#alice and her father were more alike in personality so they got along very well but she was also fond of her mother

[thegrimdarkoffice]

For all their backstory and personality, it’s interesting how Alice had a rather normal relationship to both her mother and her father (although she was closer to her father) and Maelle is the one with mommy issues.

[orangenfrottee]

Hey ho there, feel free to ignore this and I hope I'm not bugging you as I awkwardly slide in here, but I must ask: if you had full creative control of the show, how would you run season 5? You can pick and choose whatever leaks you want to include.

Ah!!! Thank you for your ask <3 I might have spent a couple nights typing out my answer, but in short: I'd cherry pick old story arcs, bring back everyone I like and who doesn't run when they hear Riverdale's calling.

I'd definitely get some decent writers (I'm partial to Jane Espenson, but no idea if she'd be a good fit) and definitely some diversity. I might accidentally fire all men and then play up all their shitty recurring themes for fun as a weird inside joke between me and the show.

I think if they ever gave me creative control of the show it would swerf hard to the crazy and not leave that lane because honestly, i think that's what Riverdale does best.

So, where would I start...

Instead of giving season four a decent ending, I would start with an extra long pilot with the title 'previously on' where the best and most important bits of the teens' school lives is shown with a heavy focus on Jason and the Farm. Parallely, we get to see the lovestory of Chic and Charles. The episode ends with a few very short scenes of the prom where everyone's happy and pretty.

Then we'd start on the real season five. It's been seven years and our characters are older and more grown up.

The show would at first only present the present lifesbof our characters and the barest bones structure to keep as much a little mysterious as possible (but here I tell you what happened during timeskip, too).

Archie is often considered the main character, so let's start with him:

Archie went to the Army after school (though he didn't actually pass his exams and thus didn't graduate, Mr Honey was quite amused). On his most recent tour he met someone special: Eric, his new friend.

Archie was wounded in battle with a... giant mutated elephant with sharp teeth and hallucinogenic venom. Or something. He isn't really sure what happened, but he's got a huge new scar all over his torso. The abs stayed in tact, but oh his pride. During recovery he met new wheelchair user (and on occasion crutches) Eric who has trouble walking since his legs are misshapen/he only has one. Archie thinks Eric got maimed by the same elephant he was, but thinks it rude to ask.

For Eric I'm picturing Sabrina's Ambrose.

With his hurt pride, Archie can't stay with the military and decides to go back to Riverdale.

Eric doesn't have a place to go, so Archie invites him along.

They need a job and since Eric has a calendar full of sexy half naked firefighters AND since they both have abs, Archie decides that type of uniform is the perfect fit for them and trades his newly renovated and well running boxing gym against the old fire station Penelope Blossom owns. (Literally, they even meet at Pop's to exchange keys and sign papers Penelope brought that Archie doesn't even skim.)

The fire station is quite out of everything, but it has a huge pool Eric likes to swim in and a fire truck. To make ends meet Archie sells his sperm to the Greendale sperm bank.

Archie is of course in love with Eric but unfamiliar with the concept of bisexuality and struggles to identify his attraction for what it is. Eric is a foreigner to Riverdale (or is he?) and unfamiliar with the town's culture and quirks. Still, something going on in Sweetwater River seems to be related to him.

Archie and Eric share the Andrews' House - and in the house next door... live Gladys Jones and Polly Cooper!

After Jughead and Betty left for College Alice' horrid mom impulses settled on Jellybean who didn't stand back, grind her teeth and took it but instead broke Alice' teeth. Her and FP were not amused (though FP was also angry at Alice for being too strict). Alice moves out but stays as a journalist in town.

FP gets in trouble for being a brutal gang leader without a gang beating up criminals behind the boxing gym on tape. Not wanting to go to an illegal fighting club prison, he hides with Canadian Serpents behind the border. (Joaquin's identical twin brother and Ricky live there, too. They're happy there.)

Maybe he'd call once or twice with misleading wrong snake facts that have nothing to do with the current mystery of the episode but fit into perfectly by chance.

Jellybean was invited along, but she chose to stay because she thinks Riverdale is rad and the old Cooper House is luxurious as hell. Also, her mom came back to become the new Sheriff!

Nearly seven years in, Gladys still holds the position because no one legally qualified wants it and she manages to keep gang violence at an all time low for Riverdale. Plus, she and Mary Andrews are not exactly friends but able to work well together. When there's another serial killer running wild in town she has no problem with having another girlfriend of Mary who happens to be a skilled professional in the most relevant field take over for a bit. If needed, the Riverdale gangs are usually willing to add muscle to good causes, too.

Jellybean has left Riverdale for university and will only be present for holidays and breaks. She'd still be played by Trinity because I love her and honestly, real nineteen year olds look like fourteen year olds everywhere in the world. Also this gives the viewers 'Archie vision': he will always see his best friend's toddling baby sister in the young woman which makes her the only undatable (legal) female on this planet for him.

While attending Riverdale High she lead the Andrews Boxing Gym and made it the most successful gym in the area. It won't be a plot point in the show (apart from her being angry at Archie for just trading it against trash) but there will be framed newspaper articlesband the like in Gladys' house.

Around the time everyone graduated, Polly was released from Shady Grooves and is back to her old smart self - and really missing her babies! As Choni leave for whatever private college Blossom women have always gone to, Polly takes them and goes home - just to learn on the porch that not only did her mother sell her childhood home more than a year ago without anyone ever telling her, the college fund she never had gotten legal access to and planned to use for the twins is gone too and her sister left town without saying goodbye.

Gladys has always taken care of all the stray kids she found no matter how tight the budget was and now there's this young desolate mother with twin toddlers in front of her posh murder house she'd gotten for cheap and she has this new gig as sheriff. Of course, she takes them in.

They stay in Betty's old room at first, but they soon get to remodel the attic to give Polly her own room. At present, Dagwood has Polly/Chic/JB's old room and Juniper the one facing Archie's. (When Archie sees her in the room, he actually has a flashback once to when he and Betty used to be so young, but then Juniper turns her gead, stares at him really creepily and smiles weirdly. Archie will be somewhat scared from then onwards and be reminded of when everyone thought Polly might gave killed Jason. Juniper would murder.)

At first, Polly's a full time, stay at home mom, but once the kids are older, she starts working part-time: for Gladys.

It turns out they work amazing together. Gladys tends to jump to convenient conclusions and threatens violence way to freely. Also, she is intimidating as fuck.

Polly is everything she isn't: level headed (to a point, in comparison at least), brilliant at combining clues and steering people (remember how she infiltrated Thornhill and made Cheryl unknowingly assist in her snooping plans?). On top of that, she has these stepford smiles and all the ways to appear unthreatening drillend into her head. Honestly, she and Betty are quite alike. While Betty has the lockpicking skills and knows her way around cars, Polly used to be really into fashion (or something) and, with all her experiences at the Sisters, the Farm and Shady Groves, Polly knows psychology.

She started solving some of Gladys' cases at the breakfast table, but now she's officially a deputy or an advisor or something. They're essentially like FP and Jughead, just that Polly is an adult (and that she wouldn't be in a gang beating suspects up regularly).

(These characters would all be mostly in the background though.)

Veronica finally gained perspective on her relationship to her father and grew up. Hiram's cut out of her life for good. They won't ever interact. (In fact, Hiram either moved to New York or he had a minor traffic accident where he lost all of his memory for good and now lives as Ram Rod and works as a trainer at Penelope's newly acquired boxing gym. Everyone is confused about it but doesn't care to ask.)

Veronica is successful at whatever she's doing and doesn't plan on ever moving back to Riverdale, but maybe something is up at Pop's that requires her checking up on in person and she just happens to cross paths with Betty who is also just there for the weekend. And they haven't had quality time together for years, because it's so hard to stay in contact sometimes even with people you love so much you'd die to keep them safe.

If I could come up with something meaningful for them to catch up on emotionally, I'd have them sitting together in a booth at Pop's for a whole episode just talking (but I'm not that deep).

Veronica might be engaged, but we see it fall through without really getting to meet the guy. She mostly just talks to Betty about him on occasion but in a somewhat messed up way. Ultimately, she realises how she treats him in some regards like Hiram treated her and her mother. She wants to grow up further and not be like her father anymore. Since the fiance was only a trophy pawn, she breaks it off and concentrates on introspection/ maybe therapy for a bit.

Later that season her sister comes back and surprise: Hermosa embraced becoming Daddy.

(These would have to be restricted to two half episodes only, she definitely deserves story arcs that aren't about her dad.)

Careerwise: she has a couple businesses, maybe a restaurant chain or a franchise and she seems to collect startups. She reinvests a lot and has to travel quite a bit but can work remotely too.

Everyone seems to want FBI agent Betty and if I'd go that route I'd have her demask Charles as the fraude fake FBI who hires guns for hire and fake emergency teams while making up fantasy horror stories about serial killer genes to scare his biological family into killing each other that I wholeheartedly believe he is. But I also like Betty's interest in mechanics and would love for her to have a career in mechanical engineering. Maybe she switched majors at uni and now works for a company developing prosthetics. Maybe she tries to get Eric into joining a study. (I mean, prosthetic legs would help his work as a fire fighter...).

She's in town to visit Polly and the twins but after talking to Veronica she spontaneously stays in town. She can do her work remotely, really. The two of them move into a two bedroom 'shared bnb' (or whatever it was called in season two) and we finally get to see their friendship on screen.

Betty isn't in a relationship at the moment abd she's so into her work, she isn't looking for one either.

Jughead had broken up with Betty seven years ago and never really had a well working relationship after. He's grown obsessed with finding a way to recreate what he had with Betty.

Not in a totally creepy psycho way, he's simply not understanding that he might be sex positive and he had been in love with Betty, but he is ace and quite aro, too. It doesn't help, that he finds people sexually attractive on their online profiles just to be repulsed by the tought of even kissing them goodbye in person.

(I don't think tv is generally a fitting medium for this, but I guess he can narrate for himself and make it work.)

I guess he has to be an author. Obsessed as he is about finding love again (he wouldn't call it like that) he figures it had either been the location or the constant fear for his life. He chooses to return to Riverdale. He probably instantly moves with everything he owns to Riverdale (not that it's much beside a modern laptop, the typewriter and his camera).

Archie gives the great advice how Jughead is obviously still innlove with Betty, duh.

He of course runs into Betty some day, they end up investigating some random murder together and find themselves in familiar positions and kiss - but it just isn't there anymore. Jughead feels nothing and Betty isn't really into it either.

Veronica later points him in the direction of maybe not being allo (because she used to question herself as aro).

Funfact: Jughead would have failed graduation with Archie if Mr Honey didn't forge some records that weren't actually submitted from Stonewall (they claim all records were deleted during a power outage). Jughead knows and is deeply shamed.

Thornhill has been renovated! Toni is pregnant! Choni will be raising their kids (surprise, it's going to be twins!) in Cheryl's ancestral home. Choni are married and happy.

Toni has reopened the White Worm with Fangs somewhere at the Southside and yes, let's make her the official Serpent Queen. Let her work lots of social causes (remember toys for tots?), grey area rule bending for good and of course she works well with Gladys. I've seen talk about her being a social worker floating around and honestly, I think that works amazing. She's working the local cases (and a few unofficial ones) and I think she and Cheryl are registered foster parents. On occasion (like once) they'd be shown taking care of a random kid.

Cheryl used her College time to study two things: business and Riverdale town history. Remember how in season two she took so much pride in her ancestors because she believed them to be good people? She might be disillusioned but she is the Blossom heiress and her and Toni's as well as Jason's kids will one day inherit a better family legacy. She'll invest in Southside rebuilding projects, advocate for new town memorials, maybe rebrand some of the Blossom product lines. Something like that

She won't run for mayor yet, but she's definitely invested in (local) politics.

Of course the pregnancy was with artificial insemination, the donor was either an unsuspecting red head from the Greendale Sperm Bank or they use some of Jason's that has surly been saved to guarantee the Blossom line when everywhere was scary talk about sperm counts going down due to mobile phones.

In addition: the maple factories need worker bees! Cheryl has a few programs with Toni to get Serpents/random Riverdalians newly released from prison or just with bad luck into a steady job and a cushy appartement overlooking the ex prison on the Southside. Pop's is also participating. Ethel works as a landlady for said appartement complex.

Also, why not add a second Blossom-Topaz lovestory to underline this incest-adjacent show and bring back Toni's grandpa and set him up with Nana Blossom. XD

Then during this season's arc, the Blossom uncle's corpse will be found in the river and the mistery is whether the FBI will figure out who the corpse us and what happened or not.

I love Reggie. Since Varchie is unlikely thanks to Eric, him and Veronica rekindling their relationship would definitely be a possibility I'm into, but he also seems to have an interesting connection with Kevin and Fangs that could be built on.

He would definitely have a car he'd love very much and I think it would still be Bella.

I'm not sure about his career, but it wouldn't include his father's car dealership. Maybe he'd be a successful movie star just in town between movie shootings.

Kevin was doing something with musicals on Katy Keene, I think? Writing or directing? He was trying to nake it big, but some plans fell through. Now he's back in Riverdale. Luckily, they are just about to open Riverdale's first theater in the relatively newly built but forever closed prison. Next to the Southside Theater the complex holds a mall and the White Worm.

Fangs works full time as the manager of the WW that he co-owns with Toni. He meets Kevin again once he's back in town.

Sweet-Pea somehow ended up as a junior doctor at the Riverdale hospital. He spends all of his scarce free time at the WW.

Some of the background Pretty Poisons officially work for the police now. Different than Gladys, they are actually ccccc for the positions they hold.

Peaches works as a manager for one of Cheryl's companies. She's happily married and has a kid (or something).

How long in prison do you get in the US for standing in as the head figure of a crazy pen and paper cult that has literal murders committed in his name? As a blond white dude probably just parole? So honestly, once they actually bring his case to court (and they have nothing against him because anyone could have been under the mask at any one time and people know of different gargoyle kings) he's released of all charges. No one in Riverdale actually knows though since his case took forever, Bughead had already left Riverdale and Alice didn't step up to follow the case. No one wrote about it, so no one knows. They just assume that of course the guy will be locked away forever, he's guilty.

In reality, he and Charles have bought a house somewhere in a different street of Riverdale where they aren't quite known and have adopted a couple kids.

Charles meets Alice regularly for lunch and she thinks he's this workaholic FBI agent only living for solving crime. They play a long con game I don't know the goal of.

(They have been behind the tapes even if that storyline gets totally ignored. They pretend FP being in exile is their doing, but the tape responsible was just a random security camera in the area.)

Josie's plans in New York sadly fell through (I haven't seen any Katy Keene but I want her back)

Lot's of bonding scenes with her brother Kevin who's also back in town. The two share a flat and on occasion burst into song together. Since I've already invented the Southside Theater, maybe she'd find a job there, too.

Val and Melody stayed in Riverdale aftee highschool and made careers in town for themselves. Maybe Melody at city hall and Val as a marketing specialist at the farm, Riverdale's most outstanding new grocery mart. Half of all Riverdalians don't get the controversy of the name, the others either think it's brilliant or tasteless. (Kevin for example has repressed the nemories so gard, he doesn't get it. Josie is very protective and angry at Val for working there.) The store belongs to the eccentric redhaired Eva Everafter or whatever pseudonym Evelyn can come up with to thinly hide her identity behind.

Somewhere in it I'd throw in a few lines vaguely referencing older happenings like "I still can't drink tap water" and the very first time Veronica sees Archie again after seven years she identifies him through his ab muscles.

So in short: Archie would be very dumb, everyone else is just there.

Also: Pop's would serve 50% vegan burgers and milkshakes so I could dig in with gusto.

[terrorhqs]

hello to each and every one of you absolute wonders !! first of all, we would like to apologize for the wait - when we saw 8 apps hitting the inbox in the last few hours, we knew we would have some Serious Work on our hands. it took us longer than we expected to go through all of them, mainly because every single one was absolutely incredible, and this entailed several very, very tough decisions. we also wanted to be as accommodating as possible for certain applicants who inspired us to make a few changes along the way - with their backstories, their line of thinking, their amazing character, which we will note below. this truly was a round of acceptances where we thought we might create a whole new batch of skeletons just to showcase each app. thank you to everyone who applied. and for everyone who got accepted, please make sure to send in your accounts in 24h !!

HENRY for THE COMMANDER (james norton)

henry, your writing was an absolute treat, but it was truly your future plot ideas we were feasting on! we absolutely loved how tightly tied to fitzwilliam’s psyche they were, how terribly heart wrenching they were - particularly the first one - we have to admit it made us weepy and excited in equal measure.

GEN for THE DEVOTED, captain’s steward (richard deiss)

gen, your writing flourishes and entrances and beguiles, just as rowan does, and the two of you do it so effortlessly. your in-character response was a brilliant show of creativity and development in showing how rowan reacts to the same question asked by different people, and we knew he would be a phenomenon onboard the promethean. your app was showstopping, and we couldn't wait to welcome you aboard.

CAIT for THE SOCIALITE (tuppence middleton)

the whole personality of stella was a whirlwind in motion !! we were so eager to read more about them from the very first seconds. and the prose ! how beautiful ! (Worship the altar of this consuming, rebellious  heart and wear it in red, bathe in this baptismal font of sordid gossip, glory, erupting nights of heated duels between wit and ego) - this is the epitome of what we wanted for them, and even more than we could’ve hoped !

KAT for THE DOCTOR (dev patel)

kat, please let us dwell with jonathan in his sunshine and pure spirit forever?? we are all rosa diaz on this blessed day and he is a golden retriever puppy we would all kill for. we love his love for nature’s wonders and for people alike, but we also adore the depth and understanding you brought to his future plots. we welcome you and jonathan to the crew with such, such open arms !

