Eldritch: Lineage 027

Sorry, I intended on uploading this last night at midnight… but I’m kind of sick, and had to go to bed early last night.  I doubt having to spend a couple of hours shoveling snow today helped.  But it’s done now, so, I hope you enjoy, and I’ll see you next week!

Well, folks, the next post won’t come until after Christmas… so, a Merry, Happy Christmas to you all.  Or, if you prefer, a Blessed Yule, or a prosperous Winter Solstice… Or maybe a Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.  Or, perhaps, if none of those fit you, a happy Snoggletog or Hogswatch.  Regardless of what you celebrate… Happy Holidays folks.

Now with the important stuff out of the way… let’s talk folklore, shall we?

When I first heard of the Hounds of God, well… let’s just say it wasn’t from a very good source.  Imagine my surprise when I learned it was true!  However… I also found out that the general benandanti formula applied to several different types of folks.  So, when I began outlining Eldritch and had Faith meet the benandanti werewolves, I had to take the other types of benandanti into consideration.  I could simply ignore htme… but, frankly, they’re far too interesting to merely dismiss.  So, while in history the Hounds of God, the benandanti werewolves, don’t seem to have interacted with the typical Agrarian/funerary benandanti, I threw them all into the mix and invented a social order for them.  Is it ‘accurate?’  Oh heck no.  But, I like it.

Now, regarding the ‘leyline gateways…’ that’s a reference to the ‘gates’ of hell the Hounds of God would go through in order to steal the crops back from.  Different translations call them different things, though… for instance, one source referred to the place as the ‘hell-hole-cave.’  However, since I was trying to keep Eldritch vaguely plausible, unless I wanted to implement Hollow Earth theory, I had to put the vast ‘hell’ they visited someplace other than under the earth.  Alternate dimensions made for a decent fix.

Now, about the Caul, yeah, that was a thing too.  Those born with the Caul were said to be benandanti… and according to Slavic tradition, the caul is associated with the werewolf.  For some reason, being born with a bit of amniotic sack stuck around your head was often seen to be a portent of supernatural ability.  I suppose this is because of its general rarity, but I’ll be honest… aside from basic stuff, I don’t yet know much about the caul in folklore, save for what I needed to know for the comic.

Also… while wizards weren’t involved, yes, benandanti could transfer lycanthropy from one to another.  Bu that’s a story for another time.

In addition… Theiss was a real guy.  In fact, if it weren’t for him, our understanding of benandanti werewolves would be far less.

And… I’m tired.  Have some sources or something:

The Night Battles --Carlo Ginzburg

Witches Werewolves and Fairies --Claude Lecouteux

Werewolves --Neigel Suckling

The Nets of Modernism: Henry James, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and Sigmund Freud-- Maud Ellmann

 The Werewolf Handbook -- Dr. Robert Curran

Eldritch: Lineage 025

WHY IS CHRISTMAS SO HARD?  I miss Halloween. Santa, I sure hope I’m on the nice list for once.  I’ve really been trying. 

Anyway… kinda getting the holiday blues.  Kinda feeling drained, in need of a pick-me-up, etc.  Thankfully, I get to see The Hobbit at opening, and that’ll fix eeeeeverything, but I may splurge and find some other film to go to or something after work in the interim.   Or maybe I’ll get to work on the next page first.  Or get around to doing some work on the seasons drawing that I finally got around to posting some of the preproduction sketches for the other day.  I think I’ll draw Tim O’ Leaves first. Gah, so much to do! At least I got to listen to Harry Potter while working on this…

DEAR SANTA, FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR, I WANT A FEW HOURS OF FREE TIME.  It’s a shame you can’t send me some snow or something.

 Love, Nash.

Yet another busy week. I’m tired. And it’s just the beginning of the month, oi. But, I got my Christmas Tree up so I don’t have to worry about it later. One of these days I should get a fake tree… it’d be cheaper and kinder and easier but I do love real trees so… meh.

I hope the holidays are treating you folks well thus far!

Eldritch: Lineage 023

Did you know that some say that werewolves, like witches, cannot cry? (Please see Montague Sumer’s Werewolves of Lore and Legend.)

Guys, I’m tired.  Long, early days.  Lots of holiday stuff to get done.  So… eh, forget it, I’m gonna post this, update a couple of other things, and take the best nap ever.

Eldritch: Lineage 022

Hey everyone, I’m back from my time unplugged!  The break from the internet was very nice.  So, it’s now midnight(ish) on the 21^st, and here’s the update, juts like I promised. :3

Ahh, so maybe there’s more to this guy’s desire to have her as part of the team than it first appeared… or, perhaps he’s still an arrogant nutjob in a position of power.

Also, I know, I know, Jack the Ripper is an obvious kind of guy to be a bad-guy werewolf, given the brutality of his crimes, and admittedly is kind of cliché.  But I like it anyway. 

However, I suspect what more of you may be curious about is the mention of the Rake.  Yes, I do mean THAT Rake.  It was some time after my initial designs were done for the benandanti werewolves that I came across this particular creepypasta character, and personally didn’t file it under ‘werewolf’ stuff until later when I came across a description that read “sitting and facing away from us, there was what appeared to be a naked man, or a large hairless dog of some sort” (from http://creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Rake)  Given how the majority of the Benandanti werewolves I’ve shown could match this description, I couldn’t resist mentioning it; especially since I find this new form of urban legend to be fascinating.

