IRILI'S PROFILE

I'm a college student majoring in electrical engineering. Yay, math! :D

My hobbies when I'm not working and paying bills and such are taekwondo, game making, game playing, cooking and reading.

I also devour fun by the barrel. *nom nom*
Succession
The King's advisor is tasked with choosing the next heir to the throne.

Search

Filter

worldmap_oneiro_2.png

Reminds me a bit of star ocean for some reason.

Customization Shenanigans (Sep. & Oct. update)

@Melkino: What if is was just the one cog to the bottom left? I think that might look fine too.

Origin

Yup, one of my best friends growing up was super gay but she was the femmiest of all fems. Her room was an explosion of pink and ruffles.

[~WRITE OFF THE BAT~] 20 Shades of Romance

@ Caz: Oh wow! I love your poem on indecent exposure. A nice take on an old joke.

[~WRITE OFF THE BAT~] 20 Shades of Romance

I have a question. May we submit a piece of writing that has more than one prompts? For instance: Realization of a Crush and Unrequited Love. Or do we need to make two separate stories for them?

CLOSAT - The Culmination - {DEADLINE IMMINENT!}

I'm going to go ahead and post mine here since Liberty is busy organizing stuff.

My regular info:
Characters:
Alejandra Weimar
Vixen in stilettos, will walk on anyone to win.
Her past is riddled. Some rumours surround her love life in the inner rings of a crime world. It would explain all the problems that follow her around and the cold way she treats men.
Lommán Green
Grey-eyed and grey-haired, his jeans are ripped.
The son of the son of a farmer who inherited the family farm when he was 20, this now 52 year-old is in a bit of a pickle. His daughter is getting married and her fiancé is the local banker... who wants to steal the farm!
Aleisha Bracher
A magically talented young woman with black hair, blue eyes.
She is a promising apprentice of magic under a renowned wizard. She is at constant odds with a rivalling apprentice who isn’t above cheating to get her way. With the final exam of magic coming up, Aleisha is practicing extra hard so she may finally graduate into a full-fledged sorceress.

Location:
Stanley's Chocolate Factory
Stanley's factory was established in 1999. It was founded by him, his long-lost brother from Machu Picchu, and his other long-lost brother from Yugoslavia. The building was to be site of innovation-- Stanley and his brothers made the chocolate factory exactly 8 feet below ground level.

The building was made to resemble an 1800s chocolate factory. It was abandoned 1 year after construction, when they produced too much chocolate and it flooded the basement.

Object:
Book of the Close
A book of magic, made by a witch, made specifically for closing things. This may seem pointless at first, but when you realize it can close a relationship, a dimension, a portal, and many other things literal and mental, you would wish you had it!

Situation:
A rock is thrown through an expensive window.

Action:
Sitting under a shady tree to escape the heat.

Theme:
Unlikely Circumstances


My Challenge Info:
Characters
Korn Lurothe (CORN LUE-RŌTH)
An elf with green eyes, silver hair, and moonlit skin.
She grew up with a hardened and cold heart, always having to fend for herself. On her own she practices magic and mastered communication with wolves and hawks. Due to her dangerous play with the arts, she affords many injuries that betray her inexperience and lack of good decisions.
Sebastian Kennedy
A middle-aged man, well preserved by expensive plastic surgery to retain the looks of his youth.
Sebastian was born into a rich family and started playing the stock market at the age of 16, like his father. The investment system his father developed has paid dividends and his lifestyle reflects this; Sebastian is used to only the very best, but his opulence has lost him the few friends he had and despite his fortune he's a bitterly lonely man.


Object
The Orb of Souls
A powerful artefact capable of separating a being's soul from its body and trapping it indefinitely, or until the user chooses to reunite them. Its history is oft-questioned, but there have been enough records of its use to more-or-less confirm its existence.

Rules
- You must have 1084 words - no more, no less.

You may choose two or more of the below rules to follow.
- You may only use 100 words with the letter 'e' in them.
- You must include no less than 5 famous quotes
- You cannot use the letter 'j' at all
- You cannot use any dialogue at all


The extra rules I picked are bolded.


And finally, my story:
The only thing that could spoil a day was people. Sitting under a shady tree to escape the heat, I thought about this amongst other things. Mostly though, I thought about the ants, crawling around on the ground near me.

Every day, people ruined the progress that they made, carelessly stepping on the mound. The ants would become enraged and then go back to rebuilding, their tunnels. I suppose I could be like the ants.

For four years, I have carefully searched for the Orb of Souls. I have made magical devices solely for finding the Orb. Many of my experiments backfired, harming me and others in the process. Finally, I figured out the machine, built it and found the location of the Orb.

It was on a small farm, on the outskirts of a bustling magical town. Or at least, it was on there until an idiot by the name of Lommán Green picked it up and threw it through the window of a bank!


Life's a funny thing. One minute, you're spending your days in the sun, making a living for your family; the next minute, your only daughter is getting married to your arch nemesis.

I've spent the past thirty years breathing the life back into this old farm my grandfather left me, starting a family of my own and providing for them by selling the fine produce I managed to coax from this land.

And now, I have only to watch as some up and coming, pampered bank boy attempts to steal my daughter from me but the farm I so lovingly built up as well! I have no doubt in my mind he's using my baby girl, but she won't hear a word against him.

It makes me so mad, I threw away one of my most precious possessions because of it; broke it in the process too. It's a perfectly round stone, or was. Beautiful, like a gem. I always carried it with me after I found it so many years ago on the farm. I had been planning to give it to my daughter when she married someday but I sure as hell wasn't going to if she was going to marry that damned thief!

After a fierce argument with her, I got so mad, I went right up to the bank that sleazeball worked at and threw the damn rock through one of those expensive stain-glass windows. That little creep must have been with a client because I saw a shocked looking man inside, gaping at the destruction. I didn't figure I should stick around so I high-tailed it back home as quick as I could.

I hope that banker looses that client of his.


Good god! The times are simply terrible now! A man can not even enjoy a consultation with his banker anymore without some ruffian vandalizing a fine establishment in plain daylight! It is simply enough to make my blood boil. I said as much to the man at the bank.

Needless to say, I took care of my business quickly after that crazed man threw a rock through the window and retired home. I was very excited to be home that day as it meant telling my beloved the good news; I had finally procured the famous Chocolate Factory that my love had wanted for such a long time.

I do not see the charm in an old fashioned building, but I am pleased if it pleases Alejandra. She was positively beaming when I told her the happy news. She insisted that we visit it immediately tomorrow and I could not deny her this.

I am quite happy that she is so ecstatic about her gift but I really would think she would have come to bed by now. It is almost three in the morning.


I have waited, plotted and planned for years, putting up with a buffoon of a man and playing along with his insipid love games. Now, the culmination of so many hard years is about to come to fruition.

My day began as it did on all others, a bit of rouge, some dark, red lipstick and black stilettos. I then proceeded to go on the trip of my lifetime. Stanley's Chocolate Factory, the resting place of the Book of Close, laid before me, the gates open wide. My only irritation was the odious company I had to keep, Sebastion Kennedy.

Not even he could ruin this for me though. No one could. As I proceeded to the upper floors of the factory, I could feel myself gaining strength. All the years of living in fear, all the nights I had to watch my back, all the people I had to use and throw to the side; it was all worth it and was about to come to an end.

At least, that's what I thought. Imagine the soul crushing feeling that ran through me when, upon reaching the final room in the factory, I discovered someone had already found the book and was in the process of snatching it from my hands.

I will find this black haired girl. And when I do, I will crush her.


Today, I perform the final ceremony that will mark me becoming a full fledged sorceress. I've worked towards this since I was nine years old, when I first became the Wizard's apprentice.

I guess I have my rival for this day though. Without her cheating, backstabbing ways, I never would have thought of the best way to pass my final exam. She had learned beforehand what the final exam was and felt the need to share her knowledge; not from any sort of concern for me, but because she knew I would not be prepared.

The final exam was proper use of a magical artifact. Since I came from a poor family, I of course had nothing of my own to practice with, nor anything to use on the exam. Instead of giving up, like she thought I would, I instead went after the most hidden artifact known to the magical world, the Book of the Close.

