#this might be Baldr at his most normal

[blazernot]

Some of my disaster trio stuff. There is no context and barely a concept but I can draw whatever the crap I want and these characters are basically dolls I'm smacking together to make them do whatever I want.

[livealittleoc-cb]

"Death is unfair but what isn't in this world, nothing is fair. As it's said, 'Nothing is fair in Love and War'."

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.: Hades [Alexandru Cristian]

⋆｡°✩ Greek God of the Underworld; known as the Unseen, the Wealthy One && the Giver of Wealth; One of the Rulers of Hell/the Underworld

⋆｡°✩ Is the CEO of a Fashion && Accessory Company

⋆｡°✩ His hellhounds are his babies

⋆｡°✩ In "human" form he's from Romania, in Astria he's from Puscia [the island of Crete]

⋆｡°✩ He/Him| Pansexual, Polyam | 27 [Human Years], is as old as Death && the Underworld | 12/26 [Capricorn] | 6'2"

⋆｡°✩ He is:

cold

seems heartless

awkward

very silent && quiet

observent

actually has a very warm heart

shows his love secretly

not very public

likes his privacy

can be slightly fatherly

God Information / Form Stuff

⋆｡°✩ he feeds off of death && most elements within the underworld

⋆｡°✩ being away from the underworld for too long will weaken his strength greatly

⋆｡°✩ his office/the underworld/his company are his homeland

⋆｡°✩ when he feeds his eyes turn fully black [no whites]

⋆｡°✩ as a god he can smell && sense emotions well but the smell/sensation of deception is the strongest he can depict

⋆｡°✩ he has a bit more of strength then a normal human but not the same amount as other gods

⋆｡°✩ he can change his "human" apperance [height, eye color, hair color, etc.]

⋆｡°✩ each god has a human name they go by, his is Alexandru or Alex

⋆｡°✩ in his god form he is a lot taller...even though he's already really tall-

⋆｡°✩ he can get up to around 7'2"

⋆｡°✩ in his god form he has inky black eyes, he carries a journal, his hair straight && his nails are permanently painted black, he has one tattoo on his wrist of the words 'nothing is fair in love and peace'

⋆｡°✩ when not in astria or the human realm he resides in the hell realm [underworld]

⋆｡°✩ in his half && half form he is his normal 6'2", has his tattoos && piercings, his eyes are either their normal icey blue or all black, straighter/wavy hair

Extras

⋆｡°✩ natural eye color: icy blue [he might sometimes not be too tired so one eye will go black and the other stay icy blue]

⋆｡°✩ eyes might flash or glow black when annoyed

⋆｡°✩ has a multiple tattoos everywhere

⋆｡°✩ has an one lip ring && one nose ring

⋆｡°✩ likes: dogs, fire, cigarettes && weed, painting his nails, occasionally putting on makeup, blueberries

⋆｡°✩ dislikes: annoying people, people who question his power or go against him, cats

⋆｡°✩ languages: romanian && english

⋆｡°✩ he has a small accent and sometimes it can get thicker out of no where

NSFW

⋆｡°✩ hard dom; some of his kinks are oral [receiving], marking [giving], breeding [giving], size kink, impact play [giving], praise [giving], degradation [giving], hair pulling [giving && receiving], orgasam control [giving], hosiery, ropeplay [giving], dirty talk [giving], choking [giving], gagging [giving]

⋆｡°✩ hard nos: feet, watersports, wasteplay

⋆｡°✩ is a pleasure dom

⋆｡°✩ will not sub easily and will need time to actually do it

⋆｡°✩ he's open to most kinks

⋆｡°✩ his eyes turn a black when he is arroused

⋆｡°✩ safe word: rose

⋆｡°✩ uses 🫐 on dash

Relationship Statuses

⋆｡°✩ in the office && is calm

⋆｡°✩ happily dating [1/3] @evicted-oc Baldr [sunshine 🔆], uninterested

⋆｡°✩ friends:

⋆｡°✩ children:

Tags

⋆｡°✩ relationship tag(s): #💛💙balha [sundrop ship tag], #🌅💡little sunrise [sundrop ship tag]

⋆｡°✩ friend tag(s):

⋆｡°✩ music tag(s):

⋆｡°✩ inspo tag(s):

⋆｡°✩ other tag(s):

faceclaim: @/andyblack on instagram

[fakecrfan]

Tolkien thoughts today

The important think about LOTR that most people don't know is that Tolkien was trying to re-create what he believed the mythos of ancient Britain might have been like. This is because Britain is kind of devoid of folkloric culture (outside of Beowulf, iirc). King Arthur and the Arthurian legends are actually Welsh legends, believe it or not. Which most people don't know but a scholar like Tolkien did.

So Tolkien was trying to re-create a mythology. And I think he failed.

This is because real mythology is flexible. It is told and retold and changed over time. It doesn't belong to any one entity but to everyone in the associated culture. If you read any mythology you learn there are different versions based on the time and context of the telling. Baldr can be a loving compassionate figure in one telling and an absolute jerk in an earlier one. Guinevere can be a pure and saintly woman faithful in spite of her heart being elsewhere in one version, and then can be evil slutty mcslut in the next version. Aphrodite can be Zeus's daughter in one version and then be born from Ouranos's dick being cut off and thrown into the ocean in another version. And neither version is more correct, or more of a bastardization than the other. Because the nature of mythology is to grow and evolve with the people it lives with.

Tolkien's body of work does not create a mythology. I've been thinking of this ever since I saw all of those people crying at the shitty Amazon series. Especially the cries that the shitty series polluted or defiled the original work in some way. Because if Tolkien had created a mythology, none of that could possibly be true! If the Silmarillion were a mythology, then a shitty series could just be an annoying footnote. It wouldn't matter if one telling got Galadriel "wrong" because you'd have thousands of years and dozens of versions of Galadriel being exactly what the people remember.

But LOTR and the Silmarillion are not that. They are not mythology, but a fragile set of stories created by an individual that require rigid adherence to the vision of one man lest they lose their power. They are stories that are owned, by an estate and now by megacorporations that get to determine what these stories are. In fact, it is impossible in the world LOTR and Silmilarillion have come into for them to be mythology. When Amazon makes Galadriel this or that people can't just dismiss it as a wrongful portrayal--because Amazon owning the stories means that whatever they say Galadriel is, is what she is. No other "legitimate" story about her can be told, no widespread folkloric consensus on who she is can come about, because they own the IP.

And I think this fragile, narrow nature of the stories existed even before Amazon got a hold of them. Because the individual-created nature of the stories means they reflect the values of the author and his time and place more than any set of myths could. LOTR reflects some aspects of mythology, but it is far, far more sanitized and normalized to the tastes of 1940s Britain than any real mythology ever has been. There is no cutting off dicks and goddesses springing forth out of them. There are no male gods turning into female horses and getting pregnant. It's a narrow reflection of the breadth of what true folklore portrays, because in the only "true form" any fan would accept, it can only ever reflect the philosophy of one man.

Tolkien failed. He could never re-create mythology. He could only ever create a rigid vision that diminishes in value the more people change or add to it. He could only create a product that can be owned and gatekept and milked by a commercialized culture. Because no one person can create a mythology. Mythology is created by the people, it grows and changes with those people as generations come and go, and no one entity can ever have a monopoly on it.

[skaruresonic]

What are the other religions that appear in the novel? I'm guessing the main ones would be native briton, Anglo-Saxon, and various Roman religions? Though of those I'm assuming that the Britainic Christianity is the most prominent.

As I've said, it's pretty much pagan Welsh, pagan Anglo-Saxon, and Yoruba religion.

I want to keep a tight focus; including other religions when they're not thematically pertinent might wind up causing unnecessary confusion.

And tbqh, I'm worried three religions might already be pushing it in a project where each culture will probably be considered "foreign" to the audience in some capacity, because there's a lot of context I need to provide. Which is why in lieu of infodumping in the narrative itself, I've opted instead to move that information to codices which the reader can access at their leisure. Like... Show, don't tell. I have to write conversations between Arthur and Bedwyr where they talk about fantastical figures as if they're normal everyday occurrences, but draw the line at Creoda's specific brand of resurrection being the thing that's just a little too fantastic to believe. Add the need to distinguish one character's superstition from the other and the tightrope grows even narrower.

I have to impart the conceptual significance of the àkúdàáyà as Morgan's personal way of explaining the resurrection cycle without exoticizing Yoruba belief in the process. (Or any of these beliefs, really.)

I have to write an Anglo-Saxon ritual spear dance without coming out and saying the words "Anglo-Saxon ritual spear dance." And since there's a paucity of information on what Anglo-Saxon pagan rituals entailed, sometimes the best I can do here is guess, coupled with large amounts of creative liberty.

On top of that, I have to grapple with the VN's own diegetic universe and how it functions, particularly in regard to Mona's system. Part of me wants to lean on some degree of ambiguity as a critical element in understanding the themes, but I also know being too vague might not be good.

That's a lot of information to put on the reader without also going "And now let's see what the Church is doing," you know what I mean? Too many "unfamiliar" elements and I might wind up losing people.

It's also difficult to delineate boundaries between cultures; where would I put Baldr, for instance, if we're talking about Woden in an Anglo-Saxon pagan mythos and not the Norse Odin? Would they be considered the same character? Likewise with Celtic-but-not-Welsh deities like Belenos. So on and so forth.

I think Mithras, the Roman soldier's god, may have popped up in the deity codex, but honestly I've been considering cutting him since my version of Arthur isn't terribly Romanized, aside from his brief stint in his youth as one of the guys stoking coke ovens along the Antonine Wall.

..."Coke" as in ash from burned trees. To make iron. Not like drugs lmao. Bedwyr we need to cook

---

I'm assuming that the Britainic Christianity is the most prominent.

Considering all four main characters are pagan, and only Gwenhwyfar is a recent Christian convert, Christianity actually figures very little.

There are several reasons for this---chief among them being that, ironically enough, I'm just not familiar enough with the history of Christianity in sub-Roman Britain to be able to do it justice. All I know is that prominent Christian theologists had a knockdown dragout no-holds barred fight round table discussion and decided Pelagianism was heresy about eighty or so years before the events of the VN. That's about it. xP

Plus, to be quite frank, I'm not interested in attempting it. There are plenty of Arthurian novels where the principal ideological conflict revolves around "Christians vs. pagans" and that kind of thing doesn't really light my fire. I guess I'm also afraid of bungling it and accidentally pushing some Church Bad(tm) message.

But like, unless Gwenhwyfar shows up (which I don't plan on doing right now since she doesn't appear in the demo) Christianity's not terribly relevant to the immediate setting. Arthur and Bedwyr mention other characters who are Christian, but it's not like

[ficretus]

I am gonna partially disagree.

Adam both is and isn't Beast. He takes some bits from Disney's version, notably the name and bits of appearance (Disney's Beast has Minotaur features which would match him being a Bull Faunus) and association with rose. His relationship with Blake does share common trope of Beauty and the Beast story of them being together before being separated due to Beauty leaving him. However, when his true colors are revealed he stops being Beast and indeed takes a role of Gaston/Rose curse. Him playing role of the Beast doesn't make him special since Blake has multiple Beasts, with Yang as THE Beast. He is a red herring (or I guess red edgelord bull) Beast in initial portion of the story.

