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iphigeniainaulis · 9 months

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Background paintings in Ikevamp and why they matter

...even if you are not familiar with art.

Warnings: minor spoilers for all routes, though I tried to keep it as vague as possible

Time to talk about background paintings in Ikemen vampire because…why not?

First, let me warn you that the following is nothing but a theory based on some visual resemblance. While it may occur that Ikemen designers wanted to hide a few Easter eggs, it's also fair to mention that sometimes the sky is blue just because it's Sunday morning, and that’s all.

Nevertheless, one detail may hint at the former statement being true. And this is because there’s a significant difference in how different paintings are shown in the game.

Some of them are blurry, overdark or too bright. While we can distinguish some unclear silhouettes, the rest is on our imagination.

For example, it seems that the first picture is the natural landscape (probably, sunset in the forest) as well as the second one with the Ionic style columns being placed in the center of a garden. Still, we’re not sure.

But the thing is it doesn’t matter. The amount of details the viewer is given is too small for us to make any art-historical assumptions. Based on these mere images we can figure out neither the artist who painted them nor the narrative. Therefore, these paintings have only a secondary function of background decorations and proof of demonstration of their owner’s wealth.

On the contrary, there are paintings that we can easily detach because their creators are too famous to be unfamiliar with. But even within this scope of paintings there is a slight differentiation due to the way they are incorporated in the game design.

Some of them have been revived by the hands of geniuses who once created them. This is the case of Leonardo’s Study of a woman’s head and Study of Hands

or Vincent’s Sunflower and the Olive trees

While it’s easy to reduce the meaning behind this design decision to simple hype, I think that it also serves as a visual representation of the suitors' character traits. What is the point of redrawing the painting that was already brought to life a long time ago? For Vincent it means years, for Leonardo - centuries. My guess is that for artists like them it's never enough. Life is too beautiful to be captured once and forever. A woman’s face is never a mystery solved. While for many people it’s okay to achieve a goal and forget about it the exact minute they are done, for geniuses like Leonardo and Vincent it’s always different. You must improve. You have to work further. There is always something new an artist’s eye can capture. That’s why they painted it again, again and again.

Let's move to another group of paintings. Spotting The Starry Night in Theo’s room is not a surprise because we know that, first of all, they’re brothers with Vincent, and, secondly, Theo is an art dealer.

What deserves to be brought into focus is that this work is regarded as the elder Van Gogh’s magnum opus. Sure, you can argue that the real Theo and Vincent thought little of this painting, calling it “a failure”. To which I reply that, again, this is a game for numerous people across the world, including those who are not familiar with art history. For many of us The Starry Night is viewed as one of the most popular art works, a special work, a valuable one. Therefore, by omitting historical accuracy Ikemen writers and designers try to achieve something more contributing to the plot - they try to evoke certain emotions. Putting the art of such great significance in the room of one of the brothers should be a clear indicator of the amount of respect and love the two of them share. Describing the emotional bond between them is mainly the prerogative of writers. But sometimes game design plays no less if not more meaningful role in the process of us as readers getting familiar with characters. The painting here becomes a subtle part of the plot as it highlights certain prerequisites of their relationship and prepares us for what is going to come next.

The latter is especially relevant to Vlad's route. The female portrait in the pureblood’s room is what takes background paintings in Ikevamp on a fundamentally new level - the level of plot-forming core.

Unlike those paintings I mentioned at the beginning, these ones are no longer a substitute for the room decor. Instead, they serve as a device that pushes the plot forward. It accumulates three major points that are relevant to the plot:

It adds the mystery element for triggering our curiosity. The portrait is ‘faceless’, and even though we all see the resemblance in features, there is this ‘if’ element. What if they decided to go with a classical Dracula plot? Eternal vampire loses his lover and waits for her to be reborn? Is this MC? Why can’t he remember her face?

The portrait itself allows us to get for a second into Vlad’s head and understand his feelings towards the mysterious woman. Vlad drawing her portrait is caused by the act of kindness she showed him. His entire motivation is connected to the single painting. She was the one who he wanted to be with. In order to do so, he had to become strong, to accept his tragic loss and move forward. The portrait serves as a silent reminder about what was his goal and why he chose the path he chose.

