Goodfellow

Hey, I'm generally on midmorning CST. I can't really speak for FCs (mine tends to be active more in the evening; I stick with them anyways cause they're so great), but feel more than free to look me up in game. Lolotaru Lalataru is my main, but I've got an embarrassment of alts, so I'll keep an eye out for you too.

Ugh... Depending on the timing I could absolutely be convinced. I have managed to make exactly zero progress so far and misery does so love company.

I haven't been to Distant Worlds (it's pretty far for me), but I did go to Dear Friends a few years ago with some dear friends (har har), and it was all sorts of fun. I loved seeing the regular symphony-goers and cosplayers mixed together and the enthusiasm the crowd had for the music. I've wanted to go to another ever since but my neck of the woods doesn't get quite so much attention as the left and right coasts.

Depending on the timing of your moves, it's completely reasonable that Nero and Lolotaru have crossed paths. And my play time is also wonky, so I'm good with forum stuff.

As silly as it is though, there's actually historical precedent for giving her an exaggerated voluptuousness. Harvest and fertility goddesses have always been *cough* curvy.

Just stopping in to say it does still exist. I'm not completely clear on how much use the LS itself gets as I play at pretty awkward times, but it does still exist and the overall Lominsan RP revitalization project it's a part of is ongoing. I know they just put together a big event at the Wench a couple of weeks ago.

I'm sure you've mentioned this in other threads, but where is Tarot based out of? Ul'dah?

Lalafell here! Feel free to interact with Lolotaru Lalataru whensoever you chance upon him.

Styrm waved goodbye halfheartedly as Joz walked out the door. The serving girl saw his empty glass and began to walk back toward the bar. He looked out the door, Joz was gone but the sun was still out and about. Maybe he'd be lucky and still get some sleep with this early start. Otherwise, he hoped Joz didn't expect him too early the next day. ----- Lolotaru finished examining and the cargo manifest as hired hands loaded the last large crate onto the wagon that ran from Wineport to Costa del Sol. The crates would there be loaded onto a pleasure boat that rented out space in its hold for cargo bound for Limsa Lominsa and beyond. In the city, it would be transferred to a larger vessel and would make the longer journey to Vesper Bay and, again by wagon, on to the markets of Ul'dah. He looked up at the miqo'te girl next to him. She looked down at him with her round green eyes as he addressed her. "Remember, Felijha, the three smaller crates--the...eh...the Raincatcher Red, the Red Mantis Reserve, and the Agelyss Banks Signature, two dozen bottles of each--those are all going to my mother." Felijha took back the manifest and hurriedly scribbled, whispering to herself, "Raincatcher, Mantis, Agelyss to Littlest Inn, care of Ms. Lila." A final flourish of the pen and she spoke, "Done, sir. Will that be all?" Lolo thought for a moment. He loved Wineport. He loved the rain and the vineyards and the smell of his quarters there. He spent as much time there as he could, always personally overseeing Kodu Co.'s dealings with Agelyss Banks. Buying into the winery was one of his less considered, but more satisfying bits of personal business and although it was one of only a few ventures his Kodu Co. was involved in outside of Thanalan (and a comparatively small one, at that), it had proved to be an economic, if not entirely profitable, decision. Especially considering the unusually copious amount of wine his mother's guests imbibed during their stay at the Littlest Inn. Ul'dah could overwhelm the newcomer, particularly the more bucolically inclined Plainsfolk visitors which composed the majority of her clientele. But he had work to get back to in the city, and a new student of his own, to boot! "Yes, Felijha," he responded to his retainer. "Thank you, as always. Please, reserve me a space on the earliest ship back to Limsa after lunch tomorrow." He would be back by evening, meet with Styrmsthal for an update on Joz, and be back to business by the following morning, invigorated as always by his short time away. "Oh! And give Mother my love." "Yes sir," she said with a soft smile before climbing onto the wagon. Lolo watched them for a moment, then turned and walked back inside where food, drink, books, and bags awaited him.

