Welcome to Gaia! ::

A valid question, you wouldn't quest for something you don't like. So, what was it that did it for me?

Well, I left Gaia once upon a time due to lag and various minor things. I lost interest really, as people do sometimes. I came back a while ago and realised that:

1) My one time quest wasn't gonna happen. And AFKs look weird on my avvy.

2) I love to RP and really wanted a stand out pet/breedable to do that with.

3) I like shiny arts, so breedable is a forum that calls my name and holds up glittery signs.

Yeah, I admit I have various art issues and whatnot.

So, I went wandering around the breedables forum, looking for a thread to camp in. I like looking at the thread names and picking out ones that stand out to me, I suppose everyone does that really.

I mean really, tons of threads. Frightening prospect. But I remember spotting the Lab 305 name and thinking 'A Lab? Oh, I gotta see this!' I'm a little morbid, I had to wonder what sort of thing you get out of a lab style thread.

There I was, pondering the first page... The image of Dr Kyou there has to get a raised brow, really. 3nodding Good start! I struggle with blocks of text when I'm not attached yet, so I fess to skimming a little at first. Don't hit me!

I was raised on text based environments, so I certainly wasn't put off by it. I see reams of text, all day.

Once I got to stages, my interest was really peaked. Those were the kind of images that made me sit up and take interest. This wasn't your usual concept, as far as I cared.

(I ramble, I sorry too!)

Then the Owners post... Oh my. That was me, done and dusted. Beautiful. If I remember right, forgive me for having my fuzzy moments, but I'm sure Rivener was the newest growing when I arrived. Hello there! But the style in the thumbnails simply appealed, and I enjoyed poking in the journals briefly to get a better look at them all.

I have this thing about seeing all the stages and whatnot, very odd.

Anyway, long story short, I decided to stay in the thread and haven't left since.

Being used to a different format means it takes time to adapt, but everyone has been nice and I like the environment of the thread. It might take me forever to get a Raevan, I might not get one, but that shouldn't be the only reason to stay.

Cheesy aside, time for the next post!

The title for the whole thread, A Darker Shade of Being, came to me while I pondered making a thread or not. Then it wouldn't go away. Ideas I like tend to stick around and rattle in my brain until I do something about them.

Niks, my RP character, is 'darker' in personality sense. And I suppose people coming across her would think much the same. At first glance she's not much of the shiny, happy people.

Oh yeah, I call her Niks OOC. Don't do it IC. Her name, and my username is pronounced Nix-e-uh. If someone can come up with a better way of doing that, get in touch. So I'm used to being known as Niks, but any kind of variation is fine. Everyone says it a little differently.

The only major idea that has stuck, thus far, came about from my first Flatsale. The prompt for the Ice Rose meant posting with an already created Frei! Oh damn. I was still shaky about the whole thing, so had to think up a soul to go with the essence. My brain seriously 'sploded.

So what did I magic up?

A frigging bee soul. No joke. Flower, bee... It takes more than that to win a Raevan.

But, the idea of the bee soul stuck, and I think it's kinda cute. It could make a really cool looking Raevan.

It has tweaked a bit since then, and I've now decided on a Queen Bee soul. Why? Remember the part about ideas getting stuck? I got an idea about a soul capture prompt/post and it still won't go away.

You have no idea how annoying that can be.

So, it sounds good in my head and very IC in the manner that Niks would go about getting it... It could be so lame to everyone else though. I don't know about posting it just yet though, or the details thereof. If you're interested, I'll post the gist of it. I think. I don't do questy threads.

(There are lots of kinds of bees around, so feel free to share this soul! I enjoy it as my first soul idea but as the other aspects develop this seems less likely to be used. I hope it helps you too!)

Yay, a new idea! Thankies to the various peeps on the main thread for discussing this.

On the 'I'm rather obsessed with mythical concepts' side of things, Niks and I are both keen on Unicorns. In varying degrees, her more than me. Dragons rule my soul, thankyouverymuch. So, we have two ideas for essences, thanks mostly to Mouse and Chrystali for their collective ability to go wild with vague suggestions.
With some feedback, I'm hoping to come up with matching ideas and expand on the current stuff.

Unicorn's Horn.
Known for it's strong healing and poison neutralizing properties, Unicorn Horn is sought after by many healers, alchemists and even conmen. Sadly, only the tip of this beautiful horn remains and the fate of the Unicorn it once grew upon lost without trace.

