FFXIVWrite 2024 #3: Tempest
noun. a violent commotion, disturbance, or tumult.
Set during the later ARR patches
A dying fire, a chill in the air, a foggy night. As if fate thought to bring together the perfect elements to set the stage for this melancholic occasion.
The burial ceremonies were finally over. Hours of being hounded by nobles pretending at sympathy, false declarations of pity as they accosted Seliene and Esmond respectively. But now, they finally had a moment of peace.
Their father's chair sat empty in his study, empty yet ominous and haunting, his lack of presence more pressing than any display of Selinos Voss' silent yet firm authority.
Esmond swirled the brandy in his glass, took a swig, before letting his hand that held the drink rest on his leg. It felt almost childish, for him and his twin to occupy the chairs in front of their father's desk, like they did in their youth, when they eagerly sought to glean from his knowledge and experience. Or in less than desirable circumstances, when any one of them were being chastised on occasion.
"Do you know what they're saying?"
Esmond cast his eyes to the side, taking in the image of his sister. Seliene Voss. The unflappable, indominable Vizier. Even now, her spine was ramrod straight, as if projecting the image of the perfect daughter to their father's ghost. Yet the white knuckled grip she had on her own glass of brandy, the wide and lost look in her eyes. A vault she may be to those who did not know her, but they were not Esmond. They were not her twin, her brother, who knew her for eyars and could read her like an open scroll. Seliene stared straight ahead at the empty chair, eyes boring a hole into the fine leather as if she could manifest Selinos right then and there.
"What are they saying?" He'd humor her. Better than suffocating silence.
"The same that they said when Theo died."
Ah. Those rumors. Aside from the death worshippers that were the disciples of Thal, few were that superstitious among Ul'dahs' citizenry. But it's gilded few loved a good rumor.
Ill omen.
Black mark.
Cursed.
Baseless claims borne in the wake of their baby brother's demise at Carteneau. No remains were returned, none were found to be given unto the Traders' domain, which marked an ill omen to the truly superstitious. And such a fortuitous turn of events for the opportunistic few.
A dark omen that followed them for five years now, and were now increasing in frenzy, after Selinos Voss, the last true beacon of the Voss family authority, passed.
"And here we remain. The last vanguard to our forefather's legacy." Esmond lifted his glass in a mock toast. "Long may we reign, however short it is."
Seliene's gaze on him would have sent him the way of their father, her eyes bright with fury. "You would make jokes now?", she spat.
Esmond sat up, equally irate.
"Better than you. We had just buried our father, and now you spend these hours forecasting the doom of our house?"
There was silence as the pair of twins glared at each other, moments stretching on until Seliene turned with a disapproving click of her tongue, turning from him and finally taking a deep swig of her drink, downing it in one gulp and slamming the now empty glass onto the table between them.
"This is ridiculous. He wouldn't want us to fight."
Somehow, Esmond knew Seliene wasn't referring to their late father. It was true. The youngest between the three, Theo would regard any row the two of them would have with such stark disapproval that it killed any tension in that moment.
"Well...he wouldn't exactly be shocked." he murmured to himself.
That....that startled a laugh out of her. And it was so sudden that Esmond found himself laughing too.
Whatever happened to them? The Wonder Twins, they were called. There was no obstacle insurmountable, no adversary unbeatable to him and his sister. In their youth, there was never a day where they weren't on the same wavelength, where their thoughts weren't aligned. But they weren't precocious youths anymore. And time and Ul'dah's unforgiving court had sharpened them to such a fine point that they risked cutting each other.
In time, his laugh died down, and the sounds of crackling from the fireplace and the wind rattling against the closed window were the only sounds heard.
"I know, Lina. I am not blind." Ice clinked in his glass as he lazy swirled it in his hand, "They circle like buzzards, catching the scent."
Like a wild pack of hounds, drawn to the carnage, circling and ready to feast. The cracks in the foundation had begun to spread, having appeared when his brother died.
Though, if he truly thought about it, perhaps when their mother passed. Perhaps Esmond hadn't noticed, given that Theo was still alive. That the three of them had united in guiding their widower father through his grief. That his sons and nieces were still so young, and they were far too focused on the children as well, to truly know the seeds of danger that had been planted.
But now.....
"A storm is coming. A tempest that will swallow us whole, and I know not.....I know not of what will become of our family."
