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writing-fool · 5 years

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This’ll serve as a masterlist for the headcanons/scenarios as I fill in each member’s story, but also as a quick summary of their Houses, profiles and special occupations.

-Rémy

Disclaimer: neither the Houses, the HP universe or the members are my creation.

Brave, chivalrous and a natural leader, this boy fits perfectly within the image of Gryffindor. With his athletic capabilities, he’s quite fit to be a Gryffindor Chaser, as well as Quidditch Captain. Outside of Quidditch, Seungcheol is a proud father of twelve rascals and an admirable Head Boy. Although intelligent, he’s known for his practical manner of dealing with problems, which makes him reliable to others. He’s confident in his own abilities, but will always say that he shines in the presence of his best friends. Sociable, respectable and lovable, this Gryffindor is loved by nearly all.

Seungcheol’s Patronus achieves its corporeal form, a St. Bernard dog, at the end of seventh year. The memory that ultimately leads to this Patronus is a memory of all thirteen friends taking a ridiculous picture in front of the lake, during the summer holidays.

read his story here

If you need proof that not all Slytherins are bad people, look no further than Jeonghan. Though a cunning prankster, Jeonghan is a kind and caring friend, often needlessly worrying over his friends. He is often regarded as lazy, but is quietly thoughtful and incredibly clever. Where Seungcheol is practical, Jeonghan is shrewd, using tricks if needed to achieve his goals. Because of his quick wit, soft voice and wise advice, he makes for the perfect Slytherin prefect. He always knows when to give detentions, and when to turn a blind eye to innocent acts of mischief. After all, what’s school without a little fun?

Jeonghan’s corporeal Patronus takes the shape of a Nebelung cat. He casts his first ‘real’ Patronus remarkably early, in fifth year, during O.W.L. preparations. The memory that comes up is one that stems from his first year at Hogwarts, when Jisoo and Seungcheol snuck into his room and fell asleep in bed with him, to ward off the homesickness.

read his story here

Intelligent and sometimes witty, Jisoo finds his place in the arms of Ravenclaw. Jisoo often seems mysterious and beautiful to outsiders, and while he is beautiful in and out, this absolute dork only shows his true side to his best friends. He is often seen in the Astronomy Tower, looking at the night sky and finding peace in the stars. Because of his intellect, and kind demeanour, this patient boy is the most popular Ravenclaw Prefect. But beware, this young gentleman has some tricks up his sleeve.

Like Jeonghan, Jisoo’s Patronus takes its corporeal form in fifth year, as a collared Inca hummingbird. The memory that comes up the very first time is the memory of being at home, in bed, feeling the warm sunshine flutter through the curtains to land on his face.

read his story here

It often confuses people how a cute, bubbly boy like Junhui could end up in Slytherin. But as kind and loving as he may be, he is incredibly ambitious and fights for his individuality. Junhui has many talents, and puts pride in what he can do. Although he may look arrogant and prince-like, Junhui is quite shy, and values the opinions of his best friends. He’s no clever prankster and no evil mastermind, but he tends to do what it takes to get what he wants: affection. As a nimble and elegant person, Junhui is a worthy Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team, often bringing in victory before others have even realised what has happened.

Junhui’s first corporeal Patronus appears astoundingly early, in fourth year. It takes the form of a panther, and is conjured by recalling the memory of him holding his little brother in his arms for the first time.

read his story here

Soonyoung takes the world, and the Hufflepuff House, by storm with his eccentric and lovable personality. This ball of sunshine loves with his entire heart and soul, and is always there to share his positivity and motivation. Though Soonyoung looks like he’s always happy, he actually worries a lot, and finds his strength through relying on his friends in darker times. Besides being a kind person, Soonyoung is both creative and a team player, making for an excellent Quidditch Captain and Chaser. He’s always looking out for his teammates’ backs and finding new ways to win a match.

Soonyoung masters the Patronus charm in sixth year. His Patronus takes the form of a tiger, and is conjured using the memory of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team celebrating in the common room after winning the House Cup during his fourth year.

read his story here

It’s no surprise when little Wonwoo gets sorted into Ravenclaw on his first day at Hogwarts. His looks and serious face betray his intellect, and often intimidate people. Yet, Wonwoo can become very silly, and is often rather bad at hiding his emotions from his best friends. Surprisingly enough, Wonwoo is a fan of wizard and muggle games, which results in him developing extraordinary eye-hand coordination. This, along with his sense of perfectionism, makes him one of the best Quidditch Keepers Ravenclaw has ever had. After hours, Wonwoo is often asked for advice and book recommendations. Wise, strict and collected, Wonwoo is a fine sixth-year prefect, if you dare to approach him, that is.

Wonwoo’s Patronus takes its corporeal form a couple of months after his graduation and takes the form of a Scottish Deerhound. He casts the spell successfully using the memory of the time he read poetry to his girlfriend while lounging in the Ravenclaw Common Room in sixth year.

read his story here

If Wonwoo’s seriousness is admired, Jihoon’s is feared. A true menace, Jihoon is not afraid to attack any and all who dare mock him and his friends. This young man is a lover of art and sports alike, and often creates his own music on muggle instruments. Rather than being ambitious on the outside, he consistently tries to out-do himself and usually works too hard. After these moments, you can find Jihoon napping anywhere and everywhere. Despite his small stature, Jihoon is an formidable Ravenclaw Beater. The Bludgers he bats are fast and accurate, often sending brooms spiralling.

