#(it also depends on what version you read of the myth but she became a queen and genuinely likes hades so like)

[mcsiggy]

I was wondering why can’t/won’t Persephone be around zeus?

[aphroditelovesu]

Hi I have concept questions rate the yandere Greek gods, and who is most likely out of them with sexually assault or rape reader any gender I don’t know it came in my mind after I found out that Ares has never raped a women or man in my opinion that is a really shocking thing coming from the god of war I mean when comes to gods it’s a pretty good standard because I have read about so many sexual assaults in Greek mythology. for example obviously, Zeus is most likely going to force himself on reader he has done it many times and then the other one is Poseidon he did it with medusa if I remember correctly, so he is most likely to do it, and he has done it with other people and then Eros I don’t know why I just think he would do it and Apollo would do it and I actually thought Ares would would also sexually assault reader, but after finding out that he never did with anyone I don’t he would force himself on reader since he has never done it in Cannon fun fact, one of the sons of Poseidon raped his daughter and when Ares found out, he was furious and killed Poseidon son. Hades, this is another god I think he would not force himself on reader. But I’m not sure about Dionysus maybe he would and Hephaestus is another god who would force himself because he did it with Athena if I remember correctly. Aphrodite, maybe you would do it too. Hermes is another god I think he would do it too. What do you think can you Frank them from? Who is most likely to do it to who is least likely to do it and never do it at all.

tw: talk about rape/sexual harassment.

I would say the same ones you mentioned above.

Zeus and this one doesn't even need explanations. Poseidon, depending on the version, is said to have raped Medusa, but this is the Roman version and not the Greek, so it depends on which myth you prefer, but I think he would be able to force himself on the Reader.

Apollo would do it if he was rejected by his beloved, and he wouldn't even think he was doing anything wrong. Eros would also force himself on his darling if he was rejected in a very cruel way, then he would force them to be his.

Although there are no records of Ares forcing himself on anyone, as we are doing a headcanon and I don't work with canon but with the voices in my head, I would say that he could force himself on the Reader. And he wouldn't even need much for that, it can easily be motivated by jealousy, pure lust or just because he wants to mark the Reader as his.

Hephaestus... It's complicated, the reason he tried to abuse Athena is because of Poseidon, in a way. Poseidon became jealous of the closeness of Athena and Hephaestus and incited the god of forging to make unwanted advances on the goddess of wisdom, thinking that she liked him. He never actually raped her, it was more like harassment, but he came on her thighs and a child was born from that. Bizarre? Yes. Would he abuse his S/O? Look, it depends. I think that if Hephaestus was really consumed by obsession, by jealousy, he could force himself on his darling.

Hades would never force himself sexually on his darling. He can kidnap them (and he will), he can lock them up but he will never do anything against their will, sexually speaking. He doesn't want to be like his brothers and loathes it, so he would never touch the Reader without their consent.

Dionysus would do it too. He is delusional enough and the reason he would abuse his darling could be motivated by how delusional he is. The god would be so delusional that he wouldn't even realize that the Reader doesn't want to sleep with them.

Hermes would only do so if he wanted to dismantle power over his S/O. Like, he did that to them because he can, because they are his and that means he can take them wherever he wants and whenever he wants. A form of control and psychological torture, in a way.

I think Aphrodite would be the only one of the goddesses to abuse her darling, but for her, she would not be committing abuse but rather showing how much she loves them. And for her, the goddess of love, also the patron saint of prostitutes, what better way than to have sex with her darling? Even if it's not consensual.

[literallyjusttoa]

I was struck with the worst brainrot over this one idea so onto the blog it goes.

(Disclaimer: This is all based off of my interpretation of Greek Mythology and is NOT AT ALL meant to be accurate to the original myths or disrespectful in any way. This is just a thought experiment.)

Anyways I'm going to infodump about Apollo and Metis' nonexistent son

Ok so basically, I think when reading the original greek myths, it would not be too much of a stretch to assume that Apollo is the living incarnation of Metis' unborn son. For those of you who don't know, Metis was Zeus' lover before Hera, and the mother of Athena. When she became pregnant with Athena, a prophecy foretold that her second child, a son, would eventually overthrow Zeus. To prevent this, Zeus ate Metis, and that's why Athena pops out of Zeus' head a couple of years later.

What does this have to do with Apollo? Well, for one thing, Apollo is the only second son Zeus has ever had. We know he was born second since Artemis literally helps Leto give birth to him. He's also considered to be one of the most talented gods on Olympus (this is not just me being biased I swear guys-) He's the god of the most things out of all the Olympians, and was also just a considerably popular deity throughout Greece. It wouldn't be the wildest guess to connect him with the prophecized revolutionary son of Metis.

He also has a lot of connections to Athena. Apollo and Athena are often seen as Zeus' left and right hands, and they're both gods of knowledge. In a few ways, Apollo and Athena seem like two sides of the same coin. Athena is a virgin goddess, while Apollo is known for his lovers. Athena specializes in war and strategy, while Apollo focuses on the arts. Despite this, both of them dabble a bit in the other's domains: Apollo with his archery and Athena with her handicraft. This isn't to prove that Apollo is super close to Athena or anything, he has a lot more connections with Artemis. It just shows that there is something there, if you really squint at it.

I will say that this only works best in certain timelines. Greek mythology doesn't have a specific canon as much as it has multiple different beliefs that coalesce into the basic story we know now. Because of this, we don't really know if Athena came before or after the twins? It's actually really funny because we have these two truths:

In Apollo's birth myth (I tried to find the specific version but I couldn't ;-;) It is said that he declared all versions of prophecy inferior to his own. Athena, who had been divinating with pebbles at the time, was so upset that she cast away her stones. This obviously implies that Athena was alive for a bit before Apollo was born.

On one of the pediments of the Parthenon in Athens, the birth of Athena is depicted. Apollo and Artemis can both be seen in the crowd of gods watching the birth. This obviously implies that Apollo was alive for a bit before Athena was born.

There are historical reasons for this discrepancy, but from a myth stance it's just really funny.

(It also means we don't know who the true Olympian middle child is. It's either Artemis or Apollo, depending on where Athena falls. I guess they can just share lol.)

I bring all this up because if Apollo was born AFTER Athena, things start falling into place. Zeus eats Metis, certain that in doing so he circumvented the prophecy. Athena is "born" and all seems well. But we all know that prophecy is not something that anyone can truly prevent. So, the next time Zeus has children, they're twins, with the second born being a son who will eventually overthrow him. A classic Greek tragedy, honestly.

It's also very interesting because technically, Apollo DID overthrow Zeus. Or at least, he did in a historical sense. Around 275 A.D., The Romans would start celebrating the birth Sol Invictus (The Unconquered Sun). This elevated the god of the sun, who at this point was an Apollo very transformed from his original depiction, above every other god in the Roman pantheon. This continued for a while, and a bit later Constantine I declared Dies Solis (Sunday) to be the day of rest, in dedication to this version of the god of the sun. By the end of the Roman empire, Apollo was definitely more popular than his father.

Btw, if Sunday being the day of rest sounded familiar, that's because this is actually where Christianity starts to co-opt pagan religions a bit, like always. Jesus' birthday actually also comes from this time period, as both Christmas and the birth of Sol Invictus fall on December 25th. So yes, technically, if you really stretch it, Apollo turns into Jesus.

ALL OF THIS is simply to say that Apollo could very much be the foreseen killer of Zeus, and I think that's very girlboss of him.

As a reward for reading this far, have this piece I did of Apollo if he got less time in the sun, was Athena's full brother, and also maybe committed some patricide.

I really need to learn how to do good backgrounds

[transtheology]

Hi, I'm a multigender trans intersex person (bigender transmascfem androgyne, sometimes agender) and I've been feeling a calling towards some kind of occult / pagan / witchcraft practice but am having a very hard time finding anything that will honor both my multigenderness and my intersex body/variation. I was wondering if you knew of any resources or specific practices that might be accepting of this? I had a friend tell me to try out Wicca but it seemed to be very binary-focused in everything I read. Thank you so much for your time!

Wicca is definitely pretty binary focused. Its also diverse and there are many different ways of practicing Wicca, but the fundamental theology is based in a strict binary of the Mother Goddess and the Horned God, and a lot of its beliefs are based on this balance of male/female. As a result much of early Wicca (and some modern Wicca) was very homophobic & gender-sex essentialist (there's also Dianic Wicca, which is goddess-centric and therefore very popular with TERFs). There are trans Wiccans & Wiccan paths which are less binary (or less strict about it), but I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to engage with it.

With Witchcraft, there's a lot more room because "witchcraft" itself isn't its own spiritual tradition as much as a practice or skill you can engage in. In a very general sense Witchcraft is "doing x thing to get y result (through some spiritual/supernatural/mystical method)," so how much you get into cissexism and binary thinking is really dependent on how you see things. For example, a Wiccan might have a very binary view of magic & spiritual energy, but another person might not consider gender at all when doing magic.

A lot of European & WANA (West Asia North Africa) polytheism has some genderfuckery somehwere in its mythology. Inanna/Ishtar in Sumerian/Akkadian/Assyrian polytheism is one example: you might be aware that She had transfeminine devotees called the gala, and she was described as having the ability to "turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man." She has a myth where she descends into the Underworld to confront her sister Ereškigal and gets trapped there. To get her out, Enlil/Ea creates either two sexless beings (gala-tura and kur-jara), or one androgynous being/eunuch (Asušunamir) to save her.

There's also Cybele/Magna Mater in Rome, who also had transfeminine devotees called galli. In Greek polytheism, there is Dionysus, who was heavily associated with gender non-conformity, having been raised as a girl in some versions & having the epithet Androgynos. Aphrodite has the form Aphroditus, who has a beard penis and was worshipped by male and female devotees through crossdressing rituals, and generally her role as Aphrodite Pandemos, a love goddess for all people, has made her popular with queer polytheists. There is also Hermaphroditus, the child of Aphrodite and Hermes, who became intersex/genderqueer when he joined bodies with the nymph Salmacis; a pool formed where this happened that was said to have the ability to androgynize anyone who bathed in it. They were, as you can imagine, heavily associated with androgyny and the union of male and female. In Norse Heathenry, Loki has been seen as an androgynous figure; he transforms into a woman/female animal in multiple myths, and in the Hyndluljóð he eats the heart of a woman and gives birth to several creatures.

There are definitely other deities who have androgynous aspects who I'm forgetting, but in general you can find a lot of genderqueerness throughout polytheist religion. Although there are still transphobic & intersexist witches/pagans/polytheists, and those who use ancient patriarchal practices to justify their behavior. In general I'd recommend seeking out specifically trans & intersex pagans/polytheists/witches and learning from their practices to see what calls to you. Even beyond ancient practices, a lot of modern trans & intersex polytheists worship modern, specifically trans forms of otherwise binary deities. so don't feel the need to limit yourself to just what people in the past practiced. I hope this was helpful.

[lighthouseborn]

i'm gonna say something i want to say on a post moving through the non-rp po.tc fandom space but i don't want the smoke. yes i'm a coward. yes it is also a thing i have said in different shapes before.

tl;dr the problem with dmtnt isn't what they say about elizabeth, it's what they don't say about elizabeth (i.e. literally anything.)

honestly the biggest flaw in the entire "should elizabeth have left piracy" conversation is that the movie never asserts that she did. she's just literally not part of the narrative of dmtnt at all.

(which makes sense, to a degree, as it's a next gen story; one of its bigger flaws (imo) is jack's (largely mischaracterized) over-presence. he's not necessary or even all that influential to the plot, he's genuinely just there. mostly to the effect of annoyance or occasional hinderance. henry and carina could go for the trident and have a perfectly reasonable adventure without him, and nothing necessitates salazar's motivations being about him at all. in fact i think it's coincidence, in the nathanson draft? captain brand, iirc, hates jack, but it's not actually what makes him a part of the story, he's actually a figure tied into the myth by hades. jack's only there because he's the franchise pull and the people who wrote the movie had nostalgia for him but i'm digressing--)

"elizabeth stopped sailing" is a version of the story that people don't like — but they invented it to begin with so the whole conversation around it -if it makes sense, if it changes or ruins her character, if someone can find reason in it for themself- is a big pointless circle! nothing canon says definitively comments on what happened to elizabeth except to say she raised her son in a lighthouse that might be near port royal. that depends on how completely the word-of-god you think a prop map shown on screen exactly once is. even then, there are a thousand reasons she could be living near port royal. 'she retired' is easily the most boring of those possible reasons, i agree, but it's still not what the movie says about her.

the ultimate fact is - the movie never says anything about her, because it doesn't think to say anything about her. sure that sucks for other reasons (pushing her out of what was, really, her story to begin with) but it doesn't actually unstitch her character it just leaves things frustratingly ambiguous. it's lazy and uninspired writing but not nearly as much of the big betrayal it's made out to be. no one broke elizabeth, they just weren't interested in writing more about her.

which, again, sucks! but for completely different reasons than the (for some reason) still ongoing conversation about 'she could have retired after her trauma gauntlet'.

she could have retired! she could have not! she could have built a pirate empire on untamed seas! she could have became a heartless evil pirate king who killed for sport! she could have gone mad! she could have found another husband or four! there are lots and lots of open ended possibilities with a character so complex. the movie doesn't actually infringe on any of these, because it just doesn't care about her at all. it doesn't even care enough to say for fact, she retired and lives a horribly wealthy lifestyle, or she didn't retire and turned port royal into a new pirate haven-- it doesn't care. it doesn't. the movie says nothing because, other than Henry's Mother, elizabeth is nothing to the version of dead men tell no tales that we got.

—which, further, if you sit with that for a couple of seconds, isn't that surprising or even different at all from the rest of the franchise. which does not care about elizabeth's mother, or will's mother, or jack's mother, or angelica's mother--- all of these characters are nameless. the one non-appearing mother (from the movie universe. yes i've read tpof, not i'm not acknowledging it here, it's a different beast) who has a name in this list of ignored women actually also comes from dmtnt. magaret smyth, however, has a name that has been established in the franchise as meaning no one. ("Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Smith.") carina's mother is magaret no-one, the aptly named madame not-appearing-in-this-film. so, once more with feeling, elizabeth being pushed into the background as Henry's Mother And That's All fucking! sucks!! it's! lazy!!! and! boring!!! but what is isn't is some big surprising upheaval. they didn't give you a stranger, completely 180'd character with a familiar name, they gave you a big empty place in the narrative who doesn't speak a single word and only shows up to be kissed. those are different things! by all means complain about the big empty spaces in this story (i hate them!) but stop, please stop, repeating the same bullshit that isn't even what happened

"i hate how they treated elizabeth" me too! "they changed her" wrong! it's worse, they did nothing because they didn't even care enough about her to try! which is a big shame because what they got right about henry and will and gibbs is SO right. carina is SUCH an interesting heroine in her own right but also as a foil for henry - and the fantasy of the series in general. barbossa is THAT BITCH who gets a full run of character arcs for no other reason than he's fun to explore and keep widening, he has the range. a 'down on his luck, washed up' sparrow is an brilliant and unique concept! unfortunately, at almost every turn the writers missed the lynch pins and the places where gravity fit into this franchise. so it turned out a big crumbly, unfinished-feeling mess. and that really starts to make sense when you consider; they didn't think elizabeth was worth writing about.

the dmtnt team's* nostalgia for pirate adventure and grand chaos blinded them to how essential elizabeth, the heart of the trilogy, was. and they got very close! by scrapping the Yet More New Characters (a big complaint of on stranger tides) in order to tie them back to where we started. they just tripped a few feet in front of really, really getting it. but failing to get something is not the same as picking it up and ripping it in half. it's bitter tasting, and disappointing, and frustrating, but it's not an act of spite or malice or even misunderstanding. they just never picked it up. didn't even see it.

*the rossio version of the script is also sorely lacking in this regard. true enough philip and syrena reappear, but people didn't find them all that compelling to begin with, they go through more or less an identical, ambigious arc and end in the same place they began, and the script even directly notes they could easily be replaced with unrelated, new characters. his version is even less connected to the heart of what made the trilogy good, imo. i'm forced to assume ted e.lliot is elizabeth's champion, and that while rossio is very good at the grand concepts and mythical atmosphere, elliot must have brought the grounding elements tying character together and giving them real substance. without both, the rossio script is empty adventure, like on stranger tides, and the nathanson script follows down a similar road. joachim and espen as the directing team were fans enough to bring their nostalgia in and i think is what led to to looking back toward the trilogy more, which was great, they just -again- tripped and fell short of a full return to spirit.

ultimately, the whole problem with elizabeth isn't "she was ruined" it's that she was abandoned. forgotten, or ignored. they killed all her loved ones and left her on a beach and when someone thought to go back to that beach, to that moment, it was to wonder "what about the kid" and never even ask "but what did She do?". I'm fully convinced you could ask that team "what did elizabeth do in that time" and they'd all collectively shrug at you. it's fucked up. but it's not the same as being unwritten. whether elizabeth sat on a beach for 20 years or not is left up to you, the viewing audience. and while that is just so... annoying. they still didn't tie her to that beach themselves. fandom did that. they filled a space and then blamed the writers for the thing the audience filled it with, instead of for leaving a big gaping hole in the heart of their story. it's very vexing.

("then why is henry in the navy at the start?" why is the govenor's daughter a pirate? shit happens. he's 20, a lot could have put him there. if the first thing you think of is boring as hell, make something else up. the movie has fuck all to say about henry's background, too. this is the big gaping hole in the writing that i'm talking about — by overlooking elizabeth, henry's entire history is likewise a big non-statement. sure, you can choose to infer certain things, but you're still inferring. you're still inventing. the movie doesn't care. all we know is everyone on the monarch thinks he's a "landsman" - but if that's true, where has he learned so much about pirate flags and oceanic mythology? what was he doing, between age ten-or-twelve, when he sank himself, and when we see him again in the triangle to be so self-sure and impulsive? the movie doesn't care, it just wants you to see that he is. this is both a strength and weakness, because it invites you to play. unfortunately it invited a fandom who had long ago decided what the future of these characters must be, who then were angry and disappointed when what they got didn't match a mess of a thousand visions that couldn't possibly be matched. so the movie decided "we'll let them decide", removing all the hard and fast statements, and the fandom assumed the worst and decided that was what they were given, instead of empty spaces. and now everyone calls the movie something it isn't. and it's all because the writing forgot that the heart in the chest wasn't actually the heart they needed to be focused on.)

anyway. i think that's out of my system now i'll try to shut up about it going forward.

[hollowwhisperings]

What's In The Box? (KH Spec)

in KH3 & KHUX, the Master of Masters (MoM) tasks Luxu with lugging around a big, fancy black box.

MoM never tells Luxu (or ANYONE) what's actually IN this box... but Maleficent decided it (& its Assumed Connection to MoM's Book Of Prophecies?) was worth the effort of... stalking Sora & his enemies for multiple games, spectating on the latest Keyblade War, and, presumably, tricking some Keyblade Wielder (Kairi, maybe?) into Opening The Box for her.

