#and you see a lot of this still to this day especially in northern ireland

[handweavers]

any understanding of irish history of the last 500 yrs has to explicitly contend with ireland functionally having a caste system wherein your specific religious denomination roughly determined your class status ie. relationship to land ownership and the means of production. the common presentation of ireland being simply a matter of 'religious conflict' obfuscates that if you lived in the island of éire your position in society was nearly entirely determined by the religious sect you were born into, with some degree of economic movement (should you convert to a different sect but even then you would still be distrusted) and variability of the precise nature of one's economic status, ex. you could have some degree of land and wealth as a catholic but it was constantly being cut apart and taxed heavily, you couldn't attend school, you were often terrorized by both official and unofficial roving gangs of protestant soldiers and settlers, etc. but it often wasn't enough to simply be a protestant, you had to be anglican - a follower of the church of england - and if you were presbyterian (like most scots-irish) or from another protestant denomination your position was somewhere in between anglicans and catholics, and the rights of nonconformists (the term used for non-anglican protestants) often fluctuated depending on the material demands of the anglican ruling class, and whether it economically benefited them to gain favour with nonconformists or not. but the primary conflict was the mass extraction of capital from the catholic majority, to line the pockets of the anglican land (and later factory) owners and most importantly the coffers of the british empire. this relationship between religion and class is fundamental to having any degree of understanding of irish history

[alpaca-clouds]

Understanding Princess Mononoke

People on twitter have asked me to write this up, after speaking just a bit about it on the bird plattform.

So, recently I rewatched Princess Mononoke and talked about it with a friend, who is Japanese with a degree in Japanese history. And I think some of it was rather interesting.

Some of you might already know this. But others might not. So just endulge me for a moment.

Let me start with Ashitaka. The movie does mention that he is Emishi - but many people are not aware, what this means.

See, Japan had quite a lot of indigenous cultures (I will talk more about those tomorrow). Most might know the Ainu, as they are still around today. Fewer might know about the Ryukyuan people of Okinawa, who are also still around. But there are several indigenous people, who have once lived in Japan, but whose culture hence had become instinct. The Emishi are one of them. They lived in Northern Honshu and their culture disappeared around the 10th century.

The movie, of course, takes place in the late 14th century, which is why the monk notes, that he knows what Ashitaka is, but will keep it secret. The idea is that Ashtakas little village had stayed secret to avoid being destroyed. As such Ashitaka has a different relation to the nature and the nature spirits than the other characters of the movie, who are to engrossed in the mainly Buddhist culture.

Another thing that has to be addressed is Iron Town and Lady Eboshi's people. According to the official Japanese material to the movie, Lady Eboshi once was a prostitute herself, who happened to get power by getting taken to China. Which is why she is in possession of the Chinese gun technology. She then decided to use that to allow herself power - but not entirely out of selfish reasons. Because she, of course, takes in untouchables. Japan, to this day, has an untouchable caste. Which are people who work certain "dirty" jobs or sicknesses. Most of the women in Iron Town are prostitutes who Eboshi had bought free from their brothels. And she wants to have a town where those people can live good lives.

Because of this she has to hope for the support of the Emperor, as the Samurai lords in the surrounding areas do not want her there.

Which brings me to the finale and killing the god. Here is a thing that you have to understand of Japanese history. The original indigenous people of Japan believed in nature spirits, that at times were actually gods. Especially mountain gods. As Buddhism spread (again, something I will talk about more tomorrow) the upper class went out to kill the gods.

Old Japanese history will talk about people killing gods in the same way, as we talk about St. Patrick and the snakes of Ireland. As if it has really happened.

And that is something that Eboshi tries to do. It is killing the old god, but more than that: killing the old culture.

One of the central conflicts the movie shows is, that the nature spirits are loosing their self-awareness. That they revert to normal animals. Because the indigenous culture that revered the nature spirits is fading away.

Which then is, why Ashitaka, who comes from one of those indigenous cultures, is the main character of the movie. Because he still has this connection to the nature spirit, that the other people have lost.

Yes, the movie is very solarpunk in hindsight. But it also understands what it means to loose connection to nature.

And I find that really beautiful.

[aimeedaisies]

HRH Princess Anne talks about her new Rustler 44 yacht and love of sailing in Scotland

Article from Yachting World, published 4th December 2014

Elaine Bunting asks Royal Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence which are their favourite Scottish cruising grounds when they sail their Rustler 44 Ballochbuie.

Scotland is no easy cruising ground. The weather can change quickly. Reaching the more distant islands requires a certain toughness as well as skill, especially if sailing double-handed, as The Princess Royal Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence usually do aboard their new Rustler 44 Ballochbuie. This is ‘black run’ cruising.

Their favourite places are the more remote islands and anchorages. “To be honest, if we get north of Ardnamurchan it suddenly feels different, and if you go north of Skye other boats almost disappear, and although there are some based up at Ullapool and Stornoway, they are rare,” says Princess Anne.

Asked about some of the places they like to visit, they first mention the island of Coll. “We’ve got some friends who live there,” says Sir Tim, adding: “though is not the most hospitable and the anchorages there are a little bit variable.”

“But it is pretty impressive at certain times of the year,” adds Princess Anne, “particularly up at the northern end, the Cairns of Coll. The northern end is rocky and the southern end is a bit more agricultural and there are lots of geese in the winter. Actually, winter is probably more entertaining – you get snipe and woodcock as well.”

At the mention of anchorages, Sir Tim gets up and goes below to Ballochbuie’s navigation table to retrieve a document that runs to several pages of A4 paper. This is a list of all the places he and Princess Anne have been to during their years of sailing the two Rustlers.

It is a very impressive and comprehensive list stretching from Rathlin Island off the north coast of Northern Ireland as far north as Cape Wrath at the north-western tip of Scotland. The scores of anchorages are carefully listed and account for some challenging pilotage and difficult nooks and crannies. But they seem to enjoy exploring new – and preferably out of the way – spots.

“We haven’t kept a record of how many miles we’ve sailed, but we have kept a record of the anchorages,” says Sir Tim, to which the Princess adds: “Every trip we added one anchorage we hadn’t been to before, at least, and usually two or three. Even if you are going over the same ground there are still places to be found, though fish farms are a bit of a menace. There are places we used to anchor in Bloodhound that you can’t get to now.”

The wildlife and sea life are something they both mention. “We see quite a lot of basking sharks, particularly between Coll and Tiree,” says Princess Anne. “Once I lost count at about 25. That was extraordinary.”

Princess Anne recalls: “We had a rough three days on the way from the Sound of Harris down to Lochboisdale [on South Uist] and saw a big pod of dolphins, which was just extraordinary. They were coming at you from the top of the waves. They didn’t quite jump over the top of the boat, but they looked like they were going to.”

Royal favourites

Lewis: the lochs on the east side are great. There are quite a few places to anchor in Loch Roag.

Shiant Islands: we’ve been there a couple of times in Blue Doublet and a couple of times on [the cruise ship] Hebridean Princess with The Queen.

Loch Ewe: we had an interesting time in fog as thick as I’ve ever known it. There is a wonderful garden to see here as well.

Hermitray: there are some nice anchorages in the Sound of Harris, but lots of fish farms around.

Rona: a favourite spot. One of the most sheltered anchorages on the west coast. A very nice man, Bill Cowie, is the warden.

Skye: we’ve been all round Skye. There are lots more places to visit. We’ve only been to 12 anchorages there!

Eriskay: there’s a fantastic little anchorage here. We went there for the first time in Ballochbuie.

Barra: a marvellous place and a wonderful escape from the world.

Vatersay: good shelter in the lee of a sandbar. We anchored near Vatersay in company with Britannia one year.

Canna, Rum, Eigg and Muck: we enjoy visiting all these islands.

Loch Nevis and Loch Awe: both are lovely places.

Loch Moidart: beautiful, but we’ve only been there once. It has quite a scary entrance, not easy in a long-keel boat and you’re always battling the wind to get out.

Mull: Loch Mingary, Bunessan, the Bull Hole and Ardlanish. A beautiful little spot with shelter on the south side of the Ross of Mull. Carsaig is a little notch you wouldn’t think you could get into or get any shelter at all, but there’s a little reef offshore you can tuck behind.

