#second labor of heracles

[briefbestiary]

A large lake monster with regenerating heads. She made her den by or within the ancient lake at Lerna, an alleged entrance to the underworld.

Her immortal head is either killed with a golden sword granted by Athena, or pinned beneath a boulder for eternity.

A beast of intense toxin, from both breath and blood, and by dipping his arrows into her corpse Heracles' obtained his famed poisonous arrows.

[wander-lustrous]

countdown.

mini-scenarios; how long it takes for each of them to act. ft. norway, greece, russia, spain, japan, prussia, france, netherlands, america, romano. not sfw! 2.2k words

cw: smut. afab reader. collars, teasing, praise kink, dom/sub dynamics, implied gym s*x, implied shower s*x, lingerie, 69, cunnilingus

(10 seconds.)

Lukas likes to make you work for his attention. He’s a cool, aloof lover, the kind whose comments settle over you like the chill of winter. 

In contrast to his dry wit, he works at you like a sculptor, hands nimble and light. Reverent even. He’s unhurried, precise. 

But that’s exactly what makes you want to put on such a brazen display. 

He’s eyed you once or twice but his attention is primarily on the laptop before him. But the sound of fabric shifting piques his interest, and he looks up just in time to see your robe slipping off your shoulders and pooling around your ankles. His gaze roams appreciatively over the sight–your bare skin, goosebumps along your arms. 

He raises a thinly arched brow.

“You’re daring today,” he notes, his lips quirking upwards at one end. He closes his laptop, setting it aside before clasping his hands over his lap, crossing his legs at the ankle. He looks you up and down with no shame, appraising you. “What for?”

The question slips through the space between you as you approach him. Your thigh nudges between his legs, and you know he’s found his answer when his gaze trails up slowly, deliberately–from the apex of your legs, bare and glistening, upwards to the jut of your chest, landing on the leather collar around your neck.

By the way his breath catches slightly, his gaze fixated on it, you can tell he hadn’t noticed that. 

“Is this for me?” he asks, fingers skimming the collar like someone perusing fine china. You bite down on your lip and he hooks his finger under the material, dragging you forward. His lips claim yours with the clear intention that he would soon find out.

(And when it’s over, nothing is as damning as the angry red imprint of his hands on your ass. Or the similar red blooms specked across your neck and collarbone.)

(9 seconds.)

Heracles is an infamous lover, his exploits as legendary as his rich history. Yet if there is one thing you know intimately about him, it’s that he can be quite a lazy lover as well, enjoying the throes of sleep nearly as much as the conquest of bodies.

You had awoken in his bed, the hazy remnants of last night filtering through your mind like the rays of the morning sun peeking through his blinds. You found him nestled in his sheets, his brow unperturbed. The easy rise and fall of his chest reminded you of when it was much more labored just a few hours ago.

It seems only natural, you shifting to straddle him, your legs parting around his waist. The sheets slipping off your form. Chest-to-chest, you move in languid rocking motions, sighing softly as the friction it generates is enough to re-ignite the low flame within you. It takes a few seconds before the soft breaths warming the top of your head stutter, and his hand presses against your back.

“G’morning,” he says groggily, a hint of amusement in his languid smile. You don’t cease your movements, the hot column of flesh between the cheeks of your thighs responding to you. Heracles rests his hands on your hips, sighing softly once you reach between your bodies to touch him more substantively. 

He lets out a breathy moan however once you shift forwards and he’s nestled into your tight warmth once more.

The best way to wake up, in his experience.

(8 seconds.)

Ivan isn’t a brute. No matter how much he wants to take you (and he wants it so badly in fact; your legs wrapped around his an image seared into his mind, the sweet moans of his name pouring from your lips like music to his ears)... he is considerate. You’re smaller than him, you’re not sturdy, not hardened like one of his enemies; in fact, he’d say you’re quite the opposite—

But you certainly are testing the limits of his patience. Perched in his lap as you are, grinding your hips against his in a maddening tango. His grip tightens around your waist–a warning. His hand tightens around the phone pressed to ear, and you hear the way the plastic creaks, as if he’s about to break it. His responses to his boss are  monosyllabic, his thoughts entering around how you present yourself before him, much like a rabbit begging to be pounced on by a lynx—

He catches movement from the corner of his eye, and he watches, gaze sharp, as you reach for his hand gripping your side, yanking his glove off before throwing it onto the floor. Then slowly, deliberately, your gaze trained on him, you bring his hand up to your mouth. He watches as your lips wrap them around one thick finger, before sucking, and surely, even through his pants, you can feel the way his cock jumps at the action. 

“Sorry, boss,” Ivan says, his gaze darkening as he watches your tongue work over his digit. “But I will have to call you back.” He hangs up without waiting for so much as a response.

Ivan tosses his phone to the side, grasping your jaw with his free hand. Your mouth releases his finger, and in a flurry of movement, he’s pining both of your hands above your head in a firm grip.

“You want my fingers so bad, da?” He laughs, a dark, velvety sound. “I’ll give them to you, but don’t blame me if it's rough.”

(7 seconds.)

“Ay, gracias a dios, what did I even do to deserve you, amor?”

Antonio’s lips trail down your neck, littering kisses in conjunction with his honeyed praise. His hands roam your form, groaning once he feels your soft flesh barely contained by the scrappy fabric of your panties. Your giggle has antonio pulling back.

“What? Why are you laughing?” he asks, pulling back with a grin. He can’t help but chuckle himself.

“You’re just so easy, Toni.” You wrap your arms around his neck, drawing him in closer. 

