#though it is usually a paler violet like colour

[asitrita]

Spanish Iris / Lirio español

[anxiouslyfred]

Black???? Out Mall

Summary: Most people do not believe that black is a colour the soulmate link can prevent you from seeing. A complete black out in a mall has Remus’s friend relying on the fact he’s never been able to see black and has far better dark vision because of it. Now he just needs to avoid making eye-contact with the only other person leading friends around the mall.

/\/\

Virgil's world had always been difficult to describe. People would talk about the world in shades of light and dark, white to black when mentioning the colours they couldn't see, but that could never work for him. Afterall, it's hard to explain that inside the night is dark brown and there's a specific shade of violet especially for midnight when everyone else just calls the dark black.

Part of him wished that there was a different colour he couldn't see, but no, there could be nothing black for him. Anything that would be black outside of the dark was a gentle ash green, far paler than people would believe, if they even considered that he couldn't see black true at all.

Mostly people just dismissed it, calling him a liar and that he could just say he didn't want to share. It had always been that way, from the first time his parents had asked what colour he couldn't see on the wheel to the crowd he befriended in school and finally following him into the work place. Each group that knew Virgil would only have him reply to the question once before he retreated, blocking them from ever getting close.

He did still find the ash-grey a comforting colour to wear though and would just claim to be trying out camouflage whenever someone commented on his usually black outfits. Once he managed to get a top that actually was ash-green but got put of wearing it after a few too many comments about his 'Summer look'. It felt like Virgil couldn't win, either he wouldn't be listened to about being unable to see black, or people would call out the times he mistook ash-green things for black ones. At least paints named the colours usually, so he didn't have to worry over mixing them up incorrectly.

/swap character focus\

All of Remus's room was maroon and green. Well if you asked him it was and he wouldn't give anyone a chance to argue with that. If he said something was maroon purple then nothing would change his mind, no matter how many people insisted the walls were painted black.

Currently Janus was the only person who had stuck around long enough to learn that Remus honestly couldn't tell when things were black and knew that when soulmates came up there would be a wonderfully long lecture over the many reasons, suppositions and stories Remus had over why people would claim such an absurd colour as black existed. Too many times they'd watch someone dismiss from all realms of possibility that Remus really couldn't see black and wouldn't until he met his soulmate only to quickly want to run away at the rather violent suggestions Remus had for “imbeciles obsessed with everything having opposites”. It was one of the more amusing things Janus found happening since befriending Remus and was at least generally harmless.

Remus was actually more interested in the places he could navigate better than everyone else. He'd perfected moving around in dark rooms, moving through the brown and around the objects that appeared other colours. For some reason if people could see black they couldn't see the other colours of objects in the night which frankly sounded like some evolutionary flaw.

He'd dragged Janus with him to all manner of deserted places, looking for ghosts and cool trinkets abandoned to time, despite their complaints that they could see nothing and had to be guided around constantly. It just gave Remus more chance to cling onto someone who wasn't shoving him away really.

This time though was not intentional, planned, or even something Remus had expected to be possible.

Everyone, literally everyone, said malls had back up generators and emergency lights in case there was a power outage or something went wrong; That you couldn't just cause a full on black out because they'd have emergency lights coming on in minutes so why was Remus suddenly having to pull Janus along carefully behind him and trying to remember the way out?

“You do know where we're going, don't you Remus?” Janus's normally carefully controlled voice was wavering, uncertain of the situation and what could be happening.

Remus couldn't blame them, almost everyone had sat down, or was stumbling forwards, trying to find a wall and then follow it somewhere. There was a group ahead that hadn't though. It looked like they were trying to do a conga line and possibly the person leading them could see where they were going.

If it hadn't been for the grip on his hand tightening and pulling him back to the present situation Remus would have raced after to find out if his was his someone who couldn't see black either. “Sure. You pulled us in at the entrance to that kids shop and that's back here, up in the lift... I'm gonna have to break into the lift now, aren't I?”

“Just look for some stairs. We can figure out the way back to the shop from there.” Janus sighed, trying for disappointed but just sounding scared at this point. There wasn't even a guarantee they'd be able to get out if they did manage to find an exit with this power-cut.

They'd carried on walking while muttering to each other, not wanting to have everyone they passed attempt to join up with them, and bringing them a lot closer to the group Remus had spied before. He definitely would have preferred to avoid the group now given he could see his brother as part of it, but the leader was heading directly for them.

“Yo, can you see or are you just wanting to trip over as many people as you can?” The leader of the group called and Remus was torn between making immediate eye contact and trying to avoid it as long as possible.

Janus had turned to the voice already and was tentatively trying to head in that direction so Remus had to keep pace if only so they didn't fall. “Much as tripping over everyone sounds like fun Jan would kill me if I caused him an injury.” He replied, focusing on Roman to avoid looking at the front of the group.

His brother's stumble literally cause the rest to all stumble too, only just gaining their footing before any of them fell. “Remus? What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Trying to find one of those gadget shops. See if we can steal their stock of night vision goggles so me and Janus can make a break for freedom. I see Patton, Logan and a stranger up front. New friend or did you describe me enough that they ran screaming any time you mentioned I'd pop in to bother you?” Now he'd said it, Remus actually thought finding some night vision goggles would be sensible, at least it would give Janus a bit more confidence in the dark. Plus then he could possibly even make eye contact with the hoodie clad guy.

“Virgil, Premier Tour Guide for dark halls and supplier of every worry you'll never need.” Roman introduced, attempting to bow and wave towards the front of the conga line but headbutting Logan's back instead.

Remus snickered at that, but before he could say anything Logan spoke up. “I do have to agree that even some poor quality night vision goggles would probably do us good right now. There should be one... Virgil, what shops are we next to currently?”

“Princey's favourite jewellers and it looks like there's a build-a-bear around the next bend. Ro, Is this the brother that thinks everything is maroon, or have we run into someone else?” There was something harsh in Virgil's words, as though whenever he'd come up between them Roman had upset Virgil with something he'd said.

“He's only got the one Remus. That much I can tell you. So are we joining up for now?” Remus nodded, turning to scan the shops along with Virgil, wondering if Logan would need any more details to locate the shop he'd thought of.

That didn't prove to be necessary as Logan was tugging and twisting in his spot of the conga line to turn them around. “We've come the wrong way then. Back around the corner, 5 shops along and there's a gadget shop. I definitely saw some night vision goggles when I was looking for cheap chemistry supplies.”

“Off we go then.” Virgil nodding, gripping Patton's hands on his waist to lead them off with Remus and Janus following behind.

Remus let them fall back a little, just enough that the group could hear their steps but they could talk quietly without the words being distinguishable. “Are you okay with joining them? I kinda just changed the plans on you when you wanted to find an exit as soon as.”

“If you promise not to even look at Virgil until I have some of those goggles on I guess so.” They demanded. “You could lose your special ability in the worst possible situation”

“Best thing about being unable to see black, it gives night vision while no other colour provides benefits to being unable to see it.” Remus snickered, moving a little faster once again.

There were fewer people in this section of the mall and all of them seemed to have reached the walls or some kind of furniture and decided to stop there to rest. It made for quicker movement, but also disappointed Remus a little that he wasn't getting to dodge them around human obstacles constantly. That did at least give him the opportunity to try going as fast as Janus could stumble along behind him and overtake Roman's little group in entering the shop.

“Everyone, I need a very specific thing from these shelves so you better be backing away from them now.” He snarled, dropping Janus's hands and beaming at the frightened squeaks let out from the customers and staff of the store. It wasn't often he could be this threatening when most people assumed his ruffles and lace meant he was harmless, despite how dark and unnerving the designs on them were.

He didn't waste time enjoying the fear though, hurrying to scan the shelves, trying to locate where the night vision goggles were. They couldn't have been a fashionable item to use since Remus was on one of the shelves further back and away from the tills by the time he found them. He didn't hesitate to start tearing the box of one open, grabbing as many more as would fit in his arms before heading back to where Janus was being pulled along beside Virgil now.

“I got goggles for everyone!” Remus bounced, already putting the open set onto Janus and trying to figure out the on switch. The instructions would be no help, with white paper and black writing the entire page just looked brown to Remus. “seeing yet? Seeing yet? Seeing yet?”

The repetition of the words was interrupted by hands shoving him away from the headset. “Shut up, get to opening boxes or go and see if you can pay for these at the checkout.” Virgil hissed, already removing the headset to check for the switch on it. “So you're Janus, I guess. Tell me if you can see anything through this now?” Remus heard the mutter as he was opening up the fifth box. He'd set 2 aside, intending to shove them into Janus's arms just in case he and Virgil would need them in a few moments, but for now he was going to stare at everyone's shoes while passing goggles to Virgil.

“You're a lot better at getting things functional than Remus is. I never heard your pronouns though, so can I have them?” Janus confirmed, already breathing a little easier as they stood looking around the store.

“Can't have them, they're mine already, but I go by he/him.” Virgil nodded, already taking the next and moving to help Patton get the goggles on.

Janus paused, looking towards the check out and back to the group they made. “I'm not some kind of Fae, you know. Although, given how well you're navigating through here, could you be? Or perhaps you just can't see black, like Remus here?” Their questions were prying and definitely spoilt some of the fun Remus had been hoping to have while trying to make eye contact with Virgil.

“You mean ash-green right?” There was a smirk and a snicker in Virgil's voice as Remus's head shot up to stare at his back, almost at the same time as Roman let out a loud groan.

“That's a Remus line! No becoming my brother, Virge!” Roman exclaimed, making everyone start snickering now. Only Remus seemed to notice that Patton had wandered off with his wallet out as soon as his goggles were functional. Apparently his wonderful theft wasn't allowed to actually be a theft. What a complete shame!

Virgil had sorted Logan out a lot more quickly than the first to, but held the last open set of goggles above Roman's head, just enough for one of the cords to brush his hair and shoulder. The shrieks only setting off more laughter and snickers from the friends. “If you're that scared of the night vision goggles, perhaps I shouldn't give you them.”

“You Nightmare. Give me back some sight, right this instant!” Roman's demands probably would have been more effective if he hadn't turned around completely in his fright. Still Virgil put them on him with no further argument, while Remus wished he could have scared his brother a bit more while stood in the dark.

The he realised that that was the last of their friends with night vision goggles on and he could actually find out if Virgil was his soulmate or not and had to leap over to him. “Can I see you now?” He cheered, getting their faces as close together as possible before whining when there was suddenly nothing to see.

“You better have got enough of those goggles for us or your next sight of me is going to be when I attack you!” Virgil snarled, though a hand tightening on his upper arm kept him close.

“Januuuuussssss, My soulmate if threatening meeeeee! Can I at least have the goggles to see if he still looks as hot while threatening me as I think he does?” Remus whined, leaning his head as far backwards as he could imagining he was still able to see Janus standing a little way behind him.

He didn't hear any response though, only the shuffling and a few snickers from his friends for a few minutes. Randomly he'd let out self pitying whines for a bit before he decided to see if the hand on his arm was far enough up he could nuzzle it with his head.

For all he'd heard about black as a colour it really wasn't that interesting when absolutely everything was covered in it with no distinction to offer shapes or forms. It did however give him the chance to try getting to know Virgil's body by touch he eventually thought, only to get his hands slapped away if they strayed off of his arms.

“Fine, if I put the goggles on you, are you going to stop trying to grope me?” Virgil eventually snickered, already pushing them over his head after shoving it upright again.

“No promises there, My Maroon,” Remus tried to leer but was already distracted looking around for their friends. “Where'd everyone go?”

“Well I think Patton's trying to figure out how many other set of goggles he can afford to give to everyone and Logan is trying to talk him out of that. Janus and Roman have both gone in search of the exit once more. All pretty much excuses to as Roman put it 'Leave the gloomy soulmates to get used to the dark.'” Virgil waved in a few directions before actually taking Remus's hand. “Getting to know you sounds more interesting than this new colour though.”

They might still be in a powerless shopping mall for an undetermined future, but at least Remus and Virgil had found their soulmates and proven that black definitely is a colour and they couldn't see it before.

[nextwarden]

Sun-kissed

If anything else, the day had been gloriously beautiful. Blue skies stretched over the seemingly infinite forest, rare clouds which usually roamed the edges were nowhere to be seen, the wind was soft and warm and the air was hot. The celestial orb was shining high in the sky. Today was a beautiful day. Or it would have been if everything had not been tainted by the prospect of what was to come. Today was a beautiful day but today was a day of sacrifice, today was Sun-kissed. 

…

She was bound by heavy chains to tall pillars and to the ground. The girl, a woman now, though she couldn't help but feel that she'd not nearly been part of this world for long enough to be called that, stood on the high platform under the massive stone ring. Her face, paler than it should have been, was set and her honey eyes stared straight ahead, but he knew how uneasy her heart must have felt. He could see her ears flat against her raven hair.

The whole of the arena was now hushed as they waited.

…

The voice boomed to all those present, making him flinch ever so slightly.

"Today is a good day, my people, for today is a Sun-kissed day. Today is a day of rejoice and mirth, for today we give back to the Sun for all that he has given us!"

The priest, a man of impressive stature, walked around the elevated stone disc which dominated the whole crowd despite being made lower to be visible by all.

