» shaar; ascendant

[shaar]

- - -

 

Her favorite time of day was twilight, where the sun had barely crested down beneath the horizon, lifting one last futile glow of the promise of daytime against the encroaching night sky. The melange of dying gold merging into the comfortable slate-blue atmosphere of whatever bits of daylight were left, giving way to the yawning darkness of space.  She found it fascinating and sat, enrapt, small form curled into itself under her fur-lined charcoal cloak, chin resting on bent knees as she just... watched.

 

She watched the sky change before her eyes, the colors dance and fade and darken into nothing, and Shaar was unaware she was holding her breath until she let it out slowly in one low, metered hiss. The vastness of the night sky had always been one of her favorite things; comforting in a way, in its deep endlessness. She could understand why so many people feared the night, why they were uncomfortable with it.  But she somehow managed to thrive when the sun was long gone and the cloak of eventide settled about her shoulders, heavy and familiar, like an old friend.

 

She remained motionless for some time, sitting in what could have been considered a quiet reverence, nimble fingers of one hand delicately trailing against the fixtures of bone settled in the wristwrap of her other; mindless, a moving meditation as the motions continued in diligent repetition. Bottle-green eyes remained bright and fixated on the endless expanse before her, slowly adjusting to the darkness as night finally settled in for the long haul. Stars and constellations began to dot the blackness, and a small smile curved her lips as she watched them come to life, one by one.

 

She was waiting for someone, but she sure didn’t mind biding her time this way either.

 

“Hey, stranger.”

 

As if on cue, Shaar heard his voice behind her.  She sat up just a bit straighter, leaning her weight back into the cluster of rocks behind her, head tilting just a bit to break her gaze from the sky and allow it back over one shoulder.  The Fury approached quieter, much moreso than she remembered, and the thought elicited a crooked smile.  “... Revenant been giving you tips on how not to be a bull in a china shop?”

 

An indignant snort as the redhead stepped into view through the trees.  “And fuck you too.” His form flickered briefly as he spoke, effervescent, but there was a lilt of a return smile in his words - the man moved to sit unceremoniously at her side, mimicking her posture intrinsically. Shaar smiled a bit wider then, leaning comfortably against her familiar, and they sat in silence for a long few beats before she spoke.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“‘S ok.”

 

His reply was almost instantaneous, and the two turned to look at each other, gazes locking for another long moment before The Fury lifted one shoulder in a dismissive shrug.  “Weird times, dude. ‘S all good.  Really.” There was a subtle emphasis on that last word, and he moved to rest one hand on her knee in kind.

 

Shaar dipped her chin, drawing her hands out from beneath her cloak, one lifting to smooth wayward dark hair away from her face.  “Everyone doing ok?”

 

“Mhm. Getting along. Revenant’s teaching Light how to paint.  Not quite masterpiece level yet, but..” He continued as Shaar chuckled softly at the mess that likely entailed.  “Voice’s... well, Voice. Full of riddles and shit. ... He’s good. They’re good.” The man paused briefly. “But I’m sure you didn’t ask me here to catch up on the family.”

 

Family. That word sat with Shaar for a moment before she shook her head slowly. “.. You’re right.  I didn’t.” The reply faded into the darkness of the night sky as she turned her gauntleted right palm up, fingers splayed just so, and as if on command something of a holographic map spread up and out from the crux of her hand into their vision.  Bright white dots and lines against an empty backdrop, some larger, smaller, brighter than others, all mimicking the emptiness above them. Some small texts, very foreign and barely opaque, littered what could be the edges of the chart. The patterns reflected brightly in their eyes; his warm gold, and hers cool green.

 

The Fury let out a long, low hum, copper brows furrowing as he watched, Shaar’s free hand moving the map as if it were a touch screen - enlarging certain areas, and shrinking entire galaxies to see them whole.  He knew what it was. A trickle of adrenaline danced up his spine as he posed the first question - “Where are we going?”

 

“Don’t know.”

 

Her reply was soft, and he considered it thoughtfully before posing the second - “What are we looking for?”

 

“Don’t know.”

 

The same response, but he could catch the lilt of a faraway smile in this one as delicate fingertips swiped across the map, seemingly keying in quick patterns at key points to allow a swing to a whole other viewpoint. The Fury sighed, running one hand through his hair as bright eyes flitted from the map to the cosmos above, and then back to her.  “Fuckin’ a dude, what -do- you know?”

 

Shaar laughed quietly; a tinkling of silver bells that instantly reminded him of The Light, and it made him catch his breath quickly at the sudden resemblance.  “Not much.”  There was a wild smile curving her lips as she tilted her head towards him once more, a single dark brow lifted in return.  “You coming?”

 

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

 

- - -

 

 

» Shaar kom Starkru

                                   bardic time-mage; of the furious heart, traveler 'twixt the stars

 

Spoiler

Race: Human l'Cie
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Stats: STR.55  DEX.43 STA.48 CON.51 WIS.53 CHA.65
 
Appearance: Shaar is short of stature, clocking in at a huge 5'3", but don't let that fool you; you know what they say about little dogs having the loudest bark? Yeah, that generally applies here. Long dark hair is often pulled into a high ponytail, various small braids woven into bits of it, adorned in kind with an assortment of small feathers and beads at their tie-offs. Jaw-length bangs frame a pale face that nine out of ten times is harboring at least a ghost of a smile, if not on her lips then lingering in forest green eyes. She is generally clad in dark colors as per her preference; layers of fur and leathers that seem comfortable and well-worn enwrap her small form, a pair of charcoal over the knee boots topped off by a light hooded cloak draped across her shoulders, fur-lined and dotted with various bone pieces and feathers along its hem. Despite her egregious nature she prefers to dress diminutively, save for a few special notations - her right wrist bears a gauntlet of sorts, a distinct covering of delicate bones settled in a single layer atop her forearm, all fitting together a bit too neatly - a single ring rests comfortable on her right ring finger, a set of pewter-cast swallow claws clutching a bezeled moonstone - and an intricately stitched leather belt slung low across her hips, housing more than a few sheathed short knives, and a small pouch containing... who knows what.
 
Personality: Charismatic to a fault, there is a reason Shaar is a bard first and anything else second. She is a textbook extrovert and 9 out of 10 times will be not only ready, but thrilled to strike up a conversation with anyone, anytime, about anything at all. A patron acolyte of The Fury, Shaar is also a very steadfast and tenacious individual and can be very forceful in her ideals and beliefs, or defending those she cares about or shows loyalty to. She is always very off the cuff, joking and casual in most any situation - if you witness her get steely and serious, you know shit's hit the fan. She's got a temper and often swears like a sailor, but for the most part her heart is in the right place and she tends to funnel her wild exuberance into mostly non-reckless behavior. 
 
Talents: bard; There are many darkened taverns, in far-flung areas of the world, where legends exist of a small girl effectively shit-talking alpha thugs to the point of rendering them speechless. This is the legacy of Shaar - not only demeaning bullies and adversaries into a pile of mush with her continuous string of curse words and putdowns, but also flipping that skill completely around to support and enliven her friends at the drop of a hat. Nothing brings Shaar more joy than being able to bring laughter to a friend or ally in their darkest hour - well, aside from trash talking criminals, naturally.
time-mage; A traveler and shepherd of the stars, not by choice, but by nothing more than circumstance and necessity, Shaar has the ability to hold the fates in the palm of her hand. Existing in multitudes across worlds, the burdens she has shouldered and overcome have opened the doors to travel between realms, allowing her a myriad of resources to not only entrap and hinder her adversaries, but to benefit herself and her allies on the field of battle as well..
l'Cie; Shaar is a l'Cie - a human chosen by agents of the world's gods as servants to fulfill a focus or greater task. She knows very little of her racial upbringing, save that she is a patron of The Fury and that she harbors quietly long-lost attributes of the time mage, a sect of people little known to her world. 
 

