#young hag and the witches’ quest

[the-forest-library]

Some of my favorite pages from Young Hag and the Wiches’ Quest by Isabel Greenberg

[freckles-and-books]

Current read

[aroaessidhe]

read in 2024: YA/MG comics/graphic novels

The Firelight Apprentice

The Pale Queen

Lightfall

How It All Ends

Lunar Boy

I Shall Never Fall In Love

Young Hag and the Witches Quest

Bunt!: Striking Out on Financial Aid

Confetti Realms

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott

Ghost Roast

The Deep Dark

[graphicpolicy]

Around the Tubes

Some comic news and a review from around the web to start the day. #comics #comicbooks

It’s new comic book day! What are you getting? What are you excited for? Sound off in the comments! While you wait for shops to open, here’s some comic news and a review from around the web to start the day. Comicbook – Rooster Fighter Appears to Have an Anime in the Works – Yes! The Beat – Inaugural American Manga Awards nominees unveiled – Congrats to all the nominees! Kotaku – These Are…

[the-griffons-saddlebag]

𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙎𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨!⁠ Hit the link in my story today for this new 17-page setting and bard subclass! Exclusively for $5+ supporters as part of their pledge, included with the art, cards, compendiums, and other bonuses that they receive!⁠ ⁠ —⁠ Six hundred years ago, the quiet halfling village of Im Iyrdylin vanished into thin air. What little records remain of that day all tell a similar story: the village simply disappeared in the midst of a human incursion, leaving the invaders baffled and inspiring countless stories. From then on, tales spread of the land being haunted by malevolent spirits, and the region has remained unsettled ever since. In truth, the halflings of Im Iyrdylin didn’t vanish, but were instead sequestered within a demiplane by the unlikeliest of sorcerers: a young halfling boy by the name of Sanemin. This demiplane is a near-perfect recreation of Im Iyrdylin and its surrounding lands, which its inhabitants now call “the Wending Wold.” Within the Wending Wold, the halflings have lived as immortal beings for over six centuries, never knowing pain, violence, or prejudice. But now, a crisis threatens the Wold: an ancient witch, Geminara, has unearthed the nature of the halflings’ demiplane and taken root in its very heart, corrupting the isolated plane and upsetting its delicate peace. If allowed to live, Geminara will consume everything in her path and create an impenetrable realm of her own wicked creation. The Wending Wold will be extinguished, and any hope of reconnecting Im Iyrdylin and its people to the Material Plane will be lost. The fate of the Wending Wold hangs on the edge of a knife. — The Wending Wold is a picturesque village trapped in a demiplane of its denizens' own making. Unchanged for centuries, this long-lost halfling home is now forced to ask adventurers like you to come to their aid. Geminara, a hag hell-bent on a personal quest for revenge, is destroying the very fabric of their reality! Can you answer the call, earn the trust of the town's keepers, and save them from this encroaching doom? Get this setting and new Bard subclass NOW as part of your support of The Griffon's Saddlebag! 🎉 ⁠ ___ ✨ Patrons get huge perks! Access this and hundreds of other item cards, art files, and compendium entries when you support The Griffon's Saddlebag on Patreon for less than $10 a month!

[duckprintspress]

It's October Reads time!! I started the month with a few titles I didn't enjoy tons, but I've also read a bunch I really liked, so definitely a mixed bag. :D And of course, lots of short stories (and a novella!) for editing work. :D

sweet static by Cedar D. McCafferty-Svec

The Ending Line of Casablanca by Lucy K. R.

Going Dark by Max Jason Peterson

The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison (The Cemetaries of Amalo vol. 2)

Deadendia: The Divine Order by Hamish Steele (Deadendia vol. 3/last vol.)

