#ch: bianca di angelo

[inmydrcams]

@essentiamortis asked;

“We left our date of birth, and our history behind.” ( for bianca )

The underworld is… different than what Bianca expected it. She would say that growing up she had the idea of a dark dreary place with something akin to the flames from hell, but then again she never did get to grow up, did she?

She gives Elizabeth a small nod, looking around to the glittering blue lake and green trees. Actually a bit similar to the idea of paradise. And something about her stops for a second, for calling it an i d e a and not a belief. Bianca was supposed to believe in God, believe in Hell and Paradise. But guess you can’t really hold too tight to those ideas after you find out your father is a greek god and not just some random person. Wonder what the people who used to whisper behind her back about her lack of a father would say now.

Something stops her, eyes fixing on Elizabeth as she actually hears the words. She’s doing that, isn’t she? Reminiscing about the past and who she should or shouldn’t be, as if any of that matters here. ❝ Right. ❞ She could say she was getting used the lack of all of that but that’s not a new reality for her, that’s just been her and Nico’s life since Hades left them at the Lotus Hotel. ❝ So when do I get to see him? ❞ If anything she’s curious about this man who claims to care but was never really there and stuffed her and her brother away in a fancy little hotel for decades.

[drvcxrys]

hello guys! i'm going to post this starter call and also a plot call for the event. feel free to ask the starters that you like or just like to plot, for the starter call, there is no cap. i'm going to put under this read more who is there willingly and who is there not and also the ones that are open for death has an asterisk so you can see <3

willingly went in:

alice cullen

edward cullen (characters encounter a pit trap, so obvious they almost want to explore) kaiden (monster: werewolf)carlisle cullen (monster: masked murderer wearing the Ghostface mask)laurent da revin (monster: minotaur) kate denali (characters enter a portion of the maze to find it completely dark.)

*anna of arendelle

*betty cooper

*beverly marsh

*buffy summer

*caitlin snow

*caroline forbes

enzo st. john (though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress)

claudia

emma swan

patia por´co (monster: masked murderer wearing the ghostface mask) killian jones (monster: giant spiders)

*hermione granger

hagrid (though relatively empty the plant life whispers threats and warnings to people in this portion of the maze. It tells them to give up on their progress) harvey hufflepuff (the area is just absolutely full of croaking frogs. they aren’t dangerous but they are loud and difficult to step around) james potter (monster: a hoard of geese)

*hope mikaelson

rebekah mikaelson (monster: living scarecrow) klaus mikaelson (characters wander in to a giant feast, long empty tables piled high with food, with chairs much too high for anyone human to sit in.) josie saltzman (monster: skeletons)

*isabelle lightwood

max lightwood (monster: ghosts) leia organa (monster: skeletons)

jill roberts

tatum riley (the area is just absolutely full of croaking frogs. they aren’t dangerous but they are loud and difficult to step around.) stu macher (characters wander in to a giant feast, long empty tables piled high with food, with chairs much too high for anyone human to sit in.)

kara danvers

lexie grey (characters are greeted by two beings the size of children but with pumpkins for heads arrive with a cart, gesturing for characters to get in) alex danvers (monster: living corn attempting to eat characters. It is still the size of regular corn.)

katara

korra (characters enter a mud filled portion of the maze, where their footsteps feel heavy, and every push further seems to sink them farther and farther into the mud.)

lila pitts

diego hargreeves (monster: a swarm of bats)

*lissa dragomir

isaac lahey (monster: ghosts)

*nancy wheeler

rapunzel corona

*samanha carpenter

kirby reed (monster: gelatinous cube) billy loomis (monster: masked murderer wearing the ghostface mask) feng xing (monster: stormtroopers)

sara lance

sheila hammond

kevin snipe (monster: minotaur)bloo regard (monster: a rat with a gun)marco del rossi (monster: murderous clown)

usagi tsukino

madoka kaname (characters walk into this portion of the maze to immediately be caught in a giant spider web, trapping them.)

wednesday addams

dragged in:

*annabeth chase

*annie cresta

*bianca di angelo

bree tanner

choi nam ra

*daenerys targaryen

drogon (monster: dementors) aelin (the husks of corn emit a poisonous gas, making characters weaker the longer they breath it in)

daphne bridgerton

eloise bridgerton (monster: a rat with a gun) edmun bridgerton (monster: living corn attempting to eat characters. It is still the size of regular corn.)

*effy stonem

*elizabeth midford

*hanna marin

heidi volturi

yoon chi woo (monster: a hoard of geese) victoria sutherland (characters encounter a pit trap, so obvious they almost want to explore)

intouch chatpokin

*jane

*jean grey

jessica riley

malia tate

peter hale (the area exists as a zone of truth, making characters incapable of lying. characters are aware of this when they enter the space)

*manaow

team siriyothin (characters reach a dead end, full of pollen spores, which when inhaled make characters feel drunk for the next hour)

*mary stuart

lola fleming narcisse (characters enter a mud filled portion of the maze, where their footsteps feel heavy, and every push further seems to sink them farther and farther into the mud)

*melinda halliwell

piper halliwell (monster: living scarecrow)

myrcella baratheon

*narcissa black

rabastan lestrange (monster: skeletons) lily evans (characters encounter a pit trap, so obvious they almost want to explore)

*rhaena targaryen

lucerys valeryon (monster: a rat with a gun)

sharon carter

daisy johnson (characters walk into this portion of the maze to immediately be caught in a giant spider web, trapping them) peggy carter (the area is just absolutely full of croaking frogs. they aren’t dangerous but they are loud and difficult to step around.)

*victoire weasley

fred weasley (monster: minotaur) fleur delacour (characters enter a portion of the maze to find it completely dark) teddy lupin (monster: dementors)

win wanichakarnjonkul

*yelena belova

[coolkidsstayyoung99]

"Your death," Nico said, "would be great for me."

ch: Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades

pjo chrs: percy / annabeth / grover / thalia / luke / clarssie / bianca / rachel / zöe / silena / beckendorf / stoll's

[tagthescullion]

Il Minuetto della Ragazza

Fandom(s): Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Rating: T

Summary: Bianca di Angelo is alive. Alive and upset, confused, desperate… Camp Half Blood lost her little brother, and there’s nothing she wouldn’t do to bring him home safe.

AO3 link

Ch One - Ch Two - Ch Three - Ch Four - Ch Five - Ch Six - Ch Seven - Ch Eight - Ch Nine - Ch Ten

Chapter 11: Santa Fe

Before opening her eyes Bianca felt grass beneath her hands. Crickets sang around her, and she could hear a couple of whispering voices not too far.

She opened her eyes and was greeted with a clear night sky. The stars shone so brightly, Bianca could see the Milky Way.

By her side, an abandoned looking train station loomed under the moonlight.

“That ain’t right,” she heard a voice murmur.

“There’s no train, your brother’s taking you for a fool.”

“He’s not!” 

It sounded like children. 

Bianca stood unsteadily. She walked quietly towards the source of the voices and found a couple of boys sitting with their backs leaning on a chunk of wooden fence, not two metres away from the rails.

They seemed to be expecting something. A train, they boy had implied. But a midnight train? 

Bianca looked around. She wasn’t even sure it was midnight, but she didn’t reckon they’d be seeing trains until morning. Not in a dilapidated station like this one. 

“It’s always on this day,” said one of the boys. His eyes were bright. “You can hear it, every single year, this same night. Even my ma’s heard it, she tried to pretend otherwise but she was freaked out all right.”

The second boy appeared a lot more cynical of his friend’s tale.

“I never heard nothin’.”

“That’s ‘cause you live so far from the tracks. You don’t hear normal trains, how’d you hear the ghost train?”

The second boy shuddered. “There ain’t no ghost train! Let’s go back home.”

His friend stood his ground. With a stubborn frown he crossed his arms around his legs. 

“I’m not leavin’ until I see that Lincoln train,” he spat. “You’re just a coward.”

The taunt hit where it aimed, the second boy sat back down beside his friend.

“I ain’t no coward.”

Bianca rolled her eyes, she never understood why coward was such a powerful insult. Sometimes cowardice was a lot cleverer than bravery.

She looked back at them, studying their clothes. 

Something wasn’t right. Those weren’t clothes children wore nowadays. Hell, she’d know, she was still trying to get used to denim.

These boys wore suspenders of all things, and they were carrying a dim oil lamp. 

She was dreaming of the past. She wasn't sure how old the scene was, nor did her surroundings really tell her anything useful. 

The boys stayed quiet for a bit, and Bianca, unsure of what to do, sat down not far from them.

A cloud went over the moon, dissipating the light they’d had. Bianca’s surroundings looked even worse for wear than they had. Under the moon’s light, the old station had appeared mystical if run-down, now it looked plain and forgotten. The tracks lost their gleam.

She wondered if it would rain. Could she feel water in a dream?

She shook her head, that wasn’t particularly important.

A ghost train one of the kids had called it. After discovering, or remembering, or accepting –whichever it was– who her father was, Bianca didn’t really want to see any ghosts, in a dream or anywhere, really. 

It wasn’t that ghosts scared her. They were people, that’s all. Her nonna used to call them ‘anime in pena’, or anguished souls. To Bianca, it seemed unfair to be somehow repulsed or afraid of them, souls could be anguished both in life or death. 

Regardless, ghosts were a connection to Hades. And Bianca wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Her memories, or vague images if she was honest, of her father were those of a caring, if not very expressive man. She didn’t want to overlap that with the resentful, dangerous deity her fellow demigods painted him up to be. 

