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I figured I'd try here first, amongst fellow roleplayers, who might be connoisseurs of collector's dice sets and tarot decks. As I'm in need of money to pay for a vet visit (and likely offer my thirteen years old bunbun a peaceful goodbye), I'm selling a few dice sets and tarot decks from my collection. For ease, I've placed everything in a gDoc. Keep in mind you'll have to pay for shipping, but I can estimate it for you with country and postal code.

I make no guarantee to reply in a timely manner on Tumblr xD (the dang app doesn't always ping me for new messages) so alternatively, you can poke kuro8529 on Discord. Expect delays in replies during the week anyway, my work keeps me extra busy, especially now with the end of the financial year (reeee March I ate you lol). If dice and tarot decks aren't your thing, or just want to donate spare change, I dusted-off my ko-fi a bit. Sorry if you still find dust bunnies in there :p

#[ birdmouth ] #Tao is the bestest Emperor of my heart #And this is a great opportunity to get some truly stunning items #Please consider helping my friend! #(Okay Kuro is more like family than 'just a friend') #Signal Boost

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I've been a bit absentee these last few months - just a lot of things happening and some chronic health issues.

Hoping to get back into the groove soon though, I miss writing and miss reading about everyone else's fantastic characters. ♥

Hey all, I'd love to find more XIV OC blogs to follow! Particularly people who enjoy sharing writing/photos/art/etc of their characters! If anyone wants to reblog so I can check out your blog or even give shout outs to their favorite blogs that would be super awesome 💕

#[ birdmouth ]

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Runes 2024.01.21

He’d been working on them since Fjúk’s birth, carving the small pieces meticulously. It was slow and meditative work but he was in no hurry. He’d chosen pine, as he had a connection with those trees, but they would later be dyed with black walnuts. The wooden chips were about the size of a gil, each with a different symbol - a rune - in a language known to very few; at least outside the Skatay Range. Sometimes he had to wonder how he managed to remember the ancestral tongue of his people for, truly, he had no right to. With everything he did in the past century to forget who he was - all those emptied bottles and those drugs indulged in - it was a miracle his brain had survived the ordeal. Was it that surprising, though?

Part of him had always refused to surrender. His heart still yearning for the snow and the evergreen forests; his soul still worshipping the spirits of the land. And while the birth of Fjúk marked a new chapter in his life - a new beginning - he could never forget his roots. He recalled the intimate ‘ceremony’ of marriage, the vows exchanged while sitting on their couch. He had used the words of his people, albeit in the Eorzean tongue, a ritual as old as the mountains he called his homeland. Seda, however, had chosen to move forward into this new life, forgoing their old names to embrace the present moment and a future together; a new ‘tribe’. 

He was surprisingly alright with that.

It wouldn’t stop his mind from musing over impossible scenarios, like presenting his son to his tribe. He knew quite well he’d never climb those peaks again. It was for the best, for he had no intentions to relinquish his son to another when he’d be of age. This was a tradition he never questioned, not until he left anyway. Now he had trouble wrapping his head over what was a very large pillar of Vieran society. Why did they chase the males away into the untamed wilderness, hoping they’ll survive? To be part of the strongest? Natural selection… right. Fakhri never saw himself as one of “those strong and brave warriors” that was fit to father the next generation. No, he had been more akin to… a cockroach. A pesky bug that lived on the trash left behind by others, unwanted and regarded with disdain. But however you wanted it gone, how hard you stomped on it, it would Fucking. Never. Die. He had to grin at that. 

Another rune was completed as his mind wandered. Was it strange that, despite wanting to move forward and start fresh, to ‘start his new tribe’ as it were, he still felt a need to keep that thread to his people. For over a century now, his deck of cards had been his companion. A gift from his old friend and mentor, they had guided him and others whenever an obstacle arose or a path forked into many. With the birth of his son and the exchange of vows, they had felt foreign in his hand. His dreams had been full of the scent of pine, of naked feet walking on a bed of fallen needles, under the evergreens swaying gently from a cold breeze. Thus he had taken a day away from his wife and son, to walk where his dreaming self threaded. He came back with a single branch. 

He looked down at his hands, rough and calloused, holding a knife and a completed rune; Laguz. Well then, no wonder he felt so spiritual today. It felt good though, to let the memories wash over him and through him. And maybe this was the message, that starting fresh didn’t require that one completely let go of the past, for it was and would always be the path we once walked. 

And it made the man he was today; a husband, and a father.  And a damn good one at that.

#[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #[ Fakhri Man'tik ] #[ Seda Man'tik ] #[ Fjúk Mantik ] #AHHHHHHH!!!! I have been meaning to write about them too!!

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“When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are to become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No … don’t blush. I am telling you some truths. For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? But it is!”

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

#[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #[ Seda Man'tik ] #[ Fakhri Man'tik ] #They are inextricably intertwined #And while yes they are very much IN love #There is a bedrock deep love between them

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#[ Birdmouth ] #[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #Look I'm not saying that there's a lot of layers that have yet to be revealed but... #There's a whole lot of pigeons that are gonna come home to roost eventually

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@kuro8529

i think this is probably one of the best rat videos i've ever seen and you all need to see it. just look at that calm beast

#[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #[ Arak ] #cozy rat! #♥

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all ended with her eyes, hell, purgatory, paradise

#[ Gpose ] #[ Provender ] #My gracious this is gorgeous! #(Also in the process of standardizing and updating my tags - I will put a guide to them in when I am done!)

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This is such big Seda energy.

#[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #[ Seda Man'tik ]

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To some people you’re an NPC

To other people, you’re the special, unlockable character that they worked and worked to finally get- and when they do they’re so happy because they got the game just so they could find you.

#[ birdmouth ] #Not to wax sappy but #kuro8529 this is you ♥

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@gray-morality

A little masterpost with all my fancy little mashups so far, you can get them for free here!

#[ mods ] #Oh my I can see Fakhri wearing some of these #And struggling to get out the door #Because Seda

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so I've been learning how to mod from the fabulous @foamofthe-sea and @aethernoise, and recently actually started releasing things!

mostly doing upscales to my preferred (but very niche) size of kniku medium, but also dabbling in porting a few older gen2 mods from a modder who left the community to both bibo and kniku, and today released my first vanilla mashup.

you can get all of it (for free) right here: https://ko-fi.com/evacybele

#[ Signal Boost ] #[ Mods ] #Okay A: I really like these mashups #B: I want to know what hairstyle that is on the Pantheon robe #C: Pls share secrets of upscaling! I want to get back into the learning curve :3

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𝙰 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙱𝙰𝙻𝙻 @ 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙀𝙇 𝘾𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙊

We're ending the year on a grand note, and YOU'RE INVITED ! Join us for an evening of 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝘾𝙄𝙉𝙂 , 𝙎𝙆𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂, 𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙎, & 𝙈𝙊𝙍𝙀! We hope to see you dressed to the nines for our very last event of the season!

𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙑𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙀𝙎

𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘋𝘈𝘕𝘊𝘐𝘕𝘎! 𝘢 𝘚𝘊𝘈𝘝𝘌𝘕𝘎𝘌𝘙 𝘏𝘜𝘕𝘛! 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘋𝘌𝘊𝘖𝘙𝘈𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎! 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘐𝘊𝘌 𝘚𝘒𝘈𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎!

and other events at the whim of Mdme Fugorier. Forgive her. She loves this holiday. EVENT CARRD SOON TO COME!

｢ WHEN ｣ — SUNDAY, DEC 10th 8p-12a ET ｢ WHERE ｣ — BALMUNG, MIST W7—P15 ｢ MORE INFO ｣ — wine-xiv.crd.co/#special

@mooglemeet

#[ Signal Boost ] #[ Events ] #[ Balmung ]

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An unexpected nameday gift… 2023.11.19

There was something utterly breathtaking about the act of giving birth. The amount of strength and courage required from the mother, after what seemed like an eternity, as the little seed grew inside her. And the hardest part of that long journey was to be many bells of pain and exhaustion, to finally deliver into the world a new life. It was something this old viera had given up on ever witnessing, as childbirth was solely the dominion of women amongst his race. Life had decided otherwise.

In his arms he held a small child, a boy, his head and the short pointy ears covered in a soft duvet of red hair. In time, his little ears would grow into proper Viera ears, though they would likely remain shortish - just like his papa. He had his mother's hair though, and Fakhri had to wonder if they’d be a mess of curls like hers or if they’d go a bit straighter like his. Oh and he had his father’s eyes - that soft gray with hints of blue, reminiscent of a rainy day. For now though he was sleeping, his eyes closed and his hands set into tiny fists. Bringing a finger to one of those hands, Fakhri waited until the child instinctively took a hold of it. He smiled. 

He had raised many boys in his long life, had sired sons and daughters as well. But this… this was different.His son - and he still couldn’t get over the fact they could tell his gender at birth - was born out of love and not out of duty towards his tribe. He’d be there to see him grow, to see him crawl and walk and tumble, to teach him how to get up, how to persevere. And he’d be there to protect him. To protect them; his family.

It was only much later in the day that he and Seda had realized their son had been born in the wee hours of the morning on Fakhri’s nameday; The 17th sun of the 6th Astral Moon. Almost funny how a day he never truly cared about now held meaning. Seda was the sole reason why the passage of time now held significance for the Viera, as moments spent with her were worth cherishing. And now he also had a son.They had named him Fjúk [Fee-you-k], ‘drifting snow’ in the tongue of his people. Though he wasn’t born in the Hríð tribe, a ‘city name’ was to be given to the boy eventually, as a ‘true name’ held great significance amongst Fakhri’s tribe and one such name was meant to be told to those cherished - like family or a lover - and no one else. But that could wait a few more suns, as for the present moment was spent caring for the newborn child and adapting to all the changes a baby brought into their lives.

A good thing Fakhri was no stranger to sleepless nights.

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Yes, I'm still alive xD Though still very much sick so the saga of "what is wrong with me" continues, and so does my absence from the game and on most of my social media because me tired. Still! The birth of Fakhri and Seda's son had been planned for a looooong time as we took a real 9 months after the dice told us Seda was pregnant. We RPed it out over a few days on gDoc, as health permitted, while keeping the date the dice (again) had decided. Life goes on for the two lovebirds, now joined by a third (or should I say a fourth? Arak definitely counts as a family member).

Crossing my fingers 2024 will bring good news and relief from the pain so I can start rping again. Until then, enjoy this very short and quite rusty writing of mine xD

#[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #[ Seda Ballard ] #[ Fakhri Man'tik ] #[ Fjúk Man'tik ] #And then they were four #Likewise still alive #Sorting out some sort of life-play balance #Whole lot of stress #But feeling positive - and honestly that's pretty fantastic #(and you guys this RP was SO DAMNED GOOD) #I have the best RP partner ♥

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#[ Smoke and Mirrors ] #[ Seda Ballard ] #[ Fakhri Man'tik ] #[ Varlets ] #NGL Seda blisses out when Fakhri rubs her ears #It creeps her out when strangers think they can touch them tho

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#[ Birdmouth ] #Every night

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ishgardians: family oriented, but a little set in their ways

bonus

#[ Birdmouth ] #[ Palaver ] #omg #this is great

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Grief is just love with no place to go.

– unknown // Art piece by Ikenaga Yasunari

#[ Seda Ballard ] #[ Wayward Shadows ]