#lotophagoi

[letmeinimafairy]

Lotophagoi. A fresco from Pompeii depicting a pair of lotus eaters, because ouch. Tempera and sea pottery.

Available

[saunne]

HSR THEORY - PENACONY AND THE FAMILY

Okay so when I saw Penacony, it made me awfully think of something but I couldn't pinpoint exactly what. Until this morning.

For a bit of context, let's review quickly what we know.

The introduction to Penacony is as follow :

Penacony, also known as the Planet of Festivities, is a planet currently inhabited by the Family in the Asdana star system.

It is said that it was once a prison planet owned by the IPC, until a Stellaron corrosion broke out, a bit like what happened on Jarilo VI. When it happened, Penacony took refuge under The Family and Xipe's patronage.

This prison used to work for the Garden of Recollection to retrieve Memory Bubbles and since it's Fuli domain, linked to memory and all that is unconscious/subconscious, Penacony gradually became a "dream-planet" cutted off from reality, with people's consciousness linked in dreams.

It was the over-present theme of dreams/memory and dream nation that made me go 🤨 the first time but nothing clicked until I went to check who the fuck was The Family. And soon enough, things started to feel strange.

In the vision of the Harmony, the diverse civilizations throughout the universe will eventually become as close as siblings, singing in unison the hymn of unity and joy.

They come from different worlds, belong to different civilizations, and have different identities, but they are, at the same time, the closest family members there are. There is never noisy disputes or even contradictions among its members, only eternal love and smiles — there is no more harmonious family in the universe than them.

Yeah. It sounds good, right ? Who doesn't want interstellar peace and happiness (except Nanook and their followers) ?

But at the same time, the tone of all that, it sounds a bit like a sect doesn’t it ? It seems a bit too good to be true, to be honest.

And it's when I got the Eureka moment of "what does it make me think of" if I may say so.

LOTOPHAGOI.

Also more commonly known as : Lotus-eaters.

In Greek Mythology, in Homer's Odyssey, the Lotus-eaters were a race of people known for their consumption of lotus seeds, a powerful narcotic that made them live in a peaceful apathy.

"Peaceful apathy" hm ? Interesting.

It is believed that this lotus could have been Nymphea caerula, also known as the "blue lotus" of the Nile, used by Egyptian to produce a soporific with psychotropic properties.

Soporific as in "dream inducing". Penacopy being a dream-nation, it's when I started getting suspicious. But then, psychotropic : a psychotropic drug is one that affects mood, thoughts, perception and behavior.

"There is never noisy disputes or even contradictions among its members, only eternal love and smiles". Yeah, well I personally believe they're high as fucking kites.

One of the most interesting things however is what happened after consuming the lotus : "After they ate the lotus, they would forget their home and loved ones and long only to stay with their fellow lotus-eaters. Those who ate the plant never cared to report or return." (x)

What did it say about the Family, hmmmm ?

And it gets even worse !

People are also curious whether any members of the Family had grown tired of the one and voluntarily abandoned the Path of Harmony? In the face of such a question, the Family smiles and replies “Never."

Yeah. I don't really feels like it's a good idea to go on Penacony anymore ?

Because an old prison-planet ? Cut off from reality and heavily linked to dream-state ? Under the full control of The Family ?

"The Family at Penacony issued formal invitations to many galactic factions for the first time in history."

And they invited a whole lot of important people too, how curious !

Addendum:

The universe will become a harmonious whole, with no discordant notes to disrupt the beautiful chords and no fools worrying about their own short-sighted futures.

Do you all know Percy Jackson? Well guess what Rick Riordan did of the Lotophagoi ? A fancy Hotel-Casino in which you got trapped and lost sense of time, without ever wanting to leave !

Planet of Festivities ? Casino ? Anyone ?

Yeah.

Well if they propose to you any suspicious flower-looking food or seeds or anything, same rule as in the Underworld : Do not fucking eat it.

