#seamus rambles

[hopeless-eccentric]

i dont do a lot of book recs on here (i think ive done one before?) but the Henry Rios books by Michael Nava are so criminally underrated!

They're these mystery novels from the 1980s-1990s about a gay, Latino lawyer (Henry Rios, our protagonist/narrator) solving mysteries--usually while trying to prove his client's innocence. He's a long-suffering idealist written as this kind of hard-boiled detective.

This is actually something the whole series tackles, subverts, and deconstructs in a really interesting way! Instead of being this stoic detective, the archetype gets broken down in a lot of really fascinating and human ways earnestly discussing love, grief, intergenerational trauma, racism, homophobia, illness/disability, toxic masculinity, and substance abuse.

What I love is that these books realize that the hard-boiled detective is stuck in a point of hurt and trauma, and so the Henry Rios series makes a big deal out of fighting tooth and nail to GET BETTER--whatever it takes to improve yourself and your surroundings. While the books maintain a lot of the dark and morose vibe of the original genre (especially given the looming, perpetual grief of AIDS-era queer lit), they always come back to a death match against apathy. It's really moving stuff, especially as the books take this approach to Henry's recovery from alcoholism.

if you're interested in queer history, the books are in touch with queer legal/political history during the HIV/AIDS crisis. The first few books have been rewritten/published as well since Michael Nava's retirement, so I think a comparative reading could be really interesting. For the record, Nava was a civil rights lawyer, so this is all done REALLY well (not to mention the legal drama is engaging, theatrical, petty, gutting, and sometimes hilarious).

if you're interested in detective fiction, they're brilliant deconstructions of the genre. instead of taking the depressed alcoholic white guy with repressed desire for male companionship at face value, the series considers a gay Latino man struggling with machismo, racism and homophobia, intersectional identity, and processing/recovering from grief, childhood trauma, alcoholism, and Catholicism.

Stylistically, the books are smart, poetic, introspective, dark, and witty. There's a lot of suffering, but there are also a lot of intense moments of joy and catharsis that feel really earned.

Also, if you read the rewrites. uh. there's a lot of smut! Happy retirement, Mr. Nava!

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

Frederica Gunnhildr, and her familial ties

"For Mondstadt, as always" is the Gunnhildr family motto. Every time I use my Vision, I am reminded of my mother and the hopes of the people of Mondstadt. - Jean Gunnhildr

Frederica Gunnhildr, one of oldest leaders of Mondstadt, is the mother of Jean Gunnhildr and Barbara Pegg. She is the second-in-command of the expedition that Grandmaster Varka, Knight of Boreas, has led to unknown origins for unknown reasons. She has been working as a knight for longer than most of the current knights have been alive, and she enjoys being on the front-lines fighting for Mondstadt's safety. All according to Phonia, of course. She thinks incredibly fondly of her eldest daughter, as she taught Jean everything about their family's history, their nation, how to be act with the grace of the heir to their name, and swordsmanship. Jean is considered one of the best with a sword in the nation currently. She even wrote to her, saying that she has found a new sword for Jean and promising that it will do well to keep her safe easily. More so, Frederica hand-sewn the uniform that Jean usually wears to work, but the second outfit that Jean has used to be hers as well ! She does also love Barbara, as she sent her a lovely sunflower dress for her youngest to wear as she performs in her idol work and is written to be spending time with both daughters in Gunnhildr's Legacy description. Which tells me that she both knows of and supports her youngest's dreams and ambitions, even if she is not active in her life. Frederica does however give more time and attention to her heir, of course. She raised her alone. Which brings me to her marriage. Frederica, as established, loves the fight and loves the city. She is a proud woman with incredibly high standards and even higher work ethic. The woman was the inspiration of an entire generation of knights, and has long surpassed the requirements for becoming a Captain, if not for her own love for the front-lines. This is presumably, where she met Seamus Pegg. The Cardinal of Daybreak, a famed ex-adventurer whose name was once known across Teyvat before he settled in the Church of Favonius, cast aside his old self, and became the man of faith that he is today. I think she married him to secure her family lineage, because the way that she raised Jean is so focused on her future contribution to the city that even the people joke, A Gunnhildr learns to say "For Mondstadt, as always" before learning to say "Mommy." Which is why Jean is so... disciplined.

