#⋆ ���︎ ⋆ ── 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 ┊ 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔?

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───     𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡?

                            ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐧. ( @florietiae )

       𝐎𝐇 𝐆𝐎𝐃, 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 — the truth is that if I’m following you, then I’m happy to see you on dash! But I am not gonna skirt out of it that easily, am I? So, a disclaimer — I am capping myself at ten people (plus obviously the lovely Hayla herself who is joy and light incarnate!). Of course, I have a lot more than ten mutuals all of whom I admire and adore. I’m just going to take this moment to shout out some lovely humans but by no means all of them :

@batteredoptimist​ : Nonny is the reason almost all of my characters on this blog exist, and definitely to the capacity they do. This is my best friend / partner in crime and writing / most bestest human / absolute joy. They are a lovely human and an incredibly talented writer / worldbuilder / artist. I am so invested and have so much love for Nonny’s characters (and Nonny, too, of course!) and I am just...consistently blown away by their lore and writing and I just want to read a whole book or ten about James. Do I have the honor of writing with him most of the time? YES! Do I want more because I’m greedy? Also yes! And... if I don’t stop myself I’m going to babble for way too long. We’ve written 2.7 million words together in less than two years, and I cherish them and our stories and their muses DEARLY. Thank you for sharing your light and stories with me, Nonny! I am forever grateful.

@smokedanced / @dutyworn​ / @dochaes​ / @waywardfeathered​ : I wouldn’t be on tumblr without Havu. I wouldn’t be who I am now without Havu. They are so passionate about their muses (and also the enneagram and birds and math and science), we share a ton of inside jokes, and it makes me very happy to see them here because them being happy makes me happy too! 11/10 human, comes highly recommended.

@imprvdente​ / @hvbris​ : Chloé is just an all around amazing human being, to be honest. Fish is incredibly thought out, but so are ALL of the characters on the multimuse. Chloé’s writing is phenomenal and will one day be published, I’m sure of it (and Fish super deserves it). Also, she has been nothing but genuinely kind to me and has such a warm presence. I am very grateful to get to write with and enjoy her presence.

@voxvulgi​ : Sara is just a lovely human in all of the ways and when the dash is graced with her presence, all is right with the world. Her writing is exactly the kind that inspires you to give your response your all just because her works are masterpieces that deserve the very best. Her characters thouuuugh, and her writing, and just *gestures* the whole package.

@astremourante​ : Ami has built an amazing character that I am SO excited to write with (I am so angry at my queue right now). Also the vibes for both mun and muse are immaculate. Her posts always bring me joy to see on the dash whether IC or OOC and I am pretty sure I have hit the heart excessively because hello amazing human I think that you’re neat!

@angerworn​ : Zed is a bad influence! (Kidding, mostly!) We haven’t been talking for long, but I have been nothing short of consistently inspired by all of the characters that she brings to the table. Also, my muses are all making the biggest grabby hands and want to learn and explore all of the things. Also, Zed has really a really nice energy and presence and I like that a lot!

@tewwor​ : Ro has been with me for a very long time, and through many hiatuses on both ends. I remember even in the beginning being drawn in to how well she tells a story and somehow even more masterfully brings their characters together. From the first, I have just been immersed and amazed at the talent, and at how kind Ro is as a person, too. Can’t imagine myself not following a Ro blog, tbh.

@ofhope / @yourburningsoul​ : Olivia and I haven’t gotten the chance to write together much, and that’s all right because it’s just so easy to see the passion that she brings to her muses. The first blog I followed her on had me so utterly immersed I was sitting there reading posts even though I didn’t know the original media well! Olivia’s presence on dash is one of kindness, joy and light and I’m just so happy to be in her sphere.

@wehavefoundthestars​ : Eve and I have been writing together for years now, and that’s wild to me. This is one of the rare cases in getting so immersed in threads that your characters end up getting married and starting a family. And then...there’s Westley. Oops. Eve has so much love and compassion for Elio that I much prefer hers to the original and now know only one portrayal.

