#There’s historical fashion with the 1920s setting and some of the gods outfits | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

comicteaparty · 5 years

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August 3rd-August 9th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from August 3rd, 2019 to August 9th, 2019. The chat focused on the following question:

Describe your comic’s setting. What made you choose this setting?

Steph (@grandpaseawitch)

For https://oldmanandtheseawitch.tumblr.com/, I chose a very nebulous interbellum period because I felt like that sort of gave me the best of all worlds. At heart, I just love me some vintage settings, especially the early 20th century. I knew I wanted a setting without modern conveniences, not only because it helps the comic stand up to aging and reduces the risk of falling out of date, but presents its own challenges and advantages. But while I wanted a vintage setting, I also wanted one that I felt like hadn't been done before in regards to mermaid stories, which are almost always set either in modern days or in the rough time period of the Little Mermaid--1700s to early 1800s. Interbellum Scotland felt like a unique setting that was, at once, hearkening to classical mermaid settings with sailboats and old-timey fisherman, tiny fishing towns, but with some trapping familiar to modern readers even they have vintage twists, like telephones but with switchboards, cars but they're old model Ts, things like that. I also felt like this period brought some neat ideas. I've never seen mermaids dealing with old radios or model Ts or a setting that had just recovered from a brutal world war with trenches and ocean mines and diesel and radar. Transitioning from pastoral to industrialized. Where does this element of fantasy, the mermaid story, come into play and interact with this? And you'll see that, even between Witchy and Ainsley, things revolving around mermaids are more fantasy-based with monsters and magic, while things revolving around humans are more realistic and down to earth, wondering about income and walking to work and selling your goods and what's going on south in england. And over time, things start to overlap and entwine as their relationship progresses, magic seeping into the human world and the mundane seeping into the mermaid world.

But overall I just love drawing and researching vintage things. ;3 And Scotland's just pretty as heck.

Respheal

Galebound http://www.galebound.com/ takes place on a tidally-locked planet shortly before their equivalent to earth's industrial revolution. Steam engines are getting more popular, mostly used by merchants where the fixed wind and currents aren't helpful, and they're on the cusp of science and medical advancements that will make their planetary and magical system very problematic. The tidally-locked world came first, just 'cuz they're neat! Planets like that have one side constantly facing their sun so you get that whole fire-ice world with a narrow band of eternal twilight and safety in between. These type of planets, if they have a good atmosphere, also usually have a giant storm at the subsolar point. So I made that storm the carrier of their magic system, the Gale, because why not. This sorta setup causes some interesting narrative features, like the complete lack of night and seasons and huge swaths of the planet that are completely uninhabitable. The time period sort of just happened, but it worked out. I wanted it to take place later than sword-and-sorcery times, but it couldn't be too modern, so the early 19th century was about right. Also it sort of sets a time limit on fixing certain things, because certain scientific advances would make the magic system so ridiculously broken I don't think it could be salvaged ahahaha :'D(edited)

spacerocketbunny

http://www.ghostjunksickness.com/ the setting in GJS is in a universe that has a variety of different time period aesthetics in one. It takes on a retro futurism where there's outdated tech from the 80's and 90's but there's also spaceships and technological advancements to make travelling from one planet to the next into a day trip. There's aliens and a variety of different people that make humans a minority in the population in a very mixed and blended cultural mosaic. The main setting of the story, which is a planet called June7 is also a place recovering from a inexplicable catastrophe which destroyed a majority of the planet's surface. It's unstable and crumbling structures make it difficult for the residents to thrive and something like transient bounty hunters have pretty much taken over the main livelihood of the planet.

We wanted to make a really well lived in setting, so we took inspiration from a variety of different cultures and stories that the science-fiction genre hadn't quite delved into.

LadyLazuli

For Phantomarine, http://www.phantomarine.com/, the basic concept was simple - I like the ocean, and I like ghosts, so I mashed them together into a haunted ocean But I also love worlds where beauty and danger are close neighbors - in this case, a network of sacred lighthouses keeps swarms of hungry ghosts away from the living population of the sea. I love stories where civilian life is pretty uncomplicated and chill - I've got a nice tropical fantasy vibe going on in these last couple chapters - but there's always a massive danger element looming over everyone's head. What if those lighthouses fail? What if you fall overboard outside the barrier? All that relaxing energy can change to morbid tragedy in a flash...(edited)

LadyLazuli

In terms of rough time period, I've kept it incredibly vague, mostly for my own enjoyment I have sailboats and motorboats existing side by side, color cameras, radios, electricity... certainly not technologically advanced, but it's got some 19th-20th century bits-n-bobs here and there. It's a fantasy world, but more supernatural than magical - gods, ghosts, some humans with strange gifts, but more often than not, a very strong boundary between ordinary and extraordinary. It's a story where a few normal people get swept up into all sorts of divine shenanigans, and have to find their way through.

Steph (@grandpaseawitch)

Finally getting a chance to read through phantomarine and I thought that blanket was familiar! Absolutely love the PNW-inspired outfit, @LadyLazuli !

LadyLazuli

AAH! Yes yes! I've spent far too much time at the Museum of Anthropology here in Vancouver to NOT be inspired by it. My world is truly a mishmash of cultures

Steph (@grandpaseawitch)

OHHH I WANNA VISIT SO BAADD. I need to get my washington license upgraded so I can take a trip up there to the museum!(edited)

But your whole comic is a delight. <3 I'll be retweetin' it in a bit when I finish reading.

AntiBunny

AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/ is pretty straight forward. The city is inspired by film noir, hardboiled comics, and detective novels. It's an old city, so everything should look weathered, especially the old town district where most of the stories take place, so it's all brick work, broken plaster, cracked window panes and such. To some degree I also take visual inspiration from the historic district in my home town, and surrounding areas.

MJ Massey

Black Ball http://welcometoblackball.com/ is set in an alternate 1920s in the New York area. Because of course you set a 1920s comic in New York! But also, I used to live in the metro area and loved it, so to me it was natural to have the setting there. There's a lot of good reference, and lots of sneaky places one can hide a speakeasy. There are a whole bunch of good historical references as well, which makes it easier.

snuffysam

Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/ is set in a deliberately anachronistic fantasy world. There are biplanes and 20's cars, but there's also online message boards and cell phones. Fashion makes no sense, climate makes no sense, etc. The reason I built the world like this is because I wanted to mix up my background designs (and crowd designs) between scenes, and making a world that has no real consistency was the best way to get away with this in my mind. One town has modern art and roller skates, another has tents and open-air shops, there's a city on a hexagonal grid with triangular skyscrapers, this city: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/524/ uses a fractal pattern for its layout, etc.

Desnik

http://ask-a-warlock.tumblr.com/ is based on the idea that a medieval fantasy can be MORE than a DnD piggyback ride. And like, the medieval time period was a couple thousand years, yo, there's differentiation between different time periods. I used it as an opportunity to revamp my worldbuilding techniques and I've learned a lot about frontier-style governments and societies that function without a central authority. Also marginalia are the best comics and no one can tell me otherwise.

Attila Polyák

The setting of Tales of Midgard https://talesofmidgard.com/ is at a glance pretty much what you’d expect a generic fantasy world to be. Aaaand in a way that is right. The setting is a world that used to be kinda medieval-Europe like a long time ago, magic became commonplace, and the world reacted. Instead of developing technology, like in the real world, magic became technology and ultimately it became so common that it satisfied the needs of everyone in every niche possible. And then modernization happened, because why wouldn't it? What we in real life call science and technology slowly got discovered and integrated with a magic-based economy. The end result is a world that looks a bit anachronistic but if you look at it more closely you’ll notice that most things either don’t have a real-life counterpart or if they do they actually mean very different things. This is the point where my main story takes place and the world we see in my comic.

Funari (Raison d'Etre)

Well for Raison d'Etre ( http://raisondetrecomic.com/ ) I was always inspired by anime and general Japanese culture/pop culture growing up, so I had a handle of 90s/00s Japan pretty well that I wanted to use it! I also grew up during the 00s as a teen so the fashions and stuff have stuck. Kinda giving off a sense of nostalgia with the memories that way. And the "Present Day"'s trends are just based off what I grew up with and what a future would look like if we re-cycled back to millennium pop culture, including the love for 60s/70s-inspired stuff, so it's a "neat mess" of that stuff

We haven't shown much of the other planes of existence yet, but we plan to soon. But the idea with those is alternate/fantastical takes on plain ol' Earth (the Middle Plane). Mildly so, though, as even Umbria and Celeste have evolved over time like Earth's denizens have. Little bits of modernization, and assimilation with Earth trends due to the eventual discovery of these planes by Earth's NKP folks.

KAME (commissions open!)

Describe your comic’s setting. What made you choose this setting? For http://tapas.io/series/dragonclawcomic I chose fantasy because I’ve always loved stories about epic adventures, and magical creatures, and I also love the elements from mythology that are often integrated into fantasy stories (gods and demons, heroes and villains, etc.). There’re so many wonderful worlds and characters and creatures that exist within a fantasy setting, and so many more you can create on your own, it’s overwhelming (I mean, Dragons, man, they’re awesome!). Probably one of the first things that got me into fantasy was the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon show, but recently and more importantly, the thing that inspired me to write my own story was the The Legend of Drizzt novels, which I absolutely love (and I’m thankful to my brother who sent me the first like 9 novels for me to read, when I didn’t know a thing about them, and now there are over 20?, I lost count, but I always look forward to the next book) and needless to say have and keep inspiring me a lot

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #creator interview #comic creator interview #creator babble #comic tea party #ctp

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oswhys · 5 years

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Dumb AC concept ideas

So this is basically a info dump of ideas for potential AC games and concepts that its been playing with in my head, it's mostly me nerding out about junk (look if I can info dump about Teotihuacan I’ll do it.) like it's ideas that I think would be cool and what id want to see in future installments, even if they aren't likely to happen. It's also written super casually cause I started making this in a burst of inspiration at like 2 am and yet still got distracted from it cause I started going on tangents. So it's a bit of a mess. I’m totally down for bouncing ideas around if anyone has their own concepts.

1920’s jazz age assassin from the beginning of unity and the abstergo employee handbook. "The lives and failures of the most degenerate Americans to ever grace the world's stage - Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Stein." please tell me how this doesn't sound cool as shit? Okokokokokokok SO… CARS. like this dude would have a car (and of course the player can earn different cars and looks for their car and junk, including a yellow Duesenberg… like come on if he knew Fitzgerald they gotta let this dude drive Gatsby's car.) I think there can be an argument about him having a rope launcher attachment buuut maybe not??? I mean a car and a rope launcher would be dope as hell. The dude probably bounced between Paris and New York if he's a genuine jazz age junkie like how abstergo describes him and his writer pals. Also it would be cool to meet Picasso… also his base of operations should be a fucking speakeasy, like duh, like where else would a 1920’s assassin camp out? I don’t really have any plot ideas but the concept of a jazz age assassin is cool enough for me to want it this badly.

1970’s-1980’s William Miles in a corporate espionage type game, like i know he had Desmond in 1987 but he was an active filed assassin in 1977 when he was in Moscow so clearly he could've been doing other junk around then. It doesn't have to be him, i just want a 70’d-80’s assassin trying to fuck with abstergo and trying to steal animus research or something. Like Alieen Bock died in 81 and that was at the height of animus research before abstergo started really investing in it cause of Vidic. Like the surrogate initiative and the animus project are… basically the same thing really. Like knowing that Altair and Ezio were not actually related until their bloodlines crossed with Desmond. So with the memory keys being cited as an integral part of the animus project they obviously had a role to play in the surrogate project. Besides the newer games are pretty loosey-goosey with how the DNA and animus junk works now, with the spear having DNA traces or whatever and its corrupted enough that we could… choose things?? (don't ask questions just have fun i guess.) ok i’m over thinking this stuff… but come on… disco!!!!! Please please please have a disco assassination. Like… the idea of an assassin taking out a target at the disco is cool enough for me to want it. ALSO!!! If it goes into the 80’s then please for the love of god a Thriller inspired outfit would be to die for. Like i know getting the exact look would be a trademark nightmare but an inspired look may be able to get away with it. I just want some real corporate espionage type missions while dressed in some brightly colored dorky(cool as shit) 70’s/80’s fashion.

So like… ANYTHING from ancient Andean culture. So The Chimú or the Moche… that would be cool, but I'd settle for Wari and Tiwanaku. I just kinda want to see Chan Chan recreated. And Moche art was so fucking good like… idk man they're making video games that are mostly of ancient cultures now so the possibility of them making something in a more modern setting is slim to none. Like come on they're gonna want to make like idk maybe one more really ancient cultural game so they can still reuse assets again before making a whole new saga. That's just their track record. The problem with doing an ancient andean cultural video game is that there isn't a lot to work with other then our knowledge of the architecture and artistry of the ancient peoples. We have art documentary significant events but there isn't really any historical recordings so there's no significant figures to meet or events to take part in that we know of right now. BUT that also means that hey if Ubisoft wants us to have freedom of choice within the narrative this would be a great opportunity.

Speaking of ancient culturesssss ancient Mexican cultures would be REALLY cool too. Like obviously Mayans culture is the first to come to mind but AC already kinda explored the Mayans so idk maybe a more underrated ancient culture deserves the spotlight. The Zapotec and other civilizations in the Oaxaca. Like this would be really cool since we actually see a rise in raiding and conquest warfare, like theres these bas-relief stone carvings called Las Danzantes which are actually depictions of sacrificial victims, most likely foreign captives. The architecture is also to die for like i’m a sucker for talud-tablero style stuff popping up in ancient Latin america. Also do i gotta say it? BALL COURTS!!! A recreation of the ancient ball game in a video game would be cool as shit my dudes like… please i want this so bad. Like how origins depicted mummification with respect I’d love to see the same kind of loving dedication to the funerary practices of the ancient peoples. (off topic completely but some latin american civilizations had their own forms of mummification) like i wanna see the abandonment of Monte Alban and the later use of it by the Mixtecs. But the most important thing about the celebration of the ancient Zapotec would be the ability to celebrate the modern Zapotec culture, that would just be cool. Ok I’ll finish up this train of ideas with the one i really really really want to see recreated, the original Teotihuacan, before the Aztecs found it. With the pyramids being painted and covered in beautiful carvings and, of course, talud-tablero style architecture. It's basically the biggest ancient city in mesoamerica with hidden cave systems that we are still finding today and so much of the ancient city was built over because it might've been covered up or eroded to the point where no one knew it was there, or because there wasn't really anyone who cared enough to uh, not build on top of historical sites. Modern mexico city is built all around and on top of it (apparently you can see Walmart from the top of the temple of the sun…) so its a huge ancient city that was really colorful and really populated with crazy ancient tunnels underneath the pyramids that we’ve only discovered recently so how fucking cool are those possibilities? Like i just can't get over the idea of some assassin-esque person climbing up red pyramids and sitting next to statues and carvings of Queztalcoatl painted in a turquoise. Ancient farms and city life thriving. From what we know about it, like many other ancient latin american cities it was abandoned at some point, exactly why is unclear though (probably a mix of things cause there wasn't any kings really but more like… neighborhood councils (that's the best guess rn)). It was an actual city though, most archaeologists compare it to modern cities due to its city planning and its huge population. What was left behind was so spectacular that when the Aztecs found it they legit thought it was the city of the gods. This was a real fucking city and I’m crazy about it man i want it in a fucking video game my dudes.

COWBOYS PLEASE. Like i know rdr2 came out so they probably wont do it (for a while at least) and they already have the gold rush assassin so they've dabbled with cowboy stuff but… cowboys… like theres nothing else to say really… Cowboys. Also like i know how AC is pretty much ass melee combat and cowboys means guns and lots of guns and bows and probably rope darts. But… folding swords. That my shitty solution to have melee combat, like syndicate had melee and some gun stuff cause duh, but it was mostly melee. Like you can make the game centered around stealth so a lot more sneaking then combat, kinda like in unity. I have a few ideas for this one but most of them play into my own personal cowboy wish fulfillment fantasy of owning a farm with snakes for the production of venoms and other toxins. It's hard to explain but i kinda really want to see someone with a snake/spider enclosure where they produce venoms for the protag to use. The specific time period i have in mind is like 1870-1888 but it could defo go later. It's just that was peak for a lot of famous gunslingers and robberies. And Mesa Verde was basically rediscovered in the late 1880’s (its kinda weird like it was “officially” discovered in 88 but others saw it before that soooo. Also Montezuma Castle would be cool to visit in game as well. I dont have have a lot of knowledge about mesa verde or Montezuma but i know they're cool af.) the wild west is just ripe with possibility so i have some hope they’ll do one in the future but i don't see it happening anytime within the next couple of years.

Please for the love of god give me a AC3/unity dual sequel. Set in 1798 Egypt before during and maybe a little after the french invasion of Egypt. There would be a ton to work around and justify to get that to happen in universe buuuuut… i want it so badly. I have a shit ton of ideas but im saving all of that for a rainy day.

I wouldn't mind if they actually did stuff with WWI, mostly cause i really like that one WWI assassin from project legacy and Lydia's whole thing was really cool.

Ok I’m kinda on burn out after all that cause I just… its 4 AM and i’m supposed to be writing a paper but I made this big fucking oops.

#Assassin's Creed #assassins creed #assassin’s creed #this is dumb sorry i just... gotta express this shit #my stuff

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triskellionquinn · 6 years

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Elias Whines About Fashion (Rant incoming, fair warning)

... Okay, what the fuck is that Squeenix?

I mean, seriously. I wear some questionable items, but what the fuck is that? What are those pants!?

The shirt.... is salvageable. Though I’m not a fan of the idea of wearing long gloves to cover up those god awful sleeves, I’ve been wanting a classy doublet (much like the Riviera one from the Saucer but a bit more formal that doesn’t dye as badly) for a while, but those sleeves.... The collar’s bad, but workable. But the rest of this outfit makes me hate my eyes.

Also I love how we were promised a “Male only outfit” release.... only for it to be a male version of a female outfit that already exists. I get that they’re trying to be more open to those who prefer an androgynous style.... But seriously WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE PANTS? Shoes too, but we have a couple pairs in game already that we can use as alternatives so I’m not nearly as bothered by those. But holy fuck this outfit looks like whoever designed it got completely shit-faced and lost in the Bed section of Bed, Bath & Beyond, picked up a set of grey sheets and went “Yep, that looks good”. Then decided to take half the sleeves off a Latin ballroom dancer’s shirt, slap the waiter’s vest over it then put a tea saucer on the model’s head before deciding that was the look to go with only to realize that they forgot the final touch: The shoes! So they grabbed some coasters to form a heel, stole some poor electrician’s electrical tape and tadah~! One train wreck of an outfit to release later so that the people who play males (or non-binary characters with masculine traits) will stop coming after them about preferential treatment to those who play female-based avatars.

We’re just looking for equal treatment here SE. We don’t want ‘male versions’ of outfits designed for females. We want the same opportunity to have outfits unique to us as men that aren’t frilly or designed to be androgynous (at least not all the time). When was the last time there was a set released (in game, not cash shop) where there was a stark design difference between the ‘male’ and ‘female’ set? While I’m at it when was the last time males got a strictly unique design solely for them? Nearly every single (if not every single) ‘unique’ glamour outfit wearable by males are also able to be worn by females with the exception of swimwear (which there are male and female versions of).

“It’s easy to hate on it, let’s see you design something then!” I hear you saying. I’m no artist, but I know what I like to wear, and I know what I find aesthetically pleasing in regards to clothing.

So trying to keep in line with the general tone of the Quaintrelle outfit... I’d lose the flared sleeves, shorten them to t-shirt length and fold down the collar. The doublet is really nice, it’s just the weird length of the sleeves plus the popped ruffled collar makes it look like Elvis and a flamenco dancer got into it and all that remained was the blended mish-mash of their stage outfits. I’d lose the flare and ruffles on the pants entirely, tighten them up and crop them at the knee where the ruffle ends in the first place, with the sock covering the lower half of the leg (borrowing from historical men’s fashion here). Replace the shoes with some 1920′s style lace up boots (ankle height, men’s style) and the hat with an Ivy cap (a type of flat cap).

The way the belt sits makes their hips look too low, which gives the pants a saggy look. Not a good look when the waistcoat itself sits higher and curves upwards at the hips.

TL:DR?

SE needs to stop making ‘male versions’ of female outfits, and vice versa. The comments surrounding having male only releases only come across as insincere (and a little bit sexist) when they end up being ‘genderbent’ versions of clothing that the girls have had for months now. Adding the subtext of ‘are you happy now??’ with every instance that this becomes an issue and SE ‘caters’ to those of us who cry out just belittles the playerbase and fans of the game.

Rant over, for now. Just keep in mind these are my opinions, my thoughts and observations (and more than enough alcohol to remove what little brain to mouth filter I have). Some people might like the outfit, I don’t. I think it was a waste of resources and shows how very little care SE has for the male side of the player spectrum. We were promised male only outfits, designed to be worn by the males in the game.... Not a ‘male version’ of something that’s been in the games for months that was only accessible by females. That’s not what we meant, and you know it Squeenix.

#ffxiv #rant #glamour #gender equality #i fully expect to lose followers over this #but these are my thoughts

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elizabethhollowswriting-blog · 6 years

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COURTING ME SOFTLY, LGBT ROMANCE - CHAPTER 1

I decided to upload the first chapter early, so, enjoy everyone!

Title: Courting Me Softly

Rating: Majority T, but eventual M with NSFW scenes in certain chapters

Genre/s: Homosexual Romance, Developing Romance, Friends to Lovers, Historical Romance, Courtship, Demi-Sexual Character

Setting: 1920’s

Wordcount: 37k

Chapters: Prologue + 7 chapters

Update Schedule: Once every two weeks. Chance of updating every week.

Status: Complete

Previous Chapters: Prologue

James ran his hands down his crisp, fashionable suit and looked at himself in the mirror. He ignored the stiffness of his movements and the worry that tightened his eyes. The party was raging further inside the house with all the glitz and glamour that New York had to offer. The music was loud, the voices and laughter louder, glasses could be heard clinking as debauchery reigned and alcohol flowed. It was the twenties and it was the last days of the summer season and no one was holding back tonight.

Looking at himself in the mirror again, James’ fingers fixed his already immaculate tie as he tried to convince himself this was a bad idea. He tried not to wince at the sight of his already fair complexion looking ashen. He did his best not to fiddle with his dark brown hair that was carefully slicked back and already styled. When he heard the door opening without a knock, the noise from outside rising in volume before the door closed, James knew who it was.

“There you are, James,” Charles greeted him cheerfully, and James closed his eyes. “What’s keeping you here? There’s little to be done downstairs that I wouldn’t rather share with a fine companion like yourself.”

“Some other time, Charles,” James murmured, keeping his attention fixed on his anxious reflection. He could barter with mobsters and politicians without a bead of sweat, yet before this man, his stomach churned with nerves. Charles--far from dissuaded by his response--just stepped further into the room, coming to stand behind him. James could just see the other man in the mirror; handsome and perfect as always in his own suit, his fair brown hair falling in artful curls and making James want to run his fingers through them.

“You’re taking a long time tonight.” Charles’ eyebrows furrowed. “Is there someone you wish to impress?”

James’ mouth formed a half-smile even as his raised his eyes to hold Charles’ gaze through the mirror. One never gains from a lack of risks, it was an old saying of his father’s and something that James knew well. It had brought him prosperity, respect and success in the past and James needed it to do the same tonight. James also, God help him, needed to know where the other man stood.

“Charles,” he told the man quietly, refusing to let himself hesitate. “I’m a homosexual.”

Surprise flashed across the older man’s face. He also blinked a few times, looking stunned. The time that it took Charles to process the statement felt painfully long and James spent it buttoning his waistcoat and hoping the slight tremble to his fingers wasn’t visible.

“I see...” Charles’ brow furrowed further as he looked down at the ground; his blue eyes pensive and the distance between them feeling as wide as the Atlantic. “And you’re intending to... impress someone?”

“Yes,” James answered before taking a careful breath. “He’s unlikely to be inclined, but it’s worth the chance, isn’t it?”

Charles looked like he was still trying to find his footing; for the first time since James had known him, Charles seemed at a loss for what to say or do. Charles was always sure of himself; he knew how to charm, negotiate and adapt; a skill passed down from his businessman father and something that had impressed James when he first met him - but Charles also, at his core, had a youthful innocence about him. It was in the way he talked and laughed when he was with his few friends or in the middle of a party. Charles had little ambition, living off his inheritance and running his jazz clubs for fun. He was happy to pass through life with a laugh, a drink and a cigarette and James adored him for it all - but now the question would be whether Charles would be able to adore him.

“There are many men tonight who are of similar inclinations,” Charles eventually answered, his voice careful. “But the Commissioner is also present.” A small, if slightly strained smile formed. “It’s perhaps not the best night to express it.”

“Neither of us lives a life that adheres to the rules of society,” James told him quietly.

“That is true,” Charles admitted. “But while I have faith you could avoid the law for supplying alcohol, I’m not sure of your success with... that.”

James’ eyes fell closed at the words, his heart sinking at Charles’ remark. The other man didn’t sneer his words, but the subject still wasn’t spoken easily or with anything like familiarity. I always knew it was futile.

“No, I suppose not,” James breathed. He looked once more at his appearance - unnaturally pale and painfully drawn - before turning to fully face the man who held his affections. He had no place to go but forward. “Tell me, Charles, what do you think?”

Charles’ eyes narrowed uncertainly. “Of what?”

James held out his arms and let his smile show ever inch of the sadness and self-deprecation he felt. “My outfit, Charles. You said yourself; I’ve spent a lot of time on it.”

“Yes, but for-” Charles cut himself off and James watched him swallow. “Ah.”

James shrugged and dropped his hands back to his sides. “What can we do, Charles? I do prize your friendship; it has been here since I arrived in this country. Thank you for extending it.”

“You are a good friend,” Charles told him, still looking confused by the turn of events.

James tried to keep the disappointment and heartache from either showing or overwhelming him; he had expected it would end this way and he should have known better, should never have grown so close to Charles. But even as he chastised himself, he couldn’t regret it. James couldn’t regret knowing Charles, no matter how futile his attraction and affection had always been. It made him hold down a sigh. “I hope you will have such a friendship with my replacement.”

Charles’ eyes narrowed and he actually took a step forward. “I don’t recall deciding to discard our friendship, or your supplies, James.”

It made James smile faintly as he admitted. “I always had faith in that, Charles. I would hardly have broached the subject if I thought you would have me jailed.” Charles still looked frustrated and unhappy so James elaborated, “I never planned to remain in America. I’m being called home. I have an associate who will take over my business. His name is Franklin and I believe you’ll like him.”

Charles made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “I do not care about him. I would like to know why you thought to tell me of this when you only planned to leave the country. Why start the conversation at all? Unless...” realisation filled his eyes, “you hadn’t decided to leave.”

James shook his head. “I still need to leave.” His eyes finally dropped from Charles’ to focus on his hands. “The permanency of the arrangement was the only thing in question.” He made himself stand tall and catch the other’s gaze once more. “It has now been decided.”

Charles scowled and stepped closer - something he tended to do when arguing with others. James stayed perfectly still. “You refuse to stay because you cannot have what you want?” James tried very hard not to flinch at the question, but he didn’t think he succeeded. Charles’ face just went slack with shock and his face had lost some of its colour. “You care so strongly for me.”

Moving slowly, James raised his hands enough that he could press them against Charles’ chest. The other looked down at them but all James did was push Charles away from him. When his faltering steps were finished and James was no longer able to touch him, James told Charles, “I have enjoyed our friendship. Don’t tempt me to harm it.”

Charles’ eyes searched his face. “But you already plan to leave. How much more harm can you do?”

James shook his head and avoided the question; avoided admitting what he might be tempted to if Charles lingered too close. “When I return to England, it does not mean we cease to be friends, not if you do not wish it.”

Charles gritted his teeth and pinched the bridge of his nose. “James. I do not. This isn’t.” He let out a rough breath and dropped his hand. “You’ve had these feelings for me the entire time?”

“Charles,” James’ smile was torn between amusement and pity. He wasn’t even sure who he felt the latter for more, himself or Charles. “Did you not find it strange how often I leant in close in order to light your cigarette?”

The other man frowned before comprehension abruptly filled his gaze and a dry chuckle broke out. He just looked rueful as he remarked, “And I had thought it was just your English manners.”

James smiled and while his heart still ached with the pain of knowing his feelings weren’t returned, it wasn’t as devastating as it might have been; knowing that Charles was still talking with him much like they always had, it softened the weight on his chest. It was still bittersweet to know he would never be able to reach out for the other, even platonically any longer, not without incurring suspicion, but he was glad at least that Charles’ hadn’t despised him.

“James,” Charles spoke quietly, a hand coming up to hover in the air over James’ arm - a touch he would have normally given easily before James’ confession. “Why must you leave? Why can’t you remain? Why can’t-”

“It can’t return to how it was,” James instantly cut him off, shaking his head for good measure. “It is no different to the rejection of a woman,” James swallowed, “that I am a man doesn’t lessen the pain.”

James could see Charles gritting his teeth, his eyes blaring with determination, the way they often did when faced with a hand of cards he didn’t wish to surrender. James felt a wave of fondness flood him and had to take care to keep it from his expression. He was so focused on his own reactions that he never noticed Charles move not until a slightly clammy hand was against his neck. James flinched from the touch and felt Charles’ hand spasm as well, but he didn’t remove it.

“What are you doing?” James asked him, his eyes wide as he tried to read the other man’s stubborn gaze. Charles started to move his head forward and James hurriedly caught his chest, keeping him from completing the action. “What are you doing?” James demanded again, his voice much sharper.

Charles didn’t look happy at being stopped, but James wasn’t about to let it continue, not when Charles’ hand felt heavy and uncomfortable on his neck - not when every part of Charles screamed uncertainty and discomfort.

“I’ve never had a relationship like yours,” Charles told him carefully, glaring somewhere near James’ cheekbone, a faint, almost embarrassed flush on his cheeks. “I’ve always felt bored around others, unable to find them engaging. I’ve been worried for months that I would lose you. I have done my best to keep you at my side whenever I can. I don’t want to lose you now, James.”

James shook his head even as something twisted in his stomach that he chose to ignore. A part of him was pained at what Charles was attempting to do, another more desperate part of him wanted it; that baser part of him wanted to give in and let Charles kiss him. James wanted to take the few moments Charles could make himself stomach and enjoy it while it lasted, but it was his utter regard for Charles and his desire to have a true relationship that made him keep them apart with a steady pressure on Charles’ chest. “You can’t will into being something that isn’t there, Charles.”

“How can you say it’s not there?” Charles argued, almost petulantly.

It pained James to do it, but he brought his free arm up and peeled Charles’ hand from his neck. “Because you have no desire for the company of men.”

Charles caught and held James’ hand, he was squeezing it too tightly even as he insisted, “I’ve never tried it. I’ve never been offended by it, nor the men who have propositioned me in the past. I’ve never,” his lips pursed together and he stared at James’ chest, “I’ve never met a woman I wished to marry, nor met a friend I wanted to keep so strongly. I’ve never wanted other people in my life the way that others do.” He slowly brought his eyes up to James. “I never pictured someone occupying a place in my life before, but I do with you.”

So do I, James wanted to say, but he couldn’t encourage it. He couldn’t say it to Charles when James’ images of the future included a bed that they shared. Charles’ picture was tame; it was full of his presence, but not his love. It was close, but it wasn’t enough. James knew it wouldn’t be enough and it made his breath leave him in a weary sigh. “You picture me as you see our friendship, Charles; platonically.”

“Perhaps,” Charles admitted, “but I don’t imagine a future with any of the other men or women that I know.” He tilted his chin stubbornly. “Just you.” James tried not to smile, but his traitorous heart fluttered at those words and he was helpless to keep the affection from his lips. Charles didn’t even balk at seeing it. He just leant more on James’ hand and James found his strength wavering. “Don’t return to London,” Charles told him. “Not yet.” Charles brought the hand not grasping James’ palm back to his neck. This time the touch was firmer. “Give me a chance to understand this.”

James’ eyes closed and he let out a heavy breath. He couldn’t hold the other’s gaze as he asked, “And what if you can’t? What if you’re unable to desire this with me?”

“What will it take to allow you to stay with me?”

James’ eyes opened and he stared at the other. “What?”

“What is the least it will take?” he repeated.

“There is no-”

“Yes, there is,” Charles disagreed. “You told me as much by deciding to leave. So what will it take? Do we have to share a-”

“Stop,” James cut him off desperately, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence. “It’s not.” He gritted his teeth and glared at Charles’ tie. “I don’t want you to do something you do not want, Charles.”

“I want you to remain,” Charles growled. “That’s all that I want. I’m offering to figure out what you want and what I can do if it keeps you here. Can’t you just-”

James shifted, moving the hand from Charles’ chest to cup his jaw. He stopped himself with their mouths inches apart. Charles’ eyes were incredibly wide. “I want every part of you,” James hissed. “I want you in my bed, in my home. I want to have your reciprocal devotion and affection. I just... I want you.” He would have clenched his fist if Charles wasn’t still holding his hand. “I don’t want to watch you leave me for another when you find out you’re not inclined. I-”

Charles’ eyes had been darting over his face as James spoke, but when he quieted James, it wasn’t in a way that James had expected. Charles pushed up and connected their mouths together. It was chaste, nothing more than their lips touching and James was too stunned to react. His body was frozen with shock as his blue eyes stared into Charles’ closed ones. His heart was racing and he wanted to pull the other closer and deepen the embrace more than anything - but he didn’t. His hand trembled as he dropped it to Charles’ shoulder and gently pushed him away. Their lips broke apart with a light sound as Charles slowly opened his eyes.

“Charles,” James murmured, “Charles, you-”

But Charles wasn’t having any more words, he pulled James’ hand off his shoulder and stepped in close, tilting his face and reconnecting their mouths. The second time was too much for James’ control and he returned the kiss. He was still careful, he made sure to keep himself in check as he kept his hands from touching Charles and let the other direct the embrace. Charles was tentative and unsure. He let go of James’ hand and brought both of his own up to cup James’ neck. His thumb lightly stroked James’ skin, making the younger man swallow thickly. He didn’t know if the constant pressure on his adam’s apple was a reminder about just what gender Charles was kissing, but it still didn’t make the other man stop.

Their lips kept pressing against one another until Charles’ mouth opened and his tongue brushed James’ lip, it was a hesitant gesture but it made James’ heart tumble even as he gave his permission. The kiss carefully deepened and James was almost vibrating with the desire to caress the skin of the man before him. He was clenching his fists at his side to keep himself from moving as their tongues danced. He didn’t get a chance to explore the other’s mouth as Charles pulled back, gasping faintly as he moved away from James by dropping his hands and taking a step back. James’ eyes were open and watching the other as he tried to settle his own breathing. Neither of them were wearing clothing designed to hide arousal, and while nothing like his own, James was tremendously relieved to find Charles had felt something from the kiss.

Charles was swallowing heavily and there was a dust of colour to his cheeks. James stayed exactly where he was, waiting on the other man’s decision with no small amount of apprehension. When a good minute had passed with nothing, he couldn’t keep the question from slipping free, rife with worry, “Well?”

“I’m going to need some time,” Charles answered a little hoarsely and James’ eyes fell. He stared at the floor and was sure he could hear and feel his heart tearing. He will not pick me if he cannot do it now.

James tried to keep the resignation from his voice, but knew he didn’t manage it. “Of course. I under-”

Shoes entered his field of vision before fingers tilted up his chin. Charles’ smile was nervous but genuine. “Time to do more with you,” his eyes were worried pools but there was also curiosity and excitement in them. “I’m going to need you to come back so that we can do more than that, James.”

“You want to continue?” James breathed, and when Charles nodded, he let out an incredulous laugh that became a little hysterical by the end. “You can’t just - people don’t just become homosexual, Charles.”

“People don’t just do what you have,” Charles rebutted. “I’ve felt... I’ve felt more for you than any other person, James. When you said you were leaving, I felt as if something fractured, as if something had been swept out from beneath me. Maybe I’ve been this way forever, maybe-”

“Have you desired men?” James interrupted, watching him carefully. “Saw them and wished to touch them, kiss them and make love to them? Have you known it was wrong but no matter how much you tried, it never stopped, and you never felt that way for a woman?” The flicker of Charles’ eyes away from James said it all. “No, you haven’t, but I have, Charles. I have known from a young age and I have hidden it save when I have been with others in secret.” He sighed. “It also doesn’t stop my heart and that has wanted you from within moments of our acquaintance.”

Charles drew his eyes back to James. “And I’ve wanted you.” He grimaced. “Not the same way, but I’ve been drawn to you. I could never stop thinking of you, waiting for you to visit my club every week; hoping you would return. I’ve wanted to show you things and invite you to events. I was never so happy as when we were together. Maybe it’s not what you feel, maybe it is, I don’t know. But I know it will be impossible to find out if you never come back.”

“This is not possible,” James whispered, staring at Charles who was defying every logical expectation.

Charles had never wanted another man, never desired James - yet he still seemed to care for him, deeply and not unlike the way James did. Charles had just never envisioned it was sexual or romantic, not until James had confessed his own feelings. He still hadn’t imagined it even then, but Charles was willing to attempt it. He didn’t shy from it or bury it or declare James indecent and despicable. He accepted it, accepted James’ affections. It was done nervously and with great uncertainty regarding his own feelings, but Charles had still done it. He’d also kissed James and reacted to their embrace.

James licked his lips and let his eyes run over the resolute man before him; his business partner and his friend. He very hesitantly reached out until he could cup Charles’ cheek. “Come to London with me.”

Charles frowned. “What?”

“When the season is over, come back to London with me. I will take you to Paris. There are no laws against this there. We will travel and we will decide if we are compatible.” James swallowed. “If we’re not, you may return to America and I will stay in Europe.”

“And if we are?” Charles pressed, but his eyes still held the same worried doubt that James’ did, even if his was buried under stubborn resolve.

James gave Charles’ cheek one, brief stroke of his thumb before he dropped his hand. “I will go to any destination you might pick.”

I will go anywhere, should you be willing to have me.

“And what if we are not able to...” Charles eyes darted over James’ form. “What if I cannot...?” He drew his eyes up. “What if there is a limit to what I can give you?”

“It depends on the limit,” James answered, meaning every word. “Should our companionship go no further than the occasional embrace we just shared? I will be happy.”

Charles raised sceptical eyebrows. “Truly?”

“Truly,” James agreed. “You said the words yourself; I want you. However that may be.”

Charles actually laughed and ran a hand across his face, but he was still smiling. “What ridiculous men we turn out to be, James.” He gestured around them, and James finally remembered the party that was going on outside his door. “The event of the summer is occurring but five feet away, we are the hosts and I couldn’t care if the house was destroyed if I was with you.”

“Of course you wouldn’t care,” James chuckled while ignoring the way his chest warmed at the words. “It’s my home.”

“Perhaps that has something to do with it,” Charles teased, before he tilted his head curiously and reached out, his fingers finding James’ tie and straightening it. James held his breath as Charles also smoothed down his shirt and reached up to perfect his collar. “You look very handsome.” His smile was almost shy as he told him, resting his palms on James’ chest in a gesture that was far too meaningful to be platonic. “I’m impressed.”

James remembered his words from earlier and he couldn’t stop the relief from flooding his features and dropping the tension from his shoulders. He also felt a surge of pride, of happiness and he smiled softly as well. “Thank you.” He glanced down at his suit, but lingered more on Charles’ hands than the fabric. “I think it’s perfect, now.”

“Good.” Charles did one more swipe down his waistcoat before dropping his hands back to his side. “Then let us make an appearance before we’ll head to your balcony. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Europe,” he flashed a charming, confident smile that made James fall for him all over again, “I’ll need some help choosing what to pack.”

“Of course,” James murmured as Charles began making his way to the door, James followed after him but grabbed his shoulder before he could open it.

Charles sent him a surprised look, but James had to do one more thing before they faced the world again, before Charles was among society and given the chance to rethink his decision. James leaned in close and caught Charles’ lips in one more gentle kiss. When he pulled back, Charles was bemused but not displeased or uncomfortable, and that alone would always be a relief.

“What was that?” he asked.

“My thank you.”

Charles tilted his head, looking honestly confused. “What for?”

“Everything,” James told him with soft affection and utter sincerity. Even if this falls apart tomorrow, even if you change your mind, you have given me this.

Charles just smiled and shook his head gently before he led them with humour and good grace into the centre of the party. James made sure to watch him carefully the entire time, but while nothing in their relationship seemed to have changed, James couldn’t tell if that was merely because they were in public or if that was a sign of something deeper. He didn’t know if Charles was practicing discretion or if it was just a taste of things to come.

James couldn’t even ask him for confirmation as an acquaintance of Charles’ soon caught his arm and made it impossible for them to leave for the balcony like they had planned. It found James allowing himself to fade into the shadows, a hand on his tie as he played with it gently. Charles’ eyes located him many times throughout the night, but it did little to soothe the younger man’s worry.

Could Charles fall in love with a man?

James was quickly finding that he couldn’t bring himself to do anything but doubt it.

Next part

And that ends chapter one! The next part will be uploaded in two weeks, or, if the story is well received, I might be persuaded to update it in a week. So please reply, reblog and like this post! The more people are keen to hear more, the sooner I’ll be uploading more prose!

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foxhenki-blog · 5 years

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The Nome-God of Innsmouth

Christmas and the New Year are upon us. I’m writing this on the first day of the ostensible pagan new year, December 22nd 2018, the day after the winter solstice. It is a time for plenty and family and indulgence. I was able to get back to the bookstore after a long dry spell of feeding the bottomless maw of the empire as it begged for so many interest payments and spontaneous car repairs like so many cacophonous demonic baby birds in a thorn and brimstone nest.

Among a nativity scene my daughter wanted and a couple of anthropoid shark warriors for my son, I found both volumes of ‘The Gods of the Egyptians’ by E.A. Wallis Budge. It was in the first volume that I found my introduction to what Wallis Budge calls Nome-Gods. From the text:

“During the predynastic period in Egypt every village and town or settlement possessed its god, whose worship and the glory of whose shrine increased or declined according to the increase or decrease of the prosperity of the community in which [it] lived. When the country was divided into section… a certain god, or group of allied gods, became the representative(s)… of each nome, and so obtained the pre-eminence over all the other gods of the nome…”

This idea of a town or a city possessing its own god has been discussed, albeit in a macro-sense, when we have discussed Fortuna. Our first introduction to her in the Lovecraftian mythos was written exactly one year ago in our exploration of ‘The Festival.’ Fortuna is the goddess of cities, of their prosperity and their demise. The Nome-Gods are, in a way, her precursor and an altogether more authentic model as Fortuna was co-opted by empire and used as a tool to further those ends. Returning to the Nome-God model, Wallis Budge states that:

“In this way the whole country of Egypt… was divided among the gods, and it became customary in each nome to regard the god of that nome as the ‘Great God,’ or ‘God,’ and to endow her with all the powers and attributes possible. We have… no means of knowing when the country was first split up into nomes, but the division must have taken place at a very early period, and the gods who were chosen to represent the nomes were undoubtedly those who had been worshiped… during the predynastic period… The Egyptian lists give the number of nomes as forty-two…”

The text continues, stating that:

“The worship of each nome-god contained elements peculiar to itself, and the beliefs which centered in him represented all the ancient and indigenous views of the inhabitants of the nome, and these were carefully observed and cultivated from the earliest to the latest times.”

I fell that we can still see this practice today, as all cities have their own ‘character’ and their own traditions that those that have lived there for any amount of time inevitably follow. Think on it a bit and you will find that I’m right. Certainly those individuals

from Los Angeles:

to Chicago:

take on certain views that can very likely be traced back to the founding of that city and the cultural niche it creates as it continues to expand its influence.

The Catholic Church plays this game as well, assigning a patron saint to each city, from Saint Patrick in Hobart, Tasmania to Saint John the Evangelist for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In fact, without a Nome-God of some sort, perhaps a city cannot thrive on its own — forever being subject to the influence of the nearest Nome-God and its worshipers (both implicit and explicit).

Nome-gods are very likely composite in nature, perhaps represented by a final archetype but built on the local spirit-forms of the indigenous communities that made their homes (however transitory) within its future borders as well as the spirit-forms brought to the city after it was established and found itself with enough magics-spiritual initiative to grow into a non-human entity itself. The nome-god is the soul of the city as a non-human person.

To carry through into 2019, I have chosen a tale from Lovecraft’s oeuvre that is singularly obsessed with a particular town, ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth.’ I will allow the author to set the scene:

“During the Winter of 1927-28 officials of the federal government made a strange and secret investigation of certain conditions in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth.”

There are two items of note in this introductory paragraph. ‘Firstly,’ I have contested the popular assertion that Innsmouth is based on the town of Newburyport, MA in favor of what I feel is the more accurate geographic and aesthetic match of Rowley, MA. I maintain that stance here. Also of mention here is the ‘officials of the federal government.’ In ‘The Dunwich Horror,’ [https://gnome.school/blog/yog-sothoth-est-in-porta] similar agents are called upon in the narrative, which took place in or around 1923. In 1927, these agents from a proto-FBI, make another appearance. There is a missing sub-narrative here to Lovecraft’s works, a 1920’s instantiation of the X-Files that is worthy of future investigation. The squarespace site, ‘Historical G-Men,’ offers a window into what these agents might have looked like. The below picture is described as the 1935 FBI training class.

If I were to view this as a hint into the practice of Lovecraftian magic, I would view the 1920s - 1930s fashions of these gentleman as an equivalent of the ‘white linen robes’ and ‘paper crown’ mentioned in the Key of Solomon as the appropriate outfit a magician must wear when calling on and bending demons to their will. A woman who is interested in calling on the aesthetic of the 1920s FBI agent is not left out, as the first female agent was hired in 1922. Alaska P. Davidson was an agent combatting interstate sex trafficking.

As an added bit of fodder for conspiracy, the ‘P’ in Alaska’s name stands for Packard and her brothers, James and William, were the founders of the Packard Motor Car Company, James is picture below in a very Lovecraftian Materialist protagonist pose.

There were other female agents in the twenties, such as Jessie Duckstein and Lenore Houston.

Lenore was committed to a mental institution in 1930 for declaring that she was intent on shooting and killing J. Edgar Hoover, who replaced William Burns following his role in the ‘Teapot Dome Scandal’. The scandal involved a behind-closed-doors leasing of federal oil reserves to the private ‘Mammoth Oil Company,’ essentially a shell company created by Sinclair to take advantage of the secret deal. Following his assumption of the role, Hoover fired all active female agents and there were no other female agents until 1972. In Lovecraft’s time, however, the female FBI agent was a certain reality. One can easily imagine an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ situation where:

” a vast series of raids and arrests occured [in Innsmouth], followed by the deliberate burning and dynamiting… of [a] number of crumbling, worm-eaten… empty houses along the… waterfront…”

That included among the crowds of agents swarming the small Massachusetts town a well dressed Alaska Davidson and a rougher Lenore Houston with a firearm openly displayed in a shoulder holster…

The author goes on to relate how the town was nearly wiped out by the raid:

“There were vague statements about disease and concentration camps, and later about dispersal in various naval and military prisons… Innsmouth itself was left almost depopulated, and is even now only beginning to shew signs of a sluggishly revived existence…”

and that a number of organizations and newspapers were silenced in the wake of the FBI raid, a theme we also find in The Dunwich Horror. Only one paper, a tabloid, makes mention of a connected nautical event when it states:

“Only one paper… mentioned [a] submarine that discharged torpedoes downward in the marine abyss just beyond Devil Reef.”

The closest match for this marine abyss is the Sable Gully. The gully contains the largest underwater canyon of Eastern North America and is filled with dolphins, whales, deep-water fish and colonies of deep-sea cold water coral that are centuries old. As recently as 2011, scientific expeditions into the Sable Gully have revealed new discoveries, a prime area for Lovecraftian spirit-forms or other cosmic horrors to dwell.

Following the prologue, we are introduced to our narrator:

“I never heard of Innsmouth till the day before I saw it for the first… time. I was celebrating my coming of age by a tour of New England — sightseeing, antiquarian, and genealogical — and had planned to go directly from… Newburyport to Arkham… I had no car, but was traveling by train, trolley, and motor-coach, always seeking the cheapest possible route… In Newburyport… The stout, shrewd-faced agents [at the train station ticket-office] seemed sympathetic toward my efforts at economy, and made a suggestion that none of my other informants had offered.

‘You could take that old bus… It goes through Innsmouth… Run by… Joe Sargent… [it] never gets any custom from here, or Arkham either… I never see more’n two or three people in it — nobody but those Innsmouth folks. Leaves the square — front of Hammond’s Drug Store — at 10 AM and 7 PM…”

‘The Square’ is the Market Square Historic District of Newburyport, which is still extant today and as Lovecraft would have seen it.

The drug store in the picture, ‘Eaton’s Drug Store,’ gives us a picture of a corner similar to the one our narrator would have waited on when seeking a ride from Joe Sargent’s Innsmouth Bus. According to this article in the Newburyport News, however, the drugstore on the square at the time of our tale was the Central Pharmacy on the corner of Market Square and State Street. This is more useful for the Lovecraftian Magician, as it give us another physical gate from which we can launch our enchantments appropriately (the Starbucks at 2 Market Square would be an appropriately evil alternative location, I think).

When our narrator pressed his new informant on the town of Innsmouth, some interesting information begins to leak out:

“More empty houses than there are people… Once they had quite a few mills, but nothing’s left now except one gold refinery… That refinery… used to be a big thing, and Old Man March, who owns it, must be richer’n Croesus… Grandson of Captain Obed Marsh, who founded the business. His mother seems to’ve been some kind of… South Sea islander — so everybody raised Cain when he married an Ipswich girl fifty years ago…”

There is one refinery still extant that traces its history back to the Providence area of the nineteen teens, Pease & Curren. In reading the small bit of history on the refinery I found out that Providence used to be the epicenter of jewelry production and with Pease & Curren still active, an interesting line of experimentation might be the use of some of its metals in the creation of Lovecraftian talismans. The narrator’s informant continues, deepening connections with the trench far off the coast and the associated reef of black coral.

“You ought to hear… what some of the old-timers tell about the black reef off the coast — Devil’s Reef, they call it… The story is that there’s a whole legion of devils seen sometimes on that reef — sprawled about, or darting in and out of some kind of caves near the top… old Captain Marsh… was supposed to land on it sometimes at night when the tide was right…”

An interesting premise, a type of nautical cross-roads, thinking of the reef as a type of in-between place. The informant continues, getting to the heart of issues the local population had with Innsmouth:

“the real thing behind the way folks feel is simply race prejudice — what a lot our New England ships used to have to do with… in Africa, Asia, theSouth Seas… and what… people… they… brought back with ‘em… Well, there must be something like that back of the Innsmouth people… cut off from the rest of the country by marshes and creeks… its pretty clear that old Captain Marsh must have brought home some [of those people] back in the [eighteen] twenties and thirties… Nobody around here or in Arkham or Ipswich will have anything to do with ‘em, and they act kind of offish themselves…”

Lovecraft is laying bare the racism of the area that he grew up in in this passage. Through the listening of the narrator to the story of this informant, he is placing an authorial distance between himself and these feelings but is, in effect, reporting on a racism and xenophobia that is still extant in the area (as is recently reported in Fortune magazine and by NPR). Lovecraft’s work is an anthropological lens into the deep history of racism in New England. If you pay close attention to his writing, and the different distances and voices that he uses, you can see this same vehicle, this same message, throughout his work. The message isn’t, as the Pop Lovecraftian critics assert, that Lovecraft himself was a racist and celebrating racism with his writing, is not what is being said. Lovecraft is offering us an anthropologist’s perspective early 20 c. New England. The informant continues, relating the local perspective of the Innsmouth folk:

“That plague of ’46 must have taken off the best blood in the place. Anyway, they’re a doubtful lot now, and the Marshes and the other rich folks are as bad as any. As I told you, there probably ain’t more’n 400 people in the whole town in spite of all the streets they say there are. I guess they’re what they call ‘white trash’ down South — lawless and sly, and full of secret doings…”

Lovecraft was supremely aware of the nuances of racism. He had clearly given the subject a great deal of thought to be able to weave it in and out of his character studies and narrations in this way. It is rare today, and even more so in Lovecraft’s time, for an individual to be so self-aware of racism and xenophobia. The typical racist is normally unconscious of their behavior, it having been a culturally learned behavior of social survival in the communities in which they are raised.

Taking his leave of the ticket-clerk, our narrator retires to the Newburyport Public Library housed in the Tracy Mansion since 1866, to continue his research. Research and libraries are such a primal part of Lovecraftian Magic that I would say fully half of one’s practice should be from the armchair if it is to be done correctly:

“I spent part of that evening at the Newburyport Public Library looking up data about Innsmouth… The Essex County histories on the library shelves had very little to say, except that the town was founded in 1643, noted for shipbulding [and] a seat of great marine prosperity in the early nineteenth century… Most interesting of all was a glancing reference to the strange jewellery vaguely associated with Innsmouth. It had… impressed the whole countryside more than a little, for mention was made of specimens in the museum of Miskatonic University at Arkham and in the display room of the Newburyport Historical Society. The fragmentary descriptions of these things… hinted to me an undercurrent of persistent strangeness…”

The Museum of Old Newbury is the contemporary instantiation of the Newbury Historical Society. Our narrator, pressing the librarian for more details, was given an introduction to the curator, one Anna Tilton. The surname Tilton has a long history in the New England area. The Tilton family in Newburyport began with the ninth child of Caleb Tilton and Ruth Cooper, Cephas Tilton. Cephas married one Harriet Nichols, they had two daughters who both married and had children. A brother of Cephas, John Cooper Tilton, lived in nearby Haverhill and had a son by the name of John Wilson Tilton in 1844. John Wilson was a graduate of Harvard, a Unitarian, a member of the Free Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Elks. One can easily imagine that Miss Anna Tilton was an aged gentlewoman of this same lineage. Our narrator, upon meeting Miss Tilton, is escorted into the building housing the private collection of the society:

“The collection was a notable one indeed, but in my present mood I had eyes for nothing but the bizarre object which glistened in a corner cupboard under the electric lights.

It took no excessive sensitiveness to beauty to make me literally gasp at the strange… spleandor of the alien… phantasy that rested there on a purple velvet cushion… it was… a sort of tierra… designed for a head of almost freakishly elliptical outline. The material seemed to be predominantly gold, though a weird lighter lustrousness hinted at some strange alloy with an equally beautiful and scarcely indentifiable metal [with] untraditional designs — some simply geometrical, and some plainly marine — chased or moulded in high relief on its surface… the… other-wordly quality of the art… made me uneasy… It… belonged to some settled technique of infinite maturity… remote from any — Eastern or Western, ancient or modern… It was as if the workmanship were that of another planet… Miss Tilton… was incline to believe that it formed part of some… pirate hoard discovered by old Captain Obed Marsh… Her own attitude toward shadowed Innsmouth — which she had never seen — was one of disgust… she assured me that the rumours of devil-worship were… justified by a… secret cult which had gained force there… called… The Esoteric Order of Dagon… replacing Freemasonry altogether and taking up headquarters in the old Masonic Hall on New Church Green.”

The Esoteric Order of Dagon has a contemporary incarnation that may or may not have a surviving lineage (depending on how one defines living traditions) to that mentioned by the antiquarian Anna Tilton. According to their still extant website, the membership of the 21st century E.O.D. includes Peter Smith, Kenneth Grant, Michael Staley, Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Paul Rydeen, Stephen Sennitt, Stephen Dziklewicz, Ian Blake, Phil Hine, John Beal, Linda Falorio, Mishlen Linden, Jhonn Balance, Nema, Dan Clore, Michael Aquino and Bill Siebert.

Our narrator, true to his obsessions, decides to make the trip to Innsmouth via the method described by the ticket taker, by taking the bus from Market Square:

“Shortly before ten the next morning I stood with one small valise in front of Hammond’s Drug Store in old Market Square waiting for the Innsmouth bus… a small motor-coach of [a] dirty grey colour rattled down State Street, made a turn, and drew up at the curb beside me… The driver… went into the drug store to make some purchase. This, I reflected, must be… Joe Sargent… He was thin, stoop-shouldered… not much under six feet tall, dressed in shabby blue civilian clothes and wearing a frayed grey golf cap… the odd, deep creases in the sides of his neck made him seem older… He had a narrow head, bulging, watery blue eyes… and singularly undeveloped ears. His long, thick lip and coarse-pored, greyish cheeks seems almost beardless… His hands were large… and had a very unusual greyish-blue tinge… as leaving time… approached I… followed the man aboard… murmuring the single word ‘Innsmouth’…”

The tale progresses with a fine and detailed description of Innsmouth, unlike any that I have encountered yet during this project. The narrator exits the bus, checks into the hotel, and goes for a daylight hour walk, happening by another informant in a local First National Grocery store.

His new informant, a young boy who bussed in from Arkham to work at the store, was relieved to speak to him and offered many details:

“As for the Innsmouth people — the youth hardly knew what to make of them. They were as furtive and seldom seen as animals that live in burrows… They seemed sullenly banded together in some sort of fellowship and understanding — despising the world as if they had access to other and preferable spheres of entity… It was awful to hear them chanting in their churches at night, and especially during their main festivals or revivals, which fell twice a year on April 30th and October 31st.”

The two holidays are, of course, All Hallows Eve and Saint Walpurgis Night. The alignment of what are clearly a species of xeno-amphibian-human hybrid’s religion with these two most famous of pagan festivals is an interesting data point. It nudges us closer to the theory that the Greco-Egyptian mythos are extensions of older forms of worship that extend back to the beginnings of humankind and beyond (in Lovecraft’s reality, a metaphorical anthropoid-amphibian species — in our reality the cousins of Homo sapiens sapiens).

Our narrator goes on to commit to what I have always called a ‘wander,’ or one of those aimless walks that one takes in a city that is new. A walk with the sole purpose of exploring, to look at the graffiti, to make wrong turns only to find oneself in hostile or unfamiliar neighborhoods. The conclusion of the second section of ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ makes it clear that one of the primary archetypes for this tale is Innsmouth, Massachusetts itself. Even though the city is clearly in a state of urban ruin according to the descriptions of the narrator, it possesses that one characteristic that marks it as a city-as-non-human entity, a Nome-God. The Nome-God of Innsmouth is Dagon, that most primal of terrestrial Lovecraftian spirit-forms. Dagon can be seen in every corner of Innsmouth and the narrator’s description of the place during his wander is a perfect window into how a modern city expresses its own Nome-god, how it expresses its soul. The archetype of this tale is not Dagon, but how Innsmouth expresses Dagon as a part of its own non-human personality.

Our first tarot card match for the Town of Innsmouth is the Ten of Cups.

Our Ettellia deck offers us two keywords, ‘La Ville,’ and ‘Courroux,’ or ’Town’ and ‘Wrath.’ La Ville is Old French for town, is the source of the colloquial word formation of many US cities, and stems from the Latin ‘villa.’ The villa was a country house or a mansion for the ancient romans and is related to ‘vicus,’ which is a village or group of houses. The villa or vicus are very often the primary atomic element of a city — it is those first few individuals that made a success of life and, as such, attracted other individuals to them. The vicus is the catalyst that transforms the characteristics of the local indigenous spirits into a composite proto-nome-god that is the seed for the spirit of the city to come. ‘Ville’ is drawn from the PIE root *weik-, which means ‘clan’ or a ‘social unit above the household,’ linguistically it is a match for the above-described process. *weik- also expands out into diocese, ecology and economy. Wrath is from the Old English word ‘wræððu,’ which means anger. It is related to ‘wroth,’ which means ‘angry,’ ‘tormented,’ or ’twisted.’ Wroth stems from the Proto-Germanic *wraith- and is related to the Old Frisian term ‘wrath,’ meaning evil. Thusly, the Ten of Cups represents an evil. twisted village, of which there is no better representation in literature than our archetype, the Town of Innsmouth.

#Innsmouth #racism #Graeco-Egyptian Magic

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