The Moonshift Lounge: Muses of a Mind Long Lost - Critiques?

[Inkeyu]

Of Ruby and Scale
This is the story of a party of heroes, hired by an evil entity to destroy the last true hope for light in the world of Mallina. An Asymar riding the horse of legend, Gargrin, the tebaxi druid couple, Raven of the Mountain and his wife Sharik of the Mountain, and the gentleman necromancer, Pretz Reign, all riding towards a great and terrible destiny.

It's been just over a week since you ventured from the city into the forests. So far, most things have been relatively easy to take care of, but you can't help but wonder how long that will last. It's been about a half a days ride from your last camp, and the woods are clearing once more, though not like before when you entered the small grasslands and were accosted by the dire unicorn stallion. The rest of his herd are still following you, though a little helter-skelter in their following.
((Perception check))
As you are walking, you hear music coming from somewhere ahead of you. As you aproach, laughter erupts from a number of people, and hear someone telling a story.
"And then, he ran away from the giant beast, pissing his pants the entire way!"
Another bout of laughter erupted from the listeners.
Getting closer, you can see about 15 people sitting around a small fire, cooking what seems to be chicken, but way too large to be regular chicken.

Talk: "Heyyy! Wow that's a party! Why don't you join us to eat? We've got plenty to go around!"
"Oh we're traveling to the Odd Tavern! It's not far from here, about a day and a half's treck, though likely faster with mounts like yours. Tell me, where did you get such magnificent creatures?!"
"Oh. I see. So you guys are nobles? Or heroes or something?"
"Well we don't have much use for nobles, but heroes could come in handy. You see, we've been plagued with nightmares lately. They used to be a rare sight, but for some reason, they've banded together and are running rampant."
"We don't have much we could give you in return. We live a modest life, but it's a good one. If you do this for us though, we could pay you in information. We are good at what we do."

Fight: The men around the fire scatter and dash off in different directions into the forest, not bothering to draw any weapons, nor grab any items.
- "Ay! No! Don't hurt me! I--I can help! Yeah! I can help you! ... I have information! Or...I can get information! That's what we do!"
- "Let go of me! You won't get anything out of me! Gah! N-no! ... Alright! ALRIGHT! Fine...what do you want to know? ... We gather information. From all over the place. It's what we do. Maybe we can work something out."
- "Hey hey hey! Woah! Okay, you got me! Heh. Wow you guys are good. I've heard of you from the cities. Well, one city. They're saying you're the next to become legend. I've yet to see myself yet, but it's not hard to picture. Could you use help? We're information gatherers. Just kinda our thing, but we're good at it."

[Inkeyu]

WARNING! This story may contain the following: Blood/gore/violence, depictions of a graphic nature.

His coughing was enough to draw the attention of the king's men whom all looked over at him. One of the knights near the front of the group looked to another knight in much more intricate armor who nodded to him in response to something said in a hushed tone. The knight that spoke and two others turned their horses and cantered over to him as he knelt, their weapons drawn. They surrounded him and pointed their weapons at him, the first knight spoke then in a commanding tone. "Who are you boy? Speak!"

A few more coughs escaped his lungs before he was able to respond, but with hands in the air his raspy, smoke ravaged voice came quietly, but not meekly. "I-I'm Tarlian sir. Please, I need your h-help!" The knight didn't speak for a bit, but gave him a narrow-eyed look that seemed to Tar that he was contemplating his words. The knight nodded to the others and all 3 of them lowered their weapons. "Very well. Where is your family boy?" The man's voice was gruff, but had a gentile sympathy to it this time. Tears welled in his eyes again as he replied to the knight, though he fought hard to keep them back. "They--they're gone sir....all of them." His eyes fell to the ground and his face scrunched in anguish, causing his head to hurt again, a warm drip making its way down his brow and cheek. The knight dismounted from his horse, the impressive animal giving a snort at the sudden relief of weight from it's back. He stepped close to Tar and offered his hand to him, Tar taking it gratefully, the knight pulling him to his feet. "I see. I am sorry for your loss child. Come. We'll see to your wounds when we make camp." He led Tar over to another knight's horse and helped him into the saddle in front of the other knight before returning to and remounting his own.

