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the-science-of-stories · 4 years

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Find Your Star.

A Dungeons and Dragons fiction writing commission for my buddy Noriaki on Twitter!

They’re part of a campaign I am also a part of with Dahlia and have given me permission to post it here on Tumblr! This was my first writing commission and I couldn’t be happier with it.

Characters that belong to the commissioner:

Star Chaser, Tabaxi Rogue

Aegis Olyrnn, Female Elf

“Huh. I guess this is the place.”

Above the babbling brook that ran through the quaint expanse of a small forest came the voice of an elvish man. He wore the garb and carried the hefty bag of a researcher. Holding up a pamphlet he was using for reference he adjusted his glasses to get a better look.

It was a crude drawing of a small cottage flanked by an abundant garden and a quaint little pond. In front of it stood a couple of stick figure drawings: a woman with dark hair and a small cat-like figure with a cloak.

Lowering the drawing to compare it to the cottage he stood before he gave an affirming nod. His boots clacked against the cobblestone path in melody with the stream and a few home-made wind chimes.

He stepped up onto a creaky patio that led to a wooden door, both showing signs of their age with weathered surfaces. He gave the door a couple of raps with the back of fist before placing his arm behind his back in a patient stance waiting for an answer.

After almost a minute the door creaked open, the sun spilling in onto its residence.

It was a woman. One also of elvish descent with ears poking out of shoulder length dark hair. She wore a set of casual clothes with her hair hanging loose, cascading around her face with evergreen eyes that matched the lush vegetation around her dwelling.

“51 seconds, that’s almost slower than last time.” The researcher observed, pretending to be impressed and earning a tired scowl from the woman.

“I was taking a nap, Farlan,” she groggily answered, looking at his hand, “You received the drawing?”

Farlan raised the paper before turning it around to face the drawing towards the woman, “I would say so, as I found your home.”

The woman stepped aside, gesturing with an arm for the man to follow inside. He gave a thankful nod and stepped through the door.

Taking a look around he was immediately met by lush pots of different flora hanging from the ceiling or resting on shelves. The air itself almost smelled like perfume, something Farlan clearly noticed as he flinched a bit when he took a breath.

“I see you still have your hobby,” he remarked, “Quite an... exotic home.”

“Keerla likes it when she comes here.” Aegis crossed the room to a small stove where she set a kettle on a rack in a quaint fireplace.

“Keerla was busy, so they sent me instead. Like they always do when she’s busy. She’ll be back before you know it. But in the meantime-” Farlan slipped a document out of his bag, adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat, “Aegis Olyrnn, my name is Farlan Chaedi of the Harpers Medical Wing. I will be your substitute physician for this visit. Do you accept my treatment?”

The woman turned around, now holding two mugs that she set down on the table with a firm stare at the scientist, “Yes, Doctor Farlan, I accept. Do we have to do this every time?”

Farlan nodded in answer, scribbling on the scroll before tucking it back in his bag. Aegis gestured to the chair opposite of her at the table. He nearly took his seat when he stopped to pick up another paper that sat atop a few others.

“These came in a parcel, are these from him?” Farlan asked, holding up one of the drawings, pressing the back to his chest to face Aegis.

“Yes, that is from Star Chaser,” Aegis responded, resting her cheek in her hand with a bit of an endeared expression, “Bless him, he learned how to use the mail. He has been sending me some of his drawings to let me know where he is and that he’s okay.”

His brow furrowed as he turned it back, clearly he noticed something on the paper as he pressed it to his nose and took a sniff.

“This smells like cinnamon,” Farlan observed, causing Aegis to chuckle to herself.

“One of his new friends makes these cinnamon treats he is obsessed with. I believe he attempted to send me one tied to the letter.”

Farlan’s lip curved up a bit with a quiet ‘hrm’ as if that were an answer he didn’t expect but definitely believed. He set the paper back down with the pile before taking a seat.

“So we ran some more tests, and it looks like you are responding positively to the treatment. There are no signs of any infection or antibodies to the-”

“Get to the ‘but’ please, Farlan,” Aegis interrupted with a couple of exhausted nods, “I was in the field as well. I may not have done as much medical study but I’ve been alive for over 400 years. I know what letting a patient down easy sounds like.”

Farlan pressed his lips together in a relent expression, setting the paper in his hands down before lacing his fingers together on the table, “We believe your condition might be spreading to your muscle tissue. We cannot be sure just yet, but it appears to be migrating away from where we’ve targeted the treatment.”

Aegis took a heavy breath through her nose, her shoulders rising and falling in deflation. She didn’t seem surprised, but that didn’t make the news any easier to take.

“If there’s nothing else you can do I’d like you to finish your test and be going.” Aegis requested.

“I think you should tell him.” Farlan responded, tapping the drawing.

“I don’t want to hear this.” Aegis interrupted, standing up from her chair to walk towards the fireplace.

“He is out on his own he should know about-”

“Doctor Farlan.” Aegis cut him off as the kettle started to whistle. For a moment the loud screech was the only sound in the cottage before she quickly turned around and removed it from the heat, “My lifespan is likely to be much longer than his. Even with my condition I will outlive him.”

“You may outlive him,” Farlan emphasized, “You knew this when we found him. I need you to recall I don’t ask this lightly, he was like a nephew to me.”

Aegis had just started to pour the boiling water into the two cups laid out, her expression softening, “He did love his ‘smart uncle’, even if he thought you were strange at times.”

“I think he found me just as fascinating as I found him,” Farlan countered, seemingly a bit annoyed. It made Aegis crack a smile as she sat back down and cupped her hands around her tea.

She reached across the table, dragging one of the drawings out from the bottom of the pile. She picked it up and looked it over, tilting her head with a bit of a smile.

“Do you remember when we found him? Freezing and feral that night in the Mulhorand desert? He was so comfortable in the wild, but the moment I touched him he wouldn’t let me stop petting him. Such an affectionate little creature, alone for such a long time. Couldn’t even speak or write common yet.”

“I had to remind you he was for a study when all you wished to do was play with him,” Farlan recalled, taking a sip of his tea.

“You weren’t the most on task, either,” the elvish woman reminded, giving him a knowing glare, “I would find you pausing in the middle of taking notes when he was batting at your pen.”

The memory sparked something with the researchers as Farlan cracked a smile before they both laughed for a moment. Aegis collected herself as she ran a finger around the rim of her cup.

“He’s having so much fun,” she explained, looking at the stack of drawings and letters, “He’s met such a wonderful group of friends.”

“We knew sooner or later we’d have to release him,” Farlan said, “He was still a living creature, even if he’s an adolescent. He deserves to make his own choices.”

She shuffled the drawing she was looking at across the table to face Farlan.

It was another crude drawing of the same cat from the reference picture he used to find the cottage. This time, he was standing atop a large hill with sword extended towards a starry sky. A shooting star’s trail streaked to where it was drawn in place at the tip of his sword.

“He wanted to find a star. Just like a story I used to tell him: that shooting stars all landed somewhere and we had our own to find.” Aegis reminisced, her eyes starting to get misty.

Farlan nodded somberly with his eyes on the drawing, “That was how you came to the choice of his name. Yes, I recall.”

“He believes if he finds one it will make me better,” Aegis continued, “That if he finds his star then I’ll be healthy again. I can’t take that away from him.”

Farlan exhaled, clearly he wanted to argue but he knew he couldn’t. Instead he elected to start removing equipment from his bag, “I don’t know if it’s a star he’s gonna find, exactly, but he may find what he’s looking for in a form he didn’t expect. Maybe a magic potion or an ancient artifact.”

“Don’t patronize me, Farlan,” Aegis said, but she couldn’t hide the bit of a smile, “You’re my doctor today, you don’t get to tease me.”

“Not teasing. Well, maybe half teasing.” Farlan assured, “It is quite a world out there, after all. From what you’ve told me already he’s on quite a remarkable adventure.” He held a hand out, flexing his fingers. Aegis rested her hand in his as he started to check her pulse, “For now, he has his own star to chase,” he cast a glance at the drawing again, “I think you’ve already found yours.”

Farlan placed his other hand over top of Aegis’ as she nodded a couple of times, covering her teary smile with her hand. She sniffled, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

“Remember, my little Star Chaser-”

“- When you see a falling star, follow it. Follow it and remember that I see it, too. If you chase the star, I will know where you are!”

A small Tabaxi with an orange coat sang the parable to himself as he had before hundreds of times, kicking his feet on a bar stool way too tall for him. He held a length of chalk in a fist drawing on a sheet of parchment.

An empty glass with the remnants of what was likely milk sat next to him as he had just finished scribbling ears on a cat-like stick figure staring up at a very large tower.

His party was about to go see a tower just like it nearby. He couldn’t quite remember why they were, but he was still so excited. It was so tall! Maybe if he could scale it he’d get close to the night sky.

There were so many stars above where they were, and it was so pretty! One of them just had to be close enough to touch! If he couldn’t grab it, maybe he could just knock it loose.

“Hey Star! We’re about to go to the markets and see the fresh catches for today,” A soft female voice called from the doorway, “Do you wanna come with us?”

“Uh huh!” Star eagerly replied, nodding a couple times. Fresh fish at the market, he couldn’t wait! He just had to finish this drawing.

A couple more details and... Done!

He folded the drawing up along with a note, giving a rather unnecessarily large lick to the envelope to seal it before waving it around to the barkeep, “I’d like to send this letter, please!”

The barkeep, a burly man with a bushy mustache reached out with a bit of a forced smile as he grabbed the slightly damp letter with two fingers.

“Same place as th’ last one?” he asked.

The Tabaxi nodded a couple times, “Yes, please!”

Star scooped up his drawing materials, hopping off the stool before padding for the door. Before long the letter would be on its way to the cottage, but the words almost rang in the air off of the paper that was filled to the brim with wondrous, if not brokenly written words.

The envelope was lovingly (albeit a bit sloppily) wrapped and sealed. The cover sported a blotch of ink resembling a paw print and a couple words scrawled barely legibly across the front.

To Mama

#Commission #Writing #DnD #D&D #Dungeons and Dragons #Star Chaser #Campaign: The Riot #Tabaxi #Rogue #5e #Aegis #Aegis Olyrnn #Elf #Fantasy #Fiction

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scholar-thief · 4 years

Photo

[ RP LOG ]

Momori hunts for dodos and eggs with Njorthrbiartr “Biartr” Hjallr and Caelrin Morra.

Snippets of OOC chat in italics + blockquotes, for flavor. You can assume many actions were due to just, so many bad rolls. So many bad rolls.

@s-udarshana @vysaldhe

Momori) australia is like a high level zone irl (Momori) everythings so dangeorus!!!!! (Momori) kangaroos like, are cute on an abstract level. but then you see one in real life, and how it has an 8 pack and is JACKED and (Biartr) they are so JACKED LMAO OMG … (Momori) my mind is racing w/ thoughts of australia. who knows what I'll write I'm a loose cannon now (Biartr) oh god kalsdfhjsd

Momori - In the wild, wind-torn lands of Abalathia’s Spine, two adventurers find themselves yalms away from vicious “Gastronis” birds. These hefty, feather-covered spheres of mass prowl the lands, searching for delicacies hidden away beneath the soil, their legs powerful enough to go from 0 to 60 in a blink of the eye. As such, they made difficult prey for the local knights, not that many wanted to go toe to toe with what were basically legs attached to a ball anyway.

Momori spots a particularly JACKED one. How that looks on a goddamn sphere is...up to you. She points at it. “Shall we start?”

Biartr | When being told about the anatomy of these birds, and observing them from the sky, Biartr hadn't guessed that they'd be so...large. On all accounts, really. Most notably, she was rather concerned by the state of their legs, canting her head to the side to get a better look. "I'll admit I have my reservations," Biartr admitted, shifting from one leg to another as she squinted slightly. "I mean I can see why the wish to eat them, at the very least."

Caelrin: "--huh. Thought I saw some folks lackin' plate strollin' about here. Strangers two, but I've seen you 'round the ship before."

Biartr was glad to quit staring at the strange...muscular legs of the gastornis, brushing loose strands of hair from her features. "Ah?" Her head canted to the side once more in thought. "The same to you -- Ah, Biartr." She gestured briefly to herself.

Momori: “Each bird is enough to feed a camp for days. How many did we have to hunt again? Ten?” Momori tilted her head slightly, not looking forward to both hunting /and/ hauling back a literal mountain of birdflesh. She then looked towards the newcomer and gave a small wave. “Hello there. I’m Momori.”

Caelrin | Sure enough - the stranger is a vaguely familiar one, a Hyur seen about camp and ship - though perhaps a brute of scarred muscle was a bit more apt in description. Dull golden eyes shed themselves keen against the features of the lalafell and viera, affable and yet observing all the while - a placid, warm smile upon tarnished features all the same. "Biartr an' Momori, then. Well met. Caelrin, Caelrin Morra. Fist of Rhalgr - Monk of Ala Mhigo."

Caelrin: "...iffin I didn't know any better, I'd say it sounds as if you two plan t' hunt."

Momori simply points at the strange ballbirds over yonder. “Ten of them, and their eggs. We were given rotten cabbages by the merchants, and hope to show goodwill by helping them with some hunting.”

Biartr inclined her head before affirming his suspicions with a short but firm nod, her golden gaze looming down only briefly. "We were unfortunate enough to strike a deal with a rather," Her shoulders rolled up and down languidly. "...Demanding trader."

Caelrin: ".....demanding trader. You two look savvy an' fierce enough to set to the hunt then, that's for certain. What stalls your intent? Waitin' for folks?"

Biartr looked towards the birds gathering, and finally back to the hyur with a slight grimace. Her voice lowered, perhaps she thought the birds could hear her. "...I've heard stories of sky pirates getting gutted from the power of their legs alone. Haven't ever seen one this...low down, admittedly."

Momori looks at the dodo’s fearsome, powerful legs, then looks back at Caelrin and Biartr. “Could go in, knives out. Maybe get punted off this plane of existence. Perhaps we could lay a trap for them instead?”

Caelrin | Of all answers to be given to such a question - given the slow, gentle rise of the brow upon Caelrin's countenance, it's clear enough to see *that* wasn't what he'd been expecting. A glance to her, and then, to Momori, before looking to the Gastornis in the distance. He's thinking. "....can't be any worse than a kick from a horse, fable or otherwise. Then again - one ain't three. Trap seems a bit too much - they ain't exactly big game."

Caelrin: "How about this - i get their attention, take the hits for you, while you two skewer as you please."

Momori: “Sounds like a lovely plan!” She gives Caelrin a pat on the back. If he was willing to bear the brunt of attacks from a herd of birds, then she would be first to jump on the idea.

Momori offers a moment of silence to Caelrin.

Biartr chewed slightly on her bottom lip, leveraging her height to her tip toes to get a look at the birds just beyong Caelrin. "They do have claws. Horses don't have claws." She had a point, at least -- and her gaze finally dropped, as did her height. "I'm not sure I could just watch you get beat pathetically by a Gastornis..." She squinted at Momori's answer, before gracing him with a rather pathetically confused look. "If I am outnumbered, then so be it."

Caelrin just sort of......stares. Rather than give into the ego of a lesser man under such scrutiny - Biartr's compassion, even if confused, earns a wry, warm smile delivered to her in mixture of reassurance and knowing. "I'm planning on it. Reckon you know not of th' faith, then - best you see it practice firsthand than me chewing your ear off with our ways. Trust me - I've taken far worse."

Caelrin: "But, iffin it puts you at ease - 's take it one at a time. Best we get the eggs first; these creatures might have materal instincts. Raid their nests, some'll come calling. Two birds with.....two eggs, I reckon."

Momori: “Oh, I’m sure ole’ Cael will be alright. Look at all the scars on ‘im! Birds will be no problem.” Momori then turns to look for a couple of birds to start with, and sees a pair nested by a tree on the top of a cliff. “Shall we?”

Biartr: "I have an idea for the eggs," Biartr interjected, raising a bone horn that was affixed to her waist. "It's entirely possible that I could ride my endymion and pick up the eggs from their nests one, or two at a time. We can fly and drop them off to a safe point."

Caelrin: ".....hrm. Hit-and-run tactics. If you reckon you an' your companion can be swift an' deft enough to do so, I see no reason for you to not try. More likely to spot nests from th' air than the ground anyways. Reckon you can handle that, while Momori an' I start setting to the birds."

Biartr: "Easily enough," She affirmed with a short nod, taking a step back to press her lips to her horn. Somewhere along the mass of tents, skirting one of the sky-islands came a purple-feathered beat. A little larger than the average endymion and of course, characterised by the muscular single foot -- swooping down to just behind the trio.

