fandomhigh | Entries tagged with folklore and fact

"Welcome to your final," Jon said once everyone had settled in. He was holding a stack of papers like a dork, and the Danger Shop was configured like a boring classroom for the moment. "Today we'll have a brief exam and some essay questions." He gestured at the woman standing next to him. "Along with some help from our guest lecturer."

Liliana gave the assembled class a small, pleased smile and a nod.

He passed out the papers to each of them. "First of all, I'll be using this room to call up a few examples of each being we've discussed, and I'd like you each to look at them, speak with them if you wish, and determine what they are and how you'd deal with them, and write that down." Call it a mixed practical and written exam.

Surely this could not go badly?

Jon went back up to the front desk and punched buttons, and an assortment of beings with shirts labeled "1", "2", "3", and so forth appeared before the class. He looked to Liliana to make sure the zombies seemed okay.

With an examination that would make an art appraiser proud, Liliana looked over the zombies that she'd helped input into the Danger Shop and nodded her approval. Tony was right, this had been easy.

Not that the zombies were alone. There were zombies, vampires, women perched on rocks combing out their hair and singing, men with eyes that shone lambent in the light and looked a little shaggier than one might expect and many, many more.

"Right. Here we go." Jon pressed a button, and the beings came to life and started milling around. Ask your questions, students!

intheeyeofthebeholding

"Right." Jon nodded at the students. "Next week will be our final, so I thought this week we could use for catching up on any additional questions you had, whether about things we've covered already or things you'd like to cover. There are obviously a lot more beings out there than we've spoken about already."

He shrugged. "So - ask away."

intheeyeofthebeholding

Jon nodded to the students as they filed in.

"Today we'll be discussing the fae. If you're primarily acquainted with them as 'fairies' in Disney movies and children's stories, you're probably best throwing all of that out. Now, they're fictional in my world, but I know a few of you are familiar with them, so I'd appreciate whatever you have to add.

"The primary thing to know about the fae is that they have rules. Pay attention to the rules." He turned around to write on the blackboard, because apparently this was last century. "Never eat their food or drink. Never get in their debt, or even make it appear you are - this means no thanking them or saying you owe them. Try to avoid making any deals with them, and if you absolutely must, look things over with a microscope for loopholes and issues. They will try to get the better of you. Think of them as the most unscrupulous lawyers ever. Oh, and never tell them your name; that gives them power over you."

He looked at the students who had mentioned knowing them before. "Anything to add to that or change?"

intheeyeofthebeholding

"Right, welcome back." Jon nodded at them. "Today we'll be covering -"

He was interrupted by the door opening again and a small herd of gremlins flooding in. Jon immediately hopped up on the desk and pulled his legs up, the Eye being unhelpful in letting him know if he was susceptible to their venom. They eyed him in a way that was either hopeful or threatening, he wasn't sure which.

"Er...apparently today we're doing gremlins?" he said.

The gremlins immediately turned around and started chattering at the students.

"I, um. I'd listen to them."

intheeyeofthebeholding

Jon looked a bit ragged as he leaned against his desk waiting for everyone to arrive.

"I would like to offer my apologies. I did have a class somewhat planned for today, but...I wasn't doing much planning and research over the weekend, and I threw out my notes in a spate of cleaning because they didn't look important."

He probably owed his gran a few retroactive apologies.

"So we're watching a movie. About folklore and its effects on people. You don't have to stay if you don't want to."

Those of you who were staying, enjoy.

intheeyeofthebeholding

When the students arrived today, they would notice their instructor looked a bit more professional and stiff than usual, and was dressed in a neat, obsessively ironed suit. Which was entirely to hide his nerves due to the other person they'd find at the front of the class.

Said other person, one Liliana Vess, was, of course, dressed in her usual attire, a long purple gown made of subtly lustrous silk. At her right hip was a small veil made of burnished chain links that gleamed in the light and her raven hair was caught back away from her face by a gold headdress. Even though the hour was truly inhospitable, she looked positively delighted to be present.

Jon cleared his throat. "Good morning. Today we'll be covering zombies, which as I mentioned might technically be a sort of golem, but we'll be considering them differently. So I've brought in, um. An expert. Miss Liliana Vess." He gestured awkwardly at her. "She...well, works with zombies." That was one way to put it.

"By which he means, I am a necromancer," Liliana said smoothly. "That is, a mage specializing in death magic, including - and, some would say - especially in the creation of undead."
( This one got long. )

intheeyeofthebeholding

"Right." Jon nodded at them all. "Today we're discussing a golem. They come to us from Jewish folklore. They're a rare example of a mostly positive creature, or at least one with positive overtones originally, as they were created to be protectors. A golem is a creature traditionally created from clay, mud, or stone, then animated via magical means. Originally the word of god, but for our purposes, let's go with any means available."

He paused. "I suppose, technically speaking, this would include zombies as a sort of...um, well, flesh-based golem? But let's consider them as something else. And, um. Not computers or robots, since they're not magical. As far as we know. But a creature of inanimate materials animated by magic of some sort."

He wrote on the board. "One method of animating a golem involved writing that was inserted into its head or mouth. Removing or altering the writing could be a way to...well, not really kill it, but stop it. The primary danger of golems is that they are apparently very literal, and don't really have good judgment, so they may end up doing things you don't expect. The main way to know a golem is either by its appearance, or by the fact that it can't talk.

"So, um. Does anybody have experience with them, or knowledge about them? And apart from 'don't cross people who can create one', are there other methods of dealing with them?"

intheeyeofthebeholding

"I hope everybody's recovered from last week," Jon started. "Not that capitalism's going away any time soon, but at least we're back to more or less normal. Today we'll be discussing mer-creatures. Mermaids, traditionally. Sirens are also often lumped into the same category. Generally speaking, these beings are part human and part fish, and often work to capsize boats, lure sailors to their deaths, and are otherwise unpleasant."

