#japanese coven

[pressforwardsaints]

「それゆえ、小さい群れよ、恐れてはならない。善を行いなさい。この世と地獄をあなたがたに対して連合させなさい。あなたがたがわたしの岩の上に建てられるならば、それらは打ち勝つことができないからである。」

教義と聖約第6章34

[oofouchstovehot]

Thinking ab POC vampires

[shesnake]

The Handmaiden (2016) dir. Park Chan-wook // Interview with the Vampire episode 11 (2024) dir. Levan Akin

He lost his Hindu-originated name “Arun” when he was trafficked from Dehli as a child, was renamed “Amadeo” by his paedophile Maker the vampire Marius, then finally assigned “Armand” by the Roman coven before they sent him to France. He’s also lost his voice in a way, shown code-switching and adopting different accents in different settings. Throughout world history, colonised peoples have often been forced to adopt the languages and names of their oppressive colonisers as a way to erase their cultural identities.

Armand’s history was essentially colonised. His personal sexual trauma is an allegory for wider colonial trauma. This idea was explored similarly in Park Chan-wook’s 2016 film The Handmaiden, where the character Hideko’s forced exposure to pornographic Japanese literature as a child is meant to parallel the colonial oppression of the Japanese occupation of Korea.

The only evidence remaining of Armand’s experiences of sexual and colonial violence is this painting The Adoration of the Shephards With a Donor that hangs in the Louvre. Another cruel irony here is that ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’ is an episode of Jesus’s nativity. Arun as a (presumably) Hindu boy was used as a prop in a Christian narrative. The one historical document that exists of his mortal life is a depiction of his religious assimilation. Completely divorced from his roots, with no identity outside the roles his abusers assigned him, Armand, Amadeo, and Arun “were cut loose and dead like children turned to stone.” Being immortalised, “donated”, and placed on display in a European museum, a space he’s not even really allowed to access, for the mostly-white gaze is a clear metaphor for colonisers’ persisting theft of cultural artefacts belonging to their victims.

The only consolation this journey has for Armand is creative inspiration. He took Amadeo, trapped in the horror of his youth for the entertainment of others, and transferred that idea into the play My Baby Loves Windows to torture Claudia.

Armand, colonialism, and the weaponisation of anti-Blackness by Deah

[spookyserenades]

not trying to rush or anything! i was just wondering when we’ll get a taste of sanctity 👀

hehe! I'm working on the first chapter already, it's up to 4k words. I've made a banner (not a swanky one LOL my strengths are not with graphic design) but I'll copy paste my notes about the boys that I've come up with so far. And give you the banner 💕

Seokjin 

Born 1145 - Turned 1176 (Goryeo) 879 years old, physically 31

Manipulative type yandere 

Taeja (crown prince) of a monarch, third-born son; focused on studies, arts, humanities, and would assist in conversations surrounding war and foreign relations

Speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic (most ancient languages as well)

Power: Compulsion, he can influence minds, wipe memories, make suggestions to control someone

Yoongi

Born 1476 - Turned 1507 (Renaissance Period) 548 years old, physically 31

Obsessive type yandere

Apprentice of Leonardo Da Vinci, created some of his art then went on to have his own famous career, patron of arts 

Speaks Latin, Greek, and all other Romance languages

Power: Paralysis, he can paralyze someone using his mind, rendering them unable to move

Hoseok

Born 1607 - Turned 1637 (Early Modern Period, Piracy’s Golden Age) 417 years old, physically 30

Possessive type yandere

Buccaneer, captain of a ship that would sail around the Caribbean. Plundered and burned cities, owns many fine things, well-traveled

Speaks all Romance languages, Dutch, Haitian Creole

Power: Tracking, he can find anyone with his senses without fail, can predict target’s moves in advance

Namjoon

Born 1630 - Turned 1659 (Joseon) 394 years old, physically 29

Sadistic type yandere

Ruthless military general that led men during the Qing invasion of Joseon. Later became an assassin (sword for hire, essentially) 

Speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and most other Asian languages

Power: Pain Illusion, when focused on target he can create the illusion that the target is being burned alive

Jimin

Born 1796 - Turned 1824 (Regency Era, 20 years post America’s Independence) 228 years old, physically 28

Clingy type yandere

Famous playwright of romantic tragedies, owner of a theater in England that was extremely popular

Speaks all Romance languages

Power: Hypnosis, he can convince targets that they’re in love with him/can’t live without him

Taehyung

Born 1841 - Turned 1869 (Victorian Era, 20ish years before Industrial revolution) 183 years old, physically 28

Stalker type yandere

Basically Vanderbilt vibes. The coven lives in the Breakers mansion, Taehyung built it. Owned railroads, reclusive business tycoon

Speaks English and French

Power: Glamoring, he can disguise his appearance and his presence itself

Jeongguk

Born 1900 - Turned 1926 (Roaring 20’s, Prohibition Act, Al Capone mafia) 124 years old, physically 26

Overprotective type yandere

Ran with Al Capone crime family, mostly as a booze smuggler and bodyguard. Was turned when the North Siders targeted Capone at the Hawthorne inn

Speaks English

Power: Telepathy, can read minds

[glyhpsrfvckincol]

Random owlhouse hc idea fo you

Reader barely gets called their actual name and is called a nickname to the point no one really know their name til someone asks if their name is actually the nickname and reader is like “ ha no”

My main thing is their nickname is a animal Mabye because their palismen is it

Nicknames || The Owl House

Synopsis - Various TOH characters asking if your nickname, which corresponds to your Palismen, is your real name.

Warnings - Many references.

Okay, side note.

