"Good idea," Rhiannon chimed to Céleste's verdict of focusing on men. "I could never begrudge Aileen Wuornos what she did. Like, that's what men have been doing to women for centuries, y'know? Fuck it." She wouldn't leap to call herself a feminist per se, even though she prescribed to all those ideals. She hadn't read enough theory just yet, and was always hesitant to leap two feet into anything she wasn't fully educated about — except cinema. All bets were off there. "No, I don't. I did some googling one night when I was drunk. Couldn't find anything. You'd think there would be headlines or at least a little news snippet. Unless he paid off people in the town. Can't count that out, I guess."
"i would argue that they had it coming. she was only fulfilling her civic duty." she nods in agreement at her cousin's statement, although she tended to stay away from stories about serial killers and murder, céleste knew enough to have made up her mind about the case. "irregardless, if you do decide to go down the killing pathway, you know i will help you bury a body, or you know, sage a room. although hopefully you're sticking to film instead of murder." she's teasing, voice light with amusement even despite how dark the current topic is. her eyes narrow as she considers her, flickering between rhiannon and the house with increasing trepedation, "you sound like you want to investigate. is that why you dragged me down here? please don't tell me you want to sneak inside."
"Well shit. Croquet was all I came for." She told her, also completely lost on the game. "Guess I'm too late too." smiling, she was there meeting a friend. Her fridge actually chilling one or two bottles from the vineyard, knowing full well she had the good stuff. Not meant for just anyone. (unless it was herself) . . . "you have alternatives?" She asked, catching that bit, "I signed up for it but I'd love not waking up with a raging hangover tomorrow. . .
"i mean - there are still some people playing, maybe you could join them and they can give you a lesson?" it might be later on in the afternoon - but with the views the vineyard offers during sunset, céleste wouldn't be surprised if a few more stragglers showed up and that people would stay and enjoy the food and wine for a while longer. "alternatives for the cheese - micah." it's said with a small laugh, gesturing to the other trays floating around the venue. "although i suppose that there are alcohol free wines nowadays," her nose wrinkles a bit at the thought - sacrilege if you asked her. basically grape juice - which might be close enough to some, but doesn't hold a candle for her. "but we don't make them. i can promise you though that a tasting will not leave a hangover. after all it's a tasting not a binge."
"Ooh, what are the alternate options? I mean how could I say no to a wine tasting, anyway? Especially yours." Onyx was some of Nessa's favorite wine, plus she was always happier whenever she shopped local, supporting her favorite businesses. "Croquet...you mean like in Alice in Wonderland?" She had never played in real life, but it sounded like something she'd be interested in. Nessa had come dressed head to toe for the occasion and she was going to enjoy her night, going wherever the breeze blew. "This is amazing by the way, props." She held a cube of cheese on a stick that she'd plucked off a tray from one of the servers, her mouth already watering to try it.
"we've paired a couple of our wines with different types of cheeses - but if anyone can't have dairy, we do have vegan cheese varieties, cured meats, veggies, fruits, chocolate. they all enhance a different flavor profile and it's an interesting experience seeing what brings what out." most of the time she didn't lead tastings, but she'd picked up enough to be fit for the job on occasions like this, enjoying the surprise on people's faces when they were able to distinguish different notes. "yes - like alice in wonderland." it might not have been the comparison that had first sprung to mind for her when there were people who were confused on what the sport actually was - but now that nessa had mentioned it, she might have to use it for future befuddled visitors. "although without the animal cruelty - no flamingos or hedgehogs will be hurt in the process here." taking the brief pause in conversation to fully glance at the other woman, céleste can't help but admire the outfit that she'd put together. while most people who'd come were dressed in summer cocktail attire - nessa's look was something else - a true celebration of the day. "oh, thank you! i could say the same about your look - the dress is incredible. i don't think i've seen anyone be more on theme. where did you find those earrings? because they're perfection."
Hello, Cascade! Today marks the first day of our very first meme weekend! We thought now felt like the perfect time to get to know all your lovely characters just a little bit more. If you have a busy weekend and can't participate, fear not! This is just the first of what we hope are many meme weekends to come.
How it'll work here at Cascade:
We'll make an announcement post, just like this one, that has the selected 1-3 ask memes linked for the weekend. If you wish to participate, you'll reblog this post onto any character of yours that you'd like to receive questions. Afterwards, spread the love! Send questions to your fellow muns that you see have reblogged this post, either straight from the dash or by taking a peek at the notes. Meme questions can be sent until Sunday night, but answered whenever. If y'all have any memes you think would be fun to use in the future, please send them our way!
