hello my squeaky clowns ! the question under the table: did vladya die so this this confetti moron can arrive? well, shortly, no. vladya is the best puppy, the absolute best puppy, whose character arc had to be tied up. this moron is just an added bonus. an indulgence for everyone that wants a goth bf, and me first and foremost, because i somehow managed to survive this far with 4 muses. truly couldn't have done it w/o you all. so who actually IS lonan, whom we all call Lan or 'ghosthoney' for short? i like to think of him as haunted peter pan. actually, to be fair, he is a combination between peter pan, john silver (treasure planet........), nikolai lantsov & whatever that dmitri fellow in Anastasia (1997) was trying to do. nameless pirate? check. insurrectionist past? check. in over his fucking head but still oddly enjoying it? check. his hobbies are dining up spirits & sticking it to the man. is he dangerous? i honestly have no idea. i think in order to be dangerous you need to have an identity. & if his backstory looks very similar to bastien, that's actually intentional: i have a soft spot for changeling children who could become either feral strays, either kingkillers at the toss of a coin. with bastien, the coin landed on feral, but with this one, the coin spinned, stopped, and screamed unholy murder. hope you'll have fun with him! i have no idea what he is!
— BIOGRAPHY ::: if this makes any sense to you, me and lonan will take you out for pints. 🤠👻
— SKELETON ::: the way back when.
— PINTEREST ::: nae chance, who has time for pinterest in this economy ( if anyone wants to be my pinterest manager, take it )
— PLAYLIST ::: WHO HAS TIME FOR PLAYLISTS IN THIS ECONOMY x2
— WANTED PLOTS ::: don't @ me. i keep putting up these pages but apparently i have to KILL a character in order for them to make sense.
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ( LONAN 'LAN' BAIRD ) as ( THE SHADOW ). They are ( unknown & unknown ) and might be painted as ( ALPEREN DUYMAZ ). They come here as a ( crew member ). Their specific occupation is that of ( able deckhand ). When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as ( he/they/xe/whatever ). Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are known to be ( adept at feint obedience, the buccanneer's brawn, the luck of a fox & the ghosts of nine lives ) but ( swinging a haymaker blow, a hideout of tight crannies, haunted in past, present, future tenses ) when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard falls in line with ( THE ALLEGIANCE TO THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT. )
The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes MARIAH DEVINE as the wolfhound. They are 38 & cis-male and might be painted as such. They come here as military. Their specific occupation is that of bounty hunter. When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as he/him. Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are known to be competent, insightful & vigilant but jaded, sardonic & ruthless when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard falls in line with access to major ports throughout the voyage in pursuit of bounties.
hey !! i’m silv, 20, she/her, enjoys big gay romantic walks on the beach you probably know me already. bringing you another brand of Bastard because that’s all i know how to make.
[record scratch] yup, that’s me. you’re probably wondering how i got here.
♢ october 23rd 1806 - born to a lady of the night, the third of five bastards.
♢ december 1811 to 1826 - took on his first job sweeping chimneys at five years old. lost a brother to a work accident in 1813, and adolescence later saw him as a mule scavenger and crossing sweeper. when he hit sixteen he settled as a factory labourer.
♢ march 1826 - mother passed, claimed by the same ailment that had taken the eldest that winter. being the oldest left to care for his siblings, became less picky about what work he could get on the side.
♢ june 1828 - did what any reasonable bloke would do and started beating the living daylights out of people for money !! extortion and coercion on behalf of bigger parties, chasing up arrears wracked up through gambling, seeing to the fulfilment of debts / enactment of homespun brands of justice.
♢ november 1830 - took down the right guy for the wrong reasons and was rewarded handsomely on behalf of the crown, Very Much opening his eyes toward an avenue he’d never even thought to glance down. he developed a taste for less harmless (and actually licensed) game, now given the opportunity to do what he was good at all above board.
♢ 1831 onwards - stepped up from push daggers and honed his swordsmanship, commissioned by the military to reel in their errant charges. this work took him all across england and in later years, europe.
♢ september 1841 - one botched job in paris and a bullet in the face left him at death’s door, but death was out for drinks ig.
♢ june 1845 - received word of a voyage that would be passing through several critical ports, paving a path to pursue rogues he’d thought slipped beyond sword’s reach. boarded the promethean to fill his pockets along the way.
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ( NOÉMIE COLETTE LÉON née ALARIE ) to the expedition in their capacity of ( THE CASSANDRA ). They are ( 30 years old & cisfemale ) and might be painted as ( ANABELLE WALLIS ). When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as ( she/her ). Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are ( protective as a lioness, determined to see things through, and devoted to those who have earned it ) but ( terrified of her own madness, guilty over being a terrible mother, and distrusting of those who desire to be in her inner circle ) when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard the Promethean falls in line with ( returning to France with all of the Agathe survivors in one piece; no matter the cost ).
Her full TIMELINE (tw mentions of depression, postpartum depression, loved one death & mentioned attempt at infanticide.)
WANTED CONNECTIONS (will be up soon)
AYYY YA’LL IS YA GIRL TRIXIE. Bringing you this hot very troubled mama. If you thought you were gonna get a sweet, very maternal, woman oOooOohohoo sit down, my child. In the words of the cinematic masterpiece, Mean Girls: I’m not like regular moms. I’m a cool mom.
PERSONA:
ON LAND: Witty, sharp, vivacious. A wildfire of a woman. Very great with connecting with others, numbers, understanding what people want, what she wants, and how to get it.
ON THE AGATHE, B.S.O (Before the Silent One): “Work hard, party hard” mindset. She had a reputation for being a very stern overseer. Meticulous about every single thing, every little cost. And additionally to that, she would physically help however way she could. She didn’t have to be as involved as she was but she wanted to prove to every single seaman that she could match them. That she was not just a pretty gilded thing. She became very endeared to the majority of the crew. She knew everyone by name. When not on the job, she was jovial and drank most men under the table. She earned their respect in a short time.
TO THE AGATHE CREW: She is serious faced, with hard eyes that could level you in a glance, but she had made it clear that you are always welcome in her presence. That the icy azure in her eyes can melt into gentle tropical waves in an instant. She has incredible powers of discernment, knowing the perfect times to be hard and soft and who needs what more.
ON THE PROMETHEAN/WITH EVERYONE ELSE: She continues to oversee what (who) is left of the Agathe, protective and observant. She smiles and is polite with most, but she is wary. She naturally distrusts people but she has an urge—a need, now—to gather resources and garner loyalty from those on the Promethean. Anything to get her crew home.
she is basically if you took a wild promiscuous rave/party girl and like forced to become a suburban mom. like do you really expect her to just give up her vices, be the perfect housewife and be happy with that?? come on now
in her younger years, she was quite the hedonist and of the fiesty variety. Because the privilege was real (ya know, because old money can buy you that) and when you already have EVERYTHING what else is there to do besides enjoy the spoils of life, the spoils you did nothing to earn.
she wanted excitement and pleasure at every moment in time because the truth is she has an undercurrent of nihilism and untreated depression that just make her go: nothing in the world matters. absolutely nothing. so ah what the fuck WHY NOT? hand me the whiskey, give me some laudanum, and let’s fuck until the sun comes up twice.
but ah all good runs must end sometime right? she gets wooed and (can you believe it) ACTUALLY FALLS IN LOVE with a soft, rich, romantic who is just entranced with her. so she puts all her other lovers on pause to marry him and it is pretty nice
until kids happen.
she has really difficult and PAINFUL (like 12 hours in excruciating labor painful) pregnancies and that untreated depression really comes out to play in postpartum
she isn’t really a good mom to her 3 kids, hires a nanny to deal with them as she joins her father in helping him do business things so that she doesn’t go completely mad. it really starts just so she can get out of the house and not think of them.
she isnt really a good wife in this time either because her husband LOVES their daughters and she accidentally avoids him in avoiding the kiddos.
but on the silver lining: she gets 1 thing to care about. AND THATS THE AGATHE EXPEDITION. It is her baby (yeah i know. ironic) and she likes using her charm, wit, and intelligence to gather the resources to help her father plan it. it’s natural for her and it feels so right
BUT THEN HER DAD DIES (traitor) AND her eldest brother (who is now the patriarch) is like “k we gon cancel this because no one knows how to man it” “UMMM IM RIGHT HERE?? “yeah but lol youre a woman”
and that really sends her off the deep end. like almost hurt your own daughters deep end.
