#vampire connections to celtic mythology?? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bigskydreaming · 4 years ago

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Okay, what lightning based creature from folklore and mythology might you interpret Josh being spliced with? Same with Corey, because "chameleon" don't cut it lol

Ugh, so many.

Corey:

My first thought would be any of the practically endless variety of household spirits and fairies attributed with invisibility - most of them usually denoted as being mischief makers, not inherently good or evil but more aligned to like a chaotic-neutral kinda thing than any particular morality.

These include, but are not limited to, various kinds of goblin-esque creatures that aren’t necessarily what one would picture when thinking of goblins in terms of like, Lord of the Rings. But brownies, hobgoblins and trow from various Celtic regions of Europe, or something like the duende from Iberian folklore perhaps, some takes on the domovoi from Russian legends, or maybe French lutins though they’re a bit more malevolent in nature than most of these others....but any of those could easily acount for the invisibility/camouflage Corey’s capable of, and there’s a lot of them that like, being part of Corey’s ‘nature’ could pair well with the fact that he’s small and unobtrusive in appearance, as well as being a shy, insecure kid not above expressing (justified) resentment or letting that dictate his actions or behavior towards people.

A boggart could also be interesting because there are as many takes on the boggart being a physical flesh and blood shapeshifter or fairy as there are it being a kind of spirit, and invisibility is as much a part of its nature as taking on the appearance of something someone fears....and there’s a lot of potential IMO in the almost irony of making Corey of all characters be part ‘boogeyman’ - since the boggart is the basis of boogeyman legends.

A sylph could be interesting, but it would have to be a Teen Wolf take on the actual sylphs of legend, like putting its own spin on it like it does with a lot of the other supernatural creatures that show up. Because as is, a sylph is one of the four elemental types of beings along with salamanders, undines and gnomes, and so its literally just a creature of air - but invisible and spritely, etc. So a Teen Wolf version of a sylph that’s flesh and blood at least some of the time and even CAN be ‘spliced’ into the chimera genome in some way....like, you’d definitely have to tweak your version to make it work, but it could work. And sylph fits a lot about Corey as a character, and it opens up doors for him to have powers beyond just invisibility, such as maybe giving him a kind of telekinesis or even the ability to levitate.

There’s a couple of Finnish beings of legends that could fit the bill, like keiju (kinda a Finnish version of pixies or sprites) or even tonttu, which are like a kind of....proto-Christmas elf, almost? LOL. But again, both are attributed with invisibility and discretion, though the keiju tend to be less concerned with human affairs while the tonttu are normally seen as helpful beings and friendly to humanity.

A bodach could be interesting too, they’re Scottish tricksters, usually more malevolent than neutral but not necessarily. Again, normally invisible, often follow people and frightening them with the sound of footsteps while there’s not even footprints in sight.....BUT the thing that’s interesting about this at least in terms of Teen Wolf, is there are various kinds of bodach like the Bodach Glas, the Dark Grey Man, who are also perceived as death omens. Like they’re normally invisible, and the only time you see one is if you’re going to die, and so given the other death-omen related beings in TW like banshees and hellhounds, Corey actually being part Bodach could have some interesting implications or associations....like, maybe if it turns out that he can turn invisible whenever he wants, but occasionally he realizes someone sees him even when he doesn’t want them to....but when that happens, that’s actually just because or a sign that the person is destined to die soon. Especially given the way Corey was used in 6A during the Wild Hunt storyline, like....you could definitely tie that into things there or go in similar directions with that.

Tbh though, I’m most intrigued I think by the idea of what if Corey was part....leshy, or one of the various analogues to the leshy in different regions like the borovoi in Russia or the Lithuanian mishkinis. But the leshy, and other related beings are like....a nature spirit, albeit a physical being rather than like a true spirit-spirit. But they’re usually nature GUARDIANS, specifically, and most associated with woods and forests. There’s also a fun kind of irony because one of the attributes of the leshy, aside from its invisibility or ability to disguise itself among the trees by blending in with its backgrounds, is like....the leshy is a size changer as well, and typically defaults as an enormous being, as tall as a tree....but who can also shrink to the size of a blade of grass. Given that Corey’s on the small size, this kinda amuses me, but also could make for a fun twist if he eventually realizes his powers don’t let him just turn invisible or fade into the background, but like, he can change his size and height as well. Make him like an Ant-Man kinda character.

But another thing that’s particular interesting about the leshy, and makes me lean towards it, is that the leshy isn’t just a generic forest spirit or guardian, but is associated with hunting in specific. But not in the human kind of way, but the hunters of nature.....as in, the leshy is often surrounded by or depicted as always being in the company of...packs of wolves. Occasionally bears, too, but they’re most associated with wolves. Which makes making Corey part leshy and part of a wolf pack particularly fitting, I think. And also sets up some interesting conflicts with hunters like Argent, even if Corey doesn’t even KNOW why he’s so antagonistic towards them, but like, as part leshy, he would likely be prone to very Not Good vibes about human hunters. Which also creates some interesting implications about the WHY of the Dread Doctors of all beings choosing to make a chimera that was part leshy aka anti-hunter....given that the lead Dread Doctor, Marcel, pretty much did everything he did because he was super obviously in love with Sebastian aka the Beast, the prime target and enemy of hunters everywhere, and the whole reason the Argent dynasty began in the first place.

Josh:

I’d need to give some more thought to him. I have seen people headcanon that Josh was spliced with some kind of raiju, which is a creature from Japanese legends typically associated with various gods of thunder. The raiju is a kind of thunder-beast, and usually takes the form or appearance of a blue-white wolf shaped from lightning, though it can also take other forms like that of a weasel, a badger or even a dragon.

I mean, this one definitely does work, its just I’m kinda like.....eh, just because TW has fucked around with and fucked over Japanese legends enough on the show without putting any real effort into prioritizing or centering them or the characters associated with them....aka all our rants about Kira and the nameless/barely-a-character nogitsune. I suspect my resistance to having Josh be part raiju is less that like, it doesn’t fit or make sense than it is mostly just.....I don’t trust the execution of most of the people I’ve seen do the headcanoning him as such, lol, so I’m knee-jerk inclined to just run the opposite direction with it, lol. Also, along similar lines, just NO times infinity to having him be in any way part thunderbird because Leave Native American legends alone Teen Wolf, You’ve Done Enough.

There are a number of other kinds of lightning birds though, from regions all around the world, like Slavic mythology and folklore has a couple, particularly associated with Perun, there’s a few in South American regions, Zulu folklore has a lightning bird called the impundulu....but even just going back to Eastern Europe with this, in the sense that since so many of the other creatures TW focused on originate there and that’s where the DD are from, its not a stretch to imagine beings or creatures from that region being particularly central to a lot of their experiments....like, for instance in terms of that reasoning, my personal preference would be to go with one of the various takes on the shtriga or strigoi that associate them with lightning (mostly ball lightning) that could work and be something a bit different.

Because the strigoi are basically the basis for Stoker’s take on vampires in particular, so instead of being specifically derived from some kind of lightning-specific creature or being like the raiju, making Josh part strigoi would mean his electricity powers were really only incidental to his chimera nature rather than the focus of it, and since the Teen Wolf chimeras are all one third human, one third werewolf, and one third something else....Josh being a strigoi chimera would effectively make him TW’s version of a vampire-werewolf hybrid.

(Also, like with the leshy, the strigoi makes a certain kind of sense to be spliced with werewolves or associated with a wolf pack, because the strigoi is pretty much definitively THE version of a vampire that having vampires have strong connections to and imagery associated with wolves, or vampires being able to shapeshift into wolves specifically.....like the strigoi are where those legends and takes in particular all stem from).

And I mean, Josh as part strigoi definitely puts his teeth when he’s in his shifted form in a totally different light, lolol.

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ohprettyweeper · 3 years ago

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Reposted from my old blog. Prompts are bolded; translations from Google Translate.

Part Four | Answers in the Blood

“Tonight, we begin a new chapter,” Quinn announced to her class. “Irish Mythology. Turn in your books to page two-hundred and twenty-seven.”

She lectured first on banshees, then selkies. Leprechauns, of course, were in the mix, and changelings. Finally, after giving her class and herself a short break, Quinn began the section on the dearg-due.

“This creature dates back to the Celtic era,” she informed them, hitting the clicker to advance to the slide which held information for notes and also a couple of images for the students to review. “A vampire-like creature, the dearg-due is believed to have found its beginning in a young woman with blood-red lips and white-blonde hair. Forced into a marriage that would benefit her father with many riches and separated her from her true love, the girl took the only way out from her abusive husband: suicide.”

Quinn advanced the slide show again, revealing the painting of a young girl, blood flowing from her wrists and her eyes staring at nothing. Her body was emaciated and her cheeks gaunt.

“Her husband would bleed her for no reason other than to see the blood flow. So, she starved herself to death. After, she was buried at Waterford, near Strongbow’s Tree. Though she had been kind and godly in her life, it is said that her husband’s abuse and her own suicide changed her in the afterlife. Heartbroken and vengeful, on the first night she was buried, she rose from the grave and sought to quench her thirst with the blood of young men, children, and the innocent. She calms her victims first with a siren song, then steals their blood, leaving them mysteriously ill or dead.”

As the lecture wrapped up, Quinn opened the floor for questions. Most of them pertained to the traditionally known creatures, but one student asked as to the origin of the dearg-due.

“Is it possible these creatures were actually the origin of the Heathens?”

Quinn cleared her throat. “I can see where you might make that connection, but remember, the vampire experiments of Old Dema began in response to the Banditos growing in numbers — so recent that some of your grandparents likely were alive at that time. I suppose it’s possible that this knowledge is available in Old Dema and was an inspiration for the Bishops and their experiments but I can’t say that I’ve come across the connection any other time. If there’s no other questions, class is dismissed. Please do remember, your papers over chapters ten through twelve will be next week. Email me or come by my office if you have questions.”

She gathered her things and went back to her office to spend the rest of the afternoon grading. By the time she could head home, however, the stack of homework to be reviewed was not much smaller than when she had begun a couple of hours before. Her student’s question regarding the dearg-due lingered in her thoughts; not because she had not thought of a connection between the Heathens and the dearg-due before. Instead, she wondered if perhaps the Bishops and their vampire experiments were the answer to her dilemma.

One of her favorite songs hummed in her throat while Faylinn cooked eggs for breakfast. She was looking forward to an easy day at work, then coming home to continuing her novel. Much to Ildri’s chagrin, Faylinn had not stopped writing the plot line surrounding Old Dema.

Not to mention, Faylinn’s dreams had not subsided. Though frightening more often than not, they fueled her muse and her imagination and chapters were pouring out of her. Before too long, the novel would be finished.

Someone knocked on the door; Faylinn looked towards Ildri’s part of the apartment. All the lights were off, and Faylinn could see that the bed was already made. Sighing, she turned down the heat on the eggs and made way for the door. Her breath caught in her throat when the man who was often in her dreams stared back at her. His red eyes were frantic, and his dark, curly hair was in disarray.

“What are you doing here?” Faylinn whispered.

“You have to stop the novel,” he pleaded. “The Bishops know. They know everything. Distance doesn’t matter. They’ll come for you.”

Horse hooves sounded in the distance like thunder rumbling in a far off storm. Faylinn’s eyes slowly focused in that direction; somehow, she could already see all nine Bishops riding her way.

“They’re coming for both of us,” he told her.

“We have to run,” Faylinn said, pushing her feet into her shoes.

The man shook his head. “No. You just have to stop.”