Some clever deduction and a few tweaks to a scrying crystal later and I had myself a magical artifact of my very own. The look on her face at the final exam was priceless and my master was most impressed with my ingenuity.

My only worry now is the fierce looking woman that almost caught me as I escaped with the book.

[~WRITE OFF THE BAT~] 20 Shades of Romance

A year long event! How exciting!

Okie dokie, I claim this post in the name of writing! *inserts flag*

Prompt 1 - Holding Hands in the Rain
They stood still as the world around them cried. He looked into her eyes and she into his, a few inches separating the couple. Their clothes were soaked through, water streaming down their faces.
The girl's sleeves clung to her arms and her petticoats and dress were soaked with mud three inches up. Her hair, normally so neat and pinned just right, was loose, dripping wet and hanging about her shoulders and face. Her eyes were red where she had been crying. Yet, the boy could only think how beautiful, how elegant she was.
She opened her mouth to say something, closing it again before any sound was uttered. He began similarly, only to have his words fail before him.
A horse whinnied and it broke the couple from their trance. Reaching out, she took his hand in hers, holding it tightly. When she finally released it, he held a small lace glove. His hand tingled where she had touched it and the delicate lace was ghostly white against his tanned hand, as she walked away from him and his horse.


Prompt 2 - The First Kiss
A First Kiss

A cold winter night,
With a star filled sky,
Standing on the porch,
Close enough to touch,
Seeing our own breath,
And the tension builds.
When all of a sudden,
I make the first move.
It is sweet and quick.
Leaves me giggling,
And leaves him smiling.


Prompt 4 - Accidental Love
Place: Antone, Capitol City of Barsalo
Date: 14/9/XXXX

Negotiations have failed and the diplomats from Tempol are hurriedly leaving the city and should cross the Barsalo/Tempol border at approximately 2200 hours today. I fear there is no hope for peace as I have already received orders to begin recalling my forces. I am lost in my office under a sea of paperwork, orders for supplies, potential plans for troop movements and maps of Tempol and the border.

However, despite all of the work that I have ahead of me this evening and every evening after, I find I cannot focus on it. My only thoughts are of her.

I never intended for this to happen. It seems like one day I was her commanding officer, and the next day I was her lover. It is an accident, as much as falling in love can be. She has me utterly ensnared. She is clever, beautiful, dedicated to her work and passionate and loyal to her country. I can only be thankful that she is as in love with me as I with her for I would otherwise be nothing but a slave to her. I cannot say what will happen from this point but God help us both for soon, we will be in the middle of a war.

Captain Lewis Danes


Prompt 6 - Lovers' Tiff
Alan goes to the home of his brother, Hue for advice after a fight with his fiancee, Deidra.

Alan: (paces back and forth restlessly) I can't stand her! She drives me crazy. One minute she's sweet and loving and the wonderful person I asked to marry me and the next she's a fire-breathing godzilla! (makes godzilla like motions)

Hue: Dump her. (looks non-concerned)

Alan: (looks surprised and confused) What?

Hue: (looks up at Alan) Dump her. Leave her. Quit her. Be done with the wench. Get thee gone? Any of those make sense? (returns to his writing)

Alan: I don't want to. I love her.

Hue: Then stop bitching.

Alan: But-

Hue: But what? You either love her and want to stay with her or you can't stand her and you want to leave her. Which is it?

Alan: (makes some spluttering noises)

Hue: Yeah. That's what I thought. What is she even complaining about anyways?

Alan: I'm not sure. It's little things but I can't help but argue back. Like last night. I made some tea and she got all sorts of p.o.'ed because I didn't put the sugar thingy up. Oh, and I left the milk out.

Hue: Okay...

Alan: She said it spoiled. (rolls eyes)

Hue: Did it? (looking up)

Alan: Well yeah but that's not the point.

Hue: (starts laughing) Here's my diagnosis in my perfectly respectable doctor's opinion. You and Deidra had a lovers' tiff. You should go buy some milk, go home and stop ruining milk. That shits getting expensive.

Alan: (paces a bit and then flops down on the sofa finally) She didn't have to yell at me.

Hue: Welcome to the married life.


