#Nationality is American but despite that she knows some Italians since her father is Italian

[bearyyayay]

Lil doodles of Astrid cause I'm bored

I'm not really good at making a background story or like information for OC's so if you guys could help with it I really appreciate it :D

[cygninae]

So this is really random, and no one asked for this, but have my nationality headcanons for a whole load of asoue/atwq characters.?? No real explanation for these hcs, it's just how I imagine the characters ! :) (might throw in some extra hcs along the way because why not.)

P.S I'm quite fascinated by the history of the colonisation of America and the patterns of immigration that occurred thereafter, which is partially why I'm making this post. However, I'm not American and have never received actual American education so I'm sorry if I am miseducated in any regard.

Sugar bowl gen

Esmé Squalor is British/Syrian

HC: she is a first generation immigrant to the USA when the events of the books take place. Her mother was Syrian and her father British. She has a twin brother who disagreed with her involvement in VFD and left the USA to go back to England once they were of age. She hasn't seen him since they were teenagers.

Jerome Squalor is British-American

HC: His parents immigrated to the USA from England before he was born.

Bertrand Baudelaire is French

HC: He is a first-generation immigrant and went to the USA on his own after the death of his parents.

Beatrice Baudelaire is American

HC: By the time she was born, her family had been in the USA for many generations. Some British and Irish ancestry.

The Snicket siblings are Chinese-American

HC: the Snicket siblings are second-generation immigrants to the USA. Both of their parents were Chinese.

Mrs (headcanoned first name Marzia) Quagmire is Italian-American

HC: she is a second generation immigrant. She grew up in a household that primarily spoke Italian.

Mr (headcanoned first name William) Quagmire is American

HC: like Bea, his family had been in the USA for many generations before his birth. British and Dutch ancestry.

Count Olaf is German-American

HC: Olaf is a second or third generation immigrant. His family were very wealthy but went to ruin and ran away to the USA. He still insists on keeping his ancestral title despite this.

Montgomery Montgomery is Pakistani-American

HC: Monty is a second-gen immigrant. He had three siblings who all moved across the USA once of age, but he made an effort to keep in touch with them and their extended family in Pakistan.

Ellington Feint is Chinese-American

HC: Ellington is a second-gen immigrant. Her father was American with British ancestry and her mother was a first-gen Chinese immigrant.

Captain (headcanoned first name Rory) Widdershins is Irish-American

HC: a third-gen immigrant who grew up very disconnected from his heritage due to being in the foster system.

Fernald "Widdershins" is Moroccan/American

HC: him and his sister Fiona (and theorised sister Friday) had an American mother and Moroccan father. Their father left before they were born and mother left when Fiona was young, so they were raised by Widdershins. They know very little about their heritage.

Moxie Mallahan is American

HC: her family had been in the USA for many generations before her birth. Distant British and Dutch ancestry.

Arthur Poe is American

HC: Poe and his wife both had generations of family in the USA. He has some Dutch ancestry.

Josephine Anwhistle is American

HC: her family had also been in the USA for many generations. She had distant Irish ancestry. She made effort to reconnect with her ancestry in some regards.

Ike Anwhistle is American

HC: Ike, too, had family for generations in the USA. Canonically in the books, he is the second cousin of one of the Baudelaire parents (I hc him on Bea's side of the family) so in my headcanon, his ancestry is British/Irish. His brother, Gregor, is obviously the same.

The Denouement triplets are American

HC: the triplets are third-generation immigrants with British and Dutch ancestry. Mother's side British and father's side Dutch. There had been plans to raise the triplets in England, but a mysterious friend of their mother convinced them to stay in the USA for reasons unknown...

Unfortunate Gen

The Baudelaire children are French-American

HC: Bea is American and Bertrand French, as stated above. They grew up speaking both languages fluently.

The Quagmire triplets are Italian-American

HC: their mother is Italian and their father American. Their mother and her parents made sure they grew up speaking Italian.

Fiona Widdershins is American/Moroccan

HC: As stated with Fernald above, her biological father was Moroccan, although her and Fernald never knew him nor that they were Moroccan.

Carmelita Spats is Dutch-American

HC: Carmelita is a fourth-generation immigrant and she has little connection to her ancestry due to not being in contact with her family anymore.

Beatrice Baudelaire II is Chinese-American

HC: as Kit is her mother, she has her ancestry, of course. I am personally a fan of the theory that Olaf is her father, not Dewey, so in this post, we'll say that his ancestry plays here too...

Ben (Violet's friend) is American

HC: Ben is American with British and Native American ancestry.

Well, I've probably missed about a million characters, but there it is ! This is a super random post but I just felt like I might as well post some headcanons for the hell of it. Always love to hear other people's headcanons for Snicketverse characters. Thanks if you read all the way to the end, I love you

[bulletballet-arch]

REALLY LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY. RULES. repost ,   don’t  reblog !    tag 10 ! good  luck ! TAGGED. I took this from Minnie’s archived Bioshock blog. I’ve been looking for this meme all this month. TAGGING. @hammurabicomplex. @bluuxriising. @ Me - for Sal on @bulletsoverbensonhurst​. @immaterialed (charlie) @soypeor (bella) @svmmercmance​. @mrflayed. and you!

BASICS. FULL  NAME :  Eve Delores Littlejohn NICKNAME : Evie, Little Evie (by her maternal side of the family), Delores, Didi NAME  MEANING / S  Eve is from the ancient Hebrew name  חַוָּה (Chawwah), which was derived from the Hebrew word חָוָה (chawah) meaning "to breathe" or the related word חָיָה (chayah) meaning "to live". Delores is a variant of Dolores, meaning "sorrows", taken from the Spanish title of the Virgin Mary María de los Dolores, meaning "Mary of Sorrows." Littlejohn is a surname that has historically been found in England and Scotland. With potential origins being either ‘to distinguish a beloved child that was not the eldest.’ Or, ‘a contradictory nickname for a large man.’ HISTORICAL  CONNECTION? : She’s named after her grandmother, Evelyn Hollins.

AGE : 42 BIRTHDAY :  June 2 ETHNIC  GROUP : Black-American. Meaning she’s mixed with a lot (Some of her relatives are respectively Creole and Italian) but uses Black as a catch-all term. NATIONALITY :  American LANGUAGE / S : English, Italian, Spanish, Latin, some French SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :   Bisexual ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :  Biromantic RELATIONSHIP  STATUS : Verse dependent, usually married -or connected- to Salvatore Scozzari in some way. CLASS : Upper-Class HOME  TOWN / AREA :   Brooklyn. Spent time between Bedford-Stuyvesant - with her paternal grandfather and Park Slope - with her maternal grandparents.  CURRENT  HOME : In her childhood home in Bedford-Stuyvesant. PROFESSION : Ballet Instructor. Former Professional Ballerina. ( Other verses see her as a professional thief. )

PHYSICAL. HAIR : Black. In terms of her natural hair, Eve has springy, 3C hair she seldom shows off because she was raised in a family where straightened hair was deemed presentable and professional.  EYES : Thin almond eyes. Dark brown. NOSE : Straight and small. FACE :  She has a prominent, high forehead, that’s accented with high cheekbones and a pointy chin. LIPS :  Full. COMPLEXION : She has a light brown (tawny) complexion.  SCARS : None major. TATTOOS : None. HEIGHT : 5′4″ BUILD : Eve has a slender build. One of those people who have been small and petite since childhood. Despite this, she also stays skinny because she is obsessively conscious of the food she consumes. The older she gets the more she weighs, however. USUAL HAIR STYLE :  Her hair is cut short. Reaching her shoulders in a neat, even bob. She either curls it in a retro fashion or curls the tips. For work she wears it in a traditional, pinned bun. USUAL FACE LOOK : In public, she appears stoic for the most part. Any emotion shown (such as the length of a smile) is carefully calculated. She has to seem perfect.  USUAL  CLOTHING : Form fitting dresses. Incredibly chic and fashionable for the time. Shoes include heels - never open-toed, unless she has on stockings. Extravagant earrings. Jewelry that can include either necklaces, crosses, pearls, or dainty rings. Prone to wearing black sunglasses in public.

PSYCHOLOGY. FEAR / S : Thunderstorms, airplanes, creatures like weasels, snakes and ferrets, break-ins, men she doesn’t know, harm coming to her children ASPIRATION / S :  Formerly wanted to become a major [black] ballerina in the elite world of ballet, now she just wants to expose more [inner city children] to dance through her job. Personally, she wants her children to change the world in some form or fashion, too. Eve also has good ideas on improving the community, but at the moment has no idea how to go about these ideas. POSITIVE  TRAITS :  Generous, compassionate, patient, protective NEGATIVE  TRAITS : Strict, sullen, hard to read, represses her emotions, secretive MBTI :  Advocate - INFJ-T ZODIAC :  Cancer TEMPERAMENT :  Melancholic ANIMALS :  Lioness VICE / S :  Pride & Lust FAITH : Christian. Grew up Baptist, but Catholic influences have been around her since childhood. Attended a Catholic High School in Park Slope, her grandmother Evelyn was also a practicing Catholic.  GHOSTS ? : Yes and no. She feels that objects formerly owned by the deceased posses the essence of their previous owners and that they essentially live on through these pieces of property. AFTERLIFE ? : Yes. REINCARNATION ? :  No, but it’s a romantic concept. ALIENS ? : No. POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :  Democratic ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE :  She likes being where she’s at now. But honestly, being upper class is all she’s ever known. SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION : Bourgeoisie, basically. The Littlejohn’s represent The Historical Black Elite.  EDUCATION  LEVEL : College level. FAMILY.

FATHER :  William ‘Bill’ Littlejohn MOTHER : Linda Littlejohn ( nee Hollins ) SIBLINGS : None EXTENDED  FAMILY : Amos Littlejohn (paternal grandfather) Liza Littlejohn (paternal grandmother) Evelyn Hollins (maternal grandmother) Giuseppe D’Aietti (maternal grandfather) and a wide host of cousins, aunts and uncles.

FAVOURITES. BOOK :  Night Song by Beverly Jenkins. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Some sort of old, French erotic novel that was published before she was born. MOVIE : Eve watches films along the lines of...Waiting to Exhale, Beaches, The First Wives Club and Fatal Attraction. She loves Made-For-TV movies from the time period. In regards to plays, her favorite one is Sunday In The Park With George. 5  SONGS :  Meet Me On The Moon / Essence of Sapphire / No One In The World / People / The First Time I Saw Your Face  DEITY :  Persephone  HOLIDAY : New Years Eve, Christmas, Thanksgiving. Major holidays during the colder season. MONTH :  October SEASON :  Autumn PLACE :  The dance studio she works at. WEATHER : Sunny, but cool. SOUND : The voices of Anita Baker and Sarah Vaughn. A skilled hand running over piano keys. Soft trumpets. Running water. Cats making chipper little meows. SCENT / S :  Perfume, floral scented lotions, her partner’s cologne TASTE / S :  Caramel, the tang of dark chocolate, strawberries coated with either chocolate, or sprinkles of white sugar. Light Vinegar.  FEEL / S : Performing in front of an audience. Hot water engulfing your skin after a long day. Satin - whether it be the fabric of her clothes or sheets, your fingers tightly intertwined with another’s, feeling your significant other’s chest raise and lower against your skin with each breath they take. ANIMAL / S : Cocker Spaniels, Afghan Hounds, Cats, Birds - she loves all ( well, a majority ) of animals. NUMBER :  Doesn’t have one. COLOR :  White, Pink, Gold.

EXTRA. TALENTS :  Dance, Eve is trained in ballet when it comes to her main verse. She has attended ballet classes since the age of eight and ever since then she placed all of her focus into it. Similarly, Eve has always had the makings of a good artist - as a child she enjoyed drawing and had informal art lessons with a man who lived in the basement of her grandfather’s brownstone, but she never invested into that half of her. BAD AT : Singing, Being interviewed, Public Speaking (as in Speech Giving), Decision Making TURN  ONS :  Charisma, Leadership Skills, Temperature Play, Phone Sex, Heavy Kissing, Light Roleplay TURN  OFFS :  Public Sex, Tearing [ Her ] Clothes, Threesomes, Cruelty, Senseless Violence HOBBIES :  viewing plays & some musicals, reading romance novels, shopping, working out (she was into the whole celebrity VHS tape exercise trend), playing tennis, decorating AESTHETIC :  Vintage Black Glamour, Black Ballerinas, Champagne and Wine Glasses, Paintings by Melinda Byers and Edward 'Clay' Wright QUOTES :  "I'm bad with words, I hope you're good in reading eyes." / "There are truths I haven't even told God. And not even myself. I am a secret under the lock of seven keys."

FC INFO. MAIN  FC / S : Lynn Whitfield ( A Thin Line Between Love & Hate ) ALT  FC / S : Kylie Bunbury ( Twisted ) OLDER  FC / S :  Lynn Whitfield ( Greenleaf ) YOUNGER  FC / S : N/A VOICE  CLAIM / S : Lynn Whitfield

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?       A1 : Recently I decided that if/when I try to write anything serious about Eve again, it’ll center on her being a jewel thief because it presents me more fun, and emotionally diverse, opportunities. That and I have a very specific cover image in my mind. Ideally, her adventures would be a series of books. I have no title in mind, no idea about how ‘it would be filmed’ ( although a style replicating 90s films would be excellent, film grain and all. ) but, I do have a bunch of plots in mind that I really don’t feel like typing out here.  

Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?         A2 :  Her score would have a vintage sound (or a jazzy Spike Lee sound, if you will) with instrumentals by Dorothy Ashby (a Jazz Harpist) the Ahmad Jamal Trio, Pharaoh Sanders, Yusef Lateef and Tarika Blue. For music with lyrics, the soundtrack would include the likes of Julie London, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dionne Warwick.

Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?   + Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ? A3 :  Whenever I make NPCs for my character’s lives I actually can’t just let them just be NPCs. I start thinking about them too much. Developing them too much. And then I’m like, ‘wow! I really like this character!’ Eve was a different character when I began writing her, and likely wouldn’t be considered the same character as she was previously, if I told someone in real life who knows about my writing (like my grandma) about all the changes she has undergone. Originally Delores was a university professor, because I thought it could lead to interesting interactions with college-age muses. And her previous history with the mafia was also something interesting to tap in. But then I started thinking about what was realistic, what wasn’t realistic, what did I feel comfortable/interested writing? What didn’t I feel comfortable/interested in writing?  So as time went on, things would alter about this character. And the new things I came up with attracted me more. 

Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.         A5 :  I have a love/hate relationship with Eve’s quiet demeanor. On one hand, I think quieter characters need love and the ability to be fully dimensional but on the other hand, writing louder characters has always been more fun for me. But really, Eve’s guarded behavior makes writing her stressful in some cases with others because sometimes...if I’m going to be honest...people don’t know how to carry a thread and interact with someone of her demeanor effectively. 

Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?       A6 : We’re both black, we’re both into art (although our exact interests and aesthetics with art differ)

Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?         A7 : Realistically she would think I need to take better care of myself.

Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions with ?   A8 :  We skippin’ this question.

Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?       A9 : Films such as, “Waiting to Exhale,” “The Kitchen” and “Widows.” Books by Alice Walker, like “The Third Life of Grange Copeland” as well as her short story, “Roselily.” The historical mob figure Stephanie St. Clair.

Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?       A10 : A few hours.

[fonfan121]

Starting a small AoM fic, figure I’d brush up on some character details for Gigabyte.

Their age? - 23/24.

Their sexuality/sexual preference? - Lesbian.

Any siblings/Only child? - 3 Siblings, 2 brothers and one sister, 4 immediate cousins.

Their favourite season? - Mid-late spring.

Who were/are their parents/guardians? - William T. Sycamore (father) and Helen Ross (mother).

Their gender? - Female.

Their date of birth? - June 5th.

What clothing style? - She prefers comfortability and practicality over style, but casually will wear T-shirts and cargo pants, for the pockets.

What is their favourite food after a break-up? - Pizza, Bacon and Chicken.

Their favourite thing to do after a break-up? - Binge watch TV shows.

What happens in the ‘honeymoon phase’ for this character? - Stress free relaxation, just admiring her S.O and enjoying their company.

How many serious relationships have they been/are currently in? - 2.

What is their nationality? - American.

What languages do they speak? - English, just a hint of Spanish and is adamant on learning Italian.

What is their profession/Education? - Electronics/Software Engineer, Hardlight Holographics Specialist.

Their favourite comfort food? - Ice cream, particularly a chocolate/caramel combo.

What’s a food they hate? - Cake, just something about how it feels/ tastes in her mouth just doesn’t sit right.

Their music taste? - Spanish/Cuban/Latin instrumentals, feel good music that can be upbeat, romantic or relaxing.

Is there a story behind their name/meaning? - No story behind her real name, but she took her codename from using an old 128gb USB stick, hidden in the top of a pen.

Something they do that seems childish to others? - Tends to quote movies/games in applicable situations when she thinks no one is listening... they usually aren’t.

What is their all-time favourite TV show? - Knight Rider. (Does that show exist in AoM? Eh whatever, if they can get Hasselhoff to voice one of the trailers, I’d say it exists.) 

What is their all-time favourite movie? - None of Hollywood’s, though she has (regrettably) engaged in a marathon watch of his movies.

How big is their family? - Big, like real big. It’s an old farming family/community that’s been around since before the US independence. 

Are they close to anyone specific in the family? - Her mother and father, as well as 2 of her 4 immediate cousins.

Have they got any allergies? - None that she knows of, but isn’t keen to find out if she does.

Are they an emotional person? - Despite her introverted personality, yes.

Do they get angry/lose their temper quickly? - Very much so, especially around a certain former FBI agent...

What are some of their guilty pleasures? - She likes to collect trophies of certain events in her life, particularly of her time in MAYHEM. She also has secretly followed Hollywood on Instablam, so she can laugh at the latest stupid thing he’s gotten himself into.

Do they have pets? Do they want pets? - She has an American Thoroughbred horse named Janey back at the family farm, but otherwise no, especially due to rules aboard the ARK.

Do they like kids? Do they want kids/have kids? - Kids are okay, so long as they’re not too... intense. She has no plans for having any, however.

Who’s cuddle buddy are they? - Provided she’s comfortable with it in the first place? Probably Gremlin, Rama or Joule.

Do they have any tattoos? - Nope.

Do they have any piercings? - Nope.

What is their hair colour? Is it their natural colour? - Natural auburn-ish colour.

Do they like musicals? - Not particularly, but she’ll watch one as a tag along.

Do they like marmite? - The fuck is marmite? (Just kidding, I know what off-brand monstrosity is.) No, she does not. 

Do they like glitter? - Occasionally, but she generally finds it unimpressive. 

Do they believe in the supernatural? - Not really, as pretty much everything she encounters/works with is science based.

Have they ever seen a dead body? - Many, unfortunately.

Have they ever had a near-death experience? - Besides working for MAYHEM? Not that she can recall.

Have they ever broken a bone? - Thankfully not.

What are they like when they’re drunk/what kind of drunk are they? - Gigabyte avoids getting drunk at all costs, but when it does happen, she has a rather low tolerance. She becomes loud/emotional and has almost no filter either, so she’ll spill personal secrets and whatnot before she tips over the edge to incoherence.

Have they ever drunk underage? - Definitely not.

What is the first thing they do when they wake up? - Goes over a mental daily schedule in her head.

Do they consider themselves popular? - Not really, though Gigabyte likes to think she’s at least well received among other agents such as Gremlin, Rama and Friday.

How do they like their tea/coffee? - Neither, she’s a hot chocolate person.

What do they smell like? - She prefers to have a slight lavender scent, but considering the amount of smokers on the ARK that scent tends to stay in her room at most.