Thunder clapped loud overhead, pulling Faylinn from her most recent dream. How was it possible that the thing that had been driving her for so many weeks now was the thing that made her understand the danger of what she was doing?

“Maybe I need to see a shrink,” she muttered, pushing out of the bed and motivating toward the shower to start her day.

But the dream stuck with her throughout her entire morning routine. By the time she was through with her eggs and her coffee, she had made the last minute decision to skip work for the day and make use of the best resource she had regarding Old Dema.

Tyler finished his work and walked with Josh back to the Heathen district. Others — humans — took their time getting back, but Nico held no leniency in regards to his citizens returning home when their work was completed.

“It’s been weeks,” Josh said, nudging Tyler. “You’re going to have to accept that there’s no going back.”

Tyler nodded. “I know that. But, it doesn’t stop me from wondering what’s beyond the wall. Being this doesn’t stop me from wondering what life is like in the surrounding city.”

“They call it New Dema. Sometimes, if you’re mindful, the Bishops will send you into New Dema to capture someone and bring them here to be smeared and, possibly, eventually, changed.”

“How do you know all this?”

Josh took a deep breath. “They tell you, when they know they can trust you. If you want that chance, you cannot miss any mark. You cannot question them out loud, you cannot deny their authority.”

Tyler thought that over for the rest of the walk back to his dwelling. If he played the Bishops’ game, how long would it be until he was trusted to go into New Dema? What would the task of capturing people to come here entail? Tyler had long believed that nothing good could come of new souls coming here but he had known nothing but Old Dema for his entire life. Therein lie the problem; he could not imagine knowing something else, then coming here and being confined to the Bishops’ world.

Being changed was supposed to heighten his loyalty to the Bishops, but instead, Tyler found himself questioning the old figures more than ever.

When all of Dema’s inhabitants had been locked in their dwellings for the night, Keons met Nico in the sanctuary of the temple. The head Bishop waited at the altar, facing the large statue. Keons entered from the back of the room, walking reverently toward the head Bishop.

“You have information you’ve kept from me for too long,” Nico said, turning toward Keons, his hands clasped behind his back.

Keons stood a little straighter. “Probach meni, bud’ laska (Translation: Forgive me, please). It was you who taught me, Nico, that knowledge is power. I was not entirely certain the information I obtained was correct —”

“Enough stalling, Keons,” Nico warned in a measured tone. He leaned forward on the stone block used for changing humans to Heathens. “Tell me what you know.”

Keons took another three steps forward. His hands balled to fists at his sides, but he stood fast in his resolve to share the information with Nico.

“She has surfaced — the last Bandito child. She’s a woman now, of course, but I have no doubt that it’s her.”

Nico smirked. “You shouldn’t have any doubt. You are the one who let the child escape our grasp.”

Keons took a deep breath, fighting now to maintain his confidence. He had intended, those decades ago, for the knowledge of the child’s life and location to bring him into power within the walls of Old Dema; Nico was too smart for Keons. Too ruthless. He had sensed the plot from the very beginning and had cut Keons off at the pass by informing the other Bishops the child was still alive but would be allowed to live. Anything else would undermine the authority of the Bishops.

“When I rode out several weeks ago to retrieve an escaped vampire, I found the creature dead. Her neck was snapped and her body was there, lifeless, in Trench. The scent of the Bandito child was heavy in the air, and though I could not pinpoint her location, I knew she was near. Then, after the last soul was captured and brought into our walls before disappearing, I smelled her scent in that man’s assigned room.”

“But the room was empty,” Nico surmised. He stepped around the cement block, stopping inches in front of Keons. “She is following in the footsteps of her ancestors, and the Heathen in her aids every mission she accepts. You must find her and bring her here. Send the new Heathen.”

“You mean …?”

Nico’s smirk rolled into a satisfied grin. “Yes. That one. I want her back here. She holds all the answers, Keons, and if we are to take back New Dema — we need answers.”

Keons bowed gracefully. “Yak vy komanduyete.” (Translation: As you command.)

#twenty one pilots #fanfiction #dema inspired #the last bandito #repost

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theladyinthegraveyard · 5 years ago

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THE TRUE ORIGIN OF COUNT DRACULA

Dracula. The most famous vampire in history, created by the pen of Bram Stoker. Did he got inspired simply from Vlad Tepes, prince of Valachia, or are there any other figures who inspired him? The vampire figure has always been in the collective imagination and these creatures were born much earlier, and in some ancient civilizations there are already traces. In 1800, for example, there was a belief in Greece that all people with red hair could feed on blood.The cradle of vampires is Romania and it has always been believed that Dracula was modeled on the figure of Count Vlad, called "The Impaler", a member of the order of the Dragon, an order created to protect Christianity in Eastern Europe, in a time when the Turks was the most powerful empire in the world. he was ruthless and brutal and his reputation spread across Europe. Initially the novel was not titled "Dracula" but the original manuscript was simply titled "the undead" and the protagonist was called Count Vampyr.

This may mean that at first the writer had not directly connected him to Count Vlad. In 1998 Elizabeth Millard, a literary scholar, published an essay in which she supported the thesis that in reality Stoker did not have great knowledge on the figure of the notorious Romanian count, he certainly knew its history, but not so well. In 2010, Bob Carran, professor of Celtic history and mythology, publishes an interesting article that answers the question of who was inspired by Stoker for his vampire. Being the writer an Irishman, he may have been inspired by the legend of Abhartach, a fifth-century Irish chief known for his habits of feeding on the blood of his enemies and subjects.

In the 17th century, Geoffrey Keating translated a legend rooted in Celtic mythology. In his work "History of Ireland" he talks about a real historical figure: Abertach. He was a warlord, governor of a small kingdom. He was much feared by the local population as he was believed to have magical powers. Fear led the population to seek help from a chief of a nearby kingdom, Katayn, and that if he were able to kill him, the rival's kingdom would end up in his hands.

He succeeded, killed him and buried him in an upright position as was the custom. But during the night Abertach emerged from his grave, recovered his strength by feeding on the blood of one of his subjects and began the hunt for his assassin. Katayn killed him a second time, but Abertach continued to rise from his grave. Katayn asked for help from a shaman who told him that his rival was an "undead" and that to defeat him he had to bury him upside down and stick a wooden stake in his heart. Following the advice, Abertach was finally defeated.

The Celtic word "dreach - fhuola" means "corrupt blood" and it is believed that it is from this word that Stoker called Dracula its protagonist. When Bram Stoker was researching one of his biggest influences was a woman born in a healthy family in the Lanarkshire town of Airdrie, her name was Emily Gerard and she wrote books about Transylvanian folklore titled “ The land beyond the forest”. Those books introduced to Stoker the concept of the “nosferatu”, a vampire creature. She wrote the books after spending 2 years in Romania with her husband, who was there as an officer in the Austro – Hungarian army.

I agree that for sure Stoker has been inspired by several different sources since Ireland mythology is vast and has many tales and legends. I have always been really interested in the figure of the vampire. it’s something ancient, almost “ primordial”, and in my opinion, it’s the most famous horror creature in literature. The classic and the modern one. I read Dracula for the first time when I was 11 years old and it has been a life changing book. It was not just an horror novel but much more. It marked the beginning of my passion / obsession for Gothic and Horror Literature and it’s something that accompanies me to these days. I never get tired to study the book and the new literary discoveries about it.

Photo: a photo portrait of Bram Stoker.

#bram stoker

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nxctiphany · 4 years ago

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Regarding shifted/animal forms:

I’ve been to make this headcanon for a while, but put it off because it’s not terribly relevant, but I wanted to explain a few things regarding them anyway - just for future reference in case they do ever shift or are found shifted in a thread/ask!

In their animal forms, they can be exposed to sunlight without dying. Though, the longer they remain outside beneath the sun the weaker they often become. As a result, it isn’t uncommon for them to take animal form while scouting during the day or if something happens that would otherwise expose them to sunlight. The shift between this form and their human one is seamless and incredibly quick - and it gets quicker with age. The older the vampire, the faster and easier it is for them to take on this form. It’s also not unusual for them to take on these forms, assuming their animal form is something more mundane, when wounded in order to avoid attracting attention to themselves. Some of my muses are more prone to shifting than others or are quick to shift when cornered or in a panic (namely Jareth, Crow).

The actual form they take is based on their Fylgja (companion spirits of Norse mythology, typically considered an embodiment of a person's fate, or fortune. They are often a reflection of that person’s character or of the character they will become. They are rarely seen outside of dreams or death), it’s decided at birth and cannot be changed - long before they become vampires, it’s merely that becoming undead allows them to better connect with them and, thus, take on the form of their own.

Getting into specific characters and their Fylgja/why their animal form is what it is (with the exception of Orpheus since I haven’t revealed it yet, though I’ve admittedly foreshadowed it so often in threads that’s probably clear but shhh, as well as Remus since this doesn’t apply to him as he’s a werewolf), and what it means in regards to them as a person under the cut:

Adrasteia (Leopard): It isn’t uncommon for warrior or those of noble birth to have carnivores to display their strength and social standing. The leopard itself is a representation of perseverance, strength, and, oftentimes beauty - of a brave warrior whose courage never falters, but can also represent destruction and violence (all in Celtic mythology).

Alice (Golden Eagle): The above applies to Alice as well. The Eagle (specifically the Golden Eagle, in this case) also represents power and beauty (Polish mythology). In Norse mythology, it is not uncommon for those with a vicious nature to have Fylgja that take the shape of large predators, the eagle often included in them.

Crow (Crow): In Christianity, the crow is considered earthly - choosing, often, to be grounded instead of free (they are believed to spend more time on their feet than other birds, in this case). In Celtic mythology, the crow is knowledgable and clairvoyant. In Greek mythology, they also represent intelligence.

Darius & Lorcan (Bat): In regards to Fylgja, they (from my research) are often the same spirit for family members thus why Darius and Lorcan share the same animal. Bats often represent letting go of the old and bringing in the new. They represent a desire to be reborn and act as a guide between this world and the other world (Celtic mythology).

Felicity (Dog): In Greek mythology dogs often represented love and faith, as well as.Fidelity. Small dogs often represent wealth and status. Dogs are said to be unlike humans who may try to trick others, and only provide the truth when they bark (they bite only those who harm their loved ones).

Ingram (House Cat): In certain parts of Europe and Australia, (black) cats are a symbol of good luck and physical healing. For thousands of years they were considered to be the helpers of herbalists. As a result, they are often used to send a healthy message to loved one (a reminder to drink a class of water or to take their medicine).

Jareth (Wolf): In Norse mythology wolves tend to represent death and destruction. In Great Britain Merlin was accompanied by a she-wolf in his time of madness who remained with him until he was well. A she-wolf was also the one who raised romulus and remus. They are guides and represent loyalty. The wolf is said to act quickly and form, firm emotional attachments easily.

Uriel: (Lion): In alchemy, the symbolic meaning of lions is associated with the highly idealistic and prized attributes of gold. In England, the lion symbolizes royalty, honor, courage, and strength. However, it can also represent power, desire, control and possessiveness.

#| ☩ beneath darkened skies we thrive ☩ (headcanons) |#{ this is all based on European mythology }

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nyxshadowhawk · 5 years ago

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Nyx’s Complete List of Goth Names

Abaddon: From Greek, means "destruction" or "demon of the pit."

Acheron: The River of Woe in the Greek underworld.

Achlys: Greek primordial goddess of poison, misery, and sadness, personification of the death-mist.

Adonis: Means "lord" (as in Adonai). In Greek mythology, the most beautiful youth in the world, loved by both Persephone and Aphrodite. Died tragically.

