All I Ever Wanted Was Your Approval!

Question: So, there have been plenty of blog posts talking about the gods being bastards and ruining their childrens' lives. But what about the opposite?

Gods being awesome buddies who take their kids out for pizza, you mean? It's not as likely, but sure, that can happen, too.

The thing with gods is that they created Scions for a reason, and it was not because they didn't have anybody to play football with. They're in the middle of a war, they need frontline soldiers, shock troops and helpful backup, and their Scions are the best choice for getting those things while still handling their own problems. Because Scions' jobs - the entire point of their existence, in fact - is to do things that the gods either don't want to or don't have time to, and to get hit in the face by evil monsters, and to obey instructions because it's not like the gods created Scions to have them not do what they needed, it's inevitable that they'll spend a lot of time being disenfranchised and unhappy with the things they're expected to do and the way they're treated. Unfortunately, Scions are created at the low end of the totem pole, and it's a long climb up to glory.

But remember, also, that gods make their childrens' lives awesome - literally! Sure, your god-parent might be an ass who trades you around like a baseball player, sends you out to get hit in the face by fiery doom and then cheerfully blames your failures when other gods bother him, but the tradeoff for that is that you are now a Scion. You used to be a human; now you have magical abilities, incredible adventures and the potential to grow up to be one of the greatest powers in the universe. Your divine parent didn't have to wake you up and give you all the limitless possibilities of godhood, but he did, and he gave you magical toys and the support of your pantheon to boot. That's pretty amazingly cool all on its own, don't you think? After all, that's why we're playing this game in the first place!

So from a goddess's point of view, she's already been pretty goddamn nice to you, spending a bunch of her resources on giving you divine power and relics and committing to having to deal with you for potentially the rest of eternity. She probably considers it pretty fair to send you out to go do awesome yet dangerous or uncomfortable stuff, because you'd just be a mortal vegetating in front of the television if she'd never picked you up, so you basically owe it to her. Most Scions actually usually have more positive, helpful and fun relationships with gods who aren't their parents, since those people didn't create and command them and therefore it's easier to be friends and mutual helpers. It's true for Scions, too: you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.

As far as being chummy with your parents goes, though, that really depends on the personality of the god in question. They will, of course, most of the time ruin your life even if they like you and you like them, simply because, well, getting your life ruined is your job. But some of them who have a reputation for kindness, compassion or just being really nice to their kids (Guanyin, for example) might sometimes give you a nice little pick-me-up just because. Gods are generally too busy to take a break from ceaseless warring and political machinating just to take you out to the ballgame, but they may also help you make advantageous moves that benefit both of you, or their reputation and prowess might have spillover benefits for you even when they're not there. For example, in our games, Odin spent pretty much the entire chronicle repeatedly and brutally ruining Aurora's life - but he also made a point of threatening other Scions into protecting her and making sure she was taken care of, something that she might not have survived without.

And, of course, if you're into vengeance, you always have the comfort of knowing that if you go down, your divine parent will probably make someone else pay out the nose for it at the very least, or just go on a smashing rampage to avenge you. It's not much consolation when you're dead, but hey, sometimes you have to take what you can get.