One thing I really admire about humanity is that there doesn't seem to be an upper limit on how horny we can get, as a civilization
it just keeps going up, it's like the economy but people like it
I wish there was a "Humans are space horndogs" meme to go with the "Humans are space orcs" one.
I've read at least one book with that premise! It wasn't very good.
(The premise was that aliens prize humans as sex slaves because unlike most other species, we don't go into heat; we're just always ready to go. I think the protagonist organizes a slave uprising and they steal a ship? I don't remember much else about it because I was expecting science fiction/space opera, and what I got was the kind of book that wants to be porn and therefore has no real characters or story; but also wants to be broadly acceptable and therefore has no porn either.)
I love my little gobbos. Especially when they either land on their feet or bounce off a couple of elves after being thrown around the pitch by their troll teammate
I think they've standardized into a fantasy species the same way that elves (or dwarves or gnomes (sort of (don't get me started on gnomes))) have from similar origins.
But I think there's also still a tremendous desire to have them in that position regardless of that standardization - fantasy goblins are regularly portrayed as mischievous troublemakers and they frequently have a weird obsession with technology (or their own kludged together version of it). They might not span the breadth of a traditional fairy folklore goblin or a Rossetti goblin or one of their Muppet incarnations, but the idea of the goblin is still one of a cunning trickster figure, even if that's grounded more through cultural norms or whatever instead of supernatural predilection.
@Straightzi I want to hear you get started on gnomes
My friend is working on a roguelike game you can play if you want to. (It has free demo)
+5
JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
I think they've standardized into a fantasy species the same way that elves (or dwarves or gnomes (sort of (don't get me started on gnomes))) have from similar origins.
But I think there's also still a tremendous desire to have them in that position regardless of that standardization - fantasy goblins are regularly portrayed as mischievous troublemakers and they frequently have a weird obsession with technology (or their own kludged together version of it). They might not span the breadth of a traditional fairy folklore goblin or a Rossetti goblin or one of their Muppet incarnations, but the idea of the goblin is still one of a cunning trickster figure, even if that's grounded more through cultural norms or whatever instead of supernatural predilection.
Straightzi I want to hear you get started on gnomes
Okay so.
The year was 15XX, and Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, more commonly known as Paracelsus, was a Swiss alchemist and physician. He believes in a system of four fundamental elements that make up the natural world, which you're probably broadly familiar with, and furthermore believes that each of these elements has a sort of elemental spirit associated with it. Also these spirits were created by God and are not devils and you need to understand these spirits in order to understand the majesty of Christ. That last part isn't necessarily important, I just find it delightful.
Anyways, the idea of the four elements is extremely not new, and even the idea of the elements having attendant spirits isn't particularly new. But Paracelsus, in his work, gave these elementals names - Undines, Sylphs, Salamanders, and Gnomes. The actual nature of the names he gave them is a bit more complicated, as he gave each of them two names and not just the one (and was writing in a mix of German and Latin), but I'm going to use those for now.
Salamanders were, at this point, a whole thing - while they come from the same origin, I'm less talking about the cute little guys you find when you flip over a rotting log and more the Medieval myth of them as a lizard-like creature that is impervious to flame. They were the elemental spirit of fire. Undine (water) and Sylph (air), while being new terms used by Paracelsus, have some pretty clear Latin antecedents - Unda is the Latin word for wave and sylvestris is a word used to describe nymphs in the Aeneid. Both of these beings are pretty close in description to the nymphs of water and forest that we have in Greek and Roman mythology.
Which brings us to the gnome. The other word used for gnomes by Paracelsus is pygmy, referring specifically to the Greek mythology tribe of diminutive people constantly at war with the cranes. His gnomes are similar in appearance to small humans, able to move through earth and stone as easily as humans move through air (this is a whole thing with his description of elementals). While they clearly have some similarities to the Greek pygmies (small stature) and you could easily find a similarity to Germanic dwarfs (living underground), the gnome is kind of a new thing in a way that the other creatures that Paracelsus used are not.
Then we skip ahead a few hundred years. Gnomes are talked about in Paracelsus, the word is occasionally used in Swiss folklore following his work, but it's kind of a minor thing overall (at least is my understanding). But in the early 1700s, we have the Romantics, an artistic movement which, amongst other things, is obsessed with classical mythology and the natural world. The gnome gets swept up in this, with both new works using gnome as a name for creatures similar to goblins and collections of fairy tales grabbing scattered gnome stories and so on and so forth. And in this, its origins get kind of papered over, because most people don't care about Paracelsus (at least in this context), putting it in a place that's similar to that of elves, goblins, and dwarfs.
