Warning! Spoilers ahead! Today is the shortly anticipated episode where Bobby and Jordan discuss the Netflix series, Stranger Things. This episode will spoil many surprises in the story for you if you have not yet watched it.
Some people like to listen to us faster… (We sound smarter.):Change playback speed real time: 1x – 1.25x – 1.5x – 1.75x – 2x
Referenced in the Podcast:
- Stranger Things
- Stranger Things Full Cast
- Beyond Stranger Things
- Dungeons and Dragons
- D&D on the Wiki
- History of Role Playing Games on the Wiki
- J.R.R. Tolkien books on the Wiki
- Critical Role on the statist site Youtube
- Men who stare at Goats
The name of the game Bobby DM’d for his family is No Thank You Evil.
All the world’s a stage,
Shakespeare, As You Like It – Act 2 Scene 7
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
I think when designing the Demogorgon the makers of D&D made gorgon part of the name because of the Demogorgon’s ability to cause madness to anyone who meets its gaze. Kind of like Medusa’s gaze being able to turn people into stone.
Here’s more information on the etymology of the name “demogorgon.” Very interesting… very much related to the demiurge. As the article indicates, it is alternatively a combination of daimon (originally meaning spirit or heavenly one, but eventually becomes demon) and gorgon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogorgon
The interesting thing about the Demogorgon in D&D is that he is known as the Prince of Demons and ruler of the Abyss. He also has two heads and each head has its own name and personality, that then creating an enduring internal conflict of his personality, His left head is named Aameul while the right is named Hethradiah. So even though the Stranger Things Demogorgon is different than the one in D&D, it still emulates this evil that the main characters have to defeat or overcome.
On the last few minutes about the Lord of the Rings:
– Don’t forget that Gandalf “dies” and comes back in even greater light and power, and is known to many peoples by different names.
– I’ve thought of Frodo as you: the initiate. But the initiate is patterned after Adam, Abraham, or Osiris (Jesus) in various traditions, so he can definitely be considered a Christ figure.
I’m sorry gents! I tried but 3/4 of the way into the podcast, I just turned it off. I don’t really care for the show. I’ve heard about it but that’s about it. I don’t even intend to watch it. However, I found it interesting on how different my 80’s were from yours when you talk about your childhood. Granted, I grew up in the south. You know the one past the Panama canal. Still love the show!!! 🙂
… l still love the Mind Virus Show!
You mentioned El being a French name but it’s also the name of God, as in ELohim. Also, the archangel MichaEL, and the other 3:
GabriEL, RaphaEL, and UriEL.
Also one scene really stuck out to me when 001 shows his tattoo to 011. They are up side down in relation to each other showing they are opposites:
011
100
Not sure if it was intentional or not but it stuck out to this engineer brain.
It’s interesting that Russia was kind of kind an upside down within this world. They even showed it snowing constantly like how the spores are in the upside down.
Just a few random thoughts. I agree that the writers aren’t necessarily dipping into some deep esoteric source directly but are using elements derived from elsewhere.