#and i like Egyptian art/myth/deities quite a bit

[pyrrhicraven]

I legitimately thought it was a photo till I read. Also 17hrs?? This looks like it would take so much longer so 👏 for finishing something so realistic in 17hrs!

I know this isn't ninjago guys but I finished this 17 hour painting for my art class and I was proud of it so...enjoy.

I love Egypt fun fact about me. :)

[aquilathephoenix]

Ancient dichotomy

Eagle/Phoenix vs Serpent/Dragon: sacred vs unholy

I wanna talk about something that is central to my lore and story, and one of my favorite themes to work with: duality, in this case a very specific one.

In mythology around the world, the eagle and the snake represent the conflict of opposites. Predator and prey, interchangeable, locked in eternal dance. 

They are the precursors to my whole concept of phoenix and dragon. In most cultures, eagles are seen as visionaries and messengers of the gods, while snakes represent transformation, death and rebirth (growth). This dichotomy is very commonly found in imagery around the world and mirrors my own stuff with the whole rivalry between the primeval gods, the eternal dance of the cosmos and ultimately avians and draconians.

The meaning of the battling serpent and eagle found in western imagery ties directly with the symbolism of both animals. 

The eagle is a logical choice for representing a group, or the power of god. It stands for admirable, intimidating power, which is why it appears in connection with so many political entities.

The serpent represents many things, including healing, fertility, poison and medicine.. whoever in the west its often associated with evil, vengefulness and vindictiveness because of the Bible story in which the snake offers Eve the fruit from the forbidden tree, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

However, as we’ll see next, the relation between both entities isn't fixed.

Egyptian falcon and snake: 

Serpents weren't regarded as symbols of evil in Ancient Egypt, however, there’s still some animosity between the falcon god Horus and them.

Seth, the enemy of Horus is sometimes refereed as “the serpent”.  Horus role as the opponent of Seth is assumed as the most sacred bird of the Egyptians, the falcon, attacking Seth whom takes refuge in a hole in the ground, like a snake. However they’re shown to cooperate at times and the primeval antagonism is clouded by the joining of Nekhebet the vulture goddess of upper Egypt and the Wadjet serpent of lower Egypt on royal diadems.

During the late period when Horus became a popular god he was sometimes represented as a naked child standing above a crocodile holding in his hands snakes, scorpions and lions. Therefore Horus became known as an entity that interceded to heal and soothe snake bites and scorpion stings.

Even more interesting is the role of the primordial Egyptian serpent, Apep: 

Ra was the solar deity, bringer of light, and thus the upholder of Ma'at. Apep was viewed as the greatest enemy of Ra, and so was given the title Enemy of Ra, and also "the Lord of Chaos". In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus, he was associated with the falcon or hawk.

As the personification of all that was evil, Apep was seen as a giant snake or serpent leading to such titles as Serpent from the Nile and Evil Lizard.

The Roman eagle also eats snakes:

Eagles killing snakes were popular subjects in Roman art. The sculpture was probably chosen to please the god Jupiter and depict the triumph of good over death and evil, but it was also a way for wealthy families to show off and commemorate their deceased loved ones.

Some other classical examples:

Mosaic floor from the Imperial Palace in Constantinople, showing eagle and serpent in battle:

A Homeric omen: A Greek wine cup with a scene of an eagle battling a snake. Homer’s description of a high-flying bird carrying a snake in its talons was an omen the Trojans saw as they attacked the Greek forces. Homer's snake was still alive and was dropped by the eagle before it could be eaten.

In the Persian mythology we have the Zahhāk (Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon."), generally an evil figure, sometimes seen as enemy of the Simurgh (phoenix), adopted from a common source of cosmological knowledge.

The founding of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City:

The Mexican emblem shows an eagle devouring a serpent, which actually is in conflict with Mesoamerican belief. The original meanings of the symbols were different in numerous aspects, being the eagle a representation of the sun god Huitzilopochtli, who was very important to the ‘people of the sun’; and the snake a symbol of wisdom, with strong connotations to the god Quetzalcoatl. 

The story of the eagle and snake was derived from an incorrect translation in which "the snake hisses", was mistranslated as "the snake is torn". Based on this error, the legend was misinterpreted and as a result the eagle represents all that is good and right, while the snake represents evil and sin, being used as an element of evangelism by the first missionaries to convert native people, as it conformed with European heraldic tradition and Christian lore. 

Zodiac:

The eagle and the serpent are both variant symbols for the astrological sign of Scorpio, whose basic level, that of the scorpion was depicted by the ancient zodiac as the serpent. Both are poisonous creatures that hide under rocks, always ready to attack, representing negativity and resentment, yet strongly related to initiation into the sacred mysteries.

The eagle is another, higher level of the sign, regarding strength and wisdom, incidentally, the highest level is the phoenix, a ‘transformed eagle’ whom soared as a higher expression of the nature of this sign: transcendence from the crawling scorpion/snake to the soaring eagle/phoenix, tying together the theme of destruction and renewal.

Garuda and Nagas:

Now, going back a bit in time... The great nemesis of the nagas in the Mahabharata is the gigantic eagle-king Garuda.

According to Hindu and Buddhist stories, the giant, birdlike Garuda spends eternity killing snakelike Nagas. The feud started when both Garuda's mother and the Nagas' mother married the same husband. The husband then gave each wife one wish. The Nagas' mother asked for a thousand children. Garuda's mother wished for just two children who were superior to all of the Nagas. Their rivalry continued until Garuda's mother lost a bet and became the servant and prisoner of the Nagas' mother. Garuda was able to free his mother by stealing the nectar of immortality from the gods. But he swore vengeance for his mother's treatment and has been fighting Nagas ever since.

