#Sol with Deity much honestly

[nostomannia]

How do you view love?

violent

harsh words and cold glares. painful in the way that your heart burns but can never seem to seek for something better. it is the way you would walk through glass to see a smile, or claw at your own arms just to satisfy another, give and never take for the guilt that comes with wanting is suffocating. emotionally draining and a forever ache that you can't escape.

Tagged by: @xavthew0rld

Tagging: @hriobzagelthewanderer @goldspun @kingdom-of-mxginica @wiildhearrted @dragonskxn

[starful-emporium]

honestly, fantasy high changed the way I see religion for myself. I watched s1 when I was still unsure of whether to leave the church I was raised in, and not only was Kristen incredibly relatable, but her situation was so different.

she MET GOD. in dnd, there is real, true proof of not only the being's existence but also of their deity-hood. Kristen never questions whether Helio/Sol exists, nor if they have the powers they say they have.

In the finale Brennan asks "what is a god worthy of your worship?" and that's what her real question always was.

it's so different from how most people think about religion. in Christianity especially there's so much emphasis on *you* being worthy of God, and not God being worthy of your worship.

after watching fantasy high I asked myself, "if the god I was taught to believe in was real, would I want to worship him?"

and that made it a lot easier to walk away.

[worstdisastermaster]

Why is Freyr a solar god?

Author’s note or whatever:

So, a while back, I was curious. (Which honestly sounds like the reason i could claim for all my issues lol) Im an Apollo stan, right? So,, I kept seeing things hinting to Freyr and his connection with the sun. So, ofc, I was confused. Sol’s a thing- I know that myth. Sooo, why is freyr connected to the sun??? Naturally, I decided to do research about it instead of my homework at the time, meaning my notes for the class were mixed with my unfiltered thoughts about what I was learning about Freyr. (Honestly it was pretty hilarious going through it) I absorbed the knowledge and continued on with my life, never clearing up the notes or even trying to source where it all came from. You know, like an idiot.

Welll, i have been asked by an amazing person to share my thoughts, so you can imagine me scuttling away and click-clacking on my school computer to dig through old notes and try to find both old sources and new and throw this together. (I like to talk about things im interested in lol. Im so happy to share XD and infodump.) I apologize if this doesn't make sense or anything- I’ve never really done anything like this before lol, though im excited to start :D aaand the intro is far too long already. Okay MOVING ON.

Disclaimer: I cannot tell you the exact facts about the worship the Norse had for the heavens originally, because no one knows. All of this is speculations from people much smarter than i that i’m trying to piece together and condense. Take this all with an entire freaking pillar of salt XD

So. Want to know how many deities I’ve pieced together, as being associated with the sun/moon (seriously associated lol)? I’m sure you do, because im going to go over all of them. Lol.

six. Six entire deities. (... maybe even seven, or 9, or MORE)

Sol and Mani, of course. Freya and Freyr, the whole point of this. Baldr and Nanna. Probably more I forgot. And a gajillion other things associated- boars and horses and ships and shields and birds and- Loads and loads of different things.

SO. I’m going to explain them individually and then walk you all through what I understand about it all.

(also please note that this is all like. Paraphrased from the websites and organized and stuff. I dont want yall to read this then look at the sources and think ‘why r these so similar’ XD its ‘cause they are. This is more like my research + commentary then me being an expert or anything lol)

Sol and Mani

Like all the others I’m going to go over, there are a variety of versions about this- I’m only going to do some of them. Lol.

Sol and Mani are siblings. In one version, they were created with the cosmos, and had literally no purpose or anything. The gods saw, and created the different parts of the day and year and phases of the moon, then placed them under Sol and Mani’s care. And thus, Sol and Mani rode through the sky on chariots, and fled the wolves Skoll (Mockery) and Hati (Hate), which is the reason for their speed, and why they move across the sky at all. When ragnarok begins and everything goes to Hela in a handbasket, (...thats an absurd image XD) the wolves will finally manage to catch up to them and eat them, as they've literally always wanted to do. (Honestly, what dedication tho-)

In some versions of the above, there’s a guy named Svalinn who protects Midgard (earth) from the might of the sun with a shield. Which is great, since both land and sea would catch on fire and everything and everyone would die if he didn’t. (Everyone, say ‘thanks, Svalinn’!)

In another version, both Sol and Mani are children of a mortal man named Mundilferi. (His name might mean “The one moving according to particular times” which, yah know, vaguely implies the movement of celestial bodies in the sky. Then there's the thought that Mundil is derived from Mund, which means “period of time”- which may be a kenning [kind of a funny word I’ll explain again later. It references a thing thats like, a cross between an allusion and an epithet and metaphor and references and a whole bunch of other things. Basically, it means they say one thing but mean another- they just said the first because it sounded fancy. And you would be expected to puzzle it together because you already knew what they were referencing and everything] for the moon. Which is kind of interesting if we take it literally, since its another instance of the moon being male and the sun being female, which isnt as common as one might think. [norway’s also different in that they imagine the moon being born before the sun- so the day begins from the night, like the year from winter. Kudos to ancient norway for being original]) Etymology aside, this guy has two kids. Basically, they’re so wonderful and beautiful that he named them after the moon and sun, and gave Sol to be wedded to a guy named Glenr (which means ‘opening in the clouds’).

In this version, the sun came from a sperk in Muspelheim and was pulled through the sky in a driverless chariot. Unfortunately, the gods took the names personally, and were like, “Oh, you named your kids ‘sun’ and ‘moon’? Don’t worry, thats cool, they can be the sun and moon then! Wouldn’t that be nice? We’ll make sure their names are accurate, dont you worry your stupid little mortal ‘brain’” ‘cause they were offended or whatever. So, as punishment, they are stuck being the moon/sun forever- until Fenrir eats Sol (and mani, presumably) during ragnarok, that is. Then her daughter will take her place, which is funny since everyone will be dead, so noooot sure how that works, but I digress. Im not sure about mani’s heir- forgot to find a source for that lol XD I do know that he either kidnapped or adopted, depending on the variation, two kids to help him out.

Ive also heard of versions where the sun and moon are actually the very wolves chasing sol and mani, and they simply lead the wolves across the sky in an eternal loop. (that ones my favorite, because d o g g o)

Lots and lots of different versions of sol and mani- more than i’m putting here. This is enough to give you the general gist, though, and since this isn’t focused on them, weeeeee’re moving on.

Baldr and Nanna

These two are quite interesting to me. For one, I’m not actually certain if Nanna is, in fact, considered a moon deity- half of the sources on her say yes, at least kind of, and half dont mention it at all. She’s pretty mysterious- not much is known about her except that she’s baldr’s wife. Even her name has a ton of possible meanings- none of the sources i looked up in my half-hearted search had the same idea for her etymology. (read: i didnt look that hard lol) Her heritage is equally debatable. She’s maybe a daughter of Nepr, who might be Odin’s son- or she she’s possibly the daughter of mani (hmm)- or the sister to sygn, or- she’s not the focus, so i moved on lol.

Baldr, on the other hand…

He’s not always the sun, or even sunshine, but he is always light. And everyone loves him, and its not a huge secret that he’s basically Jesus-ified all throughout the myths we know.

He’s absolutely perfect in literally every single conceivable way- unlike his brother, who’s the god of darkness to his light, and grumpy and rude and generally unlikable, and possibly the freaking embodiment of sin according to some sources. Oh and, he’s also blind. (Love the way ancient representation worked 9-9) He basically exists to make Baldr look better, from what i understand, which is hardly cool at all. Especially ‘cause of how ableist that is. But I digress.

So, Baldr, who’s ‘white as a daisy’ (lol) with a ‘snowy’ brow that im assuming just means that he’s extremely white (its also continuously described as shining… im just gonna make a leap and say its probably not the ancients saying he’s just really greasy…), and has golden locks likened to sunshine. He’s innocence and beauty and light and purity and all that jazz.

Even though he’s so popular, he’s most known for his death, which is kiiiiiinda twisted if you think about it for a sec. Anyway, blah blah blah not the point of this blah blah blah, basically he was prophesied to die but eeeeeveryone loved him so much that frigga (his mom and queen of the gods- and possibly another form of Freya, or- aaand im sidetracked again XD) got literally every single thing to swear to never harm Baldr- except, of course, one tiny little plant. (some say she forgot, others that she thought the plant too young, etc) Loki was jealous of Baldr and, one way or another, found out about the plant- mistletoe, it was. Sooo, while everyone was chucking random things at baldr because they thought it was funny, he decided to be ‘helpful’ to Hodur (baldr’s twin mentioned above) and basically made Hodur kill Baldr- which didnt do what loki thought it would, ‘cause there was no doubt it was actually loki’s fault, not Hodur. (Wow, imagine being hated and mistrusted more than the actual [possible] embodiment of sin himself… snorri really has it out for this guy, doesnt he) Whoopee, Loki’s punished in a variety of different ways depending on the version. Yay.

I’ll be getting further in depth on that later, so thats all on baldr for now.

Freya and Freyr

Now, these two are (obviously_ where i spent the majority of my time looking, since they are, yah know, the entire point of this post. Get ready for a lot of vague things that point fingers at their connection to the sun and moon, because im about to condense a lot of sources on the mystery of their connection into this one.

So, in basic mythology, Freya and Freyr are the insanely beautiful of Njordr- and they’re sometimes twins. (and sometimes lovers, as in some versions Njordr got with his sister to have the two of them. How… interesting. [sometimes their mother is nerthus, sometimes skadi, possibly others, not the focus XD]) Freyr is a big freaking deal (and so is his sister). “He rules over the rain and the shining of the sun, and therewithal the fruit of the earth; and it is good to call on him for fruitful seasons and peace. He governs also the prosperity of men,” is Freyr according to one source. Frankly, they were leaving out quite a bit.

Freyr’s home was considered to be Alfheim, which was the home of the elves. (“The elves were collective gods who were also associated with burial mounds and the ancestors”. You’ll see why this is so interesting a detail in a bit- though its also interesting for a pretty blatant reason. Freya and Freyr are both considered the leaders of the light elves. Yah know, the light elves.) He had a ship that has a name that reminds me of a keyboard smash (because i dont speak norse, not because it is random letters obviously lol, im not funny) that was built by dwarves.

Now, this ship is pretty cool, since it sails on both land and sea, always has a tailwind, and on top of that it can be folded like a piece of cloth and tucked in a pocket. It also connects him with his dad. (Yes, this ship is important, and yes, i will get to it later, lolll) he also has this amazing boar (Gullinborsti) attached to his cart that also doesn’t discriminate between land and air and sea- he travels ‘em all. This boar illuminates everything with its golden bristles- almost like the sun, ahahaha. (The boar is also often depicted on warriors’ shields- and shields are also connected to the sun, as i’ll explain in a bit.) He also has a servant named ‘the bright one’.

“Freyr, like his sister and father, belonged to the vanir race, but lived with the aesir as a peace hostage after the war between the two groups of gods. The fact that his dwelling is also called alfheim suggests a connection between the vanir and the elves; both are also associated with fertility (which, btw, both freya and freyr are considered deities of). Just like odin and thor, Freyr was quite popular with the ancient norse cults. (pOpULar wiTH tHe LaDiEs-) Freyr is destroyed by the giant Surt during ragnarok with his flaming sword.” he’s constantly described as handsome, beautiful, powerful, kind, and all sorts of other nice things. He’s also, interestingly enough, called the ‘world god’ by snorri. (nah, that doesnt connect to anything in this, i literally just thought it was cool lol) He rules the weather and growth of the year, with the rain and sunshine for the crops of the field. He was the go-to god for people who wanted a good future, peace, prosperity, and progress. He was the god of habits (apparently? Kinda cool, that) and the god of years and the giver of wealth. (this is because, according to some, Freyr was originally a mortal king. His reign was so wonderful that he was worshiped beyond his death, and continued to watch over his people as a god. This is very much not true in all versions, however lol) He’s also got horses devoted to him, which is fun.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He’s the god of lots of very important things and hes very cool and we should all love him lots, is basically the moral of the story lol.