Side note, there are also versions of Beauty and the Beast with tragic ending in which Beast dies because someone besides Beauty found out about his curse. Probably a tin foil, but Adam could also be reference to that since he dies in a fight in which someone else besides Blake sees what's behind his mask.

_____________________________________________________________

On Norse myths, I firmly stand on that one. Adam shares Fenrir role with Hound, former feels like an allusion to Fenrir's binding, while latter to Fenrir's rampage during Ragnarok. Gods attempted to seal Fenrir with normal chains, but he would break away every single time. This somewhat parallels Adam's childhood as basically SDC slave before escaping and becoming a terrorist. However, they eventually used Gleipnir, ribbon like fetter. To ensure Fenrir stayed in place, Tyr offered his right hand as a bait. Fenrir was bound and Tyr lost his hand. This symbolically represents his rivalry with Blake and Yang. Gleipnir. Yang lost her right hand fighting Adam (Tyr is god of war, heroism and justice which does somewhat match Yang's personality), while Adam was eventually defeated by Blake using Gambol Shroud which often takes the form of a ribbon.

On the matter of Odin, RWBY's Odin is Ozma and his incarnations. He is father of current world order who shapeshifts (representing his reincarnations) and guides humanity. You have Raven and Qrow as Huginn and Muninn, his ravens that serve as his agents (poems even have Odin worried that Muninn might not return, which parallels to Raven leaving Ozpin's side). Beacon is Valhalla, his castle that houses the souls of the greatest warriors. Einherjar in Valhalla are gathered to eventually fight against his enemies during the Ragnarok (which parallel true purpose of academies being training ground for Ozma's war against Salem).

This brings me back to Hound, who during the Ragnarok devours Odin. This parallels Hound being the one to defeat Oscar and bring him into belly of Monstra, symbolically devouring him. Hound was eventually crushed under statue which parallels Fenrir's fate of being crushed under Vidar's boot before being stabbed.

Ruby to me matches the most Vali, Odin's youngest son. He grew from baby to a grown man in a single night to avenge his brother Baldr (Pyrrha) by slaying Hodr (Cinder). This parallels Ruby in multiple ways, she is the youngest in generation, she was forced to rapidly grow up during and after Fall of Beacon and she nearly killed Cinder. Vali is also one of the rare gods to survive Ragnarok and helped to rebuild the world after it, so it wouldn't be too weird for it to be Ruby considering her role as protagonist and leader.

Cinder on the other hand could be Hodr (circumstances of Baldr's death do somewhat parallel Pyrrha's), Surtr (fire giant with flaming sword that will set the world on fire during Ragnarok) or Hel (appearance, self proclaimed ruler, casted down at birth).

Grimm Summer could potentially also be Fenrir (since Grimm Summer would be an allusion to Big Bad Wolf), but I also suspect she might be an allusion to Garmr, hound that will fight Tyr during the Ragnarok (who is ready for that mother-daughter reunion).

Sorry for a long tangent

So here’s an interesting little detail I noticed while rewatching some of the Beacon arc:

Out of all the various disposable pawns, patsies and stooges we’ve seen utilized by Salem over the course of the show (not counting the stooges who make up her inner circle), it’s funny how the only one who seems to actually recognize how much of a pawn he really is, is TORCHWICK of all people.

Like when you look at Roman’s scenes with Cinder and her minions, and particularly his final fight with Ruby in Volume 3, it’s pretty clear that he was always acutely aware that he was a very small piece of a MUCH larger game.

Just compare that to the likes of Adam, Leonardo, Jacques and Ironwood, who by all rights were all COMPLETELY oblivious to how much they were getting played, or just how little they mattered to Salem.

And that gets even more interesting when you consider that Roman was probably the smallest piece in terms of both status and overall significance compared to Salem’s other pawns. Like I actually don’t think for a moment that Torchwick ever actually met Salem or even KNEW about her by name. I imagine all Roman knew was that there was some boss/mom that Cinder was reporting to.

Instead, Torchwick was able to look at everything Cinder was doing and plotting, between manipulating the White Fang, securing several warehouses of stolen dust, planning a full-on grimm-incursion of Vale during the Vytal Festival with the ultimate aim of toppling one of the four Huntsman Academies. Not to mention I imagine Roman had at least an inkling as to the whole Maiden business that Cinder was after, plus the fact that she seemed to be able to control grimm to a degree. Maybe even guess that this was a plot years if not decades in the making.

And it’s pretty clear that Roman took one look at all this and rightly surmised that he was a bit player in a truly MASSIVE game. As he implies to Ruby during their final fight, Torchwick may not have known much about Salem or her plans, but he knew ENOUGH that he didn’t want to be standing AGAINST her.

Again, just compare that to someone like Adam Taurus, so-called big-shot revolutionary with his big plans to topple the oppression of the humans… who seems to have had no fucking clue that his new ‘friends’ were fully intent on sending him and his followers out to die as a DISTRACTION for their own plans.

Or of course, James Ironwood the big, strong (self-appointed) defender of Atlas and (also self-appointed) last, best hope for humanity, who to his dying breath seems to have been ENTIRELY oblivious to just how completely Salem and her minions were playing him like the cheap kazoo he was.

Or just Jacques Schnee the big-shot corporate overlord who wasn’t even important enough to know about any kind of scheme. All he needed was Watts dangling an election win like keys in front of a baby to be a dutiful little pawn for Salem.

Though funny enough, to Jacques’ credit; the moment he hears about the heating grid going down he does seem to immediately catch on that Watts played him for a chump.

And it’s rather amusing that this is more than can be said for the likes of the ‘Faunus Revolutionary’ who bent the knee to a human girl who kicked his ass, or Ol’ Jimmy the Child-Shooter himself.

[katzkinder]

Tarte Tatin

[Here's the follow up to "Strawberry Madeleine" I said I'd do! 🥳 Feat: Tsurugi getting all the presents. All of them. And a very special gift from Freya.]

Tsurugi can’t remember the last time he was so excited for his birthday.

Actually, that’s a lie. He absolutely can. The last time was when he turned twenty and had gone out, ID in hand and stupid grin on his face, to buy as much beer as Yumikage’s credit card could handle as the first official adult of their little trio (or as much as the clerk would let him purchase). Two bikes, three idiots, and three cases of cheap beer, all pedaling towards the ocean on a beautiful, moonlit night, not a cloud in the sky.

The only thing that had dampened his mood then was the heat of Yumikage’s back against his as he stared up at the sky, at the moon, and recalled the promise he had asked his friend to make, and the offer of freedom he had turned down.

Neither of those things were a problem anymore.

Never again would Hod have to worry over killing Baldr to save him from himself.

~~~

The venue is, of course, Yumikage’s apartment. The walls are thick, the living room is large, and there’s no one there but him to bother if they get rowdy (aside from the neighbors, but Tsurugi never cared much for what they thought).

Most importantly, though, it’s a familiar place. Every year, ever since Yumikage started living in the high end apartments, each of them would have their birthday there. It was also the place Tsurugi went to when he no longer had a home, his best friend opening his own to him, and Tsurugi had felt so guilty, had been so worried, about what that change would mean for them.

As it turned out... It didn’t mean much at all.

Of course, with his weird sense of boundaries and how touchy he can get with people he likes, other people might not agree. --Especially when he and Yumikage still shared a bed.

~~~

All the guests had arrived. First, of course, were Jun, Takuto, and surprisingly, Jun’s parents. Tsurugi had hefted Takuto onto his hip, chirping at them all to come in, and led them to the living room where they had prepared snacks, drinks, big, big bowls of pretty much everything you would need for a party. Chips and dips and little trays of veggies, big two liters of soda and a store bought cake chilling in the fridge, hard candies and caramels, even a crummy cheese platter with little tiny sausages and crackers.

Next had been Freya, Iduna, and the two subclasses Takuto had taken to calling his uncles, much to their delight. Opening the door, he’d been met with three party poppers being set off in his face, Iduna, Gil, and Ray shouting their congratulations at him while he had stood there, stunned, trying to process the colorful streamers and confetti now decorating his head, shoulders, and the entry hall. Soon, though, he was laughing, dragging them all in by the arms while Freya shook her head and tried not to look too fond, a gentle scolding on her lips while C3’s ace inventor promised to clean up the mess herself.

Four presents joined the pile, and four more members of his family joined the festivities.

Finally came the Sloth pair, Kuro and Mahiru, and the gift he had been told to open immediately. The one that almost made him cry. So small, so little, so… Perfect.

Turning to bring them back to the group, Tsurugi thought to himself, All these people… Are happy I was born.

At that point, the tears he had been holding back started to overflow, quickly dripping down his face and onto the floor, much to the Sloth pair’s worry. Even Kuro, as blank faced as he normally kept himself, was clearly startled. Clearly worried. About him.

It only made the tears come faster.

“Uwah! Tsurugi-san?! Why are you crying!”

A watery laugh, quickly wiping his face on the back of his hand while Mahiru crowded closer to fuss. “I’m just glad you’re all here is all…!”

