#gay prismatic robes

[slepoepyatno]

Drawings and text for ask. My headcanon on what happened to the little ghoul in the ending of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

When Richard Upton Pickman was able to rise from the black onyx floor in Unknown Kadath, the silhouettes of Carter and all of his fellow ghouls disappeared into a flickering, ominous light.

The loud whine of the trumpet deafened him, forcing him to fall to his knees again. It seemed that the bulky wall around and even the air itself were shaking in a single eerie groan. The light flickered, dimming under the onslaught of black smoke, thickening with every moment, which seemed to appear from the very darkness in the far corners of the hall. Slowly, with royal leisurely, the darkness turned into a figure. The black robe flowed across the floor, and no matter how hard he tried to strain his eyes and focus, Pickman could not distinguish where the smoke ended and the fabric began.

Golden jewelry refracted the dim rays of light, blinded his eyes, which had long been accustomed to existing in the darkness, his sensitive sense of smell caught the intensifying aroma of sandalwood and some other incense, the names of which he did not remember or, probably, did not even know. The pungent smell was suffocating, and the hum of pipes and vibration of air still echoed in his head as a mocking cacophony.

There was no need to be surprised or ask questions. It was pointless. Should he have expected to meet anyone else in a castle on top of unknown Kadath?

However, it was worth thanking the gods or other forces, in which he, if he believed, did not reverence too much, for the mere fact that the Messenger of Other Gods mercifully chose the most human-like form for this meeting.

The god could barely contain his grin as he watched this pitiful creature in front of him. In the mock majestic tone that had so impressed Randolph Carter in a similar scene, at the same moment in time, he began his speech:

- Greetings, oh fearless dreamer! I am impressed by your courage and firmness on the way to the forbidden lands surrounding the onyx castle of the Unknown Kadath.

Your faithful comrade, Randolph Carter, who risked disturbing the peace of the gods and challenging me, has already received his reward. At this very time, as we are talking, he is preparing to saddle the Shantak bird and go to the wonderful aisles of his desired Sunset City in order to forever surround himself with the dreams and visions of his childhood. The cherished desire of his rebellious mind is about to come true...

Nyarlathotep paused, spreading his arms like a stage actor, enjoying the effect. He towered over the bent Pickman, like an ancient statue of a black monolith.

- However, we still have some unfinished business. Another figure doomed to remain forever in the shadow of the ancient buildings of Salem, the picturesque hills of Providence, the gloomy gable roofs of Arkham and, finally, the golden reflections of the Sunset City... isn’t it? A creature that is forced to wander forever on the border, not experiencing full acceptance in any of its havens.

Looking meaningfully straight into the eyes of the defeated creature before him, Crouching Chaos continued his speech with unexpected warmth.

- I want to reward you for your courage, Richard Upton Pickman, for your devotion to the Dream World and your comrade. Because the shackles of the Real World could not contain your daring mind. They never could.

For this, I will give you what you were deprived of all these dark years spent on earth, in sorrowful loneliness. I will show you what trace you left in the hearts of people and how gloriously your blessed memory is honored.

Watching the frail figure of the former artist dissolve, swallowed up by darkness, the god could not help but laugh.

[fey--wolf]

оставляя за собой сожженные чертоги палачей, пропадаешь в темноте вокруг лица возлюбленной моей

Ultar - Nyarlathotep

[0crooked-arcade0]

I know this is a curveball due to the fact that I'm just now mentioning the fact that I'm part of the pop culture dietes circle, but, fuck I gotta share this.

Ok, for context, I used to closely work with the Black Pharoah, Nyarlathotep.

Separated myself from his influence a while back so I'd mostly packed that baggage away for later (long story, long, weird story-)

So, the small town where I live went from a small and aging hamlet with practically no crime to an absolute mad house around a month a go. Crime has spiked and its big shit

-Missing children

-There's a mysterious arsonist and a smash and grab robber

-Increased danger after sunset, there's some...guys wandering around stalking people, I personally got chased by one and nearly died of fear-

-People leaving jobs all at the same time creating a worker shortage at essential business.