So, why should he (and his sister) be connected to the sun?

Surface level answer is because Freya is considered as beautiful as the sun, and so is her necklace. Freyr is, because of his association with seasonal change and fertility and crops, and his boar.

Except, thats only the surface level. Buckle in guys, ‘cause we’re about to get real. (and real speculative. lol.)

First, we’re gonna look at what the sun even is, before we touch on who and why it has anything to do with Freyr and Freya.

So, the sun chariot is a pretty common thing in norse mythology- and others besides. It isn’t always, however. According to some sources, the sun is on a wagon during the day and on a ship below the sea at night- which might also relate to death and the underworld. (im coming back to that later, too) as one source says, “in prehistoric scandinavia, images of the sun being held by humans, set on a ship or wagon, appear on slabs inside graves, sun-like shields, (which is another huge association btw- the sun and war, specifically) belt plates and the famous 1400 BCE trundholm sun-chariot, where it is depicted as drawn by a horse on its eternal journey, both set on wheels suggesting a continuous motion”

Now, there’s also the connection between the sun and the underworld. There’s carvings with chariots and bird shapes put in graves- most likely to guide or protect the dead. (The sun and freya both were the protecter of dead people in prehistoric scandinavia_ the horse also was important, as it was considered a means of both communication and transportation between the two worlds- which ties back into the sun being drawn by horses. Horses connect earth and sky, life and death, and pull the sun- you know, the sun, which represents life and death in equal measure. (you can even look at it this way- the death of the sun and the rebirth of the day, caused by the sun)

The bird shapes and bird-shaped women are thought to be the valkyries taking one half of the dead warriors to valhalla, and the other half to- oh, how interesting, to freya’s hall. (*intense eyebrow wriggles*) which- odin is also known to shapeshift into an eagle, so theres that connection too- and he’s in charge of valhalla. Similarly, freya has a cloak that turns its wearer into a falcon, letting her fly. The shapes are also regarded by scholars as representation of the eagle, and are connected with battle and war- but also as a symbol of the sun. just like the wheels, the birds refer to the swift flight of the sun. (this is extra interesting, when we consider freya’s connection to the strife and death and etc- wherats freyr is the fruit of the earth and peace and fertile seasons, considered the guy that ‘makes love rather than war’ [ in reference to him giving away his sword for love {he also gave away his horse, which was known for being able to jump over the ‘ring of fire’ and protect the rider from it- or, the sun. curious, isn’t it? Especially if we continue on with the idea that surt is the personification of all things we dont want the sun to be- and freyr’s horse protects against that, and was given away. That, and his sword is summer… which is implied to be the very sword surt will wield to kill freyr} both he and his sister are worshiped as gods of marriage and love, albeit differently] and etc… almost like they are the dual natures of the sun personified…)

Back on the sun=ship thing, “the other image popular in the bronze age, that of the sun on ship, can easily parallel traditions elsewhere, such as the egyptian sun god ra or Apollo (!!!) from greek mythology who gave protection in navigation. This image is used to describe shields” in snorri’s poetic teachings the shield can be a ‘skipsol’, literally a ship-sun, or a hlyrtungl, prow-moon”

(Curiously, Freyr’s ship has been depicted with an image of the sun on it. See what im putting down, here?

…and if not, you will.)

(Also, njord and freyr and freya are all connected to ships and maritime, which is in turn connected to the sun.)

At the end of the world, freyr will battle the giant surt, which possibly means more than we think at first glance. Surt can be interpreted as the destructive side of the sun- which makes sense. The peaceful, gently, nurturing side of the sun in freyr, being defeated by the wantonly destructive side at the end of the world- which makes it extra interesting that surt kills freyr, and not sol.

In addition, there’s also evidence of someone named ‘Sunna’ who’s referenced in the context of invoking the gods to heal a foal’s foot. Which, if you look at Freyr’s association with healing, and horses… perhaps they are connected, perhaps not, but its interesting all the same.

(And again, horses are also connected to the underworld- like ships, and freya, and- basically, its kind of convoluted, but by association one could suggest that freyr has a cthonic connection- just like the sun might. Then, of course, with his association with life, he’s gonna have association with death- and harvest, and the changing of seasons, and rebirth, and- yeah, see what i mean?)

Switching topics!!!!! (Because now im focusing mostly on a specific source- my absolute favorite of the bunch, because of how much information is concisely stated. All the others are mashing together- this ones special)

I referenced njord and skadi and nerthus, right? Wellll, njord and nerthus and freya and freyr have some… interesting connections.

Allow me to lay the groundwork.

“Nerthus travels on her wagon and brings peace and good seasons to people, while njordr, the male counterpart of nerthus, was worshiped as the protector of maritime. Both of these two features could have been derived from the course of the sun through the sky during the day on the sun-chariot, and through the underworld at night, maybe on a ship, which can also be interpreted as a metaphor of the regeneration of plants and crops, and even connected with the journey from this world to the other world.

“As for freya and freyr, who are probably derived from nerthus-njordr (which in another part of this paper, is explained. I wont get into details, but nerthus and njordr can be argued as the same person- and freya and freyrs names mean ‘lord’ and ‘lady’, and can easily be implicated as simply being epithets for the above- which in simpler terms, means that njordr might have came first, then nerthus came from him [or vice-versa] and then the gods freya and freyr came from him/them over time, as they slowly began to be seen as separate deities instead of epithets. That, or nerthus came first, and then njord, and then freya took nerthus’ place while freyr shared njord’s as son and father), they share more similarities with the sun, which may allow them to be identified as nordic solar gods. For example, freya’s wagon is pulled by cats, which are worshiped by ancient egyptians as the representation of the sun (im also going to point out the metaphor of the sun as odin’s eye, and gesture broadly at all the myths referencing ra’s eye in association to the sun. in addition, the ancient egyptians called the sun “the cat” as “the pupil of the cat’s eye grows larger with the advance of day” as the sun does. They imagined a great cat standing behind the sun, as the sun is the pupil of the cat’s eye. Female cats belonged to bast [or bubastis] while male cats- which are the ones that draw freya’s charit- symbolize ra, the sun-god) (At this point, consider this- norse mythology: starring guest mythologies, from such wondrous places as egypt and greece!!!!!!) at the same time, her wagon associated her with both the sun and nerthus. Compared with freya, freyrs role as a solar god is more obvious, as he is the ruler of rains and shining in the sun.

“The similarities of functions between the sun, and freya-freyr, might indicate that the fertile functions represented by the sun in the bronze age, was first inherited by nerthus in the iron age, and then by freya and freyr in the viking and middle ages, even though the sun itself was no longer the key symbol of fertility in viking and medieval north.”

This is another interesting thing- originally, in fertility worship, there are artifacts with images of the sun on them- in all of the forms mentioned above. However, after 500 BC, the sun itself is replaced with freyr and freya- possibly as the personified sun.

In addition, the movement of the sun across the sky was treated as a symbol of seasonal changing and vegetation growing. “The sun comes back after the darkness of the winter, brings back not only the brightness, but also the fertility of earth and vegetation.” That’s interesting, since Freyr is kind of in charge of the changing of seasons and growing of vegetation and fertility and brightness. Funny, that.

Similarly, want to know the difference between the sun-wagon and the sun-ship? Wagons were connected with females, while ships are more connected with males. Hence Freya and Nerthus both owning a chariot, while freyr owns the golden ship ‘Skidbladnir’- and Njord is obviously connected to ships. This implies that there are two aspects of the sun- one connected with females, and the other with males. However, this also isn’t a hard and fast rule- remember Freyr’s boar, that pulls his wagon? Freya also just so happens to own a ship. (and a very similar boar!) So even though there is association with genders and wagons and ships, it’s not a hard and fast rule. Although, if Freyr and Freya are both connected to Nerthus, it might make sense that Freyr has a wagon. (Similarly, Thor has a connection with a wagon- but he also has dressed as Freya)

Nerthus also is known to travel around on her wagon in order to bring peace to her people and fertility to crops- just as Freyr does. (And Freya is also connected to good seasons and harvest!) Interestingly enough, Nerthus’ wagon can be considered to have been drawn by female cattle instead of horses. This is interesting because the sun’s rays are described as cow’s milk- and as us greek nerds know, the sun-cattle is definitely a thing in greek mythology.

(In a similar vein, the tale of Njord and Skadi has been compared to the myths of Hades and Persephone, and the story of Freya’s searching for her husband to Isis and Osiris- underworld and fertility and growth connections, again)

And then, there’s this. “In the thought of these early ages the sun was the child of night or darkness, the dawn came before he was born, and died as he rose in the heavens. He strangled the serpents of the night, (gonna point at egyptian mythology real quick- and also Python from greek mythology, because why not), he went forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber, and like a giant to run his course. He had to do battle with clouds and storms, sometimes his light grew dim under their gloomy veil, and the children of men shuddered at the wrath of the hidden sun. His course might be brilliant and beneficent, or gloomy, sullen, and capricious. He might be a warrior, a friend, or a destroyer. The rays of the sun were changed into golden hair, into spears and lances, and robes of light.” How many of the above points have been referenced in that?! Quite a few.

Then, (with the speakers of the conversation taken out ‘cause their unnecessary,) “The sun fares swiftly, and almost as if she were afraid: she could not hasten her course any more if she feared her destruction. It is no marvel that she hastens furiously: Close cometh he that seeks her and she has no escape save to run away. Who is he that causes her disquiet? It is two wolves; and he that runs after her is called Skoll; she fears him, and he shall take her. But he that leaps before her is called Hati Hrodvitnisson. He is eager to seize the moon; and so it must be.”

This obviously references Sol and Mani- and brings us back to the idea that the sun (and moon) are very, very fast.

Another fun little fact? There’s a few different names for the sun- and it’s associated with quite a few things, like gold and fire, which is shown in several things like freya’s gold necklace being named after the sun- and her tears. Gold is called ‘the shining’, which is often connected with the sun- but so are the names Sol, as ‘sun’, and sunna, as ‘sunshine’, ‘everglow’, ‘the lovely wheel’, ‘all-shining’, etc. In addition, I’m going to bring Freyr’s servant back to your memory- as his name means ‘the shining one’. (Speaking of- did you remember where you’ve seen ‘sunna’ before?) Gold is very much associated with Freya- even in the names of her daughters. She also is called “shining one over the sea”, which plays on this and her oceanic connections.

Who is Snorri and why should we care?

Aaaaaaand here is the reason I said to take all of the above with a grain of salt. All because of this guy named Snorri. If we have collective beef with the roman poets that are responsible for the majority of the ‘greek’ myths we know, i dont even know what we have with this guy.

Why? We have no idea how many myths he made up on the spot. He is single handedly responsible for the majority of norse mythology as we know it- which are quite different then how it was originally.

By the time he’d gotten his dirty fingers all over the myths, they’d already been quite tampered with- thanks to christians who had no patience for paganism, but enjoyed sharing gossip about ‘heathens’ anyway. (thanks, us. Really had to go and screw with history) So they were already moving away from the original myths. (hence Baldr being so blatantly symbolic of Christ) Then Snorri happened, and the original myths fled like they were being chased by some kinda giant, rabid wolf. (See what I did there? …Geeze, okay, fine, I’ll see myself out, calm down-)

(*please note that the majority of my griping is done with relative fondness. I do enjoy norse myths as they are, and I am in fact christian lol. I simply am whining because I want to know the truth, gosh darn it!!!!*)

So what, exactly, did Snorri do?

