Annabeth’s Got A Plan. Percy’s On It. When It’s Time, He’s Gonna Be Ready. I Know It.

bless this iteration of Percy Jackson for genuinely believing, for at least three seconds, that he is the second coming of Christ

It's that time of year again where Mari Lwyd starts to be talked about and shared around and an INCREDIBLY misleading post gets shared a lot. As someone who grew up with Mari Lwyd I wanted to clear some things up.

Also hello, if you are unaware who Mari Lwyd is. This is about the Welsh tradition of the horse skull who visits houses during the Christmas to New Years period in Wales asking for alcohol.

First off and probably the most important one:

Mari Lwyd is not a cryptid!

I can not emphasise this enough. She. Is. Not. A. Cryptid. There is no story or mystery about a ghost or zombie horse roaming the Welsh valleys. She's not even supposed to be a ghost or a zombie. It's just a horse skull on a stick with a guy under a sheet. She's a hobbyhorse and a folk character used to tell Welsh stories and keep songs alive. When people spread the misinformation that she's a cryptid, it's the equivalent of saying Kermit the Frog is a cryptid.

She is actually only one character in a wider cast of characters who go door to door or, in more modern times, pub to pub. The cast of characters can change town to town and village to village but there are some common ones I see time and time again. The Leader, the Merryman, The Jester and The Lady are just some I see regularly. Punch and Judy used to be more popular a few years ago but I haven't seen them in a while as their tradition has mostly fallen out of popularity. In most cases, almost the whole cast will be played by men. Even the characters are considered and referred to as female. Though this again depends and varies by which group is partaking in the Mari Lwyd tradition.

This point also goes onto my second point,

Mari Lwyd does not rap.

I think this comes from a very common misunderstanding of what rap is vs spoken word. Rap is a very specific style of music originating from the African American communities of the USA and has it's own structure and motifs unique to it. It's a lot more complex than people give it credit for as a style of music and just flippantly assign anything similar to it as being rap. If someone is talking fast or reciting poetry, it is not rap. Or anything that is an exchange of words between two people is not a rap battle. Mari Lwyd does not do rap, actually something that gets left out of these posts is the fact Mari Lwyd does not even speak. It's actually the Leader, who does all the speaking and song based banter between the house/pub owner for entry. Mari Lwyd just clicks her mouth, bites people and bobs her head around.

I think Mari Lwyd is a really beautiful and unique part of Welsh culture. She's not actually as wildly celebrated as a lot of the posts make her out to be. Actually, I think most Welsh people themselves learn about Mari Lwyd through the internet as well. Her popularity is increasing thanks to the drive of local groups wanting to keep the traditions alive and a renewed desire to document Welsh traditions before they're gone. Which is why it's such a shame that she's turned into something she's not to earn horror points on the internet. I think this is why it bothers me so much to see the misunderstandings of the culture and the folk tradition. Mari Lwyd's origin is very hot debated as well as how long it's been going on for. But I think it's thanks to a lot of traditions like this that the Welsh language and our stories weren't lost forever. Welsh culture is recovering as is the language. But it's still in a very fragile place. I think it's why it's important to document and correct information when it's spread.

Anyway, if you want to see the tradition in action, here's a lovely video from the Cwmafan RFC going to one of the pubs for charity. It includes the song exchange with the pub owner for entry and the whole pub singing and joining in once Mari Lwyd and the rest are inside.

As well with another video from St Fagan's showcasing the more traditional and door to door form with the larger cast.

Bcs I rly needed a new man to simp for😅

“Who wants to shake hands with the skeleton?”

He really playing collect ‘em all with his brothers exs😂 well everyone’s gotta have a hobby I guess🤷

jason x kori x roy is something so funny to me bc like pop off jason date ur brother's bestie (ex?) and ex lmao

Tim in floods of tears:I’m gonna end up just like Bruce fr😭😭😭

listen i love timber(n) and i fully believe that, as an actually CANON mlm ship, they deserve more support and appreciation than they’ve gotten. i also think that timberkon is a great way to put some respect on bernard’s name while also embracing the timkon subtext that dc has been feeding us for years.

that being said, though—the idea of tim being in a situationship with both kon and bernard only for kon and bernard to cut out the middle man and just start dating each other is SO funny to me. like:

tim: *justifiably screaming, crying, throwing up*

jason: damn nobody wants u frfr

dick: BE NICE he’s going through it 🙄

jason: he fumbled TWO guys who then proceeded to date EACH OTHER and leave him in the dust 💀💀

dick: oh lmao well ig that IS embarrassing 💀💀

damian, awakened by the commotion: drake this is pathetic. pull yourself together

bruce, entering the room: it’ll be okay, tim. trust me, i know a thing or two about fumbling baddies 😔

tim: *cries even harder*

I love the idea of Bernard bragging to Tim (when Tim finally realises Bernard knows he’s robin) that his childhood dreams of dating robin have come true and then as they’re talking Tim’s like hang on a minute and works out the timeline and has the horrifying realisation that the robin bernard is talking about as his first crush is Jason

Um I just wanted to send an ask about Bernard Dowd and how I'm happy to see other people like yourself that really enjoy his character! so yeah thank you for being a cool Bernard Dowd Enjoyer!

Also if you have time to answer do you have any interesting headcanons for high school Bernard with the Louis Grieves Trio?

omg that’s so sweet. idk I just have soft spot for traumatized queer characters. THANK YOU FOR BEING A COOL BERNARD DOWD ENJOYER TOO BYW! I stalk your blog every now and then >_<.

I have a few headcanons that I can’t name off the top of my head, but the only one I can think of right now is that his gay awakening happened Freshman year through Jason’s Robin. I’m not actually sure if Jason was still alive then, but the thought is funny. Another hc of mine is that he’s actually a pretty accomplished fanfic writer for a multitude of fandoms.

haven't seen the anyone upload the best video of the welsh holiday horse skull yet

Confident: Not Arrogant

A post I loved was going around on how confident Dick is.

I just wanted to add that he’s confident but there’s also a humbleness to his confidence that is very uniquely Dick Grayson.  Dick is confident without the arrogance.  He’s confident with a purpose.  Even when he’s not confident he exudes it to lift other people up or at least is usually open to talk about how unconfident he is which in itself takes a certain amount of confidence.

He expresses a very ‘us’ mentality and uses that phrasing a lot when talking to people unless he’s blaming himself for something.

[Batman #688]

“We’re going to have to learn.”

When Dick is Batman we as the reader know how unconfident Dick is but he still wears the cowl and goes out there as well as mentors Damian with as much confidence and humbleness he needs to admit his own shortcomings and works through them with Damian. 

[Batman: Gates of Gotham]

When Tim feels down about screwing up Dick answers in a very Dick Grayson way, “Everyone’s made mistakes on this one.  But we’ve come this far and we’re in this together.”  He acknowledges Tim’s mistakes but he reminds him that everyone has made mistakes even himself, and that he’s not alone here.

You can even tell this trait in him just by his positioning and body language, he lets the kids sit in the Batchair, he talks things out with them, he leans casually even in the Batsuit.  A lot of time’s in comics it seems that the batfamily is on Bruce’s mission but with Dick he clearly shows ‘we’re’ on a mission ‘together’.

(x) 

That humble confidence is also what allows him to be able to see things from other peoples perspectives, and especially why he’s usually written as not condescending towards young heroes and speaks up for them against the Justice League even.

[Teen Titans v3 #6]

“Flash, you were one of us.”

[Teen Titans v3 #33]

“Stop looking at me like I’m one of those statues.  I’m a Titan like you.”

Dick has shown multiple times he can talk people down from fighting or doing bad things or talk people up when they need to step up to the plate and it’s because he’s confident enough to say it but humble enough to say it right.

It’s again because of how humble he is that Dick is not opposed to getting help when he needs it, 

 [Nightwing #141] 

Being picked up or carried,

[X]

Or saying thank you to anyone that helps him.  

 [Nightwing #141] 

[Nightwing #144]

He gets angry, he makes mistakes, yet Dick also doesn’t hold back on apologizing for things when he’s done something wrong.

[Convergence: The New Teen Titans]

[The New Teen Titans #31]

Multiple times he’s snapped at people and then snapped right back and said he’s sorry for it because he’s strong enough emotionally that he can apologize if he’s wronged them.  

Lastly we see that Dick can work with the big guns, heck he can lead the big guns, but he’s never arrogant when he stands beside them.  One of my favorite moments that shows this so clearly is when Dick and Superman are in the park together and the police officer that finds them only cares about getting a picture with Superman. 

[Nightwing #141]

Dick doesn’t even hesitate, he doesn’t think or say anything about it because he doesn’t need that validation from people, he knows how amazing he is and how amazing Superman is.  There’s no jealously there, actually he doesn’t stop smiling the whole time.  

[Robin: Year One #3]

“Style, grace… and a bit of flamboyance, but without the obtrusiveness and pitfalls of arrogance.”

It’s shown even in the way he fights.

Yes there are other characters that have some of these traits as well but for Dick there are SO MANY examples of Dick doing these things, it’s very much ingrained in his character.  That’s Dick Grayson.  He may have insecurities but for the most part he is confident but not arrogant, from what I’ve seen even though he’s one of the most loved characters he’s also one of the most humble characters in the DCU.  

@foerchen you are a god damn genius 🫡🤝

Dami and Tim bonding AU

Damian: *walking into the Manor library and slamming the door open*

Damian: Todd, I require your assistance.

Jason: *drops his book, leading to the spine to be cracked*

Jason: *does about a thousand breathing exercises because he absolutely doesn’t want to lash out at his lil brother*

Jason: What is it?

Damian: *stares at him with a serious expression*

Damian: How do I bond with Drake? I wish to… acquire his allegiance.

Jason: *smirks*

Jason: Treat him like a scared street cat.

Damian: I shall. Thank you for your service.

Damian: *turns around and walks out of the library*

Jason: *baffled that Damian thought he was being serious*

-~*~-

Damian: *slowly enters the sitting room Tim is lounging in*

Tim: *looks up confused before going back to his phone*

Damian: *proud for not chasing Tim away and carefully pushes a bottle of Zesti towards Tim while still keeping his distance*

Tim: *looks up again and at the bottle*

Tim: Thank you?

Damian: *nods proudly and takes a few more steps forward until he can gently sit down on the couch*

Tim: *watches him and turns back to his phone*

Damian: *slowly extends his hands towards Tim’s nose so he could sniff it*

Tim: *looks at the hand in front of him and opens his mouth to speak*

Damian: Shhh.

Tim: *wants to say something*

Damian: *sees his opportunity and softly runs his fingers through Tim’s hair*

Tim: *freezes as his brain short circuits*

Damian: Good Drake. Shhh. It’s okay.

Damian: *continues to pet and scratch Tim’s head until he is half asleep with his head in Damian’s lap*

Jason: *walks in and freezes at the sight*

Jason: What the-

Damian: For once your advice was useful, Todd. Now be quiet. We do not wish to disturb Drake.