#bloodicdfeathers

[enduringdevotion]

Ripples Become Waves ||@bloodicdfeathers||

It'd been a couple weeks since the rain, since the meeting in the toxic rain. Of them bonding and somewhat dancing around whatever it was Nicholas and Xuanyu has become. They'd grown close, he'd stolen the other's hand whenever he could, sitting close to him to just feel his heat, hell, Nicholas even stole little kisses here and there just to see the other blush.

Though they'd break away whenever the 'parents' came around. It was beginning to irritate him. Xuanyu was yet to properly move in and he didn't even sleep in the house, just crashed in the back yard. It felt safer, somehow.

So he'd finally asked Xuanyu on a date. Took a page out of Nai's book and suggested an aquarium. He's never seen fish before, even since being here beyond films. So, in his newly made shawl with the very same flowers suggested by Xuan, a half corset, open long-sleeve rolled up, tight pants laced up the side of his legs and his slightly heeled boots, he prepares for what he hopes is a good day.

With his phone secured, keys, ride ready to be ordered - which was also a new and frightening thing - and a good chunk of change on his card, he was ready.

Knocking on the door shouldn't be so nerve wracking. Nor should standing there with bouquet of forget-me-nots, blue roses and Bethlehem’s stars. The beautiful, unattainable hope he yearned for that the other brought, that feeling of rebirth, a cleansing he wasn't quite ready to fully see himself, but he could feel.

He felt stupid, face warming as he shifted on his feet, forcing himself to calm, to slow. No gun, no devil rain, no war, no desert, no shitty Aunts. Just he, Xuanyu and hopefully, some fish.

[drunkelreporter]

"There you are." Roberto's voice is a low, easy rumble, still weighed down by the events of Sonare and the Coda, but not nearly as badly as before. He meanders up with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette between his lips, automatically settling downwind or Xuanyu.

"A guy might almost assume you only showed up to steal his kid and sweep away," he says with a little grin. "Might start to worry he'll never see either of his kids again, since they're too busy making heart eyes at each other."

It was cute, how wrapped up in each other they were. Mildly worrisome with how fast they'd fallen, but if they were happy and safe, it was alright.

"How are you two doing? I've heard you've been around town together a whole lot lately. Having fun?"

@bloodicdfeathers

[ttauriwanderer]

While he may not be a member of Aevum's echo-based police force, that wasn't going to stop Steven from doing his own little patrol of sorts, keeping an eye out for anything new and unusual or anyone that might need his help. Granted, he wasn't doing so quite as often as usual, with Deidara hiding in his and Ito's place. Someone had to be around to keep an eye on him, after all.

But, since he wasn't actually working during his patrols, he had every opportunity to stop and chat with people on his self given rounds.

Or spirits, in this case. Annoying ones.

"No, I don't have a job for you to do, I can't direct you or anything right now, can't you tell that?" He hissed quietly at the simple little spirit trailing him. Probably a young spirit that hadn't lived more then a couple of lives, or something like that, enough to talk but not really smart. Enough to want to help but not enough to know that Steven couldn't make use of it right now. Or at least not directly...

"Okay, okay, fine, if you want to be helpful, can you go keep an eye on Deidara for me? There you go, that's a good task for you. Thanks. Oh." He stepped around a corner and blinked at the young man suddenly across from him before smiling.

"Hey there! Don't mind me, just uh... talking to myself. Heh." He tried to subtly wave a hand at the little spirit to shoo it away, tilting his head at the new person. "I don't think we've met before, I'm Captain Steven Gobair."

@bloodicdfeathers

[angelictragedy]

Bonding Over Knowledge ||@bloodicdfeathers||

After the talk with Nicholas and his own traverse into trialing this 'date' thing, Nai had come to understand he should perhaps look more into this human ritual. He didn't have his brother to ask, asking Legato would open up too many questions and risk making the man feel unworthy. He wanted to protect the human.

Astarion was... Unhelpful.

Thus, he finds himself where knowledge is freely stored;

The Library.

