#anything else past that would be in rp territory

[ratsoh-writes]

Give us the FULL backstory of one set of skeleton siblings.

Ehehehe alright, cause I’m sure y’all are interested in the fell bros….

It all began in a distant land called hotland, where red was born to fell gaster! Gaster was deeply in love with Felby, a fire elemental who was a total player. Red was an intentional baby that gaster had in hopes that he would get Felby to commit… and we all know how that worked out.

It didn’t if you were curious

Regretting having a child and resentful of his son, Gaster mostly ignored red for his childhood, only paying him mind when the toddler needed feeding. Red grew up being hyper independent because of this. You can blame gaster for his issues in accepting help from others.

As red grew older, Gaster realized his son could be useful. See red was a very curious child. He has a hunger for knowlege and would try to remake the tools he sees the adult monsters using. Recognizing this talent, Gaster finally took an interest in his son and began teaching him to eventually take a place with the royal engineers that gaster worked with. Compared to being thrown out in the streets of underfells hotland all day, being stuck in the Smokey greasy warehouse lab was like Heaven to child red. He threw himself into his education, determined to keep his place with the engineers who barely tolerated the kid running around.

And of course, just when things were starting to get good, gaster had fall right back into felbys grasp again. The two had an on and off relationship for years now, but this time Felby was around more often. Gaster was sure this time, this time his lover would stay for good. Gaster was strong in the art of science but weak in the art of common sense clearly.

The year red turned 23 was the same year gaster had edge, and the last time red would see Felby again until after the crash. Depressed at his so called “soulmate” disappearing off the face of the underground, Gaster didn’t even fry with edge, leaving all the childcare to red. Red tried to resent his brother, he really did.. but he just couldn’t. Edge was so sweet and soft when he was little. Red would give the world for him if he could. Edge spent the majority of his childhood under reds protection, and was like his older brothers shadow. Edge used to be a cheerful and affectionate kid.

When edge was around 13, gaster snapped out of his depressed funk and turned to the next stage of grief; anger. Gaster began taking out his frustrations on edge whenever red wasn’t around. Having many jealous enemies because of his position, red was unable to leave the safety of the warehouse, but leaving edge to gaster was out of the question either. He couldn’t hide his brother, not with his father being his superior. So red had edge shipped off to the royal guard before things escalated. Edge spent the rest of his childhood there, and the kind streak in him was stamped out, replaced with the cold grouch we see today (well, when he’s around new people that us)

Edge and reds relationship was strained greatly with edges move. Edge viewed this as the one person who gave a damn throwing him away, while red was hurt that his brother blamed him when he did so much for him. Only the passing of their father got the two back in contact. The underfell brothers had a shaky truce until edge got promoted to captain of the snowdin branch of the royal guard. Edge quickly left for his new position leaving red behind in hotland.

With gasters death, things weren’t going so well for red. His father was the whole reason he got the apprenticeship with the engineers. Say what you will about gaster, but he was a powerful monster. Red now had to defend his place on his own, without daddies reputation to back him up. Facing sneak attacks daily, red began to grow paranoid. One evening, he was jumped by three monsters, a would be engineer and his backup. Red escaped, but not unharmed. When edge got word of his brothers condition, he forcibly drug red down to snowdin with him, apprenticeship be damned. At this point it wasn’t worth it.

Red stayed with edge, recovered, and became a bitter and resentful sentry guard in snowdin until the crash. Meanwhile edge had flourished in snowdin, becoming close with his dog guard and the neighboring captain undyne (storm) of waterfall. When the crash happened and the AUs merged on ebott, edge had allies he could lean on as their world was turned upside down.

Sensing the change, and growing hopeful at what ebott could become, edge threw himself into his new home. He got a quick and dirty law degree, helped get many of his dog guard buddies homes and jobs, and even started talking to someone about his own issues. Edge was on the path to… well he isn’t sure but he’s on it! There was just one thing holding him back..

Red. His brother is still acting like ebott was underfell. He was constantly getting into fights with others, skirting the edges of the law, and well edge can only take so much. Red and edge had been fighting constantly since the crash, and these spats kept escalating until edge finally kicked red out of his home.

At his lowest point, red got through the days listlessly. He got a cheap apartment and did small odd jobs to keep afloat. He was angry at the world, scared of the future and without anything to look forward too. The world had f*cked him over and he responded by giving the world his finger. Red was stuck in this funk until he met his first real friend.. oak!

Oak doesn’t remember his first meeting with red. Oak doesn’t remember a lot of things really. Ever since his head injury in horrortale, he’s needed lots of repetition for things to really stick. And he finally got out of the institution he was recovering in. Oak was delighted to move back in with his brother willow! … but stars, he shouldn’t have gone out to get groceries on his own. He thought he could remember his street, he remembers his house now, but apparently the street name hadn’t stuck yet. So he paced around the old beat up gas station as he wracked his empty skull doing his best to recall the street. Meanwhile red, who was working there is loosing his mind as this big scarred stalker skeleton passed by the door for the seventh stars damned time in two minutes!! The first meeting ends with red storming out, yelling at oak angrily to get lost, and a tired sad oak replying that he already is lost. Fed up, red shows oak how to track his brothers phone to find his way home. Oak thanks red profusely, seemingly not bothered by his rudeness and goes on his way

This exact interaction happens at least three more times in the next few days before red just tiredly escorts the forgetful famine skeleton at the end of his shift. Within a month red and oak have become tentative friends. Oak is gentle and frankly too helpless for red to ever feel threatened by. And he seems to think reds dry humor is funny. And oak likes having red around, he never treats him as invalid, and he glares at people who stare at the hole in his skull for too long. It’s nice that red noticed it made him uncomfortable

As their friendship developed over the next few months, red began to unwind around oak and started telling the other his worries. After all, the guy is perfect for secrets. It’s a 70% chance he won’t even remember them anyways. When red first tells oak of what happened with edge, oak was horrified and urged him to reach out. Oak was able to point out from reds story that it’s obvious that edge cared for him still. He compared it to his own perspective, of his old au.. the things he had to do for him and willow to survive. Willow had been angry and betrayed the same way edge had been after oak brought back the first.. you know what. But they stayed together through even the worst part of the famine, not out of survival but out of brotherly love and loyalty. Oak eventually wore red down enough with his story that the paranoid skeleton was willing to give edge one last chance.

Five years after the crash, and two years since their last fight, red knocked on edges door. Shocked and angry, but still happy to see his brother again, edge let red in. For months the two would talk a little bit each week as they tried to slowly repair their relationship. Edge had missed red dearly, and red edge. Finally able to listen, red could see where he hurt edge too, and his little brother pretty much blackmailed red through guilt into seeing the same person he was going to so red could work through what happened in underfell

Two years later, red moved back in with edge, and using his old royal engineer position, was able to secure an entry job at an electric engineers guild. He and edge still fought now and then, but nothing crazy like it used to be.

That’s it for their backstory!

[sunhated-a]

Hello! Welcome, this is a blog I've created to curate inspiration for Muzan Kibutsuji. But I am open to interactions, so I may dip my hands in some writing for him as well.

My portrayal of Muzan is quite canon divergent and based on equal parts headcanon and canon material.

I'm very laidback on this blog, so expect minimal formatting and icons, sporadic activity, and varying post length.

Guidelines under read more.

Basic RP etiquette applies. Do not control my character without my permission, in character =/= out of character. Muzan is a very abrasive muse. So please don't take his rudeness personally. If you are a personal blog, you may follow me and send in asks or like headcanon posts. I have anon enabled if you'd prefer to use that. However, I would ask that you do not reblog my headcanons or threads. Please understand you are a guest in this space and be mindful with how you engage. Other than that, you're welcome on my blog! I hope you enjoy!

Fandom is a space meant for everyone to enjoy. Period. Bigotry of any kind, racism, sexism, transphobia, etc. Will not be tolerated. If I catch you engaging in any of these behaviors it's an immediate block from me.

Do not involve me in interpersonal drama. Roleplay is a fun hobby to me, and drama exhausts me. And to be frank, I am too old to care to keep up with who did what and why. I don't engage in dogpiles. I am just here to write my characters and stay in my lane. However, if any issues were to arise, I'd prefer to talk it out like adults. But if you'd no longer wish to interact for whatever reason, feel free to hard block me. There will be no hard feelings.

I am neither pro-ship nor an anti, nor do I care what camp you fall into. I'm just here to do my own thing. I will be exploring darker content on this blog: Including manipulation, abusive relationships, cannibalism, obsession, twisted dynamics among other things that come with the muse. I do have hard limits, however. I will not interact with you if you engage in noncon, underage smut, or adult / underage muse ships. All triggers will be tagged accordingly. And as always, if you need something tagged do not hesitate to let me know!

I run my blogs primarily on an interest basis, I also manage a household and I work. So my activity will fluctuate and be sporadic. I manage chronic depression and unmedicated ADHD both so I will probably be all over the place. IRL > Anything else. I will always prioritize the comfort level of a mun over writing and roleplay.

This is a canon divergent blog, as it says on the tin. There are a lot of aspects about Muzan and his story that I interpret differently, or omit entirely. If something about my portrayal isn't to your liking, I completely understand. You are entitled to your opinion, but please don't try to argue with me. Feel free to unfollow or block.

OCS. I love them. Feel free to send them my way, just be sure to have a page where I can read about them and we're golden. I am also duplicate friendly.

I am not open to shipping on this blog. I, however, will make exceptions if we have interacted OOC or if we're on the same page on what we want out of a ship. I'm uncomfortable shipping with people I don't interact with, this is purely for my own comfort and because of personal experiences in the past. But, if we've interacted and you think our characters would mesh well and have a good dynamic, by all means feel free to bring it up. I will not be posting smut or sexual content on this blog. So anything veering into that territory, I will ask to move to discord or another platform.

[theangryjikooker]

Hi, I've come across your blog recently and I must tell you that I love it since you're one of the few sane people in this fandom who appreciates the bond between the boys without overanalyzing often baseless and delusional theories.

Although I love their bond and think there is dating potential there, I'm also leaning towards the opinion that Jikook may be single nowadays. However, I'm also leaning towards the opinion that they MAY have had something in the past, possibly something casual like occasional hookups since I believe (sexual) attraction between the two does exist (emphasis on may since this is an assumption like everything else as we have a glimpse into the 1/1000 of their private lives), and this is based solely on two incidents - the hickey and the Rose Bowl one. The Rose Bowl one I can overlook, but the hickey one is difficult for me to put within the scope of pure friendship (especially when it comes to their/other memebers' reactions in the clip to the entire thing).

So my question is - how do you perceive these two events (and I'm sure you've already got this question, but as I'd already said, I've only come across your blog recently). :)

Have a great day!

Me: I’m going to take a break and stay on Twitter.

Also Me: No.

Listen, I can’t make up my mind. I like the idea of being able to say things that would have me nailed to a cross “out loud” without being burdened by other people’s sensitivities and not having to explain myself either, but now I have (5) social media accounts, and I am overwhelmed. I don’t want to talk about it lol. I’ll approve a few people eventually, but the less eyes the better.

Anyway, neither here nor there.

Hey, anon—thanks!

I don’t agree with you on whether they were once dating or fooling around, but it’s well-known here that I’ve never thought that at all. You do you; many others would agree with you, too.

My opinion on Rose Bowl and the “hickey” is that they could be looked at in two different ways. I really don’t care for what most Jkkrs think about them, but really the bottom line is that even if those two events were taken at face value and nothing deeper, it’s unique behavior either way.

Outliers exist in every aspect of life. There are generalizations that apply to a population, culture, generation, gender, sexuality, personality types, etc., but those generalizations will never apply to every single person. And it’s especially so in human behavior and social interaction.

Just because you or “most people” wouldn’t do [action] with a friend doesn’t mean that those people don’t exist. And sure, it would absolutely make sense that this generalization might apply to Jungkook and Jimin when they do something out of pocket, but they’re not only not the average Joes with a normal upbringing, the biggest factor is that RPS is inherently unusual, unsolicited, and toeing the line of disrespect. It’s why RPS is widely frowned upon. It comes with the territory of being in the public eye, but that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable or encouraged by those being shipped.

It’s the fact that they are real people, who never asked to be shipped in that way, that explains why I will never assume that anything they do or say means anything deeper than how it looks on the surface—or if, in the case of the “hickey,” Jimin says he was getting dizzy and bit Jungkook as retribution, then that’s really all it was (also, I can believe that, but I have an anecdotal experience that allows me to accept it as is).

The only time I’ll ever entertain narratives is if there’s legitimately no context for it or there’s a dissonance between the context and what’s actually happening; for example, the Feb 2021 live where Jungkook continues staring at Jimin long after he’s done talking or doing anything interesting. Yes, I’ll say that it’s a little suspect and explain why, but that’s generally as far as I’ll take it (and I think I’ve even tried to play devil’s advocate with it too, but it’s a little weak). But as I say all the time, these moments are incredibly few and far between.

In the case of Rose Bowl, Jimin was very obviously emotional and Jungkook was comforting him. I personally wouldn’t suck my friend’s ear, but as I had passively mentioned in a really old post, I watched this compilation of idols doing the same thing to one another, and I remember thinking at the time that the ear fixation among idols was baffling. I tried to find it again, but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore (it was a much older video that I found ~2 years ago). After seeing that, I was more convinced that Rose Bowl could’ve easily been a comfort thing—weird, but comforting.

I’ve had time to ruminate over it, and I can also see how that action might actually be grounding to someone.

