#Efnisien

[suis0u]

Not quite happy with it yet but let’s see~..

It’s been far too long since I’ve made a fanart for one of your stories @not-poignant, ha.

[gingersnaptaff]

Thinking about Manawydan, Bendigeidfran and Branwen today and how they all must've felt to have their lives upended by the carnage again Matholwch's steeds their half-brother - slighted, hot-tempered, bitter Efnisien - committed.

Do you think they realised when the grooms brought the news, or did they have an inkling before then? Did they hear the steeds' screams but just dismissed them as being the howls of the sea or an owl? Do you think Branwen knew Matholwch was an abusive man after she was greeted with cold silences from him once she'd awoken, or do you think she only found out after they returned to Ireland? Did she foresee the destruction her summons would cause lot before she made the plea?

Do you think Bendigeidfran had an inkling of his demise at the hands of a poisoned speartip? Did the ravens whisper it to him? Crowed it in his ear alongside visions of his head being cut off, being buried, being dug up in a hubristic fit by a King who'd perish in battle just as he'd done. Did he give Matholwch the Pair Dadeni as a gift without thinking about the consequences, or did he know of them - of the conflict that might ignite - because he was the son of the sea and the sea knows all?

And Manawydan. Do you think he knew he'd be the only one of his siblings left behind? That he'd have no home to go back to, no kingdom, no family? Did his perceptiveness fail him, his kingship now in tatters?

(Do you think he blamed himself for hailing Matholwch back once the Irish boats had crashed back into the tide, steadily sailing away without their bride? And yet... he still persuaded the Irish king to return because his older brother, his lord wanted to build a bridge?)

[not-poignant]

imagining Efnisien moodily lying in the rain outside, on the grass, while puddles form around him, and Arden's inside making comfort food or something.

And Efnisien's contemplating the world, and staring at the rain falling down around him, staring up at the clouds and the speckles of rain and feeling sad about something.

And suddenly he hears running footsteps and a 'yEAAARRRGHH!!!!' and Kadek appears and starts violently stomping into all the puddles around him with the energy of 4,000 people powered by gado gado or something, and Efnisien has no choice but to sit up and be like... annoyed and fond at the same time because it is pretty distracting from a down mood

[utb-art-dump]

Flitmouse dripped my boy out

Bonus lineart only under the cut:

Character by @not-poignant

[arkanacore]

Constellations era Efnisien ✨️ @not-poignant 's sillies have been living in my walls fr

[fluister]

A stormy night with Gary and Efnisien (and Polly) Happy birthday @not-poignant! Hope you had a wonderful day!

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Category 5 autism moment in Caerdydd tonight as local Mabinogi fangirl explodes at Cymraeg production of Branwen, injuring hundreds

[charzea]

oops, more art.

This is fanart of ,,Underline the black’‘ by @not-poignant 

I was kind of planning to keep Dr gary faceless in my art, but i couldn’t help it. It was kind of fun to mess around with the design. I might keep him faceless if i do any other art after this. Efnisien will likely be the one to fall victim to my color studies more often because his curly hair is way too fun to play with :)

[mythoughtfulwindow]

Suuuper quick doodle of a scene from @not-poignant’s original story “Spoils of the Spoiled”!

[livingmeat]

Dr Gary & Efnisien having fun time

Feel free to color it yourself, I would love to see how it turns out

[suis0u]

Inspired by  @not-poignant’s wonderful story Underline the Black ❤️. 

[tearlessrain]

ah branch 2 of the mabinogion aka "god fucking damn it efnisien"

[not-poignant]

Daily excerpt for chapter 9 of Constellations:

'He ignored your safeword?' 'Funny, right? Someone like me going through that? Like, it's the least of what I deserved.' The silence was cold and Gwyn sat there aware of all the younger versions of himself that would have thought exactly that. He felt sick.  He understood then with a horrible, heartbreaking clarity, why Efnisien had to stop seeing him. Because Efnisien lived with all those younger, judgemental versions of Gwyn. Because Efnisien had internalised blaming himself for everything, and he would have beaten Gwyn to the punch before he could have told Efnisien he deserved it. Because he would have. He fucking would have done that. He felt really sick, then, and he took a slow and deep breath, and swallowed the saliva that built in his mouth.  'It's not funny,' Gwyn said roughly. 'It's not funny that you went through that. You didn't deserve that. You don't deserve that. You don't deserve more than that.'