Make sure your ask boxes are open, anon is on, and have fun!
with: anyone! / @cascadestarters
location: santiago's beach
when: 4th of july fireworks, 10pm
B - I - C - T -
Eden jumped as the first firework went off, lighting up not just the sky, but also their masterpiece of vandalism spray-painted along the side of an unattended vehicle. Not registering the glaring spelling error, they turned to watch the multicolored crackle overhead when the lurking figure of someone else nearly made them leap out of their skin. "Holy shit!" Eden practically squealed, lurching back and knocking into the car's sideview mirror. Cheers echoed up from Santiago's beach where everyone had gathered for the show, swallowing up their shout before another array of booms. "Don't sneak up on people like that, jeez, I almost pissed myself."
she'd been hoping for a peaceful fourth of july - a bottle of wine, a good view of the fireworks, pleasant company - a chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. but the fireworks had barely even begun when she realized that she'd left her phone in her car - normally not a concern, especially in a town like cascade ( people might be weird, céleste herself hadn't felt like she fit in quite as well anywhere else aside from here - but she'd left her purse in her car plenty of times while in high school and it hadn't caused an issue. ) but it seemed in her time away things had changed, her heart racing as a shrouded figure desecrated her car. "sneak up on you?" the outrage is barely masked, her expression turning from one of fright to fury. "you're the one spray-painting my car! and not even with proper spelling." it shouldn't be a hang up - but the car was new - not the beat up hand-me-down she'd been gifted during high school ( meant to prove that she was responsible and could follow the rules of the road. ) if she was going to be left driving around with a vandalized car - it might at least not look like a toddler had tried to spell something on it. "what did i ever do to you, do we even know each other?"
wine tasting wasn't luke's thing. he wasn't even sure he liked wine. it was something to do, though, and he definitely appreciated cheese. so he moseyed around and recognized a few people he'd fixed car issues for. also dodged a few trying to offer little tastes of their labor from the vines. it was a nice day so he couldn't complain, except that he'd yet to find the cheese.
"of the cheese? yeah..." a lopsided smile formed as he peered at the woman that'd approached. "i've yet to come across any though so i'm starting to feel a bit bamboozled on coming here." nothing more than a tease really, there were worse ways to spend a day. "alternative options?" brow quirked at that, luke encouraged her to elaborate.
"yeah, i'm gonna be honest with you..." a hand lifted to rub at the nape of his neck while he wore another small grin on his lips. his disposition often settled on light because he'd drown in the heaviness if he didn't keep smiling. "i have absolutely no idea what croquet is."
her mouth drops open - bamboozled is certainly a word - and not a good one at that. "well, we can't have that. enlightened maybe, inspired, dazzled - give me a moment." scanning the crowd, her eyes meet one of the servers mingling about and waves them over, before her attention turns to the man once more. "yes - we've got vegan options for those with dietary restrictions. but also cured meats, breads, veggies, fruits, and chocolate - they all bring out different notes in the wine, and have different pairings." still, she can't help but note that his hands are empty, leaving céleste to wonder if he perhaps wasn't searching for the perfect pairing - but had come instead for the atmosphere and food.
she takes the quick moment to instruct the server, asking them to make a few more rounds and keep an eye out for any newcomers, before offering a few selections from the tray they'd left to the stranger. "here you are. although i have to say, if you're here mainly for the food, there are also appetizers going around. those pair well with the wines too - but are a bit better all on their own." although, she supposes, cheese doesn't need much fancying up to be delicious. give her a good baguette, a brie, and some fruit and she'd be delighted too.
a chuckle leaves her lips at his reaction the the game offered, "i'm not surprised, it's english - and mostly you just have to hit balls with mallets through hoops. it's pretty big there, very posh - but i don't think it ever truly caught on here. although it was featured in one of the last bridgerton seasons - anthony's, if you watch those? they called it pall-mall, but as far as i understand, they're essentially the same thing." while she's not one to stereotype, she does have to admit she'd be surprised if that was a show he followed. "we didn't want to do the regular lawn games of cornhole or ladder toss - so we thought this might be a bit more fitting."
featuring: anyone ! @cascadestarters
location: onyx vines ( national wine & cheese day celebration )
while céleste might've only picked up remnants of what her parents had pictured when they first concocted the idea of onyx vines, she knew enough to be certain that this was more than they'd imagined. the place bustling with guests, a live jazz band filling the air with music, the sweet scent of almost ready for picking grapes scenting the air. it wasn't an earned pride for her yet - she had to put her own mark on the place and céleste knew she hadn't yet had enough time to do that yet, but with people touring the vineyard and enjoying a summer day - it was hard not to be in good spirits. "did you come for a tasting?" a smile beams on her lips, approaching the newest arrival with a warm confidence. "i know it's national wine and cheese day - but we do have alternative options too, if you're interested in those. or there's a game of croquet about to start. but don't ask me for the rules - sadly the most i can do on that front is point you in the right direction." truly, they'd gone above and beyond this go around, and while she'd helped here and there as much as she could when she was younger, it was all the more rewarding to do it now that she fully understood her parent's love.
Open to: anyone! @cascadestarters
Where: by the Shady Belle
Hands in pockets, Rhiannon admires the old, decrepit and abandoned house like one would a piece of fine art in a museum or vintage uranium glass in an antiques shop (she adores uranium glass). "You know, they say he experimented on people. The good doctor," she says, looking their way. "By people I mean women, of course. Personally, I'd have experimented on men and women. Equal opportunity torture. Human Centipede style. " She takes a beat for that declaration to sink in, then adds, as casually as ever: "I don't believe in any of that, though. FYI."
céleste's gaze isn't filled with admiration - perhaps more a cautious sort of dread mixed with the itch to leave this place for something more tranquil. one that isn't haunted by ghost stories, although finding that in a town like cascade is hard to come by - but at least most other places don't hold as grisly of a history as this one. "you might be the first person to call him good." in all the stories - even the ones based solely on proven fact, he was corrupt at best. and then there was the fact that so many of the brothel workers simply seemed to disappear - perhaps lost to time, or maybe facing a more gruesome fate. "i don't know about that - i think i'd focus on men, kind of balance the field a little. don't you think?" a skeptical look crosses her features, eyeing the rotting carcass of the house. personally, it had always given her the creeps, even if it was purely superstition. "mhm... you don't? personally... i feel like whenever i stick around long enough i get the shivers - there's bad energy here."
CÉLESTE ADAORA. 33 YEARS OLD. CIS WOMAN. SHE/HER is here! They’ve lived in Cascade for 33 YEARS and currently reside in THE OUTSKIRTS. ESTE is a DIRECTOR OF WINERY OPERATIONS at Onyx Vines Vineyards and frequently hears that they look a lot like GRETA ONIEOGOU. Funny, huh? If ever caught by Letterboxd, they’d say LAST HOLIDAY is in their Top 4 and the theme song to their life’s soundtrack would be I'M EVERY WOMAN by CHAKA KHAN.
❀ ⸻ BASICS.
full name: céleste monifa adaora
nickname: este, essie, stella, starlight ( family only )
age/date of birth: 33 / march 31
zodiac sign: aries
gender identity: cis woman (she/her)
hometown: cascade, ca
current location: cascade, ca
time in town: 33 years
sexual orientation: pansexual
religion: raised christian, currently leans toward spiritual and interested in hoodoo
occupation: director of winery operations
❀ ⸻ PERSONALITY.
labels: the bon vivant , the humanist , the icarian
positive traits: innovative , vivacious , nurturing , radiant , energetic
negative traits: impatient , indulgent , reckless , vindictive , stubborn
hobbies: gardening ( has a greenhouse and herb/vegetable garden in her backyard that she cultivates in her spare time ) , tarot & herbalism ( runs a side business and has a social media presence under her middle name, but keeps it anonymous as to her true identity ) , thrifting ( will gladly help you put together a perfect outfit and will look for any excuse to go out and find cool/weird items ) , yoga & surfing ( truly despises most forms of exercise - see running, but finds yoga the right amount of difficult and grounding and has been roped into enough surfing adventures in her childhood to enjoy ) , arts & crafts ( she loves creating things - be it her garden, attempting pottery, splashing paint onto a canvas. hasn't quite worked up the patience required for knitting / crochet , but is interested in all forms of artistic expression and is willing to give anything a shot. )
languages spoken: english , french , italian ( conversational ) , spanish & certain african dialects ( minimal )
instruments played: ukulele
favorite color: deep purple, amethyst
❀ ⸻ BIOGRAPHY.
trigger warning; brief mention of underage drinking
céleste wasn't born into a legacy, she was born into the start of one. back then, the dream wasn't a reality yet, just scribbles on paper, a plot of land bought in the outskirts of a town, a vineyard with barely developed roots. a vision concocted by a passion for wine, history, and love.
by the time she was ten, the dream was shaping into a reality - onyx wines shipping worldwide, with people taking a detour from their wine tours in napa just to come up to cascade and taste the richness of the wines they produced. although for este, it meant summers in the vineyard - bare feet running across the seemingly endless stretch of land, picking grapes in the guise of tasting for sweetness, hiding in the cellars when she didn't want to be found.
school was almost always an afterthought - the lessons she took the most from came from her parents and the people she met working in the vineyards. and while céleste never struggled - teachers did comment that she wasn't working up to the potential she might have if she truly dedicated herself. but it was enough, and between that and the friends she made along the way - she didn't see the need to stretch herself more than what was necessary.
that she would follow in her parent's creation was expected, after all - she was raised on wine even before she could legally drink it. but with her entire life lived in cascade and so much of the world left to see, she begged for some freedom before settling into her responsibilities. it was decided she'd attend college elsewhere - and when her experience in the bustle of louisiana wasn't enough of a taste, she asked for more time - time to grow, time to learn, time to experience everything that cascade couldn't offer.
her twenties were spent jet-setting across the globe, hiking her way through south america, visiting the oldest roots of black winemaking in africa, eating herself through thailand and japan, and finally exploring the vineyards of europe - staying in hostels, working as a sommelière or a waitress or a hostess, or whatever job seemed most fitting at the time.
with each new place she traversed she found new pieces of herself - things to love, things to hate, and lessons learned from the people she encountered along the way. but it also cemented that no matter where she travelled, cascade was home. a city of oddities and eccentricities, with the salt air reaching all the way into the outskirts where she grew up if the wind was strong enough - and a call she couldn't escape from any longer.
a plot of land all of her own was waiting for her - an extension of the vineyard she'd grown up exploring, but her own to do with as she pleased. céleste isn't quite the same person she was before - a bit older, a bit wiser, a bit tainted - but she's home and ready to help continue building upon the creation she's been a part of since she was born.
❀ ⸻ CONNECTIONS.
relationship status: single.
current partners(s): none.
past relationships / flings: tba.
family: tba
roommates: none
❀ ⸻ WANTED ( work in progress )
the best friend: a confidant and platonic soulmate, someone who's there for every high and low and everything in between.
from the sandbox: childhood friends, people who grew up alongside her in cascade.
ex-fiancé: they met while she was living in france, what was supposed to be a fun summer fling turned into something more, feelings creeping up on them both before they even fully realized it. as the chill of autumn settled in around them - they decided to make an attempt at building something together, céleste staying put longer than she had since setting off on her world exploration. it was a whirlwind of feelings and love and everything that she hadn't been planning for. and for a while céleste believed that they might hold a future, happier than she could remember being since childhood and utterly in love in a way that she'd never experienced before. it was barely a year into seeing each other that they proposed, and for a brief, reckless moment - céleste agreed. but the deeper they got into not just planning their wedding but their lives together, the clearer it became that perhaps their visions of the future weren't entirely aligned. she always knew she'd find her way back to cascade, but they weren't willing to come with her - and while some might've said that it'd been a misguided attempt all along, it still broke her heart to leave them.
travel flings / friendships: céleste explored so many corners of the world, finding friends and temporary lovers along the way.
pen pal: open to anyone! maybe they're a friend of céleste's from cascade, maybe they met abroad, maybe they found their way together online. whatever the case - they kept exchanging post-cards and letters of their lives. a connection forming on written word alone. maybe it's awkward now that they're meeting in person, maybe they get along as if they didn't spend years only communicating in writing. whatever the case, céleste treasured their letters and has kept them all, sending a little blessing their way whenever she thinks of them as thanks for making her feel less lonely when she was on the road.
people who work for the vineyard: maybe they're a seasonal worker, maybe they've worked in the family for years - would love to explore the dynamics and perhaps strain that comes with céleste coming back home and assuming a leadership role when others might feel that she isn't entitled to one after having been gone so long.
joie de vivre: simply put, they both love life - love enjoying everything the world has to offer them and have made it their mission to live each day to it's absolute fullest. maybe they share a hobby, push each other to try new things, challenge each other to new adventures - céleste loves spending time with this person.
practical magic: since her college days she's had a growing interest in hoodoo, herbalism, and tarot. while it started simply with her friends reading each other's cards, she's taken it upon herself to learn more and establish a space for herself in the online community. while she prefers to remain anonymous ( it wouldn't do to have a future face of onyx wines be accused of practicing witchcraft ) i do imagine there's a few select people who know of her identity or who have helped her learn.
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dailybridgerton
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