#macedon siblings

[fishladyfishy]

She’s going through her edgy phase! 😱

[glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite]

Macedon is currently visiting camp half-blood as per usual, sitting off to the side and just sort of.. watching everyone interact.

He sighs a little to himself, missing his older siblings a lot. After everything that's happened over the past couple of days, he's in dire need of a hug.

Do you approach?

[ofaresandnemesis]

It had been three months since Rio and Macedon's last... 'meeting', and Macedon had been pretty much avoiding camp completely, only showing up when there was an 'emergency'. (a lot of the Ares cabin was not happy with Rio because of this.)

However, today he decided to come back and visit his siblings.

Macedon was talking with the Aphrodite cabin, just catching up, when he heard someone approaching. He turned, surprised to see Rio standing there.

"Oh... hello, Rio."

@glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite

Surprised you decided to show your face. Looks a little less mangled now, surprisingly.

Rio hissed, crossing his arms

[whencyclopedia]

Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Ptolemy II Philadelphus ("The Sibling Loving", r. 282-246 BCE) was the second ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. He consolidated the kingdom conquered by his father Ptolemy I and presided over its golden age. Ptolemy II invested heavily in Alexandria, overseeing the completion of the Library of Alexandria and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Ptolemy II ruled through a combination of hard and soft power, influencing some states through diplomacy while funneling resources toward wars against his rivals in Africa, Asia, and Greece. The Ptolemaic kingdom reached its furthest extent during his reign. These efforts were funded by economic policies that increased Egypt's agricultural and financial output. With his sister-wife Arsinoe II Philadelphus, he instituted a cultural and religious program that solidified the Ptolemaic Dynasty as Egypt's divine rulers.

Youth & Succession

Ptolemy II was born in Kos in 308 or 309 BCE to Ptolemy I and Berenice I of Egypt, his third wife. Ptolemy II had a full-blooded sister, Arsinoe II (l. c. 318/311 to c. 270/268 BCE), and several half-siblings, many of whom were destined to rule themselves. On his father's side, his half-brothers Ptolemy Keraunos (also spelled Ceraunus, r. 281-279 BCE) and Meleager (r. 279 BCE) were each briefly king of Macedon, and his half-sister Lysandra was queen consort to Alexander V of Macedon (r. 297-294 BCE). On his mother's side, his half-brother Magas (r. 276-250 BCE) was king of Cyrene, and his half-sister Antigone was queen consort to Pyrrhus (c. 319-272 BCE).

Shortly after his birth, Ptolemy II and the rest of his family relocated to Alexandria, Egypt's capital. As a youth, Ptolemy II was tutored by some of the brightest minds of Greek literature and Greek philosophy, including Philetas of Cos (c. 340 to c. 385 BCE), Zenodotus of Ephesus (c. 325-260 BCE) the first head of the Library of Alexandria, and Strato of Lampascus (c. 340/330-269 BCE), director of the Lyceum. This educational background contributed to his patronage of the Library of Alexandria later in life.

Ptolemy I decided to pass over Ptolemy Keraunos, his firstborn son by his previous wife Eurydike, so that Ptolemy II could become regent. This decision may have been motivated by Berenice, who naturally wanted her own son to rule. Ptolemy II became co-ruler with his father around 284 BCE. This decision was contested by prominent figures in the Alexandrian court like Demetrius of Phalerum (c. 350-280 BCE), who supported the claims of Ptolemy I's older sons by Eurydike.

Upon Ptolemy I's death in 282 BCE, Ptolemy II became ruler of Egypt, Cyrene, Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, and Cyprus. Ptolemy II immediately set about strengthening his claim by removing all those who refused to acknowledge his rule. He executed two of his half-brothers who attempted to usurp him or stir up rebellion. Demetrius of Phalerum was exiled to Upper Egypt, where he died. Over the course of his reign, Ptolemy II would face challenges from his other brothers. However, Ptolemy Keraunos ended up relinquishing his claim to the Egyptian throne after attaining the Kingdom of Macedon in 281 BCE.

Continue reading...

[riordanverserpdatabase]

Macedon

Son of Ares and Aphrodite, God of Bloodlust and Heartbreak

Macedon is the youngest god in Olympus, just trying to make his mark on the world. He either spends his days on the battlefield or going around breaking people up. In his free time, he enjoys helping out at camp halfblood.

Two interesting fun facts:

1. While being the god of heartbreak, he is actually quite cheery most of the time!

2. He is especially close to the Ares/Aphrodite cabin because they are his half-siblings, however due to a past relationship he also has a soft spot for the Hermes cabin.

One of the System's favorite things about Macedon's account is that he is always single. Macedon's mun allows Mace to be romanced over and over again!!! A rarity!!!

Say hi to Macedon @glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite

User Spotlight 2 of 2, July 5.

