Reminded me a bit of the book series Wizard for Hire at the end.

(In Sputhwestern France) was not meant to be in the Poem

Prison cemetery Pau in soutwestern France

I will check it out. What's the setting and backdrop? I'm good with sci-fi genre stuff too. I'm old enough to remember seeing The Macross Saga when it first aired here in the States.

The experience of a special interest deep dive

That was brilliant! Very well done. I love how you made it so recognizable with the reference to Sandman and such. And the last sentence made me laugh out loud.

That was nice how you brought up your other story there. Nice job.

https://youtu.be/bkjsN-J27aU

Manga dex has it but there is only a single chapter translated. The Japanese name is mahou chuunen and the English name is middle-age magical uncle.

Loki sat in a steel folding chair along with Bastet, who was waiting on transportation to the future for her new job as the first Royale kitten. Loki chatted with Bastet to pass the time and mocked her for being reduced to a position such as advertising something the humans will wipe their ass with. Bastet humbly informed Loki that her position would be only part-time and she will gain new worshipers in the 21st century from a group of humans who refer to themselves as furries. Then as if by afterthought, she pointed out the fact they had Odin himself shilling Coca-Cola for the rest of eternity and Loki being far lesser of a god could hope for much worse.

I sat watching the gods chat in my office waiting room in their intentionally uncomfortable chairs perplexed by my conundrum. I am something of jokester myself, I can't help but respect the old god Loki and pity his fall from grace. I could not forgive myself if I put this being in anything other then a position he will learn to love. Carefully thoughtfully I decided to bring back an old spiritual being not just for Loki's sake but also for the humans as well.

After a reasonable wait of 86 years, I called Loki into my office to be assigned to his new position. If my understanding of this trickster is correct, he's not going to like what I have in mind for him at first. If I explain he might just understand my purpose for him so he could become more then he ever was as a god, make a real difference for midworld. It will seem like a mundane position until he really understands how it will let him effect the plane of reality in subtle but magnificent ways.

I informed Loki that he will become a Muse and he will inspire the humans to create stories in something that will be called film. He did not like the sound of moving pictures when I explained them, then I pointed out that billions of humans will one day see them on a daily basis and it's influence will effect their entire lives. With a smile Loki agreed on the condition that he chooses how he acts as a Muse and that he operates independently. We agreed with a hand shake and we parted ways, I never saw it Loki again in person. Sometimes he chooses to personify his characters and every time he does I feel a tinge of pride, I will never fail to laugh when I see him sing dance to the song "Hello! Ma Baby".

https://youtu.be/bkjsN-J27aU

Frost spreading across a window to herald the coming of winter.

Kyubey us far more evil than this

A child daydreams beneath a tree

There I was. Well, there we were. As the sun stood in the middle of the sky, it truly felt like a Sunday. Honestly, work has been kicking my ass lately, but after breakfast, Nia did one of her classic hour long tantrums and now here we are. I know it's not good to give into her, but she's just so cute when she get's upset. And now here I am, pushing her on the swings.

But really what I was curious about, was this cosplaying guy hunched over watching us from a bush.

"So, who the hell are you? Isn't it a little early in the day for cosplay?" I shouted.

Immediately, he stood up straight, blurted out "I am not cosplaying!", then started making his way towards me.

"Listen creep, if you don't want to get peppered stay back!"

"I am not a creep! My name is Abraham Lincoln!"

What did he just say?

"Okay I don't know what you're playing out but you're clearly some anime character, not Abe Lincoln."

"I told you I'm not cosplaying! And Abraham Lincoln is just my name, look here." He pulled out a license with his picture and name.

"Oh, so it is." I said, deflated.

"Now behold!"

He pointed towards his open palm, facing up.

"Think of any fruit."

I squinted my eyes and imagined my favorite fruit.

He smirks, "Good."

As he flexed his arm I saw a light begin to emanate from his palm, he then began to chant "Icurus Cuora", or something like that, I don't really speak magic. And as he began to chant, suddenly the bright red fruit appeared in his hand.

"Why the hell is there a tomato in my hand!?" Abraham Lincoln exasperates.

"Tomato is my favorite fruit. What, you didn't know tomato is a fruit?"

"How about you just pick a normal fruit instead?" He shook his head. "Whatever, surely that's enough to prove my magical powers."

I'm not totally convinced. "Try making a durian next."

"Listen! Your daughter, it may be hard to believe this now, but one day she will be the one who saves this world."

We both turned and looked at my four year old drool machine.

"You know she's four, right?"

