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the-fae-folk · 9 months

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So I've heard that the way the fae steal names is by phrasing it "May I have your name please" or something to that effect and I wondered if that's true or something the internet just made up and spread. Then I got to wondering how that would translate up to the modern day as a sort of pun. Then I wondered where the fae stealing names thing even comes from, I've seen people say they do but no concrete sources yet. Can you answer these questions, and if you can, please tell us your sources. Im genuinely curious, and thank you

An interesting question. The idea that a faerie can steal away your name should you accidentally give it to them is a much more modern addition to the vast compilation of lore that has been gathering around the Folk. However it is one that is based in some older ideas about them. Faeries are thieves. There are vast numbers of stories and tales that describe a variety of faerie beings who are actively stealing the possessions of humans, or sometimes even the humans themselves either as babies, children, or adults. These sorts of stories often involve the humans trying to get the faerie interloper to stop and go away, though other variations include humans attempting to outwit the faeries, while still others describe the faeries as assuming a benevolent (or malevolent) judge of the human character for the sheer sake of looking for someone to punish (even if the humans do deserve it sometimes, it is to be noted that the faeries are often actively trying to get them to slip up so that they can be angry at the offense). Many of these stories do highlight specific but arbitrary (to us) rules that the faeries must obey. Such as the idea that they would always uphold a bargain, but you had to be very careful of the wording because they would only interpret the absolute letter of the agreement and not the spirit in order to cause you harm or inconvenience. Additionally, the idea that a person's "true" name has power is a very old idea. The actual rules of what constitutes a person's true name is very vague, but what usually was meant in these older stories was the name that was used to identify you, your given name. Sometimes, if you had more than one jack in the town you might have to add in modifiers such as Jack the son of Smith. At some point middle names came into fashion for lower classes and they were another way to differentiate one person from another with the same given name. The point is, the primary purpose of the names was to identify you, and often to give someone an idea of where they're likely to find you and others you're connected to. When it came to the faerie folk... that is exactly what people didn't want to happen. Because if you met a faerie as a guest in their house and, by following all the rules, managed to get out alive and with all your freedoms intact, you really did not want them to be able to find you again. And if they had your name, they were a lot more likely to be able to find you and everyone you know, especially if you consider them as having magic that most humans do not. At some point in contemporary fantasy, and I have not yet been able to pinpoint the beginning of it, despite my efforts, these ideas became conflated. The characterization of the Fae as trickster thieves who would fool and befuddle you with illusions and magic, who would make bargains with language so precise and finicky that even the brightest and best of human lawyers would be caught off guard, and who would use their knowledge of your real name to their advantage and your detriment. All of this was the groundwork for the idea that the Faeries could use the vagueness of human niceties to trick you into giving up your own name to them.

So, to my knowledge it is a relatively new idea, unless I or another can put forth evidence to the contrary. It is not a random creation, but instead the natural extrapolation of ideas that had been floating in Faerie Folklore for centuries. And really, regardless of whether it's a new idea or an old one, doesn't it seem like just the sort of nonsense and trickery that they'd get up to?

#Fae #faerie #otherfolk #faerie folklore #folklore #stealing names

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doginthevoid · 8 months

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To those new to the therian community (& the otherkin/alterhuman community as a whole, honestly), if you're trying to figure out your kintype and you're struggling I have an insider secret for you.

Just pick one. Just pick a label that feels good enough and run with it. Nobody is gunna challenge you and ask you, well how do you KNOW? and if they do, they're a fuckin weirdo and you can tell em to fuck off. You don't need to be 100% sure. You can actually just do what you want, forever. Maybe you'll realize it isnt for you and move on. Maybe you won't. Fuck it

#idk i see some people worrying themselves sick #trying to figure out their species or god forbid even something specific like a dog breed or something #and its like man idk #how about we stop being so business all the time #woof woof am i right #clem barks #otherkin #therian #alterhuman #kin #kinblr #kintype #dogkin #dog therian #otherkin community #otherfolk #idk what the tags are anymore

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happy-and-gay-tortoise · 8 months

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I wonder why I felt like a tall evil (more like strong/ chaotic neutral) entity when I was a child a lot, its probably because I'm trans and thats just what i thought of masculinity as!

...

Enter demon and shadow kintype

#otherkin #transgender #otherfolk #therianthropy #demonkin #shadowkin

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raventroll80 · 9 months

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Haven’t drawn a bat faced hobgoblin in a while, so here’s one!

#my art #bat faced hobgoblin #otherfolk

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transspeciesculture · 8 months

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transspecies culture is waiting until you have money to buy temporary parts (in this case, a fursuit tail) so you can have a physical tail again!

#mod speedqore of the hounds #transspecies #antiradq transspecies #transspecies culture is #nonhuman #nonhuman community #alterhuman community #alterhuman #alterbeing #alterbeing community #otherfolk #otherfolk community #tsc-posts

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pingsthoughts · 5 months

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i think part of me will always be that tiny wolf pup crushed under the weight of its crown, not knowing why its being made to hurt others but doing so anyway [because what else was i supposed to do?]

#neg vent #people can reblog this btw its fine #fictionkin #otherkin #otherfolk

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zal-cryptid · 9 days

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How long did it take for Santa and Krampus to go from enemies to lovers? And who initiated the polycule?

In my canon, Nick and Kramps first met in the Alps sometime around the turn of the second Millennium. Krampus was terrorizing a village one day, so some Christian converts called upon the Saint to come and protect the children from the demon. Krampus is technically a nature spirit, not a demon, and so Nick was having trouble figuring out how to stop the beast.

Fortunately, a young Befana was dispatched by Perchta to fetch Krampus and found the two duking it out in the town square. Thinking quickly, she created chains and shackles out of Nick's shadow, which he used to bind him successfully.

Perchta decided that it would be an apt punishment for Krampus to remain shackled to the Saint and be his twisted reflection. Krampus dispised his situation at first, expecting to be treated like some wild animal to be tamed or put on display. But Nick always treated him with respect. He always treated him like a fellow man. Perhaps it was Befana's mediation...perhaps it was Nick's "I could fix him" attitude...maybe it was even Krampus' "I could make him worse" attitude...but something eventually clicked between the three of them.

By the 14th-15th century, their love for each other became apparent. I think...I think Nick would have been the one to admit his feelings while Befana would have been the one to propose a polygamous relationship.

#ask #misfits in toyland #tales of the otherfolk #worldbuilding #lore #santa claus #krampus #befana #perchta #frau perchta #mrs. claus #st nicholas #frau holle #mythology #my art #sketches #comic #polyamory

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dullahandyke · 9 months

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[ID: a Tumblr reply which reads, "I'm convinced all is neurodivergents are somehow fae or fae hybrids cause like. Have you lined the pieces of (esp like Celtic fae) lore up against a lot of ND stuff.." It has been submerged in an underwater overlay.]

0 days since the last stupid take

#listen i am all for seeing yourself in supernatural creatures n shite #and many otherfolk (cough cough changelings) are spoken of the way they are BECAUSE they seem autistic #but like. brother...#1. whoopsie not respecting the otherfolk nearly enough #2. 'neurodivergents' being used as an umbrella term for a singular template #3. 'all autists are changelings' is not in fact a new take. may be the oldest take even

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displayheartcode · 2 years

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my review for The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones is going to be so much fun

#Rachel in real life #do you want a heist full of welsh folklore that has a very good boy the best boy who is a spy for the otherfolk?!?#please preorder this book because I need to scream about the connections to the bone houses

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lavenderslabyrinth · 4 months

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A Sacrificial Game

King!Dragon x Reader

Masterlist

This is my first post since deciding to kick off this new account. It’s rewritten from an old story I had posted on here long ago once upon a time. I hope you enjoy~

CW: ♢ Mention of Near Drowning ♢ Blood/Injury ♢ Abduction ♢

The coos of morning doves and the gentle brushing of branches against your bedroom window were quickly drowned out by the boisterous laughter and squabbling of your many siblings. Your attempt at trying to drown them out via the trusty quilt-over-head technique was quickly plundered as they burst through your sacred doorway. With energy only children can manage to conjure from the depths of hell at 8 in the morning, they jostled you around roughly, stealing away the comforting warmth you'd had. Surely, you'd thought, this was an act of merciless torture. Your skin prickled with goosebumps and, irritably, you managed to croak out a yip. "Ow! Off!" Your anger did nothing more than make them giggle as they lightly bruised you with their rough play. "Lemme sleep, dammit! Off! Get off!" Taking evident joy out of your misery, the damn gremlins only gave you a round of smug looks. They did relent, however it was truthfully only to avoid your flailing swats at their heads. “Momma said we ain’t eatin’ breakfast till you get up. So get up lazy" A chorus of agreements and more jostling only drew a strong eye roll from you. But, nevertheless, you shooed them off and sat up, groggily rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

Normally they'd just eat without you, leaving the leftovers warmed in the oven to be picked at by whoever passed by, but today was a special occasion. It was your birthday. Normally birthdays were happy events full of gifts, smiles, and all things merry-making-- but this one was different. While the younger whelps scurried off to the old wooden table, none the wiser to the fate that you now had to face, a heavy weight hung over the heads of the adults in the house. The thickness of the air palpable as you stepped into the kitchen and saw the grim look on your mother's face.

The saying goes that a starving savage is less likely to ravage your home if you give it a single meal-- and such began the gruesome, superstitious tradition... Once a year, one unlucky village that bordered the human kingdom would be chosen to place the names of all it's unmarried, of-age residents into a box and perform a drawing. Whichever sorry soul was picked would be ripped away from their homes by the temple, never to be seen again. The nobility liked to call it one of the "highest of all honors" a commoner could receive. The common people? You call it human sacrifice.

At least, most of your people do. Despite that being so, the vast majority of the population feared the very notion of abandoning the ritual. Why? Because the entire purpose was to "sate the otherfolk's thirst for human blood." One sacrifice, one year free from their wrath.

Your skin crawled at the very idea of it all as you leant down, clumsy hands tying up the laces of your worn leather boots.

As a child, you believed every word that hung off of the elders' tongues down near the pub. The fascination and wonder of another terrifying world outside the kingdom's tall, stone walls ignited your naive little heart. But with age, it grew evident to you that they were no more than simple old widows and drunkards with nothing better to do with their remaining time than talk stories and scare little children with tall tales. How were you supposed to believe beasts, much less entire civilizations of them, would be satisfied by the blood of one person if they truly wanted to attack a meager village, much less an entire country? Who decided they even wanted that blood? It was an argument you’d tried to raise countless times with your village council only to have it shot down with a simple “Well the Chosen never return, do they?” It pissed you off to no end. It didn't even take two wrinkles in the brain to conclude that it was more likely the animals of the woods, the elements-- or worse, other humans that caused the sacrificed to meet their demise; but no point you made would ever change their stone cold hearts.

And as though your age wasn't enough to make this birthday sour, the drawing was to be held this evening. The irony of someone losing their life on the day of your birth was palpable. Taking your usual chair at the kitchen table, you noticed the way two of your brothers squabbled over the last roll. With spiteful retaliation, you plucked it from between them taking a slow, mocking bite right in front of their faces. Maybe next time they'd think twice before ganging up to practically assault you out of bed.

"(y/n)?" Your head snapped up to attention, meeting your father's gaze. "How are you feeling?" You swallowed the fluffy bread quickly shooting a quiet reply. "I'm alright. Would feel a little better if you guys would stop lookin at me like I'm headed to the gallows." The laugh you were awarded from him was dry, but it eased some of the tension in his weathered shoulders nonetheless.

"I suppose it is a bit stuffy in here for a birthday, huh?" Your mother piped up sheepishly, wiping her hands on the dishtowel that hung from a belt on her hip. "Say, why don't you go visit Alikar? Trade some of our tomatoes for a basket of peaches-- bring those back and I'll make a pie we can all have after the drawing, how does that sound?" The little heads in the room visibly perked at the idea of getting their grubby little paws on something sweet. It wasn't often you had the sugar for such things after all.

Dismissing the idea of having to attend the black box event, you gave her a gentle nod. "Sure, I can do that. Need anything else while I'm out?" You inquired, stuffing the rest of the bread into your mouth before your youngest brother could snatch it from your hand. "No, dear. Just finish your breakfast and we'll handle the rest."

After practically beating your siblings off the table with a stick to get your fill, you quickly washed up and plucked the basket from the floor. “I’m off!” You called, getting no discernible acknowledgement as the chaos in the house never ceased. No matter to you-- the pie would be well worth the trip ahead.

Uncle Alikar.

The man was a huge part of the reason you didn’t believe a lick of all that ‘savage otherfolk’ nonsense. As your feet scuffed along the well worn path, old memories bubbled up to the surface like froth from the babbling brook that ran beside you.

You were the eldest of your siblings which, consequently, meant that when you'd been a rumbling little runt there were no older kids to show you the ropes and your parents' first trial run at raising a whole little person. This always resulted in you tumbling headfirst into trouble, but one day it had gone a little too far. Your tiny body approached the ledge of the stream. The same edge you would use every summer to hunt tadpoles. But, unbeknownst to you, the soil that was far too saturated with yesterday's rain to hold your weight. Without warning, it crumbled beneath your little feet sending you hurtling down into the rushing waters below. The merciless current carried you faster downstream than your father could run and just when your little head was wrenched under the raging current, a large beast sprung into the water after you. Before you could even process what had happened, your little lungs were hacking up the water they're inhaled, the coughing doing little for the burn in your lungs.

At first it was all a blur, you could hear your parents shouting as well as another rumbling voice above you responding back to them. Your little legs dangling far above the ground as a muscular arm stayed firmly wrapped around your waist. Someone was... holding you? You blinked away the tears, looking up to be met with a mouth full of razor-like teeth, thick sopping wet fur, and bright, slitted eyes. Misunderstanding what was going on, you began to cry out in fear. You were absolutely terrified you were about to be eaten by the ravenous river monster your mother warned you about countless times in attempt to dissuade you from wandering near the water when they weren't watching you. Only when those large paws handed you off to your mother ever-so-gently did you begin to quiet back down "Are you alright now, sweetpea? Ol' Alikar didn't mean to spook ya. Poor thing." He was some kind of rakshasa or tabaxi, evident by the sopping tail that swayed in the water behind him and round, fluffy ears that tilted back with concern. Speaking of...

Your knuckles rapped against the wooden door, sending warm clunks into the cottage. It was a serene place far from the human village which was always surrounded by the sweet smells of fruit and scents of warm, freshly made bread. Not but a few seconds later the upper half of the door swung open and there, in all his striped glory, was Alikar himself. “There’s the birthday girl!” He greeted you, his smile full of sharp teeth. A sight that originally took some getting used to but was now synonymous with a second home. “Hey Uncle Al. Mama sent me down to get some peaches for a pie.” You raised your basket of tomatoes.

He only chuckled in reply. “Oh, I know, how else was I supposed to give you your gift?” His paw pushed the lower part of the door open, welcoming you inside-- the scent of herbs and butter wafting much stronger from within. Surprised, you could only follow dumbly after him at first, setting the basket down as you took a seat on his kitchen table.

“A gift? Since when do you have the extra funds to get me gifts?! Aren’t you saving for the wedding? What about--”

“Would you hush, child?” He laughed, taking amusement in your fretting. “You’re still new to the whole womanhood thing, what do you know about adult troubles?” You gave a halfhearted growl at him but had no argument to fire back at him. Even though you'd been considered an adult in human standards for quite a few years, Alikar did have more experience than you in that department.

"You get onto me about my finances but I don't see you moving out of your parents' home yet." He teased, carefully unloading every piece of fruit from the wicker basket with care. "Don't bully me! I'm plenty experienced in other things!" You whined. Snatching one of the many apples he'd left unattended. The crisp sweetness did little to nurse your slightly bruised ego but the coolness of the juice as it dribbled down you chin quenched plenty other, more satisfying needs. "Yeah? And what would your area of foreign expertise be? Apple thieving?"

You glared at his back, cheeks tinting "No! Like conversation! And courting."

"Pah!" He scoffed, soft paws stacking the soft, pink fruit into a neat arrangement. "Much good your 'experience' has gotten you, I am the only one getting married here out of the two of us." Okay. Ouch. "And I converse plenty well, thank you very much!"

