#verse . [ a modern criminal empire ]

[azmenka]

in modern, Maron is the kind of boyfriend who goes through stages when confronted with his so’s favorite girly TV show ( he’s not into TV shows to begin with )

Stage 1: the ‘nah, thanks’. he’s not interested. you watch your drama shows alone sweetheart, have fun

Stage 2: the ‘listens just a little’. he’s busy in the same room but occasionally listening. there’ll be a snort or a head shake every now and then

Stage 3: the ‘lingers in the doorframe’. he’s there, watching a little, but refuses to sit down

Stage 4: the ‘alright, five minutes’. he’ll sit down but stay on the edge of the couch. he also won’t watch the whole episode

Stage 5: the ‘this is still shit’. he’s on the couch, comfortable, watching. you currently don’t exist, sorry

Stage 6: the ‘yeah well, NOW I’m invested’. he has chips and a beer. he won’t even notice you braiding his hair while he monologues about how Colin Bridgerton is about as interesting as a blank sheet of paper

[yanlei]

music verse zed is just hs kayn's dad

(and uh a lead in some middle aged rock band probably)

[laiqualaurelote]

2023 Fic Round-up

This year I wrote seven fics and 108,512 words, which is more than I thought! Here's a round-up

maybe everything that dies someday comes back (The English | Cornelia/Eli | M | 14k)

The post-apocalyptic Mad Max Fury Road zombie AU where David Melmont hires bounty hunter Eli Whipp to track down and retrieve a fugitive called Cornelia Locke.

wins this year's award for: Fic That Fulfils My Childhood Dream (writing a zombie apocalypse)

ain't practical, a world you can't touch (The English | Cornelia/Eli | G | 5k)

The Pushing Daisies AU in which Eli can bring people back to life with his touch, but has tried his best not to until Cornelia.

wins this year's award for: Deepest Cut, Zagged

The Lady With The Recorder Asks The Questions (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Phryne/Jack | T | 6k | WIP)

Modern-day newsroom!AU - Phryne is a star investigative journalist who breaks news as easily as she breaks hearts; Jack is just trying to do his best in the war on error.

wins this year's award for: Fic I Most Regret Not Finishing (I'm sorry!)

constant as a northern star (constantly in the dark) (Ted Lasso | Ted/Trent, past Trent/OFC | T | 10.5k)

The saga of Trent Crimm and his independent ex-wife.

wins this year's award for: Most Surprisingly Popular Fic

all the men and women merely players (Ted Lasso | Ted/Trent, Roy/Keeley/Jamie | T | 50k)

The Station Eleven!AU where the Richmond Players are a travelling Shakespearean company performing in the ruins of a post-pandemic England, and Trent is, despite the apocalypse, still a journalist.

wins this year's awards for: Longest Fic, Fic That Survived The Most Hiatuses, Fic I Am Proudest Of

well-versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice (Good Omens, Historical RPF | Aziraphale/Crowley | G | 3k)

The Regency heist fic in which Jane Austen, criminal mastermind and aspiring novelist, pulls off the 1810 Clerkenwell Diamond Robbery with the help of a certain demon.

wins this year's award for: Quickest Fic (I wrote it in four days)

speak easy, swing hard (Marvel Cinematic Universe | Steve/Tony | T | 13k)

The 1920s Prohibition era!AU in which Tony runs a nightclub empire, Steve is an aspiring artist and/or questionably undercover agent, Sam and Bucky are bootlegging their way through America and nobody knows what Natasha is up to.

wins this year's award for: Most Historical Research (I watched two seasons of Boardwalk Empire and had to figure out multiple characters' speech patterns, then transpose these to the 1920s. Also I listened to so much vaudeville)

I don't think I will be around as much in 2024, barring unexpected hyperfixations, but I wish you all a glorious year anyway! May your WIPs be finished, your ships prolific and your fandoms full of joy.

[caointeag]

slowly working on updating my verse info across the board, i have these written up so while i'm working on the rest and getting them in linked for ref and shit here's the summaries for now:

Hoarded by the fiercest dragon — married to @lvscinvs / default green side interaction HOTD verse. Viserys on one of his vision/Aegon’s dream benders decides it would probably be a good idea to strengthen the Targaryen relationship with the North and Otto seeing an opportunity to also potentially strengthen his own side’s associations with other Great Houses. So Otto helps to facilitate an arranged marriage with Bernard Stark and Aemond and Lyarra are betrothed at 10 and 15 respectively. It’s left at that for a while with an agreement she’d be sent down when Aemond was more of an age to court and marry. Then about 3 years later Cregan assumes his title of Lord of Winterfell and 2 years after that he throws his uncle into the dungeons and deems him a usurper which drags the arranged marriage back into contention. Finally it all gets sorted out and Cregan begrudgingly agrees to honor the arrangement and he sends Lyarra south. The two betrothed first meet when Aemond is 15 and Lyarra is 20 and very quickly agree to be allies against this marriage even if they’re forced to go through with it. They wed when Aemond is 16 but don’t consummate or even pretend to, instead living separate lives and slowly becoming friends as they find out how much they really have in common. Eventually they earnestly fall in love and decide to have a true marriage, having both Northern and Valyrian wedding ceremony to mark what they considered the actual start of the marriage since neither actually followed the Faith of the Seven. Modern — A history major at [whichever prestigious uni is most useful to facilitate plotting]. She runs a podcast similar to “Weird Medieval Guys” or “Cunk on Britain” where she talks about real history in dumb and funny ways. She still helps a lot at the family businesses which usually involves something very outdoorsy since their father believes in being hands on despite how wealthy they are. Is planning for a PHD since she has no actually marketable skills outside of organization and terrorizing people into submission. Ran an online criminal empire off of Webkinz as a child without even realizing it was illegal, would consider doing it again now that she does (she’s thought about it and her business model was sloppy and she could do better). Ameliaverse — based in @wornkindness 's lore and can also act as a fantasy verse less tied up in a the aso.iaf crap. Oldest daughter of King Avery’s most trusted advisor lord Edward Stark, Lyarra is one of Princess Amelia’s Ladies in Waiting. She and Amelia have been friends their whole lives, making her an obvious choice for one of the princesses most trusted assistants.