Regarding these two events, I can understand why shippers would think they could indicate something deeper between Jikook. Where I start to have a problem is when shippers abuse their platform and start talking so assuredly for Jungkook and Jimin. Shippers are not omniscient, but they pretend to be and they talk like they are, and those are the ones I don’t respect at all.

Mind you, I’m not stopping anyone else from flouting those boundaries if that’s how you have your fun, but I won’t have anything nice to say about people who do this, and that’s just my opinion.

Anyway, thanks for the ask. This was longer than intended, but I am tagging this post for future reference so I never have to talk about it ever again. ✌🏻

[justplainwhump]

Cornered

This is for @whumptober day 5 (blood loss) and day 2 (cornered). 

It’s set in a dystopian, slightly post-apocalyptic world, where few people are gifted with powers - and some of these powers are considered very valuable.

(Tabitha was created for an RP, but she deserved her own world, too. And Fred? I know nothing about them, but if this goes on, I guess we’ll at least learn how they will deal with pain...)

Content: dystopian setting, gun mention, implied stabbing, blood loss, kidnapping, team dynamics.

The warehouse downhill from them is shrouded in darkness. Still, Fred is squinting their eyes to make out something, maybe the beam of a lonely flashlight, maybe the shape of one of their team members, gun in hand, ducking into the building. 

It's the third place they are searching to find Eli and Sunshine. It makes no sense that they've been taken. Not like this, like an organized abduction. There's no intel these two have, there hasn't been any demand for ransom or blackmail - whatever that should be for, it's not that their ragtag group possess anything of value anyway. All they do is survive, day to day, and they'll do it together.

Together. Always. That's why they're here, deep in enemy territory. It's why five of them are fighting their way through this ware house, and it's why the other two of them are sitting here, the mechanic and the healer, perched up on the still warm hood of a parked car, huddling under a shared blanket. As far as Fred understands, Tabitha could keep them warm with a thought alone, but this would still burn up energy, either theirs or Tabitha's, and both of them need it. 

If their friends live, Tabitha can heal them. It's simple as that.

"We should be in-" Tabitha begins, once again, but Fred stops her with two fingers to her mouth.

"Shhh. We are where we need to be. You can't be in the fight. You're the most important person on our team."

Tabitha shifts, and Fred knows that under the blanket she's fiddling for her knife. It's something she often does, just feel if it's there, run her fingers over the smooth handle with a melancholic fondness that makes them all wonder what this knife actually means to her. Nobody ever asked. They've been working together for months now, they know each other's shower routines and favorite foods, the sounds of their steps at day and their sobs at night, when everybody pretends they don't hear. 

Still, their past lives have remained shrouded in mystery. Safer that way. They'd all agreed.

"I didn't ask for this," Tabitha says flatly. She not talking about being sat outside in this very moment, Fred guesses. And they're right. "I'm a fighter. These powers. Healing. It's for soft people. I'm not soft."

"These days, who is?" Fred wraps the blanket closer around them and looks over at the woman, the tattoos wrapped around her neck, a stark contrast of black ink against moonlit ink. Tabitha's jaw is clenched into a hard line. "Softness is a luxury none of us can afford."

The radio crackles to life next to them, and Tabitha grabs it, pulling it closer to their ears. "We've…" Lana's voice is hard to read through the static, and for another second, Fred remains frozen in dread. "We've got them."

A relieved sigh escapes their throat, and they feel Tabitha relax next to them. "Roger. Do you need medical attention?"

"No. No guards here, no fight. El and Star - malnourished, but fine. All good."

"No fight," Tabitha whispers, letting the radio sink down. "I don't… I don't actually think that's good."

"Why?" Fred asks.

Something rustles in the bushes behind the car. 

Tabitha is on her feet already, knife up, facing the woods. Light flashes up, right into her face, her eyes suddenly golden, her skin purely white. Before they can make sense of it, another beam of blinding light hits Fred. Something clicks, and they've heard that noise often enough to make the hairs in the back of their neck stand up. Guns. Several.

"Because it means we were out for something else," a cool voice replies. "Put that knife down, love. You're right. We might not be here for your friends, that warehouse is still rigged. Your call, if I blow it up."

Fred squints against the light, trying to turn their head towards the speaker. "What…?"

"My boss needs a healer. And for all I'm seeing here, his bargaining position is way better than yours, wouldn't you agree?"

A sharp inhale to their side, a hissed ���Fuck you”, followed by the soft noise of metal on concrete, and the light leaves Fred's face. The world around them is still white. 

"Good girl, Tabitha" their captor says smugly. "Keep that up, and when we're back at base, I might let you heal your friend."

Her friend? But Lana has said - "I thought, they were-"  

Fred can make out a shape in front of them, before a strange hand is on their neck, hot breath on their face. A sharp punch in their abdomen. It feels cold. Cold, then hot. Warm liquid is seeping over their hands as they reach down.

"Fred!" Tabitha yells. There are noises of a struggle, a soft thud, a groan. It sounds muffled, far away. Everything does.

Their hands are sticky and wet.

Fred blinks, confused. 

Hands close around their shoulders, hoist them into a car. Not the one they came with, that's all they know, as it roars to life with soft vibrations. Tabitha's voice is fading out, along with all the other sounds. 

While the world goes silent, their vision comes back. 

The first color Fred sees is red.

Pain is red, they think. Pain is red, and it's almost pretty.

[morganaux]

A♣️ - What’s your muse’s strongest talent? K♠️ - What is one thing your muse considers a grave injustice?

A♣️ - What’s your muse’s strongest talent?

Morganaux:

Ignoring his magical strength caused by his unnaturally large personal aether supply, Morganaux's other greatest talent is his ability to easily memorize information. This knack for memorization has gotten him far in life, allowing him to stand out at the orphanage he grew up as well as at Saint Endalim's Scholasticate.

(He also put these skills to very good use in his childhood by having a relevant quote from Halonic scripture for any situation, but as an adult, he likes to pretend this phase of his life never happened. Plus, it ended up making him a prime candidate for an expurgator, whose sole job is to memorize forbidden scripture deemed too dangerous to write down.)

Most importantly, it makes it much easier for him to learn new spells and he's always itching to learn new spells.

This talent of his only applies to situations where he's consciously studying something, so he's still capable of (and often is guilty of) forgetting things he's told.

Phoebus:

Gardening may have started off as a way of keeping his family's traditions alive, but it didn't take long for others around him to notice he had a green thumb once he got his own greenhouse.

While others in House Albinus had relied on their patron voidsent to bless their harvests, Phoebus couldn't use their same methods in the imperial botanical gardens for fear of being caught. (Or, rather, he couldn't do it very often.) Yet still, he had a gift for growing the most beautiful roses and the most delicious berries while toiling away in his private greenhouse, even if he wasn't doing anything differently from the other imperial gardeners.

Apollo:

Apollo naturally excelled at anything involving healing due to top secret spoiler-related reasons. The details are something that'll need to be unlocked via RP! ;D He would have made the perfect Emmerololth, were it not for his need to wander, and in scenarios where he doesn't go on to hold the seat of Azem, that's exactly the role he ends up filling instead.

The extent of his healing powers also veer into spoiler territory for many of the secrets he's keeping, otherwise I'd gladly ramble about them lmao. (Someday, when work calms down again, I'd like to get some RPs going for him!)

K♠️ - What is one thing your muse considers a grave injustice?

Morganaux:

In Morganaux's eyes, to willfully harm a child is the worst thing someone can do. He might be a pacifist who tries his best to make peace with his enemies until he's forced to resort to violence, but this is one of the very few exceptions to this rule. He sees a little of his past self in children who are put in harm's way, and he wants to protect them the same way he wished someone else would've protected him during his youth.

Phoebus:

To be willfully, pointlessly cruel toward others, and a refusal to intervene in the face of such an injustice. Seeing those things as the most grievous sins of all, it's no wonder he throws himself into a self-destructive quest for repentance the moment he sees the Garlean Empire as the monster it truly was.

Throughout his career as a legatus during pre-imperial times, he had a reputation for showing genuine care toward the men who served under him, but also was known for harshly punishing those who acted out of malice. It was one thing slaying invaders, but he had no tolerance for inflicting needless suffering upon them and would take matters into his own hands the moment he saw any of that happening.

He hoped that one day, the Garleans could make peace with the magic-wielders who threatened them and to work together with them, and mistreating them wouldn't make that vision a reality.

Apollo:

To Apollo, for someone to die before their time is the worst injustice that could happen. Returning to the star by choice was something to be celebrated— a well-earned rest after one had accomplished all they had set out to do in life— and the idea of someone dying unfulfilled deeply unsettled him.

Even so, before he was Azem, he made the choice to be a researcher of the healing arts, and though unnatural deaths were rare in the ancient world before the Final Days, his career of choice made it much more likely for him to have to witness such a thing. Those rare occasions where he had to watch someone's life slip away were devastating to him.

Seeing such a terrible sight, all he could think about were the hopes and dreams they had that would never come to pass, the loved ones they left behind, and the happiness they could have achieved at the end of it all if only they could have been saved. He never took moments like these well, sometimes disappearing for months at a time to mourn the patients he had lost, even if he didn't know them.

[justalads]

was l’manburg (and c!wilbur) xenophobic?

xenophobia: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign

short answer: not really? it depends on a few things.

   (all c! and /rp unless specified)

   we’re bringing out the geopolitical roleplay analysis today!

   before i get into the xenophobia discussion, actually, i want to go down a bit of a side track: the take that the people of l’manburg were colonizers. i don’t think it’s a lot of people who say this, but whenever people list “colonizer” as something that wilbur is, it always confuses me a little, as someone who watched the majority of season one live. there are two definitions for “colonizer”:

   (note: i’m going to be using dictionary definitions for most of these. this is purely in order to give the benefit of the doubt to people that use these words wrong. the definition of these terms that people generally accept often is slightly different, and holds more implications.)

1: a country that sends settlers to a place and establishes political control over it

2. a plant or animal that establishes itself in an area

   so, to be fair, the second definition does fit l’manburg. because it fits everyone on the server. everyone showed up and established themselves in the area. but if people are using that definition, why are we calling exclusively wilbur a colonizer and nobody else? why not the people who took land for their houses, when that was considered completely fine by everyone else? wouldn’t that make dream the biggest colonizer of them all?    the definition that people seem to be implying is more of a “moved into an area and took political control over it.” the question would then be: was the land of l’manburg previously inhabited? was there anything there before l’manburg? because “colonizing” something in the negative sense usually means there was already someone there. the people saying this are using it in the negative sense, because if they were not why would they use it at all and specifically to wilbur?

   it could be argued that the land was “dream’s” land, because it was his server, but then that calls into question his ownership over it at all, and whether or not it was legitimate. if dream “owns” the land of the smp, does he own the entire server? if someone goes out a million blocks, is that still “his” land? and why is it his? what gives him a right to it?

   it could also be argued that the land everywhere belonged to the server, as in everyone had equal claim to it all. however, nobody really had a problem in the past with anyone going “this is my house” or “this is my land”. in fact, the land that became l’manburg was kind of wilbur’s house (if you go back to the hot dog van stream, he says that he built it and he “lives” there.) nobody was there before him. it was his own space that he picked out of all the land. nobody on the server had any sort of previous attachment to the land, and there was nothing important there that everyone needed. the land was free. this sort of thing doesn’t happen very often in real life, because populations are usually already living in places that get colonized. this is not true for minecraft. another definition of colonization is this:

   “colonization, or colonisation refers to large-scale population movements where the migrants maintain strong links with their or their ancestors' former country, gaining significant privileges over other inhabitants of the territory by such links.”    basically, you can’t “colonize” your own land. l’manburg didn’t have any sort of real privilege over the other people on the server (they tried to enforce the rules but because they were physically weaker they were disregarded). while the word colonizer can apply in one definition to everyone, it is then kind of weird to use it just for wilbur, because it implies that he fits the other definition when he does not. the misuse of this word has become prevalent again, with fans on both sides of the las nevadas/snowchester outpost calling the other side colonizers. both of these accusations are incorrect.    so then, why did wilbur disallow americans from going into his country? why did he establish that rule, and doesn’t it show him taking “political control” over an area and denying others equal rights? doesn’t that paint him as a little iffy? does the “no americans” rule make him xenophobic?

   again, not really? it’s sort of complicated.

   the circumstances under which l’manburg was created are roughly outlined at about 1:47:23 in tommy’s vod “ TommyInnit & WilburSoot discuss their Empire Plans in Dream's Server.”

   (bold is wilbur, italics are tommy)

   “have you noticed something about the issue last time? when we were trying to just, you know, trying to get blaze rods and stuff. do you know what the issue was?”

   “what was the issue?”

   “right, so think of all the people that were good to us.”

   “tubbo.”

   “eret. fundy. tubbo, right? what do they all have in common?”

   “they’re all weak. weaker than us.”

   “they’re all european, tommy. i’m thinking we build a wall to keep out the americans.”

   “yeah?”

   “we’re gonna build a wall, on the server, and the americans are gonna pay for it. and we’re gonna keep them out of our land. because they— ruin bits.” (laughs)

   “cause they ruin bits?”

   “no, no, no, they just, we need to get rid of them. we need to keep them out.”

   “okay.”

   “so i’m thinking we build this wall, right. we get fundy involved— well okay, first thing we do, we rob the americans for materials to build the wall.”

   “if we do that, the second we do that, they’re gonna stab us and put us in jail and claim that they’ve won again. they’ve won the war.”