Momori takes one look at the beast and chuckles. “Gods, the size of that thing...I thought the dodos were big, but this could probably hunt them without breaking a sweat. But I’m keen on seeing Caelrin in action.”

Caelrin watches the creature with a particular interest - eyes of a man who, though having seen such beasts domesticated before, didn't quite expect to see one like this. Seems he knows well enough to keep his distance - it's no pet. With a nod, he glances to the lalafell, fists rising to clash knuckles with one another in solidarity. There's an audible *thud*, as if he'd just punched a shield. "Aye, no time to waste. Burning daylight."

Momori - The closer she got, the more...hesitant she felt. She couldn’t see beyond the chest of the bird. It looked like some awful, heaving bushel of orange feathers propped up on two legs the size of a lalafell each. Momori pulled out her two daggers...and waited for Biartr and Caelrin to give some kind of signal.

Caelrin , for one, doesn't seem daunted all that much - either by truthful discourse of having seen far worse, or merely by virtue of a firm shell of bravado. Regardless - a glance is sent in Momori's way, watching her produce her daggers before eyes train upon the bird once more - studying it, as if discerning where to strike first. He had to be humane about it....right?

Biartr | It hadn't taken long for the Veena to be seen and somewhat heard overhead. The only noise being that of the thunderous clap of the endymion's wings. The first nest that would be her target would be one teetering just on the edge of the isles. For the most part, the gastornis surrounded it seemed happily nesting until she had gone near -- at least it was a welcome distraction away from the other two.

(Momori) just start.... stabbing with me toothpicks?!? (Caelrin) KEK (Caelrin) also - are we rolling to attacks these or is it just. freeform killin (Biartr) Tenderise the meat and you'll be doing them a favour at the very least (Momori) oh man. if people play pokemon (Momori) fighting type is bad against flying right? (Momori) HHA (Caelrin) do you think these things fly (Biartr) dfjghdkfg (Biartr) and i don't mind rolls or free form, it *would* be funny to add a random element to it (Momori) if doduo is flying then ????????? (Caelrin) yeah i'm cool either way, i just wanna know before i have caelrin start things off (Caelrin) cool with it* (Momori) I'll roll, because RNG is fun :D (but will just use it as a rough guide of how things go)

Caelrin: ".....ah, hells with it," grunts the monk. Fists angle down and behind to the ground, and a low stance is taken before aether, in vicious jets, erupt and clash to produce force that sends Caelrin violently into the air before the gastorinis - only for him to aim to crash down upon it with a powerful axe kick.

Biartr | The endymion takes the first swoop down towards the nest, its powerful leg aiming to grab at the egg. Unfortunately for the bird, egg and Veena at once - its leg is perhaps a little /too/ powerful and during the lifting process, it manages to crush the egg rather carelessly. From overhead, a barrage of cursing can be heard.

Momori - While the birds are distracted by Biartr and Caelrin, Momori dashes in, daggers drawn. She mounts the back of one of the birds and becomes a whirlwind of stabs, but the whole attack is more akin to a kitten desperately trying to cause damage to a much larger foe. The bird pays more attention to the chaos Caelrin is causing.

Caelrin | With the first bird having assumedly been easily dispatched - Caelrin gets into it, now that the herd has sufficiently been aggroed. The monk is deft and fluid in his motions, focusing upon the next closest bird - it's almost comically how easily he fells it, a vicious aethercharged hook to his beak, leaving neon-violet aether in its wake, puts it down as if he were knocking out a drunkard.

Biartr | For the second round, the endymion swoops in to grab the next egg within the nest. A change of tactics, it seemed, throwing the egg up towards Biartr. The Veena manages to catch it, quite perfectly before it quite literally explodes in her grasp, leaving her covered in egg-toplasm.

Momori - Meanwhile, the dodo Momori is riding squawks! Once, then twice! It then dashes off, Momori hanging for dear life on its back, her screams growing faint as it gets further and further away. The speed is eventually too much and she tumbles off, disappearing into the tall grass.

Momori: "..............................." She gets up, the whole front of her covered in mud and tuffs of grass.

(Biartr) Benny hill theme music intesifies (Biartr) intensifies** (Momori) I need the playdead emote after all this (Momori) haha benny hill theme music BLARES and destroys headphone users

Caelrin | Two birds down - and yet, despite being so focused, Caelrin is much too occupied in the witnessing of Momori tumbling down and out over the dirt that the focus drops for just a second. Not even a chance is had for him to accost the third bird, just watching as it rears back - only to peck him in the chest! Certainly doesn't draw blood, but the force of it produces a tough grunt and a backstep.

Biartr | This time, third time lucky? Right? Wrong. Biartr and her endymion swoop down a third time, only to be met by a rather territorial gastornis. The endymion's muscular claw picks up the would-be attacker as opposed to the egg. It's at least something that could be used to a form of advantage, and Biartr directs the bird higher, where it would drop the gastornis from a great height. It plummets to the isle not far from the duo, dead upon impact.

Momori tosses a dagger at one of the Gastornis, and the blade flies straight and true. It buries itself deep in the neck of the bird, ending its life swiftly. She wipes the mud from her eyes, steps over, and wretches the dagger out from the corpse without batting a lash. That was more like it - now, who’s next?

Caelrin | Who's next? The poor gastornis that's just pecked Caelrin square in the chest. With a clashing of fists and a grunt, the aether within, a sickly, violent, violet aether stokes, swelling muscle and shading over flesh and flaring like neon within veins. With particular speed a force, he seizes the bird by the literal beak with a single hand, heaving and throwing it down into the ground like a hulk would a trickster god.

Biartr had many an excuse for this situation. Namely, the fact that she didn't half-drown her head in a vat of ceruleum. Now that her endymion was finished trashing an entire nest, she ground both of their progress to a halt and stepped off the bird in the middle of the peninsula. Both of her hands dipped into the bright blue paint in a contained on her belt - and she practically painted her entire face blue with ceruleum. The woman now smelling like an engine room, and possibly glow in the dark.

Momori - Some dodos surround Caelrin, pecking and dodging. Others run around in dumb circles, kicking up dust and adding to the overall chaotic ENTROPY of the whole ordeal. Under the cover of mud and grass, Momori leaps deftly into the air and lands on the top of another bird, blades sinking down on where she stands. Another one down. The sight of something purple catches her eye, and she witnesses Caelrin go hulk on a Gastornis. Weird? Something to ask about later? Yes.

Caelrin | With the poor bird left in a small, feather-lined crater - now it was time to adapt and fight against one's surroundings. Peck and dodge as they may, combat aqgainst beasts was a specialty of Caelrin's, and pecks are weaved through or land uselessly against powerful arms or iron-like muscle. Another bird bites the dust with retaliation, as a streaking overhead fist hammers down firmly upon its cranium - followed with an audible *crunch*.

Biartr | The somewhat lost-looking Viera had now a certain fierceness about her, if you could see her once more in the sky. She had stood herself on the back of the endymion, who had swooped towards the second nest, grabbing the egg neatly within its clutches. It leant towards the side with its swoop, allowing the Veena to pick up an egg within her grasp too. The two flying briefly off to deposit the eggs within Cloudtop.

Momori slides under a bird, dragging her blade through as she moves between its legs. As it collapses, she quickly turns back and gives it another good stab near the neck, as to end its suffering quickly. How many was that now? Seven?

(Momori) cromch (Momori) god that sound. I'm thinking of that video where someone bites a banana horizontally and it makes just, the worst sound (Biartr) N O (Caelrin) HELLO? (Momori) IS. IS THAT THE SOUND?? (Caelrin) IDK WHAT YOU MEAN (Momori) here I will show you (Biartr) im trying to find the video dkfgdf (Caelrin) wow i REALLY HATE THIS (Caelrin) but no not quite the sound (Momori) that cronch sound is burned in my memory (Biartr) perhaps just speed it up a bit to 2x (Biartr) and that's the sound (Biartr) anyway im going to eat my keyboard (Momori) ahaha PLS

Biartr | Its perhaps not the sun for Biartr and her endymion. The purple-feathered 'friend' comes into contact with the third nest and only a horrid 'squelch' can be heard as the two overzealously destroy all of the eggs and the single inhabitant within it into a mushed pulp.

Caelrin | Seven, eight - frankly, Caelrin stopped counting after the second. His focus remains firmly upon seeing the herd cleared and brought to rest, even that which was eternal. Despite this, the assault continues from the last few present, and Caelrin endures with the same defense and speed he had at first - though the birds are starting to pelt a little more fiercly. Maybe avenging their fallen brethren - or all those eggs. He's handling it well, though.

(Momori) so. so many eggs exploded (Momori) f (Biartr) Biartr out here looking like boo boo the fool (Caelrin) should've put on clown makeup (Biartr) peels off her flesh to reveal a full clown suit with make up (Momori) dfjsldjfkls jfSDJFSDKJ

Momori hears something behind her, and she whips her head around. The motion is too fast though, and her hair slaps right onto her eyes. Momentarily blinded, something hits her on the back and sends her flying through the air, right towards Caelrin.

Caelrin | Momori may have despaired - but rest assured, with a monk on the team, she's in good hands. Literally; she's been *caught*, a reactionary movement made to preserve himself and her. With a huff, he promptly tosses her like a football to the nearest bird to continue the attack, while he occupies himself with another satisfying crunch of a gastornis cranium.

Momori - The bird catches Momori.

Biartr | Despite being out of practice for the traditional 'hunt' that Biartr was accustomed too, perhaps she was getting back into the hang of it. Somewhat, at least. Once more, the Veena and her mount swoop down into a nest and carry off two eggs back towards the Camp. There is an air of chaos to it, as the gastornis attempt to trample (read: follow) the egg-snatchers.

Momori - Lalafell under wing, the bird sprints to its nest and slam dunks Momori into it. Touchdown! Momori is just, done. She lets it happen. Dead inside eyes gaze to the sky.

Caelrin | Nevermind. She *isn't* in good hands, for she is now in a nest. Unfortunately, the said bird finds itself sideways and slackened as a vicious dropkick is loosed into its flank - seeing it skid along and through dirt and rock to its death in retaliation. Not quite a slam dunk, but - it's a goal. Goal. Goal. GOOOOOOALASSOOOOOOOOO

Biartr | It's not a great time. It's an awful time. The next set of nests Biartr and her endymion race for are the ones precariously teetering on the edge. Except, now they're not on the edge and are dropping into the clouds below. Ooft.

(Biartr) Roblox oof. (Caelrin) do the eggs also explode mid-fall (Momori) HAHHA (Biartr) :pensiveclown: (Biartr) we'll go with no and see if we can salvage it with a /good/ roll. (Caelrin) also actually how many birds have we killed (Caelrin) is it like....8 or 9 (Momori) I think 10?? or 9. But we can round up (Caelrin) 9.7 birds > Biartr literally rolls a 1 (Momori) OH My god!!!! (Biartr) BYE (Momori) this is MOMENTUOUS (Biartr) im laughing so hard rn (Caelrin) : ) (Caelrin) the endymion releases an egg - it explodes as soon as it's out (Biartr) ????

Momori sits up in the nest, in time to see a bird crash into a rock. Absolute chaos. She looks up, eyes searching for Biartr and her companion. Something in her gut tells her that she better be watching.

Biartr | Biartr's concern for Calerin getting gutted by a muscle-leg flightless bird was misplaced. Especially now that she was somewhat over-hulked on the mix of ceruleum and paint on her face. Her endymion flies off, for now, but Biartr appeared to have been dropped amongst the piles of birds. Or moreso, thrown - her body skidding through the mud in a dirty, yolky, blue-faced mess. Nice job.

(Biartr) ah I also don't have /playdeadon this character (Momori) splot (Caelrin) roblox death sound (Caelrin) also who's Calerin (Biartr) hello darkness my old friend (Momori) long lost twin (Momori) evil dark twin (Caelrin) Calerin Moarr (Biartr) his more attractive sister (Biartr) biartr: overjuiced on paint. me: overjuiced on coffee (Caelrin) LMAO (Caelrin) aight one last roll since i think this bird be the last yeah? (Momori) sounds good!! (Biartr) :) (Biartr) biartr is gonna have to just end up being "Look guys I am actually really cool okay please beliEvE ME"

Momori silently stares at Biartr, gaze flat and serious. But seconds later, she bursts into a laughter so powerful she topples over on the floor. A bird comes over and sits on top of her as if she were an egg, and the sound of laughter is muffled by several layers of feather.

Caelrin | Biartr's concern for Caelrin getting gutted by a muscle-leg flightless bird may have been misplaced, certainly; after all, given all the carnage on the ground, as well as the beaten and slain birds with crushed heads and perforated necks, it's clear the two are handling themselves well. One bird left - and that is all it takes for Caelrin to lose focus long enough to watch Biartr faceplant into the dirt and mud. Nice job. Instinct has him rushing to move to her - but he takes his eyes off his prey long enough for the very same bird that sits on Momori to kick the monk squarely in the stomach, raking as well. A flash of red and a few ilms driven back. Okay, yeah - it's got a kick.

Biartr merely stares flat-out, looking at the sky - the only movement is the heavy rise and fall of her chest. For a moment she moves the spear off her back, throwing it towards the duo in a hope she'd at least skewer a bird, only for the spear to fall short and plant into the ground shy of the target near Cael.

(Caelrin) ......does the tail of the spear have a sharp end too (Biartr) it does! just shorter than the usual (Caelrin) e x e c u t i o n t i m e.

Momori can’t hear what’s happening. What’s going on? In the warm darkness she’s trapped under, she fumbles about, hands searching for her daggers..which she doesn’t find. No, the bird seems to tell her. It is egg time. Time to be egg.

Caelrin | Momori will not be egg. Not today - not this time. Like being birthed from the womb for a second time, the lalafell is thrown into the world of light and air as the bird is quite *literally* pulled off of her and lifted into the air with bared teeth and a low snarl. He's clearly fed up with all of this - and tempers his frustrations accordingly with due justice. Biartr's spear is just nearby, waiting like a pole - and just like that, the monk slams the bird upon its tail-end with force.

Caelrin | Skewered - unfortunately, not a good kebob. Still raw and feathered.

Biartr continues to lie deathly still amongst the grass and bird corpses. There is likely a thought process of if she lays there still and long enough, she'll be forgotten about. The Veena is hoping, at least.

Caelrin: "--Biartr!" calls the monk, who's patting down his front with gauntlets as that peculiar violet aura begins to fade, drifting away with particles bleeding into the wind. Sorry - you're still here. "You alright over there?"

Momori doesn’t say. A word. She picks up her daggers.Then, a bird. Wordlessly starts making a pile of their bodies. She additionally steps over to Biartr, and waves a hand over her eyes. “...Shall we carry you back as well?”

Biartr continues to stare at the clouds overhead. She is plain-faced and taking a deep breath. "You can leave me here." There's a half-smile, though her brows are in knots and speak an otherwise rather frustrating story.

Momori cracks a mud-caked smile at Biartr. “This was certainly.......exciting.....Let us not speak of this in detail.”

Caelrin: "........I'll keep me lips locked an' shut real tight," the monk remarks, having moved over to join the two - considerably less dirt-coated as the two of them.

Caelrin: "Did good work either way, methinks. 's ten birds, and.....however many eggs you got before you...took your fall."

Biartr continues to lay flat-out, though her gaze at least lifts to dead-stare at the two of them. "Four eggs." She paused, gesturing to herself. "Five if I'm put over the campfire."

Caelrin: "Be a real cruel merchant indeed if he decided to accept scrambled Viera on top of all we're to recover."

Momori nods. “At least the merchants will be pleased. And no one is injured, though our egos find themselves devastated. Nothing a little merry-making can’t fix.”

Biartr: "I've had more flattering moments, admittedly." She sighed, pushing herself to her feet, a hand wiping away the mixture of egg and paint near her eyes.

Momori: “I’ll go carry over all the birds, and wash off. See you back at camp?” She gives a small wave, and busies herself with bird delivery.

Biartr: "Of course, thanks for keeping up the bargain."

Caelrin | "....merry-making to be had indeed, after all of this chaos," the monk chuckles, canting his head all the while as a glance is sent back over the shoulder to observe the handwork. With Momori's bidding, he offers a nod and parting wave. "--aye, be safe. See you back at camp."

#momori mori #Njorthrbiartr Hjallr #Caelrin Morra #ff14 rp logs #im sad the chat log filter i had removed all the dice rolls D:>#heartless AU

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thesunsingsforthem · 4 years

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𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟬 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 & 𝗔𝗗𝗗 𝟭𝟬 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗦 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 .

