#pre delphi stuff

[jnephrite]

days after morgan drew confessed to kon el that she sees herself having the full domestic future with him, she was taken from him.

haha skill issue tbh

[tsartistry]

Screw it, who wants some Niobe Fic spoilers?

This is mostly backstory stuff. Ideally it will come up in-story as a dramatic reveal somewhere, but maybe talking through it in-depth will help me sort it out in my head.

So!

Let's start at the beginning.

The mastermind behind the plot to kidnap and brainwash Lester is the titan Astraea. She is a goddess of innocence and purity, and has watched with great sadness as humanity has plunged into corruption over the millennia.

She blames Zeus for this. Humanity had flourished during the golden age of Kronos' rule, and she had been devastated when the Olympians prevailed during the Second Titanomachy. She wants Olympus to fall, and to bring humanity back to the Golden Age when humanity was more pure and innocent: No strife or conflict -- but also no higher knowledge or technology. She wants to send humanity back to a pre-Paleolithic lifestyle.

Astraea was watching from the stars as both the Second Titanomachy and the Second Gigantomachy both failed. If Olympus were to ever fall, it wouldn't be to any outside force. But if she can manipulate them to turn on each other, they could easily destroy themselves.

What's that got to do with Lester?

Astraea needs to show the other gods that Zeus can no longer maintain control. By turning Apollo mortal, he's inadvertently given her a perfect opportunity to strike.

Astraea arranged for Lester to be captured right after defeating Nero, but before he could reach Delphi. Her plan is to delay that final battle, allowing Python to grow far more powerful and become a true threat to the Olympians. Apollo is the one destined to defeat the serpent, but as long as he is her captive, he cannot do so. As far as the Olympians will know, Apollo has simply vanished without a trace. Soon enough they'll realize that Zeus' decision to punish Apollo has ruined their one chance at defeating Python before his rise to power, and they will turn on their king. Between battling the serpent and fighting with each other, Olympus will fall.

What is Astraea's endgame here?

Her plan doesn't end with the fall of Olympus. She plans to allow Python to rampage for quite some time, causing an apocalypse and set humanity back thousands of years. Once the mortals are sufficiently culled, she will bestow Lester with enough power to defeat Python, and have him finally slay the serpent.

Lester/Apollo will rise victorious and Astraea will enthrone him as the new King of the Gods, one who will rule a new golden age like Kronos did thousands of years ago.

What about Niobe?

For this plan to work, it's not enough for Lester to have his memories erased. He needs to be sheltered from any outside influence, and he needs to remain off the Olympians' radar.

Astraea offers Niobe the ultimate revenge against Leto by stealing Apollo as her own son. Niobe eagerly accepts this, and is willing to raise him to Astraea's standards to ensure he'll have the right mindset when it's time for him to finally ascend. As a reward, Niobe herself will also ascend as a goddess of motherhood when Lester does.

To make Lester undetectable, Astraea does not simply remove memories, she actually cuts away pieces of Lester's soul and hides them away so Apollo's divine essence cannot be detected. This leaves him not just empty but incomplete, and easier to mold.

It's a perfect, foolproof plan!

And she would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling Egyptians!

[decepti-thots]

🔥 Rodimus

Rodimus does not violently hate Getaway before the mutiny. This is a really pervasive bit of fanon that Drives Me Nuts. There are early indications that Getaway is looking to wind him up before all that explodes, yes, and I think 'Rodimus would get a bit irritated at Getaway because of those' is a completely valid interpretation. (Calling him Hot Rod, stuff like that.) But the idea that Rodimus always and immediately openly loathed Getaway is not… true. Rodimus hates Getaway for a reason. The reason is. The mutiny. It's a similar thing to how people take the post-Delphi Pharma-Ratchet dynamic and project it backwards through canon so it was always like that; sometimes character dynamics change dramatically over the course of a story! And sometimes, if you want to write a story before a certain point in canon, you therefore lose access to certain later parts of that dynamic. You can't really persuasively write a pre-mutiny fic or headcanon where Rodimus has even a tenth of the absolute bloody-minded anger he holds towards Getaway post-mutiny. Personal dislike? Sure, that's supportable. But not that same 'I'm gonna fucking Literally Kill Him' anger.

[smoked-salmon-official]

victory au timeline

Note: skips out all unnecessary stuff to the story.

Pre-war

-Megatron is born as D-16

-Soundwave is born and some time later, taken in by his future cassettes

-Starscream meets Thundercracker and Skywarp

-Megatron leaves the mines and attempts to build a name for himself in the gladiatorial pits

-Megatron meets Soundwave

-The Decepticon movement begins

-Starscream goes to Kaon and meets Megatron

-Shockwave goes to Kaon

-Shockwave appeals to Megatron and joins the Decepticons 

-Megatron meets Orion Pax

-vaguely planned senate stuff and then divorce arc

War

-Soundblaster is born (Kaon) as Megatron tries to develop an army of disposable soldiers

-Rodimus is born (Nyon)

-Bumblebee (last spark of Cybertron) is born (Rivets Field), leading to a realization of how bad the war has gotten

-Soundblaster runs away

-Back and forth with Bumblebee attempting to use him as a political pawn (sound familiar?)

-some time later, race to find the Allspark

-Battle for the Allspark at Polyhex, Victory is born

-Back and forth with Victory attempting to use them as a political pawn

-Victory steals a ship and runs away

-Victory wanders through space, meets Scourge & Lockdown & Soundblaster (stays with SB the longest)

-The Ark and the Nemesis leave a dying/dead Cybertron, but a quantum jump error blows up both their ships and leaves the stasis pods to crash on Cybertron

-More wanderings alone through space

-Victory meets Tarn and the DJD

-Start of Vos/Victory romance

-Tarn meets Pharma, starts their messatine/delphi deal

-Victory grows up w the DJD, learns to fight, goes with them on some high profile missions (like Overlord)

-Tarmac is born (Messatine/Delphi)

Earth era

-On earth, the decepticons and autobots awaken from stasis and resume their war

-Victory's sources inform them that their parents are on earth (everyone they hate perfectly in one place) and they and the djd head over

-the autobots and decepticons quickly come to meet victory and know of them and their team's brutality and an alliance is formed

-there is a whole show's worth of back and forth and shenanigans, some funny, some decidedly less so

-everything culminates in a final battle in which tarn dies

One ending diverges from here: victory is killed in the crossfires of battle, and their ghost follows megatron, who goes aboard the lost light and optimus, who leaves by himself after giving the matrix to rodimus

-the war ends through autobot and decepticon collaboration, the ark and the nemesis are repaired and cobbled together into one working ship - the arch nemesis. see what i did there?

-victory and the djd are stuck in the ship's brig

-a trial is planned by military tribunal aboard the ship itself so that business will be sorted out by the time they arrive on Cybertron

-high command and megatron wants a very harsh punishment while optimus is much more lenient. he visits victory to offer them a second chance that he will use his influence to grant them

-One ending diverges from here: If Victory accepts his offer, they bide their time and manipulate Optimus to get him to trust them, before breaking the DJD out of prison, killing Megatron, and leaving

-A second ending diverges from here: If Optimus and Megatron give in to high command and have the DJD executed, Victory will never forgive them, ever, escapes prison, steals a ship, and plots their revenge.

-the tribunal decides on more or less life time imprisonment

On Cybertron

-after all the formalities are over, the treaties are signed, victory and the djd are locked up where no one will find them. optimus realizes that he has no place in a post war world and has no idea who he is without the war

-megatron, in a fit of rage for everything the decepticons have become, orders the peaceful tyranny smelted/torn apart for scrap metal along with all of vicky and the djd's things aboard

-optimus gives the matrix to rodimus so he can be the next matrix bearer and when the matrix deems him ready, the next prime. however, something happens to the matrix and it cracks open to reveal the map to the knights of cybertron.

