Neon’s A Doll A Day… Again (2020)

[Lejays17]

Her Insane Majesty looks very serene there. I think this could be one of the prettiest pictures you've taken of her (not that all the other pictures weren't utterly exquisite of course Your Majesty, please put the axe down )

And a pavlova sounds marvelous as a treat for this particular day.
And I think we have a patch of Oddwickshire fog here as well - there's a place near here that develops low-lying fog when no where else does. It's particularly odd when you realise that dark shape is one of the herd of cows...

[neon_jellyfish]

Her Manic Majesty's wire hoop skirt looks particularly antique-ish in monochrome.

(Interesting eBay link for your amusement: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pullip-Doll-P-0...4146227397 )

I am fairly certain I once lived in a place where a trace of Oddwick Fog seeped through in to our world. It was in Hawaii, where fog is rarely seen. Rarely, except in this one place, a low hollow in the middle of the pineapple fields, near a group of large stones that were said to be both powerful and haunted. Often, early in the morning or late at night, this hollow was filled with fog so thick it was nearly impossible to see through it. I am sure that fog fish would have felt right at home in this hollow.

The entire description of Oddwickshire fog is quite fascinating and fun... and a little bit scary. I shall henceforth be extra careful to avoid fog-bites when venturing out in to the mist.

Thank you!

...Wow. Her Insane Majesty said that she appreciates the insanity, however, since all attempts to ex³press her value as a price tag are bound to fail, because there simple isn't enough money in the whole world, she'd prefer her dolls to be as accessible as possible, so that every poor soul could make their life better by basking in her royal presence.

Oooh, maybe it was a portal!

And thank you!

Any excuse for a pavlova will do. I think I'd prefer a tranquil Fog Day to a crazy one. They sound far more relaxing.

Oddlings are ex²perts when it comes to inventing excuses to have another cake. Tranquil Fog Day is the default version, it just sometimes gets messed up by the effects of the full moon. Although even the crazy ones are possible to enjoy. Just yesterday I saw a very elegant lady disintegrate an especially hostile fog clump by vehemently waving her fan at it, and she laughed like crazy and proceeded to chase a few more after that.

Her Insane Majesty looks very serene there.  I think this could be one of the prettiest pictures you've taken of her (not that all the other pictures weren't utterly exquisite of course Your Majesty, please put the axe down )

And a pavlova sounds marvelous as a treat for this particular day.
And I think we have a patch of Oddwickshire fog here as well - there's a place near here that develops low-lying fog when no where else does.  It's particularly odd when you realise that dark shape is one of the herd of cows...

Thank you!

Another portal!


Day 315

ADAW #42
Honestly I don't know anymore. I messed up the count when I posted one of the substitute doodles, I'll fix the numbers after I post the last one.

Remember how I wanted to do spooky posters with Czech/Slavic supernaturals in October and how it didn't work out, and I only posted hejkal? No? ...Anyhoo, I managed to do another one today. Yay... And there will probably be a load of typos and bad English again.





Rusalka

Another Slavic supernatural I want to introduce you to is rusalka. That would be the one from Antonín Dvořák’s opera.

English wiki page on rusalkas has some inaccuracies. For example, it says rusalkas (I’m going to use this form of plural, and not the popular rusalki, because it’s not universal Slavic plural, Czech and Slovak use rusalky, for example) are 'frequently associated with water'. That suggest that sometimes, they aren’t. I cannot claim I know every single Slavic myth about them, but if there are non-water-related rusalkas, they're rarity, rusalkas really are all about water. It would be like saying mermaids are frequently associated with water.

Another thing is etymology of the word. Just because the Slavic name for Pentecost sounds similar, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where the name for rusalka came from. It probably only helped to spread the new word, because the worship of all kinds of nature spirits (not just rusalkas) and Pentecost took place at roughly the same time.
The thing about the word rusalka is - we don’t really know where it came from, the word itself was first recorded as a name for this being in cca 16th century, but its roots are old, too old for us to be sure. Two most accepted theories among people from Slavic countries are that the word was derived from either ‘rusá’ = red haired (girl), or rusa = river / rusla = depths. I personally like the ‘rusla’ one, but there’s no way to be sure.
I don’t really believe that what was fully christian society at the time would name an old supernatural, by then perceived as malevolent, after important christian holiday.

Rusalka is basically a subspecies of víla, which translates as fairy, but our fairies are different from the western ones. I guess I should post a twaddle about vílas some day. Basically, they’re nature spirits, they’re wingless, human-sized and always look like young women, sometimes, the color of their hair will hint they’re not human. Rusalkas are water species. 

