#i love this myth variant a lot

[hermesmoly]

Athena, who just popped out Zeus’ forehead perfectly clad with armor and battlegear: I only have a father, I think?

Hera, who has waited for this moment her whole life: DIBSSS!!!

[journeytothewestresearch]

As someone who’s Chinese w/ a degree in social science + (art) history regarding East Asia I’m always super intrigued and interested to how others interpret changes in new titles on older religious texts- but I will ask in particular if you have any personal ties to Buddhism/Taoism/Confucianism (and Chinese culture) when you find yourself interpreting BM:W’s change in allegorical use of Buddhism as contemporary political adherence! BM:W’s religious and soul mechanics follows their previous game without much overt linking between the two.

Overthrowing Gods in East Asian media is a very common trope in videos specifically due to player involvement (contrast to books where you are separate as the audience) and often is used as an allegory for the system/recent events we exist in. In such it does shift a lot from the original text in base but I think it’s not supposed to relay the same allegory due to the time period in which the writers exist! Wukong’s story changing to him still being chained by the principles that envelop life is far more relatable to late-stage capitalist environments viewers and artists exist in- as such he fulfils the contemporary variant of his original role in JTTW!

I think the change in purpose the Buddhist mythos serves in this game is decisive by nature due to inherent bias present in the original text as a religious piece, and such is core to the allegory. However I don’t think BM:W is supposed to relay that allegory, I think it is supposed to branch off on its own as an alternate contemporary extension of the foundation JTTW set out (plus with the 2 DLC’s on the way, there is plenty of time to extend the universe in game to validate a shift in religious purpose compared to the cut 7 chapters planned during development). And such i think attributing it to the CCP can be a bit of a touchy statement (especially if one doesn’t have long standing ties to East Asian culture or Regional religious practice!) and can accidentally play into sinophobic phrasing and attitudes.

Buddhism as a practice and way of life has a very different presence in writers centuries ago compared to now, as well as how we use religion in audience-involved stories. And such I find it an interesting shift regarding a game made with an international and widely multi-religious audience (that isn’t consuming it as a psycho-socio poem compared to a much smaller and more culturally homogenous readerbase. I think the friction caused by thematic changes is more due to how the game relays the physical journey so closely with reusing characters and having to shift them according to the foundational changes- if it was closer to other written “sequels” that created characters connected to the original cast through descending from them etc, the changes wouldn’t grate on completed arcs or how we compare the experience to wukong’s parallel one

No, I do not have any direct personal cultural connection to Buddhism, Daoism, or Confucianism. I live in Asia, though, and beyond my research of JTTW, I do study religion here (with more of an emphasis on folk religion as it pertains to the Great Sage). My negative view of Black Myth: Wukong is colored by my deep love for the original story. In general, I don't like adaptations.

Thank you for your explanation of the game.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

So, now that the DLC is out, I was wondering if I could request a part two to the pokepasta trainer reader? Like them and their team meeting Carmine, Kieran, and Perrin?

Oooo yeah!! I'm guessing you meant this post (being part 1). I'm honestly impressed by the notes ghshghsh but I'm glad ya'll love the pokepasta!reader <333

Gonna format these as hcs if that's okay

.........

Carmine

She's seen tourists bring in weird Pokémon, but you brought the scariest ones she's ever seen in her life.

She sends out her Poochyena to do battle, thinking she can intimidate you....and she SCREAMS when your Freakachu comes out to play.

It's loud enough for all to hear and for the caretaker to arrive and prematurely end the fight.

Well, at least she finally got off your back before things could get too heated.

Kieran was shocked though bc his sister was usually so brave.

During your time in Kitakami, she's just going to,,,,stare at your Pokémon team, especially when you introduce her to Purin and Disabled (she definitely thinks they're some weird gray regional variants and nothing more)

She's extremely confused as to why you named your Wigglytuff after a status move.

And Missingno.....is something she can't even begin to wrap her brain around, but she buys the story of it being from a really old Kantonian myth. That's something she can 100% believe.

After meeting Ogerpon and learning she's been misunderstood all along, Carmine slowly realizes she may have treated your Pokémon the same way.

They've been through some horrible things, and she was quick to judge them, so she apologizes for that.

Although Freakachu's smiles still creep her out..she's friendlier towards Purin and Disabled (not that she'll ever admit this, ofc).

Kieran

Like Carmine, he's gonna be pretty spooked by how your Pokémon team looks, at first.

But considering he never thought the Ogre was scary. he's nowhere near as judgmental.

During your walks together and at dinner, you explained where your 'mons came from--or at least the short and least terrifying versions of those tales so you didn't freak him out too much..

He's just fascinated that you've gone out of your way to help them despite their reputations as "monsters".

He hopes to one day have a strong bond like that with his team, or Ogerpon.

Tbh he found it really sweet when you purchased a Pikachu mask for Freakachu to wear so he could visit the festival of masks without scaring anybody.

Missingno was, understandably, the most bizarre Pokémon Kieran has ever seen, but once you explained how it's an old Kantonian myth...he's like "wowzers..that's so cool!!"

He genuinely believes you and him have a lot in common: being outcasts and adoring Pokémon most people were afraid of.

So it's even more heartbreaking for him when Ogerpon ultimately chooses to go with you instead of him.

Despite your team being utterly terrifying, she felt more comfortable being by their side...and it doesn't make sense to him at all.

