sunshine 2021: hecate and the sphinx of thebes

[aliensamba]

Medium: tv, books, film
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries, Shadowland, The Dirt on Ninth Grave, Betwixt, Mirrormask
Characters: Bonnie Bennett, Susannah Simon, Jane Doe, Defiance Dayne, Sphinx
Notes: Behind the cut is a picspam/graphic I made. There are also 3 book recs and 3 video recs. Warning for canon graphic violence, blood, and gore because it's The Vampire Diaries. I haven't mastered the art of spoiler-free writing so SPOILER WARNING/there will be spoilers.

Prompt 3: Hecate
Otherworldly and mysterious, Hecate is best known for her association with magic, ghosts, and the night. If you hear the baying of hounds in the dark, she's likely near as they were ever at her side. She is traditionally depicted as bearing two torches to light her way or as a triple goddess of the crossroads. In mythology she is known for helping Demeter search for her daughter Persephone, a theme that ties her even more to the Underworld and spirits she is associated with. Today she is often considered a representative of those liminal places where reality bends and all manner of events may unfold...


Bonus Prompt: Sphinx of Thebes

I. Hecate

I thought of Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Diaries when I read the prompt. She is a witch descended from Bennett witches, one of whom bound a bunch of vampires in a cave for almost 200 years (if I remember correctly).

She is brave and strong. Her magic is called Expression magic and she gets hurt if she uses it too much.

In the later seasons of the show, she becomes the Anchor to the Other Side and has dominion over what spirit gets to move on or not. But then this plot point got forgotten in the series (or I wasn't diligently watching the series because Bonnie almost always gets hurt or dies or the people she loves die).




Bonnie Bennett making a feather float.


Below are 2 videos about Bonnie Bennett.
Warnings for graphic violence, blood, and gore because it's The Vampire Diaries.

01. Bonnie Bennett // Power - watch on YouTube

02. Bonnie Bennett: A Bennett Witch - watch on YouTube




I'd also like to share 3 novels which also remind me of the Hecate theme. They are Shadowland by Jenny Carroll (pseudonym of Meg Cabot), The Dirt on Ninth Grave by Darynda Jones, and Betwixt by Darynda Jones.

01. Shadowland by Jenny Carroll - goodreads



I read Shadowland years and years ago and I remember that the main character could see and talk to ghosts who stuck around in the mortal plane. She could also summon spirits and could enter the astral plane.


02. The Dirt on Ninth Grave by Darynda Jones - goodreads



The goodreads description has spoilers so here's a description I edited to be spoiler-free but still interesting:

In a small village in New York, a girl with no memory of who she is or where she came from works at a diner and slowly begins to realize she can see dead people. She's more than a little taken aback. Stranger still are the people entering her life. They seem to know things about her. Things they hide with lies and half-truths. Soon, she senses something far darker...

The Dirt on Ninth Grave is a story of a woman who has amnesia and can see 2 dimensions at once (the tangible and the intangible). This book has ghosts, magic, and liminal spaces.



03. Betwixt by Darynda Jones - goodreads



Betwixt tells the story of Defiance Dayne who has inherited a house and then people contact her to help them find things (in a psychic way). The house may or may not be alive. I remember laughing a lot when I read this.




II. Sphinx of Thebes

Sphinxes are intelligent and cunning. They delight in riddles and wordplay. Sometimes they can be dangerous.

Here is a video of the sphinx from the movie Mirrormask.

watch on YouTube if you like.

 

Comments

[paulamcg]

What a great combination of recs! And a beautiful graphic! I don't know the Vampire Diaries... (Is there anything I know besides HP?) Wingardium leviosa! Thank you so much for sharing!

[aliensamba]

Thank you! I don't know why but I like to share multi/combination stuff.

Maybe this part in The Vampire Diaries was a shout-out to HP (TVD started in 2009).

Floating the feather but without the swish and flick of a wand ("it's levi-O-sa not levi-o-SA" - I can hear Ron say it in my head) :D

[enemytosleep]

I love the videos (esp the Mirrormask clip as I'd seen it mentioned around here and there but have not seen it myself). The books also sound fun!

[aliensamba]

Thank you!