Here's a fun thought. I had a great idea for a story in my dream last night, but as usual I only remember fragments of it now. That's not important, it'll come to me soon enough. But what really bothers me is the story was based around two mythological charactes, yet I can't remember their names. If you real Neil Gaiman, you know he turned real emotions into real characters like Sandman, Death, Despair and all those. He's not the first one to do it, but you get the idea. What I need for my story are two similar charactrs like that. But which one? All I remember is that they are the ones who give you stuff and take it away. It can be anything from giving you a new book to a baby (aka gives you life) to whatever, and the other one takes it away. I remember the one who gives you stuff are female, and I think the other one is too. I'm not sure, though. As I'm a wiccan, I know Wicca is often based around a Goddess who gives you life and a God who takes it away. It could seem similar to the story, but that's not it. These were younger, like late teens or so. And while they can give you life by helping you get pregnant if needed, they don't create or take away life just like that. Does anyone know who/what I'm talking about and can fill in a few blanks? It would be really appreciated.
could you be thinking of 'the fates'?... they are 3 goddesses who shaped people's lives... called the 'moirae' in greek, clotho, lachesis and atropos supposedly control your life...
Hm... no, I don't think so, sorry. There were only two of them, and their "jobs" were giving you stuff and taking it away. It's more like good luck and bad luck, I guess.
Noroc and Ghinion (Luck, and Bad Luck), Viata and Moartea (Life and Death), Cadou and Blestemul (Gift and Curse) in Romanian... Verecek and Almasi (To take, and To Give), Baslangic and Sonunda (The Beginning, and The End), Dogum and Olmek (Birth and To Die) in Turkish... Or you could just go with Latin and name them after life and death; Vida and Muerte...? Or you could do an anogram of any words that relate to life, death, to give, and to take...
Thanks! Verecek and Almasi seems to be close to the ones I want, though Noroc and Ghinion might fit too. The problem is I can't find any information about any of these. Do you have a link or two where I can find more about them?
Santa Clause and Bizzaro Santa Clause? j/k You could wrap it around Confidence and Paranoia or something. Those are emotions that could give and take from life.
True, but I want them to be handing out more physical stuff. Like Santa Claus and Bizarro-Santa Claus, I guess. You weren't all wrong. I honestly have no idea what the story is, but I loved the characters so much I want to make a story based on them. Maybe something like Death: The high cost of living, with normal mortals meeting the immortals.
The only way I found those 'names' (Verecek, Almasi, Noroc and Ghinion) was on www.freetranslations.com The words should translate directly to 'To Take', 'To Give', 'Luck' and 'Bad Luck', in Turkish and Romanian respectively. Other than their literal translations, I have no idea about them :\
So they are not actual characters? Interesting... that means I can take a lot of liberties with them and do whatever I want. Cool. Thanks again!
No they aren't. I couldn't think of any sci-fi or fantasy characters that resembled the ones you'd dreamt, so I thought maybe looking up their... Intentions?... in other languages. And anyways, even if they were pre-existing characters, the fact that you dreamt them, gives you creative liberty in using them. So... Have fun! And I personally like Ghinion, Viata, and Cadou for character names best
It works pretty darn good. I wanted one that represents give, giving or something like that. So if we take "To give" and combine it with "gift", we end up with Almasi Cadou. Her brother would logically be Verecek Blestemul (To Take, Curse). I can think of several names like that already. I might "westernise" them a bit, though. Almasi could be Alma and so on. But thanks again, you've given me a great starting point.
You're welcome! Always glad to help It was something I did with one of my own background characters. I had a hard time keeping with the nickname "Mr. Money", so I just looked up 'money' in different languages, and went with the Norwegian literal translation 'Penger', first name Karl It's usually my go-to web site if I can't come up with something on my own.
There's Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer from Hinduism. Or you could go for the anthropomorphic personifications of Yin and Yang. Also, there's some times that simpler and broader names (when it comes to meanings) do the trick, like Giver and Taker or She-Who-Gives and He-Who-Takes. If you want more ground to play with, I'd recommend you read a bit about two concepts that have been around for quite a while: Dualism and Manichaeism. Anyway, I hope I helped.
Hi, I know this may be slightly off base, but you aren't thinking of the myths of changlings are you? There's several versions, in one the ancient spirit, sometimes sylph or a sidhe seduces a woman with music, magic and gifts and gets her preggers, then collects the baby nine months later. In another they come and swap babies at birth, leaving the shocked mother with a magical race baby while her own baby is raised by the sidhe. There's also the baba yaga, a sort of witch who steals babies but sometimes offers gifts like fortune telling etc. Cheers.
Sorry, but no, changelings are different. I'm thinking more about the person behind the change, not the changeling. Besides, it was more of a single person, not a whole race.
Goethe's Faust: Mephistopheles is in the business of giving all kinds of wishes only to take them away when the wish is finished and the soul purchase is finalized. Except with Faust who seeks true happiness which can never really be discovered because like tobacco, a little makes you hungry for more. But go back through time, past the age of Faust (16th Century) to the age of Myth (Before Lycurgus) and ask Nemesis, The Ballancer, and her two sisters, Fortune and Fate. They are all in the business of giving and taking. One might even talk to their grandnephews, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, they like to give and take, and your brokenhearted prayers need never worry them. Even more dangerous than the gods, but not the Ancients, is Baba Yaga, For she will give you something you don't want to help you on your quest, and often take what you really want, to ease your burden as you leave the world at large.
