i like great ladies, grey morality, nbc thursdays, the ocean, flying at night, self-designated villainesses who write their own stories, myths with twists, queens cracking under public masks, enmeshed siblings, self-fulfilling prophecies, eyebrows, bodies as cages/weapons/political symbols/vehicles of worship, the decemberists, fashion as identity performance, regina spektor, jeffrey eugenides, imposter gods, spy vs. spy couples, amy poehler, joseph campbell, noir lighting, and sarcastic people with sharp cheekbones.

lost at sea

sure:

devidsketchbook:

ECHOLOGY

Artist Mathilde Roussel - “Resonances between human body and vegetal are suggested by filling with plant elements, scientifical jars labelled with human body parts. The living ingredients inside the jars change and metamorphose though time. Dew, milk, pollen, sap, branches, grass, bark, etched glass jars. Exhibited at Anatomia Botanica, Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art, Nashville, US.”

[previously “lifes of Grass”]

what to wear when…deïanira (Δηϊάνειρα).

i, to my grief, will bring about [my husband heracles’] ruin. that very arrow, i am certain, wounded cheiron, a god; and it destroys whatever creature it touches. the dark blood which flowed from nessus’ wound contained that poison. oh, how can it not kill heracles? it must! and yet i am resolved, if he should fall, to perish with him in the selfsame onslaught. one who takes pride in being good by nature will not endure a life marred by dishonor.

Will Graham: this is my *~feelings~*

“what to wear when” posts: 400-? 

FIND POSTS 1-399 HERE.

FIND ALL THE POSTS HERE.

find my personal favorites here.

i’m predictable so you’ll notice some themes (water, feminism, (usually but not exclusively greek) mythology, historical figures, fairy tales, armor, shakespeare, bodies as cages and means of escape, fire, war, the bible, birds, colors, fierce ladies in general, etc.).

#400: mariner’s revenge
#401: queen midas (13)
#402: modern sirens
#403: modern sirens (parthenope)
#404: modern sirens (teles)
#405: modern sirens (ligeia)
#406: modern sirens (leucosia)
#407: modern sirens (aglaophonos)
#408: modern sirens (raidne)
#409: eddis
#410: modern sirens (molpe)
#411: plagues of egypt (blood)
#412: plagues of egypt (frogs)
#413: modern sirens (peisinoe)
#414: modern sirens (thelxiepeia)
#415: little red riding hood as her own wolf (10)
#416: sea-wife
#417: lightning
#418: plagues of egypt (gnats and lice)
#419: plagues of egypt (wild beasts)
#420: queen midas (14)
#421: polka dots (sexy)
#422: plagues of egypt (infected livestock)
#423: plagues of egypt (boils)
#424: plagues of egypt (hail)
#425: immured queen (1)
#426: plagues of egypt (locusts)
#427: plagues of egypt (darkness)
#428: plagues of egypt (death of the firstborns)
#429: lady k’abel
#430: queen midas (15)
#431: penelope
#432: school bus
#433: antheia
#434: hel
#435: finishing a book
#436: tiger
#437: shark
#438: masquerade
#439: eleanor of aquitaine
#440: circe
#441: winter murder
#442: firebird
#443: fairy tale fruit vendor
#444: yemanjá
#445: girl with flowers in her eyes
#446: cinderella
#447: photographer
#448: maenad
#449: jasmine
#450: margaret d’anjou
#451: put on a pedestal
#452: lady trieu
#453: literal
#454: hervor
#455: string-cutter
#456: amanitore
#457: athlete
#458: thumbelina
#459: infectious color apocalypse (2)
#460: cacia
#461: olga of kiev
#462: titania
#463: grendel’s mother
#464: boardwalk
#465: clodia metelli
#466: khawlah bint al-azwar
#467: devil’s lieutenant
#468: thetis
#469: mai bhago
#470: bridge burner
#471: fredegund
#472: rán
#473: cold hell
#474: saulė
#475: stavronikita
#476: julie d’aubigny
#477: persephone (gif)
#478: orpheus/eurydice (gif)
#479: lady macbeth (gif)
#480: helen of troy (gif)
#481: candle-wax woman
#482: lucrezia borgia
#483: candle-wax woman (gif)
#484: nun in space
#485: aïda
#486: deborah
#487: ariadne/minotaur sequel
#488: timycha
#489: weaponized hair
#490: bastet
#491: storybook cobbler
#492: vashti
#493: immured queen (2)
#494: rhodogune
#495: lagertha
#496: stage curtain
#497: glaistig
#498: apple of discord
#499: color apocalypse (3) (gif)
#500: modern sirens (gif)
#501: nzingha a mband
#502: little red riding hood (11)
#503: ching shih
#504: battlefield raven
#505: needle in a haystack
#506: comfort
#507: cynisca
#508: violin
509: gráinne ní mháille
510: assassin wife (2)
511: maude
512: frontier sheriff
513: aslaug
514: queen midas (16)
515: cannibalistic spider
516: tam-lin
517: qetesh
518: last day of school
519: aušrinė
520: matilda of canossa
521: infectious color apocalypse (4)
#522: caterina sforza
#523: little red riding hood (12)
#524: daisy buchanan
#525: jeanne de clisson
#526: old west madame
#527: bainikha
#528: didda
#529: sword being forged