Jihoon casts his first successful Patronus very early, in fourth year. It takes the form of a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, and is conjured by thinking of the many nights where his friends joined him in the Room of Requirement for a music session. Some would play instruments, others would just jam along to the melody.

read his story here

As a literal personification of the Sun, Seokmin is a perfect addition to Hufflepuff because of his sweet and cheerful personality. He is polite, kind and unafraid to show his real, crazy self to the world. Seokmin never judges, and is always around for a laugh; however, he never seems to stray from his best friends. This boy is not the best student, though he has a knack for Herbology. Seokmin does not busy himself with any clubs, but will join the Gobstones Club for a game or two if he’s asked. He rarely wins, but does not mind as he isn’t competitive.

Seokmin’s Patronus first takes its corporeal form, a chestnut Icelandic stallion, in fifth year. The memory he thinks of to conjure his first corporeal Patronus is that of a snowball fight he had with Seungkwan and Soonyoung in Hogsmeade two weeks before.

read his story here

Because of his tall stature and strikingly handsome looks, Mingyu tends to be seen as a chic person. He personally likes this assumption, but regrettably ruins it once he opens his mouth, after which he reveals his true, weird personality. Among his friends, Mingyu has a puppy-like charm. He fits in Hufflepuff because of his knack for household spells, and clumsy, worrisome demeanour. This young man is often referred to as a mother hen, because he cooks, cleans and most of all, meddles in his friends’ affairs. Although he is clumsy, Mingyu is caring, which makes him a great fifth-year prefect.

Mingyu masters the Patronus spell in seventh year, while preparing for his N.E.W.T.s. He uses the memory of a summer job with Jeonghan at a daycare in sixth year to conjure a beagle Patronus.

read his story here

Mingyu may look chic, but Minghao is chic. Prideful, savage and a little vain at times, Minghao is often misunderstood as a stereotypical Slytherin. But although he does pay a lot of attention to his outward appearance, Minghao is surprisingly cute and giggly once he lets his guard down. This, however, only happens when he’s with his friends, since his strict upbringing has taught him to value self-preservation over kindness. His friends do rub off on him though, and Minghao now does his best to show his kindness through his icy facade. On the Quidditch pitch, Minghao remains a fearsome adversary in the form of a Slytherin Beater, and as the President of the Dueling Club, he is an observant and disciplined teacher.

Minghao casts his first corporeal Patronus after graduation, at the age of 21. It takes on the form of a Runespoor, and is conjured by remembering a hug he shared with Junhui in fourth year, after the older Slytherin had comforted him.

read his story here

Seungkwan is a sensible and sensitive Hufflepuff who always knows what to say when people are having difficulties. He’s not the best problem-solver, and will usually consult his older, seventh-year friends if need be, but he has a great sense of empathy and will always manage to make you feel just a little bit lighter after a conversation. Unfortunately, Seungkwan is rather strict on himself, and underestimates his own strength; however, his friends are all too glad to remind him of his power. Because of his soft touch and sensitive personality, Seungkwan does well in subjects as Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. They say he’s on the way to become a good prefect, but Seungkwan fears giving out detentions to other students.

Seungkwan’s Patronus achieves its corporeal form in sixth year, and takes the shape of a blue-and-white swallow. The memory used to cast his first Patronus is a memory of all twelve friends surprising Seungkwan in the Hufflepuff Common Room for his thirteenth birthday.

read his story here

Hansol’s known as a bit of a wild child. It’s hard to keep him focused for long periods of time, unless he’s very interested. This Gryffindor is not one to pass up on a challenge, and is very easy to read. His expressive nature makes him recognizable to many students and teachers, and his innocence is refreshing to many. Although Hansol is bold and careless, he acknowledges his weaknesses and humbly works hard to become the best version of himself. Hansol requires a lot of space, something he definitely gets as one of the Gryffindor Chasers.

Hansol casts a successful, corporeal Patronus for the first time at the age of 19, after graduating from Hogwarts. It takes the form of an Eurasian red squirrel, and is conjured by thinking of the memory of him seeing his parents and little sister again on platform 9 ¾ after his first year at Hogwarts.

read his story here

Even though Chan insists that he isn’t, he’s the baby of the friend group. This kid never backs down from a fight, although he never purposely instigates one. He’s hot-headed and fast, and will land a few strong hexes in the blink of an eye in the Dueling Club. He makes everyone proud as the Gryffindor Seeker, and is perhaps the only real competitor for the more experienced Slytherin Seeker, Junhui. Chan yearns for maturity, since all of his best friends are older, but is often reminded to be patient, one of the few abilities he does not possess.

Chan’s Patronus achieves its corporeal form in fifth year, during O.W.L. preparations, with the help of Seokmin, and takes the rare shape of a dragon. Chan achieves this by remembering the feeling of flying on brooms with all of his friends during the summer holidays after third year.

read his story here

Patronuses are based on my own daemon-like analysis, paired with existing Patronus forms. I don’t actually know how they’re chosen, but I do it this way, since it seems to fit.

The memories used for Patronuses are not their happiest memories, but they are happy memories I use as an example to show parts of their personality (e.g. Hansol is family-oriented).

I probably won’t disclose more concerning the Patronuses, but if you guys would like an explanation, let me know!

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han-made-bookbinding · 7 years

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The Fables of Æsop

This blog post is about a binding that was actually actually completed in September of last year for the 3rd International Designer Bookbinders Competition. Given the anonymous nature of the competition I have waited until now to do a write up about it and have also held back on posting up anything on social media between now and the announcement of the prizes (although it was very tempting to do so!).

In December of last year I was thrilled to find out I was one of the 28 prizewinning binders. There were 194 entries from 31 countries and 74 bindings in total were selected to make up the “Heroic Works” travelling exhibition. The private view and prize giving took place on Monday 17th July when I learnt I was one of the twenty-five “Disinguished Winners”, earning myself a wonderful little Doric column award with my name engraved onto the top.

Andrea Odametey of Germany took first prize with her beautiful paper binding of "Daedelus and Icarus". The strips of paper are fixed crossways in two planes and are ordered like the feathers of wings.

Second prize went to Rachel Ward-Sale of the UK with her wonderful binding of "The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite". The design of her binding was inspired by broken Greek pottery and the Japanese technique kintsugi, where precious metals are applied to repair and enhance it. Andrea Odametey's binding has been given to the Bodleian Library and Rachel Ward-Sale's to the Getty Collection at Wormsley.

The bindings are currently on display in the spacious Blackwell Hall on the ground floor of The Weston Library, part of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford. It opened to the public in March 2015 following a three-year transformation, the refurbishment turned the 1930′s Grade II listed building into both a world class research library and a new visitor space with exhibition galleries, a lecture theatre, a cafe and shop.

The theme of the competition was, “Myths, Heroes and Legends”, a wide and open field from which to choose a text. I searched online for a text block that would fit the brief and settled upon a 1909 Hodder and Stoughton publication of “The Fables of Æsop”, with wonderful illustrations by Edward J. Detmold.

I have a particular penchant for nature, especially birds, so this book felt like a natural choice for me given the number of bird and animal related fables. Given the three dimensional nature of a book, and therefore the different possibilities for decoration, it gave me scope to select a variety of the fables and illustrate each separately on different parts of the binding.

It so happened that at the time of working on this binding I was living in Queens Park in London and at the annual “Queens Park Day” there was an Eagle and Vulture display team, Eagle Heights, there doing a show - we came within centimetres of some of the most awe-inspiring birds of prey in the world! What better place to do a bit of feather-related research...

The first task was to chose the fables I wanted to illustrate and where they were all going to be placed, listed as follows:

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‘THE OAK AND THE REEDS’ – The box

A very large Oak was uprooted by the wind, and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: 'I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds.' They replied, 'You fight and contend with the wind, and consequently you are destroyed; while we on the contrary bend before the least breath of air, and therefore remain unbroken, and escape.' - Stoop to conquer.

‘THE EAGLE AND THE ARROW’ – Front cover

An Eagle sat on a lofty rock, watching the movements of a Hare, whom he sought to make his prey. An archer who saw him from a place of concealment, took an accurate aim, and wounded him mortally. The Eagle gave one look at the arrow that had entered his heart, and saw in that single glance that its feathers had been furnished by himself. 'It is a double grief to me,' he exclaimed, 'that I should perish by an arrow feathered from my own wings.' - A consciousness of misfortunes arising from a man's own misconduct aggravates their bitterness.

‘THE HEN AND THE GOLDEN EGGS’ - The 3D hen atop of the front book edge and the front doublure

A Cottager and his wife had a Hen, which laid every day a golden egg. They supposed that it must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and killed it in order that they might get it, when to their surprise they found that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were day by day assured.

‘THE FISHERMAN AND THE LITTLE FISH’ - The edge decoration and the front and back endpapers

A Fisherman who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small fish as the result of his day's labour. The fish, panting convulsively, thus entreated for his life: 'Oh Sir, what good can I be to you, and how little am I worth? I am not yet come to my full size. Pray spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall soon become a large fish, fit for the tables of the rich; and then you can catch me again, and make a handsome profit of me.' The Fisherman replied, 'I should indeed be a very simple fellow, if, for the chance of a greater uncertain profit, I were to forego my present certain gain.'

‘THE SWALLOW AND THE CROW’ - The 3D crow and swallow atop of the back book edge and the back doublure

The Swallow and the Crow had a contention about their plumage. The crow put and end to the dispute by saying: 'Your feathers are all very well in the spring, but mine protect me against the winter.' - Fine weather friends are not worth much.

‘THE ANT AND THE DOVE’ - The back cover

An Ant went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and, being carried away by the rush of the stream, was on the point of being drowned. A Dove, sitting on a tree overhanging the water, plucked a leaf, and let it fall into the stream close to her. The Ant, climbing on to it, floated in safety to the bank. Shortly afterwards a birdcatcher came and stood under the tree, and laid his lime-twigs for the Dove, which sat in the branches. The Ant, perceiving his design, stung him in the foot. He suddenly threw down the twigs, and thereupon made the Dove take wing. - The grateful heart will always find opportunities to show its gratitude.

