#OC: Finley Gibson

[theskeletoninthegarden]

Instead of writing more, I did this.

Finley is wise, friendly, regularly curses Eru despite being one of "his" agents, and is 100% ready to die for one Bilbo Baggins.

[theskeletonatthewritersblock]

A Stranger of the Shire

Chapter Four: Finding the Words, Finding the Road

"I hear you syug muttering," the Bard said, finishing up their packing away. "If it means anything, I am of Gandalf's people. To him I am an ant, to Men I am a grandparent, and to Elves, I am unsure of the htam." They looked back to them both once sure that their treasure was locked safely away. "And I will live a thousand or so years beyond all but the Wizard. Ask me how desufnoc that makes me feel."

[salmonandsoup]

FUCK IT

here’s the first half of the characters in the vampire mafia, part 2 to come soon—funnily enough, these guys aren’t the beginnings of the mafia, just the squad of idiot europeans (with one lesbian with the braincells) that the story starts with.  the actual Mafia mafia comes later

also technically, finley doesn’t join the mafia until, like, the 40s.  he’s the first recurring antagonist of the story that actually tracks the squad down, but he’s a very complicated man with a deeply skewed lens on life (read: traumatized wet little meow meow in a soaked cardboard box)

part 1 (here) // part 2

also of course, credit where it is due: peter belongs to @maxusthemad, louisa belongs to @oops-i-accidentally, tomasso belongs to @darkysan17, and nicky belongs to @kotilae !

[micoc84]

MLB Pitcher Wins 511 wins- Cy Young (r)- Cleveland Spiders, Boston Americans (1890) 417 wins- Walter Johnson (r)- Washington Senators (1907) 373 wins- Christy Mathewson (r) NY Giants (1900) / Alexander (Phillies) 365- Pud Galvin (r)- Buffalo Bisons (1879) 363- Warren Spahn (L)- Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves (1946) 355- Greg Maddux (r)- Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves (1986) 354- Roger Clemens (r)- Boston Red Sox, NY Yankees (1984) 329- Steve Carlton (L)- StLouis Cardinals, Philly Phillies (1965) 324- Nolan Ryan (r)- NY Mets, OC Angels, Astros (1966) /Don Sutton 314- Gaylord Perry (r) SF Giants, Indians (62) /Tom Seaver NY Mets (67) 305- Tom Glavine (L) Atlanta Braves (87) 305- Randy Johnson (L) Seattle Mariners, Zona Diamondbacks (1989) 266- Bob Feller 256- Andy Pettitte 251- Bob Gibson 243- Juan Marichal 240- Frank Tanana (L) OC Angels, Detroit Tigers (1973)

Old Hoss Radbourn (309), Tommy John (288), Whitey Ford/ Bartolo Colon (235), CC Sabathia 230, Catfish Hunter 224, Tim Hudson 222, Pedro Martinez 219, Curt Schilling 216, Bob Welch 211, Vida Blue 209, Don Drysdale 209, Bob Lemon 207, Orel Hershiser 204, Chuck Finley 200, Dennis Eckersley 197 Dwight Gooden 194, Lefty Gomez 189, Urban Shocker 187, John Lackey 181, Mark Langston 179, Livan Hernandez 178, Hippo Vaughn 178, Justin Verlander 178, Dave Stewart 168, Bret Saberhagen 167, Zack Greinke 166, Sandy Koufax 165, Barry Zito 165, Felix Hernandez 158, Jake Peavy 152, Jon Lester 151, Dizzy Dean 150, Jered Weaver 150, Don Newcombe 149, Adam Wainwright 144, Clayton Kershaw 140, Max Scherzer 135, Mark Gubicza 132, Johnny Cueto 120, Matt Cain 104, Madison Bumgarner 100, Chris Sale 85, Jake Arrieta 82 World Series Ring Leaders: Yogi Berra (10) 1946 yanks, Joe DiMaggio (9) 1936, Lou Gehrig (8)/ 23, Mickey Mantle/ Babe Ruth 14/ Whitey Ford/ Lefty Gomez (7), Eddie Collins 06 (6)/ philly, Derek Jeter/ Pettitte/ Mariano Rivera (5), Reggie Jackson (5) oakland, Sandy Koufax (4)- angels/ Javier Lopez (4)- san fran/ Darryl Strawberry (4) yankees

[theskeletoninthegarden]

I wrote some original songs, so to speak, for my Hobbit fic. Here's one of them, played while the OC dances on a table being used by the Company (minus Thorin) to eat at while in Rivendell (warning, it's got some innuendo).

“Hey, Dilly dilly, said the cat to the filly,

As the cow jumped over the moon!

Wouldn’t it be silly, oh an itty bitty,

If he did that ridin' a spoon?

Oh! Well I knew a lass

(who had a fine ass)

That she rode all across

‘Ere moun-tain!

But if I made a pass,

Shame we would never last,

As long as a Dwarven ore vein-!

