Hiya. 👋🏻(-v-) <- [Benevolent fella.]
I just found your blog—and I’m already in love with everything; your art style, your ‘CotL’ “A.U.” [I don’t know what else to refer to them as] and it’s lore—it’s all amazing.
I was wondering if you could perhaps shine more light on the brothers, Aym and Baal? More so Baal, specifically?
Usually, Baal’s depicted as the more “cordial” one, of the two; from what I’ve seen so far [which—I must confess, isn’t a lot]—depicts him as what Aym usually is… that being—violent, and “kind of” insane.
Is this tied to the substance abuse [which—any additional lore on that, would also be greatly appreciated [E.G. what substances, in particular—and what’re the effects; etcetera…]?
Anyways—I hope the year ahead of you, is a good one; do what you love, and neither lose a positive attitude, nor quit altogether. Good luck. o7
Golly, such praise! Makes me feel bad for leaving this ask on the backburner for so long. But I'm so glad you're enjoying my au, Pantheon, so far.
To answer your question, I made a very conscious choice to subvert the norms of how Baal is portrayed in my story. I usually see people write him as a charming, level-headed golden child. My Baal on the other hand, is much more of a live-wire.
He likes going on missionaries and exploring the world around him. Cliff diving, foraging, or just sunbathing on a hill: Baal doesn't miss a chance to bask in nature's bounties. He's honestly a big tree-hugger.
And while he's no slouch in combat, Baal would rather avoid unnecessary conflict. Not because he's some softy pacifist, he just finds most confrontations boring and tedious. But when it comes down to protective his loved ones or defending their honor, the boy becomes a BEAST. Aym may have a more precise and calculated fighting style, but when Baal pulls up to a fight you're not meeting death in one piece.
As for his partial insanity... that's mostly just a result of his upbringing. Raised in Death's court, father figure was imprisoned, sacrificed to serve aforementioned father for over a century, forced to fight new parental figure cause they refused to give their own life, got thrusted into freedom without his brother, and now that he finally has a moment of rest all the Horrors™ come flooding into his brain full force. That isn't even mentioning the inferiority complex, attachment issues, and various other mental burdens of growing up during the Purge of Gods.
But does Baal tell any of his slew of guardians and parental figures about these issues? HELL NAH!! He'd sooner fight the Bishops of the Old Faith with only a soggy tuna. So, in order to handle his cocktail of anxieties, he indulges himself in whatever substances he can get his paws on. Nothing too extreme at first, just some cat-nip or a few swigs of ale. But as Baal builds up a tolerance to those, he gets increasingly desperate for his next fix.
This escalating addiction causes Baal to become detached, irritable, and neglectful of his responsibilities and personal care. Not to mention the physical harm he's causing his body.
Baal is gonna have a rough go at things as Pantheon goes on, both during and after his substance abuse. But his story in one that I'm looking forward to sharing, coming from a family of drug-users and even knowing some recovering addicts.
Overall, Pantheon is as much a love story as it is an exploration of trauma and how different people approach it. I've never been so invested and proud of a story I'm writing, and I'm so excited to share it with such a supportive community. Thank you all for your patience as I work out my creative prosses and develop my skills. Here's to Pantheon and hopefully many more stories in the future.
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