#mythology is still a massive interest of mine

[shadowsandstarlight]

The new Percy Jackson show means so much to me I’ve barely even started it and it’s already so good. God they all mean so much to me.

[katerinaaqu]

Hello!!

Since I've seen that you've listened to both Epic and Paris the musical, I was curious to know what are your toughts on them! Did you like how the myths and characters where handled? What do you like best and worst? (If you'd like to share, what's your favourite song/moment in each?)

Thanks :]

My my you really wanna get me have an even bigger target on my back than the one I put already! Hahaha! Ok so be it! Hahaha If this gets waaaaaay too long or too runty forgive me! ^_^

You have noticed from many of my comments and my notifications, memes or jokes. I am not a fan of EPIC. Not at all. I believe I am one of the most disliked people on Tumblr on mythology matters because I so openly speak my dislike against EPIC and being annoying about it! Hahaha! XD The thing I absolutely love about it is of course the guy's passion with the project, the way the music works and all (undoubtedly the guy is a very talented composer and can combine the scene with music and emotions and the tricks he uses with music are great) but the way the plot of Odyssey was twisted beyond recognition and to the point that to me you can literally change the names of the characters to anything else and still have the story he presents with the Musical. Maybe that was his goal but in my head that is not what a retelling or an adaptation is about. A retelling to me is not something that seeks to change literally as much as possible from the plot to fit the modern standards or the fanbase. A retelling is something as the word says that "retells the story" aka adapts the story as loyally as possible and adapts it to the audinece by taking creative liberties that are still generic to the story as it was originally told so that it will fit more to the modern standards or ear.

I believe we have so much twisted the word "retelling" that nowadays "retelling" seems to be equivalent to "let's change the hell out of the story because the original plot is not even THAT important to be salvaged and no modern person would watch it anyways" which in my opinion is not the case at all. Unless of course one writes satire. Then it doesn't matter, as I mentioned to another ask of mine.

I lost interest and was massively disappointed from the end of second saga and the song "Storm". The first two sagas were a masterpiece. The creative liberties were amazing to make sense with the plot and give the characters motivation (for example "I'm just a man" was FANTASTIC! The way the myth from Iliou Persis that gave us only one phrase "Odysseus kills Astyanax by throwing him off the wall" is now transformed into a marvelous emotional dilemma and a painful decision). In this case the creative liberty work WITH the plot and not against it. I didn't mind it as much that they made Polites a fluffy guy for no reason to fit that stereotypical "innocence of the team" plot because Polites is a clean slate character in Odyssey. However after Storm I started seeing your typical "Hollywood film 'adaptation' logic with changing stuff at the plot". I was intrigued at how they decided to give Polyphemus an excuse to kill like the guys enter a cave that is obviously habitable and kill an animal that is obviously domesticated and they do not know someone lives there? In the original it was clear someone lived there which made Odysseus curious to interract with them. I was willing to ignore that because ok creative liberties but then Athena was there!? And she gave Odysseus every opportunity to kill him while Odysseus was just "TOO NICE?!" like since when? Odysseus was all about killing him but he had no guarantee he would plus he needed him to open the cave. And the way he revealed his name in the musical was so rush and almost "out of spite" for Athena not a result of a secclusion in a cave for days and days and then his pride speaking up when Polyphemus called him a coward (which I tried to capture to my fic, not sure if I succeeded but still). So anyways at that point I was sure we wouldn't see the last of it with the changes. Poseidon destroys the ships instead of the Laestrygonians (no surprise there, rarely ever see anyone even mention the Laestrygonians yet alone show their contribution to the Odyssey) but then Circe happened and I just knew that we would have to derail from the original more and more

Circe's role was incredibly diminished for the sakes of making her actions more mellow and pass the message of loyalty and kindness. Circe in the original gives Odysseus valid information for his trip provisions and much more. In Epic not only we do not see the importance of Odysseus selling himself to Circe and we have Circe for some reason seducing him to kill him (removing her humanity from when she got scared that her magic won't work on him, potentially thinking he is some kind of god, begging for her safety to then suggesting her bed as Hermes predicts) I mean she had lions and wolves to her disposal she doesn't need to seduce him to kill him. Then of course Jorge realized that a big chunk of plot is missing and so he made Odysseus find out about Skylla by the sirens?! Like...okay... Even Tiresias gives him almost nothing (in the original he also tells him how to break the curse) Which seems interesting how Odysseus breaks down with "Monster" in Tiresias when he has received an act of kindess before. Wouldn't it be more amazing if he had that breakdown AFTER he paid the price with Circe with his own body? That even kindess has a terrible price? Of course the most iconic scene of the Odyssey after the murder of the suitors and Cyclops, the Sirens were twisted to whatever we had there; Odysseus listening to their song was of massive importance to his natural curiocity and we didn't get that (not to mention how would the sirens spell work on him and have Penelope there if he didn't hear their song in the first place?) and of course the fact that he kills them?! Like...how that even works I have no idea and like in the original people were running for their lives. Didn't even look back. Apparently they had all the time in the world to capture them, they knew apparently exactly how many they were and then they kill them?! Like I won't even say that they used the medieval mermaid instead of the sirens and then they "leave them drown" (how you drown fish people is beyond me! Maybe they are sharks that need to keep moving lol) and of course again that scene seemed to me that it was there only to show that "Odysseus is a monster" which makes no sense Odyssey-wise for many reasons. and then of course again Skylla; Odysseus doesn't gear up to protect his men, he is the one who chooses the sacrifice out of spite etc etc

Many others got sped up like the Helios cattle but ok I guess that is expected up to one point even if it could be handled differently but of course then we have also Zeus being a jerk and again making Odysseus choose? The storm that took the lives of his men was a natural consequence, not some twisted thing to prove how "monstrous" Odysseus is. In fact Odysseus tried till the last moment to sail away and save the lives he could (see my other analysis here) and of course again as many people said on God Games and all how Zeus was twisted yet another time although in Odyssey he had zero reasons to object apart from the natural hubris nemesis sequence. He never called Odysseus "shameful" either. In fact he says he agrees with Athena that calls him the most pious.

I think the massive change that I believe is abused by modern retellings is the whole "monster to man" trope. Odysseus losing his moral compass and "becoming the monster" and the plot around revolving to it. That was never the pont of Odyssey in my opinion. Odysseus never really lost his moral compass it is just his morality was not all pure and lovey in the first place. Was he changed by his experiences to be more ruthless in general? Absolutely but he was never changed to a monster according to Homeric version (because post-homeric versions already treat him as a villain from the get-go)

As for the things I liked about it, I had made a post you can see here:

I do love the harmonies and the music in it and I love the passion and the talents of the people in it. It is just that the whole plot for me is just not it. Also maybe I am also mostly annoyed with how the "fandom logic" has taken over it. Like internet getting swarmed by it. Epic quotes or facts getting literally mixed up or associated with the original or the fact we can no longer speak on the original unless someone brings up Epic the Musical... This annoys me to no ends. Of course I recognize the passion of the fans of the musical. Is just a personal thing to me. I felt the same when people were using Percy Jackson or Miller's books to talk on mythology before. Is the same here.

Of course I need to say this all the above is my PERSONAL OPINION. I have literally NOTHING against people who love the musical and the original equally. I am just NOT one of them. Also i have nothing against the artist either. I just do not agree with his outtake. Still appreciate his hard work. However when I saw the firsttwo sagas I knew this guy KNEW his mythology which is why I feel so disappointed that his later sagas felt like "Hmm...let me use that knowledge I definitely have on Odyssey just to change the hell out of it!" And that had me very sad and lowkey annoyed because I think this guy had some real stuff to create an actual Odyssey adaptation and yet again we had your average hollywood film plot where you barely see any of the plot he ellegedly adapts

Now on Paris the Musical I had answered another ask you can see here

I will not take more space on this already huge and runty post that probably made me more annoying and irritating around Tumblr! XD Generally again has little to nothing to do with Iliad but I loved the music (it was arguably one of the most original choices for music for a musical) and the songs I mention to the ask. Apart from that I am ot ecstatic by it either (arguably stage musicals do not seem to work for me when it comes to the ancient classics to a large degree because of how much the plots need to be overly simplified to fit the time frame) but I am more happy that it din't get blasted out of proportions like Epic was so the plot of it doesn't even need to be pointed out that it is not accurate and all. It is self-evident. The fact that the creator of Epic needed to "warn the fans" on how inaccurate his work is, speaks volumes to me.

I will close this runt now because is already too long. I think both Epic and Paris musicals have little to nothing to do with the things they adapt but Ironically Paris the Musical changed less stuff than Epic in comparison to magnitude. Both are passionate projects with great potential and very good music but plot wise I am not anymore surprised that they do not follow the actual plots or character developments. I am surprised that Epic was more accurate to the character development of Eurylochus than the main protagonist Odysseus! Made me focus more on Eurylochus than Odysseus! Hahaha!

I am glad that the musicals make more people willing to read the originals though. For that I am grateful.

And if I have to pick one song from each musical I would say "Just a Man" and "Business" respectably but of course I like others as well especially from Epic such as "Horse and the Infant", "Will of the gods" and "Storm".

I hope this answers your questions! I will elaborate further on some of the points I make here if you want! ^_^

[kylekozmikdeluxo]

5 Random (Sometimes Brief) Hyperfixations of Mine

One of the fun things about being autistic isn’t just the hyper fixations that become part of your official lore, but also the weirder, sometimes brief obsessions that really came and went. Maybe not necessarily what might form your core interests, but still a good-sized part of you.