The ride was devoid of conversation, but that suited Tar just fine as he wasn't sure he even would be able to talk without completely breaking down. Only about an hour into the ride, he had fallen fast asleep in the saddle, exhausted from everything that had happened. When he awoke again, he was laying on a cot in a moderately sized tent, covered in thick wool blankets. He gave a small shiver, his body attempting to stave off the last of the cold he had endured the cold, wet night in the forest. He sat up slowly, his head heavy and still spinning a little, but no longer in agony, instinctively putting a hand to his head where he had found his injury. Instead of an open wound or blood, he found it wrapped with soft, absorbent cloth. It took him a few seconds, but he remembered how he had gotten here. On the back of a knight's horse. Tears came again and he sobbed into his arms for a solid hour or so before hearing voices outside the tent. He quieted his sobbing so that he could try to hear what was being said.

"He's from the village. He doesn't look like one of the invaders' kids, that's for sure. Too sharp of features." One somewhat familiar voice said, a very unfamiliar one responded. "Yes, I think you're right. If that is the case, then he is alone. We compared the records we had of the village populous to the bodies we found there and it seems that they were all but three accounted for." One of them sighed heavily, their armor clinking as they adjusted their stance. "I was afraid of that. What should we do with him? We won't be going back to the keep anytime soon and we can't spare anyone to bring him there. Should we find a home for him in the next village we come to?"

Not letting the other knight respond, Tar spoke up loudly from inside the tent. "Let me help! I want to help! I don't want another home! I don't want to pretend nothing happened! I want to stop them! I want to save other families!" The knights, clearly shocked at his outburst, pulled aside the flaps of the tent to regard him. Surprised expressions on their faces gave way to smiles and a couple hearty laughs. "Don't laugh! I'm serious! I want to help!" He cried at them. "Calm down now son. We're not laughing at you. Nor are we declining your request." They regarded each other again, smiling, and nodded to one another. "Very well son. You will be his squire. He will teach you everything you need to know to fight and defend." The other knight looked at him with reproach. "Wha-Me?! Why me?!" The first knight laughed heartily and stepped inside the tent, the other following. "Haven't you been bothering me for a squire for a while now? Haha. Besides, look at his resolve! Do you really think that he'd quit bothering either of us if we declined?"

The second knight looked over the boy, finding a strong look of hard determination on Tar's face, his shoulders fell as he sighed. "No, I suppose you're right." He said to the other knight before turning to Tar with a knowing smile. "Very well, from today on, you will be my squire. You will do everything that I say, exactly as I say to do it, you will not question me or my decisions when it comes to your teaching, and you will learn how to tack horses, polish armor, fight and defend. Agreed?" Tar nodded vigorously, making his head spin again and making him sway a bit. "Yes sir--sir..." Tar looked confused, as if trying to remember something, but the knight chuckled and finished the boy's thought for him. "Sir Armondin, Tarlian. I am Sir Armondin."

[Inkeyu]

Several times I woke up in the night to cold sweats and outcries, in between the nightmares of Count Ratchetshire and the lovely dreams of Deavon, I got very little sleep. When I finally did sleep, it was short lived as a knocking came at my door and then the rattling of the doorknob. I sat up straight in bed, fully awake in an instant with terror and a sick feeling in my stomach. Frozen stiff, all I could do was watch the door and listen to it being shaken. "Ma'am! Please open the door, it's Mali! I need to help you dress for breakfast!"

With a relived sigh, the tension and fear left me as I called out to her. "One moment Mali, I'll be right there." Swinging my legs out of bed I sat there for just a moment, letting my heartrate slow some from the initial terror. After about a minute, I stood up and walked over to the door, removing the chair from it and sliding it off to the side. It wasn't long after that she opened the door and peeked inside before entering. "What in the world dear?" I looked bashfully to the side, attempting to avoid eye contact. "I--had really bad nightmares..." I said, hoping that that would be enough to explain the chair, as she clearly had a key to the room. "Oh. I see dear. Well I do understand, but it's best you not block the door like that again. For your own safety you understand." She put a gentile hand on my arm and bustled the rest of the way into the room, going immediately for the wardrobe and pulling out a pretty, flowy pastel green summer dress covered in bright yellow and black sunflowers, and laid it on the chest at the foot of the bed. She then took out a lovely matching hat, a delicate yellow and green scarf, and a pair of white boots with shining gold buttons up the sides of them. They were incredibly old-fashioned, as was the corset that she pulled out just after the boots, that looked like it was an unfinished piece of clothing, clearly meant to be under the dress.

