#to flee a house where parents made all three of their talented kind children feel anxious worthless and not enough and made us all go to

[thekenobee]

6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam 6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam 6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam 6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam-

[qvietwhispers]

INTRODUCING; JINX HUNTLEY

Age:  28

Gender: Cis Woman

Pronouns: She/Her

Occupation: Bartender at Elysium

Trigger Warnings: death, deception, murder, homelessness, robberies, hacking

BACKGROUND;

Originally born Luciana Romero, Lucia was the eldest of two children born to Elena and Santiago Romero. Lucia adored her parents, and her little brother Mateo, who was four years younger than her. 

Lucia was born and raised in Surrey, at least for the first eight years of her life. The Romero’s were fairly well known for their success and wealth. They were kind hearted people, raising their children to be the same.

However shortly after Lucia’s eighth birthday, her entire world got turned upside down. It was the middle of the day, her little brother was in nursery, and she was home with her parents. She was supposed to be at school, but was home sick that day. 

A man broke into their home, and killed both her parents, while two of his accomplices stole what they could. What the man didn’t expect, was the young girl. Not wanting any witnesses but not wanting to harm the child, the man told her he was here to help her - blaming one of his accomplices and convincing the child to flee with him. He paid off the accomplice to vanish, and Lucia never saw the man she thought hurt her parents again.

The story broke the news, dead couple, missing child; leaving poor four year old Mateo alone. Shortly after, the child was placed into Witness Protection, and Lucia had no idea what happened to her brother. Lucia had wanted to go find her brother, but the man she now referred to as Dodger, told her he was safer without her. 

It was then they changed her name. Riley Simmons. Riley was basically raised by Dodger, the man a leader of a small group of criminals who usually stuck to robberies. They mostly kept Riley out of it, the girl usually sticking around with the resident hacker. She became intrigued by the man’s skillset, and managed to convince him to teach her when Dodger wasn’t around, knowing he wouldn’t approve of it after voicing his opinion when she’d expressed her curiosity. 

Riley picked up the skill rather quickly, becoming very talented at a young age. It was then she decided to branch out from what she was being taught, building up her skills under an online alias. No one knew who she was, but her hacker alias became well known. 

 It was shortly before her sixteenth birthday, Riley began to dig into her past as Luciana. She missed her parents, but was never allowed to speak of them, or her little brother. It was then she found out new evidence in their case had come to light, implicating Dodger and the rest of his crew. Riley was horrified, and suddenly everything made sense. She knew she had to be smart about it, and that she couldn’t just confront him. 

Riley exposed everything. Their entire operation, all their plans, every single file she could get her hands on, downloaded on to a memory stick and anonymously sent to the police. After which she confronted Dodger, the man calling her ungrateful, and Riley couldn’t bare to hear his excuses. She left, and shortly after, the whole group were arrested.

It was then she got herself a new identity, picking up tips and tricks from the group as well as connections. Jinx Huntley was born. She was 16, no idea what to do, after having being home tutored for years, she barely had any qualifications. She’d hopped on a bus and let it take her to Brighton.

She managed to talk her way into a corner store job, faking qualifications. She would use it to save up money while she crashed wherever she could, not actually having a place to call her own.

It was at this store, where she met Robyn Fox. Robyn almost immediately intrigued Jinx, the two instantly getting along. The two became thick as thieves, and Jinx finally knew what it was like to have a friend again. It was after a few months that Robyn realised Jinx was homeless, and before she could protest, the other girl had dragged her along with her. They rarely crashed at Robyn’s own home, but the other girls friend’s barely batted an eye when Jinx started showing up alongside her. 

When they turned 18, the two moved in with some of their other friends. The house wasn’t great.  It was run down, constantly reeked of weed and was in a dodgy part of the neighbourhood. That, and there was probably far too many people in the house. It was there they met Matias. The three of them became an unlikely trio, sticking together. They became family to Jinx, and she has no idea what she’d do without them.

Jinx mostly stuck to bar work, hacking on the side. Only Robyn and Matias knew about that particular skillset. 

When she was nineteen, Jinx looked into Mateo. She found him living under a fake name, despite the fact the people behind the horrid crime from their childhood had now been caught. She’d been desperate to reach out to her baby brother, but he’d been four when she went missing; and she wasn’t even sure he’d remember her, let alone want her. He seemed happy, and so as much as it pained her, she left him alone. She still keeps tabs on him from time to time, making sure he’s doing okay.

When they were 21, Blake came along. Jinx took an instant dislike to the other, especially when she grew to realise how bad he was to Robyn. It wasn’t until two years of Robyn trying to get away from him, that Jinx finally snapped. Without telling the other two, she found as much dirt as she could on Blake, and sent it to the authorities. Convincing Robyn to throw him under the bus had been easy. 

Jinx, Robyn and Matias left their old group behind, getting a place together. While Robyn travelled to Wakefield several times, Jinx only went once. 

Everything was fine, and Jinx was happy. Her best friend was happier again, and free from Blake. However, several years down the line, Blake got released, much earlier than Jinx thought he would. He sent a friend after Robyn, and Jinx quickly convinced the other girl to leave, putting her on the next flight to Wakefield, while creating a false trail so Blake couldn’t follow her. 

She didn’t feel right leaving Robyn alone in Wakefield, despite the fact the girl had her family; so Jinx travelled to Wakefield. It was only supposed to be a visit, but she found herself staying. 

[gottagobuycheese]

Tag Thingy

Thanks @silent--sonata for indulging my terrible sleeping habits XD

(fyi this will probably be unnecessarily long and rambly, so it’s going under a cut (EDIT: whelp the song list got a little out of hand, I’d apologize if I were even remotely sorry)) 

Rules: Answer 17 questions & tag 17 people you want to get to know better  

Nickname: Cheese (or Lactose Wedge, or Dairy Product of Unspecified Origin and Purpose)

Zodiac Sign: Gemini! 

Height: 160.5 cm/5′3″ (Bubbles I refuse to believe you’re actually that much taller than me) 

Hogwarts house: Somewhere between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff allegedly, both of which I’d be honored to get sorted into, but honestly I’d just be stoked to get sorted at all 

Last thing I googled: I think it was something along the lines of “how to speed up audio playback in GarageBand,” but but my train of thought was derailed before I actually looked at any of the results so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (and on a related note, thanks again for the magical audio editing @imperiousheiress!)

