icouldntthinkofabetternamesook

[icouldntthinkofabetternamesook]

Why Persephone and Minthe are (or could've been) Perfect Foils:

I’m starting this off with 3 things: 1) This’ll be less of an essay and more of a ramble, so apologies if this is messy! 2) I’m framing this as a “what if this was written in a non misogynistic way,” and less(?) based on canon. And 3) If an essay like this already exists…oops!

Ok. So we can all generally agree that Persephone and Minthe, as love rivals, function as foils for each other. Persephone is the sweet, young, and naive girl who doesn’t know what sex is. Minthe is the mature, sexy, and stone cold older woman who’s too sexually active. 

They both villainize and hurt each other, ignoring the man who’s actually perpetuating their suffering. The story makes it seem like they’re completely opposed characters, with Persephone being the “better” one. And to an extent, that’s true. 

But I think we could dive deeper! And away from Hades! Because he sucks!

If we compare Persephone and Minthe’s lives and how they view each other, you could make a strong case for them being foils. It’d honestly be brilliant if they reconciled in a meaningful way, BUT-

Let’s start with the basics: while Persephone grew up with an attentive mother, Minthe grew up largely ignored by hers. Persephone grew up around a supportive community, with most of her needs met. And while we only see a peek into Minthe’s childhood, it can be inferred those needs were not easily met. Minthe had to provide for herself, shown by her jobs before Underworld Corp. 

Meanwhile, a lot of Persephone’s opportunities were “handed” to her. Artemis offers to let Persephone stay with her. She gets inducted into TGOEM without any trouble. Demeter most likely is paying for her schooling. She gets placed in Underworld Corp, despite having no experience (and out of her control. Hera what the hell). And gets paid for her internship, something she gets because of her relationship with Hades.

Minthe has continually worked for everything. Persephone hasn’t worked for any of the stuff she gets. But she wants to! Persephone so badly wants to be independent. She dreams of living on her own, dressing the way she wants, being in a relationship. And who is the first being she sees that represents all of it for her?

Minthe is the physical manifestation of everything Persephone wants to be. It’s also why she dresses like her in later seasons. And Minthe is clearly jealous of Persephone. Is it because she’s flirting with Hades? To some extent, yes. But Minthe also feels Persephone is better than her. She’s the sweet goddess who everyone loves, especially Hades’ trusted allies (Hera, Hecate, etc). 

I think if they got to know each other, they’d be envious of what the other had. Minthe would love to have a mother like Demeter: someone who took care of her and gave her what she needed. She needs a support system and people to rely on. Not a toxic friend who prays on her downfall (Thetis what the hell). 

Persephone wants a mother who won’t hover over her. Control of her life, freedom, and the ability to be her true self. Wear whatever she wants. She doesn’t want to be the kind, sweet girl all the time. She wants to have sex! After marriage apparently because uh…yeah. 

A brief deviation: Even their aesthetics are contrasts. Persephone wears white and pink, while Minthe wears reds and blacks. Minthe’s clothes are revealing and conventionally sexy. Persephone’s are cute and conventionally girly. 

Both Minthe and Persephone are stuck in roles that feel inescapable. Which are enforced by Hades, the narrative, and the fandom (at the time). Something something Madonna Whore Complex.

In an ideal story, where they equally like all the women, Minthe and Persephone would’ve reconciled. Come to some understanding of the other and grow as a result. But…that doesn’t happen. 

Really, they just switch places. Minthe becomes accepted in the Mortal Realm. She gets all the support Persephone had. While Persephone gets all the glitz and glam Minthe supposedly had. It all works out! 

…I mean, not really but-

Like Minthe barely gets mentioned at the very end. Persephone spends most of it stressed, hated by her citizens. All the things Minthe feared at the start!

But then she gets her happy ending. Isn’t this great? The character who wanted independence from her mother and everyone, ends up stuck in a marriage without truly finding herself. And with kids we, the audience, don’t know if she wanted? 

