hamlet, achilles, diomedes & puck

chryseum adjective: gilded, covered thinly with gold leaf or gold paint.

[ofchryseum]

[ofchryseum]

pandora

location: new york fashion week; Oscar De La Renta show sunday closed: @ofchryseum​

It was the last show of the day and Juliette could feel the pressure of the day. It had been a lot in one day but nothing she wasn’t used to. For the last hour she had been pushed around to hair and makeup for this show. The dress she was fitted in was perfect and she was honored to be given the beautiful gown like dress. She was told her cue and her place, feeling a slight push when someone said her name. The runway wasn’t abstract and knew her place, her eyes adjusting to the light. She wasn’t expecting to see Archer in the front row on her left, her face shifting candidly for a moment before catching herself. She hadn’t been told about him attending a show and he certainly hadn’t mentioned it. Trying to ignore him, she posed at the end for the cameras, her chin lowering and eyes gazing softly before turning. On her way back, she had a better look at Archer from the corner of her eye, giving a slight smile in his direction that was quick enough to be missed by others. 

a last minute text from the happily hearst production team just as archie was heading back to his airbnb after lunch with some of his old harvard friends meant that he’d been rerouted. they said they needed more footage, and archie was contractually obliged to help them out with that, and so there he was, sitting in the crowd of womenswear show that he didn’t have any particular interest in. at least the models would be pretty - small mercies. 

he’d gotten used to the affected way these fashion people engaged with these shows. archie was sat in the front row, next to some hollywood actor he’d forgotten the name of and fashion critic who was busy tapping away on her phone. he took solace in the fact he was twice as famous as either of them, and waited for the show to start. he’d been so good, so careful not to cross paths with his ex after he’d disgraced himself. and yet there she was, looking like a dream, walking down the runway in a dress with a slit that went sinfully high up her leg. it was about now that he wished the earth would swallow him up whole, but in his periphery he saw his producer signal a zoom from the cameraman tucked at the end of the runway with all the press camera’s, and realised this hadn’t been chance. his stomach twisted when she smiled at him, after months of nothing, it was like rain in the desert. archie found himself leaning forward slightly, and a smile emerging on his face without him really realising. he knew better than to wink at her as she walked back down the runway with her perfectly even stride, he really did, but that didn’t stop him. 

[masongoodingsource]

MASON GOODING via Bustle: At Home Series

[ofchryseum]

archie + instagram stories

[ofchryseum]

archer + google result

[stylekorea]

Nam Joo Hyuk for Esquire HK February 2020. Photographed by Kim Hee June

[ofchryseum]

lamb

“It’s strange to feel guilt and to admit to it, isn’t it?”  His green eyes peered back at Archie, searching for a hint of deceit in his expression and coming up empty. This was genuine– he never thought he’d see the day, yet here Archer Hearst was, suffering from a heartache that’s known to historically paralyze and destroy men great and weak alike. “I think it’s a natural part of emotional growth paired with the realization of one’s true feelings, uninhibited and primal. It also might be a little bit of karma for the pain you’ve inflicted on her, but,” he shrugged and gave him a small smile, “You have to walk through the valley of Hell to get to your objective, right? Even if it may be unobtainable given the fickleness of human emotion.” The question poised by his boyfriend (ex pending) pushed him to top his coffee off in favor of something more bitter than the caramel colored depths he’s crafted with each careful splash of milk alternative. “I didn’t mind being around you. I thought you’d be more miserable and cranky when we’re away from the cameras but you’ve bit your tongue many times and I guess I can only extend my thanks. I’ve got to focus on school and the monarchy; adding a boyfriend who doesn’t care if I live or die on top of that doesn’t help my anxiety at all. I’m also… tired of being disliked. I’m drained. Between what happened to you and Rory, the disagreement with Rosie, having to do with some scandal that made my parents look at me like I’m an disappointment, I think I’m very close to going through a lock myself in a closet and breathing into a paper bag 3 hours before a 7 AM final scenario 2.0 back in Freshman year.” 

“i’ve gotten really used to ignoring guilt. but i’m beginning to realise i have a shitload of stuff that i should be feeling guilty for from the last few years.” archie sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “i hope it’s emotional growth, maybe that’d be a sign that all this being clean and owning up shit would be working.” his lifestyle had undergone a pretty intense overhaul since he returned home from melbourne, and it had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, especially when the positive results weren’t immediately obvious. he chuckled under his breath. “probably karma though, you’re right.” 

he rolled his eyes. “it’s called method acting.” archer joked, “and hey, i would care if you died - it would be a massive inconvenience for me, having to like, pretend to cry and shit.” he gave garci a sarcastic smile and then turned to rifle through his pantry for a bag of sunflower seeds to nervously nibble on while they spoke. “yeah, you should probably hang out with people who are better for you than me. you outgrew me years ago.” he shrugged and tipped a handful into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a second. “you know what i think, i think you’re too used to letting people judge you - you’d be a lot happier if you just put your foot down about stuff. it wasn’t a crime for you to get it on with theo blair. if you’d stood up for yourself, maybe your parents might have been less hasty to choose disappointment.” archer shrugged. “but i’m not you, so. it’s whatever.” the freshman year paper bag scenario was not one he had any desire to repeat. “fuck, yeah, okay if we’re getting to that stage, we need to stop this. i am not dealing with that again. i’ll break out from stress or get grey hairs or something.” 