[utb-art-dump]

'I don't know what's wrong with me. Somethings wrong with me.'

Bonus lineart only and close up:

[gingersnaptaff]

Me again! Bringing in some hot gossip about the Welsh Laws of Women. (By which I mean from the laws of Hywel Dda.)

No. No! Don't run away, it's good shit, I promise!

So, the legal majority for a girl was twelve. This is different to a boy. Under Welsh law, they didn't become men until they were 14, and, if they were high-ranking, were fostered out to other nobles, whereas girls were kept at home, hence the 'father's platter.' What's interesting to me is that after she became a woman she was entitled to hold her own property as an unmarried woman and 'go wherever she pleased.'

I realise I am saying that verbatim to what I've highlighted but like think about it!!!! She wasn't bound to her family - except in marriage but I'll get into that - and she legally had the right to go bye byes! Her father didn't rule her life, basically. She's a free spirit.

NOW, the right to land is pretty tricky, on account of different parts of Wales having different customs. You gotta remember that Wales was NEVER really united* under one big fish until AFTER the Normanic Conquest, and even then that took some fuckin doing.

(*Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Owain Gwynedd, and Llywelyn Fawr are exceptions. That's the House of Aberffraw, bb!)

So, in South Wales, it seems more prevalent to give land to a lady's descendants when there were no men to take up the land. This is far better than in North Wales (and may I just say as a North Walian *clears throat* WHAT THE FUCK?) where basically Salic Law applied which is basically where u gotta give it to a male descendent. Female lineal descendants were excluded. Boo!!!

BUT!!! However, matrilineal bloodlines should not be discounted. Royal women still had claims to the throne that could be used by their descendants to press their claim. Owain Glyndŵr did this. I suspect if u were related to a Welsh lady you could try and do it but, pls, don't use this tumblr post to try and convince the jury. It's on you, bud.

MAWWIAGE. IT'S WHAT BWINGS US TOGETHER.

Now, there are two forms of marriage. Your normal one where your parents pick for you or at the very least gift u to your husbando like in Culhwch and Olwen, and the one where you can ELOPE. Because Welsh law didn't see marriage as a religious thing the sanctity of marriage wasn't in question so, therefore, you could have a little fun and y'know nyoom after your chosen beau. (Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan did this. She's ace.)

The Mabinogi gives us a lot of good shit about the gift of kin stuff. Branwen gets gifted to Matholwch by Bendigeidfran, all fine and dandy. BUT Welsh law states that your relatives - mam, dad, grandads, grandmum's, great-grandad's and grrat-grandmum's - needed to take counsel cuz y'know it's a big fuckin thing, giving somebody in marriage. So, that's why Efnisien is so upset because he wasn't given a say. He thinks he is legally entitled to do so. However, he's only her half-brother so not full-blooded. Therefore, he's unable to have a say because he isn't fully related to her.

(A lot of Welsh law is prevaricated on kin ties.)

Also for all u Rhiannon lovers out there - like me - the Welsh law was on her side when she fought to free herself from Gwawl ap Clud. (Although the badger-in-a-sack game was a bit much.) Welsh law forbade a woman from being married against her will. Yeah, your family could try and capture you and bring you back but like if you'd bonked the lad you could stay. You'd made your choice. Nobody can take that away from you. All that was needed in a personal bestowal was continued cohabitation. *clicks teeth, finger guns.*

Also, there are marriage laws too, but I don't want to clutter up the feed too much, or overly ramble. Suffice to say there's some fun ones!

[fluister]

Couldn’t resist after the last chapter.

@not-poignant