It just doesn't seem fair.

He envies how your Missingno can pretty much give you whatever items you wanted--and an infinite number of them, too.

You warned him that it's not something you messed around with (plus, it corrupted an old friend of yours long ago), but he didn't care about any of that.

He wanted to know how to harness that power.

Maybe when he becomes even stronger, he'll challenge you again...

And the winner got to keep Missingno.

Perrin

She thought the Bloodmoon Beast was a terrifying and ominous force to be reckoned with, especially in the photograph she obtained.

But what you had on your team was nothing short of both amazing...and downright horrifying.

She assumes Freakachu, Purin, and Disabled are some Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Wigglytuff variants she's never heard about or have gone extinct.

Maybe like Bloodmoon Ursaluna, they were from a distant land or some time period.

So she keeps an open mind and convinces them to do some cool poses (despite her Hisuian Growlithe always hiding behind her, tail tucked between its legs, and being certain that Purin's stare is gonna haunt her dreams now).

The only one she's heard of before was Missingno, having once believed it to be a myth from Kanto...and now she can see that it's real! And it's in your possession!

She wants a photo of it. Not for any sort of recognition or accolade, but as proof in the books that it's legit.

Unfortunately, while she can see it glitching, changing forms, spawning items for you, etc. right before her very eyes...it never shows up on camera.

Every photo she attempts to take gets corrupted or lost in the developing process.

You politely have to ask Perrin to stop before she breaks her camera.

She is, however, free to photograph your other Pokémon as they are in their natural state (aka acting like their normal counterparts and not creatures that really should've been dead long ago).

[legendaryfugitives]

Athena’s Exes

So, I recently noticed people agreeing that Goddess Athena is Asexual, but from mythological sources like the stories about Pallas, there are hints that she was not aromantic. During a long research spree and reading other people's opinions, I've noticed she'll be considered a Biromantic Sapiosexual Asexual. AKA, not into the, how do I say this in PG language, bedroom stuff due to being a Parthenos, but shows romantic interest to anyone with brains. These are just notes I made while researching this topic. I encourage you all to do your own research. I'm willing to make a part two post of links if anyone needs them. Warning! Greek Mythology is known for incest included in their stories. You've been warned! Please let me know if there is anyone else I missed so I can update this post. Hephestus will not be included since Athena was not in love with him in any way. Now, let's move on to my notes of a few examples.

Pallas, The Lost BFF

When Athena first burst out of her father's head, Zeus, she was taken in by Triton, her cousin and son of Poseidon. Triton also had a Nymph daughter named Pallas. The sources are borderline on how Athena and Pallas viewed each other. Some say they were sisterly best friends, and some say they were more than friends. What the sources have in common is that the two girls practice sparring and compete together.

Fate: During a sparring contest or a friendly sparring practice match Zeus attended or happened to be watching, Athena and Pallas’s fight got heated. Scared for Athena's life, he used his aegis to distract Pallas. Unfortunately, this caused Athena to accidentally impale and kill her best friend. To make it up to Athena, Zeus gave her his aegis, which we see Athena wear to this day. Athena later created the palladium, a statue that looked like Pallas, and Athena took the name Pallas as her epithet.

Prometheus, Thief God of Fire and Hearts

There are a few theories about these two. Especially since Athena helped Prometheus steal the fire. There was one story in which Prometheus had a crush on Athena, which is why he was punished. And believe me, Prometheus and Athena were not on my Bingo Card this year. However, it makes sense since the two have a lot in common, they have worked together many times, and both played a role in creating a new version of humans. Another variation of Athena's birth myth is Prometheus freeing Athena instead of Hephaestus, or he does help out in the process of freeing Athena from Zeus's head. Yes, you may say, “But didn’t accident resources say Prometheus was married and had a son?” Remember, these stories have changed and merged over time with different variants. Some sadly lost to time. Ultimately, we are left with our imaginations when approaching these stories as long as the original culture is respected. But it does make things complicated. Prometheus and his wife, Pronoea or Hesione, never got married or divorced. Be free to come up with theories, everyone.

Fate: After getting caught afterward, Prometheus was punished by getting chained to a rock, and his liver was eaten by an eagle. Then, Prometheus's liver regrows overnight, but his torcher continues each day until he is finally freed. But unfortunately for the rebel titan, it ended his relationship with Athena. To make things worse, Athena was part of making Pandora, so Athena was punished at the end of the day, too.

Myrmex, Maiden Heartbreaker

In an insect origin story, Myrmex was a young Attican maiden who became the goddess' favorite. She was known for her cleverness and her chastity, a significant reason why Athena had a love for the maiden. Athena showed humans how to sow their fields when she created the plow. However, Myrmex was greedy on the inside. Myrmex went behind Athena’s back, stole some sheaves, and claimed she invented the plow to the public in conman fashion.

Fate: Heartbroken, Athena turned Myrmex into an ant, cursing her for stealing other's grain forever. So, talk about the worst breakup of the year there. The lesson is don't break the heart of someone who cares for you, romantically or platonically, because the betrayed will get petty revenge.

Phereclus (or Phereclos), the Shipbuilder of Tragic Dreams

Although one line mentions this, the Illiad mentions a Trojan shipbuilder, Phereclus (or Phereclos), who once made well-balanced ships. According to the different translations of Book V, Athena had “a special love for him,” “for Pallas Athene loved him above all men,” or “Pallas Minerva had dearly loved him.” Either he was her protégé, there was something more, or both.

