#i got on shield’s radar in a bad way ; verse

[geneticmisfit]

Nerdy’s Long Overdue MCU Canon Rewrite / Complete Timeline Verse by Verse

Okay so if you’ve been following me long enough, you’d know that my various verses are essentially Frankenstein’ing of various movies and shows and games. They’ve always felt a bit disjointed and wobbly and that’s because I never really comitted to having my own canon proper I always tried to keep it MCU-focused while also having my cake and eating it too lmfao. WELL NOT ANYMORE. Time to bend the MCU canon to my will. 

So there is a LOT to get through so I’ll be categorizing it all based on Peter’s school years. Also no specific mentions on relationships and other characters unless it is necessary to the Narrative, because a lot of that tends to be extremely thread and partner based, and I don’t want to box people in by ‘canonizing’ what their character does in my timeline, you know?

ANYWAY ON WITH THE SHOW:

Personals do not reblog I’m just forewarning you

HIGH SCHOOL:

Freshman Year

-DECEMBER OF 2015 -Gains his powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider during a class trip to Doctor Curt Connors’ lab in Empire State University. -Spends the Christmas Break discovering and learning about his abilities, makes his First Suit out of some old pajamas.

-JANUARY 2016

-Being a kid and wanting to make a quick buck with his abilities, he enters a wrestling competition against Crusher Hogan.

-It’s the classic wrestling origin. Peter gets swindled out of money, a burglar steals money from the fight manager, Peter lets the Burglar go out of anger and spite for the manager. -Uncle Ben is murdered, Peter goes after the assailant and is horrified to discover it is the same Burglar he had let go earlier.  -When you do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you. -Guilt stricken, he realizes the importance of Power and Responsibility and starts to fight crime, initially stopping small crimes, petty robberies, etc. 

MARCH TO JUNE 2016:

-Rumors of an Insectoid-Man spread quickly throughout the underworld, it is initially believed to be a Lie made by crooks who want to dodge blame, but more and more YouTube videos of a man in a red and blue pajamas doing extraordinary feats quickly kills that possibility. -At the recommendation of his teachers, Peter starts interning at Connors’ Lab in ESU, it allows him to get a closer look at the kind of spiders that bit him, and leads him to discover that the irradiated spiders are a project Connors is working on under the funding of Oscorp. -During his crime fighting, he unknowingly halts several of The Big Man’s jobs.  -Frequently swings into and stops the crimes of Alex O’Hirn and Flint Marko. -He runs into his first Out of the Ordinary Bad Guy when he ends up fighting Stilt-Man, instead of going for his legs he just punches him out cold.

CIVIL WAR INCIDENT - JUNE 26TH 2016

This is where the first of the several big canon rewrites comes in. For starters, the Airport Fight happens in New York instead of Germany, and Tony does not recruit Peter for his cause or give him the new suit. What happens is as follows,

-Peter sees the news of The Winter Soldier’s attack on United Nations. ( For the purposes of this rewrite, let’s say Bucky gets extradited to the U.S. for interrogation and trial and he is held in the same SHIELD base Steve woke up from his coma or whatever ) -Peter and Ned argue about Spider-Man not going for Stilt-Man’s legs during their fight. -Hearing the news of JFK suddenly closing down and rumors of people spotting ‘Very Serious Government People’ , Peter puts the two and two together and leaves abruptly, heading to the Airport in hopes of ‘Auditioning’ for the Avengers, because that’s what you do when you are a 15 year old with superpowers. -Beginning of the airport fight and Steve and Tony’s argument happens the same, majority of the fight happens the same way. -Peter, as Spider-Man, jumps into the fray during the Line Up. He immediately swings to Tony’s side because Iron Man is the hero he idolizes the most at that point in time. -Tony and Peter banter, with Tony not wanting a kid there and Peter being a dumbass kid and wanting to impress Tony. -Peter does not fight Steve, he is only there to take down Bucky and Prove His Mettle as a superhero. -The entire sequence with Bucky and Sam versus Spidey happens as shown.  -Seeing Giant-Man appear and grumbling himself about the whole Stilt-Man argument still, Peter realizes he can go for Scott’s legs to take him down and does the whole AT-AT takedown move. -Gets knocked back onto the ground like in the movie, Tony goes to check on him to make sure this dumbass kid didn’t get himself killed, seeing he is alive and well, Tony is impressed but he tells Peter to go home. -Bedroom scene occurs as a post-credits scene, it becomes less about Tony recruiting Peter to his side and more about figuring out what the deal with this Spider-Man Kid is, leaves the suitcase with the Stark Suit as he leaves, says they’ll be in touch. 

HOMECOMING - END OF AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 23RD 2016 / SOPHOMORE YEAR

-Peter turns sixteen in August 10th. -The movie happens largely the same -a Film by Peter Parker and the Limo Conversation naturally doesn’t happen considering the afromentioned changes to Civil War.  -Tony does not save Peter from drowning, Peter gets out of the lake on his own.      Reason for this change is that this scene makes Tony way controlling and uncaring towards Peter? Which, compounded by the following scenes, really paints Tony in an awful light. It also makes it more impactful that the next time, and thus the first time, Peter properly interacts with Tony since Civil War is in the direct aftermath of the Ferry Fiasco when Tony comes to collect the suit. They are then both valid in their arguments in that Peter has let the Stark Suit’s abilities get to his head and act way reckless than he should, ( Stark Suit thus serving the same narrative purpose as the Symbiote Suit ) but it also makes Peter valid in that Tony has been completely ignoring Peter ( at least on the surface / from Peter’s point of view ) until it was too late. -Rest of the movie unfolds as shown. -Toomes is Peter’s first proper Super Villain. 

OCTOBER 2016 - MAY 2017

-Toomes’ arrest causes his Alien Weapons empire to fracture and for alien tech to be more readily available to the highest bidder ( In the movie it seems like Toomes really wanted the sales to be more gradual and under the radar ) -Shocker breaks away from Toomes’ crew and ends up joining the Enforcers, working for Hammerhead, who works as the Right Hand Man for The Big Man. -Spidey’s encounters with the Enforcers leads Peter to learn about the existence of The Big Man. -Phineas Mason is still at large, Peter dubs him ‘ The Tinkerer behind Toomes ’ toys ’ because he does not directly know who he is but highly suspects his existence.  -A Mysterious Benefactor starts bankrolling experiments for Super Mercs, armed with the alien tech, with the, initial, goal of ‘distracting’ Spider-Man from the Finer details of The Big Man’s organization (if he’s too busy fighting Super Villains, he’d be too busy to stop Illegal Shipments ya kno). -Alex O’Hirn undergoes the procedure to become the Rhino, having the experimental alien armor fused to his skin, and only able to perspirate through his face. It is due to this fact Peter manages to take him down the first time, ‘ overheating ’ him to get him to pass out. -During this incident, Spidey gets Rhino to spill the identity of the Big Man, one L. Thompson Lincoln, aka Tombstone. -It is also during this time Spidey has his first run-in with Captain George Stacy. -He goes to visit Tombstone to tell him he knows about him, promptly gets his ass kicked and high-thwips it out of there.