Lismore: the island in Loch Linnhe. Walking there you get the most beautiful views and you can see as far as Ben Nevis.

Loch Feochan: there is a little place right at the entrance that is great.

Garvellach Islands: lovely, but weather- dependent so it has to be very calm.

Loch Craignish: Goat Island is one of the safest anchorages on the west coast of Scotland, as long as you are able to wash off your anchor; it has the stickiest mud.

Jura: we have visited anchorages all round the coast.

Rathlin Island: fascinating, a bit shallow and we bounced off the bottom there.

[mseirtaku]

hey, super cool to find an Irish hetalia fan! I’m always on the hunt for fans from different countries; I’m always curious what they think of their respective countries’ characters. I saw from your posts that you already love Ireland’s character, but what about his relationship to Northern Ireland? And do you have a human name in mind for Ireland?

Oh hey! Thanks for approaching me about the subject, that’s always flattering~ 😙

North and Ireland… Now there’s an interesting pair that I believe deserve more interactions in the manga beyond Ireland’s debut issue.

From what we’ve seen already, Ireland is very fond of North, calling him his little buddy/partner.! Unfortunately, we see that this relationship is very one sided on Ireland’s part, as North doesn’t really reciprocate Ireland’s feelings beyond half-hearted, non-committal answers.

Surprise surprise! North ‘betrays’ Ireland by palling up with the UK bros! And Ireland is still upset about that to this day, especially with the whole Brexit deal that went on. (By the way, the scenario down below is so not a dream, Ireland's coping so hard.)

Now we move off of canon, and and go to my opinions~

While North is very standoffish to Ireland, I think he does care for him. However, he just prefers the company of the big family unity that the Brit Bros appeared to be. And quite frankly, he had a lot in common with them from the get-go.

Now this is the historical Hetalia bit lol

From the late 1500s to the early 1600s, the British attempted to establish several plantations in Ireland (move British people onto Irish land and give them land and titles to effectively make them more influential than the native Irish already living there.) Overall these were very unsuccessful, aside from one, which is the Scottish Plantation of Ulster (Ulster being the area that encompasses what Northern Ireland is now.) ((Which most likely explains why North is attached to Scotland in particular in the strips))

From then on, a visible divide in Irish culture was created, which can be seen in how Ireland and Northern Ireland interact with each other in their strips together. Fundamentally, they just can't relate to each other anymore, despite Ireland's attempts to be buddies with North again.

I think this interpretation of Ireland and North’s relationship so far makes perfect sense to me, I love how Hima wrote these two lol

The one thing I would personally headcanon is that North is much physically younger compared to the rest of the British Isle characters, like 17 years old or so, and that he only came about into existence around the time of the plantations. From that, I personally think Scotland is North's father figure (which I totally need to draw art of 🤍)

That was a lot of chatter, I could honestly write a dissertation examining the nuances in their relationship~ The names I use are these:

Ireland - Ruairí mac Cumhaill (Rory McCool in anglicised format)

North - Conor O'Neill

[elderberries-and-honey]

As I understand it, the old family is abandoned and we will not see a continuation of Winifred and Lawrence?

I wouldn't say they are abandoned as much as they are just archived. I'm in the middle of finishing up my last English credit, and beginning a dental hygiene program after that which is an extremely difficult and surprisingly competitive field to get into, while also planning my wedding, and working full-time.

Playing the game for an hour or two each day, or something close to, and spending five or ten minutes editing vs spending an hour just finding poses, then writing the story, setting everything up in game, and editing in a way that satisfies me are very different energy levels.

It is my ultimate goal to be in a good headspace, with a healthy balance for leisure, studying and having financial stability, but right now, that's difficult to come by. I miss The Baudelaires every single day but their story also deserves to be told the right way, especially the more sensitive parts that require more research and figuring out how to present it in a palatable way. And again, especially when you consider that the Baudelaire's are living in, what today, is considered Northern Ireland in the early 1900's and there are significant moments in history quickly approaching that I must tell correctly and would feel wrong to just gloss over simply because I'm pressed for time and rushed through it just to get a post out.

I think it's easy for us to look at these historical events through a lens of academia and perhaps even through rose tinted glasses in some respects. But, for me at least, it feels so much deeper when you are telling it through a personal narrative perspective. For example, the suffragette movement. Yes it was a movement that gave women the right to vote but it also was extremely prejudice and by and in large excluded women of color. Yet, I rarely see that ever presented or shown in the stories written here. Now, I do understand that perhaps people feel they shouldn't share that history out of respect but I also think it's important to be honest about the fact that even the "progressive" women of the time were not all that progressive by today's standards. Or even the various wars that are coming quickly, like The Great War and the Irish Civil War. Civilians are always the ones who suffer the most when it comes to war, and again, I personally would feel wrong not showing that or mentioning it, at the very least.

But again, that also requires a lot more research on my part, while also staying true to who my characters are at their core and considering how these significant things would shape and bend their moral compasses, and impact their relationships with each other (because, spoiler, it will definitely have an affect on their interpersonal relationships within the family).

Now, that isn't to say I don't put as much love and care into the Flores Legacy because I still adore them as well or that I won't try to present these things where I can! But it is different in terms of perfectionism because of the fact that it's mostly gameplay and the game helps to steer their story in some ways whereas The Baudelaires are completely directed by me alone, if that makes any sense.

I apologize for the long rambling answer but I needed to get my point across that The Baudelaires are my babies. I have been playing them for years at this point and Winifred in particular is my favorite Sim that I have ever created in my 20 years of playing the sims franchise, and it was not an easy decision to put their story on hold. But I miss playing the game, and I miss historical simblr, so I decided to do something a little different, even if that's disappointing for some or even for myself.

Tl;Dr: they're not abandoned so much as they are just simply archived for right now.

[captawesomesauce]

Thoughts at 1030pm...

It's feels late.. I've been ready for bed since 8pm... I'm just crashing these past few days and I can't really explain why.

Probably the weather change just kicking my ass... especially with my back flaring up.

So... some thoughts.

BOOK THOUGHT:

I rarely re-read books. It's just not my thing since I have so many NEW books I want to dive into!

But after that last slog, I decided to grab one of my favorite books that I read decades ago because I remember absolutely loving it back then. I wanted to see if older, wiser, adult Mike felt the same way.

Honestly, it's still a good book. I really enjoyed it, but with some caveats. When you read the books I read, they tend to flow in certain ways - with fiction, the tension tends to really ramp up on if the main character will survive the book. With non-fiction, the tension comes from different elements.

In this case, having read the book before... I remember just how tense and emotional the book was... what an absolute roller coaster it was.. and how I couldn't stop reading it because I HAD TO KNOW how it ended!!!! But re-reading it, well, I know how it ends. I know if the guy lives or dies, and what not, so a lot of that aspect was not relevant during this read through.

The book is still good, but those parts... those parts made it GREAT on the first read.

The book was about US Navy combat search and rescue during the end of the Vietnam War. A very niche topic, and the author wrote three incredible stories before he died. A close friend of Tom Clancy, his writing was always very informative, witty, fun, tense, and exhilarating. The characters were all larger than life, even the villains.

So still 5 stars, but it's more 5 stars for the book back then, then it is for this read through.

My next book is gonna be a doozy.

Nonfiction, the title is Sunday Bloody Sunday: A Soldier's War in Northern Ireland, Rhodesia, Mozambique and Iraq.

He fought in one war or another from 66 to 2004 and finally succumbed to cancer in 2007 and it'll be interesting. The good part is that he has a ghost/co writer to fill in a lot of the story, fix the editing, and it's not just a slapped together thing on amazon.

We'll see how much reading I get done, vs if I just fall asleep lol

[pinewoodpipit]

slàinte, mo ghràdh - Fic Meta

A meta post for my fluff fic, slàinte, mo ghràdh! I'll put the meta thoughts in after a cut, as usual.

-

The Fic's Title

The title, "slàinte, mo ghràdh", is Gaidhlig / Scottish Gaelic for "cheers, my love". I'm not a fluent Gaidhlig speaker but I am learning, and I'm really fond of it as a language. Gaidhlig is really incredibly important to our culture, especially because speaking our native Scottish languages was actually illegal here for a long time as part of an assimilation effort to "civilise" the Highlands. Very few people speak our languages here, now, but we're working hard to try and keep our languages alive. I thought this would be a nice way to include it.

-

Real Places

Lots of the places in this fic are real places in Edinburgh! The museum, of course, is real.

The hotel they stayed in is also real, and I even looked ahead of time to see what their rooms would look like.

The restaurant they went to get the cranachan is the Abbotsford Bar and Restaurant, since I'd read that their cranachan is good and gets recommended by Edinburgh locals. The main street is, of course, real, and the park they went to when it was snowing is The Meadows, the same place where the torch procession started.

The horse statues at the end are The Kelpies, giant horse head statues which light up at night and look incredible in the snow. They're bigger than you might think just from looking at pictures!

-

Foods Mentioned

Most food mentioned in this fic is real.

Rumbledethump is a real cabbage dish here, made with cabbage, potato, swede, and cheese, and you can get it in little pastries sometimes.

Cranachans are a real dessert here, and a very historical one, originally made to celebrate the autumn harvests :) they're great, although usually better when made at home rather than eaten at a restaurant.

Sticky toffee pudding is INCREDIBLE and one of the best things we've got. That sauce could heal any wounds. It's meant to come with hot sauce to drench the cake, and the ice cream melts into it. UGH I could die.

Curry stuffed naan is a real thing you can get at our Christmas markets in Edinburgh - curry is also pretty widely loved in the UK. Tikka Masala was invented here by a Bangladeshi-Scottish man, Ali Ahmed Aslam, back in the 1970s! Phall was also invented in Birmingham. The UK really likes curry.

Cock-a-leekie is a real soup here. It's just chicken and leek soup. Cullen skink is also a real meal here, and it's a thick haddock soup. Seafood and fish is very commonly eaten here, and salmon is especially good in Scotland. We do seafood right.

I disagree fundamentally with "British food sucks" jokes because honestly, I feel like people who say that haven't tried actual British food. British is not synonymous with English; Britain is a collection of several countries which includes England, and just using Scotland as an example, we have some really fantastic foods. It's sad to me to see it get written off when so much of Scottish culture has had to fight tooth and nail just to exist after centuries of assimilation efforts. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are all countries in our own right and our cultures - and tastes in food - exist independently from England.

-

Hogmanay

New Year is focused on a little more in this fic, and there's a reason for that - generally, New Year is a bigger holiday in Scotland than Christmas, and there's historical context for it. Christmas was actually made illegal here back in the 1600s, and as a result, Hogmanay (or New Year) became a large celebration in its own right. The Scots LOVE Hogmanay, and New Year celebrations in Edinburgh is a festival which lasts several days, including the torch procession (a LOT of our celebrations include fire), ceilidh, live music festivals, drinking pub nights, and fireworks etc.

The ban on Christmas was lifted about seventy years later, but Hogmanay was still a huge celebration, and it's an important part of our lives, now.

-

Clothes

The ugly sweaters mentioned in the fic are real.

The nicer ones are also real, and I really like them! Truly though, they're not warm enough to keep you cosy in the snow. You need a thick coat, winter boots, and probably also a hat/gloves/scarf for that. The cold here is no joke; even though the temperatures don't look that cold, Scotland is so humid and wet that it's really impossible to escape and it burrows deep. I know people who live through -20C Canadian winters with no problem but HATE wintering in Scotland because it's miserable, even if it's not that cold on paper.

-

Other

The reindeer plush is a reference to my freckle fic!

It's him, but reindeer flavoured.

[orleans-jester]

There was no question in her mind about whether or not Maddy loved Day Bastien. She preferred the nights with him where he was more physically comfortable, without the pain of the hunched back and the struggle of speaking and kissing properly. But tolerance? No. It was so much more than tolerance. But she understood. He could go out in the day now, there was no one left to stare, the inhabitants of Feral were all used to his appearance and it wasn’t startling anymore. He avoided mirrors more than people tried to avoid the plague. He thought he was ugly and that was something that would not be fixed by a hundred thousand compliments, or reassurances, or kisses upon the large cheek. It was lifelong, and she had to accept that.

Seeing him laugh was a complete and total delight. When his face got splotchy like that, when his hair seemed to come alive even more, like laughter was pumping it up. Goodness, he was cute.

“Your hair is always magnificent,” She smiled at him, because good lord was it ever. Iconic, was what it was. She may trim up his ends every so often - especially after he acts as a firebug and comes back with the ends curled and damaged - but the length stayed. The poofiness stayed. But he definitely had her laughing with the juvenile idea of lighting up farts. “You should definitely draw this up! We can make it like a storybook for Frankie.”

Well - these weren’t swan boats but they might as well have been. The same gentle rocking motion on the nearly still waters. If only she was allowed to sit on his lap, that would have been special. But no, she took his hand and used his help to get onto the boat, holding their little girl close. Of course she accepted his help. She held on tight to his hand like she was nervous about falling in, but then got situated, no letting go of him until they were all situated.

Maddy had never seen anything like this before - and she thought that she had seen a lot. On the way to their home after their wedding reception, Figaro had managed to somehow communicate with fireflies and get a bunch of them a tone location so she and Bastien could have one last dance while lit up. But there weren’t enough fireflies in New Orleans to ever see something like this. It was hard to believe that it was real. It was like Flotsam and Thomas over in Ireland seeing the Northern Lights. It was just a stunning act of nature that reminded her that the earth itself had its own magic, not like hers.

The plankton added to it all. She didn’t know where to look. Up? Down? Around and around? She wanted to take it in, but she also wanted to take in the faces of her husband, her daughter. She turned around to look at Bastien, to watch the way that he was looking at everything with such wonder. Almost childlike in his appearance. He deserved that. He didn’t have a childhood. Let him have that now. Just please, God, she prayed in her head, don’t let anything ruin this.

She leaned back against her husband now, the top of her head pressed comfortably against his cheek.

“It’s stunning,” She said, finding no other word for it in her mental dictionary. “I think this is one of the best ideas that you’ve ever had, baby.”

There was no question in her mind about whether or not Maddy loved Day Bastien. She preferred the nights with him where he was more physically comfortable, without the pain of the hunched back and the struggle of speaking and kissing properly. But tolerance? No. It was so much more than tolerance. But she understood. He could go out in the day now, there was no one left to stare, the inhabitants of Feral were all used to his appearance and it wasn’t startling anymore. He avoided mirrors more than people tried to avoid the plague. He thought he was ugly and that was something that would not be fixed by a hundred thousand compliments, or reassurances, or kisses upon the large cheek. It was lifelong, and she had to accept that.

Seeing him laugh was a complete and total delight. When his face got splotchy like that, when his hair seemed to come alive even more, like laughter was pumping it up. Goodness, he was cute.

“Your hair is always magnificent,” She smiled at him, because good lord was it ever. Iconic, was what it was. She may trim up his ends every so often - especially after he acts as a firebug and comes back with the ends curled and damaged - but the length stayed. The poofiness stayed. But he definitely had her laughing with the juvenile idea of lighting up farts. “You should definitely draw this up! We can make it like a storybook for Frankie.”

Well - these weren’t swan boats but they might as well have been. The same gentle rocking motion on the nearly still waters. If only she was allowed to sit on his lap, that would have been special. But no, she took his hand and used his help to get onto the boat, holding their little girl close. Of course she accepted his help. She held on tight to his hand like she was nervous about falling in, but then got situated, no letting go of him until they were all situated.

Maddy had never seen anything like this before - and she thought that she had seen a lot. On the way to their home after their wedding reception, Figaro had managed to somehow communicate with fireflies and get a bunch of them a tone location so she and Bastien could have one last dance while lit up. But there weren’t enough fireflies in New Orleans to ever see something like this. It was hard to believe that it was real. It was like Flotsam and Thomas over in Ireland seeing the Northern Lights. It was just a stunning act of nature that reminded her that the earth itself had its own magic, not like hers.

The plankton added to it all. She didn’t know where to look. Up? Down? Around and around? She wanted to take it in, but she also wanted to take in the faces of her husband, her daughter. She turned around to look at Bastien, to watch the way that he was looking at everything with such wonder. Almost childlike in his appearance. He deserved that. He didn’t have a childhood. Let him have that now. Just please, God, she prayed in her head, don’t let anything ruin this.

She leaned back against her husband now, the top of her head pressed comfortably against his cheek.

“It’s stunning,” She said, finding no other word for it in her mental dictionary. “I think this is one of the best ideas that you’ve ever had, baby.”

Day and night. Sun and moon. Bastien thought it had something to do with that tarot card, though he personally always favored the moon for obvious reasons. As slick as that fly was he never quite caught on it was for him and that probably because he actively still even now avoided the sun even though he'd learned to tolerate it as Nola learned to tolerate him. That's how he sees it. People tolerate him and his ugliness. Tolerlance is a funny feeling. Tolerance is what is taught to haters to keep them from acting out on ugliness. Tolerate what you don't like. People who believe they're tolerated don't feel acceptance. That's still heavy inside. There's a big difference in being accepted and being tolerated. That's Bastien especially in the day.

He stuck his butt out and wiggled it when she suggested his butt glowing like a real firefly. They already had this year's Halloween costume idea, but oh dear. That just implanted some visual! He laughed so much he had to cover his mouth. The skin of his face even got splotchy. He wasn't even high, but oh that was good. The Firebug was picturing himself as some cheesy comic where he wasn't actually cool and heroic, but corny and funny with a glow light on his ass. "Firebug to the rescue. My hair would be magnificent of course. A Firebug like no other! A beacon of light when he farts is his specialty skill that everyone not only ducks for cover from because it'll dissolve you alive if the light touches you, but the smell will curdle you over and bring you to your ever loving knees! BWHAHAHAHA! Then I'd never have to carry a gas can again like in real life. I should draw that. He'd only carry a hammer and lighter because that's his only super power. His light farts." Then his eyes bugged out real big. "THE LIGHTER is to LIGHT his super power farts ON FIRE. Oh my gawd. I'm a super genius, Maddy."

Of course she remembered the swan boats. She hardly needed him to say it in front of all those people or even in secret behind that unruly fluff of curls to recall. He could tell by the way her face lit up she instantly knew where his mind went.

He didn't need the perwinkle glow either, but that didn't mean he would mind if it happened to show up while they were on the water. His excitement made him chew his food a little faster as he attempted to admire the view from the river boat, but he wanted to finish and get to the smaller boats now. Excitement was starting to fill him up. Nostalgia was filling the air right and left and all over. Squareways and sideways. This way and that ways.

First things first though they had to board their little boats in the dark. This was a more of a challenge than Bastien thought. He wasn't the most balanced individual, but he managed and helped with Frankie and Maddy whether they wanted help or not. His hands were right up there in case they felt the boat shift like he did. He wasn't having his family fall overboard in this murky water. Anything could be down there. No sir.

Then out they went and low and behold it would start to happen. The twinkles. It was just one at first, then another, then the further out they went it started to expand. A guide they were following pointed and he noticed the sloshing of where their boats were moving the waters were causing the water to glow too. This was it. That was the extra special thing he thought was wild too. This plankton that lit up under them as they got aggitated. Sparkles above them. Sparkles below them. It was like twinkly magic everywhere blooming and they didn't even have to capture them first to bring them to the beach here. They were in the trees. They were in the water. They were floating around like love bugs blinking their tiny butt fairy lights. There were stars. There was just lights everywhere.

"Look Frankie."

There was a tree that was lit up like Christmas there was so many of them. Every bush and piece of foilage around them in the distance behind them was nearly the same. He'd never seen them quite that dense in the United States before. Stars above, fireflies in the bushes, and glowing plankton in the waters when they reached the shores.

The plankton was nearly their color too. That kept Bastien's inner grin nice and warm. Their boat floated out there in the middle as they were allowed to admire the view, as was the point of the whole thing. It messed with his eyes a little. He'd look this way and that as the flittery bugs blipped this way and that. Luckily, lightning bugs were actually rather slow floating bugs and not buzzy zipping around bugs. He managed to maintain quite well under it all. He moved up and put his arms around Maddy from behind.

"What do you think of that beach?"

[itsrottenwork]

Hi mj!! Secret Santa here!! Hope your Monday treated you well!! ✨

That’s good to hear!! Give art another go!! I would love to see what you create as a result of it!!

I know what you’re talking about!! The little crochet kits that you see in the stores that have the instructions on them and stuff like that!! Surprisingly enough, I’ve even tried those and I’m still not good at it lol. My one friend learned how to crochet from her mom and she has picked up on it more than I ever could and has tried to teach me, but the technique is so precise that at the time, I just couldn’t get it down!! I would like to try again one day when I get the inspiration to do so!!

Awe, I hope you and your friend get together at some point to bake again!! There’s nothing more rewarding than making things together with friends!! Especially if it starts to get chaotic!! Lol.

I’m really into the one direction fandom, so I created a painting of one of the members by the name Louis. I’m very proud of how it came to be, but an artist is always trying to improve, so I notice all the things that I can fix on that piece and try to incorporate that into the next piece!! And thank you again for the kind words! Artists block is no joke!! Lol.

Thought I’d incorporate some speed round questions at the end!! Do you have a favorite color? Favorite season? Any pets? If you can only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Favorite place you have ever visited!!? 🎄✨

haha I dunno, maybe I'll try a lil doodle a bit later in the month when I have more free time, uni work is kicking my booty this week haha

oh, I've been crocheting since I was little, my mom taught me as well actually when I was just a kid!! you definitely need to get a feel for how to hold everything and the motions and whatnot, but once you do it becomes really easy to build on your foundational skills. I use kits for cross stitching though, I don't want to have to figure out a pattern or anything on my own

thank you, I hope we do too!! I miss her a lot, but I live away from most of my friends at the minute, so I'm doing the whole long distance internet friend thing with most people now

okie dokie, speed round answers:

color: blue or purple

season: autumn for sure

pets: my parents have a golden retriever, when I'm on my own I'm better with plants, though the ones I have at the moment don't have names or anything lol

only one food: gosh that's so hard to pick, gonna say chips and really good guacamole because I crave good mexican food so bad

favorite place visited (so far!!): either venice to see the biennale OR the uni I studied abroad at in northern ireland

[judeswhore]

ok hi its me again 😅 it wasn't very specific just you're dating mason and you play for chelsea's womens team and the lionesses?? and you try to be at each others games and support each other and stuff and people think its cute? (weird maybe but I play football too and one can always dream lol)

hi bff i’m so sorry this took so long and i hope u play 4 england one day i will be rooting 4 u

his lioness - mason mount

Despite his overly busy schedule Mason always tried to make it to as many of your games as possible. It wasn't always easy, some of your games often clashed, mostly your England and his Chelsea ones but when there were gaps in either of your schedules you both made sure the other knew one hundred percent you were there for them. Seeing you play was one of Mason's all time favourite things, watching the way you lit up and came alive on the pitch made his tummy flutter and the smile you wore after a win was something he wanted to brand behind his eyelids.

Fans adored the two of you together, they loved the fact that you'd both grown up in the Chelsea Academy and had started for England at such young ages, whenever you met them they always talked about how nice it must be to have always had the other there through the years. It had become a bit of a game of sorts for a few fans who watched you play religiously, they also knew Mason had a busy schedule so would try and see which games they could spot him at, low quality photos and videos of him settled in the crowd ending up in your DMs.

It was overtly clear to everyone that nothing would ever match the support you had for each other and you had to admit you found it a little bit funny seeing fans gush if they saw either of you at the others game.

"Feeling okay?" Mason's voice was soft down the line, slightly muffled by whatever it was he was currently eating but it still helped to brush back the tension you were feeling over the impending match. You'd be on the pitch in no time and for some reason you were feeling a little more nervous than usual, hence the last minute call to your boyfriend.

"Nervous but I don't know why. It's just like any other game." You tugged anxiously at your white England shorts, trying to focus on the soft puffs of Mason's breaths.

"Night games always wrack up the tension, I think, especially if you're away but you're gonna be great, baby. Just like always." His little praise brought a soft smile to your lips and you paused where you'd been biting at the corner of your thumb.

"Wish you could be here. I've missed you." You mumbled, turning your head slightly to avoid having the lingering girls in the locker room overhear. They often teased you about Mason and how the two of you basically lived in the others back pocket and you didn't mind most of the time but you weren't really in the mood for mocking tonight. Mason let out a soft sigh down the phone and if you closed your eyes you could picture him in front of you, fingers brushing your back as he told you you'd be great.

"I wish I could be there too, sweetheart." He sounded a little off, voice slightly more high pitched than usual and you could hear him shuffling around a lot. "Next one though, yeah?" He'd tried to get tickets to the game but you were playing in Northern Ireland and he didn't have the time to fly over and fly back and still make his own training so he'd promised he'd find a stream to watch.

"Yeah." The sound of your coach shouting made you jump slightly and then you were sighing loudly, trying to shake off your nerves and channel your game adrenaline before you got out of the tunnel. "I have to go. I love you."

"I love you, too, baby. You're gonna be incredible out there, go win for me okay?"

You did win, a good 3-1 to England and your earlier nerves were completely wiped from your memory, pure elation spinning inside of you but that wasn't just from the win, it was from the fact that Mason was standing just inside the tunnel when you went to walk through. He was wearing a bright smile, body bundled up in joggers, jumper and a puffer jacket and the butterflies that swarmed your tummy seeing him again were more like an entire zoo. You ignored the congratulations from everyone else and just launched yourself at your boyfriend, knocking him back slightly with the force.

"I can't believe you're here!" Mason's hands wrapped around you and he laughed at the way you buried your face into the crook of his neck, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over. "What are you doing here?"

"Cancelled training, it won't hurt. I wanted to be here for you tonight." He mumbled against your shoulder, placing your feet back down on the floor, his arms still locked around your waist. “You were amazing out there, I’m so proud of you.”

Your cheeks hurt from smiling and you knew you were getting teasing glances thrown your way from teammates but all you could focus on was the look Mason was sending you. His eyes were so full of love and pride and you felt giddy knowing he’d cancelled his plans to be here for you. You remembered your words to him on the phone and landed a soft punch to his arm.

“You knew I was nervous when I called you and you didn’t think to tell me you were here?” Mason’s lips tilted into a pout and he cupped your jaw, tilting your head back so he could lightly peck your mouth.

“Wanted it to be a surprise for after your win.” You narrowed your eyes slightly at him, but the only thing you felt in that moment was pure joy. It had been weeks since either of you had managed to make the others game and you still felt a little fuzzy inside over the fact he’d flown over for you, just to be able to see you for a few hours at most.

“How’d you know we were gonna win?”

“Boyfriend’s intuition.” He pressed a kiss against your forehead, grinning again from ear to ear. “Y’know watching you play is quite literally one of my absolute favourite things. You’re the best out there by miles.”

You flushed a little at his compliment and then pulled him back into a hug, your nose tucked carefully against his throat.

“You have no idea what it means having you here.” Mason pressed one hand against the back of your neck, his lips pressing another kiss down on your head as he hummed.

“Gotta support my girl as much as I can when she plays like that.”

[fandom-geek]

challenge: americans and british people who don’t know anything about northern irish politics, stfu

i just. yes, the recent election results were historic. but there’s probably going to be another election in like three months because the dup refuse to form government until the ni protocol is destroyed. the good friday agreement requires that the largest unionist and nationalist parties form a joint government, which after the election results are the dup and sinn fein respectively. as that isn’t happening anytime soon, it’ll either go to another election or stormont will be defunct again for another few years (preferably the election, yknow, but god knows the dup loves digging their feet in).

that’s not even getting into the ridiculousness of “supporting independence is what all leftists should do” - no, you idiot, supporting the democratic will of the people of northern ireland should be what leftists do. unionists still have a larger chunk of the vote in northern ireland than nationalists (41% to 39%). stormont doesn’t run on first past the post, it uses a form of proportional representation to reduce the risk of sectarian violence killing people. the good friday agreement regulates all of this, and sets out the guidelines for how a united ireland should come to pass, and while it is now more plausible, it’s still really fucking complicated! if you don’t understand this much, you’re wildly unqualified to even comment on northern irish politics.

hell, i don’t know enough to properly comment on northern irish politics (which is why i’m not going into detail on the parties), i know enough to know when people should stfu about an incredibly delicate situation which has, can, and will kill people if it’s dealt with wrongly. it took over twenty years for the good friday agreement to come to fruition and over 3,000 people were killed in the meantime.

and if you don’t know what any, or all, of these terms meant, you sure as hell don’t know enough to comment on northern ireland.

that’s not even getting into the logistical issues of a united ireland - first off, the republic of ireland would need to vote in a referendum to agree to this, and all the polls over the last few years have shown that the people of the republic don’t want a united ireland. most ppl agree it’d be nice to see one day in the far future, but whenever they’re asked about in the immediate future? they nope the fuck out - understandably, given my next few points.

second off, the republic and northern ireland have wildly different healthcare systems (especially regarding dentistry) to the extent that people in the republic frequently go over the border to ni for dental care because it’s ridiculously cheaper. dentists in ni will lose subsidies if they just join the republic as-is, and that’s not getting into the logistical nightmare that is joining together the rest of the healthcare services.

third off, 30% of ni is part of the civil service, which raises massive fucking questions about what happens in a united ireland situation.

fourth off, northern ireland receives a fuckton of funding from the uk, and there’s a lot of questions about whether the republic could even afford to give northern ireland that level of support (which ties into 1).

this is all just off the top of my head, and again - i sure as fuck don’t know enough to actually comment on northern irish politics. if any of this is news to you, then you definitely don’t.

[spine-buster]

Any chance when you come back you'll do a little blurb on all of our favorite couples and how they would do a one month European vaca??

I can do this now!!! I still have the night free lol

Morgan and Bee: Morgan brings Bee honeymoon in Italy. They start in Lake Como and then down to southern Italy so she can see the giant lemons. Sorrento, Positano, Capri etc. Their honeymoon is roughly a month so that's how they'd spend it!

Fred and Aleida: usually when Fred and Aleida go to Europe for a month or more they stay in Denmark, but there is one summer where they spend it in Spain; another year they spend it in the French Riviera; another in the Italian Riviera...Fred and Aleida are the type of people to rent a house as a base and then live like the locals, doing day trips here and there to other little towns or beaches around.

William and Aberdeen: again, usually when Willy and Aberdeen go to Europe for a month or more, they're in Sweden. However, due to Aberdeen's family's roots in Northern Ireland/Scotland, they definitely do a British Isles trip one year, spending an extended amount of time there. They start in London and work their way north before taking a ferry over to Belfast, visiting Derry, and ending off in Dublin.

Elias and Svea: their honeymoon is in Vienna and Austria -- Svea could easily spend a month somewhere like that. Svea, Elias, Brock, and Grace also island hop in Greece, especially before the Boeser Bouquet is born.

Brock and Grace: island hopping in Greece. They could easily, easily do that for an entire month.

Tyler and Tehilah: I could definitely see them island hopping in Greece too, but I also think I could see them somewhere fun like Amsterdam!

Matthew and Effie: lol.....Effie. Oh Effie. She wants to do the off-the-beaten-path things in Europe. She would take a month-long Norwegian fjord cruise and see the midnight sun (which she and Matthew do). She would want to visit Belgium for an entire month (which she and Matthew do). When she learns more about World War Two she wants to spend time in Northern France and visit all the cold, windy D-Day beaches (which she and Matthew do). See the theme in the brackets? Matthew indulges her with whatever she wants while all his buddies are galavanting in the hotter climates because the smile on Effie's face is better than any of that.

Jacob and Geneviève: they could easily spend a month in France, or England (especially considering Geneviève's history in those places), or of course Sweden, but surprise surprise: they also both love Switzerland!

Rasmus and Lusine: Sweden is an obvious one. They go back to Germany a lot because Lusine does really fall in love with the country after her summer abroad. They also really love having hot boy and hot girl summers in Portugal!

[booklindworm]

A rant against Karen Traviss' understanding of history and her FAQ answers

Did you base the Mandalorians on the Spartans?

<cite> No. I didn't. </cite> Fair enough.

<cite> I really wish history was taught properly - okay, taught at all - in schools these days, because history is the big storehouse that I plunder for fiction. It breaks my heart to hear from young readers who have no concept even of recent history - the last fifty years - and so can't see the parallels in my books. You don't have to be a historian to read my novels, but you'll get a lot more out of them if you explore history just a little more. Watch a history channel. Read a few books. Visit some museums. Because history is not "then" - it's "now." Everything we experience today is the product of what's happened before. </cite> Yeah, I do to. Please, Ms Traviss, go on, read some books. Might do you some good. And don't just trust the history channels. Their ideas about fact-checking differ wildly.

