#russian folklore my beloved

[picnokinesis]

Immediately looked up the quote you put below the zine art and 👀 good quote choice!!!!

Ahh thanks!! I did a dive into russian folklore a while back when I found out that the name 'Koschei' came from the story of Koschei the Deathless, and I immediately had to know what that entailed, naturally. That quote is, as you probably noticed, slightly changed from the original, but that's because (as I said in the tags) it's actually something I had planned for a doctor who fanfic based on the folklore. It's a fic I would love to write some day but alas, I only got so far as chapter 1, but it basically involves the Doctor diving into the Matrix to find the Master after TTC, and there's just russian folklore everywhere. Tecteun is Baba Yaga, the Timeless Child is the Firebird, the Doctor is mostly Prince Ivan (and the magical stead is the TARDIS), but sometimes Marya Morevna, and the Master is mostly Koschei the Deathless but also sometimes Marya Morevna too. I'd probably have the wizards who marry Prince Ivan's sisters as previous incarnations of the Doctor as well, but I hadn't thought that far.

Anyway, part of the reason it's doomed to never be finished is because I was going to do art for it based on Ivan Bilibin's illustrations of the original stories. I only ever ended up sketching one, but funnily enough it was the one for that quote that's on that other art! In the original story, Prince Ivan comes across a battlefield full of dead and dying soldiers, and asks who killed them - and they tell him it was the person in the white tent, who turns out to be the warrior princess Marya Morevna. In my fic, I was planning for it to be that the Doctor steps into a new part of the Matrix and finds the battle field of Skull Moon, or some other battle in the Time War - and, of course, asks who killed everyone. And the answer given is 'the man in the barn' - which turns out to be the War Doctor, of course. So that then sparked the idea of 'child, it was you' - originally, for that print, I was planning to write that entire quote in gold Gallifreyan, because I liked how it kind of referred to both the Doctor and the Master as children of Gallifrey, but also kind of twisted them both together - both the destroyers of the planet, mirroring each others, the same in more ways than they can stand. And that's kind of the meaning of that piece of art.

Anyway - here's the sketch that I did for that fic, and the original Bilibin illustration it was based on!

[ancientcraftnoccultism]

🌿 Herb Of The Day

Title: Lilac

Gender: Feminine

Element: Water

Planet: Venus

📜 Folklore & History 📜

Lilacs are an old, old, species that originated in Persia and then traveled to Europe. They were brought to America in 1750 and then planted at New Jersey Governor Wentworth’s home. Other prominent men fell in love with lilacs. They were reportedly one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite flowers, and he documented his lilac-planting-methods in 1767. George Washington followed suit and moved existing lilacs on his property to his garden in 1785.

In Greek mythology, Pan, the god of the wild, chased a nymph named Syringa. She turned herself into a lilac bush to escape Pan, and in anger, he broke off the reed-like branches which made pipes. With regret, he tried kissing the broken branches, and as his air pushed over them, sounds were made. Lilacs were responsible for the creation of “Panpipes.”

Russian folklore believed that hanging lilacs above a baby’s bed would bring the child wisdom.

American folklore thought that lilacs could drive away evil and that placing them in a haunted house would displace ghosts. Thought to be symbolic of “old love,” Victorian widows often wore lilacs as a sign of remembrance. One hundred and fifty-five years ago today, April 15th, Abraham Lincoln died after being shot by John Wilkes Booth. Any American — and much of the world — knows the story of the self-educated, country lawyer who became one of our nation’s most beloved presidents. But what many Americans might not realize is how the death of Lincoln reverberated into so many areas of our collective psyche, including literature and horticulture, thanks to Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman was a reporter, printer, writer, traveler and Civil War nurse who is considered one of America’s greatest poets. He self-published Leaves of Grass and worked on it throughout his lifetime, eventually modifying it so that there are eight different editions. Whitman felt a great affinity with President Abraham Lincoln, and when Lincoln was assassinated in the spring of 1865, Whitman grieved.

He wrote years later in Specimen Days about learning of the President’s death:

"I remember where I was stopping at the time, the season being advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom. By one of those caprices that enter and give tinge to events without being at all a part of them, I find myself always reminded of great tragedy of that day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails."

While lilacs are first to bloom, their flowers are short-lived. The heady fragrance lingers sweetly at first, but then the blooms start to die, leaving a heavy, cloying smell. One of the first flowers of spring, lilacs contain a natural compound called indole that’s found in flowers — and feces. It’s that undercurrent of the “bottom note” of fragrance that suggests decay and death.

🔮 Metaphysical Properties 🔮

The beautiful May-blooming lilac is one of the loveliest tokens of spring. But they are much more than beautiful shrubs with showy, sweet-smelling flowers. Originally lilacs were planted to repel all evil. Planted near the entryway, lilacs were believed to send out protective vibrations. When the flowers are cut and brought into the home they cleanse any living space. And they'll also remove any unwanted spiritual presence. Blue and white varieties work well for this purpose. Since lilacs are ruled by Venus, they are also used in love spells. Try placing some pink lilacs on your altar while performing a love spell. The dried flowers make a powerful addition to any love sachet.

🍴⚕️ Culinary & Medicinal Properties

The simplest way to enjoy lilacs is as an infusion of the flowers for a lilac sugar. The sugar can then be used in recipes to add lilac flavor to baked goods. This also works with a lilac simple syrup which is just a liquid form of the same thing that’s perfect for making cocktails. For my money though, I think lilac infused honey sounds the best. The sweet floral flavor of lilacs translates beautifully into an ice cream base.

To prevent the recurrence of disease, lilac flowers were used to help strengthen the system and prevent relapse after a patient had healed. They’re said to be specifically good after cases of malaria. Tasting the raw flowers you can actually pick up some of the astringent qualities, as they make your mouth dry and pucker a bit (along with their floral flavors). This astringent quality makes them good for use in skin care products. Lilacs are used as a folk remedy for intestinal worms, as well as a treatment for gastric discomfort and gas. Regardless of the purpose, the most likely medicinal lilac preparation is a tincture, which is just a lilac infused alcohol

[amoransia]

Leviathan: "Oooooooooh"

Beelzebub and Asmodeus: (This could've been an email.)

!!!Chapter 65 spoilers below!!!

Good fucking food and good chapter as per usual. Thank you for showing me my snake wife (Satan) again. Loved every page, and I hope Fukayama-sensei is taking his time recuperating from his surgery and doesn't push himself too much.

I say this because those pages were out of this world. I love the spookiness factor they're finally adding. A lot of exorcist manga just focus on the action and completely forget they're dealing with demons (and other creatures of similar nature) so I'm glad Aruma added that in. Belphegor's pathetic poltergeists(?) are really funny, too lol.

Babacat confirmed!! Troperrific called it! I had my money on Cattan instead, lol. Regardless, this basically means she's been spying on Priest since the very beginning, so there's a high chance she'll try to talk-no-jutsu him into corruption(?) using what she knows about him. What Vergilius couldn't convince him to do, she'll probably (almost) succeed? If that's her goal, anyway...

Surprise! Chicken legs, as per her folklore of having a chicken leg-powered house. Nice to see that Aruma-sensei has some basic knowledge on her. As usual, they do look into things. Which makes me happy. I thought the chicken was kinda cute until her disemboweled headless corpse waddled in. Jesus.

Apparently, disembowelment and beheading are the punishments given to schismatics in the Ninth Bolgia in Dante's Inferno. Yeowch. Perhaps this is her punishment because she wanted to help wrongly convicted souls while not inherently being a non-believer and merely disagreeing? I don't know.

I'd also like to mention that Mikhail is probably going to gain a more prominent role when it comes to Baba Yaga. He was the first to recognize it was Baba Yaga, and I think this is because he's more familiar with Slavic folklore than the rest of the cast. After all, Mikhail is a name of Russian origin, so he's probably from around there. He probably got told stories of her as a child.

(I used to affectionately dub Mikhail "Florida man" because of his crazy antics, but he also does fit those crazy Slav dudes that post videos of themselves randomly bringing down abandoned buildings with only bricks. Anyway.)

Really hilarious that Priest can somehow tolerate the horror fuckery that happened this chapter but can't handle horror MOVIES or Japanese spirits. My MC is truly built different and I love him dearly. Someone get him a good therapist and multiple trips to a bunny café.

Just look at him go!!

Imuri's face didn't show up even once in this chapter, by the way! Probably means nothing, but it'd be curious if her reactions were obscured because she was familiar with Granny somehow. Imuri's lived quite a long while, too, after all. Wouldn't be weird if she knew some people here and there.

(Might I add that we've yet to see the mysterious Cass friend she texts... He said he hesitantly submitted a request to see her to the Church, but it's been a while since that...)

This line alone is either a red flag or a green flag, but I'm hopeful it's actually a green flag, since it goes against Satan's wishes. Maybe Baba Yaga will actually sympathize with Priest, since she's been watching over him... dunno!

Additionally, this is also something I mentioned on my Twitter, but to me, it appears that she's being set up as another parallel character to Priest:

Both are the strongest of their team

Got called "it" and "thing" by their respective benefactors

Both want(ed) to help people

Witnessed or witnessing wrongful accusations against the innocent

Priest even sympathized /explicitly/ with people who were wrongly tried for supposed witchcraft in chapter 64. Surely she must've heard him say that? I previously thought Vergilius would take on the role of the parallel, but I think Granny is a more deliberate one!

Welcome back Tachibana my beloved boss girl, in the most literal sense. She even has a big ass coat on. Is she single? We should ask Aruma-sensei. Please do a Q&A, I pinky promise to be civil.

Anyway, I'm convinced Mammon is coming back too, then, since she is extremely capable. Mammon's (first) arc was definitely rushed due to the looming danger of the axe, so I'm excited to see him being pathetic again. He's grown on me, for the wrong reasons. I think he's a big fan favorite amongst the JP sphere as well. He's the only Demon Lord that I feel truly values his human connections, so that's no surprise.

All in all, it was a perfect chapter, and I have nothing to say about the Japanese and/or translation of the chapter; I have but one single complaint:

Chapter 65

Chapter 36

THEY CLIPPED HIS FUCKING NAILS!!! NOOO!!!!!!!!!!! HIS EVIL SLY BITCH SWAG... it's GONE!!!!!!!!!! It has been STOLEN!!!!! Someone has to die for this FUUUUUUUCK

