#also I Love When Fantasy Does This Kind Of American Gods Style 'the Gods Need And Are Shapped By Mortal

#also i love when fantasy does this kind of american gods style 'the gods need and are shapped by mortal belief/worship' angle A LOT

there’s a whole tvtrope about this! Gods Need Prayer Badly. or for the more general case of belief = making it real, Clap Your Hands If You Believe.

(tangent ahead)

I think the first time I came across the “belief shaping gods, even retroactively” angle was in the webcomic Digger, with its in-universe myths about the Good Man and the Black Mother. you can read the relevant pages starting here, it’s like 8 pages. the Black Mother myth was inspired by real life stories told by street children in Miami, as noted in the comments.

later, I also came across this “retroactive shaping” / ”contradictory myths co-existing” idea in Gunnerkrigg Court and Discworld.

I wasn’t going anywhere in particular with this, so I guess this is the end of my post?

Please read order of the stick

Character: “Wow, i didn’t realize the gods were so dependent on the beliefs of everyday mortals like us”

Thor: “Oh, you have no idea. I used to be a ginger until that damn superhero comic book came out.”