#i tweaked some in the mythology

[mitsybubbles]

These are old concepts but here are some more gods as ponies

in order: Artemis, Hermes, Ares, Aphrodite (she’s a hippogriff!), Dionysus, Persephone and Athena

[superemeralds]

GIANT OF KOIOS

Giant of Koios <> Wyvern of Hyperion <> Aries of Kreios <> Atlas of Iapetos <> URANOS from Kronos

here’s the first titan of my revamp of frontiers.

lore and shit under the cut  ♥

Time to reveal some lore about my revamp of frontiers!

a lot is the same, but i tweak some details to bring stuff more together in my own taste.

there‘s 5 islands:

NORTH: KOIOS

EAST: HYPERION

SOUTH: KREIOS

WEST: IAPETOS

CENTRAL: KRONOS

the island‘s names are now based off the 4 greek titans that held the god uranos in place, so kronos could... defeat their father. (read the original myth at ur own descretion. it’s weird in greek mythological fashion.) Myth says they held him in the cardinal directions and therefore i arranged the islands like that.

Very short version of my opinion/reasoning here: i hate how they used some greek mythology names for the original game but beyond they names there was no more correlation or otherwise cleverly used thematic from the myths ://

KOIOS ISLAND:

pretty much identical to kronos island in the og game, only i’d add more lore to the places you visit. the abandoned ruins should hold some clues to who lived there, what was done in those places etc. cant tell me no pots survived long enough for me to come along to break them!!!!!

the namesake titan koios is about „questioning“. it felt a fitting island to start out as this is where sonic has to balance his questioning the mysterious orders and the desire to help his friends. the north star, associated with koios, is also all about direction and knowing where to go, so it fits that the tutorial island is giving direction to the player!

as for the giant’s design (yes i hate the name “giganto” this is simply. “the giant” or “giant” or “titan”)

there was not much to go off of on koios himself, but i already really liked the concept of giganto, so i simply tweaked it to fit more into my idea of a titan! didn’t take too much, just a little adjustment of the proportions, as well as some counterbalance in form of 2 tails. that giant hunk of muscle would NOT be balanced on those stick legs without a tail (or two)

[ghcstao3]

Hades ghost and Persephone soap?

yes of course. however had to brush up on my greek mythology knowledge for this one. also made some alterations and tweaks

-

Kidnapped, John thinks, is a strong word. At least, it is in the context of his circumstances, considering it’s not even what had happened.

But he supposes it’s a difficult argument to win when he’s betrothed to the god of the Underworld.

So be it.

He was never kidnapped, of course not. Simon had barely been able to form a coherent sentence the first time they met, let alone trick or manipulate John into a union of eternity.

Are you certain? Simon had even asked. Warned him that forever is a very long time as he offered out pomegranate seeds cupped in reluctant palms, hands cold despite the heat of his realm. Yet still, with a gentle smile and a craving for the sweetness of the fruit, John took the seeds with the insistence that this is what he wanted, too.

It still is. Has been, ever since Simon had found him kneeling in a field of flowers, alone in every sense but literal. John remembers how his friends had scattered, but he’d been so intrigued by the quiet, brooding presence that he just had to say hello.

And it had been John, in fact, who had sought out Simon in the Underworld without the other god having been aware of such an endeavour. It had been John who wormed his way in and begged Simon to let him stay when their companionship blossomed and flourished into what John likes to call love.

So no, he was not kidnapped. But upon a brief return to the surface world to build a bouquet for Simon, it’s what John discovers everyone to believe. That Simon is holding him captive, stole him away to satiate the gnawing hunger of loneliness.

They try to make John vow to never go back. But then he speaks of the fruit and promises and Simon, they realize it is too late for him, in some way.

John is hardly bothered.

He could not say the same, unfortunately, for everyone else. Including Simon.

Simon, who tells him as they’re tangled in bed, that John still has obligations on the surface. That he still has people and plants and animals and so many other things to attend to. And that because of it, and because Simon has never been in the other gods’ good graces, a deal had been struck right under John’s nose.

“I never wanted to,” Simon tells him, “but no matter how much you want to stay, and no matter how much I don’t want you to leave, I can’t expect blood to be spilled over it.”

John is angry, at first. He understands, sure, but he hates that his decisions must be dictated for him.

But then he learns of a dying earth as a cause of his absence; his mother’s mourning for him. Then Simon promises to visit as much as he detests the surface, because months apart feels like the true eternity.

And Simon confesses what those pomegranate seeds meant for him, that they hardly only meant their union was meant to last forever. He confesses to John that he has to return regardless, and it eases some of the fury in John’s chest.

Kidnapped is a laughable accusation to John. He scoffs at it whenever his mother dotes on him in the months he’s obligated to haunt the surface. No one understands; no one understands Simon.

At least when John gets to go back to Underworld, to reunite with his love, he gets to understand. He gets to assume his place at Simon’s side, where he feels right. Where John feels at home.

He’d hardly call that unwilling.

[mysticmiav]

Hades and Persephone exploration sketches hm

Been listening to Hadestown a lot recently and I wanna draw some stuff from it lol I've always found character designing hard, let alone mythological gods so yeah might continue to tweak and change these designs for a while✍️

[beastwhimsy]

MLP G5 redesign!! it really irked me how similar some of their colours, hair, and names were- so I tried my hoof at sprucing up their designs!! notes under the cut

consider reblogging!! do not repost

zipp storm is now ziggy storm, because zipp and pipp are just. too similar imo (also. subtle david bowie reference)

izzy moonbow is more blurple to distinguish her from pipp!! I also changed her cutiemark to match her name a little more

I gave the three types of ponies different tails!! pegasi have bird-like tails to aid in flying, unicorns have more accurate tails to their mythology, and earthponies have the classic horse tails (: unicorns also have cloven hooves because its cute!!!

I changed all their cutiemarks a little!! I felt the original designs were all too similar to each other, so I tweaked the colours too

I gave them all different body types because they totally could have done that, the only reason they didn't is most likely because it'd be harder/more expensive to make the toys...

made sunny's eyes brown!!! the world needs more brown eyed protagonists...

I gave hitch long hair for the sole reason that I'm upset that they gave the male ponies plastic hair in the toy line... that just sucks

I hope you like my designs!! feel free to comment what YOU'd change about the new mane 5, I'm interested to know!!