He shrugged. "Personally, I chalk it up to fear of the unknown and a tendency of sailors to drink. At least in my world. I'm sure that given the infinite variety of worlds, they actually do exist somewhere. So let's start there - does anybody's world actually have them, and if so, what are they actually like? What advice can we piece together for dealing with them, apart from putting wax in your ears if you're out at sea?"

intheeyeofthebeholding

"Welcome back, everybody," Jon began. "My apologies for last week. This week, I thought we could begin with something a bit more nebulous than the others: witches. I'm aware we have at least some people on the island who identify as witches, and there may be more I'm unaware of. Traditionally witches are women with some form of magical power; beyond that, there are a number of possibilities for narrowing it down."

He shrugged. "Honestly, in my version of Earth, witches were mostly women that knew a bit of science and didn't like being bossed around by the church, and therefor got painted in the worst possible light so as to make it easier to kill them with impunity. It's possible some had actual power, but given the rate of experiences with the Fears, I'm guessing the vast majority did not. Other worlds, of course, may have different ratios of actual power to innocents men hated.

"In folklore I'm aware of, witches are often depicted as old women, generally living alone, and run the gamut from helpful to horrendous. The one rule of thumb seems to be that you don't want to treat them poorly. Which can be generalized to 'don't be a bastard to old women', which seems like a decent rule anyway."

Said the man who pissed people off on the regular. In his defence, he often didn't mean to! "So, let's discuss witches. Are you one, do you know any, does your world have them or stories of them? What other applications can you think of other than to treat people well?"

intheeyeofthebeholding

When the students arrived, they would find a note and a video player left by Fosse.

Class has been called due to migraine. Please watch this film and we can discuss it later.

Whether the film in question was the one Jon had meant to leave...well, Fosse was a troll.

intheeyeofthebeholding

Jon nodded to the students once everyone was there. "Last week, there was a little talk of werewolves, so I thought we might as well continue there. Wolves are of course the traditional 'weres' of Europe, but there are stories across Earth, and likely other places, about beings that shift between shapes. For the purposes of this class, let's narrow it down a bit and define a werecreature as a human being that has a gift or curse allowing or requiring them to assume the shape of one normally non-sentient animal without the use of any props or materials."

He paused to go over that in his head and let the students do the same. "So, we can rule out beings like selkies that use their skin to shift, and shapeshifters who can change into anything. Also people on Fandom who get changed to things periodically by the island but have no innate ability for it. Hm. I imagine it would also disqualify beings like the kitsune, which is more a fox become human than the other way around.

"In European tradition, there were three ways to become a werewolf - you could be cursed, you could be bitten by a werewolf, or you could be born to a werewolf. I suppose the lesson for dealing with them would be: don't get bitten, don't be an arse to someone with the power to curse you, and...well, you can't really control your parents. Apart from that, most methods for dealing with them involve either killing or locking them up.

"So, are there amendments you would make to my initial definition? Are there werecreatures in your worlds, and what are their characteristics? Are there better ways to deal with them?"

intheeyeofthebeholding

"I'd like to begin by apologising for last week," Jon said, fidgeting at the front of the room. "Something came up, and... Well, never mind. But we're back this week, and I thank you all for coming. So, I thought we'd start with something fairly simple. Not the name of the class, that's probably a bit more nuanced. But there are plenty of other creatures out there. So, let's begin with vampires."

He rolled his eyes. "For one thing, they may not all be what you're thinking of. We've got one...well, at least one, anyway...here on the island. So some of them are certainly capable of both complex thought and self control. The ones in my world have neither of those, really. They're more like leeches than anything. And they don't talk - they just sort of project their thoughts to you and make you think they are. So that's one thing to watch out for, I suppose.

"All of the ones I'm aware of or that have passed through here do have one thing in common, and that's the need for blood. So if you spot someone focused on that, that might be a clue," he said wryly. "And there are weaknesses most of them have in common, too - sunlight is usually a good one, although apparently that's not quite true for all of them, so be aware of it but don't rely on it."

He stepped up to the whiteboard. "I thought we could begin by brainstorming weaknesses and dead giveaways, and then we can discuss how you might go about dealing with one. So, who would like to begin?"

intheeyeofthebeholding

When the students arrived to class, they would find Jon - a slight man with far too many scars, who looked permanently tired - looking as put-together as he could, in a jacket, pressed shirt, and trousers.

He stood from the desk once everyone seemed to have arrived, and nodded to them. "Welcome. I'm Jonathan Sims, for those of you who don't know me. This is Practical Folklore. Because there are a lot of folk tales and mythologies out there, and a lot of places treat them as fictional - for many places, they may be fictional - but in other places they could be incredibly important.

"The first week of class is traditionally for introductions, and it's early enough I hope you won't be tired of them yet. So we'll be going around and introducing ourselves. I'd like to hear your name or whatever you prefer to go by, your pronouns, where you're from as near as you're comfortable saying, and what sorts of supernatural you're aware of existing in your world."

He breathed deep and sighed. "So I suppose it's only fair if I start. As I said, I'm Jonathan Sims. He/him. I'm from Earth, more specifically England, and from Bournemouth by way of Oxford and London. In my world, all supernatural things we're aware of are a product of relation to or influence by a conglomeration of what's best described as eldritch fear gods. They create artifacts, monsters, and avatars who channel them. There are no benevolent forces."

Another sigh and a nod. "Right. Your turn."

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