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arshipweek · 6 months ago

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AR Ship Week - Scorpia Backstory in the Book and the TV Show

This is the last weekly post in the lead up to Alex Rider Ship Week. Only one week left!

This week we have a guest post by @icebluecyanide about the differences between Scorpia in the book and TV canons.

Scorpia Backstory in the Book and the TV Show

After two seasons of ominous statements and mystery, series three of the TV show finally dove deeper into the criminal organisation known as Scorpia, and the way their history intertwines with Alex’s. But what is their backstory, and how does it differ from what we see in the books?

In this meta, I will be diving into some of the changes in how Scorpia is presented in the book (Scorpia) and the TV show. Since this is a rather broad topic, and could potentially lead to me listing every single difference from the book, I will focus specifically on the Scorpia backstory and on the structure of Scorpia as an organisation.

I’ve used book quotes throughout this meta, including page numbers. The page numbers refer to the 2014 Walker Books (UK) edition.

Scorpia

Let’s start this off by taking a look at how Scorpia is described in both the book and the show. I’ll first give an overview of Scorpia in the book, then move on to the TV show and do a comparison.

Scorpia in the book

Scorpia was all over the world. It had brought down two governments and arranged for a third to be unfairly elected. It had destroyed dozens of businesses, corrupted politicians and civil servants, engineered several major ecological disasters, and killed anyone who got in its way. It was now responsible for a tenth of the world’s terrorism, which it undertook on a contract basis. Scorpia liked to think of itself as the IBM of crime - but in fact, compared to Scorpia, IBM was strictly small-time. (Scorpia, p. 39)

In the book, Scorpia is a criminal organisation that has its roots in the early 1980s, during the last decade of the Cold War. As we learn in Scorpia (2004), it was founded by people who were involved in the Cold War as spies or assassins or secret police for various governments, and who realised that as the Cold War came to an end, they would be able to make more money going into business for themselves.

It was a fanciful name, they all knew it, invented by someone who had probably read too much James Bond. (Scorpia, p. 38)

The name of Scorpia is taken from their four fields of operation: Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence and Asassination. They will take on any client that is willing to pay them, and don’t care about who gets caught in the crossfire. They’re a powerful organisation, and as Julia Rothman mentions, sometimes even the intelligence agencies make use of their services for jobs that cannot be traced back to them. They operate very much as a business, and they don’t make things personal, but they also are ruthless in getting even and don’t make hollow threats. Scorpia don’t forgive and they don’t forget.

Scorpia is led by an executive board consisting of the original founders. Of the original twelve, only nine remain at the time of the book, including Julia Rothman (the only woman on the board) and Max Grendel (the oldest executive). The executives on the board are equal partners, but for each project one of them is assigned as the leader, in alphabetical order. (It’s unclear how this works for The Australian, who in some editions doesn’t have a name.)

At the time of the book, the project that Scorpia is focused on is Invisible Sword, and the executive in command is Julia Rothman. There is a client, who is offering a great deal of money for Scorpia to break the special relationship between the UK and the US, and most of the Scorpia board seem unconcerned about the principal target of the weapon being children. The only exception to this is Max Grendel, who is old and has grandchildren of the same age, who has enjoyed getting rich working for Scorpia over the years, but who now wants to retire and not be a part of the new project. Sadly, his retirement gift is a suitcase full of deadly scorpions, so his retirement is rather brief.

Scorpia are an international company, with offices and people all over the world. However, Alex first runs into them in Venice, where Mrs Rothman has a large mansion on the grand canal that is referred to as the Widow’s Palace. On the island of Malagosto, near Venice, Scorpia also has a school where they have a training and testing facility for their assassins. This is where John Rider and Yassen Gregorovich were tested and trained, and it’s where Alex also takes part in lessons.

Scorpia in the show

Blunt: At that time, we already knew that SCORPIA were the single most dangerous emergent threat since the Cold War. (3x07)

At first glance, the Scorpia we meet in the TV show appears to be from a canon divergent AU where the organisation was all but destroyed around the time when Alex was just a baby. This is a fascinating change, and also makes intuitive sense, as of course the third series of the show came out twenty years after Scorpia (2004) did. From the start, we get hints that Scorpia in the show is different from the one in the books.

We first learn of the name Scorpia at the end of s1, as Mrs Jones and the rest of the Department realise that Yassen Gregorovich was behind Ian’s death, and that he is still alive. Going by the descriptions we are given, Scorpia was as powerful in the past as they were when Alex met them in the book:

Smithers: I know the file, of course. At one point, they were responsible for a tenth of the world’s terrorism.

Crawley: And political assassinations, personal vendettas. All available to the highest bidder, without remorse or compunction. (1x08)

In 2006, Scorpia was taken down by the Department, in a well-coordinated operation based on the info John Rider was able to gather. Alan Blunt was in command as all over the world, the bases and known locations of Scorpia were raided. In the chaos, some members of Scorpia went missing and managed to escape, such as Julia Rothman and Yassen Gregorovich, but when they failed to resurface in the five years that followed, their files were closed and they were assumed to be dead.

After this, Scorpia seem to have retreated to the shadows, and operated almost entirely in secret. While they no longer have the same presence in the world, they still have both funds and technology to continue their work. They have no problem spending several millions to fake the payment for the assassination of the US president in season 2 at Yassen’s request, and they have a system set in place with a phone line that can be reached only with a specifically assigned code, or else the number will be disconnected, as we see when the Department pretend to call as Martin Wilby to determine who he got his orders from. In the first two seasons, Scorpia took jobs such as helping with Dr Greif’s plan at Point Blanc, and Damian Cray’s Eagle Strike plan, and they still appear as ruthless as in the book, not caring about the deaths those plans would cause.

At first, we mostly encounter Scorpia in the scenes with the Department, where Scorpia (through Yassen) have turned Martin Wilby to pass on information about the Department and got him to lure Ian Rider to his death at Yassen’s hand. Interestingly, Ian appears to be the only person still looking for Scorpia:

Crawley: I don’t think they ever went away. I think they just got better at hiding. And we were so confident we’d finished them. Only Ian was still looking, of course. (1x08)

Ian seems to have been aware of Yassen’s survival, and presumably who he works for (“Oh Martin, you have no idea who you’re working for.” - 1x01), but none of the rest of the Department have any idea until Alex mentions having seen Yassen at Point Blanc:

Blunt: Scorpia.Mrs Jones: It explains everything. The sophistication, the global reach, and Wilby. Given our history, of course they would target us.Crawley: But we finished them.Blunt: Well, clearly not. (1x08)

In season three, we see Alex (together with Tom and Kyra) actively looking for Scorpia by visiting old locations mentioned in the files on Smither’s phone (that Kyra stole). These include Berlin and Venice, where presumably Julia Rothman had her Palace like in the book. They end up finding Julia in Malta, where she is from. This is a change from the books, where she is Welsh. We meet Nile, her apparent second-in-command, and Max Grendel, who apparently also survived the takedown.

As Alex is pulled into Scorpia, we also learn that they are planning an operation called Invisible Sword. Unlike in the book, this is not a job they took on for a client, but something Julia Rothman came up with personally. As the season goes on, we discover that while she explained it as a way to demonstrate Scorpia’s power and boost their reputation, the real objective was to take revenge against the Department for the blow they dealt Scorpia seventeen years ago.

Scorpia Leadership

Let’s narrow in further for a moment on the question of who is in charge in Scorpia. There do appear to be some changes in the leadership of Scorpia in the TV show, and part of these can be explained by the canon divergence, while others suggest that perhaps this has always been a different Scorpia. Firstly, it’s good to note that instead of talking about an executive board, the leadership are referred to as council members:

Nile: I wondered if perhaps one of the other council members decided to push their luck. (3x01)

In general, the show appears to have less of a ‘business’ vibe compared to the book. It may be that this is a change that only came with the new Scorpia, but this may also always have been different in this universe. Similarly, we hear that Julia Rothman was elected as leader, which suggests that also the way of picking a leader isn’t the rotated schedule from the books. It appears that Julia Rothman has been elected after the failed jobs with Dr Greif and Damian Cray, in an attempt to bring Scorpia back to prominence.

Razim: We elected you because you promised to restore our influence globally. And so far, we have seen nothing. (3x01)

Speaking of Razim, we get another change from the book. The name Razim is a reference to one of the new board members brought on in Scorpia Rising in the books, and he wasn’t present in the original Scorpia book. It makes sense that with most of the organisation taken down years ago, they will have filled their ranks with new members. However, there is some suggestion that perhaps Razim was actually part of Scorpia leadership before Julia:

Julia: Razim’s always resented me. He thinks when Nicolai died, inherited my place at the table. (3x01)

Julia Rothman

Max: And besides, we both know you earned your place. (3x01)

It appears that unlike in the books, Julia Rothman was not a founding member of Scorpia in the show. This also matches up with what we learn about her from the Department file on her, where it states she ‘possesses broad knowledge of Scorpia Operational Structure and is being groomed for command’. She was most likely part of the inner circle through her husband Nicolai, given the comment about inheriting her place.

Nicolai Rothman/Mrs Rothman’s husband definitely appears to have been alive and married to her for longer in the TV show than in the book, although in both she is eventually known as the Widow.:

Mrs Rothman’s multimillionaire husband had fallen to his death from a seventeenth-storey window. It had happened just two days after their marriage. (Scorpia, p. 45)

Also an amusing detail is that in the book Nicolai Rothman is a multimillionaire, while in the TV show he’s referred to as a billionaire. Julia Rothman is canonically richer in the TV show!

Malagosto

Let’s take a moment also to look at the differences in how Malagosto is portrayed in the two canons. In both the show and the book, Malagosto is a training facility for Scorpia operatives, but that appears to be where the similarities end. The location is different in the two canons, with it being on an island near Venice in the book, and on Malta in the show. Specifically, we discover that there is a Scorpia base located underground in an old Cold War listening post on Malta. It might be that the original location had to be abandoned after Scorpia was raided, but the fact that The Department show no recognition to the name later suggests that they have never heard of it before. Definitely, the base in Malta was not known before.

This raises some questions about whether John Rider actually trained at Malagosto in the show as he did in the book. We do have the following quote from Julia Rothman, which if taken literally suggests that he was on Malta with Alex:

Julia: Twenty years ago, your father stood where you are now. Ready to join Scorpia. (3x04)

However, if John trained at Malagosto, it is strange that this location wasn’t known to the Department or raided in the operation to take down Scorpia. So perhaps the quote should be taken metaphorically, with Alex being about to join Scorpia as his dad was, and perhaps John never trained with Scorpia. After all, in the book, he was likely only tested rather than trained, so he may have been tested elsewhere and simply put to work.

THE STUDENTS

Another difference related to Malagosto concerns the students or recruits who are present when Alex is there. In the book, d’Arc (the principal or headmaster of the school) mentions that there are usually around ten to fifteen students. Most of them appear to be people who were either part of the intelligence world or soldiers who have defected:

Alex knew all of them by now. There was Klaus, a German mercenary who had trained with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Walker, who had spent five years with the CIA in Washington before deciding he could earn more working for the other side. (Scorpia, p. 174)

They are people similar to John Rider, who already have had training of some sort that makes them suitable for Scorpia. In this sense, the school is firstly a testing facility, where Scorpia checks if people have the right skills to become part of Scorpia. Alex himself is an exception due to his age, but as d’Arc and Mrs Rothman discuss, he already has experience from both his missions and his uncle’s and MI6’s training. The other students are all older, but treat Alex surprisingly well and are friendly to him.

In the show, the recruits are all orphans and likely closer in age to Alex himself. There is no indication that Alex himself is an outlier in terms of his age. The other recruits also don’t appear to have had prior training if we take Alyona and Oleg as examples. They seem to have been children without families, either taken from orphanages or similar. Some, like Oleg, may have shown a propensity for violence which drew Scorpia’s interest, but they were not the trained soldiers or intelligence agents we see in the books.

This change could perhaps have been a result of Scorpia needing to operate from the shadows. While in the books they could recruit rather blatantly and without worrying about being noticed, they have tried to keep a low profile in the show. Perhaps they have shifted to training teenagers into operatives instead, as they have ‘No baggage, no background. It helps.’ (3x04).

It’s also noteworthy that there are only four other students aside from Alex present at Malagosto. Again, this is easily explained by Scorpia having shrunk in size and operating in more secrecy, and no doubt it made it easier for them to make the commitment of training teenagers. Sadly for Alex, they are not as nice as in the book, and he gets beaten up for being seen as weak on his first day there.

THE BUILDINGS

Another change seems to be in the buildings themselves. As mentioned, Malagosto in the show is located in an old listening post dating back to the Cold War, and that’s reflected in the lack of natural light and the bare, metallic and industrial vibes of the interior. The listening post also appears to be on a remote part of the island, but all that’s visible on the surface is a few abandoned buildings, and Scorpia seem to keep their presence low-key.

In the book, we see the same outside appearance of abandoned buildings, as Scorpia has retrofitted an old monastery for their needs. The appearance is deceptive, however, as the insides have been modernised and Alex’s own room is much more luxurious than the one he gets in the show:

They left the main building and walked over to the nearest apartment block that Alex had seen from the boat. Again, the building looked dilapidated from the outside but it was elegant and modern inside. Jet showed Alex to an air-conditioned room on the second floor. It was on two levels, with a king-sized bed overlooking a large living space with sofas and a desk. There were french windows with a balcony and a sea view. (Scorpia, p. 164)

Alex was left alone. He sat down on one of the sofas, noticing that the room had a fridge, a television and even a PlayStation 2 - presumably put in for his benefit. (Scorpia, p. 165)

The other buildings are similarly updated, and students can train outside as the island is sheltered by trees and away from the mainland. It makes sense that in the show this is less of an option, because Scorpia are much more motivated to keep their presence hidden from the authorities. In the book, they have a legal reason to be there, as they bought the island on a lease from the Italian government, but in a world where Scorpia is assumed to be destroyed, they would need to be more careful. This explains why we only see the students go outside once for training, and that was during a night incursion exercise.

THE TEACHERS

Malagosto is a training facility, and a training facility needs instructors. This plays a larger role in the book, where we are introduced to several of the teachers at Malagosto in Alex’s time there. There is Gordon Ross, the technical specialist who teaches about weapons and explosives, Professor Yermalov, who teaches martial arts and practical skills, and Ejijit “Jet” Binnag, who teaches Botany (focused on poisonous plants). There are classrooms and textbooks and lessons as if it were a real school, but also more practical lessons such as diving and gun practice.

In the show, it’s a bit unclear who normally teaches at Malagosto. We only see two people acting as instructor – Nile and Yassen – and Yassen appears to have been assigned to Alex as a tutor rather than having general teaching duties. Nile appears to take on the role of instructor, but we also see him running around taking care of things for Julia Rothman outside, so he can’t be a full-time teacher. Perhaps we simply don’t see other instructors (much like how we don’t see the catering at Malagosto), or the training is handled more informally, with students working on their skill individually as we saw Syl doing in her first appearance.

One other thing related to the teaching at Malagosto is that in the book, John Rider is mentioned to have been an instructor there. During this time, he was also in charge of Yassen’s training for a while. This isn’t mentioned in the show, and while we get Alex asking if John trained with Yassen, we never get an answer. As Malagosto wasn’t known to the Department, as mentioned before, John was probably not a teacher in this universe.

Since we already touched on him briefly, let now take a look at John Rider and his mission to dive deeper into some of the changes.

John’s mission

Blunt: The intelligence John gathered during that time enabled us to strike at the very heart of Scorpia. Within months, we’d dismantled their entire operation. (3x07)

Based on what we are told, John’s mission is largely the same in both the book and the series. We learn that John was a decorated soldier who was in the Parachute Regiment and had seen combat before (in Afghanistan and Iraq in the show, Northern Ireland, Gambia, and the Falklands in the book). But everything seemed to go wrong for him when he killed a man in a bar fight, and was sentenced for manslaughter.

He goes to jail for two years in the show, while in the book Mrs Rothman claims he was there for less than one, and there is some ambiguity about whether he went to jail at all:

“Everything Julia Rothman thought she knew about your father was a lie.” Mrs Jones sighed. “It’s true that he had been in the army, that he had a distinguished career with the Parachute Regiment and that he was decorated for his part in the Falklands War. But the rest of it — the fight with the taxi driver, the prison sentence and all that — we made up. It’s called deep cover, Alex. We wanted John Rider to be recruited by Scorpia. He was the bait and they took him.” (Scorpia, p. 347)

Scorpia took the bait, and John was recruited by Scorpia. In the show, we learn that John spent three years embedded in Scorpia, learning names and details about the organisation, including their long term goals and ambitions. In the book, the timeline is fuzzier, but we know he spent several months in the field as an assassin before working as an instructor at Malagosto. We are simply told that he ‘had told [MI6] as much as [they] needed to know about Scorpia’ (Scorpia, p. 348).

The reasons for breaking off the mission were similar then in both the show and the book. The risks were increasing, John had discovered most of what he set out to discover, and Helen was pregnant with Alex and John wanted to be with his family. In the book, we also specifically learn that there was a risk due to Julia Rothman, who had fallen in love with him.

This is a point where the canons seem to deviate slightly, because the show is more explicit about John being asked to get close to Julia Rothman. The file on the Widow (Julia Rothman’s codename) mentions that a Department operative Hunter (John Rider) was assigned to develop a relationship. Julia Rothman herself told Alex that his dad was a ‘very close friend’ of hers, and showed him what are clearly love letters describing John’s feelings for her (3x03).

Now, some of this is also in the book. Julia Rothman tells Alex she was very attracted to his father, and that he was a handsome man. And one of the letters from the show is taken straight from the book:

My dearest Julia, A dreary time without you. Can’t wait to be at the Widow’s Palace with you again. John R. (Scorpia, p. 151)

Interestingly, we do see that Julia apparently went by her code name despite the fact that she and John became close enough over the years that she passed him information about Scorpia. John himself was known as Hunter to the Department rather than this being his Scorpia code name like in the book (although the code name isn’t mentioned in Scorpia itself). He signs the letter with his initials JR in the show, and she clearly knew him as John Rider.

