CRANES IN THE SKY.

"You're father is always there when it counts. He'll be at your wedding, he was at your birth but hopefully he'll never be at your funeral. But he'd show up!"

For a girl who wanted for nothing, she sure did want her father. A Nigerian diplomat who never stayed around for too long, Alisa Vinogradova assured her daughter that it wasn't that big of a deal. It was from a young age that Adaeze, called Ada by family, realized that things would go into two boxes: a big fucking deal or nothing to bat an eyelash at. At least, in her family. Alisa assured her that anything she wanted as a child she could get -- their cup runneth over literally being the daughter of a marriage between the heiress of a global wine fortune and a tech mogul. Her mother was one of their many children with too easy going of a personality to do anything more ambitious than eat, pray & love. There was always a trip afoot in the Vinogradova household making an otherwise sheltered Ada extremely aware of the world around her. It may have been through a lense that was majorly lavish but it meant that her perspective was a little broader compared to her preppy classmates.

Plus, when Ada started school -- her name was obviously different. It was a name both of her parents had agreed on and decided, it was easy enough for others to pronounce yet they still liked to butcher it. By middle school, various nicknames popped up and though Ada was an extremely popular one -- A.D. is what she preferred if the person wasn't going to call her Adaeze. While she loved her name, A.D. had always been very blunt and easily annoyed with people's ignorances. At fancy dinners & galas, she wouldn't be the most sociable if she wasn't feeling it and in school she picked and chose how and when she would participate. English, history, ANY art classes? They loved her. Math and science? They were annoyed she didn't apply herself. But what could Adaeze do? At the end of the day, she was her mother's daughter more than she ever was her fathers.

Where Ada did soften though was Starlight Oaks. Her grandparents would spend substantial time on their property on the cove and while her mother was untethered to her childhood home often going on trips and staying months in various countries, Ada had a room decorated at their house and went to a Private primary school until she was accepted into an Liberal Arts Boarding school in 7th grade. Was A.D. particularly driven to make her name in the arts as her calling? Not really. Did she have a valuable perspective to show that demanded self-expression? Not to her. But she had always excelled in every art class or hobby that had been thrown at her. Whether it was music, fine arts, visual arts -- she could dabble. When visiting the multitude of cousins she had, they'd always joke that they knew Ada was in town because there'd always be pictures of various art museums shared at family gatherings.

For a short time her father, Chidi, attempted to be in her life properly. For a semester, she was a dayboarder -- her mother even attempted to stay in one place for 6 months. Her room was barely decorated when it all fell apart and though A.D.'s grades had never been better -- something within her started to turn sour. Once inquisitive, she became sarcastic and combative. Her curiosity had an edge of judgement, once more introverted, she started to engage with the world as if it were her punching bag, her stomping ground, her personal oyster. She was known in school, for better or for worse.

If she could have anything she wanted --- why not her father's presence ? His love? His attention? No matter what she did -- his calls never came at the right time. They'd exchange messages about music, he'd send her records that he'd find on his travels. But it wasn't enough. Though so many of her friends families operated similarly, A.D. would prod and question the few friends she had with normal familial situations. Conclusion? It was possible, to have a father stick around, even if not for her. At the end of the day, she didn't feel like she was asking for much. Alisa may have been a jetsetter not bound by location alone but she would drop it all at the drop of a hat for her daughter if she asked. After graduation, A.D. never had to work but she did stay in school -- going to Parson's getting a dual degree (Design & Tech + Visual Studies). While New York was a fun playground, she spent her time doing exactly what her mother did after graduation -- traveling. Spending time with various family members, acquaintances, former peers and even a few high-profile names -- A.D. got to live a life.

When Chidi reached out to Adaeze wanting to have a relationship with her -- she jumped at the chance. There may have been years of resentment, anger, sadness and anguish even that had colored the last few decades but deep down she hadn't wanted for anything but this. At first, the idea of living with her grandparents seemed idyllic until being in a large house by herself seemed excessive. Though she loathed to admit it, it also seemed lonely. Never had she lived so alone in so much space, it's why she loved boarding school, why she lived in bigger bustling cities, why she stayed in school so long despite not having a real career path. While Starlight Oaks had been an idllyic place for her to live before, it had changed since the last time she had had roots there. Moving back to be closer to her family had been nice at first -- until her father claimed he forgot that he had even made the call to her. Not realizing what was going on, A.D. was angry, keeping distance between him and her even though they were in the same small town.

