mythos-asks

[mythos-asks]

What's your character's favorite color(s)?

Mod Caide: Hot pink, followed by purple. ...hm? After that? Brown.

[mythos-asks]

What animal represents your character?

Mod Tag: I've deliberated on this for quiet a bit and I ended up picking a cat to best represents Sam. He enjoys the company of others and enjoys attention, but he won't go out of his way to get said attention. He's quiet and reserved most of the time.

[mythos-asks]

Mythos OST, Track 1.002: "The Forgotten Heap"

Mod Caide: I've actually made a few different songs as a sort of OST for Mythos. I figured I should go through and post them here.

They're a bit out of order, because I decided on an actual track order before I made all of them. I haven't actually made the main theme, which would be track 1.001, so you get this one instead.

This theme, "The Forgotten Heap", was made for the in-universe area of the same name. It's actually the location that the "Of Monsters and Men" short story takes place in, as well as where Mythos's main story will begin.

[mythos-asks]

Mod Kj: Strade's Enneagram he best fits into is the Challenger. He has a very dominating and confident personality, and is always yearning for adventure. For the MBTI personality, Strade would definitely be ESFP-T, the Entertainer. He is the life of the party! Despite all his quirks he loves being around people. In terms of alignment, he would definitely be chaotic neutral. His impulsiveness paired with his lack of care in certain situations emphasizes that.

What are the personality types of the characters?

Mod Tag: Sam definitely fits into the Enneagram type two personality: the helper. In terms of MBTI, he fits into the INFJ-T type. He's an innovator and advocate at heart, but is led more by his emotions and can have turbulent moods. He's neutral good, as he believes that kindness should come first and doesn't really concern himself with laws, though he doesn't consider himself a rebel by any means.

(Note from Mod Caide: Wow, he was very prepared for that...)

[mythos-asks]

Why is Jackie so focused on making friends? Does it go deeper than simply not wanting to be lonely?

Mod Caide: Today's question is brought to you by me! My mind was wandering yesterday while I was cutting out laminated paper at work, which led to this breakthrough in Jackie's characterization.

Even without other people to compare themself to, Jackie has an inherent sense that they are "different"—and once they do meet others, they believe this idea to be confirmed.

They don't necessarily consider being "different" a bad thing—in fact, they're very happy with who they are, for the most part. But combined with their inquisitive nature, it naturally leads to a lot of questions. What exactly makes them different? What makes other people "normal"?

Thus, a large part of Jackie's desire for friends is truly a desire for understanding. They want to learn and understand how other people think, and thus need to meet and befriend many people in order to do so. In turn, their work understanding others' psyches is what allows them to develop the charisma and emotional intelligence that draws people to them.

[mythos-asks]

Mod Caide: Alright, I had to go fill out some tests as Jackie for this, but here we are. Jackie fits into types 6 and 8 of the Enneagram test—they're trustworthy, hard-working, and calculating, but also bold and outgoing. They're very direct about their thoughts and opinions, even if they view themself as somewhat of an outsider.

In terms of MBTI, Jackie is a "Commander"—type ENTJ. They're extroverted, inquisitive, and assertive.

Finally, apparently we're doing DnD alignment, too? Jackie is chaotic neutral. They're an inherently selfish person, and we're just lucky that their desires happen to align with the general good of the world. They don't care much for rules or traditions, and will easily break them if they deem it at all necessary to reach their goals.

What are the personality types of the characters?

Mod Tag: Sam definitely fits into the Enneagram type two personality: the helper. In terms of MBTI, he fits into the INFJ-T type. He's an innovator and advocate at heart, but is led more by his emotions and can have turbulent moods. He's neutral good, as he believes that kindness should come first and doesn't really concern himself with laws, though he doesn't consider himself a rebel by any means.

(Note from Mod Caide: Wow, he was very prepared for that...)

[mythos-asks]

What are the personality types of the characters?

