#mjøsa the swan maiden

[thereallordgrape]

I feel like if Mjösa ever encountered my version of Loki she would absolutely put him on blast 😂 “oh you’ll change for the snake and wolf but won’t own up about what you did to my mom, huh?” 💀🥸

Mjøsa seeing Loki and “his kids”:

She’s ready to knock the breaks off him🤣. She has no patience for his Clownery™️🤡

[hudsonespie]

Renovating the Power Plant of Norway’s 164-Year-Old Paddle Steamer

The Skibladner is one of the most unique vessels in the world. Launched in 1856, she is the world's oldest paddle steamer still in regular operations and a Norwegian landmark. So when it came time for an overhaul of her machinery it was going to be an equally unique operation.

Sailing on her maiden voyage on August 2, 1856, she began her life sailing on Lake Mjøsa, located a few hours north of Oslo. Her role was to connect with the rail line transporting passengers and freight to communities around the lake, including Lillehammer. Rebuilt and lengthened in 1888 to her current 165 feet, she is powered by a triple expansion double-active steam engine that provides over 600 b.h.p. to turn her 16-foot paddle. She operates at speeds up to 14 knots.

Skibladner arrives in Lillehammer in 1924 - photography by Anders Beer Wilse 

Most of the machinery dates to the 1888 renovations although during her last major renovation in 1983 she was also fitted with new oil-fired boilers. Prior to that, the Skibladner had been rebuilt in both 1937 and 1967, each time after she sank during her winter layups. 

Today, known as Mjøsas Hvite Svane, which translates to The White Swan of Mjøsa, she is considered a national treasure as Norway’s only operating paddle steamer. Her passenger and topside areas have been faithfully restored to their 1888 appearance creating an authentic 19th-century steamship experience. During the summers she operates tourist excursions following her same route across Lake Mjøsa and in the winters is carefully stored in a specially constructed glass house.

After 164 years of faithful service, the owner realized it was time for another overhaul of their graceful lady. They turned to Denmark’s MarineShaft, a specialist in the repair of propeller equipment and rudder arrangements with unique capabilities including cold-straightening bent propeller shafts and rudder stocks with class-approval.

Skibladner's machinery in MarineShaft's workshop in Denmark

MarineShaft sent a team of service engineers to Norway in November 2019 to inspect the Skibladner and develop a plan for her repairs. The survey found extensive wear to the machinery. They realized that this was going to be one of the most unique projects the company had ever undertaken. Adding to the challenges was the fact that the only plans that exited were all handwritten, quite blurred, and calculated in inches.

After disassembling the engines and propulsion machinery, the painstaking work began on restoring the power plant. The engineers found cracks in the engine’s foundation, which were repaired on-site, while the machinery parts were shipped to MarineShaft’s workshops in Hirtshals, Denmark.

Laid out at the workshop, a thorough assessment was undertaken. The crankshaft, rods, and paddlewheel shafts were measured and crack tested. The analysis determined that the crankshaft was bent.

Carefully, the team began working on each part of the power plant. MarineShaft used its cold straightening process to repair the crankshaft. This included employing its robotic laser cladding equipment for the welding of the crankshaft to ensure careful welding with minimum heat input.

Project Manager Peter Pallesen in the workshop with the laser cladding robot ready to weld on the crankshaft

At the same time, all of the old white metal was removed from the steam bearings and re-cast with new white metal. Completing the through and comprehensive reconditioning of the power plant also included manufacturing two new crankpin couplings, paddle steam bearings, and other engine parts.

Finally, all of the propulsion equipment was re-assembled at MarineShaft’s workshops for control and run-out tests before its return to the Skibladner. Recently, MarineShaft’s engineers traveled to Norway to complete reinstalling all the equipment.

After an extensive process that was designed to keep her running for many years to come, the Skibladner once again took to the lake where all the machinery performed perfectly.  