It circulates the narrative. At the beginning, MC faces the challenge of being the third one in the relationship with Vlad and his unknown lover. She questions the identity of that unknown counterpart of hers and secretly wants to learn more about her. By revealing the truth of Vlad’s past and their connection, MC figures out who was the woman in the painting which in some way pushes her to find enough strength for making a certain groundbreaking decision.

Finally, there is the third group of paintings that possess what I call ‘potential meaning’. These paintings maintain the main features of the two previous groups, namely, vague silhouettes combined with a rather clear narrative that somehow increases the possibility of them being more than a decorative object.

Take a look at the two paintings in Vincent’s room. In comparison to all other paintings these ones differ not only in terms of shape but also in terms of color. The lines seem to be more fluid, and the color palette is dominated by ochreous, blue and black which is typical for East Asian classical ink art. By taking a closer look, you can actually see the vague outlines of the sea and shrouded in mist mountains in the background. Personally to me such landscapes together with a specific composition angle remind of Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji which can be a great allusion to Van Gogh’s obsession with Japanese prints and their role in his artistic career.

The huge painting in Comte’s living room has been haunting me for years, I shall admit. It portrays a marine landscape with a single boat chasing the wild waters in the dark or right before the sunrise. When talking about marine art, the first person that comes to my mind is Ivan Aivazovsky. Yet, it is evident that Aivazovsky’s style was pure romanticism with heavy realistic elements, whereas this painting looks like it's more about light and colores rather than clear and precise lines. And also this sun, this strange orange sun..that can be spotted only in Claude Monet's Impression. Sunrise.

The mansion’s copy is a darker mirrow image of the original work. Nobody knows why Comte chose this painting for the mansion, but isn’t it a bit of irony that the painting that praises France, the country that suffered from the war with Prussia and was on its way to revitalisation, is located in the house that is about to face the battle between the lesser vampires and their haunters or rather the figurative war of two different morals (we are yet to know about it, though)?

Another version is that the painting serves as a metaphoric description of the character. In various routes MC mentions how Comte reminds her of the sun that made manifest, and everything supports this claim to be true, from his golden eyes and hair, to the brightness of the room and..paintings that symbolize the master of the mansion.

Finally, I wouldn't forget about the massive backlash Impressionists had to face at the early stage of the movement’s existence. It was only until the 5th Impressionist exhibition in 1880 that the artists finally got praised by critics. Just a bit more than 10 years before the MC’s appearance. However, we know that the creation of the mansion had taken place before this event. So, my point is that probably Monet’s painting was purchased by the greater vampire during the times when Impressionists were still harshly criticized by the Salon. And if so, the display of the painting that represents the les misérables of the art world speaks so much volume about Comte’s character and devotion to fulfill what he perceives as his noblesse oblige - to support those in need, to help them reveal their talent no matter what social class they belong to.

The game room’s central painting is another amusing detail as it’s completely out of mood. Playing cards, watching chess games or taking any other light leisure activity with a glass of brandy in your hand, you rarely expect to raze your gaze from the table only to stare at the image of ruins. Yet, this is what we get here - a typical capriccio painting like those of Alessandro Salucci and Leonardo Coccorante.

Capriccio artists dared to do something new in the history of art - they put real archeological signs into fantasy surroundings, sometimes from the same time period that the artists lived in. To an extent, they brought the ancient past and allowed it to live in the future, which is not a bad allusion to the original purpose of the mansion’s creation.

And here is what we can spot in Shakespeare’s room. At first, I didn't think much about this painting in Will’s bedroom but something felt odd. And then I understood.

You see, there’s this famous Vincent’s work named Cafe Terrace at Night. The painting is created from the north eastern corner that allows us to see the starry night without facing an obstacle in the form of the cafe's roof.

But this is how the modern cafe looks from a different perspective. Yellow elongated building with two wide niches that serve both as windows and entrance.

Do you see it, right? RIGHT?

I headcanon that Vincent was so eager to spoil his new friend with a present that he decided to redraw his favorite work and give it to the bard. But being an empathetic and observant one, Vincent immediately figured out Will’s admiration of everything unique and rare, so he decided to create a completely new version of his own painting instead of just redrawing it from the same angle as he did with sunflowers.

