[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Nice one, and refreshing to see Phoenix more as a proper bird. So often it is portrayed as burning like being of fire, which is on-brand for phoenixes now, but original mythology did not state that explicitly, and first drawn images portray it as a more regular bird. So your image is closer to the original folklore.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch World of Warcraft actually has four mounts that are phoenixes without any fire in them. My favourite one was violet. They are not obtainable anymore, as they came as a reward for doing challenge mode dungeons in Mist of Pandaria expansion. So a decade ago by now, time sure flies.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka I can see why the phoenix is such a popular bird in fiction, mythology, and games, but somehow feel it is a bit unfair toward other mythical birds. The one in WoW could be a Roc. Though probably a chick, full-grown Roc is so big it has an elephant diet.

And I wish Alicanto had more representation, it is an interesting bird.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch Phoenix probably also got a little lucky to be put in the bits of culture that gained huge popularity. For example one of the characters in Harry Potter has a pet phoenix and as a result every kid who read the books knew what a phoenix was.

Similarly, the modern understanding of an "elf" is a noble humanoid, similar to Aos sí. It wasn't that way until J.R.R. Tolkien wrote them that way in his Middle-Earth world.

Alicanto seems interesting. Maybe one day it can become more famous too.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Kind of makes it seem that mythological creatures are like Hollywood actors waiting for their big break, and fictional stories, be it books or film,s or games, are like role opportunities for them to make it to stardom. Some make it, and some do not and end up having to find work in trashy movies. Like what happened to Leprechaun:

Goes to show, both humans (actors at least) and mythological creatures may have similar challenges in life, eh?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch "Fame is a fickle friend"

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by Saka

@DoctorEldritch "Fame is a fickle friend"

True. And also fortune, they seem to have that in common.

[Saka]

I wanted a temple floating in the sky, that could be home of some tempest deities. I guess I need to be a bit more specific to the both when I talk about floating temples. Oh well, at least it is still a very pretty picture:

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka It is beautiful. And, I guess, the sky in these cases can be seen in a more poetic sense.

[DoctorEldritch]

The competition is now over! And @Saka wins by both talents and by default this time.