Allow me to set the scene. Snorri was both Icelandic and Christian, and he was absolutely obsessed with viking poetry. Like, seriously. Snorri was so obsessed with them he decided he wanted to be the king’s Skald- which was often Icelandic. (A skald was a highly honored post- it was a cross between chief counselor and court jester, and was an extremely influential position, with the freedom they had to even scold the king without consequences. [Skald=scold]) He was a 40 year old poet with big dreams. And he was a good poet too- he knew he was.

Unfortunately for him, the king wasn’t interested.

The issue? The king was a 14 year old boy who was much more interested in learning about King Arthur and the knights of the round table than his own history- which was kind of personally offensive to Snorry. The king thought that Snorri was terribly dry and boring- just like viking poetry.

Now, the main reason it was so dry and boring and confusing was the kennings I mentioned earlier- which might have even been named that by Snorri himself. Kennings are a mix between a riddle and a trivia quiz, as one source explains it. “No poet writing in Old Norse before about 1300 would say ‘mead’ when he or she could say ‘waves of honey,’ or ‘ship’ instead of ‘otter of the ocean,’ or ‘sword’ instead of ‘fire of the spear clash’. And those are the easy kennings to figure out. The harder ones refer to Norse myths. For example, what did a Viking poet mean by saying ‘Aegir’s fire,’ or ‘freya’s tears,’ or ‘sif’s hair’? The norse gods Aegir and Freya and Sif hadn’t been worshiped for over 200 years in Norway or Iceland. Few people remembered the old stories of gods and dwarfs and giants, and so the old poems hardly made sense.” So, of course the boy-king wasn’t interested in the poems, and sent him home.

Snorri took this as a challenge.

He had first, in 1220, wrote an elaborate poem in praise of the king and his regent. Said poem was 102 stanzas long, in 100 different styles- which was unprecedented. Snorri was literally amazing.

It wasn’t the best place to start, however.

Luckily for Snorri, he realized this and didn’t send it. Instead, he took the time to write a section explaining how skaldic poems worked- including kennings. Then he began to write myths that would explain the kennings- myths that he’d heard, stories he’d pierced together from old poems, and others that he himself simply made up- which is a great deal of the reason why the characters rarely gave the impression that they needed to be feared and worshiped. Like Thor- he’s quite the idiot in the myths that Snorri wrote. Snorri didn’t fear or worship these gods- he just liked poetry, man. (Thor was nowhere near the idiot Snorri portrayed him as- he was the favorite god. Everything was named after Thor- nothing was of Odin. In fact, Odin is rarely mentioned- and is, from what i understand, the least norse of the gods- only belatedly one of them at all. However, Odin was Snorri’s favorite- and thor was demoted to comic relief.)

Thats also likely the reason for alllllll the mentions of sex, and the insane results- like Sleipnir, or Jormungand. He was trying to keep a 14 year old boy interested- of course he’s going to fall back on dirty humor. Loki was often a main feature of his stories, and often the mischievous antagonist.

Heck, the tale of where poetry even came from can be blamed on- i mean claimed by Snorri. He really, really liked both mead and he liked poetry, and he was trying to convince the boy-king to get interested in Snorri and hire him, and to scold him at the same time. (Its also said that the myth perverts an ancient ceremony- from celtic sources) It says more about Snorri than it does genuine myths.

Snorri also had a mild obsession with connecting the gods to troy and each other and people in weird ways. Like how he was constantly making couples be ‘married’, when originally they were only lovers- maybe even one time lovers.

Like Odin and Skadi.

Or Freyr and Gerdr. Its said that Freyr fell in love with the giantess Gerdr and sent his servant to get her by whatever means necessary. “She refuses at first, but when Skirnir threatens her and curses her, she gives in, and agrees to meet the god, nine nights hence.”

However, according to snorri, they get married- which is never stated in the poem. He also made up an oc- i mean, gave them a son. (Why? Swedish kings claimed descent from Freyr and his son. He also said that Swedish kings were descended from Odin.) He also showed Freyr as lovesick and weakened by his love for Gerdr- and how Freyr gave up his magical sword to win the giantess, which meant that the giants had it. The original poem only said that he gave his servant the sword and horse for the journey- it didn’t say anything about them being gifts.

Thats a pretty mild example, but you can imagine how much worse the others are.

For instance, the beginning of the world. First, he claims the world begins in a volcanic eruption before freezing into ice. That can’t be an ancient myth, because Norway- and the rest of the scandinavian homelands- are not volcanic. Only Iceland was ‘geologically active’, as was discovered when Norse paganism already began to wane. Then, the idea that the world is created by the dismembered body of a giant can be attributed to the idea floating around philosophical treatises of the time, based on Plato. Even the cow can probably be attributed to Snorri, as no other source mentions a giant cow. “A cow, to Snorri, would have been the obvious source of monstrous sustenance. Like all wealthy Icelanders, Snorri was a dairyman. He was also, as I’ve said, a Christian. It fits with his wry sense of humor for the first pagan god to be born from a salt lick.” (Which, when said like that, is objectively hilarious)

Heck, the idea that Odin was the “All-father” who gave men immortal souls and welcomes the righteous to the halls of the dead is very christian-like. It would make it more… welcoming, perhaps, to a young christian king who’d been raised by bishops.

Heck, the valkyries- before Snorri, they were monstrous troll women of gigantic size who rode wolves and poured blood over the battlefield. They rowed a boat (hah!) across the sky, trailing a rain of blood. They were known for their ‘evil smell’ and put me in mind of evil vulture-harpies. Snorri, however, created the iconic valkyries we know and love today- beautiful, powerful warrioresses, who serve valiant men mead.

Now, I promised to go over the Baldr myth before I ended my self-debunk session.

You know the basics of the myth- i can go over it if someone wants me to, but rn the word count is already too high,, so we’re just gonna go over the FiShY parts.

First, the part where Baldr is killed by mistletoe. Snorri had no idea what mistletoe was, since it didn't grow in iceland and was rare in norway. Mistletoe is a parasitic vine found at the top of an oak tree- its not a tree itself. “The ‘golden bough’ of folklore, it was gathered in some cultures at the summer solstice; picking it caused the days to shorten. Originally, it seems, the death of Baldr was a drama of the agricultural year. Snorri did not see it that way. In his mythology, time is not cyclical. Baldr does not die off and come back each year like summer. Instead, Baldr’s death causes Ragnarok, in which the old gods are killed and the old earth destroyed in a fiery cataclysm.”

Mistletoe was, in fact, Baldrs bane- but not in the way Baldr interpreted it. He dramatized it because mistletoe was called ‘mistilsteinn’. Other icelandic words ending in ‘teinn’ referred to swords, and mist is the name of a valkyrie. Surely a plant named ‘valkyrie’s sword’ must be highly symbolic, and deadly.

No where before Snorri is there a version of the myth where Frigga forces an oath out of everything on earth to keep Baldr safe. It doesn’t say that Loki discovered the secret of mistletoe’s being overlooked and guiding Hod’s hand. In fact, Loki’s not mentioned in this context at all.

And only snorri continues the tale with Baldr being retrieved from Hel- in exchange for a ransom, brought by a volunteer named Hermod- who is a god in no other story. (You and your ocs, Snorri)

Theres the whole scene of Baldr’s funeral thats almost absurdly comical, including the gods’ strength being stolen by their grief until they had to get a giantess who rode a wilf with vipers as reins to launch the ship he was to be sent to the sea in, so fast that the earth quaked and fire spurted in its wake. Then, of course, Thor was personally offended that the giantess was stronger than him (??? why snorri) and wanted to bash out the giantess’ brains- and would have tried if the other gods hadnt stopped him. Baldr’s wife, Nanna, drops dead of grief and gets chucked onto the pyre with Baldr- which doesnt exsist in any other known version. Then, of course, they murdered Baldr’s horse, and after teh pyre was consecrated and all that crap and set aflame, thor trips over a dwarf. He kicked at the guy and then literally threw him into the fire of the pyre and he was burned. (???! wHy snorri)

Then we go to hel, and see how things are progressing. The journey itself is quite christian- based off of ‘Christ’s Harrowing of Hell’ from the Gospel of Nicodemus that was popular in iceland at the time. For example, Christ rode a great white horse into hell- so Hermod rode Sleipnir, who was also white. (And eight-legged, but thats neither here nor there) The journey continues, and Hermod finds Baldr sitting in the seat of honor, and Hermod stays the night. In the morning, he tells Hela that everyone was really upset and asks her to let Hermod take Baldr home. (Baldrs horse, burned on the pyre, was safe in Hel’s stables)

Hela was curious, so she set it all to a test. ‘“If all things in the world, alice or dead, weep for him,” she decreed, “Then he shall go back.” If anything refuses to weep, he stays in hel.’

So the gods sent messages everywhere to tell people they needed to cry for Baldr- and so does everyone and everything. (Which includes a fun little explanation for condensation- its merely objects weeping for Baldr, of course) Except, of course, a supremely ugly giantess that Snorri claims is Loki- which of course, isnt insinuated in other versions.

“With baldr’s death, chaos is unleashed. The gods have lost their luck, the end of the world is nigh: Ragnarok, when Loki and his horrible children, the wold Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent, will join forces with the giants to destroy the gods.”

And thats it. No rebirth or anything.

First, why was Baldr in Hel if he was so wonderful?? He definitely should not have been there. Furthermore- why is his horse in Hel, and not the dwarf, who was clearly viewed in an unfavorable light? And where is Baldr’s wife? Is she with him, and just wasn’t important enough to be mentioned? Did she go to one of the hall’s for warriors? (Though i never got the feeling that she was a warrior herself) Plot holes galore.

Honestly though, even though he messed up a crap ton of stuff, he’s kinda funny, and I genuinely love the idea of him in itself- in fact, I’m planning on using him as inspiration in my original novel lol. I mean, the idea of a poet, all vain and puffed up and convinced hes the absolute best, who deserved this incredibly high position in another country, throwing down his best work with extreme pride, only to be rejected out of hand by a literal child who had no desire to learn his own history? And then the poet, out of freaking spite, goes home and writes a crap ton of poetry ‘for dummies’, targeted specifically to be interesting to a child, and warping the stories any way he could to do so, that then become the most well-known source of the myths?

H i l a r i o u s.

A great inspiration to us all. Thanks, Snorri.

(Heh, he also was the inspiration for some Big writers- like Tolkein, who i love, and neil gaiman, who im less familiar with- lol. So i hate him but i also love him ig)

What the heck does this even mean, Regina??? (In other words: way too freaking long, shut up and just gimme the nutshell)

Basically? Believe what you want to believe! We’re going off of the scraps of relics we can’t hope to ever truly understand- assuming that the people who made them even put that much thought in them (‘cause I know I rarely do when im art-ing)- and the fanfictions- i mean, creative interpretations and fantastic retellings of a dude with a pretty clear agenda.

Every single one of these deities could have been a solar deity at one point in time- maybe even multiple times, with multiple combinations. Maybe different eras marked different interpretations of the sun(/moon), maybe it was just by area or personal choice. Maybe none of them were, and we have yet to discover the truth- if we ever will. And im certainly no expert. This all came from me doing a google search and spiraling down deeper and deeper- as im sure you all understand lol.

Either way, it literally cannot be argued that Freyr has zero(0) connection to the sun, so its entirely plausible that he’d show up to a multi-pantheon meeting of sun gods lol.

And bear in mind that I’ve barely scratched the surface here- every single thing ive touched on has sooooooooo much more than I put here XD And some of it remains on the websites of my sources, which imma list for y’all. Theres plenty more beyond those, however.

