#Autumn Mythos Concepts

[autumn-mythos]

Greater Horrors

That's what English speaking earthlings call what I am! Horrible, terrifying creatures of incomprehensible nature... we're like gods! Most of us signify something. God of water, god of instinct, god of blood, god of wrath... Well. There would be a god of wrath if we didn't exile The Indomitable Asperity. We're not huge fans of that guy.

When encountering mortals we tend to use avatars! Shapeshifting into a much more comprehensible body. Here are some examples!

Avatars of The Great Horned one! Me!

Avatar of The Visceral Almighty, God of instinct! I play smash bros with them sometimes.

I even have an avatar based on mortals!

Plaz M, An avatar of me as a merthing! I think merthings are cool. I got really bored one day and made another one of me to live a mortal life!

We need to approach mortals with an avatar or they tend to not take it very well. They call it Lovetapping

Lovetapping

Mortal brains can't handle the form or nature of a greater horror! After being lovetapped, mortals go through a myriad of changes. Most commonly, their name changes! The name almost ALWAYS reflects the name of a being in one of your world's mythologies and religions! Names like Zeus, or Apollo! They tend to forget their original names, too. Sometimes parts of their body change, sometimes their entire personality change, it's real freaky, to be honest! They can also get a huge boost in their physical and magical capabilities... I try not to make any more lovetapped people than I have to!

Mela Tonin, un-lovetapped merthing

Hypnos, Lovetapped merthing. I don't think her eye looked like that before! I'm not sure her gills are supposed to leak like that, either.

Nemesis, lovetapped ghost.

Thanatos, lovetapped wizard.

That's all I have for this post! I'll talk more about my world later! Feel free to ask questions!

[dailydemonspotlight]

Wild Hunt - Day 127

Race: Night

Alignment: Neutral-Chaos

Evolves into Abaddon [SMT IV, Level 58]

October 15th, 2024

While we've already talked about Dormarth, we haven't touched upon where this hound comes from- that being the Wild Hunt, a common mythological staple in many European mythologies. Of course, the hunt appears in Celtic myth, but it also appears all the same in many other areas, including Slavic areas, Norse myth, and much more; The concept is ultimately timeless, with constant references, and is intrinsically linked to Halloween in many European places- after all, as the time of spirits draws near, the ghosts shall come out for one last hunt, even until the end of time. I wonder if they know the next hunt is scheduled for next year.

The Wild Hunt, as said above, is a common motif throughout many different European mythologies and religions, not just the Norse ones that most people are familiar with. While it does roughly share similar origins in most retellings, as the Scandanavian term for it calls it 'Odin's hunt,' the Wild Hunt does vary greatly across regions in forms of its leaders and popular figures. Our first source for the Wild Hunt's existence is actually one of the earliest pieces of Anglo-Saxon literature we know of, called the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Dating back to the 1100's AD, the text mentions the Wild Hunt, though only scantly- however, it points to the fact that this concept has existed for thousands of years! It may even date earlier than that, as a matter of fact- as purported by Jacob Grimm (a man... rather famous for his unreliability, granted, but it is an interesting theory,) the idea of the Wild Hunt may have its roots in pre-Christian Norse mythology, and could have been connected to a darker side of Odin.

But, I hear you asking, what even is the Wild Hunt? While the specifics change from story to story, the general concept is the same- on a specific date range, typically around Autumn or Winter, a group of spirits would emerge from the underworld (changing based on the mythology, of course,) to perform a great hunt, becoming a massive wind of ghosts that would sweep up anybody unlucky enough to be outside at the time and would end up bringing them to an early grave (or just someplace else) to join the hunt again. This was primarily inspired by the howling winds of late night Autumn, with the cause now attributed to this supernatural event.

Interestingly, the common leader of this phenomenon was typically a God- most of the time, a deity in charge of the hunt would be leading the metaphorical (and literal) pack, such as Odin or, in the case of the Welsh version of this myth that we went over in the Dormarth analysis, Gwyn ap Nudd, the Lord of the Dead. It could also be led by some less deific figures, of course, but it was mostly deities and characters with high relevance and power in the mythos. A great hunting party does need a great leader, after all. Possibly the funniest version of this, though, is recounted in Grimm's paper on it, wherein a hunter known as Hans von Hackelnberg led the hunt- a man who died to, and I shit you not, accidentally stabbing himself on a boar's tusk and dying from the sickness it caused. Somehow, his passion for hunting was so great that, even in death, he refused to go to heaven, instead moving to create the Wild Hunt.

Now, in terms of design in SMT, the Wild Hunt is about as accurate as you can get- a howling wind of several ghosts accompanied by horses and dogs. Funny enough, the dog might actually be a reference to Dormarth? The fact you can have a Wild Hunt and a Dormarth in the same party might indicate that there's two, but I dunno, I'm just talking out of my ass. Still, it's a fun and effective design that captures its essence perfectly. I have no idea why it evolves into Abaddon, though.

[northyme]

The zodiac system of Dinasa

We made this for our homebrew D&D game! The wheel represents the night sky. In-depth explanation under the cut.

This system is based on a calendar of 365 days, with twelve signs corresponding to the dates of our real world zodiac. Therefore the first sign (The Serpent) corresponds to Aries, and the last sign (The Wolves) corresponds to Pisces.

The Zodiac Wheel

The world of Dinasa has two conflicting origin myths. One talks of a world born from a huge Boiling Sea, the other talks of a world created by an ancient creature known as the Star Serpent. The zodiac mythos names the first sign the sign of creation, and the last sign the sign of death, as they symbolize the beginning and end of a cycle.

On one side of the cosmic wheel sits Aniki, the goddess of Nature. On the opposite side sits Seni, the god of the Moon, and her lover. They are endlessly separated by Tsungot, the god of the sun and Seni's father, who sits on the highest point in the sky, perfectly between the two. On their other side, at the lowest point in the sky, they are separated by the very concepts of life and death, where the wheel begins and ends.

