#we got irish nobles we got scottish nobles we got french nobles

[vampirecatboy]

thinking about regency au and plunking Kilian down in it

he's already a noble so he'd technically fit right in, but he's also French so what the hell is he doing in Regency Great Britain (semantics honestly, i have Irish and Scottish nobles, i'm not going for accuracy here)

i'm thinking he knows Rhys, they've met previously, and of course they have a rivalry going, very gay, very charged

they each try to teach Kira how to use a sword, very like "oh you're holding it wrong. here let me wrap my arms around you from behind and take your hands to show you the proper grip"

they probably each do that in front of the other to like, try to make the other jealous and be like "oh look Kira likes me more" meanwhile Kira is just like, internally dying because two gorgeous men are basically using him to get to each other and oh god he's a virgin no one's ever touched him like this his heart can't take it

anyway the wip is nowhere close to a place where i can introduce Kilian

unless......

[anarchotolkienist]

Question, since I don't know too much about Scotland: are the Highlanders and Lowlanders two different ethnic groups speaking their own languages, or two regional groups of ethnic Scottish people who just happen to have two different local languages? I mean, I know that legally people from the Highlands and Lowlands are Scottish, but as I started to learn about Highlandism, I got myself confused as to what precisely is the relationship between the peoples of the Lowlands and Highlands :(

I mean, if we want to talk about ethnogenesis, there's obviously not like a hard genetic line between them, because people intermarry and intermingle and humans, but if we want to talk about cultural origins/descent in a way which is not relevant to the current day (and again, also NOT ETHNIC, strictly) we can draw a distinction something like this - Lowlanders in Scotland speak/spoke Scots and have a distinct culture largely based around it, and this languge develops out of Anglo-Saxon, as spoken by the Angles. The Gaels/Highlanders, however, have a cultural origin together with the Gaels in Ireland, and therefore out of the insular Celts, who lived on the Islands of the North Atlantic before the Saxons came (and of course the Celts themselves had integrated the previous peoples who lived on these isles when they arrived). The old folkloric explanation being as the followers of Fearghas Mòr, son of the King of Dáil Riata in modern Ulster, who led some of his people to settle. The modern explanation, and the one that I hold truck with, is that the languge and culture co-evolved in one cultural zone on both sides of the Irish sea, but it's not 100% certain.

However, none of that stuff really matters, because these groups would not necessarily conceive of themselves as different and talk about their origins as such without ideological/material reasons to do so, i.e. undergoing ethnogenesis (becoming an ethnic group). In Scotland this seems to occur shortly after the Norman Conquest and the Davidan Reforms, when Gaelic quickly retreats from the Lowlands (except for the glens of Galloway, where Gaelic clings on for another few hundred years) in favour of Anglo-speaking merchants and french-speaking nobles and establishes itself north and west of the Highland Line, where it would be more or less stable for another 700 years, untill the Clearances. The first historical account of Scotland, by John of Fordrun in the 12th century, already makes a clear distinction between the Wood-Scots, and the coastal Scots, as he calls them, who he says are fundamentally different in every way, and hate eachother (supposedly, mixing up the two was the greatest insult you could make to either side) - in clothing, in languge, in manners, in civilisation, in social organisation and so on and so on. Interestingly he says that the Wood-scots (the savage Gael) still speaks 'Scottish' (he means Gaelic) whereas the coast-scots speak 'Inglis' (he means Scots). Clearly, ethnogenesis has already happened here, and the stage is set for the next millennium, as the Lowlanders try and solve their Highland Problem through every weapon available in the colonisers handbook - direct settlement in the Plantation period, divide-and-conquer, full-scale occupation, fundamental otherisation/dehumanisation, invasions and destabilisation and eventually genocide. The first few chapters of Mi-rún mór nan Gall have really good information on the medieval context, where it seems the two ethnic groups first appear if you're interested. I want to be clear though that there is no such thing as 'ethnicity' that exists independently of our thoughts about it, but it is an ideological construction that is created by people - a lot of the Lowlanders who would make much hay of their Teutonic blood and descent in the middle ages and forwards would have been the great-grandchildren of Gaelic speakers. It's culture, not blood, that matters on this sort of scale.

I hope that sort of answered your question?

[inky-duchess]

History Bites: Bad Ass Moments (Women)

In History Bites, I pick the best moments of history and the antics historical figures in order to give you inspiration for your WIP. Think of History Bites like prompts, only juicer and 90% accurate (results may vary).

Today, we will discuss the bad ass moments of history (women). This post may have a part two. Let's get to it.

Arsinoë IV was the younger sister of Cleopatra. During the civil war between her elder sister and brother who were meant to be jointly ruling, Caesar besieged Alexandria on behalf of Cleopatra, taking the royal family hostage within the palace. In the confusion after the Library of Alexandria was accidentally burned down (I mean Caesar, I love you but you're fucking dick for burning the library), Arsinoë escaped the palace and took command of the Egyptian army. Under her control, the army enjoyed success even trapping Caesar as he tried to take the Lighthouse of Alexandria. This was an important symbol to the city as well as a masterful weapon, whoever controlled the Lighthouse controlled the harbour. To escape, Caesar had to swim across the bay throwing off his great purple cloak and fine armour, holding up his important papers as he limped back to dry land, defeated by a 15-18 year old girl.

Katherine of Aragon handed Scotland its biggest defeat in history. She led troops at Flodden, winning a battle where the Scottish King died. When she wrote to Henry as well as sending him the Scottish king's coat and banners, she mentioned that she had wanted to send the body of the king but the nobles were being pussies and said no. It may have been the shadiest letter of all the Tudor period.

Artemisia Gentileschi was one of art and history's all time bad asses. She was a skilled painter at a time when women were not permitted to attend art schools. She surpassed her father's own works and some of his other students. At 18, she was raped by another artist. In a time far behind today's understanding of rape and justice, Artemisia took a great risk in publicly accusing her rapist. She underwent numerous tortures so the judges could be sure she was telling the truth. The rapist was convicted (a major win). Artemisia went on to become one of the Baroque period's most powerful painters.

Marguerite de Bressieux was a 15th century noblewoman in France. When her father's castle fell to the armies of the Prince of Orange, Marguerite and the other women of the castle were all sexually assaulted. As the French army passed through the devastated lands, they came by a group of twelve knights armoured and mounted, bearing a black banner with an orange pierced by a spear. The commander revealed their face... it was Marguerite. She asked to join the French King's forces and he allowed her though he was quite taken aback. At the Battle of Autun, each of the female knights and Marguerite hunted down the Prince of Orange's men, unmasking their faces before they killed their rapists so they would know just had come.

Harriet Tubman was an American slave who ran the Underground Railway, ferrying slaves off to freedom. After escaping herself, Harriet refused to leave others behind. Known as Moses, Harriet risked life and limb to free slaves from the plantations. During the Civil War, she worked for the Union first as a cook then as scout and spy. Over her life, Tubman released over 300 slaves.

Countess Constance Markievicz was the first woman to be elected to a British Parliament ... while imprisoned for her art in the numerous acts of rebellion in the last years of English rule. Markievicz was one of the figureheads for Irish freedom, even acting as a sniper during the 1916 Easter Rising. When the rising was over, she was imprisoned but not executed (being a woman and a high status woman) which made her angry. She believed that the fight for Irish freedom was not just a male one. Her advice to women and girls of the time was "Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank, and buy a revolver"

Grace/Grainne O'Malley, the Pirate Queen of Ireland was one of the Lords of the West of Ireland. On her father's death, she inherited his lands and fleets as his heir, turning her into one of the most powerful lords of the west. She fought in the Nine Years War, becoming a thorn in the side of the "Governor" Richard Bingham. When her sons and half brother were captured and threatened, Grainne turned her sails to London to speak with Elizabeth I. Grainne did not bow to Elizabeth and began hammering out the terms of a peace. Bingham was fired, her sons and brother were released on the terms that Grainne would stop supporting Gaelic uprisings. Grainne didn't.

Jeanne de Clisson or the Lioness of Brittany, was a 14th century noblewoman. Her husband was imprisoned by the French King who suspected him of being a spy who had lost a battle on purpose. He was executed. Jeanne went immediately to the fort her husband had commanded. The garrison let her in. Jeanne's army took the fort. By the time the French King heard, Jeanne was gone. After a treacherous crossing over the Channel where she lost at least one child, Jeanne resurfaced in England. The English king granted her three ships which she used to wage war on France in revenge.

Ching Shih was a Chinese pirate queen, formerly a prostitute. When her husband died, she took over his fleet of ships. Ching Shih went about on tightening the reigns on her sailors. They could not rape captives, if they did they were beheaded. If they wanted to have one of the women, a sailor had to marry her and treat her right. To disobey a superior twice was death. As she got the fleet into shipshape, Ching Shih began her reign of the seas amassing millions. The government fought her a few times but soon gave up their war, paying Ching Shih to go away. She retired as a respected millionaire.

Osh-Tisch or "Finds Them and Kills Them” was a Native American warrior. She had been born male but chose to live as a woman also known as a baté, a person which two souls in their body. Osh-Tisch took up arms along with the other batés when her tribe went to war with the Lakota, winning the war. As missionaries came to to stick their noses in where they weren't wanted, Osh-Tisch and the other batés were subject to horrific abuse. Batés were forced to dress and act as their assigned gender by the dickheaded missionaries. Osh-Tisch disregarded the missionaries and continued to work with batés across America in order to support one another.

Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery in the years preceding the Civil War. Harriet refused to leave others behind and returned about nineteen times to volatile south to rescue slaves, under the name Moses. During the war, Harriet served as cook, nurse and spy for the Union. Harriet saved over 300 slaves.

Matilda, Lady of the English once escaped a besieged castle. How did she do this? She walked out of the gates and left. She was wearing a white cloak which camouflaged her against the snow. She walked eight miles in the snow to continue her fight for the crown.

Cleopatra VII (that Cleopatra) was once summoned to Tarsos go meet the new Governor of the Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire, Mark Antony who wanted to borrow some money. They negotiated back and forth on who should come to who. Cleopatra refused to go... but then showed up in Tarsos on luxurious barge. While feasting with Antony at his expense, Cleopatra claimed that she could host the more expensive meal. She dropped a pearl earring into her wine, where it dissolved and downed it like a queen.

Caterina Sforza was an Italian noble woman in the Renaissance period and you could literally not find a bigger bad ass. She rode at the head of an army to occupy the great fortress of the Castel San Angelo in the name of her husband, while being seven months pregnant. At the siege of Ravaldino, Caterina and her children were prisoners of the treacherous Orsis family who had killed her husband. Caterina persuaded the commanders to let her enter the city to negotiate the surrender of the castle. One inside, she climbed the battles and cussed out the besiegers. Utterly stunned, one commander threatened to kill her children but Caterina lifted her skirts and flashed them, claiming she could make more. OK, that may be a rumour. She may have touched her belly or claimed to be already pregnant but still it was a moment. It ended up buying her enough time for more forces to come and beat the army outside.

Catherine the Great born a minor German Princess overthrew her husband Peter III in a successful military coup. A few days before the original coup was going to commence, a co-conspirator let slip to another guard that it was happening. The man was arrested. When the news got to her, Catherine left the palace via carriage commandeering horses along the way. She went to the barracks of the Ismailovsky regiment dressed in burrowed military uniform and made an impassioned plea to the soldiers to earn their support which they gave her. She was crowned sole ruler of Russia and forced her husband to sign his crown away.

Khutulun, the great-grandaughter of Genghis Khan was badass from the beginning. She was the only girl in a family of boys and grew up to be the fiercest. Khutulun was a highly sought after bride. She didn't hate men but felt she shouldn't be married to somebody unequal to her. Every man who sought to wed her had to wrestle her or pay ten horses. She had ten thousand horses by the time she died.

Boudicca was the Queen of the Iceni, a Celtic tribe in England. Her husband, an ally of the Romans, left half his kingdom to Rome and the other half to his daughters. When he died, Rome took it all. When Boudicca spoke out against it, she was flogged and her daughters were raped. Boudicca decided that it was time for the Romans to fuck off and die. Raising a massive host, Boudicca burned three major Roman settlements down Londinium (London), Verulamium (St. Albans) and Camulodunum (Colchester). She was the greatest threat the Rome since...

Amanirenas, Queen of Kush was an African Queen who fought the Romans. Kush lay south to the new conquered Egypt, which meant it was next on Rome's agenda. Kush moved first. Though one-eyed, she was an able warrior who survived at least a dozen battles. Though the Romans burned the capital and took slaves, Amanirenas still fought on bringing Rome to its knees. Rome and Kush signed a peace treaty, preventing Rome from crossing the border ever again. Amanirenas's badass moment came thousands of years after when archeologists were digging up the tombs. Found under her the foot of statue, was the head of the Emperor Augustus.

[bonnieglens]

Tha beagan Gàidhlig agam a-nis

Halò agus fàilte mo charaidean! My name's Bruno and I live in Southern Brazil (Ceann an deas sa Bhraisil). I started learning Gàidhlig about 1 year and a half ago. The first year was a lonely one. In Brazil I couldn't imagine there were people learning any Gàidhlig given its status nowadays (an endangered language restricted to the northern Highlands and Islands). I am an English teacher and quite a linguophile (love languages). I started with English when I was 11 years old, then Spanish (yeah, Brazilians don't speak Spanish, we speak Portuguese) and then I went through a miscellaneous language path...German, Norwegian, French, Hindi, Latin but didn't master any of those (but I intend to). Gàidhlig was a call, I could say, I've always loved Celtic history and the marvellous aspects of the many Celtic cultures. My first attempt to learn a Celtic language was Geilge (Irish) but something didn't get me and the lack of resources demotivated me. Gàidhlig entered my life through the Disney film "Brave" which portrays the young Merida (a Scottish princess) fighting against tradition to follow her own heart. The first Gàidhlig was through the song "A Mhaighdean Bhan Uasal" or "Noble Maiden fair" in English. I felt a sudden urge to know the meaning of that alluring song, it called to my soul.

I then followed the steps towards learning about this language. First I read everywhere it was a "dead" or very rare language, almost impossible to learn due to the lack of speakers. I felt sad, of course. When I saw the spelling I was alarmed, so different from any language I'd ever studied. In search for books I found a website (learngaelic.net) which was my salvation and starting point. At first I was shocked to see programmes such as "Speaking our language" using Gàidhlig in the 20th century. My belief was that the language was something like Latin or Old Norse, restricted to past manifestations. My first words were "Halò, Madainn mhath" and "Ciamar a tha sibh?". It was nice to see that Gàidhlig sounded familiar (the word "madainn" sounds a lot like the Portuguese and French one "Matinal" and "Matin" which mean "in the morning"). I got demotivated along the way, five months later or so. I didn't have a soul to talk to and I was more of a lost learner than an experienced one. Lenitions? Why? Whyyyy? GH, DH sounds (screams)! It was frustrating and nobody could tell me "Gabh air do shocair, a bhalaich" (take it easy, boy). I stopped for some time. Then in 2020 I decided I wanted to go back and learn Gàidhlig but this time I wanted to have people to talk to. I started my own Gàidhlig group "Tha Gàidhlig an seo" (I thought the name sounded quite authentic lol) and on Facebook I started "Gàidhlig Bhraisil" and created a Google Classroom and WhatsApp group. I started by trying to pass on what I knew already (not much) and spreading the word. In time, I found the best people to learn Gàidhlig with. Friends from Canada, Scotland and impressively BRAZILIANS. 3 Brazilians learning Gàidhlig apart from me. I was amazed. Now we have this wonderful group, we meet often and learn and laugh a lot together. My Gàidhlig has improved tremendously and I couldn't be more thankful to them for being a motivational lot and helpful. We hope that in 2021 we'll learn more, share more and grow more together! Bidh sinn a fas nas fheàrr, tha mi cinnteach!

Mòran taing dhuibh, a h-uile duine! Is sibhse sgoinneil!! 🥰

Sin e, ma-thà!

Bliadhna mhath ùr!

[roseategales]

SOLAS & ORPHEUS I: YOUR NAME IS LIKE A MELODY. (THE POWER OF EPITHETS, TITLES, & NAMES.)

                                                           EPITHETS & TITLES:

VGS: Where do you see a character like Solas ending up? Patrick Weekes: [Sighs] Musical theatre.

The above exchange is from an interview with Video Game Sophistry, where Patrick Weekes goes into detail about the creation of Solas and how we ended up with the character and romance we got. Although said in jest, I do believe Weekes honestly recognised that Solas is a character who could easily be adapted to the medium of the stage musical, due to how musicality is baked into the foundations of his story and the world of Dragon Age. In fact, Weekes compares the fantasy and romance of Solavellan to The Phantom of the Opera earlier in the interview, and anyone familiar with Phantom can see the parallels, as Solas and his arc share many tropes and archetypes in common, not just with the Phantom, but with other male characters in musicals. If I told you I was going to see a show about a Morally Conflicted Soldier, a Trickster in Disguise, a Rebel Leader, a Decadent Noble, a Mythic Legend, or a Monster Boyfriend, I’m sure several examples would jump to mind.

Solas is all of these. Layer upon layer, stitched together, and then taken apart, whenever he needs to be whatever he needs to be. And he is also, if we are borrowing the epithets from Hadestown, The King and The Poor Boy Working on a Song.

It has to be noted that Hadestown’s use of epithets is itself a nod to ancient oral poetry, particularly in the vein of Homer. In Homeric convention, important characters, settings, and objects weren’t described by adjectives, but with epithets that would change based on context. (e.g. Much-enduring Odysseus, who is another paradoxical Trickster figure in ancient myth.) The use of epithets is a signifier of the origins of Homer’s works, serving as a mnemonic device and a way to fit the scenes of the stories to dactylic hexameter, as they were first oral poems that were composed and sung in front of audiences before they were written down. However, because of our modern understanding of the English language and what the word epithet connotes to us, what Anaïs Mitchell has done by using this device in Hadestown, is turn it into something that’s closer to the definition and function of a title rather than an adjective. Hades is always “The King.” Orpheus is always “The Poor Boy Working on a Song,” or “The Poor Boy With a Gift to Give.”

Solas bears his names in a similar fashion. When introduced to us as merely Solas, he is the “Humble Apostate” (or “Unwashed Apostate Hobo,” if you have Vivienne and Dorian in your party), or the “Fade Expert”; he is nicknamed “Chuckles” by Varric and “Fade Walker” by Iron Bull. Descriptors that comment on his lowly, outsider status, beaten and betrayed in this strange new world, that endear us to him. When he again dons the badge of Fen’Harel/Dread Wolf, he is “He Who Hunts Alone,” “Lord of Tricksters,” “The Great Wolf,” “Roamer of the Beyond,” and “Bringer of Nightmares.” Bynames that, of course, evoke those given to deities in ancient cultures (e.g. Hades is also known as Plouton in Greek myth, “The Rich One.”), that make him out to be fearsome, malevolent, and unknowable beyond the legends.

When I separate Solas into these two personas and archetypes, of Solas and Fen’Harel, The King and The Poor Boy, I don’t want us to make the mistake of thinking he is someone who bifurcates himself so completely that one part of him is unrecognisable from the other. His is not a situation of one identity hiding another or two identities battling to control the fore. He is Solas and he is Fen’Harel; the way Lavellan is “The Dalish Elf” and “The Herald of Andraste.” He is simply someone who has some impressive compartmentalisation skills (displayed in a conversation he has with Sera on the tactics of the Red Jenny group), and who has a thorough experience of a line he says to Cole:

“We all have a face we want to show, and a face we do not.”

                                                                      NAMES:

Perhaps the best way to convey Solas’ complexities coming together to form the whole of him, is by examining the construction of his name. How cyclical it is, beginning and ending with the letter S, as effortlessly smooth and slippery as he. The L in the middle like a delineation, a fork in the road of choices before him. O and A on either end like they’re mirrors or masks. How it’s composed of five letters, the way iambic pentameter is composed of five syllables that you must stress and unstress—like the two syllables in his name itself. And depending on which syllable you stress in your pronunciation, your voice will either rise and fall or fall and rise when you say it.

I may be giving Gaider and Weekes too much credit here, but Solas’ name is quite literally perfect for him. Change any single one of these components or his characteristics, and you will no longer have Solas but someone else in his stead.

There are layered meanings to the sound of his name, too. Solas is a homophone for Solace and Soulless in the English language. The former recalls all the times he might’ve provided solace to his friends or lover, or received it from them; and the latter recalls how he does seemingly soulless things to achieve his goals, or becomes someone who is soulless altogether if you don’t reach out to him with kindness. Angela D. Mitchell explores this wonderfully on her blog Dumped, Drunk and Dalish, along with homonyms in other languages. Among them are:

Latin: Solus Meanings: Solitary, alone, sole, only, uninhabited.

Irish: Solas Meanings: Light, Bright, Clear; Brightness; illumination; lucid, intelligible; light-giving, lamp flame; enlightenment, insight; revelation, disclosure; the light of existence; vision. Also: self-interest; limelight.

Old Irish: Solus Meaning: Light.

Scottish Gaelic (derived from the old Irish "Solus" or "light"): Solas Meaning: Light.

Old French: Solaz, Sollas, Soulas Meanings: Joy, pleasure, enjoyment.

She also explores the Latin root of ‘Sol’:

Lone, alone, solitary, lonely, desolate, dismal, gloomy The sun (also can refer to the Sun in a personified sense) A source of comfort, calmness, soothing "To be accustomed" (as found in such words as: insolent, obsolescent, sullen)

These are all such apt descriptors for various facets of his personality and story, it shows the amount of thought and care given to him in the writing process. And of course, there are the Elven meanings: ‘Pride’ or ‘to stand tall.’

Because of the level of thought involved, I wondered how far back Gaider chose his name and decided it would mean ‘Pride’ in Elven, and how that might’ve informed Weekes’ writing of his character. @maythedreadwolftakeyou, @felassan and @lesbianarcana (my heroes!) helped me out and did some top-notch digging.

The first instance we have of the word Solas was found in a codex acquired from Dragon Age II’s Black Emporium, which was released on March 8, 2011. After that, it appears with its Elven meaning and on a map in World of Thedas Volume 1, released on April 30, 2013.

Since we have an enormous amount of foreshadowing for him by way of Shartan in Dragon Age: Origins and Merrill in Dragon Age II, I think it’s safe to say the first concepts of what Solas would mean and who the character who would wear the name would become began as far back as DAO. (Note: I believe Gaider or another Bioware dev confirmed this on social media, but I couldn’t find the post anywhere. If it crops up and you see it, please let me know. I’ll amend the post and credit you.)

In any case, the power of names is yet another running theme that links the storytelling of the ancients, Hadestown, and DA:I. Orpheus pays attention to the composition of Eurydice’s name, and remarks on how it’s “like a melody,” and his arrival in Hadestown reminds her of it when she’s been stripped of it and has forgotten who she used to be. Solas tells Abelas he hopes that he finds a new name after he leaves the guard of the Vir Abelasan, because it means Sorrow. The Qunari in Tevinter Night’s Genitivi Dies in the End have a special interest in finding out what they believe to be Solas’ “true name,” so they can then “track [him] back through the best and worst of [himself]”; “find flaws”; “exploit weaknesses”; “know what [he] failed to be.”

To be named is to be given an identity, personality, and, in most cases, personhood. To be named yourself and to be able to name others is power. Whether that comes as the name you’re privately called, your title, or your epithet.

[agirlingrey]

| ♕ 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 & 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑-𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 | 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 & 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡

( I spoke about this briefly at on ‘ of languages & accents ’ post, but I reckon ASOIAF accents, especially northern ones given the nature of this blog, warrant a detailed post of their own. )

Though when we imagine ASOIAF characters in our head we may hear all of them sounding alike ( and something akin to our own accents ), George R.R. Martin has actually confirmed that Westeros has regional accents. He gave no more details than that, but it leaves the door open for many headcanons for linguaphiles like myself.

Though slightly off-topic, I can’t resist to add this here: George R.R. Martin confirmed many times that, unlike Tolkien, he is not a linguist. Whenever he needed words of High Valyrian or Dothraki, he ‘made them up as he went’ and cared little for a full structure and grammar. And I can respect that. One doesn’t need to be a full-blown linguist to be able to write a good fantasy novel, obviously. Yet it always bothered me how The Common Tongue seemed so UNIFORMED in the Seven Kingdoms. We are talking about a country that has over a 10,000 years long history, with at least three major groups of people that we know of ( First Men, Andals and the Rhoynar ) presumably with different languages of their own, migrating to the land over the centuries.

Screw accents, there should be separate DIALECTS. At least in the North and Dorne, due to their proudly separate cultural identities. I repeat: We are talking about over 10,000 years here. When Tolkien’s elves woke up in Cuiviénen, they spoke the same language for a long time, but after they got ‘sundered,’ they developed their own dialects in less time than that. So much that, by the time the Noldor and Sindar met again ( after having been separated for half the time between the Long Night and Coming of the Rhoynar ) their respective dialects had grown into different languages to the point where they couldn’t understand each other. I understand how nobles and Maesters, for the most part, could communicate with another using a common dialect. But in reality, we should be reading about a world where most characters in Westeros have notable language barriers between them, and they struggle trying to understand each other.

The Andals must have been REALLY fierce when it comes to enforcing their language, I guess? Which makes sense, but it still doesn’t explain why The Old Tongue wasn’t still spoken in the North as the primary language, while The Common Tongue was only learned by few of noblebirth. One could claim that The Common Tongue was enforced and unified by Aegon Targaryen, and yet 300 years is such a short time to breach dialect barriers.

BUT ANYWAY. LET’S MOVE ON TO THE ACTUAL TOPIC OF THIS POST.

Let’s assume I’ve accepted that somehow it makes sense for everyone in the Seven Kingdoms to speak a unified language without any separate dialects. Ugh. As the North is based loosely on Scotland ( I mean, come on now ) I headcanon that Northern accents are the thickest in all of Seven Kingdoms, resembling the varying SCOTTISH ACCENTS in our world.

I also imagine that the ‘thickness’ varies depending on how close one grew up to the south. While people with closer ties to southrons may have a have a lighter intonation, people who grew up closer to the North would speak thicker and harsher. I assign various real-life Scottish ( and a few from other parts of Britain ) accents to different regions of the North. According to my headcanons:

SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER: I reckon Umbers, Karstarks, Boltons, Glovers and Mountain Clans ( basically anyone who lives between Last Hearth and Dreadfort, save Clan Wull and Mormonts which I will explain below ) would have the harshest accent of all Seven Kingdoms accents - the most pronounced and most akin to Scottish Highlander speech of our world. Their speech would be influenced by that of the wildlings as well, for they have had a grudging and often violent relationship for centuries, and The Old Tongue has been described as harsh and guttural.

LOWLAND SCOTTISH: Something akin to this accent would be spoken by Starks ( save the most recent generation, perhaps ), Hornwoods, Flints, Cerwyns, Tallharts and Dustins. Because it is the way Stark kings and later liege lords spoke for centuries ( and because it’s spoken around the most populous parts of the North except White Harbor ) it is generally regarded as the ‘OFFICIAL’ northern accent by many ignorant southrons. It is not as harsh as the speech of those mentioned in the earlier paragraph, but it’s still very notably northern, with curter words and harsher vowels than the various accents of south of Moat Cailin.

GLASWEGIAN: Short history lesson: This accent is commonly heard in Glasgow and little anywhere else. That’s because this particular accent has been influenced by not only other Scottish accents but also Irish ones as well, due to several migrations throughout history. Long story short: It just screams Manderlys to me. House Manderly were originally from the Reach, but were exiled a thousand years before Aegon’s Conquest. It makes sense that they should bring their accent along with them, and yet it would eventually be mixed with other northern accents. ( Note: I don’t headcanon accents of the Reach as Irish at all, they’re strictly French for me, but no historical parallel is perfectly accurate. ) Aside from the Manderlys, I reckon this accent is also spoken by Lockes and Flints of Widow’s Watch. Not only because they are close neighbours, but also because Manderlys control the only city in the North and are the wealthiest family. Their influence, I imagine, would extend farther than their own domains.

EXCEPTION I: MORMONTS & HOUSE WULL: These two groups of people have a notable distinction from their fellow countrymen. Out of all the northerners, they are the ones who have been most harassed by the ironborn in the past. The ironborn did not only raid their lands, but even invaded them for periods of time. Alysanne Mormonts explains as much to Asha Greyjoy in ADWD, and in The World of Ice and Fire, this is said about House Wull: ‘Indeed, Cape Kraken, closest to the Iron Islands, has changed hands so many times that many maesters believe its populace to be closer in blood to the ironmen than to Northmen.’ Since I strictly headcanon ironborn to be Nordic, I imagine the speech of Mormonts and Wulls, while still largely Scottish-sounding, are influenced by intonations of Scandinavian accents.

EXCEPTION II: YOUNGEST GENERATION OF STARKS: It appears that the Stark children have been raised with the Old Gods and The Faith of the Seven alike, as a courtesy of Ned and Catelyn’s cooperation, no doubt. I reckon that the influence of their mother would effect their speech as well. While I believe that Robb ( as the next Lord of Winterfell ) and Arya ( for her strong connections to the North ) would adhere to the ‘Lowland Scottish’-sounding accent I’ve established as my headcanon, the other children would be more mixed. Bran and Rickon were most likely equally influenced by their parents, their harsh northern accent being tinged with the more lighter and musical speech of their mother. I strictly headcanon Riverlands as having Irish and Welsh accents, except for House Blackwood, but that would take another meta. Sansa is unique in taking solely after her mother, imitating her mother’s speech and speaking like a proper Riverlands lady from a young age.

I think it concludes my ramblings. If you think I missed a detail or made a mistake somewhere, please let me know, and I hope those who bother reading this will enjoy it.

* please note: although a great deal of the information written here were based on canon, this post mostly consists of my own headcanons & imagination. i don’t expect you to adhere to these interpretations by any means.

[tanzmitmirsblog]

TUDORS

The Tudor dynasty has earned the title of the most brilliant period while adding strong monarchy foundations to the British state. There were members of the dynasty who contributed to this brilliant period: Henry VII, his son Henry VIII, Mary and Elizabeth.  Henry VII knew how to get along with neighboring countries. Also, his son Henry VIII was more ambitious than his father and he aimed to play an important role in European politics.  Mary united Spain and England by marriage. Elizabeth I defeated the powerful navy of Spain and she said officials posts to avoid asking Parliament for money. Elizabeth and her advisers considered trade the most important foreign policy matter. Whichever country was England’s greatest trade rival was also its greatest enemy. A fleet of merchant ships was started by Henry VII. Henry VIII traded guns. There was a merchant expansion in the time of Elizabeth. Although foreign trade progressed, there was a conflict between England and Spain. England sided with the Dutch rebels, the Protestants in their battle against Spain. English ships had already been attacking Spanish ships ad they returned from America loaded with silver and gold. This was the result of Spain’s refusal to allow England to trade freely with Spanish American colonies. The treasure was shared with the queen. Elizabeth apologized to Spain but kept her share of what had been taken from Spanish ships. Philip built a great fleet of ships, an “Armada”, to move his army across the English Channel from the Netherlands. However, in 1587 Francis Drake attacked and destroyed part of this fleet in Cadiz harbor. Philip started again and built the largest fleet that had ever gone to sea. But most ships were designed to carry soldiers, and the few fighting ships were not as good as the English ones. English ships were longer and narrower so that they were faster, and their guns could also shoot further than the Spanish ones. The Spanish Armada was defeated by bad weather. For England, it was a glorious moment, yet it did not lead to an end of the war with Spain, and England found itself having to spend more than ever on England’s defence. Peace was only made with Spain once Elizabeth was dead. Both before and after the Armada, Elizabeth followed two policies. She encouraged English sailors like John Hawkins and Francis Drake to continue to attack and destroy Spanish ships bringing gold, silver, and other treasures back from the newly discovered continent of America. She also encouraged English traders to settle abroad and to create colonies. Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the first English colonies, brought tobacco back to England. The settlers tried without success to start profitable colonies in Virginia, which was named after Elizabeth. England also began selling West African slaves to work for the Spanish in America. John Hawkins carried his first slave cargo in 1562. By 1650 slavery had become an important trade, bringing wealth particularly to Bristol in southwest England. It took until the end of the eighteenth century for this trade to be ended. Chartered companies were as common as slavery was. A charter gave a company the right to all the business in its particular trade or region. In return for this significant advantage, the chartered company gave some of its profits to the Crown. There was the Eastland company to trade with Scandinavia and the Baltic, the Levant company to trade with the Ottoman Empire, the Africa company to trade in slaves and the East India Company to trade with India. The Tudor dynasty ruled not only in England but also in some countries. For instance, closer to home, the Tudors did their best to bring Wales, Ireland, and Scotland under English control. Henry VII was half Welsh and he loves the Welsh. In contrast to his father, Henry VIII’s interest was in power and authority, through direct control. He wanted the Welsh to become English. Between 1536 and 1543 Wales became joined England under one administration. The Welsh gentry became part of the ruling English establishment. Welshmen entered the English parliament. English became the only official language, and Welsh was soon only spoken in the hills. Although Welsh was not allowed as an official language, Henry VIII permitted a Welsh bible to be printed, which became the basis on which the Welsh language survived. Henry VIII wanted to bring Ireland under his authority. He persuaded the Irish parliament to recognize him as king of Ireland. Henry also tried to make the Irish accept his English church reformation. Henry VIII failed to get what he wanted in Ireland. He made things worse by bringing Irish nationalism and Catholicism together against English rule. Ireland became England’s first important colony. The Protestant settlers took most of the good land in Ulster. This colonization did not make England richer, but it destroyed much of Ireland’s society and economy. Scottish rulers sought to promote the same kind of centralized monarchy that the Tudors had so successfully developed in England. Knowing how weak they were, the Scottish kings usually avoided war with England. By the time Mary returned as queen to Scotland from France, Scotland had become officially, and popularly protestant. The Scottish nobles who supported the friendship of England had welcomed Protestantism for both political and economic reasons. Unlike the English, the Scots were careful not to give monarch authority over the kirk. The reformation took place while the queen, Mary was not in Scotland and unable to interfere. Protestantism had spread quickly through the Scottish universities. The new kirk in Scotland disliked Mary and her French Catholicism. Mary was careful not to give the kirk any reason for actually opposing her. She made it clear she would try to bring back Catholicism. In addition to her Catholicism and her strong French culture, she had shown very poor judgment. When James VI who was Mary’s son was the Scottish king, he brought the Catholic and Protestant nobles and also the kirk more or less under royal control. Like the Tudors, he was a firm believer in the authority of the crown. He worked with small councils of ministers, rather than a parliament. James VI’s greatest success was in gaining the English throne when Elizabeth died in 1603 at the unusually old age of 70. The Tudor monarchs did not like governing through parliament. Henry VII had used parliament only for making law. Henry VIII had used it first to use the money for his military adventures. Tudor monarchs were certainly not more democratic than earlier kings, but they increased parliament’s authority while using parliament to strengthen their policy. During the century, power moved from the House of Lords to the House of Commons. The idea of getting rid of the House of Lords, still a real question in British politics, was first suggested in the sixteenth century. Parliament did not really represent the people. Few members of parliament followed the rule of living in the area they represented, and the monarchy used its influence to make sure that many MPS would support royal policy rather than the wishes of their electors. To control discussion in parliament, the Crown appointed a speaker. Even today the speaker is responsible for good behavior during debates in the House of Commons. Until the end of the Tudor period, parliament was supposed to some things such as agreeing to the taxes needed, making the laws which the Crown suggested, and advising the Crown but only when asked to do. In order for parliament to be able to do these things, members of parliament were given important rights. These were freedom from fear of arrest and freedom to meet and speak to the monarch. The Tudor monarchs realized that while asking parliament for money they were giving it power in the running of the kingdom. All the Tudor monarchs tried to get money in other ways. For example, Elizabeth sold monopolies that gave a particular person or company to take control over trade, and also, she sold official positions in government. During the sixteenth century, Tudors asked parliament to discuss, law-make, and advise on almost every subject. Parliament naturally began to think it had a right to discuss these questions. In the seventeenth century, when the gentry and merchant classes were far more aware of their own strength, it was obvious that parliament would challenge the Crown. Eventually, this resulted in war. If we look at the Tudors from a social and economic perspective, we can say there are many changes. The population increased. The unused land was cleared for sheep and large areas of forest were cut down to provide wood for the growing shipbuilding industry. England was beginning to experience greater social and economic problems than ever before. The price of food and other goods rose steeply during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This inflation was without equal until the twentieth century. A greater problem was the sudden increase in population. Twice the number of people needed twice the amount of food. It was not produced. Living conditions got worse as the population rose. In the countryside, the people who did best in this situation were the yeoman farmers. They produced food to sell and employed men to work in their area. They worked as farmers during the week but they were gentlemen on Sundays. Most people had to pay rent for the land because of the growing population, it was harder for a man to find work or to produce enough food for his family. Many landowners found they could make more money from sheep farming than from growing crops. In order to keep sheep, they fenced off land that had always belonged to the whole village. Enclosing land in this way was often against the law since JPS were themselves landlords and few peasants could prevent it. As a result, many poor people lost the land they farmed as well as the common land where they kept animals and the total amount of land used for growing food was reduced. All through the century the government tried to control enclosures but without much success. Many people became unemployed. The pilgrimage of Grace was cruelly put down and its leaders were executed. Without work to do, many people stole food in order to eat. It is thought that about 7,000 thieves were hanged during Henry VIII’s reign. In 1601, parliament passed the first poor law. This made local people responsible for the poor in their own area. It gave power to JPS to raise money in the parish to provide food housing and work for the poor and homeless of the same parish. The production of finished cloth, the most important of England’s products, reached its greatest importance during the sixteenth century. The successful men of this new capitalist class showed off their success while building magnificent houses and churches in the villages where they worked. By using cool instead of wood fires, Tudor England learned how to make greatly improved steel, necessary for modern weapons. Improved steel was used for making knives and forks, clocks, waters, nails, and pins. Birmingham, while using coal fires to make steel, grew in the sixteenth century from a village into an important industrial city. Speaking of economics so much, let's take a little bit of social life. Women in England had greater freedom than anywhere else in Europe. They were allowed free and easy ways with strangers. There was a dark side to married life. Most women bore between eight and fifteen children and many women died in childbirth. Deep emotional ties often seem to have been absent due to the fact that marriage was often an economic arrangement. When a wife died, a husband looked for another. Both rich and poor lived in small family groups. In spite of the hard conditions of life, most people had a larger and better home to live in than ever before. Chimneys that had only been found in the homes of the rich were now built-in every house. For the first time, more than one room could be used in winter. One group of people suffered badly during the Tudor period. These were unmarried women. This is a direct result of the dissolution of monasteries. Before the reformation, many of these women could become nuns and be assured that they would be safe and respected in religious life. After the dissolution of monasteries, thousands became beggars on the roads of England. In the future, an unmarried woman could only hope to be a servant in someone else’s house or to be kept by her own family. She had little choice in her life. Finally, I would like to mention the culture and language of the Tudor era. People started to think of London pronunciation as correct pronunciation. Until Tudor times the local forms of speech had been spoken by lord and peasant alike. From Tudor times, onwards the way people spoke begin to show the difference between them. Educated people began to speak correct English and uneducated people continued to speak the local dialect. Literacy increased greatly during the mid-sixteenth century. In the early years of the sixteenth century, English thinkers had become interested in the work of the Dutch, philosopher Erasmus is one of them, Thomas More wrote a study of the ideal nation called Utopia, which became extremely popular throughout Europe. The renaissance also influenced religion, encouraging the Protestant reformation as well as a freer approach to ways of thinking within the catholic church. Literature was England’s greatest art form. Playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson, and William Shakespeare filled the theatres with their exciting new plays. Nothing shows the adventurous spirit of the age better than the soldier poets. These were true renaissance men who were both brave and cruel in the war, but also highly educated. Sir Edmund Spenser, who fought with the army in Ireland, was one. Sir Philip Sidney killed fighting the Spanish in the Netherlands, was another. A third was Sir Walter Raleigh, adventurer, and poet. They are founders of English nationalism in literature. To sum up, the Tudor dynasty, which has both bright and dark times, is one of the powerful dynasties that have survived for a long time.   -Tanzmitmirsblog                                                

[tasksweekly]

[TASK 067: SEMINOLE]

Shout out to @olivaraofrph​​​ for helping compile this task in celebration of Native American Heritage Month! The Seminole are a tribe of Southeastern US indigenous people whose traditional homelands are located in the state of Florida, where some still reside though the majority now reside in Oklahoma. There’s a masterlist below compiled of over 30+ Seminole faceclaims categorised by gender with their occupation and ethnicity denoted if there was a reliable source. If you want an extra challenge use random.org to pick a random number! Of course everything listed below are just suggestions and you can pick whichever character or whichever project you desire.

Any questions can be sent here and all tutorials have been linked below the cut for ease of access! REMEMBER to tag your resources with #TASKSWEEKLY and we will reblog them onto the main! This task can be tagged with whatever you want but if you want us to see it please be sure that our tag is the first five tags, @ mention us or send us a messaging linking us to your post!

THE TASK - scroll down for FC’s!

STEP 1: Decide on a FC you wish to create resources for! You can always do more than one but who are you starting with? There are links to masterlists you can use in order to find them and if you want help, just send us a message and we can pick one for you at random!

STEP 2: Pick what you want to create! You can obviously do more than one thing, but what do you want to start off with? Screencaps, RP icons, GIF packs, masterlists, PNG’s, fancasts, alternative FC’s - LITERALLY anything you desire!

STEP 3: Look back on tasks that we have created previously for tutorials on the thing you are creating unless you have whatever it is you are doing mastered - then of course feel free to just get on and do it. :)

STEP 4: Upload and tag with #TASKSWEEKLY! If you didn’t use your own screencaps/images make sure to credit where you got them from as we will not reblog packs which do not credit caps or original gifs from the original maker.

THINGS YOU CAN MAKE FOR THIS TASK -  examples are linked!

Stumped for ideas? Maybe make a masterlist or graphic of your favourite faceclaims. A masterlist of names. Plot ideas or screencaps from a music video preformed by an artist. Masterlist of quotes and lyrics that can be used for starters, thread titles or tags. Guides on culture and customs.

Screencaps

RP icons [of all sizes]

Gif Pack [maybe gif icons if you wish]

PNG packs

Manips

Dash Icons

Character Aesthetics

PSD’s

XCF’s

Graphic Templates - can be chara header, promo, border or background PSD’s!

FC Masterlists - underused, with resources, without resources!

FC Help - could be related, family templates, alternatives.

Written Guides.

and whatever else you can think of / make!

MASTERLIST!

Female:

Gloria Hendry (68) Seminole, Chinese, Muskogee, Irish, African - actress.

Mary Youngblood (59) Seminole and Aleut - musician.

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (58) Metis, Huron, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, Choctaw, Muskogee, French, Portuguese, English, and Scottish - poet and musician (Rd Kla).

Dana Tiger (born in 1961) Muskogee, Seminole / Cherokee - artist.

Tracy Rector (born in 1972) Seminole, Choctaw, Unspecified Non-Native - filmmaker, producer, and curator.

Martina Topley-Bird (42) Salvadoran, Seminole / untraceable African American descent - singer.

Laurie Curtis (37) Italian, Irish and Seminole - actress.

Kelli Brook Haney (35) Seminole, Muskogee, and Choctaw - singer-songwriter.

Shelia Hamilton (34) Chickasaw, Seminole, and Black / Unspecified - actress.

Jara Courson (20) Seminole and Choctaw - model.

Happy Frejo (?) Seminole and Pawnee - actress.

Paula Bowers-Sanchez (?) Seminole - singer.

Harpist Kristen Elizabeth (?) Seminole - harpist.

Meredith Coffman (?) Seminole - harpist.

Brianna Nunez (?) Seminole - Miss Florida Seminole 2014-2015.

Cheyenne Nunez (?) Seminole - Jr Miss Florida Seminole 2014-2015.

Male:

Enoch Kelly Haney (77) Seminole, Muskogee - artist and politician.

Randolph Mantooth (72) Seminole, Cherokee, Potawatomi, Scottish, and German - actor.

Benjamin Harjo Jr (72) Seminole / Shawnee - painter and printmaker.

Jesse Williams (35) African-American, Seminole (unconfirmed) / Swedish - actor, model, and activist.

Enders McConahay (29) Miccosukee and Seminole - actor.

Sterlin Harjo (born 1979) Seminole and Muskogee - filmmaker.

Marcus Frejo (39) Seminole and Pawnee - actor and musician.

Spencer Battiest (?) Seminole and Choctaw - singer-songwriter and actor.

Doc Battiest (?) Seminole and Choctaw - musician.

Kevin Noble Maillard (?) Seminole and African-American - NY Times and The Atlantic contributor, professor.

Petur Redbird (?) Seminole and Muskogee - actor.

Brian Frejo (?) Seminole and Pawnee - musician, actor, and performer.

DJ Phenom (?) Seminole - musician.

Quese IMC (?) Seminole and Pawnee - rapper.

NB:

Austin Ellen (26) Seminole, Afro-Seminole, Ojibwe, Irish, Scottish, English - Non-Binary - actor.

[thesnootyushers]

The British public loves a good police show. Here are some of the best!

The TV police procedural has been a stalwart of British television since Dixon of Dock Green first walked the beat in 1955.  The genre has evolved and developed over the years, but the British TV bobby has never been too far from our hearts as we have tuned in en mass to watch their adventures.

With the recent death of Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter, and the highly anticipated 4th series of the amazing Line of Duty starting later today, Snooty Ushers Dave and James have put their heads together to make a list of our favourite British TV cop shows.  The only rule was that it had to be about actual British police (so no Sherlock, Cracker, or any of those amateur sleuth shows). So, in no particular order, let us begin

Just missing out: New Tricks, The Fall, Ripper Street, Between The Lines, Rebus (with Ken Stott, not John Hannah),  Maigret (because it is French!), A Touch of Cloth

Line of Duty (BBC, 2012-)

Dave: What better place to start than with the original inspiration for this list, the brilliant Line of Duty.  The show focuses on AC-12, a special team of elite officers who investigate the police. While this echoes the similarly themed Between The Lines from the 90s, it stands on its own as one of the best British police procedural dramas.  About to enter its 4th season, each series focuses on a different, but interconnected case, fronted by a high profile British actor.  The AC-12 team recur throughout.  It is grounded firmly in reality and it so brilliantly written, intricately plotted and tightly directed that something as simple as 3 people sitting in a room having a conversation can deliver such incredible tension.  The cast to deserve so much credit, the AC-12 officers led by Irish stalwart Adrian Dunbar’s damaged every-man Superintendent, Martin Compston is instantly relatable as the terrier like DS Steve Arnott (although I do take issue with him not using his Scottish accent), but it is Vicky McClure as DC Kate Flemming who is the real star.  The 3 series so far have weaved such a tight web of intrigue and tension that I wouldn’t dare revel any plot points here, I would just implore you all to catch up before the new series starts.  If you need another reason, Keeley Hawes, in Series 2, gives one of the most devastating, intense and down right brilliant performances in recent memory.

James: This is a show that proves that British TV can match anything from around the world. It’s also my favourite ongoing British show of any genre. One mistake seemingly ruins a promising young police officer’s career, and he is shunted to the AC-12 (“Internal Affairs” if we were in America), in an attempt to push him out of the force. But instead, DS Arnott truly finds his niche, as does the show itself. There are loads of police shows with conflicted and morally ambiguous lead characters, but Line Of Duty focuses almost entirely on their feet of clay, yet never falls into witch-hunt territory. Lennie James, Keeley Hawes, and Daniel Mays have given three different performances as heroic cops who come under AC-12’s gaze, and the three series so far have all taken different paths, never covering the same ground. And the interrogation room scenes are the high point of the show as weeks, sometimes years worth of story lines are brought together. A truly great show.

Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-07)

Dave:  If Line of Duty is grounded in reality, this is something different all together.  Sam Tyler (John Simm) is a DCI working in Manchester.  When he is involved in a car accident, he wakes up in 1975.  He is still a cop, but a rank lower and finds himself working for the oafish DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister).  This just worked on every level.  The ambiguity surrounding Sam’s predicament kept us guessing.  Is he dead? crazy? In a coma? Or has he actually traveled back in time?  The world of modern policing contrast with the good old days of the 70s made for some thrilling moments and some genuinely funny moments too, with the chemistry between Simm’s straight laced, lateral thinking, by the book cooper and Glenister’s blunt instrument works a treat.  The ambiguity continued after the conclusion of the series, with the story continuing on the 80s set sequel series Ashes To Ashes, which saw Gene Hunt move to London and paired with a female detective (Keeley Hawes).  While never hitting the heights of Life On Mars, it ran for 3 seasons and gave us a satisfyingly heart-breaking conclusion.  This will be forever remembered for giving us immortal and unforgettable DCI Gene Hunt.

James: Whether it was their intention from the very beginning or not, the makers of Life On Mars got to cherry pick all of the best bits out of 70s cop shows. We got a modern piece of television – Sam Tyler struggling with the nature of his reality and Gene Hunt getting into car chases and punching criminals. And as someone who lived in Manchester it was great to see how they shot around the city to get that Seventies feel.

Also, the third series of Ashes To Ashes also deserves a mention, as Daniel Mays (who featured in Line Of Duty as well) gave a fantastic performance that shepherded the whole saga to a great conclusion.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #711 – The American version of Life On Mars (with Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt) ended after one season, and being years away from wrapping their own version, the original writers gave their US counterparts free reign, and they came up with a doozy. Both the “modern day” and 1970’s realities were both just a simulation to keep astronauts minds active on a mission to Mars, and a glitch had causes Sam’s program to jump from one simulation to another.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #712 – There are currently Czech and Russian versions running in those countries that take their Sam Tyler character back to Soviet-era police, giving another level to the show.

Inspector Morse/Lewis (ITV, 1987-2015)

Dave: Based on the novels of Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse ran for 33 episodes across 13 years, becoming one of the nations favourite detectives.  He was the epitome of the gentleman detective, a middle class bachelor with middle class interests, he drove a classic Jaguar, listens to opera and has a fondness for real ale, this was contrast in his relationship with his partner DS Lewis, a working class family man from the North East.  Set in the beautiful city of Oxford, with the various colleges and classic architecture used as a stunning back drop.  Now, the term national treasure is banded about a little too often for my tastes, but is there a better way to describe John Thaw?  His gruff nature embodies Morse with an every-man quality that masks his vast intellect.  Kevin Whately’s Lewis is perfect foil as his put upon Sergeant.  Their relationship is central to the show’s success and longevity.  The series ended in 2000, when Morse collapse and died of a heart attack, his legacy would live on however when in 2006, when Kevin Whatley’s Lewis would return.

Robbie Lewis is now a Detective Inspector, he is widowed and his kids are grown. Paired with a new DS, James Hathaway played by Lawrence Fox.  Hathaway is a chain-smoking, emotionally detached intellectual. Lewis is Colombo like, in as much as his scruffy appearance and the fact that is not an Oxford man, means he is constantly under estimated by the high brow university community.  While he relies of Hathaway’s classic education at times, he is more than a match for Oxfords criminal element.  Lewis and Hathaway’s chemistry would rival but not quite eclipse that of Morse and Lewis, but was the driving force behind this shows success, it was baffling when after 7 series and a natural conclusion, they brought the show back for 2 more years, changing the dynamic of the leads and for the first time in nearly 30 years, the show began oustay its welcome.

The conclusion of Lewis was not the end for the franchise.  In 2011, ITV turned back the clock with the prequel series Endeavour.  Set in 1965, it focuses on Morse’s early years as a DC.  Shaun Evans does a great job of honouring Thaw and giving us a believable young Morse and Roger Allam adds a touch of class as Morse’s noble DI, Fred Thursday.

James: Morse is a national treasure. It really is the gold standard that all detective shows are aiming for. The character work between Morse and Lewis was brilliant, and they knew when to inject some levity and humour into what was a serious drama. Decades before Sherlock, theses were basically films that were shown on ITV, and we got thirty three of them. Although Lewis is slightly in its predecessors shadow, it featured a nice change of dynamic with the two leads, and in a nice touch of symmetry, there were also thirty three episodes of Lewis.

I would echo Dave to say that Endeavour really does uphold the quality of the shows that came before it. There’s the same sheen of quality, and Shaun Evans portrays Morse’s traits without simply mimicking John Thaw.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #713 – Inspector Morse author Colin Dexter made a cameo in all but three of the Morse episodes.

Snooty Usher TV Trivia Fact #714 – In the pilot episode of Endeavour, Morse questions a newspaper editor.  The editor asks if they have met, as he seems familiar to her.  The editor is played by John Thaw’s daughter Abigail. She recurs throughout the series

Luther (BBC, 2010-16)

James: Neil Cross wrote for Spooks and Doctor Who before being Luther, and his writing deserves a lot of credit. He has created a conflicted detective haunted by his past, and set him in a harsh, yet real-feeling London. However, in this could be the set up for almost any detective show – Idris Elba makes Luther into a great piece of work. His performance really nails the complex character, making him sympathetic but still hard as nails. He will make a great next Bond… or Doctor Who!

The show also stands out by giving Luther a full-on nemesis. Ruth Wilson play Alice Morgan, a character who comes in and out of the show. Cross has always said Luther is inspired by Sherlock Holmes and Columbo, and by giving the detective his own Moriaty, Luther raises the bar again.

I truly hope that we get more episodes of Luther. The most recent series was only two episodes, and surely it would be possible to squeeze another couple into Elba’s (and Cross’) increasingly busy schedule. Perhaps just even a one-off to finally wrap up the series, although the end of the third series seemed to do that quite well – coat and all – before it was brought back. Maybe Netflx or Amazon Prime could throw enough money at it to get another go around.

Taggart (STV 1983-2010)

Dave:  Now, I am a Scotsman who has lived in England for the better part of 10 years and this show has a lot to answer for.  The amount of times I have been asked to utter the phrase “Thurs bin a murder”, well let’s just say it is more than once.

Set in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Taggart was and remains the UK’s longest running TV police series.  The show survived the death of its title character, when the great Mark McManus died in 1994.

Jim Taggart, was a gruff no nonsense Glaswegian, with little time for sensitivity.  The show was just so brilliantly Glaswegian, the best part of watching this growing up was trying to spot the locations where it was filmed.  The show declined in quality following McManus’s death, relying on the more gruesome elements to attract viewers, (I recall one episode where 6 people were murdered, too much!!).  Those early years though gave us something so intrinsically Scottish that DCI Jim Taggart will forever be one of my all time favourite TV cops.

Heartbeat (ITV, 1992-2010)

James: Trips to Aidenfield were a staple of Sunday nights when I was growing up. It started out with Nick Berry was Nick Rowan, a London police officer who moves to North Yorkshire with his wife , Dr Kate Rowan (Niamh Cusack). The two of them have to deal with small town life, as well as some pretty hard hitting storylines. Bill Maynard’s turn as lovable rogue Greengrass provided the  light relief, and the policing team of Ventress, Bradley, and Blakeston were always welcome.

Later series broadened the focus from a single lead character when Rowan transferred to the Mounties in Canada after Berry decided to leave. Jason Durr came in as Mike Bradley, and it became more of an ensemble show, with the storylines moving into the more usual Sunday night territory that. But those early shows left and indelible mark on this Snooty Usher.

Messiah (BBC, 2001-2008)

Dave:  The first series of Messiah was one of those shows that just blew me away.  It was dark, it was scary, it was gruesome.  Ken Stott is DCI Red Metcalfe, he and his team are faced with series of brutal killings.  As they delve deeper, they find that someone is killing people, mimicking how Jesus’s apostles died. Now, I am a sucker for serial killers with a religious motive and this is one of the finest examples of it.

Red and his team returned for 3 more series and new cast taking over in 2008 for a further 1 series, with Marc Warren taking over from Stott in the lead.  While they were suitably gruesome, it never quite hit the heights of this ground breaking first case.

James: My sister and I used to buy cheap books from charity shops when we went on holiday. One of these books was about a series of gruesome murders that wove religious themes into plot. We talked about how it would make a great film or TV show – and when we got home we found out that it did! Ken Stott was just perfect as the detective trying to get to the bottom of these horrific crimes. He played the role like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, like he constantly had a splitting headache. The supporting characters were excellently cast as well.

A Touch of Frost (ITV, 1992-2010)

Dave: I love Del Boy Trotter as much as anyone, but for me at least, this is David Jason’s finest hour.  The gruff, empathetic Detective Edward ‘Jack’ Frost.  Based on the novels of R.D Wingfield, A Touch of Frost was a firm favourite in the McKee household.  This is set in the fictional town of Denton, in the south midlands and while they are completely different, it is difficult not to compare Frost with ITV other long running Detective series Inspector Morse.

Frost never had an established DS like Lewis, working with a series of different sidekicks which really worked.  The humour in the show came from Frost’s interactions with his boss Superintendent Norman “Horn Rimmed Harry” Mullett.

James: A Touch of Frost was great. David Jason knew just how much comedy business to put into his performance. I think everyone was surprised just how good he was in the more serious role, and I remember trying to find out if Denton FC was a real football team.

Prime Suspect (ITV, 1991-2006)

Dave: While I enjoyed the early episodes of Prime Suspect, I was never a massive fan of it, mainly down to the fact that I don’t really like writer Lynda La Plante’s work.

Having said that, the quality of this show and the performance of Helen Mirren demands attention.  Ground breaking and harrowing at times, this gave us a really believable, flawed female lead. Tennison has been oft imitated and never, to date, bettered.

The Bill (ITV, 1984-2010)

Dave: And finally, no list of police shows would be complete without this long running series.  Set in the fictional Sun Hill Police station, this gave us a load of memorable characters. Remember PC Reg Hollis? WPC June Ackland? DCI Frank Burnside? The list goes on.  It lost something for me when it changed from the 30 minute episode format, but I still hold many fond memories of this show

James: I love shows that are truly episodic. Whether it is the monster of the week episodes of shows like Buffy or The X-Files, or the half an hour episodes of The Bill that were on every Tuesday and Thursday. The ongoing tales from Sun Hill lost something when it went to an hour long, but those early episodes will last a long time in my memory.

Until next time, thanks for reading. Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold, and catch ya later on down the trail.

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