He'd kindly asked the receptionist who raised a brow at him before, he supposed, noting the feather on his cheek and presumed him to be otherworldly. Or perhaps it was the way he asked for 'books on the human custom of 'dating' please' that had her directing him to a section of 'self help' and history.

It was... Abysmally unhelpful at first, but he'd finally found a book, a quick skim allowing him to note the evolution of this ritual and the modern meanings today. It wasn't until he'd gone in search of finding a seat that he'd noted the figure.

Adorned in clothes he'd seen in old movies, books piled around them, notes being taken perhaps, it was hard to tell. A quick trail of the spines had him noting the other too, seemed to be searching for love rituals. Perhaps another from a time where such things were either unseen or different.

"This pile is near useless information." He motions to a large stack, tapping it gently for good measure. "They're romance novels with procreation scenes. And these are old traditions." He taps another much smaller pile as he circled to touch a chair, pausing to look to the other, book held in a way the cover was visible.

Ways in which the art of Courtship has evolved.

"Do you mind if I sit? Gato won't be a problem, she's a therapy pup." He motions to the beast at his side, the dog's head looking up to the stressed being, inching closer to snuffle their knee. "Seems we are searching for the same answers."

[bluestringpuppeteer]

@bloodicdfeathers

There are many things that this world has that are vastly superior to the world that Legato had called home. Water, for one. Green, growing things.

A library.

A whole damn archive of a library, in fact.

Legato had never really read just for pleasure before coming here. He hadn't had time or inclination to do so back home, occupied as he was with Knives' plans and his own. Now, though, there were many evenings he spent quietly curled up on the couch with the Plant, both of them with a book of some kind. It was comfortable, cozy even.

Of course, this meant that he needed to find books to read. Which meant visiting the Archive on an increasingly frequent basis.

Today, he had an armful of returns, both his and some from Knives, since he was coming here anyway. May as well get all their returns done at once, after all. And pick up a hearty stack of new ones.

It unfortunately means that his arms are quite full when he rounds the corner of a shelf at the same moment as someone else, both of them noticing the other just too late to dodge. Books go tumbling, and Legato makes a dismayed noise in the back of his throat.

"Dammit," he hisses as he drops to begin gathering his back up again. "Apologies, I am distracted lately." There's books on weddings mixed in, and he's not sure if they're from him or the other man. "I... which ones are yours?"

He still shifts away slightly, putting himself a bit further from the books perhaps but also further from the threat of being touched by the other man too. Just in case.

[clxscdeyes]

@bloodicdfeathers

"I have a question." he must find it odd that she'd find him of all people. He's probably heard of what happened and if anything, maybe he's seen the ghosts that had marched their way to Silverbrook. Nonetheless, she is here for that reason.

"Would you be able to show me something?" She didn't know if his abilities were a little bit stronger than before. "I would like to know how to protect myself against spirits a little better."

[aevumisles]

Links should be fixed for Mo Xuanyu from Mo Dao Zu Shi under /stats now!

Mo Dao Zu will be reapplied for you ^^

You will retain your housing in your own home!

— 🏵️ Creo

[aevummarket]

Hi! I'd like to redeem an Omnibag for Mo Xuanyu using the Hearth's Rising voucher. Thank you!

A special item has been delivered to your home and placed in a mailbox that wasn’t there yesterday. The box, and the item both have your name on them.

Omnibag 200 Emblems A miraculous bag that almost seems to hold unlimited storage! When attuned, the Omnibag can hold up to 3 medium sized objects in a portable dimension-space. It can otherwise be used to fit 1 large item. NOTE: Because the bag can only hold 3 objects at a time, if your muse would like to attune a fourth item, they will have to disenchant one of the previous items and swap out.             Failure to do so will result in the bag warping itself into dimension-space, and your items spilling unceremoniously into one big mess.             If damaged or destroyed, this object cannot be repaired and is considered a PERISHABLE ITEM. You will have to acquire a new Omnibag.

