Carving, Needles, and Sushi

**Avis** · Jan 21st, 2015 01:20 AM

"You forgot its connection to Jainism, the most ironic of all those possibilities," Avis replied with a half smile. Her hand withdraw from the waterglass and warlock shifted in her seat, spine straightening, shoulders becoming less hunched.

"Alright, well, I want something like a mandala. Like, I want one, but not a copy of an existing one. The idea of symbolically representing the universe through geometric lines? The, uh, spacial aspect of it? That just clicks with me. That's something I know filtered down. I can just feel it. But I also want some distance from existing ones, so there's less, I don't know, ties to other meanings. So, um, what I have in mind is, well," she trailed off, lost in the search for the right words, her right index finger errantly tracing a patter onto the tabletop.

"Do you think you could make it look like glass, where each line is a crack in it?" she asked finally. "Like, someone took a mirror and shattered it, but it cracked into the image of some kind of mandala."

Jan 24th, 2015 07:13 AM

Damascus nodded to concede her omission, then started slightly as the Councilor steered the discussion toward mandalas; striking a little close to a design she was considering for herself.

Seems many of us are trying to reconcile our place in a universe with the knowledge of the existence of higher and lower realms...

“I like it, it’s an interesting and personal twist. The thing about glass is it can be hard to tell what it is by itself. In the case of glass or a mirror we may need some light or a frame to give it context...” The Shaman trailed off, pondering how best to tackle Avis' request, and glancing around to see whether their food was on its way.

It's not like they have to cook it or anything...

“If we have the glass frost around the cracks then that could work nicely. Do you have an idea about placement?”

As the clatter of her familiar's claws on the wooden floor scrabbled back into her earshot the Shaman grinned; it seemed that they wouldn't have long to wait after all...

**Avis** · Jan 24th, 2015 07:29 AM

"What if it wasn't a mandala made of glass, but a mandala reflected in cracked glass? Well, a glass mirror, I mean. So the cracks run through it. And a frame could help with showing it's a mirror, I s'pose. If we left the frame kinda plain then that might make additions easy to do, too. Depending on where it goes, I guess," Avis replied, finger tapping idly against the wooden table.

"Hmm. Placement is tough. Like, it would be nice to be able to see it, but I guess a mirror could let me do that. Ironically." A fleeting grin passed over her face. "Is there somewhere you'd recommend? I mean, you'd have a better idea of what area might have enough room for this thing."

The Warlock broke off as their food arrived, removing her hands from the table just long enough for them to serve it.

Jan 25th, 2015 01:03 PM

Damascus lifted her sketchbook from the table’s surface, settling it onto an adjacent chair and clearing some room for the arriving repast. After thanking the waitstaff, the ravenous Thyrsus turned her attention to the mouthwatering display before her, raising her chopsticks in her left hand; but resigning herself to answering the Councilor’s questions before tucking in.

“Very symbolic, an imperfect reflection of a higher realm." She expected the Councilor to understand why she avoided bandying words like Supernal around in public. “Were you thinking the mandala might take on thematic aspects of the road you walked down?”

She glanced to the chair where she'd rested her book as the spirit clambered up to perch on its back, then returned her attention to Avis.

“As for placement, It’s entirely up to you, and it will depend on how large an area you want to cover; but there are few locations I usually suggest. The inner forearms, the upper and outer areas of the chest, the back of the neck and the centre of the lower back; the skin there changes less in response to age or fluctuating body weight.”

Though I'm thinking outer forearms for mine...

Damascus inclined her head to the Councilor before speaking again in the thematically appropriate language. •”I humbly recieve.”• The Shaman nimbly sliced a piece of Nigiri in two with her utensils, dipping the flesh into a bowl of soy before popping the morsel into her mouth and glancing around for the wasabi. It was a sad truth that spice was not a traditional element to Japanese cuisine and wasabi was about as close as it came; when preparing sushi personally, she would often include chilli peppers.

**Avis** · Jan 26th, 2015 01:17 AM

"When you say the inner forearms, do you mean it'd cover both?" Avis asked before popping a piece of salmon belly into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully, teeth cutting through flesh just as her mind began dissecting the various facets of each possibility for the tattoo. Her index finger and thumb closed on the next piece of fish before she'd swallowed, but she didn't lift it to her mouth yet.