ALICE for THE DOE-HEARTED (su yihan)

alice, your writing was a siren song that lulled us into the depth of sybil's story - in a heartbeat, we would drown in it all over again. you kept the essence of the doe-hearted but took it so much further in making her a girl haunted, the buildup of sybil and her story a grimm fairytale to be told again and again. "You were born by the water, sweet thing. Your story is the sea with but an island in the middle of it." you have truly woven a complexity to the doe-hearted that we never expected - we'll all be holding our breaths to see how our dear fairytale fares on open waters !!

BEAU for THE INTREPID (tobias menzies)

oh, beau. the entire process of your application was as beautiful and chaotic as a natural phenomenon - it felt like we need albert in this rp, and that weight had the certainty of force? we knew we have to give him the leeway for development he deserved. i cannot properly convey how much we loved the schematics of his past, and how it contrasted with his ideals for the future. he is a map of contrasts and we are so eager to see him on the dash !

NAYAB for THE ENIGMA (katrina kaif)

nayab, the way you illustrated jaya's rich history was absolutely delectable - we were positively screaming over the intricate detail you put into the creation of such a nuanced, interesting, and fiery character. the research and thought you put into jaya absolutely wowed us, and it was impossible not to love (and admittedly, cower a little before) her. "what if this expedition makes you encounter what even you - with your cautious gait, and sharp, dark-eyed gaze - never saw coming?" what a cannonball she is, and what an impact she had on us !

JINHEE for THE HARUSPEX (avan jogia)

jinhee, ashwin is an absolute delight and so was reading your application! as rhi screamed, ‘FUCK I BELIEVE IN HOPE AGAIN??’ we loved the icarus imagery and were not prepared to be completely undone by this line: (and weren’t you told never to touch your idols? warned that the gilding will stick to your fingers?). the way you took his father’s ancestry and tied into his present feelings for britain was absolutely chef’s kiss. we were enamored from start to finish - well done.

KYLIE for THE IDOL (garret hedlund)

oh, what a STUNNING app !! it is so difficult to balance guilt and righteousness, and we feel like you did that thoroughly for jack. your level of close-reading through our skeleton was genuinely flattering, but the way you took it to new depths (and heights) was humbling. we are so, so eager to see how the tide will turn for jack, and all the possible ways you can give him a redemption arc - or the lack of one.

N for THE LOVER (zoe kravitz)

N, let me prostrate myself at eleonore’s feet. your application was so rich and beautifully written, truly embodying the lover’s feline lethality that you want to pet anyway despite knowing she might very well be your downfall. “feed me was all she had ever asked in exchange for burning day and night for him.” hello yes, we volunteer.

TILDA for THE NOBLE (madeline madden)

it was very hard choice for the noble, but tilda, i adore helene’s family’s backstory, how it seemed to rot from the core until collapse. you truly grasped the character and her yearning for abandon, her desperation, and her voice/dialogue in your in-character response was utterly delightful! we can’t wait to see her voyage from sea-legged noble lady to tide commanding shanty.

ADRIAN for THE PURSER (matthew goode)

if only you could see how we reacted when we received this app ! and trust me, the hype only increased when we got to reading it. did we channel that excitement through God-honest tears? uh, yes. we did. ( dead can’t receive letters but Edward still writes them anyway. ) we clutched edward to our chest time and time again through that - and the SPLENDID letter added at the end, what a treat to us ! we are so thankful just at the privilege of reading this. we’re even more thankful that we’ll see him on the dash.

EMI for THE ROMANTIC, wardroom steward (yang yang)

emi, we've concluded with all of your beautiful plot points that you and june do indeed, have the range - you gave us such a variety of wonderful exploration of june's personality, psyche, hopes, and dreams all wrapped up in the beautiful poetry that fit june's character like a second skin.  "the light upon the ice. a brilliant, sightless mirror. it comes not from the sun but from our prometheus, barrelling out from dark waters with an inexplicable gift: fire." you've captured him so beautifully and we cannot wait to see how he will be the promethean's sun to the open seas !

CLAUDIA for THE SCION (rome flynn)

you really manged to send a :59 app and still steal the show ! how very Scion-y of you. in all seriousness, i adored augustus background so MUCH - his maternal connection, the wishy-washy tides of his family’s structure, the conflict inherent in his very development !! so so good. you took a carefree skeleton and you gave it a million possible depths. we, as both admins and players, are so grateful for it.

AERIN for THE SHADOW (sebastian stan)

aerin, it is not an exaggeration that your app had us literally with our jaws open the entire time ? you truly took us turn after turn into elijah's story and hours later, we're still breathless and trying to recover from it. you captured the shadow's overcast history the way a shadow slowly looms over you - we were absolutely consumed by the end of it, and we're all here absolutely begging for more. we can't wait to have enoch onboard this expedition !

CASS for THE GODKILLER (kofi siriboe)

this is the sort of role dreams are made of. i think i speak for everyone when i say we never could have envisioned a skeleton as terrific, terrifying, tectonic as abel. stop me with the alliterations - lapsing into poetry is genuinely the only thing left to do when the support of prose fails you? you brought us to the end of prose. their role just jumped out for us and we knew it called for an entire skeleton. what an app !

ANNIE for THE STOWAWAY (riana hardesty)

i have to confess, we had such high expectations for the stowaway, because we knew their motivation would be one of the toughest to crack - and annie, you exceeded literally even the most optimistic of them ! (You’re no musician, but playing the melody of someone else, someone who can weasel their way in and out of a bad spot - that’s one song you know how to sing well enough.) that is such a fantastic rendition of their personality, and written so, so beautifully !

LEO for THE VETERAN (toby stephens)

i think this app was the one which sent me in a banshee-screech session that was genuinely disturbing to everyone on a 100 miles radius. the way you phrased the headcanons at the end had me in stitches - which was a welcome change for how DEEPLY i was feeling wells’ backstory. from sobbing to laughter just like that, huh. you have an unprecedented power, leo, and we love to see it !

[scarletta-ec]

Original Sin Story: Re_Crime

CHAPTER THREE: ~ADAM’S PROJECT~

Scene 1

Project “Ma” was a failure.

Scene 2

From a young age Adam has had primarily two strong emotions: Loneliness and anger at the world.

When he was a child, his parents were nowhere to be found. He was among smoking ruins. There was no home for him so he wandered the coast, passing through minor port towns. The only thing he had on him was a small bottle he was carrying. A piece of parchment inside read “Adam Moonlit”.

Those in the towns who could read took this to mean that this was his name. A fisherman temporarily housed Adam and taught him to read and write.

He lived a relatively peaceful life for about five years, though he doesn’t remember that time well.

One night, he was washed out to sea during a tempest. As he thought he was going to drown, everything turned white and warm and when he regained consciousness, he was deposited back on a shore. 

Adam somehow survived off of beached fish, making a crude home out of rubble and old boat debris. Every so often, the white blur underwater that saved him (though he didn’t have any way of remembering that) would appear to keep him from being too lonely.

One day, Adam asks the being’s name, and he hears it reply, learning its name is Catherine. He keeps talking to it, thinking of it as his mother (and then there’s this heartbreaking part where he’s just asking it questions, which devolve into demands to know why he’s alone and abandoned). Adam does not grow up well.

Scene 3

Adam, armed with a harpoon, reacts with hostility when exploring his new surroundings, comes across Horus Solnste, as most of the people who have shown up are hostile to him and steal from him. Horus isn’t bothered and tells him to relax. He says he is here to adopt Adam on the orders of his real mother. Excited, Adam gets into the carriage with him.

Just then, Catherine emerges out of the ocean, too far to make out and calls to him in his head, saying that Horus is lying and won’t reunite him with his mother. Horus says that Adam is being tricked by Catherine, as she is a familiar of Held. She can’t deny that she used to be a forest spirit, which enrages Adam.

He throws his harpoon, and she vanishes before it makes contact. Her voice, still present, tries to say something to him to calm him down, but he cuts her off, ranting about how it’s obvious she isn’t really his mother. Horus and Adam leave her, and head to the capital.

Scene 4

Of course, Horus says Adam can’t see his mother immediately. So he ends up living with Horus in the research facility, in the living quarters. Eventually Adam becomes Horus’ adopted son. He would always brush it off as Adam needing to study more, to work harder, as he can’t meet with her as he is now. Adam believes him because Horus is very persuasive.

Adam doesn’t feel like a human being the way that he’s raised. He gets only what he needs in terms of food and clothing, and is only allowed to leave the facility when Horus orders him to go shopping— he doesn’t want for things like knowledge and shelter but he is severely deprived emotionally.

When Adam grows up he becomes more persistent in asking about his mother, but Horus only says it’s not time yet.

Horus becomes older and weaker, and ends up relying more and more on apprentices. Adam ends up working with them more.

Scene 5

Adam only learns his mother’s identity when Horus is almost on his deathbed (Horus refers to his body as an “inferior good”).

Horus tells Adam to take over as institute director in his stead, which Adam agrees to.

Adam asks why Horus adopted him, thinking that he merely lied about knowing his mother. That’s when Horus reveals that Alice Merry-go-Round’s true name is Maria Moonlit. All queens have their name kept private by the Senate and scrubbed from all existing records and renamed Alice. Adam's mother is the seventh Alice thus far.

Horus admits he could never take Adam to her personally, because she is not allowed to contact anyone from the outside world. He insists he tried to make an exception, but the best he could do was have servants pass on his messages of Adam's condition to her.

Horus explains the situation further— that Maria didn’t want to get rid of Adam, but that it was all Gavriil's fault, and that furthermore he has turned Maria into his puppet using the brainwashing drug Venom, which he claims was made through collaboration with Horus’ “greatest apprentice”, Seth, who he says will seek Adam in due time.

Horus has put a notebook full of names and locations in a drawer— these are his allies, those who wish to overthrow Gavriil. Adam has a million questions, but before he can ask them Horus goes to leave— he has decided that when he dies, he will be alone. Adam never sees him again.

Scene 6

There are roughly ten other researchers at the institute— none of them object to Adam taking over, given Horus has been training him since he was young. Adam is a prodigy, and he has a keen interest in researching the legacy pieces, while at the same time upset that the research is being used for political squabbles.

One day Gammon visits the institute, claiming to be looking for Horus. Adam figures that he’s probably dead, and just wanted to die alone in peace, especially given the state of his health when he vanished. Adam then reveals that he knows Gammon was one of Horus’ collaborators in his secret revolutionary efforts. Of course, it wouldn’t look good for either of them if it got out.

Adam isn’t sure what side he wants to be on. He both respected and resented Horus. But for now he would like for them to look out for each other, sort of blackmailing him into it. Then he offers to get him some coffee. From then on they develop a sort of uneasy allyship.

Gammon is the eldest son of the Loop Octopus family, but he was cast out of being the heir due to being born without magic; not treated well by his family. He became skilled with guns and swords due to fervent study, and worked his way up to being head of the security division.

He also has purple prophetic dreams, which he admits to Adam while they’re drinking at a bar one day. He is an inheritor of Rahab— all Loop Octopus members are, to some extent, implying that there are differences in the strength of inheritor powers between individuals. He says that because his family can foresee the future, this means that a queen (who is only important because she can tell the future via divine revelation) is not necessary. Adam has not told Gammon he’s Maria’s son.

This leads to a lot of speculating and reflection on Adam’s part on if Gammon intends to rule the country, the possibility of someone who does not have divine revelation being in charge, whether the gods are even worth revering in the first place, etc. He starts to think that maybe the country should go back to being a kingdom with a hereditary ruler— that this would end the power struggles among the senate. And of course, Adam is a great candidate for king.

Gammon interrupts Adam’s thoughts to bring up that his father is very cunning. So much so that if, hypothetically, the real queen died twenty years ago (as she hasn’t shown herself to the public in that long), no one would have found it out. Gavriil was, himself, the one who established the rule that only the head of the senate can interact with her.

Adam dismisses the idea— Horus told him Gavriil was manipulating her with drugs. He’d have no reason to kill her. Either way, though, Gavriil is clearly the real power in charge of the country.

Gammon is sort of sprawled onto Adam's side, drunk. Adam tries to wake him, as Gammon tightens his grip, and then he is suddenly approached by someone. A man who looks identical to Horus, appearing to be the same age that Horus was when he first approached Adam on the coast all those years ago. He is Seth Twiright.

Scene 7

Adam has no proof that this is the real Seth Twiright, of course, but him looking identical to Horus is a pretty big deal. While he looks roughly the same age as Adam, Seth claims to be older, saying he studied under Horus long before he became head of the institute, roughly twenty years before, which would be about five years before Horus adopted Adam.

Seth claims he came to help now that his mentor is dead even pretty much none of the other apprentices have even heard of him until now. Adam tries to brush him off, but Seth persists, sharing knowledge of the Next Queen Project— something only those involved are supposed to know about. This makes it clear that he does have a connection to Horus.

Seth clarifies that he isn’t Horus’ child or anything, despite them looking alike, though they might have a distant relation or something.

Adam obviously can’t trust him given what Horus said, and it’s hard to read what Seth is after. But he’s a lead regarding Adam’s real mother, so he can’t just dismiss him. He lets Seth join the institute.

Seth is, like Horus, very persuasive and affable, and gets along well with the rest of the staff. He’s also just as brilliant, his assistance revitalizing the “Next Queen Project” which had come to a bit of a standstill after Horus’ death.

Seth is the one who brings them the “God Seed”, which is held in a small black box. Adam is examining it while Seth fiddles about with some of the machinery in the room. It’s a living liquid, Seth explaining that it was extracted from Sin, and that it is part of Levia-Behemo. Adam speculates that they can create people with magical power with this. He asks how Seth got his hands on it, and Seth says he was allowed below the temple by Gavriil due to being an old friend of his. He did not go through the Glass Hallway, but rather a different route, and claims to have never met the queen himself.

While Seth is just as interested in the legacy of the Second Period as Adam, his area of research isn’t machinery so much as living things, biotechnology. Adam asks him about his knowledge of drugs— Seth eventually tells him to stop beating around the bush, as it’s clear he’s asking about Venom.

Seth explains Inheritors of Gilles are able to manipulate people’s minds. Adam remarks he already knows this but Seth cuts him off. Seth claims he found the grave of one such inheritor, as he could find no Gilles Inheritor volunteers. He took the body back to his home, experimented on it, and at the end of this experimentation and analysis he produced Venom. He then analyzed his success and devised a recipe to make Venom with— but then says that he never used it, because it’s outside of his interests.

Adam wonders why; it seems he was commissioned to make it, but Seth doesn’t look like he’s interested in things like money or power.

Scene 8

The Project “Ma” stuff starts one year after Horus went missing. This chapter is basically a reflection on Adam’s motives; how he is empty inside and is doing all these things to try and fill that emptiness, how he blames Gavriil for not being able to live a normal life with a family that loved him, how he wants to control Levianta’s future by making his own puppet queen, etc.

He will fill the hole in his heart. If it’s for that, he will even become evil.

Scene 9

Adam goes to get Gammon to collaborate with him. He reveals that he is Maria’s son, though he has no proof, and tells Gammon that if it works he will become the next head of the senate. Adam plans to have the next queen change the laws so that succession will be hereditary again— and as the son of the former queen, Adam will become king.

Gammon doubts that’ll work out well, but Adam says that if he becomes king, Gammon will become the new prime minister. Gammon points out that it’ll be the next queen’s relatives who will be in line for succession, not Adam, to which Adam says he’ll just marry the next queen. And her children will be the Twins of God— no one would object to them being next in line for the throne.

Adam privately considers mixing his own genes in the Divine Seed that he’ll be using for Project Ma, so that those children will also be related to him. The outcome could be unpredictable so he mentally leaves it as a last resort should anything go wrong.

Adam hesitates to even think about killing Gammon for refusing, but Gammon agrees. He too is dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. And he also had a purple dream about Adam. But he doesn’t say what it was about.

Scene 10

Through Gammon’s contacts, Adam is able to get the recipe for Venom. He is also able to get his hands on Gavriil's journal. Though, it’s really more of a memo pad used to secretly write down Gavriil's private thoughts and as such, it’s very scattered and brief, providing little detail on what its entries are referring to.

In brief: Gavriil discovering Maria’s children and having a young retainer throw them in the river. The queen freaks out, and has to be quieted down. Gavriil thought he killed the servant to keep the secret safe but he shows up again. Gavriil decides to keep him around, as he’s useful. The servant makes Venom. Gavriil drugs the queen and then Ceci Vaju as well, saying that when he is dead he will inherit what he leaves behind.

Gavriil's notes become scrambled— basically saying first that he’s had purple dreams then amending that they are prophecies, repeating “I am Alice/Queen Merry-Go-Round”. His notes then detail the Project Ma prophecy.

There’s more that isn’t shared. The only thing Adam can glean from it is that what Horus told him about Gavriil is true, and that what Gammon suggested in his drunken stupor might not be total nonsense.

Scene 11

Adam reflects on what he’s learned— he believes Seth was the one who tossed him in the river, and he has or had, a twin sibling. He figures he’ll need to put some restrictions on Seth— now that he has Venom, he no longer has a use for him.

Adam has received information on a potential Ma candidate— Meta Salmhofer. Gammon warns him against recruiting her, as she’s a member of Apocalypse. Adam points out that one of their founders, Raijoou Zvezda, is listed as one of Horus’ collaborators. Though it was different when Raijoou founded it, evidently they weren’t a terrorist organization then, and she had since ditched it.

