mythsandheather

[mythsandheather]

Modern Dracula retellings of any media tend to erase Lucy's mother, in favor of making Lucy more grown up (and thus her encounters with Dracula to be hot), more sexually forward (only to get punished for it), and an independent woman. Often claiming that this "fixes" her story.

However, Mrs Westenra is important to exist partly because it makes Lucy such a Persephone figure.

A daughter (kore/κόρη) on the cusp of adolescence and adulthood, taken forcibly away from the living to the land of the dead by the lord of Death, to marry him (white clothes in her tomb, when she was supposed to be in a bridal dress soon), to dwell in darkness for eternity under his ultimate power.

Lucy also dies/"goes to the underworld" on the Autumn Equinox, signaling winter coming and light (the meaning of Lucy's name) fading for darkness to reign.

Peresphone's abduction to the underworld, a girl taken away by death too early, mourned, was meant to be a tragedy. And so is Lucy's story.

[mythsandheather]

(Link above screencap of stuff.co.nz headline “Kiwi pukupuku/little spotted kiwi rediscovered on mainland Aotearoa after 50 years.”)

(And yes, one of our main, reputable national news sites is just called “Stuff.”)

This is much more exciting for Kiwi bird-enjoyers than Sir Peter trying to resurrect the moa. Good on you, kiwi pukupuku, for proving you’re experts in How Not To Be Seen, but it is very nice to see you.

[mythsandheather]

This one of Hera and Hebe is my personal favourite funniest moment in LO. It’s not intended to be funny at all but it absolutely fucking spins me every time I see it.

Are there any LO panels that just absolutely send you whenever you read them?

oh god, too many to count LOL but here are a handful that came to mind right off the bat-

Zeus calling Persephone's bluff and leaving her with Dionysus:

Naked Hades jumpscare:

Whatever the fuck they did to Hecate here:

While I get the intended joke, this is even funnier if you hate Persephone:

whyareyourunning.mp4:

for some reason this creepy lawyer guy who showed up for like 2 panels is in the coloring book and i couldn't tell you why:

Persephone breaks her leg:

[mythsandheather]

“Stop being mean about Rachel! It’s just her interpretation! Read the originals if you’re that mad!”

Find a new piece of weird ass media with a borderline illegal relationship to defend if you’re that mad.

( now the big question is when I say “borderline illegal” do I mean the inappropriate workplace drama, the fact Persephone is 19 while Hades is thousands of years old, or the fact he’s her uncle by marriage? You be the judge.)

[mythsandheather]

Repost from reddit of my thoughts on the LO figurines as an artist from New Zealand.

So the figurines don’t look good.

This isn’t news to anyone at this point. There’s still no clear reason as to how they turned out this way, but I do feel the need to come to the defence of Weta Workshop at least a little bit, as I’m seeing a lot of people lobbying blame and criticism at them.

Weta Workshop, as many of you know, is an NZ special effects company and has worked on projects like the Lord of the Rings, the Dune films, Wakanda Forever, the X trilogy, Mad Max: Fury Road, M3GAN and James Cameron’s Avatar films. They know what they’re doing and their work spans a multitude of genres.

At the bottom of the listing for any figurine on the website, they list the principal sculptor, so I found the one for the LO figurines. His name is Daniel Holland his specialty is 3D textures.

I also included some snippets of his other projects where he was the principal sculptor, including the detail work. These are…in a word…spectacular. The real kicker is the Sauruman sculpture is only about $30-$40 more expensive than the LO ones.

So Weta Workshop knows their craft and so does the sculptor who oversaw the creation of the LO prototypes (which I mention in case they turn out looking better yet).

The final two images have a quote from Rachel about what it’s like to see how people see her characters and that she provided feedback…

…and Weta Workshop explaining the features of the Persephone sculpture and how it was made in collaboration.

Was a conscious decision made to make the characters look as simple as possible to appeal to the LO audience rather than the usual LOTR fans who buy most the site’s figurines? Are these just very rough prototypes and they’ll end up looking better yet? But if that’s the case, why would they showcase these rough early versions for approval and potential sales?

