#non-canonical myth

[hecates-corner]

Even though there’s not a single myth on it, I’d like to think Aphrodite couldn’t give a shit about her sexuality.

She gets bored one day, and particularly curious, and heads down to earth. As she wanders around the markets in her mortal disguise, her attention is caught by a kind woman buying apples. Aphrodite wanders over, curious. She’s so beautiful, not so much that she challenges the goddess’ beauty, obviously, but she’s got these delicate features mixed with a sharp nose that stand out to Aphrodite. She likes how she looks.

The woman notices her, smiles politely, but seems captivated by Aphrodite’s beauty, even in her mortal state. She greets her, and Aphrodite likes that. Her voice.

She reaches for an apple, so Aphrodite picks it up and studies it, as if it’s at all interesting to her. She twirls it in the light, then looks up, and extends it to the woman, offering it.

As the woman takes it carefully, she twines her fingers in Aphrodite’s, for just a moment. It couldn’t have been an accident.

So Aphrodite, smiling softly, asks for her name.

The woman gives it.

Days later, Aphrodite is lounging on Olympus, twirling a strand of her hair and thinking about that woman she’d met. She was like no other, beautiful and prim and yet so powerfully attractive. Aphrodite bids her lover farewell on Olympus, Ares is gone to fight another war. A small one, but a war nonetheless.

She is bored. And roused. She wishes to go and have some sort of good time, but does not know what precisely to do. With Ares gone, and the others truly uninteresting, she huffs in annoyance. Then a thought occurs, perhaps she should simply go and find that woman again. Or attend some festival, who knows?

So Aphrodite takes the form of a dove, and soars through the air, searching. Her eyes land on a stream, sensing there is someone there she wishes to meet.

When she lands, she transforms into the same maiden she had been days ago. She tousles her skirts, and slinks out from behind the tree she used as coverage, and spies a woman with her back turned.

The woman is tying back her hair, perhaps readying herself to wash her face, or take a swim. It is awfully balmy that day, so either is plausible. She turns, and is surprised by the sight of Aphrodite, in disguise.

She blinks, but smiles a moment later. “I knew I had not seen the last of you.”

Aphrodite raises a brow. “You were so sure?”

“I would believe so, goddess. For you must know I was not finished seeking your company.”

Aphrodite is surprised. No one speaks to her in such a way, or calls her on her bluff so quickly.

“You are hasty to supplicate me, dear.” She says, just so.

“No, I am not hasty.” The woman replies. “I am bold.”

Aphrodite smiles.

“If I were a goddess, perhaps,” she begins. “Would you have me?”

The woman chuckles. “I think I am much too consumed by my thoughts of you to care whether or not you are a goddess.” She glances Aphrodite up, and down. “I would have you only if you sought me.”

And the line of the stream between them is much too large, suddenly. Aphrodite reaches for the pins of her dress.

“Come.” She says, a light smile playing at her lips. “Let us swim. It is much too hot to be standing here exchanging polite words.”

When all is said and done, and Aphrodite lays back against the bank of the river, her sweat and exertion mixing with the cleansing drops of water slipping from her locks of hair, she holds the woman close to her. Skin upon skin, tender and simple, for a moment. Pleasant. Just to be here, just to be. Just.

She cards her fingers through the woman’s hair. “I am sure you wonder which goddess I am.”

The woman hums, her throat making a sweet buzz against Aphrodite’s breast. “Perhaps. Only so I may call your name again.” She runs a finger down the goddess’ arm, from shoulder to wrist, then lingering there. “But I have my wits about me.”

Aphrodite smiles. “Oh? And who might you seek me as?”

The woman takes Aphrodite’s hand, now. “I shall love you no matter who you may be, Aphrodite.”

It is not the last time they meet, nor the last time they lay together. They dabble in fields, laugh over wine, and speak to one another late in the night. As it would occur, the woman is a poet, a good one at that, and writes hymns for Aphrodite in her lustrous love for the goddess.

The woman holds such court in Aphrodite’s heart for so many years, that Aphrodite soon fears, actually fears, her death. She laments the fact that the woman is mortal, and will die. The woman does not.

“I have lived a lifetime dappled with you. I do not weep for it, such a blessing.”

But Aphrodite still feels the knowledge gnaw at her. She knows she cannot make a god of the woman, but she may be able to place her judgement in the realm of the dead.

Decades pass, still enjoying one another. The woman ages, and she does not. But they still find each other in the darkness, in the light.

One day, decades and decades later, the woman dies. A peaceful death, a life prolonged by the proximity and life of a goddess. It would have surprised her to know she did not die of a tragedy, like all other lovers of gods. Perhaps that is why she is left out in history.

Aphrodite weeps for her, as she did Adonis, and select other lovers that were as golden to her as her own divinity. She carves a tomb, in memorial, that over time crumbles and breaks. She carves her name into it, but in centuries, it will be lost.

Her battle is not over. She composed herself, and urges her way to a field, near a crack to Erebos.

It is springtime. She may call for her.

“Persephone.”

At the invocation of her name, Persephone comes to the call.

“Aphrodite.” She greets, a mix of warmth and ice.

Aphrodite pauses, the request tingling on her lips. “You may not care, but we have had our moments, dear Persephone.”

They could not be called friends, no. But they could not be denied of the ways of the flesh they had once- twice, perhaps, shared.

She continues at the silence. “I come to request a placement for a soul.”

Persephone raises a brow. “I see.”

“She is virtuous, and a good woman, besides. I believe you should place her in Elysium.”

Persephone narrows her eyes. “Give me her name. I may see what I can do.”

Aphrodite gives it. Persephone returns a blank look. Then it shifts to an amusement.

“She has found her eternal rest, I confess.”

Aphrodite frowns. “I know. That is the reason for my request.”

“You misunderstand.” Persephone laughs. “She had drank from the river Lethe twice over. She has lived three virtuous lives, with this one her third.”

Aphrodite’s eyes widen.

“She resides on the Isle of the Blessed?”

Persephone nods, smiling still. Aphrodite does not know why.

But her heart leaps. There is that, she thinks. She has lived three virtuous lives.

Then a thought crosses her mind. “What made her virtuous, in this one?”

Persephone smiles. “She will write a history, in years to come. Perhaps all because of one lover she had in particular.”

#as I wrote this I realized this could be inferred #as a story of Sappho #but Sappho was real so that’s up to you #greek mythology #greek myth #mythology #author #aphrodite #sapphic #modern mythology #non-canonical myth #lesbian lovers #I am gay and I needed a lesbian myth #aphrodisiac #aphrodite x female lover #aphrodite x mortal woman #aphrodite and her lover

[selenealwayscries]

fuck you *puts your fairydog in hanfu*

#mcyt #last life #last life smp #trafficblr #rendog #ldshadowlady #fairy fort #. yknow what ill tag this as #fairydog #as well even tho that tag is populated by val and dust at this point #anyways . my hanfu agenda going well as you can tell #i wish i have more canon excuses to draw block people in hanfu tho #like its fun to headcanon stuff but its still more exciting to get canon content of something . if that makes sense #id die for mote asian rep in mcyt spaces o(-( like not just ccs either #i want more non asian ccs to take inspirations from asian cultures . build asian architecture inspired bases #heck . write lore with asian myths and folk legends as inspiration #as long as you do research and do shit respectfully i know at least 5 people who would literally throw parties over them #anyways if yall see me reblogging hanfu posts youll know why #anyways anyways . my bones are killing me so goodbye #catgirl supreme

[miraluking-respectfully]

hilarious revelations w/ @sealeneee

quarantined-ass part of the timeline

#mmo writing ruins everything #ALSO APPARENTLY IT ISNT EVEN FULLY NON-CANON?? #IT'S LIKE. LOWERCASE-L LEGENDS #legends not as in ''star wars'' but rather ''myths and'' #fucking accursed specimen of star wars media. #my god. #swtor #star wars the old republic #star wars

[asteralien]

being bi has nothing to do with sexuality or romance and everything to do with feeling torn during the "these two characters are acting Very Queer with each other, i love their flirting, they're so in love" VS "friendship is just as good as romance, shipper goggles is not the only lens through which to view these characters, there's a lack of good friendships in media" debates

#por que no los dos. o tres. o quatres. #like. idk. useless argument actually bc non-canon relationships are schrodinger's relationships. It Doesn't Matter #i looooove the Strong Friendships Are Good argument because they are #but also when a youtube comment talking about a ship is immediately bombarded with 'BUT THEY CAN JUST BE FRIENDS THEY DONT HAVE TO BE GAY' #i get a little. meh. about it all. #like if you're trying to Prove that this character is not gay or is at least gay in a more stereotypical way #then idk i don't vibe with that your honor #(yes i AM watching community videos yes it WAS a comment about jeff/abed yes multiple people DID say #that abed was 'almost certainly asexual and/or aro' and therefore couldn't be bi) #(i should definitely be asleep but here i am aggressively arguing against one of my fav chars being one of my own orientations) #(bc it feels very reductive and unthinking and also disproven by canon. like. come on.) #(also even if he WAS ace. he could still be bi. and he could still be in a relationship with allo jeff.) #(i love the idea that ppl know about aspec identities but i dont love how stereotypically ppl talk about them. it feels dismissive) #anyway #shut up myth

[thc-au]

Master-post:

This post is too big, so, just press <keep reading> button and enjoy!

