application ☼
.the mundane;
» Name: Lyra
» Journal: lyrapoeia
» Contact: AIM at either loobification or miss zoologist and MSN/email at loobie.c@hotmail.com
» How did you hear about us? I was hiding under your porch because I love you.
.the myth;
» God(dess): Helios!
» Reference: One, two, three, and four.
» Family: {mother & father} Hyperion and Theia. This makes his siblings Selene and Eos.
{spouse} Rhode-- though he has a long list of baby mamas, I must say.
{children} A bit too many to list, actually. Many of them aren’t important beyond having been his children, and include a heavy amount of kings, queens, nymphs and witches. (Some of the important names to remember: Circe, Pasiphae, Phaethon, and Aeetes.)
» Played By: Paul Walker.
» Human Alias: Nigel Alvise
» Human Age: 36
» God of...: The sun, physical sight (as in… with the eyes, not the magical future-telling [though apparently he dabbles]), and a myriad of little other things that are mostly shared domains.
» Flair: Do you see how the room gets just a little brighter when he wanders his way in? That’d be the sunny glow, just enough to give him a literally radiant smile and give someone with Seasonal Affective Disorder a nice pick-me-up on a dreary day. Get close to him and notice how his skin holds some warmth, like someone just inside from basking on a hot summer day.
In short : He gives off a slight warm glow, enough to shrink just a little smidgen of shadow and keep him warm without a thick coat in winter.
(He’s quite good with horses as well, though that could possibly just be a part of his personality. Spooked or ill-behaved horses can be reined in more easily with his help or presence.)
» Flair Type: Continuous (on all counts.)
» Fitting in: He’s a journalist. Yep, a journalist. Not that sissy newscaster type either, but rather he works freelance for newspapers around the city. It allows him to be nosy and use his charm to get successful. (And okay, so maybe he gives some of the papers their weather and horoscope sections, instead of serious stories. He’s just using his background to his advantage. Shhhh.) And he totally motivates everyone he speaks to. Just so you all never forget that classic profession.
» History:
If any character in myth could be considered to have an interestingly random history, it would be Helios. His beginnings are pretty solid, in that he was born as one of three children to two of the original Titans. His birth was a pretty solid amount of time before Uncle Cronus began eating his kids, and he is included in a lot of myths as a side part or a father figure. He even might have had a part in the origins of animals and the earth’s solid crust itself. This, of course, isn’t entirely surprising given the fact that sun god cults often originated much earlier than classic religions, which were given to recycle older myths into themselves. However, there can be a linear order imposed. It’s just a … Very long one. I’m sorry in advance for how long. ♥
Firstly he is rumored to have helped predict the downfall of Cronus to the future Olympians, and definitely defected early to their side regardless of the truth of that particular rumor. He maintained his place as the sun because of this defection, though would point out that Zeus would be hard pressed to find anyone else who could contain his horses, thank you very much.
He helped Hephaestus out in a battle against the giants, carrying him to safety as he was wounded, and received many gifts in exchange for his help. These included his dazzling palaces, golden chariot and cup-boat, jewel-encrusted thrown… etc. Helios didn’t do it for the favors, but you’ll have to admit that the perks of being friends with the dude were pretty awesome. Fire gods have to stick together, right? Though this friendship/loyalty/whateveritwas did cause him a few issues later, but we’ll get to that when it comes up.
Around this same time he married Rhode, however the exact happenings of that can be muddled. The conflict over whether Helios had fallen in love with the nymph and named the island after her or she was already the nymph of the island is just the beginning of the different stories. The fact remains that they were married, and seemed to stay that way through Helios’ multiple and continuous affairs. He had many children with other women, notable among them being Perse, Clymene, and his own sister, Selene. Gods will be gods after all, and at least we can be happy that he never really raped anyone or cursed any girl for rejecting him. That’s always a bonus. Though the incest does subtract a few points. (Women do seem to take a shine to him rather easily… Ba-dum-psh.)