They formed a strong camp in your brain for about 2-3 months, maybe even a little longer, and then just left as you developed a new obsession… And you sometimes get the urge, years later, to revisit some of those things… Or maybe they are still firm interests of yours, but they’re just in your massive file cabinet room that forms up most of your electric head meat... sharing space with a gazillion other things…

I’ll share some of mine with you today, on this Disability Pride Month. (Yeeehoo! I get two Pride months in a row!)

MAPS/ATLAS/GLOBES - As far back as first grade, 1998/99, I was really into how road layouts worked. Just how all the roads I was on, they looked like interlocking noodle grids when seen from above... And how maps and atlases, carefully done up by people, depicting them. I would get lost for hours in one of my dad's county atlas books, and soon I began to know where everything was. Which exit took you to which, etc. As you could imagine, I really really like SIM CITY and stuff like that back in the day.

But also maps in general. A playground my dad took me and my sister to had a painted U.S. map on the pavement, and I remember learning my states through that before school taught me all of that, or that episode of ANIMANIACS. I had at least one globe as a child, too, and was often mesmerized by it. Learning all the different countries around the world... Fun stuff, and because of that, I can name countries adults older than me (I'm 31 and a 1/2) have never even heard of... Yeeeeah, kinda concerning? Anyways, I think the street maps will always be the ones I liked the most. I still find them fascinating, especially when there are overhead maps of environments in video games. Could stare at those aaaaall day.

THE TITANIC - I think us autistics and neurodees all had THAT phase at one point in our lives. Titanic, Greek mythology, Ancient [Insert Civilization Here]… In third grade, in the year 2000, my class had a unit on the Titanic. I had already been aware of the Titanic because of that little 1997 indie movie that few people heard of, but that was just something in the background for me. I remember hearing the Celine Dion song incessantly on the radio, too. (Not complaining, I think it’s a lovely song.)

From there, the design of the ship fascinated me, and I got into Titanic for a little bit. I had a big coffee table book about the ship, and found what had to have been a clearance copy of the 1996 PC game TITANIC: ADVENTURE OUT OF TIME. I played that A LOT, it’s a favorite of mine, a fascinating and sometimes ominous alt-history sort of suspense/mystery adventure. I also had this random VHS about the Titanic, I couldn’t tell you what it was… It wasn’t the 1950s Titanic movie, it was some black-and-white, almost documentary-like look at the ship? I remember just getting that VHS somewhere, and I have no idea where it went… By early-to-mid 2001, I think that phase sorta set sail…

LENNY LOOSEJOCKS - The adventures of a string cheese-looking Aussie and his canine Donga, LENNY LOOSEJOCKS came from an indie flash game site called Ezone. Launched in 1995, I remember spending quite some time on that site around 2000/01-ish (you know, in the dial-up days of Internet), playing the variety of weird little games they had. Of all the LENNY LOOSEJOCKS games, the one I played the most was the cosmic one, LENNY LOOSEJOCKS IN SPACE.

I was aaaaall about that for some time, and while I had already learned about the Solar System in school (and was subsequently fascinated by all of that), this just made me appreciate it all even more. Each planet had a unique atmosphere and look to it, and the lack of music and the ambience really immersed me into those planets- I know, I’m talking about some flash game that inspired me greatly as a kid, not STAR WARS or whatever cool kids who had “actual” childhoods grew up with, lol. Anyways, yeah, this was my STAR WARS, my Roman Empire, something like that. I probably write so much cosmic/space/galactic stuff largely because of this game.

DRACULA - This one’s rather weird, I think it was spurred by a Hostess commercial from around late 2001/early 2002 where an ersatz Dracula transforms into a bat and flies headfirst into a neon sign that resembles Hostess’ signature telephone cord-looking cupcakes. I found a VHS of the 1931 Bela Lugosi DRACULA sitting around (not sure how that got into my orbit), and just sorta started drawing and writing a lot of horror-tinged, weird vampire stuff for a little bit. I remember whenever I’d play with my Casio keyboard back in the day, there was a pitch shifter wheel of sorts. I remember pressing the keys on the organ setting and using that dial to make it sound like a distorted horror movie soundtrack. From a beat-up film print. Even 9-year-old me in early 2002 picked up on those sorts of things.

I’ve always had a thing for the dark, the macabre, the gothic, and such. Even went as a vampire for a few Halloweens. I also remember doing a book report (this is around fourth grade) for the book DRACULA DOESN’T DRINK LEMONADE, from the series THE BAILEY SCHOOL KIDS. I just thought the idea was pretty cool and creepy, and to this day? I still think vampires are pretty cool, and I sometimes incorporate them into what I write.

THE ROAMING GNOME - Around the mid-2000s, Travelocity - the online travel agency - ran a series of commercials featuring a little garden gnome with an offscreen voice. I caught a couple of the commercials circa summer 2005, one where he get zapped across a room by an electrical outlet…

And another where he gets hit by a cart at the airport…

12-year-old me thought these were the height of comedy GOLD. I quoted these constantly, and it was to the point where one of my uncles went out of his way to buy me… A whole-ass GNOME. And we had that at my dad’s place for a little while, I think it got chipped up over time or stored away somewhere. I’d love to find it again, if it’s all in one piece lol.

[cursed-blade-gf]

P5R Personal Persona Top 20

Told you I’d do this. I love the Persona designs in this game and that’s outside of the fact of me being a massive mythology, literature, and occult nerd. All of these are gonna be based on their aesthetic design, their place in the compendium, and their skillset and viability. I’m also basing viability primarily on the abilities it picks up through leveling, not through items or fusions. There may be standouts, but there are very, very few exceptions. For clarification, I also limit myself to using only personas whose base level is lower or matches my own until roughly late game on NG+, hence the placements.

Alice-We love her. She’s hella fun and has that horror, unassuming Annabelle doll type vibe (plus Alice in Wonderland—noice). She comes very close to scraping the ceiling, but I give her a pass because not only does she have a glaring weakness in the form of bless damage, but her physical stats and endurance aren’t great compared to the rest of the options that start above base level 80, which is also bad because she is a very late game option. Why I love her though is because she has an amazing Magic stat and she has a unique instakill button for farming through lower tier encounters that can chunk HP and SP on more difficult no item runs where I’m trying to conserve resources.

Nekomata-Catgirl. Fairly obvious, but still my early game go to, because she’s very adaptable. Also, my play style sits in the support/swing area that Morgana occupies if you carry him (which I don’t), so she makes for a good replacement so I don’t have to use him. Plus she represents a Yōkai and Japanese myth has always been a pretty niche interest of mine.

Yoshitsune-I know. I’ve always been very clearly anti-meta and this dude just happened to hit number 3. Hypocrisy. I know. But hear me out. Japanese history and legend is cool as hell. Plus, there is something SO satisfying to stack him with Charge, Zaou-Gongen’s trait, and all kinds of buffs to just devour health bars. I mean 750 per hit on Maruki is truly disgusting and he hits for 8 of those. I won’t use him regularly, but still a personal favorite.

Ananta-A very niche pick, I’m sure, but a very solid mid-to-late-game all-around carry with the abilities it picks up. Plus Nuke is a pretty solid choice. Being that Ananta is a cosmic serpent in Hinduism and has pretty interesting lore plus a kick ass design? He’s very cool.

Angel-My early game carry. Bless, early game is fairly uncontested and she comes with support moves as well. I also am a victim of religious trauma from Christianity, so using Abrahamic rooted characters is cathartic in its own way. Plus, I mean, girls.

Nebiros-Late game pick that’s just very fun. She specializes in Brainwash and turning your enemies against each other. Plus she picks up some pretty neat abilities. Probably could be higher, but bosses resist status effects. Another Abrahamic deep lore entity. High general and necromancer of Lucifer’s armies.

Quetzalcoatl-We love Wing Snake here. My Nekomata replacement late game. Windy boy here pulls his weight DEEP into late game and boasts some pretty butch stats for where he sits.

Yaksini-Early to mid game Kali. Solid for physical abilities and has the bonus of inciting rage. A Hindu goddess of fertility is also kind of like a mood for carrying two swords.

Okinunushi-Discount Yoshitsune, but can definitely still hold her own. She gets me Myriad Slashes earlier than I really should get it. And the whole samurai/ronin vibe is so nice in this game.

Lilim-My ice chick. I usually use Yusuke anyways, but Yusuke is a very good physical damage option and I don’t always want to waste his turn using ice moves, so Lilim helps cover that.

Baphomet-The late game weakness hound (or goat). Covers a wide scale of magic and abilities plus a few solid strengths. Also, I’m a fiend for the occult vibe and Baphomet serves that in spades.

Asterius-There will be a few DLC personas on here, but trust me, I know how broken they are. Asterius, besides been the Greek manifestation of the Minotaur, has a very unique utility where his damage goes up as your health goes down, incentivizing you to take damage, which I think is super cool. That and his design is S tier.

Mara-I will never use him for several reasons, mainly because I have dignity, but his design is truly peak. Two words: Dick Chariot.

Hastur-Probably the latest in the game I ever go because when you hit Maruki, you’re already pretty squared away, but Abyssal Eye is too cool of an attack to miss out on. Plus he adds a bunch of solid resistances and options to your play style. And while I’m not at all a fan of Lovecraft in any way, shape, or form, the Cosmic Horror genre has so much cool stuff.

The Riders (Four Horsemen)-I’m pretty sure I have at least two of these each run through. They build differently, but each one gets a solid mix of status and attacks and they make for good pick ups.