All that matters is Hades wants kids. So Persephone needs to have them. Hades wants to break up with Minthe, so she gets planted and moves from his realm. Funny how everything works out for him, right? 

This doesn’t really have an ending. All I can say is, I wish Minthe and Persephone had a chance to stand on their own. And to talk to each other without a man getting in the way…

…which is why you should read my fanfic, PomengranMints-

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Persephone doodle dump

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Beautiful girls in pink 🌸

Who is your favorite?

by Naman_Doodles

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Persephone from lore Olympus! one of the things I’ve always loved is the art style. The rest is… problematic to me. But I’m not going to comment on the rest, cause I don’t wanna get into any drama or anything. anyways. I was just always a lil disappointed because it’s kinda hinted that Persephone is chubby, but i feel like she’s drawn not. That way. so! Have a pseudo redesign-pseudo fanart. Also ignore the proportions.

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a quick psa to anyone recently getting into greek mythology and is a victim of tumblr and/or tiktok misconceptions:

-there is no shame in being introduced to mytholgy from something like percy jackson, epic the musical or anything like that, but keep in mind that actual myths are going to be VERY different from modern retellings

-the myth of medusa you probably know (her being a victim of poseidon and being cursed by athena) isn't 100% accurate to GREEK mythology (look up ovid)

-there is no version of persephone's abduction in which persephone willingly stays with hades, that's a tumblr invention (look up homeric hymn to demeter)

-as much as i would like it, no, cerberus' name does not mean "spot" (probably a misunderstanding from this wikipedia article)

-zeus isn't the only god who does terrible things to women, your fav male god probably has done the same

-on that note, your fav greek hero has probably done some heinous shit as well

-gods are more complicated than simply being "god of [insert thing]", many titles overlap between gods and some may even change depending on where they were worshipped

-also, apollo and artemis being the gods of the sun and the moon isn't 100% accurate, their main aspects as deities originally were music and the hunt

-titans and gods aren't two wholly different concepts, titan is just the word used to decribe the generation of gods before the olympians

-hector isn't the villain some people make him out to be

-hephaestus WAS married to aphrodite. they divorced. yes, divorce was a thing in ancient greece. hephaestus' wife is aglaia

-ancient greek society didn't have the same concepts of sexuality that we have now, it's incorrect to describe virgin goddesses like artemis and athena as lesbians, BUT it's also not wholly accurate to describe them as aromantic/asexual, it's more complex than that

-you can never fully understand certain myths if you don't understand the societal context in which they were told

-myths have lots and lots of retellings, there isn't one singular "canon", but we can try to distinguish between older and newer versions and bewteen greek and roman versions

-most of what you know about sparta is probably incorrect

-reading/waching retellings is not a substitute to reading the original myths, read the iliad! read the odyssey! i know they may seem intimidating, but they're much more entertaining than you may think

greek mythology is so complex and interesting, don't go into it with preconcieved notions! try to be open to learn!

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Part three of the series “Fashion Night at Panathenaea”. I’ll also review a bit of context and dynamics of each character. This time, we have Amphitrite, Poseidon, and two sisters (Clymene & Dexamene). Poseidon had a complete redesign from the first time I drew him. Poseidon is one of the most feared gods of Olympus due to his temperament and cruelty. He is Zeus’ yes man and can practically get away with anything he wants (Medusa will be a prominent character here). Of course, Poseidon is not excluded from Zeus’s need for control. For example, even though both Zeus and Poseidon “sleep around”, Zeus doesn’t like the fact Poseidon doesn’t go through the same “hardships” of marriage. As a response, Zeus demanded Poseidon to find a wife. This is where Amphitrite comes into the picture. Poseidon turned to Nereus and asked for one of his daughters to be his wife. Nereus first suggested Thetis, the youngest of the Nereids. However, Thetis failed to “seal the deal” and Poseidon ultimately chose Amphitrite. Unfortunately for the fan-favorite, Amphitrite is in a loveless marriage. Despite the hardships, Amphitrite continues to be the kind person she is. She represents the calmness of the sea and as queen, works to ensure everything is balanced. Lastly, I wanted to incorporate Amphitrite’s siblings, so I introduce you to Clymene(left) and Dexamene(right). I don’t have their whole storyline out, but hopefully, their designs could give you an idea. Please let me know which outfit is your fav and ask any questions!

