semi-open post: portraiture

[peaklordshen]

After shifting his way through oil pastels, watercolors, house paint, colored pencils, and an endless variety of paint markers, Shen Yuan has finally managed to get the Mansion to produce a decent set of oil paints, and—wonder of wonders—an easel. He's set up in a spacious, well-lit hall, probably for dancing or salons or whatever, where he's arranged a bunch of furniture in various configurations—wooden screens that he's draped cloth¹ over for backdrops; armchairs stolen from the lounge, wooden stools and high-backed dining chairs from the kitchens; even a lovely chaise lounge in a deep purple that he wistfully thinks he won't actually use, because it would definitely be for Aleksander, and he doubts he'll be doing that entry in his protagonists of the Mansion series after all. He has one of the stools pulled up next to the easel to hold his paints, and is wearing a wide-necked sweater over a black turtleneck and some loose, worn jeans that already have a few flecks of paint on them from when he was doing his color tests.² He's pulled his hair back in a practical bun, and he's currently laying down a layer of gesso on his canvas.

¹ Look, he has to do something with all of those robes he accidentally conjured in his last post.
² After days of feeling very lost and confused about how he's not required to LARP anymore, he's pretty much decided that it actually means he can just change who he's LARPing as at will, and the main way to do this is through fashion. Today he is An Artist.

[Primarily for those Shen Yuan has offered to paint, but anyone else is also welcome to come bother him while he works.]

Comments

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan shakes her head - she hadn't meant it in a world-traveling way, but she's not certain that she has the capacity to explain her actual meaning.

[onthewillowsthere]

His gaze flicks to Shen Yuan's face and he's quiet for a space before he says, "Noodles are too simple. Falafel is complex." It's slow, and not nearly as obviously playful as Shen Yuan's words, but there's a testing note in his voice too.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan notes the shake of the head; not that kind of reminding, then. He nods. "He's good," he says, more quietly. "Brave, and kind, and easy to talk to."

[temnota]

He had not truly expected the offer to still be open so when Shen Yuan said that it was, he couldn't help but smile warmly. "I would be happy to. Would you want to do this now?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"He heals."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan nods. "I haven't seen it, but I hear he healed Claudius from a zombie bite when that whole... business happened."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"He did." Susan had been there, in the kitchen, helping Clarissant when it happened. She hesitates again. "Lucy was a healer, too."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan grins at him, encouraging. "True genius is seen in simplicity," he counters. "Complexity can be a shield, a way to hide clumsy or unskilled cookery."

[onthewillowsthere]

"But balancing all the parts does take skill. Good falafel is better than good noodles."

[peaklordshen]

"Ah, but great noodles are better than good falafel, because good falafel is simply a matter of executing the formula of complexity well, and great noodles require understanding--not just of the recipe, but of the person eating."

[onthewillowsthere]

"The person eating doesn't like slippery things," he retorts. This is not really a refutation of what Shen Yuan's said, but since it's a game it doesn't need to be rhetorically perfect. Also, he's still learning how to play, and he thinks Shen Yuan will be patient with him.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan laughs, delighted by this extremely Galahad angle of refutation. "But not all noodles are slippery," he says. "Some noodles are sticky, or fried and crisp. Hence the endless adaptability of the form."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I haven't had noodles like that yet." There's a very faint so it doesn't count implied here.

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan shakes his head fondly. "Then it's a good thing this isn't a real argument, because if it were I'd accuse you of making grand statements about preference from a much too small sample size. To which you of course could and should accuse me right back of hypocrisy, since I haven't actually eaten falafel at all, and I'm completely pulling all of these arguments out of my ass."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad laughs. "We should both try, then, and argue again."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan stares at him, startled and delighted by the suggestion, but even more by the laugh. He doesn't think he's ever seen Galahad laugh before, and it immediately becomes very important that he do it again—add it to his sidequest goals, along with beating Janet at Welters. "Perfect."

[peaklordshen]

"Absolutely," says Shen Yuan, turning back to his canvas so he can swap it out and also so he doesn't have to look too long at that smile. "I, um. I have a rule, though, that anyone who sits for me has to do so wearing something that makes them feel beautiful. So if you need to change—?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"I want to spend more time with you," he adds, a little more shyly, practicing his safer wants. "And you and Magnus together."

[temnota]

"Beautiful?" Aleksander repeated, bemused. He had not expected that but if that was the rule then it would be as Shen Yuan commanded. He had sat for portraits before and was well aware that it was the artist in charge, not the sitter. "I will need to change, yes. I'll be a few moments."

He hurried back to his room and stood before the closet for a few moments, projecting thoughts of beautiful, ornate keftas then open the door. Accordingly there were hangers upon hangers of keftas and he started to go through them with a critical eye.

After rejecting several as not quite ornate enough and a blue kefta with black embroidery that was just ridiculous, he came across a stunning black kefta embroidered with gold. The material was of a particularly fine silk and he could not remember the last time he'd seen embroidery so finely wrought. This was clearly the perfect choice for the portrait even if the gold reminded him too much of Alina.

Some more rummaging produced an exquisitely worked shirt, pair of trousers and boots so shiny he could see his reflection in them. He quickly changed out of his old clothes and into the new ones. He took a look at himself in the mirror, straightened his pendent then made his way back to Shen Yuan before he could second-guess everything.

"I hope this meets with your approval," he said, hold his arms out wide.

[peaklordshen]

"Oh," says Shen Yuan, a little embarrassed by the sincerity of it, but—maybe Galahad can help him practice sincerity, actually; he at least won't judge him for it. "I want that, too," he admits. "I really like you guys."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I like you too. Both of you." He glances back down at the page for a few moments. "And-- I want to ask for your help."

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan blinks. "With what?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"For the dance. I want to wear something-- I want to dress as if it were a date." His eyes back on Shen Yuan again.

[peaklordshen]

"Right," says Shen Yuan, clapping his hands. "Of course! Yes. Actually, hang on—can I move for a sec?"

[peaklordshen]

Shen Yuan nods—he vaguely remembers the kids in Narnia having powers, but not what they were—and then the past tense sinks in. Ah, god. It would be really cool if everyone he liked didn't have such fraught relationships with their potentially dead little sisters. "I'm sorry," he offers, and then, cautiously, "is she—back in Narnia?"