[ofchryseum]

nova

“Right? I don’t either. Cold weather is nice for a week or two, but I couldn’t deal with the rain.” She grimaced, shaking her head. Lorena was accustomed to Los Angeles weather, having the sun always shining put her in a good mood. “Yeah I agree. It’s over for me when I see a rat.” Sometimes the subway was the fastest route so she had no other choice, but she always had hand sanitiser with her. “Of course I am. Gotta show my haters that I’m better than them. We have to go to the club one night.” 

“and yet you show up to hang out with royce all the time.” archie smirked, in his usual facetious tone, taking a leisurely sip of his green juice and swooping blond curls out of his eyes with a practiced motion. “sure, i haven’t been out properly for ages. i need to find a rebound in new york though, i’m determined. and it seems a waste not to when literally all the models are in one place.” a sly smile curved his lips. “we should hit up soho house, i haven’t been for ages, and i refuse to party with nobodies.” 

[ofchryseum]

lamb

“Yeah, most humans can’t and I don’t seem to be one of those humans either. I look like a highlighter, you don’t have to pretend I don’t,” he said with a soft laugh, taking the jacket off to let the dark blue of his shirt breathe and soften the pain from everyone’s eyes after glancing his way. He peered at the long line waiting to get in and wondered if it was better to wait with the others or stomp through the second pair of double doors with his security if more attention was paid to him, “If you want, we can just hang out in line and chat a bit so you’re not immediately bombarded with meeting my parents. I’m actually quite excited; I haven’t been to watch a theater production in ages.”  He spotted one of the agents who gave him a rather unimpressed frown for what he chose to do; regardless, Garci fell in line with the others and gently placed a hand on Lachlan’s arm so he wouldn’t get carried away by the crowd– ironic, given their differences in height and size. The Spaniard offered another smile up at his friend, his green eyes assessing his features without realizing he was doing so. “How was practice? I hope you weren’t late; I really didn’t mean to keep you away from your job, I guess we just had a lot of catching up to do. Did you– get hurt today? I feel like you have a little bruise..” 

“you look great, what are you on about?” lachlan smiled, bumping his shoulder lightly teasingly. it did seem slightly mean of whoever had dressed garci in such a bright colour when he was usually the kind of person who liked to blend into a crowd, but regardless, lachy thought he looked nice as ever. “sure, i’m kinda nervous... should i like, call them anything specific? your highness or your majesty or something?” he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants slightly self consciously, trying not to seem so out of place here. “i don’t think i’ve ever been to one. i’m excited to see what it’s like.” there hadn’t been the kind of disposable income in their household growing up, or interest, really, in theatre, so it had never been on lachy’s radar until now. 

lachy followed garci into the line, totally at the mercy of the gentle hand on his arm. he made eye contact with a man in black staring at the prince who he assumed was security, and gave him a polite smile in greeting. there was a petty thought that crossed his head about who could protect garci better, but he willed it away, still uncomfortable with how much he wanted to be the one looking out for him. “i was a little bit, yeah, but that’s on me for losing track of the time. i’d rather have hung out with you than been on time.” they didn’t get to spend out together often, so who was he to cut short that time? “i kind of always do, hazard of the trade. but i’ll survive. i’m well tough.” he joked, with a broad smile. “what did you do with your day after we parted ways? something more fun than running laps and willingly getting beaten up.” 

[masongoodingsource]

MASON GOODING being interviewed for LA Magazine “What’s your pandemic go-tos?”

[ofchryseum]

tmz update - 1/9/20

[ofchryseum]

POINT COUNT - 1 SEPTEMBER

HUGO:

replies: 2 ask memes: 8 mentoring: 5 total: 161

ÉTIENNE: 

replies: 1 ask memes: 11 mentoring: 5 total: 85

ARCHER: 

replies: 5 starter: 5 ask memes: 8 milestone (50): 10 total: 120

LACHLAN:

replies: 1 ask memes: 13 task: 10 milestone (25): 10 total: 71

JAEHYUN:

replies: 4 ask memes: 6 total: 35

[ofchryseum]

poppy flower

poppy nodded, understanding that for hugo astrid’s show was very similar to her being named as princess of wales. “i get it, baby,” she murmured softly as she looked through the menus once more. “i’m glad you’re able to do what you love.” eyes met hugo’s once more before she considered his words. “we haven’t done thai in awhile. how about that?” after perusing the menu, poppy handed it to him. “do you mind calling it in? that’s actually one thing i’ve never done. i’d like the green curry with chicken, please.”

