lilyliux

[lilyliux]

NI NI 倪妮 in custom Gucci | 15th Beijing International Film Festival Closing Ceremony

Ni Ni: more photos here BJIFF: more photos here

[lilyliux]

Who: @despairlyklor Where: Haven

The ones that the Kossith had taken had returned, and there was a need for her no longer at Haven and yet she hadn't returned to the royal court and her well kept room at her matron's estate, the benefit of the age in which they lived no one could blow up her cell. She was a wild druid and being with the wolves made her feel as if something tight in her chest had loosened. Dread filled her at returning home and yet she knew she must, she was brewing a kettle over the fire with the flames bending to her whims when she heard the steps beside her. "Are you a fan of hot chocolate? I've made plenty to share."

[lilyliux]

She wasn't fearless, a touch of anxiety upon her spine and she did better when she was pretending to be someone else, there was a script to follow, she knew when to smile and when to flirt as a courtesan and bard and yet the powers that ignited under her skin yearned for more than a life of comfort.

"I trust in the fates, the wheel turns and the pattern can't be denied. It can't be out run and I trust my intuition that I can help once I arrive." The pattern was like death from Final Destination, it would hunt her down and storytelling had comforted humanity since the world began.

The Nightingales were a network that traded in secret, she had slept with many men of war who muttered in their sleep about the famed Kossith. "They're on the sea, kept aboard a ship." Her fingers circle the stem of her glass. "Is there anyone you're trying to rescue?" She arched a brow, a cheeky and bold question.

Fiore’s brow lifted slightly as Lily spoke, fingers drumming idly against the bar top. Haven, of all places. He’d never stepped foot in werewolf territory—never had much reason to. Too remote, too wild, and far too loyal to their own. He tilted his head, watching her through the dim tavern light, trying to decide if she was being brave or just reckless.

“You sure about that?” he asked, voice low, a faint edge beneath the easy charm. “Because the Kossith would love to get their hands on a druid.”

He leaned in a little, not enough to draw attention, but enough that his words wouldn’t carry. “I’m not about to play hero in someone else’s war, Lily. But if I was going to involve myself, it’d be for answers. You hear anything about where the Kossith are keeping the ones they’ve already taken from Aventia?”

[lilyliux]

NI NI for theBallroom, January & February 2023

[lilyliux]

Lily had few attachments, selling her body and company the way she did as a courtesan made it so that she compartmentalize and rarely let herself be seen and to bond meant that one how to do the embarrassing work of reveling their true self, she was a bard and excelled at the Great Game but it meant that she moved through life alone. Still, she had not forgotten the children that she weaved a story for through the fire elements of the campfire that they gathered around as the soldiers of Haven marched for Aventia to fight against the Darkspawn. She had cast a story of and resilience against mighty foes through the coals of the fire and the flames that licked heavenwards, it was meant to serve as a distraction and had haunted her in her gilded wing in her matron's estate.

She had packed a knapsack and decided to do more, she was a piece of the pattern and she had been blessed with her abilities than to do more than live a comfortable life. She was without a doubt spoiled and yet when there was an opportunity to help, she took it. They were in a rural area and catharizing medical tools for field surgery wasn't always easily done and so she used the fire that she could control to help sterilize the tools, her hand brushed anothers and the vial shattered to the ground. The patient was being tended to by an actual profession and so she waved away the apology. "During times like this, no good comes from holding someone to an accidental mistake." Dropping to her knees, she used the wind to catch any stray glass to gather up. "It's okay, don't worry."

who: @lilyliux where: Haven when: early in the Troupe 3: liberation plot drop notes: let me know if this works for you!

Organizing such a widespread effort across all of Haven was no small endeavor, and for the sake of looking out for all of its occupants and preparing for the days to come there were important details to organize. Many volunteers had spent their time gaining as accurate a log of names of those who would stay and names of those who would evacuate as possible. It was important to know the headcount of those who would fight to ration resources, ensure arms were available, and organize factions. It was also significant to know who was fleeing, and where to. Seriswyn silently wondered how the numbers of Haven’s members and associates would be impacted when all was said and done.

For now, she was organizing supplies into medical field kits. It was simple work, but simple work was what was called for after a long day of scouting and riding. It was mindless work, which she appreciated after hours of council with the creatures of the wildlands, surprisingly worthy informants on the movements of the Kossith. But perhaps Seris was a touch too tired, moving out of rote muscle memory as she packed small healing potions into the kit. As she reached out to pack another smallville into a burlap sack, her hand fumbled against the hand of the woman working next to her, and the vial shattered on the floor. “That was my fault, I’m sorry,” she mumbled quietly, cursing herself internally for wasting a resource at a time like this. “If any trouble comes from the waste, I’ll take accountability for it.”

[lilyliux]

It felt like a dishonor to stay at the gilded castle as there were those who had magic course through their veins had been stolen away and weren't promised to return, she was born in the wilds and had entered the arches long before she blossomed into an woman and yet the world she found herself in at the castle was catered towards comfort and softness, she was not given her primal powers and her druidic soul to avoid the fight. She remembered the children at Haven that she had told stories too to distract and comfort when the soldiers had first marched to Aventia and she could not forget them now as she imagined the panic in their chest as the enemies marched towards Haven.

So she packed a knapsack and headed that way, travelling on foot, she noted the wildflowers that she spotted along the walk, nature would remain no matter how humanity was scorched. The stones would guide her forward but she hadn't expected the soul that waited inside. "I would like that." A small smile touched her lips, sticking her hand out for an handshake. "I'm Lily, please lead the way."

starter for @lilyliux.

where: i love them wildlands standing stones (outside of haven)

when: current timeline

note: as discussed!

Haven was not far off, his next task looming in the distance. Fyren had told Talisa to go ahead, and he'd be along shortly, sitting just alongside the standing stones within the grove. The wind here had stilled but the pink dragon was certain he could hear whispers of secrets amongst the trees, could note the faint vestiges of blight that had slipped through here when the darkspawn had overrun Aventia last. Stragglers had poured into these forests, tried to take Haven, and now another threat loomed. Talisa had spoken of those taken, the amount of them, who they'd been abducted by, but Fyren was unsure who would be amongst them. He'd taken to Avalon first - apparently Ikaros had entered the city in some sense of diplomacy and after this cruel confirmation, his next stop was to Freydis, to the Haven wolves.

Haven was Freydis' home, and he'd protect it for his friend once more, only this time he had hoped they'd fight together. A rustling behind him had the paladin stand, turning on his feet, with a raise of his brow, "If you are headed to Haven, I can lead you the rest of the way, traveler, I had been on my way myself."

[lilyliux]

Who: @ageofkarme Where: Haven

It was a bloody victory, red stained the ring where the Alpha had conquered and it seemed no rain could cleanse such violence from the soil underneath. The monsters had been defeated and she could return to her life of comfort back at the castle, it felt as if she was to return to her kept cage as the wind caressed her cheek and the wolves ran with free abandonment around her. She found a tonic and paired it with a spirit, two glasses of crystal and she passed around to the lone figure she found on the hill, observing the affairs of victory below. "Every win needs a drink, what will come next for you after this?" Was there a lover or a loved one that he would return too? A soul aboard the prisoner ship who he couldn't wait to embrace?

[lilyliux]

Lily had been watching the world from her room within the east wing, her hearth remained warm and her suitors had still visited with various bottles of perfume and flowers. To rich old man, it was as if the taking had never happened in Aventia and her tolerance to stomach such ignorance was beginning to turn, her dreams had been plagued of terrors for too long to sit idly by surrounded by pleasures of the flesh when her druidic soul cried out for more.

There was advantage to the Great Game, it placed her at all the right parties, to blend into the background as the court traded secrets and yet there was a part of her that savored music just for her, it was how she found herself at the tavern.

