#eterna.

[agrcn]

closed starter for @princemordecai location: eterna note: uwu

If someone were to tell Agron years ago that he would be here with Leander, he probably would've told them to fuck off. But here they were. They had fought together, trained together. Now they were bonded by this whole thrall thing and he was second-guessing everything. Not that that really had anything to do with Leander personally though. It had everything to do with the fact that he didn't want it to look like he was fucking his way to the top. Agron didn't really care what people thought about him when it came to most things, but he did when it came to something like that. After he had worked his ass off to even become a Blademaster, it had felt like he took several steps backwards when Valerius had turned him. After that whole debacle, it felt like he was somewhat moving in the right direction. He was a Queensguard. He mattered to these people. He mattered to the Lysaran throne. Nothing could take that away from him. That didn't mean the thoughts weren't still there though.

That was what brought him to his current position at the foot of this bed that he felt he wasn't supposed to be in. The hilt of his sword was gripped within his hand, the heron mark the only thing he was focused on. This was the one thing that couldn't be taken from him. He wouldn't let it. His head turned slightly towards where Leander was as he cleared his throat, but his gaze was still on the heron mark. "Have I ever told you how I got this?"

[emissaradia]

closed starter for @kajalx location: eterna note: EXILED post masquerade

As Aradia picked something out of her teeth, she wandered the stalls of Eterna. She wasn't usually making her presence known in this place simply because she knew it would only stir up bad memories. Yet here she was. After that party, she felt like she needed a breath of fresh air to see the Lysara outside of those horrid nobles. All of that was really her sister's scene and not hers. She was always the kind of person that was going to go to a party without knowing the dress code. Or she was going to wear the wrong thing in general. Not on purpose. What could she say? She just wasn't like other girls. Ugh, she hated that saying. Anyway, she bit down into her sandwich again and caught sight of a very familiar twink. "Well, well. Look who it is." She chewed and swallowed before speaking again. "Who knew you were so talented on the dance floor."

[afshinxeldar]

closed starter for @etienneulven location: eterna note: WHERE'S GOOSE

It had been quite some time since he had seen this guy and normally Afshin would have considered that a good thing. Why would he ever care about some guy he barely knew and had had a conversation with once? No, the reason he was here was simple. Goose. That dog had been a nice little distraction from what had been happening at Nornwatch and Afshin could only really thank the dog. Not the guy though. Etienne was someone he couldn't really care less about, but he'd always have time for Goose. He guessed that meant he would have to learn to get along with the boy, too. "Well, look who it is." He looked around. "Where's your lovely companion?"

[prcspero]

closed starter for @vuldak-juneau location: mercury's bazaar note: she's RICH

The last time he'd been in a bazaar, he'd had his shit jacked and knocked the fuck out. Knuckles probably still hated him for not bringing anything back and Prospero had been trying to wrap his head around if he cared or not. He probably should have given how devious those little children were. They'd probably find him here and try to steal from him again. His gaze flitted around the area to make sure nobody was indeed trying to, once again, jack his shit. So far, so good, it looked like. One could never be sure though. Once he was done observing the place, he turned his head to look at Juneau. "Did you get robbed in Hestia's Cove, too?" Probably not. She was tiny and looked like she was going to bite someone at any given moment. Also, she did not seem as paranoid as he was right now. Lucky. "Better question, did you hear about a Knuckles, too?"

[agrcn]

closed starter for @princemordecai location: tower of olympia note: wink wonk

The room was empty save for the two of them. A good thing given that Agron was not often himself around the prince. They weren't here for an exchange though. The strigoi had invited Leander there because the two of them seemed to both be interested in this gladiator arena thing. Agron had only ever attended if Queen Arethusa attended, but really he didn't do much outside of that. Maybe the fights were all entertaining. He just wasn't ever going to go on his own to this sort of thing. Now that he was participating in it, he felt like it was somewhat hypocritical of him to be there. He was a Blademaster though. This felt like he was supposed to do this. Or maybe he just wanted to get into some sort of competition. He may not have gone out much, but he certainly was always interested in a fight that could yield more recognition. As if he didn't have enough.