Ah. How embarrassing.

~~~

As it turned out, they didn’t need that second, store bought cake at all. The one Mahiru had brought with him, had made himself from scratch, was more than enough. There were even leftovers, sitting happily in Yumikage’s fridge and waiting to be devoured the next day.

And, of course, after cake came presents.

Jun’s parents had given him a new set of chopsticks, glossy black ones patterned with colorful paper cranes, and a matching paper crane shaped ceramic rest to go with them. From Gil and Ray, he’d received a new wallet, smelling of leather and, frankly, making him too nervous to ask if it was genuine or not. Such an expensive gift was… Not something he deserved, he felt, but he’d accept it gratefully nonetheless. From Takuto, he’d gotten the most adorable little wolf themed coin purse, as well as a handmade card. Jun gave him a new to go mug. Yumikage had grinned, sliding him a little box containing earrings that sparkled and showe and Tsurugi very nearly leapt at him if it weren’t for his idiot friend clarifying “They’re fake, dumbass. You like sparkly stuff though, right?”

“Don’t scare me like that!” he had complained, swatting Yumikage on the chest while the other man had snickered to himself. Really, he should have known better.

And now, he is here, with Iduna thrusting a misshapen gift into his arms with the biggest, most excited grin.

… He hopes it doesn’t blow up.

Tearing the bright, shiny paper away reveals a pillow shaped like a strawberry, red fading into pink and green leaves at the top. The smell immediately slaps him in the face and he wastes no time burying himself in it, a reverent, “It’s so soft…!” on his lips that make the people around him giggle. “Jun-chan, feel how soft it is!”

“I modified a pillow I bought for you!” Iduna gushes, and Tsurugi’s attention snaps to her, her cheeks just as rosy as his no doubt are with elation. “Freya helped me add a little pocket with velcro so I could put a scent pack inside! Also it’s made with memory foam so you can squish it as much as you want and it’ll always go back to it’s proper shape! Oh, and, here’s the remote, cuz I added a temperature change feature, too, so it’s never too hot or too cold and…” A hand on her shoulder has her chattering trailing off and she peeks at Ray, who seems to be holding back laughter. “Ah, oops! Sorry...” A sheepish chuckle, the girl wilting ever so slightly. “I just got so excited from your reaction…”

“I love it,” Tsurugi assures her, squeezing the gift tight. “Iduna-chan’s so smart! I’d be excited to give this to somebody, too!”

Iduna perks up once more, back to her beaming smile, and Freya… Nudges her present forward. For some reason, she looks nervous, and Tsurugi reaches for it curiously.

“Lately, I’ve been… Looking into making jewelry,” she explains, arms folded across her chest and black gloved fingers digging into her skin, awaiting Tsurugi’s response as he slides back the cover on the box. “Iduna showed me how to work with some of her tools, like things for cutting metal…”

“Freya…” Tsurugi breathes, cutting what he now realizes are anxious ramblings over having an overlapping gift short, “You made these?” In that little aqua colored box, with its white ribbon and bow so cutely done on top, are a set of earrings. Where Yumikage’s had been studs, these would dangle, little seashells carefully connected to ribbon by a simple loop of gold and a single bead, the same yellow as his eyes. Picking one up, the deep, navy colored ribbons, satin finish, flutter delicately. “They’re beautiful…”

He glances away from his gift just in time to see Freya start to turn pink. He swallows, wets his lips, and carefully, carefully, brings the box closer to his chest. “I can really have this? Like, really really?”

“Of course you can,” Freya answers, relaxing ever so slightly. “I made them for you.”

Right. That’s right. These were… Made especially for him. Him, Kamiya Tsurugi, twenty seven years old today. This gift… Is his. It’s his alone.

… Oh. That’s right. Back then… Freya had asked for…

I don’t have anything I can give to you…

You have two of these. Maybe you can give me one.

We… Except this body… Have nothing else to call our own. Aside from that… There is nothing I can offer.

In this world… Exists things that you should share and bear the burden of with other people, as well as things you yourself must treasure. You must… Understand which is which.

A… Are you angry...?

I am.

Back then, he had told her… That he had given up. Back then, what she had wanted… Was for him to take her hand. In the end... He hadn't. But they were happy.

“... Freya. Are you proud of me? I finally… Grew up!” I finally got angry. I finally fought back.

“... I am. Very, very, proud.”

[ghostietoasty]

Why Sherlock Holmes FGO is Sus: Theories and More

Before I begin, I’d like to give thanks to my wonderful friend for all the points, art, and info searching that have been made to produce this piece, I can’t appreciate you enough for the effort you put in. 🥺🙏💕

Alright now on to it!

INTRODUCTION: Humble Beginnings (Identification of the Abnormal)

If you’ve played the app Fate/Grand Order for a while you’d know about the Heroic Spirit we first encounter in a hole within Camelot’s dessert whilst going to the Atlas Institute. Smart, handsome looking, and sharp enough to discern our True Name, this man of mystery has been seen as an oddball by many long time players of the game. There are many aspects about him that raise doubt about his credibility, is he truly what he wants us to think he is? That servant is Sherlock Holmes (Ruler) and there are many theories about him having some secrets, about him either being a Foreigner class, Beast class, or something else entirely. We are attempting to catalogue all this information in one place for maximum clarity.

SECTION 1: Other Character’s Reaction (First Impression is the Best Impression) *WARNING LOSTBELT 1 AND 2 SPOILERS AHEAD*

From the first encounter in Camelot right until the end of Lostbelt 2, there are many instances of characters reacting to his presence in….interesting ways.

Bedivere, when first coming in contact with Holmes in Camelot says that "I suppose I've never really been good with people like him. He reminds me of Merlin."

It could refer to the mysterious manner in which both Holmes and Merlin conduct themselves, but better to keep in mind that Merlin is a Grand Caster, and that he manifests as a servant due to specific circumstances (he is not dead).

In Camelot, Mash assumes that Holmes must be Caster class and that the original novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have been biographies penned by Dr. Watson under a pen name. Holmes corrects her, saying that: "My true identity, my essence, is slightly different from what you may think. And sad, but that is not the purpose of our gathering here today."

This dilemma is also present in the Sherlock Holmes Trial Quest (which mostly tackles the debate of whether he's a fictional character or someone who actually existed). Holmes has a line where he says:

"Ah, yes. I mentioned I was a Caster. Forgive me, I lied."

This is however immediately followed up by:

"A jest. My apologies. I couldn't help myself." 

This sort of backpedalling raises a doubt as to whether he was really Caster class before, so the nature of his former class is still a mystery. He later mentions that his Ruler class is the World telling him that not all illusions and dreams need to be laid bare.

When meeting with Salieri in Lostbelt 1, Holmes introduces himself as such:"I'm Sherlock Holmes, Chaldea's administrative advisor. I became a servant through unusual means, just like you."

Salieri was only summonable as a servant  because of his reputation caused by the fact that he killed Mozart. He is under the effect of Innocent Monster. It can also be said that Salieri is a lostbelt servant and is significantly more sane than he would have been in a normal summoning, that was the unusual summoning that Holmes was refering to. Does this mean Holmes is not from Proper Human History? 

Sigurd (who's under the control of Surtur), while attacking us in Lostbelt 2 says this: "So, a human and two Heroic Spirits. No, wait. Neither of you are pure Heroic Spirits, are you? You've both got something else mixed in. Hehe, hybrids then. Interesting" 

This is in reference to Holmes and Mash, who are alongside the master at this moment. Mash is a demiservant (human+servant) hence the "Hybrid" comment makes sense, but Holmes? What is the "something else" mixed in with Holmes?

Later in LB2, Holmes requests the assistance of Scáthach-Skadi in beating Surtur. Skadi says that normally she would never pay mind to what a mere Heroic Spirit had to say but: "...but in your particular case…I sense wisdom in those beautiful eyes. You remind me of Baldr, god of light." Quite a bit later, she also has this to say:"Perhaps those piercing eyes of yours in fact surpass Odin's? Mystic Eyes, perchance? ….No, that's not it. They merely reflect your wisdom born of human history's cumulative accomplishments."

She says that's not it, but the fact that it was the first thing she thought of shouldn't be ignored. 

Baldr is the god of light. Holmes' attacks consist of beams of light, and his cane lights up when he's using it in battle.

In Norse legends, Odin is said to have sacrificed one eye to the spring of Mimir in order to get ancient wisdom, the ability to perceive everything in the world. 

SECTION 1.5: More Reactions (From JP Only)

Since it is JP only and there is no official translation for NA yet, this information cannot be 100% confirmed in any way. (Most of this is from Reddit translation done by fans). But as these are also important, it's best to put this information separate section.

Moriarty's interlude involves him finding a micro-singularity in London. At some point the transmission between Chaldea and the master gets cut and Moriarty reveals he created this scenario, made the singularity and everything to get one on one time with the master. He tells us not to trust Holmes. When the time comes, we as master should choose Moriarty over Holmes. 

It has to be kept in mind that Moriarty is not a good guy, he is a character created entirely to oppose Holmes so it is natural that he doesn't trust him. For all we know, it is just emotional manipulation. 

Moriarty's very nature is tied to being the antithesis of Holmes. Holmes might theoretically go against us for the sake of humanity while also trying to keep us safe (the master is in a way, a Watson replacement to him after all) while Moriarty would gladly let humanity burn for the sake of us but also for the sake of being completely opposite to Holmes and keeping his identity as such.

However he does raise valid points, how was Holmes able to rayshift? This part was never explained, and he also mentions that his hypothesis has a fatal contradiction in the fact that Holmes risked his life to save ours. What can be inferred from this is that Holmes is a good man and is on our side, but there is something very weird about him that should not be ignored.

In Lostselt 5 it is mentioned at one point that Zeus called Holmes dangerous, he mustn't look at Zeus or the other gods and that his eyes are enemies of the world.

It has to be mentioned that this is some heavy emphasis on Holmes' eyes (Skadi mentioned Holmes' eyes twice, and she was a god as well). Is it because of the nature of Holmes that he is the one that reveals all truth? Is that in some way detrimental to gods, magic and the world in general?

Recently, from Holmes' skill upgrade interlude there was a section about Holmes saying that he is always an ally of justice and that while he may be on our side, he is still capable of evil but it doesn't change the fact that he is our ally. Even then it seems he has some secrets that can't be understood by himself.

By now with the presence of Dr. Jekyll and Helena and their recounts on what happened, it is confirmed that Holmes was actually "alive"(?)

Some of the adventures penned by Dr. Watson were actually censored versions of the original happenings, which were magical in nature.

Holmes was traumatised(?) by Helena's death back when they were both alive. He swears he would never let that happen again. (remember what happened in lostbelt 2…)

It seems that Holmes himself is not fully sure of what is secret about him. Since he utterly dislikes talking about something without being 100% sure about it (this tendency of his has gotten us in trouble before) plus his general secretive nature, it can be said that this is why he wouldn't talk about that.

SECTION 2: Weird Things That Holmes Does (And Other Questions)

Heroic Spirits are anything but normal, but there are few servants who break the norm even further, and Holmes is one of them.

Holmes is able to Rayshift (presumably) from London, to Camelot, and then to Shinjuku. There are very few servants who are able to manifest themselves. 

Musashi also appears here and there, but it's not a deliberate choice on her part. She is not able to predetermine her next destination. 

Arthur travels from a parallel world to this world, but this is due to "chasing after a certain powerful antagonist, evil omen" - so he tells.