[charleneferlay]

Drawing Philip II of Macedon

After my first post on drawing Alexander, I'd like to talk about his father!

Here is the amazing portrait by @elfinfen:

More to read below!

Let's start with his face: I asked for a olive skin tone and dark hair. In the novel, Philippos is usually described as having very tanned skin, so his skin may get much darker than this at the end of summer.

You may have seen several pictures of Philip II. Here are some, just in case:

Philip in the 2005 movie, with brown hair.

Philip by J. F. Oliveras, with brown hair.

Unknown artist, Philip with black/brown hair:

There are a lot more pictures of him online, but all of them share two traits: Philip is missing an eye (more below) and he's got hair ranging from brown to black. Compared to him, Alexander usually has hair ranging from light to dark blond, sometimes light brown.

The truth is, we have no idea what Philip's hair color was. The frescoes in the tombs of Macedonia show us Macedonians with all hair colors, so Philip could have been blond, or have russet hair. I think the reason why he is usually pictured with darker hair is to set Alexander appart from him... but in the biographies I read, there was no hint that they didn't look like each other!

So why is my Philippos very dark haired? Since Alexandros is the son of Philippos and Zeus, I wanted to set him appart. In my story, all of Philippos' daughters, as well as his son Arrhidaios, his nephew Amyntas and his illegitimate son Ptolemaios look a lot like him. Some have straight hair, or some variations, but when the narrator meets the (dead) brothers and half brothers of Philippos, they also look so strongly like him that no one can doubt they are of the same family. This is almost a caricature, but it can be explained because Philippos' family has divine blood, descending from Herakles. There's a "type" in the family that runs strong, and they all look like each other... except Alexandros, who looks like his half siblings Hermes, Appolo and Artemis.

Now, moving to the eye: that is the result of an arrow wound in 354BC. The eye was removed surgically. We don't really know how the wound looked like, but since eye injuries ick me a lot, I asked the artist to make it a very clean wound. In Gemmel's story The Lion of Macedon, it seems like it didn't heal nearly as well.

You may have noticed that my Philippos' armor has the same shape as the one on the last picture. This is because we (and many other artists) use the same source for Philip's armor:

This is "Philip II's armor", now in the Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai in Vergina, Greece.

I'm using a recreation by Hellenic armors:

Now, the twist is that while this armor comes from a tomb which was named after Philip II, it is probably not his tomb but that of his son Arrhidaios. My source for that is @jeannereames, who knows way more about Alexander&Folks than I do, so if she thinks it's Arrhidaios' tomb, who am I to disagree? Still, I decided to use this armor as a reference, because it's pretty and because I didn't have a better one to use.

In my version, Philippos wears a scarf around his neck. There are two reasons for that: first, armor on skin isn't a nice feel, so I wanted to have some clothe visible to make it look like more comfortable. For this armor, I decided to go with a roman like scarf (picture from x-legio).

The second reason for the scarf is to link Philippos' picture with Alexandros:

Basically I needed to add some beige to Philippos to get the same color palette of dark red / bronze / beige.

Another link between those two pictures is the left eye. The first time I described Philippos' eye color was in the spin off, where he described himself:

I had been a small child, dark haired with forgettable brown eyes – my brothers had inherited my mother’s beautiful, deep blue irises, and I the boring muddy shade of my father [...]. Teenagerhood had ambushed me while I was stranded in Illyria; it had hit violently, spraying pimples all over my face, stretching hairy legs until they looked like knees holding sticks together, and I had a soft, ridiculous black fuzz over my upper lip.

Needless to say, I was suddenly overcome with nostalgia for Illyria, where people simply did not go naked in front of others.

A few things about this part: blue eyes were actually not favored in Ancient Greece and I have no idea if Illyrians liked to be naked or not. In between this scene and now, I changed my mind, and Philippos' eyes turned to dark blue, to share Alexandros' left eye's color. What didn't change, however, is that young Philippos describes himself as a pretty ugly teen, and though he's grown into a very confident king, in this scene with Kleitos, he is obviously not depicting himself as much prettier:

[For context, Philippos and Kleitos are discussing Philippos's relationship with one of his page, Hippostratos, while P&K have been lovers for 20years. Philippos just broke up with Pausanias, with whom he was getting along very well, except Pausanias was getting too old for that.] "He's really not the sharpest spear, that boy," Philippos mumbled [...]. "I could have told you that," Kleitos said with a smirk. "But you wouldn't have listened, right? Whenever you get rid of a boy you like, you always move to idiots who bore you to death." "What a friend you are." [...] "Oh no, believe me, I do pity you," Kleitos joked. "Your life is always so complicated compared to mine..." "Your choice," Philippos reminded you. "I've never forbade you to..." "Nah, you know, there's only one man I want." "I am really wondering why," Philippos laughed, "old and ugly as he is." "Because I'm young and pretty?"

