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Hatice: You only care about Hürrem!

Suleyman: That's not true

Lullaby Luli (Hürrem):

Oy U Hayu Pry Dunayu (Hürrem):

Cihangir Ninni (Hürrem):

Nenni Desem Uyurm'ola (Hatice):

Nanourisma (Kösem):

Howard Stark:

In the 90s they were more badboysh and kind of “nice” high schools “asshole jokers”. People used to be really into jily and blackinnon. James used to be the “bad boy gone good” and annoying jock who kept asking Lily out

In the 2000s they looked like the came out of an emo band and looked cool and “rock and roll”. All cigarettes and leather jackets kind of style.

And now they are more secure about their masculinity and sexuality and are seen as open minded and activists in social problems. Now wolfstar is everywhere and basically canon. People have new views on Jily and see it as a healthier “friendship to relationship” and less “the guy who annoyed a girl into dating him”

I have had this poetry book in my bookshelf for a long time and I was excited to finally read it. There are actually a lot of poems about Persephone as well as a few about Demeter which I decided to include because they are relevant. 

I like this characterization of Demeter. For context, I am stopping to write this as I have been reading the book through and in general I have enjoyed Gill’s characterizations of the goddesses. Her interpretation of Hera really grabbed me, so I’m not surprised that I am continuing to like what she has to say.

The poem book has a few quirky details to it. Sometimes it straightforwardly tells interpretations of myths, sometimes it involves the author’s perspective by either talking to the gods or musing on the modern applications of the ideas of goddesshood (like here), and sometimes it tells stories of the gods in the modern day. All of these have been enjoyable to me. The book is structured in five parts: primordial goddesses, Titans, Olympians, monsters, and mortals. It kind of goes chronologically but all poems about a certain god are grouped together so we’re starting with Demeter, moving to Persephone, and this section will ultimately end with that modern day thing.

Gotta say, I love the idea of Demeter and Hestia being specifically close. That’s how I write them as well. There’s something both companionable and contradictory about their domains that leads the way to this idea. Even though Hera is a mother too, her focus is so much on marriage that the motherly vibe doesn’t exist in the way it does with Demeter (feeding the earth and also being a single mom) and Hestia (childless and single but family-focused).

The Demeter-Zeus connection here is super vague. Was it rape? Was it a union he abandoned to marry Hera (that’s usually my take)? Interesting.

Hestia going into the underworld! That’s a first! Also, love the characterization of both Persephone and Demeter here. I’m feeling a little like Gill glanced at my homework on this conversation.

GOOD ENDING. Clear thesis! Well reasoned. Love it. A.

This poem to me is the weakest so far. It’s really just a threat and honestly, kind of weak one. Demeter, all living things die though. You need a better argument. I understand the necessity for this poem in the collection, but it needs work. I only really like the first stanza. (This is turning into a writing critique somehow. English teacher in the summer vibes I guess) 

I like this interpretation of Persephone a lot. I always feel like one of the best things to lean on about her story is the idea of her wanting her own thing that isn’t just a redundancy with her mother’s power. 

I specifically like the idea presented here that Persephone always had this darkness and death power that just lay dormant and was suppressed by her mother. That really adds to her motivations and connection to Hades. Sometimes I see a different take where Persephone still cares deeply about having her own thing but she brings light and joy to the underworld, which I think is also fine as long as you go about it in the right way. The musical “Mythic” is an example of it not being handled entirely correctly but there’s some good there. 

Yo, okay! This one is really good. As I was reading I was skeptical of the galaxy simile (why would Hades, a dude who never sees the sky, make this comparison), but the payoff in the following lines was choice! The connection to freckles and destiny? Nice. Also, rattle? Death rattle maybe? Yeah. I’ve done that in poems too. 

Ignoring the actual writing, good Hades you got there. 

Simple, but fine, I guess. It’s not saying much that we don’t already know. From a writing perspective, I kind of want to red pen some of the words to make them more. Like “golden meadows” could connect to “ichor” better and “happiest” isn’t the superlative that I would have chosen when you look at the ones preceding it. 

Character development! I like it. 

There was more art in these pages but this was the only one I seem to have a picture of. Enjoy.

Backwards Hadestown vibes on this. Spring is getting shorter? Obviously a climate change thing. I am fascinated by the detail about Persephone not having kids. I very much go back and forth on the idea of whether or not I like Persephone and Hades having kids. I have always kind of liked the idea that they can’t have them (either because one or both of them are infertile or because nothing can be created in the underworld), but this idea is super new to me and I like it!

Hades running a dog shelter, otherwise his job remains the same? Excellent. I also love the detail of why he loves dogs so much. That was very clever.