The mythical and fantastical.

[rogueslayer452]

Taken from the Crunchy Questions Meme:

What mythical or fantastical being deserves a fictional redemption as much as werewolves and vampires?

Angels. I think angels need to have a massive fictional redemption, mostly in terms of portraying them as the eldritch abominations that they are. A lot of people still think angels as being these cutesy little beings with white fluffy wings (or, alternatively, attractive humanoid beings with white fluffy wings), that's basically what's been commercialized for a long time, when instead I want there to be more depictions of them being gargantuan beings with like sixteen wings of varying sizes and colors and forms, having multiple heads with thousands of glowing eyes. Because, angels are terrifying. They are meant to be terrifying cosmic horror monstrosities, and I just really want more depictions of varying degrees of angels in that regard. I want them to look something akin to a Dark Souls/Bloodborne creature instead of just the same-old attractive human but with wings. That gets boring. Be creative, go outside the box, get grotesque.

Also, I want to say faeries need to have another fictional redemption, because again with how commercialized faeries have become we need more variety. The fair folk aren't always cutesy and nice, many are actually quite mischievous and are tricksters themselves who have their own set of rules. Anyone who has ever watched Labyrinth knows this very well. There are so many different types of fae that needs more acknowledgement than just those with fairy wings, as well. I think Lost Girl was the only thing that I remember seeing that actually gave a little bit of spotlight to the different kinds of fae beings that aren't often shown in mainstream media, such as the squonk and brownie, for example. I guess what I'm saying is that, most people have a very basic understanding about faeries and not such much about the fae as a whole, so I would love to see more stories featuring these different kinds of fae creatures from all kinds of folklore.

And overall, I do want more emphasis on mythical creatures and beings from other cultures as well. A lot of fantastical beings are universally shared throughout the world, such as the dragon, however we only tend to see the same types over and over again. It would be nice to see the legends and myths surrounding these kinds of creatures from different cultures and how they view them, the legends behind them, etc.

Comments

[valeria-sg-1.livejournal.com]

The Dresden Files has angels alongside many other supernatural beings and although they haven't been talked about extensively, I'm looking forward to reading more about them in the next books.

[tabaqui]

Oh, yes. I love the original notion of angels as huge, fantastical, almost incomprehensible beings. Or, as Gabriel (Christopher Walken) said in 'The Prophecy', angels as warriors, up to their elbows in gore, happy to kill babies and grandmothers and anything in between.

I love the darker side of fairy. I love the pooka, kelpie, and each-uisge of Celt, Irish, and Scottish lore - beings who trick you, or kill you. So many very cool things that would make amazing characters in stuff. :D

And - third time agreeing (magical three!) - other cultures need to be explored more in this our multicultural world.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I want there to be more depictions of them being gargantuan beings with like sixteen wings of varying sizes and colors and forms, having multiple heads with thousands of glowing eyes. Because, angels are terrifying.

I'd never heard of those kinds of angels, but I can believe it!

And I agree, I'd love to see more mythical creatures from cultures not usually explored.

Just looked up Brownies - they seem a bit like House Elves from Harry Potter, but less problematic. I had heard before that that's what JKR had based them on. I'd never heard of the Squonk before, even though I live near PA!

[awakenyourfaith.livejournal.com]

Fascinating!

[violateraindrop]

I do like the angels on Lucifer, but look wise they are still just humans with wings. At least they are warriors or were once upon a time.

[haebin.livejournal.com]

...gargantuan beings with like sixteen wings of varying sizes and colors and forms, having multiple heads with thousands of glowing eyes.
THIS!!!
*__*

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Do mermaids and selkies count as fae? I'm in for more sea people. :-)

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Seconded to all of the above.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Selkies, certainly. ex. the movie Song of the Sea.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

I haven't seen this one. I remember Lost Girl had a selkie episode.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I would say they do. Lost Girl was what I thought of when thinking of selkies. And I know most recently Siren was a show that demonstrated a more grotesque version of mermaids.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I definitely prefer seeing angels being terrifying warriors, and it would be even more wonderful if we could see more non-conventional appearances of them.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Seriously, angels are absolutely terrifying and it's why I'm so fascinated with them.

It doesn't really surprise me that JKR used them as a reference only to make a more....questionable version (one that could've been more explored but wasn't because, well, we know why at this point). Fae creatures aren't to be messed with, because as nice as they can appear if you anger them or mistreat them they will retaliate in their own way. And it's just so fascinating, since it creates a lot of interesting possibilities of stories.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Exactly! There is just something so utterly fascinating about angels being these celestial beings that are so incomprehensible to the human perception that I wish more things in media explored this more. Like, some fiction does this by making angels terrifying warriors who will kill anything and everything without mercy, but not enough go further into expanding beyond that. I want more cosmic horror type of celestial beings, y'know?

