Complaining

I’m kind of really really struggling with these sonnets and the haibums and I do not fully understand why? Not much of an intro today because i’ve got writing in my brain and mhm mhm but anyways. I started the sonnets, like, the day we got them (kind of?) I knew that I wanted a sonnet about like love language and wtv so I could already have it for my coffee house in a few weeks but then I’m faced with questions like “what is my love language?” or “how do I feel most loved?” which, obviously, will not be ever put Into the sonnet but.. like? And of course for a free-verse poem I could do that anyways, but I digress. Not the point of this. What I’m struggling with is the sonnets. I’ve tried to write them in the past, for either school assignments or the requirement to get into MSA or just on my own time, and I’ve only made ONE ever that I actually liked. I don’t like admitting that I feel like I’m a bad writer, or that im struggling with something, or those on and off days where I feel like I don’t even want to write anymore because I have a writers block or I feel like I’m not good enough, but structured poems REALLY just grab that and dangle it infront of my face and go “ha ha!!! You cant write me you cant write me!!” and if I could punch a sonnet I swear on the entire junior literary class that I would.

I do understand a little bit why sonnets are so hard for me. I look at, in the case of a shaksperian sonnet, the 7 syllable lines and the specific rhyme scheme and I do actually hate it. It stresses me out and I can’t be fully creative that way. When people who aren’t used to rhyming try to rhyme they end up, in most of what I’ve seen, forcing it. They have this original concept at the beginning of the poem, like the first two lines, but then comes the past where you have to rhyme and you cant use the word that you want so you have to find and substitute it for another, and trying to match that same rhyme scheme you end up putting another random string of words together that doesn’t make sense at all, all up until you lose the original plot of the poem all together and its just a mess. If I wasn’t writing this on my laptop then I would definitely plug the sonnet I used to apply to MSA, which is a perfect example of this in action, and is the specific sonnet that ruined all sonnets for me. I recently did an analysis of it and it actually made me want to hit things. Very violent. Like, The Romans level violent over these sonnets. Slash Jay.

I try to combat this with like, ignoring the ends of lines.. if that makes sense. Like, i try to carry the sentence over to the next line so I can SAY as much as I want and not feel like what I’m writing is blocky and closed off and a mess. I’ve been working on it, by ignoring the rules of sonnets (a little bit) and then cutting it up to fit sonnet style… I literally do not know. Being told that I have a certain amount of time, or a certain set of this a I have to do a certain thing is the quickest way to put me into a writers block. And I HATE being told ‘just write!!” and that’s all I’m given. It doesn’t help. My writers block comes from not having stimulating enough ideas and then not knowing the words to say this how I want to. If I “just write” it ends up looking like “Amy walked to the store. She needed milk and eggs for her cake.” And suddenly I’m turned into those writing problems that they test 1^st graders with. No thank you.

Sometimes, to help with writers block, I pick an OC and I go “okay. What does this person like?” For my OC Halo, he does pottery and photography and a little bit a gardening. “How do these things connect?” Halo could, like, I don’t know, be walking out by a stream. He’s taking pictures by this creek and he finds a whole bunch of clay. He grabs all of the clay and goes home and makes a vase out of it for the flowers he gardens. There! I have a full little short story of an entire character and it’s just so cutesy and he’s getting his alone time. Then I like, double or triple or quadruple this to contain my full cast of characters (2 of which are a 2in1) and then, boom. Short story. Except I haven’t yet realized how to turn this into like an actual story with actual, real plot yet. Usually it’s just dilly dallying. Whatever. That’s the end of this blog about me complaining about not knowing how to write, little bit of venting, then trying to answer my own questions. This is really different from that I normally do, and I’m kind of super not happy with this but I’m so stressed it’s all I can manage. Do you guys have any actual writing tips? Or any ways to get out of writers block that I somehow haven’t stumbled across in my years on pinterest? Please, guys, I am DESPERATE.

Greek Myths!!

I’mmmmm gonna talk about Greek mythology.

(TRIGGER WARNING: a VERY brief mention of abuse, Everything that goes along with the Medusa Myth (Sexual Assault), and generally just stuff that happens in Greek mythology. Please read at your own risk.)

This is going to be a very very unorganized post about how to properly interpret myths, or at least the way EYE interpret myths because that is the only possible correct way because I am always right and everyone should listen to me!

READ THE OLDEST VERSION OF THE MYTH.

A LOT of myths have lost their meanings over time, including figures throughout the story, meanings, details that change the ENTIRETY of the myth, they’ve been romanized (heracles/Hercules, and MEDUSA, for example), or they’ve been changed to fit perspectives for modern retellings (Icarus, Hades and Persephone, the Minotaur… ect, ect.) A good rule of thumb (not-so-fun fact: the term ‘rule of thumb’ comes from either an old law or just a general rule from the olden days, when women were more objects than people, that a husband could not beat his wife with a switch thicker than his thumb, lest it be unlawful/cruel (more cruel than unlawful)) is to just look for the oldest version you can find, because that’s. like. The source material, and you can do whatever you want with that.

I’m going to go over a few (ish) myths and MY interpretations of them, vs. what people get wrong in general.

My personal favorite: The Myth of Icarus

(I had to give my girl a shirt, but this is my FAVORITE piece of icarus. it’s called Icarus’ lament, or the lament of icarus or something like that. It’s so good. Please look it up.)

People LOVE to throw my boy’s good name around when talking about a fall from greatness, or your ‘pride getting the best of you’. I hate this. I actually despise this.

