Eldritch Etchings
Gee, Eldra, why does Mother Hydra let you have two blogs?
I have two blogs:
Eldritch Etchings (you are here): general purpose posts
Blog of Hours: Weather Factory game posts. Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours content.
I have them separated out because some people really don’t like Cultist Simulator or Book of Hours. Other people only are here for the Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours content.
MythosHQ Auditions Silhouette Theories: What are My-THOSE?
What are my-THOSE? MythosHQ has opened the Wonka Factory — err, auditions — and I have theories about who their new pantheon will feature.
MythosHQ, winner of the ‘Rising VTuber Org’ award at the 2024 VTuber Awards hosted by Filian, has opened auditions for the very first time. They’re looking for three people to play the part of three pre-made female characters. While the exact identities of the new characters are unknown, Mythos has posted silhouettes based on the new characters in their auditions teaser posts. Note that it is not unknown for promotional and teaser silhouettes to use custom art and not necessarily utilize a Live2D model, so while my guesses are based only on publicly available information, they’re really just that — uncertain guesses.
The tl;dr:
I have four sets of guesses, listed from most likely to least likely
Theory A: Norse Gods
Theory B: Minor Hellenic Humanoids
Theory C: Minor Hellenic Monster Girls
Theory D: Hercules Movie
The three relevant posts are linked, quoted, and shown below. Each was paired with a different new character and some flavor text. For ease, we’ll be referring to the models as WolfGirl, BirdGirl, and MysteryGirl.
Theories
Theory A: Norse Gods
Likelihood: High. This is the theory that, like Sleipnir, I believe has the most legs. The fact the promo for the group states they are looking to form an ‘era-changing’ gen is a clue: the Hellenic era and the Viking period are distinct. With few exceptions, MythosHQ tends to focus on the stereotypically more popular/powerful dieties, rather than what are classified by academics as more ‘minor’ gods. They’ve nearly exhausted the pool of Olympians, if they haven’t already. The silhouettes don’t ‘read’ as wearing Hellenic-inspired clothing, but some MythosHQ talents, like Hermes and Hephasteus, have more modern outfits.
I think WolfGirl is Loki, BirdGirl is Odin, and MysteryGirl is Thor. Some Twitter commenters seem to agree with this.
Why This Trio:
Odin, Loki, and Thor may be the most well-known Norse gods. I’m not about to go off on a whole tangent and provide Google Trends data for the Norse pantheon
They’re the trio of major gods for the Norse civilization in Age of Mythology
They’re the trio of major Asgardians in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
With the exception of Vestia? maybe?, Mythos has exhausted the list of the twelve Olympian gods and goddess (note: I said Olympian, not all, not demi-gods, as will be covered later.)
The ‘halls’ mentioned in the BirdGirl promo could reference Valhalla
Why Loki:
The emoji for this character is a sly face
The tone of the post is playful and mentions having fun
The character has a tomboy type design and figure, fitting with a mischiveous/impish archetype
Might have horns, but that could just be spiky hair
Tricky looking hands
I have the least evidence for this guess, and it’s mostly a guess that this is Loki based on the flavor text provided, as well as the fact that Loki is the third member of the trio in other media
Why Odin:
The emoji for this post is winking, which means it only has one eye open. Traditionally, Odin is portrayed as wearing an eyepatch and/or blind in one eye
Odin is often portrayed with a raven, as he has two raven familiars
Cape seems regal and has epaulets, a symbol of rank
Winky emoji in the promo post could be a reference to Odin’s one eye
Why Thor:
The emoji posted is a curled bicep, signifying fitness and combat. Thor is associated with combat.
Thor is sometimes portrayed with a winged helmet, I believe in many Wagner adaptations, as well as in the MCU(?)
Theory B: Minor Hellenic Humanoids
(Hellenic basically means Greek or Roman)
Likelihood: Medium
WolfGirl: Pan (could be a goat girl)
BirdGirl: Hercules, due to the cape (reminiscent of the Nemean lion cloak of legend)
MysteryGirl: Icarus, due to the wings on the head
Theory C: Minor Hellenic Monster Girls
Likelihood: Unlikely, because MythosHQ doesn’t have a history of doing generically monster themed girls, vs. deities
WolfGirl: Minotaur (horns, fur)
BirdGirl: Harpy (birbs)
MysteryGirl: ???
Theory D: Hercules Movie
Likelihood: Extremely unlikely, but let a girl dream.