Adrian/Adrienne: English, from Latin; means "from Hadria" (the Adriatic Sea). I've heard sources saying it means "dark one," but I haven't been able to confirm this. It's still a really cool, kind of gothy name. (Also the real name of Alucard from Castlevania.)

Ahriman: The Zoroastrian devil/evil god.

Akeldama: Means "field of blood," a place in Jerusalem associated with Judas.

Alastor: Greek, means "avenging spirit."

Alcmene: (Female) Means "might of the moon," Heracles' mother in mythology.

Alecto: One of the Erinyes (Furies), the goddesses of vengeance. Means "unceasing."

Altair: The brightest star in the constellation Aquila (the Eagle), from Arabic, meaning "the bird."

Amaranth: (Female) Greek; a mythical purple flower that never fades, a symbol of immortality.

Amethyst: A dark purple crystal, associated with wine and preventing drunkenness.

Andromeda: Greek, means "thinks like a man," the name of a princess in mythology, a constellation, and a galaxy.

Anubis: Jackal-headed Egyptian god of death and embalming.

Arcana: From Latin "hidden, secret" (literally "to shut in a chest"), refers to secrets or mysteries. Also refers to the groups of cards in a tarot deck (the major and minor arcana).

Arianrhod: Means "silver wheel," Welsh goddess of the moon, stars, and the flow of time.

Artemis/Diana: Greco-Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, and virginity

Asmodeus: Means "wrath-demon," a Goetic demon appearing in a number of texts, representing luxury, sensuality, and lust. (Also Asmodai)

Asphodel: A white flower planted on graves, said to grow in the Greek underworld, and therefore heavily connected with death.

Astaroth: (Unisex) A demon in the Ars Goetia (from the Lesser Key of Solomon), described as a male demon and a Duke of Hell, but the name likely comes from the Phoenician goddess Astarte (or Ashtoreth), who is a version of Ishtar (Babylonian) and Inanna (Sumerian).

Astor: A French and German name from Occitan, meaning "goshawk." A goshawk is a bird of prey. I've read on naming sites that this name was originally a derogatory term for young men with hawk-like, predatory characteristics, but I haven't found anything to confirm this. This is the name of my alter-ego and one of the main protagonists of Shadowbook.

Astra/Astrid/Asteria: From Greek, "star." In Greek mythology, Asteria was a Titaness of astrology and prophecy, the mother of Hecate. An aster is also a star-shaped flower.

Atropos: The last of the Moirai (Fates), who cuts the thread at the end of life.

Autumn: The darkening part of the year, when everything is dying, and Halloween happens.

Azrael: The name of the Angel of Death, means "whom god helps." (Also Asriel)

Azazel: A Watcher's name, means "scapegoat." Taught humanity the arts of weaponry and cosmetics. Commonly associated with demons and evil.

Baphomet: A goat-headed, winged deity associated with Satanism; obscure etymology.

Bastet: Egyptian goddess of cats.

Belial: A Hebrew name meaning "worthless," a name of the devil or a demon.

Belladonna: Also called "deadly nightshade," an extremely poisonous plant that causes hallucinations and death.

Bellona: Roman goddess of war

Bezaliel: Means "shadow of God" or "damaged," a Watcher's name.

Blodeuwedd: Pronounced "bluh-DIE-weth," means "flower-face." A Welsh goddess who was turned into an owl.

Bram/Brom: Technically short for Abraham ("father of a multitude"), the author of Dracula, Abraham "Bram" Stoker.

Bran: Welsh, "raven." The name of Bran the Blessed, a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology.

Branwen: (Female) Welsh, means "white raven" or "fair raven."

Breksta: Lithuanian goddess of night, dreams, and twilight.

Caligo: Latin word for “mist,” “gloom,” and “darkness.” (Calignes is the plural, which could also work) (feminine)

Calypso: Greek, "she who conceals." The nymph who kept Odysseus imprisoned on her island.

Carmilla: A lesbian vampire from the gothic novel of the same name, predating Dracula. The name seems to have been invented by the author.

Cassius: Roman, "empty, hollow."

Ceridwen: Welsh enchantress or goddess who stirs the cauldron of poetic inspiration.

Cernunnos: Celtic forest god depicted as having a stag's antlers.

Chiroptera: Literally means "hand wing," the order of bats in taxonomy.

Circe: Means "circle." In Greek mythology, a sorceress who turned Odysseus' men into pigs (and later helped them).

Cora: From the Greek name Kore, meaning "maiden." A name for Persephone. (Also, Coraline.)

Cornix: A princess transformed into a crow by Athena in Ovid's Metamorphosis.

Corvus/Corax: Corvus corax is the scientific name of the common raven.

Crimson: Dark, rich red, the color of wine or blood. One of the Gothiest colors that isn't black. It's very easy for this to sound banal or cringey, especially if it's a character's given name, so use with caution. Scarlet works, too, if you want something easier to use as a given name.

Damian: From Greek, means "to tame," tends to be associated with demons or vampires, a bit cliche at this point.

Dantalion: A Goetic demon, the name is particularly cool.

Desdemona: A tragic character in Othello, comes from Greek and means "ill-fated." Can be shortened to "Mona."

Desmodus: The genus of common vampire bats. (D. rotundus)

Devana: Slavic version of Artemis/Diana, goddess of the hunt.

Dorian: The corrupt, depraved, nearly immortal and astonishingly beautiful protagonist from The Picture of Dorian Gray. (Turns out Oscar Wilde invented the name; it did not exist before the book was written.)

Dracul: Romanian, "devil" or "dragon." What really needs to be said?

Ebony: A very dark wood.

Echo: In Greek mythology, a nymph who was cursed so she would only repeat the names of others; died while pining after Narcissus.

Edgar: Anglo-Saxon, "rich spear." The name of the one and only Edgar Allen Poe (also, my cat).

Eidolon: A type of spirit or ghost in Greek liteature. Also a genus of bats.

Eirlys: Welsh, "snowflake."

Elatha: An Irish god, described as the "beautiful Miltonic prince of darkness with golden hair." Not sure what the source for that is, but cool!

Elvira: Spanish, means "foreign true," a stereotypical Goth name (and the name of the Mistress of the Dark!). Actually, I first ran across the name in reference to a vengeful ghost called Elvira Blood in New England folk legend. Spooky!

Empusa: A kind of Greek female demon (similar to Lamia) that served Hecate.

Endora: Comes from the Witch of Endor, a Biblical sorceress.

Endymion: In Greek mythology, a handsome shepherd whom Selene fell in love with. Zeus granted him eternal sleep so he would never age. Means "to dive, to enter."

Erebus: Greek primordial god and personification of darkness.

Esmeralda: Spanish name meaning "emerald." (Also, the heroine in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.)

Ethelinda: Anglo-Saxon, means "little serpent."

Euryale: Greek, means "far-roming," the middle Gorgon sister.

Eurynomos: Greek chthonic spirit of corpses.

Eventide: It could work as a name.

Fenrir: A wolf demon in Norse mythology, the son of Loki.

Finvarra: Irish, King of the Fairies (and sometimes King of the Dead), a benevolent entity that ensures a good harvest and abundance.

Gabriel: The angel. Means "warrior of god." Gabrielle also works (and is the name of Lestat's mother).

Gehenna: A Hebrew name for Tartarus or Hell.

Golgotha: From Hebrew, "skull," the place where Jesus was crucified.

Grimm: The surname of two German brothers who recorded a classic collection of oral folklore and fairy tales, many of which are very... well, grim.

Habundia: A Celtic name for the queen of witches and night creatures, possibly another name for Nicnevan. Etymology uncertain.

Hades: The Lord of the Underworld in Greek mythology (also the name of the Underworld itself).

Hawthorn: A type of shrub steeped in folklore, associated with fairies and with Beltane (1st May).

Hecate: Greek goddess of witchcraft, magic, the occult, the moon, necromancy, the Underworld, and the crossroads. Means "worker from far off."

Hellebore: A type of evergreen flower, some species of which are poisonous. Believed to summon demons, also believed to cure madness.

Hemlock: A plant used to poison people.

Herne: "the Hunter," a ghost that haunts Windsor Forest (sometimes identified with The Horned God).

Hesperos/ia: The evening star.

Hypnos: The Greek god of sleep.

Iblis: Satan in Islamic lore.

Idris: Welsh, "ardent (passionate, fiery) lord."

Igor: Russian, "bow-warrior." Became famous as the name of Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant, even though he doesn't exist in the book and his name in the original Universal film was Fritz.

Ingram: Swedish name meaning "Ing's raven."

Iolanthe: Greek, means "violet flower." (eye-oh-LAHN-thay)

Iseult/Isolde/Isolt: A tragic lover in Arthurian legend.

Jasmine: A type of flower, in this case referring to Cestrum nocturnum, or night-blooming jasmine.

Kali: Hindu goddess of destruction, name means "the black one."

Kasdaye: Means "hidden power," the name of a Watcher (another name for Tamiel). (Unisex)

Kiara/n: Gaelic, means "little black one."

Kimaris: A Goetic demon. (Male)

Kokabiel: Means "angel of the stars," a Watcher.

Lacrimae: Latin word for tears.

Lamia: A female demon in Greek folklore who devours children. The name of the witch in the film version of Stardust.

Lenore: A variant of Eleanor (also a good name), means "foreign," the lost love of the protagonist of "The Raven," also has her own poem.

Leshii: A Russian god of hunting, similar to Veles

Lethe: River of Forgetfulness in the Greek Underworld.

Leviathan: From Hebrew, "twisted in folds," a Biblical sea monster. Sometimes associated with Midgard's Serpent.

Libitina: A Roman goddess of corpses, funerals, and the dead.

Ligeia: Greek, the name of a Siren, also the subject of a Poe story of the same name.

Lilah: Comes from the Arabic Leila, meaning "night."

Lilith: Means "of the night" or "screech owl." In Hebrew mythology, Adam's first wife and the Queen of Demons. She refused to submit to Adam, so she left Eden and began screwing around with demons. Often considered a succubus or vampire, or a champion of feminism. A lilim is also a succubus or incubus.

Loki: Trickster god in Norse mythology with ambiguous morals.

Lorelei: German, means "murmuring rock," the name of a German Siren.

Lucius/Lucifer/Lucien: All mean "light" or "light-bringer," a name associated with Satan.

Lucy: From Dracula, also could be a shortening/feminization of Lucifer. (Still means "light.")

Luna: The Roman personification of the moon.

Lycoris: A Greek word that means "twilight," the name of an Asian red flower, associated with death and the underworld (much like Asphodel).

Maeve: Comes from Gaelic, means "the intoxicating one." Associated with the Fairy Queen Mab.

Makaria: Greek goddess of blessed death, a daughter of Hades and Persephone.

Mania: Etruscan/Roman goddess of the undead, ghosts, and underworld spirits, goddess of madness. Also a modern medical term referring to a specific mental illness.

Mara: A name steeped in darkness, referring to a nightmare spirit (nightmare), a (benevolent) goddess of death in Latvian mythology, a (male) demon in Buddhist mythology, and a Sanskrit word meaning "death."

Medea: In Greek mythology, the sorceress who helped Jason, but then went on a murderous rampage when he left her. Considered to be a priestess (or, rarely, daughter) of Hecate.

Megaera: One of the Erinyes (Furies), the goddesses of vengeance. Means "grudge."

Melanie: Greek, "black" or "dark."

Melantha: Greek, "dark flower."

Melinda/Mindy: English, "black serpent."

Melinoe: Greek goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and madness, a daughter of Hades and Persephone.