Song stuck in my head: The end credits to Legacy of the Wizard (which is SUCH a jam, thank you for enlightening me @jessicafish) Following and followers: 227 (goodness just looking at that number is stress-inducing) and...104?! When the HECK did you all get here??? I think just last summer I was happily floating about in the 50′s. Anyways, to anyone I have not said hello, hello! Hope you enjoy your stay, and I am sincerely sorry if you expected Quality Original Content, or even just regularly scheduled other people’s content. Sadly, neither of these things tend to happen here. 

Amount I sleep: During the school year it’s usually anywhere between 30 minutes and 6 hours (DON’T EVEN START BUBBLES YOU HAVE NO RIGHT), usually landing in the 3/4 hour ranges if I’m smart about it, but now that I am on Unofficial Break, it’s usually at least around 6 hours (except today was 3 because Avatar is an excellent show and the weirdos in this house have regularly scheduled breakfast at 9-something every morning). Sadly my sleep schedule can only be forced to tolerate normalcy for so long before careening back in the other direction, so we’ll see if this is just a blip or if we’re back to normal mid-Atlantic Ocean hours!

Lucky number(s): I wouldn’t say these are necessarily favorite numbers, but I do like 2 and 9. But come to think of it, second attempts at Official Things do tend to go better for me than first attempts, so maybe there’s some merit there after all! Dream Job: Don’t think I’m really cut out for dreaming anymore, haha (unless you are a theoretical future employer in which case I am Extremely Full of Ambition and Passion). The bed-adjacent metaphor has been made, and not to brag, but I can sleep on pretty much any surface. Currently studying my Not Favorite aspect of STEM (was there ever a favorite or did I just like being good at things sometimes) and learning how to People™ properly (and also learning a gazillion convoluted drug names like what the heck dude, did you just fall asleep on your typewriter coming up with these), so I’ll take whatever place hires me and pays me enough not to depend on my parents for everything, I suppose. In an ideal world, that would entail a job where I could make friends, and even more importantly, a job where my shortcomings would not cause Massive and Irreparable Harm, but I don’t think this line of work really meshes with that last one, so I guess I’ll either have to get my shit together��� extremely soon or fake my death, adopt an alias, and flee to a completely new place with no ties whatsoever before trying to get another, less high stakes job. 

(Though I guess, less cynically, I like helping people well enough? And stories are fun! Maybe there could’ve been something with that. Not that there still can’t be, mind, but there’s still a long way to go between Here and There)

Wearing: Black shorts. Navy t-shirt. Brown some-specific-kind-of-jacket-I-forgot-the-name-of jacket. Is it summer? Is it fall? Am I in middle school? Who can say, but they are COMFY so sadly I have no cares to give

Favourite song(s): way way WAY too many to list here, and I do not have them all organized in a handy playlist separately, but to name a few (and these are not necessarily the MOST favorite okay, it doesn’t mean I don’t love stuff not on this list, it means you can’t force me to pick between my children and I am going to find at least one quick thing from a few things I like before I need to hit post and go back to looking like I’m being studious, and also things I think you should listen to right now, but for everything I’ve linked assuming I mean the whole OST), here’s a spam of links in no particular order: 

LoZ Wind Waker - The Great Sea (aka the epitome of optimism) 

Undertale - NGAHHH!! (I was about to link more but then I realized it’d be the whole soundtrack lol) 

LoZ Breath of the Wild - Hateno Village (Night) 

A:tLA - Peace (bad call BAD CALL NOW I HAVE EMOTIONS) 

Legend of Korra - Final Scene/Ending Theme (MISTAKES WERE MADE MISTAKES WERE MADE) 

Kung Fu Panda - Oogway Ascends (I feel like I’m taking you on a whole little album journey now XD) 

PMD: Explorers of Sky - Dialga’s Fight to the Finish (aka the Gotta Shower Fast song) 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Pursuit ~ Cornered (aka the HURRY UP AND PACK UR SHIT YOUR FLIGHT LEAVES IN THREE HOURS song) 

Apollo Justice: A New Trial Is In Session (very underrated soundtrack imo) and also Apollo Justice: Telling the Truth (because these two are very closely associated in my head and it’s getting harder and harder to narrow things down so maybe I should stop lol) 

Your Name: Katawaredoki (in which I am forcibly thrown heart first into the bedroom of my second apartment at approximately 12-something A.M.) 

Digimon Adventure 01: Butterfly (MASSIVE 90′s childhood anime feels, and also Last Summer Before Everything Went to Shit feels (on a general scale I mean, not personal)) 

Pokémon: Lugia’s Song multitrack cover by Jordan Moore (would that I could have a talent of that musical talent) 

Pokémon the First Movie: Tears of Life (great now I’m on a Pokémon music spiral GUESS IT’S CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA HOURS NOW) 

PMD: Blue Rescue Team - Farewell and Run Away/Fugitives (you CANNOT make me choose between these guys okay, my brain WILL explode, and whoops now I want to link the whole ost) 

Palette by A Dear Friend (wink wonk) 

Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire - Fortree City (wow talk about mood whiplash)

Detective Conan: Main Theme (I can’t find the specific version since there are so many, but it’s a Good Theme) 

Super Smash Bros.: Brawl - Opening Theme 

Pokémon Colosseum - Relic Forest 

Song for Lindsay by Andrew Boysen Jr. (oh great now it’s time for marching band feelings I guess)

Mt. Everest by Rossano Galante 

Deltarune - Field of Hopes and Dreams and A Town Called Hometown (orchestrated) (aka the Lots of Work To Do song) and You Can Always Come Home and Don’t Forget (hey guess what I wrote a bunch of fake extra verses for) (also it looks my pathetic attempts at narrowing things down are getting even more pathetic so I’ll wrap up soon XD) 

 Guild Wars 2 - Fear Not This Night (never actually played this myself but my friend got me addicted to the music) 

Lord of the Rings - May It Be (Enya) (aaaand now I miss choir, THANKS BUBBLES) 

Lion King - Can You Feel the Love Tonight (Multilingual) by Travys Kim (aka how I remembered how fun these things are) 

Original Song by Anonymous  

(The urge to add all the other songs I’m not adding is so strong but I’ve got so much work to do so just assume I mean all Nintendo music from any game I’ve played, all Ghibli movie music, every musical I’ve ever heard, and even more) 

Random fact:

Apparently as early as the 17th century, you could guess that a child would have a shortened life span if their foreheads tasted salty. Yes, there is a specific reason, and yes, you may already know what it is, and thankfully no, that life span projection no longer holds true, assuming access to Modern Medicine! 

Favourite Authors: Okay I have not read enough various books of enough various authors to be able to answer this, so I’m just gonna go with a few books instead. They are not necessarily all-time favorites, but I enjoyed reading them very much at the time and more often than not go back to them for comfort reads: The Martian, any of first three Harry Potter books, and The Rise of Kiyoshi. (That last one’s not really a comfort read but I am drowning in Loving Kiyoshi juice so here we are)

Favourite Animal Noises: Certain kinds of birds (UNLESS it’s some ungodly hour of the morning and you’re trying to sleep)? Ooh, and crickets! 

Aesthetic: A slob, but like...a comfy slob. An incredibly disorganized hermit who is happy to mill about in the uncontrolled entropy. (Are we talking about what aesthetic I give off, or what I like to look at, visually? Because I like space, and water, and mountains, and forests, and forests ON mountains, OOH and forests on mountains at night where you can see space, perhaps reflected in a body of water. Or just water, idk. Different things are pretty to look at at different times)

WELL THAT ONLY TOOK FOREVER SORRY FOR THE OBSCENE LENGTH 

@pachelbelsheadcanon @averybritishbumblebee @shingeki-no-korra @sailorlock @yeswevegotavideo @soultheta @queenerdloser @ifeelbetterer @rogueofdragons @peppervl @amadness2method @mutalune and anybody else who wants to do this! This isn’t seventeen, and I don’t know if any of you have already done it/been tagged, but I hear people moving around upstairs so that means this break is over XD. And ABSOLUTELY no pressure to actually do this, this is pretty much just me wishing you well! (and YOU of course, my dear reader! I hope everything’s going all right, or if it’s not, that it does soon)

[celestial-opposition]

The Crimson Lightning Rises, pt1

((Happens right after Epilogue: Into the Blue, Forever)) ((feature Len by @azure-et-aurum )) ((Soundtrack, maybe: Xandria - Sacrificium ))

Our house is...destroyed...

It was echoing in my head all time since we managed to get out of that room where Kannitha, or that “Mister Wise” dragged us. The last time I saw something that I loved being in a state like that I was in the Steppe and Misaki had flee to here. I was with Len, Jonah and Anni in Limsa’s dock having our farewells to Shintaro and Misaki when they depart.

((Azim Steppe, some years ago))

Steppe... I remember when I shelter Misaki within my tribe when she fled from Yanxia, she was like a little lost lamb, afraid of almost everything that could remember her the Garlean Empire. She barely remembered her own name, for a strike of coincidence the only name she remembered was from her grandmother that was the same name as one of my young sisters, Lunya.

Me and my sisters helped her to adapt in her new life here with us, I taught here about archery, while Kaesa tried to teach about cooking. For my little sister being not a good one I can imagine what Misaki’s food would be like. Since she didn’t remember her real name we had to make something to differ between her and my other sister, so after some discussion we ended agreeing that we would call Misaki by the name she gave to us, and my sister as Lun.

The days in the Steppe with her was great until suddenly we heard about some iron machines coming from the south, we thought that some people were lying so we went to sleep. Only for the next day I wake up and see that Misaki fled. When did she run? And why did she run? I didn’t know by the time that the sound of those Iron Machines would trigger something on her, and knowing that she had lost her memories made me worry about her. The only thing that she talked about was going to a western continent called “Eorzea”, even tho she didn’t know how to get there. So I thought she ran to that place and I needed to seek her out, it was a promise that I made.

Lun, my mid sister decided to come with me, she’s one of the greatest archers that we have in our tribe. So we went into this new place for us, Kaesa remained with our parents, I feel that they couldn’t bare the thought of having their three children going in an unexplored place, so we set our trip there.

When I arrived in Eorzea, I was greet by an adorable... how they’re called, ah Miqo’te! That is! Her name is Yakaru, she was somewhat sensitive and knew that I had something special and that I would like to use on my search for Misaki. I didn’t know what it was but I accepted her guidance, she had knowledge to use Red Magicks and this combined with my good eyesight and hearing would be enough to protect others and find my little step-sister.

While I was working on find the trail of Misaki’s whereabouts, I somewhat had this talent inside me since the day I was born, this kind makes sense after thinking in some things that happened in the past, like being able to purify a sheep that we had, set fire in a leaf while I was waiting for the perfect time to shot my arrow. Yakaru said that I was inherit with a type of magick that she only saw in her land, Gyr Abania. She told me that her father was a member of a group called “Crimson Duelists” that fought in Gyr Abania for a long time, as she stated that I had the talent of those duelists and wanted to sharp my training on it. If it was to help me to protect my dearest family and find where Misaki is, I would accept without even thinking and I did it.

Months passed while I balance between the training and the searching, only to have the surprise that Yakaru gifted me with one of her rapiers. Saying that I was fast like a lightning while getting in close combat, that a crimson spark was seeing on my eyes when I was focused on my arts, she end giving me the alias of “Crimson Lightning”. At first I though that was due my red limbal ring, but after she explained what she saw, I understood and accept the new alias.

The time Yakaru passed with me, teaching and guiding me through the red magicks was enough for me be able to hear about an Orphanage in Ul’dah that just hired a Raen woman, after some pondering I ended going there and for my relief I found her. The house, my inner house, was slowly building up on its feet.

((Mist Residential District, La Noscea, present))

I looked into Len’s eyes as she comforts me after we got back from Limsa’s docks as we stood in front of the Forever Blue’s house, or what survived from that fiend, my mind went back from the days I had thought that I lost my house, Misaki, my little lost lamb that grew up so beautiful that makes me proud like I was her blood-related old brother. She went with Shintaro in a trip to Yanxia to visit his State, from what she told me while in the Steppe if her State wasn’t destroyed she would like to take everyone she loves and cares there to see where she was born and raised for a while.

I shook my head lightly as I noticed Len looking me like if I was in another star, I leaned down to hug her while thanking for being there with me, I can feel that she blushed when I did it. I made a promise for her that both of us would be stronger when they come back and we will surprise them with the new house.

“We will rebuild our house. When they come back, it will be on its feet and ready to welcome everyone. It’s our job to take care of the Forever Blue now. The Crimson Lightning and... his... Jade Lotus”

[paganvamp]

Saving Grace: Chapter Four

Grace and her friends meet the new kid, but Grace realizes he might be hiding a dark secret.

This chapter is basically just a recap of the gang meeting Stefan for the first time, but with Grace involved CW: Language, brief mention of bullying?, mention of car accidents

2009 AD: The First Meeting

“Ow! Fuck!” Grace swore, cradling the tip of her burned finger to her chest.

“It’s a fire. You aren’t supposed to stick your hand in it.” Chloe’s voice was flat and unamused, a perfectly groomed brow raised as if questioning her sister’s intelligence.

“Yeah well you were supposed to put the fire out before I grabbed the candle!” Offering to teach Chloe how to control her magic had not been one of Grace’s brightest ideas. Chloe had just recently displayed signs of Tapping into her power, and as Grace had been practicing magic for the past four months, she’d felt qualified to teach her younger sister all about magic.

She had been wrong.

“Mom said if we blow up the house, she’s putting us both up for adoption.” While Grace’s control of her magic was vastly better than Chloe’s, it tended to slip when she became angry, irritated, or frustrated… all of which seemed to happen constantly around her sister. Another problem was that, while Grace had the basic magic skills that every witch had, she was also gifted with a completely different skill set to Chloe’s. As she’d found out four months ago, Grace had the rare ability of divination – essentially, she could see the past or future. Usually, her ‘visions’ came to her in dreams, like the one in which Elena had returned to school after her parent’s deaths. But her mother's grimoire had also mentioned a technique called scrying, or using a reflective surface to see the past, future, or even other people in the present. In addition to her divination skills, Grace was also an Empath, able to “read” the feelings and emotions of everyone around her with a touch, or simply by concentrating on them hard enough. Altogether, Grace’s particular talents tended to lie in psychic acuity.

Chloe, on the other hand, had demonstrated the much more common elemental manipulation. While all witches had a limited control of all four elements, such as lighting candles or making a feather float in the air, some had particularly strong control, usually over one single element. Chloe’s was air. For the past hour, Grace had been standing ten feet away from her sister in their basement, lighting a candle and waiting for Chloe to conjure a gust of wind strong enough to blow out the flame. When that had gotten boring, she’d switched to lighting the candle, then attempting to snatch it quickly away from its original spot so Chloe’s blast of air would have to flip on a dime. This particular time, Chloe hadn’t been fast enough, and Grace too careless, and she had scorched the tip of her finger.

“We’ve been at this forever, Gracie!” Chloe whined. “You made me get up at 5:00 in the morning for this. Can’t we just go get ready for school?” At the word school, a feeling similar to the one she’d felt that morning four months ago slammed into Grace. Elena’s coming back today. After Elena and Jeremy moved out of the Forbes’ house, where they had lived for a few weeks while their sudden new guardian Aunt Jenna found them a house of their own, Grace hadn’t seen much of either of them. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She saw plenty of Jeremy, high out of his mind and hiding from his aunt and sister around town. She had no doubt he’d find a spot in the Stoner Pit saved for him when he got to school.

“Yeah, alright,” Grace sighed, “We’re done for now.” Pleased with this, Chloe made her escape before her sister had the chance to change her mind, Grace following her upstairs much more slowly.

“How did it go?” Cecile asked in a voice that suggested she already knew the answer. Grace just made an irritated noise in the back of her throat while Chloe said,

“It was fine.”

“Gracie, come here, I want you to see this.” Cecile waved her eldest daughter over to the kitchen table, upon which several old books were laid out.

“What are these?”

“This one,” Cecile answered, pointing to a smallish book bound in red leather, “is my personal grimoire." This, Grace knew already, as her mother had let her read it after dropping the 'you're a witch' bomb. "And this one,” she pointed to a larger one this time, its deep brown cover cracked a bit, “is your dad’s.” As Cecile and Joseph had explained shortly after Grace’s horrifying realization that day four months ago – an event which she privately referred to as ‘The Incident’ – she had been entirely wrong about her childhood. Her parents were not Wiccans – or not just Wiccans, anyway. They were witches, with real magic, and that locked door at the end of the hall was filled with all their grimoires, amulets, herbs… anything that might have been linked to magic in any way was locked in that room, kept secret even from their own children. Because, while the Sinclairs were originally part of the Tremé Coven, they had broken from them due to their leader’s increasing violence and heavy use of Sacrificial Magic. So, they moved to the Quarter, where the King had an extremely strict no magic policy. Anyone caught practicing would be ‘dealt with’ in a highly unpleasant way. Which was why, eventually, they’d had to flee to Mystic Falls – the King had been coming for them, and he was pissed. In the four months since The Incident, both of her parents had been teaching Grace everything they knew. This was not to say the proverbial door at the end of the hallway was unlocked - her parents still had secrets, and whatever they were, they were holding them close to the chest.

“What’s this one?” Grace pointed to the biggest, and oldest by the look of it, book on the table.

“That’s Sheila Bennett’s ancestral grimoire. She’s allowing you to borrow it for a few days in the ‘spirit of learning’.” Grams is a witch? Logically, Grace had put together that ‘cousins from Salem’ had meant ‘cousins who are witches’, but she didn’t consider that the Mystic Falls Bennetts might be those witch cousins.

“Does that mean Bonnie…?”

“Only time will tell, Gracie, but the Bennett line is a powerful one.” It would be amazing to have a friend who was a witch, who she didn’t have to hide this from, who she could learn with. Chloe didn’t count, as their relationship was far too tenuous. They loved each other, of course, but they were so different it was hard for them to get along.