My Palismen, he’s a frog with axolotl gills. 100% contemplating if I should add a shark fin. I don’t know what to colour him yet:(

Anyway-

A/n - If you want a part with the adults, let me know :D

Requests are opened; headcanons only

A list of nicknames corresponding to certain animals:

↳ Ferrets = Ferry (pronounced - fairy), kit

↳ Frogs = Froggy, Froppy, Mcfly, Kermit, Amphibia, Sprigs

↳ Birds = Chickie, Chica, Beaks, Fumikage, Ellie (I dunno know, your palismen might be an eagle), karasu (crow in japanese, according to google), Hedwig

↳ Duck = Ducky, Duckus, Qaucker, Waddles, Snickers

↳ Pig = Mabel, Waddles

↳ Cat = Garfield, Sphynx, Ghoul (corresponds to amity’s Palismen), kitkat, whiskers

↳ Deer = Antler, Specks (some deer have white dots on there fur, and it’s super pretty!), velvet (for when their antlers regrow), Bambi

↳ Spider = Webbs, Charlotte, Fang, Silky

Amity Blight

↳ You got your palismen when you were relatively young. Like 5 or sum-

↳ And your parents had given you a nickname based of your palismen. Cause the both of you are absolutely adorable.

↳ So, basically the only time they used your real name is used when you were in trouble. (Good luck, lol)

↳ Anyway, Amity has known you as N/n for years at this point. You introduced yourself to her as N/n, everyone has always called you N/n, and you even write N/n as your name on tests.

↳ So she had no reason to suspect your name was infact different from what she and everyone else knew it as.

↳ Until you had been called in as a suspect of being involved with the human girl by Belos, where he had written your birth name on the letter you’d been sent.

↳ Amity was shocked. And very confused.

↳ Amity when she read your name on the letter:

↳ So she questioned you.

↳ “N/n, has one of Belos coven scouts messed up who the letter was for?”

↳ You: ”???🤨 no?”

↳ ???

↳ “But, N/n, I’m almost certain your name isn’t Y/n, or did they just mix your name up?”

↳ And now we’ve found the problem.

↳ Amity doesn’t know your real name!!

↳ “Amity, I’ve just realised I’ve never told you my legal name is Y/n.”

↳ “But, you write N/n on where you sign your name, even school work.”

↳ “Oh, right, when my parents put me in Hexside, they were given an option on the paperwork that I would be able to have a preferred name, and they put N/n as the optional option.”

↳ “Oh.”

↳ Amity questions everything now. Mainly things to do with you and Luz.

Edric Blight

↳ He dumb, but it’s okay cause so am I. ✊😔

↳ He thought your Palismen was based off of your name so…

↳ Emira slapped him upside the head.

↳ He felt bad, cause he thought he was the only one who called you that.

↳ “I’m really sorry if you felt offended by me calling you P/n, I just thought they were based off of you.”

↳ :(

↳ Our poor boy 😭😭

↳ “Edric, it’s okay! I kind of told you it was my nickname, so I can’t blame you.”

↳ It’s best to tell him you prefer being called N/n, seeing as he will continue to feel like shit if you don’t.

↳ Now, he will either call you Y/n or N/n, just depends what comes to mind when he is either addressing you or talking to you.

↳ It confuses a lot of people, human and witches alike.

Emira Blight

↳ Asked you after a few days of being your friend.

↳ “So your Palismen, you have a nickname that matches it?”

↳ “Yeah.”

↳ “Cool.”

↳ Will tease you about it though, telling you it’s the cutest thing she’s EVER seen.<3

↳ Fastest to figure it out, everyone else took at least a few weeks.

Gus Porter

↳ Depending on the timeline, and wether you’re a witch, human or some other specie, also impacts how you got your nickname.

↳ Gus learns your name when you and him get put in detention.

↳ Principal Bump has caught you, Luz and Gus sneaking around Hexside, and throws you 3 + Matt into detention.

↳ Detention shrieks your names, before attempting to catch you and lock you in its pods.

↳ Gus is to terrified to question it about right then and there, but he does after Luz is accepted into Hexside.

↳ “Detention called you Y/N. How come?”

↳ “It’s my name??”

↳ *insert little dorky smirk*

↳ Gus just nods, also smiling.

↳ “Both your name and nickname are cool.”

↳ He gives you a fist bump, partly cause your names are awesome, mostly cause surviving detention is not only difficult but equally terrifying and it’s respectable you got out with him and Luz.

↳ Rip Matt.

Hooty

↳ He gives you a nickname within a nickname.

↳ And then forgets your nickname.

↳ But it’s okay cause we love him all the same!

↳ Hooty is always shocked when Luz or Eda call you by your nickname, cause that’s not your name!

↳ Was even more shocked when he learned your name was actually Y/n.

↳ “But I call you H/n (Hooty’s Nickname), and everyone else calls you N/n! How are neither your real name!?”

↳ Ensues him beating the coven scouts harder the next time they try to arrest Eda.

↳ Hooty forgets your name again btw.

↳ Just let him think H/n is your name to avoid maximum chaos.

Hunter Noceda

↳ He meets you during the hunting Palismen episode. You and Luz had been sitting in the little house the bat queen had for the babies so she could have a Palismen.

↳ You had gotten your Palismen the day before along with the rest of your class and Luz gave you several nicknames, trying to figure out which ones would suit you and your baby best.

↳ It took her 20 minutes I shall add.

↳ Anyway- when Hunter came to take the Palismen back to Belos, he heard Luz use your nickname, and just assumed it was your real name.

↳ This dork however, didn’t bother using your ‘name’ and instead called you ‘wild witch’. Any witch associated with the human is known as a wild witch.

↳ Basically up until you’re all in the human realm, Hunter only knows you as N/n, and doesn’t really question you about whatsoever.

↳ Then Luz introduces all of you to Vee and Camila, where she uses your real name.

↳ “And this is Y/n, but we all call them N/n cause it matches their Palismen.”

↳ Hunter just stands there, processing the information.

↳This boy is so clueless, that he asks you about, wanting you to confirm it.

↳ “N/n isn’t your real name like Luz said, right?”

↳ “Yeah, it’s actually Y/n, Luz is the one who gave me the nickname.”

↳ “Oh.”

↳ And then he continues on with his day.

↳ Will use either your nickname or real name, it’s just whatever comes to mind when he talks to you.

King

↳ Met you through Luz, as one of her first friends:D

↳ He just called you a puny mortal. At first at least.

