independent fandomless original character this blog is mutually exclusive + highly selective. this blog is not focused on any particular fandom, and can be made compatible for most fandoms. this blog is affiliated with my other blog wordscanburn.

18+, minors dni. all triggering and nsfw content will be tagged but may be present, and there will be trigger warnings within bio narrative as well.

this blog is and will always be slow reply with sporadic activity.

jj | 28 | bi | she/her | cst

CHARACTER

introducing sal larossa.

introducing

...the basics....

location

...the passport....

education

...the yearbook....

personality

...the internal monologue....

appearance

...the mirror....

physicality

...the medical record....

relationships

... the photoalbum....

life

...the day-to-day....

...the lifestyle....

biography

the story of sal larossa.

triggger warning

mentions of abuse, violence, suicide, death, depression, and postpartum depression.

❛ I wonder which will get you killed faster — your loyalty or your stubbornness? ❜

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Sal Benito LaRossa was born at 2 am on December 15, 1989. The tiny blue bundle was placed in his mother's arms first, and she tiredly smiled down at him. Her eyes glistened with love as she looked between her son and her husband. She said Sal looked just like him, but Maria & Benito shared a silent look, knowing that the baby looked far more like her.Benito returned to Italy a week later, leaving his wife behind to help his daughter with her newborn for a little longer. He didn't dare question her when she insisted she had to. Because no one wanted to acknowledge how much Ariana was struggling. When Marco came to Maria with concern, she insisted it would be okay. Sometimes new mothers just needed time . And ultimately, she was right. She struggled to connect with her son for several weeks. She'd allowed her mother to care for him. She'd switched to formula fairly early in, barely breastfeeding at all. She simply couldn't do it. But one day, Ariana sat curled on the armchair in the living room. Soft music played from the kitchen as her mother made lunch for the three that were at home. Her attention was on the swirling fan overhead until she feels a soft nudge on her knee. Sal was walking. He'd walked over to her, and touched her knee. A wide smile on his pudgy cheeks. And for the first time since the day he was born, the light re-entered his mother's eyes, and she smiled back.From that day on, things changed. Sal became Ariana's whole world, and life was going well. Soon after, Ariana returned to work. Maria stayed, and Benito returned to help keep an eye on Sal while his parents were once again partnered on missions. Sometimes they were gone for weeks at a time, but then they were home for weeks at a time. And whenever they were home, Sal had their sole attention. Ariana had returned to her wild, happy ways. She'd paint her toddler's face when the LaRossa's went to Yankee games, and she helped Marco teach him how to play t-ball the second he was stable enough on his feet to hold a bat and swing it. They were happy, and things were going well. Well enough, they decided to allow their family to grow.Marco & Ariana decided to once again try to become pregnant in late 1991. And in mid-May, Ariana cried tears of joy as she launches into her husband's arms. She then picks up her 3 year old son and kisses his cheek, asking him ...❛ Tesoro, sei pronto per diventare un fratello Maggiore? ❜...

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On February 20, 1992, Sal struggled out of his Nonna's arms to crawl onto the hospital bed beside his Mom. Curiosity lights his eyes as he peers at the bundle of blankets and pink skin in his mother's arms. And his parents introduce him to his baby brother, Matteo Giovanni LaRossa. Marco gently brushes thick curls off the toddler's forehead and tells him that Matteo is his baby brother, and it will be his job to look after him. Sal nods and promises, that he'll always look after his brother. Even at three, he takes the responsibility seriously.When the LaRossa family returns home, Sal excitedly watches his Dad carry the baby carrier. But he doesn't notice the uncharacteristic s l o u c h of his mother's shoulders. Because he doesn't remember what she was like before. But Maria notices, and she keeps an eye. She once again watches the boys. She cares for Matteo and teaches Sal how to tie his shoes. Sal helps her cook lunch, and she tells him her favorite songs. However, after a few months, even Sal begins to notice the lack of warmth from his mother when she tucks him in. He loves his Nonna, but he had gotten used to his mother's bedtime stories too. So one day, he asks his Dad what is wrong with his Mamma. Marco simply says no. But Maria overhears.The following day, Sal is surprised by his Nonna hugging him goodbye. He doesn't know that his father told her to leave when she brings up to him that Ariana might need help. He simply thinks his Dad is taking leave and is spending time with his boys. There are more Yankee games and time at the park. Italian is no longer spoken in the home, but it was okay. Even if he missed it. His dad said it was important to know his english best. It isn't until Matteo's first birthday that Marco decides to find help. With Sal at his side and Matteo in the career across his chest, Marco walks his wife to the clinic. And this continues for the next several months. Sal doesn't notice the prescription on his parents' bathroom counter or the tension between them. But he notices that his mother is getting better. She smiles again, and she warms.

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When Sal begins kindergarten, Marco returns to work. Ariana stays behind with the boys. She seems okay to Sal, but she still doesn't seem as happy as she'd been before Matteo was born. But she smiles at him and walks him to school every weekday. She let him help cook dinner, just like his Nonna did. When he says he misses her, his mom agrees. A week later, his Nonna & Nonno are back, and the five-year-old launches himself into their arms. Sal thinks things are fixed, but really, his grandparents were simply better shields.It's a few weeks before Marco returns from his mission, and he returns angry. Sal had never seen his dad that angry before. He never saw glass break that way. So he just tried to read his little brother a story from his favorite book, and avoid what happened down the stairs. The next morning, his mom came into his room in the early hours of the morning and kissed his forehead. She told him it was time that she went back to work, but Nonna would be here for them. She said she loved him, and she left. Tears stung the little boy's eyes, but he held them back when he heard the crying from the toddler's room across the hall. Sal crawls out of his bed and drags his blanket behind him, sitting on the edge of Matteo's bed. He promises it'll be okay, and their parents would come back soon.They didn't come home soon. Well, not really. They came home every few weeks, but only for twelve-hour stints to sleep before deploying on another mission. As time goes on, their returns last longer. Their dad will make time to take them to games again, and their mom will watch their favorite cartoons with them. However, their greatest time is spent with their grandparents. That is, until late spring of 2001.

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Sal is 11, which means he is definitely old enough to know what it meant when his mom came home with a pretty large stomach. And he'd even started to learn in school how that happened. But even with that distasteful knowledge, he was happy. He asked his Mom, who seemed almost wistful when she said the boys would have a baby sister. The oldest son eagerly helps his mom with whatever she needs, finally old enough to notice things he never had. While she seemed hopeful, she was distant. Whenever his father was in the room, she closed off more. And his father ... was tense to say the least. Sal didn't know how else to describe it. He just knew things were wrong. And that only became more clear when his Mom told his Nonna to go home.When Sal hugged his Nonna goodbye at the airport, he tried not to cry. With Matteo by his side, teary-eyed, he knew he had to be strong. ...❛ Sei troppo forte, dolce ragazzo, ❜... she told him, and she kissed his cheeks. She told him to call if he ever needed her, and he said he would. And then with an arm slung across his little brother's shoulders, the boys made their way back to their parents, who stood with too much space between them for a happy couple.And from then, things only got worse.While his relationship with his mother was going as well as it could, Sal couldn't find a way in with his dad. Until he discovered boxing. Baseball wasn't enough to get his father's attention, but boxing was. The father-son duo began boxing that summer. And when Sal showed promise, Marco set up a home gym for them to practice at home. The eldest son finally felt as though he was making his father proud. Things begin to turn around as the summer goes on, and then on August 14, 2001, the family grew one last time.

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Maria Ariana Giovanna LaRossa was born at 9 am that morning, and from the moment her brothers leaned over their mother's shoulder to look at the little girl, she owned their hearts. This time it was Sal who told Matteo it was their job to take care of her. The two young boys bumped fists in agreement, that they would do whatever it took to always keep their little sister safe. Which meant when Sal and Matteo came home from school after their first day of the new year, only to hear the shrieking cry of a newborn, and Sal found his Mom curled on the bathroom floor . . . he made a call. And then he called his father.Maria Cono returned to Brooklyn, and Marco didn't fight this time. He returned to full-time a the UNIA and traveled again. Sal was hopeful that with his Nonna, his mom would get better again. But as the time went on, she didn't. His father was rarely home, and it became too hard to deal with this on his own. And then, he met Melanie Calani.Sal & Mel met in middle school after the latter moved to Brooklyn from the west coast. Sal wasn't sure if it was her connection to her Peruvian heritage, or her long hair that caught his attention first. But he was sure to ask her to dance at their middle school winter dance. And at every dance that followed. Mel often came over after school to work on homework, and she was happily welcomed by Sal's Nonna. She loved the young girl and was sure she was a good influence on her grandson. She'd even offer to bring the girl home herself so she could stay for dinner. Sal & Mel talked about everything, she became his best friend. He told her about his mom, and she told him about hers. The bonded over the feeling of a family that felt fractured. And he only clings to their friendship more as time goes on.