NICKNAME : Ghost STAR SIGN : Pisces HEIGHT : Listen i’m very short but I blame my messed up back. FAVOURITE MUSIC ARTIST : I listen to WAY too much to pick one favorite. I usually listen to quicker music I guess, something I can move to so that I get whatever work i’m doing done, or something I can sing along with to get me pumped. Whatever I like, I listen to lmao. I definitely trend towards rock-ish styles, but that’s by no means comprehensive or... not vague as hell. LAST TV SHOW YOU WATCHED : MIRACULOUS LADYBUUUUUUG WHAT KIND OF STUFF DO YOU POST : Mostly just me attempting to pretend I can write by flailing my hands at a keyboard. :P DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER BLOGS : I have a personal one that I haven’t been on in... years lol. I used to have other rp ones but I would always forget to check one when i was logged into another, so I just bit the bullet and made a multi. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR URL : Because it was right around the time I think NASA was ‘listening’ to the music/sounds the Sun makes, which fascinated me, and also I’m a literature/philosophy nerd so it fits with the aesthetic haha. Also I love sci-fi. HOGWARTS HOUSE : Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw hat stall probably. POKEMON TEAM : TEAM ROCKET- I mean ahem, Mystic or Instinct FAVOURITE COLOUR : Hrm... blues and greys probably? Though I love me some good reds, yellows, and oranges sometimes. HOW MANY BLANKETS DO YOU SLEEP WITH : I actively use one weighted blanket usually, but I have another fleece blanket and a sheet that I’ll alternate between either to cover my feet better or make a little tent with a fan out of lmao. I’m an adult ok. tagged by: @moonbeammuses tagging: anyone who wants to? I don’t want to bother anyone :P

#memes #//about me #//s h r u g I just wanted to do this a lot haha

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chain-unchained · 4 years

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October 12 - Part 1

The thing about fall, especially in the valley, was that the weather tended to be unpredictable. In the span of an hour, it could go from being pleasantly sunny, to an icy downpour, to overcast, then back to dazzling sun. It wasn’t so bad if you happened to be inside where it was warm and dry; if you were unlucky enough to be out and about when the weather began to change, though…

“Wow, it’s really coming down out there.” Emily commented from the couch in the living room of the house she shared with Haley, pulling back the curtains on the window to watch the rain come down in heavy sheets. “That’s just fall in the valley for you. It’s too bad it’s so cold out, I wouldn’t mind a thunderstorm.”

“I would.” Haley shot her sister a scathing look from the crafting nook they’d set up in a corner of the kitchen. “Humidity makes my hair frizz, so that’s a hard pass from me.”

“Aw, come on.” Emily shifted to rest her arms on the back of the couch, content to watch the raindrops race one another down the window. “You don’t enjoy them even a little? The sound of the rain on the roof is so peaceful…”

“Would you can it? I’m trying to do something here.” There was a good deal of pent up exasperation behind Haley’s voice; giving Emily another reproachful look, she turned her attention back to the infernal sewing machine sitting before her. “This outfit’s gotta turn out perfect, or else I can kiss that full ride scholarship good-bye.”

Emily hid the smile that came onto her face; she was used to dealing with Haley’s standoffish behavior, so it was nothing new for her to be told off like that. She knew the reason why her sister was so on edge as well, so she didn’t mind acquiescing and just quietly enjoying the storm. “…. Hm?”

She sat up a little and pulled the curtains back more as movement outside caught her eye; there, running down the street towards the Cindersap forest, was the farmer boy, holding his bag up over his head to try and fend off the icy rain.

“What?” Haley glanced up briefly as Emily got up from the couch. “Oh Yoba, don’t tell me you spotted another bird. We’re not keeping it.”

Without giving an answer, Emily hastily traipsed over to the door and threw it open. “Ashe!” She called as the petite farmer jogged past. “Here, come inside before you catch a chill!”

Ashe practically skidded to a stop on the slick pavement. “A-Are you sure?” He asked, looking a bit hesitant as he hugged himself to try and keep warm.

Nodding her head, Emily stepped aside while holding the door open; after a moment, Ashe jogged over, trying not to brush against her with his sopping wet clothes as he crossed the threshold into the house. “Th-thank you so much, Emily.”

“Hey, what are neighbors for?” Emily gave him a friendly smile as she shut the door behind them. “I’ll grab some towels and get some hot tea going, that should help warm you back up.”

It took a few minutes to brew the tea, but before long Ashe was bundled up on the couch, his nearly numb hands clutching at a cup of strong peppermint tea. “Sorry for getting your couch all wet.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll dry, won’t it? Anyway, you stay right here until the rain lets up, and then you march yourself right back home and take a hot bath so you don’t catch a cold.”

As Emily passed the crafting nook to go back into the kitchen, Haley snorted quietly. “That’s not even a real thing.” She grumbled, trying to focus on her work again. Every few seconds she’d glance around the sewing machine into the living room to sneak a look at Ashe, who was quietly sipping away at his tea. He was awful small for a farmer, and for a boy for that matter. Pretty sure he was about the same size as someone like Abigail, even…

Shifting to be able to look out the window, Ashe idly drummed his fingertips against the cup. ‘I hope the rain’s not too cold for the crops…’ He thought anxiously, his brow furrowed in concern at the idea of it. The pumpkins weren’t long from ripe, which was good since Spirits’ Eve was fast approaching. With any luck, he’d be able to let Jas pick out her pumpkin before opening the fields to the public..

“Hey.”

Jumping a little, Ashe turned to look at Haley, who had come to stand before him. “H-Hello, Haley.” He greeted slowly. He and Haley hadn’t really had any interaction since he moved to Pelican Town; she was always either absorbed into something like photography, or content to just ignore his dirt-covered self any time they passed.

Haley folded her arms over her chest as she gave him a hard look. “… Take off your clothes.”

The sudden demand made Ashe’s face turn a deep shade of crimson, and nearly made him spill the tea all over himself. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself, I’m not saying to get naked.” Haley scoffed with a shake of her head. “Look, you don’t want to catch a cold or whatever by staying in those wet clothes of yours, right?”

“N-No, but…” Ashe was more confused than uncomfortable at this point. “I don’t… have anything else to change into…?”

“Oh, my Yoba—” Frustrated, Haley practically shoved some dry clothes into his face. “Are you really that dense? The bathroom’s through that door there,” she pointed, “so quit asking stupid questions and go put these on!”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Not wanting to be scolded again, Ashe hastily set the tea on the coffee table and disappeared into the bathroom. It felt incredibly awkward to him, first being invited into their home when he didn’t know either of them very well and now changing in their bathroom into…. “Um, Haley?”

“Whaaaat?” Haley’s impatient voice snapped from the other side of the door.

“Are you sure these are the clothes you meant to give me--?”

“YES! Just put them on already!”

Hearing her sister’s exasperation, Emily stepped out from the kitchen to see her waiting impatiently by the bathroom. “What are you up to?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“… Yes, actually, that’s why I asked.”

“Well, if Farmer Dork here would hurry it up, you could see.” Haley drummed her fingertips against her arm; she was never a patient girl, and it was really grinding her gears that Ashe was taking his sweet time to change.

After almost a minute, the door unlocked and began to open—“Finally,” Haley huffed—and a very meek Ashe stepped into view; no longer was he wearing the overalls and bright orange turtleneck. Emily’s jaw dropped a little at the sight of him, clad in a lilac-colored t-shirt type top hanging baggily over a long sleeved white dress shirt. Instead of pants, a pair of charcoal shorts—also baggy and oversized for his small frame—covered the upper parts of his legs, while clean white leggings pulled halfway up his thighs covered most of the rest. He looked like… a totally different person, and quite an uncomfortable, embarrassed one at that.

“Hrm….” Haley grabbed his arm and pulled him to stand in the middle of the living room, taking her time to walk circles around him and examine him from every angle; more than once she would stop, tug on a piece of the fabric, make a noise of discontent, and then resume her circular march. Out of nowhere, she let out a frustrated yell. “Yoba, this won’t win the scholarship!”

“Scholarship?” Confused, Ashe looked to her, then to Emily, who gave him a sympathetic smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

“Haley’s trying to get into a fashion design academy in Zuzu City.” She explained simply. “But it’s a pretty expensive school to get into, so she’s trying to win a full ride scholarship.”

“Yeah, and I can kiss those hopes good-bye if this is the best that I can come up with!” Haley yanked on Ashe’s sleeve, obsessing over every flaw in the fabric. “Ugh, I worked so hard on this too!”

“Is it really that bad?” Ashe looked down at himself; sure, these weren’t clothes that he would ever pick out for himself or wear while working on the farm, but they weren’t awful. “If you made these yourself, then that’s really impressive.”

Haley gave him a hard look. “… Of course you would say that. You wear denim overalls every day.” She grumbled, roughly letting go of his arm and looking away with a frustrated pout. “…. Thanks, though. I guess they don’t look so bad when you’re wearing them.”

Another idea struck her, and she whipped around to face Ashe again with her eyes glinting. “I know. I’m sure to design something amazing if I’ve got someone to model outfits on! C’mon, you’ll do that for me, right?”

“Haley, don’t be selfish.” Emily stepped in between the two and shook her head. “Ashe doesn’t have time to be a dress up doll for you.”

“Actually…. I don’t mind.”

Surprised, Emily looked over her shoulder to Ashe. “Are you sure? You don’t have to play along with her, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ashe nodded his head slowly. “But I want to. I think it’s wonderful that Haley wants to go to a school like that. And I want to help her. If that means that I have to dress up every so often, that’s okay.”

Rather than being elated, Haley couldn’t help but feel a little muted. She had kind of expected Ashe to just play along begrudgingly, and she’d been okay with that, but hearing him so willing to help her like that made her feel just the littlest bit of guilt. She hadn’t expected him to be so… nice.

“You’re really kind of a pushover, aren’t you?” She asked a few minutes later, as she was busy taking Ashe’s measurements; now that she had a willing participant, she needed them so that the next outfit prototype wouldn’t hang like a burlap sack on him. “I bet you don’t even know what the word ‘no’ is.”

“I do!” Ashe insisted meekly. “I just… don’t say it very often. Besides, I really do want to help you. I didn’t know that you had such a wonderful dream. But… why ask me, specifically? Why not ask someone like Emily, or Abigail, or Penny?”

“Are you kidding?” Haley crouched down to take Ashe’s leg measurements. “Like they’d ever agree to help me. I know nobody in town likes me very much. You’re pretty much the only person that would put up with me besides Emily. And there’s no way that Emily would wear anything I made, even just to model it.”

“I-I see….”

“Geez, you’re such a twig!” Making a note of his measurement, she jotted it down on the notebook by her feet. “How does someone who works on a farm have such skinny arms and legs? I’m actually kind of jealous…”

Ashe’s cheeks tinted a bit pink at the comment; to be honest, he was embarrassed about how small he was. It wasn’t like he didn’t try to put on weight, because he did. “If you don’t mind me asking… what made you want to study fashion design?”

“Well,” Haley picked up the notebook and straightened up to set it by the table where her sketchpad was, “I don’t know if you’ve realized it, but I’m not exactly the most petite person on the planet. Alex likes to tell me I’m thicc with 2 c’s, whatever that means. And it’s really frustrating sometimes to find clothes that are cute or sexy or just nice for bigger girls—if you’ve got a butt, or a big chest, or a thick waist or thighs, then there’s not much selection for you, and it’s usually fugly as hell on top of being expensive.” She sighed and leaned against the table as she folded her arms across her chest again, a frustrated frown on her face. “So I got to thinking that if no one out there is making stuff for plus sized people, then I would. And not just for the bigger girls, either—I want to make a line of clothing that caters to all shapes and sizes and gender identities. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you identify as or what your body is—” she suddenly struck a determined and triumphant pose, a fire practically burning in her eyes, “you should be able to wear nice clothes like everyone else!”

Her sudden outburst of passion caught Ashe quite off-guard. They were both strangers to one another, so he really had no idea that she had such ambition.

“So yeah.” Haley leaned back against the table again. “Of course, the fact that filling a gap in the market would bring in loads of money is a nice bonus, but more than anything, helping people feel good about themselves is my main goal. And even though I’m mostly aiming towards plus sized women,” she gave Ashe the faintest of smiles, “I appreciate that you’re helping me out here. But I’m blaming you if I don’t get into this academy, you got that?”

“Right…” Ashe half laughed at the idle threat.

“Alright then.” Glancing out the window, Haley saw that the rain had all but stopped. “Oh hey, the rain’s let up. You probably should get out of here before it picks up again.”

“Ah, really?” Ashe looked outside as well, relieved that he would be able to get home. “I’ll go change real quick—”

“Go ahead and keep those clothes, by the way.” She added as he moved towards the bathroom. “They’re nowhere near good enough to get a scholarship with, and I’m never going to wear them. Actually, do me a favor and wear them around for awhile. I want to at least see how they hold up under wear and tear.”

“You… want me to wear this around town?” Ashe looked down at himself again, his face turning red just imagining being seen by other people—let alone Shane.

“Yup. You got a problem with that?”

Catching the ‘look’ that Haley was giving him, Ashe decided it wasn’t worth the battle. “N-No, no problem.”

“Good. Now get going.” Considering their little ‘appointment’ done, Haley sat herself at the design desk and opened up her sketchpad to a blank page. It was back to square one, but she had numbers and points of references this time.

Sighing internally—he really was a giant pushover, wasn’t he?—Ashe got his wet clothes out of the bathroom and began to the front door. “Oh, before you go!” Emily called, catching his attention as she traipsed out of the kitchen with an old umbrella in hand. “I knew we had one sitting in one of our closets, so I dug it out for you. Wouldn’t want you to get caught out in the rain again, now would we?”

“Ah, thank you!” Grateful, Ashe accepted the umbrella. “I’ll make sure to return it.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. Keep it! It’s not like we ever use it anyway.” Emily gave him a smile and a wave. “Be careful on your way home, alright?”

“I will.” Ashe clutched the umbrella against his chest and bowed his head to her. “Thank you again!”

As Emily shut the front door, Haley leaned over to watch Ashe disappear down the road through the window. “You know…” She began slowly, resting her chin on her hand as she sat back and picked up her pencil. “He’s not anything like I thought he would be.”

“What did you think he’d be like?” Emily picked up the empty tea cup from the coffee table and took it into the kitchen.

“I dunno… like you, probably. Super weird and hippie-dippie. I didn’t expect this… puffball pushover.” Tapping the tip of her pencil against the pad, Haley had a contemplative look on her face. “And what’s with that ‘I want to help you’ stuff he was spouting?”

“That’s just how Ashe is.” Emily rinsed the cup out in the sink and came to stand next to her sister’s desk. “He’s just a genuinely caring person. How else do you think he and Shane ended up together?”

“I guess.” Haley looked down to the blank page before her. “… Hey, go and get my laptop for me. I need to look up some inspo.” It was time to fill that blank page up with a fresh design.

As Ashe moved from the town proper to the boundaries of the Cindersap forest, he sneezed into his elbow; despite having been warmed up in their house, he still felt a chill deep in his bones. ‘Maybe I should have an early night tonight…’

#sdv #sdv fanfic #sdv fic #sdv shane #sdv farmer #stardew valley #stardew valley fanfic #stardew valley fic #stardew valley farmer #stardew valley shane #stardew valley haley #stardew valley emily

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twitchesandstitches · 5 years

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The Destroyer had been fighting in the arena for a long, long time. She didn’t know how long, and she didn’t care.

She cared about the applause, the glory and the fame. She cared about the joy of proving her worth, time and time again; the sweet thrill of her blows landing home, the perfect control of her finishing moves never killing another contender. And she cared, so very much, for the roar of the audience as she delighted them, the thrill pulsing from them as dear to her as her own heartbeat, and just as vital to herself, and there and then she always felt alive.

Somewhere, perhaps, her ancestors on planet Terradino, at some unspecified point prior to the destructive events that put the multiverse into such a complicated state, had fought in such a way. The Destroyer had grown up not knowing a whole lot about where her family had come from. She knew that she was a vaxasaurian, the dinosaur-like people renowned for their size and strength. She knew that her family had served a minor lord of this feudal world she called home for at least five generations. And she knew that she had won a lot of freedom and fame fighting in the gladiator arenas, a true show-woman to her core. She liked to think that, perhaps, she was doing her ancestors proud in some obscure way.

She did not much care for the strangely penetrating look the small human woman was giving her.

‘Title, not name.’ She stopped, halting a charge that would surely have seen them crushed beneath her tread.

Ahsoka readied the gladiator spear she’d been given, since you don’t get to take your own weapons into the fighting pit. She was a tall and imposingly powerful woman of the twi’lek people; broadly humanoid, two long and thick tendrils extending from the back of her head over her shoulders, and it was difficult to say, from her coloration, if she was red with orange paint, or orange with red paint. It was certainly a complex design, shifting subtly with the immensely powerful energies emanating from her clear mastery over the mystical arts.

Ahsoka looked up at the vaxasaurian gladiator; the Destroyer. She and her group were not small; they were enormously powerful, their abilities enhanced by the strange practices of the Task Force and vastly empowered by all kinds of esoteric things: unique technologies, forgotten mystical mantras, divine techniques, and so forth. They were also a subtle group, so they were not quite as big or buxom as their power normally would have made them, though they were still incredibly large; the average audience member could have fit into their hands.

The shadow of the Destroyer fell over them all; the statuesque and extremely curvaceous form of the reptilian juggernaut could not entirely be downplayed by the showy armor she wore, not at her levels of busty. It was a bit of a surprise she didn’t topple over with every step, really. Breasts bigger than her upper body, the visible scales painted in attractive designs, hips that shook like buildings moving in an earthquake; she seemed calculatedly appealing, fearsome.

Arri picked up on Ahsoka’s mood. She coughed; a turian like her, with their distinctively rumbling voices, could really make a cough sound dramatic. Tall, her curves extreme on an hourglass-shaped body, her lightweight robes (perfect for someone with an evasion-heavy style) revealed a lot of serrated and metallic carapace, like someone had tried to build a bipedal velociraptor and make it armored. That look, her mandibled snout, and the long talons were typical of her people. The scorpion tail was not; neither was the way one arm twisted into a huge pincer, blazing with magical flame and generating all the fire magic she required. “Perhaps we shouldn’t antagonize the terrifying gladiator, Quinn…?”

She said this without much hope. Harley had an Idea. This rarely worked out for them.

Harley placed down her hammer, a great and oversized thing seemingly too unwieldy for someone to even pick up, let alone swing with one hand as she did. She sat down on a hammer-head larger than she was, her enormous backside making it sink into the ground. The haft made an acceptable rest for her back as she plopped against it, seemingly unconcerned, and she clapped her hands together.

Normally, she looked like an unstable mass of dynamic energy too intense to be constrained within the form of a giantess, even one so powerful that her power levels had produced a body type not dissimilar to the average violin; big up top, big below, and with very little in between. Even sitting down, her visible body appeared to be a mass of boob on crossed legs, monstrously wide thighs, inexplicably pale skin, and all of that wrapped up in a battlesuit of alternated red and black patterns.

That energy cooled, and she instead radiated competence, reassurance, and a soothing attitude.

The Destroyer raised a weapon irritably at her. “Get up, little thing. Fight me! Stop wasting my time, I..” She faltered, eyes blinking furiously inside her glamorous helmet. “I…”

She shook her head. She banged her weapon against a showman shield. “I have no time for this!”

“Okay,” Harley said, blinking slowly. “It’s your show, lady. This whole place is your performance, ain’t it?”

The Destroyer found herself nodding before she forced herself to stop, narrowing her eyes down at the (relatively) little fighter. Her elephantine foot landed a dangerously short distance from Harley, trying to get her to move… to run, do SOMETHING. “What trickery is this?” the Destroyer asked.

“No tricks, hun.” Harley held her hands up. “My girls back there, they won’t attack until I give up on our little talk here, okay? No ambushes or sneak attacks to take your title.”

The Destroyer blinked at them. Ahsoka and Arri nodded nervously, taking many steps back. Ahsoka fought back the urge to summon her powers anyway, just as a precaution… just in case Harley’s plan, whatever it was, didn’t pan out.

The enormous vaxasaurian stared at them a while longer, doubt coloring her every movement, Eventually she sat down, her armor still wobbling in various places. Her armor had probably been jointed specifically for that; a good amount of wobble drew a certain sort of audience.

She glowered down at Harley, who met her gaze politely with a vague smile. It was amazing Harley didn’t cower, with those massive talons before here; the tyrant lizard jawline, the spiky plates jutting through armor, and the mighty tail spikes lashing around in what, a layman probably, might mistake as impatience to finish the fight.

Harley knew anxiety and someone who needed to get something out when she saw it.

“If you want me to go first,” Harley said in a drawl. “My real name is actually-”

She said ‘Harleen Quinzel’. What actually came out of her mouth was an entirely different set of syllables, modified to make sense in this part of space, in this universe, in that culture, for her current operational persona. It was carved into the universe around here; whatever she said or did, it would be perceived as something fitting her role. They didn’t hear the name Harley Quinn when she fought, they heard what they needed to. Just as surely as, if by some means they did learn the truth, they would eventually just… forget. The knowledge dripping out of their heads.

And if that didn’t work, Gabriel Reyes would visit them. Or rather, the Ghost Rider would. Holy fire would burn away everything they didn’t need to know, and leave behind calm ashes, bothering them never again.

Nevertheless, though the Destroyer didn’t hear what Harley truly said, she did hear the sincerity.

“I don’t know my own name,” she admitted. “That’s strange, isn’t it? I don’t know why. Huh. That’s, that’s odd.” She frowned. “Isn’t it?”

Around the arena, there was a chorus of voices, a vast crowd complaining and bickering and wondering just what was going on here. Referees tried to angle for silence, and a few shadowy visitors were looking very anxious indeed.

“Look into your memories,” Harley suggested.

The Destroyer tried to remember something; anything, really, and found, now that she had brought it up, that her recollections felt… odd.

Further than a few years, and they were hollow. Not empty, just… insufficient. Off, flavorless, shapes of memory.

“Huh,” she said, and it felt inadequate. “That doesn’t seem right…”

And as the conversation continued, Eddie Brock, in his persona as a wannabe gladiator (with his married partner/symbiote lover as a subtle edge in his favor, with going full Venom as a back up plan if things went bad) held up a small oblong thing that looked like a religious relic. “Hrm,” he said, voice tinged with the harmonics of the symbiote bound to him as well as his own voice.

Ranamon, presently wearing the robotic shell of a walking tank, scuttled over. “Something up?” she asked, risking that she might be breaking character.

Eddie nodded at her. “We’re done here.” It wasn’t Eddie that spoke, but the symbiote; they seemed glad of it, and Eddie’s teeth grew longer when they spoke, tendrils of black shimmering just a bit over his eyes.

Ranamon blinked. “I thought our job was to beat up the head gladiator, get close enough to the big ruler-type guy and…” she made a sharp gesture with half-a-dozen arms that indicated a very violent and final sort of political shift. “Y’know.”

“Yep,” Eddie, this time, said. “That was one of the options, anyway, and I got word from high up. Seems the direct option isn’t needed. It’ll happen without us. We’re done here.”

“Oh. Uh.” Ranamon shrugged, which was an interesting thing to see in a machine body that was what you got if you tried to make a tank out of an arachnid shape. “Yay, I guess!”

They left, to join up with the rest of the Task Force, and leave things to sort themselves out.

They often operated, in a way, through ripples. The tasks they were assigned, as random and minor as they seemed at the time, sent out ripples. Echoes and consequences, moving onward and growing larger… much larger, over time.

Today, a gladiator would go home, unfulfilled and perplexed, and have to ask herself why she couldn’t remember her name, and why her memories didn’t feel real.

In a week, she would gather up the other fighters she was friendly with, the ones that always stuck by her because she was a professional that never went for a killing blow, and ask them a few awkward questions. Everyone would leave feeling baffled that their own memories felt wrong, too.

And there… well, who knew? Maybe in a few months time, a local cloning factory would answer some very pointed questions from gladiators that had secretly been born there only a few years previous despite their memories saying otherwise.

But from there, a hint of a whole rotten, sorry system of casually churning out people for entertainment would lead all the way to the top, and it would be the Destroyer aiming herself squarely at the king of the world, making her name very literal indeed.

One way or another, a corrupt empire would fall.

The Task Force would have helped make this part of the multiverse a little brighter.

#/#//#///#////#/////#my writing #fics #crossthicc AU #crosthicc!harley quinn #crossthicc!ahsoka #crossthicc!arri #crossthicc!DC #crossthicc!star wars

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cloudchaserandflitterexplain · 6 years

Text

Cloudchaser and Flitter Explain: Seaquestria and Beyond Manes

Guess what time it is!

Uhhh, what?

Guess.

Do I even get a hint?

Sure!

“Hey there everypony! Today we’ll be talking about…”

Talking about... what?

Seriously, Cici? That hint was so obvious! Ugh, do I have to do everything myself?

Wah?

Hey there everypony! Today my totally clueless friend and I will be talking about the Seaquestria and Beyond Manes!

I thought I was supposed to be guessing what time it was...

You were, but you failed, so we’re moving on now.

Wah?

So Seaquestria brought us a cycle of six new Mane Characters that are all a fair bit different from your standard Manes.

Instead if trying to fulfil a specific flip condition like most Manes in the past, they all let you pay 2 during your Mane Phase to just flip them over.

Which is pretty easy! This’ll let you flip turn 1 guaranteed, if you want to.

So, uh, we’re doing the thing now?

Yes, Cici. We’re doing the thing now. Try to keep up.

Sorry…

Now you might be thinking paying 2 to flip your Mane is the best flip condition ever—

Aside from Vinyl’s absolutely busted one…

—but there are trade offs. Namely, the entire cycle of Manes has no ability on their boosted side. None at all!

But that’s okay, as they all do something neat as a part of boosting them. So it’s not like they do nothing but provide colour requirement. It’s just a small one time thing, like a strong event that just also happens to boost your Mane!

Which is a pretty interesting concept. This makes them all stronger early game than most Manes, but weaker mid to late game since all they’re providing at that point is power.

But considering how many decks want their Mane boosted ASAP, this winds up being an okay tradeoff a lot of the time. Though some manes pull this off better than others.

And we’ll be going through all six of them today to give you an idea of what kind of decks would want to use each of these Manes!

Ready, Cici?

Sure.

Let’s start off with Captain Celano: Swashbuckler. Who is… interesting, to say the least. She’s not the first Mane to have points built in to her flip condition, but she’s definitely the easiest one to use at the moment.

Of course since the Seaquestria Manes all have no abilities while boosted, all you get out of her is two points. Which isn’t all that great, aside from being able to jump up to 3 AT a turn instantly. But so does your opponent, so that’s not always a great tradeoff.

Despite this, though, some ponies have actually had decent success with her. Specifically as a combo Mane.

By using Tempest Shadow: Easy as Pie, you can reset her to let you score 2 points again. Thus allowing you to score the majority of your points without ever needing to move to a problem.

But if you don’t see Tempest you’re in a bad position…

But when it works, it’s not too bad. Not the best Blue Mane in my opinion, but she’s workable. Especially in Core.

Celeano prefers aggro and combo strategies, though definitely the latter more than the former.

If going the aggro route, you might want to consider running more three or 4 cost friends since you’ll have more AT to work with sooner. So you don’t need to worry as much about your early game!

And if going the combo route, well, you obviously want to build the whole deck around her with loads of support cards.

Cerberus: Tartarus Guard, Discord: Captain Wuzz and so on can let you uncover Tempest more than once, which can get you lots of resets with Celano, letting you score tons and tons of points!

Whichever way you go she’s pretty fun! Afterall, everypony loves scoring points, right?

Next on the list would be Grubber: Royal Announcer.

Who, uh… is interesting, I guess. Exhausting all opposing characters and keeping them exhausted on the opponent’s next turn means they probably can’t confront problems that turn.

When timed right, that’s actually pretty potent.

The problem is, it’s not always easy to get that timing right since you’ll frequently want to flip these Manes early for their req. But Grubber’s ability really wants you to wait until mid to late game to Flip and that can really hurt your power requirements.

Which ultimately means you need to build your deck around the fact that you’re likely to just not flip him early, which kind of negates the point of having such an easy to flip Mane.

But he’s not awful. Just a bit lackluster.

Oh, and before you ask, no, you can’t infinite combo with him, Easy as Pie, and Monstrous Manual. Since Grubber only double exhausts characters he exhausted. So if they’re already exhausted, nothing happens. So at best, you’re just locking them out of every other turn.

Which, admittedly, isn’t awful. Hrm. There may still be a deck there…

Grubber prefers a control strategy, though you could also go for aggro too. Timing his flip just right can let you DFO without fear of the opponent counter DFOing.

Like Cici said, you’re probably going to want to include some ways to get to more Orange power without relying on flipping your Mane. So 1 req Orange cards, or cards like the Premier-block Fixers can help a lot here! Or even Kevin.

You may also want to include cards that keep characters exhausted longer like Bessie or Jailbreak! Or be even meaner and use Vinyl: Breakdown!

Now go out there and wear ponies out by shouting at them!

Shouting?

Well he’s an announcer. How else would he exhaust ponies?

Uhhh….

Yeah, I’ve got no idea.

Fear the mighty shouting powers of Grubber!

Next up is Princess Skystar: Out of Her Shell!

My personal favourite of the Manes from this set.

Which is saying something since CIci usually picks the Blue Mane as her favourite!

Hey!

...I don’t always, pick the Blue Mane, do I?

No, not always.

In Defenders, you said you didn’t want anything to do with any of the Manes!

Well it’s not my point they’re all bad!

Er, where were we again?

Skystar!

Oh, right. Thanks.

So Skystar looks pretty average on the surface. All you get is two 2 power friends. That’s not all that much, right?

Well, actually, it’s a lot. A whole lot.

Pink is a colour that loves having lots of friends. whether it’s for effects like Pinkie Pie: Holiday Spirit or just retiring them to stuff like Belly Flop, Pink always wants Friends. So getting two Friends for free just by flipping your Mane is a great way to jumpstart any strategy that wants lots of Friends.

And of course, you’re jumping from 1 Pink Power to 7. And since the most you’ll ever need for any card is 6, that’s enough req to play any Pink card you want right out the gate.

Assuming you have the AT, of course.

But we’re only scratching the surface here. One of Skystar’s other strengths is the ability to confront turn 1 guaranteed! If your starting problem needs 4 or less wild power to confront, you can flip your Mane and confront with Seashells easily.

And if the opponent’s is 4 or less Wild and yours is 3 or less, well, you can DFO almost guaranteed turn 2 as well. That’s real strong. Especially If the opponent’s problem was Trading Traditions and they haven’t yet played a friend of their secondary colour yet.

Playing aggro has never been easier!

Of course, this is mostly in Core. While all this does apply to Harmony, of course, she’s got pretty steep competition in the form of Vinyl. Some Pink decks may choose to run Skystar over Vinyl, but in general Vinyl’s typically going to be the better choice.

But even still, Skystar is a fantastic Mane and I absolutely love playing with her.

Skystar definitely prefers an aggro strategy, but she’s perfectly suited for Control as well.

Just a slightly faster control than most people are used to. One that actually tries confronting problems early, hehe.

Like Cici said, you’re going to want to maximize ways to use your Seashells! So cards that count the number of characters you have, like Changeling CItizens, work well, as do cards that retire Friends for benefit, like Braeburn: Two Left Hooves.

And of course you’ll want to heavily consider running Concerning Cutie Mark or Searching High and Low as your starting problem.

Cici says I’m wrong, but I prefer Searching High and Low. Because if my opponent is also running that problem, I can DFO turn 1!

Yeah, but if you go second and your opponent is also running Searching High and Low, they get to DFO turn 1 and you get nothing.

I’ll take those chances!

Yeah… I don’t know why I thought that would dissuade you.

You can pick other problems of course, but those two are the most fun, if you ask me.

And that’s basically it for Skystar! So grab two Seashell Tokens and go crazy!

Next up would be Tempest Shadow: Storm Commander. And I am so sick of seeing her.

Isn’t Skystar more popular right now?

Er, well, yes. But Tempest, uh…

You just hate having the best card in your hand discarded turn 1, aren’t you?

Maybe…

But, really, who isn’t? And it’s practically guaranteed! Unless they have all 3 Grubber: Minions in their opening hand, at which point that just means they’ll play two and you’re discarding 2 cards instead, just delayed a turn. It’s annoying!

I think you’re being a little harsh there, Cloudchaser.

I’m really not.

Though Tempest does have a kind of interesting effect on the meta. Her ability to find a troublemaker and put it into play turn 1, while simultaneously giving you 3 Purple power in your Mane, has changed Control’s early game significantly. Most notably, it’s sped it up.