WolfGirl: Philoctetes, because that is who was furry in that iconic trio
BirdGirl: Hercules, due to the cape, as explained earlier
MysteryGirl: Pegasus, due to the feathered wings on the head
I really want Theory D to be true, and for Philoctetes to be played by Danny DeVito in his corpo VTuber debut. I mean, he could be an indie. I don’t know everybody.
Bonus Theory E: I’m Totally Wrong
Likelihood: nearly 100% but DraftKings wouldn’t host the bets for this because ‘we don’t know who you are’ and ‘how did you get into our offices’
There’s only one way to know for certain who these new talents are going to be portraying and that’s waiting for official word from MythosHQ. I’m excited to see which new characters join their pantheon.
Lovecraftian Games I’m Yearning For In 2025
Railgods of Hysterra features sentient and possibly sapient Lovecraftian living trains. I’m not sure if this was inspired by Blaine the Mono from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. Think less Thomas the Tank Engine or The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, more H.R. Giger meets Snowpiercer. I’m not into trains, but what I am into is weird games and Lovecraftian games. Games that do something I haven’t seen before always pique my interest.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a Lovecraftian train in a game. Tormentum: Dark Sorrow featured a Lovecraftian train. There’s a sentient monstrous train in The Dark Tower, as well as every train in Thomas the Tank Engine. I’m sure other games have explored this combination as well.
The intersections of body horror and machinery are by no means new territory either. It’s a theme that’s been explored in art since the advent of the Industrial Age, if not earlier. In university, I studied countless poems written about the horrors of industrialization and their effect on the English countryside alone. The idea of the train as the dragon, as a symbolic, slithering thing that obliterates all in its path, inhuman and powered by fire, is not new. The equation of dragons with eldritch beings is by no means a ‘hot take’ either. I’m pretty sure Lovecraft himself has made the comparison, and of course, kaiju exist. I’m pretty sure Godzilla and Cthulhu are in a water polo league together.
However, this is the first time I’ve seen it made the focus of a video game, and not merely an interesting looking backdrop.
2. Traveling at Night by The Weather Factory
Traveling at Night is the next mainline game in the Secret Histories universe. It’s described as a cross between the Weather Factory’s previous games and Disco Elysium. I liked Disco Elysium. I love the other Secret Histories games. I’m excited for this game based solely on its provenance and influences.
3. Do No Harm
The gameplay loop reminds me of Strange Horticulture or No Umbrellas Allowed. Lovecraftian medical sims have been done before, but it’s a good combination of genres. Both can feature body horror and allow the player to have a more up close and personal encounter of the third (and fourth…and fifth through fifty millionth…) kind than they would if they were going up against Cthulhu himself.
My one apprehension about this game is that it looks like it uses four traditional humours as treatments, rather than diagnostic samples. However, given the patients are experiencing Lovecraftian physical conditions, perhaps an inversion of the sample and the medicine works. I’ll have to play it before forming more of an opinion.
4. Aether Collector
I like retro style games. I like point-and-click games. Is this the first Lovecraftian pixel art-y retro style point-and-click game? No. Just off the top of my head, The Last Door comes to mind. But it doesn’t have to be the first. It just has to be interesting.
5. Operation Lovecraft: Fallen Doll
Yes, this game is highly NSFW. Yes, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to stream it unless there’s a special streamer mode implemented, but that mode would take away from the essential plot of the game. This is not the first game to feature sexualized Lovecraftian content, but the graphics and conceit are so over-the-top and pulpy (complimentary) that it oddly enough is the type of work that would fit in Weird Tales…or perhaps Heavy Metal?
6. Hunt the Pale Gods
I like deck building games. I like Lovecraftian horrors, although I prefer playing as them rather than fighting them.
7. The Shadow over Cyberspace
I’m a sucker for interesting aesthetic mashups. Y2K style retro graphics mixed with Lovecraftian horror? Sign me up. I’m a fan of the game aesthetically, but the dialogue in the screenshots leaves a little to be desired, which is why this game doesn’t rank higher on my list.
I’m not usually a fan of works in which cosmic horror figures are portrayed as very human and very mortal. Part of what appeals to me about cosmic horror is the idea that it’s beyond the fathoming of human comprehension and the sense of scale. Dialogue like, ‘Nyarlathotep is still deciding if they can trust you. They have been betrayed in the past, and remain suspicious of you as a result,’ lacks that scale.
It reveals what a cosmic being is feeling, making it too knowable to feel imposing or cosmic in scale
I’m not a huge fan of fiction writing that tells rather than shows, but that issue is amplified when we’re discussing Lovecraftian works
It implies that your presumably human protagonist can earn Nyarlathotep’s trust within your mere human lifetime