Are they a virgin? - Yes, but not for a lack of awkward trying.

Do they wear glasses/contacts? - Protective glasses for R&D.

Are they good at remembering significant dates? Anniversaries, birthdays etc? - She has an impressive mental calendar of dates, but will clam up if you ask her to remember any of them.

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (240-231)

#240: Joci Pápai - Az én apám (Hungary 2019)

"Hallom őt, az ő szívét a húrokon Látom őt, múló idővel az arcomon Az ő hitét büszkeség vallanom Ezeregy dalból ezt az egyet dúdolom, dúdolom"

"I can hear him, his heart on the strings I can see him, bearing the passing time on my face I’m proud to confess his faith Of a thousand and one songs this is the one that I hum"

If there's anything I love at Eurovision, is when someone sings a song from their soul. And in both of Joci's entries, he does just that.

Az en apam is a bit more sedate than his first entry (which will come soon enough), but it's calming and serene with substance. The lyrics, talking about his relationship with his father, is a touching and poetic tribute, one that people should really speak to their loved ones that care about them.

It's just a shame this song was the one to break Hungary's impressive qualifying streak; I thought they were on a path to win soon (though not with this one...). And they left the contest too; hopefully they will steer the ship back to more open waters and come back.

Personal ranking: 5th/41 Actual ranking: DNQ (did not qualify)--12th in the first semi-final in Tel Aviv

#239: Anna Vissi -- Mono i Agapi (Cyprus 1982)

"Η ζωή μας περνά, κι ότι φεύγει πονά Πίσω δε γυρνά, κι όμως κάτι μας κρατά"

"Our life passes by, and whatever leaves, we’re in pain It doesn’t come back, but something holds us together"

In most cases, the first entry somebody has sent in the contest is their best, with a number of exceptions here and there. Anna is one of them; I never liked her first entry, but her other two are fantastic.

Mono i agapi is quite lyrically simplistic--it talks about how love remains between two people, as the world changes around them. But the melody has a very loungy sound--I've heard it being compared to a James Bond theme. While I don't hear why it would be the case (other than the alluring mystery of this piece), it does give a calming vibe, and stands out in the rather mediocre field in 1982.

Personal ranking: 3rd/18 Actual ranking: 5th/18 in Harrogate

#238: Yardena Arazi -- Ben Adam (Israel 1988)

בן אדם הוא רק בשר ודם,” אבק פורח במדבר, בן אדם, בדרך העולם, כצל עובר, כחרס הנשבר "

“A human being is only flesh and blood, Dust flying in the desert A human being, in the way of the world Like a passing shadow, like broken pottery"

Yardena's time at Eurovision 1988 is best known for the anecdote where she goes to a fortune teller who said that song #9 would win that contest. When the draw occurred, Israel was slotted into that place, but was shafted up to #8 when Cyprus withdrew from having an already-released song. #9 would go to Ne Partez Pas Sans moi, which would end up winning and make history thanks to its singer.

This ends up taking away from the song itself; Ben Adam is reminiscent of older folk songs, but it takes off with its own character and flair. I also love the lyrics, which recognizes humans as flawed, without berating them as such. (We need a little bit more of that in the internet world, haha)

The flurry towards the end of the song was well-executed too, and the instrumentation is just fantastic. It feels like one was in a festival!

Personal ranking: 2nd/21 Actual ranking: 7th/21 in Dublin

#237: Amandine Bourgeois -- L'enfer et moi (France 2013)

“Tu m’as fait pleurer à vif Mon cou porte encore ta griffe J’aimais échanger de peau”

“You made me cry a lot You can still see your mark on my neck I used to like exchanging skin”

I love the dark sensuality of this song—with its blues influences, it tells a story of a relationship gone awry, but does so with sophistication. It starts out with a slick guitar line, which later devolves into a full on outrage against the lover at question.

The harshness of this song probably clashed with its opening spot, which is why it’s so underrated. Or it was because of Amandine’s styling...

Either way, it has grown on me since I watched the 2013 contest, and it gets the right vibes going...except with the lyrical story...

Personal ranking: 5th/39 Actual ranking: 23rd/26 GF in Malmo

#236: Ambasadori -- Ne mogu skriti svoju bol (Yugoslavia 1976)

"Ne molim da se vratiš Al’ molim te da pamtiš Voljela tebe samo sam ja”

“I’m not begging you to come back But please remember I only loved you”

Ambasadori was one of Yugoslavia's biggest groups, and they have a long list of who's who in the Bosnia music scene. I'm not familiar with their other music, but Ne mogu skriti svoju bol definitely highlights their artistry, along with the dark-pop take Yugoslavia had in 1970s Eurovision.

This song was initally my fifth place of 1976, but it has steadily grown until it became my fourth (knocking out Portugal in the process) The instrumentation conveys a dark mood, despite the upbeat strings and the poppy sound. There’s a grooviness in it to contrast the sullen lyrics, mourning for a lost love. It definitely stands out in the crowd; along with Ismeta's lack of makeup.

It got rewarded with a second-to-last place, which is way too low for this. And Yugoslavia withdrew for five years, and came back with a new sound...

Personal ranking: 4th/18 Actual ranking: 17th/18 in Den Haag

#235: Zibbz -- Stones (Switzerland 2018)

"Sins of the father make us fall And I can’t do anything about it"

2018 had a number of staging errors which cost several countries qualification. In Stones' cases, this wasn't the case.

Corrine has incredible stage presence, with a sense of strength and attiude as she struts on the stage. She definitely adds substance to this powerful pop-rock song, fighting against bullying in all corners of society.

To further that, she lights a flare at the bridge, which definitely hits the tone of the song home. Plus, it was an awesome moment to behold.

Basically, Zibbz did everything right--great song, thoughtful message, simple but impactful staging, and it still didn't qualify...While it has outgrown me a bit, it's still a total jam.

Personal ranking: 9th/43 Actual ranking: DNQ -- 13th in the first semi-final in Lisbon

#234: Kalomira -- Secret Combination (Greece 2008)

“An open book An open book, well, I'm sorry, I am not Sometimes I'm acting like a lady Sometimes woman, sometimes baby.”

"You maybe an open book Spongebob, but I'm a bit more complicated than that"

One third of the female-bop grouping in the 2008 contest, Secret Combination takes Greek instrumentation and American production to produce quite the gem. I could imagine Britney Spears singing this, but I also thought of the Cheetah Girls when I was listening to it. With a bit of sweetness and a touch of sexiness, Kalomira plays the different roles well--and has a cute moment when the book actually opens, revealing her in a really nice silvery dress!

Personal ranking: 7th/43 Actual ranking: 3rd/25 GF in Belgrade

#233: Avi Toledano -- Hora (Israel 1982)

"וגם ההורה, ההיא עם הה”א קולה עוד עולה, קולה לא נדם"

"And also the Hora, the one with the Hey Its voice still rises, its voice has not been silenced"

Israel had a particular style with songs from the 1980s--they are usually really energetic, with fun choreography in which everyone joins along. It makes for good results and good energy, especially when it's done well!

Hora seems to embody it in many ways, from the celebratory lyrics to the fun dancing across the really tiny stage in Harrogate. It combines Israeli folk music with a sense of joie-de-vivre, celebrating the nation (which as you will see later, may not work today...)

Avi earns himself a strong second place, but he would write something even better the following year (again, will come later)!

Personal and actual ranking: 2nd/18 at Harrogate

#232: Raphael Gualazzi -- Madness of Love (Italy 2011)

"Ma vedrai un altro me in un sogno fragile Riderai come se non ti avessi amato mai Cercherai un altro me oltre all’ombra di un caffè"

"But you’ll see another me in a fragile dream You’ll laugh as if I had never loved you You’ll look for another me beyond the shadow of a coffee"

Between 1994 and 2010, Italy withdrew from Eurovision, with only one participation in 1997. Nobody knows why, with reasons ranging from the rise of a televote to Italian disinterest in the contest, but they were certainly missed. Thanks to the late Rafaella Carra and a bunch of other circumstances, Italy came back in 2011, and they did so in style.

"Madness of Love" is frequently overlooked amongst Italy's post-comeback entries, as some of us aren't into jazz. I don't listen to the genre often, but I like this song particularly. It's flirty and sweet, under a very sophisticated soundscape which reminds me of a 1920s speakeasy. And while people are put off by Raphael's vocals, the way he lets himself go at the end of the chorus is definitely a highlight.

Basically, it's one of those runners-up that should've won against the winner of its year. But it was nicely made up for ten years later.

Personal ranking: 2nd/43 Actual ranking: 2nd/25 GF in Dusseldorf

#231: Anneli Saaristo -- La dolce vita (Finland 1989)

“Minä sammutin elämän janoa vaan Minä osasin onnea anoa vaan Jälkeen kaiken nyt saatan sen sanoa vaan La dolce vita”

“I was just quenching life’s thirst I knew how to plead for happiness After everything all I can say is: The good life”

La Dolce Vita sounds more stereotypically ”Spanish” than “Finnish”, because of its flamenco influences versus the dark pop or metal we expect from the country. Apparently, a lot of Finns travel south for vacations, which makes a bit more sense here.

Either way, it springs a bit of life and joy into a dark heart. It embraces life in its tropical vibe and Anneli’s deep vocals, and conveys a comfortable mood. Apparently, it was also known for Anneli's slight choreography, but I only noticed her standing during the instrumental.

It would be Finland’s last top ten result for many years, but the 7th place it got in Lausanne was deserved (and they should've done better, actually!). A fitting send-off for their long-time conductor Ossi Runne (RIP).

Personal ranking: 3rd/22 Actual ranking: 7th/22 in Lausanne

[dokidokivisual]

Gochiusa BLOOM episode 8 impressions

Previously: 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1

Here we go, the long awaited Rize episode is upon us. She’s been rather sidelined this season, aside from maybe the marathon episode with Chiya. But now it’s finally her time to shine!

I didn’t have much time to write this review, due to various circumstances, but I hope it’s still worth reading.

The episode opens with Rize waking up Cocoa while imitating Chino’s voice and manners, such as calling her Cocoa-san. This scene is reminiscent of the post-credits scene from season 1 episode 12, although it has been implied Chino wakes up Cocoa all the time. The rabbit Cocoa sleeps with has been given to her by Chino at the end of Dear My Sister OVA, but it was Rize who helped Chino make it.

Rize had a fight with her father about her wanting to become an elementary school teacher, and stayed over at Rabbit House. She seems to think neither her father nor even Cocoa and Chino take her seriously. To be fair, it kind of comes out of a left field. The justification for it (which is revealed later) is also rather silly, as Chimame aren’t even elementary schoolers. It’s interesting to see if the manga will ever get to the point where Rize is teaching a class because I don’t think there have been any elementary schools introduced yet or any character who attends or teaches in one.

Rize herself also has some doubts about it, since she worries she will come out as too strict (and called a ”demon sergeant”, which is a callback to Dear My Sister where she took command over Chimame-tai), although Rize has become considerably more gentle since the events of DMS. Cocoa volunteers to become Rize’s teacher to show her how it’s done, but ends up making Rize do all the work while she just lazes about.

By the way, the book Cocoa is reading in this scene is called “Caffeine Fighter” which was mentioned before as one of Aoyama’s works based on Sharo, and this is the first time we see (although in very low resolution) what the lead character is supposed to look like.

Chino takes over the job, although it seems she just wants help with her homework (the book is labeled as “Mathematics, 3rd grade of middle school” and this particular lesson concerns the quadratic function and its graph). Rize uses her rabbit stamp on Cocoa and then on Chino for solving their tasks, and finds out that it’s a very good motivation.

One thing that western viewers might overlook is the prevalence of stamps in the Japanese daily life. Instead of signing legally binding documents, you’re supposed to stamp it with an officially registered personal seal called hanko. Things like stamp rallies are popular and you can often get a visitor stamp in various temples and train stations. So the fact that Rize carries a stamp with herself at all times is not at all unusual.

Next, Rize’s signature dish, napolitan pasta, makes an appearance. In the episode 6 review I lamented that Rize’s pasta never showed up, but now we can finally see what it’s all about. By the way, despite its name, this dish is actually Japanese in origin, and was inspired by American military rations, which makes it quite fitting for Rize. Cocoa uses the Italian word buono to describe the pasta, which means “good”.

During the bathtime, the stamps easily wash off, so Rize gives Cocoa and Chino stamp cards, just like to Chiya in episode 5. Not aware of this, Cocoa and Chino think this signifies their special bond. However shortly after, Cocoa boasts about it to Chiya at school, and realizes that not only Chiya has it, but also Maya and Megu. In the manga Cocoa and Chino confront Rize about it directly after, but the anime sandwiches another chapter in between.

Like I mentioned in the episode preview, chapters 2 and 7 from the volume 6 of the manga share a similar theme of studying, so it’s not surprising they were unified into one episode. Interestingly the chapter 7 is titled “Sweet Skip Step” which shares with the title of the episode “Stamp, Sleep, Study, Smile” the pattern of words starting with the Japanese syllable ‘su’. Another episode sharing this property is season 2 episode 8 titled “Sneaking Stalking Stalker Story”.

This second part of the episode is more Chimame-focused, and brings up the concept of juku, or “cram school”, which are very widespread in Japan. This is a small private school that students visit after their public school classes in preparation for the exams. Of course the way it’s portrayed in the episode is just regular tutoring, so you wouldn’t know the difference.

Anyway, Cocoa has opened a juku in Rabbit House and is now sporting lab coat and glasses look. Megu attends the “school” and we learn that the reason why she wants to go to Rize’s school is because her mother went there too. Cocoa asks if that’s really her own decision, and we later learn Megu isn’t really sure about that. Immediately after, Megu’s phone rings notifying her that she needs to “transfer to another classroom”, and Rize’s comment implies that Cocoa hasn’t really even started teaching yet. In the manga there’s a 1 hour gap between the Cocoa/Megu conversation and her going to another class, and Megu thanks Cocoa for her lesson.

The next class is Japanese literature taught by Chiya (she calls it 国語 “national language” which implies that the show is really set in Japan, or at least a Japanese-speaking country). Megu is impressed by how seriously Chino takes her studies, and how she strives to excel both in school and at her job just like Chiya and other high school characters (it was previously mentioned that Chino’s grades aren’t very good). However Chiya gets distracted and decides to spy on Sharo, who is teaching Maya at the time. It seems Sharo’s house isn’t very soundproof at all and they easily get discovered.

Maya isn’t sure about being able to pass the scholarship student exam and asked Sharo to help her, as Sharo has also passed this exam in the past. Sharo is eating some strange foodstuff that I thought was onigiri, but looks more like a cookie wrapped in nori for some reason.

Anyway, Chimame get invited by Rize to “onsen pool” but they think Rize is going to scold them for not taking their studies seriously. Meanwhile Rize’s dad is calling Takahiro to make him convince Rize to come back. Apparently during the war, Takahiro’s skill was persuasion, while Rize’s dad’s special technique was rushing into action like Leeroy Jenkins.

The “onsen pool” which previously appeared twice in season 1 is largely based on hot spring baths of Budapest, which I had visited last year. This scene is used to develop Megu’s character, specifically her insecurities and sense of inferiority towards Chino and Maya. It doesn’t help that Maya and Chino are jealous of her body and call her fat. Then, Maya and Chino decide to compete in swimming, suggested by Chino, who in the manga almost drowned during a hiking trip and that was her motivation to get better at swimming. In the anime (season 2 episode 11) she didn’t really drown so she just says she likes swimming now for some reason.

Anyway, Megu can’t keep up with them (both metaphorically and literally) and this time drowns even in the anime adaptation. However this scene was also altered from the manga, in the manga it’s implied that Maya and Chino drag her out while Rize comes too late and Maya calls her slow. But in anime, Rize is the one who saves Megu and is roundly praised by Chimame-tai.

The next scene parallels the one from season 1 episode 10 where Chimame-tai name was officially established, after Rize outruns them to Rabbit House. This time Chimame already got used to the name (which means something like “blood blister” in Japanese), so they’re ok with being called this forever if they win.

When Rize comes back, Cocoa (who held a grudge for so long that you might’ve forgotten about it with how fast-paced this episode is) kabedons Rize and asks for explanation for the whole stamp card business. However it turns out to be just a prank and an excuse for Rize to have a home cooked dinner with everyone. Rize’s accomplishments in previous episodes are also brought up, and she gets another round of praise. And then everyone gets lots of stamps.

Rize gets a stamp too when she’s asleep. This scene was in general modified quite heavily compared to the manga, to better fit with the rest of the episode I guess. One scene that was cut was Cocoa and Chino discovering Rize’s notes about their food preferences and regular guests of Rabbit House. Also, the phone conversation between Rize’s dad and Takahiro was the last panel in this chapter so Rize’s situation with her dad was never resolved.

The anime adaptation does provide a resolution in the form of a cinematic car scene with a tense dialogue between Rize and her father. Cars are very rare in Gochiusa universe and the last time we saw one (season 2 episode 10) it also belonged to Rize’s family. Rize’s father is driving an Audi R8 with plate number TO-526, which might refer to his voice actor Touchi Hiroki who was born on May 26.

The car eventually stops on the bridge, which is basically a metaphor for reconciliation (i.e. “building bridges”) and the color scheme changes from red to blue, as Rize’s father eventually apologises to her and Rize gives him a stamp of approval. And so concludes the 8th episode of Gochiusa BLOOM, which finally gave Rize the recognition she deserves. I guess we’ll see if she can reach her goal of becoming a teacher in the future manga chapters. And there’s still four more BLOOM episodes to watch!

[fleurlibelle]

Meet Allegra Alessi for @simnosa’s Elliott | Bachelor Challenge

My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me or defeated me; it has only strengthened me.

Allegra is a beautiful soul but behind her beauty and sometimes sad eyes, you will find underneath some hefty ugly scars. Most markings are invisible and from the past and those contain painful memories but there is one true scar that goes literally under her skin. Elliot would need to ask if he wants to know more about that scar. Despite her sad past she has a cheerful soul and is indeed an intriguing character, at times playful. A true friend and a bro, still she’s a lady and yeah she knows who she is today compared to the insecure one she used to be. Allegra lives in the moment that’s what she has learned and makes sure to remove any form of negativity in her life.

Unwanted by her mother calling Allegra “an accident all her life” she grew up without any connection to her real parents. 

One night, her father had once again taken his anger and issues over his relationship with her mother out on Allegra. He blamed her for all his misery and disclosed that he wasn't her biological father; to this day she has not been able to find her biological father, but her step-father revealed his name "Holden Hayes" to her. At the age of 11, when she learned all the truth, she chose to run away. She grew up later in an orphanage. Her only escape used to be her books and the tiny stream close to the orphanage. Nature and the books have been her universe to date. She still likes to sit outdoors and delve into new worlds.

Allegra later worked in three jobs to finance her studies as a future screenwriter and has recently graduated with distinction.

So far, she hasn't had much luck in her life. But a little hope is in her heart that one day she will have a better life. She wishes nothing more longingly but to have a happy family of her own. Allegra firmly believes that you are responsible for your own happiness.

Last but not least she is against any form of violence and convinced all conflicts can be solved through communication.

Basics and personality related must-know about her can be found under cut.

BASICS

age:25 | Leo height: 5′7 Nationality: Italian/American’ Parents: Mother: “Vittoria Alessi” Italian | Father: “Holden Hayes” American raised hometown: Slums of Newcrest (doesn’t wants to go there ever back) current hometown: Since she’s 18, San Myshuno Profession: Freelance Writer (currently unemployed)

PERSONALITY

Traits: Bro, Goofball, Loves Outdoor Dreams: To have her own family one day. Being a successful freelancer Screenwriter for the Movie Industry. Communication: At first she’s a bit reserved (careful) but open ups quickly once she feels comfortable with the person.