“And you’re very tempting,” he quips, hooking his finger into the thin strap of your thong and pulling; watching, with delight, as he lets it go and it snaps against your skin. you jolt, and with a sharp intake of breath, Antonio takes the opportunity to latch his mouth onto the top of your chest, sucking freshly bloomed roses onto your skin. 

“No more games though,” he groans once he lifts his head. He adjusts your position until your back is sinking into the bed, him looming above you. His hand reaches out to graze your cheek, brushing hair from your face, before trailing lower, skimming your hardened nipple through the thin lace, then even lower, his fingers circling the dampened fabric between your legs, stroking lightly. 

Antonio grins once more, pressing a kiss to your eyelid. His breath washes hot over your skin.

“I am so very hungry, mi corazón. I want to taste you.”

(6 seconds.)

No one gets close enough to Kiku to see how deep brown his eyes are. Dark enough to be black, with the richest shades of carob, those same eyes are trained upon you now, darkened with desire not often seen on the reserved man’s expressions.  

“What were you planning when you asked me to do this?” he says, his voice assured. Unwavering. His boldness also surprised you; in public, he was reticent, quiet. In private, he liked to take control. His thigh is between your legs, parting them, and you have to resist the urge to grind into it. Your hands are bound together with his belt, above you. 

“I’m not sure,” you admit. His gaze darts down to the way you wet your lips, the heave of your chest. He cocks his head to the side.

“I don’t believe you.”

Of course, he knows. He heard of the challenge from the internet, but he hardly expected you to try and trick him into it, pinning him against the wall with a cheeky grin. Still, he played along, spurred by his own interest in just how you’d react when the tables were turned. You didn’t have a moment to react before your world spun, and he had pinned you against the wall instead.  

His gaze rakes down your form, the same way a connoisseur would survey their goods before partaking in them.

He leans in. “Perhaps I’ll need to train you to be more honest,” he says, his breath hot against your neck. “Let’s start with this: where do you want it first?” 

(5 seconds.)

Gilbert didn’t realize that this could be an outcome. Sure he played rough as a youth, enjoyed the spar of bodies, and the smell of battle, but this?

This is the allure of the sweat trailing down your skin, your breathless laugh as you ask him if he’s done with his workout. He never considered this to be exciting—yet he likes it. It reminds him of how certain other activities can also work up quite a sweat. You ask him for a sip of his water, and Gilbert absentmindedly hands you his bottle. He’s thinking instead, about possibilities.

More specifically, whether or not the two of you could reasonably fit in one of the gym’s shower stalls for a quick tryst.

You’re dabbing the sweat off your neck with a towel, asking if he wants to grab a post-workout snack, when he acts. He rips the towel from your grasp, throwing it onto the floor.

“Hey!” you exclaim, only to yelp when he wraps his arms around your chest and pulls you back into him. Your brow raises when something firm prods against your ass, and you meet his mischievous gaze in the mirror.

“Maus, I think we’ve got to hold off on that.” He grins at you, his arms wrapping tighter around you. You can’t miss the way he rolls his hips against your back. “After all, we’re about to start the second workout.”

(4 seconds.)

Francis has a taste for the finer things in life: fine wine, fine food, fine clothing. Beauty, the arts. He considers himself a man of exquisite taste, his eye for the best unparalleled.

Indeed, he thinks, watching you splayed before him, the silk robe caressing every dip and curve of you, he makes very good choices. He downs the last of his sauvignon, setting the glass onto the table.

“Mon chérie, let me get a closer look at you.” He gestures, and you do a twirl for him, your gait slightly off kilter, no doubt due to the few glasses you’ve had yourself. He chuckles, his hands reaching around to grasp you fully, to engulf you in his hold. His lips skim your collarbone, his other hand deftly undoing the tie to your robe, revealing you to him. 

“Magnifique. You must excuse my gall, but… I’d like to appreciate such a fine work of art.”

(3 seconds.)

Abel you’ve come to find, is not the patient type. He is when he needs to be, when it comes to negotiating trades or haggling, but he much prefers the blunt, take-what-you-can-when-you-want approach.

Including now.

“Stop moving your hips,” he grunts, large hands planted firmly on your ass. When you fail to listen, stubbornly continuing your rhythm, he grips one cheek fully and smacks, the sound reverberating in the room. You whine, and he takes the opportunity to eye your swollen mound.

After all, what else was he supposed to do when he came home to find you bent over the couch, the hem of one of his old shirts hitched high up your hips, showing the cute boxer shorts you had on? He may be a man of great restraint, but he is greedy, above all.

He thrusts into your mouth suddenly, a sharp motion, and you gag, pulling off of him. As you cough, Abel makes an annoyed sound, his cock twitching from the lack of stimulation. 

After all, Abel thinks, his tongue delving into you once more, his fingers furiously plunging into your depths (Efficiency, putting you over the edge as quick as possible.) 

Why be patient when he can be fervid?

(2 seconds.)

The bathroom door slams open, and Alfred stands there, disheveled and panting.

“Dude! You said we could shower together….” His voice dies down once he realizes that you are in fact, very naked. “Oh.”

“You were asleep. I didn’t wanna wake you.”

“Well, you should have!” he says, closing the door behind him. Before you can blink, he’s slipping off his shirt and unbuckling his belt. He sets his glasses down on the counter before moving to wrap his arms around you, cupping your chest in one hand as he looks at you fondly. He grins.

“You know we totally need to save on that water bill, right?”

(1 second.)

Lovino is not one to be outdone.  

