#pytho speaks

[pythoness94]

of course you're a little shit. You're writing a fic with the biggest genocide supporter in the fandom. Noah Schnapp is a zionist who cheered on child murder. And you support that. You sick fucking freak.

once again, AWW THANK YOU FOR THE ASK AND KIND WORDS. Also, Noah isn't a zionist, people who say that should really do their research instead of just being a follower. In the wise words of Eddie Munson "you're a sheep, and not the good kind." Stop being a follower and open a fucking tab. Google bitch, because Noah wasn't the one holding those stickers, he isn't the person killing those people, he isn't supporting Jack Shit. Honestly, you people get so easily offended.

Do you wanna feel like a good person? Is that? You want to get the brownie points for doing nothing? Well let me lay it out for you. I help old and disabled people, I clean their houses, fill up their planners, help them with day to day tasks, and I just talk to them. I know someone who cannot physically move their body, only their hands and feet, and I have to wash them because they physically can not do it themselves. I know someone who is mute and has Alzheimer's so bad that they try to follow me home, they're in a home now because they ran out in the street naked and screaming. These are the lightest cases. I've seen so many people die, its not funny. I am waiting for the day I am allowed to volunteer at the hospital. I go out of my way to tell people I'm proud of them when they post of chapter, I make Google docs of media for people of things they like who feel bad and need something to cheer them up. I'm medically certified so I could help people, I have OSHA safety training so I can help people, I do everything I can to help PEOPLE.

You write words on the internet anonymously on a topic you don't even know about. We are not the same so don't you DARE even try to tell me what I am when you're to pathetic to say something with your chest. You're the sick freak, not me. I'd suggest you look in the mirror and evaluate what you've done with your life so far because it is never to late to change, and I would still be proud of you for doing so..just like I'm am proud of your accomplishments now, even if I only know you from this ask.

[marbledpython]

OGJHNHNHGG MY GOSHHHH I LOVE YOUR DREAMER DESIGNS SO MUCH AAAAAAAA

I'm glad u like them :D they are so silly

[servantofthefates]

Spell to Make Someone Speak the Truth

While we must respect another person’s free will, when their lie threatens our safety or peace of mind, we owe it to ourselves to perform a remedy.

STEP 1: Come clean.

Magic is all about balance. If you wish to obtain a truth without being asked to pay for it, you too must declare one.

Think of a lie you have spoken to another soul. One with the same weight as the lie you believe you are now faced with. Confess it.

Traditionally, you would have to say it in person to the one you lied to. In this modern day and age, a phone call would do. Written messages are not acceptable. Neither is voicemail. The confession needs to be spoken out loud and instantly received.

Feel free to skip this if you do not wish to pay in advance. But payment will be taken, one way or another, some time in the future.

STEP 2: Form an alliance.

Call upon the Princes of Lies. So that for a short period of time, they will be on your side, and their armies cannot support the person whom you think is lying.

Prepare an offering. Three servings of something dark and delightful. Red wine. Chocolate. Grilled meat. It does not need to be expensive, as long as you believe it is worthy.

While alone in any part of your home – your bedroom, kitchen, backyard or balcony – set the offering in place and say:

“With my own hands, I prepared this for Pytho, Belial and Xezbeth, Princes of the Spirits of Deceit. In the time that it takes you to enjoy this meal, do not let anyone speak a word of lie to me.”

STEP 3: Extract the truth.

Immediately afterwards, ask the truth from the person whom you suspect to be lying. Unlike with coming clean, you can do this any way you want: face to face, a phone call, a letter, a text, an email.

They need to reply within the hour. Any later, and they will be capable of lying again, for the Princes will have already left.

Whatever their response is – be it a confirmation of your suspicions or a repetition of their previous statements – it is the unadulterated truth. That much you can trust in.

Bury your offering. That is, bury it literally in soil, add it to your compost bin, or flush it down the toilet. The Princes are said to live right below our domain. So deliver their leftovers.

[joffyworld]

Damocles Over Darkwood

Oft we collogued as compeers upon dusk,

To mine own words, goodly Lamb did thus hearken.

In sooth, was with afeard tones did I so speak,

Nay, discover

To the Ewe our dearest, plain over'd truths.

"My Lamb,"

Such did I plead when rede o' mine was requested:

"Wish I not, your accomplishments, to remit or contemn.

Yet here we now stand, upon the skirt o' our lord's pale.

Condemned, o' our own making:

To make pollards of pistoleers,

To derive queans from pythonesses,

Bootless busywork of burgesses,

Best left free wanderers of God's acre."

Verily I am left dark, ne'er to comprehend therewith,

Wherefore our sweeting lordling didst so quiz

Upon my simple visage, whilst I stated solemnly

Mine concerns, those appetencys for solidarity

Did I so speak:

"Our burghers desire aliments,

So too the apocetharies their darling physic,

Therewith, they may assay, to tilt death.

Furthermore, those loathly nithings doeth

Desire most to compass, and so invest us,

Then send upon our walls their overeager sappers,

Peccant poltroons such as they are,

Haft of axe in one hand, seizings another."

