over on patreon Camille Alexander asked for evil women so you know i had to make a whole squad that mixed in a bunch of other prompts.
Amy Crook wanted bones, Siadea wanted hummingbirds, FyreNWater wanted ‘soft, yet unyeilding, Triskadeka12 wanted discarded cocoons (though the one here is still in use), Beelezbuddy wanted lamps, and Kona Goodhart wanted 'wagtails sing’.
Fun Fact: all of these ladies can take on human form, at least for a little while, but drawing them in their more fae/monstery forms is much more fun.
These 4 ladies are the Queens of the House Of Returned Wings. It’s a secret society where people who know in their hearts that they must have fae blood or were a fae in a past life learn to use their latent powers to take control of their lives, be their own bosses, and eventually cross the veil to regain their rightful status in the realm of the fae. One teeny tiny problem is that only people who can really prove they deserve to be uplifted get to come live at the House where they can mingle with the Queens and learn the true fae arts before they are sent across the veil to start their new lives. So much recruitment and strange rituals and labor intensive but low paying work to be done. So many paychecks that are desperately needed turned into envelopes full of cash that are thrown into fairy circles that appear in back yards and are gone as soon as backs are turned.
But those little bits of magic you get back are totally worth it. The queens give out such amazing wishes for loyalty. So what if the price becomes heavier each time and the wishes seem to wear off quicker and quicker with more and more disastrous results? That’s only because the magic is borrowed from these incredibly gracious ladies. If you work hard enough you’ll have your own magic back, and you won’t have to worry about any silly time limit or spell corruption.
No, this isn’t a super culty magic MLM. Why do you ask?
Let’s talk about the queens.
First up is Ambrosia. Ambrosia spends most of her time in the ballrooms of the House holding elaborate parties, and she is a hungry person to her core. Hungry for entertainment, fine foods, noise, she’s always flitting from thing to thing in a constant fight to stave off boredom. And everyone lets her do this because a bored Ambrosia is a nightmare creature. If the Dionysian key jangling she surrounds herself with constantly stops for more than a second, Awful Things happen. She doesn’t usually kill because there are few things more boring than a corpse, but she has a plethora of cruel ways to get the party started again. People who live in her circle usually come to the House because they feel restrained or bored with their former lives and feel like through her teachings they can blossom into their real fully expressive and indulgent selves.
Too bad all these guests eventually just become party favors to break and throw away.
***
Raine lives in her elaborate greenhouse and rules over the gardens of the House. She is said to be the kindest queen, which considering the other queens still isn’t that great. She doesn’t really get into all the LuLaRoe-esque recruitment garbage, preferring instead to ask those who would follow her the important questions. Like how much fertilizer they can lift, do they want to see the truth of the world, are they afraid of death, ect. She’s been working these special gardens for a long long time, seein’ things grow and seein’ things die, and she has so many secrets up on her greenhouse shelves that the universe hides in the dirt. If you make it to her gardens she’ll greet you with open arms and help you find whatever you need, but you’ll work the soil until your body gives out for the knowledge you seek, and that same knowledge will probably break you into a million pieces.
Can’t work like that.
And the only thing left to do with a disciple who can’t work is make some very fine fertilizer.
***
Grace spends most of her time wandering through her elaborate suites full of curated oddity collections and rare books, followed closely by her entourage of extraordinary followers. These are people unappreciated in their former lives, the best of the best of the best who’s amazing knowledge, unique looks, incredible experiences, or special talents were suppressed, ignored, or even gravely punished by the outside world. And oh, Lady Grace knows how that is. As the most special, most beautiful, most smartest, most bravest, most strongest, most unique woman that ever lived (or will ever live if she has anything to say about it), she knows. That’s why she takes the poor things under he wing and helps them transform from mere worms thrown to the outskirts by the jealous masses into the perfect selves they always were. They belong here, with her, among the greats. And they also belong to her. It’s not like any of the poor things are actually close to her level, they’re only mortals after all, they’ll only waste whatever makes them special with old age or death. The cocoons are actually a blessing for them. She gets their youth and beauty and knowledge and precious memories, and they get to be a nice troph-…I mean…have a nice memorial in what happens to be her hunting trophy room, and know that that special spark inside them will live on forever in her.
Forever and perfect.
***
The 4 queens rule over the House Of Returned Wings equally and no one is really supposed to be over anyone else. But also Ms. Pied is totally running the show and the other queens are fully aware that they are mere underlings. Ms. Pied invited each of them to the house one by one and gave them their spaces to rule over. Ms. Pied turned them into what they are now. Ms. Pied is the reason fresh people keep coming in and no one ever bothers their little operation. What is she getting out of all of this? Who knows. Her group of followers is very small and consistent and they never really stray from her business offices if they come up to the House at all. She asks for nothing really. She just keeps things running.
And considering how things are run, that makes her terrifying.
the beginning of the mandalorian helmet series! if you’re interested in getting it as a sticker or something else (it looks great on a hat ngl…) you can find it here!