Seaside Stranger by Ki Karna

My Hero Academia vol. 19 and 20 by Kohei Horikoshi

Young Hag and the Witches' Quest by Isabel Greenberg

Haikyu! vol. 11 - 13 by Haruichi Furudate

Spring Rain: A Graphic Novel of Love, Madness, and Revolutions by Andy Warner

Delivery for You by Teku Rin

Flung Out of Space: The Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

AWM: PUBG by Mu Su Li

Scrap Metal Angel by Nicola Kapron

The Benefits of Consequences by Dei Walker

Goals by R. L. Houck

The Cage is Not Yet Broken by Nicola Kapron

Rose and Renaissance vol. 1 and 2 by Zhi Chu

Indiginerds, edited by Aline Pete

Delicious in Dungeon/Dungeon Meshi vol. 2 by Ryoko Kui

Patience and Esther: An Edwardian Romance by S. W. Searle

Unsafe Haven by Cedar D. McCafferty-Svec

Running Mates by boneturtle (not pictured - author requested we not add this story to SG or GR)

Barda by Ngozi Ukazu

As a note on the work ones, I usually have read the titles for work weeks, if not months, before they actually make it onto my list. I read Scrap Metal Angel in, like. July. Something like that. But they don't make it onto my "read" list until I add them to Goodreads and/or Storygraph, which skews things. That said, I actually DID read Scrap Metal Angel in October (...for the third time...) but only one of those times makes it into my reading list, and only at the end. Basically, tracking reading as a professional editor is weird.

Whatcha'll been reading?

[libraryleopard]

December reads

Boy at the Screen Door by Bruce Spang

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

Shakespeare’s Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance by Ramie Targoff

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

All Friends Are Necessary by Tomas Moniz

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horowitz

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Noah Frye Gets Crushed by Maggie Horne

Metal From Heaven by august clarke

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed

Cursebreakers by Madeleine Nakamura

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen

Rapture’s Road by Seán Hewitt

Young Hag and the Witch’s Quest by Isabel Greenberg

The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism by Marjorie N. Feld

The Pale Queen by Ethan M. Aldridge

Thinning Blood: A Indigenous Memoir of Family, Myth, and Identity by Leah Myers

The Girl and the Ghost by Hannah Alkaf

The Ride, the Rider, and the Rich Man’s Wife by Premee Mohamed

[adarkrainbow]

Spooky season fairytales (6)

And we reach the penultimate post of this series! After looking at actual fairytale adaptations (well... roughly), for this post I want to love at fantasy movies that are not any adaptation of any specific tale or story... But which were made with the intentions of having a "fairytale feel" or a fairytale lore. Dark or creepy movies inspired by fairytales as a whole. Basically "dark fairytale fantasy".

And of course I have to begin with the most FAMOUS dark fairytale movie of our century... Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", in the original Spanish, "El Laberinto del Fauno".

Do I need to present this movie? Probably not, since it was one of del Toro's masterpices, but to simply put it... This is a dark, haunting, poetic but tragic movie following a little girl's life in the Spain of Franco. Said little girl meets in the ruins of an old labyrinth, guided by fairies, a faun, who reveals to her she is the lost princess of a fairy realm... But to regain her place, she will have to undergo fairytale-trials. All while the little girl enjoys her "changeling fantasy", we follow the harsh and horrifying everyday life of World War II Spain that unfolds around her: the girl's step-father is a Falangist captain who hunts down with cruelty the resistance in the area, while her mother is having a very complicated pregnancy. And as the real-world piles on the horrors - famine, execution, torture - so does the fairy-world becomes darker and darker, filled with monsters, ogres and blood...

Of course, Guillermo del Toro did other dark "fairy pieces" - such as Hellboy II, which is a dark and gritty urban-fantasy homage to the fair folk - and recently returned to the fairytale world with his acclaimed Pinocchio.

1985's Legend, by Ridley Scott, is usually considered as one of the "great 80s fantasy movies", alongside pieces such as Ladyhawke, The Dark Crystal, Conan the Barbarian, Willow and more. However "Legend" is also, and this is less evoked, one of the prime examples of a movie belonging to the genre of "fairytale fantasy" - alongside stories such as Stardust or The Neverending Story.

After all, all the elements are there. The main hero is a brave young "wild man" of the woods, who must save a princess trapped by an evil monster, with the help of fairies and elves, and the whole quest goes through numerous folkloric motifs and characters - the unicorn, the water-hag, the fight of day and night, the endless winter... But speaking of "endless winter", the reason why this movie is featuring here is because of how dark it becomes. Truly. The main villain is even the literal embodiment of Darkness, an evil creature sporting the most iconic look of a devil in the history of cinema, and played by none other than Tim Curry himself. He sends hordes of goblins devour babies and kill unicorns throughout endless winter and ever-ending night... To reach him one must cross a monster-infected swamps leading to a dark palace of venomous charms, dancing statues and cannibal feasts... And even the elves and fairy sidekicks are truer to Brian Froud illustrations and the original "fair folk", being whimsical, capricious, easily angered and just as dangerous as the villains they're fighting...

