Time for another DEITIES blog post! This post will recap the Bluesky thread I made following the premise of “1 Like = 1 Song” […] featuring the project’s notorious…
Hi all! Typically I’ll keep a blog update like this for the website, but I figured I’d share this one and share some other gradual site updates while I’m at it. The TL;DR is the DEITIES has a new Deezer account, as well as some small incremental adjustments to the site and character profiles.
DEITIES PROJECT ON... DEEZER?
So firstly, in addition to this blog update preserving a music thread I did on Bluesky some time ago last year featuring everyone’s notorious chaos god, this entry also formally introduces the new Deezer account for DEITIES! This is the Deezer version of Set’s Masterlist that can be previewed best on desktop, but you can also access the full DEITIES Deezer Profile and other playlists when logged in.*
(*NOTE: To my best knowledge / after testing everything I could, Deezer may require logging into an account to view profiles in full. In case a 404 error appears when you visit the link, please compare to this screenshot when logged in.)
Meanwhile, the DEITIES Spotify Account will still be preserved; I’m not about to purge several dozen 10-year-old playlists, that’s too destructive. Still, I am making the move to migrate to Deezer to at least build and share my personal and project playlists, so this platform will get more emphasis moving forward.
For the time being / unless something changes, I’ll try my best to keep the mixes on both platforms in sync, so anyone is welcome to use either platform to listen to the playlists. And if neither are your cup of tea, I will continue to update everyone’s Tracklists in plain text on the website as a fail-safe reference.
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OTHER INCREMENTAL CHANGES
While I’ve been a bit quiet online this first month of the year, I have been trying to make some adjustments to the site to help prepare it for some personal goals.
It would, for example, be great to start adding more full character profiles than the 20 we’ve started with some time ago 🫠 For clarity, with the way the website is structured, I want the layout of the current profiles to be as polished as possible (to avoid having to make multiple changes in the future). With all that said, here’s some rapid-fire recaps of the site changes:
[1] This has been the case for the past few months, but if you haven’t visited or scrolled through the site’s Homepage in while, it has newer digest panels for all recent Blog Updates and featured Askbox Responses. I’m still debating another section or two, but think this works as a decent landing page, yes?
[2] The first ~200 Askbox Responses have been recorded and preserved on the websites’s All Answers Archives. The goal of recording everything (from both tumblr and other accounts I had) is still slowly underway, which I’ll resume after other tasks and art goals in the next month.
[3] The current 20 DEITIES Profiles have all had some adjustments to their layout sections. I’m still sitting on certain changes, but the majority seem to be in a good place, and close to the standard I want for later profiles. Using Horus’s profile layout as a example, the newly added or edited sections include:
Updated terminology and links in the Key Relationships section (primarily for links out to others’ characters, but subject to change pending a new platform for said characters...)
Newly added Relevant Notes & Updates sections. For example, Horus’s own +Likes Recap Thread from some time ago.
Newly added Featured Askbox Responses section that are specific to the character in profile.
Additional media link out to the character’s Art Fight Profile, where applicable. Just keep in mind, Art fight does also require an account to view profiles and characters, such as Horus’s AF Profile.
New custom section to display the character’s tracklist and playlist options (where applicable), replacing the previous Spotify embed.
Currently only applicable to the Royal Family of 6, but their Main Character References galleries has update to include their standalone artwork from the anniversary illustration. These refs display their flat colors with no gradients or filters, so they can be color-picked as needed.
I think that covers the main changes worth sharing; any other changes were minor tweaks in appearance and CSS. There still remains some areas that I’d like to tackle when I have ample time, which include better content hierarchy + letter casing, and adding more alt text to existing image galleries.
Aside from those changes in mind, I’ll continue to update everyone with both website and blog progress when there’s more to share, thanks for your patience and interest in the meantime!
Typically I would write a formal blog post for my end-of-year update, but I'm writing something on the fly for the sake of timeliness ✨
I wish I could say I completed most of what I wanted in the year 2023, as I had several goals I thought were feasible. However, some of those goals had to be placed aside for a very sudden but fortuitous reason, that I feel worth sharing with ya'll -- which is that Iiiiiiii bought my first house! 🥹🥹🥹
(As you can imagine, this took quite a bit of my energy and time this past year, thus explaining part of my absence -- more details regarding my activity under the cut!)
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From early August thru the end of December, my home-searching and closing process was incredibly long, stressful, exhausting, expensive (lmao), and time-inducing. I'm thankful to have had support from my agent, and well as my friends and family while navigating this ordeal, and I'm in the process of moving my items and services into my new home during the remainder of my apartment lease.