You see, in nearly all other cases, urban legends spring up in a particular area, and spread by word of mouth, then sometimes print.  However, today, with the internet, people from around the world can exchange these campfire stories instantly, and then add to and embellish them through a variety of creative means, be it written word, audio, visual art, film, and even games.  Never before has this happened, and it opens up so many possibilities.  I can’t wait to see how these change and evolve over the coming years, and I wanted to indicate that even the most modern of urban legends can be canon for this universe.

And yes.  That means that Slenderman just might be lurking around in the Eldritch universe somewhere.

Eldritch: Lineage 021

So, I’m sure you folks are wondering what on earth the Eldritch update is doing on the cusp of Saturday and Sunday… well, truth is, I’m gonna be gone on Wednesday. In fact, I think I’m going to be gone for a week. Maybe a little more. I’d been planning a trip to see some family and get away for a bit, but in light of some of the more recent stuff I’m dealing with, I’ve decided to also outright unplug and spend some time completely away from the internet. So, I’ve been busting my butt-- (which is why I’ve been falling behind on comments so much lately… I have read most of them, but I’ve had no time to reply. I’ll try my best to get to as many of them as possible before I leave.) --to make sure that I was set to post an early update, as well as have an update ready for whenever I get back. I’ll be doing some replies tonight and tomorrow, but after that, you may not see me until the 21st. I just need some time to recharge.

So, with that out of the way, um, more folkloric stuff! Our raving friend here may or may not have all of his facts straight, but it is still derived from my studies…

Saint Ronan of Locronan stands out due to his connection with wolves… and the accusation of lycanthropy lodged against him. A woman named Keban, whose husband often listened to the saint’s gospels, claimed that Saint Ronan could take the form of a wolf! In this shape, she said, he terrorized the countryside, prowling about and going after livestock. She even claimed that her little girl had fallen victim to his lupine appetite. She pointed to his ability to pacify wolves as proof of his lycanthropy, however, the saint convinced others that this was not true, and forgave Keban for her accusations.

Saint Christopher’s folklore is complex, and I cannot do him justice in the small space I’ll have here… But, some things say he was a sort of giant, some say he was a cynocephali, some indicate he was more normal… my way of handling this is by treating him as a shapeshifter (This isn’t too unheard of, really… Saint Guinefort is said to have been a dog at first, but then changed into a man by God). Saint Christopher, while not acknowledged by the Vatican, is one of a couple cynocephalic saints, the other being Saint Andrew Cynocephali. Regardless, Saint Christopher was the patron saint of travelers, which is interesting when also viewed along with Wepwawet.

Wepwawet was the wolf-headed god of Egypt. He was something of a war deity, however, he was “the opener of ways” and is said to have opened the way for victory… He also, it is said, was able to guide the souls of the dead through the Duat (a place sort of like purgatory). His guide-like associations are mirrored in Christopher’s position as the patron saint of travelers, and his association with the realm of the dead is also relevant in the context of in the Hounds of God’s ability to travel down to hell. (As well as the funerary benandanti’s ability to commune with the dead, but that’s a story for another time.)

Also… yeah, the whole thing about the sphinx? It’s actually a proposed theory; a book was written on it. Trippy.

Take care guys, and have a gander at these books:
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend --Montague Summers
Werewolves --Dr. Bob Curran
The lives of the British Saints; the Saints of Wales, Cornwall and Irish Saints V 4 -- S. Baring-Gould and John Fisher
Village France -- Automobile Association (Great Britain)
The Sphinx mystery: the forgotten origins of the sanctuary of Anubis--
Robert Temple, Olivia Temple
The Night Battles --Carlo Ginzburg
Myths of the Dog-Man --David Gordon White

There are probably some problems in this that I’ll have to fix later.  But life’s been a little hard on me, and I’m kind of dragging.  Just… people have been very demanding, and work’s been hard, and blah blah blah.  *Chuckles* Truth is, I’m still happy to HAVE a job.  But things have been a little tough.

So… about some of the things stated here… first off… I don’t mean any disrespect to the political figures mentioned here by indicating that in this universe, they were werewolves.  They’re included mostly because I think they’re cool.  And, truth is, there is very little that is werewolfy about Lincoln, save for how, in this, the bullets were silver.  Theodore Roosevelt, however, is a tad more werewolfy, despite his nickname “The Bull Moose.”  He supposedly has an interest in Bigfoot, after coming across a site where a trapper was found half-eaten.  While footprints indicated that Bigfoot was the culprit, the scene seems much more werewolfy to me.  However, more importantly, like many political figures, someone once attempted to assassinate him.  Roosevelt was shot just prior to giving a speech… and rather than seek medical attention, he stood up and spoke to the people anyway.  Super hardcore.

Also… yeah, Romulous and Remus were supposedly suckled by a she-wolf.  There’s a lot to say about that, but  I’ll talk more on it another time.

