#valley verified

[inkcurlsandknives]

"Saints of Storm and Sorrow weaves an unforgettable journey into a world where gods walk among mortals and even the quietest whispers can spark a revolution. The thrilling action and complex characters provide a springboard from which Buba masterfully delves into the nuanced relationship between the colonizers and the colonized. Lush, vibrant, and spellbinding—this folklore-inspired fantasy gripped my imagination (and my heart) from the beginning and never let it go." Kyla Zhao, author of Valley Verified and The Fraud Squad

A great blurb from the lovely @kylajzhao Author of the Fraud Squad and Valley Verified, I couldn’t be happier to have a friend like you in my corner, yelling about each other’s stories at midnight will be something I always cherish. Publishing is such an arduous journey with a dozen ups and downs and I don’t know where I’d be without amazing authors like you always ready to cheer on the successes of others.

Head to gabriellabuba.com to find more fun pride events coming up on the #SaintsOfStormAndSorrowPrideAdventCalendar to celebrate the Launch of my debut novel Saints of Storm and Sorrow coming out June 25th with @titanbooks

Preorder your copy today! Buy link: https://linktr.ee/gabriellabuba

In this an enthralling Filipino-inspired queer epic fantasy, a nun concealing a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization. For fans of R.F. Kuang, Tasha Suri, and The Hurricane War.

[lizanneyoung97]

BOOK REVIEW: VALLEY VERIFIED BY KYLA ZHAO

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I love Zoe’s personality and confidence. Even when she feels small, she’s still so sure of herself underneath all the doubt. She’s unashamed to be herself, especially when it comes to her fashion choices, and really strives not to let anyone get her down. Does it always work out that way? No, but she repeatedly bounces back in a way that is encouraging and provides a bit of optimism for anyone.

Her struggles are incredibly realistic. Trying to figure out if friendships were there because of the convenience of working together or because they are all genuinely connected is a struggle I think everyone goes through at some point. Watching Zoe navigate that, in addition to trying to fit into a new group of coworkers that has questionable boundaries at best and making a new friend, is a pleasant change of pace from what I usually read. You want to root for her to find people that she’s on the same page with, but empathize with her struggles in doing so. Her imposter syndrome is real and relatable and it’s great to see how she handles it.

After reading the author’s note, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I pegged pretty quickly how it would drop, it was just a matter of when. I’m really glad it didn’t play out how I expected and that justice was served, in my opinion.

If you spent too much time constantly rewatching Legally Blonde as a child (and maybe still as an adult), you shouldn’t sleep on Valley Verified. It’s the same vibe of a woman who’s a fish out of water, but quickly adapts to her new surroundings and thrives under pressure, despite what she’s put through.

[bookstagramofmine]

Cover Reveal: Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao

Cover Reveal: Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao @kylazhao_ @berkleypub @penguinrandom #UpcomingRelease #BookTwt #BookBlog #CoverReveal #Books #SiliconValley #LegallyBlonde #Bookish #Readers

Valley Verified: From Haute Couture To HTML You guys have definitely seen me post about The Fraud Squad! Kyla Zhao is now back with her second book, Valley Verified, where Legally Blonde meets Silicon Valley! Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao When a fashion writer dives headfirst into the cutthroat Silicon Valley tech world, her future threatens to unravel in this addictive novel by Kyla Zhao,…

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao

I love good women's fiction about girl bosses and that's definitely why I picked up this book. I didn't know anything about it beyond that but the cover is also gorgeous, so I was really excited.

Zoe Zeng is an overworked, underappreciated fashion writer in New York, so when she's offered a job as VP of Marketing at an exciting new Silicon Valley fashion app, she jumps at the opportunity -even if it does involve moving across the country. But she soon realises that she is a bit out of her depth at FitPick and she's not sure she's cut out for securing the huge investment that the company needs or fitting in with her new colleagues.

The app itself sounds like it could be a cool idea but having worked in marketing for a tech start-up myself that had a strikingly similar concept, I knew that it was nowhere near unique enough to survive in an extremely saturated market. To be honest, because of that, I was waiting for it to fail, so without a big plot turn, I wasn't expecting a happy ending.