"Ah," he responded with a pat on his belly, "'ad worse, I 'ave. I'll live." He took a long look at Joz, then waved her away with one of his hands. "A'right, a'right. If ye ain't gonna 'ave 'nother drink with ol' Styrm, 'en off with ye." He smiled then and called out, "But don' be forgettin' yer letters! 'S right back to 'em firs' thing tomorrow!" Then he turned back to the bar and waited to order another drink.

"Not gonna finish yer food?" he asked as she turned to go. "'Sides, pretty girl like that won't be done workin' til late; they'll 'ave 'er workin' the busy shift."

Styrm's gaze drifted over to the server across the room. "Aye, I may jus'." Hot though it was, distracted though he was, lackadaisical layabout though he could be, he felt that he saw something in Joz, something jittery. Bah, he thought, probably jus' the heat. "Not til later, though," he said. "Now? Now I'm sharin' a meal with me good pal Jozzie." He nudged her again then returned to his food.

Styrm sat silent a moment considering Joz and her words. "Pffft!" he exclaimed as that familiar grin broke out across his face. "Ye're tricky, girlie. All grins an' jibes one moment an'...an'...an' heavy jus' the next," he said. He smacked her lightly, carefully on the back and nodded to the bowl. "Now eat up, seein' as ye were in some sort o' hurry back there." And he threw his head back in the direction they had come from.

Humm, I think this might just be a divide of opinion. To me, miqo'te are neither humans-with-tails nor cats-with-people-biology. They're an intertwined mix of both in a way that are neither cat nor human. I agree that they take traits from both -- you'd rightly think me stupid if I tried to argue against that -- but to simply think them humans with cat ears and tails takes away from the blurbs you can read in character creation. Their biology has to be different from human biology, otherwise they wouldn't have superb olfactory senses or strong leg musculature. I don't have a great deal to offer this discussion. I have neither a cat (more of a dog person) nor a terribly developed miqo'te (but I've got three less-than-developed alts), but I do think that it's important to note that all the playable races are referred to as "Man," as in human. I assume that's part of the reason the devs call the most human-seeming characters hyur, so that we can all be "human" by implication. At least according to the way the NPCs in the MSQ and others talk, the beastmen are one thing and the "civilized" races are another (and I do mean biologically, not just for purposes of discrimination; Y'shtola repeatedly blames "men" for the retaliatory violence of the kobolds and sylphs). Although we haven't seen them to my knowledge, the devs have confirmed that interbreeding between the playable races is viable, so it stands to reason that biologically (not culturally!) miqo'te are more similar to hyur, lalafell, roegadyn, and elezen (that is to say, "humans") than they are different. But I love creative emoting, so swish those tails! Swish away!

"Bit o' wisdom fer ye, Jozzie: 's best not t'assume ye know Taru, not really. Seems half the time t'be figurin' out 'is own self!" He took another great slurp from the bowl and a long drag from his mug. He set it down and stifled a belch, then said, "We can't all be knowin' ourselves through an' through, like ye an' I. Other folk ain't so blessed as all that, no matter how high they can stack their books."

"Heh, ye may be right there, Jozzie," he said with a smile as he raised his bowl to his nose and inhaled deeply. The fish and the spices filled his nostrils and he immediately put his lips to the edge, tipped his head back, and drank deeply of the broth. The smell became taste and he took another swallow. "Not bad, that. But if ye e'er want fer some real spice, 'ave Taru whip ye up summut. 'At's a man ne'er met a food what didn't need to burn more."

'Bout time the girl loosens up a bit more, he thought at Joz's over-loud cackle. He turned back to the bar in front of him as the server set down his food in front of him and looked up as she set down his drink. He sighed contentedly; it was so very rare for anything to meet him at eye level. "I can't hardly think o' but one er two things to be missin' jus' now," he answered her, "an' them not fit fer mentionin'."