[genericpuff]

Hey there! Let me just start by saying that I love your work on Lore Rekindled. I've been super into Mythologies ever since I was like 6 (so that makes it nearly 20 years of constant adoration lmao), and your retelling of the Persephone myth is honestly one of the best ones I've seen so far. Which brings me to my question: I was wondering whether you would ever like to turn rekindled into a wholly original project. Perhaps after changing character designs and tweaking some details?

Keep up the great work and have a lovely day!

Thanks so much! I'm so glad it's resonating with people looking for a more grounded approach. That was pretty much half of my goal, I wanted to try and expand on the more creative interpretations Rachel started with (such as the modern setting) but actually tighten the worldbuilding and keep it more on theme with the original myths. So I'm always happy to hear from y'all that it's accomplishing that exactly as I had hoped :)

I've had people ask me that question about making it a more original thing, and I have considered it just for the sake of like, "making something my own", but at this point if I did that I'd have to completely redraw Rekindled from scratch and I don't know if I have the energy or strength to do that LOL (I'm already infected by the redrawing brainworms on my original stuff). And it would defeat the point of why I started Rekindled in the first place - to bring closure to myself and others who loved LO in the beginning and saw all the potential it had but never really delivered on. To remove it from the LO stylization would make it more 'original and unique' but would also remove it from its original purpose.

That said, I am hoping to do some other adaptions of Greek myth stories that were either poorly done by LO or not covered at all after Rekindled is done, so I'm considering doing a more original interpretation separated from the LO retelling for those, as they wouldn't necessarily depend on the H x P retelling that Rachel tried to accomplish. That way I can sorta try and have my cake and eat it too LOL But we'll see! I gotta get through Rekindled first :' )

[hs-transfusion]

I rly like the idea of ur au, but I just don't understand one thing. why are their classpects different? does that depend on their blood color and how it affects their life or..?

The way I see it, one's Mythological Role is determined as much by one's personality as it is one's pathway to personal growth. As a result, if you change someone's upbringing, it's pretty easy to believe that the butterfly effect would result in some pretty significant changes.

The characters in Transfusion all have something they need to work on and overcome if they want to become their best self, and these things are different from their original selves. For example, Gamzee struggles with an identity crisis because unlike his original religious self, he now lacks a formative beacon to follow. He's aimless, directionless. As such he tends to bend to the whims of other people around him. Wearing different masks, so to speak. Like a Mind player. Sollux used to be themed around duality, but now it's been tweaked to balance. Karkat has gone from being at the bottom of the barrel to a high-ranking member of society, but it's not enough for him. Everyone's ever so slightly different.

I didn't want to limit myself to just swapping X class and Y aspect depending on blood colour or something, because that's a needless restriction that ultimately won't result in the most narratively satisfying result. There's like 144 base possibilities to work with! Let's have some fun with it!!

[aroaceleovaldez]

What type of powers/personality(?) you think children of Cloud Nymphs would have? (Planning to make an oc who’s the child of a cloud nymph)

I actually have an oc who's a child of a cloud nymph! Cade! (link to his tag on deadangelos here and link to his wip wiki page here)

I'm a bit light with how much nymph parentage influences their kids, since in Greco-Roman mythology nymphs are more or less functionally human or minor gods/daimons, depending on situation.

For Cade, I did think it'd be fun if he got cloud-like/misty hair when his hair is grown out or when he's older, kind of a la Zeus in Hades game.

^ Hadesgame Zeus for comparison, lol.

My friend also has a child of Persephone from our old rp who cameos on Deadangelos (with tweaked godly parentage), and one of her major design things is that she has flower petals in her hair, so we've kicked around the idea of her Deadangelos iteration being the child of a nymph/dryad a bit.

So appearance-wise, generally I think it's fun to have nymph characters with some kind of visual indication of that, and I'm always a huge fan of nonhuman-appearing demigods. Powers-wise, I think they'd generally have a slightly weaker version of whatever their parents' primary ability is (presuming we're having a nymph parent function a la godly parents) - so like, a cloud nymph kid might have some control over forming small clouds or fog and mist, or a dryad kid might have some control over whatever plant their parent is, and both would have general better connections to those sorts of elements than most demigods. Maybe also just general minor stat boosts, like a aurae kid being stronger or more steady under windy/rainy conditions, or a dryad kid getting bonus energy from the sun.

Personality-wise: I don't usually use divine heritage as a major theme for personality basis, just personally. I might use it for like, overarching themes or some interests/hobbies but I don't like to restrict myself too much with that, just cause I think it's fun to get funky with it. Overarching themes-wise though, for nymph kids, them having a great deal of interest in/care for ecology is a given. For a cloud nymph/aurae kid specifically, meteorology interest is a definite possibility. If you want to lean more into cloud jokes - them being broody/constantly grumpy (jokes about stormclouds hanging over people), them being a daydreamer/spacey (head in the clouds), being an air-head (joke self-explanatory). Honestly just getting into the weeds with cloud puns is probably a good basis to start from for personality inspo. Goodness knows most characters in PJO have a pun to them somewhere in there.

[toxic3mmy]

hiiii ive been rlly obsessed with pjo lately, and this idea's been stuck in my head sooo

a pjo au where reader is a child of eros, and accidentally shoots q with one of the love arrows while practicing archery?? and then he gets a puppy crush and starts following reader around, just a cute romcom :)

woah, this idea sounds awesome! thanks so much for the request babe!! i’ll try my best to satisfy your pjo obsession hehehe

(also, i tweaked some junk like powers of the children of zeus and stuff just to make it easier, JUST PRETEND ITS CORRECT PLZ)

(thinking of adding original art to this IDK GIMME TIME)

prompt: you’re practicing archery and shoot alex, child of apollo, with a love arrow which leads to an accidental crush on you

no warnings! super cute and fluffy and romcom!!

________________________________________

part one ~

[listen at each star *]

it was a quiet spring morning. you were up and ready for your day and you decided that it would be perfect weather to practice your archery skills. you collected your materials and head off to your usual practice area.

you spruce up your target on the beautiful willow tree trunk in front of you and you begin.

you put your things out on your practice table in a neat manner. you play some of your “weird” non mythological music and begin.

