#python rambles

[pentanguine]

I have gone on a brisk morning walk and acquired a scone!

[miakoenigspython]

Tim nooo don't be mean to Martin! And a list of people I don't trust (and/or are scary) Supplemental 8 - 10:

Supplemental 8: I get that Tim is angry but poor Martin. He didn't need the tea party comment :( and I feel so sad for Jon. They all need hugs like at least 1000

Supplemental 9: sooo apparently no one can quit or be fired (at least by Jon). The Archives are getting even more spooky.... Also, I need to update the list of "Something is seriously wrong with this family/person" :

The Fairchilds, reasons: way too often the company behind creepy travel statements + funding the institute, that is, as stated above, getting spookier and more and more sus by the episode (secret +: I don't know who you are Simon maybe I do, and I've forgotten that you already were in a statement? But if you are voiced with even a fraction of the happiness your VA uses to voice the adds at the beginning of every episode on Spotify I'm gonna have a problem with you (or rather Jon and the archive gang is going to have a problem with you) because you own a creepy ass company which produces traumatized statement people and sounding happy about that makes you prime sus. I don't know of what, but sus. Maybe of doing some cultist stuff? Where you need to feet people to the creepy places???)

The Lukases, reason: creepy bunch that (and I'm quite sure that they are guilty) trapped a woman in a cemetery + creepy ass boat (Tundra?) + funding the Institute (now that I think of it... the Boat is probably also eating people.... wtf is going on??)

Gertrude, reason: I NEED to know what she's been hiding. What are your secrets, old lady???

Michael, reason: he stabby

Daisy, reason: she scary (nothing wrong with her, she just scares me)

Elias: he sus (owning a creepy company... why is everyone owing creepy companies, what is this? Evil Capitalism, The Podcast?... and I'm almost sure he killed Gertrude, almost)

Supplemental 10: I forgot Salesa in my list!!! Creepy artifact dealing ass. He's like the Leitner of artifacts (only he purposefully scatters his danger assemble to the masses) Also, MAG 65: Binary reminds me of those "Don't Google that" - lists or shock video sites. Guy eating a pc doesn't sound like the worst video, shockwise, but maybe have just seen to much of that shock content stuff. I do however feel really sad about him, stuck in code sounds like hell. I hope someone gets him out, releases him from his pain, like the mummy from the grave robber statement. I think they should be friends.

[python-nebula]

I don’t think allo people understand: you get everyone else. Almost every single fictional character is allo. Every character that exists is allo until proven aro/ace/aroace. So on that rare occasion when we actually get representation, and when it’s genuinely good representation, please just let us have it. Many allo people are respectful, and I thank them for that, but it’s impossible to ignore the massive problem in fandom culture of downplaying the importance of, or even downright erasing, an aro/ace/aroace characters’ identities. Aro characters are shipped all the time, which is fine if you understand the nuances of the identity and see that it is a complex thing to be aromantic, but I see a lot of people who don’t, and think that they can say ‘oh but aro people can date’ as an excuse to ship a character. This happens with ace characters too, they are sexualised in fandom all the time (I’m not talking about any characters specifically, but I’ll tag a few who come to mind). Again, this is understandable if you understand, but if you are sexualising an asexual character just because you find them hot or just for the sake of it, surely you understand why we are upset. This is not me trying to pick a fight, I’m just an aroace who is frustrated. 

You guys get everyone else. Just let us have the few who we see ourselves in. 

[smol-lizord]

I can’t remember if I shared the wheelbarrow photoshoots but here’s Peppercorn 🥺💙

[unigalvacron]

Im still so stoked I have snakes

[gaylactic-fire]

People will be like "OooOoh snakes are so gross and creepy!" as if ball pythons haven't evolved to be the cutest fucking things on this bitch of an earth

[cranberrytart451]

A little comic about my snake

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

ToA Theory 1 - Apollo's Waking Visions

First official theory post, here we go! :D

Alright. So. After rereading The Dark Prophecy, I started wondering about something. In TDP, Apollo experiences waking visions, where he conks out for a bit and has prophetic visions.

