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-:¦:- Twin Vice Mythos
 Some background info on a few things in Twin Vice. I decided to put this up here because frankly it's a lot easier for me. I think a lot clearer when I've got my writing up to read online. Anyways, if you're a fan of mythology you might enjoy it. ^_^
Name Meanings
Gudrun :: Translation; one who knows the secrets of battle/of lore. Gudrun was the wife of the hero Sigurd in Norse legend
The Snow Queen :: There are many incarnations of the Snow Queen (the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, Yuki-onna, the Snow-Walker etc), but most famous is her role in Hans Christian Andersen's seven short stories.
Ran :: In Norse mythology, the Goddess Ran was the cruel wife and sister of AEgir, the ruler of the sea, who would lay traps for fishermen and by laying out a net and dragging them down into the water (mirrors Ran, who was dragged and drowned in the mire by hag, Jenny Greenteeth)
Gertrude/Gerda 'Nox' Wolfe :: Gerda was a character in Hans Christian Andersen's, The Snow Queen, who went on a quest to rescue her closest friend, Kay, who had been abducted by the Queen.
Nox is latin for night and Wolfe links to the story of Gudrun and Managarm in TVPD (wolves being, in mythology, loyal servants of the the Snow Queen and other villains e.g. Tolkien's Morgoth). The wolf and night have the symbol of the moon in common, linking to Luna Lovegood (Luna = Moon) and also contrasts to Fred/George and the Weasley family whose symbol is the sun (Gryffindor = Lion = fire = Sun).
Fenrir Greyback :: In Norse mythology, Fenrir was the son of the God Loki and the giantess Angrboda. A huge and fearsome wolf, it was prophesised that Fenrir would one day bring about the fall of the Gods in what was called Ragnarok (translates to 'twilight of high powers'), an apocalyptic battle between Gods, monsters, giants and men. Fenrir's brothers were the wolves Skald, who chased the sun (to skald/burn) and Managarm who chases the moon (managarm - moongarm).
Nogg the Nefarious :: Nogg's name is based on a variation of
Nidhogg (Níðhöggr), the dragon in Norse mythology who chewed on the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree.
RECURRING THEMES
:: Mirrors ::
Mirrors in TVPD: Eros, Erised, Ouroboros. Connotations - self-indulgence, reliance, fear.
Mirror Myths: In the East it was said if a mirror was dim, you had a cruel heart; in ancient Greece mirrors could be used as gateways to other worlds. The connotations of mirrors in mythology are rebirth, regeneration, renewal, immortality, hopelessness and despair. But despite their many magical properties, mirrors are man-made, which is another reason I decided to use Ouroboros because it contrasts with the role of the World Tree in the fic, which is completely natural. The mirror also relates back to the reflections/twins theme - Fred and George; Audra and Catherine; Sol and Salazar; Gideon and Fabian; Gudrun and her reflection - and to the theme of dreams (which is the real dream, which is the reflection?).
:: Dreams ::
'In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream -
Lingering in the golden gleam -
Life, what is it but a dream?'
In stories, dreams and visions act as riddles for the characters involved. Often they show a vision of the future where an accident or a death of a loved one occurs, and the character, choosing to fight it, only winds up causing the accident (Paradox e.g. OOTP: Harry's decision to believe in his vision ultimately led to Sirius's death - if he had chosen to ignore the vision, would Sirius still be alive?).
Joseph Campbell, "The dream is an exhaustible source of spiritual information about yourself." In short, a character cannot learn the future from a dream; they can only learn about themselves.
Dream Myths: In Japanese folklore, the first dream of the year is meant to come true. And in some folklore, it is possible to buy a dream in exchange for something. Once you buy a person's dream, that dream will supposedly come true for you.
:: Twins ::
Probably the most important theme in the story and the reason the first casebook is about twins (each casebook has a theme that relates to the overall story and Fred's curse). There are four sets of twins who are important to the plot of Twin Vice: Fred and George, Gideon and Fabian, Sol and Salazar, and Audra and Catherine. But the first two sets of twins has little more in common with the second lot. Audra and Catherine's story mirrors Sol and Salazar's (Audra having murdered her twin and the regret destroying her in much the same way it did Salazar). In contrast, Gideon/Fabian died together fighting against a common foe; a part of George also died alongside Fred.
Nox and her father also work as a set, their differences making them stronger as a team. Caithion (Death) and Luna are a set only in appearances (visually, black/white). The twin sets work as a 'give and take - alpha/omega', mirroring the theme of give and take ('Contracts are amongst the most dangerous magical snares, for it must be taken into account that whatever we wish for must be paid in equal, and to disrespect this agreement often means death. In this world, nothing is free. -- Edward Balthazar McRozen).