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Sal is 14 when his grandparents leave for the last time. His father decides to work from headquarters, and no longer travel. He thinks his kids are slipping through the cracks and wants to be there. When Sal tries to tell him they're fine, he backs him into a wall. He tells his son that he knows best, and if he knows what is good for him he'll stop talking. So he does.When Sal begins high school, he does it with Mel by his side. He lives another life at school, with her hand in his and the support of his older teammates on the varsity baseball team. Then he goes home, and his father tells him it's time. Now that the's in high school, he really needs to start training for the academy. The casual taekwondo classes and boxing lessons aren't enough. He adds more martial arts to his training. He lifts more. And his father no longer thinks boxing at the gym is enough, he must learn to fight him. When he's older, Sal will wonder if he just wanted the excuse to start hitting him. If the rage was only beginning as his mother drifted more and more from them.By the time he is 15, Ariana is fully absent. She locks herself in her room most of the time. And Marco is only home when it is time to train. So taking care of his baby sister falls mostly on him. Sal feeds her, bathes her, drops her off at daycare & tucks her in. Matteo helps watch her when he's at baseball practice and brings her to his games. But he truly couldn't have managed without Mel. Sharing her notes from the classes he slept through, and bringing Maria home on the days he had late practice. One evening when she stayed late to help Matteo when Sal had an away game, she was asked to sleep over. And when Sal offered to take the couch so she could take his bed, she didn't let him leave.From that night forward, she stayed over most nights. He often snuck her back in on nights his Dad was home. He didn't even mind when he'd been caught and Marco made sure to hit him harder during boxing practice. Not when he knew Mel would help wrap his wounds and hold him at night. And he was never more grateful for her than he was on that night.
Sal was freshly 16 when his mother took her own life. When his four-year-old sister found her body in the bathtub. Mel took Maria & Matteo into Sal's room and tasked herself with distracting them. Sal knew he loved her when he didn't need to ask. He was left to call 911, and turn off the running water. He checked her pulse and swallowed back the bile in his throat. He waited on the couch as his mother's body was loaded into an ambulance, and answered questions until his Dad came bursting in. Alcohol on his breath and rage rather than panic in his eyes. Sal wasn't a boy anymore, he knew what his messily made tie and the lipstick on his neck meant. And when they were left alone, Sal asked where he'd been. Anger in his voice that had never been aimed at his father before. And that anger is all it took for his father to backhand him. It was the first time his father hit him without the guise of training. The first time he hit him just to cause him pain.

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When Sal returned to his room, Matteo had gone to bed, leaving Mel and Maria curled together on his bed. Sal lay behind Mel , nuzzling her neck. He sighed, and she shifted against him, waking up enough to look back at him. She asked if his mom was okay ... and his lip trembled and he simply shook her head. Mel turned around to just hold him against her, and let him cry silently into her neck. Making sure Maria still lay asleep beside them.After the death of his mother, things only grew worse. His father's rage began to grow, and it threatened to reach his younger siblings. And Sal refused to let that happen. As time went on, there were times he missed it. Sometimes Matteo would and up hurt when Sal wasn't home. But the brothers promised, no hand would be raised to Maria. Never to her. So, Sal willingly allowed his father to schedule his life. He trained. After all, the UNIA was going to be his future. It was always going to be his future. So he spent more time at the gym, he boxed with his father. He didn't argue when his dad would start trying to ' surprise attack ' him when he was doing anything. Cooking dinner, or working on his homework. He'd just fight back. But never as hard as his father would fight. Even if it left him with bruised ribs.Between training, baseball & his relationship, school was a struggle. He was focused on what his body needed to be able to do, and the techniques and skills he needed for his future career. So he let his grades slip. If it wasn't for Mel, he likely would never have made it to graduation. Oddly enough, his father's fists were not enough to convince him to get higher than a 'C' in British Literature. But nevertheless, he made it. And with it, came Melanie's tears against his cheek as he kissed her goodbye. He was meant to leave for DC that night for the academy, and by the time he returned ... she'd be starting college at UCLA . So that night, he says goodbye to her. An empty promise that if she's ever in New York ... he'll be waiting. And an empty promise from her that she'll come back.That evening, Sal packs up his bag and says goodbye to his siblings. He makes sure Matteo knows what to do in an emergency, and promises if they need anything he'll steal a car to drive back if he has to. And with the knowledge that his father will be at the academy for the entirety of his training at the academy, he knows they'll be safe. And with that, Sal is gone.

