#some of these are ANCIENT and without good source authors

[randaccidents]

Tentative Heartless Playlist baybeeeeee

These are just songs that I am pegging to them. It can be either vibes or lyrics (most of the time its lyrics). I'll probably post a better one one day. Enjoy the implications folks! (by folks I am looking at kitkatriel and tallyhoot EDIT AND tadsstrange).

Heart songs:

Evl Ppl - Chonny Jash cover (yes I failed to avoid CJ rip)

Scum (it eats you alive) - Lovejoy

Home - Cavetown

If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking - Honkai Star Rail OST (not officially released or smth?)

Goodbye to a World - Porter Robinson

Shinkai Shojo (Deep Sea Girl) - Yuuyu BUT SPECIFICALLY this cover here by Lizz Robinett for the english lyrics I want (the vibes are also impeccably sad)

Perseverance songs:

MKDR (DSCF) - DECO*27

Throwdown - Milgram: Shidou trial 1

花に風, Wind Over the Flower - balloon (?)

Penitence songs:

Cosmic Rendezvous - DECO*27

Consequences - Lovejoy

quiet room - Yoh Kamiyama

Perseverance and Penitence songs (duo):

Weight of the World - Nier:Automata OST BUT SPECIFICALLY this cover here by Amalee and Peter Hollins for the VIBES

Hated by Life itself - Iori Kanzaki (please please listen to the relay chorus tho)

Regression - Honkai Impact 3rd OST performed by Ayanga

Song that I have no idea if it should go to Heart or to Penitence:

我問天 (I ask Heaven) - Theme song for a Taiwanese Love drama? apparently? I only know it for the memes (I wish i could give yall an english translation for this hokkien song but I only found this one here and its still pretty inaccurate)

Also head in hands I couldnt quite fit it but go listen to JJ Lin's 修炼爱情 (Practice Love) I swear to god that it fits the story of Heartless entirely or something. I'm just. Not Entirely Convinced Yet. But I swear the vibes are too strong for it not to. This is me shoving old chinese songs at my audience go listen to chinese songs.

[veliseraptor]

April Reading Recap

Stars of Chaos vol. 2 by Priest. I'm not quite grabbed by this one yet. I'm not not enjoying it, but the main relationship doesn't quite have me compelled, and the politics aren't quite sharp enough to get me either. I'm not totally sure I'll keep buying the published volumes, at least not at this time, and just read the rest online to see how I end up feeling about it as a whole before making the financial commitment.

Medea by Eilish Quin. Listen, I'm a Medea apologist, but I'm a Medea apologist who is very much of the "she absolutely did all the awful things she's accused of and she is valid" and the author here is going "she did all the awful things she's accused of but it's not as bad as you thought it was because she didn't mean it!" and I'm just. I'm not mad, just disappointed (again). I was so hoping for a book that would do something interesting with a Medea retelling but I probably should've known better than to think it'd be this one. Why, you may ask, do I keep reading myth retellings about my problematic faves when all I do is complain about them? Hope springs eternal, I guess.

She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. Exceptional. Might be my favorite books I read in April. I'd already read She Who Became the Sun back when it was first published and knew I'd enjoyed it (was rereading to refresh my memory for the sequel), but I felt like I enjoyed it more the second time around, and I might've liked He Who Drowned the World even more than its predecessor. If you're looking for works of just-barely fantasy with delightfully fucked up queer characters, come get 'em here. I won't say most of them are happy (they're not) or that things end well (they don't), but boy is it good reading.

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling. Decent horror but not particularly outstanding, in my opinion. I liked The Luminous Dead more.

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee. I continue to struggle with novellas. This was a perfectly good novella but it felt like it could've been a stronger short story, which I guess is better than the other way I usually come out of novellas, which is "this was a fine novella but it should've been a novel."

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. I really liked this. It has more of a thriller-ish edge than I expected, but for all that I think it's a thoughtful book with some interesting things to say, and I feel like it's one I want more people to read so I can talk to them about it. It's set in a sort-of spooky, near-future dystopia, but a lot of it is about, like, the nature of thought and consciousness. Anyway, I found myself compelled.

Islands of Abandonment: Nation Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn. I found myself reading this thinking a lot about The World Without Us, a book I read many years ago and would kind of like to reread, and which I think I liked more than this (at least in my memory). I was hoping for more analysis than I got from this book, which was beautifully written but more nature/travel writing than science. One thing I did appreciate was the attention paid to the human cost of the "abandoned" places examined in this book - the pain that abandonment often signifies, and the trauma it indicates, in spite of the beauty that may come after.

Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World by Mary Beard. I really liked the way that Beard chose to do this one - namely, taking it by theme rather than by emperor, and breaking down different areas of the emperor's life over time rather than trying to tell a linear narrative. It also let her do some of the better "skeptical" reading of sources that I've read in a popular book on ancient history, where she was actually digging into the "rather than what this says about what this person may or may not have actually done, what does it say about expectations, beliefs, and tropes that people had" kind of reading. And after some of the other popular histories of Rome I've read, thank god for that.

Metamorphoses by Ovid, trans. Stephanie McCarter. Continuing on with my "reading new translations (by women!) of classical epics" run (started with The Odyssey, The Iliad is on my list). It was fun to reread Ovid! As usual one of my favorite parts of this was reading the translator's note and introduction, and I wanted about 500% more of that through the text (tell me about the assonance you're preserving in the Latin!) but did get some of (thanks for the information on the penis/pubic hair puns!). Overall would recommend as a good translation of Ovid that very much does not flinch away from - and makes/keeps appropriately uncomfortable - the sexual assault.

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat. Slightly more YA than I usually like, but I enjoyed it! I was a little :\ about it for a while, very much feeling the YA cliches of it all, but the late hour twist got me interested again, and I will be picking up the sequel. Did miss the full balls-to-the-wall iddy joy of Captive Prince, though, since I probably wouldn't have picked this book up without the author recognition.

Subversive Sequels in the Bible: How Biblical Stories Mine and Undermine Each Other by Judy Klitsner. I really liked this one, particularly for its commentary comparing and contrasting Eve, and the other women of Genesis, with later Biblical narratives. I don't know how much I buy all of her arguments when it comes to intentionality of all of the comparisons she's drawing, but it certainly makes interesting food for thought, and a good sampler for me of what literary-based Biblical scholarship can look like (and an indication that I'm interested in trying more of it).

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. I read most of my way through this book continuing to really appreciate what Banks does with the Culture novels and planning to continue on reading the next one, but not enjoying this specific one as much as I did The Player of Games in particular, and then I got to the very end of it and went "hang on what the fuck???" but in a decidedly good way. And I'm still kind of thinking about That even though it's been a while, which I think is a positive. Anyway, I don't think I'd recommend this as a starting place for anyone to read the Culture novels, or as a must read, but it was on the upper end of a three star rating.

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid. I wanted this to be more gothic horror and less romance and it ended up being more romance and less gothic horror, was my feeling. Not necessarily the book's fault, but if anyone else is eyeing it wondering...now you know.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. I really enjoyed this one! I was kind of skeptical going in - I'm not a big magic school person, as a rule, and the more I feel like something is hyped to me the more I tend to drag my heels about it - but Naomi Novik is really good at what she does and she clearly had a lot of fun here. It's tropey for sure, but I enjoy the narrative voice (very important, in a first person narration), and the action moves along with what I felt was pretty good momentum. The other thing I was worried about - that it'd feel too much like this was just ~commentary on/against Harry Potter~ without saying anything for itself - didn't materialize for me. I'm looking forward to reading the next ones.

The Monster Theory Reader ed. by Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. I'm so rusty on my academic/theory reading and I felt it reading this collection, some of which was definitely better than others. Kristeva's essay on abjection was particularly rough as far as "I'm reading words and I know all the words but something about the order they're going in is just not making sense to me." Overall...it was a decent primer? There were a few very interesting essays in there; my favorite might've been the one on tanuki in modernizing Japan's folklore, but there were a couple on "monstrous" bodies that made me wish I had someone to discuss them with. That's probably my main problem reading academic works these days: I want a seminar to dissect them afterwards and I just don't have that.

The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel. I'm trying to read something Jewish on Shabbat now and finally getting around to reading some Heschel after years of meaning to. I thought "oh, I'll start easy with something nice and short" - yeah, no, Heschel's got a very particular style of writing and there's a lot of theological depth packed into a very short volume. I'm looking forward to reading The Prophets, though.

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol. 5 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou. I think we're juuuuust about caught up now with the official translation to where I started reading the machine translation, so I'm very excited for (a) things I don't remember as well (b) reading it not in machine translation. Also looking forward to everything about what happened with Nangong Liu and Nangong Xu making more sense this time around, on account of not reading it machine translated, because I didn't follow it so well on my first read and I feel like I'm already doing better. (Though that could also be because it's a reread, no matter how different an experience of one.) Still feel real bad for Ye Wangxi, on so many levels. Mark that one down for 'characters I'd love to know more about what they're thinking.'

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang. I really enjoyed S.L. Huang's other work with the Cas Russell series, and I liked this book a little less than those. It felt like an almost winner, for me. Certainly I read through it quickly enough, and I can say I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I'd give it an enthusiastic recommendation. It falls somewhere in the middle between "a fun action/adventure story" and "something I can sink my teeth into" in a way that didn't quite satisfy either itch. Still, it did make me curious about the source material, which is one of the Chinese classics (Water Margin) and I might go and find a place to read that, if I can; if I'd had that background going in I wonder if my experience of this work would've been more edifying.

--

I'm currently rereading A Memory Called Empire so I can (finally) read the sequel (A Desolation Called Peace); I also checked out from the library the next two Scholomance books so I'll be reading those. I'm going to try to throw some nonfiction somewhere in there (maybe The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman, which I also have out from the library, but maybe something else), but I've still got the sequel to The First Sister sitting on my shelf (also from the library).

Outside of that I've got no big reading plans - I'm working my way through some of the unreads on my own shelf (despite what it may look like, about the library books) and eyeing The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky or a reread of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett so I can continue that series.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello, I read your recent post about plagiarism, and it’s sparkled my curiosity about an article I read some time ago discussing Hanihaki Disease, copyright, and plagiarism.