↳ He slowly shifted into calling you N/n, as he got closer to you.

↳ King knew that your name was odd, but he didn’t question it. Mainly cause last time he questioned something, Tinella Nosa appeared.

↳ And with Eda giving you nicknames, as well as Luz, it just confuses him a tad bit more.

↳ King wants to ask you, just to stop being confused.

↳ But he’s shy, and ask Luz for help.

↳ “Conejito, what was the inspiration behind N/n?”

↳ king is just sitting on her shoulder.

↳ “P/n. When I first got them, my dad just started calling me N/n. I guess everyone caught on cause no one calls me Y/n anymore.”

↳ King: 😲

↳ King just stares into your soul. He didn’t actually think N/n wasn’t you’re real name, just thought it was an odd name.

↳ For a little after this, he’ll switch between your names, sounding very unsure whenever he says it, u til it just becomes natural again.

Luz Noceda

↳ Eda definitely gave you the nickname.

↳ Eda’s probs given you near to a few 100 by now.

↳ So Luz knew you as N/n.

↳ Because that’s how Eda introduced you to Luz.

↳ Luz found out what your real name was when Gus used it to greet you back in “I Was a Teenage Abomination.”

↳ “Wait, is N/n just another one of Eda’s nicknames?!? 😱

↳ You: 😊

↳ You just smile innocently at her, like Dustin Henderson when he was 12-

↳ Luz just questions life. Forever. Will give you her own nickname.

Matt Tholomule

↳ He got so annoyed when he found out. Like how dare you >:(

↳ Only he was supposed to lie about his name.

↳ “Neither of us lied though? You have everyone call you by your full name and I just had a nickname related to my Palismen.”

↳ But he don’t listen to reason. He a petty bitch-

↳ Matt found out via Steve.

↳ Let’s set the scene.

↳ You and Matt, hanging out, and it just so happens to be Steve’s off day.

↳ He walks past Matt’s room as the two of you are arguing over what a humans favourite food is.

↳ He thinks it’s normal for humans to eat actual eggs. As in the shells.

↳ You’re probably friends with Luz, which means it’s more than likely come up in conversation when you’ve offered her food.

↳ “Ohhhh, you’re Shiba’s nibling, Y/n, right?”

↳ “Huh? That’s not her name Dumbass! Now get out!”

↳ “I’m not in your room though, I’m standing outside it.” 😌😌

↳ Which lead to a conversation about you lying to him.

↳ As if HE didn’t lie either.

↳ “Matt, shut up, and stop telling people your first name is Mattholomule, you sound dumb.”

↳ “Hypocrite.”



The Collector

↳ He never asked your name. Just called you play date, or best friend.

↳ Doesn’t even fathom the idea of you having your own name besides the one he gave you.

↳ Until King accidentally used your birth name.

↳ King knew you from adventures he had with Luz, seeing as you were his friend too.

↳ You just got unlucky, and got very stuck in the demon realm.

↳ Yes, you’re forced to call her ‘mom Odalia’-

↳ And when Collector found out, he was so confused.

↳ Like ??? What do you mean the name I gave you isn’t your real name?? You’re so mean! :(

↳ How dare you! >:(

Vee Noceda

↳ She figured it out on her own. (Cause she smart🤓)

↳ When she first met you, she also met your Palismen.

↳ “You and your Palismen match really well!”

↳ Yes, that is how she starts the conversation, give out baby a break >:(

↳ Vee is smiling at you, rubbing her hands and is swinging back and forth on her feet.

↳ “Uh, yeah! P/n really cool! They can do this thing! It’s-“

↳ And your dorkly explain every cool thing your Palismen can do!

↳ “That’s epic! It’s also really cool you’re nickname matches them!”

↳ God bless you a-dork-able nerds!

Willow Park

↳ Willow suspected NOTHIN’.

↳ Just thought it was a coincidence or that your Palismen was passed down to you! This depends on the timeline.

↳ For a very long time, she knew you as N/n.

↳ But when you, her, Gus and Luz get called to principal Bumps office, that changed quickly.

↳ “Y/N, I taught your parents, I know they wouldn’t approve of this behaviour.”

↳ You may or may not have set fire to one of the school rooms…

↳ Y/n?? Huh?

↳ Since the 4 of you were being lectured, Willow made sure to ask you later.

↳ “Uh N/n, do you have another name? Cause I’m principal Bumps office he called you… something else.”

↳ She forget what Principal Bump addressed you as, but that was fine!

↳ “Oh! Yeah, my legal name is Y/n. Boscha started calling me N/n in a teasing way but others thought it was meant to be affectionately and also started calling me that. It’s a cute nickname so I don’t mind.”

↳ “Oh… are you comfortable with me calling you N/n?”

↳ My sweet baby!

↳

[amiphitri]

Explaining the mythological origins and namesake of Mithra (MHYK): a very long and probably unnecessary post by a mhyk obsessed mythology nerd

Let me just preface this by saying that I haven’t gone through any formal education in ancient history or religions (yet) and even if I’ve researched it quite a bit I’m still bound to make plenty of mistakes. Also my expertise lies in grecoroman myth and I only have very surface-level knowledge of the other religions I mention here, although I’ve recently gone down a rabbit hole in regards to specifically their portrayal of the mithraic figure because goddamnit those wizards have me in a stranglehold and if I can’t combine my two current hyperfixations what’s even the point.

As there is gonna be quite a few different Mithras mentioned I will be referring to the fictional Mithra as “Mithra (mhyk)”. If I mention any other Mithra/Mitra/Mithras assume I’m talking about the deity.

Also this text is quite long so read more under the cut:

As you may or may not know if you’ve read through Mithras (mhyk) wiki page he takes his name from persian mythology! However this is a bit of an oversimplification as Mithra actually appears in pre-Zoroastrian Persian myth, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Roman myth and Mithraism, although with slight variations in his name and more significant variations in his role and portrayal.

