thenightfolknetwork

[thenightfolknetwork]

Hello chaps! I won't beat around the bush - unfortunately I'm not going to be able to keep up with this blog any longer. It's been great fun, but I can't commit to it in the way that I'd want to.

If you want to come and say hello, chat Monstrous Agonies, or see what I've been up to that's keeping me so busy, head over to @monstrousproductions!

If you want to read any previous posts you can find them in our #answered tag. Adverts are tagged #in-universe advert. I won't be deleting the blog entirely, but the inbox is now closed and I won't be checking in on things over here much, if at all.

Thanks for all your support, see you over on the other blog!

[thenightfolknetwork]

hello! I have 2 questions :)

This is the official Monstrous Agonies tumblr, right?

2. if so, just wanted to say I’m really enjoying listening! Its an amazing show! Do we ever get to learn what kind of creature the host is (identifies as?)

Hello! The official tumblr is actually @monstrousproductions - that's the one I use for podcast things, this was just a sort of MA spin-off blog. The other account is mostly focused on our new show, Travelling Light, right now, but is still the best place to go for MA-related chat.

That said, I'm very happy to answer your question here! Thank you so much for listening to the show, I'm delighted you're enjoying it 💕 We don't ever confirm what genus the Presenter is - though our listeners have had some really fun guesses over the years!

[thenightfolknetwork]

Today's prompts were "boil" and "loving the monster". I struggled with what to draw for this one, until I realized I could merge both of my "they'd each work, but they're not quite good enough" ideas into one piece; you can be cuddling with your monster bgoyrlfriend AND holding your angry not-cat at the same time. (I don't know how this ended up as a card; it just seemed to make sense.)

I'm using the prompts from @plaguefairy and @creep-tober. My progress thread for this piece can be found here.

1-10: here . 11-20: here . 21: “force” + “weird architecture” . 22: “drab” + “evil twin” . 23: “survive” + “the late late late late show” . 24: “collect” + “just around the corner” . 25: “theatre” + “distance” . 26: "slow" + "creative" .

[thenightfolknetwork]

'Danae' by German symbolist Carl Strathmann (1866-1939)

[thenightfolknetwork]

'Herne the Hunter' English folklore ghost who haunts Windsor with his hounds and an owl by George Cruikshank, 1843.

[thenightfolknetwork]

werewolf yuri

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Gandalf and Bilbo by Tim Kirk (1974)

[thenightfolknetwork]

I loveee fantasy settings doing magical exhaustion:

burnt out pyromancers emitting steam and smoke

tired cryomancers shivering with visible foggy breath

weary necromancers looking ill and hearing voices

frazzled healers receiving the same cuts, bruises, and injuries of their patients

[thenightfolknetwork]

Beyond the Supernatural, 1986 (Richard Corben)

[thenightfolknetwork]

Lab Grown Angel

[Print]

[thenightfolknetwork]

romance with a fairy who only lives for a year so that youre with her her entire life and shes just a summer fling to you

[thenightfolknetwork]

“Please, ma’am.” Lara is using her very best patient civil servant voice. “I realise this is frustrating for you, but I cannot issue a birth certificate for that child!” This is shaping up to be a very confusing Monday morning. It’s not like working for the civil registry is particularly thrilling, but it’s usually quite pleasant at least.

“I don’t see why not!” the mother on the other end of the counter sulks. “He is my son, isn’t he? So I should be able to register him!”

Lara takes another desperate look at the child in question. Child, not baby, because he is standing on his own two feet and looks to be about ten years old. Even if he’s a bit short for his age.

“What’s wrong, Mama?” he asks, a typical child’s frown forming on his forehead, and Lara blinks. The child’s light brown skin has an odd pattern to it, almost like the grain of polished w—

“Nothing, honey,” the mother replies hastily. “This nice lady is just trying to explain something to me.”

Lara feels her cheeks burn. “Ma’am,” she says, bringing her voice all the way own.  “You’re supposed to register children within three days of their birth!”

The mother bristles like an angry hen. “He woke up the day before yesterday! It’s not his fault he wasn’t born.”