-rodimus, who is feeling so much uncertainty over victory (sibling figure)'s actions and the war and everything, decides that he is going to leave and go on an adventure to find the knights instead. he assembles anyone who wants to leave and have a new life out in space. the crew is more or less og idw mtmte crew

-bumblebee is appointed by optimus to stay here on cybertron and get everything in order, RID idw style

-meanwhile, optimus leaves, content with having his things sorted out, and ready to have a new life

-megatron most likely stays on cybertron

-bumblebee has to deal with annoying people like prowl and starscream but none of them have genuinely malicious intentions, its just a lot of bonding, paperwork, and eventually... starbee?? anyways they do still meet the bots from caminus, bee and windblade become amicas eventually

-rodimus meets thunderclash in space and has a romance w him too (eventually). the lost light still meets their fair share of problems (non-djd), such as tyrest and his kill switch, but there is a fair amount of fun too

-but victory and their team will not be contained. unsurprisingly, they bust their way out of prison

Post-prison break

-in AUs where victory finds themself without the djd, this is when they meet @voids-call's OC stinger (non-canon)

-victory steals a ship, names it the Peaceful Tyranny II

-they get a full reformat to look like tarn, mask and all

Two ending and 2 AUs diverge from this point: The events of the DJD ending will be recounted below, since it is the primary ending I make content for. In the good ending, Victory goes to Earth, has some adventures, and reconciles with their family.

In the Earthspark AU they arrive on Earth in time for Earthspark and this follows the events of the actual show extremely close. This is when Victory meets @too-many-hyperfixations's OC sonarsong (non-canon).

In the DJD Earthspark AU, canon is still closely followed, except for the fact that Victory comes in with the DJD guns blazing ready to get their revenge and try a second time, as well as to lead the decepticons.

-In the good ending and ES AUs, megatron and optimus are on earth. otherwise, optimus is wandering around alone and megatron is on cybertron.

-at this point, pharma has realized that tarn is most likely dead and never returning (news travels fast!) and he just straight up packs it up and leaves, abandoning tarmac and the rest of delphi

-tarmac leaves as well, through accident or by choice, and wanders through space scared alone until meeting soundblaster

-tarmac learns about tarn and his death and asks soundblaster to take her to victory

-victory goes aboard the lost light with the djd, fucks shit up a bit, and kidnaps/steals @mistermalaprop's oc vagabond. (non-canon)

-soundblaster sort of just dumps her there...

-victory wants tarmac to be strong like tarn, like megatron, like themself, but they are a murderer who leads a bunch of other murderers and tarmac is an innocent, sheltered little kid..

-she can't exactly leave, either, can she...?

-end of currently planned events

-as of yet undetermined chronologically OC interactions: meeting @tilly-tittle's OC Scapegoat, meeting @thegrinningghost's OCs

thank you for reading

[bnsni]

HELLO HELLO!! I hear you wanted some pharma or prowl. I have brought to you a request about pharma. Pharma with a reader whos studying to be a doctor/nurse? Maybe Pharma can tell the reader whats it like to be a cybertronian medic while reader can tell Pharma what they've been learning! Thank you btw, love your writings!!!

STUDY PARTNER

author’s note : thank you!! your words mean so much to me <3 I hope you don’t mind me adding a bit to that ask ! I had a lot of fun writing this and I’m not very versed in cybertronian biology so I tried (made up stuff that seems plausible but really just made up stuff)

summary : pharma’s darling pet is learning to be a medic and he’s appalled.short little fic.

warnings : none. fluff + playful banter. pre-delphi-tarn Pharma.

He almost pierced himself with the scalpel when he heard you over the comms, babbling about studying to be a medic and what gives.

A human medic, learning about Cybertronian biology? He couldn’t focus. Whatever you’re ranting about goes through one processor then the other. He’s more baffled that you’re already at your fourth year.

Primus, how’d this get out of hand?

Now, he’s forty feet off the ground, zooming towards your living space. Never mind the cold expanse of Messatine, this problem needed to be dealt with and quick. He approaches the organic area.

The suburban house comes into view and he catches sight of your open window; the dim glow of the yellow lights spooled out amidst the night. He’ll have to remind you to be more careful with security. But that can wait.

In the process of trying to fly into your window, really he’ll just destroy the damn wall to get in, the top of his wings were caught in the fully drawn blinds by a mere inch, and he scrambled, landing face-first into the cold floorboard of your room.

Not the safe landing he’d prefer to be honest. A shadow casts over him, he groans, and raises his helm to see your bare feet, trail it up to your shorts, your loose shirt then the deadpan of your face with a quirked brow. You’re clutching a myriad of books, papers sticking out, and your hair is a mess. You’re studying for the upcoming exams, no doubt.

“You know, there’s this thing.” You began, stepping over the large jet to head towards your desk, pulling the chair back and plopping your self on it. “It’s ahh, made of mahogany wood, six feet inches tall, with this thing called a metal knob — theres a door, Pharma.”

He stands up, dusting himself off. “I had to take drastic measures. And I will not lose another minute trying to get through your door. You never told me you were studying to be a medic, much less the year you were in. Did you realize how much remorse you’ve put me through?”

You look over your shoulder, brow quirked, “I told you five times max. Even the week before your conference. What did you think I was doing this whole time you were at work? For four years, Pharma. Were you even listening?”

He huffs defensively, wings drawn up, haughty. “I was….busy,”

“Then that’s your loss.”

“You could’ve at least chosen Delphi as your transfer why Teran?” He says, almost offended at the prospect. That’s because he is. Why choose some old, decrepit hospital when you can work in the best of the best? He’ll have to pull some strings to get you to the top and close to him.

You throw him a look. “Because I want to?”

“You can’t simply decide things on a whim, dear. Impulse seems to be your greatest friend, somehow. Listen to me when I say there’s plenty of vile cybertronians there. Even worse, you’re a female, human, medic. At some point, they’ll take advantage of your squishy form and—“

“Pharma, it’s an organic friendly hospital.” You sigh. “It’s not like the discrimination in Delphi is any better. Look, if you’re here to bother me, the window is always open. I have an exam tomorrow and I’m not wasting time trying to one up you.”

That shuts him up and you turn back to your studies, crinkling your face at the paper. If you were a lot let haggard he’d chastise your indecency towards him. But instead, he saunters close to your desk, eyeing the schedule taped on your wall, the cluttered books on the table, pens, markers, spooling about.

He halts behind your chair, narrowing his eyes, craning over your shoulder, digits impatiently tapping the metal that is his arm. You try to ignore it and focus yourself with sorting out your study cards. Circuit modules, know that. Gestation tank, yup—

Tink, tink, tink. Your eyes twitch. Oh, this bastard. As you were about to chew him off, he jabs a digit at your table and you look. It’s your past paper.

“That is incorrect,’’ He mumbles, “That too. This one is Nodulic System Array. This one is the letter B. And that—“ He swipes it off your desk to get a better look. “—Is also incorrect.”

You tilt your head, furrowed your brows and thought for a while. “It’s not coolant? Don’t you guys have engines needed to be cooled down by coolant like cars do?”

“That’s true….sometimes….” He trails off. “Coolant is used in the situation where a major component is damage. In that case, cooling fans. That is the main component and an per your question, overheating leads to several repercussions—“

“Wait, wait wait—“ You lean over your desk and scribble some more notes on the pad.

Seriously? He’s lecturing and you’re not even listening?

“Write the notes later, dear. Listen first.” He tsks, impatient.

“No I can’t, I’ll forget them. Here, just sit down.” You motion to the chair without much of a look to him.

He feels his face plate burn for a moment. The nerve. This human had the nerve to regard him with such a careless notion and yet he doesn’t mind. He looks at you, wings twitching, then away, then back. It’s not like he has anything else to do. With a sigh he pulls up another chair by your side.

“Perhaps I could spare some time for my darling pet.”

BONUS

“What is this?”

“What is what?”