________________________________________________________________

Once I had worked out the design I set about pulling the book. The original text block contained numerous illustrations from drawings by Edward J. Detmold plus 23 original tipped-in colour plates.

Unfortunately the plates had been tipped onto a paper that had quite badly deteriorated over time through fading, and the edges had had a lot of wear. I therefore decided to carefully remove the images from these pages, pressed each of them flat, and sourced a new paper on which to re-mount them.

The best match I could find colour and weight-wise was 312 Dark Green Hahnemuhle Bugra Butten paper from John Purcell Paper. As I knew I wanted to decorate the edges of the text block, rather than tipping in the colour plates before re-binding, instead I tipped in waste sheets to compensate for their thickness. I also made sure the waste sheets were the same size as the book‘s pages so that they would span right to the edges of the text block in order to have a level edge to aid me when doing the edge decoration. These were to be removed at the end and replaced with the colour plates.

In the process of pulling the book I realised it was going to be necessary to repair the spine folds of the sections where the original sewing holes had been as they were quite large and vulnerable. I did this using Japanese tissue (dyed to the same shade as the paper of the pages) and paste.

I chose to use the endpapers to illustrate the fable of “The Fisherman and the Little Fish” and wanted to print a net onto them. I inked up the net using some black lithographic ink and a roller, then laid it onto paper and pressed it hard in the nipping press.

In order to get the net printed in exactly the correct place on the page so that it could run around the book edge continuously from the front to the back I had to carefully map out where to print it. I made a paper frame upon which I could stick the netting to in order to print it in the right place on the page.

Once inked up, the page was laid within the frame and the whole thing was pressed in a nipping press.

The printed pages were left to dry for a few days and were then made up into the endpapers. Before laminating these with a folded sheet I cut out a small fish and backed it with gold leaf, to illustrate “The Little Fish” in the fable. The sections were then individually pressed before being sewn onto 4 tapes using a link stitch.

The book was squared up and placed between boards under a weight and the spine edge was glued with PVA.

Once dry, the shoulders were marked onto the outer edge of the text block and placed between backing boards. The spine was rounded and backed before being glued up and lined with linen between the tapes.

I was then able to sand the three edges flat in preparation for the edge decoration. Firstly I clamped the book tight in a press and made up a template for the top edge which I tacked in place with a couple of small pieces of masking tape.

Through small holes I had pierced out of the template I was able to pencil in the joins of the net. I then removed the template and inked in the net using a fine nibbed pen.

Given it was hard to accurately print the net on the front and back endpapers exactly in the correct place it was necessary to slightly elongate the netting across the spine to match. I started by drawing guide lines in with pencil and worked out the spacing manually. I then inked in the lines.

The end result was quite satisfying...

For the headbands I worked with black and cream thread, working them in a pattern to continue the grid of the net on the top edge.

Before lacing on the boards It was necessary for me to fix three metal tubes into the board edges. These were in order to insert some three dimensional characters into the board edges - a part of the overall final design. Firstly I cut some channels into the core of the board using a jeweller’s piercing saw.

I then encapsulated some square profile metal rod into the channels by laminating watercolour paper each side.

A hole was drilled down the centre of the square rod in order to fit a 1mm gauge pin which would later be topped with some carved figures. The edge of the board was then sanded to a bevel all the way around.

The boards were then laced on and back-cornered.

It was then time to work on the leather, starting with the onlays. The leather I used for the onlays was the split/suede side of a variety of coloured skins that I coloured with watered-down white acrylic paint. This gave me the colour and texture I wanted for what was to become the feathers of the two wings on the cover design.

These onlays were then stuck down in place on the covering leather with PVA through a tracing paper template, first the dove’s wing on the back...

...then the eagle wing on the front, starting with the larger bottom feathers...

...building up to the smaller feathers on the top of the wing in a lighter colour.

Once these were done I was able to back-pare the leather and begin the embroidery process. Firstly I worked on the outlines of each of the individual feathers, pricking the holes first using a needle bodkin. I then used a Holbein stitch that was further whipped around with a thread of the same colour.

I used a different thread colour for each of the layers.

I then added the central quill shaft of each feather before adding the linear vanes to each using a couching stitch to tie down the long threads.

Next I added shorter threads to add a tonal effect on each of the feathers.

And added further stitches to each of the quill shafts in contrasting coloured threads.

The reverse of the leather began to take on a life of it’s own too!

The topmost feathers then got the same treatment.

Finally, metallic threads were also woven in underneath the stitches of the vanes, copper in colour for the largest great feathers...

The same method was used for the wing of the dove on the reverse using threads in white, light greys, gold and silver.

The water ripples on the back cover of the book were first machine sewn using a sewing machine and then they were whipped by hand in a thread of the same colour.

Finally a “floating” leaf made from gold leaf adhered to Japanese paper was stuck down in the centre of the circular ripples.

The body of a black ant was inlaid onto the leaf and the legs sewn on top of it, along with some veins on the leaf.

Once the embroidery was complete the leather was damped on the front with an atomiser and then paste applied to the back.

Despite all of the embroidery the leather stayed pretty flat and went down onto the book easily - always a relief!

A couple of days later, once the paste had dried, it was possible to open up the book boards by dampening the outer joint with water. I could then stick down the leather joints and infill the insides of the boards.

