#|​☽| vela ( stargazer )

[theaterism]

vela and castor cupcakes! vela’s one is chocolate raspberry flavored (with hints of stargazing and the forest at night) and castor’s is salted caramel (with hints of ocean breeze and seafaring adventures) <3

#|☆| tag games #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #|☽| castor ( storyteller ) #(this was cute!!!) #(i don’t have an excuse for the turtle on castor’s one ok he just Needed it agsgd) #(i spent too long on these….)

[theaterism]

the theater owners!

#|☆| tag games #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #|☽| castor ( storyteller ) #(THEM……) #(i appreciate them a bunch!!) #(castor is hard to make in pic.rews but i rlly did try adgdgd) #(i love the idea of vela and castor wearing tiny matching things in their clothing) #(the patterns on their shirt collars in this case!!)

[theaterism]

!! hello hello, i’m slowly working on replies today bc i can finally Think, but in the meantime, here are some real-life faceclaims for background characters here (bc i doubt i’ll ever find manga ones for them)! i’m Indecisive and never quite settled on how i picture them, and these aren’t the only ones i associate with these characters, but !!! they’re definitely some main ones and they do feel pretty accurate in most ways, specifically as they appear in the following pictures:

CASTOR FLETCHER — tony h.ale

VELANOVA CHAMBERS — l.upita n.yong’o

CERISE FONTAINE — sa.mara we.aving (also ni.cole kidman, as she appears in this post!)

EDWARD HUGHES — sh.aun evans

#|☆| headcanons #(i appreciate them your honor!!) #(castor’s appearance in particular is very tricky to pinpoint but…. i think i’m getting there……) #(specifically in these pics and not in others!) #(bc that actor looks Very different in general agsgd) #(i’m pretty certain on vela’s faceclaim tho like !!! them!!!) #(the clothing style fits super well too….) #(and this is one of the faceclaims that reminds me of cerise) #(i rlly associate her with diamonds and champagne so i’m always looking for pics/faceclaims with that Vibe) #(cerise’s hair was originally deep auburn but she dyed it blonde for an acting role and preferred it that way) #(and edward is just. anxious agsgd) #(he’s abt to unfold a dozen new rooms and hallways in a building. it may or may not become a maze <3) #(i’m not super sure on his faceclaim but it does remind me of him!) #(i’ll probably never find real-life faceclaims for the lyles which is very funny to me since they’re the main muses here agsgd) #(it be like that sometimes!!) #|☽| castor ( storyteller ) #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #|☽| cerise ( actress ) #|☽| edward ( architect ) #smoking // #(just in case!)

[theaterism]

INTERMISSION (vela) — the night lessons

Part 1/3 || Part 2

------

People whispered about the Chambers family.

Tanova Chambers ensured those whispers never led to anything more. She taught her children protection charms, which they crafted together at their kitchen table. They filled jars with ash leaves, holly berries, broken keys, and moonstones. They fastened the hinged lids and buried the jars around the cottage — to the north, south, east, and west — to ward away unwanted visitors. They freshened them each week. For added protection, they tied together oak twigs with red thread and pinned them to tree trunks.

Only visitors without harmful intentions could find the cottage. Anyone else who sought to badger the family lost their way, and they soon found themself stumbling out of the forest, back where they’d first entered. Even if they attempted (and failed) to find the cottage again, they eventually realized pestering the family took more effort than it was worth.

This gave the children plenty of freedom to roam and Tanova plenty of freedom to practice her craft. The front of the cottage held a small shop, where Tanova sold ingredients best collected in the nighttime hours so other people wouldn’t have to lose sleep gathering them. She offered the more magical items to anyone familiar with her trade who requested them.

Carina, Hesper, and Vela — three of her children — helped her collect these items. They often slept during the day, saving energy to navigate the forest after sundown. It still wearied them and left their feet sore and their eyes sensitive to daylight, and it sometimes felt more like a chore than anything. Even so, they found wonder and delight in their mother’s craft as well. Tanova seized the chance to teach them other elements of night magic at the same time.

Moon pixies guarded their hives and bit unwelcome intruders. They slept in these nests during the day. At night, they were fiercest when the moon entered a waxing phase. However, when the moon waned, they grew forgetful and drifted from their nests in search of food. During this time, the siblings carefully took tiny pieces of honeycomb from the hives. They stored the honey in jars and used the silvery wax to form candles guaranteed to last all night.

Some flowers bloomed only at night. The Chambers children gathered them in baskets and carried them to the cottage, where they moved them into pots or dried them to hang in Tanova’s shop. The delicate night phlox, midnight candy, released a fragrance of honey, almonds, and vanilla. White moonflower blossoms unfurled after sundown and closed when morning dew settled on their petals. Datura — the devil’s trumpet — looked similar to moonflowers, but it was highly poisonous. Tanova tested her children until they could tell the difference. They collected both. Tanova rarely questioned the customers who bought the deadlier type, nor those who sought other flowers for their poisons or toxic seeds.

The children learned to identify bioluminescent mushrooms as well. Panellus pusillus resembled viridescent string lights wrapped around tree branches. The bell-shaped caps of Mycena pura, lilac bonnets, glimmered a soft purple amidst dark green ferns. Panellus stipticus, bitter mushrooms, glowed a dazzling green after nightfall. The burgundy-hued Mycena haematopus, bleeding fairy helmets, oozed red latex when damaged. Tanova knew how to store them in a way that preserved their glow.

On full moon nights, Tanova sometimes invited her children to accompany her in visiting the pond deep in the woods. She bartered with the nocturnal nixies who swam there, trading pearls and adder stones for their shed scales and for permission to pluck the plants that sprouted in the silt beneath the water.

She also taught her children how to catch moonlight. The wide brims of their witch hats had eight small, glass-covered holes. Each lens suited a different moon phase best. The lenses filtered and magnified moonlight into narrow beams, making it stronger and easier to catch. The children held a magicked vial beneath the proper lens when collecting the light.

They also liked impressing each other by catching moonlight in their cupped hands as a show of talent. At first, Vela needed to rub a pearlescent potion on her hands before attempting the trick. It made the moonlight stick to their palms rather than slipping between their fingers. This was considered cheating, of course, so they kept practicing. Within a few weeks, they no longer needed the potion.

Combining moonlight with pure water and powdered moonstone created liquid moonlight, a substance that Tanova sold often. Kept in bottles, it served as illumination, though it went stale and faded by the next new moon. Poured into a dish, it helped with astromancy. Mixed with other ingredients, it allowed the creation of various elixirs, tonics, and potions.

Tanova mixed one such potion regularly. It was an ointment that, when rubbed on the eyelids, improved the user’s night vision for a few hours. Invaluable for nighttime exploration. It reduced the danger of stumbling over roots and falling down slopes veiled with darkness. Using light sources risked luring certain creatures who prowled the woods at night.

The children also memorized constellations and the myths behind them to gain a deeper understanding of the night sky. A way to get closer to the night, Tanova would say. She offered them leather-bound astronomy books to study, as well as books on night flora and the nocturnal beings who found homes and hunting grounds in the darkness. The children flipped through star-speckled pages and thicker, handwritten pages adorned with dried leaves.

Sometimes, they slept in the soil when Tanova’s night lessons left them too exhausted to drag themselves back to the cottage, or when the allure of the stars and fresh air tugged them outside. They liked making beds of moss between the roots of oak trees. Their mother’s charms brought them safety, as did Tarak, Tanova’s familiar. The massive dog — golden-eyed with pitch black fur — accompanied them on their lessons. When the children slept outside, he curled up beside them and guarded them — asleep, but still alert to any sign of danger. His presence alone warned threats to stay away. He provided better security than any protection charm.

Under Tanova’s guidance and Tarak’s protection, the children found freedom in the night — to explore, to dance, to sing, to laugh. They learned when to stay silent and adhere to their mother’s rules as well, though. Never wander alone past nightfall; don’t breathe too deeply around certain flowers and plants; don’t step in mushroom rings; don’t chase voices or sounds of music; don’t follow the trails of wispy lights that lead deeper into the woods.

Rules like these dissuaded Noelle, the youngest, from joining them. She also feared darkness from a young age. It haunted her. She imagined monsters lurking in every darkened corner. Past sundown, even with a nightlight in her bedroom, night terrors often dragged her from sleep. Only Tarak’s warm presence and a steaming mug of honey milk could soothe her.

Despite her mother’s encouragement and her siblings’ support, she couldn’t venture far from the cottage at night without crying. She stayed home with their father instead, whose steady presence reassured her. Though she couldn’t embrace her mother’s craft, she found joy and comfort in her father’s, and he welcomed her company.

Arthur Chambers could not catch moonlight, but he specialized in producing light of his own. It danced at his fingertips and swirled over his palms. His magic was warm and honey-hued, and it possessed a comforting quality. It felt like wrapping oneself in a blanket and settling into an armchair with tea and a book on a rainy autumn day. He didn’t consider himself a proper witch and instead called himself a light merchant. He traveled to sell magicked goods in darker places, where electric lights didn’t reach or didn’t suffice, or places where lighting a match could prove dangerous. Mineshafts, the polar circles. He even did business with deep sea divers at times.

His flashlights and lanterns required no batteries. His string lights and nightlights required no outlets. He also tucked light into spherical lockets he’d designed himself. When opened, the lockets glowed and illuminated the wearer’s surroundings. He wove light into scarves and stitched it into clothing as well.

Between business trips, Arthur stayed in the cottage. He entertained his family with stories about his travels, stretching the truth in places for the sake of drama. Shakespeare plays inspired him, and he sometimes invited Tanova or his children to join him in acting out tales. His family enjoyed the theatrics. Their laughter chimed through their home.

They were an odd family, and other people knew it, but they also knew better than to bother them. The Chambers kept to themselves in their cottage in the woods. They never caused much trouble.

… Most of them, at least.

#|☆| stories #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(!!! hello hello here is the first part of the vela drabble bc naturally it got too long and i needed to split it up agdgdg) #(it’s a little all over the place tbh but!! i did enjoy writing it aaa) #(tanova had some Questionable teaching methods but they were very effective) #(vela’s sleep schedule is STILL messed up tho agsgdg)

[theaterism]

some vela facts!

she fell in love with theater as a child, largely because her parents read shakespeare plays to her in much the same way other parents might read fairy tales. she also studied astronomy from a young age.

the chambers family is known for specializing in light magic (as well as in night magic, in some circles), though not all members of the family undergo training and/or consider themselves witches.

her full name, velanova, was given to her after she passed a final magic test (‘nova’ was appended to her first name, vela, to symbolize being born anew). though they go by velanova in official documents and formal meetings, they prefer being called vela.

they have three sisters, one younger and two older, but they are only close with the younger one (noelle, who lives in wetherton). their older sisters, carinova and hesper (both witches), live elsewhere in england.

vela’s familiar is a nightjar fondly nicknamed pavo. he is often found in her office in the theater, or watching from the rafters before flying away when someone notices him. he’s rather unsettling but generally chill. he guards the theater at night and provides other assistance in return for treats and head scritches.

even though castor sometimes exasperates vela with how disorganized and seemingly flippant he can act, they still get along well, and vela considers him both a business partner and a close friend. they play chess together and frequently toss quips back and forth.

vela enjoys reading about astronomy and greek mythology, as well as mystery novels. when she isn’t too busy, she often spends time in the theater library. many of the books are from her own collection.

vela’s constellation tattoos stretch across their collarbone, pattern their shoulders, and spiral around their arms like vines. these markings glow a faint white, though this is typically only visible in darkness.

she likes wearing dark blues, deep greens, and black, paired with silver or gold accents or simple jewelry.