Distracted as she was by her thoughts, she almost missed a low whistle coming from the West. 

One of the boys trembled with excitement, while the other went pale. 

“Did you hear that?”

The pale boy nodded. 

“I told you it was real!”

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but to their left, by the place the tracks were lost in the horizon, a blue mist swirled into existence. 

The breeze turned into a stronger wind, which ruffled the leaves of the trees around them. Fallen leaves, debris and old papers flew around in whirlpools.

A wrinkled sheet of newspaper landed silently next to Bianca’s left foot. She doubted she could pick it up if she tried, but she crouched to read the text better.

It was the front page of the Chicago Daily News, the morning paper by the headlines. April 21st, 1908.

Bianca heard the distant hiss of a steam engine and looked up to see a locomotive break through the blue mist. No, not break through. The mist seemed to come from it, as if the locomotive –train, she saw now– was puffing off blue smoke from below as it went. It mixed with the vapour coming from its chimney.

It wasn’t a chimney, Bianca remembered. She’d once been shown a similar locomotive by her nonno’s valet. But she couldn’t remember the right word for it. 

The train got closer, running fast on the old tracks. The two children had gone completely quiet.

Bianca felt a sort of apprehension as the train drew nearer and nearer. A phantom train. What could it mean? Who’s phantom train was it? 

It was a funeral train, she knew. She didn’t know why she knew it, but she was certain. A morbid way to parade an important figure’s corpse. But she still didn’t know whose corpse.

The locomotive slowed down as it approached Bianca and the boys. Or, she supposed, as it approached the station close to them. 

It wasn’t just the children who’d gone quiet. The world seemed to have shut up as it was enveloped by the train’s ghastly blue mist. The only things Bianca could hear were her breathing, and the train’s rhythmical noise and vapour hisses.

She looked up as the locomotive was passing in front of her. Behind it the tender carried the coal. And behind that the passenger cars began at last. 

Only it wasn’t people tending a casket that Bianca saw. 

The train was full of skeletons. Like the ones chasing them in the quest! Their skins see-through, their bones opaque and contrasting under the clouds.

They were all looking at her. Not at the side of the train, they were focusing on her.

Their teeths clacked as they passed by her, making Bianca shiver. 

‘Come find us,’ they seemed to say. ‘Join us in our journey.’

She wondered if the train would stop in the station, but it never lowered its speed enough. The train cars kept coming and coming, its skeleton crew chit-chattering its snappy cacophony. 

‘Join us, join us, join us…’

Bianca wanted to run. She wanted to be far away from that. She wanted to turn to see if the boys had gone away, or if, like her, they stood frozen watching the train go by, but her muscles wouldn’t answer her.

‘Join us, join us…’

She struggled against her own body, trying to move, to speak, to do anything. 

STOP! She wanted to yell. Stop, please!

Her voice betrayed her, but with a snap, she managed to make her body react. She fell hard to her knees, and covered her head with her arms.

‘JOIN US!’

She closed her eyes tight.

Finally, her voice returned to her.

“MAKE IT STOP!”

-

"Hey!"

Bianca was awoken by somebody shaking her arm. She wiped the corner of her mouth to clear the drop of drool forming there.

"Are we there yet?" She asked, her voice deep with sleep. Her heart still beat fast and loud.

She used a hand to cover the light in her eyes.

Standing above her, and looking like she hadn't slept a wink, was Thalia. She had taken off the silly sunglasses and Bianca could see the dark circles under her eyes. 

"Not in Denver, which was where we were supposed to go," Thalia replied. "We're close to Santa Fe."

Bianca looked out of the window, she could see nothing. Not a blind nothingness, the landscape was perfectly clear, but it was empty. If they were close to any city, it wasn’t a very big one.

She could see mountains far away, but all around her there were low bushes. It felt less dry than Phoenix but it wasn’t much better.

It made her uneasy. She tried to convince herself it was only the memory of the junkyard of the gods, but the goosebumps on the back of her neck wouldn't disappear.

"I don't like this place," Bianca said. "How long until the bus starts again."

Thalia smirked. "One of the back tires was messed up, so it seems we'll be staying a while."

Bianca frowned.

"Yeah, I know," Thalia said, her eyes dark. "It doesn't feel right. Keep an eye out."

Thalia went down the bus aisle, with Bianca in tow. 

Outside, the air smelled like dust. The sky was brightening, the colours were rather pretty, but the picturesque sunrise didn’t make Bianca feel any more comfortable.

The Hunters were gathered several metres away from the rest of the passengers, who weren't many anyway.

"I need you all to be alert," Thalia told them. She wasn't speaking loudly, but her voice carried well amongst them. "A punctured tire can be a coincidence, but so many of us together will attract monsters sooner or later."

"How optimistic," said Greta.

"She's being careful," Phoebe chided her. 

Bianca was with Phoebe and Thalia, something was nearby. 

“I’ll go see if they need help with the tire,” Maddie offered, taking off her jacket and tying it around her waist. 

“Will they let a girl help?” Bianca asked. 

She didn’t mean to be rude, but Maddie didn’t look a day over 20, and while she was open to the idea of the world changing, she was sure men were still unwilling to let women around cars. 

Maddie smirked. “I’ve been dealing with men’s fragile egos since the 19th century, darling. I’ll make them listen.”

Thalia nodded. “All right, take Phoebe with you. If worse comes to worst, Phoebs, you handle the drivers while Maddie does the work, it’ll be faster.”

Phoebe seemed to agree with that, she even looked joyful at the prospect.

Thalia walked a few steps away from the group, and Bianca followed.

“Is she a daughter of Ares?” Bianca asked, pointing subtly at Phoebe. “She reminds me of Clarisse.”

Thalia shook her head. “Nope. Naiad. She had a nasty encounter with my uncle.” She saw Bianca’s scowl. “Oh, no, nasty for my uncle. Who knew the king of the ocean could have his nose broken, huh?”

“Does everybody here but me have awful experiences with men?” Bianca wondered.

Thalia made a face, as if she was debating whether to tell her something or not.

“Some,” she said at last. “Some have been hurt or betrayed by men. Guys can be selfish, disloyal, stupid.” Thalia’s fists tightened with each word. “Others simply come from a different time, back then they were powerless to do something for and by themselves, that led them to join. You can sympathise with that last group, I imagine.” 

Bianca thought Thalia might look at her with pity. Luckily, the older girl appeared curious rather than anything else. She was probably thinking about that night when Percy and Grover had explained that the Lotus Hotel slowed down time.

“Yes,” Bianca said. “I know how they feel.”

She thought of her brother being taught how to assemble a rifle, and her being taught embroidery and how to run a house for her husband. 

Just as she felt a stab of resentment about her unlocked memory, she saw the bus driver get up from the dusty ground, ten or fifteen metres away, and shake his head at Maddie and Phoebe. 

Thalia saw where Bianca’s eyes were focusing on. 

“Seventy years and we’re still dealing with this shit.” She shrugged. “But it’s a lot better, trust me.”

Bianca nodded. She knew. One of their teachers in Westover was an engineer, she taught Math. She hadn’t known why it had surprised her so much back then, but now she imagined what her nonno’s reaction would’ve been like if she told him she wanted to be an engineer.

Thalia was about to say something more but froze with her mouth half-open. Faster than Bianca could ask what was wrong she heard it. 

REEEEEEEEET

Thalia groaned.

“Fucking Hades, not this shit again.”

[patrrokilles]

B I A N C A DI A N G E LO

› and i saw it in my dreams, i knew i'd be seventeen watching reality spinning around ›

to: @beaubcxton, for being an angel

[anncshiirley-blog]

the di angelo siblings 

“Who wants us?" Bianca demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I—" Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other.”

[hyllaarellano]

minor pjo characters fancast

my first post did so well that i just had to make another one, this time for minor pjo/hoo characters. note: this is not exhaustive and is actually missing several characters. this is for two reasons: 1) i don’t have fcs for every characters. for example, i’m still struggling to find a good one for clarisse and 2) this is going to be a series of posts.

rachel dare - madelaine petsch

i learned about her bc she played cheryl blossom in the cw show riverdale (which i’m very much not a fan of) and like?? she’s perfect??? i’m Shook. her eyes arent green but, as i’m sure y’all have noticed, i dont mind if a fc isnt PERFECT as long as its CLOSE.

calypso - lei’neal

she is so beautiful and gives me the strongest calypso vibes. she looks like she cares but also won’t put up with your shit. i love it and her.

grover underwood - justice smith

i am unabashedly a huge fan of the netflix show the get down and honestly justice would just be such a good grover. nerdy and cute and i love him.

juniper - kiersey clemons 

she’s so adorable and would play an amazing juniper imo. she also looks exactly how i picture juniper! the biggest problem is that she looks nothing like how juniper is described in canon. i’m a huge fan of racebending (if you cant tell) so it doesn’t bother me. if you’d like an option that looks closer to canon, molly c quinn is a good choice imo.

drew tanaka - nana komatsu

this one i got thanks to @dontcallmecisorstraight. nana is gorgeous and there are so many pics of her that fit drew perfectly! she gives me good, strong drew vibes. 

will solace - burkely duffield

if his hair was a bit longer and he had blue eyes, he’d be perfect. still, he’s really good and has the perfect build for will imo.

katie gardiner - alisha wainright

i found her because of one of @punk-n-girly-jercy‘s anons. she’s an absolute cutie and gives me strong demeter vibes. i can see her digging into the soil of a garden.

bianca di angelo - rowan blanchard

she’s young and cute, if a bit paler than i imagine bianca. her features are very strong, like finn wolfhard’s which makes her better to be his sister. she’s super close to being perfect. 

silena beauregard - ruba zai

i am a big fan of the hc of muslim silena and ruba zai is so gorgeous that she could easily be a daughter of aphrodite. 

charles beckendorf - john boyega

i,,,,,,,love john boyega. he’s a fantastic actor and while i never really had a strong image of beckendorf in my head, he fully exists as my version of beckendorf. 

that’s it for now but keep an eye out for my next fancast post!

