#metal bibliography

[ghnosis]

Ghost dissertation bibliography as of 30 May 2024

hey! some of you were curious to read things I'm working on/my bib. my comprehensive exam is 18th June, so these aren't like, FINAL final (in terms of citation formatting), but they're pretty darn close.

I'll probably paste the contextual review document I've been writing for 2 years as well - it's awaiting final say-so from my supervisors right now.

ALDERSLADE, Merlin. 2019. 'How Ghost became the face of the new generation of heavy metal.’ Metal Hammer. May 29 [online] Available at: https://www.loudersound.com/features/how-ghost-became-the-face-of-the-new-generation-of-heavy-metal 

ANZALDÚA, Gloria. 2021. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.  (The Critical Edition, edited by Ricard F. Vivancos-Pérez and Normal Elia Cantú) San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books. 

ANZALDÚA, Gloria. 1991. 'To(o) Queer the Writer – Loca, escritora y chicana.’ In WARLAND, Betsy (ed.). Inversions: Writing by Dykes, Queers, and Lesbians. Vancouver: Press Gang Publishers, 249-264. 

ARROW, V. 2013 ‘Real person(a) fiction’. In JAMIESON, A.(ed.). Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World. Dallas: Smart Pop, 323–32.  

BAKHTIN, Mikhail. 1984. Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 

BARNARD, Ian. 1997. ‘Gloria Anzaldúa’s Queer Mestisaje.’ MELUS. Spring 22(1), 35-53. 

BENNETT, J. 2013. 'Receive the Beast’. Decibel. Issue 100/February, 75-84. 

BENSHOFF, Harry M. 2015. 'The Monster and the Homosexual.' In GRANT, Barry Keith, The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Austin: University of Texas Press, 16-41. 

BIELAK, Zbigniew M. ‘Prequelle.’ [album art] 

BUSSE, Kristina. 2006. ‘My life is a WIP on my LJ: Slashing the slasher and the reality of celebrity and Internet performances.’ In HELLEKSON, Karen and BUSSE, Kristina (eds.). Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 207-224. 

BUSSE, Kristina. 2005. ‘Digital Get Down: Postmodern Boy Band Slash and the Queer Female Space.’ In MALCOLM, Cheryl Alexander and NYMAN, Jopi, eros.usa: essays on the culture and literature of desire. Gdańsk: Gdańsk University Press, 103-125. 

BUTLER, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge. 

CHANEY, Keidra and LIEBLER, Raizel. 2006. ‘Me, myself and I: Fan fiction and the art of self-insertion' Bitch. 31, 52-57. 

CHARMAZ, Kathy. 2006. Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis. (2011 reprint) London: SAGE Publications. 

CIXOUS, Hélène. 1976. ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’. Signs. 1(4), 875-893.  

CLIFFORD-NAPOLEONE, Amanda. 2015. 'Living in the margins: Metal’s self-in-reflection.’ Metal Music Studies. 1(3), 379-384. 

CLIFFORD-NAPOLEONE, Amanda. 2015. Queerness in Heavy Metal Music: Metal Bent. New York: Routledge. 

COHEN, Cathy J. 1997. 'Punks, Bulldaggers and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics?’ GLQ. 3, 437-465. 

DAWES, Laina. 2013. What Are You Doing Here? A Black Woman’s Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal. Brooklyn: Bazillion Points. 

DAWES Laina. 2015. ‘Challenging an "Imagined Community:” Discussions (or lack thereof) of black and queer experiences within heavy metal culture. Metal Music Studies. 1(3), 385-393. 

DERECHO, Abigail. 'Archontic Literature: A Definition, a History, and Several Theories of Fan Fiction’. In HELLEKSON, Karen and BUSSE, Kristina (eds.). Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 61-78. 

DORAN, John. 2012. ‘Mass is in Session.’ Metal Hammer UK. April 2012, 38-47. 

DRISCOLL, Catherine. ‘One True Pairing: the Romance of Pornography and the Pornography of Romance.’ In HELLEKSON, Karen and BUSSE, Kristina (eds.). Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 79-96. 

EHRENREICH, Barbara, HESS, Elizabeth, and JACOBS, Gloria. 1992. ‘Beatlemania: Girls Just Want to Have Fun.’ In LEWIS, Lisa A. (ed.). The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge, 84-106. 

FABBRI, Franco. ‘A Theory of Musical Genres: Two Applications.’ 

FAST, Susan. 1999. ‘Rethinking Issues of Gender and Sexuality in Led Zeppelin: A Woman’s View of Pleasure and Power in Hard Rock’. American Music. Fall 1999, 17(3), 245-299. 

FAUSTO-STERLING, Anne. 1993. ‘The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are Not Enough’. The Sciences. March/April 1993, 20-25. 

FAXNELD, Per. 2017. Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

FIESLER, Casey, MORRISON, Shannon, and BRUCKMAN, Amy S. 2016. ‘An Archive of Their Own: A Case Study of Feminist HCI and Values in Design.’ CHI ‘16 Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 

FIESLER, Casey. 2019. ‘Ethical Considerations for Research Involving (Speculative) Public Data’. Proc. ACM Hum-Comput. Interact. 3, GROUP, Article 249 (December 2019), 249-249:13. 

FRITH, Simon. 1996. Performing Rites: on the Value of Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

FRITH, Simon, and MCROBBIE, Angela. 1990. 'Rock and Sexuality’. In FRITH, Simon and GOODWIN, Andrew (eds.). On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word. London: Routledge, 317-332. 

GARLAND-THOMSON, Rosemarie. 2002. ‘Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory’. NWSA Journal. Fall 2002, 14(3), 1-32. 

GHOST. 2012. ‘Children! In the wait for some news from the ghoul front, devour some graphics that we applaud here within the ministry...’ October 30, 2012 [Facebook post]. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/thebandghost/posts/297668790339417 

GHOST. 2019. ‘Chapter Seven: New World Redro’. June 13 2019 [YouTube video] Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/ryuzatodraws-archive/672367379880312832/i-remembered-the-jesus-showing-off-his-top?source=share [accessed 30 May 2024] 

GHOST-BAND-AIDS. 2020. ‘Interview with GHOST and TRIBULATION.’ [Tumblr post] Translated from DELASTIK, Anja. 2020. ‘Schlagabtaush: Ghost vs. Tribulation.’ Metal Hammer Germany. March 2020. Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/ghost-band-aids/190811297796/interview-with-ghost-and-tribulation  https://www.metal-hammer.de/schlagabtausch-ghost-vs-tribulation-1424295/ 

GREEN, Shoshanna, JENKINS, Cynthia, and JENKINS, Henry. 1998. ‘Normal Female Interest in Men Bonking: Selections from The Terra Nostra Underground and Strange Bedfellows’. In HARRIS, Cheryl and ALEXANDER, Alison (eds.). Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture, and Identity. Cresskill: Hampton Press. 

HAGEN, Ross. 2015. 'Bandom Ate My Face: The Collapse of the Fourth Wall in Online Fan Fiction’. Popular Music and Society. 38(1), 44-58. 

HALBERSTAM, Judith. 2003. ‘Reflections on Queer Studies and Queer Pedagogy’. In YEP, Gust A, LOVAAS, Karen E., and ELIA, John P. (eds.). Queer Theory and Communication: From Disciplining Queers to Queering the Discipline(s). Binghamton: Harrington Park Press, 361-364. 

