#“of course they have heads” “not in the hierarchal sense they don't"

[sexy-sapphic-sorcerer]

jesus fuck the BBC4 Sherlock Holmes radio dramas are gay

I mean, I heard Mary accuse Watson of marrying her "under false pretence" while his heart belongs to Holmes

I heard Holmes and Watson reciting Tristan and Isolde to each other about "existing only in each other, wrapped in love"

but Watson being so scared to tell Holmes that someone wrote a play about him where he's straight! "you're not angry? it's hardly in character"

insane. hilarious. iconic.

[dduane]

I've been enjoying the recent Middle Kingdoms works, and was especially taken by the ritual hospitality in "The Landlady". It seemed reminiscent of traditional Irish phrases I've encountered translated into English. If there any influence? To what degree has Ireland leaked into your understanding of the Middle Kingdoms and their cultures?

Re: the Irish influence: there's occasionally some effect on casual idiomatic usages in characters' general conversation, yes. In fact, while doing some editing work on TOTF3: The Librarian just a day or three ago, I caught Freelorn's edgy friend-who-killed-him-that-one-time, Sem, using phrases that unquestionably were not just Irish-originated, but Ulster-originated. :) (And plainly this is @petermorwood's fault. But since the character seems comfortable with the usage, and from where I'm sitting it sounds right for him, I'm not going to mess with it.)

As regards Irish influence on the Kingdoms' formal hospitality-language and culture, though, I'm not seeing much evidence of that. Not that I haven't done a fair amount of reading about Brehon law and other adjacent matters over time as a matter of casual research. But none of that seems to be reflected in any of the notes I made on the Kingdoms' cultures while developing them.

The connection I am pretty sure of is to translations of stock epithets and phrases (and the presence of various general concepts and actions) associated with the practice of formal xenia in ancient Greece, particularly as described in the Odyssey.

In particular, the Kingdoms' worldview seems to share a core concept with the ancient Greek one as regards xenia. This is the idea that personified Deity is walking around in the world, making itself responsible for the protection of people who call on others' hospitality. Both cultures have the idea that people's behavior may be tested by the gods—or God(dess)—to see how well they're obeying the rules set out regarding the welcome properly due to strangers and those in need.*

In the Kingdoms, the concept has had what seemed to me like a more or less logical expansion into the relationship between the heads of organized Houses—what we could equate with local familial lordships, though the actuality in the Realms is a lot less patriarchially hierarchical and more complex—and the people who come to hold land of/from the Houses' heads.

So it made sense to me that there would be basic gestures and phrases that express agreement to various aspects of the contract between a House's head and their holders. Since both writing and literacy died off during that alternate Earth's domination by the Dark, and had to be revived and relearned after its destruction, this contract was for a long time always verbal. Over the centuries, ritualized concrete practices—the exchange of bread and water between Holders and head of House, for example—grew up alongside the spoken content to make it plain that everybody understood the nature and intention of the contract. These, too, I derived from material in the Odyssey and other works of that period: situations, for example, where simply eating something that someone else has given you is itself confirmation that the contract between host and guest is in place and working.

Anyway: thanks for the question. Hope this helps!

*But then readers of the MK books will of course recognize this as the kind of thing the Goddess already does in Her world—not being one of those lurking-and-skulking sorts of deity who leaves you wondering all your life about whether they're real or not. Her basic contract with Her creation already contains the concept that everybody gets to meet Her personally at least once; and—either in Her proper person, or in the form of other people—sometimes more than once. Because yeah, She's busy... but what's the point of being a deity if you don't have the time to sit down with your creation for drinks every now and then...?

[queenofdragons12]

Frozen Bonds | Trolltider

In the dark and mysterious realm of your imagination, the concept of trolls had never been something you took seriously. Of course, there was always the possibility that they existed in the shadows, lurking somewhere in the periphery of your consciousness. Who really knew for sure? One thing, however, was crystal clear in your mind – humans had to be eradicated. They were just one of the five races, yes, but after being confined too often in cages, trust in any human was a luxury you could no longer afford.

Yet, fate has a way of playing tricks on even the most resolute minds. Your conviction was tested when a little girl came darting through the forest, her cries for help echoing through the trees. In that moment, you found yourself at a crossroads, torn between the ingrained fear of humans and the innate desire to extend a helping hand.

The air was thick with uncertainty as you grappled with conflicting emotions. Could you overcome the deep-seated mistrust that had taken root in your soul, or would you let the past dictate your actions? The girl's desperate pleas reverberated in the stillness of the woods, challenging the very essence of your beliefs.

Perhaps, in that pivotal moment, you realized that the boundaries between races weren't as rigid as you once thought. The line between predator and prey, human and troll, blurred in the face of shared vulnerability. As the girl approached, you felt the weight of a decision hanging heavy in the air, a decision that could redefine not only your perception of humanity but also the course of your own destiny.

"Help, please!" she cried, and you growled under your breath. "Snowfall, what are you waiting for?" your younger sister, Fanneløv, sputtered. "I don't want to attack, Fanneløv. You can't force me," you snarled back, swatting your tail in frustration. Your sister shook her head and leaped from the trees.

You jumped when a horde of other wolves followed. These weren't from your pack; they were larger, stronger, and all had sleek black fur that shimmered in the sunlight filtering through the trees.

"Take the human child!" one of them bellowed in a deep, guttural voice that reverberated through the entire forest. The child screamed and ran the other way, but the wolves from the woods were quicker. Soon, a large male pinned her down, growling low.

The tension in the air was palpable, a clash between loyalty to your own principles and the instinct to protect the helpless. Fanneløv shot you a glance, a silent plea to intervene. The moral dilemma gnawed at you as the scene unfolded before you.

In that critical moment, you had to decide whether to defy the instincts that had been ingrained in you or to stand firm against the encroaching threat. The girl's desperate cries echoed through the forest, painting a vivid picture of vulnerability and fear. The black-coated wolves seemed relentless in their pursuit, imposing a challenge that demanded either acquiescence or defiance.

As the drama played out, you found yourself at a crossroads, a moment that would define not only your identity but also the intricate balance between the wild and the humane within you.

"Let her be!" shouted another little child, hurling themselves toward the male wolf. However, he merely swatted them away with a paw, and one of his comrades pinned the child down. "Pateksuie troll, you have no right to come here and dictate to us," snarled a gray-toned she-wolf, her teeth bared. You sighed and approached calmly.

"Let them go," you said, and both wolves hesitated. "Snowfall," grumbled a smaller male, sneaking his head forward. You ignored him. "I said let them go." You growled again, meeting the gaze of the alpha wolf and his mate who just stared back at you.

"You may be the alpha's daughter, Snowfall, but you're not our leader. Go back to the ice," snarled the alpha. The tension hung in the air, a battle of wills between the hierarchical structure of the pack and the innate sense of justice within you. As you stood your ground, it became evident that the dynamics of power were shifting, and your actions would determine not only the fate of the human child and the little defender but also the delicate balance within the wolf pack.

"Please, we don't want to capture you," whimpered the little girl. "We just want to find my dad." You stared down at her and inquired, "And where is this father of yours?" She hesitated, then spoke, "He… he was captured by stone trolls and taken to the Black Mountain. Please, I need him." Tears welled up in her eyes, and a wave of empathy surged through you. You sighed and swished your tail.

"Let them go. I'll say it one more time," you declared. The alpha wolf snarled, but he lifted his paw, and the boy helped the girl back onto her feet. "Thank you, white wolf. We won't forget this," the child expressed gratitude.

"No need. Just don't enter the wolves' forest again," you said, dipping your head. With that, you and your pack, along with the black wolves from the north, swiftly retreated, leaving behind a tense encounter that had tested the boundaries of both compassion and dominance in the heart of the enchanted forest.

"Maybe, Dad, if we help them, we could improve our relations!" you suggested to your father, who sat proudly on the golden throne. "Snowfall, you know very well that Gorm of the trolls won't allow it. He despises wolves," your father, Blackmuzze, replied sternly. You sighed and flopped down. "For once, I just want peace," you grumbled, and your sister snorted, "You always want peace, dear sister. You're no true wolf; you're just a pacifist." She then ran out of the clearing, and a significant portion of your wolves followed her. You sighed again. Times were no longer at their best.

