#x. muse

[ofamess]

@bleachbrainrotbro Sorry Cherry.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, you’re a 9, and I’m the 1 you need.”

[quinncastel]

Gideon Townsend is the Zone 1 Traveler whom Quinn Castel is impersonating. Gideon has been dead for several months now, but no one save one contact in CHQS knows that, and Quinn’s siblings from Zone 2. 

I’ve decided to put together some baseline information on Gideon to help anyone who will be interacting with him from CHQS provide a better understanding of who they likely think he is. I’ll probably add to this but if you have questions, just let me know!

NAME: Gideon Townsend AGE: 38 OCCUPATION: Traveler with CHQS Zone 1 STATUS: Deceased

BIO

Gideon had a relatively innocuous upbringing. He wasn’t top of his class by mere talent alone. No, he was the sort to work day and night to earn his merit, to earn any position he’d set his eyes on. He was tireless.

When it came to working with CHQS, he pursued a role as a Traveler, the acclaim coming with being one appealing to him. Title was always important but he felt that having worked as hard as he did, he earned his. 

He would take researches between Zones, as per his Traveler’s mandate, but independently, would travel to Z3 more than Z2, favoring the place that looked better. 

Of course, when one achieves their goal at such a young age, there’s a restlessness that settles in. A need to continually prove himself as capable. 

–

Perhaps that’s why an unnamed benefactor saw potential in him – in the ceaseless drive to succeed. It was how they enlisted him in his smuggling between Zones, paying him handsomely to do so. It was convenient to have a Traveler who’d help fulfill jobs, help keep things moving along when there was overlap in schedules. It wasn’t a constant thing but it was enough. 

Gideon was the perfect person for the job as someone who was hyper-focused on success and rank, as well as reward, and would do just about anything to preserve his reputation at the same time.

By all accounts, he was the model employee: polite to all the right people, strictly by the book (when it counted anyway), never a hair out of place.

Smuggling was just another challenge, another means to an end. Another way to rise in rank and in reputation with someone who was on track to heading up the very Zone.

–

The only other person who knew about his involvement, was a fellow Traveler –– someone who’d come up with him in training, someone he considered a friend and confidant. Someone who ultimately betrayed him. for a greater cause.

This Traveler had long since been sympathetic to the plight of Z2, having known people Hiked from Z0, and having seen firsthand the state of Z2. They were no savior, by any means, but they believed that they could affect change, somehow. 

Gideon didn’t know it, but they were already helping a Z1 Doctor smuggle unauthorized Z1 medical supplies to Z2. So when Gideon mentioned the fact that Z2 was the zone to make a profit in, to get rich fast (exploiting those who were desperate for something as basic as just clean water), this person knew that the Gideon who’d entered CHQS had warped into something so many in Z1 had become. Calloused.

–

For a while, they kept up the ruse of friendship until just over a year and a half ago when they thought they saw Gideon in a Z2 marketplace, laughing with a woman selling flowers. When they realized it was Gideon’s Doppelgänger, things fell into place.

It was clear Quinn knew something was off by the way he and his people trailed Gideon. When this other Traveler approached, offering to help with the Castel’s plans, knowing they wouldn’t succeed without inside help, Quinn and his siblings agreed, though not without prolonged debate and weighing of their options.

– 

Six months ago, Gideon went further out in Amhaven, to make a deal with some Raiders. Little did he knew what was waiting for him on the outskirts of the city. The betrayal of one: the switching out of supplies that would’ve otherwise kept him healthy in Z2. The ambush of three: cutting him off from his means of transport, letting the symptoms associated with distance from CHQS in the wrong Zone creep up on him. 

The last thing Gideon saw before his ultimate death was his own reflection, looking down at him with contempt. 

–

QUICK FACTS

Gideon always played by the rules. No one but the person who approached him and his Traveler connection know he didn’t. 

Gideon was respectful, dutiful, put together and seemingly a stickler for protocol. He followed everything to a tee, always (or seemed to). He was definitely someone who worked late, seeming to focus all his energies on his job. 

He wore suits and generally very nice Z1 attire in his day-to-day at CHQS.

His parents had died several years ago, and he had no siblings. 

He was quite good at card games and found the old-fashioned-ness of them amusing.

TL;DR: think put together, by the books Wall Streeter...seemingly perfect and upstanding on the outside but really just out for himself/profit/rank/respect. 

[quinncastel]

belladonna, chamomille

belladonna :   how does your muse respond to silence ?   do they take comfort in soundlessness ,   or seek to fill the void with noise ?  

Quinn isn’t bothered by silence. It gives him the opportunity to think on the rare occasion he does get to experience any. Before his “death”, he rarely had time for such a luxurious notion –– life as one of the leaders of the Castel Raider Faction didn’t afford him much of it. Still, he’s a bit suspicious when there’s too much of it – even a wasteland like Amhaven can’t be quiet for that long. 

chamomile :   what is your muse likely to take away from a painful experience ?   are they one to be haunted by adversity ,   or to use what they’ve gone through to become stronger ?  

Quinn definitely uses painful experiences to grow stronger. It fuels him, especially if his pride ever takes a hit. Painful experiences are simply lessons to learn from. In order to survive, he had to learn to keep going, to keep moving forward regardless of the adversity. 

[quinncastel]

[quinncastel]

abatina, amaryllis, daffodil, holly, & lilac

abatina :   is there anything in life your muse has changed their mind about over time   (   due to becoming more educated on the topic ,   certain experiences  ,   etc .   ) ,   or that they   would   change their mind about under certain circumstances ?  

Definitely. For most of his life, Quinn was ignorant to the realities of The Parallel. It’s changed his entire understanding of the world –– his world...all the worlds. Reality itself. 

amaryllis :   what is something or someone that your muse takes pride in ?   how do they express that pride ?  

He takes pride in the accomplishments of his family – the fact that they came from nothing and have built a small kingdom for themselves. However, knowledge of Zones 1 and 3 have dampened this pride only slightly. He knows they can accomplish more if they weren’t relegated to life on a dying world. 

Quinn expresses pride through arrogance most of the time. The very fact that they’ve pushed the boundaries so many times and haven’t failed yet keeps them doing so, keeps them testing the limits of what’s possible and what they can accomplish. 

daffodil :   is your muse one to be loyal in relationships ,   or are they likely to quickly move from one bond to another ?

Quinn is loyal, first and foremost, to his family. His brother and sister @ayacastel​. After that, his Raiders. His loyalty cannot be bought and it can not be transferred or changed. Forming bonds in Amhaven was never really an option anyway. Survival came first and relationships second. Anyone else he might’ve cared about are long gone – either they didn’t survive or betrayed him and his in some way. 

In a city like this, bonds are fragile things, easily broken. Not so easily recovered.  

holly :   how strong is your muse’s sense of intuition ?  are they aware of it ?   do they ever fear that it is only paranoia ?  

He is incredibly intuitive. I feel like anyone who’s survived to adulthood in Zone 2 has to be, not just Quinn himself. But, overall, he’s always been adaptive and quick-witted, able to pivot where need be and think several steps ahead. Because of this, he’s not prone to trusting people (which has kept him alive all these years) but he’s also a man of action. If he sees an opportunity, he will take it, knowing that they are few and far between in Amhaven. 

I also think that there is a healthy dose of paranoia in him, but not in a debilitating way. More in a hand ready to grab whatever weapon/item can be used as a weapon that is closest. He’s a bit like a coiled snake, even if it doesn’t show outwardly. He’s always ready for the next threat. As he’s impersonating Gideon, he’s constantly aware of his surroundings, of his own mannerisms. But it’s not necessarily something out of the ordinary. It’s how he’s lived his entire life –– ready for the next fight lingering around the corner.  

lilac :   what was your muse’s childhood like ?   how has their upbringing affected them as they’ve aged ?

You could would hardly call what Quinn and Aya grew up in as a childhood. They were orphaned from a young age, Quinn taking care of his sister until she could take care of herself. When they met their brother on the streets, they were all still less than ten years old, just trying to get by. It wasn’t a childhood, but it’s what kept them alive –– the incessant need to survive. To overcome. To come out on top. And they did. 

It’s what’s driven Quinn’s ambition, his cunning and his ability to block everything else out but the task at hand. When you’re a boy living on the streets, and someone’s trying to steal the clothes off you and your little sister’s back –– you do what you need to in order to survive. There was no room for fear or panic, just adrenaline and a feral desire to live, and to make them pay for ever threatening a hair on his sister’s head. 

Quinn learned the idea of kill or be killed far too young, but it’s what’s kept him very much alive to this day. 

[skyeshq]

tags~

[xjaeyong-blog]

[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT #1]

Accessed from the Archives of Dr Li / Classification: Highly Classified

Dr Li’s notes: Patient seems to suffer from deep childhood trauma, as well as delusions of grandeur. Seems to have a difficulty with relating to others, and dislikes making connections. Schedule future meetings.

Dr Li: This is just a simple game designed for me to get to know you better. Please don’t think too much about your answers, just answer with the word that you think of, or associate with my word the most.

JY: Go on, then. When does this session end, by the way? -- And oh, that shade of lipstick is unusually stunning on you. I’ve never seen anyone pull it off so well.

Dr Li: We have another one hour. Shall we continue?

JY: If we must.

Dr Li: We’ll start off with something simple-- the sun.

JY: The moon.

Dr Li: That’s right. Do you get it?

JY: Perfectly.

Dr Li: Alright, let’s begin. Home.

JY: Misfortune.

Dr Li: Adult. 

JY: Alone. 

Dr Li: Blood.

JY: Dreams. 

Dr Li: Desire 

JY: Crushed. 

Dr Li: Future. 

JY: Emptiness. 

-- the conversation blurs, the tape fast forwards into garbled words and static, finally stopping at their final words -- 

Dr Li: Thank you for coming, Mr Lee. Please schedule your next appointment with the receptionist outside, shall we do... let’s say-- next week? 

JY: Well, we’ll have to see. Frankly, I only came here to assuage my employer’s doubts. I’m sure the report you will return is... favourable to him. In fact, I’m sure of it. 

[END TAPE. ]

[xjaeyong-blog]

moodboard ;; (1/?) 

“.... What’s wrong with breaking up over text? I even used emoticons! Did I not send you a sad-faced emoticon?” 

somewhat self-absorbed & pessimistic