The Amusement park

Tutorial area: [Unlocked] The park [The park is full of attractions, abandoned a long time ago.] [The danger inside - Mannequins that can move if the lights are off. Happily that there's always bright.] The Circus tent [A dark circus tent that has no bright light inside.] [The danger inside - two clown puppets whom a tutorial encounters that Pomni uses to teach the player how to fight. A dark maze where Pomni plays hide and seek (under the tent)] Boss: Pomni [immortal]

Side chapter: The attractions area [there are many attractions, all of which are broken and not working, where you can see a lot of old mannequins.] [The danger inside - Mannequins, light cut off] The carousel [12 horses, mainly unicorns, pegasus, and common horses.] [The danger - these encounters can move and try to kill you if you come too close.] Boss: [̵͎̜͕̊ͅḐ̸̧̞̦̯͐Ĕ̷̪̘̑L̷̮̭͇̮̏̑̓̓ͅÊ̴̺͊͗̊͝ͅT̵̖̭͙̜͗͐́̕Ę̸̛͙͎͌̏͌͜D̴̢̨̢̬̚]̵̝̈́̉̀̕

Greek drama comedy pantheon

Chapter 1: [Unlocked] The pantheon [The giant ancient Greek pantheon that is based on Greek attributes like mazes with common myth encounters, traps, and puzzles.] [The danger inside - Minotaur, soldiers, dark in location] The Amphitheater [A large arena with a stage where operas were. Mostly destroyed.] [The danger inside - traps, gladiators, common myth encounters] Boss: Gangle

Dollhouse

Chapter 2: [Locked] The garden [The big garden with a dollhouse in the center, abandoned and broken giant villa with three floors. The garden is desolated and filled with dangerous encounters.] [The danger inside - Dolls, spiders.] The house [Giant villa, abandoned, broken, made in dark-colored wood and stone. ] [The danger inside - Dolls, bugs, traps, old floors.] Boss: Ragatha

Playground Meat Factory

Chapter 3: [Locked] The Factory [An abandoned meat factory for a long time, but with the mechanisms still working. There are many gigantic rooms here, which have complex mechanisms] [The danger inside - traps, puzzles, encounters "workers" and mechanisms] Boss: Zooble

Wonderland Nightmare-land

Chapter 4: [Locked] The forest [Huge forest full of mushroom trees, trees. Some of it can remind of human silhouettes.] [The danger inside Wild creatures (animals mostly), Card guards, flowers with faces, living trees.] Mini-boss: Cheshire cat The Madman's house [A small house in the shape of a hat is unremarkable at first glance. However, the inside of it is much larger and consists of long corridors with many doors. The location is full of scratches of nails, broken portraits, and furniture.] [The danger inside - Jax] Boss: Jax

Chess castle

Chapter 5: [Locked] The chess desk [A giant chessboard inside a majestic castle divided in half by two colors - old, slightly faded platinum and dark copper. There is weak lighting around the field from torches attached to holders.] [The danger inside - the chess. The Pale King] Boss: Kinger

[Locations gates] [The gate is giant and looks heavy because of the forged steel. Each gate has its unique tag belonging to one or another boss of the location behind these gates.] [Five gates in summary]

COMICS:

Chapter 0: The end of everything [1] [2] [??]

MASTER POST REF SHEETS:

Pre horror: [dont turm on the light!]

Game stuff: [cover]; [chapters menu]; [...] About: [DLC?]; [non canon DLC]; [...]

[Jax]

[Kinger]

[Queenie]

Post horror:

Size line: [additional]

Limited edition/ Abel

2 | 6 Main Bosses

#tadc au #the amazing digital circus #tadc #the horror circus au #thc au #ps1 stuff of the horror circus (thc tadc) #game locations

[dduane]

I'm trying to find a passage from a Star Trek novel but can't figure out which one beyond vaguely thinking it was on of yours. It went "Vulcans never lie.", Spock lied. Does that sound familiar? I really like it an also recently saw "can Vulcans lie" discourse going around again which made me think of it.

It's not mine. ...Which is all I'm absolutely sure of. What fascinates me is that this image/scan—

—has been used absolutely unchanged in numerous tweets and posts all over the place. And not once that I can find, after about twenty minutes' / half an hour's searching, does anyone refer to the specific book or give enough context to even hint usefully at which one it is. So, sorry not to be more helpful. (ETA: the book in question is Collision Course, which William Shatner co-wrote with Gar and Judith Reeves-Stevens. See the notes for the details.)

...But you're completely right about the discourse: I've noticed the uptick in it (with some amusement). Way too much of it seems to rest on unironic or non-contexted readings of dialogue in ST:TOS s3e2:

COMMANDER: There's a well-known saying, or is it a myth, that Vulcans are incapable of lying? SPOCK: It is no myth. COMMANDER: Then tell me truthfully now, by your honor as a Vulcan, what was your mission? SPOCK: I reserve the privilege of speaking only when it will not violate my honor as a Vulcan. COMMANDER: It is unworthy of a Vulcan to resort to subterfuge. SPOCK: You're being clever, Commander. That is unworthy of a Romulan. It is not a lie to keep the truth to oneself.

But what a lot of people invoking this scene neglect to point out—or have failed to notice—is that Spock is in fact repeatedly lying his glutei off straight through this episode. Indeed no more than a minute later in the scene you get this—

SPOCK: I am speaking the truth for the benefit of the Enterprise and the Federation. I say now and for the record, that Captain Kirk ordered the Enterprise across the Neutral Zone on his own initiative and his craving for glory.

—at which point Captain Kirk appears to flip out, and Spock administers him the "Vulcan Death Grip" (another lie, as we're informed in the clear in act 3), etc etc.

(chuckle) Anyway, canonical material has played with this trope/concept repeatedly over time. I think my favorite is the "Ahh..." one here at 0:09. :)

#Spock #repeatedly #is a lying liar who lies #when it's logical do to so of course

[moiraimyths]

FEB 1, 2023: KICKSTARTER FOR THE GOOD PEOPLE (NA DAOINE MAITHE) HAS ENDED!

Thank you to our 776 backers for allowing us to bring this project to life, and reach our side stories stretch goal! We hope that you love what we have in store! Stay tuned, fateful friends!

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a lore-rich and choice-driven historical fantasy visual novel inspired by Irish mythology and Celtic folklore. Play as a tenant farmer from mid-19th century Ireland, whose path becomes inexplicably entwined in fairy affairs after getting robbed by the roadside and lured into the mythic and war-torn world of Tír na nÓg: A once unified land, now divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Will you escape and return home with your stolen belongings? Or does fate have something else in mind?

Our Full Game will Feature:

Six Character Routes: There will be six character routes in total, each one exploring the individual stories of our diverse cast of Love Interests (LIs)! There are two men, two women, and two non-binary folk to choose from. Half of our cast is aspec, as well!

Secret Story Route: If you play through all six character routes, you'll unlock the secret story route! It's designed to tie up the broader narrative aspects of the game, and you can choose which character route is "canon" to your play through!

Flexible MC: Choose your preferred name and pronouns (including neo pronouns) and romance whomever you please! (We even have a stretch goal to customize MC's sprite appearance, too!)

Platonic Options: Not into romance, or don't want to romance them all? Not to worry! All routes can be played platonically.

Multiple Endings: Each route has two endings based on the health of your relationship with the LI, regardless of whether it's romantic or platonic.

English-Gaeilge Lexicon: Our game features translatable Gaeilge (Irish) words and phrases, and in the full game, translations will be voiced for ease of pronunciation!

Voice Acting: The main cast will have limited voice acting in the full game. Check our Kickstarter page periodically for voice actor reveals and samples!

Other Features (Stretch Goals): Side stories in-between route releases.

While we develop the full game, be sure to try out our FREE DEMO out now on Steam and Itch.io! Make sure to Wishlist our game on Steam as well!

#moirai myths #the good people #na daoine maithe #ndm #otome #visual novel #dating sim #interactive fiction #english otome #otome romance #otome game #romance visual novel #visual storytelling #visual story #romance game #dating game #interactive story #interactive art #kickstarter

[itshype]

Kingmaker, Kingbreaker, Crowntaker, Realmshaker (DC x DP)

Idk how many people who follow me know but I love my notfics so here...

A Kingmaker Danny Phantom where he's not (technically) king after defeating Pariah Dark because he's still uhm… a child (who is untrained in diplomacy and barely knows anything about Ghost Culture), but whoever replaces Pariah is fully aware than Danny could at any time beat them up and install someone else in their place. Maybe it's not even explicit and Danny doesn't know.

Pandora tells him: "Oh, we got a new king of the ghost zone, nah, you don't know her but she's tight with me and Frostbite. But we're not really having her use the crown and ring, they're going to be for emergencies only." and Danny is like "oh cool, my buddies approve of the new king, I don't need to be further involved!" but because of this assumption, he doesn't go to the coronation, and it turns into a huge source of tension because like:

"Why should we be concerned about any decrees given by the new king, when at literally any moment, Danny Phantom, the BAMF, the myth, the legend, is probably going to show up and give a legendary smackdown and make this ghost Pariah's new roomie?" Then some of Danny's long-time foes start to play very nice with him, in the hopes that when (not if) Danny decides to replace the new king that they might be in the running for a minor barony or something under the new regime. Danny does not think this about-face through, just thinking 'oh this is neat! how convenient that everyone wants to be my friend now!' Ghosts often refer to him as 'ghost child' and I love the idea of him being the little brother of the entirety of the amity park-adjacent section of the infinity realms. Johnny could teach him how to ride a motorbike, skulker could teach him some ghost engineering (assuming he is involved in the construction of his own suit) etc. These rumours of the upcoming 'next king' who doesn't even exist, of course gets back to the new king and she's like

"idk what I have done to anger Kingbreaker Danny, he hasn't even given me a chance!" SO!!! She decides to reach out to some humans she knows for advice on how to win over a little boy (her creepy insinuation very much unintended on her part). Here are some options of varying hilarity for how she could go because I couldn't pick just one!

Vlad!: Your standard, non-crossover option. I personally love redeemed Vlad content (maybe Maddy crosses a line and his Obsession with her snaps), and this could be amusing if the king doesn't give many details so he doesn't realise it's Danny, and then when he does realise, freaks out about having adoptive parent competition.

Constantine/Zatanna: Both magic-y people, they could have summoned her at one point before or after her coronation.

Wonder Woman!!: If the king knows Pandora maybe Pandora referred her as an old buddy of some of the gods or other amazons. The king could just say they need to talk to a human expert not connected to Danny without giving more detail and pandora could say "oh yeah, the gods who created me have some human-ish relatives and one of them even lives with other humans. she's basically my cousin!" meanwhile Diana has never met pandora and doesn't know anything about her outside of the OG myth.

Superman: Danny shares a lot of superman's powers, plus they both have that OP vibe, PLUS share the "one foot in each world" type of thing that could lead the king to think he was the best option. Unsure why they would've met so reaching out as a stranger would add a different vibe.

The Flash: his speed powers canonically come from another dimension that he calls the speed force. do you know what is also another dimension? the ghost zone. The flash is that annoying neighbour who occasionally dangles an extension cord over your fence to use your electricity, and will not stop using your Wi-Fi because it runs faster than his. The king figures he owes her and if he won't then she'll change the speed force Wi-Fi password...metaphorically.

