seikasoter | Entries tagged with npt

Dear NPT Author,

Bleed me, the third year of doing this. Writing 'fic regularly, albeit sparsely. Mad, mad world. In any case, welcome to my typical, stupidly long letter. I'm very glad to have matched with someone (especially as I, uh, forgot to do my nominations this time around and so am relying on other people's), and I'm looking forward tremendously to reading whatever you write.

Some general preferences
Yes, please – extra/missing scenes which fit the gaps of canon; unbreakable friendships; teamwork; standing battered but triumphant; character introspection; a touch of the bittersweet; any other characters you want to add that I haven’t already discussed or nominated.

No, thank you – In general, a lot of the common plug-and-play AUs which significantly alter the background of the setting (e.g. ABO, D/s, vampires/werewolves, Hogwarts/school, daemons, total de-powering rather than just backgrounding supernatural elements) – I like a lot of these series not just for their characters but also for their worlds and the effect those worlds then have on their characters. If you’re hit really hard by a generic modern AU, that’s something I can take though. Character bashing: a villainous story role is fine; it’s when the author is clearly frustrated with a character and taking it out on them that I tune out. What I understand specifically by 'futa' or 'G!P' is not my kink, though actual trans women are fine.

Rating – from General to Explicit, it's fine. Whatever feels right for your inspiration and story. Serious gore or fetishes are a turn off, but I can handle most of what you’re throwing at me. My prompts generally land on the more chaste side of things but, if you’re going unprompted or just feel like it fits your story, I have no objection to smut.

I'm

Seika on AO3, and I have my works and some of my bookmarks public, often with notes on them, so you can glance through those if you're inclined to keep researching my bad taste.

Obviously, by the terms of the exchange, everything here is optional. I'm very happy for you to remember that, and to take advantage of it: please don't strain anything trying to fit your writing into my ideas. I'm trying to help spark off some thoughts if you aren't immediately seized by one, not to confine you. That's why my prompts often throw out a scattershot of questions and instances at you, even sometimes contradictory - you're free to pick up as many or as few threads as you'd like. If a single phrase inspires you, I'll be content.

League of Legends
Diana/Leona - I'm interested particularly in the way some of the new lore begins to bear on Diana and Leona's relationship, with them now not merely being blessed by Sun and Moon, but now actually harbouring Aspects of these great and terrible powers in themselves. What, perhaps, does it mean for them if they find that they don't agree with the quasi-gods within them? (Consider how Pantheon's former self has been totally taken over by his Aspect). Interestingly, we now seem to have a reverse of the old lore: before, Leona and Diana had previously seemed okay with each other but were set against each other because of their faiths. Now Leona and Diana have personal problems with each other over the Solari elders' deaths, but their gods are apparently best buds and they've both been told that.

And, without the League, how do these two meet again, given Leona's seeking Diana and Diana's running from the Rakkor? How do they react to each other if they meet? Do they debate, do they fight, do they do start on one and move to the other, do they do both continuously? What even is their relationship at all?

That said, an old lore approach to their conflict, which frankly had plenty of its own unanswered questions given the total lack of organisation, is perfectly acceptable too. Let's see the heretic and the paladin butting heads, Diana's fury fighting with her old admiration for Leona, Leona's simple faith in the sun shaken if she ever takes in what Diana says about the Lunari's history.

Lux/Jinx - Star Guardian time! The trailer set up the pure Magical Girl classic in about every way it could, and the special interactions hammer it home really hard. "Lux even makes boring beautiful!" So run with that and give me Jinx as that independence-seeking rival who says she can't stand the team's no-fun attitude, and that the leader is the softest and weakest of all, but who actually still wants precious friendship in the end and is totally into Lux (and her short skirt). Silly, cliché fun.

