#monomyth

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: The problem with possession is that at some point you sort of lose your grasp on your identity, from time to time. Which shouldn’t be a problem for a guy like you. It shouldn’t. You remembered the first one, when foreign hatred was rooted in your veins and far, far too large to fit in your small little body so it was really only expected - failure on your part, klaxons repeating - that it has to make its own way, you see? That it has to complete the circuit, you see? You see? Or: Possession leaves a mark. King Dedede learns this the hard way. ▅▄▂▔▎ ▅▎ ░▆▎is the breaking point.

Author: indecisivebastard

Submitter: @littengamer909

Note from submitter: THE DEDEDE ANGST FIC EVER. This is pure poetic, make-you-cry angst. Not much else to say about it, it just makes me think about the marks that getting posessed every other Tuesday would leave.

[ironmyrmidon]

Stop stealing my elixir! Every time I have to restock the elixir, I have to go on a hero's journey to contact the manufacturers directly. I'm on a first name basis with the Queen Goddess of the World.

[monsterblogging]

The more I learn about what kind of person Joseph Campbell was, and what exactly the Hero's Journey was meant to uphold and quasi-spiritualize, the more alarmed I am that his ideas are treated like such a big deal.

Anyway, you know what's better than reading a misogynist Nazi-sympathizer's opinions on mythology and folk stories? Actually reading mythology and folk stories, and putting in some effort to learn the actual worldviews of the cultures they're from.

[theadaptableeducator]

Beyond Capitalism: How Joseph Campbell’s Philosophies Can Save Humanity from Colonialism, Nationalism, and Imperialism

Joseph Campbell, renowned for his work in comparative mythology and the monomyth or “hero’s journey,” often emphasized the interconnectedness of human experiences and the profound impact of cultural narratives on societies. Drawing on Campbell’s philosophies, we can explore the interconnectivity and unsustainability of colonialism, nationalism, imperialism, and capitalism, and propose a…

[counterbury-tales]

Monomyth Part 1: Departure

Slice #147

[theeditorandnarratorcollaborate]

GABBLER RECOMMENDS: The Flowering Wand by Sophie Strand

Quotes from The Flowering Wand we liked: “How can a monotheistic sky god rule the dirt, the fungi, the funky and sexy reality of embodied life if he is always hovering above it? How can he understand the millions of different stories that constitute an eco-system if he insists there is only one story and one god? Monotheism is trapped by its attachment to a mythic monologue. Sky gods think…

[graphicpolicy]

NYCC 2023: Mad Cave Studios Unveils its Exciting Schedule of Events and Exclusives

NYCC 2023: Mad Cave Studios Unveils its Exciting Schedule of Events and Exclusives #nycc #nycc2023 #nycc23 #comics

Fans of comics, pop culture, and entertainment are in for a treat. Mad Cave Studios is heading to the highly-anticipated New York Comic Con (Oct. 12 – 16) at the Javits Center in New York City at booth #3441! With a jam-packed schedule of panels, signings, exclusives and more, there’s a little something for everyone to enjoy including imprints, Papercutz and Maverick. Readers of all ages can…

[crashhole]

Stories are magic. Art is magic. Comics are magic. To read is to engage with the ritual. Ideas projected into mind, changing it. “Altaring” what we think and how we think it. The magician spells out his spell; symbols of power

Monomyth #4 & Nightmare Country: The Glass House #4

[hydrangea-bindery]

Tada!! Here’s one of the side projects I’ve been working on these past few months, a doll of one of my OC’s, Hyoryu Mertenmist, the Embodiment of Loneliness! His facial embroidery was really fun to work on, even if I only realised towards the end that the way the tracing worked meant that everything was flipped from the original image….There’s definitely significant room for improvement lmao, you can tell that this is my first time as the stitch work is really sloppy, and some things aren’t symmetrical/exact, and I definitely need to re do that tooth, but overall I’m really happy with how it came out. And it only took me about four days or so!

The colors of the eyes are my favourite part…the photos doesn’t really do them justice, but I couldn’t find the correct reds from the reference, so I went with a lot subtler and perhaps a tinge pinker/oranger towards the end? Gradient of reds, which creates this super subtle color shift between the three that makes the orange highlight pop…almost jewel tones now that I’m thinking about it. It’s the part I’m super happy about if you can’t tell.

