#also hecate just has attachment issues

[empress-things]

I have a theory about Hecate and her whole stance on Melinoe considering her as mom.

Hecate was Nyx's handmaiden, and while she wasn’t present at all in the first game, she must have been around at least some of the time. Which means she saw first hand what happened with Zag, Nyx, and Persephone.

Hecate knows better than most the emotional turmoil that went down there. She also clearly knows Persephone well, or at least highly respects her. She doesn't want Persephone to be denied her motherhood once again. Though circumstances have forced that upon them, maybe Hecate feels like she can undo some of that damage by ensuring that Mel does NOT see her as a mother figure.

The final 'bond' conversation see's this conversation between her and Mel happen again.

Hecate could have been much colder in 'parenthood' of Mel. There was little reason to provide her with such warmth and affection if all that mattered was raising a weapon for vengeance.

Perhaps she did it purely out of loyalty but I don't think that's the case. I think it's very clear Hecate cares for Mel. I think Hecate is trying very hard to keep that emotional barrier up because she doesn't want to repeat history. The end of the above conversation shows she isn't accepting a mother role still. But she is at least accepting Mel's feelings on the matter.

It honestly shows very interesting growth on both their parts and I can’t wait to see more.

[lynxmoonrising]

An Introduction Post

Hello hello! ♡ This is my blog about my practice and journey. Scroll below for the blog, posts, reblogs and chaos.

🌿 About Me Debs | She/her | Slavic | Living in Ireland

Aside from the magical and spiritual I am also a big bookworm, friend of nature, 90s Geocities Internet nostalgee, husky mom, cat mom, chinchilla mom, music nerd, singer, pianist writer, occasional artist, obsessive tea drinker, wannabe scientist, behaviorist, dog trainer, pet care advisor, lover of travel, dragon enthusiast, carebear collector, Heroes of Might and Magic devotee-- I mean fan, comic book geek, Halloween queen, knitter/crocheter, amateur genealogist, polyglot, a fun lesbian aunt(I have no nieces or nephew. I'm your aunt now), Duolingo streak bragging person, crafty crafter, and an autistic wreck whose sensory issues all go away as soon as it's grey and rainy outside, or better yet, as soon as Autumn arrives. (I dislike Summer with a passion.)

You can usually find me straying off a path and heading deeper into the forest, reading a book, doing magical wibbly-wobbly stuff, listening to or playing music that ranges from 80s glam metal through classical through Dutch rap to symphonic metal, studying an outrageous topic the average person has no interest in hearing of, writing, or having a breakdown over having to clean the house. (Hey, breakdowns are healthy. I promise. They are. I promisewhydoesittakeme5hourstocleanmykitchen?!)

I'm super-duper-Alice-Cooper friendly, and a real chatterbox, so if you want to ask me anything, talk to me about your own practice, ask me for advice or info, get a reading, get help with your own reading, or literally just talk, I'm a message away!

I used to be on Tumblr years ago and organized a yearly Pagan/Witchcraft Themed Gift Exchange for a couple of years. Keep you eyes peeled as I am going to bring this back this year!

Oh, and I kind of really love dragons.

🕸️ My practice I have had a pull to the divine and spiritual since I was a child, being approached by Kemetic deities when I was very young but have been actively practicing for 13 years. As you can see from my personal blurb above, I'm a pretty mixed and positively chaotic person, and my spiritual practice is no different. I love to help in any and all aspects that I'm familiar with, and I'm also always constantly learning myself(I'm kind of obsessed with continuous learning). I'm a spiritual sponge and absorb whatever I work with and get happily attached to my deities, spirits and practices, so I don't ever really stop practicing something. Here are some but not all branches of my path:

Kemetic devotee

Slavic polytheist

Freja & Skadi Follower (Restarting my relationship with Them after some years)

Solitary eclectic hedge witch (Ask me to elaborate if you wish)

Hecate Follower (Beginner)

Spirit work

Ancestry/communication with the dead

Nature work

Draconic magic

Constant personal study of mythology, history, language and culture of the paths I follow and others.

Pagan: There's a lot, I know. If you struggle with describing my practice when talking about me, you can just call me "pagan".