Fate: According to Book V of the Illiad, Phereclus was killed by Meriones since it was one of Phereclus’s ships that Paris used to kidnap Helen. And if you read it, it’s pretty graphic. People can form their theories on the subject despite just that one line.

Hercle (aka Etruscan version of Heracles/Hercules), A Lover in Question

Disclaimer! This is from the Etruscan sources. I do not ship Hercle/Heracles/Hercules with Menrva/Athena/Minerva. Please do not attack me, people! In the Etruscan religion, Athena was not viewed as a Parthenos. Some sources hint at the two being romantically involved despite being siblings or half-siblings. Even having a blood or adopted kid together named Epiur??? But the two Gods were probably Epiur's protectors instead. Hercle and Menrva were Gods of protecting children back then to the Etruscans. Epiur is still a big mystery, so people, please do your research!

Fate: If we go with Hercle's Greek Version, Heracles had a crazy death, but he became a God, and then he ended up marrying his other half-sister, Hebe, the daughter of the Goddess who was out for revenge on Heracles, Hera. Yeah, this family tree is messed up for the wrong reasons, and I don't want to elaborate further.

That's it for now! Criticism is welcome if I get something wrong and need to fix it. I'm willing to post the links if anyone is curious about these details. Studying Athena's past friends or possible past lovers was an interesting rabbit hole to explore. If I inspired you in any way, please use these ideas as long as you respect original sources and know Athena is a Parthenos. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk of Athena's Exes for now!

Edit: To Epic the Musical fans, be free to use this for any of your theories because these losses may have affected Athena.

[eldragon-x]

I'm not gonna be able to find the post but someone recently proposed the idea of Lovely Moving Cure being Wish Craft (symbolized by a star and able to combat Time Craft) and honestly I generally like the idea that like, mild variants of Wish and Time Craft are still practiced, the big scale stuff just fell into obscurity with the dissappearance of the Island and the craft types were written off as myths if not forgotten completely.

Like there's craft abilities that can do all sorts of things symbolized with a star and there's abilities that can slow or increase speed symbolized by fast forward symbols so I don't think it's far off. Not to mention, while Act 2 sets up that the CARROT book has a complicated shield spell that Mirabelle wishes to learn someday, which she does to reflect the King's attack back in Act 5, and while it's possible to imagine Odile learning the spell she uses to stop Siffrin from looping back in Act 5 as she's already able to put a lot together in a sus run alone and she has even more information and context now, I think the idea of Mirabelle's shield being mild Wish Craft and Odile's spell being mild Time Craft would feel like a more solid explanation to them being able to do these things without coming across as them just suddenly learning really powerful forgotten craft (especially considering the dangers of Time Craft) because. they've already known simpler variations of those craft types.

[emrowene]

The Characters of Fractured Magic

Roman Hallisey

Roman is one of the main characters of Fractured Magic, the linchpin that connects all the others. He's cheerful and flirtatious, but it hides a darker side and a dangerous history. Despite that, and despite everything he's been through, he's relentlessly optimistic and cares deeply.

Leandros Nochdvor

Leandros is the other main character, Roman's love interest, and the first character we meet in Fractured Magic. His people encourage repressing emotions, but he's never been any good at that and is led by them instead: by his love for the hero Egil, by his anger at his uncle's kidnapping. But mostly by spite.

Dinara Condeh

Dinara is the rising star of the Webhon Players, a traveling acting troupe. she has compassion for everyone around her, but unfortunately, she also has horrendous taste in men. After a few failed flings, she discovers what's important, conquers her fears, and goes on to help lead a revolution.

Maebhe Cairn

Born to be a tiktok e-girl, forced to journey through a dangerous forest to warn her people of an oncoming war instead 😔 Maebhe is the queen of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but damned if she won't rise to the responsibility and make the most of it.

Kieran Cairn

Kieran is the more level-headed of these identical twins while also being the more high-strung. His anxious streak is the only thing keeping him from matching his sister's chaos. He'd do anything for Maebhe or his fiance, Íde.

These two like to play a variant on the "Which of us is Hikaru?" game that I like to call "Which of us is the trans twin?"

Evelyne Corscia

Evelyne is very much an oppositional force in Fractured Magic, an old enemy of Roman's and a (mysterious) employee of the state. She keeps her motives secret, is NOT here to make friends, and will complete her mission, no matter who she has to hurt.

Indeed, no one can sway Evelyne from her mission - except for maybe Leandros, who aggressively befriends her. Or Roman, who she does actually still care a bit about. Or a very stubborn girl with long eyelashes named Thea who won't leave her alone. Or any passing stranger asking very nicely, really. Truth is, she might be kind of soft under that prickly exterior.

Mercy

Mercy IS the inciting incident of Fractured Magic. She makes a dramatic appearance in chapter one, reeking of death and using magic in a world where magic is only myth, and kidnaps a king. Only Leandros and his cousin survive the strange encounter. But who is she? Where did she come from? Where did she get her strange power?

Tellaos

The (alleged) villain of Fractured Magic, Tellaos is one of three angel-like beings created by the god of Calaidia to watch over its people. After being used as a scapegoat by the other two and getting locked in a human body on top of that, though, Tellaos is not feeling so generous.

