#Storm Gods

[hawkmothdraws]

[mochibunne]

Lineart portion finished, the dragon in the back is my placeholder for now until I sketch in my background.

Full Body Oni-Masked Fujin & Raiden. Finally placed together ☯️

[alephskoteinos]

The warlike spirit of destruction

I have a ramble about storm gods in store for you, and it starts with the subject of Rudra, the warlike Vedic god of storms now recognized as Shiva. While reading Amir Ahmadi's "The Daēva Cult in the Gāthās", I encountered a description of Rudra in the Svetasvatara Upanishad in which he is basically the indwelling spirit in the hearts of all creatures. To quote the Upanishad:

He who protects and controls the worlds by His own powers, He - Rudra - is indeed one only. There is no one beside Him who can make Him the second. O men, He is presnt inside the hearts of all beings. After projecting and maintaining all the worlds, He finally withdraws them into Himself.

Indeed, Rudra is sometimes referred to in the Rig Veda as the "supreme being" or "sovereign lord" of the universe, and even as the indwelling spirit or "heart" of all of the gods, not to mention the basis of the whole universe somehow. This idea seems to have continued in the post-Rigvedic Hindu faith to some extent, where Rudra is imagined as a name of Shiva or the aggressive/destructive/violent aspect of Shiva. The Ramakrishna Mission, for instance, refers to Rudra as the "Supreme Being" who manifests Himself in numerous forms on behalf of different practitioners. The Shri Rudram, a hymn dedicated to Rudra, is frequently chanted daily in many Hindu temples to Shiva, acknowledges the deity as present in all aspects of life, and although it petitions Rudra/Shiva to manifest his auspicious/benevolent aspect rather than the destructive aspect, the hymn at least implicitly acknowledges the divine as both the garden and graveyard of humanity, as containing the two aspects such that they are inseparable from each other. It has been said that the Vedic Rudra was thought of as not only the creator of vegetation but also its hidden indwelling spirit, a fiery presence that, by being absorbed into the waters and the soil, became the animating presence of plants and other living beings. In this way, in the Indian context, the spirit of destruction is also the central power of life.

Storm gods can play an interesting role in ancient pre-Christian polytheism. On the one hand they are often chiefly seen as cosmicizing agents, beings who defend a given order that has been divinely established by fighting adversaries, often the forces of chaos. Examples of this tendency would include Thor, Perun, Ukko, Zeus, Indra, Enlil, Teshub, and (to a certain extent) Baal Hadad. On the other hand, they can also themselves be "agents of chaos", rebellious entities, or wild gods whose might and power are a constant threat to the cosmic order. Examples this tendency would include Set, Susano-o, or Tezcatlipoca (hurricanes being one of his many domains). Of course, Enlil himself was in some myths a rebel who defied the other gods to pursue his sexual desires, while Zeus, though the main Hellenic god of order or cosmicization, himself assumed rulership of the cosmos in act of insurrection within a cycle of insurrection (overthrowing Kronos, after Kronos overthrew Ouranos).

The Vedic Rudra in his own way was in his own way a dangerous god, while not exactly a reviled enemy of the other gods. He was unpredictable, he could cause frightening natural disasters, his fearful power could cause disease, though he could also heal and bring fertility to the land. For this reason worshippers were keen to receive his favour, and equally keen to avoid his wrath. Wild deities in other traditional contexts have often required a degree of appeasement. In Japan, this is transfigured as ritual pacification as applied to the "araburu-no-kami". Susano-o is in some ways subject to the process, in that while he was the ruler of the netherworld he could still "rebel" in this world. Though Susano-o's transgression in the fields of Takamagahara, which resulted in his exile, also had a vitalising effect, simultaneously destroying and fertilising the fields and even, as a result of scaring Amaterasu into the cave, indirectly leading to that cave being turned into a womb of light.