Loves

Melissa Banks Book “The Wonder Spot”

Sunlight - she breathes air

Flowers surround her, she loves them. Especially Callas.

Yes home must have a bunch of plants

Tea 

Music, loves to dance

joined the Avantgarde Club and wants to reform the “old view”. May be the new leader of  the Club?

“Bahn Mi” is her favorite dish.

natural / earthy colors but olive green is her color to go!

Dislikes

fears darkness, violence and loneliness.

coffee

hates any sort of violence, if someone would be violent against regardless how small? The relationship is instantly over.

All Poses are by wonderful @katverse Thank youuu.

Private Download if chosen

[ofhoneyblood]

BRYCE ATLAS WINSLOW

pronouns: HE , HIM , HIS

age: THIRTY - EIGHT

species: HUMAN

nationality: IRISH , ITALIAN , AMERICAN

sexuality: PANSEXUAL / DEMIROMANTIC

sign: AQUARIUS SUN , LIBRA MOON , VIRGO RISING

occupation: OWNER & BOUNCER @ RED HOT PUSSY LIQUORS

+ traits: INVITING. FAIR. FUNNY. OPEN-MINDED. TOLERANT.

-- traits: GUARDED. DETACHED. DESPERATE. SELF-DESTRUCTIVE. 

faceclaim: MILO VENTIMIGLIA

soundscapes: HERE

aesthetic: HERE

yo yo you yo , it’s lydia ( yes , that’s my real name ) here with my noble beast bryce winslow ! i have had bryce as a muse longer than any other and it’s been literal years since i’ve written him so i’m extremely excited. this is the first time he will be milo though and i’m super hype to get things going ! i have headcanon after headcanon for him , so hit me up if you want to do something bc i am ready to do some shit !! again , i’m lydia ( or nary , nettle , snottie , etc. ) and i love a good name change , twenty five years old , pansexual demigirl ( she / her & / or they / them ) residing in the central timezone.

this is THIRTY-EIGHT year old BRYCE WINSLOW , the OWNER OF & BOUNCER AT RED HOT PUSSY LIQUORS BURLESQUE AND BOOZE who uses HE / HIM pronouns. he grew up in DUBLIN , IRELAND but came to pleasance in JULY 2006 ON HAPPENSTANCE AND TO RUN AWAY FROM HIS PAST and now enjoys spending his time at FOR KEEPS AND RED HOT PUSSY LIQUORS. BRYCE is written by LYDIA.

PERSONALITY

element: air ruling planet: uranus — planet of originality body part: ankles good day: communicative , original , open-minded , fair , logical , inviting , tolerant , funny bad day: guarded , detached , self-destructive , out-of-touch , irrational , desperate , lonely favorite things: dancing , teaching , team sports , anything with a cause or mission , independent films , working out , baths , animals , preserving plant life / flowers , reading least favorite things: injustice , drama queens , feeling isolated , owing money or favors , having to choose just one thing , personal questions , gossip , cigarette smoke secret wish: to experience total freedom how to spot him: a cute smile lighting up a tired face , quirky movements , tired eyes , long legs , big hands , flannel , old beat up truck where you’ll find him: backpacking or hiking , protesting , coaching a team , revolutionizing the industry he works in , the gym , red hot pussy liquors , alone at home , working on a project , taking a walk by northwood lake keywords: friendliness , eccentricity , teamwork , humanitarianism , technology , groups , avant-garde

first thing to know about bryce winslow is that he’s a free-spirit that prizes individuality and plays well on a team. he has been known to do things his own way , moving on a path different from everyone else’s. some call him eccentric , others appreciate his cutting-edge originality and authentic style.

one of the many ways that the irishman is a paradox ? he’s highly individualistic , but also an amazing team player. he might look like the fresh-faced guy next door on the outside , but inside he marches to his own beat. naturally popular , as he’s vibrantly social and loves to be among people , telling jokes and introducing thought-provoking conversation topics.

people truly do make his world go round , and he can become friends with the most random strangers. can be a bit of an alien — a little “ out there ” in his approach to different things. not that he cares about offending anyone ! loves a good casual connection , bryce can disengage as quickly as he connects. in fact , platonic pals sometimes get better treatment than romantic partners. 

while he can be a bit unsentimental on a one-on-one level , he can be moved to tears by the plight of animals , the environment or other social justice issues. yes , this big irishman is a bohemian at heart in some ways , but he also gets the job done. as a tenacious aquarius , he can be quite hardworking when he devotes himself to a goal. 

a competitive ( and lesser-known ) type a streak can emerge when he really wants something. nothing turns him on like progress , especially in the name of his grander ideals ! playing hard to get REALLY works on him lol

philanthropic and objective , bryce is in a lot of ways innovative and avant-garde. from experimental electronic music to community-oriented living , there’s nothing that this man hasn’t or won’t explore. as someone who loves being a part of a good group or team , bringing people together is also one of his specialties. 

intense bryce energy is cutting-edge , “ out there ” and even a little strange at times. a total nerd for all things futuristic , science fiction and wacky inventions. no topic is too cutting-edge with this irishman: extraterrestrials , stem cells , cloning , robots taking over the earth…yup , bryce will go there. 

while he likes to influence rebellion and detaching from reality ( c’mon bryce , back to earth ! ) , he likes to help others see possibilities they wouldn’t otherwise. the essence of his true energy is: community-oriented , original , open-minded , fair , logical , humanitarian , connecting , and inviting. 

the negative expression of bryce’s energy can be: guarded , detached , destructive , out-of-touch , irrational , and desperate.  reluctant to express emotions — the irishman prefers rational reasoning and cool-headed logic to the messy tapestry of the human feelings. 

one of his favorite authors is ayn rand , founder of the objectivist movement , and that’s pretty much all you need to know. objectivism has been a major influence on the libertarian movement , which has a real bryce flavor. it’s an organized system that also preserves individual freedom and limits government intervention. it’s very “ fringe ” and mainstream all at once , a fascinating paradox and something that really intrigues him.

playful gusts and a social butterfly whirlwind combines into a gale force of humanitarianism for all. bryce is a visionary , dreaming up quirky utopias and alternative realities that can shake up the status quo.  emotional detachment , unpredictable energy and rebellion are major factors in the irishman’s personality. not going to lie , he can be “ type a “ and totally quirky all at the same time ??

a stabilizer — the one who sets up a solid goal or foundation then starts building. bryce can take the enthusiastic idea that someone else sparks and craft it into something real. he picks up the ball when another passes it , running the distance to the goal. 

the trustworthy type who likes “ to-do ” lists and fancy titles. if a friend says , “ let’s go on vacation ! ” he’s already calling the travel agency , booking the tickets and hotel , and sending everyone a list of what to pack.

true believer in friendship and teamwork , so bryce tends to be more focused on a group than an individual. freedom is important to him , which is why he likes to keep things light on an interpersonal level. that way , he won’t feel bad about running off to the opposite corner of the world at a moment’s notice. 

at times , this nomadic strategy backfires , leaving him lonely and disconnected. in truth , the irishman is uncomfortable with too much intimacy. this free spirit belongs to the world and feels off-balance giving his considerable energy to just one person. 

while bryce’s friends get first-class treatment , family and lovers see a different side of him: moody , brooding , anxious and neurotic. he may pick one ( and only one ) person to open up to , getting attached to the point of obsession. 

learning to accept and express his emotions would help him avoid the massive freak outs and anger flashes that come from pretending everything’s cool when it isn’t. bryce appreciates a quirky or eccentric twist , enjoying colorful characters and people with counter cultural personalities.

BIOGRAPHY

bryce atlas winslow was born into a very straight lace , play by the rules , catholic family.  his father , matteo winslow , was an italian military man and his mother , deirdre winslow , was a cold irish homemaker. matteo was every bit the ‘ man of the family ’  and bryce grew up only answering to his father. deirdre would only every answer a question with ‘ ask yer da ’ or  ‘ dija’ ask yer da ? ’

she was a mostly spineless , god fearing woman that was afraid of her own shadow and that’s what made her such a good puppet for matteo. bryce’s father was a stern , angry man that only grew angrier when drunk , no one dared put even a single toe out of line with him around. 

( TW: implied child abuse ) with bryce being the first born and only son he was expected to be perfect , from a very young age he felt the pressures of that. it was like walking on eggshells , always afraid of making a mistake or displeasing his father. he did not have the fun , happy-go-lucky innocence a child should expect of their early years ; instead for bryce winslow there was not much more than discipline , hard work , and punishment.

for the most part , bryce succeeded at being the perfect son his father expected him to be — a robot more than an actual living boy. nothing more than a machine , a machine being bred for war. 

it wasn’t until the beginning of his secondary school , when puberty and hormones began blossoming , that things became precarious. voice cracks , uneven patches of hair…. oh , and a sudden sexual desire for the same sex. 

( TW: suicide ment. ) now , the winslows were catholic - extremely devout catholics - and bryce grew very self-loathing and afraid in this confusing time. he contemplated suicide , all because ‘ homosexuality was wrong ‘ and ‘ you go straight to hell ‘ if you engage in anything associated with it. it didn’t matter how good of a son you were , because ‘ man shall not lie with man. ‘  he kept it hidden for years , he also managed not to act on it until well into the last year of secondary school. 

despite bryce’s fears and shame , when he was sixteen he fell in love for the first time. first loves can be explosive , dangerous even and this one was nothing short of just that. the boy kept his forbidden love a secret from everyone , his family and father above all others.

all good things must come to an end though or so they say , for the boys it came far sooner than later. matteo , bryce’s father , happened upon a note from the boy bryce was seeing , cian , and in said note was all sorts of information including a meeting spot. as you can imagine , matteo flew from the house in a drunken rage in search of his “ sinner “ of a son only to catch him red-handed. 

( TW: assault , child abuse ) bryce managed to save cian from his father’s wrath , taking the brunt of the attack. cian watched as bryce was beaten , begging and screaming for the man to stop , that he was killing him. the drunken bigot was turning on the younger boy when bryce told him to leave and never come back , so that is what he did. 

( TW: implied abuse ) to this day , he has never laid eyes on his young lover and that was probably for the best. after his father had tired himself out and satisfied his rage , he left his son there in the dirt and the beaten boy didn’t bother moving. 

( TW: suicidal thoughts , conversion therapy ment. ) will to live depleted , too tired to go on , pain too much to endure — he just slept there until the next morning. he was awoken with a kick of dirt in the face , his father telling him that he was being sent to a ‘’ special ’’ facility where they would get rid of his ‘’ ailment. ’’ 

( TW: conversion therapy / facility ) time melded in the facility , but he estimated nearly a year of his life was wasted away in there. resistant and defiant for most of his time there , it wasn’t until his father visited him , the one and only time . that things changed. 

( TW: suicide ment. , homophobia ) his father brought news that his mother had killed herself but this was a vicious lie , a last ditch effort to get bryce to change his ways and boy , did it work ! hardly a month later , the young man was discharged from the facility only to find his mother was indeed very much alive.

matteo up and moved his entire family to england after bryce got out of the facility. his father gave him nonsense about wanting to get away from the bad memories , starting over new , and ‘ lead not into temptation ‘ by sending him back to school with ‘ sinners ’ and ‘ sodomites. ‘ 

so , bryce finished out the remainder of his schooling in england and went straight into the forces as per his father’s wishes. sadly for him , he would never become what he so longed to be. he had just finished boot camp and life had just started to seem somewhat normal - if you can call anything the winslow’s had normal - when he lost it all.

( TW: eye injury ) the young man was honorably discharged after an accident that left him legally blind in one eye , when he returned home after his short stent in the defense forces there was no longer a place in the family for him. his father quite literally disowned him all for something he had no control over , a mere accident , but there was nothing more disappointing to matteo than a son that was ‘ kicked out ‘ of the forces.

( TW: gang ment. , human trafficking ) fast forward a year , bryce had found himself in a gang. this part of his background is the most unresolved seeing as it’s not part of his original backstory. long story short , he was involved with the gang until he was twenty three but it all became too much for him after his boss tried to involve him in human trafficking. 

( TW: gang ment. , suicide , death ) when you join a gang you don’t usually do it thinking someday you might one day retire or quit said gang , but then as you get older you realize you’re not as tough as you thought. bryce was twenty-three when his mother finally really did ‘ commit suicide ‘ , the first time his father spoke to him since he returned home from the forces was only to blame him for her death. 

( TW: death ment. , implied murder ) honestly , it was just the straw that broke the camels back. bryce wasn’t allowed at the funeral or anywhere near it , he’s almost certain his mother’s death wasn’t by her own hand or an accident but he’ll never truly know. after he was certain she was in the ground , bryce fled to america in the hopes of outrunning the gang and getting lost in the melting pot. 

once in the land of opportunity , he got his hands on the cheapest ride he could find first and just started driving. it was well after his twenty-fourth birthday , right smack in the middle of a hot ass summer in ‘06 ,  that he found himself in pleasance of all places. he never had any intention at all to grow roots there , it simply happened.  

other than that , the man busies himself with drying and preserving flowers , taking baths , working out , and playing with his dog.  he parades around like this big , tough hard ass when in reality he’s quite the domestic goofball type.

ETC.

has a dog ,  it’s a beagle named shiloh literally 

a big hobby of his is preserving flowers in his spare time , he keeps a small book of pressed flowers and plant life on him a lot of the time in the chance he comes across something he wants to preserve

can play guitar and doesn’t have a bad singing voice either

legally blind in one eye , but doesn’t wear his glasses often

has a younger sister that he does keep in contact with , but not very well ( WC ? )

a guilty pleasure of his is taking baths ; he enjoys adding bath salts , flowers , and other so-called ‘ feminine ‘ products like bath bombs , etc. to them and honestly takes one nearly every day

he was born and raised mostly in dublin , ireland and has a thick accent that only gets thicker when intoxicated or angry. he does use a lot of uncommon terminology to american’s ( yes , i own the feckin’ book of everything irish. . . it’s that serious ) but i’ll lyk in the tags what it means unless i forget

@phqextras​

[elodiegarner]

ELODIE CAMILLE GARNER  ⁏  thirty-three  ○  investigative journalist for crystal city times  ○  mystic point.

❝ WATCH YOUR TOUNGE AROUND HER. SHE WILL BEAR HER FANGS AND TEAR YOU APART WITH ALL THE GRACE OF A QUEEN. ❞

⇨  aesthetics ⍮ dresses of black lace and velvet, the scent of chanel perfume lingering in the air as she floats past, blood-red fingertips coiled around the grip of a fountain pen, red-bottomed heels clicking against marble floors, rose gold highlighter shimmering along the height of prominent cheekbones, a svelte frame that is shrouded in an air of mystery and intrigue, peach roses in a vase on the window sill, a sense of freedom and carelessness when dancing, deft fingers stained with charcoal and oil paint, the melodic chime of piano keys, delicate digits adorned with moonstone gem rings, a coy smile spread across full rose lips, long chocolate locks blowing in the cool breeze of a summer’s evening, battered books with dog-eared pages, the silvery glint of old scar tissue, ripped leather jackets and worn jeans, & ribbed turtlenecks.

HEYOOO !! s’up buttercups ?? ‘tis i, your friendly neighbourhood loser chrissie, and i’m super duper excited to be here among all you fab human beings !! this here is my precious bby angel elodie and i adore her with my whole entire being. she’s a rather feisty, sassy ball of curiosity and mild rage, oop ?? excuse her blunt nature ; she’s a genuine softy deep down inside. she’s sassy, classy and a lil badassy. also beauty, grace, will punch you in the face. plot-wise, i’m 100% down for literally anything and everything so come at me with whatcha got !! i’m always diggity down to spit ball ideas and form some dope connections so pls feel free to invade my ims or discord ( chrissie.#9606 ) to brainstorm. if ya wanna, go ahead and light up that lil grey heart and i’ll shimmy my irish butt into your ims to discuss plots and all that good stuff. anywho, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we ??

FUNDAMENTALS.

full name. elodie camille garner.

nicknames. el / els.

current age. thirty-three.

birthday. february 6th, 1987.

gender. cisgender female.

pronouns. she / her.

nationality. french.

religion. catholic.

hometown. paris, france.

past residences. marseille, france, & manhattan, nyc, united states.

current residence. mystic point, crystal city, united states.

sexual orientation. heterosexual.

romantic orientation. demiromantic.

education. journalism degree obtained from nyu.

occupation. investigative journalist at crystal city times.

CONNECTIONS.

birth mother. adelaide garner. †

birth father. edward garner. †

full blood siblings. louis garner.

maternal grandmother. celeste dupont. †

maternal grandfather. alexandre dupont. 

paternal grandmother. stephanie garner.

paternal grandfather. gary garner. †

maternal aunts. amelie dupont.

paternal aunts. rebecca garner.

maternal uncles. raphael dupont.

paternal uncles. n/a. 

significant other. gabriel bonneville. †

children. n/a.

pets. n/a.

PROFICIENCIES.

spoken languages. english, french, spanish, italian, & german.

negative traits. flighty, obstinate, assertive, brazen, & destructive.

positive traits. sagacious, alluring, headstrong, elegant, & vehement.

strengths. etiquette, resourcefulness, knowledgeable, quick-thinker, original, brainstorming, charismatic, & energetic.

weaknesses. argumentative, insensitive, intolerant, finds it difficult to focus, & dislikes practical matters.

skills. memory recall, investigating, physical stamina, able to use initiative, & excellent problem-solving abilities.

talents. violin, piano, languages, writing, & photographic memory.

APPEARANCE.

eye colour. light brown with hazel flecks.

hair colour. natural, dark, chocolate brown.

height. five feet, seven inches.

weight. 57 kg.

build. she is considered slightly above average height for a female and is both slender and toned, with slight curvature.

scars. a rather noticeable one across her clavicle and a few others in less visible places.

tattoos. n/a.

piercings. earlobes.

glasses. yes, but usually wears contacts.

prominent feature. full, plump lips.

MISCELLANEOUS.

zodiac. aquarius.

element. air.

house. ravenclaw.

myers briggs type. entp-a.

alignment. chaotic good.

enneagram. type eight.

temperament. choleric.

intelligence type. interpersonal.

character label. the orphic.

past mental disorders. acute stress disorder, depression, & anxiety.

current mental disorders. undiagnosed.

addictions. tobacco, & alcohol.

vices. lust, greed, & wrath.

virtues. temperance, kindness, & humility.

allergies. penicillin.

diet. vegetarian.

accent. french with an undertone of american.

dominant hand. ambidextrous.

blood type. o negative.

felonies. n/a.

vehicle. red 1966 shelby 427 cobra.

BACKGROUND.

TRIGGERS. childbirth death, child abuse, infertility, domestic violence, poison, murder, & death.

Born in the winter of 1987, an innocent baby girl entered the capital of France to a French mother and an English father. Though she’d come into this world placid and silent, her birth was far from being an ode to her future. Instead of the welcoming arms and loving smile of her mother, the first sight Elodie witnessed was the weeping of her father. It wasn’t long until his tears turned into angry fists and hatred shining in dark eyes. This was the only form of her father that Elodie knew — he only element of him she could recall. From the instant she was old enough to figure it out, she knew that her father despised her just as she knew her mother had died giving birth to her.