Anyways, all mythology is made up on some level, and there's a bunch of stuff that we can track back to a singular source if we want to, but I think the gnome is a weirdly specific example of that sort of thing.
+31
minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
edited May 22
some days i think these forums are a borderline useless waste of time.
and then other days someone gets asked for their thoughts on gnomes and they proceed to drop several paragraphs about 16th century alchemists, elemental spirit folklore, and the mythology, historical context, and etymology surrounding gnomes.
minor incident on
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Magic: The Gathering Goblins have a long and storied history. Here is a video essay on the topic.
When I played MTG we called the Goblin Wizard the Goblin Lizard because of the art
I vaguely remember what i had in that deck because it would go so right and often so wrong but it's from 25+ years ago
Anyway, Goblins! They're cool and one of my favourite fantasy "species", though I'm much more fond of stuff that means into the fae side of time, and a lot less fond of the Warcraft style.
Though I'm also fond of how the DnD Goblin/Hobgoblin/Bugbear stuff looks like it's Pokemon evolutions when written like that, or other weird implications (like I did some riffing on Goblins as cave dwelling humanoid angler fish once, with Hobs being the mature matriachs, gobbos being the spawn, and bugbears being this whole process going wrong).
Ages back @Endless_Serpents posted some cool fanart someone had done of Goblins with the ears and noses based on bats which was very good
Anyway, Goblins! They're cool and one of my favourite fantasy "species", though I'm much more fond of stuff that means into the fae side of time, and a lot less fond of the Warcraft style.
Though I'm also fond of how the DnD Goblin/Hobgoblin/Bugbear stuff looks like it's Pokemon evolutions when written like that, or other weird implications (like I did some riffing on Goblins as cave dwelling humanoid angler fish once, with Hobs being the mature matriachs, gobbos being the spawn, and bugbears being this whole process going wrong).
Ages back @Endless_Serpents posted some cool fanart someone had done of Goblins with the ears and noses based on bats which was very good
True but only @Darmak bothered to save it in an accessible way. I just have one continuous phone photo album dating back to 2010.
some days i think these forums are a borderline useless waste of time.
and then other days someone gets asked for their thoughts on gnomes and they proceed to drop several paragraphs about 16th century alchemists, elemental spirit folklore, and the mythology, historical context, and etymology surrounding gnomes.
It's one of those specific cross sections of my interests - mythology and folklore is one of my big focuses, clearly, but I'm specifically often interested in looking at cross cultural mythologies, linguistic origins, and mythological standardization/homogenization/retroactivity. Also medical history, which is mostly unrelated aside from knowing about Paracelsus from other directions (his belief in living things that are fundamental to the natural world extends in some other directions as well and essentially could be considered early germ theory).
Anyways, I end up having a sort of love/hate relationship with these distinctly invented mythologies - they're great bits of trivia, naturally, but they can muddy the waters as well.
Goblin Meal being a random smattering of whatever the fuck you can scrounge and then you eat it in the dark with your hands and you grunt, all gross nasty style.
Kinda like that Girl Dinner trend that went around but more gender inclusive.
I feel like cheese is inherently goblin. It’s rotten milk with things growing on it that you eat. Rich people buy the most expensive rotten milk with things growing on it they can, which is the ultimate goblin trick. Do not @ me about the specifics of what cheese is.
Goblins actually invented charcuterie but we stole it from them and gave it a fancy French name. Just think about it: eating small bits of cheese and old meats and other detritus off a piece of wood or rock? Total goblin shit.
Posts
I wish there was a "Humans are space horndogs" meme to go with the "Humans are space orcs" one.
I've read at least one book with that premise! It wasn't very good.
(The premise was that aliens prize humans as sex slaves because unlike most other species, we don't go into heat; we're just always ready to go. I think the protagonist organizes a slave uprising and they steal a ship? I don't remember much else about it because I was expecting science fiction/space opera, and what I got was the kind of book that wants to be porn and therefore has no real characters or story; but also wants to be broadly acceptable and therefore has no porn either.)
@Straightzi I want to hear you get started on gnomes
Except the contact juggling was all done by a second, even sexier goblin:
Michael Moschen.
Okay so.
The year was 15XX, and Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, more commonly known as Paracelsus, was a Swiss alchemist and physician. He believes in a system of four fundamental elements that make up the natural world, which you're probably broadly familiar with, and furthermore believes that each of these elements has a sort of elemental spirit associated with it. Also these spirits were created by God and are not devils and you need to understand these spirits in order to understand the majesty of Christ. That last part isn't necessarily important, I just find it delightful.