**

you relax completely, hold up your bow and with a deep breath in, you let go.

plonk

“god.. that’s just terrible” you mumble to yourself as you spot the arrow almost a foot away from the practice board.

you draw back again and let go.

plonk

“no wonder i need the damn practice” you’re a bit annoyed seeing the arrow land in the grass at the base of the tree but continue to practice.

you draw back again, feeling a slight tingly vibration in your fingertips, and you knew this was a good sign. you were going to hit it right on the bullseye. the moment you begin to exhale, your music makes an odd doppler effect-like sound and it freaks you out a bit. you still absentmindedly let go of the arrow but don’t see where it landed.

“puta madre!”

a blood curdling shriek escapes you. you frantically try to hide from whoever it was that yelled.

a boy with dark hair came up from behind the willow tree and as soon as your eyes met, he holds both his hands up in defeat.

“don’t shoot, please!”

“dude, what the fuck are you doing here?! i almost had a heart attack! ew what’s wrong with your skin?” you made a face of disgust at him

“huh? look, i was just trying to find where that music was coming from and you shot me! like seriously, can you help me get this stupid arrow out of my ass?! god it’s like really deep in my butt meat”

“okay firstly, ew. secondly, ew.”

“im serious, can you give me a hand?” he pleaded, and as you approached him you noticed way too many things at once;

one: his skin was seriously looking freaky

two: he was a child of apollo, a sworn enemy of your eros parents

three: the arrow was really deep in his buttcheek

four: ….

“oh fuck me”

his skin was literally glowing. like… with love and junk.

you look down at the arrow you just removed from him and… oh no, how?!

you shot him with a love arrow. that’s just your luck, huh?

“hey… come here often sweetheart?” he smirked and you seriously had to choke down vomit

“really, that’s what you call flirting? you are such a little virgin boy”

“maybe you can change that” he holds your hand in his and pulls you in closer “maybe you want to put something else in my ass tonight besides that arrow” he smirked once again

you couldn’t believe the words he was saying to you.

you began laughing uncontrollably at his poor attempts at being suave and hot. you bent over laughing, you laughed so hard your abdomen was in absolute pain.

“see? i knew you’d come around, sexy lady” he pulled you up to be chest to chest with him

you quickly pushed him off and dried your tears from laughing so much.

“shut up dude, what even is your name? never mind, we need to get you a cure because i am definitely not going to deal with you and this… love crush thing” you began to collect your things in your backpack and you reached for the same arrow the raven haired menace did, as he was trying to help you.

“my name is alex… but you definitely have permission to call me papi” he said as your touching hands were intertwined in his and you quickly yanked your hand away

“blegh! you seriously need help, you creep! come on, we don’t have time to waste! our parents will absolutely kill us if they see us together” you yanked his arm to follow you and your head snapped at him as you heard a lewd moan come from alex.

“oh yeah, i love it when you’re rough baby” he moaned even louder and you plonked him in the head.

rolling your eyes, you continued to drag him to the only person who could help you out with no hesitation.

it took about fifteen agonizing minutes of walking to your friend thalia’s home as alex would not stop flirting with you and it wouldn’t be that bad of an issue but the dude had absolutely no game so it was just a lot of secondhand embarrassment you were dealing with.

you knocked on thalia’s door and prayed she was in.

thankfully, she opened the door a second later with a sweet smile,

“oh y/n! what a lovely surprise and… um excuse me what the actual frick is going on here??”

you pulled alex in and closed her door hurriedly.

“look man, i was practicing my archery right?”

“uh huh…” thalia replied

“because i simply suck balls at it right??”

“no you don’t darling! you’re a natural beauty and not to mention a talented one at that!” alex sighed, admiring you and inch from your face.

you shoved away his big head with your hand, and continued,

“and well… I SHOT THIS DUMBASS WITH A LOVE ARROW! PLEASE GIVE ME SOME KIND OF POTION THINGY TO FIX IT, PLEASE!” you beg thalia

“oh no! my honey is in distress! fear not, sweet maiden—”

thalia blows a green dust in his face and alex plops down on the ground like a sack of potatoes and he’s snoring away immediately.

“oh my god, thank you so so much! you don’t understand, he was literally like moaning all the way here and he calls that flirting?! he—”

“okay girl, do you need some eepy dust too?? just take a deep breath okay?”

you nod and calm down

“okay, as much as i know you need my help and as much as i want to help you, i can’t. we literally just ran out of the potion for that yesterday and i can’t make any new batches because im missing the main ingredient”

“well that’s okay! tell me where to get it and i’ll go right now and we can fix this whole mess and get rid of the buffoon!”

“no y/n, you don’t understand… the ingredient we need isn’t something you can just go get…”

you looked at her with a really confused face

“the ingredient is uh… spider legs, really weird i know! but you know the all mighty zeus, my pops, yeah he’s not as big and bad as he seems. he’s actually terrified of spiders so he banned them here in our world and i don’t get any spiders in stock until christmas because that’s the only time i can get my guy out here and… yeah”

“are you serious? god damn your dad and his arachnophobia..” i pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration

“yeah well, it’s either wait eight months for this potion or… get your father to undo the love spell”

i sigh and put my head down in my hands, feeling really defeated. what the hell do i do now?

“well… on the bright side, that dust i used on him will have some good effects when used alongside a love spell” thalia offers and you perk up

“wait really?? is he going to stop being so creepy with me?”

“well, maybe? it differs from person to person. but i do know that it most likely will make him act more in tune with his regular personality when he’s into someone, if that helps?” she smiled nervously

“let’s just hope he stops moaning every time i touch him” i say hopefully

“so.. you should probably try telling your dad. it was all a huge accident and i don’t think he’s going to be too upset. yeah he’ll probably give you the old ‘you need to be more responsible’ speech thing but im sure he’ll help you… unless he punishes you by not helping” thalia laughs deviously at the idea

“well thanks anyways, man. also, how long til he wakes up?” you ask, pointing at alex on the floor

“oh, one sec” thalia moves closer to him and kicks him in the balls

alex immediately shoots his eyes open and groans in pain

you look at thalia and the two of you laugh together.

thalia hands alex a pain reliever lollipop as a parting gift and you say your goodbyes to one another.

now it’s just you and alex.. and you were nervous about the way he was going to act with you.

