Don't worry about what the Belmonte family were up to before they moved to Edenridge, it's none of your concern. They're good people and they know how to treat you to a unique experience, as if you are visiting the region of Naples. They don't just serve Italian cuisine, because in their opinion, Italian cuisine doesn't exist. Italy is one of the youngest countries known to date and before that, it was separated into kingdoms. When you visit the cities in Italy, they are so different and diverse, rich in culture and gastronomy. What goes inside Italian food is the history, the passion, and the culture. This is why Tiziano Belmonte decided to take it easy after the birth of his son because he wanted to do more with his life than work for The Man. Don't get him wrong, he loves his family back home (both in NYC & Italy) but as the Italian proverb goes: Chi non va non vede, chi non vede non sa e chi non sa se lo prende sempre in culo.

Being a family man, he would come home to his daughters, 15, 13, 9, and 4 respectively, and continuously worry about the day business and family inevitably collide. As much as people say it won't, they're full of shit, and it always does. At this point, Taz had too much to lose and now, his wife was about to pop with his son. After doing what he needed to do to plan their move smoothly, pulling a full strings, the Belmonte family packed their bags and moved in with Uncle Cosimo, who was fortunate to not be too involved with the main family, seeing how his late father was exiled for his own protection.

Edenridge was lowkey and just the type of experience his family needed. A place where they could know just about everyone, listen to their stories, and safely grow together, as a united family. La semplicità è l'ultima sofisticazione. They became regulars at Sunday mass at Holy Family Catholic Church, made their faces known in the streets, going out of their way to know everyone on a first name basis, and they grew the safe haven known as Palermo. A restaurant, but also a place where food binds people together. All it takes is 'a pinch of patience, a dash of kindness, a spoonful of laughs, and leaps of love'.

^{*If you don’t go you won’t see, if you don’t see you won’t know, if you don’t know you’ll take it in the ass every time.
*Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.}

Now enough about Taz, lets look into Danilo Belmonte, the one and only son of his. Growing up privileged and in the dark of any life before Edenridge, Danny found the attention that gravitated to his family addicting, especially since he was the only boy, surrounded by five sisters. From his mother and her friends, coddling and spoiling him, to him finding pride in sports, it only makes sense that Danny would grow up in confidence, in the spotlight, believing he can get whatever he wants and knowing exactly why. Looks, charm, and talent? He was basically a god among men.

It doesn't help he watched his sisters and their vastly different love lives transpire, so he found a taste for a wide palette of females. Promiscuous, conservative, smart, not-so-smart, cheerleaders, not-a-cheerleader. Starting in middle school, Danny gained a reputation of being a romantic and a star both on the basketball court and in the school hallway — born in greatness. He's the type to splurge on the girls he's taken out. He's also the type to take all the shots, knowing he and his team would win the game if he has the ball.

Sadly for those who fall too hard for him, he gets bored and drops them just as quick as he has won them over. As for his rep with his teammates? He's able to convince them that winning is more important than teamwork, so yeah, they don't have a problem with the way he plays and they get the perk of him being their wingman. No problem scoring girls and a beast on court? What could possibly ruin this for him?

Well, high school. That can ruin his vibes easy. Not only with the amount of deaths that happened prior to the day Charlie Decker lost his mind, but how directly involved some of the people he cared about were to it all. When Alison Davis OD'd, that's when the atmosphere at the school changed and from there, the morale just seemed to drop. It felt like Edenridge was stuck in a dark satire teen film, with the popular kids dying and their deaths being immortalized. He adored them, don't get him wrong, but Alison's death gave her more substance than she had when she was alive. It was wild.

On top of the school going out of their way to make Alison bigger than John Lennon, without asking questions, they put all the blame on the guy she bought drugs from, Charlie. Danny found himself taking the role as one of the many bystanders to the prejudice toward those that were easy to paint as the bad guys, the Southies. He was young and dumb, and no one, especially not him, wanted to fall from their pedestals.

Not only was he looking away from the injustice, he was distracted by his near obsession with Francis Callahan. Alison’s boyfriend before she died. Danny found himself having a hard time grieving Alison's death when he was too busy questioning his sexuality and drooling over his senior. When his family at the dinner table would talk about the following death of Maxine, and how sad it was for her to commit suicide, he was stalking Francis' social. Their deaths were poor timing, honestly.