-EMS is sent to an emergency as many as FIVE TIMES A DAY, DAY AFTER DAY BUT HAVE NO REPORT OF ANYTHING???

And more, but heres the point at this post.

I practically live at the library these days, talk to the librarian and other frequent visitors a lot. Leading us to discuss the rather upsetting news flooding town lately, ones pagan, the librarian has a friend in the local coven.

The librarian would state her friend would be almost obsessively trying to warn her about something vague but possibly dangerous shifting as of late. A lot of people have said that actually-

So guess what my reaction was when Mr. Gay Prismatic Robes crossed my path for the first time in forever-

The crawling chaos...

That tracks, but also he needs to fuck off.

Am i just going crazy or has anyone else seen him??? He's acting suspicious again-

I use this meme too much but I can't help but attach it because ot conveys exactly how I feel rn.

OH FUCK, EDIT: I forgot to mention my town is Allied with freemasons of a more spiritual variety and they are scattered to fuck RN

[pnakotus]

Nyarlathotep's Mind

I - A Note on Canon, or Lack Thereof

Lovecraft did not care for canon. The collective body of his works has no canon. Instead it is known as a mythos - a loose collection of everchanging stories that feature shared characters and concepts.

In true mythos fashion, Lovecraft encouraged his contemporaries to make their own contributions to this emerging myth-cycle. This is important for understanding Lovecraft’s work. Nothing is canon, not even the stories themselves.

This is a desirable state of affairs.

As such, I may make use of terms and ideas derived from Lovecraft’s friends and disciples, and perhaps even myself in this analysis.

II - Introduction

Nyarlathotep is an Outer God. Outer Gods are nigh-omnipotent, extra-cosmic entities that exist outside (beneath, at the centre of) Creation. These beings are responsible for the creation of every universe, each governed by its own unique physics. (FfY) Because Nyarlathotep is capable of taking any form it wishes and controlling physics and metaphysics alike, (DQoUK) I will be using the pronoun "It" to refer to the entity. Nyarlathotep is unique among the Outer Gods for three reasons.

It is sentient.

It has a sense of self.

It has a personality

That personality will be the focus of this post.

III - Form and Mannerisms

And at the last from inner Egypt came The strange dark One to whom the fellahs bowed; Silent and lean and cryptically proud, And wrapped in fabrics red as sunset flame.

Then down the wide lane betwixt the two columns a lone figure strode; a tall, slim figure with the young face of an anique Pharaoh, gay with prismatic robes and crowned with a golden pshent that glowed with inherent light. [...] whose proud carriage and smart features had in them the fascination of a dark god or fallen archangel, and around whose eyes there lurked the languid sparkle of capricious humour. It spoke, and in its mellow tones there rippled the wild music of Lethean streams.

When manifesting before humans, Nyarlathotep takes the form of a charismatic human. In this form, It can often be identified by brightly colored robes, and an entourage of outlandish or monstrous followers. (DQoUK, (FfY)

Hearing Nyarlathotep speak often causes memory loss. (N) It is prone to grandiose and poignant speeches, and knows the innermost desires and essence of those it speaks to. Below is a small portion of the speech Nyarlathotep delivered to the Dreamer Randolph Carter.

"For you know, that your gold and marble city of wonder is only the sum of what you have seen and loved in youth. It is the glory of Boston's hillside roofs and western windows aflame with sunset, of the flower-fragrant Common and the great dome on the hill and the tangle of gables and chimneys in the violet valley where the many-bridged Charles flows drowsily. These things you saw, Randolph Carter, when your nurse first wheeled you out in the springtime, and they will be the last things you will ever see with eyes of memory and love."

It perfectly grasps what Randolph Carter is, what he wants, and who he will die as.

Nyarlathotep is said to have a thousand other forms, although it is likely the actual number is as high as it needs to be. It tells Randolph Carter to pray that he never meets It in one of these "thousand other forms".

Nyarlathotep will refer to obscure (maybe even personal) events to make Its points, frequently giving the impression that It was actually present when a given event took place.