It’s well possible given the way Julia Rothman doesn’t mention Alex’s mother in her initial story to Alex about John, that she was not aware at the time that he was married or that John was already with Helen. In the book, she specifically mentions that while she was attracted to him, he was married to Alex’s mother, suggesting that they never acted on the attraction.

The story of John’s capture is roughly the same, there is a trap set for him (on Malta in the book), and he is captured. A few weeks later, Scorpia kidnap a senior British civil servant (or his son, in the book) and MI6/The Department make them an offer to return John Rider to them in an exchange. This takes place on Albert Bridge in the book, while in the show it’s on another bridge somewhere. John’s death is faked, and the idea is that he will be given a new identity along with Helen and Alex so they can live quietly and without Scorpia knowing he was actually a spy.

This is the point where we get the biggest divergence in the backstory, as in the show the information gathered by John’s mission is enough to take down most of Scorpia. The operation is largely orchestrated by Alan Blunt, which is part of why Julia Rothman’s plot in the show is also aimed at him:

Mrs Jones: I’ve been looking at how we brought down SCORPIA 17 years ago. Really was an astonishing operation. Dozens of agents. Coordinates across three continents. Forty-seven key figures, dead or arrested. The entire SCORPIA hierarchy decimated overnight. You waged a private war against Scorpia, made it your mission. (3x06)

It’s not specified whether the take down of Scorpia happened before or after John and Helen’s plane was blown up by a bomb. Blunt tells Alex that ‘within months’ they were able to dismantle Scorpia’s entire operation, while Julia Rothman took six months to track John down. It seems more likely that Scorpia was taken down first, as this would give the Department an extra reason not to suspect Julia Rothman as being behind the bomb on the plane. Blunt’s reaction to Alex’s suggestion that it was Julia Rothman suggests that they didn’t have a clear suspect for all those years, which makes sense if Scorpia were believed to be defeated and not heard from again (aside from the bombing of the plane itself). WIth Scorpia gone, it also makes sense that perhaps someone became too careless in hiding the fact that John Rider is alive, as there would have been less reason to worry.

In the book, we are first told merely that there was a bomb on the plane, which exploded and killed John and Helen and the pilots instantly. Mrs Jones and Alan Blunt seem to have no doubt about it being Julia Rothman, who had discovered the truth, although they are not clear on how she learned about it. MI6 learned valuable information about Scorpia through John’s time as an undercover spy, but they either don’t know enough to take Scorpia down for good or they don’t act on their information.

In a way, the book takes a more cynical approach to the relationship between Scorpia and MI6. Scorpia are too large to take down completely, and any half-hearted effort to destroy them will lead Scorpia to seek revenge. And if you can’t beat them… As Julia Rothman herself points out, the secret services may nominally oppose Scorpia, but they are not above making use of their services:

The secret services can’t do anything about us. We’re too big and they’ve left it too late. Anyway, occasionally some of them make use of us. They pay us to do their dirty work for them. We’ve learnt to live side by side! (Scorpia, p. 132)

Wrapping it all up

So what does it all add up to? As we’ve seen, the show’s portrayal of Scorpia shows an organisation that was nearly brought down seventeen years ago, and that has been operating in secrecy ever since. This single divergence explains most of the differences that we see in the present day structure of Scorpia, from younger recruits to the new leadership. However, we also saw that some aspects have always been different in this universe. The code names for both Julia Rothman and John, as well as the fact that John never mentioned Malagosto show that the backstory in the show was different even before Scorpia was taken down.

In the end, Scorpia is a different organisation in the book and the show, but in many ways it is also still the same. They are a group of people who are ruthless in their pursuit of power and money, who have no compunction about killing and even enjoy it. Scorpia may have been brought to the brink of destruction in the show, but even while hidden from the world, they have been able to keep up their activity for seventeen years.

Until they encountered Alex Rider, that is… :)

#Alex Rider #arshipweek #meta #mod posts #julia rothman #scorpia

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sesskagarchive · 5 years ago

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SKFA Themed Lists Overview

Sesskag Intro: Fan fiction that are quintessential in understanding why so many ship sesskag. They are the staple of the sesskag fandom and are often recommended upon entering the fandom.

Time Travel: Sesskag fan fictions involving time-travelling beyond what Kagome is accustomed to. Usually, this involves Kagome accidentally time-travelling further into the past or in the future.

After Jewel Completion: Works containing Kagome and her friends after the grand battle with Naraku, and/or after completing the Shikon jewel. This may involve Kagome making a wish that alters reality, Sesshomaru taking Kagome on a new adventure, or major characters dying that prompts a new plot. This may take place in modern-day Tokyo or the Feudal era.

Inuyasha/Kikyo betrayal: These are sesskag fics that characterize either Inuyasha or Kikyo or both as a villain in the story, often betraying Kagome in some manner. They may contain character bashing towards Inuyasha or Kikyo. This trope is seen less now, but it used to be much used back in the day.

Rin needs help: These are fics where Sesshoumaru uses Rin as a pretext for seeking out Kagome, whether this is because of Rin’s illness or because Sesshoumaru feels she would need a teacher or a mother-figure.

Alternate Universe Serial & Alternate Universe One Shots: These fan fictions are works that are not traditionally set in the Feudal Era Canon and are not compliant with or do not feature elements of the Inuyasha Canon. They may be set in the modern era or in a historical time other than the Sengoku Jidai. They may retain youkai and miko or make all the characters human. They may feature multiple different tropes like college, celebrities, etc

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Searching for a mate: These fics feature Sesshomaru looking for a mate, possibly because of someone else’s insistence that he should mate (most typically his mother’s). May include matchmaking tropes but not necessarily.

Kagome saves the day: These fics involve Kagome saving Sesshomaru’s life, or saving other major characters or OCs. They may also feature Kagome being the grand savior of the Grand Battle or defeating Naraku on her own.

Sesshoumaru helps Kagome: Fan fiction that involve Sesshomaru assisting Kagome (and her friends) on completing the jewel or in other quests or situations.

Prophecy: The fics belonging in this category contain great prophecies or legends of Kagome’s and Sesshomaru’s relationship/partnership, or of a dark prophecy of a villain rising.

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Reunion 2: Fics where Sesshoumaru finds Kagome in the 21st century, as requested by a follower .

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NSFW: Fics that are PWP or otherwise heavily focus on lemons/smut/NSFW scenes and include plenty of them.

Kagome as a Demon: These fics can either be fully AU, so that Kagome has always been a youkai, or they may be canon divergence and follow the canon storyline and setting until Kagome by some manner is turned into a youkai.

Sesshoumaru’s Into Kagome: These are any stories in which it is Sesshoumaru who is interested in or in love with Kagome before she is with him. These stories may also feature Sesshoumaru’s attempts to court Kagome or, if Sesshoumaru is not expressing his interest outright, pining.

Fluff Serial & Fluff One Shots: All those cute, feel-good fics that make you squee, fill you with happiness and/or are sweet enough to rot your teeth.

Hurt/Comfort: Stories in which one of the characters (or both of them) is experiencing either physical or mental pain and receives comfort from the other (or from each other). These stories can be bittersweet.

Holiday One Shots & Holiday Fics Serial: These are stories that centre on Christmas and/or the holiday season. They’re typically written for holiday exchanges, as secret santa gift, for holiday events or just to celebrate holidays with fic!

Outsider POV: Fics that give you a glimpse to Sesshoumaru and Kagome’s relationship through the eyes of a third party, whoever they may be.

Family/Pregnancy: A rec list of fics focused on Kagome’s pregnancy or the family Sesshoumaru and Kagome have built together, as requested by a follower.

Established Relationship: Fics that focus on Sesshoumaru’s and Kagome’s life as a couple, as requested by a follower.

Halloween Serial & Halloween One Shots: Fics that fit Halloween, either by being overall spoopy or by being set during Halloween!

Unrequited love (Sess): Fics where Sesshoumaru’s feelings towards Kagome are unrequited, as requested by a follower.

Drabble fics: Fics that are drabble series, i.e. a story comprised of snippets of exactly 100 words, as requested by a follower.

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Blind!Sesshoumaru: Fics in which Sesshoumaru is blind, as requested by a follower.

Rin and Sesshoumaru join Inuyasha’s group: Fics in which Sesshoumaru and Rin join Inuyasha’s group and Sesshoumaru shows fatherly tendencies towards Rin, as requested by a follower.

Admins’ favourites: SessKag Archive Admins list their favourite fics, as requested by a follower.

Virgin!Sesshoumaru: Fics in which Sesshoumaru is a virgin, as requested by a follower.

InuKagSess: Fics that feature threesomes or polyrelationship between Inuyasha, Kagome and Sesshoumaru, as requested by a follower.

Angry!Kagome: Fics where Kagome expresses righteous fury, as requested by a follower.

Chatty!Inner Demon: Fics in which Sesshoumaru’s inner demon converses with Sesshoumaru, as requested by a follower.

Widow!Kagome: Fics where a widowed Kagome ends up with Sesshoumaru, as requested by a follower.

Step-sibling Fics: Fics in which Kagome and Sesshoumaru are step-siblings, as requested by a follower.

SessKag and children: Fics in which Kagome and Sesshoumaru have children, as requested by a follower. Includes both single parent fics and fics where Sesshoumaru and Kagome have children together.

Incest Fics: Fics in which Kagome and Sesshoumaru have an incestuous relationship (siblings or half-siblings), as requested by a follower.

Meeting Younger!Sess: Fics in which Kagome travels further back in time and meets a younger Sesshoumaru, as requested by a follower.

Aphrodisiac Fics: Fics, in which Sesshoumaru or Kagome take an aphrodisiac, as requested by a follower.

Movie AUs: Fandom fusion fics that feature the setting and/or plot of a particular movie and the cast of Inuyasha, as requested by a follower.

Humour and Crack one shots & Humour and Crack serial: Those rib-tickling funny fics about Sesshoumaru and Kagome.

Slowburn fics: Fics in which Sesshoumaru's and Kagome's romantic relationship develops slowly, as requested by a follower.

Supportive!Inuyasha fics: Fics in which Inuyasha is supportive of Sesshoumaru’s and Kagome’s relationship, as requested by a follower.

Pining!Sess fics: Fics in which Sesshoumaru pines after Kagome, as requested by a follower.

Dog Form!Sess fics: Fics in which Kagome interacts with Sesshoumaru while he is in his dog form, as requested by a follower.

Kagome Proves Her Worth: Fics in which Kagome proves her worth as Sesshoumaru’s mate, whether being his equal in combat, having reiki powerful enough to match his youki, etc., as requested by a follower.

Concubine Fics: Fics that incorporporate a Lord/Concubine dynamic and/or in which Sesshoumaru keeps concubines and Kagome may end up being one of them, as requested by a follower.

Courtesan!Kagome / Kidnapper!Sess: Fics where either Kagome is a courtesan or Sesshoumaru kidnaps Kagome very early on in the canon timeline, as requested by a follower.

Dubcon/Rape Fics: Fics in which consent is dubious or in which Sesshoumaru rapes Kagome, as requested by a follower.

Geisha/Maiko!Kagome Fics: Fan fiction in which Kagome is either a maiko or a geisha, as requested by a follower.

Star Wars AU Fics: Fusion fics that insert the characters from Inuyasha into the world and/or plot of Star Wars, as requested by a follower.

Yakuza!Sesshoumaru: Fics, in which Sesshoumaru is a member of the Yakuza (Japanese organised crime), as requested by a follower.

Politician!Sesshoumaru: Fics in which Sesshoumaru is a politician or which feature political intrigue, as requested by a follower.

Post Canon Edo Fics: Fics that are set after the series’ end and where Sesshoumaru either visits Kagome in Edo or SessKag get together after an InuKag breakup, as requested by a follower.

Nonexistent Inuyasha: Fics in which Inuyasha does not exist at all, as requested by a follower.

Sex by the well: Fics in which Kagome and Sesshoumaru have sex in or near the Bone Eater’s Well, as requested by a follower.

InuRin Sidepairing: SessKag fics that feature Inuyasha x Rin relationship as a sidepairing, as requested by a follower.

Fics Similar to the Second Alliance: A list of SessKag fics that have similar themes as Imani Joain’s Second Alliance, as requested by a follower.

Office Romance: A list of fics that feature some type of an office romance, in particular fics in which Sesshoumaru is Kagome’s employer, as requested by a follower.

Bi/NB!Sesshoumaru: Fics in which Sesshoumaru is bisexual, nonbinary or genderfluid, as requested by a follower.

Pirate Fics: Fics (mostly AU) that feature pirates or either Sesshoumaru or Kagome as a pirate, as requested by a follower.

Waitress!Kagome: Fics in which Kagome is a waitress, as requested by a follower.

Training in Castle: Fics in which Kagome goes to stay with Sesshoumaru, typically at his castle, and trains with him or is trained by him, as requested by a follower.

Recent Recs: Rec list of fics that are only three years old or less, compiled from recs submitted by our followers.

#sesskag #sesskag fanfiction archive #About

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drowningsongsrp · 4 years ago

Photo

These are the Canons from our first subplot Founding Families.

Faces can be mixed and matched and are not necessarily bound by what’s suggested here. If you have specific ideas for the character, feel free to reach out to an admin to talk through, we’re happy to be flexible and help brainstorm.

We do not permit whitewashing of any of the canons listed here. Please keep this in mind when choosing a FC that is not suggested below.

THE WOLFF FAMILY

Eleonora Wolff Deceased ᐧ NPC

ELEAONORA WOLFF was one of the last remaining true believers, who sustained a practice of feeding THE ABYSS through rituals, even when its demands became greater. Tourists were chosen and stolen away to become its annual offerings. Eleonora called them ‘sacrifices’ whereas others saw them for what they were: murders. As THE ABYSS grew hungrier than she could ever feed alone, she made one last offering by walking herself into the cold sea. Eleonora left one child behind, a daughter born out of an affair with a PENEWAIT man – LIANA PENEWAIT. The child was raised by the Penewaits after Eleonora’s own family disowned her.

FC: Helen Mirren

Emanuel Wolff 54 ᐧ Taken by Lina

A disappointment, the odd one out. Emanuel was soft, yielding, and therefore weaker in their aloof eyes. He took a shine to the seas and steep lands around them, learning all that he could of Alderhelm. Their world seemed so great and so small all at once, and he wanted to document what he could. In doing so, he learned the unpleasant truth of their legacy, and of the town’s strange occurrences. As a young man he fell in love, as one is bound to do, and had a daughter. Emanuel was left to raise her on his own, much to the shame of his parents but even more so to his own delight.

FC: Mads Mikkelsen

—- Wolff early 30s ᐧ Open

Her dad kept her safely out of the corrupting influences of their family tree, keeping their gnarled branches from coming too close. It never did leave her fearful, only aware. The town was built on blood-soaked sand and she was determined to see it get its comeuppance. On most days, she can be found organizing protesters and leading pickets outside of town hall. It is vital to her to use her own privilege, and so what if it gets a little out of hand sometimes? A night or two in lock-up is a small price to pay.

Suggested FCs: Rebecca Ferguson, Keira Knightley, Haley Bennett

—- Wolff 50s ᐧ Open

It’s true what they say about apples and not falling very far from the rotten tree. It would seem he has some of the fallen patriarch of the family under his skin. He’s not as cruel or brutal as his predecessor but just as callous and greedy. He can never have enough, always wanting his reach to be wider and deeper. He runs the OLDE ALDER HOTEL with a strong grip and steers the family to even greater riches. Sometimes his hand slips, taking money where it shouldn’t (read: embezzlement). It’s alright, though, he stands sure as the husband of the Mayor and when the dusk settles he dons the cloak of a Son of the Sea alum.

Suggested FCs: Oliver Masucci, Rufus Sewell

—- Wolff Early 50s ᐧ Open

The Mayor of Alderhelm, at least for the past two years. She is a local; born and bred in the salty air of The Dregs. Came from a heap of penniless nothing and clawed her way to the top where she now stands as a Wolff, scoping out a view she is unlikely to let slip from her grasp. For someone who has only left the town limits a handful of times, she carries herself as a well-travelled, learned woman. Some claim it’s all surface-level, but her cunning mind and articulate tongue say different.

An key facet of the Mayor is that she has a vision for the town, though the nature of this vision is open and flexible. Perhaps she very opposed to THE KING FAMILY’s new reign, feeling they’re threatening all she’s worked for to get where she is or maybe she admires them. Perhaps she decides to work with them and, if she does, perhaps she’s secretive about it with her husband/his family. Or maybe she’s playing both sides, waiting to see who comes out on top. Whether she upholds and attempts to maintain/strengthen the Wolff name or is secretively plotting against it is up to the player of her and her husband. She also has ties to THE PENEWAIT FAMILY given that she grew up in the Dregs.

Suggested FCs: Rachel Weisz, Christy Turlington, Uma Thurman

—- Wolff Late 20s ᐧ Open

What are they if not the dried up husk of their father’s daydreams? Unlike the rest of their family, they were born into a feeling of uncertainty. Father taught them the importance of maintaining a unified front and not letting the public see you slip. They took that, bottled it up, and drank it until they couldn’t see where they began and their father’s idealized first born ended. They followed him closely, learning about the secrets of the business and the funds father pocketed for himself. Eventually, they were asked to leave town to get more investors for Father’s embezzlement scheme only to fail miserably. Now they have returned home, cloaked in their father’s disappointment and attempting to carve out a new identity for themselves.

Suggested FCs: Bill Skarsgård, Imogen Poots, Andreea Diaconu

Cordelia Wolff 23 ᐧ Reserved for Darc

CORDELIA WOLFF is every bit a wolf in sheep’s clothing. As the youngest, she grew up like a cankerous lullaby with all of Alderhelm as her playground. For most of her life, she has been dangerously underestimated. Though the girl looks like a daydream, she’s more nightmarish, sinister, and ruthless than she seems. Cordelia is presently attending Alderhelm College and majoring in finance. She is also a legacy member of the shadowy secret student society THE SONS OF THE SEA and may or may not have a thing for drowning.

