#for the 'holy' one i decided to go with a summer solstice theme

[microraptorart]

Junicorn day 22, "punk" and 23, "holy".

I often find the ones I draw just kind of hanging out with no background or anything to be a bit boring, but for these two, I managed to make designs that are appealing enough that I really like them regardless!

I'm following the prompt list posted by Artofmisi!

[IMAGE ID 1: a coloured pencil drawing of a unicorn walking while looking over its shoulder, seen from the side. It has a strong, deer-like body, brown fur, and a green and black mane styled into a mohawk, and matching coloured fur along its legs, on its cheeks, and at the tip of its tail. It has a long, grey horn growing from its forehead, and a smaller horn on its nose, as well as spikes down its back. The fur on its back is shaved down in a jagged stripe pattern. It has several earrings, a large nose ring, and a spiked band at the end of its long, tufted tail, as well as a floating spike bracelet around the ankle of one front leg. Both front legs have black leather bracers on, with the green fur sticking out in random places. END ID 1]

[IMAGE ID 2: a coloured pencil drawing of a unicorn with a large body and a comparatively small head. Its body is closest to a draft horse's, but more shapeless. It has a golden horn that starts as a spiral, but straightens out into a sharp point. Its nose is black and its eyes are surrounded by exaggerated, unnatural black eyelashes, styled like sun rays. It has similarly stylized ears, and a golden, flowing mane and tail that gets brighter towards the body and flows like flame. Its body is white and mostly unshaded, but the legs fade from brown to black, with feathering around the hooves that looks like black flames. A sun-like disc floats behind the unicorn's right ear. It is standing with its front half directly facing the viewer with an intense stare. END ID 2 (final ID]

[gascon-en-exil]

Top five holiday celebrations? (I'm guessing Thursday isn't one of them)

Not in the slightest. What little engagement Louisiana saw in the American Revolution was as a means of weakening England by breaking up its colonial holdings and also extracting revenge for the outcome of the Seven Years War, the war that resulted in the Anglos gaining control of nearly all of eastern North America, including Québec and Acadie, and Louisiana being passed to Spain to (temporarily) spare it from the same fate. The Anglos and their sycophants in New Orleans still celebrate it of course, but as far as I’m concerned there’s nothing organic about it. Anyway, to my list:

5) Southern Decadence (first weekend of September): Not really a holiday in the usual sense, but it’s been a local tradition for decades and persists as a raunchier, male-only counterpoint to Pride that could only exist in a city as eager to embrace drunken casual sex as New Orleans. My main issue with it is that it takes place during just about the hottest time of the year, which is not at all comfortable when most of the point is wandering around downtown mostly naked from bar to bar and from orgy to orgy. I’m just not up to getting my ass pounded in a sling with dozens of guys watching while I’m drowning in my own sweat. Still, as is ever the case here it’s impossible not to admire the audacity.

4) Toussaint (1 November): The Feast of All Saints, a holy day of obligation for all Catholics, but going to Mass is obviously not the fun bit. Some of my fondest early memories of going to the cemeteries to visit the mausoleums of my ancestors come from this day, when it was once common for Créoles to go clean off their family crypt(s) and leave fresh flowers and other adornments. That’s tapered off during my lifetime as most of us lack the time or money to spend on the dead anymore, and with many of the cemeteries now in bad neighborhoods frequently threatened by vandalism and theft. It is a nice thought however, even if decorating graves was really more about vanity than respectful remembrance - can’t the same be said of all posthumous real estate?

3) Winter Solstice (20-23 December): Not in the way that neopagans celebrate solstices apparently, but I hate all the other seasons (which might as well all be summer here) so much that the coming of the one season where the weather is usually mild and tolerable is cause to rejoice. It’s still humid of course, but in winter that mostly means mist and light rain which is far easier to bear than the torrential thunderstorms and the constant sensation of walking through a dirty sauna that is being outside during the rest of the year - or, you know, hurricanes. I also much prefer it when the sun sets earlier and the night lasts longer, as that still means less heat on the odd days where it decides to be randomly hot and muggy for no apparent reason.

2) Noël (liturgically 25 December-6 January, in practice the rest of December too): The subtropics will never produce the sort of weather idealized by the generic American holiday season, but as December is the first month since March that’s (almost) guaranteed to not be as hot as the more fetid circles of Hell here I appreciate the season just as much if not more so than if snow were ever actually ever involved. I couldn’t care less about the manic shopping sprees - sticking gifts under a tree is so very German - but parties with raucous feasting and drinking long into the night are always fun to attend, even on the one occasion when they’re meant to be broken up with a high Mass. It’s surprising to see how many local restaurants throw themselves into réveillon feasts.

1) Carnival (6 January-Mardi Gras, which can occur any time in February through early March): The New Orleans festival, even if it clearly didn’t originate here and is most likely dwarfed by Rio’s Carnival in size and scope. Carnival means different things to tourists and locals. Tourists are mostly attracted to the downtown parades and into the Rue Bourbon, where many of them have their first experiences with public drunkenness, urination, and/or partial nudity. Locals, or at least those of us with connections, are privy to more of the behind-the-scenes action, the private balls where the faux-royal pageantry that later plays out in full on the parade route gets hashed out. We’re also more aware of the parades and other events that take place in the outlying parishes, and culinary traditions like king cake. There’s also a strong queer element to Carnival that appeals to the city’s prolific drag culture especially, which is unsurprising given how a major theme of the season is masquerade and performativity. It is immediately followed by the somber Mercredi des Cendres, during which Catholics drag our massively hungover selves to Confession and then to Mass to get ashes on our forehead for a day of fasting that marks the start of the liturgical season of Carême (Lent). I enjoy the contrast, even if I don’t enjoy the headache.