[amkalus]

~~~

Figured I'd introduce myself properly to this wonderful community! I am Ann (26). Primarily interested in exploring archetypes, symbols, and fairy tale elements plot-wise, as well as physical and mental health issues character-wise. I write fantasy and science fiction (and occasionally historical fiction).

About me:

Majored in Psychology and English with Creative Writing (English is my second language)

Writing is basically my lifeline, I get depressed if I don't do it

Infatuated with myths, legends, folklore—and history

Questionably obsessed with the mad genius trope [I blame Victor Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes, and Gregory House for this]

In love with the sea and all things age of sail [I went for a swim during a black-clouded thunderstorm on a cold September afternoon once, that's how down bad I am]

Can't write a short story to save my life [you shall only find novels beyond this gate, traveler]

My WIPs:

Oh boy, I've got a lot of them, but I'll share the main ones briefly. [bonus, emojis for vibes lol]

The Sea Whisperer (finished, 122k words) 🌊⚓🌩️

Already have a post about this YA adventure fantasy (seek #The Sea Whisperer) and planning to add some more, but here's the premise once more:

The fishing village of Galacair has been the only home Earwyn’s ever known. Between the mysterious illness that plagues her and the villagers who consider her cursed, surviving gets harder with each dreary day. But there are whispers coming from the sea which ceaselessly beckon her, and an ominous vision of a calamity that haunts her dreams. Earwyn fears they could be a part of her illness too, and that madness has befallen her. The only one who seems to know something about it is Galacair’s lighthouse keeper, whose tower is as strange and remote as he is.

Wrote this story because I wanted to bring some awareness to PCOS syndrome and the difficulties of living with it. But also because of my aforementioned love for the sea, including tall ships, shanties, and magic.

I've been querying for this one for 6 months with no success. Likely to undergo new revisions/editing.

The King's Steward/The King's Embroiderer 🗡️❄️🔥

A loose retelling of a quite obscure Nenets fairy tale called Kotura, Lord of the Winds with a Skyrim-esque Scandinavian-inspired medieval setting. A sort of fire vs ice battle going on. Definitely in the YA range. Very likely to be a duology!

Aira Alderkvist knows she's destined to become the kingdom's best and most beloved embroiderer, in the court of the king. She met him once when she was a child, alone by the snow-clad woods, and no one believed her. But she will finally prove her skill and that her story was true at the upcoming obeisance.

In the capital city of Vallholm, Sorena Froradottir prepares to abandon her post as a steward imposed on her against her will, and flee. However, on the night of the king's obeisance where noblemen and commoners gather, jarl Ravnan Jarnsen unexpectedly usurps the throne. Sorena must decide between deserting the kingdom in the hands of a tyrant rumored to be using forbidden fire magic... or leave, and find a new life unburdened and free.

So far I have 18k words written on this and a detailed plan chapter by chapter, which I will hopefully stick to (doubtful).

To All the Royal Subjects in the Land (working title because this is too long and cringe?) 🍁🕸️🎭

This is basically a dream project for me, for I have always dreamed of writing fantasy comedy. Only, I played myself cause medieval-based comedy is hard as hell? Honestly, though, I absolutely love wracking my brain with it. You can't be a writer without being at least a little masochistic, I think.

This is an NA/Adult fantasy rom-com [Mrs Maisel meets Beauty and the Beast], and a gender-bent version of the Russian fairy tale The Princess Who Never Smiled, in which a clever traveling jestress who values her freedom above all faces a joyless Prince.

Soon after entering a kingdom where joy and laughter are forbidden, Sarai realizes she'll be forced to break a foul spell if she wants to leave. And she grudgingly agrees. But it promises to be no easy task when this withering kingdom is caught in endless autumn, the Prince's odd, mist-veiled castle seems to be crumbling each day, and his knights are ever-so eerily quiet.

Will likely share more about what this story features in other posts! This is currently sitting at 22.5k words.

Sentinel Chronicles Series 🚀🌌✨

This one is probably closest to my heart. My first project ever [started writing this series 7 years ago], and have a detailed plan for 5 books in total, with more spin-offs for a side character very likely to appear later.

The first book [Transcendence] is finished at 96k words, and the second is written halfway. Transcendence is Star Trek meets House MD adult science fiction. It's a space adventure with aspects of science mixed with philosophical elements and a dash of humor. I have a very found-family-centered theme here with the crew. And a (very) slow-burn romance that would spread over the 5 books.

The story follows eccentric science genius Ashton Axolem as he attempts to take on scientific issues beyond his understanding with the help of Doctor Amelia Harper, who, like everyone else, is convinced mixing madness with science will never result in anything good. But her close encounter with Axolem leaves her questioning her understanding of both madness and goodness.

Will probably be blogging a lot about this one because I've had years to form it in my mind lol

Thanks for reading, that was a bit long! Hopefully, I set up some sort of tag system for all those WIPs soon.

[musingsofmonica]

February 2024 Diverse Read

February 2024 Diverse Reads:

•”My Beloved Life” by Amitava Kumar, February 27, Knopf Publishing Group, Historical/Literary/World Literature/India

•”Whiskey Tender: A Memoir” by Deborah Taffa, February 27, Harper, Personal Memoirs/Women/Cultural, Ethnic & Regional/Native American & Aboriginal

•”I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both” by Mariah Stovall, February 13, Soft Skull, Contemporary/Coming of Age/Friendship/African American/Women

•”Private Equity: A Memoir” by Carrie Sun, February 13, Penguin Press, Personal Memoirs/Women in Business/Business/Finance/Wealth Management/Investments & Securities

•”Village in the Dark” by Iris Yamashita, February 13, Berkley Books, Mystery & Detective/Police Procedural/Thriller/Suspense/Women

•”Redwood Court” by Délana R. a. Dameron, February 06, Dial Press, Literary/Coming of Age/Women/African American/Southern

•”Wandering Stars” by Tommy Orange, February 27, Knopf Publishing Group, Literary/Cultural Heritage/Native American & Aboriginal

•Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop

Hwang Bo-Reum & Shanna Tan (Translator), February 20, Bloomsbury Publishing, Contemporary/City Life/World Literature/Korea

•”Dreaming of Ramadi in Detroit: Essays

Aisha Sabatini Sloan, February 20, Graywolf, Essays/Cultural, Ethnic & Regional/African American & Black/LGBT/Anthropology/Cultural & Social

•”The Things We Didn't Know” by Elba Iris Pérez, February 06, Gallery Books, Literary/Coming of Age/World Literature/Puerto Rico/20th Century

•“The Fox Maidens” by Robin Ha, February 13, Harperalley, Comics & Graphic Novels/Historical/Fairy Tales/Folklore/Legends & Mythology Fantasy/Romance/LGBT/World Literature/Korea

•”Hope Ablaze” by Sarah Mughal Rana, February 27, Wednesday Books, Magical Realism, Poetry/Religious/Muslim/Social Themes - Activism & Social Justice

•“ASAP” by Axie Oh, February 06, Harperteen, YA/Romance/Contemporary/Coming of Age/Asian American

•”Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories” by Amitav Ghosh, February 13, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Nonfiction/Historical/Travelogue/Memoir/Family History/Essay in History/Globalism/Capitalism

•”Fathomfolk” by Eliza Chan, February 27, Orbit, Fantasy/Action & Adventure/Dragons & Mythical Creatures/East Asian Mythology 

•”Ours” by Phillip B. Williams, February 20, Viking, Literary/Historical/African American/Magical Realism

•”Neighbors and Other Stories” by Diane Oliver, February 13, Grove Press, Short Stories/Literary/Historical/African American & Black

•”Greta & Valdin” by Rebecca K. Reilly, February 06, Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, Literary/Romcom/Family Life/LGBT/Cultural Heritage/World Literature/New Zealand/Cultural, Ethnic & Regional/Russian-Maori-Catalonian/Indigenous/Polynesian 

•”The American Daughters” by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, February 27, One World, Historical/Civil War Era/Saga/African American/Women

•”My Side of the River: A Memoir” by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez, January 13, St. Martin's Press, Personal Memoirs/Cultural, Ethnic & Regional/Hispanic & Latino/Public Policy - Immigration

[adarkrainbow]

The Yaga journal: The Polish Baba Yaga

I won’t follow the actual order of the articles in the journal, I’ll rather went by those that strike more my fancy. And today’s article is “Portrait of a Polish Baba Yaga”, by Katia Vandenborre.

It might seem surprising to describe “a Polish Baba Yaga”, when the hag is one of the most iconic characters of Russian culture - and even though similar characters have been noted in Ukraine, in Bielorussia, in Slovakia and in Czech Republic, her presence in Poland is not obvious. For Polish folklorist, Baba Yaga belongs to the Russian tradition, hence why she doesn’t appear in “Slownik folkloru polskiego”, The Dictionary of Polish folklore, from 1695... And yet she is one of the main characters of one of the most popular Polish fairytale collections of the second half of the 19th century: Bajarz polski, Zbior basni, powiesci i gawed ludowych, by Antoni Jozef Glinski (The Polish storyteller. Collection of fairytales, short stories and folktales). When the book was released, in 1853, Poland had lost its independance for a few decades now, and finding itself under the domination of Russia, Prussia and Austria, it used folklore as a way to preserve their national culture. In this context, the presence of Baba Yaga in three of the four volumes of Glinski’s work leads to several questions... And thus the article wants to paint a portrait of the “Polish Baba Yaga” by studying the seven fairytales she appears in, to understand how different and similar she is to her Russian counterpart. 

Baba Yaga in the video game “Smite”

I) The two faces of Baba Yaga: angel and demon

Glinski depicts Baba Yaga under two opposite and yet fused aspect, benevolent and malevolent at the same time, a self-contradicting nature that makes it hard to simplify the character.

The first of these “faces” the reader meets in Glinski’s collection is Baba Yaga’s role as a precious auxiliary that helps the hero find back his beloved. It is “The Princess turned into a frog” (O krolewnie zakletej w zabe). The story begins with a prince finding a wife, but said wife has been cursed to turn into a frog. After a failed attempt at trying to break her curse, the princess flees away from her husband-to-be, now turned into a duck. After wandering for weeks searching for her, the hero discovers a house on chicken legs. He pronounces a rhyme that basically says “Little house, little house, moves your chicken islands, turn your back on the forest, and face me”. The house moves on its leg, and opens its door to the hero. He enters and find Baba Yaga, spinning a spindle while singing a little song. The hero tells her all of his misadventures, and trying to help she tells him to catch the duck that comes to her house every day. However the duck escapes the hero, and turns successively into a pigeon, a falcon, and a snake. Baba Yaga is angry at the prince, because now the duck will not come to her house ever again. She however gives him a ball of thread that will lead him to her sister, where he will try his chance again. The scene of the chicken-legged house is repeated, and the second Baba Yaga again tells the prince he needs to catch the duck visiting her house. This time, as the duck escapes, it turns into a turkey, a dog, a cat and finally an eel. It is only by visiting a third chicken-legged house, and meeting a third Baba Yaga (the older sister of the other two) that the hero will finally catch the duck, and break the spell of his beloved princess.

In the fairytale that follows “The princess turned into a frog”, Glinski again shows a Baba Yaga in a similar “helper” function. It is “The princess Virgin-Miracle, the prince Yunak, and the invisible mace”, where the Baba Yaga appears in the second part of the narrative to resolve the crisis. While without any sisters here, she gives precious advice that allows to free the titular princess from the hands of Koscej. It is actually the sun itself who tells the hero, the knight Yunak, to go seek Baba Yaga in order to deliver the princess Virgin-Miracle from the castle of the wizard Koscej. Yunak first fetches an invisible mace with the power to hit things on tis own, and then a horse that can lead him to Baba Yaga. The prince arrives in “the sleepy and virgin wood where Baba Yaga lives”. After admiring the enormous tallness of the oaks, pines and firs, he notices that the forest is entirely silent, “as if all the trees had fallen asleep, and no living creature was in sight”. They finally reach the chicken-legged house, and after pronouncing the same formula as in the previous tale, enter the building. Baba Yaga is surprised to see Yunak, wondering how he could come here when no other “living soul” ever managed to reach her house. Not answering her, Yunak rather asks for her hospitality - the Baba Yaga promptly gives him food, drinks and a bed to sleep on. It is only after two more days of hospitality that the hero agrees to tell the witch the reason he came here. Impressed by this “great and beautiful deed”, Baba Yaga tells him where he can find “the death of Koscej”, that he needs to obtain in order to vanquish the sorcerer: she tells him to go on an island in the middle of the ocean, to dig up a chest from under an oak, to get from it a hare, from inside the hare a duck, from inside the duck an egg - and inside is Koscej’s death. With this advise, Yunak kills the evil wizard, breaks all of his spells, and marries the princess. Another tale where Baba Yaga worked for a happy ending.

Even though these two tales do show Baba Yaga as doing poitive actions, she still has a negative aura to her. She is an old, grey-haired woman with an aspect as disquieting as the places she live in. She lives in a house that is initially closed to the hero, since it only opens up after a certain magical incantation - and it is located in a very dark, very old, very silent forest, a forest that evokes death. So even as a helper, Baba Yaga seems to be tied to death - and she seems to have a mysterious side to her as, when the heroes see her for the first time, the narration tends to mention that he finds her in the middle of “hatching plans inside her head” or “conceiving plots in her mind”. So the witch is constantly up to something, a something that is never revealed.

A third tale breaks what seemed to be some sort of generosity. In “The Princess Virgin-Miracle”, Baba Yaga acted out of admiration for the noble deeds of the hero ; in “The princess turned into a frog”, she purely helped without asking anything in exchange. But in “The prince with the mustache of gold, the princess with the hair of gold, the heating cap and the cooling flask”, she starts asking for things in exchange for her help, revealing her more ambiguous nature. In this tale, Baba Yaga agrees to help the titular “prince with a mustache of gold” only if he brings to her some “water of youth” that is said to run down the mountain where the hero’s quest is heading to. To recap briefly the story, a royal couple had two boys, young princes that tried to rescue an imprisoned princess (the titular princess with gold hair) at the top of a mountain, only to die trying to (though everybody merely believes them mysteriously gone). God took pity on the couple and gave them a third son, with supernatural power, here to remedy to the disappearance of his brothers. Growing rapidly into adulthood, the magical prince sets on his quest, and finally arrives in a dark forest, where he finds the chicken-legged house, in the middle of a field surrounded by blooming poppies. The closer he gets to the house, the sleepier the prince gets, so he has to destroy the poppies before being able to reach the house. After pronouncing yet again the same formula, he finds inside Baba Yaga, a decrepit and grey old thing covered in wrinkles and pimples. This awful demon is however surrounded by two young and pretty girls, all three sitting at a table. Upon seeing the prince, Baba Yaga asks what he is looking for, and after hearing his tale, she explains to them how and where her brothers died. The hero asks her how he can find the one who ravished the princess (who as it turns out is a living hurricane, a sentient malevolent wind), even though Baba Yaga warns him the wind might take him away too. However the prince is confident in his supernatural power, and so the Baba Yaga asks in exchange of her help for some of the water of youth located on the same mountain as the princess. She gives to the prince three gifts: a ball of thread to show him the way, a heating cap, and a cooling flash. These three objects will allow the young man to reach the mountain, and climb it without fearing the strong temperature changes. Once his quest is done, he returns to Baba Yaga and gives her some of the water of youth. She takes it, and immediately she becomes young and beautiful. Overjoyed, she gives as a reward her two daughters (the two maidens seen in the beginning) to the prince’s brothers for them to marry (the prince with the golden mustache marrying the princess with gold hair).

Now, it seems that Baba Yaga is a benevolent character here... But it is implied she had a role to play in the kidnapping of the princess, the one that caused all those misfortunes in the first place. Indeed, the palace where the princess is locked up by the malevolent wind is... standing on chicken legs. And the prince also has to sing a rhyme-incantation “Palace, palace, move on your chicken legs, turn your back to the void and face me” to enter it. Given the two building work identically, one can wonder if the violent hurricane that took away the princess isn’t just another shape of Baba Yaga... It brings to mind the fact that Baba Yaga was often associated in folklore with storm clouds. So in this tale, she would play both the villain AND the helper... 

Such an ambiguity is also found in “The prince turned into a crayfish”. In this tale, Baba Yaga doesn’t actually exist as a character, but her absence is noted when the protagonist enters her empty chicken-legged house. Instead of the old hag, the prince sees in the house a beautiful maiden. The narrative voice insists that this maiden cannot be Baba Yaga, since Baba Yaga is old and ugly. And indeed, the maiden is revealed to be the daughter of a royal couple, who has been kidnaped by “the master of all wizards”, that is to say “a viper-flyng spirit” (a zmij-latawiec). Nothing implies that this reptile-wizard has anything to do with Baba Yaga, but maybe some secret link can be seen - again, in folklore Baba Yaga has strong snake connotations and serpentine roots. On top of that, “latawiec” is the male form of “latawica”, and while latawica usually designates a flying spirit, it is also a term to designate a witch in Polish. This mysterious evil wizard, who not only kidnapped the princess, but also turned the titular prince into a crayfish, might very well be Baba Yaga under another shape... And yet, it is in Baba Yaga’s house that the hero finds the answers he needs to complete his quests, and the means to destroy the evil wizard. So again, from Baba Yaga, good and bad seem to come.

Baba Yaga’s villainy is however growing when we look at “The flying carpet, the invisible cap, the ring that gives gold and the hitting staff”. While not part of the action, Baba Yaga casts a shadow over the tale. The antagonist of the tale is the rival of a king, who several times tries to invade his kingdom, only to be defeated by an humble fisherman with a magical ring. After being beaten two times, the antagonist seeks Koscej to ask him to kidnap the princess. And the narration points out that the idea of seeking Koscej has been suggested to the antagonist... By Baba Yaga herself! 

Her antagonism is even clearer in the tale “The devil and the old woman”. This folktale is tied to an old peasant proverb: “When the devil can’t, it is the woman he sends.” The devil of this story will say this proverb at the end, admitting that sometimes women are much more talented than him to do evil. The story goes as such: the devil can’t stand seeing the happiness of a couple, and tries to break their relationship, to no avail. A “baba” comes by and sees the desperate devil - she agrees to help him, in exchange for new shoes. This woman is described as “dry, and wrinkled, and charred like a fire-poker”, and it is suddenly revealed that this woman is none other than “the famous Yaga” (or Jedza in Polish), “who had been called a witch, and who had been plunged in the pond several times without ever drowning”. Baba Yaga manages to create trouble between the lovers, and the devil pays her with new shoes.

However it is in another tale that Baba Yaga clearly appears as a malevolent being: The knight Niezginek, the sword that cuts on its own, and the gousli that play on their own”. A couple who has twelve sons advises them to go to Baba Yaga, to ask the hand of her twelve daughters in marriage. The parents tell them of “the famous witch Baba Yaga with a leg of bones, who moves in an oak-mortar, who uses an iron pestle, and who erases her tracks with a broom.” They also tell them of Baba Yaga’s twelve daughters, all beautiful and wealthy and ready to be married. The twelve brothers go to Baba Yaga’s house, but the horse of the twelfth son (the titular Niezginek) warns his mater of the witch, reminding him that “it is hard to reach her house, but it is even harder to leave it, because she devoured thousands like you”. Baba Yaga is described as a demon, a cruel old witch as old as the world, and even though she appears to be human, she actually eats human flesh. Baba Yaga welcomes the brothers, gives them wine, mead and plenty to eat, she prepares twelve beds in front of the ones of her aughters. At midnight, she gives the order to her gousli to play music, and tells her sword to cut the head of the boys. However Niezginek tricks them into cutting the head of the daughters instead. Discovering this in the morning, she screams, tear off hair from her head, and using her mortar and pestle hunts the brothers down. Thanks to magical helpers, Niezginek slows her down by making a river, than a lake, then a forest appear. Baba Yaga is forced to let them go and return home, but it is said that her blood-shot eyes still glow in the sky, leaving a red trail behind them. While the witch seems vanquished, the eleven brothers of Niezginek grow jealous of him, and force him into confronting the witch again. They inform the king of the existence of gousli playing on their own, and convince him to send Niezginek steal them. Thanks to his horse, who gives him a magical herb putting Baba Yaga to sleep, the hero returns with the gousli. The increasingly jealous brothers tell the king about the sword that cuts on its own, and Niezginek once again goes there - neutralizing the sword with holy water. The jealous brothers finally evoke the existence of the princess Virgin-Miracle, and the king asks Niezginek to bring her to him. The hero discovers that Virgin-Miracle is actually the youngest daughter of Baba Yaga - after losing her other twelve daughters, her gousli and her sword, she feared to be robbed of her last daughter. So she locked her in a boat of silver with a mast of gold, and sent it to wander across the sea, the key to its doors thrown into the depths of the ocean. And Baba Yaga guards the boat by swimming in her mortar, sending malevolent winds to push away any boat getting too close. (Another association with wind, which confirms the suggestion from “The prince with the gold mustache” that Baba Yaga might be the same evil hurricane that took away the princess). 

Baba Yaga in “Thea: The Awakening”

II) A double nationality: Russian witch, Polish witch

The ambiguity and mystery of Baba Yaga doesn’t simply rely in her morality, but also in her nationality. 

Despite her shape-shifting, the Baba Yaga from the tales of Glinski is extremely similar to the one of Russian folklore. Like her Russian counterpart, she keeps hoping from the role of a helper, to the role of a villain, to an ambiguous character. And the Polish Baba Yaga shares with the Russian one several traits: the appearance, the familial relationships, the house, the powers, the objects owned, the symbolisms... Baba Yaga lives alone, or with her daughters - sometimes she had sisters with the same appearance and same name. Very old, she has grey hair, is covered in wrinkles and pimples, and has a bony leg. She is a decrepit, dry, even “charred” person, except when the water of youth turns her into a beautiful maiden. She moves in a mortar of oak, with an iron pestle and a broom. She lives in a chicken-legged house in the depths of a dark and morbid wood. The hero must use a magical incantation to enter the house, and inside Baba Yaga is spinning some thread, singing, or thinking about various projects. Surprised by the hero, she questions him, and offers him hospitality, and afterward she either helps him or tries to devour him. She has numerous magical servants and helpers, and in exchange for her help she can ask something, be it new shoes or the water of youth. However when she hunts down the hero, she can only be stopped by other magical means. For the symbolism, the witch is tied with death, is linked to a violent wind that captures human, and also appears as some sort of flying spirit associated with snakes.

All these traits are found in or have equivalent in Russian fairytales. It seems thus very obvious that Baba Yaga was borrowed from the Russian fairytales to be placed into the Polish ones - which is very probable given the “Ivan Krylov” incident. Respected for a long time as a great collector of folk tales of Poland, Ivan Krylov caused a scandal when in one of his book about Polish folktales he merely rerote several tales of Aleksander Puskin, Vasilij Zukovskij and Piotr Ersov. This caused an outrage among Polish folklorists, and under this light, some of the stories talked about above seem to be tied to Russian folktales. The second part of “The Princess Virgin-Miracle” seems to be inspired by “Ivan Tsarevitch and the Grey wolf”, while the main plot of “Knight Niezginek” might have been taken from “The Small Hunchback-Horse”. The tale of “The Princess turned into a frog” seems to confirm this transfer from Russia to Poland, since this tale is very common and widespread in Russia. Its most famous version was collected by Aleksandr Afanassiev as “The Princess-Frog”. However, Glinski couldn’t have plagiarized Afanassiev’s collections of Russian folktales - simply because they were not published and still in the works when Glinski’s own collection of Polish folktales was released. Given how the tale of the princess-frog is very popular in the Slavic tradition, it is more probable that, instead of borriwing it from Russian folklore, Glinski might have rather ressurected a memory of it from the Bielorussian or Ukrainian folklores (which were very strong in the region Glinski came from). This would notably explain the different depictons of Baba Yaga in his tales.

Now... while there are attested roots of Russian literature, these roots only cover a quarter of Glinski’s collect. And even then, when we look in more details, other sources were clearly in the work. For example, “The Princess Virgin-Miracle” has ties to Ersov’ “The Small Hunchback Horse”, and yet this tale doesn’t have the Baba Yaga part the Polish one has - it seems to be mixed with a tale of the type “Baba Yaga and Small Piece”. What is unclear is if Glinski actually fused the two tales himself, or if the fusion had been done by the storyteller Glinski took his story from - probably a fusion born from a “local genealogy”. A similar “wedding of fairy motifs” is found in a Bielorrusian tale called “Ivan the idiot and the Small Hunchback Horse”, which seems to confirm that Glinski might have been more influenced by Bielorussia than Russia.

So... is Glinski’s Baba Yaga actually a character of the borderlands of Poland, rather than Poland itself? You see, Glinski came from the region of Nowogrodek (Navahrudak) who, while being part of the Republic of the Two Nations for a very long time, is now located in Bielorussia. Glinski claims that the tales of his book are coming from his childhood - so it is safe to assume that “The Polish storyteller” (Glinski’s book) is actually reflecting the fairy-traditions of the Nowogrodek region in the first half of the 19th century. Which means Baba Yaga could be part of a local folklore, mixing influences from Poland, Bielorussia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Russia. Glinski himself, noticing this cultural mix, did not felt the need to make a difference between strictly Polish tales and “foreign” stories. For Glinski, this local folklore of the borderlands reflected the original Slavic unity that preceeded the divide of the various nations - it is a leftover of a distant, pagan past. Glinski was convinced that all the folktales of Poland, Lithuania and Russia where all once part of a same culture of the Slagic tribes, which then was split among different countries, and each “nationalized” until they couldn’t be recognized anymore. This idealized vision of a “primal Slavic culture” was notably an echo of the theories of Johann Gottfried von Herder, Zorian Dolega Chodakowksi and Kazimierz Brodzinski, when they insisted that intellectuels should re-create a national literature based exclusively on Slavic folktales. Glinski (who was a fan of Brodzinski) seemd to clearly have the goal to recreate a “Polish fairy literature” through the Slavic culture of the borderlands - and thus, his Baba Yaga is a manifestation of what is supposed to be the Slavic pre-Christian community. 

This idea was denfed by Wojcicki in his essay “On witches”. This man, who was named “the Polish Grimm” for being the first to ever publish a compilation of fairytales in Poland, deemed that the witches of Russia and Poland have numerous common points, most notably in their physical appearence. He noted that, in both countries, they were old women with wrinled and dry faces, with deep and red eyes, an abominable and repulsive creature”. He concluded in a common origin of those two figures. The “Slagic genelogy” theory can also be reinforced by the study of Ryszard Berwinski, in his “Study of enchantments, spells, superstitions and folk-belief”: he pointed out that Baba Yaga seems to be born from the degradation of a Slavic deity who was probably the wife of Perkunas and the mother of the world. Christianity apparently reduced her to a mere “wicked witch”. This theory, still very popular today, seems coherent from a linguistic point of vie, as the word “baba”, which denotes the feminity of the character, is present in ALL Slavic languages. “Yaga” is more ambiguous, but some trace it to the proto-Slavic. Glinski, in his tales, rather uses “Jedza”, the Polish variant of “Yaga”, though he uses the Russian form “Jaga” in one tale, “Knight Niezginek”. 

Despite this complicated and confusing genealogy, the heavy use of the Polish “Jedza” suggests that one of the main preoccupation here was the “Polization” of the figure. We could once again invoke the essay of Wojcicki who, despite theorizing a common Slavic source, pointed out the national differences that allowed the creation of a strictly Polish witch. For example, even though Baba Yaga’s role as a “witch” can be disputed, she clearly has parallels with the myth of the Polish witch. In Polish folklore, the witches are linked to the devil, and they gather some nights for a “sabbath” on the Bald Mountain (Lysa Gora). Even though there is a Bald Mountain among the mountains of the Holy-Cross (Gory Swietokrzyskie), the name was actually a general description for any high place outside of a city or a village. Already present in medieval literature, the character of the witch becomes more frequent in Polish texts starting in the 17th century, thanks to the numerous witch trials, which reached their peak in Poland between the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the “Komedia rybaltowska nowa”, the witch is called “baba”, even though the most common name of a witch is “czarownica”, or “wiedzma”. The witch has a lot of other names: lamia, latawica, poludnica, przepoludnica, nocnica, jedza, strzyga... And it is the last one that interested searchers such as Berwinski. The strige, the striga, the stryzga, with which witches were fused in Polish minds. This type of feminine vampire is not only tied to the Roman Lamia, but also to the “jedza” who was originally supposed to be a “female demon of the forest, appearing as a human and who dates back to the Middle-Ages ; she is the embodiment of the soul of a woman who died giving bith.” Due to an etymology tied to the verb of eating (jezenie), the jedza is also a flesh-eating, human-eating monster. The fusion of these pagan demons and the witch probably happened when the witch figure was brought from the West into the Polish culture, and while the witch took over the pre-Christian creatures, she still kept their names, even though they were emptied of their original meaning.