🔮 What I Do

Divination (Cards, runes, tea leaves, incense smoke, candle flame and wax, crystals, Slavic divination, and others)

Sigils

Herbal Recipes*

Crystal prescriptions*

Spells

Rituals (Ask me for details)

Devotional writing (Prayers, poetry, hymns)

Devotional art (of any deity, even if I don't follow Them)

Animal/pet healing*

* Important disclaimer = * = I do not give medical healing or medical prescriptions. I am NOT a licensed medical professional. I have education and extensive work experience in animal health/illness/first aid and care but I am NOT a vet. None of my prescriptions or healing include medical diagnoses or the use of medicine. Please consult with a medical professional for physical ailments, disease, injury, mental health. My crystal and herbal prescriptions and healing are not to be used as a substitute for professional medical/mental health help. They are there to be used as a boost and cleansing of energy and spirit, and can be used in conjunction with already-prescribed professional treatments. For herbal recipes, please ensure you are aware of any contraindications and interactions with anything you may already be taking.

DNI if you're a cun- please be nice. We're a respectful bunch. Don't talk shit about mental illnesses, I have some too. (A whole alphabet of abbreviations, I'm at a point where I'm anticipating a diagnosis of PhD.) See? We can laugh about our own mental health for the sake of healing, but don't be a judgy bitch. If you're in any way a homophobe, transphobe, acephobe, arophobe, anyone else who falls under the category of LGBTQI+phobe, racist, ableist, and insert any other shitty quality here. Also, I'm an adult, I talk about adult things, I don't post explicit things but there may be mentions of adult stuff or sexyjokes. So if you're a minor, well, I can't stop you from using the internet so it's your own risk what you do on the web, but be safe, and I'll tag anything that mentions that kind of stuff as "ac mention"(stands for adult content mention) - you might wanna block that tag. Also if I follow anyone and you don't want me to follow you let me know and I'll unfollow.

[antiloreolympus]

8 Anti LO Asks

1. It doesn’t really make sense for a long term comic such as LO to have such a drastic change in the artstyle, and even more you can’t really call it an improvement when all the interesting parts of the art style are now gone and all that it is now it’s just some basic same-face and body art style with barely any backgrounds. RS is incredibly talented for illustrative artwork and it’s really a shame she’s not doing that anymore and instead has left it to her team, with leaving them very messy sketches. The artstyle in the beginning had life and glamour and now it’s just very dull and boring. That’s not an improvement

2. I genuinely can’t think of any man in LO that’s even half way decent. Poseidon maybe? Hephaestus? Those are the only two I can manage, meanwhile the rest are either Rachel purposely ruining them because of her own biases (Zeus, Apollo, Thanatos to an extent) or are “good” men who are just creeps who disrespect all the women around them and are super creepy and obsessed over a literal teenager who acts like a child (Hades, Ares, Hermee, Eros, etc). The women aren’t much better either. 

3. About Perse making Hades childish: (this is no way defending him, just some speculation, and tbh I doubt that RS has thought this through haha) I wonder if he becomes a horny teenager around her because she’s a goddess of fertility? Would that have any affect on him? Doesn’t excuse his creepy ass behavior, but could explain it a bit, I guess?

4. Okay so I'll be honest I dont really see any reason to 'simp' over Any of the LO characters?

Also, not to start sh*t, but - I think part of the reason why some of the LO fandom does not like Zeus (and perhaps gives Hera more leeway - at least in terms of cheating) is because:

Mythologically Zeus is a known cheater / rapist (Io for example, or Semele)

They see Hera cheating a Zeus as okay (its not) because he's been known to cheat on her in the past / fans see Hera cheating on Zeus with Hades as 'justified revenge' for what he's (Zeus) put her through

I'll be honest I dont really see Zeus (or Hades for that matter) as good rulers because

Despite other deities (like Eros) doing 'acts of wrath' - they get away with it because they often have someone to back them up (like Aphrodite offering to sleep with Zeus to get her son out of trouble) - but the one time Persephone does something wrong (an act of wrath) - Zeus wants to give her the Prometheus treatment - mainly so he can feel like an in control king whos subjects respect him

The reason this sound so odd is because of RS writing choices. Zeus is a grade A d*ck who is willing to destroy a 'young girls promising career' because she made 1 mistake that one time. But at the same time the act of wrath is framed oddly because Demeter doesn't want her daughter to get in trouble so she covers it up (its like the equivalent of hiding a murder from the cops).

Zeus wanting to Prometheus Kore seems overly harsh because she is a Child. (Well a teenager) - so it adds to the "Zeus is a d*ck" card, because she doesnt have the life experience to "get away with" stuff like the other deities because she is young AND sheltered.

Like again, the whole concept of Human Laws applying to Gods is so confusing:

Would Zeus have been this harsh if Demeter had simply come forward in the first place about Persephone's murder rampage? Why did she blackmail / get other deities involved to cover it up? Is Zeus THAT much of a d*ck in Demeters eyes that she knows he would harshly punish a child for something "she didnt mean to do" (killed mortals based on a feeling?)

