#calling them 'deities' for lack of a better term

[modernsuperhero]

Deity Influence in Limited Life

Be they Watchers or Listeners, here’s a list of things I either headcanon/theorize as direct deity intervention or are explicitly canon (at least to Martyn’s POV) as deity intervention in this season of Limited Life:

Grian never being Boogeyman. Grian is not supposed to be playing the game - why should he get to have what he wants? Of course they’re not going to allow him extra time when they’re actively trying to yank him out... and speaking of-

Grian’s AFK coma. While I like to interpret it in-universe as Grian being ill, or at least appearing to be gravely ill and as unconscious as a Watcher can be, it’s canon that his absent body was the result of the Watchers pulling him away from what ‘anchors’ him in the games, since they don’t want him there.

Jimmy’s perma-death. The canary curse is explicitly canon now - and as many of us know now, he was dead before he hit the ground. Jimmy was a dead man walking due to dying to Etho’s boogeyman kill with less than two hours. It should have perma-killed him then, but while Grian knew it was a boogey kill and gave Etho his extra 30 minutes, he did NOT remove Jimmy’s last hour. Jimmy was shifting on the sky bridge - in-universe, I believe the Watchers pushed him to make up for the death Grian was trying to avoid.

The border not protecting those outside of it. “Here’s the thing about being beyond the veil - we’re already dead.” Grian knows how this game works, since he both IRL and canonically made them. He also knows the rules are to stay WITHIN the border - he was breaking them for the protection they granted him and his allies (first the Bad Boys, then the Nosy Neighbors). But, it didn’t protect them! He broke a rule, and thus similarly to Jimmy’s death, I believed he and his allies were penalized for it.

BigB’s brief invisibility to Scott. Scott is HATED by the Watchers for bending the rules of the game as much as he can. He refused the Boogeyman Curse in Last Life, divorced and chose is own soulmate in Double Life, and rushed his Boogeyman kill in the first episode of Limited Life. On top of that, he’s managed to (technically) win 2/3 games. Of course they wouldn’t want him to win another - and while ultimately it meant nothing because Scott just permakilled BigB the moment the invisibility was gone, I think the fact that it was BigB, a former Evo member, was interesting.

Bdubs’ lack of recording. Whether he ends up posting a supercut or not, one thing is for sure - for the duration of this season, he was unwatched. In fact, the only way he could be observed was through other people... you could even phrase it as you could only find out was he was doing by hearing it through the grapevine...

And of course, whatever the FUCK happened at the end of Martyn’s last video. I have so many questions. Cherri and Martyn, I fucking applaud you.

[heilos]

Living Harmony AU relevant character sheets/info: Harmony aka the "Tree of Harmony" Shadow Lock Somnambula Starswirl the Bearded Stygian might be my favorite of the Pillars of Equestria and it's always made me sad that he wasn't used more in the show. So I decided to team up with my new friend Orin who's taken the time to make a bunch of amazing Pillar redesigns (same person I made this Starswirl animation rig for as a gift) that i'll be incorporating into my future animation project. The Pillars are very important characters to Harmony's story so I wanna do them justice. Listed below is some context for these sketches provided by my friend Orin and some written bits from myself. This is a Stygian who's been separated from the Pony of Shadows for some time, but is now dealing with the consequences of dark magic. I've had so much fun throwing ideas back and forth for this AU and I can't wait to share more in the near future.

Unicorn from a small sea side village in ancient times

Dedicated scholar and battle strategist

Special talent is writing. An incredible wordsmith in his own right

Wrote a very popular autobiography about his time possessed by the Pony of Shadows called “Me and My Shadow” (his third novel)

Name means "dark and gloomy" and also relates to the river and deity "Styx" of Greek mythology

Brought the Pillars of Equestria together in a bid to save his home town from the Sirens (the Dazzlings)

Wanted to become a hero in his own right even though he tried to convince himself otherwise

Lacks the physical strength and magical prowess of his fellow Pillars. Compared to any other run of the mill unicorn, however, Stygian is actually decently above average in terms of magical ability, though he downplays himself significantly

Ousted from the group after a misunderstanding involving him taking the other pillar’s relics to make copies of them so he too could be a hero and join them as an equal. His friends thought he was out to steal their power instead

Becomes bitter and seeks revenge afterwards when discovering the Well of Shade, which leads to the Pony of Shadows claiming him as its vessel

Banished along with the pillars to “limbo” for 1000 years through a powerful spell conceived by Starswirl and planned out by the rest of the pillars

Is freed from the Pony of Shadows' influence in modern Equestria thanks to the Mane 6 and the pillars with Twilight and Starlight being the main catalyst in helping Stygian where Starswirl had failed before

While no longer claimed by the Pony of Shadows, the consequences of using such powerful dark magic as well as being possessed by a being of pure shadow left its mark on him

Has dark magic scarring visible on his body. His eyes, inner mouth, teeth and magic color are permanently altered in appearance. It gives him a rather unsettling aura, much to his displeasure

The Pony of Shadows mark is not so easily purged, even with the combined strength of the past and present Elements of Harmony. A fragment of the shadow lives on in Stygian, inextricably bound to him, but small enough that it can no longer influence him.

Has abilities superficially similar to King Sombra's, albeit on a much smaller scale, and needs extensive practice before he can comfortably wield this new strength.

Luna becomes Stygian's second mentor, after Starswirl, to help him gain control over his new abilities. Her direct experience using dark magic to become Nightmare Moon makes her an effective teacher

As Stygian exerts better control over the shadow fragment, he eventually gains the ability to "Shadow Walk" or travel between shadows. This temporary form makes him look eerily similar to the Pony of Shadows. Pretty spooky

Can tell when the Pony of Shadows is close in proximity due to the shadow fragment, like a magic tracker

Stygian is a lucid dreamer. He appreciates dreams a lot more now that he’s sleeping on a proper schedule. Once in a while he’ll meet up with Princess Luna in the dream realm when they can’t find spare time in the waking world, outside of mentoring sessions, to enjoy each other's company as friends

Stygian redesign by Orin331

[stagkingswife]

The Returning: Who Are the Forgotten Ones?

The Returning revolves around a pantheon of 11 unrecorded entities that I collectively call the Forgotten Ones.  I believe that some, if not all of them, were once known to our Paleolithic era early hominid ancestors, as several of the Forgotten Ones have responded with recognition and familiarity to samples of art and artifacts from that era.  They also feel older than any other entity I’ve ever encountered - older than gods from other pantheons, older than the Fair Folk and dragons I work with, older than any entity I've encountered in the Otherworlds.  There’s something primordial about them for lack of a better word.  But old age and deep roots doesn’t necessarily equate to power, or more importantly for the purposes of this post immutability. 

Long time readers and friends of this blog are probably familiar with my “silly hat” theory of godhood.  That “god” is just a label that people put on the spirits that we worship. It doesn’t mean anything in terms of power, or importance, in my cosmology.  God is just a silly hat we put on the particular spirits who are special to us.  But there is a corollary to the “silly hat theory” that I don’t think I’ve talked about in a while - I think of it as the "aspect creation theory”. We all know that spirits can have different aspects, like facets of gem, and I believe that people can be responsible for creating those aspects. If enough people believe strongly enough that a spirit has a certain personality or behaves a certain way the spirit will start to be affected by that - an aspect of that entity will form that conforms with that belief. 

It was this human driven change that the Forgotten Ones sought to avoid by fragmenting themselves and going dormant.  They wanted to stay as they were, and in complete control of themselves.   The details of how they came up with this plan were shared to me in the form of a myth that maybe one day I’ll share here. But suffice to say, they knew there was a chance that someone would come along one day to fulfill the role I find myself in - a person who would want to worship them on their own terms, whether that meant preserving them as they are or letting the Forgotten Ones lead any growth or change that might happen.  And if no one ever came along to take up that mantle, they believed it was a better fate to die as themselves than to live to become someone unrecognizable.  So the Forgotten Ones broke themselves in tiny pieces and all but ceased to be, until I passed my initiation was tasked with putting them back together.  