Glinski did use a few of the terms talked above to designate Baba Yaga - though he does so rarely. In “The devil and the old woman”, she is called “czarownica”, while in “The knight Niezginek” she is called “jedza”. But in all the other tales, Glinski doesn’t mention that Baba Yaga is a witch, he doesn’t even mention her occupation or position. So she is only called a witch when she plays a negative role in the story. It is very revealing of Glinski’s own Catholic culture - by associating the witch with evilness, he feeds into the demonization of Slavic traditions through Christianity. In fact, Glinski even mentions the punishments inflicted to witches - how they were thrown in the water to see if they were in a pact with the devil. However Glinski still tries to reach out for the old paganism. For example in “The devil and the old woman”, the “baba”, who is described as a “czarownica” is called Baba Yaga - however, in a story collected prior by Wojcicki, the character of the witch is simply called “baba”, without any mention of Baba Yaga. So Glinski seems to have tried to fuse the witch of the Catholic Polish folklore with Baba Yaga. Similarly, in “The Knight Niezginek”, the character called by the Russian name Baba Jaga, is also called “jedza” and “czarownica”, when in truth this Russian character shouldn’t have any link to the Polish witch. So, the author of the article here, thinks that Glinski actually tried to make the figure of Baba Yaga more “polish”, the same way he made other Russian fairytales “Polish” in nature.

The conclusion of the article is that the ambiguous Baba Yaga of Glinski’s tales is reflecting the contradictions of his project, and the mentality of his times. Glinski tried to make appear from Polish folktales the “pre-Christian, Slavic source” he had perceived in the multiculturalism of his native region, at the borderlands of the Russian Empire. So it makes sense to see this witch, supposed to be a cultural core of the Eastern Slavic, appear in Polish folktales, and it makes just as much sense to see her share common traits with her Russian counterpart. This way of resurrectng Polish culture through Slavic culture (and more precisely the Russian one) might be interpreted as slavophilia by Glinski, and a proof of him belonging to this wave of Polish men who, disappointed by the West and its values after the Spring of the People, turned towards Russia in hope of finding in it the salvation of Poland. In such a context, the presence of a Russian Baba Yaga in “The Polish Storyteller” is far from a trivia, and the huge success of Glinski’s tales in Poland even less trivial. It shows that readers recognized themselves in this “slavophile Polishness”, and it favored the integration of the character of Baba Yaga in Polish culture.

Baba Yaga in “Castlevania: Lords of Shadows”

[rhianna]

Folk Tales from the Russian by Kalamatiano De Blumenthal and Verra Xenophontovna

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12851

Title:  Folk Tales from the Russian

Contents:    The Tsarevna frog -- Seven Simeons -- The Language of the birds -- Ivanoushka the Simpleton -- Woe Bogotir -- Baba Yaga -- Dimian the peasant -- The Golden mountain -- Father Frost.

Subject:    Folklore -- Russia Subject:    Tales -- Russia 

FOREWORD

In Russia, as elsewhere in the world, folklore is rapidly scattering before the practical spirit of modern progress. The traveling peasant bard or story teller, and the devoted "nyanya", the beloved nurse of many a generation, are rapidly dying out, and with them the tales and legends, the last echoes of the nation's early joys and sufferings, hopes and fears, are passing away. The student of folk-lore knows that the time has come when haste is needed to catch these vanishing songs of the nation's youth and to preserve them for the delight of future generations. In sending forth the stories in the present volume, all of which are here set down in print for the first time, it is my hope that they may enable American children to share with the children of Russia the pleasure of glancing into the magic world of the old Slavic nation.

THE AUTHOR.

[xasha777]

In the heart of Russia's storied capital, where the red bricks of the Kremlin have stood witness to centuries of history, a most peculiar event unfolded, altering the course of an ordinary day into the fabric of legend.

General Ivan Braginsky, the colossal guardian of Moscow, a figure as old as the folklore whispered in the chilly winds of Russian winters, awakened from his century-long slumber beneath the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral. As the hands of the Spasskaya Tower clock ticked with an ominous cadence, the ground rumbled and the air thickened with anticipation.

As the city’s denizens hustled along the cobblestone streets, a bizarre spectacle erupted. With a thunderous roar that echoed through the alleyways, General Braginsky emerged, towering above the city, his uniform adorned with medals of bygone eras. His presence was a relic, a mythic embodiment of the nation’s unyielding spirit.

But it was not a call to arms that had roused the General from his slumber; it was a far stranger duty that beckoned. From his gargantuan mouth poured not words of command, but an endless river of green slime, the likes of which the world had never seen. It oozed and flowed, filling the Moskva River with a viscous tide, engulfing the cobblestones, and trapping the city's peculiar, stout inhabitants in a sticky embrace.

These citizens, characters sprung from the pages of Russian fairy tales, found themselves in an uproar of confusion and delight. There were the Matryoshka men, their round bodies nesting within one another, scampering about with bewildered joy. The babushka ladies, their scarves fluttering like banners, chattered with excitement, while the street musicians, their balalaikas in hand, strummed a tune to the rhythm of this odd new world.

In the center of it all, a group of merchants, their samovars now bobbing like boats upon the green sea, adapted with the stoicism of a people used to the harsh whims of their land. They turned their impromptu vessels, hawking their tea and sweets to anyone who would partake.

Amidst the chaos, a little boy named Misha, with the courage of a storybook hero, navigated the slime with his makeshift raft, a door uprooted from his own home. He weaved through the laughing, singing, and occasionally grumbling figures, making his way to the General.

With a voice that belied his small stature, Misha called out, "General Braginsky, your wake-up has turned our day upside down! What can we do to restore Moscow to its former ways?"

The General, his face softening into a grandfatherly smile beneath his bushy moustache, replied, "Little one, Moscow has always been a city of wonder and surprise. Let this be a day of celebration, a day where the stories of old come to life and dance with the modern age. As the sun sets, so shall this green tide recede, leaving behind memories that will be told for generations."

And so it was, as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden glow upon the city, the slime began to retreat. General Braginsky, with a final salute to the city he had watched over for centuries, sank back into the earth, leaving no trace but the stories that would be passed on.

The people of Moscow, their hearts full of laughter and eyes sparkling with the magic of the day, cleaned their beloved streets and monuments, knowing that life had granted them a story of their very own—a day when their city had been awash not just with history, but with the fantastical essence of fairy tales come to life.

[bookcub]

so many books ive read for school, like beloved by Toni Morrison, which was absolutely worth it. i dont think i need to explain why.

currently i am listening to deathless by cathrynn m valente which is quite good, but due to my lack of knowledge of Russian history, politics, cutoms, and folklore, i am more than a little lost. its really interesting and the audiobook helped a lot but its still confusing for me

Weekly Bookish Question #389 (May 12th - May 18th 2024)

What’s a book that was difficult to read for you (for one reason or another) but definitely worth it?

[taylorswiftarthistories]

Creek in the Forest by Grigoriy Myasoyedov, 1880's / "seven" by Taylor Swift

[unhonestlymirror]

Raiting of types of Ukrainian literature:

Folklore (many songs, rituals, demons, kozaks and other cool stuff) (includes Mykola Hohol who is NOT Nikolay Gogol and is NOT a r*ssian writer) - 9/10

History (Volodymyr Malyk my beloved) (sorry, Panteleimon Kulish, you're cool but I'm not really a fan of yours) - 8/10

Sadness (someone dies because of russians) (includes Holodomor, wars, soviets) - 2/10

Hidden sadness (russians commiting crimes again but we continue live laugh love) - 4/10

Sadness but without russians - Intermezzo, Valce Melancholique, more cool stuff from women writers (Lesya Ukrainka is the coolest)

COMEDY (Ostap Vyshnya, this sarcastic mazafaka, I love him very much) (Kotlyarevsky, the genius) (Karpenko-Karyi, Nechui-Levytskyi, Oleksandr Dovzhenko, there are too many cool writers) - 100/10

Action (Bahryanyi) - 10/10

Books for children (Little Mermaid from 7-B, that superdude in Reebok sneakers, ТТБ, Тореадори з Васюківки) would reread it definitely - 10000000/10

[cobalt-knave]

I’ve got many recs! All the recs you could ever need!

McGillicuddy and Murder’s Pawn Shop - supernatural/fantasy historical fiction. The diary of Melinda Maudie Merkle. She works at simply the most boring job in the world as a typist, and the only excitement in her day comes from visiting an unusual pawn shop. That is, until she finds something there that changes things, changes her.

Featuring: Growing into a new person. A partially wooden man who kills people (his name is Wrath, and he is everything to me, and I need more people to know him). Plans that work out. Finding community. Finding love and choosing to walk away because that’s what’s best. Becoming more than you thought you were capable of. WLW (bi).