Kaguya-The chief reason I think DLC’s are broken as hell. Izanagi-no-Okami is bad, but you get this bitch at level 20. This, by itself, can bail you out of so many jams it’s insane, which is why I don’t use her. As a level 20, she also gets Repel Phys AND Mediarama AND Shining Arrows. All early in the game. Nasty, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t add her because she’s saved my butt so many times.

Pisaca-My Despair troll and a very fun midgame option that can status effect your enemies to victory. Plus, horroresque vibe on this one is top tier.

Power-Yes, there is a Persona. Named. Power. She isn’t in my inventory for long, but she practically carries when she is. Her defense is great plus she comes with some solid hybrid damage/status moves.

Daisoujou-Truly, the protector. Great for support, but matches most heavy-hitters with damage. Basically, Alice but midgame and bless instead of curse and he comes with more healing instead of assault moves.

Arsène/Raoul-Literally, your first persona and I wish you kept him longer. Raoul is the late game variant and is basically what Arsène would be if you had him the whole time. He also gets a blanket sleep that can set up SO many technical smacks.

[outsidethebeautybox]

What is Diversity-Positivity and Why Does It Matter?

While I’m all about body positivity, most of the time it’s reserved for conversations about plus-sized/fat/chubby individuals or characters. Occasionally, I’ve seen it used to talk about other traits that fall outside the beauty standards (like crooked noses) and I am very passionate about this side of representation as well, but “diversity positivity” is bigger than that.

For one thing, it doesn’t really revolve around beauty standards (though beauty standards are anti-diversity positive.) It’s more about adding new colors to our artistic palettes.

Diversity positivity is my personal term for all stories, music videos, fashion lines, drawings (and more) that promote and appreciate the beauty of various diasporas. Whether that diaspora is “female body types,” “people of color” or any other category we use to ‘organize’ humanity.

Diversity positivity is having two black characters in one story with different features, complexions, and hairstyles, who absolutely do NOT look like they could be twins.

Diversity positivity is making the cast of your comic book multi-cultural/multi-ethnic with mixed-race couples and biracial characters.

Diversity positivity is giving all your characters different hair textures, body types, and nose shapes from each other, (even if they're all from the same culture/country.)

Diversity positivity is any way we illustrate, celebrate, and adore the wonderful things that make us all different from each other.

This has been a passion of mine since I was a middle schooler, but for a very long time, I didn’t have a name for it. Since I was 10 years old, I’ve been writing stories about mixed-race couples. I’ve written (and drawn) Arab characters, African American characters, Japanese characters, and more.

A passion for beauty (in any and every form) has been ingrained in my bones for almost two decades, so of course it had to blossom into a passion for genetics, unique cultural traits, and the nuances of human appearance.

Diversity is a wonderful thing. For writers and artists especially, it’s a nearly endless source of inspiration, if we just learn to branch out and widen our perspectives.

A new language can spawn new ideas for wordplay (did you know the Spanish word for “wife” and the word for “handcuff” are identical?) 

And don’t even get me started on the amount of fantasy creatures that exist in different mythologies. (We might finally be able to write about something other than dragons and elves. That would be a nice change of pace.)

And the further we dig into the details of each culture, the more we can learn how to represent their individual nuances. It helps keep our character designs fresh and interesting. Not every Latino or Asian character has to have the same identical character design. Cliches and stereotypes have been recycled more than enough. Let’s go beyond the ‘typical’ and appreciate the rare, the little-known, and the unique.

Did you know that some Koreans (naturally) have 4C hair? Did you know that some Dominican children are blond?

The world is full of beauty, whimsy, and inspiration if we’re willing to look for it.

Diversity positivity doesn’t have to be a struggle or a limitation, (or at least, it shouldn’t have to be.)

Representation actually gives us a LARGER palette to work with. It’s broadening our canvas and our perspectives. Because, honestly, the more we learn and read about the people we share this globe with, the more we’ll realize that we have TONS in common.

But that leads us back to the initial question. 

Why does diversity positivity matter? 

It matters because change starts with changing our mindsets, and there is no better place to start than with the art, books, cartoons, fashion shows, and movies that we enjoy (and create.)

It matters because, 70 years after the civil rights movement of the American 1950s, dark skin is still widely scorned.

It matters because people use the word ‘fat’ as an insult and make massive amounts of artwork mocking fat people instead of giving them a chance to be beautiful like anyone else.

It matters because we still live in a world where it’s novel to find a disabled character in a book or TV show, who isn’t there for a one-off episode about ASL or wheelchairs.

This world needs to think a little further outside the box, or better yet, set that cursed box on fire so we can all roast marshmallows over it together and make smores.

Everyone, fat or thin, able-bodied or disabled, African, Asian, European, or anything else, should get a chance to see themselves in the world of art and the world of fiction.

That’s my mission. Would you like to join me?

[lotusunset]

Far too many pics of the Palais Garnier (Part Three!)

In October of 2022, I had the extraordinary experience of getting to complete an 15+ year old dream of mine to visit the Palais Garnier. I took a metric fuckton of pictures and now I want to share them with you all, the PotO community!

Before I start dumping, a few things:

Please reblog this post. I usually don’t post a lot, therefore I don’t have a big following. I’d really appreciate people sharing these as much as they can. When I was a dumb kid in ye olden days of the internet, finding a post like this was the sort of thing I would have been hyped up on for weeks. Help spread that kind of joy!

Feel free to use these photos for any sorts of graphics, artistic reference or any other fandom related projects, as long as it’s not for profit. Please just credit me in some way. In fact, I'd love to be tagged to see whatever creations come from sharing all this!

This is part three, which is a continuation of pictures from the interior. I will continue to share information from the tour I took in this post as well. In fact, these are some of my personal favorites, as I never knew about some of these rooms as just some silly American girl on the internet. I hope you guys enjoy these even more than the last!

Part 1 (Exterior) | Part 2 (staircase) | Part 3 (HERE) | Part 4 (stage)

This is the grand foyer, an area that is pretty heavily photographed already. Standing in this room is almost as impressive as the massive staircase. The paintings on the walls and ceilings depict a lot of mythological scenes. In one of them, there is a hidden portrait of Garnier, along with the other artists that were involved in creating the paintings. The doors leading to the 2nd level balcony are located in the grand foyer.

Historically, only the gentlemen were allowed in the grand foyer, as it was seen as a place for them to converse and do business until one night, the Queen of Spain decided that she didn't care about such arbitrary rules. Ignoring it completely, she entered the room. The men all decided to leave, offended that even a queen would dare to encroach on their space. As word traveled around the Opera that night, all the other women soon joined the Queen in the foyer, wanting to see for themselves that she was there. Afterwards, men and women were begrudgingly allowed to mingle.

I found this to be a very interesting room. At the end of the grand foyer, this room was full of sunlight and comparatively simple decorations. The wealthy patrons themselves served as the real decorations of this room, as they would gather here for refreshments! The common folk, while not permitted to enter, would come to simply watch the rich people indulge in lots of expensive treats.

In fact, the menu still hangs on the wall in the form of all the portraits! All the women are holding items that symbolize various food items, tea, coffee, wine, game meat, fish, ice cream, citrus fruits and pastries.

I couldn't help but imagine Raoul taking various treats and sneaking them out to share with Christine.

We weren't allowed to go down this hallway but it just continued to make this place feel like a giant maze.

These two rooms were nearly identical, though on opposite ends of a hallway. A few mistakes were made during their construction. The top room is known as the Sun room, for its warmer ambiance. The bottom is the Moon room.

Firstly, the rooms were meant to be swapped locations. The Sun Room was supposed to lead into the gentlemen's smoking room, but the Moon room leads to it instead. On the ceiling of the Sun room, salamanders are painted. The little amphibians were believed to ward off the danger of fire and protect the building. By the time the mistake was caught, it was too late to change it.

The other mistake can be seen in the mirror illusion in the Sun room. Because of a fault in the construction of the mirrors, the glass is too curved and the error is magnified with the illusion. The light appears to bend around a corner, instead of repeating on into infinity.

I imagine Erik was quite cross with the workers when he realized these errors occurred. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be on the receiving end of his temper that day!

Looking at the star motifs painted on both ceilings, I wonder if they could have inspired Christine's Star Princess costume in the musical.

PART 1 (exteriors) | PART 2 (staircase) | PART 3 (here!) | Part 4 (stage)

[animebw]

What is Gintama about? The only thing i know about it is a clip of a Character explaining how filler in anime works.

I mean, the easier question to ask here is "What is Gintama not about?" But okay, lemme see if I can answer efficiently.

On a base level, Gintama's premise is "Hey, remember that time in the 19th century where Western powers forced Japan to open its borders and started colonizing it with foreign influence? What if that, but instead of America and Britain it was aliens?" So it takes place in a 19th century Japan that's been colonized by super-advanced alien races, meaning you've got traditional, pre-industrialization Japanese buildings and infrastructure side by side with futuristic skyscrapers and UFOs. The protagonists are a trio of down-on-their-luck bums who run an odd jobs service and get involved with all sorts of wacky and unusual goings-on around Edo.

So essentially Gintama starts out as: Deadpool: Sci-Fi Alternate History Sitcom Edition. Its humor is irreverent, ridiculous, self-referential, often dirty, often fourth-wall-breaking, and almost always hilarious (I cannot stress enough, this is the good version of Deadpool humor I'm talking about). And at first, it seems content to mostly just be an episodic comedy with an interesting setting. But then...

Well, perhaps this paragraph from my review of the first 200 episodes best sums it up.

