[alaraxdemir]

Welcome to Aurora Bay, [ALARA DEMIR]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [ASLIHAN MALBORA]. You must be the [TWENTY-FIVE] year old [SEAMSTRESS]. Word is you’re [CREATIVE] but can also be a bit [NAIVE] and your favorite song is [OCEAN EYES - BILLIE EILISH]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [AURORA BAY DRIVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it! 

With her parents emigrating from Turkey before Alara was born, she grew up in Washington. While she didn't love the hustle and bustle of a huge city, she enjoyed the opportunities it provided. It was in school that Alara was first exposed to sewing in her home economics class. It wasn't something that she'd ever really taken notice of before, but she found herself being surprisingly good at it, and enjoying the creative aspect. Alara had always had an affinity for cute clothes, though usually found items through thrifting as her parents never had the money for expensive mall trips. However, sewing was her way to create her own clothes, something she did all through high school.

It was during this time that Alara struggled with her phys ed classes, finding herself unable to keep up with others her age. After getting terrible marks in the class, her parents heard her concerns and decided to take her to a doctor for a check up. Some investigating later, Alara was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Her heart muscles weren't quite strong as they should have been. This scared the whole family, however the doctor assured them that medications would help for now, but it was certainly something to be aware of and monitor in the future.

Alara thought she was making friends when people approached her to make them custom items, Alara creating them for a fraction of the price they'd pay in stores. But really, these people were just using her, not paying her for her time and skills, just for the materials she used. Too trusting of people, wanting to believe they really liked her for her, Alara kept doing these favors for the other kids in her class. None of these so-called 'friendships' lasted though, and Alara tries not to look back with disappointment.

After graduating, Alara applied to the Maryland Institute College of Art, doing a course in textile design, specializing in costume design. She found designing and creating costumes to be her passion, a legitimate reason to use glittered fabrics, add as many ruffles as she wanted, and shower an outfit in sparkles.

At twenty-two, after a few different placements, Alara joined the circus. A statement she still finds hilarious. But Cirque du Soleil was an absolute dream job and she couldn't believe that they'd accept her. She was mostly just mending costumes under the supervision of others, but occasionally she was allowed to sit in on costume design sessions and always loved that.

It was during this time that Alara met Amy, who was also apart of the crew, working in set maintenance. The two got along really well, and Alara found herself in a romance that made her heart flutter. It was so exciting, to be doing her dream job, to have a girlfriend, and thinking that everything was just perfect.

But that fell apart when Alara discovered that Amy was cheating on her. Heartbroken, Alara ended things, but the emotions triggered a cardiac event and Alara ended up in hospital. After that, she decided she needed a break from everything, though she didn't want to go home. Alara had always known she had a cousin in Aurora Bay, reaching out to him and asking if she could stay with him for a little while.

@aurorabayaesthetic

[scottienolan]

Scottie lowers her sunglasses to look over the top of them, aghast and appalled.

"Excuse me? Just because you're gay doesn't mean you should be excluded from the conversation. Like, I pray to god you would ask me an FMK about Sophie Turner, Jessica Biel, or Olivia Wilde. I'd be insulted not to be asked. For the record -- marry Sophie, fuck Olivia, kill Jessica."

@alaraxdemir

[alaraxdemir]

Alara let out a chuckle, raising her hands defensively. "I'm just saying! I wouldn't want to have to marry a guy, and be stuck with them forever. Most boys are nightmares to live with." She tilted her head at Scottie, brows raised. "The one night stand I could put up with." If she really had to, of course.

Another laugh bubbled up when Scottie mentioned the next three, before giving her preferences. "I think I agree with you on those. Though I could swap Olivia and Sophie and still be happy. But what about you and those boys: Harry, Joe and Justin." @scottienolan

[laceyxpierce]

open: @aurorabaystarter

 “Can you believe they have Salmon vodka?” Lacey turned to the other to hold up one of the bottles before setting it back on the shelf, figuring to waste some time by browsing at the store when she knew she probably should have been grocery shopping and alcohol technically wasn’t food, she picked up another bottle to look at. “Makes you wonder what type of person drinks these absurd alcohol choices and before you ask, yes I am procrastinating on doing homework."