Aaand this is what we get in the living room. Random at first sight, the composition of various unrelated pictures actually makes sense. The most evident one is, of course, the image of theater curtains. What else should we expect to see in the manor of the great Bard of Avon? The same curtains, by the way, appear in almost every scene where MC and her suitor are invited to Shakespeare’s play.

Just a small detail, but I think this is one of those rare occasions when we can actually name the place Ikemen writers took inspiration from (apart from, of course, Louvre and the University of Paris). What helps us here is the curtains over which we spot golden metal lambrequin with a cartouche that imitates the image of the sun.

Such a prolonged lambrequin with the sun image (in honor of Louis XIV, the Sun King and also the father of the Paris Opera) in the center actually exists only in one Parisian theater - Opera Garnier, where in 1888 Shakespeare’s Roméo et Juliette was staged.

Just to make sure, look at the curtains in some of the most popular theaters that existed during the historical period in Ikevamp - Théâtre du Châtelet or the Opéra-Comique. You won't find a similar one.

Two last possible Easter eggs may be related to the two historical objects that existed during Shakespear’s era. The first one is still connected to the curtains for as you see, there were rumors (modern archeological findings prove them to be true) that the first venue of Shakespeare’s plays was called ‘the Curtain Theatre’.

And the second thing I want to point at is two images of the chair. Honestly, I highly doubt that a person like Will who has an almost narcissistic obsession with expensive staff would put a painting of such low value in his private apartment. But I can understand it, if this is not an image of some random piece of furniture but the well-known Shakespeare’s Courting Chair, wherein, according to William Henry, ‘the bard was used to sit, during his courtship, with his Anne upon his knee’.

Anyway, I hope it wasn't too much. Thank you for reading!

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #cybird #ikemen series #ikevamp shakespeare #ikevamp vincent #ikevamp comte #ikevamp vlad #ikevamp theo #ikevamp leonardo #ikemen le comte #ikemen leonardo #ikemen theo #ikemen vincent #ikemen shakespeare #ikemen vlad

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yrenesposts · 1 year

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Y'ALL I CAN'T.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Mf4q85ZD5NI&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #cybird ikemen series #ikemen vampire vlad #ikemen arthur #ikemen vampire arthur #cybird ikemen #ikemen series #faust ikemen vampire #ikemen incorrect quotes #ikemen isaac #ikemen le comte #ikemen sebastian #ikemen theo

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memoria-99 · 24 days

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Ikemen Vampire: Guys before the plastic surgery

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worlds-smallestviolin · 3 months

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Comte: So you've met Vlad.

MC: Yes.

Comte:...

MC:...

Comte: He's weirdly sexy, right?

MC: Oh my God. Thank you. I thought I was the only one.

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp le comte #ikevamp vlad #ikevamp incorrect quotes

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whatever-fanfics · 5 months

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POV: you need help with your 21st century homework in a mansion full of vampires

~~~

Imagine MC needing sitting on the table, head in their hands, about to cry because NOTHING MAKES SENSE. And in come multiple people who look over MC's shoulder to what's making them so upset, they recognize some of it but not all of it. After pondering with each other they try asking some of the others. 10 minutes later 12 vampires surround the human trying to make sense of numerous subjects. Shakespeare was visiting.

~~~

Arthur & Theo *coming in from a night of drinking*: MC? Hondje? what's wrong

MC *on the verge of tears*: Nothing makes sense🥺😭

Arthur and Theo *walk over and see numerous papers from different subjects*: What is this?

MC: homework from the 21st century 🥺

Arthur *sits down and recognizes some of the works*: Interesting...

Theo *looks over and sees art history papers and papers about painting techniques*: ?!?

Isaac *enters and sees them*: ???

Isaac *walks over and sees calculus and math*: ?!?

Isaac *sits down and recognizes some equations*: I recognize some but not all of them, hold on

Isaac *leaves and comes back with Leonardo*: I brought help

Leonardo *looks over and recognizes problems*: You study this cara?

MC: not by choice 🥲

Napoleon *sleepily wanders over*: ???

Napoleon *sees typed words in French*: Nunuche how did you get your writing so neat?

MC: that's typed, it's my homework

Napoleon *confused, recognizes some but not all*: it's French homework?

MC: Yea... 🥲

Napoleon: hold on

Napoleon *leaves and comes back with le comte*: here

Le Comte *happy to be included*: 😁 homework?