  Facts about Skibladner: •    Built at the Motala Shipyard in Sweden 1854 - 1856  •    Assembled at Minnesund, near Eidsvoll, 1854 - 1856  •    Maiden voyage: August 2, 1856  •    Refitted and lengthened at Minnesund by Aker Shipyard in 1888 •    Length post 1888: 165 feet •    Hull beam admidships: 16 feet 7 inches •    Draft: 5 feet 6 inches •    Triple expansion double-acting steam engine providing 606 b.h.p •    Max speed: 14 knots at 44 revolutions per minute •    Operating speed: 13.2 knots at 42 revolutions per minute •    Steel paddle wheels, diameter 16 feet, 8 feathering floats per wheel •    Engine built at Aker Shipyard in 1888. New boilers in 1983 •    Crew: minimum 6 - maximum 16 •    Maximum number of passengers: 230  

Views of the work in progress at MarineShaft's workshop:

        This article is sponsored by MarineShaft A/S

  from Storage Containers https://maritime-executive.com/article/renovating-the-power-plant-of-norway-s-164-year-old-paddle-steamer via http://www.rssmix.com/

[thereallordgrape]

Does Mjosa get along with Berligot?

Uuuuuhhhh, kind of? If you count sitting in silence getting along, then sure! Both girls aren't exactly approachable and it would probably take a third party to get them speaking to each other (aka grunting in acknowledgment). That person would be Thor, who Mjøsa doesn't have anything against. And whoever Thor is fine with, Bergljot feels the same too. A mutual respect, if anything.

[thereallordgrape]

Did Mjøsa ever encounter Loki's other children, Narfi and Taylor Valhalla Evermore?

I doubt Mjøsa wants to get involved with any of Loki’s other children, but I don’t think she’d encounter Narfi because apparently he was torn apart by his twin wolf brother Vali. As for Taylor (I had to look him up lol) she’s likelier to encounter him on her quest to destroy Loki. Their meeting would be rough, but I can see Taylor finding kinship in his (older?) sister and wanting to help her take down their father. It would take a while for Mjøsa to get used to him, but I can see them eventually getting along.

[thereallordgrape]

Shadows - Gem

Dark Dimension - Mjøsa

Succubus - Nedjem

SHADOWS - Do they believe people can be just “good” or “evil”? Or is morality a grey area to them? Considering their logic, where do they think they fall in a moral alignment?

For Gem, I think he believes everyone has a little evil in them. He’s a glass half-empty kind of guy anyway, so morality is definitely a grey area for him. He has a goal in mind so he’ll do what’s necessary to achieve it (with some limits). But he definitely doesn’t see morality as a black or white concept, he’s a realist and his perspective isn’t that broad. For his moral alignment I would go with a mix of lawful and neutral evil.💎

DARK DIMENSION - If there was an entity living under their bed or in their closet, how would they react? Would they befriend it or be frightened?

I doubt Mjøsa would be scared, she’d probably question the sanity of anything, man or entity, that’d be bold enough to enter her territory. She’d scope out if it’s an actual threat and attack the entity for sure if it was a threat. If it wasn’t, she’d heavily interrogate the entity’s presence in her house with Freya as backup. Probably notify the Bevy to keep them from potential harm too. 🦢

SUCCUBUS - What is their best asset when it comes to manipulating other people? Money, connections, sex, words, etc?

Can I say wisdom? I think the headband Athena gave him, although mostly used for battle strategies, imparts some wisdom on to him. It can come in handy to get what he needs. Also ancient knowledge that only he knows from years of studying. Nedjem basically lived in a library for a good periods of his life and the knowledge of Amazonian’s is priceless. He may have forgotten a ton of magic, but he does remember a thing or two from ancient tomes or scriptures written on papyrus. And ‘manipulating’ wouldn’t be the word Nedjem chooses, ‘convincing’ is more his speed. So yeah lol, his knowledge/mind is great to convince others.🐈‍⬛

Thanks! Feel free to ask more!😊👍

[thereallordgrape]

My first entry for @kururu418’s God Arc Contest!! I am so happy this is finally out; I’ve been working on this character for a hot minute now. This will be the first time I’ve entered in a contest hosted by @kururu418 so that makes me even happier 😁

Thank you to @whattimewriter for taking the time out to read over and give me fair advice. You’re love of Norse mythology really helped develop this character.