Actually, you know what, ghost king threatening all speedsters on Earth if they don't help her woo a teenager is the funniest option. So, we’re continuing with that. Obviously, the flash doesn't want to lose his abilities! But also, this smacks of a creepy grooming situation. The flash then has to awkwardly explain to the entire justice league that his speed is being held hostage by a dead cougar who wants to seduce a human teenage boy for reasons that may be illicit but are jenky at the very least. There are hundreds of Danny joins the batfam fics so I don't think this story needs to go in that direction, but batman would probably have to be involved at this point just to figure out who the "teenage victim" is. That is how Danny Fenton meets most of the main justice league with them not even having an inkling he's dead/secretly a ghost hero. Most batpham fics I've read where the batclan figures out Phantom's identity, they see him fight ghosts and look up ghost experts, find his parents, see a family photo and then make the visual connection. Like superman, Danny's identity is mostly in the clear because no one would think that a ghost would even have a secret identity - he's dead (and thanks to the time travel he's done appears to have been dead for centuries), who would he need to be protecting?? But this time, the ghosts are all playing buddy-buddy with Danny so phantom hasn't necessarily had any super public fights recently that would make investigating protections against ghost attacks a priority for the bats that would lead them to holding up a picture of Danny next to a picture of phantom. Mostly, Danny goes ghost to play with cujo (I love cujo), or visit the ghost zone. Casper high students are BAFFLED at Fenton's eclectic friend group btw, though considering his parents the ghost dog totally tracks for them. *GASP* service dog Cujo....but that's another post for another time. Jasmine Fenton is not impressed. This could also be Sam or Tucker, or any of Danny's newest ghost buddies if you like but as an oldest sibling I have OPINIONS. She thinks Danny is safest taking this perv ghost on himself and not risking a possessed/overshadowed justice league or even just the justice league themselves. That's right kids, the justice league is often in canon closely associated with the USA government - the same government who put the anti-ecto acts into place. NOW! a lot of crossover fics have the justice league completely clueless about the anti-ecto laws and GIW. I don't always find that realistic. The entirety of the justice league dark is pretty closely involved with the dead and ghosts (deadman IS a ghost), clark is an investigative journalist married/dating/besties with another, award winning investigative journalist, Bruce is the most paranoid and well informed man alive with two sons plus one batgirl who have died and been brought back through mystical or scientific means, Diana is (in some canons) meant to be an ambassador representing her people to the entirety of mankind. So, none of them even being vaguely aware of this new law does NOT track for me. I think a few possibilities are...possible: - They know about the laws, read a few scientific papers on ecto-entities written by "experts" which would include the Fenton parents and pre-redemption Vlad, and think 'yeah that checks out no reason to fight this' - They know but as they rarely deal with the national justice system as a team, and therefore don't think about it as a positive or negative thing. It doesn't apply to their lives. Think about how much you know about your local laws, let alone obscure federal ones (in some parts of Australia it’s illegal to be holding more than 50kg of potatoes, just as a random example!). - Some of them agree with the "experts" or don't even know about the laws, whereas Batman, John Constantine and Martian Manhunter know they're a crock of shit but themselves lack the political capital to fight them without leverage and can't justify it without an emergency.

Danny's ghost buddies are told that apparently some ghost is threatening the justice league to get to Danny and go back into the zone to investigate. I genuinely think once their obsessions are no longer at cross purposes, Danny could totally help ghosts to fulfil their obsessions in ways they hadn't considered, and they could be buddies for real now. Think Tucker setting Ember up with a YouTube or streaming account, playing paintball with Skulker, introducing Walker to one of those uber-elaborate RPG or tabletop games with massive amounts of rules and letting him be like Matt Mercer in the Rules Lawyer round of Um, Actually. There’s an entire separate fic here I swear.

Either way! Jazz is trying to warn her brother away from the justice league while he and probably Tucker are all 🤩. Danny knows it's dangerous for him personally but his Obsession with protecting the town knows that Amity has never been safer with all these heroes milling about so it's hard for him not to be over eager and relaxed. The flash is explaining how his powers could be removed if he doesn’t comply and Danny says, “oh then just tell her?” and the league is like “oh no, not another self-sacrificing teen.” Unfortunately for everyone involved, Superman has super hearing. He heard Jazz telling Danny to kick the Justice League to the curb. Now the Justice League thinks there's something foul in the Fenton household, but they think it's Jazz instead of Danny.

#dc x dp #dp x dc #danny phantom #danny fenton #justice league #not fic #mine #the flash #barry allen #batman #pandora #tucker foley #jazz fenton #LISTEN TO ME!!!! #SERVICE ANIMAL CUJO

[txttletale]

Can you give your thoughts on the general character art design of Hades? It's always seemed kind of off to me and you seem to have good enough media opinions to put the reason why into words

i mean, first of all, i think that they suffer just from being The Greek Gods and therefore just having the most barebones basic designs that those archetypal characters get in pop culture. like look at zeus:

like. this is Zeus. there are some interesting flairs here with the lightning crown and cloud beard but like. It's Zeus. the visual language here is not communicating anything more interesting or unique or vivid than It's Zeus. contrast, like, rukey from pyre:

look at how much fucking personality is conveyed by this little freak. the fucking moustache! the fancy little cloak but the messy dog hair. the playful expression, the gold tooth, the glint of cunning in the eye, the raised little paw. you look, at this guy and get an immediate idea of what and who he is.

i also hate how 1. shrinkwrapped and 2. fucking grey and ashy every single character in hades is. like look at zeus's muscles up there this man is fucking dehydrated and like. why does athena look like this

she is grey. she is so fucking grey. this is a vampire. this is a woman made of ash.

furthermore i find what they did with the greek gods wrt to making them a few different races to be a cowardly half-measure. like--the idea they forwarded in interviews that greek gods are 'global' and should represent the whole world are, quite frankly, just bullshit! i dislike this universalization of a mythology that is very very very tied to a particular culture and time and place because it is just another shape of the attempted universalization of the 'Western Canon', the removal of these things from historical place and context to make them abstract ideals that can be imposed upon the whole world because they 'transcend culture' while really they have just been incorporated into a dominant culture.

but, like, most frustratingly--there is a like huge wealth of cultural variety to be found in greco-roman myth. versions of these gods were worshipped in north africa and egypt and west asia and even as far as india. but, like, the commitment to multiethnicisim is purely surface-level, so they don't employ any of the iconography or look into these non-european syncretic depictions of these deities. they just take all their design cues from the tired pop-culture versions of purely greek aesthetics. imagine how fucking interesting the character designs for hades could have been if instead of making dionysus a person of colour and calling it a day, they represented a specifically indo-greek dionysus!

first after the conquests of alexander and once again after the expansion of the roman empire, these sorts of syncretic beliefs flourished throughout the mediterranean. if you really want to write a greek mythology story without a cast of white guys then give me Zeus-Ammon, god dammit!

anyway yeah the fact that all of hades' characters look like they're severely hydrated and their roof just caved in on them is weird and bad and other than that they're for the most part just deeply generic Greek Gods with what feels like very little care or innovation or personality put into their designs compared to characters from transistor or pyre. shomar shasberg and manly tindenstauf each have more unique visual personality than every hades character combined

#ask

[anghraine]

Okay, breaking my principles hiatus again for another fanfic rant despite my profound frustration w/ Tumblr currently:

I have another post and conversation on DW about this, but while pretty much my entire dash has zero patience with the overtly contemptuous Hot Fanfic Takes, I do pretty often see takes on Fanfiction's Limitations As A Form that are phrased more gently and/or academically but which rely on the same assumptions and make the same mistakes.

IMO even the gentlest, and/or most earnest, and/or most eruditely theorized takes on fanfiction as a form still suffer from one basic problem: the formal argument does not work.

I have never once seen a take on fanfiction as a form that could provide a coherent formal definition of what fanfiction is and what it is not (formal as in "related to its form" not as in "proper" or "stuffy"). Every argument I have ever seen on the strengths/weaknesses of fanfiction as a form vs original fiction relies to some extent on this lack of clarity.

Hence the inevitable "what about Shakespeare/Ovid/Wide Sargasso Sea/modern takes on ancient religious narratives/retold fairy tales/adaptation/expanded universes/etc" responses. The assumptions and assertions about fanfiction as a form in these arguments pretty much always should apply to other things based on the defining formal qualities of fanfic in these arguments ("fanfiction is fundamentally X because it re-purposes pre-existing characters and stories rather than inventing new ones" "fanfiction is fundamentally Y because it's often serialized" etc).

Yet the framing of the argument virtually always makes it clear that the generalizations about fanfic are not being applied to Real Literature. Nor can this argument account for original fics produced within a fandom context such as AO3 that are basically indistinguishable from fanfic in every way apart from lacking a canon source.

At the end of the day, I do not think fanfic is "the way it is" because of any fundamental formal qualities—after all, it shares these qualities with vast swaths of other human literature and art over thousands of years that most people would never consider fanfic. My view is that an argument about fanfic based purely on form must also apply to "non-fanfic" works that share the formal qualities brought up in the argument (these arguments never actually apply their theories to anything other than fanfic, though).

Alternately, the formal argument could provide a definition of fanfic (a formal one, not one based on judgment of merit or morality) that excludes these other kinds of works and genres. In that case, the argument would actually apply only to fanfic (as defined). But I have never seen this happen, either.

So ultimately, I think the whole formal argument about fanfic is unsalvageably flawed in practice.

Realistically, fanfiction is not the way it is because of something fundamentally derived from writing characters/settings etc you didn't originate (or serialization as some new-fangled form, lmao). Fanfiction as a category is an intrinsically modern concept resulting largely from similarly modern concepts of intellectual property and auteurship (legally and culturally) that have been so extremely normalized in many English-language media spaces (at the least) that many people do not realize these concepts are context-dependent and not universal truths.

Fanfic does not look like it does (or exist as a discrete category at all) without specifically modern legal practices (and assumptions about law that may or may not be true, like with many authorial & corporate attempts to use the possibility of legal threats to dictate terms of engagement w/ media to fandom, the Marion Zimmer Bradley myth, etc).

Fanfic does not look like it does without the broader fandom cultures and trends around it. It does not look like it does without the massive popularity of various romance genres and some very popular SF/F. It does not look like it does without any number of other social and cultural forces that are also extremely modern in the grand scheme of things.

The formal argument is just so completely ahistorical and obliviously presentist in its assumptions about art and generally incoherent that, sure, it's nicer when people present it politely, but it's still wrong.

#this is probably my most pretentious fanfiction defense squad post but it's difficult to express in other terms #like. people talking about ao3 house style (not always by name but clearly referring to it) as a result of fanfic as a form #and not the social/cultural effect of ao3 as a fandom space #you don't get ao3 house style without ao3 itself and you don't get ao3 without strikethrough and livejournal etc #and you don't get those without authors and corporations trying to exercise control over fic based on law (often us law) & myths about law #and you don't get those without distinctly modern concepts of intellectual property and copyright #none of those things have fuck all to do with form! #anghraine rants #fanfiction #general fanwank #long post #thinking about this partly because the softer & gentler versions of fanfic discourse keep crossing my dash #and partly because i've written like 30 pages about a playwright i adore who was just not very good at 'original fiction' as we'd define it #both his major works are ... glorified rpf in our context but splendid tragedies in his #and the idea of categorizing /anything/ in that era by originality of conception rather than comedy/tragedy/etc would be buckwild #ivory tower blogging #anghraine's meta

[peonycats]

RACEBENDING NATIONAL PERSONIFICATIONS: A TREATISE

DISCLAIMERS:

I AM NOT WHITE, I AM A POC. I am not writing this because I’m a butthurt white person who gets pissy when someone makes my white faves nonwhite and thus unrelatable to me for ‘some’ reason.