Unfortunately since I have no knowledge of japanese and am entirely basing my interpretation of mahoyaku off the english translations I can’t attest to if the romanji of his name is accurate nor if japanese translations of mithraic texts make any differentiation between the names of Mithra in the different religions in which he’s present, but going off the romanisation i’ve seen used his name is spelled “Mithra” which is the spelling used for the Mithra in persian mythology and zoroastrianism. In roman mythology and mithraism hes called “Mithras”, and in hinduism he’s called “Mitra”, so Mithra (mhyk) using that particular spelling for his name would imply that he’s more based on the pre-zoroastrian and zoroastrian Mithra.

However after reading about all different Mithras from the different religions I can find possible links and references to all Mithras in Mithras (mhyk) writing so I’m gonna talk about all of them anyways! I’m mostly gonna focus on Zoroastrianism and Mithraism tho since those are the ones I’m able to find the most information on!

The first mention of Mithra comes from 1400 BC where he is mentioned as a Vedic deity (gross oversimplification but Vedic religion is a sort of pre-cursor to Hinduism) and referred to as “Mitra”. He then seems to have spread to ancient Persia where he is adopted into the Persian pantheon, and when Zoroastrianism takes over as the dominant religion in Persia he continues to be a prevalent figure.

Zoroastrianism is (is not was because it’s actually still practiced! fun fact Freddie Mercury was a Zoroastrian) a dualistic religion that focuses on the fight between good and evil, with a supreme being commonly referred to as “Ahura Mazda” and an evil spirit referred to as “Angra Mainyu” whom he stands in conflict with. Gods from the earlier pre-zoroastrian religion are incorporated into Zoroastrianism as beings called “ahuras”and “daevas”, with a few divinities called “yazatas” standing directly under “Ahura Mazda”. One of these “yazatas” is Mithra!

Scholars argue whether Zoroastrianism should be considered a monotheistic or polytheistic religion but many choose to refer to yazatas and by extension Mithra as divine beings that are underneath god rather than actual gods (think like angels), with “Ahura Mazda” being the only true god. However wether or not Mithra counts as a god there are still some scholars that believe that he was worshipped kinda like one!

In Zoroastrianism Mithra is the yazata of justice, the sun, light, friendship (“Mitra” actually means friend!!! it can also mean “that which binds” or oath/contract/covenant), pacts, covenants, contracts and most notably for our purposes oaths. Yep, oaths. As in promises. Sound familiar?

As the keeper of oaths he observes the world and makes sure no-one breaks their promises, and if they do they suffer his wrath, which may have caused him to also sometimes be viewed as a god of war according to some scholars. Mithra follows the path of the sun during the day, and during the night he fights evil demons with a spiked club, which is why the sky is red at the break of dawn (as he smashes the demons to pieces). So yeah the deity Mithra doesn’t get any sleep either, although I find this more likely to be a coincidence than intentional lol. Mithra rides a chariot drawn by four horses with no shadows and gold and silver hooves. He’s described to have millions of eyes and ears that can observe any oath-breakers and arms that can stretch and aid his followers all throughout the world (reminds me of Mithras (mhyk) signature teleportation magic a bit).

Mithra is also one of the three judges in the afterlife. When someone dies the zoroastrians believe the soul remains in the body for three days, after which it goes to the Chinwad bridge. Mithra, Srosh and Rashn judges the soul and if it’s deemed to have lived a good life the bridge widens and the soul can pass through with ease, but if it’s deemed to have lived an evil life the bridge becomes narrow and the soul falls down into the abyss below. The associations with death really aren’t as strong in Mithra as they are in Mithra (mhyk), but its still interesting to see that they’re there.

Mithra is also associated with fire and running water, both of which are considered holy in Zoroastrianism. (Old zoroastrians used to dispose of corpses by tying them up and letting birds eat them as the body is considered impure after the soul departs and thus can’t be cremated or risk getting near running water (as fire and running water is holy). thats not really related to Mithra I just think that’s interesting lol.)

Like many other deities Mithra was later picked up by the romans, where he became known as Mithras. Mithras shares very few similarities with the zoroastrian Mithra aside from etymological links and a connection to the sun, and it’s widely agreed that Mithras is simply the case of romans seeing the worship of Mithra and adopting the name rather than any actual zoroastrians spreading their worship to Rome. A lot of the time in antiquity people would make connections between gods that have similar roles from different cultures and associate them with eachother, and because of this Mithras became linked with sun gods such as Helios, Apollo and Sol. He also became known as “Sol Invictus” which means “The undefeated sun god”! Poor Mithra (mhyk) kinda failed the whole undefeated thing..

One of the most famous mystery cults and an early competitor to christianity was actually dedicated to the worship of Mithras. A “mystery cult” in antiquity refers to a cult which only those initiated are allowed to take part in, and “cult” when referring to ancient cults doesn’t have the same connotations as modern day cults and simply means a sub-sect of a bigger religion with it’s own teachings and rites. Although i’m not gonna lie the cult of Mithras is kinda giving me scientology vibes so. Yeah. Maybe it is a cult cult.

The cult of Mithras, commonly referred to as Mithraism by modern scholars, was a popular cult around the first to fourth century CE. Mithraism was mostly popular among soldiers, merchants and slaves and it’s worshippers consisted mainly of men. I’ve seen split opinions among scholars on wether women were allowed in the cult, but even if they were they most likely didn’t have the ability to climb the ranks in the same way men did. Mithraism had a rank system, where members could do work or pay probably (hence the earlier scientology comment) to learn more of the secrets of the cult and gain higher status.

There were 7 different ranks:

Corax (raven), Nymphus (bridegroom), Miles (soldier), Perses (persian), Heliodromus (sun-runner) and Pater (father), and each rank had their own protective planetary god and symbols.

Mithraism had some sort of an initiation ritual, however we don’t know exactly what that ritual entailed. It’s referenced as including both extreme heat and extreme cold, and inscriptions have been found where an initiate into the cult writes about having been “born again”. Christian writers have described the initiation ritual as being extremely brutal, but this likely isn’t true as those sources are incredibly biased with many christians standing in direct conflict with Mithraism.