The Japanese version of the myth, called Karura, is said to be enormous, fire-breathing, and to feed on dragons/serpents, just as Garuda is the bane of Nagas. Only a dragon who possesses a special talisman, or one who has converted to the Buddhist teaching, can escape unharmed from the Karura. 

Once more we witness the eternal rivalry between the eagle and the serpent.

Allegorical conclusion of the Christological cycle. The bird and the snake:

Early Christian writers used the phoenix bird as a symbol not only of resurrection in general but also of Christ himself. Here is an example of the Incarnation or a symbolic portrait of Christ overcoming the devil, depicted allegorically in the form of a bird fighting a serpent.

The Dragon:

As we've been able to witness, the serpent symbol is decidedly more ambiguous than the eagle, so I’d like to focus a bit on it:

With a few allegories one is able to establish the dragon as an entity derived from the snake, and the phoenix as an entity derived from the eagle. Now, going from the root symbol of serpent to its representation as the dragon:

A serpent and a dragon are often interchangeable in some proses, including the Bible and Old Norse poetry. The poem Beowulf describes a dragon also as wyrm (worm, or serpent) indicating a snake-like form and movement rather than with a lizard-like or dinosaur-like body. In the Far East, few distinctions are made between them.

Having established the dragon as the synonym of serpent, with similar meaning in the duality theme I’m working here... its noteworthy that the dragon usually carries negative connotations, especially in its more popular form, just as the phoenix usually carries positive connotations.

The medieval dragon. In medieval symbolism, dragons were often symbolic of apostasy and treachery, but also of anger and envy, and eventfully symbolized great calamity. Several heads were symbolic of decadence and oppression, and also of heresy. An evil dragon is often associated with a great hero who tries to slay it.

But dragons aren't always related to evil in traditional representation, just as their prototype, the serpent. In some countries, it was said a good dragon would give wise advice to those who seek it.  

In ancient Greece, the snake figure was associated with Asclepios, the god of medicine, and possessed benevolent properties, believed to be able to cure a patient or a wounded person just by touch.

Also, a serpent biting its tail symbolized eternity and the soul of the world, being sometimes described as part dragon.. it surrounds the world. The alchemical symbol of the Ouroborus often carries positive connotations. 

Fenghuang and Dragon, a more balanced view:

The fenghuang is a mythological bird of East Asia that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called feng and the females huang but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and they are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be paired with the Chinese dragon, which is traditionally deemed male.

Fenghuang ,the "Sovereign of Birds" came to symbolize the empress when paired with a dragon as a dragon represented the emperor.

In ancient and modern Chinese culture, the fenghuang can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons. This is because the Chinese considered the dragon and phoenix symbolic of blissful relations between husband and wife, another common yang and yin metaphor.

Ancient & modern interpretations

Looking back its easy to see why those two archetypal symbols carry such antagonist interpretations... the eagle is easily a ‘good animal’. The eagle does not impact negatively human life (or it rarely does), quite the contrary. Birds of prey, including eagles, have been trained and used to our benefit, serving as companions and valuable hunting assets during our early history.

The eagle obviously has an impressive figure, and its always sky high.. human’s natural curiosity to see more of the world and have freedom has led us to naturally admire and envy animals able to fly. They are often carrying spiritual/divine connotations, on top of that, we’re both diurnal animals. An eagle is often seen or glimpsed under situations that are ‘positive’ to our primeval brains: its visage is often accompanied of imagery of large, open spaces, bright blue skies and sunlight, more or less comfortable scenarios that inspire feelings of freedom, awe and perhaps even religious reverence. 

The soaring eagle rises above earthly limitations.

The serpent otherwise carries strong negative connotation to primitive humans,  it is visually connected with the underworld and darker places, the unknown, the unseen... not only because it crawls on the ground, but because it can bring death, its easily a dangerous creature and its rather easy to see why it served as inspiration to so many mythological creatures as it inspired a lot of fear in our ancestors. Its almost like a primeval fear, imprinted in our brains...

However, as the lines between light and darkness become blurred and the definitions of symbolism gains new interpretations in our modern era, the ancient meanings still carry a lot of weight, still... in the recent history, the eagle, a supreme symbol of divine light has gained a certain negative connotation: imperialism and supremacy: claws grasping for power, wings outstretched, its shadow covering the world... while its counterpart, the serpent, has also emerged from the underworld and has been adopted as the symbol of the modern medical profession and the image of these animals has strongly improved with the knowledge of biology and of their nature.

Converging meaning

The eagle and the snake are some of the symbols with the strongest presence in the history of mankind. Separately they have their presence widespread, while together we have a more interesting conflict.

In the modern view of most myths, these two symbols clearly express fundamental opposites: height/depth, heaven/earth, etc... however it wasn't always the case, and sometimes these symbols cooperate, or act as halves of the same whole. Specially regarding the serpent half, if you dig just a little its easy to start finding more sensible or sympathetic incarnations of this animal through the world mythology, with more benign variations such as the eastern dragon. It becomes clear that the dichotomy isn't so simple as ‘life against death’ or ‘good against evil’.

Together they are a pair of opposites: the soaring and the creeping.

I think that, concerning those aspects.. the far eastern mythologies offer the best incarnation of the primeval duo or eagle and serpent, the phoenix and the dragon. 

I want to work my phoenixes and dragons for something in between, they’re capable of great destruction as much as they’re capable of great good.