She smiled at me and brought the corset over, urging me to remove my nightgown. I did, reluctantly and carefully so as not to hurt my wing, and she put the corset around me and began lacing me up. "I don know why he insists on these antiquated things! They're so out of fashion if you ask me." Mali mused as she pulled on strings and tugged the corset into place. Once it was on good and tight, she fetched the dress and began helping me get into it, the same under-wing lacing present on this dress as well. The dress fit nicely and flowed over my legs like a silk cloud, soft and nearly completely silent, even when I bustled across the room to the window, curious about a ruckus that had started outside.

TO BE CONTINUED!...

[Inkeyu]

Below in the garden court yard behind the mansion, a cacophony of yelling was coming from somewhere only just out of sight behind some of the well-groomed hedges. "Oh what is it now?!" Mali declared, walking over to join me in the window looking down. It didn't take long for the squabble to come from behind the bushes into the open gravel pathways. A man, clearly one of the servants, scrambled on his back away from the Duke who pursued him with a crop. The man was already bruised quite a bit, and had a very visibly bloody lip as he put an arm up to try and protect himself from the blows rained upon him with the crop. "Can't you do anything right?! What is wrong with you! I should have gotten rid of you years ago! If it weren't for the fact that your wife is the most competent housekeeper I've ever found, you'd be out on the streets, you useless--" Mali leaned out the window and yelled down to the two, catching me greatly off guard as she did so, and not giving me any time to move out of the window, out of view. "Oy! Joseph, wha the hell did you do this time?! How many time I gotta tell ya not to step off?!" Both Joseph and the Duke looked up into the window, Joseph looking sheepish but grateful for her interjection, the Duke glared angrily at her before he caught sight of me and his face took on a feigned concerned look, but with a very telling amused smile that he couldn't hide. It sent a shiver down my spine and made me turn away with an ill feeling in my stomach, a flash of a nightmare last night passed behind my eyes and enforcing the sick feeling.

Mali gave me a sad and apologetic look before she turned fully towards the door, speaking to me as she moved. "I'm sorry dear. I'll be back soon. There's something I need to handle." With that, she left the room and I could hear her little feet clattering down the hallway as fast as her stout little body could carry her. I stood beside the window just out of sight, curious to see what was going on, concerned for Joseph, but petrified of the Duke seeing me again. I took a few deep breaths to try to get rid of the upset in my stomach some, and it did help, but it wouldn't go away completely. I waited until I heard Mali's footfalls on the gravel path and peeked around the edge of the window only just enough to see.

The Duke stood over Joseph hands angrily on his hips, but now completely silent as Mali berated her husband for his "mishaps", lifting him off the ground and bustling him away. After she and Joseph were out of eye and earshot, the Duke threw down the now broken crop onto the path and put an exasperated hand to his head. He stayed that way only for a few moments before moving to look back up into my window. With a small gasp I had no control over, I retreated quickly away from the window again, hoping that he didn't see me still watching. I started shaking, despite my best efforts to calm myself, and attempted to keep myself from fully panicking.

I'll get out of this. I'm not alone. Everything will be okay. I slid down the wall beside the window and sat there trying to calm down for an unknown amount of time. Before I realized it, there was a knock on my door again, shocking me out of my disassociation. "Y-yes? Who's there?" I said, praying that it was only Mali. It was. "It's me dear. We need to finish dressing you." With a sigh, I closed my eyes, grateful that she was the one at the door. "Come in Mali." She opened the door and stepped in, a small gasp at seeing me sitting beside the window, concern creasing her brow. "Oh dear, did that frighten you? I'm sorry. There is nothing to be afraid of." She stepped quickly over to me and helped me back to my feet and over to sit on my bed, rather than the bench that sat under my window. "Lets finished getting you dressed. You'll feel better once we get some food in you, hm?" She took a pair of thigh-high green stockings and helped me put those on before putting the white boots over top of them and helping me to my feet, handing me the sun hat. I accepted it gently, though questioned it's purpose. None the less, I followed Mali silently out of my room and down the stairs.

TO BE CONTINUED!...

[Inkeyu]

Coming out of the stairwell onto the balcony of the ballroom again, I stepped over to the railing, expecting to see a large dining table with the Duke sitting at it, but was met with a completely empty room. Bright sunlight shone into the hall from large glass doors on the far side from where she stood. Mali continued down the stairs and I followed after her shortly, still a little confused by the lack of dining table. As we neared the back doors it became a bit more clear to me, as I could see some servants milling about a very large, lavish wooden patio. Mali reached the glass doors first and opened them for me to step through. The light was very bright, and caused me to squint and blink hard, my eyes having difficulty adjusting to the level of light. Once they had, I looked left towards where some of the servants seemed to be bringing things, and my stomach turned.