The worship of Mithras took place in underground temples known as “Mithreums”. These Mithreums were often formed like caves, and had several altars, seats, a place to prepare food and several reliefs depicting Mithras in his various myths. The most central myth to Mithraism seems to have been a tauroctony, or in other words a slaying of a bull. All Mithraums have a depiction of the tauroctony in them.

In the tauroctony Mithras is shown grappling a bull and stabbing it with a dagger, with several animals almost always including (but not necessarily limited to) a dog, a raven, a snake and a scorpion surrounding them. Wheat grows out of the bulls tail, and grapes well out from the open wound in its throat. Watching down on them is Sol (a sun god heavily linked to and sometimes synonymous with Mithras) and Luna (a moon goddess), and two twins named Cautes and Cautopates stand on either side holding torches, with Cautes torch pointing upwards and Cautopates torch pointing downwards.

Unfortunately since Mithraism was a mystery cult there is not much written down about it’s teachings from actual practitioners, and most written sources we have are either heavily biased, written way after Mithraism stopped being practiced, or both. Most of the information we can gather thus comes from these reliefs, so interpreting what the myth is really about is a bit challenging.

Some scholars have interpreted it to be a sort of creation myth (kinda Ymir style if you’re familiar with norse mythology), which could be further cemented by the possible similarities between some iconography in Mithras birth and Orphic (another cult (although not a mystery one) don’t even get me started we’ll be here all day) creation myth.

Speaking of Mithras birth, he gets born out of a rock! Sometimes as a child but usually as a grown man, and often the torch-bearing twins are present at his birth too. This is also gathered from mostly reliefs and short inscriptions so we really don’t know much about it.

There is also reliefs of some sort of water miracle where Mithras shoots a rock with a bow and arrow and summons water from it, depictions of Mithras hunting the bull, a banquet where Mithras and Sol feast on the bull, a handshake between Sol and Mithras, and Sol and Mithras ascending to the heavens in a chariot. There is also a statue of a lion headed god with a snake wrapping around its body that commonly shows up in mithreums, however we don’t really know who this god is.

Mithraism seems to be heavily linked to astrology and many believe the figures in the tauroctony to be representative of different celestial bodies and star signs, however theres a lot of disagreement in regards to which figure represents what. Some even link Mithraism to some sort of astral ascension, but this is hotly debated.

Mithraism is also believed by some to have inspired christianity, with Mithras often being compared to Jesus. I personally don’t really buy this and see other mystery cults such as those surrounding Dionysus to be more likely to have been inspiration for Jesus, but it’s at the very least possible that Mithraism influenced christmas to be on the 25th of December. According to some scholars Mithras birthday was celebrated the 25th of December (others argue it was more a general celebration of the sun) and early christians may have chosen to put christmas on that day to directly compete with Mithraism. Additionally, many mithrean rituals have been compared to christian rituals and were described by christians at the time as evil imitations of christian practices.

When christianity became the state religion in rome Mithraism quickly declined, but during a good while Mithraism was just as widespread and popular as christianity and some believe that had things gone differently Mithraism could’ve ended up being an important world religion still to this day.

Now all of this is really interesting, but if you came here for Mithra (mhyk) it may not be all that relevant. Lemme tell you what’s more relevant tho: The bull is the moon. Or well more accurately, some scholars believe the bull to represent the moon.

Bulls were sometimes a symbol for the moon in antiquity due to their crescent shaped horns and their association with the moon goddess Selene/Luna. This, in combination with the imagery of Sol and Luna on opposing sides of the depictions of the tauroctony has made some believe that the scene depicts Mithras triumph over the moon and by extension death and darkness.

Additionally, Mitra (the Vedic Hindu version of Mithras) actually has a similar bull slaying story in which he reluctantly participates in the sacrifice of the moon god Soma who takes the form of a bull, so yeah multiple Mithras may do moon slaying. Ig Mithra (mhyk) fights the moon in every universe.

There’s obviously a lot more about all these deities I haven’t gone over but finding credible sources is unfortunately a bit difficult and if I continue I may be here for weeks so!! That’s all for now! I doubt Mahoyakus creators actually knew about all this, but I still think its really neat they chose Mithra as the name for their character considering hes such an interesting mythological figure!! Also ig the Cult of Mithras lives on in all the crazy Mahoyaku fans simping over Mithra (mhyk)..

[moonspiritleaf]

I decided to go and remake my Spellcasters version of Zane. Same design but new name.

Spellcasters Au by @onyxonline

Name: Julien Kurosawa

Age: 19

Gender: Male Pronouns: He/Him

Coven: Stella Coven

Meet Julien Kurosawa, an American-Japanese boy who is a sweet, outgoing, and hardworking student. He's trying to be more social and try to talk to other students at the academy.

He has a familiar, a wolf named Zane who he cares deeply about.

[kaurwreck]

have y'all ever noticed that gin has a stray strand of hair across her face like rimbaud, and that her trench coat looks like rimbaud's would if it were hemmed and tailored to fit a smaller, more petite frame.

it's not very obvious, but when dressed for work, gin also wears a black arm band around her right bicep. (it's light colored in the below harukawa illustration to distinguish it against her coat, but you can see it in her bones design too, if you look closely).

black armbands are commonly worn to indicate mourning (including in Japan). it's most common in sports (see: the women's Japanese soccer team at their women's world cup opener against zambia last year) and for uniformed organizations.

anyway. she's canonically verlaine's student, and mentoring gin is canonically part of how verlaine grieved/lived for rimbaud. gin has her own companions to mourn, too. I like to think she reminds verlaine of rimbaud and that gin and verlaine were each other's covenant to those they'd only just lost.

especially considering the timing of when they both found shelter in the port mafia; so soon after each lost substantial parts of themselves, in exchange for getting to keep their brothers.

[nrcsfavoriteshrimps]

Shiyuu Info!

BIO:

Name: Shiyuu “Yuu” Oboete

Birthday: September 9th (Virgo)

Age: 17

Height: 166cm (roughly 5’5”)

Dominant hand: Right

Homeland: Earth?