It’s all baffling and feels very odd, but as I said, I felt the need as an artist in NZ to come to Weta Workshop’s defence. This isn’t the usual quality of their work and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they didn’t create more detailed sculptures when they certainly have the means to do so, yet I also can’t figure out why Rachel would sign off on her characters looking so bad.

[mythsandheather]

I live in NZ and it’s extremely unusual for Weta to sell anything for that cheap, so it really says a lot about the quality of these figurines, although with the currency difference the NZ price is $49.60. They’re by far the cheapest figurines on the website. The only things on the website cheaper than the LO statues are art cards, oven kits and keyrings.

Just saying for anyone thinking it’ll be worth the exorbitant shipping.

hey so here's an actual real shocker that took me the fuck out

the weta figures

aren't even out yet.

like, every figure that's been announced since the limited edition H x P statue that were limited to 800? the past year of posts about new figures that are dropping?

not a single. one. has actually been released.

that is ABSURD especially when they're STILL ANNOUNCING NEW FIGURES ON TOP OF THE ONES PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING THE BETTER PART OF A YEAR FOR.

and man, good luck if you're from anywhere that isn't New Zealand where the company is based, because the shipping costs are ATROCIOUS-

That is the actual cost that was estimated to deliver a single figure to me. Mind you, I'm not in the States, I'm just a few gas station stops up north in Canada, Canadian Lore Olympus fans exist - and after currency conversion, we'd have to spend $80+ for a single figure. Despite the fact that the pre-order notices themselves mention that they have US warehouses that would presumably be the middleman operating for Canadian customers.

That is insane.

I'm trying not to make any extreme assumptions here but I genuinely think they're just trying to bank on the pre-order sales - which require a 25% NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT upfront - by getting people hyped up purely on announcement bait, enough that they'll put money down on the pre-orders without thinking about what it's gonna cost them when the final bill rolls in.

Especially considering the part of the fanbase that would buy these absolutely wouldn't limit themselves to one, they've clearly been announcing these figures in duo sets for a reason. Because if you buy at least two, what they make in non-refundable deposits that they DO NOT HAVE TO GIVE BACK TO YOU pretty much covers the cost of the fully priced figure on its own, so even if you back out, they still profit.

I understand the concept of non-refundable deposits, I literally utilize them in my own services to ensure I'm still making enough to pay for the base level of my services (as a tattoo artist, the deposit covers the appointment spot in case you back out, the setup cost, the design time, etc.) but it's the fact these products haven't even released yet and yet are STILL BEING ANNOUNCED WITH NEW ADDITIONS EVERY FEW WEEKS, presumably with the intent of suckering people in to put down more pre-orders without once thinking about the fact that they've already spent $200 on multiple other figures that are all still in development. It all feels incredibly poorly thought out, but intentional at the same time.

I can't help but feel come October-December, when it's time for that first batch of figures to come out (Hades, Persephone, Hermes, and Hecate), there are gonna be a LOT of people dropping like flies from the pre-order list when they get hit with the final bills. And not a single one of them are gonna have anything to show for the money they spent, and most of all, the year of waiting.

But hey, who knows, this is the same company selling a $5000 bronze statue of Snoopy, so maybe I'm just underestimating figurine freaks.

[mythsandheather]

[mythsandheather]

Mfw I show up to the unnecessary sexual dimorphism battle and my final boss is Rachel Smythe

so we really doing this again huh

[mythsandheather]

At no point can I make even an ounce of sense of what this is trying to say but pop off ig

For every Lore Olympus that exists, there's a much better Hades x Persephone retelling in obscurity. Also, quit using The Hymn to Demeter against Hades and Persephone shippers.

No, seriously. It gets fucking annoying. Also, Christianity did not make Hades evil. I shit you not that someone painted a picture of Persephone beheading Hades because of what he supposedly did to her.