…

Very soon. Not now, but very soon. They had to wait. Until the sun crossed the threshold and entered the ring, until, for a moment as short as a few beats, yet as long as an eternity, the light became too unbearable to look, then, before anyone had any time to react, they would strike. They would take care of him, hopefully before he'd taken care of her, and if all went well - and all would go well, it had to - they'd be out of the city before anyone could even lift a finger.

…

Almost. The Sun was just about to cross the threshold. Suddenly he saw the priest lift his arms into the air and, with all the majesty he knew him to be gifted with, he pulled out the blade. He brandished the sacred knife into the air and let its edge gleam into the eyes of the onlookers. The crowd gasped, with excitement or resignation he could not say. His mind was racing as he saw the unforeseen movement. This was too soon, he was going to skewer her before the sun had even touched her. This wasn't a sacrifice, it was simple murder…! His blood boiled and he looked Illia in the eye, hesitating for a second as he saw the same desperation in their eyes. As he was about to give the order - a preemptive strike made them more vulnerable, but she would die if they did no act, she would die thinking she'd been alone, scared and unwanted all her life - the Sun showed.

...

It was blinding, as it should be, but something was different, he felt it immediately on his skin. It was hot, not warm. He managed to open his eyes and saw the concentrated halo bathe the priest and his victim in so much luminosity they quickly became but faint shadows on the high platform. He wanted to curse but suddenly his mouth would not move, his body would not move, he was stuck in place, awed by the sight.

…

The intensity of the light had grown unnaturally, even for such a ceremony. Then, after a long silence, they heard a scream, ear-piercing and heart-breaking. Although they had only half expected a scream - most sun-kissed had not the time once the knife had struck - this one was nothing like they expected. It was deeper, more raw and afraid, very painful. Desperate, almost. It lasted long, too long, and when it finally died down it was in an unnatural gurgle. Then silence came again and the intensity of the light burned once more even brighter than it had until that point, for barely a heartbeat, and then it was gone. Once his eyes agreed to move again and his vision had returned to a cooperative state, he gasped at the sight. The platform was void of the two souls it had born until then. Gleaming as white as the day it had been built, as if it had been cleansed of all the impurities accumulated over the years. There was no trace of the girl, but neither of the priest. Or rather, the girl had purely and simply vanished, but now that he looked at the ground upon which she had been chained, he saw a frame, a faint shadow, carved into the white stone, one that eerily reminded him of the priest's frame...

…

Adam had been planning this for a long time, as soon as he had first seen her. He'd known who she was immediately, of course. No one would forget such a face, especially not him. He'd seared it into his mind every day and every night, hoping to meet again and to be able to smile into those eyes as life vanished from them under the Sun.

He hadn't expected the resistance, her ability to slip through his fingers at the most frustrating of times, nor had he expected her to be under the Moon's benediction - or rather he had expected yet had not truly believed until he had seen the breathtaking halo. Of course she was, so had been her parents and the rest of that damned family since they had chosen to run. He'd caught them all, of course. It had not been easy but it was well in his power. All except her, she was the last one, and then he'd be finally free of this duty, this curse.

…

He felt the warmth grow on his back and he knew. It would be soon. They expected him to wait, he knew it, until Zenith and then strike, but he had them beat for he wouldn't wait. He'd go just before, and nip both her life and their hopes in the bud. He drew the blade and felt the whole arena's breath hang on its edge. He smiled, turned to expose it to all of them as it gleamed in the sunlight.

…

Suddenly, and yet every so slowly, the Sun entered the threshold and the intensity of its light grew. It went from warm to hot, almost uncomfortably so. He readied his hand. Not much longer now. The intensity grew yet again, until it became uncomfortably so. He was bathed in the light, they both were, completely, the two of them had become mere shadows, he knew it. Now he only had to take her life and the crowd would be none the wiser. He readied his arm and smiled a beastly smile.

"Say goodbye to this life, princess."

She did not reply, her sobs, so strong in the night, had silenced with the rise of the sun and not a sound had escaped her lips since. It would have almost impressed him, perhaps even unnerved him, if his nerves had not been already so… tense? The sensation suddenly caught up to him, just as the blade touched her skin. Why was it so warm in here? It wasn't supposed to be- he hissed as he let the knife go, the hilt was scalding hot. Then his crown, hotter yet. Then he heard it, behind him. How, he didn't know. Light was not supposed to sound like that, it wasn't supposed to sound like anything. Yet this light had a crackle to it, as if it was thunder incarnated. He went to his knee and bent his head almost as soon as he saw the form. Her eyes were dimmer, that was the only way he knew she was there, everything else about her form was burning brightly. Her fiery hair flowed in a wild yet controlled mane, her arms were half extended to her side, and as her foot touched the ground it crackled too.

…

The form before her was beautiful. That was the first thing that came to mind as she looked up. She had expected to see him, hateful and full of venomous glee, staring down at her, ready to cut her breath short, but instead was faced with the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Strangely, she wasn't perfect. Goddesses tended to leave that impression on mortals through the stories that were told of their grandeur: they were beautifully perfect, in every shape and form. But the frame before her was not. She was beautiful, that was undeniable, vastly more than anyone she had ever set eyes on before. But it was not the kind of beauty she had expected.

Her eyes were full of kindness, her smile lopsided, freckles donned her slightly tan skin, there were scars, many more than she had expected, big and small, dotting her body like stars. Her face felt older, not old, simply older, as if it had lived through a number of years and not been there, unchanged, since the dawns of time. The lines were kind, however, soft and caring. Her eyes, dimmer than the rest, were of a golden colour, more than yellow, yet she swore she could see a violet tint within. There was an especially wide scar on the fore of her right arm, as if she'd been burnt - how could a goddess of the Sun herself have been burnt she didn't know, but it was so. She wore something like a dress but it was difficult to discern under the intense light. It displayed the strength that visibly rippled under her skin in such a way that if her face had not been already red from the sunburn, Blake knew it would have gotten that way at the sight. Finally there was her voice. It rang so loud and profound she did not immediately realize she was the only one who could hear it. Her words flowed graciously and gently, yet their sound was slightly deeper than she had expected, gravely almost, and full of care.

"Come. Let us get you out of those chains. Then, if so you wish, I may take you with me."

It wasn't a question, yet not an order either. It was fact. She was going to set her free. She felt the calloused yet gentle fingers settle on her shoulder then on her arm, she heard the clinkle of chains and then she was light. She was free.

…

Her eyes were closed. She felt the lips on her forehead differently than she had expected. Nothing had been as she had expected, she thought. Then there was silence and warmth. Then came the most beautiful and heartening laugh she had ever heard.

"You can open your eyes."

…

"Is this the afterlife?", she heard herself ask, still dazed.

"In a way, it is after your life, yes. This is neither one of the places you might have expected. This is my home. And you are not dead, not yet. I have simply brought you back with me."

She couldn't help but look around. There were plants and flowers of many kinds around her. They were near what seemed to be an outdoor porch.

"Why?"

"Why have I brought you here?"

"If not because of my death, yes?"

The goddess looked at her for a moment. One she quickly felt was too long, there were many things in those pale violet eyes and despite the lack of the bright glow that had previously been there, she found she couldn't look at them directly much longer.

"The answer is… complex."

Blake made the mistake of looking up and found herself entirely too flustered when the gaze  was even closer to hers. She couldn't look away though, not out of fear but out of pure fascination, there was something in that divine face that made her almost definitely absolutely sure she did not want to look away and somehow, however weird or strange that might have been, it felt as if the one before her could not either. Then the goddess stepped back and the moment was gone. She cleared her throat and the goddess smiled gently.

"I apologize."

Blake was about to ask for what when the goddess spoke again.

"I do not mean to belittle your interrogations or to fit the image of the vague divine, however this question - and I believe others - are complex in their meaning and I am not sure how to answer fittingly, or even if you are ready for such answers. I do not mean to keep anything from you so, if you wish to know, know that you are free to ask. I must humbly ask for a while to compose a way to give you a satisfying answer, however, if you would be so kind to allow me..."

"Of course!", Blake breathed more than she replied, not feeling entirely too comfortable having a goddess apologizing to her.

…

"Would you want something to eat while I ponder how to answer your questions?"

"Yes please!"

She hadn't realized it but she was parched and starving. She hadn't eaten anything since… The knot in her stomach almost returned. They'd not given her anything, not even water, since throwing her in that cell three days prior. She'd been famished and dehydrated, such was the protocol for a sacrifice to the Sun: fasting of all but sunlight so as to prepare a pure offering. How her stomach had not grumbled before or her throat not become sore earlier she hardly understood. She was not in the mortal realm anymore, she realized, perhaps it explained some of it?

"Follow me, I should have something around here," the tall blonde woman before her smile before leading her towards one end of the garden. She followed.

"It's… beautiful," she heard herself whisper as her eyes flew over it.

The garden was wide and lush, it seemed to extend into infinity in every direction. She realized later as she toured the home, that it was both true and an illusion. It looked like it went on forever if one were to gaze upon it, and it woul, were that same one to walk up and down the serene paths of beautiful flowers and bushes and fruit trees and fountains and statues and grass and clover. Everything was warm and calm and lush. Yet, as they walked past it and towards the elegant building that rose neary, she could clearly see it confined in a finite and enclosed space.

They passed through a huge archway into a corridor and entered a room leading to another, what seemed to be a large kitchen. It was simple yet spacious and held both a pleasant atmosphere and pleasant smells. The goddess walked to a shelf and grabbed a jar made of something akin to glass but of metallic black colour, then she took another, that one in white porcelain, and handed the first one to Blake before walking towards the terrace which opened on the gardens. She didn't know if she should follow at first but did when she saw the goddess sit on one of the chairs around a table.

"Sit here if you wish," the goddess pointed at the chair opposite her.

She sat and placed the jar on the table. The goddess waited a breath and clapped her hands twice with a smile. Two plates and a pair of glasses appeared on the table, both were made of fine, carved and polished wood of a beautiful vibrant brown colour.

"Here," the goddess opened the dark jar and immediately a sweet smell permeated the air between them, "help yourself. Some water?"

Blake nodded. The goddess grabbed the empty porcelain jar and as soon as she tilted it enough, water came pouring out softly into the glass.

"How…?", Blake was about to ask when she realized the absurdity of her question.

The amused chuckle that echoed her silence told her that it would have at least been funny if not stupid had she completed her question. The cookies looked, smelled and tasted delicious. The water was refreshing, almost sweet too. She couldn't help a content sigh as she tasted them.

…

They ate like this in silence for a moment, the goddess pouring herself a glass of water she downed slowly but munching through three of the delicious cookies. Blake found it hard to resist them yet they were so filling that despite her hunger she only managed to down two cookies. She drank her fill of water, however, looking apologetic each time she did, but the goddess made no remark nor seemed to pass any judgement, simply nodding encouragingly once or twice.

"It was made to be eaten, you know."

"By you?"

"Yes. As was everything here."

"Everything?"

"All that may fall under your eye. With one or two exceptions, perhaps," she said, eyeing Blake and herself.

She stood and took the black jar and the dishes back into the kitchen once they had settled in the comfortable lull of fuller stomachs. Blake couldn't help her gaze, she followed the tall woman as she moved from the terrace to the counter then to the sink, watched her shoulders and her arms ripple as she rinsed the plates - they too were full of freckles she noticed as the goddess had left her shawl on the chair. Then followed as she moved from the sink to the same shelf as earlier, placing the black jar back on it. She noticed the goddess hadn't exactly been wearing a dress so much as a light beige onepiece that acted like a sleeveless shirt and rather baggy trousers. It was the floating overflow of cloth and the shawl that had given that impression in the bright moment she had appeared. She wore light leather sandals with straps going up her calf and she would probably have followed their twisting up her leg had she not realized the goddess was now immobile.

"Like what you see?"

The goddess was leaning against the counter, one hand rested upon it, the other on her hip, as she held herself on her powerful arm. There was a small smirk at the corner of her mouth and a playful spark in the depth of her lilac eyes.

"I- sorry, I didn't mean to- it's…", Blake swallowed the rest of her water with difficulty, "It's just not every day one has a goddess in front of their eyes."

She nodded, the air of mischief still present on her face.

"And does this goddess satisfy the image you had of her?"

"Wha- Yes!", she immediately replied before correcting herself. "No. Wait… I mean…", she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "You are a Sun goddess, it is undeniable. Perhaps not exactly the image I had of one…"

The goddess seemed to know what she meant. Blake had expected divinity, and she had gotten it, simply in a different way. She had expected the radiance and the power, but the kindness behind the lines, the freckles, the many scars that riddled the skin and muscles were a surprise. Just as the garden and the house themselves had been, and the interior of it too, such elegant yet simple things, naturally beautiful.

"But you are of the divine. Your beauty, your hospitality and your powers are all marks of that. I mean, you descended from the Heavens as bright and blazing as a star, and rendered a man into a pile of dust with your gaze", she flinched ever to slightly at the image, "before bringing me to this strange, wonderful place which, I realize now, I don't truly know the location of… You even gave me a tour and let me taste such delicacies as were your cookies and your water."

The goddess placed the towel on the counter and came back to sit at the table.

"And what do you think of it?", she smiled gently.

"Of the food, the beverage or this place?"

"All of it."

"It is wonderful. As wonderful as you are."

"Flattery will lead you very few places, you know," an eyebrow shot up to her hairline.

Blake shrugged.

"It is the truth."

The goddess humphed.

"Then I must return the compliment. I am not the only deserving of such praise," her smile was playful, her eyes too, yet it felt as if something was mixing itself in their amused light.

Blake opened her mouth slightly to speak but found no words to say or witty comment to retort, so she remained silent. The goddess had turned to watch the gardens. Only the sound of the distant fountains and the rustling of leaves came to them as a strangely comfortable lull took over.

"Do you not approve?", the goddess's brows were slightly furrowed.

"Of what?", Blake asked, unsure.

"Of what I did to that priest."

She hesitated for a second. What was she to say?

"Please speak freely", the goddess encouraged her with a half-hearted movement of the hand.

"I… he was a despicable man."

"But you do not approve entirely."

"No," she sighed. "I despise- despised him. For what he did to my family despite our only wish to live freely, for what he did to many others, too many innocents, for what he did to me…"

She remained silent for a while longer, not daring to look up at the goddess in front of her if her eyes were to be filled with divine anger.

"I despised him, and he deserved punishment, that I do not deny. Yet that which you gave him… He was flawed and scornful yet he must have been more devout to you in his entire life than I ever believe to have been, and you invoked more than death upon him: you recused him by your own hand, reducing all that devotion, as misplaced as it may have been, to dust." Literally. "And so, as fitting a punishment it may have been, you have destroyed all that his life amounted to in that instant, before his very own eyes. I am not one to question justice and it is not my place to pass judgement on such things - especially not after what you have done for me, goddess - but, in all honesty, no. I cannot whole-heartedly approve."

The goddess was silent for a while. A while too long for Blake to not let her curiosity roam and so she lifted her head and looked into the gleaming pale violet of her eyes. There was no anger as she might have expected, no pity either, but understanding. And curiosity.

"What punishment I have seen fitting for him might have been harsh, yes, painful too, for his body as much as his spirit, but a divine can only look at such a man's achievements for so long and not judge, especially when they are erected upon blood and lies."

Blake nodded. She was but a mortal, she could not comprehend the depth of thoughts of such a being as the goddess before her was. But just as she could not quite grasp that distance which separated them, she could not ignore where she was and where she came from. And the goddess did not seem to mind so much. She saw the thick golden eyebrows furrow again, ever so slightly and the head cock to the side at a small angle.

"You said you believe you have not revered me as much as he has. Were you not devout in your life?"

The question did a way with her heart, her blood felt like it was going to freeze solid. Was this where she would have to answer for her actions in life? Was this the reason she had been brought to such a wonderful and soothing place? Was she to be torn from it when her guard was at its lowest and punished for all her misgivings? And this comfort offered only to be taken away as soon as hope or peace embraced her? She had not been religious so much as spiritual in her short years, but admitting to a divine being you were not believing was as grave a crime as any.

"I-", she hesitated.

She seemed to be doing that a lot recently. Admittedly, conversing with a goddess was by no means a path not treacherous. But divines could read human thoughts, she had been taught, they knew, so lying was no escape. Even if it was or had been, judgement would befall eventually as truth was laid bare. She could twist the words as much as she wanted, the truth did not change face. Once again she resolved herself, if it was to be so, then so be it.

"No. Not very much. Not as much as a divine such as you might deserve, at least. Definitely."

To her surprise, once again, no judgement passed through the lilac eyes.

"Have you revered others?"

"The Moon, when I was younger and my mother was still alive," Blake said after a while, her eyes glazing over slightly at the memories. "She used to sing to it on sleepless nights to drift me to dreams of her."

"Did it work?", the goddess asked, her voice tinted with curiosity.

"It did more often than not, even on really difficult nights. I've always held her in my heart since. The Moon I mean. My mother too, of course."

"But not the Sun?"

The tone wasn't indicative of judgement or an attack, a simple question.

"No… Not that I hate the Sun, I just haven't had a good experience with those who revered it…"

The goddess nodded silently.

"Am I here to be judged?", Blake asked, perhaps more suddenly than she had intended as the goddess looked at her with surprise.

"No, Blake. You are here as my invitee and as such you have nothing to fear from me or this place."

The tone was stern but honest and she felt a warm hand, gentle, on her own. She was surprised once again, this time at the fact that her name was known, but kept silent, recalling the nature of the presence in front of her.

"If you wish to go back to your earlier question, as to why I brought you here, I think I am ready to give you an answer."

Blake nodded.

"Tell me if you are not satisfied with it."

The goddess paused.

"There are multiple facets to this answer. One of them is that I was called upon that land to receive a gift and that is what I have done. Why did I act before he could? I am not sure myself. I saw something in you, something that did not deserve to be used in this way, to be… sacrificed. I am not one for offers usually, I like not taking what is not mine and what wills not to be mine, but, there you were and had I not acted as I did, you would not have been for much longer. Not even an offering. But that is not all there is to what I see in you," she paused and scooted closer to her, eyeing her carefully, with a depth Blake was not used to but had a sudden hunch she might experience more often if she were to stay, "I cannot say for certain but I feel drawn to something in you, that is partly why I asked if you'd ever revered the Sun. I know not what; perhaps it is your beauty, that of your soul, or perhaps it is something else which I cannot see yet… That is why I say you are welcome here, Blake. Without reservation and with all the kindness I can give you. I cannot bring you back there, you have been offered and returning you would do no good, I trust you understand."

Blake nodded silently. She had taken the outreached hand for that precise reason. She knew how she would be viewed if she returned, either in good or in bad, it was too much and never had she wanted that in her life. The goddess continued, as gentle as she was pensive.

"I am not simply extending an empty welcome to make you comfortable, however. Understand that my offer is one that stems out of duty - you have been offered to me and I cannot refuse - but I make it with pleasure and of my own will. You are welcome here, for as long as you will have me, my home is yours to inhabit and my land is yours to walk. You are not bound to this place, however. If one day you wish to leave, I will not prevent you. That is not mine to decide. But know that returning to your world is not possible. In return, You may roam mine or that of beyond, yet here is the safest place you will find for now. I am sorry."

Blake had felt her heart clench as the goddess mentioned her not being able to return to her world, this faded as she felt the sincerity of the words that followed, and drew in a quiet breath when she was apologized to, once more, by the divine in front of her.

"It is not your fault, you have nothing to apologize for. They are the ones who have made me into a sacrifice, he is to blame," she made a conscious effort to unclench her fist. "You may have taken me here even so I did not wish for it, but you did it to save me. I will be missed by none and your home, from what I have seen of it, is wonderful; I know not what the future might bring but I do not think I will come to regret this fate. Not as much as any other that might have been mine in alternative."

She couldn't help the faint trace of a smirk on her lips, and the light scoff she received in return felt genuine.

"Then Blake Belladonna, Moon Singer and Sun-kissed, I, Yang Xiao Long, Sun goddess and divine of the Western Garden welcome you to my humble abode."

…

The girl had something to her, something which had piqued her interest almost instantaneously. She was beautiful, that could not be denied, but she was also noble. Not simply in title but also in her whole being - her eyes were red and her throat sore, yet she had not let a single tear or sob escape her lips since morning. Her air was that of cool acceptance, not resignation. Still, that was not the reason Yang had decided to act preemptively. She'd had an eye on that priest for a while now - or, rather, she'd immediately looked into him as she felt the familiar tug of duty. She'd felt the intensity of his aura, marred in a sombre and festered substance. He was devout, that would not be denied, yet he was no saint. She almost regretted not having acted sooner, yet such a thing was not within the bounds of her powers, neither in terms of prior knowledge or actual ability to enact a punishment before. Now, however, she had been called, summoned, and thus granted the right to pass judgement upon those who had done so. And how not to when faced with such a pure and innocent soul and the macabre destiny which it had been reserved.

The girl had felt broken. She was broken. Both in body and in spirit. Starved and tormented by this punishment that she deserved not.  As soon as they had touched she'd known. Yang had seen the dim light about her, a soft glow, in her eyes, within, and through her body. She'd immediately thought it was either due to her poor shape or her lack of devotion to her halo. But now that she looked at her more closely, away from the blinding shine of her own light, now that she looked at her wholly and not as a part she could see. She had been broken, she could see the cracks, the jagged edges, and the deep scars that ran all over her being. Not outwardly, not only, but within too. It was impressive, terrifyingly so, how one could go through such invisible hurdles and carry such a heavy burden of nothing, and how people could inflict that upon others. What caught her heart however was the way it was almost invisible, even if one did not know where or what for to look. Like a broken piece that had been put back together, breaks hidden at the seams, but that with a single touch would crumble once again.

And yet. And yet, despite seeing all this, she could only see the beauty and the strength exuded by this broken form. She could feel it. In her gaze, in her words, in her dissent from the decision regarding punishment. Yet also in the way she seemed to regard the world and even Yang with such wonder and curiosity. It had been broken, but it was not broken. Repaired with care and time and a will so unyielding, it had been made whole again. She had made herself whole again. Perhaps it was a work in progress, but then again, when was an artist truly satisfied with their masterpiece? For it was. Not that Yang would say it out loud, she had a feeling it might not bide well, not at that moment anyway. Shards of a soft and calm soul, as peaceful and as gentle as the Moon, welded back together in rivers of gold and wonder. Just as for those, it took time and attention to see the truth behind her dim light. It wasn't weak in the least, it simply wasn't bright either. Not all beacons are Suns, a lesson Yang had learned long ago but seemed to have forgotten. Her own shone powerfully, indomitable and sorching. Blake's was different entirely. If Yang was a Sun, Blake was a Moon. Quiet, often unseen, yet an anchor in the night, elegant and beautiful, shining a loving glow over the land to whom chose to listen to her song. She was imbued with a quiet form of power, one that hid and bended, yet never broke. And Yang couldn't quite explain the exhilarating feeling that had risen in her upon understanding this truth.

She'd selflessly offered a hand to help, out of pity and maybe something else. That something had infused within her for a time before she had truly understood it. But now, as her gaze settled on the slander form of her guest, shaped in moonrays on the terrace overlooking the gardens, her silhouette almost indistinguishable from the many statues that stood all over, she saw. More than that, she felt, with her body, with her mind, and with her soul, she felt the flavour of the dance that played before her, the ridules in the wind created by a heart beating not against or despite but along with the world. She could sense the glow of power, soft and cool, a gentle stream of water, not quite cold, which emanated from the young woman. It poured from her form and melted into the surroundings in such a tranquil manner she almost thought herself to be dreaming.

...

She must have shivered slightly louder than she'd thought however, for she saw one of the pointed ears flinch ever so slightly, as she had taken to notice it did when touched by sounds amongst other things. The figure did not move but its head turned around enough to lay an eye on her and Yang saw a new star appear in the quiet night sky. One flowing in gold and life.

"Good evening," Yang heard the gentle voice greet her, she swore she heard the smile that must have accompanied it, gentle and sweet.

She took in a quiet breath before nodding.

"Good evening. Apologies, I did not mean to disturb," she replied, taking a few steps forward to join the woman on the terrace.

"You are by no means disturbing." She saw the smile this time and if she hadn't been looking down she have sworn it was the Moon herself which had been speaking to her. "I was simply enjoying the night."

Yang nodded, hoping she was indeed returning the soft smile in kind and not simply gawking. It would be very unbecoming of her, or so Weiss would have chided her had she been there. She might even be, one never knew with the peppy snow-haired divine.

"May I join you?", she managed to articulate.

How it was suddenly so difficult to move her jaw accordingly to her will baffled her, as much as her inability to swallow easily, when Blake replied with a simple humming nod.

Oh, perhaps she had not yet completely understood the extent of the woman's soft glow quite yet. Perhaps she would never. She was a goddess, a divine of the Sun, powerful and wise, yet she felt somewhat lost in the soft warmth that emanated from the woman. If she was sure of one thing and one thing only, however, it was that she would bask in its serenely unrestrained glory for as long as she would be allowed to...

-----

I want you to date me. (College AU - Part I)

It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. (College AU - Part II)

Sunset (College AU - Part III)

[yascaret]

really LONG CHARACTER SURVEY.

(I edited/removed some of the questions to make this more FFXIV-friendly)

RULES.  Repost,  don’t  reblog  ! Tag  10  !  Good  luck!

TAGGED BY.  No one, I just wanted to do it lol

TAGGING. @gvnbreaker @wood-warder @necrologos @finishing-touch @glory-bound @vysaldhe @violet-warder @whisperingdawn and anyone else who wants to do it!

BASICS.

FULL  NAME :   Lofn Yascaret

NICKNAME :  None (yet??)

AGE :  Appears around 30 by hyur standards 

BIRTHDAY :   Midwinter 

ETHNIC  GROUP : Viera (Rava)

NATIONALITY :  Ivalician (?)

LANGUAGE / S : Common

SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  Homosexual

ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION : Homoromantic

RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :  In a relationship with Aja Hyskaris & Pjel Qoet

HOME  TOWN / AREA :  Yascaret, Golmore

CURRENT  HOME :  A small, cluttered house in Shirogane

PROFESSION : Disaster lesbian, whiner

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : White with faint violet undertones. Thick, heavy bangs that partially obscure her eyes. Her hair is very dense and wavy, and it reaches her waist when loose.

EYES :   Violet, but the left is considerably paler than the right

FACE :   Pretty, if melancholy. Pronounced cheeks, prominent nose, striking profile. 

LIPS :  Small, but full. Usually painted a dark brown.

