#guttural speech in an unknown language

[monsterpageant]

between a long ass work week, DMV shit, jury duty, roommate hunting/landlord wrangling, and organizing an art sale i am beyond wiped out. art hopefully forthcoming but holy fuck im cranky

[dearestones]

Fold—To Withdraw or Surrender from a Current Card Game (Belphegor x Reader)

Warnings: Really mean Belphie (like, really mean), angst.

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The door to the attic was closed as always. Despite the number of trips you had taken in between all of the skirmishes and troubles that you endured with the demon brothers of the House of Lamentation, the door always remained shut. A part of you wondered how Lucifer managed to keep Belphegor entertained and attended to while the youngest of the seven was imprisoned, but when you asked, Belphegor had rolled his eyes and drifted to sleep. A rude response, for sure, but it was a reaction that you had been somewhat expecting.

Today, you were hoping that you could get Belphegor to come out of his shell.

Today, you had grabbed a deck of cards from Mammon’s unholy pile of rubbish from one of the corners of his room. You had informed your guardian of your intentions, but you doubt Mammon was listening because he was busy counting the stack of bills and coins that were littering his bed. (You had thought about asking when and where he had the time to gain such an impressive haul, but you had scurried away with your little gift).

As you wandered up the attic stairs, you felt apprehensive. After speaking with Belphegor a handful of times, you knew that he was somewhat temperamental and hard to please. From what you could gather, he could be somewhat sweet when he wanted to be, but mischievous and manipulative most of the time.

Almost like Satan, if you were being honest.

Speaking of his brothers… He had a soft spot for his family—a running trend that you had observed from the brothers—but he was at odds with Lucifer. You had figured out early on that you shouldn’t speak about the firstborn unless you wanted to have the seventh brother ignoring you for the unseeable future.

When you finally rounded the last curve up the spiraling staircase, you were greeted with the faint sound of Belphegor muttering to himself. It wasn’t an odd occurrence. Sometimes, if you were quiet enough, you could catch the tail end of whatever monologue he was getting through, but most of the time, he would shut right up and immediately change the course of the conversation should you try to bring up what he had been speaking about before you came up the stairs.

Today, it seemed that you would be in for a treat.

You kept your back to the railing of the stairs and stared inside the room. Bars may have blocked most of your vision, but you could see that the Lord of Sloth lay on his back, his hand outstretched towards the ceiling as if reaching towards something that only he could see.

Closer now, you could clearly hear what he was saying.

It was in a language that you hadn’t heard before.

After spending much time in the Devildom, you had heard all manners of speech. Human world languages were rare while the local dialects stemmed from the basic demon growls that were dominated and ruled by emotion to the strange, guttural vocabulary that higher ranked demons used. However, the language that Belphegor was using was… It didn’t have the same harsh yet warm tones that originated from the Devildom. Instead, it sounded…

Well, you didn’t know how to put it into words, but if you could describe the differences in languages, demonic tongue was like the sound of footsteps on gravel while this unknown speech sounded like a soothing breeze rustling through tree branches. It was a stark difference and you found your curiosity piqued.

What was Belphegor saying?

What language was this?

Could you learn it?

For some odd reason, you stepped forward, almost as if you wanted to hear him better. It was a foolish endeavor, you knew, especially since demons had keener senses than most humans. The instant your foot stepped closer to the attic, bright violet eyes snapped open and faced you.

The disdain you saw was chilling.

It wasn’t like you weren’t used to being looked at like you were nothing more than the scum that lined a demon’s sole. No, it was the fact that Beel shared those same eyes, but instead of warmth and acceptance, all you saw was the vestiges of whatever anger and resentment was brewing within the Sloth Demon.

You gave a gentle wave, hoping to God and whatever else was out there that you didn’t look as nervous as you felt.

Your resolve flew out the window when Belphegor slowly rose from his cushions… only to abruptly appear mere centimeters behind the door, his eyes never once leaving your own.

No matter how many times Belphegor used the same trick on you, it was still startling to see how his slothful nature could be contradicted by how willing he was to scare you into submission.

“And what brings you here, human?” He leaned his forehead against the door. If it were not for the fact you knew that he was always so calculating and manipulative, you would have assumed that he was embarrassed for letting down his guard. “Didn’t I already give you a job to do?”

You stood your ground, but you were already doubting your resolve. Your hands felt slippery with sweat, your body felt like trembling in anxiety. Feeling like a bug wasn’t one of your favorite hobbies, but the more time you spent in the Devildom, the more you had become accustomed to the sensation.

“I just need Lucifer to make the pact,” you mutter. You rocked back on your heels, still somewhat hopeful that you could entertain him, even if negativity continued to cloud your mind. “But, hey! I came here because I thought you might like to play something with me?”

You hadn’t meant to phrase it like a question, but you had. Even if Belphegor wasn’t in tune with human emotions, you knew that your tone of voice and disposition alone would have alerted him to the fact that his general attitude had affected you.