This is my ultimate responsibility as their priestess - I’m the caretaker of their essences.  It is my responsibility to ensure that these entities remain in control of their own aspects, staying the same as they were millions of years ago if that’s what they want, or nurturing, but not forcing or dictating, their growth if that’s what they want. It’s an honor to have been trusted with this role, and I have dedicated my life to it.

It is in the interests of this role that I am sharing carefully curated details of The Returning. The deity profiles that I will be posting will not have all of the details about each of the Forgotten Ones, the posts about the Holy Days will not include step by step guides for how to perform the associated rituals for that day. I feel it is time to share more about The Returning than I have before, in the hopes of helping others who are building their practices around their own unrecorded entities. I'm not looking to recruit people practice my religion or worship the Forgotten Ones, in fact I'm actively asking people not to.

[stellarcobweb]

tbh . thinkin.

so. energywork related stuff basically

tl;dr my energy system is weird (/neu)

two of the systems of magic that i'm naturally talented at have been clairsentience (tbh i kinda joke abt being a dark empath but fully do not consider myself an empath at all. i'm just REALLY good at picking up on the energies of a place or person, esp in an inuitive way. i don't personally feel it though. the primary way i speak to entities, be they deity or spirit, is via impressions of emotion), and energywork (more on that in a sec)

HOWEVER. i do also consider myself an energy vampire, in a sense. primarily in the "i feel like my energy system is a bucket, and there is a tiny little hole in the bottom of that bucket constantly draining me bit by bit, so i need to intake more outside energy so that i can stop that gap and fill myself back up" kinda way. and tbf, while i have fed directly off of people before (with consent), i tend to fix my issue by just. filter feeding??? for lack of better term??? and taking the energy of food that i eat??? not to mention its a lot easier for me to upkeep my energetic body now that i'm not in an abusive relationship w an asshole abusing me in spiritual ways

either way, i was thinking about like. so, my energy has been read for me a few times before, and i remember the main things to stick out were like. its very sticky! it clings, and the like. tbh thats part of why i named my blog the way i did lol, i used to compare myself to spiders (and butterflies, tbf. and now moths LOL), not to mention i was directly told that my energy was a lot like that of a spiders. which tbh in combo with my tug towards the concept of thread of fate, weaving fate, the red string of fate, etc. kinda funny ngl. also one of the reasons why i learned how to crochet and shuttle/tatting lace AND kumihimo

but aside from that, i've always been like. inherently connected to the concept of stars, or the night sky. primordial void. that kinda thing. i like calling it primordial soup tbh. which does lend a voidy quality to the energy i have, alongside general dark stuff.

it also makes cleansing really easy tho! mainly in the. i'm not replacing dark with light, i'm just getting rid of the stuff not meant to be there, or that is kicking the balance of the place out of whack. or like. hrm.

when i'm cleansing my energy system, or someone elses, for example, i'm not clearing them of negative or positive energy, or destroying whatever lean or sway they have. i'm getting rid of any parasites, hangers-on, things that are harmful to said system. it gets complicated in situations w people sharing the body, but even then, i'm not weakening any ties there. which ig is an example of me being able to do very fine-tuned delicate energywork???? shit gets complicated and if you touch the wrong thing even slightly you can throw the whole system out of whack. also tbh i tend to view energy systems as connections of strings, one for each relationship you have to someone else, distinct memories that have left an impact, your energy systems linking up together, etc... very fascinating stuff tbh

tbh i also personally think its funny that like. i ascribe to the belief that i was reincarnated from a deity (not one local to this universe), who i tend to define as a Cosmic Creatrix of sorts. despite that, i associate myself currently mostly with destruction vs creation, though i can do either/or. destruction is just easier and more natural. honestly in terms of like explaining how i feel abt the whole thing: stares at Rukkhadevata and Nahida. it feels a lot like that situation. plus the other beliefs i have in regards to how exactly i was created, why i/she died, specific things i remember from that past life (not much)

idk its fun to think of these things

anyways all that to say that when i was still wiccan, i would only ever do new moon sabbats bc they felt better to me. more like home

[toujokaname]

Game master / Episode 16

Author: Akira

Characters: Kohaku, Hiiro, Aira, HiMERU

"Yes. HiMERU hates incompetence. It's pointless to get involved, and therefore a waste of time."

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[ Read on my site for a better viewing experience using Ois~su ♪ ]

Season: Winter

Location: Amagi's House

A few minutes later. In a room of the mansion, the final checkpoint of the courage test.

Kohaku: I took a lil look around the mansion.

Still, no soul in sight... Checked some nearby houses too, but they were all empty.

And that feelin' I've been havin' for a while's gone, too. What the hell's goin' on here?

Hiiro: This is truly an abnormal situation.

Before we knew it, everyone in this Amagi Village vanished. While we were following the designated route, they all disappeared without a trace.

Just like the staff of the paranormal program we heard about in the ghost story, they've all gone missing.

Aira: W-What's going on? Seriously, what's happening?

Is it because I called this place a backward village and made fun of it? Did I trigger the wrath of the Amagi God(?) of the Amagi Village and cause them to be spirited away or cursed?!

Hiiro: Calm down, Aira. This should be another phenomenon that can be explained rationally, logically.

The universe is governed by the laws of physics. There are no such things as apparitions.

HiMERU: HiMERU agrees with you as well.

Hiiro: Umu, I think Nii-san would also agree. He's a logical person, after all.

HiMERU: Then allow HiMERU to retract his prior statement and say that he has a different opinion from you.

Hiiro: Wait, why though?

Kohaku: Hehe. Still, we got caught up in somethin' strange, didn't we...?

Of course, this is part of the scripted setup by the producers, but doesn't it feel like more than just a prank?

Aira: I just don't get it... Even if it's a prank, it's being dragged out too long, and I can't grasp the intention at all.

I seriously think we got caught up in some inexplicable phenomenon.

Hiiro: Even apparitions must have some logic. Ghosts may be impossible, but the ones described in ghost stories remain in this realm because they have some kind of lingering attachments.

What could ghosts, or rather, apparitions, stand to gain by pushing us into such circumstances?

Aira: Like I said, it's a curse! We probably angered some divine entity by accidentally breaking a taboo in this backward village!

That's why we're being put in this scary situation! That's how it is, isn't it?!

Hiiro: Umm. We don't really worship any particular deity in my hometown, and so far we haven't broken any taboos to warrant such severe punishment...

Well, I mean, by inviting strangers from outside into our secluded homeland, we've already broken a taboo.

But if that were the case, we would've all been cursed as soon as we set foot in this village.

Aira: So, what's the deal? Explain it so that even an idiot can understand!

Kohaku: Ahaha, Rabu-han's like Crazy:B's Niki-han, huh.

Aira: Chances are you're not complimenting me, are you, Kohakucchi?!

Hiiro: Basically, this situation is highly unnatural. There's no logical explanation, it's too nonsensical.

To put it bluntly, it's a mess.

HiMERU: —Well, HiMERU's viewpoint does differ slightly.

Hiiro: ? What do you mean, HiMERU-san?

HiMERU: HiMERU has long harbored a certain suspicion.

He kept quiet until now, since he was warned in no uncertain terms by Rinne just before arriving here. Yes, HiMERU's nature is that of a person with a strong sense of duty who properly keeps his promises.

Kohaku: Settin' aside your usual self-praise, what's this suspicion about?

HiMERU: It's about that person called Akan.

Aira: Ahh, the producer in charge of Matrix?

I sorta sympathized, being an underachiever who got ridiculed by everyone.