Hey, Dilly Dilly, said the cat to the filly,

As the cow lowed up at the moon!

Wouldn’t it be silly, oh an itty bitty,

If he took to riding a spoon?

Well them trees may sway,

And the Wizards do pray,

Sweet Iluvatar guide my way,

But I know a path,

I could walk at half-mast

Where the holier then thou

Like to play!

Hey, Dilly dilly, said the cat to the filly,

As the cow jumped over the moon!

Wouldn’t it be silly, oh an itty bitty,

This is a rough draft, but the scene is pretty great in my head.

If he did that ridin' a spoon?

But ey, sweet little kitty,

Let’s sing a little ditty,

And dance this night away!"

[theskeletoninthegarden]

Thinking about my original character, Finley Gibson, and their beef with Eru Ilúvatar.

I don't want to call this religious trauma, because neither I nor my character has, thankfully, ever had to deal with such a complicated ordeal. Finley's beef, so to speak, is not being hand chosen by Eru to act as an "agent" in Arda, to manipulate the lines of history to better fit Finley's, and actually Eru's, idea of how things could be played out.

Which would mean in my story "he" knows what will occur in the events of The Lord of the Rings but I digress.

Finley's bitterness is being chosen over that of their deceased brother, who by all rights is more knowledgeable of the events of Tolkien's work, who has a greater understanding of even basic survival skills, who is better well versed in politics, and etc and etc.

Later Finley will also realize that although Paul was given new life, it was essentially as a cursed spirit in that of the instrument they had been, up until then, carrying for over a decade. Which means years without being able to touch, to see or hear much beyond wherever Finley took him. Which brings on a new wave of just...loathing for Eru, their literal patron god.

What they learn from Gandalf is that their brother, Paul, turned down the role because Paul wanted to remain by his sibling. Had he not, he would, yes, have been involved in the events of the Hobbit and etc in their place, but the death "destined" for Finley later on would have also have occured.

So instead of choosing the not-knowing of a certain death for his sibling on our Earth, he chooses for them to be reborn as an agent, and for Paul to become his sibling's instrument, to be carried with them into a quest of love, but yes pain, and certain heart break.

(Though it can be argued that without Paul's help, Finley would likely fail the quest).

And Finley learns of all this, but it's so much easier to be angry with Eru then to think of their sibling as anything less than basically perfect. They could be upset with both individuals, but sooner would go to outright war with "god" then to say for a moment that their brother had been a fool.

But if it turns out Paul cannot be released from his pact then uhhh

[theskeletoninthegarden]

More about my original character, don't mind me. But they have the words inscribed on the One Ring on the back of their neck.

They got it as a teenager, for shits and giggles. Upon entering Arda, Gandalf had to sear the tattoo from their neck, but a connection remains. It gives them nightmares, rather frequently, and maybe, just maybe, it means Sauron can reach through it to them, influencing them in the process.

They have a corruption arc I may or may not get into about them basically wanting to tear down and destroy Eru, because they've got some mad beef with the guy over choosing such a roundabout way of helping save the lives of Middle Earth, and etc, etc, and Sauron! He takes advantage of those feelings, which later warp into hate for what has been done to their brother, and emboldens them into rage.

So you've got this Maiar running around, a child of the stars, chosen by Eru "himself", that is given a bit of a level up by Sauron and those glimmering eyes of basically become beacons of death. They've already been named the White Wraith by Orc-kind since they can make their ears bleed and drive them into madness using their Gibson (their brother's soul, basically), but also they know it has the same effect on Elves. They're a damn screaming banshee of a creature, trying to tear out the throat of "god" with their bare teeth, and I think that could be neat to write about.

Man, so easily corrupted. Ain't that the truth.

[theskeletonatthewritersblock]

Chapter 10: Of Games of Fortune

“Well,” he looked back, still holding onto them. “Bilbo seems to have passed out over there. Or he’s taking a nap,” the prince glanced back down to them, “With the way Oin seems to be looking at him, I think the first is a safe spot to throw my coin.” “Worry traw ,” they muttered. “Help me up?” “One question, first,” he shrugged a shoulder. “While you’re incapacitated.” “Take your time, my head is swimming and my ribs are howling.” “How do you feel about my khram?” Finley turned their head so quickly, a tiny pain erupted in one temple. “?em esucxE "

[salmonandsoup]

Could we get summaries of the member of the vampire mafia?

oh you ABSOLUTELY can!  hell yeah

i’mma try to keep these relatively brief but there are like.  a dozen members and i love all of them so much and i’m trying to make them all complex people who have lived interesting lives (even if i do have my favorites).  i’m gonna put them in order of appearance! and of course, this is under a GIANT READ MORE. because this is LONG. also each person is color coded just for convenience though the colors will repeat (it's just to like, separate each section). heed the content warnings where they appear!

