she DOES take a breath, contrary to popular belief to mutual friends when she goes out with them – debora isn’t all talk, all babble. when the girl does take a breather, she watches the situation. the body language of the other speaker, the wandering eyes around them. when a girl such as herself WORKS LATE for extra cash, in the shorter-than-necessary skirted uniform, a girl is forced to learn such things, if only to take care of herself better. meeting baby ? she thinks she lucked out there; most food service workers don’t meet someone … simply like him on the job. but she’s more than GRATEFUL that she’s chosen the same diner to work as, as he goes to on the daily basis. out of all the diner’s in the city, it’s seems as if she’s picked the right one – even if her boss has been lecturing her more about her work ethic than any of the others. “ more than likely, ” debora agrees with a short nod, a crinkle of her nose. it’s only like she ENJOYS working here. but they were the only ones hiring and … well, she was a girl on her own. her mother dead, father long gone, with a sister she truly didn’t want to be a burden to, OR be in debt to. “ if only i was a doll who got paid more, hmm ? ” a quite hum; and despite being a bit INTIMIDATED by the gorgeous brunette, debora is drawn to her. perhaps because of the other night with baby, the LOOK that she was giving to the other man who had made her … visibly uncomfortable. she was working on being more brave, though. “ that sounds truly wonderful. ” a pause, she glancing back before scribbling down the order and running over to the back to toss the order to the back. only a few moments later she sits in front of her, her own cup of water in her hands as she hands the other the cool milkshake. and there’s a few moments of silence, before she tilts her head at the other. “ may i ask you … if you know baby ? ” a useless question, for they obviously were together with the other two a few nights ago; but she still WANTS confirmation.
Watching as the waitress breezes through the diner, her curiosity is thoroughly piqued by the time she returns with the milkshake, settling down before her with little to no hesitation. They lapse into a silence, one Darling doesn’t perturb herself. Instead, she WAITS. She isn’t disappointed. ❝ Oh, I know Baby, ❞ She answers in a purr, fingers toying with the straw in her shake as she stirs the cream in, a question in her eyes. After Bats had resolved to FUCK everything up for them the other night, she wonders if their ragtag crew of criminals was really so … forgettable. ❝ Yea high, shades, earbuds — real cute? ❞ She’s teasing, tone reminiscent of the days she lived in a one bedroom in the Bronx with six other girls, flustering them with talk of their boy toys. ❝ Likes blondes? ❞ She tacks on, inquiry aimed more towards said pretty blonde, though she can’t be sure whether or not the chick will launch into a tale of modern day romance or dismiss her with a shy giggle. Honestly, she isn’t sure which would entertain her more. After all, Baby’s little act of rebellion, inconvenient as it’s proven them, was cute at first. Most feeling she’d ever seen in him. Almost reminded her of Buddy. She hopes Debora’s not too much like Baby, though, or else her amusement stands to fade fast — she doesn’t want to clean up any more messes today. Darling taps her own cheek with a sharp, pink nail, revisiting curious words spoken earlier. ❝ I’m just playing — you don’t have to answer that. ❞ She takes a good, long sip of milkshake, rearing back with a satisfied sigh. More for show than anything. ❝ What was that you said, before? You’re in need of some green? ❞
i. first and foremost, there will likely be nsfw themes present on this blog ( i.e., guns, crime, blood, death, drugs, sex, innuendos— you name it, darling's probably got it ) which i will tag as 'trigger /'. if i happen to miss anything, please let me know! i pride myself on being very friendly. darling may bite, but i won't.
as always, muse does not equal muse, and i am not claiming to condone her words or actions, nor romanticize her mental illness/disorder or addictions.
ii. speaking of darling, while she often flirts and uses her sexuality to her advantage, that does not necessarily mean i will always automatically write smut with everyone. it may appear, but it will be tagged, and it will not be written with minors. some days it may not be written with anyone at all. please respect this!
note: often does not equate to always, so don't be surprised if you come at her with the intent to flirt and she doesn't reciprocate.
iii. another thing i ask is that everyone treat each other with mutual respect. no godmoding, no powerplaying, no hate / drama. we're all here to relax and have a fun time, so please don't pressure, guilt trip or force ships on me. i can always tell when you're here for one reason and one reason alone, which can make me not want anything to do with you at all.
