#OC: Zephania

[barbecuedphoenix]

And here’s another set of self-indulgent Valentine’s text memes. 

This time starring my four Guardians, and their opinions on how to define the ‘L’ word in relationships. 

From top to bottom, it’s Najat (who keeps an optimistic view of people), Anna (who’ll punch you first before using the L-word), Zephania (who needs to taste dirt first before asking for help), and Soledad (who sees dead people who’s used to dealing with crazy).   

None of them are entirely wrong. ^_^ 

Again, happy early Valentine’s Day, folks. 

For more Eldarya Motivationals (i.e. text memes with literary quotes), check out the ‘Extras’ page on this blog! 

[marshmallowcloudyday]

Sobbing in the Saloon

FINALLY, some OC content..... procrastination is my cowriter. I was thinking about how Hyder would react to his best friend getting engaged when this happened.... Bonus scene under the cut! It’s absolute crack and makes this whole post. XD

...

Hyder sat alone in a corner booth, his head hung low as he clutched a half-empty bottle of bourbon. His eyes were wet and rimmed in red, his hair was a muss of jet black tangles, his facial hair fuller than he usually allowed…. he was a mess, more so than usual.

“Hyde?” Aurelio cautiously approached, having come to check on his friend at the bartender’s request. (Santiago was by no means bothered by Hyder’s presence, just… concerned that the usually upbeat professor had been reduced to “sobbing in the saloon.”) “You alright? Y’look like you’ve been drug through a knot hole…”

“What’re you talking about, Aurelio? I’ve never been better!” A drunk Hyder was no different from the usual: boisterous, bold, a terrible liar… Aurelio was not convinced.

“Uh-huh... you sure of that, buddy?”

“Oh yeah, everything’s great!” He took a quick swig straight from the bottle. “In fact---” he sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve--- “MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING HITCHED.” The patrons playing poker in the center of the room looked up from their cards, annoyed at the sudden change of volume. Hyder continued, in a smaller voice this time, “You’re getting hitched!”

“Yes, Hyde,” he chuckled, utterly amused, “I am. But---”

"I can't believe it's FINALLY happening!” His words came practically as a sob. "You’re settling down! HERE. IN BREAKDOWNS. I'M jUsT sO hApPy fOr yOu, bRoThEr!"

Aurelio smiled knowingly and slid into the booth. “Hey, thanks, bud,” he said, taking the bottle in one hand and patting Hyder on the back with the other “But, lookahere; I don’t appreciate you comin’ in here shootin’ bourbon without me. You wanna be happy for me, how about we be happy together?” His friend sniffled and nodded. “And what’s with the face? If I’d been here sooner, the only tears you’d be cryin’ would be from the yarns we’d be spinnin’.”

“Yeah,” Hyder hiccuped a laugh and wiped his eyes. “I don’t know why--- I don’t usually….”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It happens to the best of us. Now, whaddaya say we get out of here for a hot pot of coffee? I’m thinkin.... my place?”

There came that signature Hyder smile, “I say ‘hell yeah, brother.’ And thanks… for everything.”

Bonus Scene!

Hyder: ….my face hurts. Why does my face hurt? Am I hungover? Aurelio: Well you were just blubbering over bourbon, bud. Hyder: ….I WAS? ….why?? Zephania: You were being hormonal. Hyder: ….Aurelio, kindly tell your fiance that I am NOT on my period.

[marsh-makes-art]

I figured it’s about time I properly introduced these two since they’re likely to take over my whole page....

Aurelio Palladino

Age: Early/mid-30s Height: 6ft 4in Pronouns: He/Him Occupation: Bounty Hunter

Zephania Okorie

Age: 26 Height: 5ft 8in Pronouns: They/Them Occupation: Healer

(Note: I do not claim ownership over any of the images/quotes/etc used in either of these moodboards, only the characters they are meant to represent: Aurelio and Zephania.)

[sibillascribbles08]

When ur friend reminds you of ur cool seraph oc and ur naive dumbass who’s like I SHOULD REDRAW HIM and then remember why you only sketched him once

Whatever he’s done and he’s pretty

this is Zephania he’s powerful badass but basically frightened of humans and it’s cute

[barbecuedphoenix]

...Well. I had to make something for myself this Sin Week. ;) 

For all those who haven’t met them yet, meet my Guardians Najat, Zee, Anna and (the newest addition from the Spanish server) Soledad. All wearing their own versions of lingerie for this special week. Though it seems that Valkyon is the only man game enough to strip down and match them. *coughs*

As for what toys they’re holding, well... 

That’s a simple flute in Najat’s hand. Which she intends to use as part of a belly-dance routine to lower Ezarel’s guard and lure him to a more discreet location. Though if he still refuses to take things seriously, she’ll let him know that she also rubbed honey all over her skin. You gotta catch ’em all somehow.