They used to be like local deities residing in springs, lakes, rivers, etc. They were seen as benevolent rulers over waters in that region, but we don’t know the details (cue my usual ‘stupid ancestors, why couldn’t you write anything down?!’ rant). Some sources say that rusalkas replaced vílas in myths, and therefore are not exclusively water-related, but as far as I’m aware, myths and tales about vílas (using this name) never disappeared, and rusalka is a word for a víla connected to water.

And now’s the time for yet another rant - my usual ‘christianization ruined my culture’ rant! I’ll try to keep it reasonable. You already know the drift - rusalkas became Evil™. They were somewhat merged with mavkas/navkas (young girls who died a tragic unnatural death and came back as revenants, those were actually dangerous before christianization) and became associated with death - they were swept into the ‘dead girl cannot find peace and now she’s killing people by luring them to death with her sexiness’ bag. Sexy women are evil, remember that!
Later, the same thing happened to vílas, too. And when they weren’t killing people, they at least caused floods. Sigh. There would still be occasional kind but sad ones, and the hero of the story would help them find peace.

Interesting thing, and I couldn’t find whether it’s from pre-christian myths or the newer ones, is that supposedly, rusalka’s power comes from her long, beautiful hair. Rusalkas always have long, beautiful hair, sometimes red, sometimes green, less frequently fair / blonde or black, and in more recent tales, they can also be blue (but it’s always striking, supernaturally brilliant color, even if it’s a normal one). But there aren’t any tales about heroes defeating rusalkas by cutting their hair, and I think that if the powerhair canon was old and common, there would be some. However, just having an exquisite mane is a superpower of sorts, so I guess that kiiiinda counts?

The extent of rusalka powers differs from place to place (and changed with time). Sometimes they have unlimited, god-tier power over water (sometimes includin weather, like calling forth rain), sometimes they have somewhat limited, but still impressive powers, in other tales, their powers are limited to living underwater and luring young men to their doom with hypnotic singing or showing off naked.

In some regions, they can only be in water, like fish, in other, they can come out and travel to certain distance from their water homes. I think that in pre-christian tales, they would come out of water towards the end of winter and use their powers to irrigate the soil, bringing the spring to the land, but I’m not sure (stupid ancestors!).

The male counterpart of rusalka would be vodník / vodyanoy, but they often appear as compatible, but different species. Vodníks tend to have green skin, rusalkas don’t, just to name one difference.

In my mind, rusalkas are powerful nature spirits, kind, but no pushovers.

This post is kind of all over the place, because the myth differs between nations and even small regions, and written records are few and far between, and most of the lore got deformed with time. I’d like to write a straightforward ‘this is what rusalka is’ post, but I’m afraid that just isn’t possible.

I have two more Slavic supernaturals I want to talk about, hopefully, I’ll get to it towards the end of the week.

[davidd]

That is a truly beautiful illustration! It seems to glow from within!

And displayed by my favorite Monster High figure, First Wave Lagoona... who I am certain, after reading this fascinating (and, as always, funny) account of rusalkas/rusalki/rusalky, must have considerable Czech heritage.

Now to search for the most frequently recommended version of Dvorák's Rusalka on CD. (Your posts are quite culturally uplifting!)

[Alliecat]

Congrats... you have probably changed how I will look at fog from now on Love the idea of little fog-creatures, and as I started reading the first few lines, I thought, I wonder if the fog is alive, and then you said it made sentient clumps. What a fun and imaginative idea -- yet again
We get a fair bit of fog... actually yesterday half the island was foggy & I was thinking it would be fun if there were critters drifting in it as I was driving. We have a foggy end and a less-foggy end. I wonder if there are any portals in the woods
A lovely portrait of Her Majesty too.

That is a really cool doodle! I like the blues & greens, and the detail in the flower, and also that you created an ex-pression with the detail in her face, even though it's a tiny face.
Your culture/mythology/history posts are always interesting! Now I can picture the ones that are able to leave the water, meeting up with some of the fog-creatures...

... It was in Hawaii, where fog is rarely seen. Rarely, except in this one place, a low hollow in the middle of the pineapple fields, near a group of large stones that were said to be both powerful and haunted. Often, early in the morning or late at night, this hollow was filled with fog so thick it was nearly impossible to see through it....

Did you ever see any old ladies in white gowns in the fog...??

[davidd]

Did you ever see any old ladies in white gowns in the fog...?? 

I did not see any women in white in the fog, but I heard such stories a number of times. I also heard directly from people who swore it was true about the large stones being moved by field workers, but returning to where they were found overnight.

[Elfy]

Even before I read it, I thought it was a rusalka. Your description of them makes them sound rather like nixies.

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you very much, everyone!


Day 316

More monotone monochrome.



But don't worry, I'll post some non-B&W filtered pics soon

[davidd]

As long as they look this good, keep the filtered monochrome pics coming! They're wonderful!