He sighed a little and adjusted his position behind the door.

“And what makes you think that I want to play card games with you?”

“How did—“

He pointed at your hands, his open mouth yawn only accentuating the fact that he was bored with your presence.

“If you think I don’t have eyes, then you might as well go down the stairs. I can clearly see that you have one of Mammon’s decks.” He cocked his head to the side, a considering look on his face. “How did you manage that, I wonder? The Mammon I remember is a selfish scumbag that only cares about himself.” He looks at you, his features blank, but not as apathetic as he usually seems. “What in the devil’s name have you done, human?”

You feel heat rushing to your face.

“I just… I’m friends with your brothers!” You look at Belphegor’s face, taking in the fact that he was appraising you like a cat would calculate the distance to jump. “And Mammon isn’t always a scumbag! He’s really nice and caring and supportive—”

Belphegor growled low under his breath. The door between you and the demon lord may have been nigh impenetrable, but you knew a warning when you heard one. For some odd reason, he had become angry… and you were the culprit for his change in mood. If it were not for the fact that you knew Lucifer’s magic was only bested by Diavolo and Barbatos, you would have thought it possible for Belphegor to burst out of the attic.

“Look, human—” You paused when you heard his voice; it was acerbic and cutting. “—I only asked that you make pacts with my brothers to free me… not to make nice. We’re demons and you’re nothing more than a weak human. That’s all. So you can take that damned deck back to my older brother and leave. I have no time to deal with you.”

Without so much as a backward glance, the demon trudged back to his mound of cushions, opting to face plant into the plush softness. A surge of sadness and uncertainty flooded your being as you struggled to come to terms with the fact that Belphegor wanted nothing more to do with you. He was rough around the edges, yes, and you had battled with his temperament times before, but you rarely witnessed this side to him. It was times like these that you remembered that you were stuck in the Devildom—a place rife with demons and with them, their demonic natures.

Yet—

You would not succumb.

You softly stepped forward until you were only a footstep away from the door and gently placed the deck of cards through the gap at the bottom.

“I thought you would play a game with me, you know?” Your words held the weight of dashed hope; they wavered with self doubt and sadness. “And well… It must get boring. I… Maybe we can play next time?”

No response.

Not even a shuffle.

You wanted to reach through the gaps of the door, to breach through the magical barrier and beckon him back to you. However, Belphegor was irritated and you knew from experience that despite their appearances, once a demon was irritated, there was no telling what sort of damage you could suffer if caught. Defeated, you turned away and walked down the stairs.

The next time you checked up on the seventh born, the deck of cards were gone.

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If you want to donate a Ko-Fi, feel free https://ko-fi.com/devintrinidad.

OBEY ME! ONE MASTER TO RULE THEM ALL MASTERLIST

[smthrillion]

Tolkien Languages

Elf Languages, Human Languages, Dwarf Languages, Ent languages, Ainur Languages, Orc Languages, Warg Languages, Thrush Languages, Black Speech

Again if you see any mistakes or would like something added feel free to DM me 

And more parts coming soon

Human Languages

Adûnaic

A dialect of Haldorian, the Third House of the Edain, which is related to Bëorian and which of both are derived from Taliska

In the First Age it was influenced by Khuzdul, Avarin, and a bit of Sinadrin

Adûnaic was held in less regard than the Elven tongues, and therefore a lot of Edain spoke Quenya or Sindarin, even peasants

But as humans started to get jealous of Elvish immortality they slowly stopped using Quenya or Sindarin 

Ar-Adûnakhôr, 20th King of Númenor, forbade people from speaking elvish in his presence

Later on Ar-Gimilzôr, 23rd King of Númenor, outlawed the use of Elvish languages in Númenor

And although Ar-Gimilzôr’s son, Inziladûn, took a Quenya name, Tar-Palantir, and repealed the ban on the Elvish tongues his nephew, Pharazôn, seized power instead of his daughter, Míriel, continuing the oppression of Elvish languages in Númenor

With the downfall of Númenor also came the downfall of the Adûnaic language, but Nûmenórian sailors and colonists did end up using it as a lingua franca

Later on the language spread once again and was used from Eriador to Gondor and became the language now known as Westron which in the Third Aga basically became Middle-Earth’s equivalent of English

Dalish

Language spoken by the Men of Dale

related to both Rohirric and Westron

Dwarves of Erebor adopted this language when speaking to outsiders as in Dwarves’ culture it’s taboo to speak or teach Khuzdul, the Dwarves language, to outsiders

The writing system of Dalish is an old and simple form of Cirth, which was the writing system consisted of runes and it was originally intended for Sindarin

Drúadan

language of the Drúedain (a.k.a. Druath, Woses, Wild Men of the Woods) who were a race of wild humans and mostly kept away from the affairs of the rest of the world

the language is unrelated to the Westron and is actually said to have originated from Elvish even though the language has very guttural sounds