The Eagle and the Serpent as One Entity

In my world, the phoenix and dragon have superficial and deep meanings. Its easy to overlook their more common representation as opposites, and delegate the phoenix with positive meaning while the dragon is surrounded by negative energy, and its easy to simply do the opposite.. I mean to find a balance between the two.

When the eagle and serpent are perfectly paired as opposites, and equals... as phoenix and dragon, the superlative form of these creatures... they represent not victory and defeat, not light and darkness nor good and evil, but dynamic cosmic completion, the union of spirit and matter, as shown in the common emblem of their cosmic dance:

United they are stronger, they are whole. This is the force that drives the universe as the celestial bird and the serpent wheel around each other forever, in perfect balance of opposite energies, or ideally it should be like this..

It is such an interesting and very ancient symbol.. like yin yang..or the masculine and the feminine.. it shows two powerful people combining forces to create something very dynamic or shape shifting.. being able to shape a new reality.. 

It’s left for the characters to find common ground and forge a better future.

[tapas-and-stuff-productions]

The Deities Project: Part 8

An early notion for the Keys & Kingdoms universe was to divide its world into sections ruled by three pantheons, and those would be the historical pantheons of Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythology! As it turned out, the 3rd Edition D&D supplement “Deities & Demigods” included stats for those exact three pantheons, and I carefully studied that for guidance on how to reinterpret those legendary pantheons for use in a fantasy world.

And so began this project: drawing all 53 historical deities depicted in that book. Casey Gosselin drew their symbols and Stacy Lord drew the characters themselves. Neither saw the illustrations in the D&D book, but we stuck to what the book claimed as their symbol, their sacred weapon, and very general appearance. The big project lasted from October 2019 to August 2020. Since then, we’ve been putting more research into the real myths and other gods, but these will still form the foundation for the core members of the pantheons and what they’ll look like when the K&K universe begins.

This is an 11-part series presenting all the art anew and talking about the ideas behind it! Presented in the order in which they were done, which is approximately in the order of strongest to weakest according to their rankings in the D&D book. Don’t forget to check out Stacy and Casey’s own pages:

What little research I’ve done on the Egyptian pantheon has brought forth one rather obvious conclusion: that the D&D version of Bast has a lot more in common with Sekhmet than Bast. Now, I don’t have any issue with combining the two catgirl deities together to streamline the pantheon, but why did they call her Bast when she was very much Sekhmet…? I do want to bring Sekhmet back into the story as an actual character. Lots of iconic deities in all three pantheons who were left out of the book, they can be minor characters in the K&K universe.

Her design isn’t quite what I had in mind… as a fuzzy kitty in this dress, she just looks a bit too domestic. I wanted her cat face to be gaunt and feral, and her dress to be… well, somehow more appropriate for a lady of war, there’s some intangible quality that makes the dress look more like that of a suburban mom instead; not sure what that quality is and how to change it. Keeping in mind that I am bringing Sekhmet into the K&K universe, Bast ought to be more domestic than Sekhmet, but… still, not by this much.

In the myths, Hathor does have a cow motif but not usually the actual head of a cow. Yes, it would seem the D&D folks took a lot of creative liberties with Hathor, making her the daughter of Horus and sister of Bast, and as mentioned the one they called Bast was really Sekhmet… both were actually the daughters of Ra and consorts of Horus… I mean, I’m all for making their family trees less tangled, the famously-entangled family trees of the Greek gods seemingly don’t have shit on the Egyptians.

Anyway, with her cow motif, I thus also gave her very mild Hindu motifs - again, not restricting these characters to the cultural motifs of where they actually come from, so they represent the whole world!

This was, perhaps, the only symbol I asked Casey to redo - her first attempt at a cow’s face looked too much like a sheep.

This obscure Titan was included in the D&D Greek pantheon, I assume, due to the need for one themed around trickery and luck. Always needing deities to fit every domain! And for similar reasons, Tyche later became the inspiration for the 4th Edition goddess Avandra.

Both Casey and Stacy count their work on Tyche among their least-favorite designs: Casey felt Tyche’s pentagram was lopsided and uneven, while Stacy thinks she got the perspective on her face all wrong. Neither are really a dealbreaker for me, I only recall my suggestion that she wear a cornucopia-shaped hat and then… having to figure out alongside Stacy what the heck that actually looks like. Good result!

Here’s a bit of world-building lore I decided on: while Gaia and most of her descendants qualify as Titans, the six children of Kronos and Rhea have a different nature and are Olympians - perhaps due to a prophecy that made Kronos paranoid they’d overthrow him. The six Olympians’ divine-born children are also Olympians, but their godly grandchildren, such as Pan here, have a lesser nature and are instead called Arcadians, so named for Pan setting up a fey sanctuary called Arcadia in this universe.

A favorite design of mine - largely due to the novelty of being the only god who appears as a satyr, when so many are human-looking it got a bit dull after a while. The general anatomy of a satyr in the K&K universe will need some work which results in changes to his design, but one particularly brilliant improvisation on Stacy’s part I absolutely adore - zoom in on his eyes and you’ll see he has horizontal, almost rectangular pupils, just like a real goat. That was awesome.

His syrinx, or panpipe, also needs some work. It’s the only weapon he carries and is also his symbol; Casey’s interpretation looked a bit more like a picket fence. I figure Pan invented the syrinx, hence it also being called a panpipe, and the one he carries and uses as his symbol was his prototype, so I figure it’s very primitive and held together with twigs and twine.