I'm familiar with Hanihaki Disease as a fanfiction trope. I've never read the manga by Hanahaki Otome, The Girl Who Spit Flowers, or the Korean webtoon by Bboong, Spring in the Heart, so I cannot attest for how similar they were and whether there was plagiarism or not. But I did read the fanlore page, which claims that the concept of a disease where the person vomits flowers because of unrequited love predates Hanahaki Otome's work, and its origin is actually unknown.

So, I'd like to hear your take on a concept as Hanihaki Disease being able to be copyrighted or not. And if a person would be able to publish an original work with a similar concept without actually having to acknowledge, ask permission, or pay royalties to Hanihaki Otome.

Thank you for your time, I really appreciate your blog so much.

Cliche That May Be Protected by Trademark

[oximora added: Oops! I mixed the name of the manga author Naoko Matsuda with the original title, Hanahaki Otome.]

I'm not a copyright expert (so my advice has no legal merit), but here's what I can tell you: concepts and names aren't copyrightable. However, when a concept or name is strongly associated with a particular source material, it can fall under copyright protection. And that's where the problem usually comes in. As an example, author Stephenie Meyer created a fictional group of ancient vampires called the Volturi for her Twilight series. She can't copyright an ancient group of vampires called the Volturi, but since she created the Volturi for her story and they are strongly associated with the Twilight series, the Volturi fall under trademark protection. You couldn't write about an ancient group of vampires called the Volturi without running afoul of trademark laws.

But, you could create a similar group of ancient vampires and call them something different. Like, maybe they live in Cortona and they're called Quelli Vecchi (the Old Ones, according to Google.) Or, maybe they're from a different European country all together.

As for the flower barfing thing, if you want to publish an original work, you probably don't want to do something as cliche as someone vomiting flowers due to unrequited love anyway. So this is a good opportunity for you to do some brainstorming and come up with something similar but different... something that's original and your own and doesn't make eyes roll because people have seen it a million times before. :)

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Dripping Poison

Author's note: Zaarius's debut in Space Marine Husbandry!

Summary: Zaarius has fun messing with a planet and a beleaguered Lamenter, without the Lamenter knowing that he's behind some of his Suffering. Then he lands on Ancient Terra and has some troubles with his poison. And some rude Scout Apothecary tackles him to the floor and tapes jars to his hands. Rude. At least he gets his issue fixed.

Warnings: Chaos Space Marines- Variant Slaneshi Emperor's Child. Poison, uh, let me know if I need to add more.

Tagged: @barn-anon, @bleedingichorhearts, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @egrets-not-regrets, @kit-williams

Tagged: @sleepyfan-blog, @whorety-k

Oh, to be a member of a warband of brothers, in service to the Chaos God of Excess has been truly a journey of the greatest highs and the worst of the lows he's ever felt in his life. He's from one of the war bands of Emperor's Children who don't meet with Father often, not as Powerful or Important as some of the other warbands, but they make do and have a couple of Daemon Worlds that they run, and he's just finished a mission to help seed more Cultists for the God of Excess.

It's fun to see how the pathetic mortals will crumple under his claws. How the poison gift that he was given, watered down, to nearly be ineffective becomes such a sought-after drug to the base line humans and Xenos alike. He's got a lot of resources- in terms of monetary, intelligence, and other things. Still, he's made sure to keep an eye on his people, after all, one never knows when one will be attacked- and someone will try to take more than they should, and he's far more than any can handle.

Still, stringing along that one particularly stupid Planetary Governor, with honeyed wine dripped with just the smallest touch of the poison that he drips from his claws. The poison of Carnality. He watches with a smirk underneath his helmet as he watches the guests at this part start to be affected by the Poison of Carnality, more than a few people will be indulging in Excessive Lust and Carnality in a way that will empower Slanesh.

It's so fun to drip that particular poison into the goblets of the Nobility and Highest politicians. As it's so delightful to see the way the fall out of such a thing happens. Blackmail, intrigue, scandals and other salacious delights. He's been sure to not poison the goblet of the Loyalist Marine. He's the sole one on this wretched planet, who's been fighting the incursion of those dreadful Orks, no sense of style or beauty, and they weren't a good source of material for worship and empowerment for Slaneesh.

Honestly watching the Golden Loyalist suffer and fight has been such a delightful symphony of Excess emotions. Watching Haggo? Haggie? Huggo? Hagiel? Hagiel He things, suffer and fight and try his bet to succeed as been very amusing for Zaarius, at turns he's whispered things to those around him to either help or hinder the younger Marine, and it very much depended on his mood and how entertaining Hagiel has been.

Finding out to his utter shocked delight that the golden marine is of Blood Angel stock, and not an Imperial Fist or one of their shout-y menaces had him doubled over cackling with laughter. This poor bastard has such bad luck it might be a curse. Also, helping the screeching member of the Pomposity- wait no Ecclisarchy evade Hagiel long enough to cause More Drama- which he so loves to watch and grin maniacally as he watches the other suffer. Such a delightful symphony of emotions in the populace and in the younger cousin.

Also, he'd been getting almost bored, until the fall out of the drops of Carnality bloomed beautifully with the scandals and how the base lines screeched and yowled and fought amongst each other, ignoring the threat that was more important as he whispered and inflamed a few people here and there and why, somehow, for some reason the entire planet erupted into civil war! Oh, what a marvelous thing to happen! What an ecstatic joke. Oh- his sides haven't hurt like that from laughing in centuries. That poor little Blood Angel Successor Chapter Space Marine, running around, ragged, hungry, and bewildered at how little sense Base Line humans make.

He does pout and sulk a little that the Loyalist had managed pull things together just enough that the inspection team didn't arrive to complete, and utter Chaos or chaos and disaster. Urgh. Ultramarines. So boring and dull. He's getting off this miserable planet. He's had his fill of fun, and his vacation time is over, time to go back to doing really work and more Chaos. Several months later he's fighting and something explodes, and he blinks, waking up and looking around with a frown of confusion as his eyebrows wrinkle as he doesn't recognize the planet that he's on.

After all, the planet he was on before was a swamp, and this is a forest. How strange, is he in a dream? An Illusion? Or something else? He's waiting to reform his body back into being in the materium, it's taking far longer than it should as he wanders from one part of the forest to another as he takes in the scenery. The plants are nice, and while he can taste the scent of pollution it's almost a pleasure world quality to the vivid colors of the plants and animals, as well as the diversity of them. He stops as he hears a call and turns, greeting a few of his fellow Chaos Marines with a cautious, yet cheerful greeting as he follows these cousins he doesn't know further in, to a Base.

Slowly he gets drip fed information, on where and when he is now, and he explains where and when he is from. Learning about… these 'bonds' sounds definingly like the Warp is up to Something strange, and potentially very suspicious. After all, why would the Warp tie a lowly base line human to a Space Marine? Why did it effect all kind of Space Marines? From Loyalist to Chaos, no chapter was safe, nor indeed, was any future Era safe from having Space Marines snatched from their original time to the here and now. Truly, what a strange and fascinating phenomenon. He's having quite a fun time, until his claws start to drip poison, and he can't stop it.

So, he heads to the nearest Space Marine Clinic, it's one that is mostly run by Loyalists, but needs must. He waits in the lobby and greets the Apothecary who's going to treat him. Before the rude, and giant fucker slams him to the ground and straps empty jars to his hands. He protests that he's not a threat and gets growled at. At least the Salamanders are swift on their approach to get the hot headed little shit off of him.

When asked for reparations he'd like the rude brat to apologize, or have his time stuck within the base doubled. They hem and haw and speak with the brat-apothecary and he's told he's not going to get an apology, but the length of time for the younger Space Marine being unable to leave the base is what he'd requested. Honestly, it was more his pride was hurt, than actually being damaged.

A different loyalist Apothecary was able to help him out with his issue. Apparently, he'd need to milk the poison from his claws occasionally, otherwise it would build up and uncontrollably drip out of his claws and the… concentrated form of the poison is the deadliest form of it. At least, he sighs, he knows what was wrong and how to fix it, he'll pass the information on to his other brothers who have that particular blessing of Slaneesh. The poisons are weaker in this Ancient Version of Terra, but still dangerous. So fascinating, yet so strange how things are so different, and yet the same in some ways.

[theoncomingchaos]

How MYATB fits the Gothic genre

WARNING: BOOK SPOILERS

Alright, first off, I know the author was not intending to write a Gothic romance, but it seriously fits the genre so well and I need to talk about it.

Here are the main elements of Gothic horror

Supernatural elements

Omens, nightmares, or curses

Unnerving Atmosphere

Gothic Hero

Gothic Villain

Romance

Emotional Distress

Mystery

Power Imbalance

Here is how MYATB fits the criteria.

Supernatural elements primarily come from the cultivation, the magic poison and flowers etc.

We see Huai'en having nightmares about the cliff pretty frequently, and the poison acts like a curse where the cold weather brings him pain. Particularly, the curses in Gothic horror often connect to the past. This can be ancient or recent, and this curse connects to Xiaobao's personal past.

In this story the weather is the main source of unnerving atmosphere. Winter brings physical, torturous pain, and if it rains at all during the several days it takes to perform the cure, then Xiaobao will basically be doomed.

A Gothic hero usually has some big flaw and struggles against some kind of temptation. For Xiaobao, his flaw is that he was spoiled, weak, and naive. He has never known pain, any time he had a slight inconvenience he could cry out and someone would immediately help him. So, learning to see the world as it is, take responsibility for himself, and fight through pain to do what he knows is right is a huge part of his journey. The temptation he struggles with is desire (lust/love). We see this in him proposing to multiple girls in one night and his frequent patronage to brothels, we see this in the way he throws himself onto Huai'en, and we see this in the way he struggles between his continued desire for Huai'en vs. all the hurt, guilt, and red flags.