I AM NOT PERSONALLY ATTACKING ANY INDIVIDUALS WHO RACEBEND OR IMAGINE THEIR NATIONS TO HAVE A DIFFERENT ETHNICITY THAN WHAT THEY DO IN CANON; ON A SIMILAR NOTE, DO NOT ATTACK SUCH INDIVIDUALS FOR ME. This is a discussion of general fandom trends and a larger phenomenon, the issue I am talking about cannot be solved on an individual to individual basis.

I AM NOT TRYING TO STOP FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE FROM RECLAIMING THEIR NATIONS. As I am not First Nations myself, I would not wish to deny what these individuals emotionally and mentally reap from reclaiming their nations.

I AM NOT THE “POC AREN’T ALLOWED TO HAVE FUN AND SEE THEMSELVES IN THEIR FAVES” POLICE; I AM NOT YOUR MOM, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. Again, this is a discussion of fandom trends and a larger phenomenon. I think it’s almost always worth examining why we do the things we do and the reasons behind a trend.

I AM NOT AGAINST RACEBENDING IN GENERAL. This is specifically an essay on racebending in nationverse Hetalia and other personified nations fandoms.

PREFACE

As stated before in my disclaimers, this essay is not intended to be a condemnation of individuals who participate in racebending. Rather, I intend to make a macro-critique of wider structures and patterns. For this reason, this essay is not accusing anyone engaging in racebending of holding any specific belief. I cannot stress enough how much I do not know you, the hypothetical reader who engages in racebending. 

Again, my intent is to critique wider structures and patterns.

This essay is a conversation I would like to have with other POC and other marginalized groups, especially POC based in white, Western countries. Thus, I ask people not included in the above groups to refrain from weighing in on this.

ALTERNATIVE GOOGLE DOC LINK HERE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Difference in Reception for Racebent versus Non-Racebent Characters

The Inherent Politicism of Personifying Nations

The State of POC Representation in Hetalia

The Assumption of Interchangeability in POC Experience

The Myth of Multiculturalism

“It’s Just Fandom, Why Are You Trying to Control POC Who Just Want to Have Fun and Want to Represent Themselves?"

Conclusion

The Difference in Reception for Racebent versus Non-Racebent Characters

I will start this essay off with an acknowledgement of my station in the Hetalia fandom and how it uniquely equips me to talk about this topic – I am very fortunate to enjoy a follower base that primarily follows me for non-Western characters, whether they be canonical or my own original characters. As someone who mostly posts non-Western characters, I can confirm that there is a wider disparity in reception between drawings of my white characters and non-white characters. The following example is not from myself, but from the artist miyuecakes who similarly focuses on predominantly non-white, non-Western countries. You can see there is a drastic gap in the amount of notes that post focused on five nations considered to be non-Western versus a drawing of Female America.

Stating this fact of the fandom is fairly noncontroversial. I would also assert that the following statement is equally true, however given recent reception, is far more controversial: “There are far more instances of racebent canonically white/Western characters, which receive far more traction than their non-racebent counterparts, whether canonical or not.”

I want to make clear what my statement is not saying:

Racebending is only done by white people seeking to score clout and diversity points without having to care about canon non-white characters. In fact, the vast majority of racebending in the fandom is done by POC looking for representation; given the amount of white canon nations compared to any other nation, POC who engage in racebending see it as a way of “evening” the disproportionate overrepresentation of white countries.

POC who engage in racebending are doing so to score clout and diversity points with a white audience. Refer to my above point.

Racebent canonically white characters are met with no controversy or racist/bigoted vitriol. It is fairly well known that there have been multiple harassment campaigns, particularly on Twitter, against artists and editors who’ve engaged in racebending even outside of the Hetalia fandom: see the Black Anya edit, Thumin’s artwork and resulting hate. POC being visibly POC in online spaces will always garner backlash.

On a similar note, I am not including POC cosplayers cosplaying white or light-skinned characters in my definition of racebending. Being angered by POC who cosplay characters of a different complexion is blatantly racist; anyone who is angered by this has nothing of value to add and not worth arguing with.

I am a bitter artist who is mad that I don’t receive enough notes on my posts with non-racebent characters compared to posts about racebent white characters. As stated earlier, I am grateful for the audience I’ve cultivated who specifically follow me for non-racebent non-Western content; I am also more than aware that my content is not what people who seek out racebent content are looking for, and have no interest in changing either my content or their tastes. The last thing I would wish to do is to label POC creators who engage in racebending as “the enemy” and POC creators who don’t as “my side.”

With that out of the way, I bring up this observation because I think it’s worth asking ourselves, POC specifically, the following questions: Why? Why is there this discrepancy in frequency and reception between these kinds of characters and content? Why do people racebend in lieu of focusing on existing POC and creating their own non-white characters?

The easy answer most would give is because white characters are over-represented and given more screen time and attention in the canon, so people, especially POC, will become attached to them and create variations of them that hit closer to home for them; this is especially the case if you are a POC who has had experiences living as a minority in a Western country. Some POC may also use racebending as a way to subvert national myths that have historically excluded people of color for a variety of racist, imperialist reasons. I know I used to subscribe towards a depiction of non-white passing America and Canada for this very reason.

In the rest of this essay I would like to examine and critique the practice of racebending national anthropomorphisms traditionally and typically depicted as white in the context of Hetalia and by extension other media involving similar premises. This essay argues that while racebending may be harmless for most other anime, Hetalia – by virtue of its content centering real life nations – carries political implications that are not necessarily appropriate.

I stress again that I can’t stop you or what anybody in the Hetalia fandom does. I do not have that kind of power nor the will to do such a thing. All I ask is for you to listen to the following with an open mind, and if there’s only one thing you take away from this, I hope it’s to realize that POC in particular have valid reasons to dislike racebent depictions of white nations; holding such a stance does not make them anti-POC representation and somehow no longer POC and instead, a member of the white oppressor class.

The Inherent Politicism of Personifying Nations

Firstly, I repeat that a series about personified nations is deeply political and every creative choice carries political and socio-cultural ramifications, whether intentional or not and made by the creator or the fan. Even if you mostly interact with Hetalia in a depoliticized context, others may not, and given that nationverse Hetalia is about personified nations, this is perfectly reasonable. 

Let us look into the canon material of Hetalia- It is shown that nations on average have close ties to their governments, viewing them as their bosses and carrying out actions for them. We are shown that there are nations who go against the orders of their governments, such as Germany; this does not mean all nations follow in that pattern, however, and there are many who are in lockstep with their governments and their actions.

Therefore, for individuals whose ethnic groups and nations have suffered great harm from oppressor nation-states (Philippines v. United States, Indonesia v. Netherlands, India v. England), it is not irrational for them to be unsettled by their oppressor being racebent- especially when said oppressor nation-state is depicted as being the same ethnicity as the very group(s) they marginalized. This is uncomfortable for multiple reasons: 

There is an implication that a member of a marginalized group possibly chose to take part in atrocities and misdeeds that the said marginalized group historically not the major perpetrator behind. In more egregious cases, a member of a marginalized group willingly chose to commit atrocities and misdeeds on a large scale against their own group.

The oppressor state personification was forced by their government to commit these grievous acts of harm against members of other marginalized groups/their own marginalized groups; thus, the personification of the nation-state, the people, has little to no culpability as an oppressor, and is instead made into a fellow victim of their own government. 

This deflects blame from the embodiment of the state of being an oppressor. The suggestion here is that the state is somehow completely separate yet intertwined with the government – it was simply the government who perpetrated the crimes… the people were just unwillingly complicit. This can come across as an erasure/rosewashing of the very purposeful policies used to harm and disadvantage colonized/oppressed groups.

This can also erase the fact that in many cases, the people gave the government’s actions their tacit approval whether it was through whole-hearted enthusiasm or apathy towards the suffering of others. 

In the case that the racebent nation’s minority ethnicity was historically involved in such acts, this involves highly sensitive conversations about minorities’ complicity in crimes and assimilation into the white/majority order (e.g. Chinese and East Asian settlers in Hawaii after America’s illegal annexation, Korean collaborators with the Japanese annexation of Korea, African American soldiers in the Philippines); these are extremely touchy subjects that should be had within the relevant ethnic groups, and should not be appropriated by outsiders, particularly white people, especially for fandom purposes.

(I will discuss insiders racebending nation-states to their ethnic group that have suffered mistreatment and oppressed by said nation-states in “The Myth of Multiculturalism.”)

Additionally, racebending may end up justifying those very same crimes, especially in the case of settler colonialism. For example, during French rule of Algeria, the French government began a program of confiscating Algerian land from indigenous Algerians and giving them to French and European settlers. Over the course of two centuries, more and more land was taken away from indigenous Algerians, forcing them to move to the margins of society, where they were barred from accessing employment, higher education, and the other societal amenities. 

Many would be able to identify how personifying Algeria as a white, French individual would be erasing indigenous Algerians and implying that the French settlers represent all of Algeria. However, conversely, making France an Algerian man is also playing into colonial French propaganda. The French viewed Algeria as part of France and the French homeland itself, unique even among other French African colonies, and made plans to make Algeria a full-fledged French province, or department. To make the national personification of France Algerian then, is to suggest that this belief was and is correct, that the Algerians are a part of the colonial core of France, even if the intention is to represent the modern day Algerian diaspora in France.

IMPORTANT: I will expand on the politics of representing diaspora populations in the section “The Myth of Multiculturalism.”

Given all of these reasons for why POC may justifiably react negatively to a racebent white nation personification, some may argue against these with:

“Why is it that when the nation is white, they never have to deal with any of these heavy discussions of imperialism, bigotry, oppression, etc, but when they’re racebent they suddenly have to? Why are they suddenly politicized when they’re racebent?”

My response to that is that they were politicized, even when they were white because the act of personifying a nation is inherently political; to ignore a white nation’s history of oppression is a politically charged move in of itself. Are we really depoliticizing POC when we racebend a white nation and try to maintain that same ‘depoliticization’ and omission of historical oppression but this time for a POC face? To racebend a white nation is to refuse to contend with the contradiction of transforming an oppressor class to the very group they marginalize - making racebending an inherently political act. It is not necessarily that whiteness is unpolitical but rather that an active refusal to deal with this contradiction makes the political implications much more obvious.