“What? You mean you didn’t—”

Shame sets in, darkening his features. Breathless, you pat his chest. “It’s okay, Lovi. I’m fine.”

“No,” he says firmly. “It’s not fine.” Despite being spent, despite having given it his all the past few minutes, he finds a surge of energy and flips the two of you over. He trails down your body until he’s a breath away from where you need him the most.

“Perdonami, ragazza. How selfish of me. I’ll make sure you won’t be able to move after this,” he says before his lips seal over you.

[11queensupreme11]

Hey Queen, I was just wondering, if Percy drinks either Zeus' or Lugh's Ichor, would she get some kind of permanent power boost like how their ichor/ambrosia did with Heracles and Cu or would it not do anything (past what regular ambrosia does from any other god) cause she's already a demigod?

Speaking of, in your universe do you think there are other gods, I'm guessing the leader of each Pantheon or just the really powerful ones, have that ability to make demigods with their ichor or is it just those two? OR I'm just remembering the details wrong and God's in your au can do that in general but only some have actual requirements to do so?

nope! idk how far you are in the fic, but it gets explained during a convo she has with mnemosyne

for my fic, i combined the concepts of ror's ambrosia and pjo's ambrosia

in ror, ambrosia is god's blood. drinking in ascends a human into a demigod (a human with the power of a god)

in pjo, ambrosia is a food demigods eat to heal. eat too much, and they'll explode.

in arsenic blues, i combined it for percy = when percy drinks ichor/ambrosia she gains a temporary god boost where her physical strength, speed, durability, & senses are heightened to the level of a god. so when percy drinks a god's blood, she will be as strong as a god (PHYSICALITY-WISE, I MEAN. she already has the power of a god, but because she's human, it's very limited because she gets tired. with ichor/ambrosia, she won't feel tired so she can actually reach beyond her mortal potential)

and ofc, just like pjo ambrosia, drinking too much causes her to burn up and incinerate. other that the god boost, she heavily relies on it because it takes away the pain of her soul shattering.

as for the second question, idk if canonically only ZEUS has ambrosial blood or if every ror god can do it too, but in my fic, any ror god can turn a human into a demigod if said human drinks their blood. it's just EXTREMELY FUCKING RARE for it to happen cuz like.... unless that blood is offered, no human would be able to make a god bleed cuz they'd need a divine weapon for that 💀

"OR I'm just remembering the details wrong and God's in your au can do that in general but only some have actual requirements to do so?" since you mentioned requirements, i think you might also be thinking of ascension to GODHOOD. i mentioned a reeeaaally long time ago like back in the earlier chapters that supreme gods and other gods of equal/close to that power level could ascend a human/demigod to godhood. some have requirements tho like zeus and how he canonically had heracles do the 12 labors.

[allmythologies]

day 10 of horror mythology: lernean hydra

the hydra is a serpentine water monster. in the canonical hydra myth, the monster is killed by heracles as the second of his twelve labors. the hydra was the offspring of typhon and echidna. it had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its scent was deadly. the hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source.

[lockettopia]

Heracles labor #2: "The Lernaean Hydra"

"The second Labour which he undertook was the slaying of the Lernaean hydra, springing from whose single body were fashioned a hundred necks, each bearing the head of a serpent. And when one head was cut off, the place where it was severed put forth two others; for this reason, it was considered to be invincible, and with good reason, since the part of it which was subdued sent forth a two-fold assistance in its place. 6 Against a thing so difficult to manage as this Heracles devised an ingenious scheme and commanded Iolaüs to sear with a burning brand the part which had been severed, in order to check the flow of the blood. So, when he had subdued the animal by this means he dipped the heads of his arrows in the venom, in order that when the missile should be shot the wound which the point made might be incurable." (Diodorus, "Library of history," 30-60 B.C.)

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[mx-nii]

I was going to write a post, asking which of two topics I should rant about - but then in the process of explaining the second topic, I couldn’t stop typing so I think I answered my own question. Behold my incoherent thoughts on queer & trans representation in media!

I find it infuriating that even though we have come so incredibly far in terms of social acceptance of the queer and trans community in such a short time (gay marriage was only legalized in June of 2015, aka a little under 10 years ago), we are severely lacking in genuinely good queer/trans representation.

I try to give old tv/classics (TV from the 1920s to the 2000s) some slack because they were very much “of their time”, by which I mean: in the times they were filmed, marginalized communities were still actively fighting for their civil rights, and the ability to live peacefully without oppression and discrimination. Even though we are still fighting for many of the same civil liberties today, we can all agree (to some degree) that things are better than they were a hundred years ago. Things have changed drastically throughout time, for better and for worse, and just as our social norms changed, so did our media. For example, the same jokes made in Law & Order SVU (1999) are significantly rarer today. It was considered okay to make those kinds of jokes in the 90s, and today the majority of people find it offensive. As we grow and become more accepting, our tolerance of certain behaviors changes because we realize how harmful those behaviors were. Media is a reflection of the social norms/current events of the time.