HiMERU: Right. That AkanP is the organizer of this series of events, Matrix. The starting point of all the occurrences woven within this narrative.

And yet, for some reason, there's a bizarre lack of presence exhibited.

Like a ghost, hm?

Such incompetence is far too profound to allow for any meaningful actions—HiMERU thought that might be the reason.

Essentially, AkanP is no more than a mere faceless background character in this story.

Kohaku: Some brutal words ya got there... Well, HiMERU-han's been gettin' real irritated with that person, so I reckon his language's takin' a rough turn.

HiMERU: Yes. HiMERU hates incompetence. It's pointless to get involved, and therefore a waste of time.

"I've" spent my whole life discarding such worthless people without a second thought.

I thought that was the correct course of action. In fact, it's precisely because I carelessly reached out a helping hand to a completely useless fool that I—

Kohaku: Huh? HiMERU-han, talkin' in first person? That's rare.

HiMERU: —Pardon. Anyway, what HiMERU wanted to say is that AkanP is excessively incompetent.

Kohaku: Ain't that goin' too far? I guess Anzu-han's support was a factor, but Matrix seems to be gettin' a pretty good reception for what's been shown, right?

So, wouldn't ya call the project a success?

HiMERU: That's true. Perhaps that was unexpected for the mastermind behind this sequence of events—the culprit.

Kohaku: Culprit, ya say?

HiMERU: Originally, it was intended to be a much sloppier and utterly hopeless event. This Matrix, hardly anyone even took notice of it...

In other words, it didn't matter whether it succeeded or failed; it was meant to be an insignificant program.

Kohaku: Nah, ain't Matrix supposed to be a major event wrappin' up ES's first year? At least, that's the official story, right...?

HiMERU: What if that was just an excuse contrived retroactively?

The much-anticipated big event turned into a sucky project all because of the useless producer named Akan—

Kohaku: "Sucky"... Sometimes you talk real eccentric, HiMERU-han.

HiMERU: —And yet, contrary to that, was there not a fundamentally flawed plan to begin with?

However, with Anzu-san's involvement, that plan turned into something remarkably engaging.

As a result, ES took notice, and Matrix became a major event wrapping up the first year of ES.

Hiiro: In other words, according to HiMERU-san's conjecture, the order of events was reversed.

[ ☆ ]

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[brandwhorestarscream]

I have more ideas for Cult of the Primes (also considering other posts of this AU you post between me starting to type and me sending it in):

Maybe the cities dedicated to Megatronus and Prima are kinda swapped for a lack of a better term.

Like, Primes who succeed from Kaon/Megatronus's city are known for being some of the best Primes Cybertron (Primus's side) has seen and the city has exactly one known heretic that practically legend at this point, explaining why Kaon doesn't bring any more heretic Primes to Primus. They live in one of the harshest environment Cybertron can throw at them and they believe (and maybe it's basically proven) that worshipping Primus and Megatronus will protect their home from disaster.

Meanwhile, Primes who succeed from Iacon/Prima's city get some doubt from other cities whether or not they have Primus's best interests in mind considering the city has the most heretics. Like, 21 of the heretics were originally from Iacon and the next closest number is eight. The land Iacon inhabits is very bountiful, but they blame the fact they're close to the Unicron-worshipping cities as the reason why they have so many heretics. The rest of the cities don't really believe they because Vos is closer to a Unicron-worshipping city than Iacon and Vos only showed like four heretics. No where near the same amount as Iacon. Gossip mills say it's because mecha from Iacon are jealous of the other cities due to their prime being the so-called "first Prime" or even the fact that their city produces the most out of all the cities and should get special treatment. However, "it's just gossip, there's no reason to believe that" so it could easily be something else.

I can't for the life of me find the list we made for which Prime is for which city, but maybe each city produces something different that's traded with the rest of their side of Cybertron. Like, maybe Solus's city focuses on mining and smithing various tools made of the metal and gems they harvest from the mines like metal farm tools or gemstone jewelry. Maybe Megatronus's city has old coliseums and tunnels that they use to train various animals to help other cities with their jobs like cryo-pigeons with delivering messages through environments where comms aren't an option or volt-horses for helping pull equipment around. Stuff like that.

I might come up with more stuff later, but I don't have any other ideas right now so.

Heretics are to be rooted out, captured, and dragged in to be sacrificed and burned at the temples if they refuse to change their ways. Any who challenge the wills of the gods must not be allowed to proliferate, to spread their noxious ideals. If a heretic is found in your community, shoo them away and call for the church to bring judgement upon them, lest you be infected with their heresy and dragged down into the pits of hellfire for all eternity with them

Iacon having lots of these heretics despite being stationed just above the beating heart of Primus is so interesting. I like the idea of it being due to close proximity to Unicron's worshippers, but it doesn't really work with in-universe lore. After all, if they know that there are settlements that worship the Harbinger of Chaos... it wouldn't last long. The church would burn it to the ground and have them publicly executed for their crimes against the holy matrix

I'm also definitely here for the cities each having special commodities they produce correlating to their gods. Tesarus, the city of Solus Prime, is a city of artisans that treasure devotion through creation over all else. Everything they make is filled to the brim with their love for their goddess, endless praise and penace upon her holy name. Fine sculptures, vases, tapestries, weaponry, anything and everything that can be made by hand is best crafted in Tesarus 😌 I imagine Kaon as a city of warriors, with Megatronus Prime being their patron deity, Guardian of Warriors, and definitely one of the cities that has routine ritualistic sacrifices, in part due to the famous story of how Solus Prime was felled by their god's hand. Maybe they even have to offer a sacrifice to Tesarus, or vice versa, because of it 🤔 definitely smthn to consider

And finally, depending on whether or not we go with the sacrificial bride of Unicron idea, Kaon could perhaps have that aforementioned reputation due to their city producing two Holy Acolytes in a short span of time, one of whom later ascended to Sainthood. Kaon gets painted in a ridiculously good light, if we go that route

[writerfae]

First of all, I am deeply in love with your worldbuilding. The fae and celtic myth are very near to my heart and I love the (aesthetic? mood? vibes?) of your world!

That said, what parts of celtic myth and legend are present in your world? Like what aspects of the Otherworld and the fae and maybe more do you include/build off of/ are inspired by?

(also I'd love to hear about other inspirations for your own mythology too, if you have them!)

Hello! And thank you, I’m happy to hear that! Worldbuilding is like my favorite part of writing fantasy so I put lots of time in it maybe too much time xD

I let Celtic myths and culture inspire me a lot for this story. I always took bits of it that I liked and tried to work them into my own world.

Let’s start with the Otherworld! My faerie realm (that I call Anderwelt for a lack of a better term), much like the Celtic otherworld concept (or one of them) is a world parallel to ours. It is the realm of the deities and mythical creatures and of magic.

Nowadays you can only get to it when invited by someone who lives there, simply because humans lack the magic to open the entrances. Entrances are like in Celtic mythology certain caves and lakes but also special trees.

What I also took from the Celtic Otherworld is the aspect that contact with the world is more likely on days like Samhain. One difference is that my Anderwelt isn’t realm of the dead.

Another thing I picked up from Celtic mythology is the importance of the number Three. Along with the number Six you find it in my story rather often. That’s also why I decided that three goddesses made the worlds. Those three are loosely inspired by the three aspects of the triple goddess (though I’m aware that’s more of a neo-paganism thing, I heard something similar exists in Celtic myths). So that’s another thing.

Now let’s talk about fae! I took my inspiration for fae from all across the different faerie beliefs I found, but here’s also lots of references to Celtic folklore. For example the divide into seelie and unseelie fae, or in my case wild and fair fae.

