i took a long break btwn working on this one n this was the original idea... i do miss it but i thought the clothes were too unrelated to him :( goodbye leyendecker inspired gale 💔
- comp based on gale's datamined icon/waterdeep's coat of arms
- pose is from persona 3 protag's boss fight in p5r + listen to kimi no kioku if u haven't already ⚰️
- the flowers are roses!! i associate them with gale + his ambition even more after learning he burnt the rose bushes as a child
The Bat-Adoption Papers are literal Magic Contracts
So! In the Deified Batman AU (the AU where the Belief of the peoples of Gotham accidentally Ascended Batman to minor godhood), the Bat Adoption Papers would be a fun concept.
Batman is a God of The Night, Fear, and Protection. Specifically, the protection of Children, which is one of his biggest motivators. Meaning, it's a big part of his Divine Domain.
So when he, a God of Protection and Children, adopts his own Child? It's kind of a big deal.
His Adoption Papers basically become Magical Contracts that claim Dick to him as his own Son, basically turning Dick into a Demigod by the fact that he is the Son of a God.
Then each time Batman adopts a kid, they become a Demigod as well. Maybe after enough time, and after they forge their own Identities, they could become Minor Gods of their own? Idk, fun idea
Why do I bring this up?
Well, when Danny eventually joins the JLA, and runs into Batman, all he sees in a God of the Night, who takes one look at him, and then pulls out a Magical Binding Contract from his Belt.
BotW/TotK/AoC Zelda's relationship with divinity and religion is such a dynamic. She is literally the reincarnated human form of one of their goddesses, and blessed with the power of another. And she's sitting there, praying desperately to herself and wondering why no one is answering. Praying to the other three goddesses and wondering why all they do is look at her expectantly. Of course Hylia aids and answers Link, she has loved him since he was the First Hero. But in this lifetime instead of unlocking and mastering her powers with ease, she spends literally an entire decade screaming at herself "Why don't you love me?!?!" expecting an answer from the outside, and growing increasingly frustrated with herself for this fact, and then getting mad at her boyfriend because "Why do I love you more than I love me!?!?" (While he stands there with hearteyes, wondering how she doesn't realize she's the greatest being in their universe and literally worshiping the ground she walks on)
And then, even after she unlocks her power, their history is so mythologized that she doesn't realize that the goddess she's still mad at, who makes her feel like such a failure, is literally herself.
headcanon that children of athena do have powers. it's just that of spiderman. but due to their arachnaphobia. they refuse to acknowledge that side of their god-given abilities and rely on intelligence and strategy to survive.
I'd absolutely listen to this man's voice play deceitful tricks on me all day, 10/10. (Clips are from the technical test livestream featuring Greg Kasavin and Amir Rao, which you can watch on YouTube.)
in my heart of hearts mike wheeler is absolutely an athena kid but i also have to offer up a concept that i think has extreme comedic and dramatic potential aka: repressed gay teenager mike showing up at camp half blood unsure of who his godly parent is and feeling insecure about not having powers and one day when he’s making not-so-secret heart eyes at his best friend and son of apollo will byers is when a bunch of glowing floating hearts show up above his head. and that’s how mike gets claimed by none other than aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality, and is in full denial about it for three days because he thinks it’s some kind of sick and twisted JOKE
(on aphrodite’s end, she’s upset mike is throwing away the gift of true love and keeps trying to trick him out of repression by making more and more improbable and hilarious gifts appear when he and will are hanging out. mike hands will a book and it turns into a box of chocolates and he has to fling it away like a frisbee before will sees it. they’re having lunch and romantic music starts playing. she gives mike the same blessing she used to claim piper and will can’t even look in his direction for a full day because he starts blushing so hard. fifty bouquets of flowers show up at the apollo cabin’s doorstep with a note that says love, mike and by the end of it, mike isn’t even repressed and unsure about his sexuality anymore — he’s just trying to not throw himself into the bonfire out of sheer embarrassment)
Gale's the type that when you are having feelings of inadequacy about your relationship and how you fit into it, uttering "Gale, I'm no Goddess" whilst turning your head away, that he would cup your face with his hand and bring your eyeline back to his, and whisper "No. You're so much more." right before he pulls you close to kiss you as gently, with a reverence, just as you deserve