COMPLEXION : A dark, barely warm brown. Mottled with white “freckles” in places (nose, cheeks, shoulders, breasts, lower back)

BLEMISHES : None of note

SCARS :  A few old, faded scars here and there from a life long left behind her

TATTOOS :  None

HEIGHT :   Nearly seven fulms

WEIGHT :   Average

BUILD :   Slim, but more bottom-heavy. Her upper arms are the only indication of muscle left from the Wood.

FEATURES :   Feminine, pleasant (by viera standards, at least). Has a very defined nose and a striking profile. Heavy-lidded eyes that naturally lend to melancholy expressions.

ALLERGIES :   None of note

USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  High, messy ponytail. Dense, thick bangs that almost completely obscure her eyes

USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  Melancholy, aloof, heavy-lidded eyes and faint, pensive frowns

USUAL  CLOTHING :   Loose, comfortable blouses, leather trousers, tall heeled boots. Browns, whites, silver, violet

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : Abandonment, loss of loved ones, loss of her senses

ASPIRATION / S :  To find some amount of meaning in her life outside the Wood, to find her calling

POSITIVE  TRAITS :  Resourceful, passionate, resilient

NEGATIVE  TRAITS :  Aloof, anxious, self-destructive

MBTI :  ISFP-T (Adventurer)

ZODIAC :  Menphina (Aquarius in real world)

TEMPERAMENT :  Melancholic

SOUL  TYPE / S :   Artisan (I have no idea what this means??? I googled it and took a buzzfeed quiz for her lol)

ANIMALS :   Rabbit

VICE HABIT / S :   Pining, infatuation, brooding, oversleeping, stress eating

FAITH :  Belief, sure--faith, not really

GHOSTS ? :  Why not?

AFTERLIFE ? :  Why not?

REINCARNATION ? :  Why not? But probably more likely than afterlife.

ALIENS ? :   Probably

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT : Zero concept of politics outside the wood and she intends to keep it that way, being a selfish bitch

EDUCATION  LEVEL :  Average education level of the average rava viera

FAMILY.

FATHER :   lmao

MOTHERS :  Dead to her, all four of them 

SIBLINGS :   One older sister (that she knows of)--their relationship was not great

EXTENDED  FAMILY :  Countless cousins and half-sisters, none of which she knows anything about

NAME MEANING / S :  Lofn, from the village Yascaret

HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? : It matters not

FAVORITES.

BOOK :  She��s the type of freak who reads instruction manuals and spellbooks for fun, so probably one of those

DEITY :  She tries not to think about them

HOLIDAY :  Moonfire Faire (does that count as a holiday?)

MONTH :  The warm ones

SEASON :  Summer

PLACE :  Her bedroom, or the Azim Steppe

WEATHER :  Thunderstorms, though she is growing more fond of snow

SOUND / S:  Rain on the roof, thunder in the distance, the sound of wind through flowers or trees

SCENT / S :  Honeysuckle, cedarwood, leather, girlfriend ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

TASTE / S :  Honeysuckle, orchid, girlfriend ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

FEEL / S :  Soft moss, clean sheets, sheepskin, girlfriend ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

ANIMAL / S :  Cats

NUMBER :  3

COLORS :  Violet, brown

EXTRA.

TALENTS : Picking up new things (especially technical things),  singing (though she doesn’t sing anymore, ever), 

BAD  AT :  Getting her shit together and keeping her shit together

TURN  ONS :  Shitty smirks, sweet smiles, pet names, fleeting touches, romanticism

TURN  OFFS : Men

HOBBIES : Drawing, writing, gardening, tinkering

TROPES :  Lipstick Lesbian, Insecure Love Interest, Marry Them All, One True Threesome, I Have No Son!, Traumatic Superpower Awakening, Mad Whisper, Country Mouse, Affluent Ascetic, Lady and Knight, Eye Colour Change, Sky Pirate, Combat Stilettos, Dark-Skinned Blond, Statuesque Stunner, Wrench Wench, You Can't Go Home Again, The Gift (I have to stop or I will be on TV Tropes all day)

QUOTES : "Oh no”

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   If you could write your character your way in their own movie,  what would it be called,  what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about?          

A1 :  It would probably just be Mulholland Drive but everyone has rabbit ears

Q2 :   What would their soundtrack/score sound like?          

A2 :  Dreamy and melanchol, like The Duke of Burgundy’s OST if it sounded less sinister

Q3 :   Why did you start writing this character?          

A3 :   Because when viera came out I knew exactly what I wanted my viera to be--a physically strong, emotionally stable badass warrior lady who doesn’t afraid of anything--so naturally she became the exact opposite of that because at all times my subconscious is trying to sabotage me 

Q4 :   What first attracted you to this character?          

A4 :   My grubby little gay hands wrapping around Final Fantasy Tactics Advance in 2003 and seeing a viera for the first time. Also, my grubby little 1999 gay brain struggling to comprehend why I thought Ultimecia was so hot

Q5 :   Describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

A5 :   Sometimes writing her is stressful because I channel my own past experiences with depression and anxiety a little too hard I think. Also her overarching themes I want to eventually bring out via RP storylines are so ambitious and complicated that I feel entirely too stupid to write it well so I’m always at least a little bit stressed about that

Q6 :   What do you have in common with your muse?          

A6 :   Crippling depression lmao

Q7 :   How does  your muse feel about  you?          

A7 :   She’d probably not even acknowledge my existence because I’m a human and what good is that

Q8 :   What characters does your muse have interesting interactions with ?        

A8 :   I feel like Pjel and Aja are the obvious choice so I feel a little shitty saying Pjel and Aja, but...I really love playing Lofn off both of them, I feel like they perfectly compliment different parts of her personality that I really enjoy writing (mainly her pettiness and her gayness) and I feel like Lofn also prods at both of their insecurities just by being her terrible self, and it’s fun for me to watch them squirm lol

Q9 :   What gives  you inspiration  to write  your muse ?        

A9 :    Um, premenstrual syndrome?? Lmao but for real if I’m struggling I’ll just go watch some Gentleman Jack (Lofn is literally Ann Walker, sorry) or listen to some FF8/FF9 music, or dick around in FF12 for a bit. Basically I identify a handful of loose inspirational touchstones for a character and fuck around with all of them until inspiration strikes

Q10 :  How long did this take you to complete ?          

A10 :  About a week, off and on...

[1-1snailxd-art]

The Shield to your Sword

Masterlist ———- Chapter 3

Warnings: swearing, minor injury (please message me if more need to be added)

word count: 4483

Tag Support Team - Thank you for your support 💜

@small-reptile-cake @daflangstlairde @quoth-the-sparrow @it-me-the-phi @soul-of-a-vixen  @the-real-wholesome-bitch  @phe-purple-parade-ts  @littleladynightshade

Summary: Virgil and Roman spend some time in their secluded hideaway in the Queen’s gardens. The hedges shield them from prying eyes….right? .

______________________________

Chapter 4: Not-so-Secret Garden

The chirps of insects and rustling leaves in the garden were disturbed every few moments as Virgil sucked in a shaky breath; working to control the sobs that shook his core. Roman’s hands had been careful to not put pressure on Virgil’s injured arm; unsure of how healed the wound was. Instead, one arm secured the sobbing man in his lap, while the other held his shoulder and his thumb shifted up and down with his breathing; encouraging Virgil to breathe in time with the movement.

Leaning his head back, Roman stared at the wall opposite them. If he got closer, he was sure he would see their names scratched into the stone along with runes for friendship and forever. The boys had often escaped the outside world by sneaking into their little hideaway. It was the closest they got to an escape before Roman could request trips out to the town or the forest beyond the city’s outer barrier. A smile crept onto his face as he recalled the time he stole a whole cake from the kitchen and Adara had chased him and Virgil all through the castle, only to lose them in the maze of his mother’s garden. They had  feasted in the hollow oak until their stomachs ached. In his mind, this was a place just for the two of them; free from expectations and watching eyes. A place he and Virgil could be equals. A place he could admit his struggles with writing and reading runes. A place to just be.

 Glancing down, Roman saw Virgil’s eyes sit half open as his breathing finally seemed to steady and move in time with his own.

“I know you can’t recall your nightmares,” Roman kept his voice soft;  thumb still keeping the  pace for their breathing, “but you should know you are not alone. I have them too; nothing like yours obviously, but nightmares all the same.”

Virgil didn’t respond, eyes unmoving as he kept his gaze locked on the scene before him. Roman sighed and continued talking, needing to get his own thoughts out.

“I had a nightmare last night. It was so real I swore I was awake and facing the dark sorcerer in my chambers. He looked like half his face had merged with a snake and claimed I would die or meet the same fate as my brother or something crazy like that. I threw a knife at him and nothing happen. He just stood there with a knife in his head like it was nothing.”

“You don’t have a brother.”

Calm washed over Roman at Virgil’s response. Talking was the first step in him ‘waking up’ after a nightmare.

“That’s what I said. He claimed it was a message from the fates, but, A, I don’t believe in them, and B, I have no siblings.”

“Sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“It’s ok, sleepyhead,” he shifted his body slightly as Virgil’s weight started to make his legs go to sleep, “you’re here now.”

“I’m meant to help  you, not the other way around.”

“Says who?”

“Your-“ Virgil cut himself off, almost letting the truth slide from his mouth like melted butter. “Says everyone.”

“Not me.” Virgil tilted his head to look up at Roman; taking in his hazel eyes with gold flecks ringing his pupil. “I would never say that, nor do I believe it to be true. We help each other. Regardless of what others think, you don’t have to do anything for me. Heck, if you wanted to leave, I wouldn’t stop you.”

“Really?”

“Really, really. I mean, it’s not like I own you or anything.”

Virgil’s eyes widened and Roman found himself lost in their smoky design; a mix of blue-grey and a golden brown. It was almost impossible to truly describe their colour and being so close he took in every change in pigmentation. Virgil stared back with a similar intensity, mind holding onto Roman’s words and trying to force Rupert’s cruel comments aside.

 “I… I don’t want to leave.” Virgil finally managed to make his mouth move, becoming aware of just how long they had been staring at each other in silence. A dull ache crept into his chest as the potion started to wear off and his heart raced with the emotional intensity of the situation.

“I don’t want you to either,” absently Roman’s hand repositioned on Virgil’s shoulder and slowly shifted down towards his wound. “Though I would love to leave the city more often. Would you join me if I did?”

“That’s a stupid question. You know I wou-“ Virgil hissed and snapped his eyes shut as Roman instinctively pulled him closer and pressed his wound.

“Crap, sorry.” Roman reacted as though he had just burnt himself, quickly pulling his hand away. “I’m sorry. Shit, I got you bad, didn’t I?”

“It’s fine, Princey.” Shifting off Roman’s lap, Virgil carefully moved his arm as the pain radiated back to the source. He silently wished he had more magic to spare so he could reduce his discomfort.

 “Can I see?”  The question left them both with reddening cheeks; Roman quickly averting his gaze. "I-I just thought, I could, maybe, well, help? I did cause it."

Nodding, Virgil slowly removed his vest before slipping the deep violet fabric over his head; exposing his pale frame. It always confused Roman how someone so thin and frail in appearance, could be so strong and nimble. Roman’s broad shoulders and solid figure were never overlooked; while many visiting fighters had learnt the hard way to not judge a book by its cover when it came to his smaller friend.

It made it hard for Roman to see his arm a flurry of colour as he pulled the basic bandage away, though the gash itself was barely visible now; sutures completely faded away.

 “I didn’t realise I got you that deep,” Roman looked down; even more aware of how his actions had affected his friend.

“It’s fine,” Virgil assured, fingers gently running along the fine scar line. “I was tired and used more magic than I should have. This wouldn’t have even been an issue if I had been more cautious with my own magic. You are not to blame.”

The lie caused his heart to ache and throat to tighten. Part of Virgil desperately wanted to admit the trauma King Rupert had afforded him, while the other wanted to scream at Roman for being an idiot and not keeping his guard up.

 “It was foolish of me to act so rashly to impress my father.”

Virgil’s head snapped up, “Roman, no. Don’t-”

“It’s the truth though,” crossing his legs, Roman tucked clenched fists into his lap and kept his gaze locked on the ground. “I should have held back a bit. I knew you were tired. It wasn’t fair.”

Virgil scoffed and reached out a hand to grip the prince’s shoulder.

 “Life isn’t fair, Ro.” Roman looked up, hair just obstructing his vision as he met Virgil’s eyes. “The real world won’t hold back. This just means that we need to keep training so I - no - we, can protect each other.”

Scooping his hair back, Roman mimicked the half smile on Virgil’s face and nodded. “Two Together?”

“Four forever.”

They both chuckled at their childish saying as Roman reached for his satchel and pulled out a round container; unscrewing it to reveal a clear waxy substance.

“Put that away, Roman.” Virgil whined as the Prince shifted closer. “You shouldn’t waste your healing gels on this.”

“Does it look like I really care?” He replied; moving to Virgil’s side and carefully cradling his arm in one hand while the other used two fingers to massage the ointment into his skin.

Virgil scrunched his face up at the action before he felt Roman’s soul magic penetrating his skin and soothing the throbbing in his arm. Eyes closing, Virgil focused on feeling every move Roman made; picturing golden strings of magic weaving through his muscles and blood vessels to restore them to their normal state. His magic was different to Logan and Haefen’s; it was warm and made his skin tingle with electricity.

Roman’s brow furrowed as he barely sensed Virgil’s magic at all. “You weren’t kidding about overdoing the magic, huh?”