“This!” He held up a notepad, and you look away without much of an expression when you see the scribbles of a miniature pharma with an ‘x’ for both eyes, the rough strokes as blood.

“You were being an ass.”

[ycsterdays]

zaria simone, twenty-five, she/her   ⟡   —   is that ANISA FRANKLIN i just saw walking around kilmer’s cove? i heard they’re a RESIDENT who’s been here for SIX YEARS. it slipped my mind, since they just tend to hang out at DELPHI'S  DELIGHT  SPIRITUALITY  SHOP. at face value, they’re said to be ASSERTIVE and BOLD, but i don’t know… some people have said they can be quite VAIN and SELFISH. just don’t get on their bad side, i guess! don’t tell them i told you this, but i’ve heard they DO NOT believe in all the ghost stories around town. who knows what the future holds for them!

STATS

full name: anisa helene franklin   nicknames: ani, nisa hometown: new york, ny   sexuality: lesbian   birthday: december 30   zodiac: capricorn sun, gemini moon, virgo rising  height: 5’3”  marital status: single children: none   traits: assertive, bold, confident, vain, selfish, judgmental 

BACKGROUND tw terminal illness, parental death

born to a wealthy and creative family in new york city, anisa was bound to be Great (ask anyone)

she is the youngest of three and the only girl and was VERY spoiled <3

her mom brought her to auditions starting very young and she quickly become a pretty popular young actress, played a lot of creepy children in horror films and was a main character in a musical tv show on disney in her early teens

she loved it and was very determined to do well and continue on this path

until she turned 18 and right around that same time, her dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; it wasn't long until he was in hospice care and shortly after the diagnosis, he passed

anisa's dad was her biggest cheerleader and they were very close and the loss hit her HARD

she quit the project she was working on (an a24 film sure to catapult her to a different kind of fame and career) and spiraled

at the bottom of the spiral, she decided she wanted to give up her life of fame and shipped off to somewhere she considered remote (kilmer)

hardly anyone from her life pre-kilmer knows where she is, just her family and a friend or two, and she likes it that way

she works at delphi's because she needs something to do, she doesn't believe in any of the spiritual stuff and is probably very condescending and annoying whilst working the register

PERSONALITY

Mean Lesbian trope

very type a, hates anything to be out of place, hates when things don't go exactly as she planned

very hard on herself but even harder on everyone else

is hard to get close to, prefers to keep most of her friendships and relationships superficial bc she is afraid to get close to anyone bc that means she could lose them and then she would spiral again

emotionally unavailable (hot)

reads a lot, always has a book at the register when she's working and always has one in her oversized telfar

is quite short but pretends she is not

does not take shit and reacts badly to criticism (she believes there is no constructive criticism unless she is the one giving it)

prickly

resting bitch face

will not open up, someone come make her <3

is an absolute nightmare if she does not get a full 8 hours of sleep every night

[sofoulandfairaday]

N.B. This is not exclusively a Harry Potter blog, you will find many fandoms (and tons of non-fandom stuff too). But my original takes are MOSTLY about hp.

My HP meta & some additional little thoughts

Why do you like Bellamort so much?

Same question, part 2

On Bellatrix's relationship with her parents

Did Bellatrix know the Cup was a Horcrux?

Bellamort: love, lust, or is it just fucked-up?

What do the Blacks think of Bellamort?

Did Bellatrix's death make sense? (yes)

Same question, explained better because people got mad

How did Delphi feel about Narcissa?

Did Bella & Sirius really not see each other for years?

Reimagining Delphi in a world without TCC: two scenarios (long)

On Bella and Cissy's relationship, pre- and post-Azkaban

My headcanons

Random Marauders Era Headcanons (mostly about the Blacks)

Sirius Black Headcanons (long)

On Sirius, Regulus & their parents & generational abuse (long)

Patronus headcanons for the Blacks

Silly headcanons about Rodolphus

Random Bella headcanons

An obscenely long Bellamort headcanons post

Barty Crouch jr

Delphi

Delphi part 2

Lord Voldemort/Tom Riddle

Black Sisters

Does Andy get a job?

Rabastan (short version)

James Headcanons

Lily Headcanons

Remus Headcanons

Severus Snape Headcanons (long)

Peter Pettrigew

Lucius Malfoy

Canon > Fanon Death Eater simp (I know, pathetic) esp First Wizarding War. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black is my Roman Empire. I hate character bashing of basically any character

[department-of-landing-strategies]

HP Cursed Child Au that either takes place at the time of the original Cursed Child or like a year after the end of the second wizarding war, but Audrey replaces Albus as the main focus. Since it would be an insult to Audrey to just put her in the canon version of the play, I decide I would make an au. Otherwise known as here's the bullet points for an au created by taking the alternate timelines from the original play and reworking them:

It's me so have the main group of the au are Audrey, Penelope, Percy, Oliver and Marcus. Audrey is around the age of the other four, which mean Hogwarts is mostly getting cut. RIP to the og Cursed Child cast, other gen charaters and the wierd ass dream sequences, I'm only going to miss Teddy tbh

The He-Who-Lacks-A-Nose child rumour, the prophecy and the existance of Delphi are getting removed. Could all three be changed in some way? Yes, but the most developed character between Percy, Oliver, Marcus, Penny and Audrey is Percy and I'm 90% percent sure that's just because he's a Weasley in the books, so I want more time to focus on them.

How Penny and Audrey meet is by a delayed train (esentially how the meeting of the two main characters goes in NANA minus the fact that neither have the same name). I know it might come across as convientiant but trains are a staple of the sieres that I wanted to include in some way even if the Hogwarts Express is off the table

I like the idea of the alternate realities but I don't like how the original play gets to them or how the og cast is changed in the alternate timelines. So the time turner stuff from the play is getting changed to a sort of demension hopping or reality warping device or artifact (Not quite sure on the details but if it changes reality, the reality goes to a more desired reality for the user using their memories as a base for past events. I imagine each reality created has about two different ways of getting reality back to how it was pre device usage). So while the train is delayed, someone (I'd say either Kingsley or one of the og trio would probably be best. No matter who it is they have at least a scene with Percy and not just a quick pass off of the device.) passes of the device to Percy. I imagine Percy being banned from destroying it at some point, so that probably works best being first brought up here. Cue Percy having the device for the rest if the au.

The train finally arrives and as such Penny introduces Audrey to Percy. This would the scene before the first time the device (I'm just going to call it device for the rest of this post) goes off by accident and is just with Percy, Penny and Audrey. Since, Audrey is the only one out that has the least character presence in the canon books and original cursed child, her appealing reality/dimension somehow linking to her first is the first dimension/reality that occurs. Of which after this I don't really currently know much after.

How Audrey meets Marcus and Oliver is via Percy and Penny introducing them to each other at a bar. It can be the Hog's Head if a cameo of Aberfoth works.

At some point in the dimension/reality linking to Percy, part of the canon bookshelf in Hermione's office scene occurs because I like how excited Scorpius gets and I think it fits Percy/Penny

Imma probably add more to this au later because this has been sitting in my drafts for a while and I'm trying to clear them. Feel free to give suggestions.

[fangs-claws-paws]

Transformers idea thing that may or may not get written

I've had the idea for a while, but I've never put words down about it in any sense.

But the idea is Tarn and Pharma for some reason get drunk pre-Delphi. Pharma wakes up the morning after and realizes Tarn is in bed with him, mortified at the implications he very quickly gets out and politely but firmly gets Tarn out.

Tarn doesn't really think anything of it, and afterwards the whole debacle at Delphi happens and he picks up Nickel. Well at some point after that he starts having symptoms and problems and slightly worried about the loss of control over his own body, goes to Nickel hoping she can fix it. It turns out he's pregnant, with multiples, though still early on.

