Ulysses the Gorgon

indie rp blog | written by ari

[oculusmaledictus]

Indie | Selective | Multi-ship | Multi-verse ✨ Writing & roleplay since 2010 ✨ Mun + Muse are 30+ | Plot via IMs only | No Discord

🜏 Tracking: #oculusmaledictus 🜏 Alias: The Marble King

unstable curse & restrained monstrosity ⋅ veils as mercy & protection ⋅ intimacy as risk & inevitable ruin ⋅ the petrifying gaze & loss of control ⋅ devotion as the most dangerous trigger ⋅ quiet horror & elegant restraint ⋅ statues that remember & a king who apologizes ⋅ beauty turned lethal & longing turned permanent ⋅ serpentine stillness & emotional catastrophe ⋅ tragedy disguised as composure

Bio | Aesthetics | Abilities | Rules | Wishlist | Verses | Ask Memes | Open Starters | Wanted Interactions

[feeljustlikeheaven]

[day-dr34mer]

[frontmansdefender]

“How’s life?”

Me:

[landsccape]

[yoolaa]

Somber blue

[hannamuriel]

New timeskip design for Rena

[hunting-songs]

"Docile, quiet, shy?" Senritsu rolled the words on her tongue like a drop of honey, tasting every little noise and the tiered smile pulled the left corner of her dark lips up in a crooked, strange smile: She heard his breathingpattern change and how the tune of his voice became calmer, softer, almost gentle. Are you gentle with me?, the young woman wondered with honest amusement and a shimmer of fondness that she decided to ignore: Are you trying to comfort me by teasing me? The young woman shaked her head slowly, her hair rustling like a red veil. "Oh, now that sounds mhmmmmmmm" the cornerof her mouths felt as heavy as the scarpattern pressing into her skin and still she smiled: "-assai boring. Docile, quiet, shy? That sounds like you prefer a dog following you around than a person to talk with. I would say a cat, but cats are never docile and always know when to speak their mind as forte as possible . But who am I to judge, if that is the song you want to sing without lying-" She had turned the hand her chin was leaned on to the side to tap her short gnarled fingers against her ear in a very much knowing melody, showing that she was definitive hearing if he was lying and definitive hearing that he above anything just wanted to tease her: "-than I will not judge that. To each their own song to sing." Ulysses enjoyed his food audibly by the dance of his hands holding the utensils, by his heartbeat singing, by his insides working the food through his body- yet for senritsu it was only a nice meal: Nice, because iot was balanced. Nice becaus eit was harmonized. Nice because the wine fit perfectly to the palette of tastes. She would have liked more to love that meal: she would have liked a kick of spice that would make her flinch, she would have liked a spark of something that would not fit into the food to make her perk up, she would have liked a contrast like red wine served to fish or white wine served with game-meat. This was harmonized and good. Boringly harmonized and good. Boring and normal and too fitting and too harmonized and too perfect.

"But as you were so mhmmmm.... brave to tell me your afflitto tastes so nettamente, how cruel would I be to leave you so flustered on your own?" , nimble as a drummerstick Senritsu turned the fork in her small hand to point it at the other: "I assai love to solve mysteries. I do not like to leave things that interest me alone and usually the people I adore interest me oh so much. I want to go to the farest corner of the fieramente world and see its wonders and I want someone who is just as curious to come with me. I would love that person to be loud and curious and stubborn and passionate- I want them to be so apassionato about their own search that they leave me for a time to go on their own journey, but than eventually find me again to tell me all about what they had found while I can sit there and be amazed at the most mhmmmmm....dolcissimo sound of their voice and heartbeat singing to me about their interests and passions. I love people who love themselfs and follow their dreams and watching them do just that, even if it is not by my side, makes loveing them just somuch more...mhmmmm dolce." There was a shimmer of a tease in the young womans dark eyes as she listened for the others reaction while nibbling at the edge of her wineglass. [ @oculusmaledictus ]

[oculusmaledictus]

Ulysses listened without interruption, a habit of his that often unsettled people more than if he had argued. The corner of his mouth twitched once when she likened his ideal wife to a dog, though he offered no defense. Instead, he let her continue, hearing far more than her words. Curious. Loud. Passionate. Someone who would wander the world only to return and share every marvelous discovery. It was a beautiful picture she painted-- one overflowing with life, with motion, with noise. Almost the exact opposite of the portrait he had painted for himself. Whether she realized it or not, she'd answered his question with remarkable sincerity. He wondered if she'd noticed he had done the same... or at least, had wanted her to think so. The thought amused him more than it should have. She'd caught the lie, of course. He had expected nothing less. The entire exercise had never truly been about describing his future wife. It had been about watching her argue against the idea with almost personal conviction.