“Would I lie?” Virgil opened his eyes and glanced to the side lazily.

“No.” That hit Virgil harder than the weight to his chest; blood chilling instantly. “I guess this means we won’t be going outside the city this afternoon.”

It took a moment for Virgil to generate enough saliva to soothe his dry throat and get his words out. “I-I didn’t know we – ahem –  had an outing booked.”

“Oh, there’s none of that anymore,” Virgil’s widening eyes matched the beam that spread across Roman’s face. “Father has finally approved my request to travel freely and take on missions further afield. We’ve got our freedom, Virgil.”

 On the outside, Virgil joined Roman in expressing their excitement for traveling and taking on bandits and invaders; but his true feelings were kept under wraps. Sure, the watchful knights that followed them were judgmental and rude to him whenever Roman’s back was turned, but they were their safety net. Any trouble they came across, the knights stepped in and took majority of the heat of battle. Without them, Virgil would need to defend the Prince solo. Colour seemed to drain from the world as he was overwhelmed with thoughts of what could possibly happen while out alone.

“Virgil? Hey, Virgil?”

Snapping fingers brought the world back into focus and Virgil shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“You okay? You’re looking paler than usual.”

“I’m fine.” Rustling leaves drew Virgil’s attention to the shifting shadows. “The afternoon is slipping away.”

“And?” Satisfied with his efforts, Roman offered Virgil his shirt; bandage obviously no longer required.

“We should be at the training ground or,” he slipped his shirt back on, “crafting, or visiting the kitchens or something-.”

Virgil went to stand, but Roman grabbed his hand and fixed him with a stern look. “Uh-ah; We are staying right here.”

“But-“

“I felt your magic, Virge. We’re taking the afternoon off.”

As the Prince laid down on the fallen leaves, Virgil sighed. “Can we get food at least?”

“Got ya covered,” he gestured to the satchel and Virgil reached inside to retrieved two apples. “Lay with me, Vee. Adventure can wait for another day.”

 The sloping ground in the hollow, paired with the layer of leaf litter, made the firm ground bearable to lay on. Side by side, they munched on their apples; Roman rambling about all the places he wanted to visit, the people he imagined meeting and the eventual unit he and Virgil would construct. It seemed nothing was going to deter him; a fact the pleased and terrified Virgil all at once. He did his best to keep his mind focused on Roman, but he couldn’t stop his thoughts from straying down a negative path on occasion. As exhaustion took hold, he focused solely on the sound of Roman’s voice; not the words, just the sound, until his eyes slid shut and he was asleep. Roman paused mid-sentence as he heard a sigh from beside him and couldn’t help but smile at the peace on his friend’s face. Words failed to describe the pleasant feeling that sat on his chest as he shuffled closer until he could slip his hand into Virgil’s; instinct allowing their fingers to intertwine.

“I’ll always protect you,” Roman whispered, allowing his own eyes to slowly close. “I promise.”

 *click here to see art from this scene* 

******************************

 Perched on the stone wall, a crow stared down at the unlikely pair. It watched the frail one cry. It heard the taller one speak. It examined their reactions as a shirt was removed and continued to stare until the pair were asleep and content. The wind ruffled its black feathers; wings opening to use the draft to quickly take flight. After a final circling of the hidden pair, the crow took off towards the eastern side of the city; sunlight revealing deep green runes patterning its wings.

Swooping down, the crow nipped at some villagers’ hats before crashing through reeds that covered an already broken window. The man inside snatched a blade from his dressing table and thrust it towards the chair the crow had perched itself on; surprise quickly replaced by annoyance.

“What do you want?” He reached for a red cloak with white banding and the guards crest and began fastening it around his shoulders. “Haven’t you broken enough of my stuff already?”

The animal appeared to almost smile, tilting its head with a soft caw before flying over to the guards table and pecking at a stained wooden box.

“Piss off.” Slamming his blade down, the guard turned away and  began securing his belt around his waist. “Fly yourself home, I’ve got too many shifts to be wasting my magic on you.”

Not liking the guard’s tone, the crow flew over to the table and sat on their sword handle.

“Hey!” As the guard waved the bird off, it revealed the mess of droppings it had left on the hilt and table. “Fucking little shit!”

Cawing in delight, the crow avoided the guards waving hands until the man’s eyes glowed and a surge of air forced it to the ground. Strong hands pinned the bird’s wings to its sides as the guard collected it from the floor.

“Look who’s laughing now,” he beamed.

The moment of victory was short lived as the crow pecked his ungloved hands, causing blood to quickly well from the cuts its beak had caused. Letting the crow go, the man hissed and shook his hand before inspecting the long thin cuts.

“Fine, I’ll send you back.” Grabbing a cloth, he wrapped it around his hand and turned to the table; the crow quickly returning to peck at the wooden box again. “This is the last time though.”

Bowing its head, the crow cawed softly before looking back up as the man retrieved a complex rune on fresh parchment from the box. The paper looked frail and brittle; the material not suited to holding such a large amount of magic from the rune cast to it. Taking a small scroll from the box as well, the guard  secured it to the bird’s leg before it carefully hopped onto the runes centre.

“If I see your face again,” the man growled as he braced his hands on the papers edge, “I won’t hesitate to gut you.”

The crow let out a final caw before the guard activated the rune, causing the bird to vanish before the paper burst into a puff of smoke.

  Coughing and gasping, the guard slipped to the ground; spent from using the large quantity of magic in one burst. Though they appeared to not be beyond their twenties; in truth they were nearing their ninetieth birthday. Both a blessing and a curse of being a sorcerer, a youthful look that took longer to fade.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The front door of the house shook with the force of the knocks from the other side.

“You ready yet, Damien?” Came a stern feminine voice from the other side. “The King is conducting assessments this evening and I’m not showing up solo.”

Damien carefully stood and dusted off his uniform. “Just a moment, Angelica.”

“Hurry up.”

 Damien looked in the mirror at his tired eyes; sunken and darkening from his sudden exhaustion. Regardless of how his body felt, his heart had a weight lifted. His debt was paid. His secret was safe. He would have at least a few more years in the city before needing to move into solitude as his body would inevitably shift rapidly to match his true age. The sorcerer ban had been tough for the man to endure, but he was one of few to accept it as a natural order of the kingdom. It meant he kept his life; be it a tough one pretending to have limited magic.

 Exiting his house, Damien walked with his partner through the city streets towards the castle. He wondered what information the crow had gathered this time and how the information would be used. After three years of being harassed by the creature, he still questioned what its masters end goal was. No action against the kingdom had been taken in three years, which seemed odd considering the amount of information he was sure the bird had recovered over that time.

“Did you take on an extra patrol or something?” Angelica questioned, slightly annoyed with Damien’s slowing pace.

“Not an official one,” he lied, pushing his legs to move faster and catch up to his partner.

“You better wake up by the time the King comes around. I can’t afford a pay cut because you got greedy.”

“Don’t worry. The assessment will be a piece of cake.”

The two guards continued in silence; both minds now focused on the assessment and how the King would choose to test them that afternoon.

 ******************************

 The sun was beginning to speed up its descent when Virgil stirred and slowly slid his eyes open, turning his head to see Roman sleeping next to him. It took a moment for him to realise they were holding hands and he resisted the urge to pull away in fear. It wasn’t that he didn’t have feelings for the Prince; it felt like he always had, but he knew it wasn’t an option. The King would never allow their relationship to be anything more than what it already was; he’d made that very clear to Virgil directly, and with the many young royals that were invited to visit the castle since Roman turned 16. It was almost comical to stand by and watch ladies, lords and non-binary royalty try and win his Prince over. Roman was an absolute flirt during all meals and planned outings, but the moment guards were out of earshot he set them straight. He had no interest in marriage for the sake of kingdom relations, and nothing was going to come from a three-day visit and the offer of an alliance or treasures. Honestly, a small part of Virgil relished every suitor Roman turned down; while the rest of him feared what King Rupert would do if the Prince continued to deny the advances of young royals.

 Hands still entwined, Virgil savoured the moment of tranquillity before rational thought returned and he attempted to pull away.

“Uh-ah,” Roman squeezed Virgil’s hand and smiled over at his friend, “don’t try and sneak away now.”

“I wasn’t sneaking away.” As he sat up, Virgil was pleasantly surprised to find his chest didn’t protest the movement at all.

“Then what were you planning?” Roman questioned, sitting up and refusing to release the others hand.

“I was only going to get some dirt to rub on your face. Would be a major improvement.”

Laughing, Roman stood up before carefully pulling Virgil onto his feet; hands never letting go. “Jealous of what you don’t have?”

“Thankful is more like it.”

Roman grasped at his chest like he had been struck by an arrow. “Oh, you wound me, Virgil.”

“Save the dramatics for your suitors, Princey.” Finally pulling his hand free, Virgil searched the area for his satchel. “We should get back and get ready for dinner. Where’s my bag?”

“You didn’t have one.”

Virgil scraped his hand down his face and groaned, “I must have left it at Haefen’s.”

“Why the long face?” Roman questioned, pulling his satchel over his shoulder and following Virgil towards the bushes that concealed them.

“Nothing. Let’s just go. I’m starving.”

Virgil held the bushes aside for Roman this time and they quickly hurried towards the physician’s quarters before they started to lose light.

 .

.

. 

A smile pulled at Alexandra’s cheeks as she spotted her two boys weaving through the garden from the window in her chambers. Chest slightly looser thanks to Clara’s meticulous work and consistent care throughout the past few weeks. Guilt pulled at her heart strings as she watched them disappear from view, and she tried to catch a glimpse from the other window.

“Is everything alright, your highness?” Clara stepped back into the room with a tray of  bowls and set them down onto a nearby table.

“Fine thank you, Clara.” Realising the boys were out of sight, the Queen moved to sit in the padded chair by the table. “I just saw Roman and Virgil in the garden, is all. I haven’t been able to see them in a while; especially Virgil. He looks like he’s grown.”

“Children do grow fast.” The maid commented, helping the Queen loosen her gown to expose her chest. “My Logan has certainly turned into a fine young physician and I swear they are different every time I have a chance to be with them.”

Alexandra nodded and sat patiently as Clara stuck a rune parchment to one side of her chest, which had a fine thread that ran from that parchment to a second rune submerged in a warm bowl of liquid. A similar set up occurred on her other side, only the stringed rune sat in an empty bowl.

“My heart just longs to be with them again, Clara.” Leaning back, Alexandra sighed deeply and tucked a loose brown curl behind her ear. “I know Rupert is more protective these days, but I’m beginning to feel like a prisoner in my own castle.”

 Clara kept her gaze down as she mixed herbs into a cup of warm water and passed it to the Queen. In truth, Rupert had given orders for no unnecessary visitors to the chambers and Clara was instructed to not give the Queen permission to leave unless she was certain of her health. With her family at risk, she had taken no chances in letting the Queen out; but looking at the sad woman before her, she couldn’t keep her locked up any longer.

 “Why don’t we see how this treatment goes,” Clara offered. “If you feel up to it, you can attend dinner with your family.”

The joy that shone in the woman’s eyes was worth the risk, as she accepted and thanked her maid repeatedly. As the runes started to glow with Clara’s soul magic, the Queen relaxed into her chair; runes pulling the warm solution from the bowl to clear building mucus from her lungs. By the time the procedure was over, the once empty bowl was full of a yellowing liquid; thankfully it was paler than Clara expected, and she was happy to note there seemed to be less than their previous treatment.

“Some positive signs here, your majesty.” Alexandra was quick to redress herself while Clara packed up. “Seems you are on the mend.”

“That is brilliant news,” she beamed, meeting Clara’s eyes with a request obvious in her own.

Sighing, Clara gave her a knowing nod. “I’ll inform the King and kitchen of your attendance to dinner. Rest for now and I’ll return to help you change.”

  As the room filled with the soft glow of sunset, Alexandra rested soundly on her bed. Clothes for the evening were laid out in preparation and Clara hurried home to prepare a wax for burning in the dining room to keep the air clear. The maze of inner halls were well worn by Clara and she reached home in record time, panting slightly as she hurried inside.

“What is it this-” Logan turned from their position at the mixing table, half expecting it to be Virgil bursting in again, only to be shocked by their mother’s breathless entrance. “Mother? Is everything alright?”

“I need a cleansing wax,” she moved forward and placed a greeting kiss on their cheek. “Do you have any made?”

Twisting their lips to the side, Logan glanced around their mass of cupboards and calculated current supplies in their head. “We have one full candle and enough supplies for  three more.”

“I should only require two for tonight, but if you have the time to spare, I would appreciate the extra being made.”

Nodding, Logan tidied their current project for the frost lilies and set about retrieving supplies for mixing the healing candles. It was rare their mother returned home so early in the evening; Logan often retiring to bed before her return. They relished in the moment to work together, even if it was rushed and mostly silent.

As their mother slowly stirred the liquid wax, strands of greying hair framing her face, Logan held out a mug of tea.

“I can finish it off, mother. Savour the opportunity to take a break.”

“You are a blessing, Logan.” She willingly took up the mug and stepped aside for Logan to take over; tired eyes filled with gratitude. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately. The Queen has required constant attention.”

“No need to apologise for completing your duties,” they smiled and gestured towards a waiting chair. “Now, please, sit and rest while you can.”

 The ageing woman complied and sipped silently at her tea as she watched her child work, in awe of just how skilled they had become. A stumbling child they were no more, now a capable adult and a physician growing in skill. Pouring the wax into a prepared mould, Logan set the candle onto a cooling rune to quicken the setting process.

“It shall be ready in a few minutes, and you can return to the Queens side.”

“Thank you, my dear.” Standing, Clara pulled Logan into a tight hug; suddenly aware of her much shorter stature as she rested her head on their chest. “Words cannot express my love and adoration for you.”

“Your actions speak volumes, Mother. You needn’t worry.”

 Haefen opened the front door and was pleasantly surprised to see his family in an affectionate embrace.

“Well isn’t this a pleasant scene to return home to.”

Logan laughed and extended an arm. “Care to complete the picture?”

“Don’t mind if I do.” He chuckled and wrapped his own arms around his family, planting a gentle kiss atop his wife’s head.

 The love the physicians shared was without description. Each parent passing their strengths and wisdom onto their child and watching in awe as they grew beyond their own skill levels. Logan didn’t quite understand why, but they had a feeling moments such as this would be even harder to come by soon. It unsettled them greatly and made letting their parents go even harder; but Clara had a job to return to and they had more items to craft. Watching their mother collect the candles, Logan hated the feeling sitting heavily in their gut. They committed the farewell kiss and goodbye from their mother to memory; still unsure as to why they felt moments like this wouldn’t happen again.

 ______________________________

End Note:

Oh, hello again. Nice to see you. Hope your day/night has been pleasant. I was going to add more to this chapter, but then I remembered I wasn’t going to make this a long one and quickly cut back. It was nice to give the boys a happy moment together; all be it only a brief moment.

So, I’m looking to get some more art done because the Remy and Patton one just turned out so well. I’m looking forward to working with an artist again to bring the commission to life (just had to fight the internet bank lords first before I said “hey, can you please bring this cute scene to life.”) 

As per usual, I won’t give an exact timeline on the next chapter. I’ve got Father’s Day this coming weekend (might get to see my fam) and then I may be preoccupied with work stuff (or I will procrastinate from work by writing more of this. Who really knows?).

Anyway, happy timezone friends 💜🐌

Next chapter 

______________________________

What else has Snail done?

The Perfect Ring (oneshot -analogical proposal)

You Promised (oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death)

Sides of a Hero (Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)

Libraries are for Meetings (ongoing WIP - Human/University au with Royality and developing Analogical. Slow burn and heavily focused on a grieving group of friends that Virgil slowly becomes a part of to better himself.)

Check out my other blog for random fandom reblogs and stuff @snail-giggles . Always happy to interact and chat on that blog too 💜🐌

[all-blue-headcanons]

Eye Colour Headcanons

Okay, this is a small list on eyecolours and their descriptions of various One Piece characters, the kind that I imagine when writing more detailed responses. It’s just personally what I think they would look like and you’re most welcome to comment, request or even add your own additions if you feel like it. I may add to the list as time goes on, because there are so many great characters both hero, villain and somewhere in-between that all look so unique so enjoy I guess!

Straw Hats

Monkey D. Luffy; Jet. Actually a very dark brown, but they almost seem to look as though they’re portals to another dimension at times. When Luffy’s enemies look into his eyes, the last thing they see coming is the encoming void - and of the world of pain he’s about to unleash on their day. Warm when happy. Roronoa Zoro; Hazel. The outer rings are a paler shade of green compared to his hair, but the rings around those irises resemble pale flames of gold. Actually very pretty eyes that seem to glow when eager for battle, gleaming with an almost wolf-like hunger. Alternates between warm and cold tones. Nami; Green. They look almost like peridots and sparkle like them too whenever the woman is happy or her gaze captivated by the allure of treasure, her eyes resembling the gems she so loves. Warm to the colour, with subtle hints of gold and emerald in bright light. Sanji; Blue. These are some of the bluest eyes you’ll ever see, matching the summer skies and ocean waves in their intensity. Despite the ‘cool’ tones, there’s a warmth to these baby blues, with strong hints of sapphire and diamond ringing his irises to define his gaze. Soft and dreamy-looking, especially when smoking while gazing out to sea. Usopp; Brown. Much warmer and brighter than Luffy’s eyes, Usopp’s have all sorts of colours going on, ranging from russet to sand and honey! Sometimes there are hints of green and gold, making for some very striking stares in the crew. Intensely warm and earthy, pleasant to look at. Chopper; Brown. Brighter than Luffy’s but not as bright as Usopp’s. There’s still a hint of Chopper’s reindeer heritage in those eyes, the slightly angular pupils giving his animal nature away despite the human range of colours to match his original eyes. Hints of gold on occasion, marbling around those irises in strange patterns. Robin; Violet. Usually appearing blue in most ranges of light, sometimes there’s a violet tint to this woman’s gaze not seen in many other people. Sharper than Sanji’s eyes with a warm hint of amethyst, both purple and white that ring nicely around her irises. Franky; Silver. After Vegapunk ‘adjusted’ his body, Franky’s natural eye colour changed, from a deep blue-hazel to a near silver. They seem like they’d look cold, but Franky’s personality shines through, leading to his eyes appearing almost like diamonds. Sometimes on sunny days, you can see the faintest hint of blue they used to be. Uncanny to strangers, very intense and bright. Brook; Eyes? What eyes? He lost them long ago, yohohoho! They were probably a lovely shade of russet back when he was alive, looking almost like the warm-coloured wood of mahogany that makes for fine quality instruments. Subtle hints of warmer colours like red-orange.

Worst Generation

Eustass Kid; Orange. Most people would argue he has amber or brown eyes, but there’s a brightness to Kid’s eyes that beats either of those two colours. The blazing ring around his irises drown out the paler outer ring of gold, the redness seeming almost like the blood he spills or the colour of his hair. If dragons walked amongst men, this man would have those very same eyes, relentless and cruel in their savagery. Cold despite their warmth. X Drake: Cornflower Blue. Sanji might have the bluest eyes but Drake comes a close second, his eyes almost as blue as the flowers mentioned. There’s a softness in his gaze, distant and cold yet bright at the same time as though sad, hints of white marking out his irises. Very focused stare, piercing and cool. Trafalgar Law; Stormy Grey. These are the eyes that resemble a cold winter sea, rarely showing the hidden tones of blue and green amidst the darkness. While they usually look cold to others, sometimes when Law is really happy or looking at people he loves, they brighten to a colour that’s almost silver-blue. Intense and wild, with a calculating stare that’s almost leopardish.

Warlords of the Seven Seas/Others

Donquixote Doflamingo; Amber/Gold. They’re ‘brighter’ than his brother’s eyes but somehow there’s a coldness to them as well. Hints of green at times, especially when seen in bright light. Personally I headcanon that Doffy is actually blind in one eye, so only his good eye looks like this. The other is much paler except when using Conqueror’s Haki. No matter which eye you look at however, there’s a viciousness to them should you ever look past the sunglasses. Donquixote Rosinante; Amber. Almost honey-like in their warmth and intensity, they are a very pretty colour, the kind that draws stares from the people walking by - especially when outside in the sunlight without his shades. Hints of spice and orange at times, absolutely soft and dreamy. Sir Crocodile; Amber/Cognac. They are really warm in colour, looking almost orange in their intensity and tend to resemble the sunset over Alabasta. Hints of warm cognac and honey, the kind of eyes you could lose yourself in because they draw you in so much. Personally I like to imagine they were brighter when he was young, seeming almost gold in their intensity. Warm colours but somehow always hungry in their intensity. *Passenger Khare; Mixed*. Having central heterochromia has given her two distinct eyes colours - an amber ring primarily surrounding her irises with a outer ring of blue concealing them. Since consuming her Devil Fruit, the amber has taken on a richer tone, almost resembling fire when transformed. Unsettling gaze even when relaxed, looking both warm and cold at the same time. Cat-like as a dragon.

[hxncaleb19812-blog]

Target Market Evaluation.

Copy machines are actually used to duplicate papers as well as graphics fast even coming from long time back. I can think of a wonderful Golden tinted sweather during the amazing days of Autumn. Response, a quick go back to a retardation in development, under-activity, davidfit.info and a lighter colored grass. A long opportunity ago these blue pussy-cats were actually bred as seeking pussy-cats. There is actually evidence that Isaac Newton himself translated the sphere somewhat differently to modern thinking, as well as maybe his 'blue' pertained to a cyan hue of light-toned green-blue, and also his 'Indigo' pertained to a shade our company will describe as dark blue. One achievable main reason why our experts can not recognize UV light is that if the crystalline lens in the individual eye has actually progressed to merely focus on a restricted stable of colours, this aids to offer us a sharper picture of what our experts see, whereas if our experts can center over a bigger stable of insights this might cause chromatic aberration, a distortion of eyesight that would minimize graphic clarity. All disguise different colors are actually standard to refract the least quantity of illumination. Secondary palette uses colour such as orange, purple and also environment-friendly which are produced through combining major colours. The colour eco-friendly stands for nature as well as the setting, while "green technology" refers to the eco-friendly crossbreed modern technology. A handful of instances of foods items that may do this are: carrots, fresh whites potato, green spinach, new thyme, cilantro, fabricated orange food items colourings, red juices, turnip greens as well as Cabbage. The authors of the research study matched up the sets of records and also found that the same staffs were actually assessed substantially much more penalties for hostility when they put on the dark jerseys than when they put on white colored. In Eastern countries, Blue coloured things are positioned in tombs to thwart ghouls. Eco-friendly fans largest wish is to belong as well as to be actually as well as adore enjoyed in all times. The trouble usually impacts guys, leaving behind regarding 8 percent of Caucasian males in the USA incapable of discerning reddish and also eco-friendly shades that are important for daily points like realizing traffic lights. However I have actually found that the world wide web has many totally free Holy bible tinting web pages available that there is no demand for you to get any type of. Actually, in past week days, i have actually tried these all remedies which You have actually been actually discussed at the up. would like to discuss My Adventure of hair color. They used the tricolor cockade along with heaven, white and reddish of their banner. I as if to focus on white damp strength newspaper 120 GSM when I utilize colored waxes, different colors pencils, highlighters, or really felt markers. While there are actually lots of hues of environment-friendly, the prominent colour that is chosen for the parties is actually coming from the 3 fallen leave clover. Inspired by the Uniko motivation (Splendid Planet along with optional spin of Many thanks) as well as colours at CAS Watercolour (2nd special day). Our experts now carry on to colors which are instead paler than traditional violets, as well as indeed all the remaining colours could be thought about as mauves. Mix in fluorescent paints, they produce different colors much more vivid occasionally, Disney performed this a lot (Madame Medusa's hair in "The Rescuers"). Though I really love eco-friendly I couldn't live with those shades either. Along with Xmas time around the bend, web programmers must begin taking into consideration making use of Christmas styles and different colors when the holiday comes in.

[afinedoll]

MH: Dragon and Werewolf CAM

Time for another CAM review! A word of warning, these two were given to me incomplete, and try as I might I have been totally unable to replace the missing limbs - so I have had to make do.

Here they are! I have named the dragon Wyverna George and the werewolf Roma Lupine, because ‘dragon CAM’ is no name for anyone. Wyverna is missing her left hand and is using one from the Colour-Me-Creepy Design Lab CAM, who is the right shade of pink but has a tendency to revert to dirty grey, sadly. And Roma had to borrow her lower left forearm from the mummy CAM, Isis Von Thebes, and it’s not quite a perfect match. Since they only have one wig and one pair of shoes between them, I’m using Isis’s wig and a pair of Wydowna Spyder’s shoes so they don’t have to share.

This is what they look like after they’ve traded wigs - note that the wigs match their lipstick now. For the purposes of this review I’m going to have Roma wear the violet wig and review her first, but there’s something I wanted to get out of the way first. Anyone noticed anything missing on Roma?

I took this before I left the house so I wouldn’t have to take these ear clips out of the house and risk losing them. I hate them, this is a stupid way to do it. They should be on a headband like Bunny Blanc’s rabbit ears. They slide around, you can see the clips and they absolutely had to be put in this wig because the smooth, slippery strands of the violet wig wouldn’t hold them at all - in fact this one barely does. Eh, you know what, I’m going to ditch these ears entirely, say she’s a vampire instead and call her Camilla Bluthaven instead. Objections? No? Good.

She’s clearly got makeup meant to match the red wig. Her lips are the same shade of red and her eyeshadow is the same hue, only paler. I like the pale blue eyes - she’s kind of got husky eyes, especially with the grey skin and brown eyebrows. On the whole, though, without the context of the wig, all the red is slightly baffling.

Her face shape is, on the whole, not terribly remarkable for a Monster High doll, and nothing really stood out to me. Kinda sad, but they can’t all be winners and it’s not as though she’s a named character. Sorry, Roma.

She looks a lot better in the wig, and as you can see it matches her makeup and skin tone perfectly. The wig itself is very coarse and difficult to manage, and the silver streak is kind of spread out a bit so it’s hard to get into one stripe - and if you don’t do that, it kind of looks as if she’s going grey.

I only have her left forearm - anyone who can help me out here, I would really appreciate it, I will pay and pay postage and everything, no matter where you are in the world - but I do have both hands, and you can see that they’re standard clawed hands. They’re not even curled like Clawdeen’s usually are.

The boots - like the wig - seem like they were made with Roma in mind, not Wyverna. Peep-toe ankle cowboy boots with moon decoration definitely says ‘werewolf’ to me, not dragon. I mean I guess I can see a flame motif over the front if I squint but I’m still getting mostly werewolf.