The revelation of him not being completely straight only made him angry and instead of coping with it maturely, he invested his time with causing trouble with Quinn, his best friend. They cooked up the greatest competition ever, where they both kept tallies of their conquests. The most girls by graduation, wins.

Simultaneously, with Quinn being friends with the Southies, Danny couldn't find himself able to connect with them on any personal level. Interactions felt forced, so he decided to keep to his people, where he didn't need to put any effort in understanding someone else's hardships. Danny chose to live in ignorant bliss of how people looked and treated those born and raised on the Southside, which would disappoint his parents. At the time, it was the convenient thing to do.

The dating game was fun and kept his mind off of his bi-curiosity. That is until he and Marco Brady... uh... did stuff. Looking back, Danny doesn't remember how it all started, but before he knew it, he spent most of his junior year searching for opportunities to find a secluded area in the school to get heated with a boy that brought out more in him than his stereotype 'the dumb star jock who is really good with his hands'. In addition to Marco helping Danny change his perspective on how he treats people, making him more considerate and empathetic to the pain he causes on others, since clearly, Danny was full of himself, Marco taught his lover's niece, Sofi, a few football (soccer) tricks which only validated her pursuit. This is to say that Marco was welcomed easily into the Belmonte family and wormed himself in most of their hearts, especially Danny's mamma's heart. For example, Marco offered to cook with her occasionally and that turned into them both teasing Danny on how he had great cutting skills, but couldn't cook for shit.

Marco, for a moment in time, was... nice.

That doesn't change the fact that Danny comes from a very religious family and there was no way in hell he could come out. By Junior prom, Danny pushed Marco away, realizing if he went any deeper, they both would get their hopes up for something that could never be. After? Danny went back to how he used to be. A jock who put little thought in anything he did besides basketball and dating.

Fast forward to when he went to an intense basketball camp, in LA, for an entire summer, and spent a little more time in the last month with his aunt and her family, coming back a week after the start of senior year. That was a great getaway from all his problems, his brutally honest father, and his intrusive sisters who wondered when he was going to date seriously. For some reason, his family didn't inform him or his aunt about the incident. Not until he was waiting at his gate to get on the plane. Why his father decided to hold off was beyond him, but when Danny came home he was not the same person. He had a whole plane ride to think about scenarios of how the shooting went and how he almost lost Elisa, Mira, Sofi, Cece, Quinn, and... Marco. Thankfully, he knew his niece and sisters were okay, because of his dad. He also knew Cece and Quinn were okay because of Cece herself. She had checked up on him throughout the week, withholding information, but at least shedding light on her and Quinn's livelihood. Danny didn't find out about Marco's situation until he was back.

Not only was he shocked but he felt a feeling he only started feeling when he broke Marco's heart. Guilt. The guilt was no longer something he could bury. It was easy to pretend he didn't think about his ex everyday and how he is definitely bisexual. But to pretend that death was not written all over his hometown? How can you pretend to be okay? Mira sang at a memorial vigil, which broke Danny's heart that she had enough strength to do so. Elisa chose to come to school with a positive outlook, to teach and move forward, even if she spent her time during the shooting trying to save lives and crying over a boy's dead body. Quinn ended up flunking out his senior year, making Danny feel more alone than he has ever felt without his best friend to walk the halls with him. Shit sucked. So, the jock took a couple pages out of Cece's book and dropped the basketball team, focused on his academics, and worked at Palermo the second he got out of last period. His days became like clockwork and presently, he now works, exercises, and spends time with his family, but in terms of his future? He doesn't know what the hell he's going to do. He fucked up his basketball career and really doesn't know if there's anything else out there for him besides waiting tables.

Shit sucked.

To add salt to his wounds, while his family was fortunate enough to survive the shooting, their recent days are spent with them taking care of Mamma Belmonte, who may die any day now. No one outside of the family knows she's battling cancer. All they know is she hasn't been outside for a few months now. With something as uncontrollable as cancer, Danny can't help but feel guilty. Was he a good son? Will his family be okay when she's gone? What's he going to do without her?