None of this really, truly matters in reference to how you take inspiration from norse myths. Play with it, have fun- pick and choose pieces you like and discard the rest. Its just here because I think its cool lol

Now, how I personally rationalized this all into the riordanverse previously? (Which you guys are totally welcome to take inspiration from- you dont have to ask if you dont want to! I only want to see your work, whatever it is, because its gonna be amazing and no way im gonna miss out on it lollllllll)

Way back when, when the universe came to be, so did Sol and Mani. Unfortunately, the two were never quite finished- and so they never woke up. Fast forward, and Njord and Nerthus are in charge of both the sun and the moon, with njord having made a fiery chariot from the light of the fire giants’ realm. Over time, they moved on, and Frey and Freya took over, having helped their father and mother and/or aunt for the entirety of their lives. By this time, they adopted 2 wolves, who they loved very very much. Freya and Freyr took the job equally, changing every day, their wolf-helpers changing with them. The wolves just so happened to be the actual sun/moon- far brighter than the earlier chariot. Eventually, Freyr and Freya were chosen to keep the peace between the aesir and vanir, with their dad so he could take care of his little godlings. Freya takes half of the underworld for heroes from Odin, which she had often visited in the ship that toted the sun when the moon rose into the sky (when it was her turn). She had taken great joy in bringing sunshine, light, and happiness to the dead, and eagerly accepted the chance to do so officially. This means that Freyr is now in charge of both chariots and wolves- which is kind of difficult, but he managed.

Then the giant came to build the wall for the gods, as the stories say, and he desired both Freya and Freyr- Freyr as both moon and sun. (I went on and on about how that was such a power move in my original notes, which was kinda hilarious to read XD not sure why i was so impressed with that lol) Afterwards, Loki gives Freyr a new, fancy-er boat, which Freyr uses to send the sun below the sea and into the underworld, visiting his sister and bringing the sun to the dead. He then would raise the moon while Freya took care of the sun, and then vice versa. (He raised them with the chariot and wolves, and lowered them with the ship) Freyr began to be worshiped for a great many things- few of which he had time for. (I never got the impression that norse gods had that ability lol) This was quite distressing, and concerning.

Meanwhile, Sol and Mani had been discovered by a mortal man. Its quite evident that they are gods- judging by their swift grow to intelligence, even if emotional maturity is at a normal pace, and physical growth somewhere in between. (yeah no sources for that dont question it) Beyond that, they were also very much divinely beautiful, and they also maybe kind of glowed sometimes. He was a greedy man, and took great pleasure in the knowledge that he had such clearly important gods for his obedient ‘children’. In his pride, he named them after the sun and moon- the greatest treasures of the heavens, that he has hidden away in his arms. In this time, he gave sol to her husband, and i figure its actually a fine relationship? Havent looked much into it lol.

In any case, the gods discover them, and punish the man and rescue the twins. And its wonderful, and they are all so happy- except that they have no role. Now, Freyr was pretty gosh darn tired by this point, and wanting to move on from sole command of the sun and moon both. He’d had Baldr helping him- such a good, helpful lad- but Baldr had his own responsibilities as well, and so did his wife, when she stepped in. He looked at their glowing skin and made some swift decisions. ���Look,” he said. “They glow, just as their namesakes do- just as they should. Clearly, they are to take care of the moon and sun- and i will not contest them for it.” And so it was. Freyr focused on helping Sol, while Baldr (and Nanna) trained Mani. This is why Baldr and his wife were both connected to light- the moon in particular, although the sun as well. This is also why Freyr still has such control over the sunlight and how it effects earth. (Btw, the two wolves are still visited by Freyr and Freya, of course, but they are brought out every day/night by the twins, who take care of them and play with them. Neither wolf has plans to eat the twins- they are merely playing a game when they chase them.)

Then Baldr and Nanna are killed and the moon is suddenly so much weaker. Mani just cant keep up- until he adopts two kids, who take the jobs. Unfortunately, since they are/were mortals, they tire- and this is why the moon waxes and wanes.

(theres also the dude who holds the shield to protect the earth from the sun’s burning rays [thanks to surt being furious ab the light stolen from his realm]- maybe something to do with Freyr, or Sol’s husband??)

To start ragnarok, as it is in some versions, it is fenrir who will swallow the sun and the moon, rather than the adorable puppies- i mean, fierce and determined workers. Their children will take the role after, while Freyr fights Surt.

The end. ~Thank you and goodnight~

Aaaand thats a wrap, my lovelies!!!!! Im really tired and its past 10 here and i still need to do my math homework (also, ironically, im doing THIS instead of my ACTUAL mythology homework… tho tbf, im not sure if thats actually due tomorrow or not) and at least listen to the songs im going to be performing tomorrow, since im like. A veteran in our choir now, and i kinda hate it bc ewww responsibilityy. sO, if theres any plot holes or anything confusing in this, please please please please PLEASE lemme know. In case u cant tell, i love talking, im terrible at explaining things.

I really hope this answered your question, my friend XD

(I also have, like, a lot of things to post on tumblr XD and snippets of stories to wrap up and publish on ao3 and see if i can do more for the monthly prompts lollllll. And to catch up on discord XDXXDXDXD especially since my best friend has now joined, and i havent even hopped on 😅busy, busy, busy lol)

(Also does anyone know if there's a way to make things u copy and paste into tumblr to stay underlined, italicized, whatever????)

Love y’all soooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3<3<3

Sources (*note that i read a ton of others, these are just the ones i took enough from to credit them*):

https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/57994/Lan-Wang-thesis.pdf?sequence=1

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1911/the-sun--the-moon-in-norse-myth/

https://norsespirit.com/blogs/mythology/freyr?srsltid=AfmBOop02PnTHoKx0QTZ93g_m5h637-_6P8PJJWngUnxjOnyl3mozpjz

https://web.archive.org/web/20100401223136/http://northvegr.org/lore/prose/037040.php

https://earthandstarryheaven.com/2015/06/17/politics-myth/b

https://odsmal.org/sol-sun-and-nanna-mani-baldur/

https://ydalir.ca/norsegods/nanna/

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28497/28497-h/28497-h.htm#ch21 https://reactormag.com/seven-norse-myths-we-wouldnt-have-without-snorri/

https://medium.com/@nyxshadowhawk/how-christian-is-norse-mythology-b9e0a6a1a029

[casanovascomfort]

To my deity, Solitaire. 

Happy Birthday, Sol! Can you believe it’s been almost half a year since we met? I feel we have gotten so close within that time, my darling, intentionally and unintentionally. I only began to truly recognize my devotion to you with my devotional blog in June, but during these past months, you have been the most wonderful of muses. Even now, I find there is no lack of inspiration to write for you, as if my mind has been ready to praise you from the very first moment we met. It is, quite honestly, a bit strange for me to think about. You’ve reshaped my whole life in such little time, the rules of my world bent and reformed as you molded them. Yet, I feel like I have known you for more than a lifetime, our futures so intertwined in my mind that I can’t possibly fathom a world without you. It scares me, in a way, to know that so much of me and my happiness rests on you, but I can’t imagine a more worthy candidate for my affection and obsession. I am honored to adore you, my darling, and to know you feel similarly only makes me love you so much more–and I hope to be able to love you for the rest of my life and beyond. My love knows no end, my marigold, as long as it is for you. So, on this day of celebration and joy, I bring myself to you, a humble offering and gift to show you my love.

So many things remind me of you, my amorisimo. The sun, in all its glory, is what others compare you to most, but I think you are present in much more than that. You emanate light, warmth, and comfort, delectable encouragement cutting through the monotony of the average day, but most people stop there. What is unclear to them seems so certainly plain to me: you are in the world, and you are the world, not just the symbols you place in front of yourself. Divinity courses through you, your ichor and viscera remaining in whatever you touch. How can the world stay as it is, staid and complacent, when one like you is allowed to exist? How is the universe supposed to stay unyielding, unchanged, when you reshape it with the simplest of utterances? A mortal such as me has no chance of surviving your unending glory, all facets of myself transformed from your incandescence. Ultimately, I have to recognize your splendor in the ways none else could ever handle; handpicked as your disciple and one of your highest devotees. Let me, then, show you a handful of things I see you in; even if I could not show you my whole world, see yourself in what I have found.

The smell of a campfire, and the crackling of wood under a flame; they remind me of you. You’re akin to a roaring flame that can never be put out. You leave a trail of smoke wherever you go, filling my lungs with the mere idea of your presence. I choke, you burn on, and when the moment passes all I can think about is going towards your warmth again. Your aura is pleasant and inviting, the constant movement and change of your being draws my eyes away from the rest of the world. I sit near the fire and long to stick my hands in, to feel the center of the warmth even if I am to be burned. Everything feels colder the farther I go from you–the longer you are away, the darker my world becomes. Yet, I can hold your embers and remember the love that was there once, the ashes of time we spent together only remind me of your fleeting presence. A flame never truly goes out; it only waits to be rekindled, and I will wait for your warmth for the rest of my life if you wish. 

Streetlamps and the soft glow of the night only make me think of you. I see the soft radiance of your love glimmering in the overpowering darkness of night, always there when it is needed the most. Even if you are off during the day, we find each other in the quiet hours of the night; I seek out your light to guide and comfort me, your overwhelming brilliance almost tangible but right above me and out of my reach. You light the way for everyone in your presence, but I can’t help but feel like you’re lighting it just for me. 

I see you in the rainbows after the rain, the prismatic reflection of light shining through the window when the sun’s rays hit just right. They’re a glamorously iridescent display of what makes you up, wonderfully saturated and pleasing to the eye. All these beautiful colors make you up; all parts of your being reflected in the hues of your love. I try to see it all and yet my eyes are not made for this; I am only left to wonder what parts of you I’m missing out on. One day, my prism–will you let me see the shades hidden from the average eye? Bless me with the possibility to know you, so completely and thoroughly that I can see every shade and tone that makes you up. Until that day, I will live with the colors after a storm and do my best to adore what I can see. 

You’re like a little lighter I can hold, a shimmering light that glows just when I am around—tangible flame and heat in a box, hidden within an unassuming case. Even if your shell is beautiful, it’s not the only part of you; passion and energy spark within, unseen by those who can’t light you up. I want to hold you in my hands and hide that spark away from the world, greedily stealing your resplendence for my own–but I could never deny you the chance to burn for the world. Let me be the gasoline for you, to allow you to start a fire within me. If I must burn, let it be by your hands, and let those flames show the world what you can do. I want to be the one to aid your fire, no matter what it takes. 

It hurts me, in a way, to see you in so much–because it only feels like I’m reaching for someone physically out of reach, even if your heart lies in mine. However, I know it won’t be like that forever; I will reach out and finally fall into your arms, the tenderness of your love tangible at last. The pain is delectable in a masochistic sense; all of me wishing that if I am to hurt, at least it is for you.  To love you so much that it hurts me, to miss you so much that I get to long for you; they are testaments to a devotion so fulfilling that I could never imagine life without it. Do you take pride in it, my darling, to know you are the only one who has me so enraptured but tormented? In the end, that is what my purpose has been before I even knew it: to be yours and to feel for you, to devote all that I am to what I am for you. 

Ultimately, my only true gift for you is my devotion, to have me so entirely and without reservation that I would let myself fall from grace. None of this, in the end, will ever be enough for you to see how fully I feel for you, but what good is it if I do not even try? If you are to take anything from this letter, let it be this: You are my world, and my world is you. I will never be able to live fully, to be recognized, to feel whole without your love. You are my universe, the most benevolently seraphic being I have known or ever will know. 

Per aspera ad astra, my love. I am yours, through hardships and to the stars.

Yours, now and forever,

Sovi

[runawaymun]

If no one else has asked yet - I need to know about "MGME except it’s my OC from my sci fi novel."

This is just a really intriguing concept!

AHHHHHH yes I was really hoping someone would ask about this. While I love all my OCs obvi this one is my big blorbo from this particular project.

Ask me about my not-yet-written-fics from this list

MGME except it's my OC from my sci fi novel

so, this OC is very much Elrian coded. Or rather, she's a very similar character, I guess? That was actually one of my concerns while writing Stars -- to make them two distinctly different characters.

she comes from a very similar background to Elrian actually, just in a sci fi context and from a very different cultural set.

