherer epoch in the history of the island. Extrapolating from his assertion, this would place religious activity at the lake earlier than 6000 BCE, when it is documented that Sicilians began domesticating crops. Martorana hypothesizes that this was a time in which a pre-Greek version of Kore as maiden goddess of spring was the principal deity of Sicily. It is important to note that although she embodied the life-giving aspects of springtime, she would have been, at the same time, a goddess of death. Thus, says Martorana, Kore, or some earlier form of her, was probably the original goddess of Lake Pergusa-an independent, free-standing goddess who embodied the totality of the life and death cycle. He maintains that it was not until the cultural transition to agriculture that her supremacy gave way to that of Demeter, "Goddess of the technology of grain cultivation." With the flowers of Kore replaced by the grain of Demeter, the primary religious conception of the goddess moved from that of the parthenogenetic, self-fertilizing "virgin" to that of the "mother". Günther Zuntz details archaeological and literary evidence confirming that Persephone, or some earlier version of her, was indeed a very old, "pre-Greek" goddess who may well have been a -or the- principal deity of pre-Greek Sicily. Noting that the Sicilians of the late Paleolithic and Neolithic periods put great spiritual emphasis on death and rebirth, as evidenced by the centrality of tomb-wombs in their sacred life, Zuntz affirms that Kore-Persephone was a holdover of the "silent Goddess of Life and Death" of the early peoples of the island. Significantly, archaeologists Paolo Orsi and Bernabo Brea noted in the first half of the twentieth century that the entire region surrounding Pergusa was one large necropolis from the eighth through sixth centuries BCE. I thus suggest that the lake may have symbolically represented to ancient inhabitants the chthonic, underworldly regions, and the nearby mountaintop of Enna, where Demeter's worship predominated, represented the upperworldly realms. [...]

The mythological motif of Persephone's gathering flowers in both the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and the Metamorphoses is also extremely significant here. I believe this is a reference to the picking of entheogenic plants, the ingesting of which propels Persephone's journey into the underworldly realms. In the Hymn, it is her picking of the narcissus in particular that initiates the "abduction" by (into) Hades. Ann Suter notes that the etymological root of narcissus is nark, meaning "grow numb, stiff, dead." This and the fact that nark is also the root for narcotic strongly suggest that Persephone's descent describes female shamanic initiation induced by sacred medicines to help one shift consciousness, become "dead," and enter the otherworld/underworld for the purpose of connecting with divine consciousness and obtaining wisdom. Again, following on Martorana, the reference to "gathering" may place the origins of such a ritual in the preagricultural Paleolithic era. Although Ovid does not mention the narcissus (rather, he speaks of violets or lilies), I believe he is nevertheless referencing the activity of picking sacred medicinal flowers or herbs in conjunction with puberty initiation. If the posited Paleolithic time period is correct, this would make such a ritual very ancient indeed. Cicero intimates that "mysterious rites" were conducted in connection with Demeter and Persephone at Enna, suggesting that in later Greco Roman times, formal mystery rites akin to the nine-day Greater Mysteries of Eleusis may have been held there (and, again, by extension, at Lake Pergusa). Given the level of intensity of the initiatory experience at Eleusis, I agree with scholars who contend that the Greek mysteries most likely involved the use of entheogens; and, if the Sicilian mystery rites were indeed similar to their Greek counterparts, they thus involved the use of such sacred medicines as well. I therefore suggest that such mystery rites-both at Enna-Pergusa and in Greece-may have originated in more remote times in the kinds of female initiatory rituals I am describing here, in which women may have used the sacred medicines they discovered and developed through their intimate work with plants.

Marguerite Rigoglioso, Persephone's Sacred Lake and the Ancient Female Mystery Religion in the Womb of Sicily, p. 7-9; 11-12; 19-20

[corinthbayrpg]

NAME. Kore Toussaint AGE & BIRTH DATE. 35 & November 17th, 1989 GENDER & PRONOUNS. Female & She/Her SPECIES. Werewolf OCCUPATION. Thief FACE CLAIM. Elodie Yung

BIOGRAPHY

( tw: murder, neglect, death ) During a lightless winter in the land of the midnight sun a wolf tore through a cottage in the wilderness and left only a small girl behind. Marred by the attack, the infection soon took hold and transformed her into the same creature that tore her family apart. Her mother had called her Kore and with this name along she stumbled with bare and frozen feet through banks of snow that threatened to bury her tiny frame. The wolf was what saved her, carried her through the dark forest and to an open road where sun dotted the sky. Miles from the place she had called home, the newly-made werewolf was found by a young boy, Vincent. Her name was all she had to offer and from there she collapsed. 

The coven that took her in would later tell her that Kore had slept for seven days and seven nights, that while she slept a battle took place within her. The wolf threatened to take hold at several points, advance her healing, accelerate her heart rate - anything to keep her blood pumping and to prevent the frost bite from taking anymore than she’d already lost. Kore was the only name she bore, and to some within the coven she was an omen of misfortune, a wolf with no pack, a cursed child, a demon who lost her soul in the woods. No one but the boy showed her any measure of kindness, even if it was only to his benefit. Before her strength returned he told her what she was, and filled the empty pockets of her story with a truth nobody thought she was ready to hear. Her parents were murdered, and the monster that killed them had maimed her with lycanthropy. 

But Kore had magic now, power that she could call upon that made the others weary. She was too young for this, and when she changed she had no control over the monster that she became. And so, the coven locked her away in periods when rage would take hold, or when the full moon hung overhead. Only when she was able to break free of her chains did Kore ever truly know freedom, and Saint, as he’d come to be called, produced for her the key. She followed after him, protected him, Saint was a witch whose power was only just blooming and Kore was a source for the man to draw upon. He had seen her first, saved her, protected her, cared for her in his own way and while Kore felt she had a debt to pay she soon learned to love him as if he were her own flesh and blood. 

Saint’s coven did not understand him, and they were foolish enough to try and repress him but power lurked in the witch’s destiny and all Kore cared to do was stand at his side. The darkness was where she had been born, it was where her soul had gone to die, and she resolved to follow him into whatever hell awaited beyond. Killing the witches was easy, in fact it was something that the werewolf had wanted to do for some time, but Saint had outgrown them and so as result so had she. It was when Kore was wiping their blood from her claws that she at last decided on a last name for herself, something to remember of the coven of crows - Toussaint. She shadowed Saint as he traveled, dispatched his enemies when required and protected him even when not needed. When he required it Kore lent him her magic, while her claws eternally remained at the ready. 

Over the years other wolves found her and thought to save her, as if she had ever required such a thing. Packs tried to recruit her, but she was strong on her own - an unstoppable force of nature as violent as she was carefree. It was on the road that she earned an affection for pretty things, trinkets, dresses, collectibles of all kinds. While Saint’s power grew, his need for her as a resource dwindled, and more and more she sought to see the world from outside his long shadow. Striking out on her own was not a source of discourse between them, but met with an understanding that should he ever need her Kore was only a phone call away. 

She fell in line with a troupe of thieves that started out in Europe, nothing but petty criminals that required extra muscle at first. But Kore had mastered manipulation from one of the best and grew her name across the underworld as a ruthless force to be reckoned with. Not one to be crossed, she took on bigger and greater works - priceless pieces of art, one of a kind jewellery, an original Alexander McQueen. Nothing was too gregarious for the woman who’d crawled from nothing but now craved absolutely everything. 

Kore dragged her claws across the globe for well over a decade until word of Saint’s natural progression from witch to genasi coincided with the fall of the veil. He had told her of his desires long before but there was never a doubt in the wolf’s mind that the man would succeed. There were some that were born into greatness, others had to work and struggle their whole lives to even glimpse it. But Saint fell into neither of these categories, he was a man for whom greatness was destined to bow to and she took to the Grecian city of Corinth to help usher in his newfound power. The dangers of the city have not escaped her knowledge, neither has the potential for business with so many big players on this side of the veil. All these are small matters compared to Kore’s primary goal, it has remained the same since she was only seven years old: ensure her life debt is paid. 

PERSONALITY

+ protective, loyal, clever - violent, deceptive, petty

PLAYED BY SHANE. EST. He/Him.

[collectsfallenstars]

WARNING: Absolutely long post

IN DEFENSE OF KIM EUN SOOK'S "THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH"

The King: Eternal Monarch has been getting mixed reviews 10 episodes into the season and it has boggled my mind as to why this has been happening. It’s a grand project, has a robust storyline, beautiful cinematography the likes of which is done for full-length films, and has a love story between two adults who behave like adults and not in perpetual high school. It is very different from most Korean dramas I have come across, and that alone is reason enough to watch it.

 

Granted, I have not watched many of them so maybe I don’t really know what I’m talking about. But what I am sure of is that I get tired of things very easily when they’ve become predictable.

 

See, before watching The King: Eternal Monarch, the last Korean drama I watched was Something Happened in Bali back in 2004. Then coronavirus happened, billions of pesos were to the government but no mass-testing happened, ABS-CBN shut down, people speaking against the government were being put in jail, and I thought, hmm let’s go to Netflix to escape. K-dramas with beautiful autumn colors should do the trick.

 

I watched maybe one or two series in full but soon found myself giving up on the ones that came next. Watching them one after another made it clear that they were built like romance novels – no matter how different each premise was for a series, they always followed a pattern. And patterns, while they may be dependable, can sometimes be boring.

 

And then I decided to give The King: Eternal Monarch a try even though the binge-watching monster inside me disagreed with it. So there I was last week, Netflix open and a lunch of Sinigang na Baboy with rice laid out in front of me.

 

The series opened with a serene view of a bamboo forest, wind blowing gently through it, and the voice of a man talking about the legend of a bamboo flute back when monarchs ruled Korea. Oh, a historical series.

 

1 minute and 40 seconds later, it cuts to a man covered in blood, in a police interrogation room in modern day Korea. Oh, it’s also detective fiction. Gotta watch out for red herrings then. Oh but wait, the man covered in blood, Lee Lim, is supposed to be 70 years old but he doesn’t look a day over 30. I mean, yes Korean genes and skin care are magical but not to this extent. The idea of immortality is introduced which suggests that the series has supernatural elements too. This means world building for these magical elements and forming rules that govern them. (I mean, Bram Stoker and Anne Rice made their vampires perish under the sun and Stephanie Meyer chose to make them…sparkle.)

 

And then 4 minutes in, we get a flashback to winter of 1994 in the Kingdom of Corea. Uhm. Typo? No? Lee Lim, the bastard son of the former king, murders his half brother, the current king, in order to steal the bamboo flute that grants the owner much power. The king’s young son, 7 year old Lee Gon, witnesses his father’s murder, struggles with Lee Lim, splits the power laden bamboo flute in half, and nearly dies if it weren’t for a mysterious figure coming in to save him.  The mysterious figure drops an ID card with the name and picture of Lt. Jung Tae Eul on it and Lee Gon clutches it along with half of the bamboo flute. Lee Lim escapes to the forest with only a broken half of the bamboo flute. He comes upon a pair of obelisks, passes through it and lands in Korea with a K. Lee Lim comes face to face with the face of the person he had just murdered, except he isn’t a king anymore. He’s just an unkempt unemployed man. We now have the introduction of parallel worlds and doppelgangers. It had only been 18 minutes into the first episode.

 

I put it on pause, finished my lunch quickly, cleared the table, and settled down on the couch to watch. I did all that before resuming to watch it because it clearly wasn’t the kind of K-drama you could easily watch while eating, glancing up and down between the screen and your food, missing bits of the subtitle here and there and not paying any mind. Because of its structure, the kind of story it wants to tell and the breadth of its narrative, it demands your full attention.

 

I get why people find it difficult. I found it difficult. But it was infinitely exciting. It’s as if someone laid out a puzzle with a thousand pieces, a maze, Connect the Dots, Spot the Difference in front of me and told me to play with them all at the same time.

 

What kind of story did the writer, Kim Eun Sook, want to tell? She began with the murder of the parents of Lee Gon by his bastard uncle, Lee Lim, who feels he has been deprived of power for too long and intends to take it all for himself. It becomes a story of both sides seeking justice for their own separate tragedies. To flesh out this story, she has to give Lee Lim a plan for world domination and give Lee Gon a defense strategy in place, as well as an active pursuit to entrap his uncle. She has to give them motivations, conflicts, moments of doubt and triumph. If this were the only story she wanted to tell, a linear storyline with flashbacks and flash-forwards should be enough. Throw in a romance, love triangle, one final obstacle, 2 chaste kisses, 1 passionate kiss, 1 tearful kiss, 1 reunion kiss and you will arrive at your happy ending.

 

But Kim Eun Sook wanted to do more. She expanded Lee Lim’s plan for world domination into two parallel worlds. Adding science fiction to the mix complicates matters because you will have to build another world that is visibly different from the other even if they are parallel to each other. Audiences should be able to tell one apart from the other quickly in order to keep up with the story. The difficulty that The King: Eternal Monarch faces is that the Kingdom of Corea and the Republic of Korea look almost exactly alike. It takes almost a few seconds to recognize the Royal Seal, or the European inspired trams running in the background to ascertain that the scene is in the Kingdom of Corea. But once the characters appear, it becomes easier to tell which world we’re dealing with. Jung Tae Eul and the police force belong to Korea. The Royal Staff and family, Prime Minister Koo and cabinet members belong to Corea. The only ones to traverse between both worlds are Lee Gon and his uncle.

 

Therein lies one of the criticisms for Kim Eun Sook’s work – the pace is too slow. I would argue though that the pace is just right when you’re creating two worlds, with very different characters in each, whose stories run parallel to and interweave with each other. It is very easy to place all evil characters in World A and all good characters in World B. But that’s lazy writing, and also ugly.

 

Kim Eun Sook humanizes and fleshes out a significant amount of the supporting cast with such care, developing them alongside the major characters. Usually in dramas, the side characters will get hints of a back story in an episode or two, and then have just one episode dedicated to them. Kim Eun Sook did so much more and in effect, her two parallel worlds became so concrete, with real, moving characters contributing their bit into the two separate forces of Lee Gon and Lee Lim that are about to clash. It creates anticipation, excitement, and spreads your heart out amongst many characters instead of investing your emotions into just the main leads.

 

But aside from the science fiction element, Kim Eun Sook also takes on the task of writing detective fiction into her already robust narrative. Lee Lim is essentially building an army of doppelgangers from the Republic of Korea and planting them in key positions in the Kingdom of Corea. He then takes the dead bodies of these Corean citizens and dumps them in the Republic of Korea, leaving Lt. Jung Tae Eul and her squad in the police force with a trail of unsolved cases. Detective stories are by themselves difficult enough. You begin with a dead body, a search for clues, weeding out which clues are significant, chasing a lead, failing, planting and then ignoring red herrings, closing in on a suspect, interrogation, a surprise turn of events, and so on until the murder is solved.

 

But Lee Lim didn’t leave just one dead body in Korea. There’s an entire army of them and Jung Tae Eul has to be on the trail for some of them in order for her to work with Lee Gon in order to solve them and in turn, help him uncover his uncle’s evil plans.

