@verseandrhyme sent: [ PHOTO IN MOTION ] - And in addition, this year boasts a similar device bolstered by new advancements that allow it to capture more than just a moment; now, even motion and sound can be immortalized forever. Take a video with a friend—or catch something juicy you'll want to keep up your sleeve for later.
woah. just like that, the stills of them move! up goes his arm to wave side-to-side in that motion he'd tested out before, and his once-frozen grin widens in real time as shiro watches himself burst into hearty laughter. he can hear it, too — a tinny ha ha ha! and look! the little mitama beside him also moves!! far more subdued in her own body language, but brought to life all the same when her shoulders shake, and one of her sleeves neatly lifts to cover her mouth.
it’s nothing like what he’s seen on his travels following the war: brilliant and strange all in one. peering at it now, there's a pang of wistfulness as it occurs to shiro that something like this would've been handy back then. a way to soothe the twinges of homesickness for the friends left behind, and a way to remember them if their faces should one day fade from memory.
if such a thing is even possible. he'd prefer to think it isn't.
"hey, here's a thought. do you think we'll be watching this twenty years from now?"
"a rose for my rose? what? too much?" Ferdinand laughs with his full chest. "my dear, I do feel like I am on top of the world! a thousand and one flowers in this garden, but only one that is mine. by my hand, you will not miss roses too much. and by yours, I adorn myself with the finest wardrobe in Garreg Mach! so? do you approve? I am quite handsome in this attire, am I not?" / art by saresy_rose
oh, what a powerful thing. a bouquet of roses in place of a bough of arrows. a compass with only one direction. a north star whose silence filled his mind as vividly as she filled a theater. Ferdinand Von Aegir had always been charmed by limelight and the call of canaries, but it dawned to him that a teaspoon of affection quenched a lifetime of thirst. nothing that his silver-spooned life and front-row tickets had ever been comparable to who was in his arms now.
walking in tandem with his beloved, all the years of unspent love unfurled from his throat. he brought her hand up to kiss, hoping it would climb her knuckles and twist around her wrists. one day, perhaps, around her ring finger. Ferdinand had always assumed the right of imperial ascension, but in the darkest of nights, he wondered if that would be right for him. and more urgently, still, if it would be right for her.
dear goddess, he prayed under his breath, I have built a new church at the base of her feet and know north by her name.
I hope you forgive me.
I hope you protect her.
Dorothea's Notes on Ferdinand's Outfit:
their past, a tempest; their future, alight with promise. the man she'd once spited has now become something of a north star to her, steadfast and luminous. it's only fitting that his finery should mirror that: selected garments scattered with constellations and headpieces wrought in the gilded light of the heavens, contrasted against dark velvets of the night sky. upon ferdinand's person, she has elected to fit him with the compass gifted on the day of devotion, its needle fixed unerringly toward a life together.
final ball update + housekeeping: bernadetta has completed her bouquet (first exchanges per bloom linked, but full list of bouquet interactions below that) and i have a few ongoing things i plan on replying to (yuri, dorothea, edelgard, yunaka, clair, waning sun).
i can't promise that i'll be able to tack a reply on every other bloom interaction, namely asks that were moreso icebreakers/hellos for future threads, so please consider them done on my side/claimable on your end if i don't shoot them back within june.
i will have my regular pinned post back and updated within the week. thank you!
"... noooooo... u-ugh... it's just too bright..." upon two figures' subtle emergence from a far-off, unimposing curtain, the light blinds her, but hardly from the chandeliers. one gloved hand is slapped over her eyes while the other is being held, led by her partner in crime, whose voice by her ear nearly makes her jump out of her shawl. she almost can't answer his question.
which flowers does she want?
"a-any! any of them? they're all just gorgeous, aren't they?!" bernadetta hasn't even lowered her hand from her face to see much of anything after seeing him, but after a quick, bracing breath that she takes all on her own, she lets it drop to her side. gray eyes blink and marvel all of the bouquets, but her real answer...
"um... i want you to pick," she mumbles, but this time she means it. and why? her free hand lifts again, but now it's to hide a tiny smile. "i always liked the flowers you brought me most."