The front and back endpapers were devised to work with the little three dimensional characters I had designed to sit on the board edges. The same gold leaf on Japanese paper (as used of the leaf on the back cover of the book) was used here. On the back endpaper featured some swallow feathers for “The Swallow and The Crow” fable...

...and on the front some golden eggs for the fable of “The Hen and The Golden Eggs”.

I don’t often title my books but decided on this occasion I would like to title both the book and the chosen fables featured on it. In order to tie each of them into the design I tooled individual letters onto punched circles, firstly onto paper.

These were then adhered in place on the endpapers and doublures of the binding using PVA glue and tweezers to place them down correctly.

I added extra circular “bubbles” in a variety of blues to illustrate the watery sea that the fishing net was in.

I then did the same for the cover, tooling the titles onto leather circles.

For “The Eagle and the Arrow” fable, before gluing the title down the circles were placed in position in order to work out the tooling of the arrow heads.

The gold tooling of the arrow heads could then be done using Moon gold.

And finally the title of the book was tooled in Moon gold leaf using larger handle letters, on larger circles of leather. These were stuck down on the spine section of the binding, following the curved lines of the water ripples.

From the onset of working on this binding I knew I wanted to do something to take it to the next level - it was for a competition after all! I decided the way to do this would be to make some small three-dimensional pieces to sit on the boards of the book, but to be removable so as not to be impractical. I decided to carve some birds to illustrate two of the fables that I had chosen to feature on the doublures.

I worked out how large the three birds in question (a hen, swallow and crow) needed to be in scale to one another. I then used some little blocks of tulip wood that were first roughly cut to shape with a junior hacksaw.

These were then shaped using files and sandpaper until I was happy with the end result.

Pins were glued into a drilled hole to make the legs. One was left long as this would be the pin that was going to push into the metal tube inserted into the boards. The other was left short enough so that when the wire legs were formed the foot would sit on the top edge of the board to stop it from spinning.

Paper feathers were cut for each of the birds in the relevant colours, including some feathers cut out of the Japanese paper/gold leaf lamination.

The wooden forms were then painted with acrylics ahead of the feathers being stuck to them using PVA. The feet were formed using wire and a spot of glue added to the base of the feet to keep them in place.

Once all of the feathers were added the beaks were painted and little eyes added.

With the addition of the three dimensional birds I needed to make a container that would house them in safely both for storage and for travel, given the books were due to tour as part of the exhibition. I devised a box that had an extra section above where the book was going to sit for the birds to sit in. A piece of wood was machined to slide in and out of the top section upon which the birds were to sit on “perches”.

The box sides were machined from oak with a channel routed into them in which to hold the Diabond lid and base of the box. The Diabond panels were covered in paper to match the look of the endpapers and doublures. A ratchet strap was used to hold the box tight whilst the glue dried and then small brass pins were driven in to hold the corners secure.

The box was lined with paper and oak spacers added to hold the book snugly in place. A ribbon was attached to aid the lifting of the book out of the box.

Finally the spacers that were stuck in at the beginning of the binding process were removed and the original colour plates adhered back in place.

A removable foam cut-out was included in the box to stop the birds from jumping off their perches during travel!

The book was delivered to Oxford and then the waiting commenced...!

I am now pleased to share the details of this binding and have now posted it onto my website at the following link:

The Fables of Æsop

I will leave you some photos of the final binding...

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beautiful-lusamine-blog · 7 years

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Lewis was always alone.

Well - That wasn’t entirely accurate. There were times when happiness, laughter, and friends filled his life - But these always ended in backstabbing, shouting, tears, and loneliness.

So, after a few times of going through the same thing, Lewis decided to stay alone - Not like anyone would take him after how damaged he was, anyways.

The specifics of his past, his childhood, his family, why he left them as he cried and shouted, running off from home to god-knows-where and never calling or coming back, none of it really matters. Not in the grand scheme of things.

Things were always complicated for Lewis - Always. Every detail of his life is a sad story of failure and, of course, complication - So what’s the point of explaining them all if they tell the same tale? There is none. Not in the grand scheme of things, anyways.

For a time, Lewis’s desires mattered - But, suddenly, there was a time when they didn’t anymore. At first, he did follow his dreams, getting a degree in Acting, but going to University changed him. He did give up everything he had ever owned and any chance of financial security later in life just to get through it, after all. He almost found himself with friends at college - Someone named Ryan seemed to not hate him, at least - But he usually pushed these kinds of people away when they got close. He didn’t need another set of stitches in a heart that had been broken many times before.

After he graduated, he lost all will to live. He’d gotten his degree, and suddenly realized that no one really wanted him. Any networking opportunities he may have encountered over the years he’d pushed away, along with the people offering them. He was at a dead end. He had nowhere to live, couldn’t pay for his own food, and he had no one to turn to. It’s not like he could have gone back home, not after... Not after what had happened.

Eventually he received a letter in the mail - his uncle had died, his uncle that didn’t really like anyone in the family but Lewis. The uncle who had owned several stocks and successful companies...

And then Lewis was a millionaire.

First, he changed his last name to Ninapaamake and moved to Alola. The last name not only helped him pretend he was just an Alolan native, but also made him harder to find. He had known his uncle was a strong advocate for the protection of Pokémon from being driven out of their habitats by humans and abuse and neglect by humans, so he started the Aether Foundation in his uncle’s memory.

Somewhere along the way he found Faba, an employee who was willing to do pretty much anything to stay favorable to Lewis and on a high salary, and of course Wicke - An invaluable employee who never gave up. The charming Florie was there to keep the computers from exploding, and Jazz was there to keep the financial side of the company stable. In addition there was, of course, the unbelievably hard-working and respectful Zenith.

However, all ups have downs - And now that Lewis had started a global foundation and made his name famous for advocating for the protection of Pokémon in a way that didn’t disrupt their relationships with people (unlike some Pokémon rights organizations), it was time for his life to become hell.

And become hell it did.

Kidnapped; drugged; raped, perhaps - The details alluded Lewis after it was over, probably due to the second item on the list... So he honestly couldn’t say for sure what they’d done to him.

What he did know, however, was that an International Police team led by an officer named Looker had rescued him: Given fake money and then, once he had Lewis, turned around and led an assault against the mysterious, masked kidnappers.

They’d fled, however, and it was virtually impossible to identity any details about them - Who they were, why they took him, what they wanted. He knew they’d be back someday though, so for a few years he waited nervously for that particular penny to drop.

Even if he’d remembered what happened, he wouldn’t have answered. The abuse was too much for him to talk about; the little details that he did recall sat at the bottom of his mind, and frankly he was quite content leaving them there.

Things were okay for a while, and he’d eventually told Looker to give it up. It didn’t matter anymore.

Then came the security breaches and the photos - Oh, god, the photos...

Numerous hackers, perhaps affiliated with each other or perhaps just hired by the same person, began to attempt to breach his company. They tried to take many files, which didn’t surprise anybody, but also tried to plant many within the computers: All of them beginning with the prefix PHEROM-LWS, all contained within folders labeled from Alpha to Zeta.

But, most troubling of all, were the photos of a woman who was apparently pregnant with Lewis’s child.

Soon, his office was swarming with International Police officers once again, asking him all kinds of question he either couldn’t or didn’t want to answer. He told them what he could - That anything could have been taken from him during the kidnapping. They eventually advised him to respond by leaving messages in his database for the hackers to find, since keeping them out seemed literally impossible.

He was informed that, yes, some of his reproductive material - A lot of it, in fact - Had been taken from him and frozen while the masterminds behind it contemplated how best to use it.

A baby had already been born. He was about to turn one.

Another was being carried by the woman - Who Lewis suspected was not exactly a willing participant in what had happened - and would be born in about one month.

Lewis realized, very suddenly, that he was the father to two children, about a year apart in their births.

He was sent pictures of other people holding the boy or cradling that woman’s large stomach, and plenty of scans showing the fetus.

He knew it was designed to get under his skin, yet he let himself fall for it anyways. He was too furious. He finally caved in and, against Looker’s suggestions, demanded to have the children.

But, as Lewis had learned in his life, everything has a price. Nothing is free.

Control of the Aether Foundation, including its facilities and money, handed directly to whoever was behind this. That was what the price tag on his own child’s wrist said in the latest photo.

He worked his closest employees and himself to the bone trying to fake the whole thing. They worked in secret for days without sleep, sometimes. It was a living nightmare, but Lewis needed to hold his own children in his arms, and he’d do anything to achieve that.

After about two months of living hell, he was given a video of his one-year-old and his one-month-old being forced to watch their birth mother be shot. That was when he decided that the plan they’d prepared had to be good enough - And if it wasn’t, fuck it, because he wasn’t going to let this continue for another moment.

The whole thing was over surprisingly quick - About 56 hours without sleep filled with cyber warfare and a few break-in attempts which were prevented by the guards Looker had fortunately stationed outside of Aether Paradise.

The first 16 hours was getting the children and faking the deal - And, frankly, that was the easy part. They were delivered by a messenger who they had agreed to not kill, wrapped in green and purple blankets with notes that read “Beta” and “Charlie.” Lewis didn’t really have time to think about what it meant, because the next 50 hours were spent warding off the relentless villains who’d very quickly realized they’d been duped.

Finally, he was told he could keep the children. He gave his employees and himself a week off after he was sure they weren’t bluffing.

He decided to name them after flowers.

Unfortunately, in about ten years, when the two children he’d decided to call Gladion and Lillie vanished and left in their place an anonymous note, he realized why he was allowed to have the children - Because it would hurt more if they were taken later. It was all a game of cruel, calculated vengeance.

Lewis once again enlisted the help of the International Police.

The month spent rescuing them once again was so stressful to Lewis that he didn’t remember much of it afterwards. He’d read studies about how the mind would sometimes block memories of traumatic events, but he hadn’t believed them before he experienced it himself.

Next came the parts of his life that made Lewis want to kill himself.

Yes, he had his children back - But did it matter? Now everything was worse. Now Lewis was slipping. Some days, he’d wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, and realize with sudden panic that he’d forgotten the events of the past day; he’d be talking to someone and then slowly quiet down and move to stare at the wall before shaking awake and no longer remembering where he was, would realize he was crying in his room alone and wonder what he’d done that time - Did I hit my children? Did I insult the employees? Did I starve my babies?