HALBERSTAM, Judith. 2005. In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives. New York: New York University Press. 

HICKMAN, Langdon. 2023. ‘The Dialectical Satan’. In LUKES, Daniel and PANAYOTOV, Stanimir (eds.). Black Metal Rainbows. Oakland: PM Press, 335-350. 

HILL, Rosemary Lucy. 2016. ‘”Power has a penis”: Cost reduction, social exchange and sexism in metal – reviewing the work of Sonia Vasan’. Metal Music Studies. 2(3), 263-271. 

HILLS, Matt. 2002. Fan Cultures. London: Routledge. 

HINERMAN, Stephen. 1992. '”I’ll Be Here With You”: Fans, Fantasy and the Figure of Elvis’. In LEWIS, Lisa A. (ed.). The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge, 107-134. 

HOAD, Catherine. 2017. 'Slashing through the boundaries: Heavy metal fandom, fan fiction and girl cultures’. Metal Music Studies. 3(1), 5-22. 

HOOKS, bell. 2015. Feminism: From Margin to Center. New York: Routledge. (third edition) 

HOPPER, Jessica. 2021. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. First MCD x FSG Originals Edition. 

HUTCHERSON, Ben and HAENFLER, Ross. 2010. ‘Musical Genre as a Gendered Process: Authenticity in Extreme Metal’. Studies in Symbolic Interactions. Vol 35, 101-121. 

IRIGARAY, Luce. 1989. This Sex Which is Not One. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 

ISMMS 2023: ‘No Outsides’. (Conference June 3-6, 2023) 

JENKINS, Henry. 2013. Textual Poachers. New York: Routledge. The Classic Edition. 

JONAS, Hans. 1958. The Gnostic Religion. Boston: Beacon Press.  

JONES, Rhian E. and DAVIES, Eli (eds.). 2017. Under My Thumb: Songs That Hate Women and the Women Who Love Them. London: Repeater Books. 

KAPLAN, Deborah. 2006. ‘Construction of Fan Fiction Character Through Narrative.’ In HELLEKSON, Karen and BUSSE, Kristina (eds.). Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 134-152. 

KROVATIN, Christopher. 2018. 'Ghost is the Most Try-Hard Satanic Rock Band on Earth’. Vice. 31 May [online]. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9k8qbe/ghost-is-the-most-try-hard-satanic-rock-band-on-earth [accessed 29 May 2024]. 

LATZKO-TOTH, Guillaume, BONNEAU, Claudine, and MILLETTE, Mélanie. 2017. ‘Small Data, Thick Data: Thickening Strategies for Trace-Based Social Media Research’. In SLOAN, Luke and QUAN-HAASE, Anabel (eds). The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods. London: SAGE Publications, 199-214. 

LUKES, Daniel and PANAYOTOV, Stanimir. 2023. Black Metal Rainbows. Oakland: PM Press. 

MCINTOSH, Peggy. 1990. ‘White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack’. 

Metal and Religion Conference 2022 

NAMASTE, Viviane. 2009. 'Undoing Theory: The “Transgender Question” and the Epistemic Violence of Anglo-American Feminist Theory.’ Hypatia. 24(3), 11-32. 

PAGELS, Elaine. 1989. The Gnostic Gospels. New York: Random House. (Vintage Books Edition, September 1989.) 

PARR, George. 2023. ‘Rape Culture’. In LUKES, Daniel and PANAYOTOV, Stanimir (eds.). Black Metal Rainbows. Oakland: PM Press, 353-361. 

PASCOE, C.J.. 2011. Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School. Berkeley: University of California Press.  

PETROCELLI, Heather Oriana. 2023. Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator. University of Wales Press. 

REED-DANAHAY, Deborah. 1997. Auto/ethnography: rewriting the self and the social. New York: Berg. 

RICHES, Gabby. 2015. ‘Re-conceptualizing women’s marginalization in heavy metal: a feminist post-structuralist perspective’. Metal Music Studies. 1(2), 263-270. 

RICHES, Gabrielle, LASHUA, Brett, and SPRACKLEN, Karl. 2014. ‘Female, Mosher, Transgressor: A “Moshography” of Transgressive Practices within the Leeds Extreme Metal Scene’. IASPM Journal, 4(1), 87-100.  

ROACH, Emily E. 2018. ‘The homoerotics of the boyband, queerbaiting and RPF in pop music fandoms���, Journal of Fandom Studies. 6(2), 167-186.  

RYUZATODRAWS. 2022. ‘I remembered the “jesus showing off his top surgery scar to the homies" post so heres Trans Copia showing his off!’ [Tumblr post] Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/ryuzatodraws-archive/672367379880312832/i-remembered-the-jesus-showing-off-his-top?source=share 

S_G. 2022. ‘Ghost/Tobias Forge - Hård rock pä export, 2022, (English subtitles) [YouTube user-generated content]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPwiFdYJc20 [Accessed Jul. 31 2022] 

SAVIGNY, Heather and SLEIGHT, Sam. 2015. ‘Postfeminism and heavy metal in the United Kingdom: Sexy or sexist?’ Metal Music Studies. 1(3), 341-357. 

SHADRACK, Jasmine Hazel. 2021. Black Metal, Trauma, Subjectivity and Sound : Screaming the Abyss. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing. 

SLAVGHOUL. 2019. ‘Tobias on being the sexy face of Satanism.’ Translated from CZARTORYSKI, Bartosz. 2019. ‘Seksowne oblicze satanizmu. Rozmawiamy z liderem zespołu Ghost.’ Available at: https://slavghoul.tumblr.com/post/189496141322/tobias-on-being-the-sexy-face-of-satanism [accessed 29 May 2024]. 

SLAVGHOUL. 2020. Into the Fog. Translated from LAGERGREN, Richard. 2010. ‘In i dimman’. Sweden Rock Magazine. 76. Available at: https://slavghoul.tumblr.com/post/619019726477213697/heres-an-interview-with-papa-from-2010-that-i [accessed 29 May 2024]. 

SLAVGHOUL. 2022. ‘Ghost MySpace, 2010’. [Tumblr post]. Available at: https://slavghoul.tumblr.com/post/695852845125238784/ghost-myspace-2010 [accessed 30 May 2024] 

SLOAN, Luke and QUAN-HAASE, Anabel. 2017. The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods. London: SAGE Publications. 

SMOKE-AND-SILVER. 2024. [Tumblr post] Available at: https://smoke-and-silver.tumblr.com/post/741475063435542528 

SPRACKLEN, Karl. 2020. ‘From The Wicker Man (1973) to Atlantean Kodex: Extreme music, alternative identities and the invention of paganism.’ Metal Music Studies. 6(1), 71-86. 

STASI, Mafalda. 2006. ‘The Toy Soldiers from Leeds: The Slash Palimpsest.’ In HELLEKSON, Karen and BUSSE, Kristina (eds.). Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 115-133. 

SWIST, Jeremy J. 2019. ‘Satan’s Empire: Ancient Rome’s anti-Christian appeal in extreme metal.’ Metal Music Studies. 5(1), 35-51. 

TEDDLIE, Charles, and TASHAKKORI, Abbas. 2009. Foundations of mixed methods research: integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications. 

TIIDENBERG, Katrin, HENDRY, Natalie Ann, ABIDIN, Crystal. 2021. tumblr. Polity Press. 