A large, intricate silver table with gleaming glass top sat covered in all manner of pastries and light breakfast items. There was a very large, steaming teapot, a carafe of coffee, plenty of cream and delicately decorated chinaware. The Duke, who was sitting at the far end of the table facing towards the door, saw me and stood up, pushing his chair back as he did and nearly toppling it. “Ah! My dear! I’m so glad you’ve decided to join me for breakfast.” The sun gleamed off of his platinum hair as he stepped quickly over to me with his hands outstretched in a ‘ta da’ type motion. I looked behind me to where Mali was, but the door had been closed behind me without me noticing, and Mali was nowhere to be seen. The Duke approached me and went to hug me, but I flinched, backing up a step. Taking the subtle hint, the Duke put his hands on either shoulder instead and gave me a bright smile. “My dear, you really should put your hat on. We don’t want to ruin your perfect complexion.” Releasing my shoulders, he gently took the hat from my hands and placed it on my head, adjusting the ribbons that hung off of it to sit across my shoulders, causing my skin to crawl. “There. Much better. Shall we?” He gestured towards the table while simultaneously putting his other hand behind my back and guiding me over to the table.

TO BE CONTINUED!...

[Inkeyu]

He released my back as we reached the chair that sat directly across from his and continued around to his seat. A pair of servants pulled our chairs out for us before adjusting them and bustling off. The Duke sat staring at me for some time, making me incredibly uncomfortable, but I was afraid to try to hide my face with the hat that I now wore, for fear of angering him. To try to distract myself, I looked out at the grounds around us. Before I could take in much, the Duke’s voice met my ears with a warning, annoyed tone. “You need to eat my dear. After all, you’ll need your strength for our ride.” My heart leapt and I turned my head back to look at him, searching his expression to see if he was serious about it. He gave me a knowing smile and gestured at the table. Not long after I settled back in my seat some, a servant came by and offered me tea, which I gratefully accepted as I looked around at the spread. There were quiche, beagles, croissants, turnovers, tarts, fresh fruits of a wide variety, bacon, delicately scrambled eggs, and some greens. Forgetting entirely about where I was and whom I was with, I swallowed hard at all the foods before settling on a whipped, cream cheese danish, a slice of mixed berry tart, and a few slices of the perfectly fried bacon. I ate as politely and delicately as I knew how to, clearing my plate surprisingly quickly despite it. The danish was so delicate and tasty that I decided to have another two, and one more slice of the berry tart, before deciding I was full enough. The Duke laughed loudly as I finished another bite of the second slice of berry tart, startling me some. “Slow down dear. I know I said you need your strength, but we can’t have you getting fat now can we?” His words made me go cold and I looked at him with an expression somewhere between hurt and fear, before looking away again and finishing my bite.

I sat there, contemplating for a while before choosing my words carefully, still looking off over the estate. “Well, if I work out daily, then I’ll burn off any extra calories easily. And riding is always a good workout. Don’t you think?” I turned back to look at him, and flashed him the sweetest smile I could muster. His fingers interlaced to make a platform that he rested his chin on, his eyebrows raised at this and he contemplated this for a while before responding. “Yeeess. I suppose you are right.” He sat back up straight again, taking a sip of his own tea and then smiling at me as he set the cup back down. “Very well. You may be permitted to ride Nova daily. However, I do expect something in return for allowing you this daily treat.” His eyes gleamed wickedly as he spoke the last words, a long, thin smile across his lips, making him look particularly devilish and sending a shiver down my spine. I swallowed hard and spoke quietly as my voice caught in my throat some. “W-wh...what do you want?” A silence fell between them that felt as though it went on forever, despite it being only moments, as he contemplated, my own anxiety mounting. “I will tell you when I think of something.” He said finally with a minor huff. “Once you’ve had your fill, you are excused to go do as you will for your ride with Nova for today.” He waved his hand at a servant and they brought over a small stack of papers for him and he began pouring over them, seemingly no longer aware of my presence.

Grateful for his ignoring me, and trying my best not to overthink the price of being able to ride Nova every day, I quickly finished the rest of my tart slice and tea, stood up and hurried back inside to get what I needed for my ride and to change. Here I come Nova! I’ll be there soon!

TO BE CONTINUED!...