This home search combined with my full-time work, was a major reason why took a partial break from social media, and semi-hiatus from new art. This also affected my frequency of updating the DEITIES website and blog -- at least, on the front end. I did a lot of backend work and completed a major to-do with migrating the website and giving it a new primary domain -- so now, both deitiesofduat.com AND deitiesproject.com will redirect to the website. 👍
For the most part though, I used the 2nd half of 2023 to focus on some major life decisions, and leading into early 2024 I’m aiming to give myself a bit of a lifestyle reset. It's going to take some time to settle into this new normal, so aside from occasional media posts I'll continue to be quiet a bit longer. Once I complete some key home-owning goals and attempt to recharge, I'll aim to resume the goals I had in mind for DEITIES Project and my personal art, as well as engaging with my audience more (I miss interacting with ya'll, aha 😭).
In the meantime, thank you all for you continued patience and support! Despite being offline more-than-not this past year, I really appreciate the continue interest you all have in this project. DEITIES remains so important to me even with my shift in scope, so I'll do what I can to put iterate on it and give it all my effort when I have more bandwidth. Until then, wishing you all the very best in 2024!
@akariamontgomery said: It’s the way that I was looking through the picture and was like “wow Montu is short” but then realized it was because he’s next to Sobek and Shezmu because Horus and Anubis are both around that height lol It looks so cool though to finally see all of them standing together
LMAODJFKSDFDS-- I laugh because I’m reminded of that one pic I drew when Montu looks smaller next to Shezmu (and where my proportions were more off) and now it’s coming back full circle. Victory bird can’t catch a break 😂
BUT YEH Montu is actually fairly tall at 5′ 10″, same height as Anubis! He just happens to be placed between two giants in the lineup (and Wep--).
Technically the shortest guy in that lineup is Horus, he’s “““only””” 5′9″ -- but his hair is fluffy and adds an inch or two.
On that note -- I realize some of the heights in the full lineup may appear off by an inch or so because I’m trying to measure from the top of their scalp, not the top of their hair; Osiris was the easiest for that reason. Their website profiles do list their heights under the physical traits sections, but I can share them here for ease and comparison:
Sobek -- 7′ 0″ (~213 cm; Tallest overall in lineup)
Yamm -- 6′ 9″ (lmao-- ahem, ~206 cm)
Shezmu -- 6′ 8″ (~203 cm)
Ra -- 6′ 2″ (~188 cm)
Sekhmet -- 6′ 1″ (~185 cm)
Osiris -- 6′ 0″ (~183 cm)
Set, Thoth, and Wepwawet -- 5′ 11″ (~180 cm)
Anubis and Montu -- 5′ 10″ (~178 cm)
Horus and Mafdet -- 5′ 9″ (~175 cm)
Isis -- 5′ 8″ (~173 cm)
Anuket -- 5′ 7″ (~170 cm)
Nephthys and Hathor -- 5′ 6″ (~168 cm)
Serqet and Pakhet -- 5′ 4″ (~163 cm)
Bastet -- 5′ 2″ (~157 cm; Shortest overall in lineup)
When the deities turn into animals, since for example, if Horus turns into a Falcon and has the eye of Horus, would he be more recognizable as Horus? Or would people just think he’s a Falcon flying by?
My initial answer would lean towards the latter, based on what I shared in the world-building notes for Animal forms:
Deities in their animal forms often display unusual colors, markings, and eyes, and they often wear additional accessories or jewelry. While this can differentiate deities from mortal animals and demons, deities can also hide or adjust these features to avoid being easily noticed by mortals.
That said, I think it may also depend on whether the deity wants to be noticed or perceived as “divine.” To expand on this using the example with Horus — like all deities, he has access to different forms. Usually when gods want to walk among mortals unnoticed, they will use their Mortal form to do so and hide their unusual or divine traits (for Horus, it’s turning his hair fully black and masking his other divine glamors).
The same can be done with using Animal forms to go unnoticed — or at least, to go without being perceived as an actual god. But that doesn’t mean their presence won’t turn heads or remind mortals of the gods they are associated with, either. [...]
In Horus’s case and with his falcon form, most mortals who see him would have an odd feeling due to his divine aura, but most wouldn’t think much past that. They might think “Oh my, a falcon out here? Is that one of Lord Horus’s messengers, or a sign of his blessings?” due to the strong associations. But unless Horus purposely gives them a reason to think it’s him in the feathery-flesh, they may not realize that the falcon flying overhead is the very god they’re invoking (to Horus’s amusement, I’m sure).
Also, I’ve played with the Idea of some divine traits not being sensed by mortals normally. So while Horus’s Eye is present on his falcon form, mortals might not notice it unless Horus used magic to make it visible, etc. Plus I’m sure he’d blow his cover the moment he reveals himself as a falcon capable of human speech, much like when Montu did similarly in this comic lmao—
Overall, I just find it entertaining that a deity’s animal forms might visually stick out more than others of their species -- not unlike the trope “Flashy Protagonists, Bland Extras” where the major characters have bright hair colors and designs (and that’s not a dig at the trope, I clearly use this in DEITIES too lmao).