TIIDENBERG, Katrin. 2018. ‘Research Ethics, Vulnerability, and Trust on the Internet.’ In HUNSINGER, J., ALLEN, Matthew M., and KLASTRUP, Lisbeth (eds). Second International Handbook of Internet Research, Springer. 569-585. 

THOMSON, Andrew. 2021. ‘Right hand up, left hand down: The New Satanists of Rock n’ Roll, Evil and the Underground War on the Abject.’ Metal Music Studies. 7(1), 43-60. 

TRANARCHYREIGNS. 2024 [tumblr post] ‘I made a diagram that represents myself perfectly.’ March 26th, 2024 Available at: https://www.tumblr.com/tranarchyreigns/746022566448316416/i-made-a-diagram-that-represents-myself-perfectly [accessed 30 May 2024] 

TRINH, T. Minh-Ha. 1989. Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 

UNGER, Matthew P. 2019. ‘Ode to a dying God: Debasement of Christian symbols in extreme metal.’ Metal Music Studies. 5(2), 243-262. 

VASAN, Sonia. 2010. ‘”Den mothers and band whores”: Gender, sex, and power in the death metal scene’, in HILL, R.L. and SPRACKLEN, Karl (eds.), Heavy Fundamentalisms: Music, Metal and Politics. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 69-78. 

VASAN, Sonia. 2011. ‘The Price of Rebellion: Gender Boundaries in the Death Metal Scene,’ Journal for Cultural Research. 15(3). 333-349. 

WALSER, Robert. 1993. Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. London: Wesleyan University Press. 

WEINSTEIN, Deena. 2000. Heavy Metal: the Music and Its Culture. Da Capo Press. First Da Capo Press Edition 2000. 

WISE, Sue. 1990. ‘Sexing Elvis’. In FRITH, Simon and GOODWIN, Andrew (eds.). On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word. London: Routledge, 333-340. 

YOUNG, Iris Marion. 1990. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.  

YOUNG, Iris Marion. 1990. Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays in Feminist Philosophy and Social Theory. Bloomington: Indiana University Press 

[phantasieandmirare]

Of course it’s all connected

[fab-bladesmith]

A Celtic Anthropomorphic Hilted Short Sword/Dagger and Scabbard, 1st cent. B.C.

Based mostly on two local examples (one found in 1900 in Mirebeau-sur-Bèze, and the other in the river Saône, at the ford called "Iles Percées" in 1974, and both kept in the @museedenon in Chalon-sur-Saône) as well as others.

The blade is high carbon steel with a hollow ground diamond section, and has been slack-quenched so that only the edges would harden. A sun, crescent moon and two silver lines were inlaid on one face.

The hilt is bronze, cast in 4 parts. The shape of it recall the "proper" anthropomorphic hilts of the earlier phases in a simplified form, but it's not hard to identify the legs, body, arms and head. The scabbard is bronze, and as should be can be taken down relatively easily. The front plate overlaps the back plate on the sides, and the throat piece and chape also keep holding these two together.

I have a boundless admiration for the Celtic smiths of old.

There is both much to say about these swords - questions, mostly, and not much in terms of answers.

Such swords appear all over Europe, and a striking feature in addition to the hilt is these inlays of a moon and a sun - though some swords only show a single central strip of gold. Maybe my current reads on metal finishes has me overthink on the meaning of these inlays - or rather, the fact that they did have a meaning, now lost to us.

But it made sense to me that the blade could have been heat-blued, to emphasise the moon and sun at twilight - the silver lines could then be the Milky Way or the Divide between Night and Day, maybe at the time of the Equinox.

Bluing of blades is also found later on inlaid Mediaeval swords, with a possibility of a continuity of this technique. I'd say more, but space here is limited. I don't know.

Not to mention the strong symbolism of the scabbard (you do know the Latin word for scabbard, right ?) associated with the blade dangling between the hilt's "legs". Ritual blade fitting with fertility/astronomy/renewal of the cycle ?

Damn you, Celts and Gauls, who made such marvels and didn't write down a thing, and now all is lost in the sea of Time and Silence.

All that we can affirm is the undeniable highly symbolic meaning of such artifacts - as the Archaeologist in me would say.

Many thanks to Dr Guillaume Reich - leading expert on La Tène weapons - for the advice, insight and bibliography.

[citrineandrosmarin]

🦉Athena Masterpost🦉

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

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

Last updated: Date of Publishing

Overview

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

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

Athena, Goddess of…

Metis (Cunning)

Skill

Crafts

Invention

War

Civilization

Hero Mentorship

Education and Knowledge [SPG]

🐍Find out More!🐍

Symbols, Colors & Tarot Cards

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

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

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

🐍Find out More!🐍

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

Name & Epithets:

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

A few common epithets:

Areia - Warlike

Ergane - The Worker

Glaukôpis - Bright/owl-eyed.

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

Parthenos - Maiden

Polias - Of the City

Polymetis - Cunning in many ways

🐍Find out More!🐍

Offerings and Devotional Acts

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

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

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

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

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

🐍Find out More!🐍

Athenian Festivals

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

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

Kallynteria and Plynteria: Sacred days centered around cleaning.

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

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

🐍Find out More!🐍

Family & Connections

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

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

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

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

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

🐍More of my Info Posts!🐍

Athena and Childbirth

Athena Hippia / Khalinitis

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

On the comparison of Athena and Ares

Athena and Herakles: Excerpt from Susan Deacy’s book

Myth of Athena's Birth

🐍Extra Links🐍

Prayers, Hymns and Poems

Homeric Hymn to Athena 11 [Tumblr - Mine]

Homeric Hymn to Athena 28 [Tumblr - Mine]

Poem for Athena [Tumblr - Mine]

Adaptation of the Orphic Hymn [Tumblr - wisdomweaver]

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

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

Hymn to Athena [Tumblr - entricacies]

Praise to Athena [Tumblr - piristephes]

Prayer for Clarity and Sound Intuition [Tumblr - crimsonsongbird]

Prayer for Athena [Tumblr - hisfleur]

Prayer for Athena [Tumblr - evilios]

Prayer to Athena [Tumblr - ranger5000]

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

Assortment of Prayers [Website - greekpagan.com]

Battle Armor Poem [Tumblr - crimsonsongbird]

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

Learning Short Poem [Tumblr - Mine]

Additional Links

Theoi.com [Website]

Iliad - Athena dons the Aegis [Tumblr - Mine]

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

Bathing of Athena in Argos [Tumblr - verdantlyviolet]

Subtle Athena Worship [Tumblr - khaire-traveler]

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

khaire-traveler on their snow leopard UPG [Tumblr]

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

Parthenon in AC: Odyssey [Youtube - Invicta]

Bibliography

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

Burkert, Walter - Greek Religion

Deacy, Susan - Athena

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

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

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

Drees, Ludwig - Olympia

Larson, Jennifer - Ancient Greek Cults

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

Maurizio, Lisa - Classical Mythology in Context

Mikalson, Jon D. - Ancient Greek Religion

Ogden, Daniel - A Companion to Greek Religion

Theoi.com

[magicrainbowkitties]

So yesterday my friends and I

- Were told the story of Steve the Walmart Electronics Guy, who was accosted by a MAGAt for not voting trump (Steve simply said his vote was between him and the box), and who called him a slur, to which Steve replied "Did I see you on Grindr earlier, you're kinda cute." The interaction went from there. I thanked Steve for his service to this country.

