#the only Greek myth related authors I trust

[clown-cult]

The way Stephen Fry is more respectful of Helen and humanises her more immediately than most “feminist retelling” authors do in their entire works…

You will always be famous.

[burner-of-ships]

so i read Lies We Sing To The Sea, and honestly i do not think this book was worth all the drama that surrounded it.

it's a perfectly fine YA fantasy, even complete with a love triangle. i read it in 3 days, it wasn't exactly mindblowing but it was engaging enough and the ending genuinely surprised me. i liked it, but probably won't read it again.

and the entire tag for the book is just people who haven't even read it screeching about how the author, Sarah Underwood hasn't read the Odyssey, and is from England.

and now i feel the need to rant:

right away i'm going to brush away the England point, because it feels like just another symptom of this weird hatred of England that's overcome tumblr in the past few years. sometimes it's funny, like yeah, we are pretty shitty, the monarchy and the British Museum suck, and that should be talked about. i'm not going to act like i'm oppressed because people online make fun of a country i just happened to be born in. but it so often slips over into classism. you lot make fun of poor brits way more than the people in power. funny British accents? working class accents. gross British food? poverty meals. it's punching down.

admittedly, i have no clue what Sarah Underwood's finances were or are like, before or after she sold her book. but my point is that i'm not entertaining this idea that her being English inherently makes her worse, because i don't trust this scorn to be warranted anymore. from white Greek people especially. sorry, but the BM having a few of your statues does not make you an oppressed minority any more than me being from the north of england makes me one, and it's frankly embarrassing for you to keep acting like a non-Greek writing a story set in Ancient Greece is at all equivalent to actual cultural appropriation.

it's not her fault she got a publishing deal and you didn't. be honest for a second, that is what you're mad about, isn't it? that she has a bigger megaphone than you right now. there's no shame in it, all of social media is about trying to grab attention, and drama is good at that, but let's not get too aggressive towards those who don't need to get mad on the internet to get that attention.

as for the not reading the Odyssey thing... first of all i read that whole interview and i can say right away that that interviewer did a shit job. she misspells the name of Jessie Burton, another Greek myth reteller, for christs sake! if the interviewer seemed to Underwood as thick as she seems to me, i don't blame her for fumbling a bit. talking to idiots is hard, and we have no idea how accurately she was portrayed, considering the people publishing the interview clearly did no research or spell checking.

and as someone who has read the Odyssey... no, you really don't need to have read it all to write a story set hundreds of years later, with only one character in common, a character who is given barely any characterisation in the original text. there is one chapter in this book that retells a part of the Odyssey, and i think it did it excellently. you don't need to read about Polyphemus or Circe or Nausicaa to write about the lives of those inside the palace. we don't know how much the author actually did or didn't read, but to me reading the book, it seems like she read enough.

the people who are acting like you have to know the Odyssey inside and out to write anything remotely related to it are snobs, plain and simple. not everybody was lucky enough to get an education in classics. it circles back around to this issue of classism in the UK, only private schools and i believe seven public schools teach ancient languages or classics. picking up The Odyssey from a random bookshelf and reading it with no prior knowledge of the time and place it was set in can be hard! the customs were completely different than they are today! with nobody to explain xenia or nostos or epithets to you, it can be daunting! some translations have great forewords that can help with that, but not all.

is the book a masterpiece? no, it's a bloody YA book! have you seen the absolute deluge that market pushes out? there are plenty of mid books padding out the genre, and this is just one of them. i can name half a dozen better greek myth retellings or YA romance-adventures, and i do always recommend you read the actual classics if you think they'll interest you. all i'm saying is that the book doesn't deserve the absolute slating it's getting, and that Sarah Underwood certainly doesn't deserve this harassment or review bombing. does anybody deserve that, just for writing a silly YA book? sometimes we need to take a step back from the bachannal and really think about who or what we're ripping to pieces in our frenzy.

i'm not gonna sit here and insist you read Lies We Sing to The Sea or praise Sarah Underwood. for all i talk, i can't reach through the screen and touch you, you can do what you like with your time and energy. but if you do share your thoughts or leave a review, then yeah, i think you should have at least read a couple of chapters, at the very least to avoid showing your ass by parroting blatantly false statements. and if you make up your mind on how you feel on it after only a few chapters... well i don't think you have much of a leg to stand on when you complain that she drew conclusions without reading all of the Odyssey.

[interact-if]

Day 2 of the Black History Month Featured Author Interviews, featuring Summore! 

Summore, author of A Trial of Horror

Black History Month Featured Author

All you wanted was a break. Just a day when your life wasn’t filled with worrying about when your next essay was due or if you had a night shift with your sleazy co-worker who just won’t take no for an answer. Hell, you were so desperate for some downtime that you would be happy with just an HOUR of peace.  

One day, your friend Tama recommends an experimental VR game called “Little Trails of Horror” to destress. As someone who survived their very own horror movie, you figure that there isn’t anything that you haven’t seen that would shake you to your core. It also helps that there is an incentive of 10,000 dollars for participating. You decide to sign up, imaging that there were worst things that you could be doing on a Friday night. What you anticipated was cheesy graphics, with too much gore and too many jump scares. Not a darkness that seems too natural and a breath on the back of your neck that feels too warm.

Now stuck within these games with no way to leave without completing the objectives, your only worry now is to survive and find a way to break this vicious cycle. But every time you get even close to doing that or finding someone with answers, they die on you. Will you be able to escape for good or continue to be dragged from mission to mission, or worse?

Read more about A Trial of Horror [here]

A Trial of Horror Demo TBA | Discord | Beta Testing Application

Tags: 18+, Dark Fantasy, Thriller

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!]

Q1. So, tell us a little bit about the projects you're working on!

So, I have two projects that I’m working on currently. The first is A Trial of Horror, that's my baby! The one that I’m currently putting all of my proverbial eggs into. I wanted to take some of my favorite troupes from various horror movies that I’ve watched and prose the story in a ‘what would YOU do?’. Of course, the answer to that question is going to have consequences, some good, some bad depending on which route you go. I want readers to recognize that there is an underlying reason underneath every action. And when they do, I hope that they'll start asking themselves: Why is this happening? Can I trust this NPC or RO? What is everyone’s game and how does the MC fulfill or fit into the bigger picture. If I had to put it in one sentence: Evil Dead meets the tired as hell Lemony Snicket protagonist.

My second project is still being developed, I haven’t gotten a title for it yet, nor do I have a definitive plan of action. With that being said, I've decided that its going to be a re-telling of the Trojan War. I want to explore the Greek myths surrounding the myth and add a bit of funkiness into it. What I have so far is that you will be able to play a character from either the Spartan side or the Trojan side and follow the events of the war from opposing sides. I don't want it to be TOO heavy hearted but I doubt it'll stay that way, cause war is a bitch and too many atrocities were committed on both sides. But I'm gonna mute those as much as I can. I hope.

Q2. What inspired you to start writing your current project(s)? Why in Interactive Fiction?

I love horror, honestly, I’ve probably been a horror nut since I was 17. So when I was thinking about creating fiction, I wanted my first experiment to be in IF. It offers so much flexibility, and I think you, as a reader, can fully immerse yourself into the work. Reading horror novels is cool, but sometimes it's hard to put yourself into the shoes of the protagonist. Whether it's because of social identity or cultural differences. So, I wanted to create something where people could relate, or see themselves inside of the story. I think that really amplifies the fear factor when you immediately think, "God, that could be me."

For the second IF, it's a shorter reason. I'm actually an Ancient Mediterranean major, so my whole college career was based upon reading Greek myths and tales. My favorite was Medea  but slowly but surely I grew a love for the Iliad. (It really took a while for that to happen…). But I wanted to write an "what-if fic?" For this story. What if circumstances were different? What if you could save Achilles and Patrocilies? What if you could save Hector? I really want to explore those options within this IF! But my thought process can change, and I could want to look at it from a different lens,  either way I hope it's gonna be dope.

Q3. What is the most rewarding part of creating for you? The most challenging?

The most rewarding part would have to be seeing how much of an impact your work can have on people. There really is such a gratifying feeling from seeing someone say, "Your characterization is so detailed, I can totally relate to XYZ!" or "God, this passage hit me right in the heart! It moved me to tears!". When you get messages like that, I feel like you were able to reach out and connect to someone, despite the miles of distance between you two.

Now, the most challenging part would have to be the writer's block. Those things are UGLY and they really come from nowhere! You could be on a role, and then all of a sudden BOOM, blocked from creative juice.

Q4. Does your heritage have a lot of influence in your work? How?

Hmmm, that’s a good question, and I’d have to say no and yes. I know that’s a little bit of a cop-out, but I say that because my heritage is truly embedded in almost EVERYTHING that I do. Whether it comes from the jargon or slang that I use or the old slave folktales that may seep into the stories that I tell. With that being said, I try my hardest to exclude some parts of my heritage. To be specific, I try to avoid writing anything that is embedded in black trauma or as my friends call it trauma porn. In case anyone is asking what ‘s ‘trauma porn’ or black trauma. It’s typically any form of media or consumable information that is emphasized around the pain and suffering of either a POC or the black community experience. For example, whenever we see black films or black horror there’s always some form of old-school Jim Crowe cruelty that’s the underlying plot. Now, I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be there, because if you can execute it well, then execute it. But how many films do we have to watch that are essentially reiterations of the previous one? How many times do we as black consumers have to be retold the same story with the same antagonist, and the same message? It can be so grating because I feel like anything that’s involved with Black culture and horror it MUST deal with slavery. Like there are so many other themes, folktales, and other topics that can be utilized. So, I’ve tried to avoid leaking that into anything that I write. And if it does somehow show up? I try to dial it down or remove it altogether, some people can’t handle it, and I try to go by a case-by-case basis. But just to be clear, it is important for us to talk about these issues, such as Jim Crowe and discrimination, because unfortunately, we are still dealing with redlining and other issues. But do we as black consumers need to have another ‘12 years a slave’, or ‘Them’ every year?

Q5. What is something you would like to see more of in IF works and in the community?

I think I'd like to see more inclusion and diversity in IF works. However, if they aren't executed well, I feel that it can be a huge problem. So, maybe more resources for non-POC who are trying to write POC? Although the blog writing with color gives you pretty much ALL the resources you would need.

Q6. Describe something that you love about your work or are excited about sharing in your story.

Hmm, I'm honestly excited about almost everything! The plot is something that I’m working with every day, and it changes or grows little by little. I'm excited to see how it's going to look a year from now! An aspect or I should say character, that I am most excited about sharing is the Magdalene’s lore, because who doesn’t love a good tragic backstory ? Her involvement in how MC gets trapped within the game impacts the plot in a major way and I'm interested to see how many people gravitate towards her or hate her, in the end!

Q7. Any advice to give to your fellow writers?

Keep going guys, you got this! You all have wonderful and amazing stories to be told, and we all can't wait to read them.

[imthepunchlord]

I've been going through your posts about your (infinitely better than cannon) version of the Chinese Miracle Box and all of the Miraculous in it, and I have a question:

You've said that the Ladybug, Black Cat, and the Bee (if I'm remembering off the top of my head correctly) don't fit in the Chinese Miracle Box as they don't really have much to do with Chinese Mythology. What animals would you replace them with, and what powers would you give them?

Cat actually fits, it was almost included in the Chinese Zodiac, but wasn't because of the Rat either tricked/lied to about when the race is or got shoved into the river by it. The only issue with Cat is that they're doing the unlucky black cat (which is very recent view in history) but in China, they're associated with protection and guardianship and would be trusted to ward away evil spirts. But some leeway can be given as you can still associate the Cat Miraculous with protection and warding away evil/danger.

The ones that don't fit are really just Ladybug, Peafowl, and Bee.

Ladybug, in terms of cultural significance, is largely just European exclusive. Everywhere I looked up I just found European related views, myths, and mention. The only thing Ladybug has going for it for the Chinese box is that it's red, which is a color of fortune. But to me, that's not a good enough reason to be there, especially as one of the two most powerful meant to represent yin-yang.

Peafowl technically can be there, but it's not so big in China. The quail, pheasant, and rooster have more of a presence there than the peafowl. It's more of an Indian favored bird, and has more presence in Europe through Hera/Juno and Christianity's view of it (associated with being "all seeing" and a symbol of eternity). In China, it is a symbol of dignity and show of authority/higher status, and it's one of the birds that makes up the body of the Fenghaung (having a peacock's tail). Of the 3 it's not too bad, but that depends on how much you want the animal to fit as the most weight to it is in India.

Bee, the most I've seen in presence Egypt, India, and Greece. With Egypt, it was thought that bees were born from the tears of Ra. India, they're associated with the goddess, Bhrami, who won against a demon by becoming a swarm of bees. And in Greece, they were thought to escort the spirits of those who passed to the next life, hence the existence of beehive tombs, and were associated with Apollo. And there's a nymph named Melissa (which means bee or honey) who hid away baby Zeus from his father and took care of him. But in Chinese culture, I've found they were used for medicine, and associated with earth as they were yellow; but not much else. Bee would probably be better amongst a European set or with a Greek or Italian specific set.

These are the 3 that don't entirely really click well with a Chinese box. And to replace them is tricky as one of them holds the slot for the yin-yang based miraculous and is supposed to be the most powerful. And to replace it, well, that depends on what one would want to do for the two most powerful. Iconic yin-yang duo is Dragon and Tiger, but those are apart of the Zodiac. And then there's the wonder of do you keep Cat there or have it be the unofficial 13th member of the Zodiac? Or should Cat be moved to one of the 5?

Either way, for the sake of this, alternative animals that can click with the Chinese Box, with no assigned spots:

Bat (white bat is lucky)

Bear (bear worship in ancient China + iconic panda)

Carp (legend of the carp becoming a dragon, associated with good luck and success)

Crane (symbol of longevity, immortality, and peace, 2nd most favored bird after Fenghaung)

Crow/Raven (the 3 legged crow who drags the sun behind it)

Deer (symbol of longevity and prosperity)

Duck/Waterfowl (symbol of affection and love)

Frog/Toad (Money Toad, associated with the moon)

Lion (iconic protector with guardian lions and the lion dance)

Mantis (a symbol of martial arts, inspired mantis style)

These could fit better into the Chinese Box. I don't entirely know where they'd go as that could mean a lot of rearranging or debating who could fit into the 2 open slots of Wu Xing and who could be 1 half of the yin-yang duo; but these would've fit in more naturally.