:: Alice in Wonderland ::
George in a Mad Hatterish top hat and tails, the Weasleys and their obsession with clocks, Nox's pocket watch, Fred and George being referred to as Cheshire cats, the Jammy Dodger, Weasley Manor's chequered floor - all points to Alice, but I do have another reason other than nostalgia/fondness for chucking them all in (mainly to do with dreams, but going into that's too spoilerish). Nox is a bit like the anti-Alice: the books she reads are the ones without pictures, she endeavours to keep her feet on the ground and she loves logic, but, like Alice, it's her curiosity that enables her to cross Weasley Manor's threshold.
MAGICAL BEASTS, PEOPLE and THINGYMAJIGGERS
Asral (or Moon-faeries) :: Small delicate female faeries who melt away into a pool of water when captured or exposed to sunlight.
Firedrake :: Small dragons with long sinuous tails and necks. Green in the winter, red in summer. Can grow to roughly the size of a dog - like dogs, their temperaments vary depending on their personalities, which are quite complex. Intelligent creatures, loyal to their hatchers. Rare - hunted to the point of near-extinction in the 1900s for their teeth, skin and tails, which make very charming hats.
Redcap the Rotten :: Redcap is one of the most evil of the old border Goblins. He lives in old ruined towers and castles, particularly those with a history of wickedness. Redcap is a descendant of Nogg the Nefarious, and the cap he wears on his head was once dyed in Godric Gryffindor's blood. Currently he is hiding the ghost of Bellatrix Lestrange from Ministry officials, though the reason for that is too spoilerish. XD
Nogg the Nefarious :: A master mirror-maker, Nogg was responsible for stealing a scale from the World Tree serpent (one of the most celebrated points in Goblin history). With it, Nogg created the mirror Ouroboros, but was later tricked out of ownership by the Snow Walker, Gudrun. Godric Gryffindor was fatally stabbed in the back by Nogg after he smashed Ouroboros.
Gudrun (the Snow Queen, the White Lady, the Snow Walker, Mab) :: Rumoured to have been part Veela, wife of Pythios Slytherin, mother to twins, Sol and Salazar. Had her son, Salazar, murder his twin after it was discovered Sol had married a Muggle. After Salazar left Hogwarts, Pythios/Gudrun and their followers waged war on the school (Salazar was not a part of this - too busy picking curtains for his new home in the Fens). Pythios was killed and Gudrun retreated to her fort in Iceland. Godric followed with his army, but could not stop Gudrun from making her pact with Ouroboros. Furious, Godric smashed the mirror, earning him a nice stab-in-the-back from Nogg.
The Eldar/World Tree/Yggsdrasill :: "The World Tree of life and knowledge, of time and space." Sometimes an Ash and sometimes an Eldar, the World Tree sits at the centre of all worlds. In TVPD, it was the tree the Eldar Wand was carved from and given to the first Peverell brother by Death. An enormous snake chews at the World Tree's roots (the dragon, Nidhogg) and in its topmost branches sits an eagle - the dragon and the eagle are mortal enemies. The mirror Ouroboros was made using a scale from the World Tree's serpent, Nidhogg.
PHRASES/QUOTES
Stick, Stock, Stone Dead - A line from The Juniper Tree by the Brothers Grimm where a wicked stepmother murdered her husband's son, cooked him in stew and buried his bones under a Juniper Tree. A little while after she had buried him, the Juniper Tree turned the boys bones into a small bird who told everyone what his stepmother had done. The quote alludes to the first casebook, where Audra murdered her twin and buried her body underneath an apple tree. The apples thereafter grew red, poisoned by the nature of the twin's death.
‘Contracts. Seals. Agreements. Long have there been stories told detailing the misadventures of pacts between humans and magical beasts: girls who sell their souls to an immortal power and live to regret the bargain; farmers who seal their fate to a kelpie in return for good crops for the harvest, and find themselves in a watery grave; Conjurors and Kings who wish for more power, but cannot, or will not, complete their part in the deal.
'Contracts, it would seem, are amongst the most dangerous magical snares, for it must be taken into account that whatever we wish for must be paid in equal, and to disrespect this agreement often means death.'
'In this world, nothing is free.'
Edward Balthazar McRozen, Treaties of Tyr Na Nog, 1979, Twin Vice Paranormal Detectives - From Twin Vice Paranormal Detectives. The quote refers to casebook 02 (Hati's contract with the water nymph) and the overall plot (Nox's contract with the twins).
'Phenomenon, abnormal occurrences, magic... Muggles are never satisfied with seeing, and their ears are never filled with hearing, and so they spend their lives chasing the wind. Because, to a Muggle, something that cannot be seen or heard is simply something that happens. That is why, of all the strange creatures and prophecies of the world, Muggles are amongst the strangest of all.'
-- Sir Hector Archimedes Oddness, 1759 - From Twin Vice Paranormal Detectives.
'There's no knowing where they're rowing,
Or which way the river's flowing!
Not a speck of light is showing,
So the danger must be growing,
'For the rowers keep on rowing,
And they're certainly not showing
Any sign that they are slowing...'
Can't find the original author, but it appeared in the 1971 "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".
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