Nemaisare

blackbird claw, raven wing [ closed for El Taco Taco && Nemaisare ]

It would look pretty nice on certificate paper, and framed... >.>

blackbird claw, raven wing [ closed for El Taco Taco && Nemaisare ]

Ooooh, that needs to be an award. It is an awesome thing.

In Murky Waters

Pleased that she’d managed to make herself understood, Iri felt the wait of the princess settle on her tail and grinned over at her mother. It might have taken a little prompting, and she might have hesitated a little, but she was sitting. So, humans could be friendly and aware of you that way, too! It was something she had been worried about from the moment her mother and the elder both had warned her against being overly familiar with those she met, keeping her hands to herself and everything else at what they said was an appropriate distance for humans. It had seemed monstrously vast, to her.

Well, maybe they just needed to be taught differently.

Hafsa, who knew exactly what her daughter was thinking just then, merely huffed quietly, but nodded encouragement back because anything else would have been discouraging for the pair.

“And nice it is to meet you… Yana?” She wasn’t sure she’d heard her father correctly when he’d introduced them, but was not perturbed at all by the curiousity the other seemed to have for her scales. Touch was a good thing between mers, it proved each other acknowledged. So, Iri only bared her teeth happily, their sharper angles making it a slightly intimidating gesture, though she meant well. Then, as the king began to speak again, she turned her attention back to him, not sure if he was addressing them as well, of just her mother and the elder.

For her own part, Hafsa had nodded through the offer, then gurgled her approval when he had finished. “That is well thought. We had decided that you would have your words and moment during our waiting, but it is better that happens before. Yes, it will do well. The speaking things can be done there?” She moved Tsuin from the crook of her arm to her back as she spoke, so she could bow again with both arms supporting her, and then wave her arm towards an outcrop of rock where sand had crept into its cracks and poor grass was trying to grow. “There is one here, Plehn. He knows more of what is needed for making the princess comfortable.” She paused to point out a male almost as large as the elder, and even older, who had had plenty of experience with humans and building. He was, in fact, their best maker.

“Now though, we ready what is needed, and give them space, yes?” Smiling gently, she turned to eye the two girls who had been utter strangers not two minutes ago and gestured the rest of the mers away as she started hauling herself and her son towards the shade of a tree. “Here, we will talk more, King.”

Iri, watching them leave, was vaguely alarmed at the idea of being alone with someone she didn’t know and whose opinion of her was going to matter for the rest of her life. But after her initial squeak, she pulled back, unconsciously looking for comfort from the only body nearby, and, taking as deep a breath as she could, turned again to look at Ayana. “Now we have a tide for talking and I do not know what is to say.”

In Murky Waters

While both the Hafsa and the elder were grateful to see the smile on the king’s face, Iri was not altogether aware that she’d done anything wrong. Most especially as there was no consequence. So, she smiled back, a toothy sort of friendliness, and followed where he looked.

She could see someone else was in that basket-thing. It was very easy to notice when they were peeking out of it and when they stepped out, she squeaked excitedly at anyone who would listen. See? Do you see her? Look, oh look, I am scared. But with her mother’s encouragement, and Tsuin looking on in curiousity, she lifted her head as high as she could when the king introduced them and tried again to offer that bow the way her mother had. It felt silly to bob her head about, but it seemed important, so she did it, and then, as soon as the other girl’s lips moved, she clambered over the elder’s back so she could go around the king and close the distance between them.

It took her a moment, the elder was not a small mer, and shifted beneath her with a grumbled complaint about her claws. But she made it eventually, and was very soon staring up at this princess Ayana who was to be her bonded with obvious curiousity and no small amount of consideration. Short hair, but a nice colour. Funny cloth hiding her legs. It was a colour she did not readily know, though it did come close to the stinging anemones she preferred to avoid. At the very least, however, she knew that a human would not be wearing something that stung. They touched too many other things to accept the risk that they might hurt something they did not want to scare away.

The trouble, really, was that although Ayana was not exceptionally tall for a human, she was still higher than Iri’s arms could lift her, and she did not have the proper spinal support to hold herself up with her tail. So, she moved around Ayana’s feet, curling in behind her and coming around the other side before patting her flank invitingly. “Here. You… put self here.” She did not know the word for lie down or sit, as one was rarely done by any mer and the other was always done, so she’d never thought to ask about it. “Then close ear to mouth and no… no look up.”

She was not at all bothered to be offering herself as a chair, as it was exactly what she would have done with another mer if they wanted to speak without misunderstandings or to develop their friendship. She could not hear very well beyond a certain distance, and Ayana had a very quiet voice. Well, to her, anyway. The king had spoken loud enough to hear, he knew noise was necessary. The princess did not seem used to this fact.

“Please?” She added as a quick afterthought after a reprimanding cough from the elder.

When It Rains, It Pours

*dies*

In Murky Waters

They had brief warning of the humans’ approach when Hafsa, who had been dealing with them off and on for some time now, recognised the thumping in the ground for the beat of hooves against it. Horses, she explained to those who had never seen them, were very large and would probably hurt if they stepped on you, but could be startled away with a simple hiss and threat display. But they should try to avoid startling the beasts when they had a human on their back… The wry manner with which passed on her warning told Iri that she probably mentioned that from experience, but was unlikely to tell her the story, no matter how much she pestered.

The temptation to try it for herself and see what the result was crossed her mind and kept her distracted until the beasts and their burdens came into view.

Never mind startling them. She was going to stay as far away as possible from creatures that size, even if they only ate grass. What if they took exception to her lying on top of it?! No, thank you, she was going to stay right here on her rock where it was safe and she could observe the hubbub without being included in the fuss.

Beside her, she could hear the others remarking on the flurry of activity that seemed well rehearsed, as not a one of the tall humans (and they were all tall, having the advantage of being able to stand upright) stepped into another’s way. They were extremely coordinated in a way that mers could never have emulated on land. It was interesting to watch. And she wanted to know what they were doing with the horses and the ropes and the huge cloth and what was in the big basket-thing the horses were pulling.

She’d seen them about before, of course, and had occasionally gone as close as she could to the nearest ocean town, but it was rather different to know that these humans had come to see them, specifically, rather than that they’d all met up by chance. There was no small amount of awkward gazes being met and flitting away again as curiousity matched curiousity.

Iri’s own gaze eventually began to sort through each of the humans, trying to guess who she might soon be bound to, but she hadn’t any notion. Would a princess be put to work? What did princesses do, anyway? She had been summarily informed that a princess was her own gender when she’d snarled at her mother about the whole not getting to choose who she performed the rite with, and that they would both be unable to choose and it was for the good of their clans. As far as she was aware, a princess was the daughter of a king. But she did not know how to tell a male from a female, or a king from a-… Actually, the human approaching them looked promising.

Dignified, tall, so she guessed he was older… Did humans keep growing? How small did they start out? And he was coming towards them, which surely meant he was important enough to feel he could speak to them. Not that she wouldn’t have said something to even a beggar’s brat, had one been available and saying hello, but no one else was looked willing to say a word to them, so, she assumed…

When he bowed, she glanced at her mother and the elder and tried to imitate their own version of the gesture, dipping her head and bending her elbows a little. Then, because she had every right to be part of these proceedings now that the day had arrived, she hauled herself over to join the elder and the Hafsa, squeezing in between them without concern for interrupting the proceedings. From her lower vantage point, she stared up at the human, considering. She had learned the language from the elder on her left, but had had little chance to practise and was a little unsure of her manners, but she’d already given her mother all the opinions she could ever hope to want concerning the ceremonies, and didn’t want to wait any longer. “Hello. I am Iri. Where prince-ess?”

She was promptly grumbled at by her mother, and had her hair pulled by Tsuin. Hissing, she turned to glare while the Hafsa sighed. “A good day, King. My daughter, Iri. We are hoping they might meet so they do not come together strangers. A tide to talk, as we speak of ceremonies, yes?”

In Murky Waters

Name: Iri (eery) of Pyries (pie-ris)
Age: 47 (equivalent of ~20)
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Homosexual
Occupation: Hunter, Mother, Guard
Talents / Skills: Hunting, shaping imendrel, knows the ocean

AppearanceI have no picture :(
-13' long from head to tail tip
-grayish blue, lightening along her stomach, with darker lines down her sides
-mottling of darker speckles across her back
-black eyes, black nails
-grey hair grown long and often tied back in some complicated weave

Brief Personality
Iri is a curious creature. She enjoys learning new things, and likes to meet new people, but she is very much a homebody who prefers that these occasions occur within her control and within an area she knows well. Asking questions is generally safer than going into the dark cave herself... For all her practical caution, however, she can be quite fiercely protective, and if a member of her clan is in danger, or potentially in danger, she will forget what fear she might feel for herself and act against the threat without hesitation. She knows her strengths and limits and is not afraid to admit them, believing that it is better to know her limits and ask for help than put herself or any others in danger because of simple pride. She can be a little competitive though, and likes to push herself. She can be a bit mothering and pushy with those willing to take it, but can be made to listen to opinions other than her own and accepts the occasional reproach over her actions. So, she tries to respect it if someone tells her they don't appreciate her care that way.

In Murky Waters

The light sparked and scattered, vibrant and lively as it skipped across the water. Beneath the waves, its motion was a more sedate danced with shadows on the sand and over the sea grass, rippling away from the shapes that swam with easy, undulating motion just beneath the ocean’s surface. Ten distinct shadows moved with eager synchronization towards the nearest rocky shore, the sole representatives chosen by the Hafsa and her daughter for the first moment of meeting with the princess. The Pyriei clan was large enough to merit taking into account the king’s mention of her dislike for crowds, but they had not wanted to make the moment too private. To do without witnesses would have been a poor method to thank the human that had thought to include them in his politics.

Too, they were a little unsure if their notion of a crowd was different from the princess’. Mers were gregarious by nature, a little crowding was perfectly normal in their society. Lack of it was rather more lonely than less.

So, ten it was. Glancing around her, trilling a low note of encouragement to her younger brother, who was tired out from all the excitement, Iri folded herself backwards and slipped beneath her uncle to come around under the pup. She was not the least bit fatigued, despite the effort she had put into her own preparations and the sleep that anxiety had stolen from her. Nerves were very readily buoying her reserve just as she buoyed up her brother, reminding him to take a breath of air if his gills weren’t up to the chore of breathing for him.

He squeaked at her, embarrassed, and up ahead, Hafsa Shanira let out a fluting laugh as she heard the exchange. But she didn’t bother turning around. As second eldest, it was Iri’s privilege to look after her younger siblings. As the mother, it was Hafsa’s privilege to let her. The oldest was already bound to another, and had her own pup to look after.

Ignoring his protests, she lifted him on her back and chirped until he gave in and grabbed onto her shoulders, when she picked up the pace once more, he clung like a limpet and squealed in her ear, the extra weight didn’t bother her, and she caught up with the others quickly. The rest of the journey was made in silence until they came to the large, flat rocks they usually left to the humans. They were too easily walked across by land predators, dangerous territory for a heavy mer wanting to soak up a little sun.

Heads poking out of the blue water, hair trailing like kelp about each set of shoulders, large, black eyes stared at the land, considering this place they’d chosen for such an important moment. It looked the same as it always had, white surf and glistening rocks, wide pools left by the high tide and purple mussels clinging to the lower reaches. The humans wouldn’t come out so far though, low tide was safe, but high tide came in fast. Iri turned to look at her mother, and then to the green haired elder who had been Hafsa before her. They would have to climb over those big rocks, there and back. And only the word of a walker that this would be safe. She blew bubbles expressively, but when no one else made the first move, took it upon herself to approach the shore, brother still clinging tight, and voiced none of her misgivings.

She’d already had her say, and Hafsa, not her mother, had listened and explained the better reasons to make the attempt. They had heard of humans in other places chasing mers away from their homes, building places to put their ships and spreading out across the water with their nets to take all the food. So far, the walkers here had been considerate, but there was never any certainty until this offering had been made. It was a good thing. Once done, they could be confident in their neighbour’s good intentions, and would be neighbours no more, but one clan. And clans did not ruin themselves.

Rushing the slick boulders riding a swell, she scrambled as far onto the rock as the wave’s momentum would take her, tail lashing behind her, narrowly avoiding tumbling over her hands as they caught under her belly. Tsuin, on her back, pressed his face to her neck and wrapped his tail around her middle as she looked around, the jumble of rocks suddenly looking very alike and monstrously large. His weight was no longer as easy to ignore, but she didn’t tell him to get off, it was comforting, having him so close. At least there’d been no one else to see her graceful landing…

Huffily, once she knew the coast was clear, Iri continued on, dragging her long tail and waddling slightly from side to side. Behind her, the others followed one by one, each stumbling in much the same fashion onto the stone and then starting after her. It was a curious sight, their little troupe. With the exception of Tsuin, who had yet to come into his growth, each was twice the length of any human, most even longer. There was a great deal of power in each lashing tail, and the arms that could pull that weight forward were no slender twigs. Still, it took them an hour to cross what would have taken even a child little more than ten minutes. And they collapsed atop each other in a heaving coil of limbs and cramping tails when they reached the rendezvous point.

Now, Iri understood the wisdom in her uncle’s suggestion that they give themselves plenty of time to settle there before the human delegation would arrive, as she was much too breathless and tired to even lift her head off the ground just then. <<You are heavy for so small a pup, Tsuin. Off my back, I need to breathe.>> She managed to gasp the words, and wheezed as her snorted at her, little scamp, and crawled his way to their mother. She could follow his progress by the trail of huffs that accompanied his weight on the others’ backs and, after a few more breaths unencumbered, lifted herself onto her elbows, using the elder’s tail to support her weight off the ground and lift herself up a little higher.