Why is there a motherf*cking trial in the first place? Do All the other deities get the right to a fair trial or is this a special case? (Like can any deity just offer to sleep with Zeus and he'll let them off the hook?). If the other deities had commited the same crime would the trial / punishment be the same or does Zeus just have a rage boner because he was lied to? If thats the case then why are the other deities taking Persephones side during the trial? (Ares I can maybe understand cause hes the God of War and stuff but everyone else is taking Perse's side because their either her personal friend or family member (Hecate, Hermes, Demeter, Hades etc).

Why are there certain laws like "Zeus cant get to Persephone because she has clemency in the underworld" but other deities - including Leto, Demeter and others (like Perse's nymph family) can just stroll into Hades house? Why is Hermes still on house arrest? Why are Hades + Persephone throwing a house party when shes on trial for scythe crimes??!!!

Why are the gods bound by such petty squabbles?

The way RS set up the governing "laws" in universe just doesnt make a whole lotta sense. Also, sorry this got ramblely.  

5. Tbh i don’t think that Hades acting differently when he’s with Persephone is a bad thing, as a concept. But there are many issues with this such as the fact that Persephone is barely legal and Hades act like an actual child around her. Obviously when you’re with someone they are going to act different than they do when they are at work. The problem is that Hades essentially goes from the “cold-scary king” to a 17 year old hormonal boy when he’s with Persephone. And him making out with her in a middle of a store or them golfing with diamonds or him making out with Persephone again in front of his workplace is not exactly acceptable behaviour from a king. If Hades acts all lovey-dovey with Persephone when their at their home together it’s different, but when they’re at a public place they can’t really do that. I would say that he has to keep a status about him but from what we’ve seen all the citizens of the underworld hate him and don’t respect him at all, from yelling at him to actually fighting with him, so idk how much status there is actually attached to him 

6. I swear, the majority of the “cute” HxP moments in LO just seem like a single father dealing with his hyperactive 8 year old over the supposed future intimidating rulers who Rachel is obsessed about talking and drawing their sex life. Is it really that hard to depict Persephone even acting like a smart teenager at the very least, as opposed to an airhead grade schooler? It doesn’t scream cute to me, it seems more like a father/daughter relationship. It’s just weird. 

7. i mean, i have a LO oc who's persephone's brother (fertility god) between demeter and zeus. dude got thrown into tartyrus to cover up the affair and now serves cronus. he was the god of summer, and my reasoning was demeter's seasons/harvest + summer thunderstorms. wrote a whole minific i will never post about him and persephone realizing everyone around them are assholes and healing together. so the mistress-of-zeus oc isnt that weird.

8. I’m not a Zeus stan by any means, but I do find him one of the most interesting characters, and one that RS has, in her attempts to make him be the worst ever to make Hades look better, actually way more interesting and compelling than the majority of the cast. He doesn’t lie or whine to the audience he’s some good person like Hades when he’s not, he owns that he’s a dick and doesn’t bullshit the audience into thinking he’s someone he’s not. RS tries to show us he’s a “bad” king, yet we see no proof it beyond what, he wants to uphold the law P broke and doesnt kiss Hades’ butt? That’s not a bad king, it’s a good one that he doesn’t let family ties or lust cloud his judgement, unlike Hades or Hera, for example. I don’t condone his cheating either, but it’s not fair to hate him for it, but love it that Hades cheated on Minthe so he could get into a teenager’s skirt and praise Hera for sleeping with her brother in law while punishing Zeus’ mistresses because she’s being a fake “loyal” wife. Just because he’s a deeply flawed, even a bad person doesn’t make him a bad character. Hades and Hera and even Persephone are awful people who do worse than Zeus, yet they’re loved and praised for it, all while being written with the depth of a puddle. 

[whetstonefires]

Since you like the Hellboy...*perks up* Can I ask what you like about it? Does this need to be part of the ask game, if so, smash it in there. But opinions! I would love!

Ooh! Hm. This is actually surprisingly hard to articulate.

I’ve been ‘into’ Hellboy for like. Half my damn life now, and while I could have gone on at length about all the things about it I found fun as a teenager it was at its core very much a ‘this makes me Feel Happy’ thing. And now that glow is less intense but it’s bolstered by that habitual sort of attachment you feel to like. Family members.

Let’s see how far I can break this down lol.

