#v;;foremost of the goddesses

[arcielee]

And you told me I should concentrate.

Summary: Aemond makes a mistake. Paring: Aegon Targaryen x Female!Reader Word Count: 2050 Warnings: Just some smut. Smidgen of Targcest in the beginning, definite voyeurism, marital cheating, oral (f receiving), p in v, breeding kink if you squint. Author's Note: Here is part 2 of Only if for a night. You wanted sad boi Aemond and here he is, wholly confused and just fucking things up 😂 Thank you to my beta reader @f4ll-for-you, you always help me to give the best version of our baby girl Aegon. 💜 lēkia is brother Banners & dividers by @cafekitsune Tags (Tumblr kindred spirits): @aaaaaamond @annikin-im-panicin @watercolorskyy @schniiipsel @sylas-the-grim @aemondx @fan-goddess @babygirlyofthevale @httpsdoll @theromanticegoist @assortedseaglass @amiraisgoingthruit @theoneeyedprince @babyblue711 @itbmojojoejo @girlwith-thepearlearring @lovelykhaleesiii @darylandbethfanforever9 @bucknastysbabe

His sister had once said that it was fate to crave what is given to another, but for Aemond, it was a dull ache that reverberated within his ribs as he dragged Aegon to the Iron Throne. 

Aemond was first and foremost dutiful, his steadfast devotion extended to his brother and his crown, and it led his steps towards the confrontation on the Sept steps. But it was now a distant memory, along with the initial hesitation he had felt, as he was pleased that Aegon not just carried their ancestral crown as a decoration, but showed pride, thriving with his kingship. 

He had no qualms to follow through with the expected betrothal that had been made, as your dowry had allowed them their victory. But Aemond could not help the relief that washed over when you had been formally introduced; you were poised, you were beautiful, and you had no compulsion to fill the air with incessant chatter, as he often found the other ladies of the court always were compelled to droll on. 

It truly seemed to be a favorable match; you were not blatantly besotted with your intended–as Aemond knew this to be expected, Targaryen or not, he was always aware of the scar that burned across his features–but you were courteous, and he admired the touch of pink to your cheeks whenever his attention was solely on you.

The ceremony had been modest and you seemed grateful with how he threw the crowd that crowed for proof of your maidenhead from the chambers. It left you alone with your new husband and the unease that filled the air between.

Aemond was aware of your slight tremor, and he was mindful of every noise that spilled from your rosy lips, his hands were gentle to touch, guided by your soft sounds. With the proof of your purity spilled on the linen, and before he had left, he called for your handmaidens to have a warm bath drawn to help the ache between your thighs. 

His dutiful nature followed into his role as lord husband, though perhaps not in a romantic sense, but he would escort you to break fast with his siblings and mother, or he would suggest a stroll in the gardens of the Red Keep if the weather allowed it. Aemond was also certain to allow your time apart, allowing you to keep the company of your handmaidens, but also he would come in the evenings to do what was expected of a man and wife. 

But despite the time spent together outside of the marital chambers, there still tarried a trepidation in his bones. You were still reserved, the very embodiment of the perfect lady wife, but he was almost uneasy with how you responded to his touch, to his kiss. Aemond had hoped against hope that you would eventually bloom in response, but you seemed content to remain encased within your petals. 

So Aemond sought advice from his sister Helaena, as he knew she allowed him a candid honesty and he could trust whatever insight she had to offer. She had always been a resounding comfort for him, something that began with his dismemberment when she faithfully visited him as he healed.

Their bond was something that knitted tightly in the marrow of their bones, something that naturally gave into an intimacy they shared when she first married Aegon. At first, resentment boiled beneath as Aemond watched how his brother disrespected his lady wife, how he was lost in his whores of Fleabottom and neglected fulfilling his marital duties. 

This was when Helaena noticed how his gaze lingered and she called in her singsong voice, “it is our fate, I think, to crave always what is given to another.” 

It was a thrill, her touch both familiar and unfamiliar, something that stirred a warmth in his lower abdomen, curling at the base of his spine. “The blood of the dragon must thrive,” she had whispered against his lips. 

There was a sense of pride with how his legacy showed in the features of Jaehaerys’ that sharpened as he grew, and in the silk, silver texture of Jaehaera’s tresses, as well as the shade of lavender in the wide eyes of Maelor. 

But this had not been his intention when he came to her that night, though he found it was too easy to fall back into her warm curves and embrace; her lyrical hymn that was coy to coax him–may the gods forgive him, but Aemond relished in being desired again. 

He knew it was a lustful moment of weakness, and as the post-coital haze lifted, a sense of shame settled over in its place; Aemond had no intention to whore around on his wife, that he wished for her to carry his legitimate child, his legacy, as what was expected, as what was their duty to the realm.

“You just found your confidence again, lēkia,” Helaena remained bare, curled beneath the duvet, and watched as Aemond dressed. “You already know what you must do.”

Aemond knew he had to see you. 

In the days that followed, the routine was broken by the bliss that now engulfed you, your tiptoes tumbling on air as you flit throughout the Red Keep. Aemond saw how you glowed, as did anyone who dared to compliment his wife, but he also noticed how the sugared words drew a knowing smirk across the king’s face.

Aegon knew the real reason behind your changed disposition, but played coy to relish in your reactions. It was a childish tease with a sharp pull to your shirts if you passed him by and the tug of fabric jolted through you, a warmth rekindled in your core, or how he would place his palm on your lower back, leaning until his lips almost touched your ear with the soft words, “How lovely you look today,” and that warmth would spill into your features, crimson with his praise. 

You were flushed, your eyes bright, and this sweet demeanor was not missed by your husband, but Aemond hoped this meant you would be more receptive to coupling. The thought fluttered through his mind, propelling his steps forward that night as he made his way through one of the many ingresses that weaved the walls of Maegor’s Holdfast. He was quiet to enter your room, greeted by the golden flow of the tapers lit, by the sounds that spilled from your bed.  

He could not press further, cemented to the cobblestone at the sight. 

You were lovely and you were bare, sinking into the mattress with the top of your head towards the end of the bed, towards where your husband was rooted but you were unaware of his presence. Rose hues intimately stained your skin and the peaks of your thighs, your back arching with a mewled cry. Aemond watched your delicate hands reach to comb through the traited silver head of hair that was dipped between your flushed thighs, trembling with your building pleasure, with a hold to anchor him between. 

“Aegon, my gods…”

And then Aegon broke for a moment of air, pulling from your grasp and your hands trailed the planes of his chest to his abdomen; his mouth and chin glistened with your pleasure, and his hooded eyes fell to Aemond for a moment. 

You did not follow his gaze. “Aegon?” 

Aemond felt the blood rush to his cheeks, to his cock, and he took a soft step backwards while Aegon held his steady stare, bringing his fingers to wipe his face and suck lewdly on his digits. “Sweet girl,” he cooed, his gaze dropping to admire your flushed features, “I wish you to come on my cock.”  

Before you could protest, his large palms wrapped around your wrists, pulling you towards him. “Do not take your eyes off of me,” his lips pressed to yours, bringing you towards his chest to straddle him, your plush thighs caging his lap. His hot mouth captured your nipple, his tongue tracing your areola with a familiarity that caused you to cry out. 

“Aegon, please,” you panted, trying to squirm and feeling his girth against the slick of your cunt. His large palms grasped the softness of your hips, pulling you closer until his arms could wrap around your waist, his lips following the curve of your chest and licking the column of your neck, placing a noisy kiss to the underside of your jaw. “Aegon, you cannot mark me, what if it is seen–?” 

“Let them see,” his voice was dark, his hand dipping between and lining the flushed head of his cock to press into your entrance, wet and wanting from your prior peaks of the night. “Let them hear you,” his command was husky.  

Pitiful sounds poured from your lips as you lowered onto him, an indescribable fullness as he stretched your velvet walls. Your eyes fluttered into the back of your head, your hands coming to bite into his broad shoulders and hold yourself upright, still flushed against his chest. 

Aegon kept his hold on your waist, his palms pressed onto your skin, his lips ghosted the junction of your neck to your shoulder and you giggled from the sensation. “Your king commands you to stop clenching,” he hissed and you felt the hot exhale of his low voice

You giggled again, finding his lips for a kiss, your tongue curling in his mouth to taste him, to taste yourself. “Forgive me, my king,” you whispered, meeting with his eyes, the violet almost completely swallowed by his blown out pupils; your lips curled upwards with the slow roll of your hips against him. 

It was his turn for his eyes to disappear into his skull, with a low, guttural groan in response to the pace you set, and the lewds sounds that accompanied the sensual movement.  Your arms wrapped around his neck and he dipped his head forward to press his lips against your breast, leaving welts that flushed dark against your skin, his teeth dragging to the other with the same assault of his mouth.

You gasped at the sensation, with how it spilled into your bloodstream, coursing to the ends and fluttering back to the coil that tightened in your lower abdomen. You were slick between, your legs burned with the motion and, as if he could read your mind, did his grip tightened and Aegon met with a relentless pace, his hips rutting upwards into you.  

“I will only forgive you,” he was breathless with his unrelenting tempo, “if you come undone.” 

“Aegon,” you gasped, the flashes of color that sparked in front of your eyes and the tears that pearled in the corners, “I am so close.” 

“Touch yourself,” his voice was thick with the command and your hand pulled away, your fingers trailing his shoulder blade and coming around to follow his collarbone; Aegon dipped his head again, capturing your fingers in his mouth, his tongue wettening the pads before it fell between and pressed against the bloom of bundled nerves above. 

Your cries echoed the room, already so close to the precipice and your own touch is what pushed you over with a rush of blood towards your heart and your cunt, the coil bursting within and the pleasure unfurling, pressing against your seams. It was if you were drowning in this sense of bliss, something all-consuming as his thick member pulsed inside your cunt and you clenched in response, a vice, and still so very unaware. 

Aegon, however, held you close, his cheeks ruddy and eyes still dark as they looked past and towards Aemond, watching how his neck bobbed when he swallowed before falling another step backwards and disappearing where he came from, the entrance closing quietly behind. 

He moved towards his chambers, his palm adjusting the crotch of his slacks, his long gait to remove him. They had not married for love, and he always knew this; it was hopeful–it was foolish to think it could grow beyond the duty that was expected of them. 

And as he had done for Aegon, it was returned; in the end, all that mattered was that the blood of the dragon would thrive still. 

arcie's masterlist

[vvritingmf]

RP Partner Search | 21+

Hello.ᐟ.ᐟ I go by V or my pen name, VV. I got recommended tumblr through a friend who also role-plays, so I’m here to see if I can meet some awesome writers. I’m 22 and prefer my partners to be around the same, however, as long as you are 18+, I’ve really got no qualms.

Experience details listed below:

I’m a very flexible person when it comes to writing, however I cannot say I am great at all. My main weaknesses are probably action and superheroes, but these are just some of the few topics I have done otherwise.

Fantasy

Tropes & Themes that I love or correlate:

Greek Gods, Goddesses, Deities

Mythology

Bestiary/Faeries/Demi-Humans

Sci-Fi, Futuristic, Dystopian, Cyberpunk, Bionic

Opposites attract: Light>Dark, Sun>Moon, Fire>Water, Healer>Destroyer

Merfolk, Sirens, Pirates

Hunter>Hunted

Historical

Tropes & Themes that I love or correlate:

Southern small town horrors: (20’s-80’s)

Medieval Evils: witch hunting, wounded>healer

Westward Expansion/Wild West: Bounty Hunter>Outlaw, Loner>Wanderer

Ancient Egypt/Japan/Rome/Greece: Assassin>Victim

WWI-II/Other: star-crossed lovers, enemies to lovers to enemies, woman guised as militia>unknowing comrade/enemy (mulan moment⚔️)

Mafia: 90’s realistic only, bodyguard>daughter/son

London High Society: Arranged marriage, Klutz>Pessimist

(While all of these are great, I am a sucker for new tropes and ideas, so please introduce me to some of your interests!)

General

More info about me and my preferences!

Dead Dove; Do NOT Eat — As much as I love writing goody-two-shoes characters, sometimes I simply want to write someone morally grey, or perhaps even a bit psychotic… Those who are familiar with dead dove know that it includes mature and sensitive topics, such as non-con, NSFW aside! That being said, I will never abuse this right and all topics are sure to be discussed with my RP partner before hand.ᐟ.ᐟ

Gender Preference: I often find myself writing male leads as opposed to female, but this is solely because I am having to compensate and or carry a plot by myself majority of the time. With male characters, I simply find arrogance easier to strike up interactions with, however I would love to actually be able to play a female character; it depends heavily on the plot. I’m predominately MxF, but with side characters I am open to MxM and FxF, (romance awakening/forbidden love subset mainly.)

NSFW: I am not strict on many of my rules but substituting plot for smut is not tolerated. I am willing to write it but in order for any sort of NSFW, things need to progress naturally. I would prefer a partner who prioritizes world building and plot planning first and foremost.