[solange-lol]

not so typical love song - ch. 7/13

Chapter Title: Love Me

Words: 3,332

Art by @lizzybizzyo! <3

[ one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight (coming soon)]

read on ao3

—

Thanksgiving came and went, and soon Bianca was on her train back to college, leaving a quiet house in her absence. 

They talked, of course, more than they had talked over the phone. But they never went in deep about anything. Nico never brought up his secret, and Bianca dropped asking about homecoming all together.

It felt like she already knew. Nico came so close to telling her just to get that weight off his chest, but every time he was about to bring it up, he didn’t. 

It felt so dangerous with the circumstance he was already under. Technically, he had already come out to two people, but something about telling someone face to face out of his own will terrified him. 

Deep down, he knew Bianca wouldn’t care. So why was he so scared?

The same reason he was scared to tell any of his friends, probably. He didn’t want anything to change, didn’t want their view on him to change. And if word got out, the best thing to ever happen to him would slip away. He couldn’t lose Blue, not now. 

Not ever.

Drew’s voice cut through his thoughts, as she finished her long list of plans for Christmas break, before asking “Anybody else going somewhere for Christmas?” they had been folding programs for the show at this rehearsal as people were getting fitted for costumes.

Nico shrugged as if he had been listening to what she had been saying the entire time. “Staying here. We have a classic di Angelo gingerbread decorating contest.” He said as he folded the program in his hand that he realized he had been clutching, unfolded for a few minutes now.

Piper grinned next to him. “I was the judge last year with Jason. You should have seen Nico’s house! Covered it with red frosting to look like blood with dead gingerbread men and ghosts! Called it his gingerdead house”

Nico tried to ignore the sound of Will laughing across from him, blue eyes squinting as his smile grew. He was there helping out backstage, mainly just to bother Lou Ellen and Cecil. (And to not let Nico get over his crush, apparently.) His gaze moved quickly from Octavian (ew) to Drew, who was rolling her eyes.

“What about you, Piper?” she asked, switching focus.

Piper shifted uncomfortably. “My dad will probably be away on a shoot, so either I’ll fly out to be with him, or I’ll be home alone,” she said, trying to shrug it off, but Nco could see the sadness in her eyes.

He patted her knee. “Come over to my house if you need to. I’m sure my parents would love to have you as a judge again.”

When he looked up, Will was smiling at him again, making Nico’s chest clench. 

“I’m going to a cabin with my mom,” Percy grinned from where he was sitting, not helping them at all. “No WiFi, just me and my mom and the lake.”

“In the middle of the winter?” Piper asked. “Won’t it be frozen?”

“Yup. Prime ice skating conditions.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I hope you fall in,” her muttered, earning another laugh from Will, making his chest even tighter. 

“We don’t usually go anywhere, but I think my mom is planning a trip for me and my siblings this year. Bonding, or something,” Will says after a moment.

“You have siblings?” Nico asked, surprised. He never recalled Will ever mentioning them. “Do they go here?”

Now it was Will’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Oh, um, yeah. I have a sister and a brother. Kayla and Austin.” His smile was still there, but there was an emotion in his eyes that Nico couldn’t quite read.

“Cool,” he said, softly, not wanting to push Will any further, although it left him with more questions than answers. 

Next to Will, Octavian suddenly sucked in air through his teeth, dramatically dropping the program he had been folding. If that weren’t enough to convince Nico that he wasn’t actually hurt, he grabbed his finger with a dramatic “Owww.”

Nico sighed. Wherever Octavian was going with this, he didn’t like it. “You good?”

“Yeah, paper cut,” he responded, giving Nico a look saying come with me. Nico could see that perfectly clear, but he chose to ignore it. When he did, Octavian continued. “Nico, do you know where the bandages are?”

“Yeah, they’re right back there in the supply closet,” Nico said, still not giving in.

“You mind showing me?”

Nico had to stop himself from groaning. He wanted to scream at Octavian to just leave him alone for once, but there was no way out of this situation he was stuck in. Octavian, always concerned about himself, didn’t know how to take a hint either. He nodded his head towards the closet, and Nico just sighed as he stood up. Worried glances from both Piper and Will followed him, but he shook it off.

“Be right back,” he assured them, which only seemed to settle Piper as he followed Octavian to the back.

When they walked into the closet, Octavian spun on his heel. “I don’t actually have a paper cut.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Nico muttered.

 “I don’t want to have to leak your emails, di Angelo, but-”

“Look, you can’t bring Blue into this,” Nico cut him off angrily. “If he found out my emails got leaked, he would disappear. He’d never talk to me again.” Just the idea of it made tears prick at his eyes. 

One of these days, Octavian is going to push too far, and Nico is going to break. 

Octavian just shrugged. “Yeah, he probably would. Internet’s a freaky place to meet people.”

Just as Nico was about to argue back at him, Piper walked through the door, causing them both to panic.

“..Freaky Friday!” Nico said suddenly, trying to recover from anything she might have overheard.

Octavian nodded along. “Fun movie.” It wasn’t great acting (better than his fake paper cut bit) but Nico appreciated the coverup. Octavian was still far from a decent human being, but at least he didn’t out Nico. Yet.

Piper looked between the two of them, a confused smile growing on her face. “You guys are weird,” he states, before moving to look around the closet. “I just came to get a band-aid. You were right, those programs are a bitch.”

 Octavian elbowed him, signaling Nico to say something. He quickly thought of an idea, bracing himself as he began to talk. Please don’t hate me, Piper. 

“So, um, Octavian was having some trouble with his lines, so we were thinking of going to the Waffle House tonight and go over them, run a few scenes, if you wanna come,” he said quickly, trying his best to seem natural about it. Please don’t hate me, Piper. Please don’t hate me.

For a moment, Piper’s face dropped, as did Nico’s stomach. Please don’t hate him. He messed up. Please don’t hate him.

Then, the smile was back. “Really?” she asked earnestly. “That would be great, actually!” Both relief and guilt flooded Nico.

Octavian patted him on the back the moment Piper was out of sight again. “Good work di Angelo.”

“Go to hell, Octavian.”

—

Nico slipped out of the Waffle House the moment he noticed Leo standing outside, most likely on his break. 

Actually, he was escaping the hell that was his booth with Piper and Octavian, as well as Octavian’s multiple attempts of flirting. He was hurting Piper, not that she realized, and it was hurting him in the process. Leo just happened to be the perfect excuse to get him away from all that.

Leo Valdez is a junior, though Nico’s never really talked to him that much before. They’ve had a few classes together over the years, and Nico knows he’s good friends with Piper and Jason, but for some reason, he’s never really seen him around. He’s also a waiter at Waffle House, apparently, and something about him is setting off bells in Nico’s head.

Nico doesn’t think he’s Blue. Leo is like a ball of fire, while Blue is a calming wave. And yet, there’s more than one side to a person, so he hasn’t ruled him out yet. And besides, maybe he’ll at least be interesting to get to know. 

He shivered, pulling his jacket tighter as he walked over to Leo, who was typing something on his phone. “Were you in my Bio class last year?” Nico asked, and Leo looked up from his phone, surprised.

 “I think so, yeah.”

“Were you there last year when some kid ate the flower we were experimenting on while we had a sub, and she emailed our teacher who had to email the class because it turned out the flower was poisonous?” 

Leo grinned. “Yep. That was me, actually, who ate the flower.”

Not the response Nico was expecting, but he’ll take it. “Wait, really? What happened?”

“Called poison control, got it all sorted out.” Leo was still grinning, sort of mischievously like he was planning it all over again. “Somehow I lived through.”

Nico smiled. “Somehow.”

Leo glanced back at the restaurant. “Nancy’s glaring, that’s my cue to go. See ya, di Angelo,” he said, tapping one last thing on his phone before he walked back inside while Nico just stood there and watched.

He wasn’t completely sure if Leo was Blue or not. Sure, he wouldn’t mind if Leo was Blue. He was funny and charismatic, which was helpful to have in social situations. And he was pretty good looking. (Or maybe Nico just had a thing for curly hair.) At the same time, though, it felt like maybe their personalities were completely different. So was Nico just making it up because he liked the idea of it, or did he actually believe it? He wasn’t really sure.

Until his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Only a second ago had Leo been typing something on his phone. That last tap before he went inside could have been him hitting the send button. If it was that perfectly lined up, could it really be a coincidence?

Leo’s voice echoed in his head as he read the email.

From: blue0919@gmail.com

To: bettertoburn@gmail.com

Date: Nov 30 at 5:57 PM

Subject: Holiday Horrors

My mom is currently planning a trip for Hanukkah, which I don’t think we’ve ever done before, but I think she just wants my siblings (still weird to say) to feel okay coming into this family. Obviously, I still don’t really know that much about them, but I really hope they like me and feel as safe here as I do.