Maybe It was.

It is devious, and will use Its knowledge of a person and skill in rhetoric to gain the trust of anyone It encounters. In human form, Nyarlathotep comes across as godlike, but good-humored and approachable. It is not above deception, and will lie to suit Its aims, or simply for amusement.

It gives a lengthy and soothing speech to Randolph Carter, before sending him on the final stretch of his quest. Carter slowly realizes that all of Nyarlathotep's praise, was in fact, ironic mockery, and that he has been tricked and sent to his doom.

It seems that the Crawling Chaos is fond of the "Show, Don't Tell" maxim.

IV - Apocalypse Artist

While Nyarlathotep fits nicely into the role of the trickster, Lovecraft depicted Nyarlathotep as a showman, or performance artist. The short story Nyarlathotep, based on a nightmare Lovecraft once had, illuminates this aspect of the deity.

"Men advised one another to see Nyarlathotep, and shuddered. And where Nyarlathotep went, rest vanished; for the small hours were rent with the screams of nightmare."

Nyarlathotep appears once again in human form. It walks world, spreading terror and madness in Its wake. It uses strange electrical devices resembling film projectors to show scenes of the end of the cosmos.

"And I saw the world battling against blackness; against the waves of destruction from ultimate space; whirring, churning, struggling around the dimming, cooling sun."

Once again, it should be noted that Nyarlathotep sticks to the "Show, Don't Tell" approach, saying nothing remarkable, but letting the imagery do the soul-destroying.

Lovecraft's poetry confirms that what Nyarlathotep shows is actually the future. (FfY)

I believe (headcanon?, interpret?) that Nyarlathotep attained sentience (has always been sentient) by unconsciously mimicking living things. I'll delve more into this later, but it's relevant right now because I view Nyarlathotep's fondness of showing people the Truth as an attempt to express Itself. Its fellow Gods can offer no companionship, and so It is forced to make do with lesser beings.

Nyarlathotep's showings of such cataclysmic events as the death of the universe could be an attempt to give such limited beings a mere glimpse of Its divine perception.

"... whirled blindly past ghastly midnights of rotting creation, corpses of dead worlds with sores that were cities, charnel winds that brush the pallid stars and make them flicker low."

V - Reluctant Deity

Nyarlathotep is known as the "Heart and Soul of the Outer Gods". It acts as Their messenger and carries out Their strange and alien Will. (FfY)

Nyarlathotep's chief duties are punishing those who act in defiance of cosmic order, and protecting (read; babysitting) lesser entities under the protection of the Outer Gods. It is unclear how a being comes into the favor of the Outer Gods, but Nyarlathotep is contemptuous of those it protects, often bullying them.

It wields unlimited power against the foolhardy beings who would attempt to win themselves divinity or otherwise meddle with the cosmos, such as challenging protected entities (sometimes dubbed 'petty gods'), or looking into alternate universes.

While those who defy the will of the Outer Gods are usually punished by way of total annihilation, Nyarlathotep, true to Its nature as a performer, likes to give Its targets a chance to realize their fate. Once again, the "Show, Don't Tell" maxim comes into play.

Nyarlathotep will not give out lengthy monologues about the horrible fate awaiting Its victims.

Instead, It will sing their praises as It engineers a scenario that ends in their destruction. Such scenarios give the victims enough time to piece together Nyarlathotep's true intentions before having their bodies and souls unmade.

Despite being the Heart and Soul of the Outer Gods, Nyarlathotep holds them in great contempt. (FfY)

In The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, It refers to them as "good gods to shun", and commits acts of disrespect against them in sonnet 22 of Fungi from Yuggoth. It cannot actually harm the Outer Gods or Their servants, but It will torment them nonetheless.

Gods have no need for sentience, as they have no threats to overcome. Nyarlathotep is an outsider among Its own kind. Nothing else other than Its idiot kin can approach on equal footing. Nothing else can be a peer to It.

I believe that Nyarlathotep resents the Outer Gods for never "waking up" as It did, and leaving It alone for eternity.