     Despite leading an obscenely lavish and excessive lifestyle, Elodie was a lonely child; starved of love from her father or even companionship from her brother. As a result of her father’s hatred toward her, Elodie spent her days alone — roaming around the vast house, occupying her childish mind with simple games of hide and seek. Except, she knew no one would ever look for her. Elodie was an outcast in her own family and often wished she had died in place of her mother. She’d spent her entire childhood into her teenage years aiming to please her father. She could play various instruments, speak a handful of languages fluently, recite every Victor Hugo poem word for word. Yet, still, she went unnoticed and neglected by him. All Elodie had ever wanted was to find her place, to fit in, to be cared for. Instead, all she’d got was left behind, disregarded and deemed a burden.

     By the time Elodie turned thirteen, she had begun to develop a deep-rooted hatred and resentment for her father. A loathing so strong that bubbled up deep inside her following years upon years of unfair treatment. Soon, she started acting out — going against her father’s wishes, rebelling and causing trouble. If he was to hate her for no reason, then she would give him a reason. It was through the girl’s behaviour that she found herself shipped off to Marseille to live with her aunt and uncle. It was during this time that within a blink of an eye that Elodie turned hostile and indifferent. As if she had transformed into the polar opposite version of what she’d always been; converting into an alternate version of her former self.

     Comparatively, Elodie’s life with her uncle had been no different to her life with her father. Her time in Marseille had been no walk in the park. Her aunt was a vain, unfeeling woman, unable to conceive a child of her own. Her uncle: an angry, offhand man who often resorted to acts of violence toward his wife, and, eventually, Elodie. From no age, all the girl had known was neglect, hatred and the feeling of being unwanted. Naturally, this was all it had taken for Elodie to turn into a cold, less vibrant girl who became void of emotion and attachment. At least, until she’d turned twenty and had fallen in love with a young accountant named Gabriel.

     At first, their relationship had been innocent and genuine. Gabriel had been the first person to show Elodie an ounce of affection and admiration. Most importantly, he respected her. Without a shadow of a doubt, it was Gabriel’s kindness that had reeled her in; rendering her unable to see the change in his behaviour until it was too late. They married quite quickly — both twenty-two at the time. For the first few months of their marriage, things had been as tranquil as they’d ever been. Gabriel had showered Elodie with love and gifts; treated her the best that she’d ever been treated in her entire life. Then, suddenly, and swiftly, things had taken a nosedive and soon, Gabriel had turned cruel and merciless. He’d hurt her then he’d be the one to shed the tears — claiming his sincere apologies and promising never to lay a finger upon her ever again.

     Fast forward, two more years and countless beatings later, Gabriel had failed to maintain his promises. If anything, his actions had grown much more violent and ruthless. Then twenty-four and having suffered years of her husband’s abuse, Elodie had grown weary and slowly — that deep-seated rage began to boil inside her. It was only a matter of time before she retaliated. Whilst Gabriel left for a while on a business trip, Elodie managed to breathe a sigh of relief at her husband’s absence until a week later when he arrived back in her life. And in that same instance, so was her brother, Louis, with news of their father’s passing.

     Since the death of their father, Elodie’s brother had taken over their family business and out of their father’s clutches, Louis sought his sister out; soon realising the abuse she had been enduring. In fact, it had been her very brother who gave Elodie the poison that she would later use to kill her husband. Concocting a plan to murder Gabriel with the aid of the ricin her brother had provided her with, Elodie had taken action a couple of weeks later. Lacing a glass of red wine with the toxin, Elodie sat back and watched her husband guzzle the liquid down; hours later falling into a severe illness of which she offered to nurse him through all the while knowing that his impending death was inevitable.

     Rendered unable to lash out, Gabriel slowly but surely declined in health until finally, his lungs and kidneys reached failure — resulting in his imminent death. But before this had taken place, Elodie’s brother had helped her flee France mere days before her husband drew his last breath. In fear of falling under any kind of suspicion should Gabriel’s poisoning become uncovered, Elodie wound up in New York City where she laid low for the first few months. For the first year of her residing in the city, Elodie worked as a barmaid whilst attending university, studying a journalism degree.

     After she graduated, Elodie wound up moving to Mystic Point where she moved into a home near the water; working as an investigative journalist at Crystal City Times. Luckily, her secret has remained undiscovered thus far and for obvious reasons, Elodie would prefer to keep her wrongdoing under wraps. Her life might not be ideal but it has given her a second chance, offering her the security and monetary gain she’d lacked throughout her life in Paris. Although she’s been through a lot of adversities, Elodie doesn’t let any of the incidents from her past define her or hold her back. Throughout it all, she learned to look out for herself, to stand up for herself and how to continue surviving even if she was going through hell. She’ll never call herself a victim or bend to anybody’s will ever again.

WANTED PLOTS.

give me all of the connections from friends, frenemies, enemies, hookups, exes, rivals and everything else in between. added bonus if there’s angst or drama. if you have anything in mind feel free to throw it at me, i’m open to the majority of things and have zero triggers so come at me bro !! below you can find some connections i’d love for my bby :

when friends become enemies. maybe this person and elodie were friends from paris that she hung around with and got involved in reckless behaviour with. or maybe this person was someone elodie befriended during her university years. or they could be someone that elodie met when she moved to crystal city. under whichever circumstance they met, one fact remains: the two are no longer on friendly terms. they were once close and trusted each other with anything but now, there is obvious hostility. perhaps there was a betrayal, blackmail, a breach of trust, lack of communication, a simple misunderstanding. whatever it was that cracked this relationship is set in stone and is unlikely to ever go back to how it once was. some things are just too broken to be mended.

you’re in my veins. elodie has always had bad habits. has always gravitated to toxicity like a moth to a flame. thus, it would be safe to assume that 90% of her relationships have also been bad for her. the broken element inside her always found itself magnetised to the darkness in people. more especially, attracted to people she knew were no good for her. though, in the end, elodie would always manage to break free and leave these people behind. however, there was always this one person she couldn’t seem to stay away from. she met them when she moved to crystal city and instantly she knew they would break her heart yet it didn’t deter her from continuing to crawl back to him. these two have what can only be described as a toxic relationship. neither is good for the other yet neither can seem to walk away.

if you don’t have enemies, you don’t have character. of course, it goes without saying that elodie is the kind of woman who could make enemies for herself very easily. due to her sarcastic and distant nature, it would be safe to assume she has quite a few enemies and rivals. though this particular person would be the enemy of all enemies. somebody that she cannot abide and someone who cannot abide her either. they can’t stand the sight of each other and refuse to share the same space unless absolutely necessary. otherwise, there’s a massive chance of a fight outbreaking between them. there could be a history between them that has brought about their hostile nature toward each other. or they could simply dislike each other for no real known reason other than a sense they get from the other. bonus points if they’re crime affiliated!

[biiscione]

               INTRODUCTIONS: Panagiotis  &&  Konstantinos                  “ Κατα μανα κατα κυρη κατα γιο και θυγατερα                                        De tal palo tal astilla.                        The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. ”

***please check the end of post for tw/cw before continuing Background Panagiotis, preferably Panos, is of Greek and Armenian descent. His parents, formerly Greek nationals, immigrate to the United States after the birth of their first child, Jocasta, and it is in the Olympia, Washington that their son is born. His early childhood is happy though odd as he grows into two worlds: one of his revolutionary refugee parents exiled from their homeland and the other of American Suburbia. Death continuously alters his course, distorting a happy childhood into one of pain and suffering. Forced to live with his father’s brother and his wife in New Jersey, he endures abuses hurled at him until his late uncle’s death. Hardened and barely a teenager, he travels northward to the Big Apple. In Brooklyn he finds a way to make money, not in the most honest of ways, but hey, it keeps a roof over his head. While collecting rent for some big mucky - muck landlords in Bushwick, he ends up meeting who will be the mother of his son. She’s a few years old than he but just as calloused to the world. There time together is short - lived and a few months after Konnie is born, Panos is a single father. Strapped for cash and getting to know the truth of his parent’s past as anarchist revolutionaries, he endeavors to travel to his distant family in Macedonia where he then leaves his son and travels to Athens. Following in his father’s footsteps is quite easy and he takes to the streets just as he had to fight tyranny and fascism. This dreamlike sequence of valor ends with the death of a close friend, collateral damage to the volatile politics in Athens, and Panos’s own incarceration in his own failed attempt at a revenge killing. After serving his time, he returns to Macedonia to find his infant son already a smart, sensitive little boy. In a quarter-life crisis and realizing he needs to get his shit together for his son, he finds mercenary work in Central Asia and the Middle East.... and he hates it. There’s just something about assisting a private military organization stage de facto wars on resource - rich regions that didn’t sit right with him. So, after ensuring his payment, he throws a wrench or two into his employer’s plans and dips as fast as he can. He returns to Athens briefly, hoping to find permanent work that didn’t necessarily compromise his morality. A friend informs him of a mercenary job in Italy as a glorified bodyguard so he takes it upon himself to travel there with his son and what little money he has left. There’s nothing like an in-person interview, right? Panos lands the job working for a reclusive, wealthy man ( mostly on account of him being somewhat attractive and a single dad ) and the rest is history. Personality Abrasive and aggressive doesn’t necessarily mean bitter and unkind. He can be loud and a little too friendly at times ( a mask for his borderline - crippling anxiety and undiagnosed mood disorder ) but just chalk it up to his blended accent. Overtly sexual jokes and blunt questioning is meant to vet any weakness in the prospects of friendship, while also being a handy - dandy tool to be antisocial. He dislikes authority figures but as he ages, he tends to keep his cool as long as they leave him alone. While he airs less on the polite side of socializing, he does hold himself to a high moral code, nothing too chivalrous or anything, but he would defend another’s human rights with his very life. He’s loyal to a fault and has a hard time distancing himself from those he has grown fond of, even when their morals do not align with his own. Appearance He stands 6′ (give or take a half inch) with lax posture and lean frame. Tawny - colored hair, long - topped with a short undercut, is typically dressed in pomade and slicked back. He has blue eyes, icy or azure dependent on lighting. Olive - toned skin stays paled as he keeps away from the sun. Nose is shaped in the classic hellenic fashion, rather, it was . . . it’s been broken so many times that it sits crookedly upon his face, a bump breaking the Greek silhouette of his bridge. Full lips settle into a pout on his rarely expressionless face. His face is quite square, accentuated with a wide jaw. High cheekbones are accentuated not by makeup but tattoos, a broadsword along the hollow of one cheek. Misc. tattoos dress his arms and neck. A tattoo of a Roman/Sol Invictus diadem and ‘Κωνσταντῖνος’ along the crown’s band is on the left - side of his chest. Fingers are tattooed with anarchist and subtle anti - fascist symbols, blurred and faded with age. The juxtaposition of his rugged physical appearance with his bespoke wardrobe accentuates the starkness between his past life as a revolutionary and his quiet life as a mercenary/gun-for-hire. Notes ● is a devout member of the Greek Orthodox Church, despite his negative relationship with his priest uncle. ● avoids romantic and sexual relationships ● physical affection that he doesn’t initiate himself his wholly unwanted and is often violently rejected ● uh... heterosexual? sort of? ● loves to paint ppl, especially portraits ● thinks knives are pretty cool ● good at making things look like accidents Background Konstantinos, fondly Konnie, is American - born like his father and mother of Puerto-Rican and German descent but he doesn’t remember much of where he was born, his mother, and the apartment they lived in together. His earliest memory is of his father’s grandmother, the scars upon her flesh concluding stories she could not finish herself. In Macedonia, he has many mothers; though they remain faceless in his mind, they carry with them the same sweet scent of chrysanthemums. He does not recall his father being in his life till he’s just learning how to read and write, when he takes him away from the comfort of his many-mothers. As he grows, the gentle boy is troubled with this realization but cannot come to resent his father for his decision. He is whisked off to an unfamiliar place where unfamiliar people speak in an unfamiliar language. However, he is still young enough to teach, to mold, and he takes to this new language so easily that he almost forgets the tongue of his many-mothers. In his time in primary school, he earns the badge of polyglot. As he grows and becomes an acceptable age to be sent away, he is offered the chance to go to several prestigious boarding schools by his adoptive grandfather but, much to his relief, his father softly declines this generous offer. As he has been torn from comfort before, he holds the pain of the trauma of being taken from familiarity, causing him to be anxious and he is, although he excels in much that he does, unsure of himself, even at the tender age of eleven. He clings to his father and grandfather and the many people who work/reside upon his grandfather’s estate, for everyone there is gentle and keenly aware of his nervousness. Even now, at fifteen/sixteen, he still finds himself most comfortable in the quietest corners of his grandfather’s estate. Personality Those who are unfamiliar with him, especially extroverted adults, may find him, not shy, but haughty on account of his observant quietness and stature. He does not interact well with children his own age and, if he does find himself accepted into a friend group, he is the reserved listener. However, timidness is overshadowed by his morality, defending others valiantly and with a vulgarity that almost completely mirrors his father’s. Silence is complacency, his father taught him, and he is steadfast in his actions in the face of injustice and cruelty. Opposite his father, he is soft - spoken and educated in his speech. He is quite agreeable in mood and disposition though is considered “irregularly emotional” for a teenage boy by those stuck in the Old World. His emotional intelligence was nurtured by Panos, whose own emotional intelligence was stunted, and he is particularly empathetic and kind, with others and himself. Maybe that could get him in trouble later in life. Appearance At sixteen, he is 5′11 but looks taller with his stately posture and lean build. His face shape is much softer than his father’s with rounded jaw and fuller cheeks. He has his father’s full lips and his mother’s narrow, bowed - bridged and wide - tipped nose. Head is topped with light brown, tawny - tinted waves, hair long enough to curl around his ears, at the nape of his neck, and on his forehead. He has his father’s color-changing, light hues and they are further accentuated with his olive - toned skin that darkens easily in summer under an Italian sun. His attire is always shifting and evolving though always echoes the softness of his personality. Notes ● though raised in a Roman Catholic household, he is a practicing member of the Greek Orthodox church ● loves animals.... so much. often babysits his grandfather’s pet snakes (though he prefers the furry sorts) ● a casual art historian ● wants to be a mary wollstonecraft shelley historian when he gets older ● dad taught him how to shoot and he’s a very good marksman ● because his father constantly changes his own last name, panos and raphael agreed that konnie would take raphael’s, if not for stability, for social prestige

Shipping p: it’s rare that there’s chemistry for a sexual/romantic ship but i’m pretty open to trying! love enemy ships for him tho! k: no sexual/romantic ships since i’ll play him as a minor both: platonic and familial ships, ftw Selectivity/Activity p: always active/ will interact with everyone and anyone k: quite finicky/ will interact with anyone ***Trigger Warnings talk of: physical, mental, and sexual abuse, violence, death, graphic sex, death, mental illness, disordered eating, anxiety, weapons actions: physical and emotional violence, murder, body horror, disordered eating, weapons (guns and knives) Panos’ childhood was full of abuse: mental, physical, and sexual. I won’t bring up specifics in my writings unless prompted and will tag them accordingly. Panos does engage in a lot of violence and uses violent language. Panos suffers from disordered eating and a mood disorder, the earlier shown in less than subtle ways. Konnie has generalized anxiety. If any of these things are a serious problem, message me and I’ll be sure to constantly tag them. If you find yourself overwhelmed or know you will be, please don’t be afraid to soft block. I really wouldn’t mind.

[eliseafox]

[ Olivia Munn, cis female, she/hers, 40 ] Wanted, dead or alive is [ Elise Fox-Mancini ]. They are a [ Corporate Business Attorney ] who have been in New York City for [ nineteen years ]. They are affiliated with [ syndicate ] and serves them as a [ associate ]. People say they are [ observant ] and [ methodical ] but their enemies would say they are [ shrewd ] and [ vengeful ]. They are described as [ matte red lipstick and six-inch heels, an ice cold gaze that pierces straight through you, the scent of petrichor after a warm summer rain ].

trigger for miscarriage, terminal illness.

small stats.

name: elise amelia fox-mancini. age/dob: 40 / april 8. occupation: corporate business attorney, syndicate associate. sexuality: heteromantic heterosexual. nationality: american. languages spoken: english, italian, spanish and mandarin chinese. hair color: dark brown. eye color: hazel. height: 5′4″. build: hourglass figure, fit and athletic.

backstory.

born in kent, connecticut to an affluent old money family, elise fox was never once in her life left wanting for anything. an only child, she was the apple of her father’s eyes ---a man who worked for a hedge fund corporation and had the ideal american royalty life to the public eye, complete with beautiful trophy wife hanging off of his arm.

elise was always busy: ballet lessons as a girl, fencing, archery, piano, flute, language lessons ... one after the other until her schedule was booked solid. for a period of time her mother had her attending photo shoots in her youth (you can find old ad campaigns or commercials with a young elise in them to this day), anything to keep her daughter busy and honest.

it was very clear that her mother’s affections weren’t earnest: a vain attempt to keep her own accomplishments in her own younger days alive through elise. she grew to harshly resent her mother, aware that she was more like a cat to the woman than she was a child.

her relationship with cecelia fox is strained at best, to this day, with elise keeping her further than an arm’s length away.

a brilliant child, elise excelled in her schooling and graduated from her private boarding school at 17. she was accepted into cornell law school and shifted through her law degree with relative ease ---something that takes 7 years to complete took her only 6 and at 23 years of age elise fox graduated and took her bar examinations. 

a combination of excellent grades and her father’s notoriety had her falling in with the mancini family, but if you ask elise she’ll tell you that the exact details are blurry at best. on paper she’s an attorney for one of new york’s finest law firms (with some of the harshest sharks for lawyers on staff). her spot at entry level was quickly recognized and pushed forward ... it seemed everything elise touched was fast-tracked through sheer force of will.

by 27 she was handled several accounts of her own, on retainer for a handful of bigger corporations should they need legal representation. considering her affiliation with the mancini family, a considerable amount of her accounts are business funded by the mancini family themselves. it’s more about her capabilities as an attorney than an easy pass, where elise fought hard to keep her affiliations with the family from influencing her business otherwise.

at 29 she married luca mancini, the son of her boss, after a courtship spanning many years. the two have been married for 11 years, though estranged for 5 of them.

a year later elise’s father passed away from illness. it was the final nail in the coffin of shutting her relationship with cecelia down. elise hasn’t spoken to her mother since (maybe once or twice).

understanding that family would always come first to her husband. elise was careful not to toe into his business where it wasn’t hers ---she’d never allow her relationship with him to influence her place in the mancini family or her work outside of it, just as she never expected his relationship with her to affect his work in any fashion.

at 35 she was expecting, though after 5 months of pregnancy she miscarried - a factor due to her genetics (mother’s side). elise was heartbroken, and more-so when it seemed as if her husband was more interested with business and family matters. instead of attempting to work through their shared tragedy, elise took time to physically recover.

it was during this time that luca took the reigns to the mancini family, that work picked up more for him ---poor timing, or perhaps an easy way to lose himself and express his grief, elise saw the failure in a spiteful light. two months after the loss of their child she packed a bag and left when he was away working for the night.

she spent a year in upstate new york recovering mentally, handling accounts for work remotely but mostly retaining a sabbatical. she returned to manhattan when she was sure she was well-enough, and resumed business as usual, unwilling to speak of or acknowledge her personal tragedy, or her seeming separation from luca.

for the past 3 years elise has been handling her accounts, working her ass off for her firm, and keeping her head down, generally. the business with gregory bianchi’s death has been handled with as much grace and elegance as possible, with elise maintining a prim public facade.

personality.

shrewd, concise, and no-nonsense, elise carries her work as a corporate attorney into her personal life more often than not. her general attitude around those she hardly knows or finds herself only just affiliated with can come across as incredibly cold, when in reality elise is a devil in the details individual. she champions the facts over emotional investments, though she’s obviously not immune to them.

she can be quite warm around those she’s comfortable with, though it’s generally difficult for her to express emotions she was typically denied as a child, considering her mother’s attitude and behavior in general.

driven as hell. a dog with a bone: if you give her a task she will see it through to completion, come hell or high water. it’s part of how she willed herself toward completing so much of her education early (in combination with her intelligence), but it’s carried through to all aspects of her life.

extra.

very fit and enjoys working out. she runs regularly, takes self defense classes four times a week, and practices yoga each morning.

still dances - ballet, to be specific, though obviously not professionally. it’s more of a hobby than anything else.

of the many instruments her mother threw her into, the only one that stuck was violin. elise isn’t a flawless player, and she has a small collection of violins that are more for display purposes than not.

lives in a penthouse suite in manhattan. it’s immaculate.

has a cat named mogwai  (like the gremlin), that’s incredibly and unrealistically spoiled. he’s an american maine coon and she loves him more than you, honestly.

has a lot of suits. has a lot of clothes, really. her suite has 2 walk-in closets and both are full to the brim with various attire and shoes.

always well-put together, even when she’s not working. you’ll never catch her looking frumpy or rushed ... even her sweatpants days are presentable.

has never once let the -mancini in her name be the reason she achieved anything. and despite being estranged from luca, she never dropped or changed it. she’s still married to him, after all.