THANOS INCIDENT - MAY 2017

Welcome to the Big Canon Rewrite Number Two, here, Peter does not go to Titan. First part of his appearance happens as shown, with Peter seeing the giant Q ship up in the sky and sneaking out of the bus to help Tony and co. fight the Aliens, but after losing Strange to the ship’s tractor beam, he stays on Earth and helps with the clean-up in the aftermath. Maybe even bumping into a few Defenders while doing so wink wink nudge. As a result, he does not get the Iron Spider-Man suit, sorry Marvel’s toy department. 

ENDGAME - DATE UNKNOWN

Okay here’s the deal, it literally does not matter how long it has been since they’ve been blipped. Literally anyone important to a plot has been Conveniently Snapped, only reason there is a five year jump is so they can age Cassie so she can become Stature in Ant Man 3, and have Tony have a family for the Drama of it. Literally that’s the only reason, there is a reason why Far From Home makes a joke out of it. So for the purposes of sanity, let’s just say they were snapped throughout the duration of the summer and they conveniently get brought back at the beginning of the school year.  -This means Peter is a part of the Final Fight but in his Stark Suit instead of the Iron Spidey suit, he also does not activate Instant Kill (why the FUCK would he, Russos!!!!!) I don’t care either way about the hug, so that’s up in the air, but he definitely does not cling onto Tony’s body lmfao nah. It is nevertheless very upsetting and near-traumatic for him to see someone die in front of him (again!)

JUNIOR YEAR

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2017

-Peter is now seventeen. -And he’s got PTSD like a motherfucker lmfao. -Getting turned into dust and coming back has everyone rattled, so the Criminal Underworld is working overtime. - Captain Stacy comes to Midtown to teach about Criminology, and also to keep an eye on his kid considering the circumstances. -Silvio ‘Silvermane’ Manfredi, head of the Maggia, is also due to be released on parole by the end of the year, so various Mob factions are trying to prepare themselves. -As a result, schematics to make more Rhino-like people hit the market, Spidey and O’Hirn actually end up teaming-up together to destroy the schematics, resulting in a three way fight between them, Hammerhead, and the Manfredi mob.  -Hammerhead’s recent repeated failures shakes Tombstone’s faith in him. -The Enforcers get fancy schmancy Combat Enhancement Suits, courtesy of The Tinkerer, and Spidey has to deal with them. -Hammerhead stops the Enforcers’ getaway attempt in secret, signaling a rift between him and Tombstone.  -Manfredi is released right before Christmas.

JANUARY 2018

-The Gang War(tm) begins in full force. -Spidey’s hands are full navigating the powder keg of a situation, with Tombstone and Manfredi vying for control, with Hammerhead planning something behind the scenes. 

FEBRUARY 14TH 2018 -Hammerhead arranges a meeting of the factions in Metropolitan Opera House, without Tombstone’s knowledge. -Once revealed, Tombstone does not take kindly to this disobedience. -Hammerhead reaches his breaking point and attacks Tombstone. -Silvermane decides to take both of them out to eliminate the competition fully.  -Silvermane, in a mechanical combat suit of his own (because comics bebey) attacks Tombstone and Hammerhead, resulting in a three way fight. -Spidey arrives and has to fight the three of them.  -After a long and exhausting battle, Spidey prevails, Silvermane is arrested once again, L. Thompson Lincoln is publicly revealed to be The Big Man of Crime, and Hammerhead is nowhere to be found. -Tombstone posts bail, but Captain Stacy tells Spidey that his crime empire is crippled and there is a power vacuum. One that a certain Wilson Fisk will take advantage of soon.

LATE FEBRUARY - JUNE 2018

-Spidey is basically doing clean-up duty in the aftermath of the Gang War(tm) -He is trying to find where Hammerhead is, but comes up empty. -All Spidey can find are the rumors that he went back to his old employment under the Maggia. -He takes down last of the known Manfredi fronts before preparing for his Europe trip (it’s the restaurant fight from the FFH trailers)

FAR FROM HOME - JUNE 2018 -Happens largely the way it is depicted in the movie -He does not have the Iron Spider Suit still, in case you forgot. -Smaller differences being Peter being pegged the ‘New Iron Man’ less because of his ‘Mentorship’ under Tony and more because people are just fucking desperate for a new Big Hero, which is where Mysterio comes in.  -He sees Ben’s grave instead of Tony’s during the Mysterio Fun Tour of Trauma, Zombie Iron Man still comes out of it tho because Symbolism ( not because Tony is a new Uncle Ben figure, but because it represents Peter not always being able to save everyone, even though Tony’s condition was out of his hands.) -BIGGEST DIVERGENCE: Unless plotted, I generally DO NOT recognize Peter’s identity being outed. There are two options / variations I could go with                     -Peter IS claimed to be Spider-Man, but after a Movie’s worth of adventures, he enlists the help of either a skrull or Chameleon (Dmitri the Bus Driver in FFH) to have Spidey appear in the same room as Peter and re-establishes his secret identity.                     -Mysterio just brands Spider-Man as a menace and that’s that.  In any case, this leads to..

-This in-between point is where the main verse is currently set.