A Gothic villain usually encapsulates the temptation that the hero has. They are often powerful, beautiful, and seemingly able to work outside of ordinary societal restrictions without fear or restriction. In a Gothic romance- this can be the/a love interest such as in Phantom of the Opera, True Blood, Interview with the Vampire or Jane Eyre. In love, they are often obsessive and controlling, they are liars (from omission or directly), and often have a dangerous side and/or secret. Huai'en is a powerful cultivator, he keeps his identity a secret for good reason, and he is canonically extremely beautiful. Especially in the book, he is a clear symbol of Xiaobao's weakness: he is both beautiful and lustful which early series naive Xiaobao would have thought was all that mattered in being the perfect partner. Although we know most of his worst traits come from his abusive upbringing and his youth, Huai'en absolutely fits the elements. He is obsessed with Xiaobao and extremely possessive. Xiaobao is the only thing he has ever wanted in his life and he is absolutely willing to take Xiaobao away against his will to keep him. His plotting where he attempted to protect the Jin family often included lies of omission because he was trying to control the situation himself. In both the book and series, he shows his violent side both on the battlefield and in bed. The difference here is that unlike many others in this genre, Huai'en is allowed to change and grow for the better and the narrative rewards this change. Eventually, he becomes more selfless in his love.

The romance is obvious. What is beautiful here is that the way they grow is not only perfect for their individual characterization, but it also makes them more suitable for each other. Xiaobao becomes someone who can be an equal partner for Huai'en, and Huai'en becomes someone who can genuinely love Xiaobao.

Both Huai'en and Xiaobao experience extreme emotional distress throughout the story. Xiaobao has to deal with losing his home and the guilt he has over hurting his family and endangering his friends. He has emotional distress over loving Huai'en and wanting to hate him for everything he has done. Huai'en has emotional distress from first discovering desire and his obsessive need for more love and closeness, the abuse and continued pressures of his adopted father, and then trying to get back with Xiaobao while being constantly rejected and pushed away.

The mystery comes primarily from the courtly intrigue. What did the Jin family do? What happened to Huai'en's mother? Who is his father?

The power imbalance between Xiaobao and Huai'en is obvious. Huai'en can and often DOES do whatever he wants to Xiaobao even against his will and Xiaobao can't do anything about it. Xiaobao originally thought he had the power via his money (and when he thought Huai'en was a woman) and coming to terms with not being the one in power in a relationship for the first time in his life is a big blow for him in the book. Xiaobao does gain power in the relationship, but physical power and even social status both leave Huai'en far above. Huai'en may leave behind his family name, but he is still the emperor's son, and the emperor still favors him as such. In the book, even Yuzhan still protects him within limits.

Anyway, looking through the lens of a different genre can bring some new perspective to a story and because I am a fan of Gothic literature, it just makes me love this story even more to see the connections. The book has some stuff that makes it VERY hard to read sometimes, and there are some moments that make you realize the author probably needs a bit more time to cook, but there is a lot of really nicely done narrative beauty in the bones of the story. I'm so happy to see how the series has taken these bones and elevated it. I really hope they stick the landing.

[jpitha]

Between the Black and Gray 24

First / Previous / Next

After her meal - Fen had no idea what the local time was yet on Minaren, so it could have been breakfast, lunch, or dinner for all she knew - she said her goodbyes to Zhe and told her where she was docked. "I'm leaving in a day or two, so come and find me before that if you want a job." Fen winked and Zhe's fur rippled a blush.

As they walked away, Fen wondered why she did that. Zhe was cute enough she supposed, but she was looking at hiring her, she probably shouldn't try and date a future employee. Besides, the hole in her heart Ma-ren left hasn't healed over.

Minaren was a beautiful station and the head of the K'laxi governemnt. What it wasn't was a good place to source a crew for a mercenary group. If Zhe signed on, that was still only one other person. The manual for her frigate - she'd still have to name it - said that a crew of four was the bare minimum for safe operations. Where was she going to find three other people who wanted to sign on with a new merc with a lot of money and not a lot of jobs?

Gord had mentioned that most stations and starbases had a Basement - not literally, but sometimes yes. The name came from an illicit bazar in the mainenance tunnels of an old human orbital in Sol that had been inhabited for millennia. Somewhere that people weren't and so the kind of deals that happened out of the prying eyes of the public and the authorities took place. Finding a place like that as an outsider was tough, but Fen had a few ideas.

She walked around a bit until she came upon a less developed section of forest. The deeper she went, the less she saw the uniform of K'laxi officials and more the plain clothes of people who saw Minaren as a job, or better yet, an opportunity. After about twenty minutes she found what she was looking for.

The dive bar had a sign that was hand painted in the raised and rounded K'laxi script. She pushed open the door and stepped in and waiting a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. The place smelled of spices and old frying oil and just a twinge of ethanol. K'laxi could drink alcohol like humans, but it didn't affect them the same way. K'laxi didn't get drunk like a human would, but alcohol would cause them to slow down and cool. Too much would induce hibernation. They were originally a forested mammalian type animal deep in their past and there is evidence that their ancient ancestors hibernated when food was scarce. Their planet rotated without a wobble and without a tilt like Earth, so they didn't have seasons per-se. Walking around, Fen could see ears slowly swivel to listen to her approach and some of the more 'sober' K'laxi glowered at her approach.

The bartender put down the mug he was drying - didn't matter where you were, there was always glassware to clean and put away - and in thickly accented Colonic said "Friend, I think you are lost." It was without malice, but it also brooked no discussion.

Fen smiled and flashed a toothy smile. The bartender unconsciously flinched as the aggression and his ears flattened. "Sorry my friend, I don't think I'm lost. I'm looking to get a glass of vikolen and nobody out there-" she gestured towards the more public part of the station "-seems to be able to make one worth a damn. Any chance you can help a girl out?" Once when a K'laxi trader had come passing through home, she had remarked how Fen's Gen'mil accent sounded thickly of the northern regions that her familial line originated from. Back on K'lax it was a source of derision for some. She sounded like a bumpkin supposedly. Fen knew as well as anyone how to turn that to her advantage.

At the rapid fire greeting and drink order in K'inmar the bartender's face flashed through at least three emotions. He went from the blank face of trying to steer a lost tourist away to surprise and then to suspicion. The only humans he knew that could speak K'inmar that well were in the intelligence corps and they did not order vikolen. It was supposed to be nearly undrinkable to most humans. Not poisonous, just bad tasting. "You want a vikolen?" He didn't even try and hide his surprise.

"Sure do. Haven't had one since I left home, and every time I tried to order one, I was told they didn't have the ingredients or that nobody ever ordered them. I figure here, on Minaren, I had better be able to get a classic vikolen." Fen's little show was gathering a small audience. Not even K'laxi ordered vikolen regularly. It was more a stunt cocktail that was for youths ordering their first drink on a dare, or for the elderly who took it as a tonic.

The bartender's tail twitched. "You know what? Fine. It's been a while since we had a show here. Two Stars, up front."

Fen took out the cash and laid it on the counter, and sat down. The bartender scooped up the money and reached under for a wood and stone mug. He dropped in some herbs and began to muddle them into the bottom while he hummed to himself. Fen smiled at the realization that he was humming the incantation to Olenar - the old god of drinks and celebrations. He was making the vikolen right. Fen joined in on the second verse when he added the spirit. The eldest in her familial line back home drank vikolen and everyone knew the song. The bartender flicked his ears in amusement, but didn't stop humming. Next was the alcohol, a clear strong liquor flavored with bitter herbs. Finally, clear water and a drop of blue Vik essence. He placed the drink in front of Fen with two hands, just as the song finished. "There. A vikolen my matriarch would be proud of. Be honored, friend"

Fen took the drink in two hands, as it was given and lifted it to her nose. As she brought it closer, the woodsy, bitter smell filled her nostrils. It reminded her of her Matriarch, Dem'iril as she would sit at the head of the long wooden table - one of the only things from K'lax they had - and she would tell stories to the kids, explaining the world. She took a sip.

The warmth spread down her throat and into her stomach. The bitter flavors activated the far back of her tongue, and she was able to taste the dryness of the drink. As she swallowed, she breathed in again slightly to get the afterflavors. She placed the mug on the bar and sighed happily. "Friend, you would make Olenar themselves happy with that draught. Nicely done."

The bartender stood back, his mouth slightly open. "Y-you drank it. You drank it like my matriarch."

Fen's head tilts slightly. "Of course I did. It was excellently made. It would be foolish to waste it."

At that, Fen turned. The patrons of the bar were all staring at her. One of them - a young kid, probably barely old enough to be in here - spoke up. "You're... not K'laxi in disguise, are you?"

Fen laughed, and that broke the spell. Everyone laughed along with her, including the bartender. "No, I was raised as an orphan by the Gem'mil line, far from here."

"Gen'mil?" One of the elder K'laxi at the bar and turned, his eyes rheumy from age and drink. "Gen'mil is a fine family, with an ancient history. They've fallen on hard times. It's a shame." His ears flattened.

"They will rise again, friend. It is the way of the world. Families rise and fall. So long as we still live, we will prevail." Fen took another large sip of the drink. It was even better the second time.

"Hah." The bartender's ears faced forward, and his fur rippled. "You may look human." He poked Fen's chest. "But you have the heart of K'laxi. You're always welcome to drink here."

"Well then, I think we celebrate the discovery of a new bar with a round of drinks for everyone!" Over the roar of the crowd, Fen reached into her pocket and took a fistfull of Stars out and slid them to the bartender. "Whatever anyone wants to drink, until the money's gone." She looked back at the crowd, and then to the bartender again. "Or until you think everyone's had enough."

The money disappeared and the bartender nodded. "Looks like I have my work cut out for me then. Excuse me." He stepped away to handle the flood of orders that came in. Fen sipped her drink again and smiled.

It turned out that it was already evening when Fen showed up, and the money lasted deep into the night. By the end, Fen was helping the bartender - his name was Ullen - with handing out drinks and singing along in the endless drinking songs that started up. She only had the one vikolen, the whole night, but that was more than enough. She felt light on her feet and floaty. The herbs were slightly intoxicating to humans when combined with the alcohol.

Late, late into the night, Fen and Ullen had chased the last of the stragglers out and he had gratefully locked the door. Fen was behind the counter taking another load of glassware out of the washer, and reading another tray of dirty glasses to wash. "Everyone's out?"

"Finally, thank the Ancestors. Thank's for the help, Fen."

Fen laughed. "Don't worry about it, Ullen. I caused the ruckus."

"Speaking of which." Ullen had a smaller, though still decently sized stack of Stars and he slid it to Fen. "This is what's left of your money, you gave me enough to have everyone drink free for almost three days."

Fen slid the money back. "Take it, Ullen. Think of it as an investment in your success... and also payment."

Ullen's ears swung back and forth. "Payment? For what?"

"Information. Can you tell me where the nearest entrance to the Basement is?"

