#ok so i read a book that was a retelling of the minotaur

[jack-o-laa]

Where are my greek myth enjoyers⁉️

[eirenical]

Weilan, 38

Weilan: 38. What are they like in the bedroom? Any kinks/fetishes/turn-ons? Anything they won’t do?

AHAHAHA.  GOING STRAIGHT FOR THE FUN ONES, EH?  ;D  OK, I’ll play.  ^_^

[And if anyone else wants to play, here are the questions. ^_^]

So, first off, this is based strictly on the TV series because I haven’t read the book yet.  Second of all, I think Shen Wei’s every kink, fetish, and turn-on basically sums up as: Zhao Yunlan.  I think that if Zhao Yunlan was into it (whatever “it” was), Shen Wei would at least be willing to give it the old college try, because his ultimate kink is “making Zhao Yunlan happy.”  Zhao Yunlan, OTOH?  Horny on main, 24/7, and is probably curious and creative af.  ;D

And third of all is going behind a cut because now we’re getting into lemon territory… ;D

Every time I think of these two in the bedroom, I’m reminded of something said by minotaur of squidge.org fame (R.I.P.): “At Friscon I asked the burning question "James Ellison; Top or Bottom?" And was definitively answered, "Whatever Blair tells him to be."”

Now, for those of you not familiar with Sentinel (…I probably just massively dated myself but WHATEVER XD), Ellison was the bigger, stronger, more powerful of the two.  He had enhanced/superhuman senses, he was a cop, and he had more than a little alpha-male bullshit going on.  Blair grew up on a hippie commune and it showed.  He was artsy and intellectual and basically more a shaman type than a warrior.  But there is no doubt in my mind that if Ellison was on top, it was because that was exactly where Blair wanted him to be. And every time I think of Weilan, I have the same thought: if Shen Wei is on top, it’s because that’s where Zhao Yunlan wants him.

Beyond that… I… have not entirely figured them out yet.  I haven’t written any smut for them, and I usually don’t sort that stuff out until I do.  O_o;;; BUT, I can share a few things I’ve read in other fic that really jived with me.  ^_^

Two of my all-time favorite Weilan fic are A constellation of two by naye ( @listening-to-thunder ), and the companion retelling from Shen Wei’s POV, Binary System by @clevermanka, in which Weilan basically… roleplay what their first time would have been like if they’d really been just Chief Zhao and Professor Shen and if Professor Shen really had been as innocent and inexperienced and straight-laced as he seemed.  They are both BRILLIANT fic and you have NO IDEA how many times I re-read them, and from them I have gathered the following headcanons:  

Roleplay, especially this particular one—the life and meetings they could have shared if they hadn’t been the Lord Guardian/Kunlun and Hei Pao Shi—is a kink they share.  

Also… GARTERS.  Sleeve garters, shirt garters, sock garters.  Zhao Yunlan is into them ALL.  And because Zhao Yunlan is massively turned on by them… Shen Wei is ALSO turned on, because his first, last, and most powerful kink is, as I said, making Zhao Yunlan happy.  ;D

And finally, Shen Wei has a hard NO about roleplaying having sex with a student. I think he’d have an issue with his sex life crossing his university life, at all.  I think he’d have equally much of an issue with it crossing his life as Hei Pao Shi.  Shen Wei strikes me as a man who likes to compartmentalize his life into little boxes that Do Not Intersect.  So, I can’t see him being comfortable with blurring those lines.  

And, OH.  OK.  I DO actually have one headcanon for this that I got to all on my own.  ;D

I think that Shen Wei has a service submission kink a MILE WIDE when it comes to Zhao Yunlan.  And while this could very well be sexual, I think that would play out as being nonsexual, too, because THAT’S BASICALLY WHAT THEY GAVE US IN CANON.  Like I could see him being VERY into being ordered around by Zhao Yunlan or being allowed to take a day and just… do what he can to make sure Zhao Yunlan is happy and comfortable and doesn’t have to so much as reach for his tea cup on his own—because again, it comes back around to ANYTHING THAT PLEASES ZHAO YUNLAN AND KEEP HIM SAFE MAKES SHEN WEI HAPPY.

