#itp: me answering whatever tf I want

[simlit]

2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25 for Yehl

What architectural or design aesthetic would best suit them?

rococo; especially light or pastel colors, grandiose designs inspired by nature and the pure drama of baroque architecture: one | two | three

If your OC likes art, talk about which piece they would love best.

The Kiss by Klimt is my personal favorite as a representation of Yeryn. Something about the pose just gets me. Both firm and tender, and there's a desperation to the way they hold each other, as well as a deep romance I adore. As for what Yehl's personal favorite would be, I ordered up something sensual, preferably with nudity and lots of drapery and The Cryptid led me to these: Sleeping Hermaphroditus | Undine Rising from the Fountain

What character from myth or fairytale best represents them?

Rapunzel; There are a wide variety of "maiden in the tower" stories, but share similar themes. A young, beautiful woman locked in a tower, usually due to the selfish purpose of others or to keep her virginal. Yehl's younger years are contained. He's only able to go as far as his father allows, making him feel perpetually trapped. Even though he lives well and has everything he needs provided for him, he lacks freedom and agency. As cliché as it is, his story follows the damsel in distress trope, and like Rapunzel, he doesn't really earn his strength and independence until the arrival of the prince. They also both have incredibly long hair.

If your OC was a character in a novel from literary canon, who would they be?

Narrator | The Yellow Wallpaper; Yehl is my favorite character, and it's only fitting that I would choose my favorite short story for him. It's a very feminist piece of literature, but I think its themes are universal in today's world. In the story, the narrator is a woman likely experiencing some form of postpartum after the birth of her child, and her husband, following doctor's advice, takes her to a vacation house and keeps her there. It's more of the same thematic that led me to choosing Rapunzel, but The Yellow Wallpaper focuses in on the woman's deteriorating mental health as she is forced to stay locked in a single room. I relate this to Yehl's numerous unhealthy coping mechanisms for dealing with his life, which he feels he has very little control over. So, the things he can control are generally all just desperate cries for attention. As he grows older, that desperation becomes more pent up and corrosive, more self-destructive, to the point where he verges on the edge of a "snap" on more than one occasion, and in a constant battle with himself as to whether he should give up entirely or to carry on miserably just to spite those that wish him gone. By the end of the short story, the narrator does eventually suffer that mental break, and I just think it's a really tragic and all too real and human depiction of what happens when someone is deeply oppressed by a toxic environment.

If your OC were to live in some other time period, which era would they be best suited for?

Act I Yehl 1920s for sure. First taste of freedom and the falling away of old traditions and restrictions. An endless whirlwind of partying, breaking rules and peak luxury. Post-Taryn and Celaedian Yehl, would probably be 30-40s. The 20s, but more mature.

What piece of moody poetry or novel quote best encompasses your character?

"He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive, and he said mine would be drunk; I said I should fall asleep in his, and he said he could not breathe in mine." - Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

What is their character theme song and why? If it has lyrics, which line best fits them?

Why'd you lie in the carnage with me? Why'd you gift me your fallout? You were right, it was on us to see we were holding out."Let Go" - Talos

Talos is one of my favorite artists because of his lyrics. They're not straight forward and he doesn't explain himself, which leaves so much up for interpretation. One of the things I think he does best is embody a feeling of pain and struggle in his music. "Let Go" is Yehl's theme because of how well it personifies that struggle. To me it reads as two people who stay together despite one suffering from extreme mental anguish or fatigue. Maybe it's depression, grief, guilt, who knows. But I think at the core of Yeryn's dynamic, Yehl is such a broken person and Taryn knows it deeply. Though at the beginning he wants little more to exploit that, he begins to take on Yehl's feelings, not internalizing, but simply in a state of constant awareness. Even though Taryn has struggles of his own, this one thing was true early on. He found Yehl's suffering beautiful and wanted to save him in the only way he knew how, by fighting his demons for him. And that line "Why'd you lie in the carnage with me?" resonates with me as Yehl trying to understand that Taryn could love him enough to bear his problems alongside him, regardless of their consequence.

Who is your muse’s muse?

Judine; Yehl always admired his eldest brother. Even from a young age, Yehl emphatically adored Judine. To him, Judine is the epitome of both kindness and strength. In his mind, he puts his brother on a pedestal, believing him to be perfect in every way, and worthy of love. I think the latter, most of all, is why Yehl wishes he could be more like him. As if, if he was just like Judine, he, too, could be loved.

What is a common misconception about your OC?

That he is flawless. As Celaedian, he doesn't lose any of the inner struggle or turmoil of his younger years, he simply matures to a point where he can better cope with them, and prioritizes things besides himself. Even his own son fails to recognize that Yehl isn't perfect. It's such a stark difference to his earlier life when everyone believed him to be a complete fuck up. Outside the context of the story though, I always think it's funny when people see pictures of Yehl without having read the novel, and assume him to be this fragile, precious little bun and Taryn as the dark, menacing force, when realistically their personalities were the opposite of expectation, though nuanced. Yehl has always been mentally fragile, but so many of his behaviors were more of the typical "villain" traits than Taryn's.

What sort of role do they take on in relationships, either familial, romantic or platonic. i.e. are they a defender, protector, nurturer, etc.

Nurturer, even though it takes him a long time to feel strong enough to do so. In his relationship with Taryn, and even with Zehel, he is a constant source of open, unconditional love, and will tell them so even if they can't. He is the softness and the emotionality they lack. They provide him with a safe place to be who and what he is, and he offers his love freely.

What is one thing that they only let those closest to them see?

How hurt he really is. Yehl denies for a long time that he suffered emotionally at his father's hands. He wants everyone to believe he didn't care, and that he was fine. He went out of his way to earn a reputation of being wild and reckless and carefree, but it wasn't who he actually was. He's incredibly fragile, but to him, letting others see him break was an act of surrender. He didn't want his abusers or the people who hated him to have the satisfaction of knowing what they did affected him. Taryn, Judine and Linaea were the only people who could see through him, but Taryn is the first and only person he finally lowered the mask for, and is still the only person he feels safe enough with to openly admit it to.

How would their life be different if they had never met their partner?

I think the sad part is that Yehl really would have been worse off if he'd never met Taryn. He sort of did need someone to come along and save him, because he really couldn't help himself, and even if he could, he'd been so beaten down he'd more or less given up. He would have wasted away on the chain his father had given him. Never loved or been loved, never seen the world. He would have lived his false charade of a life until he faded away, and very few people would have ever known him well enough to miss him.

What was the moment at which they knew they were in love, or was it a slow buildup?

It was a slow buildup, but he felt the physical attraction first. It wasn't until much later when he realized Taryn had the capacity to be gentle with him that the emotional attraction began.

What was it about their significant other that made them fall in love with them? Was it a single eye-opening experience or many gestures over time?

It was Taryn's willingness to listen and actually hear him that Yehl fell in love with. Taryn was the first person he could truly talk to, and honestly, Taryn is a really good listener. Being able to confess things openly was both terrifying and deeply liberating for Yehl. And when Taryn begins to offer more in the way of protection and defense, giving Yehl the space to be weak and vulnerable, as well as a strong force which Yehl could rely on, he can't help but to fall for him.

Which “tortured artist” does your OC share the most similarities with?

Virginia Woolf; Virginia suffered several severe depressive episodes, eventually leading her to take her own life. I think, unchecked, Yehl might have met the same grim fate. Like Virginia, I think what Yehl was passionate about, keeping his mother's memory alive, tending to her garden, and keeping up his walls in spite of everything, kept him going, allowed him an escape, and he was able to outrun his own distress until he found his "cure", so to speak. Unfortunately in the real world, it hardly ever works that way.

What does your OCs handwriting look like?