It’s also sort of scary because I imagine when I tell my mom, I’ll probably have to tell them too. I just hope that doesn’t change anything/

My dad wanted me to see him, spend a day with him over the holidays, but I passed up. He’s already shown me all that he can give me, I don’t need anything more. On the other hand, though, my mom told me he’s bisexual, so maybe I could get my first real coming out over with him. Or not, I don’t know. Do I trade up my first experience just for it to be easy? I feel like I need to get used to it not being easy.

Maybe I’m just going crazy.

Love, Blue

From: bettertoburn@gmail.com

To: blue0919@gmail.com

Date: Nov 30 at 6:01

Subject: re: Holiday Horrors

I don’t think you’re going crazy Blue. Crazy brave, if that’s what you meant. And crazy caring and compassionate at that. I’m sure your siblings love you for all your efforts. If they haven’t yet, they will. Take it from experience.

Love, Angel. 

Nico grinned to himself all the way through Blue’s email, as well as his own. He might not know who Blue is, but he knows what kind of person he is. Maybe it’s better that way. And something about that email made him consider maybe, maybe coming out to Hazel. She’s the one person Nico knows would love him through anything. 

Oh, and Leo isn’t completely ruled out yet either.

Nico’s got a lot to think about now as he heads back inside to the table from hell.

When he slid back into the booth, Octavian was dramatically leaning over the table, pointing his finger at a smiling Piper. “You, Piper McLean, deserve a goddamn superhero.” Immediately, his good mood is gone as he rolls his eyes. 

Ugh, give him a break.

—

“Octavian used to annoy the crap outta me, but he’s actually kind of...” Piper shrugged, looking out the window. “I don’t know. Not as bad.”

Nico sighed, gripping the steering wheel. There was a pit in his stomach that was weighing him down with guilt. He so desperately wanted to do the right thing, but honestly, he didn’t even know what that would be anymore. Tricking Piper like this, though, he knew that wasn’t right. He wasn’t sure what would make it better by this point, so he brought up something that could distract him.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about your parents,” he said quietly as if he might be waking a monster. He found out pretty quick what was happening inside the restaurant when he got back. Octavian had pushed her, maybe a little too far, about her past. While it sort of hurt that she easily told him over Nico, he assumed it was his fault for never asking. “I just never wanted to make you uncomfortable.”

Piper shrugs, turning away from the window but still not looking at him. “Yeah, I don’t mention them that much. Kind of messes with my image.”

“What image?”

She shrugs again. “The girl who's only been at this school for a year and doesn’t want to be known as the one with the famous dad, or the mom that left them. The girl who's angry and sad all the time and has a history of being a kleptomaniac. A girl who still believes in love.”

Oh. “I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t know if you wanted to.”

Nico cleared his throat. “You still believe in love?” he attempted to scoff, but his heart was beating so fast he just sounded nervous.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Piper glanced over at him. “Have you ever been in love?”

Nico didn’t say anything for a moment. He didn’t know what to say. What could he say right now? Anything, really. He could tell her everything. But at what cost? 

“I think so,” he said, before he pulled the car over.

Nico could see Piper glancing around in confusion, maybe almost nervous as they slowed to a stop. God, what if she thinks he’s in love with her? There’s no way he’s getting out of this without telling her.

“Piper?” Nico asks, not really sure what he’s asking. He takes a breath.

Piper gave him a look he couldn't read. “Yeah?”

“I’m gay.”

It came out almost like a question like he’s asking for acceptance. The words hung in the air for just a moment, then-

“Oh,” she smiled, and the tension broke. “Okay.”

“You can’t tell anyone though. Nobody really knows, and I don’t really want people to find out yet-”

She shook her head. “I won’t, I promise.”

“Okay,” he whispered. His heart was still beating fast, but warmth filled his chest. 

He did it.

They sat in silence for a moment, not making eye contact, before Nico asked, “You surprised?”

“No.”

“So, you knew?” he asked, fearfully glancing over at her. How many other people knew?

“No,” she assured him. 

“But you’re not surprised?”

Piper smiled again, and any nerves he had left completely drained from his body. “Do you want me to be surprised?” she asked genuinely.

For the first time, Nico smiled softly too. “I don’t know,” he said almost laughing as he looked back out the window. 

“Okay,” she was still looking at him; he could see her smile out of the corner of his eye. “Well, I love you, so…”

He let himself glance over at her, trying to ignore the pegging thoughts in his brain reminding him how much he would be hurting her right now if she knew. The warmth in his chest was gone, and now it was just tight with all the love and the hurt. Maybe he didn’t believe in romantic love (he honestly didn’t know yet) but there was some kind of love in this world, and he was so lucky to have it.

But what if she knew? “I love you too.”

Her smile, softer than before, hurt more than anything else.

Nico let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, turning on his blinker as he began to drive again.

“There’s no one behind us you don’t need to-” Piper started and Nico almost laughed. The moment was over, maybe he could stop thinking about it.

“I know, just being safe.”

“Okay,” she whispered, and Nico could tell she was still smiling at him.

He tried to ignore the tightness that still remained in his chest as they drove away.

—

When Nico got home that night, he went straight to his room. He opened the window that led to a small balcony and climbed through. He sat down, leaning his head against the fence and looked up at the stars.

When he was younger, so much younger that the memories were faint, his mom would take him out here before she died every time he was scared or upset. He could hear her voice in his ear as he stared up at the sky.

“If things are changing-” she would tell him. “Just remember the stars are still there. Even if it's cloudy at night or if the sun is out, they’re still there. Find peace in that.”

What would she think of him now?

He pulled his phone out, wiping away a stray tear that tried to escape, and opened his email.

From: bettertoburn@gmail.com

To: blue0919@gmail.com

Date: Nov 30 at 9:05 PM

Subject: You inspired me

You inspired me tonight, Blue. I came out to one of my friends and it went really well, so thank you.

I hope everything goes okay with your mom and your siblings, but I’m pretty sure it will.

Maybe afterward we can ride this bravery train and come out to each other for real? I’m dying to know who you are.

Love, Angel

He sent the email before he could overthink it, and went back inside to do homework, giving the stars one last glance.

Right before he was about to fall asleep later that night, he got a response.

From: blue0919@gmail.com

To: bettertoburn@gmail.com

Date: Dec 1 at 12:11 AM

Subject: re: You inspired me

I actually came out to everyone tonight. I thought it would be easier to just air it out now and let them think before we were stuck together with no escape on whatever vacation we’re going on. 

Everything went surprisingly okay. My mom of course was supportive, saying she would make me flag cookies for pride month and everything which was very sweet (literally). And my siblings were also nice about it. I really don’t think they care as much as I thought they would. (I almost made a joke about how I got it from my dad, but I didn’t want to push things.)

And you’ve got it all wrong. It’s you who inspires me.

I’m really glad everything went well with your friend. I’m just not ready yet for you to tell me. The real me. I’m sorry.

Love, Blue

(P.S- if it helps, I can’t stop thinking about who you are either. Someday soon I’ll tell you. Just not yet).

(P.P.S- Happy December! Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits and all that)

Sure, Nico was disappointed, but it was okay. Blue had said someday soon, and all Nico had to do was hold onto that promise.

[deadangelos]

So Nico, Hazel, what were you doing with Bianca in the Kindergarden? And how did Bianca end up corrupted?

[blue-cookie-for-percy]

The Hades Cabin at Camp Half-Blood is cabin 13...

Bianca di Angelo, a child of Hades, dies in ch. 13 of The Titans Curse...

The book she's introduced in.

[pjo-hoo-kc-toa-mcga-favquotes]

"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kinda strict-" "It's PG-13," Grover said. "Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.

Grover Underwood and Nico (my baby) Di Angelo, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse (Ch. 5, Pg. 59)

[inmydrcams]

I do have thoughts about how bianca spent like 70 looking after nico. she was a 12 year old who felt like she was the only person out there who could look after him and took it upon herself to do just that. for 70 years most of her life was looking after her younger brother. and oh, she knows it's selfish and it makes her a terrible person and she feels awful about it but she needs to walk away cause she's so tired and overwhelmed and she's just 12 and has been 12 for 70 years and it should not be on her to look after another human being

[tsaitsaii]

Chapters: 5/? Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace Characters: Nico di Angelo, Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, Bianca di Angelo, Thalia Grace, Hades (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Bianca will only appear in stories where she's alive, Hades is a Good Parent, Fluff, Light Angst, Bickering, Humor, Dorks in Love, Jasico - Freeform, Ficlet Collection Summary:

A collection of short stories about Jason, Nico, and their adventures with love in different universes.

(Send me prompts please!)

-

New chapter up! “Recovery” (Ch. 5) has a very serious message so if you get triggered easily I suggest not reading the end note.

[coolkidsstayyoung99]

You have to forgive. You have to promise me this.

ch: Bianca di Angelo, Daughter of Hades

pjo chrs: percy / annabeth / grover / thalia / luke / clarisse / nico / rachel / zöe / silena / beckendorf / stoll's

[tagthescullion]

Il Minuetto della Ragazza

Fandom(s): Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Rating: T

Summary: Bianca di Angelo is alive. Alive and upset, confused, desperate… Camp Half Blood lost her little brother, and there’s nothing she wouldn’t do to bring him home safe.

AO3 link

Ch One - Ch Two - Ch Three - Ch Four - Ch Five - Ch Six - Ch Seven - Ch Eight - Ch Nine

Chapter Ten: The Fury

“Fury? As in, she’s furious?”