He had been testing the weight of one of these practice swords when he heard those telltale footsteps. Honestly, he more so smelled Leander's scent before he even saw the witch. I was one he was all too familiar with. Anyway, that wasn't the point of this. Sparring. That was the point. He pointed the sword towards Leander and kicked the other one he had grabbed towards the prince. "Let's see what you're made of."

[emissaradia]

closed starter for @robinxofxstars location: eterna somewhere note: uwu

The fact that she was actually able to make it out of her home and onto the streets of Eterna was a miracle. Her body felt like it was deteriorating and she didn't know how she was supposed to fix it. For all she learned at the Tower, they had never really told them how to deal with such a thing if it happened. They were only ever told not to let it happen. Or at least Aradia was. She had made it to the docks in one piece though. That was more than she had expected she would be able to do. She wasn't sure how long it had been since she had sat down, but it had been quite some time. There had been several footfalls she'd heard, but it all sounded like white noise. A moment passed. Then another. And another. "How you have fallen, Aradia." Could she say she didn't deserve this though? It seemed that the ones that were now in this situation were the ones that had done the worst. Murderers, the both of them. They were far more deserving of this than the others. She looked towards the sky and then turned her head a few times to look at the people milling about around her. That was until they stopped on a familiar face. "Well, you're a sight for very sore eyes."

[afshinxeldar]

closed starter for @adrianvoll location: eterna note: :fuckboi:

It had been quite some time since Eldar had seen the other man. Honestly, he never really had any intention of seeing people he had laid with once upon a time ever again. It was pretty easy for him to do such a thing. Afshin could take over and they would be none the wiser that he was around. It certainly helped with not having to think about how he had basically dined and dashed several times over. For lack of better phrasing of course. The only person that had ever really been worth his time was Thora and she barely liked to give him even a second of thought in that regard. As far as he was aware of course. But he had needs like everyone else. Was he supposed to just suffer in silence? Absolutely not. Adrian was just a means to an end really. Probably always would be, but he could still talk to the man. That was easy for Eldar to do even if he couldn't tell a lie. He knew his way around words though. "And here I thought you'd never be seen again. Found someone else to sell your shit to?"

[agrcn]

This was clearly going nowhere and that was as good enough sign as any for Agron to take his leave. Having these little conversations with Fharzai were more trouble than they were worth. He didn't need to listen to someone tell him he wasn't worth shit. He'd heard it enough from people within this very Tower all those years ago when he was younger. Someone that was supposed to be his peer didn't need to beat him over the head with it, too. Respect given was respect earned. Clearly, the other had no respect for him so he wasn't going to give any back. It was fine though. He didn't need to have Fharzai's warped view of things to give himself validation. His status was what gave him that. It wasn't everything, but it was all he had.

So he wouldn't give Fharzai any further response. It was a waste of his time. Instead of going back and forth, he simply nodded his head and walked away. If it was an argument that was wanted, he wasn't going to give it. Nor was he going to stand here and be strongarmed by some man he could probably fold five times over.

END.

Even when he was in a good mood Fharzai struggled to maintain the same level of detached civility with Agron he extended towards every other Lysaran citizen. There would simply be no common ground found between them, save for the continuation of house Mordecai. At least so long as the signs dictated they were the best for the Tower and Lysara as a whole. "Perhaps don't say things that elicit mockery then."

Fharzai typically didn't express such clear, direct feelings towards any individual, but Agron was an exception. He put no stock in the queensguard comfort or preferences, and the only solution to their lengthy, tenuous relationship would be for him to leave because he was the interloper. Fharzai was a member of the queen's court first. "I've been seeing graves a lot in my dreams," he responds as he furiously collects his card and goes back to his herb mixing, opting to remain cryptic seemingly out of spite. "They portend graves we'll soon have to dig here. I shall keep an eye out for any signs that yours is next."

[prcspero]

closed starter for @lotharx location: brewed awakening (eterna) note: uwu

To say he needed a drink would have been an understatement. With everything that had happened in Hestia's Cove, he was...well, he was concerned. As much as he didn't want to care about his standing with the Dark One, he was absolutely positive that he needed to care. How was he to explain why they had been attacking him incessantly the entire time they were there? Prospero could lie his way out of it. He could say it was just because he was so damn charming and even darkspawn were interesting in him. That seemed unbelievable even to his own ears. Whatever. What did it even matter honestly? The whole ordeal was done with and now he could just deal with the fallout. Unfortunately. The point was that he was going to drink until he couldn't stand anymore. That felt like the best way to deal with this whole thing, didn't it? The only thing that made it not so sad was that he had indeed invited Lothar.