This doll is set a few years after the main sort of story he’s from, so there’s definitely a lot of design choices in this that reflect that, and maybe one day I’ll do his pre end of story design which differs drastically from this. If you want to to know more about him, or his design or the choices I’ve made, hit me up!! I’d love to talk about this for days lol

[smillingcartoonist]

Monomyth 3 #

[mywifeleftme]

274: Nap Eyes // Whine of the Mystic

Whine of the Mystic Nap Eyes 2014, Plastic Factory (Bandcamp)

Can’t speak to the sound on the original 2014 pressing of this guy from Plastic Factory Records, but the 2015 Paradise of Bachelors/You’ve Changed edition sounds pretty revelatory to me—kudos to the folks at the plant, and to Mike Wright and Peter Woodford for the mixing and mastering. Talk about Nap Eyes tends to quickly descend into the Nigel Chapman show—the vocalist’s laconic cadences and ambling lyricism offer plenty of grist for a critic to chew on, but here on the LP the rhythm section is mixed loud and way up front so that the insistent throb of Josh Salter’s bass becomes as difficult to ignore as the pounding of your own pulse in your ears when you’ve run too hard. Whine of the Mystic was recorded at Drones Club in Montreal back in 2013, which is basically just a none-too-large loft apartment in my current neighbourhood where they do raves sometimes, and the record sounds just like listening to the boys play while wearing good custom-fitted ear plugs. That rawness does a band who can flirt with a nutritious beigeness a lot of good—the guitars singe and flare, the amps sizzle, and the feeling of this band as a slack psych live force comes through.

I’ve been a huge fan of Nap Eyes since I caught them in Ottawa back in 2014, and people generally dig them when I recommend the record (with the exception of my pal Meghan, who despises them with the grumpy exhaustion that comes of seeing a band you don’t like constantly opening for bands you do). As such, Whine of the Mystic has been with me through a lot—the best songs (like “Dark Creedence,” and the last four) make a shimmering soundtrack to existential hangovers; walking toward some workaday Calvary in the rain; handrolling cigarettes badly; pining for girls if only to keep in practice; not getting a master’s; being 27 as hell for many years. It’s full of little touches that still delight me, like when they kinda morph into the Proclaimers for a bridge on “The Night of the First Show,” or the way the raincloud pacing of “Dreaming Solo” finally cracks open into the most amiable outro jam imaginable.

Giving your record a punny name is a risky choice, and as a phrase Whine of the Mystic skirts the edge of dorkiness. But in the end, I come down on it as an apt synopsis of the album’s charms. Chapman’s plaints linger on the humdrum, yet they paint the experience as intoxicating, Halifax as the backdrop for an ancient mystery cycle that repeats itself wherever life’s taking place. It brings to mind an exchange from Louis Malle’s The Fire Within, a superficially dull but emotionally feverish movie I haven’t thought of in ten years. The main character, a suicidal alcoholic who feels drained by what he perceives as the world’s absence of meaning, talks to an old friend, who has settled into a steady life as an academic and a husband. I don’t remember much of what they talk about, besides this:

Alain Leroy: Dubourg, what will you do tonight? Dubourg: Tonight, I'll write a few pages on my Egyptians, then make love to Fanny. I fall into her silence as into a well. At the bottom is a great sun that warms the earth.

All life is quotidian, but the primal and transcendent lies within that quotidian life, if you can truly immerse yourself within your own. Good luck.

274/365

[monsterblogging]

If you're like most people in modern western society, you really have no idea just how weird modern western society is until you start putting in the work to learn anything else.

People like Joseph Campbell are like "no actually we're totally normal; look, if you view this carefully-selected collection of stories through this very specific lens I have constructed, you can see that they express all the truths us enlightened modern people - you know, people like me - believe in."

But like, the more you put in that work, the more you realize that people like Campbell are narrow-minded weirdos perpetuating a form of pseudointellectual bullshit that functions as a kind of spirituality tailored for the ego of the privileged white cishet gentile man. It's not itself inherently fascist, but it's never more than a few degrees away from fascist ideology because it's constructed from many of their own ideas. No, seriously. Campbell was inspired by German nationalist myths.

The Hero's Journey also implies that people who can't or don't make this specific journey, which both relies on having a whole lot of privileges and being part of a culture where this is expected of you, aren't self-actualized. There's an implicit infantilization of most people who aren't privileged cishet white men. They are at best the supposed beneficiaries of and assistants to the self-actualized, who can supposedly be trusted to act in the spirit of noblesse oblige. It's very paternalistic, and very related to white man's burden.