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Part two of the series “Fashion Night at Panathenaea”. I’ll also review a bit of context and dynamics of each character. Next up, we have Aphrodite and Ampelus (or who we know as Psyche!) You would either love Aphrodite or hate her. She takes her status very seriously and tactical. However, she is vain and her jealousy can be quite poisonous. She can play very cruel games on both mortals and other goddesses. Unfortunately, there are far worse people than Aphrodite in Olympus.

Along with Aphrodite, we have Psyche. She was taken to Panathenaea so Aphrodite wouldn’t feel lonely (of course she won’t admit it). She is a tragic character caught between other god’s business and gets the short end of the stick. A mortal princess disguised as a nymph, Psyche goes through challenges and trials designed by Aphrodite for the chance to reconcile with Eros. Though, most of the time, Psyche acts as Aphrodite’s handmaiden and henchman. These two characters have some of the saddest backgrounds and I hope eventually I get to draw it out fully. Please let me know which outfit is your fav and ask any questions!

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I’ve been picking at this redraw for a few months now, based off of one of lores panels that I hated

My edit and the og below cut

Been reading rekindled so I wanted to finish this so I stop tweaking it

I’m not happy with the arms but whatever

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one part of Cain and Charles backstory I don't think gets written about enough is when they were in the war together. Weather it was Korea and Vietnam in the sliding timescale, imagine running into your step-brother from an abusive family, someone who has seen you beaten down at your worst, someone who is debatably responsible for some of the worst, and you got away from them and your making a life as an adult, and your moving on and growing as a person after the last time you saw them was a terrible, semi intentional car accident, and then you get assigned to the same platoon in another country, in the military. thousands of miles away from all that, but now you both have guns.

did neither of them think to ask for a transfer? did the other people in their unit see their dynamic and try to avoid being alone with them together? Did they try to avoid each other and stake out different portions of camp, or did Charles constantly try to get up in Cain's business to 'patch things up'? Did Cain continue to try messing with Charles, still playing the role of the bully big brother, when they're both grown ups and Kurt had been dead for years? Did they try to start shit with each other's friends? Did they get tunnel vision on each other and fall back into the role of 'could have been brothers' even when the world was so much bigger around them? how the shit did these two wind up walking alone through the jungle together with no one else in sight? did anyone have questions when Charles emerged, but Cain was never to be seen again?

if any Juggernaut comics get into this specific time period, let me know, because none of it has been suggested for Charles

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having read both the original Juggernaut Trilogy and the rewrite of it in Professor X and the X Men from the 90's, it occurs to me that this little story has the potential to be spun into the ultimate haunted house/sins of the father/you cannot break the cycle story

walk with me

the X mansion on Graymalkin Lane, is essentially a gothic haunted house transplanted into a superhero story. it is the stately old rich place where a pair of children faced horrible abuse from a series of patriarchs, only to burn down upon the fathers death and be abandoned for years, until one of the abused children comes back years later, fixes it up, and moves in a whole new generation of children. the house is still very much haunted and a new coat of paint won't fix the fact that the foundations are rotten. Charles takes the labs he was experimented in and tires to convince himself that what he's doing is different. a fresh start, when all that patriarchy, and money, and old school colonialism, and violence, and downright eugenics are built into his bones and the house itself

enter Cain Marko, the other abused child, the ghost Charles had thought buried. Cain Marko who is a living wound, all rage and anger and pain, with no interest in moving on from the past, eternally stuck as the angry, unloved, beaten child. I have a slight obsession with their step sibling dynamic to be honest, how they grew up so very different in the same environment, the different ways they relate to and internalize vs externalize their abuse. Cain comes home, because it was always his home too. like the legacy they both embody, he is unstoppable and inevitable.

