#thegildedgun

[charm-in-spades]

⋈ What was the last thing you lied about? Why did you lie?

“Someone asked if I was okay. I told them ‘yes’. No one is actually looking to hear otherwise.” 

[teebster]

Anger and Goodbye

[Doing a read more. Vague death and blood mention, but no descriptions of either.]

Anger

Anger. Hot and boiling. Wrath. Untamed rage. Or perhaps cold and calculated. Thoughtful cruelty. Controlled, directed, spite. 

Terbish tilted their head, their lips twisting just slightly at the corner. This was not the amused twitch some had come to expect of their hidden expressions, but instead the distaste at the attempt of a bitter frown. A subtle difference, but one a keen eye might note. “…I do not often express my frustrations upon individuals. Perhaps it is the invisible borders. A lack of interest to allow care, to consider expectations of another.” Their hands had stilled for a time, but finally they tapped each of their fingers on their thigh, once, starting from the outside and rolling in with only a small pause before the thumbs joined, in sync. The left came up, fingers coiled in a touch, and they studied it with masked eyes. “But this does not alter the social contract with the self.” Terbish shook their head slightly, fingers pressing in. A claw threatening their own palm. Avoidance wouldn’t give answers. “While taking shelter, I had been found by beasts with hunger in their eyes. A single meal for myself, a single loss for them. The rest quickly departed, fear taking hold, but only for a time. I allowed myself to feast, to forget. It was not my price to pay… Not far, a home, a family. When discovered, a wounded echo of itself. The livestock, clumsily butchered. Teeth and claws favored over a clean blade. The family…” The skin at the edge of Terbish’s lips rippled. Half their mouth lay flat with distaste, the other twitched up as if wanting to smile. Discomforting pleasure. “The end of the act. The remaining beasts had found their meal. They drank from the life of their prey. So delighted, they had not noticed another. Or perhaps I fit the scene. The blood took my vision. Forgetting guilt, all was red. I did not allow any a second escape. I bloodied the home as they had. Butchered, claw and teeth. I drank, as they had. I tore, and tore. I would end their hunger with my own. But worse, the red had gone black, returning as I was finishing their meal, not my own. I retched. But it would not allow release. I still carry burning disappointment. Perhaps it will leave when I forget the taste.”

Goodbye

[Maybe doing this one a bit different deal with it]

Memories. Fleeting echoes. Dying whispers. A gift. A curse. A price.A gift.A curse.A price.——-Terbish’s toes writhed within their boot, which offered the display of the top wriggling about as if encasing many excited worms. If one had the imagination for such things. Yet it was not hard to consider something discomforting under the layers. Under the skin. A genuine frown had set upon their lips, as if they forgot they were in the company of another. What had brought the topic? What had brought the nagging sensation of forgetting? Their tail flicked. Annoyance? Or more nervous energy?“…I often wonder, how much my dream has warped. The twisting, reforming of this nightmare. The colors shift. The song old and new. But how long will it remain, my dream? At what point am I new? To lose myself. To become myself. As I was. As I am. As I shall be.” They pushed off the wall they had pressed against. It may have been to seek comfort in isolating openings, but their restless energy had taken hold. Opening their mouth, they allowed it to slide to the side. Their jaw releasing quiet stiff cries before a loud pop from it falling out of place. It would be another moment before they some how forced the disjointed piece back into place without their hands. This would be done with a snap, to counter the previous pop. And lastly, a soft sigh escaped them as they shuffled forward, stopping abruptly as if to refuse the concept of turning and pacing.“This empty wanting, the lacking of things I do not know. Yet the mind cries out, a claim that perhaps I reconsider. An old home. An old life. It is not my own, not true. This itch. It comes, and comes. I slip. I fall. I’ve ate away at me, from it I grow. From it we grow.” Terbish tilted their head, allowing the motion to continue beyond comfort, and then just slightly more. Their bone mask falling with no movement to catch it. Unmasked, their gaze was clear, focused, thoughtful but with the nervous light dying out; eyes dulling to match their shift back to entirely too stiff and flat. “At what point, do I say goodbye to myself?”

[libraviathanff14]

13 - What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color? 4 - How easy is it to earn their trust?

13. Vynnie owns a lot of black clothing, but occasional throws some light green shirts and what not into his wardrobe. He has one bright green eye, and he likes that color better than his yellow one, so he thinks he looks good in that green. But black works for everyone. And I think I'd agree with him.

4. The wording of these questions get me, sometimes. To Vynnie, it's pretty easy to earn his trust, he wants someone to be honest and show that they have good intentions with that honesty. With the exception of private matters and some secrets, he doesn't trust people who hide things easily, and people who seem bad but are honest aren't any different. Of course, how "easy" it is to be honest and good to him depends on the character.

Thank you for the asks!

[glowinggunmetal]

19. Are there any specific minions/pets your character has IC?

Lucien has two refurbished and modified bits that he usually deploys when Things Are Serious, because they’re part of his Project work - they allow him greater flexibility when handling aether related issues as they’re designed to work with Garlean Purebloods and provide absorption/coverage against magical attacks (similar to the cermit weave, or other Garlean innovations for handling aether users) and give him the better chance of going toe-to-toe with them.

He doesn’t pull them out often because they’re a little advanced for “an Eorzean blacksmith”.

[baatuxiv]

14. What animal do they fear most? 21. Why do they get up in the morning? 38. What memory do they revisit the most often? (For any of your characters!)

14. What animal do they fear most?

Amasandji is experienced with animals, especially predators. Being as stalwart and serious as he is, it’s possibly a bit hard to believe that any beast would cause the rugged Xaela any discomfort, but he’s certainly not immune. While he’d never admit to being scared, cats make him very uncomfortable. For his people, felines of any kind were an omen of death. His facial-scarring, too, is reminiscent of claw marks.

21. Why do they get up in the morning?

As a Kagon, Baatu technically doesn’t get up in the morning. Not unless he has to. Motivation-wise, what keeps him moving is a combination of two things. First, it is his nature to travel, to break camp and move on to the next place. Now that he lives in Eorzea, in a strange and unfamiliar place, he feels that it’s safer if he doesn’t stay put in one spot too long. His second reason is that he’s looking for something important, but as determined as he is to find it, he has very little information at his disposal. 

38. What memory do they revisit the most often?

There is no single, specific memory Baatu willingly reflects on. Sometimes, he’ll think fondly on memories of his siblings, about games they would play and trouble they’d get in. He thinks about his wolf, Khairga, and the horses he had throughout his time in the desert, too. The single memory he tries the hardest to avoid is the one that plagues him most--the circumstances of his banishment from the Kagon.

[charm-in-spades]

Enthusiasm. And a wildcard...Hope.

     He felt it growing inside him. Hot and festering like a wound unattended. Belligerent. Too weak to grow into something truly worth cultivating but too strong to be killed despite the stifling efforts of his mind to the familiar, sickening feeling.

Hope.

     Most days he hated it, and the sensation alone made him queasy to his core whenever it began to bud but never truly blossom. A bitter fruit left for him to taste in the face of deep expectation. He and the feeling were united in ways he could not explain. Like weeds he could not get rid of, it was a feeling that slipped its roots into the cracked gravel of his fragile and dauntless soul.

    He needed it to not exist so strongly within him, it was dangerous, but lately it felt as if the stars had finally aligned for him in some major way. That for once, they might stay filed that way. In his veins there was something new and expansive etching through the fibers of his vessel, powerful enough to ignite his atoms in its building magnitude until he felt to be combusting with energy. 

That feeling only grew when he donned the Mask. 

     His molecules became a billion and one tiny galaxies, constellations making human form and the pathways of his mind expanded, every synapse sparking with electric thought and contribution. The future became a tangible possibility, a thing he could hold within his hands if he believed hard enough. Something to be shaped and molded, if he was careful. 

     There was something new birthing itself inside him. Time would tell him what it was but with all his strength, with all his heart, for once - he had hope. 

Nothing could stop him now.

@thegildedgun​ - Nice one, man. thanks for the ask and sorry for the length of time it took! 

@enambris - @synne-spades for plot

[charm-in-spades]

11. Imagine there is a beast that craves attention. If you ignore it, despite being deadly, it will leave you alone. Could you live like that? Even if it possibly attacked others? Would you try and challenge something that unknown? 27. How far would you go to achieve a dream or ideal? Does it matter who suffers? Does it matter if you suffer?

A sly and roguish grin touched the Coyote’s lips, baring briefly teeth though it lacked the humor one might expect with such an expression. “Well,,,there;s always a beast, isn’t there?” he breached in rhetoric, a faint sniff following his words before he continued. “Multiple, really, at any given time. The ones you feed, or the ones you don’t. Internal, or external there’s always something lurking, ready to strike when you least expect.”  He opened his palms, spreading his hands a bit as if to gesture in a red pill, blue pill sort of fashion.

“It all comes down to what you feed, and in the end, you’re always going to have to face that thing. Do you feed and give in to your baser instincts? To lash out, to compromise, to self-serve at the detriment of others? Hurting the people around you. Or do you feed the beast that protects the ones you love? Gives you strength, and helps you unleash hell on anything threatening your territory? Left unchallenged, the beasts inside are free to lash out and cause harm. Left unchallenged, the beasts outside were free to try and take the things I cared for.”