Important notes for all this is that I give tank transformers special lore stuff like seekers, in that they have very long pregnancies, tend only be able to safely carry 2 sparklings, and build den nests. Seekers and tank frames have been long discouraged from crossbreeding due to a couple issues, seekers that get pregnant with tank frame sparklings tend to have emergence to early and the sparkling is severely underdeveloped, also the drain on the seekers frame can be dangerous. But its also dangerous for tank frames because while a seeker frame is a lot lighter strain for a tank frame, the tendency of seekers to be born in sets of at least 3 pose significant danger to the tank frame carrier, also seeker frames overdevelop during the prolonged tank frame gestation and are often larger than can be safe for emergence.

It does not take long for Tarn to piece together what happened, Pharma (who at least by my standards is a seeker frame) knocked him up. There really isn't any other options considering Tarn isn't really a mech who has many, if any, interfacing partners (Debating on if him and Nickel are a thing or just good friends, if they are a thing Nickel absolutely tops).

Tarn wouldn't have the sparklings aborted both a mix of the extreme decepticon indoctrination he's suffused in, as well as perhaps some part of his life before when he was Glitch makes him reluctant to do so as well. Not that Nickel is thrilled, considering now she has to help Tarn through what amounts to an extremely high risk pregnancy, especially considering his transforming addiction, which is something he is going to be unable to indulge later on in the pregnancy.

And that's kinda all I have so far for it, definitely Tarns survives and so do the sparklings. just not sure what happens between finding out he's pregnant and emergence, and also how canon divergent it'll be considering how his choices might change when he's carrying

[mystical-shadows]

The 13 Goals of the Witch

1 Know yourself

Know yourself– “Know thyself”- inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Where the high priestess prophesied, and that was originally dedicated to the Goddess Gaia. The journey we take to know the God and Goddess is often a journey to know ourselves as well. Like DNA spirals, they are intertwined, inseparable. The Charge of the Goddess says “And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without. For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am That which is attained at the end of desire.” We are not asked subject or bury ourselves, to disappear, in order to find the Goddess. It is in finding ourselves that we will most truly find her.

2 Know your Craft

3 Learn

4 Apply knowledge with wisdom

Know your craft/Learn/Apply knowledge with wisdom– Never stop learning. There is always more to learn. On one hand, Wicca is quite simple. It is a religion that worships a pre-Christian God and Goddess, reverences nature, and practices witchcraft. On the other hand, there are so many facets to it, you can spend your whole life studying and barely scratch the surface. History, mythology, quantum physics, magick, folklore, herbalism…the list goes on and on. And it’s not just knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It’s knowledge to know the God and the Goddess better and to grow in our relationship with them. It’s knowledge to grow in our Craft. It’s knowledge to help heal this world, to do our part to end the evils that threaten us. And it’s knowledge to hone our Craft, so we leave something even better and more complete and more accurate for the next generation.

5 Achieve balance

6 Keep your words in good order

7 Keep your thoughts in good order

Keep your words and thoughts in good order– This is one of those ideals that is in every religion. Your thoughts are basically the oxygen of your inner life. And your words are the expression of that inner life. Thoughts that you allow to get away from you can poison your soul, and they will spill out of your mouth. Note that I am NOT speaking about the sadness that comes along with depression, or the thoughts that come along with anxiety, or what have you. I’m talking about choosing to dwell on the harm that someone did you, or continually thinking negative thoughts against yourself instead of working to think thoughts of self-love, or allowing your temper to get out of control. Revenge, fury, self-hated, bitterness-these need to be purged like the toxins they are.

8 Celebrate life

9 Attune with the cycles of the Earth

Celebrate life/attune with the cycles of the earth– These are givens for a religion that reverences nature, that honors not only human life but plant and animal life as well. Everything participates to some degree in the immanent divinity and thus, everything is sacred, which should affect how you act. The Goddess and God are not only transcendent, they are immanent, and they are in the trees and the waters and the air and the animals to various degrees. Don’t take life carelessly or needlessly. Realizing the sacred nature of Nature makes us aware that she has lessons to teach us, and the Wiccan religion believes she does this through the Wheel of the Year and the monthly cycles of the moon. Ignoring those and not making any attempt to celebrate them or connect with their mysteries is missing out on a large part of what Wicca is about.

10 Breathe and eat correctly

11 Exercise the body

12 Meditate

Breathe and eat correctly/exercise the body/meditate– The body and soul are inexorably linked during our life. What you do to your body affects your soul. And your body is made up of earth stuff. It’s linked to the Earth. It has lessons to teach you, too. The fact that your body can help in the creation of life shows how important it is. Take care of it.

13 Honor the Lord and Lady

Honor the Lord and the Lady– the reason we’re Wiccan. We’re not Wiccan to get whatever we want through spells, or to get warm fuzzies when we go out in nature. We’re members of the Old Religion, after all, and the roots of the word ‘religion’ means to “bind, connect, or cleave to”. We are looking to bind, connect and cleave to the God and the Goddess, however we see them as. Wicca without deity is something that many seem to be trying for today, but I would strongly argue that is not Wicca. That is witchcraft. Wicca worships/reverences/honors (whatever term) the God and the Goddess.

Art: By Edgars Freibergs

[birdiebortnik]

Oooohohohohohoho, I also LOVE fashion history (side note- do you watch Bernadette Banner? I adore her breakdowns of dress history). Okay, so ancient stuff is more difficult to pin down because organic material, unless buried in anaerobic environments (environments that lack oxygen, like peat bogs and permafrost), tends to decompose, so a lot of what remains is like pictorial evidence, paintings, vases, etc. However, loom weights are very common finds in archaeological sites, which gives us information as to how the cloth was woven, ie, on a warp-weighted loom (we can see representations of this loom in the Odyssey! Both with Circe and Penelope). 

(Here is a replica of an ancient warp-weighted loom from the Römermuseum in Germany. )

Loom weights themselves often look like this: 

(early bronze wight from the TRC leiden collection) 

Loom weights themselves are fascinating, because not only were they used for the looms, but for religious practices. They were pretty common votive offerings found in temples and could be pretty ornate (votive offerings being like little representations of the worshippers intention and for lack of a better term piety, these could be clay body parts for medical prayers, terracotta figurines of gods or priests, terracotta bread, personal items, etc— in terms of ornateness, I no longer have the picture saved, but there’s this lovely loom weight that was found at the sanctuary of the Samnite/Okan goddess Mefitis in Rossano di Vaglio that has these neat dolphins carved in it) 

There have been some textiles found in Greece, primarily in the Kerameikos cemetery in Athens. These fragments show that the Greeks used intricate embroidery techniques on primarily wool, lenin, and amorgina materials (initial analysis suggested silk was used, but more recent analysis disproved this) Which isn’t to say they never used silk, Aristotle does talk about silk and silkworms, but it was most likely imported. In Kastelli Khania, Crete, a carbonized ribbon was found that contains lenin, nettle fibers, and goat hair. 

(Early 5th century BC textile fragments, from Koropi, near Athens, Greece. Courtesy Victoria & Albert Museum, London.) 

Dyes were also pretty prominent, yellow, white, black, green, and even purple. Purple, however, was a little more expensive because it came from Phoenicia (In the Iliad, Helen is described wearing all purple!). 

In terms of like what people were wearing, we have some paintings and frescoes from the Minoans (pre-Bronze age peoples from Crete) that depict women with long hair, incredibly ornate jewelry, bright patterned and colored clothing, skirts, and open fronted tops with details that might suspect a light sheer material and style. 

Ex: 

(detail from the palace wall in Knossos) 

Much like mainland Greece, the men were painted wearing nothing at all and occasionally a kind of wrap around their waists 

Generally, the name of the game when it came to the Minoans was bright colors, detailed patterns, and open tops. However, this is just what we know from what was preserved, it is likely there was a class function when it came to who wore what 

On mainland Greece (I’m considering mainly Bronze Age (3000 BCE)  to Hellenic period (31 BCE)), people mainly wore loose flowy clothing that were folded and wrapped in fabulous patterns. Clothing itself was pretty androgynous, but women typically wore things that went to the ankles and men would wear clothing that went to knees if they wore anything, they had this whole ‘heroic-nudity’ thing, and even the clothing they did wear was often designed to fly up and show all their bits whenever they like ran or jump or moved. 