There's no point to speaking in archetypes, but there's an extent to which a certain kind of storm deity points to the concept of a chaotic force that is at once destructive and linked to the generative power of life; an active violent force that is constantly a threat to the order of things and yet also constantly a source of life for the whole cosmos.

[kaithegremlin]

Anyone got any gods I can THANK for the storm around where I live? I was going for a walk cause I thought the rain was coming down hard, it wasn't, but halfway through the heavens opened, and i wanna know who to thank.

[briefbestiary]

Giant one-eyed beings of Greek legend, there are three general types of cyclopes. The one depicted here is meant represent one of the three divine blacksmiths.

[asoiafandotherbooks]

ASOIAF: Calendar Thoughts

I received my 2024 A Song Of Ice And Fire Calendar yesterday.  The illustrations are by Justin Sweet. I’m not an artist, I don’t know the technical details of different art styles but when I look at Sweet’s illustrations, the words “moody” and “atmospheric” come to mind.

The back cover states “Here we see the faces of those who have molded the kingdom and a people, as we travel from Westeros’s history from the ancient past to the present day. From the days of legend through the tumultuous reign of the Targaryens and into the years following Robert’s Rebellion, key figures have influenced or altered the course of Westerosi history, whether knowingly or not”.

I love that we get portrayals of various periods of Westerosi history and not just the common portrayals of the following eras: The Conquest, the Dance of the Dragons, Robert’s Rebellion, and the War of the Five Kings. Westeros along with Essos and Sothorys has a vast history of lore – let the artists unleash it!

The illustrations are gorgeous, with most focusing of the mystical side of Westerosi history.

The cover, and May’s image is Lyanna Stark walking beneath a weirwood with Rhaegar Targaryen observing (stalking?) her in the background. When the cover image for the calendar was released, there was speculation was the couple could be Lyanna/Rhaegar or Aemond Targaryen/Alys Rivers. The blue roses in the image clearly marks it as Lyanna/Rhaegar. The shrouded Rhaegar in the background makes his motivations unclear – is he a lovestruck suitor or an obsessed stalker? Is this when Lyanna was kidnapped/ran away?

Lyanna & Rhaegar’s impact of history is obvious – their relationship, consensual or otherwise, led to the overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty and established Robert Baratheon as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Their son, Jon Snow, is the child of “fire and ice” which will hopefully amount to more in the books than it did in the show.

January’s image is Coldhands. It has all the standard Coldhands identification marks: hood obscuring the face, raggedy night’s watch attire. Black hands, ravens, decaying moose.

What is Coldhand’s impact on history? Hard to say since his identity is unknown. Is he one of the Last Hero’s companions? The Last Hero himself? The former Night King? One of the million Brandon Starks? Danny Flint? A member of the Raven’s teeth that accompanied Bloodraven to the Wall? Benjen Stark? None of the above? All of the above? Until we learn his true identity, his actual impact on history is unknown.

The last greenseer/the three-eyed crow-raven/Bloodraven is February’s image. It features an ancient, skeletal Brynden Rivers entwined in the tree in the underground cave with one of the Children of the Forest sitting alongside him.

Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers’s had a huge impact on Westerosi public. He was one of Aegon IV’s “Great Bastards”, responsible for the defeat of multiple Blackfyre rebellions and Hand of the King to multiple rulers. During Aerys I’s reign, he essentially ran the country. He also became the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Those are facts known to the Westerosi public. He is now mentoring Bran to become a greenseer. Throw in all the fandom theories – was he pruning the Targaryen bloodline to ensure the “Prince That Was Promised” was born? Did he have a hand in Summerhall? Is he Craster’s father? Is he Melisandre’s father? Did he attempt to open Euron’s third eye? Did that cause/worsen Euron’s insanity? Did he send the Direwolves to the Stark children? Did he send the weirwood dream to Jaime? We have one of the most impactful yet mysterious characters in the series – is he good, bad, a bit of both?

