These Are The Children Of Ereshkigal, The Dark-eyed: Ninazu, By Gugulanna Heaven's-Bull Namtar, By Father

These are the children of Ereshkigal, the dark-eyed: Ninazu, by Gugulanna Heaven's-Bull Namtar, by Father Enlil who sits enthroned in state Nungal, by the queen of the dead and the dust of time that keeps her secrets. These are their titles. Ninazu, city-god, Enega and Ešunna, death-and-life through vegetation and the shadow of the never-never in his blood. Pitiless mace of war, dying and rising serpent-friend. He will suck the poison from your wounds. Namtar, inexorable. Right hand of the sinister, mouth of hell's crown, messenger of An and Ereshkigal and Nergal. Commander of demons whose very name breathes a plague, unfaltering fate, dutiful minister of his mother's court, Death who is the issue of the Dead's All-Mother. Nungal, the neck-stock, the dusty threshold bolt, the screaming lock, the fanged river of ordeals. Rebirther, reformer, who dwells in the mountain where Utu rises. Hers is that corner of the underworld man can return from reforged, the house of dust and shadows where a broken man sheds his old skin or wears it as burial shroud. Goddess Prison-Warden, her mother's daughter in the realm of men, radiant hope and beautiful despair, cool water of compassion on fevered brows. Hear their names in the bellow of a bull, in the snarl of a dragon, in the tolling-bell tones of their mother and as soft as crematory ash. They sit on the borderline like ravens on a fence, silent dark eyes and subtle croaked secrets, twilight-and-dawn owls, young-and-old serpents. Poison and healing, life found in death. Fear. Learn. Become braver for it. Ereshkigal, for deserved awe of you and your children, may your names be marked by the black-headed ones.

Her name is hidden in the words spoken and the history lost to time She manifests in the writer’s ink and the count of the years Her body is the pen and the page and all the tools of the scribe Dua Seshat Dua Netjeret ink Sd-nTr.t

Dragon merch, hand-bound books/homemade ink/homemade quills, Ferraro Rocher. I will also accept soft and fluffy items, and any food or drink with ginger or lots of spice as a major ingredient.

If You Were A Deity

What would you want people to give you as offerings?

I’m still upset about Momo

…And it’s not about her outfit.

Okay so like.  I caught up in bnha recently, and it’s great and fun and much better than your run of the mill shonen. The characters are great and engaging, and all that, but I just want to make a comment about my gal momo:

And like, I know the subject of her outfit has been beaten to death, and that is definitely one of the things that pisses me off because it’s 100% designed to sexualize a 15-year-old, but that’s not even what has pissed me off the most.

It’s not even Mineta’s lecherous actions during the Tournament Arc, or even that stupid pointless cheerleader scene.

That’s all run of the mill genre grossness, and I hate it but it didn’t piss me off nearly as much as her internship:

For all intents and purposes, this is probably the most benign form of sexism Momo’s dealt with so far, but it struck a particular chord with me…and I honestly think it’s far more insidious than the more blatant displays.

So, basically, at the start of all this, Momo is reeling from a blow to her self esteem after the tournament arc, and signs on with a well known Pro Hero, Uwabami, for her internship. However, she and the other intern are quickly brought into Uwabami’s glamorous lifestyle, acting as PR people and background props in her commercial.

This is the first female-female mentorship that we see in an entire series about mentorship, and I was sorely, sorely disappointed.

I work in a male-dominated field, and let me tell you it is not a compliment to be told:

“Yes I know you’re smart and capable, but I don’t care. I hired you, first and foremost, for your pretty face.”

So here we have a brilliant 15-year-old girl, who is already struggling with her self-confidence, brought under the mentorship of a powerful and influential woman. And instead of creating a situation that would help foster these students, it’s instead communicated that none of their efforts really mattered. That it matters most that they look nice, and put on a show. And it’s played off as a joke, as though this is the way things are and it’s hilarious that Momo should hope for anything other than that.

The fact that it’s a female mentor figure sending these messages? It’s like a kick in the teeth.

