DO NOT FEED THE STRAYS!

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@assortedmutts said : “hey - look at me. what’s my name?”

deep brown eyes blink in and out of focus, fighting against waves of unconsciousness and a splitting pain in his head. what the fuck? jax tries to place the moments that led him here but only found a confused mess of clouded memories. he reaches a hand up to his temple with a wince, the skin of his fingers immediately coated in a warm layer of blood. well that’s not good. the world goes dark again, for how long he doesn’t know but there’s a muffled voice pulling him back to reality and jax attempts to focus on the person in front of him, his gaze finding familiar amber eyes and he furrows his brows in confusion.   “what — ?”

There are children playing in the street outside. Unkempt. Ill-clothed. No place to go.

He looks down at Saul’s Cathays and he sees a secret part of himself. A secret desire born out of routine eviction and humiliation: walking home after a day of breaking hearts and raising hell, finding his mother on the stoop outside their building. A paper bag of his socks, a pile of pots and pans and not a single pair of shoes (silly things that you take without thinking.)

It was easy for Daniel to disavow himself of his possessions and his future- he never had those things to begin with. He already knew what he could go without, what he needed, and exactly how much of it he could live without. But what Saul represents - a life, a gun, a room with a lock, a family - it’s hard not to want this.

He removes their hands from his lapels, delicately, like he’s checking for a pulse.

It’s a bit of a fantasy to hope they could one day hold hands in public but one Daniel will indulge in (with or) without guilt.

“Sure you don’t want me to call an exorcist*?” *how bad could she possibly be?

Though Saul shakes his head and clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes in an attempt to feign exasperation, the accompanying giggle and smile - first in the very long day he’s currently having - is what gives him away. 

"Can you exorcise an actual demon from within its own body?”

He’s on the tips of his toes, his hands rising to cup either of Daniel’s cheeks, when a key turns in the front door. His lips in a thin line, a crease forming between his brows, Saul sinks back to his natural five feet, four inches and steps back, his arms crossing over his chest.

A soft, door-shutting click and several loud thumps later, Jesse appears in the kitchen door in a heavy pair of combat boots and gives the room a quick scan before settling his attention on his uncle.

“Where is she?”

Saul blinks indignantly. “Let’s try again, without the chutzpah: good evening, Father Taimur.”

Jess’ heavy-hooded eyes shift to Daniel. “Your Holiness,” he grumbles, tugging the hems of an invisible dress in a curtsy, drawing another eyeroll and tongue-clicking from Saul. Without awaiting the priest’s reply, Jesse addresses his uncle again. “So - where is she?”

“Late. I don’t expect she’ll be here before eight.”

“Then why’d you tell me to be here at seven?”

Saul gestures to the clock on the wall: it reads seven fifty. “It runs in your side of the family.” He smiles, not quite smug, but entertained nevertheless. 

With what’s more of a sneer than a smile, Jess steps away and, a moment later, closes his bedroom door behind him. Sighing, Saul looks to Daniel in hesitation. 

It can be hard to see Saul this way, all shadow and sharp edges in his father’s baggy coat of business.

“Gey strashe de gens I am coming. Oh to think: You will make this momzer dessert. You will meet him with no kind face such as mine at the table.” Accusatory point. “This ‘clan’ of yours cannot only be yours when it is convenient you know.”

Hands falling back to his lap, Saul clicks his tongue and makes a sour expression, distasted. “For fuck’s sake - that’s not what I’m saying, Meyer, and I resent the insinuation. I’m saying, an arbitrator must be impartial, they cannot belong to any clan. Scarsi will not look at you and think, oh, Meyer is a rebbe, he has no skin in the game - he will look at you and see only the koppel.”

It is what his tateh taught him, and his tateh before him: bear your Otherness with pride, but know that it will always be perceived as an attack.

@assortedmutts​​

No punches land for quite some time. It’s glove work, really, they both agreed.

But Daniel smirks back with a quiet deceit. To betray. There’s this impulse since they started, to make Merc stop pulling his punches.

It’s a risk…dangerous because Daniel needs to be in a fight. Every particle of honest grief and anger coming to the surface needs to be beaten down before it can rupture all of his cells.

Daniel drops back a step, struggling (he’s old) with a strong twist through his core to keep his fists floating—

He hits Merc.

It’s not hard, but it’s not a love-tap either.