@innerwar : Tommy and I haven’t had the chance to write yet, but I am admiring from afar and am super impressed at how one person can write so many COMPLEX muses so dang well. Also, Tommy, you wrote a novel and that is AMAZING!? I just want you to know that I like your aesthetic, vibe and writing a lot an that there is definitely a post lurking in my queue for you.

  Can I just... can I list everyone? I have so many more people to say nice things to ;_;.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ❛  𝐢’𝐝  𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫  𝐝𝐢𝐞  𝐨𝐧  𝐦𝐲  𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭  𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧  𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞  𝐨𝐧  𝐦𝐲  𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬  .  ❜ ~𝐀𝐩𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢

                            ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @realmyths )

       𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐒 for someone or something. As though everyone needs another person or a deity to tell them what to do or who to be. Lucienne has never understood why those born with free will are so willing to throw it all away. One day, she will be expected to be the leader that Florence falls to its knees for — and yet, she doesn’t want it — because in the end she would still be on her own, bowing down to maman’s legacy. 

      In the end, her choices will still have been ripped away from her and it doesn’t matter if it made her the most powerful woman in Italy, or even the world — because she wouldn’t have decided it for herself — she would have achieved nothing for herself, save for cementing maman’s immortality a little while longer. And Caterina Agosti is not an old maid — Lucienne’s better years will go to waste before she is given an iota of power, let alone freedom. She will be expected to bring children into this world — and she wants no part in it — not to sell her soul to man nor baby. She disdains men to begin with.  And she would resent anything that stole more of her life to further their own.

      “Must it be simply one or the other?” she asks. Her voice is sweet, like a princess in a fairytale. She is quiet, soft-spoken more often than not. No one has any idea of who she is. No one would listen, no one would care. The moment she finds a way out, she’s going to seize it — damn the cost. No one had cared about what any of this had cost her, after all. “Need one die to be their own and owe allegiance to no one? Surely there is freedom to be found in life. It can’t all be trading one cage for another. I kneel for no one.”

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ‘  𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 ’ (𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲)

                          ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬. ( @wehavefoundthestars )

       𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐒 𝐓𝐎-𝐀𝐍𝐃-𝐅𝐑𝐎 on the waves — creaking like a ghost ship, lost in the fog. One man cannot steer a ship of this caliber — but Westley supposes it doesn’t matter, in the end. What’s going to happen to him is going to happen to him, and to his ship. Maybe in the end, it’s where they both belong — torn into pieces at the bottom of the sea. Westley can’t for the life of him tell whether the roaring in his ears is his own blood rushing through his body — or whether it’s the sea, angry beneath them. Until this moment, the captain of the Arcady had no idea what he was capable of — and now, he almost wishes he still didn’t. The blood will take hours to clean from the ship — days, even.

       They’d locked Elio away before the mutiny. Westley supposes that was kind of them. Why should the lover suffer for the crimes of the damned? Westley’s seen it in old pirate movies — where the crew turns on the captain — where the sentence is death. He’s been so afraid of that very scenario that he’s changed every couple of years once finding out that he wasn’t what he thought himself to be — wasn’t human. Safer that way — for him, and for them. A bullet in his gut — a knife across his throat, all very dramatic — bleeding out as he’d been thrown into the stinging agony of the sea as shark bait. But it hadn’t been the sharks that had found him.

     By the time the Kraken had deposited him back on the ship, his wounds were already healed — and black vines like ink, like tattoos, had been snaking up his arms, his hair dripping salt water and his eyes that same haunting shade of red. He could remember it if he tried — what came next, the massacre — a mass grave at sea — but he doesn’t want to try, doesn’t want to remember. Just looks at his hands stained with blood — looks at Elio, chained away and spared from that fate. When Westley looks up at his once-lover, his eyes are crimson. They’d been on their way back to Italy, ironically. To rid Elio of his foolish, idealistic notions that Westley could be what he needed him to be. “I am the darkness. Nothing more,” he says, his voice thick and strained from the saltwater. Blood trickles down the steps that lead into the prison. He could let Elio go — but perhaps he’s safer in a cage until Westley decides what to do with him. He can’t go back to civilization now. “I told you to stay away. Is this what you wanted? Is this what you thought you could love?”