Mass Effect
Female Shepard/Samantha Traynor - I'm very into Sam & Shepard's supportive dynamic. They don't quite hold each other up as they stagger across a battlefield, like some of the others do: each of them (tries) to help out with some problem the other almost can't imagine having. The Reapers in many ways seem to be beyond Sam (and she certainly knows she's not directly fighting them), and she's often caught up in the difficulty adapting to frontline habits and disciplines away from her old desk post; Shepard is a long long way into her career as a marine (albeit surprisingly young in absolute terms), but has ended up as the tip of the spear against the Old Machines, and needs someone who'll help her bear up under that and see things other than the horrors of the war.
I feel Shepard can run on raw bloody-mindedness forever by the point of ME3, but Sam tries to stop her just driving on without a care for herself, tries to relax her and stop her becoming a battered automaton. She's perhaps the love interest who looks beyond the Reapers the most, to a life after them.
I suppose therefore I'm looking for a tender moment or moments between them, maybe in the gaps of canon, where that kind of dynamic comes out in force, each helping the other bear up. Could be flavoured by hurt-comfort, raw fluff, or humour.
(I'm also not at all above some shower smut, or Sam trying a more intimate sort of relaxation - perhaps beginning with a massage ...)

Female Shepard/Tali - I felt this ship surprisingly hard when my first game of ME2 rolled around and was honestly surprised it didn't go all the way, given both how much of the male romance was left in their interactions and even what replaced the more overt romantic scenes. I'd like something probably more in that timeframe then.
Tali in ME2 has a lot to deal with when it comes to Shepard. Shepard in ME1 was a saviour, mentor, superior, leader, hero, friend, perhaps crush. In ME2, she adds to that powerful mix a dose of bizarre resurrection - but at the hands of Cerberus, and just as Tali's starting to stand on her own as a leader herself.
I'd like to see Tali trying to cope with this odd cocktail, perhaps working up her confidence over time, both as she continues to grow herself and as she starts getting to know Shepard more completely. Going from a a kind of distant, unattainable crush, to a closer and more genuine emotional connexion.

The Chronicles of Narnia
The Pevensies - I have a love for two particular scenarios when dealing with this family, and however much I read, it's never enough. Take your pick, or pick 'n mix.
First, when they've just been crowned and Aslan's left. What the hell do they do? They're kids, albeit now tested, who have just won a war and been handed a country for it. A country that's been buried in winter for decades, a country whose citizens were encouraged to inform on each other, a country recovering from tyranny and civil war that have divided its people.
How do they manage it, and how do they support each other through it? What particular challenges do they face, and how do they fight through them? How do Pete and Su and Ed and Lu become High King Peter the Magnificent and Queen Susan the Gentle and King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant? And how do they do it as a

Dear NPT Author,

Good luck, for whatever got you matched with me! (I'm scared of how many fandoms I'm the sole nominator for this time around, so I appreciate that we share some of the same taste. Good on you, and thank you).

As ever, apologies for the length.

Some general preferences
Yes, please – extra/missing scenes which fit the gaps of canon; unbreakable friendships; teamwork; standing battered but triumphant; character introspection; a touch of the bittersweet; any other characters you want to add that I haven’t already discussed or nominated.
No, thank you – In general, a lot of the common plug-and-play AUs which significantly alter the background of the setting (e.g. ABO, D/s, vampires/werewolves, Hogwarts/school, daemons, total de-powering rather than just backgrounding supernatural elements) – I like a lot of these series not just for their characters but also for their worlds and the effect those worlds then have on their characters. If you’re hit really hard by a generic modern AU, that’s something I can take though. Character bashing: a villainous story role is fine; it’s when the author is clearly frustrated with a character and taking it out on them that I tune out. What I understand specifically by 'futa' or 'G!P' is not my kink, though actual trans women are fine.

Rating – from General to Explicit, it's fine. Whatever feels right for your inspiration and story. Serious gore or fetishes are a turn off, but I can handle most of what you’re throwing at me. My prompts generally land on the more chaste side of things but, if you’re going unprompted or just feel like it fits your story, I have no objection to smut.

I'm Seika on AO3, and I have my works and some of my bookmarks public, often with notes on them, so you can glance through those if you're inclined to keep researching my bad taste.

Obviously, by the terms of the exchange, everything here is optional. I'm very happy for you to remember that, and to take advantage of it: please don't strain anything trying to fit your writing into my ideas. I'm trying to help spark off some thoughts if you aren't immediately seized by one, not to confine you. That's why my prompts often throw out a scattershot of questions and instances at you, even sometimes contradictory - you're free to pick up as many or as few threads as you'd like. If a single phrase inspires you, I'll be content.