But of course, he has more to him than that. For example, he's also #1 wife guy and would do anything for Mercy, his beloved.

Devikra Stormsong

More commonly known as the Oracle of Damael, Devikra is always flitting at the periphery of big events, and her visions predict the future - with a catch. She'll do anything to protect her people, including keeping secrets from them - and boy, does she have a lot of those.

And that's our main cast! As a reminder, you can read Fractured Magic FOR FREE on my website. Even better, if you subscribe, you'll get new chapters sent straight to your email.

[gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan]

Beach Vacation

Warnings: Chaos Space Marines, Death Guard Astartes, tell me if I need to add more. Illness, thoughts, mental discussion of physical ailments, Death Guard Shenanigans

Author’s note: Hura’s debut! An Explanation that spawned this AU. Prologue, Next

Summary: Hura in Mermay!

Another Author's Note: I put Keep Reading line, in case there is triggering content that I haven't tagged. Again. Let me know if I need to add anything.

Tagged: @sleepyfan-blog, @egrets-not-regrets, @barn-anon, @c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @bleedingichorhearts, @whorety-k

@kit-williams, @whorety-k-k Did it work this time?

You had been informed by your doctor that you had cerebral aneurysm and that where it was placed in the brain that it was inoperable. At least with human medicines and technology, there were rumors that the Mer-people, the Space Marines, which swam through waters, space, and the air, that had arrived one day long ago in various iterations of ‘loyalist’, ‘renegade’ and ‘chaos’ variants that they might be able to help with the situation. There were folk tales that, for a price, humans could become immortal. But, that was just rumors and myths, you doubted that it was actually true.

You are at the beach, having decided to take a short vacation from work and normal life when you’d finally found out what was wrong with the headaches that you’d been getting. You were not within the normal age range for getting a Cerebral Aneurysm. Mostly it was older people who got aneurysms, or people that did a lot of illegal drugs, or where hit in the head really hard, either once or repeatedly. It’s also, sometimes thought to be genetic. So, that had been a long, painful conversation with your family. To warn them, just in case the genetic factors of blood were partially responsible.

Finding out from your mother that your dad- the dad that you had known all your life was your step-father, not your actual father had been both a surprise and not a surprise. He’d always favored your younger sibling over you. You had thought it was because your younger sibling was more similar, in looks and personality to your dad, but now you wonder if it’s because he knew that you were not his child, but some interloper’s child. Someone that your mom had once loved, but had left because he was not a suitable partner. Part of you wondered what that random stranger with a genetic tie was you like, your mom had told you that you reminder her of him, sometimes.

You wonder if that’s a good thing or not, but mostly your dad that you know is the dad that you love and view as. Who cares about some random stranger that your mom left because he was a manipulative unstable bastard. Or at least that is what you’d heard your grandmother hiss sometimes. How He had once threatened both your mom and your grandmother while she had been pregnant with kidnapping your mother and making sure that she’d, and you, you suppose, would never see your grandmother ever gain. You’d heard, that had your grandmother explode with rage and then drag your mother away from him and insist that she live with your grandmother until she could get on your feet again.

It was… odd. You felt upset, yet numb and wondered if you might have half siblings out in the world that you don’t know about. But as you watch the waves wash on the sandy beach and walk in the sand with bare feet scrunching your toes in the sand and humming to yourself. The stupid brain grape is in a relatively stable position, but it could kill you at any moment, yet you could potentially live a long healthy life. It sucks, and you blink tears from your eyes, you don’t want to die, and while there are treatments for brain grapes, they are very expensive, and you aren’t the best candidate for surgery.

You have a weak heart. The doctors had said, that was something you had long known about. Having benign heart murmurs, four, one in each valve, you’d often joke with your younger siblings and family that you have a sieve of a heart. Also, it caused issues with dizziness and funky heart rate, also, whenever someone heard your heart beat, they’d get a disturbed look on their face, or be Alarmed at your resting heart rate being so low, despite having such a squishy body type. Most of the time it was funny, and you’d tell them why your heartbeat was funky. Perhaps it was a little mean to play such a prank on medical professionals?

Besides, some of the times you’d warn them beforehand and they’d give you a look of ‘your full of shit’ and then listen to your heart and realize you weren’t full of it. You looked out at the ocean and walked in a bit, having the waves lap at your feet and up to your ankles. The water was cold, but it was nice for this warm, hot day as the sun beat down overhead. You sigh and rub your face, you’d come to the beach to try to distract you from your woes, not have your thoughts betray you with the shit hand you’d been dealt with. There were other people who had it much worse than you, so really, you were lucky that you weren’t worse off.

You blink when you feel, more than see at first a large shadow block out the sun, you lift your head and look around and see a massive mer-space marine swim to you. You step back, he’s a massive fellow, with the mutations that set him as a Chaos Marine, whatever that was, mostly you’d heard that they tended to be more aggressive. You step back and out of the water, but are stopped by the large Space Marine, who croons at you, tilting his massive head as he peers down at you, reaching out towards you. You back off more, he was a large, strange sentient being you’d never met before, you often didn’t like strangers touching you, finding the contact like barbed wire pricking your skin, and sand paper scrubbing at you, making you feel like your skin was going to bleed, and yet nothing of the sort was actually happening.

“Hey, big fella,” You say cautiously eyeing the massive mer-marine. He has massive spines all over his frame, and he has dark green and grey spots along his tail.