Even leaving aside the matter of Apocalypse, given that Meta is Pale’s girlfriend it’s unlikely she’s a virgin.

Gammon is against going to fetch Meta, as it would be dangerous. Adam, on the other hand, sees it as an opportunity for Seth to die in an “unfortunate accident”.

Of course, the plan was a miserable failure. Basically, Adam planned for Seth to be in one spot that would be attacked, while all the other researchers were safe. But instead the researchers were in the danger zone, and Seth was safe. Adam’s not sure how that happened. All Seth had to say about it is that they better do their best just the two of them from now on.

Scene 12

And so, Adam meets Eve, someone who would be perfect to manipulate. He didn’t plan for everything that happened— the fight with the White Army, Meta attacking Nemu (likely looking to punish Raijoou for her desertion)— but ultimately, he was able to get Eve to the capital. He drugged her with Venom by mixing it into her coffee.

Even with the drug, getting her to like him was a little tricky— he wasn’t charming like Seth and Horus. But he tended to her needs, spent time with her, was understanding, etc. Fortunately, Seth didn’t pop into the lab much due to his recovery, so he wouldn’t catch on that Adam was using Venom.

He and Gammon are drinking in a bar, and he’s complaining about women (“why are women so hard to understand blah blah blah”). Being the perfect boyfriend is stressful. He’d like to have Gammon switch roles with him, but Gammon evidently already has a wife and kids. Gammon also thinks they make a good couple, and so would they and that Eve would like him even without the Venom. Adam cuts him off, saying their being a couple is just for the plan.

He shifts the conversation to Vaju. Apparently they’re waiting for him to die, him already being sickly, before they move ahead, so that if Eve becomes queen it doesn’t appear to be solely Vaju’s work. Gavriil is in a similar position— once Vaju dies, all of his stuff goes to Gavriil, because he doesn’t have an heir, so Gavriil used the Venom to get him to make him his heir. This includes the institute, so that he can continue being head of the Senate even if they produce a different queen.

Adam asks if Gammon has any hesitation over killing his father. But apparently there’s no love lost between them.

Basically— Gammon is all ready to overthrow the current government. The only reason he was waiting this long is because he didn’t have a lynch-pin to pull it together. But Eve, once she’s queen, will be able to allow him to do as he pleases with restructuring the country.

Scene 13

The queen trial was Adam’s one chance to ascertain the queen’s condition, but of course Eve remembers almost nothing of it (which is to be expected). The moment Adam heard that Zellana was dead, he started worrying about Eve. He’d been confident she’d succeed, but she isn’t back yet. He can’t go get her, though, because it might tip people off that they’re more than just scientist and patient.

He’s concerned for her, which surprises him, but denies his feelings as being for his plan’s success only.

Eve suddenly arrives, and he goes to hug her (again denying that it’s for anything other than his charade). She seems a little mad at him, but also doesn’t act on it.

Scene 14

Eve is impregnated with the God Seed, with twins. Now all that’s left is to wait for them to be born. Meanwhile, Vaju dies, leaving everything to Gavriil.

Gammon is going to do his small rebellion after Eve becomes queen, and Gavriil will get mixed up in it and die. Then Gammon will be captured for his crimes. This is what Adam’s real plan is regarding him.

Scene 15

Eve gets restless and mood-swingy as the due date approaches. Earlier she’d been scared all day, having dreamed that she saw a bear. Adam thinks this might be because she’d drunken too much Venom.

Seth hasn’t shown himself since Eve became pregnant. He hasn’t gone home either. Adam, fearing that Seth has cottoned on to the plan and will tell Gavriil, increases surveillance on Gavriil and has his people look harder for Seth.

Adam takes Eve out of the institute for a bit. She says she wants to go to the Western coast, to meet Adam’s “mother”. He hasn’t gone back since Horus picked him up around there— he wonders if she’s still there.

He picks a car that won’t sway much, and they arrive at the coast. They gaze at the ocean together, Adam glancing over at Eve and noting her simple beauty. He starts to wish that they had met in some other way, without all these plans and prophecies and such, before forcing himself to drop the thought.

Eve suddenly announces that she’s going to name the babies Cain and Abel, though when pressed she says that there’s no real meaning behind those names.

Right as they’re going to leave several hours later, Catherine calls out to Adam in his mind. She explains that her physical body is gone, not because he speared her with a harpoon, but because it was a natural end result of her leaving Held’s power. She is now part of the ocean.

She was once a small fish, but one day she rebelled against Held and left. Unlike the other spirits, she had fragments of her memory remaining from their past, her past of being one who served the creators of the world.

Apparently in Levianta they are taught that Levia-Behemo is the only true god, and all others are false gods. Catherine explains the whole deal about Levia and Behemo making humanity, and Held suggesting the gods merely watch over the world, etc. Catherine hadn’t agreed with this, which is why she left the forest. Her body became humanoid once again, but it also signified that she had lost the physical immortality that she had with Held. Hence why she’s invisible now.

Eve can’t hear Catherine, as a note.

Upon being asked, Adam tells Catherine that Eve is his wife, which pleases her. She’s also relieved to hear that Horus is dead, saying that he was dangerous. Adam apologizes for his anger when last they saw each other, and they part on good terms.

Scene 16

Eight months into the pregnancy, Eve is moved to Alicegrad. That way she can be attended on and also be under greater security. The due date is very close now.

Once Adam receives word that she’s in labor, he rushes to Alicegrad from the institute. The sun has gone down, and there are no stars or moon in the sky. He’s stopped before he can get in her room by a guard, who informs him only those assisting with the birth can get in, including a priest. He does reassure Adam that she’s with the best doctor available— not Dr. Moreno, who drowned in a river the other day, but Seth Twiright.

The door opens. Adam sees Seth there, and also can’t hear the sound of babies crying. He had no information on Seth being a doctor in this regard— apparently his informants haven’t been telling him everything (Seth chides him for trusting them so much).

Adam pushes past Seth. Eve is sobbing but laughing, but the things she’s holding in her arms are not babies. They are darkish “things”. Eve is delusional, calling them her and Adam’s babies, thinking they’re still alive.

Adam tries to get her to hand them over, but she freaks out. Enraged, Adam goes outside to see Seth smoking, initially assuming he was behind it. But Seth claims he did his best. He says the babies simply died while they were inside Eve’s womb.

Rather, he says that this was Adam’s fault, because he was doing something “extraneous”, being vague on what exactly Adam did that caused it. He calls him out, basically insulting him as a researcher, but also won’t tell Gavriil what he was planning. He leaves Adam there, seeming really amused it all went to crap.

Scene 17

Adam is drinking alone in the furthest corner of a bar when Gammon comes in and sits next to him, arm across Adam's back and hand on his shoulder. He says they’ll have to start again— find a new candidate, and deal with the traitor in their informants.

Eve is infertile now. And she’s gone mad. Adam speculates that her spirit was weak already, due to the drugging, and she lost it when the twins were born dead. She’s still following the delusion that she has children.

Gammon tries to get him to perk up— they still have plenty of time before the prophecy comes to pass. But Adam’s had enough— he’s giving up on everything, telling Gammon to go back to his original rebellion plans.

Adam thinks Gammon’s not liable to leave him as a loose end, so Adam figures he and Eve need to flee the capital together.

Scene 18

Adam apologizes to his mother for failing to save her, not really knowing if she loved him or not. He’s tired of chasing his past, though. He also apologizes to Eve for what he’s done, realizing he does love her and wanting to go live in Held’s forest with her. He also wonders if Catherine might be able to find them there.

He loves Eve, even if that love is just a result of a brainwashing drug.

[risingphoenixrp]

Frank Longbottom | 28 | Gryffindor | Pure-blood | Order of the Phoenix | FC: Manny Jacinto|

Date of birth: 1950., England

Occupation: Auror

Ship: Alice Fortescue

Biography:

CHILDHOOD

Herbert and Augusta Longbottom wanted nothing more than a child of their own, and after years of trying, they were finally granted their first and only. Frank was a happy baby who was loved beyond words-perhaps a bit too much. Herb, an auror, was often assigned long undercover missions in the muggle world which left Frank alone with his mother Augusta. Worried about her husband, Augusta made up for her anxieties by being very overprotective when it came to her son. As Frank grew, so did his bond with his mother, and by the time he was ready to leave for Hogwarts both of them cried. His co-dependency on Augusta was cause for teasing among the local children in his neighborhood, resulting in Frank being a rather reserved, quiet boy-perfect for showing off at his mother’s tea parties but not well apt to making friends.

HOGWARTS

All of that changed, however, when the moldy old hat shouted “Gryffindor!” Frank had honestly been surprised-he’d overheard his parents discussing what to do if he was going to be placed in Hufflepuff-but the bigger surprise was the built-in friends his newfound identity brought him. Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody, Molly Prewett, Cleona O’Dempsey, none of them seemed to mind that he was close to his mum. In fact, the girls thought it was sweet. Frank’s first year brought him out of his shell, and suddenly, he never wanted to go home ever again. That changed, of course, when McGonagall summoned him at two in the morning one night close to the end of Spring term. Still in his pajamas and dressing gown, Frank was told gently and firmly while standing there in Dumbledore’s office, that his father had been killed in the line of duty. Bare feet freezing on the stone floor, Frank felt an intense grief settle over him that stayed for nearly two years. The rest of that year and his second are a blur in his memory, and it’s frankly amazing he passed his classes at all. But as much as Frank felt alone, he never was, not really. His friends closed ranks around him, Arthur and Al taking turns to stay up and finish Frank’s homework in addition to their own, Cleona threatening (and twice following through) to curse anyone dumb enough to poke fun and Molly constantly gifting him her first attempts at knitting-Frank still has a pile of the later dubbed ‘sympathy scarves’ in the back of his closet, and whenever he finds them Frank is filled with a now familiar warmth. That warmth, towards the start of his third year grew into something more. The more he watched and got to know Molly, the more he became convinced that he was in love with her-that her silly little crush for Arthur would go away and she’d eventually realize Frank was for her. Then again, the more Molly talked about her silly little crush on Arthur, the more Frank...saw her point. He didn’t have the vocabulary at the time to know what ‘bisexual’ meant, but all he knew is that when two of his best friends started dating in year four, it hurt like hell. He’d never been the jealous type, and any idiot could see how perfect the eventual Weasleys actually were for each other, but even now in adulthood, occasionally, seeing their perfect life together still stings. Then Cleona and Moody made things even more complicated by starting their dramatic tumultuous love affair in sixth year, leaving Frank as the permanent fifth wheel on one of those muggle ‘cars’ Arthur never shut up about. Despite the drama in his (lacking) personal life, Frank was an exceptional student. Though his mother was hard on him when it came to grades, Frank surpassed her expectations by getting enough OWLs and NEWTs to get any career he wanted. But it didn’t matter.

Frank Longbottom had some pretty big shoes to fill.

YOUNG ADULTHOOD

The Auror training program was one of the loneliest times of Frank’s life. The long hours meant that he barely had time to see his friends. Alastor was in the program with him, but his recent break up with Cleona meant the normally distant man had become downright surly and threw himself even harder into his work than Frank thought possible. Still, even with the exhaustion and the toll it took on his emotions, Frank left the program knowing he was doing what he was born to do. The job, weirdly enough, has its fair share of groupies, and Frank has dated several of them-men and women alike, since taking the position nearly ten years ago, but he still hasn’t found someone he can see himself settling down with. Frank’s married to the job, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. His work has made him an exceptionally skilled dueler and incredibly quick with his wand. He enjoys breaking in new recruits by going toe to toe in the dueling ring, almost always winning with a smile on his face and a hand to help them up. Forgetful, it’s not uncommon to see Frank hurrying off to a meeting with a trail of paper and objects behind him, zooming into his pockets as the elevator door closes. His smile, however, comes quickest of all. Though serious about his work, Frank is rarely serious about life, and he’s known for always being able to look on the bright side when things in the department go awry. That being said, sometimes Frank feels himself put on a front for everyone else, not wanting to let anyone down by letting them know what he’s really thinking.

Frank has also become an ambassador of sorts for the department, having recruited defunct Quidditch player Benjy Fenwick pretty much straight from St. Mungo’s and typically being the go-to partner for new recruits. There was a running joke that whenever Longbottom went to the hospital, he’d come back with a new partner, and Frank always went along with the joke and had never minded-that is, until Alice became his partner. Spunky, smart and hilarious, Frank couldn’t help but immediately like the impressive (and young) new recruit. That warmth, that dangerous (and stupid) feeling of a crush forming, creeps into his mind sometimes when he’s with Alice after a long shift, unwinding at a pub. Or when they’re on the brink of breaking a case and she smiles at him, proud when he compliments her. Or when he catches her laughing at a joke he’s told. Or when you know, she exists. Frank’s got it pretty bad for his partner, but he knows under no circumstances should he follow through. At best, he’d start a relationship with someone nearly ten years younger than him that could risk everything he’s worked his entire life for, and at worse?

He’d have to tell someone his feelings for them. Frank goes to work every day willing and ready to risk his mind, his soul, his body-but his heart? Not on your life. The office isn’t the place for affairs, and while Frank knows this, each time Alice touches his arm or looks at him a little too long is another crack in the hard outer shell of the positive, responsible Auror he’s worked so hard to become.

While Frank’s stance on workplace romances might shift, depending on circumstance, his stance on the war and who he’s fighting for never will. Frank joined the order the second he heard about it. While Dumbledore assures him that his work as an auror does more for the Order than he could ever imagine, Frank can’t quite shake the fact that his old headmaster underestimates him. Frank Longbottom isn’t the scared, barefoot, grief-striken eleven year-old anymore, and it’s time people learn it.

Frank’s grown. He’s trained, he’s studied, he’s fought. He’s proved himself.

And here’s hoping, one of these days, he’ll find himself.

Connections

Alice Prewett-Fortescue

Amelia Bones

Cleona O’Dempsey

Arthur Weasley

Molly Weasley

Benjy Fenwick

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Alastor Moody

Andromeda Tonks

Deadelus Diggle

Edgar Bones

Status: Open

[staytheb]

Like Oh 2.0 - [EPILOGUE] 7 For 7

Previous Chapter: We Under the Moonlight Word Count: 5,208 Summary: It’s the year 2021 now and life’s a little different for both couples as their relationship is officially known.

Like Oh 2.0 masterlist

hello! it’s here. the last chapter just before the 2019 year ends. so the ending got a little revamp from it’s original posting and i’m quite happy with it as it reflects a little more of what happened in those years. but still it’s all fanfiction and just for fun. anyways, i had fun revising this and hope that i can write another long chapter fic in the future. other than that, thanks for being on this journey with me and happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

January 16, 2021. 00:00AM

It's another joyous year for AHGASEs out there! All the baby birds around the world have come together to celebrate and trend another year for GOT7 in the K-Pop industry! GOT7 and the fans alike are celebrating the group's seventh year with the hashtag #Happy7For7GOT7Day, but it is also to celebrate their departure from their former agency, JYP Entertainment. There were lots of speculations about what would happened with all of the members last year and finally it has been all settled out with good terms, especially for the seven members. All the members decided not to renew their contracts with JYP Entertainment and have left the company as a whole shortly afterwards. They will be resuming activities once everything is in order. Anyways, like other groups before them, GOT7 instead had established their own entertainment some time after and would be independently managing themselves under JJAI Entertainment.

The hashtag along with several others have been trending worldwide within four hours and continues to gain lots of love and attention from fans and non-fans alike. GOT7 has surely broken the seven year curse that most K-Pop groups goes through that ends their reign with one another. Still GOT7 is really showing that they can withstand it all as they wish for many more years with one another and to start a new journey as well. Despite all that has happened over the course of their years in the industry, GOT7 is seriously still going strong and AHGASE is definitely going strong alongside them. Anyways, Happy 7th anniversary GOT7! Please head on over to their newly created official twitter and instagram accounts to wish the group a happy seventh year anniversary if you haven't done it yet! Also, please me mindful of your words and only send good thoughts and vibes their way!

~~~~~~~

January 17, 2021. 00:26AM

BREAKING NEWS!

This is just in! Everybody is totally buzzing about it! GOT7 have just recently celebrated their seventh year in the K-Pop music industry with their fan-club, AHGASEs, just yesterday. Although it's barely been a day it seems that the group have something else to celebrate as well for two of its members. In particular it's concerning the two eldest members, Jaebeom and Mark. The two GOT7's members have released official statements from their agency about their personal love life. JJAI Entertainment has revealed that both Mark and Jaebeom have been in a secret relationship since two-thousand and seventeen and decided that now was the right time to announce their relationship status to the world. Both idols have asked for the public, the fans, and everyone else to respect the privacy of their loved ones. If any malicious comments or actions occur, then the idols will not hesitate to take legal action to protect themeselves and their loved ones.

We were able to investigate further without stooping low to get our information and it seems that Mark and his now wife have officially tied the knot just a few weeks back in December on the twelfth of Saturday. The wedding's theme was a Winter Wonderland fantasy of sorts and the ceremony was a small and private one that was held in Los Angeles accompanied by their immediate family, close friends, and a very few selected celebrities who were able to attend the special event. Our reports also states that the couple also has a two-year-old son by the name of Philip. As for Jaebeom, our informant says he just recently proposed to his girlfriend a few days before his own birthday. The couple also has a one-year-old daughter by the name of Alice.

Reactions to the news have been positive, negative, and others left in-between of the two. Many fans are thrilled and wished to hopefully see who these lucky ladies are as well as how the children may look like. Many of them couldn't believe that there are little GOT7 minis running around now. Other fans have voiced out their opinions of being lied to and that the idols shouldn't have waited this long to revealed such big news. Or well more like being in a secret relationship at all as it seemed there's some misunderstanding about a betrayal of being faithful to one another. For the neutral ones some have left comments that it's their life and to leave them alone because they can live it however they like and that the fans do not own them one way or another.

Either way, the best thing about it is that the positive vibes are winning out as fans and non-fans alike are totally wishing for happiness for both couples and that their privacy would remain drama-free as much as possible. Plus, we wanna respect our idols, right? They're just as much as human as we are despite the path they have chosen for their careers. Much so, we also wish the same for the respect that they deserve as the idol life isn't all that what it's cracked up to be. Sure they may have chosen it and knew the consequences, but still there's a need of respect and a boundary, right? Anyways, on behalf of all us here at K-Wave News, we're wishing the couples good vibes along with their little ones and hope nothing but happiness their way!

~~~~~~~

January 17, 2021. 03:57AM

MAJOR UPDATED BREAKING NEWS!

O-M-G! This is just in! I repeat. This is just in. Let the spazzing continue! All the more positive vibes going in with the new 2021 year! Yay!

Although it's only been a few hours since our last update, but we've been notified that both Jaebeom and Mark have uploaded a few things onto their Instagram accounts about their new immediate family from our lovely readers. The boys have just made their account public after having been privated since two years ago. Each upload has already received over two thousand likes, comments, reactions, and the numbers continue to soar despite some not so nice comments making in it as well. It also seems that many AHGASEs are supporting both couples and trying to encourage others to spread more love than hate and even gaining help from other fandoms as well to do so. It's a lovely gesture because these updates are seriously too cute to not love! If you're a hater, then please move on and go and focus on something else. There's no need for any hate whatsoever. Love and peace y'all!

Anyways, Jaebeom has uploaded three images to his account. The first image of the three that he'd shared shows his daughter, Alice, playing with his many adorable cats! The caption that was uploaded with the image reads something along the lines of, 'she loves them more than me TT_TT'. It's safe to say that the cats belong to her now. Ha. The second one is of the idol dad himself holding his daughter who smiles just as brightly as he does. She is honestly way too cute! Baby Alice really takes up after her father as we can spot some faint eye moles on the same side as her father. Of course we're sure the mother is just as beautiful and hope to see her in the future!

Anyhow, Jaebeom has captioned this photo with 'seeing her smile really brightens up my mood'. The last picture is a candid photo of the idol's fiancée eating a green colored macaron ice cream although her face is obscure and no clear view of how she may exactly look like. Maybe he got caught or he just wanted to tease us. Because we all know how much of a great photographer Jaebeom is, right?! So, we better get a clearer image in the future! So yeah, moving on, the caption for this image reads, 'Fate was the green tea macaron ice cream, but Destiny was all her in choosing to be a part of my life <3'. We're sure there's definitely a deeper story behind this and hope to find out in the near future if ever! Just didn't think we'll be able to witness this side of GOT7's leader in this lifetime. We hope we get more!

Now the next taken member, Mark! The oldest of the group and kind of makes sense for him to settle, right? No? Whatever. Moving on. The idol has shared a video and two pictures to his account. The one minute video clip is of the adorable baby, Philip, as he cutely speaks in several languages! He counts up to the number five in English, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and even Spanish. Wow. What a genuis child he may be because he's two and I'm totally jealous as I can barely even count in English alone and I barely passed Gerrman in high school. Enough of me, does this mean that the mother knows Spanish and Thai as we all know that Mark doesn't. Ha. Still, there's a pretty high chance the other members could be teaching little Philip too. Lucky guy. Total free language instructors right there.

Anywho, again moving along. The first photo shared seems like a candid shot of his lovely wife smiling and laughing, but Mark got caught or something in the process as she partially blocks her face with one hand while the other hand is used to try and move the device away. It's captioned with 'Always too easy to teased' and several laughing emojis. It's good to know that we're not the only one that has to put up with Mark's antics. Still, who knows how many times she has to put up with him compare to us fans, right? Haha. As for the other picture it's of baby Philip again. This time it shows the child happily smiling while holding the fluffy poodle, Milo, in his loving arms. Mark has captioned the image with, 'I feel like they don't need me anymore when they have each other TvT'. I mean, I don't disagree. I would, too if I was in the same boat.

So what do y'all think? I think it's fantastic. From these latest updates it surely appears that both couples are happy with their lives along with the happiness of their adorable children being total cuteness! Now that the male idols have revealed their actual relationship status to the world and the fans, it seems like that they aren't afraid to share some of those moments with others virtually as well. Still there's no information on the two females the two idols are with and no one else revealing anything else. Like, we don't know their names. We don't know if they were previous AHGASEs or maybe part of some other fandoms before meeting Mark and Jaebeom. Like we don't know anything about them, to be completely freaking honest. Some have gone and done some searching, but it's quite surprisingly nonexistence. Which is kind of surprising as we know a lot of netizens are good at searching up stuff and spreading it around. Right?

So far, all we know is that it's a possibility the two ladies were already friends before the duo had met the two GOT7 members and it bloomed from there on. One rumor suggests that the females were fans and they met at a fansign through connections. Another rumor claims that the females are distantly related to the other GOT7 members and were introduced at a concert. Even one rumor is going around that claims the two women were former JYP trainees and left the company because of the boys. Like who knows though. Anyways, we may never know, but please do show lots of love and support to both idols and their loves ones. Also please respect them and their privacy! If you wouldn't want to be bothered, then why bothered someone that would like the same treatment. So please behave and just act accordingly. Peace and love y'all! K-Wave News, out!

~~~~~~~

January 17, 2021. 9:37PM

"So, Mel, you and JB gonna have an engagement party?" Serena asked her sister while joining her in the kitchen after she had put the children to sleep in their nursery room which was originally the apartment of 503. The sisters had decided to combine both apartments of 501 and 503 to make it like one large unit for them to live in since having their kids. Although of course their other half have been trying to convince them otherwise to move out and to move in with them in their own apartment together for the past year. "Um, dunno yet." Melanie answered as she scrolled through her phone. "We just don't know if we should do it here or somewhere else."

"Somewhere else like where?" Serena inquired as Melanie explained further. "Hmm, back home since I have more family compare to JB." "Hmm true. Then what about the actual wedding?" Melanie shrugged with a sheepish laugh. "Um, again either here, but maybe Hawaii." She then added more as her memory recalled some of the places. "Another one is like somewhere in Europe or probaby Japan." Serena nodded before voicing out her opinion.  "If not, then y'all can just do them places for a honeymoon." "We haven't even discuss our honeymoon plans yet." "Well, y'all still got a long ways to go." "True, we do. I know I'm kinda planning, but JB's schedule is a bit busy so we just need to find time to talk and what not." "Hmm, yeah pretty much."

"Who knew, huh?" Melanie scoffed with a smile a moemnt later as Serena's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "Knew what?" "Who knew that you and I would actually find a K-POP boyfriend, then get or become married to them, and later have an actual family. Like I mean, I know I wanted it, but I didn't think you would have it before me when you weren't even wanting it." Serena agreed with an even bigger scoff. "I know right? It's totally crazy. Like you got with JB who didn't want kids, but now the two of you have a daughter. Mark wanted kids and I didn't, but now we have a son." Serena huffed a bit before speaking again. "And like, I never wanted marriage and here I am married and now you're gonna get married like you wanted, too. It's so crazy."

"I know and it's so funny." Melanie stated with a laugh. "You've changed so much because of Mark." Serena rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything as Melanie continued talking. "Do you remember when you had your little weird moment when you ignored Mark for weeks because you were pregnant with Philip?" Melanie reminded Serena who suddenly laughed at the memory. "It was because I was having an idol's baby, Melanie. We weren't even public with our relationship or even married for that matter. Besides we were together for a year at the time and I didn't know what he would have thought or do or think or whatever at the time." She explained before flipping the situation onto her sister.

"How about you when you were pregnant with Alice?" She asked her with a pointed look. "I wasn't the only one freaking out about having a baby and whatever." Melanie rolled her eyes at her sister's words. "I was also having an idol's baby, Serena. Duh." Melanie defended herself as Serena rolled her eyes. "Of course. Your emotions were seriously all over the place." "Yours were, too. Don't deny that." "True and I'm not gonna deny it, but I wasn't as emotional as you." "Right, bullshit. Your emotions were all over the place when you were prego. Don't you remember when you got mad at everything and everybody?" "Uh, no." Serena denied as Melanie glared at her sister with a look. "Seriously?"

Serena shook her head with an aloof expression as Melanie reminded her sister what happened at that time. "Because of your moody self during it all, poor Youngjae didn't want to come over for a month because he was afraid that he'll set you off and take it out on him again." "Oh yeah he did. Shit. I totally forgot about that." Serena recalled with a slow laugh. "Poor Youngjae, but I did make it up to him with new video games." "Yeah, and then you had to do the same thing with the others." "Right. Wow. I don't want to pregnant ever again." "Hmm, you'll have to talk that over with your husband." "We're not gonna talk about shit." "Mmhmm." "Whatever, Melanie." "Anyways, Serena, when are you gonna finally move in with Mark, huh? I'm sure he would love his wife and child with him at the end of the day in their own place."

"Well, honestly," Serena drawled out with an unsure expression, "I would rather not." "Why not?" Melanie inquired before realizing something. "Ah. Is it about the whole thing with the fandom and public eye and all that, right?" Serena nodded with confirmation before speaking with another reason. "Also, Mark lives with that one friend of his and so it's not like he can break his lease so soon since it's too early." Melanie scoffed with a laugh. "It's not like he doesn't have the money, Serena." "Oh, true, Melanie, true, but still he has to pay if he does leave earlier than expected. Besides, I really like this place and don't wanna part with it." "Yeah, I feel you on that. Aunt Julisa did major work to this place and did gift it to you and me after she left." "Mmhmm."

Serena switched the attention onto her sister. "Anyways, what about you, huh? What are you gonna do?" Melanie shrugged with a chuckle. "Seriously, I have no clue, to be honest with you. Like he wants us to live near his parents, which isn't a bad thing, but I guess just like you I don't want to part with this apartment either." Melanie glanced around the place with a tender look and smile. "There's a lot of memories here and I really know this area more than I do anywhere else if I have to move." Serena chuckled at her sister's words. "I do have to agree with you on that, too. I actually like this location more because I know it well enough."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that we're not gonna move out any time soon, right" Melanie stated with a knowing smile. "Yeah, basically." Serena agreed with a chuckle with Melanie joining in the laughter a second later. "The boys will be so sad." "They'll live." "What about Alice and Philip? The kids will be so sad since they've wanted to live with the pets, too." Serena rolled her eyes in good-nature. "Again they'll live, too, and get over it faster than their fathers. It's not like they don't see one another a lot and besides, the kids are still too young to be playing with the animals as they get grabby and the poor critters have to deal with that. Also, I don't want to deal with that on a daily." "Yeah, that's true, but hey, kids are kids."

The sisters looked at the time before looking over at one another with Melanie speaking up first. "I'm surprised no one has called or messaged us about the news being released." She paused to think for a bit before resuming again. "Well except for the ones that lived here as I meant the ones that don't live here." "I'm pretty sure it's because it's too early for them over there and they're still asleep." Serena answered before adding the last part. "And they don't follow K-Pop stuff so they won't see it right away." "Hmm, true, but I'm sure the twins will mention something later since y'know that those two are dating the other two older members, too." Serena laughed upon hearing that. "Oh, yeah, true. Shit, I can't  believe I forgot about that." "How can you forget about Jinyoung and Jasmine while Jeannie's with Jackson?" Melanie mused as Serena rolled her eyes before responding.

"Because I don't care about other people's relationship unless they want me to know about it. Plus, I'm still surprised that Jasmine gave up on Johnny and accepted Jinyoung, which isn't a bad thing, but I really thought Jasmine was gonna stick with Johnny as she had no interest in any other idol, but him." "Oh, my bro, I know, I know. I was hella shocked that Jasmine and Jinyoung liked each other, too. I mean Jeannie always liked Jackson, but I didn't think Jackson was interested in her like that as he wanted to focus more on his life and career, y'know." "Yeah, true, but the boys will be happy when they find out that the twins will be moving back to Seoul in a few weeks."

Melanie nodded happily. "Yeah, I know. Which reminds me, we need to clean out their rooms and make them livable again." "Oh, right. Also need to tell the boys to stay at their own places, too." "Psh, yeah right. It'll be a reunion and a big ass slumber party all over again." "Oh, please, I hope not. We're all too grown for that." "Says, you." "Yeah, I guess, but it's not like I can't deny it." "That's right. We're all family here and have changed for the better." "Yeah, that's true. I mean, honestly, look at how you and I turned out. So I guess things really do change over time for sure when you meet that person that's meant for you." "This girl." Melanie cooed in a teasing manner. "Mark really brought out your inner softie, bro." "I've always been like this."

"Mmhmm." Melanie hummed mischievously as Serena brushed her off. "Whatever, enough about me. Just go plan yours and JB's engagement party so that neither parents have to nag at y'all about the details." Melanie scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I'll have to nag him about all of this. He always just agrees with what I want, but I get he wants to make me happy, but he has to be happy about all of this, too. It's not just about me, but it's about him, too." "Hey, Happy Wife, Happy Life, right?" "That phrase is so overused, but it's kinda true." "For you." "Yeah, basically." The sisters laughed before Serena brought up a serious topic. "I'm just worried about what the fans will do now. I mean, I don't care since they don't know how we look like, but I do care about the boys' health and their careers though."

"I'm pretty sure it's just that the fans have matured over time and become calmer like back in twenty-nineteen. Some of them aren't teenagers anymore." Melanie reasoned and assured her sister. "I mean, the fandom's have been very supportive lately, but then again there are those sasaeng ones that get it over in their heads about things. Still, it isn't as bad as it was before, Rina." "True, Mel, but some are still young minded and closed minded, too. Also the reality for them is the fact that both of them are off the market while two more will be later in the future." "Bro, calm down. Just don't worry about it so much." "I know, Mel, but still, I just do. I can't help it."

Melanie started laughing as Serena frowned at her sister's behavior. "What's so funny?" "I'ma tell Mark that you're worried for him, but won't show it and let him know about it." Serena groaned with her face in her hands. "Ugh, please, don't tell him that. He's gonna tease me so much about it." "Why not? I find it funny." Serena groaned again while looking up at Melanie with judging eyes. "Ugh. To this day my misery is still your pleasure, isn't it?" "Yes, ma'am. It is." Melanie replied with a cheeky smile before speaking again. "But luckily the more positive ones have won out and aren't stressing the boys as much from what I know so far. Fortunately they are doing well and not suffering." "Unless they're not saying anything." "True, but they usually let us know about it though." "Yeah, that's true."

"Anyways," Melanie changed the topic. "I wanna do my hair like this." She showed her phone to her sister. "You think Chloe can do something like that?" Serena gazed at the image before nodding. "Yeah, but she's been busy since she opened her own shop several months ago." Serena went through her phone while speaking at the same time. "Um, just call her tomorrow and I'm sure she'll squeeze you in without any trouble as she works fast and has some skilled workers, too. Try for the early morning or just before she closes." "Alright, cool. I would rather trust her than anyone else." "I know." Serena let out a yawn while standing up. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night." "Night and dream of your precious hubby." Melanie teased as Serena rolled her eyes, but bid her the same thing with a laugh. "No, you dream of your precious hubby." "I always do unlike you." "Mmhmm."

~~~~~~~

January 18, 2021. 2:23AM. Mark~

Serena stirred awake when she felt arms comfortably wrapped them around her waist and pulled her against another warm and familiar body a second later. She slowly shifted her position to face her husband while placing an arm over Mark to rub his back a bit as he cast his wife a tired smile. "Hey." "Hey." Serena returned the same tired smile to him. "What time is it?" "It's almost two-thirty." "Did you eat already?" "Yeah, but I'll eat something proper later today though." "You better or I'll have to come by with packed lunches to make sure you eat properly." "Hmm, now that you mention it that actually sounds like a good plan, Serena." Mark said with a laugh as he hugs Serena closer. "The boys wanted to see Philip, anyways."

"Don't tempt me, Mark. I may leave Philip in your care then." Serena countered nonchalantly as Mark chuckled while entangling their legs together. "I'm pretty sure I've already done a good job with that, Mrs. Tuan. That's why we're married now." "Mrs. Tuan is your mom, Mark. Not me. Technically, I'm still Serena Vorasavane by paper and other legal stuff." She muttered against his chest as she was becoming sleepy again. "True, but you're still known as Mrs. Mark Tuan openly." "Yes, I know and everyone that knows about us, but not to your lovely fans I'm not." Serena replied with a yawn. "Now go to sleep before Philip wakes up in several hours." "Can't you just spend those hours with me before then?" Mark whined affectionately. "I heard that you were worried about my well-being."

