#(drawing stuff es difficult but i try sometimes)

[sageandflowers]

If everything could stop being So Much for two seconds i’d really appreciate it 

[dhwty-writes]

The Terribly Sad and Tragic Affair that Is the Fake Funeral of Shadowhand Essek Thelyss

Apparently, I am not only drawing for the Critical Role fandom, but writing for it, too. After months of nearly no progress I just vomited out 3k words this Tuesday and it only went downhill from there.

This fic is based on this post by @anne-o-nyme, I really hope I managed to capture the energy of it.

Have fun!

Summary: There were eight strangers in the foyer of his dead brother's towers and Verin Thelyss was slowly losing his patience.

After the sudden "death" of Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, it is his brother Verin's job to empty out his towers. The Mighty Nein show up to help (and maybe steal a few things).

OR: Verin is grieving, Essek just wants his stuff back, and the Mighty Nein are the Mighty Nein.

Warnings: I didn't tag this with MCD, because Essek is technically alive and kicking. Since Verin doesn't know that though, and this fic is written from his POV, this is dealing with grief and includes depictions of depressive thoughts as well as anxiety attacks. For more explicit warnings, please mind the tags on AO3. Take care of yourselves, and let me know if I forgot anything.

Read on AO3

There were eight strangers in the foyer of his dead brother's towers and Verin Thelyss was slowly losing his patience. "Listen," he said with what little calm he had left, "I know that by returning one of our beacons you became heroes of the Dynasty and were placed under Es— My bro— his stewardship. But this here—" he gestured vaguely at the interior of Essek's towers that had always been too cold, too empty, but not like now, never like now— "This is a very difficult situation for me, so if you could please leave, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Yes, yes, it's very sad that Essek died," the blue tiefling said—Jester, her name was Jester; she had given him that already as she had offered him her condolences with a hug—and Verin could barely contain his anger. After the funeral he had quite enough of lying dignitaries, nobles, and heroes currying favours with him. That had always been Essek's thing, he would know what to do, how to make them regret even daring to speak up; Verin had never been any good at it.

"But we're his friends!" He grit his teeth at Jester's blatant falsehood. Perhaps his anger showed on his face, since the tiefling faltered. "And, uh— Fjord?"

"It's true," the half-orc with too-smooth words and too-smooth voice lied, too. "We spent quite some time with your, er— your brother here. Made some good memories. We thought we might take this as our chance to say goodbye, too."

"We are here to help as well. We wouldn't want to infringe upon your grief, though," the tall firbolg added. "So, if you'd prefer us to return at a later point, we'd be happy to."

Verin was still trying to process everything—from these strangers showing up unannounced to their overwhelming presence to the fact that his brother was dead—while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on the halfling who looked like she might have sticky fingers. So, he latched onto the word that stood out the most to him: "Help?"

"Right," Fjord said, looking slightly embarrassed, "we probably should have led with that..."

"We should have called ahead, too," the scary-looking human in blue—they didn't even wear white for the funeral—added. "We always forget to call ahead."

"But Beau, how should we have called ahead?" Jester complained. "We didn't know Verin yet."

"Well, Essek—" the human was interrupted by the even scarier-looking woman next to her stepping on her foot unsubtly. She at least had the decency to act embarrassed. "Right. Sorry 'bout that."

Awkward silence fell across the room, the Mighty Nein looking anywhere but him. It took him a few moments to realise they were waiting for him to speak up. "Help how?" Verin could have kicked himself. By the Light, he could do better than that. He had to do better than that.

A beat of silence followed, then everyone seemed to talk at once. Verin wanted to weep. How was he supposed to deal with this? How had his brother dealt with this? 'He probably hasn't,' he thought. 'They're probably all liars, probably—'

Someone cleared their throat and all eyes turned to the other human who hadn't said anything so far and who looked properly miserable. Immediately, the Mighty Nein fell silent. "Word has reached us that Den Thelyss ordered these premises to be vacated as early as possible," he said quietly with an accent Verin has been taught that belonged to the enemy. "And while some of us may not look like much, I can assure you, we are quite capable."

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "I supposed such menial tasks are beneath the heroes of the dynasty. There are servants—"

"Well, sure," the halfling with the probably sticky fingers interrupted, "but we know him. Knew him, I mean; sorry, force of habit."

"Besides, there's a lot of stuff," the lavender tiefling, who Verin was pretty sure was a known pirate, piped up. "Looks like you could use the help."

"If you want to, of course," the sad Empire human added.

Verin only wanted to scream, to give room to the torrent of thoughts raging in his head. 'My brother just died. My brother just died and he wasn't consecuted, so he's gone for good. He's gone for good and I didn't even know him; I didn't even know about these supposed friends he had because he didn't allow me near him in decades. I was a horrible brother and so was he, but I can't even be mad at him because he's dead.

'And now these liars show up and talk about friendship and knowing him, but those are all lies, horrible ones, because Essek had no friends. Essek was cold and cruel and lonely and do you even know how horrible that is? Dying alone with no-one who mourns you, just the favours you still owe them? Do you? I don't even know, and I'm his brother.'

Were he a weaker man, a less disciplined one, he might have said so. But he was Taskhand Verin of Den Thelyss and he had learned discipline before he had learned to talk. So, he said: "Your help would be greatly appreciated, thank you. I'll have the servants bring up some tea. There are, uh—" He straightened his back, summoning the composure that was befitting a Taskhand, even one with a dead brother. "There are boxes up there, they've been brought to the rooms already. Anything of value will be sold; the rest will be given to charity. The things— Well, if you find anything that might have sentimental value, something in his handwriting, perhaps, I think I should like to keep that, please."

The firbolg nodded sagely. "Of course. We will be careful with our selection."

With that, Verin turned around and— froze. Where was he even supposed to start? The towers had always seemed to huge for just Essek and he knew that there were very few personal belongings in them. Still, they would have to be scoured clean within the fortnight.

A large hand on his shoulder made him jump, although he'd never admit it. "Sometimes, when a task seems too large, you should start with the smallest part," the firbolg said. "If I were you, I'd start with the smallest room."

"Thank you, that, uh— that seems like good advice," Verin replied, still a bit startled and confused. "I, er— I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."

"Caduceus Clay. I live in a graveyard, so I'm used to this," Clay said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Verin furrowed his brows slightly. A graveyard? It seemed highly unlikely to him that one of the heroes of the Dynasty would live in a graveyard of all places. Perhaps they were not only liars, but impostors too? But they had the symbols of the Bright Queen, so there wasn't much that he could say.

"Right," he mumbled. "I believe the smallest room would be the closet. Although it might be tied with the bathroom..." He trailed off again. He had never seen Essek's bedroom in his towers. Judging by how many times he had even seen the inside of the building; he could count himself lucky if he even found the way there.

"Why don't we split up?" Clay suggested. "One group takes the closet, one the bathroom and one the bedroom. We'd get done sooner that way."

"That is a great idea, Caduceus," Jester said excitedly. "I'll take the bathroom; I promised— er, I'm curious if I can find more of that hair oil, I got for Fjord that one time!"

"Ohhh, are you saying this is... an investigation?!" the halfling joined in.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Veth!"

"Seems like a case for Wildemount's best detectives!"

"Bye, Verin!" Jester called and he blinked and they were gone. Fjord joined them as well, muttering something about having to supervise them.

The purple pirate-tiefling shrugged, heading off in the same direction. "Well, I wouldn't mind rifling through some drawers. I'll have a look at that bedroom."

"Yeah, I don't need to see Essek's underwear, so I'll pass on the closet," Beau added tactfully—Verin was getting the sneaking suspicion that manners were not really her strong suit. She linked hands with the large woman at her side, pulling her along. "Come on, Yash."

"I'll go handle the tea," Clay said. "Don't worry about it." He vanished in the direction of the kitchen, his steps accompanied by the constant tap tap tap of his staff.

When Verin looked around, he realised that only the sad Empire human was left with him in the hallway. "If you wouldn't mind," he said, pointedly avoiding eye-contact, "I would love to have a look at the closet. I always, ah— appreciated your brother's sense of fashion."

Verin blinked at him a few times, then shrugged. "Sure." He began heading up the stairs.

"My condolences," the human continued. "I realise I didn't speak up earlier, but— I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," he said, letting the same numb feeling wash over him again that he had embraced since the news of Essek's death had reached him.

"I know that we seem like a bunch of, ah— forgive my language, but assholes, but we're really here to help. I will tell the others to tone it down a bit."

"Thank you," he repeated.

"If you'd prefer that we start in, ah— less personal rooms, we can do that also."

"If I'm perfectly honest, I don't even know what I should be doing there."

"Neither am I." The human laughed nervously. "I have dealt with grief before, but I've never had the, ah— how do you call it? Hang on." He pulled out a copper wire and whispered: "Beau, how do you say zweifelhafte Ehre in Common? You can reply to this message." A moment later he straightened. "Right. I never had the dubious honour of emptying out a deceased person's house before."

"Neither did I," Verin admitted. 'Usually, the deceased person comes back,' he didn't say. Instead, he opted for: "You're, er— What's the word in Common? You're weird? I'm sorry if that's insulting, I just— waele xanalressen [stupid languages]."

"I don't understand your words, but I think I understand the sentiment." The man grimaced. "And I've heard that one before. I hope we're not too much of a... too much."

"It's alright," he lied and opened the door to Essek's bedroom. 

It wasn't alright; Verin wanted to weep again.

The door to the bathroom stood ajar, as did several drawers and cabinets, although he couldn't glance inside. Considering that he heard glass shatter and a quiet "oops" followed by a hushed "Jester!" he was rather glad about that. Besides, what he saw was already quite enough to handle. Beau was currently rifling through Essek's nightstand, the tall woman tossing unread books on the bed carelessly, while the lavender tiefling seemed to make his way through his brother's collections of make-up and jewellery alike.

They froze when they spotted him and the sad human in the door. "Heeey, Verin," Beau drawled.

"These were all still closed, I swear," the lavender tiefling said immediately, gesturing at the jars in front of them.

Verin just sighed in defeat. "I don't wear any make-up, I don't care; you can have it. Put the jewellery in the box to be sold; the books are for charity if he hasn't read them. Just leave the earrings in front of the mirror, please. Those were his favourites."

Without another glance at them, Verin headed straight to Essek's closet, desperate to get some quiet. He took a few moments to collect himself, before closing the door and leaning his head against it with a heavy thunk.

He stayed like that for a minute or maybe two until he heard someone clear their throat. "I have been debating for the past fifty-five seconds, if I should just Dimension Door out," the sad human said and Verin very nearly jumped out of his skin, "but that would be loud and I didn't want to startle you. Not that I didn't startle you like this but—"

"Vithin shu," Verin cursed.

"Vithin shu ke," the sad human agreed, his accent in Undercommon even heavier than normally.

For a moment, they both stared at each other, equally startled by the course of events. Then, the human looked away again. "I, ah— have started learning Undercommon before, um— well, before." Verin tried very hard to focus on the way the human was scratching at his forearms; that way he had something else to focus on besides his nearing breakdown.

"This is a bit embarrassing, but, ah— I believe I forgot to introduce myself," the human continued. "I'm Caleb Widogast. Essek and I were... friends, yes, and ah— colleagues, of some sort. It's... complicated."

He scratched at his arms again before turning towards the shelves and pulling out a stack of tunics. He unfolded one, looked at it, then carefully folded it again, cast a cantrip to smooth out the wrinkles, and put it in the charity box. Then he repeated the procedure with the next. And the next. And the next.

Verin frowned, thinking for a moment about his words. There was something about them that seemed painfully familiar, although he couldn't quite remember. Then: "The transmutation specialist."

Widogast looked up in surprise. "Yes."

"Essek told me of you," Verin admitted.

The last time they had seen each other had been here, in these towers, just a few months ago. He had found his brother in his office, pouring over notes for a new spell, alive and healthy as ever. As always, he had entered without knocking. As always, he had pretended to read the notes. Not as always, he had noticed something wrong. "Whose handwriting is that?" he had asked.

"What?" Essek had snapped, his head whipping up. Then, however, his expression had softened. "Oh. A friend's. A colleague, of sorts. He's helping me out, a bit."

"With the spell?" Verin had asked incredulously.

"Yes. He's a transmutation specialist; you know that's not my forte. Now give it back, will you?"

"A colleague, huh?" He had grinned and held the paper out of Essek's reach. "Are you sure that's all?"

Perhaps Essek had been sick after all, for the strangest thing had happened: instead of using his floating cantrip to snatch the notes back, he had gotten a dreamy, far-off look in his eyes. He had even smiled with an expression Verin might have called dopey, if it weren't his brother they were talking about. After a few moments, he had snapped out of it, sighed, and said: "It's complicated."

"Did he?" Widogast asked tentatively. "Did he, ah— did he say anything else about me?"

Verin pinned him down with a glare, sizing him up. In hindsight, he should have noticed the thick spellbook at his hip earlier; judging by his slim frame alone, he should have known the man was a wizard. He supposed Widogast was handsome enough, although his brother had never cared much for that, with his copper hair and his striking blue eyes. Blue eyes around which crows' feet were gathering, as he noticed to his dismay. 'He's human,' Verin reminded himself. He might have a few decades left, maybe, whereas Essek had centuries ahead of him. The thought why his brother might condemn himself to more loneliness crossed his mind, though it hardly mattered. His brother had been the first to die, after all.

"Verin?" Widogast inquired quietly.

"I'm sorry," he answered with a thick voice. "I got lost in my thoughts there. He, uhh— he said that he trusted you." That didn't even begin to cover it, but these Mighty Nein had been lying to him since the moment they got here, so what was a little lie by omission? Besides, there were some memories that he wanted to keep just to himself.