Though his children with these women didn’t always turn out to be the famous explorers, kings, and witches… Though those were often his favorites. Okay, that seems kind of mean. However, you can’t deny that every parent picks favorites, and he may have given a few rides in the chariot to his closer children but he really wasn’t the type of dad who got to spend dinner time discussing how school was going and if everyone thought the days were a bit too long lately. He was the sun, and with that came a certain amount of time constraints, and thus neglect for the majority of the kids he helped create, including one important kid named Phaethon. The boy had seemed happy enough from Helios’ view in the sky, but it was when he showed up in the god’s palace that the trouble really began.
Feeling exponentially guilty about having kinda sorta ignored the kid all these years, Helios swore on Styx that Phaethon could have anything his heart desired. Phaethon, evidently not being the brightest of the sun’s kids, said that he wanted to drive the titan’s chariot for one day and wouldn’t change his mind despite Helios’ begging otherwise. Having sworn by Styx and not exactly willing to face the consequences of that, Helios bit his lip and allowed the boy his wish.
Long story short, we welcome the Sahara Desert into being and Helios doesn’t like making promises anymore. This whole ordeal, ending in not only consequences for humankind but also the death of his child and the transformation into trees of his daughters, did not sit pretty with Helios, who became so depressed with grief that it took physical threats to drag him out of bed and back to lighting the earth and sky after the accident. To be honest, he still gets somewhat sick when thunderbolts are thrown too close to his location for comfort.
Days always pass, and Helios got over his depression. Every morning (baring annoying involvements from Zeus, who sometimes gave orders otherwise) he began his eternal trip, leaving from his palace in the east as Eos returned from her flight. His winged horses, fierce and decked in fires so powerful that even he had to put a special balm on to handle them without burns, were hitched to his chariot and took off at his command, flying through a special path between constellations high up in the clouds. From his vantage during this day-long flight, Helios could see almost anything that happened on Gaia’s surface (though often missed the important details, such as the theft of his cattle by Odysseus’ men later.) This tied in neatly with the fact that he held powers over physical sight, as demonstrated when Hephaestus directed Orion to Helios so he could ask the titan’s help in restoring his sight. Helios did give Orion his sight back, and, well, Eos can tell you stories about Orion from there.
His vantage point gave him more than a few side parts in myths, including his help during the post-abduction of Persephone winters, when Demeter came to him in grief and he told her how he had seen Hades take her daughter underground during his flight. His friendship with Hephaestus, when combined with this all-seeing ability, caused some serious grief for himself. Aphrodite and Ares, the infamous lovers, were spotted in Hephaestus’ own bed in sight of the sun, and Helios went to the cuckolded god to tell him about the affair. (Slightly hypocritical, given his own affairs, but a pretty good deed nevertheless.)
Apparently, being caught in a trap by her husband and having all the gods laugh at her didn’t sit pretty with Aphrodite (who honestly must have had an issue with the whole family by that time) and she soon turned her anger toward Helios, cursing him to a disastrous series of love affairs. He soon fell for a Persian princess by the name of Leukothoe. This doesn’t seem too horrible an idea at first, as she’s incredibly beautiful and he successfully seduces her after getting her alone by taking the form of her mother and asking her handmaidens to leave the room. (I know, I know. Totally… not… creepy.) Under the influence of Aphrodite, he apparently loved the girl so greatly that he forgot Rhode and Perse, the two of the more important women in his life before her. (Don't worry, he didn't forget their existence entirely. Once the curse ran its course, as outlined below, things went back to normal.)
This is still a punishment, however, and the great affair turned into a horror flick as Clytie, a girl snubbed by the titan in favor of Leukothoe, snitched to the king of Persia about the affair, who promptly had Leukothoe buried alive. Helios wasn’t in time to save her (surprise, surprise) and had to settle for turning her body into frankincense and declining into another period of severe depression. He obviously has more than a few issues dealing with loved ones dying, and given that Aphrodite was the cause of not only this disaster but also a curse upon his sister and meddlesome effects for many of his children and grandchildren, Helios doesn’t quite have warm and fuzzy feelings for the goddess to this day.
Time will be time, however, and he comes from the present day, having lived through days and decades of kids, grandkids, and humankind in general. Medea and Circe were favorites, and the Minotaur incident was… Interesting to watch, at least. He competed with his nephew Boreas on a memorable occasion, according to a popular fable, and took slight place in such greats as The Odyssey, Hercules’ tasks, and the Argonaut’s voyage… Along with even more myths that are too numerous to be completely mentioned.