March’s image brings us the Drowned God and his Mermaid wife: “For a thousand years and seven he reigned here, Aeron recalled. He took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God.”  Not much to say here except that I enjoy the Ironborn lore. The belief in the Storm God had to be more wide-spread thousands of years ago, as the Storm Gods are involved in the Storm’s End and yet he’s warring with the  Drowned God clear across the continent of Westeros. Does the Storm God and Drowned God count as “Old Gods” of the North or not? If they don’t, are the Old Gods of the North considered older?

Shiera Seastar is April’s image. Shiera’s image is of her stepping into a pool of blood. A basic image that is spiced up by the pool of blood as a reference to the rumor that Shiera bathed in blood. The only known impact of Shiera is being one of Aegon Iv’s Great Bastards and worsening a rivalry between Bloodraven and Bittersteel. She was Bloodraven’s lover but was she involved in his plans? We don’t know.

June is Aerys “The Mad King” Targaryen on his throne, haunted by ghosts. Rhaegar may have started the fire that led to the overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty, but Aerys drenched it in wildfire to ensure the destruction would be permanent. His impact on the story is felt in the modern day by Viserys, Daenerys, and Jaime.

The two-page spread is of Rhaenys riding Meraxes. Rhaeny’s clothing looks like Dany’s Dothraki outfits. I assumed it was Dany until I read the caption. Rhaenys was one of the Targaryens involved in the Conquest of Westeros and died during the First Dornish War. The true impact of Rhaenys becomes clearer if the theories of Aegon the Conqueror’s sterility are true because if would mean all the succeeding Targaryen generations would be descended from Rhaenys, and only Rhaenys.

July is Bael the Bard performing for “Lord Stark” and his daughter. The timeline is unclear for Bael the Bard. It couldn’t have happened post-Conquest but if took place pre-Conquest it should be “King Stark”. If it even happened, it could simply be a popular tale. If the Bael the Bard is an actual figure, then he fathered a future Lord/King Stark and thus the Starks have Wilding blood ties. The Bael the Bard story is also a nod to Rhaegar and Lyanna. The one nitpick I have with this image is Bael’s clothes resemble an outfit from the Renaissance era and I can’t see a wilding from beyond the Wall wearing those type of clothes. Or Northmen in general.

Daenerys sitting by Drogon is August’s image. Daenerys is one of the main characters of the ASOIAF. She became the Mother of Dragon and the Breaker of Chains. I don’t think she will succeed in restoring the Targaryen dynasty but we’ll see.

Sandor Clegane, standing on a pile of corpses with his helm’s hound, is September’s image. Odd choice for a “figures impacting history” calendar. He’s a fan favorite but what has he done that’s impacted Westerosi history? Killed a child? Fled from battle? Attempted to ransom another child? Became the Grave Digger? The closest Sandor has come to impacting history would be the various times he’s saved Loras, Arya, and Sansa but as those three haven’t had much “historical impact” it’s a stretch to consider Sandor a history maker.

October’s image is the Last Hero battling the Others and their Ice Spiders.  The Last Hero has a huge impact of the history of the Long Night but another individual we know nothing about? Was he Azor Ahai or one of the other named characters from Essos that battled the Long Night? Was he a Stark or a commander of the Night’s Watch? Or possibly Coldhands or the first Night King?

Melisandre atop the Wall is November’s image.  A member of the Night’s Watch, most likely Jon Snow, is in the background. Mel’s impact in the current story is the murders of Renly Baratheon and Courtney Penrse. She might have a role in Jon Snow’s resurrection. The reveal of Melisandre’s true age leaves a wide range of possibilities for events from her past.  What exactly has Melony of Lot 7 seen throughout her life?

December’s image is of a Wilding and a pair of Giants riding Wooly Mammoths beyond the Wall. The Wildings/Free Folk have an impact on the present day story (Mance, Ygritte, Tormund, Craster, etc) and are seen throughout the history of Westoros, fighting both with and against the Starks.