Ullen crossed his arms and tried to look intimidating, but his tail swished back and forth, giving away his amusement. "I suppose you don't mean where I keep the extra Olenian herbs."

Fen said nothing.

Ullen sighed and walked over to the door, verifying it was locked. "Come with me." He walked behind the bar and bent down. He lifted up a slightly wet anti-slip mat and there was a silver ring inset into the floor. He pulled up and twisted at the same time, and there was a hiss and a square meter of floor rose up until it was two meters tall, supported my beams. A lift.

"You have an entrance to the Basement here? Come on Ullen. That's too much." Fen approached the lift, but did not step inside.

"I promise Fen, it's on the up and up. Honestly, when you first came in, I figured you were an out-of-your-depth merc looking for a Basement entrance, but I had no idea you were... who you are." His fur rippled again. "I promise, it's real. We've always been friendly with those... underneath. Head on down, and walk spinward. You'll come to the entrance. This week's code is "Tep'ra'fel is not immortal."

Fen's breath caught in her throat. "Tep'ra'fel was the K'laxi word for the Human Empress. 'The undeniable' was the most accurate translation. K'lax has been a vichy state of the human empire for nearly half a millennium. "That's... quite a codeword."

Ullen smiled with his teeth. "That's how you know it's a good one. If you're afraid to say it, you don't need the Basement."

Fen stepped onto the lift and it slid down into the floor.

[jeannereames]

Dr. Reames, a simple question from someone interested in history but who is not part of the academic world: in order to study Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece in general, how much Ancient Greek does one have to learn? Would you need to learn Demotic Greek or the many other dialects, such as the one from Macedonia? As in, you’d need to learn one or more versions of Ancient Greek?

Thank you in advance! I always enjoy your responses!

How Much Greek Do I Need to Read about Alexander?

It depends on how far you want to go…what’s your end-goal?

If you’ve no desire to make it a profession, the good news is you need very little Greek.

Most ancient Greek and Latin texts are available in translation in the major languages of (European) Classical studies: English, French, German, Italian. Now, if you want them in Polish, or Japanese, or Bengali, you’ll have more of an issue. But the Loeb Classical Library (and LOEB ONLINE) has English translations of virtually all extant (still existing) Greek and Latin sources, and if you’ve got access to a (larger) college library, they probably have them, even if you have to ask them to get things out of storage. Latin is red (PA6156); Greek is green (PA3612). Budé is the French version of Loeb, btw.

Loeb texts also have Greek and Latin on the facing page, but I mention them because they’ve got translations of (almost) everything. One can find cheaper versions without the Greek/Latin from Penguin, Oxford, et al. But those don’t have, say, Aelian, or Athenaeus, or the obscure texts of Plutarch’s Moralia. Loeb does. That said, the Alexander histories (Arrian, Curtius, Plutarch, Diodoros, and Justin) are all available in relatively cheap translations. Much earlier, in answer to a different ask, I listed our main sources on Alexander, extant and lost. It’s a longer read, but perhaps of interest.

(See below for more online sources in translation.)

So, no, you don’t need Greek. But, if you’re at least moderately serious about reading beyond pop history, you will want to learn a few Greek words to better “get” Greek sensibilities. Say, timē (τιμή), which means honor/public standing/esteem, but has all these attendant connotations. If you start reading the Serious Stuff (articles and academic books), authors will throw these around so it’s useful to know them, as they tend to carry an entire freight of meaning we don’t want to explain every time we use them. These are words I make my students learn in my intro to Greek History class (2510), so there aren’t many. (Undergrads put up with only so much, ha.) For Alexander, it’s also useful to know the Greek names of some units, such as the Somatophylakes (the royal Bodyguard of 7), or the Hypaspists (the specialist hoplite phalanx, not the same as the Foot Companions), or even the name of the long pike (sarissa). But you can make do quite well with a vocab of maybe 30± Greek terms.

It's only if you want to pursue research at the advanced (graduate) level that you’d need Greek. Even then, it’s mostly Attic Greek. The only time you’d need dialects is for quite specific study and/or epigraphy (inscriptions). Epigraphers are language specialists. Most of us, even the “pros,” don’t work at that level. But yes, if you’re getting into extensive examinations of passages, it’s good to understand the language for yourself, not have to trust a translation. Translations are, by definition, interpretations.

I hope that encourages some folks to embark on reading the original (primary) sources. Of more import for these is to understand HISTORIOGRAPHY. Even those who can read the Greek, but lack historiographic training, tend to take stuff at face-value when they shouldn’t.

Go HERE for a discussion of historiography (with regard to Alexander). Again, it’s part of a specific ask, but I explain why we need to know something about the historians who are writing our texts, in order to understand those texts. It’s another longer read, but essential.

Almost forgot! If you prefer video, I've also talked about the sources on TikTok: Part I: Intro & Lost Alexander Sources and Part II: Extant Alexander Sources

Some Useful Online Sources to Bookmark:

Perseus (at Tufts.edu): clunky as hell because it’s old (in internet years), but indispensable. English/Greek/Latin/other texts in translation and original language, plus all sorts of other tools, including an image bank. Pitfall: these are translations outside copyright, so old and sometimes problematic. Still, it’s free, and so-so much stuff here. Every person dealing with the ancient Med world has this one on speed-dial. (You can find other online sources with various texts, but Perseus has, again, almost everything; it’s the online Loeb.)

Stoa Org Static: a version of the original where you don’t have to sign in. Takes you to various super-helpful pages, including the Online Suda (a Byzantine encyclopedia you can search: look up “Hephaistion” there. *grin*) Bunch of other helpful links.

Wiki Digital Classicist hypertext list of topics ranging from the Beasley Library (of pottery) to the Coptic Gnostic Library and various online journals. Just click around, see what’s there.

Topos Text: clickable map of places which includes all references to them in ancient sources. So if, say, you want to know where X places is, mentioned in Arrian, you can find it on the map.

PHI Searchable Greek Inscriptions: I have used the tar out of this. It’s much easier than Inscriptiones Graecae, and comes with English translations.

More Online Resources: more links. This is just one of various collections out there.

Again, ALL this stuff is free. Even when you may have to pay (like Loeb Online), the amount of material you can now lay hands on even without a uni library is fantastic.

JSTOR: requires a subscription, but, if you’re a college student or can get access via a uni library, you can look up material for free. Problem: JSTOR has different subscription packages, and only the really big Class-A Research schools have large holdings for Classics. I’m regularly foiled in things I need, as my library is smaller. I use ILL (Interlibrary Loan) a lot. If you can’t get what you want via your school JSTOR or ILL, sometimes you can purchase a solo copy of an article via JSTOR Google Scholar. But (hint) always check the journal’s website itself. It might be cheaper there! (The Ancient History Bulletin, for instance, is super-cheap; check their archives. Karanos [Macedonia only] is FREE.) Same thing sometimes with books. Certain publishers have rental options, Open Access, etc.

Also Academia.edu first: Your savior…if the author is a member, and has uploaded the paper you want. We frequently face restrictions on what we’re allowed to upload, and when. Yet we may list an article we can’t yet release publicly. That doesn’t mean we won’t send it to you privately via email if you message us and ask nicely. 😊 Especially if you’re not providing an entire wishlist, or asking for a book for free. It depends on the person, and whether they have a PDF.

[yamayuandadu]

Hello, I am a person interested in folklore. I wanted to ask if you who Assur or Ashur is and what legends he has and if it isn’t too much of an issue, give some good sources on Mesopotamian myth and folklore as I can’t tell what’s real and what’s bullshit.

Probably the best overviews of Ashur’s character are still Wilfred G. Lambert’s short 1983 article The God Aššur and Grant Frame’s My Neighbour's God: Aššur in Babylonia and Marduk in Assyria.  If you can read German, Wiebke Meinhold’s Die Familie des Gottes Aššur is a must read too. The wikipedia article is actually quite in depth too now, a pleasant surprise - it used to be a nightmare.

Long story short, it is generally agreed Ashur started as a divine representation of the namesake city (or perhaps the hill on which it was built) and with time could become essentially whatever its political interests required; so, for instance, when his cult center turned from a city-state into the capital of an empire interested in military expansion, he gained warlike traits. His early character was fairly indistinct, and he had no signature epithets which would point at a specific sphere of influence, though.

While it’s par the course for ancient Mesopotamia to have gods essentially represent the political interests of their cult centers, this is particularly extreme in Ashur’s case because for a solid chunk of his history it’s hard to even speak of him as a personified deity. For example, the Old Assyrian texts from the trading colony Kanesh essentially make it difficult to tell when the god is meant and when the city. Regarding specific cities as numinous, basically divine, locations are not without parallel either, but rarely to such a degree. It’s possible he was initially depicted in art in non-anthropomorphic form, see here for some discussion. However, anthropomorphic depictions might be present on seals too, see here.

As a result of Ashur’s lack of personhood in early sources, he had very few truly distinct associations with other deities to speak of. Basically the only exception is the minor goddess Sherua, but it was already a matter of heated debate in antiquity how they are related to each other. There are also virtually no references to him having parents; no genealogical speculation centered on him ever developed before the emergence of a Neo-Assyrian trend of referring to him as self created (bānû ramānīšu).

The earliest evidence for a gradual shift towards making Ashur into a more standard deity, as opposed to a semi-personified deified city, are probably theophoric names. Additionally, rulers of the city addressed him as a source of their authority and presented themselves essentially as governors acting on his behalf, similarly to what their counterparts in Eshnunna and Der did with Tishpak and Ishtaran, respectively.

Further important developments occurred in the Middle Assyrian period, some 4-5 centuries later. The idea at this time was to essentially pattern Ashur’s character on Enlil. This is attested to various degrees for the heads of many pantheons on the periphery of Mesopotamia, you can read more about other similar cases here. However, in Ashur’s case this process was nowhere near as straightforward as sometimes claimed, as recently stressed by Spencer J. Allen in Aššur and Enlil in Neo-Assyrian Documents. For the most part, the two were effectively separate, even though Ashur did borrow Enlil’s titles, traits and even some of his relatives and servants.

Ashur generally doesn’t appear in myths. The only exception I can think of is that during the reign of Sennacherib there was an attempt to develop a rewrite of the Enuma Elish with Ashur taking Marduk’s role but it’s… well, an incomplete rewrite and nothing more. A pretty incoherent one at that according to Lambert.  Regarding your other question: I have a recommended reading doc linked in my pinned post, you can find it here.