Works Cited

Fungi from Yuggoth, 1930

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, 1927

Nyarlathotep, 1920

[werewolfetone]

I like how when you start reading Lovecraft you’re like “ooh Nyarlathotep the Crawling Chaos so spooky” 

and then you read it a little more and you end up being like “ah fuck here comes Nyarly in his gay prismatic robes”

[twinblasphemies]

Info post!

This is a sideblog, my main is @redacted-metallum ​!  The purpose of this blog is to collect inspo images and to make silly posts in character for my semi-original dark humor Cthulhu Mythos story that follows a shitty metal band out of modern-day Arkham called Twin Blasphemies and their attempts to make music.

Characters, pronouns, quick bios, and tags are as follows:

Riley Davis:

they/he

Vocalist for TB, named the band after reading the Necronomicon and thinking “oh hell the fuck yeah”.  Not born in Arkham, but moved there to attend the Miskatonic University to get a creative writing degree.  They are now working on a library science graduate degree on account of they want to be able to have a job.

Currently working two jobs: one during the school year at the Miskatonic University library and one at the Innsmouth Dunkin Donuts.

Developed gills after attending an Innsmouth fish fry.

tag is #riley

Tomas Slate:

he/him

Drummer for TB, the first member of the band aside from Riley.  Arkham born and raised.

Visual artist, not going for a graduate degree, mostly just getting by on horror art commissions and the band.

Has bad luck when it comes to cursed books.

Owns a motorcycle

tag is #tomas

Fog Martin:

any pronouns

Guitarist for TB, born in Texas.  First-generation college student in the US, grandfather emigrated from Mexico.

Tends to do witchcraft in the spiritual magic sort of way and is ironically a Mythos skeptic at the start.

Short king

tag is #fog

Jane Doe:

she/her

Bassist for TB.  Literal Jane Doe in the sense she’s a Ghoul formed from an unidentified afab body.  The only member of the band who can actually read music.  Proud owner of a shitty van with a wizard airbrushed onto it (she paid Tomas to do it) (stole the van)

Lesbian dog girl

tag is #jane

Samantha Gilman:

she/her

Goes by Sammy

Innsmouth resident who’s turning into a Deep One, as is her prerogative.

Riley’s girlfriend, routinely watches them shoplift from the convenience store and does nothing about it.

A very bubbly and cheerful person, despite turning into a fish.

tag is #sammy

Randolph Carter:

he/him

yeah like that one

Quasi-immortal who’s dive bar of choice is the Miskatonic University, currently Riley’s academic advisor and the only one trying to steer them away from the Mythos

tag is #carter

Nathaniel Thorpe:

he/him

Avatar of Nyarlathotep and local problems causer on TV

Took over a local church after the previous preacher “mysteriously disappeared” and has been making a nuisance of himself ever since

tag is #thorpe

Pops:

he/him

Old Innsmouth fisherman who is Literally Just Dagon in human form

Don’t worry about it

tag is #pops

Jerry:

it/its

A dwarf Shoggoth Riley managed to befriend.  Lives in the Innsmouth Dunkins grease trap

tag is #jerry

Location tags: #innsmouth, #arkham, #miskatonic, #dunwich, #dreamlands, #carcosa, #r'lyeh

TB albums: I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO THE MOON PEOPLE 4 THOUSAND YEARS AGO (#IKWYDTTMP4KYA), Again With The Monsters (#AWTM), Rainbow Drops of Dunwich Blood (#RDoDB)

Misc inspo: #gateways, #album cover, #library basement, #gay prismatic robes

"In character" posts: #live recording

Writing tag for random scenes I’ve written: #written word

[redacted-metallum]

I know people haven't read much of Lovecraft when they're surprised Nyarlathotep is counted as a sexyman. And they always use The Bloody Tongue for his icon like bestie Chaosium made that for the ttrpg. Go read the prose-poem and his description in Dream-Quest.

Gay prismatic robes indeed.

[writingbaddie]

Randolph: You've torn me from my Dream World, tricked me and nearly threw me into Azathoth itself. All that I can forgive. But Nyarlathotep..."