In trying to protect what he's built, Charles throws the children he tries to nurture at Cain, unable to accept the ways in which Cain is not something foreign to the family to be kept out but rather another member of the family in need of help and acceptance. Not that Cain wants expectance really, be the children didn't need to be involved in this family. Charles brought them into this. it could have simply stayed Cain and Abel.

instead Charles has all of the children trying to throw themselves in his path, to protect him, because they love him, for the home, and the safety, and the community he provides. they haven't seen the rotten foundations that will continue to rot all the way from Graymalkin to Krakoa one day.

I think it's that the 90's series is on some level using these issues as series of character studies and how they each view Cain and the pressure he puts their new little family under as an unstoppable threat. I like to call the X mansion 'The Ship of Theseus as Applied to Haunted Houses: a case study over several generations' because that how I see it. At the end of the trilogy the mansion is destroyed and they just set about rebuilding, new ghosts all around

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It's not the open weaving

Nor the furnace glow

Nor the blood of you bleeding

As you try to let go

-

They make me so unwell holy shit!!!

[icouldntthinkofabetternamesook]

(Arcane Meta) Zaun Died with Silco

I want to open this by saying I understand people who are upset that there isn't more Piltover/Zaun conflict and resolution in S2 of Arcane. However, I'm going to argue here that the reason it's not in S2 after 2.03 is because the conflict is over. Piltover won. There is no more Zaun anymore as a potential political player and, ultimately, this comes back to haunt Piltover in their hour of need.

Overall, while I am invested in the Piltover/Zaun conflict, especially in S1, I'm less focused on Caitlyn and Vi's story which is our main lens for the conflict, or rather the end of the conflict, in S2. Still, I hope to offer my more Arcane worldbuilding-focused perspective. And just to get it out of the way, here are a few things I had trouble with:

I too was puzzled that anyone from the Undercity would join Piltover in the defense of the city.

I also thought it was strange to have Jayce focus on the threat that Viktor posed with his robots while soliciting help from the undercity, instead of on Ambessa, the more clear and understandable threat that would have made a better rallying point and allowed for a final discussion about the Noxian occupation of the undercity and how Noxus turning on Piltover was just them reaping what they sowed.

I was certainly taken aback when everyone was given Enforcer uniforms for the final fight.

That said, I believe there are answers to all three of these. From there, I want to dive into what exactly happened in S2 with Piltover vs. Zaun, to my eyes. Short version: there is no more "Zaun" as a potential nation or political player by 2.03 when the Chem Barons are taken out by Cait's forces, but it really died before that with Silco, who was already in a precarious negotiating situation himself and he knew it.

Very few people from the Undercity joined Piltover's defense of the city. Maybe a half dozen. I felt that was our moment of "you reap what you sow" for Piltover. A few passionate idealists who could see the bigger picture that saving Piltover does mean saving the undercity joined, but there were no hordes of volunteers. Piltover had lost the right to them and was substantially weakened for it.

Jayce choosing to focus on Viktor as the threat makes sense for him, but it was a poor political move and probably lost him volunteers he would have otherwise gained. The robot army threat is too esoteric and fantastical. "The Noxians turned on us and plan to conquer the city," is a threat that would have been better for rallying the troops, Jayce is just too single-minded to think of it. He's a bad politician.

The Enforcer uniforms are an odd sour note, but they do make sense as protective gear. Piltover doesn't have an army. There are no uniforms to give people. All they have is Enforcer uniforms. It is an odd note symbolically, but practically speaking it shows how little time Piltover had to prepare. Piltover is a civilian city going up against a military force like Noxus. They are woefully underprepared and really only have their status as defender in urban fighting to give them a prayer of even stalling the Noxian forces. Ironically, Piltover's only hope against Noxus mirrors Zaun's only hope against Piltover if they had gone to war: the difficult nature of urban fighting against an entrenched, motivated opponent on their home turf.