“hey.. i uh, im really sorry about the way i was acting earlier. i seriously was acting super virgin-esque huh? i kinda heard everything you guys were saying even though i was asleep and yeah… but hey, at least now i’m not moaning at you like a harlot right now?” he laughed softly

“that’s so embarrassing that you heard us… but hey, at least you’re somewhat normal again?” you asked and offered him a smile

“i uh.. i never even asked for your name”

“oh, its y/n” you reply in a quiet voice

“that’s a really beautiful name… did i ever mention what my powers were?”

“no actually, you didn’t” you shook your head

“well, can i borrow your bow?” he asks sheepishly

you hesitantly nod and hand him your bow and a normal arrow

he places the arrow in its rightful position and comes up behind you. he’s still holding onto it as he places it in your hands. his arms are completely around you and his head is right next to yours.

“okay, relax. now, you see that small red flag thing on the tree over there? imagine the arrow landing right in the middle. take a deep breath” his hands were atop yours as he pulled the bow back and he whispered almost seductively,

“let go”

you both let the arrow go and it shoots right where you imagined it to. you gulped at how close he was to you. he smelled of pine and cinnamon. it was wonderful..

“you just needed a little push.. you did great y/n” he said in a low voice, still holding onto your hands on the bow

why did you want to lean in and kiss him?

wait, what?!

you immediately pulled away, putting as much space between the two of you as possible.

“y-yeah.. um thank you alex. should we keep going now?” you ask, unable to make eye contact with him

“whatever you’d like to do y/n. i’m honestly just enjoying your presence right now. it almost feels like it’s just you and me here, doesn’t it?”

you didnt know what to say. you agreed completely. you wanted nothing more than to waste your time with alex and his handsome smile and his sweet way with words and—

“y/n? can i show you my other power?” her broke the scary thoughts you were having

“sure”

**

alex began to sing the same song in was listening to earlier, without missing a single beat. how did he even know this song?

he took your hand and sung his heart out to you. you felt a swarm of butterflies flutter at the pit of your stomach. it feels like you were the one that got a love arrow stuck in your butt.

“your voice is beautiful… how do you know that song?” you asked, continuing to walk alongside alex

“well, i heard it a long time ago. sometimes i can hear it in my dreams, too. it’s not music we can listen to here, it’s mortal music i think. how do you know it?” he asked curiously

“i’ve always had an interest in mortal music.. i was actually playing that song this morning when the whole incident happened, i think you may have interfered with the sound waves when you were trying to find where it was coming from”

“that’s right… i guess this is our song then, huh?” he stated, grabbing me gently by the arm as we stopped in our tracks

“yeah, i guess so” your face was gently raised up by alex’s fingertips, forcing you to look into his entrancing brown eyes

“y/n, are you sure you’re not a siren?” alex whispered, his lips practically touching your lips

“w-what?..”

“it feels like you’re luring me to my sweet demise.. and what’s a death sentence without me being given a last meal? please, let me taste your lips before you take my soul away. it would make me feel oh so complete in this bittersweet end” he claimed proudly

with a flutter of your eyes, you shut them softly and gently press your lips against his

you feel his arms wrap around you in a tight but gentle way, and you reciprocated by holding his torso tightly

your hands grip his shirt tightly in fists as alex deepens the kiss, a small whimper leaving his soon to be bruised lips

alex pulls away and says softly,

“i can die a happy man now, y/n”

you had no idea what just happened or how it happened or even why you let it happen???

there was just something about him that lured you in. you wanted to take him in in every way possible, because to consume him would mean to be one.

god, what the hell were you even thinking?

[TO BE CONTINUED]

[lemonyoatmilk]

Anyone else here interested in a Star Wars Musical?

Think about it, if you condensed a trilogy of your choice into one 3 hour long musical show, then it would be a legendary a production if done right.

Star Wars had always been mythological in how it carried itself, and in the context of a serious, heartfelt musical with *really good song,* I think it could elevate it's story telling to heights never before seen.

Here's a rough idea to serve as an example. One focused not necessarily about the prequels themselves, but on Anakin specifically:

Maybe it could open on a jedi temple in the far future, with a Jedi master that acts as the narrator. This would allow this hypothetical musical some leeway in creative changes to better fit a condensed narrative (and tweak some of the weaker aspects of the prequels) whilst still being directly part of canon using the fact that this narrator wouldn't really know all the details correctly.

They'd tell the younglings about a time before even whatever current regime they're on, before the New Republic, before even the Empire. And this could lead into a song that will act as the opening title scroll. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

And of course we've all watched the prequels so I won't have to elaborate on this. Maybe they could add in some things from the clone wars show but yeah you get the point.

I'll just leave with a bunch of scenes that would be phenomenal material for songs.

Anakin meeting the Jedi and singing about the opportunity of being free.

Qui Gon's funeral to set a foreboding tone.

The Coruscant chase to set Anakin and Obi Wan's bond.

Falling in love with Padmé in their hideout in Naboo.

Schmi's death, and fading into Anakin confessing what he did to the sand people, and Padmé consoling him.

The secret marriage scene to set a false silver lining tone, with hints at darker times ahead.

The Battle of Coruscant to emphasize the bond between the two Jedi more, and how they work well as a team, setting the foreboding undertones higher.

The Dooku fight and his death, setting the turning point of the show.

Anakin's nightmares.

Instead of Palpatine talking about the story of Darth Plaguies the Wise, it fades in to a musical flashback.

Anakin contemplates about saving Palpatine, with the song eventually ending to him confronting them.

Palpatine knighting Darth Vader.

Obi Wan learning about the massacre at the Jedi temple, and his failure as a master.

Duel of the Fates as a duet.

Padme's death and the twins' birth, alongside Darth Vader's "birth" happening side by side in one song.

[linkspooky]

What are your thoughts on the Al ghuls?

My second favorite dysfunctional family (behind Slade Wilson, his ex-wife, his butler, his children and Terra which I collectively call the DeathFam). The Al Ghuls specifically Ra's Al Ghul and Talia are my favorite batman villains, sometimes anti-villain, and in Talia's case sometimes Anti-Hero (My Girl's got range.) Since you asked my thoughts I will try to give them as organized as possible but warning there are a lot.