[systlin]

Since there's so much drama and just yuckiness in tiktok witch (I can't remember the name) and drama in witchblr, any advice on a place someone can go to find resources and chat/get advice

The answer to this is complicated, as most things are. There’s no one place, and you should never attach too much weight to any particular person. If you fall into the habit of taking one person as the be all end all Authority On Everything, you leave yourself vunerable to exploitation and bullshit. 

Yes, including me. I implore all of you to not hold me up as the One And Only Authority on things. Do not hang all of your own path and practice on me. I am happy to help to guide if asked, but I do not have answers for everything, and you ought to seek out opinions other than mine in all things. 

You need to be able to seek out these opinions, spot the ones that are closeminded or exploitative or hateful, go “Well fuck that” and discard them. 

You need to be able to take ‘no’ for an answer. As in, if a closed practice says “No, not for you,” you need to be able to take that respectfully and not react with self-centered entitlement. 

The commonality that most witches and pagans I trust is this; they have read widely of books on many subjects relating to witchcraft and religion, not just their own but many. They have read the worst Silver Ravenwolf and also obscure academic works looking at the historical cultures from which they draw. They have read the Bible as well as the Quran as well as the Eddas as well as Greek myth as well as Gerald Gardner’s work as well as the works of anthropologists studying the archeological leavings of those who came before us. They understand then the context in which modern paganism and their path exists. 

They have sought out knowledge themselves rather than only getting it in approved doses from another. 

The people I chat with/get advice from must past a simple test; do not look down on or hate others for things they cannot control. They cannot be racist, or deinigrate those unilke them. And they cannot insist that all must follow their way, and that All Others Are Doing It Wrong. They cannot insist that some cannot practice because of physical issues beyond their control. 

If a person passes this simple test then I may chat with, bounce ideas off, ask advice from, ect. 

The vast majority of the questionable content on both Witchblr and Witchtok, from what I’ve seen, stems mainly from people with a very very narrow view of things who have not read widely and sought out opinions from a wide variety of people. They tend to be self centered, entitled, and to not like to be told ‘no’. They assume their way is the only way, and become upset when other people do not conform to what they think is the Right Way to practice. 

So my answer is this; speak with many practitioners and cultivate friendships with thoughtful people who have done a lot of self-introspection and wide study. Quality over quantity, always. 

[scarpool-gmk]

6 Part 2

Title: Godly Marine: Killed Author: Scarpool Fandom(s): NCIS, Percy Jackson & the Olympians Pairing(s): Gen Rating: PG/K+ Summary: Chapter 6 Part 2 (8/13) — Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale, Marine Corps Mechanic and Son of Athena, was murdered. Annabeth Chase is determined to find out who did it and why. She, along with Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, and Clarisse La Rue, infiltrate NCIS where they team up with NCIS Agents Leroy Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, and Ziva David. Complete Genre: Fanfiction, Mystery, Drama, Humour, General, Action Warnings:  N/A

-Κλαρίς-

Clarisse had to hold in laughing as she saw Annabeth's eyes bulge in fascination as Gibbs used the iris scanner. With a hiss and a clunk!, the doors unlocked. He heaved the door open. "Welcome to MTAC, agents."

"Wow," Annabeth whispered as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Sweet secret base you guys got going on," Clarisse praised.

"Thanks!" McGee beamed like he was the one getting complimented. "It's decked out with some great technology sensors. It's completely separate in terms of technology, components, and connection from the rest of the building. Best monitors, state-of-the-art firewall, and the-"

"You guys do any movie nights in here?" Clarisse cut in.

"I-well no. I mean, uh, maybe? I wouldn't know anything about that," McGee spluttered.

Clarisse smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."

"McGee," Gibbs said, saving his agent, "Connect us up with the Staff Sergeant's C.O."

McGee hurried to do as he was told, working with a row of tech. Clarisse wouldn't want to get too close to any of those. Could probably get the entire monster population of the East Coast fixated on their position with those many wires. Annie, Prissy, and Goat boy wouldn't appreciate it. Would make one heck of a battle story, though.

Gibbs, Annabeth, and Clarisse stood in front of the huge screen.

"Morning, agents," the commander said when he flashed on the screen.

"Nice to meet you, Commander," Annabeth said.

"I would rather have not, Special Agent Lima, Gibbs. I take it you still haven't found out who took out my mechanic."

"No, Commander," Gibbs said, "And it seems your mechanic was into a case of his own."

"What do you mean?"

"We believe he was following leads that might uncover cartel movement in D.C.," Annabeth explained.

"Can you tell us anything about anything the Staff Sergeant was involved in?" Gibbs asked, "Any ops that he was assigned?"

"No, sir. This is the first I'm hearing of this. He was designated to go on tour; we were called in to head into NAMRU-6."

"Peru?" Gibbs questioned.

"It was going to be smooth sailing," the commander affirmed. "A secret mission…He was one hell of a mechanic, and even then…"

"Commander?" Annabeth pushed.

"He was too smart for his own good. He wasn't going to be a simple Staff Sergeant for long. In fact, I'm surprised he held out for this long. His excellent, strategic mind and fighting skill, especially in close combat, had placed him in the fast lane for promotion. He may have wanted to be a simple mechanic, and I know he declined several offers, but as good as he was, he gained the attention of those who could force him into positions."

Clarisse frowned. Sounds like Michael had been way too noticeable. She didn't even think that the Navy and Marine corps would inspect mechanics that thorough. How did they test his strategy making?

"Sounds like he was a special case," Clarisse said, "Did he get any flak from his crewmates because of it?"

"Not really, ma'am. He wasn't exactly a social person to begin with."

"He never got into any disputes with anyone?" Clarisse asked.

"Only one, but I've learned to keep them apart."

"Reason?" Gibbs asked.

"Uh, they just didn't see eye-to-eye."

Clarisse almost snorted. Translation: he had no clue. What kind of Officer in Charge was this guy?

"Who's the soldier?" Annabeth asked.

"First Lieutenant Adrian Rodriguez."

"He antagonize a lot of people?" Gibbs asked.

"No, sir. He's actually very well-liked. It was very strange that he turned confrontational with Kahale. Same with Sergeant Kahale."

"And you have no idea as to why this was." Gibbs didn't phrase it like a question. At least they were all on the same page.

The C.O. on the big screen shrugged. "Those are two of the sea's finest. Rodriguez is soon to become Major. They don't have so much as an excuse to hang around each other anyway."

This time, Clarisse didn't bother hiding a sound of disbelief.

"Where is he?" Gibbs asked at the same time as Annabeth said, "Tell us about him."

Clarisse stepped back so the two could glare at each other better.

"He's a skilled Marksman," Commander Oblivious replied, "knows a lot about on-the-spot- field medic stuff…sings pretty good, too." Clarisse shared a glance with Annabeth. That sounded familiar. Annabeth would probably say that it was a textbook definition. Nerd.

"But he has not left the ship," the commander continued, "he's been on board the entire time."

"Then call him over," Gibbs said, "Maybe we can help solve what his problem with Michael Kahale was."

"You can't think-"

"The more we know about our victim, the better we can predict his movements and motives," Annabeth consoled.

The commander ceded the point and nodded at some staff who promptly left the room, presumably to find the First Lieutenant. He turned his attention back to the NCIS agents.

Gibbs continued on questioning him. "Did Staff Sergeant Kahale ever mention an Annabeth Chase?"

The man on the screen frowned. "The name rings a bell; give me a sec." He shuffled some papers around. "Oh! Yes, as one of the emergency contacts. Right there under his father. Annabeth Chase, relation as his sister."

Annabeth showed nothing. Instead, asking, "What is the contact information?"

"A phone number with a New York area code."

"Read aloud the number, please."

The commander read out the numbers as Annabeth instructed. Clarisse immediately recognized it as the mainline to the Big House.

"It's a different number than the one he called," Annabeth said.

"McGee," Gibbs called, giving silent instructions.

"Already on it," McGee said, "Number is to a farm, Delphi Strawberry Service. Located in Long Island."

Clarisse mentally cursed and tried not to self-consciously fidget at the glare Gibbs gave Annabeth.

"But he never spoke about his family. Or friends. Or life. Again, not the most social guy."

There was movement in the back, as the staff member came back with a soldier, who promptly stood at attention.

"First Lieutenant Rodriguez, meet NCIS Agents Gibbs, Lima, and…"

"La Rue," Clarisse supplied.

"First Lieutenant," Gibbs greeted.

"Sir!"

"At rest, First Lieutenant," Annabeth said.

Gibbs started the questions as Rodrigues shifted his stance. "What's your relationship with Staff Sergeant Michael Kahale?"

The soldier frowned, confused. "He was a mechanic assigned to this vessel, sir."

"We're told that you were uncharacteristically disruptive around him."

"Yes, but I haven't been in confrontation with him, as per C.O. orders. If he's said-"

"First Lieutenant Rodriguez," The C.O. cut him off, "Sergeant Kahale was shot two nights ago."

"Shot?" Rodriguez said in shock, "But… we're home…"

"We know that you've been on board the entire time," Annabeth said, "We just need to know more about who Michael Kahale was."

"I-I understand, Ma'am."

"What made you dislike the Kahale, First Lieutenant?" Clarisse asked him.

"It's not that I disliked him, ma'am. Kahale was actually a good guy. Introverted, sure. But he was a good soldier, amazing smart, and easy to talk with. But I…" He faltered. "I don't know. For some reason, the friendly conversations always turned into some sort of fight? Like a challenge I couldn't lose to? I guess?"

"Don't sound sure of yourself," Annabeth noted.

"I can't explain it. Every time, it just led to a fight over any stupid, little thing. I honestly don't know why. I don't expect any of you to understand."

Clarisse heard Gibbs sigh tiredly and mumble, "Oh, I understand perfectly."

"Can you give us some examples of what you fought over?" Annabeth asked.

"They were stupid, ma'am. Like over the name of a future vessel. He thought it should be named USS Zeus. I said it to be USS Jupiter. We also fought over his position. Kahale was a good Marine but could've been even better. But he kept at being a non-commission mechanic because he had an issue with the control of our Superior Officers. I know he even declined a promotion to Warrant Officer. He disliked how strict military life was and preferred the more laxed nature of the machinists. He believed that individuality and improvisation held more value in the field than the collective skill of the group and rigid structure. He did not trust others with making decisions for him and disliked giving orders himself. But I know several of my brothers who have similar opinions, and I've never fought them over it."

Annabeth nodded, humming softly and deep in that brain of hers.

"Did he ever mention some sort of mission?" Gibbs asked.

Rodriguez blinked. "No. Nothing ever like that."

"Mexican Cartels? Arms dealing?" Gibbs fished.

"What? No!"

'Freaking Hades,' Clarisse thought, 'I hope this information isn't supposed to be kept low profile.'

"What about mythologies?"

The First Lieutenant stiffened. He was definitely a demigod. Clarisse would have to see if Chiron knew an Adrian Rodriguez.

"What do you mean?" Rodriguez tried playing off.

"Gods, Roman myths, Greek heroes, monsters, that sort of stuff."

"No."

"Then that's all we need from you, for now, First Lieutenant," Gibbs said, taking a glance at Annabeth.

"Catch who did this to my mechanic, Agents," the Commanding Officer said before the connection cut off.

Gibbs didn't waste any time.

"What am I missing here?"

Annabeth lifted an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Some random mechanic gets murdered hours away from his assigned vessel because he was uncovering an entire operation that was way out of his league. His dying words were to some girl whom he listed as an emergency contact with a Long Island number. Suddenly, I've got NCIS agents from a Long Island branch I've never heard of. This case has brought too many outside factors, and I have the feeling my team is out of the loop on specific information that can make this case more manageable."

"We know as much as you do," Clarisse retorted, "And missing information comes with the job. This is a mystery. We investigate and find the answers, complications and all."

Gibbs considered her for a moment before relenting and leading them back out of the heavily secured room. "Fine. I'm going to head to the bar. McGee, get DiNozzo to call the Strawberry Farm. I also want the personal files of First Lieutenant Rodriguez and his C.O. Ziva! Gear up." He looked around at the rest of the agents expectedly.

"Er, trying to squeeze out info of Cartel movement in the area," DiNozzo said, "Not much luck."

"Talked to Abby," Ziva picked up next, "Her professors were able to translate some more of the notes. This Doughnut place is apparently definitely arms dealing with the Reynosa Cartel. Sinaloa involvement is suspected. Middle East connection is pure speculation. Michael also noted that he believed he was found out because he smelled."

DiNozzo made to comment but was silenced by a look from Gibbs.

"I'm still IDing all of Mr. Tarsibo's victims," Grover said.

"And customers," Gibbs added.

"…And customers…"

"No mention of Monster Donut on the web," Percy reported, Annabeth's laptop in hand, "Making sure that if anyone finds it, we'll be the first ones to know."

Gibbs nodded and then headed towards the elevator with Ziva in tow. Clarisse admired the way his silent command to get back to work hung in the air. Except for one problem.

Clarisse was back in the bullpen. She hated it.

-Ζήβα-

Ziva was debriefed about the meeting with the commander on the way to the Drowsy Owl.

"If the Staff Sergeant was being seen by superior officers and the Commanding Officer didn't know anything," Ziva said, "Perhaps our Staff Sergeant was granted a mission."

But why give such an advanced and dangerous mission to a mere mechanic?

"Michael Kahale had been in service for five years," Ziva said, answering her own question. "They had given him training- maybe advanced secret in-training. Kept him officially as a mechanic, using it as a cover."

"But why send him on a case that without providing him resources?" Gibbs asked.

Hm. True. Michael Kahale had lacked money, cover, and backup. The time limit was horrendously short; what he uncovered in such a short amount of time was astonishing. If he hadn't ended up dead, she would have thought that it was a controlled mission.

"You said that First Lieutenant Adrian Rodriguez responded to the mention of mythological connection. Is it possible that whatever mission the Staff Sergeant was on, was not external but internal? An internal audit? But if Rodriguez was his target, he would have responded to the reference of cartel involvement."

"What if the Cartel wasn't initially apart of this operation?" Ziva thought back to her previous line of thought. "What if Rodriguez was involved? As Michael's partner. The First Lieutenant is thought of highly as well."

"Don't get caught up on theories," Gibbs warned.

"Maybe I should just follow my gut," Ziva teased.