I have never been able to much like most of the BPRD tie-in type materials and I was not at all pleased with the films, so to an extent I think I can say confidently part of what I like is the way Hellboy is situated in a superhero-comic-adjacent space while being very much coordinated by one overarching creative sensibility--like, other people were brought in to work on Hellboy a lot over the course of the run, but Mignola always had a unifying voice and even when I don’t actually agree with his taste or values that level of artistic...intentionality? Judgment? Presence? Something like that. Gives the work a sense of...integrity? Maybe just unity.

Anyway makes it feel less plastic than comics often do. This is a corporate product of course but it’s also just Mike Mignola hanging out doing whatever he thinks would be cool. Drawing rocks and monsters because that’s what he wants to draw. I like that.

Some of the higher-quality webcomics you get nowadays, when they don’t take themselves too terribly seriously but aren’t outright comedic, can land similarly in terms of voice, but even just fifteen years ago webcomics weren’t really at that point yet as a medium, and even now most are still amateurish as well as amateur. Which is fine, but different.

To get slightly less meta, I love the collection of genres that are smeared together for Hellboy--we’ve got a lot of detective noir stuff cut together with cosmic horror and like...the genre where people research folklore and then mostly punch it. Does that have a name? And then there are a bunch of other influences stirred in, sometimes for only a single issue, sometimes more.

Mignola managed to be significantly less offensive than average about the way he adapted world folklore into his weird groddy kitchen-sink fantasy system, which is pretty funny because he doesn’t come across as being careful about it at all. Not that I think there was no effort made, but also he just used research as a basis for narrative much more often than he started with a story premise and stretched the creature to fit, which by default gave him less scope for dickery.

Also I think the only god he ever fights is Hecate and she’s handled from a 19th-century-occultist angle rather than a Classical angle.

Also Hellboy fights Nazis and cyborg gorillas as well as like. Baba Yaga and vampires. The balance of schlock and gonzo nonsense to pathos and sensitive emotional bits is usually about where I like it.

The episodic format is really well used. It lets the storytelling style lean heavily on the late-19th-through-mid-20th-century short story genres that it borrows a lot from, and which honestly has always worked better for comics than end-to-end long-arc serialization. I like how the anachronic order of many sections of the series allowed for a lot of ‘building outward from the middle.’

Also it means the story can stay true to its roots and kill off a lot of characters in gothic excess without constantly sloughing main cast or having to do fakeouts.

...I can’t believe that since Hellboy isn’t really emotionally involved with the issue of his birth parents except inasmuch as it explains the world-ending stone hand, the single angstiest part of his backstory is technically when he went on a drinking binge road trip around Mexico in his teens and made friends with vampire-fighting luchador triplets but then the youngest one whom he was closest to was kidnapped by the vampires and Hellboy had to kill his best friend, and this is all established in a random side story that pushes the intentional genre absurdism to its breaking point and is equal parts comedic and grotesque.

(The second angstiest is probably the bit in volume 1 when he finds his dad murdered by frogs.)

I also just love characters who wear trench coats and are actually really clever and knowledgeable and kind but tend to resort, in extremity, to just hitting problems really hard. Okay? I like that. That’s a fave.

Hellboy’s whole character design is very strong, a bunch of dramatic broad-strokes decisions that contrast interestingly against one another, and then a lot of subtler elements layered in crosswise.

The way his relationship to the narrative ‘occult-fighting antichrist figure’ could be really straightforward, but keeps stepping a little sideways off the usual shape of the tropes in a way that creates depth.

He’s a giant red demon guy who stopped aging in the 50s; he’s never going to be able to be ‘normal’ or pretend he isn’t what he is--but also he’s a dude with a government job and probably a Social Security Number who goes and interviews people about the situation and says ‘I’m Agent Hellboy’ and gets called ‘Mr. Boy’ and is just this guy who knows his shit and can take a beating.

(This was one of the major things I hated in the first movie, that they decided to make him this weird secret cryptid whose dad keeps him locked in a vault when he’s not fighting.)

The way the identity thing is never reduced to comfortable binaries with him except by enemies trying to psych him out is just really satisfying. He fights monsters not because he hates them or himself but because he was recruited into this career young and he’s really good at it, and he feels good about helping people who are being victimized.

When something occult isn’t hurting anybody he’s down to chill, and if it turns out they secretly are after all he’s always so tired and disappointed, and if they really aren’t then he has a new friend. Whom he may never see again or may hit up for a game of cards next time he’s in town.

(I also like how he combines ‘being pretty private’ ‘being very casually friendly’ and ‘being an asshole who makes a lot of enemies’; it’s not that unusual a combo for his type of main character but it’s one I enjoy.)