FC: Andrea Madlova

THE PENEWAIT FAMILY

—- Penewait 40s ᐧ Open

Often regarded as more brawn than brains, he is his brother’s right hand man and can almost always be relied upon to get his hands dirty. Once he had been widely admired for his adventurous and at times reckless sailing abilities, his boat among the first to be seen in the morning and the last to dock at night.

However, sometime in the last 10 years, he was involved in a shipping accident that not only marred his relationship with the sea, but left him a little unstable: prone to violence and quick to anger. If money is owed, he’s the wolf sent to retrieve it; him and/or any of his droogs at the docks.

Suggested FCs: Zahn McClarnon, Alex Meraz

—- Penewait 35-40 ᐧ Open

Unlike his siblings, he is a very calm and observant man, showcasing his wit and ruthlessness to anyone who threatens him or his family. He has been instrumental in the success of the family business. He is widely respected among the community and seen as a dangerous foe by his enemies. Dissatisfied with the size of the Penewait empire and concerned about the legacy they will leave behind, he has begun playing his hand at relatively small, organised crime. In particular, he has drawn the family into pushing drugs, particularly weed, cocaine, pills, and meth. He has been known to use or leverage those closest to him in order to achieve his goals, believing that the ends justify the means.

Suggested FCs: Gerald Tokala Clifford, Martin Sensmeier

—- Penewait Mid-late 30s ᐧ Reserved for Therese

She idolizes the Family moniker and their image and reputation amongst town. Not only is she a formidable business woman, having worked for several years covering the family’s finances, but she has also been widely noted in the local community for her beauty and charm. It has been said that she could ensnare a person with just one glance. And while she is more good humored than her brothers, she maintains the infamous family temper. She handles the books and balances the family ledger to ensure their criminal dealings are untraceable.

Suggested FCs: Julia Jones, Q'orianka Kilcher

—- Penewait Early 20s ᐧ Reserved for Cyl

As the youngest of the Penewait siblings, it seems he has spent his life looking up at closed doors or catching the tail ends of hushed conversations. His family has always made it a priority to shield him from the worst of their actions. And as a result, he’s developed a bit of a ‘devil may care’ attitude toward the business, enjoying the limited Alderhelm “luxuries” it affords him.

Suggested FCs: Haatepah Clearbear, Forrest Goodluck, Boo Boo Stewart

—- Penewait Early 30s ᐧ Reserved for Asteria

The love child of Eleonora Wolff and a Penewait man. She spent her formative years raised by her eccentric mother after her mother was disowned by The Wolffs. However, as her mother’s fixation with The Abyss grew, so did the Penewaits concern for her, and she eventually moved in with the rest of the family and raised alongside her cousins. She has a complex relationship with her mother and, until recently, maintained a cynical attitude toward The Abyss.

Following her mother’s death and the disbanding of her cult, she has begun looking into ways to reassemble them, as a means to finally understand her mother and honor her memory.

—- Penewait Early 20s ᐧ Reserved for Shayne

Somewhat estranged cousin, they grew up away from the family and the spoils of the Penewait “empire”. They are an excellent mathematician, even earning themselves a place at Alderhelm College.

And though they are relatively new to the town, their ambition is clear. They have already begun working their way up the ranks of the family business, and can often be found shadowing their cousins and trying to prove their worth.

Suggested FCs: Amber Midthunder, Audreyana Michelle

THE KING FAMILY

—- King 50s-60s ᐧ Open

As head of the family, he is determined to do right by the people around him. After losing his wife and teenaged son to a car accident shortly after arriving in Alderhelm, he has since thrown himself into his work as a distraction. Family is important to him, and he holds some varied feelings for some of his siblings, as they are not as serious about the family endeavor as he is.

Very much becoming overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the revitalization project, the weird occurrences in town have only helped to exacerbate his frustrations. His guilt around surviving the accident has especially begun to turn into blame against the town that he’s committed himself to saving.

Suggested FCs: Mahershala Ali, Orlando Jones, Laurence Fishburne

—- King 50s to 60s ᐧ Open

She has long since committed to the success of her family, especially when it comes to her best friend and older brother. Two halves of the same whole, she is very outspoken where her brother is deliberate, more confrontational where her brother exercises patience. But a sour life of being overshadowed by her brother in her early years and her sister later in life has hardened her heart. As an adult, she manages to maintain her temper and composure but can often come off as cold and unyielding, especially when her vast intelligence is challenged.

With the reappearance of her younger sister, she is once again being overshadowed and has taken to working at the local hospital to keep the distance between her and her sister and, as a result, keep the peace.

Suggested FCs: Gina Torres, Naomi Campbell

Theodora King Early-mid 30s ᐧ Reserved for Grim

Determined to take the reins, she was deemed a queen from birth. She was a headstrong child with little interest in her much older siblings and has a dwindling patience for those who have come after her. A Harvard graduate, she worked for years in politics as a campaign manager in Washington DC, but after a bad affair with alcohol and bribery, lost her credibility, job, Congressman fiance, and was pushed out of the circles she’d strived so hard to form.

She has since returned to her family in an effort to find a place for herself again. Presently, she combats the eldest sibling in regards to control and tends to bait her older sister into confrontations by playing off her jealousies and insecurities. But despite all of her flaws, she is an effective political ally. Overseeing her family’s image and relationship with the mayor and the town, she has decided to be her brother’s lackey just long enough to force him out of his position and take over the family business, even if that means dabbling in illegal and illicit businesses to make it happen.

FC: Laura Harrier

—- King Late 20s ᐧ Reserved for Tea

The rebel without a cause, he fights his family at every turn and is the most outspoken against the revitalization project. While there is good in the cause, most of what he sees is the negative effects that could befall the community. Prone to brooding and bouts of sadness, he will come out of his shell for causes that he deems truly good for all involved. But his rejection of his family’s ideals are a hindrance to the cause, as he thinks of himself as a hero with an unwavering moral compass, saving the people from yet another powerful family that will do them wrong.

Suggested FCs: Lakeith Stanfield, Trevante Rhodes, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, The Weeknd

—- King 20s ᐧ Reserved for Olivia

The youngest sibling, but hardly ever forgotten about. Their older siblings coddle them at every turn, forcing them away from their lavish life in the big city in exchange for the middle of nowhere. A bit of a tech sleuth, they have worked hard toward the interests of his family by digging up dirt on the Wolff and Penewait families that can be used as leverage to push out their older, more conservative regimes.

But at the heart of it, they are bored and missing their lavish life in the city. So they’ve taken to organizing a start-up on the side with a few friends to break away from the family name and to create a legacy of their own, far away from Alderhelm.

Suggested FCs: Sharon Alexie, Rachide Embalo, Amandine Guihard, Ashton Sanders, Duckie Thot

#canons #premise #canons i #drowningrp

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damagedsmile · 4 years ago

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Info regarding how J operates his criminal activities within his gang; I take much influence here from both the Arkham City game & the fundamentals of real-life organised crime while hoping I give no disrespect to that sort of business & the individuals whom work within it.

Background: J operates his business mainly out of his home, the Steel Mill (formerly owned by Roman Sionis). This is where his Boys congregate before work, generally hang out, & it is mainly dedicated to work with a small part of it actually kept private & made in to a home of sorts for J. J also works with devising chemical weapons of chaos / torturing foes within the basement. The other place he uses as a board room of sorts is his private booth within the luxury lap-dancing club he owns, called the Smile & Grin. His actual business dealings - when he’s not causing chaos - involve protection rackets around his turf, drug selling/smuggling, &; bomb or arms selling/smuggling. On occasion he dabbles within the Black market through established connections.

J looks for four things in his potential employees as follows:

1. A history of mental illness, preferably with violent leanings

2. A criminal record, petty crime is okay but 1st/2nd degree major crimes are desirable

3. Possible skills &/or connections pertaining to the world of organised crime, or previous knowledge of working in organised crime

4. A penis

The mental illness is a necessity as J is more than aware that only the ‘craziest’ thugs would have the guts to do as he bids & obey him but aside from that there are more personal reasons, such as believing he is helping those he employs as it is highly unlikely they will be considered employable by others.

A criminal record is pretty self-explanatory; he doesn’t want to hire on somebody green who turns out to be a pacifist or who has a moral compass pointing due north.

The third criteria is simply a matter of value. Do you have any particular skills to bring to the table or are you just a thug who knows how to shoot? Is your cousin a notable Falcone or perhaps a drug-dealer who sells good shit? Have you done anything like this before & if so, how experienced are you?

And the final criteria may sound overly anti-feminist but in truth, that has nothing to do with it. J is an equalist – meaning he believes everyone regardless of gender (or non-gender), sexuality, etc etc deserve to all be treated exactly the same – but professionally, his opinions are obviously left at the door, for good reason.

J is a business-man at the end of the day & he means to run a tight ship. As such he looks to employ only the most eligible people he comes across & he will frequent himself with these people’s records: he is fully aware there are those among his crew who have a history of sexual assault or rape exclusively towards women. Would it really be wise then to employ a woman?

Second to this fact is that as a man, J is obviously aware how distracting women can be. He himself does not mix business with pleasure, as he sees it as an inflammatory accident waiting to happen: no one wants to get shot because they were busy oogling the woman at their side. Hence why J rarely has Harley around when he is planning offences or speaking with his crew.

Not saying J would never employ a woman to work for him – he has no problem outsourcing female “help” for some jobs – but it would take some thought.

Also, it is an unspoken rule within the ranks that a mask should be worn, even when just hanging around the Steel Mill, but particularly when outside; this mask is chosen by the wearer & often designed with paint etc etc, perhaps chosen specifically as a reflection of their personality. Main reason for wearing a mask is that when operating around Gotham, anonymity is the best policy & a mask helps with intimidation. Of course if a crew member did not care for remaining unknown, a mask does not have to be worn at all.

Let us be frank here because you all know me to carry an amount of realism in my threads: working in organised crime is not a game. It’s a job at the end of the day & a very dangerous one at which I do not condone. Working in a gang is not simply a matter of ‘I like to kill people so I should be with you guys’. You get in based on your trustworthiness, capability, & achievements. It’s not all glamour & respect unless you happen to be a ‘made man’ like J, in which case you’re the boss and you reap all the rewards.

Depending how far along you are in the gang hierarchy, you will be expected to kill & torture people from all walks of life. One day it may be another underling from a rival gang, it could be a pimp who has useful information, it could be one of your best friends who’s become a snitch, or it could even be an innocent citizen who is simply mixed up with the wrong crowd. Working with J guarantees these things and it also guarantees you will also be dipping your feet in to the world of terrorism. You can expect the rest of your duties will be similar to police work in that you will be chasing down leads or suspicious persons, defending your territory & those within it (who pay you for protection), hiding/recovering evidence, & you will be reporting to someone above your station who will put you in your place if you get out of line – namely J.

You will not receive thanks. You may receive bonuses but never thanks. You will not be coddled. You will not be waited on. You have to be tough & you must represent J well. You’re expected to live up to a certain standard & there are rules to follow. Remember you are working for the Joker: one false move, you’re dead. Even if J just has a bad day & you happen to smile at him, you’re dead. Let us not forget either you are risking your life & the lives of those you love. You are risking imprisonment.

Why am I mentioning these things? You can guarantee that if your character were to thread with mine in a crew scenario (a popular idea), you would be faced with some potentially harsh stuff along the lines of what I’ve just written – they are examples of what you can expect within a crew thread or what you can expect to be mentioned in passing paragraphs. I don’t want anybody thinking J or I are being jerks for no reason or anything: there are reasons, which have been outlined. Of course these examples may never be completely explored in a thread (or even multiples of threads) yet you can guarantee at least one aspect will come along for plot purposes & if your character is the type who would balk at such details or possibly suffer with a moral dilemma, it’s better we don’t waste time then with this sort of plot. If you seek to forge a relationship through this sort of plot, please don’t. It has only ever worked out that way once & it was not planned by me nor the other mun involved.

Do not expect J to care if your character can shoot fireballs out their ass while singing the national anthem (I would be impressed with this but I am not my character). Do not expect him to run up to your character & demand they join his crew without first assessing the situation. Do not expect him to fall in love with yours just because they love to kill. Do not expect him to tolerate your character disrespecting him specifically in a boss-employee situation. Do not expect your character to automatically be made J’s right-hand man (like Jonny Frost).

#hc #these sorta plots happened in the past & never went well #bare the once but it was unplanned #too many peeps seem to think their muse is entitled to a place beside J while at the same time thinking they can work for him #& disrespect him constantly #i mean do you walk into work & treat your boss like shit & actually believe this is ok?#hey boss hey employee today i need you to do x y z #fuck you boss i wont do what you tell me #ok youre fired then bye

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the-ghost-and-the-writer · 6 years ago

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The Dinozzo Charm Pt 1-Ziva David X Female Reader

You decide to surprise your big brother by visiting. In a few months, you manage to surprise him far more than you expected.

(Edit: Though I didn’t clarify, because I couldn’t find a place to comfortably place it, I did intend for the Reader to be an adopted Dinozzo.)

Requested

(Part 1 of 4) (Part 2)

Fandom: NCIS

Ship: Female Reader/Ziva David

Characters: Ziva David, Female Reader (Dinozzo), Anthony Dinozzo, Jethro Gibbs. Timothy McGee. Abby Scuito

Word Count: 6134

Warnings: Mentions of violence, swears I think

Usually you wouldn’t use your FBI clearance, no matter how limited it seemed sometimes, to do this kind of thing but this wasn’t a usual day. Just back in regular email/mobile contact with Tony, after he’d dropped off the radar for a while, you’d started to become almost desperate to see your big brother since he seemed to have endless excuses that you shouldn’t. It had been far too long since you’d seen him face-to-face, a few years though you weren’t sure exactly how many, and you finally had an excuse to come over. Sure, you’d been the one to push for that reason, but it still counted. He had no idea that you were coming but, the last time you had visited, he’d shown you around so you knew where he worked. You hadn’t entered the building that time but it was easy enough to ask someone where you could find him, with your disarming smile that got that information faster than just asking did. He was apparently out but they said you could leave a message and wait in the reception area or come back later. The discreetly shown badge gave you the permission to go straight up. It also, you thought as you put it back into your pocket, gave you the opportunity to snoop.

You rolled your sleeves up to your elbows as you exited the elevator, hesitating only slightly before you went towards the desks that the very nice receptionist had told you were for his team. Even if you hadn’t been told which desk was his, you would have been able to tell. He’d kept his desk the same chaotic organised way even when he was a kid, and you trailed your fingers across the edge as you looked over what you saw just on the top, a fond smile tugging at your lips before you sat heavily in his chair. You spun on it for a second, looking over the area behind and to the side of the desk before catching yourself and opening the top drawer to rummage. You quickly snatched up his little football to fiddle with as you shuffled through the papers and read through any little thing that caught your eye. There was nothing that was too entertaining, until you got to the bottom drawer and saw his copy of GSM stood proudly at the very top. With a chuckle that he’d be as broad as to bring it to work, let alone have it so blatant to anyone who was snooping, you took it up and flicked through it. There were the typical articles that made you scoff or nod in agreement with them, as well as the eye-candy that kept the magazine in business, but it kept you strangely captivated with your feet up on Tony’s desk until you heard the elevator ding. That would have only temporarily caught your attention if it wasn’t for the fact that you heard Tony laughing, which made you look up with a childish smile. He was walking over, backwards so he could look at who was evidently Timothy, with his team “Yea, right, McGee. Like I wouldn’t have been able to get to the guy. In college I was-” Then he spun around and stopped in his tracks when he saw you at his desk, a confused frown creasing his brows together. Everyone behind him stopped as well, since there was a stranger so casually at Tony’s desk.

You sat properly, dropping your feet to the floor and the magazine messily back into the desk before you kicked the drawer closed, as Tony’s jaw dropped into a smile and he laughed slightly “Y/N?” He asked as though not sure you were really there, and you stood instantly to round the desk as he hurried over. “Hey Tony.” You grinned and took two steps, meeting him in a massive bear hug that you disappeared into. You were used to that though, since you had always been smaller than him and he loved to totally shroud you when he was happy. You sighed and curled your arms under his to place your hands on his shoulders as he laughed in relief. You stayed in the tight embrace for a few seconds before he moved away and cupped your face in his hands, bright eyes flicking over your face “I missed you.” “I missed you too. I didn’t know you were coming over, why are you here?” “To see you, idiot. It’s been too long.” You looked behind him, to the group that was still curiously watching the whole interaction, and moved his hand off your face “And to finally meet the team that you never shut up about.” Tony looked over to them, as though only just remembering them, and nodded excitedly before he hooked his arm around your shoulders and signalled for everyone to come over to meet you. “Alright, so this is Gibbs, my boss.” He said, gesturing to the elder, and you smiled as you held your hand out to shake while nodding a soft hello. Gibbs returned the smile as he shook your hand, then Tony nodded to who you already had guessed was Tim “Thrandul, the computer monkey.” Though shooting a pointed look to Tony, who just grinned cheekily, McGee still shook your hand and said a soft muttered hello “And, finally, Ziva.” Ziva held her hand out to shake first, and you smiled sweetly as you took it. Despite what Tony had said about her casual everyday brutality, her touch was very tender. She smiled gently and you were slightly awestruck by the light that seemed to shine from her. Quickly, as you dropped our hand from Ziva’s grip, you looked up to Tony, who still seemed to be vibrating with excitement as he held you tight to his side “Everyone, this is Y/N. My baby sister.” Everyone looked to you in almost shock, though varied degrees of it, other than Gibbs. McGee was the most obvious, eyes wide and a soft pout on his lips that Tony would describe as ‘The McGeek look’. Ziva just mouthed ‘oh’ and looked over you in a way that made you shrink into yourself slightly, suddenly self-conscious. Gibbs smiled slightly and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Y/N.” “You too, sir.” Gibbs pulled a slight face and Tony instantly looked over to you. “He doesn’t like ‘sir’. Just Gibbs.” “Oh. Sorry. Gibbs.” When Gibbs dismissed it with a smile and a nod, Tony went straight to his usual Big Brother mode. “Y/N works for the FBI.” He grinned and you sighed, starting to shift out of his grip so you could hide away. Unluckily, he was still that bit stronger than you and just tugged you over with an almost sadistic glee “Special Agent, but that’s more out of choice. She could be Supervisory if she wanted but that’s more hassle.” “Tony, please.” Hiding yourself in your hands, not wanting to show these borderline strangers how easily you could blush, you tried to elbow Tony off you. Without any real feeling behind it, though, it was useless to try. “She would have gotten in there before I even joined NCIS, but she was a little busy, weren’t you, Peanut?” He chuckled, earning a warning look but he just grinned. “What were you doing?” McGee asked good-naturedly. “Uh, it’s nothing major.” You said with a shrug, nudging Tony when he seemed about to speak “Just…Didn’t want to get right into such a harsh job.” Tony rolled his eyes and looked over to Gibbs. “Can she stay for a bit, boss?” Gibbs looked over you, considering it, and then nodded. “As long as we get some info on this guy, you can stay as long as you want, Y/N. I’ve got to go down to Abby.” The last sentence was directed to the team, who had all gone to their desks at that point. Gibbs then picked something up from Ziva’s desk and turned back to the elevator, leaving you with the other agents in silence for a second as Tony turned to his desk. You looked around awkwardly and then got a chair from the cubicle beside Tim, rolling it over to sit beside Tony and look over his shoulder at what he was doing. Occasionally, you’d poke him in the side and he’d squirm slightly before hitting your hand with a pout that quickly turned into a smile at your childish grin. After one time, you did look up slightly and saw Ziva was watching the both of you with a smile that made you slightly nervous again. When your eyes met, you looked away suddenly. After a few seconds, when Tony had found out some general stuff that he was sure would suffice, he turned to you. “Why didn’t you want me telling them about your tours?” He asked and you frowned softly. “’S not a big deal.” You shrugged and Tony shot you a look “Tony, you didn’t even tell them about me. They don’t need to know everything all at once.” That spread a grin across your brother’s face. “So you’re trying to be mysterious, huh? Don’t tell me it’s to impress McGee.” You rolled your eyes at his antics, as usual, and softly hit his arm as he laughed. “As if.” “He seems like your type.” Tony tried not to laugh halfway through but the angry pout on your face made that all for nothing. “If that’s a joke that he looks like a chick.” Tony put his hands up in near surrender at the glare you gave him.

“So, Y/N.” Tim said when the typing and searching had subsided all through the pen, making all eyes shoot over to him “Which FBI office are you based in?” You turned slightly towards him and sighed softly as you crossed your ankles. “New Haven. Wanted to still be close to home without being…stuck there.” You shrugged as you started to turn on the chair slightly, rocking yourself more than anything. “Nice.” Tim muttered “What branch?” “Mainly organised crime, but I was involved in a few homicide cases and one counter-terrorism. My, uh, expertise is quite interchangeable.” “How long are you in DC?” Ziva asked as she rested her elbows on her desk and leaned forwards as though getting a better look at you. “Six, maybe seven months unless they need me back before that.” Then you looked over to Tony “I might need to stay at your place for a day or two, until I get one sorted.” Tony nodded and mouthed ‘of course’, pulling you into another brief hug that he ended with a soft kiss to the top of your head “You’re a life saver, Junior.” “Anything for my baby sister.” You rolled your eyes. “I’m not a baby.” You muttered and nudged him gently, though still smiling as you did.

Gibbs then came back, a frown on his face, and Tony instantly stiffened “Uhoh. That’s not good.” He muttered, which made Ziva turn to see the look on Gibbs’ face and she took a deep breath as she turned back. “Do we have anything on this guy?” He snapped and Tony instantly stood, snatching a small remote up from his desk as he manoeuvred around you. He clicked a button and a picture of a naval officer showed up on the screen “Staff Sergeant Devon Kirk. Born in New Jersey to a drug addict who gave him up before he was even two years old, fostered out about a dozen times, barely graduated high school, and joined the Marines pretty much instantly.” Another click that showed up a sheet of paper, zooming on a certain section that was filled with praises on Kirk’s abilities “Quickly rose the ranks, promoted to Corporal faster than anyone in his original squad, seems it was his calling really.” Then Tim stood and took the remote from Tony’s hands, earning him a side-eye. “He was discharged a few months before the first disappearance.” His discharge papers came up on the screen “Apparently he attacked a Corporal when on shore leave; put the guy in the hospital for a month. Since then, he’s not had a stable job. He had and lost five jobs in the first five months after he left the Navy. Then he just...dropped off the radar.” Another click, and a bank statement came up “Nothing since Petty Officer Thompson disappeared. One heavy withdrawal of over half his bank account the day after she was reported missing, then nothing.” You looked over what was on Tony’s screen, frowning slightly as you skimmed the report of Kirk’s behaviour. “He’s probably hiding out somewhere familiar.” You muttered, out of a pure FBI instinct, and everyone looked over to you. “What?” Gibbs asked, turning to you. You looked at him and then looked to your hands. “Sorry. I’ll just…sit here.” You muttered nervously but Gibbs shook his head with a frown. “No, carry on.” First looking to your brother and Tim, then to Ziva, then back to your hands, you sat up straight and cleared your throat. “If he is hiding away, then he’ll be somewhere that he’s used to. I mean, he’s a discharged Staff Sergeant, graduated with a 1.4 GPA, with OCD and intense anxiety. He’s not got a job, no real family, so he’s going to be under intense stress, unless he’s gone back to a place that he’s familiar with and that he knows well.” Everyone was intently watching you, Tony smiling smugly, and you started to shrink more into yourself “I-I’m guessing he’ll go towards military related places. The Marine Corps was the only place he really fit in; his OCD would be mistaken for perfectionism, his anxiety would take a backseat because he’d be focused on orders with strict rules to follow, and he excelled there in a way he never did elsewhere, he had a purpose there. So, probably a place he spent a lot of time in while training or on shore leave. Military bars, houses of old friends, a gym he’d go to.” You looked at Gibbs nervously “He wouldn’t go anywhere new, not since he got kicked out. Too much has changed in his life; he’s too scared to change anything else.” There was a second of silence before Gibbs nodded and a soft smile crossed his face. “Good work, Y/N.” You smiled and ducked your head, especially at the look Tony gave you. Gibbs then sighed and turned “Alright, we need to find him. Hostels, barracks, Navy friends, anything connected to military that he’ll be familiar with.” Everyone hurried back to their desks and got to typing. After a few seconds, where Gibbs did seem to gradually get more and more frustrated, he sighed and stood in the middle of the pen “Anything?” “I might have something.” Ziva said quickly “His last foster family, they were ex-military. They kept in contact with him even after he got discharged.” “Dinozzo, McGee, you get out there. Ziva, keep looking just in case.” You moved to the side as Tony took up his gun and shimmied past you with a soft departing kiss to the top of your head.

Tony and McGee left, Gibbs was soon summoned to MTAC to talk to Kirk’s Major, and that just left you and Ziva. You again opened Tony’s desk and took out his football, tossing it between your hands quickly as you chanced occasional looks at Ziva “That was quite good.” She said eventually and you smiled modestly as you shrugged. “Just observations really.” You threw the ball quite high before catching it easily and putting it on a clear space on the desk “Nothing that was too much of a stretch.” “How did you know he has OCD?” “It’s on his discharge papers.” Ziva seemed to blank before she turned and clicked about on her computer, leaning in with a frown. “Where?” You quickly stood up and hurried over to her to stand behind her and lean over the back of the chair so you could point it out on her screen. “Right…There.” You pointed at the main sentence “Constantly neatening up his quarters, needing to touch the doorframe of every room he walked into. Those sorts of constant specific ‘rituals’, typical counter and arranger-type OCD. It’s a mix of anxiety and total paranoia, that if he doesn’t carry it out exactly right then there’ll be a terrible consequence, probably not helped by the fact that he’d be on a ship and have any number of possible hazards. That’s why he surpassed in the Corps, because they have very specific ways of doing things and their own superstitions and he is very particular about everything he does. Also why he’s more likely to go somewhere familiar, where he knows exactly how his rituals can work out.” Ziva smiled slightly and turned her head to you. “You figured that out, from one line in his discharge papers?” Your shoulder quirked in a half shrug as you smiled. “Not just from that.” You turned to her and were slightly taken aback by how close the two of you were, feeling a blush already starting to spread across your cheeks. Quickly, you turned your head away and stood again before you ran your hand through your hair nervously “Why do you need to find him?” Ziva didn’t look away from you as you walked back to Tony’s desk and sat in his chair. “We think he’s involved in the disappearance of three marines and the death of two.” You nodded your understanding and spun the ball against your palms. “Think he’ll give up the killer?” Ziva frowned and shook her head. “We think he is the killer.” You shook your head insistently as you tossed the ball upwards again. It spun four times before you caught it. “Not with his mind-set. He can’t make these decisions without having a set way behind it or he’ll panic and it’d probably be very easy to catch him, so either he’s being told how to kill very specifically, or he’s in some way an accomplice.” For a second or two, Ziva just looked at you with a gentle frown before she took her phone up and dialled. You didn’t listen in to the conversation, Ziva spoke really quietly and it wasn’t your business anyway. Sure, it was a case and people were probably in danger, but it wasn't your case.

After the call ended, about ten minutes later, she sighed and sat back, looking over to you as you messed with the football. Once or twice it went a bit further back than you though it would but you were quick to lean back to those almost dangerous levels to catch it "What made you come over here now?" She asked suddenly, making you look over quickly. "Um. Well, I didn't hear from Tony for about two years, and about six months ago he just messaged me out of nowhere like nothing had happened." You bowed your head and sighed softly, thinking to all the worry you'd had through those two years and how relieved you were that the message wasn't from someone close to him telling you the worst news. Of course, you'd given him shit for leaving you like that. You took a deep breath and looked at her again "Talking to him again, just made all of it come back, how much I’ve missed him. So I convinced my boss to move me out here for a bit." "And it worked?" Ziva asked with an amused smile, making you smile as you shrugged. "Took a month or two, but...I'm very convincing." Her little laugh, the way she shook her head, made you smile wider and duck your head "It's the, uh, talents of a Dinozzo. When we want something, we charm our way to it." "Did that talent skip Tony?" Ziva asked and you laughed, tipping your head back as you did. "With his track record, I'm guessing it must have." Then you looked to her, still smiling "Don't tell him I said that." "I wouldn't dare." She looked over you for a second and pouted just slightly as though pondering something "Tony never told us about you." You nodded once and quirked your brows up with a sigh. "Yea. He...He isn't the type to put family in with his work life. I get it though, with what our family is like." You clapped your hands together, to try and lighten the mood, and went back to throwing the ball around "But, I couldn't help myself. I've heard a lot of good things about everyone, and I wanted to finally meet the legendary MCRT that Tony keeps going on about." "I'm glad you did." Ziva smiled "Now I have someone to tell me embarrassing stories about Tony's childhood." "I do have a lot of them." You mused and threw the ball up again. Just as you were ready to catch it, a hand shot out from over the little cubicle wall and snatched it on its downward path. You looked over and saw Gibbs, who had suddenly materialised the way Tony would always say he had a habit of doing. "Having fun?" He asked as you sat properly, eyes suddenly wide and face paling slightly at being caught. "I, uh...I guess? I mean..." You stuttered, not missing the slight amused smile shot at you by Gibbs as he threw the ball back to you. "Ziva. Anything else?" He asked, totally ignoring how you were freaking out at Tony's desk. "Not really." Ziva sighed and tapped at her keyboard a little bit "He didn't really have friends outside of the Navy, and the’re all on duty. What did his Major say?" "Nothing much. Didn't know of any safe places he'd go on shore leave, didn't know of any girlfriends or fiancées. He suspected OCD but it wasn't disrupting his performance so there wasn't a point in reporting it." You rolled your eyes. Of course. As long as it doesn't bother anyone, why should mental issues be reported?

After a bit more chat, about possible places that Kirk could be hiding out in (that you did help with), Gibbs sighed and looked over to you "Dinozzo. Can you go down to the lab? Abby should have something for us by now." You hesitated before nodding, not sure why he'd want you to go down there but glad that you wouldn't have to find an excuse to see Abby before they'd finished with a case.

The first thing that hit you about the lab was the booming drums that seemed to come from everywhere at once the second that the door opened. The second thing was the dark haired woman in front of the many monitors, wearing boots that went to her knees and black shorts that only just were visible under her lab-coat as she danced on the spot. You looked around for a stereo or a remote to turn the music down, but you settled for walking over and tapping the woman on the shoulder. She turned quickly, her pigtails hitting her in the face when she did "Oh gosh. You scared me." She pouted before she turned the music down and looked back at you with a smile "Who are you?" "Um, I'm Y/N Dinozzo. Tony's sister. Gibbs said-" "-Tony has a sister?!" Her jaw dropped and she looked over you, walking around you as though seeing every angle would somehow help her see the resemblance. "Uh, yea." "And he didn't tell me?" She stopped in front of you and pouted, dropping her arms down to her sides. "He's not the type." You said hesitantly, slightly scared of Abby. Of course, Tony had warned you about her but he also said she was a bit more…energetic on Caff-Pow, which she seemed to have had a lot of if the contents of the trash were anything to go off "I...He told me all about you though." That seemed to cheer her up, her eyes widening and cheeks puffing out with her smile. "Really? What'd he say about me?" "That you're a bit loopy and you scare him sometimes but in a good way." She put her hands to her heart and smiled "And that your hugs help him more than you probably think they do." "Aww. I knew he loved me really." She sighed happily and dropped her hands to her sides again "Well, even if I didn't know about you, it's great to meet you." She pulled you into a tight hug and hummed before pulling away before you could even slightly reciprocate.

Her eyes scanned over you again and a pout formed across her painted-pink lips "Are you military?" You looked over yourself with a frown. You didn't think you looked particularly military, didn't even look particularly like a fed, but somehow Abby saw through it. "Um, FBI." "But you used to be military?" You hesitated before nodding "Hmm. Thought so." Instantly, you deflated and looked back across your clothes with a pout. "It is obvious?" Abby tutted and shook her head quickly, waving her hand to dismiss it instantly. "Not really. To me, yea. Maybe to Gibbs as well, but I don't think Ziva and McGee would figure it out unless you were in full uniform." She turned to her computer screens then "Have you met them yet?" "Yea, I did. Back upstairs." "What'd you think?" The look on her face was almost like she was asking you about a personal project. Then again, Tony did have his theories about why Abby was so adamant about checking up on them. While you didn't suffer as deeply from Movie Brain as your brother, you had to admit that his conspiracies were well thought out. The likelihood of him not knowing when his precious food has been tampered with, however, was quite low. "Well, Tim seems nice. Quiet, but nice. I mean, I didn't get to talk to him much before Gibbs sent him off with Tony, but Tony didn't really exaggerate about him as much as I thought he would. A bit, you know, but it is Tony." You lowered your eyes to the floor as your thoughts turned to Ziva "Ziva's cool. Really casual, I thought she'd be more...hostile, I guess." Abby laughed, making you snap your eyes to her "What?" "Nothing." Abby shook her head quickly "She's not really that hostile, unless you're Tony. I've always seen her as more butch than anything. Not to say she doesn't have her moments, she's gorgeous in a dress." "Not just in a dress." You muttered before you thought about it, and your eyes widened when Abby shot her head around to look at you. There was a sparkle in her eye that Tony had told you to worry about, it was a trouble sparkle, and you tried to play it off with a smile "She's pretty, prettier than Tony described." Abby nodded a 'sure' and grinned. "What about Gibbs?" "Reminds me of my Supervisory. Just, more head-slaps, less obscure music references." You rubbed your hands together "Speaking of Gibbs, he's why I'm down here. He said you should have something for the case?" The goth nodded instantly, snatching up a piece of paper from the table behind her and holding it out for you. When you took it, she clasped her hands together and swayed softly. "I couldn't get a clear DNA match just yet, it seems to be two different people's blood. But, I ran through drugs tests and found this." She poked one spot on the paper and your eyes were drawn to it. "Paroxetine." You smiled softly "OCD medication." Abby nodded, almost proudly “I was right." Then you looked to her with a smile "Thanks, Abs. It was so good meeting you." "Oh." She frowned happily and hugged you again, this time letting you return it "It was great meeting you. We should hang out sometime, properly. Like, go for drinks." "I'd really like that." You nodded once when she moved away "See you later." She waved energetically and bounced on the balls of her feet as you left back to the bullpen.

When you got up to the bullpen again, the paper clutched in your hands like it was a report card, Tony and Tim were back. Tony saw you first and pointed an accusatory finger in your direction "I thought you'd ran off." He said when you got close enough to hear him. "Sorry, Junior. Abby was...talking." After a second of thought, he nodded his understanding "Very huggy." "Yea, you get used to it." You rounded the desks and went to Gibbs, holding the paper out to him. He looked over you as he took it like Abby had done, making you realise that maybe you stood more military than you first thought. You tried to relax your shoulders, and a twitch of a smile caught your attention as he must have noticed it, but he put his glasses on and looked over the paper. "What am I looking at here?" "The, um, drug tests on the blood. At least one of the two had Paroxetine in their system. It's a SSRI. Taken for depression, OCD, panic disorders, or PTSD." "We think Kirk was there?" You nodded softly and sighed. "If he's taking Paroxetine, he might be a bit more capable on his own than I thought." Gibbs took his glasses off and sat back with a hardly-audible sigh. You took that as a dismissal so you went back to sit beside Tony again.