Dunlendish

languages of the Dunlendings (a.k.a. Gwathuirim) who lived in Dunland, which is close to Rohan, they were also very vicious and savage people

the language is Pre-Númenórean and is alike to Haladin from the First Age

At one point a dialect of Dunlendish was spoken by the Hobbits in Stoor-kind, but by the Third Age the Hobbits in the Shire had abandoned it and used Westron

Pre-Númenórean

is a bunch of dialects in Gondor that predate Númenórean settlement

derived from humans who were separated relatives of the House of Haleth as their members stayed in Eriador while the Edain went west during the First Age

the only Pre-Númenórean language that has survived to the Third Age is Dunlendish and Drúadan

Pre-Númenórean languages of the Ethir and Pelargir merged with Adûnaic to later form Westron

Rohirric

language spoken by the Rohirrim (a.k.a. the Horse-lords) of Rohan

Rohirric is derived from the language of the Éothéod, who were a race of Northmen living in the Vales of Anduin

Has also had influence on Hobbitish Westron as the Hobbits who lived in Anduin, and whose ancestors now live in the Shire, interacted with the Rohirrim people and therefore adopted some of their terms

Taliska

language spoken by the Edain of House of Bëor and House of Hador

the people of Bëor and Marach had different dialects when they met each other and the Marach descendants actually looked down on the Bëorian descendants as their dialect had Elvish influence

later on the language of the House of Bëor was basically extinct because they basically fully integrated Sindarin into their culture as well as most of the House was dead because of Dagor Bragollach

on the other hand the language of the House of Haldor survived to later then on be known as Adûnaic

Westron

language of the Dúnedain that later on in the Third Age became the Common Speech or lingua franca of Middle-Earth

came from Adûnaic, but was actually a creole (mashup of bunch of languages) language at first, when Númenóreans started to become spread their influence in the Second Age their language spread practically everywhere in the West

After the Downfall of Númenor most Faithful Númenóreans neglected their native tongue, Adûnaic, in favor of Elvish making the dialects and the Adûnaic language become chaotic and disheveled among their speakers, but later it had more of a melodic and softer tone because of this Elvish influence

Westron was adopted by Men and Hobbits who lived in or around Arnor and Gondor (Hobbitish itself is a dialect of Westron)

Because of this Dwarves also adopted Westron as a public language, as well as because of the spread of it some Elves and even Orcs started to speak it 

The Northmen also spoke Westron (ex.: Beorn, the skin-changer, and the Lake-men, descendants of the Men of Dale)

The Woses, Rohirrim, and the Dunlendings spoke Westron as a trade tongue when communicating with foreigners

Rohan under King Thengel, the 16th King of Rohan, adopted Westron in to their court rather than their native language, Rohirric

Hobbitish

the dialect of Westron spoken by the Hobbits in the Shire

the original language of the Hobbits is unknown as their origin is also unknown 

Nonetheless by the end of the Third Age Hobbitish had a lot of similarities to Rohirric because of the many times Hobbits and the Rohirric have crossed paths in the past

Fun fact in the Lord of the Rings books Merry points out these similarities as well as later on goes to write a book on the relationship between the two languages called: “Old Worlds and Names in the Shire”

Language of the Lossoth

language of the Lossoth (a.k.a. Snowmen) who are the ancestors of the people of Forodwaith

the Lossoth people and their language for the most part was secluded and away from Númenórean influence but the people suffered from Angmar (the kingdom founded north of the Misty Mountains by the Witch-King (a.k.a. Lord of Ring Wraiths))

they also feared the Witch-King believing he could control thaw and snow and retreated into the Cape of Forochel which is in the northern part of Middle-Earth

besides this nothing else is really known about them or their language, though these people did know Westron so it has to be assumed they had contact with others

[welanabananaworld]

Us and the voice of dystopia

Jordan Peele’s latest film, Us, is as uncanny and disturbing as his first movie Get Out which proved itself to be a cinematic feat at the time of its release in 2017. Rightly considered as one of the fathers of the horror film renaissance (see also Ari Aster), Jordan Peele has been succeeding not only in addressing societal issues and in adopting a critical stance toward his home country but also in injecting an artistic vision in what is unfairly and generally regarded as second-class films. 

In Us, Jordan Peele’s strong sense of composition and framing reveals the main theme of the film : the duality of human nature through the evil self. Nothing revolutionary so far. Many films of the genre have explored the mythology surrounding the figure of the doppelgänger from multiple angles. For example, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Darren Aronofsky’s use of the double has a psychological bent; to dig through Scotty’s perverse psyche in the haunting Vertigo (1958) and to explore a mental illness in Black Swan (2011), whereas in The Great Dictator (1940), Charlie Chaplin chose to play both Hynkel and the Jewish barber for satirical purpose. In Us, nothing of the sort. Remember what we said about Jordan Peele’s films? About how the horror genre disguises social subtexts? But before aiming at the true meaning of this human mirror, one should focus more on the narrative use of the voice which proves to be of utter importance to understand what is at stake, because if you really listen to the voice, you understand the whole film.

