#closedl

[nyc-blacklist]

Some people say that Alexa looks a lot like MEGAN FOX. She is an original character and is therefore UNAVAILABLE.

Los Angeles, to the untrained eye, seems like a California dream. Celebrities, bright lights, entertainment galore. This is the image that the city of angels portrays on screen instead of the grungy, dangerous, underbelly of the real thing. Amongst all the dirt and grime, however, there is a magic there. The smell of delicious Mexican food, beautiful music coming out of every nook and cranny, and the lingering hopes and dreams of those still chasing them after being beat down for so long. That was the Los Angeles that Alexa Caldwell grew up loving.

Growing up with a single mother in a one bedroom apartment off Silverlake, Alexa never had much but she had her mother and the city of Los Angeles to raise her. It raised her tough and she learned early on that the world was cruel but there was still beauty to be found in it. She learned that while she didn’t have as much as her friends at school, she still had so much love and it never really bothered her. She had dreams of becoming a famous dancer, having been a dancer ever since she could walk. Alexa’s mother wanted her daughter to have as much opportunity as the other kids so she worked two jobs just so she could put Alexa through dance classes. She would drive her to every audition and help her to get to where she wanted to be.

By the time Alexa graduated high school, she had managed to get into NYU on a scholarship to study dance and four months into her freshmen year, she booked her first Broadway show as a dancer. It was her dream come true and everything she could have asked for. That was until her dreams came crashing down on top of her. At the time, she had started dating a senior acting major who was everything she wanted in a partner. He was tall, handsome, talented, and intense. He made her feel beautiful and pushed her to be better in everyway he could. They dated and soon, his career started taking off. Alexa was living the high life; going to high profile parties and getting chased by paparazzi all because her boyfriend was the newest, up and coming star of the New York film scene.

Just as quickly as things took off, that was how fast they came crashing down. She and her boyfriend were in a horrible car accident and only Alexa got out unscathed. The car crash killed her boyfriend instantly and soon, it became another story of a young actor with so much potential that was taken too soon. Alexa, unfortunately, never quite recovered, having severely dislocated her hip, making dancing too painful to continue. And just like that, her career ended and she was left to figure out what she could do.

There was nothing she could think to do but go back to school but instead, she opted for a community college. She decided to major in floral art, a hobby her grandmother had shared with her growing up and found that she had a knack for it. It was peaceful and it was something she became passionate about. Once she graduated and got her degree, by the age of 28, she set out to open her own florist shop. Her designs started gaining traction and soon, her shop became overrun with orders. Her business was booming but part of her missed the life she used to have. Now she has a successful business of her own, making art for anyone that orders from her whether it be a small corsage for a high school homecoming or several arrangements for a large wedding.

[ageofwrathrpg]

Name: Josette Proulx Age:  32 Ability: Regenerative Healing Faction:  LESYAS as an ASSASSIN Faceclaim:  Lyndsy Fonseca Availability:  TAKEN

THE STORY || TW: Death, Violence, Child Trafficking

Josette was born into a lavish life to a French lawyer and her husband. For the first years of her life, her parents raised her with loving hands that pushed her through the most advanced école primaire education that money could buy. They were an idyllic family, complete with white picket fences and a cat named Fluffy. They should have lived a long, happy life, but only one week before Josette’s twelfth birthday, her mother became involved in the most dangerous case of her life. Her client’s name was Raphael le Blanc, a Rostek charged with at least 20 separate cases of murder. As a closeted Vila herself, the case was already uncomfortably personal. On the third day of her involvement, Josette was torn from her bedroom in the wake of night by several of the Rostek’s allies. A note was left on her pillow that detailed the only way that Josette would be returned: if Mrs. Proulx could fabricate a story of her client’s innocence convincing enough to deceive the judge. If she failed, she would never see Josette again.

For four weeks, Mrs. Proulx fought for her daughter’s life by fighting for her client’s freedom. For five weeks, Josette rotted in a German base where her captors referred to her as “Hure” and she grew accustomed to moldy bread. On week six, Josette was blindfolded and scheduled to leave for Moscow, where the Rosteks had a shortage of soldiers. She was shoved into a crowded truck for 17 hours before being intercepted by a band of Lesyas. There was kicking, screaming, but Josette was too tired – too malnourished – to react, even when the driver pulled her from her seat and pressed a knife into her neck. She crumpled limply when he was killed with a gunshot. The Lesyas were ready to leave her for dead when her wound closed and she stirred on the ground. They took her with them to nurse, and then to train.

The Lesyas fed her hearty soups and dressed her in warm clothes. When she was brave enough to speak again, she asked to be reunited with her family. A thorough search, however, resulted in the discovery that her parents had perished in a horrible fire. Days after Le Blanc was released free of charges, a furious sister of one of his victims burned the Proulx’s home to the ground.  Josette was devastated, and then she was angry. The Lesyas helped her channel her rage into her training and found that she was quick to learn. She became a thief, and then an assassin. Her serious resolve frightened many, but as she grew more comfortable, her mein shifted. The Lesyas’ fear of Josette faded and was replaced with infatuation. She loved them like family, and proved to only intimidate those she wanted dead.

THE CHARACTER

Misfortune has plagued her life; she knows that. She knows how close she was to living one of winsome joy, with a clear path to an expensive university and high-ranking profession. She knows that it was by the hands of Rosteks that this path crumbled before her feet. Josette has all of the ingredients to be a creature of malevolence, but she got her patience from her father and her bravery from her mother. She isn’t willing to let the parts of them that make her a Proulx die. When the situation allows it, Josette is charismatic and lovely. The Lesyas that know of her past know better than to raise the subject. Those who don’t, know better than to ask.

CONNECTIONS

Kostya Chen - When Josette was first taken in by the Lesyas, Kostya would periodically visit her bedside to talk to her. Josette couldn’t understand a word of her Russian and was too afraid to speak even if she could, but Kostya could feel her effect on Josette (verbal reciprocation be damned) and it was enough to know that she was lifting her spirits. Kostya became Josette’s first friend and was the first person to see her smile.