Soon after, your exhaustion from the travel started to kick in. Your head started to droop down until you were resting against your crossed arms on the desk, drifting slowly into sleep. What shocked you out of it was Tony's hand placed gently on your shoulder, just slightly shaking you back into the real world "You should get to my place, Peanut. Get some sleep." He said calmly and you nodded "Want me to drive you?" "I can do it." Ziva said quickly, making you both look over to her. Tony stood slowly and crossed his arms with a suspicious pout on his lips. "Why would you want to?" "Because, Tony, Gibbs still needs you to tell him what happened when you questioned Kirk's foster parents, and I don’t have much to do." Though a feasible excuse, Tony still looked cautious until you sighed and sat up. "Don't be a prick, Anthony." You stretched out your arms with a groan before looking at Ziva again "Thank you, Ziva. I'd like that." She smiled gently and stood to put her jacket on. Tony's eyes widened the second you finished the sentence, but you ignored him while you stood up and stretched out again before dropping your arms around his neck in a hug "I'll see you when you finish up." He grumbled in reply but calmed his slight annoyance down enough to hug you back. "Alright. I'll take-" "-I'll take the couch. It's your place, it's not fair for me to take over your bed." He shook his head but knew better than to take you on, especially when you were tired, so just kissed your forehead and patted you on the shoulder twice. Before you were out of the vicinity of the bullpen, he held his hand out to you with a key pinched between his fingers. "There. Don't want to tell you where I hid the spare." "Same sort of spot you have since you first got your own place, I'm guessing." Tony paused then nodded and put his key back into his pocket. You sighed and looked back to McGee and Gibbs "It was nice meeting you." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement and Tim looked up with a smile and a wave. "Hope to see you again." Tim called out as you turned back. "Down boy." You heard from Tony as you followed Ziva to the elevator "That's my baby sister." Ziva laughed softly at the eye-roll and shake of your head that Tony earned.

You didn't speak to her until you got to your car, instead focusing very hard on staying awake so you didn't face-plant in front of her. You handed Ziva the keys after unlocking the doors, sliding into the passenger seat with a deep sigh and tipping your head back. Ziva looked over you for just a second before she started the car up "You might want to buckle up." She said, making you look over to her "Tony must have told you about my driving." "Oh, yea. Said you make Fast and Furious look like Mario Kart." You mumbled as you buckled yourself in before relaxing again. "I promise to calm it down, so you can rest." "Thanks." You sighed and shifted to get a bit more comfortable before starting to drift off again. Before you'd even left the parking lot, you were sound asleep.

You woke with a start when you felt a soft push at your shoulder, looking around and realising you were at Tony's place. You groaned and rolled your head to get rid of the slight tension that had come up from sleeping while sat upright. As you ran your hand through your hair, you smiled sleepily at Ziva "Thanks again. Hope I didn't snore." "Not much." Just the idea that you had, even slightly, made you sigh. At least you hadn't drooled on yourself though. You both exited the car and you, again, stretched. Your shirt rode up a bit and you were quick to drop your arms with a quick look to Ziva, making sure she hadn't noticed. She hadn't seemed to, so you sighed in relief. "I'll give you money for a cab back." You said as she handed you the keys back. "No need. I volunteered, it's no trouble." You were about to insist but the look on her face made you think it probably wasn't the best thing to do so you just nodded as you rounded the car to get your luggage. Ziva silently insisted on helping you with that as well, since it was a bit too much for you to carry in one trip, and you again thanked her at the door of Tony's place as well as apologised for the inconvenience. She just chuckled and again said it was no trouble at all as you opened the door and just placed the bags inside next to the door so you could deal with it all later on "Would you like to meet for dinner after the case is closed?" She asked suddenly, just as you took the last bag from her hands. It made you pause for a second but you nodded softly and placed the bag down. "Um, yea, sure." At her smile, you couldn't stop yours from spreading across your face no matter how you tried to calm it as you dug your hands in your pockets to find your phone "I'll give you my number, so you can text me or call me or whatever when it's finished up." She handed you her own phone and you tapped your number in as a new contact before handing it back to her with a smile "I guess I'll hear from you then." "Unless you come to visit the team again before then." It almost sounded hopeful and caused another smile from you. "From what Tony's told me about your success rate, it won't take too long. I guess we'll see though." You shrugged, and the two of you stood in silence for a second or two until Ziva took in a deep breath and sighed. "I should go back." You nodded once and held your hand out for her to shake. "It was great to finally meet you." Ziva smiled and shook your hand, slowly and with a gentle grip that still seemed nothing like what Tony said she was usually like and left your palm tingling. "It was great to meet you as well. I only hope Tony had told us about you before." There seemed to be something in how she looked over you but you shrugged it off as wishful thinking as she turned and left with a final goodbye.

You locked up and instantly went over to lie on the couch with a sigh. You had no idea where Tony kept his spare blankets, if he even had any, but you didn't even really have the time to wonder about it. You didn’t have time to do much but move one of the decorative cushions to use as a pillow before you were drifting off to sleep again, still fully dressed including your shoes. It had been a long day.

#NCIS #Ziva David #Female reader #reader fic #Ziva David x Reader #fluff #f/f #lgbtq #swearing #request fill #build up fic #>6000 words #<6500 words #Admin-Hannah #fanfiction

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paigenotblank · 5 years ago

Note

GET READY...... CURVE BALL #1: SAM/ANNIE

Look at these two!!! 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍 😍

who hogs the duvet - When they finally get their acts together, they are that ridiculous couple that snuggles together all night long sharing all bedding. That being said, during scorchers in the summer, Annie has a habit of kicking aside the covers and laying on top of them. Poor Sam has no hopes of gaining any additional coverage from the duvet for himself and knows better than to wake Annie up.

who texts/rings to check how their day is going - If Sam still had a working mobile, he’d be the one to instigate since it is second nature to be connected like that. Annie does drop by Sam’s floor at work during lunch to say ‘hi’ though on most afternoons.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts - Sam because he tries to show Annie a little bit of home. So if he surprises her with a sushi dinner 20 years before it became mainstream, well he missed a good spicy tuna roll. If that first time, she tastes it and smiles before suggesting she run to the nearest chippy for “some cooked fish thank you very much,” well it is an acquired taste.

who gets up first in the morning - Annie. She is used to “early to bed, early to rise,” having been instilled into her by her mum. And though these days with Sam in her life, she getting to bed a little later than “early” she still manages to be an early riser.

who suggests new things in bed - Sam has never been so grateful in having been raised decades after his girlfriend, when it comes to matters of the bedroom. The 70’s may have been a time of sexual liberation, but 50’s and 60’s mindsets still caused a lot of hang-ups. Sam is always the one to suggest things, but he never pushes Annie to try something she’s uncomfortable with. And to her credit, she tries most things to her great pleasure.

who cries at movies - Annie. She has a pure heart and a sweet soul. (And when it’s Sam, she never tells.)

who gives unprompted massages - Sam at first because he’s more knowledgable about the health benefits, but Annie loves them so much and wants to reciprocate. When she notices Sam is really stressed from work, often you’ll see her rubbing his back or shoulders.

who fusses over the other when they’re sick - They both fuss. Annie’s training as a nurse gives her the edge, but Sam’s future knowledge is a boon for when Annie is sick.

who gets jealous easiest - Annie has been hurt more and so when a pretty girl flirts with Sam, she feels jealous, but keeps it to herself. He can always tell though, and lets her know how much she means to him.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music - Sam absolutely loves revisiting the music of his childhood but since that happens to be the popular music of the time, nobody thinks it’s embarrassing. Annie on the other hand grew up with a mother who loved Cliff Richard…I’ll let you be the judge.

who collects something unusual - It is a little known fact that Annie loves to travel, even though she doesn’t often have the opportunity. Where ever it is she goes - the beach, the country, once to London - she brings home a little stone from the place to remind her of the trip.

who takes the longest to get ready - This one is hard to judge. Annie picks out her outfit the night before and so is very efficient in her morning routine. Sam stands in front of the closet for 15 minutes, half asleep, trying to decide what to wear. Ultimately he ends up just grabbing something and putting it on. So, while Annie might spend more time actually getting ready, Sam is usually the one rushing out the door.

who is the most tidy and organised - Annie. Hands down. She picks her clothes out the night before! Plus, I’m pretty sure they taught girls in school how to keep a tidy house as part of the curriculum when she was growing up.

who gets most excited about the holidays - Sam is more outwardly excited (it’s just like he remembered when he was a kid!!!), but Annie loves being with her family and it just brings a feeling of peace to her to share it with Sam.

who is the big spoon/little spoon - Sam is usually the big spoon, but on the days that he doesn’t manage to save someone or the case involves a child or they are called to a particularly brutal crime scene, Annie lays along his back and runs her fingers through his hair until he falls asleep.

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports - Sam likes to think he’s easy going, unless he is competing with Gene, then all bets are off. Annie grew up with brothers so she rolls her eyes when Sam gets a little too into Cluedo.

who starts the most arguments - Sam can be a little tactless, so that is the cause of most of their minor squabbles. However, when Annie starts an argument it is for a VERY GOOD reason and Sam ends up apologizing.

who suggests that they buy a pet - Sam has always wanted a dog and thinks that one would make a very good family pet. They bring one home the week before he proposes.

what couple traditions they have - They always go out on a date on Friday night. About two months into their relationship, Annie managed to get Sam to attend church with her. Now they attend every Sunday morning, followed by lunch with Annie’s parents. Sam also works very hard to make sure Annie’s rock collection grows. He takes her away for a weekend, once a month.

what tv shows they watch together - They both love Dad’s Army and Mastermind.

what other couple they hang out with - They once went on a double date with Gene and Jackie (though that relationship doesn’t last very long). They also socialize with one of the other WPCs and her husband.

how they spend time together as a couple - They try not to talk about work, though that can be very difficult as they work together. They go to the movies and the disco and Nelson’s. They try and do things that any other couple does.

who made the first move - Sam. He had a thing for Annie for quite some time and didn’t always treat her as he should have (at least personally. Professionally, he always treated her with the utmost respect.) and had some apologizing to do before she would agree to go out with him. He groveled and it was the best decision he’s ever made.

who brings flowers home - Sam. He loves the way Annie’s eyes light up the first time he does it, and so he tries to bring her a bouquet at least twice a month.

who is the best cook - Annie is very good at making traditional fare and comfort foods. She is shocked to find that Sam knows his own way around a kitchen. She’s not sure about some of the things he makes at first, but after a few years together she’s the one requesting his chicken tikka masala.

Send me a ship and I’ll tell you who…

#sam tyler x annie cartwright #life on mars #asked and answered #ship ask game #fleurdeneuf

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crowsent · 5 years ago

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did a text post bc the formatting is easier. also because so i won’t bombard you ( @yalltookmyurlideas ) with words

i basically created my son ethel when i was late middle school. almost summer. i was watching this one anime, servamp, and there was a character with a really interesting design of blonde hair with black streaks (his name was hyde) so my middleschool self i went “neat! i want an oc like that!” so i designed ethel based on that one anime character with weird hair. and that was his only defining trait for a while: weird hair

originally, ethel had white hair and genetically inherited black streaks (again bc i was in middleschool) and i created the first drawing of ethel (first pic i sent) when i was a freshman in highschool and the whiteness of the rest of his hair compared to the streaks is very visible.

at that point, my backstory for him was essentially “pale, loner, likes shakespeare, wears hoodie, highschooler” his shirt is just a really creepy smiley face bc i really wanted to turn up the emoness of his design. pretty sure he had a girlfriend or a partner whose name was like. carmen. or camillia. or something that starts with a c. she dies and serves as fuel for him to be angsty bc again. middle school

then i became a junior and looked at his initial design and went. “what if i make it darker?” bc i hit peak emo phase when i was a highschool freshman and was one step away from wearing mcr outfits every day to school. you know the one. that one jacket.

2nd and 3rd pictures i sent were the darker and gritter versions of ethel. hence the darker hair (you can barely see the dark streaks in the third photo) and edginess amped up to 11. his hair was like a chestnut brown at that point and the black streaks were less visible. he remained without a background for the most part but i added “girlfriend was killed, wants revenge” to his bio because i guess i wanted him to be even edgier? and he kind of becomes a hermit who hates society at the end of his character arc. just a grumpy nihilist with depression bc at the time i did not know how to handle my own mental health and it manifested as that.

i didn’t fully create a backstory for ethel until i reached my senior year. then i went fucking ham and changed his entire character. he went from “name is ethel, pale, loner, likes shakespeare, wears hoodie, highschooler, lost a girlfriend, wants revenge, really edgy” to Ethel Ash

so basically. ethel lost both parents when he was young and was put in foster care, bouncing from home to home without really having a place to belong. he didn’t feel wanted by anyone, didn’t have support from any adults in his life, started trouble just to get some goddamn attention bc he felt invisible and it only led to people labeling him as dumb and a problem. bc of the lack of support in his life, he fell in with the wrong people when he was in highschool. fights. petty theft. vandalism. that kind of stuff. sent to juvie a few times because he got caught. at this point, his hair was just plain brown and he doesn’t dye it until much later.

then he graduated highschool, but only barely. he’s pretty smart, interested in philosophy, strategy, math, and classical literary works (shakespeare which is p much the only part of his original backstory that survived) but his teachers essentially labeled him a problem child and gave him next to no attention. so he p much accepted society’s label that he’ll always be no-good and kind of ran with it.

he got involved in organised crime after he graduated and by organised crime i meant the mob. he became involved with the mob in california (where he lived) and bc he’s smart and well-versed in like strategy and math, he kind of picked up being an informant. like. he became that one guy people in the mob turned to for info. doesnt particularly like being involved in the shady deals that go down, but if he’s being an informant, he’s needed. and if he’s needed, he has somewhere to belong.

so he overworks himself. sleeps little, eats less, and essentially becomes a machine who haunts the local coffee shop typing on a laptop that’s protected from everything under the sun. he wears a hoodie over his creepy smiley face shirt which he just nicked from some random dpt store to keep himself from being seen by the security cameras and is essentially a fucking internet gremlin with next to no face-to-face human interaction.

but of course, this (coupled with vices like drinking and smoking) takes a toll on him and his body finally gives out and he collapses in an alleyway. not passed out, but definitely delirious from lack of sleep and food. which, considering his criminal background, would fuck him over if he got seen by some random person and reported to the police. or worse, sentence him to death if he got spotted by someone from a rival gang who would love to get rid of someone dangerous like him.

instead, he got found by c. i will call her camilla in this instance bc i genuinely don’t remember her name even though she got a big reboot to her character as well. ethel’s like. 20-21 at this point. camilla is 22 and is in a prestigious college taking a double major in english and food management. she’s not particularly rich, but is upper middle class with a single mother living in new york who fully supports her in what she wants to do and regularly calls her to make sure that she’s safe. and camilla, spotting this dude who looks like death incarnate, stops and makes sure he’s okay and ethel keeps telling her not to call the cops or call an ambulance.

and camilla, also very smart but has enough chaotic dumbass energy to sink a ship, takes ethel to her apartment where he devolves into a high fever and she helps him through it.

he gets better and is just ????? towards camilla because she’s nice to him even though he did nothing for her. he leaves her apartment as soon as he can, but they end up running into each other again at the fucking coffee shop bc im a sucker for cliche and they kind of clicked.

they bond over shakespeare together because camilla’s an english major and ethel’s a fucking nerd for shakespeare. he doesn’t tell her what kind of work he does, but she figures it out anyway because she’s not an idiot. there are bruises on ethel’s body and his eyes always dart around the room, looking for an exit. she lets him know that she knows, and she lets him know that it’s not his fault that the world let him down, that he felt that he didn’t belong.

and ethel kind of breaks after that? like. he very reluctantly works as an informant in gangs bc he’s chasing the high of being needed and wanted and this random college girl just up and tells him that it’s not his fault that he’s never felt warmth in his goddamn life?

she doesn’t try to change him bc she’s in college and she has essays to fucking worry about and ethel never even does anything like dox some innocent soul so while she’s kind of uncomfortable with ethel’s job she’s not like majorly concerned about it. its a rule that they never talk about ethel’s job when they hang out bc ethel doesn’t like talking about what he does and who he associated with because of the issues of his childhood and she really doesn’t want to think about the fact that there are a lot of bad people her best friend associates with bc he feels like he has no choice so it’s kind of silence on that topic.

but ethel kind of changes himself. he wants to change. bc hey. it’s not too late. he hasn’t done something like murder so if he quits and turns himself in, he can get like a few years at most and come out and live a better honest life. and like. camilla’s floored and flattered that her friend would do this because she inspired him to do better? and she’s like “all my life, i wanted to start my own cafe and when you get out, ill hire you. how’s that sound” and they’re like. both soft and ethel is fully fucking prepared to go to the police and out literally every single motherfucker he worked with and turn over a new leaf.

but then someone catches wind of what he plans to do.

and fucking murders camilla.

bc they thought that camilla was forcing ethel to change for her and the logic is that “if the person telling him to quit and betray us is dead, then he wont go through with it” but it completely fucking backfires.

and ethel goes fucking ballistic.

instead of just going to the police like a normal person and confessing everything like the names of the people he works with and letting the police deal with them. he just straight up drops off the grid. and fucking mails the goddamn police things like full names, addresses, safehouses, etc. he straight up obliterates the gang he works with by systematically doxxing them to the fucking police one by one, ruining all of their operations, and hunting them down one by one.

this is the point where he dyes his hair black, but only streaks of it to remind himself of camilla. camilla had planned on streaking her hair hair red bc it goes well with her black hair and ethel streaked his hair black to remind himself of her. he doesn’t turn himself yet in bc he doesn’t plan on doing that until he literally finds all of the men and women he’s worked with in the past and leads them to their arrest and it’s an ongoing thing because his former colleagues went into hiding so he’s having some difficulties.

but he still plans on turning himself in once he’s done. and once he gets out, he plans on starting that cafe. and he’s going to fill it with bookshelves of classical literature. and he’s going to keep living his goddamn life.

and i wrote most of his backstory in math class because i genuinely could not give a shit about math. and that’s ethel. my son. my child. my baby. i love talking about him. he’s precious and i adore every inch of him.