I found this interesting because, well...isn't Apollo supposed to be cut off from prophecy? With Python back in control of Delphi?

Because think about it. Python controls Delphi, the root of all earthly prophecy. This would include Dodona, Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl - sure, they aren't strictly connected to Delphi, but it's pretty heavily stated that Delphi just straight-up Makes The Future. It's prophecies are The Big Deal and you Should Listen.

Meanwhile the other Oracles seem more guiding and "beware!" instead of "this is how it's gonna be".

(sidenote: found out there are MORE oracles and I wanna know WHERE THEY ARE IN RRVERSE CANON because I want my boy Branchus okay??? Okay. Branchus's oracle was second only to Delphi let's give Apollo's first boyfriend the attention he deserves!)

So of course, like all great members of this fandom, I started thinking.

Let's do a little family history first. ;)

Buckle up. We go down a deep rabbit hole 😎

Apollo and Artemis are twins, born to Leto and Zeus. Zeus's parents are Kronos and Rhea. Leto's are Koios and Phoebe.

Rhea has connections to Dodona, as we learn in-series, but she doesn't really seem to be all that involved with prophecy.

Her siblings, meanwhile...ho ho ho, they are a WHOLE NOTHER STORY!

Let's start with Phoebe. Phoebe, like all first generation Titans, is the daughter of Gaea and Ouranos. She married her brother Koios. Her children consist of Asteria, Lelantos, and Leto. As well as Artemis and Apollo, her other two grandchildren are Hecate (Asteria) and Aura (Lelantos).

Her name means "bright" and is the root of Apollo's most famous epithet - Phoebus. She is often described as "golden-crowned" and is the Titan of bright intellect, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, and is the second guardian of Delphi, after her sister Themis. She gifted Delphi to Apollo for his birthday after he defeated Python.

Classic grandmother move.

Anyway. There's a bit of Phoebe lore. Time for her elusive husband :3

Koios. His names means "question" or "questioning", probably because he's the Titan of inquiring intellect. He's also the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and has an oracle up in the North Pole guarded by an earth-dragon - you'd know this serpent by the name of Draco, the constellation btw. Additionally, Hyperborea (where Apollo goes in the winter times) is part of his domain.

eyes

Unfortunately, we have very little mythological lore on these two, and even less in the RRverse (I cling to that one (1) Koios scene) which sucks because I love them already BUT it does give me lots of legroom to mess around with canon >:)

Back to the theory now. As you may have guessed, I'll be taking us in a direction concerning Apollo's mysterious grandparents. But what does this have to do with Apollo's visions?

Well. Remember when I mentioned that Delphi is the root of all earthly prophecies?

...look at Phoebe's paragraphs. She's the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, right? So it makes sense she's been affected by Python's takeover too.

(if you've read my fics you'd know this already lmao)

Asteria, Apollo's aunt, is a little trickier. She, too, has a hand in divination, but mainly through the night/stars and dreams. <-will come back to that later.

Koios, again, is overseer of Heavenly Prophecies, and is heavily implied to be able to commune with Ouranos's spirit. This is, apparently, a Big Deal because nobody else is mentioned to be able to do this.

...Except...remember this throwaway line in The Hidden Oracle?

^Apollo can see Ouranos too.

Within this theory is a sub-theory, so to speak - that immortals with the gift of prophecy can see Ouranos, since they can see what cannot be seen. This would include Phoebe, Asteria, Koios, and Apollo.

And it'll make sense why they'd keep it to themselves. Kronos wouldn't have been happy to hear his dad was still around. Neither would Zeus, for that matter.

So here I was. Contemplating. Wrote a few fics based around this idea. And one in particular got me thinking (fic in question being When The Stars Align), and a little ways down the road I realized something.

If Phoebe, the overseer of Earthly Prophecies, would have been affected by Python's takeover...was Koios? Could he even be affected?

Because here's the deal: Koios is the overseer of Heavenly Prophecies. Prophecies from the Sky.

Phoebe's are of the Earth - the Earth that Python has taken control of. And Delphi is the root of Earthly Prophecies - not Heavenly.

