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The strange case of Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto
Mar 25th
Also known as Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto, so pick whichever you like best.
Tsukiyomi is one of the three illustrious children of Izanagi, brother of Amaterasu (sun goddess) and Susano-wo (storm god), and your Shinto moon god. He doesn’t appear in many myths, but you might argue that his siblings don’t either for important kamisama. The one story where his role is significant, he pretty much gets offended by an offer of food that was kinda vomited by a food goddess, he kills her, and Amaterasu gets really pissed at him for that elitist douchebaggery. So she decides to never see him again, and she means it. For a better article about this enigmatic, prissy kami, Shinbutsudo tells it better.
The strange thing about Tsukiyomi is not his possible phobia of germs, however. Or the fact he’s the least liked from the Sky Trio (Amaterasu has had a historical connection to the imperial family until WWII, while rebellious Susano-wo killed a eight-headed snake and that’s cool). I’m just amazed that Japan doesn’t care much. The moon is a big myth motive, and for a country that’s a bunch of islands I’d assume tides are important. And it’s not like Japanese people don’t give a shit about it, as Tsukiyomi does have shrines and worshiping, people love to have moongazing parties, and we have folk stories like the rabbit in the moon and Kaguya-hime. But still, he gets a little ignored and I wonder if it’s to avoid offending Amaterasu or something like that. Hell, this article lacks a picture of traditional paintings or statues of him because I couldn’t find one. All my google image searches gave me obscure animanga characters, Itachi Uchiha, and buff Deviantart fanart that looked like a World of Warcraft character. Okay then…
What’s funny is that two of my favorite videogames (Okami and Persona 4) deal with a Shintoist background and we get characters/Jungian Pokémon loosely based on gods like Izanagi, Izanami, Amaterasu, Susano, Konohana no Sakuya-hime, Yamata no Orochi, etc… but Tsukiyomi gets shafted. In Okami, Tsukuyomi is Nagi’s sword, not even a person! In Persona 4, Tsukiyomi is suspiciously absent from the Persona compendium and none of your friends have him as theirs. The curious thing about that decision is that ATLUS has used him as Persona/Demon in other games of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. I don’t get it…
Review: (book) Quicksilver by Stephanie Spinner
Oct 20th
Have you ever felt like this? You’re reading a book or watching a movie/show or just enjoying this fictional work. And while you’re liking what you see, you miss this one awesome minor character because the few guest appearances he/she does are made of win, in your opinion. Even deep down, you secretly think the experience could really improve if only this character was around more often, or got more focus. It’s ridiculous because he/she is minor for a reason, but still… you can dream, right?
When I read Greek myths, I normally think “NEEDS MOAR HERMES.” Obviously Stephanie Spinner agrees with me!
Quick review: Wonder Woman #1 (2011)
Sep 22nd
I wasn’t even going to make a post this week since I’m preparing something longer that needs preparation. But you know what, this was so full of WTF I can’t help it. So I checked the scans because I was curious to see how much Greek mythology there was this time in her origins, as it’s something that varies with every reboot of her character.
Man, I certainly wasn’t expecting this degree of non-explanation.
And fewer arrows than advertized
Shopping spree
Sep 16th
In which Chris shows how much of a cheesy dork she is when choosing books from the online bookstore.
Ah, and for the record? The original plan was only preordering Son of Neptune o_o
How monothematic...
Review: (movie) Fantasia (1940): Beethoven’s 6th symphony a.k.a Pastoral
Sep 15th
Today we’re going to check what might be the first mythology butchery I have ever watched in my life: the Pastoral scene in Fantasia. Hell, it might even be my first time seeing a Greek deities at all. We all know Hercules, and how Disney just threw the myth books through a window when doing that one, but the antecedent comes from here. (Actually, recently I found out that there’s a Silly Symphony inspired on the rape of Persephone where Hades looks literally a demon, so Fantasia isn’t even their first case! But I digress.)
I will do my best to be objective, but I did watch this when I was a little girl, either in the late 80’s or early 90’s, where ponies and pastel nightmares were the rage. So don’t mind me when I start salivating over baby pegasi OMG THE CUTE I CANNOT EVEN.
Credits: Disneyscreencaps.com for the, uh, screencaps.
Apparently, Greek-Roman gods don't need houses and shit
Review: (video game) Okami
Sep 7th
Mmmmmkay, I’m going to to try to revive this blog. I still don’t know if I will retake The Iliad, as I lost half of the next chapter’s summary with my laptop’s hard drive last year. So far, we can try to do reviews of stuff I’ve read/watched/played that feature some myth butchery. It seems to be a trope that truly calls my attention.
So we’re starting with something close to my nerdy, weeaboo heart.
How very Japanese
The brush is mightier than the sword, but having both won’t hurt >
The Iliad (IV)
Aug 2nd
I… forgot to crosspost it here. Sorry for the hiatus, hopefully the next part will come this week.
I’m not sure it’s a good idea to follow Icarus Street
Jun 27th
So I was looking for my coordinates at Google Maps today, and I got a bit lost, and suddenly I see street names that made me question my mental sanity (er, again). But nope, I found them later, I’m cool. SO! Names of Greek-Roman myths, in MY middle of nowhere, Oleiros, La Coruña, Spain?
Five easy to misunderstand gods (1/5)
Jun 24th
To be fair, with all the amount of canon rewrites the myths go through, it’s quite hard to pin a steady personality for most deities. But our pop culture is at the same time very influenced by the bias of monotheist religions, so it’s quite easy to demonize shit in previous beliefs if the shoe seems to fit while you tilt your head and squint. Therefore, I chose for the first topic to go through the gods who seemed to be the most butchered (and villainized sometimes). Here is my top five of Wait Whats. And if you notice yes, they’re all male. Not because the goddesses aren’t misunderstood, because they usually are even more than the guys and all the witch hunting a few centuries ago is a proof of this. It’s because these five are the ones popping in more, even in stories with otherwise well researched mythos.
1. Hades
Nothing says evil li-- eeeeh, triple puppy!!
The Iliad (III)
Jun 4th
A new convention: using a different font to indicate made up dialogs that didn’t happen. I went overboard this time.