ORIGINAL EMBLEM BALANCE: 200 TRANSACTION: Free! (Hearths Rising Voucher) CURRENT EMBLEM BALANCE: 200

— 🏵️ Creo

[enduringdevotion]

Bonded by Circumstance ||@bloodicdfeathers||

After trying to break the idiot old man out of his head strong charge then rushing and almost breaking the door down to get Astarion to go after him, he was now left alone with this strange kid he had no idea who the hell he was.

"Nico, meet my son, Xuan. Xuan, my son Nico. Play nice."

Gods, both of his 'dads' love to adopt the sad looking ones. Now he was left wondering how the other acted as he shouldered the massive hunk of metal on his spine.

The soldier reaches into his pocket, bypassing the smokes as he decides best to be less imposing... Well, as much as one can with a massive gun.

He pulls out a sucker, tearing the plastic off the top and pops it in his mouth, looking around the love hotel. Ugh, it was as bad as he imagined. He rests his gun against the wall carefully, rolling his shoulders to crack them.

He sniffs the air, scenting the space and looked to the other.

"They'll be fine. If anyone can get those two out, it's each other." There's a frown as he tries to place the scent. "Why do I smell blood? You got injuries that need patching?" He imagined Astarion would have already done so, especially seeing his dad's signature clothes on the human.

"Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Whatever Astarion said about me, it's not true, unless it was how cool I am." He flashes the other a grin around the candy, turning his hand over to reveal he was offering the other a sucker too. "You look like you could use something sweet to ease the day."

[drunkelreporter]

It did not take Roberto long to figure out that this place was wrong. Things moved, very little was where it should be, and the people were just as shifty as the locations. Thieves and sneaks, thugs and knives, this was more of an underbelly to the Isle then Rosewood District ever could be.

Roberto was almost, almost tempted to relax in the face of a more familiar setting. These were people he knew how to deal with; the rough and rowdy, the wary and watchful. The people in Arcanus Isle were nice but... that wasn't what he was used to. He was used to the fight for survival in an unfriendly place and this felt far more natural then what he'd seen in Arcanus.

Sonare Isle was alright, for someone who knew how to keep his valuables tucked away, how to appear less then he was, and how to blend in. Or mostly, with the last one. Somehow people still marked him as an Echo, and gave him suspicious looks. No matter, they wrote him off almost as quickly as the people from Arcanus did and didn't stop him from poking around a little.

Or getting lost, which was the most annoying part. As if navigating a city wasn't hard enough, try one that moved.

And had weird, loud, silver rain. He'd been caught in the stuff before he had a chance to take cover and had been rather drenched but rain wasn't a mystery anymore, he could deal with being wet.

What he couldn't deal with was the lack of train back at the station, even as he caught sight of more Echoes here and there. No amount of hanging around brought a train and no amount of calling Astarion or Wolfwood brought an answer. He may have miscalculated.

Why was everything a struggle here? Not the things he was used to either, all the things that seemed simple weren't. What a pain.

And then things got weirder.

Voices that he knew by heart, flickers of movement from the corners of his eyes. Things that made no sense, that couldn't be, but somehow were. He'd caught the smell of familiar perfume once or twice and had shaken it off as thoughts about the past seeping into the present. Nothing more, nothing less.

He stopped telling himself that even after he swore he saw Meryl with her camera and had to double check that it was just a young boy with a very different model. The click had been the same, up until it wasn't.

Something was going on here and he didn't much like it.

Wandering the Pizzicato Road wasn't much better, but it was movement, which was preferable to sitting in one place. The kid with the camera had (for a handful of keys) told Roberto where the road lead 'reliably' and that it otherwise went "wherever Pizzicato wants to go", so he'd decided to explore a bit. Apparently the neo-terriers knew the way, if you were asked nicely and had a treat for them, so he wasn't worried, exactly. But the little map he'd been trying to make in his notebook made not a lick of sense and he'd just resolved to give it up when he saw someone else who looked distinctly lost.

A young man, bit pretty and meek looking, not at all the kind of person, at least by appearances, that would fare well back home.

"Hey there," Roberto said before he thought about it too much. "I've been told the neo-terriers will lead you around if you're lost out here. Here, I got some treats for them before I started exploring." The reporter sticks his pen behind his ear and digs into a pocket for a couple biscuits, stepping over to hold them out for the guy.

