as a great poet once said, you know the rules & so do i. if you're chill, i'm chill. 21+ mutuals only. private. selective. don't steal, don't be weird, don't be a dick. shipping/plotting is encouraged. if a thread gets dropped, it is what it is — let's start a new one! take any fcs with a grain of salt. untagged ooc posts run rampant here, sorry. journal factory exploded.
prompts. (which never expire)
multimuse (low activity).
sideblog.
pinterest.
name. maria-divina gabriela reyes
nicknames. divina, dee, whatever you want. just don’t call her maria. she doesn’t answer to it anymore.
age. late 20s - mid 30s, verse dependent
appearance. tanned complexion, dark brown eyes, long black hair with overgrown, self-cut bangs. stands at 5'1". gamine, narrow frame. always wearing black.
dob/pob. 23 march. manila, philippines.
gender & sexuality. cis woman. probably bisexual but doesn't really know that about herself nor does she have the time to think about it.
occupation. head chef at her family's restaurant, kain tayo - takes this as seriously as possible, run the kitchen like the navy. very rarely at the front of the house.
residence. apartment right above said restaurant (city is negotiable; usually any major US city is fine; new york city is my default & chicago is a close second.)
basic disposition. quiet, standoffish, almost bored at times. not exactly the most approachable one in the group.
strengths. responsible, dedicated, honest, intelligent, blunt, practical.
weaknesses. stubborn, insensitive, detached, overworks, rigid.
family. parents both deceased. two brothers & one sister, all older. her brothers emilio & rizal work at the restaurant with her. emilio is the general manager & constantly brings his baby to work while his wife works at a hospital. meanwhile rizal kinda just does whatever job is needed except dishes but has been slacking lately. her sister amalia lives in california where she works as a fashion designer & she has minimal contact with the rest of her siblings which is becoming a point of contention between them.
in summary. baby of the family who hasn't quite grasped how to let go of grief. perpetually haunted by nightmares about a funeral meant for her, attended by her departed parents. doesn't know a lick of pop culture. enjoys reading but finds herself incapable of expressing her feelings. fosters an unhealthy attachment to her family's restaurant. takes in strays, both human and animal. always the designated cook at any gathering and please don’t fight her on this. can be pleasant if you get past the intense work schedule and minimal communication.
you are NOT getting a peek into my on repeat (heavy rotation due to me being an apple music user :/). it's entirely HAMILTON. that's all you get. WHATEVER.
send in a name & i will tell u what divina’s siblings think of them
Emilio remembers being a teenager and hearing Gorillaz for the first time. He liked their first couple albums. He has no fucking idea how Divina met Murdoc or why she hates him so much but it seems par for the course, knowing what she's like. He had a bad experience meeting a celebrity (NOT Gabe Abbott) before so he keeps his distance if famous people are around. They are much better from way far away from him. He's not up to date on what Gorillaz is doing nor does he really know about their history/dynamics so it was cool to find out the band has been in the restaurant before but he was glad it was on his day off.
Amalia has probably encountered Gorillaz while they were in LA. Most likely Noodle because she really enjoys fashion. And Noodle is probably the only member of that band that she likes. She tends to not think about the people she doesn't like so I highly doubt she has a nice thing to say about him. If she even remembers meeting him at all. He doesn't exist to her.
Murdoc has taken some blow from Rizal at one point and Rizal knows it! He hates him for that! Fuck you! You are lucky he works during the day!
send in a name & i will tell u what divina’s siblings think of them
Amalia is not there to meet Cas but she has heard about the weird dishwasher whose name she forgets. And yeah she does find him really weird. At least from the stories she has heard.
Emilio and Rizal don't really know what to make of him. He's another one of those cases where they struggle to figure out how Divina finds people like him (weirdos). It was a bit aggravating at first when he would fuck up washing dishes but he's getting better so they don't complain too much. Conversations with Cas are not that great, they've found out. They're polite to him. He doesn't work that many hours anyway so it's not like he's a load-bearing employee.
send in a name & i will tell u what divina’s siblings think of them
Mark freaks Emilio out. It's probably because of the way he talks. Also just his general disposition. There's something sketchy about Mark. He doesn't meddle too much in Divina's business because she gets ridiculously defensive about her friends(?) that he'd rather let it be.
Amalia has no idea who he is so he is not in her thoughts at all.
Party boy Rizal has likely bumped into Mark a few times while soaking up the nightlife but, more often than not, has little recollection of it. He sees Mark show up sometimes at the restaurant then thinks about where he's seen that face before. He notches it up to the fact that for some reason Mark hangs around his sister, which he shouldn't do. He should leave Divina alone. He sense what you are, Mark.