Oh, sure, you still get some really slow control decks, and some of them are still pretty good, but they seem to be a lot less popular than the medium speed ones now. And Tempest is at the forefront of most medium speed decks.

Mostly because the ability to put a Troublemaker into play ASAP is really good.

Especially if that Troublemaker is Grubber.

Yes, especially if that troublemaker is Grubber. Unsurprisingly, discarding the opponent’s entry can have massive effects. Though sometimes, you just aim for the best card in their hand instead.

And on top of that, you have access to 3 Purple immediately, which is very relevant for a lot of control decks. Several control staples like Princess Twilight Sparkle: Cover to Cover and Interdimensional Portal are available to you immediately. And there’s not much the opponent can do about it.

It can really speed up control’s game, especially since Princess Twilight Sparkle: Ambassador of Friendship isn’t nearly as easy to flip. At least not in Core.

The result is that, well, Tempest is everywhere. Not as everywhere as Skystar, but still pretty everywhere. And more ponies are playing control than ever before.

Not a good time to be an aggro player like me…

Awwww, Cici.

But I won’t give up.

I’ll find a way to get past them and bring aggro back to the limelight where it belongs!

All right Cici!

So like CIci said, Tempest is mainly a control Mane, though like all of these Manes you technically can use her for other archetypes as well.

But her most common playstyle is definitely control, by far.

In addition to the cards Cici mentioned, which are all good choices, you might want to include other troublemakers that have strong effects early, like Starlight Glimmer: Enforced Equality, or Yelow Parasprite. And probably some cards to protect your troublemakers like Sweep Sweep Sweep.

Oh, and you might want to consider a strong starting problem like Trading Traditions or Ancient Research since having an early Troublemaker means it’s more likely to stay in play for a while making since it’s harder for the opponent to DFO.

Sounds fantastic!

I’ll say. Tempests that start with trading traditions guaranteeing their second colour and dropping a Grubbr denying your second colour are frustrating.

But, well, I’m learning to play around that. There are definitely ways.

For sure!

But yeah, Tempest is the real deal. Don’t expect her to go away any time soon.

Moving on from Darkness and brooding, let’s move on to cunning and elegance with Capper Dapperpaws: Charmer.

Capper is, uh…

Interesting.

You know, you called Celeano and Grubber “interesting” too.

Well, they are. But in a very different way, I guess. I at least know where to start those two. But with Capper...

Honestly, I’m kind of at a loss for what to say.

These Manes want you to flip them early to get their power, but flipping Capper early is just so much wasted potential as you’re missing out on returning up to 5 cards from your discard pile. That’s quite the perplexing conundrum.

Catastrophic, you might say.

I would?

Uhh…

Nevermind.

Anyway…

The other interesting thing about Capper is he specifically looks for even powered cards. So you’re going to want to use as few odd powered cards as possible.

Which includes 0, according to the rules.

The rules spell that out? I thought it was obvious

Well, apparently not everypony does.

So it’s nice to have the clarification!

I guess.

Anyway, while there are a lot of good even powered cards, restricting yourself to only even cards means you’re missing out on a lot of good options.

But there’s good news! You don’t have to run only even cards.

It’s not like Capper forbids it, he just encourages choosing as many even cards as possible. Even if that’s not all of your cards.

Let’s assume for a moment you’re running a 45 card deck and 10 of those cards have odd power. There’s only a 6.47% chance you’ll reveal 3 or more odd powered cards. And only about 30% chance you’ll reveal 2 or more.

Those are pretty good odds to get back a bunch of your best cards! Even if you’re not getting a full 5.

Hooray for math!

So, really, there’s a chance Capper’ll be good someday. As getting cards back from your discard is really good.

It’s just no pony has been able to find a really strong deck with him yet. He’s kind of a tough nut to crack.

But hey, maybe you’ll be the first.

Heh, maybe.

Capper prefers a control playstyle, but can definitely play aggro as well. His best friend in the form of a Troublemaker, like many of these Manes, is absolutely Tempest Shadow: Easy as Pie.

You’ll want to run a bunch of cards that’ll wind up in the discard pile too. Events are the easy choice, but things that retire themselves, like Rarity: Pony Pirate or Local Fashion are good choices too.

Both of which, coincidentally enough, have even power!

Of course, the hard part is getting lots of White power on the field without flipping Capper. And while Staff of Sacanas is a good option for that, it’s unfortunately odd power.

But don’t worry, White has lots of good entry options that you might be fine with using anyway! Rarity: Generous Pony, Dance Fever: Dancing Machine, Sweetie Belle: Forsooth and Anon, all great options!

And you can always run Kevin or similar cards too! It’s just a matter of finding what’s best for your deck!

But the most fun trick is definitely of using Infilitrating the Hive as your starting problem. Discard 2 cards to make a friend in your secondary colour, then flip Capper to get them right back!

Probably.

It’s not as strong as starting with Trading Traditions and a Mane that gives you immediate benefit…

But it’s not bad, I guess.

And that’s Capper! Now you can be as smooth as him!

Which leaves us with Queen Novo: Sea Sovereign.

Who, all things considered, honestly isn’t that bad.

She’s not great, but she’s not bad either.

Moving all of your characters at home for 2 AT is pretty massive, considering you normally can only move one for that amount. That means each additional character you move is basically free. Plus you get around Showy.

The downside is that, well, you need to have friends at home for this to matter. And you don’t start the game with Friends at home, just Novo. Which means if you want her power early, you’re basically wasting her very powerful ability. And that hurts.

This is the same problem Grubber and Capper have, really, but it just feels much more pronounced with Novo.

But! If you can make good use of her ability, you’re all but guaranteed to DFO, and probably win it too.

So the trick is in trying to make a deck that can use her ability but doesn’t require her to flip too early. Which isn’t easy. But if you can pull it off? Well, she can definitely lead to some powerful turns.

Novo is basically all about aggro! And more importantly, she wants cards to stick to problems.

Cards like Princess Celestia: Day Shift or Pinkie Pie: One Filly Party can really help here, as they keep friends at problems for you. And this way you can use Novo herself as a backup plan in case you need even more characters at problems.

And don’t forget to include some Tempest Shadow: Easy as Pies. Aggro doesn’t normally like Troublemakers, but this one’s just perfect for Novo!

Another route you could go is to increase your home limit, so you can move even more characters. Fluttershy: Safe Haven and Zipporwhill: Pet Collector are great ways to do this.

Or you could even try running Canterlot Citizens: Pony Populace who don’t even count towards your home limit in the first place! Especially handy since Novo’s unboosted side only has a home limit of 3, after all.

Other than that, basically anything aggro will help you out! Go nuts!

And more importantly, go fast!

Heh, don’t need to tell me twice.

And that’s all the Seaquestria Manes!

They’re a bit of a mixed bag, but overall I think I like them.

I just wish more of them were a bit better…

Maybe next set will improve on some of them.

Heh, maybe. I’m not counting on it, though.

They’re kind of specific in how you use them. Though I suppose with as complex as Capper is…

Well, maybe.

So, did you figure out what time it was since I asked you at the beginning?

Of course I did. I’m not that clueless.

Yes you are.

Hey!

But that’s besides the point. What time was it?

It’s Time to be Awesome!

You know what? I’ll take it. That was a good call back.

Thanks.

Well, that’s it for now, everypony! Until next time!

Later.

#cloudchaser and flitter explain #cloudchaser #flitter #mlp:fim #mlpccg

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foundcarcosa · 6 years

Text

cccxxxii.

Do you want your last ex to be happy, even if it means not being with you? >> Phoenix? I mean, I don’t wish ill upon him. He didn’t give me enough of a chance to love him, so I don’t have any stronger desires for him. If you have a smartphone, what’s the last app you downloaded? What about the last app you uninstalled? >> Shazam was the last I downloaded, and Dissidia was the last I uninstalled (it was just taking up too much space). If you were a straight member of the opposite sex, who are some celebrities you think you’d have a thing for? >> I mean, my attraction isn’t gender-locked, so I imagine it’d be the same women I think are cute now. Have you ever dyed your own hair? How did it turn out? >> Yeah. It turned out all right. Right-handed or left-handed? >> Right.

What is the wallpaper on your cellphone? >> The lock screen is a fan-made Dark Tower movie poster. The home screen is an art of Rustin Cohle that I found on tumblr. (So, basically, my phone is on some real Matthew McConaughey shit. As usual.) Does your first, middle, and last spell something? >> My initials? LFD... Left For Dead? God, I hope not. (Left 4 Dead is a great franchise, though...) Favorite TV channel? >> Hm. What is your least favorite breed of dog? >> Hm. In your opinion, are leggings appropriate to wear as pants? >> Sure, who cares. Have you ever had a teacher that also taught your parents? >> No. Is there any alcohol in the fridge? >> Yeah, there’s still some of the Svedka left, and there’s Sparrow’s last spiked Arnold Palmer. The rest of the booze is here in my room with me. Do you hate it when people smoke around you? >> Not unless they’re obnoxious about it. What do you want for your birthday? >> Well, my birthday just passed, so. Who is the most inappropriate person you know? >> Hm. Who in your phone has a heart after their name? >> No one. After breaking up, what’s the worst? >> I don’t know, that depends on the breakup. Do you have a second mom? >> I don’t even have a first. When was the hardest time in your life? What made it so hard & how did you overcome it? >> Hm.

How do you relieve stress? >> Stubbornness. I don’t have many specific coping skills for it. When you die do you want to have a funeral service? Why or why not? >> That’s up to the people responsible for my body after I’ve vacated it. I’m under no illusions that I require a say in what happens. What is your opinion on capital punishment? >> I don’t really care either way. What period of history was your favorite to learn about? If you don’t like history, what is your favorite thing to learn about? >> I’m not sure I have a specific favourite. Obviously ancient Scandinavian history crosses over with other interests of mine, and Hetalia gave me a pretty strong interest in certain aspects of WWII, but mostly I just... like history. Period. Where is your favorite fast food restaurant & what do you order when you go there? >> --- What do you think about smoking in public places? >> I don’t have a blanket opinion about this sort of thing. What’s your favorite cheese? >> Brie, pepper jack, asiago. What’s your favorite type of chocolate? >> Dark chocolate with sea salt and chili peppers. How do you like your steak? >> I don’t. What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild? >> I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a chance to do that. Arrange the following in order of preference: Pineapple, Orange, Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Watermelon, Banana. >> Cherry, strawberry, apple, watermelon, pineapple, orange, banana. What is your opinion on “God?” >> That’s far too general a question for me. The word itself isn’t anything particular for me, and as far as my personal beliefs are concerned, I vacillate from panentheistic to polytheistic to both at the same time to neither almost daily. I don’t think specific religious paradigms suit me. As strange as it might sound, I feel much more comfortable believing in all at once. What is your favorite Christmas movie? >> It’s a Wonderful Life. Who are the three most important people in your life? >> Can Calah, Sparrow, Hallie. Why did you go to the doctor the last time you went? >> A checkup. What is your favorite boy band? >> Hm. What is your favorite Beatles song? >> I guess Hey Jude, I don’t know, I don’t really care for the Beatles in general. What is your favorite type of bird? >> Raven...? What is something you hate, but wish you loved? >> Hmm. If you could profoundly release anxiety’s grip on one area of your life what would it be? >> Death. What’s the cutest thing your SO does, but denies it’s cute in any way? >> I don’t know, they don’t seem to deny anything like this Are you smiling in your Facebook profile picture? >> No. Does it irritate you when people go on and on about how amazing their boyfriend/girlfriend is? >> No. But, I mean, in a conversational sense, I’d be a little confused at how to proceed. What do I say to that, lmao... If you wear eye shadow, do you put on a dark color or a light? >> I don’t really have a preference. It’s been a while.

What do you believe in the most? >> Hm. What do you avoid like the plague? >> The plague. Hrnk. What is your main goal of the year? >> Hm. Do you listen to music while you drive? >> --- Waffle cone or bowl? >> Waffle cone, but maybe I should transition to bowls. Cones stress me out. Do you like video games? Why? >> I love them. They’re another form of storytelling, and I just enjoy playing them (the ones I play, I mean. not all video games). Do you take selfies with those animal filters? >> Sometimes. What book will you NOT read? >> IDK. What YouTube channel can you not stand to watch? >> --- Do you like big, normal or small glasses? >> Normal? How do you feel about colored contacts? >> I like them. It’s just difficult to wear them because my eyes are already sensitive. Is pregnancy beautiful? >> In a gruesome sort of way. Do you dance at weddings/parties or are you shy? >> I dance when I feel like dancing. Are you kind to animals at all times? >> Not all the time, no. Have you ever been bitten by an animal really hard? >> No. Do you trust dogs? >> I suppose? I mean, trust them to... do what? Act like themselves? Sure. Do you trust cats? >> See above. What stereotype do you fall into the best? >> I don’t know. Do you have to take stairs or an elevator to get to your house? >> There are two flights of stairs to this apartment. Have you ever seen a pelican in real life? >> I don’t think so. Do you carry pepper spray with you? >> No. Name three sites you have been bullied on. >> I’ve not been bullied on the internet. Yet, I suppose. Has there ever been a fire inside your house? Tell me the story. >> No. Have you ever had a scary encounter with a wild animal? >> No. Have you ever had a emergency surgery? >> No. Do you think your hair looks better natural or dyed? >> It looks fine either way. What’s one thing that makes your stomach hurt? >> Hmm. If you had kids, would you take them to Disney World? >> I don’t know. It seems like such a busy and hectic place. Hell, I’m not even entirely sure I want to go. Like, I do, but also... the sensory overload......... What unnatural hair color looks best on you? >> Hm. What is your least favorite pizza place? >> --- What is the name of your first pet? >> Roxie. What is your favorite fairytale? >> The Snow Queen, probably. Have you ever suffered a fracture? >> No. What countries would you like to visit? >> I don’t feel like making a list, lol. A lot of them. Had a serious surgery? >> No. Gotten stitches? >> Yes. Bitten someone? >> Yes. Would you ever cosplay? >> Sure. How slowly or quickly would you say you eat? >> Moderately? I don’t know. Have you ever drank from a real coconut? >> No. Do you have bird feeders hanging up outside? What about any hanging plants? >> No. If you were poor, living on the streets, & had no family to aid you, would you take up a job offer to work in a slaughterhouse? >> In general, I would not work at a slaughterhouse. Too messy for the likes of me. Have you ever had a grandparent come live with you? >> No. Do you keep your fortunes from fortune cookies? >> No. When you walk into your bedroom, is the light switch on the right side or the left side of the door? >> Left side. Who makes the majority of the food for Thanksgiving in your family? >> --- Does your house have a real chimney? >> No. If you had to endure one natural disaster (i.e. hurricane, tornado, etc), what would you pick and why? >> Hm. How did you learn to ride a bicycle? >> My father taught me. If you want any tattoos or piercings, what’s next on your list? >> I don’t have a list. Are you good at understanding baby talk? >> No, lol. I don’t bother trying to understand it, I just respond back whatever way comes to me. What was the last movie that you saw in the theaters? >> Infinity War. *grimace* Can you do a hand stand? >> No. If you could, you would go to the moon? >> Sure. Do you like candy canes? >> Some kinds. Have you ever gotten in trouble at school for wearing revealing clothes? >> No. Have you ever seriously thought about getting plastic surgery? >> No. Do you prefer your jeans normal or ripped? >> Either is fine. Have you ever actually woken up screaming because of a nightmare? >> No. Have you watched Breaking Bad? >> No. Have you ever been skating? >> Roller skating, yes. Do you feel comfortable singing in front of others? >> Yeah. Used to do it for fun on Monday nights. I miss Arlene’s... Name four favorite fast food restaurants & what you usually order at each one. >> Hmm. Name four favorite sit down restaurants & what you usually order at each one. >> Hrm. Would you say you’re more close-minded or open-minded? Is there anyone in your family or group of friends you’d consider close-minded? If so, does it ever bother you? >> I’m more open-minded than close-minded, but even I have my limits. I don’t know about anyone else. What is the most fucked up movie you’ve seen? Why? >> Probably A Serbian Film. Why? Because that’s literally the kind of movie it was made to be -- as fucked up as possible. It’s the whole gimmick. When it’s time to dress up for a special occasion, are you more likely to wear a dress, a skirt, or dress pants? >> Hm. If you eat oatmeal, do you add water or milk to it? What is your favorite flavor? >> Milk. I like brown sugar and maple. Have you ever been brave enough to cut your hair in a very different way? If you have, did you regret your decision after? >> Uh, I guess. I don’t consider it brave, it’s just fuckin hair. How attractive is a girl is a suit? How attractive is a guy in a dress? >> Both are fine. What does your dad do? >> He’s retired. Are your fingers long, or short? >> Longish. Are you allergic to any dogs? >> No. Have you ever used an epi pen? >> No. What is the meaning of your first name? >> Logan means “little hollow”.