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He spends the next 6 months at the academy, only returning home for weekends every so often. He masters multiple martial arts and gets licensed for multiple firearms. He is the top agent of his class with a large margin, much to the pride of his father. Within the year, he is verified as an official agent and begins his first mission. Sal moves back to the city, and with the help of his grandparents, he buys an apartment. And without any fight from his father, he takes his siblings with him.At 20 Sal becomes Maria & Matteo's legal guardian. Mel had flown back to the city to petition the court, just in case their father fought. But clearly, he didn't want the knowledge of his abuse to be public. So he just let it go. And went back to working international missions. With Matteo's help, Sal was able to work and ensure his family was okay. He worked out of the NY office as much as he could until Matteo graduated high school. Then he took the leap, and traveled internationally ... and he fell in love with it .There is nowhere Sal would rather be than with his siblings, but he'd grown to love his job too. He loved to work undercover, he loved taking the risks. He liked taking town those exploiting objects no human should have access to. And he felt like he was where he was meant to be.

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Currently sal can be found traveling across the world, often undercover. But when he's not on the job, he's based in Brooklyn, NYC with his family. You can find him running in the park, hanging out in bars and pool halls, and training in local boxing gyms.

rules

how to not get blocked.

following

this blog is highly selective & mutually exclusive which is just a fancy way of saying i'm picky of who i follow and interact. if i do not follow you, then don't like starter calls, plotting calls or in character memes unless i explicitly mention they're open for all. if you do this then i'll block you.as a rule of thumb i don't follow:

shipping

while shipping isn't the goal of this blog, i do love shipping. what can i say, i'm broken. sal is bisexual so ships with any gender can be considered, however he isn't the easiest muse to ship with.sal is often traveling and working undercover so shipping and relationships are rarely a priority. he is also in and on-again-off-again relationship with peyton reynolds in most verses as they work together and have immense history.. so while I'm always open to shipping, it will require plotting!i don't write smut very often, however i'm not opposed to it if i'm comfortable with you. however i will never write it with anyone under the age of 21.

exclusivity

my favorite part of rp is making friends and writing with them so i practice mains + exclusives. i think we all know what these are by now, but mains mean that is my go-to version of the character while exclusives are the only versions of a character i will interact with. please see my exclusives page before following.

interactions

like previously stated, i'm very slow and very busy. i am not always around to write, and when i do write i like to make sure it's good or at least good-ish, so if i'm overwhelmed i'm not going to write. however writing is my favorite thing to do and i'm really trying to get better at prioritizing it again.if you want to write with me the best ways are to either send me memes or like my plotting/starter calls. i'm also more likely to write and be around if i'm excited about what i'm writing, and i'm a plot heavy bitch. so reach out to plot!i also enjoy writing on discord, and am honestly faster on there. if you ever want to move threads to discord feel free to ask!

content

this blog is 18+ and may contain some triggering and adult content. sal's story includes references to death, suicide, child abuse, violence, post-partum, and depression. these all impact his character which means they may come up in threads. while it is unlikely to be shown explicitly in threads, there will likely be conversations regarding abuse.if these topics are upsetting and/or triggering for you, please don't follow make your dash a safe place for you!all trigger warnings will be tagged as trigger tw in example, some common ones you will see on this blog are nsfw tw, guns tw, blood tw, etc.

credit

sal larossa is my original character, everything regarding his character as well as related canon belong to me, as do promos and graphics on this blog. however i have no affiliation with any fandom i interact with or my faceclaim(s).

exclusives

introducing my faves.

exclusives

...my nemeses....

the only portrayals for me.

mains

...my friends....

my go-to portrayals.

verses

cora across universes.

...verse: hold on baby, you're losing it....

...verse: hold on baby, you're losing it....

... main verse.

... main verse.

lalal

...verse: the time for being sad is over....

... grishaverse.

after the disappearance of his sister, tommy knows the truth. due to her grisha powers she'd been taken from their home and sold. he promises his mother he'll find a way to bring her back.

...verse: a hero for the lost cause....

... mcu verse.

after the snap, tommy appears back into the world having lost 5 year of his life. he returns home to his brother's relief only for it to be followed by a frantic call from his mother..as someone else had come home.the brothers return to maine to find lucy in their home. grown and seemingly well. discovering the truth of when she'd been taken, and how the snap had given her the freedom she needed to escape. while the joy is immeasurable, tommy continues to be the most stable in his family and takes on the brunt of responsibility to get lucy re-acclimated. to get her help...while he himself isn't sure the truth of her tale. something seems wrong.

menu

exploring the larossaverse.

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