#here's a thing

[mtwiind-a]

@niightwcves

he needs his husband. so much that he's going to just lay his head in his lap. is paulie busy? does kaku care? no. he just wants to be close to him right now.

[witchlingsandwyverns]

[daemonsdaed]

another day, another disaster. cherry wouldn't consider herself a regular at this club in particular, but the scene was her natural habitat—historically, at least. it was difficult to remember the last time she was able to let her hair down and allow the music to pulse through her, but tonight wouldn't be a reunion between her and the vibe. as tempting as it all was, she had a mission to complete.

she'd been tracking down a certain boto cor-de-rosa for a week. he wasn't the greatest threat to humanity she'd ever faced, just a significant annoyance. every night, another woman seduced. every morning, another pregnancy and no man to be found. unchecked, there was no telling how long he'd be able to stay in the area before anyone caught on.

she didn't intend to slay or even harm the boto. all she had to do was put the fear in him, let any threat and its implications speak for themselves. crowded as the venues were, it helped that he dressed all in white. that significantly narrowed down her suspects. what she didn't need were obnoxious pricks riding her tail.

sometimes, under very certain circumstances, a teasing rejection could mean, "try a little harder." usually, "no" simply meant no. the stupider the clinger, the harder to shake off. cherry felt guilty pulling a stranger into her strange charade, but he had an imposing enough stature—the kind of striking features that would intimidate when her own failed. it helped that he was a little cute, in that scrappy stray kind of way. she'd picked worse.

when he joined her pantomime, relief flooded. he did just enough to play along without making it weird. she appreciated it more than she could convey. "took you long enough, babe," she cheered, perhaps slightly louder than necessary. her arms rested on his shoulders to keep him close. after pausing a moment, she lowered her voice, enunciated as clearly as she could, and hoped he could read lips. "the pentelho cut his losses yet?"

for @wscldier, continued from here

[cursedfoxteeth]

had therapy in the little park near where I stay, and I saw 2 kitty cats and 5 dogs! kept interrupting my therapist with how excited I was every time I spotted one of them

[forgottenaoife]

Malconaire Harvest Festival (Lughnasadh) Traditions

man did i go down a rabbit hole about this! pulling some of these ideas from, obviously, celtic lughnasadh traditions, the tailteann games, the mythology of lugh,

the Astairan Harvest festival is held in most areas throughout the entire kingdom however, with Malconaire's economy being mostly based various agricultural forms, their Harvest Festival is well known throughout the kingdom and often brought visitors from across the land, and even at times lands beyond the Astairan borders

the Harvest Festival traditionally takes place in the final fortnight of the summer months, beginning with the Harvest Games [note: name suggestions welcome, but I'll use this as a placeholder for now!]

in the fields outside of Malconaire village, the games were assembled as well as camping grounds for those who might not have found lodging within the village.

over the next thirteen days, a variety of competitions are held from foot races, archery, long jump, and spear throwing to singing, dancing, cooking, and weaving

anyone is welcome to partake in the competition-- there is no discrimination based on age, gender, or rank

a member of house malconaire is in attendance at every event-- something that the girls were expecting to start attending as soon as they are of age. though the lord's family do not partake in competitions, nor do they act as judges, they do present the winner with a wreath made of ivy and flowers from the malconaire gardens

(eithne and roisin were often a presenters; brigit and aoife were required by their father to preset at, at minimum, one event)

within the past few decades, an impromptu market has popped up in the village as well and artisans will bring all sort of unique good to sell throughout the duration of the games.

the culmination of the two weeks is the festival itself, which is held as a celebration before the work of bringing in the crops begins the next day. (Or, in some cases, two days later should a farmer partake in too much fun during the festivities!)

children gather to make corn dolls that are left by the hearth as offerings to the guardians.

bread is also offered to the guardians and it has become a tradition for elaborately shaped loaves to be baked and shared amongst all the guests at the festival feast

the festival feast begins in the mid afternoon and continues late into the night. most of the food is provided by the lord's household, however villagers will also bring whatever they might spare to share with their friends and neighbors

Lord Malconaire would accept the audience of any citizen that worried for their family's food stores that upcoming winter-- perhaps their crops had been producing poorly or flood had overtaken their fields-- and Lord M would provide assistance so they the family might not go hungry.

music and dance are the highlight of the festival-- there is no where in the village where music cannot be heard throughout the festival.

as Aoife's birthday falls within the fortnight leading up to the Harvest Festival, her father always made sure that her favorite songs were played by the musicians closest to the lord's table. unlike with his eldest daughter, the Lord never made mention of Aoife's name day at the festival, knowing she would not wish the attention to be on her

aoife's family name day celebration was also a very modest affair-- Cook would make sure there were fresh gingersnap cookies in the kitchen for her and, just like with the other girls, little gifts would be given after dinner.

Bran's gift for his daughter on her eighteenth birthday was a harp, painted with delicate ivy vines. it was, unfortunately, sold a year previously by Aoife's step mother, though it is rumored that whoever bought it made sure the instrument remained somewhere in the vicinity of Malconaire should the young woman be able to reclaim it some day...

[peonyblossom]

thinking about trans!TE!mc and how instead of seeing a version of their reflection in the mirror when they see Atlas, they would see an aged-up pre-transition version of themself :(

[findyoump3]

your eyes are dry and you're not crying and that is simply the truth.