So like, when you actually stop and think about it? It's absolutely horrifying that this guy's ideas gained as much traction as they did. They were pushed as some kind of universal lens that could be used to interpret any story, when in reality their function was to constrain people's thinking within a tiny little box called white supremacy. A story commonly being interpreted as an example of the Hero's Journey shouldn't be treated as a neutral thing, but as a call to examine that story a lot more critically.

And work on learning other frameworks to view the world, because the type of worldview espoused by Campbell fucking sucks.

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 5/3

Free Comic Book Day is THIS WEEK!! 

The Amazing Camel Toe GN -  Claire Duplan

Constance, a modern, young illustrator, takes revenge for the thousands of attacks suffered daily by women with a comic of her own, titled The Amazing Camel Toe, celebrating the adventures of an anti-macho vigilante in tight, panther leggings: A hero who battles against sexism, harassment, slut-shaming, and unrealistic standards of beauty. A form of release that could materialize in a publishing deal for Constance... But in order for that to happen, the author, often full of doubt, must dare to assert herself more. Luckily, she's supported by her gang of girlfriends, her boyfriend, her favorite band, and not to mention Camel Toe herself: who says this comic-book bombshell can't exist in real life?

Ariel & The Curse Of The Sea Witches HC   

 This new kids graphic novel stars Princess Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid! Princess Ariel joins Prince Eric on his trip to the Arctic to oversee the construction of a new port. But when Ariel discovers that the project is endangering the coral reefs below-and the merfolk who live there-can she convince the team to stop work before the merfolk take matters into their own hands? This hardcover graphic novel contains exciting full-color comic panels, as well as pages taken from the princess's very own journals from their adventures.

The Art Of Haikyu!!: Endings And Beginnings HC -  Haruichi Furudate

The Art of Haikyu!! collects the dynamic and lush color art from the hit manga series, including chapter title pages, illustrations, bonus sketches, and more from creator Haruichi Furudate!

Astrobots #1 (of 5) -  Simon Furman, Hector Trunnec & Phillip Knott

Pathfinders, Pioneers...breaking new ground in the furthest reaches of the galaxy...they are - ASTROBOTS.

The clock is ticking for planet Earth and the race is on to find a new world capable of sustaining human life. New, sophisticated machine lifeforms called Astrobots are dispatched to scout far-flung worlds in the hope of crafting a new home. With food and raw materials running out and climate disasters escalating, the evacuation of the entire human population is the only slender hope remaining. On Colony World 1, a catastrophic power struggle forges a new - all-Astrobot - society, and presiding over this nascent civilization is Atlas, an evolved mech with a futureproof plan. A plan that does not include humankind.

Bandita: A Dominican Superhero GN -  Kayden Phoenix & Ari Navarette 

Bandita is the Dominican gunslinger from New York. When Bandita hears about a Broadway theatre gang taking advantage of the talent, she tryouts for them and lands a job as a custodian. There, she befriends Chyanne, the new lead singer, and learns all about the Cientificos abusive ways. On opening night, Bandita faces off against the boss of the Cientificos, Luna Loca.

Basil & Oregano TP -  Melissa Capriglione

Porta Bella Magiculinary Academy is the finest school for the art of cooking with magic, and Basil Eyres is determined to be the top student. On the first day of her senior year, Arabella Oregano, the daughter of a renowned chef, joins the academy for her senior year as well. The two are instantly smitten with each other, but Basil senses there's something Arabella is hiding from her. Still, the two work together to stand out from the class as the end of year culinary festival approaches. But when Arabella's secret is reveled, Basil is faced with the hardest decision of her life, which has the potential to throw her future aspirations in jeopardy.

Blood Of The Virgin HC -  Sammy Harkham

Set in and around 1971 in Los Angeles, Blood of the Virgin follows an immigrant film editor named Seymour who is desperate to make his own movies. Without money or clout, he has no choice but to spend his days slumming it for the worst and most exploitative production company in town. When Seymour is given the chance to make a film of his own, his unbending principles and relentless drive violently clash with an industry that rewards everything but these traits. As Seymour's blind ambition pushes the movie along, his home life grows increasingly fraught. Using the film's production as a means to spiral out into time and space, Harkham creates an epic novel that explores the intersection of parenthood, 20th-century America, sex, the immigrant experience, and the era of grindhouse movies. Like a kaleidoscope, Blood of the Virgin shifts and evolves with each frame, allowing the reader to zoom out and see that at its core, this book is about the making of a man.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Lost Summer One-Shot -  Casey Gilly, Lauren Knight & Mirka Andolfo

Spike is determined to keep the last copy of his embarrassing poetry from being discovered, sending Buffy and the Scooby Gang on a faux-supernatural goose chase to New Orleans to cover his tracks. At an antiques fair, the group is fascinated by The Casquette Girls' clothes on display. When Dawn utters a wish she most likely should have kept to herself, the gang gains a firsthand account of the sisters' identities... beyond what they could have imagined.

