#namedays

@xivgenesis is anytime up until the 30th (although I probably ought to not leave it until the last minute).

If I have missed your June Nameday request then let me know - and please don't be nervous about reblogging about it nearer the time to remind me - given the severity of my ADHD, anything more than 2-3 days in the future might as well be after the heat death of the universe as far as my brain is concerned.

Okay, so basically: in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, you have a bunch of saints, and those saints have their feast days (which gave people in the ye olden days reason to parteeee from time to time). And people often got named after saints. So, say, you were named after St. Nicholas. His feast day is December 6. Now that's your nameday.

Of course, over time the tradition totally lost its religious connotations (like, some 20% of Hungary's population is Protestant--at least culturally/coming from a Protestant lineage; the number of people who actively practice their faith is much lower--, and they celebrate their namedays as well). New names came into use (currently, Hungarian is taking over a lot of Anglo-Saxon names, for example), they were... just added to the roster. Like, got assigned a date.

When you buy a calendar in Hungary, it will actually showcase the namedays for every given day, although usually just one or two per day (because of the new names, each day can actually have a bunch of names assigned to it. (Like... my name is Orsolya, and back in the day that was the only form you could have put on the birth certificate, but now some nickname forms, such as Orsi and Orsika are also allowed, so the namedays for those are also celebrated on the "Orsolya" day.) Daily newspapers usually run all the namedays for the day.

Namedays are especially handy in the workplace, for example--your colleagues would not that likely celebrate your birthday, because that'd require asking personal questions, remembering dates, etc. But your nameday? That's on the calendar. In the newspaper.

I kinda celebrate mine, but don't care that much about it? Like, usually I just use it as an excuse to get together with friends and have a couple of drinks.

Sunflowers. 

They were not perfect flowers by any means. Lovely and vibrant, but with a great black mark that most found hideous. Regardless of that, they did their best to rise up above all other flowers and show how lovely they were to the heavens. 

A hand moved to brush against the dried surface of the water color paper. A simple bust of Sehya done surrounded by the flowers in a sunny scene. Behna pleased with the result, but not sure yet how Sehya would feel about it. After all, his husband came across as one that preferred the lovely lilies and classy roses. Sunflowers were probably not even a flower he considered, but yet Behna always thought about the things when it came to his mate. 

Imperfect, but still beautiful and grand. 

No. Sehya was pristine in his mind, Behna was the one that had the flaws. Did that mean he was the black mark that made what could have been a perfect flower imperfect? A shake of his head then. 

Behna moved to stand up, and carefully rolled up the piece to slip into a tube. Then it was sealed shut, and wrapped with some paper with simple hingan print. It was placed upon the table next to a simple place setting of a rolanberry cake, covered with a small dome to keep it safe, and a bouquet of the sunflowers next to it. 

The hunter drifted away to an oil warmer. An oil base added, and then some essentials that matched the preferred scents of his mate. Just a touch of camphor added in as an extra to the sandalwood and vanilla.

Just a simple and private night for the two of them. Cake. A small gift. A massage. 

Simple.

Namedays.

Mashuel had never put much stock into them. When he began to recover under Mau’s tutelage, it was the first time he had one of his own celebrated since entering the dragoon so many turns ago. He knew he was thirty-seven this year. He knew it was another turn spent cursed and managing to survive it this long. A second year spent with Mitsue who had only further isolated himself from the world.

And here he was. 

Alone. 

Mashuel settled on a knee upon the stones. It was a small private space for meditation and prayer. Even if he wasn’t all that devout to the Fury, he recognized the peace this routine gave to him. Meditation that let him reflect upon things. 

There was no expectation for anyone to celebrate it. To bring him gifts or cake. To be frank, he couldn’t enjoy the latter and he didn’t think any gift could outweigh the thanks for another year not thrown into madness. Not that the Fury had anything to do with that. It was isolation. Removal from society. The lack of interacting with people outside of business affairs. Things that only separated Mitsue and himself further from people and promised to be just as likely to drag them further into the void. 

Nothing of this life was viewed with regret. Mashuel was thankful. Thanks for another year. Thanks for meeting Mitsue. Thanks for Mau finding him and pulling him from the drug and drink filled void of sex, silk, and gil quickly spent on temporary comforts to begin the cycle again. 

And now all he did was ask the Twelve for another year. That was all he wanted. Mashuel did not believe there would ever be freedom and so he never asked for it.

2017 Nameday Waltz Exclusive Plush

“I gave this to Waltz at his surprise party lastnight. It’s my very first plushie, so it’s far from perfect, but Waltz thought it was cute, so that’s all that matters.

His hat and badge are removable (mainly because I wanted to give Waltz something embarrassing to wear on his Nameday - tehehe), and he’s mostly filled with fluff, apart from the lower half of his body, which also contains beans to give him some weight to balance on so he can sit up.

I was going to give him ‘proper’ eyes, but I think I need more practise there. Still, the button eyes are cute, right? And maybe next time I’ll try to use something that’s more like real hair (though that might mean people have to brush it so it stays nice - at least this one’s low maintenance).

Oh, and he does have a tail, but it has a small stitch which connects it to his back, so it looks like it’s holding itself up. Does that make sense?

Happy Nameday, Waltz!!”

--- OOC ---

This is the extent of my artistic talent, but he’s kinda cute, right? I did add visible stitching to his arms, but I really didn’t like how it looked. I just couldn’t get it to flow in a direction that kept the arms looking, well, soft and round.

And yes, he’s got a tubby tum. It’s totally because it’s the only way to make him sit upright (and not because he ate too much cake... or because I suck at art). >_>

Your name day is the day celebrating the saint you were named after, not the anniversary of your birth.