In honor of Nemeseia being today (5th of Boe.), I wanted to make a follow up bedridden worship for Nemesis, goddess of revenge and the forgotten dead.
Like Dionysos, I've worshiped Nemesis since the very start of my practice, and like them, she's always been understanding of my disability. As I'm writing this, I'm celebrating Nemeseia while totally unable to walk due to chronic pain, and she's fully accepting of that.
So, here are my practices to honor her from my bed and room!
Activities:
Listening to music
Donating to mutual aid
Researching Nemesis and Rhamnous
Researching civil rights
Researching criminal justice
Online activism (writing & sharing information on civil rights, for example)
Learning about systems of oppression
Reading the Iliad (in myths she is often the mother of Helen)
Making devotional jewelry
Drawing her or her symbols (wings, whips, geese, wheel)
Making a mini or online altar/shrine
Habits:
These should be done to the best of your ability in their honor.
Regular donations to mutual aid, ie monthly ones
Daily prayers (I usually do them right before bed)
Dedicating 5 minutes a day to learning about topics relating to her
Offering the energy of whatever you're drinking
Your Space:
Things you can add to your room to make your space have more of her ‘vibes’
Feathers, especially goose feathers
Daffodils/Narcissus flowers
Leather items (jewelry, whips, etc)
Chains
Balance scales
The colors red or black
Art with wing imagery
Skulls and bones (real or fake)
Offerings:
Note that any devotional activity can be an offering!
Candles
Incense or diffused oils
Wine (if you’re of drinking age)
Water
Honey
Donations to civil rights charities
Mutual aid for or in support of marginalized people, ie to support BLM or disability justice
Artwork
Original hymns, prayers, or poetry
Nemesis loves you, and she understands that you need to rest. Your health and self care always comes before worship. Arete is your personal best, and your personal best is what you can do without hurting yourself.
It took Nemesis a bit longer to judge the second round of fights than the first-- she wanted to make sure she gave the task her full attention. But in the end she was confident in her decision.
The winners of round 2 are
Alexandra & Austin!
In the final round of Nemeseia, the bouts have been extended another minute, AND, contestants are allowed/encouraged to use their demi-god powers! So each bout is now limited to 10 lines, with 5 exchanges. I think everyone's got the formatting pretty clear by now, but if you need clarification send me an ask.
REMEMBER:
The winner of this final round will be granted ONE WISH BY NEMESIS.
Ok, for the second round of matches the pairings are as follows:
1. Alexandra vs. Roger
2. Jason vs. Austin
This round last 3 minutes instead of 2 minutes. In terms of formatting that means you now have more "time" (aka, space) to write your spar. Instead of 6 lines per paragraph, you may write up to 10 lines each paragraph. You also have 4 exchanges instead of 3. So spar format looks like this:
You post 1 paragraph up to 10 lines
Your opponent responds with 1 paragraph up to 10 lines
You post a 2nd paragraph up to 10 lines
Your opponent responds with a 2nd paragraph up to 10 lines
You post a 3rd paragraph up to 10 lines
Your opponent responds with a 3rd paragraph up to 10 lines
You post your final paragraph up to 10 lines
Your opponent responds with their final paragraph up to 10 lines
Got it? Good.
You have until Midnight EST, on Friday the 27th, to finish your spars. MAY THE BEST CONTESTANT WIN!
Through out all the days events, and for every single fight, Nemesis was readily visible. On Her Festival Day she always made sure to walk among the campers, talking to them, taking petitions, and generally allowing herself to relax, for once.
The matched fights were her favorite event though. The Romans hailed her as the Goddess of the Arena, and it was a title she'd always favored. And so she watched from her Pavilion in the Training Ground. She saw every blow landed by a contestant, and every blow taken. She found herself thinking that this years tournament contained some of the most even matches she'd ever seen. And now that it was time to judge, she found herself hesitating...
The final Gong had rung, signaling the end of the final bout in the first round, between Vivi & Roger. The two contestants retired to the edge of the arena with the rest of the contestants, Percy, Jason, Alexandra & Austin. All of them had fought well in her honor, and now all of them gazed up at her, waiting for her decision.
As the crowd grew silent, she raised her hands, and proclaimed her judgement. Each of the pairs who had faced each other in the arena stepped forward as their names were called. First, Nemesis called up Vivi & Roger. As both campers approached, and stood still beneath her gaze, she slowly raised a finger and pointed at Roger.
She then called up Percy & Jason. Their match had been difficult to judge-- they were very evenly matched-- but in the end, the Goddess lifted a finger and pointed at Jason.
Finally, Alexandra & Austin stepped forward. They both stood, looking up at Nemesis, awaiting her judgement... but the Goddess found herself hesitating again. She stood, stone still, for a steadily increasing length of time. Whispers began to spread through the crowd while Alexandra & Austin looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally one of the festival officials leaned over and said something in the Goddess' ear. She shook her head slightly.
As the crowd watched in anticipation the festival official stood up to address them. "This has never happened at Nemeseia before, but The Lady Nemesis assures me, it is what must be. And," the man let a small smile cross his face "being that she is the Goddess of Balance and Fairness, I for one do not plan to argue. In the case of contestants Alexandra & Austin there can be no winner. The Goddess has declared it a tie." He paused to allow the renewed whispering among the audience to die down again. "Given this decision, both of you will advance to the second round of fights. The pairings will be announced later this evening, and the matches will begin tomorrow at noon. Congratulations to all our contestants!"
The crowd cheered their approval as all the campers shook hands, and left the arena together to prepare for their second match.
//First match-- Vivi vs. Roger -- Roger is the winner
Percy vs. Jason -- Jason is the winner
Alexandra vs. Austin -- TIE
Looks like everyone has finished with their first bout except for Vivi & Roger! You've got until midnight EST tonight (Thursday, 4/19) to finish up, and then the JUDGING begins!
TOTALLY JUDGING YOU.
Winners will be announced by Friday, the 20th, and those who win will move on to the second round.
Just a reminder; the deadline for this first round of match-up fights is Thursday, the 19th, at midnight EST. I haven't actually seen ANY of the fights thus far... so either start 'em if you haven't, or finish 'em if you have!
Ok guys, looks like we've got 6 volunteers for the Nemeseia fighting tournament.
Contestants are as follows:
Demetri Etori Whoops, we meant Jason.
Alexandra Rainart
Percy
Austin
Roger
Vivi
For the first round, you've all been matched up randomly with another contestant. The matches are as follows:
1. Vivi vs. Roger
2. Alexandra Rainart vs. Austin
3. Percy vs. Demetri Etori Jason
Now that you all know who you're facing in the first round, you have until midnight EST on Thursday, April 19th, to role play the spar with your opponent. If your bout isn't finished (you guys didn't finish the rp) by then, I'll be judging on whatever you did post-- and obviously, your chances of winning are higher if you utilize every opportunity to post. Whoever wins will be move on to the next round, and be matched up with their next opponent. If you're curious about how the bouts are being judged, or general questions about the festival, check out this post.
VIVI & TEAGAN: You guys both mentioned that you were thinking of entering other characters (Emilia/Lucy & Haly/Annabel). Are you still interested? Let me know ASAP.
Seems like the dash was pretty dead today, so I'm extending the tournament submission deadline until Wednesday, the 11th, at midnight. This gives everyone a few more days to decide if they want their characters to fight. If you want one or more of your characters in the tournament, submit their name and url by then.
