#sasameru

[ever-searching]

Variegated Solomon’s Seal: What is one thing you wished you could seal away and never see/feel/use/etc again? Why? (for any/all :] )

(You said ‘all’, so here you go - long post ahead!)

“As much as I hate some things, losing them completely could be dangerous if it lead to careless or complacency, like uncertainty or old memories. I’m not sure if there’s anything I’d want to get rid of.”

“...actually, scrap that. If I could seal away any single thing, I’d do that to Ifrit. Or the primals in general. They deserve to be sent to the seventh hell and never be seen again.”

“Is emptiness a feeling? If so, I would seal away that. Sometimes it feels as if my feelings had already been sealed away in part, and I would do almost anything to break free of that uncertain numbness.”

“One thing which I would never see, feel or use again...? I think I would choose my worries... ah, no, my anxiety. Losing all concern could make me unkind and that would be awful, but... I wish my heart wouldn’t get gripped by such dread so often.”

“I would seal away my magic. I don’t think that it can ultimately be used for anything good.”

“Hm, I’m not sure if there is anything in my personal life which I would like to seal away - and more general-level concepts like poverty or greed are complex and rooted in many things, which would probably mean that they can’t be eradicated without further actions.”

“I suppose I wish I could seal away my family’s expectations of carrying the less savoury parts of their legacy, but I have more or less accepted my role. I will do my best not to pass it onto the next generations - and will likely succeed, as I have no intention of having children of my own.”

“Sayin’ ‘all the fishbacks’ wouldn’t probably be allowed, aye? I don’t care fer ‘em, but I guess could do with their slimy scaly god-primal, too. Ain’t a lot of La Nosceans who wouldn’t wish fer that, I reckon.”

“Saying ‘nah’ would probably be more in line with my personality, but you know what? I wouldn’t mind if I could seal away my memories of Cartenau. If I needed to remember that I was there, others could just say “oh, G’ilas, you were there too!” and then I could go “oh, I guess I really was!...”

“... and I could do without the pain.”

“Give me a way to seal away betrayal, and I’d do almost anything. Seeing your own parents give you up for some bloody stupid heretic crap? I don’t need that, and I especially don’t need to remember how it felt.”

“I don’t know. Tears? Frustration? No: even though I wish people’s actions and words wouldn’t get under my skin so often, both of those have their time and place. I feel like everything - or at least more or less everything - in my life has been there for a reason, even though all of it has hardly been pleasant. That’s why I don’t think I would wish to seal anything away.”

“I would seal away my headaches, which distract me and prevent me from doing my duties. I am aware that they might be a warning sign and something which should be heeded...”

“...but I would still remove them and do my duty to my full extent instead of being gripped by slow deterioration and a seed of doubt.”

[ever-searching]

⏳ for Sasameru

“While my initial thought was to say ‘ah, my backstory is nothing special’, I suppose that depends on the point of view,” Sasameru says and smiles politely.

“I come from an old family with interest in magicks inherited from my mother’s side and mercantile upbringing from my father’s side. My parents deal in antiques - among other things - and I am probably expected to inherit their business eventually. Maybe the bookshop has been a trial project for that goal.”  He grimaces.

“Don’t get me wrong: it’s not that I would abhor the idea of managing a company. I’m mainly worried that taking up their mantle would leave me little time to pursue my studies. Maybe that’s something which will change in time, or maybe I will simply get used to it: there are other things to our family business which I have since grown used to, after all.”

An errant thought darkens Sasameru’s expression for a brief moment, but he then dispels it and continues to sort books.

[ever-searching]

White Raspberry Truffle: a weakness headcanon.

(I decided to include a combination of physical/literal and more figurative weaknesses this time - enjoy the collection!)

Cain doesn’t tolerate cold very well, and though he tries not to be too whiny, he tends to shiver and complain about it every now and then. Indoor coldness is even worse as he can’t move as freely to keep himself warm.

His figurative weaknesses include soft things, particularly if that softness is attached to a cute animal. He definitely wouldn’t admit it, though, because it would seem childish or at least uncool.

Storm’s weakness is his aether sensitivity, though the ring he carries has alleviated the symptoms quite a bit. He still avoids travelling to places like Mor Dhona or visiting any exhibitions etc. with magic artifacts because the aether would make him nauseous; people seldom have strong enough auras to have a similar effect, though some magi might be capable of causing a strong enough burst of aether. 

Sasameru’s weakness is his poor eyesight: no one has even seen him without his glasses. He also has next to no aetherial capabilities, which means that the best he could do is piggyback off someone else’s teleportation spell.

Lumien’s “weakness” is cats. Type, colour or size don’t really matter. He’d probably be tempted to pet a gaelicat or a coeurl if he saw one.

His most notable literal weakness is his clumsiness, which tends to get exacerbated when he is nervous. He has done stuff like hitting his head into doors, smacking his weapon/hand to a wall and even tripping on a cactuar once. He is also relatively poor at judging distances. 

G’ilas doesn’t do too well in wet environments. He enjoys swimming, but travelling through a swamp or in pouring rain saps his energy quite quickly - in addition to being unfun. He can soldier on if needed, but those days tend to get followed by fatigue that requires at least one or two days with proper rest.

The fact that he is something of a daredevil might also count as a weakness. He’s the guy who will head into a dungeon full of traps, probably accidentally activate a few of them and then laugh - unless things go really badly wrong.

[ever-searching]

Seasonal might be almost over but summer isn’t, and so I wanted to take screenshots of all my characters in summery outfits (and environments).

Happy Moonfire Faire!

[ever-searching]

For Bad Things Happen Bingo: Hidden Scar

There was a goodreason why Storm avoided anything which required him to bare his backto anyone.

Nevertheless, whenhis business partner had suggested visiting a massage parlour andeven offered to pay for it, there was little Storm could say toconvince him.

“You have beenworking much. While I am very grateful for your assistance, I fearthat you might have overexerted yourself,” Sasameru had told him ashe had handed Storm a slip of paper with an address and a name. ”Youractions tells me that your muscles are sore. I believe that you wouldfind a massage highly relaxing and a welcome break from work. I canpersonally vouch for this establishment: I have visited it a fewtimes.”

Storm would havewanted to reject the gift, but in the end, he found himself headingtowards the Pools in the Goblet with the paper in his hand. He had noreason to refuse – at least one he would have wanted to tell. Andhis shoulders and back were indeed stiff: he could definitely use a massage.He just hoped that he had made the right choice between lying anddiscomfort.

Things didn’t goas smoothly as he had wished. The masseuse had been either new to herwork or just very… bubbly, because she had greeted him with acheerful tone and continued to speak while she had lead Storm furtherinside. He hadn’t been able to hide all of his uneasiness and hadtaken off his shirt while she wasn’t watching, but when the timecame to lay down and actually start the progress, he was of courseforced to reveal what had been hidden underneath his clothes.

“Gods be good,”the masseuse murmured, staring at Storm’s bare back.

Storm couldunderstand the reaction. Scars weren’t uncommon and masseuses hadprobably their share of them, but a whole collection was a jarringsight to almost anyone. Especially when the collection includedseveral types of scars.

Like the whip markshe had earned after he had been caught and brought back. His motherhad pleaded to the authorities and managed to convince theauthorities that her deserter son only deserved a public lashinginstead of an execution – and afterwards, he was conscripted again.

“They are old,” Storm said to break the uncomfortable silence. “Do not mind them.”

The masseuse nodded, though she seemed a little startled, and begun working without no further delay. To her credit, there was no sign of hesitation in her movements as she rubbed oil onto his skin; the earlier flow of conversation was still gone and replaced by a few hesitant attempts to speak.

“Where did you get these?” she asked eventually while she was working on a particularly stubborn kink on his lower back.

It was the side where the arrow had almost pierced him in the Fringes, back when he had mistakenly veered too close to a Resistance camp. The uniform which had been essential to his initial escape had almost cost his life later on, and he didn’t manage to dodge all the bullets and arrows. He had burned the outfit soon after, once he had been well enough to do so.

Storm spent a moment pondering whether to stay silent or to reply something. He could have simply claimed that the scars were a result of a “misadventure”, but while the claim had a grain of truth, it was too much of a lie for him to feel comfortable. He ended up choosing something that felt like a middle ground between lying and not speaking: a non-answer.“It’s a long story.”

Once again, not quite a lie but neither the exact truth either.

The scar caused by a desperate citizen’s knife could hardly be considered “misadventure”, not especially when he had assaulted Storm while he had been doing his duty.

Nor could the burn mark he got when his company ran into a group of rebels who had a thaumaturge amongst their ranks.

Who would want to tell that they bear the reminders of past mistakes and failures? Of capture and torture? Of multiple ill deeds?

The rest of the massage passed in nigh complete silence, with the sound of her hands rubbing against his skin and massaging his muscles filling the void that had probably been meant for idle conversation. The answer seemed to have either satisfied the masseuse, or then she didn’t dare to inquire any further. Storm had to admit that he didn’t mind much either way.

After the massage session was over, Storm thanked the masseuse with polite but curt words before dressing up almost hurriedly. He made a mental note to thank Sasameru in a similar manner – and to see whether he could teach himself to massage his shoulders.

He doubted that he would visit the massage parlour again, at least.

[ever-searching]

Some banner images of my characters. Two are missing because I forgot to take screenshots from one (sorry Lumien) and realized that the other was making a strange face in the images I had (damn it Arashi).

I’m still trying to decide on personalities for everyone except Cain although Narangelel was partly inspired by this song.

[ever-searching]

@renofmanyalts​ (Re: Ice cream headcanons - Fudge Behaving Badly, Storm):

I would be very curious to hear about how Sasameru goes about silencing rumors!

If Sasameru is the one hearing the rumour first, he tries to pose questions and comments to subtly either prove the rumour false or suggest that the rumour-mongers themselves are suspicious for taking such an interest in the topic. He never goes for a quick denial (as that rarely works) but rather promises to “investigate the subject” and then later provides Storm with a perfect alibi - which usually is even true.

In the worst cases, the people spreading the rumours may find themselves in oddly similar troublesome circumstances. People are usually only interested in the newest and juiciest gossip, after all, and I doubt it would be outside his (family connection’s) powers to... fabricate something which may or may not be completely truthful.

(Whether or not Storm is aware of his shenanigans is an entirely different question, but there’s probably at least some which passes under his radar.)

[ever-searching]

Fact for fact: Selah loves nothing more than a well-optimized, clearly-documented system. He has the Concord's annual activity cycle planned out by the sixth astral moon of the year previous, and everything in the Grove headquarters is filed and labeled. (On the upside, when he is sent off on his yearly mandatory vacation, everything runs smoothly without him. On the downside, he has to be sent on a mandatory annual vacation. . . )

Sasameru is the primary owner of ‘One More Page’ and ‘Cup of Knowledge’, so he takes care of most of their management. He makes any bulk orders, plans out any events or discount campaigns plus handles correspondence and bookkeeping. Being a researcher and someone with a penchant for writing, he enjoys documenting daily business activity and trying to analyze buyer trends.

However, he isn’t a very organized person. Everything he writes tend to just get stacked into piles, and he has tried various innovative systems for organizing the shop shelves, none of which have ever really worked (or been followed through till the end).

Therefore it fall onto Storm to make sure that the books are shelved in a sensible manner and that documents are properly labeled and archived; thankfully, he doesn’t mind the task (though he probably wishes Sasameru would be a little less of an absent-minded professor stereotype at times). Storm also tends to handle most business negotiations, particularly when it comes to buying or selling rare books, and runs the book binding/repair service.

Both Sasameru and Storm are able to run the shops smoothly even while the other is on a holiday, but generally speaking both of them may have some workaholic tendencies. They are better at reminding each other to rest and relax than doing that themselves.