[tiredassmage]

giggling and kicking my feet. oh i lOVE THESE!! thamk you for the tag @eorzeashan! <3

BOLD the FACTS

bothering the man, the myth, the legend, the og~ this will not stop me from wanting to do more blorbo. nor verses of blorbo.

PERSONAL

Financial: wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty

Medical: fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non-applicable

Twenty-some years (and counting) of intelligence work has its moments. While largely still ready for field work at a moment's notice, history with the Castellans and then Valkorian's influence don't play well with his habit of being a workaholic, nor his... equally bad habit of trying to work through headaches and occasional bouts of insomnia.

Class or Caste: upper / middle / working / unsure / other

Education: qualified / unqualified / studying / other

Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed

Nebulously, 'Cipher Nine' may or may not be connected to some of his work, but the fact that he's still among the Republic's 'most wanted' does imply a slight lack of proof. Or ability to actually bring him in. (And maybe there's still a part of him that's amused by it and maybe just a smidgen proud about it, okay?) We're also not talking about the implied treason. If the Empire ever caught his, ah. Affiliations. :))

FAMILY

Children: had a child or children / has no children / wants children

The slightly shorter answer is he hasn't. thought about it a lot, but he'd like to, when it crosses his mind. It's the Shelter Dog Rizz (TM) and also that this man has a mentor streak a country mile wide and just doesn't have a lot of opportunities to realize it. Ough, which version of events? xD When this idiot finally retires, there are two daughters whom he will definitely build blanket forts with and "accidentally" teach Huttese swears and insults to because they argued Hyroh didn't know, etc. etc. [Sunasa grows up too fast and will always be his baby girl and Kas is going to be taller than him and completely capable of breaking arms by herself and he's going to worry about both of them. Forever.]

Relationship with Family: close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased

Tyr, your complicated family ties. Tyr has no biological siblings, but his adopted sister, Mavis, and him haven't spoken since before his time in the Academy and they were almost always more antagonistic than not. I wouldn't be surprised if they never referred to each other as siblings. They more so just. happened to grow up in the same household.

Affiliation: orphaned / abandoned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable

Again, complicated, lmao. The official story is orphaned and adopted. The actual story is... given up in an effort to protect him from the trappings of life as an intelligence operative. [Sorry, Keeper. You tried.]

TRAITS & TENDENCIES

♦ extroverted / introverted / in-between

♦ disorganized / organized / in-between

♦ close-minded / open-minded / in-between

♦ calm / anxious / in-between / highly contextual

♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in-between

Tyr has. always flirted with the line between respectful and 'with all due respect, which is none' blatancy. He knows he can't outright bite the hands on the leash. Doesn't usually mean he's entirely pleased with complacency.

♦ cautious / reckless / in-between / highly contextual

I was going to give him cautious, but this man is incredibly ride or die. When he says, I'll do anything for you, try not to test. how far he'll go about that. It's damn pretty far.

♦ patient / impatient / in-between

♦ outspoken / reserved / in-between / highly contextual

Again, he. flirts with the edge. Depends on who he's around.

♦ leader / follower / in-between

♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in-between

♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in-between

♦ traditional / modern / in-between

His taste on how intelligence work should be handled - with field operatives trusted to do their job has historically gotten him in, ah. arguments. He's of an older guard in that way and he knows it and he's not keen to let anyone forget it. But as far as Imperial policy is concerned... Well, that's what a little treason can be good for the soul for. Maybe. You didn't hear that from him.

♦ hard-working / lazy / in-between

♦ cultured / uncultured / in-between / unknown

♦ loyal / disloyal / in-between / unknown

Loyal like a fucking dog - to actual ride or die levels. To people more than anything else. And, yes, to that... slightly more idealistic streak in him that's there no matter how much he tries to mask it in realism.

♦ faithful / unfaithful / in-between / unknown

In the spiritual sense? Not particularly. Again, loyal like a dog. Faithful to his found family pack His People to the bitter end.

BELIEFS

Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic

Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking

(Unfortunately, verified by experience.)

Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking

Something about the persistence of spirits would suggest it, but he's got plenty enough to wrangle with the living. That bridge can be crossed when or if they arrive upon it.

Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care / in a manner of speaking

Belief in Aliens: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care

free giggle in star wars here

Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious

Philosophical: yes / no / highly contextual

In a manner of speaking? While perhaps not a readily apparent trait, Tyr tends to enjoy learning. It's a heart or core of what he'd describe of his work as an intelligence operative: learning about people, places, beliefs as big as how to organize society and as small as that merchant is a rip-off. Ideals are far more important to him than I believe he realizes.

SEXUALITY & ROMANCE

Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual

Sex: sex-repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless

Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious

Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious

A skill in an intelligence toolkit has offered him experience, but he's a bit less experienced in pinpointing exactly what he genuinely likes - experiments he is... rather favorable to exploring.

Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all

ABILITIES

Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Artistic Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

HABITS

Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / rarely / sometimes / frequently / alcoholic

Smoking: tried it / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker

Recreational Drugs: tried some / never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict / former addict

Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess

Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / rarely / sometimes / frequently / binge eater

Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic

Gambling: never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gamble

I will. almost certainly return to do more blorbos. I love these things kdfnlsadfn

No pressure tags as always/I am so sorry if you have already gotten one and I have not seen it/open invitation to join in if you like etc etc thank you for coming to my TED talk @captainderyn @commander-krios @fatewalker-phoenix

[eclipsecrowned]

random server muse lore of the now:

In 1909, Dutch emigre and perpetual chaos machine Merel van Breda was made aware of the royal christening gown of her adoptive homeland. She immediately reached out to her mentor and criminal contact to steal the item for her. He refused on the basis that 'it would be funny' is not a good enough cause to involve the royal family in a heist. God forbid women do anything, said Merel, and went her own way.

Anyway, in her modern/immortal verse, Merel has had custody of the fabled doopjurk since Summer 1910. It is in her private collection, tucked away with her mother's personal journals, a long missing odd glove of her husband's, and a beloved early photograph of she and her most bosom companions. Her husband-slash-former mentor has to double take when he sees the piece in her keeping.

She is holding it as a metaphorical Hail Mary in case her usual gang of idiots ever get into international problems within their criminal empire. Free her friends and the long national nightmare ends. So far, she hasn't had to use it, despite a close call in Monte Carlo post-war.

[yanlei-a]

tell us about zed in modern au .. does he still go by zed even

— @windchaser

teehee thanks for the ask mars mwah

modern verse zed is a martial artist who has a dojo and all too often picks up troubled kids in dangerous situations to teach and give them a healthier environment and something to dedicate themselves to. sometimes that ends up with him adopting them, still (although i do think modern verse zed is... a lot better with outright having adopted and being a father to the kids he picked up on the street aksdnfajsd). kayn, of course, is his son (but i wanna say at least the shadow assassin girl from the lor card is also his adoptive kid, i'll give her a name and make my oc idc).

a lot of his background is similar. his father left when he was a kid, he didn't have a good relationship with his mother (although, without the kinkou, i think he remained with her until he was of age to live on his own). i do keep the idea kusho still preyed on zed, seeing in him someone easily manipulable and intending to shape him up to be a successor of sorts in kusho's shady shenanigans his family probably doesn't know about.

eventually, though, zed started doing his own thing. it may have started as a gang of sorts, and he made it into a little criminal empire of his own, not for power or greed, but to initially to keep his corner of the city safe when the authorities failed to (or did not care, because that would involve going against powerful people; i actually like tying it up with swain and co murdering irelia's family and no one daring look into it because the people behind it were powerful. so basically this sort of thing started to happen and zed decided if no one was going to do something about it, he would do something about it, even if that required getting his hands dirty and becoming a criminal himself). he definitely does fucked up things for power, if he thinks power is necessary for his goals.

i imagine the yanlei are a mafia-esque organization of sorts, and because of what i said above, he bothers with keeping what he considers his people safe while being ruthless to everyone else unless he has reason not to be. the criminal leader part of his life is something secretive though. for all intents and purposes, he's just a Normal guy who has a dojo and has a soft spot for helping troubled kids.

given the real nature of a lot of what he does, he isn't always around the dojo, but he did train his kids personally, and they do know what he really is (kayn was still raised to be his 'heir', too). but yeah, he's not famous, he's not really... around the celebrity circles except for the few he'd know (like irelia probably if we consider her dating kayn for example, and hm, some other people perhaps).

as for the name! i think the way zed ties into it is that, in his shady business, that's probably the name he'd go by. most people would know him as usan though c:

[prvtocol]

Does Bri have any bad habits?

SEND MY MUSE ANONS!! ( always accepting ✿ )

Yes.

She overthinks. She overworks. She skips meals. She relies on aids to keep going, to sleep, to calm her nerves. She often lets things continue as they are rather than trying to change them (though tbf, change is sometimes impossible). She’s selfless and sidesteps her needs/wants for others. The majority of this is circumstantial. Away from toxic work environments, she is a healthier and calmer individual with no need for aids to help her through.

Things spiral most out of control in her Cyberpunk verse, especially when the corp undergoes leadership changes in 2077. She has an unhealthy habit of using neurostims to work the expected 14-16 hour workdays and to spare time after/during work to maintain her position (which includes gathering intel on coworkers via fixers and mercs and keeping one step ahead of internal developments). In turn, this makes her need sleep pharmaceuticals to counter those effects and actually rest the few hours she has left. Throw in being extorted by a Night City gang and she's a mess. She’s even willing to take illicit drugs from her extortionist to get a good night’s rest.

In Far Cry/Modern, she has taken caffeine pills to counteract the effects of jet lag. Her constant travel wears her down. She’s tired of living out of a suitcase, losing her sense of time, and misses home, forgetting where that is as time goes on. Her poor eating habits can be seen as self-destructive.

In all verses, she occasionally needs pills to counteract anxiety and panic attacks as well as therapy. She knows when she needs help. Again, this is circumstantial. In Cyberpunk, her biomonitor and thus her life coach keeps her hormones, etc. in constant check but stress harms her in other ways. In Far Cry/Modern, the pick-ups and hand-offs of dirty cash she does for her father’s money laundering operation put her face to face with crime lords and their criminal organizations. Layovers on Rook Islands, for instance, have her witnessing the unspeakable horrors of Volker's human trafficking operation. She has to turn a blind eye, keep calm and carry on. In the future of this verse (NewDawn/post-Collapse), she’s more adjusted but age and experience does that. In Star Wars, being blackmailed into being an informant for Crimson Dawn while working for the Bank of the Empire has her constantly looking over her shoulder. 

I primarily rp her within time periods of uncertainty and heavy work stress (making me emphasize her frayed nerves). However, her happy ending in her Cyberpunk verse (where she leaves it all behind with a loving partner (@badtrigger) and builds a family), she lives as a healthy, happy, and well-balanced individual. Much of her bad habits were thus a result of how she copes with her work environment. She is still selfless and overthinks (what mother doesn't?) but the emotional support and love of her husband and children do wonders.

