Thank you for the tag @dontcrywrite and @ashen-crest!! Ocean’s Heart is (as of now) divied up by scenes so have the first/last line of one of those. This is from an old version of the beginning scene/chapter.
First
Calypso has, as an untethered goddess, freedom. The fools on Olympus are bound to mortal whim and mortal need. Calypso is Calypso and she does what she likes.
Last
He was quite entertaining. And it was about time that she took an interest in a mortal -- every god does eventually.
Thank you for the tags @ashen-crest! Apologizes for doing them so late. All excerpts except the one stated otherwise are from Light and What Lies Below. Read more so dashes don't get clogged. I looked for the words listen, draw, flower, cat, toe and fur. Though I did have to alter a couple words because the base wasn't present.
I'm proud of this batch of snippets, so enjoy them :)
Listen
One day, she'd hear the story from Leucothea's own lips. Not any day soon but she could be patient. She could listen to the mourning of her mad husband and two last breathing sisters until she did. Stories, she knows, are different beasts from different eyes. Leucothea might have a morsel entirely her own, some perspective that turns the whole tale on its heel.
Until, though-- they were goddesses about to enter a deal that twines their futures towards a similar path.
Draw(n) (Ocean's Heart Sea Vers)
Calypso hooks her foot around her ankle. "I entrusted you a blessing," she says, eyes sharp on him. "When you once again took to sea." She lets silence hang, words unfinished, observing his attempt to peer at her through her lashes without raising his head. She sighs. "Lift your head, sailor."
His eyes sweep up and immediately latch on hers, drawn like wind to sail. "What," he says gently, like speaking too loud will shatter her mercy, "did you decide upon?"
Her lip curls up. "I did not," she informs him. "I thought it would be much more entertaining if you were to decide what I bestow upon you."
Flower
They all sober when the tall doors to the throne room enter their sight. They are grand, gold gilded into patterns of rivers and flowers and other such details of the underworld. Calypso spots ghost-thin glimmers of shades that glint sickly under the white-blue scones of fire. The doors give way to a magnificent throne set halved in the center. It too, is gilded in a similar style, rivers of death and death-defying life depicted in gentle detail, the sides where it has been made to look sheared are a solid gold. One throne, cut in two. The King, the Queen and their domain. It is beautiful work, most likely done by Hephaestus and it is a chilling sight all the same.
They are all gods here but only one of them will be a King with a proper throne and place of power. Hades is, despite his weariness and humbleness, a truly powerful god. And they were all about to negotiate taking some of his domain from him.
Cat(ch)
She looks around absently and spots Styx.
Her sweep stops, hooked like her eyes were meant to stop there. To catch. A trap for gazes. Styx, the river, looks different.
Toe
Calypso wiggles her toes. It wasn't in her nature to sit still at another's command. She could be stone still, when the whim passed. But for another?
She only bears it because it's for her sailors.
Fur(y)
Leucothea eyes Calypso's hand. "If it were you, you would not have been caught in Hera's fury."
Tagging @actualanxiousswampwitch @rainbow--memes @solar-nexas @dragon-with-a-pen and @dontcrywrite to find the words light, shadow, bright and shade.
Trying this out! This was written back when Calypso was a bit more one-dimensional, a bit more callous and a little less fond of her mortals.
*****
She gives him her best smile, the one that shows each one of her double-layered sharp teeth.
“You are not dying,” she tells him. Gives him a moment to digest her words past the sea rushing around them and the pounding of his too-quick heart. She adjusts herself on his piece of splintered ship. Plants her chin in her hand to lounge as best she can on the flimsy piece of wood. “You’re very lucky, actually.”
He hacks a spray of salt spit water into the sea. She wrinkles her nose a moment, but doesn’t otherwise react. This is a common occurrence, however nasty one it is. He blinks water and hair from his eyes before he speaks. “Who--” his voice comes out choked and raspy from the abuse of water in his throat “--what are you?”
She tilts her head. Her face softens. This is new. She’s never met a human who didn’t know the word ‘Kraken’. She’s been told that she looks dangerous even in her softer human form and there are only so many things that can pull looking human off while still sending the signal of being a threat. “Don’t you know?”
He shakes his head. His eyes are wide and white-rimmed. Scared? “What’s going on?”
She closes her smile. Feels a sting of irritation -- is she really so forgettable? She thought she put on quite a show. She gestures to where the rest of his ship is floating or sunken. The water is stained pink, still, and there are a few shark fins poking above the waves, lured by the blood. “Your ship sunk,” she tells him. “You are the only crew member still breathing.”
His reaction is palpable. He jerks back and nearly falls into the water, his face twists and lengthens in half measures. It’s amusing to see, his grief. Her appearance could have been prevented, if his captain had a taste for anything but gold, if he didn’t complain every time his crew tried to start a shanty to pass the time.