Zee happens to be holding a very nimble tickling feather, not a quill pen. It’s the complementary half to the riding crop hidden somewhere in Nevra’s room... which they use for spanking. Let’s just say they’re both very practiced at teasing the skin. ;) 

What Anna has planned for Valkyon... is a mystery even to me. But it’s likely to happen right there in the forest. With a lot of alcohol involved, some of which might be used as plain anesthetic. >_>

Soledad is very vanilla compared to the above ladies and the poor thing is about to bang a daemon. But she’s not without her own equipment for the night: there are many things you can do with a simple satin shawl. ;)    

Hope you’ve enjoyed (reprised) Eldarya Sin Week on this blog, dear readers. But feel free to use these spicy quotes among other ideas on your current/future/fantasy s/o anytime of the year. ;) 

[barbecuedphoenix]

A lovely surprise arrived on Tumblr chat yesterday. ^_^ 

Everyone, meet my Guardian Zephania ‘Zee’ Tantiangco, having lost her hat and getting buffeted by her Lovigis pair Feng-Huang... taken straight from the sketchbook of @muchelegantlio. 

I’m still pinching myself at the fact that this blog has inspired fan art. :D 

Lio, you are way too kind. Remind me to pay you back with a request. ;)  

[barbecuedphoenix]

♦, ✕, ☮. I would prefer answers from all the three of them for each question. If it's not possible (what is absolutely ok, I'm aware you are not oblige to anything anyway xD), my request would be to you to choose which character answer which question, in a way to have the most interesting answers.

Always happy to oblige. With a wickedly-long post. ;) 

♦ - Whatis one thing about them that they are most proud of?

Zee: She’s proud of her natural investigative streak and relies on itheavily: when presented with a problem, Zee automatically cuts to the crux ofit, and has a sharp eye for discrepancies or holes within the known facts. It’sa skill that serves her well in food science, journalism, and (later) espionage…though not so well in other areas of her life. Like breaking the ice at parties andreunions. Or first dates. But that’s how she learnt to joke and rattle off anecdotes, mostly tosmooth out the defensive expressions people give her. She’s here for a drink, not an interview; she swears.

Najat: She believes that her ability to keep her cool is her greatest asset.Detaching herself from the immediate crisis, focusing on her breath and thevisual details of the present, and then examining her emotions objectively arepart and parcel of a very hard-won skill that took her years to master. But shecan now diffuse her own anger and fear within moments, even in the midst of aharrowing meeting or nerve-wracking surgery… which is what landed her in somany leadership positions over the years. Somewhat to her confusion.  

Anna: She prizes her ability to pull together her focus and all her body’spersonal reserves into a single, metaphorical spearhead: prepared to do, ordie. It was a mental trick she picked up as a competitivegymnast to execute explosive, death-defying maneuvers before an audience ofhundreds, but she continues to apply it years after leaving the mat wheneverthere’s an arduous physical and mental challenge to perform. Like charging intothe thick of a sorcerer’s lightning storm. Or serving back to a foreignemissary she suspects is trying to hoodwink her. Needless to say, Anna tendsto scare people.

✕ - How do they handle rejection?

Zee: Not well at all; Zee is often her own worst critic. (She’s trying,though.) She is always quick to smile and assure the other party that sheunderstands their decision, that there are no hard feelings. But track herseveral hours later in the day, and you’ll find her staring vacantly at herdesk or out a window, very silent, seesawing her pen between her fingers,wondering what she did wrong, and how wasn’t she good enough? She won’t beable to rest until she either a.) does a complete mental reboot by diving intoanother project, b.) rationalize why that opportunity isn’t for her, or c.)plot a viable way to try again.    

Najat: For the most part, rejection rolls off her like water off a duck’sback. Part of it is because Najat is neither materialistic norrabidly-ambitious; she’s happiest with a minimalist lifestyle (and a schedulethat’s remotely kind to her). But her legendary calm can be attributed mostly toher philosophical views on success, or lack of success: when one door shuts,another one always opens. She just has to keep moving to find it. Life doesn’tend when one person tells you ‘no’.

Anna: As a girl, waiting for someone’s approval—for either victory or defeat–routinely made her sick. But nowadays, she has swung to the other end of thespectrum: she hasn’t sought popular approval for years, and considers it nohuge loss if she fails to get it. (In fact, winning general acclaim now makesher a bit uncomfortable; what did she do to receive this?) Anna is aware that it’s impossible to please everyone, soshe directs her energies to her own niche priorities and interests, working herway up by her bootstraps if necessary and paying attention to the opinions ofonly a few, trusted folk. And to hell with everyone else.

☮ - Dothey have an idol or someone they look up to?

Zee: Once upon a time, she had a professor whom she looked up to when shewas still a food science major: he was (in her opinion) a latter-day Renaissance man wholectured, led research studies, hiked cross-country as a hobby, sang, and wrote inhis spare time. In fact, he was the first one who showed her it was possible tocombine both literature and the sciences in one occupation. But if you ask Zeeabout those days, and why she left her initial major, she quickly changes thesubject.