Wild fae are the ones that are more prone to mischief, they live in clans or small groups/villages and come in all kinds of forms (small with wings, tall as trees…) while fair fae are more “human-like” in their looks, live in courts and are more the harmless type.

Other things I have in my world that I took from Celtic myths are Changelings and magical fog. Also the fair fae’s Keeper are inspired by Druids! Oh and not to forget that almost all the trees I chose for the court names and the magic trees were chosen from the Celtic Tree Calendar!

There’s not much other inspiration for my mythology beside from Germanic culture (which is basically the same as Celtic culture anyway) and faerie tales/ fantasy books and shows that influenced me over the years. A lot other stuff, especially smaller details I make up myself.

And of course there’s Arthurian legends, I have lots of parallels to those in my story after all!

Thank you so much for your ask! It was fun to answer it! ^^

[shuffy-rph]

Nitpicking pt. 1: If it's going to sound foreign...

I've decided to make my first target of this https://profiles.rphaven.com/Azure%20Dragon . Now for the most part, I do like the layout design and I could see this in a professionally made website. But here's where things break down for me:

The character appears based on the Japanese version of the Azure Dragon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Dragon), but they threw in Chinese at the bottom.

The left side where it lists the Four Symbols doesn't need the Hiragana. It looks decorative at best, but it doesn't really add to anything. Anyone who could actually read Japanese would go "why did this person write the name twice?"

In addition, the names of the other Four Symbols seem randomly there. Granted it looks like they wanted to have a list to link to other profiles, but only one other got filled out.

There's a random shout out, for lack of a better term, to Kiyomizu-dera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyomizu-dera). The Azure Dragon's only connection to the temple (from what my 5 minutes of Google University education is getting me) is it comes by to drink from the nearby waterfall. The temple's patron deity is Kannon (or in Chinese: Guanyin)

The traits splattered around randomly feel like just that, randomly splattered

Looking at the so-called "Baseball stats" on top, it starts to break down for me after "Serpent." I dunno, it just seems like without much other context it doesn't make sense. Well except for "Single", but on another point about that...

If you're going to put a partner status on a profile, you better be open to well, that kind of RP. However, I know the person behind this profile only really RPs with someone else. And does it even add to the overall character? No, not really. Unless I wanted a character to fall head over heels for them (which I don't), I don't really care about partner status.

So the tl;dr is the profile was made with random Japanese (and some Chinese for good measure) slapped on in an attempt to be decorative. I've also noticed I used "random" a lot, because at first glance, that's what it looks like. It's also really distracting to people who've spent maybe a year or two of formal study in Japanese.

[nemetonian-brainworm]

i'm gonna use this blog to just keep a record of my experiences primarily. might as well start now

First and foremost, i was agnostic for a solid 22 years. that changed about 2 months ago. Additionally, I have always been interested in various mythologies as well as geology. Crystalline minerals are commonly used in practices of paganism and witchcraft and I can already identify, like... most of them. It's pretty sweet.

after begging the universe, or any entity listening, for a very obvious sign (because i am obtuse) that i was heading in the right direction, i found an item that will help me start a business. after discussing with some very un-spiritual people (who agreed THAT HAS TO BE A SIGN), i decided...... to start exploring spirituality.

very soon after that, i had an experience where i believe the Morrígan, Rhiannon, OR Nemetona reached out to me. at this point i'm leaning towards the Morrígan or Nemetona, but I plan to worship both at this point.

during that experience, i did a tarot reading. fair warning, my deck is weird. i picked it up randomly a long time ago before doing much research, so i apologize for the weird combos of imagery from... just a TON of different cultures for some reason.

Initially, i wanted to do a 3 card reading (or whatever it's called, i haven't touched the deck since admittedly so apologies if i'm rusty of terminology but i remember the meaning of the cards i determined very well) to determine who was trying to speak to me, as I had been feeling some sort of call for a long time.

While I shuffled, the topmost card (six of wands) fell out. I had been ignoring the urge to use my tarot deck for months at this point, so I laughed when i looked up what the card means. I thought, is my deck or whoever is communicating with me through it saying "ugh, FINALLY! i've been trying to reach you [insert car warranty joke here]"

Bottom row, left to right: First card was meant to represent why the entity or deity was reaching out. Second was meant to represent who was reaching out, same with the third. The fourth was meant to be clarification on who it was, but.... ended up seeming more like clarification on "why" again. I was rather confused by it.

I think the chariot represents either the Morrígan (because of her (i believe secondary) aspect as a war goddess) and Rhiannon because of her connection with horses.

The Hermit I am almost certain is representative of Nemetona, goddess of the scared grove. I mean look at it, there's trees all over the card. Leafless ones, sure, but hey. I have further reasons, but most of them are based on like..... feelings i had during this process, i never exactly heard any words from anybody or saw anything. Is that what it's "supposed" to be like when one first starts out for lack of a better term? Ah, I digress...

Here's the important, juicy part of the story:

I saw three black birds, likely starlings based on size (i was on a phone call at the time and stupidly didn't properly identify them), perched on a lowish powerline that hangs across my backyard. Now, they stuck out to me because the power line is low to the ground, and despite the fact that i was less than ten feet from these birds, they didn't seem scared of or even so much as BOTHERED by me. In fact, they seemed to be observing me. Creepy in any other context, but for some reason, I was chill with it. Weird.

Now, the birds REALLY threw me for a loop. The Morrígan is symbolized by ravens and crows and is a triple goddess, but Rhiannon has three black birds too (iirc either ravens or crows *sigh*). THEN I FOUND OUT YESTERDAY THAT THERE'S A DEITY KNOWN AS BRANWEN WHO IS ASSOCIATED WITH STARLINGS.

As a result, at this point, i don't know who it was and i've been considering getting my tarot deck back out to clarify. I'm afraid to, though, as I know one of the most important aspects of witchcraft and/or paganism is protection of oneself.

Guess I should figure that out first....

[fernthewhimsical]

Copying an explanation I shared on Discord a while back:

So I have a whole pantheon of deities that I honour, and am devoted to three deities. To me, there are different "levels" of involvement, I suppose, when it comes to deity work. And let me start actually that the term deity "work" or "working" with deities is always a bit odd to me. You built a relationship, it's not like they are a boss *or* a tool to work with. But, in lack of better terms that is where we are at.

So. First level would be "working with" a deity. You ask them to do something, hopefully give an offering, they pull through, you go your separate ways. There is little to no personal relationship here.

Then we get what I call honouring, where you acknowledge the deities, give some offerings, perhaps recite a prayer on their holiday

Next is worship. You honour the deity, and built a personal relationship with them. Frequent offerings, deity communication through meditation or divination. Prayers, perhaps wearing devotional jewellery.

Last is devotion. You devoted yourself and part of your path to these deities. You work in their Name, or do certain tasks in their Name. Perhaps there is something you promised as part of the devotion, for example in my case with Nehalennia, it is to teach others that she exists. Plus all the things of the lower levels

asking for a friend *wink* *wonk* also u can just comment any specifics u do as a devotee to a deity too. i wanna know what u guys think about this

[inoppositionflorien]

New creation myth/just so story. Feel free to form a more complete religion with this creation myth if you are so inclined, but it is obligated to have ritual sapient sacrifice as a major tenant so-it-is-writ.

Many many (no even more than that) years ago, at the beginning of time there were four siblings. They worked to build a place which they could share, and that place was the universe.

The eldest of the siblings (never mind how they're the eldest when they all were there for time becoming a thing, they just are) loathed the younger ones greatly, for some reason. Probably because the younger ones were annoying. Anyway, the eldest said the universe was too small, and so they grew the universe, and that was not enough, and they all fought, and they decided to make the universe keep growing. That still wasn't enough, so the eldest said "fuck you I'm moving out to do my own thing", and left, leaving unfinished particles on the metaphorical table, and their name was gravity. They quickly decided the others were still all annoying and awful and thus decided to take as much control of the project as possible so as not to permit their siblings to ruin it. However, they found it was difficult work, and they were spread thin, so that is why gravity is weak. But since they were there at the start, few things lacked their influence, and that is why quarks and leptons have mass.