When he breaks off his own horns as part of his rejection of being Anung Un Rama it’s not ‘choosing humanity’ or w/e it’s choosing not to be used for this. His name is Hellboy, which is an objectively awful name but it was given to him by people he loved and who chose him, not the people who made him or brought him to this world to be used, and he chooses it.

And that has weight. That has force enough behind it to carry a world.

Just in general in spite of all the identity stuff he gets swamped with he’s really good at self-knowledge and letting other people’s ideas of who and what he’s supposed to be just wash over him. As the story goes on and shit gets weirder his sense of identity gets shaken, but he never quite loses that anchor in the knowledge that he is the ultimate arbiter of his own identity.

His exasperation on being told via stabbing that he doesn’t get to be King of England even if he is the first male descendant of King Arthur since Mordred is so funny. Why is this a thing, says Hellboy. Why am I finding out like this. Why do I always find out this shit like this. Why would anyone think I wanted to be King of England. I already punched so many skeletons about not wanting to be King of Witches.

He’s got so much righteous anger that comes out when people are treated as disposable, or as less for being not human or less human or superpowered, and of course it’s founded in his own experiences and his own fight for respect but it’s not about him. It’s about the person who’s suffering now.

One time his combat one-liner before shooting something started with ‘The Torch of Liberty said I was the worst shot he ever tried to train’ that’s so funny! I love that!

He’s my boy okay.

[eddycurrents]

BPRD: The Devil You Know ~ Ragna Rok - Chapter Five

Story: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie | Art: Laurence Campbell & Mike Mignola | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in BPRD: The Devil You Know #15 | April 2019

Collected in BPRD: The Devil You Know - Volume 3: Ragna Rok

Plot Summary:

Hellboy witnesses the end.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything found in the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - I’m impressed overall in the sheer feeling of desolation that Laurence Campbell and Dave Stewart accomplish here. And it just gets better from there.

It’s also interesting that Hellboy, and Grey, aren’t quite sure what Hellboy is any more. Especially when you consider that he’s also apparently still down in hell. It’s like there are multiple permutations of Hellboy’s soul/spirit/whatever out there now.

pg. 2 - Phenomenal view of the Ogdru Hem ruling the Earth.

pg. 3 - Here’s where the desolation gets ramped up just by a change of colour. That shade of grey, the appearance of the Ogdru Jahad on Earth, this just reminds us that everything’s well and truly screwed for life as we knew it on the surface.

pg. 4 - But they’re dead. That’s a very neat twist that the big bad, the huge evil that has been looming in space since the beginning of the narrative, are reduced to nothing sometime between Hellboy’s second death and now. It’s unexpected to see one of the series’ primary antagonists, the prima facie moving force of evil throughout existence, just...gone.

pg. 6 - And to find out that it was all the machinations of the Osiris Club. 

pg. 8 - That they did it with Hellboy’s severed hand fits in with the idea that his hand would bring about the end the of world. And that it didn’t quite matter if it was attached or not, the key would still unlock the Ogdru Jahad’s prison. Just that the end of the world didn’t quite occur how we thought it would, with the Ogdru Jahad taking over everything.

pg. 10 - I love the full colour coming back into Hellboy as he reattaches his hand.

pg. 11 - The destruction of their mansion is just magnificent.

pg. 12 - This is fitting. Both the shift to Mike Mignola’s own art to close out the story and the return of Hecate. She said that she’d be waiting for the end to be by Hellboy’s side for the finale.

pg. 13 - Also an interesting shift here. Going from fight to discussion.

pg. 15 - After all of the time that has passed during the reign of the Ogdru Hem, the fall of the Ogdru Jahad, that Liz is still alive is interesting. Though we’re not given an actual span, which may be shorter depending on how the Osiris Club’s story actually played out, it further ties into the idea that the Vril energy has been keeping her alive and keeping her relatively youthful. After all, she was born in 1962.

pg. 16 - The old world dying by fire, beautifully rendered by Mignola and Stewart.

pg. 20 - The synthesis between Hecate and Hellboy to give the life’s blood to the new world is a fascinating development. A transformation to bring about what’s next to come.

pg. 22 - I like that these frog people aren’t quite the same as the frogstrocities that we’ve seen since the Plague of Frogs. That they look more like Abe, and potentially have more of Abe’s disposition.

pg. 24 - This would seem to suggest that the cycle repeats. That a new version of the story told from Hyperborea to now may occur with the new race of man. Also, I find it kind of funny that Liz, the one character that Mignola didn’t necessarily know what to do with and was going to kill early on in the series, is the only one who definitely continues on into the future.