However: even though we’ve definitely made a lot of progress as a society and there’s less blatantly ignorant mainstream media, I’m still noticing so many flaws in queer/trans representation. I know that we still have so much more social change we need to make but I expected our representation to be better than what it currently is. The little we do have is either:

1) A clusterfuck of stereotypes and antigay/trans propaganda (I’m looking at you, “Emilia Pérez” [seriously how the fuck did that dumpster-fire get 13 Oscar nominations])

2) Fetishization of queer/trans people (I highly recommend reading the attached articles, they explain it very well ⬇️)

3) Putting the love interests through such agony that can only be described as a love child of the labors of Heracles and all 9 circles of hell [bonus points if one/both of them dies tragically/painfully, if they never get together/hate each other, or end up in a straight relationship] (Yae Miko & Raiden Ei in Genshin Impact [which can also go into the queerbaiting category but I digress], Catra & Adora in She-Ra, etc)

4) Queerbaiting (Keith & Lance in Voltron, JJ & Emily in Criminal Minds, Kara & Lena in Supergirl)

Tbh I can’t remember where I was going with this-I just started writing after seeing an edit of Yae Miko and Ei on tiktok to “would you fall in love with me again” from Epic: The Musical, and then I proceeded to go down this particular rabbit hole.

MY POINT IS: give me media with sapphics who communicate, love each other faithfully and fiercely, and don’t die! Is that REALLY so much to ask for?

[pastafossa]

Pasta you are an absolute menace…I just figured out where you got Jane Hind from.

The third labor of Heracles: capturing the Ceryneian hind aka a deer that was hunted by him for over a year

“I am definitely not a hound I am instead an animal of prey”

I am not worried you are going to use more events from the story later

(Im kind of embarrassed I didn’t pick it up sooner considering I’m a classics major)

FUCK YESSSSSSS!

Like, I adore Greek Mythology and the classics, and I grew up watching Xena, Hercules, and also hunting down every last Greek and Roman Mythology text my tiny hungry Pasta hands could reach, and so the Hind from the labors absolutely played into it. Her (false) name in my initial drafts and outline was originally just, 'Jane Doe', a placeholder I would swap out a different name for later. But I got used to Jane, and then went, '...wait a fucking SECOND, I know another word for Doe!' Jane Doe -> Jane Hind.

Hind = Doe.

And so her name is symbolic with multiple layers.

Jane Hind is a variation of Jane Doe, aka: no name known, an unidentified person. This was her intent as a joke when she chose it, without really thinking of anything deeper, and so it's absolutely one part pun, but also:

Jane Hind, a play on the Ceryneian Hind, and like you said: 'Definitely no predator here, only prey, *deer noises*' but also a 'Yeah I be runnin from shit and I am FAST and you're gonna have to work to catch me motherfuckers'. She is the trophy that her hunter is searching for, the prey he requires if he wishes to free himself, and at the moment, she is guarded and protected, watched over by the Devil God one who's deemed her sacred. The Evil AU Heracles will have to get around our stand-in Diana if he wants to carry this Hind away. We'll see if he's as successful in Hell's Kitchen as he was in the myth.

Additionally, a little bit of foreshadowing of the myths Ciro taught her (seen again with the story of the Calydonian boar).

I FUCKING LOVE THAT YOU SPOTTED THIS, DO NOT BE SORRY, I RARELY GET TO TALK ABOUT IT.

[inspofromancientworld]

Flowers of Mythology - Hellebore

Hellebore is one common name for about 20 plants in the genus Helleborus, which are herbaceous or evergreen perennial plants that produce flowers that gave them other common names like winter rose, Christmas rose, and Lenten rose. As the names imply, they bloom in the winter and early spring. They have five petal like sepals and their petals are modified to hold nectar and don't fall as petals would so the flower appears to last for months at times. All of the plants are poisonous which is also one potential meaning of the Greek origin of the name helléboros, which comes from helein (to injure) and borá (food). Another possible meaning is álkē (fawn/elk) and bibrṓskō (to eat). They produce alkaloid poisons that can be absorbed through touch or ingestion. The flowers range in color from green through yellow to white, pink, red through purple. The deliberate and accidental hybridizing with closely related species has expanded the color rage as well as created 'double flowered and anemone-centered plants', which is returning the petals to petal shaped. The natural range of the plants is around the Balkans, though one species seems to have developed in Western China.

source: https://marcysphotography.com/featured/morning-sun-lights-up-kirrha-greece-marcy-wielfaert.html

Even though it is poisonous, the Greeks and Romans used it in medicine as well as war. In the First Sacred War, which was fought between 595-585 BCE between the League of Delphi and the city of Kirrha over the Sacred Land of Apollo (the Kirrhaean Plain). The asclepiad (early Greek medical doctors), Nebros, said to be an ancestor of Hippocrates, advised using hellebore to poison the water supply of Kirrha when they found a water pipe leading into the city after a horse's hoof broke the clay pipe. This caused the defenders of the city to become weak with diarrhea, allowing the city to be captured and everyone within slaughtered. Some think that the guilt over this use of medical knowledge by his ancestor might have inspired the Hippocratic oath's injunction against doing harm and administering poison.

source: http://www.hormones.gr/8694/article/melampus-and-the-cure-of-proetus%E2%80%99%E2%80%A6.html

In mythology, the women of Argos were once driven mad by Dionysus, running wild and wanton through the city during the reign Anaxagoras or Proetus. Melampus, a soothsayer and healer from Pylos, claimed to have the cure to return the women to themselves, but in return, he wanted a third of the kingdom. The king refused, disliking the demand and believing there had to be someone else who could help the women. The madness drove the women wilder, as Dionysus reveled in madness and wantonness. The king's hand was forced and he called back Melampus back. This time, Melampus demanded two thirds of the kingdom, the second third for his brother, Bias. Over a barrel, the king agrees. The women are led to the city of Lusi, where he offered them hellebore and then took them into the temple of Artemis where their sanity was restored to them.