Mephistopheles: The name of the devil in the Faust legend, could be from Hebrew and mean "disperser of lies," or from Greek and mean "does not love the light."

Merle: (Unisex) from French, "blackbird."

Mina: From Dracula. Short for Wilhelmina, a German name meaning "will-helmet."

Morana/Marzanna: Slavic goddess of winter and death.

Morgan/Morgana: From Welsh, means "sea-circle," the name of Morgan le Fay, a sorceress in Arthurian Legend (who may be good or evil, depending on your interpretation).

Morpheus: The Greek god of dreams, the main protagonist of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics. (Also, The Matrix.)

Morrigan: An Irish goddess of death, battle, and ravens, name means "great queen."

Morwenna: A Welsh name meaning "maiden." ("Morwanneg" is the name of the witch in Stardust.)

Nepenthe: A magical drug from the Odyssey that cures sorrow and causes forgetfulness.

Nephthys: Means "lady of the temple," the Egyptian goddess of the dead, mate of Seth and mother of Anubis.

Nergal: Mesopotamian god of death, war, and destruction.

Nicnevan: Queen of the Fairies in Scottish folklore. She is the Scottish version of Hecate.

Nightshade: A family of plants including tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants, but also the notorious deadly nightshade.

Nisha/nt: A Hindi name meaning "night."

Nocturne: Self-explanatory. Refers to a night prayer, a musical composition evoking night, or a night scene in art.

Nyctala/Nyctea: Two obsolete genera of owls. Nyctala is the genus of Boreal owls before it was changed to Aegolius, and Nyctea was the genus of Snowy owls before it was changed to Bubo. Both probably mean or are related to "night."

Nyctalus: A genus of bats.

Nyctimene: A princess from Ovid's Metamorphoses who was so ashamed at having been molested by her father, she refused to show her face in daylight. Out of pity, Minerva (Athena) turned her into an owl. Also a genus of bats.

Nyx: A Greek primordial goddess and personification of the Night. (also Nox)

Oberon: From French, means "elf-ruler," the name of the Fairy King in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Referred to in one scene as the "king of shadows").

Obsidian: A shiny black volcanic stone.

Onyx: A type of banded stone, most famously black. (The word comes from the Greek for "fingernail.")

Ophelia: A tragic character in Hamlet, which probably comes from Greek and means "help."

Orcus: A Latin word for Hell, and a Roman god who punished the dead (possibly an epithet of Hades/Pluto).

Orion: A hunter in Greek mythology, and the famous constellation.

Orlok: The name of the ugly-looking vampire from Nosferatu.

Orpheus: Greek name, possibly comes from the word orphe, "darkness." The name of a demigod with an impossibly beautiful singing voice who attempted to rescue his love from the underworld, failed, and then died tragically.

Pan: Greek goat-horned god of nature, herds, and lust, induces "panic."

Pandora: Name means "all-gifted." In Greek mythology, the name of the first woman, who opened a box that unleashed evil upon the world.

Pandemonium: The capital city of Hell in Paradise Lost, name literally means "all demons."

Persephone: Greek Queen of the Underworld, wife of Hades, and goddess of springtime. You probably know her story. Her name might mean "thrasher of grain" (which would make sense for an agricultural goddess), but could also mean "slayer."

Phaenon: Means "shining" in Greek, refers to the planet Saturn (which has long been associated with darkness in mythology, being the furthest planet from the sun that is observable with the naked eye).

Pluto: Hades' Roman name, also the ninth planet, or what was the ninth planet.

Ransley: An English name meaning "raven's meadow."

Raven: This is by far the most cliche Goth name there is (I originally created this list to provide alternatives to the name “Raven”), but it’s classic, it’s simple, it’s unisex, and it’s undeniably Goth.

Ravenna: Self-explanatory, also an Italian city.

Renwick: Scottish surname meaning "raven settlement."

Sable: A word referring to the color black.

Salome: From Hebrew shalom, "peace." The daughter of Herod and Herodias, unnamed in the Bible, who requested the head of John the Baptist and danced the Dance of the Seven Veils.

Samael: Means "venom of God," a vicious angel of death, the mate of Lilith. He is not technically a fallen angel, but a servant of God who does the dirty work.

Sekhmet: Egyptian goddess of war and destruction, with the head of a lioness. Her name means "power" or "might." Her epithets included "Mistress of Dread," "Lady of Slaughter," and "She Who Mauls." Ra had to stop her from killing people by getting her drunk on beer that was dyed to look like blood.

Selene: Greek personification of the moon. (Includes "Selena" and variants.")

Senka: Basque name meaning "shadow."

Seren: (Unisex) Welsh name meaning "star."

Seth: A name of Set or Sutekh, the Egyptian god of evil, chaos, and storms. He killed his brother Osiris and cut his body into pieces, and then was defeated by Horus. His head is that of an animal that looks kind of like an aardvark but is not an actual existing creature (at least not anymore). He was associated with the color red and the desert. His name possibly means "one who dazzles."

Shadow: Self-explanatory.

Silas: From Greek, means "from the forest." In The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, it's the name of a [spoiler]vampire.

Silver: The color of the moon, and it looks nice with black.

Sinistra: Technically, it's Latin for "left," but it obviously has "sinister" connotations.

Skiá: Greek word for "shadow" or "shade."

Skotos: Ancient Greek word for "darkness," especially the darkness of death or the netherworld, or obscurity.

Skuld: The last of the Norns (Fates), representing death. Means "debt."

Sombra: The Spanish word for "shadow."

Somnus: Roman name for Hypnos, sleep.

Spyridon: Greek name referring to wicker baskets, which implies wealth. Could also be connected to the Latin spiritus, which means breath or spirit. Usually shortened to Spyro.

Stella: The Latin word for "star."

Stheno: Greek, means "forceful." The eldest of the Gorgon sisters.

Styx: The River of Hate in the Greek Underworld, the most famous of its rivers. The souls of the dead are ferried across it by Charon, and the gods (foolishly, if you ask me, seeing as they always regret it) swear on the Styx to make unbreakable oaths. The word "Stygian" means "of the River Styx" and refers to something very dark or abyssal.

Summanus: Roman god of nocturnal thunder.

Sylvia/Sylvana: Latin, "from the forest."

Tanith: Phoenician, "serpent lady."

Tartarus: The deepest hell-pit of the Greek Underworld, where evildoers are punished.

Tempest: A wild storm, from the Latin for "time."

Thanatos: The Greek personification of Death.

Tiamat: Babylonian primordial dragon goddess.

Tisiphone: One of the Erinyes (Furies), the goddesses of vengeance. Means "murder-retribution."

Tristan: Welsh, "riot, tumult." (Although it sounds like the Latin tristis, which means "sad.") The name of Isolt's lover in Arthurian Legend, and the name of the protagonist in Stardust.

Valerian: Roman, means "strength" or "valiant," also the name of an herb.

Vega: (Unisex) Latin from Arabic, means "falling" or "swooping," a star in the constellation Lyra. It is one of the brightest stars in the entire sky.

Veles: Slavic horned god of cattle, forests, magic, and the underworld.

Veliona: Slavic goddess of death

Velvet: A fabric that most goths love to wear.

Vervain: An herb (verbena), meaning "sacred bough," considered a magical or holy herb in multiple cultures.

Vesperus: (or just Vesper), a Roman name meaning "evening." (Vespera for a girl)

Vespertilio: A genus of bats.

Victor: The first of the trio of gothy male "V" names, means "conqueror," as in "victory." Frankenstein's first name. (Victoria also works for a girl.)

Vincent: The second of the trio of gothy male "V" names, also meaning "conquering," from Latin.

Vivian: The Lady of the Lake in Arthurian legend. From French, means "lively." (Another name for the Lady is Nimue, which is Welsh and may be related to the Greek word for "memory." She sealed Merlin in a tree.)

Vlad: The third of the trio of gothy male "V" names, the name of Vlad Tepes or "Vlad the Impaler," the real-life Romanian prince who inspired Count Dracula. It's Slavic and means "ruler."

Willow: A beautiful and mournful-looking tree.

Winter: The dark, cold season. Unisex!

Yvaine: Scottish, means "evening star," the name of the star in Stardust.

Zagreus: The name of a chthonic Greek god who was potentially a son of Hades and Persephone or Zeus and Persephone, considered in Orphic lore to be Dionysus before he was dismembered and reincarnated.

Zillah: Hebrew name meaning "shadow."

#names #goth names #writing #gothic names #character names #mythology #gods and goddesses #literature #gothic lit #name list

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astronomifier · 5 years ago

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Magnus Relisten Eps 29 and 30

We've made it 3/4ths of the way through the season, with Cheating Death and Killing Floor.

Episode 29: Cheating Death Case #9720406 Statment of Nathaniel Thorp, regarding their own mortality.

So i’m going to sort of jump the gun on this episode, because i really want to use it to talk about something other than its standalone quality. This episode is good, but not particularly stand-out, except with regards to atmosphere, which it excels at. I will say though that its presentation as a folk tale rather than a legitamate statement tripped me up on first listen. Not so much second time through. Anyways, what i actually want to talk about: This episode is a great case study for discussing how tma uses traditional horror tropes and mythology in its statements. See, while there are plenty of episodes about just straight up weird and totally original stuff, and quite a few others messing around with common phobias, a lot of them are inspired by existing mythology. Ghost stories are the most common, but we also get vampires, excorcisms, and in this episode, the “Chess with Death” story. There will be more of this down the line, as well. Now, as im sure has been noticed by those following along, these are much more of homages to classic tropes than straight up adaptations. There are always twists on the classic tale, with statements often only resembling the inspiration in general outline or aesthetics. This is of course a good thing; it stops the episodes from falling into cliche or predictability, and avoids an “everything including the kitchen sink” approach to fantasy writing that a lot of episodic supernatural shows fall into, instead keeping a sense of tonal consistency between the various horrors. Like, imagine what vampires being weak to garlic would do to the tone of this show! This episode hews far closer to its inspiration than any of the other examples so far, and it still has big twists. In this case, we play a not chess with Death, though it is offered, but a game of chance. This is heavily emphasized, with the implication that a game of skill would be entirely unwinnable. More than that, though, we have the mortal protagonist literally “Cheating Death” by cheating at the card game to win, and have it work. In most of these types of stories, cheating is either not an option or heavily punished if attempted. But this alone is not really enough of a twist for this show, and the episode would be disappointing if that were it. No, the show takes another much larger leap away from the original concept by then revealing that winning against Death does not grant life, instead the winner simply does not die. in fact, they replace the old Death in a seemingly infinite cycle, who then goes on to be an immortal quasi-undead. The first part of the story was lightly twisting the original, but the latter section is a full-on original concept, or at least not a story i’ve ever heard in relation to Chess with Death storilines before. Does have some potential connections to Celtic “Ankou” stories, though, where the Death figure is the soul of the first mortal to die in a year and serves for only that year. Regardless, by the time the episode ends, you definitely feel you didn’t predict what happened, and you’re definitely seeped in the Magnus Archives’s tone rather than the potentially hokey tone of the original tale. Its a simple yet strong and versatile technique to horror anthology writing, i think. Anyways, a brief bit on the metanarrative stuff before we move on: Elias has been working at the institute since 1972! guy’s gotta be, what, in his 60s by now? presuming he was yno, older than a child when he started. Wiki actually says this may have been retconned though, apperently there are multiple stated dates, with this being the earliest. Given that the alternatives make him young enough to match his voice actor’s non-elderly voice, im fairly tempted to go with the latter even if it kinda messes up this episode’s ability to exist in continuity.