“i think he enjoyed it,” she agreed, though her brow furrowed at his next comment. “that’s impossible, baby,” poppy said, her eyes wide as she looked up at hugo. “because even if it was a dream, i’d wake up from the same one, completely and utterly in love with you.”  her cheeks pinked after she spoke, poppy realizing that she’d allowed the words that had grown inside of her heart to slip out.

“you can look if you want. it’s nothing incredibly special. but i love having the time to make something.”

“i’m so excited for you to see it, i can hardly wait.” he hummed quietly as he cast an eye over the menu. as long as poppy liked it, and astrid liked it, he’d feel more than accomplished. “sure - i’ll grab my phone.” more often than not, hugo enjoyed lightly teasing poppy for the harmless things she had never done before, but in all honesty, he found it quite sweet that there were certain things she just steered away from. 

hugo was half distracted typing the number of the restaurant into his phone, but her words made him slow, and eventually look up from what he was doing. an affectionate grin spread across his features as he met her eyes. “i’m so desperately in love with you too - dream or not.” he said, discarding his phone in his back pocket and focusing all his attention on her. maybe it was smug, but he had been of the understanding that they loved each other for a while now, but those specific words had never left her lips. they didn’t need to, really. hugo brushed aside a lock of her dark hair and pressed a kiss to her lips that still curved up into the smile he couldn’t shake. 

“everything you make is special.” he emphasized his point with another kiss. “to me, at least.” 

[ofchryseum]

lamb

Garci finally sat his mug down after admitting that the warmth of the ceramic was slowly starting to burn his fingertips. He’d always insist that Archie’s participation with the Rory and Juliette situation was deplorable, but his heart did tighten to see someone he adored many years ago to be in such turmoil even if it was justified.  “I think one day you will accept that your desire for her to be happy will extend past your desire to want her as a person because as much as you’d admit to being jealous and ridiculously greedy for her affection, I always believed that the act of being in love is selfless. It doesn’t matter what you want, in the end it’s what she wants, what makes her happy, who will make her her best person. We’ve told her that this is all fake, I’m not sure how else to convince her of this when we’re meant to seem like as a realistic couple to the public.” He gently drummed his fingertips against the counter, considering his next words. “I don’t know if your next move should be trying to win her back or trying to get over anything. I think…you’ve maintained a healthy 0, a familiar association, with her, and when you were with her you’ve strayed to a good, solid 5. Right now, you’re in the negatives for her even though your affections might be at a 5. Perhaps it’s beneficial to dwindle near 0 for a while until she’s comfortable with a 1 or a 2, then let it ease into a friendship and, hopefully, something more. She’s fallen from a 5 to a -5 and she’s bruised, but she’s not incapable of climbing if she so wishes it. Does that.. make sense?” 

“i hope so. i just feel so...” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, clearly stressed by the conversation but forcing himself to have it. archer knew he’d made a mistake, and he had to live with the consequences of that. “i don’t know, selfish... for loving her at all. i just don’t know how to get rid of that feeling.” it was an uncomfortable feeling, unrequited love, especially when he’d become so used to getting what he wanted all the time without fail.

archer tried his best to follow garci’s point. “math? at this hour on a sunday? seriously?” he rolled his eyes but he understood what garci meant by it. the desire to light another cigarette was growing, but he decided to save himself the disapproving look from garci or the eventual lecture and settled for awkwardly fiddling with the fraying hem of his shirt. “so what’s in this for you? apart from an escape from having to be around me every weekend, obviously.” he snickered, although he was genuinely curious about garci’s reasons for seeming to agree with him that this farce had run its course. 

[ofchryseum]

oberon​

“Only learned from the best, you know,” Theodore commented, thinking that his French was mediocre and mostly learned from translator books before going to school in France. The thought alone only made him think how long it had been and how far they had both come in their careers since their school days. “I feel quite honored then. It seems your schedule is just as busy as mine these days. It is almost fate to be seeing you here, but thank you for joining me here.”

There were so many things on his agenda these days, but he was glad he was able to meet his friend while in Paris. He was comfortable knowing that Pepper and Olive were in the hands of Seren while he was away. After the press interviews and opening, he knew that he would need a rest. “You are a wonderful distraction. In person? Well, now you’ve me curious.”