As far as the public account goes for the young Mayor, who just won re-election for his second term, Teddy grew up in a poor, church-going family, who lived on the outskirts of Edenridge, neither north or south. William Grimm was a dumpster truck driver and Josie Grimm was a cafeteria lady at Edenridge High. Their youngest son, the man the world knows with the slogan 'a fresh face, a fresh start', gained a reputation of being a selfless, giving boy. Even with the amount of hardship his family suffered from, with hints of childhood abuse, though none of that has been confirmed or denied, out of respect for the mayor's privacy, Teddy overcame and conquered. He struggled with substance abuse in his teen years, which is something the citizens find sympathy in, which might've derived from him losing his older brother, Ethan, in a hit and run. If that wasn't tragic enough, Teddy lost his parents in a fire, at a local church, when they were delivering donations for a clothing drive. At that point, this sad, young lad, only twenty three at the time, decided he needed to get clean and better himself, in honor of all his lost loved ones.

Disappearing for a bit and coming back a new man, with a Boston business under his belt, a wife, children, and a good head on his shoulders, Teddy spent a couple years investing in local businesses and getting reacquainted with the people. After putting some time and money into his community, as well as getting connected, Teddy ran for mayor and won the people's hearts over by sharing his story and showing how frustrated he was at the long suffering that Edenridge bears. His campaign highlighted the inevitable fact that Edenridge had some of the highest crime rates in the New England area, and that because of that and the lack of ambition of the founding families, comfortable in their privilege, there was a clear discrimination that violates human and civil rights and the equal-opportunity policy pertaining to jobs, employment, education, medical, housing, homelessness, loans, grants, policies, crime, policing, and so on, and so forth. He will bring an evolution and that is to improve that which exists, preserving good characteristics and demolishing the chains that hold Edenridge back. Prosperity is what he seeks and only change can grant that.

Unlike her siblings, Kylee wasn't formally introduced to Edenridge until she was eleven. Prior to her life at Edenridge, she was raised in Boston, a place where you can have serendipitous connections, as well as enjoy the history and culture. When their father suddenly wanted to move back home, her sister was sixteen, and her brothers eighteen, everyone took this sudden transition with different levels of displeasure and discomfort. Regardless of how they felt, their father was going to do what he wanted and clearly he had unfinished business in his hometown.

In terms of his children's passions, the things their father devoted his time and money toward were their academic enrichment, excellence, and hobbies of their choosing. Link went towards technology, Ken chose to shadow their father, Hails found pleasure in music & dance, and Kylee tried everything under the sun. When meeting a Grimm child, you will know they're definitely from the city simply by the way they hold themselves and their extensive, outwardly knowledge. By middle school, Kylee decided to focus her skills on information gathering (to appease her growing nosy spirit), schmoozing, and music in a more technical aspect.

Transferring to Edenridge Middle School, in 6th grade, Kylee was seen as an outsider, whose father was in over his head. Concurrently, Teddy Grimm was making an impression even if he had just arrived, putting down his roots, fast. While her father was getting to know everyone in town, networking and striving for prestige, Kylee was struggling with fitting in. It wasn't that she stuck out. If anything, she was understated and blended with the crowd. She just didn't know how to squeeze into a friend group without making them feel some type of way because she wasn't born and raised in Edenridge.

She didn't belong here.

That's okay though because in time she met Roddy Callaghan, her first friend, who helped her belong by inviting her to hangout, when no one else would. Kylee wasn't like her siblings, who were good at making bold impressions and standing out, seeing how all three of them were quick to join the popular crowd in high school, so having someone like Roddy was great. He accepted her wholeheartedly and taught her the ropes, the many faces of their small town, and the deep history (to the best of his capabilities).

From there, Kylee got acquainted with Mei Ramsey and oddly enough, that was like a different type of sister to her. A sister that had many similar interests to her, and who was overall just an intriguing person to have around. A sister that understood her in the best ways. Kylee was going to try out for cheerleading with her, but after seeing how good her sister and her seniors were, she choked and decided to join A Cappella instead. Some time freshman year, Kylee gained her first crush, who hung out with Roddy's brother, Francis, a lot. Garret Cleary. The crush was so strong, he was so strong, he played football, he wrestled, he was fiercely loyal and overprotective over his sisters, and he was so focused and driven. A complete daddy.