I was really confused how Zoe managed to get herself such an important job during a brief informal conversation with the CEO and no interview. Even at a small start-up, it just didn't seem realistic at all.

It also felt very unrealistic for Zoe to be on a six figure salary at a start-up in an industry she had very little relevant experience in. I know very little about Silicon Valley but I refuse to believe that this is normal.

The whole FitPick workforce looks down on Zoe seemingly just because she has a vibrant, unique style. Considering it's a fashion app, this seemed a bit strange. The only other female employee Lillian later reveals why she doesn't dress similarly to Zoe and it makes sense but I really couldn't understand why any of this small team of people would make a fashion app. There didn't seem to be anyone into fashion before Zoe showed up, so I'm not sure how or why the concept was developed.

There were a few moments where Zoe talked about her parents and how important they were to her. However, she apparently never visited them or really spoke to them for the entire course of the narrative. So, it felt strange to even mention them really, as it didn't feel like they were her motivation.

Valley Verified was an easy read and I liked how Zoe and Lillian's friendship developed over time. However, I didn't really understand how Zoe managed to instantly become close to Bernadette, a random woman she met while shopping. So, several things about the book didn't really make sense to me but I did appreciate the insight into corporate California and the trials of fashion marketing.

[retquits]

🌻 fields of mistria + stardew valley comms 🌻

1 slot; not first come first serve

skeb style head/bust shot

NPC (priority) and/or farmer OC OK

👉 now accepting requests via vgen!! 👈

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

This panel is awesome because not only is it one of the like… 2 references we get to JPV post his Azrael #100 death that show anyone else has noted in any way that the guy kicked the bucket

But it’s also like, comically redundant to write a big red “deceased” label over his head instead of Babs just… removing him from her active back up roster.

Birds of Prey #56 (1999)

[bizarrebirds]

Hello, I am Ahmed. The war destroyed my life. Can you help me?

In the Name of Humanity please Share, repost, and donate if you are able to donate.

Thank you for listening to me🙏 🙏 🙏

My tumblr link:👇

https://www.tumblr.com/ahmadwaleed555/764613869090013184/hello-gys

#167 on the vetted fundraising list created by @/el-shab-hussein and @/nabulsi

.

[syd-beads4evac]

Nausicaa for inktober for Falestine Day 26 prompt: rifle

Thank you everyone who has supported my fundraisers this year - whether you shared my posts, donated, or bought my beadwork, every bit of support went a long way to help my sister and I's friends. Until Falestina is free, I will continue to do everything I can to help.

[swampvoid]

Heloo

Im Mahmoud from Gaza ..i need your help if you can

Please donate to save my life and my family 🍉🇵🇸

My link in bio

Asking for help is not easy .l request a small donation of $ 15 or $25 from each person .$35 will save my family and help me cover travel expenses and rebuild.what's left of my home

you can deliver your regards

throgh link (please see my bio)https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-gaza-family-to-get-out

My account has been verified by @90-ghost

Hello!

Thank you for reaching out. Sharing for visibility.

I'm at loss of words about what people in Gaza are going through. I wish you peace & health.

[msclaritea]

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

Since it's Laura Nyro's birthday today, I'm just going to put it out there that I don't know what my favorite Laura Nyro album is - Nested or Mother's Spiritual? I like the same amount of songs on both albums, and I can get almost any of those songs stuck in my head at random, and pleasantly so! Technically Eli and the Thirteenth Confession should also be in the running, and though "Poverty Train" is one of my favorite songs of all-time by Laura, I'm not as attached to other songs on that album, whereas I find myself more attached to more songs on Nested and Mother's Spiritual.

P.S. Even though I get the pun or whatever regarding "Nested" and "Mother's" Spiritual, I still find the commentary on Wikipedia about these albums kind of...fucking weird, to be honest. I'm sorry - when was "American Dreamer" about raising children? "Mr. Blue (The Song of Communications)"? I'm not saying you can tell when men are the ones talking about women but who the hell else is going to so blatantly reduce a woman's work to being inspired by being a parent? Holy fucking christ. BARF. Of course, the way anyone will assume that women's work is most significantly inspired by raising children has been seriously poisoned by the sickness of sexism, patriarchy, and reductive gender roles. Anyone can be guilty of assuming it, sure, but what place does it really have when discussing an artist's work? Literally I fear repeating myself about that for the rest of my fucking time on Earth.

