This is my pet peeve

From what I know isn't that just etymology? Linguistically it means too and bottom but in folk lore succubus and incubus are counterparts , but one assumes the form of a man and the other a woman when entering dreams, when the name was made "the one who lies beneath" they were describing women, that was the intent but because of the modern age and more fluidity and less gender roles especially in sex it can now be interpreted as either or but the original terms for the demons were quite strict back in the day because of the gender and sexual roles it was based upon those things at the time

Etymology started that way BECAUSE the lore was like that. Somewhere along the way (I assume when they started making things heteronormative), they changed it to be male and female but it was never ever male and female. They just changed the narrative to fit their stupid heteronormative lifestyle. Back in the days of Ancient Rome and Greece and before that, it was common practice to engage in homosexual/ bisexual/ pansexual relationships and it was a normal thing. In fact, the idea of virginity was about marriage. It wasn’t until Christians came in and fucked it all up with their talks of “purity” and heterosexual marriage being the golden standard that things started to change. Quite literally almost all of the ancient civilisations engaged in same sex relationships. Etymology is a reflection of the history but also of the original story. It’s the ultimate truth.

Also, it STILL is about top and bottom! They designated females to the bottom role and males to the top when that’s clearly not the case all the time. Again, heteronormative definitions that aren’t always accurate. But it doesn’t change the fact that succubi are still bottoms and incubi are still tops. They just added male and female to it.

I see that's makes sense, but then I guess it would mean if the person recreating the mythology wants to go to the literal meaning or the mythological intent and both would be valid cuz it would still be different mythologies as they weren't really demons at all before if we are sticking to the very first story (the Mesopotamian before Christians or such of the medieval) but since they are referring to demons instead of spirits I think it's fine to refer to the medieval mythology, but it would be interesting to have a further back mythology reinterpretation surrounding the spirits lilu and lilitu instead of the traditional demonology.

In general it would be a decision between giving basing them off their historical factual meaning (etymology)or the mythological meaning (factual in regards to specific folklore in this case demonology), I think you prefer the etymological meaning which is understandable since it would make for a good story. Also thanks for talking with me I recently took a world myth class and haven't had a chance to talk about such things especially on a site like this, I love learning new things, I can't wait for your perspective ヾ(☆▽☆)

I just prefer sticking to the original story. Like sirens were what we now consider harpies. I have no idea how they became known as mermaids who drown sailors but they used to be bird ladies who ate people. It’s my biggest pet peeve when people incorrectly quote things and then it becomes stuck as “fact” when it’s not factual. Like “blood is thicker than water” being thrown around when that’s not the full quote. “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” is the full quote and it means literally the opposite of family over friends. I absolutely detest that people do this so I get really fired up (and is why I love etymology so much).

I’m glad we had this discussion too! Thanks for talking with me! If you ever wanna talk world myths or etymology, I’m a huge nerd lmao