[loveexpelrevolt]

How about the winner get a kiss from the loser? Do you wanna end up in a coma? You can drain my energy any time, chère. Gambit has plenty.

GAMBIT & ROGUE | X-Men '97 1.03 "Fire Made Flesh"

[theoldkyokodied]

Aaaaand more very quick stream doodles. This one shot was so fun to watch, it’s so sad that it had to end already. But oh well, let’s not dwell on that and let’s enjoy the good time we had, like disguised tiefling gale being both Karlachs and astarions type, wyll and gale having a spa day, bing bong in general (rip king, you will be missed), and of course the 8 strength fight for magic items <3 thanks to the cast for the chaos, I enjoyed it thoroughly

[illustratus]

Chaos. The Genesis — by Ivan Aivazovsky

[maddyscrsideblog]

[ID in ALT text]

In honour of the comments I got last year on a drawing of Orym eating an ice lolly that I (without thinking about the potential implications) made blue

[essektheylyss]

Fearne had, in true Fearne fashion, wrapped herself like a personal pashmina around Dorian, which left Orym to curl into his chest.

They had slept this way dozens of times before. Fearne’s blackened fingers wrapped tightly around his forearm as she snored loudly into Dorian’s ear. Orym’s head rested on Dorian’s bicep, his arms folded together between them, and his bare feet were gingerly resting upon Dorian’s thighs just above the knees, as Dorian had coiled enough to let Fearne’s fuzzy leg stretch over his hip. They were exhausted, and this was familiar, and he should’ve been fast asleep.

But Orym’s mind buzzed.

Fearne had always been a strong source of heat, but now she was a furnace, and even without covers it was too warm. But Fearne was not the reason why Orym’s skin burned where it met Dorian’s.

He was a fucking grown man. He was fully capable of admitting that.

Admitting it didn’t change it.

Neither did it change his awareness that Dorian had been too still for the past hour, his breath too precise and measured to be natural as it fell upon Orym’s hair. Orym was not going to presume that the cause of this was the same thing afflicting him; there were plenty of other reasons Dorian would be lying awake tonight.

“My family will find your brother,” he murmured finally, and Dorian’s breath wavered for just an instant before he regained his composure and returned to his measured, singer’s breathing. It was so slight that no one else could’ve noticed it, but Orym noticed. “You said there’s a body— the Tempest can bring him back, or Fearne, honestly—“

“I know,” Dorian answered, and this too was so faint that no one but Orym could’ve heard. “I know,” he said again, as though this one was only to appease himself.

“Do you think… do you think any of Opal is still in there?”

“I don’t know. I could barely tell what was in there—“ he cut himself off. “I couldn’t even help my brother. I think Fy’ra Rai might’ve… she must’ve seen something. I hope so,” he added, inhaling, trying to capture an airy tone that he didn’t fully manage. “The Spider Queen doesn’t deserve her. She doesn’t deserve anything.”

Orym had nothing to say to this. He hadn’t cared what the gods did or didn’t deserve in weeks, but now he could see the vein of fury that sharpened Dorian’s edges. It didn’t frighten him the way it had frightened him months ago, when things had been simpler, when there was not a war to be fought. It simply saddened him. “I’m so sorry about Opal,” he said, after the silence had lingered. “But I’m,” he breathed out a single dark laugh at himself, his selfishness, “I’m real glad it wasn’t you.”

Dorian’s laugh matched his own. “I suppose that is a silver lining.”

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Orym admitted. It was easier to keep his voice from cracking at a whisper. “I’ve thought about seeing you again so many times— I wish the circumstances were better—“

“I’m here,” Dorian said, for the second time today. “The circumstances tried very hard to make even that impossible, but— I’m here.”