Luka Viktorovich Ikashev - He’s too goddamn uptight, always sucking on a cigarette and glaring off into space. She’s taken to leaving wrapped chocolates outside his bedroom in hopes that that they’ll help with his severe broodiness. She has no idea if it’s been working, but they’re always gone by the next day, so she’s optimistic.

Eugene ‘Shifr’ Yosefich Tolmachev - She doesn’t know much about him except that he’s ridiculously rich. There are millionaire drug lords, and then there’s Shifr. On a particularly bad day of assassin’s work, he plucked her unconscious body from where he found it bloodied behind a dumpster. By the time they arrived at his stupidly luxurious manor, she was unscathed and conscious. He hadn’t known that she was a Vila and had to apologize to his doctor for waking her at such an atrocious hour.

Gavriil 'Moose' Moiseyevich Mussorgsky - Two years after her recruitment, Gavrill stepped into the manor. She followed him from a distance, watching curiously as he toured around her home. He knew that she was shy, and left chocolates by her bedroom to coax her bravery out of her. Needless to say, it worked. They became close friends and sparring partners.

Mikhail Borisovich Kadyrov - If not for him, Josette would have struggled with Russian for much longer than she did. It was a monumental relief to be able to speak French and to be understood. He was her first partner in crime, and informal tutor. He showed her the ropes of thievery and assassination. Many of her most dangerous missions were only successful because of his casual tips.

[[ More Connections ]]

ETC

She misses her parents. She does. Every year, on her mother’s birthday, father’s birthday, the anniversary of their wedding, and the anniversary of their death, she returns to France and visits their tombstones.

When she is given information about child trafficking, she drops the task at hand and obsesses over the system until she is certain of its destruction. Once, her Lesya superiors confronted her about this ‘unprofessional tendency.’ She threatened to leave the cause, and they shut up after that.

When she's upset, she trains. She locks herself in the gymnasium and doesn't rest until her muscles are overtired and she's completely annihilated the punching bags.

She has a pitbull named Anubis. 

The fact that her ability gives her a remarkably high alcohol tolerance is quite possibly the best thing in the history of ever.

[tragedy-for-sale]

Prisoner

The boys have been watching their Commander all morning, they can tell Fox is in pain, but they can't bring themselves to ask, so they try something other than asking. @flashthescalesian-art is the one to blame for this idea and whatever happens. Okay this is soft? Huh. How'd that happen? Maybe I'm sick.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

The Commander was very good at hiding his pain, but everynow and then, he slipped. The pain because too much, the heart and chains around his heart held him too tight that he suffocated. It was then, when he felt his bleeding heart become too swollen for the chains he placed; it was then, they broke, and so did he.

One would have to have spent hours upon hours to notice a difference of course, but once one did notice, it was so obvious that he was suffering. It was the little things, Thorn seeing Fox stop in the hall, leaning against the wall to catch his breath, it was Stone noticing him sneak heavy heaves of air because Fox had been holding his breath. It was Fox, noticing that he world was spinning, his gut twisted and turned, doing backflips inside him. The misery he was going through started to leak out, and once the helmet was off, once his helmet was off, it was clear as day.

There were heavy bags under his eyes, his usual scowl of disgust was replaced with a small frown of discomfort. His eyebrows, usually sharp, were now softer, gentle. His face danced with exhaustion and pain. All his men noticed, but only once his helmet was off. Fox looked liked a child, sick and being kept up from sleep. All his men found it curious that he got sick, for all clones were engineered to near perfect immune systems. So naturally, it didn't take the men long to realize he wasn't sick, he was hurt.

But everytime he was confronted, Fox shoved them away. Fox lied through his teeth, and he was believable. He'd disappear deep in the Guard buildings for hours, and everyone knew not to bother him, for he'd always be at the mess at eighteen hundred sharp. So when he wasn't, his men worried. Instantly, the men broke protocol, their Commander's protocols, to fan out of the building in search of him. The other Commanders cleared the thought that he was out on a mission. He had to be in the Guard building. The men searched for hours and at long last, four hours later, Thorn finally found him.

Commander Fox had been sleeping soundly in his quarters, but not on his bed of course, no, the Commander was asleep in the closet. Thorn commed the boys to let them know Fox was alright before going into the room, taking off his helmet before slowly walking towards his brother. He kneeled down, sitting next to his sleeping brother, Thorn let out a sigh, "Y'know, everyone is looking for you" he mumbled and didn't jump when Fox did, he woke up easily.

"Thorn?" Fox looked up, instantly feeling his aching body due to the position he was sleeping in. Fox tried to pull himself up but the pain was too much, so he laid there, feeling paralyzed, "Can you help me up?" Holding out his arm. Thorn grabbed Fox's arm in turn, but didn't help him up, instead, he held his brother's arm tightly.

Thorn let a heavy sigh escape his lips, "No," clearing his throat, Thorn looked to Fox, who looked upset that Thorn wouldn't help him up, "You gotta start telling up when you plan on disappearing for a while. Olly and Rye took two groups to the senate building to look for your ass." Thorn added, pulling out a bag of chips seemingly out of no where. That was his super power, to pull food out of what Fox called 'another dimension.'

Fox slowly sat up, his head falling on Thorn's shoulder, "Stars, don't you open-"

"-Too late."

Fox let out a groan as he smelt the aroma of the chips. He stared blankly at the wall, trying to gather enough strength to get up, but the rancid smell of Thorn's chips made him want to vomit. He knew what Thorn wanted, Fox also knew his brother wouldn't leave until he did. "Can you take me to the medbay?" Fox gave in, he then closedl his eyes.

Thorn nodded as he chewed, "Sure buddy," he spoke in between chews, "Can ya stand or am I stuck carrying your stinky ass?" He asked, continuing to eat. Thorn didn't react right away when Fox didn't answer, he just continued eating and it wasn't until he'd dumped the rest of the chips in his mouth that he turned to his brother, "Fox-" Thorn mumbled as he poked Fox's cheek. "Well damn, that's rude." He stated, shaking his head at the fact that Fox had fallen asleep. "Guess I'm carrying you," he told himself, tossing the bag out of his hand.