[arnaerr]

Tag 3 people you want to get to know better

Tagged by @sneakygreenbean, thank you! <3

3 Ships: Halvari (Halsin + Savari, my BG3 necromancer), Meve + Reynard from Thronebreaker, Tacien (Tavi + Lucien)

First Ever Ship: Howl and Sophie?? idk 🤔

Last song: Helrunar - Lotophagoi

Last movie: Not a movie, but...Cunk on Earth :)

Currently reading: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

Currently watching: Cunk on Britain

Currently consuming: Thronebreaker

Currently craving: sleep

Tagging: (no pressure of course!) @lucien-lachance, @nocturance @dirty-bosmer

[ruler-of-scientists]

Mercury for Cercil, Mars for Veryn, Asteroid for Veryn, Cassiopeia for Deire.

-Cercil-

Mercury- Describe your aesthetic.

“I...do not know what you mean, I am sorry. I do not know how the term aesthetic refers in this context.”

-Veryn-Mars- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change? 

“...my circumstance.”

Asteroid- When you die, what do you want to be done with your body? 

“I want it to be disintegrated. Nothing more. Whatever remains can be scattered to the solar winds.”

-Deire-

Cassiopeia- What’s your favorite quote? 

“Hm...well if I were to think of any particular saying that were in some way inspiring for me, I would have to go with “efficiency over waste”. Be as efficient as possible while producing the least amount of wasted time, effort and results as possible.”

[mister-saturn-draws-things]

lotophagoi replied to your photo “The Hollow Knight server I was in was debating on him having nipples...”

JESSE NO. DON'T GET INTO NIPPLE DISCOURSE AGAIN.

i always get involved in the nipple discourse there’s no stopping this baybeeeee

[angles-gieegs-and-flowers]

Birthday gift for @lotophagoi, who plays Earthbound Capsule Quest! Honestly, this is the only way this scenario could go.

[mistersaturn123]

1, 7 and 11 for Pike; 4, 13 and 45 for Mari; 10 and 40 for Vahn.

 Pike:1. One word to shut him up...I don’t know honestly. Maybe a certain name of a certain character that won’t be mentioned yet.7. What feature (physical or otherwise) do they hate most about themselves...probably his anger issues. He hates how he lashes out.11. Vices; I mean I guess his anger ahaha.

Mari:4. Mari’s worst nightmare...probably finding out her God doesn’t exist based on her most recent pages.13. Which of the 7 deadly sins describes her most? There’s not much of those that would but pride or (surprisingly) lust. But even then that’s super minor45. What is the emotion they most commonly experience? Hope.

Vahn:10. What is his greatest mental weakness. His anxiety and lack of self-worth.40. Do they often blame themselves for other people’s problems? A fair amount.

[molokomoko]

🌻

So this thing —

Is The O2 Stadium/Theatre in London, previously known as the Millennium Dome. This was built in London throughout 1999-2000 for the turn of the new millennium. People, understandably, expected the turn out to be this AMAZING! BEAUTIFUL! SUPERB! construction...

...And then it was unveiled and people realised just how much it actually looked like an upside down jellyfish that had been sick. It’s basically just a massive tent with metal scaffolding sticking out of it like a really unfortunate birthday cake.

(^^This probably the most flattering photo you will ever get of the building by the way).

between 2001-2007, it sat pretty much derelict. This was because it wasn’t always an arena/theatre/stadium and such. But it used to be... Well... I’m not entirely sure what it was meant to be exactly per se. The best way I can describe it is that it used to be exhibition hall that was supposed to be full of wonders and attractions that were simultaneously educational in regards to British culture and history. There was art, science and economical departments and even play areas. There used to be a huge, weird person sitting in the middle of it which apparently had a play area inside.

However, the hall was incredibly lacking in attraction and information. The architecture was a complete eyesore and a bunch of the areas were sponsored by large British corporations such as Tesco and Boots, that the whole thing just should have been a huge business park from the get go if that’s what the intention was.

FUN FACT: I broke my arm there when I was six.

See, italso violated several health and safety regulations — The outdoor kids play area did not have any kind of soft flooring that’s purposely designed to prevent injuries. It was just pure concrete. When I went there, I was with my sister and dad and obviously, when you’re six, you get taken to the playground at some point for your dad to take a break and sit down with a newspaper.