Anyways, the idea of the four elements is extremely not new, and even the idea of the elements having attendant spirits isn't particularly new. But Paracelsus, in his work, gave these elementals names - Undines, Sylphs, Salamanders, and Gnomes. The actual nature of the names he gave them is a bit more complicated, as he gave each of them two names and not just the one (and was writing in a mix of German and Latin), but I'm going to use those for now.
Salamanders were, at this point, a whole thing - while they come from the same origin, I'm less talking about the cute little guys you find when you flip over a rotting log and more the Medieval myth of them as a lizard-like creature that is impervious to flame. They were the elemental spirit of fire. Undine (water) and Sylph (air), while being new terms used by Paracelsus, have some pretty clear Latin antecedents - Unda is the Latin word for wave and sylvestris is a word used to describe nymphs in the Aeneid. Both of these beings are pretty close in description to the nymphs of water and forest that we have in Greek and Roman mythology.
Which brings us to the gnome. The other word used for gnomes by Paracelsus is pygmy, referring specifically to the Greek mythology tribe of diminutive people constantly at war with the cranes. His gnomes are similar in appearance to small humans, able to move through earth and stone as easily as humans move through air (this is a whole thing with his description of elementals). While they clearly have some similarities to the Greek pygmies (small stature) and you could easily find a similarity to Germanic dwarfs (living underground), the gnome is kind of a new thing in a way that the other creatures that Paracelsus used are not.
Then we skip ahead a few hundred years. Gnomes are talked about in Paracelsus, the word is occasionally used in Swiss folklore following his work, but it's kind of a minor thing overall (at least is my understanding). But in the early 1700s, we have the Romantics, an artistic movement which, amongst other things, is obsessed with classical mythology and the natural world. The gnome gets swept up in this, with both new works using gnome as a name for creatures similar to goblins and collections of fairy tales grabbing scattered gnome stories and so on and so forth. And in this, its origins get kind of papered over, because most people don't care about Paracelsus (at least in this context), putting it in a place that's similar to that of elves, goblins, and dwarfs.
Anyways, all mythology is made up on some level, and there's a bunch of stuff that we can track back to a singular source if we want to, but I think the gnome is a weirdly specific example of that sort of thing.
and then other days someone gets asked for their thoughts on gnomes and they proceed to drop several paragraphs about 16th century alchemists, elemental spirit folklore, and the mythology, historical context, and etymology surrounding gnomes.
Magic: The Gathering Goblins have a long and storied history. Here is a video essay on the topic.
There absolutely is, I've run into it fairly frequently on Tumblr.
When I played MTG we called the Goblin Wizard the Goblin Lizard because of the art
I vaguely remember what i had in that deck because it would go so right and often so wrong but it's from 25+ years ago
Incase you're unaware, that's by InCase. Don't go searching them at work.
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/thezombiepenguin/
Switch: 0293 6817 9891
go on
Though I'm also fond of how the DnD Goblin/Hobgoblin/Bugbear stuff looks like it's Pokemon evolutions when written like that, or other weird implications (like I did some riffing on Goblins as cave dwelling humanoid angler fish once, with Hobs being the mature matriachs, gobbos being the spawn, and bugbears being this whole process going wrong).
Ages back @Endless_Serpents posted some cool fanart someone had done of Goblins with the ears and noses based on bats which was very good
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/id/TheZombiePenguin
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/thezombiepenguin/
Switch: 0293 6817 9891
And also if you wanted to avoid more nude goblins don't go searching for Rapscallion aka Chimneyspeak at work either.
Thanks! They were probably the most fun models for me to paint so far.
True but only @Darmak bothered to save it in an accessible way. I just have one continuous phone photo album dating back to 2010.
It's one of those specific cross sections of my interests - mythology and folklore is one of my big focuses, clearly, but I'm specifically often interested in looking at cross cultural mythologies, linguistic origins, and mythological standardization/homogenization/retroactivity. Also medical history, which is mostly unrelated aside from knowing about Paracelsus from other directions (his belief in living things that are fundamental to the natural world extends in some other directions as well and essentially could be considered early germ theory).
Anyways, I end up having a sort of love/hate relationship with these distinctly invented mythologies - they're great bits of trivia, naturally, but they can muddy the waters as well.
Goblin Meal being a random smattering of whatever the fuck you can scrounge and then you eat it in the dark with your hands and you grunt, all gross nasty style.
Kinda like that Girl Dinner trend that went around but more gender inclusive.
Everybody can have Goblin Meal.