Requirements: As I am not daily active on discord, I am looking for a lax but serious role-play partner who is literate novella minimum. I frequently exceed the discord message limit, sometimes even four times over. However, this is not a standard for myself; I simply tend to write a lot when I am invested in a story. By no means do you have to match this; I simply ask that you give me something to work with and I will do the same in return. Trust me, I’m not always in the mood to meet a word criteria, I wouldn’t expect you to be either! I need a long-term partner who is willing and understanding of schedules and writers-block. These are two things I struggle with often, but I am writing this ad because I truly want to get on the grind again and meet someone who will bring fresh ideas to the table, as well as still pick up after a week of inactivity… :)

Other: I will not always use face claims, because sometimes celebrities and acclaimed actors just don’t do characters justice. Regardless, I will always give a description in writing or perhaps find some oil art or sketch that best represents my OC. I’m probably not very traditional in the sense that I do not follow all usual discord RP rules; I don’t even know half the jargon. Some more general tropes I love include age gaps, tragedy ending, anti-heroes, redemption, apprentice/mentor to mentee, & unique character impairments.ᐟ.ᐟ

Friend my Discord if you’re interested! (1x1)

(Ive a two role-play maximum so that way I am able to focus. Full currently but if you’d like to be friends I’m so down.) Current: 2/2

[lampmanliveblogs]

Happy New Year!

As I’m posting this, the new year has not yet begun in some parts of the world. But it has in mine! So to you unfortunate people still stuck in 2023, I just wanna say ”Hi! Cant wait for you to catch up to the rest of us in the future!”

2023. Twenty-twenty-three. Two-thousand and twenty-three. This year, I gotta say, for me personally has been kinda meh. It wasn’t all that bad I suppose, but it sure could have been a lot better. I’ve had good times, but the greats were not that great, and I’ve had bad times, but the lows were not that low. Towards the end there, I did lose basically all my motivation to do anything but play Stardew Valley.

So yeah, my creativity and spark to create has suffered a lot this year, which has left me with a lot of unfinished projects gathering dust. So for 2024, my New Year’s resolution will be to complete a lot of unfinished business.

First and foremost we have my liveblog of The Owl House and that Vee fanfic I’ve been working on. Then I’m going to finish Winter Heist and then… I have been giving some thought to an old project that’s been left unfinished for years now… a fanfic that I wrote more than 184 000 words for, and yet, despite all that work, it remains incomplete. But… maybe the time has come for me to take another crack at JoJo and the Crystal Gems…

We’ll see, we’ll see. Really, I should not be telling you all this, since research indicates that if you tell people about your goals, you are actually less likely to succeed. Then again, you can’t spell ”success” without ”succ,” and… I’m not sure where I was going with that one, but, uh…

Happy New Year! That’s the important part. Let’s all do our best this year. I’m looking forward to getting back into liveblogging again. Until then, I’ll leave some of what I’ve written for chapter two of that Vee fic under the Keep Reading.

Our lives became a fairy tale Without rules or laws But is there anyone who knows? If the journey has an end?

(Note: The thing with the cards will make a lot more sense when I publish the full chapters.)

(Note: I still haven't settled on an actual title for the fic)

Lamp Entertainment presents…

The night was growing old, but Masha laid wide awake, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars glued to the bunk above. They were tired, dead tired, but thoughts buzzed around their head like ten million fireflies, keeping them awake.

Not only were shapeshifters, basilisks, witches, magic, demons, and other worlds real, but shapeshifting basilisks demons from another world filled with magic and witches were real. Masha had spent most of summer sharing a bunk bed with one, just as they were doing now. It was a lot to take in.

Oh, and as it turns out, the story of the Wittebane brothers meeting a witch? It was true. The brothers had met a real witch, a witch that they had followed back to the Demon Realm, the world of demons and witches. Not only that, but old Philip Wittebane was still alive and kicking, turned into a monster and spending the last four centuries working on a plan to exterminate all witches.

That evil, wicked man was the reason Vee was alive. Vee had been… brief in talking about her origins. Masha knew better than to pry too much, and thank Goddess Marco and Samuel did too. Just telling them about her true identity had obviously been very difficult for her, and if there were things she wasn’t ready to tell them yet, then they wouldn’t pressure her.

Even so, what she did tell them did not paint a pretty picture.

”My name, it’s Vee as in V, as in ’five,’” she had explained, holding up two fingers forming a V. Her voice trembled and her gaze lowered, looking at something far, far away from the comfort and safety of her new home. She took a deep, unsteady breath before speaking again. ”I… I am number five. Lab animal number five.”

And all of the sudden it made so much sense why ”Luz” had spent the first few weeks of camp jumping at every sudden sound and always looking over her shoulder. Why she would always sneak out of bed when she thought everyone was sleeping to make sure the door wasn’t locked.

It made Masha’s blood boil. Philip Wittebane better never show his face in Gravesfield again, or so help them…

Something else troubled on Masha’s mind. They reached down on the floor, grabbing the vaguely clothes-shaped pile of fabric that was their discarded costume. The deck of cards was still in the pocket where they left them, still in the same order. The first three cards were still The Two-Headed Snake, The Light, and The Red String.

They shuffled the deck thoroughly and drew the first three cards again.

The Light. The Red String. The Two-Headed Snake.

What was the chances of drawing the exact same three cards? One in a million?

Maybe there was still some magic in them…

Eventually, Masha drifted off to a sleep filled with dreams they couldn’t remember in the morning.

Chapter 2: For the Future (that we can’t see)

Vee woke up early, before the others. Well, it wasn’t that early, it was just past eight in the morning. But considering the late night, it felt early even as the sun shone through the window.

She spent some time just coiled up in bed, enjoying the comfortable warmth under her two blankets. She thought if going back to sleep, but eventually convinced herself that it was time to rise and shine.

The others were still asleep, so Vee climbed down from her bunk as quietly as she could. Easier said than done you had a thick tail instead of two nimble legs. Somehow, she made it down without waking anyone up, though that might have had more to do with the fact that her old cabin mates were exhausted after yesterday.

She noticed a deck of Hexas Hold’em cards lying on the floor. She recalled Masha playing with a deck on the day Luz contacted her from the Demon Realm. Vee couldn’t smell any magic left in them, which meant it was probably the same deck. They must’ve fallen out of Masha’s pocket. She gathered them and put them in a neat stack next to their costume.

She slithered silently out the room, past Samuel and Marco in the guest beds that used to belong to Willow and Amity. The whole thing reminded her of summer camp. She’d often wake up before her cabin mates then too, often sneaking out to enjoy the early morning sun. Masha had called camp prison, but as far as Vee was concerned, her first true sense of freedom had come from that place.

Making it down the stairs was one of those things that was a lot more uncomfortable with a tail than it was with a pair of legs, but Vee decided to stay in her true form for a bit longer. For the longest time, even before she made the decision to tell them, there had been an insistent voice in her head telling her that her friends would find her true form repulsive. It was nice to learn that wasn’t the case.

Oh stars, she could barely believe it. She had told them! She really had told them! Even though the thought had terrified her, she had still gone through with it. And it worked out, they didn’t hate her, they didn’t resent her for deceiving them.

There were some things she hadn’t told them. Things she had only ever told Camila, late one night after she woke up screaming from a nightmare. She wanted the truth to be a happy thing, not marred too much by what had been.

Vee was determined to move beyond her past pain. At times, the darkness made itself known at the back of her head, deep within her lizard brain. But she was getting better and better at pushing back. She had optimism for the future.

First things first though. She needed to call Camila’s work to let them know she was going to need a few days off. Vee, being naturally paranoid and a born liar, had already fleshed out a halfway decent story.

It took some convincing and a little bit of improv, but Vee was eventually (imitating Camila’s voice, of course) able to get Camila’s sudden leave accepted.

Once that was done with, Vee began cleaning up the mess in the living room while contemplating what to do with Luz. Should she take on her appearance and go to school as her again? Or should she call the school and inform Luz wouldn’t be coming for a few days? Both alternatives had its ups and downs. On one hand, Vee actually did like school and learning about the Human Realm. And Luz’ grades really did not need to get any worse. On the other hand, keeping up the deception would add another element of complication. Vee was good, but was she that good?

She mulled over it while cleaning up until she heard movement coming from upstairs. She turned to her friends groggily making their way down the stairs.

”Good morning!” she said cheerfully.

”Wow…” Samuel whispered. ”I was halfway convinced I was dreamt up everything,” he said a little louder.

”Not me, cause I’m not that creative,” Marco said.

”I gotta say, I think it would make for a pretty good story,” Samuel continued. ”A demon fleeing from an evil emperor ends up in the world of the humans, accidentally taking the place of a young girl headed for summer camp… yeah, that’s a good story. Maybe I should write a book about it.”

”Don’t you have like fifty-eleven different fanfics you’re already writing?” Masha teased him. Samuel blushed.

”I do finish some of my fanfics,” he said defensively. ”Unlike my thirteenth favorite fanfic writer, The Lampman. That guy couldn’t finish a fanfic if his life depended on it. ”

”I don’t know who that is, but he sounds like a talentless hack,” Marco said.

”I’m sure he’s not that bad,” Vee said. ”Anyway, here I am, very much real. By which I mean ’real-ly hungry.’ Anyone else want breakfast? I’m starving!”

The others agreed that breakfast would be nice. Vee lead them into the kitchen and began fixing some food. One thing the other Cabin 7 members had noticed about ”Luz” was that the way she’d scarf down her food at every meal like she had never eaten before. Which, based on what they now knew of Vee’s past, sadly made a lot of sense. Though that was not the only thing they had noticed about Luz ’ eating habits.

”You used to choke on your food a lot,” Masha observed. They were absentmindedly playing with the deck of Hexas Hold’em cards. ”Was that because you usually swallow your food whole?”

”Yeah, pretty much,” Vee confirmed while frying up some eggs. ”I do have teeth to chew with if I have to, but I usually don’t. Human throats are a lot less flexible than basilisks and I wasn’t used to it.” To demonstrate what she meant, she took an apple lying on the counter and swallowed it whole, making her throat bulge outward.

”Not gonna lie,” Marco said. ”That was a kinda gross.”

”You should see how I eat eggs then,” Vee chuckled. ”The difficult part is spitting the shell out in one piece.”

”Th-thanks, but I think we’ll skip that one,” Samuel quickly interjected. He looked contemplative for a moment. ”Do you have… is it poison or venom? I can never remember the difference.”

”If I bite you and you die, I’m venomous,” Vee explained. ”But if you bite me and you die, then I’m poisonous. And no, I don’t have venom. Don’t know if I’m poisonous though. I might be.”

”What if I bite myself and I die?” Marco asked. ”What does that make me then?”

”Stupid,” Masha said, prompting a good group laugh.

”No new information there,” Marco said between giggles.

The eggs done, the gang sat down at the table. Sitting on chairs designed for human creatures with things like ”legs” and ”butts” was yet another thing that was a bit awkward for Vee. She’d usually just stand at the table, but she decided to sit down this time. Before she sat down, she grabbed a special jar from one of the cabinets.

It had a homemade label, saying in neat handwriting that it was ”For Vee only.” A second pencil had added a small face making a sick face, to which the first pencil responded that ”I told you so.”

Her friends watched with interest as she took three slices of bread and spread thick layers of jar’s contents on them. It looked like some chocolate spread, but with strange lumps in it.

”What is that?” Masha asked finally. ”Is it some kind of special basilisk food?”

”Uh… kinda?” Vee hesitated. ”It’s nutella, with protein powder and, um… wood chips and sand.”

This was met with wide stares.

”Wood chips… and sand?” Samuel asked, as if to make sure he ha heard it right.

”It’s good for my digestion,” Vee said with a little shrug. ”It was either that, or I keep chewing on twigs I found on the ground. Camila thinks I need a lot of protein, so that’s what the protein powder’s for.”

”And the nutella…?” Masha asked. 

”Oh, that’s for taste,” Vee said. Deciding that was enough explanation, she took one the fried eggs and sandwiched it between two bread slices slathered in the cursed nutella. ”I think Demon Realm stomachs are just tougher than human stomachs,” Vee said between bites of her sandwich. ”Luz told me there was a bunch of foods she couldn’t eat in the Demon Realm, but the others didn’t seem to have any problems with anything from here. Well, except for garlic.”

”What, they couldn’t eat garlic?” Masha asked in-between bites of their own sandwich. ”Like vampires?”

”Precisely,” Vee said with a nod. 

”Wait, really?” Masha exclaimed, nearly choking on their food. ”Vampires are real? And they can’t stand garlic?”

”Yes,” Vee said, smiling at the funny face Masha was making.

”Oh, so that’s why you had cloves of garlic next to your bed,” Marco said and nodded a little. ”It’s to keep the vampires away.”

”Kinda. There aren’t any vampires in Gravesfield (I hope), but it makes me feel safer to sleep with it,” Vee explained. ”Hunter said that basilisks and vampires used to be natural enemies, since we both feed on witches. Garlic is deadly to vampires, and since a lot of witches have vampire ancestory, a lot of them have inherited a garlic allergy.” Vee smiled at a memory. ”Willow’s and Gus’ weren’t that bad, but Amity’s was really bad. Luz was devastated, because one piece of garlic bread meant no more kisses for the day.”

That image garnered a few laughs.

”I can’t wait for you guys to meet Luz, the real Luz,” Vee said. ”She’s the coolest! Seh fights Belos and doesn’t afraid of anything.”

”Well, I think you’re pretty cool,” Masha said. They reached out to hold Vee’s hand, soft skin skin meeting rough scales. ”My whole life I’ve been looking for signs for the supernatural, for ghosts or demons or what have you…  I never dared to believe that I would ever find anything, much less that I would ever become friends with a living, breathing demon!”

Samuel put a hand on Vee’s shoulder.

”And I’m really happy you felt comfortable enough to tell us your secret,” he said. ”I know it couldn’t have been easy. I’m honored you felt you could trust us that much, and I promise you won’t regret it.”