"Swiftly and surely, moment after dazzling moment, this show proved itself to be a show with no limits. Every time I thought it had exhausted its capacity to surprise me, it reached into its bag of holding and pulled out such an unexpected new flavor of story that I was forced to completely re-evaluate what I knew it to be capable of. From goofy, irreverent comedy, it proved itself capable of meaningful thematic explorations. From meaningful thematic explorations, it proved itself capable of a sincerely touching humanity. From a sincerely touching humanity, it proved itself capable of a mastery of the meta of its own place in popular culture that exceeds any other story I’ve seen. From a mastery of its own meta, it proved itself capable of awe-inspiring spectacle that left me cackling in shock. From awe-inspiring spectacle, it proved itself capable of wrenching character drama that left me sobbing in my seat time and time again. From wrenching character drama, it proved itself capable of bringing all those elements together into a synthesis of storytelling prowess, juggling so many disparate tones and styles and making them all feel part of the same massive, sprawling universe. And from there, it proved it could just as easily just do goofy, irreverent comedy again and still have it carry all the weight of its established internal mythology."

The bottom line is, what starts as seemingly just a really funny sitcom grows and evolves until it's capable of anything and everything you could ever want from a story, all at the same time. It's one of the funniest comedies I've ever laughed at, one of the most affecting dramas I've ever cried to, one of the most pulse-pounding action thrill rides in shonen history, and the undisputed title holder of the single best cast of characters I've ever seen. Even those seemingly simple meta jokes eventually grow to become a full-blown commentary on the art of storytelling itself, as Gintama uses them to bludgeon tired, problematic tropes into the dirt in order to replace them with better, more progressive alternatives. Not to mention how that alt-history setting is mined for genuine political philosophy. And it accomplishes all that while still primarily being a really funny sitcom... except it's also building up its own epic narrative in the background of that sitcom, piece by piece, until it finally knocks over the longest chain of narrative dominoes ever constructed for a final act that, frankly, blows the entirety of One Piece out of the water all on its own.

That is Gintama. That is the greatest work of fiction I've ever had the pleasure to experience. If any of that sounds interesting to you, give it a shot. I know the length is intimidating, but trust me: it's the most rewarding marathon you'll ever run.

[frumverrfriggjar]

Thoughts on Odin and the ‘ugly’ bits in the myths

Before I really started diving into the lore, I suppose my idea of Odin was very much coloured by Tolkien’s Gandalf and my notion of the Christian patriarch. A wise old man, understanding of everyone, and without judgement. Morally flawless. This is what I felt a god should be. The archetype of the just and noble king who always does what is right for his subjects and is never corrupted by his wealth and power is one that appealed to me when I was young, but as I grew older, I came to think this is a character that is actually awfully dull. I want to see characters struggle with life. I want to see them make mistakes and do bad things. I want to learn something from their struggle. I was intrigued to discover, then, that Odin is a much less noble, much darker figure than I had imagined him to be. When I read the myths, he often comes across as greedy and petty. He is very proud and demanding of respect, and eager to prove and show off his knowledge. There are parallels between Christ on the cross and Odin’s hanging, but I think the most telling difference between them is that Odin’s sacrifice (of himself to himself!) is purely selfish.

So, it seems, then, that Odin is a god to be feared and appeased, a terrible and chaotic force of nature, but one that could prove a powerful ally (like all forces of nature tamed to be used by humankind). If you manage to gain his favour, that is, because his love is not unconditional. He needs to get something out of it. More people to add to his army. More knowledge. More power. A fuck :)

Recently I read a very enlightening post on the “fandomification” of mythology on Tumblr by classicslebianopinions that I misunderstood at first. I assumed the OP was talking about adaptation. I sat down to read their reply to the question why fandomification was a bad thing, and I realized I have been approaching the Norse myths from a similar angle. When I look at all the art I have made of the Allfather, and especially of his relationship with Loki, I can see I have been trying to “fix” them. I have made them so loving and tender :’) I guess it speaks for me that I want everyone to have a wholesome relationship (or maybe all it says is that I am a massive sap :P), but I have made them better people than they actually are. I do not like the fact that they call each other perverts for not sticking to the ideals of manhood in Lokasenna. I do not like that Odin’s sense of his own masculinity is apparently so fragile he starts spouting misogynist shit after being accused by Loki of dressing like a woman. I do not like the fact that Odin taunts and disrespects his own son Thor in Hárbarðsljóð. But, Saskia, you walnut, you just said it yourself, a story about some super woke people never doing anything wrong and just having a lovely old time is going to be so incredibly dull! I must not erase parts of their personality that do not appeal to me. This is what will make them interesting and these are tools I can use to tell my story, especially since I want queerness to be a big part of it. There is shame in there, and toxic masculinity, and self-loathing. I realized I have been worrying too much about making Odin likable (i.e. morally pure! I fell into the trap!) and about redeeming him. But redemption is not mine to give anyway; that is up to the audience. It is... interesting that I apparently have this need to make my own characters Good People (perhaps because part of me thinks my art must reflect Me?), since I really enjoy rat bastards in fiction created by others. When I think about characters that have really stuck with me, there are a lot of them with really despicable traits :) but I am still able to empathise with them and love them as characters. I must trust that Odin’s humanity will be evident. I suppose one of the reasons why I have fallen in love with the supreme witch boy is the precise fact that he is such an amoral asshole, and that he is complex and contradictory and human.

[lokiondisneyplus]

Most Marvel post-credit scenes hint at the future. Loki opted for a blunter approach: the God of Mischief would return in season 2.

Based on the final turn of events, there was really no other choice: Loki (Tom Hiddleston), having journeyed to the furthest point in spacetime with his variant Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) to meet the founder of the TVA, a scientist-turned-survivor-of-multiversal-war known as He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), finds himself zapped into a new reality when his lady self slays the omnipresent being. The mind reels!

Creator Michael Waldron takes delight in the endless possibilities of Loki’s core premise. And as a veteran of Rick and Morty, he knows what anchors a mind-bending show, and what will keep Hiddleston’s character hurtling through his chaotic, rewritten future. Below, Polygon talks to Waldron about landing on the key choices of Loki season 1, what to expect from season 2, and a bit on his next project, the wrestling drama Heels, which is set to premiere on Aug. 15.

Did you know there’d be a second season of Loki from the beginning or was that choice made later in the process?

Michael Waldron: We always knew that it was a possibility. We always knew that we wanted to propel Loki and these characters out into the MCU after this, into further stories. But that didn’t really crystallize as a sure thing until we were in production and everything. And as we were really figuring out the finale.

So you were still cracking the ending as you shot the show?

There was a hiatus due to the pandemic. So things were constantly being retooled because of that. I think, by and large, everything with He Who Remains and the Sylvie-Loki conflict was always there. But that cliffhanger was the sort of thing that suddenly became a really appealing opportunity, a chance for that to lead into a second season.

What element of the series helped you crack the macro story of Loki, and made all the other pieces fall into place? Each episode almost feels like a standalone adventure, similar to Rick and Morty, but what helped it all click?

The first couple of weeks in the writers room was just laying out the individual episodes. It was very important to me that each episode stood on its own, and you could say “This is the Lamentis episode,” “This is the apocalypse moon episode,” “This is the Void episode.” I didn’t want it to just be cut up chapters and have one long continuous story. Obviously, we had to figure out the time travel for things to slot into place. I think a big idea for us was the way you get around the TVA by hiding in apocalypses. That felt like such a big, cool, exciting idea that it drove the action of episode 2, episode 3, and in a way it’s like Alioth is the ultimate apocalypse that He Who Remains is hiding behind. That sci-fi idea cracked a lot open for us. I know that after we had that I went home and I slept a little sounder.

Did adding the multiverse to the Marvel Cinematic Universe feel like blowing something up or expanding it, in terms of narrative possibilities?

In the same way that after the first couple Iron Man movies, and with the first Avengers, suddenly these movies were kind of going to space. Then we had Guardians. I think of the multiverse as another version of that. It’s new ground to cover, and particularly interesting because characters meeting other versions of themselves and other versions of people they know is... cool. That’s just a cool sci-fi concept! But I think with anything, as you expand outward, it only works if the humanity remains. It’s exciting to watch characters dealing with big crazy multiversal conflicts because we can see ourselves in them. I think you just have to hold on to the humanity that makes these stories work in the first place.

Did you go back to the Thor movies for Loki? Was there anything to find in the past of Marvel as you were paving the future?

Absolutely. I mean I watched them many times, contrary to what Twitter might think because I did some bits on there saying that I’ve never seen Avengers and I upset some people [laughs]. I have seen it many times. “Confirmed: Loki writer has seen Avengers and saw it before writing Loki show.”

In fact, I was watching all these movies on a loop in the writers’ room. I gleaned so much because you watch the evolution of the character. Avengers was particularly informative because our story picks up Loki right after that, but I also I found a lot of inspiration in Thor: The Dark World, a maybe sometimes maligned movie that I actually really enjoy. I just think there’s great stuff with Loki being tangentially responsible for the death of his mother, how he reacts to that. That is the start of his journey of that version of Loki’s redemption, so I was inspired by that.

What’s propelling the characters into season 2? Where are you headed in basic terms?

In season 1, you saw a lot of characters reckoning with and questioning their own glorious purpose, and that glorious purpose changing, [characters] realizing that that can change. Everybody except for Sylvie. I think she holds onto hers, which is vengeance, and to the detriment of us all, perhaps. And we’ve got a Loki who, at the top of our show, assessed himself as a villain and, I would argue, at the end of our show, has become a little bit of a hero. There’s nothing more heroic to me than fighting for the right thing and losing. You see that washing over him as he’s there back at the TVA, after Sylvie has knocked back there. And then he gets up because that is what heroes do — they keep going. So I think that you’re gonna see a Loki that looks at himself in a different way certainly that at the top of this.