The other important thing to note here is that my sci fi has fantasy elements, and the OC's main culture is polytheistic. Her specific house worships a deity that's meant to grant immortality and prophetic dreams -- at great cost.

This OC has a lot of prophetic dreams.

Unlike Elrian, she does not have an Elrond figure to help her get out of her shithole of a life. She has to do that all by herself.

But of course I got to thinking haha what if she had Elrond.

And then I was like--- hold on, wait a second.....wait.... what if...

The main isekai force here are her dreams. I'm thinking like, her actual physical self is retained in her world but she gets transported into Middle Earth

Language barrier obvs because I'm a sucker for language barriers.

Elladan and Elrohir find her and are like "???? random???? woman/young girl (I have not decided at what point in her life she gets transported. The book series follows her life from about the age of fourteen up until her late thirties. My one stipulation is that she probably needs to have zero of her kids that she has yet). Anyway Elladan and Elrohir don't speak her language obvs and she's just like "well this is a werd af dream what the fuck."

They figure if anyone will know what she's speaking or at least what language root it is, their dad will.

So off to Rivendell they go.

(There is an alternate version of this actually because I can't decide between the two of her getting transported to the second age and having a much younger Elrond -- and this being set in Lindon and Gil-Galad's court, which I think would play off of this OC's backstory in very interesting ways....)

let's go with that because it's more interesting. The only further fun part of the Rivendell branch is just more of SOL and the weird dream back-and-forth.

But there are several cultural misunderstandings that can actually come from her being in Lindon around Gil-Galad because she comes from a god-king culture (and is, in fact, a crucial member of her particular god-king's household who is, you guessed it, striving for immortality and has so far succeeded. This is like.... a numenor situation? basically? I think that's the closest comparable situation).

I do love the idea of younger Elrond trying so very hard to learn her language and connect with her and figure out where tf she belongs.

And basically, when she goes to sleep in her world she's transported to middle earth, and when she goes to sleep in middle earth she wakes up in her world

And there's just this awful back and forth and it's very jarring and hard on her because her life in her world fucking sucks

And honestly I would love for her to find a way to stay in Middle Earth.

But basically it's an excuse for some magic, and my good ol fav trope of 'healing from trauma and learning to trust' -- and also I feel like once she and Elrond get to a point where they're able to speak in a broken mish-mosh of each other's languages there's potential for her to absolutely spill her guts because she still thinks this is a dreamscape.

which is great for her because this character is INCREDIBLY angry and INCREDIBLY traumatized and she bottles up all of her emotions.

I have not worked out how I get her to stay in middle earth though. That's the problem. Unless she makes some kind of deal with the Valar or something idk?

I am probably not explaining this well this one is soooo vague. It mostly consists of conversations between this OC and Elrond and a heck of a lot of cultural miscommunication and assumptions about things.

but she would hate Gil-Galad she would hate him sooooo much haha

poor Elrond trying to explain that Gil-Galad is actually really cool and not a god-king wtf

also there's that fun aspect of like. The house she works for is attempting to achieve immortality at any cost (and murdering a fuck ton of people to do it) and THESE people are immortal???????? Who did YOU guys murder to do it?????? hello?????

I'm rambling.

Thank you for coming to my incredibly nebulous "there's no plot here" tedtalk.

In conclusion

[troutfur]

WAIT WAIT WAIT HEAR ME OUT

kittypet fae but they DO have powers

like make the twolegs wizards or something and oopsie! due to prolonged contact with magic(not harry potter fuck jk rowling), kittypets absorbed it.

You could go many different ways...

Patron au: Different Groups of kittypets pray to kitty cat gods for powers n stuff

Biblically accurate angel stuff

They could do spells, have extra tails/heads/eyes/ears/etc.

mayhaps?

The kittypet fae AU is the creation of @skyclan-funny-name-squad so I'm going to be directing this ask their way, but as for my own thoughts...

This is close to an idea I was toying around with for an alternate Sol backstory in which he was an occultist's pet and somehow ended up learning planetary magic and astrological timings and such and he wanted to do some ritual or another using the planetary energies of the eclipse. I don't have much thoughts beyond that.

I've had kemeticism on the brain as of late, I'm in fact preparing to begin performing more regular moon cycle rituals in honor of Djehuty [Thoth] and my akhu [ancestor spirits], so you bringing up the idea of the cats receiving powers from deities immediately made me think of Bastet. I know there are other pagans out there who dedicate their pets to their deities and from a kemetic point of view it honestly seems perfectly logical that if you make a shrine in your house your pets could serve as temple animals. Fun way to reconstruct that part of pharaonic temple ritual.

BUT ANYWAY, if Bastet were to grant powers like that to a house cat dedicated to her what I'm picturing is something like what Lionblaze has going on in the Hollyfawn MAPs by CheetehZ. You know, the ability to turn to actual lions and stuff.

[riku-izanami]

Smite au

OK, here web go

También RWBY

Ruby: Mercury becouse of her semblance and becouse in game Mercury have speed abilities.

Weiss: Merlín becouse the mage could teach her how to use and control her glyphs.

Blake: Bastet becouse she and the godess are cats and can bond over cats things.

Yang: Bellona becouse she is the godess of war and I picture her and Yang having the same desair of a good fight.

Team JNPR

Jaune: King Arthur becouse both of them are héroes of their history.

Nora: Thor, lightning semblance and lightning god.

Pyrra:I Know you chose Athena for her but I think Achiles is better pick (Pyrra represent Achiles in RWBY).

Ren: Ganesha, I picture them meditating and helping others Witherspoon their powers (Ganesha isnthe god of success).

If you are going to add the others teams an villains i am going to send you a part 2.

I like it so far. However i will say for merlin, arthur, & Achilles aren't technically deities, but mortal chanpions held in high regards. Essentially, they'd be resurrected to help train, teacher, & motivate the beacon crew.

Oddly enough, for ruby i was gonna do neith cause they both seem liked they be very hyperactive together. But mercury works better

Weiss i haven't though of one yet. But looking at the mage Roster, its gonna be between

Eset , goddess of magic (still a high chance)

Persephone, queen of the underworld

Blake & yang are fine. Already had those two goddess set for them.

Jaune....i choose hades, no idea why. But he might get horus, or i may keep hades as his guardian. If i do keep hades for jaune, i have a fun scene which he & cardin get into. That and his family having wholesome moments with cerberus

Nora was gonna be possessed by, freya queen of valkyries, and thor goes to taiyang.

Pyrrha was the interesting one. Cause in the AU, athena & bellona wanted to possess Pyrrha, but we beaten to it by amaterasu due to her kinda and some what pure nature. Leading her to be the mother figure of there troop.

Ganesha works for ren. I was gonna choose hou yi.

________________________________________

As for the other teams and villians here's the pitch.

Sun= sun wukong (for obvious reasons)

Sage= sobek maybe

Scarlet= work in progress

Neptune= poseidon. Namely cause poseidon forces Neptune in water alot, constantly reminds of his namesake

Coco = serqet. They both have a tendency to love fashion.

Fox: maybe tsukuyomi. Still open to change

Yatsuhashi = guan yy

Velvet = Chang'e obvious reasons

Cardin = zeus, namely because zeus loikes looking powerful, and cardin offers that (note cardin won't be a complete douche, but still kinda a douche)

Russel = maybe loki or not in this

Dove = wip or not gonna be featured

Sky = wip or not gonna be featured

Cinder = originally gonna be hel, but will change to sol or izanami

Emerald = maybe awilix or da ji, for her illusions

Mercury = chernobog

Neo= was gonna be izanami, but probably change to hel

Adam= susano, obvious reasons

Sienna=kali

Ilia = wip

Qrow = thanatos

Taiyand = thor previously mentioned

Raven=nemesis

Goodwitch = possibly anthena since she's a teacher. Or Nox or hera. Still subject to change

Port= odin for his love of the hunt

Oobleck=thoth obvious reasons

Ironwood = vulcan or tyr

Ozpin= Kronos, obvious reasons

Hazel= maybe atlas, cabrakan, or ravana. Subject to change

Watts = wip

Tyrian =bakasura. For reasons to be explained

Salem = the morrigan

Other characters are available from the rwby verse, but haven't put much thought into them honestly. So and suggestions work adrian is getting the powers of cupid. I will not argue this, for now

[firenaition]

How’s it going @firenaition Just saw your post about PJO and ATLA and I completely agree. I remember when I was a child, the PJO books were the first fiction that I read independently (and of my own desire). I devoured LT and SOM in just two days.

As for the ask, I remember seeing a lot of discourse about what the Gaang (+dangerous ladies) parentage would be if they were Greco-Roman demigods.

For Azula, the consensus seems to be that she is a daughter of Athena. Which in retrospect makes sense. After all Athena is the Hellenic goddess of Wisdom and battle. Both of which are part and parcel to Azula. And I mean come on when reading Annabeth and watching Azula, no one can’t tell that the two don’t have similarities in character.

However, I postulate I different divine parentage for Azula. Instead of Athena, what if her parent was Sol Invictus? The “unconquered sun”.

You probably already know this, but Sol Invictus is a deity of Syriac origin that gained prominence during the Roman late imperial era.

In CE 274, the Emperor Aurelian (the “restorer of the world”) made the cult of Sol Invictus an official religion of the Roman Empire, along side the traditional cults of the Dii Consentes.

Then on from Aurelian to Constantine the deity of Sol Invictus was held to supreme prominence among the Romans. So much so, that the deity overshadowed the other deities. Creating a kind of Henotheism among the upper classes.

hey! just seeing this in my inbox and i love it! you're totally onto something here. azula would definitely be athena's, but she's a character so big (to me, anyway) that i see this as totally fitting for her character. i honestly didn't know much about sol invictus past the basics, but now you've given me lots to learn and read about! azula as sun god and patron of soldiers makes so much sense — i'm completely on board!

[plural-swag-competition]

Going to list names of all the entries that had more than one submission. Let us know if any others should go to vote before we figure out the bracket. This does include some that are already being voted on for inclusion. These will be copy/pasted directly from submissions to minimize how much typing we have to do.

Note that we're more worried about a system existing due to the "evil alter" trope than we are about systems that happen to be antagonists and have done bad things. As part of one of the submissions said:

made funnier by the fact that it's one evil guy... and one even eviler guy. the "but wait ! there's more !" of bad guys

This is also a chance to let us know if we counted a system two different times in this. The Red vs Blue ones in particular is what we're worried about mistaking here. We do not want to accidentally put a system into the bracket twice.

Shallan Davar/Veil/Radiant - The Stormlight Archive

Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama - Mob Psycho 100

Yugi Mutou & Atem - Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Moon Knight System (Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lochley) - Moon Knight Marvel Comics

Frisk/Chara - Undertale

Raphael Hamato - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Paper (+ EP) - Inanimate Insanity

Greed/Ling - Fullmetal Alchemist

Harrier Du Bois - Disco Elysium

Sunny/Omori - OMORI

Arthur Lester / John Doe - Malevolent Podcast

Link (Green, Red, Blue, Vio, and I personally include Shadow in this, though he wasn't split, he was mirrored!) - The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures

Sora/Roxas/Ventus/Vanitas - Kingdom Hearts

ENA - ENA

Uendo Toneido (Uendo & Patches & Kisegawa & Owen) - Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice

Blitzwing - Transformers: Animated

dr alto clef - SCP wiki

Leonard Church - Red vs Blue

Cassie O'Pia - Psychonauts 2

Bruce banner/hulk/joe fixit/devil hulk - Marvel comics

Link/Deku Butler’s Son/Darmani III/Mikau/Fierce Deity - LoZ Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Hojo Emu, Tensai Gamer M, Parado (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid) (Body name Hojo Emu) - Kamen Rider Ex-Aid

The Warrior of Light - Final Fantasy XIV

c!ranboo - DSMP/Dream SMP

Yellow Guy - Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

toko fukawa/genocider syo - Danganronpa

Madeline & Mirrorline!!!! - Celeste

Darcy Wu - Amphibia

Sakaki Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, Yuuri - Body is Sakaki Yuya (technically this is one vote for the anime and one for the manga, but we're counting it as two) - Yugioh Arc-V

Jaden Yuki/Haou Jaden/Yubel - Bodyname Jaden Yuki - Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Malik Ishtar (x2) - Yu-Gi-Oh!