Marco put his hand on Vee’s other shoulder.

”I used to think Cabin 7 was the coolest cabin in Connecticut,” he said. ”Now I know we’re the coolest in the whole world. I mean, who else can say they have a freakin’ shapeshifter as a friend?

”Aw, you guys…” Ve was struggled to hold back tears. She lost that battle, and big warm tears started rolling don her cheeks. ”I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” she sobbed. ”I wanted to, but I never dared.”

Masha, Samuel, and Marco acted in unison, standing up to embrace Vee in a big group hug.

”Hey, it’s okay,” Masha said. ”We get it. It took me forever to come out to my parents, much longer than it took for you to come out to us. It’s okay, we promise.”

”Th-thanks,” Vee said. She managed to wriggle one arm free to wipe the tears off her face. ”You guys really are the best.”

They stood huddled together for a minute, until Vee felt her love of hugs starting to give way to her fear of being restrained.

”I’m fine, I promise,” she said, trying to wriggle free of the group hug. ”I’m just so happy is all.”

Eventually, the Cabin 7 crew relented with their physical affection and let her go. They had breakfast to finish after all.

The three humans watched with equal amounts fascination and disgust as Vee ate an entire banana, without peeling it. ”The shell doesn’t taste that good, but hey, it’s the inside that counts, right?” she said. And really, who could argue with logic like that?

Her friends had a few more questions about her biology yet.

”Do you shed your skin like a snake?” Samuel asked while helping to gather the dishes.

”Uh-huh,” Vee hummed, putting the dishes in the sink. She decided to be lazy and do them later. ”I actually shed not too long ago. The old skin’s in a box in the basement, if you wanna see it.”

”…that’s a hard pass for me bro,” Marco said. ”Why would you even keep it?”

”What were we supposed to do, throw it out in the garbage?” Vee asked rhetorically. ”You saw how Jacob acted yesterday. After Camila locked him in his own cage, he hasn’t dared to go after us directly. But I don’t think he’s above digging through the trash to find proof there’s a demon living here. As is, everyone thinks he’s a raving lunatic conspiracy nut. Which, to be fair, he is, he just happened to stumble onto the truth this one time.”

The three friends nodded, for the first time realizing just what it would mean if Jacob actually did get proof of demon presence in Gravesfield. The town had a history of witch hunting already, who’s to say the people of today wouldn’t continue the tradition should they learn of Vee’s presence? Not to mention what the government might do to get their hands on an interdimensional traveler.

”It must’ve been incredibly hard for you,” Masha said. ”To have to pretend to be someone else, in a world you know nothing about.”

”It wasn’t always easy,” Vee admitted. ”But… well, it’s kinda what we basilisks do. Disguise, observe, lie, infiltrate, feed, survive… a lot of it was pure instinct. I’m a natural liar.”

Samuel shook his head. 

”’Liar’ is a bad word,” he said. ”Very strong, very stigmatized. Say you’re a born actor and a natural talent at improv.”

This made Vee laugh.

”If you say so,” she giggled. She cleared her throat and the next time she spoke, her voice was an exact imitation of Samuel’s. ”A lot of it was instinct. I’m a born actor and a natural talent at improv.”

”You’re so gonna have to help me write my résumé,” Masha said to Samuel, prompting a brief chuckle.

”I’ve been thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year, so I’ve been practicing how to make sentences longer,” he explained. He then had to spend the next fifteen minutes explaining what that was and deflecting questions his friends had about the novel he was totally going to write.

[beautysenshi]

𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 "𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃" 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒

GENERAL

full name:  mona aguilar .

nicknames:  n/a .

age:  twenty - six .

gender:  cis  female .

species:  superhero princess goddess girly from space ?

orientation:  bisexual , biromantic ! love love !

date of birth:  october 22nd .

place of birth:  manila ,  the philippines .

residence:  evermore .

occupation:  host of the v podcast / crime fighter

RELATIONSHIPS

parents:  andre aguilar  ( human , father ) ,  sofia  aguilar ( human , mother ) .

sibilings:  n/a .

significant other(s):  n/a  ( ace/adonis , deceased . i'm not including kunzite i don't think she remembers him atm . )

PHYSIQUE

faceclaim:  s.ue r.amirez .

eye color:  big brown eyed baby <3

hair color: dirty blonde - ish ?

height: 5′4″

ABILITIES

i'm too tired , i'll add these later rip !

character inspo:  minako aino  ( sailor moon ) ,  aphrodite (greek pantheon), venus (roman pantheon), britney spears' debut album;  aphrodite (selections of greek mythology, read by julie harris);  a golden chain of hearts;  “if you don’t fight for your love, what kind of love do you have?”;  a book full of dad jokes;  the maiden archetype;  sappho’s poetry;  not knowing how to go back to your old self;  a red ribbon;  being alone but not lonely;  the golden hour;  fighting until your very last breath;  venus by lady gaga

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄 !

first and foremost, mona is a girls girl. she is your best friend, your sister and she will be first in line to sacrifice herself for you, and she'll do it out of love. everything she does is in the name of love, whether the concept itself or for the people she loves. she's very much the embodiment of finding strength in tenderness, of love as not only romantic but also platonic and as an act of selflessness. a lot of my inspiration for her comes from julie harris' aphrodite (which is fitting, considering venus is her roman counterpart), particularly the line "unlike other olympians, (she) is never distracted from her duties. her work is her pleasure, her hobby. she thinks of nothing but love, and nobody expects more of her." mona knows who she is supposed to be and has fully embraced it. at least for the time being.

was living in london before waking up in evermore and that is where she consolidated her 'sailor v' persona and built her reputation. half of the authorities loved her, the other half hated her and the bad guys hated her even more, though it's mainly because she was actually doing a better job than the people in charge. it was truly her vigilante sh*t era.

SHE IS ROOTING FOR YOU !!  SHE'S YOUR BIGGEST FAN !!!!  mona is very much that one person who just met you but already hopes you'll achieve all of your goals and that all your dreams will come true !  she'll do whatever she can to help you get there ♡

talks a lot most of the time. like, seriously, but i think it's because she's been alone for most of her life (at least until artemis showed up) and now that she knows her purpose, she wants to get out there and find the other senshi.

when mona was thirteen, the boy she had a crush on told her she should wear a big red ribbon on her hair, because it'd look perfect on her. she's been wearing her hair like that ever since.

like the other senshi and their planets, she is basically the personification of venus / the goddess associated with it. and because venus' composition is said to be similar to the earth's, she feels even more responsible both for protecting not just the moon and their princess but also the earth.

on a similar note, she will absolutely take advantage of her title to give relationship advice and play matchmaker. girly is a big romantic despite having been cursed to never find love.

kinda didn't want to be a champion of justice at first because it's not like she's getting paid for it. rip

feels the biggest amount of guilt for what happened in their previous incarnation, which is also one of the reasons why she is so devoted to her duty as a sailor guardian. she *needs* to make things right this time around.

keeping with tradition, she hasn’t really revealed herself as the host of the v podcast either. i think girly is too comfortable keeping it private for now, especially since she hasn't found the other senshi yet.

has a big, big rose quartz collection. very much lives by the notion that one can never have too much rose quartz! if you’re feeling sad, she’ll do her best to cheer you up with your favorite meal, movie/show and a pretty rose quartz, probably carved ♡  she also loves pearls and pearl jewelry!

as the guardian of beauty, more specifically things that are universally pleasing to the eye, mona is Huge on beautifully decorated spaces and just aesthetics in general. she also has a knack for collecting those dainty teacups with delicate drawings on them! that being said, she’s also a major advocate of finding beauty in Everything, even in difficult situations. beauty is about the essence, not the vessel!

she's been doing the whole sailor guardian thing for a while now, a little over a year, and she's been doing it on her own (with the exception of artemis, her guardian/cat). these past few years have also been her loneliest.

i think. mona has never taken the time to grieve the loss of the girl she was before becoming sailor v, and it got even worse after she remembered her past as venus. she simply doesn’t have the time to think about the life she could have had, she has a duty and that is more important than anything she could’ve become … or so she tells herself.

as i mentioned before, mona is doomed to never find love, having been sort of cursed by one of her planet's own soldiers. she’ll always put something/someone else before it, mainly the moon princess, the other senshi and her duty.

HOWEVER, that doesn’t stop her from crushing on people regularly and having the occasional hook up. she really is a romantic little baby and will take what she can get, even if it’s not real real love. what a bittersweet girlie. oh, and she doesn’t believe in heterosexuality sorry ♡

terrible with sayings , she always messes them up or uses them in the wrong context . girlie is trying her best !

an extremely athletic girlie and an incredible gymnast! would rather climb up walls and jump through windows than use the actual door.

her bday is on october 22nd, making her a libra! i very much think she has taurus placements though, either moon or rising.

[qceenmother]

             “I really don’t think that is how the expression goes.”

@empathiiisms liked x

[yamayuandadu]

The Two (or more) Ishtars or A Certain Scandalous Easter Claim Proved to be The Worship of Reverend Alexander Hislop

Once upon a time the official facebook page of Richard Dawkins' foundation posted a graphic according to which the holiday of Easter is just a rebranded celebration of the Mesopotamian mythology superstar Ishtar, arguing that the evidence is contained in its very name. As everyone knows, Dawkins is an online talking head notable for discussing his non-belief in such an euphoric way that it might turn off even the most staunch secularists and for appearing in some reasonably funny memes about half a decade ago. Bizarrely enough, however, the same claim can be often found among the crowds dedicated to crystal healing, Robert Graves' mythology fanfiction, indigo children and similar dubiously esoteric content. What's yet more surprising is that once in a while it shows up among a certain subset of fundamentalist Christians, chiefly the types who believe giants are real (and, of course, satanic), the world  is ruled by a secret group of Moloch worshipers and fossils were planted by the devil to led the sheeple astray from the truth about earth being 6000 years old, tops. Of course, to anyone even just vaguely familiar with Christianity whose primary language isn't English this claim rightfully seems completely baffling – after all it's evident in most languages that the name of the holiday celebrating Jesus' resurrection, and many associated customs, are derived from the earlier Jewish Pascha (Passover) which has nothing to do with Ishtar other than having its origin in the Middle East. Why would the purported association only be evident  in English and not in Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, virtually any language other than English and its close relatives – languages which generally didn't have anything to do with Mesopotamia or early christianity? Read on to find out what sort of sources let this eclectic selection of characters arrive to the same baffling conclusion, why are they hilariously wrong, and – most importantly – where you can actually find a variety of Ishtars (or at least reasonably Ishtar-like figures) under different names instead.

The story of baffling Easter claims begins in Scotland in the 19th century. A core activity of theologians in many faiths through history was (and sometimes still is) finding alleged proof of purported “idolatry” or other “impure” practices among ideological opponents, even these from within the same religion – and a certain Presbyterian minister, Alexander Hislop, was no stranger to this traditional pastime. Like many Protestants in this period, he had an axe to grind with the catholic church  - though not for the reasons many people are not particularly fond of this institution nowadays. What Hislop wanted to prove was much more esoteric – he believed that it's the Babylon known from the Book of Revelations. Complete with the beast with seven heads, blasphemous names and other such paraphernalia, of course. This wasn't a new claim – catholicism was equated with the New Testament Babylon for as long as Protestantism was a thing (and earlier catholicism itself regarded other religions as representing it). What set Hislop apart from dozens of other similar attempts like that was that he fancied himself a scholar of history and relied on the brand new accounts of excavations in what was once the core sphere of influence of the Assyrian empire (present day Iraq and Syria), supplemented by various Greek and Roman classics – though also by his own ideas, generally varying from baseless to completely unhinged. Hislop compiled his claims in the book The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife. You can find it on archive.org if you want to torment yourself and read the entire thing – please do not give clicks directly to any fundie sites hosting it though. How does the history of Easter and Ishtar look like according to Hislop? Everything started with Semiramis, who according to his vision was a historical figure and a contemporary of Noah's sons, here also entirely historical. Semiramis is either entirely fictional or a distorted Greek and Roman account of the 9th century BC Assyrian queen Shammuramat, who ruled as a regent for a few years after the death of her husband Shamshi Adad V – an interesting piece of historical trivia, but arguably not really a historical milestone, and by the standards of Mesopotamian history she's hardly a truly ancient figure. Hislop didn't even rely on the primary sources dealing with the legend of Semiramis though, but with their medieval christian interpretations, which cast her in the role of an adulterer first and foremost due to association of ancient Mesopotamia with any and all vices.