Narrator-watch this week is a bit redundant, as the story is more or less entirely about the narrator as a person. Their thoughts, fears, willingness to cheat, personality quirks, and fate. I will say though, it is absolutely fascinating that we get not only the story from the perspective of a supernatural being, at least towards the end, but the fact that this being was both once human and completely without agency in the horrors it carries out. creepy stuff. Also, dang, sure its dated to 1972, but this guy’s from the american revolution. Easily the oldest statement we’ve gotten so far if we consider it to be set in 1776. a generation and a half before Schwartzwald.

I’m going to give this episode a 6/10. i know we spent a long time talking without saying many flaws, but thats because theyre all pretty mundane. frankly, all i really can say for the score is i’m less impressed with this episode than i am with anything in our current 7/10 roster. dispite its originality at the end, the early part hews a bit close to the standard story and is reallllly long, with all the really interesting bits coming and going really briefly. SPOILER PARAGRAPH: barely anything to say on the episode proper, here. Its an End episode, but nothing much in it comes up later. I have heard the suggestion that perhaps the immortal Mummy that shows up for a later one-off in “Burial Rites” is another example of what Thorp becomes after regaining human form. But theres nothing to really confirm or deny this. They’re certainly similar phenomena, but we dont get enough information on the Mummy to determine if theyre the same. Certainly a fate worse than death if true, though. One more thing: This episode, along with the War from “Piper”, had a lot of early fans speculating that the metaplot was going to be about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse storyline. I think this was fans starting to notice that the Dark Powers were a thing, and that statements could be categorized pretty neatly into various themes, without having enough information to actually predict the Powers. Jane Prentiss was presumably a manifestation of Pestilence, then. I assume that people went with War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death instead of trying to fit Conquest in. Anyways, im curious as to if this was an intentional red herring or not. On one hand, we do get a manifestation known literally as “the War”, followed by one known literally as “Death” within the first season. On the other hand, Jonny has stated that he doesn’t like using red herrings that much, and it could be easily explainable as an accident: Death and War are both subjects of the End and Slaughter, and Jonny is pulling from mythology for his inspiration, hence the grim reaper iconography. That early fans didn’t notice that there were “Horsemen” of Meat, Loneliness, the Sky, etc, isn’t Jonny’s fault.

Episode 30: Killing Floor Case #0130111 Statement of David Laylow, regarding their time working at an industrial abattoir near Dalston, London.

“More Meat”. More or less sums it up, huh Jon. But of course, theres more to it than that. First of all, i think this episode does a great job of combining psychological and gross-out horror. All of the death and corpses and meat talk covers the gross-out quite well, and its really effective at making this episode terrifyingly hard to listen to. But it really serves as an unsettling backdrop to an episode thats largely about the ethics of industrialized slaughterhouses. For one, it touches on the fear that animals must fear in the slaughterhouse, asking if these practices are ethical by transferring that same fear onto a human. But it focuses even more on what that does to the human operators, suggesting that to become numb to killing an animal is to become numb to killing a human. Really, this whole episode can be summed up as “we humans are, fundamentally, the same thing as the animals we butcher”. Which is a really creepy concept, honestly, and surprisingly existential for an episode that could easily just been a mass of gore and violence. really well done. I do think it comes at a bit of a cost, though: i think that of the gross out episodes we’ve had before, this one has some weak spots. Namely, Jane Prentiss is wayyyy more stomach churning to me than the mass of bodies that is the main gore set-piece of the episode Some decent mystery here, too. Obviously the nature of this “Slaughterhouse Dimension” is one of them, but more than that, largely relating to Tom Hahn. Why was Tom Hahn acting so irrationally, self mutilating and then basically killing himself while Laylow in the same place keeps his wits about him. Tom also gave an ominous statement before the supernatural stuff started, did he know this was going to happen? Why does killing him set Laylo free? Though the thing Jon focuses on at the end, the fact that he vanishes, isn’t as mysterious to me. Guy died in a weird magical demiplane or something, there’s a reason no body shows up in the normal world. The mystery stuff is a bit to vague to really hang much of a hat on, though. more of a looming implication of something larger than anything you can really dig into, which makes it more a part of the horror than anything else.

So, this episode is actually the one I had in mind when i decided to make narrator watch a staple part of this show. It has soooo many of the high points to a strong narrator. First, a deep dive into an obscure career that is completely believable as first person experience to my layman’s ears. haven’t gotten one quite so good in this regard since the garbage men, i think. I guess technically Melanie King counted, given the whole Ghost-Hunter TV star thing. Either way, this one is really well done, especially because the job in question is so easy to intertwine with both the psychological and gruesome aspects of today’s episode. Most notably in the psychological aspect is Laylow’s little character arc. We get to see a traumatizing job and a traumatizing supernatural occurrence combine forces to make him go from “uncomfortable working the killing floor” to “willingly puts a bolt in a man’s head”. I’m not a good enough psychological horror aficionado to really dig deep into why this works so well, but it definitely does. you can feel how unstable this made him in the narrator, and his slip into that state feels earned and natural, given the circumstances.

9/10. Great ep. Honestly, i think my efforts to calibrate my scores to the range of magnus archives episodes are failing me. I’m finding myself wanting to give so many 7s, 8s, and 9s, and so few under-5s. Eh, to late to go back and fix it now, the calibration is gonna have to be what i’ve come up with. Anyways, i dont think i need to explain any further why this one is good.

SPOILER PARAGRAPH: This episode feels like Jonny finally figuring out just exactly what the Flesh is about, and basically presenting a thesis on it. Gerard’s description of the Flesh is “animals’ fear of being slaughtered in industrial slaughterhouses, transfered onto humanity and made weird”, and this episode has all of that. Ok, well, maybe not the “made weird” part, i think thats more an attempt to explain why Jared Hopworth and Angela from Piecemeal are part of it. But, we certainly have the rest here, and i love it. Animal fear of being slaughtered comes off great in the supernatural segment of the episode, so got that. And it transfers to humans everywhere. In the supernatural stuff we have a guy being tormented by being placed in the position of the animal, and we see masses of possibly human meat followed by Tom Hahn being killed with a bolt gun. Pretty obvious there. But also from the narrator, who describes how being able to kill animals makes you able to kill humans, too, and then does it. Like, this episode is literally a point for point example how how Gerry describes the Flesh. Now then, Tom Hahn. I don’t have a ton of theories about exactly what his deal is, beyond “major flesh avatar”, but one thing became very clear in light of my knowledge of avatars on this second listen. Namely, we get another example of a need to die in some way to become a fully realized avatar. Or at least a need for a death to be involved. We see this with Jude Perry, Agnes Montague, Jon Archivist, Oliver Banks, and so many more, and now again with Hahn, getting a bolt in the head. Well, i say “now”, like Hahn is a recent example. He’s one of the first in the show, but im only now noticing it. Finally, an odd observation: much like in Skintight, we get an example of someone saying something that conflates the Flesh and Slaughter. In Skintight, a slaughter manifestation seems to refer to itself as “the butcher’s meat”, and in this episode, Tom Hahn mentions something about “Slaughter”. I can’t imagine that Jonny was still figuring out the entity list at this point, though. I guess the two just have some thematic overlap, i mean they are called SLAUGHTER-houses. Also, the names of Entities are definitely not inherent aspects of them, so its likely nothing.

#the magnus archives #tma #magnus relisten

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rocknrollbodhisattva · 6 years ago

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The Paranormal and the Sitcom: A So Weird & Girl Meets World Crossover Essay

Inspired by @fi-phillips | @thats-so-weird | @boymeetsworldconfessions | @rilaya | @rileymatthews-xo

Introduction

From 1999 to 2001, Zoog Disney aired a paranormal show named So Weird, the Disney version of the X-Files. Micheal Jacobs revived Boy Meets World with a continuation called Girl Meets World. On the surface So Weird and Girl Meets World have nothing in common. The former show filmed in Canada, the latter was filmed in California. Cooksney and Jacobs couldn't be more different, Jacobs is known for comedic sitcoms like My Two Dads, John Astole and producer Jon Cooksney, focused on speculative fiction. Astole worked on Stargate, and the 1980s Twilight Zone revivals. Disney Channel hosting their television shows is their only commonalities so far. What made these programs successful was pushing Disney's Astole limits on what considered acceptable. As a result, So Weird was the darkest show Disney Channel aired where Girl Meets World was one of the smarter television shows of modern Disney Channel. Audiences don't think of Disney tackling death acceptance, religion, or feminism

Fiona "Fi" Philips (Cara DeLizia) along with her older brother Jack, join their mother Molly Phillips (Makenzie (Phillips) on her comeback tour. Having a Rockstar mom isn't easy, especially when evil spirits begin stalking Fiona. When Annie (Alexz Johnson) arrives a paranormal panther follows suit. Riley Matthews (Rowen Blanchard) along with her best friend Maya Hart (Sabrina Carpenter) continue the lessons her father learned almost Boy Meets World. At six years old I loved stories about hauntings and dark creatures, so, So Weird naturally appealed to me. Nostalgia over Boy Meets World influenced my decision to watch its sequel and the quality of it surprised me. This cross-over essay's purpose is dissecting these shows popularity and their similarities rather than their differences.

Surface Similarities & Differences

At the surface level SW and GMW's similarities are minor., Fi Phillips and Riley Matthews are our brunette primary protagonists; Annie Thelon and Maya Hart are our blonde secondary protagonists. Fandoms hated Annie and Riley because they interfered with the fandoms' favorites then subsequently blamed for the lackluster third seasons. Celebrities Carpenter and Johnzon used their shows as advertisement for their music careers. Actually Disney gave Carpenter a record deal before casting her as Maya. Carpenter is talented but still sounds like a Disney pop star, however, Johnson has more experience. SW had better music because there was a larger variety of genres like Rock, Pop, Blues, and Celtic music. SW alluded to Celtic and Greek mythology like changelings and sirens. GMW alluded to BMW and nothing else like Cory and Shawn's jellybean scene. Both shows had actors who appeared in crime shows including Carpenter and Eric von Detten.*1

What else SW and GMW had in common was that they had realistic friendships and family dynamics. Friendships weren't used as problem-solving devices but to deepen the characters. Jack (Patrick Lewis) and Clu (Eric von Detten) hung out because they wanted to not because the plot required them to. Parents were written as people. Molly struggled with widowhood and had goals outside of being a mother. Irene felt inferior to her younger sister and Ned Bell was a biker before he married Irene. In addition, Cory taught History yet offered fatherly advice to his daughter and her friends. Single mother, Katy, struggled with her part-time job and caring for Maya. As siblings, Jack/Fi and Riley/Auggie neither fought constantly nor always got along. 'Singularity' Jack and Fi do nothing but argue but in 'Medium' Jack uses "colourful language" when a psychic angers Fi. In GMW, Riley and Auggie argued in 'Forgiveness' then have a touching moment in 'Christmas Maya.' When writing only children Jacobs and Astole never relied on only child stereotypes instead showing the complexity of being one. Not to mention, as an only child myself, I loved this. Maya and Annie weren't spoiled were confused over siblings concepts, like sharing. Trapped in endless detention, Annie's confused by Jack standoffishness finding out that he falsely believes that Annie's replacing his sister. After assuring him that was never her intention, she and Jack become friends. Likewise, Maya confuses Rucas' (Riley/ Lucas) relationship with that of a brother-sister one because she doesn't understand how siblings act. Siblings are loving and friendly but also bicker like Lucaya (Maya/Lucas). Eventually, they develop sibling dynamics with other characters, Annie/Jack and Maya/Lucas.