MC: unfortunately 😓

Le comte *sits down*: I see the language has evolved again, this makes things a bit tricky, no matter *starts a whole lecture*

MC *look at the camera like their in The Office*: ...

*Mozart and Jean enter*

Mozart: why are you all so noisy

Mozart *comes over and notices music sheets*: what is this?

MC: homework

Mozart and Jean: Home..work???

Sebastian *appearing out of the void*: school work that you take home and return the next day completed

Literally everyone: where did you come from?

Jean *comes over and sees typed paper*: what is..this?

MC: typed up homework

Jean:...Witchcraft *takes out his sword*

MC: PLEASE NO, I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE COPIES 😭😭😭

*Dazai enters*

Dazai *sees everyone by MC and walks over*:

Dazai *sees his book*: what's this? Everyone: Homework

*Shakespeare enters*

Shakespeare: Good morrow, all 😊

Shakespeare *walks over and sees multiple works of his*: ???

Shakespeare: Good MC, I had no notion of your interest in me ☺️

MC and Theo: It's homework

Theo *puts down art history papers*: be right back

*Theo leaves and comes back with Vincent*

Vincent: MC I didn't know you were so interested in art ☺️😊

MC *didn't want to tell him it was for homework*: yeah...

*Sebastian taking notes furiously in his journal*

~~~

#ikemen vampire #ikemen vampire leonardo #ikemen vampire theo #ikemen vampire vincent #ikemen vampire le comte #ikemen vampire arthur #ikemen vampire napoleon #ikemen vampire dazai #ikemen vampire shakespeare #ikemen vampire jean #ikemen vampire mozart #ikemen vampire sebastian #ikemen vampire isaac #ikemen vampire mc #ikemen vampire shitpost #incorrect ikemen vampire quotes #ikemen vampire x reader #iv! reblog

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weird-profiterole · 1 year

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Since I'm currently at Rouen, I feel like it's the right opportunity to share you those,

When le Comte saved Jean from the stake, the 30th May 1431 at Rouen,

Don't repost, only reblog

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ikemenscreenshotoftheday · 11 days

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08/04 ❤️🫶🥺❤️

#ikemen series #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp leonardo #ikevamp le comte

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koco-coko · 3 months

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Modern au this modern au that

NOBODY is talking about what Comte would be doing if he had a computer

Aka he's going on every single dress up game there is. Every single one. Mobile, steam, flash, adobe, does not matter in his private time he plays dress up doll games I will not he taking criticism

#ikevamp comte #Ikemen vampire #ikemen vampire comte #ikevamp le comte

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ceruleanwhore · 11 months

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So I’ve seen a lot of headcanons and fics floating around the Cybird/Ikemen fandom spaces about pregnancy or having children, but I have yet to see any childfree content at all, as @sevenai pointed out in a post they made about ikevamp. As such, I’ve put together a list of childfree headcanons for all the ikevamp men for those of us who want such things.

Napoleon — After the tragedy of his only legitimate son’s premature death during his life, I think it’s perfectly plausible that he would not want to try to produce another child of his own. Besides, the children he teaches with Isaac do more than enough to fill the void and warm his heart. I imagine that, at some point, the topic of children would come up and, when his partner would nervously disclose that she doesn’t actually want to have any of their own, he would feel relief.

Leo — Being in a relationship with anyone at all (especially a human) is already more than enough heartbreak, I don’t think he could handle producing a child of his own that he would then have to watch die someday even though no parent should ever outlive their child.

Mozart — This man is obsessive about cleanliness and absolutely cannot tolerate noise. There’s no way in hell he’s ever having a kid.

Arthur — He had five children in his life and so I feel like, for him, he’s already done that and sufficiently fulfilled that desire, so now he doesn’t feel the need to do it over again in this second life. I think he’d be willing to give it a go if that’s what his partner wanted, but I also think he’d be just as content not to.

Vincent — I get that in ikevamp he’s a sweet boy, but he has a past full of tremendous mental health struggles, and I think he’d be afraid of passing that to any potential children. I also think he would be worried about his ability to care for a child.

Isaac — Dude’s already worried he’s going to snack on Comte’s ferret or something, like being in a relationship with a human is PLENTY for him to worry about. Also, he’s a good person who views himself as a dangerous monster, which means he definitely won’t be having kids any time soon. Plus, like Napoleon, he has their little gaggle that they teach and that is genuinely plenty for him. Yeah, I think he’d be perfectly happy to have his partner tell him that there is no desire for children on their part.