   “look, they can keep doing that, over and over again— the wall’s getting built. so we build this wall, right? and then what we can do in this wall?”

   “what?”

   “it’s our territory. we can make as many drugs as we want. the police have no jurisdiction on us there.”

   “okay.”

   ——

   “so tomorrow, we’re gonna build a drug empire?”

   “well— no, we’re just gonna make a country? and then the drugs will be legal in the country.”

   “how do you know that sapnap’s not gonna… i don’t know. you know what they’re like, man, how do we know they’re not gonna… make it a war?”

   “the thing is, right. how i see it is they can declare war, they can do whatever they want, but like. if we just ignore them and don’t acknowledge it, we win. we can’t lose.”

   “yeah, but they’ll just kill us. because that is what happened last time.”

   “we just don’t acknowledge them. ignore them.”

   “yeah, but there’s only so much ignoring you can do when— yeah, alright, alright.”

   “and then we win. we can’t lose, possibly.”

   “we make them pay, for what they’ve done wrong.”

   so the goal is to… make drugs. because drugs are against the law of the server, and they’re going to get the freedom to do drugs by making their own country, where the police can’t get them. they want to keep the americans out because as wilbur said, the europeans of the server were good to them. they keep talking about how the americans might hurt them. experiences with the americans of the server has left these two with a bias against them.

   the plans to steal materials for the wall are a parallel to the american border wall, maybe less of a parallel and more of a reference/joke since many of these words were never acted upon and the circumstances for these two things are different in an important way. that’s why legitimate comparisons of the american border wall and a roleplay between americans and europeans are not great: it disrespectfully equates two situations. wilbur and tommy joke about the wall throughout the first couple of streams. the aversion to americans that they have is sort of unearned for what they have done to the europeans at this point in time.

   the thing with drawing parallels between l’manburg and real life situations is that we have to take into consideration the power dynamics of the server. dream, sapnap and punz had a lot of power at this point simply because they had a lot of tools and armor. l’manburg had pretty much nothing. so why is the country created? one, to escape a law that they deem unnecessary, and to avoid being put in jail. two, because they have a negative view of the americans, and they want a place where they won’t be hurt by them. tommy says the thing about revenge, but nobody ever acts on it. it’s about safety.

   since the prejudice is there, i would say their words here alone could be considered xenophobic? i’m unsure, because it would be more of the “fear” part of the definition than the “hatred” part. the americans did do things to tommy and wilbur. their beliefs are not entirely unfounded. and then, of course, there’s the fact that once they begin to build the nation, the dynamic shifts entirely.

   like i said before, the americans hold most of the power in the situation. once the action starts and the americans begin to poke at the new country, their actions are harming the people there, therefore solidifying in wilbur and tommy’s minds that the americans want to hurt them. a story of “americans hurt people and the people they hurt want to get away from them” does not generally cast the people who want freedom as xenophobic.

   the americans do engage in acts of tyranny on the people of l’manburg. cruel treatment of citizens and no citizen input in the laws of the land fall under that definition. so at this point, we have people who are being harmed by their government. the refusal of independence and the unjust treatment define the americans as oppressors.

   oppression: prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control

   when in history, we see those who were oppressed by americans (or anyone for that matter! the sides of american and european do not really matter here, the point is the conflict and relationship between the groups) we see their dislike and fear of the other group as justified, not xenophobic. when people and systems in real life are xenophobic, i feel as if the fear is more of a hatred and the basis for the hostility is misguided. those prejudices are also held with a sense of superiority over those they deem “lesser”, not fear of them (although fear can be a motivator for actions). the xenophobia is often held up by systemic power differences.

   if wilbur’s belief that the americans would hurt them was misguided, the americans should have done something to show them that. wilbur clearly expressed to the americans that he thought they were tyrannical and cruel, and they waged war upon him and his people, when they were pretty much defenseless. so then my question is what’s the point of calling them xenophobic, when their enemies were their oppressors?

   it’s like calling him a colonizer: sure, it’s true in a sense, but the way people use it is misleading, and it’s a heavy word thrown at a delicate situation. its untruth or exaggerated truth makes it slanderous rather than genuine and critical analysis. revolution is produced by injustice, whether real or imagined. it is hard for revolutions with imagined injustices to be successful, as the cause is not appealing. the injustice became even more real once the people of l’manburg expressed the desire to be independent, and were further harmed.

   making comparisons to real life things can be useful, but we should also be careful with how we do it. xenophobia and colonization are things that dramatically impact the lives of those oppressed, and while it’s not exactly directly harmful to those people to say something kind of stupid about a minecraft roleplay (this isn’t twitter, this isn’t something to be “cancelled” over in the slightest and i’m not trying to do that, just talking politics) it does show that people either misinterpret or want to shift the narrative of a political situation. basically, it doesn’t really mean anything, but if someone’s going to call c!wilbur xenophobic, they should think for a minute about why he had that prejudice.

   lastly, the words “tyranny” and “dictator” are also extremely misused. people who want to do political analysis should know what the words actually mean.

~ Lad 2

[acollapsar]

✄ What is an idea you originally had in mind for your muse, but ended up scrapping? Why?

☒ Is there any sort of behavior towards your muse (ic or ooc) that you simply cannot stand?

Ⅶ If you have multiple blogs and/or muses, which one is your favorite? Why?

❉ What is a dream AU for you? If you haven’t done it yet, why not?

❝ ❞ Is it easy for you to write dialog for your muse? Do their speech patterns come naturally to you while writing?

❀ What is a muse you want to play but haven’t? Why haven’t you played them yet?

✼ When it comes to worldbuilding, what are some ideas you’d like to explore in rp?

◑ What is a side to your muse you want to show off, but haven’t had the chance to yet?

✧° ┊┊ PROMPTED // Not Accepting!

☒ Is there any sort of behavior towards your muse (ic or ooc) that you simply cannot stand?

          ... You know what? There’s a lot about his general behavior that is just Not Good™ considering he’s not exactly a very kind individual. But I think what can’t stand about him his feigned humbleness. Obviously he’s supposed to act a certain way considering his profession, and acting improper at the wrong times would not only paint him in a bad light, but also bring a bad reputation to the Phantomhive name since he’s working for that household. Had it been almost anybody else, the feigned humbleness wouldn’t be so much of an issue considering it comes with the territory of working as a servant. But this is Sebastian. His narcissism is through the roof at all times, he loves whatever positive attention he can get --- and to just wave it off in a humble manner when I know he’s internally all like “yeah, I know, I’m awesome 😎” honestly annoys me like fuck.

.... And yet I allow it because I’m simping more for this man than words could ever describe.

✄ What is an idea you originally had in mind for your muse, but ended up scrapping? Why?

          I know I had like... some weird ass shit going on for him back in early 2020. I sort of got a bit of a tunnel-vision on the meaning behind his last name and wanted to develop that more. Like yeah, I know that his last name originates from the Japanese word “mikaeri” ( repayment ), and I know what Yana had in mind when giving him that name. But outside Japanese origins, the name have another meaning, and I kind of went down that path for a while and started to build his entire character from the ground. o!Ciel only gave him his first name, and I guess I was at the time just curious what had brought Sebastian to choose this last name out of all names. Obviously it was to signify their contract, but considering I was ( and still am to be honest ) grasping for bread crumbs about Sebastian’s past and whatnot, I guess I wanted to use his name as an excuse to give him a past that we will most likely never learn about in canon ( or at least not anytime soon ). I still kept the ‘repayment’ thing though since I mostly prefer to keep whatever canon gives me, but I guess I used that other meaning behind the name as a foundation of sorts, and the ‘repayment’ part would slowly with time become more relevant than what it was initially about.

For context:

Michaelis: Who is like God

The surname Michaelis, in which the ending "-is" means "son of", can derive from the biblical Michael or Michal. Michael was one of four archangels who surrounded the throne of God. The name means "who is like God" or "Godly".

....... Yeah, uh. Basically, I just made him a fallen angel that became a demon after spending too much time in hell or something like that. At first I kinda liked it, especially since I now had an ‘excuse’ or explanation to why on Earth he’s so fucking OP ( and with the absence of other demons in the manga, I couldn’t really make out if it was just him that was like that or if all demons are just as OP as he is ). I scrapped the idea after a while though because I kind of realized that I didn’t really vibe with the idea of him ever being anything else but a demon --- especially since he claims to be “a demon to the core”. After deciding that I wanted to include the existence of other demons as they are portrayed in the second season of the anime, this whole idea was completely tossed out the window.

I guess for a closed AU between myself and another partner it’s a neat idea, but it’s not something I want to include in his default portrayal. I’m quite happy with what I have so far, and I enjoy taking what canon gives me and decide for myself if I want to make any adjustments to it or not.

Ⅶ If you have multiple blogs and/or muses, which one is your favorite? Why?

          I think I have 4 blogs right now, but it’s only this one that is somewhat active at the moment. 3 single muses and one multimuse. But it’s only Sebastian’s blog that is currently somewhat active. I... can’t really just pick and choose which blog is my favorite, since I write all of these muses because I love them. But I guess considering Sebastian’s is the one I’ve kept around the longest and the one I keep coming back to, I think that says a lot.

❉ What is a dream AU for you? If you haven’t done it yet, why not?

          Uhhh...... I don’t know??? I honestly don’t do AUs that often, but mostly because most AUs I’ve done are ship-related, and I don’t throw myself into the shipping-scene in RP very often. I do have a couple of AU ideas for him that I’d like to do sometime, and I do have a few open AUs on my blog that anyone can interact with if they want to, but I feel like I get the most out of AUs when I get to create them with somebody else that I enjoy writing with. To me, they feel more meaningful that way. And at that point, any AU I get to create with a partner is like a mini-dream AU for me.

❝ ❞ Is it easy for you to write dialog for your muse? Do their speech patterns come naturally to you while writing?

          I usually don’t have much issues with it, but I guess it depends on the nature of the scenario of a plot/thread. Sometimes he has a lot to say, and sometimes he just have very little. Regardless of how much or little he has to say though, he almost always have the more to think about. His mind is never resting, he has an opinion on almost everything and everyone, but obviously doesn’t always voice it and he usually have reasons for not saying certain things ( or not saying certain things at a certain time ). I tend to struggle a bit with dialog when I write him in a scenario he hasn’t been in before, but I think that has more to do with struggling to figure out how he would act in general in an unfamiliar setting or scenario.

❀ What is a muse you want to play but haven’t? Why haven’t you played them yet?

          Hnnnggg.... for a good while now, I’ve been wanting to write Noé or Vanitas from VnC. But I haven’t really taken that step yet because I want to catch up with the manga first, because I usually don’t feel confident writing a new character that I don’t have all the info ( there is to gain ) on yet. I’ve watched the first season of the anime though, but I still feel like it would be more rewarding to read the source material.

✼ When it comes to worldbuilding, what are some ideas you’d like to explore in rp?

          Answered here!

◑ What is a side to your muse you want to show off, but haven’t had the chance to yet?

          Answered here!

[tinkering-survivor]

[I told @the-valiant-valkyrie about how people were getting hyped up by her Charlie’s Triumphants vs True Triumphant HC thing and she bullied me into spilling the beans about ol Waggy Boy so here we are I guess. yes i know i did a whole-ass year-long event but the ds rp community was in a coma soooo]

A big obstacle Wagstaff would impose on survivors is isolation. No [weh],  handouts, or coattail riding; you either make it or break it on your own merits and yours alone. The Constant would either be broken up by ravines or into separate islands, depending on whether his occupation of the Throne is before or after the moon fell into the ocean.

Preying on vices would be another. Give folks an opportunity to take the edge off - maybe the means to make alcoholic beverages or a decent smoke - and watch what happens when they’re desperate and scrambling for a fix to keep their now self-imposed nightmares at bay.

Environmentally-driven sicknesses and ailments would take hold not just in plants, but also in animals and survivors. Allergies, heatstroke, frostbite - anything that would serve as consequences for not working hard enough to keep yourself fed and sheltered.

Harvesting grass would always run the risk of uncovering a nest of viciously territorial wild chickens. No symbolism here; he just really hates chickens and wants everyone else to feel the same way.

Less so another note about how Wagstaff would manage the world while Throned and moreso an aside for afterward, but after being dethroned Wagstaff exhibits a few largely inconsequential physical side-effects: his hands all the way up to right before his wrists are stained black, with dark veins tracing up a little past that. His fingers are tipped in claws that are noticeable no matter how much they’ve been trimmed or filed, and any previously missing teeth of his have been replaced with sharp replacements. Lastly, a change that isn’t immediately noticeable is his eyes; when light is shined in them it’ll reflect back like an animal’s might, and if his anger is brought to a peak they’ll flash back to the sinister yellow and bright green they took on while he was Throned - if only for a moment.

[kpop-bg-roleplay]

(I've decided to send all of our replies in one here for an overview so far! The rest of our rp is going through asks!)

Finding the same nine people you were joking around during the day, carrying weaponry and dealing with drugs in a dimly lit alley way was more than a shock to your system. The first to acknowledge your presence was Hyerin, and holy hell did her expression carry a complete 180' from how she looked that morning. Was this really the same person? "Elise, what are you doing snooping around? The night is a dangerous place."

-----

"I was about to go home actually", I answered her while holding my grocery bag slightly tighter in my hands at the scene in front of me. "What did you do to those people?", I asked the whole as my body language showed tensed up shoulders, ragged breath, pupils widened and having an even more paled up face than usually. The scene in front of me could be out of a crime scene. Bodies on the ground and only the guys I've called my so called friends standing in the middle of it.

------

All she did was look at Hongjoong, who immediately caught onto what she was thinking about and ordered the others to get back in the group car. Joining his right-hand, Hongjoong rolled his eyes, "None of your business, unless you'd rather get scarred."

------

"Alright. I've never seen anything", I asked him as I morphed my face completely blank despite my stiff posture before looking behind me briefly and then making my way, passing the car while only shaking my head in dissappointment at Hyerin.

------

They had no other business that night, and returned to the car before Seonghwa drove back to the cafe. Sighing as they all walked inside, Yunho  needed very little incentive to gather intel on you; you had found them out - in a way - after all.

------

"I'm home", I called out and walking inside my house to sort my groceries inside the fridge. I didn't hear anything besides the Amazon Echo greeting me back. Walking inside the living room to turn the lights on, with a beer glass in my hand I then went ahead to recall the memories of what happened a few hours ago. The bodies on the ground, Hyerin and the others being completely different from how I know them and knowing now that they're somehow involved in something criminal, I've decided to stay away from them as good as possible.

------

Finding your location, then everything else about you was easy. Yunho scoffed as he made his way through your systems, who actually kept Echoes? Especially when they're such easy targets. Yeosang couldn't have agreed more as he rerouted through the smart devices in your home, the data falling in his lap like candy. Meanwhile, Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Hyerin were in the leader's office discussing what they would do with you. Leave you and possibly risk having you reveal them to the police, or keep you under watch.

------

"And... another night alone with no friends to help me finish my food from yesterday", I sighed softly to myself as I looked at the time and walking upstairs to the attic. I opened the door to reveal hundreds rolls of paintings I've been doing in the past. When you walk upstairs, you can smell the plastic mixed in with a white substance called C17H21NO4 or for the Day to Day person between us, Cocaine. I use that particular powder in my paintings, hidden in the pigments and the paper that can be used to smoke it as a cigarette or joint. I've had some encounters indirectly with the dealers from BigHit and Pledis but had managed to keep my name clean up until now. I've started early with selling it in the black market as dupes for certain museums. The actual thieves swapped them out with mine and I can still see one of the not caught paintings in the next Art museum. Nobody has to know that unless they start to actually burn the paintings that most of these are priceless. I always have them in big jars that are labeled as Sugar and Flour, one being more intense than the other but the results are mostly the same.

The thing is, I started at the age of 15. I was stupid and unknowingly sold them online to finance my living expenses for some pocket money after my escape from the organization. Then I found out about it through an unknown source that works for those people and...here I am. Not even Hyerin knows about it, because I always lock the attic and most people wouldn't be assuming that there are illegal drug paintings in there in the first place anyways. She never seemed to be interested in it and asked me questions.

Here I am, making sure that my newest painting gets sold online as the address is always changing in alphabetical order. It can't be the same route as it's another drug dealers territory and he's a scary bulky man that I ALMOST broke his nose when we were talking the first time I've put it in there. I got away with a few bruises anyways, no big deal.

A few days since then passed after the encounter that they're in the mafia and I kept my distance with each member of Hyerins friend group. I went the other way when I heard familiar steps, excuse myself from attending classes and turning in my assignments online, and I ignored Hyerins texts and calls as good as I can. But...the Mafia people are persistent more than the scam callers or mild inconveniences on the street to make you donate to a charity.

I heard my bell ring one night on a Saturday, while I was finishing my painting for the night. I kept the door to my attic open and walking downstairs with my mask on before opening up. Well, it wasn't for sure the neighbors that got my packages or the delivery guy I've been waiting on for 20 minutes. It's them. And I immediately tried to close the door shut.

------

A week's worth of research, intelligence gathering and hacking on part of Yunho and Yeosang had paid off. And they weren't in the mood to be patient. In silent agreement, Seonghwa and Mingi kicked the door down together, the group walking in with a beyond intimidating presence. "Gather everything of value, I want to see this place ransacked, understand?" Hongjoong ordered, no room in his tone for debate. Hyerin seemed to have taken an interest in the jars, and began to walk towards you, "Interested in the world of narcotics, are we? How fascinating." Her words weren't scary on their own, but with a handgun in her hand and the more than evident danger she carried with her, Hyerin could induce a nightmarish fear in even the most hardened individuals.

------

"Do whatever you want, but if you want to take something... you have to pay for it first", I began saying and being to list all of the prices at each item they're holding, "You". I pointed at Mingi first who's holding my lamp, "I got it from Ikea for 25,99€ plus the light switch. You". I pointed to Hyerin as she's taking an interest in my jars of cocaine, "That includes highly concentrated cocaine and because it's opened it's going to be released in the air around us that will get us addicted. It's also 3000€ worth per kilograms. You." I then pointed at Yunho and Yeosang, "Individual paintings are worth 5000€ each, customized fakes are 10.000€ and up worth. The the ones you're holding are for my customers that pay lots of it and if you want to snatch it it's 40 Million€ worth. You". I pointed at San and Wooyoung carrying out my pigments, "I made these myself and they're mixed with the cocaine. I would say 500.000 in total and You."  I pointed at Hongjoong and Seonghwa that is taking a sit on my couch, "390€ and 5.99€ each of the pillows. And lastly, you." I looked over Jongho with a tired sigh, "Please don't raid my fridge...". I sighed softly before doing the math in my head, "That'll be 4.518.421,98€, please. I take checks too". And despite being terrified of every member of the Mafia people, I managed to sit down on the couch to cross my arms over my chest. Until I got a gun against my temple, which made me raise an eyebrow. My forehead started to sweat, my hands got clammy and my throat dried up immensely but I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "What are you going to do with me once you took everything out of my house and killed me? I mean, I didn't tell anyone about your hidden secret,Hyerin. I've lived my life in peace and didn't meddle in on your business. Don't you think that I deserve a different death than a gun against my head?", I began to speak slowly and looking at her direction with a small smile despite her glaring that already killed me, "I want to be killed in a different way, not like that"

------

Maybe the three eldest of Ateez had a twisted sense of mercy, or maybe they were interested, but once Hongjoong had processed how much money you could possibly bring in, he was at Herin's side, whispering in her ear. With an amused smirk, Hyerin put the gun back in the holster and chuckled, "Since my friend here is so~ interested in your works, Hongjoong thinks I should let you go." Her laugh was dangerous, as she called for the the others to bring the artworks to the van. Walking to you, Hongjoong crossed his arms, "You'll make us quite a bit of profit, you'll be pretty useful with us. " He remarked, voice twinged with interest. How much could you make them? Well, that was for them to find out. And it would cost you absolute loyalty to the mafia, and Seonghwa was still unsure whether you'd be a good fit.

------

"I choose death please", I replied blankly and sighing softly as I immediately shake my head at their direction and pointing at Hyerins gun, "Please shoot me, or roll me over with your car or burn me alive. Anything to satisfy your twisted fake conceptions of sadism."

------

A dark, slightly seductive (well, to the others, with you, who knew?) chuckle fell from the other female in the room, as she ran her tongue over her lips. Fuck, that was hot. Sadism? That would her be middle name. "Oh, oh~ I haven't been in the Crimson ward in so long~ maybe I should give our little friend here a personal tour?" She taunted, flicking your chin with the tip of her nails. "I agree with Hongjoong, let's take this one with us."

------

"Careful, I bite", I played along with with her and holding her cheek gently to kiss her forehead lightly, "But I would rather go ahead and begin suicide than leaving my house in the middle of the night. I can't leave physically this place, unless you want me to paint ugly paintings that aren't worth lots of money? I wonder what would happen if I just killed myself now?"

------

Okay, you were a brave one. Amused, Hyerin pulled you to your feet by you collar and whispered, her breath fanning your neck, "From now on, your life is in my hands, understand that? And don't you worry about the quality, you'll have a much better studio for your art." She saw something in you, and she wanted to harness that. The other members had long since emptied the apartment of your artworks, and they were in the van. They'd definitely sell to the highest bidder, and my God there were crooked curators who'd kill to get hands on your art.

------

"Let me say goodbye before I go", I requested to her and gently taking her hands off my collar to take a few steps back. "Would you be kind and wait outside? I won't take long", I added with a small smile that seemed almost too forced but I refused to cry infront of anyone

------

"Very well. Make it quick, and don't you dare think about running." Hyerin replied simply, her arms folded at her chest. Reading emotions was no effort, and it was clear you had no intention of streaking your face with tears in their presence. Walking by the door, she gave you one last look before she stepped outside, silently ordering the soldiers in the other cars to surround the building. Trying to flee wouldn't be a good idea, nor would breaking the miniscule amount of trust Hyerin had granted you.

------

Walking to my room that I usually put in my clothes in my luggage, I somehow played it off with no suspicion whatsoever for now. Taking out a piece of paper to then start writing a note to people who are going to be searching for me, at least I hoped that someone would care about me in my friend group. I sighed softly as I kept it short and simple to write down a simple note of me being taken away to a remote place for awhile. Wiping my tears away from my eyes as I hide the note in between the broken cracks of the house, I walked out of my room to do a last room tour to then join the group again. "My luggage, here's also my ID... I don't think I need it anymore from now on", I mumbled and avoiding their eyes as good as I can while handing my belongings to them. Walking over to the trunk, I willingly climb in to avoid talking to anyone as good as possible.

------

By the  time you stepped inside the trunk, the others had all piled in and were more than just a little impatient to get back. Taking the wheel, Seonghwa pressed his foot on the gas and soon you found yourself on the way back to the...cafe? The Twilight Cafe was probably the most innocent looking cafe on the street, and that's where they were returning to?

What?

Parking round the back, the members all filed out, entering the cafe and taking a seat. The three eldest remained, ordering the soldiers to bring your belongings into the main part of the building, and Hongjoong pulled you out of the trunk, a bored stare in his eyes.

"You'll be escorted to the living quarters. Don't cause any trouble; I'm not looking to get my gun out right now."

------

"Yes, Sir", I replied in a small whisper, following the people inside while keeping a straight face. I couldn't even hide my stiff posture, how I'm holding my hands behind my back as if I'm a prisoner and the bloodied underlip that I've bit on the whole time. It didn't help my situation at this point on how my stomach started to rumble loudly during the ride and how nauseated I'm feeling due to motion sickness.

I didn't look around the cafe at all, too scared to anger even more people and knowing that I'm not going to get my freedom back at all is the worst thing that could be happening to a human being. I know that I'm fucked at this point. Sometimes I wished to be not able to draw or paint, maybe then I'd be a normal person with a bright future.

'I want this nightmare to end already... please help me', I thought to myself almost desperately and started to pray in my head already. I'm thinking of ending my life at this point, ending the pain and start somewhere new. I think it's out of question right now and the pressure only pumped up my adrenaline rush in my system. My survival instincts are tingling and my heart beats even louder than a hammer against a wall.

The steps stopped ultimately, and I snapped out of my trance. It's a small room, enough to sleep in and change your clothes. Plus an attached bathroom, that didn't have security cameras. I'm slightly thankful for it at least, they give me the privacy to an extent. I didn't think much of what happened afterwards, nodding along the order for tomorrow and I was finally alone. Alone as I can get, at least.

So I quickly walked inside the bathroom to get everything out of my system and let my guard down. I cried in silence, hugging my knees and hiding behind my hands to muffle out my sobs. "I want to...go home", I whispered gently to myself and swallowing thickly, my body started to shake violently due to the pressure. I'm currently having a panic attack and I couldn't control it entirely. For some reason, I managed to pass out on the bed, shaking violently to the core and desperately trying to stay conscious to not cause even more problems.

------

Once you had been escorted from the initial cafe space, Hyerin immediately got up, getting her phone to discuss the latest findings with the financial heads at KQ -one of which she was a deputy to. There was much to discuss. And she'd definitely have to work overnight to draft up a reasonable report to KQ.

Among all the staff that walked around the complex, one stood out. Younger than Ateez's youngest, a high rank that almost rivalled Ateez themselves. With a tablet in hand, she walked through the dorms until she arrived at your rooms, a mutter of 'this wasn't used before...' coming from her.

She entered your room, making no announcement that she was entering. Maybe she had received similar training to the mafia members themselves, because her presence was palpable in the air. She tsked when she saw your condition, placing her tablet on the windowsill and walked over to you.

"Come to your senses, you've been brought here and you need to hurry up and accept it. Now what's you name? I have to provide KQ with accurate reports."

------

"Elise Liddell, Ma'am. I would appreciate it if I could use this night to eventually finish my mental break down until tomorrow morning", I answered her as quickly as possible, almost making it sound that I've rapped and my still shaking body leaning towards the cold wall. Wiping my tears away from my eyes, I avoided her gaze despite listening to her instructions intensely. "I'm just an ordinary artist, my paintings aren't real to be original.", I continued further, then quieting down as I don't want to spill out more information about myself and why I'm even doing my current profession as follows. 'Over my dead body, I'll be free in no time, even if I have to plot against them somehow', I thought, straightening my posture and eventually looking at the person nearby the windowsill. "What am I supposed to do tomorrow morning? I have to go to college and I don't want to be raising suspicion over my disappearence that soon", I asked her, coughing slightly as the crying made me thirsty, yet knowing that those bastards are going to love it to see me dying of dehydration soon.

------

The girl almost laughed. Almost. Scoffing, she tilted her head and gave you an overly sweet smile. But her eyes held something much, much more dangerous. "I'm not going to stop your precious little mental breakdown, go right ahead~."

The very idea that Ateez had someone as young as the girl in front of you working with them definitely seemed off.  Shouldn't she at least be in school? Reaching for her tablet, she was quiet for a moment before meeting your eyes.

"Ateez will take care of that. If you require something to drink I will put in a notice for the staff to provide a water dispenser."

------

"The absence of me entering college should be because I got either pregnant and have to leave due to my VISA or because I'm going back to Germany to fulfill one of the courses there. Any other reason isn't acceptable at all", I sighed softly and nodding slowly at the water dispenser for my casual use. "Anything else that I need to know?"

------

All she did was roll her eyes. It wasn't her problem, neither did she care. Whatever excuse they came up with would have to be the one you accepted. "You're not to enter Hongjoong, Seonghwa or Hyerin's office without letting either them or myself know beforehand." About to continue, her focus is drawn to someone calling her name.

"Minnie, you're needed in Seonghwa's office."

"Okay Kai, I'll be there."

At least you knew her name. Leaving the room and shutting the door behind her, you were left to your own devices, and thoughts, again.

------

'If she's going to tell them what excuse they should use in order to get me out of there, they also don't know who I'm close in contact too.', I thought to myself, drinking the water that Kai brought earlier to then walk to the bathroom and using some of the time to clean myself up as good as possible. The room had my luggage inside and instead of hyperventilating the whole time, I looked straight at the camera to flip off with my perfectly long nails to the person who watches me now. The ordering process of my stuff, made me calm down just a little bit, despite the shaky hands and the low blood pressure I'm feeling on my body the whole time. I sighed softly to myself, taking out my Notebook to write down the first informations about today.

----

Holy shit I forgot how long our responses were. Also I am practically gonna include eveny group I stan in this plot.

The rest of the complex was active, like a city that never slept. Throughout the night, footsteps rang through the building, staff - and some of Ateez themselves - working the night shift, keeping all operations stable. One location in particular that was lit up like daylight was the camera and intel rooms, where Yunho was asleep on a bed in the back, while Yeosang watched the moniters with his team, rolling his eyes as he checked the camera in your room. Thank God he’d only have to keep that camera installed for another few weeks. Watching new arrivals for their three month probation period was a pain, and more often than not he left the task to some unsuspecting staff. And that’s exactly what he did.

“Hey, Yang Jungwon, watch our new arrival, I need a smoke break.”

“Y-Yes Sir!”

[casualcatte]

RP Journal: 08/10/2020

Gods, it was good to finally get out and hunt again!  Granted, I was bringing Edgard Beaumont with me that might prove to be a mixed blessing, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He /was/ a Knight Dragoon, after all, surely he’s got some fighting skill and ability to track things.  How else does a dragonslayer slay dragons? Surely they don’t just laze around til one flies by them, that would be silly.

(( Courtesy cut for length.  Also, sorry about the lack of screenshots, this was all during maintenance. ))

I had Edgard meet me out in Yanxia at noon and he arrived precisely on time, he even carried some rope and a quarterstaff, instead of his usual spear. We weren’t out to kill these birds, only subdue them for an artist in Kugane. He wants to paint them, then will release them back into the wilds. Live-capture hunts are always a bit more of a challenge, it would make a fine test to see what Edgard was worth in the field. After all, I have no doubt he can fight, he’s fought dragons, for pity’s sake!  But taking a non-violent means to dealing with a problem? I think it would say volumes about who he is both as a person and a fighter.

I outlined my plan and he declared it sound, so we took ourselves out to the Glittering Basin where it was known for these bi-fangs to roam as their territory. Setting up a lookout point, it was just a matter of sighting the birds and seeing where they went to roost. 

I don’t think I’d been this relaxed in a long time. The day was warm, and Edgard -- while still very much Edgard -- was good company. He listened, followed directions, didn’t try to put me behind him for protection, or treat me like I didn’t know what I was doing. He trusted me and I trusted him.

Gods be good, we needed that trust today. No hunt is ever flawless, there are always unexpected things that happen that you have to adjust to or you either lose your quarry or you get hurt. That’s just the nature of the beast. I absolutely wasn’t expecting these bi-fangs to be a mated pair, much less a mated pair with a clutch of eggs. I think I’ll make it a point to mention that to Tetsuyo when I return to the Bounty Call. Most hunters I know have a great respect for nature, granted, we weren’t killing the pair but it was still taking them away from hatchlings that might otherwise die without them and their protection. 

Anyway, the hunt first. Edgard was probably the most serious I’ve seen him since I’ve known him; he was studious and attentive, asking questions about what to do or what to look for. He seemed genuinely interested in learning, so I did all I could to help him. It was here that he said he trusted me and for a moment I had to wonder why. What good will had I garnered with him to be someone he trusted with his life? I doubt it has anything to do with how skillful I am at evading his spurious advances. 

Knowing what I know now, I found it easier to be, well, at ease around him. To even play and flirt with him, give him a taste of his own medicine. It was fun and we laughed; I’m almost convinced I nearly made him blush a couple of times, but that’s neither here nor there.

The hunt!  Once we sighted the bi-fang pair, Edgard used his dragoon ability to jump us up to the cliff where the birds had made their roost. Naturally, I had to climb on Edgard’s back and he had to make a bunch of insinuations about it. Still he got us up to the roost in short order and that’s when we learned that we were facing two very angry parent bi-fang and their clutch of half a dozen chicks.

Thankfully, the chicks weren’t that grown, so they weren’t much of a threat. I used one of the Darkness arrows to blind the Papa Bird while Edgard kept Mama Bird busy until I could use one of my Net arrows. Edgard got scratched once, but didn’t seem any worse for wear for it. I’ll really have to thank that magitechnician for the arrows, they are the most clever thing I’ve seen in a long time. A pity I don’t remember his name, how will I ever have these made again once I run out?  As it stands, I’m out of the Net arrows after this.

I was just about to use my second Net arrow on Papa when he came flailing at me blindly. That’s also when one of the chicks in the nest decided I was a tasty snack and /bit/ me on the ankle. It was enough to startle me that I dropped the arrow and that split-second distraction won me a wing to the face as Papa Bird sent me flying off the cliff.

I won’t lie and say there wasn’t a moment of panic, because there was, but I’d prepared for this eventuality.  You fight aerial opponents, you’d best be prepared to take a long fall. Another of those magitek arrows deployed a light filament line that was stronger than any rope I’ve ever seen. I fired it into the cliffside and swung to safety, albeit the impact into the cliffside will leave me sore tomorrow. Even as I was dealing with my own plight, I saw Edgard get shoved off the cliffside as well by a headbutt from the Papa Bird. I know I didn’t have much time and that, for the moment, the dragoon seemed to have no way to save himself.

I gathered myself and ran back and forth along the cliff face to build momentum, then I swung out to catch him. Thank every God that he wasn’t wearing anything heavier than leather and chainmail. If he’d have been in drachenmail or full plate, we’d have been doomed. Or at least he would have.  I don’t think I could have held him. We only had moments to rest there, however, as Papa Bird began diving toward us, enraged enough to want to eviscerate us. 

This was the biggest moment of trust in this hunt. Edgard told me to let go of the rope and grab onto him. I knew he was about to /dragoon/ us out of there, but it was still a daunting proposition. Still, in for a penny in for a pound. It was either fall or die to the talons of the angry bi-fang. Falling seemed the least fatal of either option. I let go, still clutching to Edgard’s hand from where I’d caught him, I wrapped my other arm around his neck and squeezed my eyes shut. The way dragoon’s jump makes my stomach turn a flip, but it cleared us of the predatory swoop of the bi-fang and sent it sweeping past us. 

Edgard landed us on the ground and looked to me for a new plan as Papa Bird rounded on us to attack again. I was out of Net arrows by this point and none of the other arrows I had would do the trick. So, I opted to go with an alchemical solution. I pulled a sleeping draught from my pouches and waited. I couldn’t afford to miss. And I waited. 

Behind me, I could hear Edgard yelling my name. Was he worried? Frightened?  No, not Edgard. I stood there, letting the bi-fang get closer and closer, I could see the wicked curve of its talons, eager to rip me to shreds. Closer still.  I could feel the waves of … nerves?...emanating from Edgard. Still, I waited.

At the last possible moment, I threw the sleeping draught right in the beast’s face. It only took a matter of moments for it to clumsily land and fall over in a sleepy stupor. Edgard made his way over, unbidden with the rope to tie it up.

Hmph. He’d outshine me. Hunting has been my life for over twenty years, dragoon. You’re not going to outshine me at my own game.

Banter with him came easily now that I knew there was nothing to it. I teased him, I gave him as good as I got. There were moments I rendered him speechless or left him a stammering fool. I enjoyed every minute of it. Turning the tables on Edgard might become my new favorite pass-time. 

While he finished binding the bi-fang, I tended to the wound on his shoulder. It wasn’t much more than a scrape, but it was best not to leave it to fester. He’d done well, all-in-all, so I couldn’t really discredit his efforts as a hunter. With a bit more seasoning, he could probably hold his own. I told him as much, though he only very begrudgingly accepted the compliment. Under any other circumstance, Edgard would preen and claim it as my undying love for him, but on the matter of his skill as a hunter and his contributions, he wouldn’t.

He was in my world now, I couldn’t tell if the thrill of the hunt sat well with him or not. Gods only know I enjoyed every minute of it.  I even told Edgard he could soak in the hot spring with me, I’m sure he was convinced I’d hit my head somewhere along the line. 

This was a really good way to end his time in Kugane. He goes on to Ishgard the day after tomorrow and said he expects to see me there soon. I’ve some things of my own to wrap up before I leave Kugane, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t threaten to bypass Ishgard altogether and just go straight to Tailfeather because he /expected/ me in Ishgard. 

I tasked him with sending the Mama Bird back to the client via some magical aetheryte-like crystals we’d been given.  Activate them on the birds and they would appear in cages where the client waited with payment, better than trying to haul them back by hand. Once done with that, Edgard planned to go back to Kugane and I headed to Yanxia to hire some locals to tend to the chicks until Mama and Papa come back.

All-in-all, it was a good night and a fun time. Sure, I have a few bumps and bruises, but I can’t name a hunt I’ve gone on and come out completely unscathed.  I either get scratched up by brush and trees, injured by the beast, or /something/.  It’s just part and parcel of the Hunt. It reminds me I’m /alive./

My friendship with Edgard, at least for my own part of it, feels as if a great weight has been taken off me and I don’t feel the need to be so guarded. He has no further motives than just having a moment’s distraction. Like me, he has issues of his own to deal with before he seriously considers anything with anyone, which I’m honestly glad to hear him say. Primarily that he /plans/ to deal with them. I could care less who he sleeps with.

It was a good day, it really was. I needed it after a week of indolence. It felt /so/ good to get back out there and do what I love. And the best part of it is that it’ll have garnered me enough reputation with the Veteran Centurio to get the information I need. 

One step closer... Mentions @therpperson​ for Edgard Beaumont

[iluviella-cuthallian-101]

Closed RP Starter - Moonlight - @theancientpowerawoken (Sorin)

Iluviella Cuthallian had landed in an unfamiliar territory and roughly too as she had multiple bruises and bloody scratches forming under the dent in her side armour that she took from the battle prior. She stood just barely propped up against a tall tree and peered at the gray sky with ice blue eyes trying to see if there was a way of knowing where she was. Hopefully, she was on Innistrad but there was really no way of telling except that it didn’t look as deadly as her home but demons were also common on this plane or so she was told.

A soft gentle sigh left her lips and she quickly tied back her platinum blonde hair behind her half elven ears and listened for any signs of danger. Stillness then gave way to crack of a branch but when she whirled round she could see no one. Just because she failed to see them didn’t mean that she couldn’t see them didn’t mean they weren’t watching or that there weren’t other means of detection.

Putting her hand on the ground she could feel the essence of whatever it was hunting a mile away, perhaps it had gone past her completely? The thought hadn’t entirely left her mind but she could feel something else...someone else nearby. A darkened aura much like the presence of another she had known long ago elsewhere that resembled it. A demon? No. No, something else.

A black blur was what darted in front of her vision and she moved to dodge it just in time but she failed to see the sword that was now pointed at her neck. “I’m sorry, I was actually just...” she was about to say lost before she wondered if she had to know where she was before she could term herself lost. “I am told there is someone here that might actually be able to help and they might be able to use my help.” she raised her hands to show there was nothing in them and went to see if she could touch the blade in order to get it away from her but before she could it was lowered, the owner deeming her as not a threat.

Yet eyes darted to her side and she felt troubled by the look of concern. “Normally, I would be able to heal myself but it seems my regeneration is slowed here.” she said without really thinking until she realised that it might not be out of concern for her. Checking to see that no one was around she seemed more inquisitive than afraid. The word vampire was used to describe those with a black aura but one that one used as a defense was unheard of in her part of the multiverse. Perhaps this being was something to be afraid of, but before she could say anything more she felt the presence did something she was used to. A Lesser demon. Perhaps it had followed her.

The vampire was able to fight it off for longer than he should have. Iluviella still had some energy left though minimal but she was able to use what she had left to flicker a small bolt of her own magic. An ancient and primordial magic that saught to reverse the Chaos. Order magic. All the man would see it a ball of pure white hot energy but it would be enough to see it crumble away into the earth.

[killmebutneverinsultme2]

Rules for mobile (Pinned Post)

The Code

Success. I’ve sufficiently pestered the wench to make me a blog, much to the cost of a certain behorned mischief god whose presence I must share. Follow the rules below, and there’ll be smooth sailin’, savvy?

This be an exceptionally selective blog. I was me mun’s first ever muse yonks back and I’ve pestered her into writing me again, BUT, she’s horribly pressed for time. Partners will likely be very few, else ones doubling up with Loki’s. Anyone is welcome to approach and enquire, but she and I will be leaning toward those either from me own universe or crossovers with which she’s highly familiar and characters in whom she’s especially interested. Ye have been warned.

Replies are like to be slow, up to a few weeks at most.

Partners must be 18+. Various themes of an adult nature may be found here. Sexual things will be tagged ‘#filthy pirate’ with whatever level/variety of sin I deem them. More details below.

Behave. There shall be no rudeness, no passive aggression, no hate, no censorship or generally being a twit. Do I make meself clear?

The Code - Extended (below the cut)

Hi, guys. I’m Pirate (oddly known as this long before I made Jack a tumblr). Here are my more detailed rules and guidelines for writing with me on this blog, though the absolute basics are at the top as, honestly, it’s never easy to remember everyone’s requirements.

Jack is a sideblog. If you’re being followed by a benevolentgodloki that means I’m following you back. I don’t need us to be mutuals (both following each other) for us to write together, but there is a greater chance of us having a partnership if we’re letting each other know we’re interested.

How I Roll

I note myself as ‘highly selective’. This isn’t to be an elitist bugger, it’s because we all only have a limited amount of time we can put in. I want to write what I enjoy with people I enjoy. I am married with two attention-seeking cats, two jobs, a slow-brewing intended writing career and a video game addiction.

Asks/Memes - I will usually answer these no matter who they are from but I may or may not turn them into a thread I intend to keep. Some memes are very much designed to be something that continues so context can be key. If you would like to know in advance whether I intend to answer and/or keep something, please do pop me a message and I will be kind and honest.

My Threads - While Jack’s blog is still exciting and new, I’m being a bit all over the place with who and what I reply to depending on which way Jack’s.. compass.. is pointing. I do have a rolling turn order that I adhere to (to the point that I can genuinely tell you who is next at any given moment) but it’s all piled in with Loki’s threads, meaning I can take a few weeks to get round everything. Every partner gets one of their threads answered within that ‘round’ and then I go round again. However, when I’m really into something/finding something easy to pop back, I treat myself to spamming certain threads or partners at my whim. I use rpthreadtracker.com to maintain what I have. 

I will remind partners of threads that have not been replied to for more than three months. If I do not do this, I have either forgotten/lost it myself, I’m not too fussed about keeping it at that stage, or you were absent for a long period of time. 

My Style - I will write in both past or present tense depending on partner preference. My default is past but I like either. Please kick me if I screw up and write the wrong one. I prefer using regular size font but I will make mine small on replies to people who use the smaller so that it looks neat. I will often match partners’ lengths and some formatting details e.g. bolding dialogue, but I struggle with doing novella-length posts for reasons below.

I have a bugbear to admit about role-play. What we call splicing. A good half of my partners write this way so I’m not about to tell everyone to stop but if you’re someone who does this, you will occasionally run into some frustrations when writing with me. ‘Splicing’ is when you retrospectively write dialogue or actions as having previously happened during your partner’s last post. These things are fine when they’re passive i.e. your character muttered them, thought them or you were writing what your character was doing at the time because that’s pretty much essential. The trouble comes usually when my characters talk a lot/ask rhetorical questions and partners choose to answer every single one despite the fact my character carried on talking. I know it’s an ass that I have talkative muses and you really want to respond to every point/get a word in, but putting words and actions into the past effectively godmods my muse into accepting they happened. If you feel your muse would have full-on interjected midway through their ramble, please ask me to edit my post/stop it at that point. Otherwise if you do prefer to splice, my muse will only respond to whatever it is your character did or said last in their post. This is one of the reasons I can’t write novella, because often there is only so much you can write before you’re stepping into the territory of changing what went before and not allowing your partner to do anything about it.

TL;DR don’t ever worry about your post being too short for me. If it’s one sentence long but it’s because something fast-paced is happening, I won’t be miffed.

Shipping! - no not that kind of ship, Jack. I love shipping. Ships all around. Let’s face it, romance can be one of the most exciting reasons we bother writing. I am open to a lot of ships for Jack, practically all of them. Yes, even that one. I will do downright nasty, toxic, horrible stuff, savvy? It’s fiction and Jack is a great indulgence for bad things happening to him as much as good. That said, of course don’t force something on him without prior agreement between us. Well, I mean, your muse can try and accost him and see what he does, just don’t expect him to definitely reciprocate. Jack and I are bi/pansexual. We’re open to everything. I will admit a heavy lean toward m/m but, that said, Jack is extremely fond of the ladies, more so than Loki. I am very into Sparrington especially.

Not Safe For Ye Olde Work

Sliding down from the above topic, I enjoy the occasional smutting. It is not a requirement from my partners. In fact, I’m warming very much to fading to black depending on the context/mood/if things feel a bit repetitive. I do feel a touch more comfortable with partners who don’t need that boundary but as I’ve recently figured ‘if it needs a cut, then it’s smut’ I know when to skip on.

Saucy material will go under cuts/Read More’s and be tagged as mentioned above with ‘filthy pirate’. Additional tags will be based on the citrus scale: ‘lime’ for general grabbing, ‘lemon’ for full on sexual content and ‘grapefruit’ if things get extra kinky. I will tag things such as ‘rape tw’ or ‘noncon tw’ or ‘dubcon tw’ where necessary. Please blacklist any or all of these at your leisure, or search them if you fancy :U I do NOT tag these as ‘ns.fw’ because tumblr just completely hides them from being searchable which is useless for my partners.

OC’s - Due to my time constraints I am extremely picky when it comes to OC’s. This is a good fandom for well-thought-out muses and I know firsthand how hard it is to make headway as an OC in the RP world. However, I also understand that for people like me, I want to dip in on this site to mostly play with the characters and worlds I’m really absorbed in and ship my weaselly black guts out. Some people have more time than others to really give your OCs the time and love they deserve. Unless I’ve played with you a long time and I really like the cut of your and your muse’s jib, it’s very unlikely I’ll bite. Apologies! The same goes for crossover muses from fandoms I’m unfamiliar with, but I will let you know if that’s the case.

Limits

Threads - I don’t have a strict limit on how many to have per person but please bear in mind that the more of these you have with me the longer it will take me to get to a particular one (unless I’m spamming it back and forth). This is more a mun/muse context how many I accept.

Exclusives/mains - I don’t do these although I may consider having a maximum of 3 or 4 of one muse depending on activity levels and to ensure plots don’t get mixed up or attention feel unfairly balanced.

Triggers/squicks - I don’t like body horror e.g. graphic detail of squishy bits having bad things happen to them. I’m writing a pirate so there’s absolutely allowed to be elements of torture/violence, just don’t stab him in the eye or chop bits off him. One torture-related thing sends me into a complete freakout which I’ll discuss with partners if we’re doing a thread of that ilk as needed. Kink-wise I’m not into mpreg, A/B/O or infantilism or toilet things. Just ask me/Jack if you’re after something XD

Who I Am/What I Need From You

Being yourself is the most important thing and I promise I am not a scary person (usually). We’re only human and it’s natural that we’ll get along better with some rather than others. This is more to give you a gist of the sort of person I am and who I gel with best.

So I’m a shy hermit at the best of times. I’m trying to be better at engaging and enthusing with partners over our threads because I realise more than ever this does keep things alive and make for a more enjoyable experience. I’m not always great at it. I work best with people who are patient and don’t worry too much on what I think of them and their writing, with people who are happy to keep threads going for the longhaul rather than keep dropping everything before I’ve had the time to get to the next post, and most especially people who accept that fiction =/= reality. I do need a certain level of quality, which doesn’t always mean perfect grammar, but it must be coherent, fun and creative. I like a relaxed approach, sharing mutual enjoyment in silly fantasy world sandboxes as escapism from (and exploration of) this complicated world we live in.

If you managed to read all of this, have a drink (even if it’s water). You’re a diamond. 

Pirate xxx

[evalinkatrineberg]

Challenge 1

A/N: This includes a side RP done with @safiya-schreave :D

“Where have you been?”

It was definitely not the first thing I expected to hear when I returned to my room after my usual morning run. My life at the palace had already become somewhat of a routine - run around the grounds, bathe, get ready for whatever tasks the day called for, read up on political science and Illean history when I had the time to, and then fall into bed, only to do it all again the next day. Besides the first day at the palace, life here had been pretty uneventful, and I was kind of grateful for that. It was a good adjustment period, in my opinion.

I frowned at the three maids assigned to me. Julia, who had made it apparent early on that she was the leader of the trio of maids, had her hands on her hips, glaring at me as I pulled off my running shoes. Behind her, Christina and Grace were shuffling back and forth, pulling dresses out of the wardrobe and jewelry out of a small chest that sat on the vanity, bickering softly about what items went together and what clashed.

“Sorry, I went for a run, like I always do in the morning.”

Julia’s frown was the mirror image of my own. “Well, you chose a bad day to run longer than usual.” I opened my mouth to reply, but she held up a hand, cutting me off before the words even left my mouth. “Let’s get you bathed and clean. We’ll have to hurry, but I don’t want you looking anything less than your best for your first meeting with the prince today.”

I simply nodded, following her off to the bathing room attached to my bedroom. In what felt like a matter of minutes, I was clean, and then wrapped in a fuzzy bathrobe, before being escorted back to the chair that sat in front of the vanity.

“Now, what to do with this rat’s nest?” Julia mused as she pulled the towel she had wrapped my hair in off of my head. I let out a small laugh at her comment, even as she sighed. It hadn’t been long since I’d first arrived at the palace, but already, Julia and I had gotten used to each other's mannerisms for the most part. She had a very dry sense of humor and a blunt manner of speaking, which I had come to appreciate. I never had to guess what she was thinking. In turn, I was fairly certain that she appreciated the way I let her do whatever she wanted to with my hair and makeup. The woman was a master at making me look presentable, and I was more than content to leave my appearance in her skilled hands.

“Are you excited to meet the prince?” Grace asked from behind me, beginning to blow out my hair as Julia brushed it.

Before I could even answer, my chair was being turned to the side, stopping when I faced Christina, who now stood in front of me with an eyeshadow palette at the ready. “Of course she’s excited,” Christina answered for me as she began working on my eyes. With a scoff, she added, “It doesn’t take more than one conversation with Lady Evalin to know that she’s been waiting for this day for ages.”

She was right, but I still couldn’t stop the blush from creeping over my face. Of course I had been excited for this day, but despite staring at the ceiling every other night, trying to plan what I might say to the prince when I finally got the chance to meet him, I still was at a loss as for how to talk to the guy. I really knew nothing about him, besides the fact that he had studied political science, and I was willing to hazard a guess that he wouldn’t want to discuss that immediately after breakfast. It appeared that the best strategy would be to ask him questions, and get him to open up about himself more. At least that would give me something to work with in the future.

Assuming he didn’t send me home after today.

I swallowed at the thought as Christina instructed me to open my eyes. I could feel Julia’s nimble fingers brushing against my scalp as she began to braid the front part of my hair into something that almost resembled a crown or a headband. It was a style she had done with my hair most days the past week. According to her, it kept my hair out of my face, while still displaying my curls, which were apparently one of my best attributes. I trusted that she was right, but I couldn’t help but be surprised that she wasn’t doing something different today. Then again, maybe it was for the better that she wasn’t. I probably had a better shot at having a good conversation with the prince if I was comfortable, than if I was not.

“I am definitely excited,” I assured them, smiling as Christina finished up on my lips.

Upon seeing that Christina was done, Julia grabbed a navy blue dress from the bed, motioning at me to take off my robe and change into it. The dress felt as soft and smooth as it looked, with a v-shaped neckline and a lacy bodice. The lace stopped where the dress cinched at my waist, turning into a long silk skirt that rustled whenever I moved. As Julia zipped up the back, Grace fastened a silver necklace with a small bird charm around my neck, and Christina handed me a pair of dark blue heels.

Julia only took a second to admire her work before ushering me to the door. “Go on! You don’t want to be late!”

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I was out the door and down the hall without so much as a second thought, following the rest of the Selected to a more open room. The walls were lined with a buffet of breakfast food, and there were five circular tables in the center of the room. I immediately began circling the nearest table, searching for my name in front of one of the chairs. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be at the last table. It would be kind of mortifying to circle each table in search of my name, like I had no clue what I was doing. I mean, to be honest, I didn’t have much of a clue as to what I was doing, but I didn’t need the other thirty-four girls to know that.

Luck seemed to be on my side today, thankfully. My name was the first one I saw at the first table, and I quickly took my seat before turning to look at who else was at my table. To my left was Idalia, which I was immensely grateful for. It was nice to see a familiar face, especially one that was so friendly. On my other side was Clemence. Leave it to me to be sandwiched between two olympic athletes. Also at the table were Itzel, Violet, Alaina, and Emily. I hadn’t seen much of any of them, though Emily did stop by my room the first night and offer me a macaroon. That had been the only time I’d interacted with her, though. I couldn’t help but wonder if any of these girls would be going home soon, or, worse, if I’d be going home soon.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on the thought, which was probably for the better. At that moment, Princess Safiya walked in. I couldn’t help but be amazed as she took up a spot at the front of the room, offering all of us a small, polite smile. She walked like she was floating through the air, with a kind of grace I had not seen often in my life, and certainly not one that I possessed myself. My mouth became dry. Was this level of grace expected of us, already?

“Good morning,” the princess began, holding a clipboard out in front of her with both hands. “I’m sure you’re all eager to start, seeing as you’re meeting my brother shortly, so I’ll try to keep this brief.” Pausing for a moment to look at her clipboard, she added, “Normally, someone else would be leading these lessons, but I was asked to be a replacement. Let’s begin.”

It was clear that she was reading from a script, especially given the bemused expressions that crossed her face whenever she read something that she found particularly entertaining. She raised her brow as she read aloud how any missteps on our part would be reported to the royal family, and straight up rolled her eyes as she finished a passage on how the Selected would become ladies from the ground up. I couldn’t blame her. I knew that Idalia, Indiana, and I had joked about having to learn how to walk with a book on top of our heads on the plane, but that was the kind of territory this script sounded like it was heading into. I had a feeling, though, that no matter how ridiculous these lessons might seem, Safiya would make sure we did everything correctly, whereas Ayesha would probably use them as an excuse to cause mischief.

I caught myself wondering briefly where the other princess was. I couldn’t fathom why I would want to see her again after the horse incident, but even with that in mind, it would have been nice to see a familiar royal face today.

I heard the door to the room creak open, and another girl quickly stepped into the room. I restrained myself from frowning as I looked her over, attempting to figure out who she was. All of the Selected must be accounted for, or else we wouldn’t have begun. On top of that, this girl’s entrance seemed to surprise even Safiya, who blinked as the girl made her way over to her. Someone important, then, but who? The girl’s face tugged at some memory in the back of my mind, and then it hit me.

Felicity Graham. The prince’s ex-fiance.

What was she was doing here? Why would she even want to be here? I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the same room as thirty-five girls who were vying to win my ex’s heart. Then again, it wasn’t like we had the full story of their breakup. Something interesting must have happened there, I mused, but let the train of thought go as I watched Felicity and Safiya converse in muted tones.

The princess seemed more agitated when she addressed us again, saying dryly, “My sister sent someone to replace her. Lucky for us.”

Was this another one of Ayesha’s pranks? I wouldn’t be surprised, thought I couldn’t tell whether she was trying to play a prank on Felicity or the Selected. Felicity had looked a little surprised when she entered the room, and yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were the ones being set up, somehow.

Safiya continued on, explaining how we would be served from the right, what glass would be used for what beverage, and giving us a stern warning to never grab food with our hands. Our napkins went on our laps, and our hands were to rest there as well when we weren’t using them.

So far, this was just basic table manners. Easy enough, I supposed. They were a little more elaborate than the rules we had at home, but not different enough to trip me up.

“You are not to speak unless spoken to.” Safiya looked up from the script and fixed her gaze on us. “If you follow this one, I’ll be disappointed.”

Beside her, Felicity snorted. I couldn’t help but echo the sentiment in my mind. Not that I could ever imagine a situation where I would speak out of turn, but I could see how meals here would be dull if all thirty-five of us held our tongues all the time. Given the confrontation between Jen and Ava that rumors claimed had gone down the first night, I was almost certain that this rule would be one of the first to be broken.

After a few more instructions on how to address the royal family, we were told to begin practicing our curtsies.

Here was the part that would trip me up. I had poor balance in flat shoes on a good day. My family members had often compared me to a newborn deer - all limbs and no coordination - and I had to admit that they were right. Regardless, this was an issue I’d have to sort out, especially if I wanted to make it far in this competition. This was a new, challenging skill set for me, and I was determined to rise to the occasion.

Steeling my nerves, I made my way up to the front of the room, where Princess Safiya stood, organizing some papers left at her table. Remembering some of the etiquette we had just been taught, I began, “Hi, Your Highness!” Despite myself, I could feel the nervous smile forming on my face. I only hoped I looked more confident than I felt. “This might sound kind of ridiculous, but I had some questions on the etiquette lesson that I was wondering if I could ask you?”

The princess simply raised her brows slightly, her polite smile revealing none of her thoughts. “Yes?”

The words flowed out of my mouth before I could even think about what I was saying. Even as I spoke, I cursed my own nerves for making me a rambling mess. That was definitely something I’d have to work on. “Well, generally, I was kind of curious about how these rules came to be seen as the most proper form of behavior, but, now that I think about it, that’s kind of vague.” I winced at myself. It was like I was watching somebody else speak, and was suffering from major second-hand embarrassment. Way to make a first impression!

Remembering why I had been planning on asking for help in the first place, I attempted to compose myself, before continuing, “More specifically, I was wondering about the foot placement on the curtsy. Is it the left foot or the right foot that goes back?”

The princess’s smile seemed to be more amused now, which I took as a good sign. “Your dominant foot,” she instructed. “It will feel more natural. I assume you’re right handed?”

“Yes,” I answered, almost sighing in relief. “Sorry if it was a silly question. This is all just very new to me, and I don’t want to mess it up.”

Safiya shook her head. “You’re not exactly accustomed to any of this.” Then, inclining her head slightly, she asked, “Would you like to show me again?”

“Sure.” I swallowed, praying I wouldn’t stumble in front of her. I might actually die of embarrassment if I did. I placed my right foot behind me and began to bend my knees, averting my gaze to the floor. “Can I ask, is every event so formal, or do you ever get a chance to relax?”

“Every event requires certain standards from royalty. Relaxing comes privately.” Her smile was still in place as she nodded and added, “Curtsy was much better, by the way.”

I felt my grin spread from ear to ear at the compliment. “Thank you. This is all very interesting, in a sense, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the novelty of learning this etiquette wears off soon. I feel like I’m being graded on every move I make.” A small laugh escaped my mouth as I finished. I didn’t know why I felt compelled to be so honest with the princess, but some gut instinct was telling me that she was someone I could trust. I only hoped that feeling proved to be correct.

“That feeling will never go away, I’m afraid.” Even with that comment, her smile remained in place. I wondered how much practice she had had at maintaining such composure. “In this life, there’s always someone watching.”

I laughed lightly, replying, “That will sure keep all of us on our toes. Good thing I’m not used to having a lot of alone time.” That was true, though I had never felt like I was being watched, except maybe in Proctor’s lab. I wondered what was going on there, and back home in general. Had Proctor followed through on her threats?

The princess’s brow quirked up at my comment. “Are you a secret Lady at home?”

I laughed at the thought. “No, I just have a big family, and spent most of my time either in class or working in a lab, surrounded by other people.” I paused for a moment, then, in a softer tone, added, “I never thought about just how useful that could be, out of context.”

“Being a student has certain aspects that transfer over well,” Safiya agreed. I truly wasn’t surprised that she understood, what with her being a medical student, and all. “Major?”

“Biology.”

“Ah,” she replied with an understanding nod. “Undergraduate?”

“Yes, I’m just over halfway done with my degree.” And I might not be able to do anything with it if or when I return home, depending on whether or not my professor had decided to blackball me in the biology world.

I did my best to push the thought out of my head. If anything, it was fuel to my fire, a little extra added motivation for me to win the prince’s heart.

The princess nodded again, offering me a small smile. “Any plans for continuing your education?”

I nodded as well. “I definitely plan on getting my degree. The specifics, namely the when and where, I suppose, are kind of up in the air at the moment.” I bit my lip at that, wishing I had a bit more control over my own future. I wanted to be here, of course, but coming here had rewritten the course of my future. “It really depends on how this -” I gestured at the room “-goes.”

“Fair point. The Selection is an odd pause in time for all of us.”

I thought back to my conversation with Ayesha. She was right, of course. This Selection was just as disruptful to the lives of the royal family as it was to our own lives.

I nodded in understanding, noticing the way the princess was shifting on her feet. “I’m sure.” With a glance back towards the tables, I added, “Thank you again for your help. I don’t want to keep you from your duties for too long!”

“Not a problem, Lady Evalin. Pleasure to meet you.”

I returned her smile, starting to walk away. “It was lovely to meet you too.”

I made my way back towards the tables, noting that the other girls had started to take food from the buffet. Breakfast and coffee sounded amazing right about now, though I could hardly stomach more than a few pieces of fruit, much to my dismay, as I thought about my upcoming conversation with the prince. One by one, girls were being led into a side room, which they emerged from about half an hour later. It didn’t take long before it was my turn.

The prince stood as I entered the side room, and I could already feel the smile forming on my face as I took him in. He looked the same in person as he did on television, and, to top it all off, he was taller than me, thank God. I wasn’t a giant, but at 5’9”, I had met my fair share of boys who were shorter than me, or the same height as me, and that just wasn’t ideal for me. I found that boys my height or shorter often resorted to taunting if I showed any signs of disinterest, or if I dared to focus on something other than them, and that kind of behavior was the last thing I needed working against me now.

“Good morning,” the prince began, looking directly at my nametag, which I had pinned to the top left part of my dress, about an inch and a half beneath my collar bone. “Lady Evalin. Please have a seat.” He motioned to the sofa behind him.

I offered him a small smile before taking a seat in the spot he motioned to. God, this was actually happening! I clamped down any excitement and nerves I felt, refusing to be the bumbling fool again. Once was enough for this morning.

“Good morning, Prince Arin. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person!”

He returned my smile before asking, “How has your morning been?”

“It’s been interesting. I’ve never had an etiquette lesson before,” I admitted with a soft laugh. “I’m not sure what I expected, but I can’t complain. How has your morning been so far?”

Relax, I coached myself. No need to be so stiff! He’s probably just a regular guy, deep down!

“My morning has been alright,” he replied with a nod. “Which province are you from?”

I smiled and answered, “I’m from Carolina. Have you ever been?”

“I have, but not recently.” He nodded. “Is this your first time in Angeles.”

Now it was my turn to nod. Were all first conversations this stiff? Was I just being awkward? Was I the worst conversationalist he had met with thus far? I wouldn’t be surprised if I was. “Yes, it is.”

“How has your time in the palace been so far?” As he talked, he glanced around the room.

I bit back the urge to frown. Was I that hard to focus on, or was he just incredibly bored with the conversation? “It’s been quite lovely,” I offered, trying to think of something more interesting to add. It hit me then, and I chuckled. “Although, I did have a rather interesting run-in with Princess Ayesha my first day here.”

That seemed to catch his attention, and he looked back at me once more. “Oh? I hope that was alright. She can be interesting.”

I laughed at what might have been the understatement of the year. Truth be told, I felt a little guilty about throwing Ayesha under the bus like this, but I was willing to argue that it was payback of sorts for her letting me step in horse manure. “It was quite interesting. I definitely didn’t expect her to lead me to the stables, but the ridiculousness of the situation definitely helped me lighten up a bit.” I bit the inside of my lip, willing to bet that this was my chance to learn a little bit more about him. “Are you a prankster like your sister, as well?”

The prince seemed to ignore my question, frowning. “She led you all the way out to the stables? Why?”

I laughed nervously. I wasn’t going to be in trouble, was I? “I had finished the makeover early, and was told I was allowed to leave to go to a restroom. I nearly barreled into her - she must have been waiting at the door - and she asked me if I was lost, and I said yes and explained the situation, and she offered to help.” I shrugged at that. “She saw the opportunity to pull a prank, and took it. I really can’t blame her - I should have seen it coming.”

Prince Arin blew out a breath, shaking his head. “I’ll have a talk with her. I’m sorry you had to go though that. What do you do in your province?”

“It’s no problem, really,” I assured him with a laugh. “I have four siblings, so I’m kind of used to that thing. Before coming here, I was studying biology at university, and working as a research assistant for one of my professors.”

“Do you plan on resuming your studies?” he asked, inclining his head slightly.

I bit my lip. Arin’s patterns of thought definitely seemed to mirror Safiya’s, if this morning was any indication. Though, I shouldn’t be surprised by that. They had probably received a similar education in etiquette and conversational skills. “I would like to, at some point. Biology has always been a big part of my life, but I’ll be the first to admit that I jumped at the chance to come here.” I smiled then. “What about you? What do you like to do, besides your princely duties?”

“I don’t really have time right now with all this -” he motioned towards the main room, where the other Selected waited, “- and we thought I’d be able to shift my work load, but unfortunately, my mother in on a tour, so it didn’t quite work out as planned.”

“Ah,” I began with a frown, “I’m sorry to hear that. It’s admirable how dedicated you are to your work, though. I think it really shows how much you care about this country.” I smiled, ready to try and ask him again. I would learn more about this man, even if I had to ask him a thousand questions. “What about beforehand, though? Surely there must have been an activity outside of work that you enjoyed at some point.”

“Before that, I mostly focused on school.” His back straightened a little, and then he added, “But I enjoy the outdoors, among other things.”

I felt my smile grow at his answer. I could work with that. “Me too, to both of those points! Whenever I wasn’t studying, I would go for walks or runs in the woods. There was a trail that began just a few blocks from my house, that ran alongside a creek. Sometimes, on days when less people were outside, I’d see deer just a little off to the side of the trail.” I smiled at the memory before asking, “Are you more of a woods person, or a beach person?”

“It really depends on my mood, so both,” he admitted. He smiled at me then, before glancing at his watch. “Lady Evalin, it’s been a pleasure to speak with you. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

Had it really been half an hour already? I smiled and stood, still looking at the prince as I spoke. “Thank you, it was a pleasure to speak with you as well, Prince Arin.”