SENIOR YEAR

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2018

-Peter turns eighteen. -Branded as a menace, Spider-Man is now disliked and hunted by most authorities. -Captain Stacy, however, does not believe Mysterio and is one of Spidey’s few friends still left in the police force.  -He also makes numerous remarks towards Peter and Spider-Man that suggests he figured out his secret identity on his own.  -Anastasia Kravinoff arrives in New York with the intention of Hunting Spider-Man.  -At the same time, Mac Gargan is hired by The Mysterious Benefactor to undergo the Super Merc procedure to hunt Spider-Man.  -Kraven has her first encounter with Spidey, in which she manages to tear off a piece of his suit that she later uses to track his scent.  -Mr Harrington’s class trip to Bronx Zoo is promptly ruined when Kraven shows up tracking Spidey’s trail.  -The publicized skirmish in the Zoo attracts the attention of Gargan, now in a mechanical suit with a long, poison-tipped tail, stylized after Gargan’s favorite arthropod, which easily earns him the nickname ‘Scorpion’. -Spidey manages to escape, but barely.  -It all comes to a head in New York Botanical Garden is a totally epic final showdown. -Maybe Rhino gets involved too and it’s a full on Survival of the Fittest in the jungle. -Peter gets stung by the poison tail but manages to shake it off. -He gets speared in the thigh at least once during the battle. -Scorpion and Rhino get imprisoned in the Vault, Kravinoff gets arrested as well but she posts bail and gets out scot free because she’s got Powerful Connections(tm) 

JANUARY - MAY 2019

-Doctor Connors achieves a breakthrough on his Cross-Species formula -He tests it on himself, and initially achieves great results by regrowing his arm. -Over the following weeks, however, more and more side effects start to show by patches of green scales on his skin, increased aggression and hostility and occasional lapses in intelligence. -Around March, he has his first Lizard transformation. -Peter suspects it’s Connors, but he does not figure it out until April.  -With each transformation, Connors stays as Lizard longer and longer. -I am basically ripping off the plot of the first TASM movie. -Peter and Gwen manage to synthesize an antidote.  -Connors has a similar goal as to his movie counterpart, but he decides to Unleash the Lizard virus on top of Empire State Building. Because a) King Kong reference with Lizard climbing the antenna, and b) Connor going from Empire State University to Empire State Building, it’s a fun progression.  -Spidey and Lizard fight on top of Empire State, with George Stacy coming to Spidey’s aid. -Spidey manages to administer the antidote to the Lizard, reverting him back to Connors who retains no memories of his actions as the Lizard. -Stacy gets injured by Lizard and before succumbing to his injuries, tells Peter to keep Gwen safe and ‘out of it’.  -Lizard’s true identity remains unknown to the public, but Connors decides to relocate his family to Florida to get away from the noise of the city. Before leaving, he tells Peter to seek out his old colleague Otto Octavius if he wants to further his studies. 

END OF MAY 2019

-Peter Parker graduates Midtown School of Science and Technology.  -He applies and is accepted by Empire State University. Peter does not consider any other college as he wants to stay in New York for obvious reasons.

FRESHMAN UNDERGRAD

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2019

-Peter is nineteen. -He starts his studies in ESU -He is still not the Most Popular -Peter reconnects with Harry Osborn (they are Old Childhood friends and Harry used to be in Midtown for the first year but then he went to Europe, as you do.) -Spidey is still branded as a menace and hunted, though not as ferociously as before as the public’s opinion starts to turn positive ever so slowly. -The Mysterious Benefactor has Alistair Smythe build robotic spiders to hunt and slay the Spider. Like Spider Slayers. Catchy name huh.  -Peter has various encounters with Slayers while trying to figure out who is behind them -He eventually discovers it’s Alistair Smythe and tracks him to Oscorp. -Smythe unleashes the Ultimate Spider-Slayer, The Black Widow to try and stop Spidey once and for all. -Fight spills to the power plant, an Oscorp employee who is currently working on the plant, Max Dillon, gets caught in the crossfire and gets electrocuted. -Spidey manages to take down Smythe, Dillon is hospitalized. -Norman Osborn publicly denounces and distances himself from Smythe ( he’s The Mysterious Benefactor if you haven’t caught on yet ) -Norman profits both from making Super Mercs and Spider-Hunters for various factions behind the scenes, and for building housing units to hold said Super Mercs and Spider-Hunters, Vault is his creation. -He is also a terrible dad, but he does genuinely care for Harry, go figure. -Harry starts taking Gloublin Green, an experimental enhancer, to boost his academic and athletic life, as his body is regularly failing due to a hereditary disease (NOT the Goblin disease, the one Harry’s mom had in the PS4 game)  -Max spends Christmas in the hospital and gradually transforms into Electro. -Black Cat drops in to give her Christmas Greetings by saying the mob is salvaging the parts from Spider-Slayer fights to re-arm themselves, also notifies him to the existence of a new Big Man consolidating power. -Peter thinks it’s Hammerhead, the only loose end from the previous Gang War, and starts his investigation into him. -Peter discovers Hammerhead leads the Maggia now, having quickly climbed through the ranks after the fallout of the last Gang War.

JANUARY - MAY 2020

-Harry joins the ESU football team, his performance enhanced by The Green. -Electro is Born and he’s Angry -He blames Smythe for his condition and tries to attack Oscorp, not knowing that Smythe is imprisoned. -Spidey arrives and fights him, fight eventually spilling to Times Square -Is it obvious I’ve started ripping off TASM 2 yet or.... -Electro is arrested and sent to Ravencroft for rehabilitation. -The news of a new Big Man starts making the rounds. -Harry’s Green Juicing gets bad, he starts blacking out.

SOPHOMORE UNDERGRAD

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2020

-Peter is twenty. -He starts interning for Otto Octavius after Doctor Connors’ suggestion. -Flint Marko returns after a long absence in the streets, Spidey learns that Marko left the life of crime when he fell in love and got married, but returned back into it once he learned his baby was born with a disease and he needed the money for surgery. -Bet you didn’t expect me to rip off Raimi in this. -Marko is offered money to undergo a Super Merc experiment of his own, inspired by the Elementals Mysterio faked back a few years ago. Experiment uses bio-electricity generated by Electro, but it goes ‘wrong’ and Marko is turned to dust. -Sike he can control it, he’s Sandman now.  -Spidey and Sandman fight, once Peter learns of his motives, he tries to get him to stop. -Marko is told to stop the movement of an oil tanker so the new Big Man can siphon it dry. -Spidey and Marko fight on the tanker, tanker explodes, Marko expresses remorse for he only wanted the money and not to hurt anyone, so he helps usher the ship crew to safety and contains the explosion, turning into glass due to the heat.  -Sandman is presumed deceased, but he survived and just blew away gently in the wind. -Maybe he’s out there somewhere who knows. 