The myth of Icarus (Ἴκαρος (Ikaros) is his original name. Fun Fact: Greeks did not have a letter for C. they used S or K. Be more like the greeks.) follows a young boy, who people depict being from literally age 8 to 17. The only source I could find that could possibly talk about his age said he was 7, but it was also a deepdive into how the myth of Icarus relates to gaming and how we should all play valorant because of it. I’ll pass.0

Icarus’ father, Deadalus, was a great inventor trapped in a tower by king Minos, ruler of Crete, because something something labyrinth, something something Minotaur. Don’t care. Irrelevant (extremely relevant). Long story short, Daedalus fashions wings of feathers and wax, a pair for both him and icarus, and he and Icarus jump from the top of the tower to escape. They manage to fly with the wings. it’s more like gliding but I digress. He tells icarus not to fly too close to the sun or too close to the sea, because the wax would melt or the wings would get too heavy to fly with.

This, of course, is where the myth splits off. Most Greek myths are cautionary tales, yes, to warn of the Gods’ wrath. Fire. Love to see it. The most common telling of this myth is that, when Icarus gets out there, he gets so excited and overcome with joy for being free that he feels like a god. He looks at the sun and flies to it, believing that he is better than the gods. He scorns them. But as he flies to the sun the wax begins to melt and he falls, laughing the whole time. He dies, and Daedalus had to keep flying knowing that his son has died. This is a cautionary tale to warn against believing you are better than the gods, “flying too close to the sun” aka aiming too high and falling hard. It warns against hubris and unchecked ambition.

That’s literally not what happens. That’s the ROMAN version of the myth. Ancient Romans ruin everything.

What REALLY happened (Homer told me guys, trust) is that, while Icarus was flying, he was so overcome with joy that he felt the best he ever had. That’s, like, it. However, while Daedalus warns him not to fly too high or too low, he also warns Icarus not to fly too slow. The sky is like the gods’ airspace. They’ll be really mad. Daedalus was right, of course, because Zeus sees them flying and gets REALLY mad. He sees Icarus being happy, sure, but it’s Daedalus who has violated him and the gods by fashioning those wings. Zeus, set out to punish Daedalus, either gets Aphrodite to curse Icarus or Zeus does it himself.

They curse him to fall in love with the sun.

“IT’S GAY!!” I scream as they drag me to the padded room. “IT’S ALWAYS GAY!!” I scream as they put me in the straight jacket.

Not only is the sun, like, a male god (Both Apollo, the god of the sun, and Helios, the embodiment of the sun, are male) but that has NOTHING to do with pride. Icarus flies up to the sun, because he’s enchanted by it’s beauty and in love or whatever, and eventually crashes and burns and dies. The end!! Proper punishment for his father, because he, like, still has to live with knowing his son’s death is his fault AND fly back alone. This is me paraphrasing like crazy, the actual myth is incredibly beautiful, but this is a LOT of words as is.

Next myth, actual most popular: Medusa.

(I cannot find a picture of a statue of her that isn’t her beheaded, naked, being attacked, or AI. I am so sorry. However, the most popular statue of her is one where she’s been beheaded by perseus, and it’s SO beautiful. one of the pieces i’d love to see in real life one day. An artist made a parody of it where Medusa is holding perseus’ head as well and it’s just beautiful art. Beautiful art. oh em gosh.)

She was a gorgon. She was. Like. Born a gorgon.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Medusa myth. I love how we have, in modern times, changed it to make it better and more heartwarming. Pretty sure everyone knows the Medusa Myth. Poseidon, in his anger towards Athena and in some tellings after rejection of his advancements by the virgin priestess of athena, medusa, begins chasing after the priestess. Medusa, in fear, runs to temple of Athena and begins praying for protection, but Poseidon enters and sexually assaults her anyways. Athena, having been prayed to, sees this and curses Medusa to be a gorgon who turns anyone who looks at her to stone.

That’s a really horrible myth, and Medusa has become a symbol of sexual assault survivors worldwide. That, however, is the ROMAN version of the myth. Again. The writer of that myth was a man, who I’m pretty sure was post cathlioc takeover of rome, who wanted to scorn paganism in all forms by depicting all of the Greek gods in horrible ways. Like Athena punishing one of her own priestesses for being assaulted. Or Poseidon raping a woman. Though, I personally enjoy the modern telling of the myth as well, In which Athena sees what man does to woman uses the “Curse” more like a blessing, allowing Medusa to protect herself. And, in the original telling either way, Medusa’s ability only worked on men or whatever.

The GREEK version, though, she was just born a gorgon. And could turn people to stone. She had, like, two gorgon sisters. Perseus really killed her for points. The ability still worked only on men, though.

That’s two myths of, like, four that I mentioned? You get the rest next week. Bye bye!!! PLEASE ask me questions, literally ANY question!!!! I HEART INFODUMPING!!!!

The Author and the Protagonist

I, like any passionate writer, really love characters. And before I wrote tragic backstories, draining developments, and colorful personalities, I actually drew them! I wasn’t serious about drawing and writing until fourth grade, but drawing was definitely my first love. I wouldn’t say I was any good until eighth or ninth grade, but I was unbelievably passionate and I think that’s what really matters here. I would draw countless characters and somehow intertwine them with crazy storylines. I would make comics, animatics or animations, and fill my sketchbooks with shocking speed.

Eventually, when I did try my fourth grade hand at seriously writing for a personal hobby, my first vivid memory of this was in my math class after I finished my morning work. I opened my composite notebook and wrote about three full pages throughout the whole class with a story where I was the main character and I described my adventures as a famous Youtuber. Honestly, it was really cute. I was nine years old writing about being best friends with my favorite Youtubers and living out my dream (that may or may not still be my dream eight years later).