GOD this took a while but i'm proud. if you wanna know more about the overaching plot lemme know. i'm just gonna tag this as "the vampire mafia" for overall stuff

reuben james kent - the one and only english himbo; a giant flirt, a whimsical little shit, and someone who never wants to become manipulative and selfish (he punishes himself harshly for his wrongdoings and is more than a bit of a perfectionist).  he’s AMAB, bisexual, and genderqueer, though he usually presents masc and uses solely he/his pronouns unless in drag (in which he calls himself “reuby fangz” because he thinks he’s funny).  born in 1853 in london, he was a tailor barely making ends meet until one night in 1889, after stumbling home drunk off his ass, he got turned into a vampire—so he decided to fuck around with the rich and steal some cash to bring back to his poorer roots, while also becoming quite a bit more cultured in the process (learning how to dance ballet and play the cello).  he made some friends in higher places who were also struggling under the hegemonic ideals of the rich and powerful, and so he turned them into vampires too so they could all get their revenge and escape, traipsing around europe and eventually fleeing to america in the late 1900s (of course dodging the WWI draft and fucking around with the rich in america, too).  he can’t remember what the hell happened that fateful night he got turned and he doesn’t want to.  he’d much rather devote his time to making the world a little more beautiful and a little more fun for everyone—so long as he can keep his impulse control in check.  (that causes a lot of problems later down the line…  just see what happens with feliks.)  everyone in the vampire mafia’s got superhuman abilities, but where reuben’s unique power shines is in flight!  mans can fly and he loves to do so.  he’s a sweetheart who tries to make everyone smile, but he has problems admitting when he’s done something wrong, which is where one of the big conflicts of the story comes in.

peter gibson - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) peter’s a soft-spoken but no-nonsense librarian who reuben meets and befriends when he’s caught outside as the sun rises (while in this world, vampires won’t die if they stand out in the sun, it does wound them and leave them vulnerable to attacks that will kill them).  born in the black dockside community of liverpool, he eventually moved to london to pursue whatever higher education he could squeeze his way into and eventually became a librarian at the guildhall public library.  he got roped into all of this bullshit completely on accident, though because of his and nicholas’ love of bookbinding and bookkeeping, he ends up connecting reuben with the people who become his closest friends (and becoming one of those closest friends himself).  he’s always wanted to travel the world and never had the funds nor freedom to do so (cog in the machine and whatnot), so he’s happy to help reuben cover his tracks and then travel with the gang when they decide to hightail it outta england permanently.  he doesn’t become a vampire immediately, wanting to experience life as an older man first so he can fully appreciate his new abilities.  his vampiric power comes in the form of both a photographic and eidetic memory, and though it taxes his body a lot, he can see and hear through other people!  (his powers work in tandem with the info broker of this team, riki, and those two get along like a house on fire.)

nicholas sturge - (originally created by @kotilae!)  a young trans man from an upper-middle class family who prefers bookbinding to embroidery (though he won’t say no to either).  since he sucks at math (regardless of how many tutors he has), he does freelance work with making handkerchiefs and doilies, and he’s a friend of louisa’s (their families often talk together and nicholas’ dad is trying to get in good with louisa’s father and brother, who are much richer).  they’re both trying their best to escape their families and the lives their families force them into (though, thankfully, nicholas’ mother supports him living his life as a man, even if he can’t truly do so until he settles somewhere on his own).  he’s very anxious and sweet, but also extremely perceptive and Will hold a grudge or a smoking gun against you at the right moment for you to squirm.  he holds grudges for quite some time unless that grudge makes him look foolish, and then he’s apologizing for weeks if he cares about you.  he’s a phenomenal horseback rider, as that was his greatest passion as a child, and he becomes the getaway driver and transportation expert of the vampire mafia when the brit squad is absorbed into it in 1933.  his vampiric power lets him speak to animals and “control” them to a minor degree! (it’s mostly just persuading them, but if he must, he must—they forgive him, anyways.)

eireann louisa lovelace - (originally created by @oops-i-accidentally! also, cw for familial abuse) first, she goes by louisa, not eireann; you’ve gotta be a very good friend of hers to call her that.  louisa's an upper class lady with a shitty older brother named lewis who wants nothing to do with their mixed english and irish heritage (their mother is irish), instead vying to find a way to gain the most power from the industrial hegemony possible and using louisa as a pawn and a punching bag.  both nicholas and louisa have been trying desperately to find some way out for the both of them; lewis is trying to marry louisa off to the son of a family of bankers so he can gain monetary and political power, and louisa had nearly lost all hope because lewis is the most wretched piece of shit alive.  thankfully reuben, peter, and tomasso step in, ready to stir up some shit to create a diversion for both louisa and nicholas—and so, on her wedding day, she escapes and they start running around europe and eventually america.  unfortunately, her ex-fiancé starts following her, devastated by her running off, though his intentions aren’t what they may seem.  louisa can use various bits of magic as her special vampiric power (with telekinesis as her strong suit), she's a chemist by nature, and she's 100%, hands down, the braincells of the brit squad (and a good chunk of the braincells of the mafia in general).  so long as she doesn’t have to answer for some conflict (because she Will just up and run from it, reuben and her get along in that regard), she’s a powerhouse.  nothing would fucking function without her.  she loves the punk aesthetic when the 70s and 80s roll around, and she’s a huge fuckin’ lesbian.  futch supreme

tomasso “tommy” scarlatti - (originally created by @darkysan17!  cw for familial abuse) tomasso is an artistic and crass triple threat: a hooligan, a thief, and a dancer.  he’s the runt of the family and the youngest of several sons, the scarlattis being early adopters and pioneers of industrialization in northern italy.  where his brothers wanted to continue the family trade and learned in their mansion in varenna, tommy found a love for performative theatre, especially ballet.  his family constantly brought up the challenges he’d have to face due to his awful stutter and his tics (not to mention his complete disinterest in running the factories and his sympathy for the workers). tomasso’s father beat him ruthlessly when he found him sneaking food to some of the workers, claiming he “stole what his family earned” and what was “rightfully theirs”—but that didn’t stop tomasso, and his resentment for the entire rigmarole only grew.  he eventually ran away with ninety-thousand lira (about $50 USD in 1890, and the equivalent of about $1,650 USD today) to join a troupe of dancers that travelled europe, and his father is still looking for him even when he should be long in the grave.  he’s the one who teaches reuben both ballet and lockpicking when they meet each other at a festival, and the two devise a plan to get nicholas and louisa to america and safety when all of their families rear their ugly heads.  tomasso is kind of childish in his sense of humor and constant grandstanding, but at heart, he’s a true artist and explorer. while most of the dances he knows are western european or american, he has a great interest in historical dancing techniques and theatre from other cultures (like kabuki and chinese opera).  he’s still self-conscious about his stutter and tics, to the point of being MEGA defensive over it, even when it gets him into trouble. he tends to play it off afterward, trying to use a tough guy persona to cover up his true feelings.  his vampiric power can best be described as “impossible to pin down”: he can walk through solid surfaces and phase in and out of objects at will.  eventually he learns to use paintings and photographs as portals, so long as they share the same subject!

finley v. a. seabrooke - (cw parental abuse) louisa’s ex-fiancé, and a man who was raised to basically be a tool.  his parents allowed him no privacy and invaded almost every single boundary one can have, all to make him into the perfect asset.  the only reason they supported his transition at all was because they could get more use and money out of him as a man than as a woman.  the lovelaces and seabrookes were close by the time finley and louisa were in their twenties, and lewis set the two of them up to be married so he could access the wealth and power the seabrookes held.  finley was overjoyed to have someone be his wife, especially someone as wonderful as louisa (even though they’d rarely seen each other, just the idea of someone loving him in that way was enough for him), but of course, louisa runs away, leaving finley heartbroken and terrified.  lewis stokes the fire and sends finley off to find louisa and bring her back, and perhaps to get revenge on the brutes who took her.  but the more that finley looks at everything that’s gone on, especially with how lewis seems to have some uncanny knowledge of events that haven’t even happened yet… the more he starts to try and unravel the pieces of this puzzle.  eventually, he too becomes a vampire and after rebuking lewis fully, he joins the mafia as a financial resource and one of the faces of the group, since he’s very good at talking to those in high places.  his vampiric power ends up being flesh-crafting (think vicissitude from vampire: the masquerade). 

feliks kaufmann - my son, my socially anxious, depressed son who can punch through over 13” (33cm) of solid steel (his vampiric power is super strength and bloodbending on occasion).  i love him so much.  i try not to play favorites; he is my favorite.  he’s 6’10” (208cm), 265 pounds (120kg) of pure kosher BEEF.  just… a pure wall of a man.  long story short, he’s a 2nd-gen russian-american jew (so his grandparents fled russia and the pogroms), and because he and his family in little odessa have like, ten mouths to feed and a tiny apartment, he gets sucked into the world of organized crime to try and pay the bills.  one night when he’s walking home, reuben starts to flirt with him, and while feliks is receptive, he’s got places to be.  reuben convinces him to stay still for just a second, putting him in a trance and feeding from him (though not to kill him; reuben refuses to kill unless in self-defense, and not only that, but he also refuses to become adept at truly hypnotizing anyone because the idea of holding someone’s mind hostage disgusts him).  unfortunately for them both, feliks, the eternally-anxious motherfucker that he is, breaks out of the trance and fights back, leading to a huge scuffle with him dying and reanimating as a vampire while reuben flees the scene.  now, feliks being jewish plays a big part here: because vampires can unfortunately be taken as an amalgamation of antisemitic conspiracies and canards (check here for more on that), and this happens in 1927, feliks thinks he just got hate-crimed.  he loves his family more than anything in the world and now feels like he can never face them again because he’s been turned into an undead monster who, if he’s found out, would Literally be proving the white supremacists right and that means there’s a serious chance of violence against his family and community, so he’s FURIOUS.  he hunts reuben and his friends down for six years, accruing more and more power in the criminal world in order to do so (he gets more members in his crew, starts doing vigilante work to gain the respect of the communities he resides in, etc.).  thankfully, in 1933, he takes a moment to think about what they’re even doing anymore and asks reuben what the fuck was up with all of that.  reuben genuinely was just hungry, and he had no idea that his actions would have those… unfortunate implications.  (like i said, himbo.)  while it’s not all hunky-dory, reuben actually apologizes and vows to help feliks reconnect with his family, and the two of them team up to fuck up the KKK and the nazis, so things smooth over relatively quickly.  sue me, i’m a sucker for enemies to lovers, and feliks is also bisexual (though cisgender).