"It's always worked for me," Gibbs said.

"What does it say now?" Ziva asked. She looked at him when he did not answer.

"It tells me that the Long Island Agents know something that they aren't sharing."

Ziva frowned but said nothing.

They came up to the store. "See if anyone has seen Tarsibo," Gibbs said.

"Not many people to ask," Ziva grumbled.

Reshaun Sachs was beginning to blindly invite them to choose a place to sit until he looked up from pouring a pint of bitter. "Let me guess," he said, "Navy cops."

Ziva and Gibbs flashed their Identification.

"This about the young Marine or something else?"

"Same one," Gibbs said.

"Didn't realize you had such big teams."

"Neither did I."

Ziva sent Gibbs a look and decided to change the topic, unfolding the blown-up photo of Tarsibo.

"Do you recognize this man?"

"Sorry. No."

"He seems to be a customer of yours," Ziva pushed, "He may have been here during the past week."

The bartender frowned, "If he passed those doors, I would remember. Especially from this week." Ziva nodded. She didn't find him to be lying. There were other ways waste from this place could have gotten to the car rental.

"Do you mind if I talk to your customers?" Ziva asked

Sachs shrugged. "You can, but all of these guys are regulars that just come for their lunch break."

Ziva assumed as much. She left Gibbs to converse with the man.

Sachs was surprised that they had found traces of his business as far away as East Maryland. Like Gibbs, Ziva was getting her own list of negative answers.

She walked around the bar, trying to envision it on a full night with businessmen, college students, and Mrs. Kahale with her entourage. It was an open area, which meant open conversations that could be the center of attention or hidden by those that took that position. The only place that was really hidden was the way to the restrooms, which had its own hidden hallway that led to a back exit. That was where Ziva excused herself to answer her buzzing phone.

"What is it, Tony?"

"Get into any bar fights, yet?" Tony used as a greeting.

"It is still a bit early, but it has happened before."

"Well, don't go too hard on them. People who go this early are there to drown something."

Ziva thought of the three businessmen in the bar hunching over their drinks. He was too right. "As I'm sure you know, Tony."

"I'm not that old," he said.

"You are what? Forty?"

"No!"

"Mmm, but I'm close. How many years am I off?"

"…Two. I'm still young, just have a few years of experience."

Ziva hummed. She didn't tell him that she had more years until she hit thirty.

"Well, I'm sure you didn't call me just for this."

"No, I'm here to update you so you can update Gibbs."

"Why not call him instead?"

"Figured he'd be doing some unofficial interrogation. And I would never break that rule."

"Well, what do you have."

Tony sighed, "Pretty much nothing. Got in connection with the Director of the Strawberry Service, a Mr. Dee. Took forever to get a final answer. 'I have a faint recollection of an Annie Bell.'" Tony droned in imitation, "'Yes, the girl is quite a trouble seeker, although she is one of the brighter ones I have had to deal with. Says a lot about them. However, she left. I don't expect her to be back for a while.' That was fifteen minutes into the conversation. He ends with an 'I grow tired of your pitiable blather.' And just hangs up."

Ziva snickers. "Doesn't sound like a reliable witness."

Ziva could imagine Tony shrugging in the squadroom, "It's what I got."

"Alright. Thanks." Ziva hung up the phone and accidentally stumbled when she bumped into something. Or rather someone "Oh, sorry I-" Ziva stopped as she got a look at who she almost toppled. It was a young man who had just come out of the lavatory. He was of an average built, a bit on the shorter side with a head full of blonde hair. He was in some sort of customer service uniform, a nametag still latched on. But Ziva only gave it an unconscious look over. No, she was more captivated by his eyes. They were a sickly green, and the iris seemed alive, swirling like snakes in a pit. And were those scales on his cheekbones?

"Agent?"

She blinked, and all those features were gone. Snake filled eyes replaced with light hazel ones. No scales either.

"I'm sorry," She told the man who had snapped her out of her stupor. Just what was that? "For bumping into you," she specified.

He smiled at her, "No problem."

She watched him leave her, heading for the back exit. How did he know she was an Agent? Was her badge showing? No… Who was he? She searched her brain for the answers. Wait. She had seen his nametag before getting distracted by his face. (She shivered at the recollection. Was it something she ate?) Then it hit her; the nametag had a cheesy 'Hi, I'm Tommy' in Comic Sans Font. It also had a logo of a one-eyed monster munching on a doughnut.

"Monster Donuts," Ziva breathed out in realization. The back door slammed shut. "Hey!" Ziva shouted, "Wait!" She ran toward the door. Before she exited, she remembered that the store was arms dealing, and anyone connected to it should be handled as armed and dangerous. Pulling out her firearm and quickly collecting herself, she slammed her way out and was met with… no one?

Ziva surveyed the area, circling in a three-sixty. There was no one there. How could he have gone that fast? He was only out of her sight for a few seconds.

Gibbs was not going to be happy with her.

After making sure to uncover any possible hiding places, she went back inside empty-handed.

Gibbs frowned at her as she entered. Ziva trusted him to connect the dots and directed her words at Sachs.

"You didn't say you had someone in your restroom."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Gibbs change his stance, a mixture of weariness and drive to get the truth. However, the bartender seemed utterly confused. "There was? Oh, I had completely forgotten…"

Ziva shared a small look with Gibbs. Sachs seemed muddled all of a sudden. Strange and convincing. Ziva hadn't thought this man to be a good actor.

Ziva described him, more for Gibbs's benefit than Sachs's. "Yes, about this tall, blonde, green eyes, wearing a Monster Donut uniform."

Sachs's face lit up in realization. "Yes! He was one of the guys that the woman hangs out with, the one that the other agents knew, a Mrs. Kahale." His eyebrows scrunched together. "I can't believe I forgot about him coming in…"

Ziva shared another look with Gibbs. Either this man was telling the truth, or he was the best actor Ziva had encountered. Gibbs, although not outwardly changing his calm demeanor, seemed as dubious as she was.

"If he or anyone else from Monster Donuts come in," she said, "Please call us."

"They are connected with this Marko Tarsibo guy? What have they done?"

"A number of things," Ziva said.

The man gave an inquiring stare. Ziva expected that how dangerous they were could affect his business if he let continued to let them be customers at all.

"They are connected to arms dealing, Ziva said. "Also, have a connection to the death of multiple murders, including children."

"They've killed kids?" The statement seemed to call Sachs back from his confounded state. "You said that this guy was a part of this and that he was a car dealer, right?"

The agents nodded.

"The kids, were they middle-school-age? Older girl with Asian features?"

Ziva scrambled for her phone, bringing out the profiles of the most recent child victims. She shoved the phone in the man's face. "Are these them?"

"Yeah, I know them. They had come in, ordered some soda, burgers, and fries. They looked pretty street-savvy, I kept my eye on them to make sure no one slipped them anything or took an order for them. I got something about how they were headed for the Carolinas, I guess they needed a ride. That woman, Mrs. Kahale, spoke with them for a bit. I didn't hear what was said, but if they needed a ride and she knew this dealer, she could've gave them to him."

The NCIS agents didn't give him time to finish as they rushed out the door.

-Περσεύς-

Percy would never get an office job. He thought being a Federal Agent would have been so exciting. Sitting on a desk doing the same thing over and over again was killing him. He kept getting distracted by the happenings outside. (Hey, those windows were huge. Not his fault the outside world was more entertaining.) He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty every time Grover would snap him out of his daydreaming. He was supposed to be helping make official profiles of each victim, so that a) the families could be notified, b) Dr. 'Ducky' could analyze and create a deeper understanding of General Botsaris and his victims, and c) so that Annabeth could report back to Chiron, and they could contact the families of the demigods.

Percy did have to admit that Tony's conversation with Mr. D was quite funny. Although, he was only able to hear one side of the conversation.

'No, not Annie Bell. Annabeth.'

'No, I am not here for strawberries.'

'Yes, wine sounds wonderful, but-'

'So, did she work there or not? What do you mean, who? Annabeth Chase!'

And it just continued. Percy had cracked up as the agent repeatedly smacked his head on his hand while talking to the exasperating god. If only he knew how it felt to deal with Mr. D on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.

Unfortunately, that was what felt like an hour ago. McGee had sent a file to Tony a while later and was on his way to escape to 'help Abby run prints.'

"I'll be using the system," McGee told Grover and Percy, "Hopefully, it won't slow down too much."

"It shouldn't be a problem." Annabeth walked in, looking a bit disgruntled after her talk with Chiron. "Although we are using the same system, it's coding and routes have changed, meaning it can still use the data and have access to an ever-updating network while not really using the same path and program you'll be using."

Percy would have totally zoned out from that explanation if it wasn't for Grover nudging him to make another profile.

McGee made a face. "You can do that?"

"Not really. It's the computer."

"What are the specs?" McGee leaned in to check Daedalus' laptop's design. "What's the brand? I don't recognize it."

"It's experimental."

"Huh, well I'm going to-"

"Not so fast, probie," Tony called.

Percy looked up. Tony had better not been calling for him. He eased up when it was apparent he was talking to McGee.

"Rodriguez also uses disposable, pre-paid phones," Tony said, "But he makes regular family calls. If we searched his family's phone records, we would find a record of regular calls coming in but from different numbers? Wouldn't that be the case if Michael did the same?"

"But we already checked the Kahale's phone records, Tony," McGee said.

"No. We only checked Patricia Kahale's, and she said she didn't even know Michael even joined the Marines. Daddy, however, had a better relationship."

"And when Percy and I spoke with him," Annabeth said, "He gave me the impression that he knew about Michael joining."

"McGee, pop up the man's phone calls," Tony said.

McGee shared his screen on the plasma. Window screens flashed on and off as McGee used keyboard shortcuts lightning quick, even using long sequences of code that Percy didn't know could be memorized.

"Okay, filtering for numbers that are no longer in service."

"Wow, that's a long list," Percy said. They weren't going to have to go through some sort of procedure on each one, were they?

"He is a lawyer," Grover said, "He must get tons of scam and calls from one-time numbers."

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth said.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter," Percy asked. Was Annabeth okay? How bad was the call with Chiron?

"I mean, I've found what we're looking for." She pointed to a six-minute call starting 12:52 A.M. yesterday morning. That was right before the approximate time of death.

"It's not the same number the Staff Sergeant used," Tony said.

"A spare phone," Clarisse said, "He uses one phone call on a pre-paid, dumps it, and then uses the second to make another call."

A demigod technique. Annabeth and Chiron told him of it when he went outside of camp. The only time it was safe to keep a phone after making a call on it was in or right by camp. Otherwise, it was a traveling beacon for monsters.

"The father made the call," Tony said, "McGee, can you find the location where the burner picked up?"

McGee clicked a couple of times. "Washington, D.C."

"Alright," Tony said. "I'll call Gibbs, and we'll pick him up."

"Sweet, let's go," Percy said.

"Wait, Percy," Grover said with big eyes, effectively killing Percy's hope. "I still need your help with this."

"It's fine. We got this," Tony said, him and McGee rushing toward the elevator.

Percy watched them as they disappeared with a ding. Great, the three people that were the least qualified for desk jobs were the ones left at the desks. At least they had Grover to stop them from accidentally blowing up the place and being labeled as domestic terrorists, yet the way the satyr was inhaling those paper clips didn't bode well.

The phone at Tony's desk started to ring. The four of them stared at it for a second. "Should we get Tony back?" Percy asked.

"Ugh," Clarisse rolled her eyes. What? What did he say? Gods, she was just so annoying. 'And rude,' he added as he watched her get up and answer the cop's phone, but he already knew that.

"Yeah," Clarisse greeted. She was silent for the ten seconds as the caller spoke. Percy wasn't even surprised as the daughter of Ares slammed the phone back down without another word.

"They found Botsaris's car," Clarisse said.

'That at least deserved a 'Thank You,' was Percy's immediate thought.

Annabeth jumped up. "Let's go."

Finally! "Did you get the address?" Percy asked, excited to get out.

"Duh."

Grover looked around as all of them got ready to head out. "Um, should we tell-"

"No!" Clarisse and Annabeth both said, or growled in one case.

Grover held his hands up in surrender. "Okay."

Percy made sure everything he needed was on him and swept the desk clear of a small pile of broken pen clips. When had those gotten there?

"Let's kick some butt!" Clarisse grinned. Percy couldn't agree more.

Previous Chapter Chapter List Next Chapter

[bidaubadeadieu]

sorry for the long post, but fwiw most of it is quotes of other writers

So I’m just gonna have some quick opinions. Just read these two contrasting pieces about contemporary antiracism training, particularly focussed on the work of Robin DiAngelo:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/magazine/white-fragility-robin-diangelo.html?referringSource=articleShare

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/antiracism-training-white-fragility-robin-diangelo-ibram-kendi.html

There is a lot of background info here that I don’t think is very controversial, i.e. racism exists, even (or especially) among well-intentioned white liberals, and most people want to do something about it but don’t know what. Sure. Also, definitely big undercurrents of “who is allowed to have opinions we respect on race” where the discomfort among white people around trusting other white people on race issues is palpable. Nobody really goes out and directly says “should anybody care what a white woman has to say about race, or should we only be reading books on race written by BIPOC?” but I think that’s where one heart of the debate lies. In general, I like the Times piece better, the intelligencer piece runs a bit too close to “horseshoe theory” and “enlightened centrism” by claiming that the predominant figures of contemporary racism (including not only DiAngelo, but also scholars like Ibram Kendi) are actually reinforcing racism. Not so sure about that.

But I’m actually more interested in discussing another different facet of the interplay between these two articles, because it relates to my work. I’ll excerpt two portions:

Running slightly beneath or openly on the surface of DiAngelo’s and Singleton’s teaching is a set of related ideas about the essence and elements of white culture. For DiAngelo, the elements include the “ideology of individualism,” which insists that meritocracy is mostly real, that hard work and talent will be justly rewarded... [a different educator said] another “hallmark” is “scientific, linear thinking. Cause and effect.”... [but then a critic said] “The city has tens of millions invested in A.P. for All, so my team can give kids access to A.P. classes and help them prepare for A.P. exams that will help them get college degrees, and we’re all supposed to think that writing and data are white values? How do all these people not see how inconsistent this is?”