Now… as for the fennel and iron and such… here’s the stitch:  Fennel was most commonly associated with the Italian Benandanti, who weren’t werewolves, but sort of like good witches.  There were a couple varieties of them, but that will be covered later.  However, the Benandanti did use bundles of fennel stalks to fight.  The Hounds of God (who, while did not use the term Benandanti, since they spoke a different language, still followed the same basic principles, leading to their occasional classification as Benandanti werewolves) were not inclined towards fennel, but instead used iron bars, according to some sources. 

Please read:
The Beast of Bray Road --Linda Godfrey

Witches Werewolves and Fairies --Claude Lecouteux

The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves and Other Monsters --Rosemary Guiley

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Werewolves --Nathan Brown (Okay, maybe not this one ;3)

The Beast Within --Adam Douglas

Real Wolfmen True Encounters in Modern America –Linda Godfrey

The Night Battles --Carlo Ginzburg

Werewolves -- Zachary Graves

Apollo the Wolf-God --Daniel Gershenson

The Werewolf Handbook -- Dr. Robert Curran

Werewolves: The Occult Truth -- Konstantinos

Eldritch: Lineage 019

*Heaves a sigh* Man, what a week, guys. It was really polarized… like, when things were good, they were GOOD, but the opposite was true too.  However, in between fun times and serious annoyances, I did manage to get the comic done! (Also, for those of you waiting on comment replies, I’m trying, I swear!)

And oh hey, look.  All of that crap Seamus was talking about regarding genetics and stuff turned out to be of some importance… who’d have guessed?

But there’s more here than just that.  Faith here has just learned stuff about her family history that she didn’t know, but would have been good to know.  It’s important to talk to your family, to learn where you came from and what your family has done.  Take it from me.  I didn’t, and neither did my folks for the most part.  I no longer have any grandparents… I can’t ask them now.  I’ll never know many of the war stories of my grandfather on one side.  Likewise, on the other side of my family, I’ll never know where the massive burn on my other grandpa’s back came from.  Was it from when he was a hobo? Or a carny?  What were my grandmothers’ favorite recipes?  What were their grandmothers like?  I’ll probably never know.  So… don’t be dumb like me.  Ask while you have the opportunity.

Er… that got kind of heavy, so, um… oh! Yes.  Folklore. So, about Saint Natalis...  Yeah, he was a real guy, and he cursed several folks to lycanthropy (not so sure that last part is real though ;3). This is what resulted in the “Werewolves of Ossory.” In this tale, the werewolves weren’t the ravening beasts you expect to hear about, but were quite pleasant, and able to retain human speech. In the story, one werewolf seeks out the assistance of a holy man in order to have the last rights performed for his dying wife, also a werewolf. The story caused quite a stir, since the story blurred the lines of man and beast, and performing last rights for a beast would have been frowned upon. But of course, such tales of werewolves are to be expected from such a place as Ireland, which was so well known for its wolf population that at one time it was also called Wolf Land.

I could go on, but, well, I have to get ready for festivities!  Thanks for reading, and have a happy and safe Halloween, Samhain, etcetera!

More reading:

Survivals in Belief Among the Celts -- George Henderson
Werewolves: A Field Guide to Shapeshifters, Lycanthropes, and Man-Beasts -- Bob Curran
The werewolf book: the encyclopedia of shape-shifting beings -- Brad Steiger
The Book of Werewolves -- Sabine Baring-Gould
The beast within -- Adam Douglas
Werewolves: The Occult Truth -- Konstantinos

Eldritch: Lineage 018

IF I can get it done on time, next week’s update will be on Halloween; how cool is that? (Okay, not that cool, but I’m a dweeb like that.)  However, things are really freaking busy, since I have a coupled of parties/get-togethers and a wedding to go to all in the next week, on top of work.  So, I’m gonna have to cut things short and ramble another day.

First off… I know.  I fail at scripting.  This is a very dialogue-driven chapter.  If the walls of text offend you, I recommend you go to your local comic shop and give them some cash in return for a copy of Korgi.  It’s awesome and stuff.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s the trippy thing: A lot of the crap in this chapter is based upon folklore and research. 

The Hounds of God (and yes, Faith has heard that term before), were, according to one man’s testimony,  real bands of Livonian, German, and Russian werewolves that roamed in companies of both men and women in numbers of twenty or thirty back in the day. They practiced traditions that were remarkably similar to the witchlike benandanti of Italy; these werewolves would travel to ‘hell’ to bring back the crops that the witches or sorcerers had stolen for the devil.  However, ‘Hell” was located at the end of a lake though the Germans an Russians had their own ‘hells’ to deal with).  Hell was said to have its own time, and in Hell, the trees are green instead of barren in Christmas time. However, there was mention of the doors or gateway to hell, and it was indicted that at some times, they were open… Also, it was explained that hell “is not on earth” but underneath it (one source refers to the place as the hell-hole cave, which I will admit is tantalizingly hollow-earth-esque, though I avoided that theory just because it’s slightly less plausible.)  This seems to be a very strange kind of place indeed, what with its location, gateway, and unique seasons.

