gadridel
CRYSTALLIZED // <399 info
This piece is over a year old, and there's a lot I know could be far better executed, but it is the best example I have of crystallization (to be explained in a moment). I also want to use this post mostly to explain some of the background story behind <399, to give my pieces more context.
(This is a lot, so you don't HAVE to read it, but can if you're curious haha.)
---
The main focus of <399 (Pronounced three-nine-nine) are beings known as 'Hearts'. They are (typically) born to human parents, with the only main difference being that their hearts are made of a specific gemstone (such as ruby, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, etc). Their eyes will typically look like their gemstone and serve as an easy identifier for who is a Heart. They can create gemstone out of thin air in the shape of something, such as swords, knives, keys, guns, small sculptures, animals (non-living, of course), etc. Additionally, any wounds they gain during their life will scar over as their gemstone. In exchange for this, however, their body slowly is overtaken by their gemstones, and one day, they will be completely consumed by it. Harder gemstones (such as sapphires and diamonds) will crystallize faster and have shorter lifespans, where more brittle gemstones (such as gypsum or pyrite) will crystallize slower and have longer lifespans. When completely overtaken by their gemstone, this is generally called 'crystallization'/'becoming crystallized'.
The initial main focus of the story is a person known as 'The Dragon'. They are putting on an art exhibit full of these crystallized hearts, of which humanity believes to be a purely fictional thing (they think of Hearts to be akin to unicorns). Here's a thing I wrote as a general intro to the series:
In life, what we think we know and what we truly know can often times be two entirely different things. As we grow, we learn, new information overwriting the old. Our mind is an endless tapestry that never really finishes, the work simply interrupted as we die and return back to the Earth.
What you have known from birth, though, and what you will always know, is that you are a HEART.
For some, being a Heart is a blessing. Not only were you gifted with uniqueness, and clearly destined to live an interesting life, the body you leave behind will be ethereal and breathtaking. Your parents raised you with love and adoration, filling your head with stories of the fellow brave and bright Hearts they'd come to know in their lives. You were inspired, and your head danced with dreams.
For others, being a Heart is a curse. You were born with a parasite inside your body, and while it grants you something now, it will take so much from you. It will take everything from you. Your life was forfeit from the moment of conception, and your parents made sure you never forgot it.
Regardless of your past, you're here now, and you have a common goal in mind.
ㅤㅤ
You've all seen it. The news reports, the fliers, the articles, blurry photographs and out-of-context quotes. Eyewitness reports on channel 7, commentary, opinions, theories- but above all, human intrigue in its purest form. An up-and-coming artist that destroyed the art world as people knew it. Like a rose pushing through a crack in the sidewalk, THE DRAGON was suddenly the centerpiece of so many lives. Their name, their appearance, their history, all a blur of rumors and questions. Some had the audacity to call them the modern day Leonardo Da Vinci, a new-age revolutionary. After seeing their work, you'd think that calling them a demon would be an insult to Hell.
The main focus, the so-called magnum opus, was the most disgustingly beautiful thing you'd ever seen. It was an over glorified, thoroughly disrespected corpse of a Heart. A woman, with rich brown hair and a pose of pure determination and power, trapped within a crystal the color of dried blood and crushed cherries. The gemstone around her body twisted and curled about itself like flames, and it twinkled like such in all of the videos you'd seen of it posted on every website you dared to open. By the looks of her open palm, the fear in her face, the tears forever embedded on her cheeks, this woman died fighting.
ㅤㅤ
You think of The Dragon, proclaimed as an art god, someone who created. But whoever they were- they destroyed. You think back to the woman, and something stirs inside of you. The Dragon destroyed her. Her corpse, now lacking any sort of proper rest, earning The Dragon countless money and fame. The exhibit is a world-famous event, and people are flying in from across the globe to witness these once-in-a-lifetime pieces. Just trying to imagine the costs makes you sick.
Maybe you seek to find validity to the rumors, to test your theory. Or, you're planning to kill The Dragon where they stand. Maybe you're just curious, or god forbid, interested in joining their collection one day.
No matter what, you're here now. The Dragon's lair awaits.
CRYSTALLIZED // <399 info
This piece is over a year old, and there's a lot I know could be far better executed, but it is the best example I have of crystallization (to be explained in a moment). I also want to use this post mostly to explain some of the background story behind <399, to give my pieces more context.
(This is a lot, so you don't HAVE to read it, but can if you're curious haha.)
---
The main focus of <399 (Pronounced three-nine-nine) are beings known as 'Hearts'. They are (typically) born to human parents, with the only main difference being that their hearts are made of a specific gemstone (such as ruby, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, etc). Their eyes will typically look like their gemstone and serve as an easy identifier for who is a Heart. They can create gemstone out of thin air in the shape of something, such as swords, knives, keys, guns, small sculptures, animals (non-living, of course), etc. Additionally, any wounds they gain during their life will scar over as their gemstone. In exchange for this, however, their body slowly is overtaken by their gemstones, and one day, they will be completely consumed by it. Harder gemstones (such as sapphires and diamonds) will crystallize faster and have shorter lifespans, where more brittle gemstones (such as gypsum or pyrite) will crystallize slower and have longer lifespans. When completely overtaken by their gemstone, this is generally called 'crystallization'/'becoming crystallized'.
The initial main focus of the story is a person known as 'The Dragon'. They are putting on an art exhibit full of these crystallized hearts, of which humanity believes to be a purely fictional thing (they think of Hearts to be akin to unicorns). Here's a thing I wrote as a general intro to the series:
In life, what we think we know and what we truly know can often times be two entirely different things. As we grow, we learn, new information overwriting the old. Our mind is an endless tapestry that never really finishes, the work simply interrupted as we die and return back to the Earth.
What you have known from birth, though, and what you will always know, is that you are a HEART.
For some, being a Heart is a blessing. Not only were you gifted with uniqueness, and clearly destined to live an interesting life, the body you leave behind will be ethereal and breathtaking. Your parents raised you with love and adoration, filling your head with stories of the fellow brave and bright Hearts they'd come to know in their lives. You were inspired, and your head danced with dreams.
For others, being a Heart is a curse. You were born with a parasite inside your body, and while it grants you something now, it will take so much from you. It will take everything from you. Your life was forfeit from the moment of conception, and your parents made sure you never forgot it.
Regardless of your past, you're here now, and you have a common goal in mind.
ㅤㅤ
You've all seen it. The news reports, the fliers, the articles, blurry photographs and out-of-context quotes. Eyewitness reports on channel 7, commentary, opinions, theories- but above all, human intrigue in its purest form. An up-and-coming artist that destroyed the art world as people knew it. Like a rose pushing through a crack in the sidewalk, THE DRAGON was suddenly the centerpiece of so many lives. Their name, their appearance, their history, all a blur of rumors and questions. Some had the audacity to call them the modern day Leonardo Da Vinci, a new-age revolutionary. After seeing their work, you'd think that calling them a demon would be an insult to Hell.
The main focus, the so-called magnum opus, was the most disgustingly beautiful thing you'd ever seen. It was an over glorified, thoroughly disrespected corpse of a Heart. A woman, with rich brown hair and a pose of pure determination and power, trapped within a crystal the color of dried blood and crushed cherries. The gemstone around her body twisted and curled about itself like flames, and it twinkled like such in all of the videos you'd seen of it posted on every website you dared to open. By the looks of her open palm, the fear in her face, the tears forever embedded on her cheeks, this woman died fighting.
ㅤㅤ
You think of The Dragon, proclaimed as an art god, someone who created. But whoever they were- they destroyed. You think back to the woman, and something stirs inside of you. The Dragon destroyed her. Her corpse, now lacking any sort of proper rest, earning The Dragon countless money and fame. The exhibit is a world-famous event, and people are flying in from across the globe to witness these once-in-a-lifetime pieces. Just trying to imagine the costs makes you sick.
Maybe you seek to find validity to the rumors, to test your theory. Or, you're planning to kill The Dragon where they stand. Maybe you're just curious, or god forbid, interested in joining their collection one day.
No matter what, you're here now. The Dragon's lair awaits.