#can't think of a more... Cookie Run sounding name atm. So he's just Paravani for now

[burningcheese-merchant]

Mythological Inspirations: Matar Paneer Cookie Edition

So, where did Matar Paneer- nah I don't feel like making this joke again. Indian curry dish + crazy lion lady + demon slaying goofball pretty boy. BOOM.

Next installment of "Merchant rants about how far she went designing these fankids into a void for 10 hours"

Same as/with/for Pepper Jack, I researched and took inspiration from Egyptian and Hindu mythology while drafting up Matar Paneer. If Golden Cheese is Ra, and Burning Spice is Shiva, and Pepper Jack is the bennu bird + Ganesha... what does that make our little lady here?

Remember how Shiva has two sons? Jack is already one, so Paneer is, naturally, the other one. She takes after Kartikeya, second son of Shiva and Parvati, god of war and victory.

Kartikeya's primary color is red. So Paneer's is, as well. It's her favorite color and what she likes to wear the most. (It's also partially because of Burning Spice lol. Red will always = Papa to her to some degree)

Kartikeya is armed with a divine spear called Vel, which was a gift from his mother. Though Paneer wields and favors her katar, she will one day carry a spear alongside them, also a gift from her own mother (can't wait to tell that story haha)

One of Kartikeya's symbols is a peacock; this is because he has a giant peacock (named Paravani) as a mount. Likewise, I had Paneer befriend a peacock, which will one day grow big enough for her to ride around on herself (can't wait to tell that story either! I personally like my little interpretation of Paravani. Matar Paneer and her little bird bestie haha)

Kartikeya has a very innocent and playful personality; he's quite silly and mischievous, and likes to mess with things for fun (ex: messing with planets' orbits, stacking mountains on top of each other, stopping the flow of the Ganges river, etc). Paneer is quite similar (something else I didn't know beforehand, I swear. Paneer being a little gremlin just like the god she ends up taking after is another happy coincidence), going on little adventures and making messes and having... destructive tendencies like her Papa lol. (But she never means any harm. She's a good kid, she's just a bit impulsive and reckless)

Sometimes, Kartikeya is depicted with six heads (varies by scripture). Bit of a stretch, but I thought of having Paneer own six masks, each one wildly different from the other, that she'll often wear for fun. (I'll explain this better in another post)

Kartikeya is credited with defeating many monsters and demons, minor and major. So Paneer will grow up to become a renowned demon slayer, just like him (spoiling the end of her story there lol)

Golden Cheese is clearly inspired by Ra, Egyptian god of the sun and head of the pantheon (it's extra obvious with her Awakened form lol). The stories vary wildly from what I've seen, but the most baseline concept is that Ra has 3 daughters. Believing her to be the most fitting, I chose to have Paneer take after Sekhmet, Egyptian goddess of war, chaos, plague and medicine.

Sekhmet's primary color is also red. More red for our little lady. (All the war gods like red, so predictable smh)

Sekhmet is extremely violent and bloodthirsty, as her profession suggests. Born from the fire in Ra's eye, her main purpose in life is to protect him, help uphold cosmic order, and punish mortals for disobedience towards either. Paneer is... quite temperamental lol. Very strong-willed, very easily frustrated, very emotional. Fiercely protective of those she loves. And she can be... vengeful. Very, very vengeful. I will not elaborate further because it's spoilery as fuck lol

Like most of the other gods, Sekhmet is a furry part animal, with a woman's body and a lioness's head. Also a bit of a stretch, but... a certain young lady is getting a lioness tattoo on her back when she's an adult, as a nod/homage haha. Also, Golden Cheese's special nickname for her is "little lioness"

Sekhmet is often depicted with a lotus in one hand, and an ankh in the other. There, now you know why Paneer has a lotus in her hair lol (she's also getting an ankh tattoo when she's an adult, on her left wrist since that's the hand Sekhmet is always seen using to hold it (Paneer is getting a lot of tattoos when she's older, as you can see))

The Egyptians very much believed in names having power (common idea in the ancient world, really, but they were extra into it), so Sekhmet, like all the other gods, has like a billion names lol. To keep things simple (I counted 15 names the first time I looked into her and I'm pretty sure there's more), Paneer only gets a few: "Red Lady" (this one in particular), "Lady of Slaughter", "Mistress of Dread" and "She Before Whom Evil Trembles". The first three, people in general give her as a result of her actions/accomplishments (demon slayer, remember?) and are meant in a positive, reverent way (sometimes with a small touch of fear, admittedly). The last one is what High Priest Cheesenbird calls her. He has a term of affection/endearment for both children

Sekhmet can breathe fire; in fact, the Ancient Egyptians often credited/associated her with the hot desert winds because of it. I think I said this before already, but Paneer is a fire breather, too (she can light her hands and feet on fire, as well. Not a full-on firebender but not too far away)

In an interesting contradiction, Sekhmet is a goddess of both disease and medicine. She's bitter and wrathful, and causes plague outbreaks as a form of punishment for mankind... but she cures them, too. She's feared and looked to for salvation at the same time. She's even considered a patroness of physicians and healers. So... Perhaps our little firebreather has a hidden knack for healing, too. A secret power. One that's only noticed by another healer who would know how to spot and nurture such a talent *cough*Pure Vanilla*cough*. Maybe. Perhaps 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Also, here's some doodles of more general things just because

There's little Paravani lol. Hopefully I actually start improving as an artist eventually, so I can draw Paravani better (or more in line with how he looks in my head. I don't really want a regular looking peacock, that's boring)

There's the little cheese lotus Paneer wears in her hair. Just used the one in the Golden Cheese Kingdom decor set as a reference 😅

Ankhs r cool 2 draw. Also, fun fact: they symbolize immortality and reincarnation. Reminds you of her mom, doesn't it? Haha

Tried to draw her katar (Indian knives. Basically Wolverine claws). They were a gift from Cilantro Cobra (she's alive and well in my personal canon ok 😫), and she went the extra mile to have little symbols engraved in both. Burning Spice's in one, Golden Cheese's in the other

She's supposed to have little green earrings that look like green peas ("matar" means green pea, "paneer" is the Indian cheese. Literally "green pea cheese" lol). Her design references the food she's supposed to be a lot more than Jack's, I think

Ok I'm done now. I'm sorry this post was so late. I'm also sorry this is all on paper and in shitty ass lighting, me no have drawing tablet. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk