Hey, quieter fan of the comics here ^^'

D'ya mind sharing what the curse is about speaking W-'s name? I've seen hints of that crop up in other communities but never with any context, and searching it isn't doing me any favors.

Basically it's one of those "Speak the name of the devil" clauses. Saying its full name will summon it to you and bring great misfortune to you and those around you. It's like inviting evil to come and fuck with shit.

And idk about you but though to many it's just another superstition, I aint about to fuck with more bad juju this year > >;

Man, I've heard that spoken plenty in various sci-fi movies and tv shows. Can't seem to find any outrage at all on the internet after a google search about this.

That would likely be because all the people who are mad at it don't use the word in it's spelled out form so naturally google will autocorrect it or skip over the ones spelled in corrupted forms (if it's even mentioned at all). This is also why I didn't catch wind sooner.

I only found out from indigenous people spreading the word on twitter, then asking my discord about it, a number of them actually in contact with indigenous folk who confirmed it to be bad (though hadn't told me about it cause unsure about confronting me X'D)

Ritzy lookin damn cute at the bottom.

Wario?

Hey wait doesn't that make Until dawn a lot worse then

WIERDLY ENOUGH Until dawn did a way better job of depicting/respecting the actual traditional origin lore. In fact the only time the spirits are spoken of by name is within a journal by someone who would not think to obscure the name. They likely got a lot of feedback from the Cree tribesmen relating to depicting these things respectfully. Which would be more an act of cultural appreciation. They weren't using the creatures in any way other than to depict how brutal and monsterous the spirit was, keeping true to the lore.

I'm no expert on if this is actually done properly but its definitely way better than most of us (myself included) who decided "Heh dark edgy deer monster legend is cool lets do that :D"

I'm quite conflicted with this entire post. You say you're a fantasy writer, but then also take this subject extremely serious.
Either you're being super respectful; which I can't see as anything other than good, or you're being ridiculously superstitious.
And I'm trying to really not start anything, just sharing my respectful cents, but the latter just puts a sour taste in my mouth with all the BS going on in the world right now.
P.S: Have you actually gotten flak over this?

A mix of both, for various reasons.
I can be a fantasy writer and still think it possible that the fantasy might not be as fantasy as I'd like it to stay. Not at all helped by occasional delusional/paranoid thoughts sparked by some mental health issues of mine.
But even with that it's still good to be respectful when a reasonable request for it has been made in general to content creators. Being a fantasy writer isn't like being a satire writer. I can still respect the origins of fantasy, fiction and spiritual beliefs that I take inspiration from in my own work.

And no, No one has actually given me personal flak for it. I chose to do this not because people are giving me shit for it but cause it didn't feel right

That's all super fair. I wasn't aware that it was request made to content creators. Makes me wonder why not every single story and game comes with a similar content warning, people often get inspiration from all sorts of things anyway.
As for the fantasy writer: I meant that more along the lines of the idea that you realize it is fantasy, but still take it so serious, which is slightly contradicting. Not so much of the idea that you're disrespecting the source by twisting the content into something that might offend the original source.
I do realize that with the many themes you've already gone through in this story that you might identify with some of them; I mean no disrespect, people can believe whatever makes them happy. I'm just too ...what's the word? Physical? Carnal? Grounded? Opposite of spiritual. It's why I like your comic as much as I do, you bring great insight to a varied amount of topics.
Oh and thanks for the reply. c:

OH!
Thats because though i am a fantasy writer writing fantasy topics, i like to imagine them being reasonably... interwoven? Like feeling plausible and real, even in a pseudoscience way that falls apart if you think too hard about it.
When it comes to the Cern the main reason i retconned them isn't cause i believed the fictional characters would jump out and eat me or anything, they are definitely locked into their setting. It was more that it seems more and more of the indigenous folk were requesting people not make characters and sonas and such called the same thing as their lore. It was mostly the name, and using the name as if it was fashionable to be an edgy undead deer thing. They dont care so much about the edgy deer monster bit, just that people were calling themselves the same name as that spirit, or kindred with them (but this also extended to stories and games surrounding them too, but I expect like with Until Dawn if you're being respectful about it its not so bad). And seeing as my own setting basically just had "edgy deer monsters born of cursed land" to their name, it seemed a perfectly reasonable response to just respect their wishes and stop using the name. A name is just a name, after all.

Weird... well it's your comic xd

Happy Halloween

I've heard about this as well and... well, it changes things for me when it comes to fiction. But if misspelling the name is okay, it might be something to look into, or maybe making a similar name if that's also acceptable. Just something to think over for myself if I ever do a fiction story with the W in it. Because I don't want to step on any toes for the indigenes people up north when this myth is from.