A twist of her lips into a smile once she spotted Fiore and there was something genuine in it, a smile that wasn't just for show, she nodded in appreciation as she took a seat on the stool. Her hand curving around the glass.

"I heard the Kossith are marching towards Haven." It wasn't a secret for just the Nightingales to know but it was how the birds kept their secrets, to find the right ear and trade gilded words. She rarely acted without wanting or trying to gain a certain advantage. "I'm going to Haven to help." An invitation in her eyes as she returned Fiore's gaze, her voice low meant just for him, the road ahead wouldn't be easy.

who: @lilyliux

where: his boring ol' job

notes: its gossip...girl

The tavern was slower than usual, the lull between the dinner rush and the late-night gamblers giving the staff a rare moment to breathe. Fiore leaned against the bar, wiping down a glass more for the sake of having something to do than any real need for cleanliness. The usual murmurs floated through the room—some drunk banter, the clatter of dice, and the soft pluck of a bard’s lute in the corner—but his eyes were trained on the door, waiting.

Lily was easy to spot, even when she didn’t want to be. The kind of beauty that made silence ripple through a room. Popular, polished, and always a few steps ahead of the rest of the city, especially when it came to secrets. That’s why Fiore kept her close—well, that and the fact that she was surprisingly easy to talk to when he wasn’t trying to pry the world's darkest truths out of her.

So when the door swung open and that familiar sway entered the room, Fiore was already setting the glass down and pouring her a drink—a favorite of hers, of course, because he paid attention.

“They’re saying the Kossith have taken Aventia,” he said casually, keeping his tone even. “Public doesn't much it seems.” His eyes lifted to meet hers, the easy charm slipping for something quieter, sharper. “You hear anything I wouldn’t?”

[lilyliux]

NI NI 倪妮 for theBallroom | March 2025

Ni Ni: more photos here theBallroom: more photos here

[lilyliux]

She feels young and old all at once, in time and out of it, and she has to resolve her steel to face what is awakening as it never a coincidence that the Dúnedain are exactly where they need to be. Conjuring flame, the tendrils of fire curve up her inner wrist and with a fingertip doused in white hot flame, she lights the incense and sage that awaits on the side table. They all have their parts to play as actors upon the stage of life and she has been apart of the Great Game for long enough that she can keep the appearance of bravery even as fear slithers by her ankles. The druids that have come before her had faced the darkness with bow and sword, she feels the fire that weaves between her fingers as if fish in a pond and knows soon she will have to be braver than she ever has before.

"I am grateful that the ancestors have paid a visit, trust is rare, and the dangers are plenty. Yet their visits in my dream are not without intention, be safe in what comes Sakkara but remain brave and steadfast, the road ahead won't be easy but it will be necessary to face what will come to bloom."

Sakkara listened earnest, her brows furrowing in thought. "These are consequential words, Bell-Flower," she murmured. There was a sort stretch of silence before she spoke again, shaking out of her thoughts. "The Sceafa you speak of is likely the one born of the snow, royalty woven in the heirs of his blood. The leader I have mentioned, but a leader in the ways that a Keeper is a leader... not a king." She nodded to herself. "The elves sang songs that brought life into our world... their songs have long since been silenced... Or perhaps not." Sakkara met Lily's eyes. "You have only been given a piece of a greater puzzle. Whatever is to happen, you will become a part of it, however large or small. Do not fear it. Fate chooses those who are worthy to carry these burdens, and Sceafa was only a herald sent to prepare you. To prepare us all."

There was another moment of silence. "All I know is that the past does indeed stir, it has been stirring for some time. We cannot run from the history that has laid the foundation for who we are now."

[lilyliux]

A sly smile brushed her lips, she was a courtesan and a bard and had learned to adapt to what was needed, to wear many different masks, she was careful to not voice an unwanted opinion lest she cause a tempest and yet she still enjoyed the satisfaction of a job well done, the mental blocks might hold her past out of arms length for a reason, the wheel weaves and fate happens for a reason. "Careful when we knock at doors, the unexpected might answer." She sold her body for coin and gave her freedom for comfort, a refund would not be issued even if asked.

Lily sang a song of old, of tongues unknown and her eyes pressed close, reaching deeper into the pattern, travel through time was easier when one stepped into the veil, her fingertips touching the temples of Celaya, wind rushed around them, all the windows were closed and yet the force travelled around them.

Her voice grew louder, more insistent and flower petals whipped around them, falling from the bouquets of her admirers and flame consumed the flowers, not lasting long in the powerful gust of wind as the flame became smoke and ash.

Celaya had been warned that magic was practically void when used upon the witcher, but still she ventured to try anything if it offered even a glimpse at restoring what was lost. It seemed, through each and any attempt to weave together a coherent and firm memory, that each failure was simply a warning sign to not look too closely. It was evident that, from other reactions to her, how wary and frightful or full of hatred one was, that she should not wish to remember but even if her mind would not conjure anything, her body found it impossible to forget such cruelty she likely imposed.

Tightly wound fists, a perpetually clenched jaw, either stress or rage was eating her alive, and Celaya wasn't sure how to rid herself of it by her lonesome. Even as the druid went over what would ensue, Celaya flinched as the other touched her temples, a reflex that was hard to shed, inhaling sharply before letting her breath out slowly and rolling her shoulders as though to relax.

"Should it not work," she was learning it was unlikely it would, "I won't demand a refund." Her lip twitched into a very faint smile, inhaling and exhaling another sharp breath as the song the other began to sing filled the room.

[lilyliux]

NI NI 倪妮 in GUCCI Notte 2024 | Weibo Night 2024

Ni Ni: more photos here Weibo Night 2024: more photos here

[lilyliux]

Ni Ni 倪妮 | CCTV 2025 Spring Festival Gala - part 1 [2025.01.28]

[lilyliux]

NI NI as Liang Xia in SUDDENLY SEVENTEEN / 28岁未成年 (2016) dir. Zhang Mo

[lilyliux]

The shape of the darkness is not a fully formed image in her mind, it ripples through her consciousness in sensations, in never ending silence that haunts the dream realm, a void so black and empty that if she screamed it would be instantly swallowed and not a whisper could be heard. She felt as if she had known the monster in another lifetime, as if she knew it from watching it's devasting effects on breaking the world and yet she was nothing more than an ant to such a mighty God capable of such ruin.

"Wild magic erupts around Eterna, I will keep my ears and eyes open to see what the courts know. Although they dine in frivolity so frequently, if it's not delicate, they have little taste for it in their palette. Stay alert and stay sharp Lailani, I know you are capable to handle whatever darkness may come." It is wild how outrageous events can happen and be forgotten and swept underneath the rug so easily, treacherous times upon them and their step matters more then ever.

"Dúnedain are never gone, they only return to the wheel to wait until they are needed. It is concerning that they felt a message was so important that they came to visit in the dream realm." It had been her first visit and yet fate would tell if it would be her last.

Tales of Old Gods returning are a terrible thing, when delivered from the lip from a Dúnedain. Descendants of the elvhen from a time long gone by, Lily cannot lie just anymore than Lailani can. This gives an extra gravitas to her confession, the reality of it a near certainty in Lily’s eyes. She trusts her fellow nightingales counsel, but stops herself short of believing fully, willing to try and explore alternatives in a desperate hope that they are not about to face a second Cataclysm. Despite the dire situation, Lailani has no doubts that they can win. However, the cost of life at such victory will be incomparable. 

“I shall ask around and try to figure out if there are similar tidings and from where do they hail,” she mutters thoughtfully, eyes narrowing as she begins tallying and making a list of contacts to reach out once their time together ends. “Blighted dragons cannot be easily hidden, so if there are more, there must be rumors, ridiculous as they might seem to everybody else.”