“As in Hades’ minions, Bianca,” Thalia whispered. Her hand was getting close to her bracelet. 

The old woman –the Fury– turned towards them.

No, not towards them. Towards Bianca. 

“Shit,” Thalia said, getting up brusquely. “Let’s go. Ludi, you have my back, keep Bianca out of sight as much as possible.”

“I can defend myself!” Bianca said.

“Not now,” Thalia snapped. “You do as I say.”

Thalia was about to run straight towards the Fury, who tilted her head as if recognising the daughter of Zeus.

“Wait!” Bianca yelled. She stepped in front of Thalia, who looked murderous. 

“Bianca, Furies don’t fuck around,” she said, gritting her teeth. “Get out of my way, or I’ll–”

“She wants to talk to me,” Bianca blurted out. She wasn’t sure why she knew, but she was certain. 

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“Let her,” Ludovica said. “She’s right. It wants to talk to her.”

Thalia was looking between them as if they’d gone mad. 

“We’ll be a step away if anything happens,” Ludovica reassured their lieutenant. “But it won’t hurt Bianca.”

Bianca stared at the older girl. Why would she defend her? She knew the Hunters tried to stand up for each other, but Ludovica’s statement was as determined as Bianca felt.

She shook her head, she’d ask Ludovica later. Now, she had a Fury to meet.

Bianca walked towards the monster, who leaned into a cane she carried as part of her disguise. 

“You’re not an easy person to find,” the Fury remarked once Bianca reached her. 

It took Bianca a moment to realise the monster wasn’t talking in English. The language sounded familiar to her, Greek perhaps. 

“I was…” She didn’t know how to finish that sentence. “Lost, for a while.”

The Fury nodded. “The Labyrinth is no place for children of the gods. Not even your kin.”

“My kin?”

“Your brothers and sisters have an affinity for underground places, for darkness,” the Fury studied Bianca’s face. “But Daedalus’ maze is off limits. It’s a cursed place.”

Bianca already knew the maze was a nasty, godless place, but she was curious about the first part. 

“You know who my father is,” she said.

The Fury cackled. For a moment, her old lady costume faded and Bianca saw her for what she really was. Her wrinkled hands turned into leathery-skin claws and her eyes became a sickly yellow.

“You know who he is too.”

Bianca wanted to deny it. For once, she truly wanted the last tendrils of ignorance to hold in her brain. 

But the clues were all there: the burning skeleton back in the quest, that feeling of knowing when a person was dying or dead, how comfortable she felt in the dark, and well… the fact that a Fury, a minion of Hades, as Thalia had said, had gone out of her way for a chat. 

“Did my father send you?” She asked the Fury.

The monster smiled. A creepy grin, leaving all her dirty teeth out in the open. 

“He’s… worried, you could say,” the Fury said. “About your brother.”

Bianca felt a cloud of indignation overshadow her curiosity for a moment. Really? Hades, Lord of the Dead, King of the Underworld, had sent his servant to tell Bianca he worried about Nico. After he’d done nothing to keep Nico safe when she’d disappeared? 

Swallowing the bitter taste in her mouth, she asked: “Do you know where he is?”

“I know where he was,” the Fury shrugged. “But that is of no use. You’ll find answers in New York.”

 We know that already, Bianca wanted to say.

“I don’t suppose my father sent any faster means of transportation than a bus, did he?” She tried not to sound angry. 

“Lord Hades leaves lesser tasks such as travelling to lesser gods,” the Fury scoffed. “But if you were to find your way to Chicago on the night of the 21st of April, you might find safe passage to New York.”

Before Bianca could reply that that was the vaguest advice she’d ever received, the Fury let out a hellish high-pitched scream and disappeared in a puff of dark dust.

Bianca pressed her hands into fists so hard out of pure frustration that she feared she’d made her palms bleed.

“What in Hades was that?” She heard Thalia demand.

She coughed once. How fitting that Thalia would ask that.

“She said we’re on the right path, going to New York,” Bianca replied. “And that we should try to get to Chicago.”

Thalia frowned. “Why did a Fury give advice? Only a fool would do what those bitches want.”

Ludovica laid a hand on Thalia’s arm carefully.

“We shouldn’t be too quick to decide,” she said. “Did the Fury explain why it wanted us there?”

“She said there’d be a safe way to New York from there.” Bianca shrugged. 

“I don’t like it,” Thalia insisted. “Hades is interested in us for some reason. Whatever his goals are, I will not be part of it.”

She stomped her foot and stormed off.

Ludovica surprised her by staying at her side.

“You must tell her eventually,” she said. “She’ll find out, it’s better if she hears it from you.”

“But I don’t know what the Fury meant by safe passage,” Bianca said. 

Ludovica tilted her head. “I meant about why Hades sent the Fury to talk to you.”

Bianca paled. Ludovica knew? Is that why she’d been so sure the monster wouldn’t hurt Bianca? 

“How—?”

But before she could ask whether Ludovica had always known, or whether she’d figured it out by lucky-guessing, Phoebe materialised beside them.

Why is Thalia upset?” She asked. She sounded rather defensive.

“This time?” Ludovica asked innocently. 

Phoebe gave her a look.

“We’ve been told to stop in Chicago on our way to New York,” Ludovica said. “She’s afraid it’s a trap.”

“And is it, do you think?” Phoebe asked.

Ludovica shook her head. “I doubt it. It seemed like legitimate advice.”

“Advice by…?”

“That old lady who was lurking by the snack machine,” Ludovica replied vaguely. “She wasn’t an old lady, after all.”

“Right,” Phoebe said. “Was she a goddess? It wasn’t Artemis, she would’ve told us all.”

“It was Apollo,” Ludovica lied. She said it so nonchalantly it surprised Bianca. 

“Apollo?” Phoebe raised an eyebrow. “He usually shows-off.”

“He pretended to be a homeless man in our quest,” Bianca offered. “He… he helped us a bit, but he said he couldn’t do so openly.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “Gods and their ridiculous rules. His sister was captured and he ‘couldn’t help’. You’d imagine Olympus would allow exceptions to save their own.”

Bianca nodded. She understood that exasperation well. 

They sat down to wait. 

Bianca was still uneasy. She wanted to ask Ludovica how she knew Hades was her father, but Phoebe was sitting between them, and she wasn’t ready to tell all of them just yet.

She knew Ludovica was right to say she had to tell Thalia before she found out through other people. She’d never trust Bianca again. But then, how did one tell their leader one’s father was the reason they’d lost almost a decade of their life?

The thought alone made her cringe with anger. Why? Why had he done such an awful thing? Bianca couldn’t remember him well, but she was keenly aware of a feeling of safety she felt when she thought of him. She was sure he’d been around when she and Nico had been little. How could the same entity be responsible for Thalia’s —her cousin’s— unfortunate fate?

There must have been a reason. She combed her mind for the answer, but it was one of the many memories he couldn’t reach. If she even knew at all. For all she could guess, gods had periods of savagery when they attacked relatives at random.

At last, the time to catch the bus arrived. It allowed Bianca’s wandering mind a respite. 

There were few passengers other than them: a mother with a child and an old cranky man who’d given Sasha, one of the older girls, an inappropriate look which prompted Thalia to push him brusquely. 

The good news was Thalia was no longer upset —nasty man aside—. She’d sat down happily, propped her feet on the top of the seat in front of hers, and donned a dark pair of sunglasses —not very useful considering the darkening sky outside—.

She looked asleep, but Bianca thought she might’ve been pretending to have some time to think.

Bianca thought she’d never be able to sleep herself, but her exhaustion beat her restless brain, and she lost consciousness the moment she slumped on her seat.

Immersed in the world of dreams she felt as if she was changing radio frequencies, unsure of where to stay. Images flashed through her mind, and bits of conversation filtered through her brain. 

She felt a pull, as if something or somebody was pushing her sideways, towards a particular scene of the ones flashing in front of her eyes.

She felt her body moving faster, accelerating until the vertigo made her close her eyes.

“Make it stop!”

Her words were lost into her surroundings, but she got her wish.

With an abrupt break, Bianca fell on her knees.

[fondazioneterradotranto]

Nuovo post su http://www.fondazioneterradotranto.it/2018/01/05/la-mandragora-puglia-terra-dotranto/

La Mandragora in Puglia e in Terra d'Otranto

di Gianfranco Mele

  Avvertenza preliminare: la Mandragora autumnalis è una solanacea dagli effetti estremamente pericolosi (vari effetti neurotossici, fino all’arresto cardiaco: si rimanda per info dettagliate su queste caratteristiche alle varie trattazioni sia divulgative che scientifiche di farmacologia e tossicologia,molte delle quali presenti anche in rete). Si sconsiglia perciò vivamente qualsiasi forma di sperimentazione suscitata da curiosità.

  Intorno alla fine degli anni ’80, e successivamente nei primi anni del nuovo millennio, mi imbatto casualmente in due imponenti stazioni di Mandragora autumnalis nel territorio tarantino: da qui, e dalla vista dello spettacolo suggestivo che offrono queste piante, inizio ad interessarmi sia della loro presenza e diffusione in area salentina e tarantina, che delle caratteristiche, leggende, aneddoti e miti legati ad esse.

Questo scritto origina da tali motivazioni e perciò comprende 3 diverse questioni: 1) la diffusione della pianta (e una mappatura in itinere) in Terra d’Otranto e più generalmente in Puglia; 2) una serie di osservazioni su alcune caratteristiche attribuite nella mitologia alla pianta; 3) l’eventuale presenza della mandragora nelle leggende locali e nella tradizione “masciàra” della Puglia.