Neither show's focus was on romance. SW focused on family while GMW focused on friendship and love interests didn't appear in more than one episode. Jack's girlfriend, Gabe, appeared in 'Angel.' Ryan was Fi's first kiss in 'Second Generation' and GMW had two date episodes. 'Brother' was about Cory and Topanga's date night; 'First Date' was about Lucas and Riley first kiss. If romance wasn't plot important then why did GMW develop a shipping war while SW was immune to such disputes? In comparison to GMW, SW had limited couple options meaning there weren't many options before couples became slash or incestuous Those options are: Annie and Fi with either Clu or Carrey. GMW avoids this pitfall with a diverse amount of characters but started shipping wars by introducing the leads and love interest simultaneously. Fanon favourites were Jack/Annie, Carrey/Molly, Lucas/Maya despite the intended couples are Cory/Topanga, Riley/Lucas, and Fi/Clu.

Why did Anti-Annie fans hate her less than Anti-Riley fans? Again, the fandom hated Riley more because of differences in character casting. If a Jerkass character is among the main cast the fandom automatically absolves them, giving their retribution to the kinder characters. Maya's the "broken bird" so fans will prefer her and discount Riley giving fans reason to pair Maya in a love-hate romance. For extra information on this, TvTropes offers an analysis using Nickelodeon television as examples. SW main characters aren't jerkasses toward their friends meaning Annie gets less hate and Friend-Lovers are on equal levels with Love-Hate ones.

Seekers: Fiona & Riley

Seekers of the 12 Archetypes are constantly searching for expanded knowledge of the world at large or themselves. Riley and Fi want to understand other people's perspectives in a worldly sense (Riley) and supernaturally (Fi). However both are open-minded toward unproven phenomenon as opposed to our blond protagonists who rather "go with the flow." Also as the primary protagonists they possess the most contradictions of their worlds. Fi's an amateur parapsychologist but wants a normal life to protect her family. ('Lightening Rod') Fi is a computer geek struggling academically but loves learning new subjects ('Tulpa', 'Escape', 'Vampire'). In comparison, Riley succeeds with her schoolwork but is naïve to the world around her. ('Pluto') She insecure often becoming victim to peer pressure but craves uniqueness away from her peers ('Popular', 'Jexica') Riley and Annie love feminine hobbies – makeup and shopping – but love masculine pursuits too. Both of them love the outdoors, athletics, but are terrible at sports. ('Ski Lodge' in GMW and 'Sacrifice' in SW) Riley can't make the cheerleading team but loves basketball; Fi fails at baseball but tries appreciates the sport. ('Singularity', 'Rah Rah') Contradictions make them rounded characters but causes internal conflict when they attempt to form a stable Ego.

Upon waking up in the middle of the night, Riley eavesdrops on her parents where she doubts if she's good enough compared to her parents. After all Topanga is a successful lawyer, Cory is a successful teacher, and have a perfect fairytale love. ('Cory & Topanga') Unable to connect with her father, Rick, Fi seeks resemblances between herself and him. Just like Riley's atelphobia, Fi feels disconnected from her family because of her paranormal interests. An example is 'Strange Geometry' where Fi feels betrayed that her mother kept Rick obsession a secret. Since Lucas doesn't differentiate between Riley and Maya during the love triangle, Riley further doubts her worth as a girlfriend. In the pilot and a deleted 'Upstate' scene, Riley molds herself into Maya so she'll have an identity. Constant identity searching is another aspect of the Seeker archetype.

Caretaking drives our protagonists to seek out the world's answers. Fi wants closure with her father yet her investigations aren't just for her benefit, but for the benefits of her loved ones. Molly's friends Rebecca left when she was Fi's age, thus Fi confronts Rebecca's "daughter" so Molly will have some closure of her own. Reluctantly, Fi leads the two of them to Rebecca's house where history repeated itself again; Rebecca's family disappeared again leaving Molly more betrayed and confused. 'In Forgiveness' Riley back talks to Kermit wanting answers as to why he left her best friend when she was younger. Town members become annoyed by Fi when she forces them to remember the alien invasion the day before. ('Memory') Fi helps a coma girl's mother and grandmother with technology to revive the girl from her coma even though these people are strangers to her. ('Lost') Riley invades her friends' boundaries so Maya will have hope ('Master Plan'), tries jumping into a bull pen to save Lucas ('Texas'), and keeps her friends in a stairwell so they'll reflect on their surroundings ('High School'). Fi challenges Bricriu to hangman so he'll stop possessing her brother. ('Will-o-Wisp') Riley gives up her relationship with Shawn, her godfather, so Maya will have a father. She forgets her affections for Lucas so Maya will have a chance at love. ('Texas', 'New Years') Occasionally their actions cause annoyance among their friends but its for the greater good. Sacrificing one's own desires is the key component in the Caretaker's goal.

Creators: Annie & Maya

Creators turn illusion into reality and similar to Seekers, Creators are invested self-identity and possibilities. When we're introduced to Annie and Maya both are immediately drawn to creative fields. By the ending of 'Lightening Rod', Annie confides in Fi that she's always had an eerie connection to music and find inspiration from something as insignificant as a stick. Furthermore, Mr and Mrs Thelon inform Molly that Annie has the ability to master most any instrument. 'In the Darkness', the theme song, shows Annie playing as well as popular instruments like the guitar. Maya gained that same artistic guidance from the stars or a paint war. ('Meets Boy', 'Upstate', 'Maya's Mother'). Partly due to Carpenter portrays her, Maya masters singing and guitar quite easily. ('1961', 'Creativity') An added bonus to Annie's is that they act as retrocognition from her past.

Both blondes quickly give up old lifestyles for chances at an art or singing career. For example, Annie's ecstatic she'll join Molly's band on tour, granted her parents reason this is so Annie will have a normal and balanced life. ('Lightening Rod') Impulsive, Future Maya leaps at the opportunity when she receives a SoHo gallery internship. ('Bay Window') Creators share the fear of not having an identity. When a recording agent steals Annie's voice and likewise when the art teacher grades Maya's painting as incomplete, the girls doubt their self-worth. In 'Carnival' Annie's reflections mock her abilities when she rescues her friends from an evil ringmaster. Season one Maya wonders if Riley was right and Maya's troubled past is responsible for her artistic ability. What's more is that the Creator archetype gives the character a dangerous duality; either they're practical with their art or they drown themselves in their disillusion. Which is why the Orphan archetype lurks beneath the Creator.

The Thelons and Hart families are alive but their actions produce an orphan effect on their daughters. Traveling across the globe before the So Weird eventsprohibitedestablishing permanent roots somewhere. Kermit's physical abandonment compounded with Katy's emotional abandonment ensured that Maya wouldn't have a support system. Although being an only child isn't problematic, not having someone to depend on made connecting with others difficult. Neither would form a real connection until they made surrogate families out of the Phillips and Matthews families. Its not surprising their friends would find them selfish at times.

Death Acceptance

The major difference between Cooksney and Jacobs is Cooskney never intended lessons for So Weird whereas Jacobs' moralizing hindered character development on Girl Meets World. Jacobs's lesson was the vague statement, "People Change People" I'd argue his actual moral is not taking people for instead. Cooksney's moral, if you could consider it one, was sacrifice. Fi gets lost camping and sacrifices immediate help to save Big Foot. ('Sacrifice') Barring those morals, the writers over-arcing themes of both were acceptance. SW's primary theme was death acceptance for the Phillips and Matthews family with the minor theme of childhood acceptance Annie) and Maya. All stories lead back to sex and death, Disney's not going to discuss sexuality, but death resounds through every film since Disney's inception. Also no SW or GMW character was exempt from death confrontation. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's Five Stages of Grief: Anger, Sadness, Denial, Bargaining, and Acceptance aren't linear and one may never gain acceptance. All the characters are stuck in one of the stages and only Fi gains acceptance.

Earnest Becker's seven reasons why people fear death are as followed:

1. Fear of pain

2. Fear of not knowing what becomes of our bodies

3. How our dependents will manage after our death

4. How our loved ones will cope emotionally after our death

5. Fear of an afterlife, such as eternal oblivion, or Heaven/Hell

6. Fear of dying with an unlived life

7. Fear of dying with uncompleted projects

Thantophobia is why humans behave the way they do. Rick's untimely death when Fi was three-years-old affected her because she has no memories of her father. She often resented her brother and mother because they knew him and she did not. Rick/Fi's shared fear is emotionally coping of his death. Maya struggled with coping with the metaphorical death of her father, possibly thinking he's dead to her. Kermit intentionally abandoned his family, whereas Rick intended on returning to his family, but he didn't plan on evil spirits murdering him. Fi and Maya are stuck in the anger phase of grieving. When her grandfather is visited by a banshee, Fi tracks the creature down and asks Death personified the fairness in taking her father away from her. Death responds that it will even the imbalance by extending her grandfather's life for a time. But for seasons 1 and 2 Fi copes with death by actively seeking the paranormal afterlife to escape and accept death.

Jack's death phobia is similar to Fi's except he fears losing his sister and mother like he lost his father; his nightmare is a manifestation of that fear. In the midst of gang's lucid dream, Jack leaves them for a method to awaken from the dream but is transported to the night of Rick's. Dream Rick promises he'll return, but knowing the future Jack chases after his father. Fear trapped Jack in Grief's denial stage subsequently causing his resentment of the paranormal his dad loved so much. And it's not until 'Changeling' when Jack accepts his dad's death when he starts singing again. Surprised, Clu comments that Jack hadn't sung since Rick died. Jack responds with, "Well, maybe it's time I started again."

Minor episodes such as 'Fall' (SW) and 'Gravity' (GMW) discuss death on a smaller scale. 'Fall' details Ned and his childhood friend, Sam, on the death anniversary of their other friend's drowning. Haunted by the memory, Sam is literally haunted by Pete's ghost leading to Pete's recent. The men's responses to death are vastly different; Ned would rather forget Pete's death and Sam tries to confront it. Both are part of the grieving sequence but overall, 'Fall' discuses the myriad of complex emotions after death. Childhood deaths are rightly considered "Bad Deaths" whether or not loved ones are complicit with the death, we often feel that we could've prevented it. Sam is stuck in the bargaining and grieving stages before he can move on. As the men relive that fateful day admits he was scared of dying and can finally accept death now. In 'Gravity' the teens are crushed when a beloved bakery owner dies leaving the bakery to Topanga. The episode ends with Auggie opening his gift with a note reading "It's not My-Kranian bakery, I'm dead." Cory phones telling him that he is glad Feeney isn't dead, perhaps this was an allusion to 'I Dream of Feeney' when Cory wished him ill. Riley gives the eulogy and everyone learns to cherish their loved ones while they're alive.

Next is Molly and her death phobia in the series. Molly's emotions toward her husband are erratic in all three seasons. It's been over a decade since Rick's death and she still hasn't accepted it. In the Christmas episode 'Fountain' Molly admits to a young Fi that her loss bothers her. In 'Medium' Molly began to resent Rick's memory because she felt haunted by him wishing that she could forget him. Molly misses being a lover but is guilt-ridden because she feels like she is betraying her husband. ('Fathom') And in season 3's 'Muse,' Molly and the band travel to the town of their first concert to recapture the inspiration she felt there. Molly never gains acceptance over death and I loved that this option was shown as well. Not everything is wrapped up in a happy ending.