With my first experience of seriously writing being, more or less, self-insert fanfiction, this started a deep connection to my protagonists. I mean, my first protagonist was literally me. I was writing from my perspective, what I would do, and how I would react. So when I did, thankfully, move onto original work with characters that I didn’t suspiciously share a name with, I found myself exploring the main character a lot deeper than I thought I would’ve. I absolutely believe that this was because I wanted to match my knowledge of my protagonist to my own knowledge of myself. It was a strenuous method of developing my characters but it’s definitely helped me later down the line.

As I write more short stories, more little worlds to dive into and explore, I’ve been admiring the art of creating a fictional world. It’s an unbelievably beautiful process and, at least in my life, it’s not talked about enough.

Of course, there are many different ways of creating a fictional world. Creating a fantasy world from scratch is completely different than a modern day story in the U.S. but the only thing that’s different is (insert random event here) never happened. Worldbuilding is still a craft that I haven’t learned much about. The thing that I’m really interested in is character.

People say if you base your characters off of people you know in real life, it makes them seem more real. Regardless, you’re still creating a new character. This is a new life you’re breathing into from an idea in your head.

The relationship between the author and the protagonist is something that’s infested my mind for a few months now. The protagonist, if we’re excluding metanarratives, doesn’t know of the author’s existence. And the author knows everything about the protagonist. The protagonist goes on about their life, perhaps believing in another religion in their world not knowing their real creator is, for (totally not a specific) example, a teenage girl in art school sitting on a unicorn blanket in her dorm…

There’s something specifically intimate about being someone’s creator. Outside of art and religion, there’s not many areas of life that reflect this. Motherhood is the only one that comes to my mind and, yet, as someone’s mother, your child will eventually grow up and become their own person that you can’t control and may not know the full extent of. Creating a fictional character does just that. You can control them, know them more than you know yourself, and you get the privilege to say they’re yours.

I love creating new characters. My favorite ones usually come from stories that I haven’t even fleshed out yet or stories based on my favorite games or media. As I’m preparing for national novel writing month and even getting ready for a personal project in December, lots of characters have been on my mind. And, of course, I’m trying to get to know them better than I know myself right now (which shouldn’t be hard). Some ways I do that is through making family trees, Pinterest boards, Spotify playlists, and “headcanons” even though they’re my own characters so it’s just… “canons” even though that’s not very fun. One thing that I haven’t been doing, though, is drawing them. Hopefully I can return to visual arts again when I have more time. I miss my first love (drawing).

I’m so glad I was able to finally talk about this idea. The relationship between the protag and author is something that’s been rotting my brain since the beginning of this school year. It took a lot for me to not research for this blog and use my own input because I was afraid I would unintentionally rip-off someone’s ideas. So this is completely from my own head and I’ll probably research more for my own sake. This blog was a lot more laid back than I thought it would be but diving into the anxiety-inducing intimacy of being someone’s creator just isn’t what I want to talk about so I substituted that for how much I love making characters.

Life of an Aromantic

I don’t really know what to do for this blog, and I’ve been mulling it over for a few days, so I decided. Hey. Let me talk about myself!! I like doing that.

I hate to say something like “the world revolves around romance” or “all everyone ever thinks about is boys/girls” because, while that may be true, it kind of doesn’t reflect my experiance as a person. It’s a quick way to say that I don’t like hearing about romance, I guess. I just don’t agree with putting people who experiance romantic attraction down and suggest they’re childish or stupid for feeling that way and wanting to be loved.

With today’s current culture the world does very much revolve around love. Which is a cute thought, at first, until you realize it’s not so much of “love” and more of “lets tell little girls that the only way they’ll ever be something is if they’re loveable, and tell little boys that the only way they’ll ever be something is if they can provide and protect” and other gender expectations that are just… weird. Throw in a little purity culture, other gender stereotypes, beauty standards, mix it all together then you get, and I am REALLY dumbing this down to not include queer dating culture just yet, girls who don’t feel like they’re enough and boys who feel like they could do better. Or, sometimes, vice versa. The world a little bit revolves around who’s dating who, and it doesn’t so much as make me uncomfortable as much as it makes me sad. I’ve seen people I genuinely love and care about go to extremes because they dug a hole for themselves and now they’re not the same person I knew three weeks ago.

I’ve had people tell me that I just “wouldn’t understand” and that I should “stop talking about something you’ll never experiance” which, ouch. I don’t feel romantic attraction, but that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of loving people. I just don’t really get the hype about finding someone to date, I guess? I joke a lot, and I can say i’ve been influenced to feel like I can only have “the one” and like???? ???? I won’t be correct unless I have someone who loves ME, who wants to date ME, ect. I guess that’s just me being greedy or idk.

I don’t really understand the whole actively look for someone to date thing, i’m gonna be so honest. It confuses me when i meet people and they only talk about people they find hot, or pretty, or want to date. It frustrates me when i see my friends genuinely being upset, angry, pushing people away, then hurting themselves because of someone else not liking them. I genuinely had a friend come to me and say “no one loves me, no one has ever loved me”. I told her i loved her and she told me “That’s not the same.” and i just dont get it. How is it not the same? Whats the difference between romantic and platonic affection? The only way i’ve seen it is that it’s socially acceptable to kiss a romantic partner and not a platonic. Other than that i don’t have a clue. Why do people talk to date and not talk to be friends? Am i crazy? It makes me FEEL crazy every time someone talks about it, so i just avoid the subject.

Whichhhhhh is why I’m so happy with the Aromantic label. I’m fine with a romantic relationship, great with one, even, but the queer community is a diverse place with lots of people who feel the same or similar ways and it’s so, so fun. I’m not going to go into a bunch of detail on different terms, but i found one that kind of just sums up my experience with somehow (????) convincing myself REGULARLY that i have a crush on people, when i definitely do NOT.