KH3 namedrops Pandora's Box & the Chest of Davy Jones outright: Pandora's Box has two variant contents, Davy Jones' Chest holds his heart (& his heartbreak).

KH3 also, indirectly, reminds players of IRL 'Black Boxes' by using datacubes in the BH6 World, referencing memory chips, backups & data throughout the level. Datacubes & the corruption thereof first appeared in KH re:Coded, a game featuring a Data Riku (bearing KH1 Riku's likeness) being preyed upon by Maleficent (she & her connections to Riku are Important to this theory).

There is an IRL kind of Black Box which, like the Baymax memory chip, acts as the protective case of a Backup Copy of a plane's movements & data entries so that, in the event of disaster, the Black Box will survive & serve as a record of everything that happened.

THAT kind of 'Black Box' is invoked in KHUX with its 'Data Daybreak Town'. It's also likely that the Lost Masters Luxu summoned at KH3's end were retrieved from a similar data backup.

The MoM's Black Box, however, predates KHUX entirely: so what's in HIS box?

I suspect that the Box contains something that is all these boxes COMBINED (remember that Pandora's Box has 2 variants):

a black box built to Survive Disaster, Containing Records & Data Thereof.

the Chest of Davy Jones, a box holding the Human Heart of an Immortal... and his heartbreak with it.

a Pandora's Box that kept all of Humanity's Innate Goodness, the opening of which doomed humanity to corruption & sin. One 'Good' remained in the Box & with Humanity: 'Hope'.

a Pandora's Box that kept all Evils from the world, the opening of which doomed humanity to mortality, war, famine, etc. The only 'Evil' left in the box? Hope.

Yes, depending on the version of the Pandora Myth you're reading, 'Hope' is seen as a remaining virtue OR as a cruel 'gift'.

The MoM named each of his six pupils for one of the Seven Deadly Sins ('Evils', if you will). These pupils became known as the 'Lost Masters'. None of these pupils are named for 'Pride', generally understood to be the 'worst/heaviest' Sin: the absence implies that MoM himself is 'Pride'.

Incidentally, there is one readable word engraved on MoM's Box: 'super'. Following the naming conventions of the Lost Masters ('Luxu' = 'Lust', in latin) this translates to that missing sin, 'Pride'.

Considering that the Black Box is the MoM's, I speculate that it contains HIS heart: this makes Additional Sense for KH because Disney's Snow White features this 'heart in a box' concept... and, in BBS, the role of Huntsman was assigned to TERRA (which he, obvs, did not do). Terra DID, however, end up 'stealing' a heart later on... the heart of Aurora, as in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, and as tricked by MALEFICENT (oh look, here she is again, how INTERESTING).

What's Inside The MoM's Heart?

Well, following the premise of Davy Jones, MoM's mortality... and his capacity for love. Given that the MoM lead his pupils toward CIVIL WAR, standing by as this war repeated itself not only in KHUX but in Dark Road and in BBS AND IN KH3-

yeah, it makes sense that this guy has survived his immortality via being incapable of genuine compassion.

(there is also the possibility that he's outlived all these generations of keyblade wielders due to getting trapped/hopping over to UnReality, blissfully helpless to Those Wars He Instigated... buuut this theory assumes his Conveniebnt Absence & his Prophecies of [Ragnarok] were Deliberate)

I am Assuming A Lot about MoM's abilities: that he is immortal, that he can conceal his presence, that he is a He, that he is a form of Nobody, that he not only COULD but DID witness every iteration of the Keyblade War in the KH series. That seeing that war & its tragedies repeat is WHY that war keeps happening.

My theory is that MoM's Heart, safe in its Box (until Maleficent manages to open it/use it as blackmail), is MoM's "backup": his memories and love and despair from an Even Earlier Keyblade War, one where Darkness and the person who became MoM were the ONLY survivors.

No Dandelions. No MoM "and his best friend". No "lost, separated but not forever". No "True Love's Sacrifice" and DEFINITELY no "time-travel fix-it where No One Dies (except Xehanort & Sora, kind of)".

Just MoM. And Darkness.

...and THAT'S why MoM keeps setting generation after generation up for Ragnarok. THAT'S why MoM showed himself to Xehanort (who helped avert HIS generation's War, if not its Tragedy), why MoM was so DELIGHTED to discover Sora (& Riku): SORA ESCAPED HIS TRAGIC FATE.

MoM's Plan(s)

Sora (& Riku & Kairi) have proven that it is POSSIBLE to Change Destiny, to have Everyone Live.

So, naturally, MoM needs to test Sora (& Riku) AGAIN, in a controlled experiment, to figure out "How" KH3's ending was possible... and if it can be REPLICATED.

The x-blade is an additional factor in MoM's efforts to recreate the Keyblade War as he lived it, changing players & adding variables to figure out how (& 'where') Things Go Wrong.

If MoM hails from the FIRST Keyblade War, where Kingdom Hearts itself summoned the x-blade to protect itself yet ultimately cut its losses to prevent Darkness triumphing entirely... then Sora's 'Ultima' keyblades, his Nobody's ability to dual-wield, his 'Combined Keyblade' with Riku? These are all VERY INTERESTING to MoM!

Look at the previous attempts to summon or artificially forge the x-blade:

collecting 'Lux' (Unions, failure)

posession by Darkness (Baldr, failure)

Xehanort (experiment ongoing)

cutting a heart into 'Light' and 'Darkness' then having them Fight (Ventus, partial success)

the keyblade war in BBS (failure)

Whatever That Original Nobody Experiment with Ansem Was (..?)

multiple layers of possession of a Chosen Host, collecting the Hearts of Worlds & the Seven Lights, etc (MoM's Note to Future Self: "That Fairy Might Be Onto Something")

Roxas dual-wielding (???)

Xion dual-wielding (!!!)

Whatever The Heck Xemnas Was Up To in KH2 (fai-)

Sora & Riku's Boss Fight with Xemnas (-PARTIAL SUCCESS!)

Data Hearts..? (MoM's Underlined Note to Self: "KEEP EYE ON MALEFICENT")

Sora & Riku's Hijacked Mark of Mastery Exam (PROOF OF CONCEPT! req. further testing)

KH3 (...failure WAIT WHAT'S HAP-)

KH 2.9 (???)

Sora's Hijacking of the Aqua Rescue Mission (success??)

KH3's 2nd/3rd Keyblade War (SUCCESS: ISOLATING VARIABLES FOR FOCUSED TESTING)

quadratum (experiment ongoing)

MoM's Goal?

replicate results of Sora (& Riku?) testing of 99% survival rate & successful x-blade utilization in 1st KBW. save everyone. win.

Or, in Other Words...

learn method of summoning x-blade & replicate method for personal use via proxie (Yozora)

return to the origin story of KH's universe, the First Keyblade War (memories preserved in MoM's heart, a touchstone between Then & Now)

change what was destined to be a tragedy: unchain fate (overwrite ancient history)

everyone survives to build a new, brighter world (return heart to body)

...and the future, that Sora & his friends are from? Erased from Ever Existing in the first place. (pandora's box: saving the past at the cost of the future)

[mostly-mundane-atla]

So I was thinking of Zuko as a clearly scarred leader+Toph as a Beifong/teacher of Avatar+Teo, which all led me to thinking of war recovery including changes so there are accommodations for people who use wheelchairs, etc. Then, I was thinking of a Braille system of some kind being created+implemented, which led me to thinking about how the different nations would do it. I was thinking FN would put up like metal 3Dish plaques + EN would just bend out part of walls into forms.

And then I was thinking about the NWT+SWT. Based on research I see that different Inuit groups tend to use different stone for sculpting, and I know some do totem poles, and I know walrus ivory is used. So I guess I was thinking the SWT+NWT would probably do things differently. (I was thinking they would not do ice because ... having to touch ice? Would not be a cool accommodation.)

So, I was wondering what your thoughts are on this. Also, Do the SWT+NWT actually draw any inspiration from specific Inuit cultures/people’s? Or are the WN aesthetics just a mashup of different Inuit cultures/or a nebulous reference?

My apologies if you ever discussed any of these things before+thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to hear your thoughts/opinions.

To answer your other asks, a good umbrella term is Circumpolar peoples. This covers all your bases and you can specify region, such as "from Greenland to Sibera" which I hear a lot in regards to the Inuit, Inupiat, and Yup'ik peoples.

That said, Circumpolar peoples don't do totem poles. Nations from the Pacific Northwest and southeast Alaska do, but we don't. You may be thinking of dance masks which can get incredibly intricate, especially the Yup'ik ones, but serve an entirely different purpose.

And now to go onto the actually questions. How would a fantasy version of Inupiaq culture do braille? Well, I'm not sure it would be entirely necessary. Unlike most of the cultures that the series takes inspiration from, we didn't really have paper or a written language pre-contact. We did use lampblack (burned animal fat in our case) for ink, but that was used for art and tattooing, not for writing words. Due to this lack of paper, our art was more three dimensional. It was beautiful fur clothes and dance masks, and figures carved of driftwood, ivory, stone, and scrimshaw. Etchings in baleen or ivory. You start at one end of the piece and "read" the story through interpreting the carved illustrations to the other end. We didn't really use signs for trails because there wasn't really a point. You would go that way your whole life and rarely ever completely alone.

But I suppose if I were to apply braille-esque signs to the Water Tribe anyway, I think they'd be treated as art pieces. The words, carved in driftwood or bone, or even baleen if you're feeling fancy, would be the most important part, but I don't think they could resist adding other designs that could be felt. I'm sure other accomodations were already worked into the culture. I'd find it hard to believe if snowblindness and having to travel in weather conditions so bad you can't see past your own nose weren't common among Water Tribesmen.

As for if they take inspiration from irl peoples, they definitely do, but I'd say it's more an amalgamation of various circumpolar peoples than any one particular group. Though many are quick to point out the Inuit influence on the aesthetic, I think it's fair to say just as much was taken from the Yup'ik peoples, shown in the photo below

This Kuskokwim Yup'ik couple was photographed in 1879. Note that these hoodless parkas are longer and have slimmer silhouettes than those you typically find in traditional Inuit dress, like the ones we see in the show.

There are also discriptions of traditional caps made of the skin of a wolf's head worn by Saint Lawrence Islanders, which may have inspired the wolf helms.

In Legend of Korra and the comics it seems they were trying to put a little more effort into referencing the Inuit and Inupiat through naming. Unalaq (from "Ungalaaqłiit") and Noatak (from "Nuataaq") are both named after Inupiaq villages. Tonraq likely comes from the Inuit word "tornaq" (our word for the concept is "tunģaaq") which is a land mammal spirit summoned by a shaman. Senna likely comes from Sedna, the most popular name for an armless woman in the ocean from Inuit myth, whose bones from her missing hands and forarms became all the creatures in the sea. If you perked up at this and said "there's an armless woman in Legend of Korra too! She's also Water Tribe!" I'll let you come to your own conclusions on that.

Malina, from North and South, also gets her name from a woman of Inuit myth, who became the sun after running away from her brother (for gross and fucked up reasons) who, in turn, became the moon. Her brother Malik has a name that could mean a number of things depending on what Inupiaq word you think he's supposed to be named after, from tidal wave to lure to one birth shortly after another (the traditional lifestyle typically involved gaps of about five years between children so only one year between births was notable) to constantly following (which, knowing the Inuit myth about Malina and her brother, is a little unfortunate).

Even in the original series, you find some glimpses of the language in names. Arnook is likely from "nanuq" or polar bear, which was spelled nanook before the spirit movement in the 80s estabished a standardized written aspect of the language. Kuruk's name likely comes from "kurruk" which means to hang one's head in sorrow, shame, or disappointment, but you could interpret it as coming from longer words meaning things like to lower one's head as if to look for something or to fall head over heels.

You can check my "eskimo on main" tag for more, or send me another ask. My messages are open too, if you would prefer that

[clarenecessities]

As my followers may have picked up from my long, spiraling rants, I’ve undertaken a new research project, courtesy of the death grip She-Ra has on my brain. And guess what? It’s finally at Disseminate Information Stage! So I’m going to lay out all of the gods, demigods, and godbeasts of the Masters of the Universe. With sources!

This table is more of a cheat sheet. We’re gonna tackle this god by god, with a section on Actual Lore & a meta section to help you decide how valid you think they are, because frankly some canons are more canon than others.

Asklepia, Benevolent Snake Goddess

Lore: Asklepia is one of two snake goddesses, the benevolent twin sister of Serpentia. We know very little about her abilities, but the Snake Clan (a clan of human warriors) were said to worship her, and they were famed for their architecture and healing. She had the ability to curse and deform people--to what extent is uncertain, but she’s known to have condemned a fallen priest named Ka, whose disfigured likeness now adorns Snake Mountain.

Behind the Scenes: First appearing in the 1987 comic “Il Nero Cristallo Del Potere“, Asklepia remained nameless for over 30 years, until Masters of the Universe Classics (MOTUC) released a few choice bios. For the unfamiliar, MOTUC seeks to reconcile the often contradictory canons into one overarching narrative, which is great in theory, but in practice is kind of like putting ice cream on a hot dog. And calling it a Chilly Dog ® as if that makes it taste better. But I digress. In 2019 they released a bio for the Staff of Ka which finally put a name to the less-evil Snake Goddess, in an obvious nod to Asclepius and the asklepian (that staff+snake icon people put on medical stuff).

Sharella, the Green Goddess and/or “Avatar” of Asklepia

Lore: Contradictory

Long Version: Okay I’ve put avatar in quotes because it is... contentious. Basically, and you’ll see here why I felt the need to make this post instead of relying blindly on the wikis, Sharella was introduced (in the ‘87 licensing guide) as a tribal leader who had joint custody of Gray, the original name of He-Ro’s alter ego, while he was growing up. This was further developed by Emiliano Santalucia’s concept work, wherein she was the leader of the Green Tiger Tribe (GTT) specifically. While the comic concept was not run through licensing & is thus not “canon”, the idea of her leading the GTT persisted. This teeny tiny image of her from Tytus and Megator’s 1987 Italian box art was all we had until 2008, when one of He-Man’s accessories described her as the “warrior woman ally” of Queen Veena, “who had been changed into the immortal green-skinned avatar of the Goddess Asklepia”. In 2009, MOTUC released a figure for The Goddess, apparently forgetting they’d done that shit the year before because the packaging did say “K’yrulla” was her real name. They had to cover it up with a sticker. 

So who’s The Goddess? Way back in the days before Mattel solidified any of the lore around MOTU, there were mini-comics released with the toys. Initially, the Goddess served a similar function to the Sorceress in the cartoon, and was in fact sometimes called the Sorceress. She facilitated He-Man’s transformations, gave him missions, was generally magical and mysterious, etc. If you know who the Sorceress is, and you can picture Teela, but green? That’s about it.

Back to Sharella, though. The Third Ultimate Battleground rolled around in 2015, and for the first time since some packaging in the 80s, we saw Sharella in action! She was shot through the heart with a poison arrow. Yeah. But don’t worry, she received a blood transfusion from Moss Man (who we’ll get to later), and was transformed into the Green Goddess! She’s immortal now. How Asklepia figures in here is sort of unclear, which is weird since this is still part of the MOTUC line, but whatever. Whatever! Queen Grayskull (the aforementioned Veena) received a bio in 2015 as well, which described Sharella as her apprentice who became “The Goddess”.

Horokoth, Aspect of the Mother Goddess

Lore: DC went a little batshit (pun intended) with the lore for the Eternity War. Here the Goddess is three combined aspects, “Serpos” (Serpentia) for the Snake Men, Zoar for the human “Eternians”, and a third, invented deity called Horokoth, who represents the Horde. Horokoth is “the coming destroyer. The darkness at the end of days.” and is represented by a bat.

Behind the Scenes: That last link has a clearer picture of her, it just didn’t crop well. Also, I confess I couldn’t bring myself to read Eternity War. As thrilling as the prospect of a cohesive narrative is, if I wanted to see Adora slit her brother’s throat there’s the edgier side of deviantArt to peruse. Therefore I know little of Horokoth outside of a few still images of Hordak. The bat was almost certainly selected for the Horde’s vespertilian emblem.

Hordeous, God-Beast of Horokoth

Lore: A “primordial”, bat-like godbeast of Horokoth, created in response to the god Saz’s feline races. Their face was “forever infused“ on the surface of Horde World by Horde Lord (Hordak and Horde Prime’s father in the MOTUC canon) to grant their family power and immortality.

Behind the Scenes: Yes they’ve used some words wrong, but they’ve got the spirit, right? Hordeous was (allegedly, this is secondhand) an invention of the MOTUC crew in answer to Horokoth. Now, the Horde Supreme bio predates Horokoth’s introduction by about 3 years, but obviously the comics were in production already. There’s an undated sketch of Horokoth Hordak from an undated interview (thanks for nothing you useless website) but in that same gallery there’s an orko sketch labeled 2012 so. We’re good right? That makes sense, timeline-wise. Anyway the comics slam dunked Horde Prime out of existence and combined him with Horde Lord so it’s contradictory anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Serpentia, Malevolent Snake Goddess

Lore: The evil counterpart of Asklepia, Serpentia is the goddess of the Snake Men. The priest Ka of the Snake Clan forsook Asklepia in her favor, destroying Asklepia’s sacred orb and stealing the Serpent Ring (an artefact capable of transforming humans into Snake Men) from the Ophidian Spire with King Hsss. In DC’s triune interpretation of the Goddess, Serpentia (here ‘Serpos’) is blood, passion, and desire. A primal and primordial force appearing to the Snake Men in their own image.

Behind the Scenes: Okay yes I’ve reused the Asklepia pic but in my defense they are twins and this is the easiest one to crop. So here’s the thing about Serpentia: we only got a name for her in 2019. We knew there was a snake goddess, and she was pretty evil, or at least hostile towards mammalian life (see: the source of the pic I chose for her). Where Asklepia references the asklepian, ‘Serpentia’ is a much more heavy-handed snake reference, even though Anguis was right there. Those Masters Mondays came through for us, though, with the shield and staff of Ka, Ssssylph, and of course MOTUC’s Dark Despot Skeletor, which is. something. Though only recently named, Serpentia has been a shadow over Eternia since the Snake Men’s introduction in 1985 (or, depending on how much of the presented backstory you accept, even sooner in the form of Skeletor’s lair, Snake Mountain).

Serpos/Sarcedon, God-Beast of Snake Mountain

Lore: Contradictory, but the gist of it is he’s a very large snake with elemental magic and a grudge, that was turned to stone and became Snake Mountain.

Long Version: Snake Mountain was conceived of towards the end of 1982, but wasn’t revealed to the public until September of 1983, with the debut of the Filmation cartoon. For another year, the snake coiled around its summit was simply a carving, its mouth hollowed out for Skeletor to stand in and loom. But in 1984 the Snake Mountain toy was released, completely discarding the Filmation design in favor of the hewn face of the figure we now call Ka. Instead of a snake carving winding its way up the peak, the Mattel toy featured a ‘striking serpent’, alive and attached to the mountain itself. From there, it was an easy leap to make to ‘this carving comes alive’. So easy, in fact, that they did it twice!