Final Thoughts:

The subversion of expectation while delivering exactly what was foretold is an interesting consequence of this finale. The end of the world comes to pass by Hellboy’s hand, Abe becomes the progenitor of the next race of man, and Liz takes on the role of the past priestesses of the Hyperboreans after unleashing the Vril energy across the world. It’s basically what we’ve been told was going to happen since the introduction of the larger end of the world mythos into the Hellboy narrative, but it’s not quite executed in how many of us probably thought it would play out.

To me, it’s one of the series that absolutely stuck the landing with a satisfying and entertaining ending. Whether you’ve only been reading Hellboy, BPRD, or everything within the universe, this is a well-told, well-executed ending that brings together the themes of destiny, transformation, and renunciation that have been running through the narrative since Seed of Destruction and pays them off beautifully. The story can potentially continue in extremely different ways, but this serves as a capstone to 25 years of storytelling.

d. emerson eddy wonders if frog scientists will try cloning Liz for a theme park; Lizassic Park.

[orsino-the-enchanter]

your muse as a lesser deity from Greek mythology

bold what applies - italicize sometimes -strike out never.  repost don’t reblog!

EROS: • scornful jealousy • pink • presents a certain decorum • heavy air in a nightclub • has a tattoo they regret (not exactly tattoos but still he hates the blood magic seals all over him) • sex & love therapist for their friends  (only for Quentin, he regrets it to this day) • juvenescent (he’s not young anymore) • uses enchantments (weapons only)• aloof (italics for canon, bold for post-canon)• wears rose-coloured glasses (i can see that happening only in the potterverse and modern verse) • velvet, latex, & lingerie (his robes are canonically made out of velvet, he HATES latex because it smells funny to him and he’s not against wearing lingerie) • milk baths with champagne bubbles (too extra, too luxurious) • impetuous in love (pining forever is still love) • intense eye contact is a sport • kinky • soft lips • wears stacked rings (he doesn’t but appreciates the aesthetic) • sets fashion trends (i’m not putting it above him)• graceful movements (he’s an elf,so)• marble floors • heavy perfume or cologne • deeply emotional • born glamorous (close enough, he’s born extra) •  

HECATE: • prefers canine companions (he’s afraid of dogs and mabaris in particular) • wears symbolic jewelry •  can see spirits (he’s a somniari so he can see them in his dreams. He hears them all the time in post-canon) • melting wax • uses hexes • feels most comfortable at night • smell of cinnamon (he’s allergic to it) • moonlight • red wine • understands poisons & herbs (although he’s an elf he doesn’t particularly like herbalism but he knows his poisons) • collects bones or feathers • partakes in rituals (blood magic and chill) • black • fog at night • is aware of their shadow self (again, somniari powers and undead in post-canon) • embraces the unknown • enjoys collecting secrets • approves of necromancy • meditates • has prophetic dreams (he doesn’t dream, he travels the fade so technically they’re not dreams, just a different reality)• lace • knowing too many secrets • fishnet stockings  (he doesn’t understand them)•

PAN: • enjoys poetry & prose • wool (in winter)• smell of decaying leaves in autumn • prefers to be barefoot (unlike many elves he has gotten accustomed to wearing shoes too) • tends to overindulge  • easily excitable • thriving in social circles (depends on the social circle. He’s a magnet for weidoes -see Uldred, Quentin-)• loves being around campfire (waaaaaarm) • antlers (he likes them when still attached to a LIVING animal) • dirt paths • the sound of wind/todash chimes (too loud) • penchant for sticky fingers • pine trees • stamina for days (he’s not the healthiest of people even at his best)• falls in lust (rarely) • vagabond • physically stronger than given credit for (that’s laughable) • foxglove (won’t need it) • welcomes luxury • non-confrontational  • charming words • talking to animals  • nature for jewelry (he likes them and wears them on special occassions)•

NEMESIS: • angry (rarely but when it happens, run) • protective of their values • balance & harmony • looks like an angel but isn’t (not an angel but he certainly looks more agreeable than what he is) • more perceptive than people realize (especially post-canon; people tend to underestimate the priviledge of fade voices talking in your head) • snow capped mountains • grey • wears leather • silver jewelry • likes snakes • can’t stand ignorance • believes in retribution • analytical of own emotions (he’s his worst enemy) • well read • marble columns • has very rigid morals • bruised knuckles • humorous under the sarcasm • clean workspace • everything in moderation (except emotions)• cold morning air • resting glare face • fluent in curse words (not his preferable method of insulting someone)•