Now, to get into, "What happened to the overall Piltover vs. Zaun fight?" I get why people think it's lacking in S2, and I get why people find it horrifying that there is no independent Zaun at the end, all we've got is Sevika with one seat on the Council, as far as we can tell but I would point out:

Zaun is dead at this point. It's been dead since 2.03. Arguably, it really died with Silco.

As Jinx said, she didn't just destroy her own family, she cursed an entire society when she launched that rocket into the Council Chamber.

Here's the thing, Jayce was actually right when he said Zaun wouldn't stand a chance in an outright war with Piltover.

Yes, Zaun has a lot of brawlers. They have Shimmer and the Shimmer berserkers.

But Zaun doesn't have any sort of organized fighting force beyond the guards of individual Chem Barons and their factories.

What Zaun has is the fissures. It has ugly, difficult urban fighting in dangerous spaces. But as a counter to that, we have the fact that their ventilation is controlled from Piltover. In a true all-out war, Piltover could in theory just flush out the entire undercity using the Gray. Having your infrastructure entirely dependent on an enemy oppressor is what I would call a "fatal flaw" in any defensive military strategy, particularly when what they can cut off is the air you breathe. That's easily game over right there unless Silco has a way to circumvent that.

In a guerilla war, Zaun could probably hold out for a long, grinding, ugly civil war made up of mostly guerrilla attacks, in which a great number of innocent civilians will die, even in an all-out conflict with Piltover. But it would suffer catastrophic losses and probably still lose in the end.

Now, Jayce is I think somewhat naive in his claim Zaun doesn't stand a chance. Maybe Zaun wouldn't stand a chance in the long run, but they'd make Piltover pay for every inch with blood. They'd grind Piltover down into a shadow of its former self, force them to sacrifice all of their principles. To some extent, I think Jayce gets that, he gets that he doesn't want more kids to die, but I think even he underestimates just how ugly that war would be and how long it would go and how unrecognizable his Piltover would be by then.

The moment that gives Silco pause in Jayce's assessment of how easily Zaun would be crushed isn't the fighting. Silco is pretty confident that they could make Piltover pay and he's arguably looking forward to the chance on some level.

What gives him pause is when Jayce says the Council doesn't care.

To some extent, Silco like any revolutionary against an oppressive "civilized" society (heavy, heavy emphasis on the air quotes there) is that a certain point, Piltover is so soft-hearted they will get tired of the bloodshed.

What Jayce just told Silco is that the Council is more barbaric than even Silco maybe appreciated, for all their vaunted principles. There isn't necessarily a limit to how many Zaunite children will die before Piltover decides to cease hostilities. Knowing what Silco knows of Piltover's brutality, I think that is a sobering moment for Silco. That's when he decides this really is the best time to negotiate.

(Aside, this is by the way where Vi is wrong about Silco, driven by her emotions. Silco is willing to set aside the feud to get his nation of Zaun, he can be negotiated with. He's just not willing to give up his daughter (something Vi can't possibly understand at this point).)

Here's why it's the best time for Silco to negotiate and it ties into everything else:

Without Shimmer, which has been severely hampered by the raid on the factory, Zaun doesn't have anything to counter Hextech.

Jinx's wild attacks against Piltover has helped put the pressure on them that Silco capitalizes on. But it is a paper-thin threat. She is a lone albeit devastating terrorist. She makes Zaun appear more dangerous than it is but that can't last forever. Silco has leveraged her attacks into a pressure campaign against Piltover, but a serious response from Piltover (as seen in 2.03 with the strike team corners and very nearly captures her) could reveal just how fragile that threat is.

Basically, Zaun has some champions, arguably a league of legends lol, but it doesn't have an army. It doesn't even have Enforcers of its own. It doesn't have a concerted force of any kind.