First attempted in 1985 in the newspaper storyline “Vengeance of the Viper King”, the snake was here called Sarcedon, the World Destroyer. At the dawn of time, he was said to crush Eternia within his deadly coils. He burrowed deep into the ground, causing fearsome storms that nearly destroyed the planet. Only a fearless hero (implied to be He-Ro) could defeat and imprison Sarcedon. Using a macguffin called a Mirror of History, He-Man forced Sarcedon to behold his own reflection in a reference to the Medusa myth that kind of missed the point of it being reflective. Sarcedon was sent back in time, Snake Mountain was restored, the good guys win, blah blah blah.

That was the last of it until the MYP cartoon in 2004. Serpos as a name was actually first invoked by Mer-Man in a 1982 minicomic, but like it probably wasn’t about the snake. Anyway in the MYP cartoon the Snake Men get this thing called the Medallion of Serpos that lets them un-petrify the snake around Snake Mountain, grow two more heads, and unleash his godly wrath. He breathes fire, trashes Eternos, beats up He-Man, then turns his attention on Castle Grayskull to consume the Orb of Power (containing the strength and wisdom of the Elders, who had first trapped him in stone). He-Man cuts off Serpos’s extra heads with a sword upgrade, the Elders are somehow magically restored to life, and they re-petrify him. Snake Mountain is restored, the good guys win, blah blah blah.

Zoar, the Fighting Falcon

Lore: Contradictory, but it sure is a bird!

Long Version: While Sharella’s backstory is fraught because of the comics couldn’t decide what they wanted her to be, Zoar was similarly tangled up by the toyline. Initially male, he went through several color schemes, some prettier than others. Though there was a vague association with the Sorceress before the cartoon (recall that pre-Filmation, the Sorceress was just the Goddess), Filmation made them literally inseperable by designating Zoar as the Sorceress’s falcon form, to which she was confined when leaving Castle Grayskull.

Some of the comics and Golden books showed Zoar as being flipping enormous & ridden into battle as a steed by Teela and Man-at-Arms. Pre-Filmation, Zoar was always referred to as male, but post-Filmation, always female, as an incarnation of the Sorceress.

The Eternity Wars comics describe Zoar as the third aspect of the Goddess, the ‘Great Preserver’ whose light would shine through the universe for eternity. They pull off a sort of tripartite priestess thing where it’s Serpos/Zoar/Horokoth represented by Teela-Na (the Sorceress)/Teela/Evil-Lyn.

MOTUC, of course, had to reconcile all of these contradictory canons. How’d they do it? “In the folklore of Eternia, the golden falcon symbolized the godhead Zoar, a powerful deity of Preternia. As a god, Zoar could appear in both male and female guises and while the blue-tipped female falcon was associated with the Sorceress of Grayskull, the golden falcon represented Zoar's masculine nature.” So Zoar is genderfluid now, and the Sorceress is merely borrowing their form when transforming into a falcon. This bio also established that Zoar had anointed the first Sorceress, Veena (Queen Grayskull), which explains why she has wings for no apparent reason.

Also it’s not offically MOTUC but the scultors of the line, Four Horsemen, made a single anthro Zoar for Power-Con 2013. In case you need that for some reason.

Glorybird, Emissary of Zoar

Lore: Many millennia ago, there were three siblings, who were very poor and mistreated by their stepmother, but had hearts filled with kindness and love. Zoar, recognizing their resilience and desire to help people, sent an emissary named Glorybird. Glorybird bestowed upon each sibling a divine gift, but as they used their new powers to fight for good, their stepmother revealed herself to be a Celestial Witch & attempted to sacrifice them to Zoar’s “greatest enemy”, Horokoth.  

Backstory: Okay, so the Star Sisters (and Glorybird) were in exactly one episode of She-Ra, primarily to set them up as new toy designs. While prototypes were made for these, the figures weren’t actually produced until MOTUC released figures for them in 2012. Though they were referenced in Princess Prom, and we saw a brief cameo in a background, Glorybird was absent until the introduction of the Star Siblings in Season Five.

That’s right! This bird is a god, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Saz, God of All Felines

Lore: One of the “Gods of the Multiverse” (he is the only member named explicitly), Saz was a blue-furred, feline deity responsible for the creation of all cats, humanoid or otherwise. He transformed himself into an enormous cat-beast to defeat Serpos and Hordeous, whose progenitors created them in envy of his children. Though Serpos was defeated, Hordeous escaped into the cosmos, and Saz himself vanished mysteriously.

Behind the Scenes: “By the whiskers of Saz!” is a fun pseudo-swear made by various cat races throughout MOTU, first in He-Man’s “The Cat and the Spider” and later in She-Ra’s “Magicats”. That was the only real mention of him until... okay, so MOTUC bios aren’t always attached to the product. Starting in 2018, they did this thing called Masters Mondays where they put unposted bios on the org forums. So while we’ve had the sword since 2010, we didn’t get the background on it until March of 2020. And then a couple weeks later, the Cat Mask of Catra bio referred to him as a “mystical being” instead of a god, but the mask was from 2011 so. He may not have been a god yet. It really depends on when the bios were actually written.

Saz wielded a blade probably best described as a falchion, whose quillon & langet formed a vaguely triangular shape around a deep red gem. I want to be clear that while it looks totally rad, this sword would be very impractical and have poor structural integrity were it not made by a literal god. Do not make swords like this. Also it’s almost certainly riffing on the Sword of Omens from Thundercats (affectionate).

Sabe-Or, Son of Saz

Lore: A green-furred, orange-striped paladin, Sabe-Or is one of the only named Ancients. He inherited his father’s blade upon Saz’s mysterious disappearance, and lived for centuries more. Upon his death, he transferred his “heroic essence” into a group of Eternian tigers, forever transforming them into the Green Tiger Tribe, whence both Granger (steed of King Grayskull), and Cringer, steed of Prince Adam.

Behind the Scenes: So “Battle Cat Man” is a concept that’s existed since they decided to make their hero ride a wicked tiger into battle. If you show a kid a superhero, and a supertiger, apparently the natural inclination of most children in the 80s was to combine the two. There are so many custom action figures. So, so many. Sabe-Or is visually a clear reference to this concept, and canonically seems to be the closest we’re going to get outside of the Thundercats crossover, unless you count Cowarros from 4H’s Mythic Legions line (I do, because it means Purrrplor is also canon and I fucking love calling him that).

Moss Man, Ancient Eternian Nature God

Lore: An ally of King Grayskull, Moss Man was something of an Eternian cryptid in the centuries leading up to He-Man Times. He has control over all plant life, the ability to meld with plants, and apparently can imbue sentience to said plants.

Behind the Scenes: Moss Man wasn’t featured in many episodes, because he’s a little... incredibly over-powered. He’s literally Bigfoot from 5000 years ago with magic powers. And like, since I don’t think the writers appreciate how long 5000 years is, you know what happened 5000 years ago? Stonehenge. This bitch is Stonehenge-old. But sure, you can trace a direct line of descent from his contemporary. smh. Anyway according to MOTUC his real name is Kreann’Ot N’Norosh so make of that what you will. Also his toys were pine-scented. I just love that.

Evil Seed, Rebellious Creation of Moss Man

Lore: Created by Moss Man to help fight in the Great Wars, Evil Seed betrayed his master and turned to evil (who could have foreseen this...), finding joy in corrupting all forms of plant life for his own amusement. Moss Man imprisoned him in enchanted chains, keeping him restrained for many millennia.

Behind the Scenes: According to MOTUC, his real name is Sero Malustro, clumsy New Latin for “(to) plant evil-burnt“. Why his name is New Latin and Moss Man’s is... whatever that is, I have no idea. As you can see from the image I included, he originally had an artichoke head, which was upgraded for the Mike Young Productions (MYP) cartoon. Personally I think the artichoke rules.

Volcana, the Fire Goddess

Lore: Canonically, she’s a fire goddess, and the mother of the Volcano Magus. Together, they are a rising force that seeks to conquer Etheria in the wake of Hordak’s defeat.

Backstory: Volcana has taken a long a twisted journey, but was first revealed to fans at Power-Con 2016 in a panel revealing previously unseen concepts and characters. After the first wave of She-Ra toys, a second wave was planned with a snow focus, to bring more attention the Filmation-neglected Frosta. This began with the introduction of a fire villain, an “evil lady that glows with heat” who would attempt to melt Castle Chill. That concept actually refers to a character named Amber (not Ember, as one might assume) who was reworked into a benevolent counterpart, Volcana’s twin sister.

Volcana was later fleshed out to be a Fire Goddess with flame-red hair, x-ray vision, and arms sculpted with flames. Her cape flew up with flame detail that rose up to control the volcano (of Volcanica, a proposed toyset that seems to have been reworked into the Crystal Falls). She was emphasized by Mattel to not start fires, which, honestly, is probably why they scrapped the character. He-Man couldn’t use his sword as a sword; a woman made of fire was basically doomed.

Now, though, we’re several decades in and lines made for collecters that are largely in their 30s and 40s can say whatever they want! So she’s canon, even if Amber isn’t. Yes there’s only one mention of her. Amber technically was mentioned in an unproduced episode titled “Amber Waves of Flame”, but as it was unproduced, it’s noncanonical.

Volcano Magus, Sinister Son of Volcana

Lore: Living within a dormant volcano, the Volcano Magus of the German audio plays was the source of most of Catra’s power and all of her evil intent. He supplied her with magic for spells and schemes with which to assail the Crystal Castle, but neither she nor Clawdeen were aware of the dark influence he held over them.

In the MOTUC canon, he’s specified as the son of Volcana, a demigod from the “Region of Volcanoes” who craved the nature magic of the Whispering Woods. When he learned the Twiggets were inextricably linked to that magic, he used his powers to petrify the former Rebels (this was after the Horde's defeat) and kidnap three Twiggets to drain the magic from their souls. Twiggets, for the uninitiated, are like purple tree-elf things. According to MOTUC, Razz is a Twigget, though the ‘real’ name they assigned her doesn’t fit their naming convention. She is purple, I guess.

Kowl, who avoided petrification, read Razz's spellbooks to find a way to save his friends, and learned of an Entrapment Gem that she hid in a shoe, for some reason. He confronted the Volcano Magus, spoke in the ancient tongue of the First Ones, and sucked him into the Gem.

Backstory: Admittedly this stuff is second hand, as I don’t speak German & they only have transcriptions/translations for the He-Man tapes anyway, but if anybody can find me an audio file I will do my best to verify. The MOTUC stuff at least I can confirm 100% because it’s from 2019 & I do speak English, for better or worse.

Oak, the Jackal God

Lore: Oak was the terrible Jackal God worshiped by the denizens of Zhar, an ancient civilization that once existed in a remote, forested region of Eternia. Long ago, Oak was imprisoned within a statue which could be found within the Temple of the Jackal. When Skeletor removed the statue from the temple, Oak broke free of the enchantment which imprisoned him and wreaked havoc on Eternia. Although the Jackal God was immensely powerful, he could be weakened by the elements of nature and was ultimately foiled by a rainstorm conjured by the combined powers of He-Man's sword and the magic of the temple's guardian priest.

Backstory: I have lifted this from a He-Man guide word for word as I cannot for the life of me find a copy of the Brazilian Editora Abril comic he came from, O Templo Do Chacal (1986). The description is like, suspiciously similar to the plot of the He-Man episode The Cat and the Spider, except the Grimalkin was never described as a god. The rest of it--statue, Skeletor, storm defeat--plays out almost the same. True pity I can’t find the original source, but I do trust this guidebook. You may be interested in Ceres from the UK comics--another dog-slash-statue who frankly might as well be a god himself, but as he’s not called one in canon he’s not going on the list.

The Bitter Rose Goddess

Lore: As Man-at-Arms told the legend, “Every day, a woman climbed Rose Mountain to look for her husband to return from the war. Alas, he never came back. Her tears poured from her cheek and entered the ground. One day she disappeared, but where she stood was a single, solitary rose. It’s the only thing that grows on Rose Mountain.”

The Insect People, who lived at the base of Rose Mountain, believed that the Bitter Rose is all that held the mountain together (and when it was picked, they were proved right). After the flower was restored, it transformed into the Bitter Rose Goddess herself, who explained that she had been a prisoner of her love's sorrow, so bitter that she refused to allow anything else to grow on Rose Mountain. She blessed the surrounding area, blanketing the jagged peaks with roses, and disappeared.

Backstory: She’s kind of... barely a god. She showed up in one episode and no other media & has objectively less power than like, every single demon they ever brought in. I almost didn’t put her on this list.

Mask-Ra, Goddess of Masks

Lore: A goddess who created the magical Masks of Power.

Backstory: Mask-Ra was first mentioned in 2019 and like, look, I’m gonna be real. I don’t respect her. She’s an invention of MOTUC (unless they were drawing on this concept art of Maska-Ra, which I doubt bc he was a Man-E-Faces precursor) and they retconned her into having created Catra’s mask, which is kind of redundant given the entire episode Magicats. This mask did not need two bios. There are no other mentions of her in any canon.

Potential other Masks of Power: The Deemos and Tyrella masks from the He-Man episode “Masks of Power”, lizard and canine masks from the mini-comic “Masks of Power”, Lord Masque’s Demon Mask from the He-Man episode “House of Shokoti, Part 1″, and whatever the hell Red Shadow has going on.

Procrustus, Giant Guardian of Magic

Lore: During the creation of the various dimensions (5 in MOTUC canon but demonstratably higher everywhere else), the gods installed the four-armed, immortal giant Procrustus to guard their secrets at the heart of Eternia. There lay the Starseed, from which the entire dimension was created. It still held immeasurable power, and could be used to conquer entire universes. Hordak, in an attempt to access the Starseed, cracked Eternia in two with the Spell of Separation. Though he was (mostly) thwarted, from then on Procrustus was forced to hold the two halves of Eternia together from within, lest the planet break apart and the Starseed be exposed.

Backstory: First appearing in the mini-comic “The Magic Stealer!”, Procrustus is a lot more tangible than most gods. We know where he is, at all times, and he seems confined to one size. His powers appear to be largely physical, as he had to burrow out of the ground to investigate in the mini-comic instead of teleporting or like, magicking the dirt away. This was his only appearance until MOTUC released a figure for him in 2012. He also showed up in the Subternia map the next year, holding Eternia together.

Standor, Cosmic Creator of Power

Lore: “Before time began, the great Gods of the multiverse convened in the Hall of Power to create all that was and all that will ever be. Head architect of this great task was Standor. A cosmic being of unlimited imagination, Standor helped lead his fellow deities by fueling their energies with raw creative force.”

Backstory: Released for Comikaze 2013 to celebrate the partnership of Mattel and Pow! Entertainment, Standor is literally just Stan Lee But a God. The prototype was called Standar--idk why they changed it, but I think it’s because it’s too easy to confuse with “Standard”. They made a bio for his sunglasses. I don’t want to talk about it.

Bash-Or, Slain Mystic God-Beast

Lore: Very little is known of Bash-Or, the Ram. His last remnant was sealed within the Ram Stone by the ancient sorceror kings of Zalesia, imbuing it with his divine power to overcome any barrier, magical or otherwise.

Backstory: Bash-Or was revealed in the bio for the Ram Stone, September of 2020, but his spirit (previously referred to as ‘the Spirit of the Ram Stone’) was twice utilized by Skeletor in the MYP cartoon, to great effect, before the stone was destroyed.

[sciatu]

UNO DEI SIMBOLI DELLA SICILIA : MEDUSA

Come saprai il simbolo della Sicilia è costituito dalle tre gambe piegate a rappresentare le tre punte dell’isola e dal volto di una bella donna con serpenti come capelli, un volto della mitologia greca, Medusa. Le tre gambe ricordano i tre promontori siciliani ma erano anche rappresentate nel tempio del dio Baal a Cartagine in Tunisia a simboleggiare i tre elementi dell’universo (Terra, fuoco ed acqua). Il volto di Medusa è una presenza forse anomala, ma nell’antichità veniva sempre raffigurata nei templi e nelle case per scacciare gli influssi negativi e i nemici; il suo stesso nome nel greco antico significava “La Guardiana” “La protettrice”. Medusa però non è solo questo, il suo mito è molto più complesso per essere riassunto in un simbolo contro il male. A seconda di chi ne racconta la sua storia, Medusa è solo un mostro o una bellissima donna come descritta da Ovidio. Una ragazza la cui bellezza stupiva e imbambolava gli uomini. Malgrado la sua bellezza Medusa decise di diventare sacerdotessa di Atena, dea della sapienza, della cultura applicata, ma non dell’amore per cui le sue vestali non dovevano aver mai conosciuto l’uomo. Per questo motivo Medusa lasciò il suo amico d’infanzia Ificle per diventare sacerdotessa di Atena. Mostrando profonda fede e abnegazione as Atena, Medusa ne divenne la sacerdotessa. La bellezza di Medusa era tale che gli uomini partecipavano alle sue funzioni solo per vederla (con grande disappunto di Atena). Poseidone, nemico di Atena, per vendicarsi della preferenza che la città di Atene aveva per la dea, rapì e violentò Medusa sull’altare del tempio di Atena. La dea, furiosa per la profanazione trasformò Medusa in un mostro, dai capelli diventati serpenti ed il volto orribile tanto che chiunque la guardasse diventa di pietra. La sua prima vittima fu proprio Ificle con cui era cresciuta e che l’amava. Fu lui il primo a correre in suo aiuto contro Poseidone e a vederla nella sua nuova forma diventando di pietra. Disperata Medusa, cacciata ed inseguita per essere uccisa, si rifugia in un vecchio tempio dove torna ad onorare Atena. Quest’ultima, colpita dalla sua dedizione malgrado il male ricevuto, non potendo farla tornare ad essere quello che era, dà a Perseo l’Egida, lo scudo con la superfice lucida come uno specchio, ricevuto in dono da Zeus. Lo scudo permette all’eroe greco di uccidere Medusa dal cui sangue nasceranno Pegaso, il bianco cavallo alato simbolo della purezza e Crisone, mitico eroe uccisore degli uomini empi. La testa di Medusa, dopo aver pietrificato Atlante e i rami tagliati nei boschi a creare il corallo, viene collocata da Atena sul suo scudo per difendere e pietrificare i suoi nemici. Medusa appare quindi nella lettura del mito, la vittima della sua bellezza, l’impietosa distruttrice dei suoi nemici, esteriormente mostro, ma interiormente pura e fedele a sé stessa e a quella sapienza che voleva onorare. Non è quindi semplicemente una distruttrice, è la versione mortale di Atena (anche lei rappresentata a volte con serpenti al posto dei capelli) interiormente pura ed onesta malgrado l’orrore che suscitava e le sventure che dalla sua bellezza erano nate. Il simbolo di Medusa non è quindi solo uno scacciare il male ed i nemici, è il simbolo di una terra dall’immensa bellezza, dall’amore per la sapienza, spesso tradita dal destino, ma pronta a distruggere anche chi ama se offesa o aggredita. In fondo, se pensi ai terremoti e alla lava dell’Etna, la forza distruttrice dell’isola, insieme alla sua bellezza non è solo un mito.