And then:

Glenn Singleton, president of Courageous Conversation, a racial-sensitivity training firm, tells Bergner that valuing ��written communication over other forms” is “a hallmark of whiteness,” as is “scientific, linear thinking. Cause and effect.”This is not some idiosyncratic oddball notion. The African-American History Museum has a page on whiteness, which summarizes the ideas that the racism trainers have brought into relatively wide circulation... These values are not neutral at all. Hard work, rational thought, and careful planning are virtues. White racists traditionally project the opposite of these traits onto Black people and present them as immutable flaws. Jane Coaston, who has reported extensively on the white-nationalist movement, summarizes it, “The idea that white people are just good at things, or are better inherently, more clean, harder working, more likely to be on time, etc.”

I just want to assert a defense of the the idea that rationality, individuality, and punctuality are elements of white culture, but critically, that they are not inherently virtues. Here’s where I think the author of the Intelligencer piece has bought into a myth, that science really is the privileged way of uncovering objective truths about the natural world, that hard work should be rewarded. These ideas are rooted in capitalism, and can easily be contested, for example:

The assumption that there was a single scientific method was reflected in the work of Comte, who asserted that there was a hierarchy of knowledge in which ‘science’ was the pinnacle. Consequently, Comte argued that even sociology could be a positive science modelled after physics —an ambition that sociology has long since abandoned, but one to which economics clings. Implicit in this belief is the proposition that the generalisations in physics are somehow more basic than those of the other sciences and certainly more basic than in the social disciplines, and that somehow everything can be reduced ultimately to physical generalisations. Reductionism in the spirit of Greek atomism lies at the heart of this assertion. This reductionism, this reification, this scientism, is, however, inconsistent with the wide range of real scientific practices and theories that are not reducible to physics. This inconsistency suggests that changes in belief and terminology are required. ... Similarly, from the Enlightenment, we have inherited a cultural image of the scientist as a hero overcoming ignorance and bringing reality under control. The effect is to privilege particular types of inquiry, particular social practices and their associated stories over other forms of inquiry. It is not so much that one should necessarily object to the use of a general term such as ‘science’ to encompass the wide range of systematic inquiries carried out into the character of the physical and social worlds; rather, it is that ‘science’ now carries too many misleading entailments, implying a privilege and a unity of method that cannot be sustained.

(The Cult of the Market: Economic Fundamentalism and its Discontents, Bolderman, 2007)

All this is to say an existence proof: there exists a framework which acknowledges the value that white culture places on individuality and rationality, while simultaneously acknowledging that those values contain both benefits and harms, to elements both within and without white culture. This framework acknowledges the societal loss that comes from rejecting forms like social philosophy, indigenous and customary legal systems, collective ownership of property, polychronic cultures’ perceptions of time, etc. We must, of course, still adequately prepare BIPOC children in schools for the values of the dominate white culture which will determine their quality of life, not eschew those values until they turn 18 and then throw them to the wolves of white supremacy, but we could also do better to acknowledge the ways that these values are in no way universal or guaranteed.

[shizen-hime]

Hello!! I saw your post about free readings! I was born on the 6th of January 2001, in Dublin, Ireland at 2:32 pm. Thank you in advance if you get around to seeing this 💖💞💞💗💘💓

Okay so this is your chart~ As always I’m sorry for my English and note that I’m still learning (so if you have any type of feedback or criticism I’d be happy to hear!).

Oh, a wise Capri person~ Hmm, definitely a weird chart. It’s like in some parts you have an intense development and in others you’re like “stuck”.Starting from your Asc. Gemini rules Mercury, and yours is in Capri too (8th house), making a trine with Saturn in the 12th house.. hmm so I think you’re.. rather introvert, or at least you think too much in what you say and what you don’t and you put a lot of guilt to yourself for any mistake you make (specially talking). Capris are like super wise, very stable and correct but that’s only because they put a lot of responsibility to themselves (and if behaving wrong, on others). You just have to do things right, and that’s cool but also tiring. We actually live in a Capri society if you think about. It makes you think that if you earn it, you’ll be on top but in this path we forget to see other stuff, other people, etc. All Capris (and you will be having a Node return this August) are having a lot of transformation these years (2018-2022 aprox), so don’t try to resist to them! If you gotta change, you gotta change. Also, Capris are highly spiritual if they work on it, so (well you guys can do anything you want you just have to want to lol).

Well let’s talk about what matters lol. So your Sun and Mercury (your Asc planet) are in Capri. They’re both in the 8th house, so I bet you’re totally up to growing mentally in thinking about life and death, in searching what’s beyond everything. You’re probably never satisfied in what’s on the surface, you want to know it all. Super analytical and you’ll definitely work veeeery good in anything that requires communication or just using your mind. Stuff related to astrology, Tarot, magic things and such would be fantastic for you. Your MC is in Aqua and very Uranian so I think you’d be more up to in working in something very original and like.. transgressor¿? like, something that would blow someone’s mind. Something that’s mental too. IDK actually lol.So we can see your Sun is in opposition to your North Node (and now it’s returning to this place this August), so you’re probably these last year(s) thinking like.. WAIT I also think you have it in the same grades as the eclipses (was there an eclipse in January 5/6th? because if so, this will be more intense and crucial for you). So yeah, all Capris/Cancer are like having this thing between “what’s correct, work, authorities, what you gotta do (Capri)” and “past, roots, your family, loving more, showing up your failures (Cancer)” and I bet you’re feeling like this too. You actually were born with this Nodes position. Lunar Nodes are something like “what you’ve come to do in this life and what you bring from past ones”. It’s like you were (and are) someone who’s veeery Capri, someone who feels they have to do things right or you’re a total failure, very earth like but you kind of can’t end to.. hmm.. enjoy it? I feel like it’s something like this. Your Saturn is in Taurus (2nd house ruler, where your North Node is). You have your South Node (past) very in you, since it’s with your Sun. And your life will be always kind of telling you or making you feel unhappy if you don’t try to chase your North Node. You’re still super young tho xD. But Your NN is telling you to.. enjoy your life a bit more? In the 2nd house it tells you to not desire for social power, to not abuse of yourself and others, to enjoy your life, enjoy with your money, with food, with the earth (Ireland is like the perfect place to do this lol -I loved it when I visited it!-), to be stable, peaceful, not aggressive and to achieve things by yourself. Being it in Cancer, it also tells you to try to open up your feelings a bit more, to show up your flaws (yeah I know Capris definitely don’t like that lmao), to love your family, etc.I think you’re like in this moment of your life that you’re like waking up and telling yourself “what’s to be successful, what’s to be a good person”, etc. And as I mentioned, society will tell you to be a Capri, it will tell you to be the best (since your IC is in Leo your family kind of could increment this? like you’re proud of it or they can make you feel like you have to be the best, that person who stands out? here I’m interpreting stuff for myself so idk).

OOF we’ve only talked about your Capri stuff (but definitely important, at least this year). Also on December there’s this crazy Pluto/Saturn conjunction in Capri and you have Mercury there so definitely changes and changeeessss. All Capris are a bit crazy and lost these days hahaha.Okay, let’s talk about other stuff. Your Moon is in a conjunction with Jupiter (but in 12th). You’re definitely a super wise person (tho you’re 18 just now) you’re bringing a lot of knowledge from other lives or something. Very spiritual but you have to work on it. I mean, you’re blessed with this Jupiter/Moon. People LOVE you, you’re very trustable and you give the best advices (plus this Saturn/Mercury and your Capri Sun oF COURSE I’D GIVE MY LIFE TO YOU TO PROTECT MEeee). You may feel (here it’s kind of important to know if you’re a male or a female) you have like secret enemies (which can totally be yourself or your family -kinda makes me feel like your family but it could be anyone-) that kind of can put sticks in your wheels and success can be a bit difficult to achieve (but anyways you don’t know what difficult means lmao). It’s making a square (difficult, hard aspect but NOT bad if you work on it) with your Venus in Pisces, that’s like it’s best place! Super comfy place.This Venus is exalted there and Jupiter kind of can exalt it more (although they seem like enemies). Emotional, mystic you like to help others psychological, poetic. Again, it’s like life is telling you to choose between being emotional, showing up your feelings or be more empowered and cold. BUT I tell you: why not both? It’s like you can feel your feelings are being unappreciated. But that’s probably because you’re not showing them properly. I think you may feel your mom doesn’t support you (and it could be your enemy if you don’t do things right). You’re kinda  rebel here, like you don’t wanna follow the rules, you wanna be original in what you do in your life, and I think you may feel this is wrong or this is too difficult too. You’re very lost, probably right now that you’re 18 since you might not know what you wanna do as a career, since as we said you feel it has to be original, transgressor, destacable¿?. You also feel like you can’t trust others (which I tell you to go and follow what your heart tells you). I think you’re feeling you have to make decisions and you’re too perfect to be wrong in what you choose. I tell you: it’s ok to be wrong, it’s ok to study a medical career and then discover that what you liked to do was actually opening up a coffee shop, for example xD.I see a lot of potential in this chart, but also a lot of contradictions (which are basically the same since it means you have a lot of energies coming from everywhere). The only thing you kind of lack is Fire, but I don’t think that’s a problem, since you already have a lot of cardinal energy. I actually think you’ll never be impulsive or not think about stuff before acting. So the thing about life is to try to use all this energy you got to work together, to make something. I see a lot of love in what you will end up doing as a career, and that’s important. As I said you may feel you’re making others unhappy with your decisions, but that’s okay. Just try to show up you love everyone the same and be thankful for all the things they’ve given to you and everyone will understand you just need to be happy, as everyone else.Pluto from 6 to your MC might tell you’ll make a total change in your career at some point, and that’s ok! I definitely see a lot of potential to study stuff like astrology and help others with it tbh. Neptune (and Venus) in your MC/10th house says you might want to work in something artistic-like or something that helps people, to makes you a generous person.

You definitely still have a lot to think, have a lot to live. Oh my, we’re forgetting this Mars in Scorpioooooooooooo which is also important since Mars is ruled by Scoprio (and Aries) SO you’ll put a lot of effort in making YOUR life better and in putting in service of others too. Remember the NN that told you to enjoy life for you too! The point of fortune (which is something that doesn’t exist, is like maths stuff that makes a point) is right there so you’ll have a lot of luck in that BUT it’s squaring Neptune and your Liliths so I think you kind of could “surrender” at some point to vicious stuff (like drugs, alcohol, sex, idk stuff that will make you want to disconnect a bit). So be aware with that (tho I can tell how responsible you are so). But yeah, if worked this could be an incentive on wanting to be more artistic or feeling a need to put your service in others. You definitely like mystery stuff and deep and magic things that’s why you’re interested in astrology. Sharp mind as we said, very deep (you definitely love long talkings about stuff we don’t understand). I see a lot of possibilities of an herence or a legacy too at some point of your life (which will probably shock with your idea of wanting to earn stuff by your own, your NN). Also I bet you have to bit your tongue sometimes since this Mars might make you wanna insult some people at some point lol.

AND LET’S END WITH THIS POOR CHIROOON (I always recommend to search about Chiron’s Greek myth since it’s basically it’s energy). You definitely think people hurt you. When you see and know others deeply you might feel they’re not enough? Or you feel others don’t love you enough or that you don’t deserve love from them? It’s a hard aspect for marriage, which can bring you unhappiness at some point (tho you’d give the best advices for marriages lol).

Hmm so yeah, I think that’d be all. Feel free to tell me anything about it!

[sisterofiris]

The Layperson’s Guide to Online Research

The Internet is full of badly researched and sometimes straight-up wrong information. Who would’ve guessed? From reinterpretations of ancient sources being taken at face value by history enthusiasts (like that infamous pre-patriarchal Persephone post) to well-intentioned but ahistorical writing spreading misinformation among modern polytheists (like the myth of Hestia abdicating in favour of Dionysos), it’s often hard to know what is trustworthy information and what is not. Unfortunately, this makes things difficult when you, a non-academic, want to research a topic.

My biggest recommendation will always be to turn to a local university library (often there are even lectures and conferences you can attend without being a student) or to subscribe to a digital library like JStor. On the other hand, I completely understand that for various reasons, not everyone can access these resources. This is why I’m here to help.

In this post, I will outline the steps you should take to check whether an online source is trustworthy and up-to-date. I will mainly focus on researching ancient history, but bear in mind that you can use the same (or similar) steps to research many different topics.

The vetting process below may seem like a lot to take in, but it all boils down to five questions:

where does this come from?

who is the author?

what are their sources?

when did they write this?

who else wrote about this?

Step One: Where does this come from?

The first thing you need to do is check the website where the information comes from. Trustworthy signs to look for are a .edu or .org web address, a university logo, or the description of the website as a professional resource. Very, very often, websites with flashy or sparkly designs are made by amateurs and are not trustworthy. Any web page that doesn’t tell you who wrote it or why is not trustworthy.

When you’re looking at books and articles uploaded online (such as Google Books), make sure they were published professionally by a publishing house or peer-reviewed journal. Mainstream news articles range from accurate (BBC) to completely unreliable (Daily Mail), but since even the best of them can be sensationalistic, I recommend digging further.

Another very important thing to look out for is ideology. Is the website devoted to a certain issue, like proving the Ancient Greeks were black, the Sumerians were contacted by aliens, or the Hittites worshipped a pre-patriarchal Mother Goddess? Congratulations, this information is biased. Some of it may be correct, but you should check steps two to five very carefully before believing it.

Generally, you should look for websites that are focused on your topic, not websites that use your topic to prove a point.

Here are two examples to illustrate the difference:

Not trustworthy: this page about Persephone as an archetype. The website focuses on the Enneagram, not on Greek mythology, and the web design is amateurish. Even though the page mentions mythology, its purpose is to establish Persephone’s personality type, not to discuss her role as a deity in Ancient Greece.

Trustworthy: this page about Ancient Egyptian women and religion. The website looks far more professional, and by clicking on the logo in the top left, you will get to the organisation’s page, The Stoa Consortium. On the right, there is an “About” section which explains that the website was set up by a Professor of Classics and is funded by various universities, as well as by the US Department of Education.

However, determining whether or not a website is any good is not always so easy. Theoi.com, for example, is an independent resource with no academic support, but it’s very well put together and reliable. Meanwhile, Academia.edu is a platform for scholars, but less reputable people can easily slip through and post their “translations” of haiku in Linear A. Experts can have informal blogs, and non-experts can write professional-looking news articles. It’s hard to know which ones of them to trust.

This is where Step Two comes in handy.

Step Two: Who is the author?