Your brain twinges a little at the sense of something is wrong. The massive creature croons at you again and you get distracted, you make the mistake of looking into where his eyes should be and a wave a calm comes over you and your defensive posture relaxes as the mer-marine croons at you again as you get into the water and head over to him. Your brain has gone fuzzy, why had you been so scared before? He just wants to say hello. You notice that you were also near one of the caves that was partially submerged with ocean water during high tide. Perhaps you had gotten too close to where he’d been resting? You grab a seashell that you’d picked up from the beach, it was a mostly intact sand dollar and offered it to him.

“Sorry for disturbing your rest buddy,” You say and the mer-marine tilts his head as he looks at the offered sand dollar.

The only whole sand dollars were found in the gimmicky tourist traps that suckered the non-locals into buying such overpriced things. However, the mer-marine carefully reached out a clawed hand and you gently placed it in his palm. He gently curled his claws around the sand dollar and brought it up to his face to look at. You carefully back away and out of the water, heading back up the beach. Perhaps, you should go back to your hotel room, or something.

A few hours later you are trying to wash your legs, you have developed welts along your feet and legs where the ocean’s water had touched you. They were itchy as hell, and you were trying to google to see what you could to do help resolve the issue without going to the doctor’s office. They were super itchy, and they weren’t bug bites, great, you’d developed hives from being in the water. You head to the store to get some over the counter allergy meds, making sure to wear a face mask as you had started to develop a wicked cough. Ugh, of course you started to get sick while on vacation, just your luck.

[crowehorte]

*inhales, holds it, then exhales* Okay, so.

Yesterday, I realized that hey, I could ~stream~ Loki Season 2, and boy did I gorge myself on that while working on art for an event. Now, I will be among the first to say that Marvel's Loki is not The Loki, but man. That climax. You should have seen my face as Loki brought all the threads of time together and sculpted them into a tree.

Yggdrasil

*inhales again* God, that is some good shit.

I'm not gonna lie, that entire final episode just. For the first time, it felt like someone at Disney/Marvel read the myths and understood them. Marvel's Loki may not be The Loki, but as a variant, as a representation of that myth, he finally hits home.

Loki is known as the god of mischief, chaos, and trickery, but he is so, so much more than that. He's the god of Consequences, of Fuck Around and Find Out. He is the god who knows his own fate. If Victor Timely is He Who Remains, then Loki is He Who Endures. He who endures loss, grief, anger, pain and agony.

Loki is He Who Endures the destruction of self, again and again and again. First when he is bound in the roots of Yggdrasil, poison dripping into his face for countless years, then again at Ragnarok, when he sails with the giants, knowing he will meet his death at Heimdall's hands.

Unlike the Aesir, Loki never runs from his fate. He never tries to avert Ragnarok. He knows that it must come, and that he must be the sacrificial lamb to slaughter. In the hope of building something new, something better than before. In the hope that this time, they'll get it right.

There are a lot of different interpretations of Ragnarok out there. Some say it's a singular event that has already happened, others say it is yet to come. Personally speaking, I like the idea of Ragnarok being cyclical, of being a metaphor for failure and self-improvement.

Loki Season 2 Episode 6: Glorious Purpose is a time loop. One where Loki goes through numerous centuries worth of repetitions trying to find a way to prevent the Temporal Loom's destruction - in other words, Ragnarok. Yes, in this retelling of the Ragnarok myth, Loki does try to evade his fate, but the important factor is that he doesn't give up. He never declares it hopeless, and he watches his friends, his sister-self, everyone in the world not just die, but cease to exist, over and over and over again.

Until finally he realizes that he cannot avert Ragnarok. That the Temporal Loom must be destroyed. There is no way around it.

But that destruction doesn't have to mean the end of everything.

"I know what kind of god I want to be."

And in that moment, he becomes the sacrificial lamb, willingly walking into his own imprisonment because this is the way it must be. Because he must give everything, he must destroy himself, and he must endure the pain of loss, of grief, of isolation.

For love. For hope. For a chance to build something better.

For all time.

Always.

[tokillamockingbird427]

Random idea, cus it's mermay, and I fucking love myths (Shout out to dragons and the like.); Rewrite of the "Into the Deep" mission where Logan is a mermaid. :3 Why?! Cus it's FUN!

I'd also like if it were suggest other myths are very real too, but like Logan just kinda surprises everyone by coming out of left field with the mermaid thing. (Hesh is definitely not beating the werewolf allegations in this universe.)

Instead of all the diving gear he just slaps a vest on so he can have some protection +carry munitions, grabs one of the underwater rifles, and dives in. Keegan's like "Okay, he's got the home field advantage here. This is kinda sick."

Fun lore pieces I thought of >When underwater Logan needs to keep swimming to keep water moving through his gills. However, if he can get his head above the surface he can just use his face (Nose+mouth+human lungs) to breathe and doesn't have to continuously move. (He can get o2 through skin absorption but due to size he needs to also use his gills.) >Logan always has the gills he just "closes" them to keep them out of the way/protected when out of the water. (They're on his ribs.) However he doesn't not always have the fused-leg-tail thing. He just gets that when he wants it. Usually when he's in water, seeing as he doesn't have a lot of use for it elsewhere. (Unless he wants to show off.) >He's constantly shiny because even without the tail going on he has scales. Edward Cullen looking ass. >Paying homage to some variants of the OG little mermaid there's a "Mermaids Curse" on legit all of them where they can't walk without a lot of pain in their feet/lower legs. Lots of mermaids are ambulatory wheelchair users because of it, but Logan doesn't because he'd have to leave the service. (And thus Hesh in his eyes.) He does sit a lot tho. >Less lore and more "Scenario I desire" is Hesh helping Logan out of the water and just carrying him around on the ship for a min so Logan can get somewhere he can split his tail in private. Given he'd have no pants. Just because he's in the military doesn't mean he likes walking around with his bare ass out. (Vest? On. Ass? Out. Hotel? Trivago.)

[ryebread-x]

Nokken! Sigyn’s Loki variant

Here's Nokken! Sigyn's Loki. I leaned more into a kind of a goth nature like cottage core aesthetic for them. I also gave him white hair because I feel like there are not a lot of depictions/designs of Loki with white hair!

Other than that, she's pretty much the same Loki from the myths. Who isn't easily fooled or charmed by Sigyn's tactics. But they are rather charmed by her trickery ,cunning personality, and beautiful music. Leading to the two of them falling in love.

[quirkwizard]

Hello your grace! Could we get training, evolutions, equipment and super moves for Full Staff???? I hope the evolutions would be amazing. What equipment other than a lighter or taser would be good for this Quirk? I'm anticipating for the support items/equipment ^^

I am SO gonna use Full Staff! That's such a cool Quirk! Any hero name ideas? I was just thinking typical stuff like Sorcerer or Warlock, but I bet you'd be able to think of something better. Also, what kind of stuff would work? Could just a battery make lightning blasts? A water bottle make water blasts? Some aspirin for healing mist? Some weed killer for poison mist?

I loved your "Full Staff" quirk so much! Can you give more examples of uses (items) for the quirk please? To what extent can the user utilize the items? If they put lockpicks or locks into the staff would they able to open or locks doors for example??

I mean, any variant of the magic user name would fit, like Magi or Magus. Alternatively, you could always reference some famous magic user from myth or history, like Merlin or Ivar. Or something like their regular name with an adjective, like the Great and Mighty Kevin!

So what "Full Staff" is capable of is really depends on what the object itself is doing and what it's overall function is. A battery would charge stuff better and weed killer would kill plants better. For example, a water bottle may have the user absorb small amounts of liquids into the staff to disperse them later, a water gun would let them store and shoot water out of it, and a water hose would let them siphon liquid from a source to spray it out. This is obviously a lot, but all this variety is done at the cost of power and complexity of it. Something like a lighter or taser is about as advanced as it would go. Food and other edibles like aspirins can't really be used either since people can't exactly eat the staff. And no, a backpack would not let you apply more items to the staff.

So training it would see the user learn what items do what and how to use them with their staff with all their items. It'd mostly be sticking something in and applying it, potentially to use it with few moves. Learning some stick based combat would be helpful as well. Evolving it could see them expanding how much the staff could hold, both in number of slots and how many of the same items. They could apply the same item in it over and over again, changing the look of the staff to reflect it. This would expand the application of it in power, like the lighter making bigger blasts of fire, but this would sacrifice a lot of the variety. They could even learn to combine items usage with more complex movements, like using the lighter with a fan to make a stronger blast of fire.

As for equipment, it'd really depend on what role the user wants to fill out with their staff. The user could have a wizard robe, or whatever magical equivalent you wish to take inspiration from, filled with all kinds of stuff to swap in and out or have as back ups. It'd be stylish and practical. Sure, you could take items on their own to combo with them, but the staff is the star of the show here. I'm talking sticky hands for snatching, a fan to make wind blasts, add a knife to make it a super spear, power tools to build or smash objects, a bag of sand to blind people, a confetti launcher to disorient them, rope to tie people up with, a flashlight to blind enemies, a shield to help deflect attacks, or enough random office supplies to make Sero feel inadequate about his own power.

[tyrantisterror]

Sea Bishops & Sea Monks

Ok, so, two of my favorite obscure medieval sea monsters are the Sea Bishop and the Sea Monk - basically what you'd get if mermaids were Catholic. The above examples are particularly monstrous, but sometimes they look a bit more civil.

And you know me, I love obscure monster from myth and folklore, especially when they're really weird and kinda goofy. So obviously I've been trying to figure out how to adapt these two into my fantasy setting. The obvious route would be to make them specific variants of mermaids, but that feels a little underwhelming, so I thought on it and waited for a bit.

Well, inspiration hit recently.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but I've been playing a new video game called Baldur's Gate 3, and one of the side effects of that is that I've been reminded that squid people are pretty fucking cool as a concept, and, as it goes, that made me want to figure out how I could put my own twist on the trope. And as I was thinking of how I could make a squid person that stands out from other pop culture squid people, it occured to me that having a squid head... kinda makes you have the same silhouette as a person wearing a bishop/pope hat. Like some sort of... sea bishop. And sure, design-wise this would be a bit more of a departure from the source material than I usually take when making a Midgaheim version of a mythic creature, but a lot of the key features - the big head, the bishop hat, the flowing cape, the spindly legs - are still there, just in a remixed way.

and fuck you, I want squid people dammit

So these are Midgaheim's take on Sea Bishops - roughly human-sized relatives of krakens, who use magic to help them breathe and walk on land and are prone to disguising their inhuman anatomy with flowing robes. They're very smart and can be dangerous enemies when provoked.

While digging up pictures of Sea Bishops to see if my take was justifiable enough by the loose standards I adhere to with Midgaheim beasties, I found that fucking terrifying picture of the Sea Monk you saw at the top of this post, and immediately my brain went, "Oh, that's a shark. That's a shark that's trying to look like a human so it can get close to you. That's fucking terrifying." And, well, it's pretty hard to lose that mental image once you have it, and it basically made Sea Monks feel more concrete in my mind. They're human-imitating magic shark people. I made mine a bit less horrifying (by basing them on one of the cutest animals on earth, the great white shark), but there'd be at least a few other species of Sea Monk beside my example here, and at least one would have that ghastly "deep sea creature dragged to the surface" look of that medieval drawing up top.

[simple-persica]

HI SORRY, I'M NOT THE LAST ANON BUT I'M VERY GLAD I SAW THAT LAST ASK ABOUT FRIGG AND FREYJA BECAUSE I LITERALLY RESEARCHED THIS FOR LIKE AN HOUR STRAIGHT (clearly, im a specialist now).

But I'd say in short that Frigg and Freyja ONCE in older attestations were somewhat considered the same goddess, as that happens a lot with mythological figures in basically everywhere (you could count Oðr and Odin here too technically). BUT probably with the newer retellings of the legends and the myths that were told later on, Frigg and Freyja were then seperated into two different people.

This probably holds up well because Frigg/Freyja are also considered to maybe also be A BUNCH of other goddesses such as Gullveig, Lofn, and yatayata you get the gist. So basically, all these goddesses were probably branched off from the same goddess but became their own individuals. This happens a lot in Greek mythology too since gods changed 24/7 as history went on, a good examples is probably Dionysus with Zagreus (even tho Zagreus is a little less known,,, if you exclude the Supergiant Games LMAO)

Anyways, feel free to interpret them as you wish, I personally like Frigg and Freyja as different individuals because I believe Frigg is very fun and cool, but some interpretations of them as the same person are cool enough-!!!

Oh damn wait that makes sense.

Ahsgagfdja I literally even knew about that phenomenon and didn’t consider it (I was familiar with OLD Pan being split into new Pan and Hermes.)

I love the implication of a super old, archaic fertility/earth goddess that was lost to time after being split off into so many epithets/regional variants or was like combined with other goddesses from different cultures bc they loved doing that.

[neechees]

I hate the rampant fetishization of Pocahontas so much. Do people not understand that she was a real Native person? The Disney movie was such a disgustingly racist mistake.

I think theres a large variants of how much people know about her. A lot of people know she was a real person, but believe the myth that she and John Smith had a "romance" (which was perpetuated long before Disney, Disney just added gasoline to the flames). Id say a LOT of people probably know the White (& whitewashed) version of her story. A lot of people know she was a real historical figure & that she was an important figure, but not much else. Some people don't know she was real at all & think she was just a cartoon character. Some people know her real history & everything but don't care & continue to fetishize her bc of racism & racial fetishization of Native women.

The people who know the history of what ACTUALLY happened via Powhatan oral history is in the minority, & it's either unknown or overlooked as "inaccurate" because it is oral history (even though we know John Smith was even known for being a liar & used the story of an "exotic" princess in a foreign country falling in love with him & saving him from her father at least THREE other times before Matoaka.) I know there's also misinformation variants going around of the oral history version of tiktok, in which people are saying she married John Smith at age 12, which of course is false: she MET John Smith at age 10-12, and she married John ROLFE after age 17.

I know the Disney company even consulted some Powhatan oral history but they just chose not to use most of it in favor of the myths surrounding her. You can tell because they use the plotlines of her recieving a necklace, associating her with water (which is found in her name), having her mother be dead, and adding Kocoum. It really was a mistake

[specialagentartemis]

ask meme since Pin-Lee was taken: the literal goddess Athena. throwing the apple of discord at you

Kat are you trying to get me smited :P

First impression

Age 10 or so: wow! Cool smart warrior lady! Also I love that she decides to stay unmarried forever for reasons I don’t know how to express!

Impression now

Age now: wow! Cool smart warrior lady! Also I love that she decides to stay unmarried forever for reasons I know Exactly how to express!

��� although tempered a lot with more knowledge about Ancient Greece and different variants on the gods’ stories, the social context of when the different ones were written, and why. I’m actually more fascinated now with Athena’s portrayal as the goddess of merciful justice, as she is in the Oresteia; neither Apollo’s smug righteousness, nor the Furies’ screaming for vengeance and blood. However, a lot of these portrayals of wise, just, balanced, merciful Athena come from Athenian playwrights who were obviously biased towards their city’s patron, and against Apollo (who was associated with Sparta, the city Athens was at war with at the time). She could certainly be selfish in the way of the Bronze Age gods in the Bronze Age stories.

I’m also interested in her association with crafts, specifically women’s crafts. Crafts being recognized as taking the same kind of logic, planning, intelligence, and importance as war tactics. Athena spanning this masculine space of war and feminine space of craftworking.

And the ambivalence of her eternal virginity—Athena only able to have that position of power and respect she does because no man is allowed to dominate, master, and functionally own her, the way classical Greek views on gender hierarchy and sexism assumed was the natural way of men and women. Athena has to take on masculine characteristics to be powerful in this manner. As much as I wanna go hell yeah genderqueer aroace icon there’s also the fact that it’s heavily rooted in sexism. She’s a fascinating, complex, ambivalent figure.

