#i don't think anons get notified when something is answered ? so might just leave those be

[peninkwrites]

mafia au you say?

I made a moodboard for this au idea before posting anything about the au, so here's the gist!

OKAY.

So. Two sections of sorts. The Before Times and the Now. With an eight year gap in between. The factions have changed over that time. Before times, the majority of the city was occupied by the Arctic Empire led by the Crowfather, but when a rookie cop, Dream, commits himself to a war on organized crime (for reasons unknown) once an attempt is made on the Crowfather's son's life, Phil breaks down, takes his kid and his ally Technoblade, and flees. In that power vacuum left behind, Schlatt takes over with ruthless abandon. The Before Times have a few character focused prequel fics at present, but I'll have more plot stuff for it later!

(I'll put my shitty maps in here too for reference) (Yes I called the region under government control pig land. ACAB and all that.)

So at the beginning of the fic, the Empire has been divided up between Schlatt and the Badlands, with a lot of violence over some turf in the middle, but the real prize is West of the river, a much more upper class part of town which the cops keep careful control over. The arrows indicate borders shifting/where each group hopes to expand. The only other party of relevance is Puffy, who has a small strip along the docks from a deal with the Badlands, she is the one who runs all the drugs and booze in the city (city is in a prohibition type beat) after she quit the force.

The plot will start out with a few bangs, people going missing and dying and meeting and betraying each other, fun stuff like that, but I don't want to spoil anything so I'll talk characters instead– some of them will be important enough to have stuff from their pov, especially earlier on the list, but I don't know for sure yet who I'll focus on!

Tubbo: Just turned 18. Son of a mob boss. (Schlatt. I am sorry.) He's a ruthless little genius, but he hates the way things are run right now. His dad has put Tubbo and everyone he cares about in danger. Schlatt has made enemies, behaved recklessly, but it's Tubbo who will be left to pick up the pieces and try to keep everyone safe. The moment he can, he's going to change things for the better and strike down anyone who gets in his way. His friends include Tommy, the proud street rat, Niki and Ranboo, sister and brother who run a bakery/speakeasy together, and tentatively Schlatt's lawyer Quackity (they're foxhole buddies. friendship means survival)

Quackity: Schlatt's lawyer. Has an... interesting relationship with the guy (ew) but he's got a Plan. He's gonna get the fuck out of there and start up a casino with his boyfriend Karl (who sells counterfeit watches lol I had to) but you can't just up and leave the mob. So he's keeping his cards close to his chest for now, and when he sees an opportunity, he'll get out. He'd never admit it, but part of why he's sticking around is because he won't leave Tubbo alone with that piece of shit.

Sapnap: Grew up in the mob life because his father, BBH, led the Badlands, but left it the moment he turned 18 because he didn't want to live a life of crime. He wanted to help people, so he became a cop (please laugh. laughter is appropriate. Sapnap starts out wearing clown shoes.) it ended messy with his dad, as he basically completely cut him off. He joined the police academy with his best friend Dream and never looked back. (he joined eight years before around the same time everything changed.) Karlnapity is endgame.

Sam: Used to be a top dog in the Badlands before he pussied out– I mean had a moral crisis. Police captain after Puffy went awol. very canon-esque. Strong moral compass, but also such a fucking idiot. He lives on the nicer side of town with his boyfriend Ponk. Who works at Eret's museum and volunteers in the evening to give medical care to the homeless (aww isn't that sweet)

Ponk: Ponk is a fence who runs their operations out of Eret's basement. They're also Schlatt's doctor and sneak over there after dark to try and keep the stupid bastard alive. But they want out. They're tired of lying to Sam and working for someone they find morally reprehensible. So they make a deal with the Badlands– if they give them a way to get into the police station without breaking in/getting caught, the Badlands will protect them from Schlatt when they leave. So they steal Sam's keys (police files? haven't decided yet). One more job, then they go straight. For Sam. They're well liked across borders, but will that be enough to keep them safe?

Wilbur: Son of the Crowfather. Grew up in the city alongside the Empire kids, kids Phil took in, Fundy, Jack, Niki, Ranboo, along with a less close... rivalry? friendship? with the Badland's kid Sapnap. Then all of the sudden things got bad and when he was 18 or 19 his dad took him and ran, leaving all of his friends behind. (The other Empire kids were safe, they had no known affiliation with the Arctic Empire, Fundy squared away to become an accountant, Jack had already sort of separated him from the empire and had a job at a hotel, and Niki had her bakery to support herself and Ranboo.). Wilbur, going firmly against everything his father taught him, wanted to return to the city a new man, a musician who was down for a scheme or two, but definitely not the son of a mob boss. His first night back he runs into two people: his old friend Sapnap, who has degraded himself into working for the man, and Tommy. This annoying random kid who was kind enough to help him find Niki's speakeasy– The Secret City.