Beast class has the skill of Independent Manifestation which would allow the servant to manifest anywhere they'd want. Merlin, Tamamo Vitch and Shiki possess it. However, it has to be noted that Holmes' rayshifts have a significant toll on his saint graph, as he is unable to fight or defend himself by the time we meet him in Camelot. While normal Independent Manifestation shouldn't lead to the depletion of the user's saint graph. Holmes' class is unknown at the time of his rayshifting. 

At the time of summoning, Heroic Spirits usually reveal their class and True Name (there also are exceptions to the rule). At the time of his summoning, Holmes doesn't reveal his Class: "Are introductions necessary? I am a detective. If you were expecting a hero, my apologies...But if you wanted a detective or an investigator, you drew the right card."

In the case of EOR Servants whose names haven't been found, they reveal their class.

Who summoned Holmes? The only thing we know regarding his presence was that it was first clearly there when he tampered with information in London.

Holmes' illustrator is Yamanaka Kotetsu, who was also the illustrator of the beasts Tiamat and Goetia

The artists who design and illustrate the characters tend to do it in groups of servants who are related to each other in some way (Pako with Arjuna and Karna Chacha and Nobunaga; Miwa Shiro with Brynhildr and Sigurd). It is strange that Kotetsu designed only Holmes, Tiamat and Goetia.

(NEW ADDITION) It should also be noted that as an illustrator Kotetsu has had previous works in a Lovecraftian Guidebook and is also the artist to the Alien God Preistess, somewhat showing how their work leans more to the outerworldly.

SECTION 3: The Design

It is a very commonly noticed fact that Holmes' coat in his third ascension has a very similar shape to that of the Foreigner card artwork.

The pattern work on the coattails of the foreigner art and the inside (blue) part of Holmes' coattails have a very similar, if not exactly same pattern running down the entire length of it. The sphere summoned in Holmes' Noble Phantasm also has the same pattern on its sides and front.

There is a "fog" around Holmes in his third ascension, which is reminescent of the smoke in the card art. (Also can be the London smog).

The glowing section of the abdomen of the being reminds one of the metallic corset that Holmes wears. 

There are 4 notches of smoke on either side of the being (total 8), under their cape. If we stretch our interpretation, then it could mean Holmes' arms and the metal arms that he has is also equal to 8.

In that tangent, the shape of the coat is also similar to that of Saver class Buddha, the fantasy trees from Lostbelt 3 and 4, and the Shadows made by the 6th imaginary element.

The Endless Knot / Shrivatsa symbol on his shoulders is one of the many references of his connection to Tibet (faking his death after the Final Problem). It is an important symbol in both Jainism and Buddhism.

Some of its interpretations include:

The eternal continuum of mind.

The union of wisdom and method.

Since the knot has no beginning or end it also symbolizes the wisdom of the Buddha

the endless cycle of suffering or birth, death and rebirth within Tibetan Buddhism.

The cane that Holmes wields has a pattern on its handle in the shape of a Prayer Wheel. 

However, we are not able to find the meaning behind the script on the cane. Both of us attempted to translate it but failed. If anyone can translate the meaning it would be greatly appreciated.

The holographic books in the base of the unidentified sphere have a pattern on their front that greatly resembles a lotus. 

In Holmes' third ascension, there are a number of magical circuits on his coat.

The circuits are almost only on his left side, with very few circuits on his right side. It's not like it was woven into it, were that the case the circuits would have been all over his coat in a more even distribution. It's almost like an impact radius.

The circuits are very similar to the ones visible on the title screen of the lostbelts, as well as the patterns seen on the fantasy trees.

CONCLUSION SECTION: Something's Up (It's Big Brain Time)

It's clear that something is very strange about Holmes, from his interactions to his design, it's clear that there is too much effort into throwing these hints that it's not just a red herring.

Is he a Foreigner? Beast? Counter Guardian? Some other unknown extra class? It cannot be said at the moment. Holmes' role as a revealer itself is dangerous to mystery and magic, so it can be anything.

 It is also not necessarily true that just because Holmes has all these abnormalities, that he will betray us, or is on the side of evil. When has there been a clear cut side of good or evil anyway? It can be argued that we are the villains in some way, as we bring about the end of these timelines to safeguard our own proper human history. 

Holmes has always been on the side of humanity and will continue to be, the question is what the reveal will be, why and how. That, only time and future chapters can answer, all we can do is speculate.

[sigyn-foxyposts]

PERFECT!! ITS TIME TO SHINEEEEE NORSE MYTHS! ✨✨✨

Frigg x Fulla:

Frigg might have been Odin's wife, who mind you has cheated on her multiple times. But Frigg had her many maid servants, one she was very close with being Fulla! Yes, some say they are sisters..but its not confirmed and just speculation!

Fulla is described as a virgin goddess and as the one tending to the ashen box and the footwear owned by Frigg, and, in addition, Frigg confides in Fulla her deepest secrets.

In the prose introduction to the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, Frigg makes a bet with Odin, over the hospitality of their human patrons. Frigg sends Fulla to warn the king Geirröd, Frigg's patron that a magician (actually Odin in disguise) will visit him.

Fulla meets with Geirröd, gives the warning, and advises to him a means of detecting the magician and later Geirröd tortures Odin. It seems to me here, that Frigg and Fulla are working together to get rid of odin LMAO.

In chapter 49 of Gylfaginning, High details that, after the death of the couple Baldr and Nanna, the god Hermóðr wagers for their return in the underworld location of Hel. Hel, ruler of the location of the same name, tells Hermóðr a way to resurrect Baldr, but will not allow Baldr and Nanna to leave until the deed is accomplished.

Hel does, however, allow Baldr and Nanna to send gifts to the living; Baldr sends Odin the ring Draupnir, and Nanna sends Frigg a robe of linen, and "other gifts." Of these "other gifts" sent, the only specific item that High mentions is a finger-ring for Fulla. Meaning, despite being a servant she is reconized as famliy!

Angrboda x Loki x Sigyn:

While its stated Angrboda was Loki's first wife and Sigyn his second, i still think its possible they could have had something more. Mind you Loki is what we know today as genderfluid, meaning his ladies must like his fem side wink wink + the fact being polyamorous and married to multiple people in old norse socity was normal, i think this is a great example of that!!

Nótt x Naglfari x Annar x Dellingr:

I personally think this counts under polyamorous too!!

Nótt is personification of the night. The Edda features information about Nótt's ancestry, including her three marriages. Her first marriage was with Naglfari, and the two produced a son by the name of Auðr. Nótt's second marriage was to Annar, resulting in their daughter Jörð, the personified earth. Finally, Nótt marries the god Dellingr, and the couple have Dagr, who takes after his "father's people" in brightness and fairness. 

Njord x Skadi:

All i want to say about these two is that their relationship heavliy implies they either switched gender roles or are trans coded!

First of all due to Skadi taking on a masc role in taking revange for her fathers death. Not only that but skadi may potentially be a masculine form and, as a result, some scholars have theorized that Skadi may have originally been a male deity.

Plus the fact when Skadi was going to choose a husband by their feet, she went with the most fairest and beautiful ones. Which ended up being Njord!

This something in many cultures are connected to woman's beauty!

Freyr x Gerdr

While in the myths there is nothing to suggest that they're queer. Freyr was worshipped by gay men and Gerdr's name is both a feminine and masculine name!

Hey guys I'm doing a project on LGBT Relationships in mythology from around the world and I was wondering if anyone could help by telling me any wholesome ones!

All the ones I've found are either depressing or kinda disturbing, so I wanna hear some happier ones!

[odinson-dottirteatarots]

Capricorn constellation reading to all (21st of December- 21st of January)- since I won't be doing a stream for it nor a "stage" on discord

They are from scattered Christmas decks. Some of them are Corrine Kenner deck, some are for decks on etsy actually ☺️

Nevertheless , when I google Christmas, I see new things including sets of tarot.

This reading is focused, yet simple. It picks same cards on some level from variant decks. A confirmation of a message , to essence and detail.

The Capricorn ♑ is constellation of most upturning events, the traits of its people, with their mysterious preserved ways, skinny figure, cheisled bone structure and cheek bones, intellectual interest or soak on a work, introspective steps, truly parallel their card; the devil. Winter solstice marks beginning of this constellation. And the devil card is manifesto of all reality to this earthly realm, creating duality of gender, concepts, perception, yet beautiful and nurturing experience of it if you know how to tap into devil/ Capricorn/ goat energy. Its Christ's birth energy. Most saviours are born in Capricorn, sol invictus, the sun, Baldr, Dionysus, Jesus, Horus. Darkest night is birth of sun god/ son god.

The manifestation of heavenly divine to our world.

The sun card in nightmare before Christmas addresses that type of absolutely inner light. The sun rarely shows in that deck. Maybe just an orange colour on the fool and the world. Its why i let you see "the fool card".

Jack finds his sun in Christmas town. Dont anticipate though. Too much truth or enlightenment undirected is an inspiration going wobbly. Everything has season, he had to understand it. Take things slowly this Christmas. People will need to accept cancellation of festivals in many parts of the world. Find new smooth easy cosy practices to shine their sun. Even a small meditation on the self will be good, as the high priestess card confirms.

Christmas can tackle lots of wise lessons, use what you can, meditate slowly. Learn to rest. Animals are resting. Evergreen grows only in darkness. Grow in that.

In your stillness. Embrace yourself if no one else does.

Life can contain surprises. King of swords from Christmas tarot and nine of swords represents a shocking truth usually, a good omen shooting your face after long wait and expectation. Care of father Christmas is primordial in figure. Not like coca Cola's commercial Santa, father Christmas is a bishop, he is saturn god of time. A paternal figure in the family, a godfather visiting for first time in long years giving you small act of kindness and shoulder pat. Friends long gone might return in January. Beware of venus retrograde then, it misses with the emotional judgement. But say hi, be normal.

Everyone has money problems and feel worried in gloomy season, but through inner light, being in moment until the festives are gone can do. Its always a controversial season because its a spiritual nexus. Father Christmas is Odin, in wild hunt. Also Annihilating aspects of the self/ soul.

Christmas card is chariot. Life must go on. Go through Christmas that way. There will be ups and downs. But doing what you must is how things can go on.

The magician guides you to keep your charitable spirit during Christmas 12 days till epiphany and until end of January. Your magick is in mixing your elements of mental power, good memories, hopes, triggers. Find right triggers to take strong steps and make plans. Mental control or magick development on the rise. Keep your lessons undercheck. Contemplate your steps. Look with wide open eyes to all things this winter. You are the light. You got all answers inside your sack.

The hermit is yourself searching or resting and taking seclusion that is needed. Find your pace, trip, the way for next year. The way find you too. The answers are with you. Also you are surrounded by good fertility omens and life omens even in snow. Promises.

The sun in Christmas tarot shines again as new year's eve and new year day card. Father Christmas visiting still , through land , train or sea. A trip. A good vacation to those planning.

Transformation that is inner. Or triggered by a journey in which you see new things.

The world cards give you a blessing to have all you want, to crown the year and your life too in the second card depicting the girl in green dress.

You are master of your own universe. Trust that In divine providence.

[theunsinkablesappho]

Thoughts After Finishing AC: Valhalla

Under The Cut Out of Respect

Knowing now that Eivor is Odin really explains all those visions Eivor had where she disagreed with Odin after killing folk. It also makes me feel a lot better about my Eivor consistently disagreeing with him.

Holy fuck my feelings. All my friends *sobbing* All of Eivors little Saxon baby Kings.

