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[cambium]

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BONUS AC

AC for the current month must be completed before requesting bonuses for that month. For new characters, AC must be submitted in lieu of the check in.

Each bonus is submitted as a bundle of three threads, which cannot be used for AC and must have a minimum of five comments from you. Threads have no expiration date and can be banked for the future, but each character is restricted to five bonuses each calendar month.

Bonuses must have an impact on the character, which can be as simple as a favorite food, or as poignant as a memento from a loved one. They cannot be a living creature. Bonuses can be common items (such as food, clothing, and tools) which are ICly requested by the character, or canon specific items (owned by the character) which are OOCly requested. Once general NPCs are unlocked, characters will ICly submit requests to the town head, who will work to acquire resources either from within the town or to be imported via train. Canon specific items will appear in a variety of ways.

Please use the following form:

Thread one: link (number of comments)
Thread two: link (number of comments)
Thread three: link (number of comments)
Bonus request:
Impact: motivation for requesting said item, emotions that would be evoked by the item, etc

code

Comments

[cambium]

I only make the delivery.

[ It's not like he's the one providing all of this, he just gets the work of carrying everything. ...Though, yes, the reactions make up for it, as does getting to see what people receive. ]

...It is an art kit?

[ Colors, powders, it's obviously a watercolor kit ]

[finalbows]

Why, yes! A set of fresh new paints -- meant only for the most illustrious of palettes!

_{[ why is he visibly preening... does having a paint set really warrant this much ego. ]}

[cambium]

...I see. [ He does not see. The words make sense, but the meaning is what he struggles with ]

What do they taste like...?

[ He's never eaten paint before. He only has a normal palate. ]

[finalbows]

...

I don't eat them, Lark, I put them on my face. I'm not leaving the house bare.

[cambium]

It is a waste of food if you do not eat it.

[ he is making even less sense, help, who puts food on their face ]

1/2

[finalbows]

_{[ give him a moment. ]}

2/2

[finalbows]

_{[ alright. alright. okay. ]}

Here. Go right ahead and tell me how edible you think this is. _{[ There's a tube of red lipstick in here -- he doesn't much care for the color for lipstick, so it's really no loss. He holds it out to Lark. ]}

[cambium]

[ why are you letting him do this

This is terrible, he feel so stupid taking the tube, twisting the base to reveal the bright red lipstick and staring at it for a moment before sticking out his tongue, taking a lick.

...

...

...

hands it back to Kuja. ]

I do not care much for it. You should eat the rest.

[finalbows]

_{[ Kuja's not putting that back in with the rest because he's not gonna risk forgetting which one had mailman slobber on it. He's just gonna keep it in hand til Lark's successfully escaped this conversation. ]}

I am not going to eat it, because it is not. Food. It is a cosmetic. You could benefit from a little, you know-- you carry the strain of your busywork under your eyes often. Some powder would fix that right up.

[cambium]

[ Stares at Lark's icons... yeah the eyebags are prominent. ]

How does it work? Can you show me?

[finalbows]

_{[ when was the last time he got to make someone else up... honestly, he can count how many times he's had the chance on one hand. that's so sad. Lark, you don't know what pandora's box you've just opened. ]}

Why yes I can! Come on, then, you'll want to sit. It takes steady hands.

_{[ everyone and their dog has been solving his bloodstone puzzle lately, and he gets an... amount... of visitors now. so the downstairs of Kuja's house isn't actually a deathtrap obstacle course anymore. it's sittable shape. ]}

[cambium]

[ Hm. He hesitates for a moment, but people have been inviting him into their homes more often lately and he hasn't gotten shanked yet, so he'll follow Kuja inside and sit himself awkwardly on whatever couch or similar is closest.

He keeps eying the lipstick like how does this one work, if not as food ]

[finalbows]

_{[ Kuja sits down beside him, casual as you please, crossing one leg over the other. It's not like it's a surprise looking at him, but the man's quite shameless, huh... ]}

I've a compact, of course, so you can take a look once we're done. Now... let's see what we have to play with...