They were not the House Voss of old. The Syndicate's power increased where theirs waxed and waned. If one were to make a plot, to make their move now....could they truly protect themselves?
"No", came Seliene's voice, breaking the silence. For a moment, Esmond thought she read his mind, but he chanced a glance at her, and there was something....new in her eyes. A frightening, desperate hardness.
"Our family will survive. We have overcome worse. No matter what happens," here her voice faltered, and he followed her gaze to their father's chair. Empty. Empty like their mother's gardens. Empty like their brother's final resting place.
And there they sat. The new heads of their house. The twin flames, the matriarch and patriarch. The last bastions.
Esmond reached over then, placing a hand over where his sister's gripped the fabric of her white mourning robes. He felt her stiffen, before the tension slowly bled out of her white knuckled grip.
"No matter what happens", he echoed her words. A promise. An oath.
Their family would survive.
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hot/crazy test
Marriage Zone: People in the Marriage Zone are attractive and only a little crazy. As such, they’re socially intelligent, responsible, and self-directed — but also very rare. While Unicorns are still the most sought after, people in the Marriage Zone also embody first-rate scores in physical hotness and lack of mental craziness, which is why they usually have their pick of mate. Another thing to keep in mind is that people in the Marriage Zone actually exist, whereas Unicorns are only rumored, mythical beings.
Finally, close examination of the Hot/Crazy matrix reveals that it is possible for Marriage Zoners to be actually Hotter than Unicorns, though Marriage Zoners will always be slightly crazier, by definition.
tagged by: @alaskancold @crimelrd (thanks!!)
tagging: @zeitrcisende @mano-derecha (<-*cough* marriage zone *cough*) @t-hevessel @gold-nblush @shevampyre @never-be-tamed @stcrseeker @ravishingnemesis @daemonoria @selino-fos & youuu of course!
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If you would be the deity, what would you be the god of?
The Stargazer
Deep in a long term love affair with the constellations, you want to believe in tarot, astrology, the patterns of the stars and of destiny. Too often, though, you find that things don't obey the roles ascribed to them, and the people in your life spin out of their orbits. You like to imagine that you're in a film and that everything that happens is just part of a pre-written journey, subject to a formula and written in your favour. An in-born compassion for others shadows you wherever you go, as you put others first with a dogged faithfulness. You value things that help you escape. However, to truly find meaning you must let go of the people who hold you back, and accept that the stars are just stars. As a deity, you're the patron god of the night sky, of destiny, of order and logic, of certainty, of wishes and of guidance.
tagged by: @a-neverending-story (<3)
tagging: @tidelens @spicydesire @gold-nblush @hanyoyue @alaskancold @romannowikow @selino-fos @mexican-sin & you.
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How Fandom Would See You If You Were A Fictional Character
NEEDS A HUG
The poor little meow meow. The traumatised one. The one that just can't catch a break. You have a tragic backstory, and it just doesn't get better from there. You. get beaten up, sacrificed, nearly die, your crush doesn't like you back, you develop a mental disorder, almost die again... all of tumblr wants to hug you and then write angsty fanfiction about you.
tagged by: @cunningcrow
tagging: ig i'm late but still gonna tag y'all hihi @sergeantkepler, @yejinigami, @selino-fos, @nuit-sanglant, @tenshadcws, @concreete-jungle
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𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔?
𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒. They come to you with silk-smooth hands and breathy whispers in your ear. Not seen - no. Just felt, their body against yours in the darkness, their arms circling your body, their lips tracing down your collarbone. "Oh, the power you will hold." Their voice is low and husky. "We can drive men to madness, make women run in the streets tearing their clothes, tempt a monk from his cloister, change the heart of a king." You feel their fingers creeping up your neck, brushing ever-so-slowly across your skin. One presses gently against your lips, shushing you. "Rule with me. Give in to your senses. Become the silent longing in the dead of night." Their lips press against yours, burning like fire but so, so sweet. You can feel their touch lingering even after they draw away. "My sweet," they whisper. "My precious." Every part of your body is inflamed by their wanton hands, their soft passions, and you close your eyes even as you feel your form wisping to smoke, becoming not of flesh but of sensation. You are one with them. And they love you completely.
𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 no one. Found it in #dash games
𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 a couple of new faces. @kettensaege @s-charlachrot @selino-fos @summer-sons @diabolimanus @flamboyances
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