Fear and Fun - A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the unity of fear and comedy in fairies

‘Fairy’ is a name for a kind of magical being, found the folklores of various European nations, most notably those of the Anglo-Celtic Isles. They are known by numerous names, in many different languages. In England, fairies developed as a sort of unification of the Germanic elves (the terms “elf” and “fairy” are used interchangeably in folklore), and the Celtic fae. Both served as nature spirits.

In modern culture, fairies are fairly benign, harmless, and will grant wishes and help lost humans. It is, as far as my readings go, an invention of Victorian era folklore. For much of their history, fairies, elves, and other such beings could be as helpful as they were harmful. They were powerful, magical, and magnificent. Beings to be feared and respected, just as nature itself ought to be. 

Poor little birdie teased, by Richard Doyle

As time went on they were anthropomorphised more and more, becoming trickster spirits and household helpers (so long as you paid them what their work was worth (all the side eye in the world to Rowling for depicting “house elves” as enthusiastic slaves, a status they would never have suffered)). 

But where am I going with this? Well, the anthropomorphised form of trickster is what Robin Goodfellow, AKA Puck is. Puck being from English folklore, infamous for his pranks. That being was used by William Shakespeare for his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That same play was performed during our trip to England, at the Globe Theater. 

The standout character of the play was by far Puck. They were easily the most memorable part of it all. 

Michelle Terry, as Puck, in the current run at the Globe. Photograph by Hellen Murray

First appearing, rising up out of the floor, smoke billowing around, wailing, and running across the stage, cacophonous music accompanying them. Their face was masked by twigs, making them the most inhuman being in the play, the only one without a face. 

Each time Puck’s magic was used, it was accompanied by a fearful stab of music, when they transformed Bottom especially.

But Puck was humorous, sarcastic, and playful in their conduct, just the character was written. They bantered with Oberon, “I go. [leaves and comes back] I GO! [leaves and comes back] I go!” The actor was the one who got the show back on track when the theater’s sprinklers malfunctioned, and drenched the floor audience, “This always happens!” They seemed to interact the most with reality, scribbling ‘ASS’ in an audience member’s notebook, at one point I remember them waving a plane away, as the noise from them kept interfering with the play. 

Puck and Faeries, Sir Joseph Noel Paton

I felt like the way they depicted Puck was a magnificent union of the way fairies are both playful and funny, and also horrifying and powerful. Puck was as scary as they were funny, and made such an incredible impression on me, that I was left thinking about it days, and now over a week later. It was a highlight of the entire trip and easily made this performance my favorite live play ever thus far.

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

i like these guys a lot (alt ver. with a filter under the cut)

mix: firstprince (taylor's version)

conrad veidt would make a great tragedian i think

I love it when women hate men. I love it when women are allowed to vent to each other about how horrible and creepy men are. I love it when women form friendships with and prioritize each other over relationships with men(whether they're attracted to them or not). I love it when women put men dni in their bios and on their nude photos and on posts on their blogs. I love it when women refuse to mollycoddle and accommodate entitled male feelings with "but this doesn't mean I hate all men, I know a few men who are great, I love my father/sons/brothers/uncles/male cousins/guy friends" I love it when women complain about men WITHOUT "not all men" being a disclaimer. I love it when women avoid socializing with/refuse to be around/befriend/get close to men because they know men can't be trusted. I love it when women make "kill all men" jokes. I love it when women offer absolutely no concern or care for men's feelings and if their misandry offends men whatsoever because why should we, men are the oppressor class who have raped and killed and abused us and kept us as subjugated as second-class citizens for millennia, they regularly mistreat us and the women in their own marginalized communities still every single day and make this world so much harder and more awful for us to be in, and if we choose to hate them and not spare them any sympathy then so be it, and I don't just mean "men as a class" either, you can be a woman who doesn't want to have anything to do with any man on an individual basis and completely cuts off men from her personal life too and ykw I will love and fucking support you in that because men deserve absolutely NOTHING from us. If they're so tough and strong then they can handle it just like they can handle being lonely. If you are a woman who hates men, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A LESBIAN AND/OR A TRANS WOMAN, then just know that I love you. I love you, I support you, and you are safe here.

long time no aliens, huh

doodles of my fav sillies

anton belongs to @poicyss

Saudi quali Top3 !! aka another maxplaining and leclarifying session !!

if you draw ships then how about swiftli?

he fell asleep watching the garfield movie of all things-

"Are you finished with my portrait yet? Show me!" "Cipacton, I can't draw you if you keep moving!"

WELCOME, TO THE TRAFFIC SHIPPING TOURNAMENT OF 2023!!!

Where 32 trafficblr ships will be going against each other to find out who comes out on top, so vote for your favourites!!!

The 32 ships chosen for this bracket are the current ships with most fics on 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series fandom on ao3

All of the ships were arranged randomly for the bracket

Every round of polls will last a week

Finally and most importantly, be kind to each other. This is just a silly tournament

Tags for easy navigation:

The actual match polls -> Polls

The propaganda made by people with hopes to sway your votes! You can support your ships with your own propaganda by sending this blog an ask with the link to the propaganda post you want to be reblogged! -> Tournament Propaganda

Fun stats about the polls for those who enjoy them! -> Tournament Stats

The tournament is over and our winner is GemPearl!!!

fully believe that if the party could discord chat, steve and eddie would have really dramatic fights in the group chat about idk steve flirting with jonathan (in the chat. nancy was there. they were joking) or something else stupid and then someone would ping robin and she would be like "they are curled up on the couch together with the straightest faces I've ever seen"

ok since the Magnus Protocol is confirmed AU from tma, and jonny and alex have purposely not said that their voices are not reappearing in TMAGP, consider:

evil AU jon and martin. mostly because I just know jonny and alex would have such a good time acting that out. And also because i want to see a completely unhinged jon and a web!martin used to their full potential damnit