As you know, the symbol of Sicily consists of the three legs bent to represent the three points of the island and the face of a beautiful woman with snakes like hair, a face from Greek mythology, Medusa. The three legs recall the three Sicilian promontories but were also represented in the temple of the god Baal in Carthage in Tunisia to symbolize the three elements of the universe (Earth, fire and water). The face of Medusa is perhaps an anomalous presence, but in ancient times she was always depicted in temples and homes to drive away negative influences and enemies; her name in ancient Greek meant "The Guardian" "The protectress". But Medusa is not only this, the myth of her is much more complex to be summed up in a symbol against evil. Depending on who tells her story, Medusa is just a monster or a beautiful woman as described by Ovid. A girl whose beauty amazed and stunned men. Despite her beauty, Medusa decided to become priestess of Athena, goddess of wisdom, of applied culture, but not of love for which her vestals must never have known man. For this reason Medusa left her childhood friend Ificle to become a priestess of Athena. Showing deep faith and self-denial as Athena, Medusa became its priestess. Medusa's beauty was such that men attended her services only to see her (much to Athena's chagrin). Poseidon, Athena's enemy, in revenge for the preference that the city of Athens had for the goddess, kidnapped and raped Medusa on the altar of the temple of Athena. The goddess, furious for her desecration, transformed Medusa into a monster, with hair turned into snakes and her face horrible so that anyone who looked at her became stone. Her first victim was Ificle with whom she had grown up and who loved her. He was the first to rush to her aid against Poseidon and see Medusa in her new form becoming stone. Desperate Medusa, hunted and chased to be killed, she takes refuge in an old temple where she returns to honor Athena. The latter, struck by her dedication in spite of the evil she received, unable to make her go back to being what she was hers, gives Perseus the Aegis, her shield with the surface as shiny as a mirror, received in gift from Zeus. The shield allows the Greek hero to kill Medusa from whose blood will be born Pegasus, the white winged horse, symbol of purity, and Crisone, the mythical hero who kills ungodly men. The head of Medusa, after having petrified Atlas and the branches cut in the woods to create the coral, is placed by Athena on her shield to defend and petrify her enemies. Medusa thus appears in the reading of the myth, the victim of her beauty, the merciless destroyer of her enemies, outwardly monster, but inwardly pure and faithful to herself and to that wisdom that she wanted to honor. She is therefore not simply a destroyer, she is the mortal version of Athena (also represented at times with snakes instead of hair) inwardly pure and honest despite the horror she aroused and the misfortunes that were born from her beauty. The symbol of Medusa is therefore not only a drive away from evil and enemies, it is the symbol of a land of immense beauty, of love for wisdom, often betrayed by fate, but ready to destroy even those she loves if offended or attacked. After all, if you think of the earthquakes and the lava of Etna, the destructive force of the island, together with its beauty, is not just a myth.

[remustheman]

The Story of Remus, the true one not what you thought you knew.

In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus (Latin: [ˈroːmʊlʊs], [ˈrɛmʊs]) are twin brothers whose story tells the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus. The killing of Remus by his twin, along with other tales from their story, have inspired artists throughout the ages. Since ancient times, the image of a she-wolf suckling the twins has been a symbol of the city of Rome and the ancient Romans. Although the tale takes place before the founding of Rome around 750 BC, the earliest known written account of the myth is from the late 3rd century BC. Possible historical basis for the story, as well as whether the twins' myth was an original part of Roman myth or a later development, is a subject of ongoing debate;. 

Overview

Romulus and Remus were born in Alba Longa, one of the ancient Latin cities near the future site of Rome. Their mother, Rhea Silvia, was a vestal virgin and the daughter of the former king, Numitor, who had been displaced by his brother Amulius. In some sources, Rhea Silvia conceived them when their father, the god Mars, visited her in a sacred grove dedicated to him.[2]

Seeing them as a possible threat to his rule, King Amulius ordered for them to be killed and they were abandoned on the bank of the river Tiber to die. They were saved by the god Tiberinus, Father of the River, and survived with the care of others, at the site of what would eventually become Rome. In the most well-known episode, the twins were suckled by a she-wolf, in a cave now known as the Lupercal.[3] Eventually, they were adopted by Faustulus, a shepherd. They grew up tending flocks, unaware of their true identities. Over time, they became natural leaders and attracted a company of supporters from the community.

When they were young adults, they became involved in a dispute between supporters of Numitor and Amulius. As a result, Remus was taken prisoner and brought to Alba Longa. Both his grandfather and the king suspected his true identity. Romulus, meanwhile, had organized an effort to free his brother and set out with help for the city. During this time they learned of their past and joined forces with their grandfather to restore him to the throne. Amulius was killed and Numitor was reinstated as king of Alba. The twins set out to build a city of their own.

After arriving back in the area of the seven hills, they disagreed about the hill upon which to build. Romulus preferred the Palatine Hill, above the Lupercal; Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. When they could not resolve the dispute, they agreed to seek the gods' approval through a contest of augury. Remus first saw six auspicious birds but soon afterward Romulus saw 12, and claimed to have won divine approval. The new dispute furthered the contention between them. In the aftermath, Remus was killed either by Romulus or by one of his supporters.[4] Romulus then went on to found the city of Rome, its institutions, government, military and religious traditions. He reigned for many years as its first king. Roman historians and Roman traditions traced most Roman institutions to Romulus. He was credited with founding Rome's armies, its system of rights and laws, its state religion and government, and the system of patronage that underpinned all social, political and military activity.[23] In reality, such developments would have been spread over a considerable span of time. Some were much older and others much more recent. To most Romans, the evidence for the veracity of the legend and its central characters seemed clear and concrete, an essential part of Rome's sacred topography. One could visit the Lupercal, where the twins were suckled by the she-wolf, or offer worship to the deified Romulus-Quirinus at the "shepherd's hut", or see it acted out on stage, or simply read the Fasti.

The legend as a whole encapsulates Rome's ideas of itself, its origins and moral values. For modern scholarship, it remains one of the most complex and problematic of all foundation myths, particularly in the manner of Remus's death. Ancient historians had no doubt that Romulus gave his name to the city. Most modern historians believe his name a back-formation from the name Rome; the basis for Remus's name and role remain subjects of ancient and modern speculation. The myth was fully developed into something like an "official", chronological version in the Late Republican and early Imperial era; Roman historians dated the city's foundation to between 758 and 728 BC, and Plutarch reckoned the twins' birth year as 771 BC. A tradition that gave Romulus a distant ancestor in the semi-divine Trojan prince Aeneas was further embellished, and Romulus was made the direct ancestor of Rome's first Imperial dynasty. Possible historical bases for the broad mythological narrative remain unclear and disputed.[24] The image of the she-wolf suckling the divinely fathered twins became an iconic representation of the city and its founding legend, making Romulus and Remus preeminent among the feral children of ancient mythography.

A Roman relief from the

Cathedral of Maria Saal

showing Romulus and Remus with the she-wolf

Although a debate continues, current scholarship offers little evidence supporting the Roman foundation myth, including a historical Romulus or Remus.[25] Starting with Pictor, the written accounts must have reflected the commonly-held history of the city to some degree, as were not free to make things up.[26] The archaeologist Andrea Carandini is one of the very few modern scholars who accept Romulus and Remus as historical figures, based on the 1988 discovery of an ancient wall on the north slope of the Palatine Hill in Rome. Carandini dates the structure to the mid-8th century BC and names it the Murus Romuli.[27] In 2007, archaeologists reported the discovery of the Lupercal beneath the home of Emperor Augustus, but a debate over the discovery continues.[28][29]

Iconography

Ancient pictures of the Roman twins usually follow certain symbolic traditions, depending on the legend they follow: they either show a shepherd, the she-wolf, the twins under a fig tree, and one or two birds (Livy, Plutarch); or they depict two shepherds, the she-wolf, the twins in a cave, seldom a fig tree, and never any birds (Dionysius of Halicarnassus).

The twins and the she-wolf were featured on what might be the earliest silver coins minted in Rome.[30]

The Franks Casket, an Anglo-Saxon ivory box (early 7th century AD) shows Romulus and Remus in an unusual setting, two wolves instead of one, a grove instead of one tree or a cave, four kneeling warriors instead of one or two gesticulating shepherds. According to one interpretation, and as the runic inscription ("far from home") indicates, the twins are cited here as the Dioscuri, helpers at voyages such as Castor and Polydeuces. Their descent from the Roman god of war predestines them as helpers on the way to war. The carver transferred them into the Germanic holy grove and has Woden's second wolf join them. Thus the picture served—along with five other ones—to influence "wyrd", the fortune and fate of a warrior king.

Now, here is the true story of REMUS. Yes, he jumped over the wall and his brother did bury a body, only it wasn’t that of Remus’ it was that of a beggars. Instead his Father helped him giving Remus the powers that should belonged to him;. His brother may have gotten a city named after him, but he was known as the Father as all Animals. Remus spoke every animal, yep a gift from his father. He also could shift into anything. If a shifter went off it’s rocker and did something bad they had to answer to Father Rem. That’s all you need to know about him. He’s a loner and lives in a cave by a lake in an undisclosed location. Only those he approves of knows where he is and can reach him. He has always held some to a higher standard than others and those act as his go to when there’s a problem at hand. 

[vcinhyeon]

hello everyone! my name is summer and I am super excited to be apart of this roleplay with everyone. i am bringing you inhyeon aka scarlet, the hitwoman for the night bloods. she’s got an old timey way of talking and absolutely thinks that she is better than you. she’s a sharp shooter and can cut to the bone with her words alone but she’s not all bad, at least if you’re close to her. I don’t have her plots page done just yet (it’s in the process) but you can find her dossier and her background if you want to get a better understanding of who she is. 

the cut is the shortened version of her history if you don’t feel like reading a lot as well as some of the most bare bones plot you have ever seen. anyway, I’m looking forward to writing with each and every single one of you and if you’re interested in getting some connections / plots with me and my little elf, feel free to like this post and I’ll come to you.

BACKGROUND

tw: blood, murder, abuse, gang shit

so her parents were actually murdered when she was about 10 or so and she was taken by an unknown vampire into an organization where they basically threw her and 19 others together to learn how to be assassins

she learned really quickly not to distinguish herself to her peers and was just mediocre at everything so as to not draw attention to herself because when she was 20 they were all basically told that they would have a huge fight to the death melee and the lone survivor would move on (cause you know everyone else was dead)

basically it was everyones mistake to write her off cause she murdered as many as she could in cold blood and was ultimately the only survivor of her class as she had intended all along

from there she basically worked for this organization and quickly became their top assassin. she had a hand in a number of p.olitical assassinations over her long life so far but also just in general. 

about 10 years ago she got her revenge by killing her mentor, all the heads, and anyone important in  her organization for what they inflicted on her and afterwards using a contant with the night bloods she joined their ranks as a hitman. 

now she just does her job but she has no real loyalty to her gang, their reputation and protection was of use to her and thats why she joined at all. she could care less about it, the other gangs, or anything in it because in her mind it doesn’t really pertain to her. she just plays a good girl.

INHYEON AKA SCARLET

so as stated before, she is a mything elf or a high elf so she’s stop traffic in the daylight white, has bloody garnet eyes, and her hair is a pretty lavender so you can clock her species like pretty obviously. she is very small though, stands at about 4′11 (150ish cm)

she has a tendency to observe the weakness of everyone and everything around her just in case she needs to use it for whatever reason. her life as an assassin taught her to always be stronger than her opponents and to her thats....almost everyone. 

she absolutely thinks she’s better than everyone based purely on the fact that she is a mythical elf and also because she has a strong skillset that she relies on (liam neeson from taken anyone?) and she can be dismissive if she thinks she has no need for you

however despite that she can be charming and elegant as well because half of her skill set is being beautiful and charismatic to get people to lower their guards. it just depends on if she thinks that it will work in her favor or not. 

she is fiercely loyal to those that she sees value and friendship in. like go to the end of the worlds to protect you, kill all who oppose you, happy to fuck someone up if they look at you wrong fierce. there are very few bonds she cherishes and when she does? well, lets just say your enemy is her enemy. 

POTENTIAL PLOTS

honestly without going into detail because I can’t and I’m stupid:

female best friend / male best friend

rivals

first love

crushes (of any kind)

fwb

enemies with benefits

just anything antagonistic ever, honestly

someone she’s adopted as her psuedo-child

someone she’s adopted as her pseudo-siblings

someone who on sight means on sight

someone on her payroll (helps her out of things)

someone who knew her prior to her joining the gang as an assassin

the person who got her into the night bloods

[thursdayplaid]

Theogony says Persephone was abducted and there is zero evidence that Persephone was a Queen without Hades, or Hades being a King just after marrying Persephone. You can’t modify history to make a story feel better for modern values. Also please, Hades was so much more than “a god with a dog”. The myth was about separation because that was needed to explain death-life, agriculture cycles and other stuff.

So once upon a time, I wrote a post about how media and general assumption paints historical European women’s life as something it wasn’t and talked specifically how most women of the period got married in their twenties.  You would expect that people would get upset about rocking that particular boat, you (maybe) wouldn’t expect how many women were furious that I dared imply that a woman’s wasn’t a slow smear of blood from the womb to the grave.

The moral of the story is that I’ve spent hours of good faith gathering sources and getting them all lined up for an educational essay and then I remembered my experience with the post about historical European women and that you posted this on anon and that was about as far as my good faith reached. 

Suffice to say, after reviewing the most friendly to use Greek version (ie, not a picture of a manuscript) I could find online of the Theogony as well as a number of historical and modern translations I just didn’t care anymore.  I suspect you wouldn’t even care if I attached screenshots so why am I even trying to bother, you have the internet, you could have verified what I said before sending this message.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Due to questions of authorship, the section of the Theogony that mentions the marriage of Persephone and Hades usually isn’t included and in the earliest texts where the ‘whole’ Theology was provided it wasn’t clear that there was an abduction unless you’re talking Gregory Nagy who admits to adapting the translation.  It is very clear however that Persephone had white arms, so in case you were worried I just want you to know that Persephone definitely had white arms.  I assume the rest of her body was of a similar color, but the texts aren’t clear.

Also Persephone appears independently in several places (and Nonnus refers to Hades as Persephone’s consort more than once, he may be a relation of yours, Anon.  Shout out to your ancient great-grandfather).  Our girl P was borrowed from the Etruscans as Persipnei or Phersipnai (a word I don’t know if I could pronounce and look at at the same time, some words are just like that) and was connected to the god Aita who was definitely a god of the underworld and not of a subreddit.  She was also connected to the Pershu who wore masks and chased dead people. Even farther back the Mycenaeans called her Preswa (depending on how you Angelicize) and sacrificed all kinds of livestock to her.  Preswa’s feasts are discussed on several tablets.

(I know I said no pictures, but look at this tablet!)

I cannot find my copy of Greek Religion but suffice to say, go back far enough and stuff gets wild.  Preswa has a whole cremation thing, there are chickens involved which is kind of metal if you’ve ever met a chicken - very thematic.  Preswa may have been the embodiment of the divine child and (as well as Demeter) to children who died in infancy.  Possible the Separation is about a mother who lost her child and after the child was cremated used the ashes to grow a flower which turned into a new child.  These stories are very similar to certain ancient rites of Isis which complicates things and I don’t know if it really bears mentioning because I feel like it’s mostly conjecture. 

This is a bowl from the Minoan ceremonies that eventually became the Eleusinian Mysteries in which pre-Hellenistic Demeter and Persephone hang out.  This bowl is amazing.  I support this bowl and what it stands for:

And you know what, Persephone and Demeter go back even further than this awesome bowl.  Really though, I want to appreciate this bowl a little more.  I would drive this bowl to the airport and four in the morning and give it pancakes in a tupperware container.  The really cool thing those is that the Minoans who’s culture began in 2700 BCE (according to wikipedia) didn’t even invent the Mysteries!  They imported proto-Demeter and proto-Persephone!  It’s that just the coolest!  Demeter and Persephone are crazy old!  They’re so old people can’t figure out who invented them!  That’s really cool!

So unless you’re suggesting that I traveled back in time over five thousand years to invent a cult and paint a bowl so that my modern feelings wouldn’t get hurt I think it’s at least moderately clear I’m not rewriting history.  For one thing, in my wildest dreams I could not invent the chicken shenanigans these priestesses came up with.  So like.  I have no doubt you’re not reading this at all.  I’m sure you’re high fiving your friends about telling me off and you know what, I hope they are great high fives.  I hope you have a great day.  I hope that you are well-rested and that you discover you’re favorite treat in your pantry that you forgot you had and that it brightens your day.  Like, it’s not my job to educate you, but I still hope that whatever made you respond like you did instead of pursuing a narrative about a goddess that isn’t male-centric clears up.  Also if your skin isn’t clear I hope that clears up too.  I had so much run writing this.  You really kind of aggravated me in the way you kind of demanded emotional labor from me, but then I got to look up that bowl again and like, I get it.  We all have stories we’re attached to and I just started having more and more fun writing this.  If you did get this far, like I don’t know, thanks for sticking in there?  Hope you learned some fun stuff about history?

[jojosbizarreadventur]

Time’s Crusade: Chapter 2 (02)

also available on AO3 (under emih)

This chapter: The events leading up to the infertility discovery. Also, fuck cool jazz.

warning (just in case): oddly-detailed smut (is this allowed anymore on here idk)

Summary: Yesterday in 2011, your husband Noriaki and close friend Jotaro were both murdered together just months before your university graduations. The day before yesterday, you discovered that your nerve-wracking IUI procedure was successful. Two months before that day, said close friend made a proposition to the both of you due to your husband’s recently-discovered infertility.

Today in 1988, you’re over 20 years into the past of an alternate universe, suddenly tasked with trailing after different versions of your late husband and close friend as they travel with unfamiliar faces to Egypt, determined to confront the man you now work for.

And in the following days, you discover how easy it was for your sentiments to change.

02

A Promise, Part 2

Summer, 2011

You planned everything.

Actually, you and Noriaki planned everything. You two designated a day, a time, the setting— as strange as that sounds. Before such issues, you sort of just… you know, went at each other when you both felt like it. Logistics going beyond ‘not busy, foreplay, take clothes off, more foreplay, fuck, orgasm’ had never been considered by either of you, but here you are. You both made sure this would happen when you were both ready, where no one or nothing would disturb you two. You were sure that everything would go smoothly… you mean, you both did all the necessary steps, right?

Yet, you stared— dumbfounded— at the plastic pregnancy test a little over a week later.

{    | }   ——   Pregnant { |  | } / Not Pregnant {    | }

That’s the third time. 

The third fucking time.

