tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post1389142323219928147..comments2024-02-27T01:45:00.801-08:00Comments on Dungeons and Digressions: Our Monsters Beget Monstersze bulettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603716850479808633noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-50668573373150016222011-05-31T08:11:50.158-07:002011-05-31T08:11:50.158-07:00As a brief point on the human-becoming-purple-worm...As a brief point on the human-becoming-purple-worm, Frank Herbert thought it made sense, more or less. (Okay, so it wasn't a <i>purple</i> worm. Work with me here.) =)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13333781524640845035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-7374936513433434622011-05-25T23:21:04.253-07:002011-05-25T23:21:04.253-07:00That's some good stuff Richard. And now I'...That's some good stuff Richard. And now I've got some serious reading to do it seems. Cheersze bulettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603716850479808633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-23258086092491782622011-05-25T10:05:33.779-07:002011-05-25T10:05:33.779-07:00maybe the mythic underworld causes dungeoneers’ di...<em>maybe the mythic underworld causes dungeoneers’ disease</em><br />that's your Minotaur, right there. The story of course gets it backwards: the maze was not created to house the Minotaur, instead the Minotaur (bull-headed, obstinate, obdurate) grew out of the maze. Which, to push the obvious point, was in the <em>sub-basement</em> of the palace...<br />...although I still like <a href="http://ddm.ace.ed.ac.uk/project-files/Asterion/story.html" rel="nofollow">Borges' sympathetic Minotaur</a>. <br /><br />I wouldn't discount the effect of the world on the psyche: not all monsters have to come out of <a href="http://nl.ijs.si/~damjan/borges.html" rel="nofollow">mirrors</a>, some are born of horrified reaction to the cruelty of nature. That, I think, is your purple worm - a lamprey or gut worm or other bit of grue doing nature's self-cleaning work and reminding us of our mortal coils. I'd say, actually, that what's distinctive about Lovecraftian horror is that it is inhuman - not, I hasten to add, actually alien, but merely concerned with non-human bits of the world. I'm convinced he took extensive notes in natural history museums (specifically, I reckon, <a href="https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/tag/cephalopod/" rel="nofollow">AMNH</a>) and that his simultaneous detachment and squick was a reaction to the detached pose of the museum scientists.<br /><br /><a href="http://fuckyeahdioramas.tumblr.com/page/3" rel="nofollow">diorama nonsense</a>. who can resist?richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-27168285153755214982011-05-25T07:38:26.916-07:002011-05-25T07:38:26.916-07:00Thanks. :)
&
Meow. ;DThanks. :)<br />&<br />Meow. ;DTimeshadowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09952601433965644275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-83970825392209948912011-05-24T23:26:54.845-07:002011-05-24T23:26:54.845-07:00And wouldn't you know, but we canceled our gam...And wouldn't you know, but we canceled our game tonight... <br /><br />@Trey: Yes, in a nutshell!<br /><br />@Timeshadows: Thank you for a wonderfully succinct comment! You had me right up to "cats". ;)ze bulettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603716850479808633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-27986050308739386212011-05-24T20:53:46.547-07:002011-05-24T20:53:46.547-07:00I'd go further and say that apart from their u...I'd go further and say that apart from their unique abilities to accentuate the isolated traits that mark them out as monstrous, non-humans are caricatures of personification.<br /><br />Humans, bleeding the blood they share in common, are almost always the more frightening antagonist as evinced by our inhumanity towards our fellows -- specieally-speaking. Cats are perhaps the closest to us in that they are known to toy with their prey, as well as perform infanticide.Timeshadowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09952601433965644275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2326833531919898477.post-86366220114319472642011-05-24T17:34:35.943-07:002011-05-24T17:34:35.943-07:00I think that's a good idea. The dungeon is a ...I think that's a good idea. The dungeon is a transformative thing--do you succumb to defeat by mankind's demons made flesh (and maybe become one yourself?)--or do you conquer and become more than what you were?Treyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04647628467658839351noreply@blogger.com