Favorite moment

I’m very fond of the story where Athena was raised alongside Triton’s daughter Pallas, as sisters and friends. They both practiced the arts of war and would practice and spar together. Then, once, either they had a falling-out and the fighting became real; or they were sparring and ply-fighting, but either way, Zeus, afraid for his daughter and Meddling, distracted Pallas, and Athena accidentally killed her. Athena, heartbroken at the death of her friend, which she genuinely wasn’t trying to do!, built a statue in her honor and adopted her name “Pallas” in honor and memory.

Idea for a story

She’s Odysseus’s patron, and Telemachus’s mentor (ha), but as the goddess of weaving and tactics and cleverness… I would LOVE to see her interacting with Penelope more. The woman known for her cleverness, and her weaving skill, and for using weaving as a tactic in her cold war against her suitors. I would DESPERATELY love to see Athena and Penelope during the time period when Telemachus was growing up, or while he was off in Sparta and Pylos, and Penelope was holding down her palace and kingdom alone.

Unpopular opinion

Ovid’s renditions of the myths are fine. Yes even the one where Athena turned Arachne into a spider out of spite, and the one where Athena made Medusa a monster. They’re not the only versions or the version that your own mythic/literary tradition needs to draw on, but they’re compelling and interesting. They were written from a very specific cultural and political perspective, but that perspective is fascinating in its own right. It’s not Ovid’s fault that most of our knowledge of Greek literature comes from Athenians who are biased towards Athena and portray her as great.

Favorite relationship

I’m a simple normie, I like Athena lavishing attention on Odysseus as her champion during the war, a warrior after her own heart, and the way even when he pisses her off after the war and she withholds her help anymore she starts to feel kiiiiinda bad about it. And she strikes up a friendship/mentorship with Telemachus and starts advocating for him to the other gods again. Odysseus and his son as Athena’s… projects, supplicants, maybe even in the strange way of gods and men, friends.

Favorite headcanon

I think she is SO pleased that even though she lost the judgement of Paris, she won the war (not even the Trojan War, the war for the hearts and minds of the people. She is Everyone’s Favorite Greek Goddess now)

[strawberrychillers]

🖤🦇welcome 2 my blog🦇🖤

I’m Gabriel. I go by a variety of names but that’s what I use to introduce myself. I love horror, varieties of dark media, monsters, all kinds of shit. All that along with some other fun stuff.

Here’s what to refer to me as: masculine or feminine variants of the name “Gabriel” (Gabriel, Gabe, Gabby, Brielle, Bri, etc), Prospero (Perry), Valentina (Val, Tina)

I’m trans! 🏳️‍⚧️ (genderfluid!!)

I’m omnisexual (female pref)

I’m hispanic

IMPORTANT!

I am a minor aged (15-16), don’t be a creep. Thanks.

I happen to be neurodivergent. I’m hella sensitive to text-tone and I have a habit to take things like jokes literally. Tone tags are always helpful for me.

I have a girlfriend! (Love u girlie 💜)

ABOUT ME

LIKES: Art, character designing, writing, character writing, story writing, music, singing, acting, theatre, video games, horror, monsters, ghost/cryptid hunting, urban exploring, pro wrestling, monster trucks, cars, motorcycles, animatronics, etc

DISLIKES: Certain food textures, when people repeat themselves too much (kind of a hypocrite since I have vocal stims 😭), vacuuming, a lot of bugs (though I find them cool, just don’t wanna be around some of those fuckers)

HORROR FANDOMS: Classic slasher films (ft13, scream, halloween, etc…) and really any other horror film, analog horror (twf, mc, ghe, etc…), universal monsters, brainrot mascot horror (ex: FNaF, BATIM, Tattletail), other horror games! (ex: DBD, Resident Evil, Silent Hill) a variety of horror associated television shows (ex: AHS, Hannibal, Supernatural, anything Mike Flanagan), tons of vampire media (ex: WWDITS, IWAV, Buffy), Creepypastas (including roblox myths!)

NON HORROR FANDOMS: CoD, TLO, TWD (kind of horror?), GTA, TMNT, Fallout, Deltarune + Undertale, Newgrounds, Regretevator, Homestuck, Invader Zim, Villainous, DC comics and Movies, MLP, South Park, Sonic, Rockafire, etc

MUSIC: Misfits, Iron Maiden, Pantera, Black Sabbath, Rob Zombie, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, RHC, Sublime, Will Wood, Tally Hall + Miracle Musical, Chappell Roan, Rico Nasty, Tyler The Creator, Childish Gambino, Ben Folds, Beach House, Siouxise and The Banshees, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, Marina and The Diamonds, Melanie Martinez. (A LOT more, just wanted to hit some big ones)

5 FACTS ABOUT ME:

My favorite color is purple (This changes a lot tbh)

My favorite food is sushi

My favorite animals are bats, hyenas, pigs, possums, and rats

I have glasses.

DNI: Proshippers or Anti-Proshippers (you guys both suck), Nazis, Zionists, Terfs Alfred’s Playhouse, NSFW/18+ accounts (seriously go away), Anti Therian, Anti Neos and Xenos, Anti agere and petre

FREE PALESTINE 🍉

Feel free to say hi or whatever! Love to talk!