The zodiac is a representation of the night sky despite the planet's rotation and movement. Unlike our real world astrology, the horizon line at dawn always represents Aniki, and the one at dusk always represents Seni, no matter which constellations it moves through.

The role of the signs

The signs on the upper side, above the horizon, are usually associated with light, the real world, and things that are material or tangible. In calendar days, they fall within the seasons of summer and autumn.

The signs on the lower side, in the abyss, are associated with darkness, the theoretical, and concepts that are intangible or immaterial. They fall within the seasons of winter and spring.

Additionally, each greater deity from the pantheon perfectly corresponds to one of the 12 zodiac signs, as follows:

The Serpent - Medje, the god of creation

The Seeker - Kithian, the god of knowledge

The Poet - Allesto, the god of luck

The Rider - Aniki, the god of nature

The Keystone - Saldona, the god of civilization

The Heart - Dovanir, the god of justice

The Phoenix - Tsungot, the god of the sun

The Leviathan - Zutarith, the god of war

The Dragon - Boetia, the god of love

The Dreamer - Seni, the god of the moon

The Swan - Etherysk, the god of beauty and magic

The Wolves - Faillen, the god of death

[auranova26]

Notes on Cryas Chronicles

I want to go over some notes regarding the setting of the mythos of Cryas Chronicles as it is my creation, and little would be known unless you could read my thoughts.

So first of all, what is Cryas Chronicles? 🔷Cryas Chronicles is the name I give for this series that houses the reality of my OCs. This has been something in the works for well over +10 years at the time of typing this and is still ongoing in terms of development. It has been going through a number of restructuring processes. Originally, the idea of the series was the idea of a video game tetralogy, but I have since abandoned that idea. Now, it is just a series. It is intended to have storylines that spans over many years, generally following a cast of characters, somewhat changing the core cast of each story/saga as needed.

What is the setting of Cryas Chronicles? 🔷 The series takes place in a universe different from our own and one of the Cryas Darkstalkers mythos. The first story, Vicissitude Journey, takes place in a world where two planets are interconnected via a spacetime distortion. They are known as 'Umbralus' and 'Illumalus'. However, later on other worlds are brought into the mix as the series progresses. As of now, other worlds or realms that exist in this reality are: Jrukoshn Relm, Avalos, Sylverra. More will be added as needed.

What are some of the races that exist in these worlds? 🔷 As of right now they are the following: Umbrian, Illumin, Aunakin, Corrian, Jrukoshn, Avalocian, Hemo'eira, Celestian.

What are some differences between this reality and ours? 🔷For this, I will compare this reality to the Cryas Darkstalkers reality.

A year in the Cryas Chronicles reality is the equivalent of 400 Earth Days. While some realms have their own 'year' system based on their approximation to their star, the universal acceptance is 400 solar days equals a year. A solar day is accepted as 24 hours. The general calendar system is 12 months: 8 months have 33 days with 4 months with 34 days. The 4 months with 34 days generally are the month with signaled changes in the seasons of Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. A big thing to take from this is that when I give the age of characters from this reality, that is based on this year system, so it will not be accurate to ages we use in our reality or in the Cryas DS reality.

Earth and humans don't exist in the Cryas Chronicles universe. That goes without saying, but this also means that without humans being a thing, certain terms don't exist in this reality. 'Humane' and 'inhumane' are examples of words that don't exist. Also, rather than me using the term 'humanoid' I will default to the terms of either 'intelligent liferforms', and other descriptors that don't involve the word 'human'.

Magic is generally accepted thing with many societies. Magic in this reality is understood generally as the ability to manipulate different forms of energy. It is something that has been able to coexist with science. While not everyone is capable of wielding magic, most can use it to some degree if they put some effort into it. Some are more naturally gifted.

Many cryptids don't exist in this reality. The concept of stuff like the undead, vampires, mummies, and many things do not exist in this reality compared to the Cryas DS one. However, the idea and existence of souls, spirits, and ghosts are a thing, just not generally accepted thing. It varies between different cultures.

That should hopefully give some context to things since I did share that blog earlier of the main cast for Cryas Chronicles: Vicissitude Journey.

I hope to have more to chare in due time, but feel free to ask away.😎✌️

[an-aura-about-you]

Hi @an-aura-about-you 👋🏻 I love doing these Q&A things with my followers and those who I follow! So, I thought it would be fun to ask some friendship questions to you, as you seem like a very lovely person that makes me want to get to know you better, and the fact that we both follow each other! 🥺🥺

1. What is your favorite season and why?

2. What is your favorite genre of music and why? If you have one, what is your current favorite song/artist?)

3. What are your favorite ships and why? 🤔

4. What is your favorite book genre? (If you have one, what is your favorite book series/book/author?)

Thank you for taking the time to read this! ❤️❤️

*sees that I hadn't been following you and re-follows* That was probably an "I'm catching up on my tumblr backlog" thing. XD; But rest assured, should I unfollow someone, it is not out of malice or thinking we're not friends. (I've unfollowed irl friends before just because blogs didn't jive, y'know?)

My favorite season is a tie between spring and autumn. As I get older, I find I don't like extremes as much. The welcome warmth of spring and the refreshing chill of autumn are my favorite times. But honestly, there is some charm in every season.

My favorite genre of music is classical music, but more often than not nowadays I find I like music that tells stories. So not just opera and ballet but also concept albums. Covering all my bases on that, my current favorite song is Blood and Whiskey from High Noon Over Camelot by The Mechanisms and my favorite... well, not artist so much as composer is Tchaikovsky.

My favorite ships are: Jon/Martin from The Magnus Archives (I am not immune to office worker enemy to lover romance in my horror media, but also how they just genuinely become friends on the way to becoming a couple), Hamid/Azu from Rusty Quill Gaming (not just romantically but any way you could put them together, they're best friends and have such an instant rapport, like I swear Azu picked Hamid up and That Changed Him As A Person), Aziraphale/Crowley from Good Omens (I am also not immune to the opposites attract/not so different dynamic, especially when it's been going on for literal ages), and Mytho/Rue from Princess Tutu (so the thing both Mytho and Rue are missing for most of the series is agency but while Mytho's problem is he's a storybook character who literally lost his ability to make choices Rue's problem is coercion via parental abuse and I really fucking love that the first time she ever truly makes a choice on her own it's for his sake and hers).

Somehow I think my favorite book genre has become celebrity autobiography? I wasn't seeking this out as a genre, but my favorite book and some others I'm fond of can be called that. Right now, my favorite is The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero with help from Tom Bissell. It is Sestero's account of his friendship with notable So Bad It's Good movie director Tommy Wiseau and how his magnum opus The Room came to be.

Thank you for sending these in! <3

[feather-dancer]

Directors’ commentary on the lore used in Sea Salt?

Oh my god there is so much

The concept of Beithir is based on three different pieces of folklore, Beithir himself is Scottish, the stoor worm is Orkney and the breathing in and out over six hours forming the tide is from Shetland. There's a big thing in mythos of chopping up snakes that will rejoin if you're not careful so that still happened they just kinda ended up in the sea here.

To seafarers the moon is believed to be his eye lost during this period and nathair believe their ancestors sprang from his blood thus seeing him as their patron. He's down at the very bottom in an ouroboros fashion, his head will show up wherever someone is speaking to him and should he need to reply he'll bite the tail in his mouth to do so. Part of a murúch's creation from a recently deceased involves a prayer to him so no matter who raised them if he calls them they'll obey.

The name murúch is Irish coming from their mermaid myth called merrow and while these guys don't have a little cap that lets them go into the sea/onto land they do stitch their legs together to form a tail and vice versa. Just like them they're always one or the other though will be drawn to the sea.

Ceasg meanwhile is a Scottish mermaid! While this generally refers to a singular lady here it's adapted to an entire species who are mammalian instead of salmon tailed though the half tails still reflect their origins. The finfolk they're often mistakeningly called within fic are actually Orkney who are believed to be what selkies sprang from at some point down the line which merrow have similar. For fun irony finfolk supposedly do wander between land and sea so in universe humans just kinda applied it to two different seafarers thinking they were the same thing. Marc references Finfolkaheem, the supposed home of finfolk, and ceasg as a whole share the same ! about silver.

The Sea Mither is an Orkney legend who subdued the terrible nuckelavee to the depths and lives in the sea herself during the spring/summer. Teran pops up in autumn wearing her down in a fight until she flees to land and takes over until she comes back renewed in spring. Seafarers revere her though not many on land seem to do the same though there are pockets of exceptions such as Félix who sometimes mentions her by name.

Cailleach who pops up in multiple places around the isles and is not in fact her sister and was smooshed for fic reasons. She's generally associated with making the landscape, wilderness, weather and winter which is the same here. During that time of year might occasionally hear someone mention the Mither fled to her side to ride out that shit while recovering from more folklore conscious seafarers.

Unlike Beithir there's certainly no proof either lady or Teran are really out there but most decide it better not to piss them off, just to be safe.

Really all it boils down to we have cool shit on these islands and an alarming amount of bastard horses that should be used more.

[spideywhites]

Hey spidey

Totally waiting for an update from u

For the prompts thing please tell me about Toshiro or Kousei in regards to:

🌍, 🤝, 💍, 💀, ✨, 📚, 😍 , 😇

Any and all of them will do.

[ 🌎 ] are there any aus you have for your muse? what are they like, and how is your muse different in them?

oh, tons. i always end up making AUs for literally every OC that i make, but usually i keep that in my head. they come around because i get super attached to an OC and want to fit them in everywhere!! for Toshiro, i have the general Konoha High School AU, Mythos AU, soulmate AU, ABO AU, and alternate meeting AU.

Konoha High School AU: nurse Toshiro ! honestly... he's probably just less traumatized and more happy-go-lucky. Mythos AU I've done a little one-shot about, with dryad Toshiro. Soulmate AU is . . . interesting, because it doesn't go as you'd expect. But i'm not going to say more on that just yet, in case i actually go through with making a little mini-fic for it. ABO AU is about Alpha Kakashi and Omega Toshiro being absolutely not the norm for their dynamics, and Toshiro being a late-presenting omega who is already halfway through his reforms when it hits, causing a whole new slew of political upheaval for the initially presumed beta. (honestly, might write a little thing about this too, but i shouldn't get ahead of myself lol) as for the alternate meeting au, it's mostly where they meet early on during the third shinobi war, when they're both actively child soldiers. trauma bonding? hm.

[ 🤝 ] how does your muse approach intimacy? are they hesitant, or do they like it? what types of intimacy do they like and dislike? (ex. physical intimacy, sexual intimacy, emotional intimacy, etc.)

toshiro is . . . simultaneously direct and nervous, depending on the type. he is very warm-hearted, but lawful (in a sense) and takes great stock in morality. he's comfortable with physical intimacy with children (hugs, holding hands, general paternal care) and close friends, otherwise he's not . . . touchy? or rather just uncomfortable with prolonged touch from strangers or people he doesn't feel close to. he'll tell you directly that he's uncomfortable, and maybe even give you a lecture on good-touch bad-touch lol. sexual intimacy is exclusive to his partner. he's not one for flings, as he doesn't feel exceptionally sexual impulses towards those he's not close to. emotional intimacy has to be the most complex.... he's very open with children, showing care and love with relative ease. if he feels like he's grown close to someone, he's not afraid to open up to them. he can be nervous and procrastinate for a time, but he always ends up as the type to make the first moves. not exactly 'heart on the sleeve', but is willing to jump when he comes to the edge.

