#.// lupus in fabula (trm)

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Who are your muses best friends?

Arthur's best friends are: @bertievi's George VI; @admiraltyspride's Lord Nelson; @ageofxail's Daniel/America (husband!!!), Noel/England & Royal Navy; my Jack/London; & @xbasilrp's Toni/Spain (spicy boyfriend).

Not quite besties but very close platonically (unless otherwise noted) are @terrorcaptain's Crozier (very father-son tbh); Thera at @therapardalis; Mycroft at @governmentofficial (also husband!); @hope-on-hope-ever's John Franklin (friends/colleagues in general but also estranged father and bastard son in THAT ONE AU); endearingly fond of @imprvdente's Fish; & Pris at @herstoriies

@honorhearted gets an honorable (ha!) mention because of how complicated Ben and Art's relationship is. Arthur admires Ben but also wants to punch him in the nose. Arthur enjoys punching things though, so take that with a whole spoon of salt. He genuinely wants the Americans to win and believes Ben to be a properly good man--part of the reason he razzes Ben like he does is because there's really no other way (in Art's opinion) to try and shake Ben out of seeing the war as a largely black and white problem. He sees a lot of himself in Ben--they are both educated, stubborn, hot-headed, and courageous in stupid ways, and they both have a heart. Arthur doesn't want to see America get its start as a country with all of the kindness burned out of all its founders. They are... complicated.

I don't like to go godmode people, but Art's "default" is that he is besties with Portugal, France, India, U.S. America. However, I handle that on a case-by-case basis because, again, it would be shitty of me to force that decision on other writers.

Goodsir's besties are: The Henry Collins that lives in my head; @tooxldtorememxer's John Irving; @herstoriies' Priscilla (big fat crush on her too tbh!!!!!); @therapardalis; @terrorcaptain; Silna at @tatteredxsails; @bertievi of course; he's also pretty close with @ageofxail's Noel; & @imprvdente's Fish; & he has........ complicated feelings about @honorhearted's Ben.

Thomas Blanky's besties are: @wantsusdead's Francis (I mean we just started threading but LISTEN-); oh also @terrorcaptain's Francis (+ husband); he's also super fond of @admiraltyspride too; can't forget about the Sidebear, thank u @tatteredxsails; & if I get my way he's going to continue to 'Dad' at @imprvdente!!!!!

The Railroad Man has no besties because he's an abject piece of sh oh wow, Moriarty actually!! @multipleoccupancy

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Moodboard for the Railroad Man x

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the M A N  f r o m  t h e  R A I L R O A D // INTEREST TRACKER

MUSE STATUS: PRIMARY

(By liking this post, you are indicating interest in plotting with this character, and are OK with me sending memes/prompts to your inbox!)

NAME: The Man from the Railroad

ALT NAMES: The Railroad Man

OCCUPATION: ????

SEX/GENDER/PRONOUNS: Male(??), He/him

SEXUALITY: ????

FACECLAIM: Richard Armitage

AGE: Appears as a man in his mid-late 40s

HEIGHT: 6′5″

BUILD/BODY TYPE: Tall, long, solid, elegant, eerily ‘perfect’

HAIR: Black, salt-and-pepper

EYES: Dark charcoal grey

PINTEREST BOARD

ALL ABOUT ̸̧̬̖̼̦̾ ̸̧̳̒͒ ̷̠̑̽̕ ̴̮̗͍͈̈́͊̉͜ ̸̨͙̞̱͙̊̉̈́̈̓ ̷̢͓̤̪̞̋͘͝͠ ̴̢̛̣̭̃̐͘ ̵̦̭̤̰͗̍̂ ̵̻̫̀̄ ̴̯̻͒͝ͅ ̴̨̨̣̼̍͆̾̚ ̷̡̮̱͔̜̒̉ ̸̻͇̟͕̜̂̕͠ ̸̡̥̳̆͐ ̶̠̭͂̒ ̷̯̳̠̈́̍̿̍̔ ̶̛̺̐̉̿͘ ̵̰̉͂̀͂͝ ̸̧̥̭̓̾͗̒͝ ̶̺̤́͒̉ ̶̬͘ ̷̨͂̍ ̵͈̺͇̆̑̐̐ ̸̹̩͈̟̆̏ͅ ̷͉̿̃͒̈ ̴̲̳̂ ̶̧́͊̀̆ ̵̳̜͋̈́͂͛ ̶̡̪̓̒ ̶͙͙̝͈̆̄̚ ̵͈͖̼͚̄̌ ̸̞͆̏ ̶̗͔̳̩̇̿̈́͗ͅ ̴̨̺̯̱̞̊ ̴̣͈̂ ̴̖̜̃̇̓ ̷̦͐́͠ ̶͇̟̥̣̿̓̌͌ ̴̹̼̭̃̌͐͝ ̴̙̀̐ ̵̧̞͆͘͜ ̴̡̳̟͔̳̒̃̍͘ ̸̦̬̪́͊ͅ ̴̭̝͂͒͋ͅ :