iv. though she's canonically married to buddy, i will never force that on any buddy muse if they do not want it. ( side note: i absolutely love ships, f/f or m/f, so don't hesitate to pitch anything to me ). whether she's married at the time of a thread is dependent on the verse, but if you're still not sure, feel free to ask me!
v. while on the subject of pressure, i have a few other blogs that i run on top of this one ( on top of real life ) so there may be times i forget a reply or don't see something, in which case please let me know! i'm generally a slow reply blog, but this is a kind of pressure i don't mind because i really am so scatterbrained.
vi. that said, i am mutuals only. i do make an effort to check out every blog that follows, but my selectivity depends on the day and whether or not i can see potential for our muses to interact. that in no way means you aren't allowed to approach me to chat though! if you do approach me and want to write, please be aware i am not the best at plotting, but i am down for most anything!
vii. i am absolutely game for crossovers, though i may pop into your im's if i don't know much about your muse or fandom. with crossovers, all i ask is that your muse does not underestimate mine ( see this post ).
darling is not the most stable and she has no qualms about hurting people for her own benefit— or worse. no matter the verse— though when she's with buddy, she's far more approachable— she takes time to 'warm' to anyone. while she's certainly not all powerful, she's not going to be easily manipulated and she's not going to trust on sight either.
viii. i don't do too much in the way of formatting, other than sub small text and an icon / gif icon, so i generally don't mind if my partner does anything or not themselves. if anything, i just ask that you cut posts!
last but not least, i am not affiliated with eiza gonzález, edgar wright, nor the film baby driver itself. i only claim my intepretation of darling, being that we were given so little of her, so i would only ask that you please not copy that! thank you for reading my rules. ♥
verses
MAIN.
AU.
EXCLUSIVE.
GROUP.
YOU WANT YOUR MONEY BACK? CHASE ME.
threads here take place prior to the events of the film and can include her years in the bronx when her life of crime was just beginning to take off, when she began working as a stripper, as well as those years she spent on the run with buddy.
YOU AIN'T GETTIN' YOUR MONEY BACK, JACK.
threads here follow the events of the film, when she is based in downtown atlanta, georgia, pulling jobs to make money for her exploits with buddy. SPOILER: there is a period of time during the film for which she is not present, presumably away and spending her cut with buddy on their extravagant lifestyle.
BEFORE THESE CLOWNS PUT ME DOWN IN THE GROUND.
threads here follow all acts of the film, but can be canon divergent for the third. depending on the thread, it could go a number of ways— for instance, HUGE SPOILER, darling does not die, but instead:
▪ she is apprehended by the police and imprisoned.
▪ she escapes and goes on the run.
▪ buddy dies in her place, fueling her to act as the villainess for the third act in his.
▪ both her and buddy make it out alive, but with a score to settle against baby for all the trouble he caused them.
YOU MAKE WRONG THINGS RIGHT.
threads here are placed in an entirely alternate universe in which darling never met buddy, and is instead a ruthless criminal in her own right. as a young girl, she held her own amongst the gangs in south bronx, climbing the ranks before striking out on her own. through the name she made for herself, she fell onto doc's radar and the rest is history.
YOU GO OUT TO LIGHT MY HIND.
threads here are canon divergent from the end of act ii. HUGE SPOILER: rather than panic following bats' death, darling and buddy are grateful to baby for taking care of him one way or another. good will ensues, but the events after which are thread dependent.
YOU ARE SO GOOD TO ME BABY.
threads here take place in an alternate universe in which darling still got into trouble with the law as a young girl, but after her stint in juvie she straightened herself out and for the most part, kept her distance from crime. she still goes by monica for all intents and purposes.
SO YOU THINK THAT IT'S YOUR DESTINY.
threads here take place in the marvel universe, cinematic or comic depending on the thread. darling was present for the battle of new york, after which she only harbored more resentment for the avengers and their allies. not only did the likes of them stall her illegal activities, but they brought an invasion to her streets, and now she pulls jobs with a vengeance, falling into black market operations with the likes of ulysses klaue and others.
MAKE MYSELF AT HOME NO MATTER WHERE I AM.
threads here take place in the dc universe, cinematic, television or comic depending on the thread. darling set out to pursue a life of crime early on, rarely staying in one place for long. what with the emergence of metahumans and vigilantes galore, she'd be hard pressed to, but nonetheless she's managed to make it this far unscathed. her heroes are among the likes of catwoman and captain boomerang— if that tells you anything.