But canonly, deities who are in their animal form usually have no intention of being recognized as divine by mortals. If they really want the recognition as a god, they have plenty of ways to reveal their divine nature and make themselves known -- animal form or not.
Hi All! Time for a kinda-spontaneous-but-not-really Project Update, along with the current events of this month -- which is a DEITIES themed OC_Tober + and upcoming Askbox Session!
I understand if this all kinda came out of nowhere, so I'll use this short update to share my plans and any additional context, and I hope it's something to look forward to! More information is under the cut!
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OC_TOBER 2022 PLANS PART 1 of 2 -- DEITIES CAST LINEUP & PROFILES
The gist of my OC_Tober plan this month will be sharing separate profiles and featured art each weekday in a thematic order for the DEITIES Project -- 5 per week, 20 total. These will likely debut on my art twitter first, and then be mirrored on tumblr later the same day.
This is my minimum goal, but I'll gauge my free time if I have the bandwidth to do some extra things for fun -- like any additional new art, meme templates, blog posts on the website, or other nostalgia trips.
The character profiles for tumblr, twitter, and my other media accounts will use a new format that I'm still preparing. Meanwhile, anyone who feels like learning more about the deities can view their full profiles on the project site -- https://deitiesproject.com/characters
Higher quality + Full-size Images -- https://sta.sh/21y4noqrsk91
(These are best seen on desktop admittedly, tumblr’s version is is better for mobile viewing!)
For those who feel like viewing / sharing on other social media:
Twitter Version -- https://twitter.com/ColaCanvas/status/1576316256982302721
IG Version -- https://www.instagram.com/p/CjMe683Ds4w/
Artfol Version -- https://www.artfol.me/a/xAk0tvl
(( NOTE: I'll probably revisit this update to add more quick links as well, once I finish organizing what I need this weekend. ))
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OC_TOBER 2022 PLANS PART 2 of 2 -- MONTH-LONG ASKBOX SESSION (Upcoming!!)
In addition to the character profiles, I'll also reopen my tumblr Askbox to answer as many project questions as I can -- albeit gradually, likely to share on the weekends. It'll also help me gauge how much volume I can manage, and whether it something I can keep open or at least re-open more regularly.
As of now the Askbox is still closed -- I was aiming to open it by the start of the month, but needed to put all my energy into completing the lineup before the end of September 😂 Please give me at least another day to rest and prepare before I reopen it, I promise I'll give you all another heads up once it's ready.
In the meantime, you'll find some updated guidelines and FAQs here on the main site -- https://deitiesproject.com/faqs/
(FWIW: I've been working on a site alternative of the askbox for anyone who doesn't have a tumblr, but it'll need to wait a bit longer before it's ready to launch. This shouldn't affect anyone following this tumblr already though, so it's business as usual for anyone who wants to submit questions here -- just please be sure to read the updated guidelines and FAQs first, thank you!)
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ADDITIONAL CONTEXT
I've established in the site's Introduction page how development for DEITIES Project is still ongoing. But I've been having to balance it next to other tasks that require my attention, hence why it's felt a bit slow on tumblr and elsewhere.
Fortunately, some good friends convinced me to participate in this year's Artfight this past summer. Drawing each other's OCs renewed my creative energy, and I enjoyed the encouragement from my peers + the sheer enthusiasm for each others' OCs, it was a great experience with everyone!
From there, I felt re-energized to revisit DEITIES Project and see what next steps and WIPs I could tackle, and I could see that it sorely needed a full lineup sheet for some time. This was especially given how some characters were lacking clear visual references, or had some that were heavily outdated!
This years OC_tober felt like a good opportunity to address this massive to-do, and to re-introduce some of the cast along the way. I had to wait until it was basically finished before I could give you all the heads up, but hopefully it's something to look forward to this month!
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I'll wrap up this update here for now -- if I do add anything more it'll be minor things or edits over the next few days. Anything important (like the Askbox reopening) will be given a heads up on the main blog. With that said, I look forward to sharing more DEITIES Project this month, and hope you all enjoy!
Who in the main cast do you find it the hardest to write for (characterization wise)?
Ohhhh, this is a good one! I hadn't giving it much thought, but now that you mention it, there are definitely some characters that are more difficult to write than others, for different reasons.
Ironically, I kinda answered this question before in this ask from a few years ago -- and my answer remains the same today.
Which is to say, I still think the most difficult to write would be Ra -- because even though he's a major character and essential to the plotline, he isn't at the front and center, nor do I intend for him to be. For this reason, I have less practice with him and when I do try to develop him offline with friends, it feels a bit... “clunky” -- he isn’t as easy to drop into character like, say, Set. I have written in-character for Ra in the past that you can find in his tag, but even those took me ages to draft until I was satisfied with his dialogue [...]