Anyway, MOVING ON, I think my other favorite songs by Laura are "The Right to Vote" (her humor and use of heavy irony in this song is FUCKING DELICIOUS AND DELIGHTFUL AND I COULD LISTEN TO IT FOR HOURS AND HOURS ON REPEAT, and I have. Tbh I listen to it every election day) and "American Dreamer" (and technically "Springblown," also, but I find the intro kind of tedious until you get to the "Every time that I see your face/It's like a warm embrace" and then I'm like dEAR GOD OKAY OKAY YEAH THIS COULD BE A FAVE...musically it also reminds me of Joni Mitchell in its willingness to be all over the place musically, stylistically, rhythmically, etc. but in an incredibly interesting and compelling way; Laura Nyro was also a genius, in case I haven't said that before)! So, again, I'm stuck on figuring out which of her albums is my favorite. Maybe I don't need to choose? Maybe I'll just say both.

[arkipelagic]

The Spanish surnames of many Filipinos have often misled foreigners here and abroad, who are unaware of the decree on the adoption of surnames issued by Governor-General Narciso Clavería in 1849. Until quite recently in the United States, the Filipinos were classified in demographic statistics as a “Spanish-speaking minority,” along with Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, and other nationals of the Central or South American republics. The Philippines, as is well known, was a Spanish colony when Spain was mistress of empires in the Western Hemisphere; but the Americans were “hispanized” demographically, culturally, and linguistically, in a way the Philippines never was. Yet the Spanish surnames of the Filipinos today—García, Gómez, Gutiérrez, Fernández—seem to confirm the impression of the American statistician, as well as of the American tourist, that the Philippines is just another Mexico in Asia. Nor is this misunderstanding confined to the United States; most Spaniards still tend to think of “las Islas Filipinas” as a country united to them through the language of Cervantes, and they catalogue Philippine studies under “Hispano-America.” The fact is that after nearly three-and-a-half centuries of Spanish rule probably not more than one Filipino in ten spoke Spanish, and today scarcely one in fifty does. Still the illusion lives on, thanks in large part to these surnames, which apparently reflect descent from ancient Peninsular forbears, but in reality often date back no farther than this decree of 1849.

Somehow overlooked, this decree, with the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos which accompanied it, accounts for another curiousity which often intrigues both Filipinos and foreign visitors alike, namely, that there are towns in which all the surnames of the people begin with the same letter. This is easily verifiable today in many parts of the country. For example, in the Bikol region, the entire alphabet is laid out like a garland over the provinces of Albay, Sorsogon, and Catanduanes which in 1849 belonged to the single jurisdiction of Albay. Beginning with A at the provincial capital, the letters B and C mark the towns along the coast beyond Tabaco to Tiwi. We return and trace along the coast of Sorsogon the letters E to L; then starting down the Iraya Valley at Daraga with M, we stop with S to Polangui and Libon, and finish the alphabet with a quick tour around the island of Catan-duanes. Today’s lists of municipal officials, memorials to local heroes, even business or telephone directories, also show that towns where family names begin with a single letter are not uncommon. In as, for example, the letter R is so prevalent that besides the Roas, Reburianos, Rebajantes, etc., some claim with tongue in cheek that the town also produced Romuáldez, Rizal, and Roosevelt!

Excerpt from the 1973 introduction to Catálogo de Alfabético de Apellidos by Domingo Abella

[wiisagi-maiingan]

Tornadoes are becoming more and more common outside of the "tornado valley" area and hitting areas that they used to be much less common in, like mountains.

"Tornado season" has gradually faded away and tornadoes are a deadly threat no matter the month or season.

Tornadoes are becoming stronger in general and doing more damage.

Tornadoes are more likely to form in groups, so instead of one tornado forming, we're seeing multiple form in close proximity to each other.

This is not going to get better any time soon. No matter what we do now, climate change is going to get worse and even deadlier before things get better.

Please, if you live somewhere with ANY significant risk of tornadoes, do research on tornado safety using reputable and reliable sources. Tumblr posts are not reliable sources for emergency protocols and if you cannot verify someone's claims with official and professional sources, do not trust it. There is so much available information from governments and emergency services, you do not need to rely on tumblr posts and you SHOULDN'T be relying on those posts, especially when they strongly contradict things you've been told irl by professionals.