It's now physically impossible for Roberto to pass up a younger person who looks like they might need a bit of help. He's going to be very cross with his kids for this later, he's sure.

@bloodicdfeathers

[ttauriwanderer]

If you were a deity, what would you be the god of?

wisdom and knowledge

intelligent and trusted, there is rarely a soul who doesn’t hear and value your voice. you act as a guiding light in an array of situations. calm and wise, you offer the deepest and sincerest insights regarding the world’s problems.

Tagged by: @bloodicdfeathers

Tagging: whoever else wants to play

[angelictragedy]

answer & tag 10 people you want to get to know better and/or catch up with!

Favorite colour/shade: Greens. I don't know why but I'm obsessed with the colour right now (moss and nature probably)

Last song listened to: Here is where I embarrass myself, BALDUR'S GATE 3 RAP by JT Music - "Hard for a Bard" (DnD Bard Song) Here's the link https://youtu.be/rCneVni8edw?list=PLL3MgIitzRDFLb4mW10PMhiKfz5cErNXE I love it okay it's silly and fun XD I listen to a lot of Citizen Soldier, but this song just tickles me

Last film watched: Last I remember is I finally watched most of interstellar! It was pretty cool

Currently reading: Nada bar some fics I need to read more

Currently craving: Oh, texmex, nachos specifically hhhhh feral for some queso

Currently watching: Youtube mostly, found this silly group called Worst Premade Ever, Silly goobers.

Coffee or tea: Coffee! I love coffee, caramel flat white my beloved

Tagged by: @mischiefmodig

Tagging: @bluestringpuppeteer @brokeassgoing @bloodicdfeathers @liightaga @hypnoticallycaucasian @ anyone who's down!

[aevumisles]

Hi! I would like to move Mo Xuanyu from Mo Dao Zu Shi’s housing! His previous housing was Seaside Province 202, and he’ll be moving to his personal housing in Downtown Arcanus. Today’s date is 11/20.

You relinquish your OLD HOUSE KEY to 202, SEASIDE PROVINCE in exchange for A NEW KEY. The receptionist at CITY HALL gives your permit one last once-over before signing and dating it.

"Ah, it must be nice going out to the countryside, away from the city. Nice and quiet, surrounded by nature and all of that. It's a nice place you got."

Congrats! Your muse, MO XUANYU, now has MOVED HOUSE. You can find your housing listed under HEARTHSIDE DWELLINGS on the Aevum Isles Map, or on the CUSTOM HOUSING PAGE.

You receive the following:

A House Key. Emblazoned upon it is: Mo Xuanyu's House.

— 🏵️ Creo

[bluestringpuppeteer]

It's like looking into a mirror. All of the anxiety and panic he knows so well displayed clearly for him to see on another's face. He's seen plenty of terror and despair before, but always in a context of his own making once he'd been freed. Not like this, where he feels like he's looking at another slave about to be beaten for attempting to reach further than his place.

Or even being perceived as such, intended or not.

Legato shudders and sets to carefully fixing the rumpled clothes the other man is wearing, minding that he doesn't so much as brush skin or knock anything further out of place. The style may be unfamiliar, but they ought to be easy enough to straighten and smooth without... causing more of a reaction. He hopes.

"You did nothing," Legato gets out, finding his voice at once more hoarse than it has any right to be and softer than it would be for almost anyone. "Nothing wrong. I.... I spent far too long on my knees for others to wish anyone bow like that to me. The mistake of collision was both of ours, you don't need to take all the blame."

He doesn't dare attempt to right the man's hair, skin crawling with too many, too large hands just at the thought of how he'd like that. Instead, he slides back and begins to gather the fallen books, righting them at the very least before he starts to gather them into two rough piles. Ones he's sure were his and Nai's in one, ones he believes were the other man's in the other.

"I am Legato, I was just on my way to return my and my partner's latest books and get more. Nothing is damaged, see? There is no need for worry then. A few slightly bent pages at worst, it seems." Words, ones that probably mean little in the long run, keep pouring out of him in an anxious flow. Attempts at reassurance, something to latch onto perhaps, something to keep that distant look from settling on his face too hard. Legato knows what he needs when he drifts, but he has no idea how to clear such a look from anyone else's face. It can't be all the same, right?

Reflexes and patterns are hard to break-- especially when caught off-guard. He's alone today, and Xiao-Ying isn't quite ready for spending an entire afternoon in the archives. As easy as it is to slip back into old habits, to cover his head with his hands on the ground... it's far, far more difficult to break out of it, to lift his head up. His mind is filled with white noise, like he's been thrown into a blizzard, his lungs feel like they're filled with water...

Anxiety, fear, panic, it runs through his veins, overtaking the rush of blood in his ears.

"I'm sorry-- I'm sorry," he repeats again, but... there's no expected violence or shouting. Still, it takes a great amount of effort to drag himself back to semi-consciousness, and even more effort to drag himself from the ground, hair and clothes messy, distant, glassy look in his eyes.

"I didn't..."

No, it's no use trying to explain himself. That might make things worse, but... what to do now? He's messed up, he's made the other upset too. Squeezes his eyes shut, swallows hard, chokes on his own tongue a bit before finally forcing out a few more words. "I... was just startled. I'm sorry if I... did something wrong."

[aevummarket]

I'd like to redeem the following anniversary items for Mo Xuanyu from Mo Dao Zu Shi:

M.I.M.I. Hologram

Pendant Necklace with emotion rune

Aether Staves

Today is 11/21. Thank you!

The following items can be added to your Muse's Stats Page!

ILLUSIONAL TOY (EMOTION RUNE) These toys can be found at Buster Barns Toys in the Crystal Heights Mall. While these toys may seem ordinary, each of them is enchanted with minor effects to give them some extra pizzaz. This pendant will match the wearer's emotions. AETHER STAVES Curved staves that, when used together, can locate pools of Ebenos (silver) and Ivurie (gold) Aether. A specialty craft by the Ebenos Metal Arts Council, who once used them to siphon Aether into ancient magical tools and weapons. The practice is no longer as prominent, but they are cool collectibles! M.I.M.I. HOLOGRAM M.I.M.I. is the well-known virtual assistant of all Kiwi Electronics. While she typically can only be heard, East Tower Company has manufactured a holographic version of the beloved A.I. Now anyone can have a mini M.I.M.I. of their own!M.I.M.I. typically takes the appearance of a teal cat that follows nearby when she is activated. She cannot directly interact with the real world, but can interface with technology when instructed.

Thank you for being part of Aevum Isle's first year anniversary! :)

— Mod Leillis  🌸

[aevummarket]

I'd like to redeem a Custom Housing Permit for Mo Xuanyu from Mo Dao Zu Shi using the Anniversary Voucher, please!

He was formerly housed in 202 Seaside Province, and will be moving to a two-bedroom, two-story custom house in a cottage-castle aesthetic style with a moderately-sized courtyard garden, located in the forest in the western part of Downtown Arcanus near the lake.

Stats under /stats, emblems under /emblems, and today is 11/16. Thank you!!

You enter CITY HALL and make your way to the RESIDENTIAL SECTOR. Here, you can buy various permits to create your own living quarters.

The following item can be added to your Muse's Stats Page!

CUSTOM HOUSING PERMIT 1500 Emblems free! You purchase a lovely cottage-castle-inspired, two-bedroom and two-story home. Included is a courtyard garden where one may spend countless afternoons in peaceful flowerbeds. The land is located in western Downtown Arcanus by a lake.

ORIGINAL BALANCE: 0 TRANSACTION: FREE (AEVUM ISLES ANNIVERSARY VOUCHER) CURRENT BALANCE: 0

NOTE: You do not need to buy the custom housing permit to move housing, or to move into another character’s personal housing. To submit a moving request, please submit to the Masterlist Inbox. All moving housing must be approved by the Masterlist Blog in order to be verified and updated.

— 🏵️ Creo