[alaraxdemir]

"---No. No, I really can't." Alara replied, looking bemused, eyebrows raised. Was it something she was going to try? Absolutely not. For several reasons. One being that she rarely actually drank, and vodka was usually more than she could handle. A shake of her head, as Lacey put it back on the shelf. "I suppose it's an acquired taste?" Shrug fell from her shoulders as she wandered along beside the other woman, before chuckling. "I agreed to come with you, so I guess you could call me an enabler." @laceyxpierce

[naoisehenry]

Location: outside the movie house

Status: @aurorabaystarter

The movie's sold out; Naoise didn't see it coming. He so didn't see it coming that he bought his bucket of popcorn before he bought his ticket. Now he's sat on the pavement outside the movie theatre, the once-inviting glow of the lights casts a harsh contrast to the look etched on his face. He gazes down at the untouched popcorn in his lap, feeling a wave of melancholy settle in. Something about this should be humbling. It almost is when someone walks in front of him. He pauses briefly before looking up and holding out the bucket. 'Do you want this?'

[alaraxdemir]

Alara was cradling a hot chocolate in her hands. She'd really wanted coffee, but it was late and if she had caffeine now, the brunette knew she wouldn't sleep. So hot chocolate it was. It was still delicious, so she couldn't complain. Wandering in the direction of home, brows furrowed when she noticed the guy sitting on the stoop outside the movie theatre. He looked down at his lap until Alara got close, and he glanced up at her, the brunette offering him a weak smile. However, she couldn't help but be a little taken aback when he offered her the popcorn. "Ah...no thanks. Are-- you okay?" @naoisehenry

[jasrussell]

location: town hall

open starter / @aurorabaystarter

"Man, I missed the dopamine hit of listening to everyone's insane complaints." Jas remarked, leaning forward in her seat; her elbows propped on her knees and resting her chin in her hands as she listened intently to the latest speakers complaint about a mural being spray painted on the side of building near the lighthouse that absolutely tarnished their towns picturesque aesthetic. "Which way do you think the vote will swing? In the favour of preserving art or in the favour of Karen and her clipboard?"

[alaraxdemir]

"Yeah you did." Alara confirmed when Jas slipped into the seat beside her. "There were plenty, too." It's usually why she avoided these meetings: they sometimes ended up being kind of a downer. But she wanted the mural to stay, so had come along to vote. "Honestly, I have no idea. I think it might be pretty split." Alara glanced around the room, humming softly. There were quite a few people in the room tonight, so it was impossible to know. @jasrussell

[alaraxdemir]

💀 + bora!

💀 an urgent text.

[To: Bora] Can you please check my sewing room and tell me if there's a blue carry bag on the desk?? [To: Bora] Please??

[alaraxdemir]

how easy is it for your muse to say ‘ i love you’?

Alara's had a few rough break-ups, so she's a little more reserved when it comes to saying that now. To family and friends, it's much easier. But in relationships, she's a little afraid to admit it.

[thelizaxlevin]

Liza bit her lip, still wanting to repay her somehow- but for now she'd let it go and just nodded, "Okay. Thank you, really. She'll look adorable in it. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Maybe even do a little photoshoot with her," Without her face in it of course, "That you can use as publicity for your designs." She offered with a laugh, figuring maybe some modeling and helping sell some pieces couldn't hurt. "Yeah, of course! Maybe even make some mommy-daughter matching things for me and her if you're up for the challenge."

[alaraxdemir]

"Honestly, she such a little cutie, she would look adorable in anything." Alara had never really had anything to do with babies - she was an only child and she'd recently moved away from most of her close friends, not that any of them had gotten to kids yet. But she was enjoying spending time with Liza and Eli. "Oh you have to send me those pictures, I'm begging you." Of course she'd never post them anywhere without seeking express permission from Liza, but Alara would just love to see them. Eyes lit up with the other's next idea. "Are you kidding? That's such a cute idea." @thelizaxlevin

[atlasnolan]

"You work for yourself? Doing what?"

