i think there's a lot i want to explore with sumyeong but for his growth, i'd specifically like to see him be able to open up to vulnerability and grow from being so afraid of losing important things/avoiding letting himself get attached because of all he's lost. i want him to become more open with his emotions and learning how to convey them and address them. i really want to delve into this. i know a lot of the focus i've put on him so far as been his family losses and its related trauma. which i might just need to spend some more time writing into these bits to really see how he processes through all of that first!

i also love putting my muses through hard times so it'd be interesting to see him go through some sort of break. it seems like something he's on the cusp of and something i've considered and talked about in some plotting with others! but i just haven't really dug into it writing wise.

evil mun set aside, i think i would love to see some of his old dreams fulfilled. sumyeong has always wanted to leave velgrove. i think it would be amazing to see him let go of the things tying him to the town so that he can just be free. at this point, i'm not entirely sure if velgrove is a place that he'll feel truly disappears from him or not. 

more than being found out as moonsik, minki is afraid of people seeing him for who he really is. he knows that there’s something wrong with himself, that a normal human being shouldn’t act the way he does, so he’s extra careful when presenting himself as minki to the world, so no one will see the secrets he hides so well.

there were moments when people came close: his brother, his parents, a so-called friend or two. yet, each time people turned away from him, taking a step back when they realized what they were about to find out could change their perception of him forever. it was easier for people to pull away then, to pretend nothing happened so nothing had to change. if they did go on, however, minki knew he would have to kill them – there is no one who can hide a secret like his.

velgrove finds ways to be jeweled and cut as the dusk dries into night, its fireflies like blisters where they burst upon leaves and flatter themselves into clusters. pleiades, ptolemy, coma, wishing well.  

in the strange grey and blue of post-light everything looks both dusted and ash-soaked; there is jane, like undine rising from the waters && the farmhouse, the dark wood where dante first met virgil.

jane is leaning against its open doorway, shifting her bare shoulder back and forth and watching the moonlight spill over her skin to illuminate the dark foyer in various degrees. it is strange to be here and hear no star-bellied beasts thrumming away in its walls. the lace of her dress drags along work boots that are scuffed && only slightly sticky with honey, and a lantern dances by her thigh, its handle at the very ends of jane's fingers. it clinks against the wood of the farmhouse every now and again, when jane twists enough the moon's light can illuminate the whole room.

there are secrets she could spend her time trading with the history of the house while she waits, but jane chooses to watch the fireflies move instead. when she squints they split into little crosses. she can hear sumyeong inside, somewhere, body turning imperceptibly in his direction.

SHADOW: what is something about your muse that they are afraid to let other people see or learn about ? #tw: mentions of death (familial, non-descriptive) & allusion to g*ns

eudora carries a quiet fear, like a shadow stitched to her heels. even in the softest of lighting, she can see its silhouette — the uncanny shape of her brother's broad shoulders against a door, the chiaroscuro of three mismatched polaroids. this fear clings to her in the pauses between her words ; in the way her gaze falters when her eyes run over those flimsy, palm-sized photos.

for your first task, please answer the following prompt before activity check is conducted this 06/08 @ 11.59 gmt-6. if you are choosing to substitute your activity this week with a thread (starter/response) please follow the second set of steps below.

completing task:

please answer one of the questions below. your answer must be at least 150 words. (you are free to answer more if you'd like)

secrets: what is a secret that your muse will/ would carry to the grave? (for themself or for others)

safety: how does your muse react in a dangerous situation? are they more likely to fight or to take flight or freeze?

sinners: what is something your muse sees as unforgiveable? (something to do or others doing to them)

once you have prepared your answer, keep the title format and tag your post with "vel:task".

substituting task with thread:

keep the title format - activity check! (task 000).

in the body, please indicate "thread for activity check MM/DD".

link the body with your thread response.

tag your post with "vel:task".

the land of velgrove yearns for blood.

it is a tale as old as time and in the marshes, or the quaint corners of the forest where the leaves return back into the cold embrace of the earth, it is the most apparent thing to a soul that's known death. there are two of them that day. fragile, ghastly things, forever irreversibly marred and torn by forces they will never quite fully comprehend. and like those apparitions cursed to endlessly wander, today they thread through the thick of the underbrush in search of what all mortals eventually come to want - freedom.

beneath distant rustling and the slow and purposeful exhale of the wind, mina holds her breath in some primal anticipation. her clammy hands cling desperately to a shoebox like a drowning man would to a straw, unwilling yet to truly let go of the memorabilia inside it. still, she straightens her shoulders, if only to save what she presumes is her last remaining bit of dignity in front of graves.

they've been walking for a while before they settle on the place - a mellow clearing, unexpectedly open amid the evergreen trees and on first glance infinitely unfit for rituals. she blinks and she swears that two children are rumbling in the grass, their laugher echoing distantly. she blinks again and the moment is gone. ultimately she settles on a thought: this is a graveyard in every way that matters.

she looks at him for probably the first time since they began their trek, inexperience flooding through her tone, "so. what now?"

and it dawns on her that she has now crossed an invisible line and began a journey that is too late to abort. a small, hungering part of her hopes she might find the same inadmissible comfort in him that she always does. another, less selfish and much more human, knows she is about to impart a burden on him that for many would be far too much to bear.