[esotericfaery]

Advanced Asteroids in Astrology

For nuance in your chart, check your asteroids. Pay special attention to the

For nuance in your chart, check your asteroids. Pay special attention to the ones which are at the same degree as your planets. They will be more prominent than those which are most popular; Juno, Vesta, Ceres & Pallas. Also, those in your first house will speak specifically of your core identity.

To do your asteroids, go to astro.com and under extended charts, enter your birthdate. At the bottom, in the box on the right, you can enter the numbers associated with the asteroids you want to look for.

Lists of many asteroids are at

&

~

Following are a few examples from my chart.

~

Sun in exact stellium with asteroids Atlantis, Alma & Aegina = Deeply spiritual inner knowingness along with balanced ego power, as regards ancient civilization, ET's, new age groups, psychic abilities, abuse of tech., interest in Astrology, occult knowledge, etc. Prosperity in mediation. Highly protected.

This is a big one for me as it involves my Virgo Sun, and is in my 6th house of overall health and everyday routines. I tend to easily see through new age scams and cults, and without letting my ego get in the way, I'm able to help others heal from their harmful belief systems.

~~

Here's a deeply personal, strong one - Mercury, Saturn, Descendant & Vertex in exact stellium with asteroid Innanen = Restrictions within communications involving intense feminine powers of love, beauty and sexuality.

I have this in Virgo, within my main stellium (involving Sun & Moon) in the 6th house of health & the everyday, and as it's anaretic, it also has the energy of the 7th house of one on one interactions. This difficulty in communicating and mens fear of my energy has formed a common pattern in my romances. It's a big reason for why I'm now celibate.

~~

Asteroid Kleopatra conjunct Ascendant = How we project to the world our (mostly physical energy) through charisma, strength & authority, causing us to struggle to identify our flaws. Sometimes, as with everything in Astrology, this is energy which is projected towards us.

I have this exact to the degree, in Pisces, the sign of truth vs. Illusion. This is anaretic, meaning that it is essentially in both the 1st and 12th houses; a mix of the core selfhood with mystery & esotericism.

~~

Mars conjunct centaur Hidalgo = Assertive ideologies. Defending beliefs. Revolution. High principals. Highly energetic, constructive manifesting. Ambition. Domination. Defense.

I have this exact to the degree in transformative Scorpio and it explains a lot about how my Mars works. I've never identified much with the over-sexualization of Scorpio Mars which is propagated in pop Astrology.

~~

Asteroid stellium - Eris / Anteros / Phocaea = Sacred “marriage” between self and Source leads to divine intervention through chaos reorganized into loves longing returned, and influenced towards preservation.

I have this exact to the degree, in Aries, in its native first house. This makes it an important aspect, as Aries / the first house represent the the core selfhood. I don’t have any of the planets in my first house, and so in some situations, the aspecting asteroids there will have equal to greater importance than my planets.

~~

I include this one as I find that people underestimate the importance of the Galactic Center.

Galactic Center conjunct asteroid Leda = Abundant, delightful connection with divine consciousness. Luck in trauma release to make way for new path.

I have this exact in adventurous, happy-go-lucky Sagittarius in the 9th house of higher learning. It explains well my experiences with energy healing.

[catt-nuevenor]

Soap

I am about to get extremely nerdy and excited about ancient soaps. Consider yourselves warned, this is gonna be me getting giddy about tracking a plant through linguistic records, and botanical records.

All who don't want to geek out about this topic, I hope you enjoy your future scrolling and have a nice day. All who do, click the read more and join me down the rabbit hole.

So, soap.

There's an unfortunate belief that we in the modern period are the first descendents of the ape to understand the need of personal hygiene, sterilisation, and washing. This is wrong. We've understood dirt is bad for general health (as in food, water, and wounds) for thousands of years.

Allow me a few examples for the sceptical:

Galen, Hygiene Vol I, Book I. written between 165-175 CE.

And for those looking for something a wee bit older:

Unknown Author, writing style Sumerian dates to Third Dynasty of Ur, c.2158-2008 BCE. Page from Healing Hands by Guido Majno 1992

As Manjo points out in his discussion of this prescription, note the hot water as well as the beer.

I could go on, but I hope you see why I find 'all ancient peoples were dirty and only had a bath once a year,' an asinine statement. So, onto the 'Dark Ages'.

I needed to figure out what compound or substance the Lǽce, or medical practitioners in the story, would use to clean their hands after an examination. I've recently been looking into something of a plant 'shopping list' cross-referencing archaeological records and written records for what came to Northern Europe and when. Here's where I attempt to introduce you all to the term 'archaeophyte'.

An Archaeophyte is a plant that came to the geographical area or region of study before 1500 CE. Any plant that made its way to an area before this date, be with human intervention or without, falls into this category. A plant that arrives after this date is a Neophyte.

An example for the UK; Corn Marigold, Chrysanthemum segetum for all you folks who want to see me fight my way through Latin, arrived in the UK first in the Iron Age (in this context being about 940 BCE to 43 CE) as evidenced by archaeological finds, with later examples occurring in a Roman, then medieval context.

See Archaeolophytes in Britain, Preston, Pearman, and Hall for sources and more information

Right, so I've been constructing this list of plants I can use in the story. My rules are that it must occur in a Pre-Roman context North of Frankfurt, Germany, and West of Warsaw, Poland. The reasoning for this ruleset is too complicated to go into in this post, so just try and accept this as my baseline.

I started to go through this list this morning, looking for a plant that could be used for cleaning hands in a medical setting. I looked at Yarrow to begin with, it being an Archaeophyte for the area with archaeological evidence dating back to the Neolithic period (10,000-4,500BC) in the context of feasting at stone henge. It has limited scientific write up, but there is some evidence to suggest that it has antibacterial properties, anti-inflammatory properties, and may help with the staunching of wounds (see Medical Plants, Simmonds, Howes, and Irving 2016, Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, and Culpeper's Complete Herbal modern edition edited by Steven Foster, 2019).

So far so good, but not in anyway perfect. Then, while flicking through one of my books to locate yet another entry on yarrow to triple check my notes, I skimmed past an entry for a plant called Soapwort. To say I sat and stared at it dumbfounded for a while is an understatement.

My first thought was that the suffix 'wort' was a very good sign. 'Wort' comes from the Old English 'wyrt', which basically means a usable plant, be that edible as food, used in dyes, or applied in medicine. However, Old English speakers are infamous for making new compounds up of familiar elements to suit imported objects or ideas.

What I should have done next was to look up the etymology of the word 'soap', but I didn't. Instead, I went running back to the 'Archaeophytes in Britain...' article and did a ctrl F search for the Latin name, 'saponaria officinalis'. As soon as I typed it in, my heart sank.

Soap - Saponaria

That's a little too close for comfort, implying that the names were not only related, but likely came from the Old Latin, indicating that I was dealing with a re-emerging Roman export. Briefly, the Anglo-Saxons, the speakers of the Old English Language, came to the UK sometime in the 400s CE, after Rome withdrew. There is a marked dip in Roman culture, architecture, goods and especially language in this time, indicating some think, that the Roman settlers were not widely integrated with the Brittonic peoples. Latinised, or Late Roman, culture and influences do not really re-enter the UK until the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons some time later. When it did re-emerge, the Latin was favoured in academic contexts over the Old English, and for this reason I choose to use the Old English as a good waypoint for pre-existing features.

Back to the article on Archaeophytes. There is no known record of soapwort in the UK before the 1500's CE. However, it is found in Germany and Poland as a 'native' species, meaning that it predates 1500 CE, and reached the geographic area without human intervention (this can be discerned through where a sample is found, for example bog or wetland pollen deposits, or ancient forest remains). This slots it nicely into my 'can use' category.

It was only at this point that I decided to look up the etymology of 'soap'.

Soap <- Sope Middle English <- Sápe Old English <;- Saipá Proto-Germanic <- seyb- Proto-Indo-European

Which rather made all the fussing I did about Roman and Latin mute. -_-

The Anglo-Saxon's called Soapwort either leáþorwyrt or grundsópa by the by, meaning literally lather wort and ground soap.

The plant Soapwort contains large amounts of Saponin (about 20% when flowering, according to Wikipedia). This produces a lather when in contact with water, and basically breaks down various cell membrane components. That's about as far as my limited grasp of biochemistry leaves me high and dry, I'm afraid, but hopefully you get the idea.

In short summary; the Lǽce in the story can literally use soap, and I should always look up etymologies before I go traipsing through academic papers. Hope those who made it this far found it interesting!

Photo Credits to TeunSpaans Wikipedia

[agentrouka-blog]

My favourite thing when anons want to stir trouble is that like, inevitably they have consistent misspelling habits which mean you know exactly who it is sending repeat asks. So unself-aware.

Anyway, I do think there is a balanced path between the text and what the author says. GRRM's comments about Sansa are about as light as they could come. I love when people want to ungenerously frame the debate as if she's tantamount to Tyrian or Daenerys, come on. Girl took a steak knife to see a drunken knight in the godswood. The most harm she's going to inflict is driving Jon crazy with the incest. I'm trying to be lighthearted here.

Anyway, Rouka, what's your opinion on author vs. text? How much is too much, relying on the former? On the other hand, with the Daenerys is a tragic hero fandom, there's a lot of outright twisting of the text. Does relying on the author's comments provide some clarity or just make the conversation harder, since one would want to reason based on the text? Thank you for your time and your graceful handling of us terrible anons 🥰

(The posts referenced: one and two)

(I'm chronically bad at recognizing these individuall spelling patterns. Unless they make it obvious, every anon is a newborn dawn to me.)

Hello and thank you!

For me, the actual text of the books should always be central when it comes to actually analyzing the books. (You know. Obviously.) Interviews can be nice, but should be absolutely optional to any of it. If you NEED an interview to support your position, you're not analyzing the text.

Perhaps I am biased because I can't be bothered to follow GRRM interviews, let alone dig up ancient ones - unless I am feeling especially motivated.

But also, most of the time we don't have a lot of good context for GRRM's quotes. How exactly a question was phrased, what direction the conversation went before it, how distracted or rushed was GRRM when answering, how likely is it he actually managed to get across exactly what he meant, and how easily can it get twisted around? Who edited and published it? Worse, did it go through a translation process?