Najat: She had always looked up to her mother: the fearless woman who crossedto Paris with three kids and only a few hundred Euros to her name, intent onresuming her law degree and building a new life for them there. And succeeded. Herdeath, naturally, was a blow to Najat, but she still thinks of her mother andwhat she would do whenever current circumstances start to look suspiciouslylike the early days in her childhood. As in, whenever she’s up to her neck, andpeople are looking to her for a solution.

Anna: She actually has a number of idols—from athletes to artists to activiststo even literary characters. Back when she was a gymnast, she was encouraged toread up on past legends in the field, and she never gave up this habit even aftermoving on, still looking for that ‘ideal character’ to draw inspiration from. Thecommon theme running through her myriad idols’ stories is overcoming socialexpectations and (especially for her athletic role models) health or body imageissues. Back in the human world, Anna kept collages of these famous faces onher laptop’s desktop, and worked tongue-in-cheek references to them in hersongs.

[barbecuedphoenix]

For all/any of your ladies (they are all good girls, and I'm bad at choices xD): ♣, ♫ (or you! I'm curious what you like~), ✖

How about all of my ladies? ;) They’re a riot when they get together. 

♣ - What is one thing thatthey find embarrassing? (About them, others, things in general)

Zee: Over the past few years, Zee has learnt to poke ample fun at herself, and to see the humor in thestrange or awkward events that happen around her. Still, there are a few thingsthat continue to acutely embarrass her. Such as watching a ‘pity party’, or agroup of people who coddle a victim, invalid, or dependent to the point ofpatronizing them. Or when her lungs act up in public (and people around herflail in panic). Or when she has to walk away—scuffed up and reeling—from aconfrontation that she jumped into willingly… only to discover two seconds laterthat she’s well out of her depth. It’s even worse if the person she’strying to help ends up saving herinstead. So much for heroism.  

Najat: Nearly nothingembarrasses this woman. She was exposed to awkward situations every other dayin the neighborhood she grew up in, and that doesn’t even include the thingsthat her bluntly-honest family would say to her (on principle). So what would make Najat blush is professionalembarrassment: if she makes a basic mistake in approaching an antsy animal, andloses a patch of skin in the process. Or if she accidentally-insults someone shejust met, either by cracking the wrong joke, botching their name, or justoffering the wrong gesture at the wrong time in the name of friendliness. Ykharwould know…

Anna: Despite her toughfront, not much is needed to embarrass Anna. What routinely mortifies her is watchinga bad performance, from an artist, writer, speaker, or athlete who is either completelyoblivious to how bad they are, or choking up in front of the audience. Or ifsomeone whistles at her when she isn’t wearing her signature black armor. (Theyalmost try never again after she glares at them.) Or if someone triescourting her, with textbook romance and bald declarations of love. That lastone never fails to turn her beet-red, as her ex-fiance could testify.  

♫ - What kind of music do they enjoy?

Zee: She isn’t much of a musicaficionado. So what music she does like is an eclectic collection ofsongs that burrowed their way into her head from sheer familiarity, and arerelived with nostalgia. They are usually what her parents like to listen to,or what plays in their restaurants: piano acoustic, Latin guitar andflamenco, smooth jazz, and 80’s rock. Basically… Zee listens to elevatormusic. 

Najat: She loves her musicals. Itdoesn’t quite matter what genre they are, or if they’re from a theater show, amovie, or a Disney feature: if the song has catchy lyrics and an ongoing storybehind it, Najat is sure to remember it, if not the whole musical itself. Shealmost never turns on the radio for road trips. 

Anna: She is the biggest musicophileof the lot, with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock and its subgenres, and nopassing familiarity with classical music and folk songs. But what really earnsher love are experimental blends of styles: the stranger and the more exotic,the better. At the time she entered Eldarya, she was in the midst of a loveaffair with symphonic heavy metal: mixinga classical string ensemble (like her double bass) with machine-gun drums and screamingelectric guitars.  

(As for me… my musical tastes are prettyevenly-split between these three ladies. ^_^ I like anything that soundsinteresting and involves more than just four notes per chorus. And they’reusually found in either my parents’ records collection, musicals, or nichebands. Genre is barely a concern for me.) 

✖ - Whois someone they just cannot stand?

In El? 

Zee: She gets along with most charactersin the Guard… with the exception of Miiko. Sure, the woman loves her employees,but Zee is less than impressed with the way her quasi-pyromaniac boss likes to reactto crises, or outside input. If she can’t respect a stupid bulldozer of a manin power, she’s not about to respect a stupid bulldozer of a woman in power. Forsimilar reasons, Zee is known to butt heads with Karuto (i.e. the satyr likes to shoot down the tips she offers within five seconds of her opening hermouth). The nerd rage builds up.    

Najat: She’s the forgiving sort, andtries to give others the benefit of the doubt whenever she can… But that snakeNevra really makes her skin crawl. Evenwhen ignoring the fact that he’s perpetually horny. And his loose cannon of a littlesister is hardly better in reassuring her. So if there’s a vampire-protectionkit for sale in El, Najat would make the first bid.   

Anna: Ezarel. Ezarel is always at thetop of her hit-list. Anna tries to stay one floor apart from the wiseass elf atall times, if only to minimize her chances of clobbering him (and depriving theAbsynthe Guard of their leader). Miiko comes to a close second. Nevra too getson her nerves whenever he tries to make small talk with her (never without ahealthy dose of sly compliments and mental jujitsu). And Alajea, Chrome, andMery each make her reach for a strong drink if they try talking to her for morethan fifteen minutes. Yes, there are actually a lot of characters Anna is notfond of.

…And that’s a wrap forthis round of OC questions. Thanks to everybody who sent questions to my inbox. :) Because of your curiosity, Zee, Najat, and Anna are becoming less like storyandroids and more like imaginary friends viable additions to a fantasygame.      

Now it’s time to returnto the usual program of delayed requests. *slinks off*

[barbecuedphoenix]

|| Zephania: Spirit || 

...What’s the best way to snap out of your funk? 

Play Tetris with Pinterest pictures. 

Create an amateur moodboard. It must have gotten that name for a reason. :) 

Once again, here’s my primary Guardian Zephania “Zee” Tantiangco: a journalist, foreign war correspondent, and frankly a bit of a risk-taker at heart, who refuses to believe in the saying ”curiosity killed the cat”. (If anything, she abides by the adage "lack of curiosity killed the cat when the dog moved in".) She also loves her gadgets and serums, being the type who’s not much of a bruiser in a fight willing to use any tool at her disposal. Which, considering that her job sometimes takes her into contested territories with locals who prefer to bludgeon first and answer questions later, is a pretty smart move.   

Yes, she gets herself into some hairy situations. But she’ll be damned if she lets her boss know exactly how much trouble she’s in. 

If you’re interested in learning more about her, check out her bio here. 

Below, you’ll find the sources for the pictures and quote used in the above collage (as far as I’ve been able to trace them, at least). Take a look if there’s something there in this fake movie montage collage that interests you. 

Picture Sources (from left to right, top to bottom):  

Woman with Glasses [Lee Eun Soo photo]

Japanese Steampunk Explorer with Goggles [empirioefikz.tumblr, via Pinterest]

Ogalala War Party photo, 1907 [Edward S. Curtis, from Curtis.library.northwestern.edu]

Apothecary Kit [the-enchanted-storybook.tumblr, via Pinterest]

Vedic Sanskrit Scrolls [littlepawz.tumblr, via Pinterest]

“Don’t Stop Until You’re Proud” quote [WrittenbyBrittany.com]

Raven before Clock [unknown, via Pinterest]

Vintage Navigation Equipment and Map [imgarcade.com, via Pinterest]

Female Arnis Stick Fighter [coderose at Deviantart]  

Northwest Tribes Salmon Painting [‘Salmon Tale 2’ by April White]

Female Explorer in Steampunk-Asian Suit [costumemercenary.blogspot.com]

Cedar-Planked Salmon [myrecipes.com]

The Letter [‘Poldark’ screenshot, via Pinterest]  

More Moodboards:

Nevra 

[barbecuedphoenix]

Character Q&A (Round 1)

Because I like making indices. And organizing. It’s a personal kink. 

So if you’re interested in learning about my OCs’ responses to this interview, look no further than this post.  

...Which you’ll have to find in the ‘Meet my OCs’ page on the main menu. There’s more on this blog besides the Master List. ;) 

Set 1 (Pride, Rejection, Idols)

Set 2 (Embarrassment, Music, Nemeses) 

[barbecuedphoenix]

200 Followers: 11 Things About Me

So I was re-tagged a week ago by @eldarya-scenarios. (I had no idea I tagged you twice, dear. ^_^ Having two aliases is awfully sneaky.) 

If you’re a little curious on who your friendly fan blogger is behind the Leiftan icon and the barrage of text-winks, feel free to read on. Watch out though: it’s a long post like everything else I write... 

And if not, please continue to enjoy this blog’s smart-assery and the text-winks. ;)

1) Why did you name your blog the way you did? ...Because that’s the screen-name I use for my main Eldarya account. I’m not very creative with names. :( Not to mention that it’s probably very politically-incorrect to say ‘Barbecued Phoenix’ in the faery realm. Huang Hua would not be amused. And my blog is guaranteed to be politically-incorrect as far as folklore and faeries are concerned. ;) My screen-name is actually homage to a Neil Gaiman short-story called ‘Sunbird’, which is still one of my favorites from its double serving of dark humor and culinary catastrophes. And it sounds really funny when you say it out-loud (at least that’s my opinion).

2) What was your last meal? *checks bowl next to laptop* Eh… a fruit salad I scraped together from some Rainier cherries and leftover cantaloupe slices. It’s summer here, and I enjoy my fruits. :)

3) Jeans or skirts? …I must have at least nine different pairs of jeans in my closet, half of which I don’t even wear most days. And just one pencil skirt. Because at least once in my life, I’ll need to go to a court room. So there’s your answer. :)  

4) What’s your favourite letter of the alphabet? In the English alphabet, ‘L’ is my favorite. It just rollllls off the tongue so nicely. :) 

5) Favourite fandom/shipping? I’m a mercenary crack-ship writer. Anything goes so long as characters are in-character. ;) *cough* Truthfully, I haven’t shipped anything in a fandom since I was eleven or twelve, and that was waaaay back when the cartoon series Avatar the Last Airbender premiered. I think that experience has inoculated me to serious shipping. So now, while I enjoy seeing a well-developed, well-paced canon romance (because it means the creators have really thought the story through), it’s never a huge concern for me who’s paired up with whom. Romance isn’t actually the selling point for me for a lot of stories; it’s individual character development and plot direction that counts.   And anyway… fan shipping is really a fabrication. With a bit of imagination, effort, and tactical writing, functional relationships can be spun between anything and anyone, and unraveled in the same way. Even when keeping all parties in character. So why blow a gasket over shipping? To each their own dirty little fancies. ;)

As for my fandoms… they’re a patchwork quilt of games, books, movies, TV shows, anime from a lot of different sources, and it changes every year. For the sake of time, I’ll give a rundown of just the fantasy/supernatural genres I’ve been following for a while (translating some of the titles to English when possible):  

Games: the Dragon Age series, Folklore (also called FolksSoul), Uncharted, the Persona series 

Books: Discworld, His Dark Materials, the Dr. Siri Paiboun series, the Temeraire series, The Tiger’s Wife, Brisingamen, pretty much anything done by Neil Gaiman… the list goes on. With a few rare exceptions, I’ve shifted from being a high fantasy lover (those tropes get old after a while) to an acolyte of more low-key genres like magical-realism, fantasy-historical-fiction, and satirical-fantasy.  

TV Shows: Supernatural  

Anime & Cartoons: the Fate series (even though my fanfiction ends up making fun of it 95% of the time, it’s still a really intricate universe), the Avatar series  

Movies: Practically anything done by Studio Ghibli and Tomm Moore, ‘Coraline’, ‘Corpse Bride’, ‘Therapy for a Vampire’, ‘Let the Right One In’, ‘Groundhog Day’, the very first installation of ‘The Hobbit’   

6) What’s your favourite sport? (You don’t necessarily have to play it) Favorite sport I can’t do, but love to watch: Surfing. Forget berserk football matches; give me a crazy Australian riding a tunnel wave any day. :D  Favorite sport I can do: Bicycling. I’m no Tour de France candidate, but my bike regularly takes its share of unreasonable hills and descents in the city where I live. Personally, It’s a great way to get around. ^_^

7) What’s your idea of a perfect day? Getting everything on my list done with minimal coffee and hair-pulling.  -_- Sorry… I’m still listening to the robot half of my brain. Switching over.  Start the day by making a difference and sharing a good time with both the students I see where I work, and the odd friends and colleagues I do have. Attend a really good lecture. Then take a quiet bus ride to the beach or an aquarium, where I can watch all the wildlife shenanigans I want. Tourists included. Cook something awesome for lunch or dinner, and eat it to discover that it’s still more awesome. End the day with a good book, an avalanche of blankets, and a conveniently-rainy night. And maybe a quick Skype/phone call with my dad.  ;( Oh there I go, listening to the sappy half of my brain. Switching over.  

8) What animal do you hate with all your soul? The logical part of my brain tells me I have no cause to loathe any animal for existing. But the cave-woman part of my brain still gets creeped out by a few of them…. Geckos especially. Because the house where I grew up was infested with them (like a typical equatorial house, actually). The geckos could be found on absolutely any flat surface, even the underside of the table and on the ceiling, so we always had to check right before sitting down that something cold, bug-eyed, and squirmy wasn’t going to drop on us in the middle of dinner. And they also liked to appear in other surprising places: like in your shoes (as my father found out one day while rushing to work), inside drawers, inside trash cans, crushed between door hinges, trapped in the kitchen sink, and inside the refrigerator a couple of times (worst idea ever, for a lizard).      One of the best things that happened to me on moving to this corner of the United States: no geckos anywhere. I can clean my apartment with an easy heart. \o/    

9) Can you dance? Besides some lingering muscle memory from my early days doing classical ballet... no. :(  I’d really like to take up Spanish Flamenco though. Generally, I do better with choreographed dances rather than impromptu club-dancing. As all my friends have told me. I’ve given them so many priceless memories on the dance-floor… 

10) What’s the name and age of your favourite character? (OC or otherwise) I can’t decide on a ‘favorite’ character in media; there’s too many of them. So how about a favorite OC instead? ^_^   Right now among the Eldarya OC cast, my favorite would have to be Zephania ‘Zee’ Tantiango because she’s a magnet for trouble as a protagonist very dynamic heroine to work with. (She’s 23, in case you’re interested.) Zee is actually the latest incarnation of the ‘funny-but-unlucky action heroine’ archetype I’ve spent years working on, and I’m happy with how she’s turning out so far. On one hand, she’s the typical small-town heroine who’s sharp, plucky, energetic, and more than a little kooky herself; the story never stops moving once she starts improvising in a tight situation. :) But there’s a strong undercurrent of tragedy in the way she continues to isolate herself through her pride and her decisions, especially because she’s allergic to either admitting that she’s in real trouble, or cutting herself some slack for her mistakes. There’s a lot of sadness behind that finger-snap smile. I’m still debating on whether to give her a good ending, or a bitter one. :(  No, that was not a spoiler for the fan-fiction that’ll one day hit this blog.

11) What got you into your favourite activity?(i.e how did you start?) Favorite activity? Like… a hobby?  Well the longest-running hobby I’ve ever had is writing (no guesses there). And it was more-or-less self-taught. As a kid, nobody could take me anywhere without a book in my hand, or some other adventure happening inside my own head (which made it awfully inconvenient to get my attention in a mall… but hey, I never wandered off). And writing short stories was always the most entertaining school assignment for me.  But it wasn’t until I started home-schooling at thirteen that I found the time and need to write something for myself, putting to paper those increasingly-complex sagas and fan-fictions that lived in my head (because my short-term recall just couldn’t keep track of all the dialogue and plot twists anymore; I needed to start recording my stories to make sense of them.)   And I haven’t stopped since. :)

Uh-oh. Here come… my questions. For @mentacomchocolate, @areyntheheartseeker, and @the-irish-hoor​. 

Why did you name your blogs the way you did? ;)

What would your honest personal reaction be if you accidentally stepped into a fairy ring, landed in a strange place, and got threatened by a fox-lady wielding fireballs?  

What’s your dream job in this life?  

Is there anyone you have a crush on that you’re still really embarrassed to admit? Would you like to mention them anyway? ;)  

If there’s only one book genre you could spend the rest of your life reading, what will it be?  

What are the top 5 things you geek out over? (Today, at least. ;) )

If you’ve been given a 24-hour advance warning that the world is definitely going to end (i.e. via Death Star), what will you do?

And if you’ve been given an exclusive two-person escape pod during above scenario, what/who would you bring with you to escape the planet? Would you want to?

If your friends can agree on one thing about you, what would it be? Do you agree with them? 

What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you this past week?  

What do you remember as your most incredible feat of endurance to date? Physical, mental, and/or social?

*looks up* ...All right, those are some weird questions. I won’t blame you at all if you ignore them. 

[barbecuedphoenix]

Well I’ve certainly talked a lot about her in the last post, so maybe it’s time to reintroduce Zee. 

Meet my Guardian from the English server, dear readers. And the leading lady in the fan-fiction that will one day hit this blog. ;) 

(To read the full profile, hit the blue ‘Photo’ button on the side of this post!)

Name: Zephania ‘Zee’ Tantiangco

Age (at the beginning of the story): 23

Birthday: December 29 

Height: 1.53 m (5′ 0″) 

Guard: Shadow

Lineage: Only mostly human. She’s still trying to figure out that last 3%.

Occupation: Annalist. Her primary job is to collate both past and recent field reports brought in by other agents. But now and again, she ventures into the field to carry out detailed recon work, interview witnesses, and/or investigate glaring discrepancies in the paperwork, always avoiding scuffles whenever possible to gather intelligence. Because she’s a scribe by training, she’s occasionally called on to pen public missives and official Shadow Guard statements (using tactical misinformation, though she’s always ambivalent about this). In short, she’s a reporter transplanted to the faery realm.

Skills: Writing in human script, Eldaryan, and cipher (quasi Shadow training) || Espionage (Shadow training) || Basic Kali stick-fighting (Shadow training) || Cooking and food science || Wilderness survival || Minor lucid dreaming potential (Hereditary) 

Weaknesses: Non-allergen asthma (she wears a vial of anti-inflammatory aromatic oils around her neck) || Low cold tolerance || Myopic || Tendency to jump in to help the underdog || Frequently too proud to ask for help herself || Loathes disclosing the full extent of her mistakes, and resorts to duplicity to minimize outside knowledge   

Weapons of Choice: Her pen (sometimes literally) || Twin Kali sticks || Her Swiss Army knife || Grenades made from waste kitchen ingredients and plant materials || Tactical questions and a droll sense of humor || Alibis and improvisation || Curiosity and a single-minded quest for answers 

Familiars: Sigmund (male Sabali), Feng-Huang (female Lovigis)

Crush: Her boss Nevra, who likes to butter her up to take over his paperwork every week. But then again, she punched him in his one eye the day they met, so he might just be evening out the score.  