Fandom Specifics

Magic: the Gathering
Chandra/Nissa, Chandra/Liliana

Chandra/Nissa - I'm writing this as the AKH story is still coming out, so who knows what the developments will be, but let's say just I'd like to encourage Chandra and Nissa's relationship to move apace. Wizards may have got their main plots finally moving along, after years of glacial incrementation, but apparently they're still stuck in the old rut when it comes to character interaction. It could be the moment - or a series of moments - as they begin to overcome their difficulties and finally admit to love; or a point of contemplation and togetherness afterwards as they're bedding down into romance; or even just an adventure finally together as partners.

Chandra/Liliana - As for this one, I'd like to see something based on the ideas of the early Kaladesh story "Torch of Defiance", and their interactions there. (Whether you actually stick to that particular scenario or try something similar elsewhere and elsewhen is up to you).

Liliana whispers in the ear of a reluctantly grinning Chandra; art by Mark Winters

Liliana whispers in the ear of a reluctantly grinning Chandra; art by Mark Winters

'Chandra's own grin came unbidden. "Liliana, you're two centuries older than me. Exactly which of us is supposed to be the responsible one?"

"Let me tell you a secret." Liliana cupped a hand playfully near Chandra's ear. "There doesn't have to be a responsible one."'

I'm not really looking for Chandra going full black mage, necromanctic mass-murderer, but a sense of Liliana trying to work on that headlong, head-first, impulsiveness of Chandra. Drawing it out, guiding it towards a kind of live-in-the-moment hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure, some heedless and selfish fun, instead of Chandra's more purely Red instincts. (I can see this going pretty smutty or with a surprisingly minimal degree of physicality between them - maybe it culminates in Chandra at last daring to kiss Lili. But you write it however you want).

Secret special option - If you're feeling up for the full Jund trio in whatever fashion you'd like to explore, I won't object to that either.

Mass Effect: Andromeda
F!Ryder/Cora Harper

I'm very sorry for indulging stereotypes, but STOP BEING SO SODDING ADMIRING ABOUT ASARI WHILE STILL PRETENDING YOU'RE STRAIGHT. Actually, take that in or out of character. I can totally see lategame Ryder, having finally got her feet under her, just snapping at the million times she's heard Cora sigh over the asari, and demanding to know if Cora genuinely hasn't noticed she likes breasts or if Ryder's just aren't good enough. (Funny is fine, but let's not make this strangely speciesist, please).

Alternatively, I'm just pretty hungry for some F!Ryder/Cora, so I'll take a quick unticking of the gender flag in Cora's romance, and seeing that at least be a possibility - even if it comes later than M!Ryder's - without a sudden inflexion point for it.

League of Legends
Diana & Leona, Diana/Leona, Jax, Lux/Jinx

Diana & Leona, Diana/Leona - I'm interested particularly in the way some of the new lore begins to bear on Diana and Leona's relationship, with them now not merely being blessed by Sun and Moon, but now actually harbouring Aspects of these great and terrible powers in themselves. What, perhaps, does it mean for them if they find that they don't agree with the quasi-gods within them? (Consider how Pantheon's former self has been totally taken over by his Aspect). Interestingly, we now seem to have a reverse of the old lore: before, Leona and Diana had previously seemed okay with each other but were set against each other because of their faiths. Now Leona and Diana have personal problems with each other over the Solari elders' deaths, but their gods are apparently best buds and they've both been told that.

And, without the League, how do these two meet again, given Leona's seeking Diana and Diana's running from the Rakkor? How do they react to each other if they meet? Do they debate, do they fight, do they do start on one and move to the other, do they do both continuously? What even is their relationship at all?

That said, an old lore approach to their conflict, which frankly had plenty of its own unanswered questions given the total lack of organisation, is perfectly acceptable too. Let's see the heretic and the paladin butting heads, Diana's fury fighting with her old admiration for Leona, Leona's simple faith in the sun shaken if she ever takes in what Diana says about the Lunari's history.

Ship/gen entirely up to you.

Jax - Jax. Jaaaaaaax. Okay, so I adore this character. On the one hand, he's pretty simple - a dude who likes to fight and is very, very, very good at it. On the other, he's covered from head-to-foot, including the (three-fingered) hands; has forgotten his own skin colour because he's been in that state for so long; and is now from Icathia.