In a later scene, after Philippos is wounded (and taking too much poppy milk to deal with the pain), he has a rather bitter conversation with the main character, Orestis/Hephaistion, who brought him a message from Pausanias, who is trying to get his former lover back:

"What does he want?" Philippos repeated. "Lands? A command? A high born spouse?" I blinked, surprised. "He told me he wanted to be with you, that's all." The laugh that followed was bitter, almost a bark - and then it turned into a great wave that shook the king with acidic mirth, until he rose his head again. "That is the most absurd thing I ever heard. Who would want to be with that? I used to be ugly, and now I need a fucking slave to get out of my bed. I'm too old for this bullshit... and even if I weren't, they come, they go, they don't care about what I feel about them and I don't care about what they feel about me. It's pointless." "He said he loves you." "Love? Was that love, when he told you to spread the rumors that killed Hippostratos?"

Okay Philou, we get it, you think you're really not pretty.

But are you? Are you really ugly?

(People usually agree that he's really handsome on this painting lol.)

At some point of the story, Hephaistion gets to see Philippos at fifteen, and his description of him is like that:

If Philippos had been at Mieza with us, and not a prince, he would have been one of those boys who, for a hopeful stare aimed at Pausanias, would have been laughed at for a full week. He was tall for his age, with too long limbs and the air of a newborn foal. With pimples all over his cheeks and a rather weak shin, heavy eyebrows, and a rather big nose, he looked like the can of boys who will try anything and everything to get his beard faster - and I had to admit, he looked much better with one.

... basically because the beard hides the acne scars and, with the right cut, strengthen the jaw and the shin. So while Philippos was probably an average teenager moaning that he is ugly (well, everyone is ugly compared to dashing Pausanias and Hephaistion in the book, even Alexandros moans that he's not pretty enough), as an adult he does know how to make the best of what he has, and actually has a fair share of charm (and the best and worst sense of humor, you DON'T want to get one of his jokes aimed at you). Oh, and the diadem of a king, which, according to Alexandros:

Hephaistion: "I don't get why Pausanias is so obsessed with him. I mean, with his eye, he is not exactly..." Alexandros : "Pretty? He is the king." Hephaistion: "So? Does being a king make you prettier?" Alexandros: "Obviously."

I'll be leaving you with a second commission drawn by the amazing Kloh.eh, of Philippos at fiften:

One funny thing about this pic is that according to the artist, this is the first time someone came to her to ask for a not-pretty character XD But I love him that way, and it seems my readers on AO3 also like that he's a rather bland teen!

[wishesofeternity]

"Arsinoë (II) lived a dramatic and adventurous life, full of extreme highs and lows. In its course, she played a part in the courts of four kings, married three times (twice to a sibling or half sibling), saw two of her sons murdered, fled two kingdoms because her life was in danger, yet ended her days in great wealth and security and ultimately was deified. Born in Egypt (as the daughter of Ptolemy I Soter and Berenike), she departed as a teenage bride for marriage to Lysimachus, ruler of Thrace, parts of Asia Minor, and Macedonia. After her husband died in battle, she tried to protect the claims of her three sons to rule in Macedonia against the attempts of others to seize the kingdom. In support of this effort, she married one of these rivals (her half brother Ptolemy Ceraunus), only to have this marriage alliance end in a bloodbath that compelled her to return to Egypt, where her brother Ptolemy II had succeeded their father as king. Once back, Arsinoë married her brother (the first full brother-sister marriage of a dynasty that would make such marriages an institution). She died in Egypt, having spent her last years playing a prominent role in the kingdom. Throughout much of her life, Arsinoë controlled great wealth and exercised political influence, but domestic stability characterized only her last few years.

Bitter and sometimes violent struggles for the throne marked nearly her entire career [...] Her childhood experience coping with life in a court divided by succession politics colored virtually all the major decisions of her life. She played the roles of both victim and victimizer: Arsinoë likely had a hand in one murder but endured the slaughter of her younger sons. She possessed some political acumen and considerable drive, but boldness and the willingness to take risks were her most salient personality traits, the ones that led to her most dramatic successes and failures. Like most of the members of the Macedonian elite, male and female alike, Arsinoë single-mindedly and sometimes violently pursued kleos (fame, renown) for herself, her sons, and her dynasty."

-Elizabeth D. Carney, "Arsinoë of Egypt and Macedon: A Royal Life"

[princessmacedon]

{ happy anniversary!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. Template courtesy of Neffi! 💕

Name: Red, more commonly nicknamed Reddo

Pronouns: they/them preferred, she/he OK!