You were seriously ready to dunk that plastic piece of shit in the garbage bin, along with letting out a good shriek. Though, that might get you some written complaints from the neighbors, and you at least had the decency to prevent yourself from doing so.

But why?! 

You were so confused, proceeding to run a hand through your hair and groan in frustration. It got to the point where you even started to think if the at-home pregnancy test you bought was faulty, but then that’d mean that everyone you bought so far were all shit. That couldn't be the case at all, unless the creator above you was trying to get back at you for something you had no recollection of. You even bought different brands each time, but you realized that regardless of label or color scheme, they were all manufactured with the same function. 

And… well, they worked, but not in the way you wanted them to.

Noriaki wasn’t there when you took the test, as he was on campus that day for class. He had already left about two hours ago, leaving you by yourself as you didn’t have class today. You were thinking of getting a head-start on your work until you remembered about the pregnancy test that you bought from the convenience store.

This time, you were just going to be honest with yourself— you failed to conceive for a third time. The myth (and eventually-executed plan…) of fucking in different positions to increase the chances became less funny as each pregnancy test you took kept resulting in negatives, so for this attempt it was something forgotten altogether. At this point, you weren’t really sure what to do besides giving the ‘announcement’ to Noriaki… again. Same announcement, possibly same reaction.

June

The first time you announced that, anyway, Noriaki seemed very nonchalant. At least that’s what he looked like on the outside.

He was actually bummed out a bit. The process of trying for a baby seemed to be more complicated than he expected; rather, you two actually had to make an effort to ensure that you get a positive test. Perhaps it was his fault for being too clueless. Hours after you told him, he was awake beside you as you slept in bed, thinking to himself that maybe asking his non-married colleagues about babies was not the best idea. Noriaki even asked Jotaro during one of their rare gym outings, who simply claimed that he focused on marine biology, not that type of biology while on the treadmill.

Besides, this wasn’t something you’d want to blame him for— not in a million years. It’s not like he did anything wrong. You even suggested that you two just try again and see.

So you did days later. 

You were pretty sure you couldn’t walk the day after, as your thighs and the rest of your legs were more sore than usual. You remembered groaning and moaning about it that day— about how you remembered about walking to and from the station, to and from campus and all that. In response, Noriaki only gave you a cheeky laugh and a peck on the cheek as he worked on his project.

…that teasing lovable bastard. 

You were probably ready to offer to fuck him again right then, but you held back. He needed to get that project finished, anyway. The professor for that class had a reputation of being a strict asshole; after all, you overheard a girl sobbing over one of his assignments in the library one time as she expressed her anger to her friend. Anyway, you weren’t willing to let your husband face that geezer’s wrath just because you wanted to suck him off first and possibly distract him. Besides, you were still pretty sore.

Then, the pregnancy test after that came out negative too. 

Hints of worry came from Noriaki’s face, though he still refused to give up. He recommended for you two to be serious about it next time. That meant getting rid of every distraction around you— getting work done early and whatnot. You accepted, believing that your hefty schedules were the culprit; after all, you two were pretty damn busy.

Even Noriaki was giving himself— then you— some positive reinforcement on the days before. If he had done something similar at the beginning, you probably would’ve questioned his motives for doing so, perhaps even showed some astounded face at such determination. However, as it was already going to be the third try, you teasing about it would make no meaningful contribution.

To think something like this would be of your utmost worries lately— during your last year of university, no less— was rather weird. Instead, you should be focusing on your senior research project, or the unofficial job offers you’ve been getting since last year. This was bound to get you stressed, as you had to deal with a bunch of shit that, frankly, had no place in your mind right now.

On the ‘designated day’, you temporarily let go of your restlessness to spend some time with your husband, whom you’ve only been married to for almost two months now. Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?

It’s a day when neither of you have any on-campus commitments, which also happened to be a good day in ovulating. The day before, you both decided to stay in the library to prematurely cram and finish every known assignment meant for the rest of the week to clear your minds. Doing this started to take a toll on the both of you, however— the amount of times that either of you sighed, leaned back and stretched, or rubbed your eyes (or, in Noriaki’s case, took off his reading glasses) was ridiculous. You weren’t even sure if it was going to be worth it at the end.

No— it was, as you kept convincing yourself over and over again. 

Even on the train ride home that night, where your head fell onto Noriaki’s slouched shoulder as you both refrained from going into a deep sleep so soon. It would be worth it, it would — you were sure that by next year, this would be something you’d look back on and laugh about. 

But enough about that.

The next day first started off in a mundane fashion. 

After waking from your slumbers, Noriaki went to go to wash his face in the connecting bathroom as you scrolled through your smartphone in bed. You were suddenly reminded about yours and Noriaki’s lunch break yesterday, where Noriaki mentioned some rumors surrounding a new model of smartphone from the same lineup that yours and his phones came from (he had apparently overheard it during his internship). The previous phones were all released in the summer, so maybe it’s a good time to start being on the lookout for them, you thought—

“We should cook breakfast today.”

You snapped out of your thoughts and turned your head.

Noriaki came walking out shirtless. He had just finished patting his face dry with a towel before looking over at you. Naturally, you gave him a warm smile, even if the sight of his defined chest was starting to stir you.

“That sounds like a good idea,” you complimented, setting your phone down beside you on the bed sheets. “We haven’t really had the time to do that recently, no?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” he agreed as he walked over to the tall built-in dresser to grab a new shirt. He must’ve accidentally wet the first one while washing his face— that was a tendency he had that he often complained about. “Pancakes, maybe?”

Groaning as you sat up, you stretched your arms out as you responded.

“That really fluffy recipe?”

“Of course.”

Without any sort of looming distraction, you two were finally free to go about your day as you wished. That meant actually being able to cook breakfast together, possibly screw up the recipe (it happens), lounge on the sofa, take naps or quick jogs (depends on the week), or do some other stupid shit that were quintessential for a pair of college students. Well, a pair of college students that happened to be married to one another, but neither of you regret it one bit.

You’re quick to follow a shirt-clad Noriaki out of the bedroom and over to the small semi-open kitchen. With the help of the wall being open— giving a view of the equally-small living room— you’re both able to listen to and watch the morning news from the kitchen as the ingredients were being gathered and prepped.

“We should make enough for tomorrow morning, too,” Noriaki suggested as he pulled open several drawers. “Also, where’s the spatula?”

“Already planning on it,” you responded, whisking away as you held the bowl of mix. “And the spatula is, ah… check the one closest to the sink. I think it’s there.”

Once he finds the utensil, the process continues much more smoothly. Here and there, you both crack jokes at one another or focus your attention at the television screen (Noriaki resorted to only listening). You’re talking about the news or discussing future plans to go out. Within the next fifteen minutes, a healthy stack of pancakes sat on top of a nice serving plate on the counter. Turning the stove off, you sigh and stretch your arms out again as Noriaki placed the other utensils in the sink to soak.

For a moment, you lock eyes with one another. You both cherish the sight in front of you, knowing that these will be the same set of eyes you get to see for however long your lives are.

Geez, you’re already both thinking about how fucking cliché you might come off as, but you both genuinely enjoy the sight of each other. Mornings like this were something you needed to have more often, as you both have been wrongly deprived of such. You’ll both be mourning its loss the next day… 

Noriaki’s eyes drift down, and he’s taken aback.

“You have pancake batter on your shirt.”

Eyes shooting downward, your jaw drops.

“What the hell, ” you breathed out, pulling the hem of your shirt taut as you scrutinized the stain.

“You didn’t notice it until now?” Noriaki questioned, approaching you as he chuckles.

You shake your head.

Noriaki’s arms swiftly glide around your waist as he plants a kiss on your lips. You hold onto his biceps; you’re noticing how the muscle there is a little firmer than you remember. There were occasions where he’d head out to the gym with Jotaro, though this was rare as even the temporary memberships were ridiculously expensive, and last time, Noriaki had to stop Jotaro from getting into a fight with a taunter.

Your hands then shift up to his warm cheeks, where your right thumb gently brushed against the bone. You’re locking eyes with him again, the sight of his lavender-grey irises through his glasses remind you of your luck to be with such a wonderful man. Though, this sight is gone once again as you lean in to kiss him again, albeit with fervent feeling. Your eyes close, your lips are locked, he’s running a hand through your hair as you back up onto the front of the countertop. The front of his thin pajama pants is what you’re feeling as his growing erection presses against you, and as you shift a little in your spot he only pulls you in closer for your body to act as some sort of friction against him.

Suddenly, you pull away.

“I— do you really want to do it… now?” you asked hesitantly, hands still cupping his cheeks. “We just cooked…”

On your right was the stove top, and on the right of that the plate of uneaten pancakes sat on its serving plate. The glass bowl of assorted fruit and slowly-melting butter sat next to it. You both look down at yourselves, obviously noticing the outline of Noriaki’s erection pressing against you. Though, his arms continue to be wrapped around you.

“Fuck— yeah, you’re right,” Noriaki breathed out. He let one hand go from your waist to run the hand through his red hair. “I’m actually starving, sorry.”

You titter.

“No need to be sorry, we have all day,” you say, forgiving him. In fact, you actually did have all day; however, only this day. Starting tomorrow, you were both going to return to your normal schedules, but with a lighter load than normal. You did finish a good portion of your work, yesterday.

“Right, right…”

Noriaki’s a bit disappointed, though you’d admit that you felt the same way. He reluctantly pulls away from you, and you don’t fail to notice the transferred pancake stain.

“Aw, my shirt stained your shirt…”

——

Lunchtime had already passed for the both of you. 

Before Noriaki kissed you, stood up, and headed to the toilet, you two had been lounging on the sofa and ‘watching’ television for the past hour. ‘Watching’, as in either being fully immersed in the morning drama or talking and not paying any attention; the latter had happened more frequently. At one point, there seemed to be some sort of sad, tear-jerking, and contemplative scene playing in the background, but you were more interested in the story Noriaki was telling you at the time. He kept laughing as he told you— some geezer who worked at another technology-focused school in Wakayama-ken had been caught stealing a bunch of weird shit like schoolgirls’ uniforms. 

Geez, talk about no dignity. Too bad Noriaki forgot the guy’s name; neither of you actually wanted to end up working with a person like that in the future.

You now grab the wireless DualShock controller, which sits next to the console on the television stand. It wouldn’t hurt to play a few games; after all, it’s been a while since you’ve played. Though, right on top and out of place— considering the shelving unit that contained all of yours and Noriaki’s games— sat a case for the cartridge of Deep Sea Crossing: New Reef. 

As you plop back down on the sofa, you’re wondering when Noriaki got the new game. You’ve been seeing reports of it being constantly sold out even with the restocks recently, so you’re not sure how he managed to buy a copy considering how little free time he had before.

Well, you shrug and wipe your forehead. If Noriaki doesn’t get out here sooner, it’ll probably be too late for him to help build the underwater town with the help of the blobfish assistant.

——

Arousal was like an avalanche.

By nighttime, you two were at your breaking points. You had spent time in the kitchen cooking again, though for dinner this time. The amount of space to move within the kitchen was practically non-existent, which meant that there were a uncountable amount of times that you bumped into Noriaki or vice versa. Your hips, elbow, and/or shoulders would collide. Sometimes you had to bend over to reach inside a cabinet, and if Noriaki had to walk pass you, his pelvis would accidentally bump into your hip or bottom if he wasn’t careful.

Honestly, you were probably thinking that it had to be on purpose. That actually happened more than once, and you didn’t fail to feel the gradual hardening at the front of his pants.

It wasn’t any better while you two were eating. You two were sitting at the rounded glass top table closer than usual; oftentimes, you’d opt to sit directly across from him. As you conversed, Noriaki’s breath would hitch as you’d accidentally have your hand resting on his shoulder, then sliding down to his back, around his waist, and to his thigh and knee. His eyes would intermittently dart down, seeing you massage the area excruciatingly slowly. There was a sliver of hope— maybe, just maybe you’d slide your hand up a little higher to where the drawstring of his pants were. Maybe you’d grab at the waistband, reach in, or… or something. 

Noriaki Kakyoin was not a desperate man. He was not supposed to be the type of person to submit so recklessly; in fact, he had spent years trying to move away from that kind of mindset in hopes of becoming a strong-willed person who wasn’t so easily swayed. Yet, you had become the only person that could push him in that direction of need, and he didn’t know whether to hate himself or begrudgingly accept it as he felt your warmth and experienced euphoria.

You both felt that familiar aura around you. Though, you continued to act as casual as possible, acting normal and not-at-all-aroused as you both washed the plates together. You mentioned the need for a dish-washing machine in your apartment— it’s so fucking ridiculous, you discussed and laughed, you two had a built-in fish grill but not a built-in dishwasher, for heaven’s sake— while your heart was practically palpitating. The proximity to Noriaki was starting to be intoxicating, and it only took a question of consent and barely a minute to strip him nude and see him for all he was worth.

Afterwards, it only takes a glance at one another to genuinely start. You stare into each other’s eyes again, silently communicating. Noriaki’s eyes occasionally avert to your bedroom door and back to you, and you do the same.

This was a funny aspect of marriage, especially between people who understood each other inside and out. You seemed to know what the other was thinking, even with the lack of actual verbal expression. And this time, you and Noriaki were good examples of this because of the leap of faith you both take— one that would surely affect your future.

You’re kissing. You’re kissing and holy shit does it feel inexplicably amazing to feel his soft lips connected to yours. Refraining from touching one another for a number of hours seemed criminal, but this build-up… this build-up is great. It’s satisfying to come to such a conclusion (no pun intended) and— oh, his hand’s fingers are buried in your hair. His slender fingers slide through, and feeling him gently hold onto you makes you— for some reason— step backwards. Of course, he follows as you continue to kiss; he occasionally and lightly sucks on your bottom lip, or you roll the curvature of your lips over his. Variations of this keep happening and happening, and you’re not sure of where your feet are taking you until you bump into the actual door of the bedroom. 

Upon impact, Noriaki grinds against you, making you whine against his mouth. He temporarily releases his lips from you— foreheads and nose tips still touching— to sharply inhale and exhale again and again, trying to process the feeling of his erection rubbing against you again. You feel his breaths hitting your burning skin, moving your hands to his chest, his shoulders, his jawline, his cheeks, and back down to his chest as you kiss him again. You both inwardly cringe at the sudden feeling of your teeth clacking with the other’s set before letting your tongues come into contact and swirl around one another. The back of your head is resting on the wood of the door, and Noriaki’s hands shift downward to your breasts, your waist, your hips, your ass cheeks, and he takes the time to knead them as you continue to deep kiss. Instinctively, you wrap a leg around him, and then do the same with the other, which he graciously accepts. 

The throbbing on your behalf seems to be more noticeable to you.

Though you’re supporting yourself by having your legs tightly wrapped around Noriaki—along with him having an arm around your waist now— he takes the time to find the door handle and open it. You almost have to help him, but he gets it eventually. Noriaki starts to lead you into the familiar room, but he has to stop kissing you and back up briefly to turn on the lights with the switch. You both titter before you finally reach the foot of the bed, in which case he slowly lowers you as your legs release from him.

You have to awkwardly scoot up and shift on the bed as he slowly approaches you by using his knees. Your breathing is substantially labored now, especially as your legs instinctively spread open to welcome him.

It suddenly occurs to Noriaki that your clothes were still on you, which was not what he needed right now.

“Can I undress you?” he asks— pleads, voice barely above a whisper. His lips are a bit swollen from kissing you, and he’s already taking off his own clothes. 

All you do is nod in a of-fucking-course fashion in response, and Noriaki doesn’t hesitate to pull off his own shirt, pants, and boxers and hurl them somewhere in the room first before tending to you. 

He first reaches to your shirt, briefly fondling your clothed breasts before grabbing the hem of your shirt to pull up. Because you haven’t been wearing a bra all day, Noriaki is undeniably thrilled to see your already-nude breasts as you lay back down. He plays with them— he takes the time to gently knead the mass of one, fitting your erect nipple between his index finger and his thumb as he noisily sucks at the other. You let out a long but quiet moan, absentmindedly letting your fingers run through his red locks as he alternated between each of your breasts. The weight of his body rests on you, but you don’t mind.

When his lips finally let go of your nipple, you whine at the missing feeling of his warm mouth on your breast. Noriaki sees— hears your reaction, and he compensates by moving his lips lower and lower, occasionally taking the time to peck and kiss the skin on your ribs, waist, and stomach before reaching your elastic waistband. He doesn’t hesitate to pull both of your pants and your panties down, briefly seeing the glistening wet stain in the undergarments as he throws both to where your shirt was on the floor. His lips immediately go back to your exposed mons pubis and downward, and you jolt a bit from the feeling of his warm skin.

You swear you hear Noriaki’s phone ringing behind you on the nightstand, but he takes one glance at it before ignoring it.

Noriaki gently kisses your clit before lapping up your wetness. After taking a few short trips down and back up, he audibly moans at your taste. The vibration that his moan emits onto the lips causes you to tense up; your toes curl as your fingers gently grab onto his red locks. He’s not stopping— he won’t stop, thank-fucking-God, and you feel him lightly rubbing your clit with his thumb as he continues to eat you out— holy fucking shit. He teases you by moving his hand, letting one finger— no, what the fuck, two fingers— slowly enter and exit you as he flicks your clit with his tongue. This elicits a louder, more desperate moan from you; your fingers, entangled in his hair, tighten its grip before Noriaki abruptly pulls away from you again.

Instead of getting mildly offended, you stare up into Noriaki’s lust-ridden eyes. Your breathing has gotten heavier, and you see your own chest rising up and down. The fingers that briefly fucked you had already gone to his cock, lazily stroking the hardened organ. You didn’t think it would be possible, but you swore that you got even more aroused at the sight of your husband doing that.

Sitting up, you opt to go on your knees and bend over in front of him. He’s already staring down at you with anticipation; the slender fingers around his cock tighten just a bit before reaching to your flushed face. His fingers brush against your cheek before gently cupping your face. Neither of you have forgotten the fact that his cock— which had started to leak pre-cum— was now at eye-level with you.

Both of you briefly glanced at Noriaki’s phone, which started to ring again. Opting to ignore it and look up at him, your breaths start to hit his tip.

You start to ask with a small but increasingly desperate voice, “Can… can I…?”

Noriaki knows what you’re trying to ask.

“I… I will probably cry if you don’t,” he responds with a joking tone, though he isn’t joking any longer when you suddenly wrap your fingers around the organ. His breath hitches; he lets out a quiet whine as he watches you pull his foreskin back to taste and suck.

As your cheeks hollow a little, you take the time to swirl your tongue around his glans before bobbing your head. The hand that had its fingers tangled in your hair for a few minutes tightened its grip a little to keep you in place as he shallowly fucked your mouth.

“Nngh— ah, shit, this feels so good,” Noriaki hissed. The moment he sees you flick your tongue against the underside of his cock, pulling up another hand to his balls, he yelps. “Ah… wait… nn, wait, nonononono— if you keep doing that I’m literally going to cum into your mouth—!”