Anyway, I have two more characters coming up! They will take more time to develop, but I’m genuinely enjoying the writing process. Hopefully they’ll be out before the deadline, but quality is important than quantity.

Thanks!♥️🌈💫

[thereallordgrape]

Rainbow 🌈 for Mjøsa!

🌈 RAINBOW - what advice would they give to their younger self?

She would probably stand there awkwardly starring at her younger self, trying to figure out what even to say because there is...a lot. Mjøsa’s general appearance could speak for itself on how far they’ve come. But what advice she would give to herself would be to not harden her heart and explore more outside the Bevy. The world is bigger than they ever expected.

[thereallordgrape]

This is a Future AU ask, does Mjøsa get along and spend time with Bergljot through sparring since both of them are half giant?

I can see them kind of getting along. Mjøsa is an outcast amongst her own people like Bergljot and their Norse background helps them understand each other a bit more. They would have a rocky start since Thor is slightly wary of Mjøsa, so that puts Bergljot on edge. Mjøsa is wary of strangers period, so there's that. But if they manage to get over that hurdle, they get along fairly well. Not the best of friends, but there's a friendship nonetheless. Bergljot is fire-based while Mjøsa is water/ice so their sparring sessions could get a little intense if powers are in use. They could certainly learn from each other in terms of sparring techniques. I know Mjøsa isn't technically canon in callyieverse but if @kururu418 wants to add anything, feel free to do so!

Bergljot belongs to @kururu418

Mjøsa🦢 belongs to ME👻

[thereallordgrape]

Any recent ideas and developments for your Callyieverse OCs?

Hhheeyyyyy lol, (I’m just now fully going through my inbox, again I’m slow at this😅). But thanks for the ask, I have had plenty ideas! What I realize about myself is that creating characters is easy for me, but actually writing their story out is a whole other ordeal for me, that in my opinion needs more work.

I’ve had a Halloween, haunted house inspired fic for Olevia, but went in way over my head when I realized that I was dealing with another whole new set of characters and a plot that needed more development. Then I realized these new characters I was creating had the potential to have their own stories not relating to the main one. One of these characters I made while I was developing Gem, but I didn’t have time to edit their profile. I wanted to do more for my current characters before introducing new ones😅. So, that’s going to take some time to sort out.

Then there were a few snippets I wanted to do involving both Olevia and Sophia, to flesh out their dynamic more. Sophia’s character is still so reliant on Olevia and Sophia has the potential become more interesting on her own. (Thank you to @laylaylamode , for giving her more development with SotW). So, I had a few fic ideas for her as well.

As for Gem, I had wrote out fics between him and Toni that will never see the light of day👀🤣. There’s potential for him and what he does in his spare time outside of Masters Academy. Then there’s his relationship with Reggie that I want to do more for.

As for my gods/demigods from kururu’s contest, I didn’t want to plan anything major for Nedjem since I didn’t want it to conflict with anything that will happen in the God arc. As for my other two (Mjøsa and Empusa), they’re technically not canon (I think?), so I may do something separate for them outside of callyieverse.

These are all ideas, but will something come from them? Maybe. I didn’t want to promise anything then not deliver, but I appreciate the curiosity!

[thereallordgrape]

Who would get along with Dai Tai and befriends her, Mjøsa or Nedjem?