It had started as just being overprotective because he was afraid of losing them again - But, before long, he was spending hours calculating meal portions for his children to ensure they stayed underweight (although he always took out a bit of the result of his calculations, just to be sure), and then eventually hitting them if they misbehaved and begging them to love him if they cried from the sting of his hands.

Then came the dreams - They were always the same: Monsters that looked so real, pursuing him relentlessly as he ran from them until he hit a dead end, left him curled up on the floor, crying, just waiting for one of them to kill him...

They always ended the same way - He’d cry, and then tentacles would envelop him and shield his eyes so he couldn’t see who they belonged to, and then carry him to some room, setting him down gently. He’d then look around the room and see a man’s bloody body, bullet holes scattered all over him, and then look at his own hand, which was absolutely covered in blood that he knew wasn’t his own and holding a note.

He couldn’t ever read it. It was blurry, at first, but it got clearer each time he had the dream. Even when the image cleared up, the shapes on the page were incomprehensible to Lewis. It was almost like another language.

As Lewis got worse and worse, the shapes seemed to begin to make sense to him. Eventually, it got to the point where, in the dream, he could read it - His dream avatar could read it - Yet when he awoke he realized that he, himself, could not read it.

I believe you know the rest of the story...

The monster with the tentacles began to manipulate him during the journey to the room with the note, whispering false promises in his ear: Find me! Come to Ultra Space and find me! It will make your children love you once again! It will wash away your sins! They whispered all kinds of things to him while they carried him, and Lewis became haunted by the promises.

I assume you see where this is going...

“When did you... Start becoming beautiful?” He whispered, his hand rubbing her soft cheek. It was terribly heavy, so, so heavy, and it seemed like holding up an entire ocean just to keep it there. He let it fall, slowly, to his side, and then he smiled and slept.

During that sleep, the same dream came back to him, but this time it started in the room.

He realized suddenly that it was not a dream, but a memory!

As the International Police began firing at the masked figures who had been laying in wait to guard the door, Lewis slipped by them into the room. He’d worn black, unlike the Officers’ obnoxious blue and purple bullet-proof vests, and was now about to make Looker livid.

He snuck into the room and was unnoticed due to the chaos of the room and the fact that he didn’t have a weapon.

He stepped into the hallway behind the door, and took a right, padding quietly like a cat to the end of the hallway and taking a left turn.

Now he was faced with a long hallway, laid with a deep, blood-red carpet. It ended in a single, black door with a knob that was absolutely stunning - Intricately crafted and clearly made of gold.

He sighed and slowly took the pistol out of his pocket hidden on the inside of his jacket, and then took the silencer barrel out of his pants pocket. He’d practiced screwing them together many times, but he’d never actually shot a gun before.

He put them together slowly, exhaling deeply once again. Looker would kill him for this.

But what choice did he have? He couldn’t rely on them now. He couldn’t rely on anyone now. All that mattered was getting his own children, on his own, by his own work.

He took his first few steps on the carpet, his heart hammering loudly in his chest so hard that he could see his chest expand and contract rapidly. He couldn’t hear anything but the heartbeat in his own ears.

Finally, after what seemed like years, he reached the door.

He closed his eyes, breathing slowly, and then opened his eyes once again.

He placed his hand on the door carefully.

He turned, and pushed.

Inside was the leader of the awful group, standing with his back to Lewis.

“I was wondering when you’d make it here, Lewis.” He said with a proper British accent. His voice was dripping with, for lack of a better word, evil.

”And just how did you know I’d be coming here alone when the International Police attacked?” Asked Lewis, his voice quavering.

The man laughed and shrugged. “Because you’re incredibly foolish and overconfident in your own abilities. Oh, you’d never reveal it, you always act like you hate yourself for your stupidity - But subconsciously you see yourself as a genius and would take any opportunity to be the goddamn hero.”

“That’s not true!”

“Well,” He said, chuckling. “It is. You just don’t know, because it’s so deep in your head you don’t even realize you’re doing it.”

Lewis’s finger twitched as it hovered over the trigger of the gun he’d tucked back into his coat.

Suddenly came a muffled noise, and Lewis looked to the left. To his horror, it had come from Gladion - He and Lillie were gagged and bound on a bed in the corner. He gasped in terror, his other hand covering his agape mouth.

He turned his attention back to the man, who had turned to face him.

“Yes. You’ll get them when we’re done here. I must say I’m a little flattered. You did all this extra research to figure out who I was and that I’d be back here.”

Lewis shrugged. “It was easy. Just had Florie break into the International Police’s server and get me the information Looker refused to provide me with. That’s all.” He was trying to feign confidence, but he was stuttering in fear and he was pretty sure he was failing at this.

“Hmm. Well... In any case, I’ve been recording our conversation. Not because I’m going to tell Looker or anything, but because I... Well...”

Here he stopped speaking and moved to the right side of the room, grabbing a phone from the desk that was there.

“See this? It’s recording it all. And, let me tell you, shooting it will do nothing, so there’s no reason to reveal the gun you’ve probably brought. It’s being uploaded to our server as it records, so even if you destroy it, it’ll all be there.”

“You talk like your... Organization will continue after you die.”