The styles that were worn consisted primarily of chiton, peplos, himation, and chlamys.

Chitons: A tunic that was attached around the shoulder and tied with a belt called a zoster. This was worn by both men and women. 

(Delphic charioteer in an Ionic Chiton, 470 BCE, Delphi Museum, Greece) 

Neat tid bit, the writer Herodotus (whose information must be taken with a large large grain of salt) reports that, as according to a legend in Athens, women started wearing the chiton as opposed to the peplos when some women stabbed a messenger to death with the bronze pins characteristic of the peplos (Histories 5.87.3). 

Later in Greek history, the chiton for women became very VERY sheer, like you can see everything sheer. 

Peplos: A large rectangular garment that was folded down over the shoulders to drape at the waist (it's kind of complicated to write down exactly how it was folded which I can not do justice to). It was sometimes left open on one side and sometimes tied off and fashioned with a brooch called a fibula. 

(Athena in a folded Peplos, 5th cent. BCE— this one is pretty ornate and uses more fabric that would be used for your typical lady, also I forget what museum this is from, please forgive my shoddy scholarship) 

Oh! Oh! There was a ritual around the Peplos— so once a year, the priestesses of Athena and a bunch of chosen girls would weave a “sacred peplos” on a loom which was this giant peplos that was then put on the statue of Athena. 

Himation: This was a wrap/shawl like garment that was worn by both men and women. Women often would wear it over their heads like a veil and it was most likely reserved for the upper classes. 

(statues in the House of Cleopatra in Delos) 

(Achilles wrapped up in a himation, 500 BCE, Museum of World Culture, Sweden) 

Chlamys: This was a cloak-like thing that was reserved for military men and hunters. It was a big ol’ rectangle of wool attached with a fibula and can be seen on depictions of Hermes. 

(Hermes wearing a Chlamys attributed to the Tithonos Painter, c. 480–470 BC) 

Additionally, while many folks were painted barefooted, shoes/sandals/and boots were worn and typically made out of leather and other types of animal hyde

More neat images of Greek fashion: 

(both of these are from the bottom of kylikes, I have them saved in my phone, but I forget where they come from. Since these depict symposiums, it's safe to say they come from 5th cent. Athens) 

Ancient Roman clothing was pretty similar with some general differences: 

People wore tunica, chiton, stola, and palla. 

We’ve already talked about the chiton so I won't get into detail. 

While Togas were the national costume, they were typically used for formal events and tunics were the go to. Made of wool, short sleeved and sleeveless draped tunics were common for men and boys. Women would chitons and married citizen women would wear pallas and stolas. Pallas were long flowy garments that covered the whole body. Stolas were almost like sashes, but looser and wider and would be draped along the body, they were reserved for women who were married citizens and most importantly, mothers. 

(Livia Drusilla in a Stola and Palla) 

While Greece certainly had clothing markers to designate gender and class, it had nothing on Rome which was all about bureaucracy and status and hierarchy  (don’t get me wrong, Greece was also big BIG on hierarchy, patriarchy, and systems of enslavement, but Rome had like paperwork about it) 

Clothing in ancient Rome is like a couple books so I’m gonna try and hit the highlights. 

Materials: 

Wool! And notably the Sheep of Tarentum. Romans were little freaks about wool and tried to optimize the quality by cross breeding. 

Plant fibers like linen and cotton were quite common as well. Linen could be produced easily in Rome from flax and cotton was imported from India. 

Silk! Rome had strong trade with China and had silk imported in (especially around the 3rd cent).It was brought in its raw state and in yarn where it would be woven in Rome. 

Sumptuary laws however were passed to limit the wearing of silk by men as it was seen as effeminate. 

(From Pompeii! A meanad wearing a silk gown, 1st cent) 

A lot of the dyes and production of dyes were very similar to that in Greece and here’s where we start to see the association of red/purple and royalty. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome was overthrown in 509 BCE, but red was used for the border of the Senate’s Toga and because of its opulence, was a popular color of the emperors. 

Misc. : Sewing needles are a common archaeological find, they were typically made of iron or bone. 

Also wigs! Roman women were big into wigs of various colors and fancy patterns, some that were fancy to be fancy, and some that were made to copy the hair of the empress. These would be made of human hair and very occasionally other organic materials (even some marble busts had detachable wigs) 

(Wig/hair piece. Its from a museum in England, I don’t remember which museum, im sorry) 

(Wig from Vindolanda, the little info card on this one said it was partly made of moss) 

Some wondrous photos from Rome: 

(I don't know how to turn him! Sorry! Another picture I took, this is of Apollo, and I’m pretty sure it was in the Archaeological museum in Naples)

(Pictures of leather shoes from Vindolanda in England— its another anaerobic environment so organic material can be preserved and shoes on shoes on shoes have been found. Don’t look at my little legs in the glass) 

So honorable mention from an ancient people who are not Greece or Rome, but who are my favorite perfect specialist boys, The Scythians! 

(The Scythians were an ancient nomadic group of peoples who traveled around the Eurasian Steppe and inspired the myths of the Amazons) 

A lot of Scythian stuff has been preserved due to anaerobic conditions (but then again not a lot cause of pesky pesky grave robber)

And while it’s contentious, how do you actually date something like this? The Scythians invited pants! (arbitrary space for nuance cause ancient history is also an *we think* because of the available evidence sort of deal) 

They wore pants and long sleeves and g o l d, so much gold. They can be identified in Greek vases primarily by the wild patterns they’re wearing 

However, when it comes to what was found archaeologically, the results are oh so much cooler: 

(reconstruction of Scythian clothing/armor by Krym Altynbekov based off of what was found in the Issyk burial)

(Beaded Scythian shoe from the Pazyryk graves) 

(reconstruction of the “golden woman” burial) 

(reconstruction of the clothing worn by the individuals in Arzhan II) 

I'm bored and at work— do any of you have questions about ancient history?

[the-ghost-king]

wait Apollo isn’t originally greek? thats so interesting 👀👀

Where ever did you hear that? /ij

Definitely putting all of this under a read more, it’s a long one!

Cw: Greek statues, they're naked :/

But yeah, Apollo was actually an inherited god, it’s likely that because of this as well he was a blending of multiple different gods to some extent. It’s also good to note that Apollo’s name is unknown, meaning that nobody really knows what exactly Apollo means, which is pretty weird all things considered about the Greeks who placed such importance on the god’s forenames (ie, phoebeus, acestor, age’tor, etc). 

"Though Apollo was the most Hellenic of all gods, he derived mostly from a type of god that originated in Anatolia and spread to Egypt by way of Syria and Palestine." (X)

There’s a couple of different things which point to Apollo being a Anatolian god (or being of, coming from him) named Appaliunas, and it is said they were on opposite sides of a war most beloved of their people during the fight. It’s important to note that it’s believed Appaliunas means “father light” and that he shows some level of importance over drafting peace treaties (which Apollo has some reputation in as the bringer of civilized order). We don't know too much about their connections however, because the documents are incomplete.

This theory also makes sense, because the name Leto (Apollo’s mother) is Lydian in origin, and there’s decent connections to her having been worshiped on the coast's of Asia Minor. And it is known the Greeks have adopted Anatolian gods into their religion before, see Cybele (sometimes called Cybele-Rhea), and the origin of Kore (later Persephone). There's stuff which points also to an Anatolian goddess called "Artimu" (Artemis) who is often confused to Cybele for some reason, and again this bears connections to the Lydians which worshipped Leto. There's information which points to Hekate being a goddess from Anatolia as well, which shows significance considering she is Apollo and Artemis's cousin (leading to my personal question of was Phoebe Anatolian in origin?). Apollo's divine number being 7 shows Babylonian or at least Mesopotamian Origin.