  Mandragora autumnalis in fiore

  Diffusione in Puglia dall’antichità ai giorni nostri

Conosciuta sin dall’antichità, sia come veicolo di ebrezza che come medicinale, è utilizzata anche nella medicina di Ippocrate. In quanto pianta endemica della Puglia sicuramente era conosciuta e utilizzata anche nella antichità magno-greca.

Ci son pervenuti frammenti di un’opera di un commediografo magno-greco, Alexis di Thurii, intitolata Mandragorizomene (la donna che fa uso della mandragora): i 5 frammenti che ci restano non darebbero modo di conoscerne il soggetto e l’intreccio, e le opinioni degli studiosi appaiono discordanti: si tratterebbe secondo alcuni di fatti amorosi e pertanto la Mandragora sarebbe usata dalla protagonista come afrodisiaco, secondo altri ci sarebbero riferimenti alla magia, per altri la protagonista si serve della Mandragora per simulare la morte, ad accertare la quale viene cercato un medico che parlasse dorico.

E’ nota la presenza e l’influenza del Pitagorismo in Magna Grecia e in Taranto: è proprio Pitagora, fondatore della omonima scuola nella Crotone magno-greca, a definire la mandragora “Antropomorphon”. Pierio Valeriano, pur ritenendo che il suddetto termine fu utilizzato da Pitagora per definire la forma della radice, riporta alcune interpretazioni di non specificati altri autori, secondo i quali “Antropomorphon” implica una attribuzione mistica da parte dei pitagorici alla pianta e in special modo ai suoi pomi somiglianti a testicoli.[1]

Si può supporre che la mandragora abbia avuto un ruolo nell’orfismo e nel pitagorismo, e difatti nelle Argonautiche Orfiche dell’anonimo autore del V secolo d.C., è descritta come una delle piante del giardino di Ecate, signora delle erbe officinali e magiche. Più in generale, le varie esperienze descrittive di vari riti misterici, compresi i misteri Eleusini (le visioni terrifiche e quelle celestiali, esperienze di sdoppiamento corporeo, ecc.),[2] danno da pensare che ciò che suggerisce Pier Luca Pierini a proposito proprio dei misteri di Eleusi non sia da scartare, ovvero la presenza della Mandragora come principale agente delle alterazioni dello stato ordinario di coscienza.[3]

In questa prospettiva, diversi elementi collimerebbero tra loro, come ad esempio la coincidenza del periodo della comparsa della Mandragora autumnalis con le celebrazioni dei Misteri, l’accoppiata vite/vino-mandragora conosciuta fin dall’antichità, e infine la probabilissima veridicità dell’ipotesi che la stregoneria medievale, caratterizzata da unguenti e preparati allucinogeni a base di solanacee, costituisca la diretta filiazione di una antica tradizione magico-religiosa (rituali e saperi compresi).

Ma veniamo ora alla presenza e diffusione della pianta nella flora spontanea pugliese.

Miniatura dal Dioscoride viennese, codice greco prodotto a Costantinopoli attorno al 512. Vi è raffigurato Dioscoride seduto che allunga la mano per afferrare la mandragora antropomorfa che Euresis gli offre. Un cane morto è legato con una corda al piede destro della pianta

  In Puglia sono documentate o testimoniate presenze di Mandragora nella flora spontanea, a partire dalle ricerche degli autori cinquecenteschi.

Scrive Andrea Mattioli:

“Nascono le Mandragole per sé stesse in più luoghi per li monti in Italia, e massime in Puglia e nel monte Gargano, il quale chiamano di Sant’ Angelo, onde ci recano le corteccie delle radici, e i Pomi alcuni Erbolaj, che ogni anno vengono a noi…” [4]

Il Medico e letterato Girolamo Marciano (1571-1628) a sua volta documenta la presenza di Mandragore in Terra d’ Otranto, elencando la “Mandragora maschio” e la “Mandragora femmina” tra le piante spontanee che crescono nella “Provincia”. [5]

L’ umanista settecentesco Cataldantonio Carducci, nella sua traduzione e commentario delle Delizie Tarantine del D’Aquino, riferisce della presenza della Mandragora presso i vigneti del monte tarantino Aulone, e di una contaminazione dei vini:

“…. lmperciocchè attenta la grassezza de’ pascoli di Saturo, di cui era parte Aulone, le pecore vi s’ impinguavano, onde provveniva l’ ottima qualità delle lane: ed attento il buon terreno di Aulone, molto confacente a viti, il vin che producea, era rinomatissimo. Ed in quel tenimento v’ è tuttavia il corrotto vocabolo monte Melone, e la pezza di MeIone, per dove forse si estendevano le viti d’Aulone. E v’è pure una ragion naturale circa la bontà de’ suoi vini: mentra questa nasceva, dacchè ritenea la qualità della mandragora, erba ipnotica, o sia soporifera, di che eran pieni que’ suoi vigneti, e che tuttavia alligna in quel terreno; onde nacque quel greco adagio mandragoram bibisse (Erasm. in adag.) che si appropriava a quegli infingardi o neghittosi, cui piace una vita molle e lascìva. Quindi Orazio non per altro riguardo lo disse amicus, mentre il suo vino gustato ch’cra, spirava della languidezza, e conciliava il sonno. Plutarco nel libro de audiendis Poetis ci attesta, che la mandragora nascendo presso alle viti, infonde la sua Virtù nel Vino, e fa più soavemente dormir coloro, che ‘l bevono. E Vaglia I’ esempio di Annibale, al ‘dir di Giulio Frontino Strateg. 2, il quale spedito da’ Cartaginesi a domar lo spirito ribelle degli Afri, sapendo ch’ essi erano troppo dediti al vino, procurò di mischiarvi in quello quantità di mandragora, la quale operando con la sua virtù, gli rese deboli e sonnacchiosi , di modo ch’ egli ne trionfò. Anzi tanto è più bello quell’epiteto amicus, che Orazio attribuisce ad Aulone, quanto ch’ essendo questo luogo, come si è detto, ferace di mandragore, il nome di questa pianta presso gli orientali serba la nozion di amore, ch’ è Dod [6] […]” [7]

Sempre a proposito della mandragora in Taranto, scrive il Giustiniani, riprendendo in parte le tesi del Carducci:

“In tutta quella regione, e in esso colle ancora, vi si vede finanche inoggi nascere abbondantemente la Mandragora, erba ipnotica e soporifora, di cui Plinio molto parla; e se mai sia vero quel che dice Plutarco che una tal’erba nascendo presso le viti infonde la sua virtù nel Vino, e fa che dormono soavemente tutti coloro, che il bevono: mandragora (mi valgo del Xilandro) iuxta vites nascens , suamque in vinum virn diffundens, efficit ut suavius dormiant, qui id biberurnt, ebbero perciò a farvi una ricca piantagione di viti, dalle quali ne raccoglievano poi vino assai in pregio.” [8]

Nella sua opera La flora salentina, il botanico ottocentesco Martino Marinosci, di Martina Franca, riferisce, a proposito di quella che egli identifica come

“Mandragora officinalis, o officinarum Atropa L.”: “ Vi è una varietà a foglie larghe con fiori, e radice bianca, ed un’ altra presso Lecce con radice fosca, foglie strette ondate, fiori porporini” [9]

Ancora, il botanico inglese Henry Groves nella sua opera “Flora della costa meridionale della Terra d’ Otranto” riporta nel 1887 la presenza di Mandragora autumnalis a Leucaspide (Statte, TA) e Gallipoli.[10]

La Mandragora autumnalis è presente nelle attuali checklist della flora salentina.[11] Benchè sia inserita nelle specie di lista rossa, cioè a rischio di estinzione, sono state individuate, anche molto recentemente, diverse stazioni sia dai botanici che da ricercatori indipendenti e appassionati.[12]

Presenze certe sono state rilevate nei pressi di: Tuturano (BR), Porto Cesareo, Otranto e Porto Badisco (LE), Taranto, S. Marzano di S. Giuseppe (TA)[13].

La Mandragora si comporta da pianta “infestante” e dunque laddove è insediata allo stato spontaneo non si trovano mai individui isolati o numericamente esigui, ma stazioni di numerosi esemplari che occupano fette consistenti di suolo in ciascun sito che le ospita. Da verificare, segnalazioni sulla costa tarantina, nei pressi delle gravine massafresi, di Martina Franca, San Giorgio Jonico, e in altre zone della provincia di Taranto e di Lecce.

  Osservazioni e comparazioni con il mito: odore, luminosità e altro

Osservazioni dirette, ripetute, ci hanno consentito di far caso all’odore dei frutti e ad altri aspetti della pianta come la cosiddetta luminescenza. In una fase intermedia tra quella del frutto verde, acerbo, e la maturazione vera e propria, i frutti emanano un odore particolare, quasi di tipo spermatico. Più il frutto è maturo, più l’odore perde quella caratteristica e si avvicina a quello del marcio. Probabilmente l’associazione della Mandragora con lo sperma, ripetuta in più e diverse leggende, ha a che vedere anche con questa caratteristica del frutto nella sua fase di pre-maturazione: “nasce dallo sperma degli impiccati”, forse perchè ha effettivamente un odore che ricorda e rievoca quello dello sperma. Più in generale la Mandragora è collegata allo sperma anche al di là del tema dell’impiccagione: un nome arabo dei suoi frutti è anche “testicoli del diavolo”, e un appellativo turco, sempre dei frutti, “testicoli di cane”.