Icathia is a contemporary of old Shurima, the ancient, buried empire Nasus, Renekton, Xerath and Azir were from. Nasus might have been fatally cursed by 'evil magics' cast by an Icathian 'cult-leader'. Renekton's giant axe, which he uses as a crocodilian demi-god, was once wielded by one of their warrior-kings. The ruins of Icathian cities are where Kassadin and Malzahar had their visions of the Void, setting the courses of the lives as Walker and Prophet. Icathia is mysterious, powerful, and long-dead. And apparently Jax is from it. And he's trying to find warriors good enough to fight the Void "monsters from beyond", just as Nasus says "monsters" killed his friend as Icathia fell.

TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS GUY.

What did Icathia use to be like in its glory days? What was Jax's life like then - was he a warrior, was he something else? What happened when Icathia fell? How did he escape? How did he change, then, and in the apparent millennia which have followed? What great heroes has he rejected in all the years he's been looking, since he still travels alone? If you've got a favourite champion you think is worthy of it, will you tell me how Jax finally finds them acceptable as a warrior against the Void? (Bonus points for someone like Poppy or Trist, where it seems funny but you can also say, "Yeah, I do see that.") Tell me something about Jax.

Lux/Jinx - Star Guardian time! The trailer set up the pure Magical Girl classic in about every way it could, and the special interactions hammer it home really hard. "Lux even makes boring beautiful!" So run with that and give me Jinx as that independence-seeking rival who says she can't stand the team's no-fun attitude, and that the leader is the softest and weakest of all, but who actually still wants precious friendship in the end and is totally into Lux (and her short skirt). Silly, cliché fun.

Tomb Raider
Sam Nishimura/Lara Croft

Surprise, I'm also annoyed by Sam disappearing from Rise, being continuously squirrelled away in the comics, and apparently being weirdly retconned in the movie. Like, I dunno, it seems everyone else who was interested in this dynamic from TR 2013. So, frankly, I just want something which isn't that.

Talk to me about Yamatai and how Sam sees Lara being beaten and burnt and crushed for her but always rushing back. Talk to me about exhaustion and grief and anger weighing on Lara until the single focus of Sam is all that can get her to lift another step. Talk to me about that time when sun finally shone through the clouds on the two of them re-united. Talk to me about Lara carrying Sam down that mountain in a white dress, with flowers in her hair, and whether they laughed at it or cried or were just silent, together.

Talk to me about a post-Yamatai in which Lara and Sam go on together. Maybe Sam still has troubles with Himiko's soul insidiously poking at the cracks created by Matthias' half-complete ritual, but for sod's sake, let's have Lara stay by her side and fight for her again. Maybe Lara's still struggling with the fall-out of becoming the vaunted 'Survivor', that angry demi-goddess whom the Solarii and Oni saw cutting them down by the end, but let's have Sam stick with her and help her learn about being safe again. Maybe Rise still happens, but this time Sam appears in something other than, like, one journal entry.

Gimme something, people, please.

Emelan
Tris & Daja & Sandry & Briar, Tris/Daja/Sandry/Briar

Whenever I prompt with these four, I'm very open-ended, because it's the dynamic that I love about them, these family and friends and an inextricable Circle, and the plots which serve to show it off are sorta incidental to me.

So, yeah, literally anything that has the Circle eventually being that concerted, loving whole. Domestic, action-y, drama, according to your choice. This is one where I'd like to encourage the author to come up with their own plot and service it according to their own preferences, rather than follow my whims.

That said, because it's also mean to just demand that of someone, some seeds if you want them: the Circle are really bad at dealing with each other's romances, whether inside or outside the group (eventual poly-ship optional but entirely accepted). The Circle in middle age: a weird un-related family no-one would believe are un-related if it weren't for their looks, who teach kid students in Discipline, or help govern Emelan in the Summersea Citadel, or just are a cheerfully terrifying bunch of great mages in their own little house whom no potential enemy ever wants to cross. The Circle scattered across the world as when they Opened, but now with the magical power and knowledge to keep their bond open, communicating advice, sarcasm, and love even while they're apart.

Fate/Stay Night
Artoria/Rin

I'd like a scenario where Rin is actually acting as Artoria's Master. Maybe it's post-UBW Good End, and there's some cute fluff happening during their daily lives in Fuyuki. Maybe, if you'd rather a little more tension, action, and conflict, you could show me snippets of a Grail War where Rin actually managed to grab her coveted Saber somehow. (Like, she passes Tokiomi's clock test as the Tōsaka goof-up trait miraculously fails to kick in, and Shirō doesn't get an Avalon-reserved spot for whatever reason). Whether you choose these options or another, I'd also kind of like to see Rin's reaction to Saber in a suit, per Zero, if only for a short while. She's terribly adoring of Saber when she gets knightly, and generally tsundere about her beauty, so I'd love to see how she takes Artoria in elegant modern fashion.