Prompt 8 - Out of the Closet
Our last day out together before we both moved was strained and neither of us could talk much. It was mostly my fault. I kept starting a thought and dropping it halfway through. I couldn't focus on our conversation and by the time we had sat down at our favorite cafe for hot chocolate, I was visibly distressed.

Lanie kept asking me if there was something wrong but I wouldn't talk all afternoon. I just kept saying "Of course not. I'm just going to miss you when you're gone". She knew I was lying.

I sat staring at my hot chocolate for a good five minutes and neither of us spoke. Finally, Lanie slid a piece of paper across the table. Unfolding the note I read, "Tell me what's wrong."

Smiling, I began writing back, just like we had when we were both sick with laryngitis.

"I've always been scared to say anything." She read it upside down as I wrote it and made a hand gesture to signal that she wanted me to keep writing. My hand was shaking and I felt like I was going to shake apart from the inside out.

"I've always loved you, more than as a friend. Always." The words were scrawled and skewed but she could still read them, even upside down. Taking the paper from me she wrote a note back.

"No duh. I already knew that. Is that why you've been all freaked out?"

I couldn't understand the words at first. I thought maybe I'd developed a late case of dyslexia and that the words and letters had scrambled themselves. Looking up at Lanie, I started crying.

Taking the paper back, Lanie wrote another note, "Don't start crying. You look horrible when you cry."

I started laughing then. I knew that Lanie never would love me the way I loved her but she loved me just as much as I loved her, just in a different way. Nothing would change that. No matter the distance, no matter who we met or what we did or said; we'd have each other, best friends forever.


Prompt 9 - Threesome
Amy has always been a somewhat shy and quiet woman. She is an active member of her church, a mother of two with a degree in business. She runs a flourishing business selling clothing with her husband, Roger.

Although shy, she is well-liked by most anyone who meets her and has many friends. If you asked anyone in town about Amy, they would say she was the sweetest, kindest woman alive, innocent and full of smiles. They would also say she was predictable to a fault. You could always know what to expect her to say or do.

However, she surprises her own husband when he asks what she would like for their 10th anniversary. She replies, blushingly, that she has always wanted to have a threesome.


Prompt 10 - Date
"It's the end for me," Sue moans from her bed.

"Indeed," Maria replies, going through Sue's closet.

"I'm done for," Sue continues. She takes a pillow and puts it on her face.

"What are you doing?" Maria asks, looking over at Sue as she continues to mumble into the pillow.

"Mufflees mah shooor," is all she hears until she takes the pillow from her.

"Excuse you," Sue says, taking the pillow back. "I was busy muffling my sorrow."

"Well stop doing that for a bit and help me pick out what you're going to wear tonight," Maria replies, sitting next to Sue on the bed.

"What's the point?" she asks, flopping around in misery on the bed. "I'm going to make a fool of myself and that'll be it for me. I'll melt into a puddle of shame and be no more."

"You've like this guy for four years and you finally ask him out and now you're going to bemoan your courage?"

"Yes. I should have been content just being his friend. When I do something stupid it's going to ruin everything," Sue says. "Besides, I don't have anything to wear."

"Hmmm...yes...nothing to wear at all," Maria say sarcastically, looking over the walk-in-closet full of clothes. "However will you manage your date tonight?"

"I'm doooooomed," Sue says, not for the final time, replacing her pillow over her head.


Prompt 14 - Steamy Shower Scene
The room is steamy, hot and moist. The mirror is fogged up and I run my finger down it. My footsteps are muted by the thick air as I make my way to the curtain. Slowly, I reach for the white curtain, dripping with moisture. I quickly pull it back, startling the woman in the shower. Turning, she smiles at me.

"Took you enough time. I was waiting," she says, making room for me in the shower.

"I intend to make it up to you," I answer, pulling the curtain closed behind me.


Prompt 19 - Unrequited Love
My father had been dead for five years and today, I was grateful of that. My mother passed away today and if her final words of regret hadn't killed him, her death surely would have.

His love for her was like something out of a fairy tale. She was his princess and he the knight in armor, saving her from a dragon. At least, that's the way he always made it sound when he spoke of how he won her hand.

