#v: modern

[meteorshcts]

plotted starter for @askaeristheflower

It was only nine in the morning, but Zack was tired. Tired of walking, for one thing – he'd been out for three hours now, and the chill was only just finally burning off with the light of the sun. Tired of wearing his jacket, that was another thing, but that was easy to remedy. He slid it off his shoulders with a small sigh. Tired of trading one vice for another, he couldn't help but think as he finished his cigarette and put it out.

Tired of being in his stupid apartment all alone, that was for sure.

He tossed the used butt of his cigarette into a trash bin and popped a breath mint into his mouth. It wouldn't wholly cover the smell of smoke, but whatever. At least he wouldn't be terrible to talk to, like this. And some people dug a guy who smoked, as uncool as it was quickly becoming.

He could use a break, though. A break from walking. His bad leg was beginning to act up a little bit, and he glanced around. He walked these streets fairly often, and there used to be an empty building here. But now, as he looked at the storefront, he realized it had been bought and repurposed into a little coffee shop. Lily Brew.

The name reminded him of something.

Well, whatever. He could always use some coffee, and with any luck, the baristas wouldn't be terrible at brewing it here. He walked on in, noting the cute little chime that the door, and glanced around. There was a woman behind the counter with long, brunette hair, and...oh, he knew that face. He knew why that name sounded familiar now, too.

“Aeris?” he asked, breaking into a wide grin. “Aeris Gainsborough, that can't be you.”

[idolbound]

Modern Verse Timeline

1967:

Meredith is born in London, England, to Bernard and Maighread Stannard, 7 years after her older sister Amelia.

1972:

The Stannard family is murdered by one of Amelia's school teachers. He fostered a relationship with the vulnerable 12 year old Amelia by manipulating her into believing he could be trusted; he gained access to the home by asking her to let him in. During this incident, their next door neighbour, Officer Wentworth Kell heard the disturbance and entered the Stannard residence. Unfortunately, he was too late to save Amelia (who had tried to stop the assailant), but he was able to apprehend the man before he found Meredith. Subsequently, after making a call to the police and handling the aftermath, wee Meredith refused to leave Wentworth's side; with no other family on record, he decided to pursue the adoption process, officially becoming her adoptive father only weeks after the murders.

1973-1985:

For the next 12 years, young Meredith harbors the trauma of what she witnessed as a girl. Wentworth does his best to raise her to be well-adjusted, given the circumstances. He gets her involved in extracurricular activities like rugby (which, women's clubs were just beginning to form at this time in the U.K.), and by the time she's ready to take her final exams at high school, she had already decided to pursue a military career much like Wentworth did before 'retiring' into policing.

1986:

However, in this time frame, Wentworth's years-long symptoms of forgetfulness and cognitive impairment (which had led to his early retirement from policing) ramp up quite quickly, and he becomes diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Meredith manages to finish school and graduate with high grades, but she does not yet pursue her enlistment in order to take care of her adoptive father.

1987:

Wentworth eventually passes a year later; fortunately, with changes in U.K. police legislation, officers both active and retired who passed away could leave their pensions to their surviving loved ones. As a young 20 year old with no family left in her life, she enlists with the British Armed Forces, beginning her military career with the intention to rise through the ranks, despite being at a disadvantage in such a male-dominated field.

1990-1991:

With rising tensions abroad, Meredith is deployed in one of the first units to have women in active combat roles, seeing live combat in the Gulf War.

1995:

After 2 consecutive terms, Meredith retires from the military, deciding to take up a career in law enforcement in London like Wentworth did. She starts off as a beat cop but desires to become a detective eventually.

2002:

After 30 years, the Stannard Family killer is released on 'good' behaviour; it makes the news, and it sends Meredith spiraling. She believes there had to have been corruption behind bars that led to a deal being made. This eventually leads her to being put on "leave" from active duty, but in the meantime, she decides to quit the police force, sell Wentworth's house, and moves to Scotland. She does this in order to pursue a career in Corrections, seeking to climb the career ladder to one day become the Prison Warden of Kirkwall Penitentiary, with the intention of both implementing strict regulatory policies and harsh punishments within the prison, as well as using her access to the judicial system in order to keep tabs on the status of her family's killer. She holds this desire because she wishes that no one else should experience seeing their loved ones' murderers/rapists/etc. be set free on "good" behaviour. She is a staunch believer in corporal punishment.

2004:

After a couple years as a corrections officer, the board sends Meredith along with a few others to attend a Prison Security conference in New York City, USA. It is the first time she has left the U.K., and their hotel rooms and meals are all paid for through their work, allowing her to learn American methods and to socialize with others there. However, on the first night, Meredith decides to go out to a local club and it is here that she first meets Amelia Comstock ( @sanctamater ). They two very much hit it off and return to Meredith's hotel room to hook up. It goes so well that they call each other the next day and decide, after the conference concludes, to go out to dinner, and spend the night together again, as well as Sunday, ordering in room service for all their meals, having gratuitous sex in between. Meredith's flight leaves the following Monday night, but within the week, they are calling each other, and desire to see one another again. This continues for weeks into months, with Amelia being able to easily afford the time and trips to visit Meredith. In the time in between visits, Meredith falls into an old habit, getting with a friend with benefits (Constable Anne S. Jackson, a police colleague of Meredith's and resident corrupt cop), only to realize she has deep feelings for Amelia, and that even this casual endeavor did nothing for her, deciding that she wants to make it work with Amelia, whatever it may look like as a distanced couple.

2008:

4 years into their relationship of going back and forth (including a time when Amelia and her young daughter Liz came to live in Kirkwall on her own for a few months to be near Meredith), Amelia prompts a streak of jealousy which finally pushes Meredith to purchase a ring and propose, (pushing past her repressed Catholic ideology). Amelia accepts.

2009:

A year later in the winter time, Meredith and Amelia legally enter a Civil Partnership in Scotland, as gay marriage did not become legal until 2014. For them, it was not so much about the law as it was the symbolism of recognizing their relationship as legally binding. In this time, Amelia expresses the desire to have another child, and they agree to have children through IVF using donor sperm and fertilized eggs from Meredith, implanted in Amelia to be the childbearing parent. The timing of this process works well as it just became legal for lesbian couples to get access to IVF treatments via the NHS by November of '09.

2011:

By early 2011, Meredith and Amelia give birth to fraternal twin daughters. Margaret Isobel Stannard and Johanna Siobhan Stannard are born, healthy and well. Meredith takes maternity leave for the first year of her daughters' lives. When she returns to work, she receives a promotion to Prison Warden, invoking new responsibilities at the Penitentiary and a much bigger paycheque. She runs the prison much like the military, following strict regulations and laws, and cracking down on contraband and illicit dealings within its walls. The prison soon earns the nickname The Gallows, as often, many prisoners feel that their time there is so horrific and cruel, that they would rather take their own lives rather than continue to live under the same conditions for the rest of their sentences. This repeated problem begins to arouse the interest of a few detectives back at the Scotland Yard who knew Meredith when she was an officer, wondering if they have a case to investigate for cruel and unjust punishment. The Penitentiary goes under a few inquiries and investigations with Meredith at the helm, but each time they try to find evidence of her practices (e.g., violent interrogations, undue punishments for bad behaviour, corruption at the administrative level, etc.), they seem to come up shorthanded with nothing really to persecute her without the case being thrown out by the judge.

2015:

It is at this time that Meredith and Amelia begin the process of moving to the United States permanently. It is not a decision that comes easily, but one Meredith is willing to do now that Maggie and Anna are nearing school age, and she herself has saved up a lot of funds. Throughout the year, Amelia has most of their things sent stateside, and starts adjusting the twins to attend school by September in the U.S. With this in mind, Meredith tenders her resignation to complete by the end of the year, December 31st. In the meanwhile, Meredith plans to to visit Amelia, Liz, Maggie, and Anna during holidays. However, news breaks that a local London family has been murdered, and while full case details are not provided to the general public, Meredith's friend Anne feeds her information because the killer appears to have the same M.O. as the man who killed the Stannard family (grooming one of the teenagers, gaining access, killing all of them using that trust). This sets Meredith on an spiral once again, fueling an unhealthy obsession trying to link her family's killer to the case. With Anne, they begin to look through the details and piece it together in their off duty time. At this time, Meredith isn't sleeping well, and she picks up her old cocaine habit out of stress. She is distracted and doing poorly at work. Her mind is obsessed with this new case. She also ends up using the resources available to her as the Warden to get a most recent known location of the man that killed her family through the parole system, and with the acquired insider details from Anne, gets confirmation that police suspect it is the same killer responsible for both families' deaths. In the interim, she visits Amelia and the children for American Thanksgiving, but it is noticeable that something isn't quite right with her. Amelia does not say anything, and Meredith returns to Kirkwall after a 5 day trip. It is in this time, that she creates a meticulous plan of operation for premeditated murder; she intends to go to London in advance to lure the man into a false sense of safety to then kill him in time to leave the country on her already-booked one-way flight to the United States. However, after locating the man and instigating a fake flirtation at a local pub to convince him to take her home, Meredith's confidence wavers; it ends up going a lot messier than she’d planned - both out of a revenge-filled rage and being high on a lot of cocaine. She does her best to clean and remove any trace of blood, and in her panic calls Anne to help her. Together, they end up ditching the weighted body in the river before Anne drives Meredith straight to Heathrow to board her scheduled flight In this time, however, she has had her phone turned off for the past 72 hours, leaving Amelia to be calling and texting with no answer. She calls to put out a wellness check on Meredith at their home in Kirkwall. However, when Meredith lands stateside on New Year's Eve, she turns on her phone and receives all these messages, but does not answer them. Instead, she takes the next cab to their NYC brownstone home, finally meeting an exasperated Amelia, asking to put their daughters to bed because they need to talk. Much of the conversation is hushed, spoken out on the balcony in the snow. Immediately, Amelia asks who knows, and Meredith confides that her old friend Anne is in on it. Creatively, Amelia plans a strong alibi, provided that Anne will cover her -- she suggests that Meredith was having a 3-day long affair with Anne, for old time's sake before moving away to the US permanently. They get Anne to agree to testify to that story, but still invest in hiring a powerful lawyer to handle the eventual case. Meredith ends up being cleared as a potential suspect as there isn't enough evidence to convict, and her alibi with Anne is firm, given their past relationship.

2016 to Present:

After settling in New York, Meredith and Amelia focus on raising their daughters together, while maintaining their long-term relationship. When gay marriage becomes legal in the U.S., they officially get 'married', and both women hold dual US/UK citizenships. While with Amelia's money, they do not have to work, but Meredith chooses to, pursuing her corrections career in an American setting, getting into the management of a high security prison. Amelia eventually expresses interest in pursuing politics and Meredith quits to support her wife.

Some headcanons of note:

As a young girl, Wentworth brings Meredith into the Catholic church with him (especially as her mother Maighread was an Irish Catholic as well) - which, of course, at the time in England, still had a bit of lingering anti-Catholic sentiments in its own context as well as in the context of 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. However, this had Wentworth instilling a strong sense of faith in Meredith at a young, impressionable age, which she still very much carries with her to this day, going to church every Sunday.

In her teens, Meredith became well aware of her attraction to other girls. While her friends were busy being 'boy crazy' and dating, she had no interest. In this way, she used her faith as a cover (she was just a good Catholic, and would be saving herself for marriage as an adult). That said, she did have a very homoerotic relationship with a close friend that, unfortunately, never came to fruition and Meredith was preoccupied with Wentworth's declining health, and then enlisted in the military. Which, eventually, she met another lesbian who wasn't exactly out when in the military (especially since the U.K. military had anti-homosexuality laws in place for its army until 2000), but had a first relationship with this woman when they were off duty and keeping it a secret for the many months they were together.

Meredith has dealt with a lot of repression and Catholic guilt about her sexuality, but given that she has no family or ties to anyone important, she also has no one to judge what she does behind closed doors, eventually coming to accept herself but keeping her personal life extremely private.

With the money she inherited from Wentworth's account and his pension, along with her own income, Meredith was able to sell the house and put a payment down on a secluded home in the rural area outside of Kirkwall, commuting to work as the Prison Warden. She prefers to drive a 4 door Mercedes-Benz sedan with tinted windows and drives it standard/manual.

Meredith's house is a fair size, with dark colour themes and wood furniture and hardwood flooring, with marble tiles in bathrooms and the kitchen. She collects classic literature and history texts, and spends much of her time in her office when she is not working. There are lots of trees around her property, and the house is almost a quarter mile back from the road.

Meredith boards her grey mare at a local stable and rides her a few times a week. She once thought of competing in hunter-jumper events, but with previous injuries and an ageing body, she prefers to go for solo trail rides for a couple hours on weekends, and otherwise working her horse to keep her in shape during the week.

Meredith has PTSD from both her childhood trauma as well as her stint in the military; she is not in therapy (and she should be).

Meredith is also addicted to cocaine, using frequently throughout the workday when stressed and dealing with a lot of problems. (She can often be found doing a line off the counter in her personal office bathroom). This is mainly the cause of her erratic behaviour as of late, though stress and paranoia are additional factors.