 

This brings us to one of the major criticisms of this drama – the romance between Lt. Jung Tae Eul and King Lee Gon. Apparently, there’s not much of it as it has taken a backseat to the struggle for power in Corea by the Prime Minister, Lee Lim’s murderous spree and body switching between the two worlds in a bid for a two-world domination, and murder investigations that Jung Tae Eul and her squad must carry out in Korea.

 

Would I like to see more of the actors Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun on screen? Why, yes of course! But as early as the 1st episode, it was already apparent that this was not going to be the usual K-drama. They weren’t going to meet cute, fall in love, fight their feelings, work on a murder mystery on the side, finally confess, become a couple, fight the final boss side by side, and then live happily ever after. Fantasy, science fiction, and detective fiction all seem bear equal weight with romance. It was different, and I found that absolutely interesting. And just because romance doesn’t dominate 80% of the story does not mean that the romance is lacking.

 

The first episode tricks you into thinking that there is very little romance in this drama. The lead characters of Lt. Jung Tae Eul and King Lee Gon meeting each other for the first time in the last 6 minutes of an episode that was 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 15 seconds long. What can possibly develop and deepen in 6 minutes? Not much, right?

 

But what happened in the last 6 minutes? Lee Gon rides into Gwanghwamun Square on his white horse after having crossed over from Corea and into the parallel world of Korea. He creates a slight commotion what with his royal handsomeness and almost ethereal white horse. Lt. Jung Tae Eul reprimands him. Lee Gon recognizes her as the woman on the ID card his savior had left behind 25 years ago. And in dramatic fashion, he alights from his horse, walks towards her, stops, and then engulfs her in a tight hug. He tells her, “I’ve finally met you” and the episode ends with a shocked Jung Tae Eul in the arms of an almost reverent Lee Gon.

 

In Kim Eun Sook’s other, wildly popular work, Goblin: The Lonely and Great God the first meeting between Kim Shin and Eun Tak also had that moment of finally finding the one they’ve been searching for. But for the Goblin, his bride’s existence was merely functional, as he needed her so he can finally die in peace. So their first meeting was your typical first meeting in K-dramas. There were no feelings yet, but they develop from there. So the whole drama then became a stage to establish the growth of their relationship that would give him the will to live instead of dreaming of death all the time.

 

But now, in The King: Eternal Monarch, the first meeting isn’t an easy blank canvas.

Lee Gon bursts into the first episode, already halfway in love with Jung Tae Eul long before he’s even met her. As a child, Lee Gon had held on to Jung Tae Eul’s image as his a savior. There is deep gratitude.  As a young orphaned monarch, he held on to the idea of her to ease his loneliness. His first duty as a king was to bury his father and learned to cry only in the privacy of his own room when he was 7 years old. But somewhere out there, there was someone who had cared for enough for him to have saved him. This thought sustained him as he grew up.

 

And at this point in the first episode, we’re working with the idea that time travel hasn’t been introduced yet. Which means we’re treating time as a straight line, allowing Lee Gon and Jong Tae Eul to age at the same time. So if Jong Tae Eul had been 25 years old when Lee Gon was 7 in 1994, then she would be 50 years old and he would be 32 in the present year, 2019.

 

Then, as a man in his 30’s, he still keeps on searching for her. But in his head she is frozen in time as the 29 year old woman in her ID picture, and at this point he might possibly be half in love with her already. And when he finally meets her in the flesh, he had spent nearly all his life loving her in different iterations. Finding out that she hadn’t aged as he thought she would have gives him another possibility of loving her as a man would a woman.

 

Now the audience has to grapple with this idea, that he had loved her for 25 years already, prior to seeing her in the flesh. But then if you add the idea of time travel as hinted at by the 10th episode, then this first meeting becomes heavier. Not only would he have loved her for 25 years, but he also would have loved her for 25 years multiplied by the number of timelines he had crossed as a time traveller.

 

That’s why their first meeting had to happen in the last 6 minutes of the first episode. Everything that happened in that first hour and 6 minutes, all the murders, plotting, collision of worlds, and clash of doppelgangers in the past 25 years had to happen in order to bring Lee Gon and Jung Tae Eul to that fated meeting at Gwanghwamun Square. Kim Eun Sook had played with the idea of destiny with Goblin: The Lonely and Great God’s Kim Shin and Eun Tak. Now she takes the same idea of a fated meeting between two souls, Lee Gon and Jung Tae Eul, and proceeds to tear them apart with time loops, parallel worlds, and a frozen dimension to test how their love can endure all of that.

 

There can be no slow burn; there is no chase that starts with attraction, denial, bickering, jealousy, no you-make-me-worry-so-much love confession that is so often found in K-dramas. The lovers don’t even have that poor girl-rich boy/immortal-mortal or whatever uneven power dynamic that’s so popular in dramas. I guess that's what most people inevitably look for because these things were built to be formulaic.

 

But now you have a writer who is trying to build a bigger, more ambitious story, who is willing to take some risks with that formula in order to tell a love story that can transcend time and universes.  The stakes had to be raised higher, the backdrop made grander, in order to hold a love story as epic as this.   How can this not be romantic enough?

 

There are six more episodes left in this series.  Quarantine has been extended. Give this series a chance. 

[madeforgardens]

hello fellow italians! i know we are all living a very tiring and difficult time so i thought i’d make a list of some movies that i’ve watched more or less recently that i think could help you distract from all the bad news we keep hearing everyday and maybe also cheer you up a bit. i’d hug every one of you if i could, please stay safe at home and follow the rules and we’ll all be back on track sooner than we realise. i love u 🇮🇹

🗄 the man from u.n.c.l.e. (2015) dir. guy ritchie — a spy movie set during the cold war, revolving around two spies having to get along despite their animosity in order to save the world from a big threat. very lively editing and fun dialogues, plus a slow burn enemies to lovers romance. also this movie invented bisexuality.

🛹 skate kitchen (2018) dir. crystal moselle — it follows a girl with a passion for skating and her personal journey during one summer which will take her to new friends and realisations. full of girls supporting girls, a fresh screenplay and teenage struggles + very diverse cast and characters.

🌿 captain fantastic (2016) dir. matt ross — the story of a family living in forests far from society and their trip back towards “normality”. great family dynamics and also just the perfect amount of fun and sarcastic view of some social norms. it fills your heart with joy.

🔶 and then we danced (original: და ჩვენ ვიცეკვეთ) (2019) dir. levan akin — the best word to describe this movie is warmth. it follows the story of two boys falling in love in the background of georgian professional dancing. it explores masculinity in a context very rigid and severe and the journey of the protagonist towards personal freedom. 

🏳️‍🌈 pride (2014) dir. matthew warchus — based on true events that took place in uk during the eighties: miners are striking and a group of gays and lesbians decide to collect money to help the strikers’ families. a story of mutual support, unexpected friendships and self-discovery and acceptance.

🍊 paddington 2 (2017) dir. paul king — you should probably start from the first movie but it’s not essential and imo this is far better in every aspect. it features a little bear who wants to find the perfect gift for his aunt’s birthday, a the grand budapest hotel-esque atmosphere, a lovely supporting family and evil hugh grant dressed up as a nun. should i say more?

🐑 god’s own country (2017) dir. francis lee — this movie will caress you, then slap you, and then again cuddle you and fill you with hope and tenderness for eternity. set on a farm in yorkshire where john tries to put up with his life that suffocates him by having casual sex and drinking mindlessly almost every night, until gheorge, a romanian migrant worker, comes along and teaches him what affection is.

👩🏻‍🚀 high life (2016) dir. claire denis — basically a story about a dad and his daughter, but more amply about humanity itself. set on a starship, we follow a group of people set on a mission towards a black hole. i’d like not to say more than this because i feel like this is a movie everyone should discover for themselves. it might be disturbing at times, but i also find it very delicate and raw and touching.

👟 boys (original: jongens) (2014) dir. mischa kamp — coming of age story set in netherlands about two boys falling in love between ice creams, swimming and running. again, it’s also about family dynamics and self-discovery. it will make you relive the thrill of first love and getting butterflies in your stomach. so very tender and gentle.

🏕 hunt for the wilderpeople (2016) dir. taika waititi — young ricky finds himself in the new zealand bush with his grumpy foster uncle and the two of them need to learn to collaborate and tollerate each other in order to survive in the forest. a typical taika movie with witty comedy, memorable characters and the background of new zealand wild nature. majestical.

🍜 shoplifters (original: 万引き家族) (2018) dir. hirokazu kore-eda — touching story about a peculiar family very experienced in shoplifting  that saves a little girl from the toxic environment of her own family and decides to keep and take care of her as their own. a movie about what it means to be a family and more specifically a mother. 

💊 i quit whenever i want (original: smetto quando voglio) (2014) dir. sydney sibilia — breaking bad but make it italian (and fun). a comedy about a group of friends living a very unsatisfying and quite miserable life that decide to create and sell a legal drug. it makes fun of life after getting a degree (i mean, relatable) and is a true gem of recent italian cinema.

[ilivelikeimtrying]

GreekGodsAU

Here are some sketches I made for it.

Sorry if it's a little wanky, but I tried.

-

He had finally gotten a moment of peace from his mother and everyone else.

From Astraea and his constint nagging. From the other Gods always looking down on him. From... Apollo, blech.

He just needed a break.

But as he was picking some beautiful Anemone for their garden tabel at home, he heard a voice.

It was small and weak, but it's words made his heart drop:

... help...

He grabbed his things and started walking away from the place. His mother had warned him of the world outside of their garden, and the dangers that could befall him.

'JustgohomeJustgohomeJustgohomeJustgohome'

And then he heard it louder,

"SOMEONE HELP US PLEASE!"

He turned his head to where he was sure it came from, and then just stood there... unsure.

He should go home...

but... the person... the people... they could be hurt...

Maybe... no, he should just... he has to go home.

But then he heard them give a fearful sob, the sound echoing through the forest, "P-please! Someone, h-help us please... "

And his choice was made then and there.

Someone had to help them.

He searched around the patch and then heard it again- "please" -and he snapped his head in the direction of the soft plea.

The Lake!

He ran to the edge of the lake and stopped in his tracks when he saw what was in the center it...

It looked like a portal, right in the middle of the lake. It was big, and dark, using the water to hold it's form.

His anxiety and fear picked up and he turned to run, but then the voice came back, smaller, weaker and softer then before.

"Someone? Anyome? Please... ? "

He took a deep breath and turned back to the lake, it's waters deathly still despite the fact that the portal itself seemed inraged.

"Ok... let's do this."

As he walked through the death still water he felt a tug in his chest to leave, but he ignored it as he reached the center, and when he crossed through the portal there was but a moment of regret when he made it to the other side.

The place was dark and he felt cold the moment he fell through. It felt like… sadness.

It felt Lonely.

An oh, did he know that feeling all to well.

He stood and looked around for any signs of life and saw a tunnel with dim light coming through. He heard voices and saw shadows illuminating from every corner of its wall's, creating horrific forms of monsters and Gorgans.

Before he could think better of it though he walked slowly through the dark tunnel, being careful not to make a noise, and made it to the other side where he saw some sort of beach.

It had dark-grey sandy shores and one single black-wooden Pier, where a small dark boat drifted at the end. It was pitch black of color, with beautiful carvings on the sides and skulls decorating the front.

And standing on it was a dark cloaked figure with a row. They were tall, and by the looks of the hands holding the row, hadn't seen the sun in a long while.

He looks off further onto the beach and was shocked to see hundreds upon thousands of Mortal- no, not mortals- they were a glowing cerulean and almost completely see through.

"Spirits." His mind supplied for him. “I’m in the underworld.”

He lifted the hood of his own cloak over his head and slowly walked towards the beach, keeping a firm grip on his basket as he did.

He kept his head down as he went, listening for the voice he was looking for, searching for it’s owner in need, but all he heard was the moaning and cries from the wandering spirits. He looked up a little and saw the faces of these… phantoms.

They looked mournful and in grief, pain and exhaustion evident on their faces.

Fearfully he wondered to himself “why?”

“Because they cannot cross through.”

A strange voice echoing in his mind suddenly answered.

He whipped his head around in fear, searching for the new patron and landed on the cloaked figure, noticing how its features were now facing him. "Shhhh." it hushed him and, with a grey slim finger, beckoned him forward.

He approached them cautiously, looking around him as he crossed the soul filled beach.

He politely (never forgetting his manners) greeted them, nervously twisting his cloak in his hands and whispered:

“I’m sorry for asking this, but, what do you mean ‘they cannot cross over ’ ?”

The dark cloak looked passed him to the crowds of souls “They do not carry payment. Without pay they cannot cross.”

“Payment?” His question brought back the figures attention, who nodded slowly at him. He looked around at the spirits before looking back at the cloaked rower. “What sort of payment do they need?”

The person reached inside their cloak and pulled out a gold pence. AnOlympian coin gold pence. “If one wishes to cross they must pay the currency. They who do not carry payment cannot cross. They must then wait for their time, only then may they leave for judgment.”

He looked down in thought. He knew he shouldn’t ask any more questions, that would be very rude… but…

“Judgment by whom?”

The figure stayed quiet for a moment. “. . . I. . . cannot answer. . .”

He nodded in understanding and bit his bottom lip.

“… May I ask then, how long must they wait?”

The figure once again turned to him with consideration before they answered:

“100 years and more.”

"100!-" he started loudly before remembering himself, and lowered his voice. "But... why?... that.... I..."

He was baffled and his heart ached for them.

He turned back to the souls and made another choice that day before hearing the figure ask him: "Why are you here then? You do not look departed..."

He couldn’t lie, he was raised with manners like that, and was always taught to tell the truth.

“Pardon my intrusion, sir Rower, but I was called upon-” he was suddenly interrupted by a shriveled voice.

“h-h-help… us...”

Now that he was down there he heard it more clearly and realized that it wasn’t just one single voice, but multiple voices at once, begging for help.

It was also much easier to hear where the cries were coming from.

“There!” He told the cloaked figure, pointing to the other side of the lake. “I need to be there!”

He noticed that the figure was just staring at him, not moving.

He awkwardly lowered his arm and shyly looked down.

“…Please.”

The figure considered him for a moment. It seemed for a moment that the person was going to turn him away before they leaned in close and he saw their dark, glowing eyes staring him down.

The figure then abruptly stood up and asked him. “Do you have riches darling? ”

He just stood there and blinked up at them.

“P-pardon me?” he asked confused.

“Do you have any riches darling? Any payment? If you wish to go somewhere upon the rivers of Styx, Lethe, Archeron, Phlegethon, or Cocytus, you must give currency like everyone else. So, do. you. have. payment? ”

“Uhm…” he looked around himself and noticed he still held his basket, lifting it up for them to see it. “You wouldn’t happen to take flowers, would you?” He asked with a nervous smile. The figure politely shook it’s head. "Though as beautiful as they are, they are not payment."

He lowered his basket and stayed quiet for a moment. He went to shake his head to say no when he suddenly remembered something.

“Wait!” He reached into his Chiton and pulled out a golden medallion, engraved with the symbol of Demeter.

When all Gods grow to a certain age their bodies stop aging and they look like that for all eternity.

When his day came his mother had given him the medallion, saying that as long as he carried it, he’d know where he came from.

He looked at the figure and showed them it. “Will this do?”

The figure reached out and gently took it from him.

