#cradle of the snake

[snoriangray]

listened to cradle of the snake and mara!five made me gasp in public. 5 stars

#doctor who #classic who #fifth doctor #5th doctor #cradle of the snake #HES SO............ OMGGGGGGGG #cradle of the snake gave me everything ive ever wanted or needed from a five audio #hoooooooooooooo

[giddyaunt425]

For those of you who have listened to Cradle of the Snake, here's some fanart of the Doctor possessed by the Mara. He was so stinkin creepy.

#fifth doctor #peter davison #5th doctor #the mara #cradle of the snake #doctor who #classic who #classic doctor who #big finish #nyssa of traken #sarah sutton #tegan jovanka #janet fielding #vislor turlough #mark strickson #doctor who fanart #fanart #digital art

[timelordian-disaster-126]

!!!BODY HORROR ART TW!!!

I have taken it upon myself to add more interesting headcanon lore to one of my favorite Villains in all of Doctor Who, the Mara 🐍🔮

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The Mara is an unforgiving and relentless being that pushes one's deepest desires to the surface when possessing its host, it often takes possession of the host's mind and subjects them to harsh psychological/mental abuse through their subconscious mind. It presents itself through that of the host's dreams through terrible nightmares and terrors, often this makes the host unable to sleep normally, thus weakening them further to the grasp of the Maras's delight.

Here, the Mara often takes over the host body, feeding on their fears and emotions as the host body slowly becomes that of a second skin to the Mara. Over a long enough period, the host's body will eventually become scaly, and hard to move, the eyes will become yellow with sinister slits in the middle of them. Once the Mara is done feeding on the host, and when they have conformed to the serpent figure fully and is unable to live any longer due to the snake's inability to let the body care for itself, the Mara will discard the body by "shedding its skin" in which the Mara will exit the body through the mouth, leaving a husk of what was once typically a manussan local. From then it will go into a state of temporary dormancy until it is ready for its next feeding. From there it will scatter itself across all of manussa, planting itself in everyone, until one fool starts to give in to their desires, and from then; The Mara will strike when the next host is most vulnerable.

Of course, the Mara is also able to jump from host to host, as long as they are within reach, it can also spread itself to multiple people at one time, although this often leaves it confused and unable to keep an eye on all its prey. As we see with Tegan, the Mara can remain dormant in the mind of a host for however long it needs, either until the host gives into their desires, or until the Mara grows weak and needs another host. However, with Tegan, she deeply desires something she cannot have due to distance, and so, the Mara lays dormant, waiting to strike once again, its only a matter of time before it can feast once more.

Of course, the Mara does have one weakness, and that is of its own reflection, for the Mara wants you to give into your desires, and not confront them, facing itself in the mirror means to go against its own purpose, a fate in which is can't stand. Of course, if these desires strongly linger, sometimes, it can latch on longer than anticipated, waiting dormantly to strike once again.

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The Mara on Manussa is seen as a powerful creature, one not to be messed with, the locals often put on an annual festival each year celebrate the supposed banishment of the Mara, there's often a ceremony held at the end of each festival, in which a person much overcome the Maras temptation and retrieve the great crystal and banish the Mara once and for all.

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So I actually did redesign Lons outfit he wore during the ceremony of the Mara, I just thought his looked so goofy in the show and I had a "I can fix it 👹" moment, and so I did! :D I hope you guys enjoyed my lore idea! Let me know what you guys think!

(He looks like he wants to take a bath fully clothed in the original)

#doctor who #classic doctor who #doctorwhofandom #art #artwork #artist #arts #nyssa of traken #artworks #tegan jovanka #sarah sutton #janet fielding #peter davison #5th doctor era #5th doctor #doctor who the mara #snakedance #doctor who kinda #cradle of the snake #redesign #doctor who headcanon

[koscheicore]

YELLING. Cradle of the Snake was such a GOOD audio oh my. Okay yes evil Fivey but can we talk about evil Nyssa??? Aaaa 😭 I'm probably relistening to it at some point bcs I need to analyse that Nyssa real bad. I love stories with the Mara I'm yelling. Also Turlough hiding the fact he was terrified of the Doctor/the Mara and still going with him dhdk aaaaaAAAAAAA

#yeah!!!!! yeah I love this #thank you zeph #lux liveblogs #sort of #cradle of the snake #big finish

[fleetn-crab85]

Did I just listen to Cradle of The Snake and dedicate an entire page in my sketchbook to it? Yes. Am I surprised? Absolutely not.

This is such a good audio story and I'm so glad I got to listen to it. Evil Peter Davidson (and Nyssa for that matter) is legitimately terrifying and the random sheep bit at the beginning was... interesting to say the least

#sheep!turlough was not on my bingo card for doctor who audios #doctor who #classic who #cradle of the snake #fifth doctor #crab's scribbles

[cringecompanionapologist]

Uh-Uh I Wrote an Essay About Turlough in Cradle of the Snake

So, after that “Turlough is easily dominated” post, I decided to do some analysis after all, because one of the tags reminded me of Cradle of the Snake, which I’ve posted about being interesting in terms of 5/Turlough (as well as Nyssa/Tegan but I’m pretty sure that essay has already been written), but there’s a bit more to explore here.

The Mara is a bit confusing as far as Evil Entities go. There’s this reoccurring theme of temptation and corruption, but it’s a little unclear what the rules are. It seems that the Mara possesses people by preying on their darkest desires and that the victim has to agree to be possessed, either because of temptation or being overwhelmed by mind games, in order to be possessed. But, in Cradle of the Snake, Nyssa eventually just gets possessed. It just sort of happens. Mara!Tegan tries to tempt her, but it doesn’t work. Then Mara!Doctor is just like “I’ma possess Nyssa” and it happens. Perhaps the Mara can just possess people but prefers to tempt or trick them into accepting possession because it’s more fun that way.

Once the Mara possesses someone, they don’t seem to be aware or in control of their actions. When Mara!Character is interacting with someone, it’s the Mara talking completely. The Mara probably has access to the knowledge and emotions of the person it’s possessing, but how it uses that knowledge isn’t influenced by the individual. That’s the vibe I got, anyway. The Mara can use the form of someone it’s victim trusts to gain said victim’s cooperation, but the Mara’s opionions about its victims probably don’t come from other victims. The Mara seems to have a sexual obsession with Nyssa while possessing the Doctor and I don’t think that’s coming from him. The Mara failed to seduce Nyssa while possessing Tegan and is bitter about it.

The first time we see the Mara interacting with someone in Cradle of the Snake it’s speaking through Tegan, trying to corrupt and possess Nyssa. This plays out as a failed attempt at seduction. If the Mara is trying to tempt Nyssa based on what it thinks Nyssa might want, the temptation is Tegan herself. Again, great story for Nyssa/Tegan. The only reason this doesn’t work is because Nyssa knows better and is able to resist. She knows it’s the Mara talking, not Tegan. The Mara then gets pissed off because of how “pure” Nyssa is and Nyssa is heavily sexualized while possessed.

But, this essay isn’t about Nyssa. This is just the first example of how the Mara works in this story. In other Mara stories, the rules might be a little different, but this is how it works here.

Anyway, the Mara transfers itself from Tegan to the Doctor. Instead of possessing both, it lets Tegan go and moves on to the Doctor, because the Doctor sacrificed himself for his companion, as he often does. The Doctor might’ve thought that is Strong Time Lord Mind might be better at resisting the Mara than Tegan’s Normal Human Mind, but he thought wrong. Though, there is a brief period of time where the Doctor seems to be at least partially in control. He tried to fight it, but he lost.