The afternoon passed with similar banter as you stuffed yourself with whatever fruits Alikar let you get your hands on. In the end he had given you a carefully carved wooden totem of your favorite animal, peaches, and sent you on your way. Whatever wood the little figure was made from gave a faint, sweet scent when wet with water. A bit ironic considering how you met all those years ago but you appreciated it nonetheless.

You had asked him if he’d have wanted to come and celebrate with you and your family but, regretfully, he had to decline. As charming and kind as he was, the path to your home was far too close to the village for his comfort and the idea of one of your acquaintances or friends coming to celebrate as well and reporting him sent the hairs on the back his neck straight upward. It was no secret the village wasn’t excited about strange, new creatures given the black box tradition, so it was doubtful Alikar would be in the public eye anytime soon, as unfortunate as that was…

You didn’t realize how much time you’d wasted until the shadows began stretching longer, snuffing out much of whatever light the day had left for you. “Ah shit.” You mumbled. You'd definitely missed the drawing, and at this rate you wouldn't be able to eat sweets till the next morning. Speeding up from a mozy to a quick trot back up the hill was unpleasant to say the least, but damn if those thoughts of peach pie didn't motivated you to haul ass.

However, as you drew closer your eagerness was smothered.

Hunching down, you quickly used the cover of the thorny brush to peer out at the scene below-- The terrified cries of your siblings pierced through your chest.

“Where’s the girl?!” A man demanded, spear to your father’s throat and eyes unwavering as your mother pled, voice breaking with fear as her children clung to her skirts.

“Dunno what you’re talkin’ bout.” Your father replied curtly, looking the assailant back in the face with matching fury and anger. “I've only got sons.” The hair on the back of your neck stood up. Only once before, in your entire life, had you heard such a chilling tone come from that man. You'd been no older than 12 when a suitor equal to your mother in age offered to pay a hefty sum for your hand in marriage. The cruel chill in his voice as he sent the man away stuck with you-- but it didn't seem like this scenario would have the same outcome.

“Have it your way.”

A pit knotted itself in your breast as your family’s pleas turned to screaming cries, the spear cutting into you father's shoulder without mercy. Everything seemed to move so slowly after that...

First, you'd prayed he'd give in, relenting your location to the angry mob that surrounded him-- but your father stayed silent. That same fury in his eyes unwavering as he stayed on his feet.

Second, you though, maybe, the crowd would believe they'd truly made a mistake. Maybe a (y/n) didn't live in this village. Perhaps they'd been mistaken-- but that hope was quickly snuffed out as the spear-wielding man reeled the weapon back again, poised to strike.

You hadn't even known what you were doing as you pushed through the thorny brambles. Didn't even register as your fingers curled around a plump peach from your basket. And certainly didn't realize the strength you'd shot through your arm as you slung the fruit straight into the back of the man's head.

The hard impact followed by the splatter of sweet juices dripping down his neck was followed only by a second of silence.

Then two.

Then three.

All heads turning in your direction....

Run.

It was nothing more than instinct as you dropped the precious wicker basket your mother had weaved to the ground-- Alikar's carefully nurtured peaches bruising in the dirt. You shot back through the thorns. Dress skirt shredding, legs practically minced as you rushed through the uncaring wild.

Everything blurred.

Heart racing, the sound of shouting, the thundering of feet right on your tail. It was so much, too much-- too soon. There was no where else you could go. You didn't even know where you were going. Run. Run. RUN.

And run you did, even as your calves burned and blood dripped down your skin, you flew through the woods in a desperate flurry. It was fruitless though. Your wreckless abandon being brought to a halt with a blistering pain that shot through your ribs. The last thing you saw was the sight of the ground coming right at you, and then? Darkness.

I was going to wait till I finished part 2 to post this part but I'm too excited and part 2 is about halfway written anyway :) Stay tuned!

pt. 2

#lavenderslabyrinth #teratophillia #monster x reader #x reader #monster fucker #dragon x reader #king!dragon x reader #forced marriage trope #fantasy romance #rewrite #teratophillia x reader

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starscatteredsky · 7 months

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Voidkin moodboard

themes of darkness/voids, claws/hands, eyes

voidkin moodboard with themes of darkness/liminality/eyes/hands and void ofc!

enjoy friends of the void!