Do you hope to explore more of Sylvie’s backstory in season 2?

I guess we’ll see. We certainly have our own rich backstory for her, stuff that didn’t get to make it into the show. Elissa Karasik, our episode 2 writer, wrote a lot of amazing backstory for Sylvia and everything. So those ideas exist out there.

And her version of Thor?

Tune in.

How did He Who Remains come about? Did you bring the character to Marvel or was that a character Marvel hoped to introduce?

I was pushing and our team was pushing early on in the writers’ room that it should be a version of Kang up in that Citadel, sort of fusing the mythology of He Who Remains with a little bit of the Immortus mythology. And that was a thing we were excited to do. And it became clear that it actually made sense for our story. The only way we were going to do it was if it made sense, but it was like, who had a better argument for creating the TVA to prevent other versions of themselves from existing then a guy as evil as Kang the Conqueror?

You wrote the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — did Marvel hire you for that after Loki? Does the movie feel like a continuation of the show?

Yeah, that opportunity came as we were getting ready to start production on Loki. It was a pleasure. I got to work with Sam Raimi, a hero of mine. I was in London for five months making that movie at the top of this year. We had a blast. I think that it’s a continuation in as much as ever every Marvel movie is to some extent a chapter in an ongoing story, but these things are meant to stand alone and the most important thing about Doctor Strange too is making the most kick ass Doctor Strange movie we could.

Is Loki a two-part show now or are you invested in telling a longer story with future seasons beyond season 2?

Time will tell, but I do my hope is that season 1 stands on its own. We always wanted to tell a complete story there. And in whatever the next chapter may be will stand on its own as well.

Your next show, Heels, is already on the way. We got a big preview out of Comic-Con this year, but I’m curious about the scope of this story. You’re starting with two brothers running an independent wrestling franchise, but you’ve dropped the name “Vince McMahon” a few times — is this about the building of an empire? Would you liken it to The Godfather or Breaking Bad?

I always thought about it a little bit of a Scorsese-sort-of rise, and we’ll see if there’s a fall. Starting from humble beginnings and trying to build some crazy. Wrestling was certainly not always the empire that it is and that’s what’s interesting, to watch the evolution of a family-run wrestling business from something you do in your small towns and perhaps a national, even global empire. That would be a really compelling arc for a show over the course of several seasons. I’d be excited to explore that.

What’s the most dramatically fulfilling wrestling moment you’ve witnessed? What’s the bar for the wrestling drama of Heels?

It’s gotta be Hulk Hogan turning heel in the WCW. There was an invasion storyline, these guys from WWF, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, came over and they were the bad guys. It was at a Pay-per-view and and they were beating up on the good guys that you love, and here comes Hulk Hogan in the yellow and red and he’s the hero. “The Hulk’s gonna get ‘em! The good guy’s here!” And then the Hulk just leg drops Randy Savage. That was the original Red Wedding. I just think about the boldness of turning him heel. To a little kid... I wasn’t even like a massive Hulk fan, but he was just such a mythological figure. What a chance that Hulk Hogan took as a performer, as a bankable kind of movie star at that point. That was bold, risky storytelling and it set off two years of amazing storytelling with Hogan just playing a craven, cowardly heel and just being so evil. I really respect the hell out of them for doing that. That was a great storyline.

[trulyinspiringmovies]

Knowing

“Knowing” holds a very special place in my heart, but it’s not a perfect film.

John Koestler is an astrophysicist and a single father to his son, Caleb. At school, Caleb receives a letter that was written fifty years ago and placed in a time capsule at his school. While all the other kids received pictures of what the students thought the future would look like, Caleb received a page with a bunch of seemingly random numbers on it. John finds the paper and discovers that the numbers correlate to real-world disasters that have happened in the past fifty years. The thing is, there are only a few numbers left. It’s now up to John to figure out what the final numbers could mean and save the world.

Watching “The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent” made me want to rewatch some of the Nicolas Cage movies that I grew up with. “Knowing” is the first movie that came to mind because of my special attachment to it. The mother of a friend of mine had just started a new business and invited all of us to come over to celebrate. We were checking out the new building and enjoying some good food. The adults stayed upstairs while we were downstairs watching “Knowing”. I remember all of us collectively freaking out and being paranoid about the end of the world. Most importantly, I remembered how interesting the premise of this movie was. After rewatching it today, I’m happy to say that the story is exactly how I remembered it and still holds up. Unfortunately, as someone who is more experienced with movies now, I have to call out this movie on its flaws. For starters, the performances are horrible in this movie. I’ve always joked that Nicolas Cage was never a great actor, but he makes some questionable choices in this movie. One part that stands out to me is when he’s trying to intimidate the Whisper People that have been talking to his son. He hits a nearby tree with his baseball bat and screams out. I get what he’s going for, but it just comes off as bizarre because of a lack of commitment. The actor playing the son is also really deadpan throughout the whole movie. This all culminates in, what is supposed to be, an emotional goodbye that just falls flat. As a kid, I never noticed how many logical inconsistencies in this movie. There are too many to list here, but I mean, you’re telling me that no one in the world figured out about the solar flares until Nicolas Cage types away for a few seconds on his computer? Wouldn’t NASA know about this before some random lone astrophysicist? I’m sure news would’ve broken so much earlier than it did in this movie. Still, that dumb decision actually spawned some tense end-of-the-world panic scenes. Speaking of those panic scenes, this movie does a great job with each of its disaster scenes. I remember both of the main scenes vividly and they still managed to catch me off guard. Finally, I want to talk about the ending. A lot of people felt like the ending jumped the shark or was religious propaganda. I didn’t necessarily take it that way. I think it was a logical culmination of everything this movie was going for. There was enough in this movie to have the ending make thematic sense. Also, I don’t really see it as religious propaganda. I think it’s a modern take on the Christian religion, much like Thor in the MCU and Percy Jackson with Greek mythology. Maybe it’s just weird for people because Norse and Greek mythology doesn’t have any followers while Christianity is still prevalent today. Still, I love seeing other peoples’ interpretations of myths or religion, so I thought the ending was interesting and through-provoking. While I was watching this movie, I couldn’t help but think that this movie should have a remake or something. I genuinely feel like this movie should be updated and improved upon, especially since the topic of disasters is becoming all too familiar these days. I know that probably won’t ever happen, so I’m glad I still have this movie.

★★★★

Rewatched on May 20th, 2022

[thequantumranger]

Ayy, glad to see another Order: 1886 player. It seems that not many know about the game, which is a shame, considering its really good. Same with Plague Tale: Innocence

I know! Even with all its flaws, The Order deserves a sequel 😩 The lore was interesting, although to appreciate it I feel the player has to know about the Arthurian legend because the game doesn't go much into detail. For example, if I hadn't recognized their coat of arms, I wouldn't have known the Lord Chancellor is Lancelot. I love Excalibur (1981) and The Wolfman (2010), werewolves and mythology. The Order is a mix of many of my interests, but a potential sequel needs better writing to become accessible to players who aren't as familiar with mythology as I am.

Sorry for the rambling but the game's a massive guilty pleasure of mine. The ending left me wanting more.

I own a Plague Tale but still haven't played it.

[venteamocha]

Hello! Sometimes I see you post stuff from IF blogs and I've recently started playing some IF games, which I've enjoyed so far. Do you have any IF stories you'd recommend in particular? I'm not attached to any particular genre and I don't need romance or a self-insert main character, (though I'm not opposed to either). Though, it's a definite plus if it's LGBTQ+ inclusive! I'm not really sure what the "cornerstones" are of IF so I'll take any and all recommendations haha

Oh god, I play so many IFs. So many. And it’s not even close to all of them, but I’m trying!!

Tbh IFs without romance seems to be very rare, I think because when I think IF I think Choice of Games, and those pretty much always have romance in them. At least, the most well known ones do. But a well done one without romance would be nice too!

Okay, this is a list of my favourites! They’re all LGBT+ inclusive, and most have gender selectable love interests, or at least ones that change gender depending on the gender and sexuality combination you pick. In no particular order, of course.  Behind a cut because I’m gonna give them each a mini review. Because I haven’t done that yet.

(There are so many.)

Mind Blind: I absolutely love our big brother Nick, I love how witty and sharp so much of the dialogue is, I love how the MC clearly has a rather large handicap, but is still such an important person to so many people and not looked down on in the slightest. And when they are, we all know it’s because that person is a jerk! They’re not defined by what they aren’t, but what they are, and that’s a great message.

Shepherds of Haven: Part of why I love this one so much is I just love fantasy settings and this one just pulls it off so well. The cast is full of amazing characters, and I gotta say I die inside pretty regularly for not being able to afford the patreon content, lol. The author puts so much amazing stuff on there, and gives us so much great content in the game and through answers on tumblr, and you can tell this whole thing is just the best thing ever to them, and that makes it the best ever for us readers too!

The Wayhaven Chronicles: I’d be shot if I didn’t mention this one, the series that literally killed dashingdon when the book 3 demo dropped!! Again, another author that cares a lot and does their best to do right by their fans. We’ve been given drip after drip of these amazing characters backstories, and I just cannot wait for more! It’s definitely very romance centered, but the overall plotlines are also very good, and I have to say that no matter who I romance, I just feel like the group as a whole is a family. And that’s wonderful.

