TDM 1 ⬡ The Oval Portrait

[liburuzaina]

	Casting Call The Oval Portrait Edgar Allan Poe »» "Long — long I read — and devoutly, devotedly I gazed." Name: The Aristocrat Casting Call: Characters with a Birthday from September through December Physical Notes: Desperately wounded, to the point of being bedridden, but not losing consciousness. Personality Notes: Curious, and prone to becoming enraptured by the pursuit of learning about whatever has caught their curiosity. Mildly delirious due to injury. Compulsions: To learn about their surroundings, whether through study of the portraits in the chateau apartment, conversation with a companion, or ill-advised exploration. «« »» "We established ourselves in one of the smallest and least sumptuously furnished apartments." Name: The Valet Casting Call: Characters with an Unknown Birthday Physical Notes: Older than The Aristocrat by ≥ 5 years. Personality Notes: Willing and able (by force or by cleverness) to break in to a home for the well-being of their employer. A caretaker by nature. Compulsions: To see that The Aristocrat is comfortable for the night and their wounds are tended to, and to get some rest themselves once their duty is complete. In the absence of The Aristocrat, The Valet is free to act as they please. «« »» "She was a maiden of rarest beauty, and not more lovely than full of glee." Name: The Maiden Casting Call: Characters with a birthday from May through August Physical Notes: Young, aged from 15-20. Personality Notes: All smiles, loving and cherishing of all things, hating only The Painter's art, for they deprive them of their lover. Compulsions: To live life to the fullest, to love, to be happy... But also to make their husband, The Painter happy, by being a good and willing subject for his portraiture, should he ask. ⬡ Will slowly waste away and die, should they sit and allow themselves to be painted. «« »» "And evil was the hour when she saw, and loved, and wedded the painter." Name: The Painter Casting Call: Characters with a birthday from January through April Physical Notes: Older than the maiden by ≥ 10 years. Personality Notes: Passionate, studious, austere, wild, moody. More in love with his art than his wife. Compulsions: To paint. To paint, and paint, and paint some more. To ask their lovely wife to be the subject for their next piece, and to throw themselves into the completion of it. ⬡ Unaware they are doing harm with their painting, until it is complete. «« code @ efryndiel The Chateau ⬡ Common Cast Characters most likely to originate in The Chateau are The Aristocrat and The Valet ⬡ Literary Description "To all appearance it had been temporarily and very lately abandoned. We established ourselves in one of the smallest and least sumptuously furnished apartments. It lay in a remote turret of the building. Its decorations were rich, yet tattered and antique. Its walls were hung with tapestry and bedecked with manifold and multiform armorial trophies, together with an unusually great number of very spirited modern paintings in frames of rich golden arabesque." ⬡ For Your Exploration Characters may attempt to explore the Chateau, but it will be shrouded in darkness, and every room they enter will bring them back to the apartment chosen by The Valet. What decorations may be seen are dark and victorian in design, and the room and halls may be lit by candlelight. The Maiden's portrait is on the wall, and will initially be cloaked in shadow for The Aristocrat to find. It appears remarkably lifelike, almost as though it is a window instead of a portrait. The other paintings on the walls will contain figures that are almost familiar to The Aristocrat and The Valet - as though they could be someone they know, but only if they squint. There is no electricity. Characters will not have access to any powers. The Artist's Tower ⬡ Common Cast Characters most likely to originate in The Artist's Tower are The Maiden and The Painter ⬡ Literary Description "But she was humble and obedient, and sat meekly for many weeks in the dark, high turret-chamber where the light dripped upon the pale canvas only from overhead. But he, the painter, took glory in his work, which went on from hour to hour, and from day to day." ⬡ For Your Exploration Should characters leave the Painter's studio, they will immediately be transported outside, to a sprawling field of wildflowers. There won't seem to be anything else around, but there will be a light breeze and the sound of the sea in the distance. Inside the studio, the air is stale and musty, smelling of oil paints and turpentine. It's dim, lit only by a skylight. There is a stool for the subject and an easel with canvas sitting in the light, but everything else - art materials, more canvases, both empty and with the beginnings of paintings, and props - are all pushed to the sides of the room and cloaked in shadow. Like The Chateau, there is no electricity, and characters will not have access to their powers. The Library ⬡ Welcome! Free from their roles, through either death, completion of the Story, or from not being pulled into the tale in the first place, characters will find themselves in the gardens outside of the Library itself. As always, it will look and feel like a temperate, autumn afternoon. As this setting is part of the Library itself, characters will have full access to all their powers. ⬡ Grand Opening Coming Soon! The front door will, unfortunately, be locked, and a sign will be taped on the doors, detailing how the Library will be opening soon, but in the meantime to please enjoy the grounds and the pizza party in the courtyard. ⬡ Pizza party? Pizza party! In the courtyard, there will be tables set up that will be absolutely covered in stacks of paper plates, 2-liter bottles of any soda one could dream of, and stacks and stacks of pizza boxes, containing any flavor combination that could be desired. Opening a random box will provide a random, but popular, flavor. Opening a box with an Intent and a Desire for something specific will provide exactly that. Enjoy! It won't run out. navigation • premise • reserves • faq

