"and i liked you for that"
mumu account for fangtv featuring ;
amari austin (human | 29 | they/he | researcher for lafleurs best & only news station).
frankie o'driscoll (ghost | 133 | he/him | cashier at super save a bunch & local insufferable spectre)
adored and tortured by reu (23 | he/him | bst)
it was obvious, if you looked for it . the way that callie's eyes had started to glaze over , nails tapping lightly against the bar as the length of her attention span got tested . she couldn't even tell , at this point , the source of the aggravation. it'd started off with someone hogging the jukebox , she knew that much , but it'd turned into something about pickles on a burger and now she wasn't sure if they were recalling an episode of spongebob or was truly looking for her do something . “ right , yeah , ” intones lowly , someone shifting in the corner of her eye giving her all the out that she needed . “ give me one sec . ” a shift down the bar , dark hues landing on the next person's . “ hey , sorry for the wait . what'll you have ? ”
haunting bars as a phantom wasn't all that different from haunting bars as a living person. the general principle of a dimly lit tightly packed building where people went to get three sheets to the wind remained the same. the changing decades hadn't done much to alter frankie's behaviour in dives. he'd enter with his shoulders lose before scanning the place to check for any suspicious behaviour from the other patrons. little could be done to hurt him (he was more of a shadow than a person) but he didn't think there was a good reason to change a habit of a lifetime. satisfied that he'd sniffed out any potential threats, he'd then identify people who seemed likely to welcome a conversation with a stranger. with the location faces of his targets committed to memory, he'd then make his way to the bar.
frankie tapped the bar top as he waited to catch callie's attention. he was unfazed by the remnants of booze that stuck to his fingers ; at least it was tangible. "don't worry about it, i've got all the time in the world." he assured her with a smirk at his joke. "it's never a bad thing when a bar's jam-packed, right?" he asked, knowing the answer depended on your perspective. "i'll get a double amaretto and coke, please."
now nobody in lafleur is saying FRANCIS O'DRISCOLL is trouble, but nobody's exactly rushin' to defend them either. folks have been talkin' about the 33 / 136 year old clerk at super save a bunch since the day they rolled into town. seems there's always some new story about how they're allegedly a ghost and have been here for permanently since his death. i don't put much stock in every rumor that floats through this shithole, but with a versatile, loquacious & restless reputation like theirs, something tells me we only scratched the surface of the DÓNAL FINN wannabe's story.
BASICS.
full name: francis john o'driscoll
nickname: frankie or frank
hometown: county meath, ireland
nationality: irish-american
ethnicity: white (irish)
sexuality: some of my fave characters are gay ghosts so i thought i had to do my bit
gender: cis man
pronouns: he/him
age: roughly 33 / 136
birthday: he's not certain and the records were lost or destroyed. he says it's june 1st because he was definitely born in the summer
aesthetics: the lingering smell of gunsmoke , a crooked grin that occasionally doesn't meet the eyes if people look closely , a carefully concealed unsolved murder cork notice board littered with red string that leads to dead ends & reflectively crossing yourself in tense situations without reflecting on if you mean it
BIO.
cw: death and brief mentions of old timey crime and poverty but i swear this very brief summary isn't going to be that dark
the rare times frank mentions his childhood he talks about being the ring leader in make believe games with the other village children and the lush wide open space. the hunger, cramped living conditions and minimal resources linger in the back of his mind but he rarely dwells on the hardships. that was a long time ago so it doesn't impact his (after)life anymore or so he claims
his parents did what most people at the turn of the century desperate for a better life did ; they bundled up their seven children and boarded a ship heading to america in the spring of 1901. luckily, the entire o'driscoll family survived the voyage but that's where their luck ended. when they got to chicago the streets weren't paved with gold. all that happened was that thomas o'driscoll swapped his job as a farm labourer for a job operating equipment in a meatpacking factory and the family's damp crowded house was an apartment in the city
as the oldest child it was frankie's responsibility to get a job to help support the family. he became a newsboy and 11 year old frankie excelled at selling papers. he was daring, charming and still had an artful dodger lovable scamp quality that made middle class passers-by eager to giver the poor boy money. but his newsboy wage wasn't enough to sustain the family on. he also committed petty theft and pickpocketing
frankie was an amazing pickpoccket. he adored causing a distraction before slipping a victim's purse or wallet into his pockets. but one day he tried to commit a theft he sometimes regrets and sometimes looks back on with fondness. he tried to pull his usual tricks on a man who saw through him straight away because he was no stranger to cons. the man saw potential in the audacious scrawny kid and offered him a job running messages for him. frankie was suspicious but he wasn't going to turn down good money
it turned out the man frankie tried to pickpocket was involved in one of chicago's organised crime syndicates. running messages escalated into helping with burglaries for blackmail material and that was only in the first couple of years of working for him
the syndicate frankie stumbled into nurtured him in a strange unethical way. they paid him decently (not well but surprisingly decently) and they taught him the tricks of the trade. it just so happened to be a violent and seedy trade
as he aged the jobs he was tasked to carry out had more stakes. he became more involved in the extortion, racketeering and smuggling. he was never the muscle. he was called when a situation required a calm driver or someone with the ability to charm information out of people
with the turn of a new decade came a new business opportunity. frankie's boss saw prohibition as a chance to expand his stronghold into other states by transporting imported alcohol across borders. frankie was sent down to louisiana to assist with and carry out the rum-running
he's long forgotten what he did on most of may 23rd 1923, he didn't know the day would end up being signifiant. it was supposed to be another routine run. the hand-off was going well. his was in the middle of sliding money from the contact into his pocket when he heard a gun shot. he didn't have time to react before he felt two bullets pierce into his chest. his biggest regret is not turning to look at the perpetrator after his spirt separated from his body. he theorises that his soul might be trapped on earth because he watched himself bleed out instead of finding out how killed him
frankie was shot just outside of lafleur and soon discovered that he had free range to walk into town. for the first couple of months of his afterlife all he could do was observe and it was agony. being disconnected from the people around him was monotonous. eventually, he discovered that his ghost abilities were connected to his emotions and when his grief lessened he gained full control of his abilities and was able to become corporeal
frankie used his ability to be seen to become integrated with lafleur. he got a job at a now long shut bar and started a new life. for over a century he's been cycling through various friends and jobs. he's connected to lafleur now to the point that whenever he teleports out of town a force inevitably pulls him back.
CONNECTIONS.
friends-he's affable, loves talking to people and has a surface level charm. there are bound to be a long list of people he has pleasant but not very deep relationships with
enemies-he's an ex-con with his smarmy moments. he can rub people up the wrong way
late night companions-he doesn't sleep and late nights can be lonely. this would be someone he's formed a bond with because he's nocturnal
former co-workers-he's worked at a wide range of lafleur's finest or seediest establishments over the years to stop himself from getting bored. if your muse has been around lafleur for decades maybe they've worked with him
poker buddies-this is a silly one but he's a former career criminal who has eternity to kill. his hobbies do include card games and gambling
maybe a muse who doesn't know that ghosts exists but does think his resemblance to a waiter in a photo hung up at the family run restaurant that's been open for 70 years is eerie ?!?
now nobody in lafleur is saying AMARI AUSTIN is trouble, but nobody's exactly rushin' to defend them either. folks have been talkin' about the 29 year old researcher at lafleur news station since the day they rolled into town. seems there's always some new story about how they're allegedly a human and have been here for 5 years. i don't put much stock in every rumor that floats through this shithole, but with a prying, industrious & eccentric reputation like theirs, something tells me we only scratched the surface of the QUINTESSA SWINDELL wannabe's story.
BASICS.
full name: amari dorathea austin
nickname: they support the nickname haver community but they're not part of it. his name is 3 syllables and he loves it (that's why he picked it) so he thinks nicknames are useless for him personally
aesthetics: realising you pulled an all-nighter due to sunlight peaking through your curtains , the loud click-clack of a laptop keyboard , animated conversations with your treasured collection of cacti a meticulously ordered shelf of pulpy horror movie dvds, cargo shorts pockets that seem to contain everything you need at the perfect moment and chewed pen lids
BIO.
amari's childhood was a solitary one (this was partly because they're an only child partly because they preferred it that way). in kindergarten he spent his time playing by himself and doing puzzles. he was one of those precocious children who enjoyed spending more time with adults than he did kids his own age. the fellow college professors who had dinner parties at amari's parents house thought he was delightful and were more than happy to teach him new things
even as a kid amari had a hatred of arbitrary rules and a habit of rebelling quietly because they were aware of the consequences. one way they rebelled was by pretending to go to sleep when their parents put them to bed before getting up to read, play pokemon or sneak downstairs to watch movies after their parents went to bed. during one of their late night movie watches they stumbled across re-animator and loved the obviously fake cheesy effects and little freak of a protagonist
amari's teen years were as isolated as their childhood. they thought the priorities of most of their peers were frivolous so they put up a wall between themself and most of the student body in their high school. he was happy with his small friend group of two other nerds. they didn't need approval when they had each other
after he finished high school amari knew he was destined for college. the real trouble was picking a major. he was torn between three choices. his three choices were ; sociology (he was interested in examining the world around him and exploring the influences that cause people to behave the way they do), film (they were a pretentious horror film fanatic of course they made terrible short films) and journalism (they had a thirst for discovering information). amari ultimately decided to study journalism because as a naive eighteen year old they thought they were able to make the world a better place by uncovering news stories
amari's time at college was enjoyable but uneventful. nothing life altering happened to him in this period and he was too busy throwing himself into studying to make any huge mistakes. during this period they tried a little harder to form connections and gmed various table top games. in the years that followed graduating college amari ended up in between jobs. they got fired from soul sucking retail jobs for their inability to hide annoyance from customers and did pr work for various small businesses but didn't feel satisfied. at the age twenty-four he found a vacancy for the researcher position at lafleur news station. he applied without any hesitation because it was the kind of job he'd been dreaming for. fast forward five years and amari has firmly settled in lafleur. compared to people who've been in town for hundreds of years they're still an outsider but it has become their home. he adores his job at the news station and in the wake of annie mae boudreaux's mysterious death he feels like it's his duty to share the truth with the people of lafleur
CONNECTIONS.
friends-i'm sure a few people would enjoy their company. give them people to hang out with
enemies-amari often sticks their nose in places it's not wanted so i'm sure they've ruffled a few feathers. but also they have strong opinions so there are bound to be muses he dislikes for reasons yet to be decided
snooping buddies-he's trying to find out what happened to annie mae boudreaux and this muse or multiple muses are helping him
neighbours-incredibly vague starting point that is fun and can go in various directions. he'd be a slightly annoying neighbour due to having full conversations with his cacti and walking around at all hours of the day
ex-he doesn't date much but maybe there could be the one that got away because he's a stubborn workaholic
failed dates-somebody or multiple people amari had one bad first date with or maybe a couple of dates that went nowhere. maybe a friendship grew out these failed dates? idk the world's our oyster
sources-people they've contacted or are currently contacting for news story related reasons. this would probably take some heavy plotting but could be fun
