Wanted To Do A Silly Drawing Of Them, The More Sad Ones Will Definitely Come Later When We Know More

Daisy Buchanan was as guilty of romanticizing the past and idealizing a mirage of a person as Gatsby was. If she was his American dream, he was her road not taken. And people jump all over her. She did not intend to kill myrtle. If anything, myrtle was tom's casualty as much as the rest of this was. I see people call Daisy a slut for cheating on her husband when like. He'd been cheating on her in multiple cities and was a horrid racist. His affair with myrtle caused her husband to beat her so violently that she ran into the street seeking help and yes we can judge Daisy for driving drunk but if you look at her within the narrative she's never in control, never given much agency, she's always at the whims of a man. And this makes her deeply unhappy. Gatsby had been poking the bear, so to speak, since the moment he revealed that he knew Tom's wife. Then he continued to antagonize him and push Daisy to break it off and proclaim that she never loved tom. This forces Daisy into the very awkward meal where Gatsby continues to push this issue though she is obviously incredibly uncomfortable, and both men continue to force her into the middle of this conflict when she makes it clear that she doesn't like this. She leaves in a state of distress. You can read her choice to drive in this state as her finally putting herself in the driver's seat of her own life, as finally trying to take control even if this is misguided. The alcohol here can harken back to earlier themes of opulence and extravagance coming back to haunt the characters as it all comes crashing down, out of control and destabilizing.

Daisy drove drunk. Daisy killed myrtle. But myrtle wouldn't have been in the street if Tom hadn't had an affair with her, Daisy wouldn't have been driven to an affair with a romantic idealized symbol of her past if Tom hadn't been so horrid, and Daisy would not have driven drunk if the fight with Tom and Gatsby hadn't occurred.

Daisy put herself in the driver's seat of her own life and killed myrtle. Her one time of exercising some control, and she accepts terrible consequences likely without ever knowing the truth of things. It's no wonder she made the passive choice to stay with her husband after that. Anyone in her position might feel that was a punishment for seeking what she wanted and at the very least she may have had her illusions about Gatsby shattered

So I decided to read Book of Bill and managed to finish right before the countdown ended

Important Facts about Lughnasadh from an Irish Celtic Reconstructionist

Spelling and Pronunciation

OI. Lughnasadh (Loo-na-sa), sometimes spelled Lughnasa or Modern Irish Lúnasa. Not to be confused with other harvest festivals like Lammas.

Dates

Most reconstructionists celebrate Lughnasadh on July 31st - August 1st from sundown to sundown by the Gregorian calendar, while others choose to celebrate the transitional period between the months as they would have been by the Julian calendar (about 13 days later by the Julian calendar).

Traditionally this festival likely would have happened as the grains were ready for harvesting or possibly even when the wild bilberries were ripe (as some scholars mention that if the grains were not ripe they would still preform a ritualized ‘first harvesting’ but it is possible this tradition came after the festival was firmly tied to a calendar date.)

Importance in the Mythos

In the mythologies it is well documented that this festival coincides with Lugh’s funeral games in honor of his foster-mother Tailtiu, known as Aonach Tailteann. In the mythologies she is said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agricultural needs. The first documented instance of Lughnasadh in the mythologies was in the Wooing of Emer, Tochmarc Emire, which makes sense given the importance of marriages at this time of the year. It is not known specifically but widely speculated that the curse of the Ulstermen by Macha took places at the horse race for this festival.

In later time periods it is common to see a form of struggle, normally between the ‘protective’ forces and ‘destructive’ forces. The modern equivalent being the struggle between Saint Patrick and Crom Dubh but this is likely a reflection of an early struggle between Lugh and Balor (which I previously mentioned in my info-dump on Bealtaine).

Celebration Traditions

Aonachs, funeral games, have (to the best of our knowledge) been a custom in Ireland since the bronze age and were practiced on and off into the middle ages. They had both personal and community functions and occurred in three stages. Stage one was the funeral proceedings themselves. They would last one to three days, likely depending on the importance of the individual in question. Mourning songs and chants were participated in by both the attendees and the Druids. The second stage was for proclaiming of laws. Aonachs were a time when universal piece between túaths was declared. The third stage was that of Cuiteach Fuait, games that tested mental and physical abilities. These games included the well known horse and chariot races, wrestling games, boxing, high jumps but also competitions in strategy, singing, story telling and between various skilled craftsmen.

It was incredibly common for marriages to be arranged and preformed during this festival. More well known ‘trial marriages’ (lasting a year and a day) were still preformed at this festival up until the 13th century. It is likely that the coupling occurring at this time of year had an effect on the relationship to births seen at Imbolg (which falls 9 months later).

MacNeill, a leading scholarly expert on the festival, notes that a ritualistic bull sacrifice was made at this festival and the bull would then be eaten. I could not find any definitive evidence to support the idea, but I think it was likely that bulls in general would be culled from the herd at this point in the year to supply the feast.

Art credit @ire-ethereal

Some phantom pen scribs from my sketchbook 🥀⭐️🌙

Two Irish words I find interesting, found out about them in the book Thirty Two Words For Field by Manchán Magan :

"Iarmhaireacht - the loneliness you feel at cockcrow, when you are the only person awake and experience that existential pang of disconnection, of not belonging" "Díláthair - (...)the abscense felt when something or somewhere has been depopulated or destroyed by other human beings."

Norris: “I lost someone I love </3 and they came back wrong </3 </3”

Chester: “do NOT GO TO THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE DON’T GO TO THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE DON’T GO TO THE MAGNIS INSTITUTE YOU WILL DIE DO YOU HEAR ME DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE”

Norris: “sometimes I can still hear his voice”

Tá Aimsir Dracula buailte linn a chairde

I feel like Putrice and Rancilda are really clumsy in human form, and because of that they both fell down the stairs at least once at the ball.

I bring you… my silly little comics. Saw a tik tok this morning about British Museum recognizing emperor Elagabalus as a trans woman 🏳️‍⚧️, and I just had to draw this.

Talking to people who aren’t REALLY into classics sucks sometimes bc it’s understandable enough yk, acquired taste and all that, but also it’s like I SWEAR I’m not being pretentious by saying my favourite novels are Frankenstein/Dracula/Les Misérables THEY GENUINELY ARE 😭 IM GENUINELY ATTACHED TO THE CHARACTERS AND GENUINELY HAVE REREAD THEM MULTIPLE TIMES (except for Les Mis. I am… still not finished my first read it’s a long-ass book ok man leave me be) AND IM GENUINELY EXTREMELY ARTISTICALLY INSPIRED BY THEM ALL IM SORRY I am but a simple history nerd who genuinely likes reading about old men with psychological problems and almost-human-cryptids that are metaphors 🙏🙏