Unicorn's Union Butterfly Soul.
This came to me while daydreaming one night before bed. Not really daydreaming then... Doh. Anyway, I thought of a FS prompt about having to write about capturing the soul and came up with this weird soul. Shame I didn't dream up what the prompt essence was.

The Unicorn's Union Butterfly is not maybe what some of you think, naughty people. The premise was that it was an insect that only had a very small article about it, which Niksia stumbles upon while researching for a soul. Her issues with soul capture are a whole other matter.

There isn't really a reason why it's got that weird name, it might not even be a butterfly... And it's found, well, near a different sort of business Unicorn's have to go about. I should hope they do anyway. I would assume it might be a type of fly, as you don't generally get butterflies laying their eggs in... Do I have to say it? *lol*

I'm still mildly undecided about how it looks, though I think glittery/fluffy wings on a butterfly type body might be about right. Assuming that maybe it feeds off on the magic left by the Unicorn and that it affects how it should have appeared otherwise. If it makes no sense to you, I'm not surprised, my ideas have that effect on people.

Part of the reason why I like it so much is because of the prompt response I managed in my head after making it up. It ended with a rather fed up and annoyed Niksia, which amuses me to no end. I'm so mean.

Ding ding! Fel Essence here!

Corrupt Unicorn Horn.
Something terrible must have happened to this horn, perhaps when it was taken from its Unicorn or maybe someone tried to cast a spell on it. Whatever it was, now it glows with a dark aura instead of the pure one it once had, the powers of healing and curing poison now corrupted and dangerous.

I finally had a brainwave and realised that I was making my life a touch too complicated in terms of essence. The focus of a unicorn really should have shifted to what a unicorn is supposed to represent.

Corrupted Innocence.
Once the world was pure and innocent, free from all the horrors that modern life has brought with it. During the storm that created the essences Dr Kyou collects, innocence was shattered so it would never be the same again. He found a shard of it and placed it in a vial for safekeeping because of its dangerous nature. While looking like a priceless piece of cut crystal, shot through with dark bursts that seem to change constantly, it is the innocence now corrupted with a tinge of shadow that seems to suck the happiness from our dearest memories.

Latest souls here!

After much contemplation, and having looked through the current quests to make sure I wasn't copying anyone...

My first idea for a soul was a Hydra soul, the wonderful multi headed creature of legend. I wanted a snake type soul to go with the corrupted horn essence and had to ponder if hydra heads have a soul each or just one soul for the whole thing. razz My friend says one soul, though I was hoping more so Niks only had to kill one head! *laughs*

The other idea was a nightmare, an actual demon that comes to cause bad dreams. Or! Nightmare as in the stallion, flaming hooves and mane. Thank you D&D for making these things possible, even vaguely. I think the stallion does vary slightly depending on the source, which makes creating a nightmare for soul capture better?

I like both. Nightmare may be pushing it on the demon aspect and the horse side. The essence is already leaning heavily to the horse side of things, so another dose might stop it shining out as a Raevan with different qualities. Hydra is nice though in terms of appearance, when thought of with the corrupted horn.

Decisions. razz

Next post!

Exactly what it says on the tin. I think I'll post about my Christmas thread beasties here. Taking the leaf from someone else's book, I will tell ya now. *waves at Storei*

So yeah, not really that original.

The whale Niks has can blow bubbles that make certain noises when they pop. Things she's heard so far include purring, Jaws music, creaking doors and thankfully very brief and rather realistic screams. Her stingray likes to attach itself to the windows so the little smiley face underneath shows. Coupled with the strange noises, it means the mailman is now very jumpy.

Niks has finally been IC in the good old Raevan universe. Check this thread over here to see. It's the 2007 Valentine event, which Chloe was kind enough to run for everyone. Sadly, I couldn't post as much as I wanted, due to self inflicted comp problems. Poor Niks out of her element and in some interesting clothes...

So I guess she's available for RP, well and truly. She spends a fair amount of time out of her home anyway, so most situations would be easy to work with.

And! She won a plushie.



Don't ask her to say his name though.

And now a new section, RP Urges! I'm mixing this a little so it takes less space. It should now hold Niks' current feelings about regulars/guardians/Raevans etc. Hopefully added to as she interacts with more people!