Like last time, he abruptly pulls away from you with heavy pants. His cock was still slick with the mixture of his pre-cum and your saliva now that it’s been slid out of your mouth. Noriaki continues to hold your head, feeling his tip touching your lips as he stares down at you in astonishment. You only give him a cheeky grin at him in response.

Admittedly, being familiar with his taste and feeling, you would’ve liked to continue sucking him off. Not this time, however; perhaps another time.

It doesn’t take long for you two to be situated— your head on the pillow now that you’ve fallen back onto the bed and scooted up, while Noriaki leaned over you. Both of your breathing patterns were heavy, labored, and he’s spreading your legs wider before rubbing his cock down and up, down and up the open lips. Noriaki was supporting himself with his well-defined arms, which you held onto as he smoothly pushed in thanks to your wetness and… holy holy holy shit he’s thrusting— he’s thrusting already, oh my fucking God—

Your moan is louder than the last ones you’ve let out, because this godly, perfect man that you’ve had the pleasure in marrying is actually having you— he knows you’re getting addicted to the thrill of it just from the yes’s and the pleases and the mores and the you feel so fucking goods and you swear you’re probably going to cry. Lifting your hips up, you wrap your legs around his waist, indulging in his quick, desperate thrusts because— the angle he’s fucking you is different now, yes, holy shit— he’s hitting that soft area within you, he’s been stretching you out a bit but shit you don’t know when you’re going to cum but at the rate he’s going it’s probably going to be fucking soon.

He quickly leans forward to briefly lock lips with you again, swirling his tongue around yours— you realize that he tastes like matcha from dinner and yours and fuck he’s getting faster. He moved away from you to hold onto your hips now, his grip is tight enough to leave marks, he’s pulling down your hips harder as he thrusts into you, you hear him grunt and moan and—

—you hear his phone ring again. God, what the hell is up with that stupid phone? Without thinking, you grab his phone from the nightstand and throw it behind him. You both hear the loud thud as it comes into contact with the floor.

Noriaki doesn’t seem to care, however. His brows are creased, he’s only interested in making you both feel good. You’re… you’re pretty sure you’re almost there, your body’s tensing up, you’re letting out moans and whines, you’re feeling yourself dissolve into this pool of pleasure and you cry out his name— he’s starting to babble, he’s saying he loves you, love you so much— fuck you’re perfect you feel so good you’re mine I’m going to cum I’m going to cum fuck—

He stills as he lets out a loud but broken moan, save for the brief moments where his hips jerk as he spills into you. You felt his cock pulsating within you as you panted after crying out, surprised at how fast you two came to your orgasm. You both had been refraining until now to let out steam, so you suppose that explains it.

Once Noriaki pulls out from you, you lay there feeling empty between your legs. Shakily, he goes over to where you threw his (unharmed) phone on the floor, picking it up before heading back to the bed. Noriaki kneels down in front of you, phone in hand when it rings yet again.

This time, you actually manage to see the Caller ID.

Jotaro Kujo 𝐉🤚  

“Was it actually Jotaro that kept on calling you?”

Your breath hitched as you felt Noriaki’s hand slide down in between your legs.

“...yeah,” he replies, handing you his phone to see.

Out of all the nights Jotaro could’ve called, it was this night. 

You could’ve sworn the man was much more preoccupied than usual lately— he even said so himself. He had been swamped with preparing all of his requirements for graduate school, as he planned to pursue a doctorate in marine biology after graduation. This included gathering all of his transcripts and recommendation letters, composing a personal statement, and studying for the TOEFL and the GRE… all of which he’ll use to apply not only for schools here but also for several schools outside the country.

Of course, the thought of Jotaro leaving Japan made you bummed out. After three years, you two have become pretty good friends. There was the ‘warming-up’ period as Noriaki predicted, but after that Jotaro seemed to tolerate you. Sure, you and Noriaki could just call him on the phone or Skype him, but it wasn’t the same.

Noriaki continued to slowly rub your clit in circles as you decided to pick up the call for him. Making a strangled noise in response to him rubbing faster, you slap a hand over your mouth. Jotaro had recognized from your voice that it was you when you greeted him, but he wasn’t sure what you were doing at the moment.

“Hey, how are— what the hell are you doing? Are you okay?”

Your husband’s hand abruptly froze as you resort to gripping his arm— the one whose hand was touching you.

“Ah, our air-con isn’t… working,” you stated stupidly, rolling your eyes at the sight of Noriaki desperately trying to hold in his laughter. You didn’t try to stop him, however, as he— quite literally— had the upper hand with his fingertips just barely pressing your folds now. “It’s hot… it’s hot as hell in our apartment right now.”

This was, in fact, true. You didn’t discover the malfunction until lunchtime earlier today, but you and Noriaki made a mutual agreement not to tamper with it. Even if you two could hypothetically work together to fix the issue yourselves, the landlord would probably berate the both of you until your ears fell off. Or kick you both out. That seemed more likely.

“Eh— just build another one, obviously.”

“That’s not— stop laughing,” you respond, bursting out laughing as soon as you hear Jotaro letting out a rare chortle. “You— you say that as if that’s the easiest thing to do. You might as well create your own fucking body of water so you can do your research there.”

“Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Jotaro joked.

Noriaki’s already slapping the bed sheets with his other hand, silently laughing hysterically. You roll your eyes, despite your amusement.

“Ah, but seriously… do you mind telling Noriaki that I left my copy of New Reef at your apartment?” Jotaro asked as he calmed down. “I came over last week to take turns playing it with Noriaki while you were at your research-thing, and I accidentally forgot it. I’ve been trying to call him to tell him that I’ll pick it up, but he’s not answering.”

You blankly stared back at your husband, who stared back at you. Of course, you both remember what you did his phone as he fucked you earlier.

Also, it has now occurred to you that the copy of Deep Sea Crossing: New Reef was not, in-fact, Noriaki’s. You suppose there’s always something to ruin the day.

“Ah— yeah…” you trail off. “I’ll tell him.”

“Okay, thanks.”

He hangs up.

“...so… that’s not your game?”

Noriaki pursed his lips, shaking his head.

“It’s been sold out for days. Jotaro said that the only reason why he managed to get it was because he actively waited for it, as in had a timer set and everything. He’s been telling me about how stressed out he is from practically kissing up to professors in order to get recommendation letters, so playing the game calms him down.”

You take a deep breath.

Suddenly, he’s staring— almost… almost in awe— at your entrance, which slowly continued to leak out his own cum. You blush under his stare, even though there’s really no need to be a prude about it now.

“How exhausted are you?” Noriaki asks as his eyes avert from between your legs to your face.

“Ah… honestly, not much.”

You saw that cheeky grin on his face.

“That’s great,” he commented while he started to rub at your clit again. You bit down another moan as you melted under his touch. “I didn’t think you came as much as you wanted to.”

July

Now, back to this pregnancy test.

You’re already lying face down on the sofa, hearing your slippers fall as your feet continue to dangle off the seat’s armrest. Turning your head to the side, you find the pink pregnancy test casually sitting on its packaging, which sat on a few tissues.

It’s like the result is just there, mocking you.

There was one idea that popped in your head, but you immediately shoved it away out of pure fear. It wasn’t a thought that you wanted to confront— not now, not ever. You didn’t even want to be preoccupied with such a question today. Though, as you get the same result over and over, it becomes a bit tempting for your thoughts to veer that way.

Was there something wrong with your body? Anything?

Was there?

Growing up, there hadn’t been any indication that there was something going on with you, or had the history of—

—it hits you.

You decide that it’s time to speak with Noriaki when he comes home.

“Are you alright?” Noriaki inquired hours later, voice soft and touch gentle as he wrapped his arms around your abdomen from behind. He lightly rested his chin on your shoulder.

That night, you were both in the cramped kitchen of the apartment you shared together. In the air was a mix of aromas, from the occupied fish grill beneath the stove burners to the pasta sauce currently being mixed and heated.

Noriaki offered to cook the pasta tonight, but you opted to help him with slicing ingredients and grilling the fish as he did so. You snickered at the uncommon combination of grilled salmon beside some inauthentic seafood pasta— Noriaki had forgotten the ‘original’ recipe from Jotaro’s mother, apparently— but you knew the deed was heartfelt.

Though, your thoughts on what happened earlier were still intruding. It hasn’t taken the exit door out of your mind at all, to the point where it started to distract you and make you unproductive. Damnit, you had work to do! It was just some stupid, maybe faulty pregnancy test— as you angrily thought to yourself multiple times. You could try again, as Noriaki would reassure you. Try again… 

Try again… 

Try again…

But what if you couldn’t— no. It’s… it’s not possible. It can’t actually be happening. 

“I took another test.”

Noriaki’s breath hitches at your words. He quickly recognized your tone of voice, and if he remembered from the previous times, he knew you had an uncomfortable expression to match.

You heard him sigh, and the arms wrapped around you tighten just a bit.

“…if it’ll make you feel better by having answers, we can both get tested,” Noriaki suggested, though you can hear his reluctance.

This time, you whipped your head at him in surprise. 

He knew exactly what you were thinking.

——

In the last five-and-a-half years of being friends with Noriaki, Jotaro had never seen the redhead in such a state.

He’s crying, first of all— tears continue to flow slowly but effortlessly down his cheeks. Said cheeks are also flushed red, because he’s drinking; the refilled shot of liquor in Noriaki’s hand is an indication to Jotaro that he’s not planning to stop anytime soon. Yet, even when Jotaro reminded him that that shot is at least his eighth one, Noriaki didn’t seem to give a shit in the slightest.

They’re lucky that they’re drinking in Jotaro’s living room and not in public. Jotaro knew that Noriaki would die of embarrassment the next day if he got inebriated enough to vomit and/or pass out.

On the other hand, Jotaro’s own shot is left untouched on the coffee table because the sight of Noriaki starts to scare him a little. Between the two of them, it’s probably a good idea that one of them remains mostly sober anyway. Despite reaching legal drinking age before you and him, Noriaki always had a pretty low alcohol tolerance. Jotaro swears that you even have a higher tolerance than your husband, considering the amount of times you’ve talked to them about getting dragged to the ‘work nights’ at the local izakaya.

Right… you. 

Noriaki’s wife. 

The wedding wasn’t even that long ago.

Beneath two empty bottles of liquor on the coffee table was Jotaro’s white hat, his shot glass, and an open folder of papers vaguely stained with tears and alcohol. The printer ink displaying the name and general information for the clinic are a bit smudged, now.

“What did you get on the TOEFL, by the way?” Noriaki slurs, wiping his flushed and tear-stained face with one hand. His hand is trembling— good grief— and he does it rather haphazardly, practically slapping himself in the face.

Jotaro doesn’t hesitate to answer. Then again, he’s not sure if Noriaki is in the right mindset to talk about the clinic visit right now.

“Eh… 106 overall.”

Noriaki’s brows shot up. “Wow, really? That’s great, JoJo. Really great. Wonderful. Love it. And to think you used to be the kid who didn’t give a shit about English.”

Jotaro huffed. “My mom and my old man speak it. I also did, in-fact, use your old flash cards that you gave to me—”

“—English is really useful here in Tokyo, you know,” Noriaki interrupted, making Jotaro give him a pointed look. Maybe it was a bad idea to answer the TOEFL question, after all. “Big companies like it if— hic— you speak other languages besides Japanese because it increases your marketability especially because, you know, you’re petting the dolphins and starfish—”

“—that’s not what I do—”

“—and you have to travel all around the world and meet new marine biologists and talk to them and if they can’t understand you then they’re gonna be like [hey you speak English now or go back to Japan you big-cock motherfucker] and then you’re gonna get mad and punch them in the face and you— hic— won’t be able to see dolphins anymore because you’ll get arrested again—”

Jotaro yanks the fully-filled shot from Noriaki’s hand, not minding that some of the liquor splashed on their chests. Noriaki definitely seemed to not care. The black-haired man was practically fuming.

“Shut the fuck up, we need to talk about this right now,” he spat, roughly moving the empty bottles to grab the folder of documents. “By the way, good grief, you already ruined the front pages.”

“She has her own copy,” Noriaki blurted out, now a bit despondent from being separated from the shot glass. Jotaro had to swat his friend’s hand away from his own glass on the coffee table. “My wife, I mean. My lovely wife, I love her. I love her so much.”

“Yes, I know you do.”

“I love her so so so so much,” the redhead blabbered, blatantly ignoring Jotaro. “I love her, I love her, I love her. I love her so much, and I can’t make her happy. I can’t— hic— make her happy, JoJo. I— I can’t give her a child. I can’t father her child. I can’t be a father, JoJo. I can’t be a father, I can’t, I can’t— why can’t I be a father, JoJo?! Why?! Why— hic— not?! Why must I be cursed like this?! ”

Jotaro grabs onto his friend’s shoulders, prompting him to stop yelling. The last thing they need is for one of Jotaro’s neighbors to send a complaint about them, because he did not want to deal with that at the moment.

“Noriaki, listen to me, listen to me,” Jotaro demanded, hardening his glare at him. His eyes temporarily avert to a suddenly-manifested Hierophant Green, which unraveled its legs into its usual web of tentacles. The green humanoid Stand proceeds to dramatically slide to the floor, laying down with its arms stretched out. Though, even with the lack of conventional eyes, Jotaro knew that its expression was representative of Noriaki’s current breakdown.

“She can’t even see Hierophant…”

“Yes, I know— Noriaki Kakyoin, I swear, listen to me.”

Finally, the red-haired man locks eyes with him. 

The sight of Noriaki’s red, puffy eyes and the tears that flow down his cheeks as he sniffles is forever burnt into Jotaro’s memory. Cursing to himself, Jotaro loosens his grip on Noriaki’s shoulders.

“I hate seeing you like this,” he admitted rather bluntly. “You’re not the Noriaki I know.”

“Do you still know him anymore?” Noriaki slurred, rubbing his face with both hands.

Jotaro irritatedly sighed. “Yes, I do. Deep in your gross, sad, drunk mind, he’s there. And I want to help him. He’s been avoiding a conversation with his wife, but I think he has to get on with… that. They need to talk about what to do from here on out.”

“But what if they talk? And he finds out that she hates him?”

His eyes widened at him.

“...she— she doesn’t,” Jotaro choked out, astounded by his words. “She loved him before, loves him now, and will love him until the end. Their friend just hopes that… they don’t get mad if, ah… damnit— if he suggests that he serve as a sperm donor for the child they wish for, because he really cares about them and… hates to see them… like this…”

November 26, 2011

Your conversation with Vinegar Doppio lasted a little over an hour.

Every now and then he double-checks to see if it’s good for you to call him so early in the morning where you are; though, every time he asks, you assure him that it’s fine. It’s not like you had interest in sleeping anytime soon at… nearly 3 or 4 AM. You’d even let this call go on for longer, except he had to continue working on his essay— he was telling you its abstract earlier— about sound communication between frogs. Which, after he hung up, left you sitting up in the living room alone.

How exactly you met Doppio in the first place was a strange series of events. This all involved getting lost in an unfamiliar city, an aquatics championship, a yelling match with an Italian butterfly swimmer, and a variety of ‘phones’ that you didn’t realize classified as phones. 

But that story is best saved for another day.

However, when you did meet him, it had only been a year since his step-father— his only remaining family member— had died. Doppio told you about a fire that burned down the village he grew up in, lamenting the loss of everyone. His step-father, a priest for a local church, had been one of the casualties. The pink-haired man described it as gut-wrenching and sinful arson, furiously upset that he had been away and busy at university in Rome as it happened. He only became aware of the circumstances when he returned home during the winter break and saw only charred debris and some makeshift barricade. And judging by the state of the barricade itself, it happened months before he arrived.

These days, he apparently lives with several roommates in Rome. You guess it explains his ability to sustain himself, now that he’s been orphaned for nearly four years. You’re actually not sure what happened to his parents, but you respect the tacit wish of not discussing it.

“[I believe that someone purposely burned down my village in Sardinia],” Doppio asserts on the other end of the line. “[We were a very tight-knit group of people. I can’t imagine that any of my neighbors would commit something so cruel].”

You furrow your brows. “[Do you have any leads? Like… um, who… caused it?]”

Suddenly, you hear Doppio’s breath hitch. 

He’s quiet— he stays quiet for a while, in fact— and you silently curse to yourself. You must’ve hit a nerve, visiting a particular subject that the Italian man did not want to acknowledge. Yet, he answers, albeit with a voice deeper and a tone harsher than you’ve heard the usually-friendly man speak in.

“No.”

...you slowly blink, clearly taken aback by the sudden change.

Hm.

It’s not something you decide to dwell on anymore. Though, it’s probably best that you change the subject in order to not make Doppio any more uncomfortable.

Taking a deep breath, you’re immediately reminded of your own predicament again, which seemed apropos to discuss now.

“Well, I don’t know who… targeted… my husband either.”

“Where were you when it happened?” he asks with an abruptly softer tone and demeanor.

Now that you think about it, Doppio might actually just be sleep deprived.

“I… was, um… out of town,” you admitted, averting your eyes to the hardwood floor beside you. “I was visiting my hometown— you know, west side of Japan, kinda far from Tokyo— and… well, it’s normal for me. I go once every few months; sometimes my husband goes with me, sometimes he doesn’t. He didn’t go with me yesterday because he had class and…”

You trail off.

On the other side of the line, you know that Doppio is confused by your gradual silence. At this point, you’re just sitting up on the futon and blankly staring. You can hear him say your name, asking you if you’re still there.

If… if there was just the slightest change in Noriaki’s schedule… if the professor for that class had scheduled his class the day before or after Friday, then… oh God, Noriaki would still be here, right? Right? If he went to Iwami-chō with you instead of class, he would not be in a body bag right now. And because Noriaki wasn’t home, Jotaro wouldn’t bother to come over. He would’ve escaped death as well. Yet, fate is convulsing, it’s turning and warping into a series of events that starts to eat at you, fuck, it’s like it knows the effect it’ll have on you as you start to process that they will never be alive again and for you to see their faces just one last time—

“—and you came home later? Where are you staying?”

Your thoughts slowed down. 

Massaging your temples, you deeply inhale before responding to Doppio in a shaky voice.

“...I came home later. And— and… Doppio, I swear to God, I have no idea what to do… I mean, I’m staying at…”

Goddamnit, you were crying again.

You had an inkling— unexplainable, at that— that perhaps Noriaki’s professor had nothing to do with it. Though, you didn’t know what else to think at this point.

——

Just now you’re starting to get tired— fuck, you didn’t even sleep. You had that brief phone call with Doppio a few hours ago, hoping not to wake up your friend or her son in the other room. An hour ago, you sat up from your futon because you heard the wails of the baby, rubbing your eyes. You were supposed to be awake now anyway, as you were supposed to head to the police station in an hour for questioning.

Now that you think about it, your trip to Iwami-chō yesterday might seem suspicious to law enforcement, considering the murders occurred at around the same time. You mean, this was the type of shit you heard of on those forensic crime documentaries. To experience something like this in your lifetime just felt wrong, like it was in the universe’s favor for you to become… you don’t know, a suspected and accused murderer. 