They inspected it for a second and nodded. “Yes.” And proceeded to stuff it in there robe. “This will do just beautifully dear.” They extended a grey (and kinda boney) hand to him and, after a moments hesitation, he took it, letting the rower help him on the boat, almost in a way that seemed like it should only be used for royalty.

They even helped him sit down!

'How chivalrous.'

“Careful now, last thing we want is for you to get hurt.”

“Oh,” he exclaimed with surprise and gave him a bright smile, “well how nice of you, thank you.”

The figure bowed their head and then started rowing the boat away from the pier and the shore.

He couldn’t help but look back to the spirits still trapped there, forever to roam only because they didn’t carry riches or payment.

Poor things.

‘Don’t worry ’, he thought to them silently, ‘I’ll be back for you, all of you, I promise.’

“Well? ” he heard the figurr ask and turned to look at them.

“Huh? Oh! Please forgive me, I didn’t quite catch that.” He shamefully admitted.

The figure chuckled and shook their head.

“Fear not young one,” they said, turning their sights back to the waters ahead, “I simply announced my name to you, nothing important.”

He quickly shook his head. “Of course it’s important! Oh do forgive me! Please tell me again, I’m listening now, I promise!”

He heard the figure start to laugh at him. “Calm yourself small one, it is nothing to fret about, but if you wish to know I will say once more.”

They made a soft turn in the river and he noticed another cavern tunnel on the other side.

“help us- help me- someone, anyone- please! ” He heard their cries grow louder.

‘ I’m almost there,’ he thought softly to them, ‘please hang on.’

“Yes,” he told the cloaked figure, “I’d like that.”

With a light, joyful tone, the figure told him:

“Charon, dear floral one, I am Charon.”

Charon half turned to him.

“And you? What should I call you oh fair louloúdi? ”

It was quiet for a moment as he thought.

He continued to open and closed his mouth all the while.

He opened his mouth to say 'Tadashi', but thought better of it.

His mother warned him about using the name his father gave him.

He opened it again to say 'Kore', but stopped himself.

He didn’t want to say it, say the name that all the other Gods called him. He loved his given name, but it just felt like a suffocating lable now. It had already been ruined by the ones who have used it.

He just sat there for a while, not knowing his own name.

He then suddenly looked up at the figure with bright, determined eyes.

“. . . Per- Persephone." He told Charon.

This name, this title, he had now bestowed upon himself, felt so right as it roled of his tongue.

He didn't know, however, that this name would follow him from this moment on, for the rest of his immortal life.

"Please, call me Persephone.”

[korereapers]

Title: Another cup of tea

Fandom: Original, D&D

Ships: Barkilara/Ohmrom von Allmen, Kore of the Eternal Forest/Mynthe

Warnings: light violence, non explicit things. Devils being a fucking nuisance I guess. Light eye trauma, maybe

AO3

Kore sips from her tea, long eyelashes framing her dark scleras, dull as she looks up. She usually drinks her tea black, no sugar, letting it wash over her, the calming warmth bringing her a well needed solace.

In front of her, the human smiles, an uncomfortable smile that seems to follow him everywhere, as if anxiety was a part of his being. At the moment, he is wearing his growing, brown hair in a messy bun, and it suits him, it suits him more than the rigid etiquette he tries to show when he is pretending to be a model acolyte, without success.

They have a drink together, from time to time. Kore’s bedroom in the Guild isn’t the most comfortable, but it’s still cleaner. She makes sure it smells of flowers, and she chooses the incense every day. Today, it smells of lilies, and a part of her aches, because it makes her remember.

It was Mynthe’s favorite flower, after all.

"So, the goblin king was kind of… how do you say it. A pussy."

Ohmrom's smile becomes less uncomfortable, almost amused. Her elvish accent makes the words a whisper, or so she has been told. The human seems to like it enough, even if elvish is not in his repertory.

"Ah… yes. I couldn't really do much, to be honest. Hold the line and support our comrades. Paladins terrify me, to be honest…"

Mynthe was a paladin, but he doesn't need to know that, for the moment. She is more interested in whatever fear creeps in when he talks about people chosen by the gods, in how and why a pious man becomes nervous around them.

"Any particular reason? You seem kind of… devoted."

He does chuckle at that, taking another sip from his cup. He drinks his tea red, fruits flavored, lots of sugar. She wonders if he can even taste anything under the sugary flavor.

"Alright, says the cleric."

But Kore doesn't buy his deflection, looking at him with her dark eyes, unblinking. That usually works when the person is obviously lying to her, or trying to hide information.

There is a twitch on his lips, and she almost smiles, because she knows a win when she sees one.

"My… ehr… my mentor is a paladin. She is not very happy with me these days."

Kore raises a pink eyebrow, small hands around the cup, warming herself up.

"As a paladin, I wouldn't be happy either if my pupil was bedding a devil…"

Ohmrom flushes at that. It's almost wild, how he can blush like a lantern, like a child. She too is prone to look like a strawberry, but this man doesn't just look embarrassed, he looks anxious as hell. Literally.

"She doesn't… know that exactly. She would kill me."

He says it without emotion, as if being hit or beaten, or god forbid, murdered, was a normal consequence. She knows a haunted person when she sees one, both her life experience (she is one of them, after all) and the little blessings her Lady gave her. She feels death, almost smells it from his fingertips. She tries her best to keep a poker face, but his eyes are knowing, kind.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone says the same thing. It's not… healthy."

She nods, her eyes lost, because it was her mother who taught her, how to pray, how to fight. It was… a twist of fate that Kore had found solace in the Lady Wee-Jas and not just the Eternal Forest. A grave cleric is rare among her people, but so is a tiefling amongst elves.

"Sounds like the healthiest relationship you have is with your… you know."

He sighs, rummaging his backpack, taking out a small, metallic bottle that reeks of alcohol, and mixing a little of its contents with the tea. Kore makes a face, her nose wrinkling, fangs showing a little.

"Sorry. We are talking about difficult topics… I need an extra amount of courage."

"You are a pussy."

Ohmrom laughs a little at that, taking a sip from his ruined tea. She realizes that his hands are shaking, but who is she to judge.

"He is… the realest thing I have ever had. He is not nice, but he tries to be. And… he takes care of me, listens to me… I don't know."

Oh. So it's not just a matter of physical pleasure. She expected him to go on and on about how amazing their sex life is, but as it turns out, what this guy values the most is… companionship. Love.

Something that she has lost. Irremediably. A disemboweled corpse lying around in the forest, too late and too damaged for her to do much about it. Or anything at all.

Lady, has she always been this useless?

"Sounds like a serious relationship to me."

It's something subtle at first. How Ohmrom's eyes go a little vacant for a second, a whisper she cannot hear and that anyone that doesn't know would mistake for being deep in thought. His face twitches, as if being stressed, just for a second, just before he relaxes again.

Kore blinks, unimpressed, when he looks up, eyes blood red, bright and wet, actually dripping some bloody tears when he blinks slowly, as if trying to get used to the motion. The expression is different, too, the way he carries himself, the easy smile that grows into his lips like vermin.

It's unnatural, like the expression shouldn't be there, like those gentle lips are not made to smile like that, confidently, almost looking at her like a funny animal, like the most primitive and diluted version of what he is. A drop of blood falls to the tea, and she grimaces, his smile only becoming more amused.

"Any reason to require your presence, devil?"

The devil takes the cup with care, as if he could break it with ease, getting used to a weaker, smaller body. He takes a gulp, making a sound when he does, and Kore doesn't know if he is mocking her, or actually enjoying it.

"Sweet…" he murmurs, in Infernal, the same clean accent that Ohmrom has, rough fingers cleaning the bloody tears on Ohmrom's face, tasting them a second after. "You were making him nervous, that's all. Poking your cute, little nose into our business… my business."

Kore lets out a bitter laugh.

"You were the one that showed himself to me. Deal with it."

Barkilara laughs at that, and it's different than Ohmrom's one. Less anxious, less kind hearted. Not kind at all. The deep voice must be hurting Ohmrom's throat a little, if he is still somewhere in there.

"He's a pussy and you're a dick. What a lovely couple…"

Barkilara doesn't complain, doesn't react, not in the way that would be expected. He seems to be untouched by her taunts, but Kore knows it won't be for long.

"Tell me something I don't know, princess," is the only thing he says, his tongue clicking behind his teeth.

Kore cannot really stand overconfident men. Especially when they are, at best, mediocre.

"Then you'll know I'm not your type. If you're trying to get another warlock for yourself, I am the wrong person."

He nods, looking her in the eye. She shudders, her mind in panic for a reason she doesn't know, an instinct that tells her to beware, because the way a devil plays can be deadly, and it's always, always painful.

"No, I know. Your type is your dead wife, isn't she? So noble, so proud… it's a shame, really."

Hearing that with Ohmrom's face is confusing more than it's enraging. It makes her feel hurt, a friendly face being outright cruel. She wonders if he is in there, listening, probably begging his devil to cut her some slack. Barkilara still seems unmoving, in control, a smile that would be polite if Kore didn't know any better.

"Is he your type? Or do you sleep with every warlock you get?"

It's subtle, but it's there. Barkilara gulps, his smile tense. Kore can almost feel fondness in his eyes, a second before he answers, truthfully.

"No. I really don't."

Kore's next sip is almost sweet. She got him, alright.

"Oh, don't tell me that you care. Actually, yes. I see it. If there is anyone who could move that cold, dark, twisted heart of yours, it's him."

Barkilara's whisper is deep, almost as if dealing with boredom, but she knows better. He can almost feel his tactics, because she uses them, too.

"You're a bitch, you know that?"

"Tell me something I don't know, devil."

That makes him chuckle again, the bloodied tea seemingly the best thing he has ever tried. As if trying to enjoy the iron-like taste behind the alcohol, the sugar, and the actual tea. It tastes like Ohmrom, Kore guesses. That must be it.

"I like you. I mean, I would slit your throat unprompted if I had the chance, but I like you. And he likes you, too, so… I'm not really that fond of making him sad, you know."

He really cares about him, in his own way. That's the thought that fills Kore's mind. She misses being cared about like that. She misses love, she misses her wife, deeply.

She also makes sure not to show any kind of weakness in front of the devil, who looks at her with the eyes of a predator. Like a cat playing with a mouse just before eating it.

"Oh, I know you make him happy. I see him, and also, sadly… hear him sometimes. What is he like? It seems that whatever you do to him, he enjoys it a lot."

It's a good tactic, to appease the devil's pride. That way he'll forget about her for a moment, and think about himself and his sexual prowess. Still, she watches him tense. 

Weird.

"He is sweet to me. Devoted."

So that's it. He is dying to say it, to give details about how good he is in bed, about what they do, about how mindblowing it all is, but he knows that Ohmrom wouldn't appreciate that. He knows he would feel ashamed and hurt. Not really a man to share his private life, no matter how not so secretly fulfilled he feels because of it.

Kore frowns. Since when does a devil value a human's feelings more than his own desires?

"Yes, well. He seems awfully fond of kneeling before his god, so I guess he does the same for you. Devoted is clearly the perfect word for him."

There is a shadow of anger in Barkilara's eyes. Like she has touched on a particularly dangerous subject. She refrains from adding anything else, not when the devil drinks another sip of tea, his hands so tense that she is afraid he will break the cup.

"Is your curiosity sated, girl?"

Kore nods, knowing that the conversation is over. How odd… almost as if the devil were… jealous? Insecure? A power hungry being like him must surely be dealing with those feelings in the worst possible ways…

"Yes, of course. Thank you for your time. I hope we can have tea together sometime soon?"

Barkilara looks up to her, bloodied eyes drilling into her skull. The image is terrifying, but he manages to resist the urge to start shaking. He doesn't seem to be angry at her, only… interested. His anger seems to be somewhere else, a distrust that reeks across planes. Why doesn’t he just materialize instead of using Ohmrom’s body, anyway?

"It would be my pleasure, mortal. Tell him that the tea was delicious."

And like that, any expression leaves Ohmrom's face for a second, his features relaxing slightly until he comes back, his usual nervousness present when he smiles at her, a silent apology, only to clean his bloody face immediately after. As if nothing had happened.

"Aw, he drank all of my tea…"

Kore snorts at that. They're back to Common, she guesses.

"I'm glad that you're back."

Ohmrom's nervous smile twitches a little, disappearing completely when he speaks again.

"I'm sorry that he was like that to you. I think… I think that he was trying to take care of me, in a way. He wanted to make sure I was okay."

He definitely was, but Kore has no strength to tell him what's obvious, the last sip of her tea a little sweeter. The company is better, after all.

"Don’t sweat it. He is a devil. It's what they do."

Ohmrom blinks at that, quiet, deep in thought. Something dark passes behind his eyes, and she can only watch and hope for the best. A slight doubt. An insecurity. He smiles at her again, as if nothing had happened.

"It's what they do…" he repeats.

Kore's brow twitches uncomfortably. Maybe she has said something she shouldn't.

They can work through it. She tells herself. Love does indeed exist for some people, after all.

The thought leaves a bitter taste on her mouth. She tells herself it’s okay, even if deep down, she knows that that night she will cry herself to sleep, thinking about her lips, about her face. She thinks about devilish fingers caressing Ohmrom’s hair while he sleeps, and jealousy bites at her insides.

What a disgrace you are, unable to feel glad for other people’s happiness. You deserved what you got.

She gulps loudly, but luckily, Ohmrom doesn’t seem to notice. She still feels someone watching her, trying to dig their claws into her brain. A devilish smile curls into her mind. She tells the devil to fuck off, and tries her best to enjoy Ohmrom’s company.

“Another cup of tea?”

The smile he gives her makes it all worth it.

[nebris]

     The Wiccan Triple Goddess  

The Goddess represents the feminine, nurturing side of Deity -intuitive, creative, and magical. She is the inner nature of Deity -the origin of the external Universe.

Thus the Goddess is the Creator, the Source - the God emerges from Her, when She sets the Universe into motion. The God is the Goddess’ Divine Child, formed from Her inner nature, Her “Other Self” as the Vangelo delle Streghe puts it. The God is also the Divine Consort, Whose union with the Goddess describes existence as we know it.

In this sense, the Goddess and the God are the polar forces also termed Yin and Yang. Yin, the Feminine, spiritual, emotive aspect of Deity which is within all things and Whose presence gives all things life. Yang the Masculine, physical, volatile aspect of Deity which manifests in motion and action and Whose permutations build up the outer form of things.

In Wicca, the Goddess is primarily revered through Her form as the Triple Goddess. As the God is often represented by the Sun, the Goddess is often represented by the Moon, and its three phases are taken as instructive as to the nature of Her being; the Waxing Moon representing creation and inspiration, embodied in the Maiden Goddess. The Full Moon representing fruition and sustenance, embodied in the Mother Goddess. And the Waning Moon representing fulfilment and endings embodied in the Crone Goddess.