Bes in my research seems very different from the other Egyptian gods - there doesn’t seem to be any common iconography of him that most of the Egyptian gods have from the walls of tombs and stuff. Scholars suggest he was perhaps an import to Ancient Egypt from its less-famous southern neighbor, Nubia. And it would seem he wasn’t so much a deity as a good-luck charm, with many people having little stone statues of him in their home to ward off evil.

Regardless, before doing my actual research, I followed along with how the D&D book depicted him; as a hunchbacked dwarf or gnome, ugly but exceedingly cheerful; instead of the furry club tail he has in that book, I gave him more of a dinosaur tail, but still with the pigmentation of his own human skin for a slightly unsettling look.

[booksandwords]

The Wicked + The Divine: Fandemonium by Kieron Gillen. Art by Jamie McKelvie. Coloured by Matt Wilson. Lettering by Clayton Cowles.

Series: The Wicked + The Divine, #2 Read time: 1 Day Rating: 4/5

The quote: "This is fandom. Not many angry white guys in fandom." — Cassandra

I'm coming back to this series because I'm hitting a reading slump and I find graphic novels help pull me out. I'm going to start with the ending. This volume ends in such an odd place usually when I read I read one then review it before moving on. This time I couldn't I needed to know what came next. I needed answers to the questions that are posed by the ending. Because there are many. Fandemonium picks up a month after The Faust Act and the death of Luci. Laura is still our eyes to the world, still trying to unravel the mysteries around Luci's death. She is hurting and confused and possibly a little in love with the memory of Luci. Laura has a rather patronising nickname that is only half explained, 'Prometheus' (another myth reference).

Very early on she meets a character that we had references to in The Faust Act but never met the stunning Inanna. Inanna is not like the others that we've met, he's more trusting and sweet, a bit of a mix between Amaterasu and Minerva. Inanna looks fantastic, his whole deal is wonderful and he's a gender-bend of his original form. His gift is divination, I quite like the way his magic is presented in a pinky/purple sparkle. His outfits are so audacious so becoming of his stage persona which we also get to see. Interestingly Inanna recognises Laura from before, before his godhood, they have a connection and I really like their dynamic. Inanna introduces Laura and the reader to the 11th god, Dionysus. Dionysus I really like. His eyes are pitch black and he seemingly has a laurel crown tattooed on his head. His whole style is much more relaxed than all the others, pressed pants and a yolo tee, fully suiting his mythological duties. I really like how he treats Laura. He honours her, allows her to experience his environment within her limits and helps her when she's done. As a side note... Minerva has one of the cutest nicknames from Baal, Baal who is particularly of her, he calls her Mini. She's so small and young, you have to remember reading this that Mini is only 12 and will be dead before she is 15.

I do want to comment on the art for a second. There is so much effort put into the speech bubbles. Woden's speech bubbles have always suited his presentation, that Tron like appearance with greens matches his bubbles. But the same effort is shown clearly in Dionysus and Inanna's. Dionysus runs a rave (like all the time) his is a black background with fluoro pink and white writing. Inanna's is fully complementary to his standard outfit, a dark almost lavender background with white writing. Both the bubble styles suit the characters. Dionysus comes across as a bit perpetually wired and Inanna is one of the calmer of the 12. On Dionysus and that rave... that is such well-done artwork there. All mad electro colours and sharp cuts. We see it through Laura's eyes but all the major players' bar a few are there. We see people interacting on different levels. I just appreciate the different style for what is a very out-there moment, especially for our main character.

By the end of Fandemonium, we've met all 12 of the gods on the wheel. As the gods die or as their situations change their icons change, death turns them into a skull. Going clockwise around the wheel.

Amaterasu — Japan goddess of the sun and the universe; the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan

Lucifer — Christianty the devil, a fallen angel.

Sakhmet (aka Sekhmet) — Egyptian a warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing

Baphomet — a god worshipped by the Knights Templar. He's a bit of a black sheep as a deity, yes it means something, yes, his existence in the Pantheon is eventually explained.

Minerva — Roman goddess of poetry, medicine, strategic warfare, commerce, weaving, the crafts, wisdom, courage, inspiration, victory, war, law, civilization, bravery, heroism, protection, city state, family, justice, mathematics, science, technology, strength, strategy, the arts, and skill

Woden (aka Odin) — Norse god of wisdom, poetry, death, divination, and magic

Morrigan — Celtic goddess of death and battle. A trio of sisters who appeared as a crow, she was the keeper of fate and purveyor of prophecy.

Dionysus — Greek god of the vine, grape-harvest, wine-making, wine, fertility, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, theatre

Inanna (aka Ishtar) — Mesopotamian goddess of sex, love, war, justice, and political power.

Tara — Hinduism and Buddism goddesses representing the fundamental female aspect of the universe, which gives birth to warmth, compassion and relief from bad karma as experienced by ordinary beings in cyclic existence (samsara).

Baal — Canaanite god of fertility, weather, rain, wind, lightning, seasons, war, sailors

Urðr — Norse one of the Nord the goddesses responsible for shaping the course of human destinies. The three Norns represent the past (Urðr), future (Skuld) and present (Verðandi). And lastly not part of the wheel but important...

Ananke — the Greek personification of inevitability, compulsion and necessity

[deitiesofduat]

I was wondering if u can do a bunch of random facts/headcannons for the main cast?