"Essek," he had teased, still waving the sheet of paper out his reach. "Come on! Aren't we brothers?"

Essek had crossed his arms and pouted. He hadn't done that since they were both little. "Unfortunately. You are a menace. And a child."

"If you tell me about him, I'll give it back. Is he handsome? Is he a drow? Where's he from? How did you meet? When will I meet him? Can I promise to kill him if he hurts you?"

"Verin!" Essek had groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"What do you do when you meet? I bet you stay up all night, talking about 'arcane research' or something."

"We do, in fact. Are you done now?"

"Oh, is that what young people call it these days?" He had cackled at his own joke.

"Evidently not," Essek had muttered. "Might I remind you that you're younger than me?"

"Might I remind you that you're a buzzkill?" Verin had shot back and placed the note down. He had gotten bored of his own game.

Essek had taken the sheet of paper almost reverently and thanked him. "I would have hated it to rewrite that page." He had smoothed it down, stored it safely away in a folder, silent for a long time. Then, he had said: "Caleb."

"Excuse me?"

"That's his name," Essek had said. "Caleb Widogast."

Verin had frowned. "Hey, Essek?"

"Hm?"

"You must trust him a lot, to share a spell with him."

His brother had taken a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. Verin hadn't expected him to answer, yet he'd said: "I do, actually. It's not the first spell we've created together and I would be honoured to create a thousand more with him. I'd trust him with my life, my death, and beyond. I think—" He'd huffed. "I think I trust him almost as much as I trust you."

Verin watched Widogast as he was looking through his brother's tunics, placing most of them in the charity box, and he wondered. Wondered if the trust Essek had obviously put in Widogast had been misplaced. Wondered if it had extended to his friends, as well. Wondered if ultimately trust had been his downfall, as he'd always feared.

Then again, if Essek had trusted him... perhaps that trust had been mutual. Perhaps they had been friends. Perhaps there was another person mourning his brother after all.

"Do I have something on my face?" Verin had given up on counting how many times Widogast had now startled him out of his thoughts.

"No, no I—," Verin stammered. "I'm sorry."

He tilted his head to the side. "For staring?"

"No, er— For your loss." Liar or no liar, it only seemed appropriate.

"Oh." Widogast turned back to the tunics. Verin probably should get started, too, shouldn't he? "Thank you. Though I'd wager your loss weighs heavier than mine."

"Probably," he agreed and turned to the task at hand. At this point, Widogast had moved on from the simple tunics to Essek's court regalia. After a short moment of consideration, Verin decided to look through the pants; he also had no interest in sorting through his dead brother's underwear.

Out of the corner of his eye he kept watching the wizard, pulling out one cloak after the other. At a few he wrinkled his nose, at others he just stared before putting them with the tunics. After a while one made him pause; an elaborate, beautiful robe in deep purple. "This is what he was wearing when we first met him," he said.

'He hated that one,' Verin thought. Not that he could say that out loud. Instead, he cocked his head and asked: "Are you sure? He has a lot of those. Had, I mean. Had a lot of those."

"Yeah, I'm sure." He tapped his temple with a faint smile. "I have a good memory."

"As does Essek," he snapped, suddenly feeling very defensive about his brother's capabilities. "I suppose most wizards do."

Infuriatingly, Widogast only nodded. "Indeed. Or they're not very good ones."

Silently, Verin turned back to the trousers. The sooner he got done, the sooner he got these people out of his brother's towers, the better. He didn't know for how long they worked in silence, Verin reminiscing about the times he had seen Essek wear the clothes and wondering about those he didn't know. Eventually, he folded the last of them and forced himself to return to the present. "I think we're done here," he announced. "Do you have a preference for a next room?"

"Perhaps the library?" Widogast offered a tentative smile. "I think I might be of more use there than folding clothes."

"More use than I will be, surely."

"I take it the wizardry doesn't run in the family, then?"

Verin only scoffed and opened the door to the bedroom again.

He immediately spotted Beau leafing through one of the books Essek had never read, while the tiefling was chatting amiably with the aasimar while braiding her hair. He also noted the boxes neatly stacked in the middle of the room. Besides that, he noticed with a heavy heart, the room looked much the same. If anything, it looked less orderly and empty than before. Except for—

"Where are Essek's earrings?" Verin demanded to know.

"What earrings?" the lavender tiefling replied with a too-wide grin the same moment Beau said: "Dude, there's tons of them, why don't—"

"No," he said decisively. "Essek's favourite earrings; they're always up here. I told you about them. Where are they?" His hands curled into fists, his neatly manicured fingernails pressing almost painfully into his skin.

"Perhaps you should look in one of the boxes," the aasimar woman suggested "I'm sure they're—"

"You're lying," Verin interrupted her, barely containing his anger. "Why are you lying? If they're in one of the boxes, then only because you put them there. So: where are they?"

Widogast only now stepped out of the closet, wearing an amber necklace he hadn't noticed before. "Verin—" he said tentatively, but he'd had enough.

"Shut up!" He startled himself with how loud his voice was. But he was beyond caring. "I know they're not in there, because the only ones to put them in there would have been you. So, either you're lying about having them put in there, or you're lying about stealing them, I don't care. Just— please. Please give them back."

The four of them passed a guilty glance. "We can't," Beau replied finally.

"The fuck you can't," Verin spat. "Give them back!"

"Verin, love, we would really love to," the tiefling added, "but we can't."

"I don't understand; is it precious things you want? Here, have some!" He strode over to the boxes and ripped the first open, tossing the lid towards the bathroom door Jester was peeking out of. He reached in to grab a necklace—an ugly one, he had always thought, with a stylised beacon—and threw it in their direction.

Beau caught it. Of course.

"Have a whole box, actually, if you like them so damn much." He reached inside and pulled out a jewellery box, tears prickling in his eyes. He threw one of those, too, just for good measure. It gave him some satisfaction that Widogast had to dodge it. "Just give me back the bloody earrings that my brother wore at my fucking consecution!" He was properly crying now and could only imagine the mess he looked like, but he had reached his limit. And, in his opinion, he was allowed to with all that was going on.

At least they looked a little bit guilty. "Fuck man, we didn't know," Beau mumbled.

"It's just one pair, Beau," Jester called over from the bathroom. "I'm sure it will be alright."

"Yes, there's no need for this to escalate," Fjord agreed and strode over to them, his hands raised innocently.

"I don't even know you people," Verin muttered, looking at the people crowding into his brother's bedroom. "Why did I even let you inside?"

"Do you want the earrings back?" the aasimar woman asked, reaching into a bag at her hip. Had she been carrying a greatsword for the whole time? Verin suddenly noticed how overpowered he was, were he to face all of them. "You can have them back if you want. Here, you can have them back."

"For a moment," Widogast added, slowly drawing closer to him and taking the earrings from the aasimar. He held them out on his flat hand, almost like he had seen soldiers offer treats to horses. His whole demeanour reminded him of someone trying to calm a spooked animal. For some reason, that seemed hilarious to him and he couldn't help the hysterical giggle that escaped his throat.

"Verin, I need you to calm down," he continued. "I know that's easier said than done, but you need your head."

"I think we should all calm down," Clay said from the doorway. And despite being surprised again, he did. It didn't make any sense, but few things these days did.

"Did it work?" the halfling asked. Verin wasn't really sure what she was talking about.

"It did," Clay confirmed.

"Gut," Widogast said and pressed the earrings that had seemed so important a moment ago into Verin's hands. "I think we should maybe go somewhere else, ja? Will you come with me?"

Inadvisable as it might be, if Essek had trusted that man, he should, too. And out of all of the Nein, he seemed to be the most normal one. The one he could see Essek with most. So, he nodded.

"I'll get us back to the kitchen, quickly." Caleb held out his hand and Verin closed his eyes, steeling himself. 'I hate Dimension Door,' was the last thing that crossed his mind before the teleportation spell ripped him away, together with: 'We haven't been to the kitchen, yet.'

Evidently, there went something wrong with the spell. Verin didn't know much about magic, but he knew Dimension Door couldn't transport more than two people. So, when he heard Beau groan and say "Fuck, dude, warn us next time," he knew that something wasn't right.

"You knew about the plan, Beauregard," Widogast replied.

"It doesn't matter," Fjord decided. "Caduceus, do you think you could make tea again? I think the Calm Emotions is about to wear off."

Cautiously, Verin opened one eye, then the other. They were, in fact, standing in a kitchen, as far as he could tell. All of the Mighty Nein were surrounding him. The furniture seemed to have been made for people taller than them; Essek probably would need to float in order to avoid awkwardly climbing onto the chair. The firbolg, however, who was fussing with a teapot, seemed to fit right in. All in all, the interior was very rustic. And very much not in Essek's towers, not that he had ever seen that room, of course.

The panic hit him once more. Verin whirled around to the wizard, instinctively grasping for his sword. "Where the fuck—" he faltered, finding his hip bare. Of course, he hadn't brought it for the funeral. Instead, he opted for just grasping Widogast by the lapels and lifting him up a bit. It was supposed to be menacing, which surely would be more effective, were humans not so annoyingly tall. "Where the fuck are we?!" he spat out.

A lot of things seemed to happen at once—he heard a "Fuck, man, what-" from Beau, a "Well, Mister Thelyss" from the pirate, several hands trying to tug him away from the weak wizard—but he didn't pay them any mind. He just shook Widogast, who looked entirely too calm for his liking, and demanded: "Answer me!"

"Leave him," was all Widogast said. "He has every right to be angry."

Indeed, the people grasping at him retreated, still on guard and surrounding him. There was a creak outside the door and Verin desperately wished for his sword once more. Then, a voice cut through the tense silence that had descended over the kitchen: "Caleb, is that you? You're back early."

"Yeah, there were some complications. Best come and look yourself, Schatz."

There was a sigh that was entirely too familiar for Verin's liking. Then, the door opened with a creak and in walked a dead man. "Complications," Essek Thelyss said with a fond smile. "I was just a Sending away, what did you come here fo— oh."

The person wearing his brother's face stopped in their tracks as they saw him. A couple of complicated emotions passed over his face—confusion, surprise, regret, guilt. If he hadn't known before, Verin was certain now that they were impostors, all of them. His brother would never tolerate such a display of weakness. Still, the impostor said: "Hello, brother."

Verin whipped his head back around to the wizard in his grasp. "What the fuck are you playing at?" he hissed.

"I- what- Verin!" the Essek-impostor sputtered. "What are you doing; put him down!"

"I would appreciate that, yes," Widogast added.

"Not before you don't tell me what's going on."

"Going on?" The impostor sneered and shook his head in a perfect imitation of his brother. "Nothing is going on, Verin."

"You died," he accused him.

"Evidently not," Essek scoffed.

Verin narrowed his eyes, looking from the man claiming to be his brother over the other too calm wizard to the rest of the Nein, seemingly perfectly happy to let this play out. "Prove it," he demanded. "Tell me something only my brother would know."

"You've become paranoid," he noted and Verin couldn't decide if it sounded proud or disappointed. "Alright. When you and I were in our early thirties, you once got in trouble for scaling the outside of mother's mansion. Rightfully, I should have gotten in trouble, too, but I was hiding on the attic. And the reason you never told anyone, is because then you'd have had to explain that I, the wizard, had somehow outpaced you, the fighter, in a climbing competition."

Verin wrinkled his nose at that. "Well, my brother cheated."

"I did not cheat, thank you very much!" He huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. "You didn't say 'no magic' before we started."

He stared at Essek for a few moments. "It's you," he whispered.

"Obviously."

Verin dropped the wizard on the ground and looked over at his brother; really looked. The man looked nothing like the one he had known for most of his life. His hair was longer than it had ever been since he'd cut it off and his bare feet were touching the ground. His clothes were casual, a simple tunic and trousers. After this day, Verin knew for a fact that not even Essek's trancing clothes were that informal, and yet his brother looked more comfortable in them in another's house than he had in decades. On top of that, he kept glancing over to Widogast. And smiling. Essek was smiling.

No, this man looked nothing like the one Verin had known for nearly a century. But he looked a lot like his brother.

"You're alive," he said stupidly.

"Yes, of course I am," Essek said, as if Verin hadn't just attended his funeral.

It felt only right to tell him so: "Why are you alive? I was at your funeral."

"That's a long story," he sighed and floated onto one of the chairs that were slightly too tall for him. He accepted a cup of tea from Clay with thanks and turned back to Verin. "Why are you here?"

"Well, that's a pretty long story, too," Jester spoke up. "He kind of started freaking out about your earrings, I think? And he was crying and looking pretty awful and everything, right Caleb?"

"I, ah— didn't think he'd believe us if we told him about you," Caleb said. "So, we had agreed beforehand to bring him here, in case of an emergency."

"He thought we were lying," Clay added.

"I suppose it is my story to tell," Essek said. "Earrings, Verin?"

"They're your favourite," Verin said stupidly and held them out to him.

His face grew soft. "Oh," he said as he took them gingerly, "I didn't know that you kne—"

Before he could overthink and do something stupid like stop himself, he surged forward and enveloped his brother in a tight hug. After a moment Essek closed his arms around him, too.

It seemed so unreal, to be able to hold him after mourning him for what felt like years. All the worries, all the grief and anger that had crushed him in the past few weeks and for what? For the bastard to still be alive after all. It wasn't fair. Why had he had to go through all of that? And why did he feel the pressing urge to start crying again? He should be happy, shouldn't he, that his brother wasn't dead. So why did it make him feel so awful?

"I think this is our cue to leave," Fjord said. Verin felt his brother nod and heard the Mighty Nein shuffle out of the kitchen, the door closing behind them with a creak. 

Only then, Essek spoke up. "Verin," he asked quietly, "are you crying?"

