elisi's humble abode

Hi all. Sorry about the radio silence, but we went on holiday. See below (actual photo, taken on my phone - yes it is that beautiful). ETA: Went on holiday 'back home' [the Faroes] for me, and are still here. It's been 4 years since we last visited, thanks to covid... (It's possible that we all caught it on the way as we're all various degrees of coughing/sniffly - a combination of airport + plane, or possibly just the small coughing child behind us on the plane - but we're mostly fine. It's probably just a cold.)



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As holiday reading I brought with me The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, as it was heartily recommended by kaffy_r. It proved delightful and very enjoyable. The world building is brilliant, the characters wonderful and complex, and although I found it nigh-on impossible to keep track of the names I loved it to pieces.

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Finally, I managed to edit this short fic, with thanks to Owls for the sensitivity read-through and to kathyh for the beta. <3

Family Matters: Cousin Barry.
Summary: Josh meets Jamie's extended family (the bad and the good).

(Part of my 'Seeker' verse, more info/notes on Ao3. Again, a little FitB type thing, posted after being sat in a drafts folder for... um... 10 years?)

Happy Birthday beer_good_foamy! I was trying to think of something different for your special day, and this (at least) will be original. (Am presuming you're not familiar with the group - you've never mentioned it, but I think it's your kinda thing.)

Anyway, this is Tyr, a Faroese heavy metal group, who hit upon the brilliant idea of adapting old viking/medieval ballads. This is Regin Smiður (well a few verses - the whole thing is near Ring Cycle length...). ETA: Their videos are obviously made on a shoestring. I find this rather endearing.



[Notes for cultural geeks. A brief explanation of the history of the ballads can be found here (and yes, I had to learn a ton of these at school!). Notes on the Faroese dance here. For those who favour the 'show, not tell' approach, here is a proper traditional dance & ballad: Ormurin Langi. (Tyr have their own take here. This is not considered disrespectful, btw - people are generally very happy that the culture finds new ways of growing & expressing itself. Also viking tales are rather perfect for heavy metal! *g*]

My mother called me this morning, since - as she put it - she just had to share the good news with *someone*!

Dunno if you have ever heard about it, but there is a competition called 'The Global Battle of the Bands' (GBOB), and this year - out of 3000 bands! - a Faroese group (Boys in a Band) won! :)

Read about it here and go sample their music here!

Oh and first prize? $100000 and a world tour! *mind boggles*

Also - look! Snow! :)

Quite a few people have posted thoughts on the war(s), and I just felt like adding my perspective. It's short, since I'm pressed for time, but might be interesting for some? ( A bit of Faroese History )