Now, to me it’s pretty clear that The Hounds of God stripped down and sometimes used wolf pelts to become wolves, however, after forming the basics of how I wanted things to work, I was surprised to find a book by Konstantinos that expressed the opinion that The Hounds of God left their bodies astraly, same as how many of the benandanti sent out a fetch and left their bodies that way.  When thinking in terms of astral projection and all of that, it is easy to bring into consideration the different planes of existence, which leads us to alternate dimensions.

This is amusing, because it makes for a lovely lead-up to the theory expressed in Linda Godfrey’s books.  This theory, as expressed by a remote viewer, is that the werewolves seen in modern day America are travelers through time and space, and come from an alternate dimension.  (I swear to whatever deity you like, I’m not making this up.)  By looking at “Hell” as an alternate dimension rather than a physical feature on or within earth, it makes life a LOT easier, and ties into things that I’ll discuss at a later date.

Now that we’re on the concept of alternate dimensions… regarding Ley Lines as a way into other dimensions, well, that has folkloric basis as well.  I spoke at length about leylines before, back in the second chapter, but I feel the need to revisit them now (and likely will again).  I find it interesting that there are similar, though certainly not identical concepts around the world, ranging from leylines to ghost paths to songlines to fairy paths to corpse roads… lines of paranormal significance appear in many places.  For instance, Songlines have a certain connection to The Dreamtime, which is sort of a magical, primordial era that exists as dimension alongside our own.  Likewise, Corpse roads and such are associated with carrying the dead to cemeteries, and the whole process of death is riddled with stories of moving onto other planes of existence, like heaven, hell, purgatory, or, sometimes, even returning from those planes to haunt this world. Likewise, with fairy paths, depending on what you read (because fairy folklore varies so much) fairies would leave our realm and enter their own, someplace between the living world and the realm of the dead.  They had their own paths, which were said to connect fairy places together, and the fae were also at times associated with the spirits of the dead, connecting them back to the corpse paths.  Then you could get into things like Shamanic paths, or even a wee bit of offeng shui, and there’s a whole mess of these paranormal paths. By classifying these paths in Eldritch’s universe as all being variants of one another under the P.C. umbrella term “ley lines” it allows me to pick and choose the bits I like and mix them a bit. 

So, I basically took all of these elements, plus a few more, wadded them into a ball and made Eldritch.  I hope that by providing bits of the research involved, that you’ll better understand where I’m coming from, you know?  Hopefully it’ll be interesting to someone.

Also, string theory and membrane theory and Rosen bridges and such.  Also, I know, Bridge to Neverland did the Rosen bridge stuff first.  Maybe I’ll bother you all with science later, because Seamus isn’t here XD

Please read:

Timpson’s Leylines – John Timpson

Spirit Roads --Paul Devereux

The Beast Within --Adam Douglas

The Night Battles --Carlo Ginzburg

Werewolves --Neigel Suckling

Apollo the Wolf-God --Daniel Gershenson

Witches Werewolves and Fairies --Claude Lecouteux

Hunting the American Werewolf --Linda Godfrey

The Werewolf Handbook -- Dr. Robert Curran

Real Wolfmen --Linda Godfrey

Werewolves: The Occult Truth – Konstantinos

Eldritch: Lineage 016

So… yeah, the ash tree and mistletoe stuff? That’s actually based upon folklore.  Both ash and mistletoe were used to repel werewolves, and both were used to cure werewolves as well.  Ash trees in particular were used as wards against all sorts of evil. One story in particular mentions a man who climbed an ash tree to escape werewolves, and ash twigs were used to in ritual cures for lycanthropy.  Even the juice of mountain ash berries were used in a fumigation that also cured lycanthropy.  Likewise, while mistletoe repelled werewolves, the juice from the berries was one ingredient in curing werewolves.

You know the drill; head to your library and read these:

Werewolves: The Occult Truth -- Konstantinos

Werewolves (Around the world) --Elliot O’Donnell

Meet The Werewolf --Georgess McHargue, Stephen Gamell

Eldritch: Lineage 015

Okay, so, this isn’t likely what you’re used to.  Aaaand it’s ugly.  It’d be cooler if I had the time to really render this well, but, well… it’s not supposed to be pretty.  I’ll post the preproduction art for it later.

When I was first jotting down ideas for this sequence, I just had to apply an old concept that fit the situation… you see, if you’ve been around me a looooong time, odds are you may remember this piece: http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&q=rageful+grahll#/d543m6  This was done freaking eight years ago.  Now, in the past eight years, I’ve had time to rethink that concept, and exaggerate it.  Basically, I’m using this form of uncontrolled, angered change as an excuse to have movie monster werewolves, as opposed to my usual anthropomorphics. 