The scent in the air was as potent as that of a wounded deer unaware of its impending demise. You sighed, quickening your pace, and soon you stumbled upon Black Mountain, sending shivers down your spine. Now or never, you thought and trotted faster into the cavern. The air reeked of mildew and decaying fungi. Moss and various fungi clung to the stone walls, and you halted abruptly when you spotted a colossal troll, petrified in the midst of this eerie landscape. "Mountain troll," you muttered, scanning the surroundings. There were no stone trolls in sight, no servants either. Strange.

You ventured deeper into the heart of the mountain, and soon, you discovered a dark cavern. The scent of humans wafted from it like pus from a poisoned wound. Intrigued and cautious, you approached, the darkness swallowing you as you delved further into the mountain's bowels.

The human jumped when you entered, and you rested your head on your paws. "What is a human like you doing deep in the heart of the mountain?" you inquired, settling down with your tail draped over your front paws. "I-I have the formula that can break the amber," he said softly, and you hummed in acknowledgment. "A golden stone, huh? It seems there's more to this forest than we thought. I am Snowfall, and you must be the pungent human I've been tracking."

"Gustav," he introduced himself, and you nodded. "I know scents reveal more than you think," you remarked. Rising to your feet, you scratched at the lock, but it didn't budge. "Hmmm," you circled the cage twice before finally detecting metal amidst the decaying items within. Standing on your hind legs, you retrieved a small key from a hanging and inserted it into the lock.

"How can you use a key?" Gustav asked, clearly puzzled. "I've been among humans before. They captured me once and took me to a circus for entertainment or something. I don't know. I got tips from an elephant about turning a key in the hole, and the door opened," you explained matter-of-factly.

"I—I don't know what to say," stammered Gustav, and you snorted before opening the cage door. "Come on, I'm sure some stone trolls will notice me here soon," you said, ushering Gustav out, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

[trans-cuchulainn]

What are the major details that confused you about the Hound blurb? The major one that stood put to me was the "way of the farmer opposed to the sword" thing which felt very...un-Cú Chulainn. Also, if you don't mind expanding further, which details didn't you question/be confused by?

and also for anon:

okay so it is like. 2am so there are not going to be any sources here but i can't sleep so here goes!! i will go through this blurb line by line and give youse my thoughts

In 50 BCE,

reasonable. this is roughly the right time period for when the ulster cycle is set. maybe marginally earlier than i'd place cú chulainn, but i'm talking a few years, nothing to get worked up about.

Morrigan, the goddess of war,

fine. normally i'm wary of pantheonising impulses with regard to irish characters (almost none of them can be identified as a god of anything in particular, it doesn't work like that) but tbh the morrigan is like, the most plausible exception to that, so whatever. normally her name has the definite article attached to it because it's kind of a species term as well but whatevs.

has become restless as a long-lasting peace settles over Ireland.

dubious. closest i can think of to peace being reference in any texts is togail bruidne da derga talking about conaire mor's reign being like, prosperous and peaceful and whatever, and even there you've got díberg (plundering/reaving) which is what eventually fucks him over and starts the otherworldly hell spiral situation. that's roughly the right period here but conaire's doom proves you don't have to do much to nudge peace into war, and connacht and ulster are at each other's throats for years before cú chulainn comes on the scene anyway

Deciding the time of peace must end, she chooses Setanta, the nephew of the king of the north, to become her ward.

hmm. i mean. like, this isn't the WEIRDEST choice they could have made. it's still completely made-up, don't get me wrong -- cú chulainn has a lot of different foster parents in different texts and they don't agree with each other but none of them ever mentions the morrígan. but like, they do have a connection of some sort, as evidenced by their conversations. and there's that one moment in the r1 boyhood deeds where little cú chulainn is out on the battlefield and hears her (not sure which name is used here) calling out to him and it like. motivates him to do some deeds or whatever, and i guess you could extrapolate that into some kind of teaching capacity.

so like. could be weirder. if you're gonna pick anyone, you could do worse. still seems weird to me! but not on its own a major issue, i could get past this and consider it a Fun But Unorthodox Creative Decision

(the fact that she tries to seduce him in the táin probably wouldn't get in the way of this considering sleeping with his teachers/foster-mothers is far from unheard of where cú chulainn is concerned)

After a young Setanta slays the demon-hound of Cullan, he becomes known as Cú Cullan—The Hound of Cullan.

weird spelling choices, they could have at least bothered to use the genitive properly. also the hound isn't a demon, it's a ferocious watchdog -- making it sound all Otherworldly and Hellish like this kinda confuses the issue of why he would need to take its place. he needs to take its place because the cattle and people still need protecting because it is a watchdog!! but whatevs, again, it's a brief summary so they can't exactly give us all the details and this is not actively objectionable

As Cú Cullan grows older, it is apparent that an extraordinary power lies within him … and a great darkness.

ugh boring. this makes it sound like he's going to be ~tortured~ and angsty about it. give me an unapologetic murder teen please. is the ríastrad dark? sure i guess, if you're going to be boring about it. it's more like, grotesque neon in my head

When he chooses the quiet life of a farmer over the sword,

this would fucking never happen on like five different levels. obviously like anyone who has ever read anything about cú chulainn can see that this is not in his nature. he is never going to choose a quiet life. this is the kid who tricked his way into taking arms before everyone thought he was ready. also juxtaposed with the "darkness" comment makes it sound like he would Angst his way into this quiet life which. again. have you seen this kid. he is an unapologetic murder teen

the only thing i can think of that might make him temporarily want to walk away is connla's death which... depends where you position that in the timeline really, he does seem a bit fucked up by it and maybe he'd want a holiday although i can see that lasting precisely 5 minutes before someone pissed him off enough for him to murder them. but if he's being raised by the morrígan i can't see him going to train with scáthach so then he'd never meet aífe and therefore connla would never be born so that wouldn't happen. so like. whatever.

but also like. he would not become a farmer. he just wouldn't! it doesn't work! the ireland of the stories is super hierarchical, right? and this blurb has already fucking told us that he's the king's nephew (canon) so we can tell that being a farmer is Not His Place. when we see upper class figures becoming menial labourers in texts, like in cath maige tuired, it's because Things Are Fucked, Shit's Gone Wrong. people don't just decide to change their entire social class on a whim lmfao

if cú chulainn really wanted to turn his back on being a warrior he could probably make recourse to certain other Suitable Professions ... his grandad's a druid so he might have a route into that, though his dad's not so that might fuck things up a bit bc it's one of those things that's usually inherited. he does give "wisdom" in at least one text though and we also know he can write (he carves riddles in ogham in the táin) and he composes verses on various occasions so idk, maybe something in a poetic direction, though again, usually requires two generations of inheritance to be a real poet and not just a lower-class bard. warrior's kinda the main thing he's got open to him tbh. but farming? i'm not a legal expert but as far as i'm aware based on what i have read, that would fuck shit up

more likely an upset cú chulainn would just go off in search of an adventure somewhere conveniently far away until he'd calmed down (alba, or the tyrrhenian sea, or -- if we're going to get early modern about it -- somewhere like india, which frequently gets thrown into the texts with absolutely no cultural context and it's always hilarious)

Morrigan, angry at the betrayal,

of the entire social order, yes,

instigates an invasion of his homeland

i mean. if they intend this to be the táin then.... táin bó regamna does kinda make the morrígan responsible for it? not in the sense of triggering the pillow talk argument that it's in the book of leinster -- it's her getting up to her usual cow-nicking behaviours for shits and giggles. [note to readers: it is probably for more than shits and giggles but did i mention it's 2am]

but all in all, not particularly out of character that she would be at least some way responsible for this so i can vibe with this. echtra nerai also supports the TBR explanation with her fucking around with otherworldly cows and pissing people off so, yeah, whatever. the morrígan engineered this. sure.

and Cú Cullan must challenge fate itself

this is probably a controversial stance but fate feels like a difficult concept to apply to medieval irish texts. like are people sometimes Doomed? yes. there are prophecies, there are gessi, there's all manner of otherworldly fuckery that can trip you up. is that the same thing as fate? no idea. considering cú chulainn comes out alive from the táin though and his doom prophecies don't catch up to him for like, at least another decade, maybe 16 years depending on who you listen to, hard to see how that would apply here

to keep the goddess at bay.