BUT HER HUSBAND STOPS HER RIGHT BEFORE SHE ALMOST KILLS THEM IN HER MADNESS and is like “oKAY IF I LET CONVINCE YOUR BROTHER TO LET YOU GO TO THE ARCTIC WILL YOU STOP BEING INSANE???” (rip no one cares about mental health yet)
and she says “yes”
and he says “okay shit. fine. go.”
and off she went to the arctic. She kinda put her hedonistic tendencies to the side while on the agathe because she actually cared about this 1 thing. and she wanted to do it RIGHT and to be taken seriously. but she still had little bits of sass here and there. she was a bossy lady, that's to be sure. sometimes, when she was in full Overseer Mode, it was hard to tell who was the real captain of the Agathe.
but then disaster strikes and for some reason, her maternal need to PROTECT HER OWN has come to life. like 5 years fucking late (pour one out for her 3 unloved daughters)
basically, the agathe crew are her Babies and if you fucking touch them she will smile as she cuts your hand off (metaphorically, not literally). she’s not the violent type. shes more of the, manipulative ‘will ruin you life so you dont want to live anymore’ type.
also lets not talk about how part of her protectiveness of the agathe crew comes from how she is trying to right the wrongs she committed to her own kids through them. lets not....talk....about.....that
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ISABELLE ARRYN to the expedition in their capacity of songbird. They are THIRTY-TWO & CISFEMALE and might be painted as AMANDA SEYFRIED. When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as she/her. Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are charismatic, joyful and open-minded but melancholic, distant, and critical when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard the Promethean falls in line with self redemption, and coming to face with the biggest demon of all: rejection.
ACT I : GOD’S GIFT
NO ONE TRULY knows how or when you appeared. A scrawny naked child caked with dirt from blonde head to pinky toe. You like to say, now that you know better than to divulge this information, that you were born on a sunny summer day, to a loving mother while your father was off to war. There was never a mother or a father. Just you, and the constant hunger and fear that envelops all of London’s street urchins. A golden voice that brings tears to the eyes of all that are lucky enough to hear, is your meal ticket. A tiny thing, singing with conviction of love and loss, hope and despair.
ACT II : SAVIOR OR DEVIL ?
IT IS ONLY a matter of time before someone with the entrepreneurial flair sniffs you out. Your vulnerability is too easy to take advantage of ---- the price for your voice too low. He coaxes you out of the streets, into a scalding bath. Maids rub you until you’re pink, and you lift your hands, truly seeing them for the first time. Blonde locks are combed, and you’re stuck in a scratchy dress that screams wealth. Then come the lessons. Voice lessons, history, reading and writing --- you do it all. When you’re finally done, you are a woman flowered, ready to take on the world, and provide the return on your savior’s investment.
ACT III : A STAR IS BORN
THE FLU APPEARS as suddenly as it leaves. Your savior is bed ridden, the kiss of death moments from pressing against his lips, the only true lover’s embrace he will ever feel. There are no sons, no daughters, no aunts nor uncles. He gives it all to you. It was never meant to happen this way, and though you are a songbird finally free from your gilded cage, you can’t help but shed a tear as his grasp on your hands loosens. With the estate and the coffers at your disposal, you make your debut on the entertainment stage - a mysterious, beautiful creature with a voice that enchants common folk and aristocrats alike. London goes crazy for you. When once you were overlooked, you are now revered, a queen in your own right. You can have any man you desire - and you do desire, though you keep your nightly obsessions to yourself. You wouldn’t dare risk all that you’ve worked for. Until you meet HIM. The one who finally puts some sense into the songs of longing you sing every night. The stab of pain in your chest where the heart is supposed to beat makes you think you’re about to die. He brushes you off, toys with you to fuel more songs that are sung more beautifully by a heartbroken songstress than an indifferent composer.
ACT IV : A FALL FROM GRACE
IT DRIVES YOU to madness. You lose yourself to drinking and frolicking, first with London’s top bachelors, but that’s not enough. You’re losing the thrill. If you lose the thrill, your mind wanders back to the composer you can never have. You want MORE. You meet him backstage, a little older than you’re used to, but oh so regal. Grey eyes look at you as if you were the only girl in the world ---- no matter he already has one waiting at home. You feign ignorance when the tabloids hit, you try to spin yourself into the victim, but you realize quickly these people don’t actually LOVE you. They love what you do for them. The minute you are a threat to the good marriages of the people surrounding you, they treat you like the plague, whispering stories lewd and mad as they come. You even hear whispers and hints of a scheme you plotted to get rid of your savior, access his money. You stay holed up in YOUR estate. Not theirs, not his. Yours.
ACT V: REDEMPTION, AT WHAT COST ?
You board the Promethean, acutely aware of the crowd’s hushed whispers as you walk up, luggage in tow. Head held high, you’ve prepared yourself for this day. It’s been years since you’ve made a public appearance, but you’re determined to keep it cool. You know what they’re saying, but you pay no mind. There are no married aristocrats on the Promethean that you know of ---- and if there are, you’re determined to stay well away from them. This is your shot at redemption, at getting away from the whispers that fuel London’s bourgeoisie. You’re stronger now, you’ve found the little girl with the dirty feet in yourself, and you don’t plan on letting her go.
what more can a clown say. i am venli.... if you know me.... you know me. this is my name. this is my story. cups hands like i'm doing a renactment of Shrek 5 i bring to you a man who just wants to share childhood trauma with the Silencieux. who just wants to crack open a cold one with a cold Boi. a man whom the Silencieux is literally, as well as figuratively, ghosting at the moment. and he just doesn't know why, bro.
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ( ISKENDER SOUFIAN KHODJA ) to the expedition in their capacity of ( guest, anthropologist ) . They are ( 36 & cismale ) and might be painted as ( marwan kenzari ) . When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as ( he/his ) . Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are ( the distinction between sympathy & empathy ; no stone unturned, no door unopened ; astute until it kills you ) but ( blood fluctuating between humors ; delicacy without apology ; sisyphic in their passions ). Their purpose aboard the Promethean falls in line with ( GATHERING MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OCCULT ARCTIC & WHATEVER LIES BENEATH THE ICE ) .
— FULL APPLICATION ::: may i have a thimble of coordinated aesthetic !!
— SKELETON ::: the rough outline.
— PINTEREST ::: tbd !! just imagine.... sand..... books ... dare i say? blood? and marwan's abs. that's it. that's environmental storytelling right there.
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ( WINIFRED HASTINGS ) to the expedition in their capacity of ( THE SOCIALITE ). They are ( thirty-five years old & female ) and might be painted as ( ROSAMUND PIKE ). When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as ( she / her ). Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are ( an absolute darling who encourages vices around her, a beauty of grace and poise, a carefully constructed trophy ) but ( filled with the turbulence it takes to adhere to strict societal standards, hollowed out, longing for attention no matter the kind ) when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard the Promethean falls in line with ( retaining her kingdom of jewels and pearls for just a while longer ).
A (MAYBE NOT SO) BRIEF TIMELINE:
from a smaller, well-off family in new york city (AMERICAN, BABEEYY!) but she was always, always viewed as the darling one, the soft-faced angel, could do no wrongs. learned very quickly that this was a great way to get what she wanted. soft because it gave her what she wanted; soft quickly gave way to spoiled. she is kind so long as she is cared for.
always knew she would marry well one day, doesn’t find any shame of it. marriage was always meant to be an economic proposition. she is not meant to live for herself.
marries when she’s sixteen years old to a man twice her age. he is a friend from her father’s business world traveling from london. she meets him twice before the marriage, and she leaves behind her life, her family, and her name in new york to travel back to england with him.
appears to fit in wonderfully. the life of the party, a lovely hostess, an icon of fashion and inspiration. people learn her name. people envy her name. she quickly learns to navigate the social circles, to utilize gossip to her husband’s advantage, to build a temple. all is well. all is well.
years pass in dizzying splendor until she is nineteen. when she discovers her husband in an affair, she smiles and apologizes for interrupting him. she then walks out of the home but not before leaving A Scene behind. she disappears for the next three months. everyone thinks she’s dead; half the people think her husband killed her. she absolutely loves this attention.
runs around london pretending to be someone else for a few months and then comes home because she Cannot Survive alone and without attention and without money.
goes back to pretending things are fine for the next ~ten years
wow this family sure is dysfunctional, huh. at least she has money and friends, right? right??? wrong! turns out, her husband has a horrible gambling problem. also drinking. also women. also just bad at business. wow, who knew. she keeps their family name together by a thread, but she won’t discover the depth of his problems for a few years.
it happens almost over night. the debt collectors come, and the family name becomes synonymous with a fall from grace. she has no friends, no lovers, no servants, no one that stand by her. when she speaks to her husband for the last time, she tells him that she’ll walk straight into the ocean. that she’ll at least die with dignity, with beauty, unlike him. he laughs at her.
the promethean is a fortress that she thinks she can rule. she sells some pearls to purchase passage and decides to keep up appearances for a little while longer, but the image of splendor is quickly crumbling around her.
jealous of pantea going out in a way that will forever be remembered as beautiful and wholly tragic. winifred thinks about this a lot. probably not healthy. also entirely pro-marcus.
THE INSPIRATION:
i am mostly thinking of her as:
Ultra Feminine: image is incredibly important to her. the terror of beauty? how there are so many Ideas about beauty and how they have all been pushed onto her and she's swallowed them all and the sort of madness it takes to adhere to them. the relationship women have with mirrors? how you look at yourself and see yourself in parts, you're never really allowed to Just Exist. and her really clinging to that, to the idea that she can find safety within beauty / image / others desire for her. truly viewing herself, to an extent, as an object
truly lots of ideas centered around her believing that she has crafted herself into a deity. that she is adored and important and lovely. and then to recognize how absolutely fragile that status of godhood is? to lose it, when she loses all her money.
true neutral in a lot of ways but kind of like how aphrodite is at the same time viewed with love and terror ? both splendid and cruel at times?
her arc: either recognizing herself as a full human with ideas and purpose outside of status or slipping into the full madness of viewing herself only as an object for someone else to use
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ( ROWAN BANKES ) as ( THE MAGPIE ). They are ( 27 & CISMALE ) and might be painted as ( XAVIER SERRANO ). They come here as a ( guest ). Their specific occupation is that of ( RARE GOODS MERCHANT ). When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as ( he/him ). Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are known to be ( CAPTIVATING, HEDONISTIC, OBSERVANT ) but ( SPITEFUL, LECHEROUS, VOLATILE ) when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard falls in line with ( angering his father, trading artifacts with China ).
This is just going to be the tldr version of Rowan’s entire biography, which can be found here.
Rowan is last born to a family previously complete, thus for years it’s as though he’s out of existence; the shadow that merely trails in the wake of the unsullied visage of the Bankes ménage.
Likely destined through the ire wrought to the notches of a spine, in time Rowan learns that negative attention is sustenance nonetheless. Picture heirlooms thrown to walls at his hand, arriving to social gatherings inebriated, laughing as he spits blood following the reunion of his father’s fist to his jaw. He finds it all amusing: the act, the punishment, the pain.
Raven boy, he has always been enamoured by that which gleams — and, how it blooms the lustre of awe and envy in others. It begins as merely a hobby, and he excels: he wins a brawl and earns cufflinks from the sleeves of a diplomat’s son, saccharine words murmured to the neck of an ambassador’s wife has her shrugging off fur of a previously unseen hue.
In time, it grows from hobby to career, and those with greed sugar-spun to their marrow know his name, speaking of him behind the shield of lifted palms, syllables thread dreamy: if you’re looking to obtain the extraordinary, speak to Rowan Bankes.
The Promethean is steeped in opportunity, and it’d be foolish to miss the fastest path to trade with China, and to leave his father behind, surrounded by peers set ablaze with talk of his son’s success.
It’s a week following their depart when Rowan’s skeletal begins to stir restless, when his digits twitch for destruction. It is there begins a newfound idea that is later only spoken of in the shadows: an evening of brawls, of violence. It takes little convincing on his behalf, though it has doubled in size since the start: they meet in the depths of the hold, as all transgressions are destined for, and volunteers thrash until the floor is slicked with plasma. It provides an out for the knots of ire, a way to find feeling. The sole rule: it must not be spoken of above, unless one wishes to have the captain’s fury unbridled.
Thus, aboard, Rowan is likely found with seraphic features marred with the split of a bottom lip, spread languid to a chaise, doing little to assist. He’s enthralling, yes, but wealth has bred an arrogance that frightens: how it must be, to be reckless without worry, to be thrilled by the consequence.
🌙 — ALL ABOARD ! The HMS PROMETHEAN welcomes ( NOUR VILLIERS ) to the expedition in their capacity of ( the Chronicler ). They are ( thirty-nine & non-binary ) and might be painted as ( SOFIA BOUTELLA ). When you strike up an acquaintance, address them as ( they/them ). Their deeds on land precede their arrival — people say they are ( perceptive, vicious and sentimental ) but ( pragmatic, reckless and cruel ) when the tide turns. Their purpose aboard the Promethean falls in line with ( finding the story. Finding their story, buried in the waves ).
𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅-𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
nour grew up a little bit faster than normal people. and then they started aging a little bit slower than normal people. if you were technically the same age as children, they would’ve actually been quite a bit older.
they eat their meat raw, and may or may not entertain cannibalistic tendencies. combine this with extremely sharp teeth and excellent night-vision.
they always keep their nails trimmed. but if they’re not careful — if you’re not careful — they might just cut someone on touch.
nour has quite low empathy. their morals did not come from any compass inherent in the heart, but rather principles taught by their parents. to nour that’s all the better: they chose their morals and ethics, which makes them better and more consistent than any ‘innately good’ person.
combined with the low empathy, nour is usually dispassionate. emotions are lacklustre, the world separated by a thin film of water. they’re quite good at imitating though! outwardly they usually appear relaxed and gently amused.
when there are exceptions to this rule of apathy nour goes straight to the extreme: obsession, fixation. for instance, they’re obsessed with dissecting jaya.
last but DEFINITELY not least, you can find my application HERE. yes! please! plot with me!