It’s insane, really. But it’s not like you can avoid that.

——

The back of a hand was planted on your forehead, snapping you out of your never-ending thoughts. Your eyes darted around, once again immersing yourself in the environment you briefly left.

You were sitting at the round wooden dining table. In front of you were your laptop— which had long gone into sleep mode by now— along with your open textbook. The mechanical pencil that was in your hand had fallen onto the mostly-filled notebook, having rolled off the table and onto the floor beside your sock-clad foot.

The owner of the hand pulled away, narrowing her eyes at you as she studied your face. 

“Are you getting sick? Stop what you’re doing right now.”

Instinctively, you brought your own hand to your face, feeling your sweltering skin. Even though the detail of your reflection wasn’t so vivid in the black laptop screen, you knew you had dark circles under your eyes and probably the most dehydrated skin anyone has ever seen. Who knew that skipping skincare-related deeds for one day could do something so drastic to your emotionally-exhausted self?

“How could you tell?” you asked your friend dryly. With a bored expression, you shoved your cold hands under your thighs, lightly swinging your legs underneath the table.

Your friend, Tomoko Higashikata, sighed heavily as she placed her hands on her hips.

“You’re looking pale,” she bluntly informed, leaning forward to collect all of your utensils and materials to put away. “I think it’s time you stopped doing work for the rest of the day. Have you eaten yet?”

As if on cue, hunger started to gnaw at you.

The events from yesterday now serve as an impetus to distract yourself as much as possible, though you realize that it’s causing you to forget even the most basic necessities for your body.

You mean, this is normal… it is. On your busiest days and nights, where all of your focus was on whatever you were working on, you’d prioritize that over anything else.

Well, except Noriaki. If he needed anything, you were there in a heartbeat. You’d just multitask— if possible— and he’d leave you alone on his own accord so you could be finished quicker, thus being able to spend more time with him. Although, there were times— you knew, he’d express his own feelings about it— he’d wish you could remember the world around you. Remember that outside the apartment windows, there was life you both could enjoy together.

You wanted to laugh every time Noriaki said that; he used to say that in a ridiculously dramatic way. He’d grab a chair and sit near you, and what he did would depend on the day. Sometimes he’d just be doing some light reading from his textbooks, like the one about color theory when he took that web design class one semester. When he finished his own work, he’d prepare some snacks for the both of you. On other days, he’d do small talk. You typically spoke less during these moments, but you’d ask him questions that were introspective or complex enough that he’d go on and on to answer. When you worked, his voice as he spoke served as music to your ears— as weird as that may sound.

To think that you took something that seemed so minuscule for granted.

“…no,” you weakly answer Tomoko. 

You leaned back into your chair, eyes lowering to your abdomen.

Her eyes followed your own, settling there as well. Expression softening, she placed your utensils and textbook back in your backpack, sliding the laptop in the provided separate compartment inside.

“You definitely need to eat then— I finished the nikujaga,” she finalized, gesturing for you to stand up. “We need to make sure you’re as healthy as possible for the following weeks.”

Suddenly, you were kind of glad you opted to stay with her. She sure as hell knew what to do, mainly because you didn’t. Clearly you didn’t even give two shits that you were in this state; who knew what would’ve happened if you’d let it continue?

The second you told her of last night’s events, Tomoko had offered to let you stay over for as long as you needed. This happened shortly after your whole breakdown at the apartment complex, where you were then suggested to stay at a nearby hotel while the whole ordeal would be dealt with by law enforcement. You already had a number of useful items with you in the backpack that you brought to Iwami-chō, such as your phone, pocket money & payment cards, various IC cards, your laptop, school-related shit, and your passport; however, everything else was back at the apartment. 

You’ve been doubting the likeliness of you getting anything back within the next few days.

Her apartment was smaller than yours and Noriaki’s— if not even smaller— and there was only one bedroom. She even suggested that she sleep in the living room, which you adamantly rejected. It was her own apartment, after all. However, your rejection was also out of convenience for her to care for her son. Just a few months ago, Tomoko had given birth to the boy, whose crib currently took up the corner of her bedroom. This explained her absence from work a while ago, forcing you to converse with the other interns instead and do errands with her after your shift.

You were given a brief overview of the circumstances preceding that; apparently, she had a one-night stand with some foreigner last year who was here in Tokyo for a business trip. She wouldn’t tell you the foreigner’s name or anything about him— which was fine, because you probably wouldn’t have remembered any of it anyway— but you knew she must’ve liked him enough to be willing to carry his baby to term, even after he left and returned to who-knows-where.

How she simultaneously managed to raise the baby alone and go to school at Gakudai baffled you, though all you had was respect for her. To think you both met at work and, during pre-pregnancy, would bond after your assistant and her intern shifts during the company-funded nights at one of the surrounding izakaya.

You were still planning to use the laptop, which she had just put away in front of you. As she walked back into the kitchen, you realized that her back was to you while she turned off the stove’s heat. Your hands slowly grabbed the device from the still-open backpack, gingerly lifting and resting it on the tabletop. It’s not like she’d be able to see you—

“— oi! What did I just say?”

Groaning loudly, you lean back in your chair again and rub your face with your hands. 

“I just—” you interjected, frankly feeling a bit nervous seeing Tomoko storm over to you. Why did she seem exponentially more terrifying when doing this? “—come on, Tomoko, I just need to do— my work —”

Tomoko was currently playing a little tug-of-war with you. It took all of your strength to hold onto your laptop, but even then, she managed to yank it from you with a yell. You yelped and cringed at the sight of her nearly dropping it on the hardwood floor, and gave her a look of indignation when she grabbed everything else from you.

By the way, when the hell did she get that strong? Was it from carrying her son all the time or something? If you got a little stronger from carrying a three-point-something kilogram baby after delivering it… you mean, what you experience in the months before doesn’t seem to be like a bad trade-off… 

She ignored your glare as she shoved everything inside your backpack— closing it this time— and proceeded to carry with her into the kitchen. The sound of your backpack being placed on the floor, the cabinets opening, and the grabbing of bowls and utensils resonated from there as you remained in your seat at the dining table, pouting.

“You’re not taking me seriously,” Tomoko tells you, and she says it in what you perceive to be a weird, motherly, disappointed tone.

The bowl of food and chopsticks are carefully passed to you, and the mere presence of it overwhelms your senses. Your friend sits across from you with her own bowl, glancing over at you before you both put your hands together and say grace. After wiping your hands and picking up the pair of chopsticks, you didn’t even realize how hungry you were, finishing the first third of food in record speed.

At some point, Tomoko repeats her words from earlier.

“I wish you took me… what I say… more seriously,” she expressed as she set her chopsticks down horizontally on the bowl’s edges. “You’re… what? Three weeks?”

You shrug nonchalantly, not making any effort to recall what the fertility doctor told you two days ago. “I think so.”

She gave you a deadpanned look.

“You think—” Tomoko abruptly paused, massaging her temples and taking a deep breath. This wasn’t the time to get pissed at you any more, especially while eating dinner. “—damnit, okay. Have you taken your vitamins? Or… any supplements?”

“Ah…” you trail off, setting your chopsticks down in a way similar to hers. “I was given folic acid and… stuff, I don’t remember.”

To be fair, as an engineering major, it’s not exactly a priority to be taught how to remember things compared to how to do them. Although, you know you might be annoying Tomoko with this skill set.

“Yes, that’s it— have you taken them yet?”

Your eyes avert away from her. This, on the other hand, is something you do know.

“...they’re at my apartment.”

Tomoko’s expression softens all of a sudden. 

She doesn’t have anything to retort with, but she opts to help you out. Standing up, she heads back into the kitchen to reach into her medicine cabinet. Of course, she swore that she had an extra bottle of folic acid that she could just give to you. There was currently no need for her to have a large stock, as she’s now able to go out more frequently since giving birth.

While grabbing the bottle, Tomoko remembers the phone call she had with her father this morning. You were out of the house and at the questioning, so it’s not like you were there to overhear their conversation. She hurries back out over to the dining table with the bottle in hand, quickly thanking her as she hands you the bottle and scoots her chair forward.

“What’s the… hurry?” you retorted, an amused glint at your eyes. Her expression seemed to contrast yours, however, and your amusement wanes.

You hear her take a deep breath, mouth opening and closing in an act of hesitation.

“I just remembered… ah, my dad told me this morning that there’s a family in our hometown, Morioh-chō, that got… murdered three days ago,” Tomoko tells you with a solemn expression and tone, and as expected, your eyes widen. She starts to gnaw on her lower lip before continuing. “It’s all over the news in the region, and… they’re trying to look for the person who did it… I mean, my dad said that they virtually left no trace of themselves at the scene…”

What she tells you leaves your throat dry, unable to enunciate any words.

If you could recall correctly, you did see blood through the opening of your apartment door. It was dark in and outside, yes, but it spattered the white walls and stained the hardwood near the door itself. The memory of that is practically burnt into your mind— unlike other things— and it’s just so… ugh… 

Regardless, you now wonder: was there any trace of whoever murdered your husband and friend? Did forensics manage to pick up on anything within and around the apartment? You haven’t gotten word from law enforcement yet, so that’s all a mystery to you right now. In your grief, it all seemed like an ornate plan to test your patience. You did not want to sit on your ass and wait too long, only to find out that the perpetrator walks scot-free while you remain relatively traumatized by yesterday’s events.

“A 16-year-old girl, her parents, and their guard dog were all brutally stabbed,” she elaborated, stomaching her nausea from imagining it. Tomoko momentarily avoids your eyes, worried that she might have ticked you off by mentioning this. Yet, she can’t seem to restrain herself.

You swear that you hear her gulp before she dives in, asking you a question that she definitely and immediately regrets asking afterward.

“...is, ah… is that what happened to your husband and his friend?”

Your gaze on her briefly hardened before softening.

Was it?

“N— no,” you mumble, staring down at your half-eaten bowl. “They— I was, ah… I’m not— I wasn’t allowed to view the autopsy, so I actually… don’t know. I don’t know what happened to them, I really don’t. I… don’t, I don’t…”

You had your elbow rudely propped up on the table as you facepalmed, forcing yourself not to tear up in front of your friend. 

Tomoko’s brows crease.

“You… don’t have to talk anymore if you don’t want to,” she offers with a quiet, gentle voice.

“Please, thank you,” you pleaded, arm unceremoniously slamming down on the table as you locked eyes with her. “It’s so… so difficult for me— I hate… oh my God, I hate imagining and trying to figure out what happened to them… I haven’t able to find out, I haven’t been told anything, please…”

“Okay, it’s okay, it’s okay… I’m sorry,” Tomoko reassures with haste, silently cursing to herself. She proceeds to reach out to you, briefly placing her hand over yours in sympathy. “I… let’s… let’s talk about something else. How about that? Is that alright?”

Your solemn, yet forgiving expression is enough of an answer. 

She gives a small nod as she diverts the conversation.

“So, ah…” your friend trails off, pursing her lips. Tomoko’s stuck in thought for a moment before she starts speaking. “What are you… planning to do after graduation?”

That was okay to ask, right?

Shrugging, you answered in a bored tone as you wiped your eyes, “Well… I’ve been getting informal employment offers since last year.”

Tomoko’s eyebrows raise.

“It’s November, now,” she points out. “Companies should’ve sent you formal offers last month. Did you accept… any of those offers?”

“Eh… not exactly,” you confess, avoiding her eyes in shame. “It’s— it’s not because of this or…”

You hear Tomoko say your name with a frown on her face.

“Look, it’s… weird,” you continue, scratching the back of your neck. “There’s a high chance that Toppan’s recruiting me, since I’ve already been doing basic assisting for the actual semiconductor researchers. I didn’t even conduct actual fucking research, but I know that if I accept their offer, then I’ll be there full-time. If I don’t accept it, I kind of just threw away my future. You know how it is— our whole ‘work or die’ type of life here.”

“If you accept their offer, then you have to permanently live here in Tokyo,” Tomoko realized with a stunned look. “Is… you know that, right?”

During your occasional nights at the izakaya, you might’ve mentioned from time to time a desire to get out of the bustling life of Tokyo. Even with the returns to Iwami-chō, it didn’t feel like it was enough for you.

You pick up your chopsticks. “...yes, I do now. I mean, after… you know, ah, my worries about relocating because of my hus— his work are supposed to be gone… now. Even then, I’m not really sure what I’m going to do. I planned everything with the expectation that Noriaki would be at my side, but…”

“Take as much time as you need to adjust,” Tomoko consoled. “But you should know that this is not impossible to overcome. You may think that you’re on your own, but you have a larger support group than you think, you know.”

In response, you give her a small smile.

“Thank you, but enough of me— I’ll just… take another look at my offers. After all, I think there’s still time for me to accept Toppan. And if not them, then another company. Anyway, what... what about you?”

“Well, it’s… weird, I agree,” the black-haired woman says. “I’ve started thinking of where I’ll be after graduation, and for a while… I’ve been considering of going back to Morioh-chō. I’m planning to work as a teacher there—”

“—doesn’t sound so bad—” you mumble to yourself.

“—right? And trust me, I enjoy being in Tokyo, but… I just can’t imagine raising Josuke in a large area like this.”

This is the first time you’ve heard Tomoko say the kid’s full name around you. Oftentimes, she just referred to him as 'JoJo'.

“So you’ll be leaving Tokyo?”

“...yeah, I guess so. My business internship at Toppan already helped me get some teaching offers around S-shi, and I’ve been eyeing one at an all-girls high school in Morioh-chō.”

Nodding, you take another bite of food as she talks about her well-planned future.

——

The walk to the apartment complex is substantially more eerie than you remember.

You were able to persuade Tomoko into letting you out of the apartment unaccompanied tonight. The new-mother gave you a hardened look the second you asked, offended that you would ask such a question. There’s a little part of you that even regret asking, but you needed some time to think on your own. Going into different parts of the apartment to… contemplate had been proven ineffective; after all, each attempt had been interrupted by loud cries and rushed slipper-clad footsteps to its source.

Tonight, you said that you were going to the convenience store. It wouldn’t take long.

Or so you claimed.

To be fair, you did go to the convenience store to pick up items from a list you’ve complied this morning after the visit to the police station. You were still rather spooked from the questioning, so you opted to postpone the convenience store visit until now. The plastic bag containing prenatal stuff and snacks were shoved in the backpack you carried on your back. That was something you were able to get back, too.

Once you arrived at the train station, at least a million different emotions rush through you. It reminds you of your long days on campus, where you’d return home to see your husband. Sometimes he’d be on the sofa, the dining table, or even in the damn kitchen, studying as he ate. You’d take off your shoes and give him a quick kiss; when he ate, you always tasted the essence of that food on his lips. You’d spend the rest of the night with him, as usual.

Yesterday, you lost that.

You’re now reminded of yesterday, yet again— after all, this was the exact station you had arrived at shortly before your whole breakdown. As you walk, your footsteps loudly echo against the pavement. It feels like you’re ready to wake up the entire fucking block.

The moment you see the apartment complex around the corner, you feel your stomach churning. You tense up. Your jaw clenches. 

Shit, maybe you shouldn’t have lied to Tomoko. Maybe you should turn back now, avoid this area like the plague for the rest of your time here in Tokyo. Instead of the only year of good memories you had here, the memory of last night starts to cloud your perception of it, and goddamnit is it painful. You should be heading back to the station. You should be going back to Tomoko’s apartment, welcoming the environment that you were barely familiar with. You should be conversing with her, maybe even getting a chance to hold baby Josuke.

Your feet continue to move, however.

Initially, you remember being confused at the sight of your neighbors and some officers standing outside or near the stairwell. It was the dead of night after all; what happened? There wasn’t any fire, any offending tenant being escorted out the building— nothing. This is what you’re thinking before you see other individuals in front of your door, and that’s when you start to panic. Did Noriaki call them? What was going on? Why were they there at your apartment, specifically?

You snap at the sight of the body bags shortly after.

Suddenly, you curse to yourself aloud at the memory. Your actions at the time were uncouth, sure, but that’s a normal response to finding out your friend died, right? To finding out that your fucking husband died, right? If you didn’t react at all, surely that’d be more suspicious. Your ‘overreaction’ should be justified… you think.

The rustling from the park’s trees start to sound. It’s interesting to note that like the apartment you shared with your high school friend three years ago, yours and Noriaki’s apartment complex was coincidentally built next to a park as well. And at this time of night, it’s already empty as expected.

There’s a brief moment where you turn your head, believing that you might’ve heard footsteps. You decide not to mind it anymore; it’s probably just the wind tumbling down empty bottles or forgotten flyers or some shit.

Your chest starts to heave; you can’t believe you’re here again. Your gaze moves up the apartment complex to yours and Noriaki’s apartment door, seeing the area blocked by reapplied barricade tape. The sight of it makes you wonder— albeit morbidly— of the sight inside. What exactly had been knocked down, destroyed? Had any of the windows been smashed open? What did the walls and floors look like besides the blood stains and splatters? Where… 

Where in the apartment did each of them die? Did they die beside one another, or in separate areas of the apartment? How did they die? What was used to kill them, what time exactly did they take their last breath, what—

—tears start to flow down your cheeks, and you didn’t even realize. 

Though, what you do realize is what actually seem to be footsteps. 

Your mind had not, in-fact, played tricks on you. 

There’s someone here.

Sniffling, you feel a rush of panic before calming down. It’s nothing; honestly, it’s probably just someone returning home from work. Yes, that’s who that is. You don’t know them, but that seems most likely. Hell, they might even be from the same apartment complex, maybe even a neighbor you’ve never met. They’ll probably give you an awkward nod— it happens— before going on their way home to rest for the night. They’ll leave you alone, maybe wonder about the strange woman (or neighbor) who stood in front of a building for no apparent reason.

The footsteps don’t seem to stop.

It’s as if… they’re approaching you.

Okay, this is not the time to panic. Perhaps you should move out of the way, give them space to walk? Yes, you’ll do that. 

Taking a deep breath and wiping your eyes and face, you head over to the nearest crosswalk. Even without the presence of actual vehicles on the road, you still take the time to wait and use the crosswalk out of habit. It doesn’t take long to head over to the park, anyway. There’s the… slide, the swings, the monkey bars, the sandbox— all quintessential park and playground equipment. Beside the sandbox is a hedge, which was beside the thick trunk of a cherry blossom tree. What was remaining on that tree had already fallen. Were you just observing around the park to distract yourself? Of course.

Wait, why are you still hearing the footsteps? 

Who the hell is this?

Why are they following you?

This is not the time for you to deal with… whatever this is. You just wanted to take a look at the apartment complex, not suffer from whatever wrath you face. You’ve dealt with enough.

Seriously, this person has probably the loudest fucking footsteps you’ve ever heard in your life. Just a few minutes ago you were thinking that you were the titleholder for that as you walked through the neighborhood.

You whip your head around.

You blink.