He'd told the big guy that he could drink him under the table and that was what he intended to do right now. It was easier to mask the real reason behind some competition. Then again, knowing how Lothar had been every time they spoke, he'd be able to peel back that curtain far too easily for Prospero's liking. Nevertheless, a drink was passed his way as he waited for said company to actually show up. He downed the drink and then spoke to the person next to him. "You know, Iskarans make great mead. The stuff here feels like it doesn't hold a candle." He furrowed his brows as he looked down at the empty mug. "This stuff is pretty good though. Have you thought about going into the mead-making business in Iskaldrik?" Well, when the place was actually back up and running of course. Whenever that was. "Do you even like Iskarans?" He'd been drinking all day. Maybe he needed to shut up so the bartender didn't spit in his next drink.

[oltammefru]

Civilight Eterna is an incredibly incredibly interesting character, and has so so much going on so I thought I'd share my read on her. First off, Civilight Eterna isn't Theresa. Like, at all. In her dialogue, she repeatedly says she's not Theresa, talks about Theresa as a person distinct from her, and seems uncomfortable when the Doctor treats her as if she is Theresa.

The way I see it, she is actually far more like Kal'tsit and Amiya than she is Theresa. Once you accept that, I think Civilight Eterna becomes an incredibly, incredibly interesting character who provides a large amount of great characterization to Theresa.

The real Theresa is dead and gone and erased forever now, but ironically, if anything, after ep14, the narrative is far more haunted by Theresa than it ever was. For the most part, no one is particularly happy with CE being on the landship as she is: for Kal'tsit, who had finally come to terms with her grief and loss, all CE really does is dredge up all the pain and sorrow and hatred she felt about Theresa's death.

For the Doctor, she is a source of self-doubt and guilt over their past sins.

There's also an interesting contrast between her and the Doctor, as CE spells out, with one of them being an existence entirely of memory, and the other having none at all.

Amiya is mostly ok about her, but even for her, CE a reminder of who and what she has lost. She sees CE and understands and sees her not as Theresa, but as something else, but because of her resemblance to Theresa, she can't help but be reminded that Theresa is gone, and she won't be able to see anything she's done or gone through anymore.

Theresa, herself, is gone for good now, but the shadow of her last deed hangs over them all. CE as a character takes the enormous background presence Theresa has in the narrative and she makes it a lot more personal than it already is. As a character, CE takes the ghost of Theresa that's been haunting the narrative in the background and drags it kicking and screaming into the forefront, forcing the main trio to confront it.

The person most haunted by Theresa is Civilight Eterna herself. She was made with the purpose being a replica or substitute of Theresa, with the memories of Theresa, but she's really not her, and she's in fact quite bothered by such a concept. The impression I get from her files is that her arc as a character (provided they give her continued story content and don't just throw her by the wayside) is mostly about her struggles to find an identity for herself beyond the one she was assigned and was made to be (which very much parallels much of Amiya's struggles throughout the her entire character arc!)

In most of the story, Theresa is framed as this, almost mythical, larger-than-life figure, who you hear of often and her legacy greatly influences everything that unfolds, without actually appearing except in brief glimpses and flashbacks (until the story starts peeling back the curtain on her with Babel.) For someone as existent and present as CE is, there is no way that she could actually live up to the legendary figure that Theresa was, nor does she want to. The mythos surrounding Theresa is so great that just by virtue of being made to be like Theresa, this serves to erase any identity or personhood of her own she might have (once again, parallels with Amiya.)

(This is also somewhat painfully ironic on a meta-level. If you engage with CE's content at all, it spells out the fact that she is very much not Theresa, but just because she was made to resemble her, even the playerbase of the game thinks of and sees her as Theresa!).