Nel mondo arabo è diffuso anche il nome “uova del genio” laddove il termine “uova” deve essere inteso come eufemismo di “testicoli”.

Vedremo in seguito, invece, perchè probabilmente è stabilita una relazione anche con i morti e con le loro anime dannate.[14]

A proposito del mito della luminosità della Mandragora, non abbiamo notato luminescenze o fosforescenze di sorta nei frutti, in nessuna fase della fruttificazione, nonostante osservazioni ripetute. Bouquet nota, a suo dire, una sorta di luminescenza, ma la attribuisce al fenomeno della fosforescenza, tipico di diversi organismi, e tuttavia percepibile, secondo il ricercatore, a occhio nudo anche a distanza di 2 mt. dalla pianta[15]: non abbiamo notato nulla di ciò. Occorre aggiungere che la cosiddetta luminescenza non è univocamente attribuita ai frutti: Le Quellec riporta, a proposito del nome arabo “Lampada del demone” :

“Ibn el Baitar riporta che secondo el-Edrisi “la parte interna della corteccia dello stelo brilla nella notte […] al punto che si potrebbe pensare in fiamme.” [16]

La cosiddetta luminosità è attribuita in questo caso alla brillantezza della corteccia dello stelo e non del frutto: e difatti alla luce della luna piena o di una torcia questo “risalto” di quella parte della pianta, ci risulta.

Altre leggende e interpretazioni investono l’intera pianta di un potere “luminoso” o “ardente”: alcuni antichi erbari affermano che “la pianta brilla nella notte come una lampada”, secondo alcune leggende “la pianta irradia fuoco”, “assomiglia al fuoco”, “è calda”, ma “fuoco e “calore” sono riferiti anche alla potenza del veleno della pianta e ai suoi effetti. Il “calore” è collegato da altri alla canicola estiva (periodo di raccolta della varietà officinarum). [17]

In Garfagnana (prov. di Lucca) son state raccolte delle testimonianze da nativi che affermano che “dove c’è la mandragola c’è il fenomeno del gas, del lumicino” [18] e anche qui il fenomeno pare attribuito alla pianta a prescindere dai frutti: “finchè la mandragola non è grande non fa il lumicino” [19], e “se vive cento anni fa cento anni di lumicino” [20].

Illustrazione dall’opera di Pierre Boaistuau, Histoires prodigieuses,1560: frontespizio del capitolo XXII. Vi è raffigurata la classica scena del cane legato alla mandragora, che è raffigurata però come una pianta fiammeggiante

  Probabilmente nei vari miti sulla luminosità della pianta si intrecciano caratteristiche e percezioni differenti: una osservatrice che scrive per una rivista divulgativa sulle piante, riporta in un articolo la sua personale esperienza osservativa:  “in autunno, si forma un denso ciuffo di fiori imbutiformi a cinque lobi di un azzurro violetto intenso e luminoso”.[21] Questa percezione di una sorta di luminosità del fiore è comune a molti osservatori, e io stesso fui colpito, sin dalla prima volta che vidi un gruppo di piante, da una sorta di risalto vesperale del fiore, che ho ri-percepito a distanza di anni. D’altro canto, l’accostamento ad una lampada potrebbe provenire anche dalla forma suggestiva che assumono frutto e calice nell’insieme, come si può notare in una delle foto qui riportate.

Frutto di mandragora con il suo calice

  La comparsa della Mandragora autumnalis in Salento avviene immancabilmente verso metà-fine di agosto, subito dopo le prime piogge, e spesso quasi in concomitanza appaiono i primi fiori. La fruttificazione inizia verso la metà di ottobre.

I miti della pioggia legati a questa pianta, detta in alcune regioni italiane “l’erba che chiama l’acqua” se sfalciata,[22] hanno una ovvia correlazione con il suo riaffacciarsi dopo i primi temporali estivi e con il loro irrobustirsi alle piogge successive[23] .

Un’altra cosa che abbiamo potuto osservare è la presenza di chiocciole sulla pianta: ne sono molto attirate e ne divorano le foglie. Questa osservazione coincide con quanto riportato da altri studi.[24]

Secondo alcuni studiosi “gli uccelli e gli animali dei campi trovano che la carne succosa della Mandragora è irresistibile” [25]: questa appetibilità sarebbe, tra l’altro, tipica delle gazze, corvi e altri volatili che si ciberebbero dei frutti. In effetti, in una zona popolata da mandragore e da corvi non siamo riusciti a ritrovare presenza di frutti nelle piante dopo la fioritura, proprio perchè probabilmente i corvi li consumavano poco dopo la loro comparsa sulle piante.

Cantareus apertus su foglie di Mandragora

  La leggenda dell’ “urlo” della pianta potrebbe avere origine dal “rumore” che fanno le radici, specie in grossi esemplari, a contatto con la terra e a seguito di una brusca estrazione, laddove il terreno è soffice o è stato “preparato” a poter estrarre la radice intera.[26] abbiamo potuto notare l’identico fenomeno, casualmente, estraendo bruscamente, d’un colpo, un esemplare di Daucus carota (lo sfregamento della radice contro il terreno aveva provocato un rumore, per la verità appena percettibile, ma acutissimo): un informatore siciliano ci riporta, a proposito della Mandragora:

“ho sentito uno pseudo-urlo (del quale posso fornire anche la registrazione), che somiglia molto al rumore del cuoio se strofinato, e altro non è che lo stridere delle radici appena la pianta si tira fuori dal terreno.”

  La Mandragora nella stregoneria salentina

In uno scritto di prossima pubblicazione parlo dettagliatamente della presenza di Solanacee psicoattive nell’esperienza della stregoneria salentina; in questa sede riporterò alcuni passaggi significativi rapportabili al possibile utilizzo specifico della Mandragora.

Solanacee tropaniche di vario genere paiono inequivocabilmente presenti nella composizione di unguenti, polveri e bevande afrodisiache e affatturanti. In un testo del Chiaia si legge di una misteriosa “Erba del trasporto” utilizzata da un masciàro pugliese[27] che potrebbe essere la Mandragora stessa o altra solanacea dagli effetti analoghi, mentre nei resoconti forniti al tribunale del santo Officio della diocesi di Oria tra ‘600 e ‘700, si leggono esperienze significative, benchè, ovviamente, mediate dalla penna dell’ inquisitore.

Non sappiamo quali Solanacee in particolare rientrassero nelle varie composizioni (probabilmente tutte quelle di tipo tropanico disponibili e reperibili, vista l’interscambiabilità a livello di proprietà), ma alcuni passi ci suggeriscono la possibile presenza della Mandragora. Li analizziamo nell’articolo al seguente link:

http://www.academia.edu/35567465/Il_possibile_ruolo_della_mandragora_nella_stregoneria_salentina

  Laùri e Mandragore

Il Laùro salentino è un demone prettamente autunnale: le sue apparizioni sono frequenti nelle credenze popolari del Salento e della Puglia e il suo habitat sono le antiche case dei contadini, ma anche i frantoi oleari.[28] E’ spirito domestico, descritto come una sorta di omuncolo nero, o marrone, comunque scuro, con o senza cappello frigio (che a volte è rosso, a volte è nero) o a sonagli.[29] Può avere aspetto umano, aspetto di gatto, di bambino demoniaco, di giullare. Spirito benevolo, ma anche terrifico a seconda delle circostanze e delle simpatie/antipatie o dei meriti e demeriti dell’ospite.

E’ il Lare (spirito degli antenati), ma anche la Larva dei romani (spirito di morti che non hanno ricevuto sacramenti o di morti dannati), è Genius, Incubus, Pan, ha caratteristiche ed aspetto che possono farlo identificare con Ailuros (divinità-gatto) ma anche con Alraune (spirito della mandragora). In questa figura sincretica o forse archetipica del folletto salentino sono riassunti e si sovrappongono i connotati caratteriali e gli aspetti di tutti questi esseri mitologici. E’ il Lare domestico della commedia Aulularia (pentola d’oro) di Plauto, che custodisce il tesoro degli avi della casa.

Il Laùro custodisce tesori e pentole, protegge la casa, può regalare ricchezze (ma anche pentole rotte, per burla), può spaventare. Come l’ Incubus degli antichi romani si poggia sul ventre e toglie il respiro, terrorizza e insegue come Pan, Fauno (divinità della natura, della campagna, dei boschi).

Come gli Incubi romani, può trasmettere sogni cattivi e terrifici o anche cercare di imporre alle donne rapporti sessuali. Emissario degli inferi, può apparire in forma di gatto come alcune divinità egiziane note in mitologia greca con il nome di Ailuros (Ailouros in greco antico significa gatto). Nel nostro folklore è identificato anche come lo spirito di un morto di morte violenta o di un morto bambino non battezzato, come la Larva romana, e come le Larve può perseguitare e terrorizzare.

Nella tradizione germanica Alraune è lo spirito della Mandragora, che terrorizza, fa trovare tesori, ha forma antropomorfa. Ma nella mitologia germanica esiste anche il Kobold, spirito familiare come quello degli antichi romani, più anticamente spirito di una pianta o di un albero. Nel Medioevo in Germania si usava scolpire figure di Coboldi plasmandoli con il legno di un albero, il Buxus sempervirens, o con cera, ma anche con la radice della Mandragora o di altra pianta spacciata per tale. Si pensava che lo spirito del Coboldo vivesse nel materiale utilizzato per la figura. Kobold ha un etimo comune a Kobaloi, spiriti della mitologia greca, piccoli, dotati di un grande fallo, e compagni di Dioniso.