[ 💍 ] does your muse have a “type” of people that they prefer to enter relationships with? is their type generally compatible with them, or does the dynamic tend to be toxic?

toshiro will say he doesn't have a type, but he definitely does! it's not exceptionally particular, but he's certainly more attracted to people who are 1) tall, 2) the type he can sit in quiet with, 3) independent, 4) have nice arms.

in most cases, he's pretty compatible with his 'type', though the variety of personalities you can get who also possess those four qualities is pretty huge. luckily he's very straightforward and oddly centered, so he will call out toxic behavior when he sees it and is unlikely to enter a relationship with someone before analyzing every facet of them and how they would work with him.

[ 💀 ] has your muse gone through anything traumatic? if so, how has this trauma affected them?

as a child soldier, you could say he went through... a bit of trauma. he was forced through a rigorous training schedule that he barely passed, considered a statistic, and thrown onto the battlefield where at most he was expected to serve as fodder or a distraction for better nin to use to their advantage. he was the sole survivor more than once, moved around and placed on multiple teams to fill space, and made to carry the bodies of other child shinobi back. obviously this still affects him mentally, but he used a lot of the accompanying rage to put a plan in motion and twist the world into something better.

[ ✨ ] what aesthetics or symbols do you reference when writing your muse? are these backed up by canon, if your muse comes from a canon? is there any specific relevance to these choices?

pale gold / rose / peach / crimson / ink & parchment / plants / the scent of rubbing alcohol / white / the sun & stars / soft kimonos / red piercings / warmth / spring / autumn

i use constant reference to these as a way to describe him and make him feel more .. . in the moment? like his presence is actually taking up space in the scene.

[ 📚 ] what books does your muse have on their bookshelf? what books would they like to have? if your muse isn’t an avid reader, is there anything they collect or might like to collect?

a few fuuinjutsu for beginners scrolls, heaps and heaps of medical texts, some cheesy romance novels, guilty pleasure enemies to lovers books. he doesn't have a lot of time to read for fun, so most of his bookshelves are stocked to the brim with reading material concerning his craft.

[ 😍 ] does your muse believe in true love? why or why not?

n ot . . . exactly. he thinks love is something you have to both feel and think about. you have to work for it, with it, and around it. he's not sure there's a true definition of true love when there are so many types, kinds, and versions that work better for different individuals. if everything with kakashi works out and they grow old together, he'd consider kakashi his true love, the love that worked out best for him. in short, he really thinks too much to believe in the unanalyzed concept, and he doesn't believe in 'love at first sight'... because that's just attraction.

[ 😇 ] what would your muse do if they became a god?

probably keep moving the same as he always does, unless he god powers give him better healing abilities. then he'd go around the countries fixing people up and trying to stop wars. essentially goes back to his original goal of ending child death in shinobi ranks. he's not fond of being a solo leader tbh.

[nicollekidman]

hmm..... because i like to analyze my interests as a little window into Myself i do love how my lifelong attachment to mythological creatures morphed into a love of paranormal creatures in high school, then all forms of the supernatural/gothic in college, and now there’s a definite recent emphasis on spirituality/mythos/the divine. it’s like.. hmmm i’ve always been aesthetically and narratively most interested in things that connect us to concepts outside of our notions of Reality or Time and i think it’s only fitting with the present moment that the magic and whimsy has been tempered a bit by the Terrible Beauty of celestial subjects in art... it’s like... getting older has allowed me to embrace the fear/death/unknowableness that comes along with the deepest expressions of love/life/beauty.... and how that connects us to ancient and future conceptions of Belief.... ignore me i’m just Thinking.... it’s going to be a very dramatic and beautiful autumnal season on nicollekidman dot tumblr dot com

[nnycore]

@devnny ahhhh sorry this took so long! a bunch of awful shit went down after i asked for prompts and i haven’t really had the energy to write... but i’m back now! 

the prompt was “a simple short kinda thing, like johnny fretting over going to see devi at the bookstore, but it turns out fine, like it Always does <:)c

Oh god.

Oh fuck.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

Johnny C. was not the type of man to fall in love. He was a hollow being, incapable of loving or being loved. At least, that’s what he told himself as he paced outside the entrance to the bookstore for the nth time that day. No matter what he told himself, he just couldn’t bring himself to enter. It was just too much. Too overwhelming. He was fairly confident that having a social interaction in a public place with someone he actually respected combined with being forced to face the fact that the cold, emotionless image he had created for himself was, in fact, wrong would cause him to spontaneously combust.

Shit, she was coming closer to the entrance now. 

Devi D., the greatest woman Nny had ever known. 

Although she was certainly beautiful, Johnny never cared much for people’s physical appearance. (He hadn’t cared for anything about people, at least as far as he remembered.) She had a sharp mind and an even sharper tongue. Devi was probably the only person he could honestly say that he always looked forward to seeing.

And yet…

He was still struggling to just open the fucking door. Seriously, he did this all the time, why was today so hard? 

"Nny? Is that you?"

FUCKING HELL. He'd spent so long in his own thoughts that he almost forgot his current situation. 

"Uh-" Say something, idiot! "Yes?"

What the fuck, why do you sound so unsure of yourself? She asked if it was you. All you had to say was yes or no.

This was going great so far.

Devi opened the door to let him in. "Come on in, it's cold outside."

Nny peered into the bookstore to assess exactly what kind of situation he was getting himself into. Thankfully (or not) it wasn't very crowded, so it would pretty much just be him and Devi there. 

Devi gave him an incredulous look. "Man, you must be freezing. You don't even have a jacket on." It was pretty cold outside. Halloween had just passed and the temperature had finally dropped enough for it to actually feel like autumn.

Johnny hadn't noticed.

"Oh, not really." He didn't want her to worry over him, not that he thought she ever actually would. "I don't really get cold." He was so fucking cold.

“Sure you don’t,” Devi scoffed, looking down at him. She was intimidating, and Johnny was so into it. “That’s why you’re standing out there shivering your ass off. Because you’re not cold.”

“I-” He struggled to find an explanation.