It’s also got a very decent backlog with I believe five seasons in total (now complete).

The Antique Shop - supernatural fiction. Maya is a university student in Scotland who finds a job at an old Antique Shop. An Antique Shop, apparently, where people go to find supernatural solutions to supernatural problems or perhaps simply find supernatural problems by purchasing an item from the shop.

Featuring: An aroace main character. Discussions of Fate, free will, and if those are truly opposites. Scottish folklore. A cat names Chronos. Friendship. Strange items. Maya is my beloved. A corruption arc (depending on how you look at it ;))

It is now complete with 50 episodes.

Georgie Romero Is Done For - comedy(?) (it’s not the horror genre or vibe at all but it’s classic, almost cartoony horror creatures plus some romance, some mystery, and some coming of age). Georgie Romero is ... dead. She is a zombie specifically. She finds herself in a community of ghosts, witches, vampires, and more, and she begins to make a life for herself there, taking dance lessons, getting cupcakes from the bakery, and trying to find out how she died.

Featuring: Some downright delightful characters. It’s a fun one. Themes of grief and death as the premise suggests, but overall a very light tone. WLW.

Two seasons currently out.

Russian For Cats - “This is the story of Nadia, a bilingual cat who escapes from a secret lab, and Brian, the Minnesotan who helps her hide from the spies chasing her. It's a tale of friendship and adventure... that also teaches you Russian!“

Featuring: Beloved himbo. Friendship. Light and delightful. Some drama, but I promise it all works out in the end.

Completed with 12 episodes.

Midnight Burger - Science fiction. A time and space traveling diner. A perfect place to sit down when you are in need of a moment of rest and a good cup of coffee. The main cast consists of Caspar (who has been described as an artist in the medium of misery), Ava (a physicist who is smarter than you and won’t hesitate to tell you that), Leif (an overall laid back guy and a ... cook), Gloria (a former restaurant-owner who just wanted a job and ended up in the diner), and Effie & Zebulon Mucklewain (an old timey radio).

Featuring: Friendship. SPACE. Running from an empire run by an army of people named Ted. Learning what exactly happens when you go through the black hole. “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE??” “We run a diner :)”.

Episodes are ~1 hour and there are currently 23 episodes. Comes out once a month.

ars PARADOXICA - science fiction and historical fiction. "When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe.”

Featuring: An aroace main character. Very competent ladies of varying moralities. A neat code at the end of every episode. WLW recurring character.

Completed with 35 ~40 minute episodes.

The Hidden People - self-aware urban fantasy, action, comedy. The first season is a mystery as the parents of Mackenna and Thomas Thorne are murdered. Strangely, it sure seems like they were killed by Mack herself, but that can’t be right, can it? The tale evolves into something with changelings and action and stepping sideways into new places and new roles.

Featuring: A vaguely demonic narrator who is JUDGING Mack’s lack of baking skills. Aspec WLW main character. Friendship! Siblings! Folklore and mythology! Buffy references! Great sound design. Self aware sense of humor. Epic character development for the main character.

Currently 3 seasons (~22 40 minute episodes each) are out.

We Fix Space Junk - science fiction comedy. “Seasoned smuggler Kilner and reluctant fugitive Samantha as they travel the galaxy, dodging bullets and meeting strange and wonderful beings as they carry out odd jobs on the fringes of the law. A female-led sci-fi comedy sitcom set in the far future, in a high-tech, dystopian world,”

Featuring: Some beloved AI characters. Weird space things! It’s been a while since I listened, but it is very good and I recommend it.

3 seasons out now plus some mini series.

The Strange Case Of Starship Iris - science fiction. “In 2189, Earth narrowly won a war against extraterrestrials. The Strange Case of Starship Iris is about what comes after. It's a story of outer space, survival, espionage, resistance, identity, friendship, found family, romance, and secrets. (Also, there’s jokes.)“

Featuring: Found family! Crew as family! Jewish liberal arts guy with mafia ties!! Great characters. Greta writing. Aspec and WLW and all other sorts of queer going on.

2 seasons currently out.

quick question to the crowd, anyone have any non-horror podcast recs? preferably female led/wlw also preferably not very short

[princesssarisa]

Snow White Winter: “Skazka o myortvoy tsarevne i o semi bogatyryakh” ("The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights") (1951 Russian animated film)

Alexander Pushkin's 1833 poem The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights has always been my favorite international version of the Snow White tale. It generally follows the same plot as the Grimms' version, but with seven strapping knights (or bogatyrs, the knight-errants of Russian folklore) in place of the seven dwarfs, and various other details that give it a unique, distinctly Russian flavor. This 30-minute animated adaptation of the poem was produced in 1951 by Russia's most famous animations studio, Soyuzmultfilm, and directed by "the patriarch of Soviet animation," Ivan Ivanov-Vano.

This film follows Pushkin's poem faithfully: in fact its entire screenplay is just an abridged version of the poem. All the narration by actress Vera Popova and all the dialogue the characters speak consists of Pushkin's own rhyming words. It begins with a series of still illustrations depicting the prologue, in which a Tsaritsa gazes endlessly at the snowy landscape, waiting for her beloved husband to come home from a journey, then gives birth to a daughter on Christmas Eve, and lives just long enough afterwards to give the newly-returned Tsar one loving glance the next day. Animation replaces stills after the Tsar remarries. True to Puskin's poem, the heroine is only called "the Princess": the only character with a proper name is the prince, whose name is Yelesei. Unlike the Grimms' seven-year-old Snow White (but as in most adaptations), the Princess is already a young woman when the magic mirror proclaims her the fairest, and furthermore, Prince Yelesei is already her fiancé. Instead of ordering a huntsman to kill the Princess, the wicked Tsaritsa orders a chambermaid to bind her to a tree in the forest and leave her for the wolves. But of course the maid can't bear to do it and simply "loses" the Princess in the woods instead. The Princess soon finds her way to a large, majestic wooden house, where the guard dog instantly befriends her. She goes on to tidy the house and prepare supper, and when the seven knights ride home and meet her, they readily adopt her as their "sister." Over time, however, they all fall in love with her, and eventually implore her to choose one of them to marry. But she stays faithful to Prince Yelesei, and as true men of chivalry, the knights accept this.

Eventually, of course, the magic mirror reveals that the Princess is still alive, and the Tsaritsa journeys to the knights' house disguised as a poor old woman with a poisoned apple in hand. The faithful dog tries but fails to chase her away, then runs into the forest to alert the knights, but they arrive home too late. Sadly, the dog also dies after he picks up the poisoned apple in his mouth to show to the knights. Meanwhile, Prince Yelesei has been searching far and wide for his Princess, and he finally implores the sun, then the moon, and then the wind to tell him where she is. The wind reveals that the knights have placed her in a crystal coffin deep in a mountain cave. Yelesei ventures into the cave, and at this point the film makes its one important departure from Pushkin's poem, taking a cue from Disney instead and having Yelesei revive the Princess with a kiss on the lips. (In the poem, she revives when Yelesei slams his fists into the coffin in a fit of anguish, shattering the glass.)

In the end, the Tsaritsa drops dead of grief when she sees Yelesei bringing the Princess safely home. The Princess then reunites with her father the Tsar and marries Yelesei in a splendid wedding, with the seven knights as guests of honor.

If I could chose one word to describe this film, it would be "poetic," and not just because it adapts a poem. The settings resemble acrylic paintings, with rich details of Russian art and architecture in the interiors, and with beautiful, atmospheric use of nature imagery too. Examples include the brown autumn leaves that gently fall onto the poisoned Princess's lifeless body, the glimmering splendor of the crystal cave where her coffin rests, and the fields of white spring flowers through which she rides with Prince Yelesei after reviving. The human and animal characters are generally rotoscoped and realistically drawn, enhancing the film's sophisticated beauty. The blue-gowned Princess is an epitome of gentle grace, contrasted well by the haughty red-clad Tsaritsa, while the seven knights and Prince Yelesei embody the strength of classic Russian heroes. Further effective presences are the magic mirror, with its flower-cheeked face and high female voice, and the sun, moon and wind, with their stylized faces. Admittedly, between the sheer painterly realism of the visuals and the rhyming verse dialogue, the film is almost too poetically elegant compared to other, livelier adaptations of Snow White, at least by American standards. (Another touch of cultural dissonance is in the frank depiction of the seven knights shooting birds while hunting and later in the death of the dog – much the same cavalier treatment of animal death found in the royal hunt scene in the Czech classic Three Wishes for Cinderella.) But the charms of its romantic fairy tale world are irresistible, and enhanced by an equally romantic musical score.

For lovers of classic Russian animation and of international versions of beloved fairy tales, this is definitely a must-see film.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @superkingofpriderock

[you-cant-spell-subtext-without]

Do you have any book recs? Have been wanting to read and I don't know what

This is going to disclose that I read an inappropriate amount of YA and I apologize in advance, however:

[got verbose so long-winded list of recs are under the cut]

ANYTHING by Sarah J. Maas if you like series (my favorite of hers are the ACOTAR books - starts with A Court of Thorns and Roses [THERE ARE WINGS!!!]); anything by Leigh Bardugo; The Ember quartet by Sabaa Tahir (Ember in the Ashes is the first book); the Caraval trilogy by Stephanie Garber.