Sadly, tragedy started happening, both Alison and Maxine's deaths kind of solidified Kylee's father's platform, because the town was hurting and this was the year he became mayor. This was the year people were so desperate for change. Mei was hurting because her idol died and Kylee didn't know how to be a good friend to her besides keep her mind off of the sadness. As for Roddy, he was struggling being in Francis' shadow and the bullying. All the bullying. Kylee was growing angry at how helpless she felt in her friends' lives, but she was still young, so maybe time would give her the answers of how to be the friend they need.

Sophomore year came, Kylee decided to confess to Garret, only for it to backfire tenfold. Instead of accept that rejection, Kylee jumped in a relationship with Pierce Mercer, who she met in the A Capella club. Pierce was more known for his moving poetry in the Literature Magazine & his seamless humor in Improv club. As the only son of Patrica Mercer & Charles Dawson, a psychologist and lawyer, it seemed like listening to people's troubles and being a guiding light to them came as a second nature to him. Both of his parents had their own practices and were married, keeping their own surnames for professional reasons. They had a good hearted son, who was an empath and chose to live a life of love and kindness.

Honestly, he was too good for Kylee, but for the time they were dating, he took away her pain and made her feel beautiful. Junior year was a roller coaster of emotions for her because Roddy took some time away from school, the town was covered in darkness due to the tragedies, this year being a fire that killed one of Pierce's friends, and... Pierce revealed to her, after junior prom, that he was gay and that she deserved someone to love her in the way she deserved.

What a shitty year, but at least she had Mei. After junior prom, Mei helped Kylee explore a side in her she didn't know existed. Turns out Kylee likes the wine and not the label when it comes to love and sexual attraction. Over the summer, Mei also helped her kickstart a YouTube channel called Dawn Patrol, which complimented Mei's show, Midnight Frequency, that she started a few months prior. Dawn Patrol was more of a conversational show than anything, to cater to Kylee's personality. Later, they both would start their own livestream on Eden Angels.

To summarize the first day of senior year, Kylee was in the auditorium with the A Capella group when a handful of them were shot dead. She would've been dead too if it wasn't for Pierce pushing her out of the way of a bullet. Kylee was quick to instruct the surviving group of singers, which included Mirabelle Belmonte, to crawl out to the back exit, which was the opposite direction that Charlie was speed walking to. If she was in his position, her next stop would be the gym. It was odd, though, that Charlie didn't finish people off, all he did was shoot at people randomly, and then leave to his next stop. Little did Kylee know, Charlie was approaching his final destination, where Penelope James was waiting for him. With Pierce dying in her lap, he whispered 'I'm sorry' before fading away.

From that point on, senior year was legitimately unbearable, especially with how sharp the tension could cut her and her peers. As if Kylee wasn't already unlucky, she had a hard time focusing on her studies. Somehow, she still managed to get passing grades. The icing to the cake to end her piss poor high school career was she didn't get into Harvard, like she always wanted to. After having a sit down with her father, they both decided that she needed to take a break and that he wouldn't rush her when it came to her future. Now aside from her morning show on Eden Angels, which is from 6 AM to 8 AM, a talk radio show where Kylee interviews people, opens current local news/gossip up for conversation, and informs people of any fun events happening in town (among other things to check out), she spends her day playing with music production equipment, supporting her sister's band, and living with very little care for tomorrow.

Her father is holding all the letters that were sent to her and has given his own personal opinions on the matter. Kylee can't help but feel intrigued by the idea that someone is using a dead kid's memory to set this town on fire and in chaos. This is the kind of drama she lived for... now, if only she knew who was behind it all.

Maliq Briteson was born on a chilly Valentine’s day morning a week late according to the doctors but just on time according to his parents, who were more than happy that their child was born on the same day as the child of their best friends and life partners. Jonie Kraeter and Maliq came into the world mere hours apart, and they have been inseparable ever since. There’s something innately grounding about having someone that knows every aspect of your life just as well as you know theirs, it helps you feel as though you can handle anything coming at you. He grew up living between two households, spending just as much time next door with the Kraeters as they all spent in his home.