gaspare “loupe eye” paviano - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) gaspare is feliks’ underboss and right-hand man, going from a thrall underneath him into an equal and a powerful, flirtatious vampire in his own right.  he’s a charmer, and loyal to the end, but he’s more than a little indecisive and impulsive at the worst times.  he was born to a lower middle class italian- and greek-american family in chicago, and much like feliks, in order to provide for his family, he fell into a life of organized crime at a young age and couldn’t get out.  one fateful day, he manages to save his boss from getting stiffed on a jewelry deal by pointing out a fake sapphire, and he’s able to get legitimate tutelage and claim to his parents that he was a “jeweler’s apprentice”.  he earns the nickname “loupe eye” paviano through these endeavors.  eventually, in 1929, he gets orders to go to new york and deal with an upstart there who’s been causing trouble… which ends up being feliks.  sensing potential in the young man, feliks slaughters the rest of the group, but leaves gaspare alive and turns him into a thrall.  however, towards the end of their first year working together, gaspare continually breaks out of the trance and resists some of feliks’ more grisly orders, his first real means of standing up for himself and what HE wants (which is big, because he’s been pretty aimless and just kind of followed orders up until this point—he has few motivations in life and was kinda depressed and picked fights a lot).  in response to that, feliks actually establishes a genuine partnership, turning gaspare into a vampire so that they can both work to achieve their goals.  gaspare’s vampiric power is shadow manipulation and teleportation!

retha “riki” harris - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) feliks’ childhood best friend and resident spy/info-broker of the vampire mafia!  she’s a bit of a clown, but she just likes making people happy and watching them go about their days when they’re happiest.  she also has a little guilty pleasure in reading a ton of romance novels.  she’s african- and japanese-american (and she’s also got vitiligo), but because interracial marriage was banned, she’s technically a child born out of wedlock.  however, there’s no drama here because her dad knew about it and wholly loves riki as her daughter (as he’s also in love with the man who fathered her—they’re both bisexual and we stan healthy communication and open relationships!).  riki grew up in the same neighborhood as feliks, and she’s a self-taught nurse who’s hustling her way up in the world the same way feliks did with the criminal underground.  when feliks goes missing, she looks for him doggedly because That’s Her Best Fucking Friend And She Needs To Know What Happened, and when she finally pins him down and pries the info from him, she decides to investigate the circumstances because there’s a lot that isn’t adding up.  throughout 1929 to 1933, she gives feliks the location of the brits for most of the time that he chases them.  however, she’s also the one to actually get feliks to sit down with reuben and talk things out.  her vampiric power is the ability to shape-shift into animals, which helps a lot when gathering information—and it’s the reason why she’s got the nickname “baby bat” with the group!  she likes to be a vampire bat the most.

amélie “ami” boulanger and gadreau boulanger – (gadreau was made by @neogeoandcompany!  he’s the lavellan of neo’s da:i playthrough) a pair of fraternal twins from bordeaux, france who become a pair of master assassins and traceurs (parkour artists).  cast out from their home for being “devil’s children”, also known as albinism mixed with severe melanosis in solely their sclera and irises (making the sclera nearly black and their eyes a deep reddish color—their bodies really went “okay, we’re sending all the melanin there and nowhere else”), they relied on each other to try and eke their way through the world, taking odd jobs wherever they could and evading the trouble that came with some of the more unsavory tasks.  (gadreau’s scar is from when he pointed out a few holes in the plan of a leader of thieves, and his tone did not sit well with the man, so he “gave him something to smirk about”.  ami made short work of the bastard after that slight to her brother.)  they turned to petty thievery as they grew older and snatched up whatever bits and pieces of education they could, until they eventually saved up enough money to make the trek to america.  ami stole away on a boat first, and decided to turn to thievery once again to make ends meet, knowing that far too many people would love to take advantage of a young woman who spoke little english.  she ended up encountering feliks when trying to steal from him, and he decided that he quite liked her gall and willingness to put up a fight, and so she became a member of the mafia and honed her skills with a pistol.  when gadreau crosses over, he’s very cross when he learns that ami has joined a mafia family, but cannot deny that the family she’s made might help them both settle their scores—and what the twins do, they do together, no matter what.  ami’s vampiric power is technomancy (where she can make machinery do what she wants it to, as in immediately picking locks and disabling security cameras with a touch), and gadreau can turn invisible!  both of them can also walk on walls and ceilings.  gravity means nothing to the double spiderman menace.

liesl “liza” kaplan - (originally created by @maxusthemad!) originally introduced as one of the first recurring Genuine Antagonists of the story (like finley), liesl eventually joins the mafia as the mechanic for all artillery and vehicles.  she’s a take-charge kind of woman who thinks she always knows best, and she refuses to put up with any bullshit (she has lived FAR TOO LONG for tomfoolery to get in the way of her goals and dreams, and if you dare try and hurt those she cares about, you will not live to tell the tale).  she is a very nurturing figure at heart, though, and loves to spoil people.  like feliks, she’s jewish (and also born to a reform family like feliks), but she grew up in heilbronn, germany until her family immigrated to the united states when she was in her twenties.  she studied as much biology (specifically botany) as she could, and her impeccable grades and performance actually landed her in the university of pennsylvania.  while she traveled to various farms to learn more about soil temperature and yield, she met a young farmer and fell in love, eventually marrying him and creating a life with him.  unfortunately, he died young and her children moved away, so her loneliness makes her a perfect target for a supernatural hunters’ guild to scoop her up and convince her of the threat of all kinds of undesirables, especially vampires.  she encounters the vampire mafia and swears to take them down, along with her compatriot ibán, and her being in her sixties does nothing to snuff out her fervor.  thankfully, for the three of them, a look at the parallels between their (literal) witch hunts and the rising tensions in europe is enough for them to reject the hunters’ guild.  unfortunately, the guild doesn’t take well to defectors, and after an ambush, liesl sustains mortal injuries and decides to become a vampire in order to keep doing her work.  her vampiric power ends up being the ability to control plants!  (she usually uses it to keep in touch with her garden and make it the best damn rooftop garden in all of new york.)

ibán lucero garcia abascal - (cw for exorcisms, familial abuse, and suicide) another Recurring Antagonist-At-First, ibán works with liesl to try and destroy the vampire mafia, but becomes the religious expert for the vampire mafia.  when we meet him, he’s a priest and exorcist, though his methods kind of put the vatican at arm’s length (insert “i don’t know… that’s scary!” comic here).  he was born in ciudad juarez in northern mexico, but his family moved to what would become white sands, new mexico before he was three, so he’s got dual citizenship.  his family was deeply religious, and so he became a devout catholic, though that didn’t stop his family from worrying about his eccentricities, his grandfather especially.  ibán didn’t care to partake in the usual communal activities, and hated to be touched unless he sought out comfort.  he often played alone and had trouble keeping eye contact, and while he knew quite a lot for his age, he could not understand other people and spoke bluntly and callously.  all of this led to his grandfather trying to exorcize him when he was eight, which didn’t exactly stop the problems, but it taught ibán to repress like nobody’s business and gave him a serious fear of vulnerability and hatred for his own mind.  (turns out, ibán is autistic and not, in fact, possessed by a demon.  but mental health solutions are not exactly amazing in the 1910s, so we get the lovechild of john ward from the FAITH horror game series and inspector javert from les miserables.)  eventually in his twenties, ibán moves further east to alexandria, virginia, and becomes an exorcist for hire, fervently hunting down demons.  some of them were genuine threats, but unfortunately, others were either supernatural creatures just kind of living their lives or were other mentally ill people.  the same supernatural hunter’s guild that picked up liesl lures in ibán, and the two get along well.  for how devout ibán is, differing religions don’t bother him and even become a point of interest (if it means he gets better at banishing demons from all walks of life).  they both agree that vampires, especially, are unnatural monsters that must be purged.  and that’s how the vampire mafia finds these two, and through repeated interactions, ibán and gadreau find themselves constantly in each other’s sights (sue me, another enemies to lovers story, but blame neo for it too because he enabled me).  when the guild shows its true colors and it turns out they work for lewis, liesl actively desists and stands alongside the mafia, but ibán has a much trickier time reconciling with his own actions because the moral rigidity that got him through so much hardship is now coming back to bite him in the ass.  he very nearly jumps off a building before gadreau finds him and convinces him to move forward instead.  and so, with liesl, ibán officially joins the mafia and decides to deal with spirits in a more peaceful way (though demons still get their ass beat).  ibán’s vampiric power is a little hard to give a name to, but he can pull people’s emotions out through their blood and turn said blood into weaponry or tools based on the emotions in them.  so if someone was angry with him, he could turn that anger into a literal sword to use against them, but unfortunately, ibán takes on those emotions—so if he removes someone’s fear, he feels that fear, and they don’t, whatever the cost of that may be.