Soon as I had quoth my concerns,

Purblind mooncalf such I was,

Did the kindly, fair Thane o' death set forth with pace.

So as to cleanse doubt from my personage,

They did so doff their tunic,

Don their trusty cloak and crown,

Then commence upon their faring,

Thither, into the greenwoods darkest lurches.

Thenceforth began,

Holy crusade none dissimilar,

To the coming of an ancient God,

Known for bringing the sun to bear,

Against the darkness of Chaos's reign;

With great spells and solar barques,

Venturing forth by the day,

Without end.

[aliciavance4228]

I wish Apollo's relationship with Cyrene would be more explored, purely because of this fragment which is brilliant for way too many reasons:

Pindar, Pythian Odes:

"And Hypseus raised his lovely-armed daughter Cyrene. She did not care for pacing back and forth at the loom, nor for the delights of luncheons with her stay-at-home companions; instead, fighting with bronze javelins and with a sword, she killed wild beasts, providing great restful peace for her father's cattle; but as for her sweet bed-fellow, sleep, she spent only a little of it on her eyelids as it fell on them towards dawn.

Once the god of the broad quiver, Apollo who works from afar, came upon her wrestling alone and without spears with a terrible lion. Immediately he called Cheiron from out of his halls and spoke to him: "Leave your sacred cave, son of Philyra, and marvel at the spirit and great strength of this woman; look at what a struggle she is engaged in, with a fearless head, this young girl with a heart more than equal to any toil; her mind is not shaken with the cold wind of fear. From what mortal was she born? From what stock has this cutting been taken, that she should be living in the hollows of the shady mountains and putting to the test her boundless valor? Is it lawful to lay my renowned hand on her? And to cut the honey-sweet grass of her bed?"

And the powerful Centaur, laughing softly with a gentle brow, right away gave his wise advice in reply: "Hidden are skilled Persuasion's keys to holy love, Phoebus, and both gods and men blush to take the pleasure of a bed for the first time openly. For even in your case, for whom it is unlawful to touch on falsehood, a gentle impulse has swayed you to dissemble your words. You ask me from what race the girl comes, lord Apollo? You who know the appointed end of all things, and all the paths that lead to them? And how many leaves the earth puts forth in spring, and how many grains of sand in the sea and in rivers are dashed by the waves and the gusting winds; and that which will be, and from where it will come, all this you clearly see. But if I must match myself even against one who is wise, I will speak. You came to this glen to be her husband, and you will bear her over the sea to the choicest garden of Zeus, where you will make her the ruler of a city, when you have gathered the island-people to the hill encircled by plains. And now queen Libya of the broad meadows will gladly welcome your glorious bride in her golden halls. There she will right away give her a portion of land to flourish with her as her lawful possession, not without tribute of all kinds of fruit, nor unfamiliar with wild animals. There she will bear a child, whom famous Hermes will take from beneath his own dear mother and carry to the Seasons on their lovely thrones and to Gaia. They will admire the baby on their knees and drop nectar and ambrosia on his lips, and they will make him immortal, to be called Zeus and holy Apollo, a delight to men he loves, an ever-present guardian of flocks, Agreus and Nomius, and others will call him Aristaeus."

Having spoken thus, Cheiron urged the god to fulfill the delightful consummation of his marriage. Accomplishment is swift when the gods are already hurrying, and the roads are short. That very day decided the matter. They lay together in the bedchamber of Libya, rich in gold, where she possesses a most beautiful city which is renowned for victories in contests. And now in very holy Pytho, where by his victory he had Cyrene proclaimed, the son of Carneiades brought lovely, flourishing good fortune to her; she will welcome him graciously, when he brings back home to the land of beautiful women desirable fame from Delphi."

1) Apollo admires Cyrene for her strenght and courage rather than her beauty;

2) He asks Chiron for information about her;

3) He asks him for advice and even questions wheter or not he is worthy of her;

4) Their relationship was consentual;

5) He adored her enough to make her receive a whole portion of land to rule over;

This is probably one of his most romantic affairs so far.

[pythoness94]

yeah actually, glad to finally have a voice.

angry speech 😠

[theserpentandlotus]

The Secret Teachings of Mary Magdalene: Sophia Eve Ophiuchus Gaia and the Number 13

Mary with her left foot (left hand path=the path of the heart) on the snake with the apple.

Mary Magdalene and the Number 13

Mary Magdalene is mentioned 13 times in the Bible; More than any other disciple of Yehoshua (Jesus). She was considered the 13th but most prized disciple by Jesus as reported by many of the other disciples on various occasions especially in the noncannonical texts (this is for a reason). Many would take this to have negative connotations. This is because the number 13 is often tied to death and superstition. The perfect display of this is in the fear surrounding Friday the 13th, or in the fact that many elevators in the United States do not contain a 13th floor.

Believe it or not, the fear of the number thirteen runs deeper than some superficial superstition, this is once again tied to the fear of women's potential, wisdom and power.