I think that she was excited to meet someone as formidable as herself- a respected adventurer- and she ended up with a man who... perhaps was unprepared for the Gunnhildr expectations. Sure, they were married with two children but I believe Frederica left Seamus. Remember what I said about Gunnhildr's Legacy, Jean's second outfit? Yes! Seamus kept her ceremonial clothes for years after their divorce. Why? She didn't care about those clothes ! She immediately tells Jean to keep them ! "Those were the clothes I wore when they granted me the title of 'Alder Knight.' You can take them, if you don't mind." And admittedly, while it would tragic enough that this poor woman married a man solely for her family name and for Mondstadt, I cannot help but wonder what they were like together because of that last line. Take them, if you don't mind. For a known proud woman, that sounds awful close to begging. Why? I wonder if this pious man, who quickly became an authority in the church, would turn to Ms. Gunnhildr in an effort to secure Barbatos' favor. After all, Gunnhildr's biography is public and everyone knows that Barbatos favors that family line. Was he the sort to marry for that ? Did he wonder if there was a family record, a Gunnhildr's autobiography ? Did he agree to marry Frederica in hopes of receiving private information about their nation? You know that they have it. It's suspicious to me that an adventurer would quickly rise through the theocratic ranks of one of TWO government reigning organizations in Mondstadt, when his wife was already a well-established name in the other. Seamus, a retired traveler and treasure hunter, what were you expecting in your marriage? Did Frederica leave once you gave her a legacy, or did she leave when you asked for things that don't belong to you?

[lxnceclercs]

every time i see a picture of their house it looks scary as FUCK

[hearts4hughes]

LOVING THE NEW UMICH CONTENT!!

[zipstick]

back to the future part iii is so funny. "i feel like we have a connection to him" yeah seamus that's because you look exactly the fucking same

[pooks]

(Seamus' favorite Irish Quidditch team lost and Percy attempts to cheer him up, as Prefect) Percy: C'mon now, Seamus. Think of a happy place! Now, what makes you happy? Seasmus: Being in the middle of a HUGE explosion! :D Harry: Less happy place, Percy! Less happy place. Percy: Um...think calming thoughts. I know, let's count back from ten! 10, 9, 8- Harry: NO! Ron: Duck! Hermione: NO!

[wutheringmights]

So I finished rereading Beowulf a few days ago. I really don't have a lot to say about it. I read Beowulf two other times before for my degree, and so I already knew what I was getting into both in terms of story and literary analysis. Nothing really new there. I was mostly rereading Beowulf in order to do research for a piece of original fiction I'm working on.

Generally, I really like Beowulf. I like the main character, how he's just a Swell Dude. He's the greatest warrior ever, and a not-so-great-but-not-bad king. I like how differently the poet treats Grendel and Grendel's mother compared to the dragon. I like how suddenly tragic the story is. I like the tensions between the pagan and Christian lore and wondering if the poet was Christian themself or if the poem was changed once transcribed by some monk.

I read the Seamus Heaney translation this time around. I admire the rhythm of each line and how he attempts to maintain the poet's flairs in its translation into modern English. I don't think it was any better than the other translations I read, and I honestly miss the level of detail of the versions I read for school compare the Heaney's brevity.

Heaney's introduction was fascinating, though. The way he related the translation to his thoughts how colonization damaged the Irish language, as well as how translating the poem allowed him to explore ways in which Irish persevered in modern English is really interesting, and anyone who is interested in studying Beowulf should give it a reread.

But yeah. I like Beowulf, but perhaps more as something to study than anything to read for pure enjoyment.

[devilish-parrot]

i just finished zach stone is gonna be famous and the ending... OH MY GOD HOW DO I EVEN BEGIN. i just sat there eyes wide breathing heavily just listening to zach sing the song AND THEN THE CREDITS PLAYED IT AND I NEARLY CRIED

[bbrissonn]

someone at work came to the cash with a magazine, and lemme tell you i was SHOOK when i was seamus casey on it… i had to hold back a little giggle 🤭🤭

[hopeless-eccentric]

there's something about how the hard-boiled detective* both exists to violently uphold standards of gender and sexuality and simultaneously suffers from this because he's SUCH a parody of heteromasculinity

paraphrasing gill plain's twentieth century detective fiction: gender, sexuality, and the body here, but there are a lot of ways where the detective is over-masculine in a way that loops back around to seeming queer, so he constantly overcompensates. for example, he can't ever marry, because desire shows a loss of control/stoicism, and marriage shows that part of his life is now "ruled" by a woman. however, being perpetually single is also kind of loaded, so he has to be completely alone, because hes so driven by the paranoia that any meaningful brush with men is loaded with queer meaning

at the same time, he has this terrible desire for a person to prove his cynicism wrong--his constant self-destruction has to be meaningful. there have to be good people out there who make all of this worth it! fundamentally, he's too sexist to believe a fellow intelligent "good person" worth his friendship could be a woman, so instead, there's this buried homoerotic desire for "another good man" which again. he has to bury. because even friendship gets laden with dangerous queer meanings

it's such a cage of his own making. it's wonderful and terrible and fascinating to me

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

Mondstadt Governmental Systems

walking to class and thinking about the Mondstadt governmental and power systems

So the power of the people is split between the Knights and the Church, yeah?