Speaker: I really like the lore. I really like the lore. I can’t wait until we get more of the overall plotline. Mostly I want my Speaker to get in deep trouble so Seb, Li and Seer (best sister ever) go off and beat the shit out of whatever is causing it. This probably says something about me, but what can I say, I thrive on angst and inflicting near death injuries on my OCs. Sometimes I even kill them, although all of this is offtopic. Or is it? I guess we’ll find out, although I doubt we’ll actually be able to kill off Speaker. And yes, I am definitely playing the Seb & Li poly route. I love them both so much. 

Wilhelmina: I love vampires, ok? Ok? And this one is based off Dracula!! The OG!! And you can choose Drac’s gender!! Shit, sign me up forever!! Yeah, she might be literally killing my bff, torturing my fiancé and low key fucking with my mind, but vampires are hot!! Let me live! Or not. But yeah, this is a really well done retelling of the Dracula novel and I like how well it works as an IF. Did I mention I like vampires?? Especially when they get all monstery?? (This one has an MC with a set gender, as it’s based on an already existing literary figure. Mina can have a same sex relationship with dracula, if you make drac a female, or with Lucy, a female love interest.)

More Things in Heaven and Earth: Hi Nell!! First off, I gotta uncover a deep shame of mine. My family literally has a Shakespeare heirloom collection. As in, my greatgrandfather passed down through the family a collection of Shakespeare that was published in 1911. In ye olde englishe. I tried to read it when I was like 10 and was like what language is this?? What the fuck? What the fuck??? And ended up reading As You Like It, a bit of Romeo and Juliet, and a little of Hamlet. Didn’t touch the rest of it. I only got into the other stories through trashy ya reimaginings. That said, this retelling of Hamlet inspired me to go read the whole of the original and now I have a lot of fears for these characters that I’m so much more attached to, oh god I hope my Ophelia has a happy ending. I hope Hamlet himself has a happy ending. The dialogue is so well done, everyone is engaging, and yeah it made me finish an old af book when nothing else did. (This one also has an MC with a set gender, female, for the same reason. However, there are two gender variable love interests, so you can very much play a bi or gay Ophelia if you so choose.)

Guenevere: I love King Arthur. All the myths. I have so many books based on the King Arthur mythos, oh dear god. I love pretty much every version of it. All the movie and tv shows too! I just can’t get enough of those knights. I could go on for paragraphs about how courtly love worked and how all the different social castes were, but I’ll try not to. This series lets you customize Guen as a character to an amazing degree, considering that she’s also based on an actual literary figure like the other two I mentioned above. It really feels like she becomes your own character, and yet she still exists within this world very very well. I worry quite a bit that the author might have bit off more than they can chew with the current book they’re working on, what I’ve seen of it looks absolutely massive in scale. What is out so far is a wonderful read though, full of drama and laughter and lots of chances to make the story your own.

Bastard of Camelot: Yep! Another King Arthur series! Sue me! This one lets you set Mordred’s gender though, so it’s more inclusive in that way. It is very interesting to play as one of the “bad guys” of the King Arthur mythos. You can play them as straight up evil, as good, or you know, a bit of column a and a bit of column b. Or they can just be a rude little shit. It’s got dragons too! You get a dragon pet! Dragons are cool. It can be a bit tough to play sometimes, since a lot of people dislike Mordred quite a lot because of prejudices. Hopefully this will change a bit later in the series if you’ve been a fairly good person up to that point. Gotta say though, as a warning, that Mordred is a product of incest. It’s not glossed over, and it does cause a lot of problems for them in the story.

God of the Red Mountain: I just love that this inspired me to read more chinese mythology tbh. There is just so much here! And it’s just such a good read. I wish I was better at describing things. The MC being a spirit that you can define, the whole setting, most of the love interests also being spirits, the massive amount of history and culture and lore, how it all fits together. It is such a well done story. I really wish it got more attention than it does. I still miss Big Sister. I still can’t wait to find out more about the foxes, and how we can heal our MC.

The Nameless: Another one that lets you play as something otherworldly. I love the lore behind this one, and I love all of the cast I’ve met. I kind of like that our MC isn’t loved right off the bat, that we’ll have to win over all of our love interests and even the other npcs. I’m up for the challenge! Everything I’ve read on the tumblr for these characters just makes me love them all more tbh. I love how much they’ve written for all of them! Most of all though, I love Oisein. All the art of them is just *chef kiss* and their personality is magical.

A Mage Reborn: This is a really recent one but!! Wow, it’s really well done! That cliffhanger!! Oof!! Not many books literally start with killing your MC off! That takes guts! I told the author this already, but I love the way they formatted this, the way it starts with the end, so to speak, and then fills it all out. It just made everything feel so poignant, how MC is literally looking back at all these moments in time in the last minutes they have before they die. Shit. That’s powerful. And there’s gonna be more??? Can’t wait for that angst. Give me that drama. Of course I picked the one who had me killed, that’s just how I am!

These are all just the COG type games, there are a few twine games with graphics I’d throw on here, but the list is long enough as it is and they feel like they’re in a different category to me. Maybe it’s just me?

[katerinaaqu]

It IS a rethorical question. Quite honest many people use EPIC tag to get views because as you see the tag has literally taken over everything! I can hardly speak on the original material without someone bringing up EPIC anymore and honestly it is a bit sad. I felt the same when people were using Miller's inaccurate books to basically shut everyone up that was speaking on original sources because apparently they do not like to be reminded that the original material and the retellings exist.

The teaming up of people is great and this is why people use tags. Occasionally to show their general interest so whenever they post something related to the Epic Cycle they do also include the musical because they like it.

I have said it many times over since I am not an EPIC fan at least not plot-wise, the musical is NOT just a representation that was not meant to be accurate. At this point it screwed over literally EVERY part of the Odyssey that it made it what it is in the first place. EPIC is no longer a "loose adaptation" is basically an original story without original characters. Literally change Odysseus to any other name and you still have your story. Either way love it or hate it or simply like it etc I don't care as much but it is both sad and annoying to see constantly fandoms take over this way and people not being able to find stuff that used to belong to the original sources or quite honest post it and get attention due to the fact that the fandoms are taking over.

We also see the phenomenon the fandom logic reach the points of confusion where people think the material they are fans of is actually responding to actual material. I remember that at some point even Wikipedia included the "Hermes and Circe lovers" and that corresponded to no source apart from Miller's books. The same goes with many things going on.

Thanks for your insights OP but yeah I am not looking for explanations. I can imagine what is the explanation. As my tags speak of this is just a rant of mine not really a question per se. It is great that people get to know the classics by the adaptations aka they get encouraged to look for them and learn but as others have said before me the fact that the tag is used literally for EVERY SINGLE REFERENCE to the epic cycle has made it very hard for others who do not seek reference to the musical not to get swarmed by them. And as other Greeks who love the classics like me do speak also on the fact that mythology in general and Greek mythology in particular being treated like a fandom is already a bit of interesting and kinda complicated subject to discuss because myths were actually parts of cultures and not just "fairy tales" or fake stories that people used just to pass the time and many modern retellings of myths have created such a massive wave of misunderstandings that right now is impossible to tell truth from lie sometimes or that people are so prejudiced against ancient cultures exactly because of the way they are depicted in these modern adaptations

Either way thanks again for your insights but yes it was a rethorical question.

You realize that a fandom has gone off the rails or that it has REALLY taken over when you see "Epic the Musical" tagged under images of Achilles and Patroclus! Like...how are two characters who were both dead by the taking of Troy, yet alone by Odyssey who do not appear not even as a mention for the Underworld as they were in the Odyssey, relatable to this?!

Sorry! XD

[shadow-kings-legacy]

"We're wide awake now, our eyes are wide open" Definition of hero

1a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a person admired for achievements and noble qualities d : one who shows great courage source: Meriam Webster online dictionary

The dictionary definition of a hero paints quite a fantastic picture of an ideal good character, something my players and I have put aside for the PCs, who all have flaws, goals and needs. It makes me really proud everytime someone does something incredible and in-character when we play. But I digress, it's time to introduce the main characters of our journey. In order of appearence and color coded for your benefit: 🟡 Alyssa (the paladin) 🌞 🟠 Joshiro (the monk) ⚓ 🔵 Korinn (the warlock) 🌊 🎀 Nonemi (the artificer) 🔫 🟢 Ozthen (the rogue) 🍀 🟣 Vesper (the bard) 💄 ⚫ Cassius (the warlock) 📚 🔴 Phybble (the (villain) wizard) 🍵 (Not shown) Dakreg (the fighter) 💪 I'll go into detail about their backstories and my thoughts about them in individual posts. For now, I'd like to make a synopsis of the story and a little bit of the process of how I came up with it.