[anastasiaoftheironwood]

California Voters—What to Do If Your Ballot is Rejected

From the San Francisco Chronicle: https://bit.ly/4fexCEC

"Whether you forgot to sign your ballot return envelope or signed it in a way that doesn’t match previous signatures, your ballot can be fixed in the weeks after the election. Every election cycle, a portion of ballots across California are rejected. Most of them were turned in late — which cannot be remedied — or had an issue with the signature on the envelope containing the ballot. Luckily for voters, signature problems can be “cured” by submitting a form sent by their county elections office by Dec. 3. The quickest way to know if your ballot has a problem is to sign up for ballot tracking through the California Secretary of State’s website at https://wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov. Voters will be able to see if their ballot has been accepted and counted or if there is a problem that can be addressed. Voters whose ballots need fixing will also receive a letter from their county elections office, as well as a phone call and email if that information is on file. John Arntz, director of the San Francisco Department of Elections, said that the notification should come to voters in English and Chinese, unless they have selected a different secondary language for voting. Arntz said that the notification includes a form for voters to complete to verify their signature. They can either return it by mail, email or in person to have their vote counted. Alexander said that signature problems — which affected 394 San Francisco ballots in the March primary election — can affect first-time and younger voters who have not yet developed a regular signature or are unaware that the signature on their ballots will be compared to the signature on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Older voters are also impacted more often by signature problems as their dexterity and handwriting changes with age, making it more difficult to match their previous signatures. Alexander said that voters have 28 days — based on a new state law implemented this election — to get ballot curing forms back to their county elections office to have their votes counted. Counties will not be able to certify their votes until that deadline passes, Alexander said. In San Francisco, with ranked-choice voting for mayoral candidates, the cured ballots could end up impacting the final results if the election is neck and neck. Arntz said that the reports put out before he certifies the election are just a snapshot of the votes counted by that moment, but that cured votes submitted by the deadline could change the trajectory of the instant runoff election. In this year’s primary election, nearly 1,200 Alameda County voters had fixable signature problems. San Mateo County had over 400, Contra Costa County had over 1,000 and Santa Clara County had nearly 500. Alexander estimates that only about 50% of those ballots end up being cured and counted, based on a study her organization did of a handful of California counties. Recently, campaigns have realized in races with razor-thin margins that ballot curing can make a difference, Alexander said. For tight House races in the Central Valley and Southern California, volunteers could be working for weeks after Election Day to get signatures fixed."

[blazescompendium]

Blaze's Compendium Entry #10: The Khyah (Cyak, Kack, Khya)

Warning: Faith and religion are important real life topics, that tackles the culture and way of life of millions of real life people. It is a cultural expression, and must be respected by all means. Here, we use a video-game ( some times) and other media series only to ignite the flame of learning about the matter, using its art when well depicted, but we do this with all due respect to the cultures we talk here, grounded by real life sources, cultures and people. And i mean this with respect. Hope you all enjoy.

Also, please note that the Sources for this one will be a bit tricky, since we are talking about a regional and always developing urban legend and cosmology, which is not very well documented in traditional books. In this case we have to turn our attention to personal stories and every day people who lives in this culture.

The Khyah (ख्या) is a mythical creature that is part of the greater Nepali folklore and cosmology. Specifically from the Newar people from the Kathmandu Valley.

Some sources will say that its name means literally ''Ghost'' or ''Haunt'', ''Phantasm'', etc... However i was not able to confirm this. The language spoken by Newar people is the Nepal Bhasa, which is also written in the Devanagari script, just like Hindi. I do not speak this language, so please if you do, reach me out! But in any case, it seems that the word for ''Ghost'' in Newar is ''गुफा'' or ''gupha''. It may be the case that the name: ''Kyah'' got so used to general supernatural occurrences, that it got mixed up. Just like we talked about the Saci in my other post. -This is not uncommon to happen- I used regular online translators to reach this conclusion, but feel free to correct me if i am wrong because i could not consult any native to talk about this matter during my research.

