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

GOD it absolutely is

[brothered]

[Does Felix love his spouse? Well. On some level, perhaps—but damn, if it isn't difficult to reach for that affection as he catches this man in a new position every time he glances back his way. Love is patient, love is kind, etc, and yet—]

Will you stop?

[Goddess! Time to slam this charcoal down, probably snapping it in two in the process. Ah, well, at least there's plenty of this stuff lying about. Small blessings, especially when he looks back at his spouse, eyes widening as he takes in this precarious new pose.]

Don't move! Don't even think about falling, [he snaps, strangely hoarse, as he rushes forward—and doesn't concern himself with poor Jyushimatsu at all? Because there's a small table beside the chair, you see, covered by a nice linen cloth, and as Felix nears it:] Do you have any idea how long it took to drape this? For the lighting—

[Artist Speak™. Anyway, bud, where you fallin'... because Felix is too busy fussing over this tablecloth...]

[kiboutraveler]

Sorry~ it's hard to sit still for too long!

[...Ah. There goes the charcoal. He really is frustrated, isn't he? It'd almost be a little startling if this weren't his husband he's dealing with. It's fine. Probably? Probably. He's got faith. Unconditional faith.

Even when he's told not to move, not to think about falling, so okay, he doesn't. He remains perfectly still, a focused look on his face before he starts wobbling.]

No, I don't, 'cause I don't remember much--

[The tablecloth. Oh, god, he is trying to focus so hard on not falling. This is not a marked success but there is an ATTEMPT.]

Ah...is th--that really the concern right n-now??

[Wobble. Wobble.

And then finally, like a tree, he gives way.]

AH, CRAP!

[He finally loses his balance, and despite a vested effort to stay up, he claws at the air beneath his sleeve...and lands flat on his face on the floor in front of the chair.]

BOEH!

[He slowly picks his head up.]

Aah...ahahaha, that was bad...sorry...

[brothered]

[This linen tablecloth is key to the composition! The gentle way it drapes down the table's legs... softens the mood? Or something? Listen, don't ask Felix to explain how, exactly, this shit works; all he knows is that the tablecloth is very, very important, and thus, while he tunes his spouse out, he glances back his way just in time to... hold out his arm, just in case the fool comes tumbling back instead of falling forward. There is, in this moment, real terror on Felix's face.

But poor Jyushimatsu does, in fact, fall forward, and the relief Felix feels as he hears that thud is amazing. Amazing! His carefully draped tablecloth is safe, even if his model may have, like, a bruise or two—

—oh, shit! A bruise or two. Easy enough to paint out, really, and yet it still sends him shuffling forward, tablecloth forgotten as he kneels before his model.]

Your face, is it—let me see it—

[This should probably be, like, a tender moment between husbands? Husband A tenderly cups husband B's face in his hands, ensuring that he's perfectly okay after taking a spill—but while Felix does, in fact, grab Jyushimatsu's face, it's far from tender! And he promptly turns it this way and that way, feverishly inspecting every inch of it.]

No bruises... [No bruises! Whew! Felix releases that miraculously unbruised face, a sigh escaping him as he sits back on his heels.] Do you know how much work you almost destroyed?

did not get noticed by senpai today but got close, at least jyushi got that

[kiboutraveler]

[Ah. He's kneeling next to him...Jyushimatsu's face is grabbed, and for a moment, he feels it. Is this it, senpai. Is he going to be notic--and then it is jerked this way and that.]

Aah. [Turn.] Aah.

[His face is then released.] ...I dunno. A lot, maybe? I'm bad at this! Why can't we do normal couple stuff? I'd rather go on walks together and talk instead of sitting on a stool!!! I know this is your job, but...

[He's a little pouty.]

LMFKDHF the rare felix touch (tm) ... enjoy

[brothered]

[Art is not his job?? Art is his calling, hence the Look he shoots down at his... husband. His husband, who is still stretched out on the floor. As Felix rises to his feet, Felix really should help him up...

...Felix does no such thing. It's not personal, really; he just has to take a step back, to take one last look at the Set while considering, like. Walks. Why would he ever want to go on a walk? This painting is practically begging to be completed.]

Walks are wastes of time. [He's just sayin'. He does not want to tenderly hold a hand. Also, actually, now that he's on this Critical Train:] How can you be bad at sitting still?

[Asks the person who is also bad at sitting still. You know what? You married a hypocrite, sir.]

what a blessing...truly...

[kiboutraveler]

[Jyushimatsu plucks himself up off the ground, frowning the slightest bit at the sound of 'walks are wastes of time'. Mmm. There goes that romantic idea.

A small smile forms on his face at that second bit, however.]

Because I'm just really active! You know? It's a thing to just want to get up and-- [he hops up] muscle muscle! Hustle hustle!! Staying still means that energy just builds up and I can't do that! That's a waste when more fun things could be done instead!!!

[It's okay, he's a hypocrite, but he's his hypocrite.]