Additionally, this rebuttal raises another question- Were we to completely forget about a character’s background as the personification of an oppressor state and the political weight of that, would that truly solve the problem of POC being politicized? I don’t think so- In the current world we live in, POC are always political. But exclusively racebending oppressor states makes no attempt to depoliticize non-Western POC states, creating a divide between POC that get to be “depoliticized” and POC who don’t based on their proximity to the West.

The State of POC Representation in Hetalia

Some would argue with the points of my last paragraph saying that I am not including POC who both engage in racebending but also create non-Western POC OCs; if equal attention is given to both, there would be no division between racebent Western POC who get to be humanized and non-Western POC who don’t, right?

To answer this we must acknowledge wider trends in racebending in Hetalia. Consider the following: When somebody has a North African! Romano, how many other North African nations (canon or non-canon) do they show appreciation for? Create content for? Expound the same amount of mental and creative energy for? Furthermore: If they do have another North African nation(s) they create content for, are they allowed to exist as their own separate beings, and not purely exist to be North African! Romano’s tie to North Africa?

Chances are, Romano is reduced to being the token brown character in a largely white cast and isn’t allowed to ever exist without whiteness surrounding him. This is a very diaspora experience, but I find it unfortunate that in a piece of media that enables us to explore any number of cultures and experiences over all of time and history, we (and I’m including myself as another POC who grew up in a primarily white environment) are unable to imagine ourselves outside of this setting and celebrate ourselves without having to exist against a white mainstream. Stories about white engulfment are allowed to exist and should be told, but why is this so common? Why do these stories disproportionately outnumber POC stories where whiteness is minute or absent?

As my audience is intended to be mostly POC, I will not elaborate on the following scenario too much, but I will ask us to scrutinize the ethics of it. What about cases where white individuals racebend some of their white favorite characters and position them as POC representation in lieu of actually focusing on POC, non-Western nations, canon or not? Does this not have implications about what kinds of POC and diversity are considered more palatable and appealing?

Furthermore, when another North African nation does exist alongside racebent Romano, their character and depiction is almost always heavily dependent on their relationship to Romano, a Western nation. This still perpetuates the same inequality I was talking about earlier where POC nations are humanized based on their proximity to the West, whether because they personify a Western nation or happen to have a relationship with a Western nation.

We should not just be talking about having “more” non-white representation, but also the quality of it. It is completely understandable why some POC may not be satisfied with the representation most racebent content provides, even beyond the reasons outlined previously; this type of representation excludes POC who do not have a relationship to the West, and is still largely focused on the West. 

IMPORTANT: I am not saying that contact with or influence from the West makes POC somehow “less POC” or that stories from Western-based diaspora are a “diluted” form of representation. I will expand on this in the section “The Myth of Multiculturalism.”

“Well if it’s not good enough for those POC, then they should just mind their business and make their own representation! There’s plenty of non-racebent content out there!”

Many POC do exactly that- creating their own representation without racebending. However, as established earlier, racebent white characters receive far more attention and feedback compared to canonical non-white characters, despite the fact that both depictions fulfill the purpose of “representation.” This can be especially disheartening in a fandom that already heavily tokenizes canon POC nations, whether it’s India being presented as the “nanny”/surrogate parent in Commonwealth group art or Seychelles as the “adopted child of color” in FACES family. To POC content creators, it feels insulting that the wider fandom, rather than developing POC canon characters (or taking advantage of the source material’s potential by making OCs) and viewing them as representation, the fandom chooses to racebend Western nations and celebrates them instead.

I want to make clear again what I am not saying with that statement:

POC who engage in racebending are doing so to score clout and diversity points with a white audience. Again, it’s a fact that the vast majority of racebending is done by POC looking to create their own representation.

POC who engage in racebending should all go stan Seychelles and Cuba instead. This is an extremely individualist solution to what is a wider phenomenon. I do not blame POC based in Western countries for feeling disconnected to the few POC nations we have in canon.

Racebent POC content is more popular than content of non-racebent white characters.

What I am describing here is how an audience (the Hetalia fandom) receives two creations, both made by POC in the pursuit of creating more representation, and the difference in reception. The difference, it seems, is that the wider fandom deems certain kinds of POC representation more appealing, and thus, certain kinds of POC worth focusing on.

The Assumption of Interchangeability in POC Experience

Earlier, I mentioned that one of the possible reasons for POC to engage in racebending is the desire to see an iteration of their favorite character that is closer to their own reality and lived experience. Therefore, some may choose to racebend a white character to embody a marginalized minority in the country instead so they can share more experiences with the formerly white characters. 

Here, I will not be dealing with the practice of POC racebending their own country to their own ethnicity, which is the focus of the next section. Instead, I will be delving into the practice of POC racebending another nation to embody a minority (one which they do not belong to) for the purposes of ‘putting themselves in their interpretations.’ I argue that to do this requires assuming a certain level of interchangeability between POC experiences.

First and foremost, POC are not a monolith- we lead drastically different lives depending on our ethnic backgrounds, where we live, our socioeconomic class, our political and racial context, and etc. Therefore, we cannot presume that our experiences of marginalization mean we’ll always succeed in properly representing other minority groups elsewhere; in fact, the goal of projecting our own life experiences onto them means that there will be an obstacle to properly representing these minority groups.

Take the following example: Imagine a Chinese-Malaysian individual greatly enjoys the character of Spain. Wishing to better relate to him, the individual racebends him to be also Chinese. However, a great deal of historical, cultural determinants and nuances separate the experiences of Chinese people in Spain and Chinese people in Malaysia. There are similarities, yes, but this Chinese Malaysian cannot hope to properly represent the Chinese population in Spain if their primary goal remains self-projection. Now imagine that our Chinese-Malaysian individual wished to racebend England to be Indian; an even wider gap separates the experiences and history of Chinese people in Malaysia and Indian people in England, making it even less likely that our individual will succeed in representing the experiences of Indian people in England.

Another point to consider is that attempts at racebending certain national personifications to represent minorities in the country end up erasing representation for the majority population of the country. For example, there has been a historical Japanese community in Peru that dates back to the 1800s and made a large impact on Peruvian culture. However, it would still be inappropriate to make a Peru OC that is mostly Japanese in race, because besides just being not representative of the 99.9% of non-Japanese Peruvians, it would also be taking representation from Peruvian mestizo and indigenous peoples, who make up over 80% of Peru’s population.

This isn’t even taking into consideration cases where nations are racebent to personify ethnic groups that do not have a numerically significant or historically significant population.

“So what if it’s inaccurate? I just want to self-project onto my favorite character!”

If that’s your response, then I encourage you to read the section “It’s Just Fandom, Why Are You Trying to Control POC Who Just Want to Have Fun and Want to Represent Themselves?” where I address assertions of "fandom is not activism" and similar points.

For now, I will ask you to consider the feelings of those very minorities you are ostensibly representing, even if your primary intention is to project your own experiences onto a character. Chances are, they also suffer from little to no representation that depicts them in inaccurate and unflattering ways.

Hetalia is a media property supposedly centered around exploring and learning about other cultures, but so often fails to accurately and sensitively depict many cultures and nations. Should we not show them the grace that canon Hetalia fails to provide?

The Myth of Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is typically defined as a celebration of a nation’s ethnic diversity. This is generally considered to be a good and progressive value to have, but a closer and more critical look at multiculturalism in practice suggests that not even a value directed at xenophobia is immune to in-group out-group biases. When enacted by the state, multiculturalism is less an acceptance of diversity as it currently exists (especially in regards to non-indigenous ethnicities) and more an assimilation of these “foreign cultures” into the dominant national one.

For example, Singapore has built much of its national identity as a “multicultural” society. This is shown through government policies in language and education, where the languages of the 3 ethnic groups (Chinese, Tamil Indians, Malays) are all officialized and the government promotes education for ethnic minorities in their mother tongues. However, the label of “multicultural” hides the reality of power inequality between the various ethnic groups. Minorities face pressure to display literacy in the language and culture of the Chinese majority for greater societal acceptance and inclusion. In fact, the assertion that Singapore is a multicultural society that treats its ethnic groups all equally, is often used as a cudgel to shut down any allegations that Singapore fails to live up to this national identity. As my audience is intended to be predominantly POC, especially those living as minorities in Western nations, members of my audience are of course familiar with insistences of “But Canada/United States/etc is a melting pot society! Racism isn’t a serious issue, POC can’t be treated poorly in those countries.”

By racebending a national personification to be part of a marginalized population, this is making a political statement by asserting that the marginalized population is in fact a part of that nation, and has always been, despite historical exclusion. The act of racebending is an overly idealistic and uncritical agreement with multiculturalism, without considering how the value actually applies in practice. It rosewashes the reality and existence of cultural imperialism enacted on immigrant/outsider groups. 

Racebending can therefore accidentally act as multicultural propaganda, especially when the invokement of multiculturalism is used to stamp out valid critiques of othering and racialization by ethnic minorities. (E.g. “Singapore can’t have problems with racism against Malays! Singapore himself is Malay!”)

IMPORTANT: If you want to argue that nation personifications are not inherently representative of their government, refer to the section, “The Inherent Politicism of Personifying Nations.”

“Well, POC based in Western countries will naturally feel more connected to their Western countries than their homelands, often because of those policies intended to break their connections to their homelands. Why can’t they racebend to reclaim? To feel connected to their Western countries in contrast to their realities of ostracization and othering?”

I have already discussed why other POC (those affected by a white regime’s actions) would be uncomfortable with the implications of tying a POC/marginalized group with said white regime’s misdeeds in the section “The Inherent Politicism of Personifying Nations” so I will not discuss it here beyond mentioning it.

Firstly, I must acknowledge that this argument is fundamentally an emotional one. I do not want to deny what POC in Western countries emotionally derive from racebending the nation-state, even as a fellow POC based in a Western country. Instead, I will approach this argument from another angle.

I ask the following: When trying to represent our experiences as diaspora and minorities, why is personifying a diaspora/minority community not a popular option? The act of choosing to personify a community is inherently political, and we can use it to empower ourselves as diaspora or minorities. For example, by personifying diaspora communities, we can acknowledge that diaspora experiences are different enough from those in the ‘homeland’ to warrant another personification, and also avoid accidentally justifying colonial possession of those ‘homeland’ states. 