Khaos pulled him from midday, and thus you all get to meet one very annoyed, distracted Helios.
» Personality:
On most days anyone can look up and guess the personality of the sun-god. Affable, friendly, good-natured … A real sunny guy if you don’t mind the pun. Helios gives life through his warmth and rays, and his nature tends to reflect that on most given days.
He has strong paternal instincts, despite the fact that he didn‘t often get time off to see his children. In fact, because he rarely got to meet his children, he tends to push off the extra fatherly attention onto others, which can sometimes come off as patronizing but is genuinely his way of being nice. If you’re younger than him (i.e... almost all of the population), then expect to be called a variant of ‘kiddo’ at some point. (Yes, sometimes he does create special, cutesy nicknames for individuals in his head. Hush.)
As every sun ray casts an equal shadow, Helios, when faced with something beyond the normal for him, has a tendency to easily fall into harsher emotions such as sadness and depression. Typically easy going and friendly, after Phaeton’s death he found himself so depressed that he couldn’t face the chariot that the boy had fallen from, and it took force to drag him out of bed and back to the job. Basically, he’s melodramatic… Very much so, under certain circumstances.
He’s not always the most fiery of the gods, but there are buttons there that can be pressed to make Helios turn wrathful within seconds. Most of his irate actions, such as turning a huntress into a deer or getting the deaths of Odysseus‘ men, aren’t done out of real fury but rather anger at people not following the rules of the game. If he feels that some line just shouldn’t be crossed, it’s going to irk him if it is. His family is extremely important to him, and thus his triggers in NYC will likely often involve a slight of his sisters, lovers, or kids.
He doesn’t often mean to offend anyone, but if by chance he does? Well, he’s not overly concerned about that. He always knew that he was pretty indispensable (even if the later cults replaced him with Apollo), and had collected quite a few favors over the years. So now that he’s forced to be an average mortal, he might transition from being a force of nature to just another guy on the street with a bit of difficulty.
Helios is a bit of a busybody, being used to seeing everything that happens on Earth in any given day, but his worst curiosity doesn’t always get him into the most trouble. Typically, this award tends to go to his tendency to miss the things that are most important while focusing on the little things during the day. He completely missed the slaughter of his cattle by Odysseus’ men and had to be told of it by his daughters, who were looking after the herd at the time. He gets thing in time, but will sometimes need things spelled out for him before he’ll understand them correctly.
» Sample Journal:
[This video post is brought to you by the letter “s,” an important part of the word ‘sun‘! Also sponsoring this is the word “confusion.” Can you spell that? Well, no need to. It’s written all across Helios’ face, along with equal parts frustration and dissatisfaction… With just a pinch of amusement. He holds his chin in one hand and glances around the apartment he sits in, a window visibly open next to him.]
Quick quiz for all you bright bulbs that I assume hang around this place!
Does something seem a bit off here? […] I‘ll give you some time to answer that.
[He glances pointedly out the window into the bright sunshine of the day, counting off seconds on his fingers as he does so. An infectious grin slowly grows despite himself.]
» Sample Roleplay:
(Yes, I stole this from the old FP prompt meme. Shut up, it’s still relevant.)
The horses danced around the grass gingerly, wings furling and unfurling as they stretched their day-weary muscles in the rapidly cooling air. Their fire was still burning, but with a concentrated intensity unlike the raging fierceness of the early morning start. Eyes traced the horizon, as if daring the beasts they passed in the sky to come down from their celestial perches.
A laugh joined their weary snorts and Helios patted Phlegon‘s sea-dampened side, moving to rub the horse’s nose affectionately. “You did a good job today, bud,” he said, given a whinny in response that seemed to imply some knowledge of the team’s superiority. They knew they were good - it was just up to him to go along for the ride.
A hand ran through the next mane within reach, repeating the same sentiment with each steed, scratching their favorite spots (behind the right ear, under the wing - narrowly avoid the mischievous kick from Aethion) and nuzzling each tired snout. Finally, a yawn that stretched all the way down to the tips of his toes drew Helios from the nightly ritual, reminding him of the warm bed waiting not too far off.
It took one last glance and a nudge in the back from Pyrois to get him moving home.