Birthday (no year): December 28th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? moved to kentucky when I was young, and for sake of ease i use EST (TOAST)! i live near a timezone line, so i get to be flexible like that >vo)v HAHA

How long is your roleplay experience? with a few on and off breaks, roughly 15 years? i forgot about a period of my life where i 'moderated' (read: was the most active user on) a warrior cats RP site; my first foray into rp proper was in pokemon rp on tumblr, my first muse was lyra but i didnt have an internet name until i picked up and settled into writing (you'll never guess who)

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? kind of half answered this above oops, but with warrior cats i genuinely dont remember? i probably just googled warrior cats and wound up there HAHA. for pokemon...... honestly probably the same thing

How were you introduced to TOA? key had mentioned it to me in passing a few times, so i knew she was there, but it wasn't until my friend zyra mentioned it to me and suggested we write macedon siblings together again that i actually joined, hahaha

Do you have any pets? i do! i adopted a ?? year old dog from the shelter about six years ago, so now he's x+6 years old :] pretty sure he's some kind of border collie mix, but not certain! his name is tobin, but he'll answer as long as you say 'ob'. he's a sillyhead

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) it used to be winter because i love the snow! but as i get older and more harrowed by weather conditions, i appreciate how normal and not-trying-to-kill-me autum is HAHA

What is your IRL occupation? (finger guns) figuring it out

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? drawing was my first love! i like reading, especially comics, and writing; i like video games and immersing myself in stories, and have passing interests in things that i don't commit to trying out (like resin, charms, etc etc)

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? FFXIV, mainly; genshin impact and hsr; various farming-ish sims (story of seasons + old harvest moon, stardew valley, rune factory, currently fields of mistria); to a lesser extent dragon age, ace attorney, various VNs / otome / rhythm games, pokemon until roughly scarlet/violet era and then my wallet couldnt keep up with it HSDFSGVSD

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: as a kid it waffled between fire / dark, but not sure i have a dead set favorite type anymore. favorite pokemon still lucario and appletun for sure though!

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! (Optional bonus challenge: if you filled this out last year, try not to repeat what you said back then!) - i love christmas and thinking about gift giving! when i was in school my christmas spreadsheet hit like, 50 names HAHA nooooo way do i have that energy anymore, though - i'm reasonably fond of baking and also reasonably terrible at it! something always goes wrong but usually (usually) stuff comes out pretty tasty in the end. except for that time i set my oven on fire

How did you get into Fire Emblem? my friends were talking about how much fun they were having with the new game at the time, awakening! it looked fun so i decided to try it out

What Fire Emblem games have you played? - Beaten: Genealogy, Blazing Blade (FE7 if youre like me and still cant remember which one is which), Shadow Dragon & New Mystery, Awakening, Fates (Conquest + Birthright), Three Houses (Blue Lions) - Started: Binding Blade (FE6), Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance (FE9), Fates (Revelation), Shadows of Valentia, Three Houses (Black Eagles & Golden Deer), Engage

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening -- still Awakening! possibly tied with 3H, though. i really enjoy games where i can peacefully level grind

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! vaguely ordered, it's: Wolf, Maria, Cordelia, Seliph, Katarina...? if you think you're seeing a trend you're probably right, hahaha ^^ writing a character is an expression of love for me, so inevitably my muses climb higher and higher on my list over time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! the clearest one i can remember is wolf, because when i was playing fe11 i was passively using him because he was pretty, and then he got 7 crits in a row and i was like :pika:

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳i'm weak toward green haired women AHSJASFDSF but actual game crushes, hmm... not sure!

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: chrom -> still chrom! - Fates: takumi -> hmm... silas or flora? - Three Houses: dimitri -> still dimitri, except now he's duking it out with yuri - Engage: i have the ring in my pocket as we speak, suffering from the burden of choice... probably diamant though?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? whatever class my blorbos thrive in

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? in all likelihood i'm a villager with just absolutely baffling AI. not entirely stupid, but you cant in good conscience say it's smart either HAHA as a playable unit though, i might be a recruit-type? i could do well if you help me grow, otherwise i'm just this scruffy shitty thing tucked into your pocket. middling-high skill growth, paper defense, and you wish you knew what my speed growth was because i don't (probably fast as a mage but realistically NOT as anything physical)

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) my heart says blue lions, but if i'm just some guy (unaffiliated civilian) i won't be surprised

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? - Boons: Reason - Banes: Authority, Gauntlets - Budding Talent: Flying

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) hmm... probably either Firene or Lythos! i'm too much of a weenie to be from brodia HAHA

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) toah, like noah! to all my xiv gamers out there this definitely applies to job shorthands too. durg. dirk. whum blum sidge. rurpur and rogg...

Current TOA muses: Maria & Katarina

Past TOA muses? Cordelia my beloved

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Maria! unless something unprecedented happens, i don't see that changing. writing her, her want and determination to love and find wonder in the world, to spread and be joy -- it just puts me in a good place! it's really, genuinely helped me a lot, even if her extroversion is exhausting to my introvert ass sometimes HAHA

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) uhhh... i definitely tend toward characters who are in some regard defined by a form of love or strong emotion, romantic though it need not be -- people who have some sort of powerful, aching tenderness in their heart. i've not really done as much as i've wanted in terms of bringing that out of them, but it's definitely something that draws me in to a character in the first place!