what to wear when…being forged. she is a weapon smelt from iron into steel. the sword’s maker tapers her shape. fire turns her pliable. metal has a curious magic to it. it comes brightly alive when touched by flames or battle-blood. during her whole transformation, she glows brighter than the coals below her. she is hammered into efficacy. hot tongs clench her neck. a song of clanging anvils echoes through the forge. she spits out sparks. they crackle orangely in the air and dim and hit the ground. her soft ore torso is rimmed with sharper metal edges. she is quenched in a water barrel. she sputters, stunned by the cold, quick change. deprived of the fire’s life, the blade becomes brittle. but once tempered, she takes back her strength. the smith grinds her smooth and nicks intricate inscriptions on her skin. she is cleaned, licked slick with oil, and handed to her owner. the leather wrapped ‘round her hilt creaks under his grip. his fingerpads press pale grooves in it as time passes. she marks him right back: she rubs blisters on his skin. the weight of her in his scabbard wears a red dent in his skin. with her, he thrusts and cuts and lightly slices. she works precisely but with might. she is sturdy but springy. when faced with strain, she flexes and faithfully protects him. his chainmail jangles against her metal. each day, he slips her in his sheath like a reverse wedding ring. she is a truer wife to him than the girl he married. that girl, that kind-eyed girl, that girl with the ringlets spilling over her collar, has never seen him fight. she has never seen him speckled with someone else’s blood. it is not his wife he clings to in frozen ditches and scrubs clean after battle. she knows him thoroughly. he knows her too - knows how she feels clasped in his hand, knows how to move and dance with her just so. she was made from earth, baptized by fire, and now births the blood of her owner’s enemies. birth and death; taking life is giving life; it’s really all the same. death gives life to those the slain man might have killed if left alive. death gives life to every cause fought for by her owner. death gives life to maybes-what-ifs. she kills men to make myths. sure, sometimes dragons win and princes go crispy. sometimes poison apples are eaten. but if she and her owner win just once, a cruel kind of mercy occurs: hope will be given life in every needs-a-hero heart. death gives life to her too: if he’s killed or if she breaks, mud will swallow her splinters and she will never again have purpose - what fate could be worse for someone so cleverly, intentionally tempered? someone created only to be of use? but then, the same could be said of her owner too, of her owner and his enemies, of queens, dog-fleas, and peaches? and so she lives for the intimacy of killing. she kills to live and lives to kill; it’s really all the same (requested by bewarethejabberjay).

post 529 of an infinity-part series