I really don’t like this dress, or at least, not on its own. The pattern is OK, although I can’t quite make out what those Skullettes are, but the shape of it is all wrong. It rides up on the skirt, so Roma has this odd ridge on her hips, and down at the bust, so she keeps getting exposed. Just... no. Bad dress.

With the jacket on it’s better - you can see how in the picture up top - but this is how it looks off the doll. As you can see it has a weird cutout at the back, in case you want to use the wings. And if you don’t? Well, sucks to be you.

We’re not going to examine the purple wig because we already did that in the other review. This is how this burgundy-and-silver wig looks on Wyverna - I think the wild cut is a good look but the fringe is too deep for her and hides her funky eye makeup. So let’s take it off and have a look.

Holy cheekbones Batman. Look at this face, this is way more striking than Roma’s. First of all I love the scaly eyeshadow and spiky brows, although I’m not sure how I feel about the lilac lipstick - it corresponds with literally nothing else in the outfit, although it would make Roma’s things suit her better.

As I mentioned she has a very angular face - especially the upper half, sharp, well-defined lines pointing towards the tip of the nose to suggest a snout even though she doesn’t actually have one.

She has the fin ear cast - not pierced, of course, this is a CAM we’re talking about, which is kind of a shame, dragons should wear some awesome jewellery. From this angle you can see the extent to which her eyeshadow wings out, I think this may be some of the most elaborate MH eyeshadow I’ve seen. I love it.

So let’s have a look at this outfit. It’s a two-piece outfit, which is neat, although that skirt is seriously short. Here you can also see the front of the wings, which we’ll examine in a bit.

This is not in fact a print of two different patterns - it’s two different patterns sewn together, with actual ribbons and real hems, which is way more effort that even the main MH dolls have these days. I miss these days. We have the teensy miniskirt, which in addition to being tiny, hitches up on the left side for Design Reasons. The halter top has a slightly paler shade of the spotted print - which is a much more elegant way of fixing the wing issue than a honking great hole in the back of the jacket.

So here’s Wyverna from the back with the wig off so you can see the wings. They’re actually some kind of hard translucent rubber-type plastic, so you can see light through them, and they’re textured a bit like leather. Very bat-wing.

Wyverna nude - she has scaly arms and legs, and parts of them are painted. The fins don’t come out of her calves like Lagoona’s do, but that’s not really an issue because, of course, the knee joint pops apart.

On reflection I think pink is an odd colour for a dragon. Why not green?

On the left side, she has green scales painted on her hip. This is the reason her skirt hitches up on the left, although in my opinion it’s not a good reason. Like, they could have painted it lower.

On the right side her leg is bare but she has scales on her bicep. Fashionable asymmetry FTW.

Finally, her hand is the standard claw hand, only with scale texture and fins on the forearm.

In conclusion, we have one pretty dull doll and one rather interesting one - so as far as CAMs go, that’s not too bad!

[shazyloren]

The Room: Chapter 14 - Wondering the Cause

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12710496/chapters/29758632

-------

Jon hadn't seen Daenerys in a few days, he was a little worried if he was honest with himself. He'd been approached by Headmaster Lannister and told he was to deal with Head duties for a couple of days while Daenerys deals with some family issues. Whatever it was that was the problem the whole school did not know anything, which was unusual as they always knew everything. But Jon didn't press anyone for information, Missandei knew, she'd said that she just needed some rest and time to herself. And the teachers obviously knew.

Jon felt a little peeved by this, as her Head boy, her patrol partner, shouldn't he be told just so he can truly be there for her if the time comes, or at least to be able to explain to others she was going through stuff without just straight up lying about some illness mumbo jumbo. He respected she probably did not wish for whatever information it was she was keeping to herself to come out to the whole school but it would be nice for him to get some form of warning.

He was currently at dinner with Robb and Theon, and this train of thought had been triggered by the fact Daenerys had just  entered the Great Hall for the first time all week and people were staring at her and whispering amongst themselves. Jon tried not to look at her but he couldn't help it. Her eyes were puffy, her skin was paler than usual and she was completely dead behind the eyes. She had no emotion on her face. She almost looked like she was on autopilot, she was going through the motions.

He looked down at his own dinner, a lovely slice of Steak and kidney bean pie with mash and plenty of gravy and found himself not as hungry as he had been. He wanted to check she was okay, to update her on everything that had happened while she'd been recovering. But he had to restrain himself, he'd be seeing her in an hour for their Patrol, if she turned up this time.

So forcing himself to eat, he tucked into dinner, and tried to tune his worried thoughts out. It made him laugh in all honesty. Whoever thought Jon Snow would be concerned for Daenerys Targaryen, not him, least of all himself. But he did, as her Head boy and from seeing that she's not completely a psycho he once thought she was. He saw she had sat by herself, Missandei joining her from the Hufflepuff table after a few minutes. She made her eat some mash and a few vegetables. At least Jon wasn't the only one looking out for her.

"This pie is so good, I think it might even be better than the ones old Nan used to make" Robb moaned as her shoved a mouthful in. Jon turned his attention from Daenerys finally and watched in disgust as his two best friends shovelled the food in their gobs as if it was going to disappear. "Mmm yes"

"Honestly, that's disgusting" Jon said as a matter of fact.

"The pie?" Robb asked, his mouth half full.

"No, the sex noises you're making" Jon scoffed. Theon just giggled after swallowing his mouthful. Robb's facial expression suggested he was offended. "What? You're moaning like you're one of those girls in those muggle sex things. You know the ones I mean, the ones you watch on the Veletision?"

Theon cackled out loud then and soon it was infectious. Robb was left looking red in the face while half of the Gryffindor table laughed at his expense. Sansa had gone really red in the face with him, as if she was uncomfortable with the subject matter. Jon rolled his eyes. She was always a lady. Arya however, was nearly peeing herself from laughing so hard. Oh the Starks were always a good laugh when at Hogwarts, away from everyone else.

"Ooooh yes pie, you feel good in my mouth!" Arya giggled.

"ARYA STARK!" Sansa shouted, her eyes widening in horror.

"How do you know about that stuff?" Theon asked laughing his head off.

"Robb has a magazine under his bed I found once" She shrugged. Robb went redder.

"Oh really?" Jon laughed as Sansa put her fingers in her ears. "And how did you come to find that?"

"I was trying to find some money to go to Diagon Alley with" Arya just shrugged once more. All of Gryffindor were giggling at this point. "And there it was, ladies chests and bums on every page! I was nine, I didn't know what any of it meant! I still don't really"

"Serves you right for going through my things!" Robb grumbled. "You're a pain in the arse sometimes, Jon"

"Noted, although I am your Head Boy so watch it or I'll be handing out detentions" Jon smirked.

"Careful, Jon" Theon said as his head flinched towards Professor Lannister who had just walked by. He gave Jon a raised eyebrow before shaking his head and continuing over to his seat at the head of the table. Jon felt his cheeks go red. "Abusing your power, a stone's throw from the dark side"

"He threatened detention, he didn't threaten to chop my head of you idiot!" Robb argued. They began bickering which meant the entire Gryffindor table moaned in frustration and decided to leave them too it. This meant Jon looked up to see if Daenerys was doing okay. She was already looking around as if she wanted to leave the room. She'd been here all of three minutes. She'd eaten what looked like the equivalent of two mouthfuls.

Feeling like he needed to help her out; even though he did not know what was troubling her, he got up off of his table and bidded Robb and Theon a good evening. "You're off already?"

"I haven't seen Daenerys all week and while she's here I want to ask a few things I'm unsure on. I've taken all the responsibility on this week but there's a few things I'm unsure of. And while she's here, and not recovering, I'm going to take the opportunity to ask her" Jon shrugged, taking one last swill of his drink. "Don't forget Patrol tonight, you're both doing the Forbidden forest border near the Gameskeeper hut"

"No worries with Patrol, we got it covered" Robb nodded. Jon wished them a good evening once again and headed off to the Slytherin table with his bag. Missandei narrowed her eyes at him as she approached, but Jon just sent a comforting smile back to let her know he wasn't coming to be a pest. Daenerys looked up and jumped slightly at his sudden appearance. They hadn't really spoken since the kiss except for the strange library encounter, and Jon wondered if she was still feeling the awkward air that had been around then since that day.

But it didn't mean anything.

They both knew it didn't.

"Dany" Jon smiled, knowing he was coming for friendly reasons. Missandei left, so they could talk alone. "Er... can I talk to you? It's nothing bad I promise"

"S-sure" She squeaked. Her voice was pretty much gone, she was obviously unwell. "C-can we leave the hall though?"

"Of course" Jon nodded. And so, quicker than he'd ever seen Daenerys move she got up off of the seat and was walking out the hall. Jon followed her and saw she was going to go up the Grand Staircase. Jon stopped and cleared his throat. "When did you last go outside?"

"Last week" She said quietly.

"You wanna go for a walk? It might do you some good to get some fresh oxygen in those lungs, it's still quiet warm for mid September" He asked politely. She nodded, not replying at all. She followed him as they walked outside and even though the sun was setting, it was still warm. The breeze was cool, but it wasn't unbearable. The sky was filled with all the different colours you could imagine. Pinks and oranges and yellows. They walked down to the Boathouse, it was quiet and secluded.

"What did you want to talk about?" Her voice was void of emotion, it was a little unnerving to him.

"Just some Head boy and girl stuff. I got no issues with taking the reigns for a bit, but I did want your opinion on a few issues that I've been having" He said as he sat down on the edge of the pier next to the boathouse. His feet didn't go into the water thankfully, but he was dangling them anyway. She took a seat next to him, a few feet between them as he placed his bag down in between them. "Marc Smith in fourth year wants to form a weekly book club, I think this is a really good idea. Professor Lannister says that it could distract them from their studies and that I was to speak with you about it"

"I like it" She said quietly. "Maybe fortnightly, so they have longer to read the books and can still focus on their studies too?"

"Okay" Jon agreed. He looked at her for a minute, her usual violet eyes looked a lot deeper and darker than usual. They held pain, sadness. He could tell. They are eyes that he's seen in his own reflection before. He suddenly wanted to know what was going on, what had caused such pain and misery. "And perhaps we could speak with Master Marwin about getting it scheduled for one of the private study rooms, maybe a sunday as that's when the library is quietest"

"Okay" She said. Jon felt his heart twinged for her.

"I've um, also had some issues with..." He trailed off as he stared at her, she hadn't brushed her hair, it wasn't in the braids he'd seen it in recently. And so looked broken. She glanced up and met his eyes with her own. "Sorry I... sorry, um. There's been some issues with some Slytherins graffiting the toilets and bathrooms. I don't know who they are, or even if it was Slytherin.."

"Then why are you saying it's slytherins?" She enquired.

"I'm just going off of only witness I have, a first year hufflepuff" Jon defended himself. She flinched as his voice sounded harsh in the slow winds. Jon instantly felt bad and softened his tone. "They may be wrong, it may have been her and she's blaming other people. But until I can catch them in the act this is the only information I have. I was just giving you a heads up, to keep an eye out. That's all"

There was an awkward silence between them. "Sorry, just...  been a rough few days, I didn't- I don't mean to be rude"

"It's fine" Jon just smiled. "You're fine" He wanted to stare at her for the rest of the day, hoping that if he did so she would feel better, but he knew it wouldn't. So he tried not to stare. "Before I forget, we have to do detention tomorrow night, Deputy Varys has a meeting with some ministry people about something or other and has asked if we could conduct it - Will you be alright for that?"

"I think so" She smiled.

"And what about tonight, you okay to patrol tonight? It's alright if not, I'll rope Sansa into doing it if not" Jon asked carefully.

"Sansa is in third year, replace me with your sister?" Daenerys laughed, it was a glorious sound. "You can't get her to patrol with you, that's against the rules!"

"Well she wants to be a Prefect and Head girl so I try and show her what it all entails" Jon laughed, them both connecting for a moment. A small moment Jon never thought would happen. "So you're alright for patrol then?"

"I think I will patrol" She nodded.

"Okay" Jon smiled

"Okay she smiled back.

[maternityeveningdresses3]

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[izzyovercoffee]

Is there anything you can tell me about Mando colour symbolism that isn't already on that "armour colour" post? I'm planning out a Sabine POV story where it would be relevant.

Well, yes and no. I went over the “facts” of colors and mandalorian color theory. What I can do now is kind of dig deeper into the actual mando’a words for colors, and maybe extrapolate more on the etymology of each word as they’re relevant to colors. If anything, it’ll give you an idea of how to break down the colors and maybe play with the meanings, or even the construction of the words themselves. Hopefully that helps?

I got a little carried away (again?) so I apologize for the length and time it took to put this together … and also you can take everything I say with a grain of salt as I’m trying to make sense of the etymology of these words. I’m also skipping orange as there’s no word for in the dictionary as of yet, and including violet since it is.

So, let’s go in the order that I went in the original post. Forewarning that black is going to be the longest section as I’ve thought about it maybe way too much.

ne’tra — black 

Ne’ is traditionally one of the negative prefixes of mando’a. It’s meant to indicate the opposite of what it’s attached to, or the not-thing. Tra means space, void … but it also translates to starfield, or field of stars. 

So. Black. Justice. Not the void of space, or, alternatively, Without stars, a starless night. 