The term is “squish”, and it’s like the aromantic version of a crush. Crushes are when you want to be closer to date someone and a squish is that but “I REALLY want to be that person’s friend.” And i get that soooo much. If anyone has had a conversation with me i promise that I’ve mentioned like 5 people that i think i talk about like i’m a little insane and i SWEAR im not it’s just i really really wanna be their friend!!!

That’s enough of that, because i’m sleepy and writing this superrr late because i forgot to in class, so kiss kiss!!!!!! And i’ll see about like actually posting something informational next time we have blogs

Undertale’s 10-Year Anniversary and Growing Up

September 15th, 2025 marked 10 years since Undertale’s official release. And over September 20-21, Fangamer hosted (not one but) two special streams replaying the game with new additions and development insight from Toby Fox, the creator.

I want to be clear about how there’s not a lot I can say that hasn’t been said before in a high quality video essay or lengthily written forum post. So I’ve decided to discuss my personal experience with Undertale. But I’m worried I won’t even have enough to say since I barely remember my time in the prime Undertale fandom. And now I’ve had an entire month to move on from all of my feelings I had writing my last blog.

“Steph, you seriously don’t have anything to say about the 10-year anniversary or the Fangamer stream?” I theoretically ask myself for the sake of transition.

It’s hard to say that… I didn’t feel much. And maybe, that means whatever I’m feeling is too much for me to process right now so I’m indifferent to it. Or maybe there’s so much else going on that I don’t even have time to process 10 years since the most influential game to my existence was released. I’ll probably feel it in a couple of months.

I’ve always had an extreme fear of growing up. And facing Undertale’s 10-year anniversary is like facing that fear directly. Of all of my fears, because of course there’s a lot, I’m always able to avoid them. I get my dad to kill spiders, I sit out on tall rollercoasters, and I stay far away from the deep parts of the ocean. But growing up is the one thing I can avoid. And, obviously death because I’m scared of that too. I’m growing up a little bit everyday. No matter how long I watch kids shows, color with crayons, or pray to God to let me be a kid for at least a little longer, I’m almost 18 already.

I’m not original by saying I don’t want to grow up, quite the opposite actually. I think everyone, especially my peers in my class, has felt this way. But I want to dive into this feeling in relation to Undertale’s 10-year anniversary.

When I was 7, I had just moved to America, I struggled to interact with kids my age, and second graders are mean! When nothing else was consistent in my life, the internet was, surprisingly. I think I’ve mentioned before that I got my first laptop when I was 4, so I was familiar with the internet at a young age.

That’s where I was first introduced to Undertale through Jackcepticeye’s Let’s Play. Not sure when I found it exactly, but I know it couldn’t have been long after the series first started in October. I have a memory of talking to a friend about how I couldn’t wait for the next episode and she had no clue what I was talking about. After I dove into the Undertale fandom, I was able to find some comfort at the end of the day. It was like this for years, long enough for me to have a physical reaction when I hear the soundtrack.

So now, 10 years later, as a 17-year-old, I’m under completely different circumstances. I’m somewhat comfortable where I live, I have some of the best friends I could ever ask for, and art school kids are actually a lot nicer than you would think. So why does it physically hurt me to listen to the soundtrack or play the game again? I think it’s because my life has completely switched over the past 10 years.

I’m not looking for comfort at the end of a hard day of being a confused and lost kid anymore. I’m almost a teenager who already has comfort and support. It’s like I’m actively looking to be confused and lost again. Maybe that’s why I’ve been making some brash decisions recently.

In all honesty, watching the Fangamer stream felt weird. For one, I watched a reaction stream of the original so there was a layer of separation that I didn’t even realize until the whole thing was over. Secondly, I was really overstimulated with the mix of an extremely emotional game, Fangamer’s elaborate set, props, and commentary, and the new content they mixed into the game. I almost lost my mind. But I enjoyed the stream and it ended on a beautiful note:

“The world

is as big as you

want it to be.

Where will you go next?”

That quote actually hit me harder than anything else. Recently, I’ve been rethinking my plans for my adulthood. Through my journey to heal my inner child, I’ve rediscovered my distaste for monotony, staying in a box, doing what is expected of me. I was always told: go to college, get a job, get married, have kids. That order, every single day. Going to art school halfway through high school was my first step outside of the pre-established path.

I want to make decisions that were never options to me before. I want to find what makes me happy rather than follow what people think makes me happy. I want to disappoint people because I’ve never done that before.

“So Steph, how big is your world?” I theoretically ask myself to lighten the mood.

Right now, it’s small. It’s almost completely limited to the state of Mississippi. I do not want my world to be that way, especially coming all the way from Indonesia. Big decisions are being made currently and I certainly wouldn’t have the courage to make them if not for Undertale.

I didn’t expect this blog to be so sad. I knew it would be emotional for me, but I wasn’t expecting to just be flat out sad. I think this rainy weather is getting to me. I wasn’t expecting to be able to discuss my current feelings in this either, I just thought I would be celebrating Undertale’s 10th birthday. Glad I’m able to find a way to make everything about me I guess??? On a lighter, dorkier note, I recently submitted my senior quote. Just like I said I would, like, 5 years ago, I made it, “Despite everything, it’s still you.” I felt silly submitting it, especially after having to explain it to someone who had never even heard of Undertale before, but 7-year-old me would think I am so cool so that’s literally all that matters. Yes, I did include that “not one but two” bit in the beginning just so I could insert both stream links thanks for noticing. And thanks for reading if you did.

