#connor /used/ to be on the run with a gang with horses and camps in the woods as a teen. but he's rich as shit now and lives in the city

[tricoufamily]

while i'm thinking about it, i'm not sure if i'll finish a new edit before horses, so i'm posting old renders again :) a compilation of my beckett and connor western au :))))) this au really does slap i wasn't joking i'm not gonna be humble about it

[timelesslords]

Off-Road Advantage

Read on AO3

In which the gang plays Mario Kart Wii

"Motherfucker!"

"Jeez McLean, language," Percy tutted, looking just as smug as Wario on the screen, celebrating Luigi hitting his banana. He looked less smug when, in the next moment, Piper sent a well-aimed green shell speeding towards his kart.

"Oh shit," he muttered, swerving to avoid it and subsequently falling off the track.

"You're such a hypocrite!" Piper cried, nearly sending Luigi off the edge as she jumped in indignation.

"Just ignore him, he gets weird about Mario Kart," Annabeth said. She was, predictably, winning; sitting on the floor directly in front of the sensor. "It's an only child thing."

"Okay, first of all I am not an only child. Tyson is my brother and technically so is every horse," Percy said, Wario safely back on the track and making up time surprisingly quickly.

"Horses can't play Mario Kart," Jason said. His eyes scrunched up in concentration, despite having been bullied into wearing his glasses by Piper 20 minutes earlier.

Right after making this astute point to Percy, Princess Peach sailed off the edge of the course. Jason sighed. He was, unfortunately, very terrible at Mario Kart. Camp Half-Blood had the privilege of owning a very abused Wii system, but Camp Jupiter had had no such luxury. As such, Jason had very little practice, and did not quite have the finesse required of a decade old Wii remote to make sharp turns.

"Whatever," Percy said, "The point is, I'm not an only child, and I don't get weird about Mario Kart."

"You absolutely get weird about Mario Kart," Annabeth said.

"Only because it's the only thing I can actually beat you at," Percy said, abandoning all pretense about having a normal attitude towards Mario Kart. Annabeth laughed.

"You can't beat me at Mario Kart," Annabeth said.

As if to prove her point, Yoshi sailed across the finish line, holding a solid ten second lead.

"Why the hell do you play with Yoshi, anyways," Piper asked, only a little bit bitter as Luigi rolling over the line in a respectable second place. Waluigi made third, half a second behind Piper. Princess Peach was in 12th, a half-lap behind the nearest computer.

"It's the most efficient," Percy said, nudging the back of Annabeth's head with his knee. She elbowed him in the leg in response.

"Look, the kart has a high drift, the speed is decent and Yoshi has off-roading advantage–"

"You only need off-roading advantage if you can't steer," Percy said. Jason promptly sent Peach flying into a patch of dirt.

"I can steer just fine, it's about not losing acceleration. It's simple math."

"You did math to pick your player and I'm the one who's weird about Mario Kart?"

"You guys are both weird," Piper said, patting Jason's arm sympathetically as the last NPC crossed the finish line, denying Peach a chance to complete her race for the third time in a row.

"You know what, just for that we're doing Rainbow Road," Annabeth said, wielding her player 1 remote like a knife. Piper and Percy groaned.

"What's Rainbow Road?" Jason asked nervously.

"I'm sorry babe," Piper said.

"Yeah Jason, I'm sorry my girlfriend is a sadist," Percy said. Annabeth elbowed at him again, but Percy was expecting it this time and managed to dodge.

The screen surveyed the Rainbow Road course, in all it's twisty, no-railing, rainbow glory.

"Oh no," Jason said sadly.

"Think of who you're hurting with this, Annabeth," Percy said, "Jason doesn't deserve this."

"Jason is necessary collateral damage. Sorry, Jason."

"It's alright. I lose every course anyways," Jason said, sounding very resigned to an unenjoyable four minutes.

"Your biggest issue is that you turn too hard, you only need to go 45 degrees for a light curve, not a full 180," Annabeth said. The course counted down to one, and Yoshi shot forward ahead of everyone, already pulling a lead.

"Don't keep bringing math into this," Piper groaned, tossing a green shell in Annabeth's general direction. It sailed harmlessly off the side of the course.

"It's the easiest way to explain it!" Annabeth protested.

Jason experimentally turned the remote a fraction of his usual degree. Peach skirted along the edge of the track, but mercifully did not fall.

"See, it worked," Annabeth said, biting her lip as Yoshi made a tight turn.

Another kart bumped into Jason's, and Peach rocketed off the side of the track.

"Kind of worked," Annabeth amended, "That wasn't about the steering."

"I think Jason is just cursed," Percy said. Wario was pulling a solid 5th place, having been hit by several shells right out of the gate. He was gaining speed though, and coming up on some item boxes.

"I think I just suck," Jason said, as the cloud fairy dropped him back on the track in his usual 12th place.

"You just need practice," Piper said, rather generously. Luigi was in second place, not too far behind Yoshi, but far enough that she would need an item or a major fuck-up on Annabeth's part to make first.

"You need a Bullet Bill," Percy said, crashing into an item box.

"What's that?" Jason asked, but Percy was too busy laughing to answer. His item had settled on a blue shell.

"Percy, if you send that at me I swear I will break up with you," Annabeth said, sounding deadly serious as Yoshi passed into his second lap.

"No you won't," Percy said cheerfully, clicking the appropriate button. The shell whizzed away, and Annabeth sighed deeply.

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"In this moment? Yes I do."

The blue shell circled around Yoshi once, then slammed down into his kart. Piper was close enough to get caught in the blast, and she groaned loudly.

"Fuck you Percy," She said, shaking her controller, trying to revive Luigi quicker. It was no use; Wario sped past the two lopsided karts, Percy laughing all the while.

"Your days are numbered, Jackson," Annabeth said dryly.

"Ooh, we're doing last names now Chase?" Percy taunted, unaffected by her tone. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying Wario's lead, making him do a rather excessive flip off one of the ramps.

Meanwhile, Jason had managed to snag a Bullet Bill in an item box, but when it dropped him off at the end of his run, Princess Peach was still in last place.

"Aw man," Jason sighed, dejected.

"Dude, I'm about to lap you," Percy said, frowning at Jason's quarter of the screen.

"I keep falling off," Jason said.

"Try slowing down," Annabeth suggested.

"That sounds counter-productive."

"You're only falling because you can't control the kart at the velocity you're hitting," Annabeth said, knowledgably, "If you slow down a bit it'll be easier to steer."

"Are you sure you aren't using the remote Leo junked out?" Piper asked, risking a glance at Jason's remote. It was grungy and beat up, but didn't look any different than the other equally grungy and beat up remotes.

"I think I'm just not built for this."

"Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter, Praetor of Rome, Titan Slayer. Bested by Mario Kart Wii," Percy said, as he lapped Jason's kart.

"It's hard!"

"Don't worry babe, I'll get him back," Piper said, also passing Jason, only she had a red shell in store. She shot it at Percy and it hit it's target easily. She slammed into Percy's kart for good measure, and Wario ricocheted off the course.

"I probably deserved that," Percy said glumly.

"You definitely deserved that." Annabeth said.

"Can we do a course with walls next?" Jason asked, driving Peach at a snail's pace, making every turn but not gaining any ground.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want Annabeth's off-road advantage to go to waste," Percy said.

"Excuse me, I haven't fallen off this course once," Annabeth said primly, getting a mushroom and using it to overtake Piper seconds before they both crossed the finish line.

"How the hell do you come in first every single time!" Piper exclaimed, throwing her remote down on the couch cushion in frustration.

"Math," Annabeth said, stretching triumphantly as Yoshi took a victory lap.

"It's literally just dumb luck," Percy said, rolling over the finish line in 5th place, "I think Connor Stoll rigged player one to always win."

"I can beat any of you with any remote," Annabeth said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Well, we all can beat Jason," Percy said.

Peach was once again cemented into 12th place as the last computer-controlled kart crossed the finish line.

"I could beat you in a real fight," Jason said, but it came out particularly half-hearted, what with Peach crying into her hands on the screen.

"Nah, you couldn't," Percy said cheerfully, "Though, if we wanted to test that–"

"No," Piper and Annabeth said, simultaneously.

"Relax! I was going to say we should play Smash, I know it's around here somewhere–"

"Oh, you are so on." Piper said, picking up her controller again.

"What's smash?" Jason asked, apprehensive.

"It's easier," Piper promised.

"Can I fall off things?"

"Mm, only about half of the time. You can choose someone who flies, though."

Jason's eyes brightened.

"I like flying."

"Just think of it like this," Percy said, clapping Jason on the shoulder, "You can't be worse at this than you are at Mario Kart."

"That's good enough for me."

[crimsoncityhq]

PROLOGUE. 

THE FOOL, REVERSED reckless, being taken advantage of, inconsideration 

It’s a reckless act, one that crosses well into the territory of stupidity. But one cold September night, Matthias O’Shea decides to sell what he knows for a clear conscience. The fucking rat. He hands over a list of names and two address to the Chicago Police Department - ‘I suspect,’ he surmises, as if he’s trying to brush off the exact weight of what he’s doing. 

Matthias O’Shea is a fool and that night Chicago pays for it. 

Like wasps, the police swarm both meeting locations. They crawl into the basement of Ferguson & O’Riley, finding the O’Sheas, unaware. They descend on one of the warehouses in the Po catching the Fausts, surprised. Gunshots erupt almost immediately, cracking through the air like thunder on that cloudless night, and violence spills into the streets. 

The lazy streets of the city have become a war zone. In a moment, Chicago is turned upside-down because of Matthias O’Shea’s foolishness. 

CHAPTER 1. 

THE MAGICIAN, UPRIGHT willpower, desire, creation, manifestation

We open on fall, two weeks later. There’s fresh earth on the graves of both the Faust's and O’Shea’s, including Mason O’Shea and Jaxon Faust. Both gangs scramble to set up their new headquarters. The O’Shea’s land on blank and the Faust's land on one of the docked freighters of Southern Transport. 

But it’s as if the changing colors of the trees are determined to prove that the earth keeps turning, even in the face of great upheaval.

Mayor Washington, the dark horse candidate of the last election, is not as BLANK as his predecessor. It’s harder to pull the wool over this one’s eyes. And while Mayor Carver was not oblivious to the dark underbelly of the city, he seemed to lack the presence to cause any real change. Meanwhile, Mayor Washington has the willpower to pull this city up by its bootstraps. Death will not define this city in the way it has in the past. 

The Washington's host a fall festival at the Lincoln Park Zoo to raise spirits. Come carve a pumpkin, have some snacks or enjoy the corn maze. Most importantly, revel in community. The Fall Fest is decidedly marked as neutral territory amongst most gangs, but it would be naive to say a pumpkin spice latte is enough to heal the wounds of a lost comrade, a lost father, or a lost brother. 

SOMEHOW, THE NIGHT GOES ON DESPITE THE BLOODSHED.

( plot slots for each of these scenes can be found below the cut ! )

PLOT SLOT RULES: In order to keep things fair, we’re going to allow one character per plot slot right now. If there are any leftovers, we’ll let members know when they can sign up for seconds.You’ll notice that some of these plots are public, so feel free to have your character react to them/ notice them even if they aren’t happening directly to your character. However, if something feels like it happened privately to another character, please check in with their Mun to see if it’s okay for your character to know.

To be clear: these are not the only things that happens to your character during the this plot drop and you are more than welcome to cook up your own trouble. (If you want to get into some real shenanigans and have an idea, hit us admins up and we’ll find a way to make it work!)

To sign up for a plot slot message the main! You can start doing that as soon as right now! 

PROLOGUE. two weeks ago.

Amelia O’Shea’s name is one of the names listed by Matthias. Her cover as a spy is blown. She takes her son and runs. 

Cassandra Beatty devises a strategy and leads the raid on the Fausts’ headquarters— the port warehouse.

Connor O’Shea takes a shot at Mason O’Shea and wounds him. 

Quentin O’Shea tries to take a bullet for MASON O’SHEA, but is too late. MASON O’SHEA is injured.

Tobias O’Shea convinces a police officer they’re hurt and swipes the gun from his belt when he moves to help them, killing him with his own weapon.

Saskia O’Shea and Alexandra O’Shea gather crucial documents from the O’Shea law office basement—or the O’Shea headquarters—and evacuate.

[ CHARACTER F ] and [ CHARACTER G ] tag team the safe and a lock-box, evacuating both to the Faust safe house.

Donovan Kerig is ambushed and fends off two assailants, taking two bullet wounds in the process.

Victoria Stone sustains injuries and is hospitalized, only recently released back onto the streets.

[ CHARACTER J ] evacuates a list of currently operating informants to the O’Shea safe house. They’ve been camping out there in preparation for two weeks and have only just returned.

[ CHARACTER K ] is jailed in the same precinct as the snitch and learns their name. Whether [ CHARACTER K ] devises a plan to assassinate Matthias O’Shea before they can make it to trial. *NOTE: This character is the only one to know the identity of the snitch 

Eve Stone uses any method necessary to get the snitch to talk, no punches pulled.

FINNIAN corners JAXON FAUST and TEDDY COHEN. FINNIAN turns his attention to JAXON, and TEDDY uses the distraction to save himself. FINNIAN kills JAXON FAUST.

[ CHARACTER Q ] and [ CHARACTER R ] work to update the security system for the next two weeks by recruiting guards, gathering weapons, and installing a new system.

CHAPTER I. present day. 

Clementine O’Shea gets invited to sing on stage with the musical entertainment for the event: Mary Macaroni and the Impastas. 

Hadley Cohen spends too much time taking photos with the giant pumpkin and gets in a physical altercation. They emerge with a few bruises and a black eye...but a camera roll full of memories. 

[ CHARACTER U ] is mistaken to be one of the live professional pumpkin carvers and is pushed on stage to give a demonstration. 

[ CHARACTER V ] and [ CHARACTER W ]  share a sweet moment in the wild sapling play forest.

Katerina Fox accidentally drops their lit cigarette into the corn pool. It’s now a bonfire. 

Jordan Wake and [ CHARACTER Z ] accidentally get lost in a corn maze together. They are able to escape [ using an unconventional method of their choice.] 

Holly Byrne is a regular Disney princess. For some reason the animals at the petting zoo will not leave them alone. One even escapes and follows them around for the rest of the evening. Congrats on the new pet.  

[CHARACTER B1 ]  gets motion sickness on the carousel and accidentally vomit on the elaborately decorated pony that has been named Higgins by the local children.  

[ CHARACTER C1 ]  hijacks the train for a joy ride with [CHARACTER D1 ] on it.

[ CHARACTER E1 ] is so excited for the Ferris wheel, that they ride it multiple times that night. At the last call for the ride, they get stuck on top with [CHARACTER F1 ] as their partner.

[ CHARACTER G1 ] expects to get a drug delivery, but instead gets delicious holiday snacks made by [ CHARACTER H1 ] ‘s  [RELATION OF CHOICE].

[ CHARACTER I1 ] slides down the fun slide on their stomach, face first. They suffer minor injuries, and cause injury to [ CHARACTER J1 ] when they fly off. They both get banned from the ride the rest of the festival.

Effie Faust finally convinces the attendant that they are young enough to go into the bounce house made for children. While inside, they see that [ CHARACTER L1 ] has already done the exact same thing. 

WE ARE NOW OPEN FOR INTERACTIONS !