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? ooh, there are lots of characters i like who have a brusque edge or manner, who might be harsh or cold... i wish i could do that! i'd like to try, i think. and also the funny, energetic, boisterous types -- i love to see them and be around them, but i definitely can't pull it off hahaha

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) it's been a while since i've gone all in on this kind of scene, but i love emotional scenes and heart-to-hearts -- the sort of thing where you're communicating your feelings with everything you have and trying to reach someone else! i usually rein myself in well shy of that though, hahaha. i worry a lot about getting too lost in the sauce and derailing a conversation/thread, or making it all about what my muse/what they want to communicate.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? for katarina, i'd love for her to make some friends! she's her own worst enemy in this regard, separating herself from friends/friendships whether consciously or subconsciously. for maria... well, i'd love for her to have a real heart to heart with someone!

Favorite TOA-related memories? to this day i miss and adore annie's frederick! his dynamic with my cordelia at the time was so much fun to write and to talk about and we had such thoughts for how their relationship would evolve -- it's one of the most interesting and endearing relationships i've had the pleasure of writing! on a sillier note, i often think about leif hauling ass after kanoesa's lewyn HAHA

Present or past tense? it used to be past tense, but i think toa's successfully converted me to defaulting to present hahaha ^^;; consciously at least, i try to match whatever my partner does!

Normal size text, small text, no preference? it doesn't matter to me, but i do hate fighting tumblr to keep all of the small text small.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 the wolf app/blog i've been refining on and off for the better part of three years is no secret HAHA, but i've seriously contemplated writing a few other characters! radd and boucheron, to name a couple. i get super attached to my characters though, so it's a bit tricky

[cornyregans]

Hermia's Place in the Capp Family

When it comes to all the Shakespeare inspirations for the Capp family, there are quite a few common threads one can look at in determining their origins. In my time researching Veronaville, I’ve noticed that Capp naming conventions tend to draw from plays that are either set in the British Isles, histories, tragedies, problem plays or plays with a clear cast divide (in which case, members of the Monty family will often be named after characters from the other side). That said, when looking at all of these naming conventions, I noticed that there’s one Capp who sticks out like a sore thumb — Hermia.

Unlike her relatives, Hermia’s original play does not fit into any of the aforementioned categories. Instead, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in Greece, is classified as a comedy, and doesn’t focus on two rival factions like Romeo & Juliet (and The Tempest, to a lesser extent).

So this begs the question, why is Hermia a Capp?

Hermia as a Capp

With the source material in mind, perhaps it would have made more sense to place Hermia as a member of the Summerdream family? However, while that decision might make sense on a surface level, it sort of falls apart once you take a closer look at the members of the family in question. While all four living members of the Summerdream family share names with characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, three-of-the-four sims share names with the three central fairy characters; meanwhile, the fourth is named after the only notable human character to directly interact with a member of the fair folk.

While Hermia is one of four characters whose storyline ties into a plot involving fairies, she is never shown to consciously interact with any of them in Shakespeare’s play. If we take these facts into account, it makes sense why the developers did not choose to place Hermia as a member of the Summerdream household. That being said, it does not quite explain her place in the Capp family, either.

Even if her original play does not match up with that of her siblings, the decision to place Hermia as a member of the Capp family is not entirely strange when you dig deeper into the family’s history; specifically, the fact that A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in Athens, the Greek capital.

When it comes to Hermia's connection to Consort, you can clearly see that some of his ancestors are named after characters from Troilus & Cressida. While it might not seem like much at first, this particular play is set during the Trojan War, which was fought between the Trojans and the Greeks.

As for how Hermia is connected to Contessa, our answer lies in one Cleopatra Capp. The original Capp matriarch was named after Cleopatra VII Philopater, one of the last two pharaohs descended from Ptolemy I Soter. In life, Ptolemy was a Macedonian Greek general who not only served under Alexander III of Macedon, but was also one of his most trusted companions.

With all this in mind, the fact that the developers chose to place Hermia as a member of the Capp family makes much more sense should we take this information into account. That being said, this point only really serves to connect Hermia to her maternal grandparents, and has nothing to do with either of her siblings. This means that the developers could have potentially placed Hermia as either Goneril or Regan’s daughter, and the ties to her maternal ancestors would remain intact.

Cousin Hermia?

As mentioned above, we can connect Hermia to her maternal grandparents because, like Hermia, Consort’s parents and grandparents are named after characters from a Shakespeare work with ties to Greece, whereas Contessa’s maternal grandmother was named for an individual of Macedonian Greek descent. With that in mind, how can we connect Hermia to Tybalt and Juliette? One way is to assume that, perhaps, Hermia was not intended to be a sibling, but rather a cousin.

