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

ii!

[electricities]

[ As a Valet, all Asami wants is to find her Aristocrat and make sure they're alright. Her mission is interrupted by someone asking for her attention rather abruptly, and as tempting as it is to say she's in a hurry, she'll indulge him and turn towards him. ]

Can I help y--

[ He holds up the bouquet mid-sentence and she immediately raises an eyebrow. Huh. What is he up to -- oh. He says her hair looks dull , and given the way he's scrutinizing her with those flowers, Asami has a feeling she knows where this is going. That's where she decides to draw the line. ]

Excuse me?

[ Look, she didn't ask to be roped into this, nor did she ask for this insult!! She looks very unimpressed and quite taken aback. While she doesn't exactly mind hair accessories and the bouquet is cute, she feels like this is a little patronizing. It takes her a moment to reply before she settles on: ]

Thanks, but I think I'm going to pass on the flowers.

[brothered]

[Given both his terrible hair and his paint-splattered smock, Asami, please feel free to read him for filth. He deserves it. But listen: he is a man on a mission. His lovely wife is bound to be the true star of the show, but every good painting needs, like, people milling about the background, adding Flavor—and the longer he studies this dull-haired stranger, the more certain he feels that she is just the Flavor his painting needs. She can be a nymph in the background or something... simping for his wife...

Or: Felix knows nothing about art, but he has a Vision? How dare a non-artiste attempt to detract from it! It earns her a scowl.]

What? You need them. You're hardly impressive on your own. [Rude! So rude, and yet, as he waves the bouquet about, he continues on like he said nothing insulting at all.] Without color, you'll, I don't know—disappear into the background.

[😔]

[electricities]

[ Wow!! She is absolutely not simping for anyone, let alone this guy, especially when he says she'll disappear into the background. She's not going to be a bystander in the background either. Actually, she'd rather just not partake in this particular project at all. ]

And I don't recall asking for your opinion.

[ She is so tempted to read him for filth?? Oh my god, just look at you, Felix. Except she's going to take the high(er) ground here -- or at least try her damned hardest to. Asami folds her arms across her chest and stares him down, eyes narrowing. ]

I hope this isn't how you normally talk to other people. It doesn't exactly leave a good impression.

[ meet her in the pit ]

[brothered]

[Why should artists concern themselves with leaving good impressions? Why should Felix? Or: An artist's smug sort of self-importance means that Felix is, alas, worse than ever, hence his derisive snort. He will gladly meet her in the pit! He lives in the pit.]

Do you think I'm trying to impress you? [A beat, before, flatly:] I'm not. I hardly need your approval.

[Nyeh. But while he could leave it at that, his artistic sensibilities simply will not allow him to.]

Or the approval of others. My art speaks for itself.