 

FRIENDS!! Did you know, 2021 is gonna be our MOTHER FRICKIN’ YEAR??!?!

 

 

I’m so hype I can’t even express it in proper words adkslf asfklgsdj lfasjd dasjldas  SEE?? We are surviving a Global Chaos Shitstorm and we are going to move forward - TOGETHER! - and show 2021 who the boss is. (Spoiler: US.)

 

Brief introduction for the new friends or otherwise memory-challenged (that’s me big time); hi! I’m Shaar, native New Englander who grew up here but moved away for some time to some places, returning after a long stint in North Carolina 2 years ago. I love it here and can’t envision being anywhere else; for many reasons and after many adventures, this is now Home, and in short time I'm about to move in with my boyfriend (hence forth Aoshi, or Ao) and am 10/10 looking forward to this change.  Life has not been easy for me and I’ve seen my fair share of adversity and wildly unexpected struggles but thanks to my sheer screaming willpower - and the humbling support of my friends here - I’ve been able to eventually tackle every obstacle that’s been put in front of me. I love being outdoors and exploring everything the Northeast has to offer, and I’m also a huge fan of horror movies, traveling, cooking, and - video games - something you’ll probably hear a LOT about here, ehehe. Fitness-wise I’ve dabbled in everything, from powerlifting to yoga to boxing, and my current Life Setup (thanks to covid) has me utilizing the work treadmill and weight sets, which honestly isn’t so bad. I’ve had some setbacks, but haven’t we all??

 

I’m so excited to be here with you all and tackle our goals and succeed and ALSO progress Shaar's story a little bit and write for her... SO! LET’S GET ON IT YEAH??

 

[roadmap]
I’m super into the night sky, and always have been.  I do however, struggle to find constellations - weirdly enough the ONLY one I can continuously pinpoint is Orion’s belt which is WILD ‘cause it’s legit just three dots in the sky, like, of all the shapes and chaos mess up there how does that even work? Anyways friends there are APPS that can do this for you, you just fire that sucker up and point it at the sky and BOOM there’s Libra!

 

I’m sure no star traveler but I want to see how much I can see!  Try a star finder all (or two!) and share my findings.

 

[phase shift]
I am moving on Saturday the 2nd, in true Shaar fashion, a whole 48 hours into the new year.  ‘CAUSE WHY NOT?  This will take some adjustment on my part, as obviously I’m not used to cohabitating with a partner since the past... 3? Years? Aoshi and I have gotten the house set up already so now all that’s left is to get my stuff in and set up my room.  I expect this to be quite a flawless transition to be fair but lots will be different, so this goal is to execute this as effortlessly as possible and report back with my progress.

 

[arcane texts]
My Kindle is old and busted (seriously, I have the original Fire, BIG YIKE) BUT - I’ve found that I can use the Kindle app on my iPad! I’ve been jonesing to read more lately, especially once I’ve moved and have a bit more time under my belt, so my goal is to finish one book in my library from start to finish.

 

[culinary charisma]
Pulling one of my end-of-2020 goals into this challenge; MORE COOKING!  I have a laundry list of things I want to make for Ao and I once I’m in and settled - and the list is ever growing - so my goal for this challenge is to make two sick-ass dinners for us and get this ball rolling! (Also the boy has one of the best knife sets I’ve ever been able to use LORDY LORD I am hashbrown BLESSED~)

 

 

I'd be honored to have you along for my travels~ 💖 Friends, we go, TOGETHER!!

[Salinger]

Of course i am here, hyped and excited to share in your goals  xx

[Mr_Willes]

I see we could be challenge twins, our opening posts are almost identical!

 

(Mobile now so no snappie gifs, but rest assured I will get to that!)

[Sloth the Enduring]

Wow!  Congratulations on the cohabitation.  
 

[shaar]

2 hours ago, Salinger said:

Of course i am here, hyped and excited to share in your goals  xx

 

1 hour ago, Mr_Willes said:

I see we could be challenge twins, our opening posts are almost identical!

