Zalka Csenge Virág, PhD

Professional storyteller and author from Hungary. MA in Archaeology, MA in Storytelling, PhD in Culture Studies. I write about folktales, folklore, mythology, representation, role-playing games, and nerdy things. She/her
#ttrpg #folklore #mythology #storytelling #archaeology #fedi22
Hobbies and interests include #crochet, #beading, #archery, #travel, and #geology

Blog: http://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/
Dancing on Blades: https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Blades-Exquisite-Folktales-Carpathian/dp/162491103X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dancing+on+blades&qid=1668766312&sr=8-1
Professional FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ZalkaCsengeVirag/

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npub1u6fz3apk23c0d944g4js2atletquxteep0kmgz6j77x0uedatfnq6gnjaq

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Profile Code

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Published at

2026-07-28T01:10:55Z

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Last Notes

2026-05-31 08:06:20 UTC

Grandma was a wartime kid. She hoarded and reused everything. Most famously, she repurposed our old sandbox toys for kitchen use.
Which is why all her recipes say things like "One shovel of flour. Two scoops of cocoa. One half fish of sugar."
😅 One day, historians will be baffled.
#food #recipes #tradition

2026-05-30 19:02:41 UTC

Cultural confession:
The first time I visited the USA, I was shocked about smores. I always assumed that the white things kids in American cartoons roasted over the fire were squash (because that's what it got translated as).
Then I had to realize it was sugar. With melted chocolate and crackers.
Meanwhile, Hungarian kids cook bacon over the campfire, and drip the grease onto slices of bread, seasoning with paprika and onions. 😆
#Hungary #food #culture

2026-05-25 11:25:16 UTC

- reply

I would be less shocked if it was a kink 😆

2026-05-25 11:22:57 UTC

What in the straight white hell is this 😂
(Facebook ad)
#image #WTF #why #sleep
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/116/634/944/539/888/845/original/163803d39610c4b9.jpg

2026-05-21 05:06:30 UTC

Part of why I'm baffled and outraged by #AI is because I'm a traditional storyteller. The stories I tell are fascinating to me because they have been told by countless generations. Shaped by every single person who passed them on. In spoken word, person to person, retelling them in the moment with deep attention to their audience's moods and needs. The stories kept changing but they changed through human connection.
Stories are not "content" or "text". They are connection.
#storytelling

2026-05-20 18:51:16 UTC

New damage types just dropped for #ToddlerDnD
Eyeglass nose pad punched into eye socket
Damage: 2d12 blinding
Toe broken by dropped wooden block
Damage: 3d10 swearing
Nailbed bit while feeding piece of banana to Toddler
Damage: 2d6 radiating
Shoulder dislocated from sleeping on floor in one specific comforting position
Damage: 1d12 permanent
Stepping on D4 discarded in shag carpet:
... actually that was the DM's fault
#parenting #ttrpg

2026-05-17 08:08:17 UTC

TIL that one of the diagnostic clues for autism is "Thinks about their special interests outside of the time when actually engaging with special interests."
And I'm like... what? What else do you think about?...
#neurodivergent #psychology

2026-05-14 06:21:13 UTC

Do people who are losing their absolute shit over Elliot Page being Achilles "just because of accuracy" know that in mythology Achilles was raised disguised as a girl among women to avoid going to war?...
#mythology #Odyssey #storytelling #ChillTheHellOut

2026-05-07 16:04:03 UTC

- reply

this book:
https://saqibooks.com/books/saqi/classical-poems-by-arab-women/

2026-05-07 11:25:33 UTC

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Okay, here's another one:
"A man asked Thawab bint Abdullah al-Hanzaliyya to marry him but she ignored him, and as he persisted she wrote to him:
- Your manhood stretch stands no chance of slipping through my body’s
niche.
So move it away from my body’s door and take it back whence it came."
These women were savage 😆
#poetry #poem #WomensHistory #bookstodon #women

2026-05-07 10:52:26 UTC

I'm reading a book of classical poems by Arab women, and found this gem from some 1000 years ago:
"Leave me alone, you’re not my equal, you’re not a man of the world nor a man of faith, yet you want to own me, you mindless twit."
(by Umm Ja'far bint Ali)
That's it. That's the whole poem.
#poetry #poem #WomensHistory #women #literature #art #bookstodon

2026-05-01 04:44:58 UTC

The Hungarian version of "the tables have turned" is "the ice cream licked back."
🍦
#Hungary #language

2026-04-30 04:26:59 UTC

I said it before but:
I really believe that with the rise of #AI we need dorky people more than ever. We need niche special interests. We need specialized academic fields.
We need knowledge like the person's on Insta who keeps pointing out that AI generated images of Cambrian fossils are clearly fake, because the crustacean shell has the wrong number of little bumps.
We need people like the witchy person who likes fiber arts so much they learned how to shear sheep and process wool themselves.

2026-04-26 19:07:41 UTC

The European Court of Justice just declared that Hungary's book ban law violates EU rules and fundamental rights.
No more wrapping queer books in plastic and banning them from book shops!
📚
#Hungary #EU #lgbtq

2026-04-24 11:08:23 UTC

Customer service was spelling out my call number on the phone and I did a double take when they said
"Y, as in chromosome."
😆
That's a new way of doing it...
#nature #science

2026-04-16 06:52:12 UTC

Had a routine ultrasound checkup yesterday, and a med student got to practice trying to find my kidneys.
(Found them)
It was kinda fun 😄 I think reading an ultrasound is basically magic, so if I can help someone learn how to do that, I am all for it.
#medicine

2026-04-14 15:38:39 UTC

Líra, the bookstore chain that Fidesz tried to bully out of existence, has just moved all Orbán books to the "History" section.
LOL
#Hungary #elections

2026-04-14 07:10:16 UTC

"Grandma, where were you when the entire city of Budapest was partying to celebrate Orbán's fall?"
"At home, trying to get your mom to sleep."
😅 Some of my historical memories won't be as interesting as others.
#parenting #Hungary

2026-04-13 06:30:47 UTC

Magyar Péter's party (Tisza) won with a historic landslide.
I am overjoyed that Orbán and his gang are out.
But at the same time I'm waiting.
Waiting to see the book bans lifted.
For trans rights to be reinstated.
For the child protection system to be fixed.
For queer people to be allowed to adopt again.
For the child traffic rings to be prosecuted.
We handed a center-right party absolute majority.
I really, really hope they will do better.
#Hungary #elections

2026-04-12 10:59:18 UTC

Here we go.
Election day in Hungary.
Please keep your fingers crossed.
And your toes.
I don't even know what a best case scenario looks like, and I have no clue how today will go. It's stressful.
#Hungary #elections

2026-04-11 17:09:18 UTC

TIL that one of the names in Old Norse texts for the god Tyr (who got his hand heroically bitten off by Fenrir the Wolf) is...
... "Wolf Leftovers"
Norsemen, masters of the SICK BURN
#mythology #history #Vikings

2026-04-05 09:50:12 UTC

Kiddo was so excited about the Easter egg hunt that she made me hide all the chocolates again so she could go and find them a second time 😆
I absolutely think she's right, the scavenger hunt is the best part!
#Easter #parenting

2026-04-01 06:05:19 UTC

Here we go!
The A to Z Challenge has begun. My theme this year is Small Town Legends: weird folklore from villages and small towns in and around Hungary.
First up: some very strange geese.
Ács: Zombie Goose Shenanigans https://share.google/Aa9plXTmBYbUrUPXM
#AtoZChallenge #SmallTownLegends #blogging #folklore #folktales #legends

2026-03-07 11:53:10 UTC

Kid was having a meltdown at the zoo, so I put her in front of the aquarium with this fish.
This fish works.
Thank god for this fish specifically.
#parenting #nature #fish
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/116/187/749/698/127/900/original/30a7a3152b147d8e.jpg

2026-02-23 07:09:12 UTC

Ain't no party like a kindergarten birthday party because a kindergarten birthay party DON'T STOP until all the balloons have exploded and the birthday kid starts crying
#parenting

2026-02-16 12:50:28 UTC

#StorytellingPSA
I know I have ranted about this before, but: now I am running across entire websites with "folktales" that don't exist, referencing sources that also don't exist.
Why is it a problem, you ask? A story is a story?
No. Not if it is assigned to an actual existing culture. If it is claimed to represent the heritage of an indigenous tradition. Oral tradition is endangered already in many ways. We don't need AI to enshittify this.
Check your sources.
#AI #folklore #culture

2026-02-14 11:01:25 UTC

For no reason in particular:
🍇 Othello
🍎 Ambrosia
🍊 Tarocco
🍐 Nashi
🍅 Yellow pear
🍓 Woodland
🍋 Pink honet pomelo
What are your favorites? 😊
#food #fruit #plants #gardening

2026-02-13 14:19:46 UTC

You know what irks me?
When movies and TV shows reference King Solomon's decision and go "let's split the baby!"
Um. King Solomon didn't decide to split the baby.
He decided to PRETEND to split the baby to see who cared for it at all.
BIG difference.
#folklore #PopCulture #media

2026-02-06 07:39:11 UTC

My wildest fantasies these days are about actually having a village to help raise the child.
#parenting

2026-01-28 19:22:15 UTC

They know what's in your house.
They know who your friends are.
They know what you say about people behind their back.
They know what you eat.
They know where you sleep.
They know when you're on your period.
They know when you fart.
They are not the NSA.
They are not the CIA.
They are your child's kindergarden teachers.
#parenting

2026-01-21 07:09:59 UTC

I'm reading Heaven's Design Team, a manga about engineers designing the animals in Heaven. (In a science way, not a creationist way 😄 ). It's tons of fun!
Last night I had a dream about an anime convention that did a Heaven's Design contest: teams of three (engineer, biologist, graphic designer) had to design animals based on prompts.
I think this would be a lot of fun to do actually 😄
#manga #books #bookstodon #nature

2026-01-03 13:26:09 UTC

Today's gift from the algorithm: "Visibility undergarments"
🤔

2025-12-26 19:06:58 UTC

Grandma: "And which book should I read you before bed?"
Kiddo: "ANIMALS DYING!"
Grandma: "....???!!!"
Me: *Pulls out the Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals*
#parenting #bookstodon #FamilyChristmas

2025-12-26 07:25:31 UTC

8 years out of school, my anxiety dreams have finally graduated too!
Now, instead of missing exams and classes, I had a dream where I was supposed to give a workshop at a conference. Except I didn't remember the time or venue for it, and it was on a topic I know nothing about.
Progress...?
#dreams #anxiety

2025-12-15 12:58:48 UTC

We started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with the kid, and since she is bilingual, she noted "Apa" is Hungarian for "Dad".
So now every time she wants something from her father she yells "Apa! YIP YIP!"
She thinks it is hilarious and she's right.
#TV #parenting #AvatarTheLastAirbender

2025-11-30 12:19:07 UTC

Every time we read animal books with the kiddo, we have to discuss whether each animal can or cannot be petted and why.
It is a surprisingly complex question.
My new dissertation title therefore shall be: "Pet-pet okay?: The ethics and logistics of petting animals at the intersection of physical danger, legal obligations, animal bodily autonomy, geographic distance, and disease vectors."
#parenting

2025-11-01 06:37:12 UTC

So if anyone is interested, I just announced the categories for the 2026 Polymath Training Challenge :)
It's a nonfiction reading challenge that has been running for 11 years. This year, long-time participants have submitted topics, and the final list was decided by random draw.
And for the first time, in 2026 you can find and join the challenge on StoryGraph too:
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/a6c842ef-80fe-429b-9e66-77e0f5ea7a00
#books #bookstodon #reading #ReadingChallenge #nonfiction

2025-10-28 15:55:44 UTC

Emma Thompson yelling "Fuck Off!" on The Late Show when asked about the use of AI in writing is
Peak
Mood
#AI #writing #books #mood

2025-10-24 09:56:13 UTC

I was reading the diary of someone who was friends with a lot of famous Hungarian literary figures in the 1920s. All names associated with high literature and poetry.
At one point the diarist notes that they all used to devour crime novels like it was a competition, and they exchanged them amongst themselves.
I think my high school Literature class experience would have been different if they told us our great literary minds also read paperback fiction for fun.
#bookstodon #books

2025-10-23 14:38:59 UTC

Today is the annual memorial day of the 1956 Hungarian revolution.
Today I learned that Victor Ambrus (Ambrus Győző), the artist who worked on Time Team, was one of the freedom fighters in Budapest in '56. He was a 3rd year art student at the time. He had to flee the country after the Soviets crushed the revolution.
#history #art #Hungary #archaeology

2025-10-21 09:52:32 UTC

When you try to use Google Translate on Chinese text to read a legend, and it comes out as "How Dental Floss Created Humans."
😆 😅
#folklore #folktales #mythology #translation

2025-10-21 06:31:57 UTC

Anyone else running into a ton of hassle with sending letters to the USA since the regulations changed?
They flat out told me at a Budapest post office that I can't send anything in the envelope but personal written mail. They hand-wrote "Contains personal correspondence only" (in Hungarian 😅 ) on the envelope and I had to sign it.
It differs wildly between offices too. Some offices write it in English. Some have a stamp. Others don't care at all, lol. 😆
#USA #mail

2025-10-16 04:14:12 UTC

Saw this beautiful, 500 year old oak tree yesterday in Vinye. The sign said "it likes pets and hugs." I did hug, it was lovely.
#trees #nature #ThickThrunkTuesday #image #forest
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/115/381/884/816/871/652/original/82703b9e2f4fd41b.jpg
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/115/381/884/808/762/181/original/0646d981e16e24f4.jpg

2025-10-10 13:02:14 UTC

If you have anxiety and also a small child, you can choose between exhaustion and caffeine-induced anxiety attacks. Those are the two options.
☕️
#parenting #anxiety

2025-10-09 09:28:03 UTC

I have been watching this one grow for a while. It's right outside my workplace. I just noticed how it incorporated a fallen leaf. Pretty cool 😁
#FungiFriday #sporespondence #fungi #mushroom #nature #image
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/115/343/487/238/384/074/original/43bbbcd3e08f7045.jpg

2025-10-06 18:20:04 UTC

#ToddlerDnD
I am constantly feeling like parents have to take daily Alignment checks during Autumn Snot Season. Checks are administered by daycare/school staff.
I'm gonna need an alignment chart for this 😄
#parenting
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/115/328/590/214/482/942/original/6d61c5d05a5fae2e.jpg

2025-09-22 08:46:36 UTC

It's hummingbird hawkmoth season! Impossible to take a picture, but I see them every day and they make me happy 😊
#nature

2025-09-19 06:40:27 UTC

I just finished reading this book, and it was a really fun, interesting read. Not just because of the ghosts.
Ghosts of the British Museum: A true story of colonial loot and restless objects, by Noah Angell
#books #bookstodon #museum #BritishMuseum #ghosts #history #image
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/115/229/583/728/152/726/original/3d0bc9e34347a907.jpg

2025-09-07 05:36:18 UTC

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And finally, a #StorytellingPSA:
There is no such thing as "I generated a new folktale with AI!"
(Yes, someone has actually tried to convince me AI will make me new folktales to tell.)
That might be a tale, but it's not "folk." Folktales are part of a community's oral tradition. They work because people have told and told and retold them. You can't plonk a chunck of text down and call it a folktale. Connection is the whole point.
/end rant
#AI #storytelling

2025-09-07 05:27:03 UTC

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Also, unpopular opinion:
Trad publishing's preference for easily marketable tropes makes the use of AI easier.
Multiple people I know have been told by publishers that they need to "describe the manuscript in three common tropes" or "as a combination of two popular books/movies" in order to be marketable. The more formulaic something is, the easier sell. They were told to tweak stories to fit into a trope.
This, #AI can do easily. But it's not even an AI problem. It's a marketing problem.

2025-09-07 04:58:28 UTC

I hate it when I talk about AI "art" and how awful it is, and people respond with "Oh, but it will get so much better at it! It will be able to create amazing stuff, not just creepy images!"
I. Don't. Care.
I want stuff made by thinking, feeling, flawed humans. That's the whole point. I don't care how good AI is at "art". I don't care that "writing a good prompt is difficult". I really don't. The problem was never the quality to begin with.
#AI #art

2025-08-27 07:37:22 UTC

Hungarian #FolktaleMoment of the day:
You know the folktales where fairy maidens are taking a bath, and the "hero" steals the dress of one of them to force her to be his wife?
(Also in Selkie stories)
Well I just read a Hungarian folktale where the guy steals the dress - at which point the fairy walks up to him, slaps him across the face, and takes the dress back.
Pop off, queen.
#folklore #folktales #storytelling

2025-08-27 06:51:48 UTC

It amazes me how people still manage to get upset about the X-men reflecting on current social-cultural issues, since they have only been doing that since *checks notes* 1963.
#comics #Xmen #bookstodon

2025-08-26 12:03:00 UTC

Does anyone ever just get a sudden burst of random interest?
Like, sitting over a cup of coffee and out of the blue thinking "I would LOVE to know more about shark evolution?"
Cue the book search binge.
#books #science #bookstodon #BrainThings

2025-08-25 08:49:29 UTC

Hungarian folktale opening formula:
"There was a tall poplar tree with 77 branches, on each branch it had 77 crow nests, in each nest 77 crows.
Whoever doesn't listen to my tale, may the crows blind them. Whoever does listen, may they never see Heaven.
I'm going to start the story now, and you can all consider which one you'd choose."
... Hungarian folk tellers had no chill. 😆
#folklore #folktales #storytelling #Hungary

2025-08-19 06:56:57 UTC

"Mom brain" is a very cutesy name for complete mental and emotional collapse during which you are still required to function like someone's life depends on it.
#parenting

2025-08-18 09:30:14 UTC

Hungarian #FolktaleMoment:
Three princes set out to seek their fortune. One is seeking the Gold Forest, one is seeking gemstones, and the youngest is seeking... knowledge.
The fun part is, the literal word used for the third is "ancient stories", but it is also the term we use for prehistory.
So basically, Prince No. 3 is a storyteller and an archaeologist.
I love this.
#storytelling #archaeology #folklore #folktales

2025-08-18 04:31:44 UTC

I read somewhere that toddlers is like being surrounded by a tiny sales team where everything is an opening offer.
And it is SO accurate.
"Mom, can I eat that cleaning sponge?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"But Mom! Listen. Okay? Listen. How about yes?"
"Honey, please don't smear that paint on the wall."
"Yes!"
"No!"
"But Mom! Have you considered... yes?"
#parenting

2025-08-14 08:53:39 UTC

The Hungarian journal of linguistics in the 19th century had a separate column for linguists to deliver sick burns about their colleagues in witty essays. I'm working my way through the series, here's today's favorite:
"His ideas try to masquarade as thoughts."
#linguistics #language #burn #LinguistBurns

2025-08-01 20:33:27 UTC

Me, watching a trailer about a movie where Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans fight for the attention of the same woman.
(Because apparently someone successfully pitched that concept.)
#cinemastodon #movies #romance
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/114/955/404/550/064/331/original/d744dc97b5df7c19.jpg

2025-07-28 10:03:14 UTC

#ToddlerDnD
"You have to let your kids get bored! Boredom breeds creativity!"
Roll a D10 for every 30 minutes the Toddler has the Bored condition.
With each roll, the Toddler gains one of the following spells for free:
1. Color Spray
2. Knock
3. Spider Climb
4. Create or Destroy Water
5. Shatter
6. Vicious Mockery
7. Chaos Bolt
8. Nondetection
9. Storm of Vengeance
10. Psychic Scream
#parenting #ttrpg

2025-07-24 14:23:20 UTC

If I wrote a #JurassicWorld movie, it would be about a PhD candidate in the competetive field of Dinosaur Ethology, whose dissertation committee keeps rejecting their manuscript. So they decide to venture into forbidden dinosaur-inhabited zones with a ragtag team of other grad students to capture dinosaur behavior so that they can defend their dissertation before they have to repay all the student loans.
#dinosaurs

2025-07-18 12:49:22 UTC

Loot from the Művészetek Völgye (Valley of the Arts) art festival and market 😊😊
#handmade #shiny #jewelry #mushrooms #sporespondence #FungiFriday #image
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/114/874/306/653/849/924/original/7b2649d171828a15.jpg
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/114/874/304/984/269/786/original/04cb70f8b3ca59c9.jpg

2025-07-15 05:05:54 UTC

#StorytellingPSA
Once more, for the people in the back:
An "epic hero" (*cough* Odysseus *cough*) is not an "epic hero" because they are a role model that does everything right. They were never meant to be an unproblematic fandom icon.
People bending themselves into pretzels to prove Odysseus (and others) never did anything wrong, questionable, or "problematic" are doing a disservice and flattening mythology into fan fiction.
Said what I said.
#mythology #Storytelling

2025-07-02 08:24:43 UTC

I will never not post Aphrodite's cute rolls when I see them.
Palazzo Massimo, Rome.
#image #art #Aphrodite #mythology #archaeology #Rome
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/114/782/648/493/105/272/original/8c8bfc74a6fe9e97.jpg
https://files.ohai.social/media_attachments/files/114/782/651/902/560/218/original/d6bf705a895e7aa2.jpg

2025-07-02 06:19:53 UTC

This one is for my Classics and Archaeology peeps:
The conservative counter-protesters (all 20 of them) at the Budapest Pride this weekened were trying to hold up the march with a sign that said THIS IS SPARTA!
Let that sink in. It has layers.
#archaeology #Classics #history #LGBTQ #BudapestPride #Pride

2025-06-28 20:01:34 UTC

"I came here to stand up for the rights of a minority... but this crowd looks like a majority." - Judit Hernádi
#BudapestPride today was illegal... but also the largest we had in 30 years. Incredible turnout. Trying to ban it made it stronger. Propaganda trying to make hate the majority opinion failed.
A handful of counter-protesters blockaded the Freedom Bridge (because irony is lost on them), but the parade moved one bridge over and passed them by.
#Pride #lgbtqia

2025-06-27 17:52:23 UTC

Every time you vent about parenting someone bursts in like the Kool-Aid man with "Have you tried..."
No.
Just stop.
So if you are on the struggle bus, let me bust in:
NO amount of gentle parenting, advice, regulation, meditation mindfulness, psychology, or any kind of mojo will make you a "good enough" parent to prevent your toddler completely losing the entirety of their shit about getting the wrong color cup.
Not your fault. There. Not. Your. Fault.
#parenting

2025-06-25 07:19:08 UTC

Book recommendation!
I want to buy a print copy so I can hug this book. It retells a myth with deep empathy, eloquence, and attention to delightful detail. It takes the story of WHY Herakles had to do labors, making it a story of healing from unimaginable trauma, and found family.
It is narrated both by Hera and Herakles. Herakles is not the usual hypermasculine macho, but rather a gentle, naive tragic hero. Hera is complex and human.
I loved everything about this.
#books #bookstodon
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2025-06-23 08:27:25 UTC

I am late to the party, but this is the funniest perfect book title I have seen in a long while. 10/10
#bookstodon #books #puns #image
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2025-06-12 06:57:04 UTC

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Outside :D Like, literally around the house

2025-06-12 06:53:22 UTC

Another folklore tidbit:
"When trying to get rid of rats, walk around the house naked seven times, and loudly tell the rats that you are so poor you don't have anything left for them to chew on, so they should go bother someone else."
#folklore

2025-06-12 06:49:37 UTC

Random folklore tidbit from the Hungarian collection I'm reading today:
"When popping popcorn, people were told that if they laugh, the corn will pop faster."
🍿
#folklore

2025-06-06 17:08:20 UTC

New book 🥰🥰 Brother Shark: Folktales about misunderstood animals
This project was so close to my heart. Sharks, wolves, centipedes, bats, rats, crocodiles, slugs, mice, spiders, vultures, and more 😊 I made sure they are all positive characters. I found some really fun stories. Like the French folktale about a blacksmith who teams up with a flea, a cricket, and a tobacco-marinated rat to win a princess...
#nature #folklore #folktales #books #bookstodon #storytelling #animals
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2025-06-05 06:58:49 UTC

Yesterday was my second (guided) forest bathing experience. I love everything about it. I enjoy hiking too, but there is a lot to be said about just BEING in the woods instead of moving through them. I spent half an hour sitting in a little nest in the middle of several entwined oak and ash trees.
I could seriously do this once or twice a week like morning yoga.
🌳 🌲 🌳
#ForestBathing #nature

2025-05-29 10:23:03 UTC

Today's random #WTF #FolktaleMoment from the Hungarian Folktale Catalog headlines:
"Competitive Defecation."
🤷‍♀️
#folklore #folktales

2025-05-28 05:22:05 UTC

People keep saying "AI is a tool, it is better to teach how to use it properly than simply not using it." This feels wrong to me for a few reasons, but I wonder what responses others have to this argument...?
#AI

2025-05-18 13:04:03 UTC

Random reminder from a myhtic storyteller that Dionysos is not just a god of wine and frenzy. Dionysos is the god of indomitable life. In all its extremes and variations and messiness. So if you are drawn to his myths, but you are sober / working long ours / not partying every night / monogamous / surviving / whatever, that is still very much valid. 🌱🍇
#mythology
(This toot was inspired by yet another social media post labeling Dionysos a "party boi")

2025-05-15 04:41:12 UTC

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture.
Unless you are a parent, in which case it is a form of "children are a blessing, you wanted this, you're on your own, suck it up, good luck."
#parenting

2025-05-12 14:52:38 UTC

There was a short period of time in history when people would unironically say "why are you asking me, go ahead and google it."
(See also: LMFGTFY)
And now we are going back to "for the love of god don't google it, ask an expert instead."
#AI #internet #DumbestTimeline

2025-05-06 06:57:57 UTC

Still thinking about MondoCon. I haven't been to a convention for almost a decade. It felt so good to be back, with people being weird and happy and excitable together. In a country where Pride is banned, people in cosplay were running around with trans flags and rainbow flags and crossplaying enthusiastically. No one batted an eyelash at people randomly dancing. Everyone watched out for kiddo and everyone was friendly. I really needed this.
#anime #cosplay #MondoCon #convention #AnimeCon

2025-05-01 10:00:09 UTC

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Because the stories we tell matter. The stories we highlight matter. The heroes of those stories matter. And the canon needs to expand.
#women #epics #WomensEpics #WomensHistory #storytelling #StorytellingPSA #books #literature
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2025-05-01 09:57:11 UTC

So the #WomensEpics series is officially done. You can find and read all 26 posts here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/p/womens-epics-to-z.html
I also made some promo posts. Because I think these epics should also be highlighted, and included in a wider literary canon. Because they have fascinating, complex, amazing women protagonists, and they have a whole lot to teach us.
#women #WomensHistory #epics #mythology #folklore #literature #books
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2025-04-28 10:39:59 UTC

I cannot stress this enough:
In a lot of traditions what we call fairy tales (or wonder tales) were for adults. Often told by grown men at the barracks or during work.
Which means uncensored fairy tale texts often include a whole lot of cussing. Because you'd yell "Sh**!" too if a devil chased you.
And this is how we get the scene where an evil king offers a hero money for his services and the hero flat out says "Your majesty, suck my d***"
#StroytellingPSA #folklore #storytelling #folktales

2025-04-23 17:32:45 UTC

Slow night and I need a mood boost, so:
What is your favorite Niche Topic of Interest? The one you love to infodump about? You know the kind when you perk up and start with "Okay, so..."
#InfodumpNight

2025-04-17 19:13:39 UTC

Hungarian Roma #FolktaleMoment
A man catches a glimpse of the Fairy Queen and starts saying that even the sole of her foot is prettier than the King's only daughter. He almost gets executed for this, but the Fairy Queen shows up in the last moment to prove that the sole of her foot IS indeed prettier than the princess.
(The King at this point decides to marry the Fairy Queen, and goes through a whole lot of adventures to win her. Also, Fairy Queen has flying elephants.)
#folklore #folktales

2025-04-16 04:54:09 UTC

Today on #WomensEpics: The Nítíða Saga
14th-century Icelandic "knight saga" about a sorceress-queen named Nítíða. Several men try to conquer her, but she defeats all unwanted suitors with magic or sheer force.
Eventually, a prince from India disguises himself to court her. They spend a winter together and Nítíða grows to love him. In the end, she tells him to remove his disguise: she'd known who he was all along.
Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/n-is-for-nitia-saga-womens-epcis-to-z.html
#epics #AtoZChallenge #Iceland #medieval
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2025-04-15 05:04:09 UTC

Today on #WomensEpics: Manimekalai
One of the most famous Tamil epics. It's actually a sequel to another story I'll talk about later.
The hero is Manimekalai, a famous dancer. She renounces her profession as an act of grief for her father, and becomes a Buddhist. She gains magic powers, feeds thousands of people, abolishes prisons, and helps others learn about Buddhism.
There are also stories-within-stories about people that she encounters.
Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/m-is-for-manimekalai-womens-epics-to-z.html
#AtoZChallenge
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2025-04-14 10:32:10 UTC

Ray of Sickness, #ToddlerDnD edition:
Casting time: immediate
Range: the whole family
Components: verbal
Duration: the next 2 weeks
Verbal components that automatically cast this spell:
"Hey, we haven't been sick for almost a week!"
"Only two more days and we are visiting Grandma!
"Yes, we are going to the birthday party this weekend!"
"It has been rough, but I finally booked that weekend getaway we have been planning!"
"I have a very important meeting tomorrow."
#parenting #DnD

2025-04-11 06:16:27 UTC

Today on #WomensEpics: Juliana
A 9th century Anglo-Saxon retelling of the legend of St. Juliana of Nicomedia. While it is a Christian legend, the Saxon storyteller retold it in the style of Beowulf, changing and coloring the story to fit the taste of the audience for evil villains and epic fights. At the high point of the story, Juliana wrestles the Devil and physically beats him into submission.
Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/j-is-for-juliana-womens-epics-to-z.html
#AtoZChallenge #epics #saints #women
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2025-04-08 06:27:30 UTC

#WomensEpics: The Song of Grotti
This one is a 12th century Icelandic saga about two giantesses who are captured and enslaved by a Danish king. He makes them turn a giant millstone that grinds out endless riches. When he refuses to give them rest time, or set them free, the giantesses sing a song that makes the mill grind out strife and an invading army. The king's rule is toppled by their revenge.
Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/g-is-for-grottasongr-womens-epics-to-z.html
#epics #folklore #NorseMythology #mythology #AtoZChallenge
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2025-04-07 09:24:00 UTC

#FolktaleMoment of the day (Hungarian Roma folktale):
A mother sheep craves watermelons. After many adventures to acquire some, she meets Jesus Christ. Jesus responds to her wishes by creating a girl who cries red apples.
Sheep says "I want watermelons, not apples."
Jesus re-creates the girl who now cries whole watermelons.
Sheep is happy. The end.
🐑 🍉
#folklore #folktales

2025-04-03 07:26:10 UTC

I'm telling the story of María Cacao for #MythOff today :) I have been doing weeks of research on her. She is a goddess from the island of Cebu who grows cocoa, and sails in a golden ship periodically to America to sell her crops for fancy tableware. She lends the tableware out to local people when they need it for celebrations.
However, the absolute best thing about María Cacao is that she has a giant shrimp as a pet 🦐
#mythology #folklore #storytelling

2025-04-02 06:24:18 UTC

Today on #WomensEpics:
The Malay epic of Bidasari
This story is based on the same tale type as Snow White, except it is a lot more adventurous and elaborate. And it features positive representation of adoption, which I was especially happy about!
Read more here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/04/b-is-for-bidasari-womens-epics-to-z.html
#epics #folklore #storytelling #AtoZChallenge
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2025-03-28 12:59:35 UTC

Spent the morning with my amazing friend Diána Laurent. We sat in a café, talked, laughed, plotted a short comic, and she did character sketches for the MCs I came up with. It was inspiring and wonderful. Seeing an artist bring characters to life will always feel like absolute magic to me. ✨️
(AI can suck it. It will never replicate this.)
#art #artist #sketching #writing #CharacterArt #flow #image
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2025-03-27 07:08:02 UTC

I just noticed that I passed 5000 followers! 🥰 It says a lot about Mastodon that I wasn't really paying attention to the numbers. (The same number took 10 years on the birbsite and a lot of hustling). I like posting my random parenting and storytelling and D&D stuff, and meeting interesting people. Good for my mental health. Thank you all for being here and following 😊

2025-03-26 16:56:10 UTC

Conservative folklore pees in Hungary: "Folktales carry our Traditional Values and the Ancient Wisdom of Our Ancestors. They follow a strict set of Traditional Rules"
Literal Hungarian folktales I found in archives:
- Princess Rosalia Lemonfarts
- The Diamond Prince in a Rubber Suit
- The Magic Flying Penis
- Rapunzel, but it's a bloke who makes a rope from his body hair
- Saint Peter got drunk and puked the first 🌈
- The Princess who became a Prince
#folklore #folktales #storytelling

2025-03-25 17:42:12 UTC

The best story in the #Grimm collection is still the one where a miller marries an earth spirit and ends up with a magical mill, but his son wants to study magic, so he spreads the word that the mill is cursed and defends it with various traps, but people still keep bothering him because the mill makes amazing flour, and eventually a girl with an emotional support beaver shows up and the miller's son is like sure fine whatever here is a bunch of gemstones leave me alone.
#folklore #folktales

2025-03-24 07:10:07 UTC

A while ago I did a survey about epics. I asked people which epics they were most familiar with, and which ones they heard of, or studied in school.
More than 200 people filled out the survey, and I just posted a blog post about the most interesting or unexpected results.
Read here:
https://multicoloreddiary.blogspot.com/2025/03/womens-epics-to-z-epics-in-general.html
#epics #WomensEpics #storytelling #folklore #literature #bookstodon #AtoZChallenge

2025-03-21 05:49:02 UTC

Flowers for today because we need them.
Happy spring equinox!
#bloomscrolling #nature #flowers #image #FlowersOfMastodon #spring #equinox
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