Hislop claims that Semiramis was both the Whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelations and the first idolater, instituting worship of herself as a goddess. This goddess, he argues, was Astarte (a combination of two flimsy claims – Roman claim that Semiramis' name means “dove” and now generally distrusted assumption that Phoenician Astarte had the same symbols as Greek Aphrodite) and thus Ishtar, but he also denotes her as a mother goddess – which goes against everything modern research has to say about Ishtar, of course. However, shoddy scholarship relying on few sources was the norm at the time, and Hislop on top of that was driven by religious zeal. In further passages, he identified this “universal mother” with Phrygian Cybele, Greek Rhea and Athena, Egyptian Isis, Taoist Xi Wangmu (sic) and many more, pretty much at random, arguing all of them were aspects of nefarious Semiramis cult which infected all corners of the globe. He believed that she was venerated alongside a son-consort, derived from Semiramis' even more fictional husband Ninus (a mythical founder of Assyria according to Greek authors, absent from any Mesopotamian sources; his name was derived from Nineveh, not from any word for son like Hislop claims), who he identifies with biblical Nimrod (likewise not a historical figure, probably a distorted reflection of the god Ninurta). Note the similarity with certain ideas perpetrated by Frazer's Golden Bough and his later fans like Jung, Graves and many neopagan authors – pseudohistory, regardless of ideological background, has a very small canon of genuinely original claims. Ishtar was finally introduced to Britain by “druids” (note once again the similarity to the baffling integration of random Greek, Egyptian or Mesopotamian deities into Graves-derived systems of fraudulent trivia about “universal mother goddesses” often using an inaccurate version of Celtic myths as framework). This eventually lead to the creation of the holiday of Easter. Pascha doesn't come up in the book at all, as far as I can tell. All of this is basically just buildup for the book's core shocking reveal: catholic veneration of Mary and depictions of Mary with infant Jesus in particular are actually the worship of Semiramis and her son-consort Ninus, and only the truly faithful can reveal this evil purpose of religious art. At least so claims Hislop. This bizarre idea is laughable, but it remains disturbingly persistent – do you remember the Chick Tracts memes from a few years ago, for example? These comics were in part inspired by Hislop's work. Many fundamentalist christian communities appear to hold his confabulations in high esteem up to this day – and many people who by design see themselves as a countercultural opposition to christianity independently gleefully embrace them, seemingly ignorant of their origin. While there are many articles debunking Hislop's claim about Easter, few of them try to show how truly incomprehensibly bad his book is as a whole – hopefully the following examples will be sufficient to illustrate this point: -Zoroaster is connected to Moloch because of the Zoroastrian holy fire - and Moloch is, of course Ninus. Note that while a few Greek authors believed Zoroaster to be the “king of Bactria” mythical accounts presented as a contemporary of Ninus, the two were regarded as enemies – Hislop doesn't even follow the pseudohistory he uses as proof! -Zoroaster is also Tammuz. Tammuz is, of course, yet another aspect of Ninus. -demonic character is ascribed to relics of the historical Buddha; also he's Osiris. And Ninus. -an incredibly racist passage explains why the biblical Nimrod (identified with – you guessed it - Ninus) might be regarded as “ugly and deformed” like Haephestus and thus identical to him (no, it makes no sense in context either) - Hislop thinks he was black (that's not the word he uses, naturally) which to him is the same thing. -Attis is a deification of sin itself -the pope represents Dagon (incorrectly interpreted as a fish god in the 19th century) -Baal and Bel are two unrelated words – this is meant to justify the historicity of the Tower of Babel by asserting it was built by Ninus, who was identical to Bel (in reality a title of Marduk); Bel, according to Hislop, means “the confounder (of languages)” rather than “lord” -the term “cannibal” comes from a made up term for priests of Baal (Ninus) who according to Hislop ate children. In reality it's a Spanish corruption of the endonym of one of the first tribes encountered by the Spanish conquerors in America, and was not a word used in antiquity – also, as I discussed in my Baal post, the worship of Baal did not involve cannibalism. This specific claim of Hislop's is popular with the adherents of prophetic doomsday cult slash wannabe terrorist group QAnon today, and shows up on their “redpilling” graphics. -Ninus was also Cronos; Cronos' name therefore meant “horned one” in reference to Mesopotamian bull/horned crown iconography and many superficially similar gods from all over the world were the same as him - note the similarity to Margaret Murray's obsession with her made up idea of worldwide worship of a “horned god” (later incorporated into Wicca). -Phaeton, Orpheus and Aesculapius are the same figure and analogous to Lucifer (and in turn to Ninus) -giants are real and they're satanists (or were, I think Hislop argues they're dead already). They are (were?) also servants of Ninus. -as an all around charming individual Hislop made sure to include a plethora of comments decrying the practices of various groups at random as digressions while presenting his ridiculous theories – so, while learning about the forbidden history of Easter, one can also learn why the author thinks Yezidi are satanists, for example -last but not least, the very sign of the cross is not truly christian but constitutes the worship of Tammuz, aka Ninus (slowly losing track of how many figures were regarded as one and the same as him by Hislop). Based on the summary above it's safe to say that Hislop's claim is incorrect – and, arguably, malevolent (and as such deserves scrutiny, not further possibilities for spreading). However, this doesn't answer the question where does the name of Easter actually come from? As I noted in the beginning, in English (and also German) it's a bit of an oddity – it  actually was derived from a preexisting pagan term, at least if we are to believe the word of the monk Bede, who in the 8th century wrote that the term is a derivative of “Eosturmonath,” eg. “month of Eostre” - according to him a goddess. There are no known inscriptions mentioning such a goddess from the British Isles or beyond, though researchers involved in reconstructing proto-indo-european language assume that “Eostre” would logically be a derivative of the same term as  the name of the Greek Eos and of the vedic Ushas, and the Austriahenae goddesses from Roman inscriptions from present day Germany  – eg.  a word simply referring to dawn, and by extension to a goddess embodying it. This is a sound, well researched theory, so while early medieval chroniclers sometimes cannot be trusted, I see no reason to doubt Bede's account.

While Ushas is a prominent goddess in the Vedas, Eos was rather marginal in Greek religion (see her Theoi entry for details), and it's hard to tell to what degree Bede's Eostre was similar to either of them beyond plausibly being a personification of dawn. Of course, the hypothetical proto-indo-european dawn goddess all of these could be derived from would have next to nothing to do with Ishtar. While the history of the name of Easter (though not the celebration itself) is undeniably interesting, I suppose it lacks the elements which make the fake Ishtar claim a viral hit – the connection is indirect, and an equivalent of the Greek Eos isn't exactly exciting (Eos herself is, let be honest, remembered at best as an obscure part of the Odyssey), while Ishtar is understood by many as “wicked” sex goddess (a simplification, to put it very lightly) which adds a scandalous, sacrilegious dimension to the baffling lie, explaining its appeal to Dawkins' fans, arguably. As demonstrated above, Hislop's theories are false and adapting them for any new context – be it christian, atheist or neopagan – won't change that, but are there any genuine examples of, well, “hidden Ishtars”? If that's the part of the summary which caught your attention, rejoice – there is a plenty of these to be found in Bronze Age texts. I'd go as far as saying that most of ancient middle eastern cultures from that era felt compelled to include an Ishtar ersatz in their pantheons. Due to the popularity of the original Ishtar, she was almost a class of figures rather than a single figure – a situation almost comparable to modern franchising, when you think about it. The following figures can be undeniably regarded as “Ishtar-like” in some capacity or even as outright analogs:

Astarte (or Ashtart, to go with a more accurate transcription of the oldest recorded version of the name) – the most direct counterpart of Ishtar there is: a cognate of her own name. Simply, put Astarte is the “Levantine”equivalent of the “Mesopotamian” Ishtar. In the city of Mari, the names were pretty much used interchangeably, and some god lists equate them, though Astarte had a fair share of distinct traits. In Ugaritic mythology, which forms the core of our understanding of the western Semitic deities, she was a warrior and hunter (though it's possible that in addition to conventional weapons she was also skilled at wielding curses), and was usually grouped with Anat. Both of them were regarded as the allies of Baal, and assist him against his enemies in various myth. They also were envisioned to spend a lot of time together – one ritual calls them upon as a pair from distant lands where they're hunting together, while a fragmentary myth depicts both of them arriving in the household of the head god El and taking pity on Yarikh, the moon god, seemingly treated as a pariah. Astarte's close relation to Baal is illustrated by her epithet, “face of Baal” or “of the name of Baal.” They were often regarde as a couple and even late, Hellenic sources preserve a traditional belief that Astarte and “Adados” (Baal) ruled together as a pair. In some documents from Ugarit concerned with what we would call foreign policy today they were invoked together as the most prominent deities. It's therefore possible that she had some role related to human politics. She was regarded as exceptionally beautiful and some texts favorably describe mortal women's appearance by comparing them to Astarte. In later times she was regarded as a goddess of love, but it's unclear if that was a significant aspect of her in the Bronze Age. It's equally unclear if she shared Ishtar's astral character – in Canaan there were seemingly entirely separate dawn and dusk deities. Despite clamis you might see online, Astarte was not the same as the mother goddess Asherah. In the Baal cycle they actually belong to the opposing camps. Additionally, the names are only superficially similar (one starts with an aleph, the other with an ayin) and have different etymology. Also, that famous sculpture of a very blatantly Minoan potnia theron? Ugaritic in origin but not a depiction of either Astarte or Asherah.

The Egyptians, due to extensive contact with Canaan and various Syrian states in the second half of the Bronze Age, adapted Astarte (and by extension Anat) into their own pantheon. Like in Ugarit, her warrior character was emphasized. An Egyptian innovation was depicting her as a cavalry goddess of sorts – associated with mounted combat and chariots. In Egypt, Ptah, the head god of Memphis and divine craftsman, was regarded as her father. In most texts, Astarte is part of Seth's inner circle of associates – however, in this context Seth wasn't the slayer of Osiris, but a heroic storm god similar to Baal. The so-called Astarte papyrus presents an account of a myth eerily similar to the Ugaritic battle between Baal and Yam – starring Seth as the hero, with Astarte in a supporting role resembling that played by Shaushka, another Ishtar analog, in the Hittite song of Hedammu, which will be discussed below.

Shaushka – a Hurrian and Hittite goddess whose name means “the magnificent one” in the Hurrian language. Hurrian was widely spoken in ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia (and in northernmost parts of the Levant – up to one fifth of personal names from Ugaritic documents were Hurrian iirc), but has no descendants today and its relation to any extant languages is uncertain. In Hittite texts she was often referred to with an “akkadogram” denoting Ishtar's name (or its Sumerian equivalent) instead of a phonetic  spelling of her own (there was an analogous practice regarding the sun gods), while in Egyptian and Syrian texts there are a few references to “Ishtar Hurri” - “Ishtar of the Hurrians” - who is argued by researchers to be one and the same as Shaushka. Despite Shaushka's Hurrian name and her prominence in myths popular both among Hittites and Hurrians, her main cult center was the Assyrian city of Nineveh, associated with Ishtar herself as well, and there were relatively few temples dedicated to her in the core Hittite sphere of influence in Anatolia. Curiously, both the oldest reference to Shaushka and to the city of Nineveh come from the same text, stating that a sheep was sacrificed to her there. While most of her roles overlap with Ishtar's (she too was associated with sex, warfare and fertility), here are two distinct features of Shaushka that set her apart as unique: one is the fact she was perceived in part as a masculine deity, despite being consistently described as a woman – in the famous Yazılıkaya reliefs she appears twice, both among gods and goddesses. In Alalakh she was depicted in outfits combining elements of male and female clothing. Similar fashion preferences were at times attributed to Ninshubur, the attendant of Ishtar's Sumerian forerunner Inanna – though in that case they were likely the result of conflation of Ninshubur with the male messenger deity Papsukkal, while in the case of Shaushka the dual nature seems to be inherent to her (I haven't seen any in depth study of this matter yet, sadly, so I can't really tell confidently which modern term in my opinion describes Shaushka's character the best). Her two attendants, musician goddesses Ninatta and Kulitta, do not share it. Shaushka's other unique niche is her role in exorcisms and incantations, and by extension with curing various diseases – this role outlived her cult itself, as late Assyrian inscriptions still associated the “Ishtar of Nineveh” (at times viewed as separate from the regular Ishtar) with healing. It can be argued that even her sexual aspect was connected to healing, as she was invoked to cure impotence. The most significant myth in which she appears is the cycle dedicated to documenting the storm god's (Teshub for the Hurrians, Tarhunna for the Hittites) rise to power. Shaushka is depicted as his sister and arguably most reliable ally, and plays a prominent role in two sections in particular – the Song of Hedammu and the Song of Ullikummi. In the former, she seemingly comes up with an elaborate plan to defeat a new enemy of her brother - the sea monster Hedammu - by performing a seductive dance and song montage (with her attendants as a support act) and offering an elixir to him. The exact result is uncertain, but Hedammu evidently ends up vanquished. In the latter, she attempts to use the same gambit against yet another new foe, the “diorite man” Ullikummi – however, since he is unfeeling like a rock, she fails; some translators see this passage as comedic. However, elsewhere in the Song, the storm god's main enemy Kumarbi and his minions view Shaushka as a formidable warrior, and in the early installment of the cycle, Song of LAMMA, she seemingly partakes in a fight. In another myth, known only from a few fragments and compared to the Sumerian text “Inanna and the huluppu tree,” Shaushka takes care of “Ḫašarri” -  a personification of olive oil, or a sentient olive tree. It seems that she has to protect this bizarre entity from various threats. While Shaushka lived on in Mesopotamia as “Ishtar of Nineveh,” this was far from the only “variant”of Ishtar in her homeland.

