#Librium (bww oc)

[redrockbluerock]

@the-why-of-wonderworld is hosting a little challenge for this year's Balanniversary- a little crossover event!

At this point it's not surprising that I chose NiGHTS and Reala for this- but there's more!

There are 5 references to other characters- ones I originally planned to have drawn here, but cut out for time. Feel free to guess in the tags or in a reply- I'll list them in a separate reblog innnnn... maybe a day or so?

Also! This is the first proper drawing of Ophelia Vetter/Omelas, The main guest for Equil's story! Gosh I should ramble about that whole thing sometime, huh?

[redrockbluerock]

Something about Librium, her love of boats, her issues with perfectionism, and her status as a fallen Maestra.

Ao3 link here, full text under cut

It has to be perfect. 

She stares at the wood in her hands, the knife she wields scraping endlessly against its surface. 

A boat should have been simple. Just a shallow basin. She knew them inside and out, could recite blueprints from memory, had done this thousands of times. 

And yet they were never perfect. 

Once she had been Balan. Now she wasn’t.  She was supposed to be perfect for the role.  And yet she wasn’t. 

Once she had tried to make gifts for her siblings, a plane, a train.  They’d barely resembled what they’d been meant to represent, stowed away on the underside of her studio’s desk, above the dog bed she slept upon.  Too shameful to show to them. 

If she could just Once make a perfect boat…

Scraping. Scraping. Slicing. 

Beautiful gold upon blue. Her hand was bleeding. Still she persists, ignoring the pain. It’d heal quickly enough anyways. 

She’d survived worse.

Scraping, scraping, rhythmic scraping. 

No distractions. No sounds. Her hearing aid was left with her suit, tucked in the case she had been gifted with it. She didn’t need to hear. Didn’t need to be distracted by the others calling out for her. She was fine. 

She needed to do this. Just one perfect boat. 

Scraping, scraping. Slowing. 

It is done. A small, wooden boat. Bloodied, rough, beautiful.  But not perfect.  Not good enough. 

Just like her. 

She’d been trained for one purpose her whole life. Trained for a thousand years to run the theatre.  Lasted a measly twelve months in the position. 

She sobs, dropping the boat onto the pile. Hundreds of them filled the tub, each one shaky, personal, imperfect. 

She’d spent days here, doing nothing but carving.  Fortunate she did not require food, water, rest. 

It wasn’t the first time she had done this.  It would not be the last. 

Ending only when Balan checked in on her.  When Lance dragged her out. 

When Equil- 

She snaps back up, before choking back the tears, grabbing another block, and beginning to whittle anew. 

It has to be perfect.

I have to be perfect.

[redrockbluerock]

So for the four humors au, i've had 3 different ways Balan and Equil's falls each could go

Balan corrupts first- the most stable state, Equil has to deal with the guilt of both of her siblings being changed while struggling to train the new Balan. Most likely outcome is Equil forcing herself to be forgotten by the living upon corruption, trapping herself in a fate worse than death until she’s echoed herself, restoring the cycle.

Equil corrupts first- Least stable. Balan corrupts shortly after due to the stress of it all- and losing his sisters.

Both corrupt at the same time- surprisingly stable. Choleric, now echoed alongside Melancholia, watching helplessly as the new Lance and Librium try to run the show, the new Balan and Equil a set of twins- Comedy and Tragedy. This is the one I've decided is canon.

Rambles under cut for the Same Time option, just as nice and rambly as they were when i was writing it (with some formatting changes for clarity and fixed typoes)

Accidentally had a lot of thoughts about the corrupting at the same time thing and more angst for Choleric yippee!!

One: She dies young. She’s terrified and knows it’s happening, clutching her old hat to her chest and sobbing because she doesn’t want to die yet, she’s barely 4000 or so and Yet. Being comforted by Melancholia who’s both surprised he’s lasted so long and now saddened because he feels as if he’s stolen her lifespan for his own

Two: after Echoing, she’s finally finally herself again after so long… but both of her siblings aren’t themselves. it’s all wrong and she’s stuck in here forever and it’s not right, even with more people than she’s ever had around in her life it’s so. So. Lonely.

Comedic and Tragic are sweet, however, she cherishes every time they visit but when Lance or Librium visit… it’s bittersweet. The smile doesn’t suit Phlegmatic, nor does the permanent scowl fit Sanguine. They visit after every show, no matter which one was onstage

Equil Tragic (Proscenium) is… unnerved by how young she looks next to the rest of the Echoes, barely older than Lance or Librium- Eldest triplet, but by mere minutes. Of course, they’re not of the same set, so they’re likely to last millennia longer.