Tommy: street rat. refuses to tie himself down to an organization and heavily frowns upon it, tolerating Tubbo's family ties, but refusing to join anyone. He likes the freedom of it all, even if it gets lonely at times. He used to work with his buddy Eryn, the two of them planning pickpocketing hits and breaking into hotel rooms to sleep for the night, until Eryn decided he wanted to be a part of something more and joined up with the Badlands. He still spends most nights breaking into hotel rooms, his favorite being one which belongs to Jack Manifold, who hates his guts but also has never been able to catch him until he's already sneaking down the fire escape. 17 at the start of the fic. Helps this stupid tall fuck with a guitar find Niki's place because he's just ASKING to get mugged. Has no idea they'll one day consider each other brothers.

(the rest are more minor characters but boy do i have a lot for them lol)

Puffy: Basically in the Before Times she was the police captain that trained Sapnap and Dream when they were rookies. Her son Foolish is taken hostage, because ofc the mob want the police captain in their pocket, but she doesn't know who took him. The rest of the department/higher ups basically go "ya we can't do anything until they make demands good luck lol" so she goes. Okay. Fuck you guys. And takes her and her two little rookies to go look for him. The Arctic Empire are the most powerful players on the board at the time, but it's not them. The Badlands offer to help Puffy get her son back if she agrees to come work for them. She does. The police force basically were gonna leave Foolish to die. First she plays both sides, keeping an eye on Sapnap for Bad, undermining the police force, but Quackity the lawyer owes her a favor and helps her retire peacefully when the pigs start to catch on. She works for the Badlands for a few years, becomes a drug lord, starts her own little empire. Becomes the Godfather. (get it. bc Foolish is her son. the Godfather.)

Dream: A driven little bastard. In the before times, he and Sapnap joined the academy together. For reasons I will not yet explain, Dream makes it his one fucking mission to get all organized crime out of their city. He's ruthless. He's not committed to justice, he's committed to victory, damn whoever gets caught in the crossfire. He is supposed to play a major role as a villain, but I might make his whole deal more off-screen/reduced if I can.

Badboyhalo: was the second most powerful mob boss in the Empire days. Proud of his work, until his son left the family and basically went "you're dead to me." Bad had a crisis of faith. He cares about his family more than he does power, so he gives up some of his territory to Puffy, and asks Skeppy to run things for him. He's going to open up a diner (with a hint of money laundering ofc) and live a Normal Life in the hopes that one day Sapnap will come back to him. His peaceful retirement is an illusion. He could return to his former glory on a whim, but he'll wait for Sapnap for now.

Phil and Technoblade: Not too much to say here, they won't be active for the majority of the story, but Philza is The Crowfather. Insanely powerful. Even after he left the city to take over another one, he left behind some of his Crows to keep on eye on things (crows are people/spies, not birds lol) and Technoblade. He is Phil's enforcer and his right hand. He wears a pig skull mask because he's a notorious cop killer.

Eret: RICH. Runs the museum. Partially blind. Gives off an aura of being naively above all of the crime running rampant in the city. But she knows Everything. She is fiercely protective of her staff, which includes Ponk, museum curator, HBomb, her chauffeur/general guide, Fundy who runs the museum finances (aw an accountant just like his mom), and Foolish who has no idea what he's doing but Eret hired him as a favor to his dad Puffy.

Eryn: Was a street rat running around with Tommy, left him for a few years to go sailing with a crew as a little cabin boy. Came back with some cool scars and stories, tried to work with Tommy again but found he still wanted to be a part of a 'crew' of some sort, so he joined the Badlands. Now a spy with... let's say limited loyalties. (Tommy will always come first, but other than that...)

Niki: runs a bakery which is mostly a front for her speakeasy. Ranboo isn't really her brother, but she looked after him when she was alone on the streets until Philza took them under his wing. She just wants to make bread and a safe haven, but her speakeasy is right in the middle of highly fought over territory. She's used to being threatened or bullied by idiots trying to claim her fucking business. She doesn't blame Tubbo for his father's bullshit when he comes to collect dues, but she will keep this place running or burn down the city with it. Her speakeasy is open to everyone. No conflict, no sides, no guns allowed.

Ranboo: he's just a shy little dude. Didn't ask to be involved in this shit, but when one of your best friends ends up being the son of a mob boss you gotta roll with the punches. He's got a scar and a not-so-mysterious backstory.

Skeppy: this man is terrifying. A force to be reckoned with. When Bad stepped down, he stepped up. Has a soft spot for Bad and Bad alone, even if he doesn't understand him giving up everything for his son, he wants to help him and has the power to do so. (until, on the night of the first chapter, he mysteriously goes missing...)

Foolish: Found trouble in his youth, violent troublemaker in his early teens, but his dad is super protective of him from that one time he got kidnapped when he was like 14. He's a bit clueless about how the every day world works as he went from an absent father to basically being bubble-wrapped 24/7, so he starts working at Eret's place. He's buddies with Ponk and Eret, loves his job at the museum, not very good at it yet. Has a slight propensity for violence that his dad has made him outgrow, but will protect his friends.

Jack: Runs a hotel. Former Empire kid. Will lose his mind (he's moments away from Snapping) and end up helping Tubbo with his whole deal. Cares a lot about his friends. Sometimes wants to strangle Tommy.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head! And this was me trying to avoid spoilers lmao.

If you managed to read all this, thank you!!! I am always happy to talk about this au and maybe even some sneaky plot stuff but right now nothing is written yet! I am trying to figure out how I'm going to write it, I might write a bunch of fics each centered around different characters, but chapter titles with correspond to where in the timeline it takes place. Something like that, bc I don't think I can make this into one huge fic, and if folks are interested in a specific character/storyline, they can pick and choose what they read!

But again, i already have many wip I am in the middle of. But god does this au tempt me.

***UPDATE***

Part 1 of the series is now posted!

#mafia au #I am So enthused #thank you everyone who showed interest it surprised and delighted me #my writing #writing mood #i will probably respond to asks just linking to this post idk #i don't think anons get notified when something is answered ? so might just leave those be

[a-dragons-journal]

Okay, I have a question... A close friend of mine invited me to a discord server for ppl who think they can physically shift, and are *horribly rude* to anyone who claims they can and can't or tries to tell them that p shifting isn't real...and I don't want to leave the server bc it notifies them all that I leave and they'll spread lies about me. What should I do? And how do I get my friend out of there?

As far as how to get you out: if you’re scared to actually leave, just mute it, move it to the bottom of your server list, and never open it. Functionally the same thing, but they’ll have no way of knowing other than the fact that you don’t talk. If it were me, I probably would leave, but that’s me, and I understand why you might not be comfortable making that choice. I would posit that if they’re relatively open about p-shifting, which it sounds like they might be, they probably don’t have enough of a good reputation to be able to effectively tarnish yours, but that’s up to your judgement.

Regarding your friend: You may want to ask them quietly in private about why they believe in p-shifting - and when doing that, my best advice is to be genuinely trying to understand their point of view, because it’s easy to come off as condescending otherwise. Ask them why they believe these people, what evidence they’ve seen, how they know that evidence wasn’t faked, why the group gets so aggressive when people express doubts, etc. A lot of the time if you keep asking questions that gently point out the flaws in the logic (or, better yet, that require them to point out the flaws in their own logic in order to answer the questions), that’s the best way to make those flaws apparent to them without them getting defensive, in my experience.

Depending on your relationship, you may be able to actually open with “Hey, I’m kind of worried about you and this” and express it as a friend being concerned rather than having to skirt around it with the curiosity-questions routine, but I don’t know how close you two are or how well your friend would take that.

In either case, but especially the second, take every opportunity to de-escalate and try to prevent conflict from arising. “I” language instead of “you” language (ie “I’m worried this might be unhealthy” instead of “You’re putting yourself in an unhealthy situation”), appeasing or even apologetic language, paraphrasing back what they’re saying to you (with optional additions of “am I understanding that right?”) to show you’re listening and understanding, all the conflict management tools. All of them. People in a situation like that are primed to be defensive about it by the group themselves, and it’s likely they’ll have had the idea that “outsiders” can’t be trusted with this information drilled into them as a part of that - you should not be aggressive or judgemental about it; that’ll only make them defensive and unwilling to listen to you at all.

As much as I hate to say this, it’s possible that you aren’t going to be able to talk them out of it - at that point, you kind of have to make a choice between either:

going “I’m not honestly sure I’m convinced about this, but I’m still your friend and I want to support you” and being willing to not talk about it further and just be there for them as a friend, which has the benefit of them having a potential way out and someone to talk to about their doubts but the downside of you still having some tie to this group, or

actually cutting ties with them and saying “I’m sorry, but I can’t be around a group of people that has toxic behaviors like [x y z], and I’m scared they’re going to bully or harass me through you for not wanting to be around them”, which if they’re aggressive enough in responding to your attempts to express concerns may be the best thing for your health and safety.

Other than that... I think all I can add is that you may want to do some research into cults and how to get out of them/how to help other people get out of them, which isn’t something I’m an expert in.

I wish you luck and hope you both get out of this situation safely anon <3

#cult tw #p-shifting #physical shifting #otherkin #asked and answered #anonymous #rani talks #rani gives advice now i gues #PLEASE understand that i am a rando on the internet take ALL of this with a grain of salt #i'm doin my best but i'm not infallible nor am i an expert