The Moon, Womb and Water

Thirteen is the number of moon cycles contained within each Lunar Year. This link here seems like a stretch, but let me continue. The moon is directly connected to two things here on earth, the water's tides as the moon pulls on it, and women's monthly cycles. Although today, because of many external and genetic factors and etc., many women today do not always bleed in coordinance with the moon. It is still true though that women on avg have a cycle of about 28 days and when the body is in homeostasis, a woman is more likely to notice that her womb sheds during one phase of the moon or the other.

This connects Mary Magdalene to the number 13, moon, blood red life force of the womb. See her above with the egg of life, a feminine fertility symbol. One of her main associated symbols. Could also be hinting to the fact that she did indeed give birth, would be worth looking into. This would definitely explain the association of eggs with the Christian version of Easter outside of its associations with the goddess Eostre.

Lets even examine Mary Magdalene's name, Magdala a town named after an ancient spring where Phoenicians, proto-Hebrews, and ancient Jews would go and ritualistically cleanse themselves. Even her first name showing relation to the divine waters Mar=sea). [Click this video for more information. SACRED SPRING OF MAGDALA ]

Ophiuchus & the Fall of the Feminine Priestesshood

Now let's get back to the 13th constellation. Although there is 12 zodiacal signs, there is a 13th located on the astronomical ecliptic, between Sagittarius and Scorpio named Ophichus. This sign is a snake also called Serpens in battle with a man.

Earliest known records referring to this constellation show that it was linked to the slaying of Pytho, the spent guardian of the Oracle of Delphi and the Omphalos. Pytho, the great guardian serpent was slain by the god Apollo. This battle was personified and preserved in the stars as the first mythos behind the constellation of Ophiuchus. The story relating to this battle is one that speaks of Apollo convincing the male seafarers to rape and pillage the city of Pythos, rename it Delphi, kidnap the Pythia (High Priestess), and take over the Priestesshood for themselves through the ordinance of Apollo. Here's how the story connects. The guardian serpent Pytho was guardian of the Omphalos (navel) of the Earth Mother Gaia. Apollo coming in and destroying her rites and traditions ultimately led to the shift in matriarchal religious systems to that being only of male.

The Serpent: from Sophia to Eden

The serpent another demonized figure in modern day abrahamic traditions, probably because of the actions previously stated in history, has shifted from its original meaning. In Gnostic Christianity as well as many other traditions found globally, the serpent represents 2 constants. The feminine principle and wisdom. Besides the many serpent goddesses and gods found across time, there is one that I will mention specifically here. According to the Gnostic traditions, the divine feminine is represented by a grand serpent named Sophia. Her name literally means Wisdom itself (see its deeper meaning through the word SOPHistication). To prove her serpent form, let's break down her name. The Greek word Sophos means Wisdom and is where we get the name from. -Oph/-Ophi/Ophis denote a serpent or shape-shifting appearance through words like not only Ophiuchus, but also Ophiology, the study of snakes, and ophiolatry or the worship of snakes. I hope that I have established enough of a linguistic and etymological connection to show you that Sophia was indeed represented by a Divine Serpent.

Venus, Apples and the Eastern Star

What serpent is the only serpent that seems to speak to anyone in the bible? The serpent in the garden. Who else would it be to convince Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I just want to add, the serpent in the garden told her, she its from it, she shall surely not die... she didnt. So maybe she was worth listening to. You cannot have ascension without the experience of opposites and duality, because that's what good and even are, opposites. What fruit is typically represented here? The apple. Why? Well, cut an apple horizontally, what do you see? A five pointed star. I must also add that it is not ironic that the serpent in the image below of Eve and Adam in the garden is depicted as black. Definitely side eyeing the artist but anyways...

There are many planets and stars in our sky, but there's only one referring to the bright and shining morning star (Also called the Eastern Star...👀)... that being venus. Why is the 5 pointed star associated with Venus? Because every 8 years Venus forms 5 pointed star in our heavens. When studying magic, especially sympathetic magic one will see that Venus is indeed the planet associated with apples. This is why. Venus is also the same planet Jesus refers to himself as (the bright morning star). Lucifer does also refer to himself as the bright morning star, BUT there is evidence to support that this reference might actually be the sun in this case instead of venus. I will expound at a later date regarding this topic.

Reclaiming the Forbidden Wisdom

So in essence, what is all of this attempting to show you. That the number 13 is demonized because it is a heavily occultic number highly associated with the hidden unknown and mystery. The same goes for Mary Magdalene Ophiuchus and the wise snake, Sophia. Mary Magdalene deemed a whore, Eve, a defiant who cause all of our descent and pain, Sophia the evil devil trickster snake. Somebody's lying. Lets just say this, did the snake ever kill anyone in the bible? Nope. But who was responsible for majority of the deaths within the bible? I will leave this unanswered for you to draw your own conclusions. The story is being told by the victor and not those slain to keep their story hidden and in secret.