Theo — I think he’d be more apathetic about children, where he doesn’t really have a desire for them but he would be willing to have kids if that’s what his partner wanted. He already has his partner, his bother, and his career, and that is more than enough for him to be happy.

Jean — First off, Jean is 19. Secondly, he hates himself and what he is, like Carlisle from Twilight. Maybe he would’ve wanted kids in life, but there is no way in hell he’d want to create half vampire spawn.

Will — Given that he was always running away from his wife and kids in his life, I think it’s safe to assume he never wanted them, even before he died. I think, given the context of his real marriage with Anne, he would be grateful to discover that his partner doesn’t want to have kids with him and it would be another indicator to him that this relationship is actually a good match.

Comte — I think he has no desire of his own for children and I also think he is hella devoted to whoever he chooses to be in a relationship with and will do anything to make them happy, so even if he did want kids he still would 100% fold to a childfree partner. There’s also that element of tragedy like with Leonardo that we’ll also see with Vlad.

Dazai — He’s either actively suicidal or very recently got better and definitely does not feel like he has the capacity to care for a child. Also, someone who hates themselves so much they’d choose to become a vampire solely so they could live long enough to kill their infant self is definitely not going to want to reproduce. Like Isaac, he sees himself as dangerous and I don’t think he would trust himself with something like having kids and I think that being in a relationship is already massively stressful for him.

Sebastian — He has a terminal illness, so there could be concern about passing whatever it is to any future children. He also probably would just not want to have to subject children to dealing with his inevitable, premature death. Even without all that, like if he can get magically cured by Faust or something, I don’t really see him actively wanting to have children, like I think he’d be more of a “travel the world with your partner in a delightfully comfortable DINK arrangement” kind of guy.

Vlad — Yeah I think he’d 100% just be a “whatever you want” guy who values his partner above all else, including potential people who don’t exist yet.

Faust — He’s kinda weird with kids tbh in a way that reminds me of myself — uncomfortable but kind of nice and gives in easily to whatever they want — which makes me think he doesn’t really like them and doesn’t really want them. I could see him kind of wanting to reproduce with a human as an experiment, but I really don’t see him genuinely desiring to have children.

Charles — I get the vibe that he’ll be a very possessive yandere once he’s in a relationship and won’t want to share his partner with anyone at all, including potential children of their own. He actually gives me the impression that even if his partner came to him and shared that they genuinely wanted to have children with him, he might insist they not because of this trait of his.

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arthurs-puppygirl · 3 months

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Le Comte was out here serving Le Cunt with that hairstyle ✨😮‍💨

#ikemen vampire #ikemen series #cybird ikemen #ikevamp #cybird #le comte de saint germain #ikemen vampire comte #ikemen comte #ikevamp comte

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ana-thedaydreamer · 9 months

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The old married couple is looking after their children playing from the balcony

And then there's me, that spot in between is perfect ლ(´ ❥ `ლ) (jk

#cybird ikemen #otome game #cybird #ikevamp #ikemen vampire #ikemen leonardo #ikemen le comte

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iphigeniainaulis · 2 years

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C means Coffee | What coffee shop drinks can be associated with Ikevamp suitors

I really wanted to participate in the content creation challenge hosted by @xxsycamore and @queengiuliettafirstlady but couldn't write anything satisfying. So, I ended up with short series about what I love most — coffee

Promt: Day 5 — Small shop AU

Characters: Mozart, Comte, Napoleon, Sebastian, Shakespeare, Dazai, Vincent

Warnings: minor spoilers

Lemon affogato — Mozart

Chances are you won't like it at first.

An affogato is an ice cream based beverage. A few drops of hot Nespresso make it taste less like crunched snow, but generally speaking it's better to take this drink slowly, especially if you have sensitive teeth.

The same goes to Mozart. He may seem distant and sarcastic, his room is always chilly from Parisian draughts even in summer, and his welcoming “I despise you” breaths with the cold of January blizzard, making your face twist in such grimaces as if you’ve eaten dozens of sour lemons at once.