By Rowanwindwhistler - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86844028

After Thebes defeated the Minyans, led by the youth Heracles, Megara was offered to the hero by her father, the king. After they have several sons, Hera, filled with hatred for him because he was proof of Zeus having yet another affair, sends Iris and Lyssa, the spirit of madness, to Heracles. Caught in this madness, Heracles kills his children and most likely Megara (some authors say she married Iolaus, Heracles nephew). Antikyreus, who founded Antikyra, gave Heracles hellebore, which released him from Lyssa's madness. Guilt sent Heracles to the Oracle of Delphi, who was guided by Hera rather than Apollo when he visited, and was told to go to serve King Eurystheus for ten years and to do anything he was told to do, leading to his Twelve Labors.

By Robert Hundsdorfer - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19318105

A later story states that the Christmas rose (specifically Helleborus niger, black hellebore, which has a white flower that turns pink later) sprouted because a shepherdess cried because she had no offerings to bring with her to give to the Christ Child in Bethlehem when she learned that the 'wise men from the East' were taking gifts to him. Her tears fell into snow (regardless or ignorant of the climate of Bethlehem in the winter) and became the plant, which is an evergreen version of hellebore, by the angel that was watching over her search for something to offer.

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … October 29

Iolaus and Heracles mosaic

1000+ BC – Iolaus was a Theban divine hero, son of Iphicles and Automedusa. He was famed for being Heracles's nephew and for helping with some of his Labors, and also for being one of the Argonauts. Through his daughter Leipephilene he was considered to have fathered the mythic and historic line of the kings of Corinth.

As a son of Iphicles, Iolaus was a nephew of Heracles. He often acted as Heracles' charioteer and companion. He was popularly regarded as Heracles's lover, and the shrine to him in Thebes was a place where male couples worshiped and made vows.

Iolaus (L) and Heracles (R) united by Eros

The Theban gymnasium was also named after him, and the Iolaeia, an athletic festival consisting of gymnastic and equestrian events, was held yearly in Thebes in his honor. The victors at the Iolaea were crowned with garlands of myrtle.

Iolaus provided essential help to Heracles in his battle against the Hydra, his second labor. Seeing that Heracles was being overwhelmed by the multi-headed monster (the Lernaean Hydra), who grew two heads in place of each one cut off, Iolaus sprang to help, cauterizing each neck as Heracles beheaded it.

1618 – Sir Walter Raleigh was executed on this date (b.1552). The famed English writer, poet, courtier and explorer was responsible for establishing the second English colony in the New World (after Newfoundland was established by Sir Humphrey Gilbert nearly one year previously, August 5 1583), on June 4, 1584, at Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina.

The question for us here is this: Was Sir Walter Raleigh Christopher Marlowe's lover? Anything is possible, especially when so little is known about both. For many years, this provocative possibility has been suggested, even though it is based entirely on speculation. Marlowe wrote a poem titled, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," which begins with the charming invitation "Come live with me and be my love." A twin poem, "The Nymph's Reply to The Shepherd," appeared shortly thereafter, and there is little doubt that it was written by Raleigh out of love for Marlowe.

1931 – Clyde Hicks of North Carolina (official fucker!) was stationed in Hawaii, arrested on sodomy charges and sentenced to six years in prison. He was transferred to Alcatraz where he was put into solitary confinement for passing a note to another man. He was released in 1935.

Wayne Winterrowd (L) & Joe Eck

1941 – Wayne Winterrowd, American gardening expert and designer who wrote extensively on the subject, was born (d.2010). The garden Winterrowd and his partner built covered 7 acres at their Vermont home and became a tourist attraction to visitors from around the world.

Winterrowd, who was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, started gardening when he was three years old and read widely on the subject while he was growing up. Visits to an aunt who lived near Lake Pontchartrain helped him learn about gardening and he developed an interest in tropical plants on family trips to Florida and Cuba.

While teaching Jacobean literature at Tufts University in 1969, he first met Joe Eck, and they lived together in Denmark where Winterrowd had earned a Fulbright scholarship.

Together with Eck, Winterrowd learned as much as they could about gardening and earned a living by teaching English, French and Latin at area elementary and high schools. They spent the 1960s and 1970s as part of the homegrown food movement.

Moving from a farmhouse in Pepperell, Massachusetts to Readsboro, Vermont, Winterrowd and Eck devoted themselves to creating the North Hill garden, in which they grew Himalayan blue poppies, Japanese dogwoods, locust trees, magnolia, and stewartias. They cleared the hilly wooded land they had acquired, planting a diverse variety of plants, including as many as 100,000 daffodil bulbs. The garden drew visitors from around the world to their home in Southern Vermont near the Massachusetts border.They also grew fresh vegetables and raised dairy cows, pigs and poultry. Roger Swain, host of the Public Broadcasting Service television series The Victory Garden said "Their garden is of such quality and diversity that it rivals any in Europe. But there is nothing derivative about North Hill; it is American gardening at its best", with Fergus Garrett crediting Winterrowd and Eck with being "one of the driving forces in North American horticulture."

Winterrowd and Eck traveled across the United States and Canada to design customized gardens for their customers.

Winterrowd and Eck were joined in a civil union in 2000 and were married in 2009 after Vermont legalized same-sex marriage. Winterrowd died at age 68 on September 17, 2010, at his home in Readsboro, Vermont due to heart failure. He was survived by Eck and by a son they adopted.

The Swiss Guards in traditional uniform.

1954 – Alois Estermann (d.1998) was a senior officer of the Swiss Guard who was murdered in his apartment in the Vatican City.

Estermann was born in Gunzwil, in the Canton of Lucerne. In 1998 he was appointed as Commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard.