THE MAIDEN

The Maiden is the Young Goddess of Spring and new beginnings. She is the Goddess of the Dawn, of youthfulness, the anticipation of life and fresh potential. The Maiden is the Goddess of art, creativity and self-expression of beauty, intelligence, and skill. The Maiden is manifest in action and self-confidence, exploration and discovery.  She is sometimes called the Virgin.  The term virgin in this instance does not mean physical virginity, it means that the young Goddess is independent - She is responsible for Her own actions, She knows who She is and does not answer to anyone but Herself.  The Maiden is aware of Her sexuality and can either hold it at bay or abandon Herself to it.   As the Huntress and Mistress of the Woodlands, She is both a friend and companion to all young creatures and a skilled hunter.  She is the armed keeper of the Universal Laws of Balance and can mete out punishment swiftly and dispassionately if needed.  

You may experience the Goddess in Her form as Maiden when you look upon a newborn child or experience a beautiful sunset. She is the continuation of all life, gifting us with the ability to find delight in the simple pleasures of the world – a butterfly in summer, sunlight on water, the stillness of a forest – all are within the realm of the Maiden Goddess. The Maiden’s magick is strongly connected to Nature and natural magick; She can inspire you with new ideas or lead you along a path that is new to you. She can give you a fresh new way to look at something. The Maiden may make Her presence known to you mentally without warning when you least expect it.  She shows us the way to spiritual centeredness, running ahead of us enticing us to follow Her down the path that we fear the most -  the way that leads us through the labyrinth of our minds into our own subconsciousness.  

The Waxing Moon is the Maiden's Moon.  Her colours are white and pink symbolic of innocence and newness.  The Maiden loves wild flowers especially white ones. The Maiden's animals are all wild animals, especially the Owl and the Deer.

Maiden Goddesses:

Artemis -  (Greek) eternal Virgin Goddess, Lady of the forests and hunting, and also of birth.

Blodewedd - (Celtic) This Spring Goddess was created by magic from nine spring flowers to be the wife of Llew Llaw. This got around the curse Arianhod had placed upon her son preventing him from taking a human wife.

Brigid - (Celtic) In her maiden aspect this Goddess is honoured at the festival of Imbolc which celebrates the first stirrings of Spring.

Chalchihuitlicue - Wife of Tlaloc, the God of Rains for the Aztec, was called the Precious Jeweled Lady, and had in her aspects associated with the Maiden like flowers, spring and the beauty of youth.

Diana -  (Roman) Goddess of the Crescent Moon and the Hunt.  She is the virgin Goddess of childbirth and women. Oak groves are sacred to Diana.

Flora - (Roman) The Goddess of flowering plants, especially those that bore fruit. Her festival, the Floralia, took place in April or early May and was marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers.

Freya - (Nordic) This Nordic fertility Goddess is linked with spring growth and flowers.

Hebe - (Greek) The Goddess of eternal youth and Spring.

Kore - (Greek) Kore is an alternative name for the Greek Goddess Persephone.

Ostara - (Celtic) Painted eggs and white rabbits are sacred to Ostara, the Celtic Goddess of Spring, fertility and rebirth. Her symbols have been incorporated into the Christian celebration of Easter.

Ninniane - Also called Nimue, in the Arthurian myth. She was Merlin's protege and was courted by him. Nimue locked Merlin in a cave to ward off his constant advances.

Parvati - (Hindu)  Maiden of affirmations and love, She became Shiva's, the Lord of Destruction, mate.

Persephone or  Proserpina - Persephone means maiden. She was the daughter of Demeter, who was kidnapped by Hades and reigns with him in the Underworld, for the dark half of the year.  Spring arrives when Persephone leaves Hades and joins her Mother.

Rhiannon - (Celtic) Maiden who is the "Divine Queen of the Faeries".  She is a Goddess of movement and change, who remains steadfast and comforting in times of crisis and loss.

THE MOTHER

The Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess is perhaps the easiest for humans to understand and identify with.  The image of the physical mother caring for, nurturing, protecting and loving her children is easily translated to the Mother Goddess. She is associated with confident adulthood and parenthood, She is summertime and the ripening of crops, She is procreation of all things earthly and universal, She is the highest point of all cycles and the sustainer of the Universe. She is the fullness of life, She turns the Wheel of all the seasons, and is the repository of all knowledge. She is the Earth Mother and the Sky Mother who walks beside us into the Labyrinth of Mysteries. The Universe is Her child and She loves and cares for it, providing it with inexhaustible resources from within Herself, even as a mother nurses Her infant from the milk of her breasts.

Her colour is red, the colour of blood and the life-force that courses through us all.  Her season is summer and Her Moon is Full. Her symbol is the Cauldron, the churning pot of regeneration. The Mother Goddess rules the Sabbats of Beltane, Litha and Lammas.  She shares Winter Solstice with the Maiden and the Crone.

The Mother Goddess teaches us to accept responsibility and to understand the consequences of our own actions. She will guide us towards self-discipline and patience, so that we may grow spiritually into balanced adulthood. She teaches us to reach out to others with loving energy, and to spiral into our Divine centre to both give and receive love. All acts of love are Her rituals. She does not want us to live lives filled with deprivation or chained to addictions, excesses or other forms of self- harm. The Mother Goddess actively works magick to bring us into harmony, happiness and freedom. Just like a human Mother, she wants the very best for us and will help us.  All we need to do is reach out to Her. The Mother Goddess nurtures all creation and is filled with love for all, yet, like a real mother, She will not hesitate to mete out discipline when necessary. Work against Her laws of Universal balance, portray yourself as one who has all the answers or is spiritually enlightened without having done the background work of self-discipline, self- understanding, and responsibility, and She will bring you back to reality!

Mother Goddess magick is most powerful at the Full Moon. Call upon Her for spells involving fruition, protection, healing, protection, guidance, marriage or life partners, gardening, animals, choices, peace, psychic direction and spiritual awakening.

RM 2015

Mother Goddesses

Aka (Turkish) Ancient Mother Goddess.

Aphrodite (Greek) Represented fertility.

Arianrhod (Welsh) Associated with fertility

Artemis (Greek) Despite being a virgin goddess she also presides over childbirth due to the ease of her own birth.

Bast (Egyptian) Bast the cat-headed Goddess was associated with both fertility and childbirth.

Ceres (Roman) Goddess of crops and agriculture.

Corn Mother (Native American) Responsible for the fertility of the land and people.

Cybele (Roman) Cybele was the goddess of fertility based on Anatolian Goddess Kybele.

Danu The mythic Mother Goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Celtic tribes that first invaded Ireland.

Demeter (Greek) The Goddess of grain and bringer of fertility to the earth.

Frigg (Nordic) Frigg was the Odin wife she protected a man's marriage and made him fertile. Her name was invoked to bring children into a conjugal union.

Gaia (Greek) Ancient Greek mother goddess who gave birth to the land and the Titans.

Hathor (Egyptian)  Mistress of the West, who welcomed the dead into the next life. Sky-goddess of love,music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth, as well as the patron goddess of miners. Hathor is often depicted wearing a headdress made of a pair of cow horns with a sun disk.

Hera (Greek) Goddess of women and marriage.  Sacred to her are the peacock and the cow. Isis (Egyptian) Goddess who was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife and as the patron of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, and the downtrodden, and she listened to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats, and rulers. Isis is often depicted as the mother of Horus,  Isis is also known as the protector of the dead and Goddess of children

Juno  (Roman) Often called upon by infertile women.

Macha (Irish) Fertility goddess who primarily concerned with male virility.

Nile Goddess - One of the prehistoric fertility Goddesses worshipped in the Nile Delta. She had the head of a bird.

Rhea (Greek) Replaced her mother Gaia as the earth and fertility goddess. She gave birth to the first Olympians

Venus (Roman) Roman equivalent to Aphrodite. She represented one of the main fertility Goddesses.

THE CRONE

The Crone represents the Goddess in Her aspect as Elder. The Crone is the Wise Woman, the Witch, the Matriarch. The Crone is the Goddess of Death, and magic, and the Spirit realm. She is the Goddess of Wisdom, visions, and guidance. Hers is the height of spiritual power, for She is the Great Sorceress Who creates Her will through magic. Goddess of Transformation, the Crone is the Destroyer Who dissolves outmoded forms, allowing new growth to occur.

The Crone Goddess aspect of the Triple Goddess may be the least understood and feared of the three aspects.   The Crone deals with the end of cycles and death; She has been called the Terrible Mother, the Dark Mother, the Hag and the Wise One. She is the gateway to death and re-birth, Her wise council teaches us spiritual completion, and the deepest of all mysteries - that without death there is no rebirth. Her cauldron awaits each of us, “All things living are mine own, from me they come, to me they go.” The Crone Goddess is winter, night, outer space, the abyss, menopause, and the advancement of age.  She is the natural end of all cycles.

Her colour is black, the absorber of all light, and the colour of darkness where all life rests before rebirth. Her season is winter and Her Moon is the Waning Moon. Her symbols are Lantern of truth and wisdom which She uses to guide us, and the Key which is symbolic of unlocking the deep mysteries. The Crone Goddess rules the Sabbat of Samhain.  She shares Winter Solstice with the Maiden and the Crone.

The Crone teaches us prophecy and will guide us to remember the past and see into the future. She is the Keeper of the Akashic Records, which are the details of our past lives.  Her guidance through trance work and the spirit world can lead us to past life memories so that we may focus our energies into learning the lessons of this life before passing into the next one. The Crone dispenses justice with love and sorrow, keeping the balance and upholding the laws. To have a relationship with the Crone you must seek Her out. She will offer you a comforting hand when, as with all living things, we must face the death of a loved one or the ending of our own life. She will bring to you the deep understanding that death is the necessary phase that must happen before rebirth.

Crone Goddess magick is most powerful at the Dark Moon. Call upon Her for spells involving harvesting, resting, past life meditations and pathworking, endings, ageing, divorce, rest, retribution, death, protection from physical or psychic attacks, trance work to communicate with the Spirit world.

Crone Goddesses

Annis (Celtic): A frightening old woman, keeper of wisdom and old ways. Badb: (Irish) A shape-shifting warrior Goddess who symbolizes the cycles of life and death, wisdom and inspiration. Baba Yaga (Russian): In Slavic mythology, she is the wild old woman; the witch; and mistress of magic. Hecate (Greek): Goddess of the underworld and magic Ceridwen (Celtic): The Keeper of the Cauldron. Cailleach  (Celtic): The hag and destroyer Goddess who ruled over disease, death, wisdom, seasonal rites and weather magic. Elli (Nordic): Goddess of old age, she defeated Thor. Grandmother Spiderwoman (Native American): An old wise woman who gave man the sun and fire.   Kali (Indian): Goddess of destruction and rebirth. Kalma (Finnish): Underworld Goddess of death and decay. Lara (Roman): Mother of the dead Libitina (Roman): Goddess of funerals and pyres. Lilith (Hebrew): Adams first wife and guardian of women's mysteries. Macha (Irish): The wild woman who battles against injustice to woman and children. Morrigan (Celtic): Crow Goddess who understands the nature of death. Mother Holle (German): The Wise Queen of Winter Nicneven (Celtic): Goddess of Magic and winter. Nephthys (Egyptian): A funerary Goddess associated with death, magic and reincarnation. Sedna (Inuit): Mistress of life and death XochiQuetzal (Mexican): Goddess of the cycles of life celebrated on the Day Of the Dead.

Edited 2016 Rowan Morgana

[hungline]

to have and to hold

pairing: minjoon   genre: angst, fluff, greek mythology au, fix-it of sorts, persephone!namjoon, hades!jimin rated pg15  warnings: trans male character, mentioned violence, introspection, coming out   words: 4644 

summary: Namjoon falls and falls and falls, but Jimin is there to help him get back on his feet and find the truth within himself. 

“My Lord Hades, there has been a breach.”

Jimin looks up to find Charon standing before his desk. His hood is pulled over his face, but Jimin can still see the mole under his mouth very clearly.

“Who is it?”

As King of the Underworld, Jimin was surprised to find that many people wanted to break through his defenses and sneak into the Underworld before it was their time. Jimin was certain that when he had divided up the areas of power with his brothers, he had gotten the short end of the stick, but the intruders made him feel otherwise.

There are tales known far and wide about his coldness, about his blank calm that startles all, about the familiarity he has always felt with the dead. When he came into his power, he never understood half of the things he could do, but there was the dead to wrangle under control and even in Death order is needed. Jimin’s work is never done.

He may not have been prepared for intruders before, but now he knows what to do and how to handle these kinds of events.

“A man who appears to look like a woman at first glance, my Lord.” Charon hesitates then, his bottom lip caught between his large, jutting teeth. “He fell right onto the river’s banks, my Lord.”

Jimin’s eyes narrow. “Which one?”

Charon bows his head as he murmurs, “The Styx, my Lord Hades.”

Jimin sighs and stands, pushing piles of paperwork off to the side as he fixes his own black robe around him and holds a hand out for Charon to lead the way. “Take me to him, Jeongguk.”

Charon flinches at the sound of his True Name but takes Jimin’s hand and pulls him along steadily. They walk down the grand and dark hallways of Jimin’s palace in the center of the Underworld and pause on the steps once they have made it past the grand doors. Charon presses his other hand to Jimin’s forearm and twists them roughly in a circle, shadow traveling them away to Charon’s usual post by the edge of the River Styx.

The boat is still there, tied to the docks that stand just a few millimeters away from the water’s edge and Charon immediately flocks to it, taking the drachmas that a new Soul offers him as he approaches. Jimin waits until Charon has set off across the water before he exhales slowly and raises his arms up at his sides. There is a tugging sensation coming from his right and he follows after it, exhaling deeply again when he happens upon the intruder that Charon summoned him for.

He looks like a woman — he looks like a girl, really — but Jimin can see his Soul and it is that of a man’s. He is asleep, head cushioned by a row of flowers that Jimin has never seen before in his life and at that moment he knows exactly who this intruder is.

This is the one the Fates told him about when he crafted their chambers here in the Underworld. The one who he would wed, the one who would bring him the most happiness and the most pain.

This is Hades’ husband.

They used to call her Kore, back when she still amused the dresses and skirts her mother would dress her in during the spring.

A daughter of Zeus, they called her. He has many of those and she can name them all.

Back when she was Kore, she fell onto the land with grace and a strength that surprised even her. Flowers bloomed for her as she walked past and all the different creatures of nature came to her when she was near. She kept to the forests and the rivers, making friends with all the nymphs and naiads she could before her mother allowed her to walk upon the eternal springtime fields.

It felt special to them both that day, but when she realized what her name meant, she went back to the forests and the rivers and her nature friends.

She wasn’t “The Girl” and could not bear to be called Kore any longer.

Soon she suspected she wasn’t much of a girl at all.

Demeter wanted her to wed, wanted her to be a good wife to whoever she chose to be her husband. She played along with it, only so that she could prolong the inevitable faster.

Hermes and Apollo came to court her, but Apollo was insincere and she wanted nothing that the bright god was willing to offer her. Hermes was better, he was honest — or as honest as the god of tricksters could be — but she did not want to wed him either.

If she was going to be honest, then she would have to say that she did not want to be anyone’s wife, let alone a trophy.

But she also knew that her mother could tell she did not want a marriage. Demeter stopped insisting her to choose a husband and left her to her own devices soon afterward. She took to the forests again while her mother brought the harvest in and familiarized herself once more with the nature surrounding her.

She stopped entertaining the two gods seeking her hand after that.

The flower is unlike any she has ever seen before.