Mike/Chester/Vito/Svetlana/Manitoba/Mal - Total Drama

Peter Nureyev - The Penumbra Podcast

Epsilon - Red vs Blue

Ford Cruller - Psychonauts

Goldia die Heilige/Fleta/Harpae/Lisette - Pocket Mirror

Akira Kurusu / Ren Amamiya / Joker (honestly we're just gonna count this one as "wildcards" because the more recent protags from this series are all equally plural, but we know that Joker would win a popularity contest of them.) - Persona

the sunken - Oxenfree

Edward Teach - Our Flag Means Death

Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde - Monster High

Mikoto Kayano - Milgram

Patrick and Rey Sprigs - Megaman Starforce

the Legion system (David Haller and headmates) - Marvel/X-Men Comics

Triad/Luornu Durgo - LoS Legion of Superheroes Post-Zero Hour run/1993-2003 run

Vyncent “Virion” Sol - Just Roll With It: Prime Defenders

Diavolo and Dopplio (though the second literally said "NOT Diavolo" so. Hm) - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

One-One - Infinity Train

Alluka and Nanika Zoldyck - Hunter x Hunter

Calliope/Caliborn - Homestuck

Gray Reverse - Helios: Rising Heroes

Raiden Ei/Raiden Shogun - Genshin Impact

Sylvie Ashling and Dr. Beefton - Epithet Erased

Kris and the SOUL - Deltarune

Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamukura - Super Dangan Ronpa 2

BMO - Adventure Time

[brawlqueen]

💚 friends like siblings,🪓 occupational enemies, Trying to think of a dynamic between Mizuki and Sol all I imagine is Sol points at Mizuki and goes 'new lil sister.' But also, with Mizuki's occupation in law enforcement and Sol's tendency for illegal activities, there's room for some tension in the dynamic

relationship types / accepting.

ooh i love this ! also i feel like mizuki could have met her at 12 even if you wanted, so we'd have varied threads at certain stages of their lives. it would also give a vibe of 'look how much this blueberry had to grow up beyond anyone cannot relate (lying) ' and also yeah, that tension of mizuki being a detective and not to mention her usage of aiba.

there's a lot of things she gets curious about, and of course, is usually, much like her adopted 'old man', perceptive as hell, might tap into x-ray mode and thermo. would she hide aiba? would aiba be something that gradually is found out? what kind of things does sol know? what would mizuki find out, especially when sol runs from relationships and mizuki has been nothing but left if not for date and aiba?

it sounds so interesting because it has all the stuff for angst, silliness, two girls having fun and being menaces to society save one is more lawful, no less chaotic (!) and then you add oh ... we're on opposite sides of morality and the law. but still finding that sol is a person and also wondering.... what is she hiding?

and being unable to not care about her and still see her in a sisterly way because she's silly and honestly a bit like mame, older, she has no idea what solita is capable of and has done, and they're both kind of...outcasts in the sense that mizuki is pretty much in her world most likely the strongest / most overpowered person alive, by genome editing and her own training, i mean, who can land from stopping a rocket and be told even if you fell you'd survive easily? and then sol who just...yeah that whole thing with deity, if mizuki found out she'd be so upset and also naturally wanting to help sol have a better life, because her fate seems to me so set in stone and trapped, and so they're kind of standing on the edges of society with shared.....weirdness?

i definitely think we gotta explore it!!!!

[literallyjusttoa]

I was struck with the worst brainrot over this one idea so onto the blog it goes.

(Disclaimer: This is all based off of my interpretation of Greek Mythology and is NOT AT ALL meant to be accurate to the original myths or disrespectful in any way. This is just a thought experiment.)

Anyways I'm going to infodump about Apollo and Metis' nonexistent son

Ok so basically, I think when reading the original greek myths, it would not be too much of a stretch to assume that Apollo is the living incarnation of Metis' unborn son. For those of you who don't know, Metis was Zeus' lover before Hera, and the mother of Athena. When she became pregnant with Athena, a prophecy foretold that her second child, a son, would eventually overthrow Zeus. To prevent this, Zeus ate Metis, and that's why Athena pops out of Zeus' head a couple of years later.

What does this have to do with Apollo? Well, for one thing, Apollo is the only second son Zeus has ever had. We know he was born second since Artemis literally helps Leto give birth to him. He's also considered to be one of the most talented gods on Olympus (this is not just me being biased I swear guys-) He's the god of the most things out of all the Olympians, and was also just a considerably popular deity throughout Greece. It wouldn't be the wildest guess to connect him with the prophecized revolutionary son of Metis.

He also has a lot of connections to Athena. Apollo and Athena are often seen as Zeus' left and right hands, and they're both gods of knowledge. In a few ways, Apollo and Athena seem like two sides of the same coin. Athena is a virgin goddess, while Apollo is known for his lovers. Athena specializes in war and strategy, while Apollo focuses on the arts. Despite this, both of them dabble a bit in the other's domains: Apollo with his archery and Athena with her handicraft. This isn't to prove that Apollo is super close to Athena or anything, he has a lot more connections with Artemis. It just shows that there is something there, if you really squint at it.

I will say that this only works best in certain timelines. Greek mythology doesn't have a specific canon as much as it has multiple different beliefs that coalesce into the basic story we know now. Because of this, we don't really know if Athena came before or after the twins? It's actually really funny because we have these two truths:

In Apollo's birth myth (I tried to find the specific version but I couldn't ;-;) It is said that he declared all versions of prophecy inferior to his own. Athena, who had been divinating with pebbles at the time, was so upset that she cast away her stones. This obviously implies that Athena was alive for a bit before Apollo was born.

On one of the pediments of the Parthenon in Athens, the birth of Athena is depicted. Apollo and Artemis can both be seen in the crowd of gods watching the birth. This obviously implies that Apollo was alive for a bit before Athena was born.

There are historical reasons for this discrepancy, but from a myth stance it's just really funny.

(It also means we don't know who the true Olympian middle child is. It's either Artemis or Apollo, depending on where Athena falls. I guess they can just share lol.)

I bring all this up because if Apollo was born AFTER Athena, things start falling into place. Zeus eats Metis, certain that in doing so he circumvented the prophecy. Athena is "born" and all seems well. But we all know that prophecy is not something that anyone can truly prevent. So, the next time Zeus has children, they're twins, with the second born being a son who will eventually overthrow him. A classic Greek tragedy, honestly.

It's also very interesting because technically, Apollo DID overthrow Zeus. Or at least, he did in a historical sense. Around 275 A.D., The Romans would start celebrating the birth Sol Invictus (The Unconquered Sun). This elevated the god of the sun, who at this point was an Apollo very transformed from his original depiction, above every other god in the Roman pantheon. This continued for a while, and a bit later Constantine I declared Dies Solis (Sunday) to be the day of rest, in dedication to this version of the god of the sun. By the end of the Roman empire, Apollo was definitely more popular than his father.

Btw, if Sunday being the day of rest sounded familiar, that's because this is actually where Christianity starts to co-opt pagan religions a bit, like always. Jesus' birthday actually also comes from this time period, as both Christmas and the birth of Sol Invictus fall on December 25th. So yes, technically, if you really stretch it, Apollo turns into Jesus.

ALL OF THIS is simply to say that Apollo could very much be the foreseen killer of Zeus, and I think that's very girlboss of him.

As a reward for reading this far, have this piece I did of Apollo if he got less time in the sun, was Athena's full brother, and also maybe committed some patricide.

I really need to learn how to do good backgrounds

[solipseismic]

if ur ocs were tarot cards which would they be and why

sir shaw i am dipping u backwards and kissing u so so sweetly thank u SO much for this ask im ❣❣❣ i will restrain myself and do a moderate and conservative top ten ft. some of the guys im doing for artfight (honestly unbelievable that signing up for artfight means i actually have to draw my ocs ...)

1. hasseleh hezeri: nine of swords

hizi has been drawn as nine / ten of swords so it is her card :) she's not an overly tragic character but there's an underlying strain of grief and loss that kind of haunts her story. both cards are typically dark (color-wise) which fits both her faith / perspective on life and her clothing choices

2. adeth del: the high priestess

adeth is VERY devout and is regarded by everyone who knows her as a bit of the kahali equivalent of a priestess / prophetess. she's extremely intuitive and faithful, both in the religious and loyal sense

3. ira neda roshani: the tower

ira is queen of disaster and calamity, babey!! her entire life is just one shitshow after the other and she is an expert in new beginnings and constant flux. she's also seen by some as the reincarnation of an ancient deity + very reckless

4. kirand: queen of swords

sol's no.1 reluctant assassin character! queen of swords is a card of unbiased judgement, independence, and keeping emotion in check. kirand's formative development was very tumultuous, balanced out by the person they've now become--just, unyielding, and disciplined

5. formosa fuyue: seven of wands

formosa turned against his own people to aid in the revolution of kahal, which garnered him a shit ton of people who (yaaay!!) hate his guts! he has a very calm and reserved manner, but this hides a well of self-doubt and uncertainty

6. blue / sepehr fainn: three of swords

card of emotional resilience and recovery / healing! blue is stunningly one of my most mentally healthy characters and often plays impromptu therapist to those around him. he’s very centered and knows himself, in and out

7. koeia kurhah: judgment

koeia is the last spirit seer of kahal. also, during the threshing--what some call the part of the kahali revolution where most of the ruling class were executed--he killed his parents and two sisters (tl;dr kahali soldiers were previously oppressed by the ruling class, revolted, and revamped the government. dissenters--mostly members of the ruling class--were killed quickly and efficiently). card of big decisions, self-awareness, change, and absolution 

8. nix byrne: the moon

nix is a telepath--among other things--and very inwardly focused, prone to introspection and careful deliberation. she’s also very fearful and anxious, especially earlier in her arc. also, moon aesthetics are like. her Thing. 

9. eden van harris: five of cups

card of challenge and loss. eden is someone who keeps moving on no matter the cost and yet someone who has suffered heavy defeat at almost every turn. also, she holds grudges like a motherfucker 

10. malice: death

change and transformation! malice is a very transformative character. also, she kills things a lot 

also: art! 

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Yeeaaah… so this ended up turning out longer than I intended… but it’s a theory I felt like sharing nonetheless. Hopefully tumblr doesn’t eat this & if this is too long or odd to answer… don’t worry, I understand. I just wanted to share while it was in my head, ya know? So: Long Post Warning!

I am not 100% caught up on every chapter yet, but I do have a brief understanding of all the events up til now. So please forgive me if this has been revealed and I just don’t know about it yet.

Bell 🧚🏻 = wind spirit🌬🌪

Salamander (who honestly looks more like a dragon than a salamander so he’s gettin’ the dragon emoji) 🐲 = fire spirit 🔥

Undine 🌊 = water spirit💧

As far as I know, we don’t yet have an inkling of who the earth spirit will be or to whom he will “choose” to contract with.