Desegregating Comics: Debating Blackness In The Golden Age Of American Comics -  Qiana Whitted

Some comics fans view the industry's Golden Age (1930s-1950s) as a challenging time when it comes to representations of race, an era when the few black characters appeared as brutal savages, devious witch doctors, or unintelligible minstrels. Desegregating Comics assembles a team of leading scholars to explore how debates about the representation of blackness shaped both the production and reception of Golden Age comics. Some essays showcase rare titles like Negro Romance and consider the formal innovations introduced by black comics creators like Matt Baker and Alvin Hollingsworth, while others examine the treatment of race in the work of such canonical cartoonists as George Herriman and Will Eisner. Golden Age comics artists, writers, editors, distributors, and readers engaged in heated negotiations over how blackness should be portrayed, and the outcomes of those debates continue to shape popular culture today.

Every Day GN -  David Levithan & Dion MBD

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. There's never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that-even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It's all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone they want to be with-day in, day out, day after day. But can Rhiannon love someone who is destined to change every day? For the first time on the page, A's epic story will be brought to life as a graphic novel with illustrations by Dion MBD.

Fairest Of All GN -  Serena Valentino & Fiona Marchbank

Disney's New York Times-bestselling Villains series comes to life in this graphic novel adaptation of the book that started it all! The tale of the young princess, Snow White, and her evil stepmother, the Wicked Queen, is widely known-the Queen was jealous of the girl's beauty, and this jealousy culminated in the Queen's attempt on the sweet, naive girl's life. But what caused the Queen to become so, well, wicked? Perhaps the Queen hated her stepdaughter for her resemblance to the King's first wife. Perhaps she resented the girl for her beauty. Could the Queen simply have been born that cruel? Or does it have to do with a mysterious mirror, gifted to her upon her wedding and swirling with dark magic? And who is the man in the mirror? Is he the reason for the Queen's downfall?

George’s Run: A Writer’s Journey Through The Twilight Zone GN -  Henry Chamberlain

George Clayton Johnson was an up-and-coming short story writer who broke into Hollywood in a big way when he co-wrote the screenplay for Ocean's Eleven. More legendary works followed, including Logan's Run and classic scripts for shows like The Twilight Zone and Star Trek. Late in life, Johnson befriended comics journalist and artist Henry Chamberlain, and the two had long chats about his amazing life and career. Now Chamberlain pays tribute to his late friend in the graphic novel George's Run, which brings Johnson's creative milieu to life in vividly illustrated color panels. The result feels less like reading a conventional biography and more like sitting in on an intimate conversation between friends as they recollect key moments in pop culture history.

Haunthology GN -  Jeremy Haun

From creatures of the night to even more terrifying creatures of the day, HAUNTHOLOGY is an anxiety-inducing collection of 28 short stories and vignettes from the mind of JEREMY HAUN, the writer and artist behind THE BEAUTY, THE REALM, The Red Mother, The Approach and other nightmarish mindscapes. Whether exploring a claustrophobic old house full of nefarious entities or the heavy thoughts one has during the pending end of the world, this very personal project was written and drawn entirely during the COVID lockdowns.

Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story GN -  Julia Wertz

In her keenly observed graphic memoir, celebrated cartoonist Julia Wertz chronicles her haphazard attempts at sobriety and the relentlessly challenging, surprisingly funny, and occasionally absurd cycle of addiction and recovery. Opening at the culmination of a disastrous trip to Puerto Rico, Julia stands stupefied in the middle of the jungle beside a rental Jeep she's just crashed. From this moment, the story flashes back to the beginning of her five-year journey towards sobriety that includes group therapy sessions, relapses, an ill-fated relationship, terrible dates, and an unceremonious eviction from her New York City apartment. Impossible People portrays the lesser told but more common story of addiction: That the road to recovers is not always linear.