#very long post

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freetiquette-blog · 5 years ago

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Introduction Post!

Alright! No one’s done one of these yet so I figured I should get the ball rolling and start it off myself! I will be putting it under a Read More because this post got somewhat long. So without further ado:

Would your character know MIUNHŌSEI?

Well it’s more likely than you’d think! Though he works for and under what would be considered the 1% of Japan (businessmen/women, musicians, politicians, entrepreneurs, etc), he’s also risen to fame for his generosity. Despite his rather high employment fees he’s gone out of his way to offer his services, completely free-of-charge, to impoverished families and smaller companies. Some he’s met personally and some wrote him to have him help them. Regardless of the case, he’s definitely helped significantly improve relationships between family members and employees.

His biggest calling to fame though was when he helped young heir Genzo Kikukawa take over his father’s business, BENZAITEN Consortium, after Murashige Kikukawa’s illegal dealings and connections with organised crime had been ousted. BENZAITEN Consortium’s Tobashi Schemes had been revealed but with MIUNHŌSEI’s guidance Genzo was later able to not only keep the BENZAITEN Consortium from filing into bankruptcy but even double their profits. MIUNHŌSEI’s popularity then skyrocketed and, for a few weeks, his involvement and face was all over the media, though he refused to give any interviews or answer any questions about this specific topic.

His generosity has also earned him the spotlight on the media a couple of times. He has received a grand total of four Japanese Medals of Honor:

Green Ribbon Medal of Honor: Awarded to him for being a morally remarkable individual who has actively taken part in serving society with his services in aiding Genzo Kikukawa not only take back his father’s business but also legally helping him double its profits.

Yellow Ribbon Medal of Honor: Awarded to him for his diligence and perseverance while engaging in his professional activities and becoming a public role model, mainly through his advise, guidance and munificence towards others.

Blue Ribbon Medal of Honor: Awarded to him for his achievements in public welfare and service for his frequent free service towards the improvement of smaller families and businesses alike.

Dark Blue Ribbon Medal of Honor: Awarded to him for his exceptionally generous financial contributions for the well-being of the public. This was given to him after it came to light that he donates exactly 80% of his income to several charities and other non-profit organizations.

In short, he’s been in the public spotlight more than once for his magnanimity! There’s definitely been attempts at trying to uncover why he’s hiding his name or anything that could tarnish his reputation, but asides unfounded slander and baseless accusations, no one’s found any revelations or scandals about him.

He has given a few interviews on various media and answered questions but he’s always deftly dodged any questions regarding him, his origins or any private details of his life as well as his employer’s.

General information about MIUNHŌSEI?

This is some basic information that is publicly known about MIUNHŌSEI.

He’s difficult to pin down because he’s often working throughout all of Japan thanks to the many businesses and families that request and pay for his services.

He has occasionally served abroad, but this has only happened once or twice. He’s been confirmed to have traveled to the United Kingdom half a year ago.

He can speak quite a few languages, but he’s only fluid in Japanese and English but can hold a conversation in Chinese and Korean if needed to. Don’t expect him to have perfect enunciation though!

He seems to be an only son. When questioned about his family he’s always tried to dodge the question but seeing as he usually stays with his employer’s rather than go to a house of his own it’s generally assumed he lacks both parents and siblings.

He will fulfill any kind of request asked of him within the realm possibility except for requests that go against his moral code. Yes, this means he will count up to one million non-stop if someone asks it of him.

Has the sense of humor of an old grandparent who just discovered the internet in the 2010s. That means he thinks puns and outdated memes are the funniest.

He’s never given his name but he claims the name he goes by, MIUNHŌSEI, is akin to an artist’s name than a deliberate attempt at hiding his name. Some consider this to be shady but others consider it deliberately alluring.

Shipping

MIUNHŌSEI is definitely a character that could enter a romantic relationship if it’s in the cards and I personally love talking about them OOC too! He’s also a character that gets attached relatively easily, it really isn’t difficult for him to develop infatuation with others, but whether those infatuations could elevate to become something else? Well, we’ll see once the game starts! He’s got no preferences and is pansexual, in addition to that I ship with chemistry and if he really hits it off with someone else I’d be definitely okay with the characters ending together!

Mun & OOC Information

Hey guys! It’s Strega here! Regarding MIUNHŌSEI, I just want to say that making jokes, memes and art about him is fine and even 100% encouraged as long as it isn’t anything NSFW! He’s 18 but still really young and I’d rather avoid those kinds of things regarding him. I don’t think this will actually come up, but it never hurts to make my boundaries known!

#ooc #preprologue #intro #MIUNHŌSEI #info dump mostly

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fyrapartnersearch · 5 years ago

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A sly return

Hello, it’s been a while…   And I am back with a new request! This one will be more specific as it only targets certain fandoms. I have had plenty of amazing original roleplays in the past time but now my desire is slowly favouring canon universes once again. Btw, call me Gil ;)   I have a strong penchant for including original characters and ideas that can be added to the pre-existing plot. Also very happy to expand on the given worlds and open to AU’s. Okay so I am a really big nerd when it comes to the supernatural, mysterious, urban myth and fantasy. Love combining those given elements with organised crime, complex characters, cataclysmic events and dark schemes that all unravels as time goes on.    A little about me. You must be at least 18+ of age if you want to start a roleplay with this gal here. Since I am in my twenties, I prefer maturer partners. I accept anyone, regardless male or female. What I expect is a decent (if not very good) grasp on grammar, the ability and will to write creatively, shoulder a great part of the plotting and responsibility as well as passion for roleplaying. Of course this should be seen as a fun hobby but I really like to invest… I wish for my partner / friend to take equal initiative.   Here are my cravings and guidelines! Even though they are limited, I made sure to filter out the ones I know I wouldn’t role-play anytime soon. So if you are interested in something I didn't mention here, I am afraid I might not role-play this or decline.    Fandoms and cravings:

Castlevania ****

Devil May Cry ****

Game of Thrones ***

Witcher *** 

Fate **

 Star Wars ***

 What it entails:  Alright, so you are writing with some of a mature age. I have 11 years of writing experience when it comes to the game. This will be a fair warning that this request is not for the faint of heart. There will be violence, swearing, gore, intimate themes, uncomfortable subjects, drama, conflict and other dark matters included within the story. I have few limits but I will respect the boundaries of my partner, so do not shy away from telling me. Just so you know, I won’t fade to black or skip out on the nitty gritty. Go big or go home. Interests: My line of interests are very electric when it comes to genres. I love conceiving my own lore inside a stories, be it an original or a pre-existing story. Gothic fantasy among others are one of my favorites. I am not opposed to tapping into science fiction, action, romance, crime, action or thriller genres, in fact I encourage it. Inspirations for me are Lovecraft, Hellsing, Blade, Underworld, etc. As for the fandom inspired RPs, I am more than willing to bend some rules and be a little indulgent. Writing: 3rd person perspective. My writing is wide-ranging and flexible, which means that frequently, word count will go up 1000+ per reply - though it highly depends on the given situation and partner. Quality over quantity as they say - but why not both? I love detail in description, and I am actively seeking someone of the same infamy. My partner should have a basic grasp on grammar, punctuation and somewhat of an interest in knowledgeable writing. I also double! (preferably, but we can always discuss whether it makes sense for our roleplay our not.) World building and sharing the burden: You should be active and help me shape the world around our characters. Even if we discuss many things during and before the roleplay, how we wish for things to play out and take its course, I am always happy to be surprised with a secret of my partner’s character I didn’t know before. You don’t need to lay out all your cards on the table… keep it a little mysterious and suspenseful. Just enough so we can work with the ideas, but not completely kill off the suspense. Characters: I write canon as well as OC characters. Faceclaims, GIFs, drawings, mood boards or just a plain physical description is absolutely sufficient. Whatever floats your boat when it comes to visualising your character and their backstory, I’m on board. Characters should be written as opulent, flawed, unique, talented, heroic, villainous, spiteful, angry, and everything in-between figures. In other words, don’t be scared of making them ‘human’, even when they are non-human. Romance: Openly play and accept characters of both genders, preferable m x f pairings, but I am open to m x m and f x f relationships as well. I have more experience with m x f relationships, so I might be more savvy with this one. If the chemistry of two characters compel me, I will ship them no matter what! When it comes to sexual scenarios and intimacy (intercourse, foreplay, all that jazz). I encourage erotism, but in a tasteful manner (that goes for romance as well). The passion must be felt through the screen, even if it’s just a mere description of someone’s deep train of thought. Content: Drama, violence, sex, metamorphosis, symbolism, action, romance, pretty much everything is a-okay. I am unbothered by certain subjects that may or may not be uncomfortable for the general public. Roleplays are fictional stories and we best keep viewing them as such. If there are things you are uncomfortable with, name them and I shall respect those boundaries. But don’t be surprised when suddenly one of our characters bites the dust, or gets tortured. It may be difficult to write and read, but it is all part of the story and furthering the plot. My roleplays imply and involve brutality, mayhem, psychological and physical torture as well as other things. But I also endorse beauty, serenity and placid moments, scenes or characters. I love it when it comes full circle… everyone- and everything has their beautiful and hideous side. Both should be embraced. Communication and friendship: OOC-chat friendly! I love meeting new people and making potential friends. Plus it strengthens the compatibility between us. Communication is the alpha and the omega. If there is something that bothers you, or if you think you are left out in some way (be it a mistake on my part or we’re both at fault here), don’t be scared of telling me. Really, it won’t be taken personally - since I know that we slip up every now and then, we’re only human after all. It is also completely sufficient if you only type out a few messages per week. I am super chill about it. It doesn’t bother me re-writing a scene to fit the narrative more. If there are mistakes, they can be corrected - just to get that out there. We can always exchange opinions and see what would benefit the story most. I will also voice my opinion should something arise that could be bothersome. World building and plotting: An active roleplayer is wanted without a doubt. Can’t do the thinking for two now. Let’s row this boat together. Limits: Subject matters I won’t touch are pedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia, vore, scat, furries and some other bizarre fetishes. Also no one-liners or text-talk messages. The sentences have to be cohesive, coherent and decently structured.    Now a little more information about myself. I live in CET central Europe. My response rate varies throughout the weeks, depending on my schedule.  I study at a university full time and work a job on the side and both are keeping me fairly busy. My writing will increase most likely during the weekends. If I should hit a hiatus, I will inform you as soon as possible. I understand when you are busy as well and are not able to respond, though I prefer if my partner does not ghost me. At least let me know what’s going on so I can adjust and put the roleplay on hold if needed!  Mediums I roleplay on are email and googledocs. Though I also have Discord in case for OOC chat! Preferably my partner would message me first on email, giving me a brief description of themselves, their cravings as well as ideas. That way I can see if we’re compatible or if this bears any potential. After that we can easily move to Discord and carry out our chats / conversation there.   Message me here EMAIL: [email protected] Hope to hear from you soon! Lots of love!     Sincerely yours, -Gil

#indie rp #indie roleplay #independent roleplay #oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #long term #email #tumblr #spn rp #aou rp #submission

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bah-ram-ewe · 6 years ago

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Book Review: Escaping from Houdini

Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3) By: Kerry Maniscalco 4/5 stars

It has taken me a few days to get this review organised, my feelings were all over the place when I finished the third installment in the wonderful Stalking Jack the Ripper series. But finally, here it goes.

Days after the events in Hunting Prince Dracula, Audrey Rose Wadsworth is whisked onto an elegant "cruise liner" bound for america to assist her uncle in a series of murders there. Thomas Cresswell, of course, right along side her. While enjoying the on-board carnival entertainment, however, it suddenly appears that this ship is anything by relaxing. As bodies begin to pile up, the time is running out for Audrey to find the killer before they arrive at their destination and the murderer walks free. But there's more at stake than even finding a killer. Swept up into the temptations of the carnival Audrey is forced to face her true feelings of love and marriage, all the while growing closer to the mysterious Mephistopheles--the carnival's ring leader, who might not be as innocent in the crimes aboard the ship as he says.

First I'd like to once again say how dear Audrey Rose and Thomas are to my heart. They are some of my favorite literary characters ever! I have loved watching their relationship grow and blossom into a beautiful thing built on trust and utter understanding of one another. Their banter, to me, is always the highlights of these books. I gave Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula five stars, Escaping from Houdini I chose to give four. Here's why.

Kerri Maniscalaco has done such a good job at developing these characters, that I feel like I personally know them. So consider me a little irked that, in EFH, both Thomas and, mostly, Audrey behave out of character for most of the book. Thomas had very little page time compared to the other books, due to the ushering in of a new love interest, Mephistopheles. Yes. There is a love triangle that is so sudden, it can only be described as cringy. Maniscalco has destroyed YA cliches with this series, so I have no idea why she decided in her third book to make sure she had as many tropes as possible.

-Inst-romance (they only know each other for a day, maybe two, before their connection becomes really strong) -Love triangle -Pretending to be in a relationship with someone, but ending up developing feelings -Lying to protect those you love

The list goes on. My biggest problem with a love triangle is, eventually, the MC ends up either seeming stupid or just looks like a terrible person. And Audrey Rose is anything but stupid or a bad person. She does, however, make some very questionable decisions (outside of the ridiculously forced love triangle) regarding her safety and others. She was always brave, but never reckless. There were also several times where she asked questions that had the most obvious answers. More so, even the brilliant Thomas seemed to have his own skills and intelligence cut down, not being able to read the most simple clues and truths. Another irritating thing was how some of the adults, ship crew, and other passengers acted completely unrealistically. Oh, someone's murdering people and this guy won't answer the door when we knock on it? Eh, we'll check back later. (No! Absolutely not. You would be breaking that door down because that fool is probably dead.) Oh, another gruesome murder? That's cool, I'll just go about my business on the ship like nothing is wrong...so obnoxious. There are only a few times where the other passenger's reactions, to the things going on, are even discussed, and its so half-effort I wonder if it was an afterthought to even add in. Most of the fun forensics practices that we've all come to love and expect, are very seldom in this book as well. Instead Maniscalco decided to make the love triangle the forefront of the entire book. Which means, when the reveal at the end finally happens--I just didn't care or wasn't as excited to read who the murderer was (which by the way I guessed VERY EARLY ON, the answer is kind of handed to you and unlike in the other books Manicalco didn’t do a good job setting up the possibility of the killer being multiple people--it was all to obvious). Also, everything about the carnival in this book SCREAMED Caraval and Legendary by Stephanie Garber...like, tarot cards are even a huge part of the story and there’s a charismatic, dark ring master. Lastly, the fact that Thomas is literally Prince Dracula and his sister is a part of a secret order of spies and crusaders is never brought up...ummm okay, that was only a great few plot twists in the last book, but alright.

I know this sounds very negative and all, but I still want to press how great these characters are and how wonderful Maniscalco's writing is. Though the book had some major issues and lags, the book as a whole is still fun and entertaining. I may have hated the love triangle--but I still loved all three characters involved in it. I am sad that there will be only one more book in the series, but I look forward to it all the same. Escaping from Houdini didn't live up to my anticipation nor the hype around it, but offered a fun and enjoyable read nonetheless. Its abrupt ending sets all the cards back in order that had been shuffled during its lengthy work, so here's to the future and last installment in Audrey Rose's journey, hoping it si everything I could possibly wish for...

FOLLOW ME FOR MORE BOOKISH THINGS AND REVIEWS! tumblr: bah-ram-ewe instagram: brutal.reads

#escaping from houdini #kerri maniscalco #stalking jack the ripper #hunting prince dracula #book review #book #read #reading #currently reading #2018 reading challenge #audrey rose wadsworth #thomas cresswell #mephistopheles

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searchinggalaxies · 6 years ago

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Silverbolt/Skyfire for the ask meme

send me a ship and i’ll tell you:

silverbolt/skyfire

who hogs the duvet

skyfire somehow manages to wrap the duvet tight around himself in recharge while curled against silverbolt and ‘bolt still doesn’t understand how.

who texts/rings to check how their day is going

they both do this, but silverbolt tends to do it more often. skyfire will forget if he’s really invested in a project or something.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts

silverbolt is super creative when it comes to gifts and he doesn’t struggle with it. skyfire on the other hand, has at least one (1) panic attack every time he’s faced with buying a gift because he feels like he’s horrible at picking the perfect gift (he’s not).

who gets up first in the morning

first one up is skyfire. silverbolt is not a morning person and it’s a struggle getting him out of the berth.

who suggests new things in bed

usually it’s skyfire. sometimes silverbolt will suggest something.

who cries at movies

silverbolt will always deny his tears, but skyfire knows the truth.

who gives unprompted massages

skyfire. he can turn silverbolt into a happy puddle of goo in no time.

who fusses over the other when they’re sick

silverbolt hates leaving skyfire’s side when the shuttle takes a sick day. it takes a lot of convincing to get him to leave for his shifts.

who gets jealous easiest

that would be silverbolt. it doesn’t take long for skyfire to notice something’s off, and it doesn’t take a lot of asking for silverbolt to crack and explain what’s bothering him.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music

i like to believe that silverbolt’s the one with the odd taste. he discovered earth’s music before learning anything about cybertron’s.

who collects something unusual

the scientist? skyfire’s lab is filled with weird shit from many different places and silverbolt’s learned not to question any of it.

who takes the longest to get ready

silverbolt, especially if it’s in the morning. he’s slow, it takes him awhile to fully wake.

who is the most tidy and organised

skyfire isn’t too bad, but silverbolt definitely puts a lot more effort into being tidy and organised.

who gets most excited about the holidays

skyfire never used to pay them too much mind but he loves experiencing them with ‘bolt now.

who is the big spoon/little spoon

skyfire takes the crown for being little spoon more often than not. he loves having ‘bolt pressed up against his back.