Us tells the story of Adelaïde Wilson’s family who goes on holiday at the seaside in Santa Cruz. A series of strange coincidences reminds her of the trauma she experienced there when she was a little girl while vacationing with her parents. She made a disturbing encounter in the hall of mirrors of a funhouse. She came face to face with a little girl who looked just like her. After this event, she could no longer speak for a while because of, it seems, a post-traumatic stress disorder. At present day, overwhelmed with fear, she confides in her husband about her past. The same evening, they discover four people standing outside their house, their doppelgängers. Ruthlessly hunted, the Wilson family will have to look inward in order to counter their own selves. 

What strikes first when they all meet is that Red, Adelaïde’s double, is the only one  who is able to speak, or rather utter words. She is struggling with very word she says, as if her speech production was failing her somehow. When she starts speaking, her voice happens to be hoarse, cavernous, husky, strained, even  choked. Her disorder of phonation makes her voice otherworldly such as of a creature’s coming straight out of hell. It feels like she is not used to talk, actually that this is the first time she tries to pronounce and articulate words to create sentences. In this perspective, it is worth stressing Lupita Nyong’o’s astonishing work to produce Red’s chilling croaky and guttural voice. She used spasmodic dysphonia to make a creepy voice, that is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary breaks or interruptions in the voice due to an irregular flow of air. This language impairment, however, does not prevent Red from telling her story; the story of a dystopian world.

Red and Adelaïde are two sides of the same mirror. One learns that everything Adelaïde does is mirrored and has an impact on Red’s life, only the other way around. Everything that is happening in Red’s life is a pale copy of Adelaïde’s achievements and takes on a nightmarish dimension. Red’s husband, Abraham, is rough and dumb; her daughter, Umbrae, is born laughing and her son, Pluto, is a dangerous arsonist. The ideal family meets the poor and sad version of themselves who now claims justice through revenge, hence the imagery of the good and evil self. 

Throughout the film, the mise-en-scène keeps referring to the double as a warning or rather a prophecy as to the coming of those doppelgängers clad in red jumpsuits, which strangely resemble the clothing of prisoners. The clues left by the director are the following ones : the twin sisters of the superficial WASP family friends, the shadow of each member of the Wilson family projected on the sand while they are walking on the beach, the recurring number « 11:11 »  featured here and there (an extract from the Bible, Jeremiah 11:11), Jason wearing a mask (maybe a reference to the iconic masked murderer of Friday the 13th whose name is Jason?), Jason’s drawing showing a kid who looks just like him, a toy plastic spider behind which a true spider appears crawling across the low table of the living room, and of course the daze of mirrors. 

All those elements evoke duplicity and foresee a parallel world unknown so far. Red’s voice, alone, embraces all that imagery and embodies the punitive prophecy hidden behind the verse from the Old Testament book, the Book of Jeremiah, whose verse alludes to God’s wrath : « Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. » The invasion of the doppelgängers across the world is a divine plague orchestrated by Red from the underworld to take revenge. 

In fact, what the film tends to reveal all along is the existence of an underworld located inside « the thousands miles of tunnels beneath the continental United States », which are « abandoned subways systems », as stated at the very beginning of the film as an introduction. Those subways are inhabited by people who are the product of a failed governmental scientific experiment designed to replicate the bodies of those above to manipulate them. However, they discovered  that the « soul » could not be duplicated, hence the repudiation and neglect of that population now doomed to survive below the Earth’s surface, with raw rabbits as sole source of nourishment, and to « act out grim recreations of their respective partners’ above ground actions like sad little marionettes. »1 The scientific dimension of this governmental conspiracy is foretold in the opening credits by the camera progressively zooming out the caged rabbits. This shot conveys the idea of a sanitized laboratory. The existence of two opposite worlds is also mentioned by the shot which shows the funhouse twice, by night and day (darkness and daylight). 

The organised overthrow, which takes as an example the Hand Across America charity campaign of 1986 (giant human chain), can be interpreted in many ways : an uprising against social inequalities, such as racial, gender and salary based discrimination, which undermine the U.S (or Us); a country where climbing in the social ladder is more and more unattainable for under-represented ethnic minorities. It can also be seen as a denunciation of what America has become, unfair, poor and divided; a denunciation of the famous ideology of American exceptionalism through the ostentatious display of American symbols distorted by the horror genre. The « tethered » are done being downtrodden and ostracized. They want to embrace the American myth that had been promised to them by taking their rights back and by building a new world, hence Red’s assertive reply to Gabe’s question « Who are you, people? » : « We are Americans. » They claim themselves as being true Americans (to be connected to the Native American reference of the original funhouse’s sign), free from all materialistic concerns. 

Only, this does not constitute the twist ending of the film. Like all self-respecting horror films, Us is no exception in the matter and does offer a shocking one. And this is the voice which hints at it all along and that turns upside down the government’s theory about their human experiments. 

