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forgotteneilionora · 14 days

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"Oh, Eithne!" cried Eilia, pulling her tight. It seemed a dream, now: the last time they'd met, Eilia embracing her just this same way before Eithne began her desperate journey back to Malconaire -- hoping against hope to meet with her father before battle was joined.

Eilia knew what it was to lose a father, suddenly. She knew what it was to have a position ripped away from you. She knew, too, what it was to be conquered. But she did not know what it was to lose all three of these precious things at precisely the same moment. Eithne did.

With her friend so close again, and knowing at least a taste of what she suffered, Eilia felt tears prick her eyes but, as the embrace ended, she fought them back and, instead, let a radiant smile shine through -- the first genuine one in...Eilia did not know how long.

"Oh, Eithne, I am so glad to see you, I cannot even say!"

Her friends words, paired with the glittering of her blue eyes, were a fresh crack in Eilia's porcelain armor. "Oh," she whispered, again, looking down. The tears threatened once again but she swallowed past them, took Eithne's hand and squeezed it, clasping it in both her hands. "So am I."

Eilia had failed Eithne. She had failed Aria and Siobhan. She had failed her parents. She had failed every single soul who lived in or cared for Astaira, past and present and future. And in failing them, she had betrayed them, as well. There was but one duty, ultimately, for an Astairan queen, and it was protecting the sovereignty of her people. Instead, after millennia of freedom, Eilia had been the queen to oversee her beloved country's collapse, still worse seeing it left in the hands of an evil man. It was how history would remember her, and that pained her, but still worse: knowing what it had cost those who looked to her, who had supported her, and whom she ought to have in turn supported.

Seeing tears in Eithne's eyes, Eilia impulsively pulled her into another hug. "Oh, gods, Eithne, I've missed you, too!" She paused, pulled back to look her in the eye again, and took both her hands. "But no more of that," she added, squeezing her hand. "Whose to say when we'll see each other, again. Let's part with a horde of happy memories, hm? I mean to make the most of tonight," she smirked, brows quirking into an expression of sardonic jest. "However hideous the decor."

Reunited || Eilia + Eithne

Eithne realized she'd almost been ignoring the fact that she would have the chance to be reunited with Eilia the night of the Princess's name day celebration. She'd said to many people she was looking forward to seeing her again but the reality didn't sink in until she saw Eilia standing not as the ruler of the the country but instead off to the side with Roderick center stage.

There had been a bubble at Malconaire, she realized, that she'd been living in for the past two years. Even though their circumstances were less than ideal, Eithne realized she'd never really acknowledged everything that had happened. So when Eithne, leaning against the cold stone wall attempting to recover from a disastrous interaction with her step mother, found herself turning to see Eilia standing just a few feet away from her.

She knew there had to be guards with eyes on them. She knew she needed to think about her actions, think about who could be watching. She didn't though. She immediately hurried towards Eilia, stopping when the other woman noticed her.

"... Eilia..." Eithne's voice was barely above a whisper as she took a small step towards the former queen. And then quickly another and another before she reached the former queen, throwing her arms around her in an embrace.

"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." she whispered to her friend before pulling away to look at her. She wasn't exactly sure what she was sorry for-- there were so many things. She was sorry that Malconaire had abandoned the Queen after the Battle, thanks to her step family. She was sorry she hadn't managed to see Eilionora in two years. She was sorry she lately spent her happiest days laughing and smiling with the son of their conqueror and Eilia's captor.

Eithne could feel the tears threatening to fall and tried to will them away, forcing a smile on her face.

"I've missed you."

#our girls!!!!! i WEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!#reunited #comment #eithne malconaire

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forgotteneilionora · 21 days

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loooove <333333 yet another identifier for shiv, too!

ok so given that the ideas you suggested (which i love!!!) for mama stafford both revolve around her being a foreiegner, let's run with it!!! and maybe that's smth else, if the late queen was, indeed, princess to a foreign power that hasn't been conquered yet, there might be the additional fear that she might get lose and flee there and bring a foreign army against roderick right while he's dealing w putting down a rebellion from within!!

omg if so, you know he has those borders LOCKED DOWNNNNN and is ~still paranoid it'll happen till she's found lakjsdfklsdjfdf honestly this was probs yet another reason to 'bastardize' them but also yet another reason its a suuuuper dicey move bc that'd def upset their royal cousins or whatever!! (tho so would conquering and capturing them so yknow)

but anyway, i say we go w boTh those options, since lizzy doesn't seem to have any objections? the late queen (ill throw out some name suggestions in a sec!) was a foreign princess and her country has yet to be conquered by roderick!

ok so, re: naming...the og varmonts seem to have old english or hebrew names, the astairans seem to have irish, and the vasilievas seem to be slavic ones, so i feel that mama stafford, representing some other power, should have a medieval name that's not english, hebrew, slavic, or irish so, some suggestions all from [ this ], include:

aalis (french) the (little) noble kind

aithbhreac (scottish) speckled

amelia (french) unceasing, vigorous, brave

cateline (french) each of the two/far off/torture/my consecration of your name/pure

isabeau (french) my god is an oath

muireall (scottish) bright sea

sence/sens (spanish) holy, saintly

sunnifa (scandinavian) sun gift

tangwystl (welsh) pledge, hostage

im also def open to other suggestions!! these were just what stood out to me on ~that list that weren't any of the above cultures hahaha

anyway!! i love the idea that their mom had direct contact with the guardians of some type -- whether more like saoirse or more like aria's own and, frankly, i think it should be up to you since it'll def have a biggeer impact on aria than on eilia, though it def makes sense that eilia's such a big believer, given that both her mom and sister have direct knowledge of them that way! i'd also hc'ed that they had at least one seer-king ancestor in their distant past on the stafford side, too, but idk if we wanna go w that or not, and honestly that's nbd either hahaha

stafford parents

i can't remember anymore if we have a thread going about this?

bu just because i came across it... i'm throwing out Dónal or Domhnall as options for their father's name. It means "ruler of the world' which we know the Astarians wouldn't have taken much stock in but imagine how annoyed Roderick would be if he found that out?

#ooc #aria stafford #siobhan stafford #domnhall stafford #about #roderick varmont

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forgotteneilionora · 21 days

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Random Eilia Facts

so i just sort of realized ive been hc'ing all this stuff abt her but never really put it down anywhere so i thought id change that! as a result these are all v random factoids so bear with me but hopefully they'll be fun anyway <3

1. eilia is a first-rate nerd

always a curious girl with a passion for learning, eilia is a collector of factoids, an experimenter, and an advocate for the education of all. in her day she built public libraries and universities, and gave abundantly to foundations of learning, and esp to those that would benefit the under-privileged, particularly orphans, the poor, bastards (a sympathy roderick now calls 'damning,' implying she knew she was a bastard all along!), and women and in fact wrote and published a treatise on how this improves life for everyone not merely those receiving the education, etc!

def the sort who loves museums, pretensious poetry, and scholastic debates! she def had a reading group and all kinds of lively debates about philosophy, politics, ideals, art, science, and everything else intellectual on the daily w her friends and ladies during her reign!

eilia can absolutely be a bit pretentious abt these things and that certainly hasn't changed and, in fact, she doesn't quite view this as personal arrogance as she likely should, instead simply taking it all as part of her interests rather than a way to lowkey feel superior from ~within her interests~ by refusing to acknowledge that she can sometimes take this to a silly extreme, and viewing it solely as sophistication

eilia looks down on willful ignorance/close mindedness and condemns it as the worst sort of falsehood. as you can imagine, she's just adoring roderick's whole thing ;D lkajsdfkljsdf /sarcasm