- Waited for the friend whose house we were going to to actually get home because traffic sucks so we went to this bar 2 streets away and just chilled there until we got the clear.

- Saw Shrek bc I had never seen it all the way through. Before I had always been made to experience it in chunks.

- Watched all available episodes of Dandadan. Pretty good, I was nerding out over the writing and gorgeous artwork the whole time.

- Chased our host's escape artist dog to another yard when she stopped running only to take a piss and ran back inside the house after the thunder started rumbling in the distance.

- Got caught in the torrential rain on a road with no streetlights and no clear markers. One of us had an essay due at 11:59. The driver couldn't see, and was searching desperately for a port in the storm. We saw the yellow neon glow of the Waffle House. And so the prophecy I had foretold earlier that day came true: "You don't go to Waffle House, you wind up at Waffle House."

- The essay friend is Australian and had/has never been to Waffle House, Rudy's, or Denny's despite living in Texas for a little over 8 years. We had intended to rectify the Waffle House thing at a later date. Evidently the gods had other plans.

- Scared the hell outta poor Kevin the Waffle House Guy because we got a text from...

- The friend whose house we left that he was DRIVING IN THE TORRENT TO MEET US AT WAFFLE HOUSE. Even after I called him to say "You better stay your ass inside." With the WINDOW DOWN blasting a metal song called Storm from some band I don't know (I'm sorry). He's type 1 diabetic and therefore could not eat at Waffle House.

- Made great progress in developing CAIN characters while sitting around and eating chocolate chip waffles.

My roommate (driver) and I didn't get home until after midnight. Fuck what a day. Truly no better day to watch something like Dandadan.

And now I've got an Astronomy test on fuckin election night. Fuck.

Edit: I shouldn't have done any of that because I have an entire annotated bibliography that I was supposed to turn in last night that I thought was due today not last night. Fuck.

[gothsuguru]

omg I'm the anon who was talking about "black is the colour" ur so cute omds 😭😭 but no fr i felt like crying when I read it for the first time its genuinely so beautiful if that fic was a person I'd propose there and then. also YES I WAS TALKING ABOUT ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FANFICS PLEASE FEED ME O FANFICALICIOUS ONE 🙏🙏🙏 also O M F G IM SO EXCITED FOR A PREMONITION OF LOVE DONTTTT GET ME STARTED IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE GIGGLING AND KICKING MY FEET U DONT UNDERSTAND u are a really amazing writer yk like srsly those thoughts swirling in ur brain its like woah

WAHHHHHH I LOVE YOU SM ANON PLEASE KNOW IF THAT FIC WAS A PERSON THEY WOULD ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL IMMEDIATELY!!!!! <333 MWAH! AND OMG THANK YOU SM I HOPE I CAN WRITE IT WELL (i have soooooo many ideas and please… sniffles… you’re so sweet i swear the self confidence boost you gave me… it’s too dangerous friend 🙂‍↕️🩷) ALSO I’M ASSUMING FOR FIC RECS YOU MEANT FLUFF ONES BUT LET ME KNOW IF YOU EVER WANT ME TO DO OTHER RECS!

there’s are just a few fics that i love so much and truly all of these people are such amazing writers <333 i’ll put a couple down below — in no particular order! :D

“tuesdays” by my beloved io <3 — MY FAVORITE SATORU FIC AND POSSIBLY MY FAVORITE FLUFF FIC IN GENERAL OF ALL TIME RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH no one understands how much peculiar!satoru means to me… this is my favorite rendition of satoru EVER. there’s just something about how io dove into a facet of satoru’s personality that i never really thought about — aka his peculiarities — that just GENUINELY made my brain short-circuit in the best way possible. it was about his awkwardness, seriousness, silliness, & inability to read certain social cues/situations that made me really enamored honestly 😭 also reader was SO real and so fun and was there for satoru in terms of his personal growth! ALSO the story premise was just so unique in GENERAL omfg it was the first fic where i maxed out 30 tags like i didn’t know tumblr had tag limits until i read io’s fic and i just had so much more to say too 😭 WE WEREN’T MOOTS YET WHEN I READ IT BUT TRUST IF WE WERE I WOULD’VE RB’D W 10 PAGES MLA FORMAT ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY!!!!! BC I’M REAL LIKE THAT!!!!!! i wish i could read this fic all over again omfg io’s love for satoru and her writing prowess shines through massively in this fic <3 (i also love “strawberry fields” it’s another one of my FAVS NDNDNDJDJ satoru going on reddit and being clowned for date ideas by sukuna will always make me giggle like one thing about sukie… he’ll pray on a bad bitch’s downfall…) ok sorry this one got so long i’m just the Biggest Proponent of “tuesdays” it holds a very dear place in my heart :3

“two is never a crowd” by @mossmotif — ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAV SATORU FICS EVERRRRRRRR i can’t explain to you how much moss’ writing affects me………. okay i Can and Will . MOSS’ WRITING IS ONE OF A KIND I HAVE NOTHING TO COMPARE IT TO BC IT’S SUCH IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN!!!!! i think its the way that they have 1) the most interesting concepts & character dynamics first and foremost that gets me bc how does one even think of a stablehand!reader? and how is it that it fits so UNBELIEVABLY perfectly with a royal!gojo??? i remember reading the fic for the first time and i was just in awe of how it felt like i was THERE which leads me to point 2) the way moss uses settings to invoke emotion is insane……… from the blood and dark clearings and metal of knight!suguru to the purgatory of youth of suguru & reader and how they connect with sharing fruit to the quaint yet vast green openness of the fields where stablehand!reader works with their horses which then invites satoru in bc the reader just holds a Steadiness and Calmness that infiltrates everyone around them………… all of it is just delicious. JUST YUMMY. (also vamp!suguru? very cunty very sexy i need him CARNALLY.) also for moss… if you’ve ever read a fic of theirs you’re just gonna Understand how insane it is that he’ll just drop the most life-changing quote/paragraph and then go about the story like . Can I Get My Inhaler For A Second I Can’t Breathe……… i HEAVILY implore you to read any moss fic you can because you will get grittiness in one, nostalgia in another, fluff in one, and eroticism in another . just truly and honestly a league of their own when it comes to fic writing <333 this is an i love moss stan account idgaf

“weeping, carved open hearts” by @teddybeartoji — ONE OF MY FAV TOJI FICS EVER RAHHHHHHHHH this one is more hurt/comfort WHICH IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE TYPES OF FICS!!!!! i hold toji so close to my heart and mickey writes him so GENUINELY and so three-dimensionally — she makes him feel like a REAL person in the world with all his faults and insecurities and above all else — his LOVE! it’s like mickey plucks the beauty of the mundanity of real life such as a tree in a storm or a shampoo bottle or even a simple emotion like sadness and CURATES it into something so profoundly beautiful… genuinely he left me in shock & awe with how STUNNING this fic was and how REAL the emotions were from both reader & toji, it was like i was a fly on the wall just watching a true & genuine conversation play out! out of all the tags i have ever written on a fic, i’m most proud of the tags i left on mickey’s fic bc i think it’s the first time where i didn’t just regurgitate information and actually took in what was written by the author & made my own inferences and basically Used My Brain while also waxing poetic about mickey’s writing & the fic :3 ALSO YOU HAVE TO READ “I HUNGER TO COMMIT THE ACT OF TOUCH” . ALL PARTS YOU NEED TO READ ALL PARTS SO FAR AND GET YOUR LIFE CHANGED!!!!! the action the blood the yearning the eroticism the KNIGHTS. moaned loud as FUCK that’s my bad