Who is Aphrodite?

Aphrodite, her name meaning “from the seafoam”, is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, passion, pleasure, lust, among other things. She is a fiercely protective deity, a majority of her myths relating to protecting her children and guiding them.

As you can probably guess, her birth was from seafoam. I believe everyone has seen “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli, a painting in which a beautiful woman rises nude from a seashell.

Well, yep. This is the birth of Venus, Aphrodite’s Roman variant. The birth story, and overall creation myth, is typically the same between the two groups. No standing on chairs or shedding genuine tears this week, guys.

Aphrodite’s birth is one that I enjoy a lot, but it has quite a bit of misconception around it. In Hesiod’s account, Aphrodite was born when Kronos castrated his father, Uranus. There was this whole thing with the Titans holding the primordial beings’ legs and arms, while taking a scythe and yada yada yada. Not important. What is important is that when they were done doing the do Kronos, this big genius, threw the separated bits into the ocean. The blood of a primordial being (and in some version other excretions as well) mixed with seafoam and ocean water and boom! We got a goddess of beauty!

(This I really like, because literal BEAUTY and LOVE came from a guy’s junk being cut off. More specifically blood from a violent, necessary act mixing with another primordial force.. Greek Mythology is so chaotic and then such good things, like the mother of eros, THE god of love, come out of it.)

Well, we technically got her a long time after that. Some myths suggest that she was actually residing in the ocean for a long time, which would make sense. She needs time to mature, because like she was still born at some point, just like the goddess Athena (though where Athena got her armor is beyond me). She was born during the time in which Kronos overthrew his father, but there is a long time between that and Zeus throwing over his father. Theres a lot of dads eating their kids in Greek mythology. Seriously. Like it happens a LOT.

Aphrodite actually spent a long time in the ocean, even after the Olympian gods were like.. coming into power??? Question mark question mark question mark??? Look I never claimed to be an expert (don’t listen to anything Nick says). There is a myth around the early days of the Olympian gods’ rule, before they became the Olympians, that goes something like Poseidon had a lover Nerites, a young sea-god. He was also known as Poseidon’s charioteer, or the guy that drove him around. In other versions of his myth he was a lover of Aphrodite (potentially he was both), who refused to go with her when she was invited to Olympus. Which, she only really rose from the seafoam WHEN she was invited. Both versions of Nerites’ myth ends with him being turned in to THE first shellfish, though in his myth where he is the lover of Poseidon (because the gods were raging bisexuals, the lot of them) the god of requited love was actually born from.. their love. I guess. In other myths Anteros, the God of requited love and avenger of unrequited love, is a child of Aphrodite and Ares.

(This is like THE statue of Poseidon btw)

Nerite Snails: Your Guide To Lifespan, Care, And Reproduction | SnailPedia

(NERITEs was turned into a NERITE snail i actually havent ever seen any pictures of the snail he was turned into this is great)

While, yes, she did rise fully grown from the seafoam (it would be weird if the incarnation of pleasure and sex rose from the ocean as a child, would it not?) she actually spent quite a bit of time in the sea, and there are several myths involving her IN the sea. Love my girl. Aphrodite you mean so much to me. That’s this week’s blog, I SWEAR I’ll get back to the ATLA blogs soon guys I miss them Greek mythology is driving me insane

Greek Mythology (again) and acceptable ways to get into it through different medias!!

Greek mythology is my special interest, and I’m okay to admit that now. I remember when I first heard about it, I was probably six or seven and had just watched that horrendous Percy Jackson movie with my mom. I then, somehow, got my grubby little paws on a device and googled the only name I really remembered: Athena.

This opened a whole world for me to explore, with things that happened over two thousand years ago that I never thought could exist! There were multiple gods that I was introduced to, hundred of stories and names and places and even animals to learn about and experience and I was excited. I then remember my teacher, Mrs. Young from East Flora, asking my pathways class “what do you want to learn about?”

I had the conscious thought, then. “I can’t teach this to myself.” I knew that I would need to have someone else guide me and tell me who, what, when, where, etc. So, I suggested we learn about Greek Mythology. She loved the idea, and so for the next two months we studied different (age appropriate) myths, built The Parthenon out of toilet paper rolls and masking tape, learned names and correlations, we even looked a little bit into the stars and constellations!

I’m extremely thankful to my teacher, then. I’m glad there was an adult who asked what I wanted to learn, instead of teaching me what she was told to. I had an amazing gateway to Greek Mythology, even if the original source wasn’t so good. So today I want to talk about good, acceptable sources for younger kids to get into Greek mythology, and a few good ways I’ve expanded my knowledge of it as I’ve gotten older.

First and foremost: Percy Jackson

When talking about Greek Mythology in media, Percy Jackson is the first place my brain goes to. It has wonderful modern adaptations of the Gods into an easy to digest, true-to-myth form. The intepretaions of each god that Rick portrays is almost always interesting, fun, and doesn’t take away from the original concept of each god. While in the first series Rick does make some.. choice mistakes, especially regarding the myth of Medusa, he manages to fix his mistakes in a way that doesn’t completely override any horrible storyline.

Percy Jackon, a young boy and the demigod son of Poseidon, is ~~being hunted by~~ called by Mount Olympus and the Olympian Gods, as Zeus’ weapon, the lightning bolt, is missing; They believe he is the thief, when he didn’t even know that he was a demigod until, like, a week before. This book, and the following books, explores Percy’s story in navigating familiar and unfamiliar myths (Some I hadn’t even heard of until I read the books when I was fourteen!)

Overall, the series is one of my favorites. As a gateway into further interest in Greek Mythology all one has to do is consider that his is a children’s book and has to be dumbed down or explained differently for entertainment purposes. 10/10.

