Event | Turtle Dive | January 16 - 19 | Everything's better down where it's wetter~

[hazelwood]

Characters: Any and all PCs, plus an offering of Lieuen
Date: January 16th - 19th
Location: All Sectors
Situation: Tu Vishan begins to dive to the ocean floor and the city of Keeliai seems unbothered by the process. Bonfire funtimes are made available to all!
Warnings/Rating: Underwater situations; to be updated as noted

>See the comments of this post for various situations and areas available for tagging.
>Each header will be set for a date and/or area.
>A unique thread under the bonfires is available for discussions with Lieuen, should there be interested parties.
>Feel free to start your own header for specific situations.
>Refer to the two OOC posts for further details. 01 | 02

Comments

[depicted]

[That first gets him to raise his eyebrows, but he will come back to it.] In general, or a particular element?

[sophos]

All of it? [It's true enough.] I'm very good with the mythology and history, but I'd like to really focus on architecture. Though that extends into the future beyond just Ionic, Corinthian, or Doric.

[depicted]

Just study, or application?

[sophos]

Both. [She shrugs a little.] I've already been involved in some heavy architectural redesigning.

[depicted]

[Smiling, he raises an eyebrow.] Care to tell me about it?

[sophos]

There's a city back home that sustained enormous structural damage and destruction. I was placed in charge of redesign, to rebuild it.

[depicted]

[It is a lot of power for one so young, but Dorian is curious about only one thing:] And how did you redesign it? [He wants to know about her art.]

[sophos]

It's a work in progress, and kind of temporarily halted, too. But it was Hellenistic in nature - the antiquated kind more than neoclassical.

[depicted]

Where were you building it? I should like to see a modern city rebuilt in Hellenistic ideals. And you never know: we might come from the same world for me to find it.

[sophos]

New York, right near the city itself. [...it's technically true enough.] But I'm not sure it's... accessible, to most. Though I've yet to find anyone from my world exactly here.

[It would be hard to tell, if they were mortal at least.]

[depicted]

[The raised eyebrow again.] What, is it a very exclusive area? [Rich snobs. He knows them well.]

[sophos]

You could say that. Before redesigning, I'd only been a handful of times.

[depicted]

Hm, well if I ever hear of an exclusive Hellenist city near New York, I'll be sure to stop by. [Okay, yes, he probably would have in the first place anyway.]

[sophos]

Even if heard of, it might not be the sort of thing people believe exists.

What about you? Not a romantic, I know, but do you have A Thing?

[depicted]

Mm, I hate to limit myself—as Blake had it, all periods are equal, and genius is always above its age—but I hold a certain affection for the Aesthetic Movement of the 19th century, French and British.

[sophos]

I don't think of it as limiting so much as... focusing? You can focus on a certain thing while simultaneously holding knowledge about so many other things. Knowledge is endless, after all.

I'm not too familiar with that. The works produced, I mean.

[depicted]

[That sparks another kind of smile.] That's a better way to think of it.

[His tone becomes as one in a dream as he remembers old names, lifting into reverie and then rapture.] There were plenty, of course, with a few real gems in the era. Huysmans, Gautier, and Balzac were of the first rank among the French authors—and Baudelaire, of course, all the schools owe a great debt to him. Among the English, Pater was prophet, Swinburne prince, and Oscar Wilde king. Have you ever seen Whistler's Peacock Room? It must be the finest demonstration of Aestheticism in interior design. And who still sensitive to life's graces could have walked through his exhibition of Nocturnes at the Grosvenor Gallery without being moved? The real merit of the movement was its ability to inspire life through beauty—to create vitality through aesthetic experience, vitality of the senses, vitality of the intellect, vitality of the very soul.

[He stops, laughing at himself.] I'm sorry. I got carried away. I am very fond of the period.

[sophos]

[She grins a little. Carried away? She ain't even bothered. It's nice to see someone else has a tendency for the same thing, and she can appreciate the clear passion he has for it.] Don't even worry about it.

Sounds like you practically lived it. [It's... mostly idle, but she is wondering.]

The Peacock Room's in DC now, right? I haven't seen it, but I tend to get a little distracted by the neoclassicism all over the place. At least that's what happened last time I was there.

[depicted]

[He responds with the lift of the corner of his mouth.] You could say that it had quite the effect on me.

That's right, in the Freer Gallery. I saw it there a few years back; they did rather well by it, as far as restoration goes. [But it will never be quite what it was when he first saw it, one of those ugly inevitabilities of time.] Washington must be a delight to you as a student of architecture. Even as an amateur, I can appreciate the variety in styles and the skill put into those buildings.

[sophos]

So I've gathered. [It's half teasing - it's unusual she gets to be on the opposite side of this.]

I haven't been for a couple years, but I'd really like to go back eventually. Structurally, and I know it's probably cliche, I think my favorite is the Lincoln Memorial. I have a soft spot for Doric columns, and the overall feel of it is just... it's meant to stand out. And it does.

But given the choice, I'd take a trip to Greece over going back to DC any day.

[depicted]

Have you never been before?

[sophos]

No. Not yet. I haven't gotten the chance.

[depicted]

What a shame. Assuming, as we must, that you'll be able to leave here, I hope you get the chance to see it. It won't fail your expectations, I'm certain.

[sophos]

It won't. I know it won't. But I'll get there someday. [There's both hope and assurance in her tone.] We can't possibly be stuck here forever.

[depicted]

That's the spirit. Not forever, just indefinitely. [There is a touch of cynicism to it, but in good humour, at least as much can be managed.]