Rhiannoncrack - Batfam

I’m completely normal about this show

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.

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.

I know this is a joke but omg is it accurate

calling dick well adjusted is maybe a step too far but the only reason he’s anywhere near as normal as he is is bcs of supes stepping up when Bruce fired dick. Like we all remember who dick went to after that, got his new name from and the advice that led him to the circus.

Also love the subtle difference in the art between Bruce’s satisfied face compared to it just cracking absolute perfection

I was thinking about this joke but didn't expect them to make him say it for real

(wayne family adventures s3 ep.137)

brother bear is SUCH an underrated disney movie that film was WILDIN. they were like “the main character murders the comedic relief kid’s mother onscreen” like mufasa WHO

My last search was ‘when was east of Eden written’ a book that I’ve only started reading bcs it was referenced in a Jason Todd fic ‘forgive us(as we forgive those)’ that had me balling my eyes out

@eyeliner-in-my-ear @everythingispirates @kpiuniverse @okoyestrainee

last google search, go

um. Tag four people.

what do they make sewer tunnels out of

@ncc1701ohno @affixjoy @the-magpieprince @twinkboimler

It runs in the family. Dick taught him some things before he died🤭

i have but ONE qualm with joyfire and it's how the FUCK did jason pull not one but TWO beautiful stunning drop dead gorgeous redheaded bitches because there's actually no way.

Annabeth’s got a plan. Percy’s on it. When it’s time, he’s gonna be ready. I know it.

I love the dramatic, triumphant reveal that wolverine and deadpool survived the time ripper, mainly because i'm 1000% sure wade heard paradox monologuing™️ and was like "nonono hold on we have to wait for the Right Moment" and logan, who is 7 different kinds of exhausted at this point, was like "....yeah ok lol"

which leads to 2 grown ass men hiding behind a corner just waiting to ruin this british man's afternoon? logan really went from “i'll kill u with my teeth” to “yea sure i'll commit to your stupid bit” in like 2 days, honestly what a lad

I’m sorry but Percy being like “ohhh so theres gotta be three guys that go on a life-threatening war-preventing quest. great for them. let me know when you find them. or don’t. lmao” and then trying to dip Is so Percy of him I can’t