[shelbyfm]

sorry this is late babes ! i got busier than i thought i was going to so without further ado i’ll put the cliff notes version of sy shelby’s starling existence under the cut and you know what to do from there !  🖤  but  if  you’re  gonna  slide  into  my  dms  do  it  on  scarlet  bc  that’s  where  i  am  on  mobile  ! 

jack gilinsky. cismale. he/his.  ／  josiah shelby just pulled up blasting st tropez by post malone  — that song is so them ! you know, for a twenty - four year old center fielder for the los angeles dodgers, i’ve heard they’re really -abrasive, but that they make up for it by being so +audacious. if i had to choose three things to describe them, i’d probably say the creak of a well - worn leather glove, shotgunning another cheap beer just to feel alive, and the taste of copper on your tongue. here’s to hoping they don’t cause too much trouble !

. ⊹       ┈    ›     𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒    .

NAME  :  josiah  david  shelby  .

BREAKDOWN  :  josiah  (  god  supports  ,  heals  )   david  (  beloved  )  

NICKNAMES  :  sy  ,  jd  ,  josie  (  finn  only  tbh  )  ,  shelbz  ,  shel-bay  ,  bay  .

AGE  :  twenty - four  .

BIRTHDAY  :  november  twenty - third  .

ZODIAC  :  scorpio  &  sagittarius  cusp  .

GENDER  :  male  .

PRONOUNS  :  he  /  him  .

NATIONALITY  :  american  .

ETHNICITY  :  english  ,  french  ,  italian  .

HOGWARTS HOUSE  :  hufflepuff  .

MBTI  :  estp  (  the  persuader  )

INSPIRATIONS  :  lucas  scott  (  one  tree  hill  )  ,  adam  parrish  (  the  raven  cycle  )  ,  nick  miller  (  new  girl  )  ,  ron  swanson  and  andy  dwyer  (  parks  &  rec  )  ,  adam  groff  (  sex  education  )  .

HOBBIES / SPECIAL SKILLS  :  baseball  ,  procrastination  ,  midnight  snacks  ,  getting  the  last  word  ,  saucy  brow  lifts  ,  sleeping  in  ,  running  away  from  his  problems  ,  hitting  first  and  asking  questions  later  ,  developing  newer  and  more  creative  defense  mechanisms  .

VICES  ;   acerbic  ,  brash  ,  careless  ,  cataclysmic  ,  defiant  ,  duplicitous  ,  destructive  ,  greedy  ,  ignorant  ,  meddlesome  ,  narcissistic  ,  obnoxious  ,  provocative  ,  reckless  ,  selfish  ,  troublesome   ,  vain  ,  volatile  ,  wanton  .

VIRTUES  :   athletic  ,  challenging  ,  charismatic  ,  curious    ,  debonair  ,  forthright  ,  fun - loving  ,  intrepid  ,  invulnerable  ,  jocular  ,  loves  his  sister  so  much  he  could  die  ,  loyal  ,  passionate  ,  playful  ,  protective  ,  witty  .

PINTEREST  :  xx

˚  . ⊹       ┈    ›     𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃    .

sy  was  born  poorer  than  poor  and  spent  his  formative  years  watching  his  grandmother  do  her  very  best  to  keep  the  dust  from  coating  everything  in  their  ramshackle  little  trailer  in  oklahoma  .

his  mother  wasn’t  around  much  .  after  running  away  to  chase  after  one  band  or  another  and  coming  home  with  her  waistline  significantly  thickened  ,  she  didn’t  much  take  to  motherhood  ,  not  when  running  off  to  the  nearest  dive  bar  or  casino  to  spend  whatever  meager  paycheck  she  could  scrounge  up  was  just  so  tempting  .

in  fact  ,  sy’s  memories  of  her  are  often  fleeting  .  she  was  a  whirlwind  of  a  woman  ,  beautiful  despite  the  hard  life  she  led  ,  but  in  and  out  the  door  too  fast  for  him  to  ever  really  get  to  know  her  .  and  after  some  of  his  grandmother’s  jewelry  ended  up  in  the  pawn  shop  twenty  miles  up  the  road  she  didn’t  come  around  the  house  anymore  when  she  found  the  locks  changed  .

sy’s  grandmother  ,  affectionately  known  as  nan  ,  did  her  best  to  raise  her  grandson  better  than  she  had  raised  her  daughter  .  though  truth  be  told  ,  the  practice  wasn’t  much  different  ,  his   mother  had  just  been  a  bit  of  a  bad  seed  .

religion  and  discipline  were  a  staple  and  so  every  sunday  found  the  pair  walking  to  the  church  in  their  parish  to  give  thanks  and  receive  the  blessing  ,  a  tradition  that  sy  hasn’t  kept  up  with  since  her  death  but  i’m  getting  ahead  of  myself  .

his  nan  made  a  modest  living  for  where  they  lived  ,  she  wasn’t  spoiling  the  boy  but  it  was  enough  to  put  food  on  the  table  and  get  them  to  and  from  where  they  needed  to  go  .

he  had  a  few  close  friends  in  the  neighborhood  and  they  usually  got  together  in  the  evenings  to  play  whatever  games  they  could  ,  sometimes  soccer  with  a  ball  that  looked like  you  could  put  your  foot  through  it  ,  or  basketball  on  the  single  hoop  with  no  net  that  was  somehow  still  standing  in  the  local  “ park ”  .  summers  were  spent  walking  down  to  the  pond  that  passed  for  a  swimming  hole  to  get  some  sort  of  relief  from  the  heat  .

he  picked  up  a  job  at  one  of  the  local  motor  shops  to  help  with  the  bills  ,  though  his  nan  insisted  he  spend  his  time  working  on  his  schoolwork  first  .  he’d  still  slip  a  portion  of  what  he  came  home  with  into  her  purse  when  she  wasn’t  looking  .  

he  played  sports  in  school  ,  their  community  doing  what  they  could  to  scrounge  up  funds  for  a  ramshackle  team  for  each  sport  .  he  primarily  ran  track  and  cross  country  (  in  a  uniform  that  looked  like  it  was  straight  out  of  an  80′s  movie  and  felt  like  it  too  )  .  he  was  a  decent  hurdler  and  the  fact  that  he  usually  walked  everywhere  he  needed  to  get  gave  his  stamina  a  certain  edge  on  the  kids  who  were  better  off  .  but  his  true  passion  was  baseball  .  sy  could  write  poetry  about  the  diamond  ,  and  most  of  the  assignments  he  managed  to  turn  in  involved  the  sport  somehow  .  (  he  almost  got  caught  cheating  once  when  he  turned  in  a  paper  that  wasn’t  about  it  but  he’s  always  been  lucky  af  )

their  school  team  wasn’t  anything  special  .  they  played  with  heart  and  had  fun  doing  it  but  they  were  never  going  to  make  it  to  state  with  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  even  though  it  was  clear  sy  (  and  a  couple  of  his  buddies  )  had  the  potential  to  be  more  than  just  has - beens  who  got  stuck  living  in  their  hometown  for  the  rest  of  their  lives  .  during  sy’s  eighth  grade�� year  ,  his  junior  high  team  made  a  pretty  valiant  push  and  made  it  to  the  regional  championship  but  they  were  simply  out - spent  by  some  of  the  other  teams  and  came  home  disappointed  .

someone  must  have  recognized  sy  though  ,  because  a  few  weeks  later  a  letter  arrived  from  one  of  the  elite  baseball  camps  in  the  country  stating  that  he  had  been  sponsored  to  attend  for  the  summer  .  his  friends  were  excited  for  him  and  it  was  probably  the  best  summer  of  his  life  ,  but  tensions  rapidly  grew  sour  when  he  returned  home  ,  after  all  ,  none  of  them  had  been  granted  such  an  opportunity  and  they  wondered  what  made  him  so  special  where  they  weren’t  .

it  certainly  didn’t  help  that  he  got  home  and  noticed  their  trailer  was  a  little  refurbished  ,  they  had  a  new (  ish  )  television  and  a  cable  antenna  on  the  roof  without  the  pieces  of  foil  sy  had  stuck  to  it  at  an  attempt  for  better  service  .  and  then  little  gifts  started  to  arrive  here  and  there  ,  new  cleats  ,  a  better  glove  ,  all  things  with  the  sheen  of  wealth  attached  to  them  and  all  in  the  name  of  this  new  sponsor  he  seemed  to  have  attracted  .  it  didn’t  go  over  well  with  his  friends  and  he  could  see  the  jealous  glint  in  their  eyes  which  led  sy  to  hide  away  the  new  treasures  ,  or  take  them  out  back  and  absolutely  destroy  that  gleam  that  came  with  new  gear  .  

high  school  was  not  a  time  he  wanted  to  spend  ostracized  ,  especially  when  everyone  in  town  always  looked  back  on  it  like  it  was  the  golden  time  of  their  youth  before  they  settled  down  into  the  daily  grind  of  adulthood  .  he  was  nothing  short  of  angry  and  miserable  ,  his  loneliness  that  festered  into  rage  finding  a  nice  outlet  in  smashing  his  fists  into  the  noses  of  whoever  crossed  his  path  or  looked  at  him  wrong  .

it  was  around  that  time  that  a  girl  showed  up  on  his  doorstep  ,  all  knees  and  elbows  and  with  a  big  smile  insisting  she  was  his  sister  .  judging  from  the  own  sparkly  state  of  her  attire  ,  sy   managed  to  put  two  and  two  together  as  to  just  who  his  new  sponsor  was  and  promptly  shut  the  door  in  her  face  .  (  the  fact  that  his  mother  had  suddenly  come  out  of  the  woodwork  and  ran  into  him  around  town  on  occasion  to  ask  for  money  was  another  clue  .  she  could  sniff  out  money  anywhere  )

finnley  buchanan  was  a  revelation  to  him  .  persistent  to  the  extent  of  climbing  in  through  his  window  to  press  her  point  home  until  sy  was  forced  to  accept  that  this  nonsense  story  she  was  spinning  about  his  father  and  her  mother  had  a  certain  ring  of  truth  to  it  .  he  didn’t  want  a  new  family  ,  he  was  content  in  his  small  town  with  his  nan  and  his  friends  and  everything  would  go  back  to  normal  just  as  soon  as  he  tossed  all  his  shiny  new  stuff  in  the  trash  .

his  nan  wasn’t  having  it  ,  plain  and  simple  .  she  wasn’t  going  to  force  him  to  reconcile  with  a  father  he  had  never  known  ,  but  she  certainly  wasn’t  going  to  allow  him  to  pass  up  an  opportunity  to  get  out  of  their  tiny  little  town  .  and  so  sy  kept  going  to  those  baseball  camps  every  year  ,  and  after  keeping  in  touch  with  his  new  sister  to  a  point  where  he  was  forced  to  accept  the  unlimited  texting  plan  she  forced  upon  him  just  so  his  nan  would  stop  good  naturedly  grumbling  about  the  amount  of  time  he  spent  tying  up  their  landline  .

he’d  spend  a  few  weeks  a  year  with  her  family  ,  a  holiday  here  and  there  ,  his  eyes  almost  falling  out  of  his  eyes  the  first  time  he  walked  into  a  house  with  an  honest  to  god  foyer  .  he  didn’t  exactly  see  eye  to  eye  with  his  new - found  father  and  step  mother  and  they  didn’t  seem  to  want  to  get  to  know  him  much  beyond  tossing  money  at  a  problem  to  solve  it  (  not  that  he  allowed  them  to  really  know  him  )  

he  didn’t  even  accept  their  money  for  college  ,  stubbornly  insisting  on  getting  in  on  his  own  merit  .  and  thus  shipped  himself  of  to  north  carolina  upon  accepting  a  scholarship  .  the  guitar  skills  he’d  picked  up  in  his  lazy  weeks  spent  with  the  buchanans  and  his  classic  good  looks  made  him  immensely  popular  which  didn’t  bode  well  for  the  state  of  his  ego  as  we  know  it  .  between  classes  he  managed  to  further  perfect  the  art  of  binge  drinking  and  beer  pong  and  with  his  scholarship  only  covering  tuition  and  board  ,  he  found  himself  employing  his  fists  at  night  to  earn  some  cash  for  incidentals  .  something  that  very  nearly  got  him  kicked  out  of  school  when  he  showed  up  to  practice  with  a  split  lip  and  bruised  knuckles  a  few  times  too  many  .

but  luck  was  on  his  side  and  he  was  drafted  after  his  sophomore  year  before  they  could  start  a  more  thorough  investigation  into  his  extra - extra - curriculars  .

sy  spent  about  a  year  working  his  way  around  the  farm  system  of  the  minors  while  they  tried  to  refine  his  issues  before  getting  called  up  to  play  for  the  baltimore  orioles  .  he  played  for  them  for  about  a  year  but  after  a  run - in  with  one  of  the  batting  coaches  that  was  rather  hush  hush  he  was  unceremoniously  traded  to  the  los  angeles  dodgers  . 

˚  . ⊹       ┈    ›     𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘    .

being  a  cusp  baby,  he  kind  of  bounces  back  and  forth  between  his  moods  .  most  of  the  time  he’s  all  jokes  and  sarcasm  .  but  catch  him  at  the  right  time  and  he  can  be  broody  AF  .  

he  is  a  lot  smarter  than  he  looks  ,  but  that’s  an  incredibly  well  kept  secret  because  on  the  outside  he  is  a  Professional  Idiot.

makes  the  worst  decisions  i  have  ever  seen  anyone  make  ever  .  highly  impulsive  and  should  never  be  allowed  to  give  someone  any  sort  of  advice  .  

unless  you’re  asking  what  to  put  in  your  solo  cup  or  if  you’re  craving  a  midnight  snack  .  then  he  is  10 / 10  your  guy  .

he  is  incredibly  loyal  ,  so  long  as  it  serves  his  purpose  .  because  at  the  end  of  the  day  he’s  still  an  impulsive  idiot  and  that  devil  on  his  shoulder  made  the  angel  tap  out  years  ago  .

bought  his  nan  a  new  house  with  his  signing  bonus  and  sent  her  money  to  take  care  of  her  with  what  he  had  but  since  her  death  he’s  doing  his  best  to  spend  it  on  the  dumbest  shit  possible  and  acting  out  in  one  way  or  another  because  he’s  still a  child  .

tldr  :  he’s  a  piece  of  shit 

˚  . ⊹       ┈    ›     𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒    .

 just  going  to  add  a  little  disclaimer  that  i  am  the  biggest  hoe  for  anything  angsty  and  painful  .  i  also  love  love  love  when  people  slide  into  my  dms  with  a  hc  or  two  .  

𝐞𝐱 - 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬  ;  for  whatever  reason  there  was  a  huge  falling  out  and  now  things  are  just  super  awkward  .  half  the  time  at  parties  they’re  just  on  opposite  sides  of  the  room  mean  mugging  each  other  until  booze  and  tempers  flare  .

𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠   ;  these  two  were  never  supposed  to  be  a  thing  .  in  fact  ,  before  this  past  summer  they  hardly  ever  spoke  and  when  they  did  the  discourse  wasn’t  exactly  pleasant  .  but  there’s  a  fine  line  between  love  and  hate  and  all  it  took  was  a  couple  of  drinks  before  the  dynamic  took  a  turn  .  

𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐬   ;   i’d  sell  my  soul  for  something  that’s  just  angsty  and  messy  .  maybe  they  were  at  the  point  of  saying  the  l  word  .

𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠  𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬  ;   all  that  sneaking  around  ,  taking  the  back  doors  in  and  out  of  places  .  meeting  up  in  darkened  corners   👌 👌 👌  that’s  that  shit  i  do  like

𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞   ;   i’m  such  a  sucker  for  a  good  bromance  or  two  where  the  gc  is  just  filled  with  memes  and  dragging  each  other  up  and  down  the  wall  .  but  at  the  end  of  the  day  they’re  you’re  boys  and  no  one  else  can  talk  shit  about  them  but  you  

𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐮𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬   ;   a  fwb  here  and  there  ,  the  odd  one  night  stand  ,  someone  who  you  just  look  at  and  want  to  punch  them  in  the  face  for  some  inexplicable  reason  ,  an  unrequited  crush  (  on  either  side  )

[khaosfm]

          ‘sup  my  dudes   !  it’s  ya  boy  yves  sliding  into  the  group  after  eyeing  this  bad  boy  for  quite  some  time  ,  and  i’m  super  excited  to  be  here  .  i’m  not  even  gonna  lie  to  ya’ll  ...  this  intro  is  headass  as  fuck  and  my  son  is  hell  in  a  hand  basket  (  maybe  that’s  why  his  name  is  khaos   ?   lmao  ) .  anyways  ,  i’m  super  excited  to  be  here  and  to  introduce  ya’ll  to  my  son  ,  and  i’ll  be  sharing  my  discord  𝐝𝐨𝐣𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝑐𝑎𝑡 .#4437 just  in  case  anyone  would  prefer  to  plot  there  .  uhhh  ,  ya’ll  should  be  warned  that  this  intro  is  pretty  long  and  also  kinda  link  heavy  ,  but  you  don’t  have  to  click  them  if  you  don’t  want  to  !  it’s  mainly  because  i’m  an  extra  bitch  and  wasn’t  to  provide  ya’ll  with  VISUALS  .  

           chicago’s  very  own  khaos  banks  has  been  spotted  on  madison  avenue  driving  a  frozen  blue  metallic  2020  porsche  taycan  ,  welcome  !  your  resemblance  to  keith  powers  is  unreal  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your  twenty - fourth  birthday  bash  . your  chance  of  surviving  new  york  is  uncertain  because  you’re  austere  ,  but  being  debonair  might  help  you  .  i  think  being  a  virgo  explains  that  .  3  things  that  would  paint  a  better  picture  of  you  would  be  diamond  encrusted  grills  glistening  underneath  the  glow  of  club  lights ,  back  to  back  shots  of  patrón  with  pineapple  juice  chasers ,  and  the  swipe  of  an  american  express  centurian  card  out  of  boredom  .  (  his  parents  had  his  criminal  record  expunged  to  protect  the  family  name   .  ) 

𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜  𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧  .

NAME :  khaos  maurice  banks  .

NICKNAME(s) :  kai  ,  or  nothing  . he’ll  gut  you  like  a  fish  if  you  try and  come  up  with  anything  different  . 

BIRTHDAY / AGE  :  september  17th  ,  1995  /  twenty - four  .

ZODIAC  :  virgo  .

GENDER  :  cismale  .

PRONOUNS :  he / him / his  .

NATIONALITY  :  american  .