Devi sighed. “Just come in”

Johnny hesitantly entered the threshold and took in his surroundings. The bookstore was a cozy little place. Normally he would have hated somewhere like this, but there was something oddly soothing about it. Maybe it was because it reminded him of Devi. There were candles lit (was that really a good idea in a building filled with flammable objects?) and the floor was covered in multiple overlapping rugs. Christmas lights hung from the ceiling and twisted along the spiral staircase to the upper level of the store like the vines of a crawling plant. It smelled… comforting, like old books and Yankee Candles. Devi smelled like that sometimes, he noticed.

“So, what brings you here on such a pleasant day?” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I- I, uh, wanted to…” Johnny sputtered. To ask you on a date. To ask if you wanted to see a movie sometime. To ask if you want to just hang out. “... to see if you got any new books recently.”

Devi thought for a moment. “Well” she said, “there isn’t anything new, but there is this book I’ve been meaning to read.” She guided him over to the section of shelves labeled “HORROR” and climbing the small wooden step-ladder, pulled out a small maroon book. “It’s a collection of stories by various authors based on the Cthulhu Mythos. I love the concept of Lovecraft’s work, but I feel better buying things written by people who aren’t obnoxious racist bigots.”

She dumped the book into his arms.

“I think you should give it a try! Maybe we can even read it together. Like a tiny little book club.”

Johnny flushed at the thought. The idea of doing something as intimate as consuming literature with her… oh. Oh my. 

Johnny was a firm believer in the fact that art in any form was a reflection of the creator and its consumers. One could learn more about a person by listening to the music they do, reading their favorite books, or looking at their art than they could ever tell you themselves. This was no exception, and damn, was Johnny scared. As much as he wanted to get to know Devi, the more he thought about actually going through with it the more intimidating it became. 

“Hello? Earth to Nny,” Devi’s voice snapped him back to reality. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Well… I-I actually came here to ask you a question…” God, he felt so stupid right now.

“Okay, shoot.”

Okay, Johnny, he thought. This is it. Don’t screw it up.

“Would you happen to be free Friday night?”

“That depends, free to do what?”

Fuck, he hadn’t expected to get this far. “Whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want? Hm…” Oh god, was she going to say no? Was she reevaluating her decision to ever talk to him? What the hell was she thinking? What the hell was HE thinking? This was such a bad idea, he never should have come here- “I’ll have to think about what I want to do, but I’d love to, Johnny.”

Be still, my beating heart. The noise Johnny made in response was more of a wheeze than anything else. “S-so, can I see you at seven?”

“Let’s see… I think my shift ends at five that day. So, yeah, it’s a date!”

It’s a date. A date. He was going to go on a date with Devi. He could hardly believe it. Pinch me, for I must be dreaming, he thought. “I’ll see you then, I guess,” he said, trying (and failing) to hide his blush. 

Johnny paid for his book and hurried home. He had a lot of cleaning up to do before Friday night.

[didanawisgi]

Abstract

This chapter addresses certain features of Native American healing practices that have relevance to the treatment of traumatic stress syndromes and other mental states of distress. The major focus will be on American Indian healing practices used for survivors. To those unfamiliar with the ways of American Indian shamans, these practices may seem strange and initially somewhat foreign or even threatening. However, for those willing to learn and be open to experience, there is psychic encounter in ritual that some would term metaphysical or perhaps supernatural. To Native Americans, they are both religious and sacred.

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[dungeonecologist]

WILD ARMS 2 - Live Reflectors & Overworld

A weird note here, as we use the Live Reflector to get to the next 2 dungeons, the different panels used to activate different destinations are clearly modeled off Chinese fengshui lore, utilizing dragon, bird, tiger, and tortoise imagery.  Not surprisingly this is also the basis of the 4 central Guardians of Filgaia, yet these seem otherwise unrelated in-world.

The mythic beasts are a part of a daoist concept called the wu-xing, used to describe the interrelation of 5 different aspects or phases, and the overall mapping can be lifted and transposed onto a number of various other sets of 5.  Among them the elements, seasons, senses, flavors, and directions.  The odd thing is that even though there are pretty specific directional connotations associated with these icons, they aren’t actually in those places?

The black tortoise, Genbu, is associated with Water, the North, and Winter; its Wild Arms equivalent is Schturdark, Guardian of Water. (They do make him a little more turtle than tortoise, but that just makes sense as the water Guardian)

The vermillion bird, Suzaku, is associated with Fire, the South, and Summer; its Wild Arms equivalent is Moor Gault, Guardian of Fire. (Variously either a bird, a dragon, or a hybrid of both across the franchise)

The white tiger, Byakko, is associated with Metal, the West, and Autumn; its Wild Arms equivalent is Fengalon, Guardian of Wind. (also a white tiger, but I really like that the first two Wild Arms games make him a kind of thiranthrop/weretiger.  They swap the look in for Luceid in Wild Arms 3, turning Fengalon into a normal tiger, and the Guardian of Desire into a werewolf.)

The blue/green dragon, Seiryuu, is associated with Wood, the East, and Spring; its Wild Arms equivalent is Grudiev, Guardian of Earth.  (An azure dragon more in line with western dragons than eastern.  Of the central 4 Guardians, Grudiev has gone thru the most dramatic changes, design wise ranging from more recognizably dragon-like, to dinosaur-like, to space Godzilla...)

There’s also the Yellow Serpent/Dragon/Kirin/Emperor, associated with Earth, the Center, and the transitional periods between seasons; but this 5th stage isn’t really used here.  (Kirin/Qilin are super cool though and a neat subject all their own.  Maybe I’ll find an excuse to talk about them in a later post.)

Curiously they do dodge the daoist Fire, Water, Stone, Wood & Metal elemental system, but the basic framework is still there.  But even though the 4 Live Reflector locations are actually in 4 remote corners of the map, the panels correspond

Green Tortoise-South: color’s off and it’s the wrong direction

Red Bird-West: color’s right but direction should be south

Yellow Tiger-North: color’s a little off, but as an alternative to white, yellow’s not a crazy choice, but it’s in the wrong direction.