[azmenka]

random lil HC mainly for myself to cheer myself up while I spend my days mostly away from tumblr unfortunately . . . modern Maron has a collection of shirts with quotes and lines on that can be considered rather erm . . . unprofessional. and he manages to wear them perfectly styled with his outfits, which is partially infuriating.

a few brief examples of quotes:

"I'm not the bigger person -picture of a flower- I will hit you with a chair" "fucked around and found out" "I come from a long line of people who should've never reproduced" "well, apparently rock bottom has a fucking basement" "at this point, if a clown invited me into the woods I'd just go" "living the dream plan b" "I'm not stupid. and sometimes I think that's part of the problem" "here for the income, not the outcome" "live laugh lobotomy" "some people call me crazy. I prefer happy with a twist" "may the bridges I burn light the way"

[condomconfetti]

Trying to make Sarsi a bit more of a morally ambiguous character. Someone who does wrong things for the right reasons, as is the light side story of the smuggler in swtor. In that story, the smuggler basically inherits a criminal empire on accident and uses it to help the Republic against the Sith Empire lmfao

So I’m gonna adjust her modern verse to more or less fit in with that. A very modern Robin Hood esque achetype I guess

[mellowdreamer]

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO VERSE.

this is a modern bending vigilante/hero au featuring zukka, mailee, yueki and a lot of hijinks!

the gaang are all 16-19 here, because while bruce wayne apparently has no problem with it, i’m not comfortable with having vigilantes who haven’t yet gone through puberty.

the avatar world is just one big city, and each of the nations/cities are different suburbs of the city.

kyoshi island, ember island, and boiling rock are small islands off of the city, similar to singapore’s sentosa island.

the city (republic city? i dunno, get back to me on this one) is full of heroes, vigilantes and villains alike. the fire nation is a criminal empire intent on taking over the city. the avatar is a hero who works to keep the balance of heroes and villains in the city, and stop the entire city from becoming a war zone. 

however, the avatar disappeared 100 years ago, and no one was chosen to take up the mantle since. in the avatar’s absence, the fire nation was able to begin its quest to take over the city.

the heroes of the southern water tribe that were left after the various raids have left the southern water suburb on a mission to defeat the fire nation or die.

hakoda, alias chief, left his two young children in charge of their territory, despite them being a) children and b) relatively untrained.

katara, alias painted lady, is the only waterbender left in the southern water tribe. sokka, alias captain boomerang, is the only trained combat hero left in the southern water tribe. all those remaining are either children or incapable of fighting.

side tangent: when sokka does well, he calls himself “grand marshal boomerang” and when he does badly, he calls himself “private boomerang”. thank you to the crimily for coming up with this one!!

one night, when katara and sokka are out on patrol, they get chased by fire nation goons into the ice off of the southern harbour. there, they get into a fight over sokka’s sexist remarks and katara’s yelling having attracted the fire nation goons, and katara’s waterbending gets out of control. she breaks open an iceberg, only to find someone in there.

the two siblings approach the iceberg and break the person out. they are shocked to find a young boy in the unmistakable uniform of the avatar, resting next to a creature they’ve never seen before.

they wake the boy up, to find that his name is aang and he’s the next avatar. and that he has no idea of the fire nation’s quest to conquer the entire city, or the fact that the air nomads – heroes that didn’t resign to just one area of the city – hadn’t been seen for the same hundred years that he must’ve spent in the iceberg.

katara and a reluctant sokka take aang back to the apartment building where the remaining southern water suburb residents have been living and introduce him to everyone.

later that night, the three go out on patrol together. it’s a quiet night, and sokka thinks they might actually get through it without any incidents, until they find a woman being mugged.

sokka and katara are about to intervene, but aang takes down both thugs in a matter of seconds. aang, ignoring the slack jawed shock of his friends, asks if they could go penguin sledding. katara goes to agree, but is cut off by the shout of “MY HONOUR” from a nearby rooftop.

zuko, alias dragon prince, runs from the rooftop before they could find him. his father ozai, alias firelord, had sent him and his uncle iroh – formerly dragon of the west, now retired – to find the avatar. zuko had been banished from the fire nation territory years ago, after speaking up about a plan that would’ve cost them a whole division of goons and refusing to fight his father in an agni kai.

the kyoshi warriors are similar to the birds of prey or the amazons; they’re an all-female crime-fighting unit not directly associated with any of the kingdoms or nations. suki is their leader, and they don’t have secret identities like the other heroes.

iroh, bumi, piandao, jeong-jeong and p*kku are all retired heroes and a part of the order of the white lotus.

toph is the blind bandit and a hero, albeit a less morally structured and ‘good’ hero than the avatar, the painted lady, and captain boomerang. she was a part of the underground fighting ring ‘earth rumble’ when the gaang infiltrated the ring looking for intel and convinced her that her powers could be used for something better than beating bitches blue and making bank while doing it.

azula is firebolt, and she is as brilliant as she is terrifying. she’s arguably more feared than the firelord, mainly because she’s the one who frequents other areas and actually goes on missions. ozai just sits on his stupid throne and yells at people and manipulates his children like the little bitch he is.

mai and ty lee are azula’s sidekicks, and are known as blade and tightrope respectively. also: they’re lesbians, harold.

yue is a part of the northern water tribe’s group of heroes, alongside her family. they tried to marry her off to hahn and have her trained in healing instead of fighting, but she rebelled and threatened to go out on her own, so they relented. yue’s hero alias is tui, but she will be called sailor moon at least three times.

jet and his freedom fighters are a group of anti-heroes who aren’t afraid to hurt innocent people in their pursue of ‘justice’.

zhao is a villain who works for the firelord, under the alias admiral, and he’s an asshole. using the yuyan archers, he manages to capture aang and takes him to a fire nation stronghold. zuko finds out about this, and not wanting admiral asshole to get the upper hand, dresses as the blue spirit for the first time to rescue aang.

during the siege of the north, zhao “kills” yue. she fakes her own death and disappears into hiding until the final battle, in which she kills zhao because it’s what she deserves.

the gaang know that yue is alive, because she’s nice enough to not do them like that, but they have to keep up appearances. because of this, sokka amps up the heartbreak and clings to suki a lot. that’s why a lot of outsiders begin to think that sokka dated yue and is dating suki, though in reality yue and suki are dating each other.

zuko and iroh, after the siege of the north and a trap set by azula, disappear into hiding and decide to take refuge in ba sing se, knowing that the fire nation wouldn’t think to look for them there.