The Geographical location of these two places also bears similarities, they are close to one another, and it's known the Greeks had decent travel capabilities over water. There's also the fact that both of these lands border Troy, which is shown to have significant values in Greek culture and mythology, as well as the Greek belief that the Anatolian gods were present at Troy as well as the Greek gods.

(It's also notable the similarities in naming traditions, Alaksandu for one such example, does not sound too far off from the later Latin name Alexander, which came from the Greek name Aléxandros).

The other possible origin given for Apollo is Aplu (Apulu), a Hurrian god (of people who lived in Anatolia, Syria, and Northern Mesopotamia). Aplu and Apollo bear semblance to one another in more than name, Aplu was the god of plague (bringer of the plague more specifically) and he bears a large amount of resemblance to Apollo Parno'pius/Smitheus and Aplu's main story provides reasoning as to why Apollo may also be the god of healing and Medicine.

The story of Aplu involves the idea that the individual which brings the plague, must also be the one to banish it. This makes Aplu both bringer of plague(s) but also, protector from plague(s). From this we learn Aplu's name means "son of" (please note here Apollo's iconographic connections to "youth" and "sonship" among the Greeks, as the god of kouros), but the connection of "the son of" was a title granted also to the god Nergal (worshiped by many different people(s) across Mesopotamia) who is at least in part someone who holds power over the sun, and holds connection to Shamash (Utu).

Aplu is also often depicted naked (ya know) but wearing a laurel leaf, and part of a cloak... It's funny how these images are Apollo though:

Aplu is also symbolized by a staff and laurel a twig(s), while we know Apollo to be associated closely with the laurel because of Daphne, and Apollo having iconography related to staffs involves him giving his away to Hermes- which perhaps has to do with the caduceus being interpreted as the symbol for medicine, or the connection of Apollo to Asclepius and the rod of Asclepius.

Aplu isn't isolated necessarily either, there is also the Etruscan goddess Aritimi (Artume, Artames, or Artumes) and she oversees animals, human assemblies, and is considered a hunting deity. As well as scrolling through this list, you'll note more than one Greek/Roman mythological figure.

There's also a ton of stuff from Etruscan mythology (Hurrian mythology is just a subsect of Etruscan mythology) which overlaps with Greek mythology, some sources even state Etruscan -> Greek -> Roman mythology (I wont comment on that because I don't know well enough).

There's some other places Apollo's name might have come from, but those are probably the two most likely under the assumption that Apollo is a collective of many gods.

These are the specifics of the Anatolian god's Apollo may be born of/from, but there's a variety of things which point to him and mythology around him being of other origins as well (Minoan, Dorian, and Proto-Indo-European... yeah)

You may have heard one of Apollo's sacred animals is dolphins, Apollo Delphinios/Delphidios, this is because of a Minoan god named Paiawon (Paion) who was worshiped on Crete and also originated in Delphi. In the second part of Homeric hymn to Apollo, Apollo would transform his shape into that of a dolphin and carry the new priests to Delphi for the transfer of religious practices:

"Phoebus Apollo pondered in his heart what men he should bring in to be his ministers in sacrifice and to serve him in rocky Pytho. And while he considered this, he became aware of a swift ship upon the wine-like sea in which were many men and goodly, Cretans... Phoebus Apollo met them: in the open sea he sprang upon their swift ship, like a dolphin in shape, and lay there, a great and awesome monster, and none of them gave heed so as to understand but they sought to cast the dolphin overboard. But he kept shaking the black ship every way and making the timbers quiver. So they sat silent in their craft for fear, and... so they kept sailing on; for a rushing south wind hurried on the swift ship from behind... They wished to put their ship to shore, and land and comprehend the great marvel and see with their eyes whether the [dolphin] would remain upon the deck of the hollow ship, or spring back into the briny deep where fishes shoal. But the well-built ship would not obey the helm, but went on its way all along Peloponnesus and the lord, far-working Apollo, guided it easily with the breath of the breeze..." (X)

Apollo Delphinios was largely only worshiped by people of Crete and surrounding islands, but this is also largely where Paiawon was worshiped as well. There's also many things from early Grecian history which simply state Apollo to be Paiawon or of Paiawon, or at least doesn't bother to specify which god is being talked about.

In the earlier parts of Greek history, seventh-sixth century, there was distinctions made between the pair:

"and in Solon's opinion it is Apollo who makes a man a μάντις (soothsayer) but healers do the work of Paion" (X)

The whole thing with Apollo being descended from Paiawon however, is that Paiawon may not be Minoan but Mycenaean in origin, which means even if Apollo is originated in Minoan culture one of the gods who has influenced that origin wasn't even necessarily Minoan but taken in. Others believe Paiawon was Minoan or Aegean in origin but very far in the past, since his songs used a meter of pre-Greek origin.

You'll also not the commonalities between Paion (a spelling of Paiawon) and Paean (also spelled Paian), Apollo's original name according to Homer. It could mean a variety of things but "who heals illnesses through magic" and "pre-greek" are the most common translations of the word Paean, but it is also associated with music (most specifically a song sung by Thetlas who cured the Spartans) and is said to denote hymns for Apollo.

"PAEAN, that is, "the healing," is according to Homer the designation of the physician of the Olympian gods, who heals, for example, the wounded Ares and Hades. After the time of Homer and Hesiod, the word Paian becomes a surname of Asclepius, the god who had the power of healing. The name was, however, used also in the more general sense of deliverer from any evil or calamity, and was thus applied to Apollo and Thanatos, or Death, who are conceived as delivering men from the pains and sorrows of life... From Apollo himself the name Paean was transferred to the song dedicated to him, that is, to hymns chanted to Apollo for the purpose of averting an evil, and to warlike songs, which were sung before or during a battle." (X)

In regards to the possibility of Apollo having been of Minoan origin, one must consider not only his origins but the origins of the gods and goddesses around him and how they may have developed over time.

In this case Britomartis (Diktynna) is of particular interest, she was the Minoan "mistress of animals", she was a goddess (or sometimes nymph, or oread) of the mountains and the hunt. There's points to the name meaning "sweet maiden" or other similar things, but it is debatable.

Eventually Britomartis would become the goddess of nets in Hellenic myths, and would simply be closely identified with the goddess of Artemis. However, to the Minoans Britomartis wandered alongside a bow-wielding male hunter who's name has been lost, it is likely that aspects of this hunter were absorbed into Apollo; when the introduction of worshiping Artemis was brought to the island of Crete where Britomartis was also worshiped they were compared and quickly said to be of one another.

It is also said in some variations the myths of Britomartis that she was taken to the mainland in the nets of men after fleeing Minos, this seems like a euphemism for her as a goddess of worship being brought by fisherman to mainland and taken into their culture and worship, more so than it sounds like a goddess's story. Perhaps this led to her becoming Artemis, although most myths seem to agree Artemis gave Britomartis immortality... So who knows, but it's a point of particular interest for me.

Also I know I mentioned proto-indo-european origins for Apollo and I could analyze gods and goddesses relating to Apollo being a Minoan god like Aphaea, but I am not going to lie I am rather sick mostly of sourcing everything and I don't like to talk about stuff without stuff to back me up because I don't want to come across like I'm pulling information or ideas out of thin air because that's how misinformation spreads... But yeah, here's a somewhat simplified piece on Apollo's possible origins as a pre-Hellenistic god, and I hope you enjoy because I know you sent the ask a bit ago <3

[aboutanancientenquiry]

Another review of the book of Joseph E. Skinner “The Invention of Greek Ethnography: From Homer to Herodotus”

“The Invention of Greek Ethnography: From Homer to Herodotus.