[Inkeyu]

She nodded at the cat fish and followed after it. Swimming was easier than she expected it to be and she seemed to be able to move faster than a human normally could in water, but it didn't fully register in her mind. They swam together for what seemed like many hours, until she began to tire. "Don't fall behind now miss! Don't want the galaguch to get you!" She looked up at him, still swimming behind him but beginning to get winded. "What in the world is the galaguch?!" The cat fish turned to face her, swimming backwards with a large, toothy grin. "Why it's a ravenous beast that lives in the deep deep ocean. Sometimes it comes to the surface to eat anything in it's path. And nothing escapes it. It's older than time, and yet still very new. It's as large as a ship, but yet not so large. It is both as dark as the night sky, and as bright as the sun. But you don't ever want to see it, or you'll be gobble-gone!" With an evil sounding chuckle, the cat fish turned back around and continued swimming.
Her heart began beating fast at this, now afraid of what might come from the deep to devour her. The adrenaline in her blood now pushed her to swim faster behind the cat fish. It was another hour or so before she began feeling the fatigue of coming down from the adrenaline high. She could feel her muscles begin aching, her limbs and head felt heavy and her swimming slowed. Before she knew what was going on, the cat fish was nowhere to be found and she stopped, treading water to try and find him. She was alone again. Too tired to panic, she struggled to keep above the surface of the water. Slowly she lost her energy and found herself slowly falling deeper into the water. Unable to reach the surface, regardless of her struggle, she began to lose consciousness. Just before she passed out entirely, she saw the cat fish, and something following it, coming towards her. And then, her vision went black.

TO BE CONTINUED!...

[Inkeyu]

I'm sick and tired of not being accepted because I don't fit into someone elses' little box of what they think I should be or want me to be.
F**k anyone who doesn't love me.
If you want to make me the f**king villain, FINE, I will be your f**king villain.
But don't complain when I finally accept the role that I've been forced into.
Don't whine about making me the villain that you painted me to be for years.
Go die alone in a hole of your own making because you can't accept someone being who they want to be and living the life they want to live.
Cry because you hurt me to the point of me not giving any flying f**ks about what you want or think of me anymore.
Done.
I'm done.
If that means I'm homeless but able to be myself, so f**king be it!

[Inkeyu]

Since I joined recently, decided I wanted to make a little series for tiktok.
Okay so I'm going to try to fit this in as few videos as possible.
So last night I got more drunk than I have in like two years because of the fight with I had with my mom.
What was it about?
It was about me being who and what the f**k I want to be, and living the life that I WANT to live, at age 30.
And she tried to blame my dysfunctional and Abusive relationships I've had, since 18, on the fact that I'm not a straight, cis, submissive-in-every-way, chiristian, sweet little housewife, cheer squad doormat. Hah! Right?

Right. Because being a part of the vampire community totally didn't teach me to accept the darker parts of me as still parts of me, and see the beauty in them. Because being a pagan and a witch totally didn't teach me how to use my power as strong woman, to make things happen for myself and to take pride in the fact that I am, in fact, ABLE to bring LIFE INTO THIS WORLD. Like being a furry totally didn't teach me to accept and showcase my weirdness and make me not feel alone. Because being poly is TOTALLY a fetish thing and not a complicated love dynamic that involves a serious amount of heavy, deep communication that involves me understanding and accepting my emotions and helping me to understand that I'm not the only person who has the capacity to LOVE MULTIPLE PEOPLE AT ONCE. Like being demisexual is TOTALLY a choice and I have COMPLETE control over whom I'm Attracted to and whom I fall in love with.

Right. Mom. That's why I've ended up in TWO, count them, TWO abusive relationships with monogomish f**k wads SPECIFICALLY because I was running, away, from you.

[Inkeyu]

One minute me:
I am in the Alphabet or Rainbow Army (however you choose to say it), I am bi sexual, I was abused, I'm healing, I am a vampire, I am a furry, I am pagan, I am a witch, I am a goth, I am polyamorous no I won't be your unicorn, I practice BDSM and if you don't know about or understand consent or aftercare f*ck up on out of here, I am a liberal, I wear a mask when I go out in public, I believe most vaccines are necessary, I am pro choice, I am an animal lover I don't care what kind, that does not mean I'm into bestiality, I am ANTI Trump, I am anti racism, anti sexism, pro equality, pro sexuality, pro sex work, I believe in supporting others, I believe in spreading positivity even if it's hard for me to feel it, don't like any of these things, f*ck off.