“where you lead me, i’ll follow” by @twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat — THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PROSE AND LIFE-CHANGING WRITING YOU WILL EVER READ! i remember reading this fic and being in complete and utter awe because it never once felt like i was READING something, it was like i was LIVING it! the conversations on that rooftop played out like a movie in my head and that’s genuinely the greatest compliment i could ever give — i felt like i was privy to a conversation that was so intimate between two people (suguru & reader) and i felt so CONNECTED to the writing and the emotions invoked through the writing! ari has such a beautiful way of showing the power of adoration/devotion within friendships/relationships and they just have such a strong GRASP on the characterizations of suguru depending on the vibes of the fic they’re creating. this fic especially talked about genuine feelings that people in their late teens/early twenties go through and idk i just felt so much better after reading it :’) all of ari’s writing invokes something in anyone who reads it, they truly have THE midas touch! <3 also i could add so many more fics underneath the fluff/sfw category but i highly recommend going through their masterlist and finding out for yourself how consistently amazing, thought-provoking, & gorgeously atmospheric their writing is! <333 definitely my favorite suguru writer on the planet 🫡 like genuinely just go through their entire MASTERLIST it’s ALL hits 🙂‍↕️

“metanoia” by @storiesoflilies — RAHHHHHHH okay for metanoia……….. if you have EVER read a lily fic you will KNOW how stunning her writing is. like you can’t help but just be so INVESTED especially because her love for toji shines through every word, you see the way reader talks about toji and fall in love with him AS you’re reading!!!! i think her grasp on his character is second to none in this fic especially for a younger toji — he’s shy & awkward & rough around the edges but at the end of the day, i think all he wants is love and reader is there to give it to him and vice versa :’) the beautiful ways that lily interspersed physics and romance………. when i tell you my JAW dropped. the quotes in this fic will have your mind reeling from how insanely good it is omfg… and YES the ending is a cliffhanger BUT she’s coming out with “hiraeth” soon and i was lucky enough to read it in advance and let me tell you………. you are in for a TREAT! ALSO PLEASE READ “CRIMSON REVERIE” IT’S REALLY AMAZING AND SO GORGEOUS <333 i love greek myth and then intersperse that with lily’s prose??? YAWPPPPPP

“i want to kiss you” by @arminsumi — okay i wanted to add this bc it is my favorite fic series of all time and i’ll tell you why… the absolute LOVE and ADORATION that satoru & suguru have for reader is astounding and the idea of a blossoming friendship between people from different cultures is so fucking precious… i genuinely have never read a fic w this premise/concept before and it is truly SO unbelievably beautiful :’) op does a WONDERFUL job of creating a soft, HUMAN atmosphere/friendship -> relationship between reader & satosugu :’) i can’t WAIT to read the next chapter hehe i truly recommend this fic series with every fiber of my being <333

[sanctus-ingenium]

answering asks vol 2.

'Smiths' can encompass enginesmiths (mercury), armoursmiths (mars), alchemists (saturn) and some others - generally a smith is someone who works with engines or metal in any capacity, whether by constructing them, managing their fuel, making armour, etc. all of them have a completely degendered role in the church. They are supposed to be wholly devoted to their craft & church, to the point of becoming almost unpeople, sexless.

-

I like pantera :) he's the main character beast sure (alongside leun) but he's got a lot of interesting history and has been through a lot.

To start out I do some basic sketches while looking at bestiary diagrams of the animal type. Then I draw the base proportions over a photo of the animal's skeleton. Once the joints are all in place and I could imagine it moving relatively freely, I pick a motif and design the armour shapes with that in mind (i.e leun's trefoils, taurus's waves). The motifs come from a bunch of sources - if I see them in medieval art around that animal, the beast's use purpose, the culture that built them and how it might differ in art styles to the 'basic' designs from the heart of the Mezian theocracy. Fun stuff like that.

As an exercise I have taken (human) characters from other settings and made holy beast versions of them, trying to imagine what animal it would be, what weapons, what armour designs, etc. Behold, Bowman:

It's a fun exercise! I recommend :>

-

Hi! Thank you for the suggestion! I actually did try to use OneNote for my thesis but I found that it ended up an extra step that got in the way. Instead I organised my reference papers manually (and wrote up all my bibliography by hand as well). I haven't heard of Notion so I might look into it :> as someone with adhd I find that the best way for me is to make it stupid easy, which is why discord works because I already use it for talking with friends and I like the mobile app.

-

SO true!! You can make whatever the hell you want forever and that sounds really cool, I'm glad I was able to help in some little way >:) (although, holy beasts are not robots.. i think the best description for them is just. exotic vehicles.)

-

lmao it's totally fine!! I love to talk

Sir Heaven had such a profoundly negative experience with Leun that he struggles with the concept of making anybody else do what he now considers to be his burden. He also feels that taking any new people inside Leun would endanger them.

The bishop of Salvius cathedral is the guy Heaven answers to, and his superior officer. The bishop has reported the matter to the pope and they're still working hard presenting new potential novices to Sir Heaven, but the thing is that Sir Heaven rejects them for seemingly valid reasons. He doesn't just say 'no I'm not taking apprentices', he says 'this one's reaction speed isn't good enough' or 'this one is too prideful'. But the longer he tries to keep this up, the more suspicion he heaps on his shoulders. If the time came, no, he would not be able to deny a direct order from the pope.

Ketjan was selected at random, one of a large group of other children who were not raised in the church. This is to ensure that there is no per-existing bias or knowledge of how holy beasts work. And he just happened to be the only one of the group who could master Leun's very demanding dialogue tattoo. The recruiting enginesmiths, who designed Leun's systems, were the ones to train him, but Ketjan was the one to write most of the procedures for operating Leun based on feedback from the dialogue.

-

Replies from THIS post:

@ospreyonthemoon @kicks-tiktaalik-back-into-water

Krokodilos had an amazing high-tech ventilation system that used active air pumps to keep it circulating. But exactly like the second reply says, it broke down frequently. And because of how it worked, the interior of croc had to be air-tight so that the pumps could work efficiently. And, of course, if it broke down, and it was air tight on the inside, it instantly became a more dangerous deathtrap than your average passively ventilated beast.

There were valves that could be opened in an emergency but these were only added after the first Incident. The pumps would break down from the fabric seals degrading, lose efficacy, and then the parts furthest from the pumps would suddenly not get enough air anymore because air couldn't be moved such a distance with faulty pumps. The reason his enginesmiths want him to be re-commissioned is because the only barrier was the material used for the seals, and they believe they can innovate some new materials or try something different and have it work. They were even thinking of trying natural rubber, which would have worked perfectly, but they never got approval for it.

[hdslibrary]

Bibliography with Bite

You can really see how deeply the metal type was pressed into the paper sheet (the "bite") in this page from a 17th century work of Hebrew bibliography by the Christian Hebraist, Giulio Bartolocci. The paper is very soft, so reading this book might have been an extra tactile experience.

Bartolocci, Giulio. Bibliotheca magna rabbinica de scriptoribus, & scriptis hebraicis, ordine alphabetico Hebraicè, & Latinè digestis … Romae: Sacrae Congregationis de Propaganda Fide, 1675-1694.

