I Got Another Art! It Turned Out So Great, Thank You Again!

This looked like fun. :)

Unusual questions for your muse

🛌- Does your muse prefer to sleep under many layers of blankets or only under a few? 🎀- Does your muse like to accessorize? What are their favorite pieces of accessories? 🎐- Does your muse like to collect/hoard anything? 🛋- Does your muse like to have company over? 📱- Is your muse the “oversharing” type? 🐰- Does your muse prefer soft, plush textures or smooth and glossy textures? 💎- Is your muse drawn to things that sparkle? 🔖- Is your muse a daydreamer? What do they tend to think about? Have they ever caught themselves while lost in thought? 📰- Does your muse like to read the news? 📇- Is your muse a gossiper? 🕹- What does your muse do to occupy themselves when bored? 🏚- Does your muse like to explore dangerous places? 🌋- Has your muse done something stupid and not regret it? ⛪️- Does your muse enjoy attending churches they don’t belong to? 🛣- Is your muse considered a wanderer? 🐺- Would your muse consider themselves a lone wolf or a social butterfly? 🤝- Does your muse forgive others easily? 🖖- What “Fandoms” would your muse belong to? 🎖- Does your muse enjoy praise? 🎟- Do they like “so bad it’s good” movies? 🎠- Does your muse like amusement parks/carnivals/festivals? 🏝- Could your muse survive on an uninhabited island all by themselves?

Eee! I'm the River Knight? Yay!

((L’yhta, with the The Priestess, The River Knight, and another adventurer, sneaking through part of a Castrum on a leve. “This really seems like a trap, you know?”))

Conflux, Pt. 1

Ana’s eyes were glued shut, her expression pained as she dreamt.

Dreaming, of late, had been a whole new level of fantasy for Anafenza of the Ejinn.  Some nights she was in her own memories, which was nothing out of the ordinary.  Some nights, she was in front of the dark tree and hearing the mournful, enraged notes of the Dragonsong – she’d started having these dreams after she’d killed the elezen Jessika while she was brainwashed (but that is a long story for another day). But now, her dreams began to bleed into the wondrous: she’d dreamt she was flying, calling wind and rain and it obeyed her!  Or that she was commanding a group of people bustling around some sort of control center, the floor shaking beneath them as explosions rocked them and she stared out at an endless sea of night.  She’d even had a few where she and the other two “hers” interacted with one another, before she was jolted awake.

And then the dreams of everlasting light – a field of pink flowers, with child-like giggles floating on the breeze around her.  There was no warmth, no sun in the sky – just light glaring down upon her, and voices.

“Aenc tyr,” they’d say. And another, “Open the gate.”

  But this…this dream was new.  It was a memory, but not her memory.  As Anafenza looked around the small room as she paused her frantic packing, she knew it was not her own.  The simple wood hut; the longbow leaning against the wall by the door; the roiling sky, filled with the great red light of the falling moon...

The falling moon… She quickly went to the window to look up and gasped.  She had seen Dalamud in the sky as it fell years ago when she was still living in Othard, and her people had seen it as an ill omen.

"Quickly, Jessielle, quickly!  Get your bow, come, come!"

Ana turned around, confused, before moving to the satchel of personal effects on the bed, nearly crammed full of trinkets and clothes she was trying to protect.  Her family had finished ensuring the last of the villagers who were seeking shelter were in the catacombs, Anafenza thought, though she wasn’t sure how she knew this.

Once the last few villagers trickled in, the family returned to their own home to prepare.  She assumed it was to gather what they could and hide as well, so she was in her private room, gathering mementos of her life, when her father came barging into her room, shouting her given name.

Anafenza froze, realizing the knowledge she’d just come to know.  Father?  Jessielle? These are Jessika’s memories!  But why…am I in them?

There was a loud crack outside, and Ana and Jessika’s father turned to see, out the window, a plume of fire where a chunk of the moon had fallen.  "Come Jessielle...there is not much time," he said, his crisp and proper Ishgardian words flowing gracefully out, despite the urgency.