Second: The Song of Achillies (And other works by Madeline Miller)

Madeline Miller is such a talented author, from her writing style to how well she captures the parts of myths that we don’t really see. It’s true that we have little, if any, information on Circe besides what is gathered within the Odyssey, even though she is a recurring figure throughout several myths. Consider Madeline Miller’s work as a sort of in-between, and an amazing one at that. Her storytelling with the upbringing of Patroclus is so beautifully told, especially since he is a figure often overlooked despite being so pivotal for Achillies’ story in the Iliad. With both of her books being a kind of in-between, it is entirely possible to read them and get into Greek Mythology that way, by exploring three characters deeply then going into the much broader myths.. even if the ending of Circe is quite odd. Her books are such a creative take on the Iliad and a telling of Circe’s story that I will always ALWAYS recommend these books to people. 10/10

Third: EPIC THE MUSICAL

Just like the last section, Epic the Musical is written and directed (? I’m not sure, I don’t know musicals or music in general) Jorge Rivera-Herrans, which released over two years, each song coming out one at a time from 2022 through to 2024. The musical follows Odysseus, using wonderful modern storytelling to re-tell the odyssey in way it’s meant to be told. I genuinely have no words for how good this musical is. The only complaint I have about it is that, well, Odysseus does cheat on his wife. Sorry not sorry. Greeks had much different standards than we do today.

That being said, I have NOT touched on some of the.. worse ways people have gotten into greek mythology cough Lore Olympus cough cough really bad webtoon cough cough ANYWAYS!!!!!

This is the end of the blog!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!! If anyone else likes Greek mythology, how did you discover it? and let me know if you’d want to learn anything about Greek mythology because I know TOO much!!! Blog ideas are welcomed because I need them, lol.

Greek vs. Roman Mythology

Okay, I lied. I said in my last blog post that I was going to continue my incoherent ramblings about Katara and Avatar: The Last Airbender as a whole, but I’ve decided that i need to get something out of the way instead, which is how i feel about Greek Mythology and Roman Mythology.

Anyone who’s had more than one conversation with me might be aware of how passionate I get over a certain empire, which starts with R and ends with oman. I’ve been known to yell, hit things, stand in chairs, and leave groupchats in the past. Is it that serious? No. Do i care? Also no!!

(There is, quite literally, a running gag between my friends to randomly text me “The Romans” and watch to see how mad I get — it has been described as a trigger word of mine multiple times)

Roman Mythology and Greek Mythology are often used interchangeably, like they are counterparts or equals. Now, do not get me wrong. Roman mythology (though i know nothing about it besides the creation myth) is just as complex, but in the end, they ARE separate things. This is just information off of the top of my head, mostly from my understanding of greek mythology and how it differs from roman mythology in those big ways that MEAN something. Even though they were adjacent (watch me make myself mad) they are NOT the same, most importantly in how they portray certain gods.

Am i going to start talking about myths? No! I dont know anything about them, and if i refuse to learn more than what is absolutely necessary (Read: I’m too lazy.) I do, however, know about the pantheon itself.

The Greek pantheon was very heavily focused on “Hey, you guys are messed up, but we’re MORE messed up, so be scared of us.” The Greeks, with what their pantheon represented, was very arts and emotions focused. They interpret things like hubris, defiance against the gods, lust, ect. Hubris is a big one, most commonly portrayed with Achillies. He believed that he could live, and deny the fate which was set out for him, if he avoided following his whole prophecy “ur gonna die bro” thing. The gods didn’t like that!!

The greeks were very insistent on their idea of fate, which is what most myths follow. Gods deliver a prophecy, the guy who’s the butt of the joke in the prophecy tries to avoid prophecy, ends up butt of the joke. (Seriously, you think they’d stop warning them, right?)

The romans are different. Extremely different. Again, this is my throwaway “here’s what i think 🤓☝️!!!” because i admit that i do not know that much about roman mythology, entirely because it makes me so upset. Many myths from Greek times are so Romanized we get left with our current version of Medusa, who, in the original myth, was born a gorgon. Or Achillies, who, in his original myth, never had invulnerability. He was just quick yall..

The romans were very victory, war, order and rule-based, rather than the emotional and theatrical Greeks. This is best portrayed by their goddess of love, Venus. She represented, obviously, love; beauty; prosperity; fertility; and VICTORY. She also mothered Aeneas, who is a direct ancestor of the founders of rome. Romans held her in such a high regard because of this. They had a goddess literally named victory and they still worshiped her and prayed to her in hopes of a victory in battle. Her greek counterpart(??? cousin. They’re cousins now.) Her greek cousin, Aphrodite, more so represents Beauty, (beauty over love, that’s important) Love, PLEASURE, and procreation. See how those differ? Similar, but important differences.

None of this is even mentioning MYCENEAN Greece (dear gods, Mycenean Greece :/) which had nearly *checks notes* 600 years of a nearly entirely different pantheon that the Classical greek pantheon is based on, plus those 200 or so years of the greek dark ages? There’s just so much more rich, complex history behind the greek pantheon. And, yes, the romans were heavily influenced; And, yes, they carry a lot of similarities. However, the romans were after, with influence from more places than the greeks had. It’s kind of like when you take a character from a show and change him so much that he’s pretty much an OC now and you could write your own story with it and no one would ever notice.

Okay, this is getting long but i am also talking about my special interest (greek mythology) and my special dislike (roman mythology) and i haven’t gotten up and screamed from the rooftops yet, so i’m doing better than i normally would. She’s getting long, so i’ll see you next week!!!! I will (likely) either be speaking on the same topic or going back to Avatar.. undecided. Kiss kiss!! Byee!!