ETHNICITY :  african - american  .

HEIGHT :  6′2″ ( six  foot  ,  two  inches ) .

LABEL(s)  :  the  lothario  ,  the  trust  fund  baby  ,  the  connard  ,  the  black  sheep  ,  and  the  sybarite  .

ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION  :  biromantic  .

SEXUAL  ORIENTATION  :  bisexual  .

FAMILY  NET  WORTH  :  $3.67  billion  .

LANGUAGES  SPOKEN  :  english  and  portuguese  .

CHARACTER  TROPES  :  the  quarterback  ,  spoiled  brat  ,  millionaire  playboy  ,  socialite  ,  and  the  casanova  .

CHARACTER  INSPO :  ambrose  spellman  ,  daniel  king  ,  spencer  james  ,  aaron  jackson  ,  and  chris  mckay  .

𝐢. 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 .

          born  in  a  moderately  comfortable  home  in  chicago  ,  il  ,  marcus  banks  never  really  knew  what  he  wanted  to  do  .  he  could  have  been  the  first  in  his  family  to  go  to  college  ,  especially  since  his  father  went  into  the  army  right  after  high  school  and  his  mom  worked  at  a  mac  counter  in  the  mall  to  give  herself  something  to  do  instead  of  being  a  stay  at  home  mom  .  when  he  was  in  high  school  ,  marcus  was  the  quarterback  for  his  school’s  team  ,  but  he  had  no  interest  in  playing  football  in  college  .  he  does  end  up  going  ,  and  manages  to  get  himself  into  prestigious  hbcu  morehouse  college  in  atlanta  ,  georgia  .  marcus  discovered  that  he  was  unhappy  at  morehouse  and  dropped  out  ,  so  like  most  twenty  year  olds  with  nothing  to  his  name  and  a  single  ticket  to  new  york  ,  marcus  somehow  managed  to  get  a  position  as  an  intern  at  uptown  records  .

          marcus  worked  his  way  up  from  intern  and  eventually  became  a  talent  director  ,  and  this  is  when  he  discovered  his  own  passion  for  music  as  well  as  how  exciting  it  was  to  help  develop  talent  .  while  at  uptown  records  ,  marcus  had  a  hand  in  developing  a  lot  of  the  talent  from  the  90s  ,  such  as  jodeci  and  mary  j .  blige  .  marcus’s  time  at  uptown  came  to  an  end  when  he  decided  that  he  wanted  to  start  his  own  label  ,  which  he  called  kingdom  records  .  through  those  years  ,  he  helped  to  manage  and  produce  tons  of  popular  artists  from  the  late  90s  and  early  2000s  .  although  marcus  enjoyed  his  time  as  a  producer  and  he  watched  as  his  wealth  grew  ,  he  also  knew  that  he  wanted  to  have  a  wife  and  children  .

           he  married  his  wife  ,  jada  long  ,  after  they  met  when  she  came  in  with  her  girl - group  to  become  the  next  big  trio  .  while  the  trio’s  career  didn’t  take  off  ,  jada  managed  to  find  love  with  marcus  and  they  married  after  six  months  of  dating  .  after  being  married  for  three  years  ,  they  welcomed  their  first  child  ,  a  son  named  isaiah  born  in  1993  .  in  1995  ,  jada  and  marcus  were  originally  expecting  twins  ,  but  one  of  them  absorbed  the  other  ,  so  that  explains  why  the  couple  decided  to  name  their  second  son  khaos  .  the  couple  had  one  more  child  ,  a  daughter  they  named  mariah  ,  in  1999  .  marcus  and  jada  settled  with  their  family  in  los  angeles  ,  where  their  company  expanded  and  marcus  started  his  own  music  career  .

          originally  ,  critics  were  skeptical  because  he  was  known  for  managing  and  producing  ,  not  rapping  ,  but  he  released  his  debut  album  in  2001  and  let���s  just  say  that  critics  were  floored  .  the  album  debuted  at  number  one  and  went  2x  platinum  ,  earning  him  his  first  grammy  nomination  .  marcus  continuously  released  music  throughout  the  2000s  and  even  into  the  2010s  ,  which  has  earned  him  18  grammy  wins  and  received  the  commemorative  ‘ salute  to  industry  icons  ’  in  2017  .  marcus  has  since  retired  from  music  after  touring  a  few  times  ,  and  now  mainly  cites  himself  as  a  businessman  .  he  is  the  head  of  banks  enterprises  ,  which  is  the  umbrella  com[any  for  his  restaurants  ,  fashion  line  ,  liquor  brand  ,  and  he  eventually  went  into  television  production  as  well  .

          as  for  their  son  khaos  ,  he’s  got  a  sick  case  of  middle  child  syndrome  .  while  growing  up  ,  he  always  felt  overshadowed  by  his  brother  who  went  into  the  music  industry  and  even  by  his  younger  sister  as  she  had  a  natural  talent  for  gymnastics  .  when  he  was  in  high  school  ,  khaos  played  football  because  it  made  sense  ,  but  he  wasn’t  as  passionate  about  it  as  his  father  .  football  was  never  an  interest  to  khaos  ,  and  he  never  had  an  interest  in  attending  college  for  it  either  (  sound  familiar  ?  )  he  wanted  time  to  figure  out  who  he  was  and  things  of  the  sort  ,  but  his  dad  was  a  stubborn  man  who  barely  let  him  decide  what  he  wanted  despite  the  fact  that  he  allowed  it  for  his  other  children  .  khaos  never  really  knew  how  to  tell  his  dad  that  he  didn’t  want  a  life  as  some  pro - baller  ,  so  he  started  hanging  around  the  wrong  people  .

          when  it  started  , khaos  primarily  hot - boxed  in  his  car  with  his  friends  ,  stayed  out  for  far  too  long  ,  and  occasionally  got  busted  in  the  mansions  that  were  up  for  sale  in  their  neighborhoods  .  to  him  ,  it  was  all  fun  and  games  ,  but  the  laughs  came  to  a  halt  when  his  father  picked  him  up  fueled  with  rage  and  his  mother  had  tears  in  her  eyes  because  he  was  ‘  headed  down  a  dark  path  ’  .  of  course  ,  khaos  never  took  heed  to  what  his  parents  had  to  say  about  anything  ,  so  he  continued  to  act  up  (  you  can  get  snatched  up  )  and  when  he  was  eighteen  his  parents  had  had  enough  when  he  was  placed  on  probation  for  two  and  a  half  years  for  reckless  driving  and  drag  racing  .

           the  heads  of  the  banks  household  decided  that  they  would  have  khaos  complete  his  probation  in  chicago  ,  and  was  made  to  stay  with  his  grandmother  for  the  duration  .  of  course  ,  khaos  was  mad  about  it  ,  but  he  decided  that  he  wouldn’t  stay  in  chicago  once  it  was  over  .  he  was  supposed  to  return  to  california  ,  but  somehow  managed  to  convince  his  parents  that  he’d  be  better  off  moving  to  new  york  ,  and  so  they  let  him  . 

𝐢𝐢. 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 .

now  ,  he  lives  in  new  york  and  pretends  like  he’s  the  ‘ changed ’  son  that  his  parents  want  .  in  reality  he’s  just  doing  whatever  the  hell  he  wants  because  his  parents  made  sure  that  the  media  didn’t  discover  that  he  was  going  in  and  out  of  jail  and  on  probation  for  a  period  of  time  .  he  mainly  lives  the  life  of  a  socialite  ,  taking  random  excursions  around  the  world  when  he  feels  like  it  and  popping  up  in  the  tabloids  because  he’s  having  another  club  night  escapade  .  

𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲  .

khaos  is  pretty  much  the  epitome  of  a  spoiled  rich  boy  .  he’s  really  arrogant  ,  and  thinks  highly  of  himself  but  he’s  not  really  in  your  face  about  it  .  it  mostly  can  be  seen  in  his  aura  /  his  energy  as  he’s  not  much  of  a  talker  in  the  first  place  .  he  doesn’t  brag  or  boast  about  himself  or  his  family’s  wealth  because  well  ...  there’s  no  need  for  that  .  as  soon  as  people  hear  the  ‘ banks ’  last  name  ,  they  automatically  know  who  he  is  .

he’s  the  most  charming  man  !  he’s  really  chill  and  he  really  likes  conversation  ,  so  watch  as  he  fills  it  with  compliments  but  mainly  to  get  what  he  wants  .  if  he’d  being  honest  ,  he  gets  his  charm  from  his  father  ,  even  though  he  doesn’t  really  want  to  admit  it  ,  and  he  gets  his  incredible  sense  of  humor  from  his  mother  so  chances  are  ,  he’s  gonna  get  what  he  wants  .  

uh  ,  he’s  an  asshole  ,  too  ?  like  he  tends  to  think  he’s  not  ,  but  he  doesn’t  really  care  for  his  dad  and  borderline  would  beat  his  ass  if  he  had  the  chance  to  .  he’s  not  an  asshole  outright  where  he’s  a  standoffish  dick  face  ,  but  khaos  does  have  his  moments  where  his  temper  won’t  be  as  mellow  as  it  usually  is  .

𝐢𝐯. 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬  .

his  family  owns  a  few  houses  around  the  united  states  .  they  have  their  main  house  in  hidden  hills  ,  their  house  in  chicago  ,  two  vacation  homes  in  aspen  and  southampton  ,  and  a  more  ‘ modest ’  home  in  beverly  hills  .  khaos  lives  in  a  loft - style  duplex  condo  in  greenwich  village  .

it’s  my  dream  car (  rip  to  tesla  ig  lol )  ,  but  khaos  drives  primarily  a  porsche  taycan  .  it’s  the  main  car  he  drives  in  nyc  ,  but  back  home  in  california  he  has  a  fleet  of  cars  ranging  from  a  range  rover  ,  bentley  bentayga  ,  rolls - royce  phantom  ,  a  ferrari  548  italian  spider  ,  and  the  beautiful  bugatti  chiron  .

his  fashion  sense  is  primarily  streetwear  .  he  likes  to  dabble  into  luxury  sportswear  as  well  ,  but  mainly  sticks  to  brands  like  supreme  ,  commes  des  garcones  ,  balenciaga  ,  vetements  ,  supreme  ,  off - white  ,  alexander  wang  ,  etc  .  

this  is  so  headass  and  it  fits  his  aesthetic  lmao  ,  but  khaos  wears  a  an  eight  tooth  grill  (  both  top  and  bottom  )  every  single  day  .  ofc  he  takes  them  out  to  be  cleaned  /  brush  his  teeth  ,  but  he  never  leaves  the  house  without  them  and  they’re  valued  at  $45k  each  .

mostly  because  he’s  annoying  ,  his  favorite  thing  to  eat  is  cronuts  and  he’d  literally  fly  back  to  los  angeles  for  the  vegan  cronuts  at  donut  farm  .  that  being  said  ,  he  is  vegan  but  not  annoying  about  it  ...  at  least  i  don’t  think  he  is  lmao  .

a  feminist  !  specifically  ,  an  intersectional  feminist  and  he's  gone  to  the  women’s  march  in  nyc  every  year  since  he  made  the  official  move  ,  and  uh  ,  probably  got  arrested  during  a  peaceful  protest  when  the  ab*rtion  bill  became  a  thing  .

[oliverhqs]

✧ °˖ — ( casey deidrick. cis-male. he/him. ) looks like oliver carmichael just signed back in at the front desk. word around is, that they’re only staying at the northern star because his family took their annual family vacation to their manor and he decided this year he didn’t want to stay amongst his insufferable relatives for the duration of the trip, so he found somewhere much more relaxing to stay instead while he explores ireland by himself. apparently the twenty-seven year old can be a bit apathetic & opinionated. but their open-minded & relaxed personality usually makes up for it. i hear they like to play piano, paint, and read in their free time. it makes me think of them as a quiet mid-afternoon walk on the italian countryside, staying up throughout the entire night in a dimly lit room talking about books, philosophy, love, and the stars, & well loved sheet music sprawled all over the floor and desk.

hello potential, friends !! i’m late the to party as usual but this ball of anxiety goes by the name of rue ( she/her pronouns ) and i’ll be playing Angsty Boi™, oliver carmichael. if you would like to hit me up for plots / scream about connections all night long, please give this a big ole like and i’ll come bouncing like a happy ferret in the snow to your DMs !! under the cut, you’ll find a brief biography and stats about oli’s life. you can find all my connections here though if you want to check those out. can’t wait to start interacting !!

+ disclaimer: slight talks of cancer and mental health are mentioned below. read at your discretion.

layer one: the stats.

NAME. oliver alexander carmichael.

ALIAS. people usually just call him by oliver but sometimes oli makes an appearance.

TITLE. over time, he has proudly deemed himself an obsessive pizza addict, artistic nutcase, or one of the missing dead poets society members.

AGE. twenty-seven years old.

GENDER IDENTITY. cis-male.

PRONOUNS. he/him.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION. predominately panromantic demisexual. it isn’t so much so that luca is completely disinterested in sex (he’s got a perfectly good libido, thank you very much), he just doesn’t find himself sexually attracted to people based on physical appearance or initial impressions. instead he finds personality, intellect, and existing emotional attachment considerably more compelling. the idea of intimacy with somebody he’s not close with rather repulses him.

CURRENT RESIDENCE. he currently lives in east village in new york but he travels quite often for his job, so residency usually fluctuates depending on how long he stays there. 

BIRTHPLACE. new york city, new york.

NATIONALITY. american.

RELIGION. he was raised roman catholic but converted to spiritual agnosticism when he was eighteen. he views that universal ethics and love are far more important than claims about any deity and trivialize the arguments supporting or rejecting such claims. to oliver, it doesn’t matter which religion someone might follow, nor does it matter whether or not someone believes in God. what matters is what someone does, not what they believe. he has his parents’ full support in his switch even though the rest of his family practices catholism.

SPOKEN LANGUAGES. english (fluent/main), french (fluent/2nd main), italian (still learning but can understand it quite well).

EDUCATION. graduated with a bachelors in music therapy and minor in visual arts at brown university.

PROFESSION. works as a freelancing artist in his spare time as he work full time as a music therapist.

layer two: about.

When someone hears the name Carmichael, they automatically think of words like prestigious, wealthy, and perfect. And who wouldn’t? With the father being a State’s Attorney and mother owning her own real estate business, you had to think like that. In the public eye the Carmichael family was flawless. Lilian was the always supporting wife who thrived in raising money for fundraisers and showing off her cooking skills and David was being a husband who brought home piles of money and was devoted to his family. Everyone wanted what they had. Oliver Carmichael was born into a world where perfection was of the utmost importance. The Carmichael family are one of those prestigious families that has always been full of wealthy and high-class snobs, and Oliver’s parents were no exception. He grew up learning how to be charming and handsome, and aware of his superiority over those of inferior to him. Oliver’s childhood years consisted of him sitting restless at various fancy parties and dinners, while his father kept him from all the treats so that he would grow up to be fit and strong. Oliver’s father was always cold and emotionally isolated from him; only after a perfect son to show off to the world.

He has a brother, who is three years younger than him, named Nathaniel. His relationship with his brother, however, is a bit estranged just like with their father. As much as he loves his brother and wishes they could see eye-to-eye, sometimes they tend to butt heads often. Whether that might mean your typical sibling arguments or full-on blown out fights, they just can’t seem to see get along.

As a young, restless little child, Oliver sought escape from his shallow, chilly life in the form of a friend. His friend taught him that there was such thing as warmth and friendliness, told him lots of stories of Greek mythology, and he learned that his father had been lying about “tactless individuals” being horrible people. However, when his father found out about his associations with his friend, within a week, the boy mysteriously disappeared. Since then, Oliver kept all his unapproved-of friends to himself. Unfortunately, as time went on, Oliver grew up to become a lot colder and more isolated like his father—leaving the feeling of pure joy of meeting that friend he met long ago, had vanished. With his family situation being completely dysfunctional and rottenly horrible, he never experienced what being happy was all about.

Sometimes calling someone selfish is a gross exaggeration, but in Oliver’s case its right on-point. Eventually in his early teens he became distracted, always preoccupied with his own affairs and matters of interest. Whether it was schoolwork, his multiple and usually explosive relationships, or his many existential crises, Oliver was one for waving people away and turning the conversation back on himself. This wasn’t necessary out of narcissism or some hidden agenda: Oliver genuinely doesn’t know who he is. Perpetually fidgeting and restless, it’s not uncommon to see him rapidly flicking a cigarette lighter, or playing with his hair, or bouncing on the balls of his feet. In high school he’s brilliant: it’s that simple. He is the golden boy. Prone to spilling into intellectual spiels - and labelled a know-it-all - he internalized everything, memorizing tiny details, eyes skipping here and there. His intelligence is among his most useful traits and is by far the thing he values most about himself. Much of his ego is built around the confidence that he is effortlessly smarter than almost anybody he encounters. Knowledge is power, and he weaponizes his superior intellect, using his brains more than brawn to protect himself and intimidate the people he doesn’t care for.

Although his parents were the bane of his experience 100% of the time, his mother wasn’t all that insufferable when she had her moments away from his father and not trying to be this pristine ‘perfect’ woman beside her husband. In fact, throughout his childhood she often encouraged Oliver’s belief in extraordinary things and hoped he had carried it throughout his life growing up. His mother had always made him promise to have courage and be kind to others, for—as she explained to him—kindness has power, and that she would see him through all the trials that life could offer, in life and death. Cancer/mental illness TW—when he was thirteen, his mother had been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Upon hearing the news, Oliver’s whole world clasped.

Not only was he at a pivotal stage in his life where everything was changing and becoming more stressful ( becoming a teenager, starting high school, going through puberty ), the only important person who had actually showed him any kind of love in his life had be claimed by the deadly disease altogether. So many thoughts and feelings were going through his mind at the time, that he ran himself physically sick and had experienced his first panic attack. He has since been medically diagnosed with panic disorder. Thankfully the cells on his mother’s cervix were diagnosed at precancerous stage and the doctors were able to treat it because it developed and spread. However, that didn’t and doesn’t stop Oliver from being in a constantly state of panic every time his mother so much as feels pain or coughs due to irrelevant reasons. The entire year had changed him and his family for a while.

Despite issues with his own family, Oliver has a lot of personal of his own he deals with. He is capable of enduing tremendous hardship. Though he may not handle difficulty in the healthiest or best way, often repressing emotion, he mostly like emerges on the other side. He doesn’t know how to express his emotions in a diplomatic way, but rather fumbles it all up and starts to ramble. Rarely opens up because of this. He usually distracts himself from his insufferable emotions with hobbies such as playing the piano, painting, and reading some of his favorite classics. After he moved out the house at eighteen to pursue college and became more independent, he started to come into his own style with his wardrobe. To put it simple, he’s like a hippie dippy child of the universe. No joke. No seriously, his place at home is full of sensual shit and art. It’s getting out of hand and somebody needs stop him soon. He strongly believes that art is an umbrella term that relates to expressing of oneself—not just through photography and painting—and that everyone has the freedom to express themselves however they please. Because of his beliefs, he chooses to break gender roles like bread and wears whatever the fuck he wants because yolo. His appearance pretty much represents his hippie dippy lifestyle with him wearing all sorts of hipster shit. His clothes can be very flowy like, but don’t let that fool you. He doesn’t miss the opportunity to represent his upper class within his style, so he does dress to impress, let me tell you. His hair color changes sometimes too depending on his mood but it’s generally never too eccentric.

After he graduated high school, he furthered his education at Brown University where he majored in Music Therapy and minored in Visual Arts. At the age of twenty-one he graduated and about 6 months later started working as a freelanced artist while working at children’s hospital as a music therapist.