For a bit of context, The Newar are people that historically inhabited the Kathmandu Valley, and the regions around Nepal. As we said before, they speak Newari (Nepal Bhasa). They have 3 major cities, those being Kathmandu, Patan and Bhatgaon. [1] The academic research on the Newar people just started at the early 20th century, the french anthropologist Sylvain, wrote a very famous and complete work called Le Nepal, that was one of the first western written works about the region, and its people. Their religion are mostly Hinduism, Buddhism and there are minorities from other beliefs.

The Newar live in this region since ancient times, way longer before Nepal even existed as a Estate. According to most history books, the Newar would live alone in the region, being sovereigns of the Kathmandu valley up until the Gorgkha Kingdom in 1769. It is very hard to know much about the Newar before that in details, since they are in the region for so long, and mixed so much with other people from around the Nepal, that even their history ends up blending with mythology.

For example: according to the sacred Swayambhu Purana, a Buddhist scripture, the Kathmandu Valley was once a huge lake, Inhabited by Nagas*. That is, until one day the Bodhisattva Manjusri with the help of a powerful sacred sword, sliced the surrounding hills, which in turn made the water flow away. This information is even on Kathmandu government official site!

This myth was later confirmed to have a basis, since NASA themselves found out clues that Kathmandu was in fact, once a huge lake. NASA did not reply me about the Naga thought. Bummer...

*The Swayambhu Purana is a Buddhist text essential to Newar Buddhism. However i sadly could not find a copy online, but there are some summarized versions translated to English, which i am using as guide. For instance the US Wikipedia article, sources books that i also could not find, but i could verify the authors! So... That's something, i guess.

This goes to show how the Newar people are rooted in their mythology, and how this is completely absorbed by even their space and surroundings. Even something as the very foundation of their lands is a hierophany.

This brings us to the Kyah, that we will see can show us a lot about this society.

About the Khyah

The Khyah are supernatural creatures that are hairy, looks like apes, sometimes extremely chubby and have their bodies are totally covered in hair. This description is corroborated my multiple sources, like ''Dietrich, Angela (1998). Tantric healing in the Kathmandu Valley: A comparative study of Hindu and Buddhist spiritual healing traditions in urban Nepalese society. Book Faith India.'' But not only that, the Khyah are also represented in multitudes of paintings and also in costumes for the Yenya Festival. The only thing that can sometimes be different, is that if it will be treated like a Ghost or a more physical creature.

The wealth goddess Lakshmi and two Khyah serving her, in a painting on a Kathmandu temple.

About this painting and sourcing the Khyah appearance:

I have made tireless efforts to pin down the origin of this painting. And many others! This one is present in most of the articles about the Khyah in the internet, even local articles from Nepal itself. However i was not able to pinpoint where it came from. All the sources i found either say this is from a ''temple'' or that it was taken by an individual named: Karrattul. This is not the photographer's name, but instead the name of the profile who uploaded it on the Wikipedia, where it was uploaded in 2012! I tried to reach to Nepali communities and other enthusiasts of History and Mythology, but no one could help me. If you know anything about this painting, please contact me!

For the same reason, it is almost impossible to find sourced materials about the khyah appearance. We know that there are traits like the hair, that keep intact from place to place, but i could not find a central work detailing the creature. We have those paintings from so called temples to trust, and the ceremonial suits used in the Khyah dance.

I will link here a video of a Khyah Dance performance, so you can see the physical traits of this creature are well agreed between the locals.

The Khyah is popular among children, or at least were at one point. This can be seen in a popular children song sang in Nepal. It depicts the Khyah as a cute and hungry little critter, as the kid in the song is encouraged to give food to it. The Kyah seems never to be satisfied sadly...

A banger...

The Khyah is indeed often treated like a type of ghost. In my personal opinion they are simmilar to Djinn, some kinds of yokai and can be classified generically as a type of monster or apparition, in my view at least. (This means a supernatural creature, that is in between a human and a god like being.) The Newar believe that the Khyah has active participation in events of their daily lives. But they also are not all bad or good, they are multiple entities, some good and some bad. Usually there are white colored Khyah who are good, and black colored Khyah who are bad.

They have their own lives, families, and friends. There are a lot of tales and works related to this creature, not counting personal tales of every day people and their encouters with this little devil. That's how ingrained in the Newar culture the Khyah is.