"Shut up," he mumbled through the thick fog of tears and snot, definitely not crying. "I hate you, Essek. Do you know what I went through?" 

"Meeting the Mighty Nein? Yes, I can imagine."

"They're horrible," he complained. "They're loud and they're rude and they had absolutely no respect for any of your belongings! I thought I was going mad."

"They are. They also are my friends, you know."

"How?" he asked agonised.

"I know they don't look like it, but they are surprisingly capable. And I am sure that you've noticed most of them to be annoyingly charming. But I think their absolute worst traits are their infinite stubbornness and perseverance. They quite literally did not leave me alone until they had befriended me."

Verin glanced up at him questioningly. "And were half in love with the wizard?" he guessed.

Essek scowled darkly, a faint blush colouring his cheeks. "Perhaps."

He snorted and disentangled himself from their embrace. Very calmly he said: "You're a liar." 

Essek looked genuinely startled at that. "What?"

"You said, you trusted me more than him. Why then, did he know and I didn't?"

"It's... complicated," he said.

"You wizards say that a lot."

"Verin." Essek closed his eyes. "I trust you. Implicitly. And I care about you. Which is why I chose not to burden you with the knowledge of my misdeeds. I didn't— I didn't want to put you in an impossible situation to choose between me and our queen."

He laughed nervously. "What on earth are you talking about? I mean, you didn't commit treason or anything."

Essek didn't answer, avoiding eye-contact instead.

"Right?"

Still, Essek kept stubbornly quiet.

"Oh," Verin breathed. He took a moment trying to reconcile what he knew about his brother with the fact that he was apparently a traitor. It all fit together ridiculously easy. "The beacons."

Essek looked up at him in shock and he knew he had hit the mark. "What?"

"You stole the beacons." Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense. Essek had been studying them at the time, one of the only people with frequent access to them. He had always been fascinated by them, yet his theories had been rejected for their heretic nature. As Shadowhand, he had also regular contact with counterparts from the Empire, albeit not officially. Then, a few years after Essek’s research had been denied, they had vanished. How had he never seen this before?

"Oh Essek...," he said softly.

"No, please— I don’t—Please don’t—” He seemed to deflate, curling in on himself. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you, I—”

"I don't care,” Verin interrupted his frantic ramblings.

"What?" Essek looked up at him, looking just as shocked as Verin felt.

“I don’t care,” he repeated, realising that it was true the moment the words left his mouth. For how could he care about something as trivial as treason when Essek was sitting right in front of him, alive and well. "You're my brother, I don't care. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in a year. Maybe in ten. Right now, I only care that you're alive."

“I—What—I don’t—” Essek stuttered, lifting and then lowering his hands a few times. “I don’t know how— If I can—Fuck.”

There was a joke on the tip of his tongue, but even he knew that this wasn’t the right time for it. Essek was obviously trying to tell him something and it took him a minute to decipher that strange behaviour. “Are you asking for a hug?” he hazarded a guess.

An agonised expression passed over his face and for a moment Verin thought there were tears gathering in his brother’s eyes. Surely not. “I don’t know if I may. I don’t mean to overstep—”

Without further ado, Verin stepped forward and gathered a yelping Essek up and squeezed him tightly. “Of course you may!” he assured him, awkwardly patting his shaking shoulders. “I love you, Essek. I am very glad that you’re alive.”

“I’m very glad to see you, too,” Essek answered and squeezed him a little tighter.

[13uswntimagines]

Your Ass Is Out of This World (Kelley x Reader)

Request: alex or kelley or sonnett x reader where they've been dating for a few years R is an astronaut for NASA and she gets to go to space

Author’s Note: Special thanks to @literaryhedgehog​ cause without her, none of this would have happened. 

Kelley wasn’t quite sure how she had ended up standing next to a dive bar sipping a lukewarm beer on a Friday night. In her defense, Ali and Ashlyn had convinced her it would be fun and had promised to pay for the Uber rides both ways. It had been fun for a while, dancing with them to some old 70s songs on the light-up dance floor, but half an hour ago they had disappeared off into a hallway somewhere, and she had no intention of third-wheeling (she knew she should have convinced Alex to join them). But she also wasn’t going to leave without them, because she wasn’t convinced either of them were sober enough to take any kind of transportation safely (someone needed to be there to make sure they didn’t puke in someone’s car).

So here she was, standing by the bar waiting for her friends’ sexcapades to be over, nursing her drink. The clink of a glass settling in front of her caught her attention. She blinked at the bartender. “I didn’t order another one,” 

The man’s lips ticked up and he shrugged. “Lady on the end paid for it. Said you looked sad,” 

Kelley looked up, following the man’s eyes towards a woman standing a few seats down the bar from her. She was also standing alone but was dressed as though for a different event altogether. Kelley had embraced the 70s theme of the bar slightly, wearing a jumpsuit and a scarf around her head, but this woman had just thrown a white NASA shirt--like the one Kelley got for her little cousin at Target-- over a pair of black jeans. As she bobbed her head to the music she met Kelley’s eyes and smiled. 

Kelley took that as her invitation to approach. Kelley’s eyes traced her form, lingering on the white material. She didn’t know those came in adult sizes...

“You must be a star, I can't stop orbiting around you” Kelley smiled charmingly as she approached you, setting her beer on the bar beside you and settling in the seat to the left of yours. 

“I do believe I was the one to buy you the drink…” you said, your lips twitching as you tried to keep a serious expression. “Shouldn’t I be the one throwing pickup lines here?”

“You bought me the drink, so I get to be the one to woo you. I’m Kelley, are you from Mars? 'cuz I wanna explore you with curiosity.” Kelley said, wiggling her eyebrows at you, enjoying the light blush coloring your cheeks. 

“Oh my god,” you groaned, “that was terrible. I mean really good but absolutely awful.”

“At least I got you to smile, but you still haven’t told me your name.” Kelley laughed, taking a sip of her beer. She was prepared to lay on the horrible pick up lines for your entertainment. 

“I’m Y/n,” you said, putting down your drink and holding out your hand, “pleasure.”

“They call me the milky way...Pleasure You Can't Measure,” Kelley smiled, shaking your hand as you laughed and pulling you a little closer “Why look at the moon, if I can’t touch it? Why look at your lips, if I can't kiss them,” she said, winking so you knew she was completely joking. 

“How do you know so many of these?” You said, shaking your head in awe. “ All I know off the top of my head is ‘do you work for NASA? Because you’re out of this world!’”

“Ah, a magician never reveals her secrets,” Kelley whispered conspiratoryly, bringing her hand up to cover her lips. “but my team and I have definitely had flirt offs for bonding nights,” 

“Your team?” 

“Yeah, I play soccer for the US and Washington,” She shrugged as if it wasn’t a huge accomplishment. 

Your eyes widened and you nearly spat out your drink. “Didn’t they, like, just win a World Cup?” 

“Yeah, No biggie,” Kelley said, side-eyeing you as she took another sip. 

“No biggie?  I’m surprised you don’t have a swarm of paparazzi shadowing you, that’s incredible! Weren’t the USWNT like the most successful US team in soccer?’

“Hm, there’s not enough drama for them, but we don’t mind. How about you? What do you do beautiful?” Kelley hummed. 

“Oh. I work for NASA,” you said, gesturing at the shirt. “I can’t wait to bring some of those lines back to work.”

“What??” 

****

“So do they at least give you a good choice of flavors? So you don’t get bored and stuff?” Emily asked from across the table, licking her dripping I cream cone. 

When your girlfriend decided to introduce you to the team after their match against Colombia, you were quite surprised she had chosen an ice cream shop as a venue. But with how food motivated the youngins seemed, you realized how appropriate it was. 

“I mean,” you said, your spoon suspended in the air as you blinked at Emily, “ice cream isn’t the only thing we will eat. I’m going to be on the station for like 8 months. Ice cream is not a balanced diet.”

“But it’s the only one they sell in the stores. You don’t have to lie cause the veggie lovers are here,” The defender said, leaning across the table, as though it would prevent the rest of the table from hearing her. 

“Babe, you literally love most veggies too,” Lindsey rolled her eyes, using her thumb to wipe a spot of chocolate ice cream from Emily’s nose. 

“Actually, I heard they’re a pretty good selection of dehydrated fruits and veggies and MRE’s and Tortillas and stuff. Plus I get to take a few things from home…” You mumbled, leaning back. 

She couldn’t be serious right? There was no way she thought you were supposed to sustain yourself on horrible freeze-dried dairy products for that long. Not to mention, freeze-dried ‘astronaut’ products for the most part weren’t actually possible to bring to space, with how crumbly they are. You were more likely to eat actual ice cream on the space station (less chance for an errant crumb being inhaled or destroying an important piece of equipment) than that gift shop garbage. 

“Oh yeah, MRE sounds way more likely than just eating the stuff they literally label as being for astronauts…” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “What does that even stand for? ‘Must reject Emily?”

You opened your mouth to answer, eyebrows furrowed, only for Kelley to nudge you softly. 

“It’s not worth the fight babe, trust me. Not the brightest lighthouse if you know what I mean,” Your girlfriend made a swirling motion with her finger next to her temple. 

You leaned in closer so your lips were nearly touching her ear. “She’s not serious right?” 

“I never joke about ice cream,” Emily answered seriously. 

You blinked at her, looking to your girlfriend who just shrugged and raised her eyebrows. 

“I’m, I’m not sure if they have a flavor rotation system for ice cream flavors. We haven’t been… briefed on that yet,” you nodded seriously. 

…...

“Can you hear me?” Kelley said, tapping her fingers impatiently as your face appeared in the video call. 

“He- -utiful,” You smiled through the glitchy computer screen. Your waving was broken up like a bad claymation. You leaned in to make out the fuzzy figures standing behind your girlfriend, assuming she was at camp or something. 

Normal long distance sucked, but literally being off-planet really made things difficult. It wasn’t like Kelley could just text you when she missed you, or randomly call you when she missed you at 3 am. Sure, she could email and you made a tremendous effort to schedule calls once a month, but it was still incredibly difficult (and slightly weird that a NASA tech dude had to monitor each call to make sure the connection stayed up). And sometimes even the best video-calling technology had issues. Like today (when a giant satellite or piece of space trash would block the signal). 

“Are you hav- -un at -amp?” You asked, grabbing your floating water pouch pushing out a sip sized water drop. 

“Yeah, it’s great,” Kelley said, watching you munch on your water. When you first got on the station you sent her pictures of artwork you made out of different drops of colored water- specifically making a giant water ‘soccer ball’ for her. Then you tried to boop it around and ended up losing control, amusing all your crewmates who watched you trying not to run into too many walls. “We’re looking forward to playing against Brazil on Friday, should be brutal.” 

“We’re set to be ov- Florida on -day, so I’ll try and tune into the ga-. Catch a nice - view,” You nodded, wiggling your eyebrows (which looked more like you having a seizure due to how badly you were pixelated). 

While Kelley wasn’t entirely sure what you were saying, she went ahead and nodded. “Let me know what you think!”

“Wh- color -it are you w-ing? Y- look -uper s-xy in the -ue,” you said, floating up in a ‘draw me like one of your french girls’ pose. 

“You’re favorite one,” Kelley said, winking at you. 

“-es!!” You cheered “-ake p-ture -or -“ the screen flickered dangerously for a second. Before a wobbly picture returned. 

“Babe you’re breaking up, I can’t tell what you’re saying. Y/n. Are you there? UGh. I love you! We’ll talk soon.”

“-ove y- -oo” 

Kelley blew a slow kiss to her camera before she heard a deep voice saying “Sorry ma’am. The connection was lost. Y’all still have five minutes on your scheduled call- Want me to try calling again? See if the signal improves?”

“Yeah,” Kelley shifted, rubbing the bridge of her nose as typing sounds echoed through the speaker. How she was going to make it through four more months of this she had no idea. 

“What if like the ship was attacked by aliens or something,” Sonnett whispered from her left, staring at the blank screen with real trepidation. 

“Not possible ma’am,” she heard him laugh. “But I doubt I would have the right level of security clearance to know.”

“great.”

Kelley grabbed a pen and marked a day off the calendar hanging on her wall. So much for ‘phone call with Y/n.’ She sighed. Just a few months to go. 

****

Gravity fucking sucked. It was disorienting and heavy and made you sick to your stomach. Space station alums always talked about re-entry and how bad that was, but you thought sitting in a NASA hospital bed while your equilibrium readjusted was way worse than your fireball craft plummeting into the ocean. 

“This fucking sucks,” You groaned, again throwing your hand over to pull out the IV. You hated how hard it was to move (and how you actually had to hold up a cup of water to get a drink but that was beside the point). 

“Whoa babe, I know you’re a little out of it right now, but that has to stay in. Just try and relax for a little while,” Kelley said, grabbing your hand and kissing the back of your knuckles. 

You frowned at her through heavy-lidded eyes. “Don’t wanna be here. Wanna be home with you.” 

“I know, but you gotta stay here until the re-entry symptoms have worn off a little more,” She said again. She knew that you weren’t going to be 100% when you stepped out of the spacecraft, but she hadn’t expected you to be so out of it. You were sick to your stomach and entirely unable to walk without assistance. 

The doctors assured her that you would be fine (residual effects from not being in gravity for so long and the impact of the landing or whatever), but it was still difficult to watch. It didn’t help that you were a horrendous patient. 

“Just watch the game. The US is even in Blue,” Kelley tried to coax. Even she was beginning to grow restless. But you couldn’t leave until you could keep down solid foods. 

“I don’t want to watch. You’re not in it,” You said, grabbing the remote from her and turning the television off. Then you tried to set the remote in the air, but instead of hovering like it should have done, it dropped to the ground. 

“Alright, commander Y/l/n. It’s dinner time,” one of the NASA hospital nurses said, bringing in a tray for you. Kelley thanked them as they left since you were too dazed to think of it.  

“God this food sucks, I hate jello ” you grumbled, lifting the spoon in front of your face (fully expecting it to float so you could take your bite) and dropping it as you want to open the pudding packet instead. “I just want a big juicy cheeseburger. With bacon and onions and-“ You trailed off, your mouth watering at the thought. You hadn’t had proper food in 8 months, and it had been your major cravings food. 

“A side of diabetes” she scoffed, picking up the discarded remote and spoon, “And are you going to keep dropping things everywhere?” She asked, carefully filling a spoon with chocolate pudding and guiding it to your mouth. 

“Fuck Newton. Things are supposed to float,” 

****

You loved the soft skin behind Kelley’s ear. It was so smooth, and it always smelt like a mix of her perfume, shampoo, and something inherently Kelley. It was a bonus that your exploration of the area always sent a shiver down her spine. You ran your nose along the skin there, nibbling on her ear before moving down her neck. Leaving little kisses along your path. Kelley sighed, sleepily scratching your scalp and tilting her head to the side to encourage you to continue. 

“You,” Kelley said. “ I like you.”

“Hm, I’m glad. It would be kinda scary if you were doing this with someone you didn’t like,” you mumbled against her skin, unwilling to part with it for even a moment. Kelley giggled at the tickling sensation. How you still had so much energy after you had thoroughly worn her out getting… reacquainted she would never know.

 “But what do you like most. Tell me, babe,” You said, moving your lips a little lower, towards where her shoulder and neck met. 

“I love… your ass. It’s out of this world.” She said sleepily, reaching around to grab her favorite asset of yours. 

“Well, it has been,” You laughed, pulling away reluctantly so you could look her in the eyes. 

“Shut up you goof,” She rolled her eyes, grabbing a pillow and whacking you lightly. You fell over dramatically, pulling her so she was on top of you. 

“Hm, I’m your goof,” 

“Yeah. You are. And babe?” She smiled down at you, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips. 

“Hmm?” You hummed against her lips. She leaned back to look you in the eyes, one forearm across your chest and her other hand beside your head supporting her. 

“No more space travel for a while?” 

 “Pinky promise,” You said, wiggling your hand so your littlest finger connected with hers. 

“Good. I can’t believe I was dating someone from TEXAS for a while.” Kelley pretended to shudder. “Jus think, one of your coworkers might have been a Houston dash supporter!”

[somebodycallixii]

tagged by @choitaeyang for the little P1ece questions thing :)

(ps im sorry i didnt answer all of the questions but i just didnt want the post to get too long!!)

1. Since when have you been a P1ece? I listened to Siren for the first time like early last fall, and found That's It a little later, and i remember thinking ok this is probably some well established group like their rapping and sound overall just really impressed me. (cut to surprised pika face when i found out OH THEY'RE LITERALLY ONLY A YEAR OLD)

2. What made you decide to stan P1H? i knew i liked their music but i decided to officially stan when i found out they were at FNC because n.flying is my ult, so i was like this must be a sign??? lmfao

3. Who is/are your bias(es)? jiung!

4. Your favourite era so far? in terms of music, Siren/Stand Out is my fav but in terms of looks/concept, Do It Like This/Find Out by a long shot.

5. Your favourite title track/MV? I like the MV for scared the best because the concept for it is really artistic, plus the falling rocks genuinely made me nervous so A+ for the immersive experience alkdflsdkjs

6. Your fav P1H choreo? the intro to Reset is so amazing, they are literally so in sync its mesmerizing to watch

7. Your fav b-sides? That's it is one of my favorite kpop songs ever, and idk if this counts as a title or a b side but i also love breakthrough a LOT

8. Your fav cover of theirs? MANIAC MANIAC MANIAC oh my god if you havent listened to it yet you have to. i love it even more because they were in charge of the creative direction for the video and they talked about how they had to put moodboards together and stuff. it makes me glad that they have some creative control for their content!!

10. Have you watched their little STAGE + performances? What’s your favourite? i havent seen all of them but this one with seob and intak is my favorite that ive seen. im usually not a fan of lyrical dancing like this but the beginning part is so good and i can just watch it over and over

12. Most iconic P1H tiktok in your opinion? soul glitching to the "listen to me now" audio fucking kills me. its literally so dumb but it cracks me up dlkfjsdlfs

13. A P1H moment you love? when they did the portrait drawing contest on Jongseobs birthday live, and keeho gave this big speech about how some artists arent appreciated in their time just bc he lost sldkfjlsk😭

16. A collab you’re hoping for? in their daebak show interview keeho and jiung said that they want to try more bandy music, so i think them working with n.flying would be so cool!! it would make my n.fia heart so happy

18. Fav lyric if you have one? "going my own way with two great danes, gotta stay humble like bill murray" certified iconic

19. Fav vocal, rapper and dancer? vocal has to be keeho, rapper jongseob, dancer soul!! why my own bias isnt on this list the world may never know.

23. Something you love about being a P1ece? I always love being a part of smaller fandoms because theres such a strong sense of community and dedication that sometimes gets lost in groups with huge fanbases. (in terms of like, when fanbases get bigger there can be lots of weird drama about voting or who should have won what or which fandoms are "fighting" one another but with smaller groups its like "woo!! we got a comeback!!" lmfao)It's a difficult balance, because while you want them to become successful and reach a larger audience, theres something special about stanning a newer/less well known group and feeling that camaraderie in fandom spaces.

Bonus: Anything P1Harmony-related that you want to recommend to your (non-P1ece) followers or to new P1eces?

Keeho covering "All of Me" by john legend genuinely surpasses the original, i could listen to this for days!! pls listen and be amazed!!!

[neildalikezeldaatusc-blog]

Creative Problem-Solving Interviews (Part 2)

It turned out that there were more amazing people interested in sharing their responses as well! 

Here they are!

Interview #5 - DA (Space Startup Entrepreneur)

1. How do you generate ideas? (How, when, and where are you inspired? What inspires you? What obstacles do you face in coming up with a new idea and how do you overcome those obstacles?)

Ideas come from a variety of places. I'm usually able to define the proper set of requirements, then able to think about new and innovative ways to reach the goal. Once I understand what the fundamental goal is for the invention, I'm able to really open up my mind to think about completely new ways to generate ideas. I can visualize models in my head and change them to meet the goals. I use my hands on experience to help fortify certain decisions and inform new ideas.Biggest obstacle I face is learning that someone has thought of my idea before. I work to try and find better solutions that they might have missed

2. What process(es) do you use to solve problems? (Describe the steps of your problem-solving process. Explain your journey from inspiration to implementation.)

1. Define the requirements and goals

2. Research what has been done before

3. Understand why certain solutions have worked and what didn't and why they did or didn't work

4. Visualize new ideas and draw it on paper

5. Get validation from friends and peers

6. Try it out!

Interview #6 - ES (AR Startup Entrepreneur)

1. Idea generation generally happens very often for me. My problem is usually too many ideas, so my process has a lot more to do with refining and whittling down to the best ideas. However, I can say that there's one situation where I always generate a ton of ideas, and that's airplanes. When I'm trapped in that sterile environment with no internet, I pop on some music, and my imagination goes wild. I often think of good film/story ideas on the plane. For apps and interactive stuff, my ideas are often more reactive. Like, hey, here's this new technology (mobile AR in Wuppets case) what would be the best use case for this app? what would leverage the skills I have? What would be the best use of my skills and experience to make an app that also had a good use case? etc... trying to answer these questions I came up with Wuppets (and many other ideas that I also prototyped but weren't as good)

2. So once I've settled on an idea or direction, I like to start talking about that idea with a lot of people, start to figure how I can explain it to them in a way that gets them excited. If I can't, I know I've got problems and I might move on. Sometimes, however, I will just believe in a thing so much, that I give up explaining it and just build it in a simple form, and then test that with people. Sometimes people don't know what you're actually talking about until you show it to them. I try to do this process as quickly as possible, because building on your own like that can be lonely and a long road. You're also robbing someone else of the opportunity to collab with you.

If an idea passes the prototyping test, i.e. people are starting to "get it" I start figuring out how to sell it and fund it. Sometimes I'm thinking about this from the inception of an idea. It's important to choose an idea that can get funded (unless you have the means to fund it yourself) Then actually building it can be a long and tumultuous road, fraught with many difficulties, not the least of which is my own doubt. I often lose excitement about a project a few months, but it can take years to finish them at times, and really take them as far as they can go. I've built up a lot of techniques for pushing through that lack of excitement. It's difficult, but most give up before they finish.

[whatanauthorsgottado]

ULTIMATE SHIP MEME!

For Advena/Malavai Quinn/Koth Vortena/Arcann

General:

Rate the Ship -   Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OT4 to rule all other OT4s

How long will they last? - Until they’re all gone

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - Advena had an instant attraction to Quinn, and he followed quickly. Advena and Koth also had an instant draw together, but the draw to Arcann wasn’t until after Advena had ascended the Eternal Throne. Quinn and Koth argued a lot at first, but they grew to love each other, and they both learned to put up with and then to love Arcann when they’d realized he’d changed from when he was Emperor.

How was their first kiss? - Advena and Quinn’s was passionate and sweet, the first time they really gave into their feelings for each other. Advena and Koth’s was when she’d just been stabbed, so it was kind of half-coherent and not all that great. Advena and Arcann’s was slow, sweet, and private, because Arcann wasn’t sure about his position with her and had pulled her aside to ask. Koth and Quinn’s was in the middle of a battle, so it was short and hard. Quinn’s and Arcann’s was a slightly awkward goodnight kiss, neither man certain of what they were doing, but it was a good start. Koth’s and Arcann’s was in the middle of an argument - neither were sure who started it. Quinn says it was Koth, Advena says Arcann.

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Advena proposed to them all.

Who is the best man/men? - Major Ovech for Quinn, Theron for Koth, Senya for Arcann. (Neither Senya nor anyone else care for tradition here.)

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Vette and Jaesa.

Who did the most planning? - Advena, but Quinn also had a major hand in it.

Who stressed the most? - Arcann. He still wasn’t sure of his place in their relationship, but by then they’d all gotten used to him so they assuaged his fears with lots of kisses.

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big. Not by Advena’s choice - but she is the Eternal Empress, so they had to make it big.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Former Chancellor Saresh and a lot of other politicians, mostly her cronies who still had a hand in the Republic’s politics. 

Sex:

Who is on top? - They don’t really have a top...

Who is the one to instigate things? - Often Advena, but sometimes Koth.

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head Depends on what they’re in the mood for.

How long do they normally last? - At least a couple hours. A lot of it is stress relief, so they make sure they’re thoroughly relieved.

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - They all like to spoil Advena, but she tries to make sure they’re all at least equal with each other.

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it. None of them really like it all that rough. They have enough pain and such to deal with in life outside the bedroom, thanks very much.

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory. Advena’s very tactile, so she loves to cuddle with her boys.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - 2 - Lakra Senya Tarmikos, and Nevra Anubin Tarmikos.

How many children will they adopt? - None

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Koth.

Who is the stricter parent? - Quinn, unsurprisingly.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Arcann and Advena supervise their training and make sure they don’t do anything stupid outside of it.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - That’s 2V’s job.

Who is the more loved parent? - Advena is the favourite mom, but the favourite dad changes often.

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Quinn.

Who cried the most at graduation? - If grad was a thing, Advena would.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - The kids never really get in trouble with the law, but if they did, Koth since he was probably the one to suggest the illegal activity in the first place.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Quinn, since he’s the pickiest eater. He also teaches Arcann how to cook, so they do it together a lot of nights.

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Quinn.

Who does the grocery shopping? - 2V.

How often do they bake desserts? - Quite often - Advena has quite a sweet tooth.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Advena’s an actual carnivore, Koth and Arcann are meat eaters, and Quinn’s more of a salad guy.

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Arcann. The first night he cooked on his own was their second anniversary.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Advena.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? - Also Advena. And Koth. Ovens are not engines, so he doesn’t understand them.

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - They mostly leave it to the droids.

Who is really against chores? - Advena and Koth. Unless the chore has something to do with engines or mechanics, in Koth’s case.

Who cleans up after the pets? - They don’t have any pets.

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Koth.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Quinn. He’s a little neurotic.

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Also Quinn.

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Advena and Arcann take a long time in the shower - Advena because she likes the hot water, Arcann because cleaning his mechanical arm thoroughly takes a long time and he prefers to do it in the bathroom.

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - They don’t have any pets.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - They celebrate so many holidays with the combined Imperial and Zakuulan calendars that they rarely take the more generic decorations down.

What are their goals for the relationship? - Make sure they don’t kill each other. Cohabitation with four people can be difficult.

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Advena and Koth.

Who plays the most pranks? - Arcann and Koth team up and oh boy.

[cronagorgon]

Identity asks...oh shit. Do all 30!!!

damn damn ok

1. if someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, and listen to?damn lemme think….. i mean i guess just reading keter scp pages would be a start.. there’s a few i LOVE though like 093 and 2264.. then just, LOTS of mcelroy content and scary game squad videos (on jesse cox’s youtube channel)

2. have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? if so, who?have i ever found a what…. no… not really

3. list your fandoms and one character from each that you identify with.http://drakenlong.tumblr.com/shipsi identify at least a little bit with anyone from the “partners” list really, but i especially identify with crona gorgon from soul eater + lapis lazuli from steven universe

4. do you like your name?  is there another name you think would fit you better?yeah i mean.. no i guess i don’t like my ““real”““ name but the name i have now, drake, i picked because it fits me (though i wouldn’t mind being called any variation of “dragon” in any language. its all the same)

5. do you think of yourself as a human being or a human doing? do you identify yourself by the things you do?oh doing for sure. i don’t feel real like.. even a little bit. just a meat machine accidentally affecting others’ lives

6. are you religious/spiritual?i guess. i don’t worship any…..thing, but i believe in a natural energy that flows within everything, that’s higher than us + even this one dimension

7. do you care about your ethnicity?i’m white, so no, not really. if i knew where i came from though, (which i suspect may have been in or near italy) yeah i’d be more into it

8. what musical artists have you most felt connected to over your lifetime?ehhhh not a lot? imogen heap is one just by her song “hide and seek” (i know nothing of the actual artist). i don’t know what it means really or if it has a concrete meaning but it’s been a favorite of mine for years. more recently though i heard “self” by ANIMA! and it too is relatable, though i can’t really speak for their other music

9. are you an artist?i like to think so. i draw stuff sometimes so thats like, a start. is it good though, or meaningful? i can’t really say

10. do you have a creed?i don’t really know what a creed is so i googled it, and going by the definition that it’s a set of steadfast beliefs then… hell no

11. describe your ideal day.going somewhere new to eat, miraculously liking the food (therefore discovering something new i like), going shopping in antique + gem/new age stores & finding something unique, old, haunted, or just the sort of thing i never knew i wanted, then coming home & making a favorite meal that turns out perfect, then eating it while watching a video or new episode i’ve been wanting to see

12. dog person or cat person?dogs.. cats are really cute but i’m allergic ):

13. inside or outdoors?inside but there are times and places outdoors that i adore, like quiet gardens in early morning.. just a little warm, with the sound of a bubbling stream

14. are you a musician?absolutely not. i can play instruments and i guess i can make shit up but i never really found any real interest in making music

15. five most influential books over your lifetime.(trying + failing to even come up with 5 books ive read in my whole life) haha yeah totally. anyway books ive loved: here there be dragons (james a. owen); the last dragon (silvana de mari); half world (hiromi goto); moribito, guardian of the spirit (nahoko uehashi); how to train your dragon (cressida cowell); the dragonet prophecy (tui t. sutherland); deltora quest series..es (jennifer rowe); and guardians of ga’hoole series (kathryn lasky). i know thats more than 5 but these are pretty much the only books ive ever read other than some school assigned stuff.. some short stories by ray bradbury (all very good).. i remember reading the guardians of ga'hoole, deltora quest, + how to train your dragon serieses? series? when i was really young + i loved every book. they were fantastic. could not tell you if they were any good today but u know what? thats ok. im keepin the nostalgia as it is. the other books i read more recently.. half world + moribito were VERY good bc they were.. unique. stories i didn’t often see in my school library. i remember feeling incredibly sad having to return moribito specifically, and i remember it went on the bottom shelf of the library, and that it was not a month after id graduated that the school flooded with about a foot of water and i thought that it must’ve ruined it ):

16. if you’d grown up in a different environment, do you think you’d have turned out the same?absolutely. i grew up one of the most deadly environments for someone like me and yet here i am. perhaps id be more successful, id be flourishing, id be doing the things ive always wanted to do, but i think i’d still be the way i am now personality-wise

17. would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the “real you”?uhhhh random shit that dont make sense? maybe so

18. what’s your patronus?i think there’s like a test for this but i’m not gonna take it. if i had to pick an animal as my patronus i figure it’d be a dragon. i’ve always been really close to dragons and more recently discovered that i’m dragon kin, so i don’t see why not

19. which Harry Potter house would you be in? or are you a muggle?i don’t know. sometimes i think i’d be in ravenclaw, but other times i figure i might fit better in slytherin or maybe ….. none? they’re all a little bit relatable but none are really “me” you know

20. would you rather be in Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, or somewhere else?literally anywhere other than here would be fantastic and of course my hyperfixation is always fluctuating and i could just name what i’m into right now but honestly? it’d be great to live in beach city. nobody has to pay for anything or do anything particularly difficult, everyone’s friends, nobody gets mad when you come out as gay. its good stuff all around

21. do you love easily?yes and no? i get attached to stuff easily but i feel like i can just as easily get over anything at the drop of a hat. there are only a few things that really make me tear up and many of them are things i never personally interacted with.. and one is a toy i used to have?

22. list the top five things you spend the most time doing, in order.uhh fuckin sleeping, eating?, sitting, watchin videos, fuckin drawing, typing. thats 6? whatever

23. how often would you want to see your family every year?never. 0 times. fuckin absolutely not

24. have you ever felt like you had a “mind-meld” with someone?a what. no. i’ve never connected with another human person in my entire life

25. could you live as a hermit?Hell Yeah babey

26. how would you describe your gender/sexuality?its unbelievable how badly i wanted to just post a meme or like, a picture of my favorite character + thats it but also that would break my theme of text only and no pictures so i guess i gotta describe it for real. i’m agender but masc presenting (whether that’s to distance myself from being a girl as quickly as possible or just because of trauma + fear of being a cis girl, i’ll never know) + my sexuality is complicated but im polyamorous and at least grey-asexual + panromantic with a strong preference for boys (with this combination i sometimes refer to myself as mlm)

27. do you feel like your outside appearance is a fair representation of the “real you”?yeah i think so. id like to be taller but beggars cant be choosers ig. i’m a good mixture of “kinda ok, pretty sharp, weird but in a way i cant describe (its because my face is VERY asymmetrical but you cant tell unless you edit a picture of me lmao)” so thats like, a good aesthetic i guess

28. on a scale from 1 to 10, how hard is it for someone to get under your skin?uhhh about a 1. maybe a 0.5. but i don’t usually express this, because then i’d be picking fights withhhh everybody. does that technically put it at a 10 then? who knows

29. three songs that you connect with right now.i guess i already said this but right NOW…. self, the bleeding of mercy, and down down? or maybe grace kelly (down down is very feminine even if it is a Mood)

30. pick one of your favorite quotes.well i have a few but the first one that popped into my head was: “All Alone!Whether you like it or not,Alone will be somethingyou’ll be quite a lot.” -Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You’ll Go

[repwinpril9y0a1]

This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards

image courtesy of Earth Altar

Justine Serebin, master reiki healer and owner of Earth Altar Studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, makes people beautiful: She paints on gorgeous tattoos (coupled with tarot cards and intuitive energy readings) and even provides cosmetic tattoos (like eyebrow microblading, which is the process of adding feathery semi-permanent ink strokes to your arches to enhance their shape and fullness).

There are also piercings, laser hair removal, and micropigmentation to add natural-looking freckles. But this is no space of vanity — you’re more likely to leave Earth Altar cosmically at peace than ready to show off your new art on Instagram, and that’s what makes customers go crazy about this place. We talked to Serebin about how she’s incorporated her beliefs into her business and how she always maintains health, wellness, and beauty all in one sacred space.

EcoSalon: Tell us about Earth Altar Studio! How does it offer something different to the healthy, conscious customer? What is the ultimate benefit for your customer?

Justine Serebin: Most people who walk in to our studio don’t realize we do tattoos because the space looks light, bright, and airy. Succulents, crystals and sage bundles line the waiting room. It smells good, feels peaceful, and has fun music playing. We offer tea and raw foraged water to everyone and strive to make everyone feel at home here. We are your one-stop shop for all things tattoo, and body enhancement and wellness. We are artists, professionals, have medical backgrounds, and have a full-bodied understanding of how all tattooing procedures work. We tailor our services to each client to bring out the best and most beautiful results. We offer laser hair removal by our RN Cheryllynn Ponce and full-body piercing by licensed medical professional Mickey. Taylor Epstein is our yoga, reiki, and meditation specialist who is also an RN. We have a microblading specialist and cosmetic tattooer, Vickie Chiang, and a few tattoo artists, Melissa Martell and Taylor Eacuello, both of whom I have taught to tattoo. We also have tattoo artist and comic book artist, Zachariah Roane, who has about 10 years’ experience. We are pretty much a female-run shop and are here to help, create, and make the most impossible dreams you can think of, a reality.

ES: What inspired you to combine the metaphysical with the art of tattooing?

JS: Truly, they both go hand in hand to me — right from the beginning. It started with one of my first visions when I was learning to meditate ten years ago. I saw myself sitting on a beautiful wood-floored studio overlooking the ocean. I was tattooing a woman’s back and something about it was healing her. At that time, I didn’t know really anything around tattooing or healing. It felt like it was my calling and I’ve spent the last ten years chasing this vision, trying to put all the pieces together.

ES: Why was it important to you to incorporate crystals into a space that involves cosmetic procedures? How can someone incorporate them in their own lives?

JS: Crystals and stones are like little fairy helpers that we can keep in our pockets. Who doesn’t want a little fairy helper to hold your hand when your getting your lip color tattooed on? Just joking, but kinda not! Crystals can be healing, energizing, peaceful and you can actually program them to “work” for you. If you are feeling nervous and are filled with anxiety, grab some clear quartz, clear with sage, and program your deepest intention into the crystal, whisper your wish into it, and hold it close to you. Trust, believe, and have fun with it. To me they are beautiful, and they make my giddy and so happy to be around so I filled my shop with them.

ES: Tell us about what reiki healing is and how it’s helped your customers during the tattoo decision-making and creation process.

JS: Reiki is an ancient form of feeling, seeing, and moving energy throughout the body, cultivating it, and checking in with the subtle body to heal, feel better, and become more energized and empowered. It is a healing modality that may be used before, during, or after a session or treatment to bring a sense of balance and wellbeing. Some procedures like acupuncture can activate places in the body where we store old emotional wounds, blocks, or just plain fear. If we notice these subtle bursts of energy coming to the surface, reiki is recommended to help soothe, ease, and clear the heavy stuff that comes up. Reiki can be used during a consultation appointment as a way to prepare for your procedure, mental and emotionally, whether it’s cosmetic, medical, or a custom tattoo. The intuitive tattoos are a more elaborate, intensive version of regular reiki but use the basic principles to heal and transmute energy.

ES: For many people, the tattoo process goes something like this: They find a photo or symbol of something that’s meaningful to them, take it to an artist, and get it tattooed on. Do you find anything missing from this typical tattooing process?

JS: Well, there’s nothing wrong with this method, and we do accommodate tattoos like this — although our artists believe that original designs that are customized are best because we don’t want to steal artwork from other artists from the Internet, especially Instagram and Pinterest. It’s such a small community and we really want every artist to do their best work and thrive.

Personally, my style, strength, and passion for tattooing is abstract symbolism representative of meaningful intention to activate awakening, transformation, and personal evolution. Sometimes, one may know that they want a meaningful tattoo but don’t know what design they want. That’s the little sweet spot where my work fits in. I feel like each intuitive design I tattoo is essentially a gift, a very unique code that only they know the true meaning of. Anyone who looks at it may appreciate its shape, structure, and colors but the true power is hidden and safe, kept secret just for the wearer to know and contemplate and use as a power symbol.

ES: Why do you think people sometimes remove or regret their tattoos? Is it the lack of intention? Not clearing the negativity?

JS: I find that most are disappointed because they didn’t feel safe to communicate with their artist about the artwork prior to getting tattooed. This is so important to me and I always practice the clearest communication possible prior to starting a tattoo. I double and triple check with my clients to make sure they are sure and happy with the artwork; if not, we alter it or postpone our appointment. It rarely happens, but it’s always the safer option. I think the other reason people remove tattoos is because they rush into it. Impulsiveness with something so permanent can lead to a negative experience, which it why we are primarily an appointment-only shop. Intentional living is at our core and that takes a little time to sit with and create inside of ourselves.

ES: How does the intuitive Tarot card reading guide or inform the tattooing process?

JS: The cards I created are like a thermometer reading or window through which I can see a clean view into what my client is going through. It opens deep, honest conversation, and draws out and brings light to areas of their life that they may be withholding, withdrawing, or unconscious of. Through our collaborative exploration of deciphering the meaning of the cards I begin to see imagery, visions, and energy blocks that need activation. Then I begin to see and create a visual language through symbols on a specific area of the body. The design is drawn with a single use pen so that my client can view the intuitive image and edit with me to their liking. Then the actual tattoo process begins.

ES: Why is sage such an important part of your sacred intuitive tattoos?

JS: Sage is a powerful cleansing herb that we use to clean our studio with daily. I also use it to clean each crystal or stone before we program them with intentions for the tattoo process. I attach one of my needles to a saged, medically cleaned, and cosmically charged crystal to tattoo with, as I don’t want any stale vibes to be transferred into my clients energy field.

ES: Your business also offers cosmetic tattooing, like microblading and adding beauty marks. How do you think outer appearance affects people on the inside?

JS: We, our souls, live inside of this Earth form, our bodies. It is dense and difficult for us to dwell in, and often there is deep disconnect between our bodies and souls. I believe our souls are grand, expansive, glittery, iridescent, magical, and angelic. To be as limited as we are as humans (and not flying cosmic balls of magic light dust) with our thinning hair, or hair overgrowth, skin problems, and discolorations, blah blah blah, we do have these forms for a reason, and I believe that reason is to create! To create anything we desire, to be, look, and feel anyway we want to. Our services like cosmetic and medical tattooing and laser hair removal make life easier in many ways for us to free ourselves from this limited, imperfect form. The procedures simplify our daily tasks, minimize our routines, and help make room in our lives and minds for the things that truly matter to us. Imagine how much time you could save if you didn’t have to do your makeup in the morning, or shave your body hair, you could use that time to dream a little longer, or create something, or do something you love! These services, even regular custom tattoos, help bring the inner soul self closer to the skin surface, hence making our bodies our Earth Altars.

ES: How do you incorporate the concept—and implementation—of wellness into your business?