Comments

[youcanyouup]

Shen Qingqiu pauses.

"I was brought to the demon realm as a prisoner," he says, frowning behind his fan, "but I've died before. Ah, but I'm not dead," he adds quickly, waving his free hand as if to dismiss that idea. "I came back." Multiple times.......

[deadvotion]

Perhaps even more interesting. Hua Cheng doesn't recognize this man, so he can't possibly be one of the Heavenly Officials, not even a lower ranking one; he would've known of him by now. And he's already felt he's not a ghost... at least, he doesn't think so. So, what is he?

"You came back?" His tone is oh so flat, "How did you manage that?"

[youcanyouup]

Shen Qingqiu waves his fan dismissively. "It's complicated... There was a replacement body." Technically this was true all three times so far! He doesn't really want to elaborate on that, though.

[deadvotion]

Something about this seems a little too suspicious, which makes Hua Cheng not want to let this go so easily. His eye narrows a little more. "Try me."

Go on, explain!!!!

[youcanyouup]

Shen Qingqiu sighs. "I grew a replacement," he says, faintly annoyed, "from a magic plant, that my spirit could enter in the event my original body was killed. It's useful to have a backup."

[deadvotion]

Alright... that... wasn't what he was expecting. His aggression isn't so sharp any longer as his brows dip in thought, his finger and thumb slightly pinching his chin between them. A plant that can hold a human spirit? "What sort of plant?"

[youcanyouup]

Shen Qingqiu grimaces, very slightly, behind his fan. Saying Airplane's stupid names for things out loud was bad enough when he was living in the damn novel; saying them to people outside it? Ugh.

"Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed... I expect it doesn't exist wherever you've come from." Because you're probably a real person and not a character from shitty internet porn!

[deadvotion]

Well, at the very least, Hua Cheng doesn't balk at the name. After all, when people call you Crimson Rain Sought Flower... who is he to upturn his nose at a silly name for a plant?

At any rate, the other man is right, he's never heard of it before but he keeps it in mind to ask about later. Let's not get too meta here since at the end of the day everyone is from some kind of shitty internet porn (hehe). And, apropos of nothing, Hua Cheng shifts topics without a segue. "What's your name?"

[youcanyouup]

What, no more insistent questions about his resurrection? He raises an eyebrow at that, but shrugs and replies, "Shen Qingqiu. And you?"

[deadvotion]

No, not now. He wants to confirm some things before questioning him again. Because, unfortunately, it will come again. Hua Cheng is going to be some sort of pain in Shen Qingqiu's ass for a little bit. Sorry about that.

He thinks about not telling his name, but, in the end, decides to just go ahead. That way, if this Shen Qingqiu has heard of him since he's some sort of spiritual being (at least, in Hua Cheng's mind right now), he'll have possibly heard his name and to know not to cross him. "Hua Cheng."

With that, he turns to walk away, one hand lifted in such a way it's dripping passive aggression all on its own. "I'll be in touch, Shen Qingqiu."