According to official Vatican statements, Estermann and his Venezuelan wife, Gladys Meza Romero, were killed in May 1998 by a young Swiss Guard Cédric Tornay, who later committed suicide. Estermann, formerly acting commander of the Swiss Guard, had been confirmed in his position the same day. Tornay had earlier been reprimanded for breaches of discipline and had been passed over for a medal routinely awarded to Guards after three years of service.

The British journalist, John Follain, undertook extensive interviews with key witnesses to the murders to inform his book, City of Secrets: The Truth behind the murders at the Vatican (2006). Follain dismisses speculation that Estermann, his wife, and Tornay were murdered by an external fourth party or that Estermann was a spy for the former East German government.

Follain's research indicated that Cédric Tornay did indeed kill his commander, and his commander's wife before turning the gun on himself. Tornay found the running of the Swiss Guard archaic, and resented the dominance of the Swiss German majority contingent. Tornay turned to Alois Estermann for affection, and enjoyed a short homosexual affair. Their relationship deteriorated into acrimony as Tornay realised that Estermann had betrayed him with another guard. Estermann's close links to the Opus Dei movement, and his final refusal to award the benemeriti medal for 3-years service led to further frustration and Tornay's ultimate decision to kill Estermann.

Pope John Paul II personally celebrated Estermann's Funeral Mass in the church of Saints Martin and Sebastian.

1985 – Gio Benitez is an American broadcast journalist and correspondent for ABC News, who appears on Good Morning America, World News Tonight, 20/20, and Nightline. He also hosts the Fusion version of Nightline. He has won two television news Emmy awards.

Benitez was born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents. He is a 2004 graduate of Miami Coral Park High School. In 2008, Benitez graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology from Florida International University. He is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Benitez joined ABC News in 2013. He has covered a wide range of stories for the network, including the Boston Marathon bombing; The Alabama child held hostage underground in an eight-day standoff; the American mother stuck in a Mexican jail and nearly every major snow storm that swept the nation during the winter of 2013.

Before joining ABC News in 2013, he was a reporter for WFOR, the CBS owned-and-operated TV station in Miami, where he covered the 2012 Presidential election and reported extensively on the Trayvon Martin case.

Benitez married longtime partner Tommy DiDario in front of family, friends, and ABC News colleagues inside the historic Walton House in Miami, Florida in April 2016.

Gio Benitez with husband Tommy DiDario

1989 – Under the headline "Peek-a-Boo," New York's Outweek magazine publishes a list of 66 celebrities and public figures who are allegedly gay but closeted. The article marks the beginning of controversial "outing" by some gay activists.

1995 – On this date in Iran, a 31 year old man was convicted of "ugly and improper conduct" and sentenced to twenty lashes for cross-dressing.

1997 – U.S. Congressman Barney Frank introduced a bill calling for the extension of health insurance coverage to the domestic partners of US federal employees through the federal employee health program.

2011 – Died: Axel Axgil (b.1915), Danish gay activist. Axel and Eigil Axgil (b.1922 - d.1995) were a longtime couple. They were the first gay couple to enter into a registered partnership anywhere in the world following Denmark's legalisation of same-sex partnership registration in 1989, a landmark legislation which they were instrumental in bringing about. They adopted the shared surname, Axgil, a combination of their given names, as an expression of their commitment.

Axel, born Axel Lundahl-Madsen, and Eigil, born Eigil Eskildsen, inspired by the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, together with several friends, founded F-48 or Forbundet af 1948 (The Association of 1948), Denmark's first gay rights organization. By 1951, F-48's membership had grown to 1,339 and there were branches in Sweden and Norway. In 1985, F-48 became the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians (Landsforeningen for Bøsser og Lesbiske, Forbundet af 1948 or LBL). The couple launched a magazine, Vennen (The Friend).

In 1989, Denmark became the first nation in the world to recognize domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. On October 1, 1989, the Axgils and 10 other Danish couples were married by Tom Ahlberg, the deputy mayor of Copenhagen, in the city hall, accompanied by worldwide media attention. The Axgils had been a couple for 40 years.

Eigil Axgil died on September 22, 1995 at the age of 73. Axel Axgil died on October 29, 2011 at the age of 96.

[figandthewasp]

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Welcome to our seasonal deep dives into the Origin stories and myth of each sign, continuing with Cancer.

While modern astrology is saturated with references to Greek mythological figures, the zodiacal sign of Cancer is a case study in how myths travel and become absorbed by different cultures over time. 

The Greeks linked Cancer to Carcinos, a giant crab sent by Hera to distract Heracles during the second of his twelve labors: his fight with the deadly many-headed Hydra. Carcinos played more of a secondary role in this myth. However, the constellation of Cancer had long been known as the crab by the Babylonians, the Mesopotamian civilization pre-dating the Greeks by more than a thousand years.

CONNECTION TO CANCER Interestingly, the preservation and transmission of tradition is central to the contemporary astrology of Cancer, which links this sign to home, family and feminine receptivity. In observing how the symbol of the crab survived — and shapeshifted — through the ages, we get a perfect example of the Cancer archetype at work.

THE SECURITY OF CANCER The fourth sign of the zodiac, Cancer is oriented to security. It is the first of three ‘water signs’, correlated to emotion and memory. It is also the second Cardinal sign, following Aries. Cancer begins the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere, periods where ‘family time’ is prioritized.Gemini season, with its social nature, its encouragement of idea exchange, allowed us to identify ‘our people’. In Cancer season, we build upon those bonds and cultivate kinship. When the sun transits Cancer, emotional and physical comfort take primacy. We want to relax, which by default means surrounding ourselves with familiar faces and sticking to familiar territory.