This one is quite reminiscent of the 1920s era during which Tut's tomb was discovered, resulting in a fad for Egyptian motif fashion!

The gold in Cleo's headdress seems to gleam even in black and white!

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you!


Day 317

Can't post Origins Cleo without Origins Ghoulia, so here she is!



I have two funny outtakes,

Scary Shiny Glasses (which is a trope mostly seen in anime, where it indicates that the character is plotting something sinister)



and Evil eye, no idea how did this one happen...



It makes Ghoulia look like a haunted doll, me likes!

[werepuppy]

Ghoulia just always looks fantastic.

[Lejays17]

The post about rusalka was fascinating as always. I generally hit the research button after reading one, to see what else has been written, but you usually have told us a bout the main interesting bits.

And you’re right, you can’t have Origins Cleo without Ghoulia. Even though I knows it’s b&w, I can still see the golden gleam of Cleos headdress shining through.

[davidd]

It makes Ghoulia look like a haunted doll... or it reveals that Ghoulia is a haunted doll?  

[Alliecat]

Very pretty b&w portraits, especially Cleo, even though I really like her colour scheme. The "evil eye" one made me smile. She looks like she sees something really, REALLY shocking.

I also heard directly from people who swore it was true about the large stones being moved by field workers, but returning to where they were found overnight.

Hehe. Nobody in this corner of the world 'gets it' when some glitchy thing happens and I say it must've been menehune.

[dunneh]

You're making me read a lot today, Neon. Not that I'm complaining, they are great reads!! Plus it's my own fault for being behind on everyone's posts. Also I hope you're feeling better!

Your Oddwickshire lore about fog days is so interesting and well thought out. It has such a Terry Pratchett vibe, and maybe a bit of Dark Crystal. It's great. And your info on rusalkas was super informative. I love learning new stuff like that. And the drawing was really great. You really capture the under water feel in that pic. Yeah, the 'sexy women are evil' trope is prevalent in so many cultures sadly, like Sirens for example and even Yuki Onna from Japan. It's flippin stupid if you ask me. Society is weird.

I love your Cleo photo so much! Makes me wanna collect MH dolls, its beautifully composed. I really like the black and white one of Ghoulia too.

[neon_jellyfish]

Ghoulia just always looks fantastic.

She does! She was such an underappreciated character...

The post about rusalka was fascinating as always.  I generally hit the research button after reading one, to see what else has been written, but you usually have told us a bout the main interesting bits.

And you’re right, you can’t have Origins Cleo without Ghoulia.  Even though I knows it’s b&w, I can still see the golden gleam of Cleos headdress shining through.

Thank you! I shall put this into one of my rants, but when it comes to Slavic lore, Wikipedia is very often quite inaccurate, and sometimes plain wrong. I guess I'll talk about it more when I get to my next supernatural.

Thank you very much!

It makes Ghoulia look like a haunted doll... or it reveals that Ghoulia is a haunted doll?  

I'm afraid she never did anything haunt-ish... She's just a regular doll, a beautiful one, but not spooky at all.

Very pretty b&w portraits, especially Cleo, even though I really like her colour scheme.  The "evil eye" one made me smile.  She looks like she sees something really, REALLY shocking.

Thank you! (maybe the news?)

You're making me read a lot today, Neon. Not that I'm complaining, they are great reads!! Plus it's my own fault for being behind on everyone's posts. Also I hope you're feeling better!

Your Oddwickshire lore about fog days is so interesting and well thought out. It has such a Terry Pratchett vibe, and maybe a bit of Dark Crystal. It's great. And your info on rusalkas was super informative. I love learning new stuff like that. And the drawing was really great. You really capture the under water feel in that pic. Yeah, the 'sexy women are evil' trope is prevalent in so many cultures sadly, like Sirens for example and even Yuki Onna from Japan. It's flippin stupid if you ask me. Society is weird.

I love your Cleo photo so much! Makes me wanna collect MH dolls, its beautifully composed. I really like the black and white one of Ghoulia too.

Haha, sorry!
I have three more planned ramble-posts before the end of the year, I hope more won't happen spontaneously... My health tends to give me troubles, but that's normal for me, so don't worry about it! I usually mention it in an attempt to excuse poor quality of my photos, it's nothing serious.

I'm not sure how much you've read about Oddwickshire, if you feel like there's some context missing, my Oddwickshire posts start here:  http://forums.dollymarket.net/showthread.php?tid=7262056&pid=8238523#pid8238523 - that's last year's ADAD thread, the relevant posts end on page 85. This year, I've been doing Oddlidays, those happen cca once a month, the first one was in late February, but I'll be 'celebrating' them next year, too, so you won't miss them.

Thank you very much!


Day 318

Happy Friday the 13! The second one this year!



The original pic: