Faerie Folk Assignment #7 Pictures

The latest crop of FF photos:


Assignment #7:  Flowers & Partners
This was our first partner assignment - there were six of us left, and each person had to choose one of six flowers (plus the flower's meaning) to represent.  We were to portray both the flower we chose and also the flower our partner chose.  Even though not everyone was happy/satisfied with their shots, these were some of the best this competition has had to offer thus far.  Definitely worth checking them out.

My partner was Sun, and she chose the Bluebell for her flower.  Bluebells represent humility, and coming up with an 'evil' spin on humility was damn hard...I didn't pull it off the way I wanted, and I don't love this shot, but I may go back and re-work it in the future.  I had a few ideas that would've taken far too long to pull of (if even possible).

Bluebells have long been symbolic of humility and gratitude. In mythic legends it is said that faeries use the bluebells to trap passersby, particularly children, or cast spells upon any who dare to pick, damage, or destroy the delicate flowers. The nickname "Dead Man's bells" originates from this tale.

Does an evil faerie, tasked with the burden of leaching the sorrow from weary mortal souls, ever truly grasp the notion of humility? Such is Ennui's province after all, and she treks the mortal lands in search of those in the most desperate and dire need. Atop her isolated altar, Ennui occasionally receives patrons - those mortals brave and despairing enough to make the impossible pilgrimage. The intrusion rattles her to the core, summoning to light the true and pure darkness of her taint, and regardless of the circumstance, the misery, the desperate hopeless pain, the Fae of Sorrows turns them away in callous, cold succession, banishing them back to the empty void from whence they came.

The flower I chose was the Yellow Hyacinth which represents jealousy.  I didn't think it would be too hard to come up with an idea for a jealousy theme, but it was much more difficult than I thought.  Even when I finalized the idea, the execution was absolute torture.  A frikkin nightmare.  I can't say that enough -- gave my hand a reeeeeeally good whacking while punching the computer desk out of frustration...o_O.  It wasn't even worth all that....the photo came out pretty well, but it was a lonnnnng time coming in a way-too-lengthy process.  Long and difficult and aggravating as absolute hell.  I really could've used some magical sim fairy dust or something...anyway....

The legend of the Hyacinth flower begins in antiquity: Hyacinthus, a beautiful young male companion of the Greek god Apollo, was murdered in a jealous rage by Zephyr, the god of the West Wind. Zephyr desired Hyacinthus for himself, and the sight of of the lovely men playing a discus game together was too much to bear. The blood that spilled from Hyacinthus turned into a flower, and in mourning Apollo named the flower after him.

The tragic young faerie Ennui lingers dolefully against her window, her weary eyes peering out of her dim quarters into the warm golden evening. In longing solitude she watches, listens to the rustling leaves and the joyous play of her sisters, all of them enchantingly beautiful with full and glorious wings. There is a peace in the quiet of it all, and a sorrow...Ennui's meager wings and disfiguring scar liken her to a hermit, outcast, receding, fading, recoiled in silent and sparse isolation. She aches to be among them, reveling in the splendor of the new yellow blossoms, kissed by the lazy sunlit air. How she reveres them, and how she resents them...the bitter sour of jealousy languishing on a parched tongue. And so she lingers until night envelops the golden evening....

Neither picture was very heavily edited, but I definitely spent more time working the Yellow Hyacinth picture (the candles are flameless, hence the lack of lighting on her face from them).  Assignment #8 will be yet another big challenge, but I'm going to try my best.  That's all I can do.  And I'm aiming for very little or no editing...we'll see how it goes.  Thanks for lookin'. :)

*and Sun, thank you for being so cool and being a great partner.  both of your shots were beautiful*