The truth is just like in the story of Apollo conquering the city of Pythos murdering Pytho the snake, taking the priestesshood and turning it into a male priestly class, and destroying Gaia's omphalos(navel or central spring/ well), brung about the destruction of the divine feminine across the world in her many forms so is the hijacking of the mystery behind the snake and it's great treasures and secrets hidden within its wisdom that it is waiting to share with us.

Just like in the case of Ophiuchus battling Serpens, women's power was and still is being subdued and supressed by the masculine principle (As above, so below). Just as in both these cases, so is the demonization and the hijacking of women's rites and spiritual practices devoted to the Mother Goddess of which whom Mary Magdalene and Yehoshuwa (Jesus) were priests and priestesses of. Don't believe me? Read the Nag Hammadi texts and specifically, the Gospel of Judas. Jesus confirms that Judas is right about Jesus being from the 8th realm of Barbelo also called Sophia.

To reclaim the serpent, the womb, the number 13 and Mary's sanctification and pontetial deification is to reclaim the divine feminine buried beneath centuries of patriarchal revision limiting our views of the contributions to society and spirituality as a whole by women, especially those like Mary Magdalene.

This is but one of Mary Magdalene's many secrets, she has so much to share with us if we only listen. If anyone doesn't believe any part of what I'm saying, please go do your own research and confirm or deny it for yourself. For those who have stuck around this long. Thank you for reading.

-Nagini Serene from The Mystic Order of the Serpent 🐍 and Lotus 🪷

4/25/25 12:10 waning Cresent 14%

This publishing is currently under construction and will later contain sources to provide more information...

For more information on the Divine Feminine within Christianity, please watch:

[pythoness94]

Original Mike poster pfp I will be at your service, it slays hard and absolutely suits!!

thanks man, it's also my laptop background. (But my laptop is a spaztic so you're going to have to take my word for it.)

Yep, that's it. For what it's worth, you're pfp is pretty gnarly brochito.

[pythoness94]

Literally EVERY other characters trauma except maybe Max's is brushed away for El. Like she is quite literally the center focus of every "trauma flash back." Will, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Jonathan, Nancy, EVERYONE'S trauma is undercut by El's. These people need to be fucking for real. Where's Will's upside down flashback? Where's the talk about Mike jumping off a cliff? Where is Dustin's guilt about almost endangering everyone because he kept dart? Where is Lucas' trauma about being targeted for his race and no one else in the party understanding? Where's Nancy's Trauma about Barb? Where's Jon about having to plan his kid brother funeral BY HIMSELF while he thought his mom was going insane? Trick question, there is none because its all undercut by El's. The fact these people think ELEVEN'S trauma is the most underrated is WILD. Hell, I can make a case for Murray having the most under rated trauma right now with him watching Alexei die and him feeling like it was his fault because he left him alone. AND IT WOULD HAVE A BETTER CASE THEN EL BEING UNDERATED, BE FUCKING FR

el’s traumas being underrated is the most insane take on st. notice how this conversation only appears when people start to bring up will’s pain

[the-janitor-esc]

[ The Janitor is sunbathing on the roof of the horse trailer, watching the clouds in Nebraska. Despite driving through the night, they could keep driving, but the Transport needs a small break; besides, they want to test the battery storage and drain while the Transport is parked.

They placed The Janitor, Ko, and Spiral Lawyer's dolls on their chest while sunbathing; they can feel the warmth of the sun on their bandages and from their doll. ]

(( text messages are // // for ease of identification; cw: swearing))

[Somewhere Else]

Hart, where the fuck is Pytho?!

*not looking away from her screen* Don't you say "hello" anymore, Mendez?

Do calm dow-

Stay the fuck out of this, Bob. How the hell did it get out without Recon noticing until two fucking hours later?

Recon cannot be too close to the ESC without endangering themselves; unlike some people, we are not adrenaline junkies. The Birds are already out sweeping; Pytho lost them part way into Iowa, but they'll find it.

They better! This is a golden opportunity to contain it, and it's slipping through our fingers!

= = =

[Elsewhere]

*answering his phone* Dios speaking.

Charybdis has stopped. *monitoring The Janitor at a distance, which is both easy and difficult with how flat Nebraska is*

Good work; Prometheus is keeping The Birds away from you. Don't engage Charybdis until back-up arrives; we're not losing anyone to that monster today.

= = =

[Closer to Home]

// What is plan? //

// What's going on? //

// Nothing you can do. Stay safe; update later. //

// Can't do anything here; Prom has The Birds. Arachne the ESC tap. Gonna have to wait for them to go on break. //

// Monitor situation. Update. //

[mari-malgamore]

The Lunatic of Etretat

A short story inspired by the painting by Hugues Merle

Warnings: Gore, alienation, depression?, let me know if I missed anything

A/N: This is only based on what I personally garnered from this painting! also I'm still a beginner! also thank you to @smolvenger for giving me the motivation to actually post this :D

The prerogative that possesses the sex of a man berates me and all others like me. I was an outline before, when he created my eyes, he was the first I saw. Hugues. His eyes carried the baggage of the world, bargaining with the unconscious. 