ba sing se is a section of the city that has been fenced off in order to prevent an influx of heroes and villains. the dai li, who keep a tight grip on the suburb and ensure that the residents don’t know of the war raging outside the walls, are a group of “heroes”.

of course, the fence does nothing to prevent zuko and iroh, the gaang, and later azula, mai and ty lee from entering ba sing se and turning it into their own warzone.

iroh fulfils his dream of finally owning a tea shop and zuko, when not working in the tea shop, spends his nights lingering in the shadows of ba sing se as the blue spirit.

sokka, desperate for a warm drink and something to do while the others do their bending training, wanders into the jasmine dragon one afternoon and is served by “lee”.

neither know the other’s civilian identity, so there’s no shady business, just pining over the cute customer/server. sokka strikes a conversion and the two begin flirting chatting. it’s going really well, and you can almost see the romance blooming.

and then in walks azula, flanked by mai and ty lee, all in costume.

sokka and zuko both leap up from their seats and into fighting stances. both are confused as to why the other jumped up, and then azula calls zuko brother and it clicks in sokka’s mind.

he starts yelling at zuko for a lot of things, including yue’s “death” which is how zuko realises who he is. zuko starts yelling back because he’s only once met a fight he didn’t like. in the background of this argument, iroh is trying to fight azula, mai and ty lee to varying degrees of success.

it’s funny that i say degrees, because this is when azula sets fire to the jasmine dragon. iroh grabs the two dumbass arguing teens and shoves them outside as he too runs, telling zuko to meet at their rendezvous point at sunrise.

azula, mai and ty lee chase after zuko and sokka (who are still arguing as they run from the three girls). mai and ty lee don’t want to chase them, because zuko has always been better to them than azula, but defying azula would be a death sentence.

sokka pulls zuko into a building for coverage, and because azula is azula, she summons the dai li and has them surround the building. there would be no leaving without confronting the dai li, and thus zuko and sokka are trapped.

sokka confronts zuko and basically asks how he could justify the fire nation’s villainy, how he could support a monster who’s killing hundreds of people. zuko defends his father blindly because he’s been raised to believe that his father is right, that his father has to be right, and this southern water scum is wrong. but zuko’s losing his grip on the argument and is becoming more and more hysterical but sokka is so calm, so sure of himself, and the dam finally breaks.

zuko crumples to the ground in tears, and now sokka’s gotta deal with this because ozai is a shitface and has been brainwashing his son for years and wow fuck the fire nation.

mai and ty lee, having taken down the dai li, burst in to find zuko crying his eyes out in sokka’s arms. they teasingly ask if they’re interrupting something and laugh as zuko next to sprints out of the building, sokka hot on his heels.

this is the last straw for zuko, who defects from the fire nation, hangs up his dragon prince uniform and fully becomes the blue spirit, a hero who works with the gaang to eventually take down the fire nation.

also, at some stage zuko rescues a turtleduck that got stuck up a tree. don’t ask me how this happens.

[assortedmutts]

Character name?

Saul Israel Shapiro.

Origin story for their name?

That one scene in the Long Firm where the one guy goes Harry Starks? Sounds Jewish with utter disdain in his voice. I wanted something which sounds unmistakably Jewish and Saul is such an old school, ugly name in Hebrew and such a pretty name in English (pronounced Sha-ool vs. Sol). Saul Shapiro just rolls really nicely off the tongue. Israel was also a common name for Ashkenazi men around the 1940s, which I thought tied nicely to his running theme of intergenerational trauma.

Compare and contrast your character from their first concept to how they are now.

He started out as a supporting character in Merc’s 1920s verse (his employer, to be exact) and actually had an opposite transformation: from a ruthless, faceless villain, he has become far more personable and levelheaded. 20s Saul was borderline sociopathic and cared only for money and power, whereas modern Saul might make questionable (or straight out bad) choices, but IDK that I’d describe him as a bad person.

The extent of his power has significantly shrunk as well: from the owner of an alcohol importation, distillation and distribution empire, to the leader of a crew so small you could count them all on one hand.

What do you hope people get out of your character’s narrative?

Again, the themes I’m trying to explore here, for me (IDK if anyone will get anything out of it) are: Ashkenazi identity, the Jewish intergenerational trauma, self-annihilation through sacrifice as well as through the communal.

I lowkey kinda think all my characters explore the same themes, but possibly from different perspectives? IDK. It’s something I’m self-conscious about and, at the same time, am also trying not to give a fuck about.

Four of your favorite traits of your character?

Proud! Colorful! Dorky! Not afraid to be himself in the slightest!

A caregiver through and through

Diplomatique

The way he can flip a switch and become soulless and cruel in 0.2 seconds

Most challenging aspect of writing your character?

He’s actually been coming to me very naturally ever since I started writing him? Which I think is more of a trait of him being a ‘new’ character (sort of) rather than his being incredibly-well-thought-out or anything. I’m sure challenges will present themselves as I continue writing him.

If this is an OC, do you have any media inspiration for your character?

Any and all Jewish characters in Boardwalk Empire, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated as well as film of the same name, Jake Arrnott’s The Long Firm, Harry Lloyd as Bernard Marx in Brave New World.

What do you find most unique about your character?

There naturally aren’t too many Jewish characters around, especially not ones whose Jewishness is as pronounced as Saul’s, or takes as big a part in their story as his; which is honestly not a complaint nor a dig at anyone, but I think it does make him stand out. I also think he’s an interesting mixture of hard criminal and utter dork or, at least, I’ve had that pointed out to me by other people as something that’s unexpected/interesting.

Favorite kinds of interaction dynamics?

I don’t think I have a particular type that I favor since I genuinely like exploring my boys  with all sorts, and getting to explore them with all sorts makes for unique interactions. I can talk about the kinds of interactions I’m currently looking to explore, which are: a possible beard! Members of the community and/or Undzer Shtik! Contacts from rival organizations! Law enforcement agents that are either investigating him or are on his payroll! Regular customers at the deli/regular servers in his favorite bars and restaurants whom he knows personally/fellow restaurateurs! Friends from Princeton!

