The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon [Review]

The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon

by Moira Greyland
Castalia House, 2018

The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon is the book that grew out of the 2014 revelation that fantasy and science fiction and fantasy author Marion Zimmer Bradley abused her own children and knowingly protected and facilitated her husband Walter Breen’s pedophiliac activities. If you were reading SFF in the 1970s and 1980s it was a helluva blow. (Bradley, in case you don’t know, was also the author of the best-selling book The Mists of Avalon, a popular retelling of Arthurian myth from the viewpoint of its female characters, who were pagans as opposed to Arthur’s Christianity. In this post, I’ll call her MZB as she has been called in the SFF field.)

The book is an account from MZB’s daughter Moira Greyland of how she overcame her parents’ crimes and abuse; it also functions, in a rough way, as a biography of MZB, of whom no other published bios have been written. It’s also an indictment of the hippy-dippy atmosphere of Berkeley, California, where MZB came to eventually live and prosper. It also serves also as a larger indictment of SFF and Ren Fair culture and a much larger one of Baby Boomer sexual attitudes in general, though I think the last was unintended.

Greyland’s account is casually told and probably could have benefitted from more discipline and structure, though that was likely beyond her or her editor. It reads like an adapted set of transcriptions between Greyland and her therapist. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t readable, but it does lead to the question of Is this really true? from its readers, especially if they were fans during the decades in question. Greyland anticipates this with a set of transcripts from a civil lawsuit of MZB included at the end of the book – a lawsuit from the mother of one of the boys Walter Breen molested —  and it’s chilling in how it illustrates MZB’s unconcern about her then-husband’s activities. Personally, I feel that all the evidence is pretty damning.

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/20/24: Dog Magic

A page from The Book of Imaginary Canines

Since I’ve been doing dog breeds for the past two weeks, how about Dog Magic?

The first dog magic, of course, was the human domestication of dogs. From what I’ve read, the first dog was a now-extinct subspecies of wolf similar to the present-day Arabian Wolf, which roams the Middle East. In other words, a smallish wolf that, while still carnivorous, ate a more varied diet than its brethren and was prone to scavenging. The hypothesis was it hung around early humans to get at their discarded hunting scraps. As the story goes, it feared man less and less and “domesticated” itself.

I’ll also note here that wolves are one of the most adaptable of species, like humans. Over time they’ve differentiated into dozens and dozens of different subspecies and are still differentiating today. The Sea Wolves of Victoria Island, anyone?

There’s a Hollywood movie called Alpha that gives a romanticized and male-dominated view of wolf domestication. In prehistoric times, a young man bonds with an injured wolf he encounters while hunting; he nurses it back to health and they become partners. When he returns to his tribe, the wolf drops a litter of puppies – she was a lady wolf! Domestication proceeds from there.

I say, bunk. It’s far more likely the women of the tribe domesticated the scavenging wolves, raising the puppies alongside their own children to ensure loyalty. Perhaps they nursed the cubs, and the mama wolf, the infants. Such so the legend of Romulus and Remus was born. The bond was mystic, familial. These first dogs protected the tribe and their young ones and kept them warm at night. Their hunting function was perhaps secondary.

I’ll say, too, that perhaps wolf domestication was the reason Homo sapiens prevailed over Homo neanderthalis and denisova. The latter species just couldn’t get the hang of taming the wolf.

Anyway, here’s a bunch of canine-oriented spells and magic items.

 

Dog Magic

Spells
 Canine Landscape: Makes an area especially attractive to canines of all types. They will stray from their business or regular path just to check it out.

Dispel Barrowdog: Many ancient kings were buried with their beloved hunting hounds, and over the ages, the dogs became wights along with them. But unlike their masters, the dogs gave into their wild instincts and became free-roaming pack animals with others of their ghostly kind. This necromantic spell dispels the ghost dogs so they won’t attack.

Face of the Wolf:  Creates a subliminal image of the visage of a snarling wolf over the recipient’s own face. Instills respect and fear in anyone they have dealings with.

Frisky Husky: Makes the lead dog of a dogsled team start to caper and prance, sending the entire sled off on a wild goose chase.