I don't know what it is about Lore Olympus that got people really screwed up on the Hades and Persephone myth. Lore Olympus is shit, but it's not enough to be considered extremely controversial, like Lolita.

Hollywood is responsible for making Hades evil. Not Christianity. Zeus is the one who rapes Persephone in that context. A ton of anti LO people, not all of them hate it how scholars have stated that Hades and Persephone are the healthiest couple Greek mythology and that Hades isn't evil.

[mythsandheather]

in my opinion, many modern greek retellings/stories inspired by greek mythology don't fail because they're inaccurate. they fail because they have nothing new to say.

i don't mind changes to the original myths, as long as they make sense and they have a narrative purpose! i understand that making changes is sometimes necessary to convey a certain narrative, especially to modern audiences.

is epic the musical mythologically accurate? hell no! but the changes serve to tell a specific story and to convey a certain message. also, epic the musical is self aware about its "inaccuracies". and the music just bangs.

is hadestown accurate? no! does it make the change that I always dread, removing the kidnapping from the hades/persephone myth? yeah. but hadestown is barely about them, and it uses greek mythology as a "narrative frame" to tell a certain story. it has a point. it has a message.

what are stories like lore olympus trying to say? what is the messagge of the hundredth persephone/hades retelling? what are we supposed to take from them? "don't listen to your mother she's a bitch"? "mothers are irrational and you should forsake her for a man"? very feminist.

why are we still doing the medusa "feminist" retellings? it's BEEN done. too many times. and they're ALL the same. it's a worse crime than being bad: they are boring.

i'm tired of retellings that are just "what if this very famous story was THE OPPOSITE and the protagonist was an ASSHOLE the whole time and the villain was MISUNDERSTOOD and the real VICTIM" okay but why. why would that be the case. what's the point of the story you want to tell. or do you just want to use shock value.

of course, i dislike retellings that are so different from the myth that they go AGAINST the spirit/message of the original, because in that case what's even the point of retelling the myth? just tell an original story. but i would take stabbed poseidon and capitalist hades any day over the same basic story of medusa being a girlboss or demeter being bad because of... reasons?

tl;dr: stop being unoriginal and tell a good story. or at least an entertaining one. i beg you

[mythsandheather]

Whoever the mfers was that first came up with the “Stolas from Helluva Boss is like if the writers of Bojack Horseman excused and validated everything he did” concept…

[mythsandheather]

yep

that's rachel in the corner

admitting in a now deleted tweet that the H x P age gap is toxic and unhealthy and isn't framed as a positive

that's rachel in the spotlight

a day later reacting poorly to criticism of the age gap that she literally just said is toxic and unhealthy and not framed as a positive

oh no i've said too much

✨ i haven't said enough ✨

[mythsandheather]

a bit shy but abt ur post w the LO coloring book i absolutely agree. its so odd seeing ppl defend her again just bc she posted *some* good art (which imo still was mediocre, shes just using texture again) and the coloring book looks pretty (bc it wasnt drawn by her i believe). like no shes still the same youre falling for "pretty art" again but theres no indication shes grown as a person or writer. Its rlly foolish lol.

No worries about being shy, I’m just happy you agree. I’m fully expecting to get some pushback on my post bc I’ve kinda known for a long time that ppl are willing to completely overlook their serious issues with a creator if they’re presented with some fun visual stimuli.

You’re completely right. She hasn’t changed and tbh neither has her art, she’s just using a different brush. Bull shit is still bull shit, whether you write it with a pencil or in cursive with a calligraphy pen. That doesn’t excuse everything else.

I can’t believe it’s 2024 and we’re still having this conversation. Just yesterday I saw someone on the subreddit do an in depth comparison between several comic scenes and the 90’s Lolita movie, only for people to go right back to bragging about the new pretty colouring book full of the definition of mid art that they bought.

I’ve seen some people say “oh but now I can do better redesigns of her characters!” Like…okay? You could have done that anyway without fucking PAYING her for the privilege, but pop off.