Disability and Media

Here today we talk about disability, how it is portrayed in the media, and why we should care.

While July is the official Disability Awareness Month, disabilities affect people all months of year, and we need to talk about it. Especially the representation in the media of people with different disabilities. Or shall I say, the lack thereof.

The disabled Flag represents the different types of disabilities and shows pride and support for those with disabilities.

Disabilities are varied and wide spectrum. We have broad categories for them, being physical, sensory, developmental, and psychiatric. Physical disabilities affect your mobility or motor functions. Cerebral Palsy, spinal injuries, and arthritis are common examples of physical disabilities. Developmental disabilities, like intellectual disability or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, affect cognitive functions, especially at a younger age. Psychiatric disorders are psychological conditions, like PTSD or bipolar or OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Though these can get tricky, as the way they debilitate a person is not very well documented or taken seriously. Neurological disabilities affect the brain and nervous system, like a traumatic brain injury. Neurodevelopmental disabilities are commonly represented by ADHD and ADD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit disorder). Finally, we have sensory and learning disabilities. Sensory disorders consist of a disability that affects some sort of sense, such as blindness or deafness. Learning disorders, like dyslexia (reading difficulties) and dyscalculia (math difficulties) affect your learning process.

We’d think that, if we have so many different types of disabilities and disorders, we would have a better understanding of and acceptance towards disabled people. Unfortunately, due to negative stereotypes and ableist history, we still have so many misconceptions about those who are disabled. For example, not everyone who uses a wheelchair is paraplegic. While the statistics are inconclusive currently, it has been reported that up to 1/3 of wheelchair users are ambulatory. This means they still can move and walk with less assistance. Another misconception is that people who use canes or walkers are old, or that you can only develop physical disabilities later in life. Disabilities can be developed at any time in one’s life, and mobility aids can be needed at any point. So why do we depict disabilities as this rare, scary, and sad thing?

That’s another thing. The extreme depictions of disabilities. Either people who are disabled are depicted as hopeless and wish they weren’t disabled, or they’re a superhero and an inspiration. We are normal people. We have our good days, and our bad ones. We shouldn’t be reduced to one emotion because we are people with a wide and diverse variety of emotions. Or the extremities of psychiatric disorders. People with schizophrenia are considered dangerous and “insane”, people with bipolar disorder are “unstable and something you should fear”, or OCD is being the “neat freak”. These depictions are useless at best and harmful at worst because these disorders are a spectrum. We do not all depict disabilities the same way, just as no two people are alike. We need to start depicting disabled people and characters as what they are: people.

It also sucks, as someone who uses mobility aids, to have little to no accessibility in your daily life. Schools have barely any accommodation, and if they do have the occasional wheelchair ramp, it’s on the other side of the school. So, it gets to a point where it feels like the 1950s, where folks with mobility issues need to be “hidden from public view”. But with all systemic issues, the rights and support for people with disabilities are still new. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed in 1990 by President Bush. That’s only 34 years ago. So, architecture and medical information are still outdated and unavailable to people with disabilities. That’s also not to mention the discrimination against queer, afab, and people of color in disability spaces.

Disability affects about 1 in 6 people. Whether it be in the mind, body, or both, we all deserve respect and accommodation for our disabilities. We deserve to feel safe and comfortable in our bodies and shouldn’t be treated like we’re incompetent or a burden. Disabled people are still people and deserve to access quality medical care. So what could you do to help people around you with disabilities? The best thing you can do is ask what help they need. It can be nice to help them put something away or offer advice, but you need to always ask what would make the disabled person feel most welcome. If you’re holding events, please try to make them accessible. If someone has sensory disorders, make sure to add accommodations so they can experience everything too. I think people often think we want “special treatment”, but in reality, we want what everyone else wants: to be able to function and enjoy life.

Just remember that, if someone around you is disabled, treat them with respect and kindness. Treat others how you want to be treated, and please, for the love of God, do not push wheelchairs without asking.

New Deltarune Chapters Sent Me 10 Years Back

It’s only like me to start my senior year off with a Deltarune/Undertale blog. I have those two games to thank for my personality, passion for art, and my love for storytelling – and on a deeper note: for keeping me here and encouraging me to push through the toughest times in my life.

Deltarune chapters three and four were released on June 5th. I wasn’t able to play them for about two weeks since I had a writer’s workshop, vacation, and my first Comic-Con all in a row. But when I did finally play them, I went through something really strange.

As I was fully submerged in a self-established “Deltarune summer”, I felt something very familiar in my soul. I remember: I was listening to the new music, looking at and making fan art, reading people’s theories, and talking about it to friends. Suddenly, I felt like I was seven years old again in my Undertale phase. It was so strange. I had to check the date, look in the mirror, anything to make sure I hadn’t somehow slipped into 2015. Then I was so overwhelmed I threw up.

Yeah, not my best moment at all. But this feeling hit me like nothing else had in ten years. I’m not seven years old anymore watching Undertale animations, reading fan comics, or listening to the music preparing to enter middle school. I’m seventeen, graduating high school soon. Except I’m still doing everything I did with Undertale, just with Deltarune.

Everything is so different but at the same time, it’s not at all.

I’m aware most of my peers aren’t familiar with Deltarune or Undertale, I can only advise whoever hasn’t played either to play them. It’s just like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. And I’m no outlier, there’s an entire fanbase of at least one-hundred-thousand people that would say the same thing.