 

(Mobile now so no snappie gifs, but rest assured I will get to that!)

 

1 hour ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Wow!  Congratulations on the cohabitation.  
 

 

Hi friends!! Thankles and happy to see you here - and awaiting mass gif spam, as always! :3

 

I'm hopping off to bed to finish my current book so I can start a new one... happy last week of 2020! ❤️ 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Enjoy your book and enjoy setting 2020 on fire. I'll be here for support.

[WhiteGhost]

5 hours ago, shaar said:

MORE COOKING!

So excite to see your cooking shenanigans  

[SkyGirl]

4 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Enjoy your book and enjoy setting 2020 on fire. I'll be here for support.

 

 

Here for capslock awesomeness and bardic inspiration!! You rock as always!!

[Ann of Owlshire]

I can never keep up with your thread, but I always love to try!

[DarK_RaideR]

12 hours ago, shaar said:

(Also the boy has one of the best knife sets I’ve ever been able to use LORDY LORD I am hashbrown BLESSED~)

I refuse to imagine you as anything else but this

Especially her reaction at the end. So shaar. Much happy. Very excitement. Wow.

[shaar]

12 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Enjoy your book and enjoy setting 2020 on fire. I'll be here for support.

 

For some reason I crammed all that together in my brain and read it as Book Fire 2020 and was like WOWSERS that's one way to end a year??

 

10 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

So excite to see your cooking shenanigans  

 

I have a list, I'm checking it twice, and I might even use the broiler!!

 

7 hours ago, SkyGirl said:

 

 

Here for capslock awesomeness and bardic inspiration!! You rock as always!!

 

Ahahaha @Salinger it's our gif!  THIS IS 2020 FOR US ALL

 

No YOU rock as always! ❤️ 

 

3 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

I refuse to imagine you as anything else but this

Especially her reaction at the end. So shaar. Much happy. Very excitement. Wow.

 

I LOVE that gif!  10/10 Shaar Energy can confirm ahaha "LOOK I did the THING *^____^*"

 

 

 

Gooood morning friends, it is The Monday, the FINAL Monday of this voidsent year to be exact! Thank the sweet lord above testify PHEW... my work from home rotation this week is today and then Wednesday; we are all off on Friday for the holiday. It's HARD working from home on the first day after a long weekend, I'm normally somewhat scattered, but today I am VERY scattered.  

 

 

In non work-related news, I made this for lunch this week - Chicken and Avocado Salad! - I omitted the cilantro 'cause I didn't want to buy a bunch and only use a little (which is what I would have done), and I've had this before and honestly I could take or leave the cilantro.  I added extra green onions and am going to have it in a pita pocket for lunch later. :3 

 

I did a lot of packing yesterday, most all of my clothes are boxed up and really the only things I need to do now is figure out which boxes in the basement I want to bring and break down my computer Friday night to get it ready for transport. I'm lucky in that I can leave a bunch of stuff here and not need to take everything right away, so that's helpful! Ao is bringing his work truck Saturday and is going to spearhead getting the furniture out of the basement - apparently he has like TOOLS and STUFF for this (he moves/installs for businesses for a living) so I'm like OK COOL put it on the cart you got this??? GO TEAM

 

Aside from that things are pretty chill. The holidays were quiet and I realized after going to the grocery store yesterday that I HEAVILY miss being in PUBLIC with PEOPLE.  Stupid extroverted introvert self. But it's true, I miss being out and about and visiting the city and just, doing things.  Siiiigh. Covid. Why. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Here's a song to help get you some good energy with which to start 2021.

 

[TheGreyJedi-Ranger]

Whoooooo! 2021 is off with a Bang over there! So ready to see what awesomeness you cook up

[Big_Show]

17 hours ago, shaar said:

- and the humbling support of my friends here -

 

I read that as "bumbling support" at first and totally accepted it 😁

 

Here's to rocking 2021!