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ‘ 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 ’ ~𝐀𝐩𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧

                              ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.. ( @realmyths )

       𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍'𝐒 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐘, a tender and pretty thing that’s been trained into her with such efficiency that the illusion of happiness and beauty even reaches her eyes, “I lie to everyone,” she offers mildly, only slightly apologetic in her tone. It is her nature, after all — Marin’s beauty keeps up the illusion that she belongs to this life full of wealthy investors, or, in this woman’s case — people that her boss wants to become an investor. She can’t say she’s ever been given over to a woman for such a purpose before, but there’s a first time for everything. 

     It’s not always intimacy they want, even when it’s the men — sometimes it’s merely a companion, someone to talk to. Marin’s task is figuring out which version of her they want her to be in order to get Dominik what he wants. She’s an incredible actress, and this is the first time someone has ever called her on it. It surprises her enough that her gaze falters. Dominik will tell people that her eyes are the color of gemstones and riches — but Marin knows that they’re just broken sea glass — eroded in time to look pretty. 

     “It isn’t personal,” she continues, moving her manicured fingertips over the cool windowsill. It’s nighttime — and if she wishes hard enough, she could almost see the stars. “I find that most people tend to prefer pretty lies to ugly truths.” Not that she could ever tell the truth, regardless. There are tells that she doesn’t belong in this world, though she knows all of the right things to say and do. She’d been educated as such by a governess — but isn’t around people much to get rid of the natural fidgeting, her fingers plucking at the simple necklace around her neck that she never takes off. In the end, people see what they want to see, and that’s all right — she wouldn’t know any other way of being, even if she were to try.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞. - @ 𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲

                                  ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @caracarnn )

       𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 this particular game to go on this long — never meant to grow used to what it felt like to have two feet on solid ground, or to breathe the sweet salt of the ocean, but never swim within her depths. He’d come aboard this ship for revenge on the Captain — he’d never meant to become Captain, following his death. “I think I surprise me too, sometimes,” he murmurs in that strange accent of his — not from one place, but an amalgamation of many places all at the same time. He could use this. He could use this to make a difference, to draw the pirates away from harming his kind. Hell, he’d never asked to be a hero.

      “What do you think about all of this Captain nonsense?” he asks, looking up behind too-stern eyes for someone who seems so young, fingers tracing the map on the captain’s desk. “And what does that make you, if I’m supposedly calling the shots now?” None of them have any idea how dangerous this is — how dangerous it all is. He has no idea what he’s doing. Maybe he’ll start wars with the other ships — plunder their treasures. If they’re all destroyed, then they can’t destroy the sea they had no business in to begin with. It’s a start, at least.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ‘ 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 ’ - @ 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨

                                  ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @caracarnn )

       𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐘. Maybe he’d resent that more if he’d ever been anything else; but, when the options placed in front of you are harming someone else or seeing your family harmed — well, it’s not really a choice at all. Those new into power tend to come into it thinking they’re going to change the fucking world, and do things right — but there is an order to everything, and it’s existed far longer than Mariano’s been alive. Everyone falls into line eventually, or they don’t. They become Pompeii, or Atlantis — some relic of a thing that may have once existed, and does no longer.

       Negotiations are, to his boss — to Claudio Renaldi — a thinly veiled threat. Do what I want, and I spare your life. Sometimes, people don’t even get that courtesy. But for better or worse, this man has been handed a great deal of power and money — and sometimes it’s better to play nice, especially when weapons are involved. “I didn’t think that I was presenting you an option,” Mariano rumbles tiredly. It’s nearly a script now. He’d wanted to protect people once — but the closest he’ll ever get is protecting his own family, raising their status, and making sure to stay five steps ahead in a game that will almost definitely one day see him killed. “Maybe I missed that part.”