Atlas assumes it's something that doesn't require extra hands -- his, specifically -- but he's asking less for his job search then and more out of curiosity for whatever entrepreneurship she had going on.

@alaraxdemir

[alaraxdemir]

"Um... I sew. Like doing alterations for people and stuff?" She wasn't super great at explaining it. "I work out of a spare room in my cousin's house." Which Alara was eternally grateful for - she couldn't imagine trying to do it out of a tiny apartment or something, all cramped together, stuff everywhere. @atlasnolan

[victoriaxsanchez]

who: @alaraxdemir Where: tori’s apartment

“Here,” she said as she poured the other girl a glass of rosè. It was well deserved, Victoria thought after Alara had successfully hemmed some of her skirts even though it was the end of summer, she was looking forward to wearing them with her boots as soon as it got colder. “You deserve it, and we can get to your nails tomorrow. Did you have any inspo? We can make the most of spring with some cute flowers or something.”

[alaraxdemir]

Alara took the glass gratefully, though she didn't really believe that she 'deserved it'. She hadn't done anything particularly spectacular, though one of the skirts Tori had asked her to hem had been a somewhat tricky fabric. But they were all done now. "Oh stop, it was a pleasure, really." Which was true - she liked doing those sort of things for her friends. A grin spread when Tori mentioned the nails. "I was thinking a pale pink might be nice?" @victoriaxsanchez

[tricianorth]

'I'm worried I'm going to upset the coastline.' Tricia thinks. 'Or everyone's instagram stories later. A giant hole with a fully grown woman sat sweating and digging on her hands on knees in the middle of it doesn't bode well for the beautiful sunset pictures that people are gonna come here for later. Or I don't know. Something like that.' She shrugs and wonders who put her on autopilot today. Tricia could build an army with the people she's started these random conversations with today. 'You busy by chance?'

[alaraxdemir]

'Upset the coastline'? How big exactly did the other plan on making this hole? "Well, I mean...just go for a dip every so often and no one will be able to tell the difference between sweat and sea water." Alara offered, a shrug following. "And--- I think there's enough beach for everyone." However, when the other asked if she was busy, that caught Alara off guard. "I'm not getting down on my hands and knees to dig with you." She warned, pausing. "But I'll keep you company if you really want to do it." @tricianorth

[scottienolan]

open starter: @aurorabaystarter location: blue lagoon pool

"Okay, hold on, I got one --" Scottie proposes, taking a pause in her thought to lick the juice from her popsicle that's trailing down her hand.

"Fuck, Marry, Kill: Boy Band Edition. Harry Styles, Joe Jonas, Justin Timberlake."

[alaraxdemir]

"You--- you know I'm gay, right?" Alara still sometimes had a little bit of trouble being quite so blunt about it, but she trusted Scottie, so she got the words out without too much hesitation. "I don't even know what Joe Jonas looks like off the top of my head." It didn't help that she wasn't really a music person. "You go first." @scottienolan

[archived-warrenxmelrose]

"And you look amazing yourself!" Izzy made sure to compliment the woman, knowing everyone worked hard on their outfits this week. "I've had the chance to check out a few but I do plan on closing up the booth and walking Clara around a bit later on."

@alaraxdemir

[alaraxdemir]

"Aw, thank you. I probably spent way too much time trying to get the details of this outfit perfect, even though no one will even notice." Alara chuckled at herself, shaking her head, before realizing she needed to keep still if the other was going to paint her face. "Good! Definitely go past the tea place. I'm not a tea person, but even I thought they smelled delicious." @izzyxalamilla

[reaganmurphy]

Reagan is glad to have Alara there beside her even if she ended up in her own world once she got to browse through the albums and vinyls. She was never against having any company beside her when out and about. It was a dream come true looking through the different albums to find what she was searching for. It had to be around and she was determined to leave with what she wanted.

She felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment before looking at Alara. "Just found the album by Imagine Dragons I've been searching for. Thought it was out of print from how many times I've seen it not around." She admits easily as she flashes her a smile.