Orym pulled his arm gently out of Fearne’s grasp and raised his hand to Dorian’s cheek. It was too dark to see the tinge of lavender against his skin, but Orym could feel the warmth bloom beneath his fingers. He still couldn’t bring himself to attribute his friend’s insomnia to anything so self-serving as his own, but perhaps it was one factor.

He pulled his hand back. Was there a flash of disappointment in Dorian’s eyes? He couldn’t tell in the dark. But he brushed his fingers together, drawing upon the wellspring of life within the ground beneath this hastily-erected encampment. The Hellcatch looked like a barren wasteland to most, but that life was still present even here.

Perhaps not now, but after a rainy season, the valley would bloom with wildflowers. The seeds waited in the earth for their time to sprout. Life went on, even in the darkest of places.

He produced a small stalk of life from his hands, and held out the tiny bundle of forget-me-nots to Dorian.

He should’ve said that they were for Cyrus, to remember him by. He wanted to say that they were for Dorian himself, that a day hadn’t gone by that he hadn’t thought of him. He didn’t speak at all as Dorian’s hand wrapped around Orym’s, pinching the stem beneath his fingers but not letting go.

“Orym,” Dorian breathed, looking from the flowers to his face. Then a strange expression came over his face, a wrinkle of consternation as he stared into the middle distance. “Fearne, are you braiding my hair?”

Orym lifted his head an inch to peer past Dorian’s ear. He had noticed that the snoring had stopped, but he’d been too caught up in the conversation to process it. Fearne’s wide eyes stared back with perfect innocence, her hands indeed weaving Dorian’s hair into a loose braid.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” she whispered quickly. “I’m totally not here.”

When Orym dropped his head back to Dorian’s arm, he was met with a crooked smile. It was not meant to be disarming, but it disarmed him anyway.

“Just like old times, eh?” he said, but his hand was still around Orym’s.

Carefully, Orym moved to tuck the flower behind Dorian’s ear, bringing both of their hands with him, and then laced their fingers together instead. “No,” he said, and tucked his head so that his brow rested against Dorian’s chin, and pressed their entwined hands to his lips. “But I think that’s okay.”

[starry-bi-sky]

i have been unmedicated for the entirety of spring break and thus have had little interest in writing this down, but i have been thinking about this for the entire week (as well as a dpdc clone danny au that resulted in it becoming its entirely separate batman au that includes a teenage vigilante bruce wayne, an ocarina, and me entirely incapable of making a batman au without making bruce dirt poor but we're not talking about that) and so i've finally went 'fuck it' and forcibly grabbed my laptop. I will get this done in one sitting even if it kills me.

BUT. This is about neither clone^2 danny nor about who i am calling Ocarina Batman. This is about my Danyal Al Ghul Au and more SPECIFICALLY it's me thinking about his relationship with Sam and Tucker specifically.

Tucker and Sam? Adore this asshole (affectionate) with every fiber of their being. And it is very much a reciprocated feeling, but Danny's thoughts will not be delved into much other than he would kill for them.

Tucker? The only person currently capable of getting a deep, loud, belly laugh out of Danny. Sam can get him to smile and to laugh, but it's the kind that's a chuckle-under-the-breath. The quiet, looks-down-while-huffing laughter. Snorts once with laughter and then grins stupidly.

But Tucker? Tucker can crack a slew of stupid jokes and Danny will be incapacitated for the next five minutes because he's laughing so hard that he can't breath. He lands one well-timed pun or quip and Danny will be close to tears. His laughter is their favorite sound in the whole world.

Sam is lowkey jealous of this ability, and she's gotten a belly laugh out of Danny a few times. But alas, it is Tucker who wields this power and has gotten it the most times out of the two of them.

-

They're also both physically affectionate with Danny as much as possible. It started roughly around when they were 12-ish, a year since they befriended Danny, and they noticed that he sought after touch but never seemed to initiate (and was in some ways repulsed by it). They started slowly being more touchy with him. Hooking a finger around his to lead him somewhere, tapping his wrist, looping arms. Little touches, grabs, etc, to get him used to it, and once he started doing it back they started increasing it.