He got up very slowly and very quietly before picking up Fox and headed towards the door. In his head, Thorn came up with a couple of rather smug remarks he would say if Fox was awake. As he walked, he tried not to shift too much, rolling his feet to prevent him from waking Fox up. But, of course, Fox was a light sleeper so he realized there was no point. He'd do it anyway though, he was just that good of a brother. "Mm, medbay?" Thorn looked down and saw Fox, barely conscious. Oh, he better not be bleeding out somewhere.

"Yeah, where else? Chili's?" Thorn snarked as he scanned Fox's face curiously. Was he in pain? Fox rolled his eyes, bringing his arm up to very weakly, pat Thorn's face.

"I hate chili's." Fox mumbled, repeatedly patting his face. Thorn rolled his eyes as the lift opened and he stepped out. There was never a moment that Thorn didn't worry about Fox, he was so afraid that Fox wasn't taking care of himself. So Thorn always made sure he was, "Do you know how good a brother you are?" Fox asked, as if he was thinking the same thing his brother was, and Thorn had only one response,

"I mean, obviously,"

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

|| Tag List ||

@ct7567329 @a-lil-perspective @mageofcole @advcntura @crying-at-ikea @stuckyjacos @crahsystor @obiorbenkenobi @satan-incarnate-666 @kalm421 @passionofthesith @mackstrut @flyingfreeyt @jonathananubian @kamino-mermaid @hotnthorny

[caribouv]

TAKO IS CLOSEDL STAKO IS SCLOSE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK THIS IS BULLSHIT LIFE ISN’T WORTH LIVING I AM SO RATIONALLY UPSET RIGHT NOW

[nyc-blacklist]

Some people say that Callie looks a lot like DOVE CAMERON. Her faceclaim is negotiable, although she is currently UNAVAILABLE.

Born and raised in the small town of Beaufort, South Carolina, Callie is the epitome of a southern sweetheart. She’s a bubbly, go-getter by nature, and her parents raised her to be polite, hardworking, charmingly innocent, and intensely family oriented. Nobody dare ever question her southern roots; her southern twang is unmissable and she’s regularly pulling out her sweet tea recipe or her trusty cowboy boots at a moment’s notice. There’s so much to love about Callie, and she’s got a lot of love to give in return.

Callie is good with kids – like, exceptionally good with kids. Growing up with three younger brothers and in a neighborhood chock full of other families with young kids equates to a lot of babysitting gigs and a ton of experience with all different kinds of families. There’s no boo-boo or owie she can’t fix, no monster she can’t sweep from under the bed, and no stain she can’t remove. She’s exceptionally organized, exceptionally prepared, and you can count on her to always have an extra band aid or juice box on hand.

Fortunately for her, if there’s one thing New York will always need more of, it’s nannies. It was a nearly impossible decision to leave Beaufort and her brothers behind, but her first heartbreak on top an intensifying case of cabin fever in her quiet hometown left her desperate for a fresh start. When she finally made the decision to leave, she packed up what she could in a matter of hours, took all of her money out of savings, and bought the first plane ticket out of South Carolina. She ended up in New York four hours later and charmed her way into a live-in nannying position within her first two days in the city.

Despite the reasons for her move, her rash decision to leave could not have worked out better for her. Her new boss – a lovely, successful businessman and single father of three – provided Callie with a private room in his townhouse and a stipend in exchange for caring for his well-behaved, though exceptionally busy and involved, young children. Living with three children feels almost like home and she’s spent nearly four years with this family now – cooking, cleaning, getting them to school and their extracurriculars on time – and in return she has a safe place to stay and the comfort and support of a family unit.

Callie spends the extra money she gets from her stipend on supplies for her very, very small private catering endeavor. It’s a good way to earn herself some extra cash – she knows she’ll have to leave her nannying job eventually, figures it’s best to be prepared – and a good way to squash her homesickness. Everything she cooks comes straight from her grandmother’s southern recipe box, and all of her new clients come exclusively from word-of-mouth referrals from her other clients. It certainly keeps her busy on top of her nannying job, but it’s a welcomed distraction from her thoughts and the mess she left back home.

Relationships

Alexander Taurus - Callie and Alex are familiar with each other after meeting a few times during their school run. One of her employer’s children attends the same school as Alex’s youngest sibling and they often find themselves chatting with each-other on the playground.

[nyc-blacklist]

Some people say that Betrice looks a lot like NATALIE DORMER. She’s an original character and is therefore UNAVAILABLE.

Where Archibald was the ‘planned’ and golden gift to the Maycroft bloodline, Betrice Eloise Augusta Maycroft was the black sheep. While her older brother pursued a life of his own, soaring to unparalleled heights, Betrice was ever cast in his shadows and furthered shackled there by their mother’s neglect. Starved for approval, it was her early years that saw her instead seek to outshine dear sweet Archie no matter the cost. While her brother scaled the heights in the fashion world, she sought to dominate that of ballroom dancing and fencing very nearly eclipsing him in her youth. Yet despite her bitter jealousy, there was no one she loved more than Archie. Betrice sought to assume the mantle of heir apparent to their father’s legacy, putting herself through college until she carried a master’s degree in business and a certainty it would allow her brother the freedom he so desperately craved.

In her youth, Betrice remembers only how small her hands filled her father’s palm. She can still recall Archie’s laughter, the soft words shared with their mother. There is no fondness for the woman, only an ache of wishing she knew the kindness her brother often speaks of with quiet affection. No, her world was her brother and their cousin, Matthew Henry. Still Betrice recalls the seemingly endless summers of just the three of them visiting art galleries, museums, and exploring what the world had to offer. And always she had Archie, he was the unshakable protector. Betrice still recalls arguments between her uncle and her father, the words muddled but the weight of them lingering. Betrice wouldn’t see Matthew again for a long long time. It was the only time their mother comforted her, brushing her fingers with foreign tenderness and speaking oh so softly to her brother. In a series of firsts it was also the only moment Betrice recalls Archie raising his voice, shouting, at their mother. Things were never the same between them and often she would catch the hateful glances her mother spared her before closing the door upon her. Betrice’s childhood was a flurry of nannies, ever changing faces, and a growing absence of her brother.

Things only became truly bleak when Archie finally departed home in the summer. Betrice only recalls that it was muggy then, the air sticking to your skin. Yet it was that same summer they would gather then to bury their mother. Betrice does not remember the woman that replaced her only that she didn’t last long either much to their grandfather’s dismay. But she does recall the sting of the woman’s fingers across her skin. Still a child, she was forced to follow the whims of her father and grandfather alike as scandal after scandal followed their family like a hound nipping their heels. Betrice wound up with another parent, a new father, and finally after the scandal settled it seemed the Maycroft name was salvaged. But the damage was done.

Betrice spiraled hard, seeking out Archie but never truly reaching out for fear of her father’s disapproval and her grandfather’s lingering touch. Yet even after a narrow miss with pills, a failed career and future, it seemed she could only prove her grandfather’s words true; Maycrofts weren’t weak. In the wake of rehab, Betrice seemed to thrive upon the scandal and delighted instead upon crushing tabloid after tabloid under her heel. Soon after Archie was named heir to the Maycroft empire and the death of their grandfather, she eclipsed all of it by spontaneously marrying a wealthy rancher from Texas effectively wiping any mention of her father or grandfather from the papers. It was all the retaliation she needed for the time, Betrice doing what she could to shelter her brother now she was old enough to protect his reputation from harm.

It really wasn’t a surprise when Archie’s biggest scandal was covered up, effectively buried by Matthew and Betrice together creating noise of their own. Her husband was found dead, half-eaten at sea with no clear suspects and Betrice left the sole inheritor to all his estate. Armed to the proverbial teeth, she swore never again to let anyone have the power to hurt her. After all, she was her brother’s dearest busy Bee, why shouldn’t she aspired to the name?

Relationships

Matthew Henry - During her adolescence, her world was her brother and their cousin, Matthew. Betrice still recalls arguments between her uncle and her father, the words muddled but the weight of them lingering. Betrice wouldn’t see Matthew again for a long long time after that, but the two siblings reconnected with their cousin again in their adulthood.

[nyc-blacklist]

Some people say that Peter looks a lot like JOHN KRASINSKI. His faceclaim is negotiable, although this skeleton is currently UNAVAILABLE.

Peter Donnelly has spent nearly his entire life in New York City, and for much of it in the shadow of his father. Such is the case when you follow in his footsteps of a career, becoming a lawyer just as Jackson Donnelly had done decades earlier. Thanks to victories in several high-profile cases the Donnelly name became well known in legal circles, and as the family’s wealth increased the pre-determined course of Peter’s life did so as well. He was groomed from early on to look towards a career in law as well, after years in the finest of private schools. Everything he did was meant to add to his father’s legacy, to cement the Donnellys as a bonafide dynasty. Harvard Law School came next, and it was clear that Peter indeed had an aptitude for law. It didn’t take long after graduation to land with one of the top firms in New York, with offers coming from all over attempting to land the son of the city legend.

For some, having little choice as to a career might doom them. For Peter it was a welcome challenge. He enjoyed practicing law, and the idea of being able to help people was really what fueled him. Coaching from early on to not let his emotions get the better of him, Peter has a poker face that can rival the best of them and some have accused him of being too aloof or detached. What they don’t know is that couldn’t be further from the truth. Peter has simply gotten very good at hiding his emotions and what it is that really drives him.

When Peter was back home during the summer before his final year at Harvard, he discovered a letter written by his mother but never mailed, to a man he’d never heard of. The letter went into detail about a past relationship his mother had with the man, and the most stunning part of it all… Jackson Donnelly was not his father. Upon confronting his mother about this Peter had it confirmed, she’d had an affair years earlier with a man named Jason Winslet; Peter’s father had been too wrapped up in his career to even notice and not one to show much affection even when he was around. The torrid affair had come to an end when Jackson learned of it, and threatening to bankrupt and sue Winslet he was able to blackmail Peter’s mother Mary into ending things. The dalliance had however resulted in Peter being born, but she’d been able to convince Jackson that he was in fact Peter’s true father.

Unable to put this out of his mind, Peter was determined to find and meet this man, if even just to know what kind of a man he was. Once he’d graduated he managed to use his career connections to eventually discover that his real father still lived in New York, and had after years of working as a maintenance man at an apartment building in the East Village actually bought it. Eventually, after coming up with excuses to meet the man Peter revealed who he was to his real father. Their relationship had to be kept a secret in order to keep Jackson from seeking vengeance, but the more time Peter spent with his father the more he admired him for how he lived his life. Truthful, honest, always willing to help people in need. Taking those qualities and doing his best to incorporate them into his law career, getting to have this relationship helped to keep him balanced.

That was, until Winslet passed away suddenly about six months ago. Peter was shattered, but had to keep his grief under wraps. The building his father had taken care of had been sold, and that’s when he made the decision to honor the man by applying to be the on-call maintenance man. It’s a way to stay connected to the father he couldn’t publicly acknowledge, even if it doesn’t make any sense to the outside world.

Relationships:

Maintenance at the East-Village Apartments - Peter was vague in his request for the job in the building, though the genuineness was in his eyes when he told Tonisha how much the place meant to him. She’s an independent woman, so he’s not often needed, but getting to give the place a little extra TLC once or twice a week is enough for him.

[nyc-blacklist]

Some people say that Archie looks a lot like Stephen Amell. He’s an original character and is therefore UNAVAILABLE.

Ever the golden child, Archibald, was expected to go on to do great things by his family. Gifted with an eye for color and a natural wild curiosity. His father often wondered what was the reason he went from such a happy boy to the quiet contemplative man he was today. Working as the Head Art Direction for a fashion house in New York is a far cry from the cushy office job his lineage ought to provide him or the power he would grow to possess. Yet Archibald never  complained. “Way too severe” or “looking five seconds from berating you” are common complaints from his coworkers jealous and wary alike and in turn, he closes off further only spurring the rumors with a polite smile. In truth, if you were to ask his sister she’d proclaim no sweeter man existed alive and poor dear Archie was merely cursed with terrible shyness that later turned into a fortress of walls defense around a fragile heart.

As a child, his summers were filled with his mother’s warmth. He still remembers her painting, singing, her brown hair catching light. When his little sister was born, Archibald truly came into his own, smiling until his face hurt for the first time. Bertice was only five pounds in his arms but he loved her and knew he’d do anything he could to protect her. It changed him forever. Their father often made a point to stress the importance of family as they grew together and their summers were soon filled further by a third; Matthew Henry. As the eldest, Archie would often take the two of them out for adventures, off to see mountains or small galleries of art. To them he was their whole world, their guardian. To him, they were a reprieve from the malice his father often brought home. Truthfully, all he remembers of his father were the never ending arguments with his uncle over business and swore he’d make a path of his own. He began to worry when Matthew no longer spent the summers at their house. His mother would comfort them, tell them it would only be temporary. It was the first time he’d yelled at her, called her a liar, and stormed off. For the two kids it was obvious what was happening, yet no one cared enough to do anything substantial than offer a place of solace for Matthew to run away and hide.

Their grandfather often delighted in telling his father how he was better served marrying again. “These welps are too weak and soft,” he’d proclaimed. It was all the incentive needed for Archie to decide to leave home. He didn’t know then it was the last time he would see his mother alive when he kissed her cheek goodbye. On his twenty first birthday just a few weeks later, he buried his mother and even at his sister’s prompting could not muster a smile.

His father struggled, careening socially from scandal after scandal in the tabloids and their family name was dragged further through the mud each day. The women and men brought into their home were fleeting faces and forgettable names. It surprised them all when a second marriage saw the Maycott name rise once more, even eclipsing the Henry name until his aunt’s face was often red with envy much to his own private delight. There was never any doubt to the power his step-father possessed or the lengths he would go to see the Maycroft name rise. Still Archie hated it, knowing the growing pressure would only harm the one man, his cousin, whom he’d come to view as his own brother after all but raising him for so many years alongside his sister. It was in Betrice he saw the greatest change and yet he was helpless to support her as she brushed off his attempts each and every time. There was nothing he could do yet for either of them but he was determined to try. After a failed engagement that ended violently, he set aside his passions in favor of giving in to his father’s demands; to take care of the family business that his grandfather had built from nothing. The scandal of his engagement and his ex-fiancee’s imprisonment would take months to heal from and in that time he had all the time in the world.

Archie had a plan, a naive one at that. During the months spent recovering he would visit his grandfather, always civil and always polite. He quickly swayed the man’s mind with a few well placed words. With the man’s passing, no one was surprised when Archie was named sole inheritor to his grandfather’s estate in New York and in turn the very business his father spent his life struggling to obtain. Turning down job after job that would see him traveling the world, he works far removed from his family choosing a life of quiet seclusion over the weight of his step-father’s gaze not that he held all the power. Moving across the country to avoid his father and his husband seemed the next step after years of blaming his father for failing to keep their family together after his mother’s death.

In the end he lost more than his mother over the years and struggles to maintain the precarious peace in his family as the new ‘head’ of the Maycroft name. For a man like Archibald, there would never be a cost too great he wouldn’t be willing to pay for those he loves even if it left the deepest scars.

[nyc-blacklist]

Some people say that Maisy looks a lot like ZENDAYA COLEMAN. Her faceclaim is semi-negotiable and she is currently UNAVAILABLE.

There’s something exciting about the fashion industry to Maisy – always has been. Her mother would joke that her first steps were more of a runway strut than the typical wobbled walk of a toddler, although the reliability of that statement is another matter. The point is that the fast pace of fashion has always been so fascinating to Maisy but coming from a small working-class town on the coast of Maine didn’t always allow one to indulge in such luxuries.

Enter thrift stores and hand-me-downs and second-hand online listings. You’d think a teenager in Maine would be disappointed or ashamed to shop in such ways, but a young Maisy Ackerman just saw an opportunity to get creative. Giving a second life to old clothing by chopping it up and turning it into something entirely different sparked a new passion in the then-teen. She'd make her own clothes and take pride in wearing articles that nobody else in the world owned; loved to be asked where she brought them so she could say, "actually, I made it."

By the time she was graduating high school, Maisy was selling her own clothes online, taking cut-offs from several garments and patching them together to make a new piece, half of which almost too beautiful for her to part with herself. She was working for fast-fashion chains but doing everything she could between work and college to make her own name in the industry with her sustainable brand. After graduating college in her home state, Maisy hit the jackpot when she found an open position in a family-run store in non-other than New York City.

The move from her home state was sudden, but soon she had a flatmate in Yorkville and a new job just a short commute away. The owners there loved her vision and before she knew it, she was renting her own modest stall in the sustainable store. Now she’s making just enough to keep herself afloat as she continues to try to get her name out there. Admittedly, it’s harder than it might seem to get a leg up in the industry, even with countless run-ins with huge brands and eager potential clients and partners. The issue is that nobody in the city has the time for sustainable fashion, and she’s just not willing to lose her line's ecological angle or the authenticity of her pieces for the sake of a couple extra bucks.

Relationships:

Tonisha Miller - Landlord

Emmy - The roommates met on Maisy's second day in the city. In typical Emmy style, the girl had left flyers around Yorkville; multi-colored 'ROOMIE NEEDED' posters with tear-off phone numbers hanging along the bottom. Maisy got in touch and they met at a coffee shop where they got on like a house on fire and reported back to Emmy's landlord that day to sign the contracts.

Dorothy St. Claire - The girls met at Maisy’s stall a couple months back. They have a love/hate relationship, what with their backgrounds being so polarizing, but somehow their friendship just works. And when they’re not bickering like sisters, Dot and Maisy get on like a house on fire.

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Some people say that Jack looks a lot like BRENDON URIE. He is an ORIGINAL CHARACTER and is currently UNAVAILABLE. 

Owning a club in New York is, without a doubt, a questionable career move for a recovering alcoholic readjusting to the outside world, so owning two might seem down-right absurd. For Jack Croft, however, the move to New York wasn’t an overnight decision.