He dabbed the corner of his mouth with his napkin before leaning back in his chair, allowing the silence between them to stretch just long enough for the restaurant to breathe around them. The soft clink of glasses, muted conversations, and the quartet tucked away in the corner drifted into the space between them. His eyes wandered briefly toward the musicians before settling back on Senritsu. "I must compliment the establishment," he mused, his voice as smooth as the wine in his glass. "The music is rather lovely." His lips curved into a knowing smile. "I certainly didn't expect my blind date to come with a live soundtrack."

The remark was delivered with enough innocence to be suspicious. He lifted his glass for another sip before setting it aside. "Tell me," he continued, genuine curiosity threading through the teasing now, "for someone who lives and breathes music... how do you feel about songs that aren't your own? Do you ever hear another person's melody and find yourself wishing you could step into it?" His gaze flicked briefly toward the musicians once more before returning to her. "Has anyone's music made you want to dance lately?" The question was simple enough on its surface, yet there was something searching beneath it, as though he wasn't asking merely about melodies echoing through restaurants, but about the people who carried them.

@hunting-songs

[worldofsenelfy]

Will softly bit the inside of his lip as Ulysses spoke. He'd found a way to do that, to release a small bit of nervous energy, without anyone noticing from the outside. It was one of life's hacks. With Ulysses, it always was hard to tell whether he was serious or simply trying to get under your skin. Even now, Will hadn't figured it out yet, but he could play along. He was good at playing along.

"It sounds wonderful." And in a way, it did. He actually liked what he was hearing, if he didn't consider Ulysses was trying to push him under the bus here. Good intentions. He assumed good intentions. "I am truly almost honored." He chuckled softly then. "But don't ask me to play the part. I can barely act at all." It was much better if everyone kept believing so.

"Who do you have in mind as the main character?"

@oculusmaledictus

[oculusmaledictus]

A knowing smile tugged at Ulysses' lips, subtle enough that it was difficult to tell whether he had expected the answer or orchestrated it. "The main character?" he echoed, a quiet laugh escaping him. "Why, Doctor, I've been describing him this entire time." His pale eyes lingered on Will with unmistakable amusement. "Narcissus." He let the name settle between them before continuing.

"Not because of vanity, at least in the conventional sense. I believe vanity is too simple an explanation. I think you possess the same dangerous quality that made him compelling- you cannot resist understanding what captures your attention. So much so, you have made it your profession." His smile deepened just enough to become teasing. "I suspect, if the old poets had made Narcissus a physician instead of a hunter, the ending would have remained exactly the same."

@worldofsenelfy

[worldofsenelfy]

Ilyas' teeth slowly sank into his bottom lip. He felt this urge to smile and something told him this wasn't a good moment for that. Call it a gut feeling - or the closest he ever would get to having one of those. It went silent for a while. He needed a moment to straighten out. Eventually, he cleared his throat softly.

"Wow. So you're telling me that being a floozy has finally come at a price for you?" Involuntarily, the edges of his lips curled up. It was a twitch, a movement he had no control over. It wasn't all that funny either. It was just..

It was the irony of karma.

He took a breath and the hint of a smile vanished from his face. "I'm sorry about your rings. Not the cheese. The cheese stank." Good riddance. Why any woman would take that stinking cheese was a mystery to Ilyas, but then, what did he know about women anyway? His smile somewhat returned. "I'll tell you now: I'm not sailing across oceans and death with you to track this lady. That was great fun and all, but--" But that was reserved for truly important business.

@oculusmaledictus

[oculusmaledictus]

"...A floozy?" he repeated, scandalized. "What in Poseidon's salt-crusted beard have you been reading? Some Southern genteel novel left in an attic? Did a grandmother from the nineteen-twenties possess you in your sleep?" He pointed an accusing finger at him. "Newsflash, Ilyas-- no one says floozy anymore."