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ❝ 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠…𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬. ❞ - @ 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧

                                  ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @caracarnn )

       𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐘 '𝐍𝐎' with all of her heart. The truth is that Marin loves her mam, and loves the farm. She understands things there, they’re simple there. Ever since she was a wee young thing, she’s had a way with the animals. It’s not uncommon for her to calm them, to soothe them. She loves the place she’s in — the rolling fields and moors with purple heather speckled throughout — her babbling brooks and trickling streams, birdsong at night and during the day, the forest nearby. She loves the legends, and loves the wind whipping through the place and shaking their home to its core — she is haunted by the way that sometimes, the wind seems as though it’s crying — as though it, too, is missing something.

       To say ‘no’ would be a lie — however, and she knows it. Her heart beats differently when riding in the forest, or brushing her hands over the flora within. She feels at peace floating in the lakes, and discovering that which hasn’t been discovered. Mam needs her at home — the work would be too much otherwise, and Marin likes what she does. But she has always been — well, different.

      Seaglass eyes flicker downward, like a timid candle afraid of the wind, “Don’t you think that’s a dangerous question?” she asks, “Who am I to want more than I already have?” she hesitates. “Why? Do you? Feel like something’s missing, I mean.”

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    “𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞! 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤! 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫! 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤!” [𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲]

                            ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @tatteredxsails )

       𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐄 that giggling is only going to make matters worse. When she’d set out to become a pirate — this isn’t exactly what she’d had in mind. It’s a joke, the whole lot of it. The problem is that it’s a rather funny one — and she’s found herself endeared to them all and their incompetence in the time that they’ve spent together. “Oh, come on now, Captain,” she teases gently, “It doesn’t look any more ridiculous than the suits. Besides, it’s just hair — it’ll, you know, grow back. It’s what hair does. It isn’t my fault you thought I knew what I was doing just because I’m a woman. I did choose piracy over beauty, probably should have tipped you off. I just thought it might be fun. And think about it this way — everyone’s sure to pay attention to you now. And laugh! Laughing’s good — great morale for the crew. I could — try to fix it...” she adds on, holding up the scissors with a sly grin, which only makes a little giggle spill out after all.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    😀 — 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐩𝐜 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞?

                                  ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬. ( @dutyworn )

       𝐘𝐄𝐒! 𝐒𝐎, 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 your fault (as you know, Havu) that I’m here to begin with. And unless you’ve subsequently forgotten *teases*, we lived together from October 2019 to October 2021 (and I happily got to meet you in person before that in June 2019). I HAVE ALSO HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE to meet my dear Nonny ( @batteredoptimist​ ) in September 2022. Also I’m mutuals with a writer friend here (not RPC though) who I have also met in person back in 2017. I would also love to have the chance to get close to / meet more of my mutuals, but alas I am shy and awkward and poor. But you know, I’m quite happy to have met the three of you, in any case! Also if anyone lives in Minnesota, I'm probably gonna move there next year so *eyes emoji*.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭.” ~𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐢

                                  ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @realmyths )

       "𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐘, 𝐈 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄," Lucienne speaks gently, hesitating for a moment before continuing. It’s not that she doesn’t have a voice — it’s only that there are power with words just as much as there are with actions — regardless of whether people listen when you speak or not. “I don’t believe that suffering is necessary for greatness. Statements like that are manufactured like holiday cards. All for profit — all to put more time and energy and money into the pockets of those who already have those things in spades. The thing that they cannot manufacture is light — so they siphon it from others, treating them as a battery until there’s nothing left, and moving onto the next. It’s a common parable, they even put it into children’s books.”

      Delicate fingers smooth out the yellow dress with pink flowers that she’s wearing — it’s one that she’s made for herself. It’s a mindless hobby — something nice to do when you don’t want to really think. Thinking can be a troublesome thing. “It’s funny — they teach you to work hard and marry well and never question your place. They say that anyone can achieve greatness, but only  through suffering and staying silent or staying buried. We all do it — each of us has let our light be stolen in some way by someone. You know, they never tell you to just be happy. They never tell you that the world won’t break if you do.”

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ❝  𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬,  𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥.  𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬.  ❞ ~𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲

                              ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. ( @realmyths )

       𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐇𝐄'𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑, 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄 a double-take, as though what he’d seen had really been a mirage or otherwise a ghost — something that wasn’t really there. Shit, he’s spent so much time and energy running from the before that he’d nearly succeeded in forgetting it existed. Of course, when he really looks at it, the memories will always be there — if not in his head, then on his body. There’s still a lot of guilt scarred on his heart, too. He’d always put himself in front of the other kids — didn’t matter which of the many homes he’d been in, that part of the story was always the same. When he ran away, he knows that he left some of them to rot. He also knows that he inevitably wouldn’t have survived the alternative.

      He’s lost contact with all of them now — because Westley van der Sterren no longer exists — he’s Westley McCarthy now. In the end, that old piece of him had disappeared into oblivion the same as the boy who had been the breaking point into him finally doing it — finally running away where no one could ever find him. Better to be on his own. He’d gotten a taste of love and family once — enough to know that the life he had been living prior hadn’t been fated to him. He’d just had to grab the notion of fate and turn it upside down.

      Persephone looks happy — much different now from the young lass who often cried herself to sleep at night. Good for her. Westley imagines a lot of kids don’t get through the hell that is the foster care system in one piece — he surely hadn’t.

      He looks over the rim of his coffee as he takes a sip. He shouldn’t be here or doing this — tiptoeing back into the past and opening up doors he’d sealed off with a hammer and every nail he could find. “Sometimes,” he says slowly, “I like to people-watch. I’ll make up epic grand adventures of their lives, and then sometimes I’ll introduce myself — see how close I was. Or how wrong. Usually I’m wrong. I think there’s beauty in that. The not-knowing.” It’s safer, too. The not knowing. The not getting close enough to know. “People can be whatever you want them to be. The world can be a thing of beauty again. I gotta admit, I don’t quite have you figured out. You look happy — I almost don’t want to ask.”

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ( 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐭? 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 ):⚽𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐨𝐧-𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭; 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐜—𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐛𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞: 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

                                ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠? ( @seaprofound )

       𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔. ♡ I will be the first one to admit that I’ve gotten absolutely abysmal at one-on-one communication, which is sad, because it’s really limited my ability to make friends and interact with people I regularly make heart-eyes at on the dash (yourself included). It wasn’t so bad a few years ago and I spoke to lots of people pretty regularly...and I’d honestly like to get to that point again. I think a large part of it is that my living environment changed for the worse and health / stress has been very hard on my everything, but most especially my anxiety / social anxiety. It’s something that I’d like very much to do better at for everyone’s sake — as I enjoy plotting too when my singular braincell is functional! 

     I suspect this is the reason why I’m not interacting with a great many of my mutuals and I very much appreciate your honesty about it. As for your being busy right now, no worries — I never have any intention to rush my friends / writing partners. I definitely understand that life has its phases of busy and not busy and stress and no stress and I never want to put pressure on anyone to do more than they’re comfy with. But, yes, I’d like to plot soon and talk more, and comfort is priority when interacting. I promise I’m working toward being a functional human person — this year has just started with a bang. I hope that your busy is the good kind though. ♡

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    🖤 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 — 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐜 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞? 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝/𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭? / 𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲!

                                ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. ( @dutyworn )

       𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄-𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓! As far as murder-vibes go, Westley’s not very trigger-happy. He’s more of a chaotic, charming little shit who can grab at a wallet or schmooze someone out of information. He’s also quick! (This being, of course, for his crime verse). 

      Crime!Westley hasn’t killed anyone in his base verse — though there are circumstances that he would kill — mostly if he felt backed into a corner and his own life was at stake. There have been a few instances in my big verses with Nonny that Westley’s been on the murdering side of a murder — the primary two were to protect James (though arguably, one could say that he killed those two people for hurting James to begin with). He wouldn’t think twice if one of his loved one’s lives were on the line — and I do think he tends to have the proper training for it. There are also verses where Westley’s been hijacked to Italy with one of his loved ones and put into Mariano’s world and forced to kill to keep them safe. He loses a lot of his soul in those verses.

     As for seafarer!Westley, it’s a different story. One of his plot points is a mutiny where his crew tries to kill him. He comes into his power and magic (angry sea god that he is though he doesn’t know it) and obliterates every single person on that ship. It’s a very, very dark arc for him. I think after that, most of the time, there’s not really any going back (except for when love saves the day because I’m a sap). Of the two main verses for him, seafarer Westley is far more prone to murder.

     As for broken hearts and broken trust — he tries to not let people close to begin with. But I’m sure there have been some broken hearts along the way.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ���� 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 — 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐜'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬? / 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬!

                                ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 ��𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. ( @dutyworn )

⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  Playing violin and writing music.

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───  Reading. He has so, so many books.

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── Dancing, and acting. (Yes that’s four, technically five, shh.)

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    '𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲 ’ ~𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐲

                              ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.. ( @realmyths )

       𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒, 𝐈𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐘 even all of these years later that there are people in the world who mean to do well instead of cause harm. She fusses after him like she actually cares about him, even though they haven’t known each other terribly long. That’s the reason that he couldn’t ever expect her to understand — not really. Sure, the life he lives doesn’t look nice and shiny on a resume; but that scarcely matters when you don’t follow the rules to begin with. If he wanted out and Coco agreed, they’d make him up a fancy shiny resume with all the proof he needs, and a new identity to boot. It isn’t as though his proper surname is really McCarthy.

      After her statement, a sort of vague and fuzzy distance blooms in his eyes — rendering them cloudy — an ocean just beneath the fog. “I’m not afraid of dying — “ he says earnestly. There’s no real bravado or posturing behind it — it’s something Westley’s been forced over the course of his entire life to consider, and while he’ll fight like hell to stay alive — if he’s really gonna die, that’s just it then, isn’t it? It isn’t as though he has a family or kids or anyone who knows him intimately. He wouldn’t be missed.

       Running a hand through his wild dark hair, he offers her a cheeky grin, “Trust me, I’m not suffering. Not because of what I do. “ He’s not gonna sell his boss out — not to a pretty girl or anyone else. Coco’s been good to him, so as far as the world at large know, he’s acting of his own accord, even though he’s under the biggest crime kingpin around. “The suffering came before. This? This is being alive. And I plan to live whatever time I have to the fullest. It’s what — “ Shit. Too vulnerable. He backtracks, shaking his head. He’d almost said it would be what Muriel would have wanted. That’s why he’s doing this, right? Because he’d fallen in love with a boy in high school — because that boy’s parents were murdered, and the lad himself disappeared into smoke, never to be seen again. Westley’s looked — Westley’s still looking — it’s been so damned long. Of all of the stubborn things in the world, he thinks that hope takes the cake. He’s not the same lad he was in high school — and there’s no telling who his ex would have become, if he’s even still alive.

[flownintothesun]

 ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ───    ❛ 𝐢’𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝. ❜ ~𝐀𝐩𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧

                              ⋆ ✰ ⋆ ─── 𝟒𝟎𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.. ( @realmyths )

       𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄. 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊 that after the life Marin has led, that she would be immune to fear — but as it turns out there is a difference between true immunity, and the ability to shut oneself down in the face of danger, and do what it takes to survive. Goosebumps still prickle across Marin’s skin, and she suppresses a shiver. She has to remind herself that words that don’t come from Dominik are mostly idle — that she’s a doll on loan. Most people don’t want to break other people’s toys. And besides — what would she know about Marin’s nightmares? They’ve never been confined to just her sleep — but rather the whims of Dominik’s moods. She imagines she hasn’t known peace since she was much younger — a little girl who still had a mother, and didn’t know how cruel the world could be — even if she knows so very little of it.

     “Do you think so?” she asks, looking back up with a sort of defiance. Failure is so far out of the question she can’t even imagine it. “Is that what you mean to be to me then? A nightmare? Or do you assume I’ll think of you as such? I’ve met many monsters in my time — you would be surprised. I don’t scare easily.”