Now, Turlough enters the picture. Because of the Black Guardian, Turlough is often thought of as easily corruptible, so the Mara decides to go for the easy target, only for it to not work. Unlike Nyssa, Turlough isn’t aware of what’s going on at first, only that the Doctor is acting really weird. It’s scaring him, but he doesn’t run away. He actively tries to stay with the Doctor for as long as he can. You’d think he’d be quick to give up on him to save himself, but he holds out for a long time. 

This probably wasn’t what the Mara expected. Turlough is a troublemaker, so the Mara makes some trouble and tries to encourage him to participate. Turlough doesn’t. He isn’t a troublemaker for the hell of it. He’s introduced as a troublemaker in Mawdryn Undead, but that was at Brendon. Turlough’s troublemaking there was probably him lashing out at the school he hated. In the TARDIS, Turlough is more comfortable and doesn’t really have a reason to cause trouble at the moment. So, either the Mara didn’t really understand him, or he was going off what other people he’d already possessed thought of him and those people misjudged him. This doesn’t seem like a mistake the Doctor would make, so this might be from how long the Mara has been lurking around in Tegan’s head. She doesn’t trust him and sees him as a troublemaker who was easily corrupted by the Black Guardian and the Mara tries to manipulate Turlough based on that biased information.

But, the Mara doesn’t completely fail with Turlough. He convinces him to forget about Nyssa and Tegan for a while and join the Doctor on a “Boys’ Night Out”. Turlough gets upset by Mara!Doctor ruining their night out with his behavior. He wasn’t tempted by causing trouble, but he was tempted by spending an evening at a carnival with the Doctor. Turlough should know that the Doctor wouldn’t ditch Nyssa and Tegan like this, but even if it doesn’t make sense, this is something he wants enough to just run with and then be upset when it doesn’t work out. The Mara learns from this. Turlough isn’t just easily corruptible, but he wants to spend time alone with the Doctor. He wants the Doctor’s attention.

But, the Mara continues to struggle with Turlough. It straight-up asks him what he wants and he says he’s learned to be content with what he has. Turlough eventually decides that things have gotten too weird and tries to leave and it just snaps and just tries to get Turlough to take the Mark while giving generic offers of Wealth and Power. Turlough is mostly just confusing about where the snake tattoo came from. Meanwhile, they’ve broken into a building and can hear someone coming, so Mara!Doctor drags Turlough into a closet, leading to the amazing double entendre of “Don’t think I don’t appreciate the offer, but must you be so forceful?”.

Still, though he doesn’t let himself get possessed, Turlough goes along with Mara!Doctor, probably out of fear, since he got physical when he tried to leave. He still acts surprised and betrayed when he gets locked in a stall and left. After everything that happened, he’s still upset to be abandoned.

Then we get to the part where Mara!Doctor and Turlough get arrested, even though Turlough didn’t do anything but be present for Mara!Doctor’s antics. At this point, Turlough understands that the Doctor has been possessed and that the person talking to him is the Mara. He goes into I Know You’re in Here Somewhere mode, reminding the Doctor of a bunch of continuity, along with expressing gratitude that the he saved him from public school and the Black Guardian and that he owes him his life. It feels like an anguished declaration of sorts. To reach the Doctor, Turlough confesses just how much he means to him.

This is when the Mara gets it. Turlough isn’t easily corruptible because he’s loyal to the Doctor now. The Mara pretends to be the Doctor, having fought off the Mara’s influence. “The Doctor” is scared and ill and Turlough looks after him and tries to help him. He has Turlough remove his coat, exposing the Mara Tattoo, by acting feverish. Turlough wouldn’t surrender to the Mara’s temptation, so the Mara preys on his trust and loyalty. What Turlough really wants is for the Doctor to be there. It drops the act and tries to force Turlough to take the Mark, realizing that it can’t trick him into agreeing, only into getting close to the Doctor while the Mara is possessing him. 