Lastly, if someone was to audition to play your character in a movie, what would be the introductory description to who your character is?

Have you ever seen an erratic ferret? Ever seen anyone play a New York Jew? That, but up the neuroticism and quirkiness up to a thousand. Think John Mulaney in anything with Nick Kroll. Think a queer, modern, male Mrs. Maisel, except she has a gun now.

[stingslikeabee]

Melissa’s AU verses (including other Final Fantasy franchise entries)

Hi guys! So I thought I would make this post in light of a few recent blogs from other fandoms I’ve followed and in the hopes of giving my mutuals a quick reference guide for these AU verses I’ve established over the last months. The complete list can be found at my verse page - the most used ones are also in my google docs for mobile users.

At any rate, I’ve compiled below the more useful ones. :) Please click on their titles for more detailed information (if necessary!).

FFXV AU: this is mainly an AU for XV muses where Melissa (instead going by her original name of ‘Lilian’) is a Galahd refugee who relocated to Lestallum when the Wall was reduced to protect the Crown City only. When she got older, she eventually became the owner of a local restaurant, and acts as a tipster, too. She has no love for the Lucian royal family given her origins, but by no means support Niflheim’s claims either.

FFXII AU: in this FF entry, ‘Melissa’ is the alias she adopts to pose as a famous Bhujerban dancer, hoping to earn a place among the Archadian elite as an ‘exotic’ attraction - but in truth, she is working as a spy for the Marquis of Ondore and the Resistance after having her family killed by the Empire and feeding them intelligence obtained directly from the imperial capital’s heart. Any similarities with Mata Hari are 100% on purpose.

Yakuza AU: the Yakuza AU heavily borrows from Yuki’s storyline from Yakuza 0 to Kiwami 2 - Melissa (her real name this time around) is a foreign woman who remained in Japan after her family left and found employment as a hostess, being successful enough to eventually take the next step and retiring to become a manager herself. The ‘Honey Bee Inn’ is her club, and although she frequently worked and still receives Yakuza patriarchs in her establishment, the degree of involvement with the local mafia will depend on the actual thread/other muse. Can be used for other franchises which are merely set in Japan.

Alice in Borderland AU: a spin-off from the Yakuza verse, where Melissa is unlucky enough to land in the alternate version of Tokyo filled with deadly games. Still a hostess at the time this happened, she originally struggled with the first few games until she found the Beach - and some support in the figure of the Hatter, once a famous figure of the same hostessing/nightlife business. Melissa ended up taking a semi-official role at the resort under the scenes, providing customer service to the ‘guests’ - as well as making alliances with the people who can offset her weaknesses. 

Killer Queen - modern AU: this AU was made to accommodate mostly modern day-based franchises - rather than a brothel owner, Melissa (and this is her real name) is the owner of the Killer Queen bar, where she’s an informant of sorts to the highest bidder. Her morals are much looser and although she’s fundamentally good at her core, she doesn’t lose any sleep over the fact she might be helping criminals and outlaws with her business. She can handle her own in a fight and is more of a badass than in most of her verses.

House of Flowers - modern AU: another modern-based AU for other franchises - but this retains some of the plot elements of her original role as a former prostitute turned brothel owner - but rather than managing a physical place, Melissa (once more her alias) has set up a network of elite call girls, with loyal and wealthy clients who are very fond of the privacy and high quality services she provides as the manager/agent of her ‘flower’ girls. If you think this verse is borrowing elements from ‘The Secret Diary of a Call Girl’ - you are correct!

Feel free to hit me up and plot anything - it doesn’t matter whether or not we are already writing or the verse we’re currently using - I love expanding to new medias, so don’t be shy to say hello if anything sounds interesting to you!

Muah! :* Mari.

[seaweedsawyou]

Podcasts in Review 2021

regurgitated warm cat vomit

It was a good year for the girls writing letters community (3 whole entries!!). Purple is for non-fiction. Green is for Folxlore, which is the best.

The order is by hours, not quality. The affection by word count and choice.

Game Studies Study Buddies - "Graduate school is expensive, podcasts are free". Two thorough, smart and compassionate PhD havers (one is in early modern lit, the other communication and media studies) read an academic book from the games studies and discuss it. At least once an episode, either Foucault, Derrida or Deleuz & Guattari get a mention and an apsect of their philosophy gets explained. Honestly, as a person with minimal humanities training, listening to the hosts apply the techniques they have been honing for years allowed me to shamelessly steal them and use them in everyday life, which we lead bombarded by narratives. Remember, we eat history.

Stories from Among the Stars - every couple of months they release a sci-fi audiobook. The last half of 2021 it was Cixin Liu's " Three Body Problem" and Arkady Martin's "A Memory Called Empire". I don't understand how or why it exists, but it is a gift.

Hello from the Hallowoods - Diggory Graves appreciation club.

Rude Tales of Magic - a treasure for those who find it funny. Sadly, I found it hollow.

Rogue Runners - an actual play based on Supergiant's Hades. They lift heavily from the game, while fleshing out the world with more deities and stories. Also great fucking production. One of the players is Alexander the Great who got assigned to the lowest circles of Tartarus and wants to speak to the manager, who has mysteriously been absent. Also Nemesis is very hot. Yes.

Homestuck Made This World - one of the Game Studies Buddies is a Homestuck and wants to write a book about it. So he roped his poor collaborator into reading the entirety of it. The angle they are working from is 'how Homestuck was pioneering engagement techniques that are now used to build multi billion media franchises, or how it primed the audiences to be receptive to them' with a side of it being a cultural event. And of courses, they examine the fandom. Because, as it turns out, Homestuck is literally nothing without its audience.

They have just finished the first 4 Acts. She is coming. Now is envy of all of the dead.