JANUARY - MAY 2021 -Norman discovers Harry’s Green Usage, he gets Harry to stop. -Stupid boy drinking the Green instead of inhaling it like his dad did I mean what -Harry discovers the Green exacerbated the progression of his illness. -Spidey meets Yuri Watanabe, who is the lead detective and later Captain who is after the Big Man and the Mob. -Peter discovers the identity of the actual new Big Man, it’s Wilson Fisk, quickly filling the power vacuum after Tombstone’s defeat. -Spidey and Fisk fight, with Fisk seriously injuring Spidey and him having to swing away.

JUNIOR UNDERGRAD

September - December 2021

-Peter is twenty one. -As Harry’s illness progresses more and more, he and Peter’s friendship is strained, Peter is unaware of the illness.   -Norman starts winding down Super Merc experiments as he turns his focus into curing Harry.  -He also readies for a mayoral run because he’s nothing if not a multitasker. -Harry wonders if Spider-Man’s abilities can cure him, wants a bit of his blood, Spidey is like ‘ew no wtf’ -Great Harry hates Spidey now. -Desperate, Harry springs Electro out of Ravencroft to sic him on Spidey and make him bleed. -Electro is like ‘Sure’ but once freed, he immediately goes to the Vault to try and kill Smythe. -You just can’t trust bio-electrical beings nowadays. -Spidey fights Electro in the Vault. -Electro cuts the power to the Vault and releases a bunch of inmates, but Spidey stops him before he can cut the power that holds the more super powered inmates.  -Electro is imprisoned in the Vault. 

MARCH - MAY 2020 -Yeah Peter had a quiet winter for once can you believe it. -Norman is elected mayor of New York, using his role in the building of the Vault to boost his approval ratings, motherfucker was playing the Long Game. -Norman revives his old genetic experiments to find a cure for Harry. -Devil’s Breath experiment is resurrected. -Harry’s condition worsens, Norman decides to send him to ‘Europe’ to heal.  -In truth, Harry is in Oscorp in ‘stasis’. -Spidey’s attention turns yet again to the rising gang activity, he channels his focus into taking down Fisk. 

SENIOR UNDERGRAD

SEPTEMBER 2020 - MAY 2021

-Pete turns twenty two. -He spends most of the year working on his thesis like a good nerd. -Spidey is occasionally tipped toward Fisk fronts by a Mysterious Goblinafactor -Norman wanted to bust into the Crime Scene being the Goblin and taking over the Big Man’s turfs but Fisk beat him to it so he has to be content with just being the Mayor for the time being -Goblins am I right. -He’s also the one who supplied Silvermane with his own armor. -Also the one who maaaay have broadened the rift between Hammerhead and Tombstone by sabotaging Hammerhead’s plans behind the scenes. -He is the Big Man behind the Big Men if you will. -Anyway back to Peter -Turns in his thesis, graduates ESU. Strength of his thesis is what convinces Otto to have Peter also come into work with him in the Brand New Octavius Industries. -Norman is content to just play the Mayor and let Fisk be as Spidey and Yuri gather more and more evidence. 

POST-GRAD / INSOMNIAC’S SPIDEY STUFF  -Events of the game happen broadly the same -Fisk is taken down, Mister Negative enters the scene, Devil’s Breath Incident happens and Spidey gets his ass thoroughly kicked by Sable, etc. etc. -Otto turns into Ock.  -Ock facilitates the Vault Breakdown (MCU got a Raft up and running and it ain’t in NYC sooo, Vault it is) and forms the Sinister Six. -However instead of Vulture being part of the Sinister Six, it’s Kraven. She’s back for a proper rematch.  -Unless plotted, May does not die from exposure to the virus, she just gets really messed up and hospitalized, but she gets cured later. -Events of the DLC happen largely as shown as well, Hammerhead techs himself up, Yuri goes Wraith, Sable kicks Spidey’s ass again but also grows a Heart. Aw.  -Osborn resigns in disgrace, but as luck would have it, Fisk and Li’s arrest leaves a nice Goblin-shaped hole in the criminal underworld for Gosborn to fill. -Norman discovers Harry’s ‘cure’ is sorta sentient.

WILL GORMAN GOSBORN FINALLY FACE OFF WITH SPIDER MAN? WILL SPIDEY LEARN THE REAL MASTERMIND BEHIND EVERYTHING? WILL HARRY GET GOOPED? WILL PETER FINALLY DISCOVER WHY KIDS LOVE THE TASTE OF CAP’N CRUNCH?

ALL THAT AND MORE, NEXT TIME ON, THE SPECTACULAR ADVENTURES OF THE AMAZING SPIDER MAN! 

[fqrtescue]

                                  BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Alice Louise Fortescue PRONUNCIATION:  Alice  Louise Fortescue MEANING: Alice ( Noble ), Louise ( Famous Warrior, Renowned Fighter ), Fortescue ( Shield, Valiant, Strong Warrior ) REASONING: I mean, isn’t it obvious? NICKNAME(S): Al. Ally Cat. Ally. Fortescue. BIRTH DATE: July 28, 1959 AGE: 17 ZODIAC: Leo Sun, Taurus Moon, Scorpio Rising

Slytherin Leos can be either very good, or very bad. At their best, they exemplify all that“nobility” is made of: confidence, openness, charm, initiative, generosity of spirit, wisdom, judgment, and poise. At their worst, they become elitist, bullying bigots. How they end up depends on the company they keep, and how they are encouraged to act early in life. Either way, they never lack attention - it’s hard to ignore a Slytherin born under this sign. These Slytherins usually end up in positions of responsibility and leadership, because of their charisma and natural ability. Their creativity and drive also makes them very resourceful.

I thought this fit perfectly for Alice because not only does her name Alice mean noble, but this is just EXTREMELY Alice. She shines so brightly, like sunshine, really. I thought this also fits Alice because had Alice grown up around bigots, grown up around a father who trained her to be a weapon &not to help human kind, a mother who didn’t instill altruistic beliefs into her – she would’ve easily fallen into being on the bad side of being a Leo. Alice is open-minded and an open person, something she’s been since she was younger, something she will never grow out of. She believes the impossible as much as the possible, she believes in it and because she’s not rigid or thinks she knows EVERYTHING, she’s often got an edge during dueling when it comes to figuring out her opponents strategies. It adds to her being resourceful, while Alice isn’t always the most creative in a traditional sense, her being a fantastic dueler and able to navigate herself in her house is due the fact that not only is she cunning, but is so resourceful & able to see other people’s side of things while having the ability to manipulate people’s perception of her to work in her favor. She knows how she’s seen, she uses it to her advantage, often taking mental ( and physical ) notes of her classmates to be used in the future.

Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac and rules the back, the spine, and the heart. Positive traits include creativity, charisma, generosity, warmth, enthusiasm, a natural talent for leadership, and a great deal of inner power; negative traits are haughtiness, snobbery, an expectation that one is the centre of attention and should be waited on by everyone else,profligacy, lack of realism, dominance that can lead to bullying, and a refusal to change one’s mind even in the face of solid facts.

Alice sees the world so openly and vast, she thinks, why not? Facts are only facts because they haven’t yet been proven otherwise, and Alice believes it only takes a little bit of doubt to undermine a fact – something easy to do. I bolded ‘profligacy’ because Alice has grown up never having to worry about money, and is the type to spend it on people she loves, buy them thing after thing, anything they need. Alice always has the latest record and few extra to give away to friends, she’s there to cover your bus fair or even a train ticket if needed. She’s mothering and maternal, especially as she gets older, she wants to take care of anyone who needs to be taken care of and give back in any way she can – which is where the dominance can come in. Sometimes overbearing, when Alice believes something is best for someone, it’s hard for her to change her mind about it – this oftentimes comes off as extremely controlling even though she means well. She’s the type of person to check up on you if you even mention that you’re having a slightly off week, and ask if there’s anything she can do to make it better. This is definitely due to her generous and hospitable nature, but it is excessive and always has been – not something she would ever change as long as she lived.

GENDER: Non-Binary PRONOUNS: She/Her and They/Them ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Panromantic SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual/Demisexual

Alice’s natural hair color is a really dusty blonde, even dirty blonde. She really loves to experiment with it though, so she’ll cut it and dye it all sorts of colors - from neon green to blonde to rainbow. From a pixie cut down below her waist. Anything and everything. Sometimes, in an attempt to just get out of her own head and escape for a bit, cutting & coloring her hair is fun and gives her some of a respite. She knows it’s just hair and it’ll easily grow back with a hair potion and just does it as a way to cope with not feeling completely comfortable in her appearance. She also does ridiculous makeup, sometimes adorning very shimmery glitter all across her eyelids and wearing funky socks that don’t always match her school robes. Sometimes she prefers to wear pants instead of a skirt, and puts pins of all sorts up and down her tie. Alice also owns an extensive sunglasses collection that she tries to wear on weekends or brings at least one fun pair with her Hogsmeade weekends. Until the last year when she finally expressed her self consciousness to her uncle about how she looked, her Uncle Florean helped educate her on the Queer community etc. Alice definitely IDs as queer and she’s openly not straight ( has been for forever ), but her gender is something she keeps more close to her heart & is really trying to figure out even with the information her uncle has given her. If I had to put a label on her sexuality it would be panromantic pansexual/demisexual. She also would probably fall under and be extremely interested in Polyamory, completely loving the free love movement currently going on.

NATIONALITY: Irish ETHNICITY: French/Irish/English

                                              BACKGROUND

BIRTH PLACE: Galway, Ireland HOMETOWN: Galway, Ireland SOCIAL CLASS: Upper Class EDUCATION LEVEL: Student / High School FATHER: Gervais Fortescue, 60, Deputy Head Auror in the Auror Department of the Brtitish DMLE

Her idol. Her rock. Her mentor. Her monument. Gervais Fortescue is everything to Alice, and then some. It is thanks to him that the Fortescue’s are now labled blood traitors having been relatively neutral seeming in the past. Gervais was one of the most vocal wizards in favor of intervening in WWII, even moving to England to find a way to help the war effort as France was not a good place to be – especially after surrendering to Nazi Germany. He packed up along with Florean and made it a mission to make a difference in Wizarding Britain, succeeding as he became an extremely political and physical asset to the Ministry as years went by. Gervais is the sole reason the Ministry of Magic has been able to anticipate as many missions as they have and the reason the Order currently has half of the information that they do. His missions have now spanned all accross the world, making important & vital connections with people all over the globe. His side projects have included much research into runes, lycanthrophy, and different styles of magic. He’s not just a mentor to Alice, but a mentor to many within the Auror department, having been a mentor & trainer to many a Auror who’ve come through the department, often extending his home as a safe place for them to be in case they need somewhere to go. The only reason he’s not Head Auror is because he knows he’d lose the freedom of traveling & researching as much as he does today. Gervais has unfortunately been on many a Death Eater & Co. radars, having infiltrated their plans, throwing quite a few Dark Wizards in Azkaban over the years.

MOTHER: Lucille Fortescue neé Rowle, 57, Former Herbologist & Current ‘Stay At Home’ Mother

Once a woman who could electrify a room, Lucille was an Irish woman with more life than her Pureblood family could handle. They were far too traditional, treacherous, straight laced, close minded for her tastes and always had been. When Lucille could, she moved away from her family, cutting ties and moving in with her best girlfriends, taking a job in Ireland as a Herbologist. For a few years, she was happy that way, having grown an extensive garden, finding home in Galway, finding family, and finding a random man hiding in her garden who’d later introduce himself as Gervais Fortescue. Over drinks she learned he was an Auror currently on mission, who later explained he’d been hiding from someone chasing him. Love at first sight might’ve been impractical, but, Lucille felt an instant connection to Gervais. Two years later, they were married, living their independent lifestyles while finding a way to share their life together. Alice remembers her mother as the woman who sang to her, who read stories to her, who soothed her fears, who inspired her love for Herbology and so much more. After the death of her unborn son, Tiernan, she became a ghost of the woman she once was. In Lucille’s mind, she was every horrible thing her parents had thought of her, she was a failure of a mother, she was a failure to her whole family. The woman who used to attend every Ministry party on the arm of her husband now retreats, barely coming out to greet company, barely talking to her loved ones at all. While Gervais, Alice, & Florean know that she needs professional help, it didn’t seem like she’s able to accept it. Luckily, she was no danger to herself and has lived out her days borderline catatonic & completely detached.