It's gotten to a point where he will now just. Lay on them. Like a lizard sunbathing on a rock. Leaning on their backs when they're sitting in class before the bell rings, his chin on their heads. He'll talk about anything with his arms looped around their shoulders.

If they're sitting on a couch at either of their houses, he'll lay his legs on theirs. Him and Tucker will press their feet against the other's and try and push against them (newsflash: Danny always wins, Tucker claims its the ghost strength but Danny's been winning since before his accident)

-

Naturally, both Sam and Tucker know where Danny keeps his weapons on his person, and are allowed to grab them off of him if they need it. His only requirement is that they don't lose his weapons if they take it and forget to return it immediately.

They both understand how big of a thing this is from Danny, and so they do their best to treat his weapons with a lot of respect and care because they know its his way of saying he trusts them.

-

Sam and Tucker are so fond of Danny it's insane. Like fr. That's their goddamn best friend, and they are so protective of him. Emotionally, physically, you name it. They will tear the head off a grown man if they need to, Danny's had scars since he arrived in Amity Park and Sam and Tucker both are going to find the person who put them there and make them pay for it.

One time, Tucker overheard a bunch of upperclass girls speaking nastily about Danny and about the rumors surrounding him, calling him names like 'freak', 'monster', etc. Danny was with him and heard it, and seemingly appeared unbothered by it, even telling Tucker that he was used to such rumors.

Tucker was so furious that hacked into the school system later that night and tanked those girls grades. They were kicked out of their clubs and had to go to mandatory tutoring for the rest of the year. He made sure to leave some way of letting them know it was him who did it.

And Sam doesn't like using her money for things, doesn't like abusing that wealth. So instead, whenever her parents talk bad about Danny, she causes a media incident that has her parents scrambling to deal with. She does something wild, outrageous by her parents' standards.

She heard some boys on the basketball team making fun of Danny once, similar to those girls had. She kicks up a fuss about something eco-unfriendly at school and forcibly holds a protest on the same day of the big home basketball game, forcing them to cancel the event and reschedule to a visiting school.

She anonymously donates money so that there's new uniforms for the team but oops! Looks like she "forgot" to donate enough money for them to get uniforms for all the team members, and strangely enough those boys in particular didn't get them! Looks like they'll have to wait until more money gets donated for the basketball team to get their new, nice uniforms. The old ones look so ratty in comparison, right?

And since the football team gets most of the sport money, that might just take awhile. And if (and when) they kick up a fuss? oops! Off the basketball team you go, :) such unsportsman-like behavior is unfit for the team.

(The only good thing about how corrupt the school system is is that she can use it to her advantage too.)

The both of them know that Danny suspects them for the sudden misfortune falling on these people, but he doesn't call them out on it. He's kinder than he used to be, but not kind enough to vouch for people who speak badly of him. Sometimes, he might just congratulate them on not getting caught.

Because Danny is their wonderful, hurt friend with a "slightly" Blue and Orange Moral code, and enough scars that people have been calling him a criminal (and worse) since he arrived in Amity Park when he was ten. And they'll be damned if he gets hurt anymore.

[columboscreens]

[jazzkrebber]

THE WAY JESPER WANTS TO HOLD WYLAN'S FACE BUT HE'S SCARED BECAUSE HE'S NOT QUITE SURE WHAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS YET BUT WYLAN IS CLEARLY LOOKING AT JESPER WITH THOSE DREAMY EYES OF HIM JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW JESPER HAS THE MOST PERFECTLY SHAPED LIPS HES EVER SEEN OH MY GOD

[toxins-very-gay-thoughts]

she is literally living every middle school lesbians dream

[opmultiverse]

Atë is a Brood-Engineered hybrid that was created by Krakis himself, a viciously evil monster that is usually at the Broodmother’s side.