Turlough resists and Mara!Doctor escapes. He only agrees to help in the fight against the Mara if it means help for the Doctor. He still wants to believe that he’s in there somewhere, after everything that happened. Later on, he gets the cynical “the Doctor might be dead and we’ll have to accept that” role to contrast Nyssa and Tegan, but it feels out of place after everything we’ve seen. We’ve seen just how much Turlough cares for and believes in the Doctor. But, when the companions we expect to have that attitude are around, he can’t express that anymore. I’m not sure if this is just a writing issue or something with Turlough’s character, that he might be uncomfortable expressing those sorts of emotions around others.

So, the supposedly easily corruptible Turlough is the one the Mara gives up on. It almost effortlessly possesses Nyssa, doesn’t possess Tegan again out of either boredom or Tegan having experience resisting it, and decides that it’ll have Turlough killed if he gets in the way instead of trying to possess him again. Pretending to be the Doctor won’t work twice and whatever quick possession trick it did with Nyssa apparently won’t work either. Although everyone is briefly possessed towards the end, Turlough spends the least amount of time possessed. We see Mara!Tegan in the beginning and lots of Mara!Doctor and Mara!Nyssa, but Mara!Turlough might as well not exist at all. Perhaps this was a writing decision. Turlough is morally ambiguous and has already been controlled by a Powerful Evil Entity before this, so it might’ve been decided that seeing the Mara possess him wouldn’t be very interesting. The Doctor, as the hero, and Nyssa, the most traditionally “good” of the group, would provide a sharper contrast while possessed. But, this means that Turlough stands out in how nearly impossible it is for the Mara to possess him compared to everyone else.

The general vibe that I get is that the Mara, searching for some suppressed desire to manipulate Turlough with, looking for something dark, instead finds that the only thing that works, the only thing he seems to want badly enough to act against his better judgement, is the Doctor’s attention and simple presence. Before he’s sure that something’s wrong with the Doctor, he wants his time and undivided attention, for them to just go somewhere fun together without the girls. When it’s clear that something’s wrong, he just wants the Doctor to be okay. These stories usually work with the Evil Entity finding a sort of Seven Deadly Sins desire: sex, money, power, fame, etc. Turlough’s Dark Suppressed Desire, since his dark side is already sort of out in the open, is the Doctor. You could say the same with Nyssa and Tegan, but the temptation there feels sexual. Turlough basically wants the Doctor to take him on a wholesome date.

It actually makes sense to for a character like Turlough. The main contrast is with Nyssa. Nyssa is outwardly light, presenting an image of goodness and purity. She suppresses whatever she considers impure about herself. But, Turlough is outwardly dark, openly unheroic. He suppresses softer emotions. Nyssa fears being bad, but Turlough fears being weak. Comparing Nyssa/Tegan and 5/Turlough, Nyssa suppresses her sexual attraction to Tegan, while Turlough suppresses how much he loves the Doctor. He’s spent years only looking after himself, so feeling something that intense towards someone else would be scary.

So, yeah, I overanalyzed the hell out of Turlough’s part of Cradle of the Snake. He just wants the Doctor to notice him and that scares him, though not enough that the Mara can really use it.

#vislor turlough #five/turlough #fifth doctor #nyssa/tegan #cradle of the snake #the mara #turlough's suppressed desire to be gently seduced by the doctor i guess

[sacha-da-1]

Cradle of the Snake has me in mara mode again. I really hope they bring it back into the modern series someday.

#the mara #cradle of the snake #doctor who #big finish

[avaitor]

Mara Five Mara Five Mara Five

*Shakes him around like a ragdoll*

Guess who listened to Cradle of the Snake

He's so weird [also God damn villainous Peter Davison can GET IT] 😳😳😳

#avis art #fanart #the fifth doctor #fifth doctor #doctor who #the doctor #classic who #doctor who fanart #classic who fanart #art #digital art #peter davison #the mara #the cradle of the snake

[restingcorpse]

What other bands/musicians do you listen to other than HIM, Slipknot and NIN?