However way you want to interpret that is up to you, but to me? From what I understand of mandalorian history? They were once a truly nomadic people, who voyaged across the stars. They were, arguably, wayfinders. More than just warriors, or conquerors, or however most would like to put it.

I originally wasn’t going to do this, but because you mentioned (elsewhere) that you’re focusing on dusk, I want to take a moment to extrapolate on this thought. The reason I say this is because of how they view stars. 

Mandalorians are generally not considered to be religious. But the language they speak is still very deeply steeped in poetic concepts — grasping at the enormous and unthinkable with words as clever and broad as a people can attempt to embody them. Stars is my personal favorite.

Ka’ra — stars, ruling council of fallen leaders. Mandalorians still speak of those who pass as not being dead, but marching far far away. The origin of the word stars is the belief that the Mand’alore ascend to the stars, to watch over the people and to guide them.

The word for breath is kar’am. Hyperdrive is karbakar (star to star). Kar’ta is heart. Kar’taylir is awareness, knowledge, lit. to hold in the heart. Karyai is the main communal living room of a communal home, where a family convenes to spend time together — and often the last bastion against an invasion.

Jate’kara, luck, destiny, literally good stars, a course to steer by. 

All of these words stem from stars.

Black, the color, is literally a starless night. But, while the impulse is to go for something negative, I would actually pull away from that. Mandalorians, in general, also view adversity (something difficult, something terrible, something terrifying) as something to challenge and overcome as a way of life. A starless night is not to be feared but to be met. 

A starless night may also be indicative, poetically, of a place or a people or an event without justice. And that void, that emptiness, that lack? Must be filled. Whomsoever wears black has taken it upon themselves to fill a void and reinstate justice in whatever manner that may mean.

But also consider: a night without stars evokes a specific sort of image and feeling … which may also be completely different depending on the person in question. Someone who lives in a bright city and experiences light pollution would be used to a night without stars, versus someone living out in the wild (like Krownest) or who is dependent on the stars to travel, would be used to a night full of stars and may find it distressing or strange.

ve’vut — gold

This one is a little less straightforward. Vut, or vutyc, indicates special. Unique, precious. Ve’ (pronounced vay or veh) is unclear as to what it’s meant to indicate, but often when we see ve’ as a prefix, it’s usually from ven (future tense), but in this case it may be from vheh, earth, soil, dirt. 

Gold. Vengeance. A precious future, or, precious metal.

Maybe evocative of the sun rising after a long and difficult night. The gold of the sun rising is a promise of a future — or at the very least, the feeling of surviving to tomorrow. This might be too poetic though lmao, and tbh … I really like the simplicity and the directness of precious metal (lit. special dirt, lmao).

The funny thing here is that though I have gold and yellow listed together for meaning (as they are, generally, considered under the same banner of Vengeance), the word for yellow is different.

shi'yayc — yellow

So. I’m not really a fan of this word, to be perfectly honest with you. I’m of the opinion this is less an actual color and more an adjective meant to describe something else. But regardless, here it is.

From shi, just/only, and yayc, which may be from oyayc, meaning alive (or oya! which carries many meanings and generally overwhelmingly positive). Generally though, with the yc added to the end, it’s less a noun and more an adjective, so it might actually be meant to be a descriptor (ie. yellowing of skin or eyes etc). 

Yellow. Vengeance. Only just alive, or barely dead.

Maybe comparison to, say, a recently deceased person — but that only really works if one assumed that all dead persons are pale and turn yellow when they die, and that’s a weird assumption to make in the context of mandalorians.

Also consider: yellow is dull compared to the shine of a metallic gold. Less intense in that way. My question is what becomes of a person after they’ve enacted vengeance? What becomes of a life devoid of a perpetual motivating force like that? What happens when gold loses its sheen and fades, dulls? 

Am I just taking this too far, to the next level it doesn’t need to go? maybe

EDIT:: w/ points from anon through a later ask, I’d like to also add what they said: 

you pondered about the connotations of yellow regarding ‘just/barely alive’ and its comparison to gold. I thought maybe it’s about flames/light - like a bright vivid flame is a bright gold, while the flame, when it’s only small and ->barely alive

I hadn’t even consider that it might have been referencing intensity of light/fire? But the way you put it, that may actually make more sense than the direction I was going in. I was definitely perplexed somewhat, like I was missing something. This sounds like what I was missing.

That could also apply for the heat of a flame, too. Like, referring to the intensity of the light, or the intensity of the heat, or both, depending entirely on context, and related to the below.

Lust for life

So, there’s no word for orange in mando’a at this time.

Consider: Yellow is sometimes indicated to also mean lust for life, depending on who you ask and what source material you’re comparing it to.

It’s entirely possible that mandalorians don’t have a way to differentiate between yellow and orange. Some cultures do display a limitation in language, seeing what we would consider a range (yellow to orange) as all one spectrum under the same banner.

So while Yellow may mean barely alive/barely dead, yellow may also mean nothing but life.

Something to think about.

genet — gray

Gray/Silver. Mourning lost love.

Ge’ for almost, by proximity (literally or metaphorically). Net, we can assume, comes from the word for black, ne’tra. So, in this case, gray is literally almost black, but not quite. Reaching towards it, maybe, but not quite there.

I’ve used overcast before to describe gray, or the feeling of a loss, of grief, and it still applies here. Almost, not quite, as a starless night sky. Duller, paler, than a starfield. That kind of thing—perpetually in comparison to black.

Also consider that it may infer obscuring the target, instead of almost reaching black, it may act like a filter, a translucent overlay to take away or obscure intensity of (in this case from black, or night sky). Mandalorians, who are (or once was) so used to navigating by/the stars, suddenly having to deal with their guidance obscured? There’s loss, there, too.

kebiin — blue

This one’s a little … less straightforward. Ke’ is used as an imperative prefix, usually to indicate that this word/sentence is a command, but keb may also come from kebbur, meaning to try or make an attempt. Biin, or bii, may come from abiik, air (interestingly, kebii’tra indicates sky, so it’s literally blue starfield, blue space).

What is reliable? What is faithful? Following through, or making the attempt again and again—someone consistent, trustworthy. To stretch the meaning, as trustworthy as the air. 

Blue. Reliability. Faithful. As consistent, or trustworthy, as the air.

I wonder if that was ever a phrase in use. “As trustworthy as the air” might ring true on a planet where they can breathe without their helmets … but what if they so happen to land on a planet that they cannot?

In hindsight, that sounds like a very mando joke to make. B’)

“Who ever is reliable all the time?” Both a joke and a very serious question.

ge’tal — red

Ge shows up again. Almost. Tal, blood. Almost blood, or nearly / like blood. 

From what I understand, the Taung did bleed red, and since they were the original mandalorians, it makes sense for them to make the simplest association for the color.

Red. Honoring a parent. 

This is kind of a call back, imo, to the saying “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” as chosen family ties are stronger than that of biological ones, and consider that mandalorians are expected to shed blood for their chosen family if it ever came to it.

But also consider pointing at a rose and, quite literally, calling it like blood. 

vorpan — green

Vor, figuratively, is to thank. Literally, it’s to accept. Pan… is a little difficult to discover what it might indicate, or where it may come from, but from the two other words it’s a part of (epan, for guts, entrails, and sapan for electromagnet) we can kind of infer that it’s meant to indicate core, or insides, the interior of a thing.

Metaphorically, vorpan can be understood to be accepting a task to fulfill with one’s whole being. For context, vorpan’oy is the word for vegetation, as in bringing life to green.

Green. Duty. To embody one’s accepted task. 

Not really sure why, but let’s go with that.

saviin — violet

This word is actually very close to Sabine’s name — they’re pronounced the same, just with a v instead of b. In some dialects or accent, one might say they are the same. I would argue they are.

So. Violet. Saviin. Sa’ most likely comes from sarad, meaning flower, bloom. Viin is from viinir, for run. 

Running flower. Wild violets are considered weeds in some places, and so instead of run as in flee, run may lean more towards running wild, an overgrowth — or a plant that can live, even thrive, anywhere, in spite of adversity and outside forces attempting to eradicate them. 

Survival in adversity.

And, maybe unintentionally maybe not, given the above I would argue it’s a perfect name for Sabine under the circumstances. 

EDIT:: referring again to points brought up by anon in a later ask:

saviin sounds a lot like Sabine, which seems very very likely to me, considering the long i (or rather e - from an anglophone perspective) and that [v] and [b] are very similar sounds, so maybe Sabine is like a basic transcription or a dialect form of Saviin. Regarding the meaning of the colour/name

My etymology for it would be the following: “viin”/“bine” being a degenerated/shortened form (or even the root?) of kebiin - blue connected with “sa” - as, like, it gives “sa viin” - “like blue”, what is kind of a good description for purple/violet, implying the standard shade in mandalorian perception would be a darker bluish purple ALSO implying that the concept of purple cam up comparably late in the language, similar of the color orange getting it’s name rather late in germanic languages 

I was going color by color so I missed the connection in the effort to complete the post, which was an oversight by me sadly. 

It might also then directly connect the connotations of blue (reliability) with purple (adaptability, survival in adversity). They who are reliable can be depended on to adapt and survive adversity, or so on, kind of like orange (lust for life) from yellow, as thought about from above (the intensity of the flame).

Definitely some interesting things to think about.

[neerain42]

WBJ2017 - Day 3 - People & Races

For the sake of simplicity, this entry only considers human mortals. Creatures and immortals are not to be mentioned.

Eight Realms's people can be split into four ethnic groups: the Great Continent-dwellers (người Đại Lục / 大陸人), the Windwalkers (người Gió / 風行人), the Lowlanders (người Hạ / 下人), and the Easterners (người phương Đông / 東方人). These terms are rarely used, however, since people refer to each other's races by their realm of origin. Many of their phenotypes probably have a lot to do with the magical streams unique to their realm of origin.

The Great Continent-dwellers are, as their name suggests, from the Great Continent - Peace, Jade and Stone. Generally this term refers to the natives of these realms. Appearance-wise, they tend to be of average height, have black or brown hair, various skin tones from light olive to dark brown.

Peace-dwellers display the most basic traits, but the number of mixed race individuals have increased. People native to Peace are not exposed to any kind of magical stream since birth, so they tend to have tougher muscles, better flexibility, and are generally more active. Stone-dwellers have rougher physique, are taller and have fantastic endurance. Desert dwellers also appear darker. Stone teens mature earlier than other ethnic groups.

Realm of Jade is... interesting. Its native - called the Hương (meaning fragrance / 香人) looks slightly different from Great-Continenters: lighter, curlier hair, flatter nose and are said to be "beautiful". However, around the 200s outsiders tried to invade the realm, pushing the Hương southwards and created a brand new nation - Miên Kingdom. Some of the Hương stayed in this new nation, though most of them migrated south with their own government. Miên Kingdom is a melting pot of people from different realms, many of them aren't even born here. Those who are, though, inherit Hương-like traits along with their parents' traits. It is said that people from the realm of Jade has ethereal beauty, partly due to natural factors, partly because of all the race mixing.

The Windwalkers are native to the Realm of Air and the northern most regions of Peace and Jade. They have dark skin, white or gray hair, slightly slanted turquoise eyes and . People here tend to look fragile, whether or not they're slender or chubby, and they in fact physically are. Windwalkers have weaker muscles . They are, however, (un-)surprisingly tough towards the cold, and are able to survive without much struggling when the temperature gets even lower than 20 degrees.

It is said that Windwalkers can communicate with animals. Well, they can't, if you define "communicating" the traditional way. Windwalkers are highly empathic, and they adapt to raising animals well compared to any other races. They can't absorb the magical stream of their origin, but they sure as hell are good magical creature trainers.

Their appearance differs from tribe to tribe. Because of this, each tribe in the Realm of Air can be count as one ethnic group.

The Easterners, well, live in the east. As in the two bickering realms all the way on the other side of the freaking ocean. They tend to be shorter, have paler skin, higher foreheads, brown to bright coloured hair such as ginger (extremely rare). Technically speaking Flame and Sea-dwellers belong to the exact same race, but hundreds of years long of separation have cultivated different traits in each of their people. Sea-dwellers have bluish complexion, while Flame-dwellers are more heat-enduring. It is said that they are naturally more aggressive, and while it is not true (and also racist), Easterners absorb and utilize magical power much easier than other races and thus, they make excellent sorcerers. Realm of Flame is actually the most powerful in terms of magical power absorption rate and of percentage of people who are training to be sorcerers.

More of this will be discussed in the Magic section, but to summarize, Easterners can absorb  both fire and water-based magical stream. It's only national pride that's holding them back (though some of them are above that).

The Lowlanders, who almost exclusively populate the Realm of Mystery, are highly intelligent folks - this is something that should be addressed first. According to studies (conducted by the Mystery-dwellers themselves), Lowlanders have more "brain power" than any other race. They are also resistant to the negative consequences of "black magic" - a fact that discriminators purposely gloss over.

Appearance-wise, lowlanders also have darker skin and bright-coloured eyes (usually hazel, clear lime or in some cases, violet). They also have pointier ears, more defined facial structure, slender fingers and are of average to tall height.       Offspring of Lowlanders and Great-Continenters are almost identical to the land-dwellers, so some Lowlanders have managed to sail to the Great Continent and created their own communities there.

Apart from the four major races, there are hundreds of separate ethnic groups as well. What ethnic they are depend on where they're from.