#|☆| headcanons #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(thinking abt her again!!)

[theaterism]

INTERMISSION (vela) — hesper

Part 2/3 || Part 1

------

Hesper Chambers was the troublemaker.

She was the second eldest sibling — a year younger than Carina and two years older than Vela. She spent long hours wandering the forest and mucking about however she could, getting her fingers into anything that caught her interest. It wasn’t unusual for her to vanish for a day. Her adventures left her with myriad scrapes and bruises, but she returned home grinning more often than not. Constellations of bandages covered her skin. Their mother chided her twice as often as the other siblings, but she also realized no amount of scolding or consequences would stop the child from exploring. So, she settled on teaching her medical salves in case their supply ever ran out.

A spark danced within Hesper, a flame that always hungered for more. It glimmered in her dark eyes. She carried a springy energy as well, a tendency to bounce on the soles of her feet, which hinted at a readiness to sprint, to leap, to dance on a whim.

This energy made people nervous. Hesper didn’t mind. In fact, she often relished it, delighted in the reactions she could earn from acts of mischief. She did push her luck at times, however, and eventually she stepped too far in drawing unwanted attention.

For several years, the Chambers children journeyed into the nearest town to attend school. They trekked along beaten, meandering paths in the woods until they reached the dirt road, backpacks heavy on their shoulders. One day, the headmaster’s son insulted a girl Hesper liked. Other children gawked and giggled around them while the girl bit her lip and fought back tears. Hesper clenched her fists, fixed her sharp gaze on the boy, and warned him he’d regret his words.

After class, she ran home ahead of her siblings. She locked herself in the bathroom, mixed ingredients their mother had discouraged them from mixing, and poured the foul brew into a vial. She slipped a drop into the boy’s water the next day. He smelled like swamp-water for a month. Showering proved futile in ridding himself of the scent; the hex clung to him like an unseen slime. When he accused Hesper, she only smiled sweetly and said the odor suited him.

Rumors spread like wildfire.

Their mother withdrew them from the school and began homeschooling them soon afterward. She never scolded Hesper directly, but she gave her the sort of pointed look that made the girl’s shoulders hunch and her gaze drop to her shoes. Tanova also assigned Hesper a heap of new chores.

“He deserved it,” Hesper mumbled to Vela later. They were scrubbing bowls coated in a sappy mix of herbs, their hands soapy and stinging from the hot water. “Why shouldn’t I have done it? It worked, didn’t it? He’ll think twice before he does anything like that again.” She glowered at an especially sticky dish and muttered, “They should thank me.”

Vela didn’t know whether she agreed, but she nodded anyway. At least they no longer needed to trudge the tedious route to school each day.

Agreeing with Hesper was easier than disagreeing. Vela knew she could never convince her sister of anything. So, when Hesper rambled about mischief or complained about the limitations of their mother’s lessons or the tedium of traditions or Carina’s perfectionism, Vela listened without argument.

Eventually, Hesper began trusting Vela as her sole confidante. Carina would have scolded her and informed their mother of her antics. Noelle shied away from any sort of disobedience.

Vela didn’t mind listening, usually. It was entertaining. A secondhand taste of rebellion, a glimpse into a mindset she never dared to follow.

She didn’t realize something was truly wrong until it was too late. Everything fell apart in a single night.

#|☆| stories #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(!! hello hello this is shorter than my usual drabbles but…. here u go…….) #(i’m not quite done with the third part yet! that one will have more dialogue) #(and it’ll probably be longer) #(but yes like!! hesper is a very interesting character to write aaa) #(also i’m sorry for any typos i rlly did try to spot them all agdgd)

[theaterism]

🌙  -  for a confession made in the dark. (!! ok but like this sounds like a Vela Aesthetic™ but i know it's a little out there so only if u want to!!)

confessions - accepting

Let’s talk for a bit, alright? Vela had hummed, in a tone that left no room for argument. She led Wren to a large room deep backstage, shrouded in darkness aside from faint pinpricks of light on the ceiling.

