[ciswoman and she/her/hers] Welcome to Aurora Bay, [EVELYN “EVIE” WATSON]! I couldn’t help but notice you look an awful lot like [MAYA HAWKE]. You must be the [TWENTY-SEVEN] year old [ATTENDANT at SWEET NOTHINGS BAKERY]. Word is you’re [EASY-GOING] but can also be a bit [SELF-DESTRUCTIVE] and your favorite song is [POISON by ALICE COOPER]. I also heard you’ll be staying in [FISHER’S COVE]. I’m sure you’ll love it!
𐌕𐋅𐌄 𐌁𐌀𐌔𐌉𐌂𐌔
Name: Evelyn Renae Watson
Nickname: Evie
Birthday: August 5th
Zodiac: Leo
Age: 26
Face Claim: Maya Hawke
Occupation: Attendant
Gender: Ciswoman
Pronouns: She/Her
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Romantic Orientation: Biromantic
TW: Parental death, car accident, mention of abuse, drug/substance abuse, overdose allusion
There are a great many things that Evie would much rather do than discuss her childhood or her parents. Like walking over heated, rusted nails, swimming in shark-infested waters with a heavily bleeding wound, or touching the hot eye of a stove without submerging her hand in water beforehand. All of these would be considerably less painful than drudging through old memories she tries her best to repress to this day.
Where do I even begin? I suppose the beginning would be best. Evelyn Renae Watson was born in mid-July, her parents were Everett and Mary-Ann Watson. Her mother was a waitress at a local diner. Her father was a well-respected officer of the ABPD, who performed his duties well and was known to be a stickler to the rules. And for the most part, when at home, he was decent enough. Sure, there may have been times when he got a little loud and would yell, especially if he had been drinking.
It wasn’t until Evie was around six that it changed. Her and her mother had gone to visit some relatives, and Evie ended up chasing after a ball one of her cousins threw at her, running out into the road, right in the way of a speeding truck, the driver neither slowing down nor paying attention. Mary-Ann rushed out to push Evie out of the way. And while Evie made it out mostly unscathed, save for a few scrapes from being shoved onto the concrete, her mother was fatally wounded. It was quite the story for a few weeks. A mother giving her life to save her child in a heroic display. Most of the family and family friends knew it was just a freak accident and never once blamed Evie for it. One person did: her father, vehemently so.
His drinking had become more frequent, and when he drank, he liked to remind her that if it weren’t for her, her mother would still be there, how it should have been her instead and many other horrible things that should have never been said to a child or to another person. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay verbal for long… As you could imagine, this had quite a negative effect on Evie. In her self-esteem as she got older. In her ability to make genuine connections with her peers. Even her grades began to suffer once she realized that doing well in school wasn’t going to help.
At some point, though she doesn’t exactly remember specifically when, as her childhood is just a blur at this point, she found an old luggage case full of old stuff tucked away in the attic. She was bored, her father wasn’t home, and TV wasn’t allowed in the house. Inside the case, she found a bunch of… Mostly stupid stuff. A bunch of old band tees with the pictures faded or crackled. What stood out the most to her was a Walkman, as well as a couple of mix tapes filled with her favorite classical rock songs, the words ‘Mary’s tunes’ and ‘Mary’s tunes #2’ written in faded ink. These were her mother’s. It still worked after putting in some batteries she found, and she never parted with it since.
While it was difficult for her to make friends and get close to people, it wasn’t impossible. She had a few shallow friendships, and only a few she would consider close friends. It was safe to say that a few of her friends' parents didn’t approve of her. She was, after all, the angry, troubled child who never applied herself (unless it was something that she found to be interesting), got in trouble smoking cigarettes in the girls’ bathroom, skipped class, and occasionally got into fights.
Despite this, Evie found her people. Together, the group got into all sorts of mischief. Sneaking out, drinking, smoking.
However, that wasn’t enough to help her cope with the pain of her trauma. So, the first time she was offered weed, she took it and never looked back. It helped tremendously, until eventually, it didn’t as well.
Evie slowly began to dabble into harder drugs. Up until she was eighteen, that was her norm. Carefully navigating her father’s temper, and sneaking out to hang out with her friends, Evie secretly got a job so that she could move out as soon as possible. After graduation, and once she was eighteen, she worked up the nerve to finally move out. She just.. Kinda left one day when he was at work.
After that, things seemed to get better, though there were several times when she spiraled. Evie got into trouble with the law often, either late at night when she would get caught tagging a place and would lose all of her spray paint, or whenever she’d be caught with drug paraphernalia.
