Neon’s A Doll A Day… Again (2020)

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you very much, guys!!!

It's so cool to see that you have all these legends and lore about Slavic mythical creatures. It might just be my lack of local knowledge, but I don't think we have such here in Hungary. This might be a totally dumb guess, but I believe it might have to do with the country getting smaller and smaller over time, and the lores kind of got... stuck on the other sides of borders? Vampires are a good example of this - their popular versions are usually said to be a Transylvanian thing - and back in the times of Dracul and Tepes, Transylvania was part of Hungary - unlike today (and due to this, it often factinates me how pop culture vampires are often given typically Hungarian names - like László or Nándor ). My relationship with, and knowledge of vampires, is totally blurred, because it comes from the aforementioned literary works, based on 'then' locals, who are no longer locals to my country, written by non-locals, and not from anything actually local. It'd be interesting to look into this topic more on a local level, I'll try to dig around

I'm often torn between whether I like Orlok or Béla-Dracula more. I truly love them both, but I usually side with Béla in the end. It must be a subconscious local side-taking thing... but I just really like his acting and his funny Hungarian-English accent (that otherwise hurts my ears in local everyday situations, even though I know why it's difficult for us to pronounce some of those "similar but not exactly the same" phonemes that English language has. But it can be done. Been there, done that, still do).

I don't know anything about Hungarian folklore. I never tried to research it, I'm still busy trying to learn about my own, but I wonder what I would find if I did. I believe that Transylvania being a vampire hangout is a result of Dracula's popularity rather than local beliefs, and that Hungarian names of modern vampires are a tribute to the great Béla. I don't know how vampires spread from Slavs to other nations (except for finding fertile burial ground in Greece), but I believe that historically, vampires weren't a major Transylvanian thing. Tepes was linked with vampirism for the first time in Dracula, not before that, and it's obvious from the book that Stoker had no idea about Transylvania and its people, his Transylvania is full of Czechs and Slovaks, with a very few Hungarians, and practically no Romanians, complete opposite from reality. I think he simply chose a mysteeeerious, daaark, and distant region with a controversial historical figure as its no.1 celebrity, because it was perfect for his book, and that he didn't actually do any research on vampire folklore (it's hard to hold that against him, reliable sources are hard to find today, let alone back then).

I like Orlok the best, but I consider him his own beast, eventhough he was based on Dracula. I think that Nosferatu becoming what it did because they didn't get the rights to make an actual Dracula movie was a good thing. Béla-Dracula is my favorite Dracula-Dracula (gee, what a sentence ), as in, my favorite Dracula, not Dracula-inspired character. He's my default Dracula, and every new one gets compared to him (and none ever impressed me nearly as much, not even Christopher Lee).


Day 336

I still didn't fix the numbers, because it's so hard, it's definitely not procrastination, nope, nope, not in the least...
ADAW #48

[Loona]

I have my own misheard lyrics, an annoying one in particular that I finally looked up, and even having seen what it was "supposed" to be, I still only hear the wrong, dumb, lyric

Haha, I also have a lot of my own, but they are usually just misheard words or phrases (I guess one cannot help when they are not native speakers of a language and have a smaller set of vocabulary to choose from). And yes, they sometimes naughtily linger even after I look the lyrics up or come across them another way. A few that remain in my head actually seem to make more sense in my versions than the originals, which might be the reason for me not being able to "re-learn" the correct versions and then there are some overly funny classics that I know are wrong, but refuse to sing them correctly because of their added fun factor and the memories ("Richard touch me" instead of "Reach out touch faith" in Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus is a classic example. I don't think I knew the word "faith" when I heard this song first, as a child. It's even funnier that, already as an adult, I actually found others who also misheard the line like this XD ).