The moment where Eivor rebukes “Odin” in Valhalla, stating that she needs “everything else” is just... MY CHEST HURTS.

Fuck Basim so hard but also like... God damnit Layla. But also like... if Odin was reborn once then in theory Odin and Tyr should have continued to be reborn? So there should still be an Odin out there somewhere? Also like... Eivor and Sigurd don’t remember who they were until it is pointed out to them so... how did Basim discover he is Loki?

I know that people hate the whole “alien” thing behind AC but tbh, I find it kind of fascinating. I’m more annoyed by the premise of the Animus, especially since clocking back in at the end as Basim instead of as Layla really felt like... a violation? I was pretty uncomfy with that. I plan to resolve it in fanfiction (by literally ignoring the existence of the Animus :D )

So Eivor is Odin. Sigurd is Tyr. Basim is Loki. Aletheia is Angrboda. Is Svala actually Frejya? Or is that just how she envisions herself in Valhalla? (Okay I wiki’d this and apparently yes, Svala is confirmed to be Freyja. Interesting that only her physical appearance changes in Valhalla.) So if Svala is Freyja, and the games seem to be ignoring the existence of Frigga/Frigg, I wonder if Randvi is an Isu at all. The wiki says that all 8 of the Norse Isu Gods uploaded themselves to be redistributed, so it is possible. (Nvm, the Wiki acknowledges Frigg as one of the Aesirian Gods, which makes me wonder why Freyja is then Queen of the Aesir. Since in most Norse myths that acknowledge Frigg - there is some dispute that Frigg and Freyja may be the same Goddess - she is usually listed as Odin’s Queen. Anyway, I suppose this means Randvi could be Frigg?) If I am remembering correctly, the Norse Gods we are introduced to or who are referenced in the game so far consist of: Odin/Havi, Freyja, Tyr, Thor, Baldr (deceased), Loki, Angrboda (jotun, but confirmed Isu), Njord, Skadi, Heimdall, and Idunn/Idunna. The game also acknowledges other non-deity Isu immortals like Fenrir, Jormungandr, and presumably, Hel/Hela, as the children of Loki. (No mention of Sleipnir and The Builder didn’t have a horse this go round so...Ubisoft didn’t want to figure out how to animate an 8 legged horse, let’s be honest). I suppose Randvi could be Frigg/Frigga, Idunn/Idunna, or potentially unnamed as  Jörd/Fjörgyn/Hlódyn, lover of Odin and mother of Thor. It is unlikely she would be Skadi, since Skadi was Njord’s wife and it wouldn’t make a ton of sense to then connect her to Odin.

Of course, Randvi might just be a normal Norsewoman as well, but that idea is much much less fun than the idea of them finding each other over and over again across time.

Also like given that we now know that it was Isu manipulating some of the earliest members of what would become the Assassins, and that they were doing it for their own means... Is the Assassin Order the bad guys now? Like, are they still supposed to be the heroes? I am extremely confused (I have only played Odyssey and Valhalla, and no, I won’t be going back and playing the older games, you can’t make me). Is this somehow going to get twisted around that Loki is a hero figure? Cause tbh, his motivations - while somewhat understandable - still appear to be very selfish in nature. Is the legend of Ragnarok still true? Is the world going to end if he frees Fenrir? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

Where is Eivor’s story going to go from here in DLC? Because tbh, there’s not a lot of *positive* material to be hand in that Aelfred storyline. I mean... Aelfred the Great won - he drove the Danes/Norsemen from England and unified England. So unless they are going to rewrite that history in a massive way, which doesn’t seem to super suit the series from my understanding, all that lies in that direction is a whole lot more of the devastation we saw in Hamtunscire. And I’m just going to say this right: I waited THE ENTIRE FUCKING GAME to get my hands on that Randvi romance. So... so help me god if all the DLC content is meant to be within current plot confines. I swear to fucking God I will SCREAM bloody murder. I need post-plot content that INCLUDES more romance development for Randvi and Eivor. I love myself some slow burn angst, but fuck off for real.

Speaking of Randvi and Eivor... they seem to fuck in the Map Room like... a LOT... and Sigurd and Randvi’s old bedroom is like... right there. There isn’t even a damn door. (There also isn’t a door to the rest of the longhouse so like... at LEAST one villager is gonna get an eyeful.) So my question then becomes... how do the logistics of the game work out. The game itself does not acknowledge this but I am left with many questions. Just because Sigurd is cool with me smashing his ex-wife doesn’t mean he’s cool with being IN THE NEXT ROOM while I do it.

For me, the most practical solution is to move all of Eivor’s stuff into the Jarl’s bedroom and move the other stuff into Eivor’s old room and let Sigurd stay there. I say move their stuff because idk, if I was gonna get with my brother’s ex-wife I would be really opposed to doing it in THEIR OLD BED. Just move Eivor’s bed in. And Sigurd can take the old bed into Eivor’s alcove, unless he moves out of the longhouse altogether (which seems unlikely because it would appear he is still Jarl? That begs another question: Is Jarlskona supposed to be a female version of Jarl or is it like “The Jarl is gone so this person is taking over in their stead” and if it is the latter then... hasn’t Eivor basically been Jarlskona the whole fucking time? Google isn’t helping me here, jarlskona appears to be a word invented for the game. Best I can find, a woman Jarl would... still just be a Jarl.)

[thunder-the-ranger-wolf]

Possible snippet from Brothers in Arms: The Iron Man Dilemma

Summary, One, Two, Three

Tony has never been so happy to see anyone else ever in his life. Rhodes was alive. The man didn’t die with the rest of those poor kids. As it turned out, neither did the driver of his vehicle. They weren’t the only survivors but they were the only ones he knew the names of. He resolved to learn the rest of their names when he got to wherever this godsforsaken helicopter was taking them. Didn’t these forsaken humans know that proper Wolves didn’t hunt in Thor’s territory?! He’d strike them all for being so foolish, even in the middle of the day!

Thor did not, in fact, strike them down. The sky didn’t even seem ready to, and honestly, Tony could howl for all he was worth when his paws met solid ground. 

He’s almost sure that he did. 

He knows for a fact that his blue-eyed gaze met Pepper’s green one and saw emptiness as she waited for the plane to empty. 

“Where’s Tony?” She demanded sharply. “You brought back his dog. I didn’t even know he took Ace with him! Jesus Christ, you poor thing…” Pepper ran a hand of ragged nails through his fur as she parted it, likely checking for wounds. 

“We’re still looking,” Rhodes insisted. “He’s out there. He escaped. The place he left behind is crawling with our forces and most of them are reporting dead men, melted metal, and half the mountain blown to pieces. It’s a lot to go through, Ms. Potts, but we’re going to find him.” 

“Alright…” Pepper exhaled roughly, breath caught in her throat. “Good God, I can’t believe he took his dog… but okay. If he escaped… that’s good. It means he can be found. And people know where to look now. Okay… okay.”  

The redhead was panicking, talking about press conferences, finding a will, and getting updates on the search. While Tony desperately wanted to shift back and talk some sense into her, he wasn’t sure if he could. He didn’t even remember shifting in the first place, but everything ached and he was exhausted and he really, really needed to go home and sleep. So he nudged Pepper’s hand and walked over Yinsen and Ramirez, grabbing the former’s arm and yanking him over to the latter before nudging them both towards where Rhodes and Pepper were standing. 

“The dog…” Yinsen rasped. “He saved my life, just kept running like the fastest cattle herder I’ve ever seen.” 

Tony deeply resented that remark but saw it for the compliment that it was and did not nip Yinsen like he wanted to. He did flash his teeth, though. 

“Ace doesn’t like being compared to other dogs,” Pepper chuckled fondly. “Tony’s got this poor thing thinking he’s something special when really, he’s just big.” 

Tony definitely resented that remark and knew it was not a compliment at all. He pushed his head upward so that Pepper’s hand almost smacked her face. 

“Oh, you little shit!” She hissed playfully. “I know you know what you’re doing! Just for that, you’re not getting any treats today. I had a nice chunk of deer meat all ready but nope, it can wait.” 

Tony did his best not to roll his eyes and gave his best puppy eyes instead. 

“Whatever, you adorable giant of a dog. You’re so weird.” Pepper laughed quietly before standing to face the others. 

“We should get you all settled somewhere, likely a hotel to start with.” 

And Pepper was off, making plans and being the most competent and put-together assistant Tony has ever had the pleasure of working with. She was handling this surprisingly well since she had no idea that Tony was in fact his own dog and that said dog was actually a wolf. Tony knew there was no further point in hiding it once he managed to shift back. Especially not with this… new contraption in his chest. Loki must have begged Thor for strength and extended his abilities because this was the only way Tony could possibly be alive right now. He wouldn’t question it until he had the strength to change back. So… what felt like another week or so. Loki might have to tap in his nephew, Baldr, to lend Tony patience instead. 

The weeks go by slowly. Day by day, Tony feels less like he’s been blessed by Loki and more like the animal form he’s been blessed with. He wants to rip Obadiah’s throat open and scatter his entrails. He wants to get his jaws around every scrap of metal with the logo of Stark Industries on it and feel it crushed between his jaws. He wants a full list of every person who ever came into contact with whatever dirty operation that Stane is running so he and watch them cower under his claws and shit themselves when they see his teeth. He wants to go through Howard’s precious company one by one, each forsaken building of people that belong to the Stark name, and howl at them all until he gets a full picture of just what the fuck is going on and how deep it goes. 

Sometimes, he just wants to rip into that deer chunk Pepper was talking about and gnaw the bones down until they were as thin and perhaps as sharp as his claws. Sometimes, he wishes he could talk to people in this form. Sometimes, he wishes the world would go away. That he’d been left at the gates of Hel like the Norns intended the first time around. What was the point of Yinsen saving his life if he couldn’t do anything about it?! 

“You’re going to rip up the carpet, pacing like that.” Pepper sighed from behind her computer. “Look, c’mere. I know you miss Tony. I miss him too. It fucking sucks that he’s still out there, but he’s going to come back and when he does, he’ll be ready to hug your fur off and give you belly rubs and pamper you within an inch of your life.” 

Tony very much does not think about Pepper being the one in need of pampering. His poor personal assistant had so much shit to slog through on a daily basis that, as the days went by, got worse and worse. SHIELD sent an agent to debrief Yinsen while Ramirez was taken back by her own people and Tony lost track of what happened there. He hoped Rhodes was able to keep up with her. At the very least, he was glad she wasn’t forced to endure the hospitality of the Ten Rings. At most, he wanted to take Rhodes, Yinsen, and Ramirez, and bundle them into blankets on the softest couch he owned before he sat on them all. He was sure they would make great pillows as they themselves got however much sleep a normal human needed. He could be considered coherent after half an hour and a shitton of coffee, but he’d also pulled his fair share of all-nighters over the many, many, many years. 

(Good gods, why has it been so long?)

Pepper made a very good pillow. She was very soft. 

“Are you drooling on me, Ace?” Pepper asked as she scratched between his ears. “Of course you are. You’re a dog.” 

Tony tilted his head the other way and let his tongue loll. It was fun to watch her react to what she thought she knew, but Pepper Potts was far from stupid. He let his head rest on her ap and she kept scratching between his ears. If he closed his eyes, he could almost remember the last redhead to do that.

Tony changed back on a Monday night when the moon is full, two months after he returns from Afghanistan with the others. That makes it five months since his original capture. He’s missed a lot of things he knows he didn’t want to, among them Pepper’s birthday and the MIT commencement speech. He startled awake in the middle of the night to a bare chest and grey sweatpants, cropped hair, and nothing resembling the goatee people expected of him. Good. No one would recognize him if he were to go for a walk. As it were, he was too tired to do that so he rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next time he woke up, it was to someone’s scream. 

“What-? Where-? What the fuck, Potts?!” He panted, scared shitless by his assistant’s startled screech. 

“When did you get here?! How did you get here? Did JARVIS see you? Why didn’t you wake me? Ace should have barked… where is that dog of yours anyway?” 

“You probably scared him off with that screech of yours, Potts. Goodness, that was the loudest thing I’ve heard in two months.”

“What… Tony, what is that?” 

“You’re going to want to sit down for this. And let me get dressed, at least-.” 

“Don’t bother, I’ve already seen it.” Pepper snapped, tone as cold as her eyes as they pinned him to his spot on the bed. “What is it?” 

“I miniaturized the arc reactor technology used to power some of the SI buildings and put it in my chest.” 

Pepper shivered at that and when she spoke next, her voice cracked. 

“Why?” She demanded. 

“It’s an electromagnet. It’s keeping shrapnel from puncturing my heart. Did Yinsen get to you? He should be able to explain more.”

“What… goodness. This is…” 

“Feel free to take a seat,” Tony offered. At Pepper’s incredulous look, he rolled his eyes. “I’m not exactly in a position to take advantage of you.” He drawled. 

“That’s hardly my biggest issue.” The redhead scowled, walking over to the bed and sitting on the side where Tony was now sitting upright. 

She stared at the bright blue light and then caught Tony’s wary gaze. 

“You should get that looked at.” She said after a few moments of staring. Without warning, Pepper launched herself forward and wrapped her arms around her boss’ neck. Her forehead met his shoulder and he went extremely still as she sobbed on his shoulder. 

“Clearly I was missed,” He deadpanned after a few uncomfortable minutes. 

“You… it’s been five months. We didn’t know where you were or what happened! No one could track you-.” 

Pepper cut herself off as Tony stiffened underneath her and she watched his eyes harden. 

“Sorry,” She said immediately. “I guess this is awkward, I-.” 

“It’s not you,” Tony assured her. “I just… you saying that reminded me of something. Something I need to do later.”

“What needs to happen, Tony?” Pepper asked quietly. 

“Plenty, but nothing that you can help with right now.” 

“Alright. At the very least, I can make sure your schedule is clear for the next few months.” Pepper said, getting up and starting for the door.

“Thank you,” Tony exhaled roughly. “Help yourself to anything that isn’t gross and moldy by now and order whatever you want.” 

“Thanks,” came Pepper’s strained response.

[aboutnorsemythology]

“Höðr and Baldr” And two sides of the same story.

There are two widely divergent versions of this story.

Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson

The most familiar of the two comes from the Prose Edda of the medieval Icelandic  Snorri Sturluson. As Snorri says, the god Baldr, who here is presented as a charming, loved and innocent sufferer, had dreams that predicted his imminent death.

His mother, Frigg, turned around and got oaths from around the world that they would not harm her son. The only thing he omitted was the mistletoe, since he thought it was too small and harmless to have a real consequence in this matter. When the clever cheater Loki discovered this neglect, he made a spear of mistletoe.

While all the gods had fun throwing all the projectiles available to Baldr and laughing while things bounced on their uninjured companion, Loki approached Hodr, here portrayed as blind and quite gullible, with the spear of mistletoe. He convinced Hodr to throw the spear to Baldr to contribute to the game and honor the strength of his brother. (Hodr and Baldr were children of Odin.) With Loki guiding his hand, Hodr threw the spear towards Baldr. The weapon went through him and, to the surprise and horror of everyone present, he fell dead on the spot.

Later, Hodr was killed by the avenger of Baldr, Vali, who seems to have been conceived specifically for this purpose and whose origin is also controversial (I'll talk about this in another post)

“Gesta Danorum”"The Danish history" by the medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus.

Here, Hodr is far from the passive pawn that Snorri makes him see. Hodr de Saxo (latinized as "Hotherus") is a character whose personality and actions best match his name, means "warrior".

Hodr and Baldr were two great war leaders who organized their armies against each other because of a dispute over the hand of the beautiful maid Nanna. Baldr was nourishing himself with a special spiritual food that gives him invincibility, and Hodr knew he could not beat Baldr by normal means. Then Hodr undertook a long and dangerous journey to the underworld.

There, he obtained a weapon that had been charged with magical powers that would allow him to overcome the magical force induced by Baldr. (It is likely that at this point Loki was able to inform Hodr about how to kill Baldr, because he was angry about Odin's actions, but this does not make him Baldr's killer) Soon after, Hodr wounded Baldr in combat, and Baldr died of his wounds a few days later. However, Hodr was killed by the avenger of Baldr, who is called "Bous".

These two stories are similar enough that they should point to the same basic story. However, they also differ in several definitive aspects, one of which is the character of Hodr.

In the first, Loki is the evil one who has the express intention of murdering a poor defenseless child (Bladr was not such a child and if we read in the same Edda when the gods torture and mock Fenrir Wolf, Baldr laughs cruelly for see him). Fenrir suffers) In the second Loki is not mentioned, not because he was not present in the story but because he was not the real murderer of Baldr.

Imagine for a moment that the version of Snorri's story was the only one that survived to this day. This is, in fact, the case of many of the stories told by Snorri. His version of Baldr's death is clearly far from the complete picture, and his story can not be taken literally.

Of course, the same must be said of Saxo's version. Saxo and Snorri had superimposed but divergent objectives, and whatever their own additions to the story, and whatever the motives behind their additions, they might have been drawn from different versions of the story in the first place.

 Regardless of the reasons behind the differences between the two narrations, however, it is clear that we have two versions as different in spirit as in the details, and that none of them gives anything like the complete picture.

 This example should serve to prevent us from taking the primary sources too literally, as if they were outright stories of how the pagans of northern Europe saw the world, or how they heard stories told by someone who was clearly on one side in this story . They point to the old world view of northern Europe, yes, but that worldview is often visible only in an opaque way and hidden beneath layers of later creations.

The sources are the starting points for our knowledge of the pre-Christian Germanic world, but they are not the final points. A "stick to sources" approach will only lead us astray and allow us to be tricked by Snorri and others, just as Hodr de Snorri was too confident by Loki. To fill in the gaps, to restore much of what has been lost, we need an approach that is both more critical and intuitive at the same time. We must identify the elements that are common to multiple sources, unite them to form a more integral framework.

Here are the two versions, you decide which of them you want to believe.

Sources: https://mitologia.top/dioses-nordicos-y-criaturas/dioses-y-diosas-del-aesir/hodr/

https://www.bookdepository.com/Saxo-Grammaticus-I-History-Danes-I-Books-I-IX-Saxo-Grammaticus/9780859915021

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saxo-Grammaticus

[queenofcats17]

The Comfort of Death

@insane-control-room posted the second chapter of {god([dess})titute] and I wanted to write more with Hel and Bertram interacting. 

This was honestly really fun. Generally when I write Hel, she’s in a position of power or putting on the “Queen of the Dead” act. 

Sidenote, the majority of this fic came from me asking Control a bunch of questions about Bertram’s reaction to certain things and ended with us kind of rping. ^^”

Bertram hadn’t really expected to see Hel again. She was the goddess of Death for an entire pantheon, so she definitely had a job to do. But he found her in his office once more, a week after her first visit. She was seated on a chair, hugging a dog to her chest. It looked as though she’d been crying. The dog appeared to be a mix between a Pomeranian and a Huskie, with a Huskie’s coloring but a Pomerian’s body shape. Its collar looked like it was made of old leather, a rune charm hanging from it. When Bertram entered, the dog immediately fixed the architect with its gaze. 

Child of Eros. A deep voice echoed in Bertram’s mind, and he instinctively knew it was coming from the dog. 

“Don’t scare him, Garm.” Hel pressed her face into the dog’s fur. “We’re his guests.” His voice was weary and resigned. 

My apologies. The dog continued to stare at Bertram. His eyes were an unearthly red, one that was most definitely not found on normal dogs. He got the feeling that the dog did not normally look like a dog.

“I apologize for showing up unannounced yet again,” Hel said. “I promise, I’m not trying to make a habit of this.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” He assured her, putting his briefcase down on his desk. “So, what brings you here this time?” Hel drew into herself, burying her face in Garm’s fur. 

It has...not been a good day. Garm said. My mistress is feeling very emotionally vulnerable. 

“Emotionally vulnerable? Did something happen?” Immediately, Bertram’s natural inclination to ‘uncleness’ reared its head. Hel might have been an old and terrible god of death, but she was also a young woman who looked up to Bertram quite a bit. 

“...How much do you know about the death of Baldr?” Hel asked. There was a weight to the words that made Bertram distinctly uncomfortable. 

“I know...Of it.” He answered slowly. “But I wouldn’t mind if you explained it.” Hel hunched her shoulders, taking a deep shaking breath. 

Would you rather I told him, Mistress? Garm looked back at her. 

“Thank you, but I can do it.” Hel murmured. It took a moment before she finally looked up, her lips set in a thin line. 

“It’s alright if you’d rather not talk about it,” Bertram said. 

“No, I’ll do it.” She shook her head. “Baldr was killed by my father and sent to my kingdom. Literally everyone wanted me to release him. To let him go back to his family.” Her shoulders hunched once more. “They come to me every year to remind me what a selfish little ice queen I am.”

“And how do you feel about it?” Bertram asked. “Did you want to keep him with you?”

“There is an order to things.” She replied. “The dead cannot come back. There are no exceptions.” 

Bertram couldn’t help but smile, leaning his head on one of his hands. “Am I out of the order of things?” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hel asked, her brow furrowing in a frown. Garm narrowed his eyes, ready to attack if Bertram insulted his mistress. 

“Is me defying my role out of the order of things?”

“That is not my business,” Hel said, her cheeks turning red. “My concern is the balance between life and death.”

“What is death in your eyes?” 

Hel’s frown deepened. She’d never been asked these kinds of questions before. There was an inherent understanding in the gods of her pantheon and her wards of what death was and what her role in it happened to be. 

“Death is when the bodies dies, whether from illness or murder or hunger or battle, and the spirit passes on to a different plane, whether that's Helheim, Freyja's realm, or Valhalla.” She finally replied after a moment or two.

“That means that death is not absolute,” Bertram said, smiling. “Because a different plane means the soul is still intact.” Hel continued to stare at him, visibly confused. 

Do not toy with her, Piedmont. Garm growled, although Bertram didn’t seem to notice. 

"They're still the same person, correct?" Bertram continued. 

"I...I suppose?" Hel nodded slowly. 

"So they're alive, just not in the world of the present."

"That...does make sense." She still looked incredibly confused by this concept, but she did nod once more. 

"Therefore, there is no 'dead', only in a different realm."

"I...Yes. That does make sense." She paused, then smiled mournfully. "That does seem to be the way everyone else viewed the situation. No wonder they considered me a selfish bitch for not allowing Baldr to return to the land of the living."

"Hey! That's your choice.” Bertram said, putting his hands up. “What merit does he have to live?"

She shrugged. "He was Odin's favorite son. The golden boy. He never did much, but he was always kind to everyone. Perhaps that's why my father chose him to die."

"Mhm. Has he wronged or righted anyone?" Bertram asked. 

"Like I said, he never did much. He was just...Nice to everyone. He's perfect in every way." Her voice turned bitter on the last sentence, her face twisting into a decidedly petulant and childlike look of disgust. 

"Really? How so?" Bertram folded his hands on his desk, watching her calmly.

"He's beautiful, kind, never harmed anyone in his life." She gestured with one hand, the other holding Garm to her chest. "Everyone loved him and the prospect of having him anywhere near an abomination like me was so abhorrent to his parents. After all, I'm a child of evil, aren't I? I can't possibly actually care about my wards!" She looked both furious and on the verge of tears. 

Bertram gestured to a couch in the corner of his office. “Sit down.”

She sniffled a little and moved over to sit on it, Garm still clutched in her arms. The dog had begun licking at her face, shooting warning glances back at Bertram. 

"Helheim is for the damned, isn't it?” Bertram asked, trying to get some clarity on the situation. “Who decides where one goes?" 

"It's not for the damned." She looked rather offended. "It's for everyone Freyja and Odin don't want. I've gotten my fair share of criminals, yes, but the majority of my wards are those whose deaths are deemed 'dishonorable'. Dishonorable because they did not die in battle."

"What an odd system," he murmured. "Who's son is Baldr again?"

"Odin's. His second son, but blatantly his favorite."

"Why did he not take him then? In his realm.”

She couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "Things would have been much easier had that been the case. But no, Baldr did not die in battle and so his death was deemed 'dishonorable' and he was sent to me."

"That's, excuse my french, bullshit." He grinned. "This is why we only have one place in Olympus." He paused a moment to think. "Your charges are yours. You do a wonderful job. You are great. You must know they've burdened you with an awful task."

She watched him for a moment or two before smiling, tears in her eyes. “Thank you.” 

Her father had told her something like that once. He’d come to visit her for her birthday one year when she’d been very young. It had been shortly after her exile to Helheim and she’d been crying over the fact that she was essentially alone, deprived of her family and friends. 

“The old man gave you a tough job, pumpkin.” Her father had said, pulling her into his lap. “But I know you can do it. You’re a brave, kind young lady and I know that you’re gonna do a great job. No matter what happens, don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. You’re a good kid.”

"For what?" Bertram scoffed, still smiling, "For telling the truth?" 

Hel just laughed. It felt good, just talking with Bertram like this. He treated her as if she was an ordinary person. She felt no pressure to behave a certain way or conform to any role. Her wards treated her warmly, but there was always an underlying sense of reverence to their interactions with her. She was their ruler and they never forgot that. She had a few friends among the Aesir, most notably Freyja, but the majority of them were not fond of her. Her expression soon grew solemn. 

“There’s something I need to show you.” She said, placing Garm on the ground and standing up. Bertram’s smile faded a bit. In situations involving a god’s death, red flags were generally everywhere. But he was the ultimate uncle, so he nodded for her to go on.

"I enjoy your company, and I wish us to be friends. And so I feel you must see the other reason I was shunned." Taking a deep breath, she lifted her skirt, revealing her lower body. From the waist down, her body was that of a corpse. Not a fresh one, which might have made it better, but that of a frost-bitten mummy. 

Although her strangeness was not as prominent as her brothers’, easily covered with long skirts and tall boots, it was something she was constantly reminded of. When her emotions got out of control, the rot tended to spread, causing her to cut quite an intimidating figure when she was truly angry. Not to mention, the half of her body that was rotting tended to change in situations where she was interacting with people who had a certain image of her. 

She fully expected Bertram to recoil in horror, scream, or at least by put off by her corpse lower body. Instead, Bertram laughed, but it wasn’t cruel. 

"What a stupid reason! Your legs are legacies of strength! Not of something to be shunned!" 

She stared at him, genuinely surprised he didn’t immediately thing she was disgusting. "The...The corpse thing. That's not...You're not..." 

You are not repulsed? Garm tilted his head to the side. 

"Of course I'm not repulsed!” He said. “My dear nephew, my Johan, he has polio. Its similar to what you have, though invisible. It's nothing to be repulsed by."

"Hm." She dropped her skirt. "Interesting." Then she perked up a bit. "Johan? Johan Ramirez?" 

“Yes.” Bertram was definitely a little nervous about Hel’s knowledge of Johan’s name. Still, he remained calm about it. 

"Oh! I've heard about him!" She clapped her hands together. "One of my wards met a little boy who spoke of him." 

They spoke highly of him. Garm agreed. 

"He's..." Bertrum smiled wistfully and nodded. "Good."

"He certainly seems like a lovely man." She nodded as well. "And you obviously care a great deal about him."

"Of course I do," Bertrum smiled. “He's family. You could be family, too."

"Very funny." She immediately replied, rolling her eyes. 

"I'm honest."

Hel’s eyes widened and her head whipped around so that she could see his face. He did look genuine. She couldn’t see any trace in his expression that he was trying to pull one over on her. 

"You...You are?" Her voice was quiet and unsure. 

"Of course. As someone who's lied to himself for a very long time, I've come to terms that lying doesn't work. I'm honest when I say you could be family too." He smiled gently. 

She just stared at him, her expression blank. Then the floodgates seemed to open and she started to openly sob. She looked so young in that moment, so small and vulnerable. Bertram pulled her close with his wings and just hugged her. 

.

When Lacie showed up to work that day, Bertram proudly presented hir with Hel. 

“This is our daughter now!” He proclaimed proudly. He held Hel up, holding her under her arms. 

Hel waved sheepishly. “Hello again.”

Greetings, mortal. 

Lacie’s attention was drawn down to a small dog by Bertram’s feet that absolutely did not feel like a dog. Something had obviously happened this morning. Oh well, their lives were weird enough. 

“So, we have a kid now?” Lacie laughed and shook hir head. “Well, alright.” She could tell Bertram wasn’t about to be talked out of this. Might as well go along with it. 

[dailyawakening]

oh please tell me your thoughts on loki! she's actually a rather interesting character and i dont think intsys could do her justice so i would love to hear your ideas!

this response is so late because A) I’ve been trying to figure out what to draw for it and B) I’ve been trying to figure out how to structure the monster novel that by necessity needs to be attached to anything relating to my Loki thoughts. 

As a disclaimer, all of this is entirely my own invention based on the original mythology and what we’ve seen of canon; I’m resigned to the fact that there’s no real chance any of this will become part of Heroes, but this is what makes me happy personally, so I’m going to stick to it as an AU if nothing else.  So with that out of the way: let’s talk about Loki. 

I decided that the easiest way to go through this would be in the major stages of Loki’s life, with each one showcasing a different appearance (Loki’s a shapeshifter, after all).  It’s not always easy to put myths in order, but I have a pretty strong personal plot thread that runs through Loki’s myths, so let’s start at the beginning: with Loki’s early experiences as one of the Aesir. 

Loki is not technically a god – not in the way that Odin and Thor are, at least.  Loki is a child of jotunn, and more than likely is a jotunn as well, rather than one of the Aesir, so under normal circumstances would not have counted among their number; however, Loki and Odin forged a blood pact and swore an oath to treat one another as brothers, and so Loki was adopted into the Aesir fold by bonds of kinship. 

Loki is not truly evil, and never has been.  Loki is a mischievous spirit, fiery and wild, fond of trickery and games, and those have a tendency to get out of hand sometimes, which leads to big problems.  But Loki’s word is also their bond, and when they swear an oath, they keep it.  The myth of Idunn shows this very clearly: when Loki is captured by a jotunn, they swear to give him whatever he asks, and he asks for the goddess Idunn, responsible for keeping the Aesir young and strong.  When Loki is released, they do exactly as they swore, and lure Idunn into the jotunn’s clutches; however, when the rest of the Aesir realize what’s happened, they force Loki to promise to get Idunn back, which Loki proceeds to do. 

This oath keeping is important.  It will come up again. 

Now, because of the bond they swore, Loki was often called on by Odin to perform various tasks, many of which sent them wandering across the various realms – of course, Loki also succumbed to wanderlust sometimes when left bored too long, and had been known to wander off.  On one of these wanderings for whatever purpose, Loki met the jotunn Angrboda and ended up having a rather extended affair with her – enough that three children came of it: the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jormungandr, and a daughter named Hel who seemed neither living nor dead.  

Loki loved those children.  They didn’t care a whit that they were seemingly strange: those were Loki’s babies, and Loki doted on them endlessly.  Eventually, though, Odin had need of Loki again and summoned them…and rather than leave the babies behind, Loki decided to bring them back to Asgard.  Now, the Aesir were significantly less thrilled about these children than Loki, but when Loki asked the Aesir to look after them in their absence (calling on Odin’s pact when he falters), they relented, and Loki left the three children with the gods. 

For a while, things were fine.  Unfortunately, Fenrir and Jormungandr in particular grew at an alarming rate, and the Aesir came to fear what monsters they would eventually become – so rather than let them become destroyers wreaking havoc on Asgard, Odin chose instead to deal with them while Loki was absent on a mission: Fenrir was bound with the ribbon Gleipnir (only managed because Tyr, the Aesir he trusted most, agreed to place his hand in Fenrir’s mouth to prove it was no trick – and he lost that hand for his deception), Hel was exiled to the realm of the dishonored dead (those who died of sickness and famine rather than gloriously on the battlefield), and Jormungandr was thrown into the swirling chaos of the Tempest before Odin used his might to quell it. 

Loki was…less than pleased when they got back.  Vascillating wildly between rage and desolation, they took out their suffering through increasingly malicious pranks on the Aesir (the theft of Brisingamen and the shearing of Sif’s hair), which ultimately ended in Loki paying the heaviest price.  Eventually, grief took its toll, and Loki gave in to a listless depression; it was their inability to care at all that made them discount Svadilfari’s strength, and they came to pay for that, too – though the price came in the form of a new child, the eight-legged colt Sleipnir that Loki bore as a mare.  Unwilling to see another child suffer the same fate as the first three, Loki gave Sleipnir over to Odin in hopes that leaving him in service to the Aesir would protect him from harm…and, at least, Loki would still be able to see the child. 

And it’s here that we reach the first turning point: realizing how unstable Loki had become owing to the loss of their children, Odin decided to take drastic action and try to ground them in the present – by arranging Loki’s marriage to Sigyn.  No one actually expected the marriage to be more than lip service, with the two leading separate lives within the same house; however, much to everyone’s surprise, Loki and Sigyn readily came to care for one another, and Loki finally began to heal from the loss of their children.  They still mourned, yes, and still worried for Sleipnir, but much of their playfulness returned as they found joy with their new wife.  Settling with Sigyn and becoming a more committed member of the Aesir led to the first major shift in Loki’s appearance, as well. 

Loki and Sigyn had a child together: a son named Narvi who they both loved dearly.  Having a child to raise once more helped to ground Loki still further, and they finally settled comfortably into their role and came to be almost friendly with several of the Aesir.  When Thor’s hammer was stolen, Loki helped him first to find it (by using Freya’s cloak of feathers to fly to the realm of the jotunn; he promised to return it and made good on his word) and then retrieve it, and even won a new ally into the fold with their antics.  Loki and Thor traveled together as allies for a spell, no less, and had a rather harrowing encounter with a jotunn skilled in illusion (during which Loki lost an eating contest with a wildfire and had an unwitting encounter with Jormungandr, something they mourned once the truth was revealed because they had no idea).  And beyond that, Loki even came to the aid of mankind alongside the other gods, helping to save a boy from being devoured by giants when even Odin and Thor could not. 

Sadly, this period of happiness was not meant to last.  In time, Odin’s second son Baldr began to have terrible nightmares about his own death; fearing deeply for her son’s life, his mother Frigg went to every plant, animal, and other object in the world and begged them to swear to do Baldr no harm, to which they all agreed. 