She knows that it is new, she knows who it used to be, but at that moment, she doesn’t care much about its origins.

All she knows is that it is beautiful and when she leans on the ground to try and catch a whiff of the flower’s scent, the earth opens up beneath her and swallows her up.

She screams as she falls, but when her voice is rung raw and she is still falling, she decides to sleep and welcome Death with open arms.

At least she won’t have to wed anybody in death.

She closes her eyes and falls, arms spread wide to greet the darkness surrounding her.

Then light flickers across the back of her eyelids and she opens them to see the Underworld spreading out beneath her. The ground is coming up fast and she isn’t sure if she has any power here to help slow her descent, but she already made her choice and as she strikes the ground with a sound like thunder, everything goes blissfully back to black once more.

When she wakes, there is a man at her bedside, a man she recognizes instantly. The Lost Souls around him would be hard to misplace after all.

“Lord Hades,” she croaks out.

“How are you feeling?” Hades asks her with the barest hint of concern in his voice.

It is enough to take her by surprise until she remembers that no one tells tales of Hades’ cruelty. “I’m not sure. I can’t move my limbs, my Lord.”

Hades a waves a hand at her in a nervous manner before saying, “Just Hades is fine. What should I call you?”

She is surprised once more, but there is already a name on the tip of her tongue that she almost mumbles out until she realizes that it is not a name the God of the Underworld should have. So she tries to twist her fingers and sighs under her breath when that wields no results.

“They called me Kore,” she says then, biting her lip before she presses on. “But you may call me Persephone.”

“Persephone,” he says, but there is a glint in his eyes that tells her he’s merely amusing her. As if he somehow knows that wasn’t what she meant to say. “The fall you took depleted you of your power. If you were mortal, you would already be in line for Judgment, but luckily you are not and so we must wait until your power returns to you. You will have to remain here until you are healed and then we can discuss the matter of getting you back home.”

Persephone only nods, not knowing what else to say. Hades brushes his knuckles down her cheek and nods in return before he stands, his black robes billowing out around him as he turns. He has made it to the door already, hand on the wood to step out when she raises her head and stares at his neck, willing herself to speak one last time before he leaves.

“Thank you, Hades.”

She lays back on the bed and closes her eyes, missing the way Hades’ neck flushes as he steps out without another backward glance.

Persephone is a strange name for a man, but Jimin calls him by it anyway. If it is his wish, then so be it. Jimin is not one to tell others how to figure things out for themselves anyway. He merely rules over the dead and tries to keep the order intact.

He heals slowly, so slowly that Jimin worries Persephone might be slowly dying after all. He almost caves and calls Hermes to their aid, but on the third day, Persephone is able to wiggle his toes and move his wrists. That is enough to placate Jimin at the moment.

Jimin works about as often as he usually does and sends many of his servants to wait on Persephone hand and foot while he recovers. Charon visits only when there are no New Souls to ferry across the Styx and takes half of the paperwork from him.

Charon has another name. The mortals have taken to calling him Thanatos and Jimin does not understand why exactly because the actual Thanatos is lazy and never helps Jimin, but if someone else is going to be the stand-in for the god of Death, all that really means is that Jimin doesn’t have to be instead. Being god of the Underworld is tiring enough as is.

Jimin knows Charon’s True Name, of course, but that is more because he is in Jimin’s debt and Jimin knowing his True Name helped to balance it out. True Names are not meant to be given freely. Names have power and that power is almost always used against you if you happen to give your True Name away.

Persephone is a quiet guest and Jimin knows that he is the daughter Demeter is looking all over for, but he also knows that Persephone is no one’s daughter because he is Demeter’s son and Demeter does not get to have him back until they both realize this.

Jimin isn’t going to keep him prisoner here either though. If Persephone wishes to go as soon as he has healed, then so be it. He may be Jimin’s future husband like the three Fates told him so, but he will not create an abusive kind of marriage with him either. They are Fated to be and one way or the other, they will be happy in the end.

It is what he tells himself later that night when he worries that Persephone will be disgusted by him no matter what he does. That is what always happens to Jimin.

The feeling in her limbs returns to her slowly.

On the second day she spends in the Underworld, she panics when she still can’t move her fingers or toes. This is how I go, she thinks, This is how it ends for me. Hades visits her when the flames have gone down low in her room and she is afraid for one paralyzing moment because her hand in marriage was sought out after two Olympians since she is virgin, but Hades only sits at her bedside again and wipes her face clean with a wet rag. He pushes her hair out of her face and tells her about his day after asking how she feels. She listens to him speak, enjoying the way his voice drops in pitch with each passing moment and soon enough she is asleep.

She wakes up to an empty room and tries to move her hands and feet again, crying out in joy when her toes wiggle and her whole hand twitches. Hades visits her during the day with the barest hint of a smile on his face when she tells him of her progress. He wipes her face clean again and lets his knuckles brush across her cheek as he did on the first day, a tiny smile now threatening to spill over his face when she thanks him and leans willingly into his touch. He leaves soon after that and a servant enters the room next, keeping her company as she tests out the rest of her body.

The next day she can move her feet and can bend her elbows, but she feels cold now, shivering non-stop. Hades frowns at her when he visits her again that night and brings her an extra blanket and another lantern, making sure that the flames burn bright the entire night. She feels warm now with him here and follows his movements with her eyes, a feeling she can’t describe settling into her gut.

It becomes routine over the next couple days for her to find another part of her body mobile and the cold bite to Hades’ aura dimming with each visit that he pays her. She greets him with a smile and leans into the hand he presses to her face now.

By the ninth day, she can move enough to sit up in bed and tries to stand, regretting it instantly. Hades catches her as she falls and presses her back into the bed, wrapping the sheets around her to keep her warm.

She thanks him and smiles, not missing the way he looks at her lips after returning a hesitant smile of his own.

On the tenth day, Hades brings word from Hermes about her mother and the unbearable grief she has been enduring ever since her disappearance. But she is still too weak to leave and Hades is kind to her. More than she probably deserves when she feels like she wants to crawl right out of her skin with each passing day. He only keeps giving her those tentative grins and her heart warms at the way his eyes start to curve to smile along with him.

There is a reason no one tells tales of Hades’ cruelty.

Jimin can understand the way Demeter feels, but her accusation of him purposely kidnapping Persephone is a step too far.

Persephone fell into his domain and he is nursing him back to health, all so that Persephone can return home. Jimin did nothing to bring the poor boy into the Underworld.

He asks Persephone how he fell when he takes his first steps again. Jimin does not know what any of it means, but he asks Persephone to describe the flower, pausing again when he explains that the flower was new. The flower used to be a man called Narcissus who fell in love with himself and died because he would not stop staring at his reflection. Jimin winces then, knowing full well who did this.

He and his little brother will be having words… After he handles Demeter.

Jimin leaves Charon and Styx in charge while he visits the upper world and finds Demeter. She attacks first, but he is prepared for this and rolls away from her attacks, dodging all of them. Demeter does not believe a word he says, but she believes him about Zeus. No one would put anything past him.

He wears out soon though, not used to combat or being away from his home for so long. The dead need to be attended to, he does not have any time to waste. So he conjures a few skeletons and lets them restrain Demeter before he kneels in front of her and bows his head.

“I had nothing to do with this, but do not doubt that I will take care of your son until he is strong enough to come home to you,” Jimin says as she quiets.

Demeter’s eyes are glowing a faint brown and he finds that he cannot look away no matter how disturbing the sight of her eyes is. Her brow crumples into a frown, tears in her eyes as the glow slowly recedes.

“M-My son?” She stutters out, sobs wracking her chest.

Jimin nods, knowing full well that Demeter did not know about her daughter not being a daughter at all and being her son instead. “I don’t think he realizes it either yet, but he is a man, Demeter. There is no doubt about that.”

Demeter continues to cry, sagging into the skeletons as they hold her up. “I should have known. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to wed. He just did not want to be anybody’s wife. And — And I told him to be a good wife! To be a good girl and do as he was told! I am a horrible mother!”

“He doesn’t even know yet. Maybe he will realize it himself soon, but you should treat him like a girl until he asks you not to. Otherwise, he will recede back into the timid girl he pretended to be and neither of us wants that,” Jimin says calmly, dismissing the skeletons with a wave of his hand and catching Demeter in his arms when she falls.

She clings to him, sobbing enough to create a spring if she were so inclined, but Jimin holds her anyway. “When he is healthy, I will bring him back to you. I promise.”

Demeter shakes her head, taking deep breaths before she speaks lowly. “No. I want him to be happy with who he is the next time I see him, Hades. I want him to be happy. Can you make sure of that?”

“I can certainly try,” Jimin responds, smiling one of those tiny grins he usually reserves for Persephone when Demeter looks up to meet his gaze again.

“Then all will be well,” Demeter says, rubbing at her eyes as she pulls away and stands up to her full height, fury settling into her features. “I’m going to make Zeus pay.”

Jimin laughs, the sound tinkling in the air around them and Demeter joins soon after.

On the fourteenth day of her stay, she can walk to the gardens and back to her room without aid. Hades watches her from the corner of his eye every time they cross paths and she smiles at him, wishing she had enough of her powers back to make flowers bloom and cause Hades to smile even more.

He still visits her as usual and now cups her face in both his hands as he smiles down at her, a soft gleam in his eyes that cements something into her.

On the twentieth day, Hades presents her with trousers, a tunic, and a burgundy set of robes that look a lot like his. She puts them on and studies herself in the polished silver Hades set against one of the walls of her bedroom so she can look at herself.

If she cut her hair short, she would look like a man — a very handsome man, mind you — and suddenly she’s sobbing into a pillow, not understanding how her gangly limbs and oval face look right on her now that she isn’t in skirts and dresses. A servant comes in and wipes her face clean when she is done crying, helping her to her feet as they walk to the gardens. She passes Hades on her way and cannot help the way her fingertips tingle with power when Hades pauses mid-stride to stare at her.

She smiles to herself and continues to walk, exhaling heavily when they step out into the garden and she is surrounded by bioluminescent stones and gems and artificial flowers. She thinks she could make real flowers bloom here if she had even a fraction of her original powers back.

But on the thirty-fifth day when she has not felt even a tingling of her usual power return to her, she turns to Hades for help again. He frowns and suggests taking a dip in the Styx to be reborn into something more, but refers to it as their last possible solution because not even gods can swim in the Styx without there being dire consequences. They take to the books and Charon joins them soon after, his hood off to reveal a young man with front teeth that jut out past his lips and a hooked nose that complements his wide eyes well.

She ogles him for a few minutes before Hades clears his throat and she flushes, chagrined for being caught staring. She smiles at Hades beside her and goes back to reading, sighing in relief when Hades presses a hand to the middle of her back as he continues to read as well.

By the fiftieth day, they are no closer to a solution than they were before. Hermes visits on the sixty-fourth day and pours over their scrolls and tomes before sighing and announcing a dip in the Styx will be the only way to fix things. Hades growls at him until he leaves, attacking the research with vigor while she and Charon quietly take over his duties as God of the Underworld. Hades does not seem to notice he is shirking his responsibilities until the seventy-seventh day has passed and he collapses in her lap, pressing his face into her throat and falls asleep.

Charon laughs at him and returns to the river to ferry all the New Souls that have just arrived and she is left alone with a sleeping god in her arms.

Hades has always been beautiful, with his curved eyes and thick black hair. His thick lips pop obscenely over the most innocent of words and she does not understand how it came to happen, but she loves him.

Persephone loves Hades.

When they have passed the nineties and are close to the hundreds, Jimin gives in and takes Persephone with him to the River Styx.

Persephone holds his hand as they walk down the riverbank, finding the place Persephone had first landed and then turn towards the water and watch the flow. Persephone is nervous and Jimin is just as nervous for him because it was only the night before when he had decided that the Styx was their best option and Persephone had cupped his face and kissed him.

He had kissed Persephone back and they had lain in Jimin’s bed that night facing one another as they held hands and slept just like that.

Now they are here and Jimin feels like it is time Persephone had something of himself with him wherever he may go in case this all ends badly. So Jimin grips his hand tighter and leans up until his lips can reach Persephone’s ear.

“My name is Jimin.”

Persephone goes still, turning his head to blink back at Jimin. “Why does that sound like a goodbye?”

Jimin only smiles and shrugs. “I’m saying goodbye to this version of yourself. When you rise from the water, you’ll be different. But still you… if Persephone and Kore were ever really you, to begin with, I mean.”

Persephone smiles, kissing Jimin chastely. “They are me, but only parts. When I rise again, it will be a new me, but the same. Promise to pull me out when it feels like I am taking too long?”

“Of course,” Jimin says because Styx blessed him a long time ago and the river’s waters could never hurt him.

Jimin kisses Persephone again then lets go of his hand and watches as the god takes one step into the river and crumbles almost immediately, falling face first into the water. He disappears beneath the inky surface and Jimin waits.

He will wait as long as it takes.

The water burns.

Even as a god, it tears away skin, at memories and Namjoon watches them fly by, only reduced down to who he really is now that he is beneath the river’s surface.

He needs to find an anchor, needs to find himself so that he can be reborn. So he watches his memories and bites back screams as more of his physical body disappears and reforms only to disappear once more.

His childhood passes by in a blur but he can see the unhappiness on his face, the curling in his stomach every time he wore dresses or skirts. When he grew into his body and the growth spurt really hit, he looked too awkward and was all limbs.

But then the memory of him in the trousers and tunic, the burgundy robes that made Jimin stop in his tracks to stare at him. He looked right for once in his life. He looked like who he was always meant to be, what he always felt like deep down even when he was the child who hated their body and wanted to remake everything.

He takes the memory and holds it to his chest with his desecrated arms and throws it to the surface, surprised when he too breaks the surface right after.

Jimin is there and he takes him into his arms, holding Namjoon’s tender and sore body. His hand brushes against the riverbank and flowers bloom, signaling the return of Namjoon’s power.

He aches all over and he knows that he will be on bedrest for the next five days or so, but he has his power and he can heal.

He does not know what his body looks like now, but when he reaches for his chest, he finds it only a tad flatter than usual and gropes between his legs, relaxing when it feels the same as always.

He may be a god, but there are certain things even gods cannot change.

Jimin kisses his face all over, whispering something over and over again that Namjoon can’t catch and kisses Jimin full on the mouth when he gets close enough. Their breaths intermingle in the air between them as their mouths mold together, insistent in a way they never dared to be before. Namjoon doesn’t care anymore because he loves Jimin and Jimin loves him too.

When they break apart, Namjoon smiles up at Jimin and says, “My name is Namjoon.”

Jimin grins and kisses him again.

On the one hundred and thirty-third day, Demeter visits the Underworld in secret to watch her son wed Hades.

Her son holds a single pomegranate seed to his mouth after the vows have been said and eats it, smiling when Hades rushes to kiss his cheeks, his forehead, and nose. Then finally, his mouth and the ceremony is complete.

Demeter watches them dance all night and when she steps into the garden, she knows enough of Kore’s work to recognize the new work her son has created now that he is happy and married.

She leaves before either god can become aware of her presence and cries when her son agrees to come back to her for a fraction of the year. The other parts will be spent with his husband and as a mother, who is she to say no to these terms?