Serena inwardly groaned knowing exactly that Melanie had told him of her thoughts, but didn't want to give in to her husband just yet. "You heard wrong and no. Go to sleep. We're already spending our life together forever, Mark. So for a couple of hours without interacting with one another you can deal with it until then." "Still my same tsundere baby girl." Mark cooed although Serena could tell he was still pouting as she chuckled sleepily. "Yes, I am, but please go to sleep, Mark. I'll make it up to you later with those packed lunches." She finally gave in as Mark grinned while placing a kiss on top of her head. "You're the best." "I know. Now sleep." She snuggled up against him as Mark softly squeezed her gratefully. "Make sure to give me triple extra." "Sleep and I will." "Alright." "Night, Mark." "Night, Serena."

~~~~~~~

January 18, 2021. 2:23AM. Jaebeom~

Jaebeom slowly eased himself onto the bed where Melanie was sleeping undisturbed, but she stirred when she felt the bed dipped too low for her liking. She turned to face her fiancé with a tired smile while sitting up. "Hey." "Hey to you, too. Sorry for waking you." He apologized as he leaned over to place a soft kiss onto her lips before making the both of them comfortable while cuddling against each other ready to fall asleep soon. "It's all good, Jaebeom." Melanie assured him before asking him about his day. "How was your day?" "Same as every day, but better now that you're in my arms." "Stop." Melanie chuckled as Jaebeom smiled before placing a kiss on top of her head. "You know you like it, Chaewon."

"Right, like as much as your cats do. Huh?" Jaebeom chuckled as he squeezed Melanie affectionately. "They were a part of my life before you entered." "Yeah, sure. Soon enough it'll all be about Alice and I'll just be an afterthought." "Quite true, but you'll always be my one and only favorite one." "Stop." Melanie said as she playfully smacked Jaebeom with his response just pulling her closer and tangling their legs together. "Don't want to and so you're stuck with me forever and ever." "I know." The female sighed as Jaebeom frowned. "Why does that sound like you're regretting it?" "Because I accepted the fact that I'll have to deal with you for the rest of my life and your cheesy softness. Plus, we have Alice so I can't let her not hang out with her father."

Melanie leaned up to check the time before making herself comfortable against Jaebeom again. "Now go to sleep, please. The baby wakes up in maybe five or six hours, I need enough sleep to deal with her until our nap time." "I'm sorry that I'm not around much to help you in raising our daughter." "It's okay. You're still in her life and she knows who you are, is what matters the most." "I know, I know, but we should have a free day soon and we can go do something as a family." "Sounds wonderful, but we'll talk later as it's too much to deal with right now when I'm sleepy." She told him with a yawn. "Good night, Jeffrey." "Good night, Melanie." Jaebeom smiled as he placed one more kiss on the top of Melanie's head before falling asleep soon after.

[nonasuch]

dogfather update: date night

As always, everything dogfather-related is tagged with the dogfather and story updates are tagged with dogfather story post. If you get antsy waiting for the next update, check out my AO3 or the zines and comics on my Gumroad.

Remus walks down to Hogsmeade at twilight, and takes a room at the Three Broomsticks. It has a private Floo, which is lucky. He pats his pockets, looking for his two-way mirror.

A few minutes later, Sirius comes tumbling out of the fireplace, and only barely sticks the landing.

“Haven’t done that in a while,” he says cheerfully. His face is flushed, and he’s listing a little to the right. When he kisses Remus, he tastes like tea-flavored whisky.

“Hagrid kept topping up the thermos,” he admits, by way of explanation. “But it was worth it. Did you find out anything useful?”

“Severus doesn’t know who tried to curse Harry’s broom,” Remus says. “He didn’t see anything more than we did. And he’s only slightly less awful, as a person.”

“I told you,” says Sirius.

He’s sweet and handsy when he’s drunk, so he keeps interrupting himself to kiss Remus and fumble with his clothes. “I searched the whole stadium, once Harry and his friends were back at Gryffindor. Didn’t smell a rat, or anything else out of the ordinary.”

“And then you let Hagrid get you drunk,” says Remus.

“I was only keeping up with him!” Sirius insists. “For a big man, he’s a lightweight. And terrible at holding his tongue.”

Of the two of them, Remus is the sober one, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when Sirius shifts his weight and tips Remus back onto the bed. Honestly, though, he doesn’t mind it in the least.

“Hang on, hang on,” he says, laughing. “What did he tell you?”

“Well, that big three-headed fellow on the third floor is his,” says Sirius.

“I could have guessed that,” says Remus.

“The kids were pestering him about it, too,” says Sirius. He gets Remus’ shirt unbuttoned, and makes a triumphant noise. “At least he didn’t tell them what Fluffy’s guarding.”

“He named it Fluffy?”

“Of course he did.” Sirus levers himself up on his elbows, far enough to grin at Remus. “Apparently Fluffy’s a big softy, really, when you get to know him.”

Remus can’t help but laugh. “That big softy took a chunk out of Severus’ leg. For a minute I thought I’d have to make you apologize.”

“I would never,” Sirius says, affronted. “Think of the taste!”

They snicker like idiots at each other. It’s a mix of giddy relief that Harry’s safe, and alcohol, and the rare delight of an evening alone together without an impending full moon. Remus knows there are things they ought to be worried about, but just for now he’s enjoying the chance to set them aside.

He lets Sirius crowd him back further onto the bed. For a time they stay like that: Remus sitting up with his back against the headboard and one shoe still on, Sirius astride his lap, the two of them necking like the teenagers they used to be.

“We really ought to do this more often,” Remus mutters, mostly to himself.

“Mm-hm,” Sirius agrees absently, busy giving him a conspicuous love bite. Remus has one hand in Sirius’ hair and the other down the back of his trousers. He fleetingly considers moving to Hogsmeade permanently, and then stops thinking at all when Sirius grinds his hips down against him.

Later, after Remus has removed his remaining shoe and everything else besides, Sirius casts a clean-up charm and pulls the blanket over them. “I still can’t believe Harry caught the Snitch, after all that,” he says.

“Glad to see you’ve still got your priorities in order, Padfoot,” Remus says. “Up Gryffindor, eh?”

“I’ll up Gryffindor you,” Sirius says nonsensically.

“I think we already did that,” says Remus. Sirius laughs, and drapes himself more thoroughly over Remus. They fall quiet for a while, warm and drifting.

“Do you think we ought to tell Harry?” asks Sirius eventually. “He and his friends seem keen to work it out for themselves, and they know about Flamel now.”

“Maybe,” says Remus. “Dumbledore usually has a reason for the secrets he keeps, though.”

“I’ll keep an eye on it,” Sirius says. “Hermione seems convinced that Snape was the one who jinxed Harry’s broom, no matter what I said. Harry was trying to talk her down when I left them.”

“He’ll tell you if there’s a problem, I think,” says Remus.

“Mm,” says Sirius. “He’s a good lad.”

They’re both quiet for another little while. “You know, I met Flamel once,” Remus says.

Sirius makes an inquiring noise.

“I was seven or eight. My father was still casting about for a cure, and took me to see him. I remember helping his wife chop potions ingredients in their kitchen, while he talked to my parents. They were both very kind.”

Sirius lifts his head. “You never told me that.”

It’s a bit difficult to shrug, but Remus lifts the shoulder that Sirius isn’t cuddled up on top of. “I haven’t thought about it in years.”

“It’s being back at Hogwarts,” Sirius says. “Makes you nostalgic.”

“Verging on maudlin, I’m afraid,” says Remus.

“s’all right,” says Sirius. “You know I don’t mind.”

“Because I’ve put up with maudlin and worse, you mean,” says Remus.

“Well, yeah,” says Sirius. “Least I can do. God knows I see ghosts ‘round every corner here.”

“You can just tell Nick to shove off, you know,” says Remus.

Sirius laughs. “You know what I mean. I keep expecting the Prewetts to come barreling past, plotting something. Or that I’ll catch Frank and Alice snogging, in that little nook behind the suit of armor. And then I don’t see Snape skulking after Lily and her friends, half as tall as he is now, or James with Peter tagging along behind. And I remember.”

“Severus seems to have a similar problem,” says Remus. “He thinks Harry is James all over again.”

“This is not the time or place to bring him up,” Sirius says. “Ugh. Anyway, that’s nonsense. I know they look rather alike, but anyone who knew James ought to see the differences.”

“I did try to point that out,” says Remus. “But as long as he doesn’t make trouble for Harry, I don’t think he’s either of our concern.”

“And thank goodness,” says Sirius.

Eventually, they rearrange themselves so that no one will wake up with any limbs entirely numb.

“G‘night, Moony,” Sirius murmurs.”

Remus mm-hmms back, already fading. In very little time at all, he drops off into a dreamless sleep.

He wakes, briefly, shortly after dawn. Sirius is getting out of bed. “Going back up to the castle,” he whispers. “Go back to sleep, it’s all right.”

“Stay,” says Remus, tugging him back down. “Til it’s properly morning, at least.”

He hesitates, but after a moment Sirius gives in. The next time Remus wakes it’s broad daylight, and Sirius is gone, but he’s left a note.

Going to have a word with Dumbledore-- wish me luck. I’ll be home for Christmas. Love, Padfoot.

[duhragonball]

[FIC] Vento Aureo: Alice in Chains (1/1)

This is a Secret Santa gift for @glintea. 

Golden Disclaimer: JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure is a trademark of Lucky Land Communications.   This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Windy Continuity Note: This story takes place between Chapters 550 (”Beneath a Sky Seemingly About to Fall”) and 551 (”Pronto! On the Line! Part 1″). 

Tip of the plot to @jimintomystery.

I. GUIDO MISTA

Sardinia was a death trap, but they couldn’t leave, not yet.  

Guido Mista supposed that Sardinia was where it had all begun.   It was the home of the man who founded Passione, the gang of Stand Users that now dominated the Italian underworld.  “The Boss” had secured his position by hiding his true identity from friend and foe alike, but he had made a mistake.   While living in Sardinia, he had sired a daughter, leaving a trail for his enemies to follow.  

Mista’s capo, Bruno Bucciarati, had been assigned to protect the Boss’s daughter from traitors within the gang, but they eventually learned that the Boss only wanted her protected until he could kill her himself.  In that moment, Bucciarati chose to save the girl, and barely escaped.   Now a traitor to Passione himself, Bruno asked his team to join him or remain with the gang.  

Mista chose to side with Bucciarati.  They all did, except for Panacotta Fugo, who remained behind.   At the time, Mista didn’t give much thought to Fugo’s decision.  Mista bore no resentment towards him.  The Boss was a powerful man, and everyone who challenged the Boss ended up dead.   Fugo was just playing it safe.  

But Mista had seen things differently.  He sympathized with the Boss’ daughter, sure, but besides that, she had been marked for death, and survived.   Bruno had made the decision to save her, and he had succeeded, with timely assistance from Giorno Giovanna, who seemed to have a talent for making the right call in these kinds of situations.  Fugo might have called this a fluke, but Mista saw it as a sign that maybe the Boss wasn’t so invincible after all.   He didn’t know how Bruno and Giorno were going to take the Boss down, but he was sure that they could, and he wanted to be on their side when they it happened.    

This reasoning had led Mista to follow them to Sardinia, where they hoped to uncover the Boss’ secrets, only to lose their comrade, Leone Abbacchio, in the attempt.  Abbacchio’s death had forced Mista to wonder if Fugo had been right all along.  It had been easy to throw in with Bruno before, when they were all still alive, but now...

The problem, Mista decided, was that he had plenty of time to think about it.  The Boss was still on Sardinia, but wounded, which gave them a breather, but it was still too dangerous to relax.   That meant Mista was on guard duty, which normally didn’t bother him, except that it gave him a chance to second-guess his decisions.   But rethinking things now was useless.   He had already made his choices.   There was no going back, no matter how many times he went over it in his mind.

They had taken up temporary residence in a shopping mall in Olbia, not far from the site of Abbacchio’s murder.  Security was lax, and it wasn’t difficult for them to hide after the mall closed for the evening, and from there on they had the place to themselves.  The building itself offered little protection, but it provided shelter and restrooms, which was all they really needed.  Their Stands would handle the rest.

Everyone that mattered in Passione had a Stand, a psychic power that manifested as a thought-form that would stand beside its user, hence the name.  Mista’s Stand, named Sex Pistols, took the form of six bullet-shaped creatures that guided the trajectory of bullets fired from his gun.   He didn’t really know how they worked or where they came from, or why they ate tomatoes and salami he had stolen from the food court.   Throughout Mista’s career in Passione, he had learned to accept Stands as a fact of life.  

Across the table from him was another Stand User, a turtle.   Ironically, the Boss had given them the turtle to use during their mission to deliver his daughter, and now they were using it against him.    Its Stand took the form of a key embedded in the top of its shell, and a large jewel in the key served as a passageway into a secret room.   Mista didn’t really get how it worked, but he was grateful that it did.   By hiding some of their group inside the turtle, it was much easier to conceal their numbers and protect themselves.   The turtle itself wasn’t much to look at, but Mista supposed the same could be said about himself.  Like him, the turtle got the job done, and that was what mattered.  

Nearby, Narancia Ghirga was perched on a chair, glancing furtively at the exits.   Narancia’s Stand was Aerosmith, which took the form of a miniature fighter plane.   It’s offensive power was impressive, but its true value in this situation was its ability to detect carbon dioxide.  This meant that anything that breathed within Aerosmith’s range could be detected, located, and--if necessary--destroyed.  

Narancia hadn’t slept since they found Abbachio’s body.

Normally, this might have worried Mista, but they needed Aerosmith--now more than ever--and Narancia had to be awake to use it.   Mista had encountered so-called “automatic” Stands, which functioned independently of the user’s awareness, but most Stands could be deactivated when the user fell asleep or unconscious.  Unfortunately, no one in Bruno’s group had such a power, and that left them with little choice but to stay awake and stay vigilant.  

“Get some sleep, Mista,” Narancia said, as though reading his thoughts.   “I’ve got this.”

“You first,” Mista said.  He was surprised by how tired his own voice sounded.   He didn’t feel fatigued, but maybe it was easier to believe that when you didn’t talk.  

“I’m fine,” Narancia said.   He looked as bad as Mista sounded.

“Then so am I,” Mista replied.  

They had been over this topic three hours ago.   Neither of them accepted the relief.   Giorno or Bruno could have taken over guarding the turtle, but their Stands were less suited for the task, and they had other things to attend to anyway.  Mista doubted they had gotten any sleep either.  

Abbacchio had died for their cause.   He had struggled to the very end of his life to bring them closer to the goal.  There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them all that they would press on, forsaking rest in Abbacchio’s honor.  

Or maybe Mista was imagining things.   He was tired, after all.

*****

II. TRISH UNA

Inside the turtle, Trish Una was holding a vigil of her own.  

She didn’t know Bruno’s gang very well.   They only met when other members of Passione had handed her off to them to transport her to her father, known only as “the Boss”.   So at first, they were little more than jailers.  Oh, they had treated her respectfully enough, but their first duty was to keep her in their custody.  When her father tried to kill her, and they rallied to her defense, she was touched, but not much had changed.   Instead of a running battle with her father’s enemies, now they were in a running battle with her father himself.  There wasn’t time to socialize.  

What had changed was that she now had a chance to contribute to the effort.  They still kept her in the turtle for her own safety, but it had been her idea to go to Sardinia, based on something her mother had told her years ago.   Trish never knew her father, but she knew he had been on the island fifteen years ago.   And with a date and location to work from, Leone Abbacchio could use his Stand, Moody Blues, to get a look at her father’s face.  

Stands were still new to her.   Her father had one, which he had used to try to kill her, and she had recently developed one of her own.   Abbacchio had been less than forthcoming about his ability, although Trish had a general idea.   Moody Blues had been able to look backward through time and assume the appearance and actions of a particular person from that past moment.   By "rewinding” fifteen years at a place her father had been, Moody Blues could take on the appearance of her father, revealing his face.  The only problem was that Abbacchio was vulnerable during this “rewinding” process.  Her father killed him, putting an end to this attempt to expose his true identity.

But Abbacchio’s death wasn’t in vain.    Somehow, he had managed to use Moody Blues one last time to assume the Boss’ features.   Then he created an impression in a nearby stele.   Trish wasn’t sure how he had done this.   It was as if the stone had been made of soft clay and Moody Blues had simply pressed its face and hands into the surface of it. Perhaps Abbacchio had caused Moody Blues to materialize inside the stele, displacing it somehow.  What really mattered was that he had done it, and her father hadn’t  noticed, and that Giorno Giovanna had noticed.  All they had to do now was make a cast of the impression, and they would have a precise copy of her father’s face and fingerprints.  

As it turned out, that task fell to Trish.  Her Stand, Spice Girl, could soften materials and make them malleable like clay.   In theory, Spice Girl could soften a solid object and stuff it into a mold, then harden it again and create a perfect cast in a fraction of the time it would take using ordinary plaster.  In practice... well, she hadn't had much practice using Spice Girl.  Her father's face had been easy enough, but the hands were more challenging.  It wasn't the hands themselves, but the intricate ridges of the fingerprints.   After three failed attempts, the group decided to break apart the stele and take the hand impressions along in the turtle, where she could continue in relative safety.  

It was difficult work.   Her Stand stood beside her and she guided its hands over the marble they had gathered for the job.  With a touch from Spice Girl's fingers, the marble became like dough, and sank into the impressions of her father's hands.   The goal was to soften the marble even more, and make it so fluid that it flowed freely into the grooves of her father's fingerprints.   Trish still wasn't entirely used to manipulating objects through Spice Girl.  It was becoming easier, but the sensation of holding still and letting her Stand do the work was strange.  Spice Girl was approximately her own height and build, although it looked like a bright pink robot.   With a little concentration, Trish found that she could actually see through Spice Girl's "eyes", which looked like the tail lights on a car.  It was bizarre to split her awareness this way, especially when she looked through Spice Girl's view and caught a glimpse of herself sitting nearby.  

Across the room, Giorno Giovanna was busy at the computer, scouring the internet for information, using the general description of the Boss they had from the cast of his face.   She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Giorno.  She hadn't known any of them for long, but she thought she had a handle on Bruno Bucciarati.   In saving her, Bruno had turned against the Boss, and now Abbacchio had paid for his decision.  Bruno had been cold and stoic since he had made his fateful decision, and she couldn't blame him.  He was leading his squad into an uncertain future, and fighting a battle he couldn't be sure he could win.  