Her brothers have no idea how they crossed paths or what they are to each other. They asked once and Divina's answer was so vague that it was better to not fucking bother.
send in a name & i will tell u what divina’s siblings think of them
I really don't care about The Beatles but whatever Sam wants, Sam shall receive.
GABE
Pre-rehab, they all hated him. End of. Although I'm sure Gabe bought coke from Rizal at one point so they could have been on semi-decent terms but Rizal was a coke addict, not an animal.
Out of the three of them, Amalia hates Gabe the most. And she always will. Divina may have the capability to forgive but Amalia is carrying that grudge for life. Never mind the disputes between sisters and all that. Amalia is a Gabe-hater until she dies. It was warranted before he went to rehab and became normal. Nowadays, I think she just doesn't want to backtrack. Also, she's in California most of the time and she doesn't actually interact with Gabe that often so she is still operating on the assumption that Gabe is a cheating cokehead. And, to be fair, Amalia is highly critical of any of her siblings' partners. Emilio's wife is a nurse practitioner and Amalia doesn't think that's good enough. Her judgmental attitude is a huge point of contention between her and her siblings but we don't have time to get into that!!!!!
Thankfully, Emilio and Rizal have a more favorable opinion of Gabe. Well, after rehab, obviously. It took a lot of them to come around to Divina taking back Gabe because they know what he's like. Emilio took a little more time compared to Rizal. Emilio can be cautious and a little too protective with his youngest sibling but he also knows to acknowledge that people can change. The way Divina dogwalks Gabe in this era really solidified the fact that she'll be fine. If anything, he is more worried about Gabe than Divina.
Between her brothers, Rizal would have a lot more sympathy towards Gabe because he's also a recovering addict and he understands how substance abuse changes a person. They probably do relate a lot in that department which would really soften how Rizal sees Gabe now.
JULES
Amalia is genuinely appalled that someone could be so clueless. Mental illness doesn't really exist to her so she doesn't understand that ADHD can be difficult. She finds Jules to be very high-strung and not that good of a conversationalist because the things they can talk about are very few. She is pretty neutral about Jules. Just don't leave her alone with him for too long.
Jules is Emilio's favorite out of the people Divina has dated. He thinks Jules is such a sweet guy. A little lost but he has a big heart. Also he's a dog guy so obviously they click on that. Not that Divina particularly listens to what her siblings say when they try to give her advice on love but Emilio really does think she needs someone who is more laid back and can help her relax and let loose. And Jules is perfect. He is also a little concerned about how much Jules can eat. He could hoover up like three plates of pancit if no one is watching him. It IS a compliment but also like think of his stomach.
Rizal thinks Jules is a good time. They don't really know that much about each other, though. He finds Twin Throne to be an interesting listen but, unfortunately, doesn't really go out of his way to get into the band. It's a bit beyond him. Would never say no to free tickets to their shows, though.
ALFIE
The rare time Amalia actually likes someone Divina is dating. She doesn't care for his music, which she finds convoluted. I think the fact that he occasionally asks for commissioned pieces for his Ren Fest outfits helps. She absolutely loves that Alfie knows what he wants and is not afraid to say exactly what he is thinking. It does grind her gears that he won't put forth any of that talent into a higher position than being in a band but I don't think she really grasps how much he does for Twin Throne because, again, she doesn't listen to their music.
Emilio also enjoys how competent Alfie is. He thinks it's nice that he can be so forward with his thoughts. He is also very impressed by how dedicated he is to his music/work but also sees a scary parallel to someone else he knows. LOTR and generally being into fantasy is also another point for Alfie. Emilio isn't as invested anymore because of the children though I'm sure they have a great time chatting about it.
I was about to say Rizal also likes that Alfie is competent when I realised that I am repeating myself and that all three of Divina's siblings like Alfie. Like, genuinely.
Congrats, Alfred. None of the listen to Twin Throne, though.
BONUS: TOMMY
Kain Tayo's honorary white boy. The DEI hire.
Amalia vaguely remembers him as the only server who was adept enough to work half the tables and not fuck it up. She doesn't know he joined Twin Throne and doesn't care enough to ask. She thinks he quit and mourns that loss. And she has been told many times that Tommy is still working at the restaurant.
Emilio would have made him a manager if he wasn't already committed to TT. He thinks Tommy is hilarious but he needs to stop fucking around in his office when he doesn't have anything to do. There's silverware to be rolled!
Pretty sure Tommy and Rizal have shared some blunts after shifts. He thinks Tommy is really goofy and fun to be around. He was also pleasantly surprised that he's a musician. For some reason he thought Tommy was a stand up comedian or something like that. I think it's because of all those jokes he tells to every customer.
For the first time in a stupidly long time, Divina cracks up, which is to be heavily avoided. She does not want to give anyone the satisfaction of making her break. It is a conscious yet exhausting exercise she has inflicted upon herself.