Additionally, by personifying diaspora/minority communities, we can 1) better reflect our unique day-to-day experiences of being racialized and separated from the mainstream, 2) avoid many of the earlier uncomfortable implications of minority collaboration in majority perpetrated acts and condoning colonialism, and 3) stress our independence and autonomy despite the efforts of the state and majority population to take that away.

To put it another way, why are there so many stories of minorities striving towards being included, or from another angle, subsumed, into the white nation-state despite its frequent rejection of them? Again, what does it say that these narratives of “inclusion into a historically white nation-state” disproportionately outnumber POC narratives where whiteness is minute or absent?

IMPORTANT: I am not singling you, the hypothetical POC diaspora individual who engages in racebending, out. I am asking about wider patterns of representation in media.

“But by personifying diaspora and minority communities separately from the personification of the nation-state, isn’t that basically saying that minorities will never be seen as part of the nation-state? That we will never be included when people think of our nation state?”

I believe this response takes too narrow a perspective on what multiculturalism is and “being part of a nation-state means,” and thus views having separate personifications as ‘justifying’ or ‘promoting’ our exclusion from the nation-state when it may not be the case.

Look at it from this way- Is it not also problematic to have only one avatar for, say, America, and thus imply that there is one true way of being “American?” Having multiple American personifications, in contrast, is a more true depiction of the realities of being American, and more true to the values of multiculturalism; it instead suggests that there are many ways to be American, that we don’t have to be subsumed into the mainstream to be considered “American.”

“Isn’t that functionally the same as different interpretations of the same nation-state coexisting? Why can’t fans just all have a different Alfred/America specific to their own experience who are all equally considered American?”

Once more: I am not trying to stop anyone from doing anything. That’s not within my power to do so. I agree with this statement that largely, having multiple American personifications and multiple America/Alfred fulfills the same purpose of showing that to be American means something different to everyone. However, the reason I advocated for the former approach is because it achieves the same goal with a lot less uncomfortable questions and unique benefits (minority autonomy), as detailed above.

“It’s Just Fandom, Why Are You Trying to Control POC Who Just Want to Have Fun and Want to Represent Themselves?”

First off, I am presenting this essay as a conversation with other POC because I want to make it explicitly known that my position here is not that of a white person seeking to silence POC and lecture them about what is and is not good for them. Secondly, it's because I want to talk about racebending as it currently exists in the Hetalia fandom, something mostly done by POC who wish to represent themselves and create the diversity missing in the source material. I believe pointing out that white people who are uncomfortable with POC characters or only racebend for self-centered reasons likely have a racial bias is obvious, especially to other POC, and wish to progress the conversation beyond this. This is why my discussion on racebending is moving beyond white bias.

As part of centering this as a discussion among POC, I am also assuming good faith from my interlocutors, that their desires for representation and diversity are sincere, and that I don’t look down on them. I hope then, that this assumption of good faith can be afforded to me as well- that my interlocutors believe me when I say that the last thing I want to do is control POC, as a fellow POC.

Having gotten all of that out of the way, let's address some rebuttals to the arguments I've made thus far.

"Who are you to decide what kind of representation resonates with POC?"

You're right. I can't decide what kind of representation resonates with POC. Again, I am not intent on controlling POC, and again, I recognize that many of the arguments in favor of racebending white nations come from an emotional place; I can’t control how POC feel, even if I wanted to do that.

However, it's precisely because of this that I've made my arguments based on  factors other than emotional ones, such as the political implications and questioning the inclusivity racebending provides us with. POC joy and happiness is crucial in the face of a system that seeks to crush and suppress us. But from one POC to another, it's not much of a discussion if your response to my points is simply, "Well, it makes me feel represented and happy, and that's what matters most." If we argued based on that, we could go all day. Am I not a POC myself? Do the feelings and happiness of POC who are uncomfortable with racebending not matter? For that matter, who are you to tell the people whose families and people have been historically affected by white imperialist states to stop disliking racebent versions of those imperialist states?

For white people, it is easy for them to shut down racebending, because they don't understand the experience of never seeing yourself in any form of media. I have asked white/non-marginalized people to refrain from this discussion for that very reason. But in exchange for that, we should be able to discuss the ramifications of racebending national personifications, and look deeper at the arguments for and against racebending.

"You're taking this too seriously. People giving more attention to racebent versions of Western countries versus non-racebent POC countries doesn't say anything deeper about someone's political beliefs. People just like the silly anime about personified countries, and that silly anime happens to give more attention to the canonically white countries."

To a certain extent, I get this rebuttal. We cannot solve racism or the privileging of the global north by reblogging Hetalia fanart of Seychelles and Cameroon. Everything I have described here is symptomatic of much, much larger issues that affect billions. But it's symptomatic: fandom is not immune to the ills of wider society. We do not shed our innate biases and prejudices when we enter supposedly apolitical spaces like fandom. In a series about personified nations, our prejudices and biases are naturally magnified because the source material’s nature is deeply political, dealing with history and personified nations and states.

Again I ask: What does it mean that the POC representation made by POCs is so often limited to racebending canonically white characters, in the context of the world order we live in where proximity to the West automatically confers certain privileges?

IMPORTANT: Refer to the section “The Myth of Multiculturalism” if you respond to this with “Are you saying depictions of Western-influenced POC experiences are a lesser form of representation?”

If that fails to convince you, and you still believe the inequality in reception between racebent and non-racebent nations doesn’t say anything deeper, I respond with the following- Isn’t it still worth it to try and show the same support and energy to the non-racebent, non-Western countries and their creators, regardless of whether that content speaks to you or not?

One last time, I’ll clarify what I’m not saying with that:

Stop liking America and Russia and England. I repeat, I cannot control what POC like or feel or do, and I repeat, what characters you personally like is a very individualistic view on a wider, systemic issue.

In the section “The State of POC Representation in Hetalia,” I discussed how disproportionately giving to racebent countries versus non-racebent non-Western countries is not an intersectional form of POC representation, and fails to address the underrepresentation of non-Western countries and cultures given the global colonial hierarchy. My above statement is therefore saying that if we POC want to achieve a more intersectional form of solidarity and representation, to create a fandom that’s more non-Western friendly, to generally support all types of POC creators, we should not neglect certain kinds of POC content just because it doesn’t personally resonate with us.

You don’t have to. Fandom is not activism. For many, fandom is an escape from the grim realities of the outside world. But in a media property all about exploring other countries’ cultures and histories, can we not strive for the spirit of the source material, and be a little more open-minded in exploring other countries and other forms of POC representation? Even in this miniscule way?

CONCLUSION

I would like to conclude this essay on the matter of irithnova, and the recent controversy she’s been embroiled in for stating many of the points I have made. Yes, our tones were different. But no amount of harsh tone warrants the outrage and rather racist backlash her post received. irithnova has been one of the most active voices in the Hetalia fandom speaking out against racism, from the exclusion of POC in j-ellyfish’s character polls to myrddin’s behavior. However, as soon as she, a Filipino, expresses personal discomfort with certain depictions of a nation that’s caused great harm to her people, other POC were the first to get mad at her for seeing the political implications of a POC personified America, to the point of trying to deny her reality as a feminized and racialized member of the diaspora living in a colonial European country and calling her functionally white.

POC solidarity doesn’t mean we have to all agree with each other, or even like every other POC. But I want to note the irony here of people committing the very act they accused irithnova of doing- telling her, a Filipino, that she wasn’t allowed to criticize racebent depictions of America, thereby trying to control POC.

If your response to this is “Well, sure irithnova didn’t deserve the harassment, but she was still wrong to criticize racebending because it wasn’t her place!” I would like to remind you of the following points:

Scroll up to the top and read this essay again. Regardless of tone used, there are valid reasons for POC to dislike and criticize depictions of racebent countries.

irithnova, as a Filipino living in the West and has Filipino relatives in the USA, is intimately aware of the nature of American imperialism and racism against POC. The United States promised to help the Philippines achieve independence but instead robbed it of its sovereignty, putting down resistance to its takeover and instituting American rule because they viewed Filipinos as “lesser” and incapable of governing themselves because of their race. If it isn’t irithnova’s place to feel uncomfortable (and thus criticize) racebent America, then whose is it?

Finally, I want to emphasize one more thing- First Nations/Indigenous individuals have a unique relationship to the colonial settler states that occupy their land. Like I’ve said so many times, I cannot tell any POC how to feel or what to do, and even more so in this case because I myself am not First Nations/Indigenous; I’ve only provided arguments about the pitfalls of racebending and the merits of other forms of representation. But just as how I cannot tell you what to feel or do, nobody can stop other POC feeling put off by a racebent America.

At the end of the day, despite the who-knows-how-many paragraphs I’ve spent articulating the reasons against racebending canonically white nations, I cannot stop anyone from racebending nations if they wish to. But I do hope readers come away with a better understanding of the flaws of racebending, and the benefits of looking away from the Western mainstream and looking elsewhere to represent our experiences as diaspora and minorities. If you’re someone who engages in racebending, but still chose to read this 6K word long essay on the Hetalia fandom, I can’t express my gratitude enough for hearing me out. Honestly, anybody who read through this entire post deserves an award- Thanks for reading 💖

#jazzed about getting to use the word 'treatise' for the first time #hetalia #// disk horse #// racism #// colonialism #alternative title: a 6000 word long defense of irithnova

[pjohoo-reclists]

Powerful Percy Jackson Fic Recs

A list of fics where Percy is abnormally powerful, but not dark or evil. For similar content you can also check out my Dark Percy Jackson and Percy Jackson in Tartarus rec lists. Enjoy!

legend by Nightingale231

T | 200 words | Complete

Percy Jackson & Camp Half Blood Campers

BAMF Percy Jackson, POV Outsider, Camp Leader Percy Jackson

When the lost trio arrive at camp, whispers of a teen named Percy Jackson weave through the camp. There's pictures of people up in the big house, people with war-torn eyes and cracked souls, but in the majority of them there's a boy with green eyes like the stormy sea and black hair like the depths of the ocean grinning up at the camera.

the son of poseidon by Nightingale231

T | 500 words | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Powerful Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Poseidon is a Good Parent

Percy can sense the way life flows in the beings around him, for the sea spawned life and life remembers that which brought it forth. Percy, who is the son of the sea, the son of the god of storms, the son of the unmade man who shakes the earth on a whim- He is nothing, he is everything, and he simply is.

too much fun by maverickk

T | 600 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Earthshaker Powers, Percy Jackson & Clarisse La Rue Friendship, Powerful Percy Jackson

An army marches on Camp Half-Blood. Chiron observes and Percy, Annabeth, and Clarisse team up to stop it.