The final lesson is accepting your own death. Self-death may be literal like the episodes 'Rebecca', 'James Garr', 'Angel' or 'Grave Mistake'. Or death can be metaphorical like Riley becoming new personas, Maya losing herself, or the death of love. The former episodes dealt with the concept of immortality and coming to terms with one's final moments. Fi investigates a girl claiming to be Rebecca's daughter in truth, she's Rebecca herself. Amazed at how much this immortal girl knows and has seen in her years, Rebecca refutes this saying that she hates her immortality. She can never marry, she had to leave Molly, her only friend, behind. Who wants to live forever? 'James Garr' is about the titular character undergo cryonic preservation as a cancer cure. The procedure's successful, but James Gar hasn't a soul anymore with this realization he gives his life to an elderly patient Jack met. In the subplot that elderly man dying of cancer beleives that whenever death comes for him he will greet death with willingness and bravery. James Garr realizing his hollow life switch places with the man so he can live a little longer. 'Grave Mistake' is about a family friend of the family who's been receiving death threats and runs to Annie and the Phillips for help. With Annie's guidance, the woman discovers her dead husband wrote "You're dead" so that she'd remember she died. It's rare that a children's show relays the message that death isn't ominous, it's part of life.

During an interview Cooksney admitted that if Disney had allowed them to, Fi would descend into Hell to rescue her father's soul.*2 Jack would have discovered his past life as a Celtic knight who begged that his next incarnation would be as Fi's older brother. Moreover, it explains that dragon's fear of Jack in 'Strangling' and aside from familial bonds, knight life explains his overprotection of him mom from a mermaid siren. ('Fathom') A tenet of the Order of the Good Death's death positivity is "I believe that my open, honest advocacy around death can make a difference, and can change culture." Cooksney probably didn't intend for SW to have so much death focus but it's applicable to the show.

'Yearbook', 'Triangle', and 'Ski Lodge' are examples of metaphorical death. Whenever Riley embraces different personas, she's undergoing an Ego Death in an attempt to discover her true self. She becomes a Goth Girl so her classmates visualize her shadow side. Contrary to her masquerade, Riley's shadow side isn't Goth but is a metaphor of her dark side coexisting with her light side. Maya lost herself during her dalliance with Lucas to understand her relationship identity contrasting he singular identity. Later on during the love triangle's conclusion, Riley's first comment is "This love triangle needs to die. Nature knows that it needs to die." Of all her friends Riley mentions death the most, examples are 'Yearbook', 'Gravity', and 'Pluto.' Continuing with this death theme involve the teenagers' fantasies as a metaphor for the death of their romance. During their respective daydreams, Riley and Maya inform each other that their dream romance isn't reality. In Dream Riley's fantasy she dies, in essence, the girls kill their ego and their romances to grow.

Childhood Acceptance

Transforming themselves from childhood trauma are Annie and Maya's ultimate goals within the series. Annie's panther and Maya's hope are key in reaching their transformations. For this essay portion, I'm using Widow's Walk', 'Pen Pal', and 'Annie's Song.' For Maya's episodes, I'll use are 'World of Terror 3', 'Forgiveness', and 'Goodbye.'

Symbolically the panther represents the death-rebirth cycle and confronting fears. According to Spirit Animal's website, those with the panther guide are blessed with powerful protectors. In addition, panthers indicate supernatural journeys with occult leanings. Therefore her character's introduction served a purpose in So Weird despite being unplanned. Finally as Annie's panther endows her with strength to confront any obstacle before her.

'Widow's Walk' acts as a transition between death acceptance into childhood acceptance. Tired of her age limiting her privileges Annie swaps ages with an elderly woman. Shocked by her transformation she finds a bottled message from the woman's husband. Desperate for her youth back Annie begs the woman to reverse their ages. Selfishly, the woman refuses due to her thinking that her husband's waiting for her at home not realizing he died in sea storm that turned the woman into a widow. Growing weaker daily Annie knows if she can't convince the woman of the truth she will die. When Annie feints in an attempt to reach the woman and true to its nature, Annie's panther appears at her side giving her strength to continue on. Obviously Annie's successful getting her age back. What's interesting are the contradictions between the elderly woman and Annie. Both characters fear death desperately clinging to life, but Annie's aware of death while the woman would rather delude herself of human mortality. At the climax the women's remorseful of her selfishness wishing she knew how to reverse her wish. Annie's regrets her wish understanding living in the present is better than living in living in the future.

Similarly 'World of Terror' along with 'Pen Pal' shows the girls' adolescence if their positive influences were absent in their lives. By befriending Jennifer and not meeting Riley, Annie and Maya become rebellious Goths. Maya no longer believes that she deserves good things; Annie pushes her friends away. Following this change, Alternate Annie's panther is a worthless tattoo, Alternate Maya begins bulling Riley for not letting her in her bedroom. . Deprived of hope or understanding our alternates protagonists cannot accept their pasts. Being Disney, these girls defeat their alternates. Annie through using her panther power, Maya through befriending Riley in the parallel universe.

These last three deal with Maya and Annie discovering the truth and making amends with their childhoods. In 'Forgiveness' Maya writes and letter to her father, Kermit, in an attempt to forgive him as part of Cory's homework assignment. That following day Kermit returns to town hoping what his daughter said in her letter was true. Unable to forgive Kermit, he leaves once more reducing Maya to tears. As a result Maya realizes she's forgiven herself for believing she had caused Kermit's departure. By forgiving herself, Maya's ability to accept her past and find a new father figure in Shawn Hunter when he adopts her in 'Goodbye.'

In the penultimate episode the characters travel to a Native American reservation as a break from touring. Unlike her friends Annie can't enjoy her day off with strange flashbacks coming to mind. Coyote possesses the tribe's leader when a little girl becomes lost in the forest, forcing Annie to remember her childhood memories. Years earlier the Thelon family visited a jungle for a research assignment, little Annie awakens before her parents do and wanders into the forests. She happens across a petrified tribal man and it's only when a poisonous snake attacks her she realizes the danger she's in. As her parents discover their daughter's disappeared, the man rushes her to his village in an attempt to save her life. With shaman magic, the man's father removes the venom and takes Annie to a location where her parents will find her. Grateful Annie sacrificed her life to save his son, the father promises to protect her all her life in the form of a panther. With full understanding of her childhood, Annie manages to accept her past as Maya did.

Conclusion

Girl Meets World and So Weird are different shows catering to wildly different audiences. Still, each character follows similar archetypes as well as themes people wouldn't expect of Disney Channel to allow on their network. More importantly, the fact that it does shows its capability to portray mature, darker subject matters for all audiences. Readers may disagree with my argument but these are shows the current generation should watch. Girl Meets World is a television show that my generation should watch. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my essay and I would love it if you gave me your opinions on each program, as well.

End Notes

*1 – Many Disney Channel actors starred in Law & Order: SVU episodes. Von Detten, Carpenter, and Kimberly Jean Brown as examples were in that Law & Order spinoff. Someone even wrote a crossover fanfic of GMW and SVU. If a fan theorist could invent a theory that Disney and any crime universe are connected I would be ecstatic.

*2 – Walt Disney has had hell landscape stories since the 1930s. Silly Symphonies' 'Goddess of Spring' had Satan-Hades drag Persephone to Hell. Fantasia ended with the song 'Night on Bald Mountain' where Demon Satan tortures souls only stopped when Holy light/God intervenes. Frollo damns Esmerelda to Hell if he can't possess her and little mentions God and Satan. (Hunchback of Notre Dame) CoCo takes place primarily in the afterlife. Disney Channel could've done a Hell episode.

Links

www . orderofthegooddeath resources / death-positive-movement

so-weird . proboards

Disney . wikia wiki / So_Weird

www . youtube user / OrderoftheGoodDeath (Ask A Mortician)

www . youtube user / littlemissfuneral (Little Miss Funeral)

www . youtube user / UnderTheKnifeShow (Under the Knife)

www . fanfiction s / 6178294 / 1/Love-As-True-As-Time

www . fanfiction s / 6067416/1 / An-Ultimate-Hey-Arnold-Essay

www . spiritanimal . info / panther-spirit-animal /

post / 125280313440 / so-weirdgirl-meets-world-parallels-these-are-my (SW & GMW)

#so weird #girl meets world #mine #fi phillips #annie thelen #alexz johnson #cara delizia #maya hart #sabrina carpenter #riley matthews #rowen blanchard #disney #disney channel #the disney channel #comment leave notes #reblog

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chriscdcase95 · 3 years ago

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LIS + Vampyr: Fanfic worldbuilding and update.

Unlife is Strange related post. Edit: As of August 2023, with several changes to the story, this post is a little out of date. On the upside, I get to do another update!

It's been a while since I talked that much it exclusively. While I’m gonna put more work into Love’s Sacrifices, I thought “Why the Hell not ?” Especially since the current story is a far cry from what I originally planned.

As my readers know Unlife is Strange is a crossover between Life is Strange, Vampyr and Until Dawn. I already talked about ideas for the Until Dawn side of things, should I write a solo story, but I never talked at length over the Vampyr and Life is Strange stuff in a while.

The story is going on temporary hiatus, due to the upcoming True Colors. This mostly has to do with Steph's presence, and me having to rework the later half of the story; Steph was going be a more active character in the later chapters, and Ambergrich was gonna be one of the main ships - but I really want to take True Colors into account and see what’s gonna change. And it would give me time to finish up the chapters that are already half written.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little world + character building. Most of what I share is already put in the story thus far, so it’s not like I'm not spoiling much.

1. I have gone back and forth on whether or not to tie Unlife is Strange and Love's Sacrifices together. I ultimately decided they wouldn't be directly connected, but I do entertain the idea that the two are part of a multiverse and that they are each others "parallel". Not even directly, but more of a "Weird that it happened twice" sort of way.

See here for details.

2. Multiple mythological figures existed as vampires as per Vampyr lore. In Unlife is Strange, Myrddin's champions include figures such as Cú Chulainn and Beowulf; examples of the Red Queen's champions include Queen Medb and Morgause. While Myrddin usually takes male champions - and his mother takes females - there is a rare occasion they will accept an "heir" of the opposite gender in the event of their champions premature death.

Examples for the Red Queen include Mordred, who also serves as one of the secondary antagonist of the story (who I am having a blast writing). Female examples serving Myrddin, Ashbury previously took up William Marshall's sword when he disappeared from the world. In the present day, Ashbury also leads her own Escalon club, because she is the stories girl boss.

As for roots the in mythology, The Red Queen was the partial basis behind the myth of Morgana Le Fey. Also to differentiate the Red Queen from the goddess Morrigan, I use an interpretation I’ve been told that the Morrigan was a title that three goddesses shared. On the flip side, Myrddin was also known as "Merlin" in Arthur's time, and in Cú Chulainn's time, was called (and the basis behind) the Celtic god Lugh.

3. As anyone who reads the story can guess, the protagonist would is a vampirized Rachel Amber. I picked her as I decided that out of any LiS character to become a vampiric champion, Rachel made the most sense to be, behind Chloe.

Unlife’s portrayal of Rachel is largely based off of my headcanons of her, based in part of an analysis of her and Chloe’s relationship I wrote back in 2019. Rachel is someone who, simply put, has issues. I play up the chameleon aspect of her character, in that she takes on at least two personas to cover up her resurrection.

One of these is “Vivian Manning”, who she poses as in her “public life” in LA, wherein she makes a name for herself as an obscure but successful YA novelist. There is a story arc that focuses on Rachel’s unlife in LA leading up to the present day; honestly one of the reasons I’m taking a while to write the chapters is due to Arc Fatigue and wanting to focus more on the present day arcs.