Oh man, I mean, I’m happy to try, but I’m not sure where to start for the entire cast of 10… well, now 11 gods. I know have some that are scattered around the blog’s tags, and also in places other than tumblr, but It’ll take me a bit to find them or think of new ones without revealing spoilers, hmm…

So here’s what I’ll try that’s similar to the 1 Like 1 Fact meme I did on twitter a while ago: for every note this post receives, I’ll add a DEITIES-related headcanon or fact about the main cast. The main cast includes Set, Horus, Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Bastet, Sekhmet, Thoth, Ra, and nowwwww Sobek – and maybe the Set Spawn and the big bad serpent too, if relevant. You can add a note by +liking this post, and if you’re interested in learning about a particular deity, you can mention their name in a comment (and it’s not necessary to reblog this, unless you want to!).

This should help give me a bit more focus and time to think of some decent non-spoiler headcanons/facts to share. I’ll come back to this post in a few hours and add any many as I can, depending on the amount of notes it receives, and I’ll bump and place them under the cut for easy access. So yeah, go for it /o/!!

[1] Been playing with a headcanon where Horus’s Eye can see an object’s or person’s weak spots – though only for like, a moment once it’s activated, cuz I’ve wanted to avoid him being OP (but then again… he’s a literal god… so >>)

Also a related-headcanon where he can see a person’s past injuries thru his Eye too, including the hidden ones that have long-ago healed and left no visible scar. I’d like to draw the ones he “sees” on others one day if I keep it…

[2] Set is the only one of his siblings that doesn’t have an avian sacred animal, and for a while I wanted to keep it that way and literally keep him “grounded” compared to his family (sans Anubis). But I found that he’s sometimes also associated with crows (and falcons??? interestingly enough), and even though I haven’t found solid evidence of this yet, I also like the idea of him being associated with bats even before I read about it in Kane Chronicles I swear– So those 2-3 animals are probably some alternate animal form that he has but just rarely takes.

[3] Actually while I’m at it– aside from the Sha Animal, here’s a list of 30-ish animals that I keep as Set’s canon forms in DEITIES verse (based on a combination of historical speculation, recorded myths, and personal headcanons), and would love to eventually draw him as one day:

Aardvark, African Wild Ass (and Donkey), Giant Anteater, Baboon, Bat, Boar/Pig, Bull, Camel, Crocodile, Crow/Raven, Dog (some sort of sighthound?), Fennec Fox, Fish (Eel?), Gazelle/Antelope, Giraffe, Goat, Goose, Hare/Rabbit, Hippopotamus, [Spotted] Hyena, Jackal, Jerboa, Okapi, Oryx, Panther, Rat, Scorpion, Shark, Snake (Viper), and Zebra/Quagga.

[4] RELATEDLY… I REALLY REALLY like the idea of Set somehow acquiring a Thylacine form even tho it’s in no realistic way in the current timeline because thylacines weren’t native to Africa let alone Egypt. BUT… I JUST… THEY REMIND ME OF SHA ANIMALS SO MUCH o)——–

[5] When I was considering the color schemes for the main cast, I once briefly envisioned a purple/violet scheme for Nephthys, but decided to scrap it because (1) I wanted her colors to contrast with her sister’s and match a bit more with her husband’s and son’s and (2) I found that purple was nigh impossible to find in AE wall art and admittedly worried “maybe it won’t look authentic if I use those colors;;;”

Even though I’m happy with her orange/black/red scheme now, I’ve recently found that purple is a common association / kemetic UPG (or doxa?) with her?? SO THAT WAS INTERESTING… I don’t think I’ll change her color scheme for DEITIES, but maybe I’ll draw her in an alternate purple outfit one day to see how it looks on her >>

[6] One of the reasons why I like Horus, Anubis, and Bastet as their own casual friend group in DEITIES verse is that, because they’re all relatively young gods, they all share the experience/pressure of being measured up against their older royal relatives – Horus being seen as both his father and mother’s legacy and feeling the pressure to restore his family’s throne; Anubis being know for his infamous father, and even having his paternity questioned (via rumors and “myths”); and Bastet being the youngest of Ra’s daughter, sometimes being compared to her sister’s roles and achievements.

They’re all really good at masking any pressure they feel, but they also probably confide in each other about it more than with others, cuz they’ve all “been there.”

[7] Relatedly, one of the earliest version of DEITIES Project, before it was known as “Deities Project,” had Horus, Anubis, and Bastet as the main trio. That’s been changed “for reasons” since then, and their characters were quite different back then, but it might be fun to explore a story that focused on the 3 of them someday.

[8] Okay ya’ll know the part during The Contendings where Horus and Set are racing in stone boats and Horus “wins” by painting his wooden boat to look like stone? I have ideas for how that entire race happens in DEITIES verse that would be fun to explore as a side story, but in order for me to give Horus a “legit” way to win without outright cheating, he covers his boat with stone casing/accents, and after he wins and is confronted about it… well…

HORUS: “The rules we agreed on were to sail a boat made with stone. They said nothing about it needing to be made entirely out of stone.”SET: “…”HORUS: “ :)c ”SET: “…” *Internally raging*

[9] I’ve headcanon’d that Nephthys has her own set of ~7 Shabti who act as her personal assistants while she’s conducting her nightly duties, or working around her home, but I haven’t decided much more past that (still debating on how she acquired them, and if she more-than-likely named them…).

The concept and number were loosely based on how many of the other goddesses had their own sets of 7 as extensions of their power and/or control (7 Ribbons of Hathor, 7 Arrows of Sekhmet, Isis’s 7 Scorpions), and I thought it’d be neat if the Goddess of Service had her own Shabti that exemplified that part of her domain.