The primary draws of inspiration for this came from An American Werewolf in London (The naked face), Dog Soldiers (the naked body with fluffy legwarmers XD), and Underworld (the sparse body hair seen on William), with a hint of Ginger Snaps for flavor ;3.   However, I picked Faith’s traits for several reasons… for one, the paws and face are likely to get the most messy in a battle.  You don’t want fur soaked in coagulated blood making your fingers stick together, or getting in your eyes (not to mention getting ikky if the blood starts to rot, as unlikely as that would be).  So, like a vulture, these parts of her body are bare.  However, she retains fur that’s just as thick or even thicker than normal around her neck, her ankles, and forearms to protect the very vulnerable veins there, working like a lion’s mane. Likewise, the fur on her back protects her should she be clawed at from behind, where she can’t defend herself with her claws as well.  The bareness elsewhere… well, frankly, I did it because I liked it, and it mirrors the bad-guys here, but I could say it’s also because fur is insulating, and losing some helps keep her from overheating in a battle situation.

And while that’s all I have to say about Faith’s design here, I’m not done yet.  I’d like to also take a moment to discuss Fauvism. Some of you may not know much about it, and that’s okay, neither do I; I imagine Faith knows more of it than I do.  However, Fauvism was a brief art movement that is probably best known for its bright colors, and while it was impressionistic, it often retained a sense of realism.  However, it’s the brushwork that really is the icing on the cake.  Truth be told, I’m not normally a stickler for paint texture and such.  But with fauvism, the brushwork is oftentimes energetic, sometimes downright rough… like the artist used the brush to claw paint onto the canvas.  Funny thing about that… Fauvism is, after all, the style of “Les Fauves,” which means, “the wild beasts.”  Truth is, for a long time, I’ve had a soft spot for Fauvism (though not as much as I do for Art Noveau, particularly the work of Mucha), and when looked at in the context of the derivation of the movement’s name… it seems ever so slightly lycanthropic XD

Eldritch: Lineage 014

I was having the hardest time with this page.  Like… I had to start over at one point.  It was that god-awful. And it’s still not great… but it is presentable.  Amusingly enough, I only really managed to get it rolling after the Equinox, because I spent that evening out and about (and even around a huge bonfire to boot), and it got the creative juices rolling.  So long as it doesn’t become a crutch, I do think that sometimes the best way to get artwork done is to get out of the studio, away from the computer, and do something else, though hopefully, something related. 

I’m heading into a busy season… with Fall started and Halloween activities up and running, I have a very few weekends to do a lot of things.  But it’s so gonna be worth it.  One of my flightier friends just asked me to go to a haunt with her.  I’m gonna have to peel her off of the ceiling and it’s gonna be aaawwweeeesome.

Eldritch: Lineage 013

Next week we’ll be back to a more earthly environment, though, a less interesting one, depending on your point of view.  Also, no, explanations will not be given just yet.  I’m sure some of you are happy for that, but I’ll bore you all later ;3

It’s been an interesting week here… ranging from finding that I need new tires for my car, to delighting in the change of seasons.  This Saturday is the first day of autumn, so, if you like summer, be sure to cherish the last days of it, or, if you’re like me, make some time to do some frolicking on the first day of autumn.

Now, if you pardon me, I’m going to engage in the questionable decision of drinking some Newcastle Werewolf Ale while trying to make art. 

Eldritch: Lineage 012

So... how's this new sizing working for you all?

Yeah… yeah, this is trippy.  But I promise, after this page, while things won’t be explained immediately, we’ll at least get back to someplace somewhat normal.   I’d better keep this brief… I have one hell of a busy week up ahead, though, part of it involves a research trip, so that’s productive at least.

And on a different note… I love how much Halloween stuff is out in stores already!  SO EXCITED FOR AUTUMN.

Eldritch: Lineage Pages 10 and 11

… What is this comic?  What the hell is going on?  Odds are, you’re wondering this.  And that’s good: Faith feels the same way. I wavered on this… I knew I wanted this as a splash page while scripting… but it wasn’t until late in that phase that I decided to make it a two-page spread.  I really wanted to emphasize how expansive this environment was.  Also, yes, I know: This looks very science-fiction.  What can I say? I have a strong basis in science fiction in terms of influences… I was raised by trekkies after all. 

So… first off, I will say… I swear to god, even though this looks very, very strange, I actually do have folkloric tie-ins here.  I just… can’t talk about it yet, because it pops up later in this chapter, where I will bombard you with all sort of stuff regarding ideas and influences, but I ask ya to be patient. It’s part of how things go when I show this to you as I go, rather than wait save it till later.  I’m finally starting to tie some more things back to stuff that I set up in the second chapter.  However, while I don’t want to go too deep into what’s going on, I can go into one of the many influences here…

Back in spring of 2010, I was just starting production on Layline, and was doing bits of preproduction sketches and doodles for things that chapter was setting up for later chapters, like this one (though the first hints of this was in the first chapter).  This was one scene that I had just started poking around with, and everything felt really blasé.  I wanted space but not space.  I wanted ~*Magical*~ space ooooooooooh… and I wasn’t very happy with what I had.  I kept looking up at the night sky, and basing my stuff off of what I saw, but it wasn’t enough, so, on my next day off I went about doing research, and ended up at a local museum which has space stuff.  They happened to have an IMAX theater that was showing a brand-new film: Hubble.   It showed me images I had seen before in a whole new way, and gave the tiny photos in my books the same kind of awe-inspiring scope of the night sky I had been trying to capture.  So, I immediately got home, cracked open some books, and got to work. After getting some info on runes, alchemy, the northern lights and such… That evening, I had something workable. :3

So, thank NASA.  If it weren’t for their hard work, this wouldn’t be all that cool.  In fact… thank any scientists you know.  Many of them have very thankless jobs, but help make this world a better place, and inspire people like me to do what I do best.