Mod Tag: Sam definitely fits into the Enneagram type two personality: the helper. In terms of MBTI, he fits into the INFJ-T type. He's an innovator and advocate at heart, but is led more by his emotions and can have turbulent moods. He's neutral good, as he believes that kindness should come first and doesn't really concern himself with laws, though he doesn't consider himself a rebel by any means.

(Note from Mod Caide: Wow, he was very prepared for that...)

[mythos-asks]

Mod Caide: Remember when I said we would also post memes here?

[mythos-asks]

What kind of person does your character like?

Mod Caide: Despite being a huge flirt, Jackie isn't actually all that interested in the concept of a committed relationship—they view romance more as something just a step deeper than the casual flirting they partake in than as a way of pursuing a more permanent relationship. Beyond that, they tend to avoid romance so as not to hurt others; they enjoy the "freedom" of being uncommitted and aren't willing to compromise on it, and they make that stance very clear as they don't want it to hurt anyone who might view them as a real romantic option.

If they were to fall for someone in the more traditional way, it would have to be someone who either shared or accepted their views on romance and sexuality. That aside, it'd probably be someone who could understand the way they think—someone who recognized their colder side, and who could love and accept both it and the cheerier side of themself that they show to others.

Mod Tag: Sam values loyalty over all else and is conscious of this preference. Aside from loyalty, Sam enjoys the feeling of being protected and loved, though perhaps in more subtle ways. He learned kind treatment from Helena and still values that in his other relationships. He doesn’t have much romantic experience and doesn’t know if he’s deserving of such, but perhaps he can learn his own worth and gain confidence in himself and others...

Mod Trilo: Helena doesn't have much experience with romance (or any at all, really) at the start of the story. Who's got the time, when you're raising your brother and trying to keep yourself alive? She's so busy taking care of everyone else that, maybe, someone caring for her in the same way would catch her notice. Helena wants to be with someone who she can see as an equal, a strong yet kind person who can take some of the weight off her shoulders. She'd definitely fall for someone who sees her as herself, and not just as a protector.

Mod Kj: Strade definitely likes those he can protect or that he feels more physically powerful than. He likes those who are more emotionally intelligent, as he himself is bad at recognizing feelings or situations. He also likes those who are more technical-thinking and intellectual, as he finds the contrast in thinking to be refreshing. He doesn't consciously know it, but he also needs someone that can talk him down from his stupid antics. No matter what though, Strade needs somebody.

[mythos-asks]

What are some other media/characters that inspired your main characters?

Mod Caide: This may be a bit surprising, but the original version of Jackie (from that cancelled project I mentioned in a previous answer) was actually partially inspired by Luffy One Piece. They do share some traits—they're both very bold and straightforward—but in almost all other aspects, they're almost complete opposites.

This was intentional; part of the original idea with that version of Jackie was for them to be the anti-Luffy. Luffy is a dumb stupid idiot who's guided by fate; Jackie is a methodical, intelligent person who actively defies fate. Luffy isn't bound by morality (he's rude and commits petty crimes like theft), and yet he almost never kills; Jackie has a very strong moral compass, yet they're more than willing to kill if they deem it necessary.

Mod Tag: While most of Sam was just finding an idea and running with it, there were a few characters that inspired his personality/appearance: Firstly, Samwise from the Lord of the Rings was an initial feel for how he interacts with others and some personality traits. I grew up reading and watching (and rewatching) a lot of Tolkien media as a kid, so this character definitely gave me an idea of how I wanted Sam to grow and develop in this story. Some other inspirations came later after the project started, with Will Byers (Stranger Things) and Viktor (Arcane). Typically, Sam fits into the caregiver/innovator archetypes, so these characters all also inspire his story and personality.

Mod Trilo: Honestly, it's been so long since I first wrote Helena that I can't say for sure! I have no doubt that she was inspired by the media I loved back then, though. I'm definitely able to look at her now and draw parallels to other characters (including ones that didn't exist back then)!

She's definitely in the same family as some of those loveable himbo types. She'd get along well with the likes of, say, Roman from Sanders Sides or Laios from Dungeon Meshi.