<cite> But back to Mandos. Not every military society is based on Sparta, strange as that may seem. In fact, the Mandos don't have much in common with the real Spartans at all. </cite> You mean apart from the absolute obsession with the military ["Agoge" by Stephen Hodkinson], fearsome reputation ["A Historical Commentary on Thucydides" by David Cartwright], their general-king ["Sparta" by Marcus Niebuhr Tod], the fact that they practically acted as mercenaries (like Clearch/Κλέαρχος), or the hyper-confidence ("the city is well-fortified that has a wall of men instead of brick" [Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus])...

<cite> A slightly anarchic, non-centralized, fightin' people? Sounded pretty Celtic to me. Since I went down that path, I've learned more about the Celts (especially the Picts), and the more I learn, the more I realise what a dead ringer for Mandos they are. But more of how that happened later... </cite>

The Celtic people are more than one people, more than one culture. Celtic is a language-family! In the last millennium BC nearly every European ethnic group was in some ways Celtic, and they were not one. Later, after the Germanic tribes (also not one people, or a singular group) moved westwards, the Celtic cultures were still counted in the hundreds. Not only Scotland was Celtic! Nearly all of Western Europe was (apart from the Greek and Phoenician settlers on the Mediterranean coasts). The word “Celts” was written down for the first time by Greek authors who later also used the word “Galatians”. The Romans called these people “Gauls”, and this word was used to describe a specific area, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Cévennes and the Rhine: “Gaul”. So the Celts, the Galatians and the Gauls were all part of the same Celtic civilisation. "Celts, a name applied by ancient writers to a population group occupying lands mainly north of the Mediterranean region from Galicia in the west to Galatia in the east [] Their unity is recognizable by common speech and common artistic traditions" [Waldman & Mason 2006] Mirobrigenses qui Celtici cognominantur. Pliny the Elder, The Natural History; example: C(AIUS) PORCIUS SEVERUS MIROBRIGEN(SIS) CELT(ICUS) -> not just one culture "Their tribes and groups eventually ranged from the British Isles and northern Spain to as far east as Transylvania, the Black Sea coasts, and Galatia in Anatolia and were in part absorbed into the Roman Empire as Britons, Gauls, Boii, Galatians, and Celtiberians. Linguistically they survive in the modern Celtic speakers of Ireland, Highland Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales, and Brittany." [Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia. by John Koch] "[] the individual CELTIC COUNTRIES and their languages, []" James, Simon (1999). The Atlantic Celts – Ancient People Or Modern Invention. University of Wisconsin Press. "All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae live, another in which the Aquitani live, and the third are those who in their own tongue are called Celtae, in our language Galli." [Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico] <= I had to translate that in school. It's tedious political propaganda. Read also the Comentarii and maybe the paper "Caesar's perception of Gallic social structures" that can be found in "Celtic Chiefdom, Celtic State," Cambridge University Press. The Celtic tribes and nations were diverse. They were pretty organized, with an academic system, roads, trade, and laws. They were not anarchic in any way. They were not warriors - they were mostly farmers. The Celts were first and foremost farmers and livestock breeders

The basic economy of the Celts was mixed farming, and, except in times of unrest, single farmsteads were usual. Owing to the wide variations in terrain and climate, cattle raising was more important than cereal cultivation in some regions.

Suetonius addressing his legionaries said "They are not soldiers—they're not even properly equipped. We've beaten them before." [not entirely sure, but I think that was in Tacitus' Annals]

Regarding the Picts, in particular, which part of their history is "anarchic"? Dál Riata? the Kingdom of Alba? Or are you referring to the warriors that inspired the Hadrian's Wall? Because no one really knows in our days who the fuck they were. The Picts’ name first appears in 297 AD. That is later. <cite> Celts are a good fit with the kind of indomitable, you-can't-kill-'em-off vibe of the Mandos. Reviled by Rome as ignorant savages with no culture or science, and only fit for slaughter or conquest, the Celts were in fact much more civilized than Rome even by modern standards. </cite> That's how the Romans looked at pretty much every culture that wasn't Greek, Roman, Phoenician, Egyptian, or from Mesopotamia (read, if you want, anything Roman or Greek about the Skyths, the Huns, Vandals, Garamantes...).

<cite> They also kicked Roman arse on the battlefield, and were very hard to keep in line, so Rome did what all lying, greedy superpowers do when challenged: they demonized and dehumanized the enemy. (They still used them in their army, of course, but that's only to be expected.) </cite> They were hard to keep in line, but they most definitely did not kick Roman arse on the battlefield. Roman arse was kicked along the borders of the Roman Empire, such as the Rhine, the Danube, the Atlas mountains, etc. And mostly by actually badly organized, slightly anarchic groups, such as the Goths or the Huns (BTW the Huns were not a Germanic people, even though early 20th century British propaganda likes to say so). Though they were also decisively stopped by the Parthians. Who were very organized. Ah well. <cite> While Rome was still leaving its unwanted babies to die on rubbish dumps - a perfectly acceptable form of family planning to this "civilisation" - and keeping women as chattels devoid of rights, the barbarian Celts had a long-standing legal system that not only gave women what we would think of as equal rights, but also protected the rights of the elderly, children, and the disabled. They had a road network across Europe and worldwide trade long before the Romans ever got their act together. And their science - well, their astronomical calculations were so sophisticated that it takes computers to do the same stuff today. </cite> See? You even say yourself that they weren't actually anarchic. Also you're not completely right: 1. women (of most Celtic cultures, with one notable exception being the Irish) were not allowed to become druids, e.g. scientists, physicians, priests, or any other kind of academics, so they did not have equal rights. Also, as in other Indo-European systems, the family was patriarchal. 2. the roads they had were more like paths, and did not span the entirety of Europe; the old roads that are still in use are nearly all of them Roman. Had the Celtic inhabitants of Gallia or Britannia built comparable roads, why would the Romans have invested in building a new system on top? 3. world-wide? Yeah, right. They traded with those who traded with others and so were able to trade with most of southern Eurasia and northern Africa, as well as few northern parts (Balticum, Rus), but that's (surprise) not the whole world. 4. most people use computers for those calculations you mention because its easier. It's not necessary. I can do those calculations - give me some time to study astronomy (I'm a math major, not physics) and some pencils and paper. 5. and - I nearly forgot - the kids didn't die. That was a polite fiction. The harsh truth is that most Roman slaves were Romans... <cite> So - not barbarians. Just a threat to the empire, a culture that wouldn't let the Pax Romana roll over it without a fight. (Except the French tribes, who did roll over, and were regarded by the Germanic Celts [...]) </cite> WTF Germanic Celts? What are you smoking, woman? Isn't it enough that you put every culture speaking a language from the Celtic family in one pot and act as if they were one people, now you have to mix in a different language-family as well? Shall we continue that trend? What about the Mongolian Celts, are they, too, proof that the Celts were badass warriors? I think at this point I just lost all leftover trust in your so-called knowledge. <cite> [...] as being as bad as the Romans. Suck on that, Asterix... </cite> Asterix was definitely a Celt, and unlike the British Celts, he was not a citizen of the Roman Empire.

<cite> Broad brush-stroke time; Celts were not a centralized society but more a network of townships and tribes, a loose alliance of clans who had their own internal spats, but when faced with some uppity outsider would come together to drive off the common threat. </cite> They might have tried, but they didn't. The first and only time a Celtic people really managed to drive off some uppity outsider would be 1922 following the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921*. The fact that France, Spain, Portugal speak Romance languages and the British (or Irish) Isles nearly uniformly speak English should be proof enough.