_{[ He's set down the makeup kit between them; it's a sturdy, lacquered wood box that unfolds to show more than it first looked like was in there when he briefly popped it open earlier. He's still got the tube from earlier in his hand, though, and he's idly playing with it when he thinks... ah, that'd be a good start, wouldn't it? ]}

This one-- the one you sampled earlier-- is simplest! Lipstick. Apply it to the lips, occasionally refresh it as it wears off through the day. Usually, you want to follow your own natural shape for putting it on... but it's good to be flexible for if you make a little slip. What's important is symmetry and a flattering shape.

_{[ He's popped off the lid and twisted it up into sight as he chatters. ]}

Now, stay very still. _{[ Leaning in close to Lark's face with the not-really-a-good-snack... ]}

[cambium]

[ He's good at sitting still and quiet, shoulders relaxed and hands on his lap where he's removed and rests his cap, facing forward but his eyes follow the motions of Kuja's hands. The scarf is loosened slightly so it doesn't get lipstick all over it, with his habit of hiding his face in it.

...It'd be nice to be able to see him work in a mirror or the compact, but he tells himself it's like opening a package: the surprise will be worth the wait. ]

kuja you fool. the sleepy eyes are a lark charm point

[finalbows]

<sub>[ The lipstick's not where it ends, of course! Kuja's just getting started. Once he's good and satisfied with that, he scrutinizes Lark's face, fingers strumming on his thigh as he thinks...

Nothing too dramatic with contouring, he doesn't know what he's got to work with well enough yet. A little powder never hurts to even out the face, but it's the tired eyes that need the most work. So! Concealer, more powder, bit of mascara -- maybe a tiny bit of wing? Absolutely avoid putting eyeliner on his bottom lid, for sure -- and eyeshadow, which is the most fun part and takes the statistically most amount of fussing, ending up with a motley of little containers of different colors pulled up out of the box, Kuja switching back and forth. He rattles off about what he's doing and how as he does it; Kuja's nothing if not thorough with his descriptions.

He stays pretty simple with eyeshadow for himself, so it's fun to really let loose. ]</sub>

Nothing too gray or black, but depth's important... Ah, look at this! It's got a glimmer. That's perfect. And I think.. with that shade of lipstick... Oh, go ahead and close your eyes again.

_{[ Purple with a bit of orange, the light shimmer... it's a little like an iridescent beetle, but the most vivid parts are contained to the eyelid, getting gentler to the edges. He did put in that wing with the eyeliner, topping it with a very slight sharp line of gold. ]}

There! Nothing else I'd do to it. Now, when you do it yourself, you'll often find extra pigment's going to fall down as you're working... nothing some careful brushing away and more powder won't fix. That's why it's aaactually often better to do the eyes early...

_{[ Now, where's that compact... it's somewhere in a pocket hidden in his long billowy sleeve... having long scary villain claws does not always help in times like this. ]}

[cambium]

[ Fun fact: Lark's PB has no eyebrows and I had to edit them in

It's all so overwhelming, difficult to follow even as Kuja explains things, sort of, especially if he's to keep his eyes closed as not to mess anything up. ... When he opens his eyes again, it's a stranger that stares back at him. A stranger whose mouth is agape in surprise, hand raising to touch his lips before catching himself and pulling his hand back. A tentative smile, shy, just to see what that looks like, before returning to the normal neutral. ]

...I hardly recognize myself.

pacing. pacing irl over smiling lark.

[finalbows]

_{[ HELP LMAO THAT'S SO FUCKING FUNNY ]}

That's the fun of it. The body is the most personal canvas! With some patience... you can make yours whoever you want.

Aaand... it's much more forgiving than doing an actual painting...

_{[ shoutout to the one time he tried that. never again. ]}

[cambium]

...I don't know who I want to be.

[ His hands return to his lap, fingers fiddling, sense of self somewhat nebulous especially in a place like this where each year wears away more and more. He was a brother, but no longer. He's a mailman, but that was a job appointed to him. Even the choice of eyeshadow and lipstick...