[10] Thoth is an avid lover of puzzles, trivia, and strategy games, and he’s also exceptionally skilled at games of chance. He doesn’t gamble or make bets often because he understands the risks, but when he does he tries to be calculative about it… and also has a natural knack for luck going his way (EX: That one game of senet that he won to help assist Nut with having her children… which is another story for another day)

[11] Ummmmm Isis is the only one of the main cast who I haven’t drawn a ref of her sacred animal form yet… or at least, not digitally. Her animal is the kite, but I’ve been debating on a while for what species to base her design on. I like the idea of her kite form looking like the Black-winged Kite, although those species aren’t native to Egypt… but some are native to Africa… and they’re so fricken pretty and they fit her colors so well so I might cave on this ffffffffffff–

[12] While we’re on the subject of sacred animals (and to help me get somewhat closer to the note count lmao I’m trying guys–), Horus’s falcon form is based on both the Peregrine falcon and the Lanner falcon, with more simplified markings for my own sanity when I draw him in dozens of panels.

At one point, I considered making his falcon form leucistic to contrast more with Anubis and Set, buuuuuut I also liked the brown colors on the falcons’ normal coloration, so I kept it. (That and more leucistic birds of prey are hawks, so… maybe for Khonsu tho if I don’t change him to an owl, hmmmm…)

[13] Okay continuing thoughts on animal forms, Bastet is able to shift her cat form into nearly any coloration or breed she desires (aside from her eyes, which remain green), but for the purposes of DEITIES I draw her as a brown cat with light gradation markings. I knew of the Egyptian Mau but also realized the spots would take a lot of effort to redraw in the panels where she appears as a cat (much like the spots on falcons for Horus). I also personally really like solid-colored coats on cats, and in particular I liked the coloration of the Havana Brown, so it may be a little less authentic but it did factor into her colors as well.

[14] I'm still debating on Sekhmet's main hairstyle and want to play with it a bit more -- not the arrangement per se but whether to keep it as locks or to make them more obvious twists -- or perhaps a combination -- since I can see her with both style at certain points in time. Either way, at full length Sekhmet's hair is very long: if she were to loosen her tie and let it fall, her longest locks would reach past her hips.

[15] I initially gave Set yellow eyes because even though he's often depicted with red eyes, I didn't want to over saturate his design with just... well, red -- especially in his animal form where his entire body is covered in red fur (red eyes + red sclera would have been, a lot). I like how his yellow eyes provide some contrast, and I've since found some story-related reasons where his eyes might play some role in the plot… but anything further might be spoilery 8')c

[16] It took me a while to settle on Osiris's "resurrected" skin tone because there were a lot of sources that describe his skin as being green, or blue, or black in coloration. I even tried them out in an earlier color test that I shared on patreon, but I eventually went with black since the color has had various meanings in Ancient Egypt that include both life and death. (It also gave me some opportunity to give green skin to Ptah and blue skin to Hapi to help vary the designs for each of those gods).

[17] Relatedly, Osiris's mortal form is a naturally dark skin tone, but following this death he can no longer appear in that form. He is also unable to travel to the overworld / realm of the living, though I'm still debating on how restrictive this is (if it's limited to his physical body or if he can split his soul under special circumstances, or with assistance). Regardless, most of his correspondence with other deities have to be arranged within Duat for this reason.

[18] I haven't made any plans to designate a spouse or romantic partner for Ra. I understand that there were a number of goddesses that were associated with him in the myths and often said to be his wife, but for that reason it was hard to settle on choosing one -- or multiple, and I realized that for the purpose of the main story it might not be necessary. I also kinda like exploring the idea of this high king and powerful creator deity who's also a happily single father, and where it's not for tragic reasons like the separation from or death of his spouse (not to knock that trope at all tho sdjfdsf). I'm not opposed to him being shipped with anyone though, I just don't think I've been inclined to do it myself lmAO;;

[19] RELATEDLY, while Ra's daughters (Sekhmet, Mafdet, Hathor, Serqet, Bastet) don't have a biological mother, I like to think that they were raised in an environment with a lot of parental figures and mentors to go around, aside from just their father. I haven't quite settled on how it was organized though, but I know that the daughters regard Thoth as something of an uncle/secondary dad (tho their dynamic with Thoth is can vary a lot from the one the have with Ra), as well as their teacher and mentor. I can also see where other gods like Khnum, Khepri, and Bes, and goddesses like Neith, Seshat, Taweret, Ma'at, and Mut, might also have played some direct mentor role in the daughters' upbringing and sense of self.

[20] (squick + implied nsfw) I uh… have this minor gag headcanon where Horus, Isis, and Osiris just don't eat fish. They just… don't. And it's entirely based on that one part of the myths after Osiris's death, where a certain part of Osiris's desecrated body ended up in the river and was swallowed by a fish 8')c (should be noted that I'm not saying that event did happened in DEITIES canon, but I'm also not disputing it either >>).

Apparently that was considered a bad omen, and I still find conflicting information on whether consumption of fish was taboo for some or all in Ancient Egypt (I think "for some" makes better sense, cuz why would an entire society that resides near the Nile river pass up on a perfectly available food source?? But I digress, I might need to review this again so take my thoughts with a grain of salt--). I also admit that I've seen it mentioned that fish are not ideal food offerings for Isis and Osiris?? and I can imagine that maybe Horus adopts the distaste for them as well. Either way, I go with the DEITIES canon that while most people and deities happily consume fish, Horus and his parents will not, and they don't enjoy it as offerings either.

I’MMMMMM gonna end it here for now cuz my headcanons have run dry for the time being, thank you guys!!