Nyarlathotep: What? Randolph: Gay prismatic robes?

Nyarlathotep: GET OUT OF MY CASTLE

[3abbie3]

Did anyone read Dreamquest, see the phrase "gay with prismatic robes" used in describing Nyarlathotep, and NOT think "oh this fucker is definitely not straight in any way, shape, or form?"

[iyliss]

@one-groovy-rose​

I SHALL TALK ABOUT THE POTENTIAL CTHULHU REF

Alright so first i wanna get back a (lil) bit on gx, tcg, and what specific part of the cthulhu mythos is involved in yugioh. While I don’t know enough about how the anime’s writting and the card’s designing go on, I can assume that there’s connection, maybe similar people, working on it. Why is it important? Because if there’s an obvious reference somewhere, something else could be a reference as well. So. GX. for those who don’t talk to me nor minded that aspect: there’s a heck lot of lovecraft reference. Not detailing it, but two reference are especially important for Zexal. It is clear that the story The Dream quest of the unknown Kadath has been a bit of an inspiration (one of the monster is just too detailed to not be straight up from the story’s description), and we can assume the other stories related to that character (Randolph Carter) were red as well: The silver key and Through the gate of the silver key. Finally, Nyarlathotep is heavily referenced -though I am not sure how much- in at least one form, (that is not the one from the stories involved). Meanwhile, in the card game, an archetype is introduced: Outer Entities (beware as their designs are quite more freaky than what you would expect from ygo). It’s around the last part of Zexal, and features reference to very specific short stories that aren’t well known either (important because: the reference are straight from the stories not from things like the rpg or general knowledge) and there is, again, our good friend Nyarlathotep.

So, after this long introduction, I can get into the main part. The two important cthulhu reference I can see in Zexal are 1) with they key and the gate 2) Don Thousand and Nyarlathotep. I will ad some more thoughts about some elements of Zexal that.... vibes with hpl, but it isn’t as clear and just me having fun.

The Gate and the Key

When Randolph Carter was thirty he lost the key of the gate of dreams.

Zexal’s gate and key can be associated with many things. One I like is pandora’s box, but I really don’t understand why it took me so long to connect it with the straight up Gate and Key from hpl’s work.

In The Silver Key and Through the Gate of the Silver Key, our protagonist Randolph Carter finds a mysterious key in his pocket, through dreams and maybe some timetravel, which allows him to open a gate where godly beings welcome him to behold the knowledge of the universe, featuring travelling to other planets/dimmensions. So. Yeah I think the connection can be made.

A gate had been unlocked—not indeed the Ultimate Gate, but one leading from earth and time to that extension of earth which is outside time, and from which in turn the Ultimate Gate leads fearsomely and perilously to the Last Void which is outside all earths, all universes, and all matter.

Overall, the way the two gates and keys are portrayed are very similar. The mysteries, yet with hints to the truth, of what exactly is this gate or the guide within it, or the truth beyond it are and where it comes from. The sense of otherwordly knowledge. The link with dreams and timetravel.

Nyarlathotep and Don Thousand

He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet.

In both The Dream quest of the unknown Kadath and other stories appear Nyarlathotep (that i will call Nyarla from now on for obvious reason). He has many forms and I think Don thousand is partly inspired by him.

First, an easy one. Nyarla has some nicknames, including a first one: the Crawling Chaos. Chaos, you know? Another one is the Black Pharaoh, and we will talk again about the black part, but the paraoh part well... Don Thousand’s deck is strongly related to ancient egypt and Im sure he has reference to it I couldn’t catch. There’s also other things, like The God of a Thousand forms.

Now, lore-wise. It’s a bit hard to explain what Nyarla is but, here, we don’t need to know too much. Mostly that his hobby is mainly to sneak amongst human, alter their fate, push them into madness, into worshipping him, make them join his dark cult, and just lie, manipulate, abuse and deceive to bring out and more suffering, sometimes for his own power, sometimes for his own pleasure. And, already you can see the similarities. In Kadath, he appears at the end though he’s teased throughout the story, and it acts the final boss. More specifically, how his cult function can be associated with the Barians. Basically, throughout history, they just sacrifice their humanity out of despair and gain immortality and power and can go through various dimmensions.

