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ayamari-no-goshi · 3 years

Note

Got any headcanons/fanfic-related thoughts about holidays, witches, and/or Walpurgis Night?

Thanks for the ask! This is gonna be long. Sorry in advance.

Regarding holidays, the most important would be the equinoxes and Halloween.

Halloween is easy - Samhain was originally an end of harvest festival for the Celts, but the also believed it was a day where the living and the dead walked among each other. All Hallow's (Oct 31), All Saints Day (Nov 1), and All Souls Day (Nov 2) is the Christianization of this festival and brought the veneration of the dead to a wider group of people, strengthening the association of that time period with the dead. And if you believe that beliefs have the power of influencing things, then it may have been given more power as a result.

So, after the info dump - regarding DP in general, it's a day where its easier for ghosts to move between realms. For cannon, you'd definitely see an increase of natural portals. Some of the stronger ghosts, who can't do it naturally, may manifest the ability to create portals on that day. For my long fics,.. in Eidolon, it's basically the same as cannon. For Verboten, where the veil between worlds is more like water... maybe ice. Yeah, ice works better. The cracks widen to the point where humans can stumble in quite easily when normally they'd need to find a thin spot (area of a natural portal) or ghost breaks through and drags them in... I just gave myself an image of Plasmius lurking under water and attacking like a Killer Whale does.

The equinoxes have a similar context regarding the supernatural. The equal amounts of daylight and night are said to thin the veil. So, not quite as strong as Halloween, but you'd still see uptake in activity as a result of increased portals. Now, in cannon, we don't see much of a difference in activity levels per season (we don't really see seasons anyways) so this next bit I've only applied to my AUs. In the US, paranormal activity is often reported to pick up around the Spring equinox and decrease after the Fall equinox/Halloween. I don't know why that is. I've heard some European sources reporting similar things. No idea if that's across the board, just in the Northern Hemisphere, or what.

As for Walpurgis Night... this is a weird one. It's traditionally celebrated on April 30th, and it's the eve of the feast day for St. Walpurga. It was a very common tradition to build bonfires to ward off disease, witchcraft, and evil spirits that night. Yet, it's also the night when witches were said to meet and their powers were the strongest. For cannon, I wouldn't really consider it an important day (again, due to the lack of notable differences in time/seasons), but for AUs, it would be one of the best days for humans to summon spirits.

Now, regarding witches/magic users... Let me just mention, I'm uncomfortable talking in depth about 'true' magic, with the exception of divination. The same holds true with demonology. So, if it comes up like it did in Verboten or my recent one shot, the intent gets mentioned (like Sam wanting to summon a ghost to ask a question), but I'll never go in detail about the process.

With that aside, I should point out I do distinguish magic users due to something I read many years ago

witch - traditionally more involved with herbs and 'earth based magicks'.

wizard - traditionally 'wizened' men. They're the ones dealing with 'scholarly' magicks like alchemy, astrology, some forms of divination, Kabbalah, etc. Often described as needing a conduit for magic.

sorcerer - you're non-scholarly magic. European information often states their abilities are derived from working with/summoning spirits.

warlock - the word itself is believed to derive from an old word for 'oath breaker'. Most describe them as having disregarded any previous teaching and made a pact with something dark/evil, which in turn gives them abilities.

Going back to DP - canonically, we know magic exists through Freakshow's artifacts and Desiree. .... Sigh, I just realized her name is a pun on 'desire.' Anyways, both in cannon and for fics, I think true magic users are very rare. Arguably, all those categories can exist in cannon, but I think really only sorcerers and warlocks would be of any real danger to Danny or the other ghosts. While I don't think Freakshow is a magic user outside of artifact use, I think his family would be sorcerers. I think as time goes on, magic users would slowly flock to Amity Park which would bring an entirely different set of problems.

.... and also, while checking a couple things, I found another ancestor in Ireland who supposedly messed around with the Fey. This is why my family is cursed.

#danny phantom #dp #dp theory #danny phantom theory #dp worldbuilding #worldbuilding #paranormal #oh boy more folklore #ask me #thanks for the ask!

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distractedhistotech · 4 years

Text

Before MSA + 1: Halloween

Arthur had managed to put together something that acted like a diaper but which fitted into his pocket instead of around the hamster. “It takes a little bit to put them together though…”

Cadence seemed happy with the pocket diaper considering how much time she was spending in Arthur’s shirt and coat pockets.

“I wonder if you could incorporate it into your Halloween costume,” mused Vivi.

“Uh…What’s Halloween?” asked Arthur.

Sydney and Lewis gave Arthur startled looks. “You don’t know what Halloween is?!”

Arthur panicked a bit as he realized this was something everyone was supposed to know about. “My parents were super religious,” he said quickly. Sydney and Lewis seemed to accept it.

“Halloween evolved from the Celtic celebration of Samhain,” explained Vivi. “It was the ending of the year at sun down, but the new year didn’t start until the sun rose. Being outside of time as it were meant that ghosts and the like had an easier time manifesting. It probably makes magic easier and stronger too. At some point, people started wearing scary outfits to try and blend in or scare away the spirits. That ritual eventually became putting on costumes for fun and, in the case of kids, going around to houses and asking for treats.”

The other kids were staring at her in surprise at the info dump, while Arthur was wondering if this meant Halloween was technically a pagan holiday.

“Actually, the Catholic church took a lot of pagan holidays and incorporated them into their religion. Christmas takes place in December because that’s when a big festival called Saturnalia took place in the Roman empire. Evidence suggests that Jesus was actually born in Spring,” continued Vivi as if she’d predicted Arthur’s thoughts.

The more Arthur learned the more he wondered if the adults in his early life knew what they were doing.

“Anyway…My dad makes cosplay as a side job so if you want he can make you guys costumes too,” said Sydney.

Lewis nodded. “He always makes costumes for us.”

Vivi perked up. “Really?”

Sydney nodded. “But nothing super complicated, okay? He’s gotta budget.”

“What’s cosplay?” asked Arthur.

“Costume play,” explained Lewis. “People dress up like characters from anime or videogames that they love. Some of the outfits are really complicated or accurate.”

“We usually do a theme for Halloween,” continued Sydney.

“We did Sailor Moon for a couple of years,” said Lewis.

“Another time we were Ed and Al Elric,” said Sydney. “I’m not sure what we could do with four people.”

“Power Rangers?” suggested Vivi.

“There’s usually five of ‘em though,” said Sydney.

“Is that a big deal?” asked Arthur.

“Not really,” said Lewis. “It would just seem a little weird to be short a ranger.”

“So, we need a group of four people,” muttered Sydney. “All I can think of are Transformers, but that might be too complicated.”

“All I can think of is the Scooby Doo gang,” said Vivi.

Silence. The kids turned to stare at Ben. “Would Ben let us dye his fur?” asked Lewis.

“I have no idea,” admitted Vivi. “Would the dye be safe?”

“I have no idea,” repeated Sydney. “Dad knows a bit about hair dye…”

“I think you could get away with leaving him white and black,” said Arthur.

“So, who would be who?” asked Lewis.

Vivi and Sydney promptly pointed at Lewis. “Fred.” Then they pointed towards Arthur. “Shaggy.”

“You do have the muscle tone going on,” agreed Arthur.

And Lewis blushed because he was somehow the biggest one there despite (probably) being the youngest. “W-well, who’s gonna be Velma and Daphne?”

Sydney and Vivi exchanged looks. That was…less obvious. Both wore glasses, had relatively short statures, and were fairly tomboyish.

“You’re shorter,” said Vivi.

Sydney pouted. “Yeah, I am. Guess that makes me Velma…What kind of name is Velma?”

“I dunno.”

“Will we need a van?”

“None of us can drive,” pointed out Arthur.

“Maybe a toy or something,” suggested Lewis.

“Oh, yeah, that makes more sense,” admitted Arthur.

The four kids (and dog and hamster) just lay there for several minutes. It hadn’t been a particularly odd conversation, but something in the air seemed heavy, as if something life changing had just happened.

Then Ben started licking Arthur’s face, ending the moment. Arthur let out a laugh. “H-hey! Stop! Stop!”

Vivi grinned. “You’re saying ‘stop’, but you’re laughing.” Ben decided to switch targets and started licking Vivi instead. She giggled. “Ben!”

“We should teach him how to talk!” Ben turned his attention to Sydney. “Hey! Ew! Your breath smells like fish! Why does it smell like fish? You’re not a cat!”

“Ben’ll eat anything if you give him the chance,” said Vivi.

Lewis pulled a bag of chips out from somewhere and grinned. “Like this?” He popped the bag open. He was immediately tackled by the dog. “Ack!” Ben quickly stuck his head in the bag and quickly snapped up the contents before transferring his ministrations to Lewis. “Oh yuck! Your breath really does smell like fish!”

“Hold him for me,” said Vivi. “I’ll brush his teeth!”

The whole thing devolved into a wrestling match. No teeth were cleaned. Everyone needed a bath afterwards.

Sydney had been right about the Scooby Doo costumes being fairly simple to make. She hadn’t stopped to think about make-up and hairstyling though.

“Are you almost done?” asked Sydney Jr.

“Almost…Just one more pin…and done!” Sydney Sr stepped back to admire how Sydney looked with the brown bob wig in addition to the rest of her costume. “The shape of the glasses aren’t the same, but I don’t think anyone will care.”

Sydney Jr. twirled and did a hop-skip over to Vivi, who was messing with her noticeably longer orange wig. “How ‘bout you?”

“I prefer shorter hair. Hair this long just…gets in the way,” said Vivi as she glared distastefully at a lock of orange hair.

Sydney nodded. “I hear ya. I just want it long enough to ponytail it.” She glanced at the boys. “How ‘bout you two?”

Unlike the girls, the boys weren’t wearing wigs. They’d just had their hair styled into a close approximation of their chosen characters. Sydney Sr claimed this was because the wigs would look too bulky unless the boys were willing to shave their hair. They weren’t.

Arthur fingered his hair. “This doesn’t feel too different from usual besides the colors.” He was wearing green and red. He was coming to prefer bright colors like orange and yellow.

Lewis was happily studying his reflection. “I kind of like this hairstyle.” He turned to Sydney Sr. “Will you teach me how to do this?”

Sydney Sr gave him a grin. “Sure! I’ll get you some decent hair mousse. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go change into my costume.” On his way out, he ran into Hiro. “So, how’d Ben like the vegetable dye?”

“He tolerated it.” That was a lie. Ben had taken one look at the dye, snorted, and changed his fur color to the proper brown color.

“I’m leaving you alone with Noelle and the kids for a bit. Behave now.” And Sydney Sr hurried down the hallway.

Hiro raised an eyebrow. The Sydneys were pretty darn odd. Still, they got along with the rest of the family and friends, and Hiro did like them…in reasonable amounts.

He walked Ben over to the kids, who all started petting him. “Wow, this dye is really realistic,” said Lewis.

Sydney nodded. “My dad knows what he’s doing.”

“How you holding up boy?” asked Vivi. Ben licked her in response. “Good to know.”

“Oh, you kids look so cute like that,” said Noelle. “Let me get my camera!”

Hiro let the kids pose for the camera for several moments before clearing his throat. “Now, I don’t know how much you know about the holiday, but it is easier to come into contact with the supernatural starting tonight and lasting until November 2. It’s most intense on Halloween though. So, Mr. Scoville and I will be escorting you tonight. I have tools prepared to chase off anything that may take an untoward interest in your group, and you will all be spending the night here. Mr. Scoville also has some sort of repelling ability, so I’d imagine this is one of the safest places in the county.”

Arthur let out a sigh of relief. “That’s a relief.”

“Had some bad experiences?” asked Vivi.

Arthur nodded. “I just knew they were at the end of October. I didn’t know about the Halloween thing. Why does it get so much worse anyway?”

“That’s not something with a simple answer,” said Hiro. “Something makes…magic for lack of a better word more potent during these days, which makes it easier for people to see ghosts and for ghosts, along with other normally invisible entities, to become visible to people. It’s a good time for them to be heard if there’s something they want to get across to the mundane, living population.” Hiro glowered. “Although I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a tradition among the supernatural to have fun and try to scare humans. It’s what people are expecting to happen after all.”

Ben gave a barely noticeable shrug. Hiro wasn’t wrong, but it was more of a ‘teenagers messing around and doing things their parents won’t necessarily approve of’ sort of thing.

Arthur crossed his arms. “Well, I don’t like it, whatever it is…”

Vivi turned to Sydney and Lewis. “Have you guys ever noticed anything weird around this time of year?”

“I haven’t ever noticed anything,” said Sydney. “Lewis says there are ghosts all over the place though.”

Lewis nodded. “Yeah, some are pretty scary. It’s a lot more active in the cemetery and house. Sydney always spends the night since some of them look pretty scary.” Lewis made a face as something suddenly occurred to him. “Uh, this is the first Halloween we haven’t slept over at my house. Do you think Mom and Dad and Belle will be okay?”

“I put some ofudas up at your house that should keep away most dangerous entities,” reassured Hiro. “Honestly, you probably attract half of the activity so just spending time away from them will put a stop to a portion of the paranormal activity.”