2. eilia loves botany and astronomy!

building off her native curiosity, and likely informed by the astairan focus on plants/the earth and the stafford focus on the heavens/stars, eilia took to studying them from an early age. one of her favorite things to do is study the earth and the sky, seeing them almost as mirrors of one another!

even as a lil kid, eilia kept a garden all of her own and a journal of intense notes and sketches, rigorously studying plant lifecycles and experimenting with such things. this was an interest that also came in v handy as queen of a largely agrarian society, helping her to better understand what her ppl required seasonally etc, a factor which had helped encourage her interest in it in the first place. similarly, she always had a telescope and another journal, also filled with copious notes and sketches of the movement of the cosmos!

while roderick has limited her outdoor time and thus she can rarely indulge much in her garden and botanical pursuits, and roderick has removed her telescope (concerned she would use it to spy as much as to watch the skies -- and, in this case, rightful so), she is able to maintain her watch on the stars, though only as much as the naked eye can observe

3. eilia is blunt but not impulsive

she tells truth to power, but this is not to be confused w the way cillian does it: eilia is far better at picking her moments, and her battles -- she also doesn't, however, always express herself as delicately as she'd like to, which has always been an issue in her reign, but has been a huuuuge struggle in dealing w the varmonts, but she's working on it!! still, she rarely articulates things quite as she wishes to, having a forthright quality she still can't seem to entirely do away with. if anything, tho, dealing w the varmonts has taught her to be even less impulsive than she wou'dve been

eilia also has a tendency towards sarcasm which sometimes slips out at inopportune moments but, with a love of humor, she can't seem entirely to do without. in fact, in many ways she leans on it more than ever, now, having become something of a defense mechaism since the occupation

4. eilia is proud af

and even a lil arrogant but this has def been tempered a lot by that whole...getting conquered thing! at the same time, however, it deffff still bubbles up, and she has by no means entirely defeated it! eilia has always had a battle between her fears and her desires, smth that causes her to at once place too much faith in her abilities all while deep down fearing that she has never been and never will be good enough. i'll talk a lil more about that internal conflict lower, but that's a huge part of her character and always has been.

nonetheless, the arrogance side of this was absolutely smth that played a big role in her early reign and, in some ways, helped her bc that blind confidence was a bit infectious -- 'well she must have this all figured out to behave this way!' -- and helped her ram through a number of policies that greatly benefited astaira in her only about six years of rule!

it did, however, also have bad consequences, alienating some critical supporters whose indifference and even irritation later proved catastrophic when astaira was most in need of allies to help abate the conquest. it has also cracked in light of the conquest, causing her to waffle between this and her inferiority complex since the invasion, but again more on that later!

5. eilia is a believer!

those guardians out there making the world go round <3 for her it is much more than a cultural practice and she is a true believer! eilia literally believes that the world is in jeopardy, but she means to do smth abt that -- literally everything she can!! this includes herself, her loved ones, everything -- eilia is a deeply practical person (ill talk more abt this later) and so she believes to hold anything back, including the things youd otherwise have sacrificed everything for (your loved ones etc -- eilia is 100% the type who would much, much ~rather sacrifice herself than her loved ones! so this idea is the toughest of all for her) is mere selfishness in the face of the needs of the whole world, seflishness magnified when ur queen.

nonetheless, she does struggle w whether or not she's a good ruler to ultimately sacrifice her loved ones for the world, when it comes down to it, but she truly believes that that would be the just move!

paired with her (secretly) idealistic heart (more on that in a sec), eilia has a lot of faith, but she also knows she needs to do her part -- and what frightens her is that she might not be able to, anymore. but eilia's never been one to give up (see stubborn section)!

6. she's a romantic at heart but also a logician and lowkey feels these goals are in opposition to one another

building a bit on the above, she's got this war going on inside her, head vs heart, style! eilia is an idealist in a way, but she's also a realist. she will also hide her romanticism at all costs, and try to deny it bc she prizes reason and practicality, and believes its her duty as queen to put that first!

nonetheless, that same idealism she tries to deny also feeds and fuels her vision of a better future which is, in fact, her best trait as a ruler. fortunately, this is something that eilia, as a practical person realizes about herself and her rule. unfortunately, the fact of that knowledge and its source only further fuels the tension inside of her!

7. arrogance vs insecurities as queen (& person)

at once too proud AND too humble!! how does she do it? ;D while, when she first became queen, eilia was profoundly confident, post-conquest she fears she's too little, and that she was once too arrogant, for the challenges before her! yet she still struggles to find an equilibrium between these two, waffling flagrantly between confidence in her own abilities and an utter lack they even exist, a condition that only worsens w pr much every single action roderick takes

8. eilia is a v observant person

ppl watching isn't just a hobby -- its an art! and its served her well in being the king's shadow as a princess and heiress presumptive, learning statescraft at his knee. now, as a captive, it is continuing to serve her well as she keeps her counsel and watches. eilia has learned a v great deal about the varmonts and their culture this way, smth which informs her moves

9. stubborn (once her mind is made up)/forceful of nature

another sometimes alienating factor, eilia is often slower to make choices, but once she does, she is utterly implacable! this is bc she generally applies her reason to problems, so once she's made up her mind, its based on reasonable and principled factors that can only be disrupted by still more reasonable and principled factors. paired with her arrogance, this can sometimes come at cost bc sometimes she places perhaps greater faith in her choices than she ultimately ought to do, but her intentions are good!

until she makes a choice, however, she is quite open minded which she also views as a key factor of being a good leader, and comes out of her love of scholasticism

this willful bent also pushes her to, in turn, push others particularly galvanizing her to debate and to challenge others. she also respects those who do the same to her, though not always in the moment. she does, however, in general enjoy defending herself and her ideas in open discussions with others, and dissecting all notions in the realm of friendly debate, smth she greatly misses, given roderick's close-minded ways.

paired with her stubbornness, however, this will often prompt her to push others to defend their beliefs when she believes them wrong, even in a context where this is unwise. it is smth she is fighting hard to cut back on, now, surrounding by varmonts, but smth she has yet to entirely manage

however, her determination means that eilia will never give up so long as she still breathes and that is, perhaps, her greatest strength of all

10. deeply moral

going hand-in-hand with her belief system, eilia always wants to do do what she believes is good -- pursue the right course for the right reasons, and she will do all in her power, moving heaven and earth, to see justice done. she can sometimes fall too readily into the-ends-justify-the-means trap due to her logical nature, and the belief stemming from it that the means of the many outweigh the needs of the few, which in some circumstances isn't the best, but this is a factor relating to her position as a ruler, believing rightly that it is her task to serve by seeing the big picture

11. big picture thinker

while she tries, eilia isn't extremly detail oriented which can be a difficulty as queen, but smth she ~is, is extremely dogged once she's decided on smth as well as being far-sighted in her vision, an even more important factor in rule. bc of this, she does often delegate to those she trusts, creating a network of highly skilled ppl focusing in on individual facets of problems in order to create a larger, more just system for everyone. she does realize that bad things can, in the longterm, fall out of beaurocratic measures however, which is why eilia also installed a system of checks and balances to oversee these systems, all from different points of views, and ensured that each of these delegates serves not at the pleasure of the queen, but at the pleasure of the ppl just as she does, w elections

further, eilia is quite aware of her shortcomings, which further feeds into her insecurities, but allows her to combat them as well, her generally open mind, and helps her to see the full scope of her actions

