FFXIV: Ishgardian Intermission

If you haven’t seen The Echoes of Achiyo Kensaki yet, it’s been posted!

Omg I rewrote the garden scene like 5 times before I found the right soundtrack to help me though (it’s Joe Hisaishi). Very self-indulgent again but I regret nothing.

I used The Dreamers from Tsubasa Chronicle OST as music inspo for the sparring scene. : )

I’m not really sure about this chapter, but there’s only so long I can bang away on it so here it is for better or worse. It may be a while before the next one is out as I’m quite tired in general and trying to take it easy even for fiction writing. And I’m playing FF3! Look at all these names I remember from Crystal Tower raids! Noah, Xande, Unei… (and I renamed Ingram to Corey because when Drak was just starting to post NEST videos, he used Ingram-as-Warrior for Corey’s sprite and that’s all I think of now. I did not rename the others though I could have hahaha. I do like their default names – Luneth is such a nice name!)

Chapter 65: Dust Settles

 

Chapter 66: Ishgardian Intermission

Achiyo walked the small garden of Fortemps Manor, thinking intently. The sun was soft and warm, and within the walls of the manor there was no snow; in fact, there were flowers blooming. On the first few days that had been a delight to her, to see flowers in Ishgard, but now she did not take notice of them, or even the world around her. Continue reading

The Drentsche Aa

Previous – The Veluwe

We had another rest day after all that hiking in the Veluwe, and that was the day I ordered Japanese food for dinner from Diemen’s new Japanese restaurant, because Tharash’s family doesn’t eat Japanese food a lot, and I wanted to show them what I like to eat, like unagi (and also see if Japanese food is any good in the Netherlands). In person, it’s an all-you-can-eat, but we decided to get it as delivery and eat it at home (with our own alcoholic beverages etc). So… I accidentally got too much, partly because I can never estimate how much food I’m getting from a Japanese place (since it’s lots of little things) and partly because their website has super tiny pictures and minimal description, and sometimes the description is just plain wrong. Also they only take cash, so I had to paypal Tharash for it instead of paying the restaurant directly. : / Continue reading

The Veluwe

Previous – The Maritime Museum

The next day we took another rest day, and I really needed it. It was the day of the Diemen weekly market, and Tharash and I went along with his mom. There were bakery stalls, cheese stalls, butcher and fisher stalls, clothes stalls, garden plant stalls, it’s a fantastic town market. Maybe a couple drops of rain but not a problem. We got a lot of herring, because I love herring, and also some cumin cheese. Continue reading

Utrecht

[PSA: K-Pop Demon Hunters is a great movie; Tharash made me watch it last weekend and I’m a little bit obsessed. If you like comedy action drama with banger music, you should watch it too.]

Previous – Amsterdam

We took the Sunday off, during which time I read John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed, which was quite entertaining. And a bit existential, but I do have a tendency towards existentialism myself at the best of times. At dinner Tharash’s dad made a pizza that included sardines, olives, and red bell peppers. It was quite good! We had it a couple more times during my stay, too.

The first place we ended up going substantially away from home base for was Utrecht, where I had previously been in the winter, when it was a lot more grey (and yet not as rainy? lol foreshadowing). It was nice to be back again! It’s a lovely town, and the tower is no longer under restoration!

Continue reading

Amsterdam

Once again I have gone travelling, and this time returning to a place I haven’t stuck around much in for 13 years even though my best friend is from it: The Netherlands.

I was warned that there was the possibility of a heat wave, which I took very seriously and updated my wardrobe a lot. A new pair of jean shorts (designed for men, so does not quite fit my waist, but fits well enough that I don’t care, plus POCKETS), all-cotton bras instead of the synthetic ones I’ve been using until now, and two special new pieces of clothing. Continue reading

The Echoes of Achiyo Kensaki: Part 4: Percival

Part 3: Yanxia

 

Percival sneezed explosively and made a horrible schnorking sound as he sniffled. “Why am I sick,” he moaned, looking like he wanted to claw his nose off his face, huddling under blankets in a corner of the hut.

“Because you’ve been running all over the countryside in rain and snow, fighting beasts and monsters and gods know what else without a break for months,” Hiina retorted, stirring a thin soup on the fire. “Achiyo-chan, did you get the medicinal tea?” Continue reading

The Echoes of Achiyo Kensaki: Part 3: Yanxia

Part 2: Doma Castle

 

Part 3: Yanxia

Percival was waiting at the bridge as they’d arranged, and he smiled as she came walking up, though she was still walking ‘properly’ which meant short little quick steps. “Good. You were in there so long I was worried I’d have to come break you out.”

“Oh, no, not at all,” she said. “Chima-dono gave me the gift of a kimono – and then she got frightened of imagining my future life and wanted to gift me many other things besides.” She’d managed to cap it at hair serum and skin moisturizer. “And then Mitsu and Tori wanted to say goodbye too. I narrowly escaped having tea.” She held out a little paper bag. “Would you like a mochi?” Continue reading

The Echoes of Achiyo Kensaki: Part 2: Doma

Part 1: Hingashi

 

Part 2: Doma Castle

Percival did not head immediately into the first village they saw, leading her first to a lonely copse of trees where it looked like no one was around. “All right. We made it. You can cry now.”

But though she sat obediently under a tree, she didn’t feel like crying. She had cried yesterday, whether she wanted to or not, and now while the terror of her recent experiences still churned deep inside her, she felt pretty okay on the outside. Especially after that lady had been kind to her. Still, a quiet minute to relax would not be unwelcome, and she sat, and breathed. Continue reading

The Echoes of Achiyo Kensaki: Part 1: Hingashi

Oops I accidentally wrote out the entire backstory of my main Warrior of Light from my fic For Love and Life, the Hingan Au Ra samurai knight Achiyo Kensaki. It turned out even more tragic than I was expecting, tbh. 

I was halfway through the first chapter before I figured out Percival is basically Din Djarin LOL. He looks like 5.0 trailer Midlander, but wears the level 30 Steel tank armour set.

Warnings for: awkward sex education, attempted sexual assault, character death.

 

Part 1: Hingashi

The tiny Raen girl clad in a pink kimono walked a wooden doll over to a stuffed dragon plush. “I, Shirogane no Arinari, bring you greetings, Kiba-sama, and I thank you for your gracious invitation to visit you in your magnificent palace.” She looked expectantly at the older Hyuran lady sitting beside the stuffed dragon. “That’s you, Oba-chan. You’re Kiba-sama the dragon.” Continue reading