Tales will be told of Hades’ wife Persephone centuries from when the “kidnapping” took place, but neither god has ever put much stock into them. There will be tales of Hades’ cruelty and Namjoon will laugh at each and every one of them.

The legends will become twisted and people will eventually believe that Hades’ wife was taken by force, but they do not know about Namjoon.

They will never know that Hades’ husband loved him with as much love as he could and will continue to love him until they both no longer exist in the upper or Underworld.

And what the mortals don’t know won’t kill them.

[nyxshadowhawk]

Nyx’s Complete List of Goth Names

Abaddon: From Greek, means "destruction" or "demon of the pit."

Acheron: The River of Woe in the Greek underworld.

Achlys: Greek primordial goddess of poison, misery, and sadness, personification of the death-mist.

Adonis: Means "lord" (as in Adonai). In Greek mythology, the most beautiful youth in the world, loved by both Persephone and Aphrodite. Died tragically.

Adrian/Adrienne: English, from Latin; means "from Hadria" (the Adriatic Sea). I've heard sources saying it means "dark one," but I haven't been able to confirm this. It's still a really cool, kind of gothy name. (Also the real name of Alucard from Castlevania.)

Ahriman: The Zoroastrian devil/evil god.

Akeldama: Means "field of blood," a place in Jerusalem associated with Judas.

Alastor: Greek, means "avenging spirit."

Alcmene: (Female) Means "might of the moon," Heracles' mother in mythology.

Alecto: One of the Erinyes (Furies), the goddesses of vengeance. Means "unceasing."

Altair: The brightest star in the constellation Aquila (the Eagle), from Arabic, meaning "the bird."

Amaranth: (Female) Greek; a mythical purple flower that never fades, a symbol of immortality.

Amethyst: A dark purple crystal, associated with wine and preventing drunkenness.

Andromeda: Greek, means "thinks like a man," the name of a princess in mythology, a constellation, and a galaxy.

Anubis: Jackal-headed Egyptian god of death and embalming.

Arcana: From Latin "hidden, secret" (literally "to shut in a chest"), refers to secrets or mysteries. Also refers to the groups of cards in a tarot deck (the major and minor arcana).

Arianrhod: Means "silver wheel," Welsh goddess of the moon, stars, and the flow of time.

Artemis/Diana: Greco-Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and virginity

Asmodeus: Means "wrath-demon," a Goetic demon appearing in a number of texts, representing luxury, sensuality, and lust. (Also Asmodai)

Asphodel: A white flower planted on graves, said to grow in the Greek underworld, and therefore heavily connected with death.

Astaroth: (Unisex) A demon in the Ars Goetia (from the Lesser Key of Solomon), described as a male demon and a Duke of Hell, but the name likely comes from the Phoenician goddess Astarte (or Ashtoreth), who is a version of Ishtar (Babylonian) and Inanna (Sumerian).

Astor: A French and German name from Occitan, meaning "goshawk." A goshawk is a bird of prey. I've read on naming sites that this name was originally a derogatory term for young men with hawk-like, predatory characteristics, but I haven't found anything to confirm this. This is the name of my alter-ego and one of the main protagonists of Shadowbook.

Astra/Astrid/Asteria: From Greek, "star." In Greek mythology, Asteria was a Titaness of astrology and prophecy, the mother of Hecate. An aster is also a star-shaped flower.

Atropos: The last of the Moirai (Fates), who cuts the thread at the end of life.

Autumn: The darkening part of the year, when everything is dying, and Halloween happens.

Azrael: The name of the Angel of Death, means "whom god helps." (Also Asriel)

Azazel: A Watcher's name, means "scapegoat." Taught humanity the arts of weaponry and cosmetics. Commonly associated with demons and evil.

Baphomet: A goat-headed, winged deity associated with Satanism; obscure etymology.

Bastet: Egyptian goddess of cats.

Belial: A Hebrew name meaning "worthless," a name of the devil or a demon.

Belladonna: Also called "deadly nightshade," an extremely poisonous plant that causes hallucinations and death.

Bellona: Roman goddess of war

Bezaliel: Means "shadow of God" or "damaged," a Watcher's name.

Blodeuwedd: Pronounced "bluh-DIE-weth," means "flower-face." A Welsh goddess who was turned into an owl.

Bram/Brom: Technically short for Abraham ("father of a multitude"), the author of Dracula, Abraham "Bram" Stoker.

Bran: Welsh, "raven." The name of Bran the Blessed, a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology.

Branwen: (Female) Welsh, means "white raven" or "fair raven."

Breksta: Lithuanian goddess of night, dreams, and twilight.

Caligo: Latin word for “mist,” “gloom,” and “darkness.” (Calignes is the plural, which could also work) (feminine)

Calypso: Greek, "she who conceals." The nymph who kept Odysseus imprisoned on her island.

Carmilla: A lesbian vampire from the gothic novel of the same name, predating Dracula. The name seems to have been invented by the author.

Cassius: Roman, "empty, hollow."

Ceridwen: Welsh enchantress or goddess who stirs the cauldron of poetic inspiration.

Cernunnos: Celtic forest god depicted as having a stag's antlers.

Chiroptera: Literally means "hand wing," the order of bats in taxonomy.

Circe: Means "circle." In Greek mythology, a sorceress who turned Odysseus' men into pigs (and later helped them).

Cora: From the Greek name Kore, meaning "maiden." A name for Persephone. (Also, Coraline.)

Cornix: A princess transformed into a crow by Athena in Ovid's Metamorphosis.

Corvus/Corax: Corvus corax is the scientific name of the common raven.

Crimson: Dark, rich red, the color of wine or blood. One of the Gothiest colors that isn't black. It's very easy for this to sound banal or cringey, especially if it's a character's given name, so use with caution. Scarlet works, too, if you want something easier to use as a given name.

Damian: From Greek, means "to tame," tends to be associated with demons or vampires, a bit cliche at this point.

Dantalion: A Goetic demon, the name is particularly cool.

Desdemona: A tragic character in Othello, comes from Greek and means "ill-fated." Can be shortened to "Mona."

Desmodus: The genus of common vampire bats. (D. rotundus)

Devana: Slavic version of Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt.

Dorian: The corrupt, depraved, nearly immortal and astonishingly beautiful protagonist from The Picture of Dorian Gray. (Turns out Oscar Wilde invented the name; it did not exist before the book was written.)

Dracul: Romanian, "devil" or "dragon." What really needs to be said?

Ebony: A very dark wood.

Echo: In Greek mythology, a nymph who was cursed so she would only repeat the names of others; died while pining after Narcissus.

Edgar: Anglo-Saxon, "rich spear." The name of the one and only Edgar Allen Poe (also, my cat).

Eidolon: A type of spirit or ghost in Greek liteature. Also a genus of bats.

Eirlys: Welsh, "snowflake."

Elatha: An Irish god, described as the "beautiful Miltonic prince of darkness with golden hair." Not sure what the source for that is, but cool!

Elvira: Spanish, means "foreign true," a stereotypical Goth name (and the name of the Mistress of the Dark!). Actually, I first ran across the name in reference to a vengeful ghost called Elvira Blood in New England folk legend. Spooky!

Empusa: A kind of Greek female demon (similar to Lamia) that served Hecate.

Endora: Comes from the Witch of Endor, a Biblical sorceress.

Endymion: In Greek mythology, a handsome shepherd whom Selene fell in love with. Zeus granted him eternal sleep so he would never age. Means "to dive, to enter."

Erebus: Greek primordial god and personification of darkness.

Esmeralda: Spanish name meaning "emerald." (Also, the heroine in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.)

Ethelinda: Anglo-Saxon, means "little serpent."

Euryale: Greek, means "far-roming," the middle Gorgon sister.

Eurynomos: Greek chthonic spirit of corpses.

Eventide: It could work as a name.

Fenrir: A wolf demon in Norse mythology, the son of Loki.

Finvarra: Irish, King of the Fairies (and sometimes King of the Dead), a benevolent entity that ensures a good harvest and abundance.

Gabriel: The angel. Means "warrior of god." Gabrielle also works (and is the name of Lestat's mother).

Gehenna: A Hebrew name for Tartarus or Hell.

Golgotha: From Hebrew, "skull," the place where Jesus was crucified.

Grimm: The surname of two German brothers who recorded a classic collection of oral folklore and fairy tales, many of which are very... well, grim.

Habundia: A Celtic name for the queen of witches and night creatures, possibly another name for Nicnevan. Etymology uncertain.

Hades: The Lord of the Underworld in Greek mythology (also the name of the Underworld itself).

Hawthorn: A type of shrub steeped in folklore, associated with fairies and with Beltane (1st May).

Hecate: Greek goddess of witchcraft, magic, the occult, the moon, necromancy, the Underworld, and the crossroads. Means "worker from far off."

Hellebore: A type of evergreen flower, some species of which are poisonous. Believed to summon demons, also believed to cure madness.

Hemlock: A plant used to poison people.

Herne: "the Hunter," a ghost that haunts Windsor Forest (sometimes identified with The Horned God).

Hesperos/ia: The evening star.

Hypnos: The Greek god of sleep.

Iblis: Satan in Islamic lore.

Idris: Welsh, "ardent (passionate, fiery) lord."

Igor: Russian, "bow-warrior." Became famous as the name of Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant, even though he doesn't exist in the book and his name in the original Universal film was Fritz.

Ingram: Swedish name meaning "Ing's raven."

Iolanthe: Greek, means "violet flower." (eye-oh-LAHN-thay)

Iseult/Isolde/Isolt: A tragic lover in Arthurian legend.

Jasmine: A type of flower, in this case referring to Cestrum nocturnum, or night-blooming jasmine.

Kali: Hindu goddess of destruction, name means "the black one."

Kasdaye: Means "hidden power," the name of a Watcher (another name for Tamiel). (Unisex)

Kiara/n: Gaelic, means "little black one."

Kimaris: A Goetic demon. (Male)

Kokabiel: Means "angel of the stars," a Watcher.

Lacrimae: Latin word for tears.

Lamia: A female demon in Greek folklore who devours children. The name of the witch in the film version of Stardust.

Lenore: A variant of Eleanor (also a good name), means "foreign," the lost love of the protagonist of "The Raven," also has her own poem.

Leshii: A Russian god of hunting, similar to Veles

Lethe: River of Forgetfulness in the Greek Underworld.

Leviathan: From Hebrew, "twisted in folds," a Biblical sea monster. Sometimes associated with Midgard's Serpent.

Libitina: A Roman goddess of corpses, funerals, and the dead.

Ligeia: Greek, the name of a Siren, also the subject of a Poe story of the same name.

Lilah: Comes from the Arabic Leila, meaning "night."

Lilith: Means "of the night" or "screech owl." In Hebrew mythology, Adam's first wife and the Queen of Demons. She refused to submit to Adam, so she left Eden and began screwing around with demons. Often considered a succubus or vampire, or a champion of feminism. A lilim is also a succubus or incubus.

Loki: Trickster god in Norse mythology with ambiguous morals.

Lorelei: German, means "murmuring rock," the name of a German Siren.

Lucius/Lucifer/Lucien: All mean "light" or "light-bringer," a name associated with Satan.

Lucy: From Dracula, also could be a shortening/feminization of Lucifer. (Still means "light.")

Luna: The Roman personification of the moon.

Lycoris: A Greek word that means "twilight," the name of an Asian red flower, associated with death and the underworld (much like Asphodel).

Maeve: Comes from Gaelic, means "the intoxicating one." Associated with the Fairy Queen Mab.

Makaria: Greek goddess of blessed death, a daughter of Hades and Persephone.

Mania: Etruscan/Roman goddess of the undead, ghosts, and underworld spirits, goddess of madness. Also a modern medical term referring to a specific mental illness.

Mara: A name steeped in darkness, referring to a nightmare spirit (nightmare), a (benevolent) goddess of death in Latvian mythology, a (male) demon in Buddhist mythology, and a Sanskrit word meaning "death."

Medea: In Greek mythology, the sorceress who helped Jason, but then went on a murderous rampage when he left her. Considered to be a priestess (or, rarely, daughter) of Hecate.

Megaera: One of the Erinyes (Furies), the goddesses of vengeance. Means "grudge."

Melanie: Greek, "black" or "dark."

Melantha: Greek, "dark flower."

Melinda/Mindy: English, "black serpent."

Melinoe: Greek goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and madness, a daughter of Hades and Persephone.

Mephistopheles: The name of the devil in the Faust legend, could be from Hebrew and mean "disperser of lies," or from Greek and mean "does not love the light."

Merle: (Unisex) from French, "blackbird."

Mina: From Dracula. Short for Wilhelmina, a German name meaning "will-helmet."

Morana/Marzanna: Slavic goddess of winter and death.

Morgan/Morgana: From Welsh, means "sea-circle," the name of Morgan le Fay, a sorceress in Arthurian Legend (who may be good or evil, depending on your interpretation).

Morpheus: The Greek god of dreams, the main protagonist of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics. (Also, The Matrix.)

Morrigan: An Irish goddess of death, battle, and ravens, name means "great queen."

Morwenna: A Welsh name meaning "maiden." ("Morwanneg" is the name of the witch in Stardust.)

Nepenthe: A magical drug from the Odyssey that cures sorrow and causes forgetfulness.

Nephthys: Means "lady of the temple," the Egyptian goddess of the dead, mate of Seth and mother of Anubis.

Nergal: Mesopotamian god of death, war, and destruction.

Nicnevan: Queen of the Fairies in Scottish folklore. She is the Scottish version of Hecate.

Nightshade: A family of plants including tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants, but also the notorious deadly nightshade.

Nisha/nt: A Hindi name meaning "night."

Nocturne: Self-explanatory. Refers to a night prayer, a musical composition evoking night, or a night scene in art.

Nyctala/Nyctea: Two obsolete genera of owls. Nyctala is the genus of Boreal owls before it was changed to Aegolius, and Nyctea was the genus of Snowy owls before it was changed to Bubo. Both probably mean or are related to "night."

Nyctalus: A genus of bats.

Nyctimene: A princess from Ovid's Metamorphoses who was so ashamed at having been molested by her father, she refused to show her face in daylight. Out of pity, Minerva (Athena) turned her into an owl. Also a genus of bats.

Nyx: A Greek primordial goddess and personification of the Night. (also Nox)

Oberon: From French, means "elf-ruler," the name of the Fairy King in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Referred to in one scene as the "king of shadows").

Obsidian: A shiny black volcanic stone.

Onyx: A type of banded stone, most famously black. (The word comes from the Greek for "fingernail.")

Ophelia: A tragic character in Hamlet, which probably comes from Greek and means "help."

Orcus: A Latin word for Hell, and a Roman god who punished the dead (possibly an epithet of Hades/Pluto).

Orion: A hunter in Greek mythology, and the famous constellation.

Orlok: The name of the ugly-looking vampire from Nosferatu.

Orpheus: Greek name, possibly comes from the word orphe, "darkness." The name of a demigod with an impossibly beautiful singing voice who attempted to rescue his love from the underworld, failed, and then died tragically.

Pan: Greek goat-horned god of nature, herds, and lust, induces "panic."

Pandora: Name means "all-gifted." In Greek mythology, the name of the first woman, who opened a box that unleashed evil upon the world.