A.D. got her first 'real' job -- working at Galaxy Gardens dispensary. At first, she was only a Budtender and delivery driver but as she found a sort of novelty in the job she started to really dedicate her time to it. She was one of the few Budtenders that knew all the regulars as she had stuck around long enough to know the O.G.s --coworkers who had been there since day one. While at first got severely made fun of by her coworkers for not knowing how to do basic life things like taxes or how to properly clean a glass display container, she became one of the best coworkers to have, earning their respect. Eventually, she got promoted from Budtender to Shift Lead, then to Assistant Manager and in September-- Manager. Something she is proud of, an accomplishment she knows she has earned herself. Everything was 'normal' for a little while until it was revealed that her father was sick -- diagnosed with dementia. It was the reason he had reached out to her with no recollection of the conversations they had had about her relocating, but had had whole other families. A wound that A.D. had felt she would be able to heal had reopened, this time deeper and more painful than she had ever anticipated. HEADCANONS:

Runs that Dispensary like the Navy (Taylor’s Version). Her grandparents told her they’d like actually both support her / let her stay in their beach house but she’d have to get an actual job. Now, did they want her to work as a legal drug dealer? not really. her mother is over the moon and think it's hilarious, often defending her kid because they literally are a wino family. A.D. also kinda was like...well...i'm 27 and have NEVER had a job...embarazzzing....

Originally a bud tender then working her way to be manager. She’s kinda the best manager you could have and really makes sure to take care of her employees because she does realize she has a lot of privilege in how much she’s never had to worry about money but her coworkers/peers/etc MANY have had to so she picks up the slack. She'll feed them often, spoil them with employee samples, work shifts for them if she can/is able. If Lorelai Gilmore ran a dispensary tbh! gets a kick out of fighting upper management

No one else can afford proper car insurance and such so she ends up doing deliveries for customers atp and while she used to love driving around town doing it, she's just kinda tired of it LMAOOOO

Has an expensive fancy ass tattoos but especially for every place she’s ever visited, she has something thats kind of like stamps/postcards/something symbolic of that place. Started with the states in the US she went to when she was 16 and her grandparents/teachers were PRESSED but her and her mom/sibling had a cheeky giggle. alisa got a matching tatt with her for her 18th

Definition of knowing 6 languages so she can talk shit to you in each one of them

very fun fun nails. does not love wearing them SUPER long but like if the design calls for it....she'll suffer for her art!

colorful long coat collection!!! has a fun style tbh!!!

Arts yes, performing arts, no. I'll say it again, PERFORMING ARTS? no.

REALLY good at cooking breakfast…otherwise relies on her air fryer….she just has better things to do…you know…she CAN she just does NOT want to…speaking of household stuff...she's FINE at laundry...just don't let her do yours if you don't want something to shrink.

her mom is if like gwenyth paltrow mixed with drew barrymore and one of a lot of siblings. she’s kinda the youngest daughter in a very knives out energy giving family. so sure her mother loves her but ………..gg in getting direction from that woman! the only direction you're gonna get from her is which gate to board gg

what does a romantic relationship even really look like to her?? so many of her friends she grew up with have grand ambitions or grand families or grand spouses. the idea of having a house, family with children, staying in one place to raise kids is both terrifying and alien. though now she is here in this place about to turn 30.

is having a lowkey crisis about turning 30! will get over it but has to be dramatique about it first. kinda wants to throw a party for it....

captious is a fancy word for petty btw

in terms of her gender ...i kept writing cis-woman and it just didn't feel completely right but A.D. is struggling with coming to terms with understanding HER relation to being gender queer in any way. she just hasn't found a label that has exactly fit and knows that this is one of the least important things to figure out rn.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

RIVALS: The rival dispensary Lunar Leaf is an establishment that has been a THORN in A.D.'s side. Constantly poaching potential employees, constantly copying graphics that A.D. has made HERSELF. She's SICK! AND! TIRED!

someone who fucked her mom lol 

TRIP BUDDIES: Drug related and other! A.D. loves to adventure and explore, she definitely does hike a lot and loves to just be active in creative ways. You will NOT find her at the gym but you might find her swimming in that cold ass ocean!

EX-GF/PARTNER: all i need to say! need to write some gay shit! A.D. is not the best GF but she got MONEY... <3

cousin: she got COUSINS....