None of Contessa and Consort’s children share a unique Greek connection with Hermia, but perhaps we can learn something from looking at information found in an international version of the game instead? In the French version of the game, there is something peculiar about the biography belonging to her aunt Regan’s husband, Cornwall. Cornwall’s French biography is nearly identical to his English biography, the latter stating:

“Cornwall isn't thrilled that his brother-in-law Kent is living with him while he gets back on his feet after losing his job. Can he make room for his wife's family in their home?”

Conversely, Cornwall’s, or in this case Guillermo’s, French biography states:

“Guillermo n'est pas des plus ravis à l'idée que Carlo, son beau-frère, emménage chez lui en attendant de retrouver du travail. Réussira-t-il à supporter sa belle-famille? Et apprendra-t-il enfin à mieux connaitre sa fille Hermia?”

For those of you who don't speak French, the bolded sentence roughly translates to:

“And will he finally learn to know his daughter Hermia better?”

Hermia’s Biography

With Cornwall’s French biography in mind, I started to find the contents of Hermia’s to be more interesting. For those of you who are curious, it states:

“Hermia is smart, but on the shy side. She often wonders from what rock her brother Tybalt crawled out from under.”

Unlike what happened with Cornwall, Hermia’s biography is the same in both the English and French versions of the game, so we can’t really look for any differences in this case. That said, the second sentence in her biography is rather odd when taking her relationship with Tybalt into account.

Contrary to what's written in her biography, Hermia’s relationship with Tybalt is actually rather cordial (I believe their scores start roughly somewhere from high 20s to low 40s). Sure, they’re not friends, but Hermia’s a lot closer to being friends with Tybalt than Juliette is when the game starts. While I could easily see her giving him the side-eye due to their differing stances regarding the feud, the fact remains that they act civil towards each other (noogies and other immature antics notwithstanding).

Another interesting element in Hermia’s biography is that Tybalt is specifically referred to as her “brother,” thereby reflecting their relationship in the final product. By taking this and combining it with their positive relationship, a part of me began to wonder if Tybalt’s mention in her biography was something haphazardly added later in development.

If this line was in Hermia’s biography from the start, I think the developers would have likely programmed Hermia’s relationship with him to reflect that fairly early on. However, should we replace “her brother Tybalt” with something like “her father,” or “her mother,” or even “her parents,” this line would make more sense from a programming standpoint if the individuals in question were originally Regan and/or Cornwall — two sims whose relationship scores with her range from -20 and 0 on both sides when the game starts.

We cannot say for sure what the developers intended when it comes to Hermia’s place in the Capp family; however, we can make some guesses based on the information provided in the game itself, as well as from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Hermia’s Role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia is at the center of a love quadrangle. She is loved by two men, Demetrius and Lysander, yet she only reciprocates the latter’s feelings; meanwhile, her friend Helena has one-sided feelings for Hermia’s unrequited suitor.

The role closest to what Cornwall’s French biography seems to be implying is the one Hermia’s father, Egeus, plays in this whole shebang. Despite it being established that Hermia is in love with Lysander, Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius instead — even going as far as to threaten her life if she refuses. This results in Hermia and Lysander deciding to run away and elope, thus kicking off the main plot of the play. Luckily for the two lovebirds, Egeus eventually acquiesces to their union, but only after Demetrius is given a magical love drug that makes him fall for Helena instead.

The Other Hermia

In the final product, Hermia is the daughter of Cordelia Capp and her husband Caliban, rather than Cordelia’s sister Regan and her husband Cornwall. Unfortunately, since Cordelia and Caliban are both deceased by the time the game starts, we do not have any idea what their relationship with Hermia was like. The only reference we really have to go on is a storytelling image which shows Hermia, Juliette, and Tybalt alongside their parents; however, the picture in question was taken while Hermia was still a toddler. This does not help us in determining Hermia’s relationship with Cordelia and Caliban, as toddlers in The Sims 2 are not only reliant on older sims, but their pool of interaction with them is incredibly limited.

With the game not giving us much to work with regarding Hermia’s relationship with Cordelia and Caliban, Cornwall’s French biography does at least provide an idea of what a father/daughter relationship between the two of them would have been like, and it has some parallels to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Love and Money

While the names of her suitors don't match up with the original Shakespeare play, Hermia's place in the love quadrangle remains intact for The Sims 2. In this case, Hermia Capp has feelings for both Puck Summerdream and Mercutio Monty, and while both reciprocate, she seems to prefer Puck.