The thing that's juiciest about this to me is that the relationship she has with Kal'tsit. Kal'tsit is maybe the one person who can truly empathize with CE and her mode of existence: both were made and instilled with some driving, defining purpose, but wish to carve out an identity of their own; both occupy some messy, intermediate state between humanity and inhumanity; and both struggle with the risk of being subsumed by some ideal or identity far beyond what they could possibly be. But instead, Kal'tsit can't bear to see the sight of CE, she gives her the cold shoulder, and is unwilling to meet her eyes. Even if Kal'tsit does understand that CE isn't really Theresa, she can't help but see her and think of Theresa, and for CE, this is incredibly, incredibly alienating, that the one person who should be able to truly understand her and her struggles to find an identity for herself, sees her more as the person she was made in the image of and could never really be, instead of her own person.

In light of the fact that CE's files state Kal'tsit has been avoiding CE is so fucked actually, especially when you think about this in the context of Lone Trail. Lone Trail takes place over an (in-setting) year after CE shows up, and despite this, she is never been mentioned or referenced at all, even obliquely. Has Kal'tsit just been coping about it for an entire year straight*? Like, here's about how I imagine this goes: The Doctor mentions CE to Kal'tsit exactly once and immediately gets the hint to not do so. They don't get a lecture about this. They don't even get a Kal'tsit Stinkface Talksprite. She just looks, however minutely, a slight bit more tired and sad. And so that's the last time they ever bring it up. And the thing is, CE has the same care and love that Theresa had, and she wants so so desperately for the people Theresa (and by extension her) cares about to be happy. And so if the only thing she can do for Kal'tsit is to remain completely out of Kal'tsit's sight, existence unacknowledged, no matter how much she might want to reach out, no matter how soulcrushing and painful it might be to do so, she would do this and bear all the pain, out of the love she has for Kal'tsit.

The main way we see Theresa characterized before Babel and Ep14 is through the things and people she's left behind: the people who lived because she died, a dream, a photo of her snuck when she wasn't looking (she was looking), a flower garden, a letter, a promise, a girl made to bear the weight of the world and an apology to her. CE is the last thing she leaves behind, her last act, her last sin before she exits the story for good. In particular, I think CE as a character is some really good final characterization for Theresa, one that serves to highlight her character flaws.

As a person, Theresa is sort of messy. I mean this specifically in the sense she is a person who does great and grand things, knowing that there will be consequences (both foreseen and unforeseen), and does them anyway, often leaving a mess in the process for others to pick up. In Warfarin's 2nd operator record: her attitude towards Theresa highlights this well, to her, no matter how noble her ideals and how good her intentions might be, the fact of the matter is that she is starting a civil war who which will get people killed. In this regard, I think her creation of CE fits her character perfectly. What she does in episode 14: finally being able to free the Sarkaz from the shackles of Originium, and making CE as a final act of care to Amiya, fulfilling her promise to Amiya to always be with her, but making a huge mess in the process, serves as a perfect capstone to Theresa as a character. Even though she is now gone, the effects of her last choice and legacy still hang over those who knew her.

*Of course it could also be that they wrote LT at a time where there were no plans to have CE be a character at all, but especially when it comes to things like this, HG does generally write things years ahead of time. The ending of Lone Trail does feel very much like it was written with Babel already in mind, and Vigilo was also clearly written with Babel in mind (see: Memoria specifically) despite being released several years before Babel.

[akakris10]

if I ever stop liking theresa I think you should just put me down respectfully

[afshinxeldar]

If there was one thing Afshin never liked to think about, it was that he would lose Torsten far faster than the witcher could ever lose him. Maybe that was why he acted so...crazy all the time. Every day felt like it would be their last because it very well could be. Witchers didn't live that long. What if it took them a longer time than anticipated to get their home back? How would that play into their relationship? Afshin didn't want to think about the fact that he would have to just live his life after as if Torsten hadn't wormed his way into his heart. It was so frustrating that he didn't even want to think about it. He never did. And he was always surprised that his Kingsguard even wanted to be here in the first place. It was a constant thought in his head.

Everything about the prince should have made Torsten pull away. Yet he didn't. Afshin would always be thankful for that. It sometimes felt like the only thing keeping him together right now were the few words that his Kingsguard would say to him in the privacy of their room. Their room. That even sounded insane to think about. Afshin let his arms wrap around the other's midsection, head firmly pressed into the witcher's chest. They were very nice pillows after all.