[trans-n-enby-stuff]

!!!! We doing LGBT deities? Apollo (greek god of like 6 things, including music, medical arts, the sun, and archery) and Zephyrus (greek god of the west wind) are both bi! In the myth of Hyacinth, they were fighting over the love of this really handsome dude, Hyacinth, who eventually chose Apollo, and since gods are petty assholes, Zephyrus killed him. Apollo, mad with grief, created the hyacinth flower from Hyacinth's blood (and his own tears in some versions). It's a well known story but still

(appolo & zephyrus anon continued) also like, as a rule, nobody is straight in greek mythology. Poseidon rescued Nerites (a minor sea deity) from being turned into a shellfish by Aphrodite after he refused to accompany her up to Olympus, and in some versions of the myth, they loved each other and from their mutual love Anteros was born, who is the personification of reciprocated love. (1/?)(2/?) Zeus (god of not being able to keep it in his pants) kidnapped Ganymede (cupbearer of the gods) and offered him his current job, which Hera (god of marriage and throwing children off Olympus) didn’t like bc he was too handsome and a rival to her husband’s attention (Zeus later made Gany a constellation, which implies she was right, but it’s a hot discourse topic since Ancient Greece)(3/?) Dionysus (god of wine and chasing nymphs when he really shouldn’t) is also notoriously Not Straight, with multiple myths referring to it, but the funniest is probably the myth of Prosymnus, who helped him when he went to rescue his mother Semele from Hades, and since I want to keep this kid friendly you should probably just search it up but I promise you it’s the funniest thing you ever read(4/?) Speaking of Flower Gays, there’s a myth that’s very similar to the Apollo/Zaphyrus/Hyacinth myth that may be a variation upon that, where Crocus, in this version a lover of Hermes (god of thieves and messengers) were playing a game of discus (like Apollo and Hyacinth were doing), when Crocus died. Hermes then made the Crocus flower out of his blood, like Apollo did for Hyacinth. (There’s also another, presumably straighter version of the myth where Crocus had an affair with a nymph)(5/?) And of course, let’s not forget the mortals/demigods in greek mythology: Patroclus and Achilles are famous for the Discourse they caused, Heracles (Hercules) is bi (but unfortunately probably the most famous of his lovers, Iolaus, also happened to be his nephew, which… I mean attitudes of the time and whatever, but still, gross), Agamemnon and Argynnus as told by Athenaeus were lovers, and I could go on and on because greek mythology is GAY(7/?) On the sapphic side, there seems to be less, as I didn’t recall any before I started researching, but there’s still a couple of good stories. Sappho, an actual real life poet who was a sapphic, wrote Ode to Aphrodite, her only fully surviving poem, where the speaker (herself) prays to Aphrodite after being rejected by an unnamed woman. Sappho also named Aphrodite as the goddess of lesbians. Sappho herself is quite interesting and I definitely recommend researching her!(8/?) I personally like the story of Iphis, which, while a bit Problematique by today’s standards, is still pretty okay for a greek mythology thing, if you get what I mean. Iphis was born to a couple that was so poor they could not afford the dowry if their child was a girl, so the husband decided to kill the child if it was a girl. The wife was not down with that, and Isis (an egyptian goddes, strangely enough) visited her at night and assured her that if she had a daughter Isis’d keep her safe(10/10) But lastly, the obligatory disclaimer when talking Greek Mythology is that ancient greece hadn’t realized that pedophelia and incest was wrong, and they rarely adressed rape properly, and this is pretty prevalent in LGBT-flavoured myths, so if you’re planning on researching, take care of yourself. Also, I’m so, so sorry this god so needlessly wrong, greek mythology has been my special interest for so long and this gave me an excuse to research and I went overboard, I’m so so sorry 

~

Okay anon, firstly, please do not apologize for your beautiful mythology rambling, I love it. 

ALSO calling Zeus the god of not being able to keep it in his pants is so funny oh my god. I really can’t add anything to this because it’s so wonderful and I’m so happy you decided to share it!!!! 

~ Chris

[mythcsborn-a]

Hello! What relationship do all of your muses have with Zeus and his siblings or would likely have if they haven't yet met?

okay, i’ll just focus on anna, shae, enyo and nephthys on this one because the others never met them and honestly i have absolutely no idea how it could go ?? (besides louis, and the thread has barely even started but they don’t like each other already lmao) also this is going under a read more

ANNAROSE has been zeus’ lover for a couple years now. or, well, had been– since hera’s pregnant, she decided to end things with zeus. she knows hera will need him, she knows he won’t have time for anything else, so she’d rather just… break it off now before she’s pushed to the sidelines. she loves him, he’s pretty much the one and only love of her life, but it’s better. for both of them.

demeter is anna’s mother, and they love each other to death. anna wishes her mother had been part of her life earlier, but she’s mostly just happy to get to know her, even if she needed her during her childhood. anna loves her mama and that’s all you need to know, honestly.

she gets along rather well with @seaprofound‘s poseidon !! they’re cooking buddies, and spend most of their time just chatting while sharing recipes. she also likes to show him how to better make diy clothes, and they basically bond over their love of creating things with their hands.

as i’ve said before, the whole thing between hera and annarose is ongoing and entirely into amber’s hands, but anna is truly and utterly terrified of her. the first stream of healthy fear comes from hera being such a force of nature, the second comes from being zeus’ lover. the rest… you’ll have to wait (:

she hasn’t met hestia and hades yet, but i think she would get along splendidly with hestia (especially @oikosheart‘s hestia) – i find them rather similar, personality-wise ? they both value family above all, so it’s a good bonding point. when it comes to hades, though– i suppose anna would be rather intimidated by him at first, like anyone ought to be. i mean, the dude rules over the underworld. but i think they could become tentative friends ? or at the very least be cordial to each other. 