Family: Grim (little brother???? pet??????)

Voice headcanon: Zeno Robinson (specifically Hunter from TOH)

Other names: Shrimpy (Floyd), Yuu (generally), Shi (close friends only)

SCHOOL:

Grade: Freshman

Class: ?????

Club: Cooking Club (founder and president)

Best Subject: Art

PREFERENCES:

Hobbies: Writing

Pet Peeves: Sharp, high-pitched noises (especially if sudden)

Favorite Food: Shrimp ramen

Least Favorite Food: Chicken Pot Pie

Talent: Observation

TRIVIA/EXTRA:

Shiyuu’s design and some elements of their backstory are inspired by Pomni from TADC. (If any of the creators, actors, etc are not okay with this, this will be changed!)

Shiyuu’s last name is Japanese for “remember”

Shiyuu cannot remember many details from their life before twisted wonderland

Shiyuu is very good at escape rooms, puzzles, mysteries, etc! They remember that they used to be called “junior detective” back home

Shiyuu is very empathetic, but that doesn’t mean they’re weak or unable to stand up for themself!

Shiyuu is nonbinary, but goes by any pronouns

Shiyuu is Asexual Demiromantic

Shiyuu’s design and some elements of their backstory are inspired by Pomni from TADC. (If any of the creators, actors, etc are not okay with this, this will be changed!)

Shiyuu’s last name is Japanese for “remember”

Shiyuu cannot remember many details from their life before twisted wonderland

Shiyuu is very good at escape rooms, puzzles, mysteries, etc! They remember that they used to be called “junior detective” back home

Shiyuu is very empathetic, but that doesn’t mean they’re weak or unable to stand up for themself!

Shiyuu is nonbinary, but goes by any pronouns

Shiyuu is Asexual Demiromantic

Cooking Club Members!!:

Shiyuu Oboete

Coven Skyefall ( @purplehairnpronouns )

If you have any questions or anything, feel free to ask!

also, PLEASE interact!!! I love interacting w people, especially with roleplay! (I would love to be included in the silly yuusona shenanigans >:3)

Thank you!

-Mod Yuu

[tatarella]

Chains of the Covenant artist challenge to not make Eugene even more endearing in each chapter: impossible.

Putting the rest under a cut if you want to avoid spoilers for chapter 6.

Pixiv has the Japanese version already while the English version on INKR is still slated as „Coming today“.

Edit: INKR is up now with the English translation. https://comics.inkr.com/title/3680-chains-of-the-covenant-afk-arena/chapter/171635-chapter-6?ref=web-share

Bonus: Gavus‘ waist window. 👀

[odinsblog]

Racial covenants can be found in the property records of every American community. These restrictive clauses were inserted into property deeds to prevent people who were not White from buying or occupying land.

Racial covenants served as legally-enforceable contracts. They stipulated that the property had to remain in the hands of White people and they ran with the land, which meant that it could be enforced in perpetuity. Anyone who dared to challenge this ban risked forfeiting their claim to the property.

A survey of the 30,000 covenants unearthed in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties illuminates the wide variety of people targeted. An early Minneapolis restriction proclaimed that the "premises shall not at any time be conveyed, mortgaged or leased to any person or persons of Chinese, Japanese, Moorish, Turkish, Negro, Mongolian or African blood or descent." Before 1919, Jews were often included in this laundry list of “objectionable” people.

This language shifted with time. This eugenics-inspired list gave way to simpler declarations that the property could only be “be occupied exclusively by person or persons. . .of the Caucasian Race.” While many different kinds of people were targeted by racial covenants, every restriction identified by Mapping Prejudice bars Black people, as they were perceived by White Minnesotans to be particularly likely to decrease property values.

Real estate developers used racial covenants to sell houses, promising home buyers that covenants would protect their investment.

These same developers worked with park commissioners to make land adjacent to racially-restricted neighborhoods into public green space. These parks, they argued, would enhance the value of the property in these new neighborhoods. These rising values would also benefit municipal governments by swelling local tax coffers.

White homeowners also profited from racial covenants. A team of University of Minnesota researchers has demonstrated that Minneapolis houses that had covenants are worth 14 percent more than identical houses that never had covenants. This “bonus” value persists today, more than 50 years after the Fair Housing Act made these racial restrictions illegal.

The families who owned houses with covenants were able to pass that value on to the next generation. This intergenerational transfer of assets continues to drive the racial wealth gap in the United States today.

(continue reading)

[macsimagines]

Vampire!Mikey? In general, how do you think he’d be? Would he act different? Also, Happy Spooky season! 🎃🧡

OK so for this one it was a little harder but I think I came up with a good idea for a vampire Mikey i hope you all love it. Its kind of a weird take on Darling too, i left it open ended on whether or not Mikey is crazy or if reincarnation is real so i hope its not too confusing.

TW:YANDERE BEHAVIOR, MINORS DNI, MURDER, SUICIDE MENTION

Yandere!Vampire Manjiro Sano (AKA Mikey)

Mikey is an old vampire. At least a few hundred years, with his own coven that has its dirty fangs in every aspect of the Japanese underworld. He rules over it from the shadows with a bloodied fist. Only a select few of his most loyal and trusted men have actually seen him in person.

But before all of that, before he was the feared head Vampire of the Toman Coven, he was just Manjiro Sano a young and rebellious boy getting into trouble in the Edo period.

Back then he was known for being a very impressive martial artist and in his small village he had built a bit of a name for himself.

He was prideful and arrogant and one day he picked a fight with the wrong person. An ancient Vampire that found the young Manjiro Sano amusing and decided that instead of killing him for his arrogance would turn him and see where it went.

And at first he was distraught by loosing his humanity, then quickly elated at his new found power, he loved his new strength and speed.

"I could take over all of Japan like this!" he had decided quickly that would be his goal and a young Manjiro wanted to share his ambitions with his Fiancé... Another young woman in the same village that had been promised to him when they were just children.