I don't know anything about Hungarian folklore. I never tried to research it, I'm still busy trying to learn about my own, but I wonder what I would find if I did. I believe that Transylvania being a vampire hangout is a result of Dracula's popularity rather than local beliefs, and that Hungarian names of modern vampires are a tribute to the great Béla. I don't know how vampires spread from Slavs to other nations (except for finding fertile burial ground in Greece), but I believe that historically, vampires weren't a major Transylvanian thing. Tepes was linked with vampirism for the first time in Dracula, not before that, and it's obvious from the book that Stoker had no idea about Transylvania and its people, his Transylvania is full of Czechs and Slovaks, with a very few Hungarians, and practically no Romanians, complete opposite from reality. I think he simply chose a mysteeeerious, daaark, and distant region with a controversial historical figure as its no.1 celebrity, because it was perfect for his book, and that he didn't actually do any research on vampire folklore (it's hard to hold that against him, reliable sources are hard to find today, let alone back then).

I like Orlok the best, but I consider him his own beast, eventhough he was based on Dracula. I think that Nosferatu becoming what it did because they didn't get the rights to make an actual Dracula movie was a good thing. Béla-Dracula is my favorite Dracula-Dracula (gee, what a sentence ), as in, my favorite Dracula, not Dracula-inspired character. He's my default Dracula, and every new one gets compared to him (and none ever impressed me nearly as much, not even Christopher Lee).

Yep, true. that's what I shortly hinted at by saying the classic books weren't written by locals - and yeah, Stoker's knowledge of the region was neither extensive, nor accurate. Not saying because I have anything against the book or Stoker, I don't, but it's still true regardless
Most of our folklore I'm aware of seems to be rather tales of people and families, with only a few non-human creatures or phenomena, too few to be interesting enough to me. Sad as this sounds, I found our folklore and tales a tad bit boring for my taste already as a child, and thus they never tickled my interest enough to look into it more when I was older. There might totally be more to it, and I just missed out on those bits because the interesting stuff never made it into children-suitable versions or tales...

I agree about Orlok and Nosferatu as a film, I like it a lot due to its differences, even if these differences are changes resulting from the fuss around the rights. And I'm the same about Béla, I compare everyone to him, and none were a match so far

I *ADORE* today's photo and the doodle! These girls are just so cute, their pastel minimal colours are eyecandy to me, and I love how the doodle takes this on too, and uses only their 2 colours. The fluffy pair is adorable, and another vote goes for those ears being cute. They are not weird at all.

[Elfy]

That is a great doodle, it’s like a little cartoon strip. Sheep are a favourite of Lejays with her knitting interest.

[Alliecat]

Fun colour coordination. Your little critters are so cute. They could have their own comic strip.

[werepuppy]

The girls are so cute, and the doodle is so cute so well done. You have overloaded me with sheer cuteness right now.

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you very much, everyone!!!

I'm glad you like the sheep, I actually went and drew two more doodles with them, so two out of four remaining doodles are going to be exactly like this.

***

Yesterday was actually an Oddliday - Happy Hibernation Day, but I'm posting it today, because of ADAW.

When December rolls around, some of Oddwickshire's many werepeoples hit the hay for the season. Weresquirrels, werebats and wererabbits hibernate fully (nobody knows why wererabbits do, because non-wererabbits, er, rabbits, don't; I think they might be simply enjoying that kind of lifestyle), werebears, and also some fairies (though they're not were-) have winter rest, but eventhough they're not asleep all the time, they never leave their homes during this period and it is considered rude to bother them, you can be subjected to a Strict Yelling At for doing so, and decapitated (with immediate head re-attachment) if you don't stop after that.

Happy Hibernation Day is sort of a 'good night' party for these folks, and mostly takes form of pyjama parties with lots of cocoa and sweets you shouldn't be eating before bed, but it won't hurt just once. S'mores, muffins, cookies, hot pudding - you name it! It is customary to exchange sleep-related or otherwise warm and fuzzy gifts (even among species that stay active during winter), like all sorts of cute or funny pillows, night lights, cute plush animal hot water bottles (they're actually filled with powder from one of Oddwickshire's many weird and awesome crystals - they're awesome, because they stay warm for very long, you only need to re-charge them once a year), cute plush animals, cute plush animal herb pouches to put next to or under the pillow, fluffy socks, stuff like that. Everyone, but mostly those who stay awake, bedeck their houses with all sorts of lights and glowing things, this custom actually has a practical side to it, because when the snow joins the fog (fog never lifts in Oddwickshire, not even during rain, storms, snow, blizzards... never), visibility gets even worse, so it's safer to have lights on everything.