1. On The League in General

The League, the Lazarus Pits, and the mythology surrounding them is one of the coolest parts of DC Lore in general. In my opinion the best portrayals of the league are when they are one hundred percent genuine about their ideals. One joke I like to make is that Poison Ivy and Ra's are both environmentalists, but unlike Poison Ivy R'as actually has a plan and resources. Ra's love for the world and his desire to save it is at the core of his character, and the reason he will not let himself die, or let go in any real way because his work is not done.

One aspect I do not like about the league is that they are supposed to be antagonists, but I wish Ra's plan was more developed than "kill a whole bunch of people so the resources can be split amongst the survivors." That's such a disagreeable plan Ra's point to make about how the whole planet is dying and nothing superheroes do is really fixing that problem is kind of lost. It's also as dumb as movie Thanos idea to snap and destroy half the life in the universe. If I were to tweak it, I would make Ra's agenda more in line of a communist revolution. That is get rid of the capitalistic systems that drive the destruction of earth's natural resources for endless production and profit. That change would make some of the leagues motivations and methods much more sympathetic.

The league would still be villains however, because even if in this tweaked versions their methods are understandable they're still a big huge cult. Which is an aspect that a lot of fans and sometimes comic writers seem to miss. In the microcosm (Ra's personal family) and the macrocosm (the whole league) the league is a cult centered entirely around Ra's ego, his ideals, his wishes. Even if you can sympathize with their ideas of revolution and go "Hey, that might work" the League is still going about it the wrong way because they constantly prey upon vulnerable minors and people on the edge of society and then raise them up into loyal pledges to a cause. A lot of real life fringe groups do this too. In this version the league recruits members because it's easier this way, which is in line with Ra's character. The whole conflict with Ra's is that he just will not let go of control, he talks about how he wants an heir to take over everything but that's never going to happen because he won't even let himself die. You could fix this too, take the league out of Ra's hands, reform it, and it could be a more genuine force for good. So yeah, my take is less the league isn't good because they assassinate politicians and have more revolutionary ideals, but rather the league is bad because they regularly groom minors.

2. Ra’s Al Ghul

Here is a comic panel of Daphne from Scooby Doo sword fighting Ra’s Al Ghul, mostly because I love it. 

Ra’s is THE Batman villain for me. If the Joker represents Batman’s completely anti-thesis, then Ra’s is Bruce, all of his ideals, his nobility, taken to their most logical extreme. He’s the definition of the noble demon. If you want to ready story arcs that I think show off Ra’s at his best, there’s the “Tower of God” storyline where Ra’s finds all of Batman’s measures against the Justice League he prepared in case any of them turned evil and then decides to use them himself. Then there is “Injustice 2″ which is one of the better depictions of Ra’s where he is at his most genuine to his goal of environmentalism and even at points sits down at the table to talk with the superheroes in a more peaceful manor on how they could be doing better. 

If the Tower of God storyline did not explain it to you, Ra’s reflects Bruce in good aspects and bad ones. The same relentless dedication that Bruce has to saving Gotham, Ra’s applies to the whole world. Ra’s also like other batman villains shows how a generally positive trait like Bruce’s insane levels of dedication can easily turn into a flaw. Bruce has no powers just his martial arts training, but just will not give up under any circumstances. Ra’s determination gets him into a horrible cycle of corrupting himself worse and worse over the years both due to overuse of the pits and also frustration at a world that refuses to change, and also shows in his inability to surrender power in any real way. 

The way Ra’s treats his direct family, and the league as a whole is also a dark mirror to Batman and the Bat Family. Now, I don’t believe that Bruce is raising up hero sidekicks as child soldiers... Suspension of disbelief people! However,  Ra’s genuinely does treat all of his children as tools for his agenda. As much as he has the capacity to love them, their needs and desires will always come second to his use for them. Ra’s is undeniably a groomer not in the sexual sense but in the sense he is using his position of power raising up and manipulating these minors to shape them into what he wants them to be. 

Ra’s also represents Bruce’s paranoia and the times where he abuses his position as patriarch of a family to manipulate his kids lives. Ra’s is undeniably the one who holds the most power in the Al Ghul family, and he uses that imbalance in power entirely to his own ends. What he creates is a cycle of generational abuse that lasts all the way until Damian.  Ra’s also represents Bruce’s sometimes toxic ideas of masculinity turned up to 11. My man is a 400 year old misogynist. He is obsessed with ideas like divine birthright, dynasty, legacy as shown by the way he once again treats his children. His oldest son is disqualified for being albino and therefore having a defect, Nyssa and Talia are disqualified for being born women. The fact that Bruce represents his ideal heir and he is a man with money and power the peak of what society considers is masculinity is you know, telling of his opinions towards gender. Bruce and Ra’s are both carriers of family legacies, who devote all of their money and power to their genuinely good goals, but Ra’s seems to believe that might makes right, the money, resources and bloodline he has makes him inherently better or even chosen. Which cycles into the reason why he will never let go of said power. 

3. Talia Al Ghul 

Talia is my favorite member of the family, she is also hardest to talk about because she suffers from two things number one being wildly different depending on the writer, and two orientalism. Now I won’t discuss this much not because I don’t think it’s important but because I’m not qualified to talk on such subjects and a practicer of the “stay in your own lane” philosophy. The orientalism in Talia’s character is undeniably there, and also a part of a pattern in DC where female brown mothers are regularly villainized to make their white fathers look better. I think Grant Morrison’s take on Talia is inherent dehumanizing of her and kind of reducing her to a plot object, and also a deviation from the original ideas her character was meant to represent. I think also Talia has a habit of being reduced to her relationships to the men in her life rather than her own person with you know thoughts and feelings. Women have those. The league also as a whole is orientalist as a concept there’s really no getting away from that. 

Just as an example of how Talia and Damian’s relationship could be better depicted than it currently is in comics. There’s a storyline in the fourth season of Young Justice that I really like (even though I don’t like the cartoon that much) which explores the family dynamic between Cheshire, Roy and Lian. Cheshire attempted to stay with Roy to raise Lian for awhile, until she went back to the lifestyle and could not give it up. Her sister Artemis eventually goes after her and it’s revealed that Cheshire left Lian with Roy not because she chose being an assasin over her but Cheshire believes she is inherently bad and harmful person and has too much in common with her abusive father and if she is in that kid’s life she will only hurt them. It also ends on a hopeful note that if Cheshire puts the work in on becoming a more emotionally healthy version of herself she could return to that household. 