She pauses, shock crossing her features as she glances as Lily. 

“Sceafa?” She had heard of the druid on passing, but for someone from another time to manifest in a dream? The hour truly was dark. “Now that is concerning.”

[lilyliux]

Comforts were in the palm of her hand, her hearth was always stoked, fire burned the wood down to cinders and ash as she departed to the dream realm, a comforter full of goose feathers tucked around her and where she visited, it was not a land of peace, echoing the darkness and war that had consumed Taravell. Nightmares plagued her and warned that a monster that she could not see that was mighty and full of devilish desires was awakening and the silence that echoed around her was louder than any scream.

She had not taken to the battlefield of Aventia, although she had resided in Eterna where magic was welcomed, she knew the harsh lands of Iskaldrik had sentenced those with magic in their veins to life of servitude, cleaving or transforming into an anti-thesis of who they were born to be and so she stepped with grace and carefulness, which could be seen as cowardly to some. Even if she hadn't seen the warfield for herself, it was never far from her thoughts and her guilt grew more in depth for those that she saw returned and devasted and those that would never come again.

She travelled to where she had heard pockets of wild magic had erupted to see if she could soothe the land or gleam anything as to what was causing the explosions that had taken root in the soil and would never belong to the natural realm. She hadn't expected the temper tantrum or the waterworks and yet she had shared her bed with more than one unstable man in her life, a gentle weave of magic as wind tenderly tugs through his hair as if he was being petted by the wind itself, wind brushing the tears that had fallen aside, she let the elements do the comforting for her, never dropping her own composure or falling to her knees. "You must. Get to your feet, it's not over until it's over. There are people that count on you for safety and security, picture them and dare to whine to their faces. You are strong and even if you don't feel it, you must endure." It's the hardest she's ever been but he does not pay her coin to hear what he wants.

who?: open to all || capped at 3 replies when?: a couple days after the bad stuff but karme looks like he hasn't slept in three weeks where?: eterna, right in the thick of it, a part of the city that got absolutely wrecked

The Tower needed him, Eterna needed him. Going from entirely unnoticed to having expectations on his shoulders was hard, but Karme did the best he could. No witch was better at redirecting and repurposing magical energies and no tool could detect magic better than Asterope. On paper, Karme was the perfect witch to assign to containing the wild magic surging throughout the city. On paper, he had all the tools necessary to handle it.

After the most chaotic night of his life and a subsequent two full days of containing residual pockets that remained, Karme had just about reached his wit's end. Even with Asterope's holomap making it easy to coordinate Taygete's, Electra's, and Borwyn's precision triggering of potentially unstable locations while he personally tackled others, his weaves were becoming as frayed and scattered as his mind. Karme had to climb over destruction and corpses to do this job. He was barely holding it together as it was, and then his overstimulation finally ate what was left of his resolve.

"It's too much! All over, it doesn't stop, it's too much! I don't want to do this!" he screamed into the echoing emptiness of this fractured section of Eterna. His Sisters started malfunctioning due to him melting down, leaving Valthar alone to attempt to calm Karme down. Borwyn had his hands full without the Pleiades, so Valthar's undulating noises sounded as he reminded a sobbing Karme that him storing so much wild magic to be repurposed would help the Tower immensely. "It's not enough! It's too hard I don't want to do this I want to go home! Why can't we go to Ioannina?!" he tosses back to the warforged out loud, unable to stop the repetitive jerking of his fists. They both knew the answer but Karme wasn't in a state to be reasoned with. Even so, the audible noises Valthar made continued to get more urgent, though he went silent in the witch's mind to give him breathing room. He understood what Karme needed was to squat down and wrap his arms around his head to hide from the world, but they were in the middle of a task when his meltdown started. Karme was in danger, this place wasn't safe.

[lilyliux]

Behind the cut of Ni Ni for Shang Cheng Shi photoshoot in LA