All in all, Rachel can be a toxic person, as per canon, but I use this to write her as more of an Anti Hero. She’s not without her virtues or morals; she has complicated feelings regarding Chloe and her other partners; feels general compassion to those she attaches herself to; and she has a Mama Bear streak we will be seeing more of; she isn’t exactly sure of her place as the Red Queen’s champion. She’s also not without her vices; she might not go out of her way to kill innocent people, but she will make a mess when she does fight/kill others. She still has a party girl/drug and drinking habit and takes advantage of the fact they can’t kill her. She’s also shameless about her sexuality - in fact, there are times where she borders onto nymphomania.

The best way I can describe what Rachel will be like in forthcoming chapters is the love child of Tree Gelbman (Happy Death Day) and Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body).

4. Among the crossovers I already include, I also write tie-ins to what I call the Rockstarverse (Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead) and Remedyverse (Alan Wake and Control). Nothing to significant, mostly just cameos and Easter Eggs.

In this world, the fictional cities from GTA are swapped out for their real world counterparts (Los Santos - Los Angeles, Liberty City - New York, etc), but characters and events remain otherwise the same. Control at least has plot relevance with the FBC being involved in ongoing investigations. I even have a small gag where GTA and RDR myths are under the FBC's watch.

I'm also considering a few animated titles for future crossovers or follow ups; even have a cameo for a certain character in mind for the current story. Just mixing things up a little. I just haven't put as much thought into these ones as the others, other than The Owl House and Amphibia.

I just haven't thought of a plot for that yet.

5. I said it before, but it bares repeating. Some chapters I dub Route A and Route B. These take longer to write as Route A takes place in a "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay/Parting Ways" timeline; Route B follows "Sacrifice Chloe/Redemption".

Regardless, following both ends of the first Life is Strange, the events of Arcadia Bay were investigated by the FBC. An investigation that went on until late 2015, and will be covered in two upcoming chapters. In Route A chapters, I made a list of characters who I decided survive the Storm.

What this segways too is that I am also writing two versions of Chloe Price. In Route A, who I dub Mama!Chloe is a parent with Max and has become a more stable individual over time, due to being in an out of therapy, and largely changing herself for her son, Bill. This may a spoiler, but Route B will be featuring Vampire!Chloe, who is a different character due to different circumstances.

Let me put it this way. Mama!Chloe = Eda Clawthrone; Vampire!Chloe = Catra.

6. Mary Reid has an ongoing, significant role in Unlife, and like the Red Queen, will be expanded on a more than the game does.

My main reason for bringing Mary back to life in this story was because I felt she was under-utilized in Vampyr proper. Here Mary and her relationship with Jonathan is one of the primary focuses on their arcs. As my introduction chapter for Mary shows, she ends up enslaved to the Red Queen and her followers; at their creates and helps groom potential champions. She's a dark counterpart to how I wrote Rachel, in that to write them both as self indulgent, outgoing and carefree girls, and are shameless about their sexuality. Matter of fact, Mary is part of the reason the Red Queen had her eyes on Rachel. They get along famously.

Mary and Jonathan's relationship as siblings is pretty on and off over the course of the 20th, and in the present day, they are pretty distant. Not helping is that Mary does go back and forth to serving the Red Queen and being "free". There are still unfinished chapters I’m working on that explore their history and dynamic over the years; I’ll be finishing them up during the hiatus.

7. Vampires are capable of sexual reproduction, it's just requires a lot of "work". Damphir pregnancies more often than not result in miscarriages or stillbirths. Even if one is born, it's rare they live to adulthood. Their blood however is lucrative as it allows vampires to survive in the daylight. An example of a damphir in this story is Mordred; one of the reasons he's held in such a regard is not only is he a damphir who lived to adulthood, but he has lived for nine centuries at the time of the story.

Hereditary vampires are a little different. At birth, they are effectively human, and their vampire traits really don't kick in until their pubescent years. Even then, they have to drink human blood to become a full vampire. If not, they remain effectively human, only they live longer than normal, and age slower. A hereditary vampire in their 90's would appear no older than their early 60's.

8. Count Dracula exists in this "verse". We know little of him, but where humans take him lightly, vampires dread him. There’s a Running Gag where someone would jokingly bring him up, and those who know of him would warn not to invoke his name.

9. An OC character of mine for the present day is Bill Caulfield Price, who is Max and Chloe's son. He'll exist in both Route A and Route B, the explanation for the latter is that Chloe was an organ donor, and Max got a hold to her ovums.

In either timeline, Bill is the golden child of his clan, honorary to otherwise. There's not much to talk about him other than he's baby, and much like pretty how I write Bella Conrad in Loves Sacrifices, just gender swapped. In Route A, he's largely responsible for Chloe getting her act together, and she's an absolute Mama Bear towards him; in Route B, Max is mostly a single parent, reliant on friends and family to help raise him. His two favorite aunts are Kate and Dana (something they are very competitive about).

One thing that stands out about Bill is his own set of powers; e is a seer of sorts, and dreams of the past, present and truth. Especially if it is of someone he's connected to. They mostly involving King Arthur and Mordred, but he also has dreams of Chloe and Max, mostly seeing the events of the first game, BTS, and Farewell from their perspective. He even dreams of Rachel, despite having no apparent connection to her or even knowing who she is.

There's also a downside to his "power", as it makes him a target of the supernatural; vampires, evil spirits, you name it ? Drawn to him like moths to a flame. It’s usually the wicked ones who are attracted to him.

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ohprettyweeper-moved · 6 years ago

Text

The Last Bandito

Part Four: Answers in the Blood

Masterlist

Chapter Summary: Quinn might have found an answer to her problems, Faylinn receives warning from someone else about her novel, and Tyler finds that his new life is not all he expected. Warnings: Mythology lecture which includes mentions of abuse and suicide ... I think that’s it? Word Count: 1600 A/N: This series was borne of this picture. The bolded phrases are prompts I have compiled to use in this fic. Also, I’ve forgotten to mention before that for the phrases in Ukrainian, I’ve been using Google Translate; forgive me if they’re not accurate!

“Tonight, we begin a new chapter,” Quinn announced to her class. “Irish Mythology. Turn in your books to page two-hundred and twenty-seven.”

“This creature dates back to the Celtic era,” she informed them, hitting the clicker to switch to the slide which held information for notes and also a couple of images for the students to review. “A vampire-like creature, the dearg-due may have found its beginning in a young woman with blood-red lips and white-blonde hair. Forced into a marriage that would benefit her father with many riches and separated her from her true love, the girl took the only way out from her abusive husband: suicide.”

Quinn clicked the slide again, revealing the painting of a young girl, blood flowing from her wrists and her eyes staring at nothing. Her body was emaciated and her cheeks gaunt.

“Her husband would bleed her for no reason other than to see the blood flow. So, she starved herself. After her death, she was buried at Waterford, near Strongbow’s Tree. Though she had been kind and godly in her life, it was said that her husband’s abuse and her own suicide changed her in the afterlife. Heartbroken and vengeful, on the first night she was buried, she rose from the grave and sought to quench her thirst with the blood of young men, children, and the innocent. She calms her victims first with a siren song, and then steals their blood, leaving them mysteriously ill or dead.”

As the lecture wrapped up, Quinn opened the floor for questions. Most of them pertained to the traditionally known creatures, but one student asked as to the origin of the dearg-due.

“Is it possible these creatures were actually the origination of the Heathens?”

Quinn cleared her throat. “I can see where you might make that connection, but remember, the vampire experiments of Old Dema began in response to the Banditos growing in numbers. I suppose it’s possible that this knowledge is available in Old Dema and was an inspiration for the Bishops and their experiments, but I can’t say that I’ve come across the connection any other time. If there’s no other questions, class is dismissed. Please do remember, your papers over chapters ten through twelve will be next week. Email me or come by my office if you have questions.”

She gathered her things and went back to her office to spend the rest of the afternoon grading. By the time she could head home, however, the stack of homework to be reviewed was not much smaller than when she had begun a couple of hours before. Her student’s question regarding the dearg-due lingered in her thoughts, though not because she had not thought of a connection between the Heathens and the dearg-due before. Instead, she wondered if perhaps the Bishops and their vampire experiments were the answer to her dilemma.

Not to mention, her dreams had not subsided. Though frightening more often than not, they fueled her muse and her imagination and chapters were pouring out of her. Before too long, the novel would be finished.

“What are you doing here?” Faylinn whispered.

“You have to stop the novel,” he pleaded. “The Bishops know. They know everything. Distance doesn’t matter. They’ll come for you.”

Horse hooves sounded in the distance like thunder rumbling in a far off storm. Faylinn’s eyes slowly focused in that direction; somehow, she could already see all nine Bishops riding her way.

“They’re coming for both of us,” he told her.

“We have to run,” Faylinn said, pushing her feet into her shoes.

The man shook his head. “No. You just have to stop.”

“Maybe I need to see a shrink,” she muttered, pushing out of the bed and motivating toward the shower to start her day.

“It’s been weeks,” Josh said, nudging Tyler. “You’re going to have to accept that there’s no going back.”

Tyler nodded. “I know that. But, it doesn’t stop me from wondering what’s beyond the wall. Being this doesn’t stop me from wondering what life is like in the surrounding city.”

“They call it New Dema. Sometimes, if you’re mindful, the Bishops will send you into New Dema to capture someone and bring them here to be smeared and, possibly, eventually, changed.”

“How do you know all this?”

Josh took a deep breath. “They tell you, when they know they can trust you. If you want that chance, you cannot miss any mark. You cannot question them out loud, you cannot deny their authority.”

Tyler thought that over for the rest of the walk back to his dwelling. If he played the Bishops’ game, how long would it be until he was trusted to go into New Dema? What would the task of capturing people to come here entail? Tyler had long believed that nothing good could come of new souls coming here, but he had known nothing but Old Dema for his entire life. Therein lie the problem; he could not imagine knowing something else, then coming here and being confined to the Bishops’ world.

Being changed was supposed to heighten his loyalty to the Bishops, but instead, Tyler found himself questioning the old figures more than ever.

“You have information you’ve kept from me for too long,” Nico said, turning toward Keons, his hands clasped behind his back.

Keons stood a little straighter. “Probach meni, bud’ laska. It was you who taught me, Nico, that knowledge is power. I was not entirely certain the information I obtained was correct —”

“Enough stalling, Keons,” Nico warned in a measured tone. He leaned forward on the stone block used for changing humans to Heathens. “Tell me what you know.”

Keons took another three steps forward. His hands balled to fists at his sides, but he stood fast in his resolve to share the information with Nico.

“She has surfaced — the last Bandito child. She’s a woman now, of course, but I have no doubt that it’s her.”

Nico smirked. “You shouldn’t have any doubt. You are the one who let the child escape our grasp.”

Keons took a deep breath, fighting now to maintain his confidence. He had intended, those decades ago, for the knowledge of the child’s life and location to bring him into power within the walls of Old Dema; Nico was too smart for Keons. Too ruthless. He had sensed the plot from the very beginning, and had cut Keons off at the pass by informing the other Bishops the child was still alive but would be allowed to live. Anything else would undermine the authority of the Bishops.

“When I rode out several weeks ago to retrieve an escaped vampire, I found that woman dead. Her neck was snapped and her body was there, lifeless, in Trench. The scent of the Bandito child was heavy in the air, and though I could not pinpoint her location, I knew she was near. Then, after the last soul was captured and brought into our walls before disappearing, I smelled her scent in that man’s assigned room.”

“You mean …?”

Nico’s smirk rolled into a satisfied grin. “Yes. That one. I want her back here. She holds all the answers, Keons, and if we are to take down New Dema — we need answers.”

Keons bowed gracefully. “Yak vy komanduyete.”

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