I guess the basis of my entire post is, I want more darker and grotesque versions of mythical and fantastical beings often seen in folklore and mythology. Because that's what I'm here for.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I just really love the concept of these powerful celestial beings that are just so incomprehensible to our human perception, that the possibilities of their appearances can be endless. I've been so fascinated by angels and the varying degrees that can appear in, and it makes me long for more depictions of that in media and fiction.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I haven't read The Dresden Files, but it sounds interesting. I just love anything that kind of explores more of that side of things, especially if it's in a grotesque manner.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

It's an Irish film by the same makers as The Secret of Kells.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_Sea_(2014_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kells

You might know Lisa Hannigan as the voice of Blue Diamond in Steven Universe or Fionnula Flagan as ex-mayor Nicky Riordan in the Syfy series Defiance.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Thanks for the links! :-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

Oh, yes, Siren! I watched an episode and it wasn't my thing. Too bad, because it ended up having canon polyamory, and it's rare to get that in TV shows.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[tabaqui]

Yup - we definitely need more of this kind of thing.

[haebin.livejournal.com]

There is a really great Artist at Deviantart who draws angels like you would to like to see them. It is gorgeous!

https://www.deviantart.com/petemohrbacher

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

That's also something I'd like to see more of on TV (a comment which gives me an opportunity to use this icon literally).

[http://users.livejournal.com/_profiterole_/]

I'd like a TV adaptation of the Wicked Lovely book series. It's about fae and it has both m/m/f and f/f/m.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I also echo the sentiment that we need more canon polyamory in television, and just fiction in general. It's very rare, but whenever it happens, like genuinely happens, it makes me very happy to see.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks for the recommendation! And I agree, those are definitely very gorgeous.

[haebin.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. :)
I love it to share nice thins. ^^

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Have you heard of Final Fantasy XIV Online's latest expansion, Shadowbringers? 'Cause it's all about fighting off the very eldritch angels (or "Sin-Eaters") of the Flood of Light sweeping the world.

And the Sin-Eaters have classical names like Philia (brotherly love), Storge (love of family), Eros (romantic love), Innocence, Sophrosyne (temperance), Andreia (fortitude), Dikaiosyne (justice), Phronesis (prudence) and Eden.

Storge boss fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYT5qyctCro

Philia boss fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1EWItQsDyc

Eros boss fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QvHzRDEoEQ

And of course there's the infamously disturbing scene where Tesleen is turned into a Sin-Eater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOMge2WFW_A
.

[silverusagi]

I am down for more angels or more fae.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I know that apparently YA has some angels and fae stuff, but it's usually of the "very attractive humanoid" variety, which I guess is okay for that target audience but not really for me, personally speaking. I want more eldritch and darker versions of angels and fae.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I don't play Final Fantasy so I wasn't aware of this, but those are incredibly fascinating. The last one especially, because it's very disturbing which is right up my alley. I love these types of variations of angels where they are grotesque. Amazing.

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Then you'd also like how they're depicted in the Drakengard series (of which NieR and NieR:Automata are spinoffs), where they're summoned by the Cult of the Watchers in the first game, the Intoners in Drakengard 3, etc.

The Watchers devour one of your party members: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUtH3EoCRMg

Final sequence of Drakengard 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82dGAj9erc0&list=PLlYUlPdF4cgBOgOBPjzC-trQUZZAcS3I3&index=37&t=0s

And the Angel battles have some great boss themes in Drakengard 3 as well. Unfortunately these particular videos don't depict the Angels, but I'll describe them.

Corroscience/Armisael (giant puppets with oversized heads) and Corroscience/Ezrael (an ancient winged wyrm): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj_VvWDJspA

Prevolt/Armaros (a flying fortress) and Prevolt/Zophiel (a demon dragon): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLjwydvf5Go

Exvulsion/Phanuel (a giant crab) and Exvulsion/Galgaliel (undead soldiers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HtUAgrOnCc

Companthem/Michael (a demon dragon) and Companthem Abdiel (golems): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1idG9PuKh0s

Blissade/Egregori (warriors made of water) and Blissade/Raphael (a giant spider): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6-M1cY-uI
.

[blakmagjick]

"mostly in terms of portraying them as the eldritch abominations that they are"
yesssssssss this!