HYPNOS: • very calm demeanor • easily overwhelmed (again, he’s an elf) • relaxing is their vice (he’ll relax when he’s dead)• transactional friendships (he wishes) • has a soft voice • head in the clouds • carries drugs with them (does elfroot count?)• has a sibling they’re close with • drawn to winged animals • lavender • has plush furniture/blankets  • starry eyed • horrible money management  • gives amazing hugs (he has issues with accepting hugs, like all elves) • dreaming big as a full time job • wears comfy or loose clothes (at night, cause his canon clothes are very form-fitting)• existential questions • not good at memory based skills • fairy lights • can’t sleep somewhere unfamiliar • crystalline chandeliers • dislikes bright sun • fluttering eyelashes (only to tease) •

IRIS: • life’s a technicolor spectrum (HISSSSSSS)• has a lot to say • beaming smiles • always has candy with them (he feeds off sweets, tea and elfroot; also to treat hs lil magelings) • flirting by accident (his only way of flirting)• walking to the beat of their own drum (in post-canon) • gossamer curtains (if he could have them)• has a surprising amount of connections • blushes very easily (he used to, but the emotion is still there) • confident laughter (chuckle)• uses a staff (the best staff of dragon age to be exact)• fresh fruit slices • decorated handwritten letters • a social chameleon (when he must)• blood made of honey (he’s a blood mage, so he could use that metaphor)• treating people with kindness (when they deserve it)• sentimental heart  • vases full of wildflowers • feels fulfilled when helping others • has a healing aura (used to)• always travelling • stained glass windows (if he could have them)• just trying to be a good person (the intention is there but he doesn’t hesitate to get his hands dirty if he has to)•

tagged by: @of-enormous-girth

tagging:  @bloodylyrium  @the-old-and-the-hapless @soldier-of-visus @prince-vael @enchanterthekla @haeler @the-flaming-pavus @venatoripavus @oftevinter @dreadeternal @hisfavoritewolf @redtemplarcommander @elderone @sworntoprotect @lowtownbutcher @the-champions-of-the-just

[thatoregonwitch]

I was tagged by @thebumblingbee 🐝

Rules: Answer 20 questions, then tag 20 bloggers! 🍃 That, I can do. 😀

1. Name: Moriah

2. Nickname: Some have tried to get Mo to happen, Mo has not yet happened. I am Moriah with no exceptions thus far. (Rya is not a good nickname at this time!)

3. Zodiac Signs:

Sun 🌞: Aries ♈

Moon 🌙: Scorpio ♏

Rising ⬆: Cancer ♋

4. Height: 5'6" almost 5'7"

5. Languages spoken: English, a teeny bit of Spanish and Latin.

6. Nationality: I was born and raised in Oregon, USA.

7. Favorite season: I love each one for what it offers, but I have a soft spot for summer in the creek with the crawfish.

8. Favorite flower: I have tattoos of roses but I have recently been a lavender and jasmine girl.

9. Favorite scent: Andromedas Curse; a store on Etsy has this Jupiter scent that I've been wearing and salivating over haha, I need to get a full size one...

10. Favorite color: I usually say red, but my mom knows my formula: "light blue, yellow, and round things"

11. Favorite animal: I have a collection of rabbit and fox things!

12. Favorite fictional character: I am just so into Lore Olympus right now and Hecate is my Queen ok

13. Warm drink?: Black coffee. But I have a stomach ulcer right now so NO BLACK COFFEE ALLOWED *slurps dandelion tea angrily*

14. Average sleep hours: 6 hours straight followed by 2 hours of napping on a good day, 2 hours straight followed by 6 hours of napping on a bad day.

15. Dogs or cats?: Caaaaats~ (I like dogs too tho) I live with a fancy gentleman cat, a scriggly witchy black kitty, and a sheepdog with loveable attachment issues and big eyes.