She is not unfair in what ships she takes. It is not often that she does this, even -- Poseidon calls up riptides and hurricanes on whims of anger. She takes ships for the principle of the matter. If one is going to dare to brave her domain, they better not hold distaste for it. It is tacky, she thinks, to make the ocean a part of one’s life when they do not enjoy the journey or the waters or those who rule them. Her sinking the ship and taking the crew as a meal is a small price.
*****
I thought these could be a fun thing to do. I tend to (aside from tag games) be pretty secretive with what I’m writing though I do also want to share it and this is a nice middle ground, I think. It’s writing and it’s from whatever but it’s old and changed so I don’t have to feel bad if it’s not perfect or if everything in it changes. It’s kind of an update, but... low stress. It might appear in the final thing in some way, but who knows? For now it’s a snippet, something that was taken out.
No tags because... idk. I waffled over it and decided not, but I could change that if you all want. I’m still figuring out how I want all this to work and feedback is awesome/appreciated.
Thank you @drippingmoon for tagging me! This is a bit I quite like, personally.
From Calypso’s pov of Ocean’s Heart.
She swallows ships, in mortal tale. She rises and feasts and leaves none who have laid eye on her alive. On occasion, she will listen to how mortals tell things, will be amused how they get details right and the mass of the story wrong. She does not eat the ships. What use is it, to eat what does not nurture her? She is no fool.
She crushes the ship and eats the men. The rest -- rising and feasting and leaving no survivors -- is correct. It’s how she likes to do things.
Her other form has seven stomachs. She only wears it, really, to eat. If she left enough alive, they might tie Kraken to her. She is given enough due for being a goddess and she enjoys the simpleness of what she is given.
No one worships a beast. If she is commonly known as Kraken, she will cease to be a goddess. Her divinity will not be seen (because could something heavenly be so brutal and beastly?) Mortals have their ideas of how the divine works and it is simple enough to go along with them; to let them believe that divinity is only beauty, that divinity is only kind, that divinity can only be gentle, that divinity can never take the shape of a wrathful beast.
As long as they do not know that the goddess is Kraken, everything will keep flowing as it always has, she will receive the gratitude she always has, simple as it is.
She likes how things are just fine, sees no reason why she should hunger for that to change.
Tagging to do the challenge: @horribleauthortm @feastingcrow @shonenprincess @oh-no-another-idea @dragonfruitflamb3 @certified-ghost-king (I have so many people to tag now, thanks everyone who reblogged that post :D)
Tags for the snippet (though if you wanna do the challenge go ahead): @caffeinewitchcraft @super-writer-gal @blindthewind @notwritinganyflufftoday @mel-writes-with-her-dragons
Self-promo time! Share a snippet from your main WIP that you’re proud of.
Something from Calypso’s half!
She has been called a cruel goddess, for reasons that are true, but if there is not personal fulfillment in her cruelty, then there is kindness.
It is not often that she takes from mortals just to take. There is reason for her domain, or there is reason for them. Sailors are under her purview and they are not a resource she spends lightly. She cares for them. She shifts tides to rush a ship to port, or delays them from docking in an unsafe harbor (because of divine fury or spreading sickness or elselike). If her denizens are making sail for danger and she is aware, she will lessen it as she can.
It is because of her discretion that her kindness is oftentime overlooked. Poseidon takes thanks for those deeds not his, does not question it, thinks he deserves whatever sacrifice is burnt to his name. He takes her gratitude eagerly. She lets him.
It’s of no real use to her. Let him bask in his discarded scraps, let him call that power and bicker with his siblings over who has more.
She has no need for it, for them, but she does like them. She listens when they make odes from her name, is fond of them even though they all fear her. It is her crueler self that is known, but it is not her only and she has saved as many lives as she’s consumed. She is largely unknown, but her name has been hummed over her waves on occasion and that is all the thanks she has need for.
I did not forget to do this yesterday. I had it in my drafts and thought I posted it but apparently not. So here it is!
Me, to Calypso in every other scene: Calypso, honey, I know you hate Poseidon. Okay? I know. You don’t need to slip into tangents every time something vaguely, not really related to him at all pops up. Okay? One tangent is enough. Trust me. The people will get the message. You don’t need to bash it in their faces, that’s rude and we’ve been working on that. Kind goddesses are good goddesses. Blunt is good, but in moderation. Save some of your Poseidon-rage for later, alright? Can we do that? Can we get back on track and hate on him later? Spread it out a little? I promise you can rant on him again later but right now we’re doing other things. There’s other story we need to tell. Just let him go this once. Alright? Stay on track. You’re boosting his ego by focusing on him so much. We don’t want that, right?