Only the smallest hint of surprise crossed the roegadyn's visage as he watched the waitress walk away. Slowly, dramatically, he turned fully toward Joz and said, "Nor ye a subtle girl. But 's like ye say, 'tis. Broader the target, harder t'miss, heh heh!"

He took note of Joz's expression and smiled all the more. Immediately, he returned his attention, and his smile, to the serving-girl. "Aye lassie, I'm one t'put lips t'what kicks hardest." He whispered (insofar as his booming voice was capable of whispering) an aside to Joz, "Oh if I was a subtler man...but subtlety's Taru's game; Styrm aims fer broader targets."

Styrm bit his bottom lip, just for a moment, then rocked back and laughed slowly, saying, "Oh ho ho ho ho absolutely. 'Ells, sweatin' a'ready, I am, an' it's only gettin', eh, warmer longer we're 'ere heh heh!" He again nudged Joz with his elbow and tucked his finger under the hem of the collar of his tunic, tugging at it two or three times. "Aye, so bring on the boo--boola--booloola--ah shite, ye can say it an' I'll jus' eat it." He raised a finger, then two, then paused and cocked his eyebrow at Joz. "Me er we?" he asked her.

"Really? That bad?" He waved to the stool he'd neglected to use. "Be on the floor on me arse one way er the other, I'm jus' savin' time," he replied with a snort of his own. He wiped some nascent droplets of sweat from his forehead and eyes, opening them again just in time to see their server arrive. He gave Joz a sidelong look and began to laugh his slow, hearty, rumbling laugh. "Oh Jozzie, good call. T'day's jus' gettin' better an' better..." "Get ye?" he heard the girl say. "Aye, lassie. Whatever keeps ye comin' back." His grin was huge.

"Ye'll 'ave t'remind me t'get some coattails, 'en," he said as he ducked and stepped through the open door. Gods, 's small in 'ere, he thought. The littler folk may not notice, but a Sea Wolf always knew when a main-lander built a doorway; they never made them quite big enough for the city's Wolves to fit through comfortably. Once inside he searched for a table. It was crowded, aye, but only for being so small. And it was dim, carved into the rock as it was. There were no windows and the day hadn't progressed enough that they'd lit any lanterns or candles. The only illumination was the light streaming in through the open door. He spied a couple of low stools near a bar carved into the far wall and muscled his way over to them, trying and failing not to nudge or jostle any of the other patrons too hard. A closer look told him he'd break the stool if he so much as leaned on it, so he shoved it to the side and sat on the floor, his head and shoulders remaining at or slightly above the level of the bar before him. He lightly patted the stool next to him and raised his hand to catch the attention of one of the staff.

Styrm smiled. "Then no, never been. An' remind me t'teach ye the difference later. Tale an' tail, that is."

Styrm began to tap his foot impatiently, then stopped himself. He was hungry and this was her territory, but she wouldn't have had much opportunity for eating out, beggar girl that she was. And so he waited patiently, silent but for the heavy, rolling sounds of his stomach. "Three Tales. Ye been there?"he heard her ask. "Three Tails? Aye," he said, beginning to nod his head. "But that ain' no place fer eatin'--wait, Three Tales er Three Tails?" he asked, pointing first to his lips then to his backside.

Well damn, I just plain didn't even look at this thread until just now and found that I'm over a month late to seeing this lovely and completely unnecessary thank you. Lovely for obvious reasons and unnecessary because I'm clearly having a great time. Hell, a month after you wrote this the thread is still going! It's the story that will not die and I love it. So thanks, Zhi, for helping me get to know Lolo better, for getting to bring Styrm out to play, and for having the ba...the gumption...to risk being awkward in order to go after what interests you. Seriously, could you be in any more threads and stories? And thanks to everyone who's been reading along, as well. I normally just refresh and so never look at the thread views, but it floors me that so many of you have invested on some level in our little story which must outlast death itself. And I'm going to plug my FC here because even though I am only inconsistently around at best, they never treat me like anything less than a valued member of the company. Thanks, Mysterium!