I was able to track the writings of a Kathmandu Valley denizen, which happened to write about the Kyahk! [3] This person was kind enough to provide a lot of personal information about the regional culture, in their personal website. According to the locals, the Khyah would often live in houses, squares, public spaces, and would regularly interfere with their existence. Not all Khyah are bad, some can protect the households they inhabit, they can bring fortune and good luck. Although, the Khyah fears light, so they have to live in dark corners of the house, like the attic or some empty room.

The Unitedstatian Wikipedia page for Khyah shares some unusual information, that we can not trace to any sources. For instance, they mention that this creature supposedly fears electricity. As interesting as it may seen, the source from this particular information goes to a book called: '' Asian folklore studies, Volume 55. Nanzan University Institute of Anthropology'' Which i was unable to find to read online, and was also unable to find it by its ISBN trackers: 9057890984, 9789057890987. Those took me to another book, called: ''Caturmāsa. Celebrations of Death in Kathmandu, Nepal’'

This one seems to exist, but i also could not find it anywhere online. Google Books has some samples, and it guarantees that the word ''Khyak'' or any variations of sorts, are not on it, which means this is a misinformation. Someone probably interpreted that the fact that Khyah fear light, can also apply to electricity as an energy source. I think you won't be letting your homie Khyah uncomfortable having electricity at your house, don't worry.

Again, according to locals [3] There are two variable Khyah: Black and White. The white are the ones who bring luck, and the Black ones gives you trouble. No matter what kind of this creature you have in your house, you should respect it. They are often revered and well treated. They have their own cozy dark place to hide, like the bhandar and dhkuti. Those are places of the house used to store grains and valuables.

There are other variations according to other local sources sources [3] [4] Those Khyah are usually described as:

-Bārāy Khyāh (बाराय् ख्याः) appears in rooms where girls are kept in seclusion during their rite of passage to adulthood (first period). [5] (Very documented, and easy to track on western sources)

-Bhakun Gwārā Khyāh (भकुं ग्वारा ख्याः), literally football, rolls on the ground to move around. (Most common Khyah, probably the one Kaneko tried to draw! Most commonly seen in regional urban legends. Not very documented in translated to English literature)

-Dhāpalān Khyāh (धापलां ख्याः) is a very hairy Khyah. (Very popular because of that children's song, still sang to this day.)

-Lanpan Khyāh (लँपं ख्याः) blocks people’s way on dark streets. (Not much about this one, really. At least not in western sources. It seems that, along with Bhakun Khyah is probably more of a word of mouth thing)

The relationship with Kawancha

The origin legend for the Khyah goes that, in the distant past, two gods had a baby. They fought to see who had the right to hold the baby, but ended up tearing the child apart. The skin peeled off, revealing just flesh and bones that would separate. The flesh became Khyak, and the bones Kawancha, a skeleton that would be the Anthitesis to the Khyak. This relationship is portrayed in paintings and regional dance festivals. [3]

Also known as Kavam, the skeleton monster seems to be the other half of the Khyah. It is extremely hard to find sources about this, not only because it is a very specific regional folk belief passed down orally, but also because the language barriers. One could in theory go there in person to collect sources about this part of the lore, but it is not an option for me. Someone at Reddit pointed out to me that in some regions, they are not related at all, being just monsters from the same sources. So, their lore seem to vary from place to place.

Painting depicting Kwancha/Kavam and Khyah in Kathmandu. Origin Unknown.

As much as I tried for months, I could not come with a source for this information besides literal oral tradition. But for sure these two are indeed connected in some places. You can see them in several paintings at Kathmandu, and they also have their own dance performance telling their story and painting their relationship. As the Reddit user mentioned, their connection will vary from place to place. Being more of a localized and oral tradition.

In the performance you can see Khyah and Kwancha performing together, as they show their relationship. Still according to [3], the instrument played in these performances is the Dhimay. Its made from tree bark, and the legend says the gods later created this tool to help control the beings, and communicate with them. In the author's perspective, this was meant to showcase the duality of our universe. This being the real nature of those beings.

Again, I lack written and traceable sources. While the Dhimay is indeed a real instrument, used on those performances, there are almost no mentions of it being related to Khyah or Kwancha in the western internet. This also falls in the category of facts I could not check because of being probably too of a localized oral tradition.