Coraline. Another great piece of "fairytale fantasy".

Coraline (the movie or the book it is based on, the two have several differences but complement each other very well) is the story of a young girl living your typical "travel to another magical world" plot, as she discovers a secret door allowing her to escape her dreary, boring and unpleasant life to find an alternate, whimsical, fantastical and charming version of her own family and neighbors. But of course, this being a Neil Gaiman story, things quickly grow strange and eerie, as talking cats, fairy-ghosts, shapeshifting witches and buttons sewn in place of eyes come to turn the dream into a nightmare, and then into a battle of wits to survive against a dark and old magic...

Yet another VERY famous piece - there's a lot of famous pieces I am covering here, but hey, not my fault the good stuff is getting the recognition it deserves!

Over the Garden Wall, an animated mini-series that was created by the same man behind "Adventure Time", telling the story of two brothers as they try to find a way home while venturing into a bizarre and magical forest called "The Unknown". They are guided by a talking bird in hope of finding a good witch who will help them - all the while mysterious and dark figures such as the Woodsman or the Beast linger in the shadows and keep crossing path with them...

Over the Garden Wall is a perfect autumn watch, since it actually takes place during the autumn season, the first episodes exploring an Halloweenesque harvest festival, while the lasts take place in winter. More than just autumn imagery, the show relies heavily on the "vintage" and "old" imagery of early 20th, 19th and even 18th centuries America, building its wonders and magic with vintage Halloween cards, Colonial or Industrial-era fashions, Betty Boop or Silly Symphonies cartoons, the Dogville Comedies and the "Game of Frog Pond" board game... However, under its at first whimsical and fanciful appearance, the mini-series quickly reveal a haunting tale worthy of the darkest fairytales, exploring themes such as betrayal, despair, death and sacrifices.

In fact, "Over the Garden Wall" was inspired by numerous fairytales, hence its fairytale feel. Many, many people commented that, upon watching the series, they felt the exact same thing they experienced when, as a kid, they discovered new fairytales - I also felt it, and this proves the power of this series that truly captures the essence of what a fairytale is. On top of reusing fairytale tropes (two children exploring woods filled with girls turned into birds, good and bad witches, strange talking beasts...) and explicitely referencing some "fairytale-like" children novels (especially "The Wizad of Oz"), the very artstyle of the show was inspired by "fairytale art", ranging from Gustave Doré's illustrations of Perrault to Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland drawings, passing by old Andersen illustrations.

Ah, finally a more obscure piece! At last for non-French people... La Cité des Enfants Perdus, The City of Lost Children. A 1995 movie by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Now, Jeunet is one of those French moviemakers distinctively recognizeable thanks to his very unique style of movie making. You will recognize this when you know that he is behind the movies "Delicatessen" (the one about a former clown in a post-war world behind hired in a building dominated by a cannibalistic butcher) and the "Amélie Poulain" movie (about a quirky Parisian waitress who decides to change whimsically the life of those around her). Jeunet enjoys the bizarre, the unusual, strange technologies, extravagant characters, dark humor, absurd comedy, and oniric or fairytale-like atmosphere... And this all blooms in the darkest and eeriest way in this movie.

To put the story simply (which is a challenge since it is a complex movie)... Off the shores of a shadowy, dirty, corrupt fishing town, in a manor in the middle of the sea (on top of an abandoned oil rig), an old mad scientist regularly captures children. For you see the scientist is unable to dream, and tries to steal away the dreams of children - which never works, since being captured by a creepy old man makes the children have nightmares rather than sweet dreams. One day, the little brother of a simple-minded circus strongman is captured - and the strongman teams up with a little girl, a street-savy member of a group of street urchins, to try to get him back. The story is further muddled by the presence of a cult of "cyclops" in town that do the dirty work of the mad scientit for him, the threat of greedy conjoined sisters that run the gang the little girl is part of, and the strange entourage of the mad scientist himself (six identical brothers acting like children, a dwarf-wife, and a sentient, talking brain in a jar).

This movie truly feels like a dream - like one of those dark, strange dreams that never fully go into a nightmare while still walking at the edge, and the story, no matter how feverish it can get, still keeps certain cohesive elements to maintain its flow of sinister wonders (such as the theme of family, heavily explored). The movie never goes into actual magic - we are more into a proto-steampunk world crossed with the mad science of Gothic literature and horror movies - but its oniric, bizarre and borderline surreal treatment of the subject did earn this movie the classification of "science-fantasy" and "dark fantasy", as mythological, folkloric and fantasy archetypes can be clearly seen throughout the science-fiction setting (the "cyclops" for example, or the very idea of "a creepy old man stealing children's dreams").

Heck - this movie was one of the prime inspirations behind "Little Nightmares"!

And finally, I cheat a little here, but I had to include it: Disney's Hocus Pocus. This is a classic of Halloween movies, a fun but dark horror-comedy for teens, (well rather like a full comedy but with elements that make it horrific here and there), campy in all the good ways, and with the greatest trio of witches ever depicted on stage since Shakespeare's Weird Sisters.

Now, the movie itself is not very much fairytale like. It is a Halloween comedy, an urban-fantasy story for teenagers, drawing upon the myth of the witch and the legends surrounding witchcraft. However, precisely because the movie explores the figure of the witch, there are several fairytale references here and there. While the Sanderson sisters were mostly build out of the Christian myth of the witch (using human-skin bound grimoires, having sold their souls to the devil, tied to black cats, summoning ghouls out of graves, hate salt...), there are also several parts of their characters tied to fairytale witches. Hansel and Gretel is the most obvious one - they are child-eating witches living into the woods who lure children to their home before "devouring" them (in souls if not body) - but Snow-White is also among the references (a very vain witch who is obsessed with staying the fairest/youngest and kills children to do so?). And of course, there's all the fairytale-witches tropes ranging from "turning people into animals" (here a cat rather than a frog) to the use of the number three.

Oh yes, and let's not forget the specific use of an oven...

[lynxindisguise]

The Hut of the Mistold

Chapter Two: The Witch

Magic was meant to flow through the blood, passed down through ancient lines of sorcerers. It was not meant to appear in a tiny fishing village, sparking wildly from the fingertips of a young girl.

***

Fairytale AU feat. two sexy hags, an orphaned wolf, a runaway witch, a banished prince, and a knight on a quest

Chapter One: The Wolf

[publicabsent]

ok i'm weak.

ANNETTE'S D&D/BG3 VERSE.

as far back as she can remember, annette has lived with her mother -- a powerful witch, bound by blood to the fey laws, nasty in disposition but charitable enough in her raising of the young half-elf girl. (annette never truly knows the extent of it, but her mother is of no blood relation -- a green hag, bound by a deal to care for the child that she'd been promised by a young man long ago, long before he ever thought of children.) a life of isolation, following rules of her mother, & being told the outside world lies, they hurt, they never could take care you the way i can, shapes the young girl's childhood & adolescence. the hag's aversion to beauty manifests itself into her crippling insecurity.

annette learns the foundation of her druidic knowledge by sneaking to read some of the tamer books in the lair, learning simple things. her sneaking & the tension between her existence & her mother's practices came to a head, resulting in annette being deposited somewhere in the woods, unable to find her way home. she learns much from simply surviving, growing in her druidic practices outside of a circle. her upbringing echoes into her fears of becoming like her mother & in her magic, leaning toward the mushrooms & the brambles instead of the herbs & flowers.

she does, unfortunately, encounter the young lord everett mallory. he is everything mother warned her of -- a liar, looking for what he wants with no thought of how to earn it, impolite, trying to take what is not offered. it's her first wildshape: she panics, turns into a rabbit, & bounds away. thus we find her now, a lonely druid always running from & never moving to anything.

VARIATION. the main difference between her bg3 variation & general d&d is her being tadpoled & being a companion to tav. her personal quest would likely be either resolving her problems with everett or, if you feel daring, helping her realize that the hag was not her mother & maybe even dispatching the hag.

[thelorehold]

Quest Title: The Farm Hag's Bargain

Objective: Discover the source of the strange blight plaguing the farmlands surrounding Oakhaven Village and negotiate with (or defeat) the entity responsible.

Quest Giver: Elara, a young woman from Oakhaven Village who recently lost her parents to a mysterious illness. She suspects dark magic is at play.

Details of the quest: The party will travel to Elara's family farm, a picturesque homestead now shrouded in an unnatural gloom. They will investigate the property, uncovering clues about the blight and the potential involvement of a reclusive hag known to dwell in the nearby Whispering Woods. The hag, rumored to be a powerful magic-user, may hold the key to restoring the land's fertility. The party will need to navigate treacherous terrain, decipher cryptic riddles, and potentially confront hostile creatures or spirits guarding the hag's domain.

Reward: Successfully resolving the blight will earn the party the gratitude of Oakhaven Village and a substantial monetary reward, funded by a collection from the relieved villagers. Additionally, the hag may offer unique magical items or services in exchange for their assistance, depending on how the party chooses to interact with her.

Optional hooks for bringing the party into the adventure:

Rumors and whispers: The party hears tales of the blight and the mysterious hag from travelers or locals in a nearby tavern.

A plea for help: Elara seeks out adventurers in a nearby town, desperately hoping to find someone willing to aid her.

A cryptic message: The party discovers a strange symbol or message carved into a tree or rock, hinting at the hag's involvement in the blight.

A chance encounter: The party stumbles upon Elara's farm while traveling through the region, drawn to investigate the unnatural gloom surrounding the property.

A bounty: The village elder of Oakhaven posts a reward for anyone willing to investigate the blight and potentially eliminate the hag.

This quest hook offers a mix of investigation, social interaction, potential combat, and moral choices, allowing the party to tailor their approach to their preferred playstyle. The "farmhouse witch" theme provides a familiar yet intriguing backdrop, while the fantasy setting allows for creative world-building and unique magical elements.

[the-forest-library]

September 2024 Reads

Never Date a Roommate - Paula Ottoni

Love and Other Conspiracies - Mallory Marlowe

My Salty Mary - Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

In the Orbit of You - Ashley Schumacher

The Beast's Heart - Leife Shallcross

At First Spite - Olivia Dade

The Wall - Marlen Haushofer

The Book Swap - Tessa Bickers

Someone You Can Build a Nest In - John Wiswell

A Daughter of Fair Verona - Christina Dodd

Given Our History - Kristyn J. Miller

Fall for Him - Andie Burke

I'll Have What He's Having - Adib Khorram

Lips Like Sugar - Jess K. Hardy

The Grandest Game - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Such Charming Liars - Karen M. McManus

The Champions - Kara Thomas

Jupiter Rising - Gary D. Schmidt

Splinter & Ash - Marieke Nijkamp

Knight Owl - Christopher Denise

Young Hag and the Witches' Quest - Isabel Greenberg

Mismatched - Anne Camlin

The Truths We Hold - Kamala Harris

The Third Gilmore Girl - Kelly Bishop

The Striker and the Clock - Georgia Cloepfil

But Everyone Feels This Way - Paige Layle

Ambition Monster - Jennifer Romolini

Body Work - Melissa Febos

Rage - Lester Fabian Brathwaite

The Joy of Connections - Ruth Westheimer

Everyday Dharma - Sunned Gupta

Over Work - Brigid Schulte

Nothing to Fear - Julie McFadden

100 Ways to Change Your Life - Liz Moody

More, Please - Emma Specter

How to Piss Off Men - Kyle Prue

Shitty Craft Club - Sam Reece

Simply Julia - Julia Turshen

Bold = Highly Recommend

Italics = Worth It

Crossed Out = Nope

Thoughts:  I'll be thinking about The Wall by Marlen Haushofer for quite some time. It's a feminist, dystopian, survivalist tale with some truly harrowing moments.

Goodreads Goal: 334/400

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads | 2022 Reads | 2023 Reads | 2024 Reads

[fridakahloblvd]

the one time I trust an old white woman, I lose an eye…

I mean, sURE, there were some red flags. her potions didn’t work, and she talked with innuendo. her smile was kinda creepy, and she seemed a little too eager to talk to me.

I’m just humoring her at this point because she’s just a frail old woman lmao. I’m a sorcerer, I can tell she’s a little loopy.

but she was harmless! I find her and she’s surrounded by two young men who are threatening her. she had no weapons! they’re calling her a hag! 🙄 I get it, she’s a weird old lady, but that’s not a crime.

and I’m not buying this story about their sister! who’s to say she didn’t run off on her own volition? I know the genre we’re in! we meet so many star crossed lovers in act 1! maybe she didn’t like her home life! maybe her brothers are abusive!! Idk!!

so what was i supposed to do?! i met her first, and she was nice to me! she’s Auntie!! i tell them to leave her alone and they point their swords at me! and at this point I’m like lvl 2 or 3, so we easily kill them.

and it’s mostly just because I find her funny, Idk. I find Volo annoying, but I think Auntie’s great so maybe I’m just dumb. I role played the Volo surgery and save scummed back before that because I KNEW he was a bumbling idiot.

The letter the sister left behind doesn’t help either. I don’t know what to think of this situation, I just hope that the sister is safe and sound wherever she is.

Anyway, I go off. Auntie tells me to meet up with her as thanks, I go and fight the goblins and gnolls. the game tells me that I’m not ready to go after the Gith, so I decide that I’m ready to meet back up with Auntie.

I’m following the quest marker, when I step onto the sunlit wetlands. something happens, like a weird blast that changes the area into a stinky bog. ok. whatever. there’s some sheep and they’re highlighted so I grab Wyll to go talk to them.

but they turn into…gnomes? ok. whatever. there’s an illusion going on and these gnomes are trying to pass off as sheep. so I humor them. I “baa” at them. the only other options are to confront or attack them. I don’t feel like starting shit, so I let them be. maybe it’s a kink or they’re being method? I don’t judge.

so I bound up the stairs in this dispelled illusion bog-turned-wetland and there’s Auntie!

…with a young woman. and she’s forcing homegirl to overeat, telling her that she’s eating for two. and again…I’m not stupid. I clock the weird vibes. that’s Marcy what’s her name. the little sister. And Auntie’s being really cruel to her, threatening Marcy to finish her food.

I’ve read Hansel and Gretel, I know a thing or two about child eating witches. so I say something to Auntie, like “hmm. Marcy. ain’t that the name of the little sister of the two guys I killed for you?” like what’s up with that?

and she just tells me to shut it, that she doesn’t like busybodies. Astarion tells me to leave well enough alone, and not worry about strangers. Wyll and Lae’zel stay silent and just stand behind me with their arms crossed. and I suddenly wish I had brought Gale along because I’m romancing him. and he’s a wizard so he’s gotta have some expertise with all this.

but he’s not here. and then Auntie’s telling me that I gotta give up my eye in exchange for getting the worm out. and I’m just letting shit happen at this point because I wanna see where this leads.

so I say ok. but then she says she’s gotta get her long nails for this job. and I’m like, “huh?”

and she transforms into a big gnomish monster. a hag. and I’m just looking at her not knowing what to think. because just because she’s a hag, doesn’t mean she’s evil! right?

(I’d just listened to NADDPOD’s Twilight Santorum four shot and there was a nice hag there so I might’ve been biased. it’s a really funny and surprisingly heartbreaking story. the ending is so good)

Long story short, she pulls my eye out and then freaks out when she sees the worm. apparently it’s been tampered with. duh. we know. but she’s mad at ME, and says the deals off. and kicks me out.

WHAT. like…how rude. she’s like “oh I COULD do it. but I won’t. you’re not getting your eye back, but here’s a lil gift. piss off” and I just had to laugh! because what??

anyway, I’m tempted to save scum and go back and try to kill her I guess.

[aroaessidhe]

i took all of 2 out-of-context screenshots of Young Hag and the Witches Quest because I was enjoying it so much. it is very charming.

[mycomaid]

I WANT TO DANCE ... independent & selective ba/ldur's g/ate 3 companion oc. written by annie. sideblog to @publicabsent. rules & info under the cut. ... I WANNA GAZE AT THE STARS.

full rules are found on my main blog. basically don't be a snot rag & we'll be cool. it's likely there will be bg3 spoilers here, & while i have not progressed far (considering the device i was using to play cannot handle it & i'm downloading it on my new device as i type) i'm not afraid to spoil some things for myself, especially fixed plot points. i may only know the barest details, but you get it.

STATS:

name: annette carli race: half-elf (wood) class: druid (circle of spores) age: low twenties, quite young background: hermit [raised by a hag in seclusion, studied in her books deeply]

known spells: druidcraft, mending, infestation, guidance, speak with animals, healing word, entangle, heat metal, barkskin, moonbeam common/preferred wildshape forms: cat, ferret, fox, black bear, screech owl

THE STORY:

as far back as she can remember, annette has lived with her mother -- a powerful witch, bound by blood to the fey laws, nasty in disposition but charitable enough in her raising of the young half-elf girl. (annette never truly knows the extent of it, but her mother is of no blood relation -- a green hag, bound by a deal to care for the child that she'd been promised by a young man long ago, long before he ever thought of children.) a life of isolation, following rules of her mother, & being told the outside world lies, they hurt, they never could take care you the way i can, shapes the young girl's childhood & adolescence. the hag's aversion to beauty manifests itself into her crippling insecurity. annette learns the foundation of her druidic knowledge by sneaking to read some of the tamer books in the lair, learning simple things. her sneaking & the tension between her existence & her mother's practices came to a head, resulting in annette being deposited somewhere in the woods, unable to find her way home.

she learns much from simply surviving, growing in her druidic practices outside of a circle. her upbringing echoes into her fears of becoming like her mother & in her magic, leaning toward the mushrooms & the brambles instead of the herbs & flowers. she does, unfortunately, encounter the young lord everett mallory. he is everything mother warned her of -- a liar, looking for what he wants with no thought of how to earn it, impolite, trying to take what is not offered. it's her first wildshape: she panics, turns into a rabbit, & bounds away. thus we find her now, a lonely druid always running from & never moving to anything.

the main difference between her bg3 variation & general d&d is her being tadpoled & being a companion to tav. her personal quest would likely be either resolving her problems with everett or, if you feel daring, helping her realize that the hag was not her mother & maybe even dispatching the hag.

[blathairgid]

Witcher is not Slavic! It’s Polish. But in a good way.

Warning: It’s long post. And I didn’t even covered all I wanted. Also I’m not really used to write in English so sorry for mistakes. I tried to find links to as many English translations to things I mention as I could.

That’s the one. True Pole. 

There is a lot talking about how slavic The Witcher is. Monsters, believes ect… But it’s not. The Witcher was written by Andrzej Sapkowski, who was a fan of fantasy and he wrote fantasy. Based on what he knew from the genre. But also it was written by Polish author, in Polish language, for Polish readers and to be published in Poland. We can say many things about Sapkowski, but one thing is certain, he is great writer. It’s really easy to forget and I’m kinda suprised everytime I read the books. So our Wiedźmin was a fantasy stories, then saga, wtitten by fantasy fan that did’t pretend that he wasn’t from Poland. 

So you get referances to King Arthur’s legends (like it’s main inspiration later in books), you get classical fairy tales like Little Mermaid (Bit of Sacrifice - my favourite story) or Snow White (Renfri). In Time of Contempt (Czas Pogardy) when Ciri first meets the Wild Hunt (and yes, wild hunt appears somewhere in Slavic mythology but mostly it’s conected to German, Norse and Celtic ones) it’s basicly re-telling of The Erl-King by Goethe.

The Erl-King

But there are also other inspirations. In the story with golden dragon the villagers tried to kill the first dragon (that just had baby dragon) by giving her sheep stuffed with sulfur, tar and belladona. Then they also suggest to give it to the golden one. Sounds ridiculus, right? Well, if you were born in Poland you know from very young age that giving dragon a sheep stuffed with sulfur is a best way to kill one! That’s how Szewczyk Dratewka killed the dragon that live under the Wawel castle in Kraków. 

That’s the statue of said dragon under Wawel castle. Yes, it really breaths fire.

Also Duny, the hedgehog in knight’s armor may seems a little odd. But most children in Poland will find it completly normal and on top of that they will know that love can break the curse. The idea is based on a poem from one of the most popular poets that wrote for children (not only) – Jan Brzechwa. It’s called Baśń o Stalowym Jeżu – The Tale of Steel Hedgehog and it’s really beautiful, sadly i did’t find any English translation. 

I remember as my mom read me this when I was little.

You have to understand that we don’t really learn at schools about Slavic mythology. According to books before baptism there were Pagans, they had some believes and then history of Poland starts with Christianity. It’s bullshit but yeah. So even about Dziady (Forefather’s Eve) we learn as we read Mickiewicz’s book of the same title. Or we hear some local stories. I always knew a lot about witches’ sabbaths on Łysa Góra (Bald Mountain – it was also quest in Witcher 3) because it’s my region. 

Second part of Dziady by Adam Mickiewicz, the one that covers Forefather’s Eve ritual is actually one of the few books everyone reads at school. 

And that’s Łysa Góra. Most known place of witches sabbaths. And actual place of Pagan cult. Part of my home region.

Sapkowski took inspirations from what he knew. Nothing more and nothing less. And thanks to that, as we were raised in the same culture we also know it and recognize it. But the thing i most enjoy is the climate of the books. Because I read these books and it’s clear that it’s now based in Poland and characters are not Polish. But wen I read it you can feel that it’s… homey. These are little bits that sadly were lost in translations. 

In Kraniec Świata – story with Torque the Silvan and elves, when Geralt is looking for a job and he’s talking to villagers, when i read this I KNOW that the author is from Poland. In the first village when they talk about everything bad that is happening in their village and how it must be made by monsters, and also about old Nachakowa (Old Nan the Hag) and some officials and some neighbourly quarrels  - I was like „Yeah, guys, I feel ya. I work with clients too”. But what was lost in translation were Nietopyrze. In Ensligh translations it was translated as „bats” and it’s kinda correct. But the proper word for “bats” in Polish is “nietoperze”. “Nietopyrze” is a form that is associated with people from small villages that lacks an education. And even Geralt is kinda making fun of that. Then when they’re talking about Silvan they say „diaboł” insted of „diabeł” (meaning devil and it’s same situation as before). Here even Jaskier corrects them by saying „Diabłów nie ma” („There are no devils”) and the Duhn insists that it’s „diaboł”. And of course there old lady that everyone reffers to as „grandma”. We still have that. Even in cities.

The faces of people that have to talk to people at work. That’s Jaskier and Geralt from Polish tv series btw. 

Btw when i read about these villages I thing about my grand-grandmother’s house that I visited when I was a child. There were no shop in the village, and even no church. The church was in the village near by. But we had farmlands there – I remember picking up potatoes, we had chickens that we used to get eggs (they were also used for soups but luckily I never saw that). And there were no toilet in the house, no gas – there were tiled stove. But we had a horse! These are my memories, welcome to Poland. 

But as we talk about people, it’s time to explain why I added that The Witcher is Polish but in a „good way”. Sometimes when I see comments on the internet there are just ones about how every character should be white and straight because it’s Polish book and of course in Poland everyone is white and straight. Exept it’s not the case and never was. And The Witcher was written by male fantasy author in 90s. And it’s leftish as hell. 

The Continent is not Poland, it’s very clear. The characters have names from all over the world which also suggest that THEY ARE NOT POLISH. And there are evles. We never had elves in Poland. Rusałki yes, but not elves. And the whole series is a manifest on how discrimination based of someone’s nacionality, race, looks, proffesion etc. is leading to death and destruction. It’s also about what happens if we destroy nature. And women are the ones in charge. Socceres are using kings as their puppets. The patriatchy is criticized (Calanthe). Femine forms? Hell yeah! Ciri is a Wiedźminka (female form from the Witcher) not Wiedźmin. She’s a girl alfter all. And she can bothe learn to fight and how to kill monsters and wear makeup because she feels like it and she won’t practice because she doesn’t feel good when she’s on her period. Yes, Sapkowski in 90s decided that it’s important to mention that a teenage girl have period. And he made fun of how men don’t think about it and how uncomfortable they get when someone mentions is. This scene with Triss were much more important in books then in Netflix series where she just mentions it.

But as we talk about women – Yeneffer is helping with unwanted pragnancies (of course for money but don’t expect her to do anything for free) and Geralt calls women’s right to choose sacred. Yes, our beloved White Wolf is pro choice. Also sorceresses are cononicly bisexual. And faith fanatics are bad guys while most (if not all) good characters are atheists. That’s also how our country works till this day.

So yes, Witcher is Polish but in a way that we fight for justice, freedom, for equal rights. If you want to write stories based on The Witcher it don’t have to be Slavic. You can use Andersen’s or Brothers Grimms’ fairy tales. You can use stories you heard as a child. Other mythologies. Even other fantasy works. Because it’s what Sapkowski did. He took what he knew and he happend to know what was known in Poland. And of course you CAN use Slavic myths. But you can also read some legends as the one about Wawel’s dragon. Or about knights sleeping under Giewont mountain. Or some poems – Mickiewicz or Leśmian for example. I love Leśmian. Maybe I will write a post about these Polish legends and poems that would add to the lore. What do you think? 

Slavic mythology IS NOT A CANON. But feminism, ecologism, equality IS A CANON. Remember about that.