jenab bin tan zakaria (alias miles cintaku) - (originally created by @maxusthemad! cw for family murder) the last member of the team!  max describes him as kind of like if dexter morgan and patrick jane had a vigilante-justice fueled murder fusion—while he is incredibly empathetic to those who are struggling, he has nothing but rage for those who prey on the inequalities of a system that forces such.  he’s unfortunately condescending and myopic, refusing to take help unless he absolutely needs it and things are his way or the highway more times than not, but his wit and his sense of justice and family bring him through.  he comes to the mafia in the late 1950s, early 1960s, so there’s a bit of a jump (though perhaps he’ll be in the background for keen eyes to spot).  he’s the “therapist” and interrogator of the group when he officially joins (yes, yes, conflict of interest, but none of these guys can like.  go to any old therapist and jenab does know what he’s doing).  he was born in perak, malaya in 1921 to an english father and a malay mother.  he grew up to become fascinated with the workings of the mind, especially with morbid disgust in what causes people to commit horrible acts against each other.  he graduated from universiti pendidikan sultan idris with a doctorate of psychology focusing on behavioral health, and a minor in anatomy.  the mask of the studious and quiet young man hid a growing rage and antipathy, and soon he held the corpse of a sex pest stalker in his own hands.  the rush and satisfaction of removing such a disgusting person from the world led him to becoming more than a bit of a vigilante killer, finding those who committed terrible deeds and giving them some extrajudicial justice.  he moved around during his youth, but eventually became a school counselor in kuala lumpur and met a young woman named fariza, who captured his heart.  he eventually decided to settle down with her and marry her in 1948, giving up his vigilante work in order to focus on making things safe for fariza and their coming daughter, khatijah.  unfortunately, tragedy struck soon after, and another serial killer who went by the moniker of navy james killed fariza before khatijah was born and left malaysia before jenab could bring him to justice.  this sends him spiraling into a deep depression, but it also fuels the flame to go back to his vigilante ways.  he taunts navy james by killing another scumbag and using the killer’s tag, and then starts to hunt him down across the globe.  when he comes across the vampire mafia, he offers his services and expertise in exchange for their resources, but found family strikes again!  shit!  he kind of loves all of them now.  his vampiric power is possession and the ability to have his spirit leave his body temporarily.

[theskeletoninthegarden]

I'm still trying to make this OC ridiculous. I love Mary Sues, I can eat them up, but I have limits. I haven't reached it with this one yet, but what do I have, so far?

Haunted Gibson electric guitar (it's haunted, a la dead brother, a la something like the ghosts from LotR), a person from our own world (blame Eru), and, news flash, they're immortal now (not of the Low Chorus or High Chorus, but what Gandalf calls an "Accompaniment"). That's right, babe-y, this gay is a Wizard (adjacent).

My problem is I keep supporting everything by one degree of logic, so...it's just not enough to stop me from writing, yet.

Finley: "Dangit, Gandalf, I'm a Human, not a Wizard! Well, I am a Wizard, but not that kind of Wizard, I have immortality, but it's not the same thing, you can't help people simply by being immortal. You just stand around, and you're useless!"

Made a picrew of my new OC, Finley. Why? I don't know, because I love them?

Finley Gibson is the youngest of two, and the last surviving member of their family. What makes their story extraordinary is their place in the mystical realm of Middle Earth, a world only known in stories and legend. In television and books, to be exact.

After waking up in Middle Earth, they are brought in by Bilbo Baggins, but after a handful of years together, are separated.

Welcomed by Gandalf and Bilbo to help reclaim Erebor, Finley's story is about their friendship with the Baggins, their love for a certain prince apparent, and their need, no matter what the cost, to ensure that the Baggins family is never cursed with bearing the weight of the Ring.

What sets them apart from some inserts? The language they still carry from their time on Earth, and their trusty Gibson guitar. Which, yes, is haunted by the ghost of their dead brother.

Because if you aren't willing to go off the rails a bit with an insert, then what's the point?

Also, their hair is white from trauma induced shock, they're a relatively upbeat person, and I'm trying to beat the desire to make their story a reality out of my system before I spend a damn decade on it.

[theskeletoninthegarden]

Made a picrew of my new OC, Finley. Why? I don't know, because I love them?

Finley Gibson is the youngest of two, and the last surviving member of their family. What makes their story extraordinary is their place in the mystical realm of Middle Earth, a world only known in stories and legend. In television and books, to be exact.

After waking up in Middle Earth, they are brought in by Bilbo Baggins, but after a handful of years together, are separated.

Welcomed by Gandalf and Bilbo to help reclaim Erebor, Finley's story is about their friendship with the Baggins, their love for a certain prince apparent, and their need, no matter what the cost, to ensure that the Baggins family is never cursed with bearing the weight of the Ring.

What sets them apart from some inserts? The language they still carry from their time on Earth, and their trusty Gibson guitar. Which, yes, is haunted by the ghost of their dead brother.