SIBLING(S): Tiernan Fortescue, Deceased. EXTENDED FAMILY: Emmeline Vance ( cousin, verse dependent ), Florean Fortescue ( uncle )\

FLOREAN FORTESCUE:  | 58 | OWNER & CREATOR OF FLOREAN FORTESCUE’S ICE CREAM PARLOUR & LEATHER JACKET GAY/BI

Coming from a long line of Aurors, protectors, Hit Wixes, even noblemen who went up in the ranks because of their hardwork & success at protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves ( eventually being labeled blood traitors in French Wizarding Society for it ), Florean was much more of a creative mind. He as always working with hands, whether it was working on muggle & wizard cars & motor cycles or cooking, he always was able to create with them. He had the ambition to do something great, but didn’t like the idea of fighting. Of making the world more chaotic & less focused on the things that made your soul thrive. His love of food started at young age, and his love of making weird combinations of food started shortly after. Discovering that ice cream would be one of the perfect ways to express this mixed love of food that didn’t quite make sense was a revelation and with his trust fund, he created Fortescue’s in England. There he figured not only would it be a new start for the Fortescue name but something completely his own. Needless to say, it flourished and he’s been making flavors like Salted Caramel w/ Garlic to Strawberry Bubblegum (his niece’s favorite ), ever since. Florean also plays an important part for the Order of the Phoenix, using the apartment above Fortescue’s as an Order Member retreat and safe area. He’s also an informant & the eyes and ears keeping notes of the people of Diagon Alley.

BIRTH ORDER: Oldest! PET(S): BABY ( 7 ) & KIWI ( 9 and a half ) & BONAPARTE ( 2 ) & LILA FORTESCUE ( 15 ):Baby an Australian Shepherd, Kiwi a yellow lab, Lila a black cat that mainly keeps her mother company as her familiar. While Baby is much more Florean’s dog, it doesn’t stop Alice from kidnapping him from time to time, especially over the summer. Kiwi is Alice’s first true love, the dog she got after her brother’s death, who brings her immense support and comfort. When at home, Alice sleeps with the dog, eats with the dog, walks around her neigborhood and visits friends via floo with her dog, you name it. The pair are close, Alice still able to carry the dog even though she’s nearing tean years. When Kiwi had puppies, Alice kept one of them – Bonaparte – who separated himself from the rest with his boundless energy, constant attempt at barking ( that was often just a whine ), and non stop attention seeking nature. Alice fell in love with him right away, naming him after Napoleon as a joke because of his demanding but small nature. The runt of the litter, Alice loves him fiercely, whenever Alice is home he follows her practically everywhere – even the bath. Lila’s been around for what seems to have been Alice’s whole life, always more fond of spending time keeping Lucille company than bothering with Alice.

                                    SKILLS & ABILITIES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 7.5/10 only because as much as she tries to make up for it with all the training she does, while she can be lethal, she still is short and still training and always learning how to make up for that against people much bigger than that. OFFENSE: 9/10 DEFENSE: 8.5/10 SPEED: 9/10 INTELLIGENCE: 8.5/10 ACCURACY: 10/10 AGILITY: 8/10 STAMINA: 9.5/10 TEAMWORK: Fantastic at teamwork and often more of a leader than a follower. However, she will respect who is the leader if she feels they are competent enough, acting as a perfect right hand. TALENTS: Dueling. Fighting, physically. Compassionate & empathetic and able to manipulate people’s emotions to help them and if needed, help herself. SHORTCOMINGS: Emotionally repressive and compartmentalizes to an insane degree. Too forgiving. Unable to stop, take breaks, and can give into her obsessive tendencies. LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: English, French, conversational German, DRIVE?: Yes! JUMP-STAR A CAR?: Yes, haha, thanks Uncle Florean! CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: Yes. RIDE A BICYCLE?: Yes. SWIM?: Yes. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: Yes, the piano! PLAY CHESS?: Sometimes. Definitely not her first priority or something she’ll go to automatically. She’s not bad at it but she’s definitely not the best out there. BRAID HAIR?: Yes! Especially loves braiding flowers into hair. TIE A TIE?: Yes! Alice loves her ties! PICK A LOCK?: Yes!

             PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Marilyn Lima EYE COLOR: Blue HAIR COLOR: Currently, a dark brown. Though as mentioned before, Alice loves LOVES to change up her hair, changes up her hair often. Her favorite hair color is between bubblegum pink and her natural dirty blonde. She really really loves pink though. HAIR TYPE/STYLE: Naturally, Alice was blessed with easy to manage, loose waves and fairly soft. Alice makes sure to condition and manage it really well between all her hair coloring charms, doing a few hair masks every week. The only issue she has with her hair is it’s sometimes can get oily, though she makes sure to wash it enough as to where that doesn’t happen often. Alice’s hair styles vary from Leia like space buns to loose and free. Half up, half down is probably her usual most practical style she likes to wear, adding her favorite sunflower clip at the base of the top bun. GLASSES/CONTACTS?: Alice needs glasses but only slightly – she’s slightly farsighted. She only wears them when she’s got intense studying sessions where she has to read a lot, she uses them. DOMINANT HAND: Left! But she writes with her right. Her duelling hand is her left, though. She’ll duel and write a letter at the same time! HEIGHT: Alice is a shortie. A short hoe. 5′2″ on a good day! WEIGHT: 54 kgs/120 pounds BUILD: While Alice definitely has the appearance of looking extremely thing, she’s ALL lean muscle. Most of her body weight is muscle and bones, but she is healthy enough to make sure maintains a healthy amount of fat. EXERCISE HABITS: Every morning Alice goes for a run, at least 5 miles during the school year. During the summer her training is much more intense and diversified. Alice has been learning Krav Maga as of late and takes boxing lessons from some of her father’s Auror trainee’s. She’s exceptionally trained in Savate, has been since she was a child. Alice does an intense round of stretching at night before bed for 30 minutes, rolling out her muscles, the works. After her daily run, Alice practices her Dueling, using an empty classroom she’s scouted out for Dueling Club, charming dummy after dummy to approach etc. At home, Alice trains for at least 3 hours a day ( but will take one week off a month to train less and to explore more, so, only an hour a day ), reading up on any new developments in the martial arts and dueling worlds. SKIN TONE: Bitch is white! Basically, a few shades darker than pale. TATTOOS: Carefully placed floral tattoos. As her Uncle Florean went with her this past summer ( end of June ) to get her first tattoo, something her father would blow a gasket at. While she’s planned for a good few more once she’s left home, this was her first tattoo.   PIERCINGS: Ears & Bellybutton. When I say ears I mean Helix, Forward Helix, Industrial,  Lobe Piercings, Rim/Auricle. MARKS/SCARS: Sweet lord, well, Alice has freckles very lightly spattering across her cheeks and some on her shoulders. And when I mean light, I mean LIGHT. As for scars, USUAL EXPRESSION: Usually a smile or a very open warm expression. Unless she’s Dueling or working on something, then she’s ridiculously focused and almost a resting bitch face. CLOTHING STYLE: Truly this gyal is clothing goals. When she wears jeans, they have to have a floral pattern stitched on. She loves loves loose fitting tops that are cinched at he waist. Long maxi dresses. But also? Alice loves wearing overalls when she does anything Herbology related, especially when she tends her families garden at home that her mum hasn’t kept up. When Alice means business or is just feeling like she needs to go slay, she’s very inclined to wear suits, much like Harry Styles style of suits though? Dark Florals, withplatform leather boots of all different colors. Or styles.  Jumpsuits of all colors and patterns as well. Another favorite combo is short skirts with leather jackets. When going to concerts, Alice wears her favorite floral charmed Doc martens. With EVERY outfit, Alice wears a pair of sunglasses. She has an extensive sunglasses collection she cherishes. On New Years, she goes even more into sparkles & such than she usually does. Christmas, she’ll wear something that emulates the star on top of the tree or some really ugly cheesy Christmas sweater that Florean likes to knit. On Easter, she’ll wear something long, floral and flowy.  When working out, the recent invention of the sports bra has saved her ass. Unless she’s practicing Krav Maga or Savate where uniforms are involved, for running she wears a Sports Bra with a cut out tight fitting shirt or a tank top with extremely short shorts. Some other styles include: [ x ] [ x ] [ x ] [ x x ] [ x ] [ x ]  With her school outfits, Alice gets away with as much improv as she can, wearing funky socks, adding pins on ties and jewelry galore. Alice’s favorite sort of lingerie and underclothes are lacy and delicate, otherwise she’d prefer not to wear a bra or anything too heavy duty – luckily she doesn’t have to. Sometimes Alice will bind when she’s feeling somewhat dysphoric, and those are the days she’s definitely more masc in appearance. Otherwise, Alice really does enjoy being topless & naked, unfortunately, that’s not usually socially acceptable. JEWELRY: Alice ADORES jewelry. She’s always wearing a piece of jewelry at all times. Usually stacked rings, stacked necklaces. Dangling pendants. Hanging pendants with crystals on the bottom. A ring for almost every finger. A family heirloom with the Fortescue family crest is perhaps her most prized possession. It’s been past down from son to son, until Alice, who was not a son but just as worth. Alice’s heirloom is a sword pendant. Though not in that picture, there are flowers near the base of the sword and on the blade there’s a phrase that means ‘With A Warrior’s Heart’. ALLERGIES: Bigots. Walnuts. Penicillan.