That would be Koios's oracle, up in the North Pole with Draco.

...So that means Heavenly Prophecy must have still been in business during ToA.

But then comes the question: If it was still within the gods' control, why didn't they use it?

Well...Draco's there, for one. He's probably the Python-equivalent of the North, and clearly he's still there since no myth has spoken of his death (that I know of).

If you ask me, I just think the gods are too nervous/afraid to try Koios's oracle. They were too scared to face Python, after all, until Apollo arrived. I think they'd be scared of a serpent who comes and goes from the stars as he pleases.

And as for why Apollo hasn't done anything about it...well, I think his fight with Python left him rather scarred, don't you think? He probably went "yeah grandma's oracle is enough" and the only time he ever got close to Koios's was during his time in Hyperborea.

So getting back to the main theory now. (So many rabbit holes to dive into with this post. The ADHD Urge is real)

Since Heavenly Prophecies is still active, but Earthly is in Python's control, I conclude Apollo's visions come from the Heavenly source.

Could they have come from the now-working Dodona? Maybe. But Dodona's all about those windchimes and trees. It doesn't have the Vibe, so to speak, for granting visions.

And remember. Trophonius, Herophile, and Sibyl aren't destroyed/freed yet. They have Zero connection to Apollo at this point because Python cut him off from them.

...but he didn't from the North. From Koios's divine power.

Because remember. Apollo is the god of prophecy.

Not of Earthly Prophecies, like Phoebe.

Not of Heavenly Prophecies, like Koios.

Not of nighttime divination and dreams like Asteria.

Of. Prophecy.

Prophecy as a whole. The entirety. The whole enchilada.

Every part of prophecy he's the god of, be it tarot cards to the Oracle of Delphi itself.

In my opinion, I think whatever Koios's Oracle is, it has just as must power as Delphi. The only problem was that...everybody just left it be. Nobody considered it because:

1) scary dragon

2) scary titan ruled the place

3) honestly at this point I think it's just straight-up forgotten about. Like Branchus's Oracle. I think at one point Apollo himself mentions there are other Oracles besides the ones in-series, but there's so many that his mortal brain cannot comprehend how many.

If the Grove of Dodona nearly faded into obscurity, then I think it's entirely possible Koios's Oracle was forgotten about (or so we think...I'm gonna be chewing on this for a while.)

Coming back round to TDP...I think this is a reasonable explanation about Apollo's visions. To summarize:

Apollo is cut off from Earthly Prophecy, his usual source of foresight that he gets from Phoebe

The unused, near-forgotten-about Heavenly Prophecy side of Apollo ignites to steer him on the right path

This is possible because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself, and not a single subset of prophecy, so he's not limited in the same way Phoebe is

Koios's Oracle is still out there and kicking and I will die on this hill

One problem. What about Asteria? She can interpret the future from the stars...aka the Sky. Like Koios. So couldn't she provide some insight to the future, since she, too, is connected to Heavenly Prophecy?

This is where things get a lil' tricky. And where I really slap on my tinfoil hat and start headcanoning my way through lmao

Basically, I think that since Asteria became the island of Delos (long story) a good chunk of her power is ingrained there. She's not as strong as she used to be, so her foresight isn't as strong.

This, in turn, I think could also serve as a reason why Koios's Oracle is "asleep" so to speak and nearly lost to memory in the RRverse - in fact, I think Asteria and Phoebe are the only ones who bother to remember its existence.

And Leto, of course. But I don't think she wants her son to know of another Oracle with a giant snake guarding it. She's had enough heart-attacks, thank you.

(Same with Lelantos, tbh.)

Canon is my sandbox and I am making some sweet sandcastles out of it XD

TL;DR

Apollo's visions in TDP stem from Koios's source of Heaven Prophecy because Phoebe's source of Earthly Prophecy (Delphi) has been taken over by Python. Koios's source firmly knocks on Apollo's mental doors and decides to kick back into gear to help its titular patron's grandson out. Because Apollo is the god of prophecy itself - every bit of it.