Did you toss your hat in the air at graduation? >> No. Does it usually take you awhile to recover from illnesses? >> No. Would you rather get married outside or inside? >> Er. Do you put your elbows on the table when you eat? Do you think it’s rude? >> I put them on the table if I feel like it. I don’t think it’s rude because I’ve never been given reason to believe in that. Is you hair color the same as it was when you were a baby? >> I don’t know, I guess so? What are your thoughts on mini-skirts or mini-dresses? >> What sort of thoughts am I possibly expected to have?? It’s just fucking clothing oh my god lmao Have you ever died in one of your dreams? >> Yeah, and I got stuck on the Wheel. Which is tastier: fruity gum or minty gum? >> I prefer minty gum. Be honest, have you ever bullied anybody? Who was it? >> Not to my knowledge. What was the mascot at your elementary school? >> Hm. What is one romantic movie that you enjoy enough to watch more than once? >> Love Actually. Have you ever had a significant other NOT believe you when you said “i love you” to them? Why was that? How did you react? >> I don’t think so. Is there a band logo you would get tattooed on yourself? >> The Coheed and Cambria one, probably. If you had a baby, would you want to have it at home or in a hospital? >> In the hospital. Unless they could bring the drugs and machines to me.

What was the last thing you ordered online? >> I don’t recall. What’s your favorite planet? >> Mercury and Saturn.

What are three things that fascinate you? >> Theoretical astrophysics, chaos magic, anthropology. Have you ever suffered from an eating disorder? >> No. Do you enjoy doing yoga? >> Not really. Have you ever had to do a class in summer school? >> No. Have you ever had fondue? >> No. Have you ever taken photos in a photobooth? >> Once. If you have a dog, do you walk it regularly? >> --- Do porcelain dolls scare you? >> No. Which is worse, Teletubbies or Boohbas? >> Boohbas are the superior ones. Would you ever consider getting a tattoo on the inside of your bottom lip? >> No. Do you like to play air hockey? >> Sometimes. Have you ever been in a castle? >> Bishop’s Castle, which was pretty fuckin cool. Are you a lightweight when it comes to alcohol? >> No. Do you like tacos? >> Sure.

#surveysofsamedi #surveys

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owl-quill · 7 years

Link

Dawn, Bog and the Sugar Plum Queen try to come up with a plan how to save a lovedusted Marianne.

Chapter index on Ao3

From the small, enclosed landing, an open doorway led into an office lit by orange glowstones and, just now, the Sugar Plum Queen’s own glow. She had settled behind the big, scratched-up desk that faced the other entrance, a proper door, hovering just above the chair set there, playing at sitting in it despite being not bound by gravity.

Bog pulled up two chairs for Dawn and himself, noting that there had been only slight changes in this room. The honeycombed walls were still mostly holding scrolls and ledgers. Aura had merely brought in some small plants that now nested in hazelnut or chestnut shells in some of the cells.

Dawn thanked him with a nod and sat in a studied pose, spine erect and hands on her lap.

The Sugar Plum Queen waved negligently. “So tell me those news. This should be interesting.”

“Sir Roland Green used the love potion you gave him on Marianne. Against her will.”

“Oh well. I’m sure she doesn’t mind right now.” Aura leaned forward, bunching her hands under her chin, and her voice fell into a singsong. “Falling in loooove is such a wonderful feeling.”

Bog scoffed, but it was Dawn who kept talking, her voice now sharp. “But she would mind if she were in her right mind.” Then even a sarcastic tone crept in. “However, if you don’t care about that, you should consider that once being married to the crown princess, or maybe even the queen, gives him the required authority, Roland is going to invade the Dark Forest!”

Aura’s sparkly brows rose up close to her blue crown, and her lips pursed, showing no hint of a smile.

“No love-potion, no marriage. No marriage, no war.” Dawn leaned forward and pointed to Aura with one hand. “We need an antidote!”

The Sugar Plum Queen floated forward until she hit the edge of the table and raised her hands in a harsh gesture. “Too bad there is no antidote.”

“Are you serious?” Bog rumbled.

“Yes. There is none. The potion wears off on its own.” She looked up and her fingers ran through a rippling gesture. “In a fairy… it should take about a year.” Bog gave Princess Dawn a sideways glance. She seemed surprised, too. “The idea is to give a wanted relationship a smooth start, long enough to grow into something more solid than infatuation, you know.”

Dawn bit her lip, looking at the ceiling while calculating. “Marianne has been like this since Midsumer, and the wedding is planned for next Spring.” Her voice rose in pitch, going tight. “That’s too early.”

“Princess, what about exposing Roland? Would Dagda allow the marriage to go forward if he knew theâ€¦ love was a sham?”

“I tried to tell him, but he didn’t believe me. Marianne acts a lot like just before the wedding she cancelled.”

“A fairy in love cancelled a wedding?” Bog burst out.

“I know, right? Er, that was a wedding with Roland that she called off. On the day it was supposed to happen. She was wearing her bridal dress already and everything. It’s why I’m absolutely certain she does not want to marry Roland.”

“I’m convinced.” Aura spoke quickly. “Considering the threat of possible war, it would probably be best if Bog took back his throne. I’m not much of a war person.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, No?” Aura flitted across the table, leaning into Bog’s face. “You can’t do this to me!”

Bog raised both hands in a warding gesture and spoke as calmly as he could. “I can advise you, and there are others–”

“Forget the war!” She spread her arms and seemed to grow, or maybe grow brighter, her cool blue light crowding out the warm orange from the lamps. “I can’t take the dreariness any longer. Every other thing I need to decide on is petty nonsense, and the paperwork, the paperwork! It’s maddening!”

Bog couldn’t keep a grin off his face, crossed one leg over the other, and folded his hands. Sweetly, he asked, “Isn’t it just? So why would I want it back?”

“Bog… do you really–” The feeling in Dawn’s voice - hurt, disappointment, something - washed all amusement out of Bog’s mood and from his demeanour. He sat up and gestured to her.

“The problem is that I’m not certain I’m capable.” He nodded in Dawn’s direction. “You noticed. Being surrounded by a crowd left me unable to speak for confusion. I don’t know how fast and how well I will, hrm, heal from that.” He shrugged, a gesture that with his pauldrons was particularly eloquent.

The Sugar Plum Queen looked at him, back behind the desk, lips flat and eyes narrowed. “In that case... maybe the easiest way to avoid war would be handing the Amber to Roland.”

“What?!” Bog jumped to his feet and went into a crouch, wings twitching, ready to attack. “Are you mad?”

“I’m just thinking of the good of the people of this realm. A war will cost many lives, and he doesn’t have to conquer what he already owns.”

“I’m not sure,” Dawn piped up, “but I don’t think it’s the owning he cares about. He talks about glorious battles and fights so much…”

“What a lovable character,” Bog sneered, his claws leaving a few more scratches in the desk. With a sound halfway between a sigh and a snarl, he straightened up, then addressed Aura. “Unless things are a lot more different now than I knew them, it would never work. The goblins would revolt.”

“All right all right. Let’s keep it as last option in case everything else fails, maybe. So how to prevent the marriage? Is there someone else she might have been almost in love with?”

“Why?” Dawn’s eyes looked bigger than ever.

“The potion doesn’t work, or its effect is ended early, if the target is already in love with someone else. Failsafe, see?”

“A working antidote would be a better failsafe,” Bog groused. Since the study was too small to pace effectively, he had settled again.

“That would just put the decision about these things in someone else’s hands. Plus, there just isn’t one that works. There have been many attempts, and the only promising ones involved erasing the victim’s whole personality, for ever, and we don’t want that, do we.”

“No!”

“Good. So, candidate for potion-effect-breaking?”

Dawn shook her head slowly. “Really not. She’d sworn she’d never fall in love again.”

“Sounds like a very sensible person, for a fairy princess.” Bog had to let off steam somehow.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re brave. Sensible, I’m not sure about. Consider where you are right now.” Dawn leaned back a little when Bog gestured in her direction with a clawed hand.

Aura rested her finger tips against her forehead and temples. “Bog, I don’t believe I’m saying that to you, but let’s focus!”

“Oh, all right, your majesty.” He gave her a hint of a bow and cleared his throat before continuing matter-of-factly. “I guess there isn’t any chance of getting Dagda to pressure her into marrying someone else for political reasons, is there? You fairies still do that sometimes?”

“Uhh.” Dawn leaned away from Bog again, lips curled in disgust. “Yeah, political marriages are a thing, but not very common. But Roland is third in line for the Duchy of Green Glenn, and the two before him are married or engaged already. Any any other candidates are either kids, or old, or married, or prefer guys, so there is no better match at the moment.” A corner of her mouth twitched up and she gave a courtly nod in Bog’s direction. “Well, maybe apart from the King of the Dark Forest.”

Bog’s eyes went huge, his skin even more gray-green than it was, and his mind absolutely blank.

Aura giggled.

Dawn gave a helpless little shrug. “Anyway, I don’t think Father would force Marianne into a political marriage. He wants her happy.”

Bog muttered, “But forcing her into a marriage using love potion is all right?”

“She does seem happy.” Bog’s distaste must have come through, for Dawn repeated her shrug. “I don’t like it either, it’s just what it looks like if you ignore how much she loathed Roland. She seems just like she used to be before. Father thinks she’s finally come to her senses.”

Aura floated up and got their attention with an expansive gesture. “All right, then. No-one she’s likely to fall in love with for real, no-one to marry her to prevent her from marrying Roland. And her father revoking permission for the marriage just after being told she’s under a spell is out, too, because he already knows.”

“What a father.”

“Shush, unless you have a productive suggestion.”

Bog took a deep breath to tamp down his temper. “Have you picked up on anything else that could convince Dagda that Roland is a scoundrel rather than a suitable groom?”

Dawn shook her head.

Bog harrumped, and after short consideration asked, “How do you feel about assassination?”

Dawn considered for a rather long time. “I don’t think I could actually kill anyone…”

“I meant more generally–”

“That is a cute idea, and Dawn rather looks the part right now, but there are two problems with it. First, if any thing, just the smallest thing went wrong and it came out the Dark Forest was linked to it, we would have a war, anyway. And second, if Roland died or disappeared, Marianne might waste away from heartbreak, or go flitting off trying to find him and get herself eaten by a crow. The love potion is powerful.”

Bog groaned. This was impossible. “So what about kidnapping her and keeping her prisoner until the potion wears off? Same danger?”

“Yes, plus it’s also not particularly conductive to the diplomatic links we’ve been trying to forge.”

“If done right, no-one needs to know where she is.” Bog looked at Dawn. “If someone she trusts lures her away. There are enough secret places in the Dark Forest where a prisoner could be kept hidden.”

“Very risky. If the secret get out, we’re looking at a war, after all.”

“Not that risky. If– sorry, Princess, but, If Dagda found out we had his daughter and heir, he would know attacking the Forest would mean putting her in danger.”

“Even if, that leaves the same risk as before, keeping her away from Roland might break her heart. Someone who is lovedusted is obsessed with the object of their affections, wanting to be close to them, doing whatever makes them happy...”

Bog grumped, and all three of them fell silent for a few moments.

Dawn, who had been chewing her knuckles, spoke first. “Maybe we can use that. If she believes Roland wants her far from him, temporarily...” Her brows knit and face drawn in unaccustomed lines, she slowly laid out pieces of a plan that the Sugar Plum Queen and the former Bog King agreed might just work.

At least they could not come up with anything better.

#Strange Magic #Strange Magic fanfic #PixiePine #Dawn #Bog #Sugar Plum Fairy #Rescue Mission

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trixcuomo · 5 years

Text

1: A Monotone Hello to Trixany

Welp, I had to bridge the gap in my playtime and TR's RP backstory since WotLK somehow... And you might recognize some of my characters from the My Life for My Prince universe on fanfiction.net

“Hello. My name is Fennore and I was a… A Sunfury Bloodknight.”

Everyone, “Hello, Fennore…”

The meeting began that way, a little hopeful, but then it dwindled down to sorrowful exchanges and unhappy endings after each story Fennore shared about his current misadventures.

And then, Fennore the Immortal, once a great Bloodknight, was now cowed before Lady Liadrin. She stood over him, stern as ever, and offered a steaming cup of tea.

“Drink!”

“No, I’m fine—”

“It’s chamomile.”

“Oh? Oh… I think I can manage chamomile.” A flame orange succubus seated next to Fennore swept a hand up and down his back, following his gaze with her own. She watched him sip the tea with a chilling intimacy no mortal woman (or pet even) could manage, her nose almost in his cup.

The other paladins seated in Liadrin’s parlor were just as downtrodden. Though, sitting very straight and stone-faced about not wrinkling the doilies on the dominating Bloodknight Matriarch’s couch did make them appear almost as alert as in the olden days.

Fennore, now looking a notch better than death warmed up, sighed and went on with his story, “Well, Mavia and I are at least doing better with our nextdoor neighbors. Since the Tilldien’s son came back home, you know Avren the Malevolent, he’s an Illidari—"

The rest nodded that they remembered. And there were a few wistful looks over what were no doubt savage, yet sentimental memories.

"A Demon Hunter. So, of course they’re forced to be a lot more tolerant of Mavia and I.”

“Thank the Sun,” Daphne the Weaver, another holy paladin, shook her head. “A Demon Hunter. It’ll be the one thing that can get those… normies out there to wrap their minds around a Blood Elf and a succubus being together. I mean, the Burning Crusade was how long ago? And people still aren’t tolerant? Succubae, demons, Night Elves, Blood Elves, Demon hunters, Naga—we all worked in such close quarters in Outland and that was wars ago! We’ve all paid our dues with Kael’thas, and Illidan, by now. We all did what we had to do during that war, to survive. Are we really supposed to go on and ditch our old friends and loves and pretend it didn’t happen? Why don’t people just forgive?!”

Lady Liadrin shot Daphne a look next. Daphne folded sheepish hands in her lap, “Sorry, Matriarch. I guess I was… relapsing again.”

“I know you were, dear. We live in a world where warlocks definitely aren't allowed to marry their own succubae. A skilled Bloodknight who also tried to be a demonologist, however the corrupt Sunfury bent the rules for our Fennore back then—he’s bound to have a difficult… disturbing journey today. Well I mean, what's done is done and love is love. But you’re not Illidari or Sunfury or anything like it anymore, Fennore, and some things just aren’t acceptable to most people. Especially when difficult, disturbing Kael’thas is the one who started this strange journey for you.” Liadrin walked back to the coffee table, frowning, “That crazy bloodmage warlock…”

Liadrin offered more tea to the four other paladins. Anxious, overly-polite ‘no thank yous’ came from all around the room.

“Well. I think we’ve made progress this evening, in any case. It’s been a decade,” Liadrin made a light laugh, “but we will prove to them, and soon, that we can rehabilitate corrupt Sunfury Bloodknights into proper Silver Hand paladins. Today, I didn’t hear anything about bloodlust, or addiction, or obsessions with marrying Kael’thas Sunstrider…”

Everyone looked at Saturna Whiteblade then, the youngest member of their group. She raised eyebrows, “Ex boyfriend… I did say he was my ex this time! I know I’ll never be… the queen of Quel’thalas,” Saturna rolled her eyes.

“I know you did, dear.” Liadrin came over and smoothed white blonde bangs away from Saturna’s face, as if she was her own daughter, “Very good girl.”

“Alrighty then.” Liadrin beamed, “If you all survive the Horde’s new trials in Zandalar, and your nosey neighbors—same time next month?”

A heavy knock on the door. Then, whoever knocked didn’t bother to wait for a response. She threw it open.

“Ho god!” Went the Sunfury once known as Sunthraze the Sly. He hopped up on his end of the couch as if he’d seen a large cockroach skitter by his toes.

Trixany yelled, “The HELL is this?!”

Liadrin narrowed her eyes at the stormy redhead who’d… uh… stormed in, “Tempest… or what do you prefer to be called now? Trixany?”

Trixany, red-faced, slammed the door closed again behind herself, “I was locked up! All I did was start a fight when they started insulting Kael’thas… you must’ve heard about it? And I wrote so many letters over the years. Why didn’t you guys do anything?”

“Yes. I believe something did… come across my desk. Probably. Ten years ago.” Liadrin confirmed, dryly.