Take the "Aragorn's Tax Policy" quote that still has people frothing at the mouth. People hear him mention Tolkien and lose all sense of nuance. No, he's not describing how his endgame king will be elected on his tax plan. He's giving context for parts of ADWD. That's it. Still people wail about what an evil hypocrite GRRM supposedly is because Bran was crowned king in the show without a single published treatise on his taxation policy.

Same with some commentary on the show, specifically Dany with Drogo. I've had people in my Inbox arguing for Rhaegar/Lyanna because GRRM is obviously okay with adult men preying on teenaged girls based on that interview. Which... you know, actually read Dany's chapters? Please?

The books, on the other hand, were not blathered out in a hurry. They are not a commentary on a text, they are the text. A labor of many hours of writing, editing, rewriting and more editing. They are complete and fully intentional in their form. They are the message.

So, while I admire how someone who knows what they are doing is able to create a brilliant body of supporting evidence on book content by compiling quotes in a meaningful way, often with good sources and context - looking at you here, @kellyvela - these lovely metas should never be considered necessary to understanding the text, and they should certainly neither replace nor supercede it. They augment the experience of it.

Knowing GRRM approved on the Meereenese Blot essays is nice.

But you don't need to know them, nor what GRRM thinks of them, in order to arrive at the same conclusion.

Knowing GRRM agrees with the statement that "Brienne is Sansa with a sword" is nice.

But you need never have heard of that quote in order to understand the similarities between these two idealistic, dutiful female characters.

He called Tyrion a villain, which is nice.

But you can arrive at that same conclusion by reading the books.

On the other hand, you can take one quote about the Key Five Characters from a decades-old outline that deviates from established plot in multiple significant instances, and then try and justify dismissing the importance of other characters. You just need to ignore the published text in order to do it!

So I just can't take that anon seriously when they gesture wildly at some quote about Sansa while ignoring the way it's entirely contradicted by the actual body of the text.

And if some members of the fandom have a habit of very selectively reading the text then this makes their analysis suspect, so what's really the point of arguing with someone who isn't really interested in analysis in the first place?

If "she burned a slave alive" or "she is ordering her servant to please her sexually" or "she condons torture even while she knows its useless" or "she ordered the murder of children" isn't going to convince them, an interview snippet isn't going to do it, either.

[basuralindo]

Do you mind sharing some of those shops, so our pals can dress their ocs without risking cultural appropiation for the new twst event? Thanks and if you don't want to, it's fine 🤝

Hi, thanks for the ask! First off I would like to clarify that I am local but not native, meaning I grew up in Hawaii but am not indigenous Hawaiian, so I can answer this but not as any kind of major authority on Hawaiian appropriation. Just to be transparent about your source here. (Also keep in mind I grew up on one single island, and the culture varies somewhat from island to island)

I can list some shops, but if you're worried about appropriation it's important to know that you'll find the most offensive and appropriative stuff in tourist shops, so I'm gonna start with a short list of things you'll find and should avoid first:

•Tiki shit. -These are actually an important Hawaiian tradition tied into the religion that has been exploited all to shit. There's still some casual or ironic use of tiki aesthetics by locals, but it's better as a visitor to just not. (There's a kinda Okay and Not Okay division of this, and you can tell by context and artstyle and shit, but I don't know how to reliably describe it)

•Hula paraphernalia. -Coconut bras are a costume, they've never been a real Hawaiian thing, they're literally just some bullshit aesthetic made up by and for haoles. Grass skirts are very occasionally used in hula, but not even a common material for hula skirts in the first place. But also, hula is a very important aspect of Hawaiian culture that should not be used as a costume in any form anyway. This includes haku leis (different from the classic flower lei, flower leis are ok), and any hula instruments (Ipu gourds and basically anything with red and/or yellow feathers, for a start). (Also, jokingly 'doing the hula'? Obnoxious.)

•Traditional Hawaiian tattoo art. -First off this is different from other ancient Hawaiian art (which can be its own gray area, but less dicey), traditional tattoos are very deeply important and have specific meanings, often related to ancestry and aumakua (think like, ancestral spirit animals). There is a lot of nuance here, and there is some stuff stylized off of traditional art that's widely sold, but again it's a nuance that I cannot easily convey and it's safer to just not do it.

•Hawaiian warrior paraphernalia. -If you ever go to Hawaii, you'll see a lot of charms and necklaces and graphic prints of Hawaiian warrior helmets, Hawaiian warriors, and boar tusk charms, Just Don't with these.

Also, special note on Luau: Tourist "luaus" are a very common attraction, and a likely event for tourists to go to. They are also immensely exploitative, white-owned, and culturally insensitive.

Anyway, clothing: It's good to remember that Hawaii is a US state, and we actually have a lot of the same brands and stores as the mainland united states (though living in the mainland, I've come to realize that the stuff we have is mostly west coast brands/companies) and we mostly wear a lot of common american clothing. So your OC would have access to a lot of common american clothes + aloha wear. The easiest way to avoid looking like a dick is really for the OC to mostly wear stuff familiar to them but suitable for very humid weather in the 75-95°f range, and whatever kind of beachwear they'd prefer. As you can see with the twst boys, they're actually mostly wearing beachwear or chino pants (which are a typical tourist choice, not a local style) and aloha shirts (a style developed in Hawaii through a mix of cultural influence and immediately marketed to the mainland by the creators, so not sacred and totally okay to wear), accented with straw hats, flowers, and a lot of beaded jewelry commonly sold but not culturally significant.

[Casual clothing]

We mostly wear shit like jeans/shorts/boardshorts and tshirts/tanktops/hoodies depending on the weather. It's common in Hawaii to wear beach clothes all over the place, like boardshorts and bathing suit tops/shirtless outside, and throwing on a tank top or tshirt indoors or more public areas like the mall. And most footwear is slippers (flipflops), closed shoes are worn but not as common for casual day to day. In general locals just, aren't as weird about exposed skin and the existence of feet as a lot of westers cultures? Like bare feet and sandals are normal, short shorts/crop tops/bikinis/shirtless guys aren't something to ogle at, they're just everywhere. Same with tattoos.

Some common local brands/local favorites: -Maui Built -Hurly -Quicksilver/Roxy -Local Motion -Billabong -Skate brands like Zumies are also pretty popular -American Eagle is really popular specifically with gay guys and christian girls, do with that info what you will

-You'll find a lot of popular tourist stuff like straw hats, souvenir beach towels, souvenir jewelry, and aloha print accessories at places like ross and walmart, as well as tourist centric shops like abc stores and whaler's village. With the exception of the problematic shit I listed, these things are typically inoffensive, but can be tacky. Basically you would be immediately clocked as a tourist, but you're not doing harm.

-Aloha shirts are sold in most clothing shops, and come in various levels of quality and formality. Higher end aloha shirts come in silk or imitation fabrics, relatively thick woven, are well fitted, and usually have less loud patterns (think Azul's shirt), and can be considered formal or business wear. These are something that would be appropriate in any office, weddings, fancy dinners, shit like that. More causal aloha shirts tend to be boxier cut and lighter fabrics like cotton, they have louder patterns and are often worn untucked or open over a tanktop/tshirt/bare chest (like Jack, Ace, Lilia and Floyd).

-Floral print dresses in light fabrics and various styles are really common for women, and often worn by tourists. These are usually longer, like at or past the knee but not floor length. The top worn by Riddle and the way it's styled is a woman's fashion mostly worn by tourists and haole women who moved to the islands. I can't remember seeing any local girls wearing these, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

[Accessories]

-Hats: Straw hats are usually worn by tourists, though some locals will wear them too (usually women at the beach, most men I've met will wear them ironically if they do at all. But ironic/satirical fashion choices are very common and get incorporated into outfits all the time). Women's hats are round with wide flat brims (Lilia, Riddle), mens are usually more fedora shaped (Ace). Floyd's looks like it's a pork pie panama hat, which is one of the most expensive hats you'll find, and referential to old timey gangsters, especially with the white shorts and aloha shirt combo. (I used to work in a hat shop sorry). Anyway most locals will wear flat brim baseball caps made of thick cotton with no mesh. Some people wear the curved brim mesh ones, but they're usually older people or white.

-Jewelry: This varies a lot, there's a few really common things that you see all the time, and the rest is usually combinations of Japanese and American fashions incorporated to individual tastes. Tourists almost never wear local jewelry styles and most jewelry worn there is a mix of modern Japanese and American styles that vary widely by individual preference. Tourist jewelry tends to be high end gold and silver stuff with Hawaiian themed motifs like sea creatures (turtles and whale tails being the most popular, then tropical fish, sharks, and octopus), tropical plants (hibiscus, plumeria, monstera leaf, bird of paradise), pearls (especially Tahitian black pearls), and mother of pearl or abalone pendants/earrings. And on the cheaper end there's the kind of wood bead and simple cord + charm bracelets (Jack) and shells or shaped clay beads (Riddle, Lilia), simple cord necklaces with shark teeth or metal charms (surfboards, sea animals, the like) and sometimes clay or steel beads, cheaper pearl necklaces, and toe rings. Things to avoid would be any motifs with warrior helmets, gourds/feathers, tribal print, and tikis. Bone or steel fish hook pendants are very popular with local men, and I personally find it weird to see on tourists because it feels very much cultural, but I haven't actually heard complaints on it, so I'd love it if anyone else wants to weigh in

-Side note on Ace just because I find it interesting: His braided leather belts and bracelets are actually referential to a popular style up the mountains that comes from the Paniolos, Hawaiian cowboys originating from Spanish influence who predated the cowboys of the classic American West! It started out as simple Spanish style plaited leather belts, then spiked in popularity in the 70's as part of a western clothing trend that still remains in fashion leather goods today. Hawaii still has some cattle ranches and historic cowboy towns with the original storefronts and everything.

-Pareos/sarongs are popular bathing suit accessories and I haven't heard anything about it being an issue. Again, avoid the problematic motifs listed earlier to be on the safe side.

-Sunglasses are a free for all, I buy all mine at ross but the popular brands I mentioned usually have their own lines. I see thick black brims (think oakleys) most often with locals, aviators are less popular. Oakley and Ray Ban are probably the most popular high end brands for locals?