His first few months out of Blacklist were as rough as you’d expect. When the case was finalized and he was finally free of it all, he spent weeks trying to piece together the lost memories he’d missed out on whilst he’d been gone. His parents had moved to a new house - sold most of his belongings, which was fine really because anything with sentimental value was saved, but the uprooted feeling of sleeping in your parents stripped spare room was... Numbing.

It was weeks of his parents telling him to “find his meaning” that pushed him, and his therapist urging him to “build your own foundations before you can trust others to preserve them for you”; he even found himself back at the church once or twice, but let’s not get into that one.

Jack’s Chelsea loft was the outcome of late-night property searching; scrolling through his phone over a bowl of ramen at his parent’s kitchen table in the early hours of the morning. Not somewhere he’d expected to be with a couple million dollars under his name, but that’s exactly why, not four days later, he was packing up to move states. Call it a mental break; he calls it taking the bull by the horns.

The shitty run-down warehouse just off Fifth Avenue cost more than it was worth, but Jack had money coming in from newspapers and magazines --a side-effect of the public court battle that he hadn’t shied away from-- and a whole lot of free time, and so the project soon took form. Now here he is, eighteen months later: the owner of two established clubs in Greenwich Village, and he relishes in every inch of his lifestyle with a sparkling water in hand.

The loneliness is something he’ll have to tend to when he allows himself the time.

Relationships

Owner of Othello

Ex-Blacklist inpatient

Joshua Cole - The history of Jack and Josh is, in the grand scheme of things, a short but complex one. The pair shared an on-again, off-again relationship during their time in Blacklist, a relationship they’d likely describe as “painful,” “toxic,” and “infuriating.” It was juvenile and naive on Josh’s part, and disloyal and uncompromising on Jack’s. Made up of years of cheating and emotional blackmail, their relationship was a picture-perfect example of exactly why patients were urged to avoid relationships beyond friendship whilst being treated. Neither Jack nor Josh have any plans to re-associate with one another in New York.

Spencer Quinn - Jack and Spencer’s friendship started in Blacklist and blossomed from an unforeseen turn of events. While inside, Jack made a habit of being unfaithful in his relationship with Joshua Cole by sneaking off with Spencer on what eventually became a near-weekly basis. Their relationship was exclusively sexual for a while, up until Jack to turned to alcohol to help carry him from one day to the next and Spencer took it upon himself to, well, care. ‘Just sex’ became feeding, bathing, and keeping Jack company during his rough recovery. Today, their unlikely friendship remains asexual but they speak daily and see each other almost as much as they go about their lives in the city. 

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Some people say that Billy looks a lot like LUKE HEMMINGS. He is an ORIGINAL CHARACTER.

Ever since he saw the effects of the abandonment of his father had on his mother, Billy decided that he wanted to help people. At first he wasn’t sure how he could help others, but as his admission into Blacklist left him with more spare time, he quickly realised he wanted to become a doctor. Having always been a smart child, who always got good grades whenever he was in one of his good moods. However, med school is difficult. With a bipolar disorder, med school is even harder.

Once out of Blacklist, Billy’s mother desperately wanted him to stay with her, claiming she was unable to bear another person in her life leave her. Luckily, Billy managed to convince her that he wasn’t abandoning her - he promised to visit her frequently, and she was always welcome in his tiny New York dorm. Realising how important this dream of helping people was to Billy, she even promised she’d support him in any way possible, offering to pay for his apartment and groceries. However, as the lawsuit settled, it was Billy taking care of his mother.

Adapting to the big city life was difficult for Billy. He grew up in a small town, and the never-ending noise of people took a while for him to adapt to. At times, the amount of things happening simultaneously was too much for him, and he often found himself hiding away in the quiet library, delligilantegy studying for his many classes. Yet sometimes, there’s something nagging him, and he feels as though he’s not experiencing his new freedom fully. His social skills had never been the best, and sometimes Billy needs some convincing to step out of his comfort zone, if only a little.

Relationships

Ex-Blacklist inpatient

Jeremiah Lodge - Aside from a few brushes at parties and vague pleasantries in the library, Billy and Jeremiah don't know much about each other's personal lives. They got talking at a dorm party a few weeks into Billy's first semester and got on well enough to exchange small-talk whenever they run into each other, but neither of them could even hazard a guess of the other's major. Still, with Billy being a self-acclaimed 'introverted extrovert' and Jeremiah rarely being in a position to make solid friends, the familiarity of their almost-friendship is a nice common ground for both of them.

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Some people say that Goldie looks a lot like Lili Reinhart. Her faceclaim is negotiable and she is currently UNAVAILABLE.

In every dance class she’d ever taken, the spotlight had been on Goldie. Her parents pushed her into the ‘show dancer’ narrative from a young age, putting pressure on the girl to be the best at what she did, so she supposes she has them to thank for where she is now; a Radio City Rockette living in New York with the lavish apartment and glamorous lifestyle that most of the girls in her home town in Nebraska would kill to have.

She struggled to make friends in her adolescence, people making quick assumptions based on her commitment to her dance practice that the girl was nothing short of a square, but once the girl managed to get talking, friends have always been easy for her to keep. Goldie has always been kind and loyal to those that give her the chance; a rarity in the circles she now finds herself in in the city.

It wasn’t until she moved away to join the Rockette’s that she moved out of the family home that she shared with her parents and younger brother. Her brother was never made to feel half the pressure she was; a natural talent in soccer landed him a scholarship in the college of his dreams. As happy for him as she was, that glint in her parents’ eyes shined so much brighter than the one she’d seen when she been accepted into the Rockettes and this realization was around the time she decided to dance for herself, rather than for her parents.

Goldie perhaps isn’t as close to her fellow dancers as they are to each other – somewhere along the way, the line between dancing for herself and dancing to prove her parents wrong became blurred. She overworks herself, isolates herself, and doubts herself even at her best. The city’s certainly getting the better of her as she becomes more and more engrossed in her own bubble, forgetting about a world outside of the Rockettes.