Any recommendations?

I love being asked about music recs so I can totally give some!!

I'm super into bands like Cradle of Filth, CKY, London after midnight, Snake river conspiracy, Eyehategod, Acid bath, KMFDM, Angelspit, Shining, Lacuna coil, Children of bodom, Death, Static-X, Skinny puppy and Lunachicks.

I could share my playlist too if anyone is interested :)

#music #cradle of filth #cky #snake river conspiracy #nu metal #metal #death metal #black metal #industrial metal #industrial #my asks #answered asks #asks #text #text post #me #mine #personal #gore lover #<3

[buildoblivionthenwewilltalk]

oh you guys weren’t kidding Mara!five goes HARD

#finally listening to cradle of the snake btw #got it on the BF turlough sale and it SLAPS #saying that #everyone talks about how good everyone’s ‘evil’ voices are #not one of you prepared me for Sarah and Mark’s EXCELLENT sheep impressions #Doctor who #fifth doctor #the Mara #5th doctor #Peter Davison

[i-clash-with-everything]

Every time the BBC starts announcing new Doctor Who stuff my primary thought is always the same. Bring back The Mara you cowards

#doctor who #classic who #listen its my favourite okay #big psychic parasite that looks like a snake and makes you act on your darkest impulses and desires #whats NOT to like #i get that its been in like books and that one webcast since cradle of the snake came out #but i want to see it in the main series again

[trans-xianxian]

more creatures today!

#I think its the same snake from yesterday 😭 #it was in the same place and looked the same size #so cold and slow when I picked it up (basking) which is why I'm like cradling it lmao #giving the little biddy some of my body heat 👍 #the frog jumped from my hands onto my chest of its own accord lmao #ghost posts #image

[giddyaunt425]

Just a doodle of 5 possessed by The Mara.

I listened to Cradle of the Snake for the first time and just had to.

It's not much, but I had fun.

#fifth doctor #peter davison #5th doctor #doctor who #classic who #the mara #big finish #classic doctor who #tegan jovanka #nyssa of traken #vislor turlough #Cradle of the snake #possessed #it's not much but it's honest work #fanart

[dent-de-leon]

Forever in love with the alternate Mollymauk cover concept art—I mean just like at this circus man, he’s so pretty and just looks so soft and sweet ;;

#cradling these art concepts in my hands so gently #LOVE the cover we got too it’s just #all of hunters art is so lovely I adore these mollys #also something about molly curling up with Lestersras snake behind him #and how she creates this halo around him #molly looking so happy and warm in the second one…my little tief..

[koscheicore]

Ok haven't been able to finish Cold Fusion yet so I may actually liveblog from home later. Might start it from the beginning that's one long audio but damn I was enjoying it so much!!!

However. Thinking of evil Fivey from Cradle of the Snake. Listen it's kinda funny cuz at some moment he goes like (and this is very very paraphrased) "Oh Turlough don't you want to have some fun?? Get in trouble?? You don't do that anymore" meanwhile Turlough is terrified of him but hiding that fact and he's like "...I still do get in trouble" and then the Doctor goes smth like "Oh because you got accustomed with the goody Bag didn't you"

and all I can think of is

"This is not a phase, MOM!!!!!!" lmfao

#lux rambles #cradle of the snake #big finish

[fleetn-crab85]

Ayyyy I got that cradle of the snake audio 😎👍(hopefully it works)

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/mobile/folders/1--JL5RgE5LI0LUq69uaFDzUcCnn0KURa/135IpG4horQchvH_kmPXFwgpWufzjx3gj/17cdY61-CAmN0EgK7_RtE74qeoUf_yWjc?sort=13&direction=a

I am forever in your debt @avaitor thank you so much!!!

#I'm so excited you have no idea #gonna post my thoughts later (maybe art if I have time) #doctor who #classic who #cradle of the snake #crab’s favorite shows