arias_hollow | Entries tagged with sunshine challenge

Lights dimmed, and low notes began to fill the auditorium. I gazed out in the direction of the orchestra, not really seeing; I was only there to kill some time. The strings came in, soaring, and the piano kept a steady flow of sonorous melodies. It felt almost wistful to me, and I started to pay more attention. It was so big it filled the room, filled the air, and yet it wasn't an oppressive sound. It ebbed and flowed like a wave at sea, pulling me gently with it. It was longing and joyous and somber, a euphony of feelings. Hearing it, being it, clarity came where before there was obscurity. When the final note rang it was almost jarring to remember I was in a regular seat, a regular room. I had no idea how much time had passed. I stayed for the rest of the performance, the harmonies echoing in my mind long after.

So many of the themes for violet were very internal concepts, so I focused on music and perception for my drabble, inspired by my own excitement whenever I get to see a band or play live. I always come out feeling more energized and ready to create things, so I thought I would give capturing some of that in writing a go. Creativity is a major source of joy and inspiration in general for me, whether it be consuming and engaging with others' creations or working on my own, but the essence of it feels very hard to capture without more space for context. Purple in general is a color I like, and have a wide range of associations with, varying in part with the shade in question. I consider purple to be a sort of rich, royal color, usually if its deep and a bit saturated. Purple is also commonly used in fiction to portray 'darkness' and 'shadow' related themes or magics (for example, the Shadow Medallion in Ocarina of Time is purple), so that's a fun association. Shades of lilac and lavender are more dreamy and spiritual to me, and have a majestic feel that be relaxing or energetic based on context. All in all, it's a fun and versatile color, and one I keep making many of my oc's wear. xD

The prompt also asks what we each might be able to offer others as gifts. I can certainly create drabbles and short stories (50-400 words for 'drabbles' and 500-2,000 words for short stories) for anyone who wants a specific theme or concept or character dynamic explored! There are certain things I wouldn't be comfortable writing (mainly nsfw content, excess sensuality, and gratuitous violence; regular violence is fine though lol), but otherwise I'm pretty willing to work with whatever ideas a requester might have. So drop me a comment or pm if you're interested! (Drabbles only would take me a day or two to write, short stories could take a few weeks up to a month)

Inky pools of water stretched all around, reflecting the gleam of starlight and softly wandering clouds. I reach my hand out to the crystals growing about, and they alight at my touch, shimmering shades of violet. Around me, the cosmos; I can feel its energies like the ringing of bells, weave them about as I wish. Echoing up from the depths of the pool come a million cries, reverberations of every human dream. Walking deftly across the water, I move my mind towards the swarms beneath, calming them each with flicker of light, a feeling of wakefulness. The clouds move over the sky, dimming the reflective surface. Each scream fades, and the crystals glow just a bit more.

Indigo was an interesting color to write for since all of its themes were ones I loved to include in my stories, but putting that into single-paragraph format felt like a struggle. I'm far more used to writing - and reading - big stories revolving around destiny and magic and experience, so it was pretty fun to try and make that a bit more tiny-sized. Being a fantasy fan I of course saw 'magic' and 'dreams' and thought of various mages, dream weavers, and dream walkers in fiction (specifically dream walkers were common in some of CLAMP's works, such as Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic, in which Tomoyo has such a power - and she does have sort of indigo-like highlights to her hair in some pictures!). The color indigo itself isn't one I usually think of very often, so my associations with just that are more limited, but as it's connected to blue and purple and I think of it in a similar light - kind of dreamy and magical, or at least relaxing/ponderous. Elegance and intuition I thought were fitting themes, to me they fit really well with the mage-like and spirit vibes of the color, so while they didn't quite make it into the drabble overtly I hoped to kind of give off that impression a bit. Indigo's themes are extremely atmospheric (dark indigo does make me think of the night sky too), so it's always fun to play around with those in storytelling.

Droplets of rain pour down from the sky, each one carrying a bit of cold, a bit of sorrow. They fall so steadily that the individual tapping of the drops hitting the pavement begin to meld into a single synchronous sound. All else is quiet. Street lamps softly illuminate the night, creating a tiny windows through which to see the twinkling fragments. The icy sorrows hold shape in the air as they cascade down, alone, then shatter into a growing collective on the ground. They flow together, strengthening each other, until it's enough to drown in. In their number, in their strength, even in their sorrow, there is a gentleness. A caring thing to drown in. An easy thing, to stare endlessly at the navy sky, and the little pockets of light where the gentle sorrows shine.

So, I don't 100% know what this one is about, but it's what happened when I tried to capture the vibe of blueness. Blue can be a sad color and a joyous one both, and it can be ponderous and serene as well as more energetic and chaotic. Personally, I find the shade of blue strongly affects what associations come immediately to mind. A saturated sky blue is energetic and positive, a pale, light blue very soft and dreamy, a deep blue reminds me most of the ocean, navy blue is more majestic and makes me think a tiny bit of the stars. I associate blue with ice and the cold, as well as introspection and serenity. Oh, and there is also 'the blues', as in the music style! Not in that style at all, but a song that came to mind was of course Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65, for meme reasons. Blue also makes me think of the intelligence and wisdom stats in Dungeons and Dragons, which is almost entirely because I already associated blue with mana in the Diablo series - the very blue spiritual force that fuels your magic spells. (I always need more mana lol)

When the darkness first started to ebb, I had trouble remembering where I was or why it was so cold. But then the first ray of sunlight cut through the weeds that were peeling off my body, and it all came back. Any number of centuries should have passed by now. The air was heavy with the scent of various flowers, soil, and leaves, alerting me to the fact I was in a garden before my eyes adjusted to the light. Tall trees loomed above me, and flowering shrubs and plants dotted the field of grass that had only been an expanse of dirt, rocks, and saplings last I saw it. At least the high reaching rocks were still there. Taking my first steps in the warm air, I felt for the first time a sense of wonder and curiosity, though not unhindered by trepidation. I went forth to see if humanity had salvaged anything else after all.

At first I found the themes for green to be really difficult to come up with a short piece for, even though they were all themes I liked and appreciated elsewhere, until I connected 'awakening' with cryogenic sleep. Science fiction to the rescue! xD Usually I associate green with vitality and life, probably because of the plants/nature vibes (and also because health in video games is sometimes called vitality and is often green if not read), and also with vegetables. Though I am also familiar with the phrase 'green with envy', which is of course less positive (though I must also bring up, on the fandom side of things, the homonculus Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist has some kind of green on them in both iterations of the story). Someone looking green also usually means they are sick/nauseous, which is also a lot less fun. So I just left those out of my drabble lol. I forget though that green is also associated with luck, since for some reason I want to think of gold for luck? But given the shared association with money that makes sense. Similarly there are also several gemstones that are green, of course the emerald, but also jade and peridot come to mind. Some time I may have to look into if there's much overlap between gemstone associations and color associations!

EDIT: Books! A few books that are green: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and Turnabout by Margaret Peterson Haddix. The first two prominently feature nature and growth, as they are coming of age stories, while the third is a sci-fi novel dealing with reverse aging in pursuit of immortality (which, is sort of twist on green themes?).

My footsteps echo softly against the stone floor. It was dark save for the dim moonlight creeping in through the covered windows, and I couldn't remember where I was. I had awoken only moments before. There was a sudden draft, and I thought I heard footsteps close to mine. I stop to listen, but all is quiet. The scent of lemongrass comes in with the draft, and I wonder why it feels familiar. I walk again, and so do the other steps. There's something strange about the steps, something altered. I run. There are stairs, and a ringing sound, and I pause with the steps just next to me. The scent is much stronger now. I turn around. I know where I am.

Lemongrass is not actually yellow, as it is grass. XD But the scent is usually lemon-like so it's yellow now anyways lol. This was an interesting prompt to undertake since there was such a variety of moods one could go with. Ultimately, I chose danger and clarity, since I thought it would be fun to write something a little spooky. But most of my associations with the color yellow are actually much happier or more mundane. xD It makes me think of the sun, of fields of dandelions, of street lights, of certain fruits (bananas and lemons mostly), and of gold (which is a whole other series of associations). It also makes me think of yellow roses, which are associated with platonic love/friendship, and so I like to associate with my aromanticism just a little bit.

EDIT: I forgot, the one thing I do associate with yellow that might have subconsciously inspired the horror angle, is the short story 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which I read in one of my literature classes and quite enjoyed.

Dashing eagerly across the dirt lawn, Emmie clung to their bag of goods before settling down at the log table. Every fall, they and their best friend would meet to play games and eat food under the sinking sun. This time was going to be checkers, before that had been mancala. The table was laid with pumpkins, pies, and stuffed apples, the air filled with the scents of cinnamon, citrus teas, and freshly baked breads. From the large maple tree just south of them amber leaves fell and got caught in their hair. A candle was lit when the sky grew dark and they inevitably were still going. The hours went uncounted, basking in the warmth of each others' company. Arranging things on the table just so, they looked up to see their friend silhouetted against the sunlight, and waved in greeting.

I rarely write these sorts of quaint scenes, but orange is such a cheerful color and with themes like harvests and friendships, I wanted to give it a try. Though I did make myself kind of hungry writing this lol. I really liked the themes for this prompt, the associations were all bright and interesting, many bringing various kinds of imagery to mind. Orange and red are both warm colors, but I think orange is often associated as being a bit softer in tone. For my own future harvest prospects, that largely takes the form of completing various projects, especially my artistic ones. I always get excited to do the last edits for a short story, or the colors for a drawing, or even just progressing in a book or video game. I guess success is quite vitalizing. xD One theme for orange I liked a lot but didn't get to address was the theme of change; it fits neatly with the fall and harvest vibe, but can be applied to most of the others I think as well. Change is a sort of spice of life, and one of the roots of good storytelling, so it's a great thing to try and explore or be open to.

Embers all around glowed and popped, stems of roses still standing wilting. The scent of smoke filled the air, weighing down the faint breeze. Smoldering ash tainted every blade of grass. Kneeling amidst it all, sallow and despondent, was a human girl. She reached out to touch one of the remaining blossoms. Even withered and broken, it was a bright and daring sort of thing, she thought. It defied the force that by all means should have destroyed it all together. Looking at her own scarred hands, she supposed she had done the same. Grasping the flower, she plucked it from its stem. A faint light surrounded it as she let her energy flow forth. It slowly faded into her; she would need its strength for the days to come. Getting to her feet, she took one last look at the dying fires, their warmth strengthening and misleading all at once. She turned her back from them, and walked onward towards the horizon.

For the color red, I at first wasn't sure what to write. I certainly have pre-established OCs that are associated with the color and its themes, and there are many fandom characters I had thought of as well; but I wanted to do something a bit more concentrated and stand alone. Red is a very bold color, so it's fitting that all it's associations are feelings and concepts that aren't mild. From bravery to romance to revolution, red is associated with strong feelings and the continuing nature of things, and for me kept bringing to mind images of flowers and flames, so I figured why not mix the two and play around with themes? Part way through I was inspired by the concept of the phoenix, and so slipped in a bit of magic there, even if I didn't exactly make her a literal phoenix (plus I also just...really like magic lol).