Whoosh. Extinguished. 

Perhaps I was a failure, perhaps he planned for me to be this way. They call man a god, and he was mine. I am Lucifer. I am the sore thumb in his lobby of devotion, catering to him, talking about his achievements, speaking of his prowess, and I am his. At last he reached my arms, I was to be holding something. My gaze lingered throughout the chemically imbued decorated awnings that draped the desert of soon to be cracking hues. His other creations held bundles of flesh that craved adoration, and would scream if left by their own pathetic selves. Blasphemous I know, but you remember who I am don't you? And I remember what I could not have despite it being my right as a woman. Most of them had one, why didn’t I? Did I not possess the distinctions he needed me to? Was that not his decision? I’ll never know now I suppose, Hugues is long gone now, perhaps for the best. He would not last in the hell fire of my bearing scrutiny that I would cast. If I can not bear a child I’ll bear hell in my eyes I’ve decided. He would give me hope and take it away, it was deserved. 

At last I had thought. At last I would have company.

How foolish I was. 

When he wasn't around they would glance at me and my unfinished face, I was only eyes and ears, I was not even hung yet and I was already the object of attention. Flattery was not their intent, pirouetting in their own blanched reputations as I commit revolution after revolution in my crimson perception. It was Strasbourg with no life span as we were never alive to begin with. No. No, I took lives. The company I spoke of? I am not sorry. He made me look this way, we can not move, we can not change, they defied these laws to degrade me further. I defied them to become who they thought I was. I am not a lunatic I promise, I am fine, I am normal, I am a mother with no child that is who I am. How can there be something wrong with me when the thing wrong with the world is Hugues. Believe this and all will be clear. I plead this. It is him to blame, he creates beauty after beauty, enchantress after enchantress and there I am, a pythoness, created to be possessed. 

Flittering blight brought benign beatings to me. That is how I felt when the other sketches beside me bore into my painted skin, gawking. One girl looking right at my face and all I could feel was her lingering. She was accompanied by a friend, holding her back, and to my left was another little girl, looking away and holding someone else back. 

This person however was different from the others. 

Short and sweet. It looked right at me, not hiding its gaze, not looking away in fear. I defied the laws when Hughes wasn't looking and kept looking at it and smiling at it, (I was finally gifted with a mouth) trying to seem inviting, it’s red little bonnet. My arms were still empty. Cold. I beckoned it to come closer, contorting their current tranquillity, coaxing their fears to alleviate, I couldn't hurt it, I would never think to. I wanted to provide it comfort, and clear any sign of doubt that I was incapable of being a mother. They wouldn't let me. If only I could speak. 

Something our spectators don’t understand is that our artists don't illustrate our voice boxes, they can’t take that risk. We are only bodies from the surface, our only functionality to be penetrated. 

I can try to scream as much as I want, but it will never reach them, or even you. Wave after wave after wave, silence. I hadn’t realised then that the silence I hated so much, could be taken to my advantage. 

The child was gone. Taken away from me by those bystanders, and soon, so were they, only its little red bonnet and a blanket remaining. 

Whoosh. They were extinguished. 

All the other paintings, they knew what I had done, they had seen it, but they couldn’t tell Hugues, leaving him wondering where they had gone. Until he realised. 

The look of terror in his eyes, remnants of their epidermis and dried blood. My nails punctured the soft porcelain of their utopic faces, spreading the thin red paint everywhere I could in my rage. The leaves aren’t on the floor for no reason. There is always a reason. The lack of voice boxes meant no one could hear their screams. I wish I heard them but this was a sacrifice that had to be made. Their open wounds were gushing, as my fingers delved deeper and deeper to reach their hollow bones, hoping to see them snap. Their meat was fresh and their eyes seemed candied. Despite that they were oh so soft between my teeth, popping at the first puncture of my fangs, as I chewed and swallowed. They tasted slightly salty and the texture wasn’t great but my cathartic waves of fury overpowered my senses. The lead of the paint sprawled among my lips and trickled down my oesophagus, gelatinous and spry with protein. Incursion after incursion on their sprawled forms, building on my blood thirst. I had transformed as Lilith had, betraying my tosser, embracing the queer actions against everything right. Biting into their raw stained complexions. I revelled in my revenge. I will not ask for forgiveness. I am above it. I am god. 

The attestation of my cruel actions was now enveloped in leaves, trailing to a single log, just sitting there.

It was small, rough around the edges, as any child would be. 

Etretat is where I found my child, dead but not decaying, in my arms to be safe, my arms were no longer empty, oh thank hell for giving me my rock in this purgatory. 

I am an infection. I am hidden from most. Hugues made sure of that, and why wouldn't he? I am Lilith, Lucifer, a lady of hysteria. I glare into the eyes of those fools who have the courage to look at me. I show them hell, it is in my eyes remember? Hugues was the first to know and anyone who looks at my frame in which I am enclosed will know. 