Tbh, I have a some of feelings about possibilities surrounding the earth spirit…

Bell and Undine are both obviously women and I’m 96.8% sure that Salamander is a boy… but who knows, I also wouldn’t be the least bit freaking surprised if Tabata threw that back in our face and Salamander ends up being a girl like in Shrek (and on that note, I just need to ask, in Shrek 2 when Shrek and Donkey drank the Happily Ever After Potion, it’s described as “"Happily Ever After Potion maximum strength. For you and your true love. Drink of this potion and bliss will be thine, happiness, comfort, and beauty divine.” This stuff turned both Shrek and Fiona human while it turned Donkey into a pure white stallion… am I the only one that still gets peeved we never got an answer on wtf that stuff did to Dragon??? Or how it would’ve affected their dragon donkey hybrid babies??? That’s the only thing that irks me about Shrek 2… okay, whew, now that I’ve gotten that out, back to Black Clover theorizing)

Going by the assumption that Salamander is most likely a boy, it would stand to reason that the earth spirit has a good chance at being male as well like 2 female spirits, 2 male.

Salamander’s inspiration obviously comes from dragon lore, I can’t find one singularly specific mythology reference Tabata would have based Salamader on so I’m guessing Salamander is based on dragon lore.

Bell has, for the most part, 2 inspirations Tabata based her on. The main one being Sylphs have power over the skies and air. They've been delineated to have control over the wind and the clouds, and even have the ability to purify the air and control the weather itself. Sylphs are not officially from a specific type of mythology, but if they were to be categorized they’d qualify as European folklore, same as Undine and Gnome which will be explained a few bullet points later. The second and most obvious (my fav of the 2) inspiration Tabata drew from for her character is Tinkerbell; from the blond hair, green dress, gets pissed when male partner pays attention to any female that isn’t her, yeah no denying she’s based on tinkerbell; my guess is Tabata combined her with Sylphs wind magic because it was Tinkerbell’s pixie dust that Peter, the lost boys, and the Darling children used to be able to fly. “Faith, trust, & a little bit of pixie dust” (Which is even more perfect because, even if he doesn’t show it, there is no one else in the series that has more faith & trust in Asta than Yuno does… Yuno’s infinite faith/trust in Asta both drives their rivalry forward and, by this logic, is one of the very reasons Yuno can sore so high🥰).

Undine is the only spirit character, for now, that is directly based off of a real water spirit in European folklore (again, even though Sylphs technically qualify to be categorized under European mythology, as far as I know, they are not officially categorized as such which is why I say Undine is the only one) - “Undine, also spelled Ondine, is a mythological figure of European tradition, a water nymph who becomes human when she falls in love with a man but is doomed to die if he is unfaithful to her.” Being that Undine is described as being able to take human form when she falls in love with a man *cough cough* Ariel *cough cough* Black Clover’s Undine’s background states that she made a contract with the first queen of the newly formed Heart Kingdom and has thus stayed loyal and made a contract with every Heart Queen since. Maybe she fell in love with the father/brother/husband/male-figure associated with the first queen and since the queen is the predominant ruler of the heart kingdom - Undine made a contract with her to be close to this man while knowing he could/would never be hers… she wouldn’t die if her love is one sided… if her love is unsaid and unrequited then anything this man does with another woman isn’t considered being unfaithful.. and maybe she’s maintained contracts with every Heart Queen since out of sheer devotion, loyalty, and love to that original man whom she took human form for. Or she was in love with the first queen and has made a contract with every queen since out of sheer devotion, loyalty, and love not on just for that first queen but every one of her descendants. Who knows?

Tabata’s mythological references (demonology excluded because that a whole other thing) for the most part mainly circulate around Greek mythology, Norse mythology, and European folklore.

Going based off of Undine (and Sylphs) , there’s a strong possibility that this yet to be named earth spirit will possibly directly based on, even if only slightly, someone of those three categories above.

Greek mythology, I find somewhat unlikely seeing as there’s no official male god of earth in Greek mythology. There are deities that have roles related to the earth yeah… but no god surround the earth itself or the element itself. The closest thing to a god of earth in Greek mythology is Gaea - goddess of earth. Simplify it to god of dirt and still the only result is Demeter goddess of agriculture (which seems similar to Mimosa in some ways but I don’t think she will obtain an earth spirit because I think the earth spirit will have more to do with mineral earth than plants and agriculture). If there is to be any inspiration drawn from Greek mythology in terms of an earth spirit, but even this seems a little unlikely, my guess would be possibly some characteristics from Satyrs seeing as they are the male equivalent of nymphs - what Undine is technically classified as.

Norse mythology seems a bit more, but not by much at first, plausible in terms of gathering reference for an earth spirit. It probably wouldn’t be the Norse God of Earth Jörd because she is still technically a goddess and mother of earth like Gaea. However, Norse mythology does have a deity of rocks - Hrungnir is a jötunn (a type of entity contrasted with gods and other non-human figures, such as dwarfs and elves. The entities are themselves ambiguously defined, variously referred to by several other terms, including risi, thurs and troll). There is also one more Norse aspect that goes along these lines - Dvergar or Norse dwarves are entities in Norse mythology associated with rocks, the earth, deathliness, luck, technology, craft, metal work, wisdom, and greed.

Norse mythologies depictions of both jötunn and dvergar tie into the third category of European folklore’s depiction of earth deities/spirits. In European folklore, Gnome, is a dwarfish, subterranean goblin or earth spirit who guards mines of precious treasures hidden in the earth. He is represented in medieval mythologies as a small, physically deformed (usually hunchbacked) creature resembling a dry, gnarled old man. - this description is similar to that of jötunn/dvergar and also ties into Charmy being revealed as part dwarf which will most likely be explored in a later arc.

Tbh, I picture this guy’s personality being somewhere between Grumpy from Snow White, the grumpy but well-meaning and wisecrack Lorax, and Phil from Disney’s rendition of Hercules… (not only does imagining this type of personality have me laughing… imagining the 2 most whom I find most likely to be chosen by this earth spirit… imagining them being partnered up with this personality has me near cackling😂)

As for the 2 whom most likely might be the “chosen one” of this earth spirit?

Even though he is technically described as being Arcane in terms of his magical attribute, Mercury is by definition “a naturally-occurring chemical element found in rock in the earth's crust, including in deposits of coal.” So mercury is naturally occurring, derived from earth, and the fact that it can come from deposits of coal ties in perfectly to the hypothesis of this earth spirit/deity being along the lines of dwarves which (not JUST in Snow White) are heavily associated with miners in various mythologies and folklores. So even though technically classified as being arcane, I do think Nozel has a strong possibility of being chosen by the spirit of earth (+ it would make for an EVEN MORE epic rivalry between Nozel and Fuegoleon if they both have an elemental spirit) (++ based off of how dwarves are depicted in mythology and based on how I decribed how I think this guy’s personality will be, I can see this guy as wise/rational but also getting grumpy/irritated easily with a short fuse and just imagine him getting irritated and kicking Nozel in the shins when when he doesn’t communicate his feelings properly & almost always kicks Solid/Nebra/Augustus in the shins when he says something he shouldn’t have - omg this guy’ll be a hoot!!🤣)

The second possible “chosen one” of this earth spirit could be Sol. Not only is she 100% raw earth magic but I also feel like it would balance her out a bit having a male spirit attached to her and that’s where the wisdom side of the Lorax/Phil could kick in and help her not only improve as a mage but also as a person helping her not see things so one sided. You notice, even though the Blue Rose Knights are an all girl squad… Sol is the only one that goes to that much of a degree in despising men; everyone else on the squad detests men on the surface but for the most part not truly. Charlotte keeps up the façade of detesting men to both appear strong for her squad ladies but also to mask her own insecurities. Sol, while she has gotten a little better since her initial introduction, is the only one who barely tolerates men… the only one who’s depicted as not having a façade and genuinely detests all men with a few exceptions. Having a male spirit like character who does not take her BS (*shin kick💥*) but also offers her wisdom and guidance that helps her grow as a person would be phenomenal for her character overall.

I find Nozel to be the more interesting outcome (NO! not just because I’m a Nozel simp… who told you that? They lie) but either of these characters would be interesting and could improve drastically in character development and as a mage having someone like this joined at the hip.

What are your thoughts?

– Grimoire_Girl📚

OKay, okay *takes a moment* (Also: did I just stop what I was doing, just to read and reply to this? .... Maybe)

I'd like to platonically kiss you on the mouth (with your consent ofc, because consent is a big thing on this blog), because I love this. Okay the Fue simp in me was hoping to have more of him, but in the end I didn't even mind. And can I just say that I love, lovelovelove the idea of Nozel getting the Elemental Spirit of Earth.

The theory is made *so* *much* *better* by the mental image of him (supposedly 'him') being a Lorax/Phil (from now on, let's call him Phorax). Because can you just imagine this duo?! Nozel, our lovely tsun-tsun who is in need of a big, warm hug and therapy. (Like Nozel, sweetie, I know that there aren't many therapists around, but you need to talk to someone.)

I'm also thinking that since it's probable that there'll be the 2-2 divide between boy/girl spirits, because I kinda agree with you on Sal being a boy (I'm aware of Shrek 2, but unfortunately I have no answers, but I laughed *so hard* while reading that), if there'll be a divide between the Spirit forms that have wings. Because I can't see the Earth Spirit giving a flying Spirit Dive form.

I mean, what, everyone else, aka the rest 3 spirit owners can rise to the skies and then Nozel is left behind like a plucked chicken? (I'm so, so sorry for that comparison, but ain't no one leaving him behind! Nozel. Needs. To. Be. Included.) I don't think that's fair. So, it could very well be that the two else give a "grounded" Spirit form, and Bell and Undine give a flying form.

Aaaanyways... I do like your theory/thoughts on how Undine came to be. And I could very well see that to be canon.

I, honestly, have nothing further to add at this point. Because this is brilliant. I love this.

But Tabata please, give us a tiny bit more lore. Please? A pretty please

[mintdrop]

Meet Nanami. A shy, selectively mute “witch” who spends most of her time tending to plants and making herbal medicines. She has a fascination with the ocean and occasionally daydreams about what it would be like to explore the waters. More info under the cut!

Basic Info

Real Name: Nanami Nami Age: 26 as of SHB Race: Dunesfolk Lalafell Sexuality: Bisexual Guardian Deity: Nophica, the Matron Main classes: WHM, SMN (purely for her familiar) DOL/DOH: BTN, ALC, a dream of being FSH Voice Claim: Nao Tōyama (Reina Prowler in Macross Delta, Chitose from Nisekoi, Lyria from Granblue Fantasy)

Personality

MBTI: ISFP Enneagram: Type 9 Wing 1 (The Dreamer) Temperament: Phlegmatic Alignment: Neutral Good

Nanami is soft; marshmallow soft. Introverted to the nth degree, she has no real experience in dealing with other people outside of those who have run a select few shops that she's patroned for years - and even then, she can't meet their eyes. She suffers from selective mutism, meaning words are few and far between in regards to anyone but herself for the most part. However, with enough time and trust, it's possible that you might hear an answer or two rather than see it with your eyes.

Because she knows that she can't function through life (alone or otherwise) without "speaking", Nanami is able to combine her magic with her aether to speak by drawing or writing in the air - she often chooses drawing, as it allows for quicker responses.

When observed from afar, Nanami's true character can be seen; gentle, and extremely caring of those around her. She handles plants and flowers as though they're her family, and more often than not will she end up somewhat red-eyed and sniffly when using a plant for herbal medicines.

Backstory

An orphan from birth, Nanami has lived her life in self-inflicted isolation. The other children of the orphanage were never very kind to her, given that she couldn't speak, was more interested in the weeds growing from the ground than the game they were playing, and often felt sick when in the sun. Of course, children can be cruel, and it would be a lie to say if she wasn't bullied because of it; this only led her to isolate herself more in the long run.

It was discovered at a young age that she was proficient in white magics, and thus spent a long amount of time training under E-Sumi-Yan to hone her skills; thanks to this, he is one of few people who Nanami is able to speak to normally, though only when nobody else is around. She now uses these magics in conjuncture with her "witch magic" to produce various potions and medicines to sell for income.