Gerhnhardt’s Dog Water: This dastardly spell changes drinking water from tasting fresh to tasting like it came from a big dog bowl in a kennel that has been slobbered over for days. The amount transformed depends on the level of the mage.

Stazure’s Mutable Hound: Cast only on dogs. It lets the mage change their breed, as many times as the caster wants, for the length of the spell.

Wolfsteen’s Canine Commentary: When cast on a person giving a speech, all the local dogs will bay, bark, and howl as long as the person is talking. The spell must be cast in an area where there are dogs around, like a village or town, or it won’t work.
Magic Items
 Amber Dog Bone: Prized by royalty, this chew toy is not only indestructible, but entertains a royal pet for hours. It also magically maintains the dog’s teeth and gums.

Book of Imaginary Canines: Treatise detailing many different dog breeds, dog species, and dog/canine monsters… but none of them are real. The reader will be convinced they are, however.

Chain of Flying Dogs: Made of a light, silvery metal and used by a sled dog team, this harness makes a pack of running dogs literally fly over snowy and icy terrain so their feet barely touch the ground. Astonishing speeds can be thus generated. In addition, the dogs will use only 1/4 of the energy they normally would.

Mead of the Mastiff: An enchanted drink beloved by berserkers of some indigenous Northern cultures. It makes them fierce and brave as mastiff dogs and even gives them a biting attack at close quarters which can be extremely unpleasant.

Vision of the Goddess

AI Art

Very Maxfield Parrish, no?

Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/13/24: Toy Dog Breeds, Part 2

I am so cute aren’t I?

More Toy Dog breeds.

 

Toy Dog Breeds

Mostado-Michu Tricolor dog (white, black, brown – think beagle) with a strongly arched tail. It has drooping ears covered with soft, silky fur and its body fur is also soft to the touch, with no rough undercoat. Gentle and sensitive, they were prized by upper class townsfolk who sat them on a silk pillow while they entertained to show off the dog’s sweet nature.
Pulgo This breed is small but stocky, with heavy bones and strong muscles. They have small, neat paws. Pulgos can be of any dark color and are usually marked with white on their foreheads, bellies, and feet. Their coats are short and don’t need a lot of grooming.

Intuitive and sensitive, the Pulgo knows when its owner is feeling badly and will comfort them. Many circus acts used to feature this dog as part of their repertoire because of their amiable, clownish nature and ability to learn new tricks. These same abilities make it a good choice for a family pet.
Ründelmar A small dog with a short brindle coat and a long, expressive tail. They whimper but do not bark. Because of this they became known as the Baker’s Friend because they kept the cooks company early in the morning when they prepared the bread and didn’t wake up the townspeople by baying and barking.
Soft-coated Manchita Often called the badger-fox dog because of its low body, fluffy fur, and pointed snout and ears. The tail of a Manchita is especially long and full. The dogs range in color from dark gold to reddish-gold with a black nose and small, black eyes. Because of their loud, piercing bark they were often used as watchdogs by peasants and village shopkeepers.

This breed shows affection by lying down on the feet of its owner. Folklore says that if a Machita does so to a stranger, it is a sign the stranger can be trusted.
Volponischer A miniature greyhound with a long, thin, white snout, the Volponischer is active and sensitive. It was once kept by nobility for coursing contests. Now they make good family pets, requiring strong exercise only a few days a week. The fur of this breed is short and light, almost like suede; it can be either light or dark, but always has a grayish cast.

The Casual Gamer: Shelf Sort Games

Screen grab from Goods Match 3D – Triple Match

Since I’ve critted books, movies, and shared worlds, why not games?

I don’t mean immersive ones like Halo or Dragon Age. These require far too much investment for me. I prefer casual games, the kind players can download on their phone or iPad, try out, and delete if they don’t like them. Casually… just like the name says.

I’ve been playing them since the 2000s when I downloaded them through Big Fish Games (still in business and rockin’ it) to play on my Apple tower and, later, PC laptop. Since 2012, when I got my first iPad, it’s been mobile all the way. I’ve found these games are a good way to pass the time when you’re at the airport, on a break from work, or trying to fall asleep at night. The best of them are mini-masterpieces in in their own right and immersive as any console game. The best of them are cultural creations of their place and time, perfectly crafted to strike your dopamine receptors and soothe with a combination of sounds, graphics, and ease of playtime.