Dear NPT Author,

Hi?

Hi.

This is my first time on one of these exchanges, as that tentative little opening might have suggested, so we’ll start out with the reassurance that I am going to be incredibly hyped over having something written for me. No matter what you do with it. You don’t have a low bar to clear: there’s no bar at all.

Some general preferences

Yes, please – extra/missing scenes which fit the gaps of canon; unbreakable friendships; teamwork; standing battered but triumphant; character introspection; a touch of the bittersweet; any other characters you want to add that I haven’t already discussed or nominated.

No, thank you – In general, a lot of the common plug-and-play AUs which significantly alter the background of the setting (e.g. ABO, D/s, vampires/werewolves, Hogwarts/school, daemons, total de-powering rather than just backgrounding supernatural elements) – I like a lot of these series not just for their characters but also for their worlds and the effect those worlds then have on their characters. If you’re hit really hard by a generic modern AU, that’s something I can take though. Character bashing: a villainous story role is fine; it’s when the author is clearly frustrated with a character and taking it out on them that I tune out. G!P is not my kink.

Obviously, by the terms of the exchange, everything here is optional. Still, where I’ve thrown out some more detailed prompts below, I’ve marked them as extra-optional because that’s precisely what they are. I'm trying to help spark off some thoughts if you aren't immediately seized by one, not to confine you. Don’t strain something trying to fit your writing into my ideas, please.

Now, with apologies for the length ...

Fandom specifics

Emelan

Daja, Briar, Sandry, Tris

Overview: Broadly, I’m going to be happy with whatever I get from these four, because I love the Circle dearly. While I won’t object to the characters going through a little angst along the way, I would definitely prefer this one to at least end on a happy and fluffy note.

Extra-optional prompt: I was interested in the idea from Daja’s Book/The Fire in the Forging of the Circle’s powers bleeding into one another, and was kind of sad that it actually got straightened out. Working with that would make me happy, whether you want to go with events around the time that their powers are canonically mixing, pretend that this never got neatly fixed and they had to work with it, or just imagine that there’s a resurgence of the phenomenon somewhere down the line for whatever reason.

Shipping: Go mad with gen or whatever set of ships you like, including the full foursome.

Fate/Stay Night

Artoria, Guinevere

Overview: We haven’t got a whole lot on these two and their relationship: the major narrative sources in English right now are this chapter from Fate/Zero, this scene from Hollow Ataraxia, and this extract from the Garden of Avalon book. There’s also Guinevere’s entry from the Fate/Zero encyclopaedia, but it conflicts somewhat with Garden of Avalon (thus getting trumped both by latest release and by Nasu > Urobuchi) and might be a bit too confining, so feel free to ignore as much of it as you want. That is, of course, all just the canon background, so please do deviate and alter outcomes as your 'fic demands. Basically, there's a good deal of room for exploring and interpreting Artoria and Guinevere's relationship, and I'd just like to see what you come up with, whether it's joy or pain.

Extra-optional prompts: Maybe you just want to show a day in the life of Camelot’s royal couple, attending to their business. Maybe you want to write up the wedding described in that Hollow scene in more detail. Maybe you want to deal with the revelation of Artoria’s gender and the resulting fallout: whether Guinevere was told early that her wedding was to a secret woman and so was expecting it to be childless and likely loveless; or she found out on the wedding night; or Artoria somehow put it off for a time until she felt secure in telling her Queen the truth – or it ended up getting found out by accident. (I would appreciate eliding the canon idea that Merlin enchanted Artoria with a set of male genitalia because it’s pretty ???. Exclude it or just gloss over it as you wish).
If you’re not interested in going full Nasuverse Arthuriana, then Artoria reminiscing to one of her Grail War Masters about her wife/marriage sounds fun too. If you’re more on the Zero side of the fandom, there’s your opening to use Kiritsugu or Iri and the Fourth War's scenario.