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports

silverbolt does, just like his brothers.

who starts the most arguments

they don’t argue a whole lot, but it bothers silverbolt when skyfire becomes upset over something and grows quiet and distant and won’t communicate with him. he doesn’t mean to get snappish at him, but he’s frustrated. they also dislike when the other gets too involved in work that they forget to refuel/take breaks.

who suggests that they buy a pet

neither. they’re not all that interested in having a pet.

what couple traditions they have

they try and take a vacation every year, always somewhere warm and relaxing.

what tv shows they watch together

they love documentaries. silverbolt’s interested in the crime docs, skyfire’s more into the nature ones.

what other couple they hang out with

hound & mirage, ratchet & wheeljack, red alert & inferno.

how they spend time together as a couple

lots of kissing and interfacing, curling up together & watching movies/shows, quiet dates, stargazing… the first time they made a blanket fort, they enjoyed it so much that they decided it had to be done at least once a month.

who made the first move

the other aerialbots convinced silverbolt to make a move before someone else did. skyfire felt the same, but couldn’t gather enough courage to make the first move.

who brings flowers home

sometimes skyfire just finds some really nice flowers and brings them home, other times silverbolt will bring some home for his shuttle.

who is the best cook

skyfire. silverbolt can’t cook, he burns whatever he’s trying to make more often than not.

#overlordraax #Asks #firebolt #skyfire #silverbolt

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a-mad-scientist-approaches · 7 years ago

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The Cipher Conspiracy (3)

I was going to get straight into more action for this one, but I thought I needed to pay more attention to these bits. Also, it’s quite a bit shorter than the last one.

Adeline Marks (and her parents) belong to @hntrgurl13, and the Addiford ship belongs to @scipunk63.

AO3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Chapter 3: Three Plans Made

Darkwell, Oklahoma (USA) ∆

“Still nothin’ on Stanford Pines. Apparently he just stopped existin’ after leaving the FBI five years ago for an unknown reason,” Fiddleford said.

Addi nodded distractedly, pacing their rented room in Unassuming Hotel. Marks Incorporated. She never thought she would have to deal with them again.

“Guess it’s up to the director now. Anywho, the earliest chance we have ta practise our negotiating and/or blackmailing skills on yer parents is at – oh goody, another party. Dancin’ and everything this time,”

She’d always hated their parties when she was growing up. From the moment she turned fifteen she was paraded around like some kind of show-dog. Unfortunately, the only things her mother had been interested in flaunting her for were the perks that came with a trophy marriage to a suitably wealthy and influential man. Countless faces, all much older than she had ever been, all with a much more appraising look in their eyes than was comfortable, sped through her mind. Adeline Marks, a commodity, Constance Marks’s very own bargaining chip, ready to be spent as the owner saw fit.

“It’s their anniversary, apparently, but I s’pose you’d already know that,”

Addi reflected sadly that the nicest thing she could say about her father was that he was distantly caring. While Constance was the social interface of Marks Incorporated, James handled the analytical side. Although, Marks Incorporated was one of the biggest tech companies in the United States. Even with delegating, he didn’t really have time for anything else. Oh, he’d tried. He’d unlock her room after she had an argument with her mother, or he’d try to make breakfast for her himself, et cetera. Those were the only reasons she still called him – however brief the conversations were.

“No invites, ‘parently we contact them to ask if we can come. Well that’s more cuckoo than a clock factory. What a power-play,”

Packing her things and simply leaving when she was old enough was one of her proudest moments.

“Addi?”

“Huh?”

Fiddleford was looking at her in concern. Adeline realised she had stopped pacing and had been glaring ferociously at a wall, trying her best to bury the cold feelings of anxiety, insecurity, and even outright fear under hot layers of hurt and anger. The result was a muddled-up mess of emotions, overwhelming her even more.

Her friend stood up and gently led her to sit down on a bed, then sat beside her brought her into a one-armed hug.

“I’ll be right there with you the whole time, alright? And if ya need to leave, just say so. I can manage on my own if I haveta,”

“What, so I can miss out on all the fun?” she sniffled into his shoulder. He chuckled. “I’m fine, I am. It was just a bit … sudden,”

“A’know.” Fiddleford rubbed her arm comfortingly. “I think there’s something that’ll cheer y’up though.”

She took the bait. “Yeah?”

“There’ll be ballroom dancin’, and you know how ta wipe the floor with those uptight asses,”

Addi laughed.

Then she sighed. “I guess I should call my dad,”

Sacramento, California (USA) ∆

Carla glared at her partner and was about to respond to this latest disaster with some suitably scathing remarks right in his smarmy English face, when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and stalked off to find the janitor’s closet, her unofficial cool-down room.

“Yes?” she said, breathing in through her nose and shutting the door behind her.

“Senior Special Agent Carla McCorkle?”

“That’s whose number you dialled,” she bit, the acrimony rising all too easily.

Whoever was on the other end was unfazed by her rudeness. “I assume the Cipher Wheel investigation is not going as smoothly as you had hoped?”

Carla froze. “Who is this?”

“Are you in a secure location?”

She looked around at various cleaning supplies and shelves. Who would bug this place? “Yeah,”

“Is your phone secure?”

“It’s FBI issue,”

“I know. Is your phone secure?”

“Yes, very. I did some work on it myself,” Carla frowned.

“I knew you were the right choice. My name is Jheselbraum,”

“Do you have a last name? Or a first name?”

“No,”

“… continue,” said Carla after a moment.

“We are both investigating the organisation known as the Cipher Wheel, albeit myself in a rather more secretive manner. The US government has presented me with the resources of an entire agency, known as Oracle Division, in order to do this. Neither of us have had any luck so far, so I want you to consider a proposal: inter-agency collaboration,”

“How convenient,”

Was she really supposed to believe this? Right when she needed it, an offer of help supposedly from people whose sole purpose it was to handle this? What a happy miracle. No, there must have been a severe security breach, and someone had got their hands on classified material. Whoever this person was, they needed to be arrested and brought in for questioning. They could be a prank, or a foreign spy, or maybe even someone involved in the Cipher Wheel itself.

“Listen to me very carefully. You have committed a serious crime, stealing from the FBI, and you are looking at a very long jail sentence. If you want any hope of getting out of this, you will give me your real name, you will tell me where you are, and you will not move. When you are brought in for questioning, you will cooperate. You will not do anything to further jeopardise your position. And you will tell me everything you know about the Cipher Wheel,”

“I’m intending to, Agent McCorkle.” Carla could almost hear a smile on the other end of the phone. “I understand that this must seem very unlikely. You need proof of who I say I am. Something that shows you my status and my reach, as well as my lawful involvement in your affairs. Fortunately, I have just the thing. Have you heard of a material called shimmern?”

“Of course I have,” said Carla, making a mental note to look up what the heck it was when she got back to her desk.

“Sure. I’d advise you to look at Interpol’s recent case files for Italy, then, and know this: it isn’t over. You’ll be hearing from me soon,”

Jheselbraum, or whoever it was, hung up.

Carla made her way to her office, sidestepping Agent Wexler as he nearly ran into her when his own office phone rang. She fumed as he surreptitiously closed the door behind him so she wouldn’t listen in. Like she even wanted to. Her new partner was not making it easy to like him.

There were no recent news articles or reports regarding Italy and shimmern, other than science journalists applauding how the presentation had lived up to their expectations. Whatever had happened was therefore being hidden, if Jheselbraum was to be believed.

She sent an email to a contact in Interpol, who responded in minutes with an attached document. It was a case file from yesterday. Apparently this amazing, valuable, extraordinary new material had been stolen. Go figure.

Carla didn’t really care much about the theft itself; she had far too much on her plate without worrying about Interpol’s problems too. What did grab her attention and cause her stomach to bottom out was the realisation that this was classified information, and that there were two conclusions which could be drawn.

One was that the security breach Carla had originally suspected was far more serious than she’d imagined: it affected not only the FBI, but Interpol as well, and had to be dealt with ASAP. On the other hand … how likely was it that someone could have compromised two large law enforcement agencies without setting off any alarms at all?

The second option was that Jheselbraum was telling the truth. A miracle agency really had appeared out of nowhere to help her, like an angel complete with a sword of justice. Lord knows she needed one. Considering how sensitive and guarded both FBI and Interpol databases were, this option was much more likely than someone hacking in.

Okay. I’m interested.

The next time Jheselbraum called, Carla would be ready to accept the offer. In the meantime, she’d keep all this to herself until she was positive it was for real.

Nodding as she made the decision, Carla’s eyes drifted once more across the screen, and came to rest on a description (from a someone known only as AM) of the perpetrator.

American . . . Caucasian … brown hair/eyes … glasses … square jaw … approximately six feet tall …

That was as far as Carla got before she was snatching up her phone and calling Stanley Pines.

Stan, I swear to God, if you’ve gone back to being a criminal, I will hunt you down and arrest you myself. And this time I will NOT be cutting any deals or going on any dates with you!

She would have wondered briefly why he’d been wearing glasses, but mostly what she was concerned with was why he was stealing scientific achievements.

Darkwell, Oklahoma (USA) ∆

Stan stared at his brother across the table. Ford was concentrating hard on his computer, not paying any attention to the sandwich at his elbow. The diner they were in had just the right balance of not too many customers who could overhear their conversation, and not too little that the staff would pay special attention to them. While this was good, Stan had been hoping that they would at least have gotten a motel room to stay in since touching down at the airport. But no, Ford was insisting on sitting at this diner until he finished going through whatever plan his boss had sent him. Apparently, life as a spy wasn’t as glamorous as Stan had thought it was. Or maybe it was just Ford’s spy life that was like this. Maybe normal spies really did get hotel rooms, and beds to lie on, and time to sleep off the jetlag …

“Hey, Ford. You gonna tell me this plan any time soon? It’d better be really good if you’re making me wait this long for it,”

“Hmm? Oh no, this isn’t the plan. I finalised that hours ago. I was just performing a search for Adeline Marks. I thought if we knew more about her then we would have a better chance of defeating her, but no luck. There’s no record of her after she left her parents’ home when she was eighteen,”

Stan groaned and thumped his head on the table. “I’ve just been sitting here for no reason? Thanks a lot.” He swiped Ford’s sandwich and got even more miffed when his brother didn’t complain. “Sixer, you better give me something to hit soon, or you’re up,”

“Hopefully you won’t be hitting anybody. B – I mean, my employer, has arranged an opportunity for us to take the shimmern necklace back. Using his considerable influence, he has convinced Marks Incorporated to release a few of Dr Hansen’s other inventions ahead of schedule, which, you can be assured, has ruffled the feathers of quite a few people in high-up places,”

“Has it,” said Stan dispassionately, looking tiredly into his empty coffee cup.

“It has. Hopefully, this will incite Agent Marks to attend her parents’ anniversary party tomorrow, on the orders from her superiors, and convince them to go back to the original schedule,”

“I’m gonna be totally honest here. The only reason I can think of why you’re bringing up her parents is so you can meet them, because for all you know, once you kiss someone you’re dating them,”

“Her parents own Marks Incorporated. Keep up Stanley,”

“No,” he said spitefully.

Ford continued on, steamrolling over Stan’s interruption. “We will also be going to the party, and that is where we’ll take back the necklace. Also, since we now know there are other people interested in taking it for themselves, we also need to reclaim the method for creating shimmern, if only to prevent them from having it.” Ford turned his laptop around and showed Stan a photo of a small, empty vault room. “This is a vault James Marks had installed in his house. It is open for use by all guests to the party, and is where I am certain we will find the necklace. Mr Marks keeps the key card on his person at all times, so there’s a pickpocketing job involved.”

“Nice,” said Stan, becoming more interested now that the details were emerging.

“Meanwhile, the method is going to be harder to obtain. That will most likely be stored either on a computer in the Marks’ mansion, if Agent Marks is staying there, or off-site completely, if she isn’t. My employer will notify us as soon as he finds out where Agent Marks is, but Darkwell is a big city. We might be at the party when that happens,”

“You keep saying party.” Stan said, starting to grin. “Do you mean like an actual party? With dancing?”

Ford looked at the webpage announcing James and Constance Marks anniversary. “Ballroom dancing. I think the Marks are quite traditional,”

At Stan’s laugh, Ford asked, “You like dancing?”

“Eh, not as much as Carla, but it’s okay. I’m just remembering the last time we were at a dance together. Prom, wasn’t it?”

Ford grinned too. “Ma was so mad we ruined those suits,”

“The suits? Remember the photos!”

“That was all your fault. The entire night was terrible,” Ford said, but with his smile still in place.

“Well, I had a great time. And how was it all my fault? You got punch thrown on you all by yourself,”

“Because of a pick-up line you suggested. If you’d just let me talk to a girl like a normal person-”

“Ford, normal for you is so far from normal for everyone else. She might have called the police,”

“What – it wouldn’t have been – well – okay – shut up-” Ford spluttered before they were both overcome with laughing fits, remembering what they’d been like as teenagers.

“So, it’s settled,” Stan managed after a few moments. “I’ll go dancing, with a side of pickpocketing, and you can skulk at the edge of the room until you find a computer. Actually yeah, this is gonna be exactly like prom,”

They dissolved into hysterical giggles again, and a waitress gave them a strange look as she filled up their coffee. Stan didn’t care. This was feeling so much like home again it was starting to hurt.

Sacramento, Califoria (USA) ∆

“How’s it hangin’, Blind I?”

“All according to plan. Agent McCorkle is gaining no leads whatsoever,”

“Good, keep it up bud, if you know what’s good for you, ha ha. But really,”

“Understood, sir,”

“That’s why I like you, Ivan. Complete obedience, no pesky initiative or ambition, unlike another certain upstart I could mention. You do what you’re told, no questions asked, and even better, you don’t screw it up! Wish you had some sparks of brilliance in that greymatter of yours though. Then you’d be perfect,”

“Do you want me to address the problem with Pines?”

“No, no, stay where you are for now. I still need him to get me that shimmern and assemble the gun. I gotta admit, he does occasionally lay a golden egg, so to speak. I’ll see how he does on this one, and if it goes well, we’ll keep him around. The brother though, he needs to go. Gotta get our genius back on track! I’ll let you know if I need ya,”

“Yes sir,”

“Oh, and you know what happened with this conversation right?”

“It is unseen,”

“And unheard, I’ll bet. Catch ya later!”

#literally just wanted an excuse to say 'it is unseen'#ooh boy #gettin good #gravity falls #fanfiction #spy au #double o sixer au #stanford pines #stanley pines #adeline marks #fiddleford mcgucket #carla mccorkle #jheselbraum #bill cipher #blind ivan #addiford #starla #the cipher conspiracy #my writing

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probablyottrpgideas · 7 years ago

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Game Recap Series: EIS 0

Since I started this series I’ve only been playing my Dungeonbowl campaign, which has meant I had completely forgotten to do an Up-to-Speed post for the actual real proper campaign I’m running. Since we had our first session of that game in over 2 months last Sunday, I need to do a recap, so I’ll push through the update as quickly as possible before I get to that session. Here goes:

In the land of Caerwyn, there is one central government, the Tyrian Empire, and the largest institution within the Empire is the Imperial military. Given this juggernaut of resources, many people enlist as a means to pull themselves out of debt or receive training they otherwise would have to pay a lot of money for.

Through a variety of reasons, a pool of new recruits all join at the same time, and underwent basic training.

Group A (PCs)

Avoyelles Isani: Drow, Circle of Twilight Druid, Charlatan (Feygate) Arner Diomal’st’ano: Eladrin, Sorcerer/Cleric, Archeologist (Encarlin) Nerra: Half-Elf, Skirmisher Rogue, Criminal (Imperial) Eleric “Relic” Mort: Human, Champion Fighter, Gladiator (Imperial) Jimothy Tames: Githyanki, Battlemaster Kensai, Merchant (Imperial)

Group B (NPCs)

Nichollo Gioirdani: Eladrin, Evokation Wizard, Folk Hero (Feygate) Sorel Conera’st’ona: Deva, Storm Cleric, Outlander (Encarlin) Errol Goddard: Pixie, College of Maestro Bard, Artist (Imperial) Farren Selch: Feytouched Githzerai, Path of Brawn Barbarian, Urchin (Imperial) Robert Tames: Razorclaw Shifter, Inquisitive Rogue, Charlatan (Imperial)

During their training, rather than be transferred to one of the many formal units, they are instead put through a rigorous induction test (involving being dropped with minimal resources and separated from one another in the middle of a blizzard) to join the mysterious and prestigious Empire Intelligence Services.

After their induction the two teams were assigned separate senior agents; Group A would be led by Celia Sapienza (Eladrin, Shinobi Kensai, Guardsman, Feygate) and Group B would be led by Glymmer d’Embry (Elf, Wyrmling Shogun, Scion, Imperial). Group A were then given their first mission; investigate a series of disappearances in the northern town of Farren’s Landing that had the local guard puzzled.

Arriving in Farren’s Landing and setting up their temporary base in the top level of a local inn, the group began investigating the three disappearances that they knew of, as well as organising a meeting with a locally known smuggler who might be able to provide them with information. Within the course of their investigation they discovered a number of details; all three disappearances featured a paw print as of a large dog, and two of the three featured closed and locked doors. They also discovered that one of the disappeared was a member of the local crime family, and that all three had interacted in some way with the local manor. Arner and Relic visited a local dog training yard with a mould of the paw-prints and confirmed Arner’s suspicion that the culprit was using some kind of Blink Dog.

Using Celia’s cover story that they were the retinue of a minor Feygate noble to establish an audience with the Duke, the team investigated the manor and discovered that a number of scholars from the arcane library had been recently dismissed. One of those figures, a young sorcerer named Dareg Shille, had been messing about with Blood Magic, and after discussing with the senior arcanist what sort of mutations could be achieved using blood magic the team began to believe that Dareg Shille had twisted a once good-aligned fey into assisting him in abducting townsfolk.

Using both the Pollan crime family and the local guard for assistance, the team tracked Shille to the flood-water tunnels under the city and, despite being forcibly separated by the Blink Dog’s ability to grab hold of them and teleport them away, they slew the dog and Shille, although they were too late to rescue any of the abductees.