"Have you heard about the Warlock King?" "Shh! Don't call him that, least you'll anger him!" "Alright, how about Shadow King?" -Whispers amoung a Waterdeep tavern crowd It all started in our starting campaing, where our local tabaxi warlock Korinn chose Larloch, the Shadow King to be her patron. This is nothing new of course, he is a popular choice for he is know as an incredibly powerful archmage in the DnD lore, his existence stretching back for centuries, having been a powerful mage in the ancient Netheril empire. Always the naive woman, Korinn made a deal with the lich, and in exchange, she would bring him magical items and offer him interesting subjects for his research. But in her chaotic nature, Korinn chose to defy his orders at the end of Lost Mines of Phandelver, this being the starting point of our next plot, and the birth of our new BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy). Now, for anyone who has read a bit about Larloch, you'll know he's not really "evil" by canon lore, he's a lawful (but still kinda evil, he kills anyone not of interest to him without a second thought, come on) crature, one who wants to be left alone to read and experiment by his lonesome like the nerd he is, he simps for the goddess of magic Mystra (he calls her The Lady, tips fedora) and makes the ocassional ground breaking new magical item / spell of the moment. That said, the wiki gave me a juicy hook to use him as a villain:

"But he was also insane, his mind affected by his extreme age. Sometimes he could be calm and even whimsical. Other times he was crazed, snarling and launching spells at random" -Forgotten Realms Wiki

"Well now, ain't that interesting" thought the me of the past. You're telling me this stupidly powerful being, who is presumed to have planned to every single variant that could occur, Dr Strange style, is a unstable old man? Sweet. So the magical equivalent of an atomic bomb's trigger was being held by this dude, let's just make the small sliver of sanity he has left realize he is loosing himself, that time is running out and he has to secure his legacy, to go out with a boom. But Larloch is not that selfish, he knows whatever plan he comes up with will affect Faerûn as a whole, so why not try to change the continet for good? Start a new era, an age of magic. Sweet lady Mystra, as much as she likes him, would not approve of him messing with her precious Weave of course, so his first step, deal with the meddling (but oh so beautiful) goddess of magic. He would not kill her, as he is no fool, gods can not be slayed (or can they...? Let's put a pin in that as well); so he'll just trap her, sealing her powers and keeping her safe in the safest place he knows, his phylactery. One deceitful invitation later, and with the help of his ol' "pals" Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy and leader of the Thay nation; and the ancient black dragon (I know, he's cannonicaly green, but as I said, this is semi-homebrewed to fit the needs of my table) Vorgansharax, better know as the The Maimed Virulence, Mystra finds herself trapped and helpless at the hand of one of the few mortals she admired. Ain't life funny.

"Wait, so you're telling me a goddess, and not just any goddess, the misstress of fucking magic got trapped and no one noticed?!" Well, not quite dear reader, the other gods of the pantheon of course noticed, particulary god of justice Torm and his fiance (again, homebrewed) goddess of beauty Sune. The latter being the first to realized the absence of her dear friend, who went and told her man something smelled fishy (or dead, considering Larloch's an undead?). Both set out to investigate, and considering not many beings in the realm could be a danger to a god, the trail let to our lich friend quite fast. Torm, being a bit of a hot-head jumped at the chance to teach justice to this creature, while Tyr, the old god of justice begged him to reconsider, to think things through before taking actions. "A mortal capable of making Mystra dissapear is not to be taken lightly my friend" he said to deaf ears.

And so, with Sune helping him, Torm met with quite the surprise. Larloch had prepared for the interferance of other gods, so he ran a little experiment, he knew gods couldn't be killed, but why was that? The church would tell you it's because the gods live on all of us, as long as we believe in them, so even if they were to be struck down, the faith of the believers would bring them back. "The hypothesis is set, it is time to test it". And test it he did. With the raw power of two ancient liches and a black dragon, they were struck down in all of their inmortal arrogance. Larloch tracked the massive magical energies to two mortals in the Material Plane. "Interesting". The gods, after the mess that the Spellplague caused in the mortal's plane, had decided to not pick "champions" to control again it seemed, but still designed "vessels" of high faith and compatibility with their characteristics to recuperate their strenght at a faster rate if something were to happen to them. "So it is true, gods cannot die as long as their faith exist in mortals... Well now, what would happen if we removed this faith? Time for a new experiment. How intriguing". And so, the Shadow King set out to do the impossible, again. I'll tell more about the backstory and start tyring to tie in the PCs in the next posts. it is quite a lot of information, so putting everything together is a bit overwhelming, but so fun. Makes me realize how much work I've put into this. I'm proud of myself, take that depression! Stay tunned, and beware of the shadows 💀 Credit of the Faerûn map goes to Johnovick on Reddit.

[d4isy-pusher]

Uhmm Lyric Lore?? She’s really interesting to me! P sure she’s either some sorta Demi goddess or related to the gods in ur story and I wanna know a bit about that!

Aha not me getting interested in Lucid Shard

😳

BRO YOU CAN TOTALLY ASK I HAVE SO MUCH LORE THAT I JUST HIDE ESPECIALLY OF JERICHO AND LYRIC SO LIKE MF ASK AHEAD

ok but she isnt a demigod anymore that whole concept is kinda scrapped??? instead shes an actual titan, which arent really around anymore because of this big war they led against the gods and oh no they are bad nobody likes titans yadayada, theyre in purgatory or something like that

her papa (if you can call him that really) was their leader and was the one who kinda forced the others into participating, they were heavily mistreated for no other reason than that they controlled things that were supposedly negative

he was the titan of wrath/rage, cant decide which one i want to call it but yea

he had this scythe that was his main weapon and he really cared about it and it was like a extension of him and a third eye, same as all the gods do with their cool weapons and stuff

so right as he was about to be sent away he turned that scythe into a dormant being, which was lyric

she kinda crashed onto earth and didnt wake up, but after a while she got disturbed by a mining project nearby and kinda just slaughtered all of them because she is DEFINITELY strong enough to do that kind of thing with a snap of her fingers

obvs the gods would detect that kind of thing since she caused a massive fucking crater, they took her with them and were originally plotting to just kill her or smthn but decided that if they failed and she was still alive and hurt she could attack them and might actually kill one of them

so they shoved her at young jericho who was like "yo what" but was super happy to have some kind of friend/attention because his dad was an asshole stupid bitch neglectful motherfucker

it wouldve been fine except that lyric had some kind of trait thing with her, like a second personality that heavily resembles her papa, it comes out when shes feeling any kind of negative emotion or if shes heavily drunk

she has heterochromia, one eye red and one eye blue, but they both turn red sometimes if she gets really upset

she also has a small indent on her left hand, which is also the side her red eye is on, its of a pentagram and its a birthmark thing and it glows red sometimes

her dad was also left handed which is why thats where it appeared

she also has nightmares of that war and it freaks her out because she has the same memories that the eye of the scythe saw

her dad constantly tries to manipulate her or speak to her but shes learned to shut him out, he keeps trying to coax her into taking his place

OK MORE FUN STUFF NOW WOOHOOOOOOOOOO

she really likes rock music which is why she joined a band she loves them a lot :]]]]

since she eats ambrosia her tongue, spit, blood etc. are all pomegranate flavored bc it has that side effect LOLLL (also if you know what pomegranates do in greek mythology hahahdhaha lore thing)

she also has goat-ish pupils, 1. hell reference 2. i just thought it was super cute

oh and like a cool fact, shes not actually a cat, her actual form is very different, although she never takes that form nor does she know that she has it

basically the gods gave her a cat form permanently so 1. she would be less intimidating and 2. because she really super liked cats and showed a big interest in them

she has red electricity as a power, and can create little portal thingies

her hair is actually SUPER spiky but she keeps it down with the little hat

OK THAT WAS LONG SORRY BUT I HAVE BEEN WORKING A LOT I KNOW I DONT POST ABT IT BUT YEA <3

[the-muses-are-herd]

Recent OC list.

A handy little reference... that I’ll update later, with the proper info. For now, just a list of recent OC’s I have been using for RP: 

*

- Todd Mannix. 

*

SETTING: A story of mine, loosely based on “The Fox and the Hound” (primarily the novel, but frankly, a few other sources as well). Fantasy, kinda… Steampunk setting. A world loosely based on early 20th-century America (as in the continent), with technology being a touch more advanced and magic existing but being rare and regarded as a very risky type or energy to tap into. 

GENDER: Male. 

SPECIES: Red Fox.

SEXUALITY: Pansexual.

AGE: 25 (loosely).

OCCUPATION: Jack-of-all-trades.

PERSONALITY: Extroverted, quietly calculating. 

DESCRIPTION: A globe-trotter adventurer whose charming looks hide a seasoned survivalist. Frequently seeking new sights and thrills, loyal primarily to his best friend, the more laidback Toby. 

*

- Toby Slade. 

*

SETTING: Same as Todd. 

GENDER: Male

SPECIES: Hound dog. 

SEXUALITY: Bisexual (not entirely set in stone just yet)

AGE: 27 (loosely).

OCUPATION: Former hitman, currently jack-of-all-trades.

PERSONALITY: Businesslike and formal —save with his close acquaintances, with whom he reveals a more sarcastic, yet well-meaning, demeanor. 

DESCRIPTION: Former member of a mercenary team, quit to become an adventurer with his best friend, the more adventurous Todd. Holds himself to a code of honor that is frequently challenged by the often outlandish situations their adventuring leads to. 

**

- Camazotz. 

*

SETTING: Housamo (aka Tokyo Afterschool Summoners); this OC is one of many that I basically came up with during a long talk with my boyfriend. 

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Honduran white bat (Ectophylla alba) (*)

AGE: 26. 

OCCUPATION: Medical aide / independent researcher. 

PERSONALITY: Entirely focused at work and in battle, but very easily distracted in his free time. Somewhat embarrassed by the fact that he’s often mistaken for a child, which is only exacerbated by his love of sweets. 

DESCRIPTION: A bat Transient hailing from Anáhuac (**); descended from a long line of executioners, Camazotz long decided that he wanted to be a healer instead. This new world gave him the perfect opportunity for that, and so he set out to join the ideal Guild for his plans. Though regarded as too adorable to take seriously by most people, Camazotz is a hard-working individual, determined to achieve his goals. 

SACRED ARTIFACT: A string that grants ‘Divine Mercy’. However, Camazotz does not like using this Artifact except as a last-resource option —ostensibly it is a healing device. But in truth it has two outcomes: If the patient has wounds that might have healed over time, the string heals them instantly. If the wounds were lethal, the string kills them —the divine mercy in question. Camazotz believes there must be a way to repurpose it to find a third option. 

