bakerstreet | Art Museum Meme

Free Admission Night!

We invite all, regardless of your artistic expertise (or lack thereof), to explore our diverse collection. You're sure to find a piece of art that speaks to you, even if it's something so captivatingly hideous that you can't turn away.

Subject Line: Character name and canon, as always.
No Empty Top-Levels: Include a link to a piece of art that your character is glancing at, whether it's a painting, a sculpture, a poem, a fashion piece, or anything in between.
Bonus: Add a line or two of introspection, or perhaps even some dialogue!

Resources:
• Feel free to search through some ideas here.
• Tag NSFW content.
• Use the code below to create a link to your chosen artwork:

Optional museum section ideas:
—Outdoors section with massive sculptures and junk yard art.
—Garage with limited edition and custom vehicles (not for sale :().
—Library with classic literature and historical documents.
—Greenhouse harmonizing plant life with crafted pieces.
—A massive closet with vintage couture from renowned designers, some worn by famous and infamous figures.
—Theater with perfmances of all kinds (be sure to check tonight's schedule!).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He was there as a consultant. That was the story anyway. And he had come to this library to help sort through a recent shipment of ancient texts of the dubious kind. Most of them were harmless, written in human languages that could be read and comprehended safely even if the material of which they spoke were dark or mysterious in nature. They made one question the world at large but not forsake their sanity entirely just by looking at them.

There was one, however, that was an unexpected surprise. One that was a little too real, and a whole lot too unsafe to look upon by just anyone. He had expected it to be a fake, a mere copy advertised as one of the originals for lack of better knowledge. His Companion gasped in awe upon seeing it and spoke in a low hiss of warning. This wasn't a fake or even just a copy of the ancient text. It was one of the genuine originals from ancient times. And it held secrets that were not meant for mere mortals.

Which, of course, made it quite unique and desired and irresistible. The library officials couldn't keep the excitement at displaying it out of their ranks if they'd tried. It was, at least, kept in one of the privileged rooms in the back, a place where few could enter, but that was only a partial relief. Benedict did not see any good coming from leaving it where it was. So he lingered behind one night with a plan for how to retrieve it.

The breaking of the glass was a dead give away that he'd waited too long. He knew what it was before he'd even gotten to the room to see what happened. What he didn't expect was who he found there. He approached cautiously.

"Well... that's one way to get it."

It was no surprise that the tome was named Al Azif. Once it was opened, the sound of whispering, of sand sliding across the desert, of slithering wyrm tentacles resounded from the deep. It reverberated in Sister Imperator's ears, in her mind, her eyes filling with unspeakable, unknowable horrors. Visions of Gods so terrifying that she felt her sanity beat against the fragile walls of her neurons. The tendrils of fear curled around the edges of her brain, along the ripples of her soul, the crevices of her heart -

The shadows receded with a hiss, bit by the metaphysical blades impaled within her chest. What were these Outer Gods when one has seen angels and YHWH, Lucifer and his horde?

Sister Imperator turned to Benedict, who was approaching her like she was ready to go on a rampage. It was a familiar scene, and she smiled.

"It took you long enough. Any longer and another collector would have gotten it."

She snapped the book shut, and the whispering came to an abrupt halt.

He smiled in return though it was brittle around the edges as he eyed the book in her hands. And ignored her remark at his expense.

"Another collector would have a hard time with it."

He wasn't entirely surprised she managed to stave off the whispers, but there still lingered a healthy dose of caution from him. He didn't know entirely what she was capable. He did know she was quite an unusual person and held unusual abilities. It was a scary thought.

Fortunately, he was unusual, too.

"What do you plan on doing with it?"

She gave him an amused look, then stretched her arm out to hand him the book.

"I planned to give it to you. It has no place in our Ministry. We have enough books that would burn a person's eyes out or corrupt their mind, soul, and body. This is not knowledge that would benefit our Clergy, save to satisfy curiosity in the Outer Gods that dwell in the far reaches of our universe.

It belongs in the hands of a person who can properly safeguard it and has experience with such matters."

Sister Imperator's eyes flicked to the voidling hovering behind Benedict.

"Oh."

Benedict froze for half a second in surprise before he snapped out of it and gingerly took the book from her. He could feel an odd sort of pinprick sensation from merely touching it, a sign of its deeper power. He didn't look down at it's cover. While he had his own unique type of protection, there was no sense in tempting Fate.

"...I'm surprised," he admitted. "While I can obviously do that very thing, I would think it's almost some sort of competition to your own goals? Is it not? What if I were to use it? Or loose it to someone who would? Would that not interfere with your own work?"

In the attempt to do, essentially, the same thing that this book would bring about if used by one willing and able to summon those that waited beyond. Simply in the guise of some other ancient evil. Benedict was no friend to the Ministry despite his continued relation with Sister Imperator. Anything that wanted to destroy or alter the world wasn't exactly on his list of friends no matter how well dressed.

Sister Imperator may have been a friendly acquaintance, but the Ministry was an organization not much different from the one that he grew up to fear and loath. He would keep the book safe. Safe from them, safe from occultists, safe from the unsuspecting, and anyone else ill prepared or with ill intent for the Necronomicon. That was always the plan, with or without help. The question was: why did she think this was her move to make instead of another?

"Indeed, having someone else unleash the Outer or the Elder Gods would interfere with our mission. So don't lose it," Sister Imperator said with a sardonic smile.

The hammer she'd used to smash the glass case was already disregarded to the side, and she reached into a briefcase she'd laid on the floor to pull out a copy of The Greater Key of Solomon - a replica, of course - placing that instead where the Al Azif had lain. A nice little Satanist signature.

She saw Benedict's confusion at her willingness to trust him with such an important artifact. Sister Imperator straightened up, her eyes leaving the book she'd artfully laid amidst the broken glass to find his gaze and hold it.

"Rule 6 of the Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved. This is not the United Clergy of Ghost's purview. This is yours. Would I stop some other occultist from getting it? Likely, as you're the expert that I know. That's why I took it upon me to take it before someone else got to it. Connections have their place in this world, after all.

"Does that answer your questions?"

Edited 2023-12-04 11:36 (UTC)

"I suppose it does," he answered slowly.

He was still looking at her as if inspecting her very soul to deduce the meaning behind her words. Still contemplating and letting them settle in. It was an odd feeling left in the pit of his stomach as he chose to accept the words for what they were. Something like a betrayal that hadn't actually taken place; a foreshadowing of worse to come from a source that seemed benign at first.

He shook it off.

"I guess you know me better than that." He glanced at the book in his hand before stuffing it away into his bag. "I know how foolish it would be to try and use it. Or to let anyone else try."

Art Museum Meme

option 2 ofc

hello! thank you for tagging me ♥

you bet! c:

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