ENYO loves her mother so very much. as i said previously, she’s rather protective of her even though she knows hera can take care of herself just fine, and she honestly admires the woman for being so strong and so damn loyal to her husband. but even if she loves and admires her, she’s able to see when she’s wrong, or when she’s being irrational– she loves her, but she’s not completely blinded by those feelings. otherwise, she’s rather sad that they’re not as close as they used to be, mostly because of enyo’s banishment into the mortal world.

on the other hand, she doesn’t get along very well with her father. zeus has done his best to avoid his own daughter ever since she was a small child, mostly because her nature as a goddess of war and destruction goes against everything he stands for– justice and order. enyo has resented him for this neglect for most of her life, and she’s been persuaded that he’s never loved her at all ever since she was old enough to notice how he avoided her so much (and to this day, it’s still something she believes in). she’s also never forgiven him for banishing her to the mortal world for a thousand years– while she understands the need of punishing her for starting a war between mortals (a war that made lots of casualties), she never understood why he did so for so very long. their relationship is slowly getting better, though– they’ll never be close, not as close as they could have been if things were different, but they’re getting better. enyo loves her father, after all.

she’s extremely close to @seaprofound‘s poseidon. she’s been clinging to his pants ever since she was a toddler, and poseidon has been more of a father figure to her than her own biological father has ever been. that’s all you really need to know, i’d say :’)

when it comes to demeter, enyo has a healthy dose of respect for the woman, because she’s quite literally a force of nature. but besides that, she’s not exactly close to her, mostly because they don’t have much in common. demeter might be her aunt, but their fields of work are pretty opposite.

she also loves hestia so much ? whenever she needs comfort, or a hug, hestia is pretty much the first person she goes to. she had this habit as a child to climb onto hestia’s lap and to glare at everyone approaching too close to her. when it comes to hades… i’d say hades just rips his own hair out because enyo gives him so much work. they’re not the closest peeps, but i think she’d swing by the underworld every once in a while to check on him. and maybe tease him, too.

SHAE has basically no relationship with zeus. he’s her grandfather, for sure, but they’ve barely met, and what little she knows about him comes from enyo and anna. i’m not exactly sure if they would get along, in all honesty; shae sees him as some kind of unreachable, otherwordly being, someone who doesn’t really care about mere mortals. besides, she’s not the most respectful or polite person, it’s rather hard to get along with her with how brash and closed-off she can be, and i think zeus would definitely not like her lack of deference. @reignofolympus renee tell me if i’m wrong.

she’s rather ambivalent when it comes to hera. she does respect the woman, tries to show it (at least as much as she shows respect to anyone, which isn’t a lot), but on the other hand she doesn’t understand her at all, especially when it comes to how she treated hephaestus and the whole throwing him off of olympus business. since they’re both so strong and stubborn, i have my doubts about how well they could get along– i suppose they could be somewhat polite to each other, but they’ll never be friends.

i’m not too sure how she would stand with poseidon, demeter and hestia ; i think, when it comes to @seaprofound‘s po, they could get along rather well. if anything, having them both in the same room would increase the amount of sass and sarcasm by at least twenty, and i just can see them bitching about everything and everyone together ? also, po values art quite a lot, and shae’s main interest is jewelry making, so i can really see them bond over that. she could totally teach him her line of work. when it comes to dem… she’s anna’s mother ?? and that’s basically it. hestia, too, she has pretty much nothing in common with her. she still has a tiny altar dedicated to hestia in her home, if anything to protect the place.

now, hades. she’s… wary of him, at best. death is something that scares her, especially after seeing her own mother get eaten alive by laistrygonian giants, and even more so after the wars demigods have been involved in. she tends to be reckless, but she’s afraid of dying, afraid of what comes next– even if she knows it’s the underworld, what will happen to her soul ? an eternity in greek heaven sounds as bad as an eternity wandering in the fields of asphodel, at least to her eyes. eternity is terrifying overall. i suppose that fear of the afterlife reflects back on the actual king of afterlife that’s hades. honestly, i’d love exploring that.

NEPHTHYS, last but not least– i’m working with @sunsetsvibe‘s poseidon this time, and they have a very healthy, very strong rivalry between them. it stems first from being both gods of water bodies, but also from the whole territory issues that r. riordan vaguely touched in his books, where manhattan is the territory of greek gods, while brooklyn is the realm of egyptian myths. they’re rather protective of their own territories, and they keep bickering over boundaries and toeing the lines. it’s pretty hilarious, in all honesty.

when it comes to zeus and hera, she has immense respect for them both. they’re powerful, they’re the ruling couple of olympus, and she has basically the same amount of respect she can and does have for isis and osiris– minus the family love, obviously. i think she could get along with hera better than with zeus– if anything, they’re both married to… complicated men, they’re both mothers, and even though they’re not into the same fields, they do have quite a bit in common.

she’s rather neutral when it comes to both hestia and demeter. she does respect both of them and their fields, especially demeter since she’s a goddess of agriculture and it was a HUGE thing in ancient egypt with the flooding of the nile-- besides, osiris is the inventor of agriculture as it was in ancient egypt, so they could talk about that.

finally, i can totally see her getting along so fucking well with hades. the first thing they have in common is being deities of their respective underworlds, and damn, i just imagine them sharing stories about how taxing it is taking care of it (even though nephthys doesn’t rule the afterlife, since that’s osiris’ job, she does help him quite often and most often than not, she wants to rip her own hair out in frustration. so yeah, i can totally see them hanging out at underworld deities bar, just complaining over and over about it, but they love their jobs all the same.