Future Ecologies - the best, simply. Their mini series on fire and kelp forests are each a separate masterpiece. By frequently invoking the ecosystem management practices of indigenous peoples, they always remind us that humans have always been a part of nature, and still are. Also that jellyfishes are harbingers of the apocalypse.

The Lolita Podcast - Dolores Haze deserved better, as do all other girls who identify with her. The host examines the book, the author, the numerous adaptations, and, of course, the people who were impacted by all of it. Insightful and compassionate.

The Pasithea Powder - On a faraway planet, in a faraway galaxy, a war hero dials the number of a war criminal because she is the only one left out of her old life. It goes to voice mail.

A very well written epistolary audio drama set in the world that has history, between characters who also have history (do these two have history). It always manages to find clever ways to describe visuals without feeling overbearing. Memory, identity, WWI but in space.

We Fix Space Junk - top notch worldbuildng, in love with our the barely having organic parts gruff mechanic female lead, but the in-universe ads read by characters have murdered me. They never work!!!

The Silt Verses - liberal capitalism in a truly polytheistic society. It is more efficient to embrace your competition than to destroy them.

Dungeons and Drimbus - from Rogue Runners crew, not as great.

The Lost Mountain Saga - magical shit was afoot in Sweden, let me tell you.

Bio Eats World - discussions of recent articles concerning applied biology.

Second Star to the Left - fuck was it good. Bell Summers is a Kim Kitsuragi type of character that is impossible not to fall in love with. Additionally, love is real (in universe). Some Homestuck alumnis manage to write stories without brain surgeries in them.

A Little Bit Culty - recovering cultists speak about what is and isn't a cult with their peers.

Down - time loops did not save this one.

A Voice From Darkness - the host was born to do a spooky call in show.

A Jar of Rebuke - a thesis on why and how one acquires an affinity for monsters.

Bridgewater - Lauren Shippen, I trusted you!!!

Midnight Radio - girls writing letters!!! And one of them is a ghost, but what is a ghost really?

Folxlore - a queer horror-ish story revealing a new aspect of itself through a new framing device every episode. Some of these include: a blog post told through image IDs, a conversation between security cameras, a letter to self. Genuinely is amazing and heartbreaking. Probably the ultimate queer horror story, we peaked here I believe. Sorry Mabel.

The Dairy of Aliza Schultz - a woman who kind of is a character in a story, reading other stories from the same author and offering come advice.

Mistholm Museum of Mistery, Morbidity and Mortality - the name is better than almost all of the season 1.

Greenhouse - girls writing letters, because her dead dad told her to.

Seen and not Heard - hard of hearing navigating the (podcasting) world, with a side of audio drama.

Pestilenz - alte Geschichten über Heilkräuter und stinkenden Schinken. Hat eine ganze Folge zu Pest und Spiele gemacht und kein Wort von Pathologic. Schändlich.

What could go right? - indeed. Very sad scientists and activist try to muster optimism.

[heartate-aa]

ahri,  the illusively elusive and world famous safecracker,  a phantom of what could only be held as myth.

→  this verse can take place in virtually any time period in the modern world,  as ahri maintains her core identity of being a gumiho.  she has been a world  -  class thief for centuries.  as in other verses,  she isn’t quite ancient,  but old enough to have caused enough mischief and slight havoc across the world.  like any verse,  my ahri is a mixture of canon magical lore  +  gumiho lore.  please refer to this post regarding the setting to my ahri’s modern aus,  which is applicable to all verses in the modern world.

ahri’s own personal criminal enterprise is something of an intricately woven empire rooted deeply within the veins of dozens and dozens of others,  having existed for well over a century.  dipping her toes into the world of the theft of beautiful and priceless items and antiques came hand in hand with her shift in her prey of choice,  humans.  when she kills humans,  she wastes little to nothing of them,  and they includes their personal belongings.  some carried little coin,  things of little value that was worth nothing to local traders in the small villages and towns ahri swept through.  but as time passed,  with her growing bolder and taking advantage of and weaponizing her own beauty against the sins of humanity,  ahri targeted the more wealthy humans.  this comes in a shift in her moral compass,  where she puts more thought into who she hunts.  she prefers,  now,  to target anyone who would be deemed as morally evil.

for years and years,  ahri has traded currency of all kinds,  as well as other things of value,  to local merchants and traders,  and along the way has learned of deeper connections existing beyond the surface of legality.  she is trading in stolen goods,  after all.  she’s found herself to be something of a supernatural robin hood,  in using her charming magics and shape  -  shifting abilities to her advantage to slip into the homes of the rich and collecting items of value,  whether it is money,  jewelry,  artwork,  amongst other things.  she has become quite talented in the art of lock  -  picking and safecracking to obtain things hidden from plain sight.

ahri doesn’t sell just material goods.  she sells information,  whether it’s information she obtains from safes such as documents of significant importance,  or information she has learned first hand or heard from down the vine.  she has connections.  incredible connections in an intricate web of the farthest reaches both legal and illegal.  she is famous,  criminally,  for her work in stealthy home invasions and complicated heists around the world,  more so amongst the other immortal creatures like herself,  whom humans in her line of work have come to fear.  one of her greatest assets,  and friends,  is evelynn,  a shapeshifting demon with connections running deeper than even ahri’s.  evelynn has her claws in just about every criminal activity you can name,  and is ahri’s go  -  to for unmarked bills that aren’t quite necessary in fueling her personal wealth,  but very much necessary in business transactions.

she isn’t quite so well known in the public eye,  perhaps for her own safety,  but she feels that she gets quite enough attention and fame as it is.  no one can pin her to her crimes,  but it isn’t like she does anything bad with the money.  when it comes down to the genuine profits,  she makes sizable donations to countless non  -  profit organizations in a redistribution of wealth from what she’s taken.  of course,  she keeps things for herself,  like priceless jewelry and works of art.  ahri lives in a lavish mansion filled with keepsakes and mementos and little trinkets of things she’s taken.  there are true and legal purchases,  as well as gifts,  decorating her home,  but some things she just couldn’t help herself from.