In reality, the dragon was her father, a crotchety old bastard by anyone's standards. My father's trial was less about proving himself a worthy knight and more about making his fortune in the farming business to assure my grandfather that my mother would always be provided for.

My mother had always shown love and affection towards my father but never quite the same level of devotion that he showed to her. I remember asking her once who she loved most in the world and instead of saying "Your father of course!" or "You, my silly little pumpkin!", she set the pot she was scrubbing down and stared out the kitchen window.

I never received the answer to that question until she was on her deathbed today. She said her goodbyes to my two brothers and her grandchildren and called me in at the last. She told me about her will, what was in it, where to find it, that she loved me and she'd miss me. Then, she told me of her one great regret.

Before she met my father, when she was only a girl of fifeteen, a circus arrived in town. It was a wonderful circus with amazing shows and she somehow found herself befriended by the circus folk. She spent her time with them backstage, conversing and laughing and dining with them. It was there that she met him, a boy only a few years older than herself.

He was a magician in the circus and made her laugh and marvel at his sleights of hand. Whenever she asked how he did his tricks he would reply, "Tis no trick my lady, but magic." For the duration of the circus' stay, he and her were inseperable. She spent her days in his company, showing him around town. He took her on picnics and went riding horses with her. They talked about everything and there were no secrets between them.

And one night, under the starry sky, he told her he loved her and she replied that she loved him too. It was under that starry sky that he asked her to marry him and come with him.

She asked him again how he did his tricks and he whispered to her, "Magic" before kissing her softly.

She agreed to run away with him but when she asked for her father's permission he forbade it. My mother told me he would disown her and she lingered too long, thinking about her decision. That night, before she could reach the fairgrounds, the circus left, and with it, the one love of her life.

I didn't have to ask my mother to know that she had never really loved my father. She was fond of him, but her heart had left her forever and traveled with the circus till the day she died.


Prompt 20 - Vows and Forever
I am yours, and yours alone,
As you are mine, and mine alone.
When you are sick,
I will care for you.
When you are sad,
I will comfort you.
When you are happy,
I will share your joy.
When you are lost,
I will be your guide.
While you are here,
I will cherrish you.
When you are gone,
I will be likewise.
For I am yours, and yours alone,
As you are mine, and mine alone.

Recolor request

A video tutorial would be lovely Liberty. For a lot of people, the best way to learn is to see it and do it at the same time. The nice thing about videos is that they can be paused.

All Hallows' Event

@ Caz: I like your team name. :)

Anyone out there practicing martial arts?

@ Milos: Well, it's been five months now but when I first stopped I literally suffered from withdrawal. I had been doing it an hour or two a day four days a week and then just stopped. My body really craved the exercise!

I can still do all of the moves and forms but I can't kick to head level anymore in a slow, controlled movement like I used to. I haven't had to defend myself for any reason but I did ask my boyfriend to throw a punch at me so I could practice some self defense the other day. I was still fairly fast and bent him over like a pretzel. :) He's such a good sport.

@ ivoryjones: Your experience in Taekwondo will all depend on the type of teacher you have. I loved it but my teacher also set up opportunities to cross train with other martial arts styles. When we were fighting, we didn't just use kicks. We would also use boxing punches and the like.

I think what your instructor might have meant about the "snapping kicks" is how we always chamber our kicks, snapping them out and then back in for a re-chamber. Makes it easier to do double, triple, etc. kicks. I would agree that some of the kicks are less useful in actual combat though. But you have a few basic ones that are always useful.

Side Kick: the most powerful kick. Get someone with a gut-shot when they move in.

Round Kick: the is performed with the ball of your foot. PULL YOUR TOES BACK! This one is really nice because, while not as powerful as the sidekick, you can get in good quick combinations such as mid-high. They think you are going for their ribs, and you switch it up and go for the head-shot.

Front Kick: Again, ball of the foot so for the love of god PULL YOUR TOES BACK! Always useful for slipping in under someones arm and getting them good in the gut or ribs.

Hook Kick: I love the hook kick but it's entirely ineffective if not done right. Hit with the heel, not the flat side of your foot. You want a thud sound, not a slapping sound.