#now it is bedtime

[de-sterren-nacht]

The Fae of the British Lostbelt

This is gonna be a long one, so strap in.

The fae and other creatures of the British Lostbelt take heavy inspiration from real-life legends; almost every major character is named after a type of fairy or mystical creature from British folklore. Many of these names are not English; I've added a pronunciation guide for these in brackets after the word. In this post, I'll go over the beings and concepts these characters are named for and compare the legend to the original. This won't include Morgan or Oberon; those figures are complex enough to deserve posts of their own.

Aesc [ASH]

Aesc is more accurately spelled Æsc. It's an Old English word for the ash tree, and also doubles as the word for the rune for the letter Æ. This is pretty much a direct translation into Old English of Aesc's Japanese name, Tonelico (トネリコ), a word meaning "ash tree".

Albion

Albion is a poetic name for the island of Britain, from Greek Albiōn (Ἀλβίων), the name used by classical geographers to describe an island believed to be Britain. The name probably means "white place", which is how it's connected to the Albion of Fate. The Albion of Fate is the White Dragon, a symbol of the Saxons from a Welsh legend. In the most well-known version of the legend, the King of the Britons at the time, Vortigern, was trying to build a castle on top of a hill in Wales to defend against the invading Saxons, but everything he tried to build collapsed. He was told by his court wizard to find a young boy with no father and sacrifice him atop the hill to alleviate the curse. He sent his soldiers out and found a boy being teased for being fatherless, but when he brought the boy to the hill, the boy, a young Merlin, told him that his court wizard was a fool and that the real reason for the collapsing castle was two dragons inside the hill, one red and one white, locked in battle. The red dragon represented the Britons, and the white dragon represented the Saxons. Merlin told Vortigern that nothing could be built on the hill until the red dragon killed the white one. A red dragon is the symbol of Wales to this day, and a white dragon is occasionally used in Welsh poetry to negatively represent England. This white dragon is Albion in Type/Moon lore.

Baobhan Sìth [bah-VAHN shee]

A baobhan sìth is a female fairy in Scottish folklore. The name literally means "fairy woman" in Scottish Gaelic. They appear as a beautiful woman and seduce hunters traveling late at night so that they can kill and eat them, or drink their blood depending on the story. They're unrelated to banshees except in terms of etymology (Banshee is from Old Irish "ben síde", meaning the same thing as baobhan sìth). They're often depicted with deer hooves instead of feet, which is probably what inspired Baobhan Sìth's love of shoes.

Barghest

In the folklore of Northern England, a barghest is a monstrous black dog with fiery eyes teeth and claws the size of a bear's. The name probably derives from "burh-ghest", or "town-ghost". It was often said to appear as an omen of death, and was followed by the sound of rattling chains. The rattling chains probably inspired Barghest's chains. Her fire powers are also obviously based on the fiery eyes of the barghest. Otherwise, she's not very connected to the folkloric barghest, which is never associated with hunger or eating humans.

Boggart

In English folklore, a boggart is either a malevolent household spirit or a malevolent creature inhabiting a field, a marsh, a hill, a forest clearing, etc. The term is related to the terms bugbear and bogeyman, all originally from Middle English bugge, or possibly Welsh bwg [BOOG] or bwca [BOO-cuh], all words for a goblin-like monster. It usually resembled a satyr. It's not really ever depicted with lion features, so it's anyone's guess why Boggart is a lion-man.

Cernunnos [ker-NOON-ahs]

Cernunnos, probably meaning "horned one", was an important pre-Roman Celtic god. His existence is only attested by fragmentary inscriptions and the repeated motif in Celtic religious art of a "horned god", a humanoid figure with deer antlers seated cross-legged. This fragmentary evidence is often led to assume that Cernunnos was a god of nature, wilderness, animals and fertility. There exists no evidence that Cernunnos was a chief deity of any kind, since we have barely any evidence he existed at all in the first place. Cernunnos might not even be his name; it's just the only name we have. Needless to say, the only thing the Cernunnos in the British Lostbelt has in common with the real figure is his large antlers.

Cnoc na Riabh [kuh-nock-nuh-REE-uh]

Cnoc na Riabh, Knocknarea in English, is a hill in Sligo in Ireland. The name means "hill of the stripes", referring to its striking limestone cliffs. It's said to be the location where Medb's tomb lies, so it's connected to Cnoc na Riabh through Fate's conflation of Medb with Queen Mab, a fairy mentioned in Romeo and Juliet; this etymology of Mab as derived from Medb was formerly accepted, but has lost favour with the advent of modern Celtic studies due to the lack of any concrete connection between the two figures.

Grímr (don't know how to say this one, apologies; Germanic myth is not my strong suit)

Odin (Wōden in Old English) was a god worshiped in many places, basically anywhere the Germanic peoples went, including the Anglo-Saxons that became today's English people. As such a widely worshiped god, he had a very large number of names, titles and epithets. Grímr is one such name, literally meaning "mask", referring to Odin's frequent usage of disguises in myths, which is fitting for how Cú disguised himself as a faerie in the British Lostbelt and hid that he possessed Odin's Divinity from Chaldea.

Habetrot

Habetrot is a figure from Northern England and the Scottish Lowlands, depicted as a disfigured elderly woman who sewed for a living and lived underground with other disfigured spinsters. She often spun wedding gowns for brides. Cloth spun by her was said to have curative and apotropaic properties. All the Habetrot of the British Lostbelt has in common with this figure is the association with brides and with spinning cloth. "Totorot" is not a real figure; the name is just an obvious tweak of Habetrot.

Mélusine

Mélusine is a figure that appears in folklore all across Europe. The name probably derives from Latin "melus", meaning "pleasant". She's a female spirit of water with the body of a beautiful woman from the waist up, and the body of a serpent or a fish from the waist down. In most stories, she falls in love with a human man and bears his children, using magic to conceal her inhuman nature. However, she tells her lover he must never look upon her when she is bathing or giving birth. Of course, he invariably does so, and when he does, he discovers her serpentine lower body, and she leaves, taking their children with her. Since Mélusine is just the name Aurora gave her, the Mélusine of the British Lostbelt has very little to do with this figure, but an analogy can be drawn between the Mélusine of folklore hiding her true form as a half-serpent to maintain her relationship with her lover, and Fate's Mélusine suppressing her true form as both a dragon and an undifferentiated mass of cells to ensure Aurora continues to love her.

Muryan [MUR-yan]

A muryan is a rather obscure Cornish fairy. The word is Cornish for "ant". Muryans are diminutive figures with shapechanging abilities, cursed to grow smaller every time they use those abilities until they eventually vanish altogether. Muryan, of course, is connected to muryans through her ability to shrink others.

Spriggan [SPRID-jan]

A spriggan is a type of creature in Cornish folklore. The word is derived from the Cornish word "spyryjyon" [same pronunciation], the plural of "spyrys", meaning "fairy". They're usually grotesque old men with incredible strength and incredibly malicious dispositions, and are often depicted guarding buried treasure. Spriggan is not himself a faerie, and the name is stolen from a faerie he killed, but it's still appropriate due to the greed and selfishness spriggans are usually depicted with.

Woodwose

Woodwose is a Middle English term for the wild man, a motif in European art comparable to the satyr or faun. The etymology is unclear. It has little to do with wolves or animals, despite its association with wildness, but there is at least a thematic connection with Woodwose's character, since the archetype of the wild man depicts a figure who cannot be civilised or well-mannered no matter how hard he tries, much like how Woodwose barely restrains his temper by being a vegetarian and dressing in a fine suit. Woodwose's predecessor, Wryneck, is named for a type of woodpecker with the ability to rotate its neck almost 180°.

#incoherent rambling #fate grand order #fgo #lostbelt 6 #avalon le fae #boggart fate #woodwose fate #habetrot #spriggan fate #muryan #melusine #baobhan sith #cernunnos #barghest #cnoc na riabh #fateposting #if i missed anyone in this post OR in the tags i will jump off a cliff #now it is bedtime #will probably give morgan and oberon their own posts in a few days #school. you know.

[seokmatthewz]

#pls placate me i am curious JDKDLD #what energy do i give off . pls let ur resident clownfool know thank u #now it is bedtime #iri.txt

[mewtonian-physics]

also to be clear when some people say 'may or may not' they usually mean 'is' but when i say 'may or may not' i genuinely mean 'may or may not'. sometimes i'm just saying things. dealing with this is an occupational hazard of following me and/or being my friend. the original internyational nya of mystery.

#NOW it is bedtime

[winged-fool]

🫡🫡🫡

#It's bedtime for me now #But truly a pleasure and a privilege to boop and be booped today #Boop #Making shitty memes is my aesthetic

[candycatstuffs]

Candace and doofenshmirtz would be tumblr mutuals i think

#maybe ill draw this when i inevitably get sucked back into pnf at some point dsjfj #phineas and ferb #candace flynn #heinz doofenshmirtz #pnf #candys pnf posting #prty sure thats the tag #sighh didnt get to draw much today and now its close to bedtime😔

[faygos]

ONWARD NOBLE STEED

Sure gran whatever you say!

#jade harley #jake english #homestuck #classic homestuck #whomstve #ok bedtime now #hiding the tablet in the attic

[chronicowboy]

we as a collective do Not talk about this line delivery nearly enough and for good fucking reason, i'll kill bradley james for this one line alone. he's just a little boy :'((

#sami rambles #like. he's still the same little kid who didn't really know what it was to be looked after/cared for/doted on #at the heart of him he's still just that lonely young boy who always had to earn people's attention #or just take whatever he got for the simple fact of being the king's son :/ #even after so long he's still not used to merlin's love. and now. now he can't see what he's ever done to deserve it #seeing everything all at once and he just. he needs answers before he goes. #he's just a little boy asking 'why' to prolong his bedtime a few moments more #oh fuck. just caused irreparable damage to myself with that last one ahaha #merlin #bbc merlin #arthur pendragon #merthur #bradley james

[kingofattolia]

Honestly I cannot overstate how much seeing Hayden as TCW Anakin changed EVERYTHING. Matt Lanter's Anakin is a frat dude. He wears a backwards baseball hat and says vaguely offensive things without realizing, while being a fundamentally chill and outgoing guy at heart. Hayden's Anakin is... not that. His voice. His expressions. His physical presence. It's off somehow. It's just left of normal. It's completely unremarkable and yet deeply uncanny for reasons you can't quite describe. TCW Anakin was always a flatter, blander portrayal, but I don't think I realized until now what exactly was missing: the serial killer energy. The inarticulable conviction that SOMETHING unhinged is going on behind those eyes.

#also the difference between TCW anakin's charm and ROTS anakin's charm #tcw: outgoing. does finger guns. nonplussed socially sometimes but still confident. able to be charming #rots: competent. exuberant. frothing with rage. so shy and awkward he fully cant function. insecure. an entire tank yet fragile as glass #charming only because hes both SO COMPETENT and also so categorically unable to purposefully be charming #ITS SO DIFFERENT. WILDLY DIFFERENT. I DID NOT REALIZE HOW DIFFERENT IT WOULD BE #im so glad i got to see this honestly #im going to be reimagining tcw episodes with this version of anakin in them as my bedtime story from now on #i hate to be a broken record but KAREN MILLER CAPTURES THIS #star wars #grace for ts #anakin #ahsoka show #truly truly truly truly truly transformative for me as a person to have seen this #tcw anakin comes into the room loudly quipping and complaining #rots anakin stands there quietly until he smiles and you realize his teeth are covered in blood

[rinneverse]

cw a little suggestive towards the end, mdni please and ty :)

alhaitham is the type to seethe quietly in his jealousy.

he’s not outwardly possessive—no, because he lets the stranger talk to you—his pretty girlfriend—about his thesis plans, about his academic feats, and you sit there with a smile plastered on your face, nodding your head as you listen to him prattle on and on and on.

alhaitham nearly bends the book in his hand into pieces with what he claims is annoyance. not possessiveness, no, that was out of character. he was just… annoyed, that this random man had the gall to interrupt his reading session with you.

that’s what he tells himself, at least.

of course, how was he supposed to know you were dating the akademiya scribe, when alhaitham was possibly the most low-key person ever? the two of you were quiet about your relationship, content to share it between yourselves. only your close friends really knew the extent of how deep your “friendship” with the scribe went.

as soon as the man leaves (not without leaving his number for you, of course), and the two of you are blanketed in the quiet murmurs of the akademiya library, alhaitham sets his book down. he turns to you.

he finds you staring at him, amusement flickering in your eyes. alhaitham tilts his head, all feline grace, his eyes narrowing into slits as he asks, “what?”

you shake your head mirthfully, crumpling up the slip of paper in your hand and tossing it into the nearest bin. alhaitham feels his shoulders un-tense just a fraction at the sight.

“nothing,” you say, but alhaitham knows you’re lying.

so he leans closer to you, grasping your chin in his hand as he tilts your head back and forces your gaze to meet his.

“liar. what is it?”

you smile. wide and wider it grows, and you reach a hand up to brush alhaitham’s cheek. he barely suppresses a shudder at the gentle touch.

“i didn’t think you to be the jealous type.”

“i’m not.”

“then what was that all about?” you hum. you’re… amused by this. amused by him grappling with his emotions. alhaitham feels his lips twitch downward.

if you didn’t know any better, he would appear to just be frowning. but you did… and it was like he was pouting. you giggle.

“i am annoyed,” alhaitham says, stressing the last word, “that we were interrupted by a stranger. nothing more.”

“nothing more?” you parrot, your eyes gleaming with amusement. “sure. and i’m the grand sage.”

alhaitham bites his tongue, pulling his hand away from your chin. his fingers flex—he has to stamp down on his self-control. being found in a compromising position in the library would surely wreck the both of your social statuses.

but the thrill of it… seeing you bent over the table, utterly wrecked under the careful ministrations of his hands—getting to mark his claim on you...

he quickly shakes the dangerous train of thought away.

“do you want to go home?” you suddenly ask, a coy smile dancing on your lips. he must have been obvious where his line of thinking was going, if you managed to catch on that quickly. the grin on your face tells him that you did.

alhaitham pretends to ponder it. grabs the book he set down, turns it over in his hands, then shrugs.

“sure. kaveh shouldn’t be home for another few hours.”

his voice was bedroom-soft, and the tone in which he said it—nearly purring—has heat pooling in your core.

“alright. let’s go?”

he wordlessly rises, holding out his hand for you. there’s a small part of him that feels a maddening satisfaction when you let out a pleased hum, followed by a surprised yelp as he gracefully slides an arm around you.

someone nearby makes a “shh” noise, and he completely ignores it. you giggle out an apology.

it was utterly unlike him, he thinks, as he guides you through the library with his arm wrapped around your waist, slowly moving to rest his hand on the small of your back when the two of you exit the library.

maybe he’ll try being more public in his attention to you. that would most certainly keep this from happening again.

#alhaitham x reader #al haitham x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #☆ oakie writes #hey ! alhaitham drabble jumpscare before i go to bed :3 #i did not proofread btdubs #wrote this all in one sitting on my phone from the comfort of my bed. and now… i eep! #a nice little bedtime story if u will

[purpleminte]

That ?:00 AM chilling with yourself vibe

#my art #artists on tumblr #corinna #pokemon #swoobat #comfy #cozy #bedtime #I was messing around for most of this #both the most comfy and most pensive she has ever looked #maybe I can keep riding the serotonin of you guys liking my art and draw more often now #who knows how long this will last #I will draw actual clothes soon I promise #🦇

[elyserie]

Fate's Refusal to Honour (or at least properly research) Depictions of Non-Japanese Figures 2: Electric Bogaloo ft. Wandjina from the Current JP Summer Event

Disclaimer: While I am an Australian, I am NOT of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Therefore, I am coming at this issue from an outsider's perspective. If there is an Aboriginal person, or more specifically of the Mowanjum people from the Kimberly regions, please PLEASE correct me if I am wrong on any front.

The culprit behind the events of the current Summer story in the JP servers has recently been revealed to be Wandjina, a creator Dreamtime figure from the Mowanjum people's culture.

In any other context, I would be thrilled to have an Australian figure in FGO, but the problem here is the figure they use.

Wandjina are sacred to the Mowanjum people, and therefore one needs to go through Aboriginal Law to obtain the right to use the Wandjina's image.

In Australia, this resulted in an actual conflict between a non-indigenous artist and aboriginals. You can read more here, but one quote to note is from an Aboriginal man of the Darug people, Chris Tobin: "Aboriginal law is very specific on what you can and can't do with wan[d]jinas." Another quote on this topic is made by the owner of an Aboriginal art gallery, Adrian Newstead: "Only a few Aboriginal artists ever win the right to depict wan[d]jina, and only then after years of initiations and ceremonies..."

I am NOT attaching an image of FGO's iteration of Wandjina due to this. Not only is her appearance only Aboriginal on a surface-level with her 'dot art' aesthetic (dot art* is only a recent addition to Aboriginal culture, created back in the 1970s), having no resemblance to an Aboriginal person (note, that while many Aboriginal people are white/pale, FGO continually chooses to depict people of colour as light skinned as possible. And yes, I know she's blue, not white. There is literally no records of her being blue skinned; is this because Wandjina's are associated with rain????) but she is also not very Wandjina looking? These figures do not have mouths, have large eyes meant to resemble the eye of a storm and are typically depicted with elaborate headdresses. That little glowing boomerang on her head is not exactly elaborate. And WHY does she have a boomerang??? Because she's Australian???? By that logic, every Japanese figure needs to have a katana. #GiveMurasakiaKatana2023.

There is also the issue of Cnoc na Riabh. While it is funny to think that she's a foreigner because of an Australian influence, Yaraan-doo is also another Aboriginal figure. And it is slapped onto a white girl for a fan service event. I'd just rather Fate leave Aboriginal culture alone and just do, like, Ned Kelly or something if they're going to continue like this.

More resources and info under the read more!

You'll have noted in the quotes that I've edited an 'n' into wanjinas. This is so I didn't confuse anyone: both can be the correct spelling! I just stuck to what I thought FGO was using for their Wandjina.

Here's an overview of what wandjinas are and their inappropriate use in art: https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/what-are-wandjinas

Here's another page about an inappropriate use of Wandjinas (note: it's only a short synopsis about a documentary that covered the incident, I'm uncertain if you would be able to get access to the documentary outside of Australia): https://www.creativespirits.info/resources/movies/who-paintin-dis-wandjina

It should also be noted that the two websites I've linked above are from the website Creative Spirits. While it is run by a non-Indigenous person, the person behind it is currently transitioning it to be an Aboriginal owned and run resource. You can read more about how this site is run in his About page.

*If you want to know about dot art's origin, here and here are some resources on them. However, this article brings up something interesting that I would like to bring back to FGO Wandjina's dot art aesthetic. It notes that "the term 'dot painting' stems from what the Western eye sees when faced with contemporary Aboriginal acrylic paintings" (emphasis mine). All three articles note that dots were used to obfuscate sacred symbols and artifacts so that those who were not initiated into their cultures could not see what these figures were. In that case, what the hell is the dot art seen on Fate's Wandjina supposed to represent? In this article, it talks about the symbolism in Indigenous art. Fate's Wandjina has none.

#fgo #fate grand order #fate #fate wandjina #fgo wandjina #no one tell me if she turns out to be an alien or something because that a whole other can of worms #*sobbing* neither of my parents are even Australian I have very little exposure to Aboriginal cultures #and I take after my father so I am very white I hope making this post I was respectful? aaaaaaaaaaaaa #I got way too into making this post I forgot to take my shower and now its bedtime whoops #anyway when will nasu's sinful hands stop #own ramblings

[bumblingbabooshka]

Star Trek comedy gag where Sarek is explaining to Spock why Vulcan parents cannot be as close to their children as humans are meanwhile Tuvok’s in the background buying his children two large fries (to share amongst them) on their way back from the park because they all got good grades this year - not perfect, but progress is always to be commended. 

#the littlest one gets sleepy on the way back and Tuvok picks him up without a word while telling Elieth no he cannot have a snack before #dinner - the fries ARE his snack. (he pauses to watch Asil jump down from a mildly high wall bc she kept asking him to look at her. #yes. well done.) - the littlest one is asleep now and Tuvok's slightly worried about that bc now he might not sleep when it's actually #bedtime...Asil no don't eat more fries after you just touched that wall - here come here (he sprays her hands with disinfectant) #Sek asks if he will help him with his homework after dinner. Tuvok says yes. Elieth says TECHNICALLY potatoes are a vegetable and Tuvok says #that TECHNICALLY a C+ is not a B but Tuvok still brought Elieth fries. As a /snack./ Elieth gives up v_v #Spock watching this: =_=................................-looks at Sarek- .......................=_= #star trek #st voyager #Sarek #Spock #Tuvok

[lazylittledragon]

steddie Dads doodles from twitter pt 2

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #the entirely black wardrobe is me when i have a child #this is what i do now #we're on day 6 #i'm still going #i just see a man and i'm like #i am going to make you so trans and so happy #also dungeon masters tell the best bedtime stories

[tervaneula]

@witchofthemoss

Well. I have now. And let me tell you how these sudden feelings just kicked me in the chin and sent me rolling down the hill towards Emotions Town 🥺🥺🥺 Ilysm this made my NIGHT

(i listened to this on repeat while drawing, i think lyricstranslate has it in english if anyone's curious)

#I spent wayyy too much time trying to find a ref for the pose and then just decided to wing it ahjdfg rip #it's way past my bedtime but i refused to go to sleep before i got this done. harrumph. i needed the gay so badly #y'all also went bonkers in my askbox omg i'm never gonna run out of prompts now THANK YOU SO MUCH #leoichi #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt fanart #samurai rabbit #usagi chronicles #peepaw leo #future leo #future leonardo #yuichi usagi #usagi yuichi #tervdraws #nqk adjacent #pehmoaino - valssi

[matchstique]

I always wanted to be buttercup ❤️💚💙

#fanart #my childhood #doodles #bubbles #buttercup #blossom #whoop ass girls #matchart #the theme slaps #you cannot tell me otherwise #bedtime now

[ethowo-indeed]

i can’t believe that both times etho ran decked out 2 he was either met with bad luck or an actual bug that made the game way harder and he still managed to clear both runs. like it’s genuinely as if the game adjusts to an harder etho-mode whenever he is playing to scale the game to his skill level. i truly wonder what his reaction will be once he finally gets to have a ‘normal’ run lol. either way, happy to see that etho is still the decked out king.

#tango was so worried the last few days that we were putting too much pressure on etho by assuming he’d be effortlessly great #but the ethogirls were Right #no need for worries #really wanna keep watching the stream but it is bedtime now so will watch the rest of the runs tomorrow #ethoslab #tangotek #hermitcraft s9 #decked out 2