He looks back up at Kuja ]

Are you who you want to be?

[finalbows]

...

<sub>[ Lark's asked that at an interesting time in his life.

Kuja's recently had the revelation that he likes it here. Not only is this the only place he has a chance at staying alive, as himself-- there are people here he prefers spending time with. He's shown facets of himself that he's had to keep invisible (sometimes literally) all his life.


And... He hasn't been quite this kind of... 'himself'... before.
He'd never lived outside of Garland's shadow, full stop. And the day he no longer did, he'd thrown up his hands on the little time he had left. ]</sub>

...I always wanted to be something... someone that now, it turns out I couldn't be. Just.. wasn't possible.

_{[ the flower couldn't be kept from its inevitable bloom. ]}

I'm still mourning it a little bit. I'll try to move on...
...well, one day or another. I'm informed it's not impossible to figure it out, anyway.

[cambium]

...What sort of person is that? That you cannot be.

[ He's curious... There's so much that he himself could never be, but it's for the lack of trying. It didn't seem to him that Kuja would have that sort of problem. ]

You are charismatic, Kuja King. I would think you capable of anything.

[finalbows]

You'd think, wouldn't you?

<sub>[ ..with the makeover done, Kuja starts slowly putting to rights the disarray he'd made up the makeup box. he vaguely remembers the way it looked when he first opened it up. it'll be fine. there's going to be less overall in there, than when he started, since he's keeping aside a couple little bits and bobs he used on Lark that it wouldn't be terrifically hygienic to keep using himself. That goes in a little pile.

The chance to make a canvas of someone else for once absolutely makes up for the loss of an applicator and a tube of lipstick. ]</sub>

And you'd be right. I've always been able to find a way to make a path, when I want one. I had every thing I ever wanted... except... for one tiny thing I thought I'd always had.

My dream was to be something like... an eternal shepherd, of a beautiful, vibrant world! Its fate would be up to my design, and there wasn't anything I wouldn't do to reach that day.

But... I simply shall never be Gaia's lone, guiding star.

[cambium]

[ can't he just wipe off the top layer of it, like when your cat licks the top of your cake but you still want cake so you cut off the top and say fine it's yours now ]

You wish... to become a god?

[ but even as he asks that, he feels like Kuja means something more. Not a god who molds the world according to their whims and the snap of a finger, but somebody who leads the people to a better place. Somebody like the Crow whom he admires so much, except...

...

better. ]

[finalbows]

<sub>[ no ❤️

he certainly did have some grandiose ideas for his ‘Eternal Kingdom,’ and anything was acceptable, for the sake of that prize. at the very least, he wanted Gaia to live, because… it was his, wasn’t it? For some reason, he always felt it in his bones; because of— of…

…he couldn’t recall, anymore. He supposes part of it was that he was in on the great secret; that burning in its belly lay a deadly threat to that world. ]</sub>

Ahahah…!

I don’t tell people I’m not a human just because of some light aesthetic differences. A hundred years could come and go, and the canvas… _{[ He gestures to his face. ]} Will never yellow, or peel. It fooled me into thinking I was all but one.

But! I am in fact in the same boat as all the other mortal souls. …You could say coming here was even lucky, for me.

[cambium]

I see. Like a tortoise.

[ Creatures that can live a long time, yet are still mortal. Thinking about his conversation with Phil in which Lark is from a time where reaching 30 marks old age and 40 is practically ancient. ]

...Do you really feel that way? You must love your home. This place is not it. You would want to go home, yes?

[finalbows]

_{[ he pulls a pout. that’s such an ugly animal! don’t call him that! ]}

I’d like to think I’m something a little more noble than a tortoise!

…

I do love Gaia. _{[ Terra is complicated. And gone. ]} But I burned quite a few bridges. And…seventy days… isn’t a lot to work with. I can imagine what I’d do, though. Commandeer the family airship. Take a grand tour. Visit some houses of worship I never got to see.

…it’s that, or figure out someone new to be.