As his face dropped, he let out a sigh.

"Yes, Mr.Lopez, but one day she won't be."

"Don't you think that's like, creepy?"

"I didn't mean it like that! Like anything else, magic is taught better to youth. We should start her training now. That is, if you want your world to exist in 40 years."

"Yeah, no, I think we're both good."

No prompt, but you got this OP

I don't know if any of it is translated in English but the English name is Magical Middle Age. And this is the JP Amazon listing for volume one.

We might not be the largest or the most well-known company on earth, but our reach extends into every corner of the globe, our impact bleeding into almost part of the world.

We're a headhunting, recruitment, and marketing firm for the gods, and we have been doing this for a thousand years. Yes, you heard it right, we are one of the oldest companies on this earth. Gods come and go, they shine and then fade away. Or so that's what the public thinks. What really happens is we rebrand them when their domain falls out of public favor.

Odin is one of our most famous customers, my great-great-grandma was proud to present to him the job of Santa Claus, and he has been slaying it. Eostre is now the Easter Bunny, Tiamat is now popular among the D&D crowds, and Lucifer has signed yet another contract for a Sandman remake.

As old pantheons fall, so do new pantheons rise. We help new pantheons recruit new gods, and help old gods find new jobs and domains. And we're the best at the line of work.

Now you've heard my pitch, are you going to come into my office to talk or keep pacing around my lobby?

Hey you, the nervous scar-faced, redhead in the lobby, are you coming in for a job?

He doesn't say a word, he just follows me into my office with his eyes fixed on the floor. I invited him to sit across from me and requested my assistant to get us both a cup of coffee. If he is exactly who I think he is, this is going to be a long day.

"Yes, I'm here to find a job."

Finally, we're getting started.

"Loki isn't it? You've delayed making the transition while the rest of the Norse gods have moved on ages ago. Why now?" I asked. "Surely, with your shapeshifting powers and charm, you have plenty of opportunities."

"I...blew them. I tried my hand at acting, Lucifer introduced me to a few producers. I was blacklisted after I made half the cast pregnant and the other half so horny and drunk on mead they couldn't do their jobs. Nobody wants tricksters, either they already have Anansi jumping from pantheon to pantheon, or they just got tired of my usual shtick."

My data analytics feed and report came back; Loki had somehow gotten himself barred from almost every typical job in dozens of countries. He wormed his way into almost every employer's pants, male or female or other genders, and was caught cheating on over a dozen directors. He can't even sweep the floors for one day without dunking the contents of his dustpan onto his superior and getting fired for it. Caught repeatedly lying on his resume after one too many debacles. Nobody would want anything to do with him after he broke teleportation and time-traveling regulations frequently just to give famous people fucking wedgies.

"So what can you offer Loki? That isn't on this banned list of things Loki isn't allowed to do." I printed and thumbed through the thick stack of papers.

"Anything...I would literally do anything for Odin not to mock me for being a freeloader, or get thrown back into that cave and have snake venom dripped on me. Please."

I pause and start flipping through the reports again.

"An actor, or actress. With your shapeshifting powers, you could be anything, including a black man pretending to be a white chick posing as a white man. Or just yourself, your antics are prime hollywood movie material. Also, Pride month needs some representation. You're one of the oldest bisexual queers in the pantheons. You'll need to scrub clean your social media accounts and start anew. No more making fun of Baldr for dying to a mistletoe. Agree to stick by our company's rules of engagement and no more mishaps or monsterfucking, Loki. Managing your children's careers is already a serious handful."

"So...do I get to keep my name or do I get a new one as part of rebranding?"

I quickly opened a random name generator and picked one of the first names that came up.

"You're Tom Hiddleston now."

Yeah....this is what COVID lockdowns were for the introverted. "No more small talk? Sweet."

I feel like a premise like this could be turned into such a wholesome adoption story with adopted daughters of lesbian couples being eligible through some weird warp magic about chosen family/that whole blood of the covenant thing.

[removed]

I remember there was a manga where a body builder is one of the two potential candidates to take up the mantle of magical "girl", the other being the young generic kid you would expect. When he found out, he basically took it for himself even though the patrons wanted the girl.

In the event you wonder what that looks like: https://myanimelist.net/character/36730/Atsushi_Takada/pics

I vaguely remember him actually being quite exceptional in working as a magical "girl".

Heh, I smell a Dresden Files reference

...what happened to the Moon?

A thug, in a city where the rule of law is broken, lays out the rules to the new guy.

Drag Queen?