-Footwear: As I mentioned earlier, most footwear is open toed slippers, these come in a variety of styles like the classic rubber slipper, sturdy foam ones like Scotts brand (a lot of these have bottle openers in the sole these days), and fancy leather ones like Olukais that can be worn with nice clothes. Also my personal favorite are the platform foam slippers which range from 1-6 inches in height that a lot of local girls wear. People wear closed shoes/boots about the same way the rest of america does I think, just less often? This includes dress shoes and heels for fancy settings. Popular closed shoes for locals are skate shoes and canvas chucks, I don't know if puffy hightop sneakers are still a thing anymore. Tourists often wear boat shoes(?) and similar kinda low cut light material styles.

-Leis and flowers: People gift leis for celebrations like graduations and weddings, sometimes greetings after long trips, but nobody wears flower leis as a casual style. Some men (usually in sales and guest services will wear kukui nut leis as part of their business attire, but it's not streetwear. There are also specific lei for hula that you just shouldn't wear. If you wanna put your OC in a lei go for floral, the most common tourist leis are purple orchids. Women will often wear flowers behind their ears of they feel like it, pretty much any variety. They also sell these foam-clay plumeria flowers on bendable wire stems in a variety of colors to wear behind the ear which are a fairly common accessory and super cute imo. Aside from that, people don't wear flowers often, the piles of flowers on their hats and shoulders in the promo art is not really a thing in Hawaii, like at all? And definitely not fruit. Nobody wears fucking bananas and mangoes, Ace looks like a clown.

-Important note on that though! The belts, bead necklaces, and floral shoulder things may potentially be referential to other pacific island cultures that I am not familiar with. I'd encourage you to do more research on those, as they may very well be appropriative (again, I don't recognize them and cannot say one way or another. I don't even know for sure about the fruit). I'd start with checking Tongan, Samoan, Filipino, Okinawan, and Indonesian traditional clothing to start with.

[Rich people clothing]

This is something that I don't have much experience with because I'm not rich, and tbh most locals aren't either. There's a massive wealth inequality issue in Hawaii, so there's a million high end restaurants and clothing stores and jewelers, but they're mostly exclusive to rich tourists, the people who can afford to move and buy land there, and their kids who are typically kept separate from the rest of the community.

-The popular Hawaiian Jewelry brands I know of are Na Hoku and Maui Diver's Jewelry. But in general I think the best source I can recommend is to check out the Shops at Wailea website and see what brands and styles they offer.

Aaand that's all I have energy for, I hope it's helpful. If any other Hawaii locals wanna add on that'd be awesome!

[deathlessathanasia]

Hi! I hope this doesn't come across as weird, but what are some common pitfalls of Greek mythology retellings? Trying to do research on the topic and your blog has been a really good look at discussion about the myths. What makes something a poor retelling in your view?

Honestly, I don't really feel qualified to say what makes a retelling good or bad, since I've personally disliked many retellings that others found great and even enjoyed some others found terrible.

Still, without getting into personal preferences and pet peeves, I'd say that a poor retelling is one that does not engage with the source material, but just uses the names of well-known figures in a story that isn't connected to the myth it is supposedly retelling in any meaningful way. An example of this would be Radiant Sin by Katee Robert, which is advertised as a modern retelling of Apollo and Cassandra but which, names aside, has nothing whatsoever to do with the story of Cassandra or any of its themes; just a pretty generic boss-employee romance, a vaguely murder mystery plot and tropes like fake dating and forced proximity.

Ultimately it's all about being aware of the ancient sources for the myth, understanding the story's themes and, you know, actually doing something with them. Changing things is fine, in fact I think there is little point in a retelling that changes or adds nothing, but if an author finds themselves changing almost everything then they should probably just write an original story with original characters because at that point we're no longer talking about a retelling and calling it such is simply inaccurate.

[konigsberg]

would you consider (if you havent already) making a rec list for books/authors/poets/etc? your breadth of classics knowledge and the source material you draw inspiration from always intrigues me.

I'd be happy to, but I think I might (accidentally) give the impression of being more familiar with a lot of these things than I actually am haha.

I'll focus on classics or classics-related recs, but there are some things I'll throw in here because, even though they aren't classics (or classics in the sense I think you probably mean, as in directly related to ancient Greece etc.), they've influenced what I’ve written in some way. I should also be clear, I haven’t read all of these things, sometimes only pieces, or they’re things I’ve been meaning to read and keep putting off but people might be interested in. And I’m definitely not an expert. I’m not properly educated on these topics, so I’m not sure if anything I include might be considered a bad resource by someone with a background in this field.

Also, as I was putting together this list… I was gawking at the prices of so many of these. Like 90% I grabbed at my local secondhand bookstore and I would encourage anyone interested to try to get these used (Thriftbooks is an online store to look at if you don’t have a good local store, though I’m not sure where all it ships to) or from a site like Project Gutenberg etc. Libraries are always good too, of course (some might be on Archive.org, which is a place where you can check out books online). I may be able to help you find ways to get your hands on some of these sources if you’re struggling to find it.

Fiction

Aethiopica by Heliodorus (tr. Moses Hadas) - An ancient Greek novel. “The Aethiopica tells the story of an Ethiopian princess and a Thessalian prince who undergo a series of perils (battles, voyages, piracy, abductions, robbery, and torture) before their eventual happy marriage in the heroine’s homeland.” Summary from here.

An Oresteia (tr. Anne Carson) - Carson’s translations of Aiskhylos' Agamemnon, Sophokles' Elektra, and Euripides' Orestes. Literally anything Carson touches is gold, please just read everything translated or written by her here, even if you’ve read other translations. “After the murder of her daughter Iphigeneia by her husband, Agamemnon, Klytaimestra exacts a mother's revenge, murdering Agamemnon and his mistress, Kassandra. Displeased with Klytaimestra's actions, Apollo calls on her son, Orestes, to avenge his father's death with the help of his sister Elektra. In the end, Orestes is driven mad by the Furies for his bloody betrayal of family. Condemned to death by the people of Argos, he and Elektra must justify their actions ― or flout society, justice and the gods.”

Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources by Stephen G. Miller - All about the concept of arete. Exactly what it says on the tin.

The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece by John J. Winkler - Another that’s exactly what it says on the tin. “For centuries, classical scholars have intensely debated the "position of women" in classical Athens. Did women have a vast but informal power, or were they little better than slaves? Using methods developed from feminist anthropology, Winkler steps back from this narrowly framed question and puts it in the larger context of how sex and gender in ancient Greece were culturally constructed. His innovative approach uncovers the very real possibilities for female autonomy that existed in Greek society.” (My friend has another book from this collection (?) called The New Ancient World, which I want to get if I ever actually… finish reading this one. But that one is called One Hundred Years of Sexuality, I think, and there’s another called Games of Venus, which also looks very interesting so I want to mention them.)

The Golden Ass (Metamorphoses) by Apuleius (tr. E.J. Kenney) - This is another that feels like it might go without saying, but whatever. This is where the story of Cupid & Psyche is told. If I understand correctly, this is the oldest (surviving, and possibly only?) extended account of Eros & Psyche’s myth, though art of the two appears much earlier so I assume Apuleius was drawing from older sources. “Written towards the end of the second century AD, The Golden Ass tells the story of the many adventures of a young man whose fascination with witchcraft leads him to be transformed into a donkey. The bewitched Lucius passes from owner to owner - encountering a desperate gang of robbers and being forced to perform lewd 'human' tricks on stage - until the Goddess Isis finally breaks the spell and initiates Lucius into her cult.” Actually, this is the physical copy I have and I got it just because I really wanted a physical copy, but I haven’t read it. I read a version for free online years ago when my obsession with Cupid & Psyche first took shape and I… have no clue who translated that one. But, well, here we are. You can definitely find this on Project Gutenberg, probably by a different translator, though.

Greek Fictional Letters (edited by C.D.N. Costa) - “This book explores a relatively unfamiliar and under-appreciated area of Greek literature: imaginary letters written between about 100 BC and 500 AD. Many of them are light-hearted and funny, and describe the lives of ordinary people--fisherman, farmers, courtesans. Others look at more serious and philosophical aspects of life. All the letters are translated, and the notes offer help to both expert and less informed readers.”

Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides (tr. Anne Carson) - Carson’s translations of the plays Herakles, Hekabe, Hippolytos, and Alkestis. “Herakles, in which the hero swaggers home to destroy his own family; Hekabe, set after the Trojan War, in which Hektor’s widow takes vengeance on her Greek captors; Hippolytos, about love and the horror of love; and the strange tragic-comedy fable Alkestis, which tells of a husband who arranges for his wife to die in his place.”

The Iliad by Homer (tr. Robert Fagles) - Do I need to include this? I’m including this, if only to say this is the translation I have.

Medea by Euripides - This is, of course, the play depicting what happens when Jason attempts to remarry, betraying Medea. I can’t find my copy right now to specify which translation, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it anyway (the translation, not the play to be clear). Here’s a copy on Gutenberg.

The Odyssey by Homer (tr. Emily Wilson) - Again, just noting this is the translation I have more than anything.

The Voyage of Argo: The Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes (tr. E.V. Rieu) - Covers Jason’s quest. You can find various translations for free on Project Gutenberg.

Nonfiction

The Black Andromeda by Elizabeth McGrath - This is a paper about Princess Andromeda’s race and how it has been depicted throughout art and literature. It’s relevant to the Aethiopica and how it handles or fails to handle race.

Burial customs, the afterlife and the pollution of death in ancient Greece by Francois Pieter and Louise Cilliers - A research paper covering exactly what it says it does. I haven’t read much of this even though I really should and the parts I have read are so, so interesting.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece by Carlos Gómez - General history.

Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay by Anne Carson - All about love as the ancient Greeks conceptualized it. I beg you all to read this. This is the one I’ve posted a bunch of my notes on to twitter. “A book about romantic love, Eros the Bittersweet is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with, "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her," Carson examines her subject from numerous points of view, creating a lyrical meditation in the tradition of William Carlos Williams's Spring and All and William H. Gass's On Being Blue.”

The Gardens of Adonis: Spices in Greek Mythology by Marcel Detienne (tr. Janet Lloyd) - I haven’t read much of this, but I know I need to. “Rich with implications for the history of sexuality, gender issues, and patterns of Hellenic literary imagining, Marcel Detienne's landmark book recasts long-standing ideas about the fertility myth of Adonis.”

