Declan Lynch

[dauntless_son]

Declan Lynch He'd been a liar his whole life. The Raven Cycle PLAYER IC INBOX PROFILE KINKS MoM VISUALS PLAYER CONTACT HMD OPEN Before the grey suit & grey voice Declan Lynch is, quite possibly, the only true-born son of Niall Lynch, and he is neither a dream nor a dreamer in a family full of both. From a young age, he's been his brother Ronan's keeper, as his brother Ronan is a dreamer and can pull things from his dreams back into the waking world. Except, as a child and for a good part of his teen years, Ronan did not have much finesse or control. This meant a young Declan would often stay awake in his little brother's room to wake him up if he seemed like he was dreaming something too violent or frightening. He didn't always manage: sometimes Ronan would bring back a fire or a flood, sometimes a weird animal that never existed in the world before. Sometimes a song that just wouldn't stop playing and was impossible to catch. Miraculous things, impossible things. Declan loves his brother. Delcan has had his entire life shaped by other people's dreams. When he was old enough - maybe eight, maybe ten - Delcan started accompanying his father on trips around the world to all manner of black markets, where Niall sold dream-things passed off as rare finds. Declan already knew how important secrets were and he already knew how to lie, and he became the perfect assistant to his father's business. Niall was brash and charming; Declan was demure and forgettable. After Niall was brutally murdered, Declan became the executor of his will and the guardian of his brothers, Ronan and Matthew. Ronan hated him for that. Matthew hated nothing and no one. Throughout his four years at Aglionby Academy, a private school in southwest Virginia, Declan tried to make sure that Ronan would survive until 18, despite what he saw as Ronan's numerous attempts to do anything but that. Declan's firm boundaries and standards and boringness grew the tension between he and Ronan. When it reached boiling points, they fought, trading sharp blows or sharp words. Though they eventually achieved an understanding, the tension between them has never fully dissipated. Ronan resents Declan's penchant for hiding information; Declan will not apologize for it. After graduating, Declan began attending a university in Washington, D.C. and also began an internship in a congressional office. He moved into the boring, perfectly normal townhouse his father left to them and he built a life that continued to be utterly unremarkable, until he decided to hunt down one of his father's artifacts: a painting. Declan slipped back into the black market underworld he left to find it, and by doing so exposed Ronan to an entire new world of danger. Before invisibility There are two Declan Lynches. There is the Declan Lynch that lives a quiet life in Alexandria, Virginia, in a townhouse that could really be anyone's townhouse for all the personality it has. This Declan goes to school, goes to work at his internship, and does just well enough to get by but never so well that he stands out for advancement or special recognition. He wears staid, gray suits, he wears subtle cologne, he's charming when you meet him and forgettable as soon as you walk away. There is nothing extreme about him: not his feelings, not his passions, not his interests. He parcels his life out in little moments that he allows himself: a flash of happiness here, brief satisfaction there, a bit of excitement just once. Every minute of every day, he is prepared to consider worst-case scenarios, possibilities, and consequences for every action. He has been protecting his brothers and his family's secrets for his entire life. The other Declan wears stylish shoes, keeps an attic full of abstract art that he's lovingly curated, who impulsively chases down a painting that is personal to him, even though it might expose him. This Declan gives his business card to art forgers in a place called the Fairy Market, he impulsively agrees to meet that forger again and uses all his connections to produce a very expensive, very personalized gift for their first date. This Declan's smiles and laughs are bright and whole. This Declan chases the specter of his mother, is brother to a dreamer and son of a dreamer and brother to a dream and son of a dream. This Declan has been dying quietly, slowly, beneath gray suits and quiet desperation for years. No matter which face he's showing, Declan is protective, sharply intelligent, shrewd, and, ultimately, loving. The boring facade he exists behind is the result of that protective instinct: being boring means going unnoticed, which he thinks is exactly what people like his brother and father need to do. Otherwise they're targets, and that ended with his father being brutally murdered in their driveway. Declan's drive to protect his family surpasses most of his other survival instincts: even after being brutally beaten in his high school dorm, he never gives up his brother's secret. He evades, deflects, buys time. His entire goal is to keep his brothers alive, to at least get them to eighteen so that his official duties as their guardian will end. Declan has survived for years in a community of black market, magic artifact dealers - a world that got his father killed - and he still navigates it with finesse and purpose. He had secrets Declan is an accomplished liar. He does it without hesitation and he does it to survive. He is an utterly charming and utterly forgettable person, and he has worked hard for that. He is boring. He is unremarkable. But hidden in the attic of his grey townhouse is a world of art and color, of hidden passion and a longing for a life outside of the box he's made for himself. Education: Aglionby Academy; Georgetown University Family: Niall, Aurora, Ronan, Matthew Violence: An accomplished boxer and marksman Liar: To survive Despite his grey suits and grey life, Declan always wears surprisingly stylish shoes.