Trixany, still catching her breath, “But no one sprang me? I thought we Bloodknights were above the law. That was the whole point of the mission, the whole reason the six of us were sent to save Kael’thas—to break the laws and bring his… sorry ass home from Outland!” Tempest’s voice flew up at the end, emotional, “Then, I finally make it out of Sunspire Keep… but it’s like ten years later… and I was ringing your door bell, like forever just now, Liadrin… They didn’t want to let me into the house… But why not—”

“Kael’thas made his dark choice back then. We were allied with the Horde, I led our Bloodknights in doing what we had to do. You were supposed to accept it with grace and dignity—”

“My life for my prince and all that?” Trixany managed a weak, very tired, Sunfury salute.

No one else in the room returned it. Sunthraze might have coughed once, uncomfortable.

Trixany bubbled up, “I don’t get this?! Why are you all in here like pansies, sipping tea? What about the Thalassian Empire? The Exodar—we gotta go punish those Draenei!”

Liadrin crossed her arms, “No, we do not. The Draenei are well embedded in the Alliance by now. We’re focused on different conflicts these days.”

“The hell we are! And that Illidan—I heard he was back. Where is he now? We’d better mount up, get to him while there’s still time. Let’s catch Illidan and finally punish him for how he crossed Kael’thas! Come on, everybody…” Trixany turned back to the door, sword in hand. Then, she realized no one in that room was following her.

Pyorin the Tank shook his head sorrowfully, “No, Trixany. Illidan had a whole redemption arc. He helped us save Azeroth. Again. Weirdly enough.”

Trixany’s eyes went wide, “Illidan… WHAAAT?!” She shook Fennore next, “What about you? Fennore, you were the most zealous… you were Kael’thas' personal confessor, you followed Kael’thas to the end, I know you did. He even showed you how to use warlock powers secretly, the whole... well some... of the Sunfury Army was so impressed with your dark powers—you defied everything and married some weird succubus! Right?”

Mavia snarled, “She was an Illidari Maneater and she has a name…”

“…We were all so great back then at the Black Temple, and at Tempest Keep too! Breaking all the rules, bending the Light to our will, the most powerful Bloodknights in existence! Yes, the Silver Hand hated us, but it was glorious because we were the Sunfury, we were the elite Bloodknights, and we were unstoppable!”

Liadrin tutted, “Child, you need to please sit down, have some tea and stop acting like you stumbled out of a toolbooth, or a tardis, or fell off a bronze dragon for pity’s sake.” Then, Liadrin walked to the coffee table. She picked up the teapot, poured.

Trixany watched the steaming amber chamomile tea fill up the dainty cup. She heard Liadrin talking about the Light, how they were all together as one in the Silver Hand, how they had a higher purpose… all of it so slow. All of it so painful in her ears.

Trixany fumed, “Then what did we fight and die for, in Outland?!”

Pyorin crossed his leg casually and shrugged, “Well… nothing, apparently.”

“Have a seat, Trixany. Drink it. Please. It's camomile...” Liadrin closed in. The teacup covered in tiny pink roses rattled slightly on its saucer.

Trixany backed up, to the one empty chair.

“You’ll feel better, Trixany. We have monthly meetings for ex-Sunfury Bloodknights. You are truly and fully a paladin now. Isn’t that nice? A Knight of the Silver Hand. An agent for good…”

“Drink the tea, Trixany…” went all her old comrades, “It’s quite good, these days…”

At last, Trixany heard herself screaming. She lashed out with an arm. Lady Liadrin fell back and the cup and saucer went flying. Hot tea stained them both.

Liadrin yelled, “That is it! I’ve had with it you! Trixany, I want you to think about something now that you’re out of prison. It’s the same question I posed to everyone else here a decade ago! What excuses can you make for being a bully now? Who are you going to blame it on when you take revenge, when you push people around, hrm? Not on Kael’thas! That’s not who we are anymore, alright! And you have a second chance, who knows if you deserve it! We all have to prove ourselves.”

Liadrin closed in, “Trixany, what are you going to do with your life?”

Trixany heated, looked into the eyes of her old soldier friends, “…I’m going to get what I WANT!”

Then, Trixany stormed back out of the room.

Fennore leaned over, whispered to Sunthraze, “Uh… she seemed upset. So, shouldn’t you go after Tempest? Isn’t she still your fiancée? Though I will say she’s more frightening these days, and more tattooed than she ever was!”

Sunthraze itched into his wild auburn ponytail, winced and looked elsewhere, “Nah… I’m good.”

#wyrmrest roleplay #world of warcraft #trixany stories

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chaos-carat · 7 years

Note

2, 8, 10, 16, 18, 24, 25, 31.

2. What was your first characters race/class (profession)?

The first race/class I ever, ever played... was actually Charr-Nerco on my ex’s computer. I picked Charr specifically to annoy him :D

When I got my own copy of the game. I went for Charr-Ele, having fallen in love with Charr :3

8. Whats your favourite zone?

Hrm... either Queensdale or Fields of Ruin?I like the simple greenery of the human zonesbut Fields of Ruin has a couple of interesting points, and I love the autumn colours.

10. Whats your favourite PVP map?

I think... probably the Eternal Coliseum? Whilst I like Raid on the Capricorn as I’ve played it less; I tend to do better in the Coliseum. And it’s simple enough.

16. Do you enjoy jumping puzzles?

Sort of?I like simple ones; but I’m not good enough at them to enjoy them hugely...

18. Do you have a favourite character from the lore?

Kalla Scorchrazor. Hands down. She was a charr in the days of the Flame Legion, who believed that female charr could not fight. So not only did she train female charr in secretbut then, when the other legions wanted to overthrow the evil Flame Legion; she listed one simple fact to the (still kinda sexist) charr of Blood Iron and Ash.That they could double their numbers if they allowed the females to fight.

Her dying words were “At least I die knowing my sisters are free”

Basicallyshe not only fought for female charr rightsbut also helped overthrow the floame legioni.e. made charr the race they are today

24. Is there a race you hate with a passion?

ha...haaahaa....

Asura

So much

25. What class do you hate to face in PVP?

It honestly varies a lot season to season, and depending on the meta....I haven’t played in a while, so couldn’t say for sure either.

Necros can be a pain, mostly cause of the second health bar... but that’s more a “ugh” rather that hateand Mesmers can be a bit annoying with clonesbut there’s nothing I really universally hate much more beyond a slight eyeroll

31. Do you have a favourite dye?

Gonna have to start up the game to check xDit does depend a lot on the armour, as different dyes come out different shades, and some armour even introduces gradients....

Maybe Flame? I like that sort of... group of oranges

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magitekprompto-blog · 7 years

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MUNday Facts:

Name: Raven

R: Okay Prompto, take a seat and we can answer this together. Okay?

P:Uh, sure. I mean how hard can it be?

Favorite drink: R: Diet Pepsi. Or anything with caffeine. I can’t let the blood in my stream take over the caffeine.

P: Hrm. I think my favorite drink would probably be orange juice. But mostly, just drink water.

Favorite meal: R: Oh man, love me some good Chinese. Honey walnut shrimp, some pork and fried rice with won tons.

P: I’mma go with a double cheeseburger with all the fixin’s. Onions, mayo, mustard, the works. Barring that, anything Ignis cooks.

Favorite memory: R: I think the best memory I have is meeting my wife @indarknessiwait. She’s the best thing to happen to me.

P: Getting my first real camera. Something about holding a piece of equipment like that in my hand...

Favorite tv show: R: I have to pick just one? Damn. Uh, I’d have to say my current favorite is Criminal Minds. Because I’m kind of fucked up like that. Also Supernatural.

P: Not a lot of television watching where I am. It’s a waste of power and we can’t afford that. Gotta keep the lights on.

Favorite tumblr blog: R: @poisonous-panda @outofmychair @sunshinetechnophile and of course @indarknessiwait

P: Man, I don’t have time to mess around on the net.

One random fact about you: R: I’m a Type I diabetic and have been for 32 years. I also love Optimus Prime.

P: Er.. well uh... I guess a random fact about me is that I work out regularly?

One random fact about your day: R: I have to take at least one photo a day with my camera. Or I tend to go twitchy.

P: I miss the light. Every day I keep hopin’...

One random fact about your job/school: R: I don’t work. My life consists of trying to adult. It’s harder than it looks.

P: My job? it’s keeping people alive. Keeping me alive and waiting for Noctis to come back.

What is one thing you would sell your soul for: R: Hah, i don’t have a soul. I’m pretty sure I traded it in for krispy kreme at some point.

P: To see the sunrise.

If you could only have one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it be: R: That’s an odd question. I guess maybe some of Promptos clothes? Of course I’d also need to be promptos size...

P: Dude, I kinda wear one outfit...

What was the last song that got stuck in your head: R: Angel with a shotgun. Mostly because it reminds me of Prompto.

P: The chocobo song. Shut up. I can’t help it.

Zombie Apocalypse. What is your weapon of choice: R: Is fear and running in terror a weapon? No? Kay. Lets see. Probably a gun, barring that, dual short blades. But only if I’m actually proficient in these weapons. otherwise, run in fear.

P: *snorts* Kinda livin’ in one now. And I think we know what weapons I’d use.

Did you have a baby blanket: R: No, but I did have a blue teddy bear that played music. Loved that thing.

P: No? I don’t think so anyways. I mean I had some comfort toys and maybe a stuffed chocobo when I was little.

What is your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn: Jedi. I have a lucas approved Jedi outfit because I’m part of a group called Saber guild. They’re a charity organization associated with Lucas Arts and Disney. Love dressing up in that and making kids smile.

P: I went as a moogle for halloween before. That was fun cause my face was all painted up and I put a little springy headband on that wobbled when I walked.

Beach or Water Park: R: beach. nothing beats the sound of the ocean waves, the wind and the smell of salt water.

P Beach. Hands down. Best time was in Galden Quay, staying at the camp and listening to the waves and birds. Loved it.

What do you think is your spirit animal? : R: I’ve been told my spirit animal is Fizzgig from Dark Crystal.

P: Chocobo.

What is the most played song on your MP3/MP4: R: Angel with a Shotgun. Stop staring at me like that.

P: Don’t really listen to a lot of music. Gotta keep my ears free for the sound of daemons.

I’m tagging: @indarknessiwait Everyone else I know has been tagged.

#this was fun #moar please

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indi-flying-with-dragons · 7 years

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1, 2, 15, 16, and 18 XD

HEY MAN XD How ya doing? :3 *HUGGLES* Sorry for getting to this late. xD Around this time of night things calm down enough and I finished going through my feed usually so I tend to have more of a breather for things like this. XD

Let me see here. >.>~~~

1: What is the most useless fact you know?

Oh shit let me think? XD You’d have to define “useless” there man because I don’t really categorize things into things like this. e.O O.e I mean I have “disgusting” or “weird” or “shocking” or “little-known” or “freaky” or “could be useful but isn’t yet” along with “useful” and “cool” and “awesome” and “funny” categories. Not “useless.” O.o

….-^- I shall do one from the “random” category and shake them around and see what I pick from a hat! *nod nod* -^-

*fails when most of the things he draws out are actually cool or helpful or important*. … -///- Nrrr. I not do this good eh?

… SCREW THIS. >^^

Did you know that blue feathers are a structural color? :D Come from the structure of the feather itself and not any pigments? (Unless you’re a parrot because they can make rare color pigments naturally like blue, red, yellow, and green!) Purple is another structural color, same with iridescence. :3 You don’t see it so well unless there’s sunlight. :D

Red, yellow, orange, shades of brown, shades of grey and black, are all pigment-based colors. :D Red, yellow, orange are all from one’s diet (unless you’re a parrot!), with green being a combination of the yellow pigment the blue structural color. :3

White is a structural color and complete absence of pigment at all. :D So it wears down more easily than black which has a lot of pigment reinforcing the feather structure from wear and tear. Which is why most bird species that fly a lot usually have a darker color band along the edges of their flight feathers, to stop that wear and tear, if their wings aren’t already a darker color. :3

2: What was your most awkward “hahaha…oh wait you’re serious” moment?

Geeze have to have one come to my mind. Hrm. I KNOW I’ve some. Or rather… I know I’ve done a FUCK-TON of “You’re totally serious …wait you’re actually joking? oops.” which is the exact opposite I’d say. *grins*

…Fuck it’s not actually coming to me. I just keep getting plenty of “you’re serious… oh wait you were joking the whole time? Ahahah… *belated laugh*” instead. O.e

I don’t have the memory for things like this. T^T (And you overthink things a lot!) Shush! (NEVAH -^-) -.-;;; …Fuck this I’m gonna do what comes to my mind instead. -^-;;;My dad was leading into a pun with me totally unknowing. He was telling a pretty serious-sounding story, and I was focusing more on his lips to lip-read him, and not noticing the little glint of mischief in his eyes. Then he ended with a very VERY bad pun about a pig somehow. (Don’t fully remember it, thankfully!) I got confused for several long beats… then deadpanned when I finally got it. I told him it was P.U. two-thirds of a pun and so bad.

He laughed a lot and then proceeded to keep getting my mind to fill in his puns for him, even ending up at the end drawing out something and my mind filled in the joke FOR him without him having to say a word. He cracked up so hard, I was laughing yet complaining about him doing that.

Then I said (My mom was also in the room btw): “MOM! Make my dad stop using my mind against meeeeee!”

Then we all took in how that SOUNDED, especially out of context, and just erupted into total laughter for many long minutes. xD One of the hardest we’ve laughed as a group that I can think of. XD I was proud of that bit. XD Even if I didn’t like the PUNishment my dad subjected me to beforehand. -x-;;

15: How would you describe Tumblr to a friend who has never heard of it?

A site full of social justice stuff, discourse, random memes, cool stuff, and really weird things you never heard before, all stuffed into one thing. The IM function kinda sucks. The tag system is tricky to figure out. But I really love reblogging things to have on my blog as some sort of whacked up collector fetish.

…What? Why are you giving me that look?

Wait. WAIT

COME BAHCK

16: What is the single most liberating thought that you’ve ever had?

Well there’s one that recently comes to mind. To realize that there isn’t much of a separation between me in this lifetime and me in my spirit. That, while I had almost idolized my spirit self because I KNEW what to expect then and was laid back and calm and not the frazzled nervous wreck I feel myself to be in this lifetime… there really isn’t that much difference at all. In this lifetime, I’m acting exactly as how my spirit self would act… because I AM my spirit self.

I just don’t have the information I am used to having back at home, which frazzles me quite a bit. But all the good things I saw in my spirit self, I have in abundance here as well. And all the things I don’t like about this physical life self, I’ve done and encountered plenty of times back at home. I just didn’t really pay attention to those as much. No matter where I am, no matter how much or little I remember, I AM the same exact person here in this life as I am back at home. I’m just responding to a different situation, with some limitations on hand that makes it more tricky for me than I’m usually used to handling.

That really helped me a fuck ton that revelation. :) I was finally ready to believe it and integrate that into my perception of the world around me. :) Finally. X>X~

18: What’s the worst case of “spoiled rotten” that you’ve seen?Let’s see…

I’m not going off in person because I can’t overhear that well IRL due to being hard-of-hearing even WITH my cochlear implants. I’m going off what I saw online since I can more consistently actually know what the fuck people are saying in that format.

There was someone who was taking a photo of them in their car, a teenager, with a literal wad of cash in their purse, simultaneously complaining about not getting something better, as well as bragging about what they already had. Then I heard some agency went in and busted their parents up over the incriminating wad of cash in the purse, since that was pretty good evidence their parents had been doing some illicit activities. And this person saw fit to complain and throw a fit over it, and jump on the government agency as being the “bad guys” and themself and their parents being “poor victims of a crime” no matter how many people tried to explain to them on social media why they, that person themselves, had actually fucked up.

#long post #Des friend #LOL #funny #ask game #answering a submission #answering #answers #I had fun XD #Thanks for this man!#You're awesome XD

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blockheadbrands · 5 years

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The Rebirth Of Subcool: The Inside Story Of A Legendary Bud Breeder

Danny Danko of High Times Reports:

The famed cannabis breeder Subcool shares his story of surviving and thriving.

The legendary cannabis breeder known as Subcool survived a nearly fatal diagnosis, the fiery destruction of his home and possessions, and a messy divorce from his wife and business partner to rise from the ashes with a new venture called the Dank.

His Story

Subcool’s passion for cannabis started early in life. He began growing in the 1970s and eventually found himself in trouble with law enforcement and in jail. His defiant return to cultivation resulted in a subsequent bust and he wound up serving time in prison, a stint that ignited a passion to change cannabis laws and help free the healing flower for good.