For this post, I’ll look at variations of Match 3 games.

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 11/6/24: Toy Dog Breeds, Part 1

Toy Dogs are a show class of the American Kennel Club referencing small, cuddly canines whose chief job is human companionship. They can be of various breeds — spaniels and terriers for example —  or shrunk-down versions of larger dogs like poodles. The one thing they all have in common is their diminutive size, which makes them easy to carry around.

Since I love dogs, and I loved making up dogs, here’s some breeds you can use for your world.

 

Toy Dog Breeds

Argier d’Jules Court Dog This breed has long light brown fur, small pointed ears, and a short pugged muzzle. Its eyes are large and soulful and can be either brown or blue; the most prized have one brown eye and one blue. Calm and observant, they are beloved by court ladies because they never bark or cause a fuss. At an average 10 lbs. in weight, they are easily carried in the lady’s silk muff.
Frigate Terrier A small dog once kept by ship’s captains to keep the rats in check, the frigate terrier has a cheerful, happy-go-lucky personality. It is black or blueish-gray in color with a wiry, rough double coat that sheds water and also makes it buoyant. Its ears are small and fold over. This breed has a muscular build with short powerful legs and webbed feet for swimming. The tail is curved and carried over the back when the dog is happy.

The Frigate Terrier has adapted well to city life and is known as a low maintenance breed because its hypoallergenic coat requires little care other than the occasional brushing.
Hairless Temple Dog Up to 14 pounds in weight, this hairless breed has a thin, athletic build and a narrow muzzle in proportion to its face. Its skin is a grayish brown in color and  on its belly it is pinkish white, with speckles of the grayish brown. There often is a white tip on the long, graceful tail. Its ears are pointed and small, and the  eyes are pale blue with a hypnotic stare.

The breed was once kept to rid temple complexes of vermin like mice. The largest temples could have  over 100 of these animals and it was considered a grave sin to kill or neglect one. These dogs are friendly and energetic, but have a strong prey drive, with a loud bark and a scratchy, wavering howl. As they have no hair, owners must be protect them from the elements. (In temples, they wore specially made little silk coats.)
Ishido Reddish brown with black eyes and nose, a short, straight tail, and a yodeling bark. Kept by nomads in their wagons to alert them of strangers. These dogs were fed on cooking scraps and encouraged to be fat so they could keep their owners warm in their beds at night. Their fur is short, but soft. If not allowed to become overweight they make fine companion dogs for the elderly.
Lapsian Singing Toy Dog Tiny pet favored once by royalty, it weighs no more than 8 lbs. It has a brindle coat, tufted ears, and a prominent underbite. It does not bark, but whines in a musical way.

AI Art Adventures: Fiddler on the Ref (Ref’ing on Classic Art)

I was going to call this the Art Forgery Edition, but realized that wouldn’t go down too well.

My post on the 17th century artist Diego Velázquez made me think. What if I took one of those imaginary lost paintings and used Midjourney to create it, using –sref and –cref parameters? As a plus, he’s long dead, so no one can accuse me of ripping off someone’s artistic creations.

So let’s create Two Dwarves Posing in Armor Before a Fountain. 

Here’s the first image using just the prompt “two dwarves posing in armor before a fountain, painting by Diego Velázquez.” Not bad, the AI is clearly drawing on the many Velázquez paintings floating around, as well as, I’d guess, other 17th century ones. The armor is clearly Spanish Baroque style (think Conquistadors) and the men are clearly dwarves, with adult heads but small hands and feet. They are clearly posing. But let’s select a more specific painting for reference and insert its URL right at the beginning of the prompt. Lucky for us Velázquez supplied us with several dwarf paintings so I’ll pick one.

Portrait of Sebastián de Morra, Diego Velázquez, 1644

This fella was employed as a jester in the Royal Spanish Court. His look says it was a rather ambiguous position and he wasn’t treated that well. Velázquez himself considered dwarfs fellow humans and not animals or pets, but most of the royals weren’t that enlightened.