Lo & Behold GN -  Wendy Mass & Gabi Mendez

When you're named after a 250-year-old tortoise, you grow up believing life is full of possibilities and wonder. But ever since Addie's family got turned upside down, those things have been harder for her to see. The last thing Addie wants to do is make a new friend, but when her dad's summer job takes them across the country, she meets Mateo and finds herself caught up in an exciting project. With the help of a virtual reality headset, she's suddenly scaling castle walls, dodging angry kittens, and seeing the world in whole new ways. Plus, she has an idea that could be bigger than anything she's imagined before, but can she right some wrongs first... or is it too late?

Lovely Muco! GN Vol 1 -  Takayuki Mizushina

Lovely Muco! is a story that depicts the lovely everyday life of Komatsu-san, a glassmith, and his pet dog Muco. Shiba breed Muco's wish is that Komatsu-san could become a dog!

Maple Terrace: Tales From One Dirty Tree #1 (of 3) -  Noah Van Sciver

From a multiple-award-winning cartoonist, Noah Van Sciver comes the brand new three-part autobiographical comic series, Maple Terrace. Hilarious and forlorn stories from the author's childhood, surrounded by 90s comics, cartoons, toys, deprivation, and painful nostalgia. Noah was a regular contributor to MAD Magazine and has written and drawn numerous bestselling graphic novels including One Dirty Tree (Uncivilized), the Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer (Fantagraphics), and Joseph Smith and The Mormons (Abrams).

Monomyth #1 (of 6) -  David Hazan & Cecillia Lo Valvo

Magic is all but extinct. When the last ailing wizard casts a final desperate spell to summon the descendants of ancient bloodlines to a school for magic now in disrepair...those chosen ones find a horror of the likes they've never experienced. They will have to confront the deepest parts of themselves, their tragic pasts, and defeat each other to survive the ordeal.

The Princess & The Grilled Cheese Sandwich GN -  Deya Muniz

Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert. But it's hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can't resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she be able to keep her secret?

Quality Assurance In Another World GN Vol 1 -  Masamichi Sato

You think you're living a quiet life in the countryside. Then, one day, a dragon shows up, and everything changes-not because of the fire-breathing serpent, but because of Haga, the man who shows up and "debugs" the situation. Can it be that your life is nothing like what you thought? And what, exactly, is "QA?" A thrilling isekai action fantasy from a fresh, new perspective!

Star Signs #1 -  Saladin Ahmed, Megan Levens & Kelly Fitzpatrick The constellations of the zodiac fall to earth, granting twelve ordinary people from very different walks of life the superhuman powers of the Starsigns. But each of them is about to learn that power always comes with a price...  

Survival #1 (of 5) -  Sean Lewis, Bryndon Everett & Tom Coker

When Emma Reed journeyed back to her hometown in Alaska, she was expecting little more than a tense family reunion at the annual military alumni get together. But early that morning, a plane crash landed in the thick woods near the mountain. And the creature within brings an ancient terror to the last American frontier, and will turn this unspoiled wilderness into a killing ground.

The Twilight Man: Rod Sterling & The Birth Of Television HC -  Koren Shadmi

We recognize him as our sharply dressed and charming guide to The Twilight Zone, but the entertainment business Rod Sterling got his start in saw him as something very different. This "angry young man" pushed the boundaries of television through the lens of science fiction stories that explored the nature of humanity while rejecting notions of war, censorship, and racism. But the monsters he crafted for the screen were far from the only ones that inhabited Sterling's life, from PTSD to the struggles of working in the entertainment industry.

Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-Kun! GN Vol 1 -  Osamu Nishi

Iruma Suzuki has always been eager to please, even at the cost of his well-being. Worst yet, he's the son of two selfish parents who end up selling him to a demon. Thanks to their totally irresponsible actions, Iruma has found himself living in the Netherworld, where he must live and attend school as the grandson of an older demon. Luckily, his new, doting grandfather is there to help, but Iruma will have to figure out how to blend in with his demonic classmates or risk getting eaten. All he needs to do is subjugate rival classmates, summon familiars, and do other typical demon things while never revealing that he's human... Piece of cake, right?

Whatcha picking up this week, Fantom Fam? 

[doomed-jester]

> read a bunch of European and American stories

> find some common traits

> describe them in the vaguest terms possible

> insist that all fiction ever is composed of those traits

> ???

> profit

Joseph Campbell really still gets taught because he took the horoscope approach to media analysis

[ardat-lilis-blog]

Every Generation that Hears It