Lara stares at her, any sort of reply stuck in her throat. She can’t have heard that right.

She is just about to lose it – in front of a client no less – when one of her colleagues emerges from the copy room. “Is something the matter?” he asks concernedly. “Can I help?”

“All I want,” the woman huffs. “Is to register my child.”

Lara is about to apologise to Collin for dragging him into this, but as soon as he glances down over the counter and sees the little boy, he hastily stands up straight again.

“Ah, yes, I see,” he nods nervously. “No problem at all, ma’am. I’ll just— Asha?”

“Yes?” a voice answers from one of the offices in the back and Asha appears a moment later.

“A special registry for you,” Collin says, a tad sheepishly.

As soon as Asha sees the child, her eyebrows raise so high in delighted surprise that they nearly disappear under the edge of her hijab. “Hello,” she smiles. “How lovely to meet you. What’s your name?”

“Willow,” the boy replies cautiously.

“That’s a great name,” she answers decidedly and promptly turns her smile on the mother, who already looks considerably happier. “If you’ll follow me to the other desk, we’ll have Willow signed in in no time.”

Lara watches them go in silent bewilderment.

“I know,” Collin hums beside her. “It’s always the wooden puppets that come to life, never understood why.”

“…puppets?” Lara gulps. The boy’s hair had looked rather like spun wool…

“Mm,” he nods. “But Asha handles all the special registrations, so you needn’t worry about it. Just smile, nod, and go fetch Asha. That’s what I do.”

Her head is beginning to spin, but Lara nods all the same. “Right. All special cases are for Asha.”

“Exactly,” he smiles encouragingly. “Just remember, when it comes to birth certificates: living puppets, faerie changelings, babies from peaches, logs come to life, that’s all Asha. Oh, and with the marriages we do come across the odd brought to life statue, and they obviously didn’t have a birth certificate to begin with, so she handles those as well.”

Well that’s just too much to process at once, so Lara settles for a dutiful sound of agreement instead of a proper reply. She watches with growing admiration how Asha chats happily with the mother and child from behind her counter. A few minutes later the two of them walk off, smiling proudly, and with the new papers tucked safely into the woman’s bag.

“There we are,” Asha chimes. “No harm done. And another proud single parent.”

“Thank you,” Lara says, the apology clear in her voice, she really wishes she could have handled this a bit more gracefully.

“No problem,” Asha replies warmly. “It’s your first month, don’t beat yourself up about it.”

Lara makes a grateful sound and Asha gives her an encouraging smile.

“I give presentations at the head office, if you’re interested,” she says cheerfully. “Bureaucracy, the Supernatural and You. You should come along some time! Because I’m telling you, with the number of young people stomping off into the woods for some escapism nowadays, there’s going to be a big influx of special cases. Mark my words.”

[thenightfolknetwork]

Advice podcast in a fantasy setting with questions like "I love my werewolf girlfriend but she has a fierce territorial dispute with the neighbour's St Bernard. How can I let my girlfriend know I'm on her side and I love her but also let her know that I think she shouldn't be arguing with a literal puppy without upsetting her"

[thenightfolknetwork]

[thenightfolknetwork]

Carl Gustav Carus - German moonlight (view over rooftops to a Gothic church in the moonlight), 1833

[thenightfolknetwork]

[OOC] Hello, friends! As you may have noticed, this blog has been suuuper quiet lately lol Unfortunately between ordinary work and my podcast, Travelling Light, I just wasn't finding the balance needed to post much on here.

I do hope to get back to it, but in the name of honesty I think it's fair to say we're on a bit of an unplanned hiatus right now! We're on a break between seasons so hopefully I'll get chance to reassess my schedule and make new plans - I'll keep you posted!

[thenightfolknetwork]

That first Polish-language encyclopedia was right about dragons. "It is hard to defeat a dragon, but you have to try." That is in fact a definition of "dragon" that cuts to the heart of the matter and covers all the essentials.

A dragon is something that A) is very hard to defeat and B) must be fought. That's it. That's all you really have to know when approaching the subject.