@theghostoffawkes - Tumblr Blog

Hey, fellow fantasy nerds, I invite you to vibe along to this lesser known early 2000s fantasy banger

Don’t mind me, I’m just getting emotional about the way trans elder and renn faire musician Alexander James Adams conceptualizes his relationship to his pre-transition self, Heather Alexander:

“Heather was a changeling. In 2006 she was called back to faerieland and Alec, the child in whose place she had originally been left, was released after beating the faerie queen in a fiddling contest. Thus, Alec now carries on Heather’s musical legacy as her appointed heir.”

God…. good for him :’)

mirkwoodest

This tag is the highest honor I could ever receive.

genderqueerpond

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH!!!!!

Okay, here I am with my promised addition:

Here’s a remake of the aforementioned fantasy banger, done post-transition with his band Tricky Pixie (SJ Tucker and Betsy Tinney)

And my favorite cut of the same…

Here they are doing the ballad of Tam Lin!

Another iconic fantasy banger

And the song version of Alec winning his legendary fiddle duel with the faerie queen — which has WON its first round in this marvelous “obscure song bracket” so please do come back to vote for it in round 2, as well as Winter’s Tooth, which has also won its first round!! (and my further recommendations and infodumps on these posts)

Also OP congrats on choosing perhaps my FAVORITE picture ever to illustrate this perfect post, but please also look at these

If you look up “trans joy” in the dictionary you get these pictures of Alexander James Adams

(yes, these are the same picture but look again – no they are not! HE HAS AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT VESTS LIKE THIS, IS THIS NOT THE ICONIC BEHAVIOR OF ALL TIME )

taonf

Magic is what we make of it and I want it to be strong and supporting of our spirits! — Alexander James Adams

Alexander James Adams creates music, art, and video reflecting fantasy and faerie tales with the intent of making this world more magical. Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin, Whistle, and Drums all help his voice to tell stories and sing songs that inspire through the age old tradition of bardic skill. Flavoured from Celtic roots, his creations are growing and changing to reflect the old wisdoms combined with the new ideas of folk lore and fantasy as it applies to the world around us.

Alexander James Adams – Faerie Tale Minstrel and Storyteller of Myth and Magic

andthentheresanne

Also! He is the Filk Guest of Honor at this year’s World Con in Seattle!

tehnakki

OK ridiculous story about Heather and Alec.

So I was a HUGE Heather Alexander fan. I went to multiple ren faires up and down the west coast in high school when I’d hear she was going to be there. I met her multiple times. Was a ridiculous teenage faire groupie that would show up for every single set throughout the day and sigh over how pretty she was. And then she disappeared. I didn’t hear of any events of hers for a season so I started trying to figure out what was going on. I think she posted a blog about going on an adventure or something. So I kinda shrugged, and then headed off to college. A couple months later I looked at her blog and saw the post linked above and was heart broken. I had ADORED Heather and I was so upset/frustrated that she was just passing on her mantel to some dude.

Yes, you read that right. I 100% did not realise that he had transitioned. I fully bought into the faerie story. It seemed reasonable. Yes, I was 19/20ish at this point.

Anyways, a couple years go by and I’m back in Vegas during the ren faire and I heard a familiar fiddle line. And there was Alec, fiddling just like Heather had, and singing her songs and it was like being sent back in time to a slightly different past. I danced and sang and hung out for a couple of his sets and towards the end of the faire that day I walked up to say hi! And he said hi back and “Haven’t seen you in a bit, how you been?”

And now I’m fucking confused as hell. So I fall back on “faking it” (my normal response to social situations where I don’t know what the fuck to do) and mention I’ve been at uni and am just back for the next month and he asked all the things you do of young college students and I answered them becoming more and more bemused about the whole thing and eventually convinced myself he must of confused me with someone else.

It was a sweet interaction and I think a friend snapped a photo of us and then dragged me off to whatever shenanigans we were getting up to.

And a couple years passed and I wasn’t really able to make it to faires frequently, and I was now living in Scotland and wanted to go see the Uffington horse on a weekend trip with coworkers, so I looked up Uffington Horse cd on my ipod, and then though “huh, I wonder what Alec has been doing with Heather’s music.” So I look him up and it FINALLY FUCKING OCCURed TO ME that Alec WAS Heather. It was 20 fucking 16. It had been almost 10 years of me just believing that Heather gave her discography to some guy. Holy shit.

