oh, what a tangled web we weave...

A simple letter exchange as a Cultures & Assimilation project.

Gallagher Academy. Blackthorne Institute.

That's it.

That's all it takes for things to go from normal to chaotic very, very fast.

As Shakespeare says, "All the world's a stage."

So let's have a look at the players, shall we?

[the girls]

jules maris.

It's Julianne to her grandparents, Miss Maris to the authorities, and Jules to anyone wants to keep their kidneys. The offspring of British bombshell Bex Baxter and Greek god Grant Maris inherited her mother's good sense, her father's good charm, and both parents' disdain for the law. As the Gallagher Academy's most prominent adventurer, Jules is the first person to step up and the last person to back down from anything. At seventeen, she's much too hotheaded, far too stubborn, and just too reckless for her own good. Letter exchange? Waste of time. Or so she thinks. Watch out, Jules, you're not the only one who can break the rules...

ivy mchenry-winters.

What happens when you mix an heiress spy for a mother, a politician's son for a father, and enough upper-class angst to last a lifetime? That's Ivy for you. Having grown up in both the spy and political world, she's seen enough intrigue and lies to last a lifetime. In trying to forget the complete mess she called her home life, Ivy quickly became Jules' partner in crime as soon as she stepped foot at the Gallagher Academy. Clever, crafty, and candid—she doesn't think too much of this letter nonsense, until she finds out just who she's writing to.

sophie williams.

When you hear the phrase "calm, cool, and collected", you wouldn't think of the only child of proud geniuses Liz Sutton and Jonas Williams? Meet Sophie, ice queen personified. She lives behind a tough exterior of disinterest, nonchalance, and sarcasm that only Ivy and Jules have gotten past. While she's usually the one to talk her friends into not going overboard, she's been known to go along with many of their schemes out of curiosity. Tired of living to her parents' great expectations of her at school, she's beginning to feel the pressure to succeed now that she's a senior. That means no distractions, but not even a genius like her can promise that. Maybe her friends are rubbing off on her after all?

[the boys]

adrian goode.

When your parents are two of the most celebrated spies in the CIA and you've spent much of your life traveling around the world with them, your name tends to become synonymous with 'legend'. At least in the case of Adrian. Arrogant doesn't even begin to cut it. Due to his family's heavy involvement in the spy life, he's easily one of the brightest Blackthorne students to walk those hallowed halls. And trust us, he knows. So when the letter exchange to Gallagher is announced, he figures he'll have some fun before he graduates. Wrong move, Goode.

noel abrams.

The all-American, the good guy, the golden boy—Noel fits each of those descriptions to a T. Unlike his peers at Blackthorne, Noel was never even aware of the spy life until he got that fateful letter, notifying him of his genius IQ and a mysterious school in New York that desperately wanted him to attend. Maybe it's his lack of prior knowledge that makes Noel one of the most genuine people at his school, maybe it's in his genes. After all, Josh and DeeDee Abrams are some of the most charitable families in Roseville. Regardless, Noel welcomes the letter exchange to the Gallagher Academy with his signature optimism. Perhaps nice guys don't finish last after all...

leo alvarez-delgado

Well, well, well, how could one describe Leo? You could start with the fact that he was the result of the famed CIA operative Eva Alvarez and the even more noteworthy CNI agent Andres Delgado. Or maybe the fact that he's as enigmatic as they come, even in a spy school? Or maybe it's the fact that he's got just enough charm to make you forget what you were questioning him about in the first place? Whatever it is, Leo doesn't plan to take the letter business seriously. But hey, he's always been a great liar.

the kids are all right,

or are they?

AN: so yeah, em and i decided to go the letter route. seeing as i'll be moving quite far away from her soon (sob, sob), it works out better for us. no worries, though, we hope to make it as awesome as a normal narrative story. sorry for those who think otherwise. but we really did take the time out to think about it and we hope that this story might be a nice change of pace in the GG archives.

so we're starting fresh and clean with this story again.

feedback is always appreciated :)

-asha