There were times Evie found herself wanting to get clean, but doing so on your own without any support was more than impossible. She’d be clean for a few weeks to even months before a relapse until she eventually relapsed. Her last relapse led her straight into a hospital, which saved her life, then rehab.
She’s back in Aurora Bay with her twelve-month recovery token always tucked away in her pocket to remind herself of how far she’s come.
open starter for everyone | location: up to player
"Yeah, I don't know." Peyton stated with a shrug. He wasn't even sure if they were talking to him, but he was answering, weirdly. "If I were you, I'd definitely get that one." He points but then drops his hand quickly, "That's just me though."
Evie flipped through the selection of records and CDs, looking for some new music to listen to. She held up one album with a disgusted scrunch of her nose. That was when the man next to her spoke up. She raised the album, showing him the cover. "Really? I should get The Clash's Cut the Crap?" She promptly put it back in its spot. "No thanks. A bold choice, though. Wrong, but bold."
Sam senses the nervous tension, and he tries to relieve her of it simply by smiling and stepping back a bit to give her space. "You could, but I wouldn't mind if you decided to wait until I left, or until you were home. It's your gift, so it's your choice, miss." If it would alleviate the pressure, then why not?
"I could leave you alone now, unless you wanted to talk a little or anything, but I wouldn't pressure you into that at all. Say the word, and I will find someone else to pester."
No pressure. Evie liked the sound of that. That, and there was just something incredibly awkward about opening a gift in front of someone. The call for a reaction to what has been received. "Alright, bet," she said, nodding as she set the bag on the table, keeping it within reach. "I'll open it later, then."
"Nah, I'm not about to run you off." Taking the gift and telling him to scram felt a little rude, even for her. Eying him, she couldn't help but feel like she's seen him somewhere. Granted, Aurora Bay wasn't a large town, so that could be said for anyone she's come across. "Didn't you use to work at Flora and Fauna? I swear, I feel like I've seen you there once or twice?" Not that Evie had an interest in plants, but there was a moment where she had a succulent.
Starter: Open (Feel free to assume connections) @aurorabaystarter
Where: Pinball Wizard Arcade
"Okay, okay, one more time. I swear i'll get it this time." She emits a half hearted giggle of confidence, moving up and down from her tip toes before triggering the start of the pin pall machine. As the ball bounces around the machine, it ricochet off various slingshots and flippers triggers loud sounds and bright colours. Luckily, she gets slightly further than the last few tries before the ball falls into the bottom hole. "Better than last time!"
Evie eyed the flashing score with obvious skepticism. Was it better? Technically, the answer was yes? But... "I mean, the score is bigger than last time? A for effort, though," she teased. Not that she could say much in regard to the low score. She wasn't much of a fan of pinball machines. Probably because she was a sore loser and was bad at them.
"There's that racing game," she suggested, the two-seater game decked out with the steering wheels and chipping foot pedals a few feet away. "No, actually, I'm pretty bad at that one." Somehow, her virtual racecar always ended up getting turned around and she'd be penalized for going the wrong way.
open starter for everyone | location: choose your own adventure
"Wait." Mariana was fascinated at this point. "Say that again." It was almost a demand. She needed to hear what was said again to take a screenshot for her memory.
"Oh, uh." Evie looked back down at the small packet of fig bars she was holding, open and half-eaten. "All I was saying- Or, well, asking if you liked fig bars?" She waved the packet around. "I love these things, but just found out that I can't eat them because apparently fig waps are a thing?" She shuddered. "I cannot express how deeply uncomfortable that makes me."
Adile wondered if people could tell that she wasn't the type to normally be found in a place like this. She wondered if she had some kind of look in her eye that others could see she didn't belong. Often times Adile had thought that. While she didn't care what people thought about her, she did hate feeling like she didn't belong somewhere. That had been her whole life.
"That seems kind of pointless then. Why doesn't he get bigger when he eats the regular dots? The logic of this game does not make any sense." Maybe it wasn't supposed to and that was the point. "I get the fighting games. Those are just smashing buttons." She tilted her head to the side.
"Pucks are circles though. At least they decided not to make it more confusing."
"To be fair, I'm pretty sure when they first made the game, it was probably revolutionary," Evie said with a noncommittal shrug. "Kinda like that one really game... Ah... What was it called?" Evie looked down and tapped at her chin, furrowing her brow for a second. "Pong? I think it's Pong? Just two bars and a ball where you bounce it back and forth? They're all simplistic. Eat dots. Climb a ladder and jump over a barrel."
She leaned up against the arcade machine, watching the little pixels move across the screen. "If you like to dance any, DDR is pretty fun. It's not even close to dancing, but, yanno."
Emerson loved changing the store's front displays, and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, she was surrounded by stacks of books. Romance novels, poetry, epic love stories, all were slowly coming together in the display.
"I know some people are anti-Valentine's....do you think it'd be appreciated, or judged if I set up a sister display on the other side with like...horror? Slashers, monsters, all that gruesome stuff?" She wrinkled her nose up a bit. "Could give Stephen King his very own table. Lovecraft too."
Evie lazily browsed the poetry books being put on display, eying the covers and trying to see if any of the authors were some she recognized. "I think it could work," she hummed softly. "It'd honestly be good for even the people who do celebrate Valentine's Day. Kinda like horror movies are good to watch for a V-Day date."
"The whole "oh no, I'm scared so we should cuddle" bit."
Dropping into the bakery on his way home from the vet's office was no new endeavour for Lucky and this was a visit with purpose -- he had important gingerbread matters to discuss with one Liza Evans -- but the repetitiveness of it was broken up by the sight of a new yet familiar face behind the counter.
It took him a second to place her, but once he did it hit him like he had hit the floor in front of her in one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.
( And there was plenty of those to choose from. )
He's half-tempted to swivel around and make a quick exit to save on his ears turning red, but he decides to own it instead, strolling up to the counter.
"Hey, long time no see. I've mastered getting from that door to this counter without ending up on my face."
One thing Evie already liked about the bakery was that it was nowhere near as chaotic as Neptune was. More chill. The few shifts she's had, there wasn't this aching need to hide away in the walk-in cooler to fight back tears when she got overwhelmed by needy customers.
Packaging up someone's order and handing it off to them, she watched as they left before pulling out her phone. She unlocked it just as the bell gave its little ding and a vaguely familiar face walked in. She perked up, quickly trying to place him.
It wasn't until he had made the comment of falling on his face did things begin to click into place. There was only one person that she could recall falling over in front of her.
She grinned at him, an impish twist of her lips as recognition dawned completely. "Hey," she said, leaning over the counter. "Congrats on the accomplishment. Honestly, truly impressed."
open starter for @aurorabaystarter
where: hidden gems
Ceyda stood in the middle of the thrift shop, holding up two outrageously mismatched dresses—one in vibrant magenta with golden paisleys, the other a riot of electric blue and neon green stripes. She turned to the nearest person, her eyes sparkling with a mix of humor and genuine curiosity
"Alright, I need the truth," she said, holding the dresses side by side. "Which one says, ‘I know fashion, but I also know how to party’? Because honestly, I’m lost here." Her voice was playful, but there was a glint of sincerity in her smile. "Or are you one of those ‘vibe over coordination’ people? Because if that’s the case, I think we’re about to become fast friends.
Evie glanced over at the woman, her question tearing her gaze from the oversized sweatshirt she'd been inspecting. Her eyes flickered between the woman and the two dresses she'd been holding.
Evie was hardly the person to ask about fashion, she thought. Her taste in clothing was loose and comfortable. She preferred the thrifted, grunge look, with ill-fitted shirts and ripped jeans, worn shoes. Much like what she was wearing now.
"I'm pretty lost too, because, in my opinion, both of those scream..." A pause and a scrunched nose. "Honestly, I'm not sure what either of those scream."
"Other than 'Put me back on the rack'," she said with her voice raising in pitch, a bob of her head and a slight flourish of her hands.
When Evie left with absolutely no warning, Darcy was understandably upset, but the more she thought about it the more she realized it may have been karma. Darcy had up and left Aurora Bay without saying anything to anyone a few years after the fire that took Knox from them. The only person she told anything to was Evie but even then it was all written in a letter to her. Maybe she didn't have a right to be upset at all, but she was still heartbroken. Considering how easy it was to pick up the pieces she'd left shattered, she hoped it would continue to be good. She had a relationship with her sister again, she and her friends were back together, she and Evie were dating, and she'd met Finn! All was so good but then Evie left. Darcy wondered if this was how her friends had felt all those years ago.
A year had gone by and without a single word from Evie she had to assume that they'd broken up. It's kind of hard to stay in a romantic relationship when there was zero contact period. It hurt and Darcy had cried over it for so long, but she was finally getting better and healing. But then...
Darcy opened her door and when she saw Evie she felt like she was actually going insane. There was no fucking way that Evie Watson was suddenly on her door step. It gave her a bit of deja vu for when she was pulling this shit on people. It didn't feel good and she understood that now. She was glad to see Evie was okay but.. what the fuck?
Evie had all these things that she wanted to say. Things she'd been trying to work up the courage to say since she came back to town. Things she'd embarrassingly recited in front of a mirror, wanting to make sure she had her little speech in order. But the moment that the door opened and Darcy's stunned expression met hers, everything she wanted to explain even though there was nothing to excuse her or her actions or her absence, every thought in her head seemed to simply just...
Vanish.
Dumbly, Evie said once more, "Hi." She visibly winced, squeezing her eyes shut with a not-so-subtle shake of her head. "I already said that, sorry..." She looked away, eyes glued to a not-so-interesting spot staining the ceiling.
"I know that seeing me is probably the last thing you want to be doing right now." Evie didn't have to imagine the hurt and anger Darcy might be feeling because she had been in this very situation. When Darcy had disappeared without so much of a word, Evie felt a bitterness that overshadowed her happiness when Darc returned. She'd gotten mad, yelled, probably made Darcy feel worse than she should have...
Evie would be lying if she didn't expect the same treatment. That was partly why she hadn't sought her out before now.
Swallowing thickly, Evie looked back at Darcy. "You... You look like you've been doing okay." Fuck, why couldn't her mouth, for once, just once, not do what she wanted? Say what she needed and wanted to say?
He watched her closely to catch what she was saying, that song seemed to be the favorite over the last few years, after hearing it about 5 times during one visit to the mall, he couldn't stand it anymore. Her reaction after her statement caught him by surprise, but her reasoning for it left him amused, something he tried to hide, but Clint never had a great poker face and couldn't help the smirk that pulled at the corner of his lips. "Yeah, 'm gonna cry m'self t'sleep tonight." He teased with a scoff. "Y'aint got nothin' t'worry about. I ain't the sensitive type."
A visible wave of relief washed over her when the man teased her, not at all perturbed by her verbal blunder, or lack thereof. Evie huffed a laugh, shaking her head. "Right. Uhm. Good. That's good." After a moment, she looked up at a nearby speaker playing the song. "There's this band that's kinda a joke band that's themed after the guy who plays the terminator and I think most of the songs are Christmas songs. Dude sings as if he's Arnold. Accent and everything. Pretty terrible actually, but I'd rather listen to that than most Christmas music."
CLOSED STARTER for @eviexwatson at the secret santa banquet
In a bag holds several different types of rocks: some from the gardens, and some from that crystal shop. Sam is a bit shy about the gift choice considering he didn’t know what ‘rocks’ entailed, and a Wiccan shop is the last place he ever expected to set foot in. He only did so to cover all of his bases.
“Hi, Evie?” he approaches her at the banquet table with a subtle nervous energy. “I have your gift. I’m Sam.”
Evie looked up from her phone when the man, Sam he said, approached. As he introduced himself, her body visibly perked up from her lazy, slouched stance. Offering him a small smile, she put away her phone. "That's me."
At the mention of the gift, Evie blinked before saying "Oh! You're my secret Santa! Hi."
She scratched at the bridge of her nose, shuffling her feet. Secret Santa wasn't something Evie went out of her way to do, never really participating in it in the past, so when she was talked into signing up, she didn't really know what to request. She wasn't much of a materialistic person, so there wasn't a lot she could think to ask for. Honestly, she'd be grateful for anything.
"Thanks," she said, taking the bag. "Should I open it now? Or are we supposed to wait or something?"
Wes hated parties even though he'd attended a ton of them in high school and his early, early twenties, they had just quickly become something he would rather have no part in. He didn't like the socializing, it was awkward and weird, and it was suffocating having to be around so many people all at once. It was why he'd stepped outside for a cigarette, a vice he promised himself he would quit partaking in, if not for himself, for his daughter. It was after he'd stepped outside and had placed a cigarette between his lips, that he spotted an old friend.
"Evie! In the flesh. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Big parties were hardly Evie’s favorite thing. All those people. Crowds was anxiety in a hand basket. That and having to dress nice was just too much work. But stepping outside of her was something she was consistently trying to do.
New things and all that.
That didn’t stop her from feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing.
A year away from decent society had Evie feeling just a tad bit claustrophobic.
Air. She needed just a bit of air.
Or rather a smoke. A habit she just couldn’t bring herself to break.
Settling down on a spare chair outside, she draped her jacket behind her and pulled out her nearly empty pack of cigarettes. About to light one, she heard her name and looked up to see Wes not too far from her.
She offered him a slight wave. “Sup?” She finished lighting the cigarette and inhaled deeply, letting the plume of smoke drift up and watching as it dissipated away. “Yeah, not really my thing. I’m just here for the champagne. And food.” She huffed a laugh, a wry smile on her face. Eying Wes, she took another drag, motioning towards the cigarette in his own hand.
His fingers clenched the fabric tightening around his biceps; the material felt a bit too snug for his taste, but he couldn’t complain since the clothing wasn’t his. It was something he found himself doing more often than he cared to admit lately, especially with the new living arrangement.
He wasn’t used to the idea of having a roommate anymore, not since leaving his career as a bosun behind all those months ago. He enjoyed it, though, having someone around—especially someone he considered family, someone he missed dearly.
Well, that was until moments like this.
She initially goes unnoticed as he makes a beeline for the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge for a day-old éclair he swore he had placed inside. But there it was—not the éclair, but his beloved shirt, sitting in the fridge in all its glory.
"Evie," he mumbles under his breath as he reaches in, the current linen tightening around his arms. He quickly stands to his feet, the thought of the pastry fading from his mind as he searches the home for his roommate.
Once he finds her, he can't help but say,
"Dude, what the fuck? You put Slutty Shrek in the fridge?"
As Jace walked towards the kitchen, Evie coyly watched from where she stood unnoticed, backing away and dropping the rest of his clothes back into the dryer.
She couldn't help but notice that he'd been wearing another one of her shirts when he came in, and any instance of feeling slightly bad about hiding some of his clothes was drowned out by her possessiveness of her own.
Of course, her retaliation to him wearing said clothes was by no means truly vindictive. Jace had always been like a brother to her, so obviously -at least in her mind, as she was an only child- this was the correct course of action.
Nothing was wrong with a little friendly petty rivalry, right?
Moving to settle in the family room, she lounged on the sofa and reached for her nearly empty bag of potato chips, munching away noncommittally when Jace emerged. She eyed him with a crunch of a chip, a look of mock confusion on her face. Evie even pressed a hand over her heart in a you talking to me motion.
"You put my Gene Simmons on your body," she said, gesturing to him. "Pretty even, I think."
Wes: Are you okay? seriously what the fuck??
Wes: you don't have to ask me how I'm doing, what happened?
Wes: bro...
Wes: you know her baby is my baby too, right? And yes, last October. She's walking now even
Wes: and Liza's pregnant again with our second
Wes: you still haven't explained anything
@eviexwatson
Evie: I'm fine now. A lot better actually. I'd rather not get into it at the moment, though.
Evie: At least not over text.
Evie: your second?!!!!! already damn.
Evie: Busy guy.
Evie: I mean congrats
Evie: OH! I remember Darcy being kinda obsessed with witchy stuff and I wanted to get her something. And I don't know jack about this stuff.
Evie: All I know is rock pretty.
who: open / @aurorabaystarter
where: pinball wizard arcade
Adile had made a pact with herself that at least once a week she would go out and try something new, go somewhere new, or meet someone new. The problem with that was that she'd lived in this town for eleven years. She didn't claim to know everyone or have been everywhere, but she was starting to run out of spots to go. Somehow, after all her years of living here, she had never gone to the arcade. Video games had never been her strong suit—she had zero coordination for them—but she did have friends that loved them. If she had to do fifty two new things a year, at some point the arcade was going to make that list. Today happened to be that day.
She'd left home with the intention of walking into she saw something interesting. The lights happened to draw her in. But instantly, she knew she was over her head. Adile frowned as the yellow pie with a missing piece ran into a ghost and died. She was running low on quarters. "Does Mister Pac ever find his missing piece or do am I just missing the point of the game?" she questioned out loud.
The arcade had always been one of Evie's favorite spots in town. She had fond memories of DDR battles, a game that she was very competitive at even into her adult years, spending every quarter she could save and find just to hang out in the arcade to avoid going home.
For the longest time, the arcade was home away from home.
God, she missed this place.
Looking over at the woman, Evie couldn't help but huff a little laugh. "I think you're just... missing the point. You eat the dots, avoid the ghosts, eat the bigger dots to then eat the ghosts. Honestly, there's not much to it other than that."
Evie glanced at the screen, pursing her lips together before saying, "You know, the original name for Pac-man was actually Puck-man?"