Next, the second of the siblings, they had long feared (for nearly as long as the universe had been a thing, which in our terms may not have been very long but back then felt like a long time by comparison) that gravity would leave them all and get killed in some way or other. So they, distracted, made only one particle without gravity's influence after gravity left, and then gave up and swore to never let anything fall apart again, and so they bound things together tightly and they set out to find gravity, and they were called the strong force.

The last two siblings had never liked the others much, so they had a great time, and created many particles, (though one did take some of gravity's abandoned ideas and thus their particles remain subject to gravity's influence.) However, that very same sibling was some degree of trans (mythic semi-allegorical creator deities can come in trans too) and wanted to give particles the option to change also, and said that quarks would be able to become other kinds of quarks with one of the particles they had made, and said also that neutrinos could become whatever flavor they like whenever they like. And the siblings remained together. But the universe in which they lived was much larger than when they'd started, and thus difficult to heat. Indeed, it was far colder than it had been when they'd begun. So they moved apart to try to find a way to heat it. The one who had given the quarks options took all their particles and used them to create beta decay to make radioactivity produce more heat, and they were the weak force.

The last sibling decided that there was a far better way to make things warm, and thus, using the baryons left by the strong force, crafted of the quarks, and the leptons left from the earliest projects they had worked on together, they built the first atoms, and used the parts which gravity had added to make the atoms fall together, while they made sure they did not fall apart or through one another. And so the first stars came to be, to produce heat in the form of the photon, the particle invented by electromagnetism, the last of the siblings.

And that is the story of how the universe happened yay cool good wow.

[bestiarium]

The Ayana [Oromo mythology; Ethiopian mythology]

Pretty much all religions have a god – either a monotheistic god or multiple deities – and sometimes those gods communicate directly with the people. Other deities prefer to send messengers, however, such as angels and spirits.

In the religion of the Macha people (a subgroup of the Oromo, which is a major ethnic group in Ethiopia), this role is given to the Ayana. In this religion, Waqa is the supreme deity who resides in the clouds. He is the creator god who made the world and the heavens, and the one who is holding up the heavens. When he wants to convey a message to the mortal world, he sends these invisible spirits to act as intermediates between him and the human world. In that regard, these beings play a role that is somewhat comparable to that of angels in Christianity. When an Ayana is created, it flows out of Waqa, being an extension of the god’s will.

Ayana also function as personal guardian spirits: they perch on the right shoulder of a human and bestow upon them their personality. When a child is born, their Ayana decides what traits and interests he or she will have. These guardians protect a family or a clan of people and are regarded as a kind of minor deities. Ayana can be male or female and have the ability to possess humans. I’m using ‘possess’ by lack of a more fitting term, but perhaps ‘inhabit’ is better. A person housing such an Ayana spirit becomes a Qallu, which is a function comparable to a priest or shaman. These people can perform special rituals to invoke or please the Ayana spirits. For example, the Qallu can bestow offerings upon the spirits. In one interpretation, these people are considered to own their Ayana. Though they are considered guardian spirits and divine messengers, Ayana are not always strictly benevolent. It is possible to invoke the name of an Ayana to bestow curses on others. When this happens, such a curse can be lifted through an elaborate ritual. If it is possible to identify the Qallu who owns the Ayana that was invoked, that person then serves as a judge to settle the case.  

Nabi, the primary male Ayana, predates humanity and is said to be the ancestor of the first humans. In one myth, a particularly horrible drought was plaguing the Oromo people. Given no other option, a man decided to sacrifice his own son. He prepared the ritual and drew his knife, but just when the dagger touched the boy’s throat, the people witnessed a lamb descending from heaven. It carried two objects: a spear (the war spear is the holy symbol of Nabi) and a kalaca (which is an iron cone and a religious symbol representing masculinity). Rain miraculously began to fall and the drought was over. The boy was spared and later bestowed the methods for summoning rain upon the people.

Similarly, the primary female Ayana is called Atete. Her holy symbol is a special belt made from leather, it is decorated with shells and meant to be worn on one’s shoulder. These belts are called ‘chachu’. The spirit Atete is also called Maram, a name that is thought to have been derived from the virgin Mary, showing the influences of Christianity on the Oromo religion.

Not all Ayana are associated with people, however. All things have an Ayana, and it is this spirit that shapes those things and makes them what they are.

Source: Baldick, J., 1997, Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions, Syracuse University Press, 184 pp. Wane. N. N., 2009, A Glance at Africa, AuthorHouse, 96 pp. (image: Oromo people in traditional clothing. Image source: 101lasttribes)

[that-spider-witch]

On “Dead” Cultures and Closed Spiritual Practices: Why Colonialism Is Still A Problem.

Let me start this by saying that, as far as my knowledge of Paganism and Polytheism as a whole goes, I’m what the internet witch community calls a “Baby Witch”. I’m stating this out of the gate because I know there will be lots of people, including witches who have more experience on the craft than me, who might decide to ignore what I have to say based on that fact alone, stating that I’m not knowledgeable enough to give my opinion about this.

Here’s the kicker: I’m a ‘baby witch’, yes, but I’m also a twenty-six year old Venezuelan woman. I’m an adult. I’m Latina. I’m a Christian-raised Pagan,but I’m also a Latinoamerican woman over all other things including that. I grew up on this culture, these are my roots. It is because of this background than I’m writing this post today.

Looking through the “Paganism” and “Witchcraft” tags of this website, I’ve seen a few posts throwing indigenous deities and spirits’ names around on lists alongside deties of open cultures. Yes, you can know better by doing your own research and not going by what just a random Tumblr user wrote on one post (as I hope its the case with everyone on this website), but the fact that pagan beginners are still getting fed misinformation is still worrisome to me.

There’s nothing like reading a so-called expert putting Ixchen (Maya), Xolotl (Nahuatl) and Papa Legba (Vodou) on the same damn list as Norse, Hellenic and Kemetic deities and tagging it on the tags aimed at beginners who might not know better to truly ruin your morning. I’m not mentioning user names here: If you know then you know.

To quote @the-illuminated-witch on her very good post about Cultural Appropriation: 

“Cultural appropriation is a huge issue in modern witchcraft. When you have witches using white sage to “smudge” their altars, doing meditations to balance their chakras, and calling on Santa Muerte in spells, all without making any effort to understand the cultural roots of those practices, you have a serious problem.

When trying to understand cultural appropriation in witchcraft, it’s important to understand the difference between open and closed magic systems. An open system is one that is open to exchange with outsiders — both sharing ideas/practices and taking in new ones. In terms of religion, spirituality, and witchcraft, a completely open system has no restrictions on who can practice its teachings. A closed system is one that is isolated from outside influences — usually, there is some kind of restriction on who can practice within these systems.”

A counter-argument I’ve seen towards this when someone wants to appropiate indigenous deities and spirits is to use the “dead culture” argument: Extinct cultures are more eligible for use by modern people of all stirpes. It is a dead culture and dead religion. It would be one thing if some part of the culture or religion was still alive, being used by modern descendants, but the culture died out in its entirety and was replaced, right? They were all killed by colonization, they are ancient history now, right?

Example: “If white people are worshipping Egyptian deities now, then why can’t I worship [Insert Aborigen Deity Here]?”

To which I have two things to say:

Ancient Egypt’s culture was open and imperialistic, meaning they wanted their religion to be spread. This is why Kemetism is not Cultural Appropriation, despite what some misinformed people might tell you. Similar arguments can also be made for the Hellenic and the Norse branches of Paganism, both practiced by people who aren’t Greek/Norse.