Oddwickshire then grows noticeably silent, and that, together with the snow and fog, makes the whole land strangely tranquil, and just a teeny tiny bit wistful, but also hauntingly beautiful, especially in towns. Oddlings do celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of the new one, but there's not an official Oddliday for that, it would be rude to have big events when such a large part of population can't celebrate, so end-of-the-year parties are usually small family events, there isn't even a special cake for the occassion, everyone just bakes whatever they want.

***

And that was the last Oddliday I had for you, and we'll go through them again next year, when the werepeople are up and can celebrate with us. Since I don't have a particular character, let alone a doll to represent the hibernating Oddlings, I'll show you today's arrival instead - my first Nendoroid!


Day 337



This is Hanako-kun from Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, manga and anime series I absolutely adore.

Hanako-kun (whose real name is Yugi Amane - Yugi being the family name) is a ghost and one of two main characters of the manga. He's mischief personified, he's kind, but can also be genuinely scary. Here he is with a Mokke (this is the real color Mokke should have, mine turned out too dark) and his ghostly helpers - hakujoudai - who are actually disembodied human souls (not that they ever say anything). The manga has very light and comedic tone, but touches upon some dark themes, too.

I love this little guy! He came with a ton of extras, so I need to do another photoshoot with him. I really hope they make Nene, the main girl of the series. And everyone else for that matter. I'd also love for Azone to pick up the franchise and do some Pure Neemos of the characters.

[Elfy]

Your Nendodroid is awesome, looks like a happy chap. For the day after Hibernation Day do the Oddlings get to sleep in extra long?

[werepuppy]

Oh, that is an adorable and awesome looking Nendoroid!

Hibernation Day sounds like a fun day.

[Alliecat]

I know *I* feel like hibernating!! And I chuckled at the penalties for disturbing hibernaters (hibernators?) because that's kind of how I feel when someone bothers me before noon Happy Hibernation Day is a fun idea.
... so there is never a sunny day in Oddwickshire?
Congrats on the new nendoroid. I have no idea who he is but he does look mischievous.

[neon_jellyfish]

Thank you very much, everyone!!!

Sorry for the silence! I don't have internet connection at the moment, and the IT guy won't be able to come until Monday. I'm at my parents' place now, but I might be unable to post again until my internet is fixed.



Day 338

Yesterday's photo:



Hanako-kun is my smallest doll/figure, so I thought I'd take a comparison photo like werepuppy does. Left to right - Nendoroid, MH Vinyl, Picco Neemo D, Pure Neemo Flection XS, Ever After High (standard height).



Day 339

Today's photo:

I never used any of the extra dresses that came with I<3Fashion Iris, so I did it now.



I'm on a different notebook, and colors look off, and all neonified again, eventhough I didn't use any filters.

[Lejays17]

Bummer about the internet connection - hope it gets fixed quickly.

Wow, the nendoroid is Tiny! And very cute too.

And yes, Iris is glowing neon at the moment. But she looks great in her alternative outfit.

[Alliecat]

I live in a place that is known for crap internet. Mostly mine hasn't been too awful. But it is frustrating when you can't connect when you want. How attached we've become to our technology....
Funny how seeing the size comparison makes the nendo seem even tinier!
Random thought, wondering how the world looks to Iris, because she couldn't have binocular vision....

[werepuppy]

Ooh I do like your line up. A good way to judge the sizing.

Iris looks stunning. Another of those I never did find.

[Loona]

I hope you get your net back soon (and that you can enjoy some offline activities until that happens)

I really love this lineup - and the picture was very informative! I'm only familiar with EAH and Picco Neemo, so I was surprised to see the height of a Pure Neemo XS and the Nenodroid - I thought both of them to be taller, and I have avoided them as a result. I might reconsider both of them based on this now 

Yeah, Iris does seem to have some flash to her skintone, but I think it suits her. I like to look at pictures of her, and I like that she is a cyclops (I'd love to have a cyclops in my dolly family), but when I found her on a trip abroad and bought her, I never really managed to bond with her, so she moved along.

[Elfy]

The size comparison is a great line up.