One of the playground obstacles was a monkey bar swing, which was high up and you had to hang from it with your arms. Well, 10 year old Eve helped me up on it. Unfortunately, she also got distracted by... something and as I could feel my arms starting to hurt and slip, I called out for her to get me down. But it was too late.

Landed on my arm straight onto the concrete. My arm was at a right angle and I was immediately taken to the hospital. My dad and sister were bricking it.

So the health and safety violations as well as the crappy displays and overall eyesore of a building meant that it faced a lot of criticism of controversy. It was an absolute disgrace, especially for something that was supposed to be a landmark representative of the prospective next 1000 years.

It is now hosted and run by O2 mobile, hence it’s current official title

Thank you, Millennium Dome, for breaking my arm and ruining the summer of a six year old me.

[giobrio]

Y’know, I love birthdays because the main point isn’t only for said birth person, but for the people who celebrate said born person for all they do and did for them and are blessed for that and if it was my Bornday I don’t only think that, I also think of it as a giant “F$&@k You” to those who’ve tried to put me down in any way because that year I say to myself “I’m still here assholes!” And I’ll still be here proving them wrong doing whatever I want drawing, playing games, getting hyped for the next Marvel movie, having at least a handful of people care about me despite my faults. Or maybe they care because of them.

I don’t care about birthdays anymore it just depresses me that it’s been another year and I’m still here

[jarkaist]

just dumped over 700 words of star wars oc lore in ayana’s dms 😐 i am so mentally well my neurotypicality is off the fucking charts

[still-mesarthim]

Fav blogs?

@cryinthedark @fxcelvss @hahaha-fucking @praisethelucifer @kurbagalandin @sonbenzenhalkasi @shymess @a-n-g-e-l-t-e-a-r-s @emokidsposts @ex-orbitar @gunshine @505-apathetic @stpasf

@still-38k @n0tfr @softporn @rottenpain @cryingsatans @sabaku-kyuu-my-life @hotchicq @drunkinparadise @kimbilebilirdiki @p6thia @redeadly @xyouaremyhomex @ruhumbirazbogazici @heavenknowsimmiserablenow84

@aesthetic-morelikeasspathetic @lotophagoi @godsholyhands @requiempty @kurt--cocaine @seeminglyhapp-y @d-e-a-d-ly @rattie-kid @bloodandsstuff @trxrasny @dupnijselolka @p0t @yeezzussxzx @tonsofvodka @miirau

@twojamamacpa @sadgirlato @forlornnymph @vsrx @iwannafknkms @strawbrry-twizzlers @cybervomit @uwuinthefaceofgod @z-0-ne @sinnlosekunst @heaven-beside-u-hell-within @pluvviiaa @we-rot-slowly

[fiorinda-chancellor]

Notes on Chapter 36 of “Till We Have Cases”

First of all: It’s been four years since this fic updated.

That was...really NOT how things were supposed to go. And I’m so sorry to have kept everybody waiting so long.

The combination of circumstances that led to this very UN-Great Hiatus would, at the end of the day, just wind up sounding like a litany of Inexplicable Weird Shit: life stuff, family stuff, Real World stuff, all conspiring to keep me away. But at last everything quieted down enough for me to start getting back to grips with this work. (And to overcome the awful guilt for it having taken so long.)

Lest anyone wonder if the coronavirus situation contributed to this improvement in local circumstances, in terms of making more time for writing: I only wish. Paradoxically, real-life stuff surrounding the ‘Rona has conspired to make life more busy for me, not less. Yet here we are, and here is chapter 36 for you: 22.5K words, the WP program says.

(Please also note that there’s been a slight change in chapter numbers and numberings. There will now be 49 chapters and an afterword.)

And what comes next?

Well, first of all, I have no idea when the next update will occur except “soon” -- later in July 2020, I hope. What I most need people to know at the moment is that (a) I have no intention of abandoning this fic -- I have approximately another 80K of it complete already, from ch. 37 through to the end -- and (b) that I’ll do my best to be more frequent about updates, a LOT more frequent in view of recent history, despite the depredations of the coronavirus and everything else that’s been going on nationally and internationally. This piece of work is very dear to me, and I’m as eager to see the ins and outs of how it all comes out as I assume a lot of its other readers are.