He stood up beside me, adding, “I hope you have a good rest of your day.”

“Thank you. You as well!”

With that, I took my leave.

[cometogethcr]

Get to know the blogger!

Tagged by @eatingthem ( thank you brother )

i’m tagging @indignaticn @mirrcrspeaks @pepperpxtts @smartvulpix and anyone else who wants to do it !!

FIRST NAME jason but i don’t mind jayjay, or jace either. just don’t call me jay i don’t know what it is but i hate being called jay for whatever reason

STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh i’ve technically died twice? (and almost died a third time) once when i was two after getting really really sick from something that they still don’t know lmao, and once when i was nine on the day we came back from a holiday also from getting really really sick aaaaand the almost died time being in my first year of uni when i overdosed on ecstacy 

TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON hands, legs, and probably eyes

A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF sushi !! especially from my sister and i’s fav sushi place. i know theyre super american but i could eat Philadelphia rolls until the day i die and never ever get tired of them

A FOOD YOU HATE BELL PEPPERS!!

GUILTY PLEASURE super fucked up extreme cinema... i’ve watched salo 3 times lmfao 

WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN usually t shirt and boxers, unless its FREEZING (i live in a basement) then i wear a hoodie and boxers

SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS serious relationships, although im very very happy being single right now lmfao

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE uuuuuuuhhhhh probably go back to the time when i had initially dropped out of theatre school and just stayed and finished my final year so i didn’t go back the year later and eventually meet my “”ex”” (if you could even call him that) kjjdjskjsdf thats trauma baby!!!

ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON sometimes! more so verbally than anything else, i’m not much of a touchy person, i like hugs but i don’t really like cuddling or anything like that

A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN oh man theres so many!! reservoir dogs, a clockwork orange, full metal jacket, salo kjdjdkfjkf

FAVORITE BOOK oh man, filth by irvine welsh, flowers for algernon by daniel keyes, animal farm by george orwell 

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE A PIGGIE!!!!!!! or a sloth or a goat

TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL] UUUH mister pink/mister brown - reservoir dogs ????? god i don’t know lmao

PIE OR CAKE CAKE!!!!!!!!!! CHEESECAKE!!!!!!!

FAVORITE SCENT whatever scent my candle that i have is that i ripped the label off and can no longer remember what it is

CELEBRITY CRUSH LEE PACE!!!! GOD i am just so mesmerized but his work?? and he’s someone i look up to so much as an actor myself, plus his smile is so GENUINE!! and he’s done so much for the environment and for the queer community sdjksdkjsjsdjks i love him so much. i wish i could have seen him in angels in america on broadway back in 2018 fuck. 

IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO I really want to visit every province that i haven’t been to yet before I die. (I live in Ontario and I’ve only been to Quebec & Manitoba so I have a bit to go lol) especially the northern territories and the eastern provinces (I really hope to work at neptune theatre in nova scotia one day), aaaand my best friend sammi and i were supposed to go to mexico this year but ..... yeah. AND ALSO I’D LIKE TO GO TO UTAH TO SEE @eatingthem <3

INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT a little bit of both?? it really depends on the situation, im definitely more of an extrovert once you get to know me, honestly.  

DO YOU SCARE EASILY depends on the situation, i get nervous about confrontation sometimes... real life things tend to scare me the most. my two biggest fears are cults and pandemics.. ..... . . . . . so you know how i’ve been feeling lately 

IPHONE OR ANDROID i’ve been using iphones since i was 14 (so almost 10 years) and even though realistically i know that androids are better i probably will never ever switch over lmfao 

DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES i play the sims 4 (i have almost all the expansion packs and what not) i play GTAV sometimes but my xbox is super old and sometimes the game disc thingy doesn’t want to open. i play some indie games on steam also, all the roller coaster tycoons, emily is away 1 & 2, dream daddy. 

DREAM JOB  I’ve done quite a bit of work in my field (theatre) since graduating, and its really surreal. i’ve wanted to do theatre since i was 13 and actually starting to work and get paid for doing what i love was insane !! and i had quite a bit of new work lined up before this outbreak happened. i would like to do more jobs on the tech side and costume side of the theatre because all ive really done so far is acting, directing and playwrighting, and i hope to get back into everything soon... it’s been rough. 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS get an apartment with my best friend and probably save the rest, and invest in finally opening my queer shakespeare theatre company that ive wanted to for a while now.

FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE oh my god? uuuuhhhhhhh, jeez thats hard. i honestly can’t think of anyone off the top of my head jksdsjkdfjksdfsjdkf

FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER i used to write mister pink (reservoir dogs), quicksilver (xmen), jd (heathers), trevor (gta), iago (shakespeare), oliver (call me by your name), lito (sense 8) ...... uh, i cant remember who else off the top of my head? a lot of those fandoms i’m still apart of, i just dont write in anymore

[mirrcrspeaks]

Get to know the blogger!

Tagged by @cometogethcr

i’m tagging you !!

FIRST NAME jen!!

STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF my mouth is smol so i have one (1) vampire tooth it’s pretty sick

TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON hair, eyes, legs

A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF cheezits...........

A FOOD YOU HATE sunflower seeds

GUILTY PLEASURE ice cream at midnight

WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN t-shirt and pajama pants but sometimes.....sometimes i take the pants off at night

SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS serious relationships!!

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE probably would’ve told myself to fucking suck it up and just get my license already lmao

ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON i think so yeah!!  at the moment i do a lot verbal affection but i’m open to cuddling when i don’t feel gross

A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN murder on the orient express, the adventures of tintin (i have in fact watched that movie many times)

FAVORITE BOOK anything by agatha christie, dread journey by dorothy b hughes is also pretty good

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE chinchilla or baby goat

TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL] fish/harmony, riley/emmett, chef/clarisse, riley/quinn, abigail/haley

PIE OR CAKE mmmmmmmm yes

FAVORITE SCENT vanilla cinnamon yum

CELEBRITY CRUSH ellen page

IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO i would like to go to ohio............for reasons

INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT i used to think i was an introvert but i’m proving to be more extroverted?  i just show it different (i.e. online)

DO YOU SCARE EASILY oh yeah i freak out a lot

IPHONE OR ANDROID iphone my family is an apple family

DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES animal crossing baby!!  and stardew

DREAM JOB i’d love to write some books some day, or publish them, or be a librarian

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS save a lot, get an apartment with the gf, get a pibble

FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE joker, harley quinn deserves to be w plant wife

FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER uhhhhhhhhh i used to be a weeb and now i’m less?

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, JULIE! You’ve been accepted for the role of GONERIL with an FC change to Vika Boronova. Admin Jen: Wow, Julie. Just WOW. Your app was absolutely stunning. There’s this poignancy to your portrayal that breathes life into Grace so beautifully. From the over-arching theme of carelessness that you’ve explored, to the touch of vulnerability you hinted at when it comes to Grace’s bond with her sisters, to my personal favorite aspect -- which was the way you cleanly outlined her perspective and potential future while leaving enough room for Grace’s volatility and unpredictable nature to run its course. We absolutely cannot wait to see more of her! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Julie

Age | 20

Preferred Pronouns | She/her/hers

Activity Level | Hit and miss! But I’m usually able to hop on at some point during the week and get replies done. If not, I’m always lurking on Discord to plot.

Timezone | MST

How did you find the rp?  | Through the tumblr tags all the way back in 2018, if I remember right! Crazy to think we’ve hit 2020 and I’m still here, lurking. Wild.

Current/Past RP Accounts | Santino, Loretta

IN CHARACTER

Character | Goneril / Grace Daly. I’d like a faceclaim change to Vika Bronova, if possible!

What drew you to this character? | Grace isn’t like a character I’ve ever written before – she’s completely new territory for me, and I think she’s a fascinating representation of, like, what if you just REALLY fucked everything up and didn’t give a shit? Because I don’t think Grace… cares, necessarily, about what sort of havoc she wreaks so long as it gets her something. And I can only ever desire to be that selfish. It’s this sort of reckless abandon of the morals most people cling to that’s super interesting to me, something I’d love to explore. Hundreds of thousands of people do the exact opposite of what they want to be doing every single day, in the name of responsibility and a certain code of ethics they hold dear. Or because they know doing what they want would have consequences. Grace looks at the consequences and bites her thumb at them, because while she’s not immune to them, there are certain advantages to being free of those sort of chains.

Santino was compelled by his moral backbone to do the same thing, and even Loretta had similar constraints, but Grace is going to run herself ragged with carelessness until she simply can’t run anymore. It shouldn’t be that easy, and for most people it isn’t, but to Grace, it comes naturally.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

ASK ME NOT WHAT I KNOW. There’s a difference between coming to the Montagues and begging for refuge and walking to their doorstep with a dead bird in hand, and Grace unfortunately chose to do the latter. It’s clear now that Damiano saw something in her – if he saw anything in her beyond another soldier – but she’s going to have to do more than most than to stay in those good graces, and God help her, she does. Everything Grace does has propelled her to this status of terror, the sort of person that it’s uncomfortable to share a room with. She knows how she got where she is and knows she actively chose to betray her own blood and her blood’s blood to do it. I’m interested in exploring how this impacts her relationships with other characters as well as her own personal monologue as it develops over time.

I LOVE YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN WIELD THE MATTER. Grace denies that her sisters are of any meaningful worth to her but I think a piece of her knows deep down that it isn’t necessarily true. We all have little lies we tell ourselves, and even if she is angry at Regina and Catherine for stealing away attention that she genuinely believes should have been hers as a child, there are moments in quiet spaces where she sits and wonders just how far she could extend her ill graces. She’s not quite sure they consider her blood, and she doesn’t know she’d consider them kin, but exploring that relationship could be integral to the expansion of Grace’s character, morals, and own personal motivations – she can fully abandon them, even abandon the name Daly, if she so chose, but she hasn’t yet. A piece of her is still hanging on. I want to see why.

IN HIS OWN GRACE HE DOTH EXALT HIMSELF. At this point in time Grace has found herself comfortable in her position in the Montagues – and if there’s anything more than prominent about Grace, it’s that she hates being comfortable. If it doesn’t get her blood pumping, her thoughts racing, her heart beating at five hundred horsepower a minute with no end in sight, well, she doesn’t want it. And I think to a degree her comfort and her prior connections to the Capulets have her wondering just what would happen if she proposed she switch sides again. It’s not the most ludicrous idea in the world, as the Montagues seem a bit more talk than action, but there would need to be serious incentive and assurance they wouldn’t string her up, which means the weight of information. If switching sides isn’t a possibility, she’d prefer to advance. Climb the ranks, situate herself somewhere she can oversee her not-so-newfound compatriots and watch them. There’s something enthralling about the concept of that particular power, having control because other people think she can handle it, because she’s proven herself. Even if she doesn’t want to put the work in.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Yes!

IN DEPTH

When she was a child she was loud. Bratty, clamoring for all eyes to be on her, tugging at every possible sleeve and holding a hand out for offered gifts in the same motion. Never stopped talking, her mother professed, although Grace can’t say now that she believes it to have been a flaw. She talks, people listen. The input-output exchange works for her, that way. She doesn’t need to lend an ear to others — they only need to look at her to see what they should be paying attention to.

When Regina was born, quiet and dull and as boring as one of the countless dolls collecting dust in their playroom – their, not hers, not anymore – Grace had been appalled for so long. Not one for conversation, Regina. Nor Catherine, if she recalled now. Too afraid to converse with the sister who clawed out chunks of hair and laughed when she fell because she’d thought it was funny. It’s not that silence bothered her. It was just boring.

When she holds court with Damiano Montague and offers her services she finds that it is very suddenly not boring, the life that she’s leading, running petty errands for the Capulets and looking pretty in the corner. Their conversation isn’t loud, either, but he speaks with a timbre in his voice that is enough to quell any crowd. If she were anyone else, maybe she’d be intimidated by it. But she’s not anyone else. She’s Grace Daly, and that’s enough for her to coast on alone. They shake hands at the end of the conversation, and she laughs at herself in her car on the drive back home, at the familiarity of business. It had felt natural. Like any other day of the week. Like she hadn’t just sold everything out for the sake of the spotlight.

When she leaves her family home for the final time she is, at last, quiet. Her silence is deafening. Her father is so loud and uproarious in his protest that he is brought to tears by his own madness. How many years had she confessed love and adoration to him to get what she’d wanted? Petty, meaningless trinkets – a new car, a necklace, a dress, an education. In turn she’d sworn love, adoration, fealty to the Capulets. So much for that. She doesn’t say goodbye to Catherine or Regina; chances are they’d never have noticed she’d left in the first place. Her father tugs at her sleeve, like she had his so long ago, and she can only summon up the motivation to press a kiss to the center of his forehead. He falls to his knees and she closes the double doors behind her so loudly it shakes the foundation of the house.

In the car to her new apartment there is no conversation to be had. No personal contemplation of revelry, no laughter, no jig to follow the steps to at freedom for the first time from whatever obligations they’d stacked upon her. Instead she turns the music up so loud she’s sure that all of Verona hears it, and that’s enough for her. Good, she thinks, rolling the windows down. They should be listening.

EXTRAS

I got quotes!

…people who stand alone + burn. I’m attracted to them because they give me permission to do the same. — Susan Sontag

You have to want to go to hell. Deserve’s / got nothing to do with it. — Michael Robbins

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. — Gillian Flynn

My wants are simple, and I do not want to be forced to make them complicated. — Edith Sitwell

Also, a playlist.