Granddaughter of the Sun: A Study of Euripides' Medea by C.A.E. Luschnig - I’ve also been posting screenshots from this as I read it because it makes me super unhinged. All about Her… “By looking at aspects of Medea that are largely overlooked in the criticism, this book aims at an open and multiple reading. It shows that stories presented in the drama of 5th century Athens are not unrelated to human beings who actually exist.”

Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion - “This collection challenges the tendency among scholars of ancient Greece to see magical and religious ritual as mutually exclusive and to ignore ‘magical’ practices in Greek religion.”

Portraits of Grief: Death, Mourning and the Expression of Sorrow on White-Ground Lêkythoi by Molly Evangeline Allen - Someone’s research on funerary vases. I haven’t read much of it, but I came across it while trying to find other info and it looked interesting.

Poetry

Ovid: The Erotic Poems (tr. Peter Green) - Ovid is a Roman poet, but I think his work might be of interest. “This collection of Ovid's poems deals with the whole spectrum of sexual desire, ranging from deeply emotional declarations of eternal devotion to flippant arguments for promiscuity.”

Ovid’s Poetry of Exile (tr. David R. Slavitt) - More of Ovid’s work.

Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works (tr. Diane J. Rayor) - Please… Please… any translations of Sappho you can get… read them…

Miscellaneous

Desire, Discord and Death: Approaches to Near Eastern Myth by Neal H. Walls - Obviously not Greek, but I feel like anyone interested in ancient mythology about queerness, love, death, and sex would find this really interesting. “The three essays presented in this volume reveal the symbolic complexity and poetic visions of ancient Near Eastern mythology. The author explores the interrelated themes of erotic desire, divine conflict, and death's realm in selected ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythological narratives using contemporary methods of literary analysis. Topics include the construction of desire in the Gilgamesh epic, a psychoanalytic approach to 'The Contendings of Horus and Seth', and gender and the exercise of power in the stormy romance of Nergal and Ereshkigal.”

Erotism: Death and Sensuality by Georges Bataille (tr. Mary Dalwood) - I haven’t read much of this and I know based on Bataille’s fiction (my man was really on some shit)… this is sure to be really unhinged. But it’s all about life, death, religion, and sex. “Bataille challenges any single discourse on the erotic. The scope of his inquiry ranges from Emily Bronte to Sade,from St. Therese to Claude Levi-Strauss and Dr. Kinsey.  The subjects he covers include prostitution, mythical ecstasy, cruelty, and organized war. Investigating desire prior to and extending beyond the realm of sexuality, he argues that eroticism is ‘a psychological quest not alien to death.’” I feel like… there probably needs to be trigger warnings for this one, but who knows what lol. This is actually the main book I’ve been using to help me learn French too, which is… a choice on my part for real, but that’s getting really off topic.

[gemsofgreece]

How did the Ancient Greeks and the Byzantines each celebrated Christmas? (Or winter in general 😅)

Christmas started being celebrated on December 25th in Rome in 336. The Roman Empire split for good in 395 so I am just gonna go with how the Byzantines celebrated Christmas. Not many surviving sources remain but I found on Quora the answer of Eleftherios Tserkezis, who apparently has a master's degree in Byzantine history, so I am essentially giving you his answer as I doubt there is more informative souce easily available.

Quoting parts from Eleftherios Tserkezis's answer on Quora:

"Christmas was always a major feast. The church of Constantinople originally put it on par with Easter and Epiphany, and later counted it among the twelve great feasts after Easter. Various liturgical elements proved its prominence — 40 days of preparatory fast (though less strict than the Great Lent), vigils, a pre-feast period longer than any other etc. Hymns and sermons focused on the meaning of Christmas for salvation and the paradox of the incarnation. According to a 12th c. source, Christmas mangers were sometimes set up inside churches with real boys playing the role of Jesus, although conservatives disapproved.

Things on the street were more colourful and vibrant. Roads and houses were cleaned and decorated with rosemary and myrtle. Children, and sometimes adults too, would go from door to door playing the flute and pipe, and singing Christmas, New Year and Epiphany carols. Those were folk songs, quite different from the solemn, high-minded church hymns, but not without their own taste and value. They often included lines in praise of, and containing wishes about, the families they were sung to. The singers expected treats or some other form of payment and wouldn’t leave without receiving it. Sometimes, the singing continued until the evening or night.

Sources also attest to secular, even dissolute celebrations. The twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany were a chance for relax after the fast. Teases and pranks were common. Some people would wear costumes and roam the streets having fun, as if it were the carnival. Their disguises were often provocative — nuns, monks, animals or satyrs. Mockery of institutions such as the emperor or church was not uncommon in Byzantium, and the authorities themselves were particularly lax on holidays. Chariot races were also held on Christmas day, usually in the emperor’s presence. The church didn’t condone any of that, but couldn’t do much.

The menu of the day included meat, which could be beef, goat, hare, bird etc. The winter pig was also slaughtered around Christmas, depending on the exact local tradition. In the middle Byzantine period, on December 26, the Byzantines prepared and gave each other a syrupy delicacy known as lochozema. Made of flour, semolina, honey, herbs, sesame, nuts and cinnamon*, it was normally offered as energy booster to women who had just given birth. Its association with Christmas is obvious, although the church stressed that the Virgin Mary didn’t go through regular puerperium. People need to feel familiarity with the divine.

Christmas was also important for the imperial ceremonial. According to Constantine VII’s De cerimoniis (10th c.), the emperor went in solemn procession from the palace to Hagia Sophia, where he joined the patriarch and attended the divine liturgy. All the way, he heard acclamations, wishes and stereotypical verses about Jesus’ incarnation from the people and chariot racing factions. Later, there were official receptions and a banquet at the Hall of Nineteen Couches, attended by officials and foreign emissaries. Christmas was considered a good opportunity for promotions and the official coronation of new emperors, which couldn’t take place on any day.

Not even Muslims were excluded from the banquet, and extra care was given so as not to serve them pork.

PS: A lot of the above sound quite familiar to modern Greeks, especially those living in the countryside — archaistic carols, carnival-esque acts, the slaughter of pigs."

The adoration of the magi, the second major iconographic type of the nativity in the post-6th c. period.

I used bold text for the customs that are still the norm in Greece, the ones Tserkezis mentions to be familiar. Perhaps several of them are also preserved in other Christian Orthodox countries but I can't speak on their behalf with certainty.

*Although lochozema is not a thing nowadays, the traditional Christmas delicacies like Melomakarona share the same ingredients in their majority.

I am giving you the link to his full answer in which there is also information about when major cities of the east adopted the December 25th as the celebration of the Birth of Jesus, Byzantine hymns translated to English and then the personal testimonies of two visitors participating in the imperial Christmas feast, that of Liutprand of Cremona and Yarun ibn Yahya (both from the 10th century). He provides also more iconography and modern recordings of Byzantine Christmas hymns although unfortunately those links didn't work for me.

[quillswriting]

Project.ties Worldbuilding - Vampires

Vampires are a main part for the project.chronicles series of novels, starting with my project.ties novel (first novel of the series).

Origins

Vampires originate from ancient Mesopotamian times during the time of Sumer in the Middle East. Åse, the eldest daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, and her younger brothers Marcus and Dominic turned seven Warlocks into the first Vampires. These seven became known as the Original Vampires, more commonly called the Seven Sins.

Each one of them were carefully chosen by Åse from their coven of Warlocks by their main traits which she knew would be exaggerated by the spell used to turn them.

Each of the Sins, being created from magic and due to them originally being warlocks, each have magical traits specific to them and general traits from being an Original Vampire - most notably having six fangs, the typical four canines + the nearby incisors turn into canines as well.

Some of these Sin specific traits get passed down through their lineages - but the further from the source the less truly magical the Vampire is.

Sins’ Role in the Story So Far

The main Sins that are introduced early into the series are Lord Greed and Lady Lust who control the Vampires in North America and South America respectively. The rest of the Sins have their continental land claims throughout Eurasia and Oceania but don't interact with Aiden much at all until much later in the series.

Typical Vampire Abilities

A normal Vampire has enhanced speed, strength, stamina, and healing capabilities when compared to a human. They are more enhanced than the Shifters but still lacking when compared to more magical races like Demons.

They're weakened but not killed with sunlight, it's an irritation and can cause their healing capabilities to ‘stutter’ in a way that means their injuries may not heal properly the first time.

Beheading and ripping out their hearts will kill them, though general damage to their head and heart will kill younger and weaker vampires as well. Older vampires, especially those closer to the Sins, will be able to withstand a lot more damage to them without stopping.

For example, a young vampire might get stabbed through the heart - a stake or otherwise - and permanently die. An older Vampire can take the same damage and may not even flinch it.

Vampires in the first few generations after the Sins can actually be decapitated or have their heart ripped out and still survive for at least short periods of time before dying - with the potential for an ally to heal them/put them back together before they die.

Biology

Vampires of the Sins’ lineages cannot biologically reproduce and have children. Most can turn others into Vampires and continue their lineage though. Progenitor Vampires, or Sire Vampires, are Vampires that have turned others. Most authorized Sires in the modern age are at least several hundred years in age and guide their Progeny, or Fledgling, through an introduction to their new life. The Sire is responsible in full for all of the Fledgling's needs and anything that they may do that goes against the laws put in place.

It is revealed during the first novel that there is one lineage, not of the Sins, that can biologically reproduce. There are few of them and they keep hidden.

Laws & Rules to Govern Them

Vampires fall under the Kingdom of the Dead, one of three kingdoms that fall under the Empire of Hell. The Empire is ruled by Emperor Lucifer Morgenstern and Empress Lilith Morgenstern. Their three children together - Åse, Marcus, and Dominic - rule over a kingdom each, though Åse has been locked away for nearly a millennium and her two younger brothers have been keeping an eye on her kingdom. Since there is no direct ruler over the kingdom, the Sins as a council report directly to Emperor Lucifer and Empress Lilith and laws are passed down through the Sins from them.

That's a good amount of information on the Vampires of project.chronicles! Lemme know if there's anything else or if there's any questions about what I've posted! This has all been living rent-free in my head, and this is one of the first times I've actually written out a lot of this information.

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