Red’s whistling while walking up the alley of the Wilson’s family with a pair of scissors in her hand in the dark is where the truth really lies. If one has well paid attention to the details, one would have noticed that Adelaïde whistled the same way when she was trapped in the hall of mirrors when she was a young girl, as if to ward off the coming threat. Do you see my point? Why is Adelaïde so reluctant and does have trouble engaging in a conversation with Kitty on the beach? Why would Red be the only tethered to be provided with the ability to speak? Why this eager for revenge? Because Red actually is the true Adelaïde. Back to the funhouse in 1986, young Adelaïde’s clone, Red, was lured to go to the surface as Adelaïde  progressively approached to her tragic destiny. 

What the film did not show is that Red strangled Adelaïde until she fainted, dragged her down the tunnel, attached her to her bed in the dormitory and switched place with her among Adelaïde’s family, hence her early language deficiency. While Red grew up like a normal little girl and learned how to speak, Adelaïde lost progressively her language abilities growing up among zombie-like human beings, which proves that the government’s theory is wrong. The soul cannot be duplicated but this does not mean that the tethered are « soulless creatures ». If given the chance, as Red has had, the tethered would have turned out perfectly okay. They would have followed the regular human evolution process called « hominisation » or « anthropogenesis », the process of becoming human. Indeed, the doppelgängers all look like primitive animals. Pluto, by his gesture, reminds of a monkey-like primate’s attitude and Abraham’s moans, groans and grunts are those of Cro-Magnon man. Their names evoke ancient times, something rough yet to evolve, and the mythology of the doppelgänger, Pluto being the god of the underworld, Umbrae the latin word for shadow. Abraham is the « Father of the nations » which can be connected to the human chain the tethered seek to initiate to rise up and find they own humanity. Red’s name could refer to the color of the tethered’ garments, and thus evoke the state of imprisonment which they have been reduced to until now. 

In this perspective, Red’s voice is not only the voice of dystopia but goes far beyond this sole and somewhat manichean opposition which is the driving force behind the narrative of the film. Red’s voice, by also being the voice of anthropological evolution, mainly serves to establish a connection between the latter subject and the current state of American society. With no equality of opportunity, people cannot equally seek higher social and intellectual status and end up being the slaves of the system. America has now no other choice but to drop her delusions and take her mask off. 

1 Bojalad, A., (2019, March 22). Us, Hands Across America, and the failed American experiment. Retrieved from https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/us-jordan-peele-hands-across-america/

[ask-monkey-d-tazz]

📕📕📕📕📕

Send a ‘📕’ for a random headcanon about my muse.

//Tazz’s blood and saliva hold healing properties much like how a unicorn’s horn is believed to have medicinal aspects.

Another thing regarding Tazz’s saliva is if she’s turned on, chemicals in it begin to act like aphrodisiacs if she bites someone.

Tazz doesn’t know how to spell big words and can’t write much, but her handwriting is pretty.

Her Hellgod form is actually capable of speech, though it’s super deep and guttural and it speaks in an unknown language that can’t be deciphered.

Before she lost her left arm, she was ambidextrous.

[sanctuarynetworkdatabase]

Species #07753 - Arachnotaur

Taxonomic Classification: Frontinella Hominus

Colloquial Name: Arachnotaur

Abnormal Categories: Arachnoid, Humanoid, Hybrid, Terrestrial

Threat Presented: P-H-N-I

Brief Description: The lower body is nearly completely that of a spider, with eight legs, a cephalothorax, and an abdomen. Joined at the front of the cephalothorax is a nearly-human upper body, from approximately just above the pelvis. Its skin is tougher than that of a human, and cephalothorax and arachnoid abdomen are covered in a tough, chitinous exoskeleton that is highly resistant to penetration.  Between 2 and 3 meters tall from floor to the top of their heads, and as long from the front of the cephalothorax to the end of the abdomen, they weigh between 350 and 400 kilograms, but still remain fairly agile for their size. Spinnerets are located on the tips of their fingers, allowing them to create various intricate and strong weaves. In addition to the fang-tipped chelicerae behind the pedipalps at the front of the cephalothorax, venomous spines can be extended at will from the underside of the wrist, parallel to the palm, to inject a paralyzing venom.

Established Best Practices for Encounters: Approach with respect and courtesy. Attempt to seem as non-threatening as possible. Bring a stunner, as these are more effective than bullets against them. If possible, keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters, preferably more, until friendly contact has been established and the arachnotaur has relaxed at least somewhat in your presence.

——

Lifespan: Unknown.

Native Habitat: Temperate climates. Previously encountered in the Tuscany region of Italy and the Pacific Northwest of North America. Both the Beijing and Asunción branches have previously reported sightings of abnormals in the region that are suspected to be F. Hominus or a similar species, but have been unable to confirm these.

Diet and Eating Habits: Mammals, small or large, form the bulk of their diet, but they will eat insects if nothing else is available. Distinctly prefer rabbit.  - Hunting Behavior: They have been observed to chase or actively hunt prey, but will more often weave snares or nets of their silk and set traps.