» Name: Lyra
» Journal: lyrapoeia
» Contact: AIM at either loobification or miss zoologist and MSN/email at loobie.c@hotmail.com
» How did you hear about us? I was hiding under your porch because I love you.
.the myth;
» God(dess): Helios!
» Reference: One, two, three, and four.
» Family: {mother & father} Hyperion and Theia. This makes his siblings Selene and Eos.
{spouse} Rhode-- though he has a long list of baby mamas, I must say.
{children} A bit too many to list, actually. Many of them aren’t important beyond having been his children, and include a heavy amount of kings, queens, nymphs and witches. (Some of the important names to remember: Circe, Pasiphae, Phaethon, and Aeetes.)
» Played By: Paul Walker.
» Human Alias: Nigel Alvise
» Human Age: 36
» God of...: The sun, physical sight (as in… with the eyes, not the magical future-telling [though apparently he dabbles]), and a myriad of little other things that are mostly shared domains.
» Flair: Do you see how the room gets just a little brighter when he wanders his way in? That’d be the sunny glow, just enough to give him a literally radiant smile and give someone with Seasonal Affective Disorder a nice pick-me-up on a dreary day. Get close to him and notice how his skin holds some warmth, like someone just inside from basking on a hot summer day.
In short : He gives off a slight warm glow, enough to shrink just a little smidgen of shadow and keep him warm without a thick coat in winter.
(He’s quite good with horses as well, though that could possibly just be a part of his personality. Spooked or ill-behaved horses can be reined in more easily with his help or presence.)
» Flair Type: Continuous (on all counts.)
» Fitting in: He’s a journalist. Yep, a journalist. Not that sissy newscaster type either, but rather he works freelance for newspapers around the city. It allows him to be nosy and use his charm to get successful. (And okay, so maybe he gives some of the papers their weather and horoscope sections, instead of serious stories. He’s just using his background to his advantage. Shhhh.) And he totally motivates everyone he speaks to. Just so you all never forget that classic profession.
» History:
If any character in myth could be considered to have an interestingly random history, it would be Helios. His beginnings are pretty solid, in that he was born as one of three children to two of the original Titans. His birth was a pretty solid amount of time before Uncle Cronus began eating his kids, and he is included in a lot of myths as a side part or a father figure. He even might have had a part in the origins of animals and the earth’s solid crust itself. This, of course, isn’t entirely surprising given the fact that sun god cults often originated much earlier than classic religions, which were given to recycle older myths into themselves. However, there can be a linear order imposed. It’s just a … Very long one. I’m sorry in advance for how long. ♥
Firstly he is rumored to have helped predict the downfall of Cronus to the future Olympians, and definitely defected early to their side regardless of the truth of that particular rumor. He maintained his place as the sun because of this defection, though would point out that Zeus would be hard pressed to find anyone else who could contain his horses, thank you very much.
He helped Hephaestus out in a battle against the giants, carrying him to safety as he was wounded, and received many gifts in exchange for his help. These included his dazzling palaces, golden chariot and cup-boat, jewel-encrusted thrown… etc. Helios didn’t do it for the favors, but you’ll have to admit that the perks of being friends with the dude were pretty awesome. Fire gods have to stick together, right? Though this friendship/loyalty/whateveritwas did cause him a few issues later, but we’ll get to that when it comes up.
Around this same time he married Rhode, however the exact happenings of that can be muddled. The conflict over whether Helios had fallen in love with the nymph and named the island after her or she was already the nymph of the island is just the beginning of the different stories. The fact remains that they were married, and seemed to stay that way through Helios’ multiple and continuous affairs. He had many children with other women, notable among them being Perse, Clymene, and his own sister, Selene. Gods will be gods after all, and at least we can be happy that he never really raped anyone or cursed any girl for rejecting him. That’s always a bonus. Though the incest does subtract a few points. (Women do seem to take a shine to him rather easily… Ba-dum-psh.)
