Let's Gather 'Round the Campfire and Sing Our Campfire Song

[employeeoftheyear]

[Well last week Spongebob decided that the Wizard was nothing but a big fucker and everything was all his fault so he is going to kick his "Boost the moral of his friends" scheme into overdrive to rub it in the Wizard's stupid face.

Around the school on Monday, there will be Spongebob's huge mass of fliers again, this time for some sort of camp out.]


Spongebob Squarepants Crazy Camping Party!!!
Come to the edge of the forest on Monday at 5 pm for a whole night of roasting marshmallows, telling Spoooooky stories, and sleeping under the stars!
Don't worry if it rains, we can always bring the camp inside!

Attendance is MANDATORY!!! I will come find you if you don't attend.

[And he absolutely means it.

Even though there are no stars, it's a comfortable evening with no real signs of rain, and Spongebob's managed to set up a cozy Spongebob set out a bunch of blankets, towels, and pillows around a cozy campfire. There are plenty of food you'd normally see at a camp out, including smores! Spongebob seems to have gone all out and brought in practically every kind of candy from the kitchen, so have fun with the sugar rush!]

Comments

2/2 (cw: assisted suicide)

[themuseabandonsyou]

Until one day, a weeping boy
Stumbled into her cave
She hid from him and asked him what
Made his fate seem so grave

"My mother is a beautiful girl
Pursued by men is she
But they do not wish me their son
And I was forced to flee"

"What is your name?" she asked the boy
And "Perseus," said he
She said, "I've lived a long and lonely life,
So boy, listen to me"

"Take this knife and behead me
Do not look me in the eye
Show it to your mother's suitors
And this fate you will defy"

Perseus did as he was asked
Mourning all the while
He did not wish to kill her
But she was ready for this trial

And so Perseus went home
Medusa's final gift in hand
And the suitors who were not frozen
Scattered throughout the land

Oh Medusa, turn your gaze
Upon these unruly men
Who harass unwilling women
So they never will again

[ He continues to play as he finishes singing, looking around at the gathered listeners. ]

Perseus gave Medusa's head as an offering to Lady Athena, after he'd driven away the men threatening his mother, and Lady Athena honors her tragedy and sacrifice by bearing her visage on her shield. They say Medusa's shade still appears sometimes, to protect women being hounded by men who would harm them. I don't know if that part's true? But it's... not nice, exactly, but something to think about.

[defyingfrigidity]

[There's a sense of awe on Elsa's face as Orpheus sings. In the weeks since they were brought here, she's grown rather fond of the man's voice. But it's not just the music, but the words; all of the legends she's read write of the wrath of Athena, of how cruel her punishment was to Medusa, the victim of a greedy god.]

It's sad, but... I like it. It's... nice, hearing one version of that tale that focused on the woman, not the monster she became.

[Hitting close to home? That story? Nah.]

I've never heard of Medusa's shade living on to protect other women, though.

[themuseabandonsyou]

There's other versions, that make her out to be a monster, like you said, or make Perseus into one for killing her. But this is the one my mom said was best.

[ Whether 'best' here means 'best to tell her very young son' or 'best as in most accurate' or some other metric is unclear. Calliope wasn't one for explaining that kind of thing, very often. ]

That last part's a little more folklore than history, but I guess I wouldn't be surprised if it were true? Sometimes when people are blessed by the gods they become more than mortal. Though it might also just be something people added later to warn boys not to treat girls badly.

[defyingfrigidity]

I've heard that usually, that sort of blessing from the gods means they're put in the stars, not turned into shades.

[Though even then, the stories of some of those constellations conflict so much. Some constellations were bittersweet, like the fate of Callisto who'd been put in the heavens before she could die. But then there was Orion and Scorpio, forever immortalized as the great scorpion chased the hunter across the skies...]

... I don't think Perseus was wrong, really. In any version of the story. He didn't know what happened to Medusa, did he? If not, I don't think he was bad for killing what he thought was a heartless monster.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus nods. ]

Usually, yes. Or turned into trees, or flowers, or streams, so they can live on as something else. And I agree, about Perseus. He was just a boy trying to save his mother. But it's hard to see Medusa as a monster either, even in the versions where she didn't go into exile willingly. At least for me. She couldn't help what happened to her.