He didn't know about the thirst. Didn't account for what it could do to his mind when he first saw her flushed skin, could hear her heart beating. Manjiro hadn't even realized what he'd done until he was done drinking her mangled corpse dry.

After that he forgot all about his ambitions and abandoned his dream of taking over Tokyo because after killing his first love nothing else mattered. He just wandered throughout Japan, slaughtering anyone who crossed him, managing to gain a small but very powerful following of other vampires.

Then he found her again. Its been at least half a decade but he knows his true love when he sees her, clearly she had been reborn, and he wouldn't let her go.

He kidnaps her, tells her about the past, their past, how he was so sorry for all his mistakes, for killing her on accident and how he'll do better this time.

But she screams and cries, swears that he's confused her for someone else, that there's no way she's his reincarnated love but Manjiro persists that he knows its her and eventually she'll remember... She has too..

But five years go by and Manjiro is loosing his paitence... She should've remembered by now, at least something... She doesn't even love him like she used, just stares in fear of him like he's a monster. He figured she would have been used to all the blood shed by now.

He isn't a patient man, one day he looses his temper and looses his love all over again to his monstrous hunger. Devastated he becomes even more blood thirsty, and once again his dark empire grows.

Then another few decades go by and he finds her. Again. This time he's sure will be different. He'll be kinder with her this round, she'll fall in love with him in her own time and then they'll be together forever.

The cycle repeats like that. His love dies one way or the other. By his own hand, one of his enemies, or even by her own hand when she can't take it anymore. And for centuries it has become the norm.

You die and he waits. Its been a few decades now. Your last life was particularly bloody. It was war times sweet heart, and you wouldn't listen to him when he tried to protect you. It's not his fault you ended up in bloody pieces.

Somewhere down the line he stopped being Manjiro and had become Mikey. Some think he's a myth created in the underworld, others know better…

Today he sees you again, serving coffee to some nobody, and his eyes meet yours. He smiles and you smile back. He thinks this life will be a fun one.

[knightofhylia]

Hi! Thanks for liking my pop culture tarot! I was wondering if you had any tips/ideas for someone getting into pop culture witchcraft 😇🙏🏻 I made that tarot series as a way of connecting with the different pop culture entities I wish to connect with, but I love so many fandoms I’m at a loss of where to start. Thanks again! ❤️

my best advice is to make a calendar for your spirits! I use the lunar calendar and change what spirit I'm focusing on with each new moon. If you have a close relationship with the spirit you can ask via Ouija board or Pendulum what month they would like, but honestly it's also pretty easy to assign them a month based on their lore or what you associate them with . Making a calendar means that everyone can get a (relatively) equal amount of time from you! You can also give them a day of the week instead of a whole month as well! Holidays for PC spirits are a little more challenging, personally I pick an important date from the series (if the time/universe is completely different, then I just pick the day In my universe). Things like episode airing dates or season releases can serve as holidays.

Don't be afraid to research into the real world when trying to get to know a Pc spirit! I feel like a lot of people get caught up in EXACT lore of a character without adding all the nuance of the creator and all the other people who worked on the media, as well as the culture the media is centered for. I see a lot of people worship spirits from anime without having any clue about Shintoism or Buddhism or Japanese culture at all and therefore miss a LOT of personality and connection. Same goes for things like Lord of the Rings where you don't need an intimate knowledge of UK culture or medieval warfare but it sure helps you make connections! This is less of "ok I worship gandalf who is basically Merlin so they are the same" and more "they belong in the same department of Wizard Guides". Chances are your favorite piece of media/character was inspired by another media/character they liked and so on! Studying other religions and folk tales are helpful when trying to make a religious system of your own. Also, when characters are played by actors, keep your worship to the character, not the person!

Lastly, every moment of interaction with the media or fandom is worship. Cosplay, figures, merchandise, listening to OSTs,playing the games, it's all worship. Conventions and discords are basically churches/covens lol!

[mmmmalo]

Figure drawing session, a talk on Japanese advertisements, and storytime with Cosplay Coven. Solid day

[more-than-a-princess]

@lightcreators asked: ❛  do you ever wonder what it would be like if things were different between us?  ❜ (from kokichi ouma, friendship-wise of course, since ouma have an reason to remove his mask for one second)

Pining/Yearning Sentence Starters

"Hm?" Sonia asked. She'd been in the process of reaching for a salmon-filled onigiri when Kokichi had interjected with his question. And at their small table in the cafeteria, there weren't many others it could be directed towards.

The Main Course classes often kept to themselves, as it were, but Class 79's Kokichi Ouma was another category in and of himself. As far as Sonia knew, the common terms that were used when referring to him were 'gremlin' or 'menace,' for all the times her cohorts were caught at the receiving end of his pranks, jokes, and schemes. Even Hiyoko, who was also commonly referred to as a gremlin herself by her peers, clashed with Kokichi's methods of befriending others. More trouble than he was worth, that was how most of her fellow students seemed to view him.

An opinion that Sonia herself did not share. Admittedly and embarrassingly, she could admit that the initial reason she reached out to him was due entirely to his talent: as Ultimate Supreme Leader, she'd never actually met the leader of a cult before. For all of her interest in them, her first-person exposure was nil. Still, she'd tried to be polite when inquiring after his talent and the duties associated with it: how did he attract members? Did they have secret rituals? What about death pacts or prophecies for the future?

Instead, her friend seemed more keen on practical jokes than giving her firm answers to her questions. Just as well, a bit of mystery kept things intriguing. But to that end, Sonia was one of the few from her class who was willing to have lunch with him, or at least be present as a captive audience for any amount of time. And she fully expected him to tease her about some sort of Japanese culture she'd managed to mess up, something she took in stride until she couldn't anymore, when her eyes narrowed and tone switched and the line she'd drawn had been crossed between good humor and ill-intended jabs.

This, however, was surprisingly philosophical for him. "If things were different between us?" She repeated. "Like talents? If we had different talents? Ooh, like if I was the Ultimate Supreme Leader! Though I wonder if my followers would simply be members of a coven at that point. Or otherwise devoted to the supernatural!"

