quirkycoterie

[quirkycoterie]

Decorating

Tsume wandered the stalls and peered at the market boards for inspiration to decorate his FC room with. He wanted to make a space that felt safe and livable for himself and his best friend, Fhlwyn, while also leaving some square fulmage for a work space. What kind of work exactly he wasn't sure of yet, he had a couple of ideas. He had less ideas about how to decorate though. Finally he saw a couple of things he liked parts of and took down some notes. He decided he wanted to ask about maybe something custom but that might be expensive.

Sanagi was always encouraging FC members to ask for things though and he'd overheard her and another member talking woodworking.. what was that word they called the more natural look at the edges again? Started with a W didn't it? Yes... like his tribe. He sighed and decided he really should go interview with the security guy now that he'd decided to join the FC especially. Sanagi spoke highly of them and he felt he could do that job. Maybe then decorating wouldn't be so tough either.

[quirkycoterie]

Another Point of View

(OOC Note: The first POV can be found here! https://www.tumblr.com/cadrenebula/761026859466096640/prompt-7-morsel) Sana was a lot more uncomfortable in crowded areas than she used to be and thereby more aware. She relaxed slightly when her husband was with her but the closer they had become the more she could sense any changes with him. She felt his mood shift behind her as she worked to buy the items she required and she turned her head his direction her horns having caught comments she had assumed meant food until then. She saw her husband watching the men watching her and also saw the shift in his arms after he set down his bag.

She moved towards him and gently touched his arm. As he scowled in her direction she smiled and shook her head a little. "They're not worth ruining our shopping trip over." He gave her an expected huff and let it go for the moment. She knew as she returned to her shopping he was going to be watching them, listening, committing everything to memory. She also knew they'd rue this day and she may discuss with her Jackal later about letting them live as a warning to others, giving them a chance to learn respect. She might still be kinder than her husband, his guiding lighthouse... but she was not nearly so kind and naive as she used to be.

For now though, she wanted to continue to be able to shop in this location, both for the present and in the future, without fuss over violent incidents involving her husband. He could persue them later when he needed to blow off some steam. She finished her shopping and called to both the cats so they could all go home and enjoy a nice evening together. They didn't always get enough of those after all.

[quirkycoterie]

Soaking

Chrysalis sat in hot tub located in the basement floor of the Hydaelyn Hijinks FC house. Doyi kept her company. It was late and she had returned from a hunt. She had used her personal bath to get rid of the road dust but with the house quiet, somewhat deceptively so she knew thanks to the quality of help Alfarinn hired for security, it was the perfect time to let the heat help her muscles unwind. She breathed slowly and deeply, clearing her mind of any thoughts until she found the rare moment of inner peace. It was harder with her friend gone from her side, but it got easier with each successful job and knowing she was safe here. Her cousin often being nearby with her own business on the ground floor had helped ease her pains as well. Her amber eyes closed and she sunk in the tub up to her neck with a small but serene smile.

[quirkycoterie]

The Mission

Kuri read over her letter one more time to ensure she had not skipped anything of import. She enjoyed the feel of writing on parchment so she chose to use letters instead of pearls to communicate with her family back home. Occasionally they spoke just to hear each other's voices but she also felt the letters provided the personal touch of showing she took time off just to write them. She could speak on a pearl and still be doing her work.

She was pleased with what she had accomplished so far in her travels putting up small shrines for those far from home who needed them and pleased at the locals in most places, both spoken and spirits alike, being so receptive. Hiina put her head in the Raen's lap with a small noise. Turquoise eyes looked down with a smile as her fingers scratched the hound's head, "You are right, it is an acceptable accounting and we should eat." She signed the letter, closed it, dripped glittering white wax on it, and pressed her house's seal into the wax before taking it to the moogle mailbox for delivery.

[quirkycoterie]

Unconventional Therapy

The dominatrix had added a new service to her therapy options. Besides being a commandeering woman in private, driving her clients to the brink of breaking, or even breaking them and forcing them to put themselves back together, and being an excellent hostess to high paying and high profile clients, she now controlled some of them via their money. The new influx of clients who desired this was keeping her quite busy but was very lucrative for a woman who desired the finer things in life.

Her nameday was arriving and this meant she would also be able to spoil her only friend, Bah'to, even more than usual. One day he was going to figure out or ask about what she really did for her clientele but she was less wary of telling him after seeing him come and go from multiple places with his open mindedness about relationships becoming obvious to her. She may still avoid the talks of thievery (endorsed but still) and her occasional jobs for a different type of clientele. Her being an assassin might make him a little anxious still.

