So I Got To See A Super Cool Friend Of Mine This Weekend, Whom I Haven't Seen Since 2008, And While I'm

So I got to see a super cool friend of mine this weekend, whom I haven't seen since 2008, and while I'm really happy about that, I am currently full of all kinds of conflicted emotion.

I haven't the money to go back and visit England, because I am poor, and the visit that was going to happen has been cancelled for reasons. My intention to spend Bonfire Night with friends just doesn't look like it's going to happen, and that is crushing inside. 

Basically, nearly all of my friends live far enough away that getting to them is impossible for me at the moment. I suppose it just burns all the worse when you get to be near one of those friends and then distance happens again. 

I am thankful for the friends that live here, but it still feels very isolated. 

In short: 

Day 20. Today's prompt was Southeast Asian mythology. This one is a bit of a stretch, and as far as I know and can find, it doesn't directly correspond to any established mythology. Allow me to explain myself.

One of my mother's dear friends is from the Philippines. Now, she told the story once of 'black water', water with a malicious spirit, that purposefully drowns people. It can appear as whirlpools and waterspouts, or as perfectly still black pools and lagoons. This friend believes very really and truly in this idea of 'black water', and has been known to avoid any and all water phenomena associated with it. I can't find a specific term for this. I've tried. If someone else has heard of it, please tell me, because I find it really interesting.

All inks all the time.  

The seventh one. The name of the game was insect monster. 

This is Kabutomushi, fierce giant insect samurai out to smash towns and villages. The drawing is ink on brown paper. 

Day 14. The prompt today was "living object". I made a golem. I don't have too much to say at the moment.

Day 19. The prompt was Slavic mythology. I'll admit that I really don't know that much about Slavic mythology, which is why I went Wikipedia surfing until I crash-landed onto this spirit/monster. This is Poludnica, or the Noon-day Witch. She causes heatstroke and disorientation in the sunlight, and appears in the fields on the hottest days of the year.

I currently live in a place where it gets to be 105 Fahrenheit/40 Celsius during the height of summer, and it's dry as hell. If you've never lived in a place where the heat is so palpably murderous, and where the wind blowing feels like you've stuck your head inside an oven, you will probably not understand why the Noon-day Witch feels like a somewhat realistic proposition. 

Read the wiki article, she's very interesting.

Day 15. I think this is the halfway point? Anyhow, this is a bird monster. Specifically, it’s a gender-neutral harpy, because abusive parasites who barge into your home and destroy your life needn’t be female by default.

I accidentally took design cues from Yuka Ota’s maw creatures, which I didn’t notice until it was too late. She does really cool designs and work that I love, though, so have a look at her stuff sometime.