Blue Dragon-East: right color, right direction

Weirder yet they aren’t even arranged with North and South, and East and West opposite one another, so it’s not like the directions are just rotated or mirrored.  It all only strikes me as odd because these are pretty well established iconography in Japanese pop culture, so any of the various creative hands that touched these assets would’ve been pretty keenly aware of there being some meaning tied to each of these design elements, and yet they left the end result just slightly misaligned at every angle...

Anyway, moving on...  The next two dungeons are both rather small and lumped together as two halves of the same real mission for this chapter.  And in an odd illustration of that unity, they share overworld encounters, even though the two locations are so distant from one another...  (I was going to tackle both dungeons in one post, but the first draft wound up a lot bigger than I was anticipating, so this is actually going to be a series of 3 shorter posts instead.)  

Both the Western island where the mining town of Holst is, and the Northern volcanic landform where the Raline[sic] Observatory are, are populated by Berserker, Assassin Bug, and Cockatrice.

Actual Assassin Bugs are members of the family Reduviidae, but the name is also that of a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster. (because of course it is)  There’s actually not too much resemblance to either here though, and the recolored Stirge models appear in large numbers and all cast a low accuracy insta-kill spell, Dead End.

The Cockatrice is of course a classic fixture of English lore with roots in Greek mythos; Being so prominent as to show up even in familial heraldry. A dragon or serpent with a rooster's head, allegedly hatched of a chicken egg incubated by a toad or snake. Their glare or in some accounts breath can kill. Due to superficial similarities the Cockatrice and Basilisk have become closely related in fantasy, although they don’t actually share any origins. Oddly it is the Basilisk, not the Cockatrice that is generally associated with poison, but the Cockatrice in Wild Arms 2 uses Poison Breath, and curiously not Dead End, like the Assassin Bug.

The Berserkers are an oddity.  The name is of course super generic.  The form is some kind of human sized mantid, but with one club arm in place of the usual sickle?  They recycle the I Hate You! move from the Ratmonkey we’ve seen before. They also partially share a name with a major villain of the original Wild Arms, whose name was erroneously transliterated as Belselk, with whom they share absolutely no similarity with.

Belselk was a part of the race of Demons that served as the core antagonists of the first Wild Arms.  They were a race of otherworldly “mechanical” beings but Belselk was pretty all around meaty looking if you ask me.  To be fair though, most of the Demons in Wild Arms didn’t seem too mechanical, but at least others hid parts of themselves behind chest plates or helmets; Belselk’s just got normal clothes on for the most part.  He’s also confusingly reptilian while the others were mostly humanoid.  The one other exception was Alhazad, who I’ve mentioned briefly before.  

He was the weakest of the game’s 4 Heavenly Kings bosses. (something I’ll come back to when we come back to Odessa in a few missions)  He was the first to die and was immediately replaced by a way cooler dude named Boomerang, who was the companion of Lucied, Guardian Lord of Desire, whom fought along side him against the heroes.  He and the Sword Magess, Anastasaia, in this game establish the lore that Luceid appears to those on Filgaia with the strongest desires, regardless of their alignments.

Anyway... now I’m just rambling...

Also at the last minute I realized you can run into Myconid here, and that’s fun.  As ever, they’re another one taken from D&D, where the Myconid are a race of humanoid fungus whose spores can reanimate fertile corpses.  Here they appear as humanoid corpses with large bulbous and porous growths on their backs and heads, and long tendril like growths wriggling around.  It’s actually a pretty unsettling design, even with these low res models and textures.

I feel like I’ve been slacking a little on the actual ecology angle to all this, but this one really doesn’t have a lot to comment on...  The Cockatrice doesn’t exactly have a natural environment for it to be restricted to, the Myconid is pretty straight forwardly at home any place fungi would be, and then the other two are insects so so can live just about anywhere.  Both places in question are islands, but environments that are still fairly dry and barren: Holst continues the dusty wasteland, and the Raline Observatory‘s surroundings are barren, likely volcanic, rock.  It’s not that any of these monsters can’t live in these places, but they don’t feel especially at home there either?  I’d expect fungi monsters in a jungle or a rainforest, or a dark damp cave or basement.  The fungi would potentially feed on insects, which makes sense, but why the Cockatrice?  It and the Assassin Bug have a theme of instant death, going on, but then the Berserker and Myconid don’t quite fit that?  I guess there could be a kind of implied food chain going on here, where the instadeath’d humans get brought back by Myconids?  But that's pretty flimsy.  This is also why I mean to dodge the overworld, as they’re broader environments and less thematically unified over all, as they encompass multiple locations each with their own core concepts.

[scriptscribbles]

can i ask what are your favorite NSA novels? i want to buy some but i have no idea which ones are good so a little help would be really nice ksjgjjg thanks in advance!!

Ooh, I can’t say I’ve read all of them, but I have read a fair few and I’m particularly nostalgic for the Martha ones, which were really the era I got into the show as a devoted fan. I can’t say these are extremely critical or complete takes because I grew up on these books and never did get them all, but some personal favorites include:

Winner Takes All - Marvelous Ninth Doctor era romp.

Only Human - Probably the best offering as far as books with Jack are concerned.

The Ressurection Casket - Genuinely one of my favorite Doctor Who romps ever. Kevin in particular cracks me up every time. It’s swashbuckling steampunk joy.

The Nightmare of Black Island - A nice atmospheric piece grounded in two generations of local children, which gives it a nice Goonies or E.T. kind of charm that goes a long way, alongside a nice edge of horrifying beasties. It’s tremendously invested in developing a community, and that pays off.

The Last Dodo - Wonderful. Some lovely weird storytelling devices and a strong environmental message with a great worldbuilding concept at its core. It just works.

Wishing Well - I don’t really have a reason to enjoy this one as much as I do, but reusing the core concept of the Krynoids in a slightly different way works a treat, with some great imagery and horror moments.

Forever Autumn - A lovely, gleefully macabre journey through American Halloween, with a nice tie-in to a one-off new series monster in mythos. Loads of good imagery.

