ALL OUR SECRETS THEY ARE TAILORED TROUBLE DRAPED LOOSE NOW AROUND YOUR HIPS YOUR SPOTLESS INSTINCTS ARE VALID WE COEXIST GOT 26 DAYS TO WORK WITH WE'LL SEE WHAT ALL GETS DONE I'M AN ADDICT FOR DRAMATICS I CONFUSE THE TWO FOR LOVE YOU CAN TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T BEG
sorry i haven’t been on ! i had a family emergency that required my all of my attention & energy. i’m headed home tomorrow & will reply to any threads or messages when i get back.
AFTER A FEW DRINKS, valeria had decided it was time to go back to her cabin. however, as she stood outside the conestoga wagon bar, dying phone in hand with uber pulled up, her face twisted in displeasure. “the nearest uber is FORTY FIVE minutes away?” she knew it was a small town but this was not expected. her plan to get back was officially thwarted, and she realized she was going to have to walk back to camp in the dark, intoxicated. if only she knew which direction it was.
A SOFT CHUCKLE FELL FROM her lips, the cigarette hanging between them wobbling unsteadily. “ i’m pretty sure anything developed after 2002 is unofficially banned here. “ she called over to the frustrated patron. “ geez, i could watch two episodes of ‘the munsters’ by then. no wonder so many people opt to sleep in the not-at-all sketchy back alley. “ she added, gesturing to the shaded street behind the bar. tamsin had been a regular at the establishment since her fifteenth birthday. the glasses never looked fully clean, & entering one of the bathrooms was equal to signing a death wish, but it was better than kicking back beers in the gas station parking lot. “ i’d offer you a piggy-back home for, like, $20 if i didn’t have the upper-body strength of a twelve year old boy. “
“no. no, nothing like that.” mila shook her head as her smile broadened–a breathy laughter accompanying the words. “i’m not like a … journalist or anything. i mean, hopefully, this’ll be published–someday–but as a part of my doctoral thesis, so sort of a niche audience.” in her experience, people didn’t really want to know once she got into too much detail. usually people preferred to tell their own brushes with horror and she was eager to record them. “i’m hoping to get a more personal history of crescent lake while i’m here. you know, you or your family memories. or just things that have raised your hackles.” now that the conestoga was starting to empty out, she hoped someone would take her up on the querie–a couple beers in made even the most reserved townies verbose in her experience. “i can look up facts, but there’s no richness in that history. it’s the town’s memories–their little legends–that warrant preservation as much as the facts, don’t you think?”
it took every bit of strength in the petite girl’s body to keep her eyes from rolling like bowling balls. if she had a penny for every time some ‘nosy nelly’ wanted to hear her lengthy life story. “ well i’m sure you can find every detail about my lil’ ol’ life in the city archives. if you’re looking for a more abstract take, though, i’d listen in on some of the town gossip. apparently my mom has three eyes & my brother was possessed by the tormented spirit of a sadistic chihuahua... or was it a pomeranian ? either way, unless this is a paid gig, i’m not in any rush to be part of your little project. “ tamsin crinkled her nose as she spoke, bitterness dripping from every word. she had no reason to act rudely towards the tourist, yet she couldn’t help but be rubbed the wrong way at the request. “ i’d be happy to spin you a tall-tale, though. i’m really good at making up stories. “
𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 in an ice cream shop had to be the most boring job the girl had had thus far in her short nineteen years of living. and although there was much more excitement in her previous occupations, if you could even call them that, she welcomed the quiet. in fact, she was relieved to be in a town where absolutely nothing exciting was happening at all. but, persephone was always a girl of mischief and after spending all day behind a counter, she couldn’t help but grin when she saw someone walking by. “hey you!” she called out to them, hopping up so she was sitting on the counter, legs dangling over the edge as she reached into the topping jar, plucking out a bright, red cherry and dangling it in front of her face. “how much do you wanna bet that i can tie this cherry stem with my tongue in less than thirty seconds?”
LUNCH WAS TAMSIN’S LEAST FAVORITE meal of the day. then again, she’d never been good at following a strict eating schedule. a pop-tart for breakfast followed by random snacking throughout the day, reaching a climax at dinner when she’d crack open yet another can of spam that was probably older than her mother. it was this very need for a midday snack that had led her to stray from the campgrounds ( despite having just clocked-in for her shift ) & into town to appease the undetermined craving. her fast feet came to a ( not so screeching ) halt at the pitchy call of the town’s debatably-dumb blonde. “ if you don’t do i get a free cone ? otherwise, i’d rather watch paint dry. “ she responded despite her stomach’s soft whining for a sundae.
“DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT?“ brown locks bumped furiously against the thin fabric of her blouse as aurora flipped around to look at the other, eyes bugged and swiftly wandering around the space sorrounding them. "i am sorry, i didn’t mean to yell- but you did see that as well, right? that boy, covered in blood?"