[alaraxdemir]

Honestly, Alara didn't know all that much about music. Sure, she had a Spotify account, but her playlists were mostly top hits, with a few nostalgic 00's songs that she listened to in her teens. The brunette didn't really understand the draw of having physical copies of music, it was just another thing to clutter her life, and she had plenty of clutter already with her hoards of sewing supplies. But Alara supposed that a lot of people would think the same thing about her interest in sewing - why bother when you could just buy pretty much whatever item you wanted in store or from the internet? So she didn't judge others for their interests, even if they didn't match her own.

"Wow, that's cool. And I actually know who they are." The brunette let out a laugh, peering at the sleeve Reagan had pulled out of the bunch. "Want me to hold it while you keep flipping?" @reaganmurphy

[clint-bennet]

closed: @alaraxdemir where: Her shop.

"Long story short, I lost a fight with one of th'low hangin' mangroves. Weren't payin' attention 'n it jumped me from behind." He explained, not mentioning that his boat drifted into the bramble of branches. "Managed t'survive, but m'shirt wasn't so lucky. Heard through th'grape vine y'were good at patchin' stuff like this."

[alaraxdemir]

Bora was sitting in the kitchen, since Alara had asked him to be present for the few people who'd organized to drop by. Since she was only freelancing, she was still working out of the spare room in her cousin's house. And letting strangers in when she was by herself was just a touch out of her comfort zone. She'd promised to treat Bora to lunch after she was done, for his troubles. "Ah yeah... I guess they're sort of tricky like that." The brunette mused as he handed over the shirt, Alara checking out out. "I can fix it, sure. I mean, it won't be like new, but it'll be close." @clint-bennet

[cricketcampbell]

"Ugh, a woman after my own heart!" Cricket clutched at her chest, coming back over to take a peek at the mushroom lasagne in question. "Gorgeous. It just makes me so happy that everyone was so open to only vegetarian recipes for this first meeting."

It wasn't too surprising, considering where they lived, but Cricket had been worried and wanted to make sure there was something there that everyone who showed up could enjoy.

"Oh, duh, I'm Cricket, by the way! It's so nice to meet you, and seriously, like, thank you just so much for coming. I've never done anything like this before and I did not think people were gonna actually show and that it'd be just me and my coconut tofu."

@alaraxdemir

[alaraxdemir]

The other woman's enthusiasm was rather infectious, the smile spreading on Alara's features. "Oh, thank you." She hadn't thought of her dish as 'gorgeous' exactly, though she was rather glad it turned out okay and didn't look like a mess. Getting the layers to sit nicely had been a little bit of a challenge, but Alara knew that whatever she'd chosen to cook would be a challenge unless she'd thrown together a garden salad or something.

A light chuckle when the other introduced herself. "I sort of assumed from your email. I'm Alara. It's nice to properly meet you." Putting the dish down on the table, she glanced over all the other dishes that people had brought. There seemed to be quite a few, enough to match the people milling around. "I haven't had a chance to make many friends since moving to town..." A blush spread on her cheeks at admitting that, not wanting Cricket to think she was antisocial or something. "So I thought this was a good idea." @cricketcampbell

[tricianorth]

starter: open

location: beach

There’s just something about the beach. Isn’t that what they say? It should be weird, returning to a great expanse of nothing but sand and sand and sand and water and water and water over and over and over, but just somehow isn’t. Tricia kicks the sand she had buried her feet under when she spots someone coming. She looks up from her comfortable spot, perfectly built (see: blanket, phone, headphones, book, green grapes) apart from a pair of sunglasses. She always seems to forget those. Her hand acts as a shield as she looks at them. ‘Hey,’ she says, ‘I’m tinkering with the idea of digging a big hole. It’s just the lack of tools. Of, uh, reason… that seems to be stopping me.’

@aurorabaystarter

[alaraxdemir]

This was Alara's first time living near the beach, and she was still undecided if she was a fan or not. While the waves could be quite soothing to listen to, sand had an unfavorable habit of getting everywhere. So the brunette was still not sure if she was a huge beach fan or not. Despite that, it was summer, and Alara felt somewhat obligated to spend some time by the shore. "Ahh--- I mean... I guess you can?" Alara was a little caught off guard by the other's suggestion, brow furrowing with confusion. @tricianorth