If you like Bridgewater, Lauren Shippen also created an audio drama called the Bright Sessions and there are three in-universe books - the third came out today!!! You don't have to have listened to the audio drama to read them, and they can be read as stand-alones or separately. They are: The Infinite Noise (TIN is such a comfort read), A New Darkness, and Some Faraway Place (HBD TO THIS ONE!)

Sam Smith mentioned another series by Laini Taylor that I love dearly at this last con; first book is The Daughter of Smoke and Bone (monsters, angels, lore galore!)

If you wanna get Halloween-y I really love the book Anna Dressed in Blood and its sequel Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake (also her Three Dark Crowns series is amazing).

I can't book rec without mentioning my beloved Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden (first book is The Bear and the Nightingale), which accurately incorporates so much of my own Russian historical folklore and Talk About A Compelling Otherworldly Being as a lead character RAWR.

I read a lot of series; that much is clear. However -

Non-series: Slaughterhouse Five; The Song of Achilles (but prepare to be broken); The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (peak literature); The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (and watch the Netflix film after); On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. I was recently rec'ed Piranesi by Susanna Clarke as well and really enjoying diving into that one (I read mult books and fic at once I am unwell).

Oh! And White Oleander. I am always thinking about White Oleander by Janet Finch, be warned if it was an AO3 fic though the triggers would be a paragraph long. But its fucking lovely and sadly formative brain reading years for me.

If you're ok with harder topics, the best two books I've ever read on the concept of addiction are Beautiful Boy by David Sheff and the companion piece Tweak by Nic Sheff (the boy in question). Please be forewarned they are BOTH very hard reads dealing with drug abuse (meth and other things). Also as someone with personal history of ED I would be remiss not to mention Portia De Rossi's memoir Unbearable Lightness which does the best job of describing that area of struggle I have ever read (however again - please watch the triggers).

For lighter, funner fare please read through Tamora Pierce's entire oeuvre and enjoy the stories of my youth. Also Anne McAffrey. Pern, my beloved safe place.

Nonfiction I have enjoyed includes What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates; Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (if you're a history human this is a great account of the REAL history so many of us were not taught in school); and Pity The Reader by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell (a great writing book).

oh god this is so long and now I want to re read almost everything on this list. hope this helps; if you have a specific genre or type of story you are thinking of pls feel free to lmk. I used to (and sometimes still!! do!) read a TON.

[simuran]

hiii Varya, I was wondering what's your favourite russian myth? I know its random but i was having a chat with a friend about russian folklore and realized I don't know much about it, so I got curious (take your time to answer, no hurry! ❤)

Awww, that's such a lovely question! I love it 💖

Okay, so first of all we don't really have myths? Like if you look at Greek or Norse mythology there're so many stories about how the world was created, and then how the gods were born, and how the gods were at war with each other, and about their relationships with mortals - we don't have that. Unfortunately we didn't have our Snorry Sturluson, nor our Hesiod, and so we barely know the names of the gods our ancestors used to worship! "Thanks" in no small part to Christianity.

The main sources of what we do know are:

Slavic chronicles - but they (a) are focused on historical events, so they mention gods only describing religious events, like installations of idols, and (b) were written by monks so like. say that the gods desecrate the earth and stuff;

Christian teachings against paganism;

foreign sources (very fragmentary).

So yeah... We don't have our myths anymore...

But! We do have something! We have fairy-tales, bylinas (legends supposedly based on historical facts, but uh. the same way Merlin BBC is based on historical King Arthur lol), and also "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", my beloved ❤️❤️❤️

"The Tale of Igor's Campaign" is an anonymous kind-of-epic kind-of-poem (it's complicated) created in late 12th century. Prince Igor leads a raid against Polovtsians, is defeated and captured, which grieves his wife, Efrosinya Yaroslavna, and his father, Svyatoslav, and all the Russian nature, but then escapes and returns home safe and sound. Oh, and also he turns into a squirrel, a wolf, and a falcon, which is dope.

The main theme of the poem is conveyed in Svyatoslav's monologue about how the unity or all Russian Princes is necessary for Russia's survival, but my favourite part is Yaroslavna's Lament, where she asks the forces of nature (specifically the Wind, the Sun, and the river Dnepr) why they were cruel to Russian warriors, and begs them to protect her husband. It is an extremely beautiful lyrical piece. I especially love that right after her Lament the forces of nature do help Igor escape so. maybe she was something of a witch :D

Also there're many beautiful illustrations of this moment:

1. here's Perov's verion

2. Vakurov's

3. Golikov's

4. Konstantinovky's

5. Vasilyev's

6. And my personal favourite, Nesterov's sketch

I mean look at her!!!

So, yeah, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and its part, Yaroslavna's Lament, are my favourite pieces of Old Russian literature :))

[theavatarspirit]

Do you have a recommendation list of wlw books? Could be your favorites or the ones you thought were the best or just anything really. I'm always looking for more of them

of course my dude

lets get the big boys out of the way

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone. you've probably heard about. you've probably seen quotes from it. i myself was late to it (i read it the other month) but lord is the hype worth it (in my opinion). made me crazy.

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon. yes its big. im sorry but it is worth it. samantha the audacity to create sabran berethnet and let me read the book in a 24 period. the yearning of it all.

gideon the ninth/harrow the ninth by tamsyn muir. its aight. im not the person you should go to about gtn tbh but everyone else out there will tell you about it.

my personal favs

a memory called empire/a desolation called peace by arkady martine. yes i am talking about them again. these two books are the best thing ever written. how many hugos can one woman win. it is so intricate and layered and nobody says what they mean and the politics and the brain surgery and the sluttiness of former ambassadors. thinking about mahit dzmare's character makes me feral. three seagrass can be a teixcalaan so personal.

foundryside/shorefall by robert jackson bennett. me once again banging my one man drum about foundryside. please it is so good i dont care if the fantasy magic system isn't for you. there is a shit talking key. there is brain surgery. there are complex morals. there is a wlw romance just for the hell of it. where the plot goes in shorefall to this day makes me batshit insane. i have read shorefall at least half a dozen times in four months. can the third book come out now please mr bennett i am dying.

the long way to the small angry planet by becky chambers. becky chambers my beloved. i would die for you. i am so sorry i haven't read to be taught yet but i will buy everything you write. but about this actual book it is perfect. everything in this book was so good and soft and whenever i thought something would happen that would make me mad. nope. every single book in this series (there are four of them and all are beautiful to look at if you dont live in america) is outstanding. becky chambers and arkady martine duking it out for the hugo next year.

other books i wholeheartedly recommend

the rise of kyoshi/the shadow of kyoshi by fc lee. yes they are fantastic. if you like atla read them.

when the tiger came down the mountain by nghi vo. stunning novella but i recommend reading the first one the empress of salt and fortune first. also stunning but not as gay.

the jasmine throne by tasha suri. the start of a promising trilogy. the slow burn reeled me in lads. but in my honest opinion not as morally grey as what the people on goodreads said.

sweet and bitter magic by adrienne tooley. do you not mind ya? do you like every single trope imaginable shoved into a book? this is the book for you. the angst got to me ill admit it.

the atlas six by olivie blake. some kind of weird dark academia shit going on here. a plot relevant threesome. not wlw but theres lgbt rep throughout.

the library of the unwritten/the archive of the forgotten by aj hackwith. again not wlw but lgbt rep but i adore these books. third in the trilogy comes out the end of the year and i am stoked. cool library concepts is the best book plot and this are by far the coolest.

steel crow saga by paul krueger. a fun read overall. atla and pokemon vibes with some of that sweet sweet complex moral questions with a fun wlw couple.

jane unlimited by kristin cashore. i dont care it gets really weird in the end i adore this book. get weird kirstin you do you. fun chose your own adventure type thing. main character has romantic moments with two of the characters and its not romance heavy.

finna by nino cipri. novella about two exes trying to get through inter dimensional ikea. yes that is the plot. yes it is good

books that i haven't finished/read yet but have heard they are good

she who became the sun by shelley parker-chan. ive read the first couple chapters and was meh but everyone else ive seen that has read it loved it. is said to be mulan meets the song of achilles, which are two things i have not seen/read so.

one last stop by casey mcquiston. i have read 2/3s of this but ill be honest the sex kinda threw me out of the book. if you dont have this problem and liked rwrb you will also like this.

the liars dictionary by eley williams. if you like pretentious english kid speak. really neat idea for a book is you can get past that.

the councillor by ej beaton. ugh i wanted to read this one so bad but i found it at not a good reading time for me. sounds like it is fantastic though. politics heavy book.

unconquerable sun by kate elliot. if you like greek retellings and can stand tense changes (i cannot).

black sun by rebecca roanhorse. have heard nothing but good things and is hugo nominated and yet i have not finished. shame on me.

these feathered flames by alexandra overy. russian folklore inspired fantasy. dont know whether it is classified as ya but has ya vibes.

fireheart tiger by aliette de bodard. i haven't even started this one but its short and has politics, yearning, and yearning while doing politics.