12. patient & disciplined

perhaps her crowning achievement in the days since the conquest, eilia manages to hold herself in check largely through this trait, alone. it also served her well as queen, giving her reasonable expectations and allowing her far-seeing plan to unfurl rather than forcing it down everyone's throats and thus collapsing it before it had a chance to bloom

#ooc #about

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forgotteneilionora · 29 days

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Medieval Castle, England

#omg no in my mind toooo #but also its like a citadel to one side like there's a city half in/around its outer walls in my head idk laksdjflkjdsfdsf #image #about #and its v cosmopolitan but also so green #like...hanging gardens of babylon kinda city but medieval europe aesthetic sorta thing ig idek alksdjfkljsdfkjsdf

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forgotteneilionora · 29 days

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Medieval Hochosterwitz Castle in AUSTRIA

#about #kate!! i was picturing smth carcassone-esque and this is sooo similar to that!!!!!! lksdjfkljsdjfd #also i love the way this is tiered and there're sooooo many trees and sm green!!!1 and then the last bit is so high up it feels like its #caught up amongst the stars #image

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forgotteneilionora · 1 month

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ok so this is the only stafford parents chain i ~know of, so i included the above, but also domhnall!!!! its canon and roderick HATES it!!!! roderick: 'can we rename this guy already???' everyone: 'he's...he's dead??? it might be a bit late for that????'

omg!!! their mom having also been able to see the guardians!!! help im softttttt also!! im 100% down w her having been either astairan ~or a foreign princess!!!! idk if @thelongforgottenrealm has any notions re: that? but either way figuring that out might be the first step in figuring out more abt her, i feel like?

also fun fact i learned today that the word for blue and the word for illustrious in irish is apparently the same, and our ruling family's main color is blue!!! me: its all coming together!

stafford parents

i can't remember anymore if we have a thread going about this?

#ooc #about #aria stafford #siobhan stafford #domhnall stafford

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forgotteneilionora · 1 month

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Cry Mercy | Eilionora & Ciara

Eilia had pleaded. She had begged. She had reasoned. Yet no amount of groveling moved the heart of the Emperor.

"You!" he had boomed. "You and your father's damned House are the cause of this and you dare ask that I think of the people now that they have dared this? I ought to raze them all to the ground! I ought to sow their precious earth with salt! Yet I hear no thanksgiving for my mercies -- only demands that I do more! This, this is why women ought never to rule. You ought to thank me for relieving you of that burden, as well, Lady Eilionora." And with that, he had stalked from the room.

All she had requested was medical aid sent to the bystanders. She had known he would have no pity upon those who had risen up against him. She knew he would not allow her to go out amongst any of them. But he could not see that this might even help him -- a goodwill gesture towards those who had had fallen in with their brethren against him. Still, she would not give up. And still she had more to ask -- though she knew that this next request could not come from herself, for she wished Roderick to spare those he had captured and Eilia knew well and good by now, that if she were to make this request, he'd grow suspicious, making him all the more likely to put them to death.

There was, however, a Varmont she knew who at times showed sympathy to her -- and who was, herself, of Astairan birth and, having lately made a request of Sebastian (which had helped stay the coming of the gods), she felt she ought not to ask too much in such quick succession of one person.

Eilia found Ciara quickly and, though she'd been on the quest of finding her, she stumbled upon her almost by accident. Intending to go to her quarters, she had instead met her as Eilia passed through the Great Hall, Ciara apparently having just returned from something.

"Good evening, my lady," began Eilia sweeping a quick curtsy, gaze drifting towards the door from which Ciara had emerged: not the great grand doors, but side portals used largely by the servants in order to come and go discreetly.

Eilia pressed her lips and quickly turned away, pretending not to have noticed from which door the other woman had emerged.

She knew that subtley was a likely ally, yet she could not keep its council, her heart pattering against her ribcage: a wardrum tattoo rattling in her temples.

"My lady, in truth, I was about to seek you out. While I cannot condone the violence so lately attempted against His Imperial Majesty the Emperor," -- she did mean that, but only from the perspective that her and her sisters' dispositions were not worth life and limb to her people, and that no violence ought to be attempted where there was no possibility in success -- "I nevertheless wished to speak to you upon the topic of what is to become of those taken prisoner following the...incident. As His Majesty's cousin, I thought it might perhaps be possible that you may have...heard something?"

#comment #cry mercy #ciara varmont #im obsessed w the drama we can explore w these two!!!! and yeah i was agreeing w everything #so i just thought id start 'em off #esp since i feel like this new plot drop is v juicy esp for these two in a way #not that eilia knows that but anyway alksjdflkjdsf

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forgotteneilionora · 1 month

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from the replies:

phabblebabbles GAH!!! I love this so much! AND AINE THE SEERER HAVING CROWNED HER! 😭 I almost feel like historically while it COULD be any seerer, it was most often the seerer from Kil Kenner (which probs doesn’t have a seerer atm which is It’s own set of issues!) giadesstrin @phabblebabbles omgggggg I loooove the idea that it’s the Seer of Kil-Kennar that historically (often) crowns kings!!! That dovetails so nicely w the idea that Kil-Kennar is an esp holy place too!!!! phabblebabbles @giadesstrin why is my iPad turning seer into seerer? That’s not even a word 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ But yes! Making Arthur’s actions even more egregious! thelongforgottenrealm I love all of this!!! I imagine, too, that she might have been actually crowned at night (under the stars!!!). This might just be a Stafford tradition??? I'm also digging the idea that succession here isn't done traditionally!! I do feel like maybe the firstborn of the king/queen is always treated as the future heir (and often is) but they still have to go through these trials and sometimes have other nobles who submit their names, too, so it isn't always a given thelongforgottenrealm (Also, I love all of the Astairan ties to nature and how all of their heraldry reflects this too!!!! <3) forgotteneilionora @thelongforgottenrealm omg being crowned at night!!! and that being a stafford tradition!!!! im so sofffttttt i love thatttttt and yassss ngl i was def picturing it that way too where like...she was trained as heir etc but it wasn't certain till it was like ratified by the council or whatever sort of thing? idk lkajsdfkljsdf

forgotteneilionora @phabblebabbles alkjdsfjd ur ipad like 'im a renaissance device!' by which it means it spells things however it wants at any given moment ;DD jk jk but ooooh ommmggg kate i loooove the idea that there being no current seer of kil-kennar is like a faith issue!!!! idk how yet exactly or anything but i def feel like that's smth we could weave into a plot somewhere asp!!!!

not arthur out here beheading the astairan pope or whatever alkjsflkjsdfjk

also omg it is deffffff 100% canon that eilia was crowned beneath the stars and also omg!! that being a stafford tradition im so emooooooo also!! what do we think abt like...ill just bullet points bc lsdkjfksdf more hc's!

while other houses have certainly reigned, house stafford has boasted the largest number of rulers of astaira of any house and is therefore often cited as a 'kingly house' even when it does not boast a present ruler

perhaps there was a malconaire ruler or even a few asp? <3 there've also def been peasant rulers and rulers from nearly every great house of astaira as well!!,

cillian is a popular name in astaira bc the first stafford ruler was cillian stafford, who is to this day considered one of the greatest rulers astaira has ever known

cillian was succeeded immediately by his second brother and he by the third brother, establishing it as a ruling house early in astairan history tho they'd been peasants who'd helped astaira by being chivalrous hedge-knights (or that's a grrm term the real world term is knight errant but hedge knight is so cool and i love that it comes from hedge witch which feeds lots of astairan concepts ~too sooo i went w it alkjsdfklsjdf) of great renown before ruling

the second brother took a malconaire queen and is sometimes said to have thrust his elder brother's sword into a tree

the third brother married a lorcan and is said by some to have plunged it into a lake

other sources claim that the mystical sword remained in the hands of the king of astaira successively, proclaiming him or her a true ruler of astaira, for a century or more before it was lost

many claim the sword was hidden away for a future king to find by a seer-king *cough*fisher-king*cough* of astaira (a rare thing even in astaira) who foresaw the coming of a great war and an evil king who meant to claim it for himself and thus bring destruction upon astaira (or smth)

alternately seers are already by their very nature serving the guardians and thus it would be considered too burdensome for them to have to rule as well? and/or maybe the seer-king is why that was made a thing if we go this direction? there probs is a court seer position tho at the v least id guess?

as king, each of the three stafford brothers in turn took a star as his badge

in their honor, house astaira took three stars as their charge forever after

also some more hc's building on ~those hc's but these are more abt general practices etc and less abt eilia's coronation or anything of that kind! once again i haven't run these by anyone its just general musing so def feel free to say 'that doesn't work w what i was thinking!' or whatever!! i know i get carried away w world building stuff alksjdfkljsdf

on feast days, statues of the guardians are clothed in the gifts (aka those white coronation robes handmade by the ppl of astaira) given by the current ruler at their coronation and paraded through the city where they are offered gifts wherever they go! they're even crowned w the preserved white flower wreaths and such!

the palace doors are thrown open and the statues of the guardians invited in to be feted by the ruler

this is a day for dancing and singing and petals rianing down upon everyone w branches and flowers strewn in the path of the palaquin bearing the statue

the seer who is head of all this is also required to speak every word they hear from the guardians and is said to be their vessel upon that day, so ppl can speak freely to the guardians -- as a result, so ppl can rely on the fact that they're speaking directly to the guardians, the seer is not allowed on that day to say anything they, themselves, wish to say and to do so would be considered sacrilege -- perhaps this is a duty of specifically the seer of kil-kennar?

kil-kennar is so holy bc it is said to be the place from whence the first astairan guardian first appeared and/dor its the place where the final battle was fought/the gods were sealed away at last w the help of the guardians etc

if so, maybe there's a end of the world prophecy a la ragnarok/revelations abt how the gods will again break free -- and one of the signs or keys to their lock is the spilling of weirding blood upon the holy site of kil-kennar? (oops)

many astairans hold that there was ~always a guardian there even before the gods were sealed away, and it was always a place of safety for mortals who sought refuge there but that the guardians there did not reveal themselves until the gods had in fact been sealed away

some astairans hold that it is the place of origin of all guardians now scattered throughout the world

ive actually got more but this is already long and idk how you guys'll feel abt any of this so imma go ahead and post alkjsdfkljdsf

Happy Easter, if you celebrate, and happy sunday if not <33333

OOC | Eilia's Coronation

ok so first of all i haven't run any of this by @thelongforgottenrealm -- this is 100% hc'ing and therefore may or may not be in any way accurate, but id mentioned i was thinking abt this vs @forgottenroderick's coronation which i think was quite different (tho tbf he's had multiple crownings so they're probs pr old hat for him atp alkdjsflksdfj) eilia has only had the one

anyway! ok so i have this hc that maybe astaira, given its value system, maybe used some of the ancient anglo-saxon forms of government, so this is highly inspired by the witan's and its election of rulers, etc!

SELECTION OF THE FUTURE RULER

so my thought was that maybe you aren't just ~born to rule in astaira and that you are, in fact, chosen and must accept this choice given that its v much a role of service in their culture etc!! so, like the anglo-saxon aethelings, im thinking that there was a pool of candidates, so before her election, eilia was only the heiress presumptive rather than the heiress apparent bc it has to be voted and ratified by the witan/great council of astaira, a council made up of all the other leaders and magnates of astaira, each in turn repping the interests of their own ppl to the best of their ability etc

anyway! aethelings in early anglo-saxon culture are anyone born to a noble family (eventually it became just sons of the king, and that's usually how its translated now, but initially it was more!), but im thinking maybe for astaira its a slightly different qualification -- you have to have completed a trial of sortsans well as having having displayed your abilities by performing charitable acts and such on a big scale etc as well as having submitted your name to a list for consideration etc, that sort of thing! -- that way anyone no matter the rank of their family, can apply, but it also means you're not automatically in the pool even if you don't wanna be since its a srs responsibility etc! now, no question it'd def be easier to do this if you're already backed wealth and power etc but yeah!! here we are!!

so anyway! eilia's been trained for this her whole life, she wants it, she's good at it, she gets chosen. a representative is sent to her to invite her to take the crown for astaira's sake, and she of course accepts. this would def also have a public ceremony of her formally accepting the crown etc.

CROWNING

ok so i def picture her coronation as having taken place during the spring. everything is beautiful and green! t he and i do feel like there's a humility sort of aspect like they used to do so!! i also feel like they brought live, flowering frees into the palace and into whatever shrine in which she was crowned in the sight of the guardians/symbolically BY the guardians, etc and that everyone who came to witness was wearing like...flower and ivy crowns and such and there were garlands of flowers strung everywhere and babbling brook ran along the path from the castle to the shrine and birds were singing and it was all v lovely and v natural and v astairan etc

eilia's purification in which she is taken by the hand by a seeress who brings her to the brook in question which, having its mouth at the shrine, is considered a holy spring, and wearing just her shift w her hair unbound etc she is sort of dunked/bathed and lets all the old run away from her so she can paproach her new role as queen w a pure heart. the seeress then drapes her own cloak around eilia and, however poor it may be, it is a gift from astaira, and a mantel of state

next, still led by the seeress, eilia goes on foot without any shoes, cloaked in her new mantel of state and processes from the brook by her castle to the shrine. singers and musicians accompany her and those all around her may offer her any goods they like, all of which become artifacts of state and her reign and is is thus clothed rarhter than in any guady ornaments of gold and such -- woool and cotton and such things are what she wears, handmade by her ppl for her to wear as their leader

lots of these items are traditionally bracelets of flowers and vines, gloves to keep her warm on her walk, shoes, etc -- all of these meant to be the sort of thing ur common astairan would wear so that, no matter how guady her lifestyle might become, she will know what iis to spend a day clothed as an ordinary astairan is, and noen of it is intended to be rich or fine etc tho special care is often given to crafting such objects as a thank you to the new ruler etc. ba sically, the theme of the day is simplicity, and everything she is given must be white

throughout the day, she is obliged to ask for anything she might want. if she wishes to eat, if she wishes to sleep at the end of the day, whatever! she will spend the rest of her life giving orders, so today is for receiving them

when she reaches the shrine, which is totally open so everyone can see, etc, a humble bench is carried and she is obliged to sit there and hear the wishes of anyone who wishes to speak for her new reign. this can be literally anything! a tiny child can stand up and say they love kittnes! an old man can tell her that his crops are dead but his sheep are still fairing well! a student can wax poetical about philosophy!!! needless to say, this takes hours and hours and in some cases this part has gone on for days w the new ruler sleeping on the wooden bench only to wake the next morning to hear more, still obliged to beg for food from the ppl around etc until ppl stop coming up w things to say! it p robs does tend to be longer the worse the previous reign was bc there are more needs etc and, since i hc that eilia's dad was a pr good ruler, i imagine eilia's was relatively short

anyway, once that's finished, the seeress sends someone, called the herald of the seer, to the new ruler to take them by the hand and ask once again if they are still willing to take all this on!!!! if they decline after all that, there's no shame and they can return to their life etc.

if they still accept the charge -- which obv eilia did! -- the herald of the seer takes eilia by the hand and leads her into the shrine. there, she first asks the ppl to pray for her, then prays herself, and finally presents the gifts which the ppl of astaira have given her to the guardians as a symbolic gesture of the mutual relationship between ppl/ruler/guardians etc

now dressed only in her shift, again, eilia is clothed in the heavy robe of state which is, by design, quite physically hefty to represent the burden of rule

the bench is then carried into the shrine and, in the sight of all w the doors still flung open etc, eilia is crowed by the seer. the crown is also quite heavy for the same reason

now crowned queen, eilia processes back to the palace and is feted all the way w dancers and singers and poets

all are welcome to the palace, where live blooming trees reach towards the star-painted ceiling and a living stream has been brought inside, w the doors and windows all open and anyone who wishes to enter free to do so

anyway yeah obv none of this is canon! these were just some idea i had!!!

also def hc that the seeress who crowned eilia was ~also aine whom arthur later beheaded at kil-kennar so! that's fun!!

#ooc #about #aria stafford #siobhan stafford

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forgotteneilionora · 1 month

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OOC | Coronations

ASTAIRAN SELECTION OF THE FUTURE RULER

CROWNING

now dressed only in her shift, again, eilia is clothed in the heavy robe of state which is, by design, quite physically hefty to represent the burden of rule

the bench is then carried into the shrine and, in the sight of all w the doors still flung open etc, eilia is crowed by the seer. the crown is also quite heavy for the same reason

now crowned queen, eilia processes back to the palace and is feted all the way w dancers and singers and poets

anyway yeah obv none of this is canon! these were just some idea i had!!!

also def hc that the seeress who crowned eilia was ~also aine whom arthur later beheaded at kil-kennar so! that's fun!!

#ooc #about #i def feel like leaves and petals are def strewn before her too bc she's literally walking barefoot this whole time etc hahaha #sorry it took me five thousands years from th time you asked to get this done alkjsdfkljsfj

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forgotteneilionora · 1 month

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ok so here's our replies:

margueritedemarigny @forgottenarias oooooh also what if the heir to the throne is called the evenstar/morningstar of astaira the way the heir of england is called the prince of wales tho lkasjdfkjsdf am i just getting carried away? lkasjdkfljsdf @forgottenarias oh also i meant to mention that on earth the morning star and the evening star are, in fact, the same star (planet, actually -- its venus) which ALSO works w the continuous nature of rule 'the king is dead long live the king' its the same star glowing in the heavens -- the present past and future ruler/once and future king etc etc etc anyway does that really matter??? no! is it fun tho??? to me! lkajsdfkljdslfds ;DDD forgottenarias @forgotteneilionora I AGREE!!!!!! its fun to me tooooo! forgotteneilionora @forgottenarias EEP! #teamkate having fun w astronomical mythology <33333333 @forgottenarias ok so i love allllll of these but I think the one that’s speaking most to me is “Things seen are established by things unseen” bc it has so many meanings — stars seen or not by time of day, the invisible guardians holding back the evil gods, the laws the staffords appoint being bolstered by virtue and humility etc!!!! forgottenarias @giadesstrin eeeeee kate i was thinking the same thing! it COULD have a slightly ominous connotation (which i feel like is how roderick would interpret it!) but exactly with like stars/guardians/etc it feels like it fits them!! giadesstrin @forgottenarias omg you knowwwww roderick be seeing it as ominous!!! These demon worshippers talking abt their things unseen!!!! Unholy! Unseemly! He really had no choice but to invade — he was actually saving them from the elves in their sun and ignorance etc 😭💀🔥 @forgottenarias but omg riggght!!!! It really doessss and actually roderick misunderstanding actually ~adds a layer imo…the unseen cultural divide…the unseen misunderstandings etc etc sfjkgddgjjf *themselves in their sin not the elves in their sun…unless those’re the guardians in which case…true on both counts!!! 😂🤦‍♀️ forgottenarias @giadesstrin honestly anything to feed into roderick's paranoia is A+ in my book giadesstrin @forgottenarias you knowww I feel the sameeee 😂💀😂 @forgottenarias MORNINGSTAR AND DAYBREAK STOPPPPP IM GONNA SCREAMMMMMMMM Arthur: our swords are twins ⚔️🤔👀 what if we eye contact w one of us holding a blade to the others throat and 💋🗡️ what if my eyes strayed to your lips…I mean—what forgottenarias @giadesstrin 💀💀💀😂 I love Arthur’s Tina Belcher Friend Fiction moment 😂😂😂😂 @giadesstrin but also those two and their weird connections that started before they'd even met gives me life lolol they're a mess

sdlkjflkjdf they have PLENTY of tina belcher friend fiction moments in arthur's head lbr ;alsjflksjdfjk ;DDD then he tries to convince himself they DIDNT hahahaha arthur @ arthur: 'surely that was a normal thing to think abt ur enemy/dad's future wife's sister, right?' SCREAM but omg your knowww im unhinged abt them always <33333 i can't believe we gave them matching swords by accident lakjsfkldsf our minds... <333333

this is a TOTAL aside, but actually its kinda fun imo bc for whatever reason arthur and roderick have sunrise/blazing sun/sunset motifs in my head that kinda flare and trade off etc (ngl before we went w the bird thing i was lowkey like 'maybe the varmont charge is the sun' but i couldn't come up w enough ~phases for it hahaha and actually the phoenix works even better honestly AND has sun imgery itself but also the consuming but also holy/cleansing fire 'devour yourself/your children' connotations which are obv quite perf for roderick etc lkajsdfkjsdfj), amira has a moon motif, godfrey has an eclipse motif, and eilia has a star motif, so ig all that astronomical imagery was all gonna come together asp in some way and this was frankly the best possible oneeeee

BUT ANNNYWAYYY alkjdsfkljdsfjsdf ooooh i like celestial! ok, from those lets say either celestial or constellation! ill leave that to you or we can do a coin toss if you're not sure either bc they're both good imo heehee

ok so re: the sword's location, we also agreed [ here ] (always like to leave lil breadcrumbs for myself that i can search bc i forget things way too often and this way i can look it up when i can't quite recall hahaha alsdkfjaskdjf) that the lorcan and malconaire crests form a treasure map to their missing sword! you walk through that certain tree on malconaire land and it takes you to the bank of the lorcan lake precisely where the sword is located etc

i also love the idea that its so old and confusing a myth (plus probs both variants -- its in a tree vs its in a lake -- exist bc you can only access it via ~both etc) and no one really believes it outside of like bed time tories for children etc! but yeah im realizing that w his paranoia, roderick is also a lil supersticious (for a man who supposedly doesn't believe in any of this!! laksdjfkljdf) plus he knows the populace of astaira aint loving his rule and having that sword would prove it in a way their ignorant, supersticious minds would understand (projecting much, roderick!?) and accept!

tbh idk if he's putting more emphasis on having this sword and its meaning than the ppl would but he does have a 'gotta collect 'em all' mentality when it comes to symbols of power: conquest! marrying a calainon! there's only one god: and surprise! its roderick! </3 but anyway he def has it in his head that this would go a long way to cementing his position as ruler of astaira (and he's not above conjuring and 'finding' a fake! probs w the help of a witch bc why not commit a lil hyporcracy too lkjsdafkjskdjf SCREAM bc im realizing he might legit create an evil sister sword but here we are alskdfjsdjfklsdjf as long as he can convince himself that its the true one in one way or another), whether or not he's actually right that it would hahahah also imma just @forgottenroderick bc this ended up being much more significant to him than i was realizing!

also you know there's ~never too much going on for house malconaire @forgottenbrigit and im now like...esp after @forgottencassimir spills the beans on him not having the real eventstar, if roderick hears the legends that the lorcans and the malconaires are the key to finding the sword, and he finds out there's a legit malconaire-lorcan witch running around, i can see him wanting to seize her and use her to find/conjure the sword and SCREAM

and he might end up using some of the prev plots we've talked abt as an 'excuse' starting to burn her and then commuting her sentence to scare her into helping/holding her sisters' well being over her head etc etc etc and sdkljfalsdkjfakjsdfj roderick, promising to save her life and her sisters' if she'll just commit some dark magic for him: 'am i not merciful?' (also godfrey like 'lol the way this numbskull is playing into my hands antagonizing the malconaires like this before all astaira' <3) oh, although since @forgottenvalentina is gonna accuse all the malconaires of witchcraft (w the possible exception of aoife), he might not know who the real witch is and yeah!! sm madness can come out of this im realizing lkajsdfkjsdfj

ANYYYWAYYYY i agreeeee! idk that he was that up on astairan legends -- he might've known there was some sort of legendary sword bc that ~does feel right up his ally (my man does love him some military stuffs) -- before he arrived but i do think he sort of feeds off that stuff like...he's gotta cleanse it, own it, control it, and then purge it so all its power is his!! and he doesn't really fully see it like ~that but just that he's the one god's purging fire! he's got himself just a bit blinded ngl but deep down that's what he's doing lakjsdfkjdsf but NAYWAY!!

im thinking he maybe thought that evenstar ~was the mythical kingsword and then when he learns he's actually got morningstar he's like 'wait there're actually TWO swords' and then someone's like 'actually there're three' and then he's off to the races lakjsdfkjsdfj -- and ngl he does DEF want all three. he'll keep the kingsword <3 and then edmund and arthur can each have one of the other two (he doesn't really care which has which tbqh they can fight over it for all he cares lakjsdflkjdf)

also love love love that you looked up the irl stafford mottoes!!!! and ngl they're pr great for them too <33333 tho yeah i do think the 'things unseen' one is best of all of them <3333

stafford family swords

... and since we NEVER go down a rabbit hole in comments... everything we went on about re: the stafford family swords

forgotteneithne @giadesstrin OH WAIT NOW WHERES THE STAFFORD FAMILY SWORD?!?!

giadesstrin @forgotteneithne you know stupid roderick seized that treasure 😭😭😭😭 and/or if they gif it he’s desperate to grab it

giadesstrin *hid

giadesstrin Ooooh or maybe Siobhan has it???? And it might be proof she is who she ~says she is? 👀

giadesstrin Like…they snuck it out w her?

giadesstrin @forgottenarias ooooh also what if Evenstar/Morningstar is a meteorite blade like king tut’s dagger, so it’s literally forged from a falling star!!!

forgottenarias @giadesstrin ooo I love that!! … could it be there’s both an evenstar & Morningstar and Roderick’s snatched one maybe not knowing it has a twin blade of some sort that Siobhan is running around with???? @lizzydobbs

giadesstrin @forgottenarias KATE!!! Your mind!!!! I looooove thattttt!!!! The sword of the dawning and the sword of the evening

giadesstrin The sword of the ruler and the sword of the heir maybe? It like matching king and queen swords?

giadesstrin @forgottenarias ok is this ~too much? Maybe there are (or were) three swords originally, since it’s the three stars, and we’d talking abt three brothers founding the house originally iirc? Anyway maybe one was lost asp but it has legends a la Excalibur that only a true ruler of astaira (which to astairans means anyone willing to put astaira first but roderick ofc assumes it means rightful king aka himself basicall)can draw it from the stone/tree and it lies still somewhere hidden or whatever tbc

forgottenarias @giadesstrin ahhh I love this!!! You know Roderick wants to find that legendary sword!!! Maybe whatever Siobhan has is the smallest blade— something that would’ve been easy for her to smuggle out (honestly Aria was such a wreck she would’ve never thought “oh let’s take protection/something to prove who we are!” lbr— she was never leaving that castle. Also we’ve established she has no idea how to use a sword haha) But Siobhan having that blade to prove who she is!! ❤️❤️

margueritedemarigny @forgottenarias not me saying 'tbc' and then never actually continuing klajsdfkjlsdf ok so i ~do think eilia would be like 'here take this' and hand them ~the most significant~ ancestral sword bc she had perfect faith they were getting out and she wasn't letting her father's sword fall into roderick's hands, so my thought is that siobhan maybe has the ~king's sword -- eilia knew ~she couldn't get away but she could at least save her sisters and that sword tbc

margueritedemarigny @forgottenarias tbh i feel like they're largely ~ceremonial swords re: their usage anymore bc i do think astaira was a largely peaceful place till roderick hahah (thanks bud) but yeah!! my thought was that the third one (which was maybe the og kingly sword?) is the one that according to legend is stuck in a tree/stone, and may or may not actually exist???? and meanwhile the staffords have held onto the other two swords laskdjflksdjf oh oops gotta run but i swear ill tbc

forgotteneithne @margueritedemarigny ahahah I get it! I legit earlier wrote 3/4 of an email and then I had emergency go buy a bunch of random show make up 😅 and came back 3 hours late like oh right… probably should’ve sent that 😂😂 But literally love ALL OF THIIIIIIS

giadesstrin @forgotteneithne oh man big moooood honestly 😂😂😂 Ok so I’m three cosmos in atp so I’m either incomprehensible or ascendant but my notion was basically that given the multi sword situation I feel like it’s be pr easy to present the leftover sword as if it were the kingly one so roderick probs ~thinks he has the most important one, but every astairan can take one lion at it and know it’s not the right stafford sword probs — there was smth more to this no lie but idr at present ngl dhkhfdgjjfg tbc

giadesstrin I somehow got thinking abt the likely very different coronations that roderick has had Vs Eilia’s and my mind melted 😂😂😂

forgotteneithne @giadesstrin Yaaaas girl get it (we chugged margaritas on our hour dinner so i get it hahaha) BUT YES I love this!! Secretly tricking Roderick-- which i assume he'll go mental about if/when he finds out-- but just a little thing all the Astarians know and kinda binds them together at his expense! also how overdone was roderick's coronation versus eilias? XD I love how judgey astarians are about how overwrought his ~aesthetic~ is

giadesstrin @forgottenarias right!! I do quite like the idea of Astairans collectively pulling the wool over his eyes! I do think the cat’ll probs be out of the bag when someone perhaps @forgottencassimir claps eyes on it and then roderick will be FURIOUS but I imagine Eilia and Aria always knew that’d happen eventually? I will def do a post abt that sometime bc i ofc got way carried away but it ft stuff like Eilia going barefoot to be crowned vs roderick pulling a Napoleon and snatching the crown away tbc

giadesstrin From the priest to crown himself etc — also omg ikr!!! They’re just like ‘gif he’s so tacky’ while he thinks he’s being magnificent and I love it 😂🙌

#ooc #about #aria stafford #siobhan stafford #roderick varmont #brigit malconaire #cassimir malconaire #arthur varmont #edmund varmont #godfrey varmont #valentina malconaire #eithne malconaire #roisin malconaire #this is so so so so unhinged im!!!!!!

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forgotteneilionora · 2 months

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*cracks knuckles* ok so!! we've already got morningstar and evenstar for the blades that're currently out there -- what if the missing sword, as the king sword, is smth like crescent, since the moon is often called the queen of the night sky, or smth??? bc i can't think of other star names that're not specifically evoking our earth hahaha oooh wait no! i can! what abt constellation?

ok so do we prefer constellation, crescent, or smth else entirely for the missing sword?

also, what if we combine the sword in the stone with merlin in the tree and make the sword struck into a petrified tree and only a true ruler of astaira (aka someone willing to put everyone else first) can draw it out but roderick thinks its just a kingdom granting sword basically and is probs the actual LAST person who could ever pull it from the tree bc he ofc puts himself first always laksjdfkljdsf -- if it even exists bc the tree is ofc lost to legend etc etc etc

(bonus idea @forgotteneithne @forgottenbrigit what if the tree in the malconaire sigil isn't just ~any oak tree but that ~specific tree -- shown still living and bearing fruit bc the malconaires will never stop striving towards this end etc -- and that's part of the symbolism of their sigil: ruling malconaire by right of their willingness to put the ppl first)

ok so im thinking that ~evenstar was probs eilia's kingly sword, since its the sword of the evening and the staffords are all abt the night sky etc, and thus that that's the one that siobhan is currently toting around. as a result, im thinking that its probs morningstar, the sword of the dawning, that roderick's got and believes ~is evenstar, but is actually its twin blade

im also thinking that by this logic, morningstar is probs aria's sword, as heir to the throne? esp bc the evening is the dying day/the past, and the morning is the day reborn/the future, so evenstar as the current ruler and morningstar as the ruler to come makes sense to me idk lkajsdfkljdf

...although really if the og king's sword does exist/is still around...evenstar is ~probs aria's by rights since technically the lost sword is the kingly sword, and thus evenstar was probs the og sword of the heir, but ig the staffords've been doing a big swap since that one went missing ++ might not actually exist at all kldsjfklasdjf unless it was originally the king sword for the ruler, one sword for their consort, and the other sword for their heir???? in which case maybe aria ~does have the sword of the heir, regardless??? idk i leave that 100% up to you lkjasdlkjfdjsf

BUT ANYWAY klasjdfkljasdf (you know i get carried away im so sorry lakjsdflkjdsf) how does that all sound to you?

also we should def talk abt their motto as well once we figure out the sword stuff laksjdfkljsdjfk

stafford family swords

... and since we NEVER go down a rabbit hole in comments... everything we went on about re: the stafford family swords

forgotteneithne @giadesstrin OH WAIT NOW WHERES THE STAFFORD FAMILY SWORD?!?!

giadesstrin @forgotteneithne you know stupid roderick seized that treasure 😭😭😭😭 and/or if they gif it he’s desperate to grab it

giadesstrin *hid

giadesstrin Ooooh or maybe Siobhan has it???? And it might be proof she is who she ~says she is? 👀

giadesstrin Like…they snuck it out w her?

giadesstrin @forgottenarias ooooh also what if Evenstar/Morningstar is a meteorite blade like king tut’s dagger, so it’s literally forged from a falling star!!!

giadesstrin @forgottenarias KATE!!! Your mind!!!! I looooove thattttt!!!! The sword of the dawning and the sword of the evening

giadesstrin The sword of the ruler and the sword of the heir maybe? It like matching king and queen swords?

giadesstrin I somehow got thinking abt the likely very different coronations that roderick has had Vs Eilia’s and my mind melted 😂😂😂

giadesstrin From the priest to crown himself etc — also omg ikr!!! They’re just like ‘gif he’s so tacky’ while he thinks he’s being magnificent and I love it 😂🙌

#aria stafford #siobhan stafford #about

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forgotteneilionora · 2 months

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#image #house stafford

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forgotteneilionora · 2 months

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OOC | Eilionora & Marian

forgottenarias said: @giadesstrin I was legit contemplating if Marian would like Aria or not but i’m guessing now she does? or at least is cordial enough that she can be like “hey another one of my kids is on death’s door HELP PLEASEEEE” giadesstrin said: @forgottenarias dgjjfdgh omgggggg I didn’t really think abt that relationship I love that!!!! I’m screaming now too bc like…She’s honestly in such a weird position re: her bc like on one hand her hubby wants to marry her sister???? On another her son is interested in her??? And on yet ANOTHER she’s a professed enemy of her house who helped save her son like??!?!! Poor Marian honestly what a position to be in sgjkfsfhj how is anyone supposed to deal w ALL of that good AND bad shkkgdfh forgottenarias said: @giadesstrin I need to do an OOC for Marian & Eilia but I def think Marian doesn’t want Roderick to marry her 1) because there doesn’t need to be any other contenders in this heir to the throne race and 2) as much as she still loves him, being married to Roderick is definitely not all it is cracked up to be! Part of marian wants to protect her from him! forgottenarias said: @giadesstrin and with Aria I think that Marian def wouldn’t like her if there was event the slightest implication of even a potential of some sort of romantic relationship w/ Arthur bc NO ONE is ever going to be good enough for her first born! Sorry ladies! You clearly just want him for his money/power! But Aria being proactive in this above instance and not really wanting anything in return is not a thing she’s used to so she’s not sure WHAT to think rn! Plus she fixed her precious child!!!

sdfasdf ok so i thought id go ahead and make an ooc for them, and i included the bit abt aria bc i do think that that has the potential to impact eilia/aria things as well!

ok so!! i honestly think that eilia at first thought that it was just really weird that roderick had all these wives and she was like WHY WOULD THEY PUT UP W THAT but uhhhh recently she's been like 'oh. ig maybe they didn't get much of a choice' bc that's certainly been ~her experience re: dating roderick hahaha and eilia def has more agency than they did, being -- though deposed -- a queen so now honestly i think she just feels sooooo horrible for them and is lowkey looking at them -- these two V DIFFERENT yet both v clearly unhappy women -- like 'there but by the grace of the guardians go i' basically laskdjfkdlsf and honestly i think atp she's really come around in the way she looks at them both!! esp marian (bc i def think amira gives off resting bitch face but as a full blown personality disorder even if ur tryna approach her whole deal optimistically alskdjflksjdfajdf)!!!!!

i ~do think if she knows that a lot of the varmont kids have a good relationship w the malconaires that would def be a boost in their favor bc eilia trusts them etc but i ~do think eilia is still feeling far from trusting of the varmonts, themselves, even if she does know that!! just...'at least they're not as horrible as i thought' rather than 'they're good ppl after all' basically hahaha and i do think that, given that its looking more or more like she might be wife #4, eilia has been thinking abt what roderick might look like as a dad since she's now afraid he might be the father of ~her children, and she's like YIKES

so, all in all, she's feeling much more sympathetic towards both marian and her family (minus roderick, STILL decidedly NOT a fan of his)!! and esp w marian on the cusp of this w her sister, i can see where they could maybe start having more ~honest conversations, perhaps? bc i do feel that eilia has played this entire thing by being observant and polite -- stalwart where she needs (ie when it comes to her country and astairans and keeping them safe etc) to be but other than that mostly closed off emotionally and courteous, but basically just tryna give them NOTHING bc she figures they'll use anything at all against her they can

but yeah its been a looooong journey getting there i feel hahahaha and even now she'd def be tentative and clam up at the slightest sign of trouble ngl

#ooc #marian varmont

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forgotteneilionora · 2 months

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𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒

“ am i not good enough? ”

“ you’ve been so quiet. what’s on your mind? ”

“ why did you help me? ”

“ who do you fight for? ”

“ why do you hate me? ”

“ have you come to laugh at me in my miserable state? ”

“ you’re not dating anyone, are you? ”

“ i’ve got your back, okay? ”

“ where do you think you’re going? ”

“ how long have i been asleep? ”

“ are you going to kill me? ”

“ why can’t i come with you? ”

“ we all have secrets, don’t we? ”

“ did you want to be alone? ”

“ why should i trust you? ”

“ wait. did you hear that? ”

“ promise me? ”

“ why are you talking like we’ll never see each other again? ”

“ do you remember anything at all? ”

“ what? no witty remark? nothing clever to say? ”

“ you wanna know what your problem is? ”

“ may i have this dance? ”

“ can i ask… what happened? ”

“ how many people have you killed? how many? ”

“ do you ever hear yourself? ”

“ would you run away with me? ”

“ could you be happy here with me? ”

“ you can’t or you won’t? ”

“ you slept with them, didn’t you? ”

“ well, how do i look? ”

“ after all you’ve done how can i possibly trust you? ”

“ why can’t you let me in? what are you so afraid of? ”

“ what did they do to you? ”

“ so why’s it so important anyway? ”

“ where have you been? ”

“ why are you looking at me like that? ”

“ why did you come? ”

“ what are you doing out here by yourself? ”

“ is… that my shirt you’re wearing? ”

“ you… don’t like me very much, do you? ”

“ why does it always have to be a fight with you? ”

“ why can’t you look me in the eye? ”

“ can you forgive me? ”

“ what if i never see you again? ”

“ you were going to leave without saying goodbye? ”

“ how about a little midnight snack? ”

“ are you… smelling me? ”

“ how did you get this scar? ”

“ what do you want in exchange for it? ”

“ what did you want to tell me? ”

#askbox #ask

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forgotteneilionora · 2 months

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forgotteneilionora · 3 months

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you know i adore your long rambling posts the v most!!!! <3333333

they're friendship is gonna endddd meeee <33333 omg their moms being besties tooooo stoppp i love itttt!!! plus we now know that lady m was a lorcan and that her dad was one of ~their dad's advisors, and maybe that's how she met lord m, being a lady-in-waiting to the queen, since lorcan is tucked away in the mountains and everything? gonna tag our other malconaire sista @forgottenbrigit

BUT ANYWAY! how the malconaire parents met is either here nor there for the moment, the point is i def see these two having been close their whole lives and i love it sm <33333 i also feel like it works on a symbolic way too bc like...these two women are v much defined by their ~fathers in a v def way, being their fathers' heirs etc and so i feel like this connection w another woman who is also meant to follow in her father's footsteps coming from their ~mothers just hits in a really satisfying way ??? idk llsdkjfajkdsf maybe im overthinking it but like they're two women who, even in astaira, are kinda taking on a man's world but they're in that together as women through the women in their lives and that's just really cool imo

valentina: did you just use my name as a verb?

no but omg lord m sending her away ~bc of cassimir AHHHHH laksjdfklsdjf and honestly given taht she was gonna rule malconaire someday, it probs made sense to send her to eilia for a couple reasons bc 1) having the friendship and support of the queen, not just in a bffs way, but an actual working relationship given that eithne will technically be her vassal etc someday will def come in handy 2) if there's anything more abt being a leader that lord m doesn't feel he can quite teach (for example being a female leader), a ruler is probs a good option as a secondary teacher 3) general networking around court will def be useful for when she takes on the mantel of lady of malconaire in her own right so like i feel like on a lot of levels it makes sense

the fact that eithne didn't make it in time I WEEPPPP!!!! idk if eilia really knows atp in time but she did/would weep as well!!! eithne deserved the opportunity to say goodbye to her father for the last time and ughhh esp bc eilia will frankly feel guilty since the reason she left so late ~was eilia too so it could also function as a real or even just perceived (if you don't think eithne would blame eilia?) complication in ~their relationship also i feel like!!!

but yeah as we've now established, it was def down to eithne and her sisters to look after the servants/village/etc!!! valentina was like 'if you aint inside by the time these doors are locked you aint GETTING inside' and rosie had probs started on eithne's evacuation plans in advance, since we said that eithne sent her ahead w instructions, but i know having eithne there, herself, made soooooo much difference

i agree abt their communication!! hone stly you can't really send any letters those things're 100% getting intercepted, and you certainly can't really see e/o bc esp in the beginning eilia was veryyy much restricted intentionally bc roderick wanted to drive a wedge between her and her ppl (honestly why she doesn't wanna marry him is so baffling ;DDD) and yeah i just feel like all access to her was cut off. that being said, i think they've def heard enough that they probs know e/o to be alive and well (at least physically).

i also think eilia heard abt lord m before she got cut off by roderick bc that was probs the last wor d she got -- that the battle was lost, lord me dead etc -- as queen undisputed and the siege began. i don't think the siege was that long, but she held out long enough to ensure that her ppl were well treated etc but i think the moment she heard the battle at malconaire was lost, she knew good and well that the war was over and roderick had won

but yes! i agree that roderick didn't want her to have contact w the outside world! and esp w astairans, specifically! he hoped to sever that link and end loyalty there etc laskjdfkljsdf

and yessss! omg valentina immediately delcaring malconaires allegiance to roderick was probs a big blow honestly!! i mean im sure eilia knows it came from cassimir or valentina, but but still it stung bc i def think growing up she was like 'well at least i always knows i have one house i can rely on when it gets rough' and that was them and then yeah seeing that seal (im suuuure roderick showed her that!!) was probs a v visceral thing for her, though im positive she didn't show it till roderick had left the room (she is proud after all ngl hahaha)! so honestly eilia wouldn't blame her for that ~or for entertaining arthur -- her own sister does it! -- but i ~do think she'd be kinda shocked to learn that she did it not out of fear but out of desire tbh (same goes for aria!)

eilia: what is it abt this guy????

honestly im not sure that news abt the malcoanires being pressed into servitude ~would have reached her ears yet simply bc i don't feel like she's been able to talk to ~any astairans really until the ball so she might be the last astairan noble who doesn't know but yeah i think she may be (unless we think maybe aria ~has been out there and was able to pass the info on to her?)!

that being said, as horrible as she'd feel and irate as she'd be, there's not a blessed thing she can do if/when she learns except maybe pass the info on to one of the princes and hope ~they might choose to do smth abt it bc they probs ~can at least to a degree!!

which, timing wise, might be an interesting time for them to learn abt it since eithne's moving towards cassimir and valentina's moving towards accusing them of witchcraft, so it could provide an extra wrench in that whole thing if the princes are like HOLD UP WHAT in the middle of everything esp as roderick's learning that they're a lil more involved in their lives than he'd like hahah (also cue arthur probs challenging @forgottencassimir to a duel omggg arthur: 'so ~that's why you accepted him! you didn't really have any choice! this is disgraceful! i will see you at dawn, sirrah!' *throws the gauntlet* roderick: 'what's disgraceful is this show of emotion!' #faceplam)

but yeah eilia also feels sort of ashmaed like her one (1) job was to protect her ppl!!!! and look where they all are now under roderick's imperial thumb!!!! and she has no idea what to say or where to begin either and she even got lord m killed for nothing and like???? yeah!! but she too is sooooo happy to see eithne after so long <333333 i feel like there's just sm emotion here SOB

OOC | Eilionora & Eithne

these two are besties!!!! and eilia loves eithne so so much <33333 since eithne is noble, perhaps they -- at least in some part -- grew up together? i can see where perhaps lady malconaire was a lady-in-waiting to eilia's mother, and/or perhaps eithne, herself, was a lady-in-waiting to eilia? or maybe none of that, maybe they just saw e/o when the staffords were in the country? maybe they didn't even meet until more recently? idk!! but regardless of how it all happened, eilia thinks eithne is amazing, and wants only good things for her! she def thinks she's one of the best ppl she knows and knowing her is a privilege and a gift <3

#ooc #eithne malconaire

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