Se mai dovesse essere ricercata una discendenza del mitico folletto salentino da una pianta [30] e dai suoi effetti, la pianta “candidata” a numerosi e sorprendenti elementi in comune con il Laùro è proprio la Mandragora (entrambi sono legati al mondo onirico, spaventano e terrorizzano, ma proteggono anche, possono donare ricchezze e tesori, hanno forma antropomorfa, godono di una interscambiabilità, son considerati spiriti, son paragonati e/o definiti come morti di morte violenta o dannati, e come morti bambini non battezzati). Infine, il Laùro e l’ Homunculus alchemico derivato dalla magica animazione della Mandragora sono fondamentalmente la stessa cosa. “Mandragora maschio” e “Mandragora femmina” in una antica stampa

“Mandragora maschio” e “Mandragora femmina” in una antica stampa

  Note

[1]Giovanni Pierio Valeriano, I ieroglifici ouero Commentarii delle occulte significationi de gl’Egitti, Combi, Venezia, 1625, pag. 761

[2]v. Attilio Quattrocchi, I Misteri Eleusini, Accademia Platonica Centro Studi Filosofici http://www.accademiaplatonica.com/i-misteri-eleusini/

[3]Pier Luca Pierini, La Magica Mandragora, Rebis Ed., Viareggio, 1999, pp. 23-33

[4]Pietro Andrea Mattioli, Discorsi, pag. 604, cap. 78, 1544

[5]Girolamo Marciano, Descrizione, origine e successi della provincia di Otranto pag. 190, Napoli, Stamperia dell’ Iride, 1855 (riedizione a stampa dell’antico manoscritto redatto dal Marciano a cavallo tra ‘500 e ‘600)

[6]a proposito del termine “dod” qui citata dal Carducci come sinonimo di mandragora e di “amore”, si veda G. Toro, La radice di Dio e delle Streghe, pag. 18

[7]Cataldantonio Atenisio Carducci, Le delizie tarantine di Tommaso d’ Aquino, Volume 2°, Annotazioni, Napoli, 1772, Stamperia Raimondiana, pag. 269.

[8]Lorenzo Giustiniani, Dizionario geografico-ragionato del regno di Napoli, Manfredi, 1883, pag. 51

[9]Martino Marinosci, Flora Salentina, vol. II, Tip. Ed. Salentina, Lecce, 1870, pag. 91

[10]Henry Groves, Flora della costa meridionale della terra d’ Otranto, Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano, vol. XIX, n. 2, aprile 1887, pag. 174

[11] C. Mele, P. Medagli, R. Accogli, L. Beccarisi, A. Albano & S. Marchiori Flora of Salento (Apulia, Southeastern Italy): an annotated checklist Flora Mediterranea 16, Raimondo Ed., , pag. 219

[12] In un suo recente scritto Samorini riporta di “testimonianze di alcuni conoscenti pugliesi e siciliani i quali mi hanno comunicato che, quando incontrano delle piante di mandragore, ne consumano impunemente i frutti maturi”, ripetendo per ben due volte nel testo questo “dato” con la medesima espressione e mettendo in guardia qua e là nell’articolo rispetto alla sconvenienza di questo atteggiamento (G. Samorini, Odori sensuali: il profumo del frutto di Mandragora, in Erboristeria Domani, mar/apr 2017, 401, CEC Editore, pp. 72-79). Non ci risulta un trend di consumi di frutti di Mandragore in Puglia, e tantomeno di comportamenti d’abuso, anche in considerazione del fatto che si tratta di una pianta difficile da scovare e poco diffusa, benchè affatto presente soltanto in area tarantina come afferma l’ autore suddetto (difatti abbiamo registrato la presenza di poche ma significative stazioni sparse in tutta la Terra d’ Otranto). Ciò che risulta più significativo nella esperienza pugliese è in realtà il fatto che si è creata una rete comunicativa spontanea e di scambio di informazioni composta da ricercatori delle tradizioni, botanici, ecologisti e naturalisti, escursionisti, con al centro delle attenzioni non soltanto la Mandragora o le piante psicoattive, ma tutta la flora spontanea del territorio, i suoi utilizzi nella tradizione, nella alimentazione, nella medicina popolare. Obiettivi condivisi sono lo studio, e lo scambio di informazioni, l’individuazione e la classificazione delle specie presenti nel territorio, la preservazione della flora spontanea, specie quella a rischio di estinzione, e, quando possibile, il suo ripopolamento. A questo proposito, intendo ringraziare Oreste Caroppo, Giuseppe Mascia, Marcello Morelli , il Prof. Piero Medagli con i loro preziosi contributi, e quanti altri hanno preso parte attiva a ricerche, discussioni, scambi di informazioni, escursioni .

[13] Nota curiosa, le Mandragore osservate in S. Marzano in periodo autunnale, non presentavano fioritura né fruttificazione e avevano una conformazione fogliare sensibilmente diversa rispetto alle altre. Questi aspetti han fatto pensare ad un esempio di polimorfismo, ma sarebbe da approfondire quanto riferito in passato dal Marciano e da Marinosci: entrambi identificano 2 specie differenti di Mandragore in Terra d’ Otranto. La “Mandragora maschio” e la “Mandragora femmina” di cui parla il Marciano corrisponderebbero in realtà, rispettivamente, alla attuale distinzione tra Mandragora officinarum e Mandragora autumnalis. Lo stesso Marinosci, come si è riportato di sopra, riferisce di due differenti varietà.

[14]Cfr. Jean Loic De Quellec, La Mandragore: Plantes, sociétés, savoirs, symboles. Matériaux pour une ethnobotanique européenne. Actes du séminaire d’ethnobotanique de Salagon, vol. 3, 2003-2004 : « Les cahiers de Salagon » 11, Musée-conservatoire de Salagon et Les Alpes de lumière, Mane, 2006, pp. 91-92

[15]J. Bouquet, La Mandragore en Afrique du Nord, Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de Tunisie, vol. 5, pp. 29-44, 1952

[16]Jean Loic Le Quellec, op. Cit., pag. 88

[17]an Loic Le Quellec, op. Cit., pp. 88-90

[18] Alberto Borghini, Varia Historia – Narrazione, territorio, paesaggio: il folklore come mitologia, Aracne editrice SRL, 2005, pag. 118

[19]Ibid.

[20]Ibid.

[21]Flavia Angotti Mandragora autumnalis, in Giardini & Ambiente, https://www.giardini.biz/piante/erbacee/flavia-angotti/

[22]Cfr. Tiziano Mannoni, Diego Moreno, Maurizio Rossi, APM- Archeologia Postmedievale, 10, 2006 – Pietra scrittura e figura in età postmedievale nelle Alpi e nelle regioni circostanti, All’Insegna del Giglio, 2007, pp. 186-190

[23]Analogo mito si origina rispetto asd un’altra solanacea magica, lo Stramonio, cfr. Vittorio Lanternari, Religione, magia e droga. studi antropologici, Manni Ed., 2006, pag. 171 .

[24]Cfr. Gianluca Toro, La Radice di Dio e delle streghe, Yume Ed., 2014, pag. 75

[25]Alexander Fleisher, Zhenia Fleisher, The fragrance of Biblical Mandrake, Economic Botany, 48 (3): 243-251

[26]Questo fenomeno è stato già decritto da Bouquet ma egli lo attribuisce ad un rumore secco causato dalla radice che si spezza allorquando è estratta in modo non corretto (J. Bouquet, La Mandragore en Afrique du Nord, Bulletin de la Societè des Sciences Naturelles en Tunisie, Vol. 5, pp. 29-44, 1952) ). Al contrario, nella nostra esperienza lo stridio proviene proprio dalla estrazione brusca ma corretta della radice, cavata dal suolo per intero, ed è causato come già detto dallo sfregamento della radice stessa con la terra. Giusta, invece, la successiva osservazione di Bouquet secondo il quale il silenzio e l’atmosfera della notte, in cui avveniva l’estrazione, avrebbero amplificato in modo suggestivo ciò che veniva udito.

[27]Luigi Chiaia, Pregiudizi Pugliesi, in: Rassegna pugliese di scienze, lettere, arti, Trani, 1887-88, Ried. a cura di Arnaldo Forni Editore, 1983, pp. 75-76

[28]Cfr. Gianfranco Mele, Lu Laùru, il nostro demone in La Voce di Manduria, giovedi 2 nov. 2017;

[29]Il “cappuccio dei pazzi”, il berretto a sonagli tipico di folli e giullari, potrebbe rappresentare la stilizzazione di una pianta di mandragora con i suoi frutti.

[30]In un articolo inserito in un sito web salentino denominato “Il Tacco d’ Italia”, dal titolo “Il folletto dell’ Italia meridionale e la papagna”, il Laùro viene riportato forzatamente, attraverso una serie di associazioni e costruzioni fantasiose e improbabili, nonché attraverso una serie di errori descrittivi e interpretativi, nonché etimologici, al Papaver somniferum (cfr. a questo proposito Armando Polito, Il Laùru, ovvero diaboliche etimologie, in Fondazione Terra d’ Otranto, sito web omonimo 10 dic. 2013 http://www.fondazioneterradotranto.it/2013/12/10/il-lauru-ovvero-diaboliche-etimologie/ )