She chuckled at the thought: it would be a far more exciting life than what her reality amounted to: endless meetings, ribbon cuttings, tea parties, memorials, and balls. Even the annual Masquerade each October only had subtle hints of the macabre, eagerly borrowed from her own personal collection of occult artifacts.

"What do you wonder then, if things were different between us?" She asked, setting her onigiri down on its plate. "Maybe I am a bit off in what you had in mind."

[gwydionmisha]

Interview with the Vampire: We Need to talk about the design of the so Called Rock Garden (Contains Spoilers through the Finale)

Something that my brain has been pick, pick, picking at since first season of Interview with the Vampire is that Rock garden in Dubai. I've been watching season two as it came out, but also rewatching it with a friend who otherwise hasn't access. Last week we stopped watching while they were making the deal to sell that artwork to discuss the decoration of the Dubai apartment because they had been pick, pick, picking at the interior design in general this whole time too. I'm not Japanese, so grain of salt here.

So a lot of people have discussed the way the bedroom looks like a prison with the bars and lighting, but it runs so much deeper and darker than that. We got talking about Louis' taste in art and design, much the way my friend and I hot into Louis and Lestat and fashion choices first season.

Okay, look at the whole apartment. Sure it's just generally in that soft brutalist minimalist design the rich are all into right now, and Armand who may or not be lying says they had an interior decorator, but that apartment set is not designed like some generic designer furnished it. It is designed like someone or someones told them what they needed, but also what they liked. You can see Louis in Paris' mid 20th century eye in things like the Bacon and the sort of furniture you see in the dining room and that sort of living room area. He was doing the American in Paris after the war bohemian thing and there was a movement connected to university culture and beatnik culture in America and American ex-pats from the 40's through… some point in early sixties with a particular type of interest in East Asian culture and certain types of African art. That's going be important in a moment. You can see little touches in all that 21st Century rich person soft brutalism and think it's all guided by the taste of the occupants, who want to look very up to date, but whose tastes and interests were formed in another time. It's really obvious in the bedroom, but it's everywhere subtly once you start looking for it. (Props to the set dressers who were on point).

Let's stop and think about Armand, for a moment. Armand who doesn't know who he is, both in the literal chunks of past are missing and in the psychological sense of he's spent five hundred years trying to mold himself to whatever he thinks other people want or need him to be, hiding his own desires and motivations from himself. He knows he wants/needs someone or something to mold him and he will literally do anything to get that, including burning down the last thing in such a way that he can tell himself he didn't really do it. Circumstances or someone else did it or made him do it. He is utterly ruthless in that pursuit. What he wears, how he presents himself is designed to appeal to the taste and expectations of who/what he's molding himself to. The Amedeo outfit for Marius. The dingy barely dressed outfit of his Satanist coven Gremlin era. The far more respectable outfit he wears the night in the balcony when he declares love for Lestat. The Post war European hipster outfit he wears while seducing Louis, dressing in hopes of being appealing in the way Paris' Bohemian side is to Louis who is dressed like an American college student abroad to study at the Sorbonne. The season two Dubai outfits, perfectly chosen to look modern and elegant but not too formal. Louis always dressed Lestat in modern fashions and Louis modern Louis dresses in a similar, but slightly less formal style…. Armand is dressed for louis. (Props to the costume designers who were on point. I love how in first season you can absolutely tell if Louis or Lestat picked Lestat's outfit in a scene, something we had a lot of fun with. We had a roaring time with season 2 choices as well).

So which things in the apartment are Louis and which are super subtle Armand touches?

Which brings us to the rock garden. Maybe the designer did suggest it as because the need for nature as Armand suggests in season one, but that's not what it's doing, is it? Nor is it functioning as the kind of meditation space they are trying to appropriate. Look at the real meditation gardens. Outside. Lots of live growing things. Boulders suggesting islands and/or mountains. Raked soft sand to suggest water or wind. The whole design is intended to aid meditation, right?

Now look at the travesty in the Dubai apartment. It's a prison cell. A beautifully made, super expensive prison cell, but the stark white brutalist walls and hard angles. Light from above like light through a grate into a prisoner's cell in a ninetieth century novel about the olden days. One sad tree instead of a whole surrounding garden. It's a cell or a prison yard, it's not a meditation space.

Books are kept high up with no ladders where only vampires can access them and Armand cut pages away supposedly for Louis' own good, though not really. Literally and symbolically both it's the opposite of a public library with easily accessible knowledge anyone can have. Armand entirely controls and drip drips whatever narrative he wants to share

Now lets get back to the sand in the meditation area, shall we? Is it soft white sand? No. It's rocks. Small rocks. That can't be comfortable right? So before I even saw the finale, I was saying: I can see a caring partner of a depressed person who can't go outside in the day making an indoor meditation garden to help them, but this isn't that garden. This is a stark and depressing prison cell designed to look like caring but actually sabotaging healing. I can't imagine digging my toes into gravel to meditate (Characters periodically do that: burrow there feet into the pale white gravel), it's distracting.

Then the Finale dropped and I'm sure of it. That is literally the type of gravel they buried Louis in. O.o Louis still has the same gravel inside his feet and ankles, his skin having grown over them during the most traumatic period of his life. he was mourning Claudia and starving and being driven mad by the most extreme form of solitary confinement I can think of. Every step must still be a torment to him, like the little mermaid's sensation of walking on knives. Every step Louis takes reminds him of the loss of his daughter/sister. Talk about penance. O.o So knowing this, either Armand or Louis had the designer fill the false meditation room with a torture device and got the designer to trick it out like a cell.

Seriously, I can't work out which is more fucked up: Armand doing it to keep Louis sick and fragile and too depressed to leave or Louis doing it to himself as a form of self harm. Either way it's seriously fucked up.

Can someone get these three Vampires (Louis, Lestat, and Armand) a real psychiatrist and not just a reasonably self aware journalist who has made a wreck of his life? Let's through in some professional help for Daniel too while we are at it.

Seriously, I am this close to going absolutely feral over this show the way I did for Black Sails and for the same fucking reason.