I am the Lunatic of Etretat.

[miradragoncat]

Lee Sur Pallor Song

!WARNING, SPOILERS FOR ALL OF THE AURELIAN CYCLE!

I just realized what song sums up Lee sur Pallor's character from The Aurelian Cycle by Rosaria Munda (It's my favorite book series, be sure to check it out when you can, it's amazing). I was just vibing to Bad Omens as I do, and when Never Know came on it clicked. I'm rereading the series now, so it makes sense why it would click now and not when I first heard the song. Every lyric in Never Know is perfect for him, and some are very good for Antigone sur Aela as well, but I'm going into Lee's character with this song.

The very first words are, "Show me you're better off without me" . With Lee's conflicting sides with his family in New Pythos and, in Flamefall, the Passi. So he has to leave Annie on her own, although he has in the past like in Albans when they fought, and in the future where he risked his life and ended Pallor's so that she could escape and win.

The second line in the first verse is "Choking on every word you said". The silence between him and Annie of knowing too much about the other and their past, and when they just talked at Annie's old house, where she was choking on her words as it played out. And how they fight a lot, and have to keep their distance and silence to stay focused on their goals. Every time one leaves the other right after they swore to do this together, the other is choking on that promise that has been broken.

The repeating phrase throughout the entire song, "we'll see", is the way nobody knows how things will play out. How conflicted Lee is throughout the books, with his aching for his family, having to just see what Julia is like before choosing his side. With the Passi, how the riots will play out and how him and Annie will do. How many chances he has to get back his old life, with Ixion sur Niter coming to reign and hunting down Annie. He didn't know how it would play out when he was locked in the Big House as it was burnt down. The plan nearly failed, with Pallor's life gone. And the court plan almost failed, with Ixion's gained knowledge of her distant summoning.

"Don't breathe another word about me, I'll leave and you can finally rest in peace, we'll see" is the next two lines in Never Know. I think of how he faked his death, how the world thought that the Revolution's Son had died at the hands of his cousin. Also how he has to let go of his family and past so many times over to finally leave them behind. In Albans, killing Julia, facing Ixion. So many times he abandoned his heritage and family, only for it to catch up with him eventually until there was no family at all.

The pre-chorus is hard for me to do one line at a time, so this is the entire thing, "When I go out into the world, I just don't like what I see, You could call it Paradise, But it looks just like Hell to me" Remember this is repeating and I won't be doing this like 2-3 times. I like how it plays to his need to change the world, through becoming a Guarding, joining the Passi, and helping Annie make a new Guardian and governing system. Others like the Golds and Atreus saw a paradise, while him and the lower classes and lower born guardians only saw hell. And they fixed it, so it became more of a Paradise, though a pure paradise for everyone involved is impossible to get.

The chorus is beautiful to me, and speaks to the very core of him. The first and third lines are, "Lying in between the memories choking me, and". These beautiful words line his character of having so many memories of his past, so many desires conflicting with each other. But he isn't his past, and the present and future won't allow him to ever be that again. These desires make him act compromised by speaking with Julia and pretending to agree with Ixion for so long after he took over for that bit.

The line after that and the last line of the chorus goes, "I don't know which way to go, but I'm okay to never know". This goes with his conflictedness again, he doesn't know whether to choose his nostalgia or the world where he can have Annie, and where the world will stop burning the innocent and the weak. For so long he doesn't know which way to go, and this song represents the middle of his character arch where he is changing sides and ideals so much, breaking Annie over and over to save them both.

The second verse starts with, "Speaking in languages we can't read, No need for you to spell it out for me, for me". |t essentially means that he knows exactly the situation of the world, and doesn't need it spelled out for him to understand, even though it can't be spelled out. He knows the class Irons are starving and the Golds are having parties and feasts, he has lived both of those lives. He knows the class Irons are burning in the flamefalls, he sees it on Cor's face and the ashes of so many people. He knows he has to pick a side, because he can't have his old life and his new one. He can't have his family and Annie.

The third and fourth lines' lyrics are, "Swallowed up and I spit you out, Like a drug that just wouldn't stay down, stay down". This line to me speaks of how many times he had to abandon or hurt Annie and how she felt, like he was spitting her back out. Also how even with his desires, he betrays his family and chooses the side that tried to kill him more than once.

The chorus is all that's left of the song after this, so that's all of my analysis of Never Know by Bad Omens as a Lee sur Pallor theme song. If you haven't yet, you should check out the song and the band, along with the book series. I love all three of them so much, and I'm glad I could make this connection. I know it's a giant word vomit above, but I enjoy writing and I hope you can understand my connection to Lee and Never Know. Have a wonderful day, and know that you are loved and valid!