But Giorno was something else altogether.   He was polite to her, but he was also very driven, as if Bruno's gang, Trish, and everything else were only means to an end.   Even as he waited for her to complete the fingerprints, he was determined to make as much progress as possible.  While he waited for websites to load, he looked away from the computer and fixed his intense gaze upon the bust Trish had made, as if it held some hidden clue besides its appearance.  

There were times when Trish almost wondered if Giorno knew her father somehow, but that was impossible.   If he did know him, then there would be no need to go to such lengths to identify him.   But even if there was no history between them, Giorno's resolve to bring down the Boss seemed to run deeper than any of the others, and Trish wondered why.    On some level, she liked to imagine that his extra resolve was for her sake.   But that was childish, wasn't it?  Bruno and the others had sympathized with her, but they had their own reasons for wanting to bring down her father, and why should Giorno be any different?  

"May I make a suggestion?"

She had been so focused on her work that she hadn't noticed his approach.   She looked around to find him looming over her chair, his blue eyes locked on her now with the same intensity he had applied to the bust of her father.  

"Wh-what? I mean, yes," she said awkwardly.  

"I apologize for sounding impatient," he said.  "But a moment ago I was thinking that this was taking too long, and it reminded me of the time it takes for my own Stand to work.  Smaller, simpler tasks are faster."

Trish nodded.  Gold Experience could transform inanimate objects into living things, although this was only scratching the surface of its full potential.  Giorno could also manipulate biological functions to some degree, and heal wounds.   It hadn't occurred to her until just now that he hadn't always known how to do those things.   He must have learned to use Gold Experience in much the same way she was beginning to learn Spice Girl.  

"I'm talking about the fingerprints," he went on, gesturing idly at the stone fragments Trish was working with.   "Your cast of the head was excellent, but the hands require more detail.   Only we don't really need the hands at all.   Just the tips of the fingers."

"Oh!" she said.  "I hadn't..."

"Try focusing one finger at a time," he said.  "That might be easier for your Stand.   Eventually, I'm sure you'll develop the skill to cast larger, more detailed forms, but for now this should make the work faster."

"Right.   I'll try that," she said.  "Thanks."

"Again, I apologize," he said.   "Your Stand has been instrumental so far, and it's easy for us to forget your inexperience.  I should have thought of this sooner."

"No problem," she said, for lack of a better response.  She wasn't sure what to say next.  He just kept looking at her, and then suddenly he turned away to return to his work.  

He did that from time to time.  Just stared at her for a little too long to be inconspicuous.   Was it pity?  Attraction?   Or was he simply looking to catch a glimpse of his nemesis in his daughter's eyes?  

She set the question aside and focused on her casts.

*****

III. NARANCIA GHIRGA

Outside the turtle, Narancia Ghirga paced around, trying to stay awake.  

His hope was to sleep once they left the island.   They wouldn't be much safer then, but at least they'd be on the move, and they'd have a destination to reach.   He could hold out till then, he told himself.  He wasn't some kid, even if everyone treated him like one.   Giorno and Trish were only fifteen, and they had been up the whole time, hadn't they?  He was older than them, wasn't he?  He was seventeen, only a year younger than Mista, but they treated him like a kid.  He was practically a grown man.  

Aerosmith had two components.  One took the form of a miniature fighter plane, while the other was a radar screen that hovered directly in front of his right eye.   Any source of carbon dioxide would show up on the radar.  At the moment, there were only three: himself, Mista, and the turtle.  Those inside the turtle's Stand were invisible to Aerosmith.   Narancia didn't know why that was.  Maybe people actually shrank when they entered the turtle, so their breath was too minuscule to be detected.   Or maybe they weren't really breathing while they were inside the turtle's Stand.  But there seemed to be air inside, and it wasn't stuffy or anything, so there had to be some kind of ventilation.  

Soda had helped.   At first, he thought the caffeine would keep him awake, but he soon realized that what really helped was the constant trips to the restroom.  At least it gave him something to do while he waited.   Check the radar, drink a soda, check the radar, go to the restroom, check the radar, splash cold water on his face, check the radar, walk back to the turtle, check the radar, drink another soda.

His whole life had been a series of betrayals before he joined Bruno's gang.   They had shown him kindness, and so he repaid them with loyalty, which was reciprocated.  When Bruno turned against the Boss, choosing sides had been the most difficult decision of Narancia's life.  Ultimately, he decided that he saw too much of himself in Trish, so he sided with Bruno, but that meant turning his back on Fugo, who had remained loyal to the Boss.  

Once, Fugo had tried to tutor him in American history.  Most of it was lost on Narancia, who never got past the second grade, but one lesson that stuck with him was the American Civil War.  As the United States split into two factions, General Robert E. Lee was faced with a dilemma.  Though he was loyal to the Union, his home state of Virginia had chosen to betray it by joining the Confederacy.  Ultimately, Lee chose Virgina over the Union, but a lot of other Virginians felt differently.  When Virginia split off from the Union, the loyalist faction decided to split off from Virginia by forming a separate state to stay in the Union: West Virginia.   So no matter which side Lee picked, he was still fighting a war against his home.  He was a traitor no matter what.

At least, Narancia thought it was General Lee.   Maybe it was General Sherman, and the state was Georgia instead of Virginia.   No, "West Georgia" didn't sound right.  Whoever it was, Narancia felt like that general.  He had tried to tell himself that Fugo would be all right, and that somehow this would all work out, but that had been much easier to believe while Abacchio was still alive.  

Abacchio's death felt like a betrayal, even though it really wasn't.  Narancia felt betrayed by Abbacchio’s sudden absence, while at the same time he felt like he had let Abacchio down by not being there to save him.  All he could do now was try to protect the ones who still lived, and ensure that Abbacchio's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.   And this sense of obligation, more than the soda or the cold water or the full badder, was what kept him awake.  

He was returning from the restroom when he heard something like the clanking of scrap metal.  This confused him, but there were no new blips on the radar, so he wasn't concerned.  Then, as he emerged from the hallway and into the food court, he saw Mista struggling on the floor.

He was bound by a glowing orange chain.  

"The turtle!" Mista shouted as soon as he spotted Narancia.  The chain was pulling him away from the table where he had left it.   Narancia ran towards them, and in spite of Mista's order, he couldn't take his eyes off him as the chain dragged him along the floor.   It spanned the length of the mall, as far as Narancia could see, and beyond.  

It was an enemy Stand, that much was clear.  But it wasn't the Boss' Stand, and Bruno believed that there were no other Passione members still alive on the island.  More importantly, Narancia still wasn't picking up anyone else on his radar.  Did the enemy have a way to hide his breathing, or did his Stand have a wider range of effect than Aerosmith's radar?  Just how long was that chain, anyway?  

Unless he could find the Stands user, he would have no choice but to attack the Stand itself, which was a tricky proposition at best.   Generally, it was simpler to go for the user.   Killing or incapacitating the user would shut down their Stand and nullify its effects.   On the other hand, damage inflicted upon the Stand would hurt the user as well, but many Stands were resistant to direct attack.  In this case, Aerosmith would have difficulty hitting such a long, narrow target.   It's weapons were better suited to strafing runs and carpet bombing situations.   But maybe if he laid down fire over a long enough distance, he could score enough hits to make it release Mista.    Or he could just follow it back to the user, using his radar to get the drop on whoever was behind this.   His mind was racing with possible responses...

"Dammit, get to the turtle, you dumbass!"

...except for the one response Mista had told him to think about.  Reluctantly, he turned his back on his comrade as Mista was dragged down the corridor.   The turtle was still on the table where Mista had left it.   It was munching on a piece of lettuce Mista had given it from his sandwich, seemingly unaware that anything was wrong.  

"We're under attack!" he cried out as he loomed over the jeweled key that was embedded in the turtle's shell.   Inside, the tiny figures of Bruno, Trish, and Giorno looked up at him expectantly.   "He's got Mista!"

Bruno gestured to the others to remain where they were.  "I'm coming out," he said as he raised his hand over his head.   Normally, this motion would cause an occupant to emerge from the room and return to the outside world, and Narancia stepped back to make way for Bruno's arrival.   But nothing happened.  

Bruno winced as he raised his other hand to try again.   "Something's wrong.  Narancia, did something happen to the turtle?"

"I don't know!" Narancia said hurriedly.  "I was taking a leak when--!"

"Narancia, pick up the turtle and get us out of the mall," Bruno commanded.  

"But Mista--!"

"We can't help him if we're trapped in here!" Bruno snapped.  "Get us as far away as you can.   Once we're out of the range of his Stand, we can go back and try to--"

And then something shot out of the room like bolt of lightning.   Narancia had touched the turtle to lift it up, and in that moment a length of orange chain emerged from the jewel and wrapped itself around Narancia's body.  Instinctively, he summoned Aerosmith to his side, but there wasn't anything his Stand could do about this, not unless he wanted the plane to open fire on himself and the turtle.  

Before he knew it, he was being yanked into the room with the others.   It was a familiar sensation by now, only this time it was much rougher, since he was being pulled into the turtle's Stand against his will.  He crashed onto the floor, and the next thing he saw were Trish's boots as she reached down to help him up.  The orange chain was gone.  

"It's just like the one that got Mista!" Narancia said.  "But there was no sign of the user, and how could it drag him away from the turtle and be inside the turtle at the same time?!"

"I think I can answer that," came an unfamiliar voice from outside the turtle.  

They all looked up and saw Mista wrapped in the chain, being lowered over the turtle as though by an unseen hoist.   Then he too descended into the room that was the turtle's Stand, and he collapsed only inches away from where Narancia had fallen.  

"My name is Sausage Burrito," announced the voice from outside the turtle.   He loomed over them to reveal his face, though the curvature of the jewel distorted his features, and made his triumphant grin even more smug and self-satisfied.  "And you are all prisoners of my Stand."

*****

IIII. BRUNO BUCCIARATI

Trapped inside the turtle's Stand, Bruno Bucciarati had no choice but to hear out the man who now held all of them in his power.  

"Let me explain the situation to you," he began.  "Your turtle's Stand has been locked by my own Stand, Alice-in-Chains.  I fixed it so that people can freely enter the room you're now in, but they cannot leave."

He paused to let this sink in, and continued.  "My Stand has a fairly long range, you see, which makes it useful to detect other Stands over a wide area.  That was how I tracked you down without any of you noticing.  When it was safe for me to do so, I chained the turtle's Stand as one of you entered the room.

"Of course, I couldn't simply wait for all of you to enter the turtle at the same time.  You kids aren't stupid.    Fortunately, Alice-in-Chains has the power to lock two Stands at a time.  I simply snared Mr. Mista from the other end of the mall, and Mr. Ghirga was kind enough to get close enough to the chain already in place around the turtle.    Well, more accurately, I reeled their Stands in, I should say.  Their bodies were dragged along with them.

"That's all very interesting, Mr. Burrito," Bruno said.  "But now that you have us, what do you intend to do with us?"

"Very good, Mr. Bucciarati," be said.  "I can see you're a man who gets right to the point.   Very well: I intend to trade your lives for money.  A lot of money."

"Money?"  Bucciarati scoffed.  "You think you can extort the Boss, Burrito?  He'll kill you just to show the rest of the gang what happens to traitors."

Burrito laughed.  "Oh, I'm not with the gang, Bucciarati," he explained.  "I never heard of Passione until a few years ago."

Bruno was astonished.  "Then how--?!"

"How did I find out about your little power struggle?" Burrito finished.  "Very easily, Bucciarati.  "Passione practically rules the Mediterranean like a Roman Empire of the underworld.   The other crime syndicates don't understand how, but to a Stand User like me, it makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

"That's the genius behind Passione.  Stand Users attract other Stand Users.  We all know it's true, even though we don't know why.  The Boss had a Stand, probably a very strong one, and when he met other Stand Users, he recruited them.  There was a guy in Egypt who tried something similar in the 80's--you lot were probably too young to remember any of that-- but Passione operates on a much bigger scale.  Any Stand User who crosses the gang's path has to step aside, or join them, or die."

That was true enough, Bruno thought ruefully.   When Giorno Giovanna had first approached him about taking down the Boss, Bruno had convinced him that the only sensible way to do this was from within the gang.  Giorno had joined, Fugo had stepped aside, and Abbacchio had died.  

"Your actions here," Bruno finally said, "suggest that you found a fourth option."

"I watched," Burrito said.  "My Stand powers made it easy.  I could swing my chains until I discovered a Stand User, and then approach them without giving away my intentions.  When I needed to interrogate someone, I simply bound their Stand at an opportune time.  You'd be surprised how many Passione operatives lose their nerve once they can't summon their Stands or their comrades to rescue them.  Half of them thought I was their Boss, coming out of the shadows to punish them for some minor infraction.

"The trick is to whittle away at the fringes," Burrito went on.  "No one would miss a dead flunky, so long as his death was made to look like an accident.  Your group seems to be targeting the Boss directly, and it's attracted a lot of attention.  It didn't take me very long to find out about you, Bruno Bucciarati.  Mista and Ghirga have been with you for some time.   The girl with the pink hair is the Boss's daughter, and the kid with the blonde hair is the enigma, Giorno Giovanna.  He's new to the gang, and that's probably worked to your favor up to now.  No one knows just what his Stand can do, so he's your secret weapon.

"Secrets... that's the only sure way to defeat a Stand User.  A Stand User with a secret is almost unstoppable.  It's what makes Passione the hidden masters of Europe.  It's what keeps the Boss in control of Passione.  It's what's kept your rebellion going this long, and it's how I captured all of you.  That's why I'm telling you so much about me, Mr. Bucciarati.  I no longer need to keep secrets from you and your companions, because I've already won.  I don't say this to humiliate you.  This isn't gloating.  I'm just stating facts.  I know people like you are very reluctant to accept defeat, so I want you to understand your predicament before you waste your energy on useless heroics."

"I see.  You aren't interested in the Boss at all," Bruno surmised.  "You plan to extort us.  Otherwise you wouldn't be trying convincing us to cooperate."

Burrito made a satisfied smile.  "I already know the Boss would kill me rather than meet my demands," he said.  "I think I might be able to make a deal with him anyway, but it's not worth the risk.  You, on the other hand, are desperate.  You'd do anything to get out of that turtle and get back to your mad dash to stay one step ahead of your enemies.  And that means you're willing to pay me a handsome fee to let you go.   It means you'll let me walk away, because you're in too much danger from the Boss to worry about taking revenge."

"What makes you think I can pay you anything?" Bruno asked.  "Thanks to you, I'm trapped here."

"There's a computer in that room," Burrito said.  "It's difficult to make out from this vantage, but it wouldn't be of much use without a modem.  Come to think of it, I wonder how it works.  Is that room in another location altogether?  A place with wiring for electricity and telephone service?    Ah, but I don't think so.  There's no doors in that room, and if were as simple as smashing through a wall, you've have done it by now."

"You expect me to wire money directly into your account," Bruno said.

"An untraceable account, I promise you," Burrito replied.

"As a Passione Operative, I had access to a small fortune," Bruno said, "but now that I've betrayed the organization, those funds are no longer available to me."

"A weak ploy, Mr. Bucciarati," he said.  "I suppose you had to try it just to see if it would work, but I'm no fool.  A clever young man like you wouldn't have become a Passione Operative without the good sense to set aside money in private accounts.  For that matter, I doubt Passione could ever truly lock you out of their finances.  You're very resourceful, from what I've learned."

"All right.   For the sake of argument, then.   Let's say I could wire you the money," Bucciarati said carefully.  "Why should I expect you to release us?"

"Put simply, I need my Stand for other things," he said.  "I can't just hold you all indefinitely.  Naturally, I couldn't just release you while I stand so close to the turtle.  You'd want retribution, and while my Alice-in-Chains can handle itself in a fight, I'd never stand a chance against five Stand Users.  Fortunately, my Stand has a substantial range, and I can release all of you from a safe distance and take my leave before you can turn your Stands on me.  At least, that's how I'd prefer this to end, assuming we can come to an agreement."

"You presume too much, Burrito," Bruno said.  "You may have locked the turtle's Stand, and you might be able to freeze the Stand of one other person, but that still leaves four of us who can use our Stands to break free.  If we disable the user, the Stand's effects wear off."

"I don't think so," Burrito said.   "Your Stands can't exit the turtle any more than you can.  I'm quite safe out here, and my Stand is wrapped around your turtle's Stand, which is the room you're all in.   You can't reach it from the inside."

"I'm not talking about attacking you," Bruno said.   "I'm talking about the turtle.   If we attack the room itself, that damage will be reflected upon the turtle.   If we hurt it enough, the turtle will fall unconscious, and its Stand--this room--will deactivate.   One that happens, we'll be returned to the outside world."

"You're welcome to try, of course," Burrito offered.   "I doubt you'll have much luck with that.  A Stand like this turtle's has no offensive power or speed, or any combat ability whatsoever.   And I've learned a few things about Stands in my time, Mr. Bucciarati.   A Stand with such limited ability makes up for it by being incredibly durable.  It doesn't do the turtle any good, since the Stand doesn't protect it, and it doesn't do the five of you any good, since the turtle is vulnerable, but it does work out very nicely for me.  You can all tear that room to pieces if you can, but I'm guessing you won't put a dent in the Stand, which means you won't knock the turtle out anytime soon."

He leaned over the jeweled dome of the room and glared down on Bruno like a bemused god addressing an unruly ant.  "I think you need some time to consider your situation.   I'll leave you alone for a while.  Give you a chance to scheme and plan, and then maybe you'll start thinking about more practical matters.    For example, how much food and water do you have in that room?   Is there a toilet?  I don't see one."