That of course would only become more jarring when Sanguine and Phlegmatic eventually echo. permanent babyface compared to them//

Choleric also tends to… wait. Just by the door of the hall. Sitting there. Staring.

Trapped with all these strangers that Melancholia seems to know,  the only person who she knows proper is Melancholia, and… their relationship is a mess due to who they both became. It’s awkward

She can’t leave the hall. She’s bound to her frame, and those things don’t come down. She’s tried, tried tearing it down until her hands were oozing the paint she’s now made of, until she was so exhausted she was unable to keep her form solid. The frame is still stained blue from her attempts

Tried next to see just how far into the frame she could go.

There wasn’t a limit, her running for hours down what felt like an endless hall. When she looked behind herself the opening was there. Looking to be no more than 20 feet away.

Gifts help- From Phlegmatic, from Sanguine, to the twins. Anything to keep her mind off of her prison. Melancholia settled better, having regained chunks of his memories, having grown up knowing this cycle existed.

Choleric though. This all was a surprise.

I haven’t really thought about Echoes trying to make duplicates before- mostly due to the majority of them being… well. Accepting of their fates. Maybe Choleric tries. And it works… sort of!

It’s like a dream, looking through its eyes. It’s rather ghostly looking, vague but just barely recognizable as her. An echo of her former self, if you will.

Her siblings don’t take too kindly to her like this, weighed down by their own guilt and emotions that she registers as a hallucination.

The new twins though, they’ll humor her. Letting her watch them work, occasionally squabbling with Tragic due to them taking on both lighting and sound work- “you aren’t doing it right” “you’re retired!”, that sort of thing. Tragic doesn’t mind the haunting, and oftentimes visits her properly so she can get a proper listen.

Comedic (who normally is Neo) still has the habit of cooking, and between bringing little treats to the echoes, has a bowl of sour things left for the Ghost- lest she steals unauthorized ingredients.

I’m having too much fun with this train of thought it’s becoming the canon one sorry girl

This timeline has the three of them having the most suffering! It’s all even!

Comedic: if you only touch the stuff in this bowl, I can bring you stuff where you can taste it better. Choleric: (puts down the lemon)

Easy to tell the Ghost has faded senses due to her habit of getting into people’s faces a lot- which while not new, Choleric startles much more easily as the Ghost tries not to wander on stage though, she doesn’t want to be noticed by guests lest she either startles them or catches her siblings’ attention

Lance Sanguine always seems to be fighting back tears around her. Libra Phlegmatic will usually just flick a bit of energy at her- just enough to burst the duplicate. In front of guests, she waits, smiling wider (a threat) until either the Ghost runs or the guests are distracted. Neither of them know it’s her, just assuming its their emotions slipping from their control.

revisiting the dying young bit: It would be painful to have her finally. Finally, after so many years, with this feeling in her chest where she knows she’s dying, she’s terrified- finally presents her siblings with the little wooden train and plane she’d made for them. They love them. They always would have. (As lance and Librium, those become their most guarded possessions.) It's bittersweet.

As for the process of echoing… she tries putting it off as long as possible, crumpled up in the portrait hall in front of her own. Melancholia waits with her, waiting until they’re both ready to accept the changes. By the time Sanguine and Phlegmatic realize what’s happened- suffering through changes of their own, the paint has already dried…

Neither of them- Choleric or Melancholia- could put it off any longer. They weren’t strong enough to leave the hall, barely had the strength to enter it with their garments. It hurts, hurts so much differently than corrupting did.

First thing Phlegmatic did as Librium is remake Choleric’s hat. She also finally gave her past suit a proper mannequin. The suits are moved to a different storeroom, set up almost as a gallery.

There, The old Lance’s and Librium’s suits are copied, Hung up for display. Over time she eventually makes ones of the Echoes as well, all the past Balans and Lances. 

Except Rancor, who’s still forgotten

[redrockbluerock]

Art Prompt- Music

Librium sampling some of her work- She's Wonderworld's sound designer, after all.

[redrockbluerock]

It's friday again baby

Equil isn't one for human holidays- she’s always been dealing with the worst of it, so many people dealing with unsavory family members and other bits of emotional turmoil that it’s all work. Librium takes any reason to fuck around, especially at the cost of irritating Equil.

Balan will match a guest's energy- playful to those celebrating, but mellow and serious for guests who need that (like Iben, her parents died near christmas, remember?)