I think Nedjem might have an easier time getting along with Dai Tai then Mjøsa. Our swan maiden isn’t exactly approachable😅, but I feel like she and Dai Tai could at least tolerate each other. They do respect each other’s strength/skills in combat so there’s that. But Nedjem easily gets along with DT, since he’d of course would want to know more about her and the Chinese pantheon. Nedjem is all about gaining knowledge 😁

If @laylaylamode has anything to add feel free to do so👍👍

[thereallordgrape]

Who would win a eating contest? Nia or Mjøsa?

Compared to Nia, Mjøsa probably has only a quarter of her strength since our swan maiden is technically a demigod. So I think that applies to their appetites as well. It would probably be a decent match, depending on what they are eating, but Nia would win hands down. I feel like her stomach holds no limits while Mjøsa will be Over It™️ fast.

[thereallordgrape]

What would Mjøsa do when she is on Earth?

I think she technically is on Earth, she's just in a secluded forest/lake within Norway. However, if she were to enter modern society, it would be a jarring experience for her. She would definitely get overwhelmed and it would take her a minute to come to terms with how fast-paced literally everything is. But, once she manages to gather herself, she'd probably try the food lmao. Like that scene from Thor where he smashes the cup:

If she finds something that suits her fancy, she won't hesitate to devour as much as she can. The way people speak throws her off too, so it wouldn't be surprising if she took offense to something a random bystander said to her. Poor Mjøsa would definitely need a tour guide to ease her in.😅

[thereallordgrape]

Here are my demigod additions👍:

Nedjem🐈‍⬛:

When he saw his father for the first time in centuries(?) After his time living in Themyscira, seeing his father waiting for him on the other side gave him a surge of excitement because he knew more adventures laid before him. Not gonna lie, he was a little coddled being in Themyscira, but with Thoth waiting, Nedjem knew he was in for a good time.

Playing with the Dryads that resided in Themysciran forests. They were all lovely creatures who taught him the layout of the island and showed him secret hideouts. His mother would spend all day looking for him when he decided to put them to use. The dryads would also teach him different plants that grew on the land.

Celebrating the Wag and Thoth festival in Ancient Egypt, which is basically a celebration of Thoth’s birth and Osiris’ rebirth. Thoth and his family received so many offerings and since marshmallows were scant and given during special occassions, Nedjem ate so much he threw up for the rest of the night. Seshat scolded him for getting carried away but Nedjem holds no regrets!

Mjøsa🦢:

When Mjøsa first went hunting on her own, she spotted a lone deer. Ready to aim and snatch the potential food for the night, Mjøsa was surprised as the deer walked up to her calmly and curiously sniffed at her. Mjøsa  was able to pet the fragile deer and was in awe. She came home with rabbit instead, too enamored to kill the poor deer.

One summer day when Freya came to visit, the goddess brought with her piles of makeup she collected from over the years. The two women spent all day practicing, mostly Freya teaching Mjøsa a technique or two since she thought her sweet maiden should try different makeup styles. Mjøsa wasn’t too crazed about trying on colorful lipsticks or eyeshadows, but she did enjoy the time spent with the goddess. Mjøsa kept a few palettes for memories sake.

A young Mjøsa would play games with the Bevy, her favorite being swim tag. Mjøsa  was the fastest in their group and when she was ‘it’ she managed to tag others in record time. Her Bevy gave her praises for her speed and Mjøsa felt so proud.

Empusa🧛‍♀️:

Conjuring her dogs and properly training them. Normal dogs are hard, but demon dogs are on a different level than the average person is used to. Empusa trained them long and hard, getting what treats she could and trying different methods. After a while, she successfully managed to get her Doberman to do as she asked without hesitation. Empusa was so happy she threw a party for her dogs.

As mentioned in Empusa’s bio, there’s a festival dedicated to Hecate that happens in Turkey every year. Her first time visiting the country was quite memorable since it’s not often Empusa or her mothers leave Greece (they never had a reason to). Experiencing a culture different from her own was enlightening. Empusa and her mothers drank and ate whatever was given to them. Empusa hopes to visit again one day.