And then the enormous face receded from view, leaving Bruno to contemplate those words.   He might have turned to look to the others, but there was no need, for he was sure they were already looking at him, expecting him to find some way out of this mess.  

As much as it galled Bruno, he had to admit that Sausage Burrito seemed to have an answer for everything.   Even if they could batter the turtle's Stand into deactivating, the Boss was still somewhere on Sardinia, and every moment they spent here increased the risk of being found.  

Maybe Burrito had an answer for the Boss, too, but Bruno doubted it.   Bruno had experienced the brutal power of the Boss' Stand, King Crimson, and barely escaped.  No, Burrito had no idea what the Boss was capable of, or the lengths the Boss would go to in order to protect his identity.   If Burrito had known, he never would have dared to meddle in Passione affairs like this.

And so it seemed that he had no choice but to capitulate and give in to Burrito's demands.  But in the game of extortion, that was no solution at all.   Giving Burrito what he wanted would only prove that he had nothing to fear from them.   He would demand more, or wait and try to capture them again, or sell their location to Passione, confident that Bruno would be too weak to stop him.  

He finally turned to inform the others of their decision.  "I'm going to try to kill the turtle," he said.  

They all did their best to hide it, but none of them relished this prospect.  The turtle wasn't exactly a pet, but it had accompanied them and sustained them through their journey, and that counted for something.  Even so, Abbacchio had given his life for their cause.  Weighed against that, the turtle was an acceptable loss.  

"Are you sure you can, Bucciarati?" Mista asked.  He approached one of the walls of the room and rapped his knuckles against the drywall.  "That guy’s a prick, but he has a point.  This Stand must be really durable to manifest a whole lounge like this."

"True, but he also made a good point about this room.  We don’t really know what's on the other side of that wall.  Would we find the turtle’s innards?   A way out?  A way to attack the turtle?  Maybe none of these, but I think it's time we found out."

He approached the wall and summoned his Stand, Sticky Fingers.  Broadly speaking, it looked much like a masculine version of Trish' Spice Girl, only colored blue and white, with gold zippers hanging from various parts of its body.   No sooner than it appeared beside him did Bruno command it to punch the wall before him.  Once its fist made contact, a large zipper appeared.  

In the past, Sticky Fingers had been able to create zippers that could separate entire body parts.  Bruno thought that this might be useful against the turtle in this situation.   If he could make a zipper long enough to cross the entire room, he could bisect the turtle's Stand, and thus the turtle itself.   This wouldn't necessarily kill it, but it might be enough to shock it to the point of disabling its Stand.   Unfortunately, Sticky Fingers didn't have a big enough range of effectiveness to cover such a large area.   The best he could do was to open the zipper he had made and face whatever lay on the other side.

But when the zipper opened, there was only a blank white field beyond it, and the air in the room began to rush through the aperture.  Bruno found himself pulled towards the hold he had made, and just barely managed to catch hold of the zipper teeth.  He looked back, and was relieved to find the others had managed to anchor themselves more effectively.  Mista had grabbed hold of Narancia, who had wrapped his legs around the coffee table, while Trish clung to the armrest of the sofa, trying to protect the casting she had made of the Boss' fingers.  Similarly, Giorno was holding on to the computer table, and using his Stand to hold onto the bust Trish had already finished.  

he had miscalculated.  The airless void he had opened could only make things worse.    He needed to close the zipper, but he couldn't do that while he was holding onto it.   Sticky Fingers could pull him back inside first, but he worried that in the time that would take, too much air would be sucked out of the room.  

And so he let go, and Sticky Fingers sealed the opening as it followed him into the nothingness. 

*****

V. GIORNO GIOVANNA

Bucciarati had been gone for an hour.   There was nothing anyone could do.  Only Sticky Fingers could access whatever realm he had vanished into.  If Bruno could return, he would, and if not, then they would never see him again.  

Instead, the rest of them had focused their efforts on attacking the turtle's Stand.  This was an unlikely proposition, but they had nothing else to try.  

"I feel like a damn jackass, Giorno," Mista said as he watched his comrades work.   "Sex Pistols can't do shit in a situation like this.   They can kick a bullet around and hit damn near anything, but bullets don't work on Stands, and without bullets their offensive power is weak as hell."

He was right.  Stands could make use of ordinary objects and weapons, but they could only be damaged by the power of another Stand.    They both knew this perfectly well, but Mista was already frustrated with his inability to help, so there was no use in calling attention to this. Instead, Giorno nodded and stepped closer to him.  "Keep your gun handy anyway," he said.   "We'll need it once we do escape."

He didn't look at Mista, but focused his attention on the wall.   His own Stand, Gold Experience, threw a few punches, but it's strength wasn't all that impressive.  Gold Experience was reasonably strong, but it's punches weren't as powerful as Sticky Fingers'.  Its abilities were more subtle and diverse.  Nevertheless, he still studied the undamaged wall, as if there was something revelatory about the  spot where Gold Experience had struck.

Narancia had already tried using Aerosmith, and wound up covering one side of the room in tiny, shallow bullet holes.   The attempt had been as fruitless as it had been dangerous, and Giorno was reluctant to ask him to try again.  Unlike Mista's gun, Aerosmith's firepower was based on Stand Power, so it could harm the turtle's Stand, but apparently not enough to make a difference.  

That left Trish, who had also tried to attack the turtle a short time ago, only to come up short.   Spice Girl softened things, and could restore them to their original consistency.   By restoring them very quickly, she could hurt them, but she lacked the range necessary to affect the entire room all at once.   With time, Trish might have extended her effective range, or discovered some new application of Spice Girl's power, but time was something they didn’t have.  

There was also the air supply to consider.   The air was thinner in the room since Bruno had tried to leave.   Giorno wasn't sure how the air worked inside the turtle, but there was clearly a limited supply.   He considered using Gold Experience to turn the furniture into plants to replenish the oxygen, but he doubted this would do much good in the short term.  In the long term, they would die anyway.   Asphyxiation was no worse than dehydration, or being found by the Boss.  

"What if we tried to combine our attacks?" Trish offered.   "If Narancia fired on a wall after I softened it and snapped it back, maybe that would push us over the top."

"I'm afraid it wouldn't make any difference," Giorno replied calmly.  "We should try it, but I think we should wait first.  Burrito is still out there, trying to wear down our resolve.  We need to conserve our strength.  

"What good will that do?!" Narancia shouted.  "Bucciarati's dead!"

Giorno turned to face him.   "That may be so, but we still have to focus on our goal.  We--"

"And just what happened to Mr. Bucciarati, hmm?"

They looked up to see that Sausage Burrito had returned.  He appeared to be eating a pizzetta sfoglia as he observed his prisoners like fish in a bowl.  He even tapped the surface of the jewel in the key that allowed him to see inside.  

"Is he hiding?  Are you planning an ambush?  I don't think you understand.   None of you are getting out of there until I get my money.   If you expect me to come in there with you, you're only fooling yourselves."

"Hey, fuck you, asshole," Mista grumbled.  

"Bucciarati... is gone," Giorno said firmly.  "Whether you believe that or not is immaterial.   Earlier, he made it plain that he had no intention of bargaining with you.   Therefore, his absence changes nothing."

"Too bad for the rest of you then," Burrito scoffed.  "None of you have anything to offer me.  I didn't want to contact Passione, but if that's the only way for me to make a profit from this outing, I suppose I'll just have to--"

"Bucciarati wouldn't bargain," Giorno interrupted.   "But I will."

Inside the turtle, the others looked at him.   "Giorno?" Mista asked, unable to voice a full question.

"And what could you possibly have to offer, Giorno Giovanna?" Burrito asked.  "Bucciarati had access to secret financial accounts.   All you've got is a silly haircut."

"You mentioned secrets earlier," Giorno said confidently.   "I kept this from the others, but I have a nephew in the real estate business.  I had hoped to keep him out of this situation, but you leave me with no choice.  There's a trust fund in my name.   I could contact him and arrange funds to be wired into your accounts."

"Nephew?" Trish asked.

“Real estate?” Mista asked.  

"Tempting, but I doubt you could match the sort of payout I was hoping to take from Bucciarati," Burrito said.   "I might as well sell you out to the Boss."

"Why not both, then?" Giorno suggested.   "You can free me, and cut whatever deals you want for these three."   He pointed to the bust of the Boss on the computer table.  "I already have what I need for my own agenda."

"What?!" Narancia gasped.   "You're selling us out?!"

"Abbacchio died to get us that, you lousy--!" Mista began to shout.  

Giorno shook his head.  "I joined Bucciarati's gang," he said.   "Now that he's gone, I see no conflict of interest here.  I can either die in this turtle with you, or abandon you to complete our mission.  Which would you choose?"

Trish said nothing.  She simply stared at Giorno with horror in her eyes.

"Fine, fine!" Burrito said.  "I see what you're playing at, Mr. Giovanna.   You dangle a prize before me, then antagonize your fellow prisoners.   So now I have to release you from the turtle, or they might kill you before I can take whatever money you have to offer.   Very clever."

"You have nothing to fear by bringing me out of the turtle," Giorno said.  "You've already demonstrated that you can lock two Stands at once, so I'd be as helpless out there as I would be in here."

"True enough," Burrito said.  "Alice-in-Chains!"  

Before the others could come to grips with what was happening, an orange chain entered the room through the jewel and wrapped itself around Giorno's body.   He made no effort to resist, and like a fish on a line, he was hauled up and out of the room, then emerged into the outside world.   Specifically, he found himself standing in a studio apartment, and the turtle lay comfortably on a twin bed. Before him, Sausage Burrito stood, pointing a handgun at Giorno’s chest. 

He was taller than Giorno, but not by much, and his short orange hair had an elaborate pattern shaved into it, which matched a similar design in the soul patch that adorned his chin.   He wore a silk button-down shirt under a pair of green zubaz and a neon yellow fanny pack around his waist. 

"No tricks," Burrito said as Giorno got a long look at the gun.  

"Of course," Giorno said.   The orange chain around his body vanished, then reappeared to his right, now binding Gold Experience's body.  Giorno raised his hands and put them behind his head.  

"You're their secret weapon," Burrito said.  "I knew you would make some convoluted play to get them out of this."  He patted Giorno down with his free hand and withdrew a revolver concealed under the back of his jacket.  

"Cute," Burrito said.   "You took Mista's gun while no one was watching.   It couldn’t hurt the turtle’s Stand, but out here, you could have ended this very quickly."

"I just didn't want Mista to use it on me," Giorno said.   "I did just sell them out, after all."

"No, I don't think so, Mr. Giovanna," Burrito said.   "You wouldn't have come this far with them to abandon them so easily.  Even if you were that ruthless, you'd still try to find some way to regain their trust, if only to use them a while longer."

"It makes no difference," Giorno said.  "You've let me out, and we can conclude our business."

"Yes, your 'wealthy nephew,'" Burrito said with a roll of his eyes.  "I suppose your father is an older gentleman, and you're the product of a second marriage in his old age."

"I have no idea," Giorno said.   "I was lying about having a nephew, at least as far as I know."

"Then you have nothing to bargain with," Burrito groaned.  

"Nothing that would interest you, no," Giorno admitted.  

"Then I don't see what the point of all this was," Burrito said.  "A weak ploy to pull a gun on me, and nothing more?  Or were you hoping to get a change to break the turtle's neck while you were out here?  As if I'd let you anywhere near it."

"I never had any intention of harming the turtle," Giorno said firmly.  

"Then what?" Burrito demanded.  "Your Stand won't work any more out here than it did inside.   I only brought you out to spring whatever cunning trap you laid, but it seems that you didn't think very far ahead.   What a useless gesture."

"I don’t make useless gestures, Mr. Burrito," Giorno replied.   "To tell the truth, I only tricked you into pulling me out of the turtle so that I could neutralize your Stand, while my plan went into effect."

Burrito blinked in surprise, then he laughed.   "You what?   What did you say?"

"You heard me," Giorno said.   "I see no point in repeating myself, especially now that I've cornered you."

"Cornered me?" Burrito shouted.  He struck Giorno with the butt of Mista's revolver and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of Giorno’s mouth.    "I'm the one holding all the cards, you little punk!  I have the guns, I have the turtle, I have your friends, I have your Stand, and I have you!"  

"You have me," Giorno said.  "But nothing else.  My Stand has been freeing my friends this entire time, and you can't do anything to stop it.  If you don't believe me, take a good look at the turtle."

Burrito indulged him, and leaned over to look into the jewel on the key in the turtle's back.   "They're still in there!" he said testily.   "Your bluffs are beginning to annoy me, Mr. Giovanna."

"Not the turtle's Stand, Mr. Burrito," Giorno said with a sigh.  "I told you to look at the turtle."

With a weary groan, Burrito did, and when he finally noticed what Giorno was talking about, he gasped with fear.  

"What... what have you done?!" he asked.  

"Gold Experience doesn't have the raw strength of other Stands," Giorno explained.   "Even a very powerful offensive Stand would have had difficulty punching its way out of the room in the turtle.  To attempt this with Gold Experience would have been useless, so I didn't bother.   When I struck the walls of the room, I used Gold Experience's true power, which can speed up the metabolism of living things.  This power affected the Stand, which in turn affected the turtle."

"Stop it!" Burrito screamed.   He pointed both guns at Giorno, though he wasn't nearly as confident as he had been before.  

"I can't stop it," Giorno replied.  "Your Alice-in-Chains has locked my Stand.    Just as the turtle's Stand is stuck so that it can only allow people to enter, Gold Experience is locked into the effect it has on the turtle's metabolism."

Burrito's eyes went wide with horror.  

Giorno locked eyes with him and continued.  "During the winter months, reptiles enter a state called brumation.  They become lethargic, and move very little, if at all.   They seek out burrows or other places to sit out the cold weather.   If I had to guess, I would imagine that if a reptile had a Stand, it would probably deactivate during this time.   Of course, winter is some time away, which is why I used Gold Experience to speed up the turtle's biological clock.  Though the weather is still warm, its body 'thinks' that it's time to become dormant.

"Stop it!" Burrito demanded.  

"You already said that," Giorno said.  "Your Stand has fixed my Stand on this course of action.   I could reverse the process, but not unless you release Gold Experience, at which point I would use it to attack you and free the others.  You could shoot me, and stop Gold Experience that way, but the turtle will enter brumation very soon, and then Trish and the others will emerge from the turtle.   You could defeat two of them with your Stand, but not all three."

"No..."

"You tried to exploit the weakest link in our group," Giorno explained.  "But the strongest link is nothing without the rest of the chain.  You called me ruthless earlier, but I know the value of my allies, Burrito.  You lost the moment you tried to use my own chain against me. 

"I can still kill you!" Burrito stammered, desperate to claim any sort of advantage.

"Abbacchio died to further our mission, and Bucciarati may have done the same.  If it had been necessary to kill the turtle to save ourselves, I would have done so.   Is my life any less expendable than theirs?  I, Giorno Giovanna, have a dream.   If I am not prepared to lay down my life for that dream, can I truly be worthy of it?"

Burrito looked away from Giorno, and his lip quivered as he watched the turtle.   Giorno seized the opportunity and snatched both of the guns from his hands.  

"What do you dream of, Mr. Burrito?" he asked coldly.   "Money?  Secrets?  Are you prepared to die for those?"

"Don't...!"

Suddenly four figures appeared in the room: Mista, Trish, Narancia, and Bruno Bucciarati, who seemed no worse for wear after being lost in the void.  On the bed, next to the turtle, lay various items that had been in the room,   including the materials Trish had been working with to capture her father’s likeness. 

”I see the turtle has fallen asleep then,” Giorno surmised.   “Apparently Bruno was still under the effect of the Stand, even though he was trapped outside of the room.   So when the Stand deactivated, he was brought back along with everyone else.” 

Giorno handed Mista’s gun back to him, but held up his hand when Mista pointed it at Burrito. 

“There’s no need,” Giorno said.  “Killing him would only attract unwanted attention.   Besides, he’s completely defeated now.”

Mista looked to Bucciarati, who nodded slowly.  “I suppose that’s true,” Bruno said as he regarded Burrito with utter disdain.  His power is only useful against one or two people at a time.  Now that we know what he can do, he’s helpless against us.”

”In your false triumph, Burrito,” Giorno explained, “you foolishly revealed your secrets to us, when they were the only thing protecting you.   Now, you’re like a turtle without its shell.   All you can do is hide.”

Burrito muttered something in agreement, but Giorno paid no mind to this.   Instead, he gathered the sleeping turtle into his arms and followed the others out of the apartment.     He had much more important things to do than listen to the groans of a beaten enemy.  

First, he needed to restore the turtle’s metabolism to normal and gently bring it out of brumation.  It was, after all, a valued member of the team.

末

[ofavrors-blog]

@ofsvnflowers