RELATIONSHIPS

Nicholas Keyes - The two had gone on a date a while back when Nick had run into the girl after her show (hair out of its bun and long faux fur coat over her costume) and complimented her on the performance he'd never actually attended. It was kind of a flop; he'd charmed her into dinner and wine but spent most of the time either complaining about work or sneaking off to the bathroom. A second date was a no-go, although, every so often, Nicholas pops up in her inbox, asking for a chance to redeem himself. The girls at work say he’s no good.

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Some people say that Stella looks a lot like KAYA SCODELARIO. She is an ORIGINAL CHARACTER and is currently UNAVAILABLE.

Finding a balance between running her business and raising her child seems to be what fills Stella’s days as of late. Stella is the proud owner of The Star-Catcher Company, a bar and restaurant in East Village, as well as mothering a five-month-old baby, but it wasn't easy for her to get to where she is now.

Life coming out of Blacklist certainly wasn’t as simple as she's anticipated. Between having to face the past and catching up on what she’s missed, Stella was left feeling so… overwhelmed. Her mother, who she had moved back in with, had remarried and adopted a son named Atlas. Stella’s childhood home was different- walls repainted, the guest room now converted to her new brother’s bedroom. It took some courage but she got back in touch with her friends, Sunny and Ryan, and they were more than happy to hear from her. Their positivity was a bit contagious and Stella set out and got a job at a local bar, just to hold herself off until the court cases were settled.

Stella convinced her dad to buy her a ticket to New York to visit her friends. And yes, of course she met up with them, but the majority of that week was spent rekindling her relationship with her ex, Eric. Getting on the plane back to Arizona was hard, but everything wasn’t set up for Stella to make the move to NYC just yet. Eventually, Stella moved across the country and spent a few months at her dad’s house in Boston, mostly to be closer to everyone in New York. She didn’t end up spending too much time there, however, Stella and her dad seemed to get along less and less the more they spend time together. The weird turmoil was enough to get her to finally move in with Eric- back to New York, where she always wanted to be.

Settling in the city, Stella got a job at another bar, a decision once again frowned upon by her parents due to her struggle with sobriety. She was nowhere near sober, and freedom meant indulgence was easier than ever. She and Eric partied hard, completely throwing their sobriety out the window and this only intensified when Stella received her compensation checks from the Blacklist cases. With this new pile of cash, Stella decided to become her own boss and open a bar, co-running it with Eric.

A few months later, Stella found out she’s pregnant and almost immediately made some drastic changes. She quit drinking- cold turkey, because it somehow seemed easier to stop for someone else than for herself. Stella and Eric moved to a new apartment, in the same neighborhood as the bar, to accommodate not only a new lifestyle but the new family member as well.

Relationships

Ex-Blacklist inpatient

Owner of the Star-Catcher Company

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Some people say that Spencer looks a lot like WILLIAM BECKETT. He is an ORIGINAL CHARACTER and is currently UNAVAILABLE.

Spokesman, headliner and the next New York Times’ best seller - since reacquainting himself with the outside world, Spencer has been a busy, busy boy. With his first autobiography on its way to publication and a steady income letting apartments in the Upper West Side -a business shared with his partner, Arthur Gustin- Quinn’s been doing what he’s always done best: taking his trauma and making a mockery of it. Only this time it’s landed him with a seven-figure sum in his bank account. Not bad, if you ask him.

When he was pulled away from Massachusetts at eighteen, Spencer left resentment and disdain behind in his hometown, but when he finally returned, every drop of his was gone. They looked at him in a whole new light - a light tainted with a hue of guilt and anguish, sure, but any resentment left behind all those years ago was gone now, so he focused on that instead. They coddled him like he was still the lost teenager he was back then, and his brother still struggled to show he cared in any way other than anger (“locked up? Those so-called-doctors need more than locking up, I’ll kill them!”) but he hadn’t realised just how much he’d itched for the affection from his family.

It wasn’t until Arthur finally joined him in Massachusetts that Spencer realised he’d been holding his breath. His mother was delighted to have Spencer’s partner stay with them; thrilled that her son found something so pure in such a dark place. Mr. Quinn gave his blessing also, although matching his wife’s excitement would be near-impossible. Spencer’s brother was a little harder to convince -skeptical by nature- but it only took a month or so of boring holes into the back of Arthur’s head and snapping cool responses across the dinner table during his twice-weekly visits before the man was forced to admit that, yeah, Spencer seemed damn happy.

Maybe that was the last piece of closure he needed before he and Arthur made the move out of state and traveled to New York, the one place that, for some reason, felt constant for them. He’d always said that he’d seek closure when he got out of Blacklist – find all the people he’d hurt and all the ones that had hurt him and put it to rest. In true Spencer Quinn fashion though, he decided to take the high road.

Two floors all to themselves at the top of a brownstone they rented out as a side project, and a charming garden in the back and on the roof to keep Arthur busy was all he needed to feel content in the city. He finds himself less and less dependent on the touch of strangers with each day as appointments with one of New York’s top psychiatrists help him find a healthier relationship with sex.

In the meantime, the first draft of his autobiography is finished (has been since before he even left his home state) and with a manager that understands his boundaries, he still has a steady flow of extra income with carefully selected press releases and interviews about a past he’d rather forget, but is happy to milk dry in the meantime.

Relationships

Ex-Blacklist inpatient

Arthur Gustin - Arthur and Spencer’s relationship is one of the few good things that came from Blacklist. It started as a friendship and grew into more; somehow an emotionally-unavailable pessimist and an overly-available altruist met in the middle and fell in love. From the get-go, Spencer’s lifestyle was asking a lot of Arthur, but they both set boundaries that allowed Spencer to sleep with other people whilst their own relationship remained near-celibate. Now in New York, Spencer continues to meet up with other men, but his relationship with sex is much healthier and he’s learning to find value within his relationship with Arthur now that a happy future with the person he loves feels more tangible than ever.

Jack Croft - Jack and Spencer’s friendship started in Blacklist and blossomed from an unforeseen turn of events. While inside, Jack made a habit of being unfaithful in his relationship with Joshua Cole by sneaking off with Spencer on what eventually became a near-weekly basis. Their relationship was exclusively sexual for a while, up until Jack to turned to alcohol to help carry him from one day to the next and Spencer took it upon himself to, well, care. ‘Just sex’ became feeding, bathing, and keeping Jack company during his rough recovery. Today, their unlikely friendship remains asexual but they speak daily and see each other almost as much as they go about their lives in the city.

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Some people say that Arthur looks a lot like JOHN O’CALLAGHAN. He is an ORIGINAL CHARACTER and is currently UNAVAILABLE

It hadn’t hit Arthur how much being locked up in Blacklist had affected him – not until he got out and realized how much it hadn’t. He left the institute with little improvement and much to think about, leaving him feeling a little lost back at home. He’d always wondered what it’d look like when his loved ones accepted his imagined death; if the world would stand still; if they’d mourn. But when he returned and found that the world hadn’t waited for him, it stung in a way that he hadn’t anticipated.

It wasn’t betrayal or hurt, exactly, but it gave him this sense of urgency to rebuild and amend and make up for all the time spent so far away from what was once all he knew. His uncle had been happy to have him back of course but, although Arthur’s room was still made up for him, boxes and clutter filled the floor and the room had slowly become a storage vessel in his absence. Arizona didn’t feel like home anymore. His psychiatrist had told him that maybe it was Arthur that was mourning, and that the best way to get through it was to find closure in the things he’d lost.

Although he knew that he wanted to leave for Massachusetts to be with Spencer again, he also knew that he had some loose ends to tie up in order to do that. First was making amends with his old friend, Dakota – an ordeal that, by the time they'd talked and said their goodbyes, felt like the final time; the so-called “closure” seeming more bitter than ever by the end of it. But reconnecting with Connor, the friend he’d left behind in favour of Dakota, made it all make sense – the closure. It was so easy to fall into a conversation with his old pal, letting ‘talking over brunch’ become a day of filling each other in on everything that had happened whilst they’d been apart. It was the first time that moving away felt painful, but he had a new number to call and a genuine friend in Connor, and he had a good feeling that being divided by a few states couldn’t shake that.

By the time he was in Massachusetts with Spencer, his partner was itching to get out. Between collecting college educational credits online, eager as ever to learn and broaden himself, Arthur was sat at the same computer screen with Spencer, scrolling though endless apartment listings and opportunities. New York was a no-brainer for them. It’d been the one place they’d talked about while they were stuck in Texas, and when they found one particular apartment building, it all fell into place.

They spent the first few months in the city reworking the apartments within the building until they were ready for leasing. Now, a couple years later, they have a brownstone full of tenants to keep them busy in the city, along with whatever jobs Arthur happens to pick up along the way: dog sitting, gardening, Uber Driving that one time… It’s almost enough to make them forget about Blacklist.

Relationships

Ex-Blacklist inpatient

Spencer Quinn - Arthur and Spencer’s relationship is one of the few good things that came from Blacklist. It started as a friendship and grew into more; somehow an emotionally-unavailable pessimist and an overly-available altruist met in the middle and fell in love. From the get-go, Spencer’s lifestyle was asking a lot of Arthur, but they both set boundaries that allowed Spencer to sleep with other people whilst their own relationship remained near-celibate. Now in New York, Spencer continues to meet up with other men, but his relationship with sex is much healthier and he’s learning to find value within his relationship with Arthur now that a happy future with the person he loves feels more tangible than ever.

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Some people say that Aksel looks a lot like CODY FERN. He is an original character and is therefore UNAVAILABLE.

The first thing you notice about Aksel is how tall and slim he is, this in itself is a blessing as he is one of the principal male leads in the new York City Ballet. elegant and charming, Aksel is known around New York as the one who got away from a prominent socialite. Now living in Manhattan, this wealthy, attractive 33 year old has the world at his feet. He is a muse for Louis Vuitton and has guest-starred in the Nutcracker at the royal ballet in London and worked a summer the Paris opera ballet. Away from the ballet, Aksel is an astute businessman who buys properties, redesigns them and then sells them for a profit. Aksel is also known more recently for his horror movie debut. Although he loves acting, he will always put dancing first.

Born in St Petersburg, Aksel's upbringing was a hard one. His family were poor and the only way they could make any money was when his father would work for the Russian mafia, clearing away dead bodies. His mother was a school teacher and Aksel and his twin sister Alyria had to fend for themselves while their parents worked long hours for very little pay. Alyria was sent to a ballet class at the age of 4 and after a while she got bored. One afternoon Aksel sneaked into the class and within minutes he was picking up the routine like a natural. Although it was not the done thing for a boy to do ballet, his parents allowed him to pursue his love for ballet and at the age of 11 he was sent to Moscow to train at the prestigious The Vaganova Academy, his sister joined a year later to study costume and makeup. Life was good until he came back to St Petersburg and saw the state of the house that his parents lived in. That was the moment he vowed to get them a better place to live. Although Aksel was a Ballet dancer, his father wanted him to also be safe and he was trained in the army cadets when he wasn't at school. He was taught how to survive in the wilderness, drive cars and fight.

At sixteen he was spotted by a talent agent who sent him to Paris for the summer to work at the Opera Ballet. There he threw himself into work and any money he made, he sent back to Russia to his family. Within a year they had moved to an apartment in Moscow as Aksel was sent to study a degree in Ballet at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. He worked hard and landed his first lead in a production in London, his family came with him and spent the winter in England, enjoying their freedom. Alyria wanted to stay in London and managed to get a job at the royal opera house as a head make up artist. Her parents also decided to stay in London, but Aksel had other plans. A socialite in France had fallen for him and they ended up dating for a few years before splitting without anyone knowing why and which he refused to discuss. From there Aksel moved to New York and within weeks he was the lead role in a performance. The ballet company paid him well and he managed to secure an apartment in Manhattan. Now content in his life, Aksel has everything he could want. But there are still secrets lurking in his closet. Why did he and the socialite split up? why does he have a spare room in his apartment? and why does a quarter of his wages get taken from him each month?