Though his children with these women didn’t always turn out to be the famous explorers, kings, and witches… Though those were often his favorites. Okay, that seems kind of mean. However, you can’t deny that every parent picks favorites, and he may have given a few rides in the chariot to his closer children but he really wasn’t the type of dad who got to spend dinner time discussing how school was going and if everyone thought the days were a bit too long lately. He was the sun, and with that came a certain amount of time constraints, and thus neglect for the majority of the kids he helped create, including one important kid named Phaethon. The boy had seemed happy enough from Helios’ view in the sky, but it was when he showed up in the god’s palace that the trouble really began.
Feeling exponentially guilty about having kinda sorta ignored the kid all these years, Helios swore on Styx that Phaethon could have anything his heart desired. Phaethon, evidently not being the brightest of the sun’s kids, said that he wanted to drive the titan’s chariot for one day and wouldn’t change his mind despite Helios’ begging otherwise. Having sworn by Styx and not exactly willing to face the consequences of that, Helios bit his lip and allowed the boy his wish.
Long story short, we welcome the Sahara Desert into being and Helios doesn’t like making promises anymore. This whole ordeal, ending in not only consequences for humankind but also the death of his child and the transformation into trees of his daughters, did not sit pretty with Helios, who became so depressed with grief that it took physical threats to drag him out of bed and back to lighting the earth and sky after the accident. To be honest, he still gets somewhat sick when thunderbolts are thrown too close to his location for comfort.
Days always pass, and Helios got over his depression. Every morning (baring annoying involvements from Zeus, who sometimes gave orders otherwise) he began his eternal trip, leaving from his palace in the east as Eos returned from her flight. His winged horses, fierce and decked in fires so powerful that even he had to put a special balm on to handle them without burns, were hitched to his chariot and took off at his command, flying through a special path between constellations high up in the clouds. From his vantage during this day-long flight, Helios could see almost anything that happened on Gaia’s surface (though often missed the important details, such as the theft of his cattle by Odysseus’ men later.) This tied in neatly with the fact that he held powers over physical sight, as demonstrated when Hephaestus directed Orion to Helios so he could ask the titan’s help in restoring his sight. Helios did give Orion his sight back, and, well, Eos can tell you stories about Orion from there.
His vantage point gave him more than a few side parts in myths, including his help during the post-abduction of Persephone winters, when Demeter came to him in grief and he told her how he had seen Hades take her daughter underground during his flight. His friendship with Hephaestus, when combined with this all-seeing ability, caused some serious grief for himself. Aphrodite and Ares, the infamous lovers, were spotted in Hephaestus’ own bed in sight of the sun, and Helios went to the cuckolded god to tell him about the affair. (Slightly hypocritical, given his own affairs, but a pretty good deed nevertheless.)
Apparently, being caught in a trap by her husband and having all the gods laugh at her didn’t sit pretty with Aphrodite (who honestly must have had an issue with the whole family by that time) and she soon turned her anger toward Helios, cursing him to a disastrous series of love affairs. He soon fell for a Persian princess by the name of Leukothoe. This doesn’t seem too horrible an idea at first, as she’s incredibly beautiful and he successfully seduces her after getting her alone by taking the form of her mother and asking her handmaidens to leave the room. (I know, I know. Totally… not… creepy.) Under the influence of Aphrodite, he apparently loved the girl so greatly that he forgot Rhode and Perse, the two of the more important women in his life before her. (Don't worry, he didn't forget their existence entirely. Once the curse ran its course, as outlined below, things went back to normal.)
This is still a punishment, however, and the great affair turned into a horror flick as Clytie, a girl snubbed by the titan in favor of Leukothoe, snitched to the king of Persia about the affair, who promptly had Leukothoe buried alive. Helios wasn’t in time to save her (surprise, surprise) and had to settle for turning her body into frankincense and declining into another period of severe depression. He obviously has more than a few issues dealing with loved ones dying, and given that Aphrodite was the cause of not only this disaster but also a curse upon his sister and meddlesome effects for many of his children and grandchildren, Helios doesn’t quite have warm and fuzzy feelings for the goddess to this day.
Time will be time, however, and he comes from the present day, having lived through days and decades of kids, grandkids, and humankind in general. Medea and Circe were favorites, and the Minotaur incident was… Interesting to watch, at least. He competed with his nephew Boreas on a memorable occasion, according to a popular fable, and took slight place in such greats as The Odyssey, Hercules’ tasks, and the Argonaut’s voyage… Along with even more myths that are too numerous to be completely mentioned.