And... this is getting very long, so I think I will stop there.  ;D

[ancient-myth-daily]

Ariadne After Theseus

We all know that Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus on the Isle of Naxos after giving him vital help defeating the Minotaur.  (If you didn’t know that, you can read about it here).  It should be noted that there is not a way to determine the chronology of Ariadne’s myths past a certain point, and that also the details vary greatly from version to version.  

So when she was asleep on Naxos, everyone else left (including her younger sister Phaedra).  Now Naxos belonged to Dionysus, and when he came across the sleeping Ariadne he fell in love with her.  

There was a nymph named Psalacantha in Dionysus’ company who herself was in love with him.  She told Dionysus that she would help him win over Ariadne if he also became her lover.  Dionysus refused, and angered by the rejection Psalacantha slandered him to Ariadne.  Dionysus was pretty pissed off and turned Psalacantha into a plant.  

At some point (chronology uncertain), Ariadne died; how she died differs from version to version.  In Book XI of the Odyssey Artemis kills her, for in this version she was already betrothed to Dionysus before falling in love with Theseus.  In another version she gets caught up in one of Perseus’ wars, and he kills her or perhaps turns her to stone.  In the version that makes most sense to me, Ariadne when abandoned on Naxos hangs herself on a tree, purportedly due to grief over her abandonment.  This version is my favorite because it neither tries to absolve Theseus of abandonment, as the Odyssey does, nor does it confuse the places in which Ariadne appears, as Perseus was said to have killed her at Argos - how did she get there?  Additionally, the symbolism of the hanging myth meshes well with Ariadne’s connection to string and thread.  It makes sense, on a very mythic level.  However, I might add that I do not believe the motive behind Ariadne’s suicide was originally Theseus’ abandonment.  While I do not have any qualification to say this, I suspect that originally the act of hanging from a tree was the beginning of a ritual: her descent into Hades followed by her ascent as a god.  Sort of a self-sacrifice to facilitate her divinity.  That is just my theory as to what Ariadne’s myth may have originally looked like before it was appropriated, like many myths, by the Athenians who added her to the story of their hero Theseus.  

After Ariadne dies, Dionysus descends to Hades, returns with her and also his mother Semele, and then they all go to Mount Olympus.  Dionysus and Ariadne wed, and her wedding crown is set in the stars as the constellation Corona Borealis.  Ariadne and Dionysus had like 13 kids, including Oenopion and Staphylus, who had all to do with wine and grapes, and also Thoas, who ruled Lemnos before all the women there were cursed.  (This of course makes absolutely no sense as by the time Theseus abandoned Ariadne the quest for the Golden Fleece was long over as evident my Medea’s second marriage to Theseus’ father, but along that quest they meet the daughter of Thoas, but apparently he wasn’t even born??? Ok greek mythology, sort yourself out I guess)

Ariadne, only part human by lineage in the Theseus myth anyway, has always possessed some divinity.  Historians theorize that she was originally a Cretan goddess, the Mistress of the Labyrinth, and some also associate her with the Minoan snake goddess figures (pictured above).  It certainly isn’t a large jump to associate the labyrinth with the coils of a serpent.  

In conclusion, Ariadne was originally some super cool ancient goddess, but sadly today is mostly just the princess that helped Theseus and then got left on an island.  Most modern retellings of the Labyrinth myth that I’ve seen don’t even mention Ariadne’s connection to Dionysus.  They just kind of leave her where Theseus does, which is pretty lame.  I really like exploring myths that are less agreed upon, like this one.  You get a glimpse at the more ancient, meaty ritual and symbolism that you just don’t get with the more universally known myths.  I always love talking about goddesses, especially lesser known ones, and for me Ariadne really does fit the role of a goddess.  It seems like she has even more divinity than Medea does.