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

[royaliability]

[She hadn't meant...ah, but he is very enthusiastic, isn't he? He comes back so quickly, in such good spirits. She can't bring herself to turn down the offer.

...she doesn't think he's that hot though.

But that's neither here nor there.]

...alright. [Accepting the box.] Then shall we open it together?

[She puts a hand on her own box's lid, but she'll wait until he's ready, and lift it at the same time he does...

...inside her pizza box is a fine little jewel. It's also fake, something she discovers upon handling it, with evident disappointment on her face (mostly in her eyes) before she looks to her new pizza pal.]

Did you...?

[killful]

[ Well, yes, but that's not important.

Because he GRABS THE JEWEL. Ah hah! But then he bites it and figures it's not real, so he clicks his tongue and puts it back in her hand. Yes, the jewel he put in his mouth. Back in her hand. ]

Ah, figures. I just got a ticket pizza. Wanna see?

[ He's showing her anyway. It's literally a pizza with train tickets for toppings. It's the most unappetizing thing. ]

1/2

[royaliability]

[SHE DROPS IT IMMEDIATELY???]

If you had just asked...

[Even if it was real, she would've just given it to him...

But also, gross. YQ germs on her hand...]

[royaliability]

[...but while she doesn't know what the tickets are for, she'll assume that's not any use in getting out of here.]

A pity, but t'is to be expected. [A sigh!] If they were willing to release us, they would not have brought us here.

[killful]

[Woah! He is picking that fake jewel right back up. Does she now how many people he can try to fool with this thing? Anyway, he puts the pizza aside.]

Yeah, good point. The reason they're keeping us here — you think it's got anything to do with whatever's in that library? Man, I dunno about staying here for long, Fluffy. [That's. That's her name now.] I like books enough, but librarians are always telling me stuff like "Be quiet!" and "Don't ride Red Hare into the periodicals section!" I hope their librarian's cool.

[royaliability]

Please do not address me by that. My name is Gwendolyn.

[She changed her mind, she's definitely judging this guy.]

And perhaps if you were to abide by their rules, you would not be scolded so often. A library is no place for a horse. [SHE ASSUMES THAT'S WHAT IT IS....please don't ride an actual hare, YQ.] Besides...considering the circumstances, any Librarian working here is likely to do far worse than scold you.

[Assuming that whole poe AU was their fault, which she is assuming!!!!!!]

[killful]

[Given how uptight Gwendolyn is, Yan Qing is trying really hard not to say something horny right now.

He settles for something stupid.]

What are they gonna do? Ship me with their original characters (do not steal)?

And for the record, the horse was in the library when I got there! I just gave him a push in the right direction. Sometimes you gotta live a little, Gwen. Dolly? You got a nickname or something?

[royaliability]

[No, she doesn't. But between "fluffy" and "dolly" she doesn't really want to leave it to YQ's imagination, so it's the only reason she doesn't insist they're not close enough to warrant a nickname.

Even if they were, she doesn't want one.]

...Gwen should suffice, shouldn't it? [It just doesn't sound right to her, though...] I do not know what "shipping" means in that context, but couldn't they? We were easily pushed into assuming false personas. I cannot exactly say why, but...it could get worse.

[killful]

[His stupid smile and cheery mood immediately falters.]

Damn. I dunno, Gwen, I don't wanna be shipped. I got commitment issues.

[We're just gonna slam right into that one.]

[royaliability]

[He's definitely admitting to being promiscuous isn't he SHE KNOWS YOUR TYPE!!!! Actually now she really is just being prejudiced against delinquent looking guys.]

Yes, well...if it's such an issue, then surely it may convince you to behave just a bit? That is what rules are for. [Gwen's a cop] No provoking wild animals that wander into libraries.

[killful]

[ He gulps. ] Yes, ma'am.

[ DON'T POLICE HIM!! You know he's definitely going to do it when she's not around, though. Just to be contrary.

polishes the fake jewel on his pants... ]

I guess we're stuck here until they open up, then. You wanna get more soda?

[royaliability]

...is that what it was? That drink?

[She looks a bit...unsure about it.]

I did not know what "pizza" was before today, but I did find it enjoyable. However, that drink...it's peculiar. It's sweetness is a little overwhelming, not to mention it's...what is that strange texture?

[They don't have carbonated soda in ye olde fantasy valhalla.]

I'm not sure if I enjoyed it.

[killful]

[He snorts.]

Are you serious? That, Gwen, is the carbonation. You get used to it. Had a lot of those back in '99, [he says like that's a year that means anything.] That's the good shit. [a beat] Stuff. I mean, yeah, soda's bad for you, but that's why it's good!

[royaliability]

[All things in moderation, not even for the sake of being a Humble And Proper Princess, but simply because too much of anything is too bad for you. Even she knows that despite her superhuman appetite.

It's just that she doesn't know what soda's even made from, so...]

Bad in what way? Is it comparable to alcohol?

[killful]

Personally, I think alcohol's the best.

[But personally, he also has bad ideas. Gwendolyn can already tell.]

This stuff's like fun sugar water, you know? If you drink too much, your teeth will rot. But I guess alcohol does the same thing to your liver, so who cares, right? Hahahaha!