I could at least find some sourced paintings. Like this one, shared by the Twitter user Sanjib Chaudhary Who is an author himself on Nepalese culture.

Kwancha and Khyah are shown in this painting on Jaya Bageshwori temple, in Gaushala.

Also, while Khyah is very well documented in the west, the same can not be said about Kwancha. It is easy to find dances, masks, his Megami Tennsei design (being the most easy result) and paintings about the skeleton monster, but almost nothing on its nature and lore. This means I highly doubt everything the Megaten games say about it to be factual, although they do in fact exist in Nepalese culture.

One thing i noticed is that Kaneko himself could have watched a dance performance of Kwancha and Khyah, or at least seen pictures. Because his Kwancha design for Devil Summoner has the clothing in colors and shapes very similar to some Kwancha performers:

This specific clothing can be seen here: Kawancha (Skeleton) Dance of Bhaktapur कवांचा प्याखं , तौलाछें, भक्तपुर ll Part of Bharab Dance ll

The final point on this part is their origin: Which gods crated them? This rent a space in my brain for free for the last year or so. While I could not find it for sure, this does not mean it is wrong or not factually a belief in their tradition. Buddhism has many gods and entities, and i suspect the ones who created the Khyah accidentally, are just regular Devas.

Modern mentions?

Khyah tales are in the heart of Kathmandu people, and many other Nepal regions. For centuries they dominated the children's tales and late night scare stories of that region. In 1992, Jim Goodman published a book called ''Tales of Old Bhaktapur'' Which complied some folk tales from Nepal.

Sure enough, Khyah makes an appearance in it. At page 28, there is a story about a Khyah haunting a house, and how a boy deals with it. Sadly the book is not openly available on the internet, but google books have some parts readable:

There is also the book: Tales of Kathmandu: folktales from the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal (1980). This book was published by the authors Karna Sakya, Linda Griffith. This book seems to put together many popular folk tales from Nepal, and in the page 105 we have a story called ''The Khya of Marusata.''

Now, as this seems to be the case with every freaking material in this search, this book is not available online, but google books has many parts available. Sadly, we can only see the title of the story. What we can know by a quick google search, is that Marusata is some kind of square in central Kathmandu. I tried to search this tale online, but I could not find. Will try to keep searching for it eventually.

Also, in the books first pages, around 20 or so, Khyah are mentioned too:

It seems to classify Khyah as demons, just like their neighbors Rakshasas. Which is not exactly on the point here, but its interesting nonetheless.

The Khyah are still recognized today, and are well known in the community. But even if the western internet made a good job of preserving its lore and some of their character, their presence is very scarce. By going on Eirikr Kaneko Crib's notes I found that one of the most recent official appearances of the creature online was on the site Local Nepal Today. This seems to be a site dedicated to portray and preserve Nepalese culture and report on situations at the region. It is however, done by foreigners that went to Nepal afterwards. The site seems to be dead, but they do mention their hearings about the Khyah! Here they call it Kack.

The authors compare it to European elves and trolls, which is not exactly a good match. They are more akin to Brownies, Silkies and some kind of Kikimora.

In any way, their description matches most sources, and oral sources alike: They are shy, prefer dark and isolated places, and hate the light. They also comment on the duality between the white Khyah and the black Khyahk.

Most important thought, they mentions talking to an elderly woman in Kathmandu, who shared her own stories about meeting the creature:

''An elderly woman in Kathmandu who saw several kacks – all white ones. The closest encounter was with a quiet, furry fellow who came and sat on her lap! Many of those who’ve seen a kack will tell you how these “little people” would come and sit on the edge of their bed for a while, keeping them half amazed, half in shock the rest of the night. A white kack is friendly – but it can still be a bit scary.''

They also gathered information from old Kathmandu citizens on why the Khyahk tales are vanishing nowadays:

'''Well, old people who grew up in the heart of kack territory – Kathmandu – will usually tell you a simpler reason: kacks are shy creatures and so, since the capital has become crowded and noisy, many have left. Sure kacks can hide and move about by stealth, but there’s a limit. Either way, now it’s no-longer in Kathmandu but in the villages you’ll hear about kacks the most.''