So why does Deltarune mean so much to me? Well the same reasons that Undertale does – but that’ll be covered in September’s blog since Undertale’s ten-year anniversary will be September 15th. Deltarune has incredible characters, one-of-a-kind music, and- …I’m realizing I’ve already written about this. It’s so interesting re-reading that blog – chapters three and four didn’t even have a release date and I had no idea what was coming.

I like Deltarune for all the reasons everyone else does, and October 2024 Stephanie did. But now, I’ve attached my entire being to that game. This is a pretty common thing I do when I really like something. Not only does it help me express myself, since all the media I love is a reflection of myself, but it also helps me feel like I’m appreciating the media for all of its worth. I’m actually really possessive in this way: my favorite color is pink, my favorite bug is a ladybug, my favorite show (that I even refer to as “my show”) is Common Side Effects, and my favorite game is Deltarune. I’m known for all of these things because I tie them so closely to my being. I may be possessive over Deltarune but I’m certainly not selfish over it. I’m constantly trying to get my friends to play it so I’m probably really annoying.

I’ve also been on a mission to heal my inner child before I graduate high school. So, like an extremely normal and mentally well seventeen-year-old does, I’ve been watching My Little Pony. And, in a really funny way, Deltarune shares a lot of similarities to My Little Pony. It’s kind of like my own teenage version of My Little Pony. Deltarune has huge themes of friendship, redemption, and conflict resolution through communication. Things also happen really quickly in the same way they do in the episodic form of My Little Pony. Kris and Susie, the two main characters, went from being enemies (?) to best friends in, at most, two days. Over the span of chapter one, Susie became open to talking problems out rather than immediately resorting to violence. And Ralsei, another one of the main characters, went from wanting to resolve everything through kindness to understanding when fighting is necessary over the span of four chapters, which was three in-game days. These are some extreme character developments over really short periods of time, kind of like how My Little Pony characters change so drastically in one episode while learning a sweet little message. And finally, the biggest reason I love Deltarune so much: Deltarune just has a lot of elements that I genuinely really enjoy.

Kris, the character we play as and/or (depending on who you ask) the protagonist, fits the description of my favorite kind of protagonists perfectly. Back in 2015, Frisk from Undertale was my favorite protagonist and they use they/them pronouns. Later in 2016, Sal Fisher from Sally Face was my favorite protagonist, mostly known for his bright blue hair. Kris fits both of these descriptions as they canonically use they/them pronouns and in the dark worlds, they have blue hair.

Deltarune also has huge themes of escapism, darkness (yes, the state of lighting), and alternate/parallel universes. As someone who used to chronically daydream, was deathly afraid of the dark, and is extremely interested in the idea of other universes, all of these are right up my alley.

And, finally, Deltarune uses the plot device of prophecies. This is my favorite thing ever, I’m so surprised I haven’t used prophecies in every single piece of my writing. For one, a prophecy can be used in so many different ways. It can be a simple statement that starts the story or even a title (for example, the book They Both Die at the End). It can be an actual fantastical prophecy (such as in the book The Song of Achilles). It can even be told in the way of generational trauma. It is so much fun to know how something will happen or end. The optimistic, hopeful side of you tries to believe it won’t happen, if it’s something terrible, or it will happen in a different way and then the truly human side of you just wants to see how it will happen.

(This paragraph will contain spoilers for Deltarune’s fourth chapter.) The way Deltarune uses prophecies as a plot device is, by far, my favorite. In chapter one, Ralsei, a fantastical mage-like character that only resides in the magical dark worlds, establishes a prophecy that him, Kris, and Susie will save the world from “The Roaring” – a catastrophe similar to the Rapture in the Bible. Specifically, he states the prophecy needs a human (Kris), a monster (Susie), and a prince from the dark (Ralsei). But in chapter four, released six real-life years later (!!!), the true prophecy is revealed straight from the source, which is the church since the prophecy is part of the religion of the town Deltarune takes place in. The prophecy needs a “cage with human soul and parts”, a “girl with hope crossed on her heart”, a “prince alone in deepest dark”, and a girl that “love finds its way to”. This version is, very clearly, a lot broader than the original we were introduced to in chapter one and it adds a completely new character (in my opinion)! And the final part of the prophecy that’s been tearing me apart since chapter four came out in June: the mysterious “final tragedy” that the main characters know about but us as players do not. This is such a unique way to use prophecies as a plot device and it inspires me so much in my own work.

There’s plenty of other smaller reasons I love Deltarune (like Noelle, who is a Christmas themed reindeer – I love Christmas themed anything) but those are the biggest ones and what truly keeps Deltarune so close to my heart. I really enjoyed writing this blog and dissecting my favorite parts of my favorite game. It helped me realize a lot of new things about myself and it helped me understand the writing of Deltarune on a higher level.

Thanks so much for reading if you did. Last year, my blogs were really fun and spilling with my own personality. I want to take a different approach now – you know, since I’m old and that means I’m a pretentious art student now and I have to be dramatic about all of my pieces. I’m kidding. Kind of.

Don’t read the old Deltarune blog too closely, there’s at least one typo that I somehow missed that’s eating me alive. Also paragraph three of this blog is a little dramatized, I knew I didn’t slip into 2015 but it absolutely felt that way. And I did unfortunately vomit… And when I briefly explained what “The Roaring” is (“a catastrophe similar to the Rapture in the Bible”), it reminded me of that one part from Snapcube’s Shadow the Hedgehog fandub with “the Devil from the Bible” and it made me giggle. Does my nicheness (that’s not even that niche) make you want to read more of my blogs? I hope so. Also do you like all of my links? I spent a lot of time on them.

Anyway, this blog was actually really emotional for me. I love Deltarune and I think I made that pretty clear. Remember to play or replay Undertale for its ten-year anniversary next month.