Subcool moved west and his prowess in breeding and growing eventually led him to found Team Green Avenger Seeds. He first came to my attention in the forums of overgrow.com, where he shared information and photos of his lovely cannabis specimens. In 2006, I chose his Jack the Ripper as one of our High Times Top 10 Strains of that year, and he was eventually inducted into the High Times Seed Bank Hall of Fame in 2009. His Vortex strain, entered under a different name, won the first Cannabis Cup in the United States in 2010 in San Francisco.

Along the way, Subcool also became a regular contributor to High Times magazine, the author of both Dank: The Quest for the Very Best Marijuana and Dank 2.0, and, more recently, a winner of the High Times Dr. Lester Grinspoon Lifetime Achievement Award. His popular Weed Nerd show on YouTube chronicles his cannabis growing and breeding, showing a slice of his life to a legion of Weed Nerds who follow his exploits and test seeds for new strain releases.

The Fire

The Deadlights strain tests high in CBD/ Team Terpene

In 2013, Subcool was diagnosed with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic form of emphysema and a progressive lung disease. He moved from Oregon to California for better weather—and “because I had always dreamed of living in Sonoma County where any adult could cultivate 30 plants per household, and that’s exactly what we did,” he tells me. “I’m technically disabled and my lungs only have 70 percent capacity. Growing is hard work, so I have to depend on others to lift and carry things. When I’m really sick, I am hooked to an oxygen concentrator and can barely walk.”

Despite his health setbacks, Subcool and his then wife and partner, MzJill, continued to build a company staffed with fellow growers/breeders now known worldwide as TGA Genetics (The Green Avengers). But Subcool’s illness and treatments were wearing on him. He says he “lost his kind nature.” Then came the day that would change his life forever.

October 8, 2017. MzJill and Subcool were already planning to separate when fast-moving flames burned their home in Santa Rosa to the ground. The wildfire eventually destroyed 8,500 homes and killed over 60 people. Sub and Jill were lucky to escape with their lives, but they lost everything, including almost four million seeds and all of the male and female breeding plants they had saved over many years. Devastated, the pair went their separate ways, and Subcool tried to pick up the pieces and move on.

The Dank is grown commercially worldwide/ Derp Farms in AZ

The Dank

Without a home, Subcool began to build his new life and restore his cannabis-genetics library. Two years later, he has an arsenal of 44 Dank strains stocked up and distributed worldwide. But it wasn’t easy. Without any tools to run his business, he and his partner, William Rouland, sourced back lost parent stock from close friends who held cuttings of the plants. He even had to purchase some of his own seeds.

Slowly, they rebuilt his core strains using original mother and father plants. Strains like Jack the Ripper, Vortex and Querkle were reproduced, and Sub also started creating new strains and placing them into his large testing program.

Sub also had some issues with hemp russet mites that almost shut him down again. “I took in lots of new cuttings, and one of these came with a present—HRM, or hemp russet mites—and they almost caused me to move and stop growing altogether,” Sub tells me. “Instead of giving up, I tried literally everything, including heating plants to 122 degrees, raising CO2 levels in the room to 10,000 ppm, WPF97, Venerate, Flying Skull, Dr. Zymes [insecticides] and wettable sulfur. In the end, it took a combination of all of these and killing 40 full-size plants in flowering. Most importantly, I learned the use of predator bugs and organic IPM [integrated pest management] methods, and now my garden is healthy, happy and producing amazing-quality cannabis.”

One interesting story Subcool relates to me deals with reacquiring Strawberry Cough for his Strawberry Daiquiri strain (Strawberry Cough x Space Queen). He took a trip to Hollywood and struck a deal with Kyle Kushman to grow his genetics out and work with his famous Strawberry Cough alongside a new cut called Stardawg. Their collaboration has been dubbed “the Dank Brothers.”

“To bring the story up to date, we now have many collaborative strains in the ‘tester’s network,’” Subcool says, “and have just released a new strain called Strelka, which is a delicious cross of my cherry-infused, resin-coated Space Queen dad with Kyle’s fruity/diesel Stardawg female, fully endorsed by two old-school growers and friends. The results have been amazing, and we look forward to this cross becoming highly sought after in the new cannabis world.”

On February 20, 2019, Subcool and MzJill met in mediation to officially separate. Subcool surrendered TGA Genetics IP to her and officially became the Dank, the same name of his two books. He also gave up the rights to the following strains: Jillybean, Agent Orange, Brian Berry Cough, Orange Velvet, Ace of Spades, Plushberry, Black Dahlia and Time-wreck, and he and MzJill agreed to the joint use of Space Queen.

Sub tells me he regrets the role he played in his and MzJill’s messy and public breakup. “I promoted TGA for 18 years,” he says. “I did a good job, but I feel that the magic fell apart the night of the fire. I do not know the fate of TGA, but my work, my strains and my passion continue on in the 44 strains that make up the menu of the Dank.”

Subcool tried growing Mendo Dope style plants in a pool/ Subcool

The Pool Grow

Subcool settled in Arizona and rented a home with an indoor pool, drained it and started growing cannabis inside it under Arizona’s medical program. Now, with his new home converted to a state-approved 60-plant grow op, his mission to continue working with his beloved cannabis plant continues in a very unique environment.

Sub explains to me: “The wet air made it impossible to breathe, so one day I drained the pool. Someone online joked about the old Cheech and Chong skit [in which the duo have a grow op in an empty pool], and I took the challenge.” Solis Tek gave him a good deal on the lights, and he put 8,000 watts of double-ended high-pressure-sodium fixtures above the 20-by-30-foot pool. Smart Pot donated custom 100-gallon air pots, and Dragonfly Earth Medicine contributed organic teas to feed the plants. To complete the giving chain, the cannabis he grows in the pool is donated to patients entirely for free!

Black Dahlia grown “no-till” style/ Courtesy Subcool

The Bowling Alley Grow

Sub also sent me photos of a brand-new facility he and his team are building out in what used to be a bowling alley. He tells me: “With the support and help of [grow visionary] Eli Harding and William Rouland, the bowling alley in Globe is almost complete, and in just a few weeks we start moving in plants. We will grow in my Super Soil using my methods and grow as close to organically as possible. Everything will be tested, even though it isn’t required in Arizona. The Dank will set new standards for packaging, testing and distribution. The state-of-the-art kitchen has glass walls, so all aspects can be filmed and supervised for quality control.”

Subcool tells me he’s enthusiastic about the future: “I get to start hundreds of seeds and do pheno hunts of my favorite strains. Once we find the best, we’ll use Phylos Bioscience to map and protect our versions of each strain. Each strain will have quality standards for terpene and cannabinoid production. I’m excited, but I also understand the long road we have in front of us. Growing cannabis has so many variables, and so many things can go wrong. We stand at the brink of success or failure, and all of us won’t look back until we handle all adversity and make something truly Dank!”

You can find verified Subcool seeds online at the Dank (subcool.com) and at major seed distributors like Attitude Seed bank, Seedsman and JBC Seeds. Look for the Dank’s consumable cannabis products in Arizona dispensaries.

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON HIGH TIMES, CLICK HERE.

https://hightimes.com/grow/rebirth-subcool-inside-story-legendary-bud-breeder/

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itsworn · 6 years

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Take 5 with SEMA Chairman and Coker President Wade Kawasaki

Wade Kawasaki is a busy man, so nailing him down for a five-minute interview was a little tougher than we originally thought; he is constantly on the go, between his position as president and chief operating officer at Coker Group (parent company of Coker Tire) and his position as the SEMA chairman of the board. Technology allows him to keep up with the daily grind at his main office in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and we run into him on occasion at the SEMA Show, the MPMC Media Trade Conference, and other events all over the world. We wanted to catch up with him, because as far as we’re concerned, he eats, sleeps, and breathes the hot rod lifestyle. On second thought, we’re not convinced he actually sleeps.

Wade has made his mark in the automotive industry by constantly raising the bar at each company he’s been involved with, ranging from his long-term involvement with SEMA to the founding of his own company, and now his crucial role at the Coker Group. Although most of his time is taken up with work, he still gets to enjoy his personal hot rods in those precious spare moments. Let’s jump right in and see what makes this car guy and industry icon tick.

HRM] What got you started in the automotive industry?

WK] As far back as I can remember, I’ve always had a love for cars, especially fast cars. But what really kicked off my passion for the automotive world was working at my father’s filling station. He had a Shell station at the corner of Venice and Vermont in Los Angeles, and the cars that pulled in for service were the stuff of car-guy dreams. I was a 10-year-old kid, out there filling up muscle cars with gas, checking the oil, and washing windows. That experience taught me a lot and even at that early age, I knew I wanted a career that involved cars.

HRM] Tell us about your first car.

WK] My first car was a 1964 Chevy El Camino. It was just your basic work truck when I got it, but I always had big plans for it. In fact, I still have it. For some reason, other projects have always jumped in front of the El Camino, but I’m glad I still have it as a “one of these days” projects.

HRM] We’ve been seeing your GTO Judge all over the place. What’s the story with that car?

WK] It’s a Cardinal Red 1970 GTO Judge that I bought with intentions of it being a driver-quality project to work on with my son, Timothy. After we started researching part numbers and date codes, we realized that this car had matching numbers, down to the carburetor. We quickly realized that the car deserved a better restoration than what we originally planned, so I sent the car off to Bodie Stroud Industries for a complete build. The car was in such good shape that we were able to reuse the original interior. It’s a really nice piece, and it’s been featured on the cover of a couple magazines, used in our SEMA Show booth, and even appeared in an article in the Wall Street Journal. It has been one of my favorite projects.

HRM] What else is in your garage?

WK] I’ll start with the most usable car, a 1932 Ford roadster. This was actually the 2004 Street Rodder Road Tour car, so that means it was road-tested when I got my hands on it. The car has a Brookville steel body and a 427ci LS engine. I made a few changes to the car, and it’s a blast to drive. Another fun one is my 1961 Chevy Impala. It was a TV project car that we got during the finishing stages. It has a Lamar Walden W-motor in it, with dual FiTech EFI units, backed by a six-speed. Other vehicles include a 1968 Mercedes 250SL, a 1973 Mercedes 450SL, a 1978 Datsun 280Z, a 1971 Honda CB750K1 motorcycle, and a custom Harley built by 40Cal Customs.

HRM] What was your first big opportunity in the automotive industry?

WK] As a teenager, I was drag racing regularly at OCIR [Orange County International Raceway], and I was a regular customer at Service Center, which was the go-to speed shop at the time. I was in there so often that it was a natural progression for me to move to the other side of the counter as a parts salesman. This job connected me with car guys in the area, and it also opened an opportunity to talk with the parts suppliers. I eventually worked my way up to store manager. Those were some great years, and I soaked up every ounce of knowledge I could get and made the most of every industry contact.

HRM] How did you get involved with SEMA?

WK] In 1987, I started my own company, Exports International, with my wife, Rose. We were starting from the bottom, but I had lots of great connections from my previous job. In order to reach more customers, and get some advice on operating my business, I joined SEMA. I took advantage of every member benefit available, and I attended as many functions as possible to network with other business owners in the industry. It was SEMA Vice President Don Turney who encouraged me to become more active with the organization, which led to volunteering for several positions through the years and founding YEN [Young Executives Network], which is still going strong today.

HRM] Is it safe to say getting involved in SEMA helped your career?

WK] Absolutely. It played a huge role in the success of Exports International, and it led me to many valuable relationships within the industry as we founded and acquired manufacturing companies. The more active I became, the more I got out of it, both on a business and a social level. I encourage anyone in the industry to join SEMA and get involved.

HRM] Explain your current position with SEMA.

WK] I am currently serving as the SEMA chairman of the board. This is an elected position with a two-year term, and it gives me the opportunity to meet with our board of directors on a regular basis to discuss the state of our industry and develop new ideas to take our industry even further. It’s my chance to give back to the organization that has done so much for my career. It’s a true honor to have been elected to this position, even with the added travel and work hours required to make the most of it.

HRM] The SEMA Show is a big part of the SEMA organization, but give us some behind-the-scenes details of the organization.

WK] The SEMA Show is still one of our most valuable assets. It attracts buyers, manufacturers, and dealers of automotive parts from all over the world to Las Vegas every fall as one of the largest trade shows in the world. But the organization is more than just a trade show. We are a team of industry members who help each other succeed. One of our major agendas right now is keeping the EPA from impacting our hobby. SEMA has worked tirelessly to combat unnecessary regulations, which would prevent individuals from modifying the emissions system of a motor vehicle that is converted for racing use only. As a result, the Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act, RPM Act for short, was developed to protect Americans’ right to modify street vehicles into race cars. The RPM Act also protects the industry’s right to sell parts that enable racers to compete. It’s a battle that I’m personally passionate about, and I take every opportunity to shed light on the situation and garner support from individuals and elected officials.

HRM] It sounds like you have quite the task with your SEMA position, but that’s not even your main job, right?

WK] That’s right. The SEMA chairman of the board position is a priority to me, but it’s not my “day job,” per se. My position at Coker Group is the president and chief operating officer. When Corky Coker decided to retire in 2014, he entrusted me to step in and handle the operations of the six companies and 12 brands under the Coker Group umbrella. That consists of Coker Tire Company, Wheel Vintiques, Honest Charley Speed Shop, and more—it’s a lot to keep up with, that’s for sure. I have a great team of folks in the Chattanooga office, as well as our West Coast facility, to keep all of the companies running smoothly.

HRM] What is the key focus at Coker Group?

WK] Our biggest product line is wide whitewall tires. It’s really what our company is known for, but it’s been a goal of mine to spread awareness of all the other cool stuff that Coker produces. The tire company alone has thousands of products, ranging from early 1900s horseless carriages to the latest and greatest drag cars. The whitewalls will continue to be a big target for us, but our muscle-car tire offerings are growing steadily. We recently became the exclusive tire and wheel sponsor of Mecum Auctions in an effort to reach more muscle-car enthusiasts.

HRM] What’s the craziest thing that Coker produces?

WK] In the tire line, there are lots of weird products. Some of which, we might only manufacture and sell a few per year. I guess if I had to pick one weird product, it would be the Snow Bird Paddle Tire for the Ford Model A. The paddle tread is made to lock into a track system, which was manufactured by a conversion company in the 1930s. The niche products don’t make us a lot of money, but we are able to fill voids in the market, and that helps our company as a whole.

HRM] What’s new at Coker?

WK] Our latest product currently in production is the Firestone Wide Oval Radial, a tire with the timeless Wide Oval look, combined with modern radial construction. We built this product line using brand-new segmented molds and modern materials, and we did it all right here in the USA. This has been a hot seller, and we plan to make more of these tires that cross the boundaries between authentic bias-ply tires and modern radials. Next on our product list is a modern radial tire for the Ford Model A. Our newest wheel is the OE six-lug wheel, which will be huge for the classic-truck market.

HRM] Do you play a role in what new products make it to market?

WK] I do, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the job. We want car enthusiasts to continue enjoying their vehicles, so creating new products is the only way to fill some of those gaps in the market. The development process gives me a chance to get back into the gearhead mindset and think like a car guy instead of a businessman. Everyone at Coker Group has a passion for this industry and our customers, so being able to develop new and exciting products brings a smile to all of our faces.

HRM] How do you balance all your workflow, travel, and personal life on a daily basis?

WK] Let’s just say that I’m thankful for technology. My calendar is full of reminders, and I always have my phone, iPad, and laptop with me to stay up to speed, even if I’m out of the country on business. I’m also very fortunate to have an understanding wife and family. Rose has been my number-one supporter for all these years, and we’ve always included our two children, Timothy and Alyssa, in everything we do. The kids were there to see the growth of Exports International, and I feel like seeing their parents strive to succeed helped form their work ethic. I get a firsthand view of it daily, as Timothy has really stepped up to the plate as the national sales and marketing manager at Wheel Vintiques.

HRM] Where do you expect to see the industry in 10 years?

WK] That’s a tough one, because we know that in 10 years, most of the original “class” of hot rodders will no longer be our key demographic. That applies not only to the Coker Group but to the automotive aftermarket, in general. It’s up to us to encourage youth to get involved in the hobby and to make it more inviting. Whether that means making the hobby more affordable or just increasing the user experience at events, we have to recruit young guys and girls to be a part of the hobby. In the next 10 years, I would say that classic trucks will continue to be popular, and we’ll see a rise in 1980s cars, due to the affordability and the nostalgia factor.

The post Take 5 with SEMA Chairman and Coker President Wade Kawasaki appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/take-5-sema-chairman-coker-president-wade-kawasaki/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Hot Rod Network

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