I still remember sitting there staring blankly at the wall while Pirate Bill and Squiddly played on repeat desperately trying to understand how I had so completely misunderstood the events of 2006.

thisloveforyourmom

i will say one of the best bits in she-ra was scorpia having all this plot-relevant information solely because she went to force captain orientation and catra didn't

politijohn

Source

everythingfox

Sound on

sexhaver

fun fact: basically every mod on r/legaladvice is a cop. if you see a bunch of comments in a row that have been deleted for “offering bad advice”, you can replace “reddit” in the url with “ceddit” to see the same page with all the deleted comments still there, and roughly half the time the “"bad advice”“ is literally anything that suggests that maybe OP shouldn’t trust the cops

stereocyon

take a look at this thread. Ouch

jane-vampeyre

in this thread, the OP talks about how a local cop in their small town in Ohio is stalking him and, in particular, his fiancée, to the point that they’re afraid to leave their home.

A lot of the deleted comments are recommending cameras on the house and the cars

a lot more of them are recommending OP file a complaint, and refuse to leave until he gets the forms he needs

and a few are discussing the way small-town cops work with little to no oversight, and that it might be good to talk to someone higher up the chain.

none of these comments needed to be deleted. none of these comments are harmful or malicious in anyway. All of these comments are helping OP learn and exercise his rights as a citizen, and all of them were deleted. What all the comments have in common is that it would cause the cop to face any kind of consequences for behavior that, were a civilian doing it, would be illegal.

Hey, does anyone out there have a copy of the Dark Heresy RPG book Blood of Martyrs? Print or pdf.

saul-tortellini

hamletthedane

100% Disagree

It’s an underdog story about classism in which the folk hero (Johnny) is confronted by a powerful man (the Devil) who tries to exploit the hero’s perceived ignorance and inferiority by offering a great reward with impossible odds. Although Johnny warns him that looks can be deceiving, and that he’s going to regret the dare because Johnny is the “best there’s ever been”, the devil is blinded by his greed and arrogance.

The devil creates an awful cacophony of technically excellent fiddle playing that would be impossible for Johnny to replicate. It’s a trick.

But Johnny just grins at him and starts to play “simple” classic country fiddling songs - Fire On The Mountain, House Of The Rising Sun, and Daddy Cut Her Bill Off. He doesn’t rise to beat the Devil - he simply creates his own music from his home, in the style that he knows, and his love of it and the familiarity of the music make his “backwoods” fiddling more perfect than the Devil could ever achieve.

It is thus the devil’s pride, not Johnny’s, that allows Johnny to Bugs Bunny his way into a golden fiddle.

(In that sense, I do agree that it is the most American song: in a land of prejudice and inequities, great power lies - dormant but ever-present - in those we underestimate and attempt to exploit.)

mylordshesacactus

It’s so easy to underestimate the significance of the fact that all of Johnny’s songs are classic folk-americana tunes, honestly! Like, of course thematically what matters is meeting “technically challenging but obnoxious” with “genuinely skilled and beautiful, you just didn’t expect him to be good because he’s poor,” but the music choices are significant for another reason.

Bluntly: Standards.

Sure, the Devil’s portion of the song is extremely technically challenging to replicate....but that’s only relevant to us, retelling the story and trying to replicate it. He didn’t have that standard to be judged against. He just did a bunch of complicated lightning-fast screeching, and tried to set Johnny up to match him, and lost when the kid refused to play that game. The bargain, after all, wasn’t “anything you can do I can do better”. It was just “I’m a better musician than you” and Johnny is the one who actually understands what that means.

But also: all of those name-dropped tunes are incredibly iconic. They’re at least as extremely technically demanding, but more importantly, if Johnny had fucked up even one note it would have been immediately obvious. Every musician in that area knows those tunes. He had to play them perfectly, blend them seamlessly together, and put his own spin on them in order to meet the challenge, and there were no imperfections for the Devil to claim victory over.

All the Devil had to do was make noise. Nobody could tell him that he did it “wrong” because the obvious retort is “no, that’s exactly what I was trying to do, if you think I did it wrong then let’s see you do it better” and that, right there, is the trap.

Johnny had more heart, of course--that’s the point, that lightning-fast fretting work is nice and all but if you don’t understand and respect the history and culture and the interplay of music you’ll always be lesser than those who do. But he also gave himself the better demonstration of skill, because he did the harder thing, and held himself to a pre-existing standard.

(Also he didn’t summon an entire goddamn backup band to do the heavy lifting for him, but like. Of course this is the American folklore Devil, the trickster-spirit archetype figure who is really more akin to the Fae and not the actual Christian concept of Satan, but “the Devil cheated” still isn’t exactly an instant disqualification. That’s kind of a given. He is, after all, the Devil.)

hypnospilot

Periodic reminder that they reverse engineered the language of a bunch of different folk tales and "The Smith and the Devil" comes from Proto-Indo-European, literally the oldest known language.

The Devil went Down to Georgia is one of the oldest human stories.

perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare

With NASA announcing their streaming service NASA+ and also announcing it’s going to be free and also ad free, I’d just like to appreciate the lengths they go to make scientific knowledge and exploration as available as they possibly can.

cosleia

There's more info at this link. Gosh I'm excited about this.

NASA is elevating its digital platforms for the benefit of all by revamping its flagship and science websites, adding its first on-demand st

gusgrissom

Watching the Apollo 11 (2019) documentary film for the first time since I saw its IMAX premiere at the Smithsonian (4 years ago???) and jeez. I’ve spent a significant part of my life studying this era, this particular achievement, and it’s still surreal and awe-inspiring. I still get butterflies in my stomach and hold my breath listening to the launch countdown. It’s still incredible we sent those three men to the moon and brought them back—then did it again, and again, and again.

gusgrissom

“It’s a new phase of exploration, it’s… you might say, and sound a little trite, ‘It’s there.’ We’d be neglecting our duties as people, as human beings, if we didn’t try to investigate it… It’s a stepping stone to deeper space. Man has always been plagued with an intense curiosity, and I think we have to go up there and look and see what it is.” -Roger Chaffee, c. 1966-67

theghostoffawkes

When I saw it, I was *sobbing*.

gusgrissom

Hey, I'm doing a research project and I'm searching for that Roger Chaffee "It's there" interview. I'm trying to pull the audio. Do you have a link or is there anything you can do to direct me to the video?

Hi! Ugh, I am racking my brain trying to remember where that clip came from. I think it might be from the second episode of PBS’ Chasing the Moon miniseries? I’m not sure if I have the original file I used to make those gifs but I will check after work and let you know if I find anything definitive!

If anyone else knows where this set is from feel free to chime in!

theghostoffawkes

I first saw it in Apollo: Missions To The Moon on Disney+, but wouldn't know how to *begin* extracting audio from that streaming service.

gusgrissom

!!! Oh if you know where it came from that’s much easier! Are you looking for it as an mp3 file? I can probably extract it and send you a copy

theghostoffawkes

Yes! An MP3 would be ideal.

gusgrissom

If anyone else knows where this set is from feel free to chime in!

theghostoffawkes

I first saw it in Apollo: Missions To The Moon on Disney+, but wouldn't know how to *begin* extracting audio from that streaming service.

ecc-poetry

BALANCE THE PARTY

social justice barbarian Never met a nazi they wouldn't punch. Never met a cop they wouldn't call a nazi. Treats the soft animal of their body like a lance to the heart of a tyrant. Their anger is a gift from God– it transubstantiates.

social justice necromancer Reads her history. Says their names. Goes through cemeteries leaving flowers, grave-borrowing tactics. Coaxes the spirits from their beds to let them dance; we realize we have always been beautiful.

social justice rogue Unplucks the landlord's tapestries at night. She covers her face, she code-names, wipes the prints from her hand after shaking. She's a lot. A blade in the dark that daylight can't soften. She hums a mantra called mission; it's all the warning you'll get.

social justice bard Makes his sincerity a lute and plucks fingers raw upon it. Has brass knuckles on the inside of his throat. Knows what to say to soothe the scared guy sleeping rough, to make the officer laugh instead of shove.

social justice druid Gives you grace and space to grow. Makes a weird balm to calm your hurts. Turns into a panther once a day dispensing courage; turns into a dove once a day dispensing peace. Serves the world from the half-empty vessel in their heart.

social justice warlock Sold her soul to do DEI for a Fortune 500 company. Walks each day through thicketed razors, carving footholds in a hill of glass. The job takes its pint of blood so slowly, it is possible to believe she doesn't feel it.

social justice paladin Always knows the words. Is afraid of what will happen if they forget them. It's not an excuse, but it is sandpaper, truths nailed into the shoebeds. They're implacable from the outside. They can't believe I would love them without their fury.

social justice cleric The people tell her, "Your mouth ruined our movement. You suffer in silence all the time–what's one more?" She believes in a love whose demands cut friends and enemies alike. She cleanses, sad surgeon. She is martyred twice. From the ground where her tears fall, a perfect flower grows.

social justice warforged Has a fuckin' truck!!! He rolls up to mutual aid and the people rejoice at his truck. He is become a mover of things, a Christ-bearer: mattresses and gasoline, the girl who needs a ride across the state. She says bless you, bless your truck, and his heart swells. He never knew he could be so needed.

social justice giant crab Strength +1. Intelligence -5. She is a crab. She has 13 hit points and claws for hands– but she can breathe water and air. She knows what the surface looks like from underneath. She carries wisdom in her crab body that the arc of the universe will always bend to rediscover. Don't you get it? That we all have gifts to give?

-elisa chavez

soberscientistlife

UNACCEPTABLE

natalieironside

I don’t wanna compete with anybody. I hope we all make it.

urists

Headlights are just too bright now. We gotta regulate them.

(And before anyone says it’s just an aiming problem - no. Like I apologize to the headlight aficionados clearly lusting after lighthouses, chernobyl, or the death star, but no amount of aiming is gonna fix the fact that the moment your car encounters any kind of hill, curve, or bump, my retinas are vaporized by a shade of blue-white previously known only to god. Just accept your limits and settle for a soft orange like the rest of us)

tikkunolamorgtfo

So on the matter of this absurd deflection tactic I'm seeing from antisemitism apologists, where they're like: "Um sweaty, if you play a game with a race of short, hook-nosed goblins who all work at the fantasy bank, and immediately see them as Jews, then that's a YOU problem," I would just like to be crystal fucking clear about something:

We are not "seeing Jews" when we look at the goblins in the Harry Potter universe (or the reptilian Illuminati overlords and diminutive, rat-faced hagglers in your beloved science fiction franchises). Most of us are Jews, and are therefore pretty fucking familiar with how actual Jewish people look and behave (we do not have horns; we do like to share our very strong opinions about how to garnish latkes and hummus). None of us are seeing a Ferengi merchant from Star Trek, or Gargamel from The Smurfs, and thinking "Oh wow, he's the spitting image of my Great Uncle Moishe, and I'm mad about that!" This is not, and has never been, about seeing genuine reflections of the Jewish people.

No, what we're seeing are characters and tropes bearing a strong resemblance to the grotesque antisemitic caricatures that have been used in efforts to dehumanise, disenfranchise, and decimate us for centuries. We know damn well the goblins or dwarves or greedy reptilian space overlords aren't accurate depictions of real Jews—but they are evocative of age-old antisemitic stereotypes, and that's the actual fucking issue here. This isn't some weird thought exercise where we just free associate random things with Jews based on our own skewed self-perceptions. We're saying to you, "Hey, the imagery in this piece of media is uncomfortably reminiscent of the bigoted tropes constantly wielded by our oppressors to hurt us, and that's a problem, because it's both compounding our trauma and subtly reinforcing people's unchecked antisemitic biases," and you're effectively telling us to fuck off in response.

Like, if you don't care about antisemitism I can't change that, but you don't get to accuse Jews of being "the real antisemites" simply for pointing out the similarities between the short, hook-nosed, child-stealing, banker goblins in your shiny new video game and the blatantly anti-Jewish stereotypes used to demean us throughout the course of human history.

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