Pandemonium: The capital city of Hell in Paradise Lost, name literally means "all demons."

Persephone: Greek Queen of the Underworld, wife of Hades, and goddess of springtime. You probably know her story. Her name might mean "thrasher of grain" (which would make sense for an agricultural goddess), but could also mean "slayer."

Phaenon: Means "shining" in Greek, refers to the planet Saturn (which has long been associated with darkness in mythology, being the furthest planet from the sun that is observable with the naked eye).

Pluto: Hades' Roman name, also the ninth planet, or what was the ninth planet.

Ransley: An English name meaning "raven's meadow."

Raven: This is by far the most cliche Goth name there is (I originally created this list to provide alternatives to the name “Raven”), but it’s classic, it’s simple, it’s unisex, and it’s undeniably Goth. 

Ravenna: Self-explanatory, also an Italian city.

Renwick: Scottish surname meaning "raven settlement."

Sable: A word referring to the color black.

Salome: From Hebrew shalom, "peace." The daughter of Herod and Herodias, unnamed in the Bible, who requested the head of John the Baptist and danced the Dance of the Seven Veils.

Samael: Means "venom of God," a vicious angel of death, the mate of Lilith. He is not technically a fallen angel, but a servant of God who does the dirty work.

Sekhmet: Egyptian goddess of war and destruction, with the head of a lioness. Her name means "power" or "might." Her epithets included "Mistress of Dread," "Lady of Slaughter," and "She Who Mauls." Ra had to stop her from killing people by getting her drunk on beer that was dyed to look like blood.

Selene: Greek personification of the moon. (Includes "Selena" and variants.")

Senka: Basque name meaning "shadow."

Seren: (Unisex) Welsh name meaning "star."

Seth: A name of Set or Sutekh, the Egyptian god of evil, chaos, and storms. He killed his brother Osiris and cut his body into pieces, and then was defeated by Horus. His head is that of an animal that looks kind of like an aardvark but is not an actual existing creature (at least not anymore). He was associated with the color red and the desert. His name possibly means "one who dazzles."

Shadow: Self-explanatory.

Silas: From Greek, means "from the forest." In The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, it's the name of a [spoiler]vampire.

Silver: The color of the moon, and it looks nice with black.

Sinistra: Technically, it's Latin for "left," but it obviously has "sinister" connotations.

Skiá: Greek word for "shadow" or "shade."

Skotos: Ancient Greek word for "darkness," especially the darkness of death or the netherworld, or obscurity.

Skuld: The last of the Norns (Fates), representing death. Means "debt."

Sombra: The Spanish word for "shadow."

Somnus: Roman name for Hypnos, sleep.

Spyridon: Greek name referring to wicker baskets, which implies wealth. Could also be connected to the Latin spiritus, which means breath or spirit. Usually shortened to Spyro.

Stella: The Latin word for "star."

Stheno: Greek, means "forceful." The eldest of the Gorgon sisters.

Styx: The River of Hate in the Greek Underworld, the most famous of its rivers. The souls of the dead are ferried across it by Charon, and the gods (foolishly, if you ask me, seeing as they always regret it) swear on the Styx to make unbreakable oaths. The word "Stygian" means "of the River Styx" and refers to something very dark or abyssal.

Summanus: Roman god of nocturnal thunder.

Sylvia​​​​​​/Sylvana: Latin, "from the forest."

Tanith: Phoenician, "serpent lady."

Tartarus: The deepest hell-pit of the Greek Underworld, where evildoers are punished.

Tempest: A wild storm, from the Latin for "time."

Thanatos: The Greek personification of Death.

Tiamat: Babylonian primordial dragon goddess.

Tisiphone: One of the Erinyes (Furies), the goddesses of vengeance. Means "murder-retribution."

Tristan: Welsh, "riot, tumult." (Although it sounds like the Latin tristis, which means "sad.") The name of Isolt's lover in Arthurian Legend, and the name of the protagonist in Stardust.

Valerian: Roman, means "strength" or "valiant," also the name of an herb.

Vega: (Unisex) Latin from Arabic, means "falling" or "swooping," a star in the constellation Lyra. It is one of the brightest stars in the entire sky.

Veles: Slavic horned god of cattle, forests, magic, and the underworld.

Veliona: Slavic goddess of death

Velvet: A fabric that most goths love to wear.

Vervain: An herb (verbena), meaning "sacred bough," considered a magical or holy herb in multiple cultures.

Vesperus: (or just Vesper), a Roman name meaning "evening." (Vespera for a girl)

Vespertilio: A genus of bats.

Victor: The first of the trio of gothy male "V" names, means "conqueror," as in "victory." Frankenstein's first name. (Victoria also works for a girl.)

Vincent: The second of the trio of gothy male "V" names, also meaning "conquering," from Latin.

Vivian: The Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend. From French, means "lively."  (Another name for the Lady is Nimue, which is Welsh and may be related to the Greek word for "memory." She sealed Merlin in a tree.)

Vlad: The third of the trio of gothy male "V" names, the name of Vlad Tepes or "Vlad the Impaler," the real-life Romanian prince who inspired Count Dracula. It's Slavic and means "ruler."

Willow: A beautiful and mournful-looking tree.

Winter: The dark, cold season. Unisex!

Yvaine: Scottish, means "evening star," the name of the star in Stardust.

Zagreus: The name of a chthonic Greek god who was potentially a son of Hades and Persephone or Zeus and Persephone, considered in Orphic lore to be Dionysus before he was dismembered and reincarnated.

Zillah: Hebrew name meaning "shadow."

[sherinspatialfabrication-ii]

Self Directed Exercise Week 2, Part 2.

‘Wai o te Marama’ (2004) by Maureen Lander (Toi Tū Toi Ora Art Exhibition: Contemporary Māori Art)

‘Wai o te Marama’ (2004) by Maureen Lander (The Eternal Thread, Te Aho Mutunga Kore exhibition, Pātaka, Porirua Art Exhibition)

Summary: Wai o te Marama (2004) incorporates harakeke (flax), muka fibre and nylon that was formed into a maro (apron or kilt) which was shaped triangularly with rows of braids. Lander has left the edges of braids loose to replicate the pōkinikini tags, which can be found in early rapaki (waist mat) weavings. Lander say the source for this artwork came from an old memory which was “During my years in Hokianga the sight of the full moon rising from over the Wai o te Marama valley was a recurring vision, seen from the porch of my bach in Omapere. The track from the floor of the valley up into the kauri forest was a favourite daytime walk of mine. Often when I paused for rest alongside the beautiful waterfall halfway up, I would imagine how the water might look lit by the moon, like its name.”

Analysis: The center of the piece is the focal point as it draws my attention to the particular part of work and the flow of the design with the blue UV lighting looks like a water ripple that is forming into a waterfall. All materials work together to recreate Lander’s memory of the waterfall, which includes harakeke, muka, nylon line, fluorescent paint and UV lighting. The textures within the artwork from the flax and muka fibre are effective with the lighting to reenact how the surface of water shine. The Blue UV lighting against the black wall creates depth within the space, which creates the illusion that helps make the waterfall come to life. Her eye for details is visible through this artwork as she can imitate the characteristic of a waterfall that is weightless and looks like it’s floating perfectly. The Second image is able to show how the artwork looks different in other exhibitions where the artwork didn’t have the UV lighting and the work feels completely difference without the lighting, so the lighting plays an important role.

Volumetric Models

All three models

Notes: For all three models, I was inspired by ‘Wai o te Marama’ (2004) by Maureen Lander. I wanted to explore the idea of a waterfall through colour, light and texture. I purposely limited the materials I used for these model also tried my best not copy the design of original artwork as well to challenge myself.

Colour & Light

Concept: The triangular shape from the artwork inspired me to make the model triangular as well. I added the random length holes to play with light and shadow. I used water colour to apply some qualities of water in the model. 

Colour & Texture

Concept: The shape of this model itself shows the flow of water. I added the black ink into the model to emphasis the depth of the model.

Colour in-between Light & Texture

Concept: For colour in-between light and texture, I wanted to create a model that was a mix of the two ideas that I have already explored.

[siderealxmelody]

"It is a place of healing, a place of redemption."

Sebastien lets his hand falls away as a new voice joins them. His hands clench into fists and he glares at the man who steps into a few yards away.

Even as far away as he is, his words carry.

"I told you not to find me Adnai. Are you that simpleminded that that simple order is lost on you?"

The new man - Adnai laughs softly and walks toward them. He looks good, brand shouldered with thick beard and kind eyes.

But Sebastien stares at him as if he is the font of all hatred in the world.

"Peace Abzu, I wished to see my family is that -"

"Family you denied a home to, family you would have left motherless."

Adnai's smile slips and he gives Sebastien a stern look.

"You know how I felt for her, you know I did not like her. You went after her and married anyway. It is not my fault you chose her and not our -"

"You think I'm angry you built a religion around yourself and didn't include me? You think I crave the adulation of the masses like you both did?"

Adnai had turned away and looked at Alexsander and her.

"You both are welcome here, my brother might think I cruel for my actions. But the masses are children and children do not learn without discipline that is all. No one was exempt from that - even my own blood. You both will not be harmed here."

He walks back into the forest, beginning to fade away.

Sebastien slowly exhales and looks at Alexsander.

"Does that answer your question son? He claims he will not excommunicate anyone from here no matter what. But he did once say it would be us against our enemies - and he lied. So what's stopping him from lying now?"

The voice that answered them sounded in all three of their heads. Just as rich and smooth as Adnai's voice had been a moment ago.

Faith brother. Faith in me, in what we once had. You do not believe me but we have eternity. I hope one day I can restore your faith in me.

How about you start by not eavesdropping in private conversations? I thought we had this conversation when you were younger - it seems like then you still don't take lessons to heart.

Kore looked at Alexsander, just what had happened between them? More importantly, what did that mean for them now?

an-endless-saga​:

Sebastien hugs him tightly, kissing his forehead.

“Life doesn’t have answers sometime Aidon. But I - it was my birthright that I was denied. I - I saw what the denial was doing to my family. The food and money wasn’t enough for us. It was as if wherever I went the food and plants refused to grow. A curse perhaps done by my arrogant brother? I don’t know, your mother was sick.”

He steps back enough to look at him, to make sure he understood the rules, the point of this place.

“I couldn’t - for all our disagreements, I couldn’t bare a world without her. She had been my compass, my rage for so long - I worried I would turn to dust without her. So I went looking for my brother, for aid. He denied me and so I began to craft a spell, one of immortality - of life. I finished it but he sent soldiers to kill me. She should have joined me long ago, so my only guess is your mother found it in the wreckage and drank the tiny part of it that was left.”

He sighed and wiped at his son’s eyes, he could feel Kore listening. Trying to use this new knowledge to figure out her own questions.

“This place is an apology for all my brother and she hurt. I don’t know where the Innocents you killed go but it isn’t here Aidon. Here we are safe - here we are free. Don’t go looking for my brother, he is here - I saw him only once and it didn’t end on good terms.”

His grip tightened on his son’s shoulder and he looked at Kore as well.

“You both must promise me that much, don’t go looking for either of them.”

Kore only titled her head.

“And they come looking for us? What should we do?”

“Play along, be nice to them. I don’t - I don’t want to loose either of you both. Please.”

She nodded, gave a convincing enough (at least she hoped) promise.

Yeah, I’m not doing any of that. What about you darling? You believe any of this? I don’t - I do worry because your father doesn’t seem the type to scare easily.“

𝐍𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐈𝐃𝐍’𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐘. At least, he didn’t used to. Surely that still remains the same, and though his father’s words are firm in his mind, he can’t help but agree with her. 

And so he questions. Again. 

“Why?” A frown appears on his lips, his brow furrowed. “Why would you lose– Why must we play along?” Perhaps a part of him had thought such playing is over with. If this is truly a place of peace– Then what darkness could await if they do not do as he says? 

He’s not, he answers her mentally. I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t like it. It sits uneasily in him, but at least his father has some answers… right? 

“What’s going on in this place?” 

[themori-witch]

Hi! I've been wanting to look into earth/nature magick, gods/goddesses and/or deities... Any ideas where I could start? Thank you love 💕

Hello darling.That’s a nice broad way to start, I like it!Firstly, you may want to determine whether you want to within a certain pantheon or not, but I’m going to just hit you with some broad spectrum information which you can then choose to delve into or research more.

*These lists will likely miss some deities out because I want to give you the basics, but further research will help if you would like to find out more.

Aztec Nature/Earth Deities:

Xipe-Totec (god of force, lord of the seasons and rebirth, ruler of the East).

Tonacatecuhtli (god of sustenance).

Tonacacihuatl (goddess of sustenance).

Tlaltecuhtli (god of the earth).

Chicomecoatl (goddess of agriculture).

Centeotl (god of the maize).

Celtic Nature/Earth Deities:

Abnoba (Gaulish - associated with forests and rivers).

Artio (Gaulish - bear goddess of the wilderness).

Arduinna (goddess of the Ardennes forest, portrayed as a huntress).

Cernunnos (god of male animals, produce and fertility).

Druantia (goddess of trees).

Nantosuelta (Gaulish - goddess of the earth, nature, fertility and fire).

Sucellus (god of agriculture, alcoholic beverages, and forests).

Viridos (god of vegetation, agriculture and rebirth).

Egyptian Nature/Earth Deities:

Aker (god of the earth and the horizon).

Geb (god of earth).

Iah (god of the moon).

Nut (goddess of sky).

Renenutet (goddess of agriculture).

Shu (embodiment of wind/air).

Greek Nature/Earth Deities:

Antheia (goddess of flowery wreaths).

Anthousai (flower nymphs).

Aristaeus (god of shepherds, cheesemaking, beekeeping, honey, honey-mead, olive growing, oil milling, medicinal herbs, hunting, and the Etesian winds).

Artemis (goddess of the hunt, the dark, the light, the moon, wild animals, nature, wilderness, childbirth, virginity, fertility, young girls, and health and plague in women and childhood).

Aurai (nymphs of the breezes).

Chloris (goddess of flowers).

Cybele (Phrygian goddess of the fertile earth and wild animals).

Demeter (goddess of the harvest, crops, the fertility of the earth, grains, and the seasons).

Dionysus (god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, and festivity. Roman equivalent is Bacchus).

Dryads (tree and forest nymphs).

Epimeliades (nymphs of highland pastures and protectors of sheep flocks).

Gaea (the goddess of the earth and its personification. She is also the primal mother goddess).

Hamadryades (oak tree dryades).

Hegemone (goddess of plants, specifically making them bloom and bear fruit as they were supposed to).

Horae (goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time).

Karmanor (god of reaping).

Meliae (nymphs of honey and the ash tree).

Nymphs (nature spirits).

Naiades (fresh water nymphs).

Nereids (salt-water nymphs).

Oceanides (fresh water nymphs).

Oreades (mountain nymphs).

Oxylus (god of forests & mountains).

Pan (god of shepherds, flocks, mountain wilds, and rustic music).

Persephone (Kore) (goddess of spring growth).

Physis (primeval goddess of nature).

Rhea (goddess of fertility, motherhood, and the mountain wilds).

Satyrs (rustic nature spirits).

Slavic Nature/Earth Deities:

Berstuk (Wendish - god of the forest).