The Invention of Greek Ethnography: From Homer to Herodotus. By Joseph E. Skinner. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012. Pp. xii, 343. $85.00.) In this work, Joseph E. Skinner examines the sources and motivations of Greeks writing about themselves ("cultural identity") and about non-Greeks (ethnography). He analyzes the origins of Greek geographical descriptions and "overseas" ethnographies, and accounts of "barbarian" customs and their organic incorporation into historiography. He disputes recent explanations of how the Greeks came to write about others and objects to the application of modern disciplinary boundaries to authors working before academic disciplines developed. Hellenes bought, built, made, and sold stuff that provides material, inscriptional, and iconographic evidence supplementary to textualizations of their periploi (circumnavigations) recording peripheral (to the Greeks!) peoples. Multiple "discourses of difference" shaped creative literature, ethnography (Milesian Hecataeus), and history proper (e.g., Herodotus's Histories). "Ethnography before Ethnography" surveys ancient and modern discussions. It theorizes ancient awareness of "Hellenicity" and centripetal disunities permeating Hellenic identities (Homer, Pindar, Herodotus; vase-painters). "Nodes and networks" models problematize entrenched, simplistic (Greek) producers and (barbarian) consumer explanations. What led the Greeks to think about Greekness, not just aggregated parochial poleis? Hellenes clearly regarded neighboring Spartans to be as exotic as any barbaroi. Skinner contests claims that Persian War victories catalyzed this awareness, claims that deny Greeks any significant earlier intellectual engagement with aliens. Skinner regards the material record of contacts (eighth century onward) as more pertinent than the Athenocentric "abstract imaginaire" (sixth century on) or too-tidy "Self" and "Other" structuralist polarities. Skinner then explores accounts of twelve real, or imaginary, peoples, among them Scythians, Ethiopians, "prehistoric" Pelasgians, the sensational Cyclopes, Arimaspians, and Amazons. He rather too briskly reports Egyptian habits and contacts. Chapter 3 "maps" the larger known world by considering texts and surviving manufactures (e.g., coins, Florence's Francois Vase). Perishable and imperishable commodities also exemplified, described, and sometimes stereotyped unfamiliar peoples on the (Hellenic) margins. Skinner argues that extensive economic exchanges produced fluid, bi-directional cultural borrowing, even "indigenization" of the Hellenes. He rejects one-way influences flowing from the impervious Greeks to "parochial tribesmen." Three case studies follow: Olbia on the Black Sea's north coast; southern Calabria on Italy's foot (Oinotria, where Skinner excavated); and, returning to the "imagined centre," Delphi and Olympia. Panhellenic athletic and spiritual venues ("nodes") exhibited intercultural memorials (e.g., Etruscan votives) and spilled-out trade goods. Skinner describes local topographies and relatively obscure excavations. He speculates from the impressive range but skimpy material residues resulting from Hellenic contact with local populations and from puzzling finds that suggest evolving cultural hybridity (e.g., Pontic pit-dwelling "dugouts"). Surviving structures, artifacts, and ecofacts (e.g., roads, fortifications, foundations, utensils) deserve close "readings" comparable to those afforded fragmentary pre-Herodotean accounts and consonant with Skinner's broad synthesis of "ethnographic activity." The last chapter surveys the eastern Mediterranean from the Archaic to the Early Classical era [750-450 BCE]. Skinner briefly considers, indeed minimizes, the fifth-century upsurge in ethnographic prose, while he urges historians to develop more holistic models of commercial and intellectual cross-fertilization. Increases in archaeological data from less glitzy digs justly demand historical reconceptualization. This sharp-elbowed, critical revisionist synthesis challenges linear, evolutionary narratives that still dominate modern historiography situating Greek anthropological thought. Donald Lateiner Ohio Wesleyan University “

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Invention+of+Greek+Ethnography%3A+From+Homer+to+Herodotus-a0373255655

Donald Lateiner

[crownedflora]

𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄  !

List your fav characters from 10 different fandoms and tag 10 people.

The actual contents are under read-more because of spoiler raisins and-and-and...!!! ...Wait, what was I saying? I legit spaced out and lost my- 

NO, WAIT, I ‘MEMBER NOW! Aside from the length of the post itself, the read-more is also dedicated to my absolutely mortifying behavior that’ll be involved in this post and regret including here later, probably. 

A Hat in Time - Badge Seller, C.A.W Agents, DJ Grooves, The Conductor, The Empress, The Snatcher, Walrus Captain, White Seal Crew 

Dota 2 - Aghanim, Auroth, Beatrix (GUN GRANDMA), Donté, Hoodwink, Mireska, Mortimer, Nerif, Raigor, Rubick, Valora, Zet Okay, me stop here for this one.

Dragalia Lost - Euden, Euden, Euden, Euden, Euden, and Euden. Oh, and did I mention Euden? yes henlo are there any Eudens out there that are interested in interacting with my botanical boy? Preferably ones that involve in-game events/character arcs and Dragalia Life comics (especially/specifically if the Euden finds my flower child cute) in their portrayals for serious, crack, fluff, angst, or anything in between (4th wall-breaking and meta/gameplay-based shenanigans and/or interactions may also likely apply). Monster lovers/[redacted] that happen to muse this (too) nice-and-friendly prince/king man, please DO apply. In spite of previous sentence, intimate platonic ship full of the aforementioned stuff is the main goal. ...For here at least. Anything beyond that is a HUMONGOUS bonus (how do I black out a portion of text on here like a spoiler mark/tag??? I feel so exposed even though I did this to myself. ohgoddon’tlookatme.  I SAID STOP IT!)!!! Anyway, time for the rest of the list: Akasha, Alberius, Albert, Aldred, Brunhilda (Pre-Euden mainly/only tbh. Shocking considering what’s been said, right?), Cat Sìth, Chelle, Chthonius, Ciella, Delphi, Epimetheus, Eugene, Grace, Ieyasu, Leif, Lowen, Mascula (I know I’m super late with this but my lack of access to [INSERT ACCOUNT/PLATFORM] on top of everything else means I can express it here now- YEEESSS!!! ADVENTURER MASCULA IS REAL!!!! EAT IT, NAYSAYERS! EAT. IT!!!! HedidcostmemoreofmystashthatstillneededtoberecoveredsinceIhadtosparkforhimtho. Cygames, PLEASE, HAVEMERCY!!!) , Meene, Melsa, Nedrick (yes henlo are ther), Nevin, Noelle, Notte, Odetta, Pele, Prometheus, Seimei, Silke, Siren, Tartarus (Bro, I finally get around to semi-consistently soloing you on Master difficulty and now I’m broke af from trying to MUB all the Light Agito weapons. I HAVE MORE POWER NOW BUT AT THE PRICE OF BEING POOR. HELP-) Yaten, Yoshitsune (GUN GRANDMA!), Zodiark- No, I’m sorry, even if it PAINS me to leave out plenty more names that are left to list here (-sniffle- I’m sorry my beloveds), I HAVE to stop there for DL.

Genshin Impact - Albedo, Aether/Traveler, Bennett, Chongyun, Dvalin, Klee, Madame Ping, Paimon, Qiqi, Rosaria, Scaramouche, Tartaglia, Venti, Zhongli

Hades - Asterius, Chaos, Charon, Demeter, Dusa, Eurydice, Hades, Hermes, Megaera, Nyx, Persephone, Skelly, Thanatos, Zagreus 

Overwatch (I forgot to buy all the now-cheaper old event skins I lacked before the Anni event ended nooooo-) - Ana (GUN GRAAANDMAAAAAA!!!!!), Bastion, Brigitte, Dae-hyun, Genji, Hammond, Hana, Jamison, Lena, Mako, Mei, Moira, Olivia, Orisa, Seung-hwa, Winston 

Shovel Knight - King Knight, (King Knight’s) Mom, Oolong, Plague Knight, Specter Knight, Treasure Knight

SINoALICE (so far) - Dullahan, Gretel, Pinnocchio, Sleeping Beauty

StarCraft (2) - Abathur, Alarak, Dehaka, Talandar, Tychus, Zagara, Zeratul

Team Fortress 2 (The current state of this and a majority of other Valve’s games/IPs saddens and infuriates me. Blizzard games/IPs, too. Ugh...) - Jeremy, Ludwig, Pauling, Pyro, Spy

TAGGED BY :  @toestalucia MY GRATITUDE, FELLOW MC/PROTAG ENJOYER!!!