[gadgetgirl71]

Amazon First Reads for May 2020

It’s that time yet again, to choose one of eight books that Amazon First Reads lets Amazon Prime Members download for free. I always look forward to the beginning of each month to see what is on offer.

This months books are:

Contemporary Fiction

If You Must Know by Jamie Beck  Pages: 362, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: Life turns upside down for two sisters in Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jamie Beck’s emotional novel about how secrets and differences can break—or bind—a family.

Sisters Amanda Foster and Erin Turner have little in common except the childhood bedroom they once shared and the certainty each feels that her way of life is best. Amanda follows the rules—at the school where she works; in her community; and as a picture-perfect daughter, wife, and mother-to-be. Erin follows her heart—in love and otherwise—living a bohemian lifestyle on a shoestring budget and honouring her late father’s memory with a passion for music and her fledgling bath-products business.

The sisters are content leading separate but happy lives in their hometown of Potomac Point until everything is upended by lies that force them to confront unsettling truths about their family, themselves, and each other. For sisters as different as these two, building trust doesn’t come easily—especially with one secret still between them—but it may be the only way to save their family.

Thriller

Don’t Make a Sound by T R Ragan, Pages: 285, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: Her own past could be a reporter’s biggest story in this twisting thriller about murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author T.R. Ragan.

Plagued by traumatic childhood memories, crime reporter Sawyer Brooks still struggles to gain control of her rage, her paranoia, and her life. Now, after finally getting promoted at work, she is forced to return home and face her past.

River Rock is where she’d been abandoned by her two older sisters to suffer alone, and in silence, the unspeakable abuses of her family. It’s also where Sawyer’s best friend disappeared and two teenage girls were murdered. Three cold cases dead and buried with the rest of the town’s secrets.

When another girl is slain in a familiar grisly fashion, Sawyer is determined to put an end to the crimes. Pulled back into the horrors of her family history, Sawyer must reconcile with her estranged sisters, who both have shattering memories of their own. As Sawyer’s investigation leads to River Rock’s darkest corners, what will prove more dangerous—what she knows of the past or what she has yet to discover?

Biography

Gender Rebels by Anneka Harry, Pages: 277, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: Meet the unsung sheroes of history: the diverse, defiant and daring (wo)men who changed the rules, and their identities, to get sh*t done.

You’ll encounter Kit Cavanagh, the swaggering Irish dragoon who was the first woman to be buried in London with full military honours; marauding eighteenth-century pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny, who collided on the high seas after swapping their petticoats for pantaloons; Ellen Craft, an escaped slave who masqueraded as a white master to spirit her husband-to-be to freedom; and Billy Tipton, the swinging jazz musician, who led a double life as an adult, taking five wives along the way. Then there are the women who still have to dress like men to live their best lives, like the inspirational football-lovers in Iran, who risk everything to take their place in the stands.

A call to action for the modern world, this book celebrates the #GenderRebels who paved the way for women everywhere to be soldiers and spies; kings and queens; firefighters, doctors, pilots; and a Swiss Army knife’s-worth more. These superbly spirited (wo)men all had one thing in common: they defied the rules to progress in a man’s world.

Book Club Fiction

Sorry I Missed You by Suzy Krause, Pages: 315, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: A poignant and heartwarming novel about friendship, ghosting, and searching for answers to life’s mysteries.

When Mackenzie, Sunna, and Maude move into a converted rental house, they are strangers with only one thing in common—important people in their lives have “ghosted” them. Mackenzie’s sister, Sunna’s best friend, and Maude’s fiancé—all gone with no explanation.

So when a mangled, near-indecipherable letter arrives in their shared mailbox—hinting at long-awaited answers—each tenant assumes it’s for her. The mismatched trio decides to stake out the coffee shop named in the letter—the only clue they have—and in the process, a bizarre kinship forms. But the more they learn about each other, the more questions (and suspicions) they begin to have. All the while, creepy sounds and strange happenings around the property suggest that the ghosts from their pasts might not be all that’s haunting them…

Will any of the housemates find the closure they are looking for? Or are some doors meant to remain closed?

Quirky, humorous, and utterly original, Sorry I Missed You is the perfect read for anyone who has ever felt haunted by their past (or by anything else).

Historical Fiction

Golden Poppies by Laila Ibrahim, Pages: 297, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of Yellow Crocus and Mustard Seed comes the empowering novel of two generations of American women connected by the past and fighting for a brighter future.

It’s 1894. Jordan Wallace and Sadie Wagner appear to have little in common. Jordan, a middle-aged black teacher, lives in segregated Chicago. Two thousand miles away, Sadie, the white wife of an ambitious German businessman, lives in more tolerant Oakland, California. But years ago, their families intertwined on a plantation in Virginia. There, Jordan’s and Sadie’s mothers developed a bond stronger than blood, despite the fact that one was enslaved and the other was the privileged daughter of the plantation’s owner.

With Jordan’s mother on her deathbed, Sadie leaves her disapproving husband to make the arduous train journey with her mother to Chicago. But the reunion between two families is soon fraught with personal and political challenges.

As the harsh realities of racial divides and the injustices of the Gilded Age conspire to hold them back, the women find they need each other more than ever. Their courage, their loyalty, and the ties that bind their families will be tested. Amid the tumult of a quickly changing nation, their destiny depends on what they’re willing to risk for liberation.

Legal Thriller

Legacy of Lies by Robert Bailey, Pages: 329, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: A small-town attorney takes on prejudice and corruption in this powerful legal thriller.

Small-town lawyer Bocephus Haynes comes home late one night to find District Attorney General Helen Lewis waiting for him. Her ex-husband has just been killed. She’s about to be arrested for his murder. And she wants Bo to represent her.

There’s a lot working against them. Just before his death, Helen’s ex-husband threatened to reveal a dark secret from her past. Bo has been in a tailspin since his wife’s death. What’s more, his whole life has been defined by a crime committed against his family, and he continues to face prejudice as the only African American litigator in Pulaski, Tennessee.

Bo’s back is against the wall, and Helen resigns herself to a dismal fate—but a stunning discovery throws everything into chaos. There’s a chance for justice, but to achieve it, the cost might be too much for Bo to bear.

Family Saga

A Decent Family by Rosa Ventrella, Pages: 251, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: For fans of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series comes a captivating family saga focused on a willful young woman’s struggles against her oppressive small town by acclaimed Italian author Rosa Ventrella.

In old Bari, everyone knows Maria De Santis as “Malacarne,” the bad seed. Nicknamed for her dark features, volcanic temperament, and resistance to rules, the headstrong girl can only imagine the possibilities that lie outside her poverty-stricken neighborhood.

Growing up with her mother, two brothers, and a tyrannical father, Maria must abide. She does—amid the squalid life to which she was born, the cruelties of her small-minded neighbors, and violence in a constant threat of eruption. As she reconciles her need for escape with the allegiance she feels toward her family, Maria has her salvations: her secret friend, Michele, son of a rival family and every bit the outsider she is, and her passion for books, which may someday take her far, far away.

In this exquisitely rendered and sensory-rich novel, Rosa Ventrella explores the limits of loyalty, the redeeming power of friendship and love, and the fire in the soul of one woman who was born to break free.

Literary Fiction

A Man by Keiichiro Hirano, Pages: 295, Publication Date: 1 June 2020

Synopsis: A man follows another man’s trail of lies in a compelling psychological story about the search for identity, by Japan’s award-winning literary sensation Keiichiro Hirano in his first novel to be translated into English.

Akira Kido is a divorce attorney whose own marriage is in danger of being destroyed by emotional disconnect. With a midlife crisis looming, Kido’s life is upended by the reemergence of a former client, Rié Takemoto. She wants Kido to investigate a dead man—her recently deceased husband, Daisuké. Upon his death she discovered that he’d been living a lie. His name, his past, his entire identity belonged to someone else, a total stranger. The investigation draws Kido into two intriguing mysteries: finding out who Rié’s husband really was and discovering more about the man he pretended to be. Soon, with each new revelation, Kido will come to share the obsession with—and the lure of—erasing one life to create a new one.

In A Man, winner of Japan’s prestigious Yomiuri Prize for Literature, Keiichiro Hirano explores the search for identity, the ambiguity of memory, the legacies with which we live and die, and the reconciliation of who you hoped to be with who you’ve actually become.

***Which book will you choose? I can’t make up my mind between: “If You Must Know and Sorry I Missed You”. Let me know which book you think I should choose.***

[sonicasura]

Ninja Stars

Hey everyone. If you don't know, some of the things I do in my spare time is writing stories mainly crossovers. Just the idea of taking two completely different franchises and fusing it together just entice me. I decided to show you one of my latest works.

Growing up, one of the cartoons I loved watching from my childhood was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles specifically the 2003 incarnation. The characters, story, humor, adventures and even the times when things went dark never took the smile off my face watching it.

So I decided to take this wonderful incarnation and mix it with something I got into last year...

Yep. I mixed it with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure of all things. Am I crazy? Yes. Do I regret writing this? No. The big star for this particular fic is none other than our favorite toilet licking wielder of the Chariot card...Jean Pierre Polnareff!

Without further ado, I present to you guys... Ninja Stars!

He didn't know what he unintentionally signed up for when deciding to live in New York with his friends in the Joestar Family. Jean Pierre Polnareff was a Noble Frenchman who owned a nice estate in his home country of France after his father passed away. He used to have two younger siblings that he loved dearly. His sister Sherry Polnareff and the youngest sister Fleur Marie De Polnareff. Sadly his sisters' fates weren't as good as his.

Sherry was defiled and murdered when he was preparing a meal once she got out of school. For Fleur, she vanished when a terrible storm had hit the land by their estate and she disappeared with it before even turning a year old. Fleur was declared dead since her body was never found and Sherry never got the chance to be a big sister since it was robbed before she turned 5. Tragedy always liked to mess with his family while distrust amongst parents harassed the Joestar Family.

He felt sympathy for his friends Jotaro and Joseph along with their siblings. Their father George having an affair with multiple women before his wife died and said women having children being Giorno, Josuke, Johnny, Josefumi or Gappy and Jolyne. George didn't even know about them until he caught word of multiple teens having their family's birthmark! Giorno's mother and stepfather were abusive, Jolyne's foster parents neglectful and untrusting, Johnny's foster father was abusive and Jotaro's foster father never being there for him. The only ones who honestly had a good parent were the twins Josuke and Gappy though it was hard for Tomoko to care for their needs and herself at times.

George was even harder on Jonathan and Joseph often cruel enforcing manners through starvation or hitting them at times! Even their step siblings Dio and Diego Brando who have shaky relationships with the Joestar siblings at best didn't have much faith in George, and their father was worse than him! It didn't take long for George to be declared not capable to care for his children and was lawfully removed from caring for them. He lost his title to the estate and fortune which went to the siblings so they could live and get the things they needed to live off of.

They were placed in William Zeppeli's care alongside his two sons Caesar and Gyro. Anyway… Joseph figuring France was just digging up old wounds had offered Polnareff to stay at their home in New York until he felt ready to move on. Kakyoin, Avdol and Iggy were also going to be living there so it wasn't going to be that bad. Who was he kidding? When were things ever easy or normal?

The plane from France had finally landed in New York's National Airport. A tall and buff Frenchmen with tall silver hair that reached seven inches high wearing a black one strap shirt, beige pants, broken heart earrings and black expensive Italian boots had walked through the crowded airport with luggage in hand. "Now, where are they? Joseph did say they were here 30 minutes before my plane landed." The Frenchman asked to himself as he looked around the building.

His eyes then landed on a sign that read Jean Pierre Polnareff, his name, in the arms of buff and tall young man with messy brown hair, green eyes and light peach skin wearing a green crop top, fingerless gloves, a scarf, blue jeans and brown boots around his height which was 6'5. Next to him was a teen who despite being around the brunette's height was a bit younger and looked to have some Japanese blood from the narrowed aquamarine eyes and slightly darker skin. He wore a black modified gakuran with a gold chain, black hat torn in the back with two gold pins, purple shirt, expensive black slacks and black boots.

"Over here Polnareff!" The brunette shouted as Polnareff ran over to them. "Hey Joseph! Good to see you too Jotaro. You didn't have to swing that sign like you were advertising a restaurant Joseph." Polnareff teased as Joseph merely chuckled. "I wanted to make sure you don't lose yourself in the crowd. Things have been a bit crazy in New York as of late." Joseph explained as Polnareff raised his eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that? Is something going on in the city?" The Frenchman questioned earning a nod from Jotaro. "Purple Dragons?" Polnareff questioned his two friends. They had taken Joseph's car after leaving the airport and the two brothers took the opportunity to fill Polnareff in on current events. "Yeah. They're a street gang that has been causing trouble around the city. Muggings, threatening people, burning down stores, break ins and a whole mess of trouble. A bunch of annoying pissants but dangerous ones at that." Jotaro spoke blowing smoke from his lit cigarette.

"Johnathan's friend Speedwagon and his gang, the Street Ogres, have been trying to get rid of them but these dragon bastards are relentless." Joseph explained making a hard turn through the city. "You told me about the Street Ogres on the phone. That they were powerful just as they were dangerous since the gang used to be based in Europe's own Ogre Street, a personal grave for intruders. Until Johnathan defeated their leader and they followed him here to serve as his protectors. The fact these Purple Dragons can match one of Europe's most dangerous gangs is just terrifying." Polnareff said.

"There is also a new rumor going about. People are saying ninjas had been spotted in New York. Good grief." Jotaro spoke with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Eh?! Ninjas? Since when?!" Honestly this trip was getting weirder by the second. "A few days ago, a bunch of Purple Dragons were found hanging from a street lamp by their waists. Near the scene were shurikens, a Japanese throwing star and one of the tools a ninja uses. It was embedded into the brick wall and some in the concrete floor!" Joseph exclaimed surprising the Frenchman.

"Damn. Things really have been crazy here. I bet Dio and Diego aren't exactly happy with this nonsense." The silverette questioned as Jotaro let out an amused snort. "Considering Josuke took home one of the shurikens and his recent binge watching on ninja related shows, Dio nearly had the World strangle the dumbass and Diego almost using Scary Monsters just to chew up all his DVDs. Jolyne even chased him around the house with Gappy's pet turtle Joshuu just to get him to shut up." Jotaro spoke sounding smug from his tone.

"I bet Johnathan wasn't happy with that and Johnny locked himself in his room watching his spaghetti westerns to avoid the mayhem. What about Giorno and Gappy?" He questioned as Joseph raised an eyebrow. "I forgot how brotherly you could be. Giorno is keeping an eye out for any trouble reaching home while Gappy isn't really bothered about the mayhem like the Zeppelis. Kakyoin, Iggy and Avdol are already at the estate and were filled in about the stuff as well." Joseph explained. Clearly satisfied with his answer, Polnareff remained quiet for the remainder of the drive.

The Joestar Estate was huge rivalling the size of an actual town hall though considering who previously owned it being a holder of a massive amount of riches it was too be expected. "Can I just say your dad was too crazy with his money spending?" Polnareff said as both brothers shrugged. "Stay away from my hair Iggy!" Shouted a young rowdy male voice as a purple pompadour wearing young teenage male ran past Polnareff with a little black and white Boston Terrier following close behind. "Ahahaha! Looks like the little rascal found a new victim! Looks like Iggy hasn't changed a bit. Is he still giving the dog catchers hell?" Polnareff chuckled patting his hair.

"Yep. They even have $100 dollar bet going on about who will catch Iggy first. Tried getting Johnathan to take the bet but you know him and dogs." Joseph stated. "That's right. He's working as a part-time veterinarian since his archaeology research hit rock bottom when that cave in came out of nowhere. I still think it was a Stand related incident since the ground was guaranteed to be fully stable, diagnostics and all." Polnareff exclaimed remembering the particular incident.

A lot of people got hurt during the incident and Johnathan was nearly decapitated from collapsing debris on surface that had no pockets of any kind inside of it done naturally or not. "There is also that creep who came in a bit earlier. A guy named Baxter Stockman had an appointment with old man Zeppeli about a project to take care of New York's rat problem." Jotaro stated as they sat down on the couch and the delinquent pulled up the tape.

The video showed a large empty rat maze and an African American scientist with almost a buzz cut style dark hair, rimmed glasses and hints of madness deep within those brown orbs he called eyes. He had to agree with Jotaro that despite the man not saying a word, the madness is this eyes screamed bad news. The man Baxter Stockman soon unveiled an object that was covered in sheet just as the video began.

It revealed to be some kind of robot that screamed raptor to the Frenchman on how it's design nearly matched the prehistoric predator if this one wasn't made of metal, had huge jaws, and a single light to serve as an eye. The inventor's assistant, a young woman with crimson hair and the kindest eyes Polnareff ever seen unlike her boss named April O' Neil, had released a bunch of rats into the maze. Then Stockman let loose his invention which he named Mouser. And what happened next after the Mouser found a rat…

Polnareff was glad he hadn't eaten any food or his friends would see what he had earlier. "Holy shit. This guy really offered these as a solution to a rat problem?! A killer robot that can eat through walls?! Sure, I don't want a rat in my house but at least I have a humane trap to use than that!" The Frenchman exclaimed. "That's what I was thinking! Even that April chick looked like she didn't want to be there! Everyone on the house agreed to turn this guy down including Dio! And Dio is the type of guy to practically fry up live rodents and laugh while watching them burn before feeding them to his pet bird!" Joseph shouted as Jotaro smacked him.

"Shut up! I'm sitting right next to you, dumbass! Don't need to yell in my ear. Anyway… Gappy is looking into Stockman's background since something about that Mouser seemed off. The robot bastard also somehow seemed to creep Johnathan out too and the man has been around all types of machinery considering Gappy's profession. From what's been happening in New York as of late, this an omen for an absolute shit storm." Jotaro said before walking away. They couldn't agree more.

Later… Polnareff had finished unpacking all his stuff into his room. William was kind enough to give the man a nice large room with its own bathroom, closet and a small fridge that easily reminded the Frenchman of a 3 star hotel suite. He didn't pack any extra stuff that wasn't clothes or necessities like health products but there were some things he couldn't part with. His practice rapier, the portable toilet he bought considering the bathroom mishaps from that one road trip involving him, Jotaro, Joseph, Iggy, Avdol and Kakyoin and a few photos including the one of him, his sister Sherry and their newborn sister Fleur.

He looked sorrowfully at the picture of a young boy, a red haired girl and a small baby girl with a tuft of silver hair and a slash like birthmark on her neck with all three smiling or happy in Fleur's case. Polnareff rubbed his eyes so no tears would fall down. It felt wrong for a grown man to cry even for something as sad and important as this. He heard someone knocking on his door. "Come in!" Polnareff called as the door opened to reveal two people were at the door.

One was Jotaro and the other was a young man just as tall and as Jotaro but a bit older with soft blue eyes, wild blue hair and wore a purple sleeveless shirt, gray jeans, brown shoes, black fingerless gloves and what looked like a cast around his ankle. "Hey Jotaro and same to you Johnathan. I guess your leg isn't fully healed yet. I'm surprised you haven't let Josuke or Giorno heal you." Polnareff spoke as the blue Man Johnathan let out a soft chuckle.

"I don't want to rely on them all the time. Plus it's just a simple sprain so I figured to let time and my Hamon heal it instead. Anyway, I was wondering if you want to go to the store with me? I forgot to pick up a few things and also want to do a bit of grocery shopping while I'm at it." Johnathan asked while Polnareff turned to Jotaro. "I'm coming with him so he doesn't get himself hurt again. Plus I need to pick up some more cigarettes." Jotaro said as Polnareff merely shrugged and decided to join along. What was the worst that could happen?