*Unless you count Asterix. <cite> You couldn't defeat them by cutting off the head. There was no head to cut off. </cite> You mean unlike Boudica and Vercingetorix. Oh wait. Tacitus, in his Annals, said that Boudica's last fight cost 80,000 Britons and 400 Romans their lives. He was probably exaggerating. But it definitely stopped much of the British resistance in its tracks. <cite> To the centralized, formal, rather bureaucratic Romans, for whom the city of Rome was the focus of the whole empire, this was a big does-not-compute. The Celts were everything they didn't understand. And we fear what we don't understand, and we kill what we fear. </cite> While that is totally true, it's also completely off the mark. The Romans demonized the druids, not every Celt, and they were afraid of what was basically an academic network. That had nothing to do with war. <cite> Anyway, Mandos....once I took a single concept - in this case, the idea of clans that operated on a loose alliance system, like the Celts - the rest grew organically. I didn't plan it out in detail from the start. </cite> That's really obvious. Maybe looking at some numbers and remembering that you weren't planning a small, local, rural, medieval community would have helped, too. I mean lets have a look at, say, Scotland (since you specifically mentioned the Picts): they still have less than 6 mio. people all together, and that's today. Mandalore is a sector. A sector of Outer Space with at least 2000 inhabited planets. How do you think that translates? It doesn't. <cite> I just asked myself what a culture of nomadic warriors would value, how they would need to operate to survive, and it all grew inexorably by logical steps. The fact that Mandos ended up as very much like the Celts is proof that the technique of evolving a character or species - find the niche, then work out what fits it - works every time. It creates something very realistic, because that's how real people and real societies develop. </cite> Celtic people were usually not nomadic! And, once again, non of them were predominantly warriors! It's really hard to be a nomadic farmer. I believe the biggest mistake you made, Ms Traviss, is mixing up the Iron Age (and earlier) tribes that did indeed sack Rome and parts of Greece, and that one day would become the people the Romans conquered. And apart from the Picts they really were conquered. <cite> So all I can say about Mandos and Spartans is that the average Mando would probably tell a Spartan to go and put some clothes on, and stop looking like such a big jessie. </cite>

I'd really like to see a Mando – or anyone – wearing full plate without modern or Star Wars technology in Greece. Happy heatstroke. There is a reason they didn't wear a lot (look up the Battle of Hattîn, where crusaders who didn't wear full helmets and wore chainmail* still suffered badly from heat exhaustion). [Nicolle, David (1993), Hattin 1187: Saladin's Greatest Victory] *chainmail apparently can work like a heatsink CONCLUSION You're wrong. And I felt offended by your FAQ answers. QUESTION You're English. You're from England. A group - a nation - that was historically so warlike and so successful that by now we all speak English. A nation that definitely kicked arse against any Celtic nation trying to go against them (until 1921, and they really tried anyway). A nation that had arguably the largest Empire in history. A nation that still is barbaric and warlike enough that a lost football game has people honestly fearing for their lives.

Also, a Germanic group, since you seem to have trouble keeping language-families and cultures apart. If we were to talk about the family, we could add on the current most aggressively attacking nation (USA) plus the former most aggressively attacking nations (the second and third German Reich), also the people who killed off the Roman Empire for good (the Goths and Visigoth), the original berserkers (the Vikings) and claim at the very least the start of BOTH WORLD WARS. Why did you look further?

Some other sources:

Histoire de la vie privée by Georges Duby and Philippe Ariès, the first book  (about the antiquity) I read it translated, my French is ... bad to non-existent

The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire  (about the Huns) by Alessandro Barbero

If you speak Dutch or German, you might try

Helmut Birkhan: Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien

Janssens, Ugo, De Oude Belgen. Geschiedenis, leefgewoontes, mythe en werkelijkheid van de Keltische stammen. Uitgeverij The House of Books

DISCLAIMER

I’m angry and I wrote this down in one session and thus probably made some mistakes. I’m sorry. Or maybe I’m not sorry. I’m still angry. She can’t know who reads her FAQ and at least two of her answers (on her professional website) were offensive to the reader.

[brian-in-finance]

The actor stops by Little Gold Men to talk about bringing Pa to life and navigating the topic of fame with his own kids.

ROB YOUNGSON / FOCUS FEATURES

In Belfast, writer-director Kenneth Branagh’s black-and-white ode to his childhood, a young boy named Buddy (Jude Hill) escapes from his often-turbulent reality via movies. One day it’s the splashy musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the next it’s the classic Western High Noon. It becomes clear that Buddy idolizes Jamie Dornan’s Pa as his own version of a strapping movie star, despite his all-too human faults.

Dornan says he, too, worshipped his father and would project his own dreams onto high-profile stars. “For me, growing up, it was anyone who’s from Belfast or from the North of Ireland, who is doing well in movies,” the actor tells V.F.’s Katey Rich. “The idea that you came from that place and could be in movies, was crazy to me. Still is, to be honest.”

Northern Ireland’s own Liam Neeson would become Dornan’s matinee idol. “I remember I was probably more in my teens, early teens when Liam had really become a big star,” he remembers. “He’s obviously a huge star, almost in a different realm now with what he’s done in the last 15 years with his work.” Dornan has hit his own stride in Hollywood, even scoring a recent best-supporting-actor Golden Globe nomination. He talks about his homegrown role—and that singing scene—on this week’s episode of Little Gold Men.

Video 📹 in link (too long to screenrecord)

Elsewhere on LGM, Katey joins hosts Richard Lawson, Rebecca Ford, and David Canfield for spirited analysis of the Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, including all of the biggest snubs and surprises. They also recap the madcap Golden Globes and discuss Sidney Poitier’s indelible legacy.

Give a listen to the episode above, and find Little Gold Men on Apple Podcasts or anywhere else you get your podcasts. You can also sign up to text with us at Subtext—we’d love to hear from you.

Vanity Fair: You’ve said when on set, you’d ask Kenneth Branagh, “What would your father have done? What was this moment like?” And it didn’t feel like he was prescribing to you what the character was, it felt like guidance. How did he strike that balance, that you felt empowered with that information and not trapped?

Jamie Dornan: It was very much him feeling like he was telling me whatever information I was seeking from him. He’d be like, “Use that how you will. Absorb that in whatever way you need it to work for you, but as long as Jamie’s instinctually doing what you wanted to do anyway, then I’m happy.” Because he was just, right from the beginning of Belfast, instilling this idea in me, and all of us really, that he wanted us to bring our own vibe to it, and we should not be trying to be some carbon copy of an idea of who his parents were.

The reality was, of course we’re playing real people, but it is a version of them and it’s not like where you’re playing a real person who’s very famous, and you can mimic them, and copy their physicality, and their movements, and their tone of voice. That’s not what we’re dealing with, so it was easier just to find a freedom to bring what we instinctually thought was right for these characters.

The “Everlasting Love” scene is heightened, but it’s not especially a fantasy sequence. It cuts to Jude Hill, so you know it’s through his eyes, but how real it is has been unclear to me the whole time. I’m curious if you guys had decided for yourselves how realistic it was and if that was important in playing it?

Well, you see, I think there’s a lot happening there. There’s a lot on the physicality of the day and the practicality of that day, having all those different players in the room. It was everyone except Ciarán [Hinds], for obvious reasons. Having us all in that room was an amazing feeling, but we had a lot of work to do. At that time, I hadn’t recorded my vocal, so I’m lip syncing, which is trickier than people think it is, [then] the dance moves, which are very tricky if you have two left feet like me. So, there are all the technical things you’re having to think about, no matter how much work you’ve done, they are occupying space in your head.

But really at the core of all that, is the emotional stuff that's going on and the story telling is massively crucial. The release of what’s just gone on, just burying your father and the release of that, then trying to celebrate his life in that moment. But also, where Ma and Pa are, their relationship at the time is massive. It’s really fractured. They’re sort of on the brink there, so there’s so much conveyance of that through the looks between Caitríona [Balfe] and I. I’m basically trying to say, “We are really up against it here and we are being tested, but guess what? I love you and it’s okay. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to get through this.”

ROB YOUNGSON / FOCUS FEATURES

I was really struck re-watching it, about how movies are threaded into this film. The family goes to see the movies, but then the whole confrontation has the theme song from High Noon playing in the background. I wonder if you watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, or High Noon, or if you and Kenneth Branagh talked about how this boy is imagining his dad as this John Wayne-worthy figure?

Yeah, we did talk about that a bit. Again, it comes back to that sort of idealistic way of seeing his parents, almost seeing them as these matinee idols that were heroic to him. He had them on such a pedestal and that’s kind of the way he saw John Wayne and him and his brother saw these actors in movies.