-mono

[image description:

a moodboard with 9 images.

image one (top left): a shot of two coal black taloned arms reaching towards the sky. it’s a black so dark it’s difficult to make out the exact definition. at around midway along the forearm, the blackness is broken up into veins, and pale skin continues along the arm.

image two(middle left): a hallway that's so pure black, that you cant actually see almost any of it. a single, bright while light far down the hallway starkly illuminates a small portion of it, showing a tiled ceiling and shiny tiled floor, with stark white walls, before the hallways is once again plunged into absolute darkness, no end in sight

image three (bottom left): a pale hand that almost looks a bit like its being overtaken by the venom symbiont from spider-man. it becomes a shiny, twisted, coal black almost slimy or leathery looking taloned hand with incredibly long fingers and piercing looking black claws.

image four (top middle): a viewpoint from the ground looking directly up. the sky is pure black and spindly branches of trees in pure white reach up to the sky

image five (middle middle): several scribbly, messy inky black figures with shining white eyes on a pure white, detail less background

image six (bottom middle): a swirling vortex that gets darker the farther it goes, with the closest area to the viewer being a midtone grey, that eventually fades into pure black.

image seven (top right): a mostly white image with "tears" in it like paper, revealing an inky darkness with many white eyes peaking out.

image eight (middle right): a hand with a tattoo on it of swirly, messy, sort of sketchy or inky black lines, with many many eyes peaking out of the darkness.

image nine (bottom right): a pure black, with slightly lighter staticky grey background. there is nothing else.

end description]

Requests open!!!

[image description:

a DNI banner with the background being the promotional image for Little Nightmares 2. The writing reads:

"DNI: radqueers, proshippers, radfems/TERFs, antikin/antitherian, homophobic/ ableist/ anti ACAB/ transphobic/ rasist/ antisemitic/ xenophobic/ antitheist/ anti athiest/ bigoted in any fashion, NSFW/sh/ed/cringe centered blog, fakeclaimer

Before you interact: We are pro mspec gays/lesbians, anti endo/tulpa "systems", enjoy MCYT/DSMP, pro self diagnoses with extensive research, multiple alters are punks/ anarchists"

end description]

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the-fae-folk · 3 months

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How do marriages between faeries and humans come to be? What could fae possibly gain from marrying a human in the first place?

Well they could gain quite a lot of different things from it.

If they're cruel and view humans as things rather than people, they could gain a toy, or a slave, or a trophy.

But if they truly love the human, it's very rare but it does happen sometimes, then they can gain a partner, a friend, a companion.

It all really depends on the faerie in question. And the circumstances in which they are marrying a human. Remember that the Folk must generally obey any contractual agreement that they enter, they are bound to it. While there are a very few instances in traditional folklore where the faerie-like being cheats or disregards an agreement or promise they made, an overbearing percentage of the time multiple cultures depict these faerie-beings as being forced to abide by the terms of the contract.

No matter how many semantic ideals humans layer on top of the concept of marriage, it is still an institutional practice which has a contractual agreement at its core. While the definitions and practices surrounding marriage vary from culture to culture, its general point is to lay the rights, obligations, boundaries, and protections between the two parties as well as their families, and their children if they happen to have any. It is a way of protecting oneself from harm. It could be future harm such as someone leaving you to fend for yourself if you have an accident that cripples you, financial harm if you lose all your money to a thief and without your partner you would be on the streets, or emotional harm if you need someone you can trust and your partner decides to betray that trust. The method of protecting against this, at least a little, is the marriage and its outline of what you agreed to do.

While the exact forms might vary between cultures, what you will need to look for is the places where you will be making some kind of contractual agreement. Often this takes the form of a Marriage License, Prenuptial Agreement, Wedding Vows, or some combination or variation of these.