Wouldn’t YOU like to know?

The Man-from-the-Railroad is an enigmatic, impeccably tailored, charcoal-suited figure, black hair dusted with salt-and-pepper, and a gleaming white tiger-like smile.

His origins are unknown, his true purpose and motives are unknown.

What is known, however, is that he is charming, cunning, from the Railroad, and while some might consder it up for debate is certainly not the Devil. He is something else; which is to say, worse, and real.

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For RP purposes, here is a rundown of his character and powers so you can know what to expect. All of this applies to his canon (aka DEFAULT) setting, and can/may be tweaked for AUs on a case-by-case basis.

NOTE: Most things I have pulled either from canonical instances or “word of God” per the writer(s) of the podcast. Some things I have extrapolated, due to his brief appearances, and others I have inserted from my own bullshit. I still try to stick to the core aspects of his character as seen in canon; and he is subject to change should more material become available on new episodes of the podcast.

PERSONALITY:

The Railroad Man is, above all, charming, seemingly affable, effortlessly confident, and stopping him from doing what he wants is about as easy as stopping a speeding train. He has the air and appearance of unnerving perfection, as though he was manifested into being clad in his signature pinstripe suit; but it’s every part of his appearance, from his perfectly-coifed hair, to his perfectly cut thin beard, to his unnervingly straight, bright teeth, down to his polished leather shoes--the sort of which you could never afford. Something about him is just... not quite human... it is cold, bright, unbearably real.

He delights in style and class and has a flair for the dramatic. However, he is a stickler for rules--that is, the Old Rules of magic and honor and deals: If you bring harm upon him and his own, you owe him; if he does you a favor, you owe him, and he will come to collect at a time of his choosing. 

He also revels in death and blood as it pertains to the railroad (worldwide), and since at least the 1880s (though very likely earlier than that) he has contributed to pr*son pipelines that provided hard labor to build hundreds of thousands of miles of tracks worldwide (over 100,000 miles in the United States alone). 

They saw the land split by iron tongues. They saw men work to pull up driving spikes and laying rail. they saw the avarice and greed and the ever-growing power of the railroad in this man's eyes.

-- Old Gods of Appalachia, Episode 23 (Season 2), A Bad Night for Hollow Men

Blood, as it turns out, and the lives given in his name and/or the name of the Railroad, allows him to travel as he pleases, and the more bodies worked to death, the better. To say he has a cheerfully callous disregard for human life is a vast understatement. He is decidedly not human, and considers himself better, superior, to them--even to the point that this can become a blind spot where he underestimates human opponents, though fighting against him will always come at a great cost.

His only redeeming qualities are his apparent ambivalence on things when he can get his way, his charm (although smug), and his adherence to rules. He is not unwilling to work out a deal, and in fact, would prefer to do so even if he has the power to get what he wants by sheer force alone. 

He is a man of class and taste, with an airy arrogance that shows itself when his patience wears thin. Just don’t inconvenience him too much--he is not afraid to massacre hundreds to get what he wants, or to shed blood as he turns to smiling anger.