Also, sorry if I’ve been slow to respond to some of you guys.  I’ve had company for the past week, and that takes a lot of my time (But in a good way!).

Trying something a little new... I don't have time to go back and alter everything else... but this ought to make things easier to read here.

Strange smelling, blue stained cloth? Werewolf Chloroform? Funny light displays?  2001 references?

Things just got weird.  Well, weirder.  And it’s just starting.

Also, there’s some telling and not showing here.  Sorry guys.  No one’s perfect.

And, in closing… the blue moon’s this weekend.  So, be sure to be careful on Friday night.  You never know who, or what you might meet.

Eldritch: Lineage 008

Daaaaaaaam son, you ugly.  Remember this guy?  http://nashoba-hostina.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps#/d3bt5hy   Guess what I was working ooooon ;3 So, why on earth would I have a werewolf with wonky fur? Well… funny thing about Italian werewolves: If from Pavia, Italy, apparently when in human form, the fur grows on the inside.  One man died because folks cut him open and looked for this inward growing fur.  That kind of thing isn’t too terribly strange for werewolves though.  For instance, one once-common term for werewolves (as well as some other shapeshifters) was versipellis.  These werewolves were of the common variety that were believed to use a wolf’s skin to change shape… and when they wanted to be human, they merely turned the pelt inside out again.  As it turns out, versipellis, when translated means  ‘that which changes its skin,’ or turnskin… or perhaps, more accurately, turncoat. Don’t believe me? Head to your local library and check out a copy of Montegue Summer’s The Werewolf in Lore and Legend  and  Frank Hamel’s Human Animals.  The more you know.

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To everyone who thought “Something’s odd about that cat,” congratulations, you were right! *High-fives for everyone.*

So… I hope I didn’t destroy Italian too badly.  My apologies if I did.

I feel like I ought to post something worthwhile or insightful here.  But I’m really tired and have a long drive tomorrow.  So I’ll spare you my delirious rambles XD

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This page brought to you by the song All the Myths are True by Abney Park.  Go listen to it.  You’ll see why I like it. Seriously.  It helped keep me going through this page XD

Man, it’s been a good week.  I hope you all have had good weeks too!  I bet they’re gong better than Faith’s right now!    Anyway, I’m off to go look at Mars Rover stuff and work on the next page!

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I hope you all have a nice full moon this Wednesday!

Well, it’s been a rough couple of days here, and it shows in the page.  Sorry guys. Thankfully, I’d already done the Krampus figure so one panel was easy.

So, I’m sure some of you are wondering where Thanksgiving went.  I’d actually scripted some material about Thanksgiving, but it seemed clunky since nothing particularly interesting happens between Halloween and Christmas Break.  It was mostly some jokes and silliness at Dr. Karen’s house, and it didn’t mix with the rest of the chapter well.  My one real ‘problem’ with this is I usually have to cut sequences that I would like to have, either for pacing or for my sanity.  Thankfully, nothing was highlighted for being important later on, so when I had to cut it, it was no big deal.

That aside… oh my gosh guys, who’s excited about the rover, ‘Curiosity’ landing on Mars in a few days?  Oh, I hope it all works!

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Man, sometimes the weeks really seem to roll into one another.  All of a sudden,, my deadline for this page was on top of me O.o  I probably have an error or teo in this… Anyway, here’s yet another ‘snapshot’ page,  letting me finally touch back on Faith’s workplace.  And I get back to Jay who is… less than sympathetic.  Alas, this is the last we’ll be seeing of him in a while.  Poor, poor underdeveloped background characters.  They never get enough love. 

Yes, that is intended to be Twilight. No, Maggie is not a huge fan. Faith kinda likes it though. And you know what? I think that’s okay.

There seem to be these two camps about the book, those who love it and those who loathe it. I… don’t mind it. Truth is, I can’t take it seriously, and from my point of view, it’s one of the greatest horror genre satires ever written. Apparently it’s intended to be taken as a serious romance but frankly, I don’t care; it’s still hilarious. The vampires sparkle and the werewolves have an allergy to shirts. From my point of view, it’s funny, and that makes it unworthy of loathing, but that doesn’t mean I love either. (This applies to both the books and films. Yes I tried the books. They weren’t for me. But when a classmate handed them to me, her words were “Welcome to the church of Cullen.” I kid you not.) It’s almost a political thing, one’s standing on the value of Twilight… and frankly, I’m indifferent.

But the truth of it all is that whether you love it or hate it, the success of Twilight has helped make it not only okay, but fairly normal to have a serious love for monsters, werewolves included. When I was kid, it was weird that I liked werewolves and dragons and stuff. Now it’s normal. How awesome is that?