Who are you to say which cultures are “dead” and which are not?

Religious practices such as Vodou and Santería certainly aren’t dead, not that it keeps some Tumblr users from adding Erzuli as a “goddess” on their Baby Witch post, something that actual Vodou practitioners have warned against.

Indigenous cultures such as the Maya and the Mapuche aren’t dead, despite what the goverment of their countries might tell you. The Mapuche in particular have a rich culture and not one, but two witchcraft branches (The Machi and the Kalku/Calcu). Both are closed pagan practices that the local Catholic Church has continuously failed to assimilate and erase, though sadly not for lack of trying:

“The missionaries who followed the Spanish conquistadors to America incorrectly interpreted the Mapuche beliefs regarding both wekufes and gualichos. They used the word wekufe as a synonym for ideas of the devil, demons, and other evil or diabolical forces. This has caused misunderstanding of the original symbolism and has changed the idea of wekufe right up to the present day, even amongst the Mapuche people.”

For context, the Wefuke are the Calcu’s equivalent of the Familiar, as well as reportedly having more in common with the Fae than with demons anyway.

This and other indigenous religions are Closed because it is wrong for foreigners to just come and take elements from marginalized groups whom are still fighting to survive and that they weren’t born into. To just approppiate those things would be like spitting in their faces, treating them and their culture like a commodity, a shiny thing, a unique thing to be used like paint to spruce up your life or be special.

I know some of you are allergic to the word “Privilege”, but on this situation there really ain’t a better word to explain it. You weren’t born here, you don’t know what it is like, you are only able to see the struggle from an outsider’s point of view.

If a belief or practice is part of a closed system, outsiders should not take part in it. And with how many practices there are out there which are open for people of all races, there is really no excuse for you to do it.

Why Colonization Is Not “Ancient History”

If you have kept reading all this so far, you are probably wondering “Ok, but what does Colonization has to do with any of this?”

The answer? Everything.

With the general context of culture appropriation out of the way, let me tell you about why the whole “dead culture” argument rubs me the wrong way: Here in Venezuela, we have a goddess called Santa Maria de la Onza, or Maria Lionza for short, whom’s idol statue I have been using to illustrate this little rant. If you happen to know any Spanish, you might recognize the name as a derivative of Santa Maria, aka the Virgin Mary, and you are mostly correct: Her true indigenous name is theorized to have been Yara.

And I say “theorized” because it is a subject of hot debate whether she was really ever called that or not: Her original name, the name by which she was adored and worshipped by our ancestors, might have been forever lost to history.

That’s the legacy of colonization for you: Our cultures were stolen from us, and what they couldn’t erase they instead tried to assimilate. Our ancestors were enslaved, their lands and homes stolen, their artwork and literary works destroyed: The Maya and the Aztec Empire were rich in written works of all kinds, ranging from poetry to history records to medicine, and the Spaniards burned 99% of it, on what is probably one of the most tragic examples of book burning in history and one that people rarely ever talk about. 

People couldn’t even worship their own gods or pass their knowledge of them to their children. That’s why Maria Lionza has such a Spanish Catholic-sounding name, and that’s why we can’t even be sure if Yara was her name or not: The Conquistadors couldn’t steal our goddess from us, so they stole her name instead. Catholics really have a thing with trying to assimilate indigenous goddesses with the Virgin Mary, as they tried to do the same with the Pachamama.

On witchy terms, I’d define Maria Lionza as both a deity and a land spirit: Most internet pages explaining her mention the Sorte mountain as her holy place, but it is more along the lines that she is the mountain. 

You’d think that, with Venezuela and other Latinoamerican countries no longer being colonies, we’d be able to worship our own deities including her, right?

As far as a lot of Catholics seem to think and act, apparently we are not.

The Catholics here like to go out of their way to shame us, to call us “cultists”, to ostracize us, with a general call to “refrain from those pagan beliefs” because they go against the Catholic principles. Yes, the goddess with the Catholic-sounding name, a name she happens to share with a Catholic deity, apparently goes “against Catholic principles”. You really can’t make this shit up. (Linked article is in Spanish)

This is just an act of colonization out of many, of not wanting to stop until the culture they want to destroy is gone. Don’t believe for a second that this is really their God’s will or anything like that, they are just trying to finish what years of enslavement and murder couldn’t. They might not be actively killing us anymore, but they still want us dead.

So no, colonization is not some thing that has long passed and now only exist on history textbooks: It is still happening to this day. It is by treating it as old history that they can keep doing it, and it is by pushing the narrative that our indigenous cultures are “dead cultures” that they try to erase our heritage.

Because we are not dead. We are still here, we are alive, we have survived and we’ll keep on surviving, and our gods and goddesses are not yours to take.

¡Chao! 🐈

[littleabriel-blog]

What I really didn't like? Neopagans would go on and on about how much they hated "Abrahamic" religions, didn't respect them, considered them "unnatural"...while calling their holidays Sabbats and practicing ritual that blatantly appropriated Kabbalah. And not once did I meet one who was willing to examine their hypocrisy in that regard.

Looking back on it now....yeah there are reasons why I left not one but two covens (the petty drama was the main reason in both cases, but the cultural appropriation and historical revisionism along with a severe lack of critical thinking didn't help) and stayed a solitary practitioner who worshipped a trickster deity and had some interest in Kabbalah (which is what led me to learn about Judaism and the rest is history).

To this day I can't hear someone call their spirituality "eclectic" without cringing because that word, as far as Neopagans go, means that you pick and choose spiritual practices like you're at a Chinese buffet and mash them altogether in one big appropriational stew.

There was a great site called Why Wiccans Suck that really put it all in better terms...I remember reading it and nodding along right with it. (The site is down now but I think it might be archived somewhere).

I think one of the big problems jews have in particular with neo-pagan appropriation of jewish rituals and traditions is that most of the things neo-pagans usually take from are dead dead super dead religions so it feels like a threat,

like you're taking care of a relative who's really sick in the hospital and you're pretty sure they're gonna make it through but as you're sitting next to their bedside a taxidermist shows up and tries to slip you a business card.

[linked-heroes]

Yandere Chain and the New Goddess of Courage

So a week or two ago, I got hit with sudden motivation and inspiration (thanks to posts by the awesome blogs of @luimagines, @yandere-linked-universe, and several ppl who sent things to them!) with a scene from one of my several yandere au ideas! So here is the first part of it! Ofc the wonderful Nordictwin helped me with this. She’s my partner in crime ❤️

Featuring my Oc Navya. (Note that this is a different au from the Usurper Queen piece that @nordictwin wrote for me)

————————

Navya feels herself settle, any doubts washing away at that moment. Sometimes you need moments like this to help accept and come to terms with things.

She is sick, no, she is furious of this little child and her mortal descendants harming, taking, and claiming what was hers.

Mine mine mine

How dare they take what's hers!

Navya breathes in deeply, and then lets it all out. She lets the small little ball of power and energy that has been dormant in her grow and spread out through her being. With slow confident steps, she prowls toward the mortal Hylia.

Kill her, spill her blood

End her reign before it can begin

With a sharp smirk, she speaks.

“Little goddess, do you know my name?”

The spoiled, defiant goddess opens her mouth, but Navya gives her no chance to respond.

“It’s Navya, in honor of the goddess of wisdom, Nayru. Funny, isn’t wisdom supposed to be yours? Yet you seem to lack it entirely.” Navya stops in front of Zelda, Sun, Hylia herself, for a moment before slowly circling her.

It would be so easy, a flick of the wrist and she could end Hylia here and now

Hylia makes a noise of offense “Now see here-!”

Navya continues as if the other woman hadn’t spoken.