For the more legal side of things you could have an agreement over such details as: Who may have control of or a say in the other's wealth, property, or business dealings. Joint responsibility for debts. Visitation rights if one member is incarcerated or hospitalized. Control over each other's affairs if they are incapacitated somehow. Establishing the right of legal guardianship over any children conceived in or brought into the marriage. Establishing a joint fund of property for the benefit of any children.

There may even be additions to this depending on cultural nuances, such as establishing certain relationships between the families of the spouses, or obligations required of them as a family unit. And this is all if the actual marrying couple is entirely in control of their own situation. In some cultures a family or a family member could choose your partner for you, and you could be forced into a marriage you didn't want as long as someone who had control of your rights agreed to the terms of the contract for you.

When it comes to vows made during a ceremony usually different kinds of promises are made, though they often still have some roots in practicality. Wedding vows are not universal and are mainly rooted in the traditions of Western Christianity, though they've had larger influence on Western Culture as a whole than some would think. Most western traditions derive from the Sarum rite of Medieval England.

Man's Vow: I [Name] take the [Name] to my weddyd wyf, to have and to hold fro thys day forwarde, for better for wors, for richer for porer, in sikenesse and in helthe, tyl deth us departe, yf holy Chyrche wyl it ordeyne; and thereto I plyght the my trouthe.

(I [Name] take [Name] to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold for the days forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part, if the holy Church will it ordain; and thereto I pledge thee my troth.)

Woman's Vow: I [Name] take the [Name] to my weddyd husbonde, to have and to hold fro thys day forwarde, for better for wurs, for richere, for porer, in sikenesse and in helthe, to be bonoure and buxum in bed and at bord, tyll deth us departe, yf holy Chyrche wyl it ordeyne; and therto I plyght the my trouth.

(I [Name] take the [Name] to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold for the days forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to be bonere and buxum in bed and at board, till death do us part, if the holy Church will it ordain; and thereto I pledge thee my troth.)

((side note: The phrase "To be bonere and buxum in bed and at board" is a matter of some contention. Bonere means to be gracious or gentle, and buxum means to be obedient. While some have interpreted this as a reference on how the wife will conduct sexual practices within the marriage, it is important to remember that bed and board is an idiomatic phrase that refers both to the place where one sleeps and gets a daily meal, as well as to the house as a symbol of the duties and sanctity of marriage. This suggests that one could interpret the phrase as meaning they are making a vow to be gracious and obedient in the marriage as a whole, as well as to remain faithful to their husband.))

As time has passed the actual form of the vows has changed, but should one wish to use the formal vows, their original form is still recognizable if altered. These vows, while not universal and not necessarily legally binding, are still a kind of agreement being made for the marriage. To be there for one another and to honor the other, to stay whether the partner gets sick or not, to stay if they're rich or poor, and to remain with the other faithfully until mortal death. As in the case of the original set of vows, many make this set of agreements directly under the authority and witnessing of their religious organization, effectively making their deity the highest authority and the one who is allowed to revoke any blessings, privileges, or rights to the marriage should either one break the agreement without getting an annulment from the church itself.

Before this kind of wedding vow, one might have found traditions like handfasting, where a couple would take hands and declare themselves then and there as husband and wife (sponsalia de praesenti form), or alternatively they could declare their intention to marry one another at a future date (sponsalia de futuro form) and then seal the marriage through sexual intercourse. Often what little ceremony found could be done, or was done, with an authority or witnesses to the marriage. However it was not always considered legally necessary. From the 12th century to the 17th it was considered a form of engagement to be married, which would then be followed by an official ceremony in Church. However the practice is much older than that and is thought to be derived from the Old Norse handfesta which is literally "to strike a bargain by joining hands".

This idea of bargaining, of contractual agreements, vows, pledges, and promises is so integral to our ideas of marriage that it's difficult to separate them, and maybe not entirely possible. It is there that you can try to understand what it is the Faerie Folk want from the union. What is it that is being agreed to? And by whom? What do they get out of the things promised, what is the exact wording given and what does all of it mean within the specific context and cultures you and your faerie spouse find yourselves in? It is no small task, of course, considering how tangled the history of faeries is with that of contracts and bargains, but anything even remotely resembling a marriage will definitely come with strings attached when they are involved with it.

#fae #faerie #otherfolk #contract #folklore #marriage #vows

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