Shipping: It seems reasonably clear from Garden of Avalon that Artoria and Guinevere had come to love each other at least platonically by the time Camelot fell, but I’d certainly like a hint of romantic/sexual attraction from one party to another as well. Whether you want to have Guinevere pining after her apparently emotionless husband, Artoria’s detachment being tested by her lovely bride, or actual mutual romance – eventually revealed and requited or not – is up to you. (If you really feel like it, Lancelot is around for extra relationship complications and there’s fair grounds for him being in love with Artoria as well as Guinevere).

Other notes: I would prefer the focus to stay on Artoria and Guinevere. Lancelot is obviously likely (though by no means certain) to have his part in anything related to the two of them, but I’d rather the camera was mainly centred on the King and Queen here, and less on whatever craziness Sir du Lac is up to.

FFXIII

Lightning, Vanille

Overview: I don’t know whether I like Lightning and Vanille’s relationship in-game, so much as I like all the potential I see in it. At any rate, there’s definitely something that grabs me about Lightning interacting with another shade-of-red-haired little sister figure, and everything else that comes along with Vanille.

Extra-optional prompts: On Lightning’s side, to what degree might Lightning have seen Serah in Vanille? How did that change as time went on? How long did Lightning take to get an inkling (if she ever did before that blew up) that Vanille wasn’t letting on about everything, that she wasn’t as innocent and carefree as she was trying to be?

On Vanille’s side, how far did she compare Lightning and Fang – these two big sisters who nonetheless seem so very opposite at first? Vanille herself fought a war, however briefly: does she have any particular reaction to or reservation about Light being a member of the Guardian Corps?

I by no means expect you to try to answer all of those questions, or even pass over them, but they’re an indication of what I think has interest and potential. Points of comparison and of contrast for the characters.

Shipping: I’d prefer this being romantic, but gen’s fine too.

Other notes: Whether you’d like to put this somewhere in XIII or after it is up to you, but I’ll warn you that I haven’t got around to more than the very beginnings of XIII-2 or LR, so if you involve stuff from there I’m probably going to be lost. I’m not a spoiler-hound, so feel free to use elements from as you like, but be aware that they might not land properly.

Greek & Roman Mythology

Artemis, Apollo

Overview: Leto’s children interact curiously little in Greek myth, so I’d like to see a little more of them as a unit, whether actually doing something together or just one/another/both contemplating each other and their sibling relationship. If you want a start, Pindar’s take on the Koronis episode is one of the times the two do come together, so you might receive and react to that in your writing, or create your own version. (That's in his Third Pythian Ode, which has a reasonable translation here, albeit one you should definitely edit line breaks into to make it actually readable if you’re looking over it; Theoi has some alternative versions of the myth here).
Being Greek or Roman is fine by me, if you feel more comfortable with Diana than Artemis.

Extra-optional prompts: Certain ways in which Apollo is described in the Iliad have led to a theory that Helios was originally the sole Greek sun god, and that Apollo – the ‘lord of the silver bow’ who ‘came on like the night’ – was as much the moon god as his sister was the moon goddess. Over time, people found it more satisfying to assign Apollo to the Sun instead – the duality of the twins moving from being near-copies to mirrors – and Helios was gradually forced to budge over in favour of the more popular god. This may or may not hold much water, but it interests me and I’d encourage you to think about it. Maybe you’d like to present it as truth; maybe you’d like to portray some kind of divine transition by Apollo from Moon to Sun; maybe it’s simple a ‘could have been’.

Shipping: Artemis is a staunch virgin but, remembering that, do pretty much as you like with the gods.

Other notes: I am a Classicist by trade, so I’ll appreciate nods to the original epics and hymns and so forth particularly. Getting too modern with the interpretation will make it harder for me to connect with.
As an example, it's impossible for us to avoid condemning Zeus as a philandering rapist from the body of myths we have. (The same indeed goes for most of the gods). Nevertheless, Greek thought mostly stretched to him as a just lord of the heavens, wise in council, protector of travellers, and so on, with his misdemeanours backgrounded or somehow confined to a long-gone past. When Sextus Empiricus poses the question "How could a god be evil?", he expects an immediate answer of "They can't". Thus, if you're going to involve humans in a historical context, I'd prefer their interpretation of divine events to broadly match that, rather than trying to anachronistically moralise over the king of the gods (up to the point at which Christians appear and start pointing fingers, at any rate). On the other hand, if this is kept purely mythological, then you can certainly feel free to assume we're still in that disappeared past, and be as scathing as you please.