And this is where things get dicey: Odin, wise and well-traveled already, had knowledge of what would come to pass at Ragnarok and after – and because of that, he knew that Baldr would rise from Hel to claim the world after the rest of the gods and men had fallen, inheriting the new and beautiful world that rose from the fire and flood.  With Frigg’s frantic attempts to keep her son alive, that prophecy would be endangered.  Odin, of course, is known as a good and honorable god…but looking at the myths more closely, it sometimes seems that he’s only ‘good’ and ‘honorable’ because he has others do his dirty work (it was his order that had Loki lure Svadilfari from his work, thus cheating the builder of his prize, after all) or claims that he acts in everyone’s best interests (as he did when he bound or exiled Loki’s first children).  

So in order to preserve his son’s ability to inherit the world, Odin went to Loki and asked him to find a way to take Baldr’s life. 

Naturally, Loki balked at that.  But Odin cited their blood bond, and insisted that it was necessary.  In the end, Loki agreed – on the condition that his family be spared from whatever followed, for there could be no doubt that there would be a heavy price to pay for this.  Odin swore it, and Loki left, discovering that Frigg had failed to ask the mistletoe for its oath and using it to create an arrow; and while the other Aesir were having a grand time throwing things at Baldr and watching them bounce off him without doing a thing, Loki tricked Baldr’s twin brother Hodr into firing the arrow – which struck Baldr in the heart, killing him instantly. 

It took little enough time for the gods to realize that Loki was behind the crime, and they proceeded to shut him out of everything.  Wracked with guilt and emotionally unstable, Loki gradually neared a breaking point, which led to the roasting of the other gods at Aegir’s house (which Loki intruded upon by pointedly reminding Odin of the same blood oath he’d cited to make Loki agree to the plot).  Realizing that Loki posed a great danger should the truth come out, Odin took drastic action: when the other Aesir, incensed by Loki’s criticisms and sharp words, hunted them down to be punished for Baldr’s death, Odin turned his youngest son Vali into a wolf and had him attack Loki’s son Narvi, viciously murdering the boy; and to make matters worse, the Aesir then used Narvi’s entrails to bind Loki to a stone beneath the earth, transfiguring them into chains before affixing a snake above Loki’s head to drip poison onto them for eternity. 

Only one stayed beside Loki through this: their wife Sigyn, who remained by Loki’s side catching the poison in a bowl (though she had to leave to empty it on occasion, and when she did the searing poison made Loki writhe violently enough to cause earthquakes).  And it is because of Sigyn that Loki remained passive for so long: her presence kept Loki calm, kept their thirst for revenge from overwhelming them, for she reasoned that if they did slip those bonds and set Ragnarok in motion, then Loki and all of their children all would die, just as Narvi had.  At least now the children had life and could have pleasant dreams – and at least now, Loki had Sigyn. 

But at some point in the very recent past, something happened: Sigyn vanished.  Loki had slept, and when they woke to the searing pain of the snake’s venom, they found that their wife was nowhere to be seen, and no amount of calling and pleading made her reappear.  That, truly, was the last straw for Loki: all their grief and despair turned to fury and hate in that instant, and the fireball they became incinerated both their chains and the snake that had so long tormented them.  In the aftermath, only one link of the chains remained intact, and Loki kept it close, fashioning it into the buckle of the belt they wear.  And without Sigyn by their side, Loki allowed that desire for vengeance to burn through them, which has led to where things stand today. 

The shape Loki now assumes is strategic as much as comfortable, meant to distract enemies and give her more openings in combat. Everything she does is self-serving, up to and including her alliance with Surtr – hence her betrayal when he ceased to be useful.  What she seeks: her children.  Calling on Veronica to secure Naglfar and raise the Tempest, she sought Jormungandr (and still seeks him, as each foray into the Tempest has left her empty-handed); and now that Surtr’s power has been added to Hel’s army, giving her the ability to break the barrier Askr put in place, Loki seeks her lost daughter.  And in the end, she intends to make the treacherous Aesir suffer for the pain and misery they caused her and her family for so long. 

[discord-of-laughter]

OC throwback - older and barely used OCs pt. 1/7 “Persephone”

Persephone Nysa

Over all those years of barely - if at all - making their presence known, the gods of old have lost touch with humanity. The one on earth but also humanity within themselves.

So Odin, Zeus and the other leaders of the gods decided to do something about it... the it in question being planned and executed by Zeus mostly being gathering his first “round” of godly guinea pigs, robbing them of their godly form, turning them into young adults and fitting each of them with a surpressor.

Robbed of their connection to everything they felt they have always been they are thrown into a kind of boarding school. Mostly inhabited by homunculi - the shape and form of other students but not quite with a life of their own. So all they really have to keep each other company ar they themselves:

Norse: Loki, Baldr, Thor

Japanese: Tsukiyomi, Susanoo, Amaterasu

Greek: Apollo, Hades, Artemis, Dionysus, Persephone

Agypt: Anubis, Sekhmet, Thoth

Out of touch with their lifes before they start over. It feels like being reborn, it makes them helpless... but in order to be freed from the leading gods little experiment they have to survive school life, gain back their humanity and... survive Thoth the old Agyptian god of Wisdome as a teacher.

In the lively Artemis and the combative Sekhmet Persephone soon finds friends... or at least allies. And each and any of them needs those.

Apollo and Artemis are about the age of their uncle. Persephone has a hard time imagining or even remembering that she was actually married to the gloomy Hades who seems to attract bad luck like nothing else. Anubis has lost his normal speech and only Thoth and Sekhmet seem able to understand him properly. And Thoth... their so called teacher... has a lot of theoretical knowlegde but is about as close to gaining back his humanity as any other of them. While Artemis gets along scarrily well with Loki... much to Baldr’s dismay. And Sekhmet and Susanoo seem to be unable to let any chance to challenge each other pass.

Soon Persephone finds solance in the schools garden and gardening group... if Dionysus didn’t always try to plant more grapes.... for more than obvious purposes. And Zeus didn’t come up with new “challenges” once in a while.

Life is about as weird and exhausting as you might imagine being in school and living together is for people not only of various cultures... and all out of touch with their emotions... but also people who not too long ago were gods and goddesses with most of them still not rid of a certain air entitlement. 

Not to mention that while Persephone looks innocent... while it is easy to make her laugh and see seems rather light-hearted and sweet... do not cross her. Do not cross the guy she faintly remembers to be her husband... and beware when she gets her powers back... because Zeus is going to pay eventually... eventually... 

[Because @cantankerousintrovertedpumpkin asked]

[arkyn-iceborn-vindication]

Is It Cold In Here Or...

Name: Arkyn  Age: 17 Occupation: Second year hero course student at U.A. High School Quirk: Local Blizzard Local Blizzard is a temperature changing quirk, which allows Arkyn to affect the area around him through absorbing heat energy at an incredibly rapid rate. This heat energy is stored withing a special organ inside his body, and he can release or absorb the heat as he sees fit. If Arkyn absorbs more than his limit, the excess heat energy begins to heat his entire body, not able to be fully contained by his storage organ. Arkyn cannot use his quirk to heat an area past its normal temperature, as it would draw out his own body heat to do so, putting his life in danger in the process. At the current time, Arkyn can absorb and store about 6237 kilo joules of heat energy, enough to cool a 20 foot radius hemisphere of dry air 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), assuming I did my math right. Arkyn can alter the radius of the area he wishes to affect as he pleases, but he cannot otherwise shape his heat absorption.

Because of the effects of rapid temperature change, his quirk, used rapidly, can create wind as a side-effect as well as causing mist to form. By “spamming” his heating and cooling ability and ending on cold, he can freeze the mist, forming a sort of pseudo-snowstorm due to the wind and updraft created as a byproduct. This is where he gets his hero name from, and it is one of his “finishing moves.”

Body type: Arkyn believes a strong quirk is no excuse for laziness, and as such he has trained to have a well-toned body. While he doesn’t possess the frame or bulk of a lineman in football, he is still nonetheless strong. Personality: Arkyn is a bit introverted, and rarely is one to start a conversation, but he opens up a lot around friends. He has a good sense of humor, and a generally kind disposition to most people, though it may not show until you get to know him better. He is often matter-of-fact and to the point, unless the subject at hand is particularly embarrassing. Weaknesses: Arkyn isn’t great at working in a team, due to his quirk affecting an entire area without any way to protect anyone inside the area from the effect. Temperament: Arkyn is generally calm and rational, but he gets a bit nervous upon absorbing his maximum capacity of kilo joules.  His Quirk: If used carelessly, Arkyn can cause his own body to go into shock and suffer the effects of heatstroke due to absorbing too much heat.

Costume: Arkyn wears what appears to be a large parka accompanied by thick pants and high boots, as well as ski goggles. On his back is a specially designed apparatus that stores different coolants that can be distributed throughout his suit to keep his body cool in the event that he goes over capacity. It can also detect if he goes into shock and can detect signs of failing vitals, which prompts it to contact the nearest hero organization with a distress signal. Hero name: Arctic Hero - Snowstorm

Backstory:

Arkyn Baldr is the firstborn of the Baldr family, with a single younger sibling, a brother by the name of Aethin. He’s an overseas student from Switzerland who came to study at U.A. due to its high prestige, especially because the Symbol of Peace, All Might, had graduated there.

Most of Arkyn’s childhood went mostly normal, he was a child in a world of superheroes, and though his home country was not particularly known for their villains or heroes, he was fascinated with them. When his quirk first manifested, He didn’t really know what it did. During school, everyone in the class felt the room start to become several degrees colder. Arkyn didn’t even realize it was his doing until later, when he got home and laid in bed, relaxing as the room suddenly grew several degrees warmer. After a bunch of testing the waters with his newfound power, he was able to get a good idea of its capacity.

In middle school, while Arkyn was waking home from school one day, he heard sirens and saw smoke. The source of the smoke was in his path home, so cautiously, he approached the scene, finding what appeared to be a local bakery that had caught flame.

There were some people already at the scene, and Arkyn overheard that there were still employees in the back, trapped by the smoke and flames, unable to evacuate. Immediately, Arkyn dashed inside, slipping past several people that tried to reach out and stop him. Pulling his scarf over his mouth so as to provide minor filtration to the smoke, he activated his quirk, absorbing the heat from the flames nearby and shouting for the employees to hurry. Rushing further back, he did this two more times, killing the flames with his heat absorption, not recognizing the reason he felt so hot wasn’t just from the burning building, but that he had surpassed his limit. The employees from the shop gratefully stumbled out, barely conscious from inhaling the smoke, coughing and gagging the whole time. Arkyn himself made it to the doorway before dizziness kicked in and he fell, collapsing on the ground in shock. When the ambulance came, he was rushed to the hospital alongside the ones who had inhaled the smoke, and realized that day that while his quirk has the capacity to save, it can also seriously harm him.

After testing and making it into U.A., Arkyn works tirelessly to become a professional hero, wanting to work alongside firefighters as a rescue hero. He’s also considered being a combat hero, as his quirk in close ranges has the capacity to flash freeze someone. perhaps a villain, for capture. During the hero internship program Arkyn took on the hero name Snowstorm, and it’s stuck ever since.