Background Story: 

A Chinese-Filipino journalism student who was born in the United States, but only recently returned to the country of her birth to study. The majority of her life was spent traveling abroad with her parents: a celebrity chef and the manager who helped build his media empire.

This globetrotting lifestyle, her severe non-allergen asthma, and a know-it-all’s sense of humor that was decidedly unpopular with other children ensured that Zee’s childhood was a solitary one. With friends her age virtually nonexistent, she substituted them with books, writing, her family (including various hired nurses and chaperones), and people-watching during her frequent trips to airports.

Eventually, years of careful physical therapy (and sheer stubbornness) allowed Zee to set up a life for herself in California to study food science: the first step in grooming herself as the successor to her father’s culinary empire (by tacit family agreement). The city she chose was a touch too distant and too colorful for her parents’ taste, but a promise for regular contact (and a hefty credit card line) ameliorated old, parental fears enough to let Zee embark on a new life on the Golden Coast.  

Among instructors, the common opinion was that Zee was a highly-promising student, a force of curiosity in the lab, and a passionate writer with next-to-no fear of traveling. Among classmates, she was ‘that little snob’ who refused to stop correcting lab partners and spoke as though she swallowed a dictionary, while having no clue what to do with herself outside of class, despite her stellar track record. But neither group anticipated Zee abruptly dropping out after three years: the result of one too many private experiments with her freedom (apparently outside of class). With that mercenary willpower that first brought her to California against her parents’ wishes, she severed ties and moved further north-- alone-- to the not-as-balmy city of Seattle. And for a full year-- as far as her confounded family, friends, teachers, and colleagues knew-- she became a ghost. 

Zee eventually returned to the public radar-- as a markedly quieter, more retiring young woman with less of an encyclopedia complex-- after meeting the man who became her dearest friend: a sociology student named Joel, who shared her love of fact-chasing and camping, and was never put off by her reflexive wisecracks or reticence on her history. Joel convinced her to start again at his (smaller) university, seek help for herself, and pursue journalism as a new major after her interest in food science waned during her hiatus. Zee was still working up the courage to break the news to her parents-- that they’ll have to find a new successor for the family business, because journalism sparked a fierce love in her, pulling her into the world instead of benching her as the lifelong observer or rarified entertainer-- when Joel invited her on a last camping trip for their final spring break together as students.

Their destination: the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, where they hope to catch the First Salmon ceremony held by the native tribes there. Joel assured her that it was a going to be a spectacle, and Zee was hard-pressed to refuse, having barely set foot outside Seattle since her sudden flight to the city two years prior. 

They never did come back.  

[marsh-makes-art]

Another snippet of a something I wrote last summer, but never finished.... more Aurelio and Zeph fluff.

. . .

"Y-You're not leaving yet, are you?" They asked as they both stood up, hands still intertwined.

"Now that depends," Aurelio smiled, stepping forward, closing the space between them. "Are you asking me to stay?"

“If I was,” they bit their lip, long, gorgeous dark lashes dipped to meet rosy freckled cheeks, “what would you say?”

“I wouldn’t say a damn thing.” With a chuckle and surprising fluidity of motion, Aurelio pressed a warm, sangria-flavored kiss to their lips-- a kiss that conveyed so much more than words ever could.

He must have noticed that they startled, because it was quick-- too quick for Zephania to fully immerse themself in the sheer thrill of it. And so intoxicating-- they needed more. They sought out his lips and found them, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt, relentless in their pursuit of him. He returned their kiss with unparalleled ardor, slow sure hands caressing their dewy skin, bridging the gap, answering their prayer.

. . .

[marsh-makes-art]

Wounded

Zephania lets out a quick, sharp breath. “That looks…. very not good,” they say as they sit on the edge of the bed, placing a gentle hand over their patient’s bare and battered chest. “What were you up to this time?”

Aurelio chuckles weakly, “Oh, ya know-- same ol’ thing.” He means to say he was doing his job-- keeping the peace, protecting the people. Being a hero….

They trail soft fingertips over the worst of his wounds-- three monstrous scratches that reach from his left collar to his sternum.  “Somehow this doesn’t feel the same--” their voice is quiet, contemplative…. even so, he hears the quiver in it.

He is reminded of the first time he laid eyes on them-- the situation very much the same. Wounded and in search of a healer, he found Zephania, who welcomed him into their home and tended to his wounds. Their voice didn’t quiver, their hands didn’t shake-- the two were strangers and that made it easier. Now as friends-- as lovers, it couldn’t be more difficult.