“Gracie! Are you giving us a ride or am I leaving your ass here?” Came Chloe’s irritated voice from the driveway, unknowingly proving Grace’s point to herself. Grace rolled her eyes.

“I’m coming, Chlo, relax.” Scooping up her bag and giving her dad a kiss on the cheek as she passed him, Grace made her way out to the car all three sisters had been forced to share since Chloe rear-ended Matt’s truck in their own driveway. His truck was fine, but Chloe’s car privileges had been revoked for three months, one for each dent in the hood of her Honda. Matt. That was another issue. After the crash, Elena had broken up with Matt and then basically ghosted everyone. He was convinced they’d be getting back together once the school year started up again and she’d had time to heal. Grace wasn’t so sure. It seemed that pushing Elena to decide regarding her future with Matt was the single good thing to come out of that night.

As she reached for the door handle, Grace glanced at her reflection in the mirror and felt the slight dizziness she had come to associate with what she called a ‘vision’, or a premonition of the future.

“Seriously, what are you so worried about?” Grace saw herself, sitting in a booth at the Mystic Grill across from a guy she’d never seen before.

“Shouldn’t you tell me? You know, with your magic superpowers and all?” The guy teased, clearly deflecting.

“That’s not how it works, and you know it, Stefan.” Grace reached her hand across the table, laying it atop his own in a gesture of comfort. “Don’t worry about Katherine, okay? That bitch is going down.”

“Grace? Gracie, are you okay?” Aimee’s face came into view, inches away from Grace’s. She looked concerned. “Did it happen again?”

“Yeah. Yeah, Aimes, it happened again.” Grace was shaken, not necessarily by the vision but by how close she had come to getting them all killed. “Maybe you should drive today.” Grace had barely gotten over her driving anxiety after the accident, and this close call set her heart racing.

“I second that.” Chloe stated, though Grace could tell from the way she bit at her lip that she was just as concerned as Aimee.

“Sure thing. What did you see?” The youngest Sinclair sibling asked as they piled into the car and out of the driveway.

“I’m… not sure.” Grace had no idea why she would have been plotting revenge against a girl she’d never met with a guy she’d never met, but she knew her visions tended to only go about a year or two into the future. Which meant whatever this Katherine girl had done would be happening relatively soon. “Some guy and I at the Grill.”

“Ooh,” Chloe singsong-ed from the backseat, “Like a date?”

“No, not like a date.” Grace’s visions also came with emotions, or impressions, a factor relating to her Empathic abilities most likely. She hadn’t felt any romantic attraction coming from either of them – but an intense bond, the kind of friendship borne out of hardships. Whoever ‘Stefan’ was, Grace trusted him with her life and hated to see him upset. Which was surprising, as Grace didn’t trust easily or quickly.

“But was he cute?”

“I don’t know, Chloe. That’s not what I was paying attention to.” Knowing that wasn’t the answer her sister wanted, Grace sighed in defeat. “Yeah, sure, he was cute. If you’re into the broody, quiet type. He had good hair.”

“I want to know the second you meet this guy. I think you might have just divined my future husband.” Highly doubting that, Grace agreed to her sister’s request anyway. As they pulled into the school parking lot and Aimee parked in Grace’s reserved spot, her attention shifted back to the more pressing issue – finding Elena.

“Chloe, if you have a class with Elena, I want you to act like everything is completely normal, okay? Don’t bring up… just don’t bring it up.”

“Yeah, because I figured ‘hey, remember a few months ago when your parents died’ would be an enjoyable conversation starter.”

“Neither of us will say anything, Gracie.” Aimee promised. “And we won’t let anyone else, either.”

“Good. And I swear, Chloe, if you’re twenty minutes late again, we’re going home without you.” With Chloe grumbling in protest, the three sisters clambered out of the car and headed off to their respective friends.

Elena had already arrived by the time Grace found Bonnie and Caroline on the front lawn. It was obvious Caroline had just walked up the two, and Grace heard the tail end of their conversation.

“How is she, is she good?”

“Caroline, I’m right here.” Elena pointed out. “And I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Really?” Caroline didn’t sound convinced.

“Yes! Much better.”

“You poor thing.” Caroline leaned over and hugged Elena, clearly shocking the other girl. “Grace! I was just making sure Elena was feeling better.”

“And I was just telling Caroline that I’m fine.” Elena sent Grace a look that clearly said she was not ready to deal with Caroline at such an early hour of the morning.

“Hey, Care, weren’t you supposed to show me the plans for the festival?”

“Oh my God, I almost forgot!” Caroline exclaimed, lighting up at the prospect of getting to show off party plans. She turned back to Bonnie and Elena. “See you guys later?” As she was dragged away, Grace looked over her shoulder to see Elena throwing her a thankful smile.

“So, I assume you’ve already done your customary run through of all the male real estate for the year?” Grace asked. Caroline knew everything about everyone, and sometimes used that power for good. Mostly, though, it was used to help herself and her friends determine if there was anyone worth dating, considering most of them had grown up together. Grace’s last relationship had ended two summers ago - July 13, 2008, to be exact - when a drunk driver slammed into her boyfriend Bryan’s car on the Wickery Bridge, killing him instantly. Grace had been in the passengers seat, and everyone had told her how lucky she’d been, to only end up in the hospital for a week. If only they knew…

Caroline, determined to help in the best way she knew how, had decided it was time for Grace to “get back on the horse” when it came to boys. Grace was trying to share her friend’s enthusiasm. Throwing a wrench in Caroline's plans, however, was the fact that while Grace was certainly not ugly, she tended to be "such a good friend" that she was rarely thought of as girlfriend material. Still, she might as well play along.

“Of course I have. I heard a rumor from Kelly Beech that there was a hot new guy in the office this morning, but so far I have yet to confirm.”

“Kelly Beech with the gross hair? We talk to her?” It wasn’t just Kelly’s unkempt hair that had kept Grace and her friends from associating with the girl, but it did contribute. Bonnie liked to say, ‘If you can’t bother to take care of yourself, why should I care about you?’ Possibly not their finest moment, but hey – it was high school after all.

“Uh, we do when she was the only student in the office this morning who might have noticed any new additions to the severely lame male population of our school.” Grace laughed.

“Okay, okay, fair point. But since we don’t have confirmation on whether or not she was telling the truth, doesn’t that put Kelly a step ahead of us?” Caroline came to an abrupt halt as if the thought were so horrific it froze her in place.

“You’re right.” She sounded scandalized. “I have to do some recon. We’ll go over the festival plans at lunch, yeah?”

“Only if you promise I’ll be the first to know whatever you find out.” Caroline smiled at her friend.

“You always are. See you!”

“Bye!” As Caroline headed off towards whatever she felt would give her information, Grace turned toward her locker. When she got there, she found it was situated next to possibly the worst person imaginable.

“Tyler Lockwood.” She groaned at the sight of the football jersey; his last name emblazoned on the back. She didn’t necessarily hate Tyler; she knew he was Matt’s best friend, and that had to mean something, right? He was just such a douche. Not to mention a giant reminder of her worst mistake, and her biggest loss. He smirked at her.

“Sinclair. You’re looking delicious this morning.” Whatever awkward guilt he had seemed to feel at last year’s bonfire had disappeared quickly, as though he had somehow done such a good job pretending it had never happened that he had convinced himself of the fact.

“Fuck off.” She rolled her eyes, nudging him to the side with her elbow so she could get to her locker. That’s when she noticed the locker on the other side of hers. And the person currently opening it.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She muttered to herself. Vicki Donovan normally wouldn’t elicit any kind of reaction from Grace, positive or negative. But after Elena broke up with Matt, Vicki had decided Elena was a bitch and didn’t care who knew it. Which meant she thought that all of Elena’s friends were bitches, as well. Not to mention the fact that Jeremy followed her around like a lost puppy, which was just pathetic to watch.

“Grace Sinclair. What a lovely surprise.” Vicki clearly wasn’t any happier with this arrangement than Grace was. Grace consoled herself with the thought that Tyler would be spending most of his time on the football field, and Vicki in the Stoner Pit. She would barely have to interact with them. But even for a few minutes, standing between them made Grace want to throw up. The barrier she’d erected in order to block out others’ emotions was shaky at the best of times, and currently all she could feel was the pain and anger radiating off the two of them in waves. She’d felt the same pain in Matt’s presence, to a much lesser extent, and knew it had something to do with his and Vicki’s mom. She knew Tyler’s dad was an asshole. And, yeah, she felt bad for them. But that didn’t mean she wanted to deal with their emotions on the daily. She had her own to deal with, especially with Tyler around. Hurrying as quickly as possible, she filled her backpack up with everything she would need until lunch to ensure she wouldn’t have to come back here and risk running into either of them. It was possible she’d have class with Vicki - if Vicki showed up - but at least then she could put a whole classroom between them.

“Çe n’est pas juste.” She muttered to herself as she slammed her locked shut, falling back on an old habit of talking to herself in French. As is my lot in life, apparently…

Caroline was nowhere to be seen when Grace finally made her way into the lunchroom hours later. She was so busy looking for her, in fact, that she slammed right into the back of someone.

“Oh, fuck, I am so sorry!” She swore, whipping her head around to face the person she’d nearly knocked over. And that was when she froze completely. Jesus fuck. Those broody, dark eyebrows, blue-green eyes, and strong jaw had been lurking in the back of her mind all day. Stefan.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Fuck, had she said his name out loud?

“Uh, no. No, sorry, I guess I just… heard there was a new guy at school and figured it had to be you.” She didn’t think he believed her, but he pretended he did.

“Well, yeah. I’m Stefan Salvatore. Sorry about…”

“Oh, no, that was totally my fault!” He smiled her off and held out his hand for her to shake. But when she accepted it, an icy chill slid down her spine. Witches could sense life, part of being the Servant of Nature, or so her dad had told her. Where she would have felt a warm, pleasant hum on any other person, Stefan’s hand felt… wrong. Cold and dead. Lowering her psychic shield, she purposely dove as deeply as she could into his emotions, and it was all she could do to keep from physically staggering backwards. A maelstrom of guilt, pain, sadness, and curiosity barreled into her. There was a touch of anger, too, and hopelessness. Some paranoia, or at least anxiety that someone would find out something he didn’t want them to know. She hadn’t known it was possible for one person to feel so much, so negatively, in one lifetime. She almost instinctively slammed her shield back up, but just before she did, there was another emotion that niggled at her consciousness. A hunger, a yearning for… something, something that he knew he shouldn’t want. She pulled her hand from his grasp. “Um, if you’ll excuse me, I… I need to find my friends.” She heard her own voice as if from a distance, still trying to reel herself back into her own mind, her own emotions. She wanted to shake Stefan off like a dog does water. Before she could fully turn away, Stefan’s voice stopped her.

“Wait! I never got your name.” He smiled and it seemed so genuine, so kind, that it was hard to believe there was something so wrong inside of him.

“Grace. My name is Grace.” She turned and fled, not staying to look for Caroline. She didn’t want to know what Caroline had learned about Stefan Salvatore. She’d learned enough.

Grace sat in her car in the parking lot, a faint psychic headache thrumming at her temples. She’d gone too deep, spent too much power on Stefan, and was already bone tired. But she ignored the pain, ignored the fatigue. For the life of her, she could not reconcile her vision and apparent fondness and devotion for Stefan from that morning to the cold, slimy feeling of his hand in hers. She’d been doing this long enough to know what life and death felt like, and Stefan had felt like death. Adding to that the barrage of horrid, negative emotions swirling around his own head, she didn’t know what to think. Obviously, Stefan had some major secrets. Maybe they had something to with this Katherine girl from her vision? Either way, Future Grace clearly liked Stefan, so he couldn’t have been too bad… right? Grace was pulled quite abruptly out of her reverie when a knock sounded on her window. She turned her head to find Caroline doubled over, staring at her as if she had come unhinged. She motioned for Grace to roll her window down.

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry, Care, I just… needed some air.”

“’Some air’? What, you can’t answer your phone and get air at the same time?” Where is my phone? Grace distantly looked around the car, patting her pockets. Her phone was nowhere to be found. Shit. It must have fallen out of her pocket when she rammed into Stefan in the cafeteria.

“Sorry, Care. I think I dropped it. Did you happen to see it inside?” The other blonde rolled her eyes.

“I swear to God, Grace, you would lose your head if that was possible.”

“Well, you’d be there to screw it back on for me.” Caroline rolled her eyes again but couldn’t hide her smile.

“Do you have enough air yet? I wasn’t planning on spending all of lunch standing outside your car.” Resolving to deal with the ‘Stefan issue’ whenever it next became a problem, a la Scarlet O’Hara, Grace followed Caroline back inside. Of course, had she known how much of a problem it would become, she might have prepared herself a bit better.

It was customary for Caroline, Grace, Elena, Matt, and Bonnie to meet up at the Grill after school. Unlike the years before, today Elena had wanted to visit the cemetery beforehand, and it was a complete question mark as to whether Matt would even show up; Caroline, Grace and Bonnie decided to go together. Grace hadn’t run into Stefan since their original meeting in the cafeteria, and she wasn’t sure whether or not she was glad of that, but either way she barely held in her groan as Caroline repeated to Bonnie all she had managed to learn about the handsome newcomer.

“His name is Stefan Salvatore. He lives with uncle up at the old Salvatore Boarding House. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue.” Even for Caroline, that was impressive.

“You got all that in one day?” Bonnie scoffed; a tad incredulous.

“Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period. We're planning a June wedding.” Grace and Bonnie shared a look behind Caroline’s back as they settled into a booth. Conveniently, Grace found herself facing a booth holding both Matt and Tyler, and spotted Jeremy and Vicki conversing in the back. Shit, it really is the only local hangout isn’t it? The gang generally had movie night at Grace’s house every Thursday, but considering the Grill was chock-full of people Grace wanted to avoid, she was considering making movie night an every day thing. Matt spotted them then and, ensuring Elena was nowhere in sight, made his way over.

“Hey, Matt!” Grace smiled at him brightly. She’d hardly seen him all summer, despite living next door. Matt had buried himself in workouts with Tyler and hanging at the Grill while his sister worked, and Grace had her own things to deal with.

“Hey yourself, Margot.” Matt was the only person Grace allowed to call her by her middle name, and only rarely. This, the first sign of his mood finally improving, was one of those rare exceptions.

“Um, hello?” Caroline interjected. “What are we, invisible?”

“Hello, Caroline, it’s very good to see you.” That signature smirk seemed to Grace like the sun breaking the clouds. Maybe he really can move on. “How’s Elena doing?” Or maybe not. Bonnie answered for all of them.

“Her mom and dad died. How do you think? She’s putting on a good face, but it's only been four months.”

“Has she said anything about me?” Caroline and Grace exchanged uncomfortable glances.

“Oh, no. So not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her.”

“I feel weird calling her. She broke up with me.”

“Give it more time, Matt.” The sound of door opening drew everyone’s attention, and Elena herself walked in… with Stefan.

“More time, huh?” Before anyone could respond, Stefan and Elena reached their table.

“Hey, I’m Matt. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi. Stefan.” Elena smiled at Matt a bit awkwardly.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Grace looked imploringly at Caroline. The girl’s talkativeness had never been more helpful.

“Uh, so, were you born in Mystic Falls?” Some of the tension broke as Elena, Stefan, and Matt ended their mini stare-down. Caroline obviously already knew the answer to that question, but had to ask the guy something - she wasn’t about to admit she’d learned his entire life story without his knowledge.

“Mm-hmm. And moved when I was still young.” Caroline seemed to falter, so Bonnie picked up the slack.

“Parents?”

“My parents passed away.” Oh, shit.

“I’m sorry.” Elena told him, with grief evident in her voice. “Any siblings?” Grace took the banal conversation as an opportunity to lower her shields slightly, feeling out those around her. Caroline was her typical bundle of neuroses, with an unsurprising note of longing, likely for Stefan. Bonnie was also in her usual mood, quiet support supplemented with a tinge of humor and excitement. Matt, also, was dealing with expected feelings of jealousy, insecurity, hope, and an increasingly unrequited love. It was Elena and Stefan that threw Grace for a loop. If Grace had thought Matt’s jokes were like the sun breaking through the clouds, then the crack in Elena’s hard shell of grief was the goddamn aurora borealis. For the first time in months, there was hope, and humor, and… attraction. She’s into him. Stefan, too, had more positive emotions in him now than he had at lunch. There was hope and curiosity, and attraction, but… a strange attraction. Not quite an obsession, but something more than a simple crush. It was intense and was fueling a strong determination paired with an iron will. A strange thing to feel for someone you just met.

“Grace?” She snapped back into her own head at the sound of Stefan’s voice saying her name.

“You still in there, Margot?”

“I gave you one pass, Matthew.” She warned, using his full name to help make her point. “Don’t push it.” He held his hands up in surrender as she turned her attention to Stefan. “Sorry, I zoned out. What were you saying?”

“I asked if you lost anything at school today.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her phone. She gasped, relieved beyond words.

“Oh my God, thank you! You’re a literal lifesaver!”

“Well, I couldn’t leave it in the cafeteria to be trampled.” Shaking off the horror of that mental image, Grace thanked Stefan once again. He smiled at her, genuinely, as he assured her it was no problem. Suddenly Caroline perked up with an idea.

“Grace, to show your thanks, why don’t you buy Stefan a drink for the party tomorrow night?”

“You mean ‘please provide us all with alcohol’?” Grace laughed. Grace was only a year older and certainly not able to legally buy alcohol, but both of her parents kept a large enough stash of wine and liquor they never noticed when a few bottles went missing. Not that there wouldn’t be plenty of kegs already there, of course. But why drink from a keg when you could have 15-year old bourbon?

“I’m missing something, what party?”

“It’s a back to school thing at the falls.” Bonnie shrugged, trying to make it seem like they didn’t look forward to this party all summer.

“Are you going?” He asked Elena. Always a matchmaker, Bonnie answered before Elena could even open her mouth.

“Of course, she is.”