"I don't think I want forearms. And why'd you say lower back but not upper? I mean, I would think that part of the body would change even less over time. Also, no, I don't want it to loudly proclaim anything specific about me. No demons or other stupid shit on it. The mirror with it's cracked glass says what I want it to and so does the Mandala. Giving it some other flavor is just -- not what I'm looking for," she explained with a shake of her head.

Jan 26th, 2015 10:41 AM

Still savoring the morsel she was still engaged in consuming, Damascus located the wasabi and plucking the other half of the piece of Nigiri from the selection before her, seasoned the fish with the hot mustard-like condiment.

“It could cover both, or either, though as I said it’s entirely up to you.” The Shaman nodded in comprehension. “I can understand not wanting to make the design too specific, or cluttered; we will need a theme for the actual mandala though.”

Alright, no demonic entities, check.

Damascus popped the other piece of sushi into her mouth before retrieving the sketchbook with her free hand; lowering her chopsticks to the platter, she flipped towards the later pages and her more recent designs before proffering the book to Avis to examine at her leisure and hopefully to afford her an idea of what she meant by themes. “Geometric shapes, flowers, leaves, celestial bodies, animals, arrows… The components used to express the pattern.”

“As for why I’d suggest the lower back over the upper? The upper back changes more in response to increases and reductions in fat and muscle.” She shrugged expressively, almost losing another piece of sushi from her long wooden grasp. “Just one of the quirks of nature I guess.”

**Avis** · Jan 28th, 2015 02:39 AM

"I'm not gonna live very long, and I sure as hell am not gonna get fat," the Warlock shot back, a tinge of grim amusement in her voice. "Let's do upper back."

Pronouncement made, she popped the next bite of food into her mouth, paused to briefly suck her thumb clean, and then munched thoughtfully again. Her knee jerk answer had been just going with geometric shapes, since the mandala was supposed to be the universe itself reflected in a kind of map. Or, well, basically the lines collectively displayed the universe. Gave a hint of the space of it. To fill a mandala with representations of other things, that just seemed like it would muddle the hell out of it. Of course, there was the opportunity to do more with it. To honor other aspects of her life. Like her order. Her cabal. Her Oaths.

Maybe later.

"And jusht geometric designs," she said around her food.

Feb 3rd, 2015 11:04 AM

Damascus wasn’t really certain how to respond to the Councilor’s apparently dim outlook, so joined in battle with the spread before her, swiftly demolishing about a third of the selected portions of rice and fish whilst she mulled over her next query.

Screw it, I’ll be direct.

“Geometric designs will work fine.” She paused, tilting her head slightly in to one side as she regarded the other woman. “Not long to live?”

mmmmmmm… bullets.

**Avis** · Feb 5th, 2015 12:19 AM

"Yeah," Avis agreed around another piece of fish. She nodded as she chewed, then brushed a hand across her mouth after she'd swallowed. "Probably gonna get knifed, shot, run over, or who fucking knows what." Her fingers picked up another carefully prepared piece and dipped it in some sauce. "It's kinda like this fish, ya know? It's got predators. So do I. So do you. You're not careful, something's gonna munch you up, too. Is just the nature of the world."

With that the fish disappeared between her lips and began to be ground down to indistinguishable paste. A globule was pushed into her cheek, just for a moment, and her tongue swept it back between her inevitably descending jaws.

Feb 8th, 2015 03:59 AM

Well… Isn’t that a cheerful thought.

The Shaman sat in relative silence as she devoured the spread before her. When next she spoke the portions intended to satisfy three or four had been reduced to a half dozen bite sized morsels. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like any arrows on your tattoo?” Damascus winked at the Councilor to show that the remark was intended in jest, rather than a sincere attempt to discourage her from her chosen path. She couldn’t recall hearing whether Avis was in an Order, but that sounded a bit like something she’d expect from an ‘Archer’.

Stereotypes, we all have them.

Carving, Needles, and Sushi

Similar Threads

Sanctum Dreams Beyond Sushi

(FOS 2015) The Carving Station

Sushi for Two

Sushi Restaurant - Lynx & April

You gotta watch out for the lady with the knitting needles...