But if you show patience, you'll actually see how quickly this colossal lump of ice melts under the warm light in your cosy coffee shop. That's when you learn that lemons are actually sweet, and ice cream is not as solid as it used to be at the beginning of your banquet.

And if you want to spice things a little bit, add a teaspoon of any rum liqueur, for example, Kahlua. You'll see how an iceberg can turn into a lava volcano. Or is it the same thing?

Espresso martini — Comte

The story behind the origin of this drink was literally one young lady coming to the club and asking for something that could “wake her up, and then fuck her up.”

Nobody described Comte’s nature better than her.

One of the reasons why Comte’s presence in the room is so thrilling seems to be his complicated nature that much like this heady brew of coffee and alcohol consists of millions of contradictory fractions mixed together in a single person.

The first feeling you get after taking a sip reminds you of tasting a rich viscous mixture of classical espresso and exquisite French liquor on the tip of your tongue — close in a way to trying mead or honey wine but with its top note having a bitter flavour. It’s similar to what you think of him when meeting the nobleman for the very first time. Honey associates with ambery sweetness and the serenity of evening sun, with the colour of his eyes and the ultimate comfort you enjoy in the company of the father figure of the mansion. Although deep inside you know there is this courteous nonchalance, the invisible distance that he prefers to keep between the two of you and that makes you ask yourself subconsciously whether the forbidden fruit is as sweet as they promise?

If you're bold enough to indulge further into the drink’s flavour, be prepared for another surprise.

The cocktail’s name provides an idea that Martini Asti — a sparkling strong but not too strong wine made from white muscat — may be on the ingredients list.

What do you end up with? Right, a wave of frosty heat is rushing to your chest. It's vodka.

Comte may act like a perfect gentleman, but you know that his true self doesn’t match such a flattering description. He is not about rules and etiquette — he is the rave of colours, the passion of wild nature, the deepest senses brought to their maximum.

Don't let fancy covers and titles misguide you. With good Comte you never get what you expect. What has been hidden under the dust of centuries of self-control, self-restriction and self-destruction may find its way out in your warm embrace, and in this case you better be ready.

Because his love will literally wake you up and then fuck you up.

Hot Peppermint Patty — Napoleon

Let me see the receipt. Hot chocolate, perfect!

Hot chocolate has this special power to warm you from inside and give some extra energy, to calm the nerves and distract you from dark thoughts.

One thing you can tell about Napoleon is that he is a giant, uncontrollable source of life. If he is not cooking in the kitchen, he is fencing with Jean. If you don’t meet him at école, you’ll find him in the stable or in the library surrounded by books.

Sometimes the residents — Isaac and MC in particular — mention “the elder brother” vibes Napoleon gives them, but there is nothing offensive about it. Them wording it this way is simply an attempt to explain that Napoleon’s presence is calming enough to feel protected. Mainly, because you have the whole controle over the situation. The man will never do more or less than you ask, because he has great respect for humans, especially those with a big and kind heart — you included.

No wonder he decided to become a bodyguard after his revival. This is what his nature — honest and protective, but never controlling or sermonising — demands to do.

Consuming chocolate generates endorphins which give you the feeling of being in love. Reminds you of a certain Monsieur de Wa-ha-ha whose charms make him loved by everyone around.

And when you see him, a wide smile always blooms on your face. Like a child laughing when seeing a pile of chocolate candies.

Also chocolate remained a privilege of the rich for a very long time due to the expensiveness of cocoa beans. The drink is worthy of kings or, as in our case, the great emperor and the Nightmare of Europe.

The hot chocolate taste is framed with the fresh scent of Crème de menthe made with Corsican mint — a symbol of protection and virtue now we know what colour Napo’s eyes are.

Mint is also famous for its calming properties. Sergei Rachmaninoff, for example, said that a glass of mint liquor steadied his nerves when performing an extremely difficult twenty-fourth variation of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Napoleon is a safe haven for those looking for redemption in calmness. He savours delicious food, nature and tries to find peace after many years of wars, losses and betrayals shining with the colour of blood. Maybe he cherishes tranquillity so much now because he was deprived of it in his previous life?

Mint is for “enjoying the moments”.