During a ritual, Empusa danced with her cult member Jasmine. The tall woman has two left feet, but Empusa didn’t mind leading them in dance. The height difference was off, but that didn’t stop either woman from having a good time. Empusa twirled and dipped Jasmine through the night and taught her a few new dance moves. Dancing with her was definitely a highlight for Empusa’s night and one she didn’t forget.

Thank you for being patient! Feel free to ask more questions or check out me and @laylaylamode‘s daily writing challenges.

Nedjem, Mjøsa, and Empusa belong to ME!😁👻

What are Mjøsa, Nedjem, Gem, Sophia, Olevia, and Empusa's favorite memories?

Gem💎

At the Masters Academy (a year or two before Reggie’s expulsion) the two boys conned multiple kids into giving them half of their allowance. In return, Gem would provide test answers while Reggie would deal out forged reports cards/fake ID’s. The two made around a thousand in one day (rich kids didn’t know they overcharged lmao). Reggie and Gem would later spend their hard earned money at arcades or movies.

Gem and his mother took a trip to Niagara Falls  (on the Canadian side) when he was younger. The view was remarkable and his mom rattled on facts about how deep/ powerful the water source was. Multiple tickets were taken and Gem keeps one of him and his mother in his wallet.

When he was training under the W.H.O.O.P. Agency, higher-ups allowed him to go on a mission alone. It was a hard one at that, but with Gem’s tenacity, they figured he could get done in no time flat. And they were correct😅. Higher-ups were singing Gem’s praises all day, making other agents jealous. Gem felt extremely proud and the look on those other agents faces was delicious.😏

Sophia📝

The first time she built her own ghost-tech weapon by herself. After countless malfunctions, throwing away broken parts, she managed to design a gun similar to a pistol, that shoots ecto-bullets. A pretty minor weapon, suitable for her size and easy to manage. She cherishes the weapon and holds on to it for many years.

Shoving a bowl of punch on this annoying girl at a gala. The brat was constantly pestering her and asking about the Masters’ Estate. “How many cars do you have?” “Is your house haunted?” “Why does your sister have gray hair?” Sophia was ready to rip her own hair out (since the girl was bothering other people too). So when the girl least suspected it, Sophia nudged the punch bowl over, ruining the girl’s dress. She cried and screamed, leading to her parents escorting her out. Sophia played clueless, but she’s pretty sure her parents saw and didn’t say anything lol.

In the future au, although Sophia woks under/for her father, she built her own base of operations (with Vlad’s funding), beneath a library Vlad owned donated to. The process of designing the place to her own view was exhilarating. And when she’s not scuttling under her father, she’s found there. Olevia is aware of it, but doesn’t know the exact location.

Olevia👻

On one Father’s Day, her and Sophia were actually able to put their differences aside to put together a treat for their father. Both severely lacked cooking skills, so the chef had to guide them on occasion. But the cake came out pretty nice! Vlad was genuinely surprised by the gift (he made peace with the fact his daughters would never get along) and thanked them. Courtney took a picture of them and Olevia is the only one with the photo, she keeps it in her apartment.

Exploring the French countryside by herself. Lucille will once in a while rent a cottage for Olevia to spend time in. Olevia would ride bikes, speak with locals, and shop at the small businesses. One particular day, she found a nice lake to settle by and relax. She memorized the route to the lake and Olevia is often found there when in France.

Listening to music with Damian. Olevia’s musical knowledge is limited to opera, classical, and French oldies. Pop culture is a foreign concept to her. So Damian had planned a music day where they hung out while Damian gave her lectures on upcoming rappers and indie bands. A confusing/amusing day for our ghost girl, but a day she won’t forget. Damian was nice enough to lend her a few albums too (nothing rare though lol).

I’ll reblog this post with the favorite memories of my demigods lol. But thanks for the ask! Anyone’s free to ask me anything about my characters😁!

Damian Fenton and Reggie belong to @princesscallyie 👑

Olevia, Sophia, and Gem belong to ME!😁👻