"Père, what..."  She heard herself saying, before finally looked at him, noticing the man was clothed in heavy, black leather armor, armored gauntlets with intricate gold and blood-red patterns winding over them.  His legs were clad in armor as well, the same gold and red filigree snaking up the armor like ivy.  "Père, what are you wearing?"

Her father – Jessika’s father – rolled his eyes and, picking up her bow from near the door with one hand, grabbed her arm with the other and pulled her out of the room. "There is no time to explain. Come, come!"

He pulled her through the house and outside, his armored fingers digging deep into Ana’s wrist. She squirmed a little, biting her lip to keep from yelling at him as she stumbled along behind as he guided her to the center of the small village.

"Jacemont, what took you so long?  The time is approaching!"

Jacemont Saphir finally let go of Anafenza’s wrist, approaching the woman waiting for them there. She wore long, flowing robes of dark fabric, completely black except for a blood-red design up the right side.  It wound up from the hem of the robes to the collar - an intricate, winding design like ivy, with leaves and thorns.  She turned her head to look at them, her eyes cold and dark.  "Jessielle, what were you doing?"

Before she knew what she was doing, Anafenza dipped her head in deference. "Mère," she greeted her, realizing this was Jessika’s mother.  "I was gathering my things...why aren't we in the catacombs?  What are you and Père doing out here?"  She motioned to the descending moon, meteorites flying off it and impacting the ground in the distance.  "We need to take shelter!"  Anafenza looked around, realizing she wasn’t in control.  She was watching the memory unfold, taking the role of Jessika in it. Even with the knowledge that she was in a dream, she couldn’t take control and change the course of it.

The mother – Raechelle, Anafenza realized was her name – shook her head ever so slightly and turned back to look at Dalamud.  "We are sheltering.  Jacemont, stand with me.  Jessielle, come here."  She motioned to her left and right sides; Jacemont stood to his wife's left, looking up at the sky.  "Something is happening."

As she said the words, there was a loud crack, and the three of them watched as Dalamud began to fracture. Fire peeked out through the fissures, and enormous wings appeared at the top of the hulk.  The surface of the moon roiled and shook.

"Gods preserve," Jacemont whispered, his eyes wide in horror.

Raechelle reached behind her, her hand grasping at the air behind her head.  She raised her arm, and Anafenza watched in awe as woman lifted a large, black sword with gold-filigree into the air, pulling it out of thin air. Shadows and darkness seemed to pour out of it and fall off it, like fog off of an ice crystal.  She spun the blade down and screamed, thrusting the sword into the ground.

There was deafening boom, and Ana fell backward as the moon was blasted apart, fragments flying into the ground with enough force that it shook all around them.  A few homes were ripped apart as fragments slammed into them, fire and debris exploding into the air.  The ground shook, and Ana fully expected to feel fire consume her.  She was going to die, she knew it...

So when, after a few more moments, she was still alive, Ana opened her eyes, feeling the memory of Jessika’s confusion even though she knew what she was going to see.  She looked around and heard herself gasp.

Raechelle was holding the hilt of the sword still, gritting her teeth.  All around them, extending out several meters, was a swirling cloud of black mist and smoke, shadows flying through the cloud around them with such speed that Anafenza couldn't get clear views of them.  The cloud enclosed them and much of the village like a bubble, the outside just barely visible.

Jacemont cursed loudly. "It's a dragon!"

"It's not a dragon, it's a god," Raechelle corrected, gazing in equal horror as her husband.  Ana clambered to her feet, watching as the beast - which took up much of the sky - began to fly quickly around, flares of fire shooting from its body and striking the ground, causing more earthquakes and explosions.  It soared overhead with a scream, releasing a volley of fire at the village below.  Far in Othard, she remembered seeing the moon drift below the horizon, but this…

This is the Calamity everyone speaks of.  Kami, what hell…

"Jacemont! Now!"  Raechelle screamed.  Anfenza turned in time to see the man reach up and behind him.  He clenched his hand and, in the same way as she had seen the woman, pulled a large sword out of nowhere, thrusting it into the ground as well.  There was a pulse of energy that she felt push through her, and the bubble of shadows grew darker.