JS: The foundation of Earth Altar Studio is rooted in the desire to be a sacred, cosmic vortex of love, healing, creativity, and transformation. The details of the studio bring this to life: Our water is raw and foraged from Opal Springs, Oregon, and our teas are organic loose-leaf blends with intention and herbal healing qualities. The studio uses recycled and biodegradable products wherever possible and we try to keep our footprint as low as possible. We have yoga mats and a trampoline in the patio to keep our artists’ blood flowing and invite our guests to enjoy their tea in our outdoor space to connect with the elements before their sessions. Every detail, event, and procedure has intention and love behind it.

ES: What daily habits do you have to ensure there is health and wellness in your life?

JS: My daily ritual is always evolving. It is a practice of focusing and feeling for the highest vibration. Meditating and evoking visions of the dreamiest life imaginable. Soaking in the joy helps me feel calm and happy throughout the day and ready to take on the challenges of running the business and taking good care of my clients.

ES: What’s your average morning like?

JS: My mornings begin when I place my feet on the ground, sending love to my body and gratitude to my life. I make lemon tea and soak in the sun. Then yoga, self reiki, reading, and journaling. It’s extremely important to me to be as balanced and grounded as possible before I step foot in the studio. These little rituals I do daily help me to be a clear and focused channel for my intuitive work.

ES: What’s your favorite wellness food and beverage?

JS: I love smoothie bowls! They can be such beautiful works of art — colorful and so rich with flavor and nourishing ingredients.

ES: What’s the best piece of health or wellness advice you’ve ever received? From who?

JS: My soul sister and our yoga/reiki specialist Taylor Epstein told me the other day to ask daily for divine intervention and guidance in all that I do and in each word I speak. To allow for a moment of pause and reflection before responding to a question and allow the divine, higher self to speak through me, always. This concept is so powerful and the ultimate practice of intentional mindfulness for me.

ES: What are the words you live by?

JS: Follow your bliss, trust your intuition, and believe that you can manifest anything you desire!

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The post This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards appeared first on EcoSalon.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2rcSyYh

[grgedoors02142]

This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards

image courtesy of Earth Altar

Justine Serebin, master reiki healer and owner of Earth Altar Studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, makes people beautiful: She paints on gorgeous tattoos (coupled with tarot cards and intuitive energy readings) and even provides cosmetic tattoos (like eyebrow microblading, which is the process of adding feathery semi-permanent ink strokes to your arches to enhance their shape and fullness).

There are also piercings, laser hair removal, and micropigmentation to add natural-looking freckles. But this is no space of vanity — you’re more likely to leave Earth Altar cosmically at peace than ready to show off your new art on Instagram, and that’s what makes customers go crazy about this place. We talked to Serebin about how she’s incorporated her beliefs into her business and how she always maintains health, wellness, and beauty all in one sacred space.

EcoSalon: Tell us about Earth Altar Studio! How does it offer something different to the healthy, conscious customer? What is the ultimate benefit for your customer?

Justine Serebin: Most people who walk in to our studio don’t realize we do tattoos because the space looks light, bright, and airy. Succulents, crystals and sage bundles line the waiting room. It smells good, feels peaceful, and has fun music playing. We offer tea and raw foraged water to everyone and strive to make everyone feel at home here. We are your one-stop shop for all things tattoo, and body enhancement and wellness. We are artists, professionals, have medical backgrounds, and have a full-bodied understanding of how all tattooing procedures work. We tailor our services to each client to bring out the best and most beautiful results. We offer laser hair removal by our RN Cheryllynn Ponce and full-body piercing by licensed medical professional Mickey. Taylor Epstein is our yoga, reiki, and meditation specialist who is also an RN. We have a microblading specialist and cosmetic tattooer, Vickie Chiang, and a few tattoo artists, Melissa Martell and Taylor Eacuello, both of whom I have taught to tattoo. We also have tattoo artist and comic book artist, Zachariah Roane, who has about 10 years’ experience. We are pretty much a female-run shop and are here to help, create, and make the most impossible dreams you can think of, a reality.

ES: What inspired you to combine the metaphysical with the art of tattooing?

JS: Truly, they both go hand in hand to me — right from the beginning. It started with one of my first visions when I was learning to meditate ten years ago. I saw myself sitting on a beautiful wood-floored studio overlooking the ocean. I was tattooing a woman’s back and something about it was healing her. At that time, I didn’t know really anything around tattooing or healing. It felt like it was my calling and I’ve spent the last ten years chasing this vision, trying to put all the pieces together.

ES: Why was it important to you to incorporate crystals into a space that involves cosmetic procedures? How can someone incorporate them in their own lives?

JS: Crystals and stones are like little fairy helpers that we can keep in our pockets. Who doesn’t want a little fairy helper to hold your hand when your getting your lip color tattooed on? Just joking, but kinda not! Crystals can be healing, energizing, peaceful and you can actually program them to “work” for you. If you are feeling nervous and are filled with anxiety, grab some clear quartz, clear with sage, and program your deepest intention into the crystal, whisper your wish into it, and hold it close to you. Trust, believe, and have fun with it. To me they are beautiful, and they make my giddy and so happy to be around so I filled my shop with them.

ES: Tell us about what reiki healing is and how it’s helped your customers during the tattoo decision-making and creation process.

JS: Reiki is an ancient form of feeling, seeing, and moving energy throughout the body, cultivating it, and checking in with the subtle body to heal, feel better, and become more energized and empowered. It is a healing modality that may be used before, during, or after a session or treatment to bring a sense of balance and wellbeing. Some procedures like acupuncture can activate places in the body where we store old emotional wounds, blocks, or just plain fear. If we notice these subtle bursts of energy coming to the surface, reiki is recommended to help soothe, ease, and clear the heavy stuff that comes up. Reiki can be used during a consultation appointment as a way to prepare for your procedure, mental and emotionally, whether it’s cosmetic, medical, or a custom tattoo. The intuitive tattoos are a more elaborate, intensive version of regular reiki but use the basic principles to heal and transmute energy.

ES: For many people, the tattoo process goes something like this: They find a photo or symbol of something that’s meaningful to them, take it to an artist, and get it tattooed on. Do you find anything missing from this typical tattooing process?

JS: Well, there’s nothing wrong with this method, and we do accommodate tattoos like this — although our artists believe that original designs that are customized are best because we don’t want to steal artwork from other artists from the Internet, especially Instagram and Pinterest. It’s such a small community and we really want every artist to do their best work and thrive.

Personally, my style, strength, and passion for tattooing is abstract symbolism representative of meaningful intention to activate awakening, transformation, and personal evolution. Sometimes, one may know that they want a meaningful tattoo but don’t know what design they want. That’s the little sweet spot where my work fits in. I feel like each intuitive design I tattoo is essentially a gift, a very unique code that only they know the true meaning of. Anyone who looks at it may appreciate its shape, structure, and colors but the true power is hidden and safe, kept secret just for the wearer to know and contemplate and use as a power symbol.

ES: Why do you think people sometimes remove or regret their tattoos? Is it the lack of intention? Not clearing the negativity?

JS: I find that most are disappointed because they didn’t feel safe to communicate with their artist about the artwork prior to getting tattooed. This is so important to me and I always practice the clearest communication possible prior to starting a tattoo. I double and triple check with my clients to make sure they are sure and happy with the artwork; if not, we alter it or postpone our appointment. It rarely happens, but it’s always the safer option. I think the other reason people remove tattoos is because they rush into it. Impulsiveness with something so permanent can lead to a negative experience, which it why we are primarily an appointment-only shop. Intentional living is at our core and that takes a little time to sit with and create inside of ourselves.

ES: How does the intuitive Tarot card reading guide or inform the tattooing process?

JS: The cards I created are like a thermometer reading or window through which I can see a clean view into what my client is going through. It opens deep, honest conversation, and draws out and brings light to areas of their life that they may be withholding, withdrawing, or unconscious of. Through our collaborative exploration of deciphering the meaning of the cards I begin to see imagery, visions, and energy blocks that need activation. Then I begin to see and create a visual language through symbols on a specific area of the body. The design is drawn with a single use pen so that my client can view the intuitive image and edit with me to their liking. Then the actual tattoo process begins.

ES: Why is sage such an important part of your sacred intuitive tattoos?

JS: Sage is a powerful cleansing herb that we use to clean our studio with daily. I also use it to clean each crystal or stone before we program them with intentions for the tattoo process. I attach one of my needles to a saged, medically cleaned, and cosmically charged crystal to tattoo with, as I don’t want any stale vibes to be transferred into my clients energy field.

ES: Your business also offers cosmetic tattooing, like microblading and adding beauty marks. How do you think outer appearance affects people on the inside?

JS: We, our souls, live inside of this Earth form, our bodies. It is dense and difficult for us to dwell in, and often there is deep disconnect between our bodies and souls. I believe our souls are grand, expansive, glittery, iridescent, magical, and angelic. To be as limited as we are as humans (and not flying cosmic balls of magic light dust) with our thinning hair, or hair overgrowth, skin problems, and discolorations, blah blah blah, we do have these forms for a reason, and I believe that reason is to create! To create anything we desire, to be, look, and feel anyway we want to. Our services like cosmetic and medical tattooing and laser hair removal make life easier in many ways for us to free ourselves from this limited, imperfect form. The procedures simplify our daily tasks, minimize our routines, and help make room in our lives and minds for the things that truly matter to us. Imagine how much time you could save if you didn’t have to do your makeup in the morning, or shave your body hair, you could use that time to dream a little longer, or create something, or do something you love! These services, even regular custom tattoos, help bring the inner soul self closer to the skin surface, hence making our bodies our Earth Altars.

ES: How do you incorporate the concept—and implementation—of wellness into your business?

JS: The foundation of Earth Altar Studio is rooted in the desire to be a sacred, cosmic vortex of love, healing, creativity, and transformation. The details of the studio bring this to life: Our water is raw and foraged from Opal Springs, Oregon, and our teas are organic loose-leaf blends with intention and herbal healing qualities. The studio uses recycled and biodegradable products wherever possible and we try to keep our footprint as low as possible. We have yoga mats and a trampoline in the patio to keep our artists’ blood flowing and invite our guests to enjoy their tea in our outdoor space to connect with the elements before their sessions. Every detail, event, and procedure has intention and love behind it.

ES: What daily habits do you have to ensure there is health and wellness in your life?

JS: My daily ritual is always evolving. It is a practice of focusing and feeling for the highest vibration. Meditating and evoking visions of the dreamiest life imaginable. Soaking in the joy helps me feel calm and happy throughout the day and ready to take on the challenges of running the business and taking good care of my clients.

ES: What’s your average morning like?

JS: My mornings begin when I place my feet on the ground, sending love to my body and gratitude to my life. I make lemon tea and soak in the sun. Then yoga, self reiki, reading, and journaling. It’s extremely important to me to be as balanced and grounded as possible before I step foot in the studio. These little rituals I do daily help me to be a clear and focused channel for my intuitive work.

ES: What’s your favorite wellness food and beverage?

JS: I love smoothie bowls! They can be such beautiful works of art — colorful and so rich with flavor and nourishing ingredients.

ES: What’s the best piece of health or wellness advice you’ve ever received? From who?

JS: My soul sister and our yoga/reiki specialist Taylor Epstein told me the other day to ask daily for divine intervention and guidance in all that I do and in each word I speak. To allow for a moment of pause and reflection before responding to a question and allow the divine, higher self to speak through me, always. This concept is so powerful and the ultimate practice of intentional mindfulness for me.

ES: What are the words you live by?

JS: Follow your bliss, trust your intuition, and believe that you can manifest anything you desire!

Related on EcoSalon

Trust Your Gut: Using Intuition for Good Health Want Ink? These Delicate Tattoos are Trending The Temporary Tattoos Trend: Get Ready to Ink Up

The post This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards appeared first on EcoSalon.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2rcSyYh

[stormdoors78476]

This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards

image courtesy of Earth Altar

Justine Serebin, master reiki healer and owner of Earth Altar Studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, makes people beautiful: She paints on gorgeous tattoos (coupled with tarot cards and intuitive energy readings) and even provides cosmetic tattoos (like eyebrow microblading, which is the process of adding feathery semi-permanent ink strokes to your arches to enhance their shape and fullness).

There are also piercings, laser hair removal, and micropigmentation to add natural-looking freckles. But this is no space of vanity — you’re more likely to leave Earth Altar cosmically at peace than ready to show off your new art on Instagram, and that’s what makes customers go crazy about this place. We talked to Serebin about how she’s incorporated her beliefs into her business and how she always maintains health, wellness, and beauty all in one sacred space.

EcoSalon: Tell us about Earth Altar Studio! How does it offer something different to the healthy, conscious customer? What is the ultimate benefit for your customer?

Justine Serebin: Most people who walk in to our studio don’t realize we do tattoos because the space looks light, bright, and airy. Succulents, crystals and sage bundles line the waiting room. It smells good, feels peaceful, and has fun music playing. We offer tea and raw foraged water to everyone and strive to make everyone feel at home here. We are your one-stop shop for all things tattoo, and body enhancement and wellness. We are artists, professionals, have medical backgrounds, and have a full-bodied understanding of how all tattooing procedures work. We tailor our services to each client to bring out the best and most beautiful results. We offer laser hair removal by our RN Cheryllynn Ponce and full-body piercing by licensed medical professional Mickey. Taylor Epstein is our yoga, reiki, and meditation specialist who is also an RN. We have a microblading specialist and cosmetic tattooer, Vickie Chiang, and a few tattoo artists, Melissa Martell and Taylor Eacuello, both of whom I have taught to tattoo. We also have tattoo artist and comic book artist, Zachariah Roane, who has about 10 years’ experience. We are pretty much a female-run shop and are here to help, create, and make the most impossible dreams you can think of, a reality.