She keeps a childhood picture of herself and her sister Amelia on her desk; it is one of her most prized possessions.

Cullen is her second-in-command at work, but they also have a more personal relationship outside of it (well it started when she asked for his help outside of work hours and then they've become weirdly friends but also he's like a pseudo-son and she invites him along to events sometimes).

Orsino is a social worker with the NHS who stands to help and represent the prisoners and is a constant thorn in Meredith's side.

Meredith tends to dress in classy business wear, preferring pantsuits and jackets with heels most days, though sometimes a blouse and pencil skirt. She seldom wears jeans or casual clothing outside of the house.

[rocxyoulikeahurricane]

truck date - "Adam, I heard of a local food truck called Garden of Eatin' - they have apple-smoked ribs" (Based off a real food truck I know)

He actually laughed at that. "Think we can get discounts if we prove we're the primordial humans"? He joked,he was comfortable joking about it now. They say that's one of the first steps to healing trama,only took a few thousand years,and sessions lots of sessions,he should send Judus Jance a gift basket for all the shit he'd put him through. "Sounds fantastic lead the way my love". He sighed, honestly content with how his long life had turned out. It had taken a lot of work on his part but it was worth it. Him and Eve were back together again,everything was perfect.

[sunfyre-rider]

@brazenbaela said: Tidus sits on her shoulder as she stares at her cousin unimpressed with a hand on her hip. ' tidus isn't a baboon. And what was that about you doing something criminal the other day? Did aemond bail you out again? '

"I will do something criminal to you if you don't leave me the fuck alone." It wasn't really his fault he was arrested, he was even released soon as the cops realized the mistake, but the gossip aid his bad boy vibes, so he won't deny it. "Why are you even here? Don't you have a freshman to bother?"

[onepiecc]

@kiigan -plotted start-

Leigh was a normal person until one day when his life changed completely when his group of trainees were competing for a job position none of them knew what exactly. The tall male did his best and passed the tests easily coming out the top of his group so he was selected to become the crown prince's new personal bodyguard. Now here he was a few months later watching the male and hovering nearby as they were at a party that was being held for political reasons. The maroonette was wearing his suit with sunglasses to cover the bags under his eyes as he did not sleep at all. He was caught up reading a new book series and taking care of his cat when he should have gotten more rest. He did not want to reveal this to the prince as he was informed it was going to be a long shift due to the party going from dusk to dawn.

Standing in the corner of the room, he lifted his arm to hide his yawn to look professional. It was boring having to deal with all the powerful politicians and rulers from across the world, but even worse when everyone always stared at him. Leigh was a tall man standing at 6’10 which meant that he stood above others which caused prideful people to scorn him. However, he did not care as he did not see himself as better than anyone else. Noticing the prince had no eating or drinking, he slowly stepped forward to whisper to him. “Your highness, I suggest trying to munch on something as it’ll be a long evening and the party just started.”

[elyrianinspo]

Can’t stop won’t stop

[ofgunsandlipstick]

@scinglives || starter

Peggy fixed her hair in the mirror, tamping down the nervous energy threatening to overtake her as they got ready to host Callum's family. She knew what a big day it was for him and she wanted to make sure it all went smoothly.

"Are you sure there's nothing else I can do?" she asked over her shoulder. "Everything's set?"

[alonggoodbye]

@magicxecustos

Halia's warm smile slowly faltered as her eyes travelled from Sheri's face to Cillian's. While she was always happy to help out with teaching him the ways of the human world, she was used to seeing him smartly dressed.

"Okay..." She said, trying not to laugh. "What's with the shirt?"

Cillian looked at Sheri, confused. He thought it was quite becoming, actually.

[thesilverfullcr]

plotted starter for @draikoeques

The problem with letting Emmanellain plan anything was...well, everything.

Haurchefant knew this already, and yet he had let Emma plan Artoirel's bachelor party. Somehow, the wires had gotten crossed, and here they were, with the entire wedding party, with reservations for the night, with no other venues ready or willing to accept such a big party, at a gay strip club. For Artoirel, who was marrying a woman. And somehow, no one had realized it until they were there.

“Well,” Haurchefant said, clapping each of his brothers on the back with a wide grin, “we're already here, right? Let's just make the best of it. It's not like we're all straight, now, is it? Besides, they'll have drinks, and that's what we really want!”

And so, inside they went. There was a large table in front of the stage saved for them, and Haurchefant studiously did not look at the stage. That felt a little...well, he knew very well that these people were just doing their job, just looking for a paycheck, but it felt like he should not be looking at these scantily clad men hanging off the stripper pole. He just wanted a drink.

Artoirel was busily telling the waiter about the mistake his brother had made and how he was not at all gay, which made him sound more than ever like a closeted gay man. Haurchefant sighed and sipped his drink. Emmanellain was trying not to look like he was looking around in some wonder, while the other members of the wedding party were awkwardly joking with each other. This had been...a poor idea, probably.

It was Emmanellain who confronted him about the way he was focused on his drink. “We're here for you, brother, and you're not even watching the stage?”

“Nonesense, we're here for Arotoirel!” Haurchefant insisted, only to get a sour look from his elder brother.

“Okay, but you're the bisexual one,” Emma said. “The rest of us are straight – ”

Haurchefant snorted.

“I am, that thing with Francel doesn't count.”

“You should ask Francel if he thinks it 'didn't count.'”

“Anyway, you should be watching! These are performers, and they're performing for your gaze!” Emma insisted.

“I don't know, it just seems a little demeaning is all,” Haurchefant admitted. “Like I'm disrespecting them by looking, you know?”

“Haurche, this is a strip club. They're dancing like that on purpose, because they want to entertain us – you. They want to entertain you, specifically. Look, that one is looking right at you.”

Haurchefant looked up against his better judgment. There was a lavender skinned beauty upside down on the pole, and sure enough, he was looking at Haurchefant. It was everything he could do to will himself not to blush at the wink he received when their eyes met. He gave a half hearted smile to the dancer and then forced himself to look back at Emmanellain.

“It just feels bad,” he said insistently, spreading his hands out.

Emma rolled his eyes and went back to his drink. “At least one of us should enjoy himself.”

[vhagar-rider]

Cont. from here @abhorsenscollection

Aemond grabs her face, squeezing her cheeks and getting their lips close, but not kissing her, only allowing Baela to feel his anger building.

"I will remember that the next time you ask me to cum inside you, brat."

[afraidofchange]

anyway modern!Ilona definitely had Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as her peak favourite edgy song when she was a pre teen.

[vermithorbonded]

[Text to Daemon]: Hey, sorry for messaging you so late [Text to Daemon]: but I'm not feeling well [Text to Daemon]: Can you come and be with me until Helaena comes back? (Cue to a very scared/traumatized Angie)

[Text to A ♡]: On my way!

He knew the best way to sneak into the girls' dorm without being spotted, Aegon had taught him. In five minutes, there he was, knocking on the door of her room and checking the corridors for other students. "Hey, it's me."

[idolbound]

Anyway, I updated the modern timeline. Claire ( @milfyclaus ) and I decided that Meredith and Amelia end up with IVF (fraternal) twin daughters, Margaret "Maggie" Isobel Stannard and Johanna "Anna" Siobhan Stannard.

[rocxyoulikeahurricane]

" hey, look at me. i don't care. are you okay ? "

Adam was trembling,he'd gotten too angry. It was only a bleeding nose not even broken,the other man had even forgiven him but it was enough. "I....I wanna go home ".

[sunfyre-rider]

Cont. @eyeofvengeance

[text to lil bro]: uhhhh [text to lil bro]: you kinda took a long time to reply [text to lil bro]: should I put out the fire?

[onepiecc]

@burnxngslash -plotted starter-

The female had found an artifact that was tucked far away deep in the museum archives collecting dust with written warnings that she ignored. Sedna was a curious person by nature, but she enjoyed restoring ancient artifacts to find out more about their lost history. However, when she was cleaning up this item she had discovered, it turned out to be alien technology more advanced than her tools could handle, so she did the best she could before heading to bed. The woman had planned on taking it to her boss so they could deal with the item from there with it being alien in nature. What she did not expect was that the species of alien that this item would be hunting her down. She had been out on a walk with her tiny dog when everything happened. Sedna was grabbed from behind and knocked out, then ended up waking up in some weird spacecraft.

Her dog was nowhere in sight, but her head was throbbing from being struck with something. Her surroundings appeared to be some dark cell or prison type thing as the air was cold and damp. However, she noticed that she was not alone. Across from her she noticed a male laying on the ground that appeared to have been passed out as well. Sedna’s body was still very sore as she groaned before moving as far as she could before noticing the weird chains around her ankles. She could reach as far as near the bars of her cell, but was still a few feet away. Trying to speak, her voice cracked and was hoarse as she spoke, “H-hey. Are you al-right?”