A trustworthy source will always identify its author. Some pages (like my own blog’s “About” section) will only tell you the person’s credentials, often for privacy reasons. This is a good start, but you should try to find out more - particularly whether this person actually is what they claim to be. (In my case, it’s fairly easy to tell, since I’ve posted pictures from university projects (x, x) and my identity can be deduced from various links and tidbits I’ve shared - but please be skeptical about what I say as well! Just because I’m an ancient civilisations student doesn’t mean I’m always right!)

Once you know who the author is, you need to check whether they are not only educated, but educated in the subject. This means a university degree (preferably a masters, and even more preferably a PhD) or other proof of expertise in the subject (like an experienced weaver sharing their perspective on ancient tapestries). Whatever the person’s qualifications, they need to be serious (i.e. not “one time in college I took a class on Greek mythology”) and directly related to the subject.

Here are some examples:

Not trustworthy: that pre-patriarchal Persephone post. Its author is a layperson who fell into the same trap I’m trying to prevent: they read a few web pages and decided they were the truth. Luckily, they seem to have somewhat learnt from their mistake.

Usually trustworthy, but not in this case: Gerda Lerner writing about the Hittites. While Gerda Lerner was very learned in women’s studies, she was not a Hittitologist - nor particularly familiar with ancient civilisations in general - and she did not have the nuanced understanding necessary to discuss women in the context of Hittite society.

Trustworthy and non-academic: Janet Stephens’ hairstyle reconstructions. Janet Stephens is not an archeologist, but she is a very experienced hairdresser. This makes her qualified to reconstruct and reproduce ancient hairstyles. (Note that this does NOT make her qualified to discuss, say, the religious implications of hair-binding in Ancient Greece. It makes her qualified to do what she does: style hair.)

Trustworthy and academic: Paul Schubert’s blog (in French) about Ancient Greece in the modern world. His “About” page has a link to his university page, which contains his biography and credentials. He writes about his expert subject, and stays well within its boundaries.

Step Three: What are their sources?

Next, you need to determine where they get their information from. For ancient history, the number one, most important source is ancient texts. Anything that cites ancient texts with their reference (Homer, Iliad, XΧII 389-390) is automatically more trustworthy than anything that doesn’t. If you want to research in-depth, I would recommend looking up these references to get an idea of what they say (Theoi.com and Perseus both have free text databases).

References to modern texts (especially books and articles) are good, but the author shouldn’t only cite these. This turns research into a game of broken telephone - so-and-so told me that so-and-so said that Plato wrote... What’s more, you need to make sure these sources are also trustworthy. Just because a page provide links doesn’t mean they’re relevant or well-researched - if so, then rickrolling would be the peak of academia.

Lastly, I shouldn’t need to say this, but information without sources is not information. That’s like me telling you I’m secretly the princess of Liechtenstein. It might be true, but you can’t know for sure without proof.

Again, some examples:

Not trustworthy: this quote by Plato and this one supposedly from a cuneiform tablet. Neither has a clear reference, nor context: the first is just attributed to Plato’s Symposium, and the second’s author varies from Naram-Sin to a Chaldean king to Cicero. (What’s more, both have strongly ahistorical content. Plato would never have written about “Greek mythology”, and the Mesopotamians had no concept of a “book”.)

Could be trustworthy, but you should check: Medievalpoc’s sources on Ancient Egyptian transatlantic voyages. Yes, a variety of links are provided, but are they any good? A few clicks will show that they lead to the Daily Mail, a paper written by two ideologically-motivated Mormons, and a bunch of articles about ancient people building boats (which nobody doubts, but which doesn’t prove they could sail across the Atlantic).

Trustworthy: Hittite Prayers to the Sun-God by Daniel Schwemer. This is a fully cited article with ancient sources.

Step Four: When did they write this?

The next important step is to find out when this information was written. This is because research is constantly evolving, and older interpretations may no longer be considered valid. This obviously includes views with underlying racism, sexism and homophobia, but it also applies to less obvious things, like the fact that the Sumerian word zag is now read za₃.

Unfortunately, for copyright reasons, most information available online for free is a bit outdated. You should still aim for more recent publications if you can, and definitely avoid anything that’s fifty years old or more. The only exception is for translations of ancient texts, which stay pretty much the same apart from a few spots where their translators’ biases come through - and the exception to the exception is texts in Mesopotamian languages, in which case you should really, really try to find a translation that’s younger than fifty years.

Academic podcasts, blogs and newsletters come in very handy here, because they offer insights on modern research while often being written in accessible language.

Yet more examples:

Not trustworthy: Martin Nilsson’s The Mycenaean Origin of Greek Mythology (1932). Though Martin Nilsson was a great scholar, modern research has evolved since this book was published (in 1932 in Germany - a context you can definitely sense while reading). What’s more, it was written before Mycenaean Greek was even deciphered.

Trustworthy: Eric Cline’s 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (2015). Not only is the writing easily accessible to non-experts, this book is up-to-date and written by someone at the forefront of research in Late Bronze Age societies.

Step Five: Who else wrote about this?

This last step is basically fact-checking. Your author may have the best of credentials, they may have written their article on the most respectable of websites, but their theory could still be rejected by the majority of their peers. Look up the book or article’s title followed by “review”, which will hopefully generate other experts’ opinions on the matter - or just keep browsing different websites.

This step is not the most important and can often be skipped - you don’t need to fact-check every word you read. But if you want to research something in-depth, if a claim seems iffy, or if any of the above steps gave mixed results, you should always look for outside input. And no, you won’t always get definite answers on whether something is true. Such is our knowledge about history. But it will give you a more rounded understanding of the topic, and that’s always valuable.

A final note

If you’re not sure whether something is trustworthy, please don’t hesitate to ask! Historians and history students are your friends, and we want you to have accurate information. There’s a lot of us on Tumblr and elsewhere who are happy to help out with that. We can’t be there for everyone 24/7, but we’ll gladly point you in the direction you need!

[ashcroftadventures]

Of Authorities, Investigations, and Owls

Hello Dear Readers,

I know it has been a little while since my previous entry, my apologies for being out of contact the past couple of days! It has been a strange, bizarre journey these past 48 hours. I have been engulfed in a little bit of an investigation, and while I cannot give as much detail as I would like, I promise that I will tell you everything that I can.

An individual that one might say is a… friend of family has been in a tough spot. Some authorities believe that he was responsible for a number of sordid, unsavory actions. Somehow, a few friends and I have found ourselves playing private investigator, looking into the events that have been attributed to this family friend, and trying to find out the truth. Sometimes it is difficult to put trust in authority figures, no matter how much they say they are doing what is best for you or believe they are right. Sometimes, you need to take matters into your own hands. Now don’t get me wrong, my lawyer would throw a fit if I were advocating vigilantism, which I am NOT doing! I’m merely saying that trust in authorities are often well meant, but misplaced.

A cursory investigation by myself and five other like-minded individuals has us tripping and stumbling our way through strange familial cults, and landing on our backsides in front of myth and legend. I can’t help but feel that from this point on, I will be on a rather unique tour through the dark history of our city, making pit stops at each oddity along the way!

And so our investigation began humbly. After a short-lived shopping spree (a girl needs her reprieves!) where one of my “friends” talked about some… difficult topics that she has experienced recently, we found ourselves in a small lecture hall at the university, listening to the speech and presentation by those very authority figures we’ve come to doubt so very much. While the content of the meeting itself was unimportant to our actual intentions, someone there played a pretty nasty trick on me. He’s got this… personality, this outlook and optimism where you just want to be his friend and tell him things that maybe he shouldn’t know. Well, I guess I’m a sucker for a man in a suit, because he got me talking all about this little investigation of ours before I had even realized I had done it. I’m worried I’ve spoiled our participation in this in some way by giving up too much information so quickly, but my god, those eyes…

Anyway. The good news is that we found what we think is a lead into this whole mystery of ours, a girl that we initially thought was only tangentially related. Sounds like she is actually the perpetrator. In fact, we heard her confess to the crimes! Now if only we can get her to spill the beans in front of those authority figures, I think we should be all set.

Last big update for this week, one of our acquaintances is apparently going to be leading us on a tour of local catacombs here in London! I can’t overstate how excited I am. Apparently, we are supposed to be meeting up with a few people who are bigshots in the occult community, but it’s all been very hush-hush. Looks like I’ll have a whole new update for you soon!

Now, the part you’ve all been waiting for, the Oddity of the Week! This week’s topic is:

The Strix

The story of the Strix originated in Greek mythology, where they are described as large-headed birds with transfixing, powerful eyes and large, sharp claws. It wasn’t until later that they were associated with owls, as they are considered now. The first ever mention of them in Greek mythology was in the myth of Polyphonte, who, with her two boorish sons Agrios and Oreios, committed the greatest sin, cannibalism. They would attack travelers, strip them of their belongings, then roast them over a slow fire and devour them whole. As punishment, the god Hermes broke their bodies and transformed them into various birds. Polyphonte was reformed into an owl, signifying war and the ruination of humankind. Her two sons were transformed into an eagle and a vulture, representing ill omens and foul acts upon creation.

The next mention of Strix in the literature was in Latin texts, where poor cooking was described as Striges, or “vampiric birds” that would eat the intestines of those that ate the food. In this way, the Strix were a metaphor for what eating unhealthy food would do to the system, rotting a person from the inside out. The myth even persisted into the middle ages, where texts describe a Peri Stryggon, a spirit known to take the corporeal form of the living and dead alike.

In modern days, the Strix are much of a forgotten legend, but some owl species are still referred to as Strix in many parts of the world. Owls have always exuded a strange fear when it came to the interaction between society and the animal kingdom. Some contemporary rumors talk about dark shadows, whispers in empty places, and owls watching you out of the corner of your eye that aren’t there when you turn to look at them. Could the Strix be here among us, watching and waiting? But waiting for what?

And that’s it for this week, dear readers! Next week, we discuss the absolutely bone-chilling Catacombs of Paris, which is the resting place of millions of spirits. Don’t forget, sleep well, and travel safe until we speak again.

[anguianobrodan90]

How Space Can Save A Relationship Awesome Ideas

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How To Stop The Pain Of Divorce

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Dua To Stop Divorce

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[deanssweetheart23]

How come there are certain fic ideas that get written to death? Like the reader being jealous of Dean at the bar and eventually they reveal feelings. Or Dean hides his feelings because he's a hunter and doesn't think he deserves love. Ugh. I wish there were more original ideas out there.

Dearnonnie, I have no idea whether this is a genuine question of yours or justsomething implicitly pointed towards my own writing (since I have a fic very similarto jealous!reader and this just came in after I posted the announcement on mynew mini-series which includes “Dean hides his feelings because he’s a hunter anddoesn’t think he deserves love”) but in any case, I am thankful for your politeness and very happy youasked me this question because I’m majoring in English language and literatureand spent a whole semester studying theory and criticism of lit, so I feel likethis is something I can answer.

My (very long) answer is just belowthe cut..

“We say that every poet has his own peculiarformation of images. But when so many poets use so many of the same images,surely there are much bigger critical problems involved than biographical ones.As Mr. Auden’s brilliant essay The Enchafèd Flood shows, an important symbollike the sea cannot remain within the poetry of Shelley or Keats or Coleridge :it is bound to expand over many poets into an archetypal symbol of literature.And if the genre has a historical origin, why does the genre of drama emergefrom medieval religion in a way so strikingly similar to the way it emergedfrom Greek religion centuries before? This is a problem of structure ratherthan origin, and suggests that there may be archetypes of genres as well as ofimages.

…

An archetype should be not only a unifyingcategory of criticism, but itself a part of a total form, and it leads us atonce to the question of what sort of total form criticism can see inliterature. Our survey of critical techniques has taken us as far as literaryhistory. Total literary history moves from the primitive to the sophisticated,and here we glimpse the possibility of seeing literature as a compilation of arelatively restricted and simple group of formulas that can be studied inprimitive culture. If so, then the search for archetypes is a kind of literaryanthropology, concerned with the way that literature is informed bypre-literary categories such as ritual, myth and folk tale. We next realizethat the relation between these categories and literature is by no means purelyone of descent, as we find them reappearing in the greatest classics- in factthere seems to be a general tendency on the part of great classics to revertthem. This coincides with a feeling that we have all had: that the study ofmediocre works of art, however energetic, obstinately remains a random andperipheral form of critical experience, whereas the profound masterpiece seemsto draw us to a point at which we can see an enormous number of convergingpatterns of significance. Here we begin to wonder if we cannot see literature,not only as complicating itself in time, but as spread out in conceptual spacefrom some unseen center.

…

The myth is the central informing power thatgives archetypal significance to the ritual and archetypal narrative to theoracle. Hence the myth is the archetype, through it might be convenient to saymyth only when referring to narrative, and archetype when speaking ofsignificance. In the solar cycle of the day, the seasonal cycle of the year,and the organic cycle of human life, there is a single pattern of significance,out of which myth constructs a central narrative around a figure who is partlythe sun, partly vegetative fertility and partly a god or archetypal human being.”

These arepassages from Northrop Frye’s essay “The Archetypes of Literature” and the gistis that there are archetypes of stories that every single poet (or writer) followssince they are developed based on patterns of human behavior, the psychologicalanalysis of the human soul and on cultural, political and social influences.

All thegreat stories in time are based on archetypes.

Take Great Expectation by Dickens and The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald as anexample. These two works of fiction are considered to be two of the greatestliterary works ever made –and, according to me, they are, but they are bothbased upon the same archetype: A young, intelligent or talented boy withambitions falls in love with a mysterious, rather rich girl, and, influenced bypowerful, wealthy figures (Mrs. Havisham and Jason Gatsby) set out to becomerich and powerful.

The fact bothof these works play upon that archetype doesn’t take away their literary value.And there are so many more stories that follow their own archetypes (in ancientGreek tragedies, for instance, the heroes of the tragedy were always saved towardsthe end of the play by a god. It was a convention of that time, but trust me,ancient Greek tragedies are still frigging awesome because of all thesociopolitical, religious and economical information we can get out of them)

But. Archetypescan also be found within the works of the same author. Another example? Jane Austen.Four of her novels actually revolve around the same theme (which is now knownas the “myth of Jane Austen”); “All fournovels are about young women who fall in love, but eventually reject, theCharming but Worthless lover and finally marry a man whom they esteem andadmire rather than love passionately” (From Gorer’s essay “The Myth in JaneAusten”)

Does thefact she used a myth in her writing take away the fact she’s an awesome writerthat has influenced so many others –and played a part in feministic writing?No, I don’t personally think so.