But enough about that, who’s super-duper OMG excited about The Hobbit films? LOTR ♥

Well, when it rains, it pours. For some reason Blogger did NOT want to update yesterday... and If you didn't catch my deviantart journal last Thursday, the rather destructive 'super derecho' storms knocked out power and internet for a while... and I couldn't get online until after update day. That's why there was no update last week. Like I say in the disclaimer, sometimes, updates will be missed... and speaking of which... I'd like to talk a bit about my disclaimer.

I know. So many people are rolling their eyes that i can hear it echoing through the tubes of the intarwebz. But I've gotten some snide comments, and some nice ones, and some curious questions, and I feel like I ought to explain myself a little, at least in one part. This is largely sparked by someone who may be writing a fanfiction... And, flattered as I am... I can't read it.
　
I don't suppose you've ever heard of
Marion Zimmer Bradley? She's an author, and wrote several science fiction books that are known as the Darkover series. While I've not read any of her work, she published several anthologies that consisted largely of fanmade works, which she paid the fanauthors for the use of. Personally, I think this is kind of a beautiful idea; vaguely similar to doujinshi. However, this later resulted in an odd incident with a fanauthor, Jean Lamb, who did not like what was offered, and eventually, lawyers became involved. The roumor was that "Bradley had a skirmish with a fan who claimed authorship of a book identical to one Bradley had published and accused Bradley of 'stealing' the idea, and the resultant lawsuit cost Bradley a book." The truth was, it was more the other way around. But, Bradley's lawyers suggested that she no longer read fanfiction.

That's terrifying to me. Even if that wasn't really the case, the idea of someone else laying claim to my work is just... mind-numbingly scary. Heck, the idea of someone doing anything to make it look bad is scary. I don't know what I'd do... I've put hundreds of hours into this over the years, and much of it was being worked on before it was ever a comic. In addition, while I do hope to make revenue off of this sometime, fact is, I'm so busy making the dang thing that I have very little time to research getting it published for purchase. Part of me worries that after I finally get around to publishing it, some twisted version of Bradley's situation will crop up. I'm in kind of a perilous position. It's a scary world to be a creator in, and since I'm constantly displaying an unfinished work, I feel really vulnerable to things like that. It frightens me. That's part of why my disclaimer is so long... It's why I have that extended portion discussing my policy to not read suggestions and such, and how, if suggestions or the like are made regardless, that they become my property. It's not that I want to use folks or anything... it's that, if the natural course of the comic is similar, this way, hopefully, I have some protection. The disclaimer is to protect terrified little me... and you. I don;t ever want any of my readers to feel taken advantage of or upset.

I want to share; I want to meet people with similar interests; I want to entertain, and I want people to imagine. Sometimes, fanworks come of imagining. Sometimes they're done out of love for a character or story... sometimes they're done for practice... and sometimes they're done as a way to say thanks to the creators. Personally, i think it's very flattering, and I love the drawings folks have done for Eldritch... but, given the context of the above, it can also be very scary.. particularly with fanfiction.

Several authors, if I understand correctly, disapprove of fanworks to varying degrees, such as
Anne Rice, George RR Martin, and Andre Norton.
I remember how Anne McCaffery had, for a time, said she wanted no fanfiction of her work posted. (This is understandable really, after several 'Zines had been profiting from fanfiction of her work published in them) She later revised that, saying it was okay so long as no one was profiting from it... but people don't remember that. I remember that after she died, people were happy because folks could make fanfic... they had no idea it had actually been allowed for some time. It was sad, really... to see fans of a creator happy at her passing, simply because they felt this left them free to play in her universe. To imagine it in their own ways, just for the joy of it.
　
So... that leaves me with a problem. The safest thing is to outright disallow fanwork. The "I licked it; it's mine!" mentality. But... suppressing imagination... that's a horrible thing. I mean, everyone's made fanart... doodled favorite characters on their binders, written Mary-sue self-insert fic, or filked a song so you could sing about your fandom of choice. While some will do it for selfish reasons, most of the time, it can lead to wonderful things. So... So long as it's for fun, not for profit... I hope it's okay to say it's alright to do. I hope I never have to regret it. I get scared... I worry that I'll somehow lose my baby by doing so. But I also want my readers to be happy and creative. I'm trying to take a page of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's books (Pun?) and treat fanwork and such as a harmless expression of appreciation. Which, I think, the grand majority of it is.
　
So.. please forgive me for my oddities. Sometimes, folks contact me on AIM and want to talk about the comic... and a lot of the time, I can't. I swear, I don't intend to be mean when I say I can't read a fanfiction (that is certainly more fun to read than my rather dry script, I'm sure.) And while fanart is safer for me to look at and comment on, that doesn't mean that I appreciate it else any more or less than other fanworks. It's... just what I have to to if I want to show this to you guys as I make it, as opposed to working on it for several years and then just publishing it after it's all finished. It's the best way to keep me safe.

Thanks for putting up with me.

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I finished up fixing the last of my comic-making problems this past week, so life is gooooood!  Speaking of Good, you should all see Brave.  It's not Pixar's best, but I adore it hardcore.  It has archery, and accents, and magic and critters.  So many of my favorite thingies!