Growing up with parents in a polycule meant there was always enough love and support to go around, and communication of intent was important. Being more emotionally and socially aware didn’t mean that he didn’t like violence and fighting every now and then, and just like many Southies that were legacies or became Serpents young, Maliq spent a good amount of time under the school bleachers or in the principal’s office while Jonie cracked joke after joke in a poor attempt to get them out of trouble.

Maliq and Jonie’s parents had taught the two all they needed to know growing up: How to fight, how to tell if a drug has been laced or mixed, how to hide what you needed to in case the cops came by. Anything that could keep a Serpent alive and kickin’, they learned it young. The expectation was always that they would be training to take positions similar to their parents, at a lower rank of course, but still continuing the legacies. At the time it was fine that they were just training because the desperate and broken needed spots amongst the snakes, much more than two kids that already lived in a den of them, so they were content to stay back and learn. They found out the same night that it happened that Boaz and Cernis from a grade below them had joined up, already bloody before the jump-in, and they knew that the boys would do well, even a little too well, in the Life. Hell, Jonie had been the first to recommend it to the boys in the schoolyard once over a year before, but Maliq had made sure to back up the thought by mentioning it as well whenever he saw the battered boys.

Maliq knew he and Jonie were going to end up with the Serpents very early on in his life; his grandfather had lived and died as a serpent just as Jonie’s grandparents had. His father and both of Jonie’s parents were serpents and his mother had worked the same pole at the Edge of Sin since before he’d been born. It was in his blood as much as it was in any other Legacy’s. They weren’t expecting to join too young, perfectly fine with their rate of growth. Unfortunately for them, there were two runs back to back that went very wrong when Maliq and Jonie were halfway through their twelfth year of life. A lot of older Serpents were lost, including Maliq’s father and Jonie’s parents. After the funeral, and Maliq’s mother Kamilla completely breaking down at the thought of taking care of Maliq on her own- it had been a four person job less than a week ago, after all- Maliq and Jonie joined the Serpents officially and moved into one of the Serpent Dorms at the Edge. The Dorm across the hall from them, while not officially claimed yet, was constantly in use by Sonny Cernis and the Boaz brothers, who’s bruises had reduced only slightly, but still noticeably. Across the hall to the left was where Prof Booker lived and always had his girlfriend Findley, affectionately dubbed Fin, over. There were plenty of jokes thrown around about the Dorms being a halfway house for troubled youth. It only got worse when Callum Branson and Oliver Tomlinson started hanging around in everyone’s rooms despite having their own homes and families to return to, and Prof’s cousins joined up as well. The younger members of the crew steadily grew.

The nicknames came first, courtesy of the two youngest and most obnoxious snakes in the crew. Decky Boaz was Boa, Sonny went by Sunshine despite being anything but, Callum became Ransom the collector, Oliver’s affinity for fire and liquor got him dubbed Molotov within six hours of meeting. Molotov's adoptive brother Chase became known as TNT for his explosive temper. Ducaleon and Dolce Booker became Duke and Dutchess. Jonie’s horrible sense of humor had him dubbed as Jokes, while Maliq’s propensity for fighting and enforcement had the boys slapping him with Creed. After that it was all they were known as, and the crew quickly became their own dysfunctional family with interwoven dynamics and relationships.

Creed continued to do his duty as diligently as always, and aside from some close calls the next few years were steady. He continued to check in on his mom with Jokes and eventually she was able to find her way out of her depressive rut. Any time he wasn’t spending directly with his crew went into helping his mother rebuild the way he and Jokes had been able to help each other when their support network disappeared. Kamilla got back to work at the Edge, bartending now that she struggled to find passion but happy with her ability to get back to work all the same. She started being the one to cook again and invite them and the rest of the crew over for a meal every now and then. Creed was starting to feel great, his best friend was still always at his side, his mother had a spark back in her soul, and his crew was a well-found family. Everything was good.

