The Care and Feeding of Your Trickster: ysabetwordsmith

The Care and Feeding of Your Trickster

So you have met a trickster, somewhere along your path. There are things you should know ...

1) Tricksters are necessary for the continued existence and functionality of the universe(s). Therefore do not try to prevent them from behaving according to their nature. For a warning of what happens when a pantheon alienates its trickster, see Exhibit A: Ragnarok.

2) Tricksters teach by means of tricks. If you are spending time with a trickster, you will usually be the butt of the joke but it will usually be worth it.

3) Don't take your trickster too seriously. Nobody does, including the tricksters themselves. Don't take yourself too seriously either.

4) Tricksters cheer up the downtrodden and puncture the overinflated, so do not get too full of yourself or you will be made to regret it.

5) Tricksters rarely deliver a straightforward message or an unmixed blessing. There is always the light with the dark, the bitter with the sweet. Anything useful will be wrapped in an enigma and stuffed inside a puzzle.

6) It is not difficult to feed tricksters, because they are often willing to eat anything and everything. They may offer you food, but that is no guarantee that it will be edible for you or that it will not have some bizarre magical effect.

7) Tricksters have a nonstandard risk assessment and little to no impulse control. If there is any thinking ahead to be done, you will probably have to do it yourself.

8) Expect the unexpected! Do not be surprised if your trickster casually vaults between worlds, violates the laws of physics as you know them, or otherwise does 'impossible' things. Tricksters are exceptions to every rule.

While we were on our way into town today, I saw a critter by the side of the road. Ruddy color, large pointy ears, and a distinctive hopping-pouncing gait. "Look, a fox!" I said. But as we drew closer, we also noticed long legs and the coat was more speckled red-and-tan than solid red. "That looks tall for a fox. Foxes don't have long legs like that. Coyote?"

my_partner_doug asked. "Small for a coyote, though, and the ears are big and the tail is busy. Could be, maybe ..." I said.

And then it hit me. "It's Coyfox!" I said. Becasue that's a leading character from Timescaper. Now, I have seen a lot of foxes and coyotes over the years. Neither ordinarily looks like this, and they rarely come out in broad daylight let alone right beside a road. I have also seen a variety of tricksters, and they do like to be noticed, and they are always in search of a new form to try on. So, yeah, not the first time one has trotted alongside my path.

*laugh* My life may be wild and crazy at times, but at least it's never boring.

technoshaman

July 26 2013, 13:53:07 UTC 7 years ago

New comment

*grins*

*epiphany* You know, I think I always was this way, and just had trouble admitting it. Among my favourite characters growing up were Bre'r Rabbit and El-ahrairah... both fresh takes on Rabbit-as-Trickster.

Thank you. Today I have learnt something.

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

July 27 2013, 04:43:10 UTC 7 years ago

>> *epiphany* You know, I think I always was this way, and just had trouble admitting it. Among my favourite characters growing up were Bre'r Rabbit and El-ahrairah... both fresh takes on Rabbit-as-Trickster. <<

I think so too. Tricksters are inherently malleable. Bre'r Rabbit is my favorite of that character set, actually based on African mythology (compare him to Papa Legba).

>> Thank you. Today I have learnt something. <<

Yay! I'm glad I could help.

wander_realtai

July 26 2013, 14:05:32 UTC 7 years ago Edited: July 26 2013, 14:06:01 UTC

Having had a "spirit" trickster of sorts in my life for a little over a year now, I can attest to much of this. :D He seems to be a permanent addition. We've managed to find a good balance in our dynamic. Within this dynamic, I've learned much about the malleable nature of reality and the power of story.

Yay!

July 27 2013, 07:59:20 UTC 7 years ago

>> Having had a "spirit" trickster of sorts in my life for a little over a year now, I can attest to much of this. :D <<

I'm happy to hear that!

>> He seems to be a permanent addition. We've managed to find a good balance in our dynamic. Within this dynamic, I've learned much about the malleable nature of reality and the power of story. <<

Yeah, tricksters are great for that. You always get a speed-learning course with them.

fayanora

July 27 2013, 06:11:11 UTC 7 years ago

I like Eshu. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eshu

Eshu once walked through the middle of a village with a hat that was white on one side and black on the other. The two sides of the village argue over whether the hat was white or black. In one version, they realize the trick. In another version, they kill each other over what color his hat was.

laugh

July 30 2013, 05:57:40 UTC 7 years ago

I love that story.

July 27 2013, 06:17:14 UTC 7 years ago

On a more personal note, my deity Djao'Kain had a trickster phase with me. I was looking for a job, and She kept giving me weird jobs I'd never have thought of on my own, like picking up litter at a landfill. There would always be something to learn from it, beyond getting money, or something that was a necessary challenge. The landfill job wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, getting me outside in the fresh (ish) air, exercise, and time to think. And then a job as a busser at a casino's buffet (a 30 minute drive away) turned into the best job I'd ever had, when I got to switch to hostess and then switch again to cashier. Also it was the longest job I'd ever had.

paka

July 29 2013, 18:48:20 UTC 7 years ago

There's actually a huge variety in coyote appearance. They can't crossbreed with foxes, but they can crossbreed with domestic dogs. The hopping sounds like whatever they actually were, they were hunting for something, insects or small rodents, and both foxes and coyotes kinda do that the same way. Right along the edge of a road is a great place to find stuff like that. Check the ear color though; red foxes pretty much always have black furred ears regardless of color phase (and they've got several - it's apparently related to how much food is available).

Hmm...

July 29 2013, 18:55:28 UTC 7 years ago

>> There's actually a huge variety in coyote appearance. They can't crossbreed with foxes, but they can crossbreed with domestic dogs. <<

It would take a weird combination of dog traits to add up to foxlike.

>> The hopping sounds like whatever they actually were, they were hunting for something, insects or small rodents, and both foxes and coyotes kinda do that the same way. Right along the edge of a road is a great place to find stuff like that. <<

That's what I thought, although a fox pounce looks very different to me compared to how coyotes and wolves pounce. A fox is more curled, almost liquid, while a coyote tends to have more lateral spread to its body.
Fox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF2H2i4b6Io
Coyote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia-5ogjzako

It was that back-arched, feet-together pose that made me think more fox than coyote.

>> Check the ear color though; red foxes pretty much always have black furred ears regardless of color phase (and they've got several - it's apparently related to how much food is available). <<

I will watch for that if I see him again!

thnidu

July 30 2013, 02:08:06 UTC 7 years ago

I just reread Gaiman's American Gods a couple of weeks ago, and now you've strengthened my leaning to reread the offset-sequel,* Anansi Boys.

* A word I just made up. It's set in the same universe/continuity, and it comes after, but AFAIR there's no direct connection between them, except that Mr. Nancy appears rather briefly in A.G.

And in reading your & your fellow fanficcers' Avengers stuff, I've been thinking again about Diana Wynne Jones's Eight Days of Luke, which I think I've mentioned somewhere 'round here and about which I wrote a filk.