He huffed, only to catch himself. "...Granted, I am hardly qualified to criticize anyone's vocabulary." His irritation dissolved into reluctant self-awareness. "I apparently speak like I'm proclaiming the fall of an empire from an ancient amphitheater before several thousand citizens. Every sentence out of my mouth sounds as though it should be accompanied by a bronze trumpet." He waved a dismissive hand. "But floozy? That's where I draw the line."

Then he sighed dramatically and leaned back, folding his arms. "And of course you don't understand. You have all the romantic instincts of a monastery." His eyes rolled back and closed with theatrical pity. "You're basically a virgin, Ilyas." Before the other could protest, Ulysses raised a hand. "Metaphorically. Spiritually. Emotionally. Whichever version wounds your pride the least."

A sly grin finally broke through his irritation while his pale eyes revealed again. "No, no. I've decided. Tonight, we're fixing that tragic little affliction of yours." He snapped his fingers as though the matter were settled. "I'm setting you up with someone I know." He ignored whatever expression Ilyas was making. "Not a harpy," he added after a thoughtful pause. "...I've learned that lesson.. probably."

@worldofsenelfy

[ayakoito]

Ulysses’s refusal to let her impress him annoyed her. From the spot where she had submerged again, only her eyes were visible. Perhaps she was actually enjoying her life as a 'fish' a little too much. Just a few days ago, she had cursed him for what he had turned her into.

“I like being more troublesome,” she confirmed his suspicions, though she didn’t smile. “The more troublesome, the better—so your enemy will be scared of me, right? He’ll leave these waters forever.”

When he held out his hand to her, she glanced briefly at his fingers before fixing her gaze on his face again.

“What lessons?” Her gaze held skepticism, but also curiosity about what the warlock had to offer her.

[oculusmaledictus]

Ulysses's grin arrived slowly, the type of grin that always seemed to precede trouble. "Now that is the first sensible thing you've said all morning." He clasped his hands behind his back, pacing leisurely along the bank as though discussing the weather instead of murder. "A predator that enjoys being troublesome is far more dangerous than one that merely knows how to bite. Fear lingers longer when it comes perfectly wrapped in mischief."

At her question, one brow arched, his smile taking on a distinctly knowing quality as his pale eyes seemed to glint the way pearls do. "Lessons for afterward, naturally." He extended his hand once more, palm up, as if the offer itself were harmless. "When I restore those lovely fins to feet, they'll have forgotten what it means to walk. Muscles grow lazy when they've spent weeks gliding instead of standing."

His voice lowered, rich with theatrical innocence that fooled absolutely no one. "Fortunately, I happen to possess a rather extensive knowledge of anatomy... and a fair amount of sorcery. Between talented hands and a little magic, I'm quite confident I could have you steady on your feet again."

His smirk deepened. "Unless, of course, you'd rather wobble into the nearest tide pool and blame me for it."

@ayakoito

[twistedhxart]

Lian was certain that this intense longing for closeness—for someone with whom he felt safe—would fade over time. The question he had asked Ulysses stemmed from a moment of desperation, from a fear that had taken hold of him.

Even though Lian was pretty good at taking care of himself—when demons weren’t hot on his heels—he didn’t want to be a burden to the man. He surely had things to take care of that Lian couldn’t help him with. Even if he wanted to.

Although Ulysses hadn’t answered his question, it sounded like a refusal. “Then…” With a sigh directed at the earthy ground, Lian slumped his shoulders; it took him a moment to get back on his feet.

“It would help me if you stayed here for a little while. Just a few more minutes.” After a brief pause, he added, “I’m sorry, I must seem pathetic. Like a weakling.”

To take the focus off himself, he brought up what Ulysses had just mentioned.

“What do you mean by ‘group’?” Curious, he raised his head. Until now, he’d believed the warlock was a loner. “And what play do you have to perform?”

[oculusmaledictus]

Ulysses watched him carefully as he spoke, his expression shifting when Lian called himself pathetic. For a moment, he looked as though he wanted to argue, but he held back, letting out a quiet breath instead. “You have a strange habit of assuming the worst about yourself,” he said, his voice calmer than before. He remained where he was, making no move to leave. “If I intended to abandon you here, I would have already done so.”

When Lian asked about his group, Ulysses looked away briefly, considering how much to explain. “I suppose I have never been very good at appearing like someone who belongs anywhere,” he admitted. “But I do have a group. They are not exactly a conventional gathering, but neither am I.”

“And as for the play, that is something I have spent a great deal of time perfecting,” Ulysses explained. “I put them together myself. There is power in a performance, more than most people realize. Music, stories, spectacle, they can influence hearts and minds in ways that force rarely can. I have found it an interesting way to gain the favor of powerful figures, to open doors that might otherwise remain closed. A king may ignore a warning, but he will remember a song. He may dismiss a request, but he will listen to a story that makes him feel something. What does that sound like to you, Lian?”

@twistedhxart

[taros]

[worldsandemanations]

Ruins of Antiquity. Dedicated to Clemens (Christian Heinrich Grosch, 1763 - 1843)

[sharpenurdamnknife]

Her eyebrows wiggled at him when he turned around. Not serious enough to be suggestive of course, just enough to make it believable. "As you should! Cooking can serve many purposes." She reminded him as she turned back to the stove to finish up the prawns. She took the time to plate them and put them on the table in a set up fit for a party because....well she never didn't go all out. It wasn't in her nature. Plus she wanted to make sure there was enough for Dev whenever he got in. Even on night thats he was 'working' she made sure there was something ready for him.

She couldn't help but smile a bit more broadly as he spoke over her shoulder to her. "You could have just ended that sentence with 'at making threats.' I don't need to be cooking for them to threaten people. In fact most people don't get the luxury of a last meal from me. Thats something that needs to be earned." She popped a pepper into her mouth as if to prove to him in was safe as he came back into the room.

Watching him pour the wine, she looked at him curiously. "Well now I feel like I'm being cheated. Give you my threats but you not giving me a full proformace feels a bit uneven." She slide into the seat across from him and handed over one of the plates so that he could start feeding himself. "Honestly...more like myself. Not the drinking part entirely but the....independence part."

[oculusmaledictus]

"You'd make an excellent tyrant," he observed as she filled the wine glasses. His attention lingered on the arrangement she'd made, every garnish in its place, every piece plated with the sort of care most people reserved for banquets. It drew the faintest smile from him. "Everything immaculate, everyone well-fed... and constantly wondering if they're about to be murdered."

He picked up his fork but made no move to eat just yet. Instead, he rested an elbow against the table, studying her across the spread with a thoughtful expression. "You said the independence reminds you of yourself." His voice was quieter now, stripped of most of its usual dry wit. "What does your life look like these days, Piper? Better than it used to?"

He glanced once at his untouched food before thinking to ask her something else, "also, do the things that used to haunt you still bother you?" he asked. "Your mother, for instance." The question hung there only briefly before he lifted a hand, already anticipating the suspicion that would follow.

"And before you accuse Dev of gossiping..." A small, unapologetic smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Don't worry. He didn't tell me something so personal." He took a measured sip of wine. "I have a truly terrible habit of snooping." He wasn't even ashamed of it. In fact, he looked rather pleased with himself as he started to cut his steak.

@sharpenurdamnknife

[hunting-songs]

"Well, what can I say- professional work is expensive.",The mans laughter was low, but honest. Brief, but honest. Quiet and sweet and short and beautiful and honest. Automatically, as always when she was hearing a sweet song, Senritsu tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes- short shortly, just for a moment, just for a breath, to just this once to savour the sound. Yet as sppnn as the laughter had risenf rom the mans throat, spilling out liek the sweetest nektar to drink, he stopped and Senritsu just shaked her head more disappointed than irritated.

"Mhmmmmmmmm, what am I hearing? So me biting would not be the problem for you, but me using my mouth for talking would be? Now that-" , that small smile of relish on her round, freckled face from before was gone, but she was still smiling even if that smile now was teasing and almost provoking. Senritsu placed a hand behind her ears as if she had not heard Ulysses correctly, when they both knew that this could never be the case: "-has a mhmmmmm.... abbandonandosi echo I am more used to hear in those seashanties about you. What are you planning with me, mhmmmmmmm?" SHe fluttered her short lashes at him as innocently as the music-hunter was definitive not, and yet the song of his short laughter was gone and event he echo was barely there at all still and senritsu missed that song already. With a quiet, disappointed sight he young woman let herself sink back into her chair, humming quietly the echo of a melody that was already only findable inher memory. A few moments passed, before she looked up again, even if the smile was tiered by than.

"Does the thought of hearing sirens sing underwater without the danger of drowning excite me? Oh," the young womans voice was nothing but a purr as sweet to the ears as a drop of honey on the tongue: " definitive. I am nothing but a slave to music and hearing songs in different enviorments is like hearing them for the first time all together and there is nothing more... mhmmmmm dolcissimo than that. Nothing against you or your ivory palace, but both would just be a means to an end to hear those songs." The smile ont he young womans face was still there, but her dark eyes that looke din the restaurant low light almost as black as cole had something much too tiered, much too knowing, much too aware about the scars on her left arm biting, biting, biting their way up her flesh towards her heart since the curse: "Maybe someday, when I am not so happy to be living anymore I will gladly let you take me along for some people to sing another seashanty with that drowned wallet, but for now I am happy to be on the dry." [ @oculusmaledictus ]

[oculusmaledictus]

The teasing glint in Ulysses' eyes softened the instant her voice dipped at the edges. It was subtle, but he noticed it. Beneath the honeyed purr and playful jabs was a weary note that lingered far longer than any joke deserved. The waiter arrived then, mercifully interrupting whatever darker road the conversation threatened to wander down. Ulysses thanked him with a polite nod before turning his attention to the meal. "Delicious." He cut into it with measured precision, tasting the first bite as though committing himself fully to the experience. Rosemary, butter, citrus. Balanced. Thoughtful. He lingered over each mouthful, unhurried, savoring every flavor before finally setting his utensils down with quiet satisfaction.

Only then did he look back at her. "You've spent an awful lot of time telling me what I supposedly want." His tone had become almost casual, though there was something calculated beneath it. "Humor me instead." He rested an elbow against the table, studying her with infuriating calm. "If you were to spend your life with someone, what sort of person would they be? What would your ideal companion look like?" Before she had the chance to answer, he tilted his head as though reconsidering the question. "Actually..." A thoughtful hum escaped him. "I'll answer first." There was the faintest pause, just long enough to suggest he had chosen every word deliberately rather than stumbled into them.

"I myself prefer someone docile," he said, taking another slow bite before continuing. "Quiet. Shy. The sort of woman who doesn't feel the need to chase every silence away with conversation." His eyes remained on hers over the rim of his glass, carefully watching for the smallest flicker of disappointment, amusement, annoyance, anything at all. "Someone gentle enough to leave mysteries alone when they're clearly meant to stay buried. Someone content simply to exist beside me without trying to unravel me." A corner of his mouth curled into a knowing smile that suggested he was fully aware of how impossible that description was for the woman seated across from him. "In other words..." he concluded with almost theatrical innocence, "someone remarkably unlike you."

@hunting-songs

[little-earthquakes-rp]

”Don’t cry, Lennon…”

The thick tone of his voice caused her to flinch as a soft whimper escaped before she attempted to take a full breath. Mistakenly, she'd thought she had the place to herself, given the hour. Wiping her tears, she sniffed before quickly shoving the letter back into the envelope, haphazardly. "Sorry," came out no louder than a whisper as emotions stole away her voice. Clearing her throat, she attempted again as she clutched the envelope to her chest, "Sorry, I didn't think you were home. I just need a minute. I'll go." Ulysses was literally the last person she wanted anywhere near the letter.

@oculusmaledictus

[oculusmaledictus]

Ulysses studied her for a long, silent moment before speaking, his usual irritation replaced by something quieter. "You're smiling far too little today," he muttered. "Whatever that letter says, don't sit here and let it convince you that you have to carry it alone. Solitude has its uses, but loneliness…" He looked away with a faint grimace, as though the word itself tasted bitter, then conjured a warm blanket from the embrace of his arms to place it over her shoulders. "Loneliness has a way of sinking its teeth in and refusing to let go. I would rather not see it happen to you."

@little-earthquakes-rp