Jarilo (god of vegetation, fertility, spring, war and harvest).

Porewit (god of the woods, who protected lost voyagers and punished those who mistreated the forest).

Porvata (Polish - god of the woods).

Siliniez (Polish - god of the woods for whom moss was sacred).

Tawals (Polish - blessing-bringing god of the meadows and fields).

Veles (god of earth, waters and the underworld).

Norse Nature/Earth Deities:

Idun or Ithunn (goddess of spring who guarded the apples that kept the gods eternally young; wife of the god Bragi).

Fjörgyn (female personification of the earth. She is also the mother of the goddess Frigg and, very rarely, mother of Thor).

Freyja (goddess of fertility, gold, death, love, beauty, war and magic).

Freyr (god of fertility, rain, sunlight, life and summer).

Skadi (goddess of mountains, skiing, winter, archery and hunting).

Nature/Earth Magick:

If you check Richtor’s nature tag [here] they have a tonne of resources to help you!

[shanastoryteller]

Hi, I just wanted to say the the gods & monsters series is one of the most wonderful things I've read. I know that some already have Hades in them but could you please do one about Hades and Persephone meeting? That would be amazing, thank you

Apollo comes to her, warm and smiling. He likes her body, its gentle curves, the flawless skin, how it shines with the youth and strength of spring. He is the sun and she is the earth, and it is from his rays that she gains her strength, and it would be expected of them to love each other. The god is golden, from his skin to his hair to his mischievous eyes, and there is not an inch of him that is not as lovely as the rays of sunlight peeking through the leaves.

Kore is not stupid. She knows Apollo does not linger, that she will be a wife in name and little else; he will lie with her and worship her and then grow bored of her.

Hermes comes to her, eyes sharp and hands gentle. He likes her mind, her acuteness, the way she views the world as a gem cutter would a raw emerald. He is wings and air and she is firmly rooted in the earth, she is as far from him as one can be, but his skin and hers are the exact same shade and she finds the shape of his mouth pleasing. She likes the way he considers her his equal.

But Hermes is meant to fly, spends his time carrying messages for Zeus and meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. He may be a fine enough man, but he’s no husband.

She has two offers – each from powerful gods, each attractive and clever. There’s no reason she should find them both as unappealing as congealed chicken fat, yet she does.

“I do not often find you alone,” a deep, feminine voice says, and Kore suppresses a sigh as she turns to greet the approaching woman. She sits deep in the forest under a blossoming apple tree, but this is not her dominion alone.

“I am not often alone,” she concedes, observing the blood soaked goddess. “I’m assuming none of that is yours?”

Artemis doesn’t have enough hair to toss it over her shoulder, but she runs a hand through it, pushing it out of her face and streaking it copper in the process. “Of course not. I hope you weren’t too attached to the bucks of this forest.”

“Animals are not my concern,” she answers, “Besides, I am the goddess of spring, and therefore am born from death. It would be foolish of me to reject that which bore me.”

“Funny you should say that,” she says, “since all of Olympus is gossiping about how desperately you seek to leave the sanctuary of what bore you.”

Kore raises an eyebrow. Artemis is clumsy with her words, but she supposes the woman has never had a need to be otherwise. There are few as transparently straightforward as the huntress. She smiles, “Perhaps it is more funny, dear cousin, how easily the words prison and sanctuary become entangled.“

Artemis crosses her arms and sucks her lower lips between her teeth. “No,” she says finally, sobering, “I don’t think that’s very funny at all.”

Kore arranges her skirts around her, the green of the thread and that of the grass nearly identical. “If you’re here to plead your brother’s case for my hand, I’m willing to listen.”

The huntress snorts, derisive, and Kore raises an eyebrow. “I would not recommend my brother’s hand,” she says, “There are other parts of his anatomy which leave many satisfied, however, if that falls within your interests.”

“I am a more desirable bride as a virgin,” she answers instead of saying that the thought of touching a man she does not love makes her skin crawl. Artemis laughs as if she just told a joke, but if so Kore is ignorant of the punchline.

She does not know if she could love either Hermes or Apollo, at least not for the eternity that marks a god’s impossibly long life. It would result in a rather lackluster love making, which is presumably their main goal in pursuing her.

She dislikes her options. Behind her is the gilded cage of her mother’s overprotectiveness, and ahead of her lies the gilded cage of a loveless marriage.

“Kore,” Artemis says, frowning, “if – if you are to defy Demeter, you must go someplace that she cannot enter, a place where her magic cannot reach you.”

“Where might that be?” Kore asks dryly, “She is as I am – all that grows from this earth is our domain. Perhaps in the sea I could hide from her, but Poseidon is no friend of mine and has no reason to grant me asylum.”

Artemis shrugs, a wry twist to her lips. She cracks her neck on either side and walks back from where she came, but not before calling out over her shoulder, “I guess there is no such place Kore, goddess of spring, born of death and Demeter.“

Kore is still for a long time, staring at the place where Artemis stood.

Perhaps she is not so clumsy with her words after all.

 ~

Slipping away from her mother’s watchful eye is always monstrous task, even more so since the rumors of her proposals, but she manages. She finds the River Styx and follows it against its current, walking past and through all the warning sign that she’s gone too far, ignores the prickle along her skin as she crosses the threshold from this world to the next.

Almost immediately she comes across a hooded figure standing besides a small boat. “Charon,” she greets confidently. She tries to catch a peek under his hood, but he tilts his head away from her and manages to give the impression that he’s frowning at her even though she can’t see his face. “I need passage across the river.”

“You are not dead, lady goddess,” he says.

She holds out a shiny gold coin, “I can pay.”

“You are not dead,” he repeats, “You may not be ferried across.”

She nearly snaps at him, but instead takes a firm hold on her temper and thinks. Charon did not say she was not permitted to enter the underworld, only that he may not ferry her across. She peeks into the rushing river. It’s so powerful and fast that it churns grey foam and the water itself looks black, or perhaps that is simply whatever lies beneath. She skims her hand across the surface and the skin of her fingertips comes away burned and blistering.

“May I swim?” she asks.

“There are no rules preventing the impossible,” he tells her, but his shoulders stiffen as if he’s grown nervous.

Kore is not nervous. Either she survives and manages to enter the underworld, or she dies and Charon will have no choice but to ferry her across.

She sheds her gown – it will only weigh her down and get in her way. “My lady goddess,” Charon says, and Kore would almost say he sounds panicked. “Please do not –”

She jumps into the river.

It burns all over, white hot pain that makes her want to scream, but she has no interest in discovering what would happen if she were to swallow any of this supposed water. The current fights against her at every turn, and her muscles bunch and strain to not be swept away. It’s improbably difficult, the most difficult thing she’s ever done, but she grasps the edge of the shore with peeling hands and heaves her bloody body unto the ground.

Her entire body is one throbbing wound. Perhaps she should have listened to Charon before diving headfirst into the river, but it’s too late for regrets.

“Are you insane?” a thunderous voice demands, and then she’s being lifted by strong arms until she’s settled against a muscular chest.

She forces her eyes open, and the man glaring down at her has hair the color of the night sky and skin as pale as bone. His nose is long and sharp, his mouth wide and thin. The only bits of colors are his eyes, a green so dark that at first glance they look black. She raises a hand and cups his face, and the water clinging to her doesn’t seem to hurt him the way it hurt her. “Hades,” she says, and everything pains her just as much as before but his skin soothes hers. The skin on her palms comes away healed.

He’s angry with her, but his touch is gentle. There’s not a stitch of clothing on her, but he doesn’t glance or grope, only pulls her against him and uses the sleeve of his robe to clear the burning water from her face. “Yes, insane goddess, I am Hades.”

She had not meant to meet him, only to hide among his realm until she could think of a better plan. But she likes him already, an instantaneous and childish feeling, one she can’t remember having before.

She turns into his chest and lets out a pleased sigh, content to go wherever he brings her.

“They call me Kore.”

gods and monsters series, part vii

[shou7]

Translation: TRUE LOVE by クリープハイプ

Japanese lyrics

三輪車に跨ってた けど補助輪外してこれからは 前輪と後輪に神頼み 降臨した二輪で走るのみ 自転車に乗って目指す海 「EとしのAリー」に出会った日 一輪の花を見つけた日 永遠の愛を誓った日

大人の恋　大人の愛　一昨日来い　黒い春 ハメを外して輪を外せば　輪をかけて叩かれるフリ 大人の恋　大人の愛　一昨日来い　黒い春 ハメを外して輪も外せば　輪をかけて叩かれる不倫

one love, two love, three love, 言葉のアヤだよ true love one love, two love, three love, あれは語弊だよ true love

上る階段　アンタッチャボ＝デニーロパチーノ パンドラのBOXに色とりどりのショートケーキ イチゴ１会　出あいは木漏れ日

紫陽花にバタフライがフライト スライドするフロイトの原則 これ切り　ゆび切り　それ切り　それ切り 其所の木じゃ遮２無２　バードがさえずり

A面の愛　B面の恋 AとB　アシンメトリー エアガンとガン　CandyとGum 主観客観　MP3と盤

ロールする３ダル３セット ウインドウが鳴らす３角関係 あるべきものがあるべき時に あるべき所に必ずあるだろうか

one love, two love, three love, 言葉のアヤだよ true love one love, two love, three love, あれは語弊だよ true love

白い恋人　愛の結晶　尻切れとんぼは無期懲役 風の如く林の如く火の如く　動かざること山の如し 黒い交際　愛を殺生　尻切れとんぼは無期懲役 風の如く林の如く火の如く　招かざる客山の如し

イコール、風林火山 不倫で火山　情報アルプス エゴとエゴのクラッシュ　●●なトスとスマッシュ ゴシップスプラッシュ　涙にフラッシュライト

水にキックした小石の後が　とめどなく輪を広げた慕情 Can I kick it？　“キックして” Can I kick it？　“キックして”

one love, two love, three love, 言葉のアヤだよ true love one love, two love, three love, あれは語弊だよ true love

　

Romaji lyrics

Sanrinsha ni matagatteta Kedo hojowa hazushite kore kara wa Zenrin to kourin ni kamidanomi Kourin shita nirin de hashiru no mi Jitensha ni notte mezasu umi "E toshi no A rii" ni deatta hi Ichirin no hana wo mitsuketa hi Eien no ai wo chikatta hi

Otona no koi otona no ai ototoi koi kuroi haru Hame wo hazushite wa wo hazuseba wa wo kakete tatakareru furi Otona no koi otona no ai ototoi koi kuroi haru Hame wo hazushite wa wo hazuseba wa wo kakete tatakareru furin

one love, two love, three love, Kotoba no aya da yo true love one love, two love, three love, Are wa gohei da yo true love

Noboru kaidan antacchabo = de niiro pachiino Pandora no BOX ni iro toridori no shootokeeki Ichigo ichiai deai wa komorebi

Ajisai ni batafurai ga furaito Suraidosuru furoito no gensoku Kore kiri, yubi kiri, sore kiri, sore kiri Soko no ki ja shanimuni baado ga saezuri

A men no ai B men no koi A to B ashinmetorii Eagan to gan Candy to Gum Shukan kyakkan MP3 to ban

Roorusuru sandaru sansetto Uindou ga narasu sankaku kankei Aru beki mono ga aru beki toki ni Aru beki tokoro ni kanarazu aru darou ka

one love, two love, three love, Kotoba no aya da yo true love one love, two love, three love, Are wa gohei da yo true love

Shiroi koibito ai no kesshou shirikire tonbo wa muki choueki Kaze no gotoku hayashi no gotoku hi no gotoku ugokazaru koto yama no gotoshi Kuroi kousai ai wo sesshou shirikire tonbo wa muki choueki Kaze no gotoku hayashi no gotoku hi no gotoku manekazaru kyaku yama no gotoshi

Ikooru, fuurinkazan Furin de kazan jouhou arupusu Ego to ego no kurasshu ●● na tosu to sumasshu Goshippu supurasshu namida ni furasshuraito

Mizu ni kikkushita koishi no ato ga tomedonaku wa wo hirogeta bojou Can I kick it? "Kikkushite" Can I kick it? "Kikkushite"

one love, two love, three love, Kotoba no aya da yo true love one love, two love, three love, Are wa gohei da yo true love

　

English lyrics

Straddling a tricycle But having removed the training wheels, from here on The front and back wheels are in the gods' hands I made my descent, speeding only with two wheels Riding a bicycle to the sea that I sought The day I met "Allie my lovE" The day we found a single flower The day we pledged our eternal love

An adult's love, an adult's affection, it came the day before yesterday - a black spring Going wild and taking off the ring, then getting beat up by an even wilder pretense An adult's love, an adult's affection, it came the day before yesterday - a black spring Going wild and taking off the ring, then getting beat up by an even wilder affair

one love, two love, three love, It's a figure of speech y'know - true love one love, two love, three love, That's a misleading expression y'know - true love

Climbing stairs, untouchable = De Niro, Pacino A colourful shortcake in pandora's box 1 strawberry party, meeting under the foliage

A butterfly takes flight from a hydrangea The Freudian principle that slides One last time, pinky promise, that's all, that's all Cutting down that tree over there would be too reckless; the birds twitter

A-side's affection, B-side's love A and B - asymmetry Air gun and gun, Candy and Gum Subjective, objective, MP3 and CD 3 sets of sandals rolling The window chimes - a triangular relationship

Something that should exist at the time it should exist In the place it should exist - will it absolutely be there?

one love, two love, three love, It's a figure of speech y'know - true love one love, two love, three love, That's a misleading expression y'know - true love

Shiroi Koibito, fruits of love, leaving things unfinished is a life sentence As wind, as a forest, as fire, as unshakable as a mountain A black relationship, killing of love, leaving things unfinished is a life sentence As wind, as a forest, as fire, as welcoming as a mountain

Equals, fuurinkazan Volcano from an affair - information Alps A clash of ego and ego - a ●● toss and smash A gossip splash, flashlight on tears

A yearning that expands like a ripple after a pebble has been kicked into the water Can I kick it? "Kick it" Can I kick it? "Kick it"

one love, two love, three love, It's a figure of speech y'know - true love one love, two love, three love, That's a misleading expression y'know - true love

　

Translator’s note

Lots of wordplay going on in the lyrics.  EとしのAリー seems to be a punny way of wording out a famous Japanese song “Itoshi no Ellie” by Ayaka Hirahira.  輪をかけて literally means to put on a ring, but is also an expression for exaggeration - “even wilder” in this context. The literal translation of  これ切り　ゆび切り　それ切り is “cut here, cut a finger, cut there”. ３ダル is a punny way of writing sandal (サンダル). 愛の結晶 (”fruit of love”) is a term that refers to children, so I’d personally take “killing of love” to mean an abortion.  尻切れとんぼ is an expression for leaving something unfinished. Literally, it means a dragonfly with its bottom end cut off. 風林火山 (fuurinkazan) literally means wind, forest, fire, mountain. It’s a derivation of a line from Sun Tze’s ‘The Art of War’. The full line in English is “as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as mountain." The censored word seems to be 下衆 (gesu) which can be taken to mean rude. It seems to be a dig at Gesu no Kiwami Otome vocalist Enon Kawatani’s infamous affair with Becky.