In my personal view, its interesting to connect the vast and accelerated growth of Kathmandu, to the losing of traditions and oral folk tales, which ended up making the Khyah tales vanish bit by bit, becoming isolated to small nearby villages.

This makes me a bit sad, because if there is no one trying to preserve those traditions, it may very well disappear as the times goes on. The internet has this amazing tool to preserve culture, but we do not seem to be using it enough.

In this regard, I am glad that Kazuma Kaneko imortalized Kyahk in the Shin Megami Tensei series, even if they are not regular monsters on the newer games, many people probably had their first encounter with this critter through that.

And that is it! Everything I could gather! Hope you guys enjoyed!

Beware the Kyhak at the feet of your bed!

Thank you for reading through it all. I actually started this research more than 1 year ago, but postponed it multiple times, since I started doing scientific research at college, and other monsters looked way more easy to research.

Stick with me for more deep dives on critters from around the world.

Sources: [1]- "Elements of Newar Social Structure". Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.’’ - Christoph Von Furer- Haimendorf, 1956.

[2]- Dietrich, Angela (1998). Tantric healing in the Kathmandu Valley: A comparative study of Hindu and Buddhist spiritual healing traditions in urban Nepalese society. Book Faith India.

[3]- Himalayancultures.com -Personal blog of a Kathmandu citzen that shares a bit about regional folklore and culture. Extremely interesting to see stuff from a personal point of view.

[4]-Archive My Sansar - Regional website about Nepali culture.

[5]- Growing Up: Hindu and Buddhist Initiation Rituals Among Newar Children in Bhaktapur, Nepal, 2008, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. (Pag 174)

[6]- Tales of Old Bhaktapur'' - Jim Goodman (1992)

[7]- Tales of Kathmandu: folktales from the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal (1980)

[8]- Local Nepal Today

[librarisxng]

ATEEZ SMALL PERFUME REVIEW: TOM FORD — WHITE SUEDE

disclaimer: this is not meant to be a serious perfume review, this is something fun for me to do as I love perfume. each and every one of us have different tastes and preferences when it comes to fragrances. what works for me might not work for you, vice versa. I’ll try my best to describe the scents but I will always suggest for you to go and smell them yourself before purchase. if you want to try these perfumes, please test or get a sample before committing to the bottle. picture credits to all owners.

ateez member: wooyoung

fragrance family: warm floral

notes:

top — thyme, tea

heart — lily of the valley, saffron, rose

base — suede, musk, sandalwood, olibanum, amber

my scent experience:

the fragrance opens very clean and herbaceous from the thyme but it’s not strong so it doesn’t hit you square in the face like other clean scents. as it settles, the fragrance becomes floral with the rose and it’s slightly spicy from the saffron but the dominant scent is rose. the dry down is warm, woody, and musky from the sandalwood and amber. I wasn’t so sure what suede really smells like but they described it as a musky and warm scent so I think the name is pretty accurate. think of someone who smells like florals giving you a warm hug on a suede couch.

the projection is on the subtle side and for a Tom Ford fragrance, you want people to know you’re wearing one. longevity wise, it only lasted around 2 hours on me which is not ideal especially when you’re spending a lot on a fragrance. I remember this smelling a lot more stronger before but I believe they reformulated it when they revamped the bottle.

additional notes from me:

White Suede is a popular fragrance in the private line and I remember first smelling this in 2019 after reading that NCT’s Jaehyun wore this perfume. I also remember someone here reviewed it saying it smells like a boyfriend (don’t have one so I can’t verify this). to me, it smells nice but it’s nothing extraordinary and I have yet to find a Tom Ford fragrance that blows my mind. I’ll need to experiment more with their line which I’m always down to try out fragrances.

who would I recommend this to?

anyone who likes warm florals with a musky dry down.

those who prefer fragrances on the cleaner and softer side.

anyone who wants to try out Tom Ford fragrances (private line).

if you’ve made it to the end, thank you for reading this review!! it’s been a while since I’ve written a review as I’ve been busy with work but I’m still here!! I also had two concerts that were six days apart so I was preparing myself for those. I hope you enjoyed this review and let me know what your favorite fragrances are!!

review written by librarisxng 2024