Now that that disclaimer is out of the way (please don’t yell at me for this I love Talia. If you want to discuss it further please use my askbox, I don’t like it when people reblog my posts to argue with me.) The most interesting aspect of the Demon’s Head is the generational abuse storyline. There’s no two ways about it, Talia repeats the cycle with Damian. That’s what makes abuse generational. Once again the whole storyline from conception of Talia having a secret love child with Bruce is kind of orientalist but you have to work with the plotline you got. At least until somebody retcons it. 

Now I am going to go on a long diatribe on how Talia repeating a cycle of abuse that starts with Ra’s does not make her an inherently bad person. This is where I am qualified to talk because I’ve done a lot of research into this subject! Talia grew up in a cult. Not only that she was the direct daughter of the cult’s leader. In the microcosm Ra’s family is what you would call a Narcisstic Family Structure: a family centered around one person’s individual needs where the other’s needs go underlooked. In the macrocosm it’s a goddamn cult. 

People view members of cults as either stupid, or immoral for joining because they imagine it could never happen to them, but the way cults work is by preying on vulnerabilities every single person has. 

No one joins a cult voluntarily; they are recruited into it. There is lack of informed consent. Everyone has vulnerabilities. Possible situational vulnerabilities include illness, the death of a loved one, breakup of an important relationship, loss of a job, or moving to another city, state or country. [x]

Haruki Murakami wrote a book named “Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche.” It is a non-fiction book containing several interviews of victims in the aftermath of the Saren Gas Attacks. This is a real life event where the Aum Shinrikyo Cult convinced its members to release Saren gas in several subway trains. While the attack was viewed by society as an act of fringe extremists, the cult was made up of members who were educated people, doctors, lawyers, who were still somehow convinced this was a good idea. 

The interviews highlight many intriguing aspects of the Japanese psyche. Work was a high, if not central, priority for most of the interviewees. Isolation, individualism, and lack of communication were also strong themes which were common throughout many accounts of the attacks. Many of the interviewees expressed disillusionment with the materialism in Japanese society and the sensationalistic media, as well as the inefficiency of the emergency response system in dealing with the attack.

The book also includes Murakami's personal essay on the attacks, "Blind Nightmare: Where Are We Japanese Going?" In this essay, he criticizes the failure of the Japanese to learn from the attacks, preferring to dismiss it as the extreme act by a group of lunatics rather than analyze the true causes and prevent similar events from occurring in the future.

I bring this up once again to reinforce the idea that anyone can be preyed upon by a cult, and Talia was literally born into that environment. Clts also operate with a specific method of cutting off their members from the outside world to cut off their ability to leave (BITE: Behavior Control, Information Control, Thought Control, Emotional Control). Talia grew up in an environment where most likely all her social interactions and her contact with the outside world was controlled by Ra’s and only Ra’s because in most versions her mother dies early in her life usually in some horrific way. 

That’s not even getting to the kind of parent that Ra’s is. He is always a really outwardly loving parent to Talia, but that love comes with a big huge asterisk. Ra’s loves his children until they either have a defect, or they decide to be someone other than what he wants them to be, at which point he either cuts them off, or relies on emotional manipulation to regain control. Talia’s only parental figure was both extremely loving, but made it clear that love was conditional. Even if Talia tries to live up to Ra’s expectations of her and be what he wants her to be, she’s immediately disqualified from actually taking on the mantle she was groomed for her entire life by being a woman. Even the original concept of Talia’s character who is much more anti-hero than anti-villain chooses her father over Bruce at times because Ra’s conditional love is what she knows, whereas Bruce’s love for her is something she does not understand fully even if she desires it. 

I’m going to bring up my favorite comic book character Terra here. Terra was also a character who her creators have said several disrespectful things about and she was not created by the best of intentions. However, Terra is a unique character because she is one of the few grooming and CSA victims who is allowed to be downright unlikable, to show her trauma in what are considered to be traditionally bad ways. She’s a character with flaws and agency and stuff. Terra represents a specific kind of fifteen year old kid who usually does not get help and adults believe is a lost cause. Characters who carry Terra’s trauma either magically get over it, or they are just reduced to weak, pitiful shells. I’d rather have Terra be the mess she is than either of those things. It’s honest to a reality that certain people face, and also shows victims who would not normally get sympathy. 

I just went to great length to establish the horror of Talia’s upbringings so she’d undeniably be affected by it. I won’t even mention what kind of mother Talia is because wildly depends on the author, but the decision to raise Damian in that cult rather than try to leave is her perpetuating the cycle. This is something that happens in real life too, parents who are preyed upon by cults will either drag their kids into it, or raise them up in that same life when they are young and vulnerable. It’s undeniably something she did to Damian and deserves to be called out on. 

If Talia shares Ra’s nobility and idealism she also reflects his bad qualities as well, his belief in special people, of causes that succeed individuals, of noble purposes. Especially since these are toxic ideas that Ra’s has essentially forced onto her. I don’t even think Talia is past the point of redemption or incapable of learning to be a better mother, because while abuse is a chain it’s also a chain that can be broken. 

4. Damian Wayne / Al-Ghul

To begin with I don’t think Bruce is a good parent to Damian, and Talia is a bad one. They both kind of fail Damian in equal and totally different ways. I don’t believe Robin is a child soldier, but right away making Damian Robin is kind of a mistake because Bruce makes him Robin to try to fix some perceived flaw from being raised by the League, when really Damian is more or less just a ten year old kid reacting how any ten year old kid would if they were groomed their entire life and had that kind of destiny practically forced upon them. 

The difference between Talia and Damian is of course, Damian got out of there which gives him a unique opportunity that Talia didn’t to make connections outside of the League and to the outside world and therefore learn to think in different ways then how he was raised to think. Damian represents the chance to break the cycle of generational abuse passed down from grandfather, to mother, to son. 