Reproduction: Visual examination indicates reproductive organs on the underside of the arachnoid abdomen identical to those of its smaller biological relatives. Females are larger than males, but there are no further external indicators of sex. Thus far, no mating behavior has been able to be observed.

Growth and Lifecycle: At the moment, we surmise that they hatch from eggs. Their lower exoskeleton is shed as they grow, and regularly but less often once they have reached full maturity.

Social Behavior: Only solitary specimens have previously been encountered. Shy creatures, they have been hunted nearly to extinction and tend to react warily to humans, but are usually not immediately hostile. They possess their own language, which seems to consist purely of clicks, hisses, and various guttural sounds, but by necessity they tend to understand at least one human language. They can comprehend our speech and are able to communicate with us in writing.

Detailed Physiology: - They lack the vocal chords necessary to generate human speech.

- In addition to two human eyes, they possess four more simple eyes situated on their foreheads in a diamond constellation. Despite these, however, their vision is not very acute.

- Instead, they mostly sense movement through vibrations through the ground, or in the air, with fine hairs upon their limbs, human back, and arachnoid abdomen.

- Their teeth are sharp, suitable for a carnivore who primarily consumes flesh, but the enamel is extraordinarily hard, to allow them to crunch through thick exoskeletons if need be.

- The various internal organ systems have been notably rearranged. The heart, for instance, is located just under the join between lower and upper body, protected by the arachnoid exoskeleton. The silk glands are located  in the human torso, and their lungs are smaller than a human’s, as their book lungs and tracheae are able to provide for most of their oxygen needs. (See residents’ medical records and CT imagery for more detail.) 

Other: - It seems not uncommon for them to make their livings as secretive, independent agents in the textile industry, known for lightweight, strong, lace-like fabrics.

——

Incidents of Contact:

- Previous resident: Inhabitant of Dr. Gregory Magnus’ laboratory, before all residents at the time were killed during the rampage of Magnus’ genetically engineered warrior

- Mission Report #056889

Current Sanctuary Residents:

- Resident #023891 “Srt’e”

——

Other Related Documents: N/A

File Comments:

If you can communicate with them, why not just ask your resident to fill in some of the blanks in this woefully inadequate documentation? Their social behavior? Their language? If they have a culture, and if there are any bastions of said culture left? Ask for silk and venom samples to determine their chemical makeup? — genius-vampire-remember

Patience, Nikola. She’s new and has been severely traumatized, and the last thing she needs right now is to be bombarded with questions or subjected to medical procedures that aren’t immediately necessary. — The_Great

It’s been weeks. — genius-vampire-remember

May I kindly remind everyone who the psychiatrist here is? Magnus was right, she needs time before you start badgering her in the name of science. — will.zimmerman

Please do not let Tesla anywhere near the spider silk. I don’t want to know what he plans for it, but he’s been making his mad scientist face ever since she got here. — HearMeHowl

Thank you for volunteering to keep an eye on him, Henry. — The_Great

Actually, I kind of... wasn’t... volunteering... — HearMeHowl

I don’t need a babysitter, Helen. — genius-vampire-remember

I assumed that was why you’ve been loitering in my office and distracting me for most of the morning? — The_Great

Helen, do you really need to ask? — genius-vampire-remember

Nikola, behave. — The_Great

If I do, will I get a reward later? — genius-vampire-remember

Perhaps. — The_Great

Ew. Ew. Ew. — HearMeHowl

Okay, Magnus, you really can’t criticize us for off-topic commenting and then do... that. — will.zimmerman

Of course I can. One of the perks of being the boss. ;-) — The_Great

And of being a friend of the boss? — genius-vampire-remember

No. Go help Henry install the new security systems. — The_Great

But that’s the boring part! — genius-vampire-remember

Do you want any hope of that reward, or not? — The_Great

I’m going! I'm going... — genius-vampire-remember

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Vol. 3, No. 2

Moon Duo

Whether singles or groups, new or old, jazz or rock, 7"s or digital-only releases, or any number of other boxes you could wish to check, this installment of our Dust column probably has it. Bill Meyer, Jennifer Kelly, Derek Taylor, and Ian Mathers contribute short reviews on everything from long-toiling Oregonian saxophonists to bedroom producers from Ontario. Acts include Donovan Quinn, Moon Duo, Eye, DenMother, Crystal Myslajek, The Urge Trio, Mint Mile, and the Rich Hally 5.

Donovan Quinn—Dad Was Buried In His Leather Jacket 7” (Soft Abuse)

So you say you love vinyl? It’s one thing to extol the virtues of a broad black long player, but quite another to embrace the medium in its most concentrated form—the multi-song 33 rpm 7”. Donovan Quinn proves his love on four-song EP by glorying in the sonic squashedness that comes from cutting 13 minutes into 14 inches and then making said minutes so catchy that you’ll play it over and over, thus guaranteeing imminent decay. Backed by buds from 200 Years and Skygreen Leopards, he returns to the casual pop lope that he toned down in favor of country introspection on his last full-length solo record, Honky Tonk Medusa. Since Nikki Sudden is otherwise engaged, Dan Treacy remains a convalescent, and David Kilgour’s taking his time, it falls to Quinn to argue the merits of this stuff. Don’t fight him; he’s got four good answers right here.