My endless gratitude goes out to those who have read it and kept reading it -- what there was of it -- despite its being a WIP and despite it having languished so long with no sign of continued activity. I treasure your fidelity; you are my fixed points (as the man says) in a changing world. Thanks again, so much, for sparing this tale your time. I hope so much you enjoy what’s to come.

And now back to it.

...Finally, a note imported from the chapter 35 notes, for convenience’s sake:

Nepenthe: …Nothing whatsoever to do with Edgar Allen Poe (the major reference left to the word in English). ν��πενθές is a compound word: νη / ne, “not”, and πενθές deriving from πένθος, penthos, “grief, sorrow, or mourning”. It is the world’s first substance specifically described as an antidepressant…but powerful well beyond anything known today.

The drug is first mentioned in Odyssey book 4 lines 220ff, when Helen puts it in the wine for herself, her husband and their visitors (Odysseus’s son Prince Telemachos and his friendly escort and fellow-prince, King Nestor’s son Peisistratos Nestoridês) after the conversation turns rather sad. The passage says:

Then the noble Helen had an idea. While seeing to the bowl where their wine was mixed, she put in a dose of nepenthe – a drug able to lull all pain and anger, and bring forgetfulness of every sorrow. Anyone who drank wine that had been so mixed would feel no sadness all that day: not even if his mother and father died, not even if someone killed his brother or his only son right in front of his eyes. That was just one of a number of marvelous drugs the Queen possessed, given her by Polydamna the daughter of Thon, an Egyptian woman. For in that country the fruitful Earth brings forth all kinds of medicinal plants, some helpful and some deadly. There every man is his own doctor, and there they’ve become skilled in the healing arts far beyond the ability of most mortals; for they have the blood of Paeion the Healer in them.

There has, as one might expect, been endless conjecture over what nepenthe actually was. Various writers and analysts have tried to identify it with hashish, opium, henbane, and even coffee, but no one has any realistic idea of what Homer was thinking about. The temptation to label it “100% plot device” is strong, but it doesn’t particularly drive the plot, so that doesn’t work either.

Hypermnestra’s mention of the plant eaten by the lotophagoi, the Lotus Eaters of the Odyssey, is interesting in that many mythology-oriented botanists and historians have spent a good while attempting to identify just what plant was growing on their island. (At least one source claims that the word lotos can be translated as “clover” and suggests that the lotophagoi were early vegetarians.)

At any rate, the description in the Odyssey makes it plain that the Lotus Eaters’ plant was at the very least immediately psychoactive and intensely addictive. It has occasionally been associated with the eastern “blue” lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, as well as the Egyptian blue water lily, Nymphaea caerulea. While both have mystical associations, neither seems to be pharmacologically active, though some sources claim N. caerulea was used in Egypt for shamanistic inductions.

[cryogenic-heat]

Sugar and Zacharie requested by @lotophagoi ❤

[ruler-of-scientists]

❤ ø ⌨ ✄ Larzen

His ❤ - voice 

Considering we’re talking voices here, rather than describe how he actually sounds I’ll just state he basically sounds very like David Thewlis. Every time I imagine Larzen speaking in my head, Lupin’s voice just comes through, it’s inescapable so why fight it, I figured.

ø - eyes 

Larzen’s eyes are a rare occurence among Arkans; pure black sclera is not common at all, and he’s certainly unique and an eye-catcher for them. Most Arkans tend to have their eyes in bright, vibrant colours, after all.

His eyes also carry a cunning quality to them- one can find his attitude and manners to be annoying but nobody denies the intelligence in those eyes.

⌨ - time-wasting habits 

Much like Deire, Larzen doesn’t see much value in “wasting time”. Him even more so, as his job carries the weight of Homeworld’s security itself.His moments of rest are few and his breaks even fewer, such is his dedication to his work.

However, he does have spare time, and uses it for productive uses outside his job-specifically, he works on a project of his he calls the “vigilantism device”, specifically an item which he makes use of during his personal (illegal) outings. It’s modular/customiseable and upgradeable so you could say it’s a hobby of his.