“Zeph--” he says, taking the hand that rests on his chest. “Zeph, look at me.” Sad sangria eyes meet Aurelio's honey brown. “I love you, and I would never do anythin’ to hurt you--"

“Aurelio--” Zephania squeezes his hand. They know what he’s going to say-- but whether they want to hear it….

"You know I'd choose you over the open range in a heartbeat but--" he hesitates, the words weighing heavily on his heart and mind-- "Darlin', it ain't up to me. At the end of the day my job is to keep you safe and happy and….I fear I've failed."

A single, traitorous tear rolls down their freckled cheek. "Honey, don't say that-- you're the happiest I've ever been."

Aurelio shakes his head, cupping their cheek, brushing away that tear. "Your eyes-- they tell me everything."

“What do you see?” 

"Worry, lonesomeness, fear--" he punctuates with gloomy chuckle-- "I'm not the man you need me to be...."

They want to tell him he's wrong-- completely delusional. He can’t be sure of what he’s saying, not after taking a wound like that. They want to tell him he’s all they ever wanted and more….but that would be a lie, wouldn’t it? Aurelio’s right….he's always right-- dammit, why did that have to be so? Always seeking truth and righteousness….but what of love and happiness?

 "What are you saying?" Zephania’s words come surprisingly calm despite the tears in their eyes and crippling pain in their chest. 

He sighs, the mattress shifting as he sits up. He tenderly kisses their forehead, his eyes so loving, so earnest as he says, "Don’t you worry anymore. Come morning, everything will be ok.”

. . .

If they had it their way, the morning would never come....but alas, when comes the morning, so goes Aurelio. “This isn’t goodbye,” he says as they embrace in the tender light of dawn. “When my job is done, I’ll come runnin’ back to you. That’s a promise.”

“I love you,” they whisper.

“And I, you.” Reluctantly, the two part, Aurelio swinging deftly into the saddle with a sigh. “Til we meet again, Zephania--” He tips his hat, and urges his horse onward with a click of his tongue. Until we meet again....

[marsh-makes-art]

A small little something I put together a few months ago.... character development, I guess you could say. Featuring Aurelio (he/him), a bounty hunter of sorts, and Zephania (they/them), a healer, characters I stole from share with my sister and a friend. I'll get further into their backstories and whatnot later - trust me, there's plenty - but for now, here's this. I call it....

Bliss

The sangria tint to their kiss was enough to put him into a stupor--- though the mere thought of them could do that well enough. To have and to hold them in his arms was as a dream: too good to be true, and yet there they were, as real and beautiful as ever. The sound of their voice, the feel of their lips, their body on his--- he felt unworthy of such bliss, yet he found himself craving it more and more. Precious moments such as these were his reward after a long, tedious series of days on the road. In the now familiar comfort of their sheets, the violence and imperfection of the world was forgotten, replaced by a tenderness and love he had never known before them.

[barbecuedphoenix]

|| Nevra: Passion || 

...Oh dear. I did it again. Quasi-cinematic moodboards are awfully addictive.

Everyone, meet your favorite vampire... ninja Casanova-figure. (Who probably has more cultural archetypes thrown into the mix, but this will do for now.)  Information and risk run Nevra’s life. Although being a spymaster is a difficult and dangerous profession, he won’t have it any other way. Because if you’re not stretching your limits on what you can enjoy, gain, or achieve, if you aren’t giving your all for a cause beyond yourself, if you’re not waking every morning poised to chase something that fascinates you, then frankly, you’re not living at all.  

And people think he’s just a competitive bastard with his ego in his pants. That’s only half-true. 

*cough* Anyway, if you’re interested where the quote and photographs for this collage came from, the references are right below.

Picture Sources (from left to right, top to bottom): 

Man with Half-Mask [Lee Joon Ki promo shot, from ‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’]

Geisha Silhouettes behind Shoji Screen [lamaisongray.tumblr, via Pinterest]

Black Wolf with Red Eyes [findfreegraphics.com, via Pinterest]

Ninja with Twin Ninjatos [vintageninja.net, via Pinterest]

18th Century Pirate with Feet on Desk [Zach McGowan still, from ‘Black Sails’]

Letter with Black Wax Seal [Spencer family ‘Althor’ seal, via Pinterest]

Kissing Couple [Wedding photo by Ben Chrisman, via Pinterest + retyped quote from Pinterest]

Swordsman with Smirk [Lee Joon Ki screenshot, from ‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’]

Vampire with Bloodstained Fingers [Ian Somerhalder promo shot, from ‘The Vampire Diaries’]

Wine Glass by Fireside [whisperofvintage.tumblr, via Pinterest]

Swordsman on Roof at Night [Lee Joon Ki screenshot, from ‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’]

Couple in Sensual Embrace [thepassionatewife.com, via Pinterest]

Mortise Lock and Key [unknown, via Pinterest]

More Moodboards:

OC: Zephania