Glancing about, she could see that the weather was good, there was no water in the air and the sun wasn’t too bright. They were still on the rocks here, though they were dry and seemed to have rarely been touched by the waves. To one side, the land rose up into a bluff, and on the other, the rocks levelled into sand, and then into high grass. She didn’t know how the humans were going to reach them, but there seemed just as much land in front of her as there was ocean behind her. It was a little unnerving, and she sank back, tail jinking up behind her until she was pressed against the others and could wrap it around her like a shield.

This was the world her bounded was to come from. This was the world her bounded’s people came from. And she knew it not at all… Fingering the light arm ring she had spent the last month shaping from the imendrel beds into the little spikes of a fish’s spine. It looked delicate, but had suffered not at all from the climb across the rocks, and was far stronger than it looked. She planned to offer it to the princess by way of greeting. She had no way of knowing if it would fit, but she hoped the thought alone might count for something. Had they been able to meet before this, she could have been sure, as it was, now that they were here, little fish were swimming in her stomach and, as she recovered her breath, they only grew stronger.

Quickly, she reached back to undo the knot that held her hair out of the way, letting the long, wet strands fall forward to cover the pouches at her neck where her gills retracted. Then, full of nervous energy, she set about badgering her companions into some semblance of dignity. A pile was all well and good for sleeping, but it would never do as a first impression.

In Murky Waters

Whoo, starting post! I have absolutely nothing to say here... Haha... >.>

Do you stay...? (Two questions, actually.)

1) A GM taking occasional control of other people's characters is not a bad thing, as far as my opinion goes, provided they can do it respectfully and in good taste. I have kinda strange limits that way in that I don't mind if someone moves my character, most especially in situations where they couldn't get out of it anyway, without asking me. But I don't like it when they put words into my character's mouth, or give them thoughts. And, of course, everything is easily circumvented by simply asking, or offering a forewarning at the beginning of gameplay.

If I was in a group roleplay where I didn't like how the GM was running the show, whether railroading, porwerplaying, metagaming, or bunnying, I'd likely leave. If I really liked the idea, or thought it might be useful, I might explain the particulars before I left, but otherwise, I'd probably just say something like 'sorry, too busy, bowing out.' Ordinarily, however, I'm a shy little pansy who doesn't want to risk starting a war of opinions just to possibly change someone's view on their actions. If I really, really, really liked the idea to start with, I might try to stay on for a little while just to see if things get better, or I might attempt to be as diplomatic and wishy-washy as possible about saying that they could maybe, probably, possibly, just a little, use a bit of redirection in how they're going about their writing. *sinking farther into my chair all the while*

2) I think 1x1 is quite possibly the best ever method of writing that exists. Except possibly really good novels, but that's not collaborative, so, meh. I will expand to 1x1x1, but I prefer small group dynamics over large, mainly because I am a slow poster who does not want to feel like I'm holding anyone up or disappointing more than one person if I can't continue an rp. I also like it because there's only two minds to accommodate when writing, and you can browse the inordinate number of interest checks to try and find exactly what you're looking for. And there really is something for everyone, honest, it's just not always on the same site you're on. :/

One on one's can most definitively, become a smut fest, or a long running romance, or an oops I have to post to this again, damn it I should just say sorry, no more. If you're looking for well-written multiple paragraphs, detail oriented, character developing posts, you do have to go on a bit of a treasure hunt through the more usual 'M looking for F!' etc. But I assure you, it is a treasure hunt. When you find that partner who is just right for you, whose writing and humour and wondrous ideas resonate with your own, it's a brilliant moment. It might take a while. Indeed, it's taken me ten years to amass all of 10 writers I will never let go. But it's worth every ignored message and not quite as advertised discovery.

I've never written my own interest check, so it is possible that would help you along in finding these people that are just right for you, indeed, I should hope it does, but I certainly encourage anyone and everyone who's interested to give it a try.

It is very possible to find and maintain a 1x1 storyline that doesn't involve romance or sex. You have to be a little pickier and strict with your fine tooth comb over of each interest check, and the partners you accept, but rpers are certainly capable of it. ;) I have five? I think it's five, on the go right now that do not involve and do not have a future of, romance. I've spoken with quite a few others who weren't looking for it either. I'm not sure about the Her finding. There's bound to be at least one person out there with a similar desire and drive to write the way you'd appreciate, but the movie, to my mind, was geared towards a romantic relationship, there might not have been any actual sex, but that was not platonic love.... >.>

Anyway! Yes, go for it! Be prepared for some iffy troubles and discouragement, but do not give up! It is worth the effort to find a writing partner who fits the bill. (and really, really depressing when they vanish off the face of the earth and you can't find them again, but still worth knowing they once existed and might again)