Until the Fear Gorta started puffing out their chests and stepping onto Serpent territory. He was fourteen and a half when they hit his corner and his world exploded into chaos. He and Jokes protected each other’s backs but they couldn’t get to the others, and by the time they were being shoved into the back of a paddy wagon Prof was being lifted into an ambulance with his wrist cuffed to the gurney. Prof’s cousins Duke and Dutchess had just disappeared in the distance when Ransom got tossed in, grinning bloody at the officer that did the tossing, his hand in a temporary brace. According to him, one of the Gorta had been aiming a bat at Dutchess’ head and he intercepted it just in time and then worked with Duke to get Dutchess away safe when they heard the sirens. When prodded for more information, the boy went tight-lipped and curled over his injured hand for the rest of the ride while realization dawned on the crew and they made light of the situation by teasing Ransom for being whipped.

Sonny and Boaz becoming sexually active had been one of the worst things in the dorm boy’s lives, what with how close everyones quarters were, and Creed was almost relieved when his and Jonie’s cell was all the way at the other end of the corridor. Poor Prof got crammed into the cell with Decky and Sonny, so it was either a blessing or a curse that the two younger boys usually shared a bed anyways. After the initial retaliation at the beginning of their stint, most of their time was spent keeping their heads down and going to visitation. After Boaz got stabbed, every one of them was spending more time crammed together into one cell, and just like in the dorms there was plenty of good mood upheld between them. Juvie wouldn’t break the likes of them.

When they got out, after Boa’s anticlimactic reunion with Hard Times at the party, things went back to normal for Creed as he fell back into fighting at The Pit, running the drugs, being the muscle, and ignoring his P.O.’s warnings about skipping school. That poor lady was too overworked to actually even check on him most times. He made extra money on the side winning fights to pay for Jokes’ ridiculous concert obsession that the other boy dragged him along to every time.

It was September of his Senior year and he was dealing at a Northie party when one Natalia Belmonte- Junior, athletic, Northie, flexible- caught his eye. He didn’t make too much that night, and he definitely paid for it later, but it was the start of an amazing relationship between not just the two of them, but eventually Jokes as well. Boa and Hard Times were jumped out- for very different reasons- around the same time that Creed started seeing Natalia, and Creed is ashamed to admit he let the black sheep slip out of his mind once he was no longer a Serpent. He was always more of Boa’s friend, his vouch, never really finding his place among his Serpent brothers. Natalia and Jokes took up much of his time during the school year, and Creed even had the odd experience of meeting Mr. Belmonte and gaining his approval. Despite having ended the relationship for Nat’s safety nine months in when the streets started to get a little too hot, Creed and Jokes still love the Belmonte girl and will run to her if needed. Those nine months were some of the happiest both of them had been since their family had been whole.

He was working the corner when word about the shooting reached them, and all the Serpents around made their way into the den to watch the news as the victims- both injured and worse- poured across the screen. He watched Sunshine willingly go Northside for the first time ever in order to rush to the hospital to watch over Boa while Creed and the rest of the Haze/Carlisle crew made their way to Phil’s just over the tracks, knowing the man would be the one to make the arrangements for young Danny Boaz.

Creed spent a lot of time after Boaz left town picking Sunshine up from wherever he had passed out and getting him to bed in his new Lost Souls apartment, once again across the hall from Creed and Jokes but now much emptier. Creed watched with Prof, Fin, and Jokes as their younger crewmates fell apart, calmly collecting them and putting them back together until they stopped breaking so often. Even once out of the Serpents, the Boaz brothers had been an integral part of their family and lives. When everyone else had been put back together, Creed and Jokes would hold each other in the quiet and dark and finally allow themselves to break too.

He’s spent the last year as the reigning Serpent Champion at The Pit and enforcing for Ransom while he does his collections. The letters and Boa’s return, Natalia coming back into their lives, all the fallout from that…it was unfortunate but true that it was just another day in Edenridge to him. He was there to clean up the messes that come after. His most recent job however has been to keep an extra eye on a certain Serpent royal and her son, and to protect them however he needs to. After having worked to settle his crew’s chaos once more, he was more than willing to put his focus into something new.