| Psychopomp-ish dog [message #16659] |
Wed, 03 February 2010 20:08  |
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 Roses Ablaze
Messages: 557
Registered: June 2005
Location: United States |
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Years ago, I came up with an idea of where Mamoru goes to college in the states and the Shitennou get revived and fight bad guys that were after him. This was when I was still a Bleed stan (not to say that I'm not still a fan, because I am), so my ideas all ended up being way too Bleed-like no matter how many elements I changed around. I'd been focusing on different villains and different living situations for the Shitennou (ie, they aren't college students), but now I've come up with something else.
The Shitennou aren't people. They aren't even individuals. They're a dog. Actually, they aren't a dog, but there's a dog that is keeping their "light" sides safe (think of Another Story). This dog isn't the talking type, but he is able to give the Shitennou back their bodies by giving up his own body. He's a spirit dog, so he doesn't die strictly speaking. And of course he can't do this right away, since he's weakened and he needs to spend some time around the Golden Crystal (ie, Mamoru) in order to regain enough strength for this task.
So what I need is a breed for this dog or at least an appearance. I was thinking maybe it could be a Jackel since Anubis is a psychopomp, but alas, jackels turn out not to be dogs. I thought the were. And it doesn't look like you can keep one as a pet, either. Are there any other dogs that are associated with the afterlife or the spirit world? Something that would be respected in Sailor Moon!Elysian?
What about a name for this dog?
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| Re: Psychopomp-ish dog [message #16660 is a reply to message #16659] |
Wed, 03 February 2010 21:51  |
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Most ancient cultures have some association with the dog and the spirit world. The Aboriginal culture of Australia has a fairly intricate connection to dogs, and general folk lore throughout the world tell tales of dogs guiding spirits to the afterlife and/or being an omen of death. The popular omen of the black dog is found throughout Europe. There are the legendary temple dogs of China, and Cerberus in Greek Mythology. Really I think you'd be hard pressed not to find a culture that didn't have this connection.
As to what breed...what do you want this dog to do? Does he need to run long distances or short? Be strong, like to pull something? How big? What personality traits are you looking for?
*no I'm not a dog person at ALL*
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| Re: Psychopomp-ish dog [message #16661 is a reply to message #16660] |
Thu, 04 February 2010 03:31 |
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Spirit-hime
Messages: 399
Registered: December 2002 |
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This seems like a really unique idea. I'd almost say you should try original fiction with it instead. 
I guess some things to consider are what origin you want and, like Branwen pointed out, what you need the dog to do. For instance, does the dog need off-leash skills to be able to run wild? Some dogs should never, ever be let off-leash in an urban environment, although since this one obviously isn't your average dog, maybe that's what makes it unique. A good starting point might be to look at the ancient dog breeds, because I'd guess that anything with mythological ties would be an old breed.
The greyhound was a very, very common royal hound in Medieval times. You see greyhounds mentioned in everything from stories about King Arthur to Robin Hood. Definitely ties into the idea of serving Endymion.
Saluki dogs were the royal dogs of Egypt, and were mummified in royal tombs. So you've got royalty and death there. It's one of the most ancient domesticated dog breeds.
Or since this is in the States, a Malamute or Husky might be a good choice, and it's definitely a little more masculine and wolf-like than some of the other ancient breeds (let's talk about that pekingese psychopomp, huh?). I wonder if you could find Inuit dog stories.
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