[dippedanddripped]

Early Years

Born in a small village in southern China, Feng was one of three children in what she describes as a ‘very strong-willed family, where we were taught that being a female was a strength’. In a time when the one-child policy was still being enforced across the country, Feng’s parents were often forced to flee into the nearby mountains in search of safety, and to protect her and her siblings. That early example of resilience has helped to shape who Feng is today.

At a young age, Feng’s natural talent shone through, making a big impression.

’I always loved painting. I just put colour on everything. I studied in my village, and we didn’t have an art or drawing class. When I was in third [grade] a teacher came to our village to teach art for the very first time. I enjoyed the classes a lot, and this teacher was very surprised about how I painted. The teacher even encouraged me to enter my traditional Chinese paintings into a kids art award in Japan, and I won silver!’ explains Feng.

In Feng’s final year of middle school, she swapped the brush for a pencil. Like her painting, drawing came naturally, and she took just months to master techniques that would normally take years to learn.

‘That was a very important moment for me in my life’, she says. And it certainly helped to solidify her calling.

Despite strong encouragement from her school to become a doctor, lawyer or accountant, Feng chose the arts. In a fiery meeting between her father and the school’s headmaster, Feng’s father encouraged her to make her own decisions and follow her own path.

‘He said to me, “Little Feng, now it’s your turn. Please make your own decision." So I did,' she says. 'I made a decision, and it was the biggest decision of my life so far.’

That decision led her to study a BA at one of Beijing’s top universities. There, she refined her craft and, at the conclusion of her degree, secured a fashion internship at a company in Shanghai. From there, Feng took the advice of her senior peers and moved aboard.

‘When you’re younger, you don’t really know who you are. You haven’t had much experience yet, so you listen to the advice of the people who have more experience than you,' she explains, reflecting on her next big decision.

'I took the step. This was the second-largest decision I made in my life!’

Her Move Abroad

‘It was so hard for me’ Feng admits.

‘I started studying MA Fashion Menswear at the Royal College of Art. I was one of 10 people in the course, and I was the worst student! It was my first time studying abroad, I couldn’t speak English very well, and I couldn’t communicate well.’

But those early lessons in resilience held her in good stead, and she persisted in enhancing her craft. She proceeded to teach herself English while studying fashion, and despite some first-year struggles, she became a standout by the second year.

'There was something I knew through the whole journey, and that was that it’s not so much about proving myself to anyone, but actually knowing myself more and more through the journey, and surviving.’ she says.

As the first female designer out of China to focus menswear, Feng's inspirations came from deep within.

'It’s hard to describe why you love what you love. It came from the heart. You feel you love that and, when you’re doing that, you’re just enjoying it a lot, you can’t stop. It’s kind of like when you love a person. You love that person, but you can’t always tell exactly why you love that person.’

The Brand

Working on what she loved, Feng established her own label in 2015. Despite reaching that milesone, her goal to that was much, much broader.

‘As a female designer I wanted to inspire more women to know that they can do what they set their mind to! It’s all about Girl Power.'

Alongside this mission, she also gave herself the task of helping shift the perception of ‘Made in China��� being mass-produced, low-quality product. Part of that mission was to celebrate Chinese culture by highlighting the unique techniques that had been used in her home country for centuries. As a designer, her process starts by looking within.

‘I started my own label with the mission as a designer to look at the inside world – the people I meet, the places I visit, and my own experiences’.

This story-telling often informs the techniques that she chooses to use.

‘Sometimes it’s really hard to describe something as one technique when it’s about a story I am trying to tell or share. My SS19 collection, for example, was called My Half. People always describe that reconstruct/deconstruct as a technique. For me, it’s not that way. It’s merely about telling a story on the other side of who I am. There’s so much story and detail to share from behind the scenes. The craftsmanship seen in the work of artisans in the village is what I saw growing up, and is something that I bring into my work as an independent designer. I collaborate with these people by combining these old techniques with a fairly new brand, to give them new life.’

Feng has used these techniques across many of her collections, most recently seen in her SS20 collection, where she used Resist Dye, a thousand-year-old dying technique used in the Fuijian Provence where she grew up.

I

On-Foot

Since 2017, Feng has been able to tell some of her stories through footwear, collaborating with Jordan Brand and Converse across a range of silhouettes, including the Air Jordan 1, Chuck 70, Pro Leather, and now the Jack Purcell.

Feng’s work with Jordan Brand saw her customise the iconic Air Jordan 1 for her AW18 collection, where she told a very personal story entitled ‘The Way Home’. Through this design, she explored her journey from childhood to the present day, using references of key events and places to extend the narrative. As she described, inspiration was taken from subtle nuances, like numbers referencing the address of her first house, or the materials of a garment that related to fond memories of friends and family.

Another milestone moment was Feng’s reinterpretation of the classic Chuck 70 in 2018. That design set the path for her ongoing relationship with Converse, informing many of the collaborations that we are still seeing to this day.

Earlier this year, Feng took to the Jack Purcell, which hit the runway at London Fashion Week Men’s as part of Feng Chen Wang’s AW20 presentation. Here, she introduced her third capsule with Converse, which featured layers that shone a light on the past with a vision to the future. As Feng explains, ‘What you see [in the Jack Purcell] isn’t a pattern, but actually a graphic. This graphic came out from my name in Chinese characters. People might see that as a pattern, but it’s actually a graphic.’

Feng’s approach to the Jack Purcell included an adjustment to the form and dimensions of the upper, altering the iconic and normally slim profile. Through a material combination of suede and leather, Feng exaggerated the contours through layering, while embedding personal design nuances throughout – like her namesake ‘Feng Chen Wang’ in three Mandarin characters, 王逢陈. With each character serving as a pattern piece, the result was a conceptual take that jointly celebrated the heritage of both Feng and Converse.

The Feng Chen Wang x Converse Jack Purcell collaboration is also complemented with five unique garments and a set of accessories. Each piece in the collection has a strong focus on material, structure and reflectivity with the aim of revealing the silhouette’s unique design elements – like asymmetrical hem lines, blended fabrics, and reflective and textured nuances.

The Feng Chen Wang x Converse Jack Purcell and apparel are available from August 6 2020, online at fengchenwang.com and Converse.