She would worry most about him finding out she had essentially stalked him to ensure his safety but thankfully his personal ties to a Free Company had given her an opportunity to observe without it being as overbearing. She liked her little office space she set up in the Hydaelyn Hijinks free company. A company filled with legitimate businesses, half of which helped hide other illegitimate or suspect businesses. There was excellent security and an unstated but obviously understood don't ask, don't tell type policy as long as it didn't hurt the company itself. It served her well personally business wise and she got to observe certain interests related to her friend's well being at the same time. For the moment, her life was good and she planned to keep it that way.

[quirkycoterie]

Rock Hound

The traveling inventor, dancer, fortune teller with her bobbed hair was dressed in more practical clothing than when most spoken saw her. She was also clinging to a rock face gathering what would just be seen as a plain old rock to many but was fascinating to her. She slowly, painstakingly excavated what she desired from the visible dyke skewed by a fault line and was so absorbed in her work she was almost thrown from the cliff side by sudden winds. Her long thin fingers had to tighten and one of her feet had to find purchase again.

She scolded herself internally for not watching for the dust storms. She pulled a scarf over her face and took in her situation. The sands would be upon her before she could descend to her caravan. It and the chocobo team were in a good nested spot and would be fine. She glanced around for a solution before remembering she had seen a smallish but possibly accommodating crevasse slightly below and to the left of her current position when climbing and she moved as rapidly as possible to the spot.

The crevasse was indeed just large enough to allow her to squeeze in and she sighed a small relief as the first dense, scouring sands crossed over it just as she was inside. Her eyes adjusted to the darker area after a minute and she realized the crevasse was not just a crevasse. She slid her tall but slim frame a few fulms further in and was suddenly standing in a large cavern. She pulled a torch from her bag and lit it. From all around the cavern exposed gemstones and aether crystals winked in the light of the torch. It seemed the storm had done her a large favor. She pulled a pick out and went back to work.

[quirkycoterie]

Wanderlust

Cashmere's heterochromic pastel eyes shone bright as she stared from latest peak she had climbed, the tallest in this part of the continent, and watched the sunset. She'd been in her room at the FC for some time as she made sure any help needed with her investment was provided and it had given her plenty of writing time. As soon as Sanagi obviously had things well in hand, which she had trusted would not be an issue from the start of the venture, she had given in to her tamped down desires and taken off.

The sunset was stunning and she could not wait to look the other direction in the morning for the view of the sunrise. She would love to share it with Valen but he had taken a bounty job just before she left. She'd left him word of her planned stops and promised both him and Sanagi she'd be back within a week if all went as planned. When she returned she'd just have to paint a picture of this sight with words for her talented and admittedly handsome friend. Then of course, she'd write about the climb itself, the view, and the life lesson she learned but that was for then. For now, she continued to watch the sky darken with the oranges and pinks changing to purples and finally black with shining stars, small reflections dancing in her wide round pupils.

[quirkycoterie]

The Crow's Nest

Aliiza concentrated on the swirls of the mists ahead of the ship. She knew from more experience than most would even guess at how to read each one for hazards in the water, even though the hazards themselves were unseeable in these conditions. The helmsman just had to trust in her calls. Her body registered the swells of the ocean below them as her eyes parsed the other movements. Her hair in a ponytail stayed out of her eyes and was as good an indicator of wind speed and direction as any other tool for her.

The raging winds and mists had come suddenly and she'd climbed up to replace the usual navigator. At regular intervals she'd assure the helmsman they were clear. It was hard for anyone to tell how much progress was actually being made and they were too far out for lighthouses. Finally, she saw the lifts and eddies in the mists she'd been watching for. Her voice sounded out to the helmsman, "We're at the first break! Hard to port by 40 degrees now!" She held the edge of the nest as the helmsman made the correction and the crew worked the sails. Now... she just had to guide them thru 5 more difficult breaks.

[quirkycoterie]

Hello, again!

So I'm dealing with quite a bit IRL. It turns out graduating didn't make me immediately better... I wasn't just dealing with stress and burnout. I'm suffering from Fibromyalgia. It's made my brain a little foggy on top of the constant fatigue. Really I'm just telling y'all this so I can apologize in advance for hopefully spamming y'all with the first week of the FFXIV Writing Challenge later this evening. Thanks to everyone here for being my friend, supporting me all these years, and for your patience!

[quirkycoterie]

I'm so thrilled with this depiction of my girl I about cried... and to those of you who know I cried... SHUDDUP! LOL Looking forward to the start of things tomorrow!

FFxivWrite2024 Participation Prize

FFxivWrite2024 Participation Prize for @quirkycoterie ! This is actually a make up prize from last year's event :3 Thank you for joining in the writing fun, and thank you @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast for putting this together again!

Excited to see what everyone writes for 2024! :3

[quirkycoterie]

So nice about our FC house, everyone at Hydaelyn Hijinks is just thrilled. The closed rooms will all be opened as they are finished by the way. We encourage people to come use our yard, the Holiday Nook, and any of the rooms for screenies or RP if appropriate. We're small at the moment but life is starting to chill a bit and we hope to expand soon, but if not, we love our little family! Thanks to @cadrenebula for putting us out there. I'd also like to mention the lovely small house next door in plot 59 to our 60 is owned by an FC full of more of our wonderful people and we loved snagging the neighboring plots.

Crystal (pt. 1)

Sit back and kick your feet up a while, we have a lot of places to go through!

So much so, this will need a reblog with a part 2!

@entropytea - Crystal, Balmung | Mist W13, P42

This house's layout was stunning! Despite it being a small, the use of lofts and partitions made the space seem so much larger!

Not to mention, it's all very beautifully furnished! It looked like I was walking into a designer home! Also, very big fan of the gazebo leading into the house. What a clever use of it!

------------

Crystal, Balmung | Goblet W9, Sultana's Breath Wing 1 Apt 39

The apartment was similarly gorgeous. The layout is beyond amazing, and really makes you feel like you're stepping into some sort of woodland hut that maybe you should not have. Cozy, but a little ominous at the same time!

@cadrenebula - Crystal, Balmung | Goblet W21, P60

He was trying to blend in with the flowers. Silly boy.

What a lovely FC hall! Very spacious, but at the same time very cozy!

I love all the facilities and how thoughtfully they cater to the company's residents. Even down to the little dressing room leading to the stage downstairs. Very cute.

I also had a toot around the rooms that were open, and I must say, there are a lot of pretty, creative rooms in there! Each one had its own distinct personality, and I loved looking through them all. <3

@alannah-corvaine - Crystal, Balmung | Mist W17, P18

All I have to say is wow

The interior of this house is so well-done, every nook and cranny is filled with decor that really brings the whole thing together! Along with the BGM, you'd think you were walking into an Ishgardian manor, not a seaside cottage!

Definitely worth a look if you're in the area! <3

@wayward-hatchling - Crystal, Coeurl | Goblet W23, P13

I was NOT expecting to be invited to an in-game pizzeria of all things! That said, it was VERY cute!!

It really does give off hometown pizzeria vibes, from the brick interior to the wrought iron-backed chairs. It's extremely charming, and I will definitely be coming back sometime.

But before I left, I had to give my husbuns a little dinner date. <3

HIGHLY recommend everyone to visit at some point! It's a very fun little place! And it even has an arcade!

Just mind the mascots. We've seen too many horror games to trust them...

@disaster-husbun - Crystal, Goblin | Empyreum W26, P42

First off, hello hello! Nice to see you as I rolled through! <3

You made such good use of the space and slots provided in a large! It's hard to do effectively without blocking off a good chunk of it, but it looks very nice! Spacious, but in a cozy way!

I loved how you decorated each space inside, though the warm, cozy study was my favorite.

My second favorite though, was the basement. The floral walls leading to the tables was very nice, and the walls would be a beautiful space to gpose if you need a patterned backdrop.

Overall, very beautiful home! I would highly recommend stopping in if you're in the area!

@cadrenebula - Crystal, Goblin | Empyreum W25, P59

Another cute FC hall!

I love the look of the cafe downstairs! It's bright and open while still feeling communal and cozy. I could see myself whiling away the time with a good book and a cup of tea down there.

Very clever with the bookshelf upstairs btw! It's a nice way to make the place cohesive while still giving everyone a little hideaway to their rooms!

Speaking of; both of the rooms are nice! The second room having only the bath is amusing, but I also totally get it. Sometimes you just need a hot bath and no thoughts. xD

I only had time to get to so many today, unfortunately, but I plan on getting the rest of Crystal and Primal done tomorrow!

Thank you all for allowing me into your beautiful homes so far! I can't wait to visit the rest!

[quirkycoterie]

Prompt 25: There Goes My Lunch

Tyranny saw the road sparrow in the rafters over the FC chocobos. It was preening its feathers and paying no attention to its surroundings. She grinned and jumped silently up to the stable sides and then snuck into the rafters. Slowly she stalked her prey, moving ever so quietly. The bird remained unaware of her presence even as she was within pouncing distance. The cat wiggled her rear end back and forth with her front lowered. Confident in her angle of approach she jumped for the road sparrow and caught.... the rest of the beam. Startled, her back side slid slightly off and she had to pull herself back up. The sparrow flew a few circles around her laughing. "I'm not as dumb as the idiom would suggest. My name's Fancy and you'd do well not to try that again, you'd do even better to never succeed if you do. I'm Aqua's lookout and belong here just as much as you." The bird cackled and flew off and the cat's eyes narrowed, annoyed at the influx of critters she wasn't allowed to hunt.

[quirkycoterie]

Prompt 24: TFW They Look Nice for Someone Else

White limbal rings shone brightly as Sanagi looked into the heterochromic hazel and green eyes across from her. She thought Mokoto looked especially nice today with her dark hair framing her face and her glossy plump lips. Her only friend and girlfriend, Mokoto came over often, but today they had both said they had something to tell one another. It had been only a few short months since they'd become more than friends but Sanagi was happier than ever even if she still didn't know how to tell her parents who did their best to shelter her from... what? Things she both knew and things she had no idea about whatsoever.

Mokoto had told Sanagi she could go first and before she could lose her courage she blurted out to that beautiful face above her, "I love you." There was this pause in time as she was looking at her and then suddenly Mokoto's listening expression crinkled up into laughter. "You had me going for a moment..." Sanagi's face crumbled as she registered this response to her confession and Mokoto stopped laughing. Her voice took on a strange edge Sanagi had never heard before.

"You silly girl. You don't fall in love with someone this quickly and I thought you knew we'd never be permanent. You know I want out of this town. I thought you'd already heard I had a date tonight and were messing with me. I expected you were smarter than this." The highlander stood, now towering over the raen, "Take some time and when you're done sniveling, if I'm not already gone from the village, maybe we can be friends again. I really didn't think you were this naive." Mokoto turned and walked out the door. It took a few more minutes of blankly staring at her bedroom door before the girl broke out in tears until the weeping put her to sleep.

[quirkycoterie]

Prompt 23: The Shifting Ship Upon the Seas

The schooner was up in the dry dock for maintenance and a young roe, pale of skin and dark of hair, hung from the side with a large brush. Aliiza had spent all morning scraping barnacles from the underside of this ship and now had been set to work making sure the seals were fresh and to look for extra wear and tear. She didn't mind the work so much, hard work kept her busy, but today she hated it. Her mother was supervising and just as Aliiza thought it had been nice and quiet a few minutes, the woman's harsh voice rang out from the pier. "Girl, you make sure you get every bit of this ship covered. We don't need to lose the whole tribe to any mistakes made while you daydream!"

The green of Aliiza's eyes deepened and swirled as her mother's voice grated on her but she just responded, "Yes, Mother!" She dipped the brush back into the foul smelling bucket of black and worked on the wooden seam in front of her where it had suffered some wear and tear out on the seas. She tried to remind herself that soon, she should be sent out and away and wondered about what she'd do and how long that freedom would last before she was headed back here.

[quirkycoterie]

Prompt 22: The Truth Shall Set You Free

Crimson eyes in an angular face winced slightly as Sanagi worked to clean out the latest batch of wounds on her now regular patient, Alex. While the numbing agents helped take effect for the process of cleaning and preparing the wound for aether healing she tried to distract him. "So this isn't your usual fight club routine. You in trouble?" He looked up at her half serious and half jesting, "Always." Purple lips smiled softly as she shook her head just a little. Then he spoke again, "Assassination didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped, but I did the job and I got paid, and you'll have me fixed up in no time, so it went well enough."

She glanced at his face from her ministrations and she could see even without her weird "Knowing" that he was still surprised sometimes at the things he told her. Just now was one of those times. He told her the truth, always, if not all the details. The thing her Knowing told her was he was, in truth, even more surprised she didn't ever seem bothered even though she believed him. She always steadily worked to make him better physically and sometimes the things she said were so kind after what he'd confessed he was obviously confused. Her pale fingers smoothed some of his blonde hair back so she could check a wound on his face. "You're right, I'll have you fixed up in no time. Just make sure that's always a parameter of your jobs, ok?" She smiled at him as she cleaned the facial wound.

[quirkycoterie]

Prompt 21: 'Tis the Season (for this FC)

On the FC message board was posted a new sign.

"A small token for you all,

To celebrate both the coming of the harvest times and All Saints Wake, there are two new bottles downstairs on the shelves by the hot tub. They're crystals that when placed in the water will dissolve and give you not only a colorful, bubbly experience, but also help soothe your aches away. Enjoy and let me know if we need more!

Sincerely,

Sanagi"

The shelves in the hot tub room will indeed contain two rather large bottles of bath salts, one has dark purple and orange crystals, the other browns, yellows, and red. Each effervesces into bubbles and colored steam when added to the water, and the soak does as good for muscle aches and pains as all of Sana's specialty concoctions aimed for those.

[quirkycoterie]

Prompt 20: Special Delivery

Chestnut colored hands with cream scales carefully packed a small box. Its precious cargo included several varieties of lovely feathers, some carefully selected seashells, dried evergreen sprigs, a small book of pressed flowers from various places, and small rocks and minerals of pleasing colors and shapes. On top of the contents a letter in delicate handwriting with a royal seal was placed.

"My dear Arik,

I'm sorry I haven't been by the FC house recently but I plan to be within the next month. I've added several shrines in places further out than before and it has taken me some time. Along the way I thought of you many times and I hope you enjoy these bits from my travels, gathered so you might feel you were with me on them. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Warmest regards,

Kuri"