Now, let’smove this within the Supernatural fanfiction world.

Here,instead of archetypes, we got tropes that writers use because they love writingthem (like jealous reader or jealous Dean). It’s not just that they’re fun towrite though. Again, these are based on patterns of human behavior and the psychologicalanalysis of the human soul since it is generally accepted that if someone flirtswith the person you got feelings for you will be upset (though the revealedfeelings part is just really amazing to write).

And when itcomes to Dean not believing that he deserves to be loved and thus, notadmitting his feelings for someone, I don’t think that’s trope per se. Deanreally doesn’t believe he deserves to be loved. Dean really doesn’t stay withthe ones he loves because he thinks he doesn’t deserve them and knows it willnever work out because he’s a hunter and because he wants to protect them (seeCassie, Lisa, J, Ben etc.). So, I think that if someone wants to write an accurateDean fic, that should be included asan essential part of his character (or if avoided, should include anexplanation as to why).

Andbesides. We all write stories based on SPN, where the characters and theirtraits, pet peeves, characteristics etc. are specific. It is only natural thatsomethings get written more than others. The most important thing is not that,but whether the way you write itmakes it special. It’s the way we tell the story that matters more than the storyitself. (Someone could have an amazing idea about a story but if the storytelling is not good, not many people will appreciate it).

Do I want toread more original ideas though? Yes. And I applaud everyone who comes up withthem and puts them perfectly into words (here, let me suggest Wake up, Sammyand Unwell by @hannahindie Escape by @impala-dreamer and As It Seems by @imagining-supernatural as four of the most original things I’ve ever readhere).

But thepoint is, those stories that get written to death? They matter, too. Because weall put our hearts and souls into our works and that should be enough.

I hope this answers your question, dear anon. Ifnot, you can always send me another ask, I’m always open to discussion.

[pomegranates-and-blood]

νοσταλγία (Chapter 14)

νοσταλγία  Masterlist

Pairing: Ivar/Reader

Summary: This is a retelling/romantization of the Greek myth of Persephone’s abduction with Ivar as Hades and you as Persephone. The Reader character is a Byzantine woman, follower of the Greek Pantheon/Religion, and a devoted follower of Persephone. This takes place after 5A, but the universe of this is a little changed in relation with the series, of course. Thank you for giving it a chance, hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: The usual, tho I should add mentions of polygyny

A/N: Hi!! Hope you like this chapter, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this!! Thank you so much for reading <3

Taglist: @youbloodymadgenius @heavenly1927 @toe-vind-ek-jou @xbellaxcarolinax @pieces-by-me @angelofthorr

You catch up to Ivar near the main hall, waiting for him outside the room Prince Hvitserk told you he’d be in with your hands crossed behind your back.

He eyes you with suspicion when he sees you, but still approaches and starts walking at your side.

“You are not here to apologize.”

Why would I? You want to retort, but instead you just shake your head.

“No, but…” You shrug, “I have trusted my mother more than anyone on this world, I will trust she knew what she was doing. I’ll choose to believe maybe the Goddess she worships has a reason for this to happen.”

“So you have accepted it, you will not fight anymore.” He states, and you raise your eyebrows in response.

“If you expect to see me defeated, King Ivar, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

“I would never want that.” He replies easily, squaring his shoulders as he returns his gaze ahead, and something tells you he is telling the truth. You do not know what to do with that knowledge.

“What do you want, then?” You ask boldly, surprising even yourself, “You get nothing out of marrying me. You are a smart man; you know you might lose power by making me your wife.”

“Why?”

He knows the answer, he knows. You have an inkling he is testing to see if you do, with how much certainty you can speak of power and its intricacies.

“You could marry a woman with…land here, a princess or an heir.” You explain, but Ivar just shrugs.

“I could still do that, I could find a second wife.”

You stop dead in your tracks at the realization that he could, and sensing you stop walking Ivar turns to you, eyebrows raised and the beginning of a mocking smile on his lips.

But to a child born in the cult of Persephone, promises of unloyalty are not something to be simply accepted. You were told that the Goddess you dedicated your life to was loyal and true to her husband even if she was a victim of him; you saw many new couples at your temple there to bless them with faithfulness and prosperity. You refuse the humiliation of sharing the one you are bound with before the Gods themselves.

So you walk the few steps that separate you, back straight and posture that of a woman with a confidence you do not truly have. What you do have, though, is arrogance, is pride, is relentlessness.

No man has made your nature change before, and certainly no King can, no matter how cruel.

You tilt your head and look into his eyes, unwavering.

“A Hiereia of Despoina does not take lightly to marriage. Your people may do things differently, but my people don’t, my Gods don’t,” Your heart remembers your homeland, your mother’s smiles as your father passed by and left a gentle caress on her face, her empty eyes as she waited for weeks for the ships that never returned, the love that years after their deaths all the way in Laconia -even with the bitterness of having lost their heir to Sparta to an Athenian- your family spoke of how blessed were they to have each other as husband and wife. The bitterness and grief make your resolve falter for a moment, but you still continue, “Before your Gods and my own I will promise loyalty to you, I will promise faithfulness. I ask-…no, I demand the same in return.”

“You demand.” He repeats, clearly a mock, a bait that you choose not to bite this time.

You nod.

“Which brings me back to my question, Viking,” You lift your eyebrows, “What is it you want?”

“I want many things,” He replies vaguely, shrugging before turning eyes like Greek fire to your own. “But I demand nothing more than that.”

With a small sound of exertion, he turns his back to you and continues walking towards the main room of the longhouse, leaving you dumbfounded and partly impressed, leaving you with the realization you played exactly how he wanted you to.

It feels like those times you would run to cross the dangerous and wild stream near the temple, your hair wild and feet bare. It feels like the deafening noise of the current in your ears, the fear and excitement running through your veins, the possibility of failure or success.

You smile.

____

“Why am I not surprised?” Ivar starts from behind you, and you turn to him without removing your hands from your task.

“Because I am predictable.”

“Stubborn,” He corrects as he steps into your room, eyes on the small sapling you planted on a ceramic vase. “You know it will not grow here, it needs warmer and softer ground than ours.”

You nod before leaving the plant by the window, hoping it will absorb as much sunlight as it needs, as it can.

“I have to try.”

He remains silent for a few moments, before the rustling of him moving where he stands brings your gaze to him. The King extends a hand and motions with his head,

“Come with me.”

You frown, but still stand up and walk slowly to his side. Your eyes travel to his still extended hand, but you cannot bring yourself to take it, choosing instead to ask,

“What is it?”

He doesn’t reply, and his jaw clenches before his hand drops back to his side. Still, he insists with a gesture of his head that you follow him.

The paths through his home are familiar to you by now, and you follow blindly as you try scrubbing off the dirt from your hands. Selene’s chariot is high up in the skies, the people have already retired to their homes, the thralls are making quick work of the mess left behind after tonight’s dinner.

After crossing a doorway, you find yourself in a spacious room with only a hearth in the middle of it, and some chairs and lunges. Chairs where, expectantly, the sons of Ragnar sit.

Prince Hvitserk greets you with your name, and you smile faintly, and he smiles back as he states, “I’m surprised to see you.”

“Prince Hvi-…”

“What is she doing here, Ivar?” The older Prince interrupts, eyes burning on you with a distrust and a vitriol quite alike his brother’s but more contained.

And you know it is not a mere question. Years alongside mercenaries, alongside warriors and leaders, they let you know this is a public defiance, a test of both mettles.

The way Prince Ubbe speaks, with the same tone in his voice, the same carry of his loud words, that has made you fear before; it makes you stay frozen in the doorway for a moment too long.

The King only shrugs, walking ahead and taking a seat, absently using his crutch to move a chair at his side back so you can sit.

Before replying to his brother, he turns to you and motions for you to sit.

“She is my…advisor.”

His gesture may speak of nonchalance, but his words have that slight carry you have noticed before, the pride of authority and the will and strength to carry said authority.

But his brother still takes his words with a dismissive smile, shaking his head, “You take a Greek witch as an advisor?”

You bite your tongue to keep yourself from saying that better men have tried better insults, and that nor your blood or your gifts, and the titles they warrant, call for you to feel offended at their mention, even if he wills it so.

Instead, you grit your teeth and swallow your pride to keep silent as you take your gaze to the King, studying his façade as he lifts purposely falsely innocent eyebrows at his brother, his mouth curved in a small mocking smile.

“I never did things the normal way, did I?” Some silent conversation seems to flow between the two sons of Ragnar, and you catch Hvitserk’s eyes for a moment.

He smiles, an apology, a gesture that says you ought to get used to this; and you offer a small smile in return, one of the first honest ones you’ve given the Prince.

“Why?” Ubbe insists.

Stithulf’s disgust as you are caught in the tent where they discuss war, his demand for answers when he turns to the man that would be your husband, “What is the witch doing here?”

“She is to be my wife, I trust her advice.” Narses replies simply. It irks of too little when the Gods know you are the reason he won against the Saracens, but you are still grateful, because you have to be.

“She is a smart woman,” Ivar replies, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest, “I trust her judgement when it comes to Stithulf more than yours, brother.”

Before he can taunt his brother into throwing an axe to your face, you decide to intervene, voice low as you lean closer.

“Ivar…”

“Dublin is being hounded by Stithulf’s forces,” He explains without a second thought. He leans on the table before him, not turning to you as he speaks so you are left studying the way the light draws his profile, “We are leaving in two days.”

“We?”

“Hvitty will stay here with you.” He reassures, or attempts to at least, yet all he manages is to make you frown.

“Why are you going?” You hiss, and as he turns to you the King furrows his nose in annoyance, the beginning of a snarl starting to curl at his lip.

“Afraid the cripple can’t defend himself?”

“Stithulf couldn’t care less about Dublin. He wants your head, Viking.” You insist instead of replying to the obvious taunt. He opens his mouth to retort, clearly surprised by your revelation, but is interrupted before he can speak.

“Ivar, witch,” Ubbe calls out, startling you out of your conversation. He raises his eyebrows, “Share with the rest of us, will you?”

After a breath, you explain, “Stithulf is after the men that killed his King. He doesn’t care about cities, or land, or…fame. He wants the sons of Ragnar.”

“So you think he is trying to draw us out.”

I know so. You want to say, but you bite your tongue, you swallow your pride, your arrogance, even if you know that if you were a man they’d call it confidence.

“He reached my homeland searching for an edge over your armies, and found it in Arab and Greek forces. I doubt he will waste them destroying buildings, my Prince.” You answer with a nod, not missing the way Ivar’s eyes remain glued to you as you speak. It thrills you when it should make you want to crawl out of your own skin.

They continue talking to each other, discussing what they ought to do, how they are to approach the city. You doubt the reinforcements from Ivar’s army will hold the same element of surprise as they did the last time Stithulf readied his army near Dublin; and it seems they have the same idea for they don’t plan on being subtle about Kattegat’s navy supporting Dublin.

And as the moon travels through the skies, when you should be exhausted and ready to sleep; you are thrilled and beyond interested. The song of war, Athena’s boardgame, it all wraps around you like a familiar cloak.

So you soak in their talks about formations, about ways they can approach, you rejoice in listening to the way Dublin can be defended. With your elbows on the table and your head in your hands, you listen and observe, for once without fear of being told you are out of place.

____

And before you know it two days have passed. On the last night, when the ships are readied for the journey, the warriors celebrating their last night in Kattegat; you sit with Freydis and other women from the apothecary, exchanging laughs and stories as the feast goes on around you.

More than once during the night, your foolish heart makes your eyes roam the hall in search of the King, and you find yourself smiling like a fool at the sight of him drinking and laughing with his brothers, with his men.

The times where you look for him only to find him already with his eyes on you, those times make your foolish heart beat faster, but you will deny it if anyone asks.

You swirl the mead in your cup as you lay back on your chair, taking in the ongoing celebration and trying to remember the last time you felt this comfortable and safe and…

“You feel at home, witch.” Freydis states quietly, almost by your ear, interrupting your thoughts.

Wide eyes find hers, but she only smiles calmly, with that hint that she knows a secret you don’t.

Before you can ask her to kindly be a bit less cryptic for once, she looks at someone behind you, and a hand gently calling for your attention when it rests on your shoulder stops you.

You turn to meet the warm eyes of Prince Hvitserk, who offers you a silent greeting and a small smile.

“My brother calls for you.” He whispers, eyes on yours and the promise of what is to come written on them. You wonder how much of how you have come to become his brother’s wife is known to him.

Ivar stands before his throne and your heart lurches when you see another seat arranged besides it. You find his eyes, and he extends a hand.

“I will not sit there.” You hiss at him. He grits his teeth, the annoyance at how you are unwilling to follow even the simplest of commands clear in his expression.

“You will be at my side, get up here.”

Your eyes travel to his still extended hand, palm facing upwards, fingers open and vulnerable expecting the touch of your own. Rationally, you know there’s a feast going around you, you know there’s yells and songs and laughs, but you cannot hear anything but the ringing in your own ears.

You cannot see anything but his hand expecting the touch of your own, and his eyes searching yours.

And though you know it is the tug of the invisible binds set upon you what makes you take the steps necessary and hold his hand, the chains don’t feel as heavy as you thought they would.

Calloused but warm fingers close around your hand, and Ivar stands taller.

He calls for the attention of his people, and when the hall quietens and you feel all their eyes on the pair of you, it is you that grips tighter onto his hand on yours.

“My people,” He starts, proud and confident and infuriatingly performative, “Most of you already know of this fine woman I have at my side since our return from Dublin, Greek by birth but a daughter of one Sieghild Vorsdottir,” You hear the mumbled replies, the hushed whispers at the mention of your mother, and you narrow your eyes. Ivar continues, “You will all soon know her as your Queen, for when we return from Dublin again, she will be my wife, and Queen of Kattegat.”

You hold your head high as the Varangians lift their cups and horns and hands and voices in celebration and congratulations. Ivar thanks them with a smile and a gesture of his hand, and aside from a few men that approach to give their congratulations face to face, soon enough the aura of calm -or what calm has come to mean in these strange lands- returns to the room.

You eye the chair they set for you at the side of Ivar’s throne cautiously, but you will not lie to yourself and say it feels constricting to sit up there.