[crashhole]

Eight Comics to Sooth a Savage Soul

From Primordial Warriors and Jungle Heroes to Woodland Wildmen and Mutant Berserkers, here are eight comics appeasing our animalistic, hunter/predator-fight or flight-lizard brains. Reminders that man is just an animal trapped in his own zoo

Lord of the Jungle (2022)

A compelling tale starring the og jungle hero, Tarzan! I picked this up on a whim and it became one of my most anticipated reads each month. The writing pulled me through each page as effortlessly as the gorgeous art swings Tarzan from tree to tree

Ka-Zar Lord Of The Savage Land (2021)

Ka-Zar is essentially Marvel’s answer to Tarzan. With animal based powers and a family to protect against the invasive technological metaphor for deforestation, fracking and industrial pollution, this is a really cool and gorgeous miniseries

All Against All (2022)

Pushing “Tarzan” even further into the realm of sci-fi than “Ka-Zar”, this story centers parental trauma around an alien war mining Earth’s creatures for biological weaponry. Ultra violent with hyper intense art enhancing the vibes

Sheena Queen of the Jungle: Fatal Exams (2023)

Sheena is back and is now attending prep school? I’m gonna be honest, not having read any previous “Sheena”, I’m not really sure why she’s there or how old she’s supposed to be, but the school drama is fun between her ecoterrorism!

Bloodrik (2023)

A hyborian hunter looking to eat! This is a 3 issue mini, with the finale issue set to drop next month. Minimalist storytelling sets the stage for phenomenal art with heavy metal overtones, while it’s unique page layouts are giving CLAMP on T

Kroma (2022)

This comic is very different from the others on this list, playing a sort of twist on the Giver crossed with elements of the Wickerman. An absolutely stunning story about propaganda, religious indoctrination, and a sacrificial scapegoat ready to bring it all down

Shirtless Bear-Fighter! (2017)

Are you ready to punch some bears!? Shirtless dedicated his life to protecting the forest, until something happened that turned him onto the war against bearrorism! A really cute comedy with a surprising amount of depth. Raunchy but fairly tame tbh

Wolverine (2020)

Of course I’m adding the most iconic wild man of our time to the list! The current run is a great place to start, especially when paired with X-Force (2020), but any entry in his bibliography is gonna be a wild, messy ride from start to finish.

Thanks for reading my list! Hopefully one of them peaked your interest enough to check out. Here are a few savagely honorable mentions that’re also definitely worth looking into:

Animal Man, Berserk, Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Sabretooth, Swamp Thing

What are some of y’all favorite wild man comics?

[finalgirlminamurray]

reading update: horrorstör was good! the idea of setting a sort of haunted house story in an ikea-style furniture store with those kinds of showroom displays of fully furnished rooms is a great one and i almost wish the book had done more with that instead of just transforming the store into its original prison setting, but it still worked very well as what it was. hendrix’s novels have all felt very cinematic to me - you can really envision everything happening like a movie - and it’s a shame that apparently the only film adaptation of his work so far was not very good. (my best friend’s exorcism was an excellent book, i don’t know how they would have managed to screw that up.) really enjoyed reading this one. the one thing that took me out of it was any mention of actual ikea because i feel like orsk shouldn’t exist in the same universe as the real-world store chain it’s obviously based on, and if it did then everyone would just say “so like ikea” when describing its features. but then again i haven’t been to real ikea enough times to know that much about it. the equation of a soul-sucking retail job with a literal panopticon prison is in no way subtle but i kind of dig it.

we sold our souls was good too but i don't have that much to say about it. maybe i would have more if i was more familiar with the 80s-90s metal scene, or was more of a music person in general, but i enjoyed this one too. reading these books right next to each other had me noticing parallels between the cuyahoga panopticon and the imagery of black iron mountain. maybe they share a universe. both novels had solid character writing and swift steady pacing so i got through them pretty quick. i can say i am a fan of most of this author's work and i will probably be there for his newest novel when it comes out this month.

the third book i just read was stephen graham jones' i was a teenage slasher and that one absolutely ruled. sort of a perspective-flipped companion piece to my heart is a chainsaw and its sequels but also entirely its own thing. this one is probably less of a slasher novel despite the title - it really feels like a particularly well-done and very empathetic coming-of-age period piece and i loved it. i think the reason there are so many meta slashers these days is that after a certain point the subgenre had no place to go but back in on itself - see the revival of the genre coming with scream, which explicitly acknowledged that we've all seen these movies and we all know how this goes, and again with movies like happy death day that base themselves around a central gimmick (not necessarily a negative descriptor) that adds an extra new twist to the formula. this one kind of feels like a body horror transformation movie along the lines of the fly, except the main character is transforming into a slasher, and most of it is more mental than physical (and sounds highly distressing to experience). manages to do the meta horror thing of "people's minds are literally being influenced by the Horror Movie Situation to act differently (i.e., less rationally) than they normally would" in a way that doesn't make me roll my eyes out of my head. between this, the only good indians, and the indian lake trilogy, jones is quickly becoming one of my new favorite writers and i'll probably be diving deep into his extensive bibliography even more. i already have a hold on for mongrels and we'll see what else the library system has

[all-the-things-2020]

Continuing the Way - Chapter Four

Summary: Mariana gets some unexpected news.

Rating: PG

Mariana’s desk was a mess. Three piles of books, six stacks of papers, two data pads in addition to her personal one, and her info terminal covered every inch of the table. With exams coming up, she was spending every spare moment studying while simultaneously working on the prep work for the bibliography project, and wrapping up the last bit of research she’d been working on for Professor Ti’lik. She had been getting home so late that the boys were fast asleep by the time she walked through the door, and she felt as though she hadn’t said more than three words to Din in the past week. She was exhausted, but she was so close to the end of term that she kept pushing, promising herself that she’d sleep during the break between terms.

Her data pad pinged at her and she shook her head. What now? She uncovered her pad from the detritus and peered blearily at the text. She groaned. It was a reminder that her appointment with the med clinic was in fifteen minutes. I don’t have time for this now, she thought, but she’d postponed it several times already and knew she really needed to get it done. She stared at the mess on her desk for a long moment before closing her terminal down.

“She stands!,” Ti’lik said in mock amazement. “She walks!”

Mariana shook her head. “Ha ha, very funny, Professor.” As she’d gotten to know Ti’lik better, she’d discovered that the professor had a dry sense of humor that she only revealed to those close to her. “I have an appointment at the med clinic. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Ti’lik nodded. “Good,” she said. “You’re overdue for it and you’ve been pushing yourself too much lately. I’ve told you, let my project slide for now, concentrate on your classes, and use the break to get the bibliography project started.” She tilted her horned head, giving Mariana a look she recognized as one she often gave her sons when they were being obstinate.

“I know, I know,” Mariana said. “Between you and my husband, I’ve heard it a thousand times. I just … I want to wrap up the work I’ve been doing on your project so when I do get back to it, I can start fresh on a new topic. And I have a meeting with Professor Dane next week to show him my plans for the bibliography project. I want to have a good grasp on the scope of things before I give him my report.”

“Oh, go on, you’ll be late for your appointment,” Ti’lik said, shaking her head. “You won’t listen to me or your husband; maybe the doctors can knock some sense into your head.”