It’s a man wearing a long, orange robe-like garment over a black turtleneck. You could see black and white vertical-striped pants— no, in fact, they were crotch-high flat boots. They were worn over black slacks. Normally, this would look out of place to you; though, considering the size and nature of this city, you’re sure you’ve seen someone else before with an outfit worse than his. He has short, black hair with well-defined and ring-like curls, which he runs a hand through.

“[…is there a problem, miss?]”

He’s speaking English, and by his accent you could tell that he was American and probably a tourist. 

Geez, these tourists. Maybe he was lost? Though it seemed a bit irresponsible to travel around in an unfamiliar place alone at the dead of night, regardless of crime rate. Yesterday didn’t help Tokyo’s, though.

All you do is give him quizzical look in response, which makes him backtrack. The man with the orange robing clears his throat.

“[Sorry, um… my Japanese is shit—]” he admits as his voice softens, before he clears his throat again and waves his hands. “[Uh…] is something wrong—?”

His pronunciation is, admittedly, pretty bad, but you understand him just fine.

“[—I speak English],” you interject before apologizing. “[Yeah, sorry. I don’t know why I didn’t… tell you… um…]”

“Why are you here at this time of night?” he suddenly asks back in English, attempting to strike a conversation with you— a stranger. He swears that you were crying just now, based on how red your eyes seem to be.

...okay, now you’re tempted to make a bet.

Are you going to die tonight?

You notice that he had completely disregarded telling you his name, making your shoulders tense up. The man in the orange robing lazily gestures to the apartment complex across the street as he continues. “It’s rather late— I doubt anyone in the building is awake right now, but that might’ve change considering what happened in that apartment.”

He takes the time to point to your apartment door, still surrounded by barricade tape. You purse your lips.

“Well… have you heard about the murders in that small town in S City three days ago?” you ask with a cautious tone, remembering what Tomoko told you earlier. “It’s only north of here. And… you know, it just feels… weird for it to be a coincidence with what happened yesterday.”

You don’t know why, but you’re feeling an inexplicable urge to continue being near this person. Despite your growing reluctance, it’s as if your body rejects the idea of staying away from him. Oddly, this ‘aura’ reminds you of being with Noriaki, but maybe that was you missing him dearly. If this— you and this strangely-dressed stranger meeting— happened on any other night while he was still alive, he’d go out on a limb to ensure your safety. You would’ve just called him for help or something, but now you can’t do anything.

He slowly nods, quietly humming. There's a brief glint of recognition in his eyes, but he doesn't comment on it; instead, he decides to continue playing along the murder-mystery-fascinated, inquisitive personality he presented himself as to you.

“I… haven’t heard of that, actually. Was it done by the same person? Do you know?”

You shrug, unsure of the answer yourself. “I… don’t know. I mean, there was plenty of time for the perpetrator to travel from S City to Tokyo between Wednesday and Friday.”

He continued to follow you, even when you started to stroll near the hedge and the cherry blossom tree.

“So you do believe that the same person did the murders here and there?”

“I— well, I didn’t exactly say that…” you deny, frowning.

The man in the orange robing titters, which you end up copying out of pure awkwardness.

To be fair, that didn’t sound like a terrible assumption, considering how close in date they occurred with one another. But there’s a part of you that doubts any sort of connection between them. It just seemed too… predictable. You mean, if they are connected, and the perpetrator for the case up in Morioh-chō or the case here is found, then that’s relieving.

For some reason you didn’t know, you were expecting for a lot more to come from this case.

——

[STAND NAME]

テイク・ファイヴ — Take Five

[STAND MASTER]

???

——

“You might as well have,” he countered, cheekily smiling down at you. He’s Noriaki’s height, if not a little taller.

You huff. “I guess.”

He chuckled.

“So…” he pivots, quietly snapping his slender fingers in a syncopated beat. Immediately manifested behind him was his Stand, Take Five, who stomped towards you. “Uh… what do you think about the 1980’s? A fun decade, right?”

You slowly blink at him.

Huh.

What the fuck … is he asking? That’s… excuse you, what the fuck? Why would he… why would he think that now was the best time to ask that, the stupidest fucking question ever?

To you, all he does is stare at you, awaiting your response. But who… who does this guy think he is? Is he trying to play some sort of game with you, here? He may ask more questions, he might approach you even further, and God you will not give him the chance to do either. The only thing you want right now is to stay alive to see the downfall of your husband's murderer. No questions asked.

The man in the orange robing notices your lack of reaction to his Stand. In fact, you don’t even show any sort of acknowledgment. You don’t seem to hear the Stand’s footsteps. Not a stare or even a glance towards its towering figure. You continue to stare at the man himself, giving him a flabbergasted look at what you perceive to be a random question. Oh, this is absolutely intriguing— yes, oh-so-intriguing.

You were not, in fact, a Stand user. Ironically, you were married to one, and were friends with another one. But you had no Stand.

He felt like laughing again. 

This was going to be a lot easier than he thought.

“Um… I guess,” you agree with a bored and borderline annoyed tone. “I wasn’t even born yet at that time, so…”

How were you supposed to answer that, anyway? What kind of response was he honestly expecting from you?

You feel your hand brush against the hedge, which only at that point do you notice how much he’s stepped towards you and how much you’ve stepped back. This is already outside of the lot of the park, meaning it's the perfect time to get the hell out of there and head back to the train station. Yet, you're just… stuck— not literally— and you continue to stare up into his eyes. He's not terrible looking, but you aren't staring into his eyes out of attraction. God, no.

This guy clearly has no perception of boundaries, by the way.

Yeah, maybe it’s really time to leave. But you don't. You're getting annoyed at yourself by the second.

“Great… well, anyway, I think you’ll have a fun time.”

…what—?

And with that, the man in the orange robing seizes you by the neck— you don’t even process the action for a split second—

— and forcefully shoves you in the small space between the tree trunk and the hedge, into that nothingness, ignoring your hack and hoarse yell— what the fuck is going on, whatareyoudoing—

He makes sure that he’s able to get your entire body through, lest you become the splitting image of your husband. 

It would be quite difficult for his boss to work with half a body.

—

--> To Be Continued -->

Up Next: A love-hate relationship with an Arrow served with a side of flesh.

Link to the Table of Contents

[natsubeatsrock]

So, I read My Immortal, and...

Morbid curiosity is a dangerous thing. The Ancient Greeks told the myth of Pandora opening a box unleashing all the evil upon the world. In its most well-known versions, she was told specifically not to open the box, but decided to so she could see what was in it. The version I was originally told involves her being coaxed into opening the box by the evils within the box.

It's one thing to hear that My Immortal is one of the worst fanfiction ever written. It's been the butt of a lot of jokes. It's another thing to read it for yourself and realize how bad it is.

Let's get two things out of the way. I don't care about comparing this to the Harry Potter canon series. That would require me to have actually read the books. It's kind of difficult to do that given the current situation. I'm also not going to touch the theories of this as intentionally bad. That theory has been going around for a while and it's fifty-fifty in my book. Neither necessarily affect what I have to say about this story.  

I read this story just as I was starting to get into fandom stuff, especially with Fairy Tail. The Fairy Tail fan stories I read were Nalu fics, and a couple stories were in the vein of the stories I talked about in Bye, Bye Lucy. After that, I figured it would be fun to read My Immortal. (It wasn't the worst thing ever.) More recently, I re-encountered the story in OSP's charity read.  Considering I've decided to start writing fanfiction of my own in between readings, I want to talk about my takeaways from this story as a writer.

Number #1. Don't piss off your editors.

One of the big things happening behind the scenes of this story is that the author has a friend who helped her edit the story. As the story continues, there are times where she's not on the best of terms with her friend and the grammar suffers in places because of it. They do makeup and the subsequent chapters are better because of it.

I don't generally vet my stories or writing in general. A lot of the writing I've been doing for a while has been put through Grammarly as I type it and I'm fairly thorough about my drafting process. However, if you're putting your work through another set of eyes, it's not a good idea to piss off the people your work's quality is dependent on.

Or just get good, I don't know.

Number #2. Treat criticism well.

A few of the posts I've made during this month have dealt with the critiques levied toward series and that's not ending anytime soon. If you're going to be making anything, criticism, valid or otherwise, is eventually headed your way. The mark of any good creator is being able to handle that criticism well.

It won't shock you to know that the writer of the story didn't take well to being criticized for their story. It's one thing to insult people leaving negative reviews or deciding to hold back chapters without a certain amount of positive reviews. This author threatened self-harm if chapters got bad reviews. This isn't a good way to deal with people disliking your stories.

Number #3. Don't get hacked.

I almost wish this was a random point.

Apparently, chapter 39 was written by someone who wasn't the author. They hacked into the original writer's account and provided an interesting end to the story where it was. Considering the story didn't get a proper ending, I almost like to think of it as the ending the story deserves. (If you're interested, Draco ends up with Hermonie in this ending.)

Then again, I can't say that getting hacked is something good. Be careful about your account's security and... don't hack people?

Number #4. Make something you're proud of.

In this post, I've been referring to the author by "she and her". As it stands, we don't know who wrote this story. We have the name of the account it was published under originally, but we don't know who is behind the account. While pretenders have popped up, they've been proven to be false.

I'm a bit conflicted about this. On the one hand, I find it fascinating that we may never know what became of the person responsible for one of the most infamous fanfiction, what they're up to, and (of importance to me) if they've improved as a writer. On the other hand, it's not as if they have a lot of reason to admit to writing this story, regardless of their initial motives.

For whatever reason, it doesn't seem as though the original author is proud of her work. Reading it today, it's not terribly difficult to see why that might be. It's clearly a relic of its time and its only notable quality is how bad it is on so many levels. The fact that we're even arguing if this was done terribly on purpose is proof enough of that.

Whatever you make, whatever story you write, make something that you can be proud of years after you made it. Even if you don’t love everything about it or think you could have done it better, make sure that whatever you create is done to the best quality you can manage.

[breath-of-venus]

30 Days of Deity Devotion in One Post - Aphrodite

I don't have ANY patience to do one post every day for devotion. Like, no patience and not enough memory, so I'll resume every single day of deity devotion in this post, and hopefully it'll be nice to read and maybe do some research.

30 Days of Deity Devotion was created by @alaskanlesbian

1 - A basic introduction

She's very energetic and enthusiastic and it's very pleasing to be hanging out with her. We dance together sometime, it's really fun! Also she's my matron.

2 - How did you became first aware of her?

We are introduced to greek mythology since very early, as kids, so I must've known her for quite some time, though she only called me in December. I think it's because now she feels that I'm ready to work with her.

3 - Symbols and icons of this deity

Bees; Red, pink and yellow with pink tip roses; A calm shore with no aggressive waves; A pink sky; Deep red lipsticks; Sea foam; Shells; Apple; Sweet scents, especially ripe apple; Laughter and smiles

4 - Favorite myth or myths of Aphrodite

The one I like the most is Aphrodite and Adonis love. It's tragical, yet beautiful. I get sad every time.

5 - Members of the family

I personally like best the version were she rose from the sea, but there's also a version were she's daughter of Zeus and Dione.

6 - Other related deities and entities

Ares, her main lover; her other various lovers; Athena, her main rival; The erotes; Astarte and Ishtar, goddesses she was based from

7 - Names and epithets

Ourania, Pandemos, Areia, Philomedes, Nikephoros

8 - Variations of this deity

The epithets listed above and Astarte and Ishtar, as they're deities Aphrodite was based from.

9 - Common mistakes about her

That she's all fluffy and pastel-pink. Like, all the time. Or that she's petty and superficial.

Bitch no.

She can be fluffy and pastel-pink, but thinking that she's like that all the fucking time is at least foolness.

She is the goddess of love, beauty and sex, but also of war, death, laughter, victory and so much more. She's a frigging goddess y'all, not a trendy youtuber.

Don't forget it.

10 - Offerings, historical and UPG

Chocolate; Yogurt; Strawberry dairy drink; Wine, especially the smooth variety; Lettuce (because of Adonis); Apple; Red fruits and berries; Red and pink flowers; Any artistic thing that you make for her; Make-up; Jewelry; Perfumes; Honey; Milk

11 - Festivals, days and times sacred to her

Every fouth day of each month

Every full Moon day

Every Friday

February 6th, honors to Aphrodite

12 - Places associated with her

Chypre (lol that's the only place I can think)

13 - What modern cultural issues are closest to this deity's heart?

I think self-esteem is the most well known issue she helps coming around atm

14 - Has worship of this deity changed in modern times?

I am very sure of it. We have trouble enough to find basic info about our deities, imagine a whole how-to-worship guide!

15 - Any mundane practices associated with this deity?

Having sex is the most obvious of them all, but there are far more pleasures in life than just sex.

Eating some food you really enjoy, for example.

Or putting some makeup on.

Expressing the beauty with arts, I guess.

16 - How do you think this deity represents the values of their pantheon and cultural origins?

That's way more complex than what I can answer without having to stress too much about it

Sorry

17 - How does this deity relates to other gods and other pantheons?

Historically, she relates to Venus and Hator. They were the closest. But in my opinion she's linked to every single love deity, especially female ones.

I found her and Freya very similar, mostly because of the warrior aspect of Freya, very similar to Aphrodite Areia.

18 - This deity's gender and sexuality (historical and UPG)

Historically she looks pretty cishet female, but in my opinion every god is kinda pansexual I guess.

They don't need labels as we do.

Also she's clearly a woman for me.

19 - What quality or qualities of this goddess do you most admire? What qualities of them do you find the most troubling?

I can't talk about her qualities without saying that I think she's perfect, sorry.

SHE'S PERFECT!!

Ok, now to the qualities.

In my personal experience with her she's like those kind of crazy mom's that are all like "ya wanna? Ya do!" but also very sweet (soft maybe? Idk).

She's very comforting and thinking about my practice I think she wants me to try not to be so dependable to pendulums.

And she got these vibes kinda like Mean Girls but a nice one

I don't think there's anything that I dislike about her really.

20 - Art that reminds you of this deity

Mostly break-the-rules love, or idk how to describe, maybe overcome relationships I guess

But if ya break some rules to kiss some mouths babe ya goin the right direction

Also I don't really see her in paintings. They're mostly blonde, and as far as I can "see" she've got wavy-curly dark brown hair and pretty yellowish-green eyes.

21 - Music that makes you think of that deity

Side to side, Gloriosa, New Rules, Toxic, TiK ToK, God is a Woman(yep, that predictable), Dangerous Woman, Thank U next, Strawberries & Cigarettes, Scars to Your Beautiful, Savages - Kerli

22 - A quote, poem, etc, that you think this deity ressonates strongly with

I have none, sorry

23 - your own composition — a piece of writing about this deity

I've tried doing it before. Like, actual writing for her, but I couldn't.

So I guess I'll stick to the motivational Tumblr posts I do about her :)

24 - A time when this deity helped you

I don't think that she's actively helping me with anything specific, since I never ask much.

Once I asked to meet a nice boy that I'd kiss.

Welp in my new school I've got quite a lot, so cheers 🥂

25 - A time when she refused to help

Can't remember any moment like this now.

She did punish me once tho 😂 it was actually funny and @thepastelpriestess witnessed everything from her very own screen

26 - How has your relationship with her changed over time?

It went to "I know you exist" to "I'd seek your help anytime soon" to "holy smokes you my mamma" to "hi guuurl ya doing great? Les hav sum tea n chat n laugh at nothing all night"

27 - Worst misconception that about her that you have encountered

That she's selfish

Like, she sure is in the myths and yadda yadda but Myths Aphrodite and Real Aphrodite are very different, actually (look Jessie I've learnt 😂)

28 - Something you wish you knew about his deity but you currently don't

I'm not really sure, actually...

I guess I'd like to hang out like face to face, have a talk-hear-hear-talk kinda conversation

Dunno

I guess then I'd know what I'd like to know that I don't yet.

29 - Any unusual or interesting UPGs to share?

She's the goddess of joy :)

30 - Any suggestions to others just starting to learn abou her?

Chase all her info in Tumblr like a crazy old lady going after her twelve cats through the streets of her neighborhood.

Basically, search a ton

[didoofcarthage]

Hi Dido, thanks for maintaining this amazing blog! I always look forward to seeing your posts on my dash. What first got you interested in classics? And on a side note, do you have a favourite myth? (Is it Aeneas and Dido?) A least favourite myth?

Hi! I’m glad you enjoy my posts--I love sharing the art I like with other people! 

(Classics-related rambling below for those who care.)

I got interested in classics when I started taking Latin in high school (it was a toss up between Latin and French, and I’m glad I chose Latin). I became involved in my school’s Latin club and certamen team and attended my state’s Junior Classical League convention (I definitely recommend participating in this if you’re still in high school). I enjoyed learning about the ancient Romans, and we did fun projects like making Roman food and writing letters using Roman cursive script. 

My high school Latin teachers were great, and I took Latin through the AP Level, but I wasn’t initially interested in majoring in classics in college (I started out as a linguistics major). However, when I saw that my university offered introductory Ancient Greek, I signed up for that out of curiosity, and the classics department kind of drew me in (classicists are devious like that)! I ended up double-majoring in Classics and Ancient History. 

I don’t really have a favorite myth... I had an ancient Egyptian phase in elementary school, and I read myths growing up of course, but I was never into mythology like some people were (which was a major weakness for me in certamen!). I read Edith Hamilton in my high school English class (she’s horrible, *shudder*, did no one ever teach her the importance of citing your sources?), but my mythology education has been kind of sporadic otherwise (depending on if my class was reading the Metamorphoses or Oedipus Rex). I think at some point my professors just assumed we knew things. 

I’ve always been more interested in ancient history and art than in mythology, even though I do like reading poetry about myths (and it drives me crazy when people say, “according to Greek mythology, bla, bla...”--which author? Homer? Hesiod? Ovid? Ancient Greeks disagreed among themselves about basic things like where certain gods were born, and Ovid was Roman!). 

I actually like the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell more than the Aeneid (sorry, Vergil! I did defend you when the Hellenists said you were just a cut-rate Homer), so that’s why I named my blog @didoofcarthage​ (and it was still available when I signed up for Tumblr ages ago). 

My least favorite myth is probably whatever inspired Shakespeare to write Titus Andronicus (I think that’s the story of Philomela in the Metamorphoses and also Seneca’s Thyestes). Or maybe the Egyptian myth of Isis getting pregnant with Horus after Osiris is dead... I read such a bowdlerized version of that story in high school that reading the real thing was rather shocking. 

I think the lesson here is don’t say that mythology is for children. Perhaps some of it is, but a lot of it is definitely not. I also think that saying Zeus “seduced” a woman is ah, more than a bit misleading? If you don’t want to use the real words, then don’t give it to children. You can tell the stories and have the books around, but don’t pretend they are cute and charming and harmless when they’re not (see also: Disney adaptations of stories from Grimms’ Fairy Tales). 

(Apologies for the rant about mythology--when people ask for my thoughts I get carried away and write an essay sometimes. Can you tell that I always had to cut at least a thousand words out of my college essays?)