The money is running out. As "Sucker" shows us in 2.02, each Chem Baron that gets taken out means less money on the table, and we're down 2 by the beginning of S2 with Silco and Finn, who arguably both fell to internal fighting.

As the Chem Barons say in 2.02, even if they got total unity in Zaun, they're outnumbered.

However, they don't have total unity in Zaun. They can't even get the Chem Barons to agree on what to do on one topic, with Jinx.

Silco basically has to accept the deal with Jayce when he does, while Zaun appears to be at its strongest. Because if he had waited any longer, the fact that they don't have the strength or money to back it up would have become apparent.

Furthermore, once Jayce resigns from the Council, which he was planning to do anyway regardless of Jinx's attack, would mean Zaun would lose its one champion with the political capital to give them independence. The window for Zaun independence is actually extremely narrow.

With Silco's death and Jinx's attack on the Council, then the subsequent eradication of the other Chem Barons, their resources, their money, including Shimmer which was the only thing Zaun really had to match them against Hextech in that arms race, there really isn't a Zaun anymore.

There's no one to negotiate with. No one to hand power to. No force that can govern itself. Zaun is completely fractured with the eradication of the Chem Barons. By taking them out, Cait removed the need for Piltover to negotiate with Zaun. And the reason Piltover chose not to was because of Jinx's rocket and then the attack on the memorial, which was orchestrated by Ambessa.

This is all according to Ambessa's design, by the way. She divides Piltover/Zaun against themselves by capitalizing on Jinx's attack. She leaves both severely weakened to make it easier for her to take over, and Piltover walks right into the trap. They would have fallen to Noxus if not for Mel's love of the city, even if you remove Viktor and Jayce's plotline entirely.

TL;DR Zaun is gone, guys. It's a distant dream. Sevika is the only person with an interest in making it happen anymore and she can't even get the Jinxers to listen to her. All the factions are easily arrested at the rally. Piltover has no reason to negotiate with any of these people. As the lone torchbearer for that cause, it makes sense for Sevika to be on the Council but beyond her, there is literally no one else to give a voice to (since Ekko doesn't appear to have an interest).

At least, until the Noxians turn on them, and then there's an interest in Piltover and the undercity joining forces, but as I referenced at the beginning of this, Piltover has now lost the right to the undercity's help AND lacks the undercity's resources too. Now Noxus has Shimmer instead of Piltover or Zaun, in addition to their sophisticated and expertly trained military force. As Jayce said, they were meant to lose this fight. Arguably, they never had a chance of winning if not for Mel claiming the loyalty of the Noxians in the wake of her mother's death and everything Jayce did to stop Viktor and the Hexcore.

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love at first sight? nah fuck that, gimme love at first fight >>>>

imagine arguing with someone, expecting it to go exactly like all your other attempts of sparking a good fight where they'd back off after seeing an unsettling, eager, glint in your eyes.

But not them, they don't back down, they see that glint and challenge it head on.

imagine everyone else terrified watching you two, thinking you're about to kill each other as your words get sharper and sharper, vile words that would make soldiers cry being spat in a back and forth.

No one is too surprised when you two end up on the floor, but what does surprise them is the fact that even though both of you will definitely have black eyes in a few minutes and someone's bleeding, maybe it's both of you no one can tell, you both have shit eating grins, like children playing.

Because the two of you have finally found your match, someone who can take those venomous words and give something even more potent back, someone you can kick just to end up with a gut punch. It's like a game, a conversation for you both, your own language since everyone else thinks they need to call the police because they can't see that you're perfect for each other in all the worst ways.

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Yellowflowers for @alienducky 💛💛💛

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Love Unlimited: Infinity Comic #12 (2022)

written by Marieke Nijkamp art by Federico Sabbatini & Martina “Mafuriah” Fari

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well, dont worry, darling. emmas here to save the day.

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