Mariana rolled her eyes and headed across campus to the med clinic. It was in a small building behind the cafeteria; the joke amongst the students was that this was intentional because of the poor quality of the food. She checked in at the front desk and took a seat in the waiting area, pulling out her data pad to check for any new messages. There was one from the literature student she’d asked to help her on the bibliography project, saying he would be happy to join her team as soon as the next term started. She was halfway through drafting a response to him when a med droid called out her name.

She stashed the pad in her jacket pocket and followed the droid into an exam room. “Please change into the examination gown on the table and the doctor will be with you shortly,” the droid droned in a bored voice. It left the room and Mariana quickly stripped down and put on the flimsy gown that could have been made of either cloth or paper for all she could tell. The room was cold and the exam table was even colder, the protective paper covering doing nothing to insulate her from the metal beneath. 

As she sat on the table, her legs swinging lazily as they dangled over the edge, it dawned on her that this was the first time in weeks that she’d actually done nothing. She thought about retrieving her pad from her jacket on the other side of the room, but decided against it. The doctor would certainly take her vitals and if she sat quietly, her blood pressure and heart rate would be lower.

Minutes passed and she resisted the urge to check the time on her pad. It hasn’t been that long, she told herself, and you need a break anyway. Still, it was hard to sit there doing nothing when her to-do list was a parsec long. Finally, the door opened and the doctor came in. She was a tall, dark-skinned human with braids and knots in her hair that must have taken hours to achieve. Mariana self consciously ran a hand over her own sloppy single braid.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Djarin, I’m Doctor Korraay.” She extended her hand, which had neatly trimmed and polished nails. Mariana shook it, hoping her own chipped and bitten nails weren’t completely obvious.

“Good afternoon, doctor,” she replied. “And it’s Mrs.”

Korraay nodded, glancing down at the small data pad in her hand. “So you’re here for a routine checkup. Is there anything bothering you that we should pay closer attention to?”

“No,” Mariana said. “I’ve been feeling fine. A little tired and stressed, but between work and school and my family, that’s to be expected.” She laughed, but knew it sounded strained even as it left her mouth. She just wanted to get this over with and get back to work.

Dr. Korraay nodded again, a small smile on her face. “Undoubtedly. I’ll take some blood samples and put those in the analyzer so it can work on them while I do the physical exam.” She drew a few vials of blood from Mariana’s arm, then patted her gently. She dropped the vials into a sleek white machine against the wall, which began to whir and click.

The exam was thorough but Dr. Korraay was quiet and careful, so nothing felt too invasive. When she was done, she tapped a few notes into her data pad and then looked up. “Anything else we can help you with while you’re here?,” she said.

“Um, I’ll need my contraceptive implant replaced soon,” Mariana said. “It should be due in a month or two, I think.”

Korraay nodded and checked her pad. She frowned. “Actually … it was due for replacement almost five months ago,” she said.

“What? No, that can’t be right,” Mariana said. “I got it put in during the spring before we came here ….” Her stomach dropped. “Oh, kriff, that was on Thantos Prime. It was springtime there, but it was still winter here on Chandrilla … how could I be so stupid?”

“Changing planets messes everyone up,” Dr. Korraay said. “And you said yourself you’ve been busy.”

“Well, can I get it replaced today?” Mariana asked. Her mind was already racing, trying to calculate how many times she and Din had been intimate over the last five months …

Korraay consulted her pad. “I’m afraid not,” she said.

“Okay, then when?” Her schedule was slammed right now but she’d definitely make time to get the implant replaced.

Korraay smiled. “There’s really no point right now,” she said gently. “You’re already pregnant, Mrs. Djarin.”

“No, no, no … I can’t be, not now,” Mariana knew she was babbling but she couldn’t help it. “We were going to wait until I finished my degree before we tried for another baby … I don’t have time … I can’t do this right now.”

Korraay slid her arm around Mariana’s shoulders. “Take a deep breath,” she said quietly. “And another. You’re fine.” When Mariana had stopped gasping and was able to focus, she went on. “I know it’s unexpected, and I know you feel like the timing isn’t right, but the fact is, this is happening.” She consulted her pad again. “You’ve already had one successful, uneventful pregnancy. You’ll be fine.”

She helped Mariana lie down on the exam table. “Just rest there for a moment and I’ll do a couple of quick scans to check on the baby. Find out how far along you are, see how things are progressing.”

As Korraay prepared her equipment, Mariana closed her eyes. She wanted another baby, and so did Din. A year from now, she’d have been overjoyed to get this news. Right now, though, she wanted to cry. It was all too much.

The scanner was cold as Korraay ran it over her lower abdomen and Mariana tried not to flinch. “Looks good,” the doctor said as she gently closed the examination robe. “I’d say you’re about two months along.” She helped Mariana sit up and gave her a quick hug. “You’re going to be just fine. Now, I’ll leave you alone to get dressed and then the med droid will see you out.”

Mariana put her clothes on, her hands shaking as she fastened up the buttons. She hardly heard the droid come in and jumped when it said, “If you’ll follow me ….”

Soon she was outside the clinic, blinking in the late afternoon light. It felt like hours should have gone by, as if it should be a completely different day, but it had been less than an hour since she’d left Professor Ti’lik’s office. She walked slowly back across campus. Originally, she’d planned to get back to work on Ti’lik’s project, finish up some details on the bibliography project plans, and then study for her Galactic Cultures of the Old Republic final. Now her mind was a blank, save for one thought. We’re having another baby.

She reached the office and found it empty, for which she was thankful. Ti’lik taught a seminar class that lasted three hours on that afternoon and she usually went straight home afterward. Mariana would have the office to herself for as long as she needed it. She sat and stared at her desk for a good fifteen minutes or more. So much work to do and all she could do was sit and try to process the news. She’d managed to take distance classes while pregnant with Cabur, but only two classes at a time, and she hadn’t been working, just taking care of Ad’ika and the apartment. Now she was a full time student, working on two major research projects and even though Din was taking care of the boys and everything else, she was already stretched to the limit. A new baby was definitely going to force her to make some tough choices.

She knew Din would insist that her studies had priority over everything except the family, but she loved her job and how could she give it up? Besides, if she stopped working, they would lose their employee subsidized housing, healthcare access, and all the other benefits that came with working for the university, especially free tuition. Even if Din could find a job quickly, it would never pay enough to keep them in a decent apartment here on Chandrilla and pay her tuition. There was no way she could quit her job.

That meant she’d have to stop taking classes until after the baby was born, which meant her degree would be that much further in the future. By the time she finished up, Professor Ti’lik would be retired and if Professor Dane didn’t take over as department chair, her chances of an adjunct position dropped exponentially. 

No matter what, she was going to have to give up something, and for the first time in her life she finally had everything she’d ever wanted: a degree within her reach, a job she loved, and a family. And now it was falling apart in front of her eyes. She laid her head on the table and let the tears come. Better to cry herself out now before she broke the news to Din. With her head cleared after a good cry, she might be in a better headspace to discuss it with him.

[ghnosis]

would like to publicly thank @slavghoul today, your translations are quite literally invaluable to my work although I did have to ask not one but two librarians how to cite you

image ID: a screenshot of the bibliography of my dissertation prospectus. four citations appear:

SAVIGNY, Heather and SLEIGHT, Sam. 2015. ‘Postfeminism and heavy metal in the United Kingdom: Sexy or sexist?’ Metal Music Studies. 1(3), 341-357. 