The Knights are responsible for the executive and judicial decisions. They're the law enforcement, they're the guardians, they're the trade and resource management. We know they are responsible for foreign relations, for ensuring that the lands are safe, and for enacting justice. We have seen both Albedo and Eula act in their capacity as Captain of Investigation and Reconnaissance respectively, we have seen Hertha work with Logicistics and Human Resources, and ofc, the Kaeya and Jean acting as Quartermaster and Acting Grandmaster respectively as well. We know the knights, we are a knight, this isn't new information.

The Church, however, less known and understood, is responsible for the social, environmental, and really cultural work of Mondstadt. Most obviously seen in the game where a couple sisters take responsibility for children during the day (Nora and Timmy), but also in the foreigners who go stand in front of the Statue to learn about Mond and the way that Seamus Pegg, Cardinal of Daybreak, was the one who Fatui approached when asking for Mondstadt civilians to be recruited.

This is interesting because we actually have never met any of the church leaders, only the Sisters and the Deaconess, with leaks mentioning a Deacon soon. We have not met Mother Maria, Cardinal Calvin, or ofc, Senior Cardinal Seamus Pegg himself. More on them specifically in a separate post.

My point being, there is still more to look into and there is still plenty of mysteries left in Mondstadt, and they aren't all hidden with Venti.

[lxnceclercs]

seamus casey has a gf this is the WORST day of my life😔😔😔😔😔

[eljeebee]

Bonjour, C'est moi 👋🏽

I'am back with another one of these random questions 😎

List 3 pet peeves from one of your OC's. Don't overthink. GO!

Kamusta!!!!

Thank your for the ask, I've been in a writing mood!

Lord Seamus II

1. Paparazzi. He hates how they're everywhere. From the moment he and his sister was born, to his father's death, and now their move to Del Sol Valley. He can tolerate them, he can keep them at bay, but the more they shove their cameras on his face, and the more his mother's mental health gets affected, the more he becomes pissed with them.

2. Girls trying to get his number. The twins has quite the reputation, especially back home at Hidden Springs. Though they may not be in the direct succession line, the people adore them, especially him, when he turned into a young adult. (Bea Valderama is different though....👀)

3. As much as he loves being back at Hidden Springs, his whole family is the biggest pet peeve of all. Sometimes he wishes he isn't born into a royal family, because even if you're not in the main limelight, time and time again that lights will be on you, either in joyful news, or in tarnishing the family's name. A royal family is quite a show, with age old tradition of family politics and intrigue. And he hates it.

[callsign-bubbles]

☕ prospects? of any teams u follow

hello nonnie!!

so i’m not even gonna lie i only have like two or three teams that i follow closely enough to have prospects HOWEVER 👀

the main prospects i follow are easton cowan and fraser minten from the knights/blades, seamus casey from umich (although he’s not really a prospect anymore, baby just signed his first pro deal 🥹), dylan duke from the syracuse crunch (umich girlie [gn] forever!) and mavrik bourque from the texas stars!!

mav and mints had amazing seasons and i’m so proud of them UGHHHH but cowboy is currently tearing it up with london in the cup final as they beat oshawa’s ass! (though at the time of me writing this they’re down 3-0 :/)

dylan played in his first ahl game a couple months ago and i’m so proud!!! (i’ve said this like five times but they're all my sons)

OH AND HOW COULD I FORGET BARKIE AND BONKS!!!! future philly flyers iktr 🫡 truly all my london boys are doing so well and i’m so damn excited for our teams’ futures!!!

this turned into me rambling but i have such a soft spot for player development :( nonnie you should’ve seen me sobbing when my guy frankie scored his first NHL goal, especially seeing it live i was in shambles

BUT YES! JUNIOR HOCKEY! PROSPECTS! GO LONDON!

[zipstick]

there's only like 30 fics on ao3 tagged with seamus mcfly. i feel like we as a community should do something about this

[curi0uscreature]

* Mentallis and his 2 Dads. Lucky