Nanaya was another such goddess. A few Sumerian hymns mention her alongside Inanna, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar, by the time of Sargon of Akkad virtually impossible to separate from her. As one composition puts it, Nanaya was “properly educated by holy Inana” and “counselled by holy Inana.” Initially she was most likely a part of Inanna's circle of deities in her cult center, Uruk, though due to shared character they eventually blurred together to a large degree. Just like Inanna/Ishtar, Nanaya was a goddess of love, described as beautiful and romantically and sexually active, and she too had an astral character. She was even celebrated during the same holidays as Inanna. Some researchers go as far as suggest Nanaya was only ever Inanna/Ishtar in her astral aspect alone and not a separate goddess. However, there is also evidence of her, Inanna and the sky god An being regarded as a trinity of distinct tutelary deities in Uruk. Additionally, king Melishipak's kudurru shown above shows both Nanaya (seated) and Ishtar/Inanna (as a star). Something peculiar to Nanaya was her later association with the scribe god Nabu. Sometimes Nabu's consort was the the goddess Tashmetu instead, but I can't find any summary explaining potential differences between them – it seems just like Nanaya, she was a goddess of love, including its physical aspects. Regardless of the name used to describe Nabu's wife, she was regarded as a sage and scribe like him – this arguably gives her a distinct identity she lacked in her early role as part of Inanna's circle. As the above examples demonstrate, the popularity of the “Ishtar type” was exceptional in the Bronze Age – but is it odd from a modern perspective? The myths dedicated to her are still quite fun to read today – much like any hero of ancient imagination she has a plethora of adversaries, a complex love life (not to mention many figures not intended to be read as her lovers originally but described in such terms that it's easy to see them this way today – including other women), a penchant for reckless behavior – and most importantly a consistent, easy to summarize character. She shouldn't be a part of modern mass consciousness only because of false 19th century claims detached from her actual character (both these from Hislop's works and “secular”claims about her purported “real”character based on flimsy reasoning and shoddy sources) – isn't a female character who is allowed to act about the same way as male mythical figures do without being condemned for it pretty much what many modern mythology retellings try to create? Further reading: On Astarte: -entry in the Iconography of Deities and Demons in Ancient Near East database by Izak Cornelius -‛Athtart in Late Bronze Age Syrian Texts by Mark S. Smith -ʿAthtartu’s Incantations and the Use of Divine Names as Weapons by Theodore J. Lewis -The Other Version of the Story of the Storm-god’s Combat with the Sea in the Light of Egyptian, Ugaritic, and Hurro-Hittite Texts by Noga Ayali-Darshan -for a summary of evidence that Astarte has nothing to do with Asherah see A Reassessment of Asherah With Further Considerations of the Goddess by Steve A. Wiggins On Shaushka: -Adapting Mesopotamian Myth in Hurro-Hittite Rituals at Hattuša: IŠTAR, the Underworld, and the Legendary Kings by Mary R. Bacharova -Ishtar seduces the Sea-serpent. A new join in the epic of Ḫedammu (KUB 36, 56 + 95) and its meaning for the battle between Baal and Yam in Ugaritic tradition by Meindert Dijkstra -Ištar of Nineveh Reconsidered by Gary Beckman -Shaushka, the Traveling Goddess by Graciela Gestoso Singer -Hittite Myths by Harry A. Hoffner jr. -The Hurritic Myth about Šaušga of Nineveh and Ḫašarri (CTH 776.2) by Meindert Dijkstra -The West Hurian Pantheon and its Background by Alfonso Archi On Nanaya: -entry in Brill’s New Pauly by Thomas Richter -entry from the Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses project by Ruth Horry -A tigi to Nanaya for Ishbi-Erra from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature -A balbale to Inana as Nanaya from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature -More Light on Nanaya by Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman -More on the Nature and History of the Goddess Nanaya by Piotr Steinkeller A few introductory Ishtar/Inanna myths: -Inanna's descent to the netherworld -Inanna and the huluppu tree -Inanna and Enki -Enki and the world order -Inanna and Ebih -Dumuzid and Enkimdu

[faelapis]

so. while this was confirmed a year ago, new tweets by ian jq have reawakened the discourse about humans being the first intelligent life gems encountered. note intelligent life, not organic life. alien animals still died from previous invasions, but humans are the first intelligent creatures gems encountered. 

apparently, the party line on twitter (where nuance goes to die) is that it’s too “convenient” that humans are the first other intelligent species gems met.

i take a few issues with that assessment: 

a) “it was pink’s first colony, isn’t it convenient the diamond concerned with organic life owns the first planet populated by intelligent organics? wouldn’t they have died if any other diamond got them? isn’t that super lucky?”

no. we know rose/pink was very interested in organic life from before earth. she always thought aliens were cool, interesting, fun, and liked learning about them and keeping some as pets - such as the rainbow worms. we know she visited the others’ colonies, even if she doesn’t own them. she’s the only diamond who is simultaneously “selfish” enough to visit colonies up-close on a whim because it’s fun AND doesn’t see herself as too good to play with local organics.

so, then, why on earth (hah) wouldn’t she care if there had been intelligent life on any of the other planets? she didn’t fight for earth just because she “owned” it. she cared because she was able to form connections to humans... which she would have done regardless of which diamond’s colony it was. if anything, ownership is a hindrance to her usual romps, because blue & yellow expected her to stay put in her moon base. smile and wave. be a “leader”. 

b) “how is it realistic that humans are the first intelligent life gems have met?”

the SU universe as a whole is not a universe filled with life. it has been framed as cold, animalistic, overall lifeless, purposeless, and one in which you gaze at an empty sky and beg for an authority figure to give your life meaning. this works much, much better if life, especially intelligent life, is incredibly sparse. they are small flickers in a cold void. it adds to the feeling that both humans and gems feel of loneliness and pointlessness, where you create these intricate structures of organized almost-religion to feel devoted to a purpose. this existentialism, which we will explore further below, is a huge part of SU’s themes.

c) another theme - and this one is important - is that gems and humans have been treated as this mirror parallel of life, people, and society (tm) for the entire runtime of the show. hence, steven as the bridge. a bridge, usually, connects two sides, not five. they are more similar than they are different - to the point where you can use gemkind to comment on how humans are like, and see some of the horrors and tragedy of what humanity looks like “from the outside”. not once has there ever been implied to be any other intelligent species to disrupt this elegant, thematic dichotomy. ever. 

d) unlike fanon speculation, the show has always been very careful about never implying there were any previous rebellions. SU is not a star wars-esque universe populated with a million different intelligent species and cyclical rebellions + alliances between them. it is a big, cold, empty void, with tiny pockets of fragile life. which is part of why the connection between two alien species is so remarkable. it is the exception, not the rule.

e) many of us who looked at homeworld in a not-badfaith light already came to the conclusion that humans are probably the only intelligent life they’ve met. (based on what we know about the universe, its logic, the themes, the implications of other colonies, pink diamond’s personality, no other species ever bonded with enough to fight for, etc etc,)... and those of us who did, including myself, have (lovingly!!) compared the crystal gems to hippies or eco-terrorists. this 100% holds up to how homeworld gems generally, and the diamonds specifically, see them. 

this is why blue thinks a “solution” to pink being sad about the invasion is to create the zoo. it’s a petty conflict, from her perspective, of environmentalism vs conservationism. like how, if a capitalist is kinda sad about a rainforest being bulldozed, you might as well just take some pretty toucans and panthers and stick them in a zoo. they’re preserved for humans to enjoy. problem “solved”. it worked with the kyanite colony & rainbow worms, why not here?

this is part of why lapis accuses the CGs of not caring about gemkind. they put this silly little dirtball above gemkind, starting a war that hurt (”real”) people? 

this is also why pink, mocking the other diamonds, says “you wish to save these life-forms at the expense of our own? ha! don't be absurd!”. gemkind needs resources to create more gems. so, to the diamonds, of course that’s more important than Making The Bees and Monkeys Sad. they’re not even directly killing them, they’re just taking resources. it’s not “””their fault””” they need ‘em too, gems are more important. the same way, to us, humans are always the most important. many of us don’t give a damn about how we hurt animals.

f) it galls me that anything but the darkest possible interpretation, even when it makes perfect sense with what we know, is always seen as “convenient” by people who watched nostalgia critic once and think they’re now great media critics. i saw similar comments to jasper being brought back to life, even though it made perfect sense with what’s implied about the powers of the diamonds. most of that, too, was woven together by paying close attention to implication, not outright stated in a lore dump - but that doesn’t make it “convenient” in the bad way. it makes it the logical outcome of this world, if you paid attention.

like jasper coming back to life, it also told us something thematic about the diamonds’ absolute power over life & death. steven is kinda horrified, even if it’s a good thing, that things can ever be fixed. he still feels like he needs to be “punished”. he holds this toxic mindset that punishment is more important than healing, because of the pit of self-harm he’s fallen into... which is kind of how some people see the diamonds, and the world as a whole. 

even if things can get better, it doesn’t matter. at least not as much as punishing and distancing ourselves from the “bad people”. even though, actually, things CAN get better, and that’s more dependent on systemic change than it is on punishing “bad” individuals... that doesn’t fascinate them. it’s a fucked-up idea of “consequences” that is sadly prevalent in fandoms: they’d rather the world be doomed if they get to kill the bad people for it, than the world being slowly healed in this bittersweet way that includes everyone.

and i’m tired of that. on the whole, fiction is a reflection of this very dour, justice-oriented view of the world where we can only gain satisfaction from punishing the bad guys responsible. SU’s response to that is, that actually, just this once... no! the world gets better, and the “how” doesn’t revolve around individual punishment. it’s trying to heal everyone. 

g) it seems to me that for a substantial amount of people, “convenience” has less to do with the themes and logic of the world than it does with wanting canon to live up to their fanon image of homeworld and the diamonds. even if that means a ton of offscreen intelligent life dying Just for the sake of a 1-v-1 earth-vs-gems conflict, with no agency in the story. i don’t understand how that would make it better. all other life we’ve seen have been animals. pink was around for other colonies - even if she didn’t personally “own” them - yet didn’t care deeply enough to fight for them. because she couldn’t bond with worms the same way as humans. (yknow, unfortunately, for the worms :’<)

also, you don’t NEED other species of intelligent life to have been made extinct to still have a somewhat cynical interpretation of the diamonds’ intentions here. even if it makes the world less grimdark in praxis. it’s not enough to be aware of humans in the abstract, blue and yellow still won’t listen. you need to actually interact with humans in order to learn about / care for organics that don’t serve a purpose in your system. this was just the first chance gemkind had to do so. it makes sense that some would be curious, while others more jaded and dismissive, after encountering a universe mostly made of the lifeless & animals.

to give the other diamonds some credit, they’ve probably encountered plenty organic life, and thus have built up a bias that everyone but gemkind are aimless, animalistic life forms, and its up to them to give themselves purpose. why should humans be any different? oh wow, they live in groups? big whoop. so do ants. they build nests? so do birds. they babble? so do parrots and rainbow worms. they still serve no purpose. they still die if you breathe on them.

it’s only when blue meets greg - thousands of years later - that we see even the tiniest of cracks, in which blue is made aware of some level of emotional intelligence, but is still firmly entrenched in the view that he’s just a Slightly more advanced organic than others. like... puppies comforting you. she was surprised he could even do that much. this was a slow process for rose as well! 

but anyway, at the point of the war, to many gems, they are concerned first and foremost with gemkind. life matters because of your singular, gem-oriented “purpose”... but some gems, like pink, who never saw herself as a justified goddess, take the opposite approach. they don’t see themselves as “above” other life out of either lack of awareness of the capabilities of intelligent life forms or a self-appointed Higher Purpose. they’re curious, and then, willing to fight for life they can bond with, once they learn to love. 

which brings me to...

h) how a big theme of the show as a whole is selflessness vs selfishness. 

here, the crystal gems as a whole have actually been on the side of selfishness, from homeworld’s perspective. the end of gathering resources would mean they would no longer create more gems. which, to HW, is selfish. which... of course it is, if you think you’re the only intelligent life out there. 

the way homeworld gems express themselves is through an elaborate system of self-perpetuation and creation, in which the emergence of more gems is a higher purpose for the collective. the individual doesn’t matter. to them, the random creatures they find on other planets do not matter. they’re just organics.

humans matter to pink because she’s, like i said, curious about alien life, and less convinced about her own purpose... but also more personal, relationship-driven, and cares about what happens the specific individuals she subjectively bonds with, rather than prioritizing the overall “needs” of her species, like a good queen bee is “supposed” to do. 

homeworld thinks that no individual feelings - even a diamond’s - is more important than perpetuating of the system that gives their species meaning. most gems are happy to be shattered for that cause, because they’ve never formed those “selfish” relationships that makes life worth living without purpose. so actually, yes, this works with pink’s motivation, and blue and yellow not being as easily swayed works with theirs.