Let’s see what happens with a URL reference: “https://s.mj.run/9LfsE0BHxqs two dwarves posing in armor before a fountain, painting by Diego Velázquez”.

Right away we have a difference. The brushstrokes are more notable and feel more authentic, but the dwarves have also aquired the pointy ears Midjourney wants to put on every humanoid related to fantasy art. The armor had been lessened to cuirasses and some bracers. Red appears in the picture from the jacket of the reference dwarf.  Their facial expressions appear more lively, but that may be me.

The same prompt with Velásquez’s original now used as an –sref (“two dwarves posing in armor before a fountain, painting by Diego Velázquez –sref https://s.mj.run/9LfsE0BHxqs”) Note one set of pointy ears is still there and the rim of the fountain is… weird. There’s no spray and the ledge wobbles slightly upward. Also note the dwarves are looking more alike, as if they’re becoming twins. I do like the deep colors of the clothing, and the cuirasses still seem authentic (though I’m no expert.)

With a –cref, “two dwarves posing in armor before a fountain, painting by Diego Velázquez –cref https://s.mj.run/9LfsE0BHxqs”. Very nice and authentic looking. You can see how the original dwarf’s face has been replicated, used as a model. Both have large, square heads, small feet and hands with no extra fingers. While their ears are still slighty pointy it is within the human norm. There are subtle signs of pride on their faces as they pose, and the dwarf on the right seems to have a pistol of some sort. In back of them is a fountain, but there’s no water. Oh well, you can’t have everything. (Did I just make a pun?)

Which one gives the best result, that’s up to the user. I can’t help but like the first one as the armor is more extensive and there’s a gushing fountain, but it doesn’t scream “VELAZQUEZ!” like the –cref one does.

What happens if I use the last prompt, but replace dwarves with dogs?

I love the way they are staring at each other as if thinking what the hell? in mutual puzzlement.

The character at left COULD be a dog with some styling, his doggie haunches hidden by the voluminous sleeves, or a doggified dwarf. There’s no way of telling.

Too much to drink

Aliens who indulge in too many x’Qyschn shots should be very grateful to have helping hands lead them  home from the bar.

(The English translation of this — it’s Dutch — means “Horror on Alpha Centauri” while  “Vlaamse Filmkens” might indicate it was a movie.)

It Came from the Closet [Review]

It Came from the Closet –
Queer Reflections on Horror

Edited by Joe Vallese
The Feminist Press, 2022

Time to squeeze in one more book review for October!

It Came from the Closet is a collection of essays by LGBTQ writers about their favorite horror movie and why they like it. That it scares them isn’t always the reason. In most of these essays it’s because they find some sympathy with the monster, or see in them some relation to their sexuality. In others, the movie’s protagonists are cited, the lens through which the movie may be given a queer interpretation.

As such I’m not really the intended audience, but I enjoyed reading most of these anyway for the writers’ particular take.

For example, S. Trimble’s essay on The Exorcist focuses not on the esoteric rituals of Catholicism but on Regan, the 12-year-old girl who becomes possessed. She goes from being an innocent pre-teen to a powerful (albeit demon-possessed) adult who can do exactly what she wants – cussing, masturbating, and pissing off (literally) the adults in her life, yet she’s being continuously quashed by the authoritative adult males of the movie. The doctor, the therapists, and the priests all want her to act more infantile and ladylike; the movie becomes a feminist parable. It’s a plausible reading.

More than one writer was enamored by the slasher genre — there were pieces on Friday the 13th (Jason) Sleepaway Camp (Angela) and Nightmare on Elm Street (Freddy Krueger). I never liked that kind of horror, yet the essays were enlightening for me. What I got out of all this in the end was how horror, more than any other kind of genre, acts as a way for these folks to process their feelings of being different and feeling alone in that difference. (A fair amount came from rural and ultra-religious backgrounds.)

The book was published in 2022 when wokeness was near its height. If you’ve got no time for that, be aware there’s matter-of-fact references to various sexual kinks, fetishes, labels, and communities that can be annoying. I’d rather not have heard about one writer’s confession he likes to have sex with overweight gay men he has belly-pushing contests with. I mean, that’s his kink to proclaim, but also one for readers — all readers — to judge.