THE STICK OF A LOLLIPOP was held firm between pursed lips, her head tilting a fraction as frantic words spilled from the stranger’s lips. “ must be his time of the month. “ she shrugged, leaning back against the rough brick wall. it wasn’t hard to get the heebie-jeebies in a town like crescent lake, but tamsin was an expert in differentiating ghoulies & ghosts from the giddy teen pranksters willing to strike panic in the heart of every guest that crossed the town perimeter. “ either that or the sapsucker’s strawberry syrup is randomly combusting again. “
( amanda arcuri + cisfemale + she/her ) / who’s that rustling through the trees ? oh, it’s just you, THOMASINA ‘TAMSIN’ ROMANO. i happen to know that you’re a TWENTY-ONE year old MAID at the LAKE CRESCENT CAMPGROUNDS. while you’re from CRESCENT LAKE, you’re currently living in the LAKELAND MOBILE HOME PARK. i think that you’re ARDENT & MAVERICK but my mama says you’re SLY & CASUISTIC. is that KILL OF THE NIGHT by GIN WIGMORE currently playing on your spotify ? well, turn it down please, you’re disrupting the peace. ( mads + 19 + she/her + est )
ABOUT.
tw: death, cult.
if you’re from crescent lake then odds are you’ve heard of the odd romano twins: thomas & thomasina. their lives were, & forever would be, bound to an inescapable cult they never asked for any part in.
their father, sebastian, had the misfortune of being alma & mabel thomas’s nephew. not long after the sisters’ demise he made his way to the quaint town to make a weak attempt at cleansing the family name.
the trip wasn’t a total failure, though. crescent lake was where he met greta. it was love at first sight... or so he thought. they jumped into the relationship a little too fast & within months learned she was pregnant with twins. this is when things grew hairy.
seb began to notice things in greta that love had previously clouded. with very little investigation he learned that she was just another ‘thomian’ cult loon, using him in hopes of giving birth to a 'pure being’ of thomas blood. disgusted, seb left without a trace, never to be heard from again.
the twins, thomas ‘tome’ & thomasina ‘tamsin’, grew up in the south crescent neighborhood, the family riding off of an unemployed greta’s trust-fund. it didn’t take long for the trust fund to run dry, &, when the kids were nearly six, they were left with little choice but to take haven in the lakeland mobile home park.
she tried her hardest to brainwash them into a ‘thomian’ way of thinking, but tamsin’s mind was far less malleable than her brother’s. to her mother’s dismay she questioned & argued far too much. as much as tamsin tried to cleanse tome’s mind of their mother’s poison words, he could never break free of her spell. this would ultimately lead to his doom.
when the twins were fifteen, tamsin got a sinking feeling in the put of her stomach whilst at school. she rushed home to find it empty. following the gps tracker on her twin’s phone, she found herself at the edge of the crescent lake. by then it was too late.
paramedics & emergency services arrived, dragging two cold bodies out of the lake. greta had finally convinced tome to make the ultimate sacrifice to god. they were able to revive tamsin’s mother, but her brother wasn’t so lucky.
the lack of oxygen damaged her mother’s brain & now tamsin is burdened with taking care of the witch. getting a job at the campground, where she always feels closest to tome’s spirit, she’s been working as a maid for years.
TID-BITS.
her blood-affiliation to the thomas sisters’, as well as the tragic death of her brother, has made her a bit of a celebrity to the tourists in town & campground guests. it isn’t uncommon of them to ask for her photo or berate her with questions. she usually just flashes them the bird.
her surname ( romano ) is actually her mother’s maiden name. ‘thomasina thomas’ just didn’t have the right ring to it.
just because she’s been working as a maid for years doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a good one. the girl has developed some very sticky fingers; it isn’t uncommon for guests to notice a trinket or two missing from their luggage. her kleptomania helps her keep a little bit of pocket cash to spend on things other than rent, food, & medication for mother-dearest.
tamsin doesn’t think of herself as a medium, but she doesn’t still feel a connection to her late-brother. some people think she’s crazy when they see her chattering to herself, but she’s actually just chit-chatting to his spirit. he never responds, but she likes to think he’s listening.
she had dreams of ditching the small town to attend a prestigious art school. unfortunately, she was trapped to her hell-hole of a trailer to care for a devil-woman. she still paints & draws whenever she gets a chance, usually as an escape.
she has a cat named jitters. he acts more like a canine than feline & is known to follow at her heels almost everywhere she goes.
she almost always has something in her mouth, usually hubba-bubba gum or a cigarette... sometimes both. she’s practically addicted to the two.
CONNECTIONS.
tome’s best friend: this person was best friend’s with tammo before he died. tamsin always tagged along on their adventures. they were the three musketeers that spent nearly everyday together. whether this muse & tamsin drifted ways or grew closer after tome’s death is totally open.
on / off: tamsin has major commitment issues AND daddy issues... never a good pairing. she cares about this person a lot, but can’t help but abruptly pull away anytime they get too close.
fwb: noncommittal with no strings attached. sure she probably daydreams ‘what if we were something more’, but is determined not to catch feelings. how they feel about each other outside the bedroom ( annoyance, enemies, friends, etc. ) can be discusses.
worker bestie: tamsin works on the campgrounds as a maid. it’s not the most desirable job &, oh boy, she has seen some crazy shit in those rooms. she & this person love to complain about their jobs, share horror stories, & make their jobs just a teensy bit more bearable.
paranormal club ( 0 / 2 ): ghosts, ghoulies, aliens... you name it, she’s hunted for it. blame it on her brother’s death, but she’s obsessed with the paranormal. tamsin & these two think of themselves as ‘hunters of the unordinary’. they have a corny blog, but it has a small following. their foolery is mostly for their OWN entertainment.
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