Roman probably was an actual inspiration for her at the time. Also, like all my characters, she's based on me as well. (Note from Caide: based)

Mod Kj: At the time I made Strade, Vander from the tv show Arcane was a big inspiration for his character, especially his softer side. When I was younger I definitely leaned into the edgy characters to be inspired by. Though since then I've learned to embrace that not every character has to be a homicidal maniac.

When he's comfortable, Strade is much sillier than how he was originally written. Kevin from Shameless is a good example of the kind of cluelessness and humor that Strade has.

[mythos-asks]

How did you name the characters?

Mod Caide: The basic character of Jackie is one I came up with years ago, well before the current iteration of Mythos or their involvement in it, for a separate project that has since been abandoned. That version of Jackie was quite a bit different from the one we know today, including the fact that she was a woman and not a practitioner of Schrodinger's Gender. When I first attempted to write Mythos in novel form, I initially chose to have a single Human protagonist rather than pull in the other Humans from the original rp, and I decided to reuse the character of Jackie. Things developed a lot since that point, but "Jackie" works fine as a gender-neutral name, so I stuck with it as I explored Jackie's character and identity more deeply.

Mod Tag: Few know this, but Sam is a nickname for Sariel. Originally, I had the idea of a character named Sariel for a DND campaign that never happened, and then reused the name years later when Caide started this project. Sariel is a Judaic mythological figure whose story doesn't really have anything to do with Sam. I liked the more celestial feel for the character, as Sam is a healer and a helper in the story, so I kept that as his given name. However, Sariel is a bit of a mouthful, so I decided on Sam as a nickname. Mostly used as a reference to Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings. They bear similar characterisitcs in my mind with their loyalty and caring nature, so the nickname just fit well.

Mod Trilo: Well, my favorite band of all time is My Chemical Romance. And I'm awful at naming characters. I pretty much just scrolled through my music library for ideas, saw the name Helena, and decided it was a nice enough name to use! Funny enough, I didn't actually like the song back then, but now it's grown on me. No doubt due to Helena the character's influence (although she has nothing to do with the song in terms of theme or anything!)

Mod Kj: Strade's name comes from a small indie horror game character. When I made him I took a lot of inspiration from the creator's art and other works.

[mythos-asks]

What is the origin of the name Mythos?

Mod Caide: Oh, this is a good one! I'll answer this myself, since I'm the one that named it.

I've mentioned on the main blog in the past that Mythos actually originated as a text roleplay. That concept itself actually went through a couple iterations before we got to the version I actually ran with all my friends.

The original concept of Mythos was "a world without humans", a fantasy scenario where just about every mythological creature you could think of was represented as a type of person and our little community of players would have to get a bit more creative rather than all playing as normal people (as I'd noticed was a trend in previous fantasy scenarios). That original concept is where the name came from, as the world pulled from the 'mythos' of various cultures.

Of course, that original scenario never came to light, and Mythos changed a lot before we got to the version people actually played. The core concept took a 180 from "a world without humans" to "a world where you're the only humans left", but the whole idea of representing tons of mythological creatures as races of people remained as a core aspect of the worldbuilding, so the name stuck and we've ran with it ever since.

[mythos-asks]

Is this askblog limited to the main characters, or can we ask about the side stories or lore?

Mod Caide: You absolutely can!

When it comes to the lore, or more specific questions in general, you'll probably only get responses from one or two of the mods, as is the case here. After all, you don't exactly need four perspectives on a simple lore question.

The same goes for the side stories, more or less, though in that case, I'm not even 100% sure the rest of the team have read them. Maybe I should assign it as some Mythos Homework(TM)?

A final note on lore questions: I might reject some of them on the simple basis of "I want to keep that a secret" and/or "That'll be revealed later in the story". When it comes to simple top-level things, like the general state of the world or questions about places or nations or races, I'll almost always be able to answer freely, so you're probably best off sticking to stuff like that.

[mythos-asks]

Meet the Cast!

With our own introductions out of the way, let's introduce our four main cast members. Conveniently, each of them was created by one of the mods, so we'll go through them the same way.

