🤔 “What is it you want in life?” | Cutler to Julia

It was strange that she found herself compelled to answer this honestly – there was little she could do about it, though she certainly prayed the compulsion would fade after this. There were too many things that could be asked that were far worse than this, after all.

“To leave behind a legacy in the form of people who remember me fondly, and forge from those who would be my enemies an allegiance that will last long after I am gone from this world. With those things, it is my hope that those who are born today and tomorrow have a better chance at knowing freedom than we do.”

⛈ Find my muse after some kind of trauma | Cutler for Julia cause u right it doesn’t have to be your muse’s trauma so I hope she accepts this smol (bitter)bean delivered by the ocean

{ Nonverbal Starters }

The cry of overboard caught her attention too quickly – the sea had been all calm waters and gentle breezes, meaning anyone over the Song’s edge had gotten there due to a fight amid the crew ( unlikely among her own, and even less likely to occur unheard and without a splash ) or was victim to the terrible clash of powers that had occurred most recently between the EITC and the Brethren Court.

Or perhaps more truthfully, between the lady Calypso and her old lover, Davy Jones.

Julia knew better than to get involved in the affairs of the eldritch, at least without invitation – and had spent the better majority of her time on islands the EITC would not think to find, and Jones would not deign to mention. Those who held his heart, after all, did not therefore retain his loyalty. Generally it was the opposite, in fact.

“Andrews, lower a boat – see if that poor soul yet lives,” Her order came even as she reached the balustrade, hands gripping the sides to observe matters and attempt to discern from a distance if the prone form belonged to man, or corpse.

By the time the man was brought aboard, she had arranged for either – unable to tell, even with a spyglass, which the answer would prove to be. The man was impossibly pale beneath the burns gifted him by the sun, and his breath was so scant it barely shifted his breast. “Get him below. He’ll need the surgeon, and water.”

As Andrews made to do so, one of the newer men sang out, “That’s Cutler Beckett himself, that is! I told him cap’n, but he said he weren’t goin’ ta leave ‘im on account of it!”

Julia raised her brows, glancing at Andrews. The two held silent conference before she met the expressions of those now paying much keener attention to the rescue party. “And right he was to not! We do not question the sea her choices – to do so is arrogant and foolish, and I will have neither aboard my ship. We will see in time what worth he brings us – “

“Naught but trouble – damned and cursed that man is!” There was a hum of agreement indeed – the man was a scourge to piracy, as surely as he was to those who might once have called him ally. There was nowhere for him to go, and so the sea had brought him here. Briefly, Julia wondered for but a moment what might happen if she ignored the hint, just this once. As it was –

“And yet he lives! He who challenged a goddess.” Silence. There, that had their attention. “If any of you have concerns, I suggest you raise them with Andrews after our guest has been tended to. Until then, I want you back to work – immediately.”

That seemed to get them stirring, at any rate. She could not fault them for being frustrated. In truth even she was displeased by the notion, but it was what it was. As the man was taken to the surgeon, Julia motioned for the harker to come forth. Once he was near enough she informed him frankly, “I do not take well to men who seek to stir up trouble on my ship, mister – “

“Dawson, ma’am.”

Not entirely unintelligent then. “Mister Dawson,” She tilted her head toward him, “Your information is valuable – I would prefer, in the future, if you would bring valuable information to me directly, rather than to shout it out as you just did.”

“Crew deserve’n t’know that,” He argued, furry brow plucking close in consternation, seeming to believe himself drawn forth into a conspiracy of some sort.

Ridiculous, of course. She’d never trust someone so dimwitted.

“Indeed they do – if,” Julia pointed out quietly, but sharply, “You happen to be correct.”

His eyes widened, and it seemed for all his dimness, the dear mister Dawson was quite aware of that implication. And of how easily it might spread.

“You see why I would rather you come to me – it spares us all a great deal of awkwardness, don’t you think?”

He looked downright mutinous. Her brow arched, and he seemed to rethink his position. “Aye, marm.” Barely respectable, but he did try. She had to give him that, if nothing else. Smiling, she dismissed him – her own expression pinching once his back was turned. He would not last beyond the next port, of that, she was quite certain. All she needed to do now was have an eye on him, and any he summoned to his end would be similarly dismissed. She had no use for men who considered themselves above the laws of the Song – or for those who would try and stir trouble amid her loyal crew!

Now – all that was left was for Andrews and their dear doctor Mandoon to determine just who the sea had brought them. For if indeed it was Cutler Beckett – well, that would be quite the adventure in irony indeed!

@tidefated

😊 Sit down next to my muse | Joji to Julia- possibly on land somewhere?

{ Nonverbal Starters }

“Well hello there, handsome,” There was little hesitation in her greeting – to encounter a man so impressively tall and regal in feature was uncommon enough to warrant it, though her attention immediately flicked to the katana at his hip once she registered him as a man of the Orient. She’d never seen one so tall, and wondered briefly if she’d encountered one of their gods.

Surely she hadn’t angered any – she was always respectful in those waters, knowing how many spirits they harbored.

“You’re not here to cause me any trouble, are you darling? With so few beautiful men in this world, it would be a shame to have to fight one when I could be buying him a drink instead.”

@tidefated

Good Excuse For Bad Influences

@lightsailing continued from [x]

A downfall in social standing was perhaps the most familiar and ridiculous cause for a woman’s suffering that Julia had found herself encountering in her many years upon this earth. Countless were the times when she found a woman seething against the limitless frustrations brought upon her by men and status, only to witness them recoil from the idea of escaping those very same fetters when the opportunity was offered to them. It was ever so fashionable to be frustrated – but to take action, well that was just unthinkable, wasn’t it?

Yet for every twenty or thirty women who shared their laments and fled from the idea of changing their circumstances, there was always one who would take a stand for herself and come out beautiful for it. Julia had welcomed many a woman who had chosen to flee their husbands, their fathers, their brothers – and many more who had chosen to kill them outright. Each one moving on to build a life of their own making and design, with no voice louder than their own on what they could and could not do. And as ever, Julia found herself curious to know if she had found another such woman – or simply one of many who would blur away into the statistically forgettable.

“That is only true if bottomless vaults of money mean anything to you,” Julia pointed out blandly. “If money and social standing mean more to you than your right to choose, your ability to live life in a manner that does not hold you back, then you have no reason to lament your position. You have made your choice in that case – to be miserable about it is hypocritical at best, wouldn’t you say?”

Julia smiled, leaning so she could take a better look at the ‘creeps’ in question. “People who live in luxury often need to imagine their own hardships to even have a taste of a life that is interesting. Or – in cases like theirs – create their own little dramas. The question that raises then, is whether or not you want to remain the tool of their entertainment, or change the rules of the game entirely.”

This is a permanent starter call for Julia Ward, of Pirates of the Caribbean explicitly.

These calls give me a heads up on who is open to interacting with whom ( which is handy for those who have exclusives among my crew! ) and gives me an excuse to kick you starters whenever something crosses the mind, or blow up your inbox knowing who would be most wanted.

These calls also serve as a final tag dump – when this call is posted it indicates a character has been fully moved into the blog and is ready for action!

For other starter calls, check the tag HERE.