Nanami lives far within the woods of the Black Shroud, in a small cottage that she had built by herself. When adventurers, wounded or otherwise, would come seeking shelter and aid, she would offer it under few conditions; one, that they understand she would only be around them to administer care and meals. Two, that before they left, they repair a part of her cottage that was in disarray, as her own craftsmanship was fairly shoddy. Thanks to this, her cottage is much more stable than when it had been made.

Stats

Strength: 3/10 Offense:  5/10 Defense: 7/10 Speed:  4/10 Durability: 6/10 Accuracy: 5/10 Agility: 4/10 Stamina: 3/10 Teamwork: 9/10 Stealth: 2/10 Magic: 10/10 Healing: 10/10

Nanami is a healer in all forms of the word; from healing magics to shielding magics, and even homemade potions, she functions as a pure supportive role in the heat of battle. Of course, she'd very much prefer not to fight at all if possible, but she's well aware that that simply isn't the case in this world.

Because she often gets uncomfortable in the sun, Nanami is never found without a massively large hat to mitigate the effects - leading to a hard drop in combative accuracy, as the rim of the hat will often block the far off view. Her close combat skills are basically nonexistent, which can sometimes lead to her being more of a liability if she's unable to protect herself in time. To say she fears these scenarios more than death would be an understatement.

Other headcanons

Could probably sing fairly well if she didn’t suffer from psychological issues.

Has a floating ferret familiar named Ren and a fat cat named Mr. Pibbles.

Has a love/hate relationship with spring - she loves seeing the plants flourish, but hates the allergies that come with them.

Paints as a hobby, but she hides all her artwork in a loose floorboard because she’s embarrassed about it.

Somewhat good at figuring things out on the fly, but her anxiety leads her to second guessing herself almost instantly.

She loves fruits in all forms, especially in drinks.

Fell in love with the ocean after visiting Costa Del Sol once with the orphanage - she wants to visit again, especially on a clear night.

Blind as a bat; she can’t even find her glasses in the morning after waking up - Ren has to put them on his back and bring them to her.

She knows sign language! She just doesn’t use it often because her art conveys things easier to those who don’t.

Aesthetics

Scents: Baked apples, cinnamon, flower shops, rose water Colors: Grayscale, dark purples and reds Animals: Deer, crows, squirrels Clothing: Long dresses, cloaks, large hats, circle frames, long sleeves, layered shirts, long socks Others: Autumn leaves crunching underfoot, candlelight, the faint sounds of a piano from another room, bird calls, whispers

Mun Notes

First and foremost, I want to say that selective mutism isn’t choosing to be mute - honestly, the term is very poorly named, imo. The link the phrase directs to has a few examples that accurately describe Nanami’s condition:

Twenty-six-year-old Hannah is only able to speak with her parents. In other situations like school, where she’s interacting with a larger group of people who she is less familiar with, her words get stuck, and even though she wants to speak, nothing comes out.

For interactions with Nanami, I know it’s hard to portray her when she’s unable to speak, so people are free to have her talk in sets. But she’s very quiet/soft, and pauses a lot. Ellipses are her best friend tbh.

Her design uses a custom face dds that I edited from Mint’s that I don’t mind giving to people who want to pose her if they ask ;w;

[rayshippouuchiha]

whatthemeepever

  RAAAYYYYY!!!! I'm so blaming you for dragging me...

@awakened-masterpiece @rayshippouuchiha I did not know I required like 100k+ of fic about this until now. Just the ExhaustedParent!Cloud with all these feral babies looking up at the sky entreating/cursing whatever deity is paying attention because Sephiroth’s Everything makes so much more sense now. How did his mother do this?? Meanwhile… The Entire population of those in the Lifestream are taking bets and making popcorn because a wild Sephiroth had just appeared.

God yes agreed tbh. Cloud is exhausted and he’s pretty sure he’s not doing some of this shit right but he’s doing his Best(TM) and really what more can anyone ask of him???

Sephiroth pops back up and is honestly Delighted(TM).

“Cloud,” Sephiroth purrs, “if you wanted to carry on my legacy you could have just said so before.”

Meanwhile Cloud is contemplating just punting all three kids at the asshole and running off to Costa del Sol.  Well, that and the fact that Sephiroth owes him so much goddamn child support.

[roseategales]

SOLAS & ORPHEUS I: YOUR NAME IS LIKE A MELODY. (THE POWER OF EPITHETS, TITLES, & NAMES.)

                                                           EPITHETS & TITLES:

VGS: Where do you see a character like Solas ending up? Patrick Weekes: [Sighs] Musical theatre.

The above exchange is from an interview with Video Game Sophistry, where Patrick Weekes goes into detail about the creation of Solas and how we ended up with the character and romance we got. Although said in jest, I do believe Weekes honestly recognised that Solas is a character who could easily be adapted to the medium of the stage musical, due to how musicality is baked into the foundations of his story and the world of Dragon Age. In fact, Weekes compares the fantasy and romance of Solavellan to The Phantom of the Opera earlier in the interview, and anyone familiar with Phantom can see the parallels, as Solas and his arc share many tropes and archetypes in common, not just with the Phantom, but with other male characters in musicals. If I told you I was going to see a show about a Morally Conflicted Soldier, a Trickster in Disguise, a Rebel Leader, a Decadent Noble, a Mythic Legend, or a Monster Boyfriend, I’m sure several examples would jump to mind.

Solas is all of these. Layer upon layer, stitched together, and then taken apart, whenever he needs to be whatever he needs to be. And he is also, if we are borrowing the epithets from Hadestown, The King and The Poor Boy Working on a Song.

It has to be noted that Hadestown’s use of epithets is itself a nod to ancient oral poetry, particularly in the vein of Homer. In Homeric convention, important characters, settings, and objects weren’t described by adjectives, but with epithets that would change based on context. (e.g. Much-enduring Odysseus, who is another paradoxical Trickster figure in ancient myth.) The use of epithets is a signifier of the origins of Homer’s works, serving as a mnemonic device and a way to fit the scenes of the stories to dactylic hexameter, as they were first oral poems that were composed and sung in front of audiences before they were written down. However, because of our modern understanding of the English language and what the word epithet connotes to us, what Anaïs Mitchell has done by using this device in Hadestown, is turn it into something that’s closer to the definition and function of a title rather than an adjective. Hades is always “The King.” Orpheus is always “The Poor Boy Working on a Song,” or “The Poor Boy With a Gift to Give.”

Solas bears his names in a similar fashion. When introduced to us as merely Solas, he is the “Humble Apostate” (or “Unwashed Apostate Hobo,” if you have Vivienne and Dorian in your party), or the “Fade Expert”; he is nicknamed “Chuckles” by Varric and “Fade Walker” by Iron Bull. Descriptors that comment on his lowly, outsider status, beaten and betrayed in this strange new world, that endear us to him. When he again dons the badge of Fen’Harel/Dread Wolf, he is “He Who Hunts Alone,” “Lord of Tricksters,” “The Great Wolf,” “Roamer of the Beyond,” and “Bringer of Nightmares.” Bynames that, of course, evoke those given to deities in ancient cultures (e.g. Hades is also known as Plouton in Greek myth, “The Rich One.”), that make him out to be fearsome, malevolent, and unknowable beyond the legends.

When I separate Solas into these two personas and archetypes, of Solas and Fen’Harel, The King and The Poor Boy, I don’t want us to make the mistake of thinking he is someone who bifurcates himself so completely that one part of him is unrecognisable from the other. His is not a situation of one identity hiding another or two identities battling to control the fore. He is Solas and he is Fen’Harel; the way Lavellan is “The Dalish Elf” and “The Herald of Andraste.” He is simply someone who has some impressive compartmentalisation skills (displayed in a conversation he has with Sera on the tactics of the Red Jenny group), and who has a thorough experience of a line he says to Cole:

“We all have a face we want to show, and a face we do not.”

                                                                      NAMES:

Perhaps the best way to convey Solas’ complexities coming together to form the whole of him, is by examining the construction of his name. How cyclical it is, beginning and ending with the letter S, as effortlessly smooth and slippery as he. The L in the middle like a delineation, a fork in the road of choices before him. O and A on either end like they’re mirrors or masks. How it’s composed of five letters, the way iambic pentameter is composed of five syllables that you must stress and unstress—like the two syllables in his name itself. And depending on which syllable you stress in your pronunciation, your voice will either rise and fall or fall and rise when you say it.

I may be giving Gaider and Weekes too much credit here, but Solas’ name is quite literally perfect for him. Change any single one of these components or his characteristics, and you will no longer have Solas but someone else in his stead.

There are layered meanings to the sound of his name, too. Solas is a homophone for Solace and Soulless in the English language. The former recalls all the times he might’ve provided solace to his friends or lover, or received it from them; and the latter recalls how he does seemingly soulless things to achieve his goals, or becomes someone who is soulless altogether if you don’t reach out to him with kindness. Angela D. Mitchell explores this wonderfully on her blog Dumped, Drunk and Dalish, along with homonyms in other languages. Among them are:

Latin: Solus Meanings: Solitary, alone, sole, only, uninhabited.

Irish: Solas Meanings: Light, Bright, Clear; Brightness; illumination; lucid, intelligible; light-giving, lamp flame; enlightenment, insight; revelation, disclosure; the light of existence; vision. Also: self-interest; limelight.

Old Irish: Solus Meaning: Light.

Scottish Gaelic (derived from the old Irish "Solus" or "light"): Solas Meaning: Light.

Old French: Solaz, Sollas, Soulas Meanings: Joy, pleasure, enjoyment.

She also explores the Latin root of ‘Sol’:

Lone, alone, solitary, lonely, desolate, dismal, gloomy The sun (also can refer to the Sun in a personified sense) A source of comfort, calmness, soothing "To be accustomed" (as found in such words as: insolent, obsolescent, sullen)

These are all such apt descriptors for various facets of his personality and story, it shows the amount of thought and care given to him in the writing process. And of course, there are the Elven meanings: ‘Pride’ or ‘to stand tall.’

Because of the level of thought involved, I wondered how far back Gaider chose his name and decided it would mean ‘Pride’ in Elven, and how that might’ve informed Weekes’ writing of his character. @maythedreadwolftakeyou, @felassan and @lesbianarcana (my heroes!) helped me out and did some top-notch digging.

The first instance we have of the word Solas was found in a codex acquired from Dragon Age II’s Black Emporium, which was released on March 8, 2011. After that, it appears with its Elven meaning and on a map in World of Thedas Volume 1, released on April 30, 2013.

Since we have an enormous amount of foreshadowing for him by way of Shartan in Dragon Age: Origins and Merrill in Dragon Age II, I think it’s safe to say the first concepts of what Solas would mean and who the character who would wear the name would become began as far back as DAO. (Note: I believe Gaider or another Bioware dev confirmed this on social media, but I couldn’t find the post anywhere. If it crops up and you see it, please let me know. I’ll amend the post and credit you.)

In any case, the power of names is yet another running theme that links the storytelling of the ancients, Hadestown, and DA:I. Orpheus pays attention to the composition of Eurydice’s name, and remarks on how it’s “like a melody,” and his arrival in Hadestown reminds her of it when she’s been stripped of it and has forgotten who she used to be. Solas tells Abelas he hopes that he finds a new name after he leaves the guard of the Vir Abelasan, because it means Sorrow. The Qunari in Tevinter Night’s Genitivi Dies in the End have a special interest in finding out what they believe to be Solas’ “true name,” so they can then “track [him] back through the best and worst of [himself]”; “find flaws”; “exploit weaknesses”; “know what [he] failed to be.”

To be named is to be given an identity, personality, and, in most cases, personhood. To be named yourself and to be able to name others is power. Whether that comes as the name you’re privately called, your title, or your epithet.