And maybe at this point it seems like I’m hounding on a small plot point, and it’s true that I had an intense rush of empathy for Momo due to personal experience, but I think that here lies the core issue with sexism in BNHA. The concept of, “Yes you’re smart and capable, but I only hired you for your pretty face” is the recurring theme with almost every female lead.

Do any of the female characters get seriously beaten and battered in conflict, to the extent that we see happening to Deku? No.

Do any of the female characters have to face inner demons and potential darkness like Iida? No.

Do any of the female characters struggle with physical and emotional abuse like Todoroki? No.

Heck, do we even get to see any of the girls being outright bad, and portrayed with the same villainous inclinations we see in Bakugou? No.

Even in the tournament arc, the girls are more often pushed out of bounds, rather than suffer the heat of battle. And I know that Ochako has a moment to shine in her fight with Bakugou, but that is the first and only chance we really get to see her or any of the girls in that capacity. 

All of their character arcs are short and sweet, dealing with simpler issues of self confidence and image. We, as an audience, are not allowed to see them as anything less than cute, pretty, and pure–both physically and in their ideologies. They aren’t allowed to suffer from murderous rage, or be seriously injured, because that would sully that perfect image.

In other words, as interesting as they are, they’re literally only there to fill the space. They’re only there to look at. They’re fascinating characters, but underutilized to the point that it’s hardly worth praising as ‘progressive.’ 

Basically, the theme of the female characters of this series is:

“Yes I know you’re smart and capable, but I don’t care. I hired you, first and foremost, for your pretty face.” 

On Happiness and Home

Lady with grain stems caught in her hair, Lady with strong hands for kneading dough, Lady with strong arms for the dough-shovel, Lady with sun-darkened skin and oven-fires caught in her eyes, Lady whose finery is a worker's tunic, Lady whose perfume is sweetwort and honey, Your voice is the music of flowing beer, Your laughter the chuckle of a clay bottle. Come home from your circling dance around the fire, Passing hand to hand and lips to lips! Come home from the young lioness's roaring tavern, From the kissing of wounds, from the heat of the sun. Ninkasi who gladdens the heart, come home! You are expected, awaited, beloved. Your strong hands have browned like good bread in the sun, And they slide over the pale skin of a fine noblewoman. Her milk-pale skin like fine holy linen, Her slender arms like slim reeds full of grace. Fingers calloused from the churning dough-shovel Twine with long digits like fragile spiders, Graceful ivory combs that spin long hair into art. She is quiet where you are joyful, She is delicate where you are vivacious, Yet her skill speaks with a voice as complex as poetry, As colorful as a tavern tale And just as clever in her transformation. Press your glad mouth to her buttoned lip, Lady. Let Uttu weave your black, barley-flecked hair. Lahar and Ashnan look upon you and smile, Emesh and Enten break bread under your roof, For what has more beauty than such perfect union Of a glad heart and a beautiful wife?

May Uttu be praised, may the name of Ninkasi be honey on my lips, And for the pen of her servant may Nisaba be praised.

——— *I wrote this with a heaping spoonful of UPG. There is no historical evidence for Ninkasi being gay for Uttu. Cool? Cool. Sumerian wives did brew beer though, as far as I can tell. **Lahar, the 'sheep' god notably referenced in the debate between Sheep and Grain, is heavily important to Uttu the goddess of weaving, just as Ashnan the grain goddess is important to Ninkasi, who is the brewer and the beer. ***Emesh, the god of 'summer', and Enten, the god of 'winter', as seen in the debate between Summer and Winter, both have a great deal to do with grain and livestock. From what I can tell by making inferences from other cultures, Summer is the time for brewing and Winter is the time for weaving, and it seemed significant enough that I had to include them.

Somebody once told me

That a haiku is not real poetry.

I felt a coil of scales unfurl in my stomach,

fangs unlatch from my throat

As blood pooled on my tongue

And claws itched in frail human hands.

My laughter Is the three-page magnum opus

Full of brief ink-stained kisses

And a twelve-point Times New Roman coup.

I do declare.

Signed-

One blue blooded pen

Gushing visceral spurts of

Silver-tongued delight.