Fatal Flaw by Phoenix_And_Thestral

G | 700 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase

Post-Tartarus, Character Study, Powerful Percy Jackson

Annabeth knows just how much Percy loves her. Sometimes, it scares her.

Earthshaker by skyekingsleigh

T | 700 words | Complete

Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase

Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Earthquakes, Tsunamis

Just the thought of her name was enough to make him lose control. Or: a heroes of olympus au based on the prompt, “what if hera had taken annabeth instead of percy?”

The myth, the legend, the man by pannaspanoply

G | 800 words | Complete

Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Camp Half Blood

Powerful Percy Jackson, Character Study, Non Canon Compliant - the Trials of Apollo

Percy was powerful - a look at his adventures could tell you that. When he was playing around with the rest of them at Camp Half Blood, though, it was easy to underestimate that.

Lupa is humbled by everdeen6

T | 900 words | Complete

Percy Jackson, Lupa

Powerful Percy Jackson, Smart Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug

“There is room for improvement.” Lupa said haughtily as she turned and padded away leaving Perseus to stare at her retreating back with barely suppressed rage.  He had just fought off a pack of murderous wolves with just his bare hands. And nothing else.  ~ Or oneshots of my hoo rewrite

me and you and you and me (no matter how they tossed the dice) by kissofbelladonna

G | 1.0k+ | Ongoing as of 19/5/2022

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Powerful Percy Jackson, POV Annabeth Chase, Angst with a Happy Ending

Annabeth muses on Percy's powers and then sees them firsthand and the aftermath of that.

Hello there, Argo II (Aren’t you lucky to have a demigod fathered by the god of storms?) by Crystalcatgamer

G | 1.3k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace & Piper McLean & Leo Valdez

Storms, Powerful Percy Jackson, POV Jason Grace

The group breaks off into its threes and twos, talking quietly to each other as the rain keeps beating down above deck, the ship rocking and trying not to jump with every loud boom of thunder. It starts getting less and less startling, and Jason thinks he might even be able to manage a light sleep like this, nestled among his fellow demigods. Then the ship shudders something fierce, and they hear Festus roar before it’s lost to the thundering rain. Everyone jolts up just as the ship leans to the side with a groan, sending people tumbling onto their sides. Jason scrambles for purchase, grabbing onto Piper and Leo before they hit the wall. Percy is braced against it, holding Annabeth protectively and looking at the ceiling as Leo swore something fierce. A nasty storm turns the Argo II into a glorified rollercoaster, and Percy steps out into the pouring rain to put a stop to it. (It is a difficult thing to remember that Poseidon is the god of storms, not Zeus.)

I'm not him and I'll never be as good by DiveInsideMyMind

G | 1.6k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Jason Grace, Percy Jackson & Piper McLean, Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Powerful Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson makes a hurricane

Jason Grace finally finds out why Percy Jackson is so respected.

you might wanna start with that next time by DiveInsideMyMind

G | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & The Seven

Powerful Percy Jackson, BAMF Percy Jackson

The prophesied demigods learn just how much Percy has done in his short life.

the waters connect them, unseen by Nightingale231 

T | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Poseidon & Triton

Protective Poseidon, Family Fluff, BAMF Percy Jackson

Delphin doesn't know how they're doing it, but somehow it works. He can see Prince Perseus' body change a little, pink and blue scales bubbling just under his skin as King-prince Triton forces him to own up to his heritage. They are so similar in their instinct even when they are different. It's strange, especially to an outsider who happens to know that they didn't grow up together, because looking at them now - clashing but together, a force to be reckoned with - he wouldn't have been able to tell. (Percy, Triton, and Poseidon experiencing each other, from the views of outsiders and, eventually, themselves.)

fight for what's right by Astarisbroughtbacktolife

G | 2.4k | Complete

Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, Clarisse La Rue, Chiron, Paul Blofis, Poseidon

Powerful Percy Jackson, Family, Loss of Control

Percy reconnects with Grover in his plan to test what he can do.

some things we can't just get away from by Astarisbroughtbacktolife

G | 2.7k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Paul Blofis

Powerful Percy Jackson, Paul Blofis being a dad, Mild Hurt/Comfort

Percy's powers are still growing, and he doesn't know what to do. Telling Paul Blofis is always a good place to start.

i'd live for you (and that's hard to do) by librawritings

T | 3.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Powerful Percy Jackson, Implied PTSD, Mentions of Tartarus

After Tartarus, one would hope that Percy and Annabeth catch a break. In fact, the opposite happens. Basically, Percy is powerful. Set between The House of Hades and The Blood of Olympus, because Rick didn't give us a Percy/Annbeth POV in the last book like we deserved, and I firmly believe Percy has god-level strength.

Split the sea by Multifandom_damnation

G | 3.2k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

Camp Half Blood, Post-Tartarus, Underwater

Camp Half-Blood is under attack by a hungry army of monsters who are doing everything they could to break down the barrier that surrounds the camp in order to get their meal. In a last-ditch effort, the camp suits up for another unwinnable war in which they will fight until they can stand no longer when Percy and Annabeth ride in on the back of a horse to save the day. And Percy, after feeling much more powerful since returning from Tartarus, pulls some tricks from the bible and gets the campers to safety.

terrorbane by Nightingale231

T | 3.3k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Nico di Angelo, Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Powerful Percy Jackson, Brotherly Bonding, Poseidon is a Good Parent

He laughs, wild and free with the power that come of the Storm and the Seas, and lets the earth beneath him give him strength as the Storm does around him. Zeus may be the god of thunder, of lightning, and the ruler of the Winds, but he was not the god of the storms. The Storm and the Seas envelop him as the earth feeds him its strength, and he keeps laughing. It tears itself out of his throat just as he tears a bloody trail through the horde of monsters and leaves nothing but the hint of gold dust suspended in the air. - Or, Percy comes into his full powers, Triton and Poseidon are good family members, and Percy is a fucking badass.

I can't see by DancingInTheSliverGlow 

T | 3.5k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Percy Jackson & Nico di Angelo

Powerful Percy Jackson, Mrs. O'Leary saves the day, Hurt/Comfort

After the Giant War, Percy and Annabeth get kidnapped by one of Gaea's Giantesses who wants revenge on Percy for stopping her mother's plans to wake up. To defeat her, Percy goes all out with his powers as son of the earthshaker & natural disasters.

To be Known and Accepted by DancingInTheSliverGlow 

T | 3.8k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Hermes, Percy Jackson & Blackjack, background Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Whump, Good Friend Hermes, Powerful Percy Jackson

Percy senses the blood before he sees it, the way he can sense water, seas and oceans. It's only a matter of time before his powers leak out, and hurts someone. Chiron talks to him, but it doesn't help. Chiron doesn't know what happened; apparently Annabeth isn't speaking to him, and Percy sure as hell isn't about to spread the fact that he has power over poison, blood and ichor around. He even gets on Mr. D's nerves. The alcoholic god glares at him and says: "I could smite you. Turn your blood against you, your molecules to dust." All Percy can think is, yeah, so can I.

a rose by any other name by IzzyMRDB

T | 3.8k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Alternate Universe, Poseidon is a Good Dad, Eldritch Horror!Percy

It wasn't Poseidon who met Sally on that beach on Montauk, but rather a far older, much more ancient version of him. Percy is born far older and younger than he should be.

Suez Canal Shores, Greek Gods and Memes by DancingInTheSliverGlow

T | 7.3k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Hermes, Ever Given Container Ship/Suez Canal (Anthropomorphic)

Inspired by Tumblr, Crack Taken Seriously, Powerful Percy Jackson, Percy fights Ares and kicks his ass again

The Ever Given’s Captain sits down in his office and covers his face in his hands. This is a disaster. A complete flaming heap of landfill - sized disaster, that will probably haunt him for the rest of his life. ~ ~ ~ “Brother,” Hermes addressed Apollo in their native tongue. “Look.” Apollo looked up and glanced at Hermes’ phone, before laughing. “I’ve seen that meme already,” Apollo replied in ancient greek. “You’ll have to do better than that. Look at the one my son, Will Solace sent me.” Apollo held up his phone and Hermes glanced at it. It consisted of three screenshots illustrating the Ever Given as Ragnarök who would defeat Global Capitalism, as Hela. Hermes laughed. He had to admit, it was good. Apollo looked smug, as if to say that his children made better memes. Hermes narrowed his eyes and glared, as if to say aww Styx no before scrolling through his phone, looking for more memes created by his children. The competition was on.

The Burden of Our Mortal Misery by mrthology

M | 12k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Dionysus, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Post-Tartarus, Developing Relationship, Powerful Percy Jackson

“Get up,” Dionysus ordered. Percy ignored him. As they always did, memories of Tartarus crept back, a hold on him that never quite left. Falling, falling, falling. Always falling, never quite clawing his way back to the surface. Dionysus hauled him to his feet, hands a burning brand. Percy panted and met his eyes, barely able to stand under the force of the god's divinity. He wondered if this was what people meant when they talked about the myths, why people loved and worshipped the gods and feared them in turn. Percy had never seen them as people to revere and love. They were cruel; petty. They had done nothing but treat Percy like a pawn in their schemes, then thrown him to the proverbial wolves once they’d been done with him. But he thought he was beginning to understand. He felt tiny before Dionysus, insignificant. It was more of a comfort than Percy wanted to admit. “What’s happening to me?” — Percy had left something of himself down in Tartarus, and he didn’t think he’d ever get it back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Reprise by 60sec400

T | 14k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Poseidon is a Good Dad, Powerful Percy Jackson, Immortality

Percy knew he was different from the other people around him. He knew it. Two mortals notice more than they should, and they don't like what they see. But then he'd come to Camp Half-Blood, and he thought he might fit in. But he was different even there. Doubt creeps in like a haunting spectre and Percy has a run in with Truth. Fate is a bitch.

Walking Backward Into My Own Myth by mrthology

M | 19k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Time Loop, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug, Powerful Percy Jackson

"You should have ascended years ago," Zeus said without preamble, looking down at Percy. The other Olympians, even his father, remained silent, watching the proceedings with uncharacteristic solemnity. "I said no years ago," Percy snapped, rage making his voice tremble and hands shake. "I didn't want to be a God then, and I want to even less now. I've seen how horrible eternity is." "You would defy the fates themselves?" Athena asked softly, leaning forwards with narrowed eyes. She looked more godly than Percy had ever seen her, to the point where it was nearly unbearable to look at her face. Percy did so nevertheless, glaring at the Goddess he'd lost almost all respect for. "You had children die today," he snapped, desperate to return to Camp. "Annabeth could still die—hasn't she done enough?" ——— Or, Percy keeps living the same horrible day over and over and over again, regardless of what he does. Eventually, something will have to give. Percy just isn't sure what.

some have entertained angels unaware by Skywalking_through_life

T | 21k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Paul Blofis, background Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Post-Gaea & The Second Giant War, POV Outsider, Powerful Percy Jackson

"Slumping at the table next to his now slightly raspy stepfather, Percy decided to make one last appeal. "Paul, you can't seriously think me dying of frostbite or exposure on the way to see the Statue of Liberty for the eighty-millionth time is a good death, right? Like, I could do so much better." Paul shrugged, eyes dancing. "I'm not the expert on death in this family, Perce. But I do imagine it's probably more heroic than dying of boredom in US Government class?"' Percy didn't think there was a god of field trips, but if there was...he was pretty sure that they hated him.