[subaru-vibecheck]

so i wrote a lil something for halloween

2,000 words, kinda scary

One by One

“C’mon guys, we’re almost there!”, Jack called back to the rest of the group.

“Why couldn’t we have just driven down here?” Asher complained from nearly ten feet behind the others. 

“I told you, we’re not supposed to be here, so we can’t have any tire tracks,” he replied, “My uncle’s cabin has been empty since he died, and I’m not up to get arrested tonight. Matt has enough alcohol on him to get a decade in the slammer. If you don’t want to party, you can go back to town. It’ll be fun, and look!” They crested a hill and at the bottom was a narrow gravel driveway, barely visible between the dense forestry. 

The trip down the driveway took another fifteen minutes, accompanied by the continuous grumbling of the boys. They reached the large but clearly untouched cabin, and Jack wedged the door open. He tested the light switch, but nothing. 

“Hey Nathan, can you go to the basement and get the electricity turned on? I have lightbulbs in my backpack if we need. Nathan, hey Nathan!” 

He was engrossed in his phone, “Aww man, there’s not even any service, I can’t see the score!”. He was met with a smack over the head. 

The culprit was Griffin, the leader of the group, “Get your head out of that stupid sport and go downstairs. It’s dark and I want to drink”.

He grudgingly stomped downstairs, and after some fumbling and a few expletives, the lights came on. 

“Perfect,” Jack said, setting his stuff down on the coffee table, setting a dust cloud billowing. He pulled the cover off of the couch and plopped down, “Poker time.”

The cards were dealt, chips bet, and drinks poured. As they finished their second round, Asher dominating as always, they heard the distant sound of thunder.

Matt looked around, his eyes almost focusing but not quite, “rain rain go away” he slurred, and broke into a fit of giggles.” This happened nearly every hangout.

Nathan seemed confused, “I thought there was no rain in the radar, how will we get back to the car?.”

“There wasn’t any rain, but that’s New Hampshire for you. Guess we’ll just have to stay the night,” as Jack said night, the rain hit, almost drowning out all of their voices. “Full tournament then?.”

The boys nodded their agreement, and got to playing. Not three rounds later, Matt was cut off after he attempted to flip the table. He spent the next round sullenly sitting in the corner armchair. 

At nearly one a.m., Asher was still winning, with Griffin closest behind, but still down by $3,000. The rain had developed into a full out downpour, with winds strong enough to creak the house and thunder jolting enough to rattle the windows. The boys played on, paying no mind to the happenings of the outside. The clock struck precisely 1:12 am, and the lights began to flicker, the power lines finally giving in to the storm. 

The lights went out. 

“Well boys, I guess that’s it for the night. You all were pathetic,” Asher said smugly, “Does anybody have a flashlight though, I can’t get to my phone.”

“My phone isn’t on me either,” Griffin responded from across the table. The rest of the boys murmured in agreement. 

“Well this sucks,” Jack said. 

The lights came back on.

Matt, who had been quiet for the last hour, shrieked and covered his eyes. The rest of the boys blinked their eyes slowly open, readjusting to the light. The rest of the boys. Except one. 

“Yo where’d Nathan go?” Jack surveyed the room, “Come out of wherever you’re hiding, we’re not five man.”

“Like he would listen to you.” Griffin snorted and stood up, stretching, “Hey Nathan if you don’t get your ass back here for Asher to finish crushing you, I’m taking all of your bet money.” Still nothing. “Maybe he went outside?”

“Maybe, but with that storm so bad he’s be an idiot, he’s not getting service out here anytime soon, and he doesn’t know his way around the cabin, even I don’t.” Jack pondered this for a few minutes, and then seemed to have a sudden realization, “Hey, where’d my phone go? I had it before the power died.”

“Maybe it’s not Nathan,” Matt suggested, sounding almost like he was under water. The others laughed, mocking him. 