Because like I said Damian reserves the right to call out his mother for not choosing to put him first, but at the same time Damian undeniably loves his mother. Even in the storylines where they have a strained relationship at best Damian is fiercely loyal to her because essentially Damian and Talia want the same thing which is to have a loving family of their own, and to be their own people outside of their usefulness to other people (cough, cough, Ra’s). 

Damian’s character arc tends to repeat a lot but there are more modern storylines that are pushing Damian in this direction where his goal is a reconciliation of the past and to be able to move on with a healthier version of their relationship. Ra’s getting shot in the head helped a whole lot. 

Damian represents a chance to break the cycle for both himself and his mom, because like I said Talia isn’t an inherently bad person, or a bad parent, she just like anybody else has an opportunity to grow and develop as a person especially if one day she gets to finally move on from the league. People can be influenced by circumstances, but also circumstances change and in better environments people have a chance to do better. Damian isn’t obligated to forgive either parent for the ways they’ve failed him but at the same time he clearly wants a connection with both of his parents, and is willing to work with them on it. 

It is funny how Damian typically gets portrayed as the edgy Robin, because in my mind he’s actually one of the most normal ones. He acts like a thirteen year old boy, with the needs of a thirteen year old boy, he desires a normal life outside of capes and costumes. He just has been told he’s the chosen one all his life and that’s had an effect on the way he views the world. Damian has every chance to break the chain that Ra’s started though, and that’s probably where the comics should go if they didn’t repeat the same plotline with him like nine million times. 

[imthepunchlord]

Are you planning another poll on whether Fox or Bee should go into the remaining spot? Or do you prefer to think that one over on your own?

Thought about it on my own, especially since I want to change up Miraculous powers cause either they're repeat of a preexisting power or are something a preexisting power could do (like Venom and Clout could be something Cataclysm could do), are WAY too OP (look at you Rabbit), or is just confusing/clear they didn't really know what to do with it (like Rooster, I don't know about you guys, but I still don't understand what the canon Rooster can and can't do).

And while still working at tweaking and changing powers, I am thinking I got the ideal Miraculous set up, at least for me.

It does bump the numerous 19 up to 25, but a Bagua set is something I've been wanting to exist as it is apart of Taoism and also works off Wu Xing, and it was apart of the original plan of Miraculous.

And a lot of those animals do come back in some shape or form in the Specials, and it feels fitting for them to exist.

As for Bee or Fox for the 5th, decided on Bee, largely due to the fact that in my research, based on symbolism and mythology I found for it, I always felt Bee should be really top tier. So now it is amongst the others that should be the most powerful.

[echo-stimmingrose]

I've been on here a long while and I've never done an introduction post so here- Welcome to my page!

My name is Echo!

Pfp Picrew (background pic found on Pinterest)

My pronouns are they/them (she/her is fine as well)

I am a lesbian, a disabled wheelchair user, a (baby) Hellenistic Pagan and I am Autistic.

I mainly post things about my hyperfixation but I will occasionally post about my disability and mental health.

I love to write and I do take writing requests!

Here's my AO3 and FF.net

If there's anything else you'd like to know about me feel free to ask, I don't mind!

My blog is a safe space for most everyone! 💚💚💚 (except for pedos and bigots, you aren't welcome here)

More about me and info on my writing requests are below the cut~

Fandoms I'm a part of:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Owl House

Arcane

Hermitcraft

Epic The Musical

My main special interests:

History (of any kind really, I'm a nerd)

Animals (I know a ton of random animal facts)

Greek Mythology (both the religion and the fictional retellings)

Poetry (I like to write it and read it)

Writing/Fic Requests

Fandoms I write for:

Percy Jackson

Greek Mythology (in an au/fictional sense)

What I will/won't write:

I don't write smut, it's simply not my style. (I will do romance and mildly suggestive stuff, but don't expect it to be good lol)

I won't do any ships with minor/adult. teacher/student ect.

I won't write anything with SA. (Maybe healing from that trauma but that's still iffy for me)

Most everything else is on the table.

What I've written and posted so far have been hurt/comfort and fluff.

I enjoy writing shippy things as things without any ships at all.

I don't really write modern Au's or Au's that stray very far from canon just cause they're not typically my thing, however I am willing to try and do my best if someone requests it. (I do however tend to tweak canon)

My favorite ships to write/HC about (PJO): (this is subject to change and not the only ships I will write for)

Percy x Annabeth

Nico x Will

Jason x Leo

Silena x Charles

Silena x Clarrise

Clarrise x Chris

Percy x Jason

Piper x Annabeth

(also a lot of polyamory regarding these characters)

Ships I won't write for:

Anything minor x adult like I said.

Caleo

And any ship with Reyna or any hunters (it feels so wrong to me to write the very few canonical acearo characters we have in a non platonic relationship)

(sorry if that's a lot, I've never made a post about taking writing requests before)

Here is my reading blog where I post about the current book in reading! @echo16reads

(Currently very behind on updating that blog but I'll get there)

That's all for now! I may add more to this post some other time. <33

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Considering how France colonized Vietnam for like a century, it's truly aggravating how Kim was portrayed as a total meathead simp for a bratty rich French girl, has a name that can be misinterpreted as the French word for dog, and his miraculous...is based around...the Monkey King.

Which, don't get me wrong, we love Journey to the West too but...that isn't our folklore. You know what is in our creation myth though? The Dragon King 🙃

But I guess Astruc is too busy weabing out and confusing Chinese and Japanese culture (what little of it he knows) to bother pretending to give a shit about any other Asian cultures.

I guess the writers thought it would be cooler to give Kagami the Dragon Miraculous because they associate dragons more with the Japanese, and thought that since Vietnam is pretty much a stone’s throw from China, they wouldn’t mind if they gave the only Vietnamese hero a hero identity based off a Chinese story.

It’s even worse when you learn that there are some Japanese folklore stories featuring monkeys, so with a few tweaks, you could easily give Kim the Dragon for a Dragon King motif, and you could give Kagami the Monkey for a motif centered around a monkey character from Japanese mythology, like a more heroic version of the Yokai Sarugami.

If there are any other people who have something to say about the depiction of other cultures in this show, and how it differs from what actually happened, I’d be open to hearing more stories like this, or suggestions on Kwami swaps that fit the ethnicities of certain characters like Kagami or Kim.