Because if you aren't willing to go off the rails a bit with an insert, then what's the point?

Also, their hair is white from trauma induced shock, they're a relatively upbeat person, and I'm trying to beat the desire to make their story a reality out of my system before I spend a damn decade on it.

[theskeletoninthegarden]

Okay, but what is a Glîrlírë? It's a mistake on my part, I meant Ellírë. "What is a Ellírë, then, you damn nerd", you might ask? Thank you for asking! Please allow me to confuse you.

(The Ellírë)

Ellírë comes from the Quenya words "el" meaning star, and "lírë" meaning song. Ellírë are peoples of a sphere that are people "who use their dreams and inspirations to translate the lives of others from the cosmos into oral, literary, and visual histories". Though the Ellírë thrive on story telling, unknown to them the greatest secret is that these stories are honest recounts of other beings' livelihood. Their minds act as one-way windows into other realities, and the time-lines of every one of these realities.

(In Regards to Finley)

Though the Ellírë of Finley's time-line-- for even their reality has many branching, winding, back and forth paths-- are unable to cross these windows, Finley is one of those who has been selected and taken through that of another's. It is through this act that they become a traveler of Middle Earth, and a host of many of Arda's histories--some of which have not been realized in the point of time that they have been left to exist within. Finley, specifically, was chosen by Arda and it’s comos’ Prime Deity: Eru Ilúvatar. Selected as one of his agents, in the wake of their subsequent deportation and death in their own cosmos, they have been made what can be called an “accompaniment”.

(The Accompaniment)

What is an Accompaniment? Keeping with the themes of song, and singing, Accompaniments are aides to the Valar, and Mair, Gandalf being an example of the latter. Though their power differs and is often regarded as “lesser-then” that of the Maiar, they hold within themselves the capability “to influence, guide, and steady the hands of Arda in accordance to Eru’s will”. As an Ellírë, Finley’s skill is specifically using their knowledge of Middle Earth’s history to ensure that Arda does not fall too deeply into the hands of darkness. For them, personally, this means rewriting the history that they know, without accidentally leading it into more terrible forms of destruction. The problem with Accompaniments, as it is true with all agents, is that they must strive for a balance. Each time that Finley interferes with the world state as it is meant to be, it is echoed within them as a punishment or a gift. The more good into the world, the more harm they are dealt. The more terrible influences are wrought, the more they, themself, are blessed. It is a terrible thing, quiet possibly a horrible thing for the people of Arda, and that is one of the reasons why Accompaniments are chosen very rarely.

(The Truth of the Matter)

Finley is a human of our world, living in Arda. Their goal is to insure the destruction of the One Ring in order to avoid the corruption of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins by it’s influence. Following that is a focus on preserving the lines of Durin, specifically the Dwarrow known as Thorin, Fili, and Kili. At the end is their focus in aiding in what would become the War for Middle Earth. As despite the Ring’s destruction, Sauron’s wrath still looms over the horizon, and Finley acts of goodwill towards Arda have remarkably heavy outcomes…

(And Something Weird)

Is Finley is actually human, doesn’t that mean they may never live long enough to help in the War? The funny thing is that in being removed from their cosmos, they were left in a new time-line of Arda’s (their existence alone created this time-line), and as Arda remains a part of a cosmos not their own, it’s natural laws hold less of a grip on their existence. Simply put, they age very slowly. Originally Gandalf feared that the reverse may have been true, but after some time living in the Shire, some time spent with the Maiar, and then some traveling the world of Middle Earth, something…odd, was noticed. In a decade their hair had hardly grown. By measuring the length of what it was when they began living in Middle Earth, to what it became, Gandalf was able to ascertain that Finley is capable of living eight times the length of a normal Man’s. Although forty years of age during the quest for the Lonely Mountain, they have a hefty 760 years remaining on their life line! Does this mean they will also live significantly beyond those who they so dearly wish to save? Yes.

(and Maybe a Little More)

Does anyone recall the Army of the Dead? These are actually Dead Men of Dunharrow, cursed by Islidur to walk the world forever after their betrayal. The Dunharrow Men are not the only one of their kind. Other cursed Souls live within Arda, and it happens that Finley Gibson carries one. Paul Gibson was the elder sibling to Finley, a Man who, in Finley’s transition to Arda, was tasked with guiding them in their quest. Unknown for the majority of their initial quest, Paul’s Soul is bound to a physical object, rather then a place, to keep it further grounded. This item is Finley’s Gibson Guitar, a strange instrument capable of electrical amplification despite the very real lack of any obvious power sources. In DnD terms, the guitar may be labeled as a cursed or intelligent item, capable of such spells as “ghost sound”. A bit on the nose, but no one has to know.

(Is That All?)

Likely not, but the story is just beginning, and Finley has a long life ahead of them.

Instead of writing more, I did this.

Finley is wise, friendly, regularly curses Eru despite being one of "his" agents, and is 100% ready to die for one Bilbo Baggins.