With this in mind, it seems unlikely that Cornwall not understanding Hermia would have had anything to do with her choice in a mate, what with Hermia seeming to prefer the choice that is not part of the enemy family. However, if there were anything the ambitious Cornwall would object to about Hermia’s choice of Puck, it would likely be related to family funds. When you first load their lot, the Summerdreams only have 6,573 simoleons in spending money. This is quite measly in comparison to the families inhabiting the Capp Manor and the Monty Ranch, both of whom have over 80,000. However, because Veronaville is severely lacking in premade families that are neither Capp nor Monty, this argument likely doesn’t hold as much water as it otherwise would.

If we take that into account, how else could Cornwall have possibly found it difficult to understand Hermia? Well, part of it might have something to do with their aspirations. Both Cornwall and Regan are fortune sims with a large interest in money, so it could have been entirely possible that they might have been trying to push the family-oriented Hermia into a career path she had no interest in. This potential disagreement could have also led Hermia to rebel by dressing in a way that might scare off potential employers, which might have had some influence in her final, Hot Topic-esque wardrobe.

Hermia’s Other Ancestry

Back at the beginning of this essay, I mentioned that none of Contessa and Consort’s four children share a unique Greek connection with Hermia. That said, if she was Regan and Cornwall’s daughter, her position as a Capp would be more warranted from a geographical standpoint.

Prior to marrying into the Capp family, Cornwall was a member of the Dane family, and his father and paternal grandparents were all named after characters from Hamlet. This family history is interesting for two reasons.

First, despite Shakespeare’s characters being Danish, Hamlet’s love interest Ophelia and her brother Laertes have names with Greek origins. Ophelia’s name is derived from ὄφελος (ophelos), meaning “help” or “advantage,” whereas Laertes is named after Odysseus’ father in Homer’s Odyssey.

Outside the Shakespeare canon, there’s also the House of Glücksburg (or Glücksborg), the current ruling house of Denmark. In 1863, Prince Wilhelm (or Vilhelm) of Denmark, second son of King Christian IX, was elected King of the Hellenes and ruled as George I of Greece until his death in 1913. The House of Glücksburg initially ruled Greece until 1924, when George II was deposed. They were eventually reinstated in 1935, and ruled until 1974, when a republic referendum voted against the return of the monarchy following the collapse of a military dictatorship.

These connections are rather striking, especially since none of the other “Lear Generation” Capp couples (Goneril/Albany and Cordelia/Caliban) are connected to Hermia in a similar geographical way. It’s probably coincidental, but interesting nonetheless, that Regan and Cornwall are the only couple of the three to have this sort of geographical connection to Hermia on both sides of the family tree.

Final Thoughts

I first discovered this tidbit of information back in 2018, and I’ll be honest, it set off a huge chain reaction in how I interpreted Veronaville. Not long after learning about the leftover text, I started a Veronaville playthrough on my MacBook, and it was there that I discovered just how negative Hermia’s relationships were with both Regan and Cornwall. From there, it just kind of snowballed out of control, with me creating mountains upon mountains of headcanons in order to justify their dynamics in the final product.

From an out-of-universe perspective, however, I would say that the biggest thing to come out of this discovery was that it was the catalyst for the GVGP’s existence. Initially, I was just going to look at Hermia’s genetic profile and delve into it for this essay. It was meant to be a one time thing, but once I got started, I just couldn’t help but keep going further down the rabbit hole.

As for what Hermia’s genetic profile looks like in particular, and how it makes sense with both the parents she has in the final product, as well as the ones she could have had during development, we’ll have to wait and see. At this point in time, the GVGP has been on sort of a hiatus, but I’ve fallen back into my Veronaville obsession for the time being, so maybe I’ll post some genetic profiles in the near future. Unfortunately, given that I’ve been super busy in my personal life, I can’t make any promises, though I do intend to finish it one of these days.

Thank you so much for reading this essay. It’s been in the works since 2018, but a combination of writers’ block, real life, and different hyperfixations have caused it to be delayed longer than my younger self would have expected. Nevertheless, I’m so glad that I’m finally able to share it all with you.

[knighteclipsed]

[ Trip ] - While they dance, the sender trips the receiver over.

It is happenstance that he collides in this circle of swirls and twirls and footwork of the dancer with the teal and amethyst of one strange knight ( that disquieting ally -no! she would dare the word friend with too many - of Maria's ). So when they take to festive arms the hands of the other, King Macedon is swift to usurp the man's stance from beneath, and knocking his heel invites him a place on hard ground.

"You're questionable at best," He grumbles, and casts in a toss pearls loosely kept by a string. "Take it, and remember this: play the fool with Maria, and hell will taste sweet to the blood I'll rend of your mouth." But your intrigue is not lost yet.

The Moonstone had not thought to be wary of Michalis, in spite of himself—always distant, always guarded, never at rest. (Perhaps that was simply a trait of the siblings, to draw him out so.) The consequence, he finds, is that not too long after the dance has begun, Valter is soundly swept to the ground.