it’s upon alice’s request that frank saunters into the auror department’s enormous utilitarian training facility some several minutes after his shift is officially over, the slight delay thanks entirely to moody’s latest tedious lecture on constant bloody vigilance and whatever the fuck else was so important that he had to ramble on in the most nettling of ways, gruff voice sounding just scolding and authoritarian for it to remind frank of his father, so...well, needless to say it wasn’t exactly an ideal ending to his frustratingly boring day at work. for once all he really wanted was to go home, climb into bed and shove his face against the pillows with a long miserable groan — but he’d already promised alice that they could spar. she wanted to learn some of his moves, the ones they don’t teach in her official training course. he’d agreed without hesitation because spending time with his fiancée just wasn’t something frank ever to needed to mull over for even a mere moment. in spite of working the exact same job in the exact same building, their vastly different positions kept them apart for most of the day. frank was flying through the ranks, practically collecting accolades and promotions on a weekly basis while alice worked meticulously at her training, completing each step much more slowly than he'd managed it, but then so did everyone. not since alastor moody, funnily enough, did the department choose to promote a novice who still had so much to learn. frank had simply dazzled with his talents and the rest is history — literally. he’s the ministry’s youngest auror in decades and while frank would be lying if he claimed not to be just the least bit smug about it, today the responsibility is weighing heavy on his shoulders and pounding sharply on the center of his skull. omnipresent exhaustion is sinking deeper into his bones than usual this evening, pressing down on weary joints and quietly protesting his every movement no matter how minute. yet a smile stretches uncontrollably across his lips as he steps into the training room and finds lovely, spectacular, breathtaking alice fortescue waiting for him to join her on the mats. so he does. first he shrugs out of his jacket, removing and tossing it carelessly to the floor along with his shirt and most of the gear usually strapped quite securely to his person ( wand, badge, extra knives, small pouches filled with diminutive stocks of — well, anything and everything that might be useful in an emergency ). “okay,” he finally muttered with a sigh, hastily securing lines of regulation tape wound from wrist to knuckle on each hand. then he was ready, meeting alice on the mats with a smile which, though wan, is absolutely genuine. he’s hardly seen her since this morning, catching only the briefest glimpses of soft brunette locks or a slim petite frame and now late evening was painting the sky a deep inky blue perforated by tiny shards of brilliantly gleaming crystalline stars. ( he’d halfheartedly glanced out of a window on his way to meet her here and couldn’t help but take note. ) both strangers and loved ones alike seemed to believe that alice centered frank and acted as the elusive impulse control he miraculously did not seem to possess, a task moody had unwittingly taken on with precariously varying degrees of success depending on the day. all frank knew was that he missed her terribly whenever they were apart, which undoubtedly contributed the heavy gloomy cloud looming more menacingly above his head as the hours wore on. that was the beginning and end of it for him. it was nice to be in her company again. though they hadn’t really talked much outside of frank’s very basic walkthrough of how to land an effective punch, he could feel the tension sliding slowly from stiff shoulders and smoothing out the jagged peaks of his wrinkled frontalis. being with her was a comfort — sometimes small, sometimes major, but always palpable and impossible to ignore ( which he never wanted to do anyway ). his body was still tense and weary, bones shrilly protesting the velocity of his fist careening through empty stifling air. “most of your opponents are going to be bigger than you,” frank explained, unable to keep from cracking a smile because yes, alice was indeed rather charmingly petite, “which means that you’ll want to hit like this,” he demonstrated again, brows lifted high as he met her gaze, “a straight punch. uppercuts are no good because if somebody’s way bigger than you then you’re not gonna be able to hit ‘em anywhere it’ll actually hurt — no offense.” his fists fell open, arms dropping to his sides as he grinned again and stepped around alice to stand behind her small frame. she was soft yet sturdy, radiating a pleasant warmth in spite of how the stale air in here the training facility was always so suffocatingly hot. they’d only just started and frank had hardly done anything but give some very simple instructions and bunch his hands into technically perfect fists, yet he could feel sweat collecting in his matted curls, dripping along the veined column of his neck, glistening over the slick curves and planes of his exposed torso. it was...nice, really. frank always liked working out, appreciated how it could both help him think or completely clear his head. whatever he needed. “this way you can use the reach that you do have while keeping your opponent close at the same time. what you’re looking to do is tire ‘em out so that when you’re ready...” frank could feel his breath, warm and heavy against the soft outer curve of alice’s ear, traveling hotly along the flesh left exposed by her enormous loose shirt. the soft scents of flower petals and fresh spring peaches clung to her mahogany locks, a familiar mixture he inhaled leisurely as his hands wandered slowly, fingertips laxly pressing into the curve of each hip and performing a slight correcting of her posture, which...okay, hadn’t been entirely necessary. or necessary at all. though not entirely useless, the correction was indeed very slight, probably much less palpable than the familiar warmth and solidness of alice’s body beneath his roughened palms. he wrapped a hand around the arm she was poised to punch with, directing it in a quick and powerful jab at absolutely no one. they were the only ones here, something that frank was instantly thankful for the moment it occurred to him. he wasn’t sure if he could tolerate being around anybody else at the moment. “...you can land a serious knockout. got it?” the question was so obviously an afterthought, murmured gently into the flesh connecting her neck and shoulder as he nuzzled softly against the spot, nudging her shirt aside and allowing his lips to pull lazily into another subdued smile. he’d not yet fully banished his horrible mood, but thus far this had proven to be a much more effective start than he could have ever expected it to be. 

[mrs-elijah-wood]

Here’s even MORE stuff

1. What is your full name? Eugenia Rose Bondurant 2. Where and when were you born? November 17th, 1996 3. Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.) Father: Everett Montgomery Bondurant, clothing store chain owner Mother: Celia Eloise Bondurant (nee Wells), interior designer. (she’s dead) 4. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like? She’s an only child. 5. Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment by herself, with her big fluffy fat cat named Ulysses. She keeps it very clean, if not a little disorganized. It’s well decorated and furnished. 6. What is your occupation? Student, part-time worker at the library archives. 7. Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks. She has about shoulder length golden hair which is wavy, green eyes, and has an unfortunate case of resting bitch face. Always wearing a full face of makeup. 5’4. On her ankle she has a very subtle tattoo for change/time. 8. To which social class do you belong? Upper. 9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses? She gets pretty bad allergies during allergy season, but nothing specific. 10. Are you right- or left-handed? Right-handed. 11. What does your voice sound like? She worked hard to get rid of her southern accent, so her voice is soft and deliberate. 12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently? “What?” 13. What do you have in your pockets? Her phone 14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics? She has a habit of balling up paper and throwing it away instead of erasing for the tiniest mistakes while taking notes/studying

Part 2: Growing Up

1. How would you describe your childhood in general? Fairly happy, very comfortable money-wise, rather lonely. 2. What is your earliest memory? She remembers going golfing with her dad when she was about 3 or 4, she dropped her golf clubs and went to build a little sand castle in the sandy part of the course. 3. How much schooling have you had? Graduated with a high school degree and is currently in her junior year of college 4. Did you enjoy school? She enjoyed spending time with her friends but could care less about academics, outside of history. 5. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities? High school. It’s where she developed her passion for history, as well as learning the ability to drive. 6. While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them. Dolly Parton 7. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family? She got along really well with her mother. She and her father are almost too alike, so they butt heads very often, but they still love each other. 8. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Veterinarian. 9. As a child, what were your favorite activities? Ballet and dance classes, as well as riding horses. 10. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display? Very strong tempered, always throwing fits and arguing. Extremely friendly. 11. As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like? She was very popular in school. She didn’t like some of her “friends” because she thought they were fake, but her best friend was a girl named Alice Beaumont. 12. When and with whom was your first kiss? Carmine, winter break of sophomore year. Nearing the anniversary of her mom’s death, she couldn’t stand being in her house, so she challenged him to a race. They both snuck out at night and raced their cars, and Genie won but by taking a really dangerous turn too fast and by luck alone didn’t crash her car. At the end of the race he got out of his car and was like “that was super dangerous, you could’ve died, etc” and combination of everything going on just made her grab him and kiss him. 13. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity? No. ;) 14. If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today. The whole blossoming thing bro

[nytefall-blog]

Chasing Rabbits → Chapter One

It all still felt like a dream. A floaty, breezy, giggly dream.

Down, down the rabbit hole to the land of wonders. Mad, mad the young girl went, through Wonderland she plunders.

Alice couldn’t remember how long she’d been in Wonderland. Or maybe it was all a dream and she was really asleep in the tree where her mother abandoned her as an infant. All Alice can recall are eight little words, over and over. Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Soft white fur vibrated beneath Alice’s hand as her cat Cheshire kneaded his paws into her stomach. ‘Meow.’ Cheshire nuzzled his face in Alice’s hair. ‘Meow.’

“Oh Chesh, I don’t speak cat. Though, imagine if cats spoke English. What a strange world that would be, huh.” ‘Meow.’ Alice shook her head at the cat and chuckled. A light spring breeze fluttered Alice’s long golden hair, bringing the pleasant aroma of flowers to her nose. Roses, pretty. The tree limb beneath the girl and cat was thick and sturdy, able to hold them and the young woman that escaped. Alice’s only indication of her was the slight droop at the end of the branch but she could not see her.

Without warning, Cheshire leaped away from the tree and tore off towards the field of roses. A quick burst of white and gold before the cat disappeared was all Alice could make out. She was off the tree nearly as quickly and running after them. “Wait! Thorns, Chesh!”

The sound of mad cackling followed her the whole way through the roses, seemingly louder the farther she ran. Thorns pricked her skin and blood trickled down her arms and legs. Alice finally caught sight of Cheshire as he tackled something white, though both quickly fell out of view.

“Chesh?” Everything began to swim before her eyes; she was bleeding more than she’d realized. The girl could no longer see where she was going. Her heart seemed to drop in her chest as she missed a step. Darkness flooded the space around her and she started falling. Falling… falling... falling…

***

    Whispers; so many hushed voices surrounded the injured girl. ‘She’s so young.’ ‘How do you think she got here?’ ‘Does Adam know about her?’ ‘Where is he?’ ‘The bleeding stopped. Do you think she’s okay?’ ‘The Hatter needs to get here.’ All the murmuring went silent when the door opened. Thump. Thump. Titter. Thump. It was so quiet. Alice couldn’t stop herself from peeking out from under her lashes.

In front of her was a tall young man, probably only a few years older than herself. He wore a top hat with a tattered piece of red polka dotted cloth as the hatband, a little extra hanging off the back. Only a small tuft of black hair was visible under the hat. The eyes that watched her, knowing she was staring back, were a vibrant green. They held a trace of something the girl couldn’t decipher. Something frantic and jittery.

The left corner of his lips twitched every couple seconds. His arms were at his sides, the long slender fingers of his hands fidgeting and tapping against his ebony skinny jeans. On his right shoulder was a quick flick of blue, purple, and white. Two bright blue eyes and a wide grin full of big white teeth appeared, swiftly followed by the rest of the feline’s body. Its fur was striped blue and purple with flecks of white throughout. The girl realized it was the cat’s tail she had seen flick next to the man’s ear. “Hello, Alice.”

Alice quickly looked over at the man to see that it wasn’t him that spoke, but rather, it was the cat perched, not on as she had thought, but hovering just above his shoulder. She opened her eyes all the way and stared, stunned. The oddly colored feline jumped from above the man’s shoulder and onto the table on which Alice lie. “It’s me, Cheshire.”

“Cats don’t talk.” A couple whispers were passed through the room. That was when Alice finally looked at the people that were talking earlier. To her surprise, they weren’t people at all. She saw a lion, a mouse, a turtle, a hare, and a few more animals. The turtle and the hare were talking to each other, wondering if Cheshire knew the girl with the rose thorns.

“But Alice, hadn’t you been saying something about a world where cats spoke English? ‘What a strange world that would be,’ remember? This is that strange world.” Cheshire swished his tail in front of him and disappeared again.

“Welcome to Wonderland, Alice.” said the man with the hat. Alice sat up on the table and looked around, wide-eyed and curious. She finally noticed the walls lined with hats and that each animal had adorned one. “I’m Adam, though most people call me the Mad Hatter.” Adam reached his hand out to Alice to help her off the table. She took hold if it tentatively, still watching her surroundings in wonder.

“Mad Hatter? Why mad?” The animals begun setting teacups and saucers onto the table, some chipped and scratched, though no one seemed to notice or care.

Adam released her hand and moved to the chair at the head of the table. None of the chairs were alike. Some were only stools, others had crazy colored fabric, but Adam’s had the tallest back. It was made of blue jean material and stitched in black thread above Adam’s hat was the word ‘HATTER’. On the back in the same black thread were at least fifty names, all with the last name Topp. “It’s a family trait. Everyone born into my family goes ‘mad as a hatter’ eventually, including those who fall in love with a Topp.”

Alice continued reading the names. “I don’t see your name on the chair.”

“Means I haven’t lost it yet.” Adam tapped his head twice with his pinky. On his pinky was a small silver ring with words engraved on it. Alice had to squint to read it from where she was, not daring to get any closer. She was sure it didn’t matter since this had to be a dream anyway, but she didn’t risk it. Still, the words were too small for her to make out.

“So you’re not really mad. You’re just waiting for the day you will be.” Adam didn’t answer. The lion poured him a cup of tea and sat down in a seat as Adam sipped it. “That’s no way to live. Waiting for madness will only induce it. You need to do something with your life.”

“Haven’t you noticed I make hats?” Adam was still sipping his tea and not looking at her. “How are your cuts? Those were some wicked thorns.”

Alice looked down at her arms and legs, only now taking account of the nicks and cuts in her skin from chasing her cat. “They’re fine. Now don’t change the subject. Making hats is not what I call doing something with your life. I assume that’s a family profession, something your father could do instead.”

“My father is dead.” Adam’s expression was nearly bored. “Check the chair. Leonel Topp.” Alice looked back at the names and sure enough, along the bottom of the back was the name, Leonel Topp. “Don’t apologize either. I hardly knew him. Another fun fact about my family: we rarely know our parents very well.They’re usually dead by the time we’re eight years old.”

Alice didn’t know how to respond to that. She’d never really known her parents either. Her mother left after she was born and her father always locked himself away. The only person she had ever been close with was her brother Peter, but Peter died four years ago. When Alice’s father secluded himself, he started working harder on his work as a scientist. Four years ago he’d tried something on his son and it killed him. Alice had no idea what it was and nobody outside the house knew that it was her father’s fault. Everyone believes Peter was fighting a bad disease and lost to it. Alice was twelve years old at the time.

“Now, if you would like to sit, please do. With our table back, we can have tea.” Alice watched the table for another minute. The only seat open was right beside Adam. She stepped closer to the table and the hare rushed to pull out the chair for her. Once she was seated and gave her thanks to the hare, everything became really noisy and full of laughter. It was like a light switch had been hit--although Alice had yet to see a single light switch in the parlor they were in--and everyone but her and Adam were up and dancing. Music seemed to be playing from the air.

The lion passed a cup of tea over to Alice. “By the way Miss, my name is Felix.” Alice smiled and nodded, watching Felix smile back and ruffle is grand orange mane. He returned to his dancing friends, leaving thorn girl and the hatter alone at the table.

“So Wonderland, huh? Seems like a nice place.” Alice played with the handle of her chipped teacup, unsure of what to do with herself. She knew she’d wake up soon, might as well get to know her dream world while she could.

Adam glanced at her for a second. “It is on this side at the moment. Wonderland isn’t a place of joy and fun. You shouldn’t have followed Cheshire. I’m afraid you’re stuck here now.” Alice set the cup down and chuckled.

“Stuck here? Of course, I’m not stuck here. This is only a dream.” The music cut off and the dancing stopped. Everyone returned to their seat at the table in silence.

“You think this is a dream? How very wrong you are. Cheshire and the White Rabbit led you to the entrance of Wonderland this morning. You’re lucky I’d been expecting Cheshire there and brought you back here or the Queen would make you her new plaything. Now that you’re here, you can’t leave without the Queen’s permission. However, you’re a trespasser, and she’ll have your head for that.” All the creatures nodded their head solemnly. “Although, from what Cheshire has told me, staying here is probably not such a bad thing. What could you possibly want to go back for?”

That question stumped her; what could she possibly want to go back for? A recluse father, an absent mom, and a dead brother was all she had. Her life consisted of quiet halls and talking to her cat, who in Wonderland, could speak back. With a life like that, who would want to go back?

“Nothing. There isn’t anything I could possibly want to go back for.” Alice hadn’t realized till after she spoke that she’d gotten out of her seat and walked across the room. The wallpaper is orange with purple swirls and green top hats, an ugly combination.

“You should get some rest then. Tomorrow, Cheshire can show you around the safe parts of Wonderland. Samson will show you where you can sleep for the night.” The hare, who she presumed to be Samson, got up and headed towards a door. Alice slowly followed him out of the parlor and down a corridor. After five rights and three lefts, Samson finally stopped at a door and opened for her to step through. The place was practically a maze.

“Here you go, Miss. There’s a bathroom down the hall, take a right, and it’s the second door on your left.” How does anyone remember that? “Cheshire can show you where to get clothes tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Samson nodded and shut the door, leaving Alice alone. The room wasn’t very big. A small bed sat in the middle of the far wall with two bedside tables. On one stood a plain lamp and a sleeping clock on the other. A sleeping clock? Alice cautiously stepped close to the clock and touched the top.

The clock jerked awake and stared at her. “Oh, my apologies. No one ever sleeps here so I was taking a little nap. Tock Bell is the name, please let me know if you need to awake at a certain time. That is my specialty.” Alice was… alarmed--for lack of better words. The clock is alive! How is this not a dream? Alice tripped over her own feet as she hurriedly backed away. Tock made an ‘o’ with his mouth and watched her in bewilderment.

“Are you okay, child?” A new voice came from behind her. She looked around to see the doorknob watching her.

“You can talk?” Alice looked between the clock and doorknob with her back against the footboard of the bed.

Tock closed his mouth and raised his bells which seemed to act like eyebrows. “Of course we do. Are you new to Wonderland?” It was the mirror across from Alice that spoke this time. Alice could see her own startled reflection and pulled herself up from the floor. Whispered to herself over and over were the words ‘this isn’t real’. They became a mantra as Alice lie down on the bed, her back to the living objects, and fell asleep.