16. Number of blankets you sleep with: 4 blankets and a husband and I'm still cold

17. Dream trip: Honestly, right now I just want to go back into the parks.

18. Blog established: Last yearish?

19. Followers: ~150ish last I checked.

20. Random fact: I have not broken my ankle or torn any ligaments, but I did have RND in high school and was unable to walk for awhile. I also have Celiac and migraines and all kinds of fun chronic illness too! Spoonie witches uniteee ✨✨✨ Bonus Random Fact: I am a painter! Here is one of my latest:

Alrighty, that's all folks 💛 Send me more questions if you wanna, this is fun! 😁

If you've read this far, consider yourself tagged, witch ✨🌛✌

[eddycurrents]

BPRD: 1947 - Chapter Two

Story: Mike Mignola & Joshua Dysart | Art: Gabriel Bá & Fabio Moon   | Colours: Dave Stewart | Letters: Clem Robins

Originally published by Dark Horse in BPRD: 1947 #2 | August 2009

Collected in BPRD - Volume 13: 1947 | BPRD: 1946 - 1948

Plot Summary:

Simon goes off to The Festival with his new “friends” Katharina and Annaliese and discovers a party of vampires celebrating Hecate. Meanwhile, Stegner, Ruiz, and Russell realise that Anders didn’t come back to the hotel the night before and go off to investigate the chateau on their own. Finding it in an entirely different state than Simon.

Reading Notes:

(Note: Pagination is in reference to the chapter itself and is not indicative of anything found in the issue or collections.)

pg. 1 - The effect of the fog off the water helps add an illusory, almost hallucinatory, effect to the art, reinforcing that something may not be quite right about the chateau.  

pg. 2 - The shift of Katharina’s clothes, from roughly 40s contemporary fashion to big butt ruffles and towering hair should be a clue for Simon to start rowing back to shore, but alas.

pg. 3 - The people at this party definitely don’t seem to be that pleasant. Also, that fallen tray and mask are going to reappear later.

pg. 4 - And it seems like the waitstaff are some kind of undead thrall. You’d think Simon would be running for his life at this point, but it’s interesting that he perseveres. Maybe he’s just afraid he’d be a snack.

Also, he probably wisely chooses not to drink that wine. I’ve mentioned before that it’s usually encouraged in folktales and mythology not to eat or drink anything in these kinds of situations, since it often can either have deleterious effects or cause a kind of attachment to the location.

pg. 5 - There’s a definitely sense of dread when they ask to be Simon’s friend. I don’t think it means the same thing it means to anyone else.

pg. 7 - The other three definitely got up to a spot of drunken revelry. Giving change to the elderly cat woman is probably important. Chekhov’s elderly cat woman, you know.

pg. 8 - I’m not sure if we’re necessarily supposed to get an impression of Cinderella here, but that’s what I feel from the ringing of the clock. Also, from the art, I get that Simon’s expecting something weird to happen here as well. As if everyone’s going to turn into a monster and start re-enacting scenes from Eyes Wide Shut or something.

pg. 10 - And then they start flying. I love just the manic glee that Bá, Moon, and Stewart put into this sequence, along with the laughter from Clem Robins.  

pg. 12 - There’s a bit here that makes you wonder even harder about what’s going on, if the librarian says he didn’t see Anders. Is he lying? Or did what Anders apparently experience there not happen?

Also, I just love the composition of this page. From the establishing shot, through Frank waking up, the overhead shot of the room, and then Frank again, this has somewhat of a noir feel, but also reminds me greatly of European comics for some reason.

pg. 14/15 - Gorgeous double page spread. The dancing goat and giant frog, though definitely fitting with an invocation of Hecate, also remind me of a number of fairy tales and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The change in colours to a darker wash also give this a very creepy feel.

pg. 16 - Through this, I never get the feeling that Katharina and Annaliese want to eat Simon. They actually kind of seem infatuated with him. Of course, it could just be a bit of playing cat and mouse.

pg. 18 - Maybe it’s not the best idea to boast about vampires being sloppy in the world. Especially when he finds out that he’s talking to the vampire that he names.

pg. 20 - This is a wonderful reveal of what the chateau actually looks like. Although this sort of thing appears in a lot of films, books, and fairy tales, I think this one reminds me most of Carnival of Souls for some reason. Can’t quite put my finger on why, though.

pg. 21 - There’s that fallen mask and tray, now covered in cobwebs.

pg. 22 - And Anders’ dropped notebook.

pg. 23 - At least one of them is smart in not wanting to go down into the creepy basement.

pg. 24 - Love this final reveal.

Final Thoughts:

Though they’re Brazilian, Bá & Moon always make me think of European comics. Of Mauricet and Enki Bilal, a bit of Hergé and Hugo Pratt, but filtered through an American comics-shading approach with a mix of Mignola and Troy Nixey (depending on which brother is taking the lead). I love the approach, and it always leads to something visually interesting, especially when you add a little more nebulously defined panel border and overlap, giving Dave Stewart and opportunity to add boundaries with his colours. It gives the story a nice visual uniqueness

d. emerson eddy is not going to suck your blood.