[huntunderironskies]

If (hypothetically speaking) a guy (not necessarily me, but whoever's doing it would definitely be very smart and handsome) were to make a game about were-creatures (guess what it's inspired by) in an urban fantasy setting (ft. a lot of fighting on both the social and physical front and sick-ass powers), how would you like the player characters to be handled in terms of mechanics?

For context: I'm planning on doing a splat type deal (like a character class if this somehow breaches containment from my normal sphere) with your species being your splat. This will determine powers and other benefits you'll have access to. Uncertain if it'll function on an x/y splat axis, this is still very early development phases and honestly I need to hack out just how I'm going to handle everything before we get to that step. I'm torn on whether or not I like the idea but I feel like the secondary solution here is to just do both.

And to be clear, I am very set on having a monster secret society here. I don't like the idea of them being individualistic or isolated, so having the splats be culturally cohesive in some way is very important to me. I'm also somewhat set on having a medium-to-high crunch system here, rules-lite monsters has been done a bit more extensively than I'd like. This will almost definitely be an in-house system as well.

So, with that said, here is my cost-benefit analysis for the three options. You might have to pitch me the secret fourth thing but I promise I will at least consider those.

Folkloric Archetypes

As you are probably very aware if you've heard me talk for more than five minutes, I really like religious studies. It's very easy to come up with general roles that certain animals can play within human folklore and mythology. Tricksters, warriors, psychopomps, and so on. The idea here is you get fairly abstract powers (like being able to talk to ghosts if you're a psychopomp) and get to roughly pick what species you might be that fits into that general archetype.

Bonuses: Permits a very wide variety of potential animal species. Lots of wiggle room in terms of what species can be what and I could just give general examples. Allows people to use their own animal species I might not have thought of.

Drawbacks: Extremely difficult to give broad archetypes any specific lore focus or concentrated society. My preference is towards simulationist systems and it'd be very hard to come up with ways to handle form bonuses since that will absolutely be a thing, what's the fun of a shapeshifter system if you don't get to literally go beast mode? Not as much room to expand on roles either since there's far less you can do with general archetypes.

Species-by-Species Case

Kind of self-explanatory. You get a grab bag of well-known species heavily associated with shapeshifting (wolves, hyenas, cats, bears, possibly seals, et cetera) and pick one you like. You'll still get at least some abstract powers, though.

Bonuses: Lends itself well to mid-to-high crunch simulationist thing. Easy to incorporate actual fun facts about what the animal in question is capable of and make those innate abilities. Easier to justify in an urban fantasy setting as having inspired various folklore bits IRL, meaning they feel like they have a natural place in the setting. A lot easier to justify each group having highly specific cultural practices, making the options feel more unique.

Drawbacks: Way less freeform in terms of character options, meaning player options are more limited. Simulationist usually means tons of tweaking stats and having to fuss over game balance while remaining somewhat realistic, so lots of cognitive overhead for the designer, who may or may not be me.

Both (usage of an x/y splat axis?)

Yeah. My first thought is that in this case the species splat would be like..."giant predator" or "stealth ambusher" or whatever, and then you have a cultural splat that's more like what your folklore role is (so the whole "trickster" or "psychopomp" thing.)

Bonuses: Best of both worlds...? Maybe?

Drawbacks: Not sure how to handle the way shapeshifter culture would work here. Justifying something like a trickster bear seems like it would be difficult which could lead to some incongruities. oh god so many powers to make

[genericpuff]

Is there a real difference between something being a reimagining of Greek myths and something being inspired by it?

I mean, it's a difference that's kind of subjective IMO but the way I personally see it, it comes down to what the story itself is trying to be. Is it trying to be a retelling, or is it trying to be its own story that just happens to take elements from the myths for the fun of it?

A myth retelling will typically be doing just that, retelling a mythical story with its characters with maybe some aesthetic changes, artistic liberties, or tweaks to fit a new generation. Example: Stray Gods, Hades, Hadestown, Lore Olympus, etc. All these stories are retelling myths and tales while putting more modern or subversive twists on them. Hadestown may feature a version of the Underworld that's built on coal mines, but it's still the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Hades may feature a version of Hades and Persephone who genuinely fell in love (Persephone was born to Demeter and a mortal man instead of Zeus which also removes the incest, and Persephone genuinely wanted to leave Olympus and saw marrying Hades as her way out), but they still gave Demeter her affiliations with winter and grieving the loss of her daughter.

Something that's simply myth inspired isn't necessarily trying to be accurate to the myths or retell them, they're just yoinking elements out of myths either directly or indirectly for the sake of fun and creativity. A recent example is Attack on Titan which is clearly referencing a lot of Norse mythology by the end with Ymir. Though an even bigger example of this is JRPG's, a lot of them tend to reference Greek and Norse myth in obvious or subtle ways, but aren't necessarily retelling those stories. Persona 3 uses a lot of Greek myth as the foundation for its story. The Ascians in Final Fantasy XIV go by Greek myth aliases such as Hermes and Hades, while there are raids in the game with Greek naming conventions (there's literally a raid boss in the newest set of Asphodelos raids named "Athena"). Tales of Symphonia is WWII meets Norse mythology, featuring subplots that tackle deep topics like discrimination, segregation and genocide (the "human ranches" are literally concentration camps) while also taking artistic inspiration from the Norse myths featuring the Great Kharlan Tree (the tree of life, Yggdrasil) and even the final boss' name is Yggdrasil, in the game's final cutscene Lloyd is given the opportunity to name the new reborn tree and while the audio fades out before you can hear what he names it, when you learn of Norse myth and how it inspired the game you just know he named it Yggdrasil (unfortunately they played it safer with the name "World Tree" in the game's sequel Dawn of the New World, but we don't talk about DotNW lmao). There are also a lot of religious allegories in JRPG's, particularly with Christianity, but that's another topic.

Point is, something that's simply taking inspiration from Greek myth or other mythologies isn't necessarily trying to retell those stories directly or even at all. Sometimes a piece of work is simply referencing them or enjoys the naming conventions or messaging of those original stories that it makes for a good parallel.

Not every story inspired by mythologies are attempting to retell them, but every retelling is inspired by the mythologies upon which they're based.