Once they’d stepped inside, Vela spoke in words as soft as the tread of cats slinking through the forest at night. “I know you and Foxtrot have been skipping work.” Stated as a gentle fact, not an accusation. Vela couldn’t imagine this confession came as much of a surprise. She had let the matter slide for quite a while. This meeting was rather overdue.

Warm light bloomed atop a desk as she turned on a lamp. Countless books filled shelves that stretched up to a star-speckled ceiling much like the one in the main auditorium. More stars — golden, palm-sized, and diamond-like — hung from the ceiling alongside spherical planets of silvery metal. Vela traced their fingers along a wall, and the golden stars began to glow, shedding more light over the room.

Vela turned toward Wren with a faint smile on her face. “Would it be alright if we discussed that now?”

#magickedhat #(!! hi so like agdgdg thank u for your patience with this!! no rush or pressure to reply!!) #(i just got a sudden burst of inspiration for it aaa) #(it is 100% a Vela Aesthetic (tm); you’re so right!!) #(this is the theater’s library! vela has an office too but she thinks the library is more chill so agdgd) #(but yes…. an Employee Meeting (tm)……….) #|☆| inbox #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #|☆| ic

[theaterism]

☆ the witch of the twilight theater

#|☆| tag games #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(hi i appreciate them agsgd) #(vela isn’t as sociable as castor so people don’t see her as often in the theater) #(but she’s definitely There and involved in a lot of magic behind the scenes) #(and keeping the place running smoothly in general) #(she’s often deeper backstage in the theater’s library!) #(or getting tea in the green room or kitchen…….) #(she and castor play chess together a bunch as well) #(she refreshes the magic on the night ceiling once a week!)

[theaterism]

“Do you like it?” Vela had arrived so quietly that she seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Leaning back against a theater seat, she tilted her head to gaze at the midnight shades splashed across the ceiling as well, a thoughtful glimmer in her eyes. “It took ages to get the constellations right. I’d quite forgotten how many stars were between them.”

#|☆| open #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #|☆| ic #(gosh agsgd i couldn’t stop thinking abt them!!) #(the night ceiling is one of her favorite parts of the theater!) #(partly bc she’s the one who enchanted it yes but like agsgd she just appreciates it……)

[theaterism]

the theater owners

the florist and olivette

#|☆| tag games #|☽| castor ( storyteller ) #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #|❊| ( florist ) #|☽| olive ( assistant ) #(i love them agsgdg) #(originally i just made castor and vela but then i got Inspired) #(also i saw the option for a flapper headpiece and YELLED!!) #(vela vela vela-) #(the florist and olive’s necklace is important for a specific type of magic in the flower shop!) #(i spent… way too long on these……)

[theaterism]

☽ velanova chambers

#|☆| tag games #(!! VELA!!) #(i appreciate her!!) #(i see picrews like this and i NEED to make one for vela bc they suit her so well aaaa) #(the witch of the twilight theater………..) #(she’s the one who keeps the theater Actually Functioning Properly) #(castor helps too!! he just… is a bit too easygoing and easily carried away with stories and performance ideas….) #(vela supports him but also makes sure things don’t get Too Chaotic!) #(she’s highkey talented with light-based magic tho) #(especially related to the moon and stars/constellations!) #(so when she wants to make something fantastical she Absolutely can……) #(they’re also the only main character on this blog who considers themself a witch!) #(i am just Thinking abt her) #(she dabbles in astromancy too but shhh….) #(it’s a secret bc she isn’t very good at it agdgd) #|☆| theater #|​☽| vela ( stargazer )

[theaterism]

most theater workers refer to the owners by their first names (vela and castor), though they may flip to calling them ‘mx. chambers’ and ‘mr. fletcher’ on a whim sometimes. they’re more likely to use their first names when mentioning them around each other and their last names when in the presence of the owners themselves. basically, they see the owners in person and they’re like ‘oh i should probably refer to them formally now bc Business Etiquette (tm).’

they also tend to refer to the owners formally when speaking to guests at the theater, or in non-casual situations, like during the fancier performances or parties the theater sometimes holds.

in casual settings, the owners generally don’t mind whether people use their first names or an honorific and their last names. this is because, when they hire someone, they give the new theater worker clear and careful permission to call them either way. if they haven’t given someone permission, it’s safer to default to mx. chambers and mr. fletcher.

the names a theater worker uses also depends on the theater worker’s personality (such as how formal they are around coworkers and around superiors). for example, mr. atkinson (benedict atkinson), the bookkeeper, exclusively calls the owners by their honorifics and last names and tends to frown upon theater workers who use their first names.

as a side note, vela prefers when theater workers use her nickname (vela) as opposed to her full first name (velanova). the only people who use her full first name consistently are ones she speaks with in meetings of the more magical sort. vela also corrects anyone who uses ‘ms/miss’ for her, as she isn’t comfortable with gendered titles of any form.

as another side note, vela and castor are close friends and nearly always address each other by first name and refer to each other by first name (unless they’re in especially formal situations/settings, or if they’re joking or irritated with the other).

#|☆| headcanons #|☆| theater #|☽| castor ( storyteller ) #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(this is so random but i could NOT get it out of my head) #(basically i just rambled abt names for a couple paragraphs agsgd) #(i like thinking abt it!!)

[theaterism]

vela and castor got into an argument over the name of the theater — vela wanted it called the midnight theater because it matched the color scheme more; castor wanted it called the twilight theater because he thought it sounded nicer. they settled the debate over a game of chess — one of the only games of chess castor has ever won against vela, which made vela suspect he only pretends to be terrible at it for his own amusement unless winning would benefit him in some significant way. vela’s still a bit bitter.

#|☆| headcanons #|☆| theater #|☽| castor ( storyteller ) #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(them!!) #(i appreciate these two so much agdgd they’re wild!!) #(castor Does pretend to be terrible at chess) #(he doesn’t want it to end too quickly even if he intends to lose) #(so he’ll often draw it out on purpose for fun) #(just smiles.........) #(but if he Needs to win then he actually tries agdgd)

[theaterism]

vela (velanova) excels in light-based magic, specifically in relation to astronomy bc she likes it so much (she has a strong connection with it, which strengthens her ability). although charlie painted some of the glimmering stars in the theater, vela created the night sky on the ceiling and added most of the magic that makes it so captivating.

#|☆| headcanons #|☆| theater #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(vela’s neat!!) #(she’s serious but she does have a soft side) #(she just likes being mysterious about it) #(but yeah her magic is pretty!!) #(it’s the reason the ceiling is so lovely; especially at night) #(it’s a bit less enchanted when the theater is open bc she didn’t want to distract audiences during performances) #(but at night it’s just!! especially cool!!) #(the stars and galaxies twinkle and swirl about slowly and there are shooting stars) #(she has a lot of constellation tattoos!! they glimmer….)

[theaterism]

okay i added a tag for cerise, added a tag for vela, and changed the first picture for nathaniel in this reference bc it has more bastard energy and bc i wanted it to match cerise’s first picture in terms of layout (and bc i’m cursed with Constant Indecision)

#|☆| ooc #|☽| cerise ( actress ) #|​☽| vela ( stargazer ) #(who knows if/when i’ll use their tags but they exist now agsgd) #(i might change vela’s tag bc i’m uncertain abt it but we’ll see…….) #(also u know how with some faceclaims it’s like. yes this is their faceclaim but only These Specific Pictures) #(that's how it is with nathaniel's faceclaim agsgd) #(i also added a link to nathaniel and cerise’s reference post on the triplets’ character pages!)