TAGGING :  Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

[glowyjellyfish]

Gather round, children, for the legend of Grimwood Abbey

(that’s the tiny pre-MCC I mentioned the other day. I only came up with this concept, oh, over a year ago. Dropped it to play a nice easy modern Megahood. I don’t have much wherewithal.)

...so I have spent two days on the weekend so far just working on getting my CC sorted out so I can consider starting this. Yesterday the big issues were a. realizing it was super inefficient to delete stuff in-game one by one even though it’s nice to be able to see it, and becoming paralyzed with indecision about whether to take the time to hunt down unidentified files by hand, or continue spending time deleting dozens and dozens of recoiled by hand… eventually I did a little of both, but boy I gotta use some kind of tooltip renamed now huh… b. I am not good at Delphy’s Download Organizer. I don’t understand it. Why is there no “how to use” documentation. So then I set it to scan for orphans or duplicates, stare hopelessly at the results unable to figure out what is the best course of action, and then quietly quit it to yet again… move files around manually. Don’t get me wrong, I was able to use it to shove several file types into correct folders, but my real issue would be so easily solved if there was a thoroughly explained duplicate scanner that I was able to trust. Ugh, I probably should have started by moving all the files to one big folder and sorting them from there but WHATEVER.

Because, you see, like many simmers, I have been collecting my cc since roughly 2004. I legit cannot remember if I have lost the whole thing and had to start over, but this collection can certainly be traced back to my first laptop that could run the Sims 2. For the longest time, I merely collected a big pile of everything shiny and cool that caught my eye, resulting in a big mixed-up mess combining modern and medieval fantasy and sci-fi and random fandoms and steampunk and everything I ever enjoyed. That… was not sustainable. I tried keeping individual folders within Downloads for specific genres, with the idea that I could swap them in and out for different hoods. Alas, that was too time-consuming for my taste, and I ended up with the same basic downloads folder but very lightly sort of organized but not really.

Sometime within the last ten years, I started trying to cultivate different downloads folders of broad genre categories, all neatly saved on a big flash drive. That’s all well and good, but copying and backing up that shit took away precious hours I could be using to play. Not only that, but it was very rough trying to separate my downloads folder properly—some stuff worked well for multiple genres! So I ended up making copies of the whole downloads folder to build these alternates, which I could then whittle down to only the stuff I actually wanted in there. This medieval alternate downloads folder therefore also contained the folder I’d labeled Medieval CC in my last attempt at organizing, and just to be sure I copied everything over and back repeatedly. And you know how it goes—every time I got excited about the idea of an MCC, I had to go out and download anything new or shiny. And oh yeah, had to stock up on defaults because now I could be using a solely medieval downloads folder! And this new CC would get plonked right into the DL folder, nary a care for organization because I needed to play before I lost interest!

So I had at least two, possibly three copies of all the same content in a collection of medieval CC that’s been building for, let’s call it 15 years more or less. I can’t trust the download organizer—like sir are you showing me all of them? do I throw all these out or leave one behind?—and doing it by hand is extremely tedious, carefully removing all txt and preview files to improve my load time. And actually playing a year-old story concept is delayed yet again.

I’ve got a Megahood set up that I can start converting to medieval whenever I get my act together, and I still that that sounds like fun but also waaaay too big a project for me (latest issue: wait if the capulets and montagues are traditionally alike in dignity is it wrong to make the Capps gentry and the montys merchants? But if I make them both gentry it’ll be an entire damn subhood of nothing but gentry!). I also have the same old MCC hood I started building a year ago, restarting after years of having the concept ready (this one is Algary and it is the one i was building a castle for; it has a few interesting rolled families to start with such as the gentry family having no sim older than teen and me choosing to set that up as the direct heir and some cousins, and a peasant family that involved two elderly ladies who were in love and joined households after their obligatory husbands died, pooling resources to care for their families, but one of them was gonna feel obliged to head off to the church and repent while the other cared for the kids and became a midwife). And then there’s the new guy, Grimwood Abbey, whose concept is only a year old but I sure hope I can follow through on it because it is quite small. Even then I can’t decide yet whether to start with one household (everybody living together for protection!), two households (the church vs the knights), or several households (each knight beginning in their own household with their squire). The latter would make it easier for each knight to earn their own money and compete to purchase gentry approval from the church… but idk.

Anyway. After all that I am really hoping I am about ready to actually play a bit. Even just making some sims and buildings. Today I need to progress further in weeding out CC, try to find a way I can do that more efficiently, maybe find some nice standardized set of makeup and default eyes and skin to use rather than the haphazard collections I barely touch (I prefer to lean toward maxis match over Shiny Realistic skins where everyone has auto makeup, but I’m sure there is something nice out there that suits my needs), and I unfortunately saw some nice medieval clothes I don’t have while downloading a whole fresh set of Sun&Moon Star Factory stuffs (which, I had multiple copies of! Didn’t know what was updated and what was outdated or what! So I threw out everything I had and re-downloaded the entire collection, which may have been a bit drastic but it definitely worked. Also, why is there no complete user guide for this. A “how to get started” or something. Whatever.), so I also gotta download that. Then maybe I can make a test sim to make sure defaults and stuff work okay, and then maybe download some medieval lots to speed up the building process? And then I can play one of my various hood concepts finally actually? Maybe?

TLDR: I am getting frustrated because I have so many downloads, many of them duplicates within folder within the main folder, that it’s taking me all weekend just to straighten them out (and even then I might not be able to finish, despite it being a 3 day weekend where I live). I swear, it would be faster just to throw it all away and start over, except I can’t do that because I am clearly a CC hoarder and I might need a piece of CC that can no longer be downloaded.

...thus goes the preliminary legend of Grimwood Abbey and the horror story of Getting It Set Up. Someday, someday...

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Of course there is no "transition"! That's the entire point of duplicity and the reveal of a hidden villain. It was an ACT. Happened to literally all four of the episodic villains from book 1 to 4. No one even openly suspected them being evil until the reveal. Rakepick is suspected and doubted in-universe at every turn, and MC is literally told that Rakepick may try to kill them as early as y4c12. Rakepick turning out to NOT be a villain would be a harder twist.

Rakepick turning out not to be a villain wouldn’t really be much of a twist at all, it would be more of a long game of having her gradually become more trustworthy to MC and the player, throwing in some curve-balls and red herrings along the way. Stuff like her clearly knowing Jacob but refusing to admit it. Stuff like her casting the Cruciatius Curse on some random guy with a smile on her face, all to give MC another “lesson.” Sure, that’s foreshadowing for her turn, for her “true” nature, but...wouldn’t it just be so much more interesting if she was a mentor character who crossed lines like that? You make a good point about the four episodic villains of the early books, and that could also apply to Delphi. From Quirrell, to Tom Riddle, to frigging Scabbers...(though I maintain that the Dementors were the true villains of Book Three) the early books always had a secret villain. But Rakepick didn’t match any of those qualities because she was clearly shady from the start. She could have been a total inversion! 

I guess you’re right about how criticizing her transition doesn’t really make much sense when the whole idea was that it was an act. Yet despise that...I don’t know. I just don’t believe it. Maybe it’s because Pre-Portrait Vault Rakepick had so many layers and kept you guessing, and Post-Betrayal Rakepick is so one-dimensional and cartoonishly wicked...but no matter how many times she appears, it just feels all wrong. Like this isn’t who she really is, or was supposed to be. If she had to be a villain, why couldn’t she keep her complexity? If having her turn on MC would ruin her complexity, why do it? I’ll probably never get over this. The game will wrap up Year 7 and I’ll still be grumbling about how they mishandled Rakepick’s character. Because she’s just...she’s the single greatest waste of potential thus-far.