While in town, they received a message from command of a new mission; the late brother of the Duke of Farren’s Landing had apparently been having an affair with the young sister of the Empress, and the two had been trading letters that, should they be made public, would embarrass the royal family. The team had to track down the hiding place of the letters and bring them back to command. By discussing the details of the Lord’s personal life with the residents of the Duke’s manor, the group identified a hunting lodge deep in the nearby forest, and travelled out there to retrieve the letters. However, as they pulled the letters from their hiding spot, the group was ambushed by unknown assailants, who used blinding and stunning alchemical explosives to temporarily subdue the party. When they recovered the assailants were gone and the letters still remained, and no-one was quite able to work out what had been taken/done. Still, they returned the letters to command, and their CO Warren Caine told them not to worry about it, as without more to go on they couldn’t really do much more anyway.

Returning to the field base the team had a week of rest before being sent off on their new mission; a mercenary guard for a lord of the royal court had been accused of the murder of the lord’s son. Ma Wei, a talented and dangerous arcane archer, had resisted arrest and fled, heading north. The last word anyone had was of her boarding a boat at Farren’s Landing.

The team geared up and returned to Farren’s Landing, without Celia (who was on another mission at the time), finding the docks and asking around to see if anyone had seen an elf matching Ma Wei’s description. A few people mentioned they had seen her getting on an ice-cutter, implying that she was heading further north into the frozen polar continent of Kalteheim, although they could not remember the name of the ship she had boarded.

Needing passage to the north for themselves, the team went looking for someone with a similar ice-field ready ship, and were directed to Emilie Greys (Shade, Nightstalker Shadowblade, Pirate), captain of the Viaggiatore. Greys turned out to be a Shade, and what’s more her entire crew were comprised of the dregs of mortal races, be they shadow creatures or shapeshifters or even an ogre. After a minor scuffle with sahaugin saw the team step in to protect the crew, they were accepted as friends and the journey continued much more congenially.

Halfway to Kalteheim, the Viaggiatore stopped off at a small island town called Isla Helado to restock, and the team, with nothing else to do, decided to investigate a local haunted castle. Once there they destroyed the ghost of the old Imperial commander and the skeleton soldiers, broke the enchantment on the armoury, and cleared the place out. In the process, a ghost of a dog imprinted on Relic, and now follows him around (the team now call him Zero, after the ghost dog from The Nightmare Before Christmas).

While stuck on Isla Helado, the team were treated to a story/mass hallucination by the skaldic ships quartermaster, Lucas Rimeweather AKA Old Man Exposition. Through his storytelling the team got to live through the story of how Captain Greys became a shade, 1000 years previously when the Viaggiatore crew were only six;

Captain Ysalt Margaine: Deva, Shugenja Cleric, Pirate, Imperial E4-G13 AKA Birdbot: Warforged, Path of the Eagle Totem Barbarian, Gladiator, Imperial Amaya DeSaad AKA Goldfist: Lightborn, Sweet Science Pugilist, Vigilante, Imperial/Fallow Elena Willow: Hamadryad, College of Courtship Bard, Courtesan, Feygate Everett McCree: Changeling, Shadow Spy Rogue, Cultist, Imperial Emile Greys: At the time, a regular human

The story went that Emilie, seeking the power to wreak vengeance on those who had killed her family, had tried and failed to become a Shade. So the crew went to Marnati City and sought out the expertise of a non-binary Elven magician called Maester Delver. Delver told the crew that the only way to save Emilie was to complete the full ritual, turning her into not only a Shade but a Shadowblade. The ritual could only be found in the Isle of the Lost in the Shadowfell, and to get there they would need to be able to travel across the planes. They suggested that the best way would be to bind the soul of a planar travelling creature to their vessel, and they provided the crew with some soul-binding artifacts. Meanwhile, the crew tracked down rumours of a Shadow Dragon hiding in the islands south of Caerwyn, and so travelled there. They got the location of the Shadow Dragon, found it, slew it, and bound its soul to the Viaggiatore. Once complete, they travelled into the Shadowfell and found the Isle of the Lost.

Retrieving the correct ritual required them to complete the challenge of the seven virtues. The first room was a puzzle, testing their wisdom, where they had to solve a riddle to find the key to the next room. The second was a large battle arena with a cage door that only allowed a single combatant through. Birdbot went through and faced off against an Earth Elemental on his own, testing his courage. After this was completed the cage lifted and Birdbot was attacked by a fearsome dracolich, forcing the others to rush to his aid, testing their loyalty. Once they realised there was no way they could defeat the dracolich the team had to lay down their weapons, testing their humility. They then passed into the next room, which was filled to the brim with treasures untold, which they had to walk past without touching, testing their temperance. At the end they had to place something of value in the empty chest in front of the door, testing their charity. The last room was a gigantic library of scrolls; this, a test of their faith, simply meant they had to select one scroll without looking at it and continue on. Here, at last, they messed it up, and while they retrieved the ritual they were forced to leave Birdbot behind. They rescued Emilie and the story ended there.

Finally arriving at Fort Rast in Kalteheim, the team signed on as crewmembers of the Viaggiatore so that their names could be withheld from the ships manifest and then quietly came ashore, seeking out a local inn named the Frozen Hearth. There they asked around with the locals to see if anyone had seen Ma Wei, and they were directed to a local Bard who had been away for a while and recently returned. Av and Jimothy interrogated the boy, and found that he had indeed come through on the ship Illusion of Choice, where he had been friends with Ma Wei. He directed them to the hunting paths north of the fort, and the group decided to see what they could find. While this was happening, Nerra thought she saw someone following the group, but said nothing.

On heading out for a look around, the team became acquainted with the peculiarity of the local fauna of Kalteheim; largely, that everything was giant. Proximity to high magical fields had caused all natural creatures to take on colossal sizes, with rabbits the size of lions and wolves as big as mountains. Also at around this time, Celia appeared with bad news; Robert, Jimothy’s husband and member of the B team, had been badly injured on a mission. Jimothy left to be with his husband while he recovered, and the team were joined by Kitt Delkatt (Human, Hunter Ranger, Consort, Imperial), a new recruit.

While out on the Hine Plain, a frozen wasteland north of the fort and the apparent direction Ma Wei had travelled, the group encountered an Ice Titan, a snow fox three or four times the size of an elephant. They tried everything, from hiding to running to fighting, but the creature seemed to barely notice their attacks. In the end, the group were saved by an unlikely ally; another Ice Titan, a wolf so large that its head was a mere shadow in the sky, which crashed out through the snow and snapped up the fox in its jaws like it was nothing.

The team continued on until they reached a gorge, where they found evidence of someone having climbed down inside. Following the trail, the team was attacked by a hail of magical arrows, and they might have been in danger had Celia not revealed that they were there on behalf of the Intelligence services, not the police. Ma Wei, nervous but now curious, allowed them inside the old Stealth Corps. fox-hole she was hiding in. The two groups discussed their positions and came to the conclusion that someone was setting Wei up; the best bet would be to take her into EIS protective custody while they looked into the frame job.

While they were discussing things, however, they were attacked by pursuer that Nerra had almost seen; a Chaotin (homebrew elvish subtype) assassin with powerful psychic abilities. The team were all, barring Avoyelles, paralysed by the assassin and would have died, were it not for Zero possessing an Ice Titan and eating him.

On the way back to the Fort, half the team fell into a fresh ravine and discovered an ancient, abandoned temple, where a gauntlet of necromantic power was killing any wandering traveller and turning them into skeletons. One such skeleton had retained his mind, Mac Bonney (Awakened Undead Skeleton, Marksman Rogue, Archeologist, Imperial) and he assisted the team in fighting off the hordes of skeletised bugbears, minotaurs, ogres and a powerful bone naga. In return, Mac was brought back with them to the EIS camp.

After this lengthy trip the party were paid their salary and given the chance to come stay in the Imperial Capital city of Tyria for a while, which would give them the ability to visit Robert and catch up with Jimothy. While in town they got to know their fellow spies, including getting better acquainted with Errol, Farren, Warren and Glymmer on a personal level, as well as go shopping and generally explore the metropolitan excesses on display. Jimothy, who had begun to develop a reverence for Kord, found a temple to the thunder god and explored the possibility of becoming a paladin. He also got into an underground boxing match with Relic and handed the fighter’s ass to him.

Their leave was cut short however when Warren received word that the two cultists who had been captured after the attack that had left Robert injured had revealed something in their interrogation; something terrible was going to happen in the small town of Brattenhome, east/south-east of Faelmarch. The team were dispatched there as quickly as possible.

When they arrived, Relic detached himself from the group; Avoyelles, who had been flirting heavily with the fighter, took this as an opportunity to sulk following the recent revelation that he had a wife, and so no-one questioned it. In truth, he was spending his time on a separate mission for Warren, looking for an old equipment cache hidden somewhere in Brattenhome which contained some documents Warren needed retrieved in secret.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team filled his spot by befriending another traveller passing through the town, a copper dragonborn named Alketh (Dragonborn, Evokation Wizard, Sage, Imperial). They began their investigation, and quickly discovered that a young elvish storehand, Yushiro Nakai, had disappeared. As it was late when they arrived they turned in shortly after, but the next morning Yushiro reappeared, shortly before mutating into a horrifying spider creature. The team dispatched her, and then spoke with the sheriff of the town to discuss what had happened. He asked them to keep the investigation quiet, but that he would help them out if they needed it.

The team then took a quick trip into the forest to follow up a lead (dead-end; the Walshes were not cultists at all but vryloka isolationists, and while they were antagonistic towards the team intruding onto their land they were not investigated further). On their return to town, however, they found that five more townsfolk had been kidnapped in the night, and the town was now in uproar. Getting a meeting with the mayor, the team identified what they were in town to do and the mayor gave them access to whatever resources they wanted. The group split up to conduct parallel investigations into a number of leads, including the homestead of one of the disappeared folks, the fishing boat of another, and a creepy warehouse at the edge of town. The group in the warehouse were attacked by another mutated villager, a trio of giant spiders and a swarm of regular spiders, and they barely escaped with their lives.

Which brings us, at last, to the most recent session...

#EIS with OTT #recaps

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trickstercaptain-archive · 7 years ago

Text

modern verse outline.

this is ridiculously long so I’m sticking it all under a cut, but here is my official outline for Jack’s modern verse! it only took me three years to write lmfao, although I have had the majority of this planned out for a long time, it’s just taken me until now to organise all of my thoughts coherently and actually write them out. and this will also be linked to under my modern verse on my verses page :’))

trigger warnings apply for child abuse/neglect, violence, drugs, human trafficking, alcohol -- you know, the usual when it comes to this man.

Born of a former trainee nurse and one of the most prolific crime bosses in the country, the first seven years of the young Jack Sparrow’s life were anything but ordinary. Homeschooled, his mother attempted to create as stable an environment as possible for their small family, but Edward Teague’s criminal enterprise was only growing in influence, and the birth of a child soon became an irreparable fissure in the two parents’ relationship. This tension, along with the increased arguments and danger Teague was putting his family in, came to a head seven years later, during a car chase that would end with Maria dying of a gunshot wound in the backseat, her head resting in her son’s lap.

Everything changed after that. Swearing off crime, Teague relocated with Jack, turning him over briefly to his own mother until he realised, with the help of a sober mind, the extent of the torment he’d subjected his son to at her hands. Eventually, the two were reunited in a home of their own, where Jack would stay for the remainder of his childhood and adolescence, and slowly come to loathe. School took adjustment of its own but, in spite of the bullies and, as he grew older, his habit of letting his sharp tongue get him into trouble, he at least thrived in his academic pursuits.

Personally, however, was another matter. When he was nine, Teague left the home one night with the intent of going out drinking, and Jack heard nothing more from him until he returned three days later, nursing a headache and having left his son to fend for himself in the interim. From that point onwards, Jack would depend only on himself; he taught himself to cook, would spend hours cooped up in his own room studying, or reading, or teaching himself to play the guitar, and was intent on making success enough of himself to finally leave the family home as soon as he was able. Acing his GCSEs without too much difficulty, he opted for A level History, English Literature and Spanish and, with the support of his teachers, aspired to university study -- but that ambition, too, ended up derailed.*

Little did Jack know that his father had gone back into crime, this time keeping it very much under the radar. The truth only came out after a hostage attempt; shortly after turning fifteen, Jack was minding his own business before being kidnapped by a group of thugs intent on using him as leverage against his father. With Teague’s help, Jack escaped with only a few cuts and bruises, but the betrayal left its own mark and quickly pushed him into the company of another in his final few years of school. Christophe was also a man ensconced in crime, but of a far more tempting variety: it was he who first introduced Jack to petty theft ( along with a variety of other vices, including alcohol and drugs ), grooming him in his own image only to threaten to discard him later on.

A heist aimed at damaging another crime syndicate: the one run by Teague himself. When Jack discovered the identity of their mark, he tried to pull out, but by then it was already too late. He was offered an ultimatum by Christophe: pledge complete loyalty to his gang, or be set up and thrown to the wolves, painted as the instigator in a plot to betray his own family. With little choice in the matter, Jack went with them, leaving school several months early and forced to work for a man who had thrown his trust and affection back in his face.

He then kept his head low for several weeks, looking for an opportunity to get his revenge. Compiling as much evidence of their illegal activities as he could, he arranged a set up of his own, inviting police to the crime scene and offering his own testimony to ensure they were sent down. With Christophe’s blackmail of him come to light, Jack is spared prison, but he’s still ordered community service and the whole experience makes him vow to clean up his act completely.

Knowing that academic study was no longer in his future, and too ashamed to remain in his familial home, Jack moved into a modest flat with his longtime friend and mentor, Joshamee Gibbs. In the next seven years he took up a number of jobs to break even and make a living, from bartending to serving as a lifeguard at a public swimming pool and working at the local dockyard. In this time, he turned his life around, largely kicked any unpleasant habits from his youth ( except his one true vice: alcohol ), and even had time for a first love, a budding actress on holiday in London, and who he would remain in contact with when she returned to New York.

But nothing good ever lasted in his life, and during his work at the London Docklands was when he got involved in an enterprise that nearly cost him his life. On paper, it had seemed ideal: managing the shipping of cargo into London, a job with a reputable employer and the prospect of advancement beyond the menial employment he’d been able to find thus far. But it had a sinister underbelly. Scarcely a year into his newfound partnership with its head of operations, Jack discovered that the distribution of materials and products was merely a veneer to disguise the true heart of the business: human trafficking. Appalled, he set about trying to expose the organisation for what it was, dismantling some of the trafficking rings and succeeded in weeding out a few of its members, as well as casting media scrutiny and doubt on the organisation.

In the meantime, a ghost from his past was rearing its ugly head again. Five years behind bars and Christophe-Julien de Rapièr was free once more, and out for vengeance on the man who put him there in the first place. His path to Jack culminated in one dramatic final showdown. The Frenchman wasn’t pushed, but he did lose his footing as he made one last push to murder his quarry -- and for the first time Jack Sparrow knew what it was to have someone’s blood on his hands.

Meanwhile, his employer had begun to discover Jack’s apparent betrayal of the company, and utilised its unscrupulous connections to rid itself of its newest problem. A planned arson attack on Jack’s block of flats. He managed to save the lives of a few as the building went up in smoke ( fortunately Joshamee wasn’t home at the time ), but ended up injured and passed out before the firefighters arrived and found him. When he woke, he was in a hospital bed with scarring on his arm from being burned and the effects of smoke inhalation, and knew even before he was visited by his best friend that London was no longer safe for him. It might have been reported in the press as an accidental fire, but Jack knew who was responsible, and knew that if word got out that he’d survived they’d no doubt try again.

He was resolved to leave the country,** and as soon as he was well he headed for Dover and crossed the English Channel to France. For the next few years, he backpacked across Europe, his new goal being that of seeing the world and experiencing it. Sometimes he stayed in the local hostels, other times he’d earned enough money from both honest -- and dishonest -- employment to stay in a hotel, but he lived out of a mere suitcase, never staying in one place for too long.

After the Champs Elysees and the Colosseum, the French Riviera and the Canary Islands, experiencing yachting and wine drinking and everything in between, Jack moved on to the Far East, residing in Singapore. It was there that he was exposed to a culture very different to his own and fell in love with it. He remained for two years before finally resolving to move on ( only after upsetting the wrong sorts of people ), and made for the next place on his bucket list: the Caribbean.

He stayed in Kingston, Jamaica for a while before the longing for home began, realising just how long he’d been away from London. Now in his thirties, he returned to the city that had been the source of so many conflicted feelings, very much changed from the man who had earlier left it in such a hurry. He moved back in with Joshamee and settled back into an ordinary life, but the need for excitement and danger in his life led him back down an avenue that he’d narrowly avoided ten years prior: con artistry. This time, the crime was on his terms, targeting those most corrupt and susceptible to his schemes, while avoiding the innocent and anything as morally reprehensible as what prompted him to leave the city in the first place. After a few years, Jack had made a name for himself in criminal circles independent of Teague, and with the help of his best friend was making a reasonable profit for his time, too.

The default for this verse is after this point, where Jack is in his late thirties and living in Soho, London, having already travelled and experienced a lot of the world and already enjoying success as a con artist in the city. There are also rumblings from members of the same organisation that Jack escaped and nearly dismantled thirteen years prior; when he’s not gaining valuable contacts in the city by targeting specific individuals' reputations and purses to damage, he’s preparing to take down his former employer once and for all.

extra notes: *in two alternative modern verses, Jack never meets Christophe and is accepted into university, studying to become a university professor and lawyer respectively. **in an alternate arc, Jack moves to New York and in with Esmeralda, giving up crime completely.

#ooc #v; make sure you can walk away in a second #;plays things closer to the vest now ( headcanon. )#;not all treasure is silver and gold ( save tag. )#this is the only au that I should need to write 1300 words on lmfao jfc #but this is mainly for my own reference tbh since so much plotting has gone on with me and ace that I need to keep track of it

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