Which is a great part of Bonaparte’s story — his lover showing him how to stop seeing the world as an endless spiral of unpleasant unexpectedness and painful goodbyes. The flower field will wilt, the moon will follow the sun, nights will banish days. But as we live in the present we create, life is worth fighting.

Traditionally prepared cappuccino — Sebastian

Cappuccino is so trivial. Hell, no!

Well, there is no point in denying that this coffee drink is a must in every coffee house, restaurant and railway car all over the world. You may not find caramel cheesecakes, sandwiches or souffle pancakes with a stick of butter on the menu, but you will definitely come across the line with a word cappuccino written there.

Let’s put it another way round. Cappuccino is the foundation of any cafe and restaurant. Its flavour may seem colourless in comparison to other more “exquisite” coffee drinks, but this so-called flaw is what makes cappuccino so favourable.

Sebastian always hides in the shades of the residents of Comte’s mansion. He demonstrates neither Mozart’s musical genius nor a scent for writing like Arthur and Dazai do. He is ordinary, almost boring in contrast with the great historical figures he lives with.

But it's this “not so special” guy clad in nondescript grey clothes who MC can trust while adapting to her new life in a completely different place. It's this ordinary man who is always the first to mention her feeling sad, anxious or overwhelmed, ready to listen, to warn and to give her the best advice possible. Sebas is that particular person she can rely on taking her first, the most painful steps in 19th century France. To some extent he can be viewed as a symbol of MC’s stability in an extremely unstable environment. Because he was born in the same country and time period, thus reminding her of everything she’s lost after walking into that mystical door in the Louvre.

Now, let's get back to cappuccino once more. An interesting fact about this drink is that although it’s not so difficult to cook, even the smallest change in receipt may lead to unexpected results. Try to add a little bit more milk, and you’ll have latte. Add less and enjoy caffè macchiato. And this is a brilliant reminder to all of us.

Even if you don't consider yourself special, remember that there is no other person on Earth like you. You don't need to be famous in order to win one’s heart. Your character, motivation and attitude — that's what really matters. This thought is an important refrain in Sebastian’s route, don't you think so?

Lady Grey tea — Shakespeare

Shakespeare once called jealousy “the green-eyed monster”. Well, this beast definitely tortures Will every time he remembers that the Duchess of Bedford was the one who invented the famous british custom of afternoon tea.

He loves tea and with assistance from gentle Comte possesses a large collection of multiple types of tea from luxurious pearl oolong to bitter like oak roots redbush tea.

Though it should be noticed that the writer enjoys not the taste of tea per se but rather its ephemeral, always different fragrance.

Canonically, Shakespeare's villa is full of little boxes with various exotic oils, vintage bottles with flavoured rose water and amphoras with aromatic lilac petals inside. He adores exquisite perfume and he is pretty good at distinguishing fragrance notes — a sign of a delicate soul and true esthete. Also it reveals his inclinations towards psychology and observation since one’s preference for particular scents can tell a lot about this person’s traits, habits and manners.

Bergamot is known to be the queen of citrus in perfumery. Historically, its essential oil was used as an ingredient in cologne or simply as a skin or hair cream. Bergamot fragrance is so intense that sometimes Will leaves a cup with unfinished tea on the windowsill to fill the air in his cabinet with this rich scent of smoke in the night sky, cut grass covered in summer rain and tobacco cigars lighted in the darkness of the room.

Apart from bergamot aromatic properties, this fruit is famous for being the only citrus that can’t be eaten fresh. To be able to understand the true value of this fruit you first need to know how to cook it, then and only then will the original bitterness turn into rich tartness. Sounds pretty much like Shakespeare, right? The way you begin to see him after some time spent together is completely different from your first perception of him.

This particular trait of Will’s character brings him closer to Mozart, but the difference is that dropping a mask from Wolf’s face is possibly hard while doing the same to Will is hardly possible.

It doesn't mean that your relationship will be based solely on lies. But you should be ready that this Janus has two faces, and guessing which one he’s showing right now may be a real headache. Well, citrus bergamia is a capricious tree, after all. It blossoms during the winter, and never gives the amount of plants you were planning to gather.

This is not the whole story, by the way. Know how to distinguish Lady Grey from her famous counterpart Earl Grey? Cornflower petals, exactly.

In the language of flowers cornflowers mean hope in love. And who if not the great Shakespeare can chant the praises of love so strong that it still wins over Byron’s sorrow?

However, this flower has another hidden meaning — single wretchedness. That's why sometimes they call it “the Devil's Flower”. Will himself realises this dark, evil side of his, and it tortures him a lot. On the one hand, he wants to be where the light is, which is perfectly described through the metaphor with candles in his story. And this is why he struggles to follow Vlad’s orders when they may bring potential harm to MC. On the other hand, accepting this role of a fallen angel, Shakespeare denies himself the right to be revived and forgiven, thus struggling even more from the idea that his own decisions might lead to him not having a place in the world he is living in. He is a visitor — never a part of the cast. A lonely soul.

Isn't it the irony of fate that the first recorded use of the word "lonely" was in Shakespeare's Coriolanus?

“Believe't not lightly—though I go alone,

Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen

Makes fear'd and talk'd of more than seen—your son

Will or exceed the common or be caught

With cautelous baits and practise.”

Flat white with cinnamon — Vincent

Vanilla matcha latte — Dazai

Typically when people only get familiar with matcha, their initial reaction is to call this drink weird.

Since it's hard to describe. The first time you try matcha it tastes like plantains puree. The second round reveals the bitterness of vanilla roots, but you're still uncertain whether you like it or not as it's levelled by the spicy sweetness of flowers. The fifth time you order matcha you are already so in love with this neither-tea-no-coffee drink that you cannot imagine your life without it.

Nevertheless, matcha is a nourishing beverage. There’s never too much or too little when we talk about it. Matcha possesses this ideal balance between a soft subtle scent of tea leaves and deep, satisfying taste.

Dazai almost also has this ability to keep balance between compassion and respecting other people’s boundaries, between oddity and seriousness.

We first talk about Isaac. Are Dazai’s jokes really targeted against the apple boy? Does he want to make fun of him, to disappoint or, what's worse, to bully Ai-kun? No, never. Most of the scenes where the two men interact are about how Isaac feels embarrassed and uncertain of what to do, and Dazai takes a step only when it's clearly implied that the scientist needs some motivation or advice to move on. Bantering with Dazai helps him get rid of anxiety and usually leaves some food for thought.

The writer’s strange attitude is often backed up by the simple prose of life. Everyone remembers his dramatic appearance in the prologue. Adult Peter Pan in the window. But from the story with his point of view we can actually learn that Dazai did it after seeing MC’s worried face. She was a mere stranger, but Dazai wanted her to laugh and to feel at ease in the mansion. In other words, his childish trick was nothing more than an attempt to lighten MC’s mood.

This is where we should remember another important trait of matcha — its healing power. It's a famous antioxidant, metabolism booster and a remedy for tired mind and body.

If MC is anxious about something, self conscious or uncertain of how to react, Dazai’s emergency room is open 24 hours to provide help, support and so many more (especially in Mozart’s route). He’s here to listen and his jokes boost her spirit, giving MC the energy to face new challenges.

Flat white with cinnamon — Vincent

Milk and cinnamon are associated with innocence and purity, no wonder they are frequently used in pastel moodboards. Milk is usually mentioned when describing the scent of baby skin, the colour of sky on Bouguereau’s pastoral paintings and the wave of angel wings. And when we want to say that somebody is very kind and pure, the cinnamon roll is the first combination that comes to mind. By the way, in the language of spices and herbs cinnamon means “soothing warmth”. Just the right thing to say about our sunflower boy’s bright aura and (impressionistic) lust for light, sun and vivid oil paints.

An important feature of flat white is its deceiving softness. It can be easily confused with latte, but the difference is that in this coffee drink velvety milk notes only support the flavour while the dominating ingredient is fresh brewed strong espresso.

With Vincent it's easy to indulge into the cliche of an innocent angel. But Van Gogh’s angelic image isn't the result of him trying to escape reality by pretending to be a good, convenient guy. This is a voluntary act of accepting the world with all its flaws and loving it in spite of their existence. And that's what makes his palette so strong. Many emotions are hidden behind those milky clouds in his eyes. Childhood traumas. The passion for art. The envy of life. The sadness that will last forever. But he still chooses to be kind, naive and a bit shy. Not because he is obliged to, but because he wants to be like that even though his decision may bring a lot of pain and disappointment.

Victoria Erickson once wrote, “Honey and wildfire are both the colour gold.” She was right.

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