“Oh, believe me,” He said, smiling wickedly. “It will. Let’s start assessing your damage, Lewis. By the end of this you’ll have PTSD, obsession with your children, and probably social anxiety and depression thrown in there for extra fun. Imagine how fragile you’ll be, especially once you forget all of this due to the stress. Then, we take you in that fragile state, and we subliminally force the audio recording into every part of your life - Oh, and the security camera over on that wall is taking video, too. We’ve already installed wireless speaker units in your bedroom and analyzed your sleeping patterns so that it plays while you sleep, see. Like Charlie Gordon! Only difference is that in this case it’ll actually do something. We’ve also planted all kinds of undetectable malware softwares in your computer network that will play short, millisecond-long clips of the thing every time you use one of the computers. We’re going to fuck you up so hard, oh my god, it’s going to great. Well... In another sense of the word, we actually did fuck you up pretty bad the first time we got you...” He said, cackling.

“You - You son of a bitch,” Exclaimed Lewis, his words punching the air. Tears began to well up in his eyes at the thought of just what they may have done all those years ago. “You son of a bitch, you fucking planned this whole thing out, didn’t you...?”

“Of course! And here you were, thinking you had the jump on me and were going to surprise me. No, we knew what you would do. The whole thing was a trap. And, besides... While Florie is extremely talented, I doubt a single hacker could breech the International Police’s network without even a little bit of help from the big dogs...”

Lewis swallowed hard. “You... You fucking weakened the security so we could get in, didn’t you...”

“Tsk tsk. You’re really quite slow, aren’t you? Keep up now!” He said. His British accent was really beginning to annoy Lewis.

“Well - Well what good does this all do you, anyways?!”

“Oh, we forever ruin your relationship with your children, and your life, and their lives, and keep you under our thumb for another ten years or so. It’s a win-win-win-win, revenge wise! And by that I mean, not a win for four parties, but four wins for our party. None for yours, I’m afraid. Er... Unless you like that. You were quite the submissive little fuck, if I remember correctly.”

Lewis’s hand tightened on his gun and he hoped the man didn’t notice. He bit his lip to fight back tears. “There’s no way... You can’t... There’s no way you’ll be able to successfully gaslight me. There are too many people around me who would realize what’s going on.”

“Actually, see, that’s where you’re wrong. It would only happen on your computers, and it would be so quick you don’t see it. No one’s sleeping in your room, either, now that the kids are older. So, actually, no. I can, and I will. You won’t even know what’s going on. As I said, you’ll forget due to stress.”

“No, I won’t!” Shouted Lewis. “I’ll remember this fucking shit for the rest of my days... Trauma isn’t enough to block my memory.”

The man smiled. He was holding something small and white in his hand. “Perhaps I’ll help it along, then.” He said.

Time stopped for a moment, and then, all of a suddenly , he was pushing Lewis against a wall and pinning him there, trying to shove the white thing into his mouth. Lewis resisted for what seemed like an eternity, but eventually he had to give in. He simply had no energy left. As the capsule went down his throat, he felt like he’d lost all will to live. This was it. What was left now?

He kissed Lewis roughly, taking without asking, grinding up against him and choking him with his tongue. He drew back, grinning like a madman. The thing that was the worst about it was how familiar it felt, how Lewis had, on instinct alone, threw his neck back and thrusted his waist slightly as he moved onto his toes, eyelids fluttering and a small moan escaping him. He’d been trained like an animal and been so drugged he’d forgotten it.

In the moment when the man smiled wickedly, he also relaxed his grip on Lewis, who kicked him just below the waist. The man went sprawling, his own gun dropping from his hands and sliding across the floor.

He moved to get up again as Lewis fumbled his hands into his jacket, trying to pull the gun out. Please, move faster, please don’t fucking drop it, please don’t fucking miss... He thought.

He finally got it out, just as the man had regained his footing. He shot him in the abdomen, and a rose of blood bloomed on his white suit. He stood there, horrified, for just a second -n and then he smiled.

Lewis swallowed. “Fuck you,” He spat. And then he shot the rest of his ammo into the man’s body, not stopping until his pistol made little click noises when he pulled the trigger.

He moved to the body, as if propelled by some unseen force, and looked in the pocket of the coat. He kept making the clicking noise, because it was the only thing keeping him sane. Here he found a small note.

He dropped the gun with a loud noise and held the note up to his eyes.

Through the tears, he read:

Just because the puppet master was killed, this doesn’t mean that the strings were detached. They are here for anyone who wishes to pick them up again. And, believe me, I have people in mind. I wouldn’t spend all these years building the perfect little marionette if I had just intended to let him go, would I? Oh, and, yes. To answer your question, yes, I did plan in case you killed me. You’ve got a world of hurt coming your way. My advice would be to not tug too tightly on the strings, or whoever’s holding them might tug back and kick the chair out from under you, leaving you to die hanging from the strings I once controlled you from.

Things weren’t okay now - They’d never be okay.

But Lewis had escaped the temptation of the Nihilego and had his house searched for the speakers and had the network disinfected, and was now making efforts to be a better father for his children.

He could never make up for what he’d done, not really - But he could at least apologize and do everything he could to be better, and he did.

While the warning of the second puppet master did frighten him a little, he wasn’t going to worry about it. Whoever it was would have done something by now, unless the other man had been bluffing. Lewis decided it had to have been just that, a simple bluff, and resumed his life.

Things weren’t normal - But Lewis knew that, if he tried really, really hard - They might become normal... Someday...

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