Despite or, maybe, because of their differences, Harry has been playing nice. The priest is an old man, distinctly out of shape. His head barely reaches the bottom of Harry’s chest, just one peck of which is larger than Taumir’s whole head. While he hasn’t sparred in a long time, he does have three years of professional combat training and over a decade of experience under his belt. It is an obvious uneven match on every level and, much unlike Harry, sparing Taimur of his full capacity has been an act of mercy. 

But now? His teeth click together in an unpleasant sound when Taimur’s fist meets his jaw. Surprise is minute, fleeting: yellow eyes blinking rapidly, his brows rising in mixture of disbelief and challenge. Retaliation is swift and ruthless: he dives, extending a long arm to snake over Taimur’s shoulder, a comically-large hand snatching him by the back of the neck and forcing him inward and downward.

Character name?

Saul Israel Shapiro.

Origin story for their name?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Four of your favorite traits of your character?

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

A caregiver through and through

Diplomatique

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

Most challenging aspect of writing your character?

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

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

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

What do you find most unique about your character?

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

Favorite kinds of interaction dynamics?

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

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

Character name?

The Mercenary (when will I discuss his real name in public? Never.)

Origin story for their name?

Embarrassingly, the Blacklist which, for the record, I haven’t watched much of, but that was the inspiration in giving Merc his callsign. He used to have a different one which was too edgy and honestly, too personal, and the Blacklist gave me the epiphany of like, why don’t I just call him The Job, that’s all he is and all he wants to be, anyway, he is The Job.

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

He started out as a WWI veteran turned reluctant 1920s gangster, and look at him now. His original 20s version and modern interpretation are so  far apart now that although they share a name, I don’t consider them to be the same character. His 20s self was far more open and vulnerable, kind and caring and gentle, but not as sharp, a little naive, and there was no real direction to his story other than I adore the aesthetic and love prohibition and crime and tragic antiheroes. 

His modern interpretation is far crueler and closed off, disillusioned, dishonorable and corrupt; far more observant and intelligent; but still a very gentle man beneath it all and, with all of the above said, I still do think that they share a lot of the same core values/tell similar stories, even if (modern) Merc’s is far more purposeful than his 20s self’s.

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

IDK that I hope people get anything out of it. The main themes I’m trying to focus on are the effects and results of trauma and mental illness left unchecked; what a person looks like when their sole purpose is not living, but surviving; man against the world; and the constant, non-linear, uphill battle of recovery.

Four of your favorite traits of your character?

Ride or die!

Self loathing!!

Self reliant!!!

So, so gentle and sensitive, my sweet boy (or, as Eugene Hutz put it in Everything Is Illuminated: Okay, she is deranged, but so so playful)

Most challenging aspect of writing your character?

Constantly pushing and pulling him, trying to find balance between how personable and dissociated I want him to be. How extreme I want him to be in the name of telling a story vs. how realistic. How true I want to stay to his character vs. how many small compromises I’m willing to make for the sake of making things work.

I also feel like there are so many aspects and little details to his character that I tend to focus on one Area at a time and neglect the rest, while what I really need to do is figure out how to do it bigger-picture.

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

So many, I’m sure i’m forgetting half of them, but off of the top of my head: Jake Arnott’s The Long Firm as well as subsequent BBC miniseries of the same name; the biography of Richard Kuklinski; the James Bond franchise (specifically Craigverse); HOTLINE MIAMI(!!!); various Chuck Palahniuk novels; Sicario; Jarhead; Ron Hansen’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; various episodes from various podcasts on crime lords and mercenaries.

What do you find most unique about your character?

Honestly? I’ve always advertised Merc as a cliche and I don’t think there’s anything particularly special about him (other than being a 7 foot ginger, LMAO). I do think his portrayal is interesting and round and I love him very dearly.

Favorite kinds of interaction dynamics?

I don’t think I have a particular type that I favor since I genuinely like exploring my boys  with all sorts, and getting to explore them with all sorts makes for unique interactions. I can talk about the kinds of interactions I’m currently looking to explore, which are: other veterans and/or mercenaries who Get It!!! Silent, private or standoffish characters which won’t necessarily push him to open up/will be cool with his own silence! Clients he actually enjoys working for and is possibly pals with/can maybe rely on??(!!!!) Civilians who have absolutely nothing to do with any important aspect of his life and like, meet him by accident? Maybe they’re bird aficionados? Maybe they just like guns and happen to be in the booth next to his at the range? Who tf knows!

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

You know Fez from Euphoria? So like, that, but less openly loveable and much more visibly intimidating. No one wants to fuck with you but you desperately want to be fucked with. You know that no take, ONLY throw meme? So like, no look, ONLY notice. 

Tagged by: stole it.