POWERS/ABILITIES/WEAKNESSES:

- Rapid, near instant healing of his body and clothes (blood-based) even from catastrophic injury. He can be killed if cut off from his healing source, provided the blow is a fatal one

- Immense strength/stamina-- can rip out a person’s throat with his bare hand, can also withstand a shotgun blast from close range and remain on his feet

- Teleportation over vast distances, provided he is within a dozen miles of a working railway; he uses working rails as ‘tunnels’ through utter darkness from place to place

- Shapeshifting-- Per Steve, he could be The Railroad Ma’am if he wanted; I have decided he could be pretty much any shape and has such control over his physical form (clothes included)

- Shapeshifting/Illusiory magic-- This passage from episode 25, Siege of Pleasant Evenings, explains it best:

And then as if to answer her unspoken query, the Railroad Man’s body flickered and changed. He seemed to grow taller, and then shorter, he seemed to distort into impossible forms and faces, and collapsed back into the well-dressed fiend in the charcoal suit. In one flickering moment, and dark-skinned, wrought with muscles, his back misshapen by a slab of scars; in his hand hung a heavy hammer. Another shift, and he was a woman cradling her dead husband’s head in her lap, his body crushed by stones. another flicker and he was a burning town, billowing black smoke into the trees, the heat and burning stench of men dying ripe on the air, for but a moment before he flickered again, and he was a salt and pepper playboy in a fine hand-tailored suit. 

Other visions flickered across the eyes of those who saw him there, each one a custom-made image of pain and loss and violation. 

He grinned up at her, stark and feral, like a wolf with a mouth full of your firstborn. “Do not mourn these poor souls, Miss Walker, for they have all fallen short of the glory of their god—be it the one who takes their tithe or the one who signs their paycheck. They look to both for salvation and find naught but throats like sepulchers and feet quick to shed blood.”

- Blood magic-- His blood and blood shed for the railroad are the/a source of his power. However, like other creatures of the Dark, he can be cut off from his exposed healing source (a pool of blood) if he has already been injured and ONLY if he has been sufficiently caught off guard. Blood shed in his name can cover wards, spells, sigils, and the more blood, the more control he will have

- Creation of Hollow thralls-- By getting folks to agree to work for the Railroad, and giving them his black business card, he can call upon them--through some corrupting magic, their minds will empty and he can command them to do as he wishes. Sometimes that will distort their bodies, sometimes not, but it will always lead to their eventual mindless and monstrous death

- Compulsion of obedience/mild hypnosis-- through the sound of his voice, the touch of his hand, through the act of truly looking into his eyes and Seeing who and what he really is

- Heightened senses-- He can smell the air and taste the earth; he is attuned to the ground in which rails have been staked and to the lives affected, changed. He can sense power and life and death and the stories and names of the people there. He can and will kneel and taste dirt, and he can and will sniff the air like a hound to find the threads of the stories he wishes to learn

- Names and Property Lines-- It is important that he is apparently nameless, as names in Alt Appalachia have power; his being without a name means power cannot be claimed over him in this way. Additionally, ownership of property is particularly important in this world-- wards, charms, barriers on a person’s land can be weakened or rendered void if that ownership changes. The more blood shed by TRM on the Walkers’ land, for instance, and spilled over their protective wards, meant the land would slowly but surely become his. It would follow, then, that a stand could be made against him with sufficient magical defense if you had your own little plot and a legal deed with your name on it--as long as you can keep him from sending waves of dying bodies over the property line

MISC:

- When he dies, a bright light bursts through his eyes and mouth and the terrifying sound of a train will rumble past before he and any carnage vanish. Death for him is not at all permanent

- He likes making stupid train pun jokes on occasion but they are subtle... ish

- He is probably around 100 years old or more by the 1930s

- While rather fae-like in the way he operates, he is familiar with human culture and language and all that sort of thing

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(The following images are screenshots from official Old Gods transcripts which you can find on their website. If you want to know a little bit more about him, these snippets are the way to go.)

((WARNING: They contain descriptions of blood, injury, and MINOR, out of context spoilers for the podcast.))

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WARNINGS: RPing with this character will involve sensitive topics from various eras throughout American history, as well as topics on mental illness/depression/PTSD, sexuality/sexual themes, drug addiction/substance abuse, war/violence/gore/injuries, racism/colonialism/imperialism/nationalism, socio-economic issues past & present, homophobia past & present. 

By liking this post and indicating your interest to engage in RP with this character, you are accepting the above warnings and have read the rules posted here on this blog.

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(AU)  T H E S E  O L D  H I L L S  C A L L  (O l d  G o d s  o f  A p p a l a c h i a)

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Era: 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st centuries

Setting: Mostly Appalachain Range, North America (& Britain)

Character(s): Arthur, Amelia, Goodsir, Blanky, Ben, The R*ilro*d M*n, D*ughter Dooley

Status: OPEN, Accepting Threads

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(Pulled from the Old Gods of Appalachia website here.)

Long before anyone lived in these hills, beings of immeasurable darkness and incomprehensible madness were entombed here. It was during this bygone age, when the Appalachians towered much higher and more menacing than the gentle slopes and ridges we know today, that they were conscripted after a great battle to serve as the final prison for those dark forces. But of course, time marches inexorably on. Eons passed and the walls of the prison begin to wear thin. And Things that slumbered soundlessly below for millennia began to stir and become restless.

They began to call to those who would hear them.

To dig. To seek and find. To follow and serve. To keep this dark and bloody land for themselves and their masters.

The Green. The Dark. 

Blood. Earth. Coal. Rain. Fire. Woods. This is a world where names and places have power, where energies and spirits, crawling things, witches and haints, mouthless hunting entities that hunger, are all entrenched firmly in and around a mountain chain spread across an ocean and older than bone.

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Listen if y’all don’t listen to OGOA in its entirety but you’re on my dash and thus have to hear me blorbo about a certain charcoal-suited shitheel and are like “the fuck even is this”--

Just listen to these 4 episodes. (CW for blood, death, body horror, violence, the American prison pipeline, hard labor, bigotry, racism)

https://youtu.be/-faqeSf90Wc

https://youtu.be/votQ2zYmamw

https://youtu.be/BkojImSYDYo

https://youtu.be/xZVkUh417IY

It’s a good story, family. x

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I’m laughing because the R.a.i.l.r.o.a.d Man is literally just the personification of the American railroad and honestly rep rpers are missing out sorely on having their reps be associated with witchery and magics.

Like it’s just really validating because I’ve always been kind of hesitant to really integrate Jack and Arthur’s magic bullshit into RP, because I don’t want to come off as godmode-y? And understandably, not every character will respond positively to magic. But it’s also such an integral part of who those two ARE--Jack with his shadow, blood, and water magic, and Arthur with......... /gestures at everything/. 

So like, seeing a well-written character seamlessly have these qualities as what I interpret as a “rep” of sorts is just... *CHEF KISS* 

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Since I just got stood up by one of my bosses (and then had the meeting time changed to this Friday after waiting a week to speak with her) I'm going to indulge in some self-validation.

I'm proud of the wordplay and puns used in my character tags.

For example:

#.// lo & behold (the archivist) for Jon. Because, you know. The Beholding. 👁 If you know, you know. If you don't, go listen to the Magnus Archives.

#.// go with the floe (blanky) for Thomas because he is a deceptively easygoing Icemaster; a sheet of floating sea ice is called a 'floe'.

#.// schrodinger’s doctor (goodsir) for Goodsir because throughout the whole series, it's this back and forth of people calling him "doctor" and he even clarifies to Lt. Gore that he isn't. And by the end, he says if he ever was, he is one no longer. Therefore, he is and is not a doctor, depending on when in canon you observe him.

#.// turn on--tune in--drop dead (alastor) for Alastor requires a little knowledge of US.American history. To spare you a lecture, it's simply a play on 'Turn on, tune in, drop out.' Per an article from Medium,

Timothy Leary's “Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out” mantra defined the 1960's Hippie counterculture movement. The phrase was a call for people to drop out of the mainstream consumer culture and tune in to themselves. The emphasis was on introspection, searching for internal control, internal freedom and internal solutions.

Alastor was a radio host in the 1920s and 1930s based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. As an Overlord in Hell, he appears to be exceedingly motivated by his own goals and above all, a desire for freedom.

#.// lupus in fabula (trm) for the Railroad Man references the Latin phrase, lupus in fabula; or, the wolf in the story. However the true meaning of the phrase is equivalent to the more modern(ish) idiom, "Speak of the Devil and he doth appear." It works in both the literal sense and as an idiom: The Railroad Man is described at one point like a "wolf with a mouth full of your firstborn", and other predatory descriptors. He also has a distinct habit of showing up suddenly (especially around railways).

The others are less creative, IMO, with Arthur's "ruled the waves" (a play on Rule Britannia's 'rules the waves' line) -- Jack's "of blood & bone." But they can't all be gold.