There's also the difficulty of writing as a king -- or anyone with a high-profile role -- who maintains a powerful presence and sense of responsibility, but who can naturally interact with the rest of the cast during different scenarios. For example:
Ra being more relaxed and doting when he's around his daughters. They still respect each other's ranks in public, but he's still their father, and he’s comfortable acting as such around them.
Ra choosing to be either formal or casual among his closest advisors, such as Thoth, depending on the environment and details of what they're discussing.
Ra being more authoritative and in command with his guards while voyaging in the Solar Barque. He’s normally quite relaxed and lenient with Set due to their mentor/mentee relationship, for instance -- but when they are facing demons that threaten the barque, he trusts Set to guard his back; and when he tells Set when to stand down or fall back, he also trusts Set to take his command seriously.
Ra displaying his kingly presence among his other citizens and devotees, while still maintaining an approachable aura, so they’ll have confidence in his leadership and reign.
...Those were a lot of scenarios aha -- but all that is to say is, I'm still trying to figure out a way for Ra to flex those different roles seamlessly, while still making sure his character feels consistent. At least, as consistent as I can make him, given how varied the source mythology is. It's still quite the challenge, but I do enjoy portraying Ra’s character, and hopefully I'll find more opportunities to show those different facets of him over time.
For a bit of fun in between site-building, I’m using this blog update to share some new tracks I’ve added for the DEITIES Cast and their respective playlists…
Hi all, it’s been some time! For a bit of fun in between my [very gradual] site-building, I’ve created this blog update to share some new tracks I've added for the DEITIES Cast and their respective playlists -- in a way that's easier to sample the lyrics and audio, and to learn more tidbits about the DEITIES cast along the way.
If you enjoy discovering new music, and/or want to learn more tidbits about the cast, feel free to read further -- and grab a set of headphones if you'd like to listen along!
Something caught my eye on the site. On Pakhet's profile says Sekhmet is her mentor. What is she learning from her? How to hunt or to fight in general?
(btw. Thank you for answering my previous questions and I apologize if there were too many but I really enjoy your project and I couldn't wait to finally be able to ask more about it)
Sure thing, and no worries, I appreciate all your interest and engagement with the project so far ; 0 ; )! This does work well as a "final question" for this askbox round though, but they gave me a lot to chew on this month for sure.
Anyways, I've been sitting here trying to remember the reason why I put that term there for Pakhet's relationship with Sekhmet. But if you're thinking "mentor" like Sekhmet teaching Pakhet directly / Pakhet learning from Sekhmet, that was not the impression I meant to convey 😂 at least, not to the same level as Ra mentoring Set, or Thoth mentoring Horus.
To help clarify, when I added the Relationship sections for everyone's profiles, I tried to use the most general terms possible -- some that have different meanings for different gods. If I'm honest, I'd like to revisit the relationship section for everyone to make it cleaner; there are some technical site-building reasons behind why they aren't in collapsible content nor have pretty visual heart charts (yet), but that's another can of worms. For now, you can view the relationship sections as having some unspoken nuance, at least until I make time to address them directly. [...]
Regarding your questions tho, I should preface this by saying Pakhet is a fairly independent deity. While I'm sure she had some basic teaching, I think much of her early combat and hunting skills were mostly self-taught, or she learned from observation and lots of trial and error. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have other veteran gods who she looks up to and/or sees as her senior or "mentor"; She has the same label for Neith, for example (actually, I could more easily see Pakhet learning hunting from Neith instead, if anyone 🤔 I wonder if that’s why I put the label there...).
As for Sekhmet, her character in DEITIES isn't a very personable or approachable goddess, even among others with whom she has no qualms. She's distant with most of her divine peers -- either because they fear or respect her too much to approach her, or because she doesn't go out of her way to approach them. Also, I characterize Sekhmet as having some inner reservations with teaching or advising others, especially anyone who looks up to her, given her violent past.
However, I think Sekhmet and Pakhet have enough overlap (both feline warriors and hunters associated with the desert heat), and have come across each other enough times to at least be acquainted outside of any required formality. Perhaps they have even trained lightly together the few times that they shared the training grounds, but have left it at that. They respect and are cordial each other, but they are not exceptionally close, and neither of them seem to mind.
So for lack of a better word, I suppose I could designate Sekhmet as being an "idol" to Pakhet -- but I use that term very loosely cuz of the strong connotation it has that I do not want to place on Pakhet's character. If there's another word that means "a veteran of Pakhet's field who she greatly looks up to and aspires to be like through improving her skills and divine duties," then that would be how Pakhet sees Sekhmet. "Mentor" felt succinct, but maybe I should nix it and keep to “acquaintances” at most. Either way, I'll revisit that and the other labels another day.