“In the end, you’re going to have to face that unknown. Challenge the thing that threatens your well-being and ultimately - destroy it. I’ve mastered my inner beasts, and drove off the beasts that masqueraded as allies. I’ve faced the things that threatened the people around me, both inside and out. And I will continue to do so moving forward. Taming and unleashing my own beasts to counter whatever else lurks in the shadows.” 

“When it comes to dreams, there are times where it feels I’ve reached mine. Unexpectedly, I’ll admit. I never really dreamed of being a...husband, let alone a father, but in becoming both I’ve found a sincere purpose in my life. I always knew I was...looking for something and my days were spent in suffering, malcontent but stubborn seeking of fulfillment.”

“Many things challenged my wish for something greater. People stood in my way. Put up obstacles and barred me from any kind of true happiness. I suffered, but I suffered well knowing that I would come out victorious in the end. In a way, almost everything was an obstacle, most of all myself, and I dealt with them accordingly to get back to my Sun. To foster my daughter.  My ideal now, I guess, is that they always stay happy and content.”

“It’s not a....complex thing to ask for, and simple enough, true. But...Dangerous, in its own way...because if it took razing the rest of the world and leaving it as ashes just to see those smiles, just to create that contentment - nothing on this plane of existence would be able to stop me. My Soul and Star. They’re my joy and pride, and happiness. And luckily, they are content with the world remaining whole, and content with me as I am. With us. I can’t ask for anything more. I didn’t, but...I’m glad I got it anyways.” 

brief waifu and babby mention: @synne-spades 

tagging: @thegildedgun - thanks for the ask man :D 

[charm-in-spades]

ツ : An OC you created that you are proud of?

This was almost hard but then I decided on [@tranquil-warrior].

I think to date, Niten is likely my more favored of characters just in concept alone. He is the ultimate zen martial artist, solely inspired by real life master swordsman and ronin, Miyomoto Musashi, who is widely regarded as possibly the best swordsman to ever exist. I’ve read a few books involving his character, the book of five rings which is /his/ personal book, and his personal history is just fucking bad ass. Niten came to me during the middle of my enlistment, just as Au Ra were being announced and Raen had been discussed as being inspired by Edo era Japan. (Bruce Lee is in here pretty hard core, but I don’t have to explain him too much lol.) 

I served in the Marine Corps, and we in particular are taught to have pride and adhere to the martial lifestyle encompassing the Warrior Ethos, a code of conduct which entails the building honor, integrity, and personal discovery. This is not unlike codes such as Bushido, the Way of the Warrior, which also deals heavily in self-reflection, honor, and duty. In both these concepts, it is important to understand yourself in all situations, and hold yourself accountable and honorably to any difficult or ethical situation you may find yourself in. Honor. Courage. Commitment, is  our creed, and this is the basis for which Niten was created. 

Because these things have such a strong value to me, I was looking to create a character at the time that helped me channel those mentalities as I was in need of strength to overcome the medical situation I was in. Playing a character with such extreme discipline at the time, really helped me to get through that. He was always a samurai, from start to finish though at the time, I was unable to have the class. Go figure, it came out with Stormblood a few years later. It was even kind of funny, on his original introduction, it ran near similar to the introductory quests of SAM, as he started his first adventures in Eorzea seeking to test his mettle against that of Eorzean Gladiators. When Stormblood dropped and SAM came out, though I’d shelved Niten at this point, I eagerly brought him back. 

His aesthetic over all is one I’m proud of. His constant sense of peace and self is great. He’s one of my only lawful good characters, and has evolved with time. I’ve taken him down the route of the Oni / Kami in bringing him back, which has honestly been more fun to me and a means to learn more about these subjects. Just about everything with this character has made me feel good with him. 

These days he’s an old ghost of a man, following the nature of more reveled oni to provide protection and boons to those most deserving, and punishment to  dishonorable warriors. His eternally calm and thoughtful nature make him hard for me to play during bouts of anxiety which has been something of an ongoing the past couple weeks/months and while he may see a temporary shelving, the literal origin, meaning, and concept of this character are not ones I will ever sacrifice and he’ll more than likely remain a character I return to and keep on my rotation for years to come. 

As a side, more fun inspirations are characters like Samurai Jack, Overwatch’s Hanzo and his story, Toshiro Mifune, The Raid 1&2, Seven Samurai, and a lot of other big martial artists like Jackie Chan served to help create this guy over the years, and again, these are elements or people that fascinate or inspire me so. Yeah. Niten is definitely a character I’m proud of just because of how much of my own personal values were funneled into this and his pure beginnings make me very fond of him. 

@thegildedgun - This is super late but thank you dude!