“They say I was chosen by all three of the goddesses, and I was. I was named in honor of one goddess, who claimed me as hers. But do you know who it was who actually blessed me? Who, claimed me and in her blessing, declared me her successor? Bestowed upon me her power to inherit and take her place?”

Here Navya stops behind Hylia and turns to face her, to face the group of heroes in front of her, now behind Hylia.

She can see them all, ready to jump in and start fighting if they need to. They keep their eyes mostly on her, but don’t neglect to watch their surroundings for enemies (it breaks her heart to see them all so broken and battle ready, they shouldn’t have to be so watchful. They shouldn’t have to suffer as they have).

How dare they make her heroes suffer.

Navya slowly lets her power build, letting it slowly be felt by others. She can feel it seep into the air, and can feel the changes the magic is doing to her.

She can see the moment that Hylia senses her power, realizes what it is and what it means. The woman’s eyes bulge and she gapes at Navya. Her skin pales drastically before her face turns red and the defiant rage flares back into her.

That’s right child goddess, feel fear

Bow down to your betters

Navya doesn’t fight the cold smirk that slides onto her face.

She leans in and says:

“It was Farore”.

She can see her men, her partners, her heroes, (heroes just like her) all startle and focus all of their attention back to her.

Hylia, as typical of her, throws a fit. “No! You can’t, you have no right to them! They’re mine, I love them!”

Navya glares at the woman who was nothing more than a child.

“I am the heir of Farore, I am the Goddess of Courage. They are my heroes. You have no claim to what is mine little mortal goddess. They are blessed with courage, my courage, and you cannot have them.” She declares, power leaking into her voice and words. “You say you love them, yet all they have had is suffering and loss because of you. They have gained nothing from your so-called love.”

You hurt them!

I will make you suffer!

“They are my heroes! I chose them, I blessed them!” Hylia shrieks, her own power starting to leak out.

They were never yours!

“You condemned and cursed them is what you’ve done! Starting with First! You say you loved him, but he never loved you! You cursed him and part of his soul as he was dying! It brought him back as a deity against his will! And then when he tried to fight it, fight you, you cursed and exiled him into the mask!” Navya snarls, her rage building.

How dare you!

You took him from me!

“You can’t take them from me, You’ve already stolen Sky! And you have no right!” Hylia is shaking in her own anger, her power building and Navya senses it flowing into her hands, and immediately, she knows what Hylia was planning to do.

“They are mine Hylia, and I am theirs.” Navya smirks coldly at the young goddess in front of her and whispers, “and they will always choose me.”

The look of petulant fury bubbling under the surface is unbecoming on an otherwise pretty face. Poor girl, whoever she was before Hylia went and took over, Navya thinks. Sky has spoken of her compassion and sweet nature, but there is nothing of that now.

Instead Navya sees through Farore’s eyes the same brat she dealt with aeons before, acting the exact same way.

Of course it culminates as it always does.

The child lashes out when she can’t have her way, and the slap stings - no, it burns, the little shit had infused it with holy magic - as Hylia’s hand makes contact with her cheek.

Navya’s head snaps to the side and she can feel her skin blistering and bubbling and - fuck it hurts- she doesn’t doubt that there’s a handprint burned into her skin.

Navya sees Hylia raise her hand again, prepared to lash out even more (such a child) when she can’t think of anything else to do. What the goddess doesn’t realize is that Navya let her get the first slap in. Hylia has never been good at seeing the underneath, seeing how to use situations to her advantage. Hylia did exactly what Navya expected and wanted her to do.

So when her holy infused hand flies through the air to strike her again, it’s stopped.

Everything stills, as if time itself has frozen.

It is quiet.

Hylia stares at her, wide-eyed and pale, and by the Ancients, Navya can’t stop the smug, vindictive feeling that bubbles up in her chest when she slowly turns her head up and up and up.

Time smiles down at her, her wrist held in a vice grip that gets tighter… and tighter… and tighter.

Until she’s struggling, crying out in pain and discomfort, trying to reach Time’s hand and make him let go. Until that thin little wrist bends unnaturally, until it cracks like a dry twig and finally breaks and falls over, limp and useless.

Only then does he let go, still smiling, the perfect example of polite professionality.

That is, until he opens the other eye and the expression shifts to something a touch more deadly.

“Raise your hand against her again and it won’t just be your wrist that breaks, milady”.

The silence is deafening, and Navya… oh, Navya knows.

The paradigm - the world as they all know it - is shifting right in front of her, and it is glorious.

(Bells ring from somewhere unseen. A new era is dawning, with someone else in charge).

(She can’t wait to watch it unfold).

[raeynbowboi]

Disney Villains in DnD

With the Disney Princesses and Princes, I put them into parties, but for the villains, I’m going to start by listing the ones powerful enough to be a Warlock Patron in descending order of power (by their base form). The rest are ordered by the release date of their film. I’m not going to cover all of the Disney villains in this one post, as there’s just too many, and not all of them map easily onto DnD.

CHERNABOG THE DARK MASTER

AS BIG BAD: Archfield Patron Warlock (Asmodeus)

As Playable Character:

Race: Asmodeus Tiefling Background: Courtier Class: Divine Soul Sorcerer (Evil) Skills: Insight, Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion

The Devil on Bald Mountain, Chernabog stands as Satan and Lucifer incarnate, the Disney-Canon equivalent to the Prince of Darkness, and the ruler of Hell. Like with Maleficent and Hades, Chernabog lacks a stat block, being a Greater Deity, and King of the Archfiends, Ruler of the Nine Hells. As a playable character, Chernabog doesn’t lend out his hellish powers or get them from an outside source. Instead he is a Tiefling with the infernal bloodline of Asmodeus (Lawful Evil) running through his veins. When he was an angel, Lucifer would have been a courtier, standing in the shining Court of Heaven before he was banished to Hell. His skills make him adept at lying to and manipulating people, as Insight lets him learn a person’s desires, and then use lies and honeyed words to lead them astray in his service. Consider this a free “how to play as satan” build.

MALEFICENT THE WICKED FAIRY

As Big Bad: The Raven Queen

As Playable Character:

Race: Hexblood Background: Noble (History, Persuasion Intimidation) Class: Wildfire Druid Skills: Arcana, History, Intimidation, Perception

Lore-wise, Maleficent uses “All the Powers of Hell”, but in terms of Dungeons and Dragons, the Wildfire Druid gives Maleficent the best parallels to her powers, as she’s able to grow a wall of thorns, call a bolt of lightning, Polymorph into a fire-breathing dragon, and spread fire. It also works lore-wise as the Wildfire Druid destroys the very forest they swore to protect. As a Hexblood, Maleficent becomes a fey hag, able to curse princesses and disguise herself as a racial ability. As the Big Bad, Maleficent maps perfectly onto the Raven Queen, ruling over the shadowfell, summoning the Heartless to do her biding, and loaning Diablo to those who worship or swear fealty to the Raven Queen.

HADES GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD

As Big Bad: Hades/Death God

As Playable Character:

Race: Mephistopheles Tiefling/Reborn Background: Charlatan Class: Death Cleric Skills: Deception, Insight, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand

For Hades, the God of the Dead, making him into a Cleric was a no-brainer. But Clerics have very limited options for fire magic. Sacred flame and Flame Strike both deal radiant damage, and their only other fire spell is Searing Smite which they got in the spell list expansion. But as a Mephistopheles Tiefling, Hades can also gain temporary access to Burning Hands and Flame Blade, along with Mage Hand. Mephistopheles is also the demon best known for making a deal with Faust, a trait shared by the deal-making Hades. If you’re not feeling the fire theme, or your DM doesn’t like the tiefling subraces, Hades can also work as a Reborn.