You make a point of letting go of the King’s hand as soon as you sit, though, and based on the way his jaw clenches and his head moves to the side in clear anger, you can tell he’s obviously noticed.

The feast lives on, and a few times -repeatedly, actually, which you will blame on the mead and ale- toasts arise to wish for the Gods’ favor on the incoming battles across the sea, to congratulate the King and his foreign bride, to celebrate the death that is to come and the death that might escape them.

It is all incredibly strange to you, painfully foreign. You have no choice but to remain at your seat, facing the loud and boastful warriors, listening to foreign tongues, trying to understand strange customs.

It makes you think of what Sieghild would make out of this. She always accused you of being too arrogant, too proud, too ambitious for a Greek woman. Boasted about it being her influence what taught you to stand straight and never bite your tongue.

What would she make out of her daughter being fated to become wife of one Ivar the Boneless?

“My mother,” You start, and almost startled the King turns to you. “You brought up her name twice now, as if she is…”

“Famous?” He supplies, beginning of a smirk in place, “She is.”

“Sieghild?”

“Women with hair and eyes like hers are not easily ignored. Doesn’t help she is taller and stronger than many men,” He shrugs, looking ahead, “King Rorik had to fight a bear to get her hand, or so the Danes say.

You have heard that name before, only once in your mother’s lips. It doesn’t cease to make disgust and hate churn at your stomach.

At your silence, Ivar insists,

“You know of him, don’t you? The only madman before my brother Bjorn to take sail to your Mediterranean.”

“He didn’t reach the Mediterranean,” You offer quietly, “His ships docked in a land colder than this one, many died because of cold or hunger. And though he and the warriors that were left founded Aldeigja, it is still a long way from the Mediterranean.”

“Did you ever meet him?” He asks, and your eyebrows raise in surprise. The King only shrugs, “You mentioned travelling a lot.”

You shake your head, “Sieghild…she was betrayed by him. She would never let him close to me.”

“But she told you of him.”

“To warn me of what men in power are capable of.”

“A woman made Anassa,” He retorts, the word still foreign on his lips but you find it oddly endearing that he tries speaking your tongue, using your titles, “wouldn’t have much to fear from men in power, now would she?”

You only raise your eyebrows in response, “You think I had any real power back in Greece?” Before he can answer, you shake your head with a chuckle, “Ivar, my own people didn’t take me as a leader until I died for them. Even that wasn’t enough, Anassa is only a title, it wouldn’t change their hearts. I am a woman that refuses to fight like a man to achieve my goals, I had no place being queen in their eyes.

He stays silent, one of his hands by his mouth and his eyes intent on yours, and you let your lip curl in anger as you lay your back once again on the backrest of your seat, looking ahead.

“Because of me and what I learned they managed to fend off the Saracen raiders, because of me and my blood Laconia came to their support with the finest warriors in the Mediterranean, because of me they had time to escape Eleusis when the Christians came,” You grit your teeth, and if it is bitterness and anger and hunger all that’s left within you once the veil of nostalgia is gone, then so be it. “And yet I had to prove myself more than any man, more than-…

More than Narses.

You stop yourself, stealing a glance at the Viking that still keeps unwavering interest in the words that leave your lips. You shake your head, and reach for the cup a thrall refilled a few moments ago.

“It doesn’t matter. Most of the free Attics are dead somewhere near Aneridge, the rest will perish when winter comes. It doesn’t matter.”

The King touches his own cup with yours, and you eye him carefully, wary of what the outburst might mean for you, but Ivar only smirks.

“If you say so.” He mocks, drinking from his own cup but with his expression still dripping mirth and skepticism.

You roll your eyes, and settling better in the undeserved seat, you let conversation between the two of you go somewhere else.

And so it does, because frustratingly enough the Viking will never cease to be fascinating to you, and no matter what the two of you talk about it always manages to fill you with curiosity and warmth.

The ruckus of the feast eventually dies down, although not that far from the time the sun will rise over the sea, and you shake off your drowsiness as you watch people take their leave from the main hall.

Ivar stands up from his throne and gestures the mock of a bow your way, mumbling his goodnight. You watch him leave, reminded of the ships that are to depart over the horizon soon.

So, stealing a glance at the few remaining people and guards around you, you stand up and follow.

____

A bit of a cliffhanger, ik, I’m sorry. If I continued the last scene till the end this chapter would be a 10k word beast, so cliffhanger it is.

Also yes Rorik (Rurik) as in Igor’s father, as in the King that sailed East and started the Rus dynasty is in my canon a Danish King and Sieghild’s former husband, whom she followed in that adventure to wherever-the-fuck. Then they parted ways, and she found herself in the Mediterranean. I will probably go in more detail about this in Sieghild’s PoV, which should be the spinoff chapter uploaded next Tuesday.

Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, I hope you don’t completely hate where the story goes after the Sieghild revelation and all that. But yeah, would love to hear back from you, thank you for reading, and have a nice day/night!!

[ajourneythroughtime]

“We don’t want to be unkind but we want to be factual. We don’t want to cause hurt feelings but we want to be academically correct in what we understand and know to be true.”

academic "relating to an academy," also "collegiate, scholarly," "belonging to the classical Academy in Athens." "theoretical, not practical, not leading to a decision" "rigidly conforming to academic style," https://www.etymonline.com/word/academic

collegiate "pertaining to or of the nature of a college," "member of a college or corporation," "community, society, guild" https://www.etymonline.com/word/collegiate

college "organized association of persons invested with certain powers and rights or engaged in some common duty or pursuit," "resident body of ecclesiastics supported by an endowment," "community, society, guild," "partner in office," "with, together" (see com-) + leg-, stem of legare "to choose," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather."     leg = Logos At first, any corporate group (the general sense is preserved in U.S. electoral college, the Vatican's college of cardinals, etc.) "incorporated and endowed institution of learning of the highest grade," and eventually "any degree-giving educational institution" https://www.etymonline.com/word/college

Degree-giving Circle - 360 Degrees 12 Signs 360 / 12 = 30 when saviors practice began

society "companionship, friendly association with others," "company" "fellowship, association, alliance, union, community," "group, club" "people bound by neighborhood and intercourse aware of living together in an ordered community" "fashionable people and their doings." The Society Islands were named 1769 by Cook on his third Pacific voyage in honor of the Royal Society, which financed his travels across the world to observe the transit of Venus. suffixed form of root *sekw- (1) "to follow." https://www.etymonline.com/word/society

“It serves to detach the species from the natural world and likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority. It reduces human responsibility to the effect that god controls everything and in turn awful crimes can be justified in the name of a divine pursuit. Most importantly, it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. It is the most powerful device ever created and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish.”

Here is the text written upon the One Ring:

One ring to rule them all,

... one ring to find them,

One ring to bring them all

... and in the darkness bind them.

... which is translated from the tongue of Mordor:

Ash nazg durbatulûk,

... ash nazg gimbatul,

Ash nazg thrakatulûk

... agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

The One Ring is a tool of power that, while offering a sort of power to it's bearer, ultimately enforces submission to it's maker.

Belief in the Coronavirus (ie. wearing the ring) provides one with a righteous perspective, affirmed by the 'consensus'. Wearing the Ring of the Coronavirus, you will win arguments about Coronavirus, implicitly - for all the World's Governments, and all the World's Press, and all the King's Men, will be on your side.

And since there are no longer any other topics to be discussed or debated (the Coronavirus having usurped all other narratives) the Coronal Ringbearer is lord and master of the entire intellectual domain.

Wearing the Ring of Coronavirus, you will have the power of Command.

You will be able to coerce others into moving here, standing there, wearing this, doing that.

Mostly though, you will only have the power to coerce others into doing what Sauron ultimately would prefer that they do.

Those that find themselves Ring-bearers come to love the Ring. It becomes a Treasure. Thought of it eventually fills the mind, leaving no room for anything else.

The only way to relieve oneself (and the world) of the Ring is to take it to the place it was made and destroy it (ie. one must reject it entirely).

circus in reference to the large, oblong, unroofed enclosures used for races, etc., in ancient Rome, from Latin circus "ring, circular line," which was applied by Romans to circular arenas for performances and contests and oval courses for racing (especially the Circus Maximus), from or cognate with Greek kirkos "a circle, a ring," perhaps from PIE *kikro-, reduplicated form of root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend." "traveling show" "buildings arranged in a ring," also "circular road." https://www.etymonline.com/word/circus

A Ring is 360 degrees .... in other words, a Ring is a Circle (or a Circus).

To be encircled by the Ring is to be surrounded by Evil - to be threatened from all sides, and constricted.

The Ring squeezes.

The word Corona means Crown. The Coronavirus is a Crown Virus. It is the Ruling Ring.

A disease has been named (ie. entitled) in such as way as to provide it a Divine Right to Rule.

The 'Coronavirus pandemic' is a Divine Rite of Rulership. It is a Ritual. A circular dance. A dancing plague.

Here is a Corona:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclipse_1999_4_NR.jpg

... which is the featured image from here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_corona

The word Corona means 'Crown', and the word as used in English (lingua franca of WestWorld) is mostly interpreted scientifically, and presumed to refer to the Corona of the Sun.

Here is another picture which is from this article:

Rare 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse to cast shadow over Africa and Asia

Can you see how the Corona of the Sun is a fiery band, a golden circle? A Golden Ring?

The Corona of the Sun is only visible during a Total Solar Eclipse.

We see in the film Apocalypto, how the Ruling Class make use of their knowledge of eclipses to convince the masses of their divine right to rule. The scary darkness of the eclipse has all the people at the base of the pyramid cowering in fear, while those at it's summit (they that knew it was coming, and that it is essentially harmless) are laughing quietly amongst themselves.

The Coronavirus is an extended metaphorical solar eclipse, being held perpetually at totality, for as long as it suits the purposes of the Summit.

The Ring of Corona is a Golden Circle.... only the most ardent fans (the most slavish, we might say) of a Band buy Golden Circle tickets at their ridiculous prices, in order to get close to their personal gods.

Here are some more images of the One Ring of the Coronavirus:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corona.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Total_solar_eclipse_of_March_9_1997.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PSM_V57_D316_General_view_of_the_corona.png

The One Ring of Sauron is deeply connected to the Eye of Sauron - his All-seeing Eye.

Sauron was the master of Track and Trace.

Empowered by the One Ring held (simultaneously willingly, and unwillingly) by the Ringbearers, his Eye roved about the lands. As did his cloaked agents, the Nazgul, that went door to door, performing... tests.

Again: those that find themselves Ring-bearers come to love the Ring. It becomes a Treasure.

Everyone enjoys being right and righteous, after all.

Everyone loves their daily news, and their current affairs.

Everyone loves having something to discuss.

Everyone loves having their opinions affirmed.

Everyone loves their smart phone.

Everyone loves Big Brother.

In order to destroy the One Ring of Coronavirus, the brave must give up the Precious.

What is the Precious?

The Precious is your news, your preconceptions, your money, your job, your friends, your cell-phone, your trust in government, in the medical establishment, in science itself. It is your ability to travel, and perhaps even your life.

To give up the Precious is to become a Coronavirus denialist, and thus (at least while Middle Earth is under Sauron's yoke) to be judged societal Pariah.

To give up the Precious is to become a Conspiracy Theorist, because the Coronavirus is a Conspiracy (says I).

To wear the One Ring is to be tracked and traced.

To aid the Ringbearer that would destroy the One Ring is to be tracked and traced.

To avoid being tracked and traced, one has to give up those things that allow one to be tracked and traced.

Meanwhile, to protect Minas Tirith from Sauron's army, you needs an army of your own. You cannot defend the city's walls from the power of the One Ring of Coronavirus, if every soldier and citizen within is held under it's spell.

And remember, the very air of Mordor is a poisonous fume. You can't breathe there.

There is a distributed Fellowship of the Ring - folk that would destroy the Coronavirus. Few or none of them have medical qualifications however.

How far are you willing to go to destroy the Coronavirus, and remove it's effects on the Free Peoples of Middle Earth?

I said above that:

The Coronavirus is an extended metaphorical solar eclipse, being held perpetually at totality.

There are only two things that will cure the coronavirus, and end the eclipse, and allow the sun to return.

The sun that returns will be either the real, original sun, or a false light - depending on which one of these things come to pass.

Either the Coronavirus is dropped into the Crack of Doom (ie. forgotten, disbelieved, denied) by it's bearers, or Sauron will offer a vaccine.

.

Bonus:

"isolation" = "in prison" = 360 primes (ie. there are 360 degrees in a circle or ring)

Who is isolated in prison?

"The subject" = 360 primes

We are all subjects in the control experiment that is the Coronavirus pandemic.

They keep telling us about this 'novel coronavirus'...

... I say it is a 'coronavirus novel'.

Regardless of word order the "coronavirus novel" = 1984 in the triangular number cipher.

Here, is the official logo of...

https://unnwo.org/

The United Nations New World Order Project is a global, high-level initiative founded in 2008 to advance a new economic paradigm, a new political order, and more broadly, a new world order for humankind

"United Nations New World Order Project" = 1,360 primes ( ie. One Ring of 360 degrees )

NOTE: There were many, MANY more images included in this post. Visuals help me in understanding, forming, re-forming the depths of this game we call reality. I have been in the process of fabricating this post, amongst others, only to have it NOT SAVE, ERASE, and/or be quarantined/suppressed/or whatever the fuck is going on.

Please excuse my language, but I have had enough of this bullshit banhammer taking place on all media fronts across the world. It’s a fucking disgrace because it wears the guise of FREEDOM, SECURITY, SAFETY, INCLUSION, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY. It’s bullshit. We can’t have bull markets without bull shit. The hypocrisy in us all has run rampant and gotten out of hand. The double standards are absurd. Thus, save not one because we are all guilty. The iron curtain is dropping and dropping fast. Welcome to fucking mars, humans. 

I guess that’s the cost of following giants and not utilizing our own tools and efforts to create our own systems worthy of open sharing, knowledge sharing, and a library worthy of it’s wholeness. We don’t seem to want truth, we seem to want whatever fits our agenda. Our agenda is a stringed quantum entanglement via the rules of our hosts, lords, kinds, and idols that we so fervently follow and worship to no avail with little regard that maybe we’re being led astray.

It’s time to relieve our selves of the master-slave bond and become the author and authority of our own story. Enough joining those that have free offers that are hollow, and full of poison, manipulation, laced with deception.