(all of this is extremely relevant to the arc steven has in “future”, btw. he needs a reason to be needed, purpose. and pearl’s arc, white diamond’s arc, jasper’s arc, etc etc - living for purpose vs living for relationships and selfish exploration of the self is a massive theme of the whole show!! at leaast if you pay attention to anything more subtle than merely “here’s a lore dump!”, which the show has always avoided. it’s more sublime than that. you, too, are supposed to only have a small, subjective understanding of the world, like steven does, which teaches you to value subjective perspectives. your purpose is not higher than the agency of others, and you shouldn’t control the world.)

i) it makes dramatic sense, actually, to center the conflict around the first time gems have met another species that stand a chance of understanding them! hence steven is a bridge. that’s a good basis for mirroring two species, a conflict that raises interesting questions about how we, too, see non-human life, the premium we place on emotional connection vs “purpose”, and how even when we learn to value humans that are different from us, we might still fuck around and bulldoze a rainforest, if it’s convenient and we can justify it internally. 

and again, it’s more logical. as we know it, the story went “long ago, gems took resources all over the universe, until pink found a species intelligent enough some of them learned to bond with on a deeper level than Cool Pet Worm”, NOT “long ago, gems zapped a bunch of intelligent species - which we will not mention ever, or give any agency in the story - and pink just ignored that, until she randomly decided humans were more important than all those, for no reason, even though she’d met countless intelligent species before”. 

the former makes more sense in ~every reading of canon, be it thematic, logical, personal, character-driven, etc~... except the one most favored by SU’s most badfaith of critics, which is that the only “logical” way for the story to go is one in which we can safely label the diamonds as inhumanly, unchangably bad, rather than having base assumptions, motivations and logics that aren’t so different from many non-dictator humans.

i think for some, they protest not because that makes more sense on a thematic, logical or character level, but simply because they want to. they’re USED to being fed that narrative satisfaction has to do with seeing the bad guys face comeuppance, in place of inclusive, welfare-oriented healing. faced with storytelling that rejects their view of justice while also openly being subjective, sublime, and loving of all of its characters, not just the “nice” ones, they see it as a “failure” to be what they’re used to. 

if the world CAN systemically heal in a way that includes people you personally don’t forgive, that must be a “flaw”. if those “bad guys” haven’t actually killed hundreds of intelligent species offscreen who have no chance to heal, that doesn’t fuel your justification for the most cynical interpretation of justice possible, so that, too, “must” be a “flaw”. if it’s framed as possible for them to work towards undoing their harm, that deprives you of the satisfaction of edgy punishment for unhealable hurt, so that, too, is of course a “flaw”. any world where healing is possible for everyone, and the perpetrators can contribute, must be a “flaw”, to a mind only concerned with the validity of vengeance. 

even when the story is perfectly candid that you’re personally allowed to be hurt and traumatized (like steven - and most characters, really), you’re still allowed to feel... you just can’t expect society as a whole to abandon its “inclusive healing” model and function on your logic; that your pain is solved by vengeance. it isn’t.

in short, cry about it. 

[angelanatel]

Asherah haElah .:. 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚 .:. אשרה .:. μακαρία .:. from Yonah Ben-Ashera on Vimeo.

.:.

Asherah haElah, "Asherah, the Goddess", is a short movie which presents a conjectural reconstruction of the original text of Proverbs 31:28.

One of the most common methods which was used by the priestly editors of the Tanakh (the basis of "the Old Testament") in order to obfuscate all traces of earlier polytheistic tradition was to replace words which they intended to suppress with others that had similar-sounding syllables.

In order to enforce an orthodox interpretation of the texts, subtle changes were made to the original words by the addition of vowel points (niqqud) from the early Middle Ages onward.

Both strategies were considered legitimate especially where the name of a deity was concerned and there was ample ancient precedents to be found in the earlier scribal tradition.

Even though Asherah had revered as the wife of El (the name which predated that of YHWH, which according to the scriptures was first revealed to Moses) the later monarchs and religious reformers did their best to remove Her from veneration with a zeal that was repeated many centuries later during the anti-Marian extremism of the Protestant Reformation.

Asherah (Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚 : 'ṯrt ) (Hebrew: אשרה‎) was the original mother of the Elohim ("the Gods") in ancient Semitic religion as Her title, Qaniyatu Elima, meaning "the Creatrix of the Elohim" (Ugaritic : 𐎖𐎐𐎊𐎚 𐎛𐎍𐎎 : qnyt ʾlm) fully attests.

In the Ugaritic texts (before 1200 BCE) Athirat is called 'Lady Athirat of the Sea' (Ugaritic : 𐎗𐎁𐎚 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚 𐎊𐎎 rbt ʼaṯrt ym : rabat ʼAṯirat yammi) or as more fully translated 'She who walks upon the sea' (Yam Kinnereth - Lake Galilee), the name understood by various translators and commentators to be from the Ugaritic root ʼaṯr 'stride' cognate with the Hebrew root ʼšr of the same meaning.

In Biblical Hebrew the same root word may be translated as both "happy" and "blessed", exactly the same as the Greek word μακαρία "Makaria" which also has both of these meanings and appears in the Septuagint as a translation of the name that women gave to Leah at the birth of her son.

Genesis 30:13

Leah said: I have been blessed! Women will call me "Blessed." So she named him Asher [Blessing].

Proverbs 31:28

And her children shall call her "Blessed"

In the Ugaritic epic of Keret the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon are named as especially sacred to Her and are document as divine epithets :

Athirat of Tyre Elath of Sidon

Asher, the son of Leah, was the eponymous ancestor of the Tribe of Asher whose limited territory significantly included both Tyre and Sidon, famous in the ancient world as the sacred temple sites of Asherah.

_____________________________

The memory of Asherah was never fulled erased from Jewish mystical tradition.

It resurfaces in Qabalistic works such as the Pardes Rimmonim ("The Orchard of Pomegranates") and the Book of Zohar as one of the earliest names of the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit who is the Bride of G-d.

The Shekinah is still invoked in Sabbath hymns which contain the chorus of "Bo-i Kallah, Shekinah" (come to us, O Bride, Shekinah).

_____________

from "An Altar of Earth:Reflections on Jews, Goddesses and the Zohar" by Rabbi Jill Hammer _____________

Yet the Zohar, steeped in multiple personalized, sexualized, gendered images of the deity, chooses to read this passage (Deuteronomy 16:21) in a radically different way.

The Zohar writers do not equate Asherah with Lilith or another demonic figure, which would be an easy theological move.

Instead, they reread the verse.

It is not, they say, that the Torah wants to tell us not to plant an asherah by the altar because it is an idolatrous object.

If the Torah had wanted to tell us that, it simply would have said: "Do not plant an asherah anywhere."

Rather, the Torah wants to tell us that Asherah is a name for the Shekhinah, the feminine Divine presence, already at the altar.

...

The Zohar redefines the word Asherah as the feminine form of Asher: the Spouse of Asher, the Spouse of God.

The verse now means, in the Zohar's reading, that we must not plant an asherah by the altar because Asherah already resides in the altar in the form of the Shekhinah. We do not need a pillar to remind us of Her.

The Zohar does not choose to say that the goddess Asherah is evil or false and that worshipping her is a theological mistake.

Rather, it says that the theological mistake would be to assume that Asherah (the tree) is separate from Shekhinah (the altar), when in fact they are one.

The Zohar seems to be saying is that the object used to worship (i.e. the altar) God must be single rather than multiple, just as all the faces of the feminine and masculine Divine are ultimately unified.

...

Yet the Zohar does not take this easy approach. Instead, it comes up with a statement even more shocking than the first:

The only reason we may not worship the Shekhinah as Asherah is that the name Asherah, as translated by the Zohar, means "happy."

(The Zohar proves this by connecting the matriarch Leah, who herself is an image of feminine divinity in the mystical tradition, to the root alef-shin-reish, which translates as "happy" or "fortunate.")

The Shekhinah is in exile among the enemies of the Jewish people, and therefore we cannot call Her happy.

That separation and not idolatry is the error.

The Zohar implies that we abstain from using the name Asherah, not out of theological exactness, but out of courtesy: we abstain in order to empathize with the pain of the Shekhinah.

The unspoken implication of this is that in the world to come, when the Messiah has arrived, we will be able to call the Shekhinah Asherah.

אהיה אשרה יהוה

Ehyeh Asherah YHWH

_______________

Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, is a senior associate at Ma'yan: the Jewish Women's Project of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan.

She is an author, poet, midrashist, and ritual-maker.

Her book is entitled "Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women" (JPS, 2001).

ONLINE SOURCE :

zeek.net/spirit_0407.shtml

.:.

SEE ALSO :

facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=45359906174

____

Compare the phrase from the Lekhah Dodi which is hidden behind the phrase which is usually translated as "crown of Her husband"

Astarte-Baalat

𐎓𐎘𐎚𐎗𐎚 𐎁𐎓𐎍𐎚

בואי בשלום עטרת בעלה בואי כלה בואי כלה בואי כלה שבת מלכתא לכה דודי

Both layers of meaning (the outer and the inner - the exoteric and the esoteric) complement and enhance each other which is as it should be.

Lecha Dodi was composed by Rabbi Shlomo Halevy Alkabetz (1505-1584), one of the Kabbalists of Safed.

He arranged the poetical composition so that the first letters of each stanza spells out the name of the author, a practice quite common among liturgical poets.

Although several versions of a hymn by this name had been circulating at that time, this is the one that was adopted by Rabbi Issac Luria, the foremost authority among the Kabbalistic masters.

It seems that it was not only the Rabbi's name which had been encoded into the words of this invocation. ____

.:.

[spiritmaiden23]

RULES:  repost, don’t reblog. just pick a muse of yours and fill it out.

MUSE: Zelda

— basics

▸ is your muse tall/short/average? She’s average height, which is 5′3″ however in the world of LOZ where most characters are sizes of trees... she’s probably considered on the short side. In fact, she’s actually shorter than almost all of the cast in SS save for a few characters. Especially since she’s around the same height as manlet king Link. As Hylia in her past life, when in her form that mortals can comprehend, because looking at a god is similar to staring into five suns, she was a seven foot goddess. Even bigger in goddess form but by mortal eyes it just looks like a great ball of light haha! 

▸ are they okay with their height? It’d be nice if she could be just a few inches taller in order to get books from the highest shelves. And maybe knock a few taller folk’s pegs down... aside from that, she’s fine with it!! Though the short jokes can get irksome. 

▸ what’s their hair like? Very soft, super thick and an over abundance of it. It may seem short in that low pony tail she sports but it actually falls to her waist in terms of length. She takes good care of it and tends to style it in mostly low ponytail or other hair styles that keeps it out of her face. Side note: It is a-ok to play with her hair so long as you don’t mess around too much with it. 

▸ do they spend a lot of time on their hair/with their grooming? A normal amount of time is spent on it! Gotta take good care of those goldie locks of hers! 

▸ does your muse care about their appearance? Of course! To an extent! First impressions are important and all. She likes looking cute as a button if she can help it, thanks! Honestly though she likes to look and feel cute more for herself rather than others. Nothing wrong with loving to wear pink and other pastel colors and simple jewelry that goes with your outfit and junk!! 

▸ does your muse care about what others think about them? Hmm. Yes and no! Not nearly enough to completely change herself for others in order to appear better or anything, Zelda is very much an open book and what you see is what you get with this girl. She’s not going to try hard to make you like her or anything. But well, she has that natural charm going for her so :’) 

— preferences

▸ indoors or outdoors? Both? Both! She loves the outdoors but staying inside to read or to sew/knit something is also nice to her!  ▸ rain or sunshine? Sunshine ▸ forest or beach? Forest ▸ precious metals or gems? Metals ▸ flowers or perfumes? Flowers ▸ personality or appearance?  Personality  ▸ being alone or being in a crowd? AH hm, both seem very extreme options haha. Either way she doesn’t mind both settings.  ▸ order or anarchy? Order ▸ painful truths or white lies? TEAM PAINFUL TRUTHS AFTER ALL THAT’S HAPPENED IN SS HWEOH, she’ll try to make the delivery gentle as possible but well the truth hurts.  ▸ science or magic? Magic ▸ peace or conflict? Peace! ▸ night or day? Day, she’s out like a light once the sun’s down lol  ▸ dusk or dawn? The dawn!!  ▸ warmth or cold? Warmth, she’s been spoiled by the mild weather in Skyloft so experiencing super cold and bitter winter for the first time was like 8D to D8 in a matter of five seconds. ▸ many acquaintances or a few close friends? Few close friends ▸ reading or playing a game? Both! She’s a bit of a bookworm for sure (I mean all those books in her room) however she also likes to have fun too! 

— questionnaire

▸ what are some of your muse’s bad habits? COMBINING WORRYWART TENDENCIES WITH BUSYBODY HABITS IS NEVER A GOOD COMBO BECAUSE GIRL WILL TAKE MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS AND WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY EXCUSES WHATSOEVER IF SHE FEELS SOMEONE’S SLACKING ON SOMETHING. She tends to rush into things if she comes to her own conclusions and will sometimes press forward without thinking much on it. When she steps in like this it’s mostly done from a good place and she only does this with nothing but good intentions. She’s responsible to a fault, putting everything and everyone above her own needs first and foremost. And the girl could learn to be a bit more selfish. 

▸ has your muse lost anyone close to them? how has it affected them? :’)))))) It wasn’t enough recalling her past life. But gosh, as Zelda? Impa. Without a shadow of a doubt, she still misses Impa and still regrets not being able to say something as simple as thank you before Impa passes on. Of course, there was more that she’d wanted to say but thank you sums up all of her feelings neatly with a pretty bow and all. Zelda is pretty straightforward with revealing her inner thoughts and this increases tenfold once Impa passes on. 

▸ what are some fond memories your muse has? Any time spent with Link and in the skies. She also loved spending time traveling around with Impa because of how much wisdom Impa had given her throughout the journey as well as being an amazing friend.

▸ is it easy for your muse to kill? You’d think she’d be used to the idea considering her past life as Hylia but if she can help, Zelda will never ever kill. 

▸ what’s it like when your muse breaks down? Tragic. WAIT I’M REALIZING THAT THIS SOUNDS SO DRAMATIC BUT WAIT HOLD ON LET ME EXPLAIN. I’ve mentioned time and time again that Zelda is someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, she’s very expressive and very in tune with her emotions, having no issue with showing whatever thoughts she has out in the open. So with that in mind, she has no issue with expressing what doesn’t exactly make her happy. Once she breaks down it’s mostly when things are finally over. Whether for better or worse, that’s when she just lets loose and lets the water work go. No crying until the very end and all that... honestly... this question needs more context though hweoh. 