GUILD: Tamers. 

(*): Look up photos of them, by the by. It’s the cutest stuff in the world! :3

(**): Anáhuac is a concept I use in lieu of the game’s “El Dorado”. This territory includes other territories derived from Prehispanic mythologies, such as Hanan Pacha (see Chuychu, below). 

**

- Chuychú.

**

SETTING: Housamo. 

GENDER: Male. 

SPECIES: Alpaca. 

AGE: 28. 

OCCUPATION: Librarian. 

PERSONALITY: A flirty, somewhat vain, yet sharp young man. 

DESCRIPTION: Hailing from Hanan Pacha (*), Chuychú has been liaison between gods, astronomer / researcher, and now part of a Guild that mixes magic and scientific research. His main objective is to study and catalogue divergent timelines, including previous time loops. Generally pacific by nature, leaving the fighting to the bodyguards in his group, he is nevertheless more than wiling to defend himself or others in a pinch. 

SACRED ARTIFACT: The star mirrors —two twin orbs. One shows time and one space. Chuychu primarily uses them to study cosmic and time anomalies. Can also use them to show others their own past or divergent timelines (an ability he usually reserves only for people who might need a push in the right direction). In battle, he can combine their effects to create a profound vertigo effect, powerful enough to knock down all but the most resilient opponents. 

GUILD: Tama Scholars (**)

(*) = A world based on Inca mythology. 

(**) = Another concept my boyfriend and I came up with together. A group more interested in research than in fighting, based on Tama as it is the site of Tokyo’s biggest library. 

***

- Juan Darién (aka JD)

**

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Male. 

SPECIES: Tiger-man / Human (see below).

AGE: 17. 

OCCUPATION: Student. 

PERSONALITY: Self-assured, if somewhat stubborn. Because he believes humans to be naturally prone to evil, he figures that his human form is not beholden to the same restrictions he imposes upon himself as a tiger. Consequently, in his tiger form he acts in what he understands to be a virtuous way (some say, self-righteous) and in his human form as a creature of desire. Yet his true personality is that of a naive young man still learning about the world. 

DESCRIPTION: The son of a tiger-man and a human woman. Lived peacefully in a small village in Yvy Tenondé (*), until the townspeople, who did not approve of this mixed marriage, burned their home. Juan Darién lost his parents that day, and since then came to believe that humans are evil by nature. Later, coming to a different world via a pillar of light, he joined the Aoyama group, figuring that their beliefs are the closest to his notions of good and evil. He considers his tiger form his true, and pure nature, and sometimes dons his human form purely to excise out his “sinful temptations”… or used to, until a fateful day when his ideologies led him to clash with one of the Crafters. 

The experience with the resulting Exception, and the intimacy necessary to cancel it, have led JD to question several of his long-held beliefs. 

SACRED ARTIFACT: A medallion that represents “Split”. He uses it to switch between his two forms, identifying the tiger side as “Juan” and the human as “Darién”. Only recently has he begun using both names at all times. The medallion can also be used in combat to split App users from their Artifacts. However, this can be a double-edged sword. Some Artifacts will simply go inert without a wielder, but others will go wild without a user to anchor them. 

GUILD: Missionaries. 

(*) = Part of the same world that includes Anáhuac and Hanan Pacha. Loosely based on Guaraní mythology. 

NOTE: Based on a character by Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga. 

***

- Fortunato. 

**

SETTING: Housamo. 

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Lion. 

AGE: 40. 

OCCUPATION: Security guard. 

PERSONALITY: Serious-minded about his job and about what he is to protect, be it arts, relics, or knowledge. Generally friendly otherwise, and particularly kind to children. 

DESCRIPTION: A transient who journeyed from his word looking for his twin, Sopho. Together they formed a duo dedicated to guarding all manner of temples and sacred spaces, descending from a long line of guardians. In this world he fulfills that role in his guild’s library base, together with a wolf transient whom Fortunato regards as a brother-in-arms. Quite protective of his guild and his friends, perhaps in part derived from his job. 

SACRED ARTIFACT: A morning-star flail that can hide doorways or reveal them. In battle Fortunato uses it to lock his opponents into a combat room that he alone controls. 

GUILD: Scholars. 

***

- Phyx. 

** 

SETTING: Housamo. 

GENDER: Female.

SPECIES: Sphynx (winged lioness) 

AGE: 35. 

OCCUPATION: Linguist. 

PERSONALITY: Inquisitive, to the point that sometimes she’ll hyper-focus on questions. Especially when meeting somebody new. Nevertheless a capable leader and a fierce warrior when needed. 

DESCRIPTION: A transient from Aaru. Phyx was the guardian of a massive temple until curiosity led her to explore the contents of this temple herself, finding a vast wealth of knowledge and culture. When she journeyed to another world, she sought a similar place of culture, finding it in the largest library of the city. Leader of the Tama Scholars. Under her leadership, this Guild is less interested in imposing a specific Ideology than in preserving records of several matters —including the many time loops that have come to pass before. 

SACRED ARTIFACT: A golden scepter that controls light. At it’s most powerful it will summon a light beam that can annihilate in seconds. There is a second, subtler power it has —Phyx can use it to reveal hidden passages or messages.  

GUILD: Scholars.

**

- Yasy Yateré.

SETTING: Housamo.

GENDER: Male. 

SPECIES: Unkown —shapeshifter, presents as a golden hare-man.

AGE: Unknown —claims to be 18. 

OCCUPATION: Greenhouse keeper.  

PERSONALITY: Polite, friendly and approachable. Has a more playful side that he reserves for his “golden friends” (see below). 

DESCRIPTION: A mysterious, elusive Transient from Yvy Tenondé. He generally stays out of App Battles and what few people contact him have found Yasy to be an okay, if slightly reserved, fellow. However, he has a side that only a few have seen. Every so often, Yasy will find a boy who catches his fancy, and use his powers to get close to him. When the time is right, he will give them a kiss that tastes like honey and wild berries —which will entrance them, after which he’ll take them to his secret garden to play. Yasy eventually gets bored of these “golden friends” and will let them go. What is he truly searching for? Even Guilds like the Wisemen and the Entertainers have not been able to crack this mystery just yet. 

SACRED ARTIFACT: A baculum decorated with small precious stones. It controls neither plants nor mesmerism, as his opponents expect —instead, it lets him control emotions or even make people drowsy. Yasy prefers to escape rather than to defeat his opponents. However, an opponent who pushes too far will find themselves confronted with Yasy’s true nature: One of the seven children of Kerana and Tau, god of Evil. His genuine appearance and powers are not quite so whimsical. 

GUILD: Unknown. Has been rumored to be part of either the Rule Makers or the Genociders, but neither group has ever confirmed he is in their ranks. 

**

- Amber. 

An AU variation on Kounosuke, using concepts from “Steven Universe” and later “Houseki no Kuni”. 

Basic info can be found here --though it is now slightly out of date. 

**

- Hugh Cahil. 

*

SETTING: A particular AU that I use along with my boyfriend that is, uuhhh….. “Morenatsu but with Sci-fi stuff. Also a lot of characters from other Fandoms”. 

GENDER: Male. 

AGE: 21. 

SPECIES: Tasmanian Devil. 

SEXUALITY: Gay. 

OCCUPATION: Drama teacher. Moonlights as the drummer for “The Carrions”. 

PERSONALITY: Blunt and straight to the point, yet fiercely loyal to his friends and to their friends in turn. Highly gregarious. 

DESCRIPTION: The kind of cool teacher whose students flock to for his unconventional choices in teaching (one year he had this drama class do a stage production of “You’re good man, Charlie Brown” followed by “Dog sees God: Confessions of a teenage blockhead” (*) ). Singaporean, though of Australian origin, recently Hugh has been focusing more on his band, as they are finally starting to get their first breaks. 

(*) = Look up the plot to these plays. You are in for a quite a treat!

** 

- Karnevil.

SETTING: Mutanimals / TMNT. 

GENDER: Male.

SPECIES: Hyena. 

SEXUALITY: (Undecided)

AGE: Unknown (roughly estimated to be in his late 20’s).

OCCUPATION: Former hotel doorman; currently, mercenary. 

PERSONALITY: Obsessive, yet wiling to bargain. 

DESCRIPTION: A victim of two separate mutations, first from human to hyena-man, then briefly to brainwashed servant and back —but in the process discovered a dark desire deep inside of him: To eat the flesh of living human beings. Mutants, too. He has forgotten his original name in lieu of his chosen monicker. Will lend his augmented speed, strength, and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth and claws to any employer wiling to provide him with what he craves. Yet once the hunger is sated, he has found himself aimless and often adrift in life…

**

- Moy

SETTING: TMNT / Mutanimals. 

SPECIES: Mutant Leopard with purple fur. 

GENDER: Male. 

AGE: 26. 

OCCUPATION: Former truck driver, currently freelance courier.

PERSONALITY: Disciplined at his job, used to be timid. Currently becoming more and more outspoken. 

DESCRIPTION: An exchange student from Guatemala who extended his stay working all sort of off jobs. He was considering leaving when disaster struck and he found himself doused in Mutagen even as he clung to a dyed paw he had won in a fair years ago. The mutation gave him the additional, uncommon power to teleport. Finding himself with no real barriers for the first time in his life, Moy has decided to explore every nook and cranny of this strange world —and beyond! 

NOTE: Based on the character “Moykat” from the licensed Mexican TMNT comic back in the 90’s.

*