So... comic.  Yeah.  It's kind of rushed, S. Grey looks kind of derpy (he's an awkward speaker anyway, so they go well together), text boxes are wonky... but meh, busy week.  Seems they all are these days.  But anyway... Yay political stuff?  I'm not a terribly political person, but I try my best to provide good, informed votes.  Every once in a while though, I fall into the same trap Faith did and let life get away from me.  The difference is, she at least has a good excuse. XD

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Oh my goodness, Finally! After the computer exploding, a time of having nothing to work with, and all of the other issues you can read about on my Devaintart gallery, I am back in buisness... that being said, the quality may vary for a while. For some reason, adobe 7 will not install on the fixed computer. I kind of wonder if the disk corrupted or something (The disk is only like... ten years old, after all). I'll talk to the guy we bought it from and see if he can figure it out (So, no need for advice from you guys yet, but when I need it, I'll ask ya all for it, but thanks anyway!). In the mean time, I have adobe elements 6, (It came with my tablet, but I never used it before)and while I'd thought it was mostly an upgrade, it's missing some features that I figure should be standard, because they're that darn nesessary. Maybe I just haven't found them yet... *chuckles* Or, maybe if I save like crazy, I can just get CS6 in six months or so. Either way, I'm in buisness enough to get the job done, even if it does take a little longer than usual. Maybe I'll finally get around to trying Gimp!

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Yay, someone got Maggie a new witch hat.  Not the stripey one she had though… I suppose they’ll grab that on their way home.

So. Wow guys.  Four chapters.  Over three years of work. Well over a hundred pages.  And somehow, I haven’t lost my mind.  Next week, I’ll be posting the cover for the fifth chapter, and I still have so many chapters to go until I reach the end of the story. 

It’s going to be a bit different in tone than the previous chapters, but will largely take place in an all new setting, and expand on the world of Eldritch.  I do warn in advance, it will be a bit ‘talky,’ though, for those of you who don’t like to learn, it will have far less science-babble than Layline (it will, however, have more mythological info however). 

Thanks for sticking with me so far, guys.  Here’s to another chapter!

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Oh Dylan.  Dumber?  Really?  Apparently he’s not an English major ;p

Yet another week of squeaking by on time.  I’ve been up since 5:30.  I’d say something intelligent… but God I’m tired.  Maybe later.

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Oh my god, I’m back. So busy. Sorry this is so crummy, I had to do it in very little time… I’ll write more later. 

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I dunno if it’s clear that Todd’s sizing up Maggie’s chest. Not that I drew it well or anything…

Gah. Busy as heck week… in addition, it’s been storming a lot, and I don’t risk the computer by being online when it’s thunderstorming (Yes, I do have a surge protector). Thus, less time to color. If I’d known so much time would be wasted waiting for the lightning to stop, I would have spent more time sketching in pencil. And next week will be even busier. I’ll be out of town over the weekend again, (another con, one I wasn’t sure I was going to go to, but was asked to help out with) which means, I’ll be missing a lot of time to work. Gah. Maybe instead of posting a comic page, I’ll just post a shirtless picture of Dylan.

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Egads, I have five minutes to type out something to say O.o  Truth is, after what Todd just did, I’m kinda speechless myself.  I’ll probably come up with something clever to say later.

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If you’re one of the many who recognized the <I>Into the woods</I> reference last week, yaaaay!

So… here’s the thing about Robin Hood: He was an outlaw.  Today, his story is heavily romanticized, just like vampires and werewolves are.  However, while it may seen silly, or perhaps a mistake on Todd’s part, in the Eldritch version of the world, yeah, Robin Hood was a werewolf.  “Why?” you might ask… well, the reason is simple: Back in the day, outlaws were sometimes called Wolves, or Wolf-Headed.  This basically meant that these outlaws were to be treated as wolves... as dangerous animals that needed to be killed, all human rights forfeit. 

This practice may have lead to some of our werewolf legends, such as one from Innsbruck, in which a werewolf corners a woman and demands her diamonds. At the end of the story, however, her diamonds are safe… but only because she traded her loving husband to the werewolf instead.  It makes one wonder whom the real monster in the story was?  Regardless, werewolves in Austria-Hungary and Spain were said to have a particular attraction to valuable precious stones, such as diamonds and rubies.  One could suppose that some of these alleged werewolves were only rogues and outlaws pretending 

to be monsters, in hopes of scaring people out of their valuables.  After all, Loup Garou and Wargus in some cases also meant outlaw. Or, perhaps, werewolves are as easily distracted by shiny things as we humans are. ;3

I suppose that a diamond is a werewolf’s best friend…

Please also see:

The Beast Within --Adam Douglas

The Book of Werewolves --Sabine Baring-Gould

Werewolves (Around the world) --Elliot O’Donnell

Were-wolf And Vampire in Romania – Harry A. Senn (Good luck finding this one. :C)

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*Puffs a breath* Urg… well, I got the page done in spite of loosing three days working time to the convention (It went pretty well, thanks for asking).  Truth is, I should have started on this sooner… I guess we all make mistakes.

Anyway!  So, yeah… Todd is dressed as Robin Hood… This was very deliberate, but why I did it is something that I will address in more detail next week.  However, whomever knows what he’s referencing there gets ten experience points.