[Salinger]

2 hours ago, shaar said:

 

Ahahaha @Salinger it's our gif!  THIS IS 2020 FOR US ALL

 

 

HAHAHA YESSSSSSSS!!!  xx

[fearless 2.0]

hey! loving your reading gaol and exited for news from living with Ao! 

Also crying hard about Tanks video!:)

[Rurik Harrgath]

I'm reading Zen in the Art of Archery because of you, and revisiting the Hagakure,

 

Also started iaido videos, although I haven't picked up a bokken or shinai yet.  But I shall.

[foxinthenorth]

FOLLOWING!! Let's CRUSH 2021!!

[shaar]

7 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Here's a song to help get you some good energy with which to start 2021.

 

 

Holy actual cat crap where do you FIND THESE??

 

So fun story, I had this playing in one tab and somehow my mouse spazzed out and the video went away, but the song was STILL PLAYING, and I'm over here having a wiggins trying to find which tab this abomination of sound is coming from while sax man is all WAH WUH WUHHHHHHHHHH from some mysterious internet location...

 

7 hours ago, TheGreyJedi-Ranger said:

Whoooooo! 2021 is off with a Bang over there! So ready to see what awesomeness you cook up

 

Was that a cooking pun?? :DDD Heheheheh

 

6 hours ago, Big_Show said:

 

I read that as "bumbling support" at first and totally accepted it 😁

 

Here's to rocking 2021!

 

Oh MAN I would so be in the Bumbling Support category SIGN ME UP!~!!

 

4 hours ago, fearless 2.0 said:

hey! loving your reading gaol and exited for news from living with Ao! 

Also crying hard about Tanks video!:)

 

New places, new adventures!!

And omg that VIDEO, that poor man, I hope he doesn't take himself too seriously....

 

3 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

I'm reading Zen in the Art of Archery because of you, and revisiting the Hagakure,

 

Also started iaido videos, although I haven't picked up a bokken or shinai yet.  But I shall.

 

YOOOO I have a copy of Hagakure around here somewhere, it was my dad's original copy from the 80s! I wonder if it's somewhere I could dig it up......

 

I have at least 3 bokken in my basement right now, and will happily supply the New England Mysteriously Reclusive Warrior Brigade if need be.

 

2 hours ago, foxinthenorth said:

FOLLOWING!! Let's CRUSH 2021!!

 

HI FOX!!!

 

[DarK_RaideR]

48 minutes ago, shaar said:

somehow my mouse spazzed out and the video went away, but the song was STILL PLAYING, and I'm over here having a wiggins trying to find which tab this abomination of sound is coming from while sax man is all WAH WUH WUHHHHHHHHHH from some mysterious internet location...

Might be the mere mention of the words "sax man" that brought this to mind, but I feels it's pretty relevant

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

55 minutes ago, shaar said:

Holy actual cat crap where do you FIND THESE??

 

I found it on youtube.

[Rurik Harrgath]

3 hours ago, shaar said:

I have at least 3 bokken in my basement right now, and will happily supply the New England Mysteriously Reclusive Warrior Brigade if need be.

 

We're gonna need all the PVC/foam bokken for NEMRWB sword fights.

[Cheetah]

Hello!  Happy Challenge!

[TheGreyJedi-Ranger]

16 hours ago, shaar said:

Was that a cooking pun?? :DDD Heheheheh

It might be >_>

[shaar]

18 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Might be the mere mention of the words "sax man" that brought this to mind, but I feels it's pretty relevant

 

 

Wowsers I'll have to watch this when I get home, I have a feeling playing it on my work computer would label me as even more weird...

 

18 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I found it on youtube.

 

The finest place on the internets!

 

17 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

We're gonna need all the PVC/foam bokken for NEMRWB sword fights.

 

HELL YEAH PUUUUUMPED

 

14 hours ago, Cheetah said:

Hello!  Happy Challenge!

 

Hi Cheetah I am glad to SEE YOU!!

 

2 hours ago, TheGreyJedi-Ranger said:

It might be >_>