After a moment, he lifted his head to look up at Torsten. Then his lips moved to plant a kiss on the other's jawline. It was really so embarrassing and detrimental to the brand how he was when Torsten was around. He'd probably do the same if others were in their presence just to show them that the witcher was all his, but moments where it was just them made it better. Sometimes he didn't want to break the silence, but that just wasn't in Afshin's nature. He didn't break eye contact as he spoke again. "I don't think I could have done this without you. So don't...just don't scare me like you did before in the Wastelands or the Lostlands. You have to stay with me. You have to."

An apology from Afshin was generally more than Torsten ever got, at times, it was difficult for the witcher to keep pace with Afshin's mood swings. Slights seemed to come out of nowhere and Torsten was in a constant state of dodging movements that Afshin could take personally. If nothing else, it served to keep things interesting. Other times Torsten just let Afshin tucker himself out, or he'd kiss him and then that usually put an end to the diatribe of judgemental negativity. If Torsten's choose me speech hadn't worked then he was just gonna default to that and hope for the best.

Pressure like what Afshin was under would crack anyone in half. At some point, if Afshin truly wished to succeed, he'd have to learn to put this on more than himself. Orhan was not great alone, there were a hundred unseen hands that chose to lift the High King up - Ormir among them.

Torsten wrapped his arms around Afshin and pulled the other against his chest as the water continued to pool on the ground beneath them. He was not an apt wordsmith, as the prince had stated, that was his domain. But Torsten had sworn himself to more than Afshin's service, but to his side as well, and the other's bed. Their fate, just as their history, was intertwined. Torsten held the other's slight frame against his own before his chin came to rest on the top of Afshin's head. He took in the smell of his lover's hair, then sighed in a long drawn-out fashion against the nest of curls atop Afshin's head. It would be this for as long as it could be this, and then the Kingsguard would be no more.

[depoesiaypoetas]

Clara Ajc

[prcspero]

closed starter for @alessiathepath location: eterna note: the cat strikes again

The cat seemed to have woven in and out of the crowds without a care in the world. Prospero knew that cat though. He'd taken care of that cat for what seemed like a very long time. Maybe it had been, but all he knew right now was that he hadn't seen the little guy in a very long time. With the amount of time they had spent together, he had felt like they really made a connection. So that was why he looked like a crazy person following the cat around and weaving through this crowd of people. It really brought back horrible memories of those kids in Hestia's Cove, but he tried to shake that thought of his head. Damn kids were absolute menaces. It was nothing he wasn't used to though. When he'd been in those Arches, his own children had been a bit of a handful. Prospero couldn't really say he loved old Knuckles though. Anyway, what was this cat even doing?

"Hey, Stupid!" Some random looked at him as he spoke and he waved his hand as he kept following the cat. "Not you." Finally, the cat was stopped and he also stopped near the little guy. Kneeling down, he held his hand out and scratched the cat's chin. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He moved to pick up the cat and hold him in his arms as he looked around. "You wouldn't happen to know where your mom is, would you?"

[amiya-shirou]

Fucked up how now in Rhodes Island there are a Doctor with no memories but who is still the Doctor and a Theresa with all her memories but who is not Theresa

[afshinxeldar]

"I guess you've just never met an Iskaran like me," was all he said in response. It wasn't like Eldar could lie even if he wanted to. Yet it felt so easy to do such a thing. If you believed a lie enough, it became the truth. This wasn't that though. This was merely just a situation of the truth one heard was not always the truth that was being said. "A stencil? I can do that myself," he stated as he got up from his seat. "Maybe next time then, yeah?" Then he'd stop fucking around and get something worthwhile.

Rowan sat up in his chair and raised his eyebrows at the other man, his elbows on his knees. "I've done this to many Iskarans, nobody's ever been as tough as you." He's more curious and amused though than angry, such an emotion was kind of rare for him. "Most I'm gonna be able to do is lay down the stencil, my guy." And maybe color it in with some markers or something, like he'd do if he were giving a tattoo to a little kid. If he were a witch he'd just paint some runes on this guy and call it a day.