Sweet is the pleasure the god brings us in the mountains, when from the running revelers, he falls to the ground clad in his sacred fawnskin. […] Hail to the Roaring God, Bromios our leader! Euoi! The ground flows with milk, flows with wine, flows with the nectar of bees. —Euripides, Bacchae

The Villa of the Mysteries! I had to go out of my way for this, missing most of the Pompeii tour, but it was completely worth it! These paintings depict a Dionysian initiation rite, and there are some other remarkable paintings in the rest of the house. I was not expecting to see syncretic Egyptian ones!

I also met another a Dionysian irl! The owner of the nearby restaurant turned out to be a shaman to whom Bacchus speaks. He was thrilled to meet someone else who understood that Bacchus isn’t just a god of wine.

Praise Dionysus!

The Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

March 12, 2024

Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

Dec. 2019

Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

By: User:MatthiasKabel /CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Mack White, ''Villa of the Mysteries'', #2, Feb. 1997 Source

ATRIUMS | Villa dei Misteri | Villa of the Mysteries: Pompei Scavi, Pompeii, Regio VI. http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/villa-of-the-mysteries

Parco Archeologico di Pompei | PAP Web : http://pompeiisites.org/en FB : https://www.facebook.com/pompeiiparcoarcheologico IG : @pompeii_parco_archeologico TW : @pompeii_sites

PAP | Michael Svetbird phs©msp | 10-11|2022 6100X4100|6200X4100 [non commercial use | sorry for the watermarks]

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These are blends of freschi from Pompeii, especially the Villa of the Mysteries. Most of the results were a bit monstrous. We had limb issues and hermaphrodites—I know hermaphrodites are part of ancient art, but in this case, Midjourney just was confused. I have chosen a few to share.

The first one I cleaned up in Photoshop using content aware fill. Another I trimmed off the black sides. Otherwise, they are all as rendered. by Midjourney

Continuing my “Cynthia is Volo after chilling out and transitioning” propaganda: Consequences Edition

What is the "night island"? what impact can he have on the plot of the series, and why is this place important for Armand's story?

Hey!

"Night Island" is a luxury shopping island/resort (originally off the coast of Miami iirc), with hotels, and entertainment centers that Armand purchases for Daniel while they are together.

Daniel owns it in the books (Armand gives it to him(*)).

Later, after the events of QotD (Akasha's rising) Night Island serves as a place where the surviving vampires come together and even after most leave the island stays a place where vampires stop by from time to time.

Now, for the show:

AMC is (still**) developing a mini-series that will follow art thieves who try to steal something off Night Island, not knowing what kind of creatures call it home.

**I say "still" because it was delayed with the strikes there was no news for a long while, but it has been stated they're still on it.

AMC will release the mini series somehow in relation to Devil's Minion developing, because the connection cannot really be severed.

It is also a very cool setup to come back to later in IWTV, whenever they choose to do Akasha.

Also:

There was a post back then (which was deleted after), which announced "Night Island" (I think simply too early). It had black sand around the card, and black sand is at a certain beach close to Pompeii. And Pompeii... and the Villa of Mysteries... is a very important moment for Daniel and Armand. :)

As for impact...

It depends on how they will choose to use Night Island - as a show and a moment in the show. If they only have other vampires there and references the mini-series could have relatively little impact.

But either way the island/resort itself (as in story-point) will play a bigger role in the show at some point.

In Daniel's and Armand's past... and likely their future.

(* btw - if it should turn out that the tower in Dubai is the show's Night Island and that Daniel has forgotten he owns it... THAT would be funny 😅 - but I think it will stay an island)

Fresco from the Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii

🔸A young Roman woman gazes out at the viewer from an ancient fresco as she prepares her hair, perhaps on the morning of her wedding. From the spectacular wall paintings of Pompeii's Villa of the Mysteries, expertly cleaned from 2013-2015. 1st century BC.

every time i remember that armand canonically bought daniel a whole ass island and they (nick)named their house after the place where they first made their relationship "official" and truly committed all those years ago i get a little more insane

this dialogue made me think about rook drugging darling just so that he can 'admire' their beauty in a more natural/unobstructed state;;

this new book has made me fall into brainrot for him aaa like his determination!!! his preparedness!!! i adore him sm 😭💗

The moment I read it I was shocked, but then I realized that this is Rook and I should not be so surprised... ^^;;; he would absolutely drug his darling just to see them at their most vulnerable and peaceful! He finds it so naturally beautiful. It's like admiring the subject in a portrait. Silence and stillness are just as beautiful as energetic movement and sound! He absolutely watches you for each hour that you remain unconscious, so wrapped up in your beauty that time doesn't matter.

I have become even more of a Rook fan with book six omg!!!! Every time he chuckles, it feels like my heart is pierced with an arrow... such a charming laugh he has!! I like how he was so ready to journey to find Vil, even if the main reason was to deliver skincare products lol;;; his unique magic is also so wonderful. He claims it isn't very powerful, but that sort of magic is a stalker's dream.＼(º □ º l|l)/ and he gave the player a Pomefiore uniform to combat the windy chill of a long flight!!!! A gentleman, that Rook!!!! Always so prepared and never one to give up in his travel pursuits!

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder. As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind. Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.