#fantasy maritime

[booksaesthesic]

-tress de la mer d'emeraude aesthetic-

[beanbowlbaggins]

Cultural Maritime and Shadow and Bone

Having finished the second season of Shadow and Bones, I finally put together some notes on the fantasy maritime in the Netflix adaptation of the Grishaverse. Noting that I haven't myself read the book series yet; having seen the use of land, air, and sea vessels, I'm excited to read!

Check out the book series by @/lbardugo (on instagram) if you're interested as well. I hope to do a book review for both the trilogy and the duology soon.

Also, check out this text if you can:

The Culture of Ships and Maritime Narratives (British School at Athens - Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies)

~ Author: Papadopoulou, Chryssanthi

[alteredstatesstuff]

cold lighthouse

[lifeinspired4u]

[joncronshawauthor]

Discover "Siren's Song" – Free Prequel to the Ravenglass Legends Series!

I am thrilled to announce that my latest story, “Siren’s Song”, a prequel to Ravenglass Legends series, is now available to read for FREE on Ream! In this gripping tale, a haunting melody lures ships to their doom on the treacherous Braun Sea. When Ragnar, the young heir to the chieftain, learns of the mysterious disappearances, he defies his father and sets sail with his loyal friend Kest to…

[saddestpandaonearth]

Ich hörte die Barden und ihre Gedichte,

Gesänge und Hymnen vom Schatz,

Ich las alte Bücher, studierte die Karten

Ich übte sogar deinen Tanz

Ich nahm fremde Kräuter

Ich fragte die Priester

und Weisen und Hexen und doch

Bisweilen vernebelt, am Rande des Zweifels

Bleibt immer das Märchen des Schädels,

Niemals vergessen und niemals erreicht

Führen zu dir keine Wege.

Tief in der Höhle verborgen im Schrein

legte man dich zur Ruhe

Verziert mit Juwelen, vielleicht auch aus Silber,

doch sicherlich in einer Truhe?

In deinen Augen müssen Kristallkugeln liegen, die glänzen

im schmalen Strahl aus fahlem Licht

der schüchtern sanft nach unten dringt

und hinter deinem Blick zerbricht

in tausend bunten Blüten

und in tausend neuen Farben

Wies wohl sein muss dort zu sitzen

und das alles zu erfahren

Diese Stille, deine Aussicht, stumme goldene Fanfaren

Vielleicht einsam, aber anders, als das Rauschen

dieser Wellen deren Lärm und dessen Launen

mich auf diese Reise brachten, auf ein Schiff

das ohne Kompass herrenlos durch Stürme taumelt

mag es nie auf der Markierung einer wahren Karte landen

doch das Suchen, nicht das Finden ist der Wind in diesen Segeln

und die Sagen und Legenden, Texte, Bilder, und Gerüchte

machen müden Seglern Mut noch weiter übers Meer zu fahren

und vielleicht, denk ich am Abend, fragt sich auch der Schädel nachts

Auf seinen Ohren müssen Tiefseemuscheln liegen,

die flüstern leise des Ozeans Klang, und er hört

durch ihre Stimmen ein Orchester aus Wasser und Land

Für immer am treiben, der Horizont frei, lauscht er nur den Tiden.

Duette des Wassers gemeinsam mit Böen

die jede Sekunde verzieren

Wies wohl sein muss dort zu schwimmen

und all dem zu lauschen

[filipmagnuswrites]

The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart - Book Review | A Fond Farewell

You can find the review for The Bone Shard Daughter here, and for the Bone Shard Emperor here. Andrea Stewart does not kid around. I always experience a bit of consternation when I come to the concluding novel in a trilogy. What if it’s a dud? What if these worlds and characters, whom I’ve grown to adore and care about over dozens of hours and several years, what if they’re done disservice by…

[alaughingcrow]

Imperium Morte, 2022

Illustration of Luqa Durans Before and After.

[demifiendrsa]

Yu-Gi-Oh! manga creator Kazuki Takahashi (real name Kazuo Takahashi) has passed away at age 60 due to an apparent diving accident.

The Coast Guard reportedly found Takahashi equipped with snorkeling gear. Both the Coast Guard and police are currently investigating the events that led up to Takahashi's death. A person on a passing boat had called Japan's maritime hotline to report an apparent body, floating 300 meters (about 1,000 feet) from the coast off the resort city of Nago, at about 10:30 a.m. on July 6, 2022.

Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh! manga launched an international hit franchise that continues to this day with card games, anime, toys, and newer manga series. Takahashi won Comic-Con International's Inkpot Award in July 2015. The award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to comics, science fiction and fantasy, film, television, animation, and fandom.

[booksaesthesic]

-all the stars and teeth playlist-

[beanbowlbaggins]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FairyLoot (@fairyloot)

The maritime theme Fairyloot subscription is so perfect.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

Eisteddfod Chairs: Pick Your Winner!

It's almost June! Nearly time to reveal the 2023 Chair! So come, gather round Tumblrs, let me tell you of the furniture-based customs of my people

So Wales has been celebrating Eisteddfodau (festivals of poetry, music, and disco dancing), in some form or another, since at least the 1100s, when Lord Rhys of Dinefwr had one all formal-like and made it into a big fun party and that. The word basically means 'sitting place', and probably refers to the way people in summer would gather round the twmpath in the village to listen to bards that passed through and drink mead and shout 'hurrah!' a lot. Amazingly, this is not where the Chair Thing comes from.

Part of Welsh history is the Bardic Age, and it was custom for bards to travel the country and visit the courts of assorted gentry types (also normal people's houses and taverns and twmpaths but let's stay on topic) and play for them. If the lord paid well, great; if not, the bard would write a Super Mean Song about them and sing it everywhere, so they were pretty well treated.

But if they were particularly good, rather than making them play for the WHOLE meal, the lord would offer them a chair at the table to join in the feast as a guest, rather than a worker, and THAT is where the Chair Thing comes from.

Anyway that's preamble to say that every year in the biggest Eisteddfod of all - the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol - the highest honour awarded goes to the Prifardd - the bard who writes the winning cywydd (super complex Welsh poetry WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAIN ALL OF THIS). And the prize for writing the winning cywydd is that you are awarded, you guessed it, the Chair.

Now these Chairs (capital C, please, we like a bit of Fantasy Novel Capitalisation and for this cultural reason I will never understand people who complain about it) are unique. They are thrones. They are carved each year by one chosen carpenter, who crafts a one-of-a-kind Chair with symbolism and that, never to be replicated. They usually have the year carved on, but otherwise, they vary wildly in aesthetic and symbolism. In a No Award year (because Eisteddfod judges don't subscribe to the Western idea that there HAS to be a first, second and third place; if no one is good enough there is no award, and I have seen choir competitions for seven year olds where there was no first or third place but there were two choirs in joint second), the Chair is sent back to the carpenter who carved it, and they get to keep it. In a year where the bard died before the ceremony, it is draped in black, and given to next of kin.

(That has only happened once. RIP Hedd Wyn, 1887-1917. Also the only reproduced Chair; the original, known as the Gadair Ddu (the Black Chair) is on display in his family home, but a 3D printed replica has been made for display by Amgueddfa Cymru)

BUT THEREFORE a big part of Eisteddfod fun is seeing what the Chair will look like this year. Traditional ones, see, we tend to think look like variants of this:

(Apologies for the substandard attempts at alt-text; I have no clue how to describe these properly)

This one is from 1896. The phrase "Y gwir yn erbyn y byd" means "The truth against the world", and was included in a lot of old ones. Modern ones tend to incorporate the druidic symbol for awen ("poetic inspriation") instead. Some of these incidentally turn up in lil' chapels and that about the country.

But actually even the old ones were mad different, look; clockwise from top left, these are y Gadair Ddu (1917), 1876, 1926 (when the carpenter was Chinese and enjoyed the cultural fusion), and 1908.

Still the same theme, though, but in the modern day the carpenters are all off the shits! They're all over the place! Fuck the rules! And I have Opinions.

Category: I See What You Did There

SYMBOLISM!!! 2011 is a pit wheel from Wrexham's mining past! 2013 is the head of a harp, from Denbighshire's cultural harp-making past! 2017 is fish, from Anglesey's maritime present! Fantastic. Love it.

Best in category: 2017. Why does Anglesey's have so many eyes on the fish? We don't know. Wylfa B protestors reportedly furious.

Category: The Modern Throne

TALL!!! That silhouette! That height!! They have the range, darling! Christ knows 2016 doesn't have anything else going for it! Shout out to the Conwy river on 2019, the different woods from the forests of Maldwyn for 2015, and the red kite symbolism for Ceredigion in 2022 (the spiritual home of the bird, where the species was first saved).

Best in category: 2019, Conwy. I like the bridge and the river lines and the water effect on the front of the seat it's just so pretty.

Category: That's Just A Chair

(I am actually friends with the Prifardd who won 2018 at the bottom there :D )

WHAT ARE RULES WE JUST WANT FUNCTIONAL CHAIRS. Man even so 2014 was fucking ugly. You could have 2018 in your house. Around your table, like. Even 2012 has a sort of IKEA vibe that's boring but palatable. 2014 is only coming in the house under sufferance.

Best in Category: 2018, easy, and not just because it's the one I'm most likely to get to sit in one day. It's pretty.

Category: NO GODS NO CHAIRS NO MASTERS

WHAT

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN 2010

BRO I DO NOT THINK YOU TRIED

Best in Category: OBVIOUSLY 2021 I COULD PHYSICALLY MAKE 2010 MYSELF

[sapphicbookclub]

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.

Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

Genres: fantasy, horror, romance

Order from Blackwell's here and get free worldwide shipping!

Listen to the book on audiobooks.com here!

[joncronshawauthor]

Magic on the High Seas: Exploring the Genre of Nautical Fantasy

Fancy yourself an adventure? A swashbuckling escape from terra firma into a world of monsters, pirates, and unsolved mysteries of the uncharted deep? Perhaps it’s time to dip your toes into the ocean of nautical fantasy novels, a genre that unites the thrill of the high seas with the enchantment of the fantastical. Whether it’s a towering ship cresting a colossal wave or a haunted seafarer…

[veroniquesboutique]

Kinktober Day 3 - Hate Fucking / Thigh Riding

For Kinktober day 3!

Sukuna Ryomen x AFAB!Reader

Content warnings: AFAB reader, thigh riding, spitting, PV sex, hate fucking, body swap, degradation, swearing, slapping/impact play, biting, unprotected, name calling, dacryphilia, light cheating (kinda?), choking

18+ MINORS DNI

More under the cut!

The painful sting of your palm is harsh enough to static out the panic that is frying the neurons in your brain as you watch Sukuna rub at his jaw in shock. You don’t usually make it a habit to slap the shit out of people you despise - even people you despise as much as you despise Sukuna - but the string of obscene swear words that fell from your mouth overtook your body and before you knew it, your open palm was swinging with all of its might towards his cheek, and the strike reverberated hard through both of you before you could stop yourself.

See, you have no allegiance to this…thing masquerading as a human. Your allegiance was to your long time boyfriend, Yuuji Itadori, and unfortunately, the two of them came as a package deal, one that only seemed to ever inconvenience you. Sukuna had a habit of showing up at the worst possible times. When you had Yuuji meet your parents for the first time, it wasn’t until the overhead light of the chandelier in your family home’s entryway hit his eye just right that you realized Sukuna had taken over just to fuck shit up, and now your mom prays nightly that you’ll find a “good man” unlike your current boyfriend sooner rather than later. Or when Yuuji was your plus one to your best friend’s wedding, and then Sukuna showed up too many drinks into the night and ended up causing thousands of dollars of damage to the venue for the bride and groom. And you two don’t even discuss the time Sukuna took over during that cruise you booked months in advance that caused both of you to be banned from maritime activities in the Pacific Ocean.

Needless to say, Sukuna solely exists to ruin your life.

So tonight, when all you wanted was to celebrate your anniversary with Yuuji at the way too nice restaurant that you made reservations at on your last anniversary, when Sukuna takes over with that sly fucking smile and that I’m-better-than-you squint, something in your brain finally snaps. That’s how you end up standing in your dimly lit apartment, hand burning in pain, and a red mark appearing on Sukuna’s cheek. 

Oh my God, he’s going to kill me. You think to yourself in the molasses slow moments that tick between him popping his jaw and locking eyes with you. 

You’ve never given much thought to how you were going to die, and you’re not the protagonist of a wildly successful young adult fantasy romance novel from the early 2000s, so now’s not the time to wax poetic. In fact, the only thing going through your mind as you feel Sukuna grip your neck and throw you back against the nearest wall hard enough to shake the pictures from their nails is that Yuuji is going to wake up, regain control of his body, come back to the moment to rescue you only to see your lifeless body on the floor. He’ll blame himself forever, and it is the saddest thought you’ve ever had.

“You fucking bitch,” Sukuna all but screeches at you, and a fire ignites behind his eyes, burning with fury you’ve never seen from him. He’s usually so calm, so cocky in his strength, but something about you seemed to have set him off as much as he set you off.

Continued on AO3...