(art by sinridx! and for her solo design that came before i knew this freaking loser would even have a date LMAO, hoshinokami)
supplemental ic context (not important): she snuck in through a side entrance with yuri. her circumstances aren't as incriminating and horrifying as last year's, but she's still got a few dilemmas of her own. since jan/feb she's been camping in abyss while ghosting most of her other beagle friends/classmates for ferdinand-shaped reasons (affectionate), and coming from hermit von detta, the absence is normal enough to not be that noticeable anyway unless your muse is a huge bernadetta gafer. she does her tasks, turns in the occasional assignment left at her door, etc. what sets this apart from her normal scarcity + class skipping is that you just wouldn't have even been able to find her in her room.
★ "Alear! Don't you look stunning! Our Bern's outdone herself, hasn't she? At this rate, she ought to dress everyone for next year's ball!"
☆ "Right? You're a lifesaver, Bernadetta, not to mention talented... if I need advice on next year's outfit, I'm coming straight to you!" / @aliberation
★ “Y-you guys are really flattering me here! I just patched it up a little, but I'm glad it all worked out.” / @hermidetta
"...Did Lord Leif know the theme of this ball beforehand? I cannot say I have a purple outfit in my repertoire so this dress design was a first for me. What is my flower? Canterbury Bells. Oh! You meant my bouquet...! Haha! They're orchids! Would you like one? Please, the honor is mine..." / art by :marge:
He's asking for your thoughts. Nanna has to redraw the design. He's asking for your thoughts. Nanna has to redraw the design. He's asking for your thoughts.
Mitama's brush dusts over her eyes, and she has to redraw the design.
Nanna counted on her fingers every year she thought she was herself. A princess, yes. A fianceé, yes. A mother's daughter, a father's pride. When was it that the things she was saying were no longer what he recognized anymore? Or was it that she wasn't honest enough? Or was it that she became so preoccupied with his voice that her own fell flat?
Mermaids had a reputation, she thought. The littlest one had a bottled up voice and nothing left to her name but seafoam. How do you rewrite a fate like that?
Rearrange your room like your heart, tend to the greenhouse roses, think of a nation that is yours and isn't. But there are no directions for a Nordion who isn't quite. A Thracian who isn't quite. A daughter who isn't quite. A fianceé who isn't quite.
How do you rewrite a fate like that?
Joy and grief and joy again are processed by getting new clothes. Shedding seafoam like scales, Nanna has to become the best thing that's ever happened to herself. And sing a warbled tune knowing it's the only one she has.
With flowers near matching the ones adorned in her hair, Edelgard takes the bouquet of orchids with a small smile and steps on her way. The red dress falls with every heeled step she takes; the tulle draped atop her arms falls as if demanding presence. The Imperial Princess holds them as if she is insistent on keeping them firm. The room is adorned much as she expects it to be, finding the shimmer of her necklace cascading sparkles onto her own face.
It is loud, it is filled with glamor, but it is also primed with opportunity and wonder. As she enters center stage, she makes herself known.
Art by minemir
Bloom Tracker:
Roses: Thrasir, Wolf, Nel
Orchids: Sakura, Claude
Lilies: Mitama, Céline, Celica, Ayra
Hyacinths: Clair, Sylvain
Tulips: Leo
Okay, she can handle this. Her hands nervously smooth out her skirt for the billionth time as she walks up to the looming gates of hell that is the doors of the ballroom. She can handle this! She's a grown ass killer! She's gotten better with crowds and - oh stars they're giving her flowers.
Yunaka awkwardly fumbles the bouquet of orchids for a moment before figuring out what to do with them. She laughs sheepishly at the attendant who is staring at her before quickly darting away into the room and the nearest unpopulated corner she can find.
She can do this! She can do this? She can probably do this!
Maria giggles as she hurries into the ballroom, her smile tucked against a bouquet of roses. What a wonderful day for flowers! Decorated in some made by a beloved friend, as well as many more blooming across her dress, just for tonight she feels she's exactly where she's supposed to be.
Oh, but where are her friends? Lowering the bouquet, a flash of silver glimmering at her wrist, the little princess sets off to find them.