“I think you had two too many this time Matt,” said Asher, snorting. 

Griffin stood up, turning to speak to them. He took several speech classes last semester, and was well versed in public speaking, after all, he planned to take after his father and become a senator. “Maybe he has a point. Scary woods, power goes out, we’d need our phones to call for help, maybe whoever took Nathan also took out phones.”

They reluctantly agreed. “What time was it when we lost power?” Jack asked. 

“No idea.” Griffin replied, “Let’s get back to the game, and just be on alert.”

At nearly two a.m., Asher was still winning, with Griffin closest behind, but now down by $5,000. The rain continued its full out downpour, with winds strong enough to creak the house and thunder jolting enough to rattle the windows. The boys played on, paying no mind to the happenings of the outside, but a bit more alert to the happenings of the inside. The clock struck precisely 2:12 am, and the lights began to flicker.

The lights went out.

This time the boys instantly burst into talking, drowning each other out in their panic. 

“Quiet!” Griffin yelled, “Everybody sit down, and we’ll take roll. I’m here, Matt?”

A pause. The tension in the room skyrocketed. “Here,” Matt mumbled. A sigh of relief escaped from every boy.

“Asher?”

“Here.”

“Jack.”

Silence. 

“Jack?” This time with a twinge of panic. 

Pause. Pause. Pause.

“He-”

“Jack!”

The lights came back on.

The boys shielded their eyes and slowly let them adjust to the light. They looked around. Jack was gone.

“What time is it?” Griffin asked, voice shaking.

“I don’t know,” Asher replied. “My watch is gone.”

“Hey Matt, why don’t you come sit with us, okay buddy?” Griffin spoke in a soft, coaxing tone. Matt stumbled around the table, and laid on the couch, Griffin moving to the floor. He motioned to Asher to move across the table from him. “Let’s sit like this so we can continue playing, as we have a score to settle and nothing else to do while we wait. As soon as the sun rises we are getting the hell out of here and getting help. Until then, we wait. The next time the lights go out, we hold hands, agreed?”

The boys agreed, and they got back to playing, Matt boredly watching from behind and laughing at Griffin when he got a bad hand, which certainly didn’t help his chances. 

At nearly three a.m., Asher was still winning, with Griffin close behind. Despite Matt’s efforts, Griffin crawled up to a $1,500 loss. The rain continued its full out downpour, with winds strong enough to creak the house and thunder jolting enough to rattle the windows. The remaining boys played on, paying no mind to the happenings of the outside, but even more alert to the happenings of the inside. The clock struck precisely 3:12 a.m., and the lights began to flicker.

The lights went out.

They grabbed each other, holding their wrists in a death grip. Asher was crying. 

“Roll call.” Griffin called out with an unmasked voice of terror.

“Matt?.”

“Here.” He seemed sobered by fear, his voice controlled for the first time since midnight. 

“Asher?”

“Here.”

“Okay, we should keep talking right?” Neither boy responded, their fear silencing them. They sat quietly gripping each other for what seemed like hours, listening to the rain slam onto the roof, and waiting.

Griffin was gripping both Asher and Matt, trying to control his breathing and stay quiet and aware of his surroundings. A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and Griffin locked eyes with Asher. He was still crying. Griffin fell into guilt. These were his charges, he was to keep them contained and in line until graduation, this trip being a celebration of making it to spring. Instead, he was losing them one by one to forces he couldn’t place. 

Asher went silent. Griffin squeezed his wrist tighter except...his hand was empty. 

“Asher!” Griffin roared, vaulting himself across the table, forgetting all about Matt. He reached out as best as he could in the darkness, calling and calling for Asher. Nothing.

The lights came back on. 

Griffin and Matt stared at each other from across the table. After a moment, Griffin walked around the table and sat heaving down next to Matt.

“I’m so sorry Matt.” Griffin’s voice broke. “I think I’m destined to be the last one, my punishment for allowing this to happen.”

Matt’s eyes, which had been going in and out of focus for the entire night, were clear and knowledgeable now. “It’s okay Griffin. You tried your best, and we really were improving.”

“Well, I guess there’s not much of a game anymore.” Griffin looked out over the table cards and chips strewn about on the floor. “Let’s use what time we have to just hang out. I hear your english narrative is going well.”

Matt picked up a half full beer bottle. “I think I need this, is that okay?”

“Go ahead buddy.”

At nearly four a.m., Griffin and Matt were sat on the couch, talking and drinking. The rain continued its full out downpour, with winds strong enough to creak the house and thunder jolting enough to rattle the windows. The remaining boys chatted nervously, paying no mind to the happenings of the outside, but even more alert to the happenings of the inside. The clock struck precisely 4:12 am, and the lights began to flicker.

The lights went out.

“I suppose this is it, isn’t it. I’ll see you on the other side Matt.” Griffin clapped him on the shoulder. “You did good man, you did good.”

He sat, waiting for Matt to leave him, waiting to be alone in his failures. At least Matt was now blackout drunk, he would go without fear.

They sat quietly, each hoping the other would be taken. 

The lights came on. 

Matt sat alone in the room. 

I look blearily around the room, squinting in the light. Why am I left? Am I the chosen one? I laugh, turning into a fit of giggles. Me, the chosen one. Hilarious. Or maybe they took everybody else useful and left me here. Whatever. 

I stand up, nearly falling down. I am too drunk for this shit. I hold onto the back of the couch, using it to guide me to the door. Locked. Or at least, I think it is. I can’t really tell what’s going on, the world is coming in flashes. I’m suddenly scared. What happens now?

I make my way back to the table, picking up a few of the cards, dropping them clumsily, holding on to maybe three out of five. Slowly and stumbly, I pick up the room. I collect all the cards, the chips, the alcohol. I put everything back into the backpack, and set it by the door. My fear is gone, I’m now calm. I’ve accepted my demise. I take the bottle of vodka back out of the backpack, and bring it back with me to the couch, which I’ve replaced the cover on. I sit on the floor, where Griffin sat not too long ago. 

I drink, and drink and drink, until I don’t know where I am anymore. What’s happening? Where are the guys? Where am I?

At nearly five a.m., Matt sat alone in front of the couch, confused and bleary. The rain continued its full out downpour, with winds strong enough to creak the house and thunder jolting enough to rattle the windows. Matt paid no mind to the happenings of the outside, or the inside. The clock struck precisely 5:12 am, and the lights began to flicker.

The lights went out.