I am not what I expected (The poison just didn't take) by dcninja

M | 30k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Hermes, Percy Jackson & Hades, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Kymopoleia

Percy Jackson Needs a Hug, Ascension, Powerful Percy Jackson

After the War against Gaea, Percy finds himself struggling in the life he worked so hard to get back to. The more he tries to fit back in, pushing down his powers and emotions after the war, the more things seem to fall apart. As Olympus prepares to officially reopen at the Winter Solstice, Hermes takes notice that something is off with the Savior of Olympus. But when he asked for help from Hades, none of them could imagine what Percy’s trip to the Pit led to and what it will mean for the hero. Or Percy finally reckons with the consequences of challenging Akhlys with a little help from his immortal family, who he might be around for a lot longer than he thought.

Fishing in Alaska by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

G | 112k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Triton, Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Family Feels, PTSD, Triton is a Good Sibling

[Note: fic was deleted from ao3. Link is to a google drive copy. The hassle is worth it].

“This… this would qualify as a mental breakdown, right?” Triton asked, frowning over his shoulder to where Percy was still fuming in the corner. The lady at the counter curiously glanced over before lifting a questioning brow. “My brother – half-brother, technically, I have much better breeding – decided to run away from home to where our father can’t reach him and now he won’t leave. And now I can’t leave unless he leaves,” Triton continued. Percy opened his mouth to object that wasn’t what happened at all, but the tyrant only waved a hand to silence him. “He’s seen war or whatever, so if you could maybe just drug him then I’ll throw him into a suitcase and we can be out of here by the Summer Solstice!” Silence. Finally, the woman cleared her throat and turned to Percy. “I’m guessing he’s the one you want checked into the mental hospital?” She asked. Triton gasped as Percy punched the air in victory. “Aha!” Or: Getting in trouble works a little differently when your parent is an all-powerful god. Sometimes you have to escape to the land beyond gods and get your immortal brother turned human to drag you back so you can be exploded a million pieces. You know, normal teenage stuff.

alone at the edge of a universe by Sarcastic_Metaphor

M | 281k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, More Relationships

Chaos!Percy, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug, Powerful Percy Jackson

The sea is not unlike the abyss; it is deadly, destructive. It hides secrets in its depths and threatens even those that know it well. The sea easily swallows life with no trace left behind. The sea can be quite similar to oblivion. But when the mood strikes them, both the oceans and the abyss can be tempted to create life instead. Or, a complete AU rewrite from pre-canon through all five PJO books: Percy is born a little less human and a little more otherworldly than healthy. With powers he was never meant to have, and a third parent he never wanted, the plans that the Fates originally made for him will be torn asunder.

#percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #rec list #rick riodan #rrverse #hoo #heroes of olympus #ao3 #annabeth chase #poseidon #poseidon & percy #god of the sea #percy x annabeth #percy and annabeth #percabeth #percy jackon and the olympians #Percy & Poseidon #Powerful Percy Jackosn #son of poseidon #hurricanes #earthquakes #percy's powers #powerful percy

[krsnaradhika]

Fanfictions and Hinduism.

Those who are active on Wattpad, might know that there are many many writers (including myself) who tend to write fiction over itihāsa or historical epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, purely for fun and our love for them. It seems very odd, yes, and we do get to see blasphemy there too. People love some characters, hate the others with a burning passion and there are hour long debates over human nature, characterisations, myths involved, folklores and the many versions both of them have.

We have OCs, we make graphics and video edits, we pair the said OCs with CCs and sometimes with other OCs. The comment sections are the most fun things because writers and their audience interact there. Some works are much more impressive than published paperbacks while some are simply atrocious. You know it, shades are everywhere.

Now, very recently did I come to know that in Tamil literature, a fictional tale that is weaved around a couple or more incidents or points coming from the purānas or itihāsas is called a prabandha. Fun, right?

We do get to see fanfictions in Hinduism by the name of Pancharātram by Bhāsa (the one who also penned Svapna Vāsavadattā) and Kalidāsa's Abhigyāna Shākuntalam. While the latter romanticises and adds non canon events to the canon event of Lady Shakuntala and King Dushyanta's love story, the former is about a "what-if" scenario based on the Mahabharata.

So, do we promote fiction writings on such stuff? Definitely. I got much into the Sanatana culture solely via such fictions. They promote higher thinking skills, brainstorming, even fun facts many a times if the author is literate enough. And is that different from disrespecting scriptures and our very own ancestors? Also yes. Because neither of these authors claim to strictly follow the canon events. You do not like something you see, click away. As easy as that.

Do I support all of them, tho? For sure not. There are some which whitewash the bad guys and blackwash even the divine figures. Some straight up induce cringe. But that's just my opinion. A debate is always based on facts, not personal opinions. So yes, you do you.

But are they also dangerous? Umhm. Look at the Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. One word : atrocious. Some modern day prabandha style novel which sat a little above average in my reading experience? Abhaya by Saiswaroopa Iyer is the one (she's also written Mauri, Avishi, Draupadi and a few more if I'm not wrong.) (Abhaya is an OC paired opposite Kanha and tbh their chemistry was chef's kiss jsjshdjsjd-)

Should you write such, if that is what you want? Yes! I'd love to read-

But do you have to be careful with the message you deliver via your work? Swayam vichar kijiye *wink wink*

Some fanfictions which I may recommend. Note : not all of them involve OCs. All of these are from Wattpad. The authors' usernames are in bold.

— To Love A Murderer, Hope Embodied, and Samsrishti ; ruhitherambler.

— Satata Haritam ; Ramayana_Lover.

— Hello Mahabharata and My Days In Mahabharata ; thewomanwhobleedsink.

— Sambhavāmi ; indeevara18ls.

— Mathuraraaj ; Shivran86.

— Ehi Murare ; kanakangi.

— The Diary Of A Gopika ; Thoughtshub.

#after much procrastination #I'm finally saying this #krishnablr #krishna #gopiblr #kanha #hindublr #hinduism #desiblr #krishna my beloved <3 #please feel free to add other fics which suit this category

[snowbairdweek]

Snowbaird Week 2024 Prompts

March 14 - Academia March 15 - Myths / Folklore March 16 - Canon Divergence March 17 - Free Day March 18 - Ballads / Musicals March 19 - Fortune / Fate March 20 - Non-Canon Modern AU

Another post with further details about the daily prompts will be posted later.

Which day are you most excited for?

#snowbaird #coriolanus snow #coriolanus x lucy gray #lucy gray baird #lucy gray x coriolanus #snowbaird fanfiction #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas

[magpie-murder]

*it wont let me edit the poll, but the one with the random parentheses in the middle is meant to read "valhalla and hel are not the only afterlives"

people who dont know much about norse mythology:

i see a decent amount of misinformation surrounding norse mythology (particularly related to loki's family, how many children he has, who he is and is not related to, etc) so i figured this could be a fun game to play to encourage people to both read about norse myths and fact check things before you post them while claiming they're true.

ex: váli is not canonically a lokison, he was an odinson; loki is not related, even by adoption, to thor; loki as WAY MORE than two children and the status of two of them potentially being twins is highly debatable; loki did not have a horse baby for funsies, it was to protect asgard; there's more but these are the MAIN ones i see

this is not to say you shouldn't mess around with norse mythology in your fanon btw!!! i do a bunch of incredibly non-canon things with my loki fanon. i just ask you to fact check when you're talking about actual norse mythology 🛐

#váli.txt #loki #norse myth #norse mythology

[hwsasiaweek]

HWS Asia Week will be hosted from July 8th-17th of 2024!!

Three prompts per day:

1) nations from Asia

2) a general theme

3) a quote

You can choose which prompt or prompts you want to create content for; you can stick with one country (canon or OC) throughout the whole week or switch between multiple; it's all up to you!

Any form of content is accepted, including but not limited to: fanfiction, fanart, AUs,headcanons, aesthetics, etc.

Prompts:

Day 1 (Jul 8): Mongolia || Culture/Traditions || "Look how we bleed from all this wanting"

Day 2 (Jul 9): Taiwan, Indonesia, Uzbekistan|| Food || "A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor"

Day 3 (Jul 10): India + China || History || "Come, Dance with me"

Day 4 (Jul 11): South Korea, Laos, Bahrain || Fantasy || "I ache in a language so old that even the earth no longer remembers"

Day 5 (Jul 12): Persia/Iran || Folklore/Legends/Myths || "Having the same enemy does not make us friends"

Day 6 (Jul 13): Hong Kong || Daily Life || "No one wearing a crown comes in the name of peace"

Day 7 (Jul 14): Malaysia + Indonesia || Flowers/Garden || “War is sweet to those who have never fought”

Day 8 (Jul 15): Macau, Philippines, Japan || Story/Storytelling || "The relief of giving into destruction"

Day 9 (Jul 16): Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Singapore|| Tea/Coffee || "I promise spring is coming / and with it, brand new leaves"

Day 10 (Jul 17): Free Day

Rules:

Rule Post

Follow this account

No NS//FW

Tag your content with #hwsasiaweek2024 and @ this account please!

Ships and content with other non-Asian nations are allowed, but please try to give equal weight to the Asian character in the ship,since this is an event celebrating the Hetalia Asians.

Gore/blood/dark topics allowed; they will be tagged with #tw _

Don't be a clown and make racist content

Use common sense and nuance when touching upon sensitive political subjects.

FAQ

Have Fun!

@hetaliahappenings @heta-on-the-books @hetaliacalendar

#hetalia #hws asians #aph asean #hws asean #aph china #hws china #aph japan #hws japan #aph hong kong #hws hong kong #aph korea #hws korea #aph south korea #hws south korea #aph taiwan #hws taiwan #aph vietnam #hws vietnam #aph india #hws india #aph indonesia #hws indonesia #aph philippines #hws philippines #aph bangladesh #hws bangladesh #hwsasiaweek2024 #aph bhrutan #aph nepal #aph mongolia