Pre Plot Drop - Blog Posts
vincenzodives:
There was a part of him that was so confused by the situation he found himself in. This place was nice on standards he could never even understand. Vinny was sure the best place he had ever rested his head in was a hotel when he first got to Rome. Now here was Robin offering him a place to stay. She had mentioned it being a place she could go to, a safe space. It kind of made him feel like he was intruding on something. When he had woken up, her presence was very much known in the place. He had come to expect it. What he hadn’t expected was to be asked for his opinion on a makeup palette. All he had ever put on was eyeliner so he couldn’t even begin to figure out why she would want his opinion.
Nevertheless, he walked further into the room, his hands in his pockets as he sat down in the nearest seat. One left their spot and picked up the palette she was using. Definitely brighter than the usual black he felt like they both seemed to wear all the time. “Are you not sure about it? I think it looks good,” he stated as he leaned in closer to get a better look.
“The colors are pleasant enough, and reminiscent of the very fall I represent, but it is rather different to my usual so confirmation is always pleasant,” she confirms as she sets the brush aside and takes a moment more to ensure she had not smudged anything. As she does, an idea sparks and her lips tilt in the slightest hints of mischief. Quick hands reach for the orange lipstick and she applies it deftly, and with the explicit goal of getting it smudged before it’s final application. Once done, she sets the lipstick back in place and turns to face Vinny, brown eyes considering as she approaches until his knees are brushing her bare legs and leans forward, a hand falling on his shoulder to remain somewhat balanced.
Once their faces are mere inches apart, she flutters her eyelids and smiles like a predator about to pounce.
“I do appreciate the palette, but I want to make sure, do you believe it looks good on me, dearest?” She croons in question, as she leans even closer, close enough for their noses to brush, so that all he can see is her.
Rumors are a currency, both inside and outside the Eye. Rumors she had heard, regarding Aurora, Farenduil and a pair of faiman twins. Nothing concrete, but enough to pique her curiosity. Enough for it to rise without her permission, enough for her to be interested. The rumors involved two of her dearest friends, after all, and she had always been one desperate to know more in hopes of using everything she has to protect those she cares. That is what draws her to the blonde faiman when she sees her, that and the tug of her gut urging her to go on.
“Perhaps,” she says with a nod, choosing for a direct approach rather than subtlety. “I am a friend of Farenduil and I only wanted to confirm if you were his child.”
@thegoodfellow location: royal wedding notes: one starter of robin being a snoop, as requested
The bar was fully loaded though she got a weird look when she asked for something without any blood in it. Considering the crowd, Emma imagined that was an uncommon request tonight. Still, tequila made its way towards her and the faiman tipped it to her lips and emptied it down. Aware only when it was gone that someone was hovering, Emma looked towards the eladrin and cocked a brow, “Can I help you with something?”
zahryaofspring:
✿*ﾟ ‘ﾟ･
Dislike for mortals? A hundred, even a thousand years ago, the notion might’ve made Zahrya chuckle. After all, it made no sense to harbor negative emotions for creatures so far beneath him. Pity sure, but blatant dislike? He could’ve denounced the idea completely once, but truth is fluid and the mouth of his changeling remains open unspeaking for he can tell no lies.
“Until they are reminded of their place, the denizens of this realm should not expect any love from me. Either we can wait for that, or we can remind them ourselves.” When the changeling finally vocalizes Zahrya’s words, it comes out as a gravelly hiss. The vines wrapped around its body sharpen to points unintentionally and the air around him seems to vibrate, signs of the Chancellor’s agitation. “The old ways have gotten us this far. Abandoning them purely because they conflict with the state of this realm would be foolish.”
Though he calms himself as he pilots the changeling closer to Robin’s face. “What I desire most is the safety and longevity of our people. Anything more is a distraction. Duty and desire are one for me, I would gladly give my life to fulfill both.” It may not be what she wants to hear, but it’s his truth. If Titania asked him to fall on his sword right then he would without question. “You raise excellent points, but my knowledge and wisdom can be passed on. Perhaps flesh pleasures can help bring about an heir for my court, but I worry how I’d nurture the blossom properly outside of the maze…”
...
“Fear is likely not going to remind them of their place, simply plant the seeds of spite on their hearts,” she says slowly, words measured so that he recognizes their weight. If there is anything she has learned on her PhD program is that mortals are petty, no matter how much they deny it. Show something to fear and they will seek to destroy it. The Eye proves to be a great example of that. “Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the old ways meant for us to dazzle mortals with out feats not scare them?”
Robin is not sure, for she has heard her mother’s stories and she understands that at times her kind has done both, but it is worth asking, if merely to attempt to deescalate the situation. They are guests among the Pluto vampire’s, and bringing conflicts to their doors will only bring more trouble. Something the courts truly do not need.
“We are in troubling times, Chancellor. We cannot afford to lose our most powerful defenders and protectors with things as they are, and while it is noble that you would give your life to fulfill your duty, that is not what we need,” she begins, voice deliberate as she faces the Changeling with a mild expression. “We need leaders, and despite being able to pass on your knowledge and wisdom, leadership is a rather different skill, is it not?”
zahryaofspring:
✿*ﾟ ‘ﾟ･
Serenity. Relaxation. Oddly enough, these concepts have been reinvigorated in Zahrya’s mind, though entirely removed from his physical body. Ironically in the last weeks, he’s felt most at peace when he wasn’t attached to his body. Letting his spirit roam and merge with changelings as he currently is has been quite liberating for the Chancellor. Though the nature of Robin’s insistence triggers another train of thought.
“Do I seem nervous or stressed? Impossible! Look, I am here at the party.” He’s reminded of Yavie earlier that evening, how ready the younger fey was to lend him power. Were the seedlings beginning to doubt him? Sure, he was beginning to struggle to maintain some sense of time and got confused on occasion, but that didn’t mean he was failing at his duties. “New is good, but some things are futile. Our bodies are … transcendent. We are not bound by base desire like the children.”
Perhaps his views were old, maybe even too old to be considered relevant, but the old ways brought the fey this far so why abandon them for conventions that’ll surely pass in a millennium or two? Zahrya held a deep love for all eladrin, but power begets power and that’s what was needed now. “My parents were born of magic older than Her Majesty, power undiluted by this realm. It runs through my veins, the omega of two ancient noble lines. Is it so wrong to want to honor that?”
...
“Zahrya, dearest, you are within a Changeling and intimidating the other party goers,” Robin reminds him softly, eyes flickering around the room in a pointed manner before they settle back upon the Spriggan before her. It is concerning, to say the least, the way the Chancellor is acting. It is not entirely out of character, no, but there is a hint of something else, and undertone that she can glimpse within his actions. Despite knowing that it is not quite her place, despite knowing that he will likely not listen as she is merely a noble from Autumn and not his equal, not quite, she has to point out the truth. “Your dislike for mortals is well known, but I do not believe you would have gone as far as bring your Changelings to a Senate sponsored party if you weren’t nervous or stressed. It is not quite your usual style.”
“A common reaction, of course,” she rushes to reassure him, not wanting to make him think she is judging him for his stress or nerves. “The situation is rather worrying, and I know you are excelling at your duties, but you are more than your duties, Chancellor. I know you will fulfill them, but aside your duties we also need you.”
She shrugs.
“Perhaps we are not bound to base desires, but they are nice, every once in a while.”
“It is not wrong to want to honor your parents, no,” she finally settles in her response, not believing she should push on that topic as it would likely be both an uphill battle and a losing one, and she would rather focus on the battle for the Spring Chancellor’s mental health.
wintersaurora:
❅
“Sound argument,” she concedes with boredom, only because it was still oddly strange to ever think to start demanding things of Robin like her superior. Not only because she had no current jurisdiction to do so, Winter to Autumn, but Aurora had slept with a sprinkling of fey throughout her lifetime and the autumn noble had been the only one who knew her prior to Chancellorship. They matured together in a sense, the same generation with the same beliefs. It kept an unspoken understanding in their odd, aloof friendship. No matter the distance and time, things always seemed to eventually circle back into two teenagers of equal standing and nobility. “If I was ever unsteady with my power and influence, perhaps, but you’re too far from my Court to understand. There’s no need for apologies,” she meant, since Robin hadn’t actually done anything to harm. Though Aurora always appreciated any gesture of goodwill. “I simply regret the misunderstanding. You were aggressively caring.” It was well-intentioned teasing spoken with borderline seriousness, but Robin would understand the delivery of the Winter fey’s very often cold humour. A strange bond they’d had. The younger fey shaped and created from birth for leadership, matured too quick, and the slightly older but free-spirited fey. It was Robin’s determined sense of order and justice from the very beginning that allowed them to relate despite differences.
At the consideration of overstepping, Aurora simply nodded appreciatively to the apology - if only because it was for Raja. “You’re telling me,” she replied with a sigh as the conversation led to Fen’harel. But perhaps Aurora did not want to get into the topic of the one she felt had betrayed her trust. Not right now. The Winter Chancellor still had some ways to go before she found the kindness to forgive the part of it that she could forgive. “On the other hand, I did want to congratulate you on your family’s recent ascent to power in the Senate.” There was the ghost of a smile on her face now. “I suppose whatever your relation is to Senator Leal Acosta, niece might be the easiest to name it. Did you know?”
...
“I do suppose there are quite the number of differences between Autumn and Fall, despite the closeness of our seasons,” she ends up agreeing, not desiring to drag the fight further than she had already done. It is rather useless to argue about something they both agree upon, after all, useless and a waste of time brought forth by the slightest of miscommunications. Their friendship, odd as it has been due to Robin’s exploration of the Otherworld and her tendency to wander around in between schemes, was an old one, a strong one. It had survived many thing, even before Aurora had been granted Chancellorship, and thus she did understood the Winter eladrin, even if sometimes she forgot to use that understanding in the middle of a conversation. She blames the six years she had spent majorly in the mortal realm, focused on her thesis and not much else. “As always, you mean. I do have to admit that my tendency for confrontation tends to be rather at odds with my usual personality, does it not?”
The comment about Fen’harel makes her curious, as she is well aware of the two Chancellor’s friendship, but Robin is aware she has pried too much for one evening, and lets the topic pass her by rather than grabbing and examining it as she wants.
“Oh? The new senator is of noble decent? Now that is interesting,” there is a smile dancing on her face as she leans closer to Aurora to emphasize her curiosity. Distant as the bond is, family is family, and after Lauma, she will cherish them all. “Now, now. Which of my cousins went and fell in love with a human this time?”
“I would have ensured you were safe for the rest of the night,” she shrugs. She might have been violating the Senate’s rules by revealing the supernatural, but really, he was currently in a vampire lead party. By this point, not telling him would be clear endangerment, and she might have been willing to send her birds into the Eye, but letting a clueless human be devoured by beasts he didn’t recognize would weight on her conscience. “There might be laws about this, but truly, who would dare to judge me, when we met in a vampire party? It’s a fair assumption to believe all guests are in the know, as you are .”
Rowan takes a second to blink at what is obviously someone not just mortal. If he didn’t know, she’d have just outed the supernatural to him and he figured that was a big ‘hell no’ kind of thing to do. He would know, he got real members of the community knocking down the proverbial door of his inbox. And he always told him that other humans just thought he was a really good storyteller, no harm no foul. “And if I didn’t know, what were you going to do?” He looks up from the wares he’s browsing to look at her, deadpan. “I am armed with knowledge, I contain multitudes.” That’s blunt too, despite the slight nod of his head to affirm it.
yaviefey:
-
“I think I’m in love with a fool who won’t love me back.” At least, not in the way Yavie wanted, not in the way that felt meaningful. How many year had it been? Several centuries, at least, they loved, they fought, they fought some more and now Yavie was here alone as he always was. “Do you think it’s possible to be in love with the idea of someone?”
...
“Of course,” she answers his question with no hesitation, countless examples found within literature springing to mind, and countless of her own experiences crowding her thoughts at the same time. Robin had always given love freely, but that didn’t mean she always did it correctly. “I have done it a couple of times, and while the experience still has worth — Well, it isn’t quite the same as falling for someone after seeing them for who they are. But don’t take me for an expert, I have yet to feel a love like the ones written about in stories.”
She pauses.
“Can I ask the name of said fool? Or would you prefer for it to remain in anonymity?”
wintersaurora:
❅
Aurora gazed sidelong at Robin, feeling the way her tone almost taunted. She decided she wasn’t going to be baited, not now. Only inhaling from her nose and quieting as she drank. She wasn’t going to plead for information or guidance in a matter that she had already begun tonight and concerning a person that she had known since he was tall enough to reach her knees, when she had firm doubts that her friend knew his name or his story. Important as Raja had always been, Aurora had honored her promise and kept him far away from anyone in her world, save for herself. It had worked to keep him safe this long, at the very least.
She is taking a drag of her drink as Robin bows, putting on a show of annoyance. And she was abruptly forced to remember that, despite having known her for ages, Robin does not spend much time in her Court and none in her counsil. “Did you take my demanding tone for an order? Do you forget I don’t beat around the bush - if I wanted to use influence on you in any way, Robin, I would have said so very plainly and with indisputable meaning. And why would I do so when I’d known you long enough to ask?” She sighs and puts her empty glass on a passing server’s tray. “‘That is all’ is that is all I have to say and what you may do for him. As he’s my nephew and is not wholly aware of the circumstance that he’s in, that is my jurisdiction to decide. If you have a differing opinion, share it with the consideration that I will only hear nothing of him being harmed. Otherwise, share it. By all means, I have not stopped you from being honest as you know better than to stop me.” She beckoned another server with a full tray of drink. “I’m not your cousin, or aunt, or whatever Fen’harel is to you,” she said, glancing back at Robin as the server changed course towards them. “You don’t need to go trying to read between the lines.”
...
“Why else Aurora? Politics. I am well aware how things work, and I realize we are in a fairly tentative era for the Courts. It would not be unwise to ensure your position is cemented on people’s mind, simply to make it stronger,” the explanation leaves her with a shrug, as the spite leaves her as she puts the logic into words and it clicks as a possible reason. Robin is not quick to anger, but she is not one to back down in an argument, out of instinct. She enjoys arguments, enjoys arguing and teasing out ideologies and beliefs out of others and striking them down if they are wrong. And yet, she also enjoys being proved she is wrong and learning from it. This is not a fight she wants to have, not when she still doesn’t know what is happening in the Courts or in Rome. Not when in all things that matter, she tends to agree with Aurora. “I do apologize for the my reaction, the years apart have not made me any less confrontational.”
She follows Aurora’s lead, grabbing another drink and throwing it back before switching it with another. It won’t get her drunk, but the shock of alcohol going down her throat is enough for her to collect herself.
“And I am sorry for overstepping. The party might be a delight but I almost got a heart attack when I saw there were multiple mortals in a supernatural party,” her admission comes with a sigh, mind wandering to the mortal she had met a few years back. It is likely she would have the same reaction if she found him at the party, but what were the odds? Unlikely, as it was full of supernaturals in the first place. Then Aurora keeps talking and she snorts. “Read between the lines? I need to bring a damn microscope every time I want to try and talk to them. There are layers underneath the layers, and while that is sometimes fun, sometimes is plain annoying.”
edeliexii:
But the specific community she’s discussing are the halfbloods. Granted, most of them probably wouldn’t want nothing to do with her after the transition, however Èdelie still stands proud as formerly being one. She adores their relatively small bond. What she didn’t like while being a halfblood is the constant confusion as to what to do and what not to do, or who she’s allowed to discuss her abilities with. There was no embracement; all that she’s known was self-taught or incorporated after the rarity of meeting one or two halfbloods throughout her lifetime. While thankful an obvious change is occurring, it shouldn’t take now for others to realize the detrimental harm embedded in past mistreatment of halfbloods. “I’m glad you’re able to acknowledge inclusivity is needed. It would’ve meant a lot to me had I still been one of them.” She doesn’t want anyone to think her fight for halfbloods equates to dissatisfaction as a fey, either. Losing former weapons such as sharing the tongue of animals may have been unfortunate, but taking the time to not only relearn that but the realm of feys has been treasurable. Èdelie doesn’t take of this for granted, using her free handle to fiddle with chocolate locks as her chewing slowed.
“I mean, hey,” Èdelie began to advise, serene at this point. “It doesn’t hurt to try. There’ll be no issue if clear communication is put in tact; age doesn’t really affect the matter at hand.” If halfbloods choose not to mingle with feys tonight, needless to say… Èdelie wouldn’t be surprised nor fault them considering the lengthy hassle to gain representation.
...
“Darling, I have a PhD in Governance from an American university. Equity and inclusion might not be a part of the curriculum exactly, but I wasn’t discouraged from taking the classes or doing my own research, I have seen the data.” And what data. The studies had not accounted for supernatural differences, of course, but it was a rather fascinating thought exercise to extrapolate from one to the other. Of course, she couldn’t make a one by one comparison, and there is many psychological differences based around immortality and the like, but there is no denying that diversity of thought lead to innovation. Romulus, the Tinkerer, many others embodied this realization, and supported her conclusions. Now, if only prejudices could be overcome. Sadly pettiness is rather common both amongst her kind and other species. Perhaps something to do with having so much power on their hands. Who knew? “It is kind of you to still think of halfblooded even now, not many else would have done it if they were in your place.”
“And try I will to talk to the halfblooded, I can promise that much,” she finally relents with a nod. She can do that much, after so many years away from the walls of Rome. “And to talk to those who are older, and yet, I cannot quite agree with you. Many of the older generation are rather adamantly against mortals and halfblooded alike.”