ES: What inspired you to combine the metaphysical with the art of tattooing?

JS: Truly, they both go hand in hand to me — right from the beginning. It started with one of my first visions when I was learning to meditate ten years ago. I saw myself sitting on a beautiful wood-floored studio overlooking the ocean. I was tattooing a woman’s back and something about it was healing her. At that time, I didn’t know really anything around tattooing or healing. It felt like it was my calling and I’ve spent the last ten years chasing this vision, trying to put all the pieces together.

ES: Why was it important to you to incorporate crystals into a space that involves cosmetic procedures? How can someone incorporate them in their own lives?

JS: Crystals and stones are like little fairy helpers that we can keep in our pockets. Who doesn’t want a little fairy helper to hold your hand when your getting your lip color tattooed on? Just joking, but kinda not! Crystals can be healing, energizing, peaceful and you can actually program them to “work” for you. If you are feeling nervous and are filled with anxiety, grab some clear quartz, clear with sage, and program your deepest intention into the crystal, whisper your wish into it, and hold it close to you. Trust, believe, and have fun with it. To me they are beautiful, and they make my giddy and so happy to be around so I filled my shop with them.

ES: Tell us about what reiki healing is and how it’s helped your customers during the tattoo decision-making and creation process.

JS: Reiki is an ancient form of feeling, seeing, and moving energy throughout the body, cultivating it, and checking in with the subtle body to heal, feel better, and become more energized and empowered. It is a healing modality that may be used before, during, or after a session or treatment to bring a sense of balance and wellbeing. Some procedures like acupuncture can activate places in the body where we store old emotional wounds, blocks, or just plain fear. If we notice these subtle bursts of energy coming to the surface, reiki is recommended to help soothe, ease, and clear the heavy stuff that comes up. Reiki can be used during a consultation appointment as a way to prepare for your procedure, mental and emotionally, whether it’s cosmetic, medical, or a custom tattoo. The intuitive tattoos are a more elaborate, intensive version of regular reiki but use the basic principles to heal and transmute energy.

ES: For many people, the tattoo process goes something like this: They find a photo or symbol of something that’s meaningful to them, take it to an artist, and get it tattooed on. Do you find anything missing from this typical tattooing process?

JS: Well, there’s nothing wrong with this method, and we do accommodate tattoos like this — although our artists believe that original designs that are customized are best because we don’t want to steal artwork from other artists from the Internet, especially Instagram and Pinterest. It’s such a small community and we really want every artist to do their best work and thrive.

Personally, my style, strength, and passion for tattooing is abstract symbolism representative of meaningful intention to activate awakening, transformation, and personal evolution. Sometimes, one may know that they want a meaningful tattoo but don’t know what design they want. That’s the little sweet spot where my work fits in. I feel like each intuitive design I tattoo is essentially a gift, a very unique code that only they know the true meaning of. Anyone who looks at it may appreciate its shape, structure, and colors but the true power is hidden and safe, kept secret just for the wearer to know and contemplate and use as a power symbol.

ES: Why do you think people sometimes remove or regret their tattoos? Is it the lack of intention? Not clearing the negativity?

JS: I find that most are disappointed because they didn’t feel safe to communicate with their artist about the artwork prior to getting tattooed. This is so important to me and I always practice the clearest communication possible prior to starting a tattoo. I double and triple check with my clients to make sure they are sure and happy with the artwork; if not, we alter it or postpone our appointment. It rarely happens, but it’s always the safer option. I think the other reason people remove tattoos is because they rush into it. Impulsiveness with something so permanent can lead to a negative experience, which it why we are primarily an appointment-only shop. Intentional living is at our core and that takes a little time to sit with and create inside of ourselves.

ES: How does the intuitive Tarot card reading guide or inform the tattooing process?

JS: The cards I created are like a thermometer reading or window through which I can see a clean view into what my client is going through. It opens deep, honest conversation, and draws out and brings light to areas of their life that they may be withholding, withdrawing, or unconscious of. Through our collaborative exploration of deciphering the meaning of the cards I begin to see imagery, visions, and energy blocks that need activation. Then I begin to see and create a visual language through symbols on a specific area of the body. The design is drawn with a single use pen so that my client can view the intuitive image and edit with me to their liking. Then the actual tattoo process begins.

ES: Why is sage such an important part of your sacred intuitive tattoos?

JS: Sage is a powerful cleansing herb that we use to clean our studio with daily. I also use it to clean each crystal or stone before we program them with intentions for the tattoo process. I attach one of my needles to a saged, medically cleaned, and cosmically charged crystal to tattoo with, as I don’t want any stale vibes to be transferred into my clients energy field.

ES: Your business also offers cosmetic tattooing, like microblading and adding beauty marks. How do you think outer appearance affects people on the inside?

JS: We, our souls, live inside of this Earth form, our bodies. It is dense and difficult for us to dwell in, and often there is deep disconnect between our bodies and souls. I believe our souls are grand, expansive, glittery, iridescent, magical, and angelic. To be as limited as we are as humans (and not flying cosmic balls of magic light dust) with our thinning hair, or hair overgrowth, skin problems, and discolorations, blah blah blah, we do have these forms for a reason, and I believe that reason is to create! To create anything we desire, to be, look, and feel anyway we want to. Our services like cosmetic and medical tattooing and laser hair removal make life easier in many ways for us to free ourselves from this limited, imperfect form. The procedures simplify our daily tasks, minimize our routines, and help make room in our lives and minds for the things that truly matter to us. Imagine how much time you could save if you didn’t have to do your makeup in the morning, or shave your body hair, you could use that time to dream a little longer, or create something, or do something you love! These services, even regular custom tattoos, help bring the inner soul self closer to the skin surface, hence making our bodies our Earth Altars.

ES: How do you incorporate the concept—and implementation—of wellness into your business?

JS: The foundation of Earth Altar Studio is rooted in the desire to be a sacred, cosmic vortex of love, healing, creativity, and transformation. The details of the studio bring this to life: Our water is raw and foraged from Opal Springs, Oregon, and our teas are organic loose-leaf blends with intention and herbal healing qualities. The studio uses recycled and biodegradable products wherever possible and we try to keep our footprint as low as possible. We have yoga mats and a trampoline in the patio to keep our artists’ blood flowing and invite our guests to enjoy their tea in our outdoor space to connect with the elements before their sessions. Every detail, event, and procedure has intention and love behind it.

ES: What daily habits do you have to ensure there is health and wellness in your life?

JS: My daily ritual is always evolving. It is a practice of focusing and feeling for the highest vibration. Meditating and evoking visions of the dreamiest life imaginable. Soaking in the joy helps me feel calm and happy throughout the day and ready to take on the challenges of running the business and taking good care of my clients.

ES: What’s your average morning like?

JS: My mornings begin when I place my feet on the ground, sending love to my body and gratitude to my life. I make lemon tea and soak in the sun. Then yoga, self reiki, reading, and journaling. It’s extremely important to me to be as balanced and grounded as possible before I step foot in the studio. These little rituals I do daily help me to be a clear and focused channel for my intuitive work.

ES: What’s your favorite wellness food and beverage?

JS: I love smoothie bowls! They can be such beautiful works of art — colorful and so rich with flavor and nourishing ingredients.

ES: What’s the best piece of health or wellness advice you’ve ever received? From who?

JS: My soul sister and our yoga/reiki specialist Taylor Epstein told me the other day to ask daily for divine intervention and guidance in all that I do and in each word I speak. To allow for a moment of pause and reflection before responding to a question and allow the divine, higher self to speak through me, always. This concept is so powerful and the ultimate practice of intentional mindfulness for me.

ES: What are the words you live by?

JS: Follow your bliss, trust your intuition, and believe that you can manifest anything you desire!

Related on EcoSalon

Trust Your Gut: Using Intuition for Good Health Want Ink? These Delicate Tattoos are Trending The Temporary Tattoos Trend: Get Ready to Ink Up

The post This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards appeared first on EcoSalon.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2rcSyYh

[repwincoml4a0a5]

This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards

image courtesy of Earth Altar

Justine Serebin, master reiki healer and owner of Earth Altar Studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, makes people beautiful: She paints on gorgeous tattoos (coupled with tarot cards and intuitive energy readings) and even provides cosmetic tattoos (like eyebrow microblading, which is the process of adding feathery semi-permanent ink strokes to your arches to enhance their shape and fullness).

There are also piercings, laser hair removal, and micropigmentation to add natural-looking freckles. But this is no space of vanity — you’re more likely to leave Earth Altar cosmically at peace than ready to show off your new art on Instagram, and that’s what makes customers go crazy about this place. We talked to Serebin about how she’s incorporated her beliefs into her business and how she always maintains health, wellness, and beauty all in one sacred space.

EcoSalon: Tell us about Earth Altar Studio! How does it offer something different to the healthy, conscious customer? What is the ultimate benefit for your customer?

Justine Serebin: Most people who walk in to our studio don’t realize we do tattoos because the space looks light, bright, and airy. Succulents, crystals and sage bundles line the waiting room. It smells good, feels peaceful, and has fun music playing. We offer tea and raw foraged water to everyone and strive to make everyone feel at home here. We are your one-stop shop for all things tattoo, and body enhancement and wellness. We are artists, professionals, have medical backgrounds, and have a full-bodied understanding of how all tattooing procedures work. We tailor our services to each client to bring out the best and most beautiful results. We offer laser hair removal by our RN Cheryllynn Ponce and full-body piercing by licensed medical professional Mickey. Taylor Epstein is our yoga, reiki, and meditation specialist who is also an RN. We have a microblading specialist and cosmetic tattooer, Vickie Chiang, and a few tattoo artists, Melissa Martell and Taylor Eacuello, both of whom I have taught to tattoo. We also have tattoo artist and comic book artist, Zachariah Roane, who has about 10 years’ experience. We are pretty much a female-run shop and are here to help, create, and make the most impossible dreams you can think of, a reality.

ES: What inspired you to combine the metaphysical with the art of tattooing?

JS: Truly, they both go hand in hand to me — right from the beginning. It started with one of my first visions when I was learning to meditate ten years ago. I saw myself sitting on a beautiful wood-floored studio overlooking the ocean. I was tattooing a woman’s back and something about it was healing her. At that time, I didn’t know really anything around tattooing or healing. It felt like it was my calling and I’ve spent the last ten years chasing this vision, trying to put all the pieces together.

ES: Why was it important to you to incorporate crystals into a space that involves cosmetic procedures? How can someone incorporate them in their own lives?

JS: Crystals and stones are like little fairy helpers that we can keep in our pockets. Who doesn’t want a little fairy helper to hold your hand when your getting your lip color tattooed on? Just joking, but kinda not! Crystals can be healing, energizing, peaceful and you can actually program them to “work” for you. If you are feeling nervous and are filled with anxiety, grab some clear quartz, clear with sage, and program your deepest intention into the crystal, whisper your wish into it, and hold it close to you. Trust, believe, and have fun with it. To me they are beautiful, and they make my giddy and so happy to be around so I filled my shop with them.

ES: Tell us about what reiki healing is and how it’s helped your customers during the tattoo decision-making and creation process.

JS: Reiki is an ancient form of feeling, seeing, and moving energy throughout the body, cultivating it, and checking in with the subtle body to heal, feel better, and become more energized and empowered. It is a healing modality that may be used before, during, or after a session or treatment to bring a sense of balance and wellbeing. Some procedures like acupuncture can activate places in the body where we store old emotional wounds, blocks, or just plain fear. If we notice these subtle bursts of energy coming to the surface, reiki is recommended to help soothe, ease, and clear the heavy stuff that comes up. Reiki can be used during a consultation appointment as a way to prepare for your procedure, mental and emotionally, whether it’s cosmetic, medical, or a custom tattoo. The intuitive tattoos are a more elaborate, intensive version of regular reiki but use the basic principles to heal and transmute energy.

ES: For many people, the tattoo process goes something like this: They find a photo or symbol of something that’s meaningful to them, take it to an artist, and get it tattooed on. Do you find anything missing from this typical tattooing process?

JS: Well, there’s nothing wrong with this method, and we do accommodate tattoos like this — although our artists believe that original designs that are customized are best because we don’t want to steal artwork from other artists from the Internet, especially Instagram and Pinterest. It’s such a small community and we really want every artist to do their best work and thrive.

Personally, my style, strength, and passion for tattooing is abstract symbolism representative of meaningful intention to activate awakening, transformation, and personal evolution. Sometimes, one may know that they want a meaningful tattoo but don’t know what design they want. That’s the little sweet spot where my work fits in. I feel like each intuitive design I tattoo is essentially a gift, a very unique code that only they know the true meaning of. Anyone who looks at it may appreciate its shape, structure, and colors but the true power is hidden and safe, kept secret just for the wearer to know and contemplate and use as a power symbol.

ES: Why do you think people sometimes remove or regret their tattoos? Is it the lack of intention? Not clearing the negativity?

JS: I find that most are disappointed because they didn’t feel safe to communicate with their artist about the artwork prior to getting tattooed. This is so important to me and I always practice the clearest communication possible prior to starting a tattoo. I double and triple check with my clients to make sure they are sure and happy with the artwork; if not, we alter it or postpone our appointment. It rarely happens, but it’s always the safer option. I think the other reason people remove tattoos is because they rush into it. Impulsiveness with something so permanent can lead to a negative experience, which it why we are primarily an appointment-only shop. Intentional living is at our core and that takes a little time to sit with and create inside of ourselves.

ES: How does the intuitive Tarot card reading guide or inform the tattooing process?

