‘there’s a curse between us.’ | CUTLER TO JACK WOW

{ Heart Of Everything Starters }

“And who is accountable for that, I wonder?” Jack’s tone held nothing more than incredulous contempt for this. “We had a good thing, you and I – that it has amounted to this hardly rests on my shoulders, mate.” 

Tossing the soaking man a towel, Jack considered his options here. There wasn’t a single party on this ship who was particularly friendly with their impromptu passenger – Jack included. While he wasn’t particularly keen on protecting the man, letting the crew at him was the sort of villainy that went beyond the pale by his estimation. The brig might serve, though that didn’t sit quite well either.

“You’ll not be leaving the cabin then,” He was thinking out loud, mostly. “Less you want to be facing the demons you’ve made – in which case,” He made a shooing motion with his hands, as if to say, off you go then, have fun. Straightening, his tone fell stern, “I find anything out of place, I’ll have you clean the bilges, you hear?” Heavens knew that would please the crew just fine, after all. He’d rather play out of sight, out of mind until they made port though, if he could manage it.  

“I don’t have anyone but you.” [ @ silver g-D FLINT DON’T TELL HIM THAT SHIT ]

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Now this was a curious tack to take – though it did not take much to figure out the angle that was being played. Flint’s status with the men had been on shaky ground well before Silver had even found himself dragged into their devastating orbit. Painting himself vulnerable like this was only a means to an end – a manipulation of sentiment. 

At some point, the power here had shifted – the men adhered to Silver and Flint was smart enough to recognize that as much as he despised them all, he needed them to achieve his goals. Which meant he needed Silver on his side – and wasn’t that a queer thing to consider? To think this had all started over information he’d taken from a dead cook. 

“And who is to fault for that, I wonder?” There had been people loyal to Flint and his ideas – and Silver had not forgotten their fates. Nor was he oblivious to the fates that still hung in the balance. Some already lost to whatever twisted end was left for them after following in Flint’s shadow – and others, still waiting on the front lines, their stories now resting on the balance of this conversation.

“While I do wonder what has you so convinced you ever had me,” His tone was clipped and unyielding despite Flint’s ploy for sympathy, “I am far more interested in how you intend to convince me not to walk away from all of this.” 

❌❌ Derek!

{ Sunday Kinkuisition }

Since “I don’t know” is not an answer I can accept, I instead chose to offer the reasons why I don’t know.

Derek hasn’t really had much opportunity to explore this aspect of life. He’s been on a ship from the day he was born, and the men on the Illinois were family in every sense of the word – they raised him and are the ones who shaped him into the man he has become. 

What little he gleaned from Buford he doesn’t like to reflect too deeply upon for obvious reasons, but it has instilled a quiet repulsion in him for most activities in this regard when they involve other men – and most especially when the other man in question has any kind of power over him. 

There have been a few periods in which the crew entertained ladies aboard the ships during peacetime, that he got some action in – but here it was rather rushed and a bit confusing. There wasn’t a lot of time to explore, or really figure out what he liked and what he didn’t. While he classes these experiences as completely pleasurable, he doesn’t really remember the finer details of them to provide much insight. 

👐 – hugging them | TF’s Cutler to Jane ( cause lbr if she showed up he’d throw everything to the wind- including propriety )

{ Nonverbal Starters }

The moment she saw him, Jane knew the world had reset itself for both of them in the most wonderful of ways. It was all that she could do to contain herself – but as her brother embraced her, she let the restraint fall away and wrapped him up as close as she could manage. Tears burned her eyes, and she let them fall in the silence of their reunion, deafening in its significance. 

She did not need to say that she had missed him – the tremble in her arms, the way she clasped at his thin shoulders tight enough to tell that he was no more able to hold weight now than he had when they were young – the steady stream of joyful tears all spoke loudly enough. 

Yet Jane knew their voices had been clutched too tightly for too long, choking them under the weight of expectation and later, the bitter determination to exceed and excel. So she let herself speak clearly, when emotion threatened to cripple her down into a whisper, for both of their sakes and strength. 

“Not a day has gone by that I have not wished you were by my side Cutler – everything has been so dull without you to share it with!” She gave him a squish then, before leaning back to look at him – the truly take him in. “Look at you,” She breathed, unable to keep the smile from breaking over her features, “You’re still making me work to be the pretty one – I see you have no pity upon me at all!” 

❝ you have no shame, do you? ❞ [ @ t. ham, life as a lord verse, please save my carrot son ]

{ 100 Random Starters }

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“Absolutely not,” The response was at once dismissive and amused – as if the mere thought of shame was a laughable concept to him. “I have enough to balance in my life without wasting my time on self-flagellation for the satisfaction of people whose opinions I don’t even care about.” 

Taking no pity on the man whatsoever, Thomas pressed on with a question of his own, “Tell me James – how has shame benefited you? Has it elevated your status, to bow your head and behave as though your upbringing has made you lesser than those you can intellectually talk circles around? Or has it simply made it easier for them to overlook you – because you behave precisely the way that they want you to?”  

Mun Note: Julia is semi-immortal as a result of her deal with a heathen goddess. While the basics of this are covered in her profile, this is to provide a more detailed look into how she functions. 

  • Longevity – Julia does not age – though time passes, she remains exactly the same as she did when she exchanged her promises with the goddess. 

  • Immunity ( Illness ) – Illness does not affect Julia, which can be alarming as it is useful – twice she has lost a crew to yellow fever, standing alone amid corpses bloating under the sun with no way to sail her ship. Were it not for certain interventions, she would doubtless still be floating aimlessly due to these incidents. 

  • Immunity ( Weather ) – Julia’s temperature never changes. Like her age, her body as a whole is unchanged from the moment of her oath. If it is scorching hot, she feels the same as she would in milder weather – if it is freezing cold, she is as warm as she was on that day. Her skin is always the same to the touch, no matter the elements around it ( with exception to water – she can get soaked just like anyone else, much to her chagrin. ) 

  • Immunity ( Bodily Functions ) – Julia does not need to eat or drink to sustain herself – something she discovered quite on accident when she and her crew were becalmed. Due to her body’s stasis, she is always in a state of comfortably hydrated and sated – if she eats or drinks, be it for subterfuge or pleasure, her body responds as a normal one would, and digests everything in a functional manner.

  • Regenerative Healing – Julia is not inhuman. She can be stabbed and shot just as anyone else can – the difference is that she heals a great deal faster than most. That which would take weeks to heal ( such as broken bones ) debilitate her for no more than three to five days. Cuts and lacerations seal and do not scar – the only scar on her body is the one that killed her, though that is its own story.

    Generally speaking open wounds close within three minutes to an hour depending on depth and complexity of the damage – which brings us into what can kill her. The old standbys all work – headshot, heart shot, severing the spinal chord, explosion proximity etc – and with that last, fire ought to be noted as particularly damaging, and taking almost as long as a normal person to recover from – with the notable exception that, over time, those scars fade away. 

  • Healing Exchange – This is the only real “power” Julia possesses that can affect anyone other than herself. Julia can “acquire” the damage of another if she wills it, and heal from the wound in her own time. This heals the person almost completely – they will be tender for two to four days depending on how badly wounded they were, but otherwise there will be no lasting effects from their damage. Julia is capable of this exchange provided said damage is not:
    • Something that would by rights kill her
      • AKA: She cannot trade her life for someone else
    • Something that has already killed the recipient
      • AKA: She cannot revive the dead 
    • Something that has already healed 
      • AKA: She can only heal fresh wounds

In Captain J. Ward’s

My Lyfe Amonge The Pyrates, there is frequent mention of Captain Ward’s own ship. This of course to lend credence and reality to so much fantastical element, but also to forge a legend in and of itself. 

Julia knew full well that if she ever wished to utilize her book as a method of recruitment there would need to be some things to prove her claims as the author – and the foremost among those things was the ship itself. Though in the book, Hope’s Song bears no name ( just as Captain Ward holds no actual description ) there are a few notable things about her that would be difficult to replicate. 

The figurehead of the ship is mentioned as having been carved with skill to match Michelangelo – and indeed, the angel that cuts the Song’s path through the waves looks as though it might have been taken from St. Peter’s Basilica, with detailed drapery shrouding the androgynous form, and wings arching back into the hull of the ship, impossibly long and serving as detail along the wood. The eyes stare unseeingly ahead, a sword held at the ready in one hand and another outstretched and clasping on to an equally ornate lantern. In later years, when Julia changes ships, the Song’s angel is transferred with great care and affixed to Angel’s Mercy, seeming to be the reason for the ship’s name. 

Below decks, everything is painted white and teal, with unnecessarily ornate detailing throughout that is repaired by artists aboard and ashore as needed when the ship takes on damage – due to varying styles over the years, those details have a unique quality to them that cannot be replicated – and while the book notates some of the contributors, there is enough information granted to make it clear that what has been withheld can also be verified if necessary, by the legitimate guilds involved in crafting the ship’s interior. 

When Julia had to retire the Song, she approached those guilds again and had the Mercy done up again, and pieces drawn out of the Song to set into the Mercy and keep those lost stories alive. For the details themselves are paintings and carvings dictating adventures not yet immortalized by books, stories that may only ever be told by the wood of Captain Ward’s ship, and serve as a visual account for the Song and the Mercy’s travels. 

When Horatio first joined the Navy and boarded the Justinian, he wore on his person a cameo that was later torn off him by Jack Simpson – while I think I have written about this before, I cannot recall if I ever made an official post about it. Long and short of it though, is that was a cameo of his mother – and the only one. 

After his ‘inquisition’ Simpson kept the cameo as leverage against Horatio, though never had opportunity to utilize it as a result of Horatio’s crafty measures to counter him – as a result, the one and only object Horatio had of his mother, and the only likeness of her he ever knew, was lost to him thanks to Simpson’s actions. With his death, Horatio in a way accepted the loss of that piece of himself, and of her – but he never forgave it.