[death-before-ilion]

Priam's prolific family

I now have a definite timeline for the life of Paris (aka Alexander), prince of Troy: born 1231, died 1184 aged 46/47. I'll publish the full timeline separately, but wanted to bring up that I've been looking into his parents and siblings, trying to give each of them a few dates here and there.

Priam had many children. Relying on Homer, Apollodorus, Hyginus and Virgil, I've been able to identify 84 children: 16 daughters and 68 sons. I'll have to check again, as I might have missed a couple. He had two wives (Arisbe and Hecabe), and a number of "palace women" (i.e. concubines). By Arisbe, he had at least one son, and soon enough divorced her to marry Hecabe (or Hecuba), the well known queen of Troy. Hector was their first born and Troilus was the last born son. He was still a young teenager when he was ambushed and killed by Achilles (an event that I date to 1191, quite early in the Second Trojan War). As a result, I place his birth in 1205. Apollodorus tells us Paris was their second born. Hyginus says Paris was born much later, but I choose to reject the latter claim, as I consider Apollodorus more authoritative and it agrees better with my timeline.

Indeed, if Paris is the second born, I would place Hector's birth to 1233, which means Hecabe has been birthing children for at least 28 years (!!). If Paris is one of the later children, that birthing period is much longer. If Hecabe gave birth to her first child in her late teens, she would have given birth to Troilus in her mid-forties, which works nicely.

I have therefore set Hecabe's birth to 1251, which makes her 66/67 at the fall of Troy. Priam's birth is more tricky, because he was a boy when the First Trojan War occured, which I have not dated yet (it ties in with the timeline of Heracles and either his capturing of the girdle of the Amazons or his participation in the expedition of the Argo), but I expect Priam to be born around 1270/1265.

Now "all" I have to do is date Paris's brothers and sisters, and given their number, it'll be a labor of its own.

[chantillyxlacey]

Okay so here's a concept I've been marinating on for a while and keep forgetting to talk about

Persona AU for the Horizon Series :0a

Aloy, of course, would be the Wildcard

Gaia would play the role of both Igor and your first Navi character until Beta showed up

I haven't quite settled on what the mechanism of awakening to a Persona would involve in this AU, but they're summoned using a Focus. Second Awakenings would happen as part of the plot like in Persona 3 rather than at the completion of Social Links like in 5

Here's the Personas I have the main Gaia Gang cast assigned and thoughts about their abilities:

Aloy - Mnemosyne

"The Titan Goddess of memory in Greek mythology. She was mother to the nine Muses and was often called on by bards and kings to aid them in remembering both poetry and history. According to some legends, she invented spoken and written language in order to preserve and expand mankind's collective memory."

Element: Fire

Weapon: Spear (pierce damage)

Weakness: Nuke

2nd Awakening: Apollo

"Twin brother to Artemis and one of Greek mythology's Twelve Olympians. His many domains included truth and knowledge, culture, medicine and healing, and prophecy; he later also became associated with the sun. He was an expert archer, wielding his golden bow and arrows with a skill that no-one but his twin could match.

Varl - Orion

"A huntsman of great renown in Greek myth, he was a hunting companion and friend to the goddess Artemis. His death came at her hands when she was tricked into shooting him with her bow. To honor his memory, she placed him in the heavens as the constellation that bears his name."

Element: Ice

Weapon: Spear (slash damage)

Weakness: Pierce damage

Other Abilities: Buffs; Debuffs

2nd Awakening: None :(

Erend - Heracles

"A half-mortal sun of Zeus and the most acclaimed of Greek heroes, known best for his supernatural strength. His famous Twelve Labors included feats such as slaying the invulnerable Nemean Lion and regenerating Hydra, and taming Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld."

Element: Electric (no resistance)

Weapon: Hammer (strike damage)

Weakness: None

Other Abilities: Buffs

2nd Awakening: Hephaestus

"The Greek god of the forge and one of the Twelve Olympians. An unparalleled smith, he created nearly all of his cohorts' most famous armaments: Poseidon's trident, the helm of invisibility used by Hades, and even Zeus' mighty thunderbolts. He was assisted in his work by the Cyclopes and two living golden statues."

Zo - Polyhymnia

"One of the nine Muses of Greek mythology. The Muses were goddesses of the arts and granted divine inspiration to artists of all persuasions. Polyhymnia was the patroness of hymns, religious poetry, and sacred dances."

Element: Bless

Weapon: Bow (pierce damage)

Weakness: Curse

Other Abilities: Healing; Status Ailment Cures

2nd Awakening: Persephone

"The goddess of spring and the Queen of the Underworld. According to Greek myth, she was bound to spend half of each year in the world of the living and half in the world of the dead. The changing of seasons was said to come from her mother Demeter's grief when Persephone descended into the Underworld, and subsequent rejoicing at her return."

Kotallo - Perseus

"A hero and demigod from Greek mythology. He was exiled by an unjust king with the impossible task of slaying the Gorgon Medusa, but with the aid of winged sandals loaned to him by Hermes and a mirrored bronze shield gifted from Athena he was able to overcome the challenge and return home victorious."

Element: Wind

Weapon: Greatsword (strike damage)

Weakness: Psy

Other Abilities: Minor Healing

2nd Awakening: Aether

"One of the Protogenoi of Greek legend: the first generation of gods who preceded the Olympians and Titans. He was the sky itself personified, his body made of the pure air found on mountain tops, between clouds, and in the realm of the gods."