The beast's fire slammed into the shield, and Jessika's parents shouted in surprise, both of them faltering slightly, as if a great weight just landed on their shoulders, pushing them downward.  They held onto the hilts of their swords, struggling to straighten back up.

Anafenza looked around, the memory of terror rising in her as Jessika watched.  Another memory crept into her thoughts, an earlier time that she’d seen this happen, but she didn’t focus on it.  Anafenza had seen this cloud of shadows before as well – the day she killed Jessika, it had exploded around her, swirling around and subduing Ana, as the curse fell upon the auri girl.

Raechelle shouted, and Ana looked up to see the dragon approaching again, circling back around for another indiscriminate attack on the land below.  "Jessielle, we need you!"

Anafenza blinked in surprise.  "What?! No!  I...I don't know what's happening!"

Jacemont staggered again, falling to one knee but still holding onto his sword.  "Your bow, child!  Your bow!"

Ana shook her head, staring at the wooden longbow in her hands.  "I don't...know what you want from me," she said, still confused, though the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle.

"Strike the ground!"  He called again, pulling himself back up to standing.  "Strike the ground and defend your home!  Your friends!  Your family! Defend those you love, protect them from this!"  He looked at her, and she noticed his eyes were pitch black, shadowy energy flaring out of them like two dark fires.  "You know what to do, child!  Now, stand with us!"

Anafenza looked at the two elezen, then back at the bow in her hands.  She looked up, seeing fire rain down again.  Panicking, she did what Jacemont told her, lifting the bow in the air and striking the one end of it to the ground.

Ana felt another pulse of energy radiate out, and the shield grew darker still, swirling faster and further out so that it protected most of the village.  She felt as if her feet were rooted to the ground, and her hands locked in place, wrapped around her bow.  Her vision darkened as she heard the fire slam into the shield, felt the impact of the fireballs on the shield as if a heavy hand were shoving her to the ground.  She fell to one knee, her hands unable to release the bow, gasping for breath.  The familiar sensation of being choked by the darkness came to her, the same choking she’d felt when Jessika had died. Her eyes were playing tricks on her: in one moment, she could see the bow clear as day, but in the next the weapon appeared like a great sword, similar to the ones the elezen were wielding.

Similar to the sword I’ve pulled from my aether, she realized, recognizing the weapon she’d come to know as “Bloodthorn.”

The attack continued for what felt like hours, or maybe it was only a few seconds.  The three of them were screaming in defiance and pain as the ground shook around them.

Then, the world went dark.

Magus Musings - Reflection

“Wicked white, Angan, not again! I told ye’ already, we don’ ‘ave no berry fruits ye be after!”

Angan tilted head to the side, staring at the hume merchant in confusion. “But I haven’t asked for any berries, Varden. I was just coming for the daily supplies like always, for the Spagyrics. What is this about berries now?” The young drahn woman shook her head, her mop of unkempt black hair falling over her shoulder. This was the third time today on her daily rounds through the Musica Universalis that someone had been exasperated with her for some reason or another.

The hume pointed a fat finger at her. “An’ another thing, how the bleedin’ ‘ells ‘re ye changin’ yer hair so damned fast like? It ain’t natural it ain’t! Ye look a sight better now than ye’ did just a bell ago, tha’s fer sure.  Bleedin’ bright pink as a pixie, as if we didn’ ‘ave enough bright colors ta stare at in the sky! But the answer’s still ‘no,’ so don’ think of addin’ – “

“Berries to the order, no, I got that. Pink hair? Me? Have you been drinking again, Varden? It’s only the eighth bell in the morn!” She took the sack of vials with an annoyed “thank you” and turned to walk away, shaking her head.

All morning, her usual rounds had led to one odd encounter after another. Pink hair. Barely dressed. Smelling of seaweed and “wet” – whatever that smelled like – and always, it seemed, just a bell or two ahead of her.

It was difficult in a town like the Crystarium to be mistaken for someone else. Sure, the occasional dwarf was hard to tell apart, and the zun all looked alike anyway, but there were so few people left in the world to begin with…well…it was difficult to find someone that would look or sound so similar to you that people you’d known for years could mistake you.

“What bloody sinner is going around acting like me,” Angan wondered aloud, making her way to the next stall. She paused, thinking her route again. The imposter was further ahead of her by at least a bell; what if she cut her off at her final stop?  Angan hurried out of the markets to the aetheryte, then down the steps to the Horotorium. It was usually her last stop, so she could go to the library for a new book, and then take the aetheryte back to the Exedra. She hurried down the stairs, her powerful tail swinging behind her.

In the Horotorium, no one seemed to notice anything amiss with her presence, other than noting how oddly *early* she was. “And you’re sure, there hasn’t been another drahn that looks like me down here” she asked the botanists.

“No one except you, Angan. Is something the matter?”

She shook her head, scratching behind her horn a moment in thought. “Thanks anyway,” she replied, turning away. She approached the Cabinet of Curiosity, deciding she could at least get her new book while she was down here, and then return to her daily errands.

The doors of the great library swung open in front of her, and she looked up in time to see –

She blinked.

She saw herself blink back at her. At least, it could have been her, if she had decided to put a flower in her hair and color it bright pink. Or if she had decided to dress as if she were cavorting on a stage in Eulmore.

Angan raised a finger, pointing at the other woman. “You!” She took a threatening step towards…well, herself. “I have been looking all over for -!”

The other woman went wide-eyed, then made a dash for the nearby aetheryte. Her hand reached out and she was gone in a flash, just as Angan managed to hustle to close the gap with her. She cried out in frustration; the woman could be anywhere in the Crystarium now, or even leaving.

But there had been no mistaking that face…those horns…the tail even. Her eyes had been ringed yellow, like Angan’s…the patterns of scales covering her. The woman could have been her twin, had Angan not known better.

“Who the hells do you think you are,” she said to no one in particular. “How did you…wicked white…”

At that moment, Angan thought it may be wise to finish her errands in the markets – the sooner she finished, the sooner she could enjoy a much-needed drink.

This is an amazing and awesome take on this character

Why Lolorito despite being a Ruthless Ammoral Capitalist is actually still a better person than a modern day CEO.

He actually pays those under his employ fairly well from what I can gather considering the kind of loyalty they seem to have for Lolorito. Money is a powerful motivator.

The thing Lolorito cares about above his own wealth, is Ul’dah.

He still has standards as to what he will and will not do for profit.

What does a Modern CEO care about more than profit? Their own Wallet, to the detriment of everyone around them so long as they have fat stacks of cash.

I like this...

Reblog this if you’re okay with people sending unexpected IC asks to your muse at any time! No meme prompts needed!

I got a thing!!  Thank you so much @mirror-apple, I love it!

Just a simple PSA

Cannon = thing that goes boom

Canon = an event that occurs within a published story

Dream Journal 8

Another song is being heard! First this woman came to the Tower for help saying her son was acting differently, and then suddenly he was hearing a song.  I was overcome with dread, but I had to ask what it sounded like.  She hummed a little of it – it’s not the same song.

The song I hear is mournful, but this one she hummed was very different.  I was glad to hear it was different, but honestly I do not know why I would have been so terrified. I have heard this song in my dreams for years now, ever since that day I ki-

Ever since I killed that woman   And took this scar    Bardam’s horn the song is connected to the scar! How didinotknowthisfromthestartimsuchanidiotwhatiswrongwithme?!!?!?!

 More alarming is that Lyta also hears this music.  And the kid is missing.  I forgot to write that too.   I’m worried about Lyta going missing now. We practiced the White Flame again and Lyta asked me to show everyone how to do it, and I did it!  I was really proud!

Conflux, Pt. 8

Anafenza awoke with a start again, her body feeling sore like she’d been swimming for malms upstream. She was lying on a bed, just big enough for her body to fit on top of, her tail uncomfortably folded under her and pushed to one side.  An extra pillow was folded and under her neck, helping to support her head so that all the weight wasn’t on her horns.  She was covered by a scratchy, wool blanket, and she could feel clothes covering her body, only adding to the discomfort.  There were bright lights above her, and she could tell she wasn’t in the disappearing cavern anymore.

Did…did it work?

She shifted, trying to move, and groaned a little as her sore muscles screamed in protest.

The rest of the space was sterile white walls and a plain grey carpet.  More of the beds were lined along the wall next to her bed, and over the head of each one on the wall was a dark glass window.  Most were off, but the one over her bed blinked and flashed with white characters and squares of varying shades of blue.  As she pushed herself up to rest on an elbow, one of the blue boxes flashed and turned red with a triangle symbol inside; she looked at it curiously, before turning to look around more.

There was some shuffling, and then a soft voice called out from around a corner.  “Oh!  You’re awake!”  A petite woman stepped around the corner, wearing an outfit similar to the Commander’s except that it was mostly white.  She had the same badge on her chest as Jessica, too.  Her light brown eyes smiled along with her wide lips.  “How do you feel, Ana?”

Anafenza coughed and shook her head, sitting up all the way.  “I know I’ve felt better.  Where am I? How do you know me?”

She smiled again.  “I’m Doctor Dubois; you’re onboard the Rafale.  You came with Jes- Commander St. Peter.”  Her cheeks went a little pink at her near misspeak, but Ana didn’t try to understand the reason for the embarrassment.  “When you materialized on board you collapsed on the transport pad; we brought you here to the sickbay.  It’s sort of a…hospital.”

Anafenza nodded.  “How long…have I been sleeping?”

“You were out for most of the day,” came a familiar voice, and Ana turned her head to see both Jessicas step through a double door that had separated with a whoosh.  Stormy looked like she was still excited beyond belief to be living in this fantasy.  The Commander moved near Dubois, and the two shared a silent look and a smile.  “Thanks, JD.”

The Doctor nodded and stepped back around the corner, leaving Ana and the Jessicas.  The Commander cleared her throat.  “We’re not sure if it had to do with the ‘aether’ in the cavern, or if it is unique to your race, but the scar grew while we were being rescued.”

Anafenza pulled up her top to check underneath, not minding when the two woman glanced away for a moment as she flashed them.  Sure enough, the snaking, ivy-like mass of scales reached up beyond her collarbone now, just resting at the base of her neck.  It wound down further past her waist; a quick check of her legs rewarded her with more of the scales down nearly to her left knee now.  She sighed and shook her head.  “I do not know; it’s nothing to do with my race, I know that. The curse expanded?”

“I don’t know about curse, but it certainly helped,” Stormy chimed in, hopping over and settling down at the foot of the bed.  She put a comforting hand on Ana’s leg and gave her a small squeeze.  “The Commander’s crew says that their transport system was able to find us easier and rescue us because of the beacon you became.  It was like you said; you guided them to us.”

Anafenza smiled.  “I’m…glad it helped.  I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad it helped?”  The three of them laughed a little.

“Now to get you two home,” the Commander remarked, and the other two nodded.  “We have a theory for how, but we’re still finishing the final simulations.  Until then, you’re guests on the Rafale, and I’d like to show you both around.”

Stormy smiled wide and nodded, before suddenly pausing and shaking her head.  “Wait…when do you wipe our memories?  Don’t you have some kind of ‘temporal prime directive?’”

The Commander shrugged. “We’re willing to make an exception to the policy.  Too much has happened, and if I want to remember it, I’m sure both of you would like to as well.  I don’t want to take that away.”

Anafenza nodded. “That would be nice, yeah.”