JS: The cards I created are like a thermometer reading or window through which I can see a clean view into what my client is going through. It opens deep, honest conversation, and draws out and brings light to areas of their life that they may be withholding, withdrawing, or unconscious of. Through our collaborative exploration of deciphering the meaning of the cards I begin to see imagery, visions, and energy blocks that need activation. Then I begin to see and create a visual language through symbols on a specific area of the body. The design is drawn with a single use pen so that my client can view the intuitive image and edit with me to their liking. Then the actual tattoo process begins.

ES: Why is sage such an important part of your sacred intuitive tattoos?

JS: Sage is a powerful cleansing herb that we use to clean our studio with daily. I also use it to clean each crystal or stone before we program them with intentions for the tattoo process. I attach one of my needles to a saged, medically cleaned, and cosmically charged crystal to tattoo with, as I don’t want any stale vibes to be transferred into my clients energy field.

ES: Your business also offers cosmetic tattooing, like microblading and adding beauty marks. How do you think outer appearance affects people on the inside?

JS: We, our souls, live inside of this Earth form, our bodies. It is dense and difficult for us to dwell in, and often there is deep disconnect between our bodies and souls. I believe our souls are grand, expansive, glittery, iridescent, magical, and angelic. To be as limited as we are as humans (and not flying cosmic balls of magic light dust) with our thinning hair, or hair overgrowth, skin problems, and discolorations, blah blah blah, we do have these forms for a reason, and I believe that reason is to create! To create anything we desire, to be, look, and feel anyway we want to. Our services like cosmetic and medical tattooing and laser hair removal make life easier in many ways for us to free ourselves from this limited, imperfect form. The procedures simplify our daily tasks, minimize our routines, and help make room in our lives and minds for the things that truly matter to us. Imagine how much time you could save if you didn’t have to do your makeup in the morning, or shave your body hair, you could use that time to dream a little longer, or create something, or do something you love! These services, even regular custom tattoos, help bring the inner soul self closer to the skin surface, hence making our bodies our Earth Altars.

ES: How do you incorporate the concept—and implementation—of wellness into your business?

JS: The foundation of Earth Altar Studio is rooted in the desire to be a sacred, cosmic vortex of love, healing, creativity, and transformation. The details of the studio bring this to life: Our water is raw and foraged from Opal Springs, Oregon, and our teas are organic loose-leaf blends with intention and herbal healing qualities. The studio uses recycled and biodegradable products wherever possible and we try to keep our footprint as low as possible. We have yoga mats and a trampoline in the patio to keep our artists’ blood flowing and invite our guests to enjoy their tea in our outdoor space to connect with the elements before their sessions. Every detail, event, and procedure has intention and love behind it.

ES: What daily habits do you have to ensure there is health and wellness in your life?

JS: My daily ritual is always evolving. It is a practice of focusing and feeling for the highest vibration. Meditating and evoking visions of the dreamiest life imaginable. Soaking in the joy helps me feel calm and happy throughout the day and ready to take on the challenges of running the business and taking good care of my clients.

ES: What’s your average morning like?

JS: My mornings begin when I place my feet on the ground, sending love to my body and gratitude to my life. I make lemon tea and soak in the sun. Then yoga, self reiki, reading, and journaling. It’s extremely important to me to be as balanced and grounded as possible before I step foot in the studio. These little rituals I do daily help me to be a clear and focused channel for my intuitive work.

ES: What’s your favorite wellness food and beverage?

JS: I love smoothie bowls! They can be such beautiful works of art — colorful and so rich with flavor and nourishing ingredients.

ES: What’s the best piece of health or wellness advice you’ve ever received? From who?

JS: My soul sister and our yoga/reiki specialist Taylor Epstein told me the other day to ask daily for divine intervention and guidance in all that I do and in each word I speak. To allow for a moment of pause and reflection before responding to a question and allow the divine, higher self to speak through me, always. This concept is so powerful and the ultimate practice of intentional mindfulness for me.

ES: What are the words you live by?

JS: Follow your bliss, trust your intuition, and believe that you can manifest anything you desire!

Related on EcoSalon

Trust Your Gut: Using Intuition for Good Health Want Ink? These Delicate Tattoos are Trending The Temporary Tattoos Trend: Get Ready to Ink Up

The post This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards appeared first on EcoSalon.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2rcSyYh

[exfrenchdorsl4p0a1]

This is Why Your Next Tattoo Session Should Come With Tarot Cards

image courtesy of Earth Altar

Justine Serebin, master reiki healer and owner of Earth Altar Studio in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, makes people beautiful: She paints on gorgeous tattoos (coupled with tarot cards and intuitive energy readings) and even provides cosmetic tattoos (like eyebrow microblading, which is the process of adding feathery semi-permanent ink strokes to your arches to enhance their shape and fullness).

There are also piercings, laser hair removal, and micropigmentation to add natural-looking freckles. But this is no space of vanity — you’re more likely to leave Earth Altar cosmically at peace than ready to show off your new art on Instagram, and that’s what makes customers go crazy about this place. We talked to Serebin about how she’s incorporated her beliefs into her business and how she always maintains health, wellness, and beauty all in one sacred space.

EcoSalon: Tell us about Earth Altar Studio! How does it offer something different to the healthy, conscious customer? What is the ultimate benefit for your customer?

Justine Serebin: Most people who walk in to our studio don’t realize we do tattoos because the space looks light, bright, and airy. Succulents, crystals and sage bundles line the waiting room. It smells good, feels peaceful, and has fun music playing. We offer tea and raw foraged water to everyone and strive to make everyone feel at home here. We are your one-stop shop for all things tattoo, and body enhancement and wellness. We are artists, professionals, have medical backgrounds, and have a full-bodied understanding of how all tattooing procedures work. We tailor our services to each client to bring out the best and most beautiful results. We offer laser hair removal by our RN Cheryllynn Ponce and full-body piercing by licensed medical professional Mickey. Taylor Epstein is our yoga, reiki, and meditation specialist who is also an RN. We have a microblading specialist and cosmetic tattooer, Vickie Chiang, and a few tattoo artists, Melissa Martell and Taylor Eacuello, both of whom I have taught to tattoo. We also have tattoo artist and comic book artist, Zachariah Roane, who has about 10 years’ experience. We are pretty much a female-run shop and are here to help, create, and make the most impossible dreams you can think of, a reality.

ES: What inspired you to combine the metaphysical with the art of tattooing?

JS: Truly, they both go hand in hand to me — right from the beginning. It started with one of my first visions when I was learning to meditate ten years ago. I saw myself sitting on a beautiful wood-floored studio overlooking the ocean. I was tattooing a woman’s back and something about it was healing her. At that time, I didn’t know really anything around tattooing or healing. It felt like it was my calling and I’ve spent the last ten years chasing this vision, trying to put all the pieces together.

ES: Why was it important to you to incorporate crystals into a space that involves cosmetic procedures? How can someone incorporate them in their own lives?

JS: Crystals and stones are like little fairy helpers that we can keep in our pockets. Who doesn’t want a little fairy helper to hold your hand when your getting your lip color tattooed on? Just joking, but kinda not! Crystals can be healing, energizing, peaceful and you can actually program them to “work” for you. If you are feeling nervous and are filled with anxiety, grab some clear quartz, clear with sage, and program your deepest intention into the crystal, whisper your wish into it, and hold it close to you. Trust, believe, and have fun with it. To me they are beautiful, and they make my giddy and so happy to be around so I filled my shop with them.

ES: Tell us about what reiki healing is and how it’s helped your customers during the tattoo decision-making and creation process.

JS: Reiki is an ancient form of feeling, seeing, and moving energy throughout the body, cultivating it, and checking in with the subtle body to heal, feel better, and become more energized and empowered. It is a healing modality that may be used before, during, or after a session or treatment to bring a sense of balance and wellbeing. Some procedures like acupuncture can activate places in the body where we store old emotional wounds, blocks, or just plain fear. If we notice these subtle bursts of energy coming to the surface, reiki is recommended to help soothe, ease, and clear the heavy stuff that comes up. Reiki can be used during a consultation appointment as a way to prepare for your procedure, mental and emotionally, whether it’s cosmetic, medical, or a custom tattoo. The intuitive tattoos are a more elaborate, intensive version of regular reiki but use the basic principles to heal and transmute energy.

ES: For many people, the tattoo process goes something like this: They find a photo or symbol of something that’s meaningful to them, take it to an artist, and get it tattooed on. Do you find anything missing from this typical tattooing process?

JS: Well, there’s nothing wrong with this method, and we do accommodate tattoos like this — although our artists believe that original designs that are customized are best because we don’t want to steal artwork from other artists from the Internet, especially Instagram and Pinterest. It’s such a small community and we really want every artist to do their best work and thrive.

Personally, my style, strength, and passion for tattooing is abstract symbolism representative of meaningful intention to activate awakening, transformation, and personal evolution. Sometimes, one may know that they want a meaningful tattoo but don’t know what design they want. That’s the little sweet spot where my work fits in. I feel like each intuitive design I tattoo is essentially a gift, a very unique code that only they know the true meaning of. Anyone who looks at it may appreciate its shape, structure, and colors but the true power is hidden and safe, kept secret just for the wearer to know and contemplate and use as a power symbol.

ES: Why do you think people sometimes remove or regret their tattoos? Is it the lack of intention? Not clearing the negativity?

JS: I find that most are disappointed because they didn’t feel safe to communicate with their artist about the artwork prior to getting tattooed. This is so important to me and I always practice the clearest communication possible prior to starting a tattoo. I double and triple check with my clients to make sure they are sure and happy with the artwork; if not, we alter it or postpone our appointment. It rarely happens, but it’s always the safer option. I think the other reason people remove tattoos is because they rush into it. Impulsiveness with something so permanent can lead to a negative experience, which it why we are primarily an appointment-only shop. Intentional living is at our core and that takes a little time to sit with and create inside of ourselves.

ES: How does the intuitive Tarot card reading guide or inform the tattooing process?

JS: The cards I created are like a thermometer reading or window through which I can see a clean view into what my client is going through. It opens deep, honest conversation, and draws out and brings light to areas of their life that they may be withholding, withdrawing, or unconscious of. Through our collaborative exploration of deciphering the meaning of the cards I begin to see imagery, visions, and energy blocks that need activation. Then I begin to see and create a visual language through symbols on a specific area of the body. The design is drawn with a single use pen so that my client can view the intuitive image and edit with me to their liking. Then the actual tattoo process begins.

ES: Why is sage such an important part of your sacred intuitive tattoos?

JS: Sage is a powerful cleansing herb that we use to clean our studio with daily. I also use it to clean each crystal or stone before we program them with intentions for the tattoo process. I attach one of my needles to a saged, medically cleaned, and cosmically charged crystal to tattoo with, as I don’t want any stale vibes to be transferred into my clients energy field.

ES: Your business also offers cosmetic tattooing, like microblading and adding beauty marks. How do you think outer appearance affects people on the inside?

JS: We, our souls, live inside of this Earth form, our bodies. It is dense and difficult for us to dwell in, and often there is deep disconnect between our bodies and souls. I believe our souls are grand, expansive, glittery, iridescent, magical, and angelic. To be as limited as we are as humans (and not flying cosmic balls of magic light dust) with our thinning hair, or hair overgrowth, skin problems, and discolorations, blah blah blah, we do have these forms for a reason, and I believe that reason is to create! To create anything we desire, to be, look, and feel anyway we want to. Our services like cosmetic and medical tattooing and laser hair removal make life easier in many ways for us to free ourselves from this limited, imperfect form. The procedures simplify our daily tasks, minimize our routines, and help make room in our lives and minds for the things that truly matter to us. Imagine how much time you could save if you didn’t have to do your makeup in the morning, or shave your body hair, you could use that time to dream a little longer, or create something, or do something you love! These services, even regular custom tattoos, help bring the inner soul self closer to the skin surface, hence making our bodies our Earth Altars.

ES: How do you incorporate the concept—and implementation—of wellness into your business?

JS: The foundation of Earth Altar Studio is rooted in the desire to be a sacred, cosmic vortex of love, healing, creativity, and transformation. The details of the studio bring this to life: Our water is raw and foraged from Opal Springs, Oregon, and our teas are organic loose-leaf blends with intention and herbal healing qualities. The studio uses recycled and biodegradable products wherever possible and we try to keep our footprint as low as possible. We have yoga mats and a trampoline in the patio to keep our artists’ blood flowing and invite our guests to enjoy their tea in our outdoor space to connect with the elements before their sessions. Every detail, event, and procedure has intention and love behind it.

ES: What daily habits do you have to ensure there is health and wellness in your life?

JS: My daily ritual is always evolving. It is a practice of focusing and feeling for the highest vibration. Meditating and evoking visions of the dreamiest life imaginable. Soaking in the joy helps me feel calm and happy throughout the day and ready to take on the challenges of running the business and taking good care of my clients.

ES: What’s your average morning like?

JS: My mornings begin when I place my feet on the ground, sending love to my body and gratitude to my life. I make lemon tea and soak in the sun. Then yoga, self reiki, reading, and journaling. It’s extremely important to me to be as balanced and grounded as possible before I step foot in the studio. These little rituals I do daily help me to be a clear and focused channel for my intuitive work.

ES: What’s your favorite wellness food and beverage?

JS: I love smoothie bowls! They can be such beautiful works of art — colorful and so rich with flavor and nourishing ingredients.

ES: What’s the best piece of health or wellness advice you’ve ever received? From who?

JS: My soul sister and our yoga/reiki specialist Taylor Epstein told me the other day to ask daily for divine intervention and guidance in all that I do and in each word I speak. To allow for a moment of pause and reflection before responding to a question and allow the divine, higher self to speak through me, always. This concept is so powerful and the ultimate practice of intentional mindfulness for me.

ES: What are the words you live by?

JS: Follow your bliss, trust your intuition, and believe that you can manifest anything you desire!

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