Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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Cussin'! Or, as Brooke put it, "A Child's Garden of Royal Fae Swearing."

In the Toby books, people tend to swear by (and on) a variety of things, including trees (oak, ash, elm, yarrow, pine), representative symbols for fae ideals (root, branch, rose, thorn), and the three major monarchs of their world. Brooke, being seized by an imp of the perverse one day, went through and actually made a list of all the times people swear by one of the monarchs...and what body parts they swore by.

My proofreaders are special, yo.

So here, for your enlightenment, is the cussin', as listed by Brooke, who is insane.

A CHILD'S GARDEN OF ROYAL FAE SWEARING

Swearing by Oberon:

In Oberon's name (Rosemary and Rue)
Oberon's bones (R&R)
Oberon's blessed balls (A Local Habitation)
Oberon's blood (R&R, An Artificial Night)
Oberon's teeth (ALH, AAN)
Sweet Oberon (Late Eclipses)
Oberon's hairy balls (LE)
Oberon's honor (LE)
Oberon's ass (LE, The Brightest Fell)
Oberon's balls (R&R, ALH, AAN, LE)

Swearing by Titania:

Titania wept (AAN)
Titania's teeth (AAN)
Sweet Titania (AAN, LE, TBF)
Titania's bones (LE)
Titania's rose (LE)

Swearing by Maeve:

Sweet Lady Maeve (RR)
Maeve's tits (ALH,TBF)
In the name of Maeve (AAN)
By the boon of Maeve (AAN)
Maeve's bones (RR, AAN, TBF)
Maeve wept (AAN)
Maeve's tree (LE)
Sweet Maeve (LE)
I swear to Maeve I'll shoot you (LE)
Maeve's teeth (RR, AAN, LE, TBF)

Swearing is fun!
Tags: brooke, i love my editors, proofreading, silliness, toby daye
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  • 45 comments
I cant help wondering whether "Titania's rose" is a euphemism.
Yes. This.

azurelunatic

6 years ago

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

markbernstein

6 years ago

*Oberon looks on in mute horror*

*He discreetly crosses his legs*
*Titania hands Oberon a razor*

tollers

6 years ago

vulpine137

6 years ago

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

Oberon's hairy balls
I was waiting for this one.

It looks like Oberon's salient feature is his balls, and Maeve's is her teeth. Titania is just sweet.
*snort*

I'm sure she'd have everyone think that...

dornbeast

6 years ago

shiyiya

6 years ago

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

I am surprised not to see "Titania's tits" or "Titania's titties" on this list, for alliterative reasons alone.
Or some other "T" words...

ladymondegreen

6 years ago

judifilksign

6 years ago

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

I'm curious about something here. Long before I knew you existed, I started my novel of The Rose and the Crown. I wasn't paying attention to my influences on certain elements. In my novel, I have "By Oberon's Beard!" as a curse used by several of my fae. Do you know what spawned the swearing by Oberon or is this the collective unconscious creeping up into more than one person at a time?
I think it's the fae lack of "oh, sweet Jesus" coming out.
Oberon's balls are both hairy and blessed. Both Titania and Maeve wept.
True!
I'm now tempted to do this for the Kushiel's Legacy series, for Elua and His Companions. I think the extent of it is "Elua's balls" and "Naamah's tits," though.
Sad.
Do different characters swear by different figures? Can you, say, tell where someone stands on zillion-year-old political debates by who they swear by? And would anyone dare swear by the Luidaeg?
Most of the time, people don't swear by whichever of the First claims their line.

And swearing by the Luidaeg could get you eaten.
This is awesome. I love swear words that suit the world and these really do.
Awww, yay. :)
Please thank her for me?
This fits in VERY nicely with one of my favorite "Swear" phrases that I can't use in "Polite" company...

"Hydatha's tits on a mule!"
Got it from Mercedes Lackey and her heroine, Kerowyn.
...
NOW I have alternatives! >:D
I'm reminded of this exchange from one of Brust's Taltos novels.

"By the blood on Verra's floor!"
"I don't think I've heard that one."
"No, you wouldn't have."

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

6 years ago

Awwww, biscuits.
Yes.
Now I want to know who will be threatening to shoot whom in Late Eclipses.
Many people, really.
. . . you do realize that now you CANNOT edit out the swears in future books, or people will come back and ask you what happened to them. And possibly pout at you.
Wasn't planning on it!
There seems to be something of an unhealthy obsession with Oberon's balls and their state of their folicles...
Yes, well.
*snrk*

I believe I will need to start using some of these as covers when around my toddler... The looks on people's faces when she repeats them could be priceless.
OMG YES.