silver thorns

Open starter for @vievecorcitystarters

Location: Absynthia

Rahui was thrilled to hear that she would arrive to Vievecor just in time for the festival, she loved live music, and was a big fan of various of the bands playing at the Absynthia.

She put on an all black outfit consisting of a cropped tank, jacket, cargo pants and boots. She arrived early in the day to drink, dance to Røz, and cause problems. The mischievous spirit switched between dancing, and walking around stealing lighters and cigarettes, only to put them back at random people’s pockets, for no good reason other than wanting to fuck with people’s heads in a harmless way. Eventually, she grew tired of that, and tried to switch her activity to lurking at the bar for a while, and snatching drinks out of the table whenever a bartender set one down. However, her activity was cut short when she stole her second drink, as a hand settled firmly on her shoulder before she could bolt. The spirit turned around, grinning at the stranger and taking a step closer to them, with their stolen drink still in hand. “Thank you for buying me this, you know I really appreciate it.” Her speech wasn’t entirely fluent, and her accent was strong, indicating she wasn’t too used to speaking in this language.

She was just getting another drink when she watched a pretty girl snatch it up. Eun-ji was paying too much attention to let that slip by, grabbing her shoulder before she could take off. Still, she already had a drink earlier that relaxed her, on top of the fact that she could never stay mad at a pretty face for long. "You could have asked, I would have gotten you something more suited to your tastes."

When she saw a message request, she couldn't help wondering who else was looking at the forums at this time of night.

"I don't know really, just kinda anything." Admitting they were in a rut was hard, Eun-ji however had likely seen this more than a few times but they didn't want to think about how well they knew each other. The hurt was already deep with Gwen gone and the first hope at something normal seemingly gone. "Just haven't quite found the right... thing."

They were glad to hear that she was settling at least there was that. Max had remember missed dates and time that Max had wanted to spend with her. "I'm glad to hear it, you deserve to have peace every now and then I know how invested you get into things. Make sure to take care of yourself, yea?"

God why were they giving a fuck, they really shouldn't maybe she just wasn't capable of truly being a bitch.

They were being far kinder to her than she would have expected, though she guessed the very obvious gloom surrounding them was contributing to that. Eun-ji's smile softened into something more genuine. "I think you were the only person to ever tell me to slow down," she commented with a soft laugh. "It's about time I finally started doing that."

"Hmm... Is this your way of politely telling me to fuck off?" the spirit asked, teeth flashing as they grinned at Jun-hee.

"I'm sure I could have said it politer," she replied with a shrug, not denying it. Despite her proximity to him earning her money, she didn't enjoy it.

The city was meant to be safer now since the negotations she'd heard about. It was part of the reason why they felt safe to walk home again when intoxicated, something they had stopped doing after the kidnapping incident a few years ago. From the looks of the woman in front of them, she didn't look like the type to hurt them so they took them up on the offer. "Sure, I could use the company," she agreed. "But my plan is to walk all the way into Garond and down to the water," the elf warned, knowing it was a long hike. "Hello, Eun-ji. I'm Atlas," the greeted, slipping their hand into the crook of her elbow.

They fell into step together, albeit a little slower than Eun-ji's normally quick pace. "So, what're we drinking for? Celebrating something? Or just enjoying a good day?"

for: @hackerhyun

The last day had come quickly but Naz was grateful it was finally here. They had never been the best dancer or singer but she had managed to stumble her way through a movie musical. Despite the permanent ache in her feet and sore muscles from dance routines, Naz felt like she had finally achieved something good in her career. This could be the first step towards her goal of becoming a star.

She had been proud until she heard the rumours that had started swarming about her. Naz knew her past could look bad but she really had worked hard to get this role. Rumours could tarnish her reptuation and she wanted to get to the bottom of who was spreading the lies. There was only one person on set that did know about her past and she made a beeline towards the 1st AD.

"I need to ask you something," Naz said softly, twisting her fingers together with nerves. She wanted to believe that Eun-ji would still tell her the truth, even if their break up hadn't been easy. "Have you heard any rumours about me on set?"

Eun-ji was going over a list of things that needed to be done after filming wrapped when a familiar face approached. She smiled easily at Naz, the woman far too beautiful to frown at. It was clear she was anxious, Eun-ji had spent enough time wit her to know what that looked like.

"There's always rumors," she replied somewhat flippantly, looking down at her clipboard before pausing. She had to play the part of a concerned friend who most certainly did not start the rumor as revenge. "I'd heard some of the grip guys talking, but I didn't think it'd go past that."

Are you going to protest? You think you can change the world?

1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES (2017, Jang Joon-hwan)

He had shown up early on set and crew members were slowly appearing, as well as the first few actors and actresses that had the earliest report times to hair and makeup. The weather was damn near perfect. They would finish with ease, or so he hoped, as he gazed out across the athletic fields that had been transformed into a rather elaborate end of the school year carnival.

He could hear someone approaching from behind and turned as they neared. One brow quirked up as he asked, “Ready?”

Eventually, she made her way towards their director. If there was any last minute requests, she wanted to hear them now. "As ready as we can be," she murmured in response. "I'm just hoping nobody throws us any proverbial curve balls." They would, of course. There was always something that came up.

Chris had connected when Eun-ji when he needed programming help on a project tying a few sensor readouts together. Even though that had been put to the side for now, he'd stayed in contact with her, bouncing some ideas off her and getting her take on some of his future projects. The last time they were chatting though, he realized they'd never met in person and decided to change that, arranging for the two of them to meet at a cafe in Garrond.

He liked Eun-ji, but didn't bring people he didn't know into the lab itself so he'd set this first meeting far away from it just to be safe - especially with everything that had happened. Still, he hoped it went well. It was nice to have a human perspective on some of his ideas to see what he might miss. He'd picked a table near a window draped with greenery and gotten a cup of floral tea while he kept an eye on the door. Eventually he saw Eun-ji and gave a small wave.

She had scoped out the place hours ago, and now was returning slightly after their meeting time to continue the casual facade. Eun-ji returned his wave and crossed the space to join him at his table. "Hello. It's nice to finally meet you in person. I was starting to wonder if you were a figment of my imagination," she joked with a small laugh.

"Oh, I'm fine. Be my own fault if I wasn't." She waved it off. She was constantly as risk for being in more trouble, a little bump on the street was nothing. "Have you been in hiding? I thought you might have skipped town."

Instead of approaching him, when she waved he simply nodded and looked away. There was nothing really interesting on his phone but he could pretend to be deep in thought while he sent a quick text to his boyfriend. Every now and then, his eyes would flicker up to watch her. While her attitude had deterred him, he wanted to leave an impression at least.

When he finally approached, she managed to give a small smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Thank you, it's helping me finish my work," she replied. Her eyes lingered on him as he left. People were not that kind, not in her experience. There was no way to get answers for the moment, so she let the thought drift to the back of her mind.

Seeing Eun-ji hurt, that reminder of everything that had been and then wasn't. All they'd wanted to do was avoid and evade their present so the past decided to haunt them instead. Perhaps fate was just cruel like that. Seeing the smile had a warmth in their chest that felt worse somehow. Despite how long the two had been seperated now and Max had thought they'd moved on the old ache still sat there. "I could be better," with the little smirk at the end, "I was hoping I'd find some kind of inspiration or maybe a distraction here."

Both were true, but now regretable. Why did it have to be her?

"You look good, not working yourself to the bone I hope."

It a complex mix of emotions than came with the memory of Max and what their life together had been like. They were memories she tried not to linger on, lest the emotions gain a little too much heat and she do something aggressive. Perhaps that was why she was rewarded with a moment to speak with them again. "What kind of inspiration were you hoping for in our dingy bar?" she questioned, her tone curious.

Eun-ji let out a small chuckle, glancing down at her drink as she was called out. "Surprisingly, I'm not. Things have settled significantly." It would be interesting to see how long the peace lasted, and when it inevitably fell apart, she would have something important to focus on again.

The revolver

Revolver model m/87, model year 1887, manufactured in Sweden by Husqvarna. 7.5 mm calibre. Known owners: - Sven Bengtson, a human who mentioned owning the gun in his journal from 1898. - Roan Wayland, a witch who acquired the gun from a dealer of magical artifacts in the 1990’s. Current owner. Read the backstory.

Powers

The revolver itself was empowered with white magic in the form of a blessing by a deity. This blessing gives the wielder of the gun increased chance of hitting the intended target as long as the target is non-human. The bullets that the revolver is currently equipped with have been magically enhanced by the witch Roan Wayland. The bullets can drain power and wound supernatural creatures.

The effects

The effect of the gunshot is meant to be weak on humans and any being with a soul resembling a human's, while effects on demons is meant to be the strongest.

Deities – will not be affected by the shot. The bullet will bounce off them.

Humans – the bullet will not penetrate through skin, but the force of the shot will still be transferred to the body. It will feel like being shot while carrying a bullet-proof vest.

Spirits – if they are prepared will be able to phase through the bullet and not be hit. Human spirits will feel very little effect, while animal spirits can feel that they have been shot but will not receive any wounds or scars.

Elves, witches, werewolves – will experience it like being shot from a regular gun, with some delayed healing of the wound and some power drain.

Vampires and demons – will be hit with the full extent of the gun shot. The bullet will penetrate through their skin, draining power and reducing healing. Because of the large concentration of white magic demons will be severely harmed by the shot, losing their powers for a limited amount of time as their black magic has to fight to expel the white magic from their body. The bullet wound will leave a permanent scar. The scar will follow them if they change to another body or go into the underworld.