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Mod Caide: Jackie is (or, at least, quickly becomes) the leader of the group and is more or less the main protagonist of the story, though all four of them share that role. They're an excessively outgoing, bold, and flirtatious person with plenty of wit and charisma to spare. Obscured beneath their outgoing and chaotic nature is an attentive and calculating, occasionally even cold person. Jackie isn't afraid to solve things with violence, and they'll do just about anything for the one thing they truly care about—their friends. I look forward to sharing much more about my favorite genderless chaos gremlin with you all in due time.

Mod Kj: Strade's booming personality is shown by his witty remarks and unsavory decision making skills. In combat, he is a highly aggressive fighter and will do anything to win and get his way. While he is coarse and quick to come to conclusions, he is also a very hearty person in times of peace. A sociable man to his core, he thrives on the companionship of others, he cherishes the bond he has with the members of his group. Strade's quick witted remarks can also come out as offensive and belligerent, sometimes in the least appropriate situations, like dire moments where a wrong word can mean losing a hand.

Mod Tag: Sam fills more of a support role in the group's function. He's a quick learner, inquisitive, and a self taught healer. Sam prefers to stay out of the way in combat, favoring his bow over aggressive melee fighting, and that sentiment extends to most social situations. To those close to him, Sam's an eternal optimist who believes in the best of others, but outside of his circle, he can seem reserved and protective. He presents himself as simply a helping hand, though perhaps there's more to Sam than even he's aware of.

Mod Trilo: Helena is the Team Best Girl! Also, She's Sam's older sister and truly the heart of the group. She's kind, caring, and loveable. However, she's also firecely protective of the Humans, and she feels responsible for whatever happens to them. She's physically the strongest of the group, and uses her impressive strength to defend the people she loves. Outside of her role as a protector, she's an excellent confidant, and she loves to stay busy with whatever tasks need doing - hunting, cooking, building, mending.... she's a powerhouse and she's good at it! I love her very much <3

[mythos-asks]

Welcome to the blog!

Howdy all, and welcome to the Mythos askblog! We plan to use this as a community hub for our writing project, Mythos, where we can answer various questions (either as ourselves or as the characters) and to post frequent content related to the world and characters. The main blog, @mythic-anorak, will be reserved for official announcements and the like from now on. With that said, we'd like to start by introducing ourselves before getting into the characters.

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Mod Caide: Hello! I'm Caide, and I'm the main mastermind behind Mythos. I created pretty much all the characters except the three the other mods are about to tell you about, as well as the actual world, lore, and overall story of Mythos. I'm the one that actually does the writing part, though I consult the other three in regards to their characters. I also run the main @mythic-anorak blog.

Mod Trilo: Hey there, I'm Trilo! I'm one of the original members of Mythos, and I'm here for moral support, social media skills (this blog was my idea!), formatting and editing... pretty much anything except the art. I also created one of our main human cast members, Helena! She's the best. Not that I'm biased or anything. You can also find me on my main blog @pep-tides!

Mod Tag: Hi! I’m Tag and I’m one of the original creators of Mythos. I’ve done most of the art for the blog and pages for this project, and I’ll likely be making more art for this as it grows. I also made Sam, one of the main characters of the story. He’s my heart and soul and I love him dearly (please let me yap about him). I also have another blog, @tagarooni where I sometimes post art of characters.

Mod Kj: Hey im Kj, I am another one of the original members of Mythos, I've done a tiny bit of art for my character Strade in the story. He should be your favorite character because... well, he's my favorite character. That's a joke I hold all the Mythos crew deep in my heart, Strade just sits a bit more comfortably in that nook. You can find me on my blog @kjtabor, I'm not super active on there but that may change in the future!

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Aaand that's it for our personal intros. We'll introduce our four main characters soon, and from there we hope to make frequent posts about our work on Mythos, the characters, etc.

We'll be somewhat retreading info available on the main blog for a bit, but before long we'll be getting into questions and more frequent and casual posts, be they shitposts, memes, doodles, etc. Feel free to send in any asks in the meantime! Talk to you again soon.