SHADRACK, Jasmine Hazel. 2021. Black Metal, Trauma, Subjectivity and Sound : Screaming the Abyss. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing. 

SLAVGHOUL. 2019. ‘Tobias on being the sexy face of Satanism.’ Translated from CZARTORYSKI, Bartosz. 2019. ‘Seksowne oblicze satanizmu. Rozmawiamy z liderem zespołu Ghost.’ Available at: https://slavghoul.tumblr.com/post/189496141322/tobias-on-being-the-sexy-face-of-satanism [accessed 29 May 2024]. 

SLAVGHOUL. 2020. Into the Fog. Translated from LAGERGREN, Richard. 2010. ‘In I Dinman’. Sweden Rock Magazine. 76. Available at: https://slavghoul.tumblr.com/post/619019726477213697/heres-an-interview-with-papa-from-2010-that-i [accessed 29 May 2024]. 

[henrysgeekymind]

An OBJECTIVE review of Celeste

For this next video, I have decided to meet the demands of Gamers™ everywhere and write a 100% objective review of the 2018 video game Celeste. Yep, definitely nothing that isn't objective in this video, no sir. Watch to find out whether I give this game a good, perfect, or the worst rating a video game could receive: 6.5/10.

Ok but in all seriousness, this video is my attempt at using the format of a review to act as a sort of memoir, similar to works like The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green or "Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" by Jamil Jan Kochai. Definitely one of the more personal pieces of writing that I have done in recent memory, but I am overall pretty proud of it, even though I feel pretty certain that this thing is gonna get less view than my other stuff. With that said, I hope you end up enjoying this and perhaps let me know what you think of this format because I can see myself doing this with a number of other works out there.

Bibliography

“Definition of AVIOPHOBIA.” Merriam Webster Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Co., www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aviophobia#:~:text=Definition%20of%20aviophobia. Grayson, Nathan. “Celeste Taught Fans and Its Own Creator to Take Better Care of Themselves.” Kotaku, G/O Media, 16 Apr. 2018, kotaku.com/celeste-taught-fans-and-its-own-creator-to-take-better-1825305692. Paquet , Ryan, and Lena Raine. “INTERVIEW: Composer Lena Raine Talks Celeste Soundtrack & Working in Game Audio.” Original Sound Version, 5 Feb. 2018, www.originalsoundversion.com/interview-composer-lena-raine-talks-celeste-soundtrack-working-in-game-audio/. Reber, Paul. “What Is the Memory Capacity of the Human Brain?” Scientific American Mind, vol. 21, no. 2, May 2010, pp. 70–70, https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0510-70.

[rhianna]

A HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY The history of playing cards is not only the record of the persistence of a fifteenth-century craft, practically unchanged in its essential aspects, but the story of the universal trait of human nature, the allure of chance,- which is as characteristic of the Far East as it is of our own country, and was as alive thousands of years ago as it is to-day. And for its gratification throughout the centuries it has employed the artists and craftsmen of all lands and times — painters, and makers of missals and beautifully illumi- nated manuscript, workers in wood block and engravers of metal and stone and finally the printer and his press; so that its story embodies the romance of all of these, and makes them intimate and understandable things which bring the old past very, very near. Just how far back into the past the history of playing cards goes, no one can say with certainty. But we are indebted to Mr. Stewart Culin, Direc- tor of the Brooklyn Museum, for the most interesting researches on this subject. He believes that both chess and cards are derived from the divina- : tory use of the arrow, and that they represent the two principal methods of arrow divination. The basis of the divinatory systems from which games have arisen is the classification of all things according to the Four Direc- tions. This method is universal among all primitive peoples in Asia and America. In order to classify objects and events which did not in them- selves reveal their proper assignment, resort was had to magic. Our present games are the survivals of these magical processes. The identity of the games of Asia and America may be explained because of their common object and the identity of the mythic concepts underlying them which appear to be universal. As an example, we may take the national game of Korea, called Nyout, which is played by moving objects used as men, around a circle, according to throws made with sticks about eight inches long, used as dice. On the fifteenth day of the first month, this game is still used for divination. Early in this month, a small book is sold in the markets of Seoul, 'Correct Planet Rule, which carefully explains the meaning of all combinations of numbers thrown, in Chinese characters and Korean text. The names

Hargrave, C. Perry., U.S. Playing Card Co. (1930). A history of playing cards and a bibliography of cards and gaming.Boston: Houghton Mifflin company.

[kankhajurabai]

AFSP advanced - Jack Kelly

“A non-profit organization is an entity that is created and operated for a charitable or socially beneficial purpose rather than to make a profit.” (Kenton, 2024). The goal for this organization should be to promote its cause while also receiving support through donations to grow and offer more help. I chose to analyze the Americans for Suicide Preventions’ Social Media accounts’ metrics to see if I can find any weaknesses or strong points that they could benefit from.

Vanity metrics are basic ways to see how much interaction and activity that a page has with its followers. These include things such as likes, comments, and shares, where you see the interaction taking place but do not have any more data from it.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) has a Facebook page with 598 thousand followers, but averages below 50 likes, comments, and reactions per post. This is commonly seen with large organization’s accounts as many people will follow something they recognize with or a general topic that can be supported but do not care to engage with the content. The potential to reach large audiences is not farfetched, but AFSP would have to investigate doing more video interviews with people who tell a personal story. This could be about themselves, or a loved one who has struggled with metal health. These types of post get the most interactions and lead to their followers finding a personal connection with the person in the video. There is also an abundance of the same post “Walk with Us”. While this is a major part of where AFSP gets their donations, I would recommend posting the flyer in different colors, or with images of the location of the walk that will be taking place.

AFSP’s Instagram has seen more interaction with their posts than any other social media. This is because the younger generations have been struggling with mental health and suicide related thoughts or actions. Since 2011 the suicide rate in young adults has increased 39% (Panchal, 2023). And with Instagram having 30.8% of its users between the ages of 18 and 24, AFSP’s followers are more likely to be able to relate to the content being posted which intern leads to more interaction with the posts and more donations.

I think that AFSP could generate more awareness and interactions if they created a playlist that was specific to a person’s struggles. Making a playlist of different stories would be a good spot for someone who is feeling the same way to receive the help they need or the donations to help another. Trying to find the different posts that are relevant to a user can be a turn off and make the user bored. The goal should be to post content in a way that is easy to find while also being able to increase click rates and awareness.

Bibliography

Panchal, H. S. (2023, 08 04). A Look at the Latest Suicide Data and Change Over the Last Decade. Retrieved from KFF: https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/a-look-at-the-latest-suicide-data-and-change-over-the-last-decade/

 Kenton, W. (2024, March 03). Nonprofit Organization (NPO): Definition and Example. Retrieved from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/non-profitorganization.asp

[zhaojinduo]

W9-Making-Sculpting

In addition to that, this week I also completed the high-poly model. Thanks to the brushes I found on ArtStation, I was able to add scratches, stains, and dents to the model with surprising efficiency.

Finally, using the 4K normal maps baked in ZBrush, I successfully baked the other maps in Substance Painter.

And some Texture test

Bibliography:

Silkin, V. (n.d.) Easy Metal Surface Brushes Pack. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/marketplace/p/VnOj/easy-metal-surface-brushes-pack (Accessed: 14 August 2024).