▸ is your muse capable of trusting someone with their life? EHHH well, yes and no. She believes in giving chances to everyone, benefit of the doubt and all that jazz. And she likes to believe in the best in others, as such she does like to extend trust to them too. But to trust another with her own literal life is a bit much for her ;v; 

▸ what’s your muse like when they’re in love? EVEN MORE DISGUSTINGLY CUTE GOD I can guarantee that any couple with Zel is going to be the new grossly in love couple that’s all lovey dovey aka very cute hours. You’re dating Miss. 💝💘💕🎀🎀uwu girl🍬🌸🌸🌷🍭🌺 herself. You more or less signed up for this. That said, it all ties into with what was said above in that she has no issues with expressing herself as such she will openly display her affection once that whole shy period goes out the window after the Confession™ happens. She loves spending time with S/O the most, doing just about anything! Zelda has lots of love to give and she’ll spoil her S/O with it. I’m sorry for any future grossly cute content u-u 

[tyrell-margaerytyrell-archive]

V: Rose of Cyrodill

AU Loving Crafted for the Universe of Elder Scrolls

Margaery Tyrell was born and bred in Leyawiin, in the Imperial Nation of Cyrodiil. Her family was wealthy, running a number of lush and plentiful farms, orchards, and vineyards. They’re said to have the ear of the counts or countesses in charge of the region. Her mother’s family was whispered to have mages, alchemists, and necromancers. Her father’s family was known to contain her grandmother.

Margaery knew, among other things, she wanted to help people. She was spiritual, but it wasn’t until she’d become a young woman she understood which of the Divines rang truest to her: Dibella, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Now she travels Tamriel with the privilege of her position in  order to be an emissary of the people.

Though, she isn’t simply a devout follower of Dibella. If what it takes to help people is to  make sure they have more food because of a poor harvest, she does everything in her power to make it so. She is spiritual, but first and foremost, she is practical.

Though not primarily a combatant, Margaery is not defenseless if she finds herself in a fight. Being of Imperial birth, she has natural affinity to simple combat and magic. Her preferred weapon is one of several concealed daggers.

[princesscandijane]

How do you feminize you? I've tried many times without success :/ so sad

I will tell you it was not an overnight thing, and it did take some work.  In fact it took me years to get to this point. Somethings were certainly easier than other.  These are the things that I did and if you are able to, I would suggest the same. Being a sissy is all mental, so much that I still have so much to learnFirst and foremost go at your own speed.  Don't rush into anything that you are not comfortable with.  Treat this like yoga, push yourself, but if it is too much take a step back. This applies to everything I mention below. There is still so much I have to experience but I am going at my own speed, and that's ok.Next thing is CHASTITY!!! I cannot stress this enough but take that little clitty of yours and lock it up 🔐 It intensifies the feeling by sooooo much.  If you are new to chastity then start off slow. It may feel a little uncomfortable at first, so take it an hour at a time, and work your way up.  When I started I had no interest in chastity, but after hearing from so many to try it out, I finally did, and it I haven't looked back.  Best purchase for any sissy. I doubt you will find a sissy that has tried chastity that will say otherwise. These days chastity is my natural state, and couldn't be happier 😄  How deep you want to go is up to you, but be careful you may find yourself at the mercy of merciless key holder 😧Another thing that helped was filling my sissy hole. If you are new to this, take this slowly, do research, do not be stingy with the lube, start small and work yourself up.  I started with a finger, then got a butt plug, then bigger butt plugs, then dildos, then... we'll see lol  John Mulaney does a great job describing the first time something goes up there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNlyZSvsNjw The first several times I put things in my bum, it was not comfortable, butt after a little bit it starts to feel pleasurable.  Thanks to toxic masculinity, a male experimenting with anal pleasure is less than man, great for a sissy mindset, but horrible for society.  You don't have to be a sissy, gay, you can be a 0 on the kinsey scale and enjoy some ass play, and it certainly won't make you any less of a man.  I do remember the first time I used a butt plug I was a little sore the next day, walked a little different, and couldn't shake the thought that my bum has been filled. Don't focus so much on having the elusive sissygasm, and just enjoy the feeling.  Besides sissys don't always get to cum.Speaking of cum, EAT IT. That is one of those barriers a sissy needs to break.  Start with your own cum obviously. It is something that all of sissys want to do while we're horny and touching ourselves, but once we blow our load we feel super deflated and lose our nerve.  I started with lifting my legs in the air and trying to shoot it in my mouth. I got some in my mouth, but a lot on my face, I had to scoop the rest off my face and eat it.  I went from finding cum to be 🤢 to 🤤🤤🤤Go smooth.  This one took me longer than it should of.  It is not weird to be male and be smooth. I get advertisements on Hulu about manscaping.  If nothing else shave your clitty.  Even if you want to be the manliest man, or whatever, anyone sucking your cock and balls will appreciate not getting hair in their teeth.  I certainly don't want to deal with an amazon to suck cock lol As far as legs, arms, torso, arm pits, tell everyone you think it is disgusting, because it is.  Steve Carrell or check out Hugh Jackman's legs when he's deadlifting vs any movie with Ryan Gosling, Matt Damon, or any other modern sex symbol topless. What I'm getting at is you can be smooth and manly in public, yet also get the wonderful feeling of being smooth as a sissy.  The feeling over anything over freshly shaved legs feels amazing, you would be surprised on how much feeling hair interferes with.  Once I put stockings on my freshly shaved legs, I never wanted to be hairy again.  Get and wear clothes that make you feel sexy and cute. This seems easy, but is super tough.  At least for me it is.  I don't know fashion at all, and I am learning that what is amazing on the model will not work for me, so much wasted money lol #sissy struggles The important thing though is that it makes you feel sexy.  A good wig also helps, anytime you can look in the mirror and see the sissy you envision the better.  But do not be critical.  Every sexy photo, or even unsexy photo you see of mine is picked from a lot of really bad pics. There's angles and lighting and things I don't know 'cause I'm not a photographer. Practice giving a blowjob.  You don't have to buy a dildo, though you should lol but go to the vegi department and pick up some phallic veggies treat it like a cock.  Suck it as if it were a cock, I learned from Fast Times at Ridgemont High https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-MY6zjRHU you don't have to deep throat, but learning is such an accomplishment, certainly has made me hungrier Exercise, being a sissy should be a motivator to exercise.  Exercersing isn't the funnest thing, it's tough to do, and really hard to keep up with.  A sissy needs to take care of themselves, there are so many programs out there and gyms, and ways to keep in shape. I am a bit of a fitness person and so it is certainly easier for me. There are a lot of programs out there, but what you need to find is something that you can reasonably do forever (insert for-ev-er meme).  It doesn't have to be anything super cazy, but if you can find 20 minutes 4 times a week to workout than you will be on a great path.  Working out is exausting, you will sweat, you will get sore, you will feel discomfort, and at times it is not fun.  Fight through those down swings, think of your goals. Having a sexy body does take work. Anyone that you idolize online, or invision yourself is probably someone that takes care of themselves and spends time suffering at the gym.  I say suffering, because sometimes it is, but find an exercise routine you like.  And do not worry about gaining muscle and being unsexy with muscle.  First you need to gain some muscle, muscle is healthy and burns fat, and is sexy. You can have muscles, be a sissy, and be healthy at the same time. I am 130.8 and I do all types of exercises.  I did and still do have to work on having this weight, at one time I weighed 160lbs. There are plenty of exercises out there, most important is to find one that you can foreseeably doing for the rest of your life. But all your exercise is nothing without the next part and that is.  If nothing else, do some yoga.  The benefits to a sissy should be pretty obvious lolLearn to cook and diet:  Out of everything in the world, not just sissy, but the world, well not the whole world, actually the first world this should be done.  Only in the first world do we have these problems, but that is what you eat. They say "abs are made in the kitchen" for a reason. You can't reward yourself from a hard exercise with a double cheese burger, large fries, and a beer.  Find a diet that you can sustain for the remainder of your life. There are so many amazing recipes out there that are healthy and delicious.  Stay away from refined sugars, simple carbs, and all those bad foods, use a food app, don't cheat yourself, because that's the only person you are cheating.  And learning to be a good cook will certainly make you more desirable for any mate.Celebrate the small victories.  Progress can be slow at times, but it is still happening, be sure to acknowledge and internally celebrate.  If you see any progress be it lb less on the scale or taking that bigger plug, be happy about the progress, and do not ruin it.  Start Today. Anytime I want to make big change, I like to say things like "tomorrow I will", "after this last ...whatever", "when the universe gives me a sign." Those are only excuses I give myself to not do something.  You don't have to do everything today, but start with something.  Got super high and mas drunk sense I started so this may not make sense nos more

I also used sites like these which were super helpful http://sissy-university.com/ and https://sissylover.com/sissy-school/

My Goddess thinks I may be over explaining lol 

[fuckass-icons]

Ship headcanons for any OTP of your choice ;3

oh god oh fuck oh shit

What came to mind was oc stuff but i will instead do byleth x claude bc im weak (if u want oc stuff just ask)

I hc Byleth to be nb and bi (for this i will use they/them) as well as being a very quiet, softspoken/rarely speaks individual who doesn't interact with others often and doesn't have a good sense of communication skills

I hc Claude to be Bisexual and a very physical contact person (hugs, hand holding, having some sort of physical contact) and a bit of a romancer if he can

Byleth's ideal date would be going out for tea or spending a night looking at the stars or reading. It doesn't take much to please them (and they don't know what else to do because they enjoy those things)

Claude is down for any type of dates, and adores it when Byleth takes the reins and choses what they do bc Claude knows that he'll enjoy it nonetheless

As much as Claude wants to hold and kiss Byleth, he is completely aware that they aren't quite ready for that level of affection yet (at least the one he wants to give) so he is v patient with Byleth and will go as slow as they want him to

First time Byleth made the first move and initiated something, Claude was over the moon

After the skip and they are reunited, the two are never seen apart, they always ate their meals together, trained together, and even rested together. Everyone knew that they were meant to be

They both pop the question after defeating nemesis and having a grand celebration. Both saying yes and both making promises to rebuild their homes and to strive for a better future

When Claude becomes King and Byleth Archbishop, they still keep in contact and have regular meetings as countries. It isn't until both countries are fully rebuilt and stable that they get married and peacefully unify their nations

They adopt children together and even have surrogates, Claude wanting to have a large family and Byleth wanting to support Claude's wishes

There are times when Byleth wants to be alone with their thoughts, and disappear for days to do so. Its been said that they are contacting the goddess but in actually Byleth is just...sleeping

I also hc that....Byleth is immortal and outlives Claude.

But i want to believe that Byleth would offer their blood to Claude to make him live longer so they can be together until the end of time

Immortality is lonely, Seteth comments one day, but it's worth it spending it with those you love. For Seteth its Flayn, first and foremost

For Byleth, it's forever Claude

Other hcs

Byleth pre-skip is a sub switch bc they have no idea what's going on but is willing to do it right and they are willing to please

After skip- Byleth is a True Switch

Preskip Claude is a True Switch but after skip Claude is a Dom Switch

Claude still can't read Fodlan texts but is learning from Byleth to do so

Claude teaches Byleth social norms (mostly from Almyra) and Byleth tries their best

When married, Byleth's name becomes Byleth Eisner von Riegan

I'm weak for this shit

[ofbloodandfaith]

Day 12 of 30 Days of Apollon

Places associated with this deity and their worship

Apollon was an extremely popular god worshipped throughout ancient Greece so I am only mentioning two.

Apollon was one of the most popular gods in ancient Greece with innumerable shrines and sanctuaries. The most important of these was the great oracle at Delphoi-- which not only prophesied the future but also made rulings on matters of religion.

Delos - where he was born

LETO was one of the Titanides (female Titans), a bride of Zeus, and the mother of the twin gods Apollon and Artemis. She was the goddess of motherhood and, with her children, a protectress of the young. Her name and iconography suggest she was also a goddess of modesty and womanly demure. Like her sister Asteria she may also have been a goddess of the night, or alternatively of the light of day.When Leto was pregant with the twins she was pursued relentlessly by the goddess Hera, who drove her from land to land preventing her from finding a place to rest and give birth. The floating island of Delos eventually provided her with refuge. Later when she was later travelling to Delphoi (Delphi), the giant Tityos (Tityus) attempted to abduct her, but Apollon intervened and slew him with arrows.In Greek vase painting Leto was usually depicted as a woman lifting her veil in a gesture of modesty. She was usually depicted accompanied by her two children. The exact meaning of her name is obscure, some commentators connect it with the word lethô, to move unseen, suggestive of modesty, others derive it from the Lycian word for woman, lada.

Delphi - where his oracles resided

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 22 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : "[Apollon] made his way to Delphoi (Delphi), where Themis gave the oracles at that time. When the serpent Python, which guarded the oracle, moved to prevent Apollon from approaching the oracular opening, he slew it and thus took command of the oracle."Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 703 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) : "[Orpheus] told them [the Argonauts] in song how Apollon long ago, when he was still a beardless youth rejoicing in his locks, slew the monster Delphyne [Python] with his bow beneath the rocky brow of Parnassos (Parnassus)."Callimachus, Hymn 4 to Delos 91 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) : "[Apollon prophesies while still inside the womb of his mother Leto :] ‘Not yet is the tripod seat at Pytho my care; not yet is the great serpent [Python] dead, but still that beast of awful jaws, creeping down from Pleistos (Pleistus), wreathes snowy Parnassos (Parnassus) with his nine coils.’"