ahri does have a public life,  but it isn’t anything crazy.  this freedom comes with how well planned her jobs are and just how well  -  coordinated she is.  ahri is a chameleon,  in how she can blend into any crowd,  play the part of any role that she slips into.  she is beautiful,  charming,  someone anyone will absolutely adore.  people find little to question about ahri and her intentions,  and if they do,  well,  she has her natural charisma and if even that doesn’t work,  the ability of her alluring charm does wonders in aiding her in obtaining her goals.

she is a world class thief and heist coordinator who leaves zero evidence behind to tie her to anything.  people aren’t certain at all who is behind these thefts,  and some are so discreet that they never discover that anything was stolen at all,  due to being replaced after their acquisitions with impeccable forgeries.

and for the right price,  you might be able to hire her services,  whether if it’s to steal something,  or find information,  or she’ll be able to coordinate you around with other people in her empire.  become her friend,  and ahri will take care of her own.

[dontcallmecarrie]

Whenever you feel like it I would love to see what Maria's up to as a neutral Moriarty in By Dawn's Early Light. Thanks for such fun 'verses.

“Call for Juno,” they’d say. “She can help.”

.

Tony did not question how his mom worked.

Partly out of self-defense because she’d somehow figure out a way to twist the conversation until he was half a second from talking about the Kilian Incident, and partly out of plausible deniability.

Well, no, make that mostly because of plausible deniability. Look, all he’ll say is that he didn’t get to Siberia all by himself, and leave it at that, okay?

So if his mom keeps getting progressively better-informed, until she can somehow get a dossier of intel that’d rival any of the alphabet-soup agencies out there, Tony’s not about to ask.

.

Here’s the thing: Tony clearly remembers when his mom’s network stopped being a low-key ‘keep an ear out’ thing, and started getting into ‘…I think she might be gunning to be a Bond villain’ territory. 

Can clearly put a date on it, even: three days after SHIELD rolled into town, and noticed that the mechanic’s assistant didn’t show up to school, and it became obvious that they’d somehow stumbled upon the last known location of the missing Stark heir.

Fun times. 

Especially because in the time since, he and his mom’d been too busy dodging the small army of private detectives and g-men to be able to get wind of where Uncle James had been disappeared off to. Howard’s money meant no stone was left unturned, and more than once it’d been a bad dye job or hastily-applied makeup or DUM-E’s lockpicking skills or just sheer dumb luck that kept Tony one step ahead of his father.

So yeah, in retrospect, some aspects of his mom’s network makes sense. What with it having come under heavy fire during that entire debacle, and having to piece it back together was no small task either. Tony may not get the particulars, but he could understand that much just fine.

Certainly, he wasn’t going to quibble about just how fast she was capable of getting international plane tickets— 

And then JARVIS entered the cloud, and things were never quite the same.

.

Tony knew his father had friends in very high places, it was part of why they ran.

The first time his mom called in a few favors, though, was…something. 

As was the discovery that for all that she’d taken a less physically-active role in the lifestyle they led, she was no less present than before, as evidenced by the laws that were now rolling out and Tony probably shouldn’t be proud of the fact that his mom was now officially a criminal mastermind but honestly he was more impressed by the number of politicians she’d blackmailed to even get it on the books because holy crap.

[Even if he knew some of them were just out of petty spite, like the new zoning laws she’d somehow managed to get past solely because the homeowner’s association in that one town was comprised entirely of elitist jerks.]

.

Most of the time, Tony’s happy trying to live a quiet life, content in trying to be just another face on campus at Culver U while Uncle James gets back on his feet after another involuntary ice nap. But if his mom needs a hand, they’re both already out the door.

That’s when Iron Man comes out of retirement, why Renegade comes into being. 

She doesn’t normally; only in emergencies, only when push comes to shove and there’s something she needs stat that requires…special handling. Like when there’s people who need better hiding than what Witness Protection can offer [JARVIS did the heavy lifting, but Iron Man was needed for help relocating]. Or when there’s an asshole stalker creep who thinks that since the local police doesn’t have a cruiser parked outside, it’s a free pass to continue harassing [Uncle James didn’t regret breaking his jaw, that time]. 

SHIELD has yet to notice the connection. Yet to realize that when they heard them say “Mission Control”, Iron Man and Renegade meant someone rather than somewhere. 

.

Maria originally started her network out of sheer self-preservation. Then things escalated and got out of hand, and…she was good. But living on the run took its toll, and maybe it was selfish but she just didn’t have the energy she used to, to be able to pack up and run at a moment’s notice. 

She’d been on red alert throughout Tony’s childhood. Had managed to eke out some semblance of peace for almost nine hard-fought years, only for it all to go up in smoke, and— 

she was tired. 

She was tired, and by now everyone was more focused on looking for her son and… her network was something she could control, and didn’t need to upend her life to do so. Tony was young, was more than happy to spend his life on the road searching for James, but Maria had spent nearly half her life now having to look over her shoulder and she refused to back down but she couldn’t do this anymore, so…time for a different approach.

.

Maria’s network started out small. 

It didn’t stay that way.

.

Howard Stark didn’t realize just who he’d married. Oh, he did the necessary background checks, but he never really knew just what kind of person Maria Stark née Carbonell was. Not until it was too late, anyway.

His loss. 

Always, and forever, his loss.

.

Originally, Maria picked Juno more out of irony than anything else. 

Picked it because Tony’d been on a Greek and Roman mythology kick when he was younger, and while he’d been happily picking through different versions of the myths, it’d come up in passing. 

Juno, goddess of marriage and childbirth. The Roman equivalent of Hera, who was eternally loyal to Zeus even when he made mistake after mistake and innocent mortals paid for it.

[Maria had burned the closest thing they had to a modern empire for her son’s safety, without question and without regret.] 

.

“Call for Juno,” they’d say. “She can help.”