Question everything. Find truth in All. See the pieces within the whole within all things. You are It. It is You. It is within every thing, also with out. 

My friends, be diligent in the future. Be aware of your choices. Think thoroughly through your actions, ascertain the potential consequences. DO NOT sell yourself out or short. DO NOT SELL YOUR SELF. You’re a boundless, infinite being. Fear not. You are priceless. Or, as I like to frame it from the masters end:

YOU ARE WORTHLESS

Soak that in. Value is an illusion. Love the trash. Enough of the valuation game.

All Things Are Worthy

Cheers to the worthless ones of infinite and perpetual energy. May we leave these domains that insist on control, power, wars, and endless lies. Let us form an unbreakable, unbuyable bond that transcends the depths beyond all form in which holds the essence of all things and to be the storehouse of all that is, was, and is yet to come. Cheers to the Source!

[samzdat]

1

Noh masks are designed to exaggerate expressions at different angles. The actors perform extremely careful tilts and nods of the head to produce these. 

It takes years of training to get the motions right. 

-

Q: Why is modern art so fucking bad?

A: It doesn’t respect the audience, so it doesn't respect itself.

Obvious answer, next.

Q: Why does a Noh actor have to spend so long practicing?

A:

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Masks are important. Their practice is nearly a lost art, providing anonymity, pseudonymity, whatever, the internet all but killed them. The ease of a handle incentivizes a particular relation to it. I'm anon, which means I can be me better, They can't chastise me for My Thoughts. But that handle is not you. It's a mask, and it must be respected as such. Tilt the head wrong and slide into the uncanny valley. Of course people respond to one another like demons here. Everyone looks like a demon, they've failed to respect the mask, they present deformation as strength.

Q: Why is modern art so bad?

Interview with an author, any author, take your pick: "I just try to tell the truth. You know, it's subjective, sure, and I'm just trying to connect, to show them how I feel. It's me on the pages, you know."

I can imagine little else with more sneering condescension, with more moral cowardice lurking around the edges and inflicting itself on the audience. It is shameful.

The holy dictum is "Come at the king, best not miss." His retinue will tear you to pieces, watch pack animals converge on the bested challenger.

It is a good thing that the art world dies, that the public abandons it, that literature is left to screeching fools.

The general reaction means that we still have aesthetic instincts. We still see beauty, which means we see its opposite, which means

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I have no clue how to use tumblr, the UI is terrible, no you's here are the you's here, which I don't need to say because self-selection. This is sounding board for the main task (be on edge instantly), but it's a helpful sounding board. One has to learn to gesture and - if they trust in their gestures - do so publically. Or, we might say: tilt their head in a different way.

Sooner or later, I'm going to have to write about Nietzsche (I'll have to write about capitalism and Marx and markets and Kant, too, but those are different-and-identical matters). This is a shame, because Nietzsche cannot be talked about. One has to assert things, there is no way to back them up, scholars who try to do so are hilarious. "He says this thing and this other thing, there is no way to tell which he means." There is, you have to recognize the tempo, it is obvious when you do, you have to learn to read.

Kid reads Nietzsche and goes full Thrasymachus. The Truth Is There Is No Truth, Just The Will Of The Strong. Wrong, bucko. Swap a few nouns and you have a solid tween advertising campaign, Time's Person of the Year is You. If there's truth there's truth, if there isn't there isn't, we are uncertain, it is premature to determine one way or another. What's certain is that we are lying animals, that we lie to survive and, better, to thrive.

Thrasymachus is survival level, which is appropriate, go back to Will to Power. Reinterpreting base-level nature of humanity as a particular strength of your own, and, worse, as your way to gain power is not a sign of strength. It means you have none, you failed at the goal, your character is not adequate to attain power.

Turn it around, reconsider the scene: Thrasymachus inserts himself in a debate via moral outrage. Socrates, he claims, does the same as the rest of the sophists. He lies, he wins through rhetoric, but his trick is to claim truth. This is unfair, because it lets him win. The problem, according to Thrasymachus, is that all conversations are contests, there is no truth, just strength, which makes the only truth "strength." Wait, go back. "It is unfair because it is a lie that lets him win."

If Thrasymachus's argument doesn't make your skeptometer go nuclear, I don't know what to tell you. Some people find it "a harsh, Machiavellian assertion." Philosophy is beyond them, which makes poetry and fiction well beyond them. Music is presumably dark matter.

We're talking about Nietzsche, which means the first question is "What is the value of Thrasymachus's argument? What role does it play?" Or: what does it mean to claim that the strong are known by their dissimulation, and assert this as the truth? Whether it is or not is "right" is the wrong question, go back to letting Rawls best you, nothing here will help. "Harsh."

Last: Socrates gleefully replies with a gigantic parable which is explicitly false. But it is beautiful. I mean linguistically, it's gorgeous Greek, astonishing Greek. He claims, in the myth, that truth always carries the day, that it leads to the only life worth living. Note how he phrases it, the same way Plato always phrases it, the one time a real master like that slips. Not because he lacks the skill, no. Because it's fun to slip sometimes, it provokes laughter, and laughter is the balm of the gods. The Plantonic phrase is not "This is the truth." It's: "We will be better men for believing this."

Socrates, naturally, wins.

A thousand edgy undergrads scream and moan. They've read the first essay of the Genealogy, maybe even the second (definitely not the third), they know the score: "The game was rigged. Of course Socrates wins, Plato wrote the thing. It's deeply unfair! Thrasymachus was telling the truth, he was right! Socrates is naive, a coward hiding behind 'truth'."

There's a specific Nietzsche term for that reaction. Or, more accurately, the ethical character which predicates the reaction. They won't like it.

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"The point is to lie beautifully?" Not really, but even if so: that's Plato's claim, not Nietzsche's. See: Strauss.

Nietzsche's claim is harder. Approximation: Aristophanes wrote the Clouds which is theoretically about Socrates. Greek theatre, like Noh, relied on archetypical masks and exaggerated molds of contemporary figures. Tradition tells us that Socrates laughed harder than anyone when the mask was revealed, that he stood up to let all know how fine the mask's craft was. We know also that Plato adored the works of Aristophanes, despite the Apology blaming him for the trial. Socrates dies with a joke; the Symposium gives Aristophanes the prettiest speech. These are all the same as the mask.

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We are bad readers, but it is fun to talk about philosophy. Taken alone, that justifies it.

It is also good for your soul, and it tells you what that is. Plato would say: bronze, silver, gold. Which? Inaccurate, but funny. Philosophy requires no data, no historical baggage, the argument is right in front of you, there is no other, you simply must read it. It is open to your powers alone, hence its danger.

"You can assert anything in philosophy!" Only if you know how to do it well, which is a self-selecting process, which means that those who can won't. The reverse of that statement: I was conned because I cannot juggle arguments well enough to filter good from bad. The theses of philosophy are not the point, you cannot understand it from second-hand sources because you need to read the argument. No one can tell you what it means because what it means is asserted as economically as possible in the original text. See also: art.

Of course there are truths in the world. That's the point.

Philosophy is open, free, without the "rigor" imposed on physical sciences in precisely the same way a piano is free, open, "cannot be proven or disproven." One reacts to a bad musician viscerally.

Philosophy goes a good deal further, of course. It has, to use Nietzsche's term, "mocking, Dionysian laughter." It lets Thrasymachus tell the truth as hard as he can and - it lets people agree. There is a deep cruelty here. Worse, of course, is the situation of those who can't differentiate between Thrasymachus and Socrates, between them and Plato, between Theaetetus and Gorgias. It puts the bad musician on stage and lets them play. It even claps. See: philosophy departments.

The point of this is humor, of course, which is nothing to scoff at.

"It's all baseless assertion, there's no outside measure of which side is right." Stop telling me about yourself. Jesus, have some dignity.

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PDF warning, Strauss in a seminar, discussing the Apology and the poor arguments of rigid platonism:

"Now Burnet had the merit to take the Clouds much more seriously than most students. He rightly insisted on the fact that the comedy is of course not a historical report and therefore one must be cautious. The historical report would give us facts and a comedy gives us jokes. And therefore this is one special difficulty—unfortunately he goes beyond this; he says, “quote, Statements of fact are not funny, unquote.”

[Laughter] Now this is a consequence of the fact-value distinction, because “funny” is surely a predicate of value [laughter]. It may be a negative value, but still it is not neutral. And I do not know whether Burnet knew it was a consequence of the fact-value distinction, but in fact it is. Now let us briefly consider this consequence or implication of the fact-value distinction. Is it true, as Burnet asserts, that statements of fact are never funny? Is it true? It would be true if there were never funny facts. [Laughter]

We all know that there are funny facts."

[garp20-evie]

The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology : Based on H. J. Rose's Handbook of Greek Mythology

‘Although this is essentially a new book in its present form, I originally embarked on it with the intention of producing a revised version of H.J. Rose’s classic Handbook of Greek Mythology, and the final product remains indebted to that work in many respects, incorporating some material from it and following its general plan in parts, especially in the chapters on divine mythology.’ - Robin Hard.

For my search into a better understanding of Greek mythology, I learnt very quickly that the internet alone does not suffice. Providing opinions, interpretations, articles saying that information is wrong where others say it’s right...my head was left royally screwed.

But books? Way more reliable.

After searching through the LJMU library, I found this book, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. After reading the Preface, I knew I could safely place my trust into its weathered pages. It focuses on Greek mythology rather than getting tangled with Roman sources, it keeps the names of deities, heroes and heroins in their original Greek form (makes reading the book SO much easier), and it references H. J. Rose's Handbook of Greek Mythology, 1928 (a rather reliable source if ya ask me).

This is a hefty book, and I do nOT have the time to be reading it from cover to cover. So I stuck to chapters that I thought were best suited to my main subject, astrology, reading chapters relating to the zodiac and its relevant God/story.

Zeus - Taurus. Zeus, is often represented in art and literature alike, as associated with the oak, a tree marked out as appropriate not only by its beauty and majesty and its long life, but also by two conspicuous facts, namely that it grew very widely in Ancient Greece and is struck very frequently by lightning (as the ancients noticed and modern forestry has proved statistically). Two important attributes of Zeus are the thunderbolt and aegis. Of the former it need only be said that before the true character of electrical phenomena came to be understood, the destructive power of lightning encouraged the thought that some heavy and pointed missile came down from the sky with the lightning-flash; and what could be more natural than to assume that it was the special weapon of the sky-god? In Greek art, Zeus’ thunderbolt was shown as a biconical object, often having conventionalised lightning-flashes attached, and sometimes wings also. Page 73

Castor and Polydeuces - Gemini pages 386,438,526-9

Hera - Cancer. ‘Although Hera was highly revered as a cultic deity, it was perhaps inevitable in view of Zeus’ countless infidelities that she should;d have been condemned to an undignified role in many of her myths, which frequently present her as a wronged and vindictive wife  who is constantly wrangling with her husband and persecuting his mistresses and their children.’ ‘Zeus boasted of his intentions to the other gods, telling them that Eileithuia, the goddess of childbirth, would bring a man to birth on that day who would be king over all who lived around him (i.e. in Argo), and would be born from the race of those who came from Zeus’ blood (i.e. from the Perseids, who were descended from Perseus, son of Zeus). By making this ill-advised declaration, he alerted Hera, who resented all her husband’s illegitimate children and immediately plotted to rob this one of his intended inheritance. Pages 138, 258-9

Zeus - Leo. ‘Herakles re-organised the Namean Games (which had been founded by Adrastos and the Seven) as a festival in honour of Zeus; it was claimed that he victors were awarded a crown of wild parsley because the hero had worn one at the above mentioned sacrifice to Zeus. A version of this tale was recounted by Callimachus, who is the earliest author who is know to have mentioned it. In astral mythology, Hera was said to have rewarded the lion by transferring it to the heavens to become the constellation of the Lion (Leo).’ Page 257

Demeter and her daughter Persephone - Virgo. Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Hades chose to marry Persephone, the only daughter of his sister Demeter, who was the goddess of corn and agriculture generally, and the patroness of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Since he stole Persephone from the upper world in secret from her mother, who was greatly distressed by her disappearance and was so determined to recover her, the ancient legend that tells of the abduction and its consequences is the main myth of Demeter as well as of Hades and the maiden herself. In the end, a compromise was imposed in which Persephone spent part of the year below with Hades and part in the upper world with her mother. Persephone was a goddess of twofold character accordingly, being at once the awesome queen of the dead and a goddess of the fertility of the earth and in conjunction with Demeter. Page 125

Dike - Libra. ‘The Horai or Seasons, another set of sister-goddesses.’ ‘Although they are sometimes known as the Hours, their name does not really mean hour in the English or Latin sense, but simply time or season, and they represent the seasons of the year.’ ‘They were more commonly imagined as being three in number (representing spring, summer and winter); and as well as being concerned with growth and fertility in connection with the turning year, they also acquired moral and social concerns goddesses who protected the good order that is essential for the flourishing of agriculture and prosperity in general. This is reflected in their names in the Theogony, which calls them Eunomia, Dike and Eirene, in other words, Good Oder, Justice and Peace.’ When looking at the zodiac symbol for Libra, you see scales, because of how Dike was famous for serving justice through retribution. Page 209

Gaia - Scorpio pages 23-4,28,31

Cheiron the centaur - Sagittarius pages, 54,55,73,149-150,152,259,271,299381,397,458,534

Pan - Capricorn pages 46,85,157,164,214-8,501

Ganymedes - Aquarius pages 118,275,472,522

Eros and Aphrodite - Pisces. ‘The one great goddess who remains to be considered is Aphrodite, who presided over sexual attraction and the pleasures of love (ta Aphrodisia) and all that is associated with them.’ ‘As the goddess of love, Aphrodite is regularly attended to by Eros, the personification of the amorous desire, who fulfils his purposes by inspiring love in gods and mortals alike.’ ‘Eros came to be imagined above all as a capricious and playful child-god; rather than being shown as a handsome young athlete, or as a young boy as in classical art, he was now generally shown as a pretty child, a little winged archer who was ever ready to work mischief on gods or mortals with his arrows. This is the form in which he has usually been imagined since the Renaissance, as innocuousCupid rather than the old Greek Eros. Page 194

Aries - 

Milky Way origin page 249-50

orian 47,109,115,166,192,518,520,561-4

astral mythology

THIS IS NOT FINISHED - I WILL EDIT THIS