And I also feel I must comment on a gay male trope I see a lot of in coming-of-age essays. That is, the encounter of the writer, as a gay male child, with an adult male who tries to molest them, as if “seeing” the gayness in them and (the writer thinks) wanting to initiate them into that world. This is a conceit I’ve got a serious problem with. Frankly, no, the molester is not to rescue you; they’re merely looking for a convenient victim and know diddly-squat about your inner secrets. That the writer has regrets about turning them down is more horrible to me than any amount of monsters from this book. It’s child abuse and predation.

 

Worldbuilding Wednesday 10/30/24: Mummies

Universal’s The Mummy, 1932

The 1930s and 1940s were a golden age for horror movies AND graphic design for horror movie posters. Look at the color, the composition,  the pleasing mix of typefaces in the poster above! It’s gorgeous.

Which brings me to the subject of mummies.

Mummies are part of the rarefied classic movie monster club that includes Dracula, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein’s monster. Universal movies all, and subjects of a failed 2010s attempt to bring them into the modern age as an interconnected movie franchise. The concept lacked legs, though it gave us the stunning re-visualization below.

The Mummy, 2017. That’s Sofia Boutella in the title role as cursed Princess Ahmanet.

The original Mummy was about the discovery of the tomb of High Priest Imhotep by a British expedition. (King Tut’s tomb was found a scant ten years before and was still much in the news.) The expedition’s leader reads an ancient scroll he finds, bringing Imhotep back to life, and promptly goes insane. Ten years later, Imhotep, now in the guise of a modern Egyptian historian, sees a woman he believes is the incarnation of his lost love Princess Anck-es-en-Amon, with whom he carried on a forbidden affair. She also happens to be the love interest of Frank, the son of the original expedition’s doctor.

Unlike the Frankenstein and Wolfman movies, The Mummy had an obvious sexual aspect. It was also the only Universal monster movie that had a script co-written by a woman: Nina Wilcox Putnam.  The theme of romantic predator and prey was similar to that of Dracula, but unlike Dracula’s dreary gothic setting, the Egypt of The Mummy was colorful, exotic and sensual.  A 2001 sequel called The Mummy Returns even featured a duel-to-the-death between two female characters (Rachel Weisz and Patricia Velasquez) wearing skimpy clothing and golden masks, armed with swords in each hand. But, back to the plotline of the original.

Imhotep kidnaps the love interest and chaos ensures as her would-be male rescuers find themselves out of their league. Going against the usual burger and fries of helpless victimhood, she saves herself by praying to a statue of Isis in the mummy’s tomb. The statue emits a beam of light that ignites Imhotep and burns him to death in spectacular fashion.

The 2017 reboot, in contrast, featured a male ingenue and a female mummy. Ahmanet was a Egyptian princess who was cursed and mummified alive, coming back to life with black, branded symbols on her face and an ability to generate a freaky extra pupil in her eye that coincides with her telekinetic powers. She seeks a magic dagger that will reincarnate the Egyptian god Set into the body of the assholish explorer (Tom Cruise) who discovered her tomb, but winds up captured, chained, and experimented on by Dr. Jekyll. Yeah, big question mark there. There’s a wild scene where, hanging from the laboratory ceiling seemingly by her vagina, she turns into a frenzied human spider in her struggles to escape.

I saw the movie, and though it wasn’t very scary or involving, I did enjoy its visual style. Overall it was hard to make a “hot Goth chick” (as one reviewer said) truly terrifying without rendering her not hot, and perhaps that was the reason for the movie’s failure, along with its convoluted plot.

One thing all the Mummy movies have in common, though, is their Egyptian setting and Egyptian names. So here’s a list for your own version of this movie monster.

 

Mummy Names (Egyptian only)

The Woman of Apep

Queen Ahnemshet

Princess Meerti

The Cheetah Prince

The Blasphemous Scorpion

High Priest Senekh

The Leopard Queen

Nephenit the Pharaoh

 The White Charioteer

Umn the Liar

The Crocodile Poacher

Sisterhood of the Ka

King Khameq

Queen Sheshilmem

The Slave of Tiboros

General Gebeq