#Seriously Tam Lin is the best song though

[stellaralchemist]

Let the Black Horse Past

(I was struggling to pick a favorite song, so I tried to picture Lady humming to herself. Anyway, enjoy her afternoons.)

“I forbid you maidens all that wear gold in your hair...”

The headache hung dull behind her eyes, too much wine the night before. The heavy, tired feeling that accompanied tannins and dehydration made her better suited to work, anyway. Her legs stuck out of a wall, bare-feet sticking out of pink leggings, inside she consulted her datachron for a second and twisted a bolt once, twice, three times. It dropped out into her lap and she balanced the heavy tool against her leg. 

“And she’s gone to Carterhaugh, as fast as go can she.”

To ward off the pain she hummed and sipped the beer next to her, intermittently her voice caught low and echoed in her workspace. 

“’I’ll come and go,’ young Janet said. ‘And ask no leave of ye.’”

Yautja was hunting or something and the others had wandered off. The ship was hers again, all alone, the way it was supposed to be. Lady Starheart all alone, or Lady Starheart and her rotating cast of compatriots. Lady’s Lady had always had a new companion every few years, she supposed they died or left. She didn’t know for sure. Sometimes they were there and sometimes they were gone, hulking men with long knives and eyes like fire or slender Mordesh reading poetry, a Granok who spoke in riddles.

“I’d not change my one true love for any knight you have.”

She wondered if there had been a companion in the ship when it was destroyed, flying off to somewhere distant and magical with Lady’s Lady before the inevitable had happened, caught in the crossfire of Dominion ships. She supposed no one would ever know, the ship wouldn’t tell in any case, no matter how much she returned it to its former state with its low ceilings and tight quarters. 

“Oh tell me Tam Lin, why came you here to dwell.”

She paused to look over the schematics, half-singing, half-humming into her beer bottle. She’d always said never to think much of the past, or the future. She said you could get caught in your own head that way, said you’d make yourself sick. Lady just thought about the way the ship worked, thought about what sort of pizza she wanted, thought about the way the stars looked rushing by and the way the ship descended through clouds and rocked when struck by radiation. She thought of how fun it was to go on the Draken hunts and look at maps and lie under the stars to watch them twist round. 

“For I’ll ride on the white steed, the closest to the town.”

She projected the schematics onto the wall, trying to find where the wire had come loose. It was always such little things, such tiny things. She didn’t think about the meat Yautja would bring back to set over a fire, not how excited she was for an evening settled in among the grass, watching the stars and the sparks fly and smelling the greasy fat of some unfortunate beast. She didn’t think about the future because the future wasn’t real, it wasn’t solid. Not like the ship, the ship was solid.

“Oh had I known, Tam Lin,” she said. “What this night I did see-”

She had another sip of her beer, tightened the bolt again, admiring the smooth panel of metal that hid it all away, brushing a few limp strands of hair from her face. 

“-I’d have looked him in the eyes and turned him to a tree.”

[mythopoeticreality]

Rules: “List ten of your favorite female characters in different fandoms (I’m a rebel) and then tag ten people.”

I was tagged by @regshoe. Thanks so much!  always too happy to talk about awesome ladies being awesome!^^

Alright let’s see, ten *different* fandoms you say? Hrmmm...

1) I definitely have to agree with you here @regshoe and say that Granny Weatherwax is probably on of my favorite characters not just from Discworld, but in all of fiction and or pretty much all of the reasons that you listed. The Witches books are some of my favorites and what really first got me into Discworld and she’s a big reason for that

2) Jane Tobias from the Ladies of Grace Adieu/Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.  “The governess was not much liked in the village: she was too tall, too fond of books, too grave, and – a curious thing – never smiled unless there was some thing to smile at.” I just love Jane -- as well as Cassandra Parbringer and Mrs. Feild. There’s something about her that reminds me a bit of Susan Sto Helit from Discworld (who would also totally be on this list if I didn’t already have a Discworld character) She’s smart and sensible, but she also walks along the edge of the Mystical and the Unknowable in a way that Strange and Norrell don’t, and is a Magician in a way that they really aren’t until  the end of their story. She was even impressive enough to get the attention of the Raven King himself, if that doesn’t say enough about her abilities and knowledge ;)

3) Éowyn from Lord of the Rings.  Éowyn is like...the best. I just have so many feelings about her and everything she went through in the books. The losses she suffered, the fatalism she embraced and her willingness to die, her entire character arc up through to her meeting and marrying Faramir. (and the two of them just deserve to be happy together <3) And of course I will always love that reveal when she was fighting the Witch King, “I AM NO MAN!”

4) Death from the Sandman. She’s just awesome and amazing. All the attitude of a perky goth girl and all of the wisdom of an immortal being as old as mankind. I just seriously love her!^^

5) Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. I love Hermione, flaws and all, infact I love her because of her flaws. Yes, she is a bit of a know-it-all and she’s probably better with books than she is with people, especially earlier on in the series, but that’s what makes her interesting and human. She’s also brave and loyal, really smart and always willing to fight by her friends’ side.

6) Sarah from Labyrinth. Alright, so Sarah kind of reminds me of well, me in a bit of an uncomfortable manner. A fantasy obsessed young woman who’s cast herself in her own mind in the role of the putupon step daughter, in the begining of the story she does have to lean to grow up and take on responsibilities, and she makes her mistakes, but Labyrinth is her comming of age story, and though she gets herself into the trouble that started everything, she also gets herself out of it as well.

7)  Black Canary from the DC Universe. She is just amazing and awesome and badass and there’s really not much more I can say I just..really love her?

8) Janet from Tam-Lin. This was the first of the Child Balads I was ever exposed to and it’s one of my favorites? And Janet always just struck me as really brave, willing to stand against even the Fairy Queen and  all of her company in order to save Tam-Lin. 

9) Aster from an Enchantment of Ravens. Aster is such an interesting character, A human writer who was tricked into giving up her ability to write -- as well as everything else that made her human -- in order to become a Fairy and achive immortality. I really feel for her in this story, and the ending for her is really satisfying I just...I want to read more about her.

10) Brienne of Tarth from A Song of Ice and Fire. She’s just awesome, she’s not the most beautiful woman out there, but she’s an honerable warrior, she’s strong, she’s brave and she’s just badass. 

Alright ten, and now I shall tag... @hennethgalad, @alia-andreth, @feanoriansappreciation, @ros-poz2, @mythopoet-hime, @maedhrosrussandol, @gultgull, @greeneruvyreth, @curufinsdaddyissues, and @grundyscribbling. Do this if you want to, feel free to ignore me if you don’t ;)