Bill Meyer

Moon Duo—Occult Architecture Vol. 1 (Sacred Bones)

Occult Architecture Vol. 1 by Moon Duo

The first of two in a set for 2017, Occult Architecture Vol. 1 plumbs the mind-cracking properties of gnostic repetition. Like Ripley Johnson’s other project, Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo employs tight circling riffs of guitar and drums to crack through expectations. “Cold Fear” hammers relentlessly at a four-note riff, a catch like a heart murmur syncopating its inexorable forward motion; you can’t listen without paranoia, claustrophobia angst, and yet the airy vocals, the throbbing synthetic keyboards (that’s the other half of the duo, Sanae Yamada) murmur of escape. Most times, Moon Duo seems to distill whole rock songs into a single measure, refracted into a million repetitions as through a funhouse mirror.“Creepin’” vamps a blues rock riff into oblivion, transforming heat and friction and diesel dust into something otherworldly. Only “White Rose” is given the room to stretch its limbs, unfurling in distended guitar scrawls and buzzing drone, past measures that spin by like telephone polls on a long haul towards the horizon.

Jennifer Kelly

Eye—Other Sky (Ba Da Bing)

While New Zealanders can’t really claim a lock on free form noise rock, they sure know how to do it right. Eye has lineage on its side; drummer Peter Stapleton has played in Dadamah and the Terminals (caveat – my old label Roof Bolt put out a Terminals record 20 years ago, but no, I can’t sell you one), guitarist Peter Porteous in Empirical, and synthesist Jon Chapman in Rory Storm and the Invaders. But it’s what they do with their heritage that makes this stuff register. “Tension Cue” starts things off with a juggernaut of forward driving beats and low register rumble that sounds rather like someone listened to Mission Of Burma’s cover of “Heart Of Darkness” and said “this is nice, but a bit too cluttered,” and then set about making things right. “Black Lightning,” on the other hand, layers sizzling percussion, butterfly electronics, and guttural fuzz into a remorseless build-up and discharge of energy. With music like this, longer is better; the tracks that work less well are the ones without room to stretch.

Bill Meyer

DenMother—Blood: A Memoir (Self-Release)

Blood: a memoir | 2016 by DenMother

Canadian electronic singer-songwriter DenMother spent much of this decade under the radar amassing what was quietly one of the most impressive oeuvres out there. But along with geographical changes (Toronto to the Maritimes, most prominently) and personal turmoil, she pulled her work down and went into hibernation. Luckily the end of last year saw a return, with edited versions of older releases once again on her Bandcamp account and this new release, giving an account of a difficult year. As always the production is somehow lushly minimalist, hazy and harrowing, with DenMother’s frequently echoed and distorted vocals weaving in and around its surroundings. Blood: A Memoir is definitely a welcome return for those of us who have been following her work, but it also makes a fine starting point for the uninitiated. Here’s hoping for more this year.

Ian Mathers

Crystal Myslajek—Circadia LP (Water Wing)

Circadian rhythms are the 24-hour cycles that we enact or disrupt as we go through our days or louse up by jumping time zones. But what do you get when you drop the n? Is Circadia a place? Sure sounds like it, but I defy you to find it on a map. The act of making something new with a small omission corresponds quite nicely to the act of making a new song that someone might, against the tides of nostalgia and glut, actually want to hear. Crystal Myslajek mines a very different vein here than she did a couple years back with the trio Brute Heart. She plays piano and coos a few syllables across the six tracks on this LP; somber and ruminative, her keyboard figures bring to mind Peter Jefferies c. Last Great Challenge in a Dull World. Bolstered by a hint of brushes on drums and the very occasional swell of a bowed string or a twisted synth knob, Myslajek’s music evokes an icy, late-night vibe that offers a clue to the album’s name and acknowledges one of music’s powers — to freeze a day.

Bill Meyer

The Urge Trio—Live at the Hungry Brain (Veto)

Snapshot of a single musical set recorded at Chicago, October of 2015, Live at the Hungry Brain teams Swiss reedist Christopher Erb with reedist Keefe Jackson and cellist Tomeka Reid, two of the city’s vanguard improvisers. Erb and Jackson overlap on tenor saxophone with each bringing secondary horns to stage as well. A vibrant and vacillating contest of conflating and contrasting tones and textures ensues for much of the 33-minute duration. Dry and bristling reed pops percolate with brittle pizzicato. Overtones and harmonics born of pursed embouchures and cantilevered strings float and flitter in the air like bio-luminescent fireflies. Jackson’s bass clarinet takes on the moistly gurgling properties of an amphibian pond dweller while Erb mimics the loquacious faux-speech of a tree-perched avian of unknown origin on soprano. Vintage European free improvisation is an obvious antecedent with a section mid-performance where Erb almost sounds like Brötzmann in his coarse, leather-lunged cadence, but any semblance of imitation ultimately seems incidental. These are three players comfortable in a common musical tongue derived from the moment and separate from any established language.