THE HORNED KING MASTER OF THE CAULDRON BORN

As Big Bad: Undead/Undying Warlock Patron (Lich)

As Playable Character:

Race: Reborn Background: Noble (History, Persuasion Intimidation) Class: Necromancy Wizard Skills: Arcana, History, Intimidation, Investigation

Ironically, there is a new magic item that maps perfectly onto the Black Cauldron, the Cauldron of Rebirth. But oddly, it can only be attuned by a Druid or Warlock, and the Necromancy Wizard creates the strongest undead thralls, as he adds his Proficiency Bonus to their attack and damage rolls. But if you’d rather have the Horned King be able to use the Cauldron of Rebirth, then make him a Spores Druid. If you absolutely must go warlock, make him an Undead Warlock. As a Warlock Patron, he would be a Lich. In the Chronicles of Prydain books, he served Arawn, God of Death. But the Horned King serves no such master in the Disney film.

JAFAR THE GRAND VIZIER

As Big Bad: Genie Warlock Patron (Efreeti)

Race: Human/Fire Genasi Background: Courtier (Insight, Persuasion) Class: Genie Warlock (Djinni)/Wild Magic Sorcerer Skills: Arcana, Deception, Insight, Persuasion

Jafar is the only one of the patron villains who themselves is a warlock to another patron. In his human form, Jafar has little to no powers. Everything Jafar is able to do is through either his magic snake staff or Genie’s magic. It’s only once he becomes a genie himself that Jafar has his own powers. So, Jafar here is split between two builds. As a human, he’s a warlock relying on a djinni. As a genie himself, he’s a wild magic sorcerer. Technically, he could be both. Play Jafar however you want. As a big bad, Jafar is stuck as one of the most subserviant types of warlock patron, which isn’t so surprising why he’s this low on the patron scale. Only Ursula is technically weaker than him, but that’s only true when she’s in her base form. Once she wields the trident, Ursula is even more powerful than The Horned King.

URSULA THE SEA WITCH

As Big Bad: Fathomless Warlock Patron (Sea Hag/Kraken)

As Playable Character:

Race: Triton Background: Courtier (Insight, Persuasion) Class: Glamour Bard Skills: Arcana, Deception, Insight, Performance, Persuasion Items: Circlet of Human Perfection (reskin as seashell necklace)

I built Ariel as a Fathomless Warlock because in order for her to be on land, she had to make a deal with Ursula. So, with Ursula on land, she can masquerade as Vanessa, using Ariel’s voice to charm and manipulate people. We even see Ursula do this when she charms Eric, so we know that as Vanessa, Ursula could easily run a successful criminal empire using Ariel’s voice to hypnotize and manipulate people into obeying her orders. The Circlet of Human Perfection allows Ursula to maintain a perfect beautiful human disguise without having to eat up spell slots. As a Fathomless Patron, Ursula in her base form is a simple Sea Hag, being much weaker. But once she gets a hold of Dekella, the Bident of Thassa from King Triton, she can grow in both size and power to rival the might of a Kraken. And with Thassa’s divine bident, Ursula can command the tides and all the beasts and monstrosities within it, puting her nearly on par with the powers of a goddess of the sea. But unlike Hades, Maleficent, and Chernabog, even at her near godlike power, Ursula still has a stat block, her bident can still be taken from her, and she can still be slain and defeated.

QUEEN GRIMHILDE THE EVIL QUEEN

Race: Human Background: Noble (History, Persuasion Intimidation) Class: Alchemist Artificer Skills: Arcana, History, Intimidation, Investigation

I really did consider the Transmutation Wizard for Grimhilde, as it has the power to cast polymorph for all of your Frog Prince needs, and a master transmuter can even Restore Youth. But then, the alchemist can brew a potion of transformation, and the chemistry set is clearly how we see Grimhilde using magic. The only magic she performs without the chemistry set is when she creates a gust of wind in front of her magic mirror. She doesn’t even create the lightning bolt for her transformation spell, it just happens to be storming outside, so she’s not controlling the weather either. Plus, the most powerful spell she has is the poisoned apple and she has to summon a bolt of lightning to cast Alter Self, a 2nd level spell. By DnD standards, Grimhilde’s not really that powerful. She doesn’t even fight the player herself in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.  If you want Grimhilde to be more magical, then go with Transmutation Wizard, but if you want to be more accurate, the Alchemist is how Grimhilde does her magic. Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove shares a nearly identical build.

CAPTAIN HOOK THE GENTLEMAN THIEF

Race: Human Background: Pirate (Athletics, Perception) Class: Swashbuckler Rogue Skills: Athletics, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, Persuasion

While Hook’s still a putrid coward, he holds himself quite well, and is the epitome of Lawful Evil, maintaining a strict personal moral code to clash with Peter’s frankly Chaotic Neutral “heroism”. Hook’s not really good at the normal rogue skills like hiding or thieving, but he shines as a manipulative double-talking liar. Long John Silver from Treasure Planet has a similar build.

GASTON LEGUME THE HANSOME HUNTER

Race: Human Background: Folk Hero (Animal Handling Persuasion, Survival) Class: Monster Slayer Ranger Skills: Athletics, Perception, Persuasion Stealth, Survival

As the strapping hero of Belle’s Village, Gaston has the favor of his entire community, keeping them safe from any and all beasties that lurk beyond the city. Too bad he’s as rotten as they come. Likely one of the weakest villains in terms of pure power scale as little more than a local hero, he’s still an iconic enough villain I couldn’t resist adding him. Clayton from Tarzan shares a similar build.

SCAR THE USURPER OF PRIDE ROCK

Race: Leonin Background: Noble (History, Persuasion) Class: Oath of Treachery Paladin Fighting Style: Unarmed Skills: History, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion

Simba was a druid because he was a wise king who could call upon his people to stand beside him. Scar is a paladin because he has devoted himself to a single goal: his own personal power. Scar shows little wisdom, but has a strong character and savvy charms about him that make him better suited as a CHA caster.

JUDGE CLAUDE FROLLO THE JUDGE OF PARIS

Race: Human Background: Investigator Class: Light Cleric Skills: Insight, Investigation, Persuasion, Religion

This was an easy villain to build. As a religious man worshipping God (who would def fall under Life, Light, and maybe Knowledge) Frollo would go for the one that lets him keep witches warm. His background was chosen as an investigator because he’s responsible for keeping the peace in Paris, and there wasn’t a background option for lawmaker. Noble or Courtier might have worked, but didn’t seem quite like the right fit as they deal more with aristocratic authority and royal court politics.

RIKU THE HEARTLESS KEYBLADE MASTER

Race: Human Background: Soldier (Athletics, Intimidation) Class: Raven Queen Warlock/Hexblade Warlock, Shadow Sorcerer Pact Boon: Blade Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Deception, Intimidation

In the first Kingdom Hearts game, Riku spends most of the game being manipulated by Maleficent. His DnD counterpart would surely be a warlock to her. But Maleficent oddly has not one but three possible warlock patron options. As the Raven Queen, she obviously has the Raven Queen Warlock, but the Raven Queen also created the Hexblade, which come from the Shadowfell, which she rules over. The third is unique to Maleficent, as she is a fairy, and a powerful one at that. Making her a valid choice for an Archfey Warlock. Archfey doesn’t quite fit Riku, but the other two do, and as a Sorcerer, Riku draws power from the Shadowfell which his patron rules over.

DR. FACILIER THE SHADOW MAN

Race: Human Background: Charlatan (Deception, Sleight of Hand) Class: Fiend Warlock Skills: Arcana, Deception, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand

It’s kind of hard to deny that Dr. Facilier is obviously a warlock, though his patron options don’t really come close to a neat fit. Among his choices though, fiend comes the closest to selling his soul to the Other Siders or Shadow Folk. It’s possible he could have sold his soul to the Raven Queen and his shadowy friends are the emissaries of the shadowfell, but as he has no raven or crow familiar, that’s a somewhat weak comparison.