T. T.... O. O;
Oh! I had no idea those beings were cursed in such a manner. I first encountered em as simple baddos in a tabletop RPG monster list.
I also haven't heard of any drama regarding the creature.

heh, well, considering I'm not one to go actively *looking* for bad news, and there's plenty to simply stumble across these days? I'll... just take your word on it. Uu T
After all, you have to invoke it's name to find it with any efficiency via web search... And using a name search to make info on it come to you... that just seems extra likely to invoke it. >u <;;;

But yeah, no, respect to you for your own respectful nature of others; I think you're handling it superbly. Knowing some things about the creature in question thanks to that RPG book will help me identify when it's quirks are on display in your comic. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out! :D

Baha, well a few have been on diaplay already as I wasnt exactly being subtle about it~

A lot of rpg and tabletop games and various media depicting the critters often add their own fictional spin on them.

The traits I had picked up to use include:
A typical carniverous cervine (deer) like appearance (this is more a hollywood trope because a cryptid deer with carnivorous teeth that will eat you and its own kin is easier to see and more unique looking than a "spirit that hunts the greedy")
The fact these sumbitches get large and lanky when the spirit or curse is evoked within them.
The curse being contagious if you spend too much time around an existing one.
That they typically feed or prey on the greed and sinful desires of others.

In my comic that last trait is often referred to as the Hunger. Everyone wants and craves SOMETHING. but around Voodoo it manifests the same way as a hunger, driving it to instiable levels and driving you mad with what feels like starvation as the hole within your soul grows and grows, hungry for more whatever you hunger for, till you'd "cannibalise" someone else for it.

Its typically said of the original creature, or at least those used in other medias, that these things are forever in a state of emaciated starvation, consuming others (particularly those with sinful, greedy hearts) to try and fill the void of its stomach only for the huner to worsen. Most ways to purge the curse or creature simply doesnt exist or are more about keeping it from hunting or respawning, and those are only in games and the like to make them beatable baddies which the OG is not. The only way to stop the og is to not invoke them and cause them to exist in the first place.

But that's basically all that I learned of and applied to the Cern, before modifying some things since learning i should avoid association to the original spirits/curse.
Cause a lot of the traits make for very compelling monsters, and they can be easily reworked into a modern setting like ive done thus far, having tweaked the original nature to have a "modern version" who spends his time grooming the addictions of the poverty stricken and desperate. Essentially farming instead of hunting in something of a codependent structure.

And none of that as a monster or cryptid needs to keep the name. Theres no harm making you own variation of the legend that is named differently. Thats a derivative and interpretation and is fine and dandy. Just dont be normalising the og name even if its a very interesting part of a set of cultures that needs more rep and understanding.

Mnh. Right. This reminds me~
I was born and grew up in New Mexico... the home of "Skinwalkers" and various other rather nasty supernatural entities.
I'd encountered enough inexplicable suffering in that state, including our house burning down when we tried to escape it by moving out...
We moved anyway, fully convinced by that incident that something very wrong was around.

Sometimes I get this vibe like... the original spirits responsible for my own personal nightmares were trying to chase me down, to be stopped only by the filter of locus spirits that are NOT happy about the intrusion.
The fact that my life here in Wisconsin has been the best I've ever had, simply reinforces this suspicion.
The fact that "Breaking Bad" takes place in the general area I lived also suggests further corruption... meth crimes are at a record high in that area for the entire United States...!
There was also a local college that had constant unexplained suicides in the basement of the campus...
Running out of ideas, they brought a Navajo Shaman to try and purify the area... He refused, saying there was simply too much for him to handle there.

Corrupt cops... severe hate crimes spread between whites, navajo, and those of mexican ancestry...

Yeah.
And now, with the chaos of Covid, Trumpadump, and every other insane thing going on, my life here in Madison feels like an island floating under and increasingly chaotic world, the flames rising high enough to threaten to overtake the haven I'd stumbled across...

Believe me. I absolutely understand acknowledging and not wanting to take the risk of pissing off spirits and other such entities that can't be known without severely messing you up.

Well, as always, I'll wish for your safety in all regards, the spiritual realm just being one of the facets. Good luck, Adrian. u. u

Extremely late to the party here, but I had no idea this was a thing. But also, I haven't really put any effort into checking this sort of thing out, either, only skimming it culturally. Heck, had no idea that about the actual legend or anything. I just thought they were a monster and really only were more aware of them beyond that due to Until Dawn. Also I haven't played that game because I am a giant weenie.

Personally, I think it's extremely cool of you to see that you messed up and actively take steps to fix it. Kudos!

Thank you for making us aware of this issue; it's immensely helpful on our own end, and props to making the correction on your end.