FREE OF YOU I'LL NEVER BE.
threads here take place in the harry potter universe, mostly cinematic with book influences. monica's mother was a muggle, but whether her father was a wizard or not remains to be seen, being that he left before she was born. for that reason she's considered a muggleborn, the treatment of which has led her to strike out on a life of crime in order to take what she believes she rightfully deserves. she's a former slytherin, who used to work down knockturn alley before she turned to sketchier means of making a living.
VERSE NAME.
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VERSE NAME.
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VERSE NAME.
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VERSE NAME.
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basic information
FULL NAME: monica costello.
CODENAME: darling.
AGE: 27.
BIRTH DATE: march 22, 1990.
GENDER: female.
ETHNICITY: latina.
NATIONALITY: american.
PLACE OF BIRTH: south bronx, nyc.
ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: biromantic.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual.
RELIGION: formerly catholic.
SPOKEN LANGUAGE: english, spanish.
CURRENT RESIDENCE: atlanta, georgia ( verse dependent ).
OCCUPATION: criminal.
relationships
PARENTS: unknown father / gloria costello ( alive ).
TATTOOS + PIERCINGS: a tattoo which reads 'his' ( for buddy ) in cursive on the right side of her neck. a colorful array of stars across the back of her neck. a cross tattoo on her wrist. a filled red heart on her inner left wrist. a black heart outline on her left pinky finger. a large floral piece on her upper left arm, trailing down to her forearm. a red wing piece over her left breast. cherry blossoms and an initial on the inside of her left ankle. a tribal tree symbol tattoo on top of her right foot. pierced ears.
SCARS: a scar along the side of her left breast, covered by the tattoo. a recent scar from a gun wound above her right elbow.
FACECLAIM: eiza gonzález reyna.
personality
INTELLIGENCE: high.
LIKES: the color pink, drugs, faux fur.
DISLIKES: the cold, belittlement, bats.
DISPOSITION: flirty, seductive and a little handsy, if only to conceal her true nature: cunning, manipulative and volatile. all around dangerous.
MENTAL DISORDERS: stimulant use ( cocaine ), narcissistic pd.
EXTRA: daddy issues galore.
biography
born in the bronx, her father left long before he ever knew about her mother's pregnancy, and so monica was raised by a single mother who worked two, sometimes even three jobs to make ends meet for her family. often there was a revolving door of boyfriends, none of whom stuck around once they learned monica was in the picture. as she got older and grew into herself, a few more stuck around, and that was when she learned she had a way of wrapping grown men around her pinky finger using her sexuality.
though her mother wanted the best life for her, all the while monica just couldn't seem to stray too far from trouble— starting with petty theft and working her way up to more serious crimes, selling her haul first for the benefit of the household, and then for her vices. she learned from a young age how to appear inconspicuous to cops and how to keep her hands clean, though the more caught up she became in gang business and in trying to prove herself throughout the neighborhood, the less those lessons mattered and the more she got into trouble with the law.
after several stints in juvie, she managed to fly under the radar long enough to turn eighteen without much fanfare. eventually she began work as a stripper at an upper scale club closer to manhattan, raking in loads of cash ( and occasionally reaching into patrons' wallets to tip herself a little something extra ). it was there that she met buddy, a trader on wall street with a penchant for hard partying— the sort of lifestyle that didn't mesh well with a wife and kids, both of which he had.
he liked to be bad, and she liked to be good for him; their connection was instant. they bonded over their greed and desire to live the high life, full of sex, drugs and adrenaline. they understood one another, and while she offered him an escape those nights, he showered her with love, affection and lavish gifts— right up until he was caught redhanded with his hand in the corporate cookie jar.
part of her had expected him to leave her behind when he went into hiding, but part of her had also known what they had was just the sort of affair he fantasized about: so good, but so very wrong. when he up and left his life, he took her along with him and they hit the road together, planning small heists to fund their travels and extravagant purchases and racking up a body count ( if she complaned that someone had looked at her the wrong way, he pulled the trigger, no questions asked ). along the way they married in vegas, then again on the beach, then a few more times— before eventually making base in atlanta, georgia for the meantime ( with the hopes of tucking a few more scores under their belts ).
