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rosesutherlandwrites · 8 hours

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I love how the first thing Fauchelevent says to Valjean in the convent is a stock pickup line:

"Did you fall from heaven? There is no trouble about that: if ever you do fall, it will be from there."

It's just like

Valjean: *terrified, panicking, not sure where he is, and having an emotional breakdown over Cosette nearly dying* Fauchelevent: Did you fall from heaven? bc baby.....ur an angel <3

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rosesutherlandwrites · 9 hours

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Attempting to stake the plot Bunnicula that just leapt on me through the heart this morning because I CANNOT right now with another idea, but also oh shit, it's a really GOOD idea I think. We WILL be revisiting this one later.

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rosesutherlandwrites · 9 hours

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A platonic True Love’s Kiss

While it shows up in more modern retellings all the time (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, depending on your definition The Frog Prince and the Little Mermaid) breaking a curse with “true love’s kiss” is actually pretty rare in folktales.

The only lover who kisses a curse away I can think of right now is actually a woman, the girl from Grimm’s The True Bride (or True Sweetheart), but another genuine True Love’s Kiss is a brother saving his sister, in the English-Scottish ballad Kemp Owyne or the tale of The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh:

A widowed king with two children remarries a jealous witch, who transforms the princess - either unnamed or Margaret - into a beastly dragon while the prince - either Kemp Owyne, Kempion, or Child Owyne - is away.

The news reaches her brother and he hastens to find her, coming upon a fiery beast. In some versions he is afraid of her, in others he nearly attacks her. But she speaks to him and he knows her, kissing her three times to break the spell and turn her back into herself.

Of course I’m delighted with the idea of sibling love being the love that breaks a kiss, but I also like the wiggle room there is in this tale for how the prince acts. The overall tone seems to be very brave and chivalrous, but:

In one version of the ballad he mouths off a lot about how she’s totally going to destroy the boat he and his buddy are in because she is so monstrous.

In one of them the dragon-princess promises her brother magic gifts, but also threatens that they will straight up kill him if he strikes her and he should get over here and kiss her already.

In two of the versions I know the evil queen ends up punished by being transformed into a beast or toad. In the latter it’s the prince himself who does this while in the first it could be read as the princess doing it.

Which implies that this whole family knows how to use magic and that these siblings probably turn each other into dragons or wolves on the reg when they’re bored. Giving me leave to turn the noble bravery of the prince into:

“Maggie get your scaly face over here, so I can kiss you better and kick that woman’s ass. No one gets to curse my sister but me.”

#I love folktales so much

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rosesutherlandwrites · 11 hours

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So I've been learning French for a while and 'faire' is actually an incredible word. Like what a fucking breakthrough in economy of language.

Faire is a verb that is usually translated into English as "to do/to make," but it covers way more actions than that, which is very confusing for new speakers. because (I have realized) that's not really what faire means.

Faire is actually a word that just gestures vaguely in the direction of the object of the sentence and goes "you know." "Je fais du velo." "Je fais du courses." "Je fais mes valises." I'm biking. I go grocery shopping. I'm packing my bags. You're just sort of pointing at a bike and going "you know, the obvious thing you'd do with it."

English: "You mean RIDE it??"

French: "Sure whatever."

Like idk I just really enjoy the concept of a catch-all verb that you can just slap onto almost anything because who fucking gives a shit, you get the idea. There's a bike. what do you think I'm going to do with it.

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rosesutherlandwrites · 21 hours

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reading the symptoms of autism as a now grown adult after being bullied for no explainable reason all your life

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rosesutherlandwrites · 1 day

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people misunderstand what ‘gifted kid’ actually means but it’s ok it’s fine it’s cool it’s good

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rosesutherlandwrites · 1 day

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keeping all my desires stored in my moist and delicate body until they start rotting me from the inside out

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rosesutherlandwrites · 1 day

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So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

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rosesutherlandwrites · 1 day

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DERRY GIRLS (2018 - 2022) · S01, E06: Episode 6

dir. Michael Lennox

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rosesutherlandwrites · 1 day

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What more tales do you have (or can point me to) about the baobhan sith? I'm planning a story that they might fit perfectly in, instead of more traditional vampires--basically, all magic and magical beings stem from spirits that I'm currently imagining as the fae (i.e. werewolves are closer to possession than to disease)--but the only thing I'm able to find is that same one story where the "hero" hides among the horses. I can't imagine that's the only thing about them on (or off) the internet.

This is actually a rather difficult question. One that’s probably gonna need a read-more...

As far as I understand it “baobhan sith” (pronounced baavan shee?) is a term from the Highlands and it just means “fairy woman” in the same way that “banshee” also means “fairy woman”. But when this particular wording is used, it is usually to refer to a specific type of seductive, blood-drinking fae.

However, I have a lot of books with Scottish tales and the baobhan sith just does not feature in any of them. Brigg’s mentions them in her fairy encyclopaedia and they feature in some of my vampire books, but always with the same story you referred to.

The original written source for that one story seems to be Robertson’s Folk-Lore from the West of Ross-shire (1905), later retold by Mackenzie in Scottish Folk Lore and Folk Life (1935), which is the version most widespread now.

It does seem like there were actually many stories about the baobhan sith, but they may all have been so similar that they were not interesting enough to collect. This seems at least party corroborated by the fact that there are multiple endings to the story Mackenzie retold and that Campbell featured one in Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1900) five years before Robertson. I’ve seen several variations mentioned:

They all start with some hunters camping out in the Scottish wilderness at night, but in some they sing and dance and in others they just talk and tell stories.

Some stories feature all the men wishing for female company, other versions make them wish for their wives (making them guilty of adultery on top of mere lust after the fae show up to grant their wishes) and in some the protagonist does not join in these wishes (thereby proving he is worthy of salvation).

The baobhan sith show up to provide the wished for female companionship, sometimes enticing the men to dance while they slowly drain them, sometimes just going straight for their throats.

In some endings the survivor of the encounter (often the singer or musician of the company) hides among the horses (where the iron of horseshoes protects him?). In others he is protected by his dog and in others he simply flees and manages to get away.

All stories have in common that once the sun comes up, the protagonist knows himself to be safe, and he finds his companions dead and drained of their blood.

In these stories it is always mentioned that the baobhan sith are beautiful and clad in green, but eventually reveal sharp claws with which to draw blood. Additionally, they often have deer hooves instead of feet, which are hidden under their long skirts. Another attribute generally repeated is that they can shapeshift into a hooded crow or raven, but they never seem to do this in the stories. Other details I have found are that they can speak any language, albeit with an ‘otherworldly accent’ and that they rest in an underground dwelling in which they can be trapped by stacking stones on top of it (a technique that features more often in various vampire lore). I have not found clear sources for either, though.

Most fae do not drink blood and ‘normal’ vampires are not very common in Scottish folklore either, so the baobhan sith certainly stands out. Powerful fae clad in green are common, but even when blood is involved they tend not to act the same:

In a story from (presumably) Cromarty, a demonic (?) woman dressed in green carrying a baby with claws for fingers, steals into people’s houses to kill their children for their blood. She is not called a baobhan sith, though, and she uses the blood to bathe her demon child, not to feed it.

I have no idea how old the baobhan sith are, nor if they have more meaning than simply being a succubus-style horror story for men. The Irish dearg due and leannán sídhe share some traits with them, but they’re definitely not the same. If anyone does know more about them, I would love to hear!

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rosesutherlandwrites · 2 days

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Gen X: [raises hand] Can... can we also maybe not get worked to death?

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rosesutherlandwrites · 2 days

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everyone: what's your goal in life?

me: to write a story so soul snatching, so gut wrenching and so devastatingly beautiful that it leaves you crying at 3am when you have a 8am lecture/shift and it inspires people to write entire essays, to write entire fanfics, mood boards and playlists based on it.

#This is all of us really #scribbling and hoping to catch lightening

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rosesutherlandwrites · 2 days

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