“i had a request actually.” he paused for a moment. “milo and i have just started to sit down and seriously plan the wedding. and i wanted to ask you if you’d be my best man...”  étienne was unused to asking personal things of people, preferring to always keep himself at a level of emotional distance even from his best friends, and found himself shy in the wake of the question. logically he couldn’t think of any reason theo would say no, but it still felt like a lot to ask. 

“it would mean the world to me, and i know you’re busy so i would never presume to ask too much of you. but there is nobody else i’d rather have standing with me on that day.” a day he was already largely more nervous about than anything. his friendship with theo had stood the test of time, as he was sure it would for many years to come. “alors, qu'est-ce que tu penses?” he added with a smile as he crossed his arms and leaned on the edge of the table.

[ofchryseum]

lamb

“I didn’t know a prince of your caliber would sink to such measures. If it wasn’t for the fact that you’re ridiculously bad at mario kart I would protest such a cheat. Maybe not touching the remote will allow you stay on rainbow road for longer than a few seconds,” he grinned, “I still miss when your mother would bring me sweets from Korea though, she was so nice! I remember I would insist I couldn’t eat anything besides Dasik and when mama found out I was lying just so I can eat sweets as a meal she was so angry with me.” He felt a gentle prod at his arm and quickly turned to hand over his empty plate to a waiter, whispering a soft apology for the momentary distraction. “What screams ‘normal life’ besides immediately stepping into a West End production of the Phantom of the Opera? Will your mother or your family be in attendance as well? My parents are going with me!” 

“all politeness and proper decorum goes out the window when the possibility of losing mario kart is on the table, garci.” he said with a clipped smile over the rim of his crystal champagne flute. “i’ll have to bring you some hangwa in london, then. you’re a grown man now, if you wanted to only eat dasik nobody could stop you.” jae shrugged in his usual matter of fact way. 

“i suppose that’s just normality for me. i did that show for a few months a couple of years back, so the choreography is nothing short of routine by now.” he supposed maybe it didn’t sound normal to garci, but neither did garci’s hospital routines to him, so they were probably even. “god no. it’s just a filler gig. generally i only invite my mother when i do a big show with a company. filling a role in the corps until they can cast a replacement is hardly worth the trip for her.” he’d never say it in front of garci, who might pass it on to roselyn, but he also hated phantom enough by now that he wouldn’t subject his family to it. “that’s nice - is that for your mother’s birthday celebrations? or because your friend is in it?”

[ofchryseum]

lamb

who ;; @ofchryseum​ ++ lachlan setting ;; West End, London 

The initial nervousness of meeting Lachlan in person again was less now compared to that morning, when he woke up at 6:30 just so he can have mild anxiety before he was due at the cafe. He was wearing something much more comfortable then compared to now, and though the worries in his mind has dulled since that morning, his demons won’t entirely back down without a fight. Neither would the stylist, apparently, in the name of presenting the Spanish family as a fashion forward group of royals instead of what.. Garci is. After talking him off a hypothetical ledge in regards to wearing bold colors (”you’re young, it’ll look gorgeous on you!”) , he’s made peace with what was chosen for him and successfully talked his parents into letting him greet Lachlan outside of the theater before leading him to their seats at the Royal Circle. Security was there, of course, watching him nervously pace the small bit of sidewalk space he had while his suit created what seemed like a beacon of interest for anyone who strolled past him. Admittedly, it was Lachlan who spotted him first due to his desire to keep his gaze focused on his shoes instead of making any sort of eye contact with those around him, but once he was made aware of Lachlan’s presence, the Spaniard raised his gaze and smiled almost instantaneously.  “Oh my gosh– you.. you polish up so well,” he blurted out, “Not that– you’re bad looking or anything ever but– te ves muy guapo. Ready to go in?” 

lachlan didn’t know why he was so nervous to meet garci at the theatre - he told himself it was meeting royalty and being in a new environment that a lower middle class upbringing in the suburbs of edinburgh hadn’t trained him for. that wasn’t entirely it, though he wouldn’t let himself confront the reality. he’d been distracted at practice this morning after meeting garci for breakfast so much so that his coach had asked him if he’d been feeling okay. confusion, it turned out, could have a physical effect. he’d tried to put that out of his mind - the confusing way his heart flipped one way when he thought about juliette, and yet flipped the other way just as violently when he thought about garci. it had rattled lachy so much that he’d considered cancelling on him, but it struck him as rude to do so, so here he was, after almost an hour angsting over what to wear.

the spanish prince was not hard to spot, both because he was exactly where he’d told lachlan he’d be, but also because he was wearing possibly the most strikingly coloured suit he’d ever seen. “hey garci.” he greeted, to get him to look up from his shoes. the barrage of nervous chatter was so endearing it tugged on lachy’s heart strings. “so do you. i don’t know many guys who can pull off yellow like that.” he tucked his hands in his pockets a little nervously. “sure, there’s no rush though, right? we’re still a little early...”