Khaos pulled him from midday, and thus you all get to meet one very annoyed, distracted Helios.
» Personality:
On most days anyone can look up and guess the personality of the sun-god. Affable, friendly, good-natured … A real sunny guy if you don’t mind the pun. Helios gives life through his warmth and rays, and his nature tends to reflect that on most given days.
He has strong paternal instincts, despite the fact that he didn‘t often get time off to see his children. In fact, because he rarely got to meet his children, he tends to push off the extra fatherly attention onto others, which can sometimes come off as patronizing but is genuinely his way of being nice. If you’re younger than him (i.e... almost all of the population), then expect to be called a variant of ‘kiddo’ at some point. (Yes, sometimes he does create special, cutesy nicknames for individuals in his head. Hush.)
As every sun ray casts an equal shadow, Helios, when faced with something beyond the normal for him, has a tendency to easily fall into harsher emotions such as sadness and depression. Typically easy going and friendly, after Phaeton’s death he found himself so depressed that he couldn’t face the chariot that the boy had fallen from, and it took force to drag him out of bed and back to the job. Basically, he’s melodramatic… Very much so, under certain circumstances.
He’s not always the most fiery of the gods, but there are buttons there that can be pressed to make Helios turn wrathful within seconds. Most of his irate actions, such as turning a huntress into a deer or getting the deaths of Odysseus‘ men, aren’t done out of real fury but rather anger at people not following the rules of the game. If he feels that some line just shouldn’t be crossed, it’s going to irk him if it is. His family is extremely important to him, and thus his triggers in NYC will likely often involve a slight of his sisters, lovers, or kids.
He doesn’t often mean to offend anyone, but if by chance he does? Well, he’s not overly concerned about that. He always knew that he was pretty indispensable (even if the later cults replaced him with Apollo), and had collected quite a few favors over the years. So now that he’s forced to be an average mortal, he might transition from being a force of nature to just another guy on the street with a bit of difficulty.
Helios is a bit of a busybody, being used to seeing everything that happens on Earth in any given day, but his worst curiosity doesn’t always get him into the most trouble. Typically, this award tends to go to his tendency to miss the things that are most important while focusing on the little things during the day. He completely missed the slaughter of his cattle by Odysseus’ men and had to be told of it by his daughters, who were looking after the herd at the time. He gets thing in time, but will sometimes need things spelled out for him before he’ll understand them correctly.
» Sample Journal:
[This video post is brought to you by the letter “s,” an important part of the word ‘sun‘! Also sponsoring this is the word “confusion.” Can you spell that? Well, no need to. It’s written all across Helios’ face, along with equal parts frustration and dissatisfaction… With just a pinch of amusement. He holds his chin in one hand and glances around the apartment he sits in, a window visibly open next to him.]
Quick quiz for all you bright bulbs that I assume hang around this place!
Does something seem a bit off here? […] I‘ll give you some time to answer that.
[He glances pointedly out the window into the bright sunshine of the day, counting off seconds on his fingers as he does so. An infectious grin slowly grows despite himself.]
» Sample Roleplay:
(Yes, I stole this from the old FP prompt meme. Shut up, it’s still relevant.)
The horses danced around the grass gingerly, wings furling and unfurling as they stretched their day-weary muscles in the rapidly cooling air. Their fire was still burning, but with a concentrated intensity unlike the raging fierceness of the early morning start. Eyes traced the horizon, as if daring the beasts they passed in the sky to come down from their celestial perches.
A laugh joined their weary snorts and Helios patted Phlegon‘s sea-dampened side, moving to rub the horse’s nose affectionately. “You did a good job today, bud,” he said, given a whinny in response that seemed to imply some knowledge of the team’s superiority. They knew they were good - it was just up to him to go along for the ride.
A hand ran through the next mane within reach, repeating the same sentiment with each steed, scratching their favorite spots (behind the right ear, under the wing - narrowly avoid the mischievous kick from Aethion) and nuzzling each tired snout. Finally, a yawn that stretched all the way down to the tips of his toes drew Helios from the nightly ritual, reminding him of the warm bed waiting not too far off.
It took one last glance and a nudge in the back from Pyrois to get him moving home.