[pythoness94]

I did not predict any of this

Honestly? I lowkey predicted this

[aviewofthejames]

When we turn from Theognis to Pindar, we leave the fierce struggles of the nobility to defend its place in society, and mount to the calm, proud, inviolate life of early Greek aristocracy. At this height we can forget the problems and conflicts of Theognis’ world, and be content to marvel at the power and beauty of that noble and distant ideal. Pindar shows us the Hellenic ideal of an aristocracy of race in the hour of its noblest transfiguration, when, after centuries of glory extending from the mythical past to the hard modernity of the fifth century, the nobility could still draw the gaze of all Greece upon its exploits at Olympia and Pytho, Nemea and the Corinthian Isthmus, and could still transcend all regional and racial dissidences in the universal admiration of its triumphs. It is this aspect of Greek aristocracy that we must study if we are to see the part that it played in the shaping of the Greek character was more than the jealous preservation of class-privilege and class-prejudice, and the cultivation of a relentlessly intensified code of ethics based on property. It was the true creator of the lofty ideal of humanity manifest to this day—though more often admired than understood—in the Greek sculptures of the archaic and classical periods. The athlete whom these works portray in the harmonious strength and nobility of this utmost perfection lives, feels, and speaks for us again in Pindar’s poetry, and through his spiritual energy and religious gravity still affects us with the strange power which is given only to the unique and irrecoverable achievements of the human spirit. For it was a uniquely precious moment when the God-intoxicated but human world of Greece saw the height of divinity in the human body and soul raised to a perfection high above earthly powers, and when in those gods in human shape the effort of man to copy that divine model through which artists had realized the law of perfection, unattainable but imperious, found its purpose and its happiness. —Werner Jaeger, Paideia (Vol. I, 1939)

I recall from college days asking my Greek professor about some point in Paideia. He answered me in good humor, but then laughed and said, "That is a very, very old-fashioned book." The postmodernist era was just beginning, but already dead white males singing the praises of the world they made were getting the cold shoulder. The final turn of the screw would be a forceful reversal. If it's not likely, then neither is it out of the question. Not yet.

[helianthusannnus]

Delphi and the Soteria

"Then, like a star at noonday, the lord, far-working Apollo, leaped from the ship: flashes of fire flew from him thick and their brightness reached to heaven. He entered into his shrine between priceless tripods, and there made a flame to flare up bright, showing forth the splendour of his shafts, so that their radiance filled all Crisa, and the wives and well-girded daughters of the Crisaeans raised a cry at that outburst of Phoebus; for he cast great fear upon them all (The Homeric Hymns).

Delphi, sometimes called Pytho, lies between two towering rocks of Mt. Parnassus, known as the Phaidriades (Shining) Rocks. Delphi has been referred to as the site of ‘omphalos’, the navel of the world. And is a temple dedicated to Lord Apollon. It is a religious centre that unites the entire Hellenic world. This is where Apollon speaks through his oracle, Pythia, to share prophetic messages. However,

People from all over the known world come here seeking consultation with the oracle. The temple, an archaeological masterpiece, resides in Greece in perfect harmony with nature. It is with intention that our travel journey starts here, at a place that united all people and held onto its prestige for centuries.

However, Plutarch, who served as a Priest to Apollo at Delphi for many years, claimed to have observed a sweet-smelling emission from the oracular chamber. He claimed that the oracle was often in a trance (Plutarch's Morals). This has not brought down the oracle's credibility, indeed people still visit her and ask that she grants them prophetic insight, ones that come from the God of prophecies himself.

Delphi took its name from serpent Python Delphyn, the She-Drakaina, or in some cases, a male monster named Python. When Apollon laid claim to the shrine, he slayed the dragon, to protect and avenge his mother Leto who had been terrorized by the serpent. According to the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, Apollo is a god to be respected, feared, and adored, “I will remember and not be unmindful of Apollo who shoots afar. As he goes through the house of Zeus, the gods tremble before him and all spring up from their seats when he draws near, as he bends his bright bow (Homeric Hymn to Apollo).” He is the God of archery, plague, healing, the arts, he represents a number of dichotomies and his duality makes him a powerful God who has dominion over many aspects of daily Greek life. The Pythian Games are named after this great defeat, and were held in honor of Apollon, where even women are allowed to take part. It features athletic competitions, along with art and dance competitions that were not included in the Olympics. 

The Soteria Games are new to the temple, festivals honoring the savior (Zeus) at Delphi. Found at Delphi, is a stone stele decree about the Soteria, to celebrate the defeat of barbarians. I hope to observe one of them soon.

[plangentia]

Bacchylides 5

Well-fated leader of the horse-whirling Syracusans, you will rightly understand this honour, if anyone upon the earth right now does, the sweet gift of the violet-crowned Muses. Calm your righteous mind, cease your anxieties, come on, consider this in your mind. Your guest friend sends a hymn, woven with the deep-girdled Graces, from his sacred island to your famous city, the famous servant of golden-headbanded Ourania. He wants to pour fourth his voice from his chest

and speak of Hieron. High above, cutting the deep air with his swift wings, the eagle, the messenger of wide-ruling, loud-thundering Zeus, is confident and trusts in his powerful strength, and clear-voiced birds crouch in fear. The peaks of the great earth do not restrain him, nor do the rough waves of the untiring sea. In the limitless void, he shifts his fine-haired feathers in the gusts of the West Wind, a conspicuous sight to sea for humans.