 “[...]a lone figure strode; a tall, slim figure with the young face of an antique Pharaoh, gay with prismatic robes and crowned with a golden pshent that glowed with inherent light. Close up to Carter strode that regal figure; whose proud carriage and swart features had in them the fascination of a dark god or fallen archangel, and around whose eyes there lurked the languid sparkle of capricious humour. “

Finally, visually. Taking the various representation of Nyarla feels quite close to Don Thousand’s final form. His description of tall, young and beautiful, is already important. Amongst all the yugioh bosses, Don Thousand is clearly meant to be exceptionally gorgeous. The third eye could be related to his incarnation as the Haunter in the Dark, who has “three-lobed burning eye “. Finally, the dark grey skin is very much specific to Nyarla. In the Dreams in the Witch-House, he’s again describe as tall but also are dark skinned, not dark brown, but dark grey or black: “a tall, lean man of dead black colouration “.

Other things and conclusion

There are some other details that just feels lovecraftian. Like the continuation of magic and science, in cthulhu mythos, travelling through dimmension can be both done through the help of some mystical entities and objects (like they key), or with pure science like math (like Faker and Byron did, and just like in the stories, it ends terribly compared to the first option). Otherall, Byron and Faker’s story feels very lovecraftian. The travel to a distant place that few people have found, the absurd archeology, discover a lost alien civilization and multiple dimmension. They way Byron comes back “changed”, or not even himself, also feels like both in Through the gate of the silver key (where Randolph gets stuck in an alien body) and The Shadow out of time (where the father and doctorate protagonist is possess by an alien being that radically changes his behaviour).

And, yeah that’s about all I can think of right now. Am sure there could be more I may find upon rewatches and thinking, but I hope it’s already interesting enough! tried to make sure it was understandable by anyone.

[slepoepyatno]

......brain damage....

My design for Nyarl from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

😍 Happy new obsession Day 😍

[starrydesertoctopi]

“Then down the wide lane betwixt the two columns a lone figure strode; a tall, slim figure with the young face of an antique Pharaoh, gay with prismatic robes”

The word gay was canonically used for Nyaru and it cheers me up 

( ͡° ω͡°)

[werewolfetone]

I think Yog-Sothoth can only sound like Hermaeus Mora from the Dragonborn DLC for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Incredibly slow unskippable dialogue included

[twinblasphemies]

Made the band w this picrew >> https://picrew.me/image_maker/1414503

Ideally Jane would look less human but w/e.

In order it's Riley, Tomas, Fog, and then Jane

[redacted-metallum]

The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is one of Lovecraft's bestworst works imo. It's so fucking wild and it gives us a bunch of neat creatures and locations.

However it sucks to read and is a massive slog to get through. There are random portions where Lovecraft basically went "oh fuck I haven't been racist for a few minutes let me fix that" and I'm reading it in the future like "man... cmon."

Cats fight evil space cats from Saturn on the fucking moon. Nyarlathotep shows up at the end scantily clad in "gay prismatic robes" for no apparent reason. It ends with Carter going "wait im fucking dreaming I can just wake up". The blurb before it in one of the collections I own ends with "it was never prepared for publication." Every time it's been a while since I read it I think to myself "I should re-read the dream-quest" while only remembering the parts I like and then when I start reading it again I'm like "oh yeah. I fucking hate like 70% of this story."

[actualblanketgremlin]

Tl;dr, he's a shapeshifter and that's one of a thousand forms. Technically, The Bloody Tongue (that guy) isn't canon to the stories, he got added in much later with the roleplaying games. When I've fully woken up, I'll post the actual description of him (he's basically Spooky Nikola Tesla in the short story of the same name), but also check out the ending of the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, where he's described wearing (actual quote) "gay prismatic robes". Add in some anime appearances, and you've got a pretty reliable recipe for sexymanning a character!

Uhh...WHAT?!