Beta - Iphigenia

"According to The Iliad, she was the daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. After her father offended Artemis, the goddess becalmed the seas in retaliation and prevented the navies of Greece from sailing to Troy to wage war. An oracle proclaimed that the price for fair winds would be the girl's life, offered as a sacrifice."

Element: Nuke

Weapon: None

Weakness: Fire

Other Abilities: Navi

2nd Awakening: Artemis

"One of the Twelve Olympians of Greek legend and twin sister to Apollo. She was the goddess of the hunt and mistress of all wild places and beasts, and later also became associated with the moon. She was gifted a silver bow and arrows by her uncle Hephaestus, her skill with which was unequalled by any except for her twin."

Alva - Metis

“The goddess of good council and planning. She was an advisor to Zeus during the war with the Titans for control of Olympus, and later his bride. A prophecy stated that any son she bore to Zeus would overthrow his father, just as he had done. To prevent this, he swallowed her whole.”

Element: Psy

Weapon: Bow (pierce damage)

Weakness: Wind

Other Abilities: Status Ailments; Status Ailment Cures

2nd Awakening: Minerva

“A highly revered goddess of the Roman Pantheon. Equated with the Greek goddess Athena, her domains included wisdom and strategy in warfare. She was born as a grown woman from within the skull of her father, Jupiter, clothed in full armor and wielding a spear.”

Sylens - Odysseus

"A hero from Greek mythology and the main character of The Odyssey. He was well known for being crafty and using trickery to outwit his enemies. His idea to sneak soldiers past the impenetrable walls of Troy using the Trojan Horse broke the ten year long siege on the city and secured victory for the Greek army."

Element: Curse

Weapon: Sickle (slash damage)

Weakness: Bless

Other Abilities: Debuffs; Status Ailments; Poison

2nd Awakening: Hades

"The enigmatic ruler of the Greek Underworld and lord of both the dead and the riches that dwelled there. He preferred to keep himself remote from the Olympian gods and thier affairs, so there are relatively few stories known about him. Few people dared to speak of him directly, for fear of drawing his attention."

[anyichmoss]

Font work on the Greek theme. Hercules' Second Labor: the Lernean Hydra

Translation: "Heracles shuddered: a hideous monster crawled right up to him through the swamp - a nine-headed hydra, which hissed terribly, baring its poisonous fangs."

Material: tinted paper, ink, acrylic paints

[lockettopia]

Heracles labor 9: "Retrieve the Belt of Hippolyta" Diodorus gives us a brutal, bloodthirsty version of Heracles as he arrives in the Amazon kingdom of Themiscyra to attain the Queen's belt:  "The first, for instance, to join battle with him was Aella,17 who had been given this name because of her swiftness, but she found her opponent more agile than herself. The second, Philippis, encountering a mortal blow at the very first conflict, was slain. Then he joined battle with Prothoê, who, they said, had been victorious seven times over the opponents whom she had challenged to battle. When she fell, the fourth whom he overcame was known as Eriboea. She had boasted that because of the manly bravery which she displayed in contests of war she had no need of anyone to help her, but she found her claim was false when she encountered her better. 3 The next, Celaeno, Eurybia, and Phoebê, who were companions of Artemis in the hunt and whose spears found their mark invariably, did not even graze the single target, but in that fight they were one and all cut down as they stood shoulder to shoulder with each other. After them Deïaneira, Asteria and Marpê, and Tecmessa and Alcippê were overcome. The last-named had taken a vow to remain a maiden, and the vow she kept, but her life she could not preserve. The commander of the Amazons, Melanippê, who was also greatly admired for her manly courage, now lost her supremacy. 4 And Heracles, after thus killing the most renowned of the Amazons, and forcing the remaining multitude to turn in flight, cut down the greater number of them, so that the race of them was utterly exterminated."

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[studiotriggerfan397]

It's hard to believe it, but Hades (the Greek god of the Underworld) had 3 encounters with his nephew Heracles (Hercules) and was left humiliated. Each. Time.

The most well-known encounter is when Heracles travelled to the Underworld to capture the three-headed hound Cerberus for his 12th and final labor. Hades told his nephew that he could only take Cerberus if he could subdue him without using any weapons. But clever Heracles used the impenetrable Nemean Lion skin he wore as a makeshift muzzle and wrestled Cerberus until he was worn out.

The second time, Hades came to the surface to collect the soul of Queen Alcestis, who agreed to die in place of her husband King Admetus. But Heracles didn't like the idea of the happy couple's love being cut short and wrestled Hades into submission, just like he did his dog.

The third instance is the strangest though. When Heracles attacks the city of Pylos after its king refuses to purify him of his sins, Hades arrives to either collect the dead from the battlefield or defend the city (depending on the version). Either way, when Heracles sees his uncle, he shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow and Hades retreats to Olympus where Apollo heals his wound.

[ancestorsalive]

Hydra wall painting from an Etruscan tomb at the Necropolis of Pianacce, Siena, dated to the 4th century BC.

The Lernaean Hydra or Hydra of Lerna, more often known simply as the Hydra, is a serpentine water monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, which was also the site of the myth of the Danaïdes. Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld, and archaeology has established it as a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos. In the canonical Hydra myth, the monster is killed by Heracles (Hercules) as the second of his Twelve Labors.

According to Hesiod, the Hydra was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even it's scent was deadly. The Hydra possessed many heads, the exact number of which varies according to the source. Later versions of the Hydra story add a regeneration feature to the monster - for every head chopped off, the Hydra will regrow two heads.