Fragment 88 Insight

Carmilla offered a chance at a different approach. Usual trend has been a servant grows guilty and wants to atone outright for their past sins. Reading Carmilla’s bio and materials made it apparent that the guilt isn’t too heavy, even with her interlude taken into consideration. So that’s what I capitalized on that. Instead of an evil servant doing their best to make up for their past mistakes, Carmilla only made a vow never to do it again. No apology or atonement, only the vague inference of not knowing what she’ll do if she encounters a ghost of a victim.

Still, it pops up as a thought every now and then, so it’s apparent the years she’s spent on Earth after her summoning has tempered her to an extent. By now in Chaldea, she’s more or less come to terms with what was, and is taking advantage of the luxuries presented. She’s also ensuring her noble aesthetic is intact, even if it means ruining it when she comes within eyesight of Elizabeth.

And that aesthetic quality and presented appearances is how I decided to theme Carmilla and her fragment. She’d be huge on that. Every CE she appears her outfits are high tier extravagant or fashionable. The Anniversary CE for this year was probably the shining example, and was also the main outfit I gave her for this fragment:

Just missing the dog.

To that end, a lot of her interactions and decisions needed to be based around aesthetics. The whole “seeing is believing” idea as a theme from two different angles. For her, it’s everything from a big point in choosing her closest group of friends to scrutinizing potential suitors like Hijikata. Even her hobbies would likely be influenced by it since it’s safe to assume things looking ‘out of place’ would be an eyesore to a noble with tastes. Interior Designer instincts felt like a perfect fit.

And, of course, there’s still the speckling of hints of the other part of her real character she’s oblivious to. Like being as dumb as Elizabeth at times, her haughtiness being an occasional first line of defense, and so forth. I hope mixing all of it together still felt smooth all the way through until the tense ending. 

It’s been peaceful around here, so it’s about time to rock the boat and flesh out some harder developments. It shouldn’t need to be said, but like the author’s note stated, there’s a reason Lobo was pushed a bit from canon.

Also, if you didn’t recognize the lyrics to the song:

Teaser: Every day in Chaldea was like an offering to the divine. It certainly wasn’t Olympus, but that was a good thing. She even felt freer here than she did atop that ethereal realm. Even so, she had her own self-appointed responsibilities she needed to see through. They gave her a sense of purpose, and made more strides towards subtly appeasing her guilt over previous actions. This time, she’d be a goddess free of any possible guilt, who ensured only the best for those she looked after.