[mythsandheather]

Gonna be real, I’m not super thrilled by the amount of ppl buying the Lore Olympus colouring book, like all the sexism, racism, classism, poor representation, grooming, SA and so much more is suddenly excusable and easy to overlook again because the art is aesthetically pleasing once more.

Like, I thought we were past going “ooh pretty!!!” on a surface level and giving Rachel money, all while ignoring all the glaring deeper issues and all the ppl (like me) who are triggered by LO, but it would seem I’m incorrect.

[mythsandheather]

the sexism in naruto is actually so crazy and all encompassing. every female character is defined by her relationship to men. the majority are boy-crazy. and it’s constantly remarked upon how weak they are when compared to their male teammates.

not only that but the main male characters actively dislike the women they’ve been paired off with. shikamaru is into temari but his infinite dream is not having to marry her. sai ends up with ino despite finding her ugly. naruto thinks hinata is weird and boring. sasuke’s dislike of sakura is infamous.

adult men’s interest in women is seen as comical and alien. (reactions to the sexy jutsu, jiraiya harassing women). almost all of the adult men are perpetual bachelors or sex perverts (and those who aren’t are stand ins for “mom and dad”).

when boys actually do like girls, it’s to show goofy immaturity and innocence (naruto’s crush on sakura that he grows out of as he reaches maturity, lee’s crush which is dropped entirely, obitos crush on rin which lasts into adulthood just to show he isn’t entirely separate from the boy he once was)

the whole ninja society likes to imagine it is a mostly gender blind world where women can thrive but this is SO obviously untrue. women are almost always healers and support. women make up less than 1/3 of the ninjas even at genin level. girls are almost all desperate to become wives and earn the attention of boys who don’t even like them!

mikoto uchiha was a jonin and presumably directly descended from the uchiha line (based on characters commenting that she/sasuke look just like izuna uchiha), but we only ever see her retired and raising her sons while her husband gets to be clan leader. (why?? if he married into the main family and she is an extremely capable ninja??)

similarly kushina uzumaki is borderline royalty and a jinchuriki, but her husband is hokage. once again the mother carries on the burden of power (for her sons to inherit) but the father has the title and status.

even the backstory of ninja enforces this. kaguya literally ate the forbidden fruit, giving the gift of chakra to all of humanity but also dooming them to fight for eternity. literally womens original sin …

anyway it’s not that all this sexist shit is in the story. it’s that kishimoto seemingly has no idea it’s there and believes the women he writes have epic girl power. how do you even do this by accident. why does every boy hate their wife. why did kaguya commit the original sin ! the girl characters want so badly to be with a boy but they don’t even care that the boy doesn’t like them back!! sakura and hinata are in loveless marriages of obligation and THEY DONT EVEN CARE??? they’re into it??? does kishimoto think men are universally forced to marry women they don’t like? does he blame women for this?WHY IS THE ORIGINAL SIN DRIVING THE BUS ALL THE SUDDEN?

[mythsandheather]

i feel like a lot of ppl forget that even though "the rape of persephone" is referring to her kidnapping, that doesn't mean there was no rape involved at all—she was forced to marry a man, and that probably meant consummating the marriage with said man to make the marriage legit. idk i see tons of ppl try to downplay what perse and demeter went through by saying that it was normal back then but like—that doesn't make it right now!

yeah that bugs me too sometimes haha mostly just when I see the argument "well TECHNICALLY 'rape' meant kidnapping / forced marriage back then!" as a defense of Hades' character and it's like guys..... she was still forced into a marriage against her will 💀😭 like I get addressing the language differences and cultural contexts when examining old text like ancient myth, that's a necessary process to the whole thing, but it doesn't really work as a defense for Hades when the original story was still written as a tragedy with Demeter and Kore being the central victims and when he still invaded a young girl's autonomy, sexual assault or no.

but y'know, it's all about "fuck the patriarchy" until everyone's favorite blue patriarch is the one getting called out for grooming and abusive behavior oop- 💅