again like she IS causing fuckery in the táin but also it's like... one time. really not the main character. but she or maybe just some crows, hard to say, do get implicated in the death tale so maybe they're doing what people often do and conflating the two? even though there's like 10-16 years in between them?

anyway as you can see i don’t think it’s wholly terrible / i’m not completely thinkshaming it. like, having cú chulainn raised by the morrígan is unorthodox but it could be a fun and creative direction so i don't object to it. making cú chulainn get sad about murder and choose to be a farmer is just fucking laughable tho, and makes me doubt their characterisations in general. so that's offputting and would probably make me think twice about buying it, if that had ever been on the cards.*

and of course sure, their cú chulainn can be a Sad Boy Who Likes Sheep, but that means he's not the cú chulainn of medieval irish lit / irish myth, because that cú chulainn is a feral murder teen who keeps killing his friends and also is way too high social status to ever be a farmer, and whose only relationship to livestock is as the watchdog who kills anyone trying to harm them (which is an important role on a farm! but like. not the same thing as Being A Farmer. mostly because it involves more murder and is essentially just an extension of his role as a warrior. or rather the other way around. he promises to protect mag muirthemne as a watchdog and this like. gets extended into him becoming its sole defender)

this has been my analysis of this blurb i hope you enjoyed it

it's now 2.30am i should try and sleep now that i've exorcised a few thoughts from my head

*as i mentioned in the tags of my other post, i don't tend to read graphic novels due to disability stuff. they're much harder for me to understand and follow than prose, to the point where some are incomprehensible, so i don't really enjoy them. there are a few i've read, but they tend to be short ones, and i'm usually not reading them in order, just admiring the art separately from the text. so it's unlikely i would read a graphic novel of this size anyway.

[bootlickerhawks]

Twice/Hawks Anon: That Shouto meta you reblogged is why I shake my head at people who say something like “Rei’s the one who suffered the most.” The moment you hierarchize people’s trauma, you make those who think they’re not high enough on the trauma meter dismiss their own pain and deter them from seeking help.

You're right. Sadly people have been playing trauma olympics with the todofam for years 😔 and, like in a lot of bnha discourse, people say vile and hurtful things

In regards to what was discussed in the Shouto meta I sincerely hope that Shouto learns to not blame himself for what happened to his family. I hope that Hori includes it in Shouto's character arc but I do have my doubts.

In chapter 302, Todofam talk abt shared responsibility and how it's all of their faults that Touya became Dabi. Natsuo blames himself for "not slugging" his father and for not forcing him to talk to Touya (bear in mind that Natsuo was 8-9 when Touya burned himself at Sekoto peak).

Is it realistic for Natsuo to blame himself? Yes ofc. Has his sense of culpability been refuted by the story? No, at least not yet. (Tho tbf out of all the characters that heard Natsuo blame himself for Touya's fate none of them would have refuted him. The Todofam all blame themselves and Hawks/BJ were focused on supporting Endeavor).

Shared responsibility is a theme that is brought up with the todofam plotline and with the civilians after the Deku Retrieval arc. With the civilians it made sense cuz it finally addressed the issue of bystander syndrome that was plaguing hero society but, idk if that theme is the most fitting when it comes to the todofam situation. Of course it all depends on how Hori executes it, I don't doubt that he'll deliver a satisfactory conclusion but idk if he'll deliver a quote-on-quote "perfect ending" to the todofam storyline.

[colubrina]

I've never known you to be anything but gracious about other people's writing. You encourage people to review other's work, to the point of asking for that for a gift if I remember correctly, and I know you don't encourage unfavourable comparisons of other's work with your own. If anyone even thinks of writing something you ask for a link when it's done. If something isn't your cup of tea you're still polite. This is my impression from stalking your blog!! 💚

Thank you. No one is perfect, of course, and I certainly have a sense of humor that can be snarky and sarcastic and if you don't know me it probably comes across as a little mean. But the idea that I would be openly spiteful to other writers, popular or not, is just really upsetting to me because I absolutely believe that fandom is a non-hierarchical space where we are all just a bunch of geeks sitting around a metaphorical fire telling stories (and sharing art and head canons and so on)to one another. It should be a space where everyone is welcome and no one is a jerk to anyone else.