Derek Taylor

Mint Mile—The Bliss Point (Comedy Minus One)

The Bliss Point by Mint Mile

The late, great Silkworm continues to spin out offshoots, first the wonderful but (understandably) morbid Bottomless Pit, now Mint Mile, which is just as raucous and wounded, but somewhat less constrained by personal history. Both Tim Midyett and Andy Cohen play prominent roles in the project; Midyett’s reedy tenor, plus the layers and layers of six-string sound, give a strong whiff of Silkworm. But there are other players, too, Matthew Barnhart and Howard Draper from Tre Orsi, Jeff Panall of Songs:Ohia and Justin Brown of Paillard. Four of six of participating musicians play some variety of guitar, at least part of the time. “City of Speed Traps” blisters and roars with a quintessentially late-1990s heaviness, taking its slow time to let dissonance and distortion bloom, while “Bellflower” flirts with country rock in its acoustic and lap steel (that’s Draper) tones, though a very loud variety of it. “Park,” the best of the lot, rattles its cage with a kind of flannel-shirted, five-o’clock- shadowed belligerence in line with another Chicagoan guitar band, Eleventh Dream Day; its clanking bass line and slashing guitars convey pure hurting resilience (“Whatever gets you by,” indeed.) The four-song EP closes with “Youngold,” a mostly acoustic outing, lit by lovely arcs of steel guitar (Justin Brown this time), but while quieter, the song aches with urgency. Lifers all, still at it, and it still matters.

Jennifer Kelly

Rich Halley 5—The Outlier (Pine Eagle)

“Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.” Clint Eastwood was talking about frontier justice, not jazz, when he uttered those words in Unforgiven, but they still apply to folks like Rich Halley. Pushing 70, he’s an authoritativetenor saxophonist who writes sturdy tunes and holds together a band that grasps his concepts. He’s done the work to build an audience, playing small joints in the Oregon woods and for a number of years organizing the Penofin Jazz Festival, which brought folks like Fred Anderson and Tony Malaby to the Pacific Northwest. But living in Oregon never elevated any jazz musician’s profile, so no matter how much good work he does he seems not to get much notice. Will it mean much to you to say that this record is a standout amongst Halley’s oeuvre? Maybe it’ll mean more to say that the front line of Halley, trombonist Michael Vlatkovich, and baritone saxophonist Vinny Golia make vibrant multi-color weaves out of Halley’s tunes, and that bassist Clyde Reed and drummer Carson Halley (son of Rich, which can’t hurt) ably bridge the lurching funk prescribed by Julius Hemphill back in the 70s with a tumbling, free-flowing pulse. Let’s just say that if you check out his work you’ll be allotting just deserts to a fine, under-recognized jazz man and also doing yourself a favor.

Bill Meyer

[monsterpageant]

would love to not be constantly sick for ONE winter

[monsterpageant]

Was gonna spend all day working on commissions, but now I have bronchitis :(

[monsterpageant]

Thrilled to be part of another season at PDX Scaregrounds — commission work will be a little slow through October!

[monsterpageant]

what do you guys do when your art block is really bad?? I really want to paint but every single attempt is like pulling teeth.

[monsterpageant]

When I moved away from my inhospitable hometown (where I existed in near total isolation) to a queerer and more accepting community, I developed a weird people pleasing behavior where I’m constantly trying to not rock the boat too much. However that hasn’t gotten me anywhere good so I’m ecstatic to announce I will be transitioning back to being a total bitch 🖤

[monsterpageant]

I hate mascot horror

[monsterpageant]

1. Commissions are now CLOSED! I will finally have some other income, so I can catch up on my queue and focus on all the awesome characters/prompts I got from this latest round. If you still have an open inquiry with me and haven’t yet paid for your piece, don’t worry — I am happy to continue talking about your commission ideas and get them completed for you :)

2. I’m out of town for a few days so updates on current pieces will be paused until I’m home. Thanks to all my awesome clients for being so understanding.

3. Sorry for the old art RB spam, I haven’t really been feeling my personal art in a long time so I wanted to go back and look at some of my favorite pieces for inspiration. I just turned 25 and I’m really hoping I can open some new doors in my creative and personal life soon 🌈

[monsterpageant]

I haven't used tumblr in a few years, but my favorite new feature is DEFINITELY the one that shows me what ppl put in the tags of my art i absolutely love that shit

[monsterpageant]

Does anyone know what this is? It’s in a jar of pond water my bf and I have in our living room — I’ve never seen anything like it before, it reacts whenever the jar is moved