Apparently the worst could happen was the street caving in from underneath your feet. Around halfway to the store, the ground beneath them had suddenly gave way dropping the trio of men down into the sewers below. Jotaro and Johnathan landed on the walkway while Polnareff fell into the sewer water. "Eww!!!" Polnareff shouted spitting the dirty water out of his mouth and getting to the walkway. "This is fucking ridiculous. How the hell can a street just fall apart like that?!" Jotaro hissed dusting himself off.

"It's just like the dig all over again. Now I believe it was no mere accident. Look at the walls." Johnathan said pointing to a wall of pipes behind him. They had been torn to create a large tunnel and the way the tunnel was made being all too familiar. "Are those...bite marks? The only thing that can do this…" Polnareff said only for Jotaro to finish his sentence. "Mousers. Stockman's little rat project tried to kill us!" The delinquent growled clenching his fists in rage.

The sound of clanking metal had grabbed their attention quickly as what appeared to be a squadron of Mousers heading their way. It was more terrifying seeing blood on some of their jaws knowing the poor rodents they must had devoured or an unlucky sap who ran into them. "I ain't taking this shit lying down! Silver Chariot!!" The Frenchman cried out as something came out of his body. It was a knight in a heavy silver suit of armor, a silver helm covering the head except for yellow eyes with blue iris, spiked shoulder pads and wielded a rapier as it gently hovered in the air.

"Pierce them Chariot!" He called as the silver knight let loose a barrage of sword swipes faster than the eye could see. The Mousers took multiple slashes with resistance but when the first was decapitated and went offline, Silver Chariot used it to his advantage. Soon a pile of Mouser heads and parts laid before their feet. "Good job Chariot. We should find a way out. Who knows how many of those menaces are down here?" Polnareff stated.

A loud feminine scream echoed through the sewers. "I recognize that scream. That's Stockman's assistant April! Come on! It came from down here." Johnathan called as the group took off deeper into the sewers. They ran as the sounds of fighting could be heard around them and grew louder the closer they were. It soon quieted as the three men turned the corner to find an unbelievable scene. Tons of Mousers destroyed and scattered across the ground, April unconscious in the hands of a man sized humanoid green turtle.

That's right. A man sized turtle wearing an orange bandanna, brown arm and leg straps, belt and orange wrapped nunchucks. To make it weirder, there were three more of them with one having a purple bandanna and held a Bo staff, blue bandanna and twin swords and red bandanna with twin sai. A clicking sound of a gun made everyone froze. "Hold still. Move and Showdown Bandit Aeon will put a hole right through blue haired pretty boy's head." A cold feminine voice spoke from behind Polnareff and Jotaro.

The voice sounded young around Jotaro's age maybe a year younger. The 4 turtles turned to see the group and looked nervous at the female holding Johnathan, Jotaro and Polnareff hostage. "Oh… Hehe. Hey big sister, lovely night for a stroll in the sewers and not hunting Mousers." The turtle in orange spoke only to get slapped on the back of his head by the turtle in red. 'My Lord! They can talk too! Fascinating.' Johnathan thought despite the clear hostage situation.

"Michelango, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael, what did father Splinter say about running off? Not only did you disobey his orders but also got discovered by more humans. You know he's going to punish you four." The voice spoke as all four looked nervous. 'Seriously? A family dispute in a goddamn sewer? Good grief.' Jotaro thought with irritation. It was becoming awkward for the Frenchman and his two friends from how the situation was turning out. "Sorry big sister Fleur." All 4 spoke as Polnareff's eyes widened greatly.

It couldn't be… Could it? He slowly turned his head around to look at their captor. It was a young woman around Jotaro's age with wild silver hair and sharp blue eyes, she wore a headband with demon horns, a green bandanna, a red and black traditional ninja suit, purple shoulder pads, orange hakamaki sash, blue boots, an accessory silver tail with a gold hoop, two short katanas on her back, fingerless brown gloves and a gold hilted blue blade katana on the small of her back sideways but what grabbed him was the familiar mark on her neck and the red streaks under her eyes.

The spirit or Stand beside her had the appearance of a demonic grey skinned cowboy, a single red eye amongst the shadow of his red horned cowboy hat while the other covered by his purple bangs, a bandanna shaped like an opened fanged mouth on his face, peculiar red ribbons near the neck, a black outlined gold poncho over a gold shirt and brown vest, brown gun belt with red fabric by the empty gun holsters, a black tail with 5 hooks at the end ranging from orange to red, yellow jeans and on them were gray leg straps with red blades, brown and orange cowboy boots with large blades spurs, white arms with the right pointing an orange, black and gold gun at Johnathan's head and the other a giant black, orange, and red gauntlet with golden blades for fingers and three orange nozzles on the center fingers.

"Little Fleur… You're alive." Polnareff spoke with a shaky voice. "You speak as if your familiar with me when I never met you before in my life. Who are you?" Fleur questioned. "You are Fleur Marie De Polnareff, third child of Jaune Reyn Polnareff and Charlotte Maria. Mother named you Fleur because you were as beautiful as a field of blossoming flowers when you were born." Polnareff spoke as he looked at the little sister he lost.

"Wait a minute. How do you know so much about her?" The turtle in red questioned angrily. "Because she is my long lost little sister. My name is Jean Pierre Polnareff, her older brother." He spoke taking out the picture of him and his siblings when they were younger. The gasps in the room from seeing the photo was enough for Fleur to have a look for herself. Her eyes widened upon seeing the familiar mark on the baby's neck in the exact shape and place as hers. "We're taking them back to the lair. Father needs to hear about this." Fleur spoke walking off while her Stand followed.

The walk through the sewers was silent as no human or turtle decides to talk. It was too uncomfortable and awkward for everybody. Fleur led them to a wall with a strange blue pattern on it. The wall pulled apart revealing it to be a secret entrance and the inside blew all three men's minds. It was a secret lair with tons of room, wall of TV's, couch, workbenches, pinball machines and basically all kinds of stuff perfect for a comfortable living. "Incredible. All of this has been under New York for this whole time. Despite all the technology and items here, the walls and layout are much much older." Johnathan spoke practically breath taken.

"You are very observant young man. My sons and daughter, may I have an explanation on how we ended up with 4 guests?" An aged and soft male voice spoke as they turned to see a human sized anthropomorphic gray rat with brown eyes, a small goatee, white bushy eyebrows and leaning on a brown wooden cane wearing an orange and dark brown kimono. "Good grief. Things gotten really bizarre." Jotaro sighed at the weirdness they found themselves in.

One explanation from Polnareff later… The group were sitting down and gathered at the front while April who had woken up earlier after fainting again joined in. "So that explains it. Fleur was separated from you because that terrible storm had washed her away. It makes sense for her not to recognize you since she was a baby before disappearing." The turtle in purple spoke. "Though my question is, who or what are you guys? How did you even find her without being caught on the surface?" April questioned.

"That is a very long story. We weren't always like this. We used to be what you once called normal. I used to be an ordinary pet rat whose owner was a kind martial artist named Hamato Yoshi. On a trip to France, my master and I had came across Fleur crying by the edge of a river. The only clue to her name was a flower tied in her hair. A few years later, the home of my master was caught in a nasty blaze. I was able to get out with Fleur through my Master's sacrifice.

I hid Fleur in a safe place within the sewers and scavenge for food to keep her alive. On one of those scavenging days, I saw the beginning of an accident. A child had walked out of the pet store carrying four baby turtles. *That was us! From the orange bandanna turtle* Don't interrupt Michelangelo. Where was I? An elderly blind man was walking the street unaware of a massive truck heading straight towards him. A man near the child lunged to shove the elder out of harm's way yet accidentally sending the tank holding the four turtles near the sewer were they were gently swept down below.

The truck had flung open wide enough for a mysterious canister to jump out and went down the sewer bursting open and covering the four turtles in a glowing green ooze. I followed them down and took pity on them. I gathered all four and safely put them in an empty coffee can though one decided to shake himself and got the ooze on me too. I took them back to my den where Fleur laid sleeping.

The next morning, I woke up. All four had doubled in size and I was changed too. The ooze had affected us in many peculiar ways from enhancing our intelligence and strength along with affecting our growth. Then one day, one of the young turtles had spoken my name. Fleur manifested her own peculiarity in the form of a spirit that same day. I knew then that it was my duty to protect and raise them as my own.

To each I taught them the ways of Ninjutsu and to harness their new form and power. Fleur named her spirit Showdown Bandit Aeon after one of the tarot cards, the Aeon Arcana. For the four turtles, using a book on the Italian Renaissance Arts, I gave them their names. Leonardo(blue), Donatello(purple), Raphael(red) and Michelangelo(orange). That is our story." Splinter told finishing his tale.

"Yep! We're unbelievable!" Shouted Michelango who they could clearly tell was the goofball of the four. "Where's your off switch?" Raphael questioned as Jotaro snorted amused. "Been asking the same thing myself about our little brother Josuke." Jotaro said. "It's still incredible that you have a Stand Fleur combined with the fact that your family could see them." Polnareff said as that got the makeshift family's attention. It was enough for Aeon to manifest with a curious glint in his eyes. "Speak of the cowboy, hey Aeon." Michelangelo said as April looked confused.

"Stand? I don't see anything." April spoke clueless. "Only Stand Users can see Stands. Stands are the manifestation of a person's fighting Spirit with their own set of abilities based on their user. They are called Stands because they always stand beside you." Jotaro explained. "Maybe not for long. I came up with something that I've been dying to try out." Donatello said heading to a cabinet and took something out.

He came back with a pair of glasses with green half lenses. "I made this when I found out Fleur had a Stand. Using a bullet Aeon supplied me with, I created these beauties. The Spirit Lens. I didn't know if one day we would lose the ability to see or hear Aeon so I made these just in case. Aeon is considered the fifth brother of the bunch since we played and trained with each other from childhood. Try the Spirit Lens on, April." Donatello explained surprising the male trio.

'Glasses that can see Stands!?' Went through their heads as April put on the glasses before turning to suddenly scream. "Oh my gosh! There's a demon cowboy right in my face! Is this Aeon???" April questioned nervously as Jotaro, Polnareff and Johnathan's eyes widened. "Yeeehaw!!!! Looks like your little doodad was a success Donnie! The lassie can see me!" A young raspy and wild male voice came out from Aeon as he twirled his hat. Donatello chuckled at the Stand's obvious happiness.

"Oh. It's rude to leave a family member out of a reunion. Jotaro, Johnathan and I are also Stand Users. Come out Silver Chariot!" Polnareff called as Silver Chariot manifested. "Wow! An actual knight in shining armor! And that rapier looks fantastic!" Leonardo stated as he couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of Silver Chariot's blade. "The elder Knight and young bandit. Very interesting. The Chariot is the tarot card for conquest and absolute victory. Quite fitting for a knight or crusader." Splinter spoke as both Stands approached each other.

"Aw shucks. Thanks. I had Silver Chariot with me since birth and both of us keep each other in fighting shape." Polnareff said scratching his head sheepishly. Both of the Stands eyed each other before Aeon decided to just give Chariot a big hug as his tail wagged wildly like a happy dog. "Aww. They look so cute! Someone take a picture!" Michelangelo said. "Wish I brought my camera." Johnathan mumbled.

"Let's get back to business. April, why were those Mousers chasing you?" Fleur questioned getting everyone back on topic. "I decided to spy on my former boss since it was too suspicious to build so many of something like the Mousers for a city rat problem. I discovered that he was using the Mousers to rob banks and jewelry stores of their valuables. One of the test runs even brought down an archaeological dig!" April explained as Johnathan's breath hitched.

"Dear god. Those things were the reason nearly everyone at my digsite was almost killed. To think the same man who pitched those awful things to us were responsible for the pain of so many." Johnathan spoke clenching his fists angrily. "Now I recognize you! You are Johnathan Joestar, the eldest son of George Joestar and heir to the Joestar and Zeppeli Corporation! Oh shell! I read a few of your books on ancient civilizations and they were really excellent. To meet one of my favorite authors is astounding!" Donatello explained as Johnathan couldn't help but smile.

"Well it's nice to meet a fan of my work. I would love to discuss about it later but I think it's best if we deal with Stockman first. He caused too much pain for a lot of people and must be stopped before he could do further harm." Johnathan said. "Yeah. That jerk destroyed our old home and those pieces of scrap metal try to make a meal out of our Sensei!" Raphael stated taking out his sai.

 "I agree. My sons and my daughter, I ask of you to assist April in stopping Stockman before he could do even further harm. Jotaro and Jean, I ask of you to accompany them on this mission. I know my sons and daughter can protect themselves but it'll be good to have someone capable of protecting Miss O' Neil. Though Johnathan, I ask of you to stay here. The injury on your ankle needs to be checked and wounds like that on a battlefield can put you and others in grave danger." Splinter explained.

No one objected the elder rat's words for it obviously made sense. Even Jotaro silently agreed despite being known to be against any type of authority. "It's not going to be easy. Stocktronics has the latest top of the line security system. It'll be tough to get in without being spotted." April spoke only for Fleur to giggle. "We've got that problem already handled." The kunoichi said.

"May I present you our technologic master turtle, Donatello!" Michaelango said pointing at Donatello. "You're too kind." Donatello chuckled. "Can we go already? Please!" Shouted Raphael.  "Follow us. We know these sewers like the back of our hand." Fleur spoke walking off. The group of 8 quietly walked through New York's Sewer system. April had stopped them to point a small security system.

"Seriously? Security systems in the sewer? This Stockman guy is really paranoid." Michaelango whispered only to be smacked by Jotaro. "Thanks big guy." Raphael silently chuckled. "Get a room you two." Michaelango spoke only to get shushed by Donatello. "Be quiet. April and I are busy! This is delicate work!" Donatello whispered annoyed as he dismantled the system. "*sigh* Little brothers…" Fleur muttered.

The system was soon broken allowing the group to travel to the building through the ducts. Using his sai, Raphael had opened the vent after the guards left. "Alright. The terminal is over there. If I can access it, I can make blank spots in the security for you guys to travel undetected." April whispered. "Let me do it. Star Platinum." Jotaro spoke manifesting his Stand.

It looked like a big purple Aztec warrior just as tall as Jotaro but buffer, had long black flowing hair, sharp teal eyes, gold wavy lines going down his body and wore gold shoulder pads with spirals, red scarf, gold circlet headband, black fingerless gloves with gold studs, black knee boots and a long white loin cloth. April had to hide her blush. "Oh shell. He's huge. Looks like you got a fellow purple lover." Raphael joked as Donatello rolled his eyes.

"Star Finger." Jotaro whispered as Star Platinum's middle and index finger thin and lengthen before using it to pick the lock open. Jotaro called Star back as the group got out of the duct and followed April into terminal room. "Nice lock picking Jotaro. When did you learn to do that?" Leonardo questioned the raven. "Jotaro has a crazy fanclub that follows him everyday at school. He picks the roof door lock to escape since students aren't allowed up there." Polnareff answered the blue mask turtle.

"Alright. I'm blanking the cameras in 10 second intervals. You guys have to keep moving and don't stop if you don't want to get caught." April warned. "Got it. We'll be back." Fleur spoke as the 5 ninjas disappeared without a sound to three clueless people until the Frenchman turned around. "They're gone! That Splinter can teach!" Polnareff stated as he couldn't help but feel proud at his little sister and a bit for her brothers.

The kunoichi and her four shelled siblings outran the cameras as they raced through the halls. Walking into a completely dark room, all 5 siblings were on guard. "It's quiet, too quiet." Leonardo warned pulling out his weapons like the others. Fleur kept her third blade on her back as she kept an eye out for danger. "Guys, my turtle sense is tingling." Michelangelo joked nervously. Suddenly the lights flashed on to reveal Stockman high above in a control room and there were manufacturing guns found above in high-tech factories, the type that fire beams of extreme heat.

"You really think I would be so lax in thinking to not anticipate intruders! Did you come here for my secrets because it wouldn't matter. None of you are leaving out alive." Stockman threatened looking at the thermal images of the 5 shinobi only to be disturbed by 4 non human shaped blurs. "What are you? I guess I have to dissect you to find out." Stockman spoke as the ceiling guns shifted to face the group before the ninja found themselves under fire.

It didn't take them a second to take cover behind the pillars. "Showdown Bandit Aeon!" Fleur cried out summoning her Stand. "This is quite a shootout but these pieces of scrap can't outshot me!" The devilish cowboy laughed aiming his gun and began firing bullets. Each bullet sniped into each barrel causing each laser gun to explode from its own blast. "Donnie!" Leonardo called as the turtle in purple came over. Donatello tossed Leonardo into the air so he could slice the guns in half with his katana blades.

Donatello using his staff, pole vaulted to one of the guns before turning it to shoot at the others and then finished by sabotaging it to explode. "Mikey! Hammer throw!" Raphael called Michelangelo ran over to the turtle in red. Michaelango jumped over Raphael as the red masked turtle kicked out his feet to launch his fellow turtle to the control room glass and break open an entry to Stockman's terror.

Fleur and the others quickly followed up there blocking Stockman as their friends walked in from the other side. "April! You're alive." Stockman said shocked. "And kicking. My friends here helped me out and get me to you. It's over Stockman, I have enough evidence to land you in jail for a very long time." April spoke only for Stockman to laugh and pull out a remote with a single button. He pressed it before Michaelango could grab him.

"It's too late! I called back all my Mousers. They'll be here to rip you to shreds!" Stockman chuckled as the group could see the beginnings of a swarm of the malicious robots surround them. Stockman had used their distraction to escape. "Guys! Stockman got away!" Michelangelo shouted. "We have bigger problems. We have thousands of things heading our way! Stockman must have made even more before robbing those banks earlier!" Donatello panicked as both him and April got to the control panel before trying to hack it.

Mousers began to come in the room from all around them as Jotaro, Polnareff and Fleur got their stands ready. Suddenly all the small killer robots stopped as their single eye began blinking. "April, what did you do?" Fleur questioned as Michelangelo picked up one of the Mousers. "I couldn't shut them down so I had to reroute their programming to overload." April warned as the orange masked turtle dropped the Mouser in panic. "Let's get the shell out of here! This place is going to blow!" Fleur cried as it didn't take a single second for all of them to scramble out of the building and down into the sewers.

Back at the lair… the news played the burning scene of the Stocktronics building as the group watched. "What are you going to do now April? I'm pretty sure you're out of a job." Splinter questioned. "We can help her get back on her feet. She did help us stop Stockman." Fleur offered as Polnareff couldn't help but smile. "Splinter, I want to thank you and your master for caring for my little sister. She has turned into a wonderful woman with your guidance." Polnareff spoke.

"It was an honor. Though it'll take time for Fleur to adjust knowing she has a living relative. You and your friends are welcomed back here. The boys still need some guidance that I can't provide." Splinter spoke as Polnareff smiled. "Wait, if Polnareff is Fleur's older brother and Splinter adopted Fleur, doesn't that make Polnareff our big brother in some way?" Michelangelo questioned as everyone looked at the Frenchman.

"I believe it does since Splinter is her parental guardian. Looks like Polnareff has gotten another chance at being a big brother again." Johnathan chuckled as the Frenchman looked ready to cry. Today was just an insane day for Jean Pierre Polnareff. Moving to New York for a new start had gotten him into a crazy adventure. Now not only did he have his little sister Fleur back but also has 4 teenage mutant ninja turtles to guide like a big brother should. It was going to be strange but he wouldn't trade it for the world. And this time he was going to protect them!

That's it folks. I honestly thought Polnareff deserved another chance at the big brother role because it just suits him perfectly in my opinion. Here is a drawing of Fleur and her Stand Aeon though his name on the picture is different since I drew it before writing this.