The most famous of the sanctuaries of the god Apollon were his oracular shrines. First and foremost of these was the great Oracle of Delphoi, but others were found scattered throughout Magna Graeca, including:-- i. The Oracle of Apollon Ismenios in Thebes, Boiotia (Greece); ii. The Oracle of Apollon Ptoios on Mt. Ptoos, Boiotia (Greece); iii. The Oracle of Apollon at Abai, Phokis (Greece); iv. The Oracle of Apollon Didymios at Didyma (or Brankhidai) near Miletos, Karia (Asia Minor); v. The Oracle of Apollon Klarios at Klaros near Kolophon (Asia Minor); vi. The Oracle of Apollon at Pergamon, Teuthrania (Asia Minor); vii. As well as a few other minor oracles in smaller towns.

[inannadevote]

Inanna’s Hymn

“She’s the joyous one, clad in loveliness

She is adorned with allure, appeal, and charm

In her lips, she is sweetness, vitality in her mouth,

While on her features laughter bursts to bloom,

The Goddess, right counsel is hers,

She grasps in her hand the destinies of all that exists,

Harmony too, she reigns over as mistress,

Who is it that could rival her grndeur,

Her attributes are mighty, splendid , and superb,

She it is who stands foremost among the gods!”

This’s a hymn to the great Inanna! Written under the comission of the Temple of Uruk, millenia after it’s existence.

I believe the text was written by Enheduanna.

Here’s where I found it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3pkkIgrfZA

[mountphoenixrp]

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

                                   Calix Song, who is known by no other name;                                                    a 24 year old son of Aphrodite.                                          He is a freelance photographer and author.

FC NAME/GROUP: yook sungjae / btob CHARACTER NAME: calix song AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 24 / 25 dec 1995 PLACE OF BIRTH: seoul, south korea OCCUPATION: freelance photographer & author HEIGHT: 180 cm ( 5'11" ) WEIGHT: 68 kg ( 149 lbs ) DEFINING FEATURES: eyes: dark brown, flecks of gold and black ( from divine heritage and curse respectively ) notable markings: a birthmark shaped like a heart near the end of his spine ( much to his horror ) style: hoods and masks, doesn’t give a damn about fashion but somehow he always picked the nice combinations without trying anyway ( and generally looks good in things ). wears a trench coat and the sort during the cold seasons. generally goes with black and dark monochromatic schemes. PERSONALITY: positive: observant; independent; practical; level-headed neutral: sharp-tongued; dramatic;circumspect negative: morbid; apathetic; aloof; hateful

you see, this child is one of loathing. right in his core was an ugly beast that despised everything and anything, including himself. he seeks for isolation as his only solace, the idea that it was there that he could finally be in peace and merely do what he enjoyed. uncaring, but hateful, a man that was cold and yet held the flames of utter loathing. with a silver tongue that can pick apart arguments, but also stab into people’s heart. there’s a tendency to be dramatic, though, a trait that gave him more life, one that was mainly produced due to his hate and reactions to what he despised. always wary, always to himself, he didn’t like to make connections and didn’t like the idea of messing things up because he was too easy. very sharp, eyes always watching and noting things down mainly for inspiration more so than anything. always alone but knew how to live like in isolation, kept his head in the game and remained practical. under the the dramatics and spite was a cold and rational man. HISTORY: tw: gore, death

chapter i.

he was born beautiful. blessed by his mother, of love and beauty. but left by her in his father’s arms, who wept as his heart broke and held the baby close. only her powers and a name gifted to him. and from afar, another divine being sent out a curse. one that landed on the mortal realm and it seeped into the small little boy that had yet to grow. young soul that could be so easily morphed, it twisted into an ugly manner and latched onto his very core. oh beautiful child of love and beauty, he had been ruined by hate for a mother he didn’t even know. he screamed in his father’s arms, so oblivious to what’s been done, and held his child closer and muttered reassurances. but it only made the young one scream more. he burned. he burned from this love.

chapter ii.

as he grew, so does his beauty. mothers came to coo at how pretty he was, other children comes closer under his allure, and he was in the center of it all. but they all seem to not care about the frown on his face, his ducked head and how he abhorred to be under the spotlight. pretty, gorgeous, beautiful—they lathered him in praises and eventually he runs away from it all. and it rains, but he didn’t stop. he wanted to be alone. but when his little legs couldn’t run any longer, he stopped and panted heavily. looking down at a puddle underneath his feet he saw his reflection. wide doe eyes, soft but drenched locks, cheeks rosy from the run he had. g— grotesque. he stomped on the reflection, screamed at it until his voice was hoarse. covered his face as he wept. this face of his that looked so, so utterly disgusting in his eyes. father told him he was just as pretty as his mother, others adored him, but it only served to make him loathe it all the more. if this was beauty he didn’t want it. if love was like what his father had for a woman who left him, he didn’t want it. the people who came to him with kind eyes were all vile, they were worse than the worst. people so prejudiced and foolish. could they not see? they tortured him the most. could they not tell? he just wanted to be alone, by himself, in a world where he did not have to see his own face. a child of love and beauty, his father told him. and oh how he wanted nothing but to scoff at the pitiful man. and speak of the devil, he shall arrive. the man fretted over him, put him under the umbrella and gently tried to bring him back home. how he wished he would just leave him so.

chapter iii.

he thought of his father as a heartbroken fool. the man gave him love, unconditionally, despite all the sneers and insults. his vocabulary has broadened, sophisticated and biting. he was cold but fiery, frigid flames that were as contradictory as his existence. he also thought the people around him were horrid. many came to him with shining eyes, a charming smile, and a desire to get close. all he saw were ugly monsters trying too hard. infatuated little things they were, trying to seek for more in him but all he responded with was distaste and insulting them with ease. a heart breaker, they called him, yet so many still tried to reach out to him. foolish children indeed, and he wanted nothing to do with them. he’s a spiteful one really, and in all honesty he didn’t really think he could have interests. but he was human enough, with a heart somewhere under the cacophony of hate and disgust. but even his interests were unconventional. of horror novels, tales of serial killers, myths about vile creatures, they catch his eye and he indulged himself with it. he’s charmed by the sight of people at their worst, by how their face twisted into desperation and how monsters were fearlessly themselves. they’re horrible things, so ugly, yet he thought—this was true beauty. unique, different, everything that the majority’s view of beauty were not. yet at the same time, when they were confident to show themselves to the world then that was what defined them as beautiful in his eyes. he’s not in love, no, he enjoyed it but even then something about it always had a bit of it that made him hate it ( there’s nothing in this world he couldn’t hate ). it’s his only joy. through this life where he couldn’t appreciate those that people normally would. he drowns himself in the morbid genres, and he pushed himself away from others. tried to hide himself with hoods and a mask, but even then there was an allure. how troublesome really, but at least he learned to ignore by reading his books.

chapter iv.

love and obsession, madness born from infatuation. he was never aware of the idea of having powers, all he could think were that people must be idiots really. but there’s been that one boy, one he met since middle school that kept on trying to meet him. he loved him, was what that boy would say. and he’d follow him, read the books he loved to share his interests and tried to catch his attention. but the demigod found him to be a fool, an idiot without class. he watched as the lackluster boy tried his best to reach his heart. the boy that heard and saw him curse his mother and his father out more. a boy that knew he loved the morbid sights far more than of luxuries. the boy that went mad, went to his home to kill his father and leave an utterly disgusting sight of gore. strewn out intestines, gouged out eyes, words of utter devotion and love carved out in his body and written in the man’s blood. a mad boy in love waits for him next to the heartbroken fool’s corpse, arms open wide and a smile so wide on his face asking him “do you love me now?” son of the dead man, he looked at the sight with a blank gaze. he hated his father, a dull man that compared him to his mother. the man who took care of him despite his demeanor. the man that which fed and worked his hardest to keep him safe and living a good life. he was a boy of hate, spite festering within him like a swarm of locusts. however, he was a child of love first and foremost. and somewhere deep inside under he pile of loathing, he had loved his father. without missing a beat, he threw his bag at the obsessed fool to knock him out. calmly, he took his phone out that’s been shoved in his pocket beforehand and he called the police. but even with the acknowledgement that he may care for his father, he didn’t cry for the man. he accepted it as it was and waited patiently for the police to come. his heart’s a tiny little thing under the black curse that enveloped it whole.

chapter v.

a funeral was done, and he met many people he didn’t care about. they were more or less those his father knew and he never bothered to get to know about them. people gave their words to him, but it all turned into white noise. he gained all that belonged to his father. even in death he loved him greatly. the most peculiar thing was a letter, rather old but kept well. only meant for his eyes if his father was to die. and he took it, read it, reread it again, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

dear calix, i don’t know when you’ll receive this but i’m sorry if i’ve left you pretty early on. i know you may not love me, but i’ve always loved you unconditionally. even if i was head over heels for your mother, i don’t think i can love anyone more than i had with you. and i admit i was selfish to wanting to keep you here for as long as i live. unaware of who your mother really was because i feared that you would one day leave me like she did. i apologize if i never did good enough for you. but i tried my best, i really did. that aside, what’s important now is that with me gone, you must go somewhere safer. a place where you can fit in. and i say this because you’re not a mere man like i am. you are the son of aphrodite as well, goddess of love and beauty. and i know this seems far-fetched, but go to incheon, nearby the airport, and you’ll find a bridge. a bridge only you can see and come by. there you can find a place meant for demigods and gods alike. maybe there, you could find more about yourself as well. and i hope that you can live on happily and safe. always love you. sincerely, your father song sooro

it’s outlandish really, completely so. something beyond comprehension. but at the same time, things started to click. of how no matter how he acted or do, the people around him seemed to love him even then. and not to mention the obsessed criminal now detained. clicking his tongue, he decided that right now…what had he got to loose? there’s not much to really live for in this city anyway. and maybe he can do something about his powers. because he really just wanted to live life as normally as he could.

chapter vi.

he reached mount phoenix, applied for phoenix university as a literature major, and went to continue on with life. living alone wasn’t so bad, he’s cooked for himself, did chores and all before. he was an independent soul, and it was nice to finally have a place he could call belonging to himself. he didn’t bother trying to find aphrodite, or to want to meet her. he’s not keen on knowing the woman that was the embodiment of everything he loathed. instead he focused on his studies and tried his best to control his powers. unfortunately, there’s something that altered his powers, a dark curse that ruined his very being. however it also couldn’t be removed, too deeply rooted to his being that once removed—he’d lose a large part of himself. it was chaotic and vile, having pushed his powers to be stronger but ruining his own mind and preventing proper control. the curse was much of him as he was it, as if becoming the embodiment of it yet still possessing the very essence of love and beauty. a twisted blend that have merged down to the molecule. he was unsure what to do, for he had wanted to live a normal life damn it. not this load of bull that seemed to put him into a position that prevented him from living a perfectly normal life. he wanted to curse the gods, but all he could do was clamp his mouth shut and bear it. the professors told him it was best for him to stay in mount phoenix only considering his powers. at least then he’d be surrounded people with heightened resistance against it. and so he did. stayed in this place filled with divine beings he loathed. another year pass by, moving on because there’’s nothing else he could really do. what gave him life and joy being his jobs as an author and a freelance photographer. although his pictures were dark, depressing and gave off a negative mood, it still held a beauty to it that he had a knack of capturing. and his books were famous for it’s morbid and dark themes, but it sold well and that’s what mattered. and maybe he’ll learn how to deal with the curse and the powers, and the idea his mother was around somewhere. and he might have siblings. ugh, did he hate the idea of family.

PANTHEON: greek CHILD OF: aphrodite POWERS: a fatal attraction, an allure that could not be ignored. even with his hood up and mask on, people can’t help but look and wonder. he was beautiful, charming, an appearance that which was enhance by his powers and enough to make love at first sight seem true. prolonged exposure may lead to obsession, one that can go off the limits ( he’s done it before without his intentions ). a touch may even lead to the urge to bed with him ( but he wouldn’t because that’s not his thing ). thing is, his powers were also increased thanks to a curse that he grew up with. the curse that which puts the target to hate aphrodite and everything she stood for with a passion. it’s merged to his soul and he could not rid of it due to that very fact. STRENGTHS:

thanks to the curse, which was another divine essence that had merged to his soul—his powers have heightened to a level above other demigods but still lesser than actual gods. still, it was more potent and had a higher chance of putting mortals into a state of obsession.

he can use it as a means of persuasion by offering the smallest of things, such as a hug or a kiss to the cheek. unfortunately, such things disgust him. nonetheless, an easy way to get what he wants.

he draws attention, makes anyone dreamy-eyed and focused on his face. if he was a thief, he could easily snatch things away if he wished to. he could also use the clouded mindset to his advantage in arguments and the sort.

WEAKNESSES:

the curse prevented him to have any sense of control of his abilities. no matter what, his powers had the switch turned on permanently. he also couldn’t take away the curse because of how fused it was to his core.

his own personality, if exposed to it long enough, could be a turn off. as beautiful as he was, he was—to put it simply—an asshole. there’s only so much insults you can take before you drop him.

he couldn’t affect those that were truly in love. although those that had their heart in a state of wavering can still be partially affected by him, generally he was ineffective against them.

he never used his powers the way it can be used. in fact, he tried to avoid using it for as long as he could.

obsession can be terrifying. he once drove a man so madly in love with him that said man would kill his father to attract his attention.

[qceenmother]

            “Must we go over all of this again?”

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