Extras:

I find it fascinating how magic and prophecy are both part of the same family tree (Hecate & Apollo).

and yes. You should expect a fic concerning Koios's Oracle at some point. but no promises on when :3

Thank you for coming to Insane Theory Time With Alder. I hope there will be more lmao

Websites you can look into:

Koios (Theoi)

Phoebe (Theoi)

Hyperborea (Theoi)

[fbwzoo]

Charis came out to inspect after I changed her water & sprayed her plants and moss. My prettiest girl 💚

[foxish-nonsense]

Bless his lil idiot heart, he is tryin

[pentanguine]

At this point I should just move into the woods. I went on a seven hour hike today and I had to scramble back as the sun was going down because it still wasn't enough time spent in the trees

Behold! Beautiful old trees bathed in sunlight, autumn ponds, and my lovely fern socks

[miakoenigspython]

I got angry at the grave robbers from MAG 64 :) Supplemental 7:

God, I kinda feel bad that I felt so happy that those illegal archaeologists from MAG 64 got nothing but the creepiest and also the saddest mummy in the world. On one hand, I'm glad someone found this poor soul and finally made it able to rest. But on the other, those fucks should have never even gone digging in the first place. As someone who wanted to become an archaeologist (might still consider when my current plan for uni fails) I hate nothing more when priceless artifacts are destroyed (Victorian times were something else) or disappear into private collections without one scientist ever having the chance to take a look at it. It's one thing if it has already been documented and looked at or if a museum sells it on (then scientist had already had a go at it) or if there's a million like it out there (eg. petrified shark teeth or arrowheads) but one of a kind things? In places no one has ever documented or had a dig at before? A hell no! Keep your grubby little capitalist hands off this! This is our collective history! This is stuff that holds sooo much knowledge about what happened in days long past! It makes me as much sad as it makes me absolutely furious to think about how much is already lost or we will never be able to learn about because of people like those in this episode! Just FUCK people who steal archaeological artifacts! I may have had more anger than I thought when I started typing…

[alltheyoungmoons]

some thoughts:

-remus lupin loves the monty python (thanks to his mam) and can’t wait to catch up with the reruns of Flying Circus when he goes back to wales for the summer hols.

-he slowly indoctrinates the other marauders as well - james takes up an habit to repeat some punchlines over and over and over and over (and peter laughs every. single. time)

-in ‘79 when Life of Brian comes out he drags Sirius with him to see it. Sirius has come to appreciate the Python’s humour over the years through remus, though he doesn’t really like watching the TV (it’s such a boring activity). He has to admit that movie is really fucking funny, though. (Remus fills him in the religious jokes where he doesn’t understand them - wizards have some knowledge of christianity but haven’t been practicing for centuries)

-sirius is elated when he finds out that the movie has become controversial and considered blasphemous so he sets on reading the bible and the new testament for himself to actually appreciate the movie’s humor in full.

[python-nebula]

love how with dbd the writers really went 'what are we gonna name this girl' looked at a map of south east london and went 'yeah that sounds cool we'll take it' 💀💀

(for context I'm talking about crystal, she's named after Crystal Palace, a place in south east london that was named after a building there made out of glass of the same name that burned down)

[unigalvacron]

Ans now enjoy my post of Kaiba.

Someome get me more active on here

[radiantrubrum]

Any ball python owners got tips for a newbie? This is not my first snake, but my first one of this size (my first snake ate fish and worms). I'm probably being an over-worried parent, but I've had my little guy for a bit over two weeks, and he has refused food twice. I know this is to be expected for a new snake, as he is adjusting to his new home, but at what point should I be concerned? He is still small and should be eating more frequently (don't know his exact age but he is certainly not fully grown). I have not been handling him so he won't feel stressed. He has hides on both warm and cool sides of his tank, as well as a humidity hide, and tank decor between the hides so he can feel safe traveling between them. He's very active at night, but super shy. Dangling or moving food near him makes him retreat, and I've tried leaving it in the tank overnight so he could find it on his own, but he's not taken it. Is it just a waiting game at this point? And does anyone have any tips on getting a shy snake to eat?