“Huh, really? I had no idea,” said Lewis.

“Oh, yes, once ghosts figure out someone can see them word spreads very quickly.”

“Wait. I can’t see ghosts, so why do they keep following me around?” asked Arthur.

Hiro shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure why, but you…leak energy. Being around you is like it being Halloween all the time,” said Hiro. “You also have an aura that the supernatural find pleasing, like how kids will gravitate to a kitchen where cookies have just been cooked.”

“I could go for some cookies,” said Vivi.

“You’re going to be getting plenty of candy tonight,” said Noelle. “You can see about having cookies after you finish off the candy.”

Vivi grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

“No,” said Hiro.

“Aw…but-”

“No, you remember what happened last time,” said Hiro.

“Ooh, what happened last time?” asked Sydney.

“When she was five she ate all of her Halloween candy at once and didn’t sleep for three days,” explained Hiro. “She tried to feed Ben chocolate. Dogs can’t eat chocolate.”

Ben huffed because he could eat chocolate, thank you very much. Stupid need to hold up the illusion all the time. He couldn’t wait until Vivi was mature enough to know what he really was so he could relax at home. Not to mention it would be easier to snatch some of whatever that was Noelle was cooking.

Lewis must have noticed how Ben was staring longingly towards the kitchen because he grabbed a treat out of his pocket. “Would you like a Scooby Snack?”

Eh, it’ll do. Ben snapped it up and gave Lewis a lick of thanks.

“What’s taking your dad so long?” asked Vivi. “He said he was going to be a zombie. It can’t take that long to put on some torn clothing and fake blood.”

Sydney grinned. “Dad put in way more effort than that. There’s latex and make-up and contact lenses…”

“Mr. Scoville’s costumes are really complicated,” agreed Lewis.

Any further conversation was interrupted by a groaning sound. Everyone turned to see…a zombie. It was covered in bite marks, half rotten, had clouded over eyes, and dirty, torn clothing. It was completely unrecognizable as Sydney Sr.

“…Okay, that is a convincing zombie costume,” admitted Vivi.

“Thank you,” said Sydney Sr, briefly breaking character before going back to groaning.

“You look like a dead body!” said Arthur. “Which I guess is the point, but it’s creepy.”

Sydney Scoville groaned again. He sure was taking the zombie thing seriously.

“So…” Sydney Jr held up her treat bag. “Can we go trick-or-treating now?”

“Unnngh!”

“Taking that as a yes!”

Thankfully, the other adults decided to agree with the translation so the kids were able to head out. “There are a lot of costumes,” commented Arthur.

Vivi nodded. “Yep, it’s a popular holiday.”

“What a cute baby!” cooed Lewis at a young couple and their baby, all of them dressed like dinosaurs.

“Thank you!”

“But most of them seem to be younger than us,” continued Arthur.

“That guy’s older than us,” pointing at a guy dressed like a robot.

“People just prefer to go to parties once they get older. I don’t know why. They’re sooo boring,” complained Vivi. “Where’s the darkness? Where’s the creepy shadows? Where’s the questioning of if there’s a ghost around the corner or if that’s a really good werewolf costume or some werewolf decided to go to the store to pick up milk?”

“There are some ghosts following us,” commented Lewis.

Arthur tensed up. “Why?”

Lewis glanced towards the ghosts. “Are you sure he’s not a zombie? He looks pretty dead.”

“It’s Halloween. It’s obviously a very good costume.”

“He smells like a zombie though.”

“We’re ghosts! We can’t smell!”

“Oh yeah.”

“Besides, wasn’t there a Scooby-Doo movie with zombies?”

“Since when are there Scooby-Doo movies?”

“Mr. Scoville’s costume is really convincing,” said Lewis.

“Unngh!”

“Are zombies real?” asked Sydney.

“Yes,” said Hiro. “Under very specific circumstances. It takes one of a few specific rituals. It’s very dangerous and is not something that should ever be done unless you have prior permission from the subject of interest. Even then, it’s not recommended because of the possible side effects.” He paused. “Actually, this is a very complicated subject. Let’s talk about it when we have more time.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it at all,” muttered Arthur as they walked up to a house.

They took a moment to ring the doorbell, ask for treats, and thank the woman handing out the treats. Ben tried to beg for treats. This wasn’t allowed, and the group went on their way.

“Do ghost hunters have a lot of work on Halloween?” asked Sydney.

“Paranormal investigators,” corrected Hiro. “While we do look for ghosts, calling us ‘hunters’ suggests we intend to hurt ghosts in some way. That’s a last resort in cases where the ghosts in question seek to harm the living and cannot be convinced otherwise. And whether an investigator works on Halloween or not varies. Most will take the time off because they might get false positives. Some like working on Halloween though since they might get results they wouldn’t usually come by.”

“That doesn’t sound very professional,” muttered Arthur.

“I agree,” said Hiro. “Personally, I feel that circumstances that modify magical strengths can be dangerous, even if it’s something to your advantage.”

“Wouldn’t that make things easier?” asked Sydney.

“Yes, which might be good in an emergency, but it can make you under or overestimate a situation.”

“How is overestimating bad?” questioned Arthur.

Hiro took a minute to think about how to describe what he was thinking. “It’s like using a hand grenade to make a hole when a drill will suffice.”

Vivi, Lewis, both Sydneys, and even Arthur laughed. Hiro had to admit it wasn’t the best analogy, but it’s what he came up with on short notice.

“It’s like you thought the corn was sweet so you put in the wrong amount of salt,” said Lewis.

“That’s a better analogy,” admitted Hiro. “Anyway, once you outgrow trick-or-treating, you should find some way to spend Halloween that doesn’t involve the supernatural. Maybe go to a party or stay home and watch movies.”

“Watching movies would be nice,” said Arthur.

“Ooh! We could watch the Nightmare Before Christmas again!” said Vivi.

“You will not. It’s a school night,” said Hiro. “As it is the only reason you’re spending the night together is for safety’s sake.” He looked to Sydney Sr. “I’m trusting you and Mrs. Scoville to get the children to sleep and awake on time.”

“Nggggh!”

“That means yes,” said Sydney Jr.

“I still wish we could spend the night at Lewis’ house,” said Vivi. “There’s a lot more space, and it seems more fitting to spend Halloween in a haunted house.”

“Belle sometimes cries at night. She might wake you up,” said Lewis.

“Or we might wake her up,” countered Arthur.

“I don’t wanna wake Baby Belle up!” agreed Sydney Jr. “She’s cute when she’s sleeping.”

The subject of conversation rapidly changed to siblings and sleepovers. Hiro watched them absentmindedly before feeling something brush against his side.

It was just Ben, who gave him a smile unseen by anyone else. Hiro found himself smiling back. It was nice…seeing the children all so happy like this.

It would be nice if it would last forever.

#Arthur Kingsman #Lewis Pepper #Vivi Yukino #Sydney Scoville Jr.#Sydney Scoville Sr.#Hiro Yukino #Mystery the not-Dog #Brief Noelle sighting #Halloween episode #The gang dresses up as the gang #And talk about ghosts and stuff #While getting free candy #Then they get to have a sleepover

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krmpus · 4 years

Text

HEADCANON/INFO DUMP BECAUSE I’M BORED

Santa Claus is not a person but a title that has been passed down from generation to generation.

His father, Christopher Kringle, had an affair with Grýla. A giantess with the legs of a goat who lives in the mountains and eats naughty children at Christmas. At the time she was in human form, and when she revealed herself Christopher returned to his home in Lapland.

Grýla gave birth to Krampus in the snow. He was half man and had the legs of a goat just like her.

Christopher already had a son, and heir to the Claus name - Nicholas. There are 50 years between the half brothers.

Some 90 years after Krampus’ birth, Grýla married a troll named Leppalúði and together they had 13 children, collectively known as The Yule Lads: Sheep (Stekkjarstaur), Ruprecht (Skyrgámur), Gul (Giljagaur), Potts (Pottaskefill), Stubs ( Stúfur), twins Skel and Pefur (Hurðaskellir & Gáttaþefur), Bug (Bjúgnakrækir), Aska (Askasleikir), The Hook (Ketkrókur), Glug (Gluggagægir), Sleikir (Þvörusleikir), Shadow (ertasníkir). All except Stubs work with Krampus as his dark elves.

He has his favorite toys that help him cause havoc on Christmas Eve, these toys are his babies, he made them himself, he will rip your head off if you harm them in any way.

Krampus, like Santa, has magic. He uses his magic for darker purposes (though occasionally he might just magic up some candy).

He doesn’t sleep like a human, but because his body is human it exhausts after a period of time. He can generally go three days without sleeping but he only needs at most 2 hours of sleep.

Krampus has adopted Samhain, the spirit of Halloween, as his son. They’re both lawful evils, they strive to preserve the traditions of their respective holidays.

My favorite headcanon of all of them is that Krampus wears steel on the heels of his boots because he misses the way his hooves sound.

He jingles when he moves. Bells and chains can be heard when he does, sometimes it’s very faint.

Instead of beech branches now he uses a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, that he ironically named Mrs. Claus.

#⛓ ▏this will be a very scary christmas ( headcanons )

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longsightmyth · 6 years

Text

Chapter-by-Chapter, The Naming, Chapter 11

PELLINOR

And from his icy throne a king

Rose from his spellbound sleep and saw

A vision of the banished spring

A form so fair and luminous

That from his frosted eyes the hoar

Ran down like tears and, marveling,

He felt the chains of winter thaw

And years of thraldom ruinous

Between them stood a wall of ice

And round them barren winter waste,

But each saw in the other’s face

The light of summer lingering:

And then like thunder broke the frost,

The chill wall fell, and morrowless

Immortal maid and man embraced,

Their light and shadow mingling.

That’s two verses from The Lay of Ardina and Ardhor, and that’s how this new section (Rachida) starts out.

Maerad and Cadvan ride through the dark and the rain for a couple of hours before coming to a small town called Stormont. They’re still in Innail Fesse (basically the lands that Innail is responsible for educating, healing, and in general helping) and Cadvan feels safe enough to rent some rooms at an inn without disguising him and Maerad. The innkeeper knows him and assures him that he’ll be discrete.

The next morning Cadvan wakes Maerad up and they’re ready to go within an hour even allowing for a giant breakfast. Maerad reflects that if their stays are always like this the trip won’t be too bad.

Maerad is less genre-savvy than she could be. It’s unfortunate. Also unfortunate: everyone and their cousin seems to think Cadvan might be shacking up with a sixteen year old on the sly. I’d forgotten that.

The innkeeper mentions as he sees them off that he keeps hearing stories about things being ‘out of whack’. Cadvan says that things are, but the bards are doing what they can and hopes that the inn remains untouched. They’re off.

They ride for a day before coming up on another inn. Cadvan is clearly being nice, and he tells Maerad cheerfully that after this she should be ready for tree roots. Here they pretend to be husband and wife, and I sideye EVERYONE, though I suppose if they’re pretending not to be bards Cadvan could be assumed to be in his mid-to-late twenties and I GUESS if we’re going with vaguely Renaissance culture (as stated in the appendices) sixteen isn’t too young for marriage but also she’s sixteen. Ugh. Anyway.

The innkeeper here gives them a suite, and Maerad realizes that in the biggest fanfic cliche ever there is only one bed. She stands there, getting more and more nervous, until the innkeeper leaves and she quietly points this out to Cadvan.

“There’s only one bed,” she whispered.

Cadvan glanced up quickly, and Maerad understood that he knew or guessed more than she realized about her doubts and fears.

“That’s easily solved,” he said. “I’ll sleep on the couch. Luxury for a man like me.”

“A hard man of the wild,” she said, suddenly feeling lighter. “No doubt a stone floor is a king’s sleep.”

“The finest swans-down. But of course, you are welcome to such comfort if you desire.”

Maerad laughed, her anxiety dissipated.

They have dinner (“a thick beef casserole fragrant with herbs and topped with a chewy layer of melted cheese, with fresh bread and local wine” and yes I am now hungry) and the innkeeper offers them some apple tart too, because his wife (the cook for the establishment) makes super good clotted cream and her tarts are good too.

It’s super good. Maerad and Cadvan tell the innkeeper so when he comes back for plates.

“Marta will be grand happy to hear that,” [the innkeeper] said. “She takes a lot of care over her cooking, so she does, even if some don’t care or notice.”

I am officially invested in this innkeeping couple, okay. He’s mad that people don’t appreciate his wife’s work. He brags about her skills. We haven’t even met her yet and I ship it hard. ANYWAY.

Cadvan does some probing in regards to Ettinor (Helgar the racist dick’s school, if you recall).

“I hear the bards is demanding up in Ettinor,” said Halifax [the innkeeper]. “And they leave scarce little for the people to make a life with, living high on the sweat of others with nary a thank-you. Not like our School here, where they run things fair, if you know what I mean. They do Barding proper here, they do. They’re here every Springturn and and harvest, and the little ‘uns hereabouts know all their letters. And I remember when my daughter had the witchfever, back when she was a babe, and she looked like dying, and Oron herself came and laid her hands on her.”

Halifax also mentions more specific grievances, such as the two people who felt like bards leaving without paying the other day. He leaves to take care of other guests.

Maerad asks what all of this means. Cadvan doesn’t know for sure, but he doesn’t like it and he fully believes that the innkeeper was right about something being off here too.

“Innkeepers are not stupid, they are used to meeting many kinds of people, and their intuitions are often more practiced than most.”

They go to sleep, and Maerad dreams.

Something creeps along the road to Innail and tries to get into Silvia and Malgorn’s house but fails miserably in a bright flash of light. It picks itself up and keeps moving.

Dernhil looks up “like a deer scenting a wolf” just before there is a knock on his door. He doesn’t answer it, but it busts open anyway.

Two figures stood in the dark hallway beyond.

Dernhil stood up as the figures walked into the light. They were heavily cloaked and booted in black, and their hoods obscured their faces, although he could see their eyes burning red. A chill, like that of a tomb, entered the room with them and Dernhil lifted his hands as if to fend them off.

“You cannot ward against us!” said one of the figures sharply, making a strange motion with his hands.

Dernhil was suddenly stilled, as if he were frozen.

“We are come for a little information, Dernhil of Gent. Help us, and our master will reward you richly.”

There was a long silence. “I know who you are,” Dernhil said at last. His speech was thick, as if he were in pain. “I’ll not have any dealings with your kind.”

They want to know about Maerad. Dernhil says absolutely nothing for the last very few minutes of his life, but he does radiate “an aura of light, recalling the luminosity of sunlight on summer trees or the radiance of a fountain.” It seems to hurt the hulls (that’s what they are, okay, we know) but they aren’t stopped and try to probe his mind for info. Dernhil and one of the hulls meet eyes, and Dernhil shouts and collapses, dead.

“There was nothing there,” [the hull] said. “Nothing.”

Maerad wakes up when they leave the room, but first they kick Dernhil’s body aside pretty carelessly. She takes a long time to go back to sleep.

Pages: 12

Fragments: 2

Em-Dashes: 3

Ellipses: 0

THRONE OF GLASS

Only one chapter this time! It’s chapter 23.

Celaena has a dream where she’s back in Endovier being whipped. It’s a pretty effective piece of writing up until the very end, where it goes flowery again. She wakes to Chaol telling her it was a dream, and we are reminded that she has three whip scars on her back.

We also learn that it’s Samhuinn, and Celaena is angry that no one told her. They have toilets but not calendars? Anyway, she’s not training today, and she wants to know if there’s a feast.

There is, Chaol says, and she’s not invited. Celaena says of course she isn’t and manages not to exposition dump what Samhuinn is but still convey the idea of it in dialogue, which I appreciate even though it’s Samhain. It’s just Samhain.

Chaol does say she can go to the temple services as they sit down to breakfast, saying that religious observances shouldn’t be denied anyone. I agree with the sentiment but question the practicality of allowing the assassin in the same room with all the royals and courtiers.

She keeps adding sugar to her porridge and at one point makes a ‘demented’ face. We learn by way of her complaining that there is another Test coming up, and that the last one was three days ago and involved javelin-throwing from horseback. Celaena’s wrist is still sore.

We switch to Dorian’s PoV. He was bored during the service and doesn’t like religion, which also means we saw none of the religion. He is also bored with the women at court, because they all titter and fawn and flutter their fans and lashes or whatever. Probably these women all titter and fawn and flutter their fans and lashes because they live in a court at the whim of an apparently tyrannical and murderous ruler and are playing it safe, but what do I know? Probably every single woman in the entire court of Adarlan is actually a hollow, empty shell who cares nothing about anything but looking pretty, that one seems more likely.

We learn that Perrington wants to bring in more soldiers and launch a full scale assault on Eyllwe, on whose political status I am still unclear. Are they a protectorate? A tributary? Have they somehow managed to stay their own independent nation? If so, why only Eyllwe out of all the other nations? Or are Fenharrow and Melisande ALSO nominally still under their own rule but have Adarlanian ‘advisors’ or some such? Why does Dorian say there are no more princesses? I know Fenharrow has the council of lords and Melisande has a puppet queen, but neither of them seem to have the same presence or consideration at court that Eyllwe does. TELL ME.

Ahem.

Dorian runs into Celaena, Nehemia, and Chaol. Chaol seems to be over his difficulties about Celaena hanging out with Nehemia. Dorian comments on Celaena’s dress, which is out of date (hey look! Consideration of the evolution of fashion!). Chaol says that her maids were at the service so she had to get ready herself, but that makes no sense from a timeline or nobility/entitlement standpoint so idk. Dorian reiterates that Celaena can’t go to the feast when Nehemia asks. For some reason Nehemia and Celaena intimidate Dorian by cracking one joke about him keeping women entertained.

Nehemia rags on the king of Adarlan in public and asserts that soldiers and guards are the same thing. Nehemia, I expected better princess Leia-ing from you, madam. Nehemia also declares that Celaena will teach her Adarlanian, to which Chaol acquiesces. I’d believe the royal pressure more if Chaol ever caved to royal pressure in ways that doesn’t directly benefit the plot just because.

They see Cain cleaning the marks on the ground around the clock tower. Nehemia says Celaena is hiding something from her. Celaena can tell Nehemia is hiding something from her too. They agree to meet after supper for Celaena to teach Nehemia her language. End chapter.

Pages: 12

Fragments: 2

Em-Dashes: 3

Ellipses: 0

COMPARISON

I just don’t like Throne of Glass, y’all. I just don’t. I find the worldbuilding shoddy at best, the characters unlikeable and inconsistent, and the morality upsettingly protagonist-centered while masquerading as feminism. Putting one female character on a pedestal and dragging down all other women who don’t actively uphold that pedestal is not feminism, it’s just being an asshole.

That being said, this is not its worst-written chapter. We manage to learn something about the religion (or at least a religious holiday) in a pretty natural-seeming conversation AND get some idea about current fashions vs historical ones, Nehemia and Celaena are being bros, and there is some actual foreshadowing (however clumsy I personally found it).

I still despise Dorian. I despise him with every fiber of my being. Anyone who decides that every woman around him (except our beloved protagonist, of course) is a shallow, vapid twit with no brains and fails to note that the only factors they all have in common are a, him, and b, his tyrannical, murderous father, is a selfish dick who refuses to see past the end of his own nose. Miss me with that ‘Dorian is our hope for the future’ nonsense, Chaol, I don’t want him.

Meanwhile, Nehemia’s spycraft is slipping sideways into shoddy. It’s unfortunate, but moreover it undermines the scariness of the king of Adarlan. I can’t be scared of him if he never does anything, book, and unfortunately the later murder of a rebel group that we’ve never met and knew nothing about doesn’t give me-the-reader the kind of low-key dread that I’d have if everyone at court worked hard to never naysay him or be heard speaking against his policies or just plain disappearing if they did. That would be scary, book. That would imply consequences. As it is, he just lets people who actively and loudly undermine him run around court? Sure. That sounds like a demon who has no regard for human life running a conquering nation with an iron fist. Absolutely.

Over in Pellinor, we have Maerad and Cadvan riding and riding and riding, and we learn all sorts of things about the world from what bards are expected to do, how good bard leaders behave, and the respect Cadvan has and is imparting to Maerad for non-bards.

We also get people thinking Cadvan would sleep with a sixteen year old. What is this, y’all. Why. She’s sixteen. She’s a CHILD. Renaissance-based culture, etc etc, I know, but we’re writing for modern audiences and I just. Maerad and another sixteen year old or even eighteen or twenty or whatever, okay, I get it, but Cadvan and Dernhil are both fully mature bards around the same age and Cadvan is in his seventies so…? Book. Book culture. I’m watching you.

Cadvan and Dernhil do respect Maerad’s feelings and boundaries, though, as opposed to Celaena’s 500+ year old love interest/mate/husband in later books though, so like. Am I grading on a curve? Does Pellinor get points for having a mature and cautious slowly-developing relationship after having another dude react maturely to rejection? Does it lose them for having a romance (two?) between what is after all a sixteen year old and a 70+ year old even if he is essentially a Dunedain? Do I give Throne of Glass points because (most) of Celaena’s love interests are around her age, or take them away because she ends up with a 500+ year old jerk who doesn’t listen to her about her own body or feelings? It’s a dilemma, y’all (it’s not: they all lose points, Throne of Glass just loses more)

Speaking of Actual Peril with High Stakes, Dernhil is dead. Dernhil, we hardly knew ye, but we did know you were an emotionally mature librarian and Silvia liked you, so. Props for bardically killing yourself so the hulls couldn’t get anything out of you about Maerad and Cadvan. I’m sad about it.

#myth reads The Books of Pellinor #myth reads The Naming #myth rags on throne of glass #myth reads #cw: suicide #tw: sucide mention

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