With understanding comes next the words of retort and defense: both boil in twain, one fist tearing the projectile out of the sky by pure instinct—that somehow, for some reason, he had not truly been caught off-guard. (That it was, in fact, a fluke that he had been bested with such ease.) They simmer out, however, when Michalis speaks first, and Valter understands the point of the other’s actions.

Is that it then? He’s simply being an overprotective older brother?

In place of anger then, there is an eruption of laughter, and one could rightfully think him mad for the moment he was seated on the floor, immured in a bout of uncontrollable amusement.

“ Mm, is that so? ”

The next moment, he rises, fist still closed. “ Worry not: I have no foul intentions regarding Maria. ” Freeing one of his own black feathers, his other hand places it in the other’s hair, with the semblance of an aim that it would get lost in there. A wide smile greets Michalis from up close:

“ She is perfectly safe with me. ”

[reddragonprincess]

"Wow!" Hands clasp together in absolute, unmitigated delight, tucked beneath her chin, rosy eyes set all a-sparkle. She has always known that her sister is wonderful and radiant, of course, but it is nonetheless a joy to see her shine off the battlefield. "Minerva, you look amazing today!"

Unpinning her brooch from her sash, she holds up her black feather, parted now from its two golden companions... achingly familiar, that, but still she smiles as she holds it up.

"Did you know? If you meet lots of people and trade-- decorations, this year!-- then they'll send you home with a treat! Oh, Sister, you'll trade with me, won't you? Please?" After all, though she keeps the heart of the wish to herself, she has long dreamed of sharing these festive, joyous celebrations with her siblings -- brother and sister both. The stamp cards and vines of yesteryear remain preciously held in her box of treasures; this memory, too, she will cherish.

The sound of her voice was unmistakable –soft, a bit chirpy and unbelievably strong. Minerva knew it was her and as she turned to face her, she was surprised to see her little sister in a long dress, actually making her seem older than she actually was and remarkably beautiful, but that was already known by the red-haired Macedon princess. She bowed her head, sketched a smile and she caressed Maria's cheek with the back of her index finger, catching the enthusiasm of her tiny body.

“You look wonderful, like you always do, my little one” she softened her tone, observing the brooch in her hands: the black feather, a very curious combination for her, but in some way, it actually fit her quite well. She listened to her request and with a murmured laugh, she gently unhook the string of pearls from her dress, inspecting it for a short moment, before turning her gaze to Maria.

“How could I say no to you?” she chuckled with a soft smirk upon her lips, handing over the brooch with care and placing a hand over hers. “Here, I’m sure you already met so many people from the monastery” she nodded, leaving her hand rest for a little longer, “Your deserved treat will come very soon!” she teased her with  mocking expression, noticing a familiar figure looming around the dance area.

“Have you seen Michalis too?”

[fishladyfishy]

I forgot to post this here but siblings day was on the 10th of April. Perfect for more Macedon royals art!

Wyverns are hard to draw but horses are worse :’D curse you Minerva!

[glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite]

Macedon decided it was time to introduce his daughter, Avalon, to all his friends and half-siblings.

He put on a baby sling to carry her around, grabbed the diaper bag and teleported down to camp.

"Come and meet my daughter, Avalon." He said with a smile, gesturing to the sleeping 7month infant he had in his arms.

What do you do?

[ofaresandnemesis]

Macedon had been hanging around the Ares' cabin all day, with no signs of leaving anytime soon.

While he did mean well... he was being a bit bossy with his siblings; leading them through training, activities, and even cabin chores.

"Rio, you need to make your bed." Macedon reminded his brother for the fifth time.

@glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite

Since when are you the cabin counselor?

Rio glanced up from his boot that was sitting in his lap as he changed the laces

Being a nepo baby doesn't make you in charge.

[red--dragoon]

Maria: Sunny Smile

"Macedonian winters are so harsh… I'm always grateful when the spring comes along. The sun feels so good!"

I finally finished the Macedon siblings in their Spring Festival attire! First up is Maria, who is the one that presumably forced her older siblings to dress up in the first place :)

(Bunny pattern here)

[riordanverserpdatabase]

Can you add me to the Apollo cabin list?

@apollos-tone-deaf--child

(OOC: oh, and can you add my other rp account @jean-isnot-verysweet to the Aphrodite cabin list?)

Thank you user Anonymous for your contribution to the database!!! Let's ping some of your siblings!!

For Sunny, some Apollo siblings!!

Ameila @the-definition-of-sunshine

Andrew @andrew-champion-of-heartbreak

Asher @a-poetic-apollo-kid

Brio @birdie-jay-07

Lexi @the-amazing-life-of-lexi

For Jean, some Aphrodite kids!!

Cynthia @ride-the-tide

Haven @sweetxloverxx

Jinka @jinkas-heart-filled-meadows

Mackenzie @rayof-damnsunshine

Stephanie @that-asian-child-of-aphrodite

Macedon @glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite