#🍊

[tsundere-selfship]

Anyway happy Valentia Day!

[tsundere-selfship]

I have never had a tweet describe my entire life story more accurately than this one

[tsundere-selfship]

SO-

The SoV fifth anniversary is coming up (April 20), and I want to do something really special. But in order to do that, I need you guys’s help.

If y’all would be so kind as to, today and the days leading up to the 20th, leave poetry or writing prompts in my inbox. These can be one-word poetry prompts, or short phrase writing prompts, but either way I will get to them promptly.

Additionally, please ask questions! Questions about me, questions about Zofia, anything. It would really help my little project out.

Reblogs are very much appreciated, thank you for being the best following a little Selfshipper could ever ask for :]

[tsundere-selfship]

A study into Zofian culture- Section 1:

Holidays.

In the continent of Valentia, holidays were traditions shared among commonbirth and nobles alike. We had some holidays that were celebrated only in Rigel, some only in Zofia, and a few celebrated in both nations.

I remember a few holidays were actually Archanean festivals, that were celebrated in Valentia by those who came from Archanea.

While I’m sure there are a few I’m forgetting, I can list some major holidays here:

A harvest celebration, in mid-Pegastym. A holiday that carried over from Archanea, many cultures had this or something similar. All of Valentia celebrated the reaping of crops, and thanked the gods for their blessings. Markets became very lively at this time, full of musicians and travelers serving special dishes. Outdoor dances were also common in highly populated areas. Because villagers were able to sell their crops from the harvest and make new wealth, livestock sales and auctions were typically held at these markets as well. Like most holidays in Zofia, this was celebrated differently between higher and lower classes. Noble families would make wreaths or garland out of gourds, vines, and leaves. Why this was exclusively a noble thing, I have not a clue.

Characteristic only to Zofia, we had a major holiday lasting several days in Wyrmstym, nearing the end of the calendar year. Rigel had their own holiday in Wyrmstym honoring the War Father. On the first day of this celebration, small communities would gather to set up lanterns and other decorations throughout the village. Zofian nobility often threw parties throughout the week as well. During this holiday, it was seen as very important that you do not wear complicated or brightly colored clothing. Natural tones and basic robes were encouraged, as everyone was supposed to appear equal. Many people in villages would wear burlap around their hair, usually reused from burlap sacks that held food. (These wraps had to be made of burlap, lest they be mistaken for garments associated with brigands or pirate groups). Adorably, some people made similar headwraps for their horses as well. Small statues and carvings made from wood, wax, or clay were made and sold as common gifts during this time, similar to Sigillaria in some way. As my father was a common carpenter when I was growing up, you can imagine how many of these I made. (Ironically, carvings of knights on horses and birds carrying miscellaneous items were my favorite to make. When I lived in the village, I would make one or two excess and gift them to my husband back when we were small children.)

The largest holiday in Zofia was celebrated in early Flostym (start of spring). I truly wish I could remember what it was called, but the name was in Archanean, a language that no longer exists. It possessed small similarities to a modern Valentine’s Day for FEH’s Day of Devotion, except this holiday was meant to honor the Earth Mother. Mila is a love goddess, and many of her teachings were about compassion. Not just in terms of romantic love, but love for family members and comrades as well. Gifts were not expected, unless you were giving a gift to your children. Church sisters would spend days leading up to the holiday making wreaths for your head out of wildflowers, or occasionally other plants. These crowns would be given out to everyone, either by members of Mila’s Faith or by young children in areas that were far from a temple. It was strongly frowned upon to have disputes or ill feelings on this day, and personal grudges were expected to be dropped. Streets were decorated with flowers, and some knights chose to wear these very large flower brooches on their armor. Others were expected to dress well.

When I lived closer to Zofia castle, the festivals held on this day were huge. People would dance with each other in front of the castle, or in village squares, and these dances would go on for hours. I remember passing through the harbor and taverns would be so full that I saw people sitting on the roof, electing to get away from the busyness inside. A very common tradition was for people to pick edible wildflowers and weeds, dry them, and coat them in sugar. These candied wildflowers would be wrapped together in large bundles, and sold in many places. This was typically the only time you could buy them, as the candies were associated only with the holiday, like what candy corn is to Halloween. My husband loved these sweets dearly. They were his favorite.

It was a day to celebrate the goddess and your loved ones. It was celebrated each year, even long after the Earth Mother’s passing. Perhaps that is what evolved into the “Day of Devotion” we see in Askr.

[tsundere-selfship]

Oh! Before I forget!!

I made a really nice playlist to celebrate Valentia day :)

[tsundere-selfship]

I can’t believe it’s been five years but at the same time holy fuck has it only been five years

[tsundere-selfship]

your prompt: oranges. (i know you can do something with this, good luck!)

Oranges from trees were seen as sacred.

A symbol of the mother’s undying love,

Her blessing.

Like the very gift of life,

Except you could hold it in your palm,

As if it were connected to your soul.

A small, round fruit that was so common,

even in my beggarly vills.

They were shared with me as a child,

Though I was taught early to treat them with great reverence.

I would always tear holes in them,

Squirting juice all over my clothes,

Yet I treated them like the juice they contained was the nectar of the gods itself.

The insides were sweet,

creating pleasant bliss in a dull poverty.

And when I finally left, the oranges came too.

I started to meet oranges that looked perfect.

Had no brown spots, no bruises or blemishes.

They looked at me like they had never seen a bruised orange before.

Oranges were too venerated for flaws.

When I peeled them, the sections would come apart cleanly,

neatly in my hands.

Enjoyed and shared as devotion,

A bestowal from the goddess.

And in their acidic taste, their bitter peels, their symmetrical cores,

my people found piety.

From the divine blessing they grew,

And fell down to us.

The fruit of compassion.

Looking back on it, I suppose

They were a metaphor for what we believed in.

To me they were comfort.

I’m glad they’re still around.

[tsundere-selfship]

Good morning, Mother :)

[tsundere-selfship]

I don’t know a thing about Zofia so how about talking about it a bit? ~sunlight-ships

@sunlight-ships That I can certainly do!

I should’ve made the project about Valentia as a whole but Zofia is just part of it, falling to the South of the continent before it was unified. We’re right to the West of Archanea, which you’ve probably heard of. Here’s a pretty basic map right here:

This video is really short but explains Valentia’s early history pretty throughly.

Of course, I can go ahead and summarize it now. When the continent was first founded, we were ruled by the sibling divine dragons, Mila and Duma. The two of them had wildly different philosophies and ideas on how the people should be governed, so they split the continent into two pieces and made the divine accord, making sure no one crossed the border lest monsters start showing up. So each god ruled over their country individually, leading to two separate societies both corrupted in their own ways. I can go more in-depth in this in other asks.

After a little bit, Rigel went through a huge drought but Zofia’s king Lima was uninterested in helping them, causing Rigel’s troops to invade. This broke the divine accord and started a whole mess of things, including a wide famine across both nations. I grew up during this. In the year 606 (using the Archanean calendar) Chancellor Desaix started a huge coup d’etat, killing Lima and his heirs and attempting to take the country for himself, making a deal with Rigel’s army, who was. Invading again. Mila went missing upon Rigel’s invasion, and a liberation army (now commonly known as The Deliverance) started marching across Zofia to fight against Desaix’s troops. I was enlisted in this army.

ANYWAY after that whole mess was done with, Desaix was killed, both gods disappeared, and the two countries were united to create the One Continent of Valentia.

After the Saint King Alm’s passing, his successor renamed the kingdom to “Valm” in his honor. This starts another chain of events that I did not live through.

[tsundere-selfship]

earth mother.

[tsundere-selfship]

[tsundere-selfship]

I don’t know why I’m so scared of f/oing obscure characters, I literally f/o’d an entire country and no one said anything

[tsundere-selfship]

Happy Four-Year Anniversary to the game that changed my life.

And take care, my beloved Valentians. <3

[tsundere-selfship]

[tsundere-selfship]

I wasn't really going to make this post, but did decide to.

Happy 29th anniversary of Fire Emblem: Gaiden!

Gaiden is the second installment in the Fire Emblem series, and most importantly, the FE game that Shadows of Valentia was a remake of!!

Haha remember 29 years ago when Forsyth was pink and also emo?

Wow... So happy anniversary! :) And happy birthday Alm