I remember thinking my dad was the strongest man in the world, when I was a kid. He certainly wasn’t, but just that idea you have of your parents, if you’re lucky enough to have a good relationship with your parents and see them that way. You give them this sort of heightened sense of super power, almost. I think that is something that Ken, when he was a kid, got from the movies and applied to his own people in his life, including his parents. And I’ve watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a lot, I really have in my life. It was a big player in our youth when I was a kid. I’ve actually shown it to our two eldest kids.

Do you feel strongly about what [your kids] know about fame? Do you feel like that's something you have to really navigate for them?

Yeah, a bit. We’ve [Dornan and his wife, film composer Amelia Warner] made a choice in their very early formative years to live right in the middle of nowhere. We live in the countryside. There’s no paparazzi. We’re not going to any parties or fancy dinners, where we’re getting our photograph taken. We’re pretty much out of the limelight, for the most part, and we like it that way. Probably harder here, when we’re in LA.

I was with our five-year-old yesterday and a girl came up and wanted to chat and a photograph. After, my daughter turned around and was like, “Do you know her?” I was like, “I don’t know her.” She’s like, “Why did she want to talk to you?” I said, “I don’t know. Some people know that daddy’s an actor and I’m in movies and on TV sometimes. Some people like the stuff I do, and they see me, and recognize me, and want to chat. It’s nothing more than that.” My daughter was like, “Oh, that’s nice. They’re basically saying that they like you.” There’s an innocence to it all, I guess, at this stage.

Remember… we are really up against it here and we are being tested, but guess what? I love you and it’s okay. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to get through this. — Jamie Dornan

[sirfluffig]

The Ceccere Manor

Ceccere Manor is a pompous baronial building in the region of the southern Scottish Ayr. The manor itself is found in the more northern surroundings of the county and built out of tailored marble bricks which are ivory-white in colour. Characteristic for this beautiful building is the romanesque style which was used to design the manor's outer walls. Reaching almost three stories tall, the manor is covered in beautiful long and round arches as well as steadfast yet fine pillars made from clean stone. Over the time being, the house may have changed its owner a lot of times, but never its state of condition, not a single crack can be found in this magically altered works of masonry ever since it was first declared finished in the 19th century.

The walls of the magnificent building are covered in curtained windows, set deeply into the stone and therefore making them look almost sunken into the hard surface. They are additionally shown off with exquisite frames, providing proof for the wealth that this family is said to own. Astoundingly each of the upper chambers seem to be built with a broad glass facade, most of which are looking right into the courtyard of the house. This especially applies for the room of Flavio himself which is the one facing the entrance of the estate on the most left hand side of the building. The clear glass front though, is often darkened by the curtains that hang over it.

Adding onto that, the manor stretches wide across the hill it was built on and is gabled a few times, creating elegant niches in the walls which can easily be used to provide space for activities that have to be done outside. The Cecceres might not be a folk of adventurers or sportsmen, but they sure made the best they could out of this extra space. So looking around the house you can find a broad patio, covering the ground in fine stone plates, on which multiple tables were placed. They can be used for the most varying of activities. May it be a celebration with barbecue in the evening, where you dine outside and watch the stars reveal themselves slowly, while soft lights fill the garden and slow music embraces the attendants, inviting them to dance, hand in hand - face to face. Or maybe you could invite the neighbours for a game evening, layering out cards and enjoying the coziness as the still wind breezes over the estate.

One of these long tables that reside on the stones in front of the curtained panorama wall with a broad sliding door even has a chess board integrated into its plate and is flanked by two rather big armchairs. It's seemingly the most used of all tables, mostly because the entire family Ceccere uses to play chess competition games together on internal game nights, one of the highlights of the weeks for family reunions or holidays at which Flavio and Lexanna are home. Especially then, these games provide a challenge for parents and children alike. Sadly their former champion, Logan isn't there to defend his title anymore but this will hopefully turn for the better soon.

Going further around the brick walls, you will find a small and yet somehow charming gravel-path, which is accompanied by small lanterns on fence-posts every couple feet ahead of you. The thin path is meant to guide you through a rather magical compartment of the enormous garden and leads you forward to see a few of the best pieces of masonry that the Cecceres have to offer. While these small statues shaped like different creatures or people, aren't as magnificent as the two monstrous sculptures of Owls that can be found at the entrance to the courtyard, they do have a bit of a magical flair themselves. The knowledgeable history-lover will quickly notice that the statues seem to be inspired by the Romans and are almost exact replicates of the works that countless slaves put their life into, in the roman era.

Guiding one to the back of the estate reveals a rather large area plated in clean stone. While keeping its romanesque aesthetic, this part of the property appears a little more modern, than what is shown to the passersby. Next to a big sliding door made of enchanted glass in the back wall is a small shelf for shoes and slippers, things deemed rather unnecessary when entering the exquisite pool, adorned with pillars made from high skilled masonries, that is spread across a majority of the plot. The only things flanking it are a couple of extravagant sun loungers and parasols which have the Cecere Crest embedded on their shield.

Leading away from the walled manor of the Cecceres and deeper into the dark and dense forest, is a small paved way , the only light provided comes from small enchanted lanterns which are placed loosely along the way, creating a very mysterious and magical atmosphere. Before one realizes, the path widens and turns into a garden-like area, with all sorts of plants growing on the floor, climbing their way up the trees, spreading colour across the place. Between trees and flowers are countless stone statues of people that have passed within the last 100 years. It's the Cecere’s memorial grove, a place where members of the Ceccere family honour their fallen friends and loved ones. Because once you have achieved friendship with a Ceccere, they are loyal till the end and beyond. After the second wizarding war, one could find statues of people like Tonks and Lupin there, commissioned and placed there by Flavio himself.

While romanesque building style wasn't that common in the 19th century, it was asked by the commissioners to set the flame of this very poetic and smooth style ablaze once more. It is said that the two lovers that gave the order to build it, were a young couple from Ireland. A noble man, who was more a boy than a man and a house maid of his estate, fleeing together from the former's father, a man who went furious about the betrayal of his own flesh and blood. They were hiding in the very house the Cecceres inhabit, living to the end of their heavenly days, hidden from the wrathful Irish noble.

[alexbkrieger13]

What team do you think impressed during the international breaks. Did any make their case for the euros?

I've had sitting in the drafts

Personally was impressed with England defensively especially compared to this time last year when they were leaking goal after goal.

While the finishing was shocking and I have questions about the midfeild I think they were for large parts more solid defensively than they have been in a long while. Euros wise its good momentum but I still think for England getting over the Semi final hump should be the main goal.

France attacking is good to watch they have some fantastic talented but again defensively they leak goals and there parts of their midfield I think can let them down.

Norway are a team with some top class players however not enough of them are defenders. They had some good moments bit they're gonna need Maren and CGH ready to go

Denmark-wasn't super impress with the team of babies and Simone. Little to see from that 1 game

Italy-could play spoiler on their day but I think against a defensively disciplined team they can struggle

Swizerland-Depth not great (they need Lia Wälti) but they rested a lot of players so hard to tell

Ireland-played well at times do have a solid chance at 2nd in qualifying as long as the don't shoot themselves in the foot

Northern Ireland-did well at times only watch 1 game of there's so can't assess much

Sweden-experiments in defence aged me at times but they're available depth was good considering they were missing and not starting a lot of their first team players

Spain-think we all know different team than barca but still a very good ball playing team but finishing and lack of depth and rotation could be their achillies heal. Midfield is really the engine of the team going forward and defensively and when scattered dose show some issues. If they are not gassed if they reach the knockouts I'll be suprised

Germany-really hard to tell considering the squad but they are a team definitely in transition. Euros getting out of the group what this pont should be seen as the main aim

Netherland-missing a lot of players but with who they had you would have hoped they could have done better. Impressed by the baby dutchies in the Finland game. Sari is gonna take years off my life

USWNT-eh they played decent but it's hard to pin point how well they are actually played. Great to see less experienced players get minutes and give minutes to up and coming players. Times really gonna tell with this lot

Canada-if they can sort out the finishing and find a way to have 2 Quinns in midfeild and not have Jessie fleming playing every outfield roal except CB and GK. Full backs for Canada are great to watch though can be a bit iffy defensively at times.