#astoranexemplar

[smouldring]

@astoran-exemplar / only one of us is having a good time at the beach

“Hey. Hey, you. Hey! Wake up!” It took more effort than she’d be willing to admit to haul the stranger up by the shoulders. Pressing an ear to his mouth, she listened carefully, then blanched. “Damn it-- hold on--” The Reduvia hissed quietly as she drew it from its sheath, working it under the straps that held the man’s plate to him and yanking. Thankfully, the knife was sharp enough to cut through the leather without too much trouble. Once she’d gotten the breastplate, the gorget, and the plackart off and set them aside, she flipped the man onto his stomach, keeping one arm under his torso and raising the other high, only to bring it down on his back with as much force as she could muster shy of damaging his spine. “Come on,” she grunted, and repeated the action. “Come on, come on!” Shifting to set her knee just below his diaphragm, she hit him again with the base of her elbow.

[yellowfingcr]

@astoran-exemplar | continued from [ x ]

“I like her. She’s a good ship. Strong. Well tended. You seem like a veteran of the waves, a man more saltwater than blood: I imagine you two have been knowing each other for long.”

The sharp tip digs harder into the skin of his head, and for a moment it seems as though she’ll press enough to bleed, and further, and isn’t it mere millimeters of bone all that exists between the breezy outside and the soft tissue of a brain- but then, abruptly, that pressure and all it threatens disappear. 

At his side instead settles a woman, leaning on a harpoon longer than she.

“You’re right. It’s a lovely night,” she smiles, her lips parting to flash two rows of shark-jagged teeth. In her liquid black eyes, the two pinpricks lights of her pupils fixed on his face. Searching. Observing. She likely isn’t the first ocean-made horror that has filled his sight, and won’t be the last.

Probably.

“Hope you don’t mind if I join you in watching the stars, Sir.”

[falteringknightgervais]

hmm...

knightly ducks...

[jenessa-mercier]

I want y'all to know that I have talked to @astoran-exemplar nearly every day for the past ten years.

Conclusion: he's a stinky nerd.

[aberrantsorcery]

@astoran-exemplar sent: ☕️ (you know how both Shabriri and the Bloodstar worshippers found their respective gods after their eyes were gouged out? Yeah XD. Maybe the topic, in a word, is: punishment)

“ it’s a foolish thing to punish those wishing to learn. ”

his hand strays to his face, to press fingertips along the scar twisted around and over his right eye. the eye itself is milky white and has a tendency to weep tears freely if he’s not careful with himself, unresponsive to the light beyond it.

“ the punishments they gave the exiles before sending them north was to gouge their eyes from their skulls with the very thorns they wished to study. those i saw sent away were driven mad by the howling winds, the sharp and terrible whispering of the sky above them. . . ”

he shrugs, lets his hands fall back to his lap and considers the rest of the question.

“ those followers of the frenzied flame -- i have yet to speak to them thoroughly, but their devotion is a terrifying thing to behold. to pull one’s own eyes from their face in benediction to some terrible thing beyond is. . .well, lesser men would call it madness. ”

he laughs, tittering and noisy, before his hand comes up to cover his face.

“ i can only hope for such devotion in my life. ”

[cursedandcarried-blog]

@astoran-exemplar

This ashen body has no ability to feel, but somewhere among the myriad souls inhabiting it, at least one remembers how it felt to stand on the shore and let the surf wash over their toes. It’s that which Lothric experiences now, boots sinking into the sand. There are still tides. Somewhere, something is still working correctly. 

He can see the great putrefying corpse of a hydra lying in the shallows some ways off, gulls swarming above it, and further up, their castle perched upon the wall. A bonfire burns in the sand, but for now, they are alone. As alone as they can be, carting so many other souls around inside, but at least they’re all being quiet and letting Lothric and his brother enjoy the ocean he’d never gotten to visit during his lifetime. 

The kiln lies empty and cold, its flame held hostage. Poor unkindled. Imagine, making it all that way, struggling, dying many, many deaths... only to find the door to your destiny closed in your face. What a shame. 

[siblinghunters]

Top 10 Monsters (films, books, myths, videogames, or otherwise)

Ask my top 10 anything: Accepting

{Oo, a nice choice. One worth a good deal of thought to really choose 10 xD In any case though, let us start, again in no particular order, with the obvious one:

Xenomorphs (Aliens)

Vraal (Deltora Quest)

Leshen (Witcher 3)

Camazotz (Aztec Mythology/Vampire Plague Novels)

SCP’s (Just the whole lot of them tbh, they’re all pretty interesting)

Wendigo (Native American Mythology)

The Jersey Devil (Folklore creature)

Mothman (Folklore creature)

The Leviathan (Religious creature also portrayed in various media)

Colossi (Shadow of the Colossus)

I know it’s probably surprising to not see more video game creatures on here but too be honest mythology has been one of my passions for a while and I know there’s a lot of really cool creatures out there belonging to various cultures. There’s also a lot of different kind of media that portray a lot of monsters very well, anything from the Witcher would have worked for example, creepypasta monsters, etc. So, tried to spice it up a little.}

[smouldring]

(For both mun and muse... Ranni the Witch.)

[falteringknightgervais]

When you realize you’re your country’s version of Artorias and your current bestie is probably 200 years younger than you.

[smouldring]

5, 6, 13

meme for roleplay muns.

5. What is a character you love, but don’t think you can write?

i love marika but if i tried to write her i would explode. i would spend my full time being like. i hate her. i hate her. i hate her and she is evil. and while it would be immensely fun to dig into the complexities of the Omnipotent Girly ( because she’s not just evil ) i think the cost to my psyche would be too great.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your muse/muses.

uhh i love that i was able to slot merri so neatly into the lore without breaking anything. i love that she holds grudges and makes snap judgments and flips out from time to time. i love that she is a lesbian. and i know i’m harping on the Girl thing a lot but please understand that i was terrified to roleplay a woman on tumblr for. like. a decade. and more terrified to make her gay because i was like. no male character will come here unless it’s to ship and i’ll be done for in terms of consistent interaction. but that didn’t happen and i’m so pleased.

13. Is there one trope you can’t stand?

‘my character is just sitting staring at the sky waiting for someone to approach them’ they’d better not be. and like. can this be done from time to time? yes of course. but if i have to spend my first reply on every thread being like HI. HELLO. I AM APPROACHING INSTEAD OF RUNNING AWAY I AM COMING RIGHT TO YOU. i will cry. i will hello you once and the next time i must insist that you have something to say to the girly. it doesn’t even have to be with your mouth you can like. do a little dance. throw shit at her. idc. merri is developing a complex. for just a ‘how are you’ or ‘i didn’t see you there’ a day, you can save her from thinking she’s the only bitch who knows how to greet someone. this does NOT apply if we’ve already plotted out merri dropping on your character from the sky. that does not give her complexes and is in fact enrichment.

[smouldring]

Headcanon + Godfrey

send  me  ‘ headcanon ‘  +  a  word  and  i  will  give  you  a  headcanon around it.

vocal response.

transcript tba.

[yellowfingcr]

"So. Water."

"The contract is sealed."

[smouldring]

@astoran-exemplar / to chew on

She watched him from across the fire, her big brown eyes reflecting the flames, masked gold. Her rapier continued to rattle rhythmically against her leg, though, after a minute, it stopped. Stillness settled over her, the most unnatural stillness, for Merri was a creature of movement, and thrashed even in her sleep. To not move at all, to not even twitch, was an external sign of an internal strife that sucked up all that kinetic energy and inverted it on itself, like a black hole opening in her torso. She shifted and gnawed at the edge of her thumb, to break the spell, but soon stopped again, her teeth set in the skin and her elbow on her thigh. She was undergoing an enormous upheaval.

And truly she had been since she'd reached the capital. The place had simply drained her. Where she'd been bright at the beginning, the absolute barrenness of the streets, the rows and rows of shut doors, and the heavy sense that something had happened that she couldn't begin to comprehend, they all accumulated, and they robbed her of her voice. The air became choking. She did not dare to speak or hum or whistle, for that would have shattered the silence that congealed around her like mud, a physical thing with physical weight that needed to be pushed through, and of all barriers, she lacked the will to break that one.

She was getting better. She'd been stone when she'd ascended the stair to face Morgott, but Melina's presence had brought her back towards herself. Now, sitting with Aven, she could shake off more of the mud, but what she found beneath troubled her deeply. In that rich, wet earth of silence, she had grown, without really noticing it, towards introspection, self-reflection. A mirror hanged in her mind where there had been none before, and she did not care for it. But it was there, and so she had to confront it. Had to. Had to.

"—I'm not a lady, Sir Aven, I told you that." The word felt wrong to her. A girl, yes, lass and pretty little thing and even maid, separate from maiden. But not a lady. Never a lady. "...I don't know if I want to be a knight," she admitted finally. "I think... I've been lying to people. About being a knight. I don't think I am one, at all."

[falteringknightgervais]

Aven and Gerv in threads:

Aven and Gerv everywhere else:

[falteringknightgervais]

“Paradise on my right, hell on my left and the angel of death behind.”

"Do you have to be dramatic about taking the lead?"

[smouldring]

Meta: Merri’s relationship with Melina (and maybe the Kindling Maiden as a concept)

send me ‘ headcanon ‘ + a word and i will give you a headcanon around

vocal response.

transcription tba.