✄ - nervous habits 

Larzen, despite being an advocate of emotional expression, likes to choose what he expresses. Nervousness is not one of these things so it’s hard to tell when he is in a state of nervousness.

Signs however are when his tail goes quite taught, and his stance can go quite rigid, though others would perceive this as a sign of stoicness sometimes. He is prone to looking to the side, briefly, during a discussion in which he feels nervousness.

When he chooses to express his nervousness either around people he trusts or by himself, he takes to wringing his hands thoroughly.

[mister-saturn-draws-things]

A gifty art for @lotophagoi of her character Morningbell! Who’s based off of Radiohead It was like 1:30 or so last night and i purposely turned off the stabilizer to make things look wiggly.

[graywyvern]

( via prentiss riddle on fb / "Time stops at the intersection of A & D" west lima by miekal and on fb )

Sunset with Awakening Dragons.

"Thanatopolis"

pyramid of sand · is void to my sight labyrinth of cant · is void to my sight

i know too much swarf · a black rock out of sky falls and this taiga · is void to my sight

chatoyant my moon · as i walk slowly down furious hazard road · is void to my sight

(6-28-05)

They Awakening.

"Volcano Commando Tsuka"

halcyon mountain daring · on a suicidal path skulls in sand bright glaring · on a suicidal path

toys and candy swirling · all i want is truthful words lost among clowns blaring · on a suicidal path

soon will know a trying · much will crash and many fail halcyon furry faring · on a suicidal path

(9-26-05)

Vines on a Magical Moonlit Wall.

    fall stars across chill again changing goad tsar storm     as it madly adds

dimna furious smirk fang schismatic stomp bungalow

    rally all flaring ryotwar Ishtar shaping     royal sport apart

find any aground abort gulf slilu swarming fatwa

    crisply akimbo osmium skirl gumbo flalu     all us bright folk back

among oblong fragrant silk usurps skiff · fallow asthma

    spasmodic clasp · moist song lost in bringing it back     lost all that tumult

drug cupboard in which fluoric acid lay in a wax tomb

    pray for no pardon cyborg laughing thick damp grass     orphan octopus

calmly about to drown talk can play back now from victims

    filch tchukor stars silt amok tsantsa · affords nil blurb     scratch ghost stadium

actually shopping · bulwark skulls roam brisk as stilb fathoms

    crino is asking sidbo flimsy Atlantis     laughs smog cough skari

starry Osiris calx snag starts as a bag of offal

    sorrowing brumous addiction isthmus and rill     glamour abolish

blood lungfish frica abrupt Iscariot ichor wraith

    a lost acronym adorns cardboard and within     i would stow dark plans

am i misty for this flow piloting an iron rhino

    closing lids on stars unmindful of scorpions     in transit · ago

grinding sound and carbon tip toward its last point spiralling

    glimpsing from a coign prior to our gravity     our acts laid out plain

into a swamp of robots sifts mild algorithm

    frigid dusty world with rusty sands · winds stirring     around a solid

all this art about making a god of dissolution

    tcidu now manku only two hours · not from     bomb plot · from stupid

first of last bards shiny book about · not oft so bright such

    for an instant words bob up in a music flow     vacuous · twinkling

and dull gray noon is burning i pass my turn and go back

    salmon-apricot sky this morning as prior     and will blossom again

nilca and gnomic salmon kodak turncoat apricot

     a tiny lizard gold porchlight · lotophagoi     dog collar tinkling

in a dark livingroom mix two kinds of granola

    sunny and dark clouds and words fail · furious shift     sands · a body floating

crimson glow on a building turns cobalt as i slog back

    its windows as bright as that day of wild watching     folk running from dust

my own past has but scant sign of tracks · contrails gold against

Lojban words

nilca (Loglan)- contrary of on top of; tcidu- city; manku- dark; crino- viridian; sidbo- thought form; skari- color; frica- dissimilar; dimna- Wyrd; slilu- go back and forth; flalu- law

(9-19/22-05)

The River Styx.