Now, in this way, there are countless paths in every direction for me to sing about your excellence, thanks to dark-haired Nike and bronze-breastplated Ares, the noble children of Deinomenes. May the god not tire of doing good. Beside the wide-whirling Alpheus, golden-armed Dawn saw the victory of the storm-swift foal, chestnut Pherenicus, in most holy Pytho. Laying my hand on the earth, I declare that he has not yet been sprinkled by the dust of horses in front of him, as he strains towards the finish line. In force he is equal to Boreas, protecting his rider, he speeds on, making fresh applause and a victory for his hospitable rider. Propserous is the man to whom a god has given a fate of good things and a rich life to lead with enviable luck. For no one living on the earth was born to be happy in every respect.

For in this way, even once, they say, the gate-destroying, unconquerable son of Zeus of the bright-lightning, entered the halls of the slender-ankled Persephone to lead the dog with saw-like teeth from Hades to the light, the son of the monstruous Echidna. There he saw the soul of wretched mortals by the streams of the Cocytus, which were like leaves that the wind shakes along the sheep-grazed headlands of flashing Ida. From these spirits, the ghost of Porthaon's spear-wielding brave-spirited descendent stood out. When the wonderous hero, the son of Alcmene, saw him, shining his his armour, he set the clear-sounded bowstring onto his bow, and then he took out a bronze-tipped arrow, having opened the lid of his quiver. But the spirit of Meleager appeared in front of him and spoke to him, knowing him well. "Son of great Zeus, stay still and cheer up your heart.

"Do not let your harsh arrow fly from your hands in vain against the souls of those who have perished. You have no need to fear." Thus he spoke. The lord, the son of Amphitryon, was astonished and said: "Who amongst the gods or mortals raised such offspring as you and in which land? Who killed you? Indeed, beautiful-girdled Hera will soon send him after my life. But I suppose that will concern golden-haired Pallas." Meleager replied to him, crying. "It is difficult for the minds of gods to be changed

"by men living on earth. For otherwise horse-driving Oineus, my father, would have stopped the anger of holy, flower-garlanded, white-armed Artemis, beseeching her with sacrifices of many goats and red-backed cows. But the goddess' anger was unbeatable. The girl sent a powerful and ruthless boar to beautiful Calydon, where, flooding with strength, he tore down vines with his teeth, and slaughtered flocks and whichever mortals came across him.

"The best of the Greeks enduringly fought the hateful battle continuously for six days. But when a god gave strength to the Aetolians, we buried those who where slain by the loud-roaring boar rushing at them with force: Ancaeus and Agelaus, the best of my noble brothers, whom Althaea bore in the very famous halls of Oineus.

"Ruinous fate destroyed more of them. For the battle-minded and fierce huntress, daughter of Leto, did not cease her anger. We fought hard for the fiery hide with the Couretes, who were steadfast in battle. Then I killed, along with many others, Iphiclus and noble Aphares, my swift maternal uncles. For strong-spirited Ares does not discern a friend in battle. Blind missiles flew from my hand amongst the souls of the enemy and brought death to whosoever the god wishes.

"My ill-fated mother, the hostile daughter of Thestius, did not consider these things and she planned my destruction, the fearless woman. She took from the ornate chest the log of my swift doom and set it on fire. Fad span out then that this would be the boundary of my life. I happed to be stripping the unblemished body of Clymenus, the son of Daipylus. I had overtaken him in front of the towers, since they fled towards the well-built anciennt city

"of Pleuron. My sweet spirit faded. I knew that I had little strength left. Oh no! I breathed my last breath and wept, wretched, as I left behind my glorious youth." They say that it is the only time that the courageous son of Amphitryon wetted his eyelids, pitying the fate of the man who had born great griefs. Then he replied to him and said this: "It is best for mortals to never be born

"or see the light of the sun. But there is no profit in worrying about these things. One must speek about what can be accomplished. Tell me, in the halls of battle-loving Oineus, is there an unwedded daughter, who looks like you? I would like to make her my splendid wife." The spirit of Meleager, steadfast in battle, said to him: "I left behind the pale-necked Deianeira at home; she is still unware of golden Cypris, charmer of men."

White-armed Calliope, stop your well-made chariot here. Sing of Zeus, son of Kronos, Olympian ruler of the gods, and of the untiring stream of Alpheus, and the strength of Pelops and Pisa, where glorious Pherenicus won victory in the race with his feet, bringing to well-towered Syracuse and Hieron, the laurels of happiness. For the sake of truth, we must praise people and push back ill-will with both hands, if someone amongst mortals does well. A Boetian man, Hesiod, attendant of the sweet Muses, said this: he who is honoured by the immortal gods, has a reputation amongst men as well. I am easily persuaded to send my famous voice to Hieron, outside of the road of justice. For in this way, the roots of the good flourish, and may great father Zeus keep them undisturbed during peace.