The Pirate Loop - Another absolute highlight, a truly delightful conceptual romp in which Martha charmingly teaches badgers to eat cheesy pineapple sticks and gets horribly murdered. Up there with The Ressurection Casket in terms of pure joy, and I’ve read both more than most on this list.

Martha in the Mirror - I recall my sister really loves this one so I can’t leave it out.

Snowglobe 7 - I can’t be objective in this one. There’s a ski resort! In Doctor Who! Two of my special interests together! Yay! But there’s also some tremendously strong world-building and environmental messages driving it, if you’re less easily pleased than me.

Judgement of the Judoon - It’s camp space noir with rhinos and a young girl private eye as the one-off companion. It’s just fun.

Prisoner of the Daleks - Possibly the very best New Series Adventure. It’s harrowing and traumatizing, or at least was for me as a kid. It takes the hard edge sci fi pulp of the early Dalek serials and infuses it with an urgency and horror that makes the Daleks basically the scariest thing ever. Probably the best trick of the lot is how much of it is just about one Dalek, totally helpless…

Nuclear Time - The core concept here is absolutely ridiculous, and paid off with a dedication toward tight plotting verging on the insane, all offset by some delightful cold war nuclear aesthetics. Great fun.

Paradox Lost - One of the few books I’ve read with Amy and Rory, and one I enjoyed tremendously.

Dark Horizons - Another highlight of the range, a charming story about the Eleventh Doctor working with a village against a common tragedy. It’s just really wonderfully written and human.

Engines of War - It’s the War Doctor novel. His first solo story. Let’s be honest, even if it were total crap it’d be an essential read. Fortunately, despite a few rough parts, it’s quite good, and I’d even contend better than many of the audios the character got. And, of course, it’s hard not to love Cinder.

Big Bang Generation - It’s not actually good, but it is a lot of continuity-obsessed fun, and the basic pleasure of the Twelfth Doctor hanging with Bernice Summerfield is one I’m tremendously susceptible to.

Now, I grew up on all these with my sister @nymphofnovels, so she also has a lot of opinions on them! Again, particularly the Martha ones. (We really must get The Story of Martha one of these days, it looks excellent.)

Oh, and I hear Touched by an Angel is beautiful and emotional and very worth a read. And I know Ten/Rose fans tend to love The Stone Rose, though I think it’s probably the weakest of Rayner’s generally awesome new series novels, with the plot kinda going right off the rails partway through. Prose and characterization are still excellent, but I can’t quite love it.

Oh, and a friend of mine would probably recommend I add Deep Time, as I heard a ton of praise from them for it.

Anyone else got others worth mentioning? Or other opinions on the ones I already have? There’s a ton of NSAs out there, and they really are quite good for keeping the new series magic going when the show’s off air.

[doctorwhonews]

Twelfth Doctor Vol #4 - The School Of Death - (Titan Comics)

Latest Review: STORY 1 - The School Of Death STORY 2 - The Fourth Wall STORY 3 - Robot Rampage Originally Published in Twelfth Doctor Year 2 Issues 1-5 (+ A Free Comicbook Day Issue) *************************************************************** WRITER: ROBBIE MORRISON ARTISTS: RACHAEL STOTT, SIMON FRASER COLORISTS: IVAN NUNES, MARCIO MENYS LETTERS: RICHARD STARKINGS + COMICRAFT’S JIMMY BETANCOURT  SENIOR EDITOR: ANDREW JAMES  ASSISTANT EDITOR: JESSICA BURTON  DESIGNER: ROB FARMER *************************************************************** PUBLISHED: 13TH SEPTEMBER 2016 TITAN COMICS "There’s something fishy going on at the remote Scottish school of Ravenscaur... Something that has bedevilled students and teachers alike... Something that has lurked in the caverns beneath the school for millennia! Only the Doctor and Clara can unravel a deadly conspiracy that reaches as high as the Prime Minister of England!" (Official Teaser To The Title Story) --- The feature story had originally four issues in theYear Two run with which to build up suspense, and feature a number of engaging subplots, as well as a loosely connected solo adventure for the Twelfth Doctor taking on Captain Volk, and his lethal pirates/mercenaries. With this prologue of sorts, the reader only witnesses the climactic moments, but it still resonates enough to feel like a proper story in its own right. An exciting first impression is made in the 'pre-credit' sequence counterpart, as teacher Christel is hounded by mysterious forces. This 'sacrificial lamb' is given enough likability, and connection to Clara, for us to care about her grim fate.  As the primary action unfolds, the creepy Mr Beck is keen to fully introduce The 'Impossible Girl' to the school, which turns out to have a number of skeletons hidden in its closets. After some mystery, the majority of the tale can be described as a thoroughly enjoyable romp. Two additional new 'assistants' help the Doctor overcome the real threat behind the cold-hearted bureaucratic school; one that Clara had intended to teach in, as a change-up from her hectic life in the capital city. Overall the story can be likened to a mixture of prior Sea Devil stories, with a 'Village Of The Damned' situation, as the local island/school community are all but completely mentally subdued. The Doctor and Clara clearly are at a stage in their partnership, where they enjoy each other's company and accept that they are very different in approach. Thus they can work together assuredly to solve the problems as required. I know many devoted fans prefer the Doctor to actually get on with his best friend, more often than not, and I count myself in that group. It is also welcome to have UNIT involved once again in these comics, with this present variant of the Doctor; (albeit now sadly announced as departing come Christmas this year). After the Zygon Invasion/Inversion story of Autumn 2015, this story honours continuity in typically faithful Titan style, by having both Osgoods feature in the narrative. Along with the much-loved Kate Stewart playing her role to help the Doctor, in the same way her father helped his 'predecessors', there has been a proper 'renaissance' for UNIT, of late. This is in thanks not only to the TV shows being seen globally, but also the work done across Doctor Who's various other mediums, ever since 2012's The Power Of Three. But ultimately the final triumph comes down to the TARDIS duo, and a pair of delinquent but warm-hearted teenagers, who have been too stubborn to be recruited by the Sea Devil's army of zombies. Come the ending there is a nice hint of the next stage in the journey of life for these two guest characters. The TV show - particularly the modern version - has always been good at not only wrapping up the main problem but making followers care about the fortunes of characters, most of whom are unlikely to ever be seen again.  Some nice light-heartedness helps the story from taking itself too seriously, which is a wise move given how close to the Establishment Nose the satire verges on, at times. The Doctor's blasé attitude, or boldness, when confronted by the pub of possessed villagers would certainly play out well on primetime TV. His weak 'sea urchin' disguise is a fun example of his inconsistent ability to blend into his environment. I also enjoyed the swordfish ally, he acquires as he pretends a completely inanimate object is of the same value as K9 or Kamelion from his days of 'youth', but a nice irony is made of this towards the final stages. Other elements though would stretch the budget quite considerably, with some of the action being worthy of a proper Hollywood blockbuster. With the fine artistic skills of Rachael Stott and Ivan Nunes on display, the epic scope of the action is translated handsomely well, however. This effort entertains throughout. I cannot honestly say any of the new characters were ones for the ages, or worthy of a further adventure down the line, but they fit well into a fun story, where the odds seem stacked against contemporary human society. The original Sea Devils had its flaws but always knew how to move the narrative into some new location, or confound expectations. In that sense then, The School of Death rises to the surface with gusto, rather than stagnating to the bottom of the sea, like the much-maligned Peter Davison sequel. --- The second story is rather more satirical and self-referential, both in terms of its moods and its themes. It does an impressive job in casting retrospective light over the Doctor Who mythos itself.  There is even a rather 'meta' take on the comic book medium which makes the story both entertaining, and distinctly different from other such stories, that centre on a mystery and a relentless force needing to be overcome.  A fun poke at the TV show's once male-dominated fanbase is briefly incorporated into the tale. As many know, the male-female ratio of Doctor Who aficionados has evened up considerably in recent years thanks to the quality writing and casting of the 21st century series. Readers get to see some decided vanity from the Doctor –  a defining characteristic whichever face/body he is inhabiting – when he displays outrage over the persona, or image, that he has online. This internet portrayal of our title hero reminded me of the very knowing TV portrayal of Clive, a superfan utterly obsessed with the mysterious Ninth Doctor, who featured in the reboot triumph that was Rose.  Also notable - if perhaps somewhat surprising, given how much Clara has experienced - is the Coal Hill School teacher's cynicism over comic book shop staff claims regarding people going missing. At this point in her (ultimately infinite) life, she has seen enough weird and wonderful things. Then again, real people that we all know, are contradictory and three-dimensional. Whilst very likable, Clara would not be human without some judgemental sides to her character, and some entrenched pre-conceptions over certain types of people. With perhaps other references to the biggest comics and comic book companies also being intended by Morrison, I did enjoy one particular nod towards Marvel’s Silver Surfer. This story also operates as a loose sequel to Series Eight gem Flatline, and does a fine job of using a well-designed monster without just simply repeating the same ‘gimmick’. Whilst ‘The School Of Death’ had more time to develop its key supporting characters, as well as have some decent tertiary ‘cast members’, The Fourth Wall still is well-paced, and does a fine job of marrying continuity between the Titan comics and the actual TV show.   Dialogue also seems to be pitched perfectly for the talents of Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, were this to be an actual story made for Series 9. Prior stories (including the preceding Sea Devil one) have ‘cameos’ as panels within the story, enabling a clever parody on the comic book canvas and panelling techniques. The story also works on another level by having a strong message concerning escapism, especially one found in a personal hobby that others deem as 'not cool'. The danger of slipping too far into make-belief, however, should always be an important consideration for someone to still be healthy and interact well with others. For a story that had a solitary issue originally with which to get its objectives across, this is very impressive, and arguably the high point of this collection. --- Rounding off Volume Four is a fun, if very brief, sequel to Fourth Doctor debut Robot. With its limited page/panel count Robo Rampage acts more as a straight-up King Kong homage. The difference between the 1933 classic movie and this story, is that the English capital city is the playground for chaos, as opposed to Manhattan. As the metallic monster attacks the London Eye, this much 'older' Doctor rants over the greed and irresponsibility of humanity that has allowed for Professor Kettlewell’s invention to suddenly be back in the public sphere. This story has no Clara, but we do get a nice turn for Osgood, giving her more to do than in the main Sea Devil story. The UNIT scientist is still eager to be a proper companion (and into the bargain be excused from her day job duties). Showing her fanatical side, Osgood showers the grey haired wearer of sonic sunglasses with a number of 'alternative titles' to that of "Doctor". Some of those names are references to past TV stories. Ultimately though she tries to christen him with one of her own monikers. The previous two stories had their moments of mirth, but this one is probably the most amusing in terms of comedy, and can be regarded as a longer attempt at the (once customary) ‘bonus humour strip’. --- BONUS Two alternative covers are featured in full page size. They are credited to respectively Brian Miller, and Simon Myers. Other featured (albeit smaller-sized) covers are credited to Myers, Alex Ronald, Will Brooks, JAKe, and main artist Rachael Stott  The main title cover is credited to Alice X. Zhang, and also features in the gallery section --- SUMMARY Altogether then, this is a fine collection of wholly new original stories that help develop both the main two characters, as well as some of the recurring allies to feature in the Steven Moffat epoch. It deserves to be taken as authentic and official in the time lines as the main televised entity itself. Oddly, there is no separate title for The Fourth Wall story within the collection